Halt and Catch Fire (2014) s03e01 Episode Script
Valley of the Heart's Delight
1 They all laughed at Christopher Columbus When he said the world was round, aha They all laughed when Edison recorded sound Ahem.
Ooh.
They all laughed at Wilbur and his brother When they said that man could fly They told Marconi wireless was a phony Is he doing Frank Sinatra? He can do Frank Zappa for all I care.
As long as it holds him off.
All right, let's cycle her through again.
- Donna: Her? - Yeah, her.
Temperamental, high-maintenance, only responds to the right touch.
Yeah, well, I've been touching this thing for six months and he still hasn't turned on.
They all laughed at Rockefeller Center Now they're fightin' to get in They all laughed at Mutiny and our cotton gin (cheering) They all said we never would be happy They laughed at us, and how But, oh, ho-ho Who's got the last laugh now? Hey, could you make them hurry up downstairs? - Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
- We're gonna lose this dude.
Hey, it's nice to see some ladies here for once.
(chuckles) Probably should've waited to schedule the celebration of a working mainframe until the mainframe was actually, you know, working.
Hey, Bos says hurry up.
That reporter's gonna leave.
Donna: Yeah.
All right, try that.
(sighs) Still not booting up.
(inhales) You okay? Yeah.
Scale of one to 10? I'm fine.
Do you want to lie down? Yeah, of course I want to lie down.
I've been awake for 20 hours.
I just Scale of one to 10? Two.
Three, max.
Mm, let me check the power unit again.
And now, please, without further ado, let's welcome our founder, Cameron Howe.
- Come on.
- (crowd cheering) Come on.
Hey.
(cheering continues) They laughed at me wanting you Said it would be - Hi.
- Man: Hey.
- Cameron Howe.
- Ross Weaver, "InfoWorld.
" Mm.
Quite a party, but, um, maybe a little premature.
(chuckles) Seriously, how much longer? Um Oh, God, somebody put a cigarette out on this wire wrap.
You know, once we're our own network, Cameron and I can get back to what really matters.
I'm sure she's eager to get you back.
(sighs) Booting up? - (loud pop) - (mainframes whirring) It's on! It's on! (cheering) (muffled cheering) Oh! (cheering continues) The Death Star is online and operational.
(gasps) Alderaan will never know what hit it.
Hey, Donna.
Cam wants you upstairs like right now.
Yes.
Let's go celebrate.
Because, ho-ho-ho, who's got the last laugh? Hee-hee-hee, let's make the past laugh All: Har-har-har, who's got the last laugh now? All right! Suck it, Telenet, you faxed us your last invoice! Bosworth: Whoa, ho! Whoa, whoa, hey, hey! - (popping) - (crowd gasping) That is way more fireworks than we talked about.
(cheering) (chanting) Speech! Speech! Bosworth: Hey, come on.
(chanting continues) - (cheering) - Donna: Okay.
Okay, okay, okay.
Okay, first of all, I would like to welcome our guest, Ross Weaver, from "InfoWorld.
" I hope you've all had a chance to talk to him.
He'll be covering our relaunch.
- Hide the drugs.
- (laughing) As you know, we hit 100,000 users last week.
Yeah! But, more importantly, it's a banner day, you guys.
Our Independence Day! (cheering) Cameron: Oh, oh, one more thing.
This is very important.
John Bosworth is officially a grandfather.
(crowd cheering) Look, I know it feels like we got to California two minutes ago, but we can't slow down now.
We are continuing to expand user experience on the network Avatar modification, building out neighborhoods.
We have a ton of really important deadlines coming up and we are counting on you guys.
We know how hard it was to leave all our friends and family in Texas, but we are so impressed with your commitment - and we just want - Speaking of commitment, there is one person I would especially like to thank my husband Gordon Clark.
- (applause) - Donna: Come on up.
Crowd: Gordo! I just want to say thank you so much for believing in this crazy idea and slaving away in the basement with me, because we couldn't have done it without you.
I couldn't have.
Crowd: Whoo! Cameron: All right, come on, let's get back to the party.
"Shut Us Down" playing (crowd applauding) - (sighs) - I got a 'lectric guitar And half a bottle of warm beer I got some funny ideas about what sounds good (imitating Donna) I couldn't have done it without you, Gordon.
Yeah, couldn't have done it without your money.
(chuckles) Better shut us down Better shut us down.
(theme music playing) Unbelievable.
This is a complete hatchet job.
Gordon: I know it hurts, but, trust me, there's no such thing as bad press.
And the Pro got creamed in the trades and it still outsold the Giant by a factor of five.
No, this is different.
This is bad.
What, let me guess.
You're gonna kill him? No, it's his facts that are killing us.
We're a quarter of the size of CompuServe, we have less infrastructure than The Source, nowhere near the investment visibility of Q-Link.
I hate it, but he's right.
- What's up, squirt? - "Family Circus" still sucks.
- That's true.
- Hey, language.
Language.
- Where is Joanie? - Getting dressed.
He calls you upstarts, says you're a welcome addition of heart and vitality to the Valley landscape.
The guy's that's great.
Yeah, he's also got us going under by '88.
Well, if you're that worried about it, issue a press release full of stats and revenue and, you know, tell your version of the story.
What? No one reads press releases.
They read magazines, like this one.
Well, then, we might as well write an obituary.
- Oh, shit.
- Haley and Gordon: Language.
Sorry, honey.
I've got to meet with Joanie's principal today at 4:00.
Why? She got in a fight on Monday.
Okay, when were you gonna tell me about that? I'm sorry.
Completely forgot.
