[ TELEVISION BROADCAST ] February 18
[At 10:15 am, a Special Report interrupts the regularly scheduled program. It opens with an aerial shot of a gathering crowd at an outdoor stage in Elysium.]
Correspondent [voiceover]: NGBC just received word that former senator Johan Liebert is en route to Bryant Park to deliver a public statement. Liebert was last seen on August 26, 2009, when h-he-- [a stammering pause, clearly to re-read a corrected prompt] --disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Sources say Liebert will be addressing his absence, and his response to the Senate's offer to return to his previous post.
[A caravan of limousines pulls up behind the stage. Black-suited Omega agents, followed by an armed military unit, climb out of the automobiles first.]
Correspondent [voiceover]: It looks like Liebert may be arriving now! A security team appears to be organizing the crowd... The former senator's safety appears to be their top concern. I'm being told that Liebert, always a man of the people, insisted upon a public address despite the recent dangerous situation in which he found himself. I'm sure we'll hear it from the man himself-- Wait, there he is! There's Johan Liebert, approaching the stage now!
[The camera cuts to another angle, this one focused on the stage as a handsome young blonde man in a pale suit crosses the platform to the podium. He's smiling, bright as ever. And the crowd... is cheering. He waits until they've settled down.]
Johan: Good morning, NeoGenesis. I'm told by now that this is being broadcast throughout the city. I'm glad, because it's my hope that everyone can hear what it is that I've come to say. I had a speech prepared for this moment by one of my advisors...
[He holds up a folded paper, tears it neatly in half, then gracefully tosses it aside.]
Johan: Contrary to what you were probably told, I've not come before you today to explain my own situation. It's irrelevant. Please, look at me and listen. Listen very carefully. Not you in the crowd, but you, at home. Those of you who truly remember my face.
[The camera, this whole time, has been slowly zooming closer. Johan's ice-blue eyes are staring straight into it.]
Johan: Months ago, you participated in and witnessed a game called Battle Royale... It wasn't a game at all. It was a test round. The real Battle Royale is played here, and it is played in your day-to-day life. Your friends aren't your friends. They're your rivals, your opponents. They are waiting at every moment for the chance to strike, to stab you in the back and get one up on you. They keep you close only as long as you're useful to them as backup, but when it's down to just you and them... they strike at you.
[Although Johan's voice remains calm, there's a dangerous edge to it. He hasn't blinked once since he started speaking.]
Johan: Will you let them? Will you continue to be complacent and allow yourself to be trampled? Or will you be the one, the final one standing when the game is over? Take up your weapons, whatever chance and luck has given you, and make your destiny your own. The war is not coming, NeoGenesis. The war is already h--
[There's a flash of black across the screen and Johan is swept off-camera with a startled gasp. A half-second later, blood sprays in a wide arc, some of it splattering the lens and fully obscuring its view. The station cuts to a Technical Difficulties screen with a high-pitched ding.]
Correspondent [voiceover]: NGBC just received word that former senator Johan Liebert is en route to Bryant Park to deliver a public statement. Liebert was last seen on August 26, 2009, when h-he-- [a stammering pause, clearly to re-read a corrected prompt] --disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Sources say Liebert will be addressing his absence, and his response to the Senate's offer to return to his previous post.
[A caravan of limousines pulls up behind the stage. Black-suited Omega agents, followed by an armed military unit, climb out of the automobiles first.]
Correspondent [voiceover]: It looks like Liebert may be arriving now! A security team appears to be organizing the crowd... The former senator's safety appears to be their top concern. I'm being told that Liebert, always a man of the people, insisted upon a public address despite the recent dangerous situation in which he found himself. I'm sure we'll hear it from the man himself-- Wait, there he is! There's Johan Liebert, approaching the stage now!
[The camera cuts to another angle, this one focused on the stage as a handsome young blonde man in a pale suit crosses the platform to the podium. He's smiling, bright as ever. And the crowd... is cheering. He waits until they've settled down.]
Johan: Good morning, NeoGenesis. I'm told by now that this is being broadcast throughout the city. I'm glad, because it's my hope that everyone can hear what it is that I've come to say. I had a speech prepared for this moment by one of my advisors...
[He holds up a folded paper, tears it neatly in half, then gracefully tosses it aside.]
Johan: Contrary to what you were probably told, I've not come before you today to explain my own situation. It's irrelevant. Please, look at me and listen. Listen very carefully. Not you in the crowd, but you, at home. Those of you who truly remember my face.
[The camera, this whole time, has been slowly zooming closer. Johan's ice-blue eyes are staring straight into it.]
Johan: Months ago, you participated in and witnessed a game called Battle Royale... It wasn't a game at all. It was a test round. The real Battle Royale is played here, and it is played in your day-to-day life. Your friends aren't your friends. They're your rivals, your opponents. They are waiting at every moment for the chance to strike, to stab you in the back and get one up on you. They keep you close only as long as you're useful to them as backup, but when it's down to just you and them... they strike at you.
[Although Johan's voice remains calm, there's a dangerous edge to it. He hasn't blinked once since he started speaking.]
Johan: Will you let them? Will you continue to be complacent and allow yourself to be trampled? Or will you be the one, the final one standing when the game is over? Take up your weapons, whatever chance and luck has given you, and make your destiny your own. The war is not coming, NeoGenesis. The war is already h--
[There's a flash of black across the screen and Johan is swept off-camera with a startled gasp. A half-second later, blood sprays in a wide arc, some of it splattering the lens and fully obscuring its view. The station cuts to a Technical Difficulties screen with a high-pitched ding.]