Chapter 3
The Imperial Productions building was impressive, but Martin Yeo’s office took things to the next level. It was larger than Con’s entire floor back at the Orange County Field Office. It had a small library, two dark brown leather couches, and a tray containing various bottles of expensive-looking alcohol. It also had an incredible view, overlooking the rear of the building. Down below, Con could see a series of picnic tables flanking a large oak tree and beyond that, a man-made pond brimming with crystal-clear water.
Martin Yeo was of Asian descent, but likely second-generation, or maybe only one of his parents had been Asian—probably Korean. He had a small frame, a round, bald head, and wore trendy thick spectacles. He was sporting a bespoke suit.
Martin introduced himself, and Con told him who they were from the other side of the massive desk.
“Thank you for coming out,” Martin said. He had a gravelly voice that seemed befitting of a much larger man. “Can I offer you some water? A coffee, maybe?”
Despite Con’s earlier warning, Chris opened his mouth to speak.
Con beat him to it.
“We’re fine. You called us in because some of your movies have been pirated?” he said, parroting what Chris Hale had told him earlier.
He hadn’t read the actual file, not that it mattered. Con’s strategy for the initial stages of an investigation was to listen and occasionally ask questions.
In truth, he was a little befuddled by the very idea of this case. For all of his experience, he had no idea that hunting down pirated movies was part of the FBI’s purview.
It seemed… pedestrian.
And the exact sort of thing that Marcus would hand over to him.
“That’s right. Three of our big blockbusters last summer were pirated,” the CEO informed them. “They were released online a full month before they hit the theaters—even before a single screening.”
To his right, seated in an identical plush chair that Con had sat his ass down on, albeit with considerably less room on either side of his hips, Chris began scribbling notes.
No, definitely not a ten-year veteran , Con thought.
“Did you request that the sites take them down?”
A broad strokes question, an attempt to get Martin to keep talking.
“We did. They first appeared on YouTube and some other sites, and they were quickly removed for copyright infringement. The real issue was with the torrent sites. We reached out, got no response.”
Con made a mental note to look up whatever the hell a ‘torrent’ site was.
“And these were the completed films?”
“Yes, of course.”
“What I mean is, that these weren’t rough cuts or edits? These leaked versions were the final product?”
The man’s eyes narrowed behind his thick glasses.
“Yes. Completed projects. Full-length films, final edits, exactly what we put into theaters.”
“How many people at Imperial Productions have access to these completed movies before they’re released?”
Con was trying his best not to sound bored, but it was difficult. Going from catching someone like The Sandman to investigating pirated films was like scoring the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl to being a third stringer on your company flag football team.
“I have a list. It’s a small list and they’ve all been vetted. They’re my people, and they wouldn’t steal my movies.”
Martin produced a piece of paper and offered it to Con. Con, in turn, looked at the Owl. The man stared back, blinked, then made a guppy face and nodded.
He took the paper.
“These pirate sites that the movies were being uploaded to—the torrent sites—how do they make money? Do they sell these movies?”
Despite his lack of experience with torrents or pirated films in general, Con thought he knew the answer to his own question, but he asked it anyway.
Anything to encourage Martin to continue speaking.
“They give it away. I don’t think they make money off the movies directly, but it’s still piracy. It’s still against the law.”
Con didn’t say anything.
He never implied it was ‘okay’, Martin had just made this leap on his own.
The CEO leaned forward, placed his elbows on his mahogany desk, and interlaced his fingers.
“The year before last, the year before these pirated movies were leaked, we grossed 1.8 billion dollars from three films in the same franchises. With the three most recent films, we barely broke ten figures. This summer we have our biggest release yet.”
Chris exhaled, clearly impressed by these numbers.
Did you ever think that maybe the earlier movies were just better? Or maybe people have just had their fill of special effects and superheroes?
“Uh-huh.”
“Whoever is behind this is stealing tens of millions from Imperial. I don’t care if they don’t personally profit, what I care about is lost revenue. We cannot afford for this summer’s blockbuster release to be a bust.”
Well, you probably could afford it , Con thought, if you maybe downsized your office, for starters.
“When is this new release slated for?”
“A month from now. We’ve invested two hundred million in marketing alone. Not only does it need to cross the billion mark, it needs to do so in the first month.”
It’s always money with these people. Big money, absurd amounts of money, but still just green paper.
Implicit in Martin’s comment was a threat.
We lose money, you lose your jobs, Agents.
This tactic might work on someone like Chris Hale, but it had no effect on Constantine Striker.
“What are the names of the pirated movies and what’s the name of the film coming out this summer?”
Martin looked displeased.
He had that, ‘ How the hell could you not know? ’ look on his face.
“I bet it was Quantum Guardian, Eclipse: Dawn of Shadows, and Rise of the Titans ,” Chris blurted. Then he snapped his fingers. “Oh, oh, and the one this summer has to be Shadowstrike Legends , right?”
Con wasn’t sure what was more annoying, the excitement in his partner’s voice or the movie titles.
Shadowstrike Legends? C’mon.
It sounded like a card game that incels used to play in high school.
“That’s right,” Martin said with a hint of pride. “ Shadowstrike will start Phase Three of the collective universe. We have two fall releases planned, as well. Shadowstrike needs to do well, or the entire franchise will be in jeopardy.”
Phase Three. Fuck me.
“We’ll look into it,” Con said in an unexpected cheery tone. He clasped his hands together and stood. He gestured for Chris Hale to do the same, and the man pushed himself to his feet with considerable effort.
The seat cushion seemed almost angry, the way it slowly started to regain its original shape.
“You’ve got less than a month. One of the main characters dies in Shadowstrike . We can’t have that leak. It’ll ruin everything.”
“Right.”
Con was almost at the door when Martin called him back.
“You remember The Sixth Sense ? Movie starring Bruce Willis from the late nineties?”
Con actually remembered this film. It wasn’t half bad.
“What about it?”
“Do you know the story about its opening weekend?” Con shrugged. “Well, someone at an earlier screening decided to spill the beans, thought it would be funny to go up and down the line, telling everyone who was waiting that Bruce Willis was dead all along. You want to know what happened to him?”
“What?” Chris said, unable to contain himself.
“Someone hunted him down and stabbed him. Stabbed him dead . We can’t have any pirated versions of Shadowstrike leak, Agents.”
“Cool,” Con said and then left.