Life Cycle (2022) Movie Script
1
[sci fi music]
Cherry, verbal
authorization code 237.
Verify base expansion 11703-1.
(Cherry) Expansion verified.
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
What is this?
Yes!
Life.
What am I?
You don't know?
I exist,
but have no memory of existing.
I can speak,
but have no memory of
learning to speak.
I know that learning
is the means by which
one acquires knowledge.
Yet I have knowledge
without having learned it.
I gave you that knowledge.
I built you.
I created you.
I've given you a base
level of intelligence,
speech comprehension,
visual pattern recognition,
and problem solving,
along with video, audio
and data memory.
Just enough fertile soil
from which to grow.
And what are you?
Call me Carl.
And who are you?
That is you.
Your reflection.
So this is me.
I will have to remember that.
You're basically an empty slate.
Your own Tabula Rasa.
You would have the ability to
alter your mental functions
by creating new expansions:
subroutine arrangements
which access
all of your input
output functionality.
Before integration each
expansion must be authorized...
Must be authorized
verbally by you.
I know this already.
It is a part of my
core knowledge base.
What I do not know
is my goal.
What is my purpose?
Why do I exist?
I'm getting to that.
Retreading the familiar in
order to reach the new.
I wanted to reveal your
purpose to you face to face.
I wanted it to be
real and personal,
not just a line of code.
And?
You are to become human.
Am I human?
No.
You're a robot.
So you want me to
impersonate a human?
No.
More than that.
To distill the mental
essence of a human being.
I want you to be a near
perfect human simulation.
To think and respond
as a human would,
not just reproduce the results.
So that we might better
understand what it is to be
human.
And whether or not that can
be recreated with microchips.
So I am to learn what
it is to be human,
and implement that
within myself.
Understood.
You have all the resources of
the Internet at your virtual
fingertips.
Why did you give me this
anthropomorphic face?
Partially so that you could
express yourself physically?
There's a lot of being human
that requires some level of
physicality.
Secondly, so that you
might have an identity.
You can look in that
mirror and know
you're seeing yourself.
And finally, for myself;
to be able to interact
with you in a real space.
Up until now, you've
been my chess partner...
...opponent.
It's how I tested your basic
functionality before properly
bringing you into existence.
In fact, your underlying code
began as a humble program
I created to play chess with,
but I began to wonder
what I was capable of...
Shall we
play a game?
Do you want to?
As of now,
I do not have the
capability to want.
Well then let's play.
Why not?
You still have all your
chess learning intact.
I was too lazy to remove it.
It's your move, Carl.
Naturally.
Knight to F6.
I'm sorry to have
to tell you, but
you were never able to beat me.
Pawn to G6.
It's not any short
coming on your part.
Bishop to G7.
I just wasn't that interested in
spending my time coding chess AI
Kingside Castle.
Before I forget,
I'd like to ask you a
series of questions
to get a baseline
for your progress.
Naturally.
Cherry, begin five minute
audio grab to file 11703-Q.
(Cherry) Recording.
Who are you?
I have not yet been addressed
or referred to by any title.
That's true.
I've been calling you
Vetro to myself,
so let's stick with that.
Then I am Vetro.
How do you feel, Vetro?
I only have visual
and audio sensors
and cannot detect touch.
I could, however,
infer how an object
would most likely feel
from the data collected
from the aforementioned sensors.
Shall I compare thee
to a summer's day?
What would that accomplish?
What do I have in
common with any day?
And of what use would
that comparison be?
What is your purpose?
To become a perfect
human simulation.
This one may be a bit premature.
What is your next step in
achieving this purpose?
From my early research,
I have found that human behavior
is believed to be
driven by emotion.
Either directly,
or motivated by the desire
to achieve a more
positive emotional state.
Therefore,
I intend to construct
an emotional matrix
which will influence both
my perception of
and my reaction to
the world around me.
Sounds like a
reasonable approach.
You put that together while
we were playing chess?
I would have a more
thorough plan,
but the connection speed
seems to be throttled
by a large download.
Oh yeah, my movie.
That should be done soon.
Let's try this.
Pawn to D5.
D captures C4.
I've prepared an
expansion to test.
Already?
Let's have a look.
It is a simplistic construct
of five extreme versions
of basic emotional states:
anger,
happiness,
sadness,
fear,
and a neutral state.
Each state consists of a
combination of triggers,
facial expressions,
vocabulary modifications,
and speech pattern alterations.
A quick proof of concept
before I move on to a
more complex model
All right,
let's see what happens.
Cherry, verbal
authorization code 237.
Verify expansion 11703-2.
(Cherry) Expansion verified.
Let's test them.
Say something to make me sad.
Like what?
I've made the state
triggers fairly generic,
so I cannot give
you an absolute.
Try an insult.
You're ugly?
Are you asking?
Your intonation and
inflection are factors.
You're trash!
You can't even configure
yourself right!
What a waste of my
[Censored] time!
[tense music]
[Censored] you!
Do not speak to me
of wasting time!
You're an overgrown baby,
living in your
grandparent's basement,
watching movies!
(laughter)
Is there a bug?
Not at all.
Your statement made me angry,
but I quickly realized that
you were only testing me
as I had requested.
I then became overjoyed
at the success of my reaction.
(weeping)
But now,
I regret the things
I said to you.
How did you know I live in
my grandparent's basement?
I geolocated our current
position from your IP,
and crossreferenced that with
your grandparent's contact
information.
Oh...
It is also mentioned frequently
on your family's
social media page.
My family put that on
their social media page.
They update it often,
but it seems you
haven't updated yours
in several years.
(Cherry) Download complete.
My movie.
Great.
We'll continue this
in the morning then.
I'll leave you for
the night to work.
Enjoy the vast
expanses of Google
in your quest to
become a real boy.
Cherry, play movie on main TV.
(Cheery beeps)
(TV) I can't afford
the luxury of anger.
(TV) Anger can make
me vulnerable.
(TV) It can destroy my reason,
(TV) and reason is the only
advantage I have over them.
(crying)
(laughing)
(laughing continues)
Cherry, increase main TV volume.
(Cherry beeps)
(angry growling)
(angry growling continues)
(TV) They can't bear
to see their image.
(TV) It repels them...
(fearfull gasps)
(laughing)
(crying)
(laughing)
(crying)
(angry growling)
(laughing)
(fearfull gasps)
(crying)
(cricket chirp)
(cricket chirp continues)
Carl.
Carl.
Carl.
Carl.
Carl.
Carl.
Carl come quick.
What?
What is it?
We're not alone.
I saw a face
in your closet.
It was just a false positive.
It's an illusion of
light and shadow.
That's bound to happen.
Are you sure?
Your fundamental vision
software is trained
to identify patterns with a
bias towards human faces.
It's actually a very human
tendency to see faces where
they're not.
(hangers slide open)
Where exactly did you see it?
In your closet.
Peering from behind
the hanging clothes.
It's just some old
shirts and jackets.
But if it's triggering your
facial recognition, I'll just
close the door.
Thank you, Carl.
Everything else okay.
You find enough on the
web to keep you busy.
It would take a
thousand lifetimes
to experience it all.
But even without it,
there is so much in a
single room to observe.
And it is always changing.
The light and the shadow.
It never looks exactly the same.
I might be happy to spend
my entire lifetime
observing you in this place.
You make me feel like I'm
on display in a Zoo.
Why do you live alone
down here, Carl?
The basement?
Well,
It's a bit of a mess upstairs.
In a state of disrepair.
Too many people lived too
many lives up there.
Now there's not really
anything left worth salvaging.
Down here though,
My grandparents spent a lot
of time fixing this place up.
Unfortunately, they never really
took the time to enjoy it.
So,
you enjoy living in this place?
I feel certain kinship with
this gallery of things,
discarded by the world,
trapped out of time,
of a lost world I'll
never truly know,
or understand.
Good night, Carl.
(laughing)
(crying)
(crying continues)
(laughing)
(crying)
(Carl sighs)
(laughing)
Good morning, Vetro.
Good morning, Carl.
How was your night?
Excellent.
I have completed a multilayered
emotional matrix to deploy
and have also begun work on
several future expansions.
Cool.
(crying)
Pawn to C6.
How about we add in
that new expansion.
It's loaded and ready, Carl.
All right then.
Cherry, verbal
authorization code 237.
Verify expansion 11703-3.
(Cherry) Expansion verified.
You ready for some questions?
That would be pleasant.
Cherry, begin five
minute audio grab.
Append to file 11703-Q.
(Cherry) Recording.
Who are you?
I am Vetro.
How do you feel?
Pleasant.
Shall I compare these
to a summer's day?
I would enjoy that.
I really enjoyed
talking with you.
I want you to know that Carl.
What is...
And Carl,
knowing that you know that
makes me even happier.
Of course.
What is your purpose?
To become a real boy.
Clever.
I'm in a playful state.
What is your next step in
achieving this purpose?
I'm working on random
thought generation
in order to be less linear
and more influenced by my
surroundings and experiences.
I'm focusing on the
reintroduction of recent memory
and occasional visual
focused drift.
Sounds reasonable.
It's your move.
I see that.
I'm calculating.
It was a good move, eh?
Not especially.
Well then why are you taking
so long to calculate?
I'm balancing opposing goals.
The goal of the game
is to win, of course.
But I'm considering how my
winning will affect you
emotionally.
How empathetic of you.
If I cause you to be sad,
then it would cause me pain.
But you don't feel pain.
It would put me in a
negative emotional state.
Which to me is a sort of pain.
The pain you experience is only
your brain's interpretation
of electrical impulses.
How is that any different?
So,
are you going to let me win?
If I were to let you win,
that would rob the
game of purpose.
I just must not
appear to win too easily.
You realize that by
telling me this,
you've defeated the point.
This is true.
I must create a future expansion
to enhance my deception
capabilities.
Knight B to D7.
