Die fiktionalen einsamen Schützen und die reale Katastrophe

Heute jährt sich der Angriff auf das World Trade Center zum fünften Mal. Viele denken an diesen 11.9.2001 zurück und erinnern sich, wo sie waren und was sie taten, als die Katastrophe passierte.

Spektakulär sind meine Erinnerungen auf den ersten Blick nicht; Mitte September hatte ich den Tod meiner Mutter und die hinter mir liegenden Klausuren des 2. Staatsexamens zu verarbeiten. Dementsprechend lag ich faul im Bett herum und verschlief die Einschläge der Flugzeuge. Kurz danach informierte mich mein Bruder leicht verstört mit den Worten:

"Guck dir das an! Es ist das passiert, was wir gestern im Fernsehen gesehen haben"

Rückblick: tags zuvor hatten wir uns die Pilotfolge der Serie "The Lone Gunmen" zu Gemüte geführt. Wer sich nicht daran erinnert: das war das Spin Off zu "Akte X", welches sich vornehmlich um die Abenteuer von Frohike, Byers und Langley, den spinnert-paranoiden Informationsgebern von Fox Mulder drehte.

Der Plot: die Hochtechnologiefirma E-ComCon hat einen streng geheimen Computerchip namens Octium IV entwickelt, mit dessen Hilfe jede noch so ausgefeilte Verschlüsselungstechnik überwunden werden kann. Die Firma verschwört sich mit der US-Regierung in dem Geheimplan "Scenario-12-d", diesen Chip in ein Flugzeug einzubauen und in das World Trade Center stürzen zu lassen, um eine internationale Krise auszulösen und die Waffenpreise in die Höhe zu treiben.

Auszüge aus dem Episode Transscript:

INT. LONE GUNMEN HEADQUARTERS
Frohike switches to the computer on the other side of Langly.

FROHIKE
I'm mapping the data now.

On the screen, a map of the plane's flight path appears, following
the jet's progression from Maryland toward Boston, passing over Manhattan. Suddenly, the line representing the plane stops on a square, blinking.

Frohike and Langly glance at each other.

LANGLY
Byers...

INT. FLIGHT 265

LANGLY (voice, cont'd)
Your flight's gonna make an unscheduled stop. In exactly 22 minutes.

INT. LONE GUNMEN HEADQUARTERS

FROHIKE
The corner of Liberty and Washington. Lower Manhattan.

INT. FLIGHT 265

BYERS
World Trade Center.
(to Bert) They're going to crash the plane into the World Trade Center.

EXT. LOWER MANHATTAN
Flight 265 bears down on the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

INT. FLIGHT 265, FLIGHT DECK
The pilot and co-pilot are still trying to regain control of the
plane. Bert watches the futile effort.

PILOT
Alright, try cutting electrical power.

BERTRAM
They've thought of that. They've thought of everything.

The pilot hesitates a moment, then switches on the onboard microphone.

PILOT
Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking,
We're experiencing some, uh...some technical difficulties up here. At this time we'd like you all to return to your seats.

BERTRAM
And kiss your asses goodbye.

Bert looks out the front windows at the approaching World Trade Center.

INT. FLIGHT 265, CABIN
Byers on the airphone.

BYERS
Langly, we're getting close.

INT. LONE GUNMEN HEADQUARTERS
Langly is still pouring over his computer.

LANGLY
I know, I know...

He continues typing until the computer freezes again.

LANGLY
DAMNIT!!

INT. FLIGHT 265, FLIGHT DECK
The pilot is on the radio with ground control.

PILOT
New York Center, this is Altantic National flight two-six-five heavy. We are declaring an emergency. We have 110 souls on board, 16,000 pounds of fuel, and no dangerous goods or cargo to report.

INT. LONE GUNMEN HEADQUARTERS
Langly continues working at his terminal. The monitor freezes again.

LANGLY
AH!!

He drops his head into his hands.

LANGLY
Come on Frohike...

INT. FLIGHT 265, CABIN
Byers is hanging on the airphone when Bert returns from the cockpit.

BERTRAM
Your friends have failed, haven't they?

BYERS
(pause)
There's still hope.

BERTRAM
Hope my next funeral's as nice as my last one.

EXT. LOWER MANHATTAN
Flight 265 rips through the night sky toward the World Trade Center.

INT. FLIGHT 265, CABIN
Byers waits on the airphone for word from Langly.

INT. FLIGHT 265, FLIGHT DECK
The pilot stares out the window at the approaching buildings.

INT. LONE GUNMEN HEADQUARTERS
With his head still in his hands, Langly hears his computer beep and looks up to see a window reading "ALERT: REMOTE ACCESS DETECTED, port:1080 offending IP:256.65.9.127" A moment later, another window pops up reading "Manual Override Unlocked."

LANGLY
B-I-N-G-O

He goes to work, typing furiously. Another window has opened off the side of the screen, reading "Octium Inside! Octium IV"

INT. SHOOTING RANGE
Harlow is working at her laptop with Frohike standing by.

INT. FLIGHT 265, FLIGHT DECK
The pilot is staring out the window when the red override button sud-
denly flashes green.

CO-PILOT
We've got manual override!

The pilot pulls back hard on the stick.

INT. FLIGHT 265, CABIN
Overhead compartments spill open and the passengers panic as the plane is jarred from the sudden movement. Byers and his father are sent sprawling.

EXT. WORLD TRADE CENTER
Flight 265 is fast approaching.

INT. FLIGHT 265, FLIGHT DECK
The pilot jams the stick back and pushes hard on the throttle.

EXT. WORLD TRADE CENTER
The plane angles high and pulls up above the edge of the building,
barely knicking a tall light mounted on the roof of the tower.

Müßig zu erwähnen, dass die damals installierten Webseiten e-com-con.com und octiumchip.com schon lange vom Netz genommen worden sind.

Creepy stuff.