Review of Paycheck (2003) by Allogism944 — 27 Jan 2020

Shorty: But that's not the question you should be asking yourself.

Michael Jennings: No?

Shorty: The question that you should be asking yourself is, why did *you* give up all that money? That's the most bizarre part of this whole thing. 90 million dollars. Nobody changes that much in three years! Okay. All right, buddy. I wanna figure out what you built. All right, let's work backwards.

Michael Jennings: They told me that I was working on a design by someone named Decker.

Shorty: Decker?

Michael Jennings: Yeah.

Shorty: William Decker?

Michael Jennings: I think so.

Shorty: What I heard was, he was working on something Level 5 for the Feds when they came in one day and they just shot him down.

Michael Jennings: What was it?

Shorty: Consensus was a laser.

Michael Jennings: Why was that?

Shorty: Because Decker's drawings called for a mirror and a lens. Now, the only thing that uses those things is a laser. Some kind of satellite...

[Jennings is distracted by a wall television announcing the Lotto numbers].

Shorty: The lens required perfect optics. Uh, the mirror and the neutrino count... I mean, word was, the thing was going to cost 500 billion dollars. Now, who's going to spend 500 billion dollars just to see something?

[Shorty realizes Jennings has heard very little of his explanation].

Shorty: What?

Michael Jennings: There's no way I got out of that Extraction Room without the cigarettes and the glasses. I would have never gotten on that bus without the bus ticket. If I didn't have the diamond ring, I wouldn't have followed that kid to Reddy Grant.

Shorty: Right.

Michael Jennings: [excited] I gave up that money just to make sure that I would pay attention to these items.

Shorty: Why?

Michael Jennings: [whispering intensely] Because I know what you'd spend 500 billion dollars to see. The future.