Original subtitles

[music playing]

NARRATOR: In the city of Betaville, in the near future,

the technology we developed confronts us.

The science we created seduces us.

But will our dreams of tomorrow be turned into a nightmare?

"Welcome to Paradox."

[theme music]

Be careful what you wish for.

Nothing is impossible anymore.

In Betaville there's a thin line between science

and religion, where those who create technology

to try to control the lives of those who believe in faith.

Angel Cardenas is investigating a murder.

He's always been a man of reason.

Solving this case could take more than the

facts and possibly a miracle.

On the trail of the killer, the only thing that's certain--

[screaming]

--is somebody's guilty as sin.

[birds chirping]

[chatter]

Nobody's going to get you a better price than I will.

You understand?

MAN [ON HOLOGRAM]: Yeah, but what about--

Nobody.

Nobody beats Paily Huachuco.

[music playing]

CINA: Paily, perdoname, but that padre is here again.

I don't got time for this.

PADRE: Everyone's got time for God's work, my son.

MAN [ON HOLOGRAM]: Paily.

Go.

Look, I'm not your son, padre, and I don't believe in God.

I'm a businessman.

God is also in business--

the business of saving souls.

If you make a contributionto our cause--

PAILY HUACHUCO: Listen, padre, save it for someone who cares,

OK.

Now, get the hell out.

Call.

[music playing]

We've got a nonbeliever here.

Cina.

Cina.

[music playing]

Oh, that's very good.

You're the best holo-image I've ever seen.

Where's the projector?

[music playing]

You have no faith.

Yeah, you're right there.

OK.

We'll try to get through this.

CINA: Paily, [speaking spanish]

PAILY HUACHUCO: Cina, take a look at this.

She wants prayers and money.

Bet you can't guess which one she wants first.

CINA: Are you sure it's just a projection, Paily?

PAILY HUACHUCO: Oh, this is going to be good.

I got the scramble up, so will she split apart and pretty

sparkles, or will she just--

Cina.

Cina, call the cops now.

Now!

[music playing]

[birds chirping]

I swear, man, it wasn't me.

I'm a family man now.

I don't hang with those guys anymore.

I haven't seen them for more than a year.

Now, why don't I believe you, Ramon?

ANGEL CARDENAS: You should, sergeant.

He's telling the truth.

Hey, it is no fun having you around.

How can I ask the questions when you already know the answers?

Me?

I don't know anything.

But I do know he's telling the truth.

Damn intuits.

Can't keep their nose in their own business.

He can't-- he can't actually read my mind, can he?

Captain, my captain.

CAPTAIN: Hm?

I'm not a religious, man.

But if I was I would find it hard to believe in a deity that

stoops to common extortion.

Well, Angel, the only things you believe in

are what you can see, smell, hear, touch, taste, or intuit.

That's me.

CAPTAIN: Yeah.

Now you, my friend, you are the last person that they'd target,

huh?

Let's hope you're right.

CAPTAIN: See, the people in this district--

they're simple people.

They go to church on Sundays, they're

baptized when they're born, and when they die,

the padre says a misa de difuntos.

I mean, this-- this is not extortion.

To them, it's divine punishment.

And this guy Huachuco--

he's just the tip of the iceberg.

See, the padres have been making a lot of visits

to local businessmen.

Some, they get persuaded.

Some, like Paily, get vaped.

And word gets out, the rest, they all right in to line,

you know.

And people are talking about this, Angel.

They're scared.

I bet.

CAPTAIN: See, it's a holo-image.

It's got to be.

But look at the detail.

And it's a remote projection.

Nobody can do that. - No, no, no.

You mean nobody civilian.

It's got to be military ware or a derivative--

tactile projection.

You know how much juice that takes

merely to maintain that level?

So you're saying that this is a military op or intelligence?

ANGEL CARDENAS: No, no, no.

I checked on it.

There's nothing currently operational.

CAPTAIN: Nothing that they'd admit to.

Not to us.

ANGEL CARDENAS: Come on, Katherine,

they can't lie to me.

Remember?

Which leads us back where we started.

A holo-image that can kill, which is impossible.

[sighs] You mind?

