Three Minutes

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Location/Date: July 16, 1974, Time: 21:54 - Somalia (Africa) - Mogadishu (capital) / Night, clear sky, stars visible. Minimal light pollution.

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We see a military squad preparing for a raid.

Somalian Commander (In Somalian): "Are we ready?"

Soldier B (In Somalian): "Affirmative Commander. We await your order."

Somalian Commander (In Somalian) [Thinking to himself]: "We need to wait for confirmation from the American government. If they cancel at the last minute, we could be taking lives without any reason."

Soldier C (In Somalian): "Commander?"

Somalian Commander (In Somalian): "Yes?"

Soldier C (In Somalian): "We have confirmation. We can proceed."

Somalian Commander to Soldier C (In Somalian): "I want everyone at their positions. Prepare the silencers, and be careful with the houses, I don't want civilian casualties. We start in 3 minutes."

In a small house near the military squad, Shu Laper and Tef Laper, a married Japanese couple, are getting their children ready for bedtime. They have two children, Sirius (4 years old) and Tes (1 month old). Sirius complains to his mother about enduring the constant crying of his baby brother, Tes, as they share the same room. While his father, Shu, is giving his brother's new crib the final touches in his room.

Tef: "Sirius?"

Sirius: "Yes Mom?"

Tef: "Go see if your father needs help finishing your brother´s new crib please."

Sirius: "But Dad is strong. He doesn't need help!"

Tef [Laughs]: "Yes, your father is strong, but even strong people need help sometimes."

In the middle of their conversation, Shu enters the kitchen, asking for his son's food.

Shu: "Darling, the crib it's finished. Do you have Tes' bottle ready?"

Tef: "In 3 minutes dear! The milk needs to cool down a bit!"

After their short talk, Tes starts crying in his room again.

Shu: "I'll go there. Sirius, do your father a favor and bring me your brother's milk when it's ready."

Sirius always feels annoyed at these constant tiny requests due to the lack of attention he's been getting since his brother´s birth. But proceeds to answer “Okay” to his father's request. Shu notices his son's reaction but goes to the room to calm Tes crying, who grows stronger by the second.

When the father leaves the kitchen, Sirius and his mom continue their conversation.

Sirius: "Mom, I want my own room. My brother cries too loud."

Tes starts crying from the other room even more aggressively.

Sirius [Covering his ears with his hands]: "See? It hurts the ears."

Tef: "Your brother is a baby, and it's normal for babies to cry, son. And you know... Your father and I don't have the money for another room, so don't get angry at your brother. It's not his fault."

Tef hugs Sirius and caresses his hair, saying very gently:

Tef: "I'm sorry Sirius. One day Mom will give you your own room."

Sirius blushes over his mother's hug and words but continues pretending to be upset.

A few seconds later, Someone rings the house doorbell. Tef goes to the door and asks, "Who is it?" but no one answers. Tes looks at his mother with curiosity as she speaks to herself aloud.

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Tef: "I hope it's not the neighbors complaining about the baby's crying again."

Tef opens the door, noticing there's no one outside. She takes two steps outside the entrance to look around and gets shot in the head, falling to the left. All witnessed by the very own eyes of Sirius.

Soldier D on the radio (In Somalian): "Target eliminated."

Sirius is in shock, Detuned from the moment. Seeing only his mother's feet and a pool of her blood growing outside his house. He then starts hearing footsteps getting closer and closer until he meets Soldier D face to face.

Soldier D sees Sirius and says on the radio (In Somalian): "Target acquired."

When Sirius returns to the moment and sees Soldier D In front of him for the first time, he runs to his room to look for his father. He found him dead, leaning in his brother's empty crib, with a gunshot wound to the head, spilling parts of his brain on his brother's new crib.

He then notices the Somalian commander inside his room, along with Soldier C, holding his crying brother. Sirius leaves the room and tries to escape, but when he reaches the kitchen, Soldier D appears behind him, putting a chloroform-soaked cloth over his mouth, causing him to fall asleep.

The last vision of his home would be his brother's milk that his mother was waiting to cool down.

The agents take the children in a van and head towards a small cabin far away from their home. They arrive and start killing time outside the cabin with small talk. A few minutes pass, and the three Soldiers and commander are at the end of their conversation while tes is still crying inside their vehicle.

