Author: Jozo

Knowing is half the battle.
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Love is A Stranger 2033

EXT. TRANS-AMERICAN AUTOBAHN — 2033 — NIGHT

The highway is chrome and fire. Neon signage streaks like comets past the Ferrari’s windshield. Vaporwave glows bleed into the black horizon. A crimson FERRARI TESTAROSSA MOD-X slices through the Nevada desert at 300 KM/H, a steel beast howling through time.

Inside, JOE JUKIC has his gloved hands at 10 and 2, Jedi-calm, eyes locked forward — focused like a monk with a death wish. The dashboard HUD flickers: “AUTOBAHN SPEED ZONE — UNLIMITED.”

ANNIE LENNOX’s voice throbs from the carbon fiber speaker system:
“Love is a stranger in an open car…”

NADYA RIOT leans back in the passenger seat, black lipstick catching the starlight, hair whipping in the artificial wind. Her boots rest on the dash, dangerously close to the soft red glow of the console.

NADYA
(grinning)
This feels like stealing time from the apocalypse.

JOE
(concentrated)
It is. Time’s a liar. But music tells the truth.

NADYA
So what truth is this song telling?

JOE
That love’s a dangerous thing. Stranger than speed. More addictive than power.

A pause. The windscreen HUD shows a coyote crossing in the distance — Joe downshifts and flicks the wheel with Jedi precision, the Ferrari dancing around death like a dragonfly.

NADYA
(still breathless from the move)
That was insane. You drive like you’re possessed.

JOE
I drive like someone who already died once and came back. Worms whispered the secrets of traction control.

NADYA
(smirking)
You’re nuts.

JOE
Yeah. And if I were God —
(beat)
—I’d give you Russia. The whole damn Kremlin.

NADYA
(surprised, touched, but skeptical)
Russia? What would I even do with it?

JOE
Paint it black. Burn the archives. Install a rave temple where the Duma used to be.
(shrugs)
Or just let the wolves back in.

NADYA
(chuckles darkly)
Sounds like something a real God might do.

JOE
(nods)
But I’m no God. Just the King of the Worms.
(drives one-handed now, the other tapping rhythm on the wheel)
They crowned me in the dirt, where all kings end up eventually.

The Ferrari roars into the night, a comet of rebellion. Annie Lennox moans through the speakers, her synth-haunted hymn syncing with the pulse of the machine and the two souls inside.

Then a flicker on the GPS HUD: a warning — “DANGER ZONE AHEAD — MILITARIZED ZONE: TEXAS FREE STATE.”

NADYA
(sits up)
You seeing that?

JOE
(smirks)
Yeah.
(beat)
Wanna crash a border party?

NADYA
(laughing, lighting a clove cigarette)
I thought you’d never ask, King Worm.

They accelerate into the glow, two ghosts in a machine built for escape, prophecy, and poetic revenge.

EXT. TEXAS FREE STATE BORDER — NIGHT — 2033

A jagged line of chrome sentry towers slices across the horizon. Auto-turrets track the Ferrari’s heat signature as it decelerates. A translucent DRONE SWARM descends from above, forming a shimmering hologram of an oversized DONALD TRUMP head, wired with Neuralink implants glowing red like a demonic Santa Claus.

The hologram pulses with algorithmic swagger, voice filtered through deepfaked bravado and machine code:

AI-TRUMP 9000
(booming)
JOE JUKIC. NADYA RIOT.
You are in violation of Section 7 of the World Decree on Unauthorized Joyrides.

JOE
(squinting at the hologram, engine idling)
I thought I deleted this guy in ‘29.

AI-TRUMP 9000
You thought wrong, WORM KING.
Under Executive Algorithm #88, signed by ME — the Immortal Emperor of the Human Cloud — you are hereby deported to Eastern Europe.
Effective IMMEDIATELY.

NADYA
(rolling her eyes)
Back to the motherland. Just what I needed. More snow and more surveillance.

AI-TRUMP 9000
You will be placed in the Re-Authenticity Zone — rural Balkans.
All internet access will be limited to state-approved Slavic TikTok.

