Ari Callahan has no idea how to talk to boys -- or how to talk to anyone for that matter. Enter Zac, the cute new guy in town who won't stop texting her. But is his interest real, or does he have a hidden agenda?
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The Transcript (Segment 7)
Broadcast: THE TRUTH FILES
Episode Title: The Mermaid Hypothesis
Air Date: June 28, 2020
COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT OF TELEVISION BROADCAST
HOST: Our coverage resumes with another key player whose name we've heard mentioned several times. Benedict Pierce, grandfather to Zac and Cyrus Pierce, is widely regarded as the ringleader of the so-called Disruption—a group that some view as a non-violent protest movement, and others would characterize as a criminal organization of anti-establishment hackers and saboteurs. At age 64, Ben Pierce was once a high-level executive with Poseidon Records, a behemoth of the music industry that went under in 2018 in the wake of the SirenSong surge. He joins us tonight via satellite from Switzerland, where he has sought asylum since last summer. Mr. Pierce, thank you for joining us.
PIERCE: Thanks for letting me tell my side of the story—although I have to say, I take issue with some of the implications in that intro you gave me.
HOST: What would you put differently?
PIERCE: The ringleader of a criminal organization? Come on. That's a stretch. No charges have ever been brought against me or anyone else in the Disruption movement.
HOST: No, but you fled the country and sought asylum from a foreign government. That seems like a drastic step for an innocent man.
PIERCE: A precautionary measure.
HOST: Do you fear extradition by the U.S. government?
PIERCE: Of course not. I haven't been charged with any crime. What I fear is retribution from the actual criminal organization in all this—the ones who have a history of making people disappear.
HOST: You're referring to whom, specifically?
PIERCE: My legal counsel has advised me not to mention names. But we have our own unofficial name for them behind closed doors.
HOST: The Counter-Disruption?
PIERCE: That's right. And I'm putting myself back in their cross-hairs, just talking to you tonight. I hope you can appreciate that.
HOST: It's my understanding that the men involved in wrongdoing last summer are now facing charges. Do you believe they could still cause you any harm?
PIERCE: Please. Those guys getting prosecuted are minnows. Bottom of the food chain. Everyone knows the real shark is still out there.
HOST: The real shark being whom? The security company that employed them? Dominick Torrent himself?
PIERCE: You said it, not me.
HOST: Do you have any proof of Torrent's direct involvement in criminal activity?
PIERCE: I've seen some evidence that would make you change your tune about him. I'm not at liberty to say anything more than that. But just based on what's publicly known about the man, you'd have to be a fool not to suspect some serious wrongdoing.
