The Important Button by Mike Murphy

The peace accords guaranteed humanity's survival. . . almost.

Type:

Short

Status:

For sale

Page Count:

2pp

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Budget:

Shoestring

Age Rating:

13+

Based On:

My short story.

Copyright Details:

WGA.

Synopsis/Details:

The Fenton Accords - guaranteeing a new era of peace among nations - have been signed. The U.S. will soon move its unneeded military computer equipment to the Smithsonian.

Maria, a 52-year-old cleaning woman, has her job to do: Clean up Room 704 (launch control) at an almost-empty military installation. She starts by donning her headphones and picking up all the spent celebratory ribbons, confetti, and party favors from one of the many signing parties.

Then it's time to vacuum the carpet.

In a short time, she accidentally trips over the machine's power cord, nudging a recessed red button on a control panel before falling to the floor.

Enjoying her loud music, she doesn't notice the control panels slowly coming to life and the video of missile silos being uncovered.

As she leaves the room and flicks off the lights, the control panels all power up in the dark for the job they have ahead of them.

Story & Logistics

Story Conclusion:

Tragic

Linear Structure:

Linear

Cast Size:

Single

Locations:

Single

Special Effects:

Minor cgi

Characters

Lead Role Ages:

Female over 45

Hero Type:

Ordinary

Advanced

Equality & Diversity:

Minority Protagonist, Female Protagonist

Time Period:

Near future

Country:

United States of America (USA)

Time of Year:

Autumn/Fall

Submitted: October 14, 2024

Last Updated: October 14, 2024

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The Writer: Mike Murphy

Mike, a four-time Parsec Awards finalist, has had over 150 audio plays produced in the U.S. and overseas. He’s won a dozen Moondance International Film Festival Awards (winner, finalist, and semi-finalist) in their TV pilot, audio play, short screenplay, and short story categories. A more complete list of awards is presented below by year. In 2025, his TV pilot script Milly Foster, Macabre Investigator was a quarter-finalist in the Filmmatic Horror Screenplay Awards (Season 9). In the same year, Mike's screenplay Die Laughing was a semi-finalist in the 2025 New York International Screenplay Awards. In 2020, his screenplay Die Laughing was a semi-finalist in the Unique Voices Screenplay... Go to bio