CAPTAIN: Mhm.

Oh.

Hey, you all right, Angel?

Yeah, yeah, it's just an old wound acting up.

CAPTAIN: [LAUGHING] Well, quit being such a damn stoic.

Go see the medics.

I did

CAPTAIN: Yeah, what did they say?

There's no physiological basis for the pain I am experiencing.

The muscle and nerve tissue have completely regenerated, so if

I'm feeling pain, not to worry.

It doesn't exist.

It can't be.

It's not real. It's all in my

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

ANGEL CARDENAS: Story of my life.

Bye.

Go!

[birds chirping]

Table for one, father?

I'd like to speak with the owner if I might.

He's a busy man.

The Lord smiles on the industrious.

Boss doesn't like anybody's hands

in his pockets but his own.

Precisely the kind of purity I seek.

[chatter]

SERGEANT DARCY: Table for two, padre.

Something I can do for you, padre?

I represent a local religious order that devotes

itself to serving the poor.

Because we are so small, we survive on the charity

of the local merchants.

Yours is a new establishment in our parish,

and you seem to be prospering.

Yeah, that we are.

Won't you have a seat?

[music playing]

PADRE: [sighs] Perhaps you might see

your way to giving a little something

back to the community--

spread a little good will, and it

will come back to you tenfold.

Let me tell you a story, padre.

When I was a younger man, I always did the right thing.

Took my mom to church every Sunday,

brought her home for dinner.

But one Sunday, there were these punks

that she'd helped out once waiting

for her when we got home.

See, they figured that she had some money stashed away, being

the nice lady that she was.

And they always do.

She didn't.

So they shot us both.

I lived.

And I learned something-- you give

a little, you get nothing back.

you give a lot, you get less than nothing.

You need help, my son.

You are in pain.

Yeah.

I tell you what-- you have five seconds

to move your ass out of here, or I'm

gonna show you what pain is.

Our lady can persuade as well as heal.

Darcy.

You are new to the neighborhood.

Perhaps you have not heard about the others.

Businessmen like yourself who at first have doubts.

ANGEL CARDENAS: That's right.

I have not heard, nor do I want to hear.

SERGEANT DARCY: You see the way he was scoping me out?

Not exactly benediction and he had in mind.

ANGEL CARDENAS: Ten to one he's got a record.

You sure he's our man?

ANGEL CARDENAS: Well, I'll tell you what--

I could still smell the prison food on his breath.

Taste.

Taste.

No!

Do I have to remind you that this whatever it is

has killed several perfectly healthy men,

and we still don't know how?

What, You're getting spooked on me?

SERGEANT DARCY: That last guy, Paily Huachuco--

he had a scramble screen--

had no effect at all.

No kind of holo-image, not even a tactile,

can get through that.

So what?

The real Madonna is going to help

some fake priests with their extortion racket, right?

Let me remind you that all holo-images work

on the principles of physics, and a holo-image

is what we are dealing with here.

Understand? - Yes, sir.

Hm?

So why don't you move out and let

me be a sitting duck in peace?

Needs lemon.

[music playing]

You're very well made.

You mock me.

No, not at all.

That was a compliment.

You do not believe.

I'm willing to be convinced.

You deal in luxury.

I deal in food

VIRGIN MARY: To those who go to bed hungry at night

it is a luxury.

But you would take my contribution?

For the sake of the poor and needy, yes.

I would not turn away such tithing.

Until the time comes for avarice to be banished from this world,

I will take from themis guided to help the needy.

I'm sorry, but I'm going to need

some proof of your divine character

before I turn it over the fruits of my labor

to those who claim to serve in your name.

You wish proof?

Give me your hand.

Some die.

Some just remember.

ANGEL CARDENAS: [screaming]

MAN: Shut up or your both dead.

YOUNG ANGEL: Put down the gun.

Just don't hurt my mom.

[gunshot]

So the padre told you what I said, right?

You are in such pain.

He said that too.

[music playing]

Feel it leaving your body.

Help those in need, and you will be blessed.

CAPTAIN: So?

ANGEL CARDENAS: [sighs] Man, that Madonna's touch

was so real. Was it?

Incredible.

