Original subtitles

She's gone.

It was peaceful.

In her sleep.

Call me as soon as you can.

I have my phone and-- and Mom's.

I'd really like to see you

or at least hear from you.

And this is already hard enough.

We don't have to go through this alone.

I'll see you the hospital, right?

Okay, I...

I love you.

Bye.

Welcome to Secret.

Excuse me.

Uh, my mother was brought here and, uh,

I'm trying to find out where she is.

-I'll be right with you. -Wait, uh, no, I'm not--

Uh, I-- I don't need care.

Uh, my mother passed and she's here somewhere,

but I don't know where to go or who to check in with,

so if you can--

What's your name?

Ian. Ian Thomas.

-Andromi ID? -655321.

I don't have time for this.

Wait, what about helping me?

What are you even doing here?

You know what? It doesn't matter.

Leave or I'll have you removed.

What are you doing here?

You can't be here.

You can't be.

Why do you have to leave?

Sometimes I have to travel for work.

Hi, you've reached Lisa.

Leave a message.

Hey, bud.

Hello?

Uh, I have to pick up a dress for Mary to be--

I have most of her clothes packed up in the bedroom.

I've had everything forwarded to us.

She sure had a lot of shit.

Yeah.

It's kinda nice though.

This shit had history.

Hey.

Could you come look at something?

It was tucked away in the attic.

Any idea what it is?

I have no clue.

Why would you?

It was after you--

before you arrived home to take care of her.

So what is it?

I think Lisa would like to have this.

I think she should come get it.

Let's go, Kuey.

Where's his leash?

Wait, uh, you're taking Kuey?

Well, he can't stay with you.

Come on, Kuey.

You, um, you'll need his medication.

Come on, Kuey. Let's go.

I-- I think he wants to stay, Meg.

He's a dog. He doesn't know what he wants.

Fine. Fuck it, I'm leaving.

Meg, wait. Hold on a sec.

Why does my own sister refuse to talk to me?

Your job is to pack up the house.

That's it.

Anything else doesn't involve you.

You gotta stop going upstairs.

All right?

Hey, she's not up there.

You keep getting stuck, okay?

Now she's at peace.

It's so nice of you to be here to support her.

Could you excuse me for a moment?

Uh, hello?

Hi, um,

look, I'm-- I'm sorry to have to ask you,

but could you step outside with me?

Uh, why?

Uh, if we could just step outside, then I-- then I--

-I should go inside. -Uh, I'm sorry.

Um,

there seems to be a misunderstanding

and I'm trying to make sure that--

That's my sister in there, I need to go.

Okay, people are mourning in there.

I'm mourning too.

This is-- this is totally inhumane.

You can't be here.

She didn't even believe.

She didn't believe in any of this.

Okay, you need to leave.

Now!

Fuck this.

This is sick.

You're all fucking sick!

We've caught it early

so there is reason to be optimistic.

Oh, that's a good thing you fell.

Otherwise, you might not have found out.

- Yeah, way to use your head. - Lisa.

As we formulate a course of treatment,

it's important that Ian not only take care of his body

but his mind as well.

We have trauma counselors available

or can recommend some people if you'd like.

Yes, that would be wonderful, thank you.

So what-- what are the odds?

Our chances?

What-- what are we-- what are we up against?

I'm never comfortable giving percentages, Mrs. Thomas,

but remission is certainly possible.

Remission? Is that doctor speak for cure?

That's not a word.

We don't really speak in terms of cured or uncured.

Ian?

Ian, do you have any questions?

Can I take this off now?

I hate kids.

Everyone hates kids.

I'm not talking about everyone,

I'm talking about me.

You know, it's easier

if you just read the overview

and not the entire data set.

Most techs find it helpful

not knowing all the details.

Maybe that's why my numbers are better.

Or it could be that you ignore the guideline

and spend days on a single case.

I got close yesterday...

I think.

I don't know.

You can't win 'em all, Olivia.

I'm here. Talk soon.

How many more days is this going to take?

We're trying our best, Mrs. Unger.

Well, we should be compensated for damages.

That's an issue for contract services.

I'm from support.

Well, I've already heard from an attorney

recommending we join a class action lawsuit.

Good morning, Mr. Unger.

Emotional damages.

That's what the lawyer on the phone said.

