[A playground, Australia, mid-1980s. Two girls are gossiping.]
SALLY
You know who I love?
That band Men at Work.
Did you hear the scandal
With Annie and Dirk?
They were caught making out
By a school clerk
LISA
Someone told me. I think it was Lou.
They were over by the football ground
They were naked; she was making a sound
Like a hot and bothered kangaroo.
SALLY
I also heard that Mr. Nantz
Was driving his car without any pants
LISA
He's the one
With the red Impala?
He has tufts of hair
Just like a koala
[JULIAN ASSANGE approaches.]
SALLY
Uh oh, it's Julian
He's a little bit strange
Let's lower our voices
As he comes into range
LISA
I agree with you
This is not for his ears
We can start talking normal
When he disappears
[SALLY and LISA start to whisper.]
JULIAN ASSANGE
What are you guys
Talking about?
LISA
It's none of your business
Don't stick in your snout
JULIAN ASSANGE
But whispering is impolite
It's cliquish, mean, and just not right.
Your secrecy is a kind of slap.
LISA
You should tell someone who gives a crap
JULIAN ASSANGE
I don't like how this is going
My curiosity is growing
Come on, tell me. Really, tell!
To not know is a kind of hell
[SALLY and LISA whisper more and then leave, giggling.]
JULIAN ASSANGE
I'll get you!
I'll get you!
Don't believe me?
I'll bet you!
There will be retribution!
There will be tit for tat!
There will be revolution
I will see to that!
[Enraged and frustrated, JULIAN ASSANGE becomes a hacker. He devotes himself to the unchecked distribution of all information.]
JULIAN ASSANGE
I'll dub myself Mendax
It means "noble liar."
I'll remake myself as a
High-tech town crier
When people attempt
To hide information
I will be the one
To compel revelation
[After two decades moving between the hacking subculture and academia, JULIAN ASSANGE founds WikiLeaks, a website devoted to challenging secrecy regulations by releasing documents.]
JULIAN ASSANGE
To radically shift regime behavior
We must accept a new kind of savior
How can any authority control what we see
When all information wants to be free?
[At first, JULIAN ASSANGE uses WikiLeaks for good, exposing assassinations in Kenya.]
JULIAN ASSANGE
Witness how I used my network
To interfere with Kenyan wetwork.
It's hard to grasp this type of power
I liken it to Bentham's tower
He called it the panopticon
It acted as a check upon
All who thought they were being observed
This is what we have long deserved.
[One day JULIAN ASSANGE is contacted by BRADLEY MANNING.]
BRADLEY MANNING
Hello, I am Bradley Manning
I work in intelligence
I know you by your reputation
And frankly, sir, I have the sense
That my position in the army
Grants me special access to
Secret information that I
Think that I might leak to you.
JULIAN ASSANGE
What's your name, now? Manning? Bradley?
Tell me more; I'll listen, gladly...