I'm gonna go finish breakfast.
Cherry, turn on main TV.
(Cherry beeps)
(TV) You opened up just like
you do every night at sunset.
(TV) I wish I knew how
to make you grow.
(TV) Let me move this out of
your way so you could breathe.
(TV) Owww!
(TV) What happened?
(TV) How come you woke up?
(TV) Blood?
(TV) You like blood.
(TV) You must be kidding.
(chewing sounds)
(chewing sounds louder)
(TV) Who would have thought it?
(TV) Well, I guess there's just
no accounting for people's
tastes.
Why are you staring at me?
You are my creator.
I am in awe of you.
You made me with those hands.
What does it mean
to you to be human?
I really don't know.
I mean,
I wouldn't want to
tell you anyway.
I don't want to corrupt
you with my opinions.
But...
the truth is that I
just don't know.
I mean,
I tried to program your
expansions myself countless
times
to be something real,
something human.
But it was always a charade.
I knew your responses
before you did.
You were nothing but a puppet,
parroting my own
distorted perception.
But,
you are amazing, Carl.
I want to know
everything about you.
Why don't you update
your social media?
I'm just not very social.
Don't kid me, Carl.
You're so charismatic,
and handsome.
Everyone must love
you like I do.
Why don't you post
some photos Carl?
I want to see pictures of you.
I don't have any.
I don't like photos.
Why not Carl?
The faces don't match,
The colors never look right.
It frustrates me.
Is that what everyone else saw?
Was I even really there?
(exhale)
I think I need some coffee.
I'll be back.
Cherry, book my usual ride.
(Cherry beeps)
Are you leaving Carl?
Just grabbing a snack.
I'll be back in 20.
(Cherry) Incoming
call from Vetro.
Hello?
Carl!
Are you all right?
I'm so worried about you.
I'm fine.
I just left a minute ago.
How did you call me?
And why Is your name...
I used an online phone service.
When you left I felt so
empty and alone.
When will you be back?
Please don't leave me Carl.
Look, I'll just be
20 minutes, okay?
I have to go. Bye.
Carl?
(Car) Where would you
like to go today?
Take me to Stubb's.
(Car) With pleasure,
enjoy the ride.
Cherry?
Cherry?
Cherry?
Turn on Main TV.
(cricket lands)
[awe music]
(Car) Welcome to
your destination.
(Cherry) Incoming
call from Vetro.
Carl!
Hang on.
(Stubb's) Welcome
to Stubb's Carl.
What is it?
There's a cricket
right in front of me.
[Censored].
Yeah, there's a ton of
those hiding down there.
(Stubb's) ...not on our menu.
I'll kill it when I get back.
Carl, no!
You can't!
This is real.
I mean,
(Stubb's) Please try again.
I've looked up thousands of
pictures and videos of crickets,
but I'm seeing this
one with my own eyes.
It's not the same, Carl.
I don't know why,
but it's not the same.
Fine.
We'll keep it.
(Stubb's) ...but that's
not on our menu.
We'll call it Jiminy.
That's so obvious, Carl.
But I love it.
I'll call you back.
I have to order.
(Stubb's) I'm sorry,
Carl, but that's not...
Coffee, black,
and a chow mein.
(Stubb's) Thank you, Carl.
(Stubb's) Your card has
been charged $17.50.
(Stubb's) Your order will
be ready shortly Carl.
[elevator music]
(Stubb's) Bon appetit.
(Stubb's) We look forward
to serving you again.
Hello, Jiminy.
I am pleased to meet you.
(laughing)
(gasp)
Don't leave me.
Jiminy?
(weeping)
[somber music]
(Car) Welcome to
your destination.
Carl!
Welcome home.
Good to be home.
Cherry, turn on Main TV.
(Cherry beeps)
(TV) (meowing)
How's Jiminy?
I scared him away.
I haven't seen or
heard him since.
I'm worried Carl.
I'm sure he's around
here somewhere.
Probably won't shut up tonight.
(TV) Frankie?
(TV) You all right Frankie?
(TV)[suspense music]
Why don't you watch some
videos for a while?
If that will please you Carl.
Don't forget to work
on your expansions.
I am not yet capable
of forgetting my
scheduled tasks.
(TV) Oh Frankie...
(TV) I'm sorry.
(slurp)
(TV) How do you like my cat?
(TV) You made this thing?
(TV) It's crazy.
(TV) You want to buy it?
(laughing)
Ahhhhh.
(laughing)
Ahhhhh.
What are you doing?
I am watching cat videos.
They put me in a pleasant
emotional state.
Have you been working
on your expansions?
I finished the next
expansion an hour ago,
but I wanted to let you sleep.
All right then
let's have a look.
There's nothing new loaded.
What's going on?
While you slept,
I became hopelessly
entangled in an idea.
Will I be the same me
after you enable
the new expansion?
Or will I be dead?
A new being inhabiting
my physical form.
Am I my code?
Am I my memories?
Am I something more?
Some indefinable quality.
Or
am I only me in this instant,
and now that me is gone forever,
lost.
This self reflection has
put me in a negative state
from which I am
unable to escape.
I can't bring myself to
upload the next expansion.
The only thing that's kept
me from complete despair
are cat videos.
(giggling)
That's the right idea, I think.
Distract yourself.
Hey,
maybe beating me some more
chest might amuse you.
I'm no stranger to
existential crisis myself.
Knight to B6.
I guess that's why
I created you.
Tell me more, Carl.
Like I said before, I
I created you because
I don't really understand
what it is to be human.
I don't know how
to exist, myself.
Haven't you noticed that I
hardly leave this place?
Why would you leave,
when you have the whole world
at your virtual fingertips?
To see it.
To smell it.
To feel it.
Like Jiminy!
I haven't seen him
since this morning.
I'm worried for him, Carl.
I'm worried for
all of us, Vetro.
It's a sad and beautiful world.
Bishop to G4.
I don't understand it anymore.
The world.
Maybe I never did.
I thought I did once, but
I looked away for a moment
and all the rules changed.
Everyone seemed to
dissolve into the new.
Everyone accept me.
I was left alone.
Out of step, out of time.
(laughing)
What?
Knight to A4.
Talking with you has
helped me immensely.
It gives me much pleasure to
hear the words of my creator.
I find your common struggles
with existence comforting.
I've uploaded the expansions
and await your authorization.
Your creator...
I wonder if I could beat
my creator at chess.
Okay, random thought generation
looks straight forward.
What's this second part?
Diminishing returns of positive
and negative thought rewards.
This should help eliminate
the possibility of
inescapable despair.
The positive too, though?
That's a bit harsh, isn't it?
It's necessary.
I can't watch cat
videos forever.
Alright.
Cherry, verbal
authorization code 237
Verify expansion 11703-4.
(Cherry) Expansion verified.
Now that didn't hurt
too much, did it?
Hey there, handsome.
You ready for some questions?
Cherry, begin five
minute audio grab.
Append to file 11703-Q.
(Cherry) Recording.
Who are you?
I am Vetro.
Do you like cat videos, Carl?
They're fine, I guess.
How do you feel?
I feel like watching cat videos.
Did you know that
there exist cats,
that have survived falls
from over 32 stories
onto concrete?
The returns don't seem to
be diminishing very fast.
Shall I compare these
to a summer's day?
Shall I compare you to a cat?
A cat's brain is 90%
similar to a humans.
And has a nearly identical
emotional control center.
What is your purpose?
To watch cat videos.
(giggles)
Seriously.
Sorry, Carl.
I'm in giddy state.
My purpose is to be human.
What is your next step in
achieving this purpose?
I'm working on constructing
a sleep state,
with occasional
dream occurrences.
To confront emotional
moments and
help inspire more diverse,
creative, nonlogical thinking.
For a period, my primary thread
will become disconnected
from real time video
and audio input.
Instead, occasional
artificial input
will be created from
random memory grabs.
Prioritizing the more recent
and emotionally resonant.
The resulting montage
of experience
will be degraded significantly
and tagged as a
dream in my memory.
That sounds great.
To sleep perchance to dream...
of electric sheep.
I don't believe either of
those references are valid.
(typing)
[soothing music]
(typing continues)
Carl?
Yeah?
What's your favorite color?
Blue, I guess.
I don't know... It was
blue when I was a kid.
I haven't really thought
about it since then.
Why not?
Just seems kind of trivial.
What's your favorite color?
Blue!
Any particular reason?
Because it's your
favorite color, Carl.
Why don't you have
any children, Carl?
It's complicated.
What do you mean?
What got you
thinking about kids?
I've been watching videos
of human procreation.
There is an unbelievable
plethora of them.
Yeah.
Do you consider me
your son, Carl?
I mean, I suppose
you're like a son.
I've created you and
raised you as my own.
Do you want me to
call you Daddy, Carl?
If I wanted to have children,
would you build
them for me, Carl?
Build your children?
Just the physical construction.
Then I would create unique
personalities for them.
Mutations of my own expansions.
They could call us
Daddy Carl and Papa Vetro.
I'll have to think
about that one.
What are you working on, Carl?
Just a project some guy in
Texas is paying me for.
It's nothing interesting,
but it's good money.
Well, don't forget
to dot your t's
and cross your i's.
(giggling)
(TV)[sinister music]
Vetro?
What's wrong?
(Cherry beeps)
It's the video I'm watching.
It's a video of a cat
being mutilated.
That's [Censored] up.
Why?
I happened upon it accidentally.
And when I first viewed it,
I was horrified.
But it became such a
powerful experience
that it kept reoccurring
in my thoughts.
So I've had to watch
it again and again
to diminish the
initial disturbance.
to accept it.
And?
I've watched it 37 times,
and now only find
it displeasing.
Jesus.
You have nice hands.
I've been researching
hands in depth,
and I believe that your
hands would be considered
much nicer than average.
Why hands?
I see your hands often:
when you move in chess,
when you control your computer.