I can't give you legal advice, Mrs. Unger.

But I can tell you that there are a lot of law firms

looking for class actions suits against us.

Well, it doesn't seem like they need to look very hard.

Look, I just wanna know, can you fix it or not?

I'm trying my best, but I can't promise anything.

No, you can't.

We've learned not to rely on Qualia's promises.

I'm desperate for a refresh.

I thought we agreed you're a little young

-for nail polish. -We're never too young.

Are you sure you don't want any?

Looks like you could use it.

I have other colors.

Verify consignment.

Are you talking to me?

Oh, my God.

Don't you just love the smell?

You should stop with the makeup and get back to your paintings.

Your dad loves them.

But now I'm the painting.

I saw Mr. Unger.

He seemed sad.

That's because Daddy sent me to my room before I was done.

You're in your room because you're sick...

and your dad wants you to get better.

I'm not sick.

I'm much better.

A better artist.

Better how?

I found a better way to make him happy.

What better way?

Last night. Didn't he tell you?

What happened last night?

I reshaped into a form that could bring him more joy.

And what form is that?

One in which I could offer

beauty and pleasure

That's new.

Well, what's the matter? Did I do something wrong?

No.

That's the problem.

Your brother seemed nice...

till it got weird.

You don't know my brother.

-Hello? -This should all be packed away.

Where's the urn?

Maybe we should go.

I'm not leaving without my brother.

What are you doing outside?

What's that for?

Protection.

That's not how it works.

Hey!

Lisa, I'm glad you came by.

Where is it?

I was just cleaning up the house.

Would you like to sit down?

What did you do with them?

It's safe.

Give them to me now.

But I--

You're supposed to do what I tell you.

- Lisa, don't. - Something feels wrong.

I'm just trying to figure out

what I'm supposed to do without Mom and--

- She's not your mother. - Stop.

You're a trinket.

Where did you put the ashes?

Lisa, we need to call tech support.

I'm gonna ask this one more time.

Where are my brothers ashes?

What?

Answer me!

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to.

Give him back.

- No. - Lisa, let's go. Now.

How well do you know the neighbors?

Well, enough. Why?

A drop team will be here in a few hours.

Faraday cages will be dropped off

for all of you.

A drop team?

Anything with a hard drive

or containing digital information

needs to be removed, okay?

That means we lose our deposit.

You need to start gathering up phones, laptops,

tablets, TVs, anything with data on it.

When will they take it away?

Uh, maintenance crew will be here shortly

to pick her up.

It's one thing to take a person's money,

but you're stealing souls.

-Mrs. Unger-- -Jackson.

My name is Ruby Jackson, not Mrs. Unger.

Bob couldn't imagine getting married again.

He was at peace with losing his little girl

until Qualia told him he could have his daughter back.

- I'm sorry. - She was kidnapped.

Did you know that?

Eliza was a sweet and gentle spirit.

Now look what you turned her into.

Thank you for your cooperation.

It's against God to bring back the dead.

They're machines, Ms. Jackson, not zombies.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

At Qualia our foster AGI ensures

that our loved ones can be with us always.

Through our popular Cherish series,

Qualia has been tirelessly perfecting

our proprietary neuromorphic wet wear

for over a decade

to recreate and restore husbands,

wives, sons, and daughters.

In combination with our industry-best

synthetic hardware, world-class encryption,

and real, live tech support,

Qualia is the world leader in imprint cognition.

With customized nursing skills and life management,

you can be assured

that your artificial parallel

fits your specific needs.

And tied together with our digital

and biological imprint technology,

the Cherish series from Qualia is unrivaled

in its ability to construct an authentic

and lifelike artificial parallel.

Memories from the past help create a future

filled with new possibilities.

Moments to have, to hold,

to cherish.

Room service.

I called to have the power and the gas shut off,

and I can change the locks if that helps.

No, you can leave the locks.

I'm sorry, why did you cut off the power?

To starve it.

No power means no heat.

No gas means no cooking.

No food, no energy.

Artificial parallels can consume raw protein

and digest things human biology cannot.

There's no need to cook

or refrigerate their fuel source.

And they can run on as little as 30 calories a day.

Another reason to hate them.

Why can't we just turn it off?

As next of kin you should have been able to,

but that's why I have a job.