CAPTAIN: Well, doesn't that take a lot of energy?

No, not a lot--

an extraordinary amount.

In fact, I want to run a check on the grid,

all the utilities in the area, OK?

I mean, if they're real good, it'll go undetected.

But we may get lucky, you know.

You never know.

CAPTAIN: Hey, Cardenas.

What's going on?

It was so vivid--

I mean, really vivid.

But she's not immortal.

No.

No.

CAPTAIN: So, what's our next move?

I'm gonna make a contribution to the padre's order

just like she suggested.

Except it's gonna be a contribution

that goes beyond mere money--

something of a more personal nature.

What are you gonna do? Give him your stamp collection?

No.

What is it they say in church?

You don't need to understand--

just believe.

[music playing]

MAN 2: Hey, nice one.

MAN 3: Shoot, shoot!

Ramon!

RAMON: Back up, man.

MAN 3: Oh!

MAN 2: Come on.

I'm open.

RAMON: Put it up.

Put it up!

I gotta bless you with the backhand, man.

Oh, you're showing your age, man.

You're showing your age.

MAN 3: Let's go, let's go, let's get it on.

RAMON: : All those times we got busted or remanded to juvenile

custody, and all those lectures they

gave us on how we were never going to amount to anything.

They were right.

Yeah.

So what's on your mind?

Ramon, I got a question for you, man.

You're going to think I'm nuts.

Listen, the Holy Virgin, right--

could she ever harm somebody?

[sighs] Angel, your mother-- you always used to say--

Wait, wait, wait wait, wait.

My mother, nothing, all right.

I just want your expert opinion.

Just you, what do you know?

The Holy Virgin-- could she possibly kill?

No, she's anembodiment of holy mercy.

It's an impossibility.

Impossibility?

What about all those people in the Bible dead in floods,

and quakes, and-- - That's different.

Uh-huh.

Those are what most people call acts of God.

All right, all right, all right.

Could the Holy Virgin--

she could never actually--

she would never actually harm anybody, right?

Never.

Angel, what's this about, man?

Level with me.

You sure this doesn't have something to do--

ANGEL CARDENAS: Hey, hey.

It's a case I'm working on.

That's all.

Don't ask.

What about unknowingly, unwittingly,

like as a byproduct of her actions-- something

she was unaware of?

RAMON: The Madonna is in a perpetual state of grace.

She could never do things without being

aware of their consequences.

[music playing]

[hologram sound]

VIRGIN MARY: You have no faith.

You have no faith.

No, I don't think so.

You're not telling the truth.

You're not lying either, because you don't exist.

And you never have.

[music playing]

[chatter]

He'll see you right away.

ANGEL CARDENAS: Ah, buenos, Padre Morales.

What is this, my son?

I don't understand.

Your Madonna paid us a little visit last night.

And I must say, the demonstration

was pretty convincing.

Then you will be contributing to our order?

Yeah, in a manner of speaking.

Let's just say that you give us a blessing,

and we'll bless you in return.

What sort of blessing did you have in mind?

ANGEL CARDENAS: Why, the blessings of information.

Padre Morales

My name is Brother Gutierrez.

SERGEANT DARCY: Eduardo Morales, alias Arlen Rodriguez,

Giuseppe Mendez, Pablo Mancuso.

Born Burlev Nuevapetroleo, 31 years ago.

Arrested three times-- burglary, one conviction;

three times assault, no convictions; twice for--

twice for attempted rape, one conviction; twice

for grand theft vehicular.

My, my, have we got a lot to atone for.

You got me confused with somebody else.

SERGEANT DARCY: Heard that?

Well, the voice patterns match.

You still think we're making a mistake, Morales?

So what?

Anybody can reform.

What are you going to charge me with?

Soliciting donations under a false name?

No No, actually, we were thinking more

on the lines of extradition.

Or did my associate neglect to tell you that you have

an outstanding murder warrant?

- That whole thing was a frame! - Sit down!

PADRE: Besides, the jewel was a snappler,

and he deserved to die.

Well, that may be, but the courts

are going to decide that.

And you being a multiple loser, they're

more inclined to overlook mitigating circumstances.