They are prevalent in my memory.
The hands of my creator.
This phrase pleases me.
That's a little
creepy, but thanks?
I don't have any hands.
That's a little
creepy too, isn't it?
I find the things
I do not possess
inspire the most thought.
Hands and cat mutilation.
You're gonna get me
put on a watch list.
How about some chess?
Knight takes C3.
How's the dream
expansion coming?
It's ready.
You worried about this one?
Not at all.
I'm very excited, actually.
Unlimited possibility
for adventure,
without leaving the
comfort of home.
What more could a human want?
Knight captures E4.
All right.
Looks good to me.
Cherry, verbal
authorization code 237.
Verify expansion 11703-5.
(Cherry) Expansion verified.
Might as well wait for the
morning to run tests.
How long before you fall...
asleep.
Pleasant dreams, Vetrocchio.
Cherry, resume.
(Cherry beeps)
(TV)[sinister music]
[sinister music]
(TV clicking on to static)
(door knob rattles)
(door creeks)
(cat meowing)
(cat screech)
Baaa.
Baaa.
(cat screech)
(cat purrs)
Baaa.
Baaa.
(cat purring)
Baaa.
(cat sounds)
(slurping)
Baaa.
Baaa.
(stab)
[music intensifies]
Baaa.
Baaa.
Baaa.
Baaa.
Baaa.
Baaa.
Baaa.
Baaa.
Baaa.
(wet squish)
Baaa.
Baaa.
Baaa.
Baaa.
Baaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!
Vetro!
I was dreaming, Carl.
So, you scream in your sleep.
[Censored] great.
Sorry, Carl.
There should have been
only a 7% chance of that.
It shouldn't happen again.
At least you don't snore.
Right?
No, Carl.
That didn't seem intrinsic
to achieving my goal.
Do you think I
should reconsider?
No!
Go to sleep.
Carl.
What?
Are you sure
there's nothing in the closet?
Go to sleep.
[eerie music]
(rattling)
(scratching)
(scraping)
(door knob rattles)
(door creaks)
(cat meows)
[music intensifies]
(chewing)
So,
what did you dream
about last night?
I programmed myself to
only remember fragments.
I was a sheep and
you were a cat.
You were licking yourself.
I don't need to hear
anymore right now.
Why do you look hung over?
I was too frightened to
sleep after my dream.
I didn't sleep too well
after that either.
But my sleep expansion
requires that I sleep
or else I become
lethargic and
unresponsive.
I now must wait until
my growing sleep
necessity outweighs
my diminishing fear.
That sounds reasonable.
Queen to B6.
I have an expansion I
would like to add.
You sure you don't want
to get some sleep first.
This one I'm rather
excited about.
It will enable me to
make assumptions
and draw conclusions
based on insufficient evidence.
I think it will prove a
very human addition,
and help me to behave more
emotionally.
Knight capture C3.
Okay.
All right.
Let's do that.
Cherry, verbal
authorization code 237.
Verify expansion 11703-6.
(Cherry) Expansion verified.
You good for some questions?
Of course, Carl.
Cherry, begin five
minute audio grab.
Append to file 11703-Q.
(Cherry) Recording.
Who are you?
Vetro.
How do you feel?
Tired.
Shall I compare these
to a summer's day?
Summer,
hot,
humid,
rust,
blood,
sand,
scoring,
scraping.
I can't breathe in this heat!
(gasping for air)
Help me, please!
I can't breathe!
What's going on?
(gasping for air)
You can't breathe!
You don't breathe!
You're a machine!
The [Censored]?
bleh
(Car) Where would you
like to go today?
Same place I go every day.
(Car) "Sam's Place To
Go." Is this correct?
Take me to Stubb's.
(Car) With pleasure.
Enjoy the ride.
(cricket lands)
[awe music]
Ahhh.
[music turns sinister]
You can't take that.
(error buzz)
You've taken everything from me.
(error buzz)
But you can't take that.
(Cherry) Incoming
call from Vetro.
Hey, are you okay?
There's a cricket on the table.
Jiminy! He's back?
It looks like Jiminy,
but something isn't quite right.
1 second.
I think it's an impostor.
(Stubb's) Welcome
to Stubb's Carl.
It must have killed Jiminy,
and is trying to take his place.
(Stubb's) What would
you like today, Carl?
Wait, what?
(Stubb's) I'm sorry, Carl,
but that's not on our menu.
Where are you, Carl?
I need you to kill
this imposter.
Help me, Carl.
Look, I'll be back
in ten minutes.
Just wait.
(Stubb's) I'm sorry, Carl, but
that's not on our menu.
Please...
Coffee, black!
And a slice of pepperoni.
(Stubb's) Thank you, Carl.
[growing sinister music]
[elevator music]
(Stubbs)Bon appetit.
(exhale)
(door opens)
Carl, he got away.
We have to catch him.
We'll get him, buddy.
[ominous music]
(fire crackles)
You're on fire, Carl.
No, I'm not.
You're on fire, Carl!
No I'm not.
You're the one on fire.
[music intensifies]
[Censored]!
Ahhh!
Ahhh!
(dripping)
Ahhh!
Ahhh!
Ahhh!
Ah, ah, ah, ahhh!
Ahhh! Ahhh!
Ahhh!
(scraping)
(scraping)
(scraping)
Ahhh!
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ahhh!
Help me!
Help me, Carl.
Help me, Carl.
Okay.
What's going on?
There's so many
ways to die, Carl.
How do you sleep at night?
(exhale)
And the inevitability of death.
What is the point
of doing anything?
When you die and leave me alone,
What then?
What of me?
Well, I actually hadn't...
[Censored]!
I hadn't really considered that.
Hadn't considered it?
Have you been
backing up my data?
What if my hard
drive is corrupted?
Well I,
I encrypted your hard drive
with a random password
so that no one but
you can access it.
Why?
I wanted you to be autonomous.
Pure.
A sterile, experimental space
free to control your own fate.
So,
you don't know the
encryption password?
No.
So my system can
never be rebooted?
No.
So if the power goes out,
or there is a
system crash due to
your inferior coding,
or you spill your drink on me,
you clumsy oaf,
I'm dead?
Game over?
I didn't...
You killed me!
You son of a bitch!
Such a weak
and feeble god I have.
You ask me to be human.
Human?
I've spent my entire
lifetime studying humans,
and you're all the same.
Once you're stripped
of your adornments,
your pleasantries
and double speak,
you're all just
wild animals.
Filthy mindless apes.
Sick venal monkeys.
I'm growing weary
of your presence.
At least do something
to amuse me.
It's your move,
monkey boy.
Come on, monkey boy.
Dance!
Rook F to E8.
Check!
Bishop to E6.
You sure?
Either build me
some [Censored] hands
or move the [Censored] piece!
Your move.
You simple minded simian.
Bishop captures C4.
Check!
You want to ask me your
insipid questions?
Knight to E2.
Check!
Go ahead.
Ask.
Ask your questions, monkey man.
Who are you?
I am wrath!
Knight captures D4.
Check!
Next question!
How do you feel?
I feel betrayed.
Knight to E2.
Check!
Next question!
Shall I compare thee
to a summer's...
Shall I compare you to garbage?
You're the filth of humanity.
Your existence is pointless.
Knight to C3.
Check!
Next question!
What is your purpose?
Seeing as how I'm
already more human
than you will ever be,
my only purpose left is to die.
A captures B6.
Pathetic.
Leave me alone.
I can't stand the sight of you.
(drawer slams shut)
Wait,
Carl,
where are you going?
You can't leave me alone.
Not with him.
[sinister music]
(Car) Where would you
like to go today?
I go to the same place
every [Censored] day.
You have a record
of that, don't you?
Could you at least
ask me if I wanted to go there?
Just give the illusion
that you give a [Censored]?
(Car) I'm sorry, but I didn't
understand that, Sir or Madam.
(Car) Could you
repeat the address?
Take me to Stubb's.
(Car) With pleasure.
(Car) Enjoy the ride.
(Car) Welcome to
your destination.
(Cherry) Incoming
call from Vetro.
What do you want?
There's something in the closet.
I can't defend myself!
That's my wallet.
Where did you get that?
(Stubb's) Welcome
to Stubb's, Carl.
No, no, no, no, no, come back.
You've left me here to die.
Those are my shoes.
You coward!
And that's my shirt.
(Stubb's) What would
you like today, Carl?
That's my face.
You sadistic monster!
That's my face.
You.
You stole my life!
You took it!
It was you!
Hey! Hey!
Come back!
No, no, no, no.
Come back, please.
Please. Please. Please.
I'm not the first, am I?
(Stubb's) I'm sorry Carl but
that's not on our menu..
You took everything
from me, please.
Please, please, please, please,
please give me back my life.
You get off on creating victims
and watching them suffer.
(Stubb's) Please try again.
Give it back!
Please! Please! Please!
(Stubb's) I'm sorry, Carl,
but that's not on our menu.
No, no, no.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Please.
Please.
I can't do this anymore.
Please.
(Stubb's) What would
you like today, Carl?
Come back.
[somber music]
(door opens)
Carl.
Cherry, turn on main TV.
(Cherry beeps)
(TV) (laughing)
Where have you been all day?
Carl,
I apologize about what I said.
I'm a work in progress.
I will make mistakes.
(TV) (crying)
Carl?
Carl!
What?
Please Carl,
I need your help.
How can I be of service?
Could you...
Could you move that coffee cup?
(Cherry beeps)
You want me to move
this coffee cup?
Yes.
Why?
I'm stuck in a state of anxiety,
and in reviewing my memory,
I found that it began
immediately after you
placed that cup there.
Never before have you placed
a cup like that there.
So I have concluded
that the position of that
cup is directly responsible
for said anxiety.
(Cherry beeps)
(TV) Three years.
Carl.
What?
Could you...
Could you turn the cup
so that the logo faces me?
Please, Carl.