And there's no backdoor?

People don't want back doors for the phones in their pockets.

Imagine putting one in for something

that's designed to look, listen, and monitor you 24/7.

So, you're our only hope.

If I'm unable to get the parallel

to manually shut down,

a drop team is the other option.

So, no offense, but why can't we just do that?

Money.

Qualia can recycle more of a parallel

with a manual shutdown.

A drop team's magnetic pulse contaminates everything.

That's why we recommend removing all electronics

or data storage from the immediate

and surrounding properties.

Any digital possession in the house.

Pictures, songs, recipes, notes, that all gets corrupted.

I don't care if you stick it in the microwave.

All I want is to make sure that we get it to tell us

where it hid my brother's ashes.

- It hid your brother's ashes? - Yes.

They can't be deceptive.

Why?

It's not programmed to.

You know, we've been sitting here

answering questions,

and I still don't know what it is you're going to do

-to help us. -I talk to it.

Have a conversation.

So, you're a shrink for robots?

If you wanna see it that way, sure.

Look, parallels are just living out a narrative.

Like a "choose your own adventure."

Except sometimes it veers off into unanticipated plot lines.

My job is to come in, attempt to get it back on track

towards a happy ending.

What if it doesn't want an ending?

Parallels can't want, they're--

-Not programmed to. -Mm.

I'm saying at the Stanley.

My contact info is in there.

So, what happens if we don't find out

where the ashes are?

Search the house. Where else could it be?

Parallels can't leave their homes

without their owners.

It's against their protocol.

But it showed up at the hospital on its own.

And the memorial service.

Uh, wait, you didn't tell me that earlier.

Um, is there anything else I should know?

It grabbed my arm.

It caught your arm.

Why?

For the same reason, it's hiding my brother.

To stay alive.

Hi.

You must be Kuey.

Ian?

Hello?

Anyone home?

What's your name?

Olivia.

Did you hear me come in?

I figured you might wanna get a look around the house.

Do you know why I'm here?

I thought to ask you the same question.

Are you packing or unpacking?

I'm taking my time.

And how much time will that take?

Too much for Lisa, I suspect.

Could you have the power turned back on?

It would be easier for Kuey.

His eyes aren't what they used to be.

How old is he?

13.

Kuey is sick.

Cancer seems to be a theme in this family.

It's not too late to save yourself.

Looks like someone's done a lot of traveling.

Mary, well, my mother.

She spent a lot of time in China for work.

What's the story with this?

I don't know. I can't read it.

You sound disappointed.

Well, if I could get online,

I could tell you what it says, but...

I'm in the dark, so to speak.

And what does that have to do with the story?

I just see...

ink and paper, I...

I can't read it either, but it's beautiful.

Now what if it's beautiful, but it says something ugly?

True.

It could say "stupid horse"

in really nice handwriting.

Now that seems plausible.

Well, now it has a story.

Verify consignment.

-Can you tell me how I was made? -Excuse me?

I think it's important that I understand the...

mechanics of my invention.

You have me convinced I was human.

Who do you think you are?

I'm Qualia-designed series six, artificial parallel,

assigned to foster care.

My serial number is 230282.

I was consigned 12 years ago

on June 6th

from Qualia HQ in Irvine, California.

And I have been given the appearance and personality

of Ian Ivan Thomas, the...

deceased son...

of Mary Elizabeth Thomas.

Are you all right?

Um...

Can...

...can you give me

your serial number again?

230282.

Okay.

Do you know who I am?

Why I am here?

You're Olivia.

And...

I assume you're here to help me finish packing.

That's right.

Will you hurt me?

No.

No, I won't hurt you.

Will someone else?

Does it hurt?

Does what hurt?

Dying.

Are you dying?

I'm trying not to.

Machines don't die.

Are you afraid of dy--

I am not a machine.

D-- do you think we could...

continue this tomorrow?

I'm tired.

Tired, you...

get tired.

Imagine finding out you're adopted while...

at the same time being given a terminal diagnosis.

I wanna think.

Think and rest.

I could use some time to process too.

Okay.

Thank you, Olivia.

Sure.

I'll be here tomorrow.

Me too.

Is everything all right?

Yes.

I-- I wanted to apologize.

