"QRB Only"

A screenplay

INT. DARK DINER BOOTH – NIGHT

Rain taps the window. Neon flickers. Two men sit in silence:

LENNY, lean, eyes like razors.

RAY, jittery, bulky coat. Smells like desperation.

LENNY

You brought it?

RAY

I brought a thing.

LENNY

Don’t start that dance, Ray. You brought it or you didn’t.

RAY

I brought something that'll make your thing look like a goddamn flip phone in a bathtub.

LENNY

(pause)

Is that code?

RAY

No code. It's silicon. It's— (leans in) it’s post-code.

LENNY

(pulls back)

You gonna talk like that all night? Or we gonna deal?

RAY

You tell me. You want Bitcoin, or you want the kind that doesn’t melt when this says hello?

(He pats his coat.)

LENNY

The hell’s in there?

RAY

Something small. Something loud. A little whisper that cracks SHA256 like eggshells.

LENNY

That a threat?

RAY

It’s a question.

LENNY

You don’t threaten Bitcoin. You don’t whisper at it.

RAY

I used to think that. Then I met a guy in Dubrovnik who thinks in qubits. Taught me how to listen.

LENNY

So what, you crack open a wallet, what, Tuesday afternoon?

RAY

Less.

LENNY

(sits back)

Jesus.

RAY

No. Just Ray.

LENNY

Alright. So what are we talking? You sellin’ the tech?

RAY

No, no. I burned the tech. I sell safety. You want old-world Bitcoin, go ahead. But the smart ones? They’re hedging. They’re moving to Q-bitcoin.

LENNY

Quantum-resistant?

RAY

Quantum-indifferent.

LENNY

Bullshit.

RAY

Bullshit buys coffins. I sell time. I sell the chance you don’t wake up broke.

LENNY

(pause)

How much?

RAY

Not money.

LENNY

Always money.

RAY

Not this time. I want access.

LENNY

To what?

RAY

To you. To your ledger. Your list. The people who think they’re safe.

LENNY

(smirks)

You wanna eat the whale.

RAY

I want to warn the whale before the harpoon lands.

LENNY

(chuckles)

Ray. You ever think maybe you are the harpoon?

(pause)

RAY

Only on good days.