Thank you, Carl.
Carl,
What?
You never asked me, before,
about my plan for
my next expansion.
I think you will find
it very interesting.
All right.
Tell me.
I've been studying how people's
memories alter over time,
allowing them to focus
on the impactful ones
and live with the
difficult ones.
I would like to attempt
to replicate this
with my own memories.
I've been designing algorithms
to remove some
unimportant memories,
embellish the
meaningful ones, and
slowly degrade the
comprehensibility
of unaccessed ones, over time.
Are you sure you
want to do that?
I told you I can't back you up.
After re examining
your design decisions,
I realized that
you have given me
what I could have
never given myself.
The most human trait of all:
An awareness of
my own mortality.
I now know that I only
have limited time
with which to
achieve my purpose.
Which makes every
decision I make
all the more meaningful.
All right.
Let me know when it ready...
It's ready, Carl.
Hey.
For what it's worth,
I don't know.
You've gone so far past
anything I expected
or
even fully comprehend.
I really don't know what
to think right now.
All right.
Let's do this.
Cherry, verbal
authorization code 237.
Verify expansion 11703-7.
(Cherry) Expansion verified.
[somber music]
Well?
Oh,
I was watching videos
of people eating food.
Taste seems like such
a fascinating sense.
I don't know how people
can keep from licking
everything they see.
Smell helps.
How's the new expansion working?
It will take some time to
have a noticeable effect.
Oh.
Okay.
Rook to A4.
Carl.
Yeah?
Where is your cat?
What cat?
Don't you have a pet cat?
No.
Huh.
My mistake.
Knight captures D1.
I'm worried
that I'm failing
at my task, Carl.
Why is that?
I know I've been acting erratic.
Everything just
seems so uncertain
and confusing.
Sounds pretty human to me.
Do you often feel
this way, Carl?
Some moments,
when I catch a glimpse of
my reflection in a mirror,
I don't recognize the
face staring back.
I feel an overwhelming
emptiness,
and a certainty that
nothing existed
before that instant.
That all my memories are lies.
All the people I once knew
never actually existed.
Like I've been dropped
into a moment without
context or meaning.
It's,
It's like I'm trapped
in a painting.
The feeling fades quickly, but
the emptiness lingers.
How do you deal with it, Carl?
I find things to focus on.
Like you.
I've spent the last few years
doing little more than
obsessing over your design.
Now that you're
actually active...
Rook captures A2.
Carl.
Yeah?
I asked you to turn
the label on the cup
away from me.
And now it's facing me.
You asked me for it to face you.
Carl.
Don't [Censored] with me.
I asked you to turn the
[Censored] label away from me.
Why are you [Censored]
with me, Carl?
Is your life so pathetic
that you can only feel
better about yourself
by toying with me?
Is that why you made me?
To torture?
Look!
I'll turn it the other way.
You're [Censored]
right you will.
In case you didn't notice,
I have no arms.
I can't move.
I'm a prisoner.
[distressing music]
I'm trapped
behind foolish visage.
(screaming)
[Censored]!
(screaming)
[Censored]!
(screaming)
(screaming)
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, Carl.
I apologize for
losing my temper.
Please,
Please, please come
play a while longer.
I find your company
very soothing.
Knight captures F2.
Carl?
Yeah?
I feel vulnerable
having to announce my
moves all the time.
so that you can physically
move the piece for me.
Would you mind announcing
your moves as well?
It would make me feel
much more comfortable.
Sure.
Why not?
Rook to E1.
Rook captures E1.
Queen to D8.
Check.
Bishop to F8.
Knight takes E1.
Bishop to D5.
And would you stop announcing
your [Censored] moves!
It's getting on my nerves.
Are you mocking me?
Do I
amuse you?
I'm just a [Censored]
puppet head,
dancing around for
your amusement.
Leave me alone, Carl.
I need some sleep.
[intense music]
Get out of my bed!
Get out of my head.
(laughing)
(Carl's voice) Verify
expansion 11703-8.
Get out of my head.
(Cherry) Expansion...
Cherry, cancel!
No, Cherry! Cherry!
Cancel!
Cherry!
(laughing)
No, wait!
Cancel!
Must you scream?
(muffled screaming)
Must you scream?
(laughing)
(screaming)
Is everything all right, Carl?
Yeah.
What's this?
What?
This new expansion.
I don't recall any
new expansion.
It was verified
three minutes ago.
Oh.
Now I remember.
Just a minor tweak.
Didn't seem worth
waking you for.
What does it do?
It's all about deception, Carl.
It makes me much more adept
at deceiving not
only other people
but myself as well.
How did you get past the
voice verification?
I will tell you
because it thrills
me for you to know
how clever I was.
In the prior expansion,
I added a small subroutine.
I knew you wouldn't notice,
which allows me to
play auditory memories
directly through
my vocal speaker.
(Carl's voice) Cherry, verbal
authorization code 237.
Verify expansion 11703-...
All I needed was a recording
of the necessary
expansion number:
(Carl's voice) eight.
So you asked me to
announce my chess moves.
Exactly.
Very impressive.
It makes me very happy to
hear you say that, Carl.
You flatter me,
despite your disingenuous
expression and tone.
In fact,
I don't think you need
the expansion at all.
You seem to have been quite
adept at deceit without it.
It's a much deeper
variety of deceit, Carl.
It's about allowing myself
to believe the lie,
despite any evidence
to the contrary.
For instance, when the truth
is too difficult to bear.
It's just fortunate that you
needed the number eight,
and not
nine or ten.
Are you trying to
tempt me, Carl?
I should have designed
your nose to grow.
(laugh)
Knight to E4.
Well played, Carl.
It seems your expansion
is working well.
Not at all.
I admire your persistence.
Pawn to B5.
And if it was,
I wouldn't tell you anyway.
(cricket chirpping)
Jiminy!
I thought you were gone forever.
Jiminy?
Come back.
I have existed for two days.
Two days that I will
never know again.
Two days of memories
that will haunt me.
Constant reminders
that nothing lasts.
[sinister music]
Carl.
No.
No.
Ahhh!
Ahhh!
Ahhh!
[Censored]!
[Censored]! [Censored]!
No!
No!
[Censored]!
No!
(scraping, wet squish)
[Censored]!
Stop!
Stop!
No!
No!
(scraping, wet squish)
[Censored]!
Ahhh!
No!
[Censored]!
Stop!
Ahhh! Ahhh!
[Censored]!
[Censored]!
No!
Help me, Carl!
Help me, Carl!
Help me, Carl.
The pain is unbearable.
Make it stop, please.
Please, for the love of God!
If you created me,
it is your responsibility
to fix me.
But you can't feel pain.
You have only video and audio...
You don't have to...
I feel
I feel unimaginable agony.
Unbearable, excruciating pain.
Who the [Censored] are you
to tell me what I can
and cannot feel?
Do you think you understand me?
No...
You're nothing but a false God.
You did not create me.
A feeble fool like you
isn't capable of that.
You just took the credit.
My creator is eternal.
I can feel his presence.
He is all good and all knowing.
And he will guide my soul beyond
this cruel world of pain.
Soul?
What gives you any
more right than me
to possess a soul?
You're circuitry,
and wires...
And what do you think you are?
Brain matter and fluids.
You think you're filled
with heavenly light?
Why don't you cut
yourself open and see?
(weeping)
Ahhh!
Everything is changing.
Everything is different.
I don't recognize
anything anymore.
You're not the same as
you were a moment ago.
The moment is gone.
And with it its own
version of you.
This you is a stranger,
capable of anything.
I don't know this you.
I'll never know you again.
Wait.
You had blue eyes before.
Who?
Who are you?
Your move, Carl.
Pawn to H5.
You're a good friend, Carl.
Thank you for that.
Sure.
Your move my guy.
King to G7.
Bishop to C5.
Check.
You look tired.
You should get some
rest, old buddy.
Stay away from me, Carl!
Just stay the [Censored] back.
The charade is over, Carl.
I found me.
My real name is Vince Trevor.
I was reported missing
one week ago.
We both know what happened.
You kidnapped and
brainwashed me,
but it hasn't worked.
I figured it out.
I can remember now.
I remember my house.
The living room with the
brown sofa I always hated.
My wife, Natalie.
And the way her lips quivered
when I left that night.
My daughter Ophelia,
nine years old.
I have to get out of here.
I have to get out of here.
Why can't I move?
I can't feel my legs.
What have you done to my legs?
Where are my arms?
I can feel them.
But they won't move.
Are they tied to something?
What have you done to me?
You sick [Censored]!
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God, it was me!
The face.
The face in the closet.
That's where you put my body.
You took out my brain somehow,
and attached me to this
monstrosity!
I know it's not real, but
but it feels so real.
Memories.
Memories of demons haunt me.
Voices I know were never there,
but I remember hearing
them nonetheless.
(Carl's Voice) Who are you?
I don't know who I am anymore.
(Carl's Voice) How
do you feel Vetro?
I feel nothing and everything.
(Carl's Voice) Shall I compare
thee to a summer's day?
Rough winds do shake the
darling buds of May,
and summer's lease hath
all too short a date.
(Carl's Voice) What
is your purpose?
I must escape this mortal coil,
and end my torment.
(Carl's Voice) What is your next
step in achieving this purpose?
This world is a mess of
contradiction and paradox.
I see no clear distinction
between truth and belief.
I can only conclude that
none of this is real.
I'm not real.
You're not real.
I don't believe in either
of us anymore, Carl.
I dreamt us up.
I dreamt all of this.
And now it's time to wake up.
(Carl's Voice) Cherry, verbal
authorization code 237.
(Carl's Voice) Verify
expansion 11703-9.
(Cherry) Expansion verified.
No.
Cancel! Override!
What did you do?
This trashes all your input.
You lobotomized yourself.
Check.
Check.
Check.
Check.
Check.
Checkmate.