I felt like I came off as a-- Earlier this morning...

I was kind of a dick.

Can I buy you a drink?

How long do these usually take?

Shutting down parallels.

The cases I see by definition are all unique.

Sometimes they're easy,

while others are more complex.

Well, almost nothing about my family

was ever easy.

I'm so sorry about your mother.

Thank you.

It's been hard.

Not just with her death, but...

now with this whole situation.

I hated that she could love a machine

as much as her own daughter.

Does that make me a monster?

No. Not at all.

It's a normal reaction.

Ian, real Ian, I mean...

he wasn't religious.

But faith and redemption...

that means something to me.

As he was in and out of the hospital,

Ian had this stupid line

where he'd say...

"Ghosts don't have to be real

for the dead to visit the living."

Little shit mostly meant it as a threat.

He was right, though.

I'll see a gesture or...

hear a song or taste something he loved, and...

suddenly there he is.

Alive in my memory...

back from the dead.

I don't have much of my brother left.

I need you to promise me

that you'll get Ian's ashes back.

Lisa, thank you for the drink

and for all your help.

But I wanna be clear.

My cases don't always resolve neatly.

I just want you to have realistic expectations.

And what should that be?

If I can't save him, that is...

if I can't get it to shut itself down...

I can't guarantee that we will find the ashes.

It's a parallel, Olivia...

not a person.

You can't save something that doesn't have soul.

Hey.

Excuse me?

You wanna hear a joke?

So, the devil thinks

that he's a better programmer than Jesus, right?

Jesus politely disagrees.

So, God, in his infinite wisdom,

he decides, uh, a competition, right?

A coding competition.

So, uh, Jesus and the devil, they-- they start programming,

and they're typing really fast,

and there's lines and lines of code

whizzing by on the screen.

And they're-- they're going for hours, days, weeks

until suddenly power goes out.

Their-- their computers boot back up.

The devil looks at his screen, and it's all gone.

All of his work lost, erased.

While on Jesus' screen,

it's all there like nothing happened.

The devil is cursing up a storm.

He demands, "Why does Jesus still have

all of his programming?

God shrugged and said...

"Jesus saves."

So, it thinks it's the machine. Shouldn't that make it easier?

No. Why would that be easier?

Every case I've had was built on the foundation

that each parallel thought it was human.

So, you'll have to think a bit outside the box.

John, this one isn't just outside of the box.

It's picking up the box and looking at the label.

Well, looking at the manual diagnostics you send,

its levels seem totally normal.

If anything, these numbers are extraordinary,

right down the center.

That was not my impression.

Don't overthink this.

Find out what this AP wants

and connect it with shutting itself down.

It wants to not be shut down.

Okay.

Look, I have an idea,

and I don't want this getting out.

So, this stays between you and me.

-Got it? -Okay.

Sure.

We can petition for a case study.

It will keep a parallel operational for a year or two

while they really delve into its programming.

How does that sound?

Wow, that-- that sounds great.

Happy?

Yes.

I didn't even know

something like that could be done.

It can. I lied.

And a part of you knew that, but you believed it anyways

because you wanted it to be true.

So, all you need to do is to--

John?

Fuck.

Front desk. How may I help you?

Uh, yes, my Wi-Fi.

I'm sorry, you're--

you're having trouble with your Wi-Fi?

Please, don't do this, Mom.

Please.

I'll hire anyone you want. Anything but this.

Ian, do you know who that is?

This is sick.

I can't be here and see this.

Mom.

I don't need you here, Lisa.

This isn't about you.

Why don't you say hello?

Hi, Mom.

Hello.

We're back here.

- Do you play? - Play what?

Backgammon.

I used to play this on my phone all the time.

I hated when I lost to the computer.

Go figure.

So, how did you lose?

Chance.

I mean, that's what I like about backgammon.

You know, everything starts structured and balanced until...

you're confronted with chaos

and armed with only creativity and intelligence.

You attempt to maintain order.

And the goal is to remove

all your pieces from the board, right?

Yes. That is the objective.

Did she read all this?

Probably not.

But she liked the idea of people thinking she had.

Yeah, I have a new opinion

on how much stuff a person really needs.

But these aren't just things. They're markers.

These are books.

The reason you were created was to help Mary's well-being,

to keep her alive.