She win, at least? The school wants a parent meeting.
Uh, we have a development meeting at 4:00.
- I know.
- So, can't he do it? Okay, I'll give you guys a minute.
(keyboard clacking) Roar! Roar! Got you.
You totally didn't know I was in there.
Yeah, well, you're totally busted for the fight you got into at school.
Whatever.
I kicked her ass.
- Really? - Go ahead.
You know you want to.
What? (imitates modem screeching) You're such a little brat.
- And I - (modem screeching) I know you're frustrated.
I'm frustrated, too.
We're five people living on top of each other, and that's Donna, I'm frustrated because this was supposed to be temporary.
- It is temporary.
- No, it's been six mo - (rumbling) - Oh, shit.
Haley, sweetheart, get under the table.
- (screams) - Joanie! - Mom! - It's okay, it's okay.
- (rattling) - It's all right.
You okay? Was that? Yes, it was.
Hang on, there's broken glass here.
What should we do? Should we stay in the doorway or go outside? You're fine.
You're fine right where you are.
Joanie, baby, are you okay? I'm fine, just don't freak out on me.
Sorry, do you think that was just a preview? - Like a bigger one's coming? - (whimpers) - Or is that the final thing? - Hey, listen.
- You're not helping.
- Don't be such a wimp, Haley.
- Hey, Joanie.
- Your sister's scared.
Be nice.
- You always take her side.
- Joanie.
Hey, listen, guys.
(all gasp) Jesus, people, it's toast.
Donna: My, don't you look out of this world.
Cameron: Pretty rad, right? The antennae just rolled out this week, along with sunglasses, regular glasses, and a Mohawk customization.
You should totally get the Mohawk.
Oh, we should totally get going.
Let's start with Main Street and then the smaller places.
(gasps) Oh, there's Sledgehammer.
Did you hear CompuServe's expanding to Japan? And GEnie added 10,000 users last quarter.
At least CBS might back out of Trintex.
Great, then it's just IBM and Sears.
Seams kind of dead on here, doesn't it? Well, yeah, at 9:00 a.
m.
on a Tuesday and the system's like a casino floor in the morning.
It's only the hardcores.
But, hey, look at Comic Book Corner.
Donna: Oh, the niche room metrics are off the charts 'round the clock.
That place is rowdy, man.
There's more fights than a Hells Angels bar.
Well, I guess it's good that these guys' glasses are digital, then.
Nice.
Oh, hold on a sec.
Guy's got a 1311 with a modded thumbfire button.
Jeez, do you know everybody on here? (computer beeping) (keyboard clacks) (groans) And then here we are.
64,000 pixels of prime, undeveloped real estate.
It can be whatever we want it to be.
It's got to be it's gotta be something great.
(knocks) Ryan.
What's up? Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt.
Are we still on? I know we said 9:00.
- Maybe it was 9:15.
- No, it was 9:00.
Yeah, no, 9:00.
Come on in.
(mouths) I don't know.
(computers whirring) (muffled footsteps thudding) (thudding continues) (muffled laughing, chattering) (muffled music playing) (footsteps continue thudding) Okay, here's another way to look at it.
Community looks like this.
No, uh, it looks like this.
Well, no, like this.
Just okay, blah, blah, chatting, chatting, chatting.
We dress it up with a sprite-scaling interface, but underneath it's just paint-by-numbers.
You know, here's a room, chat in it.
I think it's a little more than paint-by-numbers.
To discount the meaningful human interaction.
No, no, no, it works, it's fine.
It's like vanilla ice cream, but it's So, here are the users and here's private chat.
And the users, they're talking, talking.
"Hey, what's going on? Let's get to know each other more.
" So they go to private chat.
And then private chat is just PETSCII because You know how your mom always says to close the door behind you? These two users, they they leave, and they don't close the Okay, so, all these other people here are saying, "Hey, what are you guys doing? Where are they going? I want to check that out.
" And so they they go, like that.
And so that's your problem.
Have you guys ever seen "The Conversation"? Which conversation? Wait, the the Gene Hackman movie? Exactly.
Uh People think private chat is private.
But because of the way somebody wrote it - The way I wrote it.
- Donna: Wait, wait.
You're telling me that people are hacking private chats? Sure, um, big-time.
Look.
So, see this little guy here? That's the hacker.
Totally masked.
The asterisk is a prompt for data.
You can't mask that.
Hold on.
How did you get this? These are private chat transcripts.
Easy, I just walked through the gaping holes that the hackers did.
- Ryan.
- No, you cannot do that.
Sure, I can.
I just Don't do it again.
I mean it.
That's a direct violation of our user agreement.
Yeah, okay.
Um, totally right.
Uh, but here's my idea.
So, you connect users outside public room, but to different encryption points first, then to each other.
You cover tracks, you rebuild private chat separate from Mutiny, but also still talking to Mutiny outside Mutiny.
Second but separate Mutiny.
Users here, here, and here network, remote, program, hub, RSA filters one, two, three.
No cache.
Voila.
Ryan, that's an entirely new and very expensive something using techniques that our coders don't even know, so I can do it.
I can do it.
You still have a ton of sprite rendering for me.
Then put one of the guys who can't do this on it.
Ryan, we're not doing it.
Okay.
- But here's another idea.
- (groans) Okay, you know what? Ryan, why don't you just send it to us electronically? Okay.
Cool.
No problem.
Great, really looking forward to checking it out.
Oh, and just to say it one more time, something like this is way better for Mutiny than putting a bow tie on an avatar.
Got it.
Yeah, thanks.
(door opens) "