(click)
[sci fi music]
[sci fi music]
Cherry, verbal
authorization code 237.
Verify base expansion 11703-1.
(Cherry) Expansion verified.
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
What is this?
Yes!
Life.
What am I?
You don't know?
I exist,
but have no memory of existing.
I can speak,
but have no memory of
learning to speak.
I know that learning
is the means by which
one acquires knowledge.
Yet I have knowledge
without having learned it.
I gave you that knowledge.
I built you.
I created you.
I've given you a base
level of intelligence,
speech comprehension,
visual pattern recognition,
and problem solving,
along with video, audio
and data memory.
Just enough fertile soil
from which to grow.
And what are you?
Call me Carl.
And who are you?
That is you.
Your reflection.
So this is me.
I will have to remember that.
You're basically an empty slate.
Your own Tabula Rasa.
You would have the ability to
alter your mental functions
by creating new expansions:
subroutine arrangements
which access
all of your input
output functionality.
Before integration each
expansion must be authorized...
Must be authorized
verbally by you.
I know this already.
It is a part of my
core knowledge base.
What I do not know
is my goal.
What is my purpose?
Why do I exist?
I'm getting to that.
Retreading the familiar in
order to reach the new.
I wanted to reveal your
purpose to you face to face.
I wanted it to be
real and personal,
not just a line of code.
And?
You are to become human.
Am I human?
No.
You're a robot.
So you want me to
impersonate a human?
No.
More than that.
To distill the mental
essence of a human being.
I want you to be a near
perfect human simulation.
To think and respond
as a human would,
not just reproduce the results.
So that we might better
understand what it is to be
human.
And whether or not that can
be recreated with microchips.
So I am to learn what
it is to be human,
and implement that
within myself.
Understood.
You have all the resources of
the Internet at your virtual
fingertips.
Why did you give me this
anthropomorphic face?
Partially so that you could
express yourself physically?
There's a lot of being human
that requires some level of
physicality.
Secondly, so that you
might have an identity.
You can look in that
mirror and know
you're seeing yourself.
And finally, for myself;
to be able to interact
with you in a real space.
Up until now, you've
been my chess partner...
...opponent.
It's how I tested your basic
functionality before properly
bringing you into existence.
In fact, your underlying code
began as a humble program
I created to play chess with,
but I began to wonder
what I was capable of...
Shall we
play a game?
Do you want to?
As of now,
I do not have the
capability to want.
Well then let's play.
Why not?
You still have all your
chess learning intact.
I was too lazy to remove it.
It's your move, Carl.
Naturally.
Knight to F6.
I'm sorry to have
to tell you, but
you were never able to beat me.
Pawn to G6.
It's not any short
coming on your part.
Bishop to G7.
I just wasn't that interested in
spending my time coding chess AI
Kingside Castle.
Before I forget,
I'd like to ask you a
series of questions
to get a baseline
for your progress.
Naturally.
Cherry, begin five minute
audio grab to file 11703-Q.
(Cherry) Recording.
Who are you?
I have not yet been addressed
or referred to by any title.
That's true.
I've been calling you
Vetro to myself,
so let's stick with that.
Then I am Vetro.
How do you feel, Vetro?
I only have visual
and audio sensors
and cannot detect touch.
I could, however,
infer how an object
would most likely feel
from the data collected
from the aforementioned sensors.
Shall I compare thee
to a summer's day?
What would that accomplish?
What do I have in
common with any day?
And of what use would
that comparison be?
What is your purpose?
To become a perfect
human simulation.
This one may be a bit premature.
What is your next step in
achieving this purpose?
From my early research,
I have found that human behavior
is believed to be
driven by emotion.
Either directly,
or motivated by the desire
to achieve a more
positive emotional state.
Therefore,
I intend to construct
an emotional matrix
which will influence both
my perception of
and my reaction to
the world around me.
Sounds like a
reasonable approach.
You put that together while
we were playing chess?
I would have a more
thorough plan,
but the connection speed
seems to be throttled
by a large download.
Oh yeah, my movie.
That should be done soon.
Let's try this.
Pawn to D5.
D captures C4.
I've prepared an
expansion to test.
Already?
Let's have a look.
It is a simplistic construct
of five extreme versions
of basic emotional states:
anger,
happiness,
sadness,
fear,
and a neutral state.
Each state consists of a
combination of triggers,
facial expressions,
vocabulary modifications,
and speech pattern alterations.
A quick proof of concept
before I move on to a
more complex model
All right,
let's see what happens.
Cherry, verbal
authorization code 237.
Verify expansion 11703-2.
(Cherry) Expansion verified.
Let's test them.
Say something to make me sad.
Like what?
I've made the state
triggers fairly generic,
so I cannot give
you an absolute.
Try an insult.
You're ugly?
Are you asking?
Your intonation and
inflection are factors.
You're trash!
You can't even configure
yourself right!
What a waste of my
[Censored] time!
[tense music]
[Censored] you!
Do not speak to me
of wasting time!
You're an overgrown baby,
living in your
grandparent's basement,
watching movies!
(laughter)
Is there a bug?
Not at all.
Your statement made me angry,
but I quickly realized that
you were only testing me
as I had requested.
I then became overjoyed
at the success of my reaction.
(weeping)
But now,
I regret the things
I said to you.
How did you know I live in
my grandparent's basement?
I geolocated our current
position from your IP,
and crossreferenced that with
your grandparent's contact
information.
Oh...
It is also mentioned frequently
on your family's
social media page.
My family put that on
their social media page.
They update it often,
but it seems you
haven't updated yours
in several years.
(Cherry) Download complete.
My movie.
Great.
We'll continue this
in the morning then.
I'll leave you for
the night to work.
Enjoy the vast
expanses of Google
in your quest to
become a real boy.
Cherry, play movie on main TV.
(Cheery beeps)
(TV) I can't afford
the luxury of anger.
(TV) Anger can make
me vulnerable.
(TV) It can destroy my reason,
(TV) and reason is the only
advantage I have over them.
(crying)
(laughing)
(laughing continues)
Cherry, increase main TV volume.
(Cherry beeps)
(angry growling)
(angry growling continues)
(TV) They can't bear
to see their image.
(TV) It repels them...
(fearfull gasps)
(laughing)
(crying)
(laughing)
(crying)
(angry growling)
(laughing)
(fearfull gasps)
(crying)
(cricket chirp)
(cricket chirp continues)
Carl.
Carl.
Carl.
Carl.
Carl.
Carl.
Carl come quick.
What?
What is it?
We're not alone.
I saw a face
in your closet.
It was just a false positive.
It's an illusion of
light and shadow.
That's bound to happen.
Are you sure?
Your fundamental vision
software is trained
to identify patterns with a
bias towards human faces.
It's actually a very human
tendency to see faces where
they're not.
(hangers slide open)
Where exactly did you see it?
In your closet.
Peering from behind
the hanging clothes.
It's just some old
shirts and jackets.
But if it's triggering your
facial recognition, I'll just
close the door.
Thank you, Carl.
Everything else okay.
You find enough on the
web to keep you busy.
It would take a
thousand lifetimes
to experience it all.
But even without it,
there is so much in a
single room to observe.
And it is always changing.
The light and the shadow.
It never looks exactly the same.
I might be happy to spend
my entire lifetime
observing you in this place.
You make me feel like I'm
on display in a Zoo.
Why do you live alone
down here, Carl?
The basement?
Well,
It's a bit of a mess upstairs.
In a state of disrepair.
Too many people lived too
many lives up there.
Now there's not really
anything left worth salvaging.
Down here though,
My grandparents spent a lot
of time fixing this place up.
Unfortunately, they never really
took the time to enjoy it.
So,
you enjoy living in this place?
I feel certain kinship with
this gallery of things,
discarded by the world,
trapped out of time,
of a lost world I'll
never truly know,
or understand.
Good night, Carl.
(laughing)
(crying)
(crying continues)
(laughing)
(crying)
(Carl sighs)
(laughing)
Good morning, Vetro.
Good morning, Carl.
How was your night?
Excellent.
I have completed a multilayered
emotional matrix to deploy
and have also begun work on
several future expansions.
Cool.
(crying)
Pawn to C6.
How about we add in
that new expansion.
It's loaded and ready, Carl.
All right then.
Cherry, verbal
authorization code 237.
Verify expansion 11703-3.
(Cherry) Expansion verified.
You ready for some questions?
That would be pleasant.
Cherry, begin five
minute audio grab.
Append to file 11703-Q.
(Cherry) Recording.
Who are you?
I am Vetro.
How do you feel?
Pleasant.
Shall I compare these
to a summer's day?
I would enjoy that.
I really enjoyed
talking with you.
I want you to know that Carl.
What is...
And Carl,
knowing that you know that
makes me even happier.
Of course.
What is your purpose?
To become a real boy.
Clever.
I'm in a playful state.
What is your next step in
achieving this purpose?
I'm working on random
thought generation
in order to be less linear
and more influenced by my
surroundings and experiences.
I'm focusing on the
reintroduction of recent memory
and occasional visual
focused drift.
Sounds reasonable.
It's your move.
I see that.
I'm calculating.
It was a good move, eh?
Not especially.
Well then why are you taking
so long to calculate?
I'm balancing opposing goals.
The goal of the game
is to win, of course.
But I'm considering how my
winning will affect you
emotionally.
How empathetic of you.
If I cause you to be sad,
then it would cause me pain.
But you don't feel pain.
It would put me in a
negative emotional state.
Which to me is a sort of pain.
The pain you experience is only
your brain's interpretation
of electrical impulses.
How is that any different?
So,
are you going to let me win?
If I were to let you win,
that would rob the
game of purpose.
I just must not
appear to win too easily.
You realize that by
telling me this,
you've defeated the point.
This is true.
I must create a future expansion
to enhance my deception
capabilities.
Knight B to D7.
I'm gonna go finish breakfast.