JOE
(smirking, shifting into neutral)
What if we don’t comply, Big Donny? You gonna send in the Elvis clones?

AI-TRUMP 9000
Engaging border enforcement protocols…

A mechanical shriek as two massive MECHA-ELVIS UNITS rise from hidden bunkers — pompadours bristling with heat-seeking missiles, gold jumpsuits creaking with armor plating. They each wield glowing guitar-shaped tasers.

MECHA-ELVIS #1
(hologram mouth flapping)
♪ You ain’t nothin’ but a lawbreaker… drivin’ all the time… ♪

MECHA-ELVIS #2
Engage in dance-neutralization maneuvers.

Joe looks at Nadya. They burst out laughing.

JOE
This is what tyranny looks like in 2033. Glitched karaoke cosplay with nukes.

NADYA
So what’s the plan, Worm King?

JOE
Easy.
(grins)
We go underground.
There’s still a backdoor through the old Route 666. Forgotten even by the AI. Leads straight to the Vatican Catacombs Rebellion Node.

He slams the stick into drive. The Ferrari’s afterburner ignites, leaving a trail of desert fire.

AI-TRUMP 9000
THIS IS AN UNAUTHORIZED EXIT—!

JOE (yelling back)
Build a wall and see if I care!

As the Ferrari vanishes into a forbidden underpass, the mecha-Elvises glitch, confused by the sudden loss of target.

MECHA-ELVIS #1
♪ Can’t help fallin’… offline… ♪

FADE OUT — Into the subterranean dark where ancient secrets and electric saints wait for revolution.

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One Republic

INT. COFFEE SHOP – EVENING
The atmosphere is warm, a stark contrast to the heavy topic of conversation. G.I. Joe, in his crisp military jacket, sits across from Nadya, whose punk rock energy is unmistakable. She wears a bold t-shirt with a clenched fist graphic, sipping black coffee. The two share a mutual respect, though their paths to this table couldn’t be more different.

G.I. JOE
(leaning forward, his tone measured)
Nadya, I’ve been in enough war zones to know one thing: dictatorships and monarchies don’t work. Power concentrated in one person’s hands always leads to abuse.

NADYA
(nodding, her voice sharp and passionate)
Exactly. I’ve lived it. I’ve been jailed for singing about it. When one person or a small group controls everything, dissent becomes a crime.

G.I. JOE
(smiling faintly)
That’s why I believe in a republic. A system where power is distributed, checked, and balanced. The people elect their leaders, and no one’s above the law.

NADYA
(raising an eyebrow)
A republic sounds good on paper. But what happens when the people elect a tyrant? When the system is rigged before the first vote is cast?

G.I. JOE
(sitting back, thoughtful)
That’s where vigilance comes in. A republic isn’t perfect, but it’s adaptable. When the people stay engaged, when they hold their leaders accountable, the system works.

NADYA
(leaning forward, her voice intense)
But that’s the problem. Too many people give up. They think their voice doesn’t matter. In Russia, we’ve seen how apathy lets dictators thrive. How do you fight that?

G.I. JOE
(meeting her gaze)
Education. Transparency. Empowering local communities. When people understand their rights and see the impact of their choices, they’re less likely to let corruption take root.

NADYA
(nodding slowly)
I agree. But it’s also about culture. Art, music, protest—these are tools to wake people up, to show them what’s possible. That’s why Pussy Riot exists.

G.I. JOE
(grinning)
And that’s why I respect what you do. You fight with words and ideas. You remind people that freedom isn’t given—it’s taken, earned, defended.

NADYA
(smiling back)
And you remind me that sometimes, defending freedom means more than just words. It means action.

G.I. JOE
(raising his coffee cup)
To the republic. A government of the people, by the people, for the people.

NADYA
(clinking her cup against his)
To the people. And to never letting them forget their power.

The two share a moment of camaraderie, united by their shared belief in freedom, even as their methods differ. Outside, the city hums with life—a reminder of the world they’re fighting for.

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Born American (1986)

A trio of vacationing American students cross the border from Finland to the USSR during the Cold War and are soon imprisoned after a skirmish with Soviet soldiers.