With all these elements in place, let the games begin. Before the personal bargaining commences, there is wrangling of another kind while a lie of corrupt politicians negotiates with Mephisto. They despair of a country “where corruption rules, lawlessness is law, and despair festers.” Sound familiar? Among the ministers is the president whose presence brings to mind one of Bailey’s earlier villains, Big Dada, a corpulent crony with vast appetites. Mephisto promises them an investor to solve their cash-flow crisis, and with that he departs to bargain with Faust. With a pact sealed, another obstacle appears as the president demands access to “the perfect woman”. A sequence of events unfolds during which Elon is enchanted by Nefertiti (Helen), and their union results in a little Elon, Euphorion. Goethe had modelled Euphorion on the poet, Lord Byron, and spoiler alert: he meets a similar tragic end. With bargaining, euphoria and destruction moving apace, Faust declares his continued ennui, expresses frustration at witnessing the “futile power of unharnessed elements”, and replies scornfully to Mephisto’s offer of fame, “It’s property and power that I want! Fame is bullshit. Action is everything.” With Faust’s eye on both land and ocean, war breaks out, preceded by what can only be described as a ballet of drones. The skilful balancing of drones constructed of unlikely materials encapsulates the preposterous nature of warfare, as the attempts to balance them on poles look precarious, untargeted and random.

The battle ensues, and the crescendo of sound is deafening. There is a barrage of war images, press images overlaid with stock photos and AI-generated graphics, building layer upon layer in a never-ending cycle of obliteration. The de rigueur slogans are placed alongside advertising hoardings offering a forthcoming Riviera. It speaks to the lunacy of the world that this could be a reference to Jared Kushner’s stealth takeover in Albania or his father-in-law’s envisaged real estate plan in Gaza. Either way, the message is clear: ultra-wealthy billionaires plan to make a profit at the expense of anyone who may be in the way. Subsequent scenes present the human cost of the destruction, further destruction, and Elon’s determination to conquer the final frontier: space. Replete with rocket, launch pad and astronaut, the narrative leaves nothing out. Each scene on its own is rendered in vivid detail and, when viewed together, the scenes provide a breathtaking overview of an old story for a new time.