Megalopolis

Our American republic

is not all that different from old Rome.

Can we preserve our past and all its wondrous heritage?

Or will we too fall victim, like old Rome,

to the insatiable appetite for power of a few men.

Time, stop!

I sing of Colossus, and the history of Man.

Let us go whither the omens of the Gods

and the iniquity of our enemies calls us.

The die is now cast.

(OVER RADIO) ...whether or not their president is a crook.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER RADIO)

-(UPBEAT DANCE MUSIC PLAYING) -(CROWD CHEERING)

Watch it! Julia!

-Come on. Hey. Please.

We're gonna go out again.

Call me. Call me later. Like, for breakfast.

Ugh. Whoops!

I hate and I love, why do I so,

perhaps you ask?

All right, let's go. -You think so?

Julia, get in the car.

All right. Bye, Clodio.

Goodbye, my love.

You're not mad at me? You're going to tell my dad?

Let's go.

(OVER RADIO) Mayor Cicero's financial problems

are so huge that only

a federal bailout can solve them.

Julia...

(INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER RADIO)

-(INDISTINCT CHATTER) -(SIREN CHIRPS)

(OVER LOUDSPEAKER) Attention, attention!

Detonation imminent.

Clear the area! Repeat, clear the area!

Explosion imminent.

Wait.

Go.

Wait.

Go.

This time, you've gone too far, Catilina.

This site is under Design Authority jurisdiction.

And what happens if you've overstepped your mandate?

We'll apologize.

Apologize? After the building's down?

Mayor Cicero will be pissed!

Yeah!

Recently elected

New Rome Mayor Cicero's poll numbers continue to drop.

Cesar Catilina,

of the blue-blood Crassus family,

wins a Nobel Prize for invention of the Megalon,

a miracle building material.

When does an empire die?

Does it collapse in one terrible moment?

No.

No, but there comes a time

when its people no longer believe in it.

Then does an empire begin to die.

(ON TV) Our new mayor Franklyn Cicero

has inherited a nasty fiscal situation,

so now he is blamed for the

-firing of teachers, police... -(PHONE RINGING)

Design Authority office.

Put Cesar on the phone. -Hold, please.

(ON TV) ...budget. Uh-oh.

In hot financial news today,

Crassus National is down seven points...

I'm sorry, Ms. Wow,

Mr. Cesar is unavailable just now.

(OVER PHONE) I know he's there.

I'll let him know. Goodbye.

(ON TV) Wow Platinum, your very own Money Bunny,

giving you the score

from the trading room floor.

Cesar gained to his side history's richest man,

his uncle, Crassus,

who was here to support Cesar's vision of New Rome,

which was displeasing to Mayor Cicero,

Cesar's bitter rival.

-(REPORTERS CLAMORING) -Hello, gentlemen.

-Welcome. Good to see you. -(ALL CHEERING)

Good to see you all.

Here we are, waiting above this model of the city,

over the Design Authority's newly demolished site,

which everyone is now claiming as their own.

Hey, Mr. Crassus, over here!

Hey, Mr. Crassus! Over here.

Let me ask you a real question, okay?

Turn the cameras off. Let's have some fun.

Fuck the cards. What is it like being rich?

-What's it like? -Yeah.

Well, you can scare people.

You like to scare people?

Sleighboy, Strayboy, Playboy...

-Gay boy? -(WOMEN EXCLAIMING)

(CHUCKLES) No, sir,

that's my sisters you're thinking of.

Word has it,

you're doing a little hanky-panky with your sisters.

If it's true, stop it.

Rumors, Grandpa, rumors. Rumor.

You could be the next male heir... Could be.

Clodio Crassus Pulcher the Third.

But you never know.

-Running a bank is no joke! -...is no joke!

Claude, protect our family name!

Whoo!

-(INDISTINCT SHOUTING) -(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING)

Hi.

Hello. Hello.

Welcome. Welcome. Welcome, thank you. Thank you.

The heartbeat of our golden city on a hill.

Envision what could be...

A fun casino,

the latest in electronic gaming.

And no construction delays of any kind,

or trouble from the unions or the waterfront,

thanks to the Mayor.

It's really neat, when you run concrete.

Aw, come on.

-Come on! No? -Whoo!

Let's go.

"To be or not to be, that is the question.

"Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

"the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune

"or to take arms against a sea of troubles

"and by opposing end them.

"To die, to sleep no more...

"and by a sleep to say we end the heartache,

"and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to,

"'tis a consummation devoutly to be wish'd.

"To die, to sleep...

"To sleep,

"perchance to dream,

"ay, there's the rub:

"For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,

"when we have shuffled off this mortal coil,

"must give us pause."

"There's the respect

"that makes calamity of so long life..."

Nush, what do you think we do here?

-Wait it out. -(MAYOR CICERO LAUGHS)

"Who would bear the whips and scorns of time,

"th'oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,

"the pangs of dispriz'd love, the law's delay.

"The insolence of office,

"and the spurns that patient merit of th'unworthy takes,

"when he himself might in his quietus

"make with a bare bodkin?"

Where's my bodkin?

As Chairman of the Design Authority,

my jurisdiction covers parks and fairs...

Please don't take a picture of that.

-(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING) -Thank you.

Come out with me.

-I can't. I'm sorry. -Why?

My jurisdiction covers parks and fairs,

and we've already issued the necessary bonds

to develop this site.

The Mayor's show for the honchos

has become a battle for their attention,

especially with Cesar Catilina,

whom I am acquainted,

denying my requests for a comment.

I cleared this site

to create something to inspire people.

People? Oh, wha...

When have you ever even cared about people, Catilina?

Here is my plan:

a city that people can dream about.

People don't need dreams. They need

teachers, sanitation, jobs.