Stephen Falken:
[looking at screens] How far's he gone?
McKittrick:
Well, the President about ready to order a counter-strike. That's what we're recommending he do.
Stephen Falken:
It's a bluff, John, call it off.
McKittrick:
No, it's not a bluff. It's real.
Stephen Falken:
[raising his voice from stairs] Hello, General Beringer! Stephen Falken!
General Beringer:
[standing] Mr. Falken you picked a hell of a day for a visit!
Stephen Falken:
Uh, uh, General, what you see on these screens up here is a fantasy; a computer-enhanced hallucination. Those blips are not real missiles. They're phantoms.
McKittrick:
Jack, there's nothing to indicate a simulation at all. Everything is working perfectly!
Stephen Falken:
But does it make any sense?
General Beringer:
Does what make any sense?
Stephen Falken:
[points to the screens] That!
General Beringer:
Look, I don't have time for a conversation right now.
Stephen Falken:
General, are you prepared to destroy the enemy?
General Beringer:
You betcha!
Stephen Falken:
Do you think they know that?
General Beringer:
I believe we've made that clear enough.
Stephen Falken:
Then don't! Tell the President to ride out the attack.
Colonel Conley:
Sir, they need a decision.
Stephen Falken:
General, do you really believe that the enemy would attack without provocation, using so many missiles, bombers, and subs so that we would have no choice but to totally annihilate them?
Female Airman First Class:
[on loudspeaker] One minute and thirty seconds to impact.
Stephen Falken:
General, you are listening to a machine! Do the world a favor and don't act like one.
