INT. EARL NEWTON’S LUXURIOUS ONE-BEDROOM FLAT

The single light from a MacBook Pro casts noirish shadows along the wall, opposite an expansive view of the diamond-encrusted city.

EARL NEWTON, a large man, handsome, with sharp lines on his face and a high widow’s peak, clicks-and-drags on the Mac. His eyeline is solid, confident. Focused.

EARL NEWTON

(V.O.)

Technology. When my parents grew up, a calculator weighed ten pounds and cost a thousand dollars. Now you get one free with a box of Fruity Pebbles. Now I shuffle digital bits around the world like a Vegas dealer and bemoan the lag as ten times the information in the Library at Alexandria dribbles into my system in the form of a high-definition copy of “Zombie Strippers.”

Newton clicks again.

CUT TO:

THE SCREEN

as it displays “SCRIPPETS PLUG-IN ACTIVATED”. Newton SMILES, sharp shadows carved into a blue-lit face.

EARL NEWTON

(V.O.)

It’s good to be the king.