(They are in a quiet corner, away from a party or a crowd. Nelly looks stressed, and Joe moves to shield her from view.)
Nelly: (Sighs) “I can feel them staring. I know what they’re saying.”
Joe: (Stepping closer, his voice a low, steady murmur) “Let them stare. Let them say whatever they want.” He gently adjusts his stance, deliberately blocking her from the room. “I’ve been used to protecting you since the days of our Childhood Dreams. This is no different.”
Nelly: (Looks up at him, a worried crease in her brow) “But Joe… they’ll call you crazy. They’ll say you’re picking a fight, that you’re obsessed.”
A slow, defiant smile touches Joe’s lips. “I don’t care if the audience calls me crazy. I’ve learned not to give a fuck about their gossip. The only thing that matters is that you’re okay.”
Bono: (Looks at the sparkling skyline with contempt) “Your dreams were purer than this, kid.” He takes a long drink. “My bones… they’re not a message for me. They’re a message for you, Joe. A reminder that the network sees everything. You think the Mob runs this town? Amateurs. Thugs with cigars. The real power doesn’t get its hands dirty. It signs treaties. It wins Nobel Peace Prizes.”
He leans forward, the city reflected in his eyes. “The Bavarian Illuminati perfected the science of control. And their greatest student, the late Dr. Henry Kissinger, ran New York not from City Hall, but from the Grand Alpina Lodge. Every major developer, judge, and banker in there takes their orders. They are the deep state. Not a conspiracy theory—a conspiracy fact. And they just broke my arm for tapping on their window.”
Joe: (Is silent for a long moment, staring at the city. Then he speaks, softly at first.) “They didn’t break it because you tapped… they broke it because of the song you were humming while you did it.” He turns to Bono. “They fear your jubilee, brother. The great reset. The song that cancels all their dark debts.”
Bono looks up, shocked.
Joe: “It’s in your name. It always has been. It’s why the old power hated you. ’43’ himself, the cowboy they put in charge, he didn’t see a philanthropist. He saw an irritant. He called you ‘The Pest.’ And he hated the name Bono. Because he heard it wrong. He heard BONE NO. The ultimate refusal. That’s why their puppets, the Bavarian Illuminati, didn’t just threaten you. They had to make it literal. They broke your bones in that ‘accident’ to try and break the meaning. To turn ‘Bone No’ into ‘Broken Yes.'”