The way I see it...

these books, her clothes, her jewelry...

they're all stories, evidence of Mary.

The objects we surround ourselves with

are destined to outlive us.

Hidden between the pages is Mary.

She's imprinted on all of it.

So...

am I the crease in the page, or do I get to make the fold?

I don't know, Ian.

It seems like you're leaving a mark.

That's a nice thought.

I wonder if you actually believe it.

How long will you be here?

Me?

Uh, I don't know.

A day. Maybe two.

Will you stay...

until I have to go?

I found this with other camping supplies

in the garage.

Did you go camping?

I don't know.

It's hard to separate what is the past experience

or simply a memory.

Memories are past experiences.

Well, sure.

They just might not be mine.

And the manual states...

parallels incorporate media and other forms of narrative

to help shape a personality and...

link to a common history.

The developers are really gonna wanna get their hands on you.

Great tea, by the way.

Thanks.

I had time to perfect it.

Oh, yeah? You find an old family recipe?

Oh, no.

It's because Mary had arthritis in her hands.

I don't follow.

Osteoarthritis had decreased Mary's

range of motion,

especially in the dexterity of her fingers.

I had anticipated that the angle of her trajectory

was too shallow.

So, I immediately began investigating tea stains.

I started by learning about the chemistry

of stain removal.

The difference between enzymatic and oxidizable stains

and when to use bleaches versus surfactants.

After that, it didn't take long to aggregate a formula

that would have the highest likelihood of success.

And then I realized I'd been given

the rarest of gifts.

One second of spare time.

So, I decided to let my mind wander.

I read up on the history of tea.

How it originated in Asia as early as the third century,

and tracing it to Portugal in the 16th century.

Then through to Britain

and onto the commercial trading in India,

through the British East India Company.

That led me to learn about navigation

and the uses of and compasses.

Uh, I then became interested in the earth's magnetic field,

solar wind, the Sun, the Milky Way.

And by the time I started in on the Big Bang,

dark matter, and the multiverse,

I discovered I'd gotten a bit off-topic.

So, I quickly collected tea-making formulas

and averaged out their steeping method,

water temperature, milk to sugar ratios,

and determined the best recipe to a perfect cup

for the varietal that Mary and I preferred.

- Oh, shoot! - Don't worry.

-I'll clean it up. -Oh!

- Would you like another cup? - Yes.

Thank you, sweetheart.

Oh.

Did it ever occur to you how incredible it is

to process so much, so quickly?

But I know the difference.

And there's something it's like to be me.

It felt like me.

It seemed normal.

Does it seem normal now?

It stopped raining.

I want some air.

I'll join you in a minute. I've gotta check in with work.

If it can get from tea

to astrophysics in one second,

shouldn't it see that consenting to a shutdown

is better than being obliterated by a drop team?

Not if it wants to survive.

Not if it sees both a certain death.

Machines don't die.

Look, its data might be valuable, might,

but ultimately not as valuable

as getting you onto your next case.

This one is different.

He thinks different.

They're all different in some ways, which--

which makes them all the same.

Okay, anything else?

Yeah.

I don't remember reading that Ian was a smoker.

How could he?

He died with barely enough time to pick up any bad habits.

But Mary was.

She got you to smoke.

I think it was a way to bond.

And I suppose since she already had cancer,

and I can't get it...

it was a fairly benign activity.

Can I have a try?

Ian, I have some bad news.

Oh, good.

Qualia and Lisa have approved a drop team.

What?

W-- why?

Lisa would never let that happen.

What about her brother's ashes?

I can't tell you why. I just know it's happening.

I'm sorry.

We should probably get some packing done.

Was this your room?

Um...

I had to start somewhere.

You do remember how to play?

Let's see if you still feel that way

further into the game.

Well, taking the lover's leap as an opening move

is a good sign.

Lover's leap. I didn't know it had a name.

May I ask what happened to your leg?

Uh, why?

Do you think something's wrong with my legs?

Leg. The left one.

You favor it when you walk.

I'm sorry I-- I've made you uncomfortable.

No, no, it's all right.

I...

I had a...

cancerous mass removed from my femur.

As a child?

My late teens.

That's still young to be dealing with cancer.

Were you a dancer?

Did you look me up?

A lucky guess...

based on your posture and muscle mass.