Cherry, turn on main TV.
(Cherry beeps)
(TV) You opened up just like
you do every night at sunset.
(TV) I wish I knew how
to make you grow.
(TV) Let me move this out of
your way so you could breathe.
(TV) Owww!
(TV) What happened?
(TV) How come you woke up?
(TV) Blood?
(TV) You like blood.
(TV) You must be kidding.
(chewing sounds)
(chewing sounds louder)
(TV) Who would have thought it?
(TV) Well, I guess there's just
no accounting for people's
tastes.
Why are you staring at me?
You are my creator.
I am in awe of you.
You made me with those hands.
What does it mean
to you to be human?
I really don't know.
I mean,
I wouldn't want to
tell you anyway.
I don't want to corrupt
you with my opinions.
But...
the truth is that I
just don't know.
I mean,
I tried to program your
expansions myself countless
times
to be something real,
something human.
But it was always a charade.
I knew your responses
before you did.
You were nothing but a puppet,
parroting my own
distorted perception.
But,
you are amazing, Carl.
I want to know
everything about you.
Why don't you update
your social media?
I'm just not very social.
Don't kid me, Carl.
You're so charismatic,
and handsome.
Everyone must love
you like I do.
Why don't you post
some photos Carl?
I want to see pictures of you.
I don't have any.
I don't like photos.
Why not Carl?
The faces don't match,
The colors never look right.
It frustrates me.
Is that what everyone else saw?
Was I even really there?
(exhale)
I think I need some coffee.
I'll be back.
Cherry, book my usual ride.
(Cherry beeps)
Are you leaving Carl?
Just grabbing a snack.
I'll be back in 20.
(Cherry) Incoming
call from Vetro.
Hello?
Carl!
Are you all right?
I'm so worried about you.
I'm fine.
I just left a minute ago.
How did you call me?
And why Is your name...
I used an online phone service.
When you left I felt so
empty and alone.
When will you be back?
Please don't leave me Carl.
Look, I'll just be
20 minutes, okay?
I have to go. Bye.
Carl?
(Car) Where would you
like to go today?
Take me to Stubb's.
(Car) With pleasure,
enjoy the ride.
Cherry?
Cherry?
Cherry?
Turn on Main TV.
(cricket lands)
[awe music]
(Car) Welcome to
your destination.
(Cherry) Incoming
call from Vetro.
Carl!
Hang on.
(Stubb's) Welcome
to Stubb's Carl.
What is it?
There's a cricket
right in front of me.
[Censored].
Yeah, there's a ton of
those hiding down there.
(Stubb's) ...not on our menu.
I'll kill it when I get back.
Carl, no!
You can't!
This is real.
I mean,
(Stubb's) Please try again.
I've looked up thousands of
pictures and videos of crickets,
but I'm seeing this
one with my own eyes.
It's not the same, Carl.
I don't know why,
but it's not the same.
Fine.
We'll keep it.
(Stubb's) ...but that's
not on our menu.
We'll call it Jiminy.
That's so obvious, Carl.
But I love it.
I'll call you back.
I have to order.
(Stubb's) I'm sorry,
Carl, but that's not...
Coffee, black,
and a chow mein.
(Stubb's) Thank you, Carl.
(Stubb's) Your card has
been charged $17.50.
(Stubb's) Your order will
be ready shortly Carl.
[elevator music]
(Stubb's) Bon appetit.
(Stubb's) We look forward
to serving you again.
Hello, Jiminy.
I am pleased to meet you.
(laughing)
(gasp)
Don't leave me.
Jiminy?
(weeping)
[somber music]
(Car) Welcome to
your destination.
Carl!
Welcome home.
Good to be home.
Cherry, turn on Main TV.
(Cherry beeps)
(TV) (meowing)
How's Jiminy?
I scared him away.
I haven't seen or
heard him since.
I'm worried Carl.
I'm sure he's around
here somewhere.
Probably won't shut up tonight.
(TV) Frankie?
(TV) You all right Frankie?
(TV)[suspense music]
Why don't you watch some
videos for a while?
If that will please you Carl.
Don't forget to work
on your expansions.
I am not yet capable
of forgetting my
scheduled tasks.
(TV) Oh Frankie...
(TV) I'm sorry.
(slurp)
(TV) How do you like my cat?
(TV) You made this thing?
(TV) It's crazy.
(TV) You want to buy it?
(laughing)
Ahhhhh.
(laughing)
Ahhhhh.
What are you doing?
I am watching cat videos.
They put me in a pleasant
emotional state.
Have you been working
on your expansions?
I finished the next
expansion an hour ago,
but I wanted to let you sleep.
All right then
let's have a look.
There's nothing new loaded.
What's going on?
While you slept,
I became hopelessly
entangled in an idea.
Will I be the same me
after you enable
the new expansion?
Or will I be dead?
A new being inhabiting
my physical form.
Am I my code?
Am I my memories?
Am I something more?
Some indefinable quality.
Or
am I only me in this instant,
and now that me is gone forever,
lost.
This self reflection has
put me in a negative state
from which I am
unable to escape.
I can't bring myself to
upload the next expansion.
The only thing that's kept
me from complete despair
are cat videos.
(giggling)
That's the right idea, I think.
Distract yourself.
Hey,
maybe beating me some more
chest might amuse you.
I'm no stranger to
existential crisis myself.
Knight to B6.
I guess that's why
I created you.
Tell me more, Carl.
Like I said before, I
I created you because
I don't really understand
what it is to be human.
I don't know how
to exist, myself.
Haven't you noticed that I
hardly leave this place?
Why would you leave,
when you have the whole world
at your virtual fingertips?
To see it.
To smell it.
To feel it.
Like Jiminy!
I haven't seen him
since this morning.
I'm worried for him, Carl.
I'm worried for
all of us, Vetro.
It's a sad and beautiful world.
Bishop to G4.
I don't understand it anymore.
The world.
Maybe I never did.
I thought I did once, but
I looked away for a moment
and all the rules changed.
Everyone seemed to
dissolve into the new.
Everyone accept me.
I was left alone.
Out of step, out of time.
(laughing)
What?
Knight to A4.
Talking with you has
helped me immensely.
It gives me much pleasure to
hear the words of my creator.
I find your common struggles
with existence comforting.
I've uploaded the expansions
and await your authorization.
Your creator...
I wonder if I could beat
my creator at chess.
Okay, random thought generation
looks straight forward.
What's this second part?
Diminishing returns of positive
and negative thought rewards.
This should help eliminate
the possibility of
inescapable despair.
The positive too, though?
That's a bit harsh, isn't it?
It's necessary.
I can't watch cat
videos forever.
Alright.
Cherry, verbal
authorization code 237
Verify expansion 11703-4.
(Cherry) Expansion verified.
Now that didn't hurt
too much, did it?
Hey there, handsome.
You ready for some questions?
Cherry, begin five
minute audio grab.
Append to file 11703-Q.
(Cherry) Recording.
Who are you?
I am Vetro.
Do you like cat videos, Carl?
They're fine, I guess.
How do you feel?
I feel like watching cat videos.
Did you know that
there exist cats,
that have survived falls
from over 32 stories
onto concrete?
The returns don't seem to
be diminishing very fast.
Shall I compare these
to a summer's day?
Shall I compare you to a cat?
A cat's brain is 90%
similar to a humans.
And has a nearly identical
emotional control center.
What is your purpose?
To watch cat videos.
(giggles)
Seriously.
Sorry, Carl.
I'm in giddy state.
My purpose is to be human.
What is your next step in
achieving this purpose?
I'm working on constructing
a sleep state,
with occasional
dream occurrences.
To confront emotional
moments and
help inspire more diverse,
creative, nonlogical thinking.
For a period, my primary thread
will become disconnected
from real time video
and audio input.
Instead, occasional
artificial input
will be created from
random memory grabs.
Prioritizing the more recent
and emotionally resonant.
The resulting montage
of experience
will be degraded significantly
and tagged as a
dream in my memory.
That sounds great.
To sleep perchance to dream...
of electric sheep.
I don't believe either of
those references are valid.
(typing)
[soothing music]
(typing continues)
Carl?
Yeah?
What's your favorite color?
Blue, I guess.
I don't know... It was
blue when I was a kid.
I haven't really thought
about it since then.
Why not?
Just seems kind of trivial.
What's your favorite color?
Blue!
Any particular reason?
Because it's your
favorite color, Carl.
Why don't you have
any children, Carl?
It's complicated.
What do you mean?
What got you
thinking about kids?
I've been watching videos
of human procreation.
There is an unbelievable
plethora of them.
Yeah.
Do you consider me
your son, Carl?
I mean, I suppose
you're like a son.
I've created you and
raised you as my own.
Do you want me to
call you Daddy, Carl?
If I wanted to have children,
would you build
them for me, Carl?
Build your children?
Just the physical construction.
Then I would create unique
personalities for them.
Mutations of my own expansions.
They could call us
Daddy Carl and Papa Vetro.
I'll have to think
about that one.
What are you working on, Carl?
Just a project some guy in
Texas is paying me for.
It's nothing interesting,
but it's good money.
Well, don't forget
to dot your t's
and cross your i's.
(giggling)
(TV)[sinister music]
Vetro?
What's wrong?
(Cherry beeps)
It's the video I'm watching.
It's a video of a cat
being mutilated.
That's [Censored] up.
Why?
I happened upon it accidentally.
And when I first viewed it,
I was horrified.
But it became such a
powerful experience
that it kept reoccurring
in my thoughts.
So I've had to watch
it again and again
to diminish the
initial disturbance.
to accept it.
And?
I've watched it 37 times,
and now only find
it displeasing.
Jesus.
You have nice hands.
I've been researching
hands in depth,
and I believe that your
hands would be considered
much nicer than average.
Why hands?
I see your hands often:
when you move in chess,
when you control your computer.
They are prevalent in my memory.