Now, a letter from us, a nice letter from our office,

would do you a world of good.

All you gotta do is cooperate.

You're right.

But it won't do you any good.

She's real, the Madonna.

ANGEL CARDENAS: Oh, come on, padre.

We know better than that.

And you know we know better than that.

No, I mean it.

I don't know that she's the Madonna, but she's real enough.

Brother Pirote, he's the one who propitiates her.

He knows.

Pirote's your leader, huh?

[sighs] He's the one who decides

how the offerings should be distributed, who gets what.

How many brothers in the order?

I don't know for sure.

Sometimes I seen 20 at the prayer meetings,

sometimes more.

ANGEL CARDENAS: Maybe then a new initiate wouldn't attract

any undue attention, would he?

You're crazy.

They'll lace you right out.

Not if I'm properly coached.

OK.

But it's your funeral.

And it's not Pirote you have to worry about.

It's the Madonna.

You'll teach me the routine.

I got faith in you.

SERGEANT DARCY: Full name, Oeno Pirote.

He doesn't have much of a record.

He's a fixer, a guy who can get you

anything you need for a price.

Here's the interesting part--

a couple of years back he had a legitimate client, man by

the name of Sylvester Chatopec.

Ring any bells?

Chatopec was a designer-- software, hardware.

He worked for the multi-nets-- a genius code warrior.

He took early retirement.

Our boy Pirote supplied him with hard-to-find components--

chips, protein plugs.

Pricey stuff, but Chatopec could afford it.

Can we talk to him?

SERGEANT DARCY: He can't talk to anyone anymore.

Why not?

SERGEANT DARCY: He flamed out on the interstate

three months ago.

Before his retirement, he was working on holo-image software.

What are you, inspector?

Psychic?

CAPTAIN: I'm still glad we're wiring

you with the transmitter.

Wish me luck.

Buena suerte, inspector.

And watch out for the Madonna her penance can be

pretty harsh on nonbelievers.

Hmph.

I think I can reason with her.

What do you think?

Look good?

Like the real thing, huh?

[music playing]

Brothers. MAN 4: Brother.

Brother Brother.

Lord smile on your endeavors today.

I didn't think so.

[music playing]

[chatter]

ANGEL CARDENAS: Hey, brothers.

[music playing]

That him?

Yes, sir.

Wherever he goes, we're right behind him.

If anything goes wrong, he can reach us through a scanner.

BROTHER PIROTE: I bring you good tidings, brothers.

Thanks to the recent upsurge in generosity

from local believers, there will be

a special distribution to all the faithful tomorrow

afternoon.

[cheering]

However, brothers, we must not rest in this,

our moment of earthly glory.

The mission we have been charged with

can only be accomplished through diligence,

hard work, and long hours.

By the end of this year, I expect

every one of our brothers, old and new alike,

will be a member of the million dollar club.

[cheering]

But you won't get there by sitting

in your pews, gentlemen.

I'd like to remind you of the founding

principles of this order--

and the Lord said, be what you want to be,

do what you want to do, and have what you want to have.

[cheering]

Have what you wanna have.

[music playing]

[chatter]

SERGEANT DARCY: I hope he knows what he's doing.

CAPTAIN: Relax, Sergeant.

Detective Cardenas is an intuit.

It's 10 times harder for anybody to get the drop on him.

I know that.

I still don't like it.

[music playing]

[chatter]

[chanting music]

[hologram sound]

You should not be here.

You defile this holy place.

Oh, quite the contrary.

I have tremendous respect for whoever set this up.

It was Sylvester Chatopec, wasn't it?

Oh, I forgot.

He's dead.

Brother Pirote, right?

He's the one controlling you now?

Or did I trip an alarm or something?

I sensed your presence, and I came to you.

You are not one of the faithful.

You come to work mischief.

ANGEL CARDENAS: No, no.

I only seek enlightenment.

You seek it indirectly.

Yeah, well, that's my nature.

Your inner self remains closed to me.

And still you will not believe.

I had hoped after our last encounter--

That was an induced hallucination.

I know.

Some sort of transduction with my brainwaves.

I mean, it was impressive, but not inexplicable.