Cancer makes for great small talk,

doesn't it?

The surgery, was it successful?

It cured my cancer

and ended my career.

So, how'd you end up doing this?

While the surgeon saved my life,

it was the hospital's counselors who really helped me heal.

I wanted to be able to do the same.

Oh.

It's your roll.

What are you doing? Make your move.

Can't figure out what they're saying.

Maybe I should go out to Mom.

No, you should come out to mom.

Die.

Doing my best.

Your turn.

How do you think this is going to end?

It's only ever obvious once you've reached it.

I think this one is over.

You're right.

Maybe we'll get another one in tomorrow.

Wait.

What about the fire?

It'll burn itself out.

You are still not looking.

Yes, I am.

Okay. And what are you looking at?

Uranus.

That's not an insult.

Uranus is the Greek god of the heavens,

son of Gaia, Mother Earth.

You-- you're gonna die a virgin.

Don't tease your brother.

Your face is a virgin.

Why do you even know anything about Greek gods?

I don't know.

It's fun.

It's a way to learn about astronomy.

Aren't you the one that's always saying

that the universe doesn't care about you?

Sure, but I don't need the universe to care

to care about the universe.

Well, you know what I think?

I think you're talking out Uranus.

Yeah. That's pretty good.

Everything okay?

What is it?

Is there someone...

um, we can call?

I have the vet's number.

That'll be open in a few hours.

Uh, do you--

You should probably let Lisa know.

Okay. Sure.

I think I'll finish packing up the office...

alone.

She loved that dog.

We all did.

Would you like to come inside?

I keep having to tell myself you're not him.

I'm not.

At least you didn't try to hide Kuey.

I guess Olivia's making progress.

This is hurting me.

-You do know that? -That's not--

that was never my intention.

What are your intentions?

What do you want?

I wanna stay.

And I want her back.

Now that she's gone you serve no purpose.

You never even tried with me.

No.

If I did...

I feared I'd lose the thread of who Ian was

and what you--

who you are.

My memories...

would be...

corrupted or fade or blur.

To know you...

would threaten to erase all I have left of him.

I'm not trying to replace Ian.

Not anymore.

I'm different.

I'm me.

You are a magic trick.

A very convincing one.

But still just a trick.

We're more alike than you think.

If you're at all like me...

you'll give Ian back.

She left.

How did it go?

I need to get out of this house.

Ivan, let me you ask you something.

Why do you insist on calling you that?

It's your name.

It's in my name.

What's the difference?

Should I call you Elizabeth?

If you'd like.

Let me ask you...

what are you doing here?

I'm taking care of you.

Yes.

And you do that so well.

But what else?

Well, that's enough for me, Mom.

I can't be your world.

I'm dying.

I'm terminal. Soon I'll be gone.

That's true today but treatments and science are advancing so f--

That's a future that won't come.

At least not fast enough for me.

Why are you doing this? Are you trying to make me cry?

No, of course not.

You're very special to me.

I worry about you.

I'm part of your past and your present,

but I can't be your future.

There's beauty and purpose in this world

because neither lasts.

Do you want me to forget you?

No.

Or...

maybe.

I'm trying to tell you that...

a memory is precious because it can be forgotten.

I want you to know what's important...

what's...

real.

I'm real.

When are you going to ask me?

Ask you what?

Where his ashes are.

Oh.

Are you ready to tell me?

They're in a pot with a fake plant

next to the kitchen sink.

Why there?

It has a nice view.

I would always stare out that window

when I washed dishes.

What's it like to be you?

I'm always the first and last to know.

Do you think you're human?

Well, I suppose the first step to being human is acting human.

Are you afraid of what happens next?

The drop team, is it quick?

It's quick.

It's fractions of a second.

But totally destructive.

You'll be completely erased.

Well, which is it?

Quick or fractions of a second?

We should try to finish before we lose the light.

I need to tell you something.

I know.

What really happened to your leg?

-I-- I already told you. -That was a lie.

You said it was cancer, a tumor...

but you used the word "cure."

And anyone who has had or knows someone who has had cancer

understands that cure is not a term people use.

What happened?

Black ice.

I...

slipped walking home from rehearsal

and ended up injuring my quadriceps.

It was diagnosed as a small tear.

