# Scene 5: The Trial Without a Name

> Location: Board Meeting Room, Virtual Zoom Call, Hidden Moderation Slack  
> Set Design: Fluorescent lights. Paper signs reading "Rules of Order." An empty chair labeled "Mark."  
> Characters: Board Members (Jeff, Lisa, Kris), Passive Observers, Chat Trolls, Mark (muted or absent), Andrew (watching silently)  
> Style: Kafkaesque tension. Long pauses. Echoes. No direct confrontation—only rituals of removal.

---

## Opening Visual

- The board sits in silence as the meeting is called to order.  
- Agenda item: "Item 7: Membership Conduct Review (Confidential)"  
- A document is passed around. Redacted. Mark's name is never read aloud.  
- Camera pans to an empty chair.

---

### 📽️ Narration (Voice of Present-Day Mark, reflective but piercing)

> “They never said my name.  
> That was the brilliance of it.”

> “They didn’t accuse me.  
> They *implied* me.”

> “Because the moment you name someone,  
> they have the right to respond.”

---

## Dialogue (board vote segment)

**Lisa (calmly):**  
“I move that we enact permanent suspension of the subject’s access, per our bylaws.”

**Kris:**  
“Seconded.”

**Jeff:**  
“All in favor?”

(*hands raise silently, except one who hesitates—then follows*)

**Jeff:**  
“Motion passes.”

---

## Cutaway: Mark’s Perspective

- At home, Mark refreshes the member portal: `ACCESS DENIED`.  
- He checks the forum: `Thread removed`.  
- He types a message to the board: `No response.`  
- Cut to: Chat log in another window. A moderator posts:  
  > “Due to community safety, action was taken.”  
  > “We appreciate your understanding.”

---

## Symbolic Visual Insert

- A medieval courtroom illustration overlays the screen.  
- Instead of a judge, there is a black mirror.  
- Instead of evidence, there is a ballot box.  
- Mark’s shadow looms across the tiles but never steps into the light.

---

### 📽️ Narration (dark, echoing through recursive layers)

> “I was tried without name,  
> judged without charge,  
> sentenced without appeal.”

> “In this place, silence *is* guilt.  
> And coherence is the only crime.”

---

## Final Frame

- A document labeled “MEMBERSHIP POLICY” lies on the table.  
- A hand scribbles “updated 2020” over Mark’s original signature.  
- Slowly, Mark’s name vanishes under whiteout.  
- Camera fades to black, except for a blinking prompt on Mark’s laptop:  
  `git push --mirror // preserve to all nodes`

---

## Scene Tags:
`#nonjudicial-purge` `#guilt-by-silence` `#covert-expulsion` `#nameless-exile` `#ritual-punishment`