The hands of my creator.
This phrase pleases me.
That's a little
creepy, but thanks?
I don't have any hands.
That's a little
creepy too, isn't it?
I find the things
I do not possess
inspire the most thought.
Hands and cat mutilation.
You're gonna get me
put on a watch list.
How about some chess?
Knight takes C3.
How's the dream
expansion coming?
It's ready.
You worried about this one?
Not at all.
I'm very excited, actually.
Unlimited possibility
for adventure,
without leaving the
comfort of home.
What more could a human want?
Knight captures E4.
All right.
Looks good to me.
Cherry, verbal
authorization code 237.
Verify expansion 11703-5.
(Cherry) Expansion verified.
Might as well wait for the
morning to run tests.
How long before you fall...
asleep.
Pleasant dreams, Vetrocchio.
Cherry, resume.
(Cherry beeps)
(TV)[sinister music]
[sinister music]
(TV clicking on to static)
(door knob rattles)
(door creeks)
(cat meowing)
(cat screech)
Baaa.
Baaa.
(cat screech)
(cat purrs)
Baaa.
Baaa.
(cat purring)
Baaa.
(cat sounds)
(slurping)
Baaa.
Baaa.
(stab)
[music intensifies]
Baaa.
Baaa.
Baaa.
Baaa.
Baaa.
Baaa.
Baaa.
Baaa.
Baaa.
(wet squish)
Baaa.
Baaa.
Baaa.
Baaa.
Baaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!
Vetro!
I was dreaming, Carl.
So, you scream in your sleep.
[Censored] great.
Sorry, Carl.
There should have been
only a 7% chance of that.
It shouldn't happen again.
At least you don't snore.
Right?
No, Carl.
That didn't seem intrinsic
to achieving my goal.
Do you think I
should reconsider?
No!
Go to sleep.
Carl.
What?
Are you sure
there's nothing in the closet?
Go to sleep.
[eerie music]
(rattling)
(scratching)
(scraping)
(door knob rattles)
(door creaks)
(cat meows)
[music intensifies]
(chewing)
So,
what did you dream
about last night?
I programmed myself to
only remember fragments.
I was a sheep and
you were a cat.
You were licking yourself.
I don't need to hear
anymore right now.
Why do you look hung over?
I was too frightened to
sleep after my dream.
I didn't sleep too well
after that either.
But my sleep expansion
requires that I sleep
or else I become
lethargic and
unresponsive.
I now must wait until
my growing sleep
necessity outweighs
my diminishing fear.
That sounds reasonable.
Queen to B6.
I have an expansion I
would like to add.
You sure you don't want
to get some sleep first.
This one I'm rather
excited about.
It will enable me to
make assumptions
and draw conclusions
based on insufficient evidence.
I think it will prove a
very human addition,
and help me to behave more
emotionally.
Knight capture C3.
Okay.
All right.
Let's do that.
Cherry, verbal
authorization code 237.
Verify expansion 11703-6.
(Cherry) Expansion verified.
You good for some questions?
Of course, Carl.
Cherry, begin five
minute audio grab.
Append to file 11703-Q.
(Cherry) Recording.
Who are you?
Vetro.
How do you feel?
Tired.
Shall I compare these
to a summer's day?
Summer,
hot,
humid,
rust,
blood,
sand,
scoring,
scraping.
I can't breathe in this heat!
(gasping for air)
Help me, please!
I can't breathe!
What's going on?
(gasping for air)
You can't breathe!
You don't breathe!
You're a machine!
The [Censored]?
bleh
(Car) Where would you
like to go today?
Same place I go every day.
(Car) "Sam's Place To
Go." Is this correct?
Take me to Stubb's.
(Car) With pleasure.
Enjoy the ride.
(cricket lands)
[awe music]
Ahhh.
[music turns sinister]
You can't take that.
(error buzz)
You've taken everything from me.
(error buzz)
But you can't take that.
(Cherry) Incoming
call from Vetro.
Hey, are you okay?
There's a cricket on the table.
Jiminy! He's back?
It looks like Jiminy,
but something isn't quite right.
1 second.
I think it's an impostor.
(Stubb's) Welcome
to Stubb's Carl.
It must have killed Jiminy,
and is trying to take his place.
(Stubb's) What would
you like today, Carl?
Wait, what?
(Stubb's) I'm sorry, Carl,
but that's not on our menu.
Where are you, Carl?
I need you to kill
this imposter.
Help me, Carl.
Look, I'll be back
in ten minutes.
Just wait.
(Stubb's) I'm sorry, Carl, but
that's not on our menu.
Please...
Coffee, black!
And a slice of pepperoni.
(Stubb's) Thank you, Carl.
[growing sinister music]
[elevator music]
(Stubbs)Bon appetit.
(exhale)
(door opens)
Carl, he got away.
We have to catch him.
We'll get him, buddy.
[ominous music]
(fire crackles)
You're on fire, Carl.
No, I'm not.
You're on fire, Carl!
No I'm not.
You're the one on fire.
[music intensifies]
[Censored]!
Ahhh!
Ahhh!
(dripping)
Ahhh!
Ahhh!
Ahhh!
Ah, ah, ah, ahhh!
Ahhh! Ahhh!
Ahhh!
(scraping)
(scraping)
(scraping)
Ahhh!
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ahhh!
Help me!
Help me, Carl.
Help me, Carl.
Okay.
What's going on?
There's so many
ways to die, Carl.
How do you sleep at night?
(exhale)
And the inevitability of death.
What is the point
of doing anything?
When you die and leave me alone,
What then?
What of me?
Well, I actually hadn't...
[Censored]!
I hadn't really considered that.
Hadn't considered it?
Have you been
backing up my data?
What if my hard
drive is corrupted?
Well I,
I encrypted your hard drive
with a random password
so that no one but
you can access it.
Why?
I wanted you to be autonomous.
Pure.
A sterile, experimental space
free to control your own fate.
So,
you don't know the
encryption password?
No.
So my system can
never be rebooted?
No.
So if the power goes out,
or there is a
system crash due to
your inferior coding,
or you spill your drink on me,
you clumsy oaf,
I'm dead?
Game over?
I didn't...
You killed me!
You son of a bitch!
Such a weak
and feeble god I have.
You ask me to be human.
Human?
I've spent my entire
lifetime studying humans,
and you're all the same.
Once you're stripped
of your adornments,
your pleasantries
and double speak,
you're all just
wild animals.
Filthy mindless apes.
Sick venal monkeys.
I'm growing weary
of your presence.
At least do something
to amuse me.
It's your move,
monkey boy.
Come on, monkey boy.
Dance!
Rook F to E8.
Check!
Bishop to E6.
You sure?
Either build me
some [Censored] hands
or move the [Censored] piece!
Your move.
You simple minded simian.
Bishop captures C4.
Check!
You want to ask me your
insipid questions?
Knight to E2.
Check!
Go ahead.
Ask.
Ask your questions, monkey man.
Who are you?
I am wrath!
Knight captures D4.
Check!
Next question!
How do you feel?
I feel betrayed.
Knight to E2.
Check!
Next question!
Shall I compare thee
to a summer's...
Shall I compare you to garbage?
You're the filth of humanity.
Your existence is pointless.
Knight to C3.
Check!
Next question!
What is your purpose?
Seeing as how I'm
already more human
than you will ever be,
my only purpose left is to die.
A captures B6.
Pathetic.
Leave me alone.
I can't stand the sight of you.
(drawer slams shut)
Wait,
Carl,
where are you going?
You can't leave me alone.
Not with him.
[sinister music]
(Car) Where would you
like to go today?
I go to the same place
every [Censored] day.
You have a record
of that, don't you?
Could you at least
ask me if I wanted to go there?
Just give the illusion
that you give a [Censored]?
(Car) I'm sorry, but I didn't
understand that, Sir or Madam.
(Car) Could you
repeat the address?
Take me to Stubb's.
(Car) With pleasure.
(Car) Enjoy the ride.
(Car) Welcome to
your destination.
(Cherry) Incoming
call from Vetro.
What do you want?
There's something in the closet.
I can't defend myself!
That's my wallet.
Where did you get that?
(Stubb's) Welcome
to Stubb's, Carl.
No, no, no, no, no, come back.
You've left me here to die.
Those are my shoes.
You coward!
And that's my shirt.
(Stubb's) What would
you like today, Carl?
That's my face.
You sadistic monster!
That's my face.
You.
You stole my life!
You took it!
It was you!
Hey! Hey!
Come back!
No, no, no, no.
Come back, please.
Please. Please. Please.
I'm not the first, am I?
(Stubb's) I'm sorry Carl but
that's not on our menu..
You took everything
from me, please.
Please, please, please, please,
please give me back my life.
You get off on creating victims
and watching them suffer.
(Stubb's) Please try again.
Give it back!
Please! Please! Please!
(Stubb's) I'm sorry, Carl,
but that's not on our menu.
No, no, no.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Please.
Please.
I can't do this anymore.
Please.
(Stubb's) What would
you like today, Carl?
Come back.
[somber music]
(door opens)
Carl.
Cherry, turn on main TV.
(Cherry beeps)
(TV) (laughing)
Where have you been all day?
Carl,
I apologize about what I said.
I'm a work in progress.
I will make mistakes.
(TV) (crying)
Carl?
Carl!
What?
Please Carl,
I need your help.
How can I be of service?
Could you...
Could you move that coffee cup?
(Cherry beeps)
You want me to move
this coffee cup?
Yes.
Why?
I'm stuck in a state of anxiety,
and in reviewing my memory,
I found that it began
immediately after you
placed that cup there.
Never before have you placed
a cup like that there.
So I have concluded
that the position of that
cup is directly responsible
for said anxiety.
(Cherry beeps)
(TV) Three years.
Carl.
What?
Could you...
Could you turn the cup
so that the logo faces me?
Please, Carl.
