2.6 KiB
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