Soldier C to Soldier D (In Somalian): "We should take the cargo to the rendezvous point now. The American government might already be waiting for us."

Soldier D to Soldier C (In Somalian): "Don't worry, they usually arrive on time. But I wonder, why would the American government be so interested in two children on the other side of the world?"

Commander to Soldier D and C (In Somalian): "I don't know, and it doesn't matter. If you guys are smart, you'll say the same as me. Now, let's deliver the cargo and get our payment."

They entered the van with the children again, and the military team headed towards a small abandoned plot of land with few trees and a clear view of the sky not far from the cabin.

The Soldiers got out of the car upon arrival. Sirius was tied up and still asleep. His brother had still not stopped crying since he left home.

Soldier D looks at the kids inside the van, feeling anguished for having killed a mother, considering he had a wife and daughter.

Soldier B to Soldier D (In Somalian): "But why won't that baby stop crying? Goodness."

Soldier D to Soldier B (In Somalian): "White babies cry too much. Mine never did this."

Soldier A to Soldier B (In somalian): "This baby's father died with him in his arms. If the same happened to your child, I doubt he would stop crying anytime soon. Work is work, but don't ignore your emotions with foolishness, you Idiot."

Soldier B remained silent, and suddenly, they heard a helicopter approaching. They waited patiently as the American helicopter landed safely on the abandoned plot of land. When both parties were ready, they started the trade.

Soldiers B and D went to get the children.

The commander and Soldier C stayed near the helicopter landing point.

The Somalian commander started talking when the helicopter arrived and its doors opened.

Somalian Commander (In English): "Welcome to Somalia, Mr. Mayer. We've got your cargo just as planned."

The unknown man, 'Mayer,' steps out of the helicopter. Unlike the Somalian soldiers or the men inside the helicopter, who were young and were equipped for war, he was a middle-aged man, wearing only a suit with a black tie. Cord then replies to the commander.

Cord Mayer (In English): "Good job commander. I will be taking the cargo, just as planned."

Mayer dropped two bags on the floor. The Somalian commander proceeds to open and check the top of the bags. We now see that the two bags are filled to the top with money (US dollars). The commander signaled, and the two Somalian soldiers handed the kids to the American agents, who then carried them into the helicopter. The American agents also blindfolded Sirius and put headphones on him and his brother.

Commander (In English): "Pleasure doing business with you."

Cord Mayer smiled, waved, and entered the helicopter, who then flew away.

Completing the exchange, the agents and coronel start talking

Commander to Soldier B (In Somalian): "Let's go to the cabin, we need to divide this. Get the car ready."

Soldier B (In Somalian): "Yes, commander."

In the meantime, Cord Mayer starts talking to himself out loud in the helicopter.

Cord Mayer: "How barbaric, they didn't hesitate to take lives for their own profit."

Suddenly, Cord Mayer receives a call inside the helicopter.

Cord Mayer: "Mr. President."

Nixon: "Is it done?"

Cord presses a button on a remote controller, and from the helicopter's sky view, he sees that the car with the Somalian soldiers and commander just exploded. Cord then proceeds to look at the kids while continuing his phone call.

Cord Mayer: "Yes sir, in fact.... Compared to the last two jobs, this one was the easiest so far."

Nixon: "I see... it went just as planned. Well, I'll make sure you have a good vacation in Europe after the next one, haha. Drink it up! You deserve it!"

Cord Mayer: "Thank you, Mr. President. I'll see you in 24 hours."

Nixon hangs up. And Cord starts thinking to himself as he ejects Sirius with some kind of substance to make him sleep a bit longer.

Cord Mayer [Thinking to himself]: "The president told me not to mention the experiment in these calls... But I wonder what the public would think if they ever learned about this... about what humans were truly capable of."

Cord Mayer then proceeds to speak to one of the pilots.

Cord Mayer: "Hey Johny, can you pass me the baby's milk we brought."

Johny takes the milk from a temperature-insulated bag and hands it to Cord. Cord then proceeds to check the milk's temperature on his hand.

Cord Mayer: "Ahhhhh, it's still too hot... I'll give it another three minutes."