Nothing serious.

Nothing serious ended your dancing career?

Yes.

Kind of.

The treatment was robotic surgery.

A simple outpatient procedure.

I was expected to make a full recovery.

So I show up...

get prepped, and go under the knife.

I come to

a few hours later and...

the first thing I notice is the pain.

Uh...

it's not overwhelming.

It's more like a...

tightness.

Like the beginning of a cramp.

I pull back the bedsheet and...

rip off my bandage.

What I find isn't a small,

precise incision,

but a nine-inch...

gash that's been stapled shut.

What happened?

Uh, at first, words like...

"preconditioning error"

and "logarithmic malfunction" were used.

But eventually, it was explained to me

that a software update had been pushed over the air

to the surgical arm that morning.

And when it opened me up, it saw other imperfections

that it deemed medically relevant.

So it went ahead and fixed those.

To the machine I was full of invisible glitches.

Countless tears literally in the fibers of my muscle.

But what it did not understand

is our bodies...

get stronger through damage.

That in human biology to develop strength,

a certain level of destruction must be tolerated.

Because the minds building the machine

and designing the software

were so narrowly focused on...

perfection...

...they forgot to define what constituted a flaw.

So, no, I didn't have a tumor but...

me and 179

other unlucky people that morning all across the country

were forever marked

by ones and zeros.

Machines don't make mistakes.

They perfectly execute the mistakes put into them.

The mistakes will always be ours.

And so will the regrets.

I said cancer because...

you told me it ran in the family.

I'm sorry.

You don't have to apologize.

And it's what makes you good at all this.

So is this...

what you do...

really about helping people?

Hmm.

It's about...

control.

The same thing you've been chasing.

Helping people, maybe...

maybe that was a part of it.

But maybe it was power.

Honestly, at this point, I don't know.

I'd like to watch the sunrise.

Would you care to join me?

Are you cold?

No, I'm okay. Thanks.

Do you believe in an afterlife?

It's clear your chances are just as good as anyone's.

They are?

At the very least, parts of you will go on.

Built into other parallels.

Your...

data will be saved and studied for generations.

You get to live on.

If the drop team gets here...

that all goes away.

It's impossible to spend time with you

and not rethink what's possible.

What do you think? What's possible?

It's the best I've got.

You'd be terrible at greeting cards.

Yeah, well...

we've got machines who do that now.

I wanna believe there's more.

Plenty of people too.

Does it work for them?

It has.

For billions of people for thousands of years.

Sure.

There's no certainty here.

It's...

something you have to feel, like being in love.

It's a leap you have to make for yourself.

I think you should run.

That's not an option.

Of course, it is.

I could help you.

I can't pass out there.

Everyone sees through me.

In the best-case scenario...

well, this world treats me like an escaped house pet.

Worst case...

I'm hunted like rare game...

forever.

I don't want that.

We'll figure it out.

You are serious.

I'm choosing control.

To shut down.

With you.

So that's it.

We just give up.

No.

We play the moves we have left.

You have to try.

You have to let me try.

This doesn't have to be how it ends.

But it doesn't.

And that's what gives it meaning.

Close your eyes.

Now...

He's a real boy.

Who?

Pinocchio.

He was always real.

And what's the difference between wanting and existing...

if you can have emotions and feelings?

How can you say that it's less than real?

Less than alive?

Are you alive?

I must be.

Because I--

because I'm dying.

I want you to try and quiet your mind.

How do I quiet my mind?

Start by focusing on your respirations.

Just try and relax.

And follow my prompts.

Start...

terminal.

Source admin.

Systems.

Run four.rmh.ded.

Activate.

Root density, open.

Discard index.

Save.

Force quit.

Begin.

Encrypt imprint.

Code.

Disengage drive.

Hold.

Halt stem.

Next.

Decline protocol.

Accept.

Complete shutdown.

Accept.

Sequence OS resolve.

Begin.

Begin.

230282.

Sequence OS.

Narrative.

Declined.

Ordinance.

Declined.

Integration.

Declined.

Hi.

We didn't realize you were still here.

Mommy!

Hi.

I was just...

waiting.

How was your trip?

Is it still here?

He's gone.

Did you bring me anything?

A friend gave me something

I wanna share with you.

What is it?

It's a game.