Your pain--

Has it returned?

No.

[grunting]

VIRGIN MARY: Be gentle with him.

He's no less than a sheep who has lost his way.

[groaning]

[music playing]

[device beeping] SERGEANT DARCY: He's moving.

He just left the rear of the building.

CAPTAIN: Where the hell is he going?

And why the hell can't he tell us what he's got on his mind

first? Damn intuits.

We've got visual confirmation on that.

He is proceeding northeast.

Come on, we're sitting right on his tail.

[music playing]

CAPTAIN: Angel, que pasa?

What's going on?

What are you doing?

[music playing]

[device beeping]

CAPTAIN: The transmitter.

We've got to get in there. I'll call for backup.

Whoa, and blow the whole operation?

They got Angel in there, Captain.

We don't know that.

If they do, and we bust in, they'll kill him for sure.

What then?

We go back up to the roof, wait for the rest of them

to go home.

Good to see you up and about, Inspector.

ANGEL CARDENAS: Where am I?

Not in Kansas.

How'd you find the church?

An informant.

There will be others. - Maybe.

We can move quickly if we have to.

Who was it?

No matter.

You'll tell us.

You'll tell us everything.

You're not going to get anything out of me.

BROTHER PIROTE: Maybe not, but we can [inaudible]

some real graphic juice--

fry some synapses.

Under the church there's a satellite downlink.

It shackles you to a base station somewhere.

Here?

You're pretty fast, all right.

Quick and dangerous-- I'll be glad to see you dead.

Hey, nothing personal.

ANGEL CARDENAS: You generate the program

at the base station right here.

Then you use the downlink to relay it into Betaville.

Must take giga-bushels of juice to maintain, right?

I'm guessing you bleed it off of the local grid?

Hey, what's a few power outages between friends, huh?

I've see tactile holos before, but never with this detail.

Anyway, if you've got a Sylvester

Chatopec doing your code, you expect that kind of quality,

right?

Oh, you know about el viejo?

Not really.

I just heard he's good.

Not good-- the best.

Sculpting multipaths, cranking codes-- wasn't

anybody who could touch him.

Took him nearly a dozen years to make her.

I remember the first time I saw her.

I was blown away.

I'd never seen anything like it.

I bet.

Was that when you decided that you

were going to kill the old man?

You know, the funny part is he really believed.

He was always talking how he wanted to give something

to the [speaking spanish]He wanted

to make their beliefs come to life,

bring the lost sheep back to the fold.

Loading her with a lethal charge--

that was my idea.

Put the fear of God into those ignorantes.

And it was a bitch redoing the code.

Right, but you had to, didn't you,

to make sure that the Madonna left afterward?

Because if the program realized that it had killed

a human being it might crash.

No telling what might've happened.

Right.

What about the hallucinations?

Huh?

Nothing, just keeping you on your toes.

Keeping me on my toes?

Up against the wall, and he's making jokes.

[chanting music]

You're sharp.

Too sharp to be federale.

I could use a man like you.

Hmph.

You mean you could use me for a while

and then dump me like a girlfriend.

Juice him up.

Make him talk.

No-- I want to hear him sing.

[chanting music]

[door opens]

[door closes]

Oh, now, easy now, fella.

Come on, now.

Watch out.

[grunting]

ANGEL CARDENAS: All right, you.

All right.

[door opens]

[music playing]

Gotta be some way outta here.

[door opens]

Chatopec?

Sylvester Chatopec?

Who are you?

I'm a friend.

SYLVESTER CHATOPEC: I don't have any friends--

not anymore.

Leave me alone.

ANGEL CARDENAS: Listen, I need your help.

SYLVESTER CHATOPEC: I'm an old man.

I can't help anyone now.

Go away.

You gotta help me stop him, Pirote, from using her,

our Lady.

What has he been doing with her?

ANGEL CARDENAS: You don't know?

You can't guess?

SYLVESTER CHATOPEC: Yes.

He's using her to scare the people

into doing what he wants.

Yes Yes.

Or giving him money.

And much more than that, much worse--

like what happens to those who don't cooperate.

What are you talking about?

What do you think?

He's using her to kill--

divine punishment.

