"So, there's no changing your mind?", Al asked Selena "Do you see no other way than us breaking up?"
"No", Selena replied.
That conversation was playing in Al's as he was heading home after Selena broke up with him. Trying to distract himself, he put on his headphones and started playing songs as he kept walking.
A little down the road, Al glimpsed at a couple arguing intensely but he paid them no mind and continued looking head. All of the sudden, a van with tinted windows opened up with a man holding a camera and a woman holding a microphone walking out.
"Excuse me, sir", the woman said while she and the cameraman stood in front of Al with the camera filming "My name is Carol. What you just saw was an acted scene. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"
"What scene?", Al responded "Uhm, sure"
"Why didn't you interfere to help the woman?", Carol asked "Do you think it was fair for you to leave the woman to fend for her own"
"Well, I don't know them". Al explained "I had no clue what they were talking about. I feel like it would have been stupid trying to be on her side when I don't know it"
"But, the man had a gun", Carol said.
"He had a gun!", Al gasped and looked behind to see the man holding a fake gun as people slowly return to where they were sitting with panicked looks "What's even the point of doing that?"
"It's a social experiment", Carol explained.
"That demonstrates what?", Al wondered "To show that we're cowards for not interfering? I think everyone would rather you stop doing these"
"I think you should be thankful we're putting effort into showing the sides of humanity no one talks about". Carol justified.
"Oh yeah, I am very thankful", Al responded sarcastically "Without you, everyone would have thought that terrorists and killers should get away with everything if they have weapons"
"Is that how you really feel?", Carol asked.
"Yes", Al responded before correcting himself "Actually, that was sarcasm. I know some people would take it the wrong way. I guess in the end I am just thankful to be alive"
"And that's a wrap", Carol signaled the cameraman to stop shooting before handing a pen and paper to Al "Do you mind signing this release form? You said some interesting things and we'd like to show what you said in our show"
"Sure", Al signed the paper and walked away "Take care"
Two days later at night, Al was sitting was waiting for his friend Lauren to join him at a coffee shop. A few minutes passed before Lauren walked in excited.
"Oh my God, dude", Lauren walked quickly and sat right next to Al "You were on TV!"
"Oh yeah", Al remembered instantly "I was interviewed by this hidden camera show. I forgot to ask what it was called"
"It is Carol Smith's new TV show", Lauren answered "It is called 'Carol Smith's social experiments to raise awareness and create world peace"
"Is that seriously the title?", Al was baffled "It is long, deceptive, and exaggeratingly optimistic"
"I have the clip with you in it", Lauren said while playing a video of the show on her phone.
"No one interfered to help the woman as the man pulled out a gun", Carol narrated the show as the instance of Al glimpsing at the couple arguing was paused and turned into a black and white close up "This man witnessed it all and kept walking without caring"
"Witnessed it all?!", Al was irritated "I barely looked at them! And he wasn't even carrying a gun then!"
"You saw a helpless woman and didn't interfere to help?", Lauren was disappointed as she paused the video "That's cold, dude"
"Okay, no", Al explained "I glimpsed at a couple arguing."
"That's not what the footage shows", Lauren cornered Al.
"Well, it doesn't matter what that footage shows", Al exclaimed "I explained it perfectly in the interview afterward"
Lauren pressed play on the video as it transitioned into the interview with all.
"Why didn't you interfere to help the woman?", Carol asked in the video "Do you think it was fair for you to leave the woman to fend for her own"
"Well, I don't know them". Al explained in the video as it kept cutting to Carol looking disappointed while Al was talking "I feel like it would have been stupid trying to be on her side"
"That's not how it went", Al said as he watched the video "It's obvious they're editing it"
"Is that how you really feel?", the video showed Carol.
"He had a gun!", Al replied with cuts showing Carol's disappointed face after each sentence "I am just thankful to be alive. Terrorists and killers should get away with everything If they have guns"
"Do you see the value of our show highlighting these events", Carol asked.
"To show that we're cowards?" Al responded "I think everyone would rather you stop doing these"
The video ends with Lauren looking disappointedly at Al as he stares at the phone with shock.
"OH MY GOD!", Al shouts "She didn't even ask me that last question!"
"Do you really think we shouldn't help women in need?", Lauren asked with a strict tone.
"NO! I didn't even see the man pulling out a gun", Al answered "I honestly hope I did see him pull it out"
"Why?", Lauren asked sarcastically "Because you would have jumped him then?"
"No, I would have run obviously", Al stated the obvious "I just hope I did because then I would have run and avoided the interview"
"Yeah,", Lauren teased Al "What a great principle!"
"You know what?", Al got frustrated and started walking out of the coffee shop "I am done"
Outside of the coffee shop, Al heard a commission happening a few meters away with a man pulling out a gun and pointing it at a woman. He was preparing to run before noticing the same van with tinted windows parked and started walking toward the man confidently.
As Al was walking toward the gunman, Carol was inside the van making out with the cameraman before noticing the commission happening with the gunman.
"Oh my God!", she panicked "We need to get out of here quickly!"
Meanwhile, Al stood confidential between the gunman and the woman.
"Do you have a death wish?", the gunman asked Al while pointing the gun at him.
"A death wish is something I have not", said in an exaggerated tone while occasionally looking at the van for the cameras he thought were filming "But, it is men who are truly brave that stand to protect their comrade sisters! Then I do have a death wish"
"Okay", the gunman pointed the gun straight at Al's chest "It's your death wish"
"What the hell?!", Al stared in shock as he saw the van driving away before looking back at the gunman with a different attitude while attempting to move to the side "You know, come to think of it, death wishes are overrated anyway. If you look me up on Youtube you'd find that it is well-documented that I think men in your position should get away with things"
Al tried to get away quickly before getting shot in the shoulder.
Three days later
Al sat in his hospital room bed with Lauren by his side while watching a report on TV about himself.
"Al is a national hero", said the anchor while showing a barely visible video of what happened between Al and the gunman "In this video you could see clearly that not only did he stand between the gunman and the woman but also moved aside slowly to maneuver the gunman and take his gun"
"We just got an official word from the governor", the other anchor said "Al will be handed a bravery medal for his heroic actions. Now we move to Carol Smith and what she has to say about what happened"
"It is the ultimate goal of my show", Carol said to the anchor "A few days before that event, Al was a coward but thanks to our show he found bravery. And that is how you save the world"
"Okay,", Al turned off the TV with the remote controller and looked at Lauren "See? I am a national hero now"