Atlas Shrugged: Part III Page #5

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month doing who knows what.

Who do you think has been taking

care of business around here?

No one.

Yeah. I need you to check this

one again, Eddie. Will you?

I'm on it.

Thank you.

What is it? Did they

release the rolling stock?

There's a very important dinner

tomorrow night at the Wayne-Falkland.

I promised the boys

that you'd be there.

Seriously, Jim. A dinner? Do you

have any idea what's going on here?

Thompson's inner circle

will be there. Why?

We're gonna talk about

shipping the harvests.

You want to be in on

that decision, don't you?

They're gonna decide how to

save the harvest at a dinner?

If you really want to help your

farmer friends, now's your chance.

Friends?

They're our customers, Jim.

Listen, it's formal,

but don't overdo it.

It would please them.

Tell me you're joking.

Nobody, not even Dagny Taggart,

will deny that there are times

when it's necessary...

to sacrifice the parts

for the sake of the whole.

What parts are we talking about, Mr.

Meigs?

Well, the sickly parts,

of course.

Like Minnesota.

They have to be sacrificed

in order to save the whole...

The entire system.

Sacrifice Minnesota?

Well, yes.

We have to keep cross-country

routing intact...

in case we need to move

troops between states.

You understand. Balance

peacekeeping with the recovery.

To keep order.

You cut off Minnesota,

you cut off the supply of wheat.

You might be able to

sacrifice an arm or a leg,

but you cannot save a body by

sacrificing its heart or its brain.

Well, we're depending upon...

the local farmers in the

Northeast to pick up the slack.

We're counting on it.

There aren't enough local farmers

to feed a population that size.

You know, Miss Taggart,

it's a great responsibility...

to hold the decision

of life or death...

over millions of people...

Sacrifice thousands,

if necessary.

But we must have

the courage to do so.

We have to be practical,

scientific.

- Public welfare is one...

- Pipe down, Jimmy.

Of our biggest...

Cuffy, there's trouble

in California.

There's talk of seceding

from the union.

Oregon's overrun by gangs.

They've murdered

two tax collectors.

Excuse me.

Cuffy's right.

Let's move the rail stock

from Minnesota.

Eddie. What?

How long ago?

I'll be there in 10 minutes.

- Excuse me, gentlemen.

- Dagny?

- Da... Dagny, where are you going?

- Sit down, Jimmy boy.

We're droppin' Minnesota.

- Jeff.

- Miss Taggart.

- What's the matter?

- Switching signals are dead.

I got four inbound trains,

two outgoing, all frozen.

I can't get 'em out

of the damn tunnels.

We can't seem to find

the breach in the system.

I'm telling you, Miss Taggart, there's just

no guidelines for this kind of emergency.

I'll take care of it.

Eddie, where's

the systems engineer?

Can't find him.

Call Chicago Southern.

Tell them to get their systems guy

out of bed and get him down here.

- Tell them I'll pay whatever it costs.

- I'm on it.

We'll make

our own guidelines, Jeff.

Get all of our nonadministrative

people out here... all of 'em.

Section hands, track walkers,

whoever's in the terminal...

- I want them here now.

- Here?

I'm responsible. Get every source light

and lantern you can lay your hands on.

Then get some red and green

cellophane and tape.

Lanterns?

Lanterns. Get going.

- Yes, ma'am.

- What are we doing here, Miss Taggart?

We're going to move the trains.

How?

By hand. I want you to put a man

with a light at each switch.

That could take all night! And all day

tomorrow, if that's what it takes.

But these trains will move.

Excuse me.

Bring it in! Hey, hey.

Come on in, guys.

Hey, listen up, guys!

Hey.

I'm Dagny Taggart.

The instructions you are about

to receive come from me.

The men who issue them are

acting under my instructions.

The tower director will assign

the switchmen to their posts.

I count on each of you...

to get the trains rolling

and to...

Something wrong, Miss Taggart?

Go ahead.

Assign the posts.

Let's do this.

Let's go!

Hey, I can see the signal!

It's workin'!

It's actually workin'!

Son of a gun.

Who's John Galt?

When the Rearden steel mills

fell silent...

after Hank's disappearance,

the Unification Board called him

a greedy, selfish capitalist,

while Thompson promised to announce greater

reforms to get things back on track.

At the same time,

Cherryl Taggart, Jim's wife,

learned she had married a fraud.

Jim Taggart was not the man

she thought he was.

Floyd?

Hey, Jimmy.

Yeah, I just read

the article about Cherryl.

Yeah, that's... No, that's not my fault.

Right. Right.

I had nothing to do with it.

Sure.

It's tragic. I just...

Say, your sister's gonna

help Thompson, right?

Yeah. No, I'm gonna...

I mean, she is.

I'm gonna get her to be on

stage with him.

All right... yeah.

It's gonna help

the underprivileged.

That's something

you should know about.

You're always so damn

anxious to hide the fact...

that you come from the slums.

I'm a genius! I'm gonna have more money

than you could possibly imagine.

More than those grubby mechanics,

Rearden and my sister.

Whatever they do, I can undo

just like that. Just like that!

Like snapping a spine.

- Now you want to break spines?

- Oh, God, I never said that.

You know I never said that.

That's not what I meant.

What is... What's the

matter with you?

- What's the matter with me?

- What's the matter with you?

I came to apologize. There's no

reason why you should forgive me.

I just learned the truth

about you and Jim.

I know it's you

who runs the railroad...

and you who built

the John Galt Line.

Can you forgive me?

Of course I forgive you.

Thank you, Dagny.

You might want to dial it down

just a little bit.

Mr. Thompson sits between

science and industry.

Dr. Stadler, please.

The chair

on Mr. Thompson's left.

Miss Taggart, to the right.

Showtime.

Twenty seconds.

Am I a guest or prisoner?

That choice is yours.

In 10...

Didn't you name

the John Galt Line after me?

But I named it after my enemy.

Well, that's the contradiction that

you're gonna have to figure out.

...four,

three...

I won't be a part of this.

You won't?

It's not just for the press, Miss Taggart.

It's for the audience also.

- Dagny, for Christ's sake!

- Cherryl deserved better.

Get her back here! Is anyone with

a brain left in this country?

- Dagny! - Ladies and gentlemen,

Head of State Thompson.

Good evening,

my fellow Americans.

Tonight, I can't...

Ladies and gentlemen,

Mr. Thompson will not

speak to you tonight.

His time is up.

For years, you've asked,

"Who is John Galt?"

You've asked that question

in despair and resignation...

as factories closed,

goods became scarce,

jobs disappeared.

Your lives are becoming

more difficult...

as the life force of your world

is draining away.

You have asked that question

without expecting an answer.

I'm here to answer it.

This is John Galt speaking.

Mr. Thompson won't tell you the truth

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