Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus The motto of the Austrian Empire, Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus, or Let justice be done, though the world perish
- Austria is fast becoming Europe’s latest debt nightmare.
Arnold: (in his blunt tone, shaking his head) You know, Joe, I tried it already in California. And let me tell you — fuck the politicians. They all look for a bribe, a cushy deal, or some cozy retirement package. They don’t care about the people. They only care about staying in power.
JCJ: (calm but sharp) That’s exactly why I don’t put career politicians on the ballot. My elections? They’re filled with famous people who actually care about their fans, their audience — their people. Actors, musicians, athletes — they can’t hide behind bureaucracy. They live or die by public trust.
Arnold: (raising an eyebrow, intrigued) So you’re saying fame can be cleaner than politics?
JCJ: Cleaner when it’s tied to responsibility. Fans don’t tolerate liars for long. In this new order, we cut out the career parasites. No more perpetual debt machines, no more endless growth fantasies with finite resources. We reset the system.
Arnold: (leaning forward, voice deepening) You’re talking about a revolution.
JCJ: A revolution of trust. If the old order is built on debt and corruption, the new order must be built on loyalty and honesty. And Arnold — you could take back Austria. Imagine it. President Schwarzenegger. Not some faceless bureaucrat. You’d give the people a leader who fought for them, not for a pension.
Arnold: (pauses, then smiles in that signature grin) You’re dangerous, Joe. But maybe you’re right. Maybe Austria needs me back. Not as the Terminator… but as the President.
JCJ: (with a grin of his own) Then let’s terminate career politicians.
The more you walk, run, travel, go to the gym, the more votes you get.
INT. DECOMMISSIONED MISSILE SILO – NIGHT
Floodlights hum. The cavernous space is filled with rows of deactivated nuclear warheads, their deadly silence heavy in the air. The ground trembles as massive robotic arms begin dismantling the missiles, stripping away warheads and reconfiguring them into gleaming launch boosters and spaceship hull sections.
JOHN CONNOR (JCJ) watches, grim but hopeful, his hand brushing along the cold steel of a missile casing.
From the shadows steps WILLIAM CANDY (ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER) — the genial human prototype whose face Skynet once copied for the Terminators. Now, older, wiser, scarred by history, Candy supervises the transformation.
WILLIAM CANDY
(voice steady, almost solemn)
I used to be the face of war machines, John. The mask of judgment day. But now… (gestures to the dismantling process) these weapons of annihilation become the engines of exploration.
JOHN CONNOR (JCJ)
(looking up at him)
You’re turning the end of the world… into the beginning of another.
WILLIAM CANDY
(nods, quoting scripture with his Austrian cadence)
“They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”
JOHN CONNOR
(eyes widen, recognizing the verse)
Isaiah.
WILLIAM CANDY
Exactly. For too long, humanity forged machines for death. Now we forge them for life. These missiles — they will no longer rain fire from the sky. They will launch ships… carrying people beyond the sky.
The robotic arms finish reshaping the first missile into a sleek, silver orbital transport module. A klaxon sounds as it powers up, lights flickering across its hull.
JOHN CONNOR
(smiling for the first time in years)
Sword into plowshares. Judgment into redemption.
WILLIAM CANDY
(firmly, placing a massive hand on John’s shoulder)
The future is not written in war, John. The future is written in what we build.
They stare together at the transformed missile, no longer a weapon of destruction, but a vessel of hope — mankind’s first step to the stars.
FADE OUT.