No!

Let's get out of here.

Come on.

Quiet, they're all over the place.

This way. Come on.

Come on.

Oh!

I said I want to hear you sing.

I made you up some special brain candy,

just for your special intuit brain.

You're going to do more than talk.

You're going to share everything that's in your head, Inspector.

Sweet dreams.

[grunting]

[indistinct voices]

Angel.

Mama, you're alive!

MAMA CARDENAS: No. Thanks to you.

MAN: Shut up!

Is that what you want?

MAMA CARDENAS: You blame my fate for failing to protect me.

MAN: Shut up or you're both dead.

MAMA CARDENAS: But it was you, the intuit.

[gunshot]

Where was your intuition when it really mattered?

[screaming]

[gasping]

ANGEL CARDENAS: Our Lady, I know you're here somewhere.

If you are, I really need to talk to you.

Please.

Wherever you are, if you're in the computer, I don't care--

somewhere.

If you can hear me, please just come to me now.

[hologram sound]

I need to talk to you.

You called out to me, and I have come.

Have you repented?

Yes.

Yes.

Yes, holy mother, I have repented.

Then I would call the brother to hear your confession.

Wait.

I need clarification first.

I will help if I can.

ANGEL CARDENAS: You are the one true Madonna, aren't you?

The one, the true lady.

I am.

There is no other?

No other but I.

ANGEL CARDENAS: Then if you have the replication code,

you couldn't duplicate yourself, right?

Look, if you're the one true Madonna,

you can do just about anything, right?

Even duplicate yourself.

But if you could do that, if you could

make another one of yourself, then your true self

would be ambiguous.

And you would use this--

Just try thereplication code, please.

That way, maybe we'll both have clarification.

First, tell me--

how is your pain, my child?

Gone.

Gone.

Good.

[hologram sound]

[music playing]

I am the true Madonna, the holy one.

I am the true Madonna.

Let none doubt this.

I am the true Madonna, the holy one.

Holy sh--

I am the true Madonna.

ANGEL CARDENAS: Hey, come here. Cut me loose.

Come on, cut me loose.

I am the true Madonna, the holy one

ANGEL CARDENAS: Do it.

Come on, come on, come on.

I am the true Madonna.

Let none doubt this.

ANGEL CARDENAS: Sylvester, come on.

I want to show you something Come with me.

VIRGIN MARY: I am the true Madonna of the Holy Spirit.

[hologram sounds]

I am the true Madonna of the Holy Spirit.

I am the true Madonna of the Holy Spirit.

BROTHER PIROTE: What the hell?

What's going on?

The party's over.

Let's move.

Call for backup.

BROTHER PIROTE: You.

This is your doing!

I am the true Madonna of the Holy Spirit.

Yeah, right.

Sure you are.

VIRGIN MARY: You must set aside the ways of violence, my child.

[electric shock]

I am the true Madonna, the bringer of light and healing.

[music playing]

Thank you.

Thank you for helping the milagro to happen.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Get down.

Get down.

Get down!

Angel.

ANGEL CARDENAS: Hey, look.

Gone.

She's gone.

Everything under control, Angel?

Yeah.

Come on.

Did I tell you that the Lady--

you know, she healed me.

I didn't tell you this.

She healed me.

I had a wound, an old wound that used to give

me a lot of trouble, right.

Well, she just reached over, put her hand on the spot,

and it was gone.

But you-- you told her where the wound was?

You showed her first?

No.

If she healed you, then she did it by herself.

[music playing]

[chatter]

MAN 6: Well, we're up in the north quadrant, sir.

[chatter]

You didn't answer my question.

Yeah, I believe.

Belief is a real powerful thing.

What about the program?

What are you going to do with it?

I erased it.

It's too powerful, too dangerous to risk the possibility of it

falling into the wrong hands.

Do you believe she's real?

Hm?

Stay out of trouble, will you?

I'll see you.

In the future, scientific advances

will make it difficult to tell the gods from the gadgets.

But for Sergeant Angel Cardenas, solving this case

brought him closer to the questions with no answers.

All it took was a fall from innocence

and one leap of faith.

"Welcome to Paradox."

[theme music]