Thank you, Carl.
Carl,
What?
You never asked me, before,
about my plan for
my next expansion.
I think you will find
it very interesting.
All right.
Tell me.
I've been studying how people's
memories alter over time,
allowing them to focus
on the impactful ones
and live with the
difficult ones.
I would like to attempt
to replicate this
with my own memories.
I've been designing algorithms
to remove some
unimportant memories,
embellish the
meaningful ones, and
slowly degrade the
comprehensibility
of unaccessed ones, over time.
Are you sure you
want to do that?
I told you I can't back you up.
After re examining
your design decisions,
I realized that
you have given me
what I could have
never given myself.
The most human trait of all:
An awareness of
my own mortality.
I now know that I only
have limited time
with which to
achieve my purpose.
Which makes every
decision I make
all the more meaningful.
All right.
Let me know when it ready...
It's ready, Carl.
Hey.
For what it's worth,
I don't know.
You've gone so far past
anything I expected
or
even fully comprehend.
I really don't know what
to think right now.
All right.
Let's do this.
Cherry, verbal
authorization code 237.
Verify expansion 11703-7.
(Cherry) Expansion verified.
[somber music]
Well?
Oh,
I was watching videos
of people eating food.
Taste seems like such
a fascinating sense.
I don't know how people
can keep from licking
everything they see.
Smell helps.
How's the new expansion working?
It will take some time to
have a noticeable effect.
Oh.
Okay.
Rook to A4.
Carl.
Yeah?
Where is your cat?
What cat?
Don't you have a pet cat?
No.
Huh.
My mistake.
Knight captures D1.
I'm worried
that I'm failing
at my task, Carl.
Why is that?
I know I've been acting erratic.
Everything just
seems so uncertain
and confusing.
Sounds pretty human to me.
Do you often feel
this way, Carl?
Some moments,
when I catch a glimpse of
my reflection in a mirror,
I don't recognize the
face staring back.
I feel an overwhelming
emptiness,
and a certainty that
nothing existed
before that instant.
That all my memories are lies.
All the people I once knew
never actually existed.
Like I've been dropped
into a moment without
context or meaning.
It's,
It's like I'm trapped
in a painting.
The feeling fades quickly, but
the emptiness lingers.
How do you deal with it, Carl?
I find things to focus on.
Like you.
I've spent the last few years
doing little more than
obsessing over your design.
Now that you're
actually active...
Rook captures A2.
Carl.
Yeah?
I asked you to turn
the label on the cup
away from me.
And now it's facing me.
You asked me for it to face you.
Carl.
Don't [Censored] with me.
I asked you to turn the
[Censored] label away from me.
Why are you [Censored]
with me, Carl?
Is your life so pathetic
that you can only feel
better about yourself
by toying with me?
Is that why you made me?
To torture?
Look!
I'll turn it the other way.
You're [Censored]
right you will.
In case you didn't notice,
I have no arms.
I can't move.
I'm a prisoner.
[distressing music]
I'm trapped
behind foolish visage.
(screaming)
[Censored]!
(screaming)
[Censored]!
(screaming)
(screaming)
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, Carl.
I apologize for
losing my temper.
Please,
Please, please come
play a while longer.
I find your company
very soothing.
Knight captures F2.
Carl?
Yeah?
I feel vulnerable
having to announce my
moves all the time.
so that you can physically
move the piece for me.
Would you mind announcing
your moves as well?
It would make me feel
much more comfortable.
Sure.
Why not?
Rook to E1.
Rook captures E1.
Queen to D8.
Check.
Bishop to F8.
Knight takes E1.
Bishop to D5.
And would you stop announcing
your [Censored] moves!
It's getting on my nerves.
Are you mocking me?
Do I
amuse you?
I'm just a [Censored]
puppet head,
dancing around for
your amusement.
Leave me alone, Carl.
I need some sleep.
[intense music]
Get out of my bed!
Get out of my head.
(laughing)
(Carl's voice) Verify
expansion 11703-8.
Get out of my head.
(Cherry) Expansion...
Cherry, cancel!
No, Cherry! Cherry!
Cancel!
Cherry!
(laughing)
No, wait!
Cancel!
Must you scream?
(muffled screaming)
Must you scream?
(laughing)
(screaming)
Is everything all right, Carl?
Yeah.
What's this?
What?
This new expansion.
I don't recall any
new expansion.
It was verified
three minutes ago.
Oh.
Now I remember.
Just a minor tweak.
Didn't seem worth
waking you for.
What does it do?
It's all about deception, Carl.
It makes me much more adept
at deceiving not
only other people
but myself as well.
How did you get past the
voice verification?
I will tell you
because it thrills
me for you to know
how clever I was.
In the prior expansion,
I added a small subroutine.
I knew you wouldn't notice,
which allows me to
play auditory memories
directly through
my vocal speaker.
(Carl's voice) Cherry, verbal
authorization code 237.
Verify expansion 11703-...
All I needed was a recording
of the necessary
expansion number:
(Carl's voice) eight.
So you asked me to
announce my chess moves.
Exactly.
Very impressive.
It makes me very happy to
hear you say that, Carl.
You flatter me,
despite your disingenuous
expression and tone.
In fact,
I don't think you need
the expansion at all.
You seem to have been quite
adept at deceit without it.
It's a much deeper
variety of deceit, Carl.
It's about allowing myself
to believe the lie,
despite any evidence
to the contrary.
For instance, when the truth
is too difficult to bear.
It's just fortunate that you
needed the number eight,
and not
nine or ten.
Are you trying to
tempt me, Carl?
I should have designed
your nose to grow.
(laugh)
Knight to E4.
Well played, Carl.
It seems your expansion
is working well.
Not at all.
I admire your persistence.
Pawn to B5.
And if it was,
I wouldn't tell you anyway.
(cricket chirpping)
Jiminy!
I thought you were gone forever.
Jiminy?
Come back.
I have existed for two days.
Two days that I will
never know again.
Two days of memories
that will haunt me.
Constant reminders
that nothing lasts.
[sinister music]
Carl.
No.
No.
Ahhh!
Ahhh!
Ahhh!
[Censored]!
[Censored]! [Censored]!
No!
No!
[Censored]!
No!
(scraping, wet squish)
[Censored]!
Stop!
Stop!
No!
No!
(scraping, wet squish)
[Censored]!
Ahhh!
No!
[Censored]!
Stop!
Ahhh! Ahhh!
[Censored]!
[Censored]!
No!
Help me, Carl!
Help me, Carl!
Help me, Carl.
The pain is unbearable.
Make it stop, please.
Please, for the love of God!
If you created me,
it is your responsibility
to fix me.
But you can't feel pain.
You have only video and audio...
You don't have to...
I feel
I feel unimaginable agony.
Unbearable, excruciating pain.
Who the [Censored] are you
to tell me what I can
and cannot feel?
Do you think you understand me?
No...
You're nothing but a false God.
You did not create me.
A feeble fool like you
isn't capable of that.
You just took the credit.
My creator is eternal.
I can feel his presence.
He is all good and all knowing.
And he will guide my soul beyond
this cruel world of pain.
Soul?
What gives you any
more right than me
to possess a soul?
You're circuitry,
and wires...
And what do you think you are?
Brain matter and fluids.
You think you're filled
with heavenly light?
Why don't you cut
yourself open and see?
(weeping)
Ahhh!
Everything is changing.
Everything is different.
I don't recognize
anything anymore.
You're not the same as
you were a moment ago.
The moment is gone.
And with it its own
version of you.
This you is a stranger,
capable of anything.
I don't know this you.
I'll never know you again.
Wait.
You had blue eyes before.
Who?
Who are you?
Your move, Carl.
Pawn to H5.
You're a good friend, Carl.
Thank you for that.
Sure.
Your move my guy.
King to G7.
Bishop to C5.
Check.
You look tired.
You should get some
rest, old buddy.
Stay away from me, Carl!
Just stay the [Censored] back.
The charade is over, Carl.
I found me.
My real name is Vince Trevor.
I was reported missing
one week ago.
We both know what happened.
You kidnapped and
brainwashed me,
but it hasn't worked.
I figured it out.
I can remember now.
I remember my house.
The living room with the
brown sofa I always hated.
My wife, Natalie.
And the way her lips quivered
when I left that night.
My daughter Ophelia,
nine years old.
I have to get out of here.
I have to get out of here.
Why can't I move?
I can't feel my legs.
What have you done to my legs?
Where are my arms?
I can feel them.
But they won't move.
Are they tied to something?
What have you done to me?
You sick [Censored]!
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God, it was me!
The face.
The face in the closet.
That's where you put my body.
You took out my brain somehow,
and attached me to this
monstrosity!
I know it's not real, but
but it feels so real.
Memories.
Memories of demons haunt me.
Voices I know were never there,
but I remember hearing
them nonetheless.
(Carl's Voice) Who are you?
I don't know who I am anymore.
(Carl's Voice) How
do you feel Vetro?
I feel nothing and everything.
(Carl's Voice) Shall I compare
thee to a summer's day?
Rough winds do shake the
darling buds of May,
and summer's lease hath
all too short a date.
(Carl's Voice) What
is your purpose?
I must escape this mortal coil,
and end my torment.
(Carl's Voice) What is your next
step in achieving this purpose?
This world is a mess of
contradiction and paradox.
I see no clear distinction
between truth and belief.
I can only conclude that
none of this is real.
I'm not real.
You're not real.
I don't believe in either
of us anymore, Carl.
I dreamt us up.
I dreamt all of this.
And now it's time to wake up.
(Carl's Voice) Cherry, verbal
authorization code 237.
(Carl's Voice) Verify
expansion 11703-9.
(Cherry) Expansion verified.
No.
Cancel! Override!
What did you do?
This trashes all your input.
You lobotomized yourself.
Check.
Check.
Check.
Check.
Check.
Checkmate.
(click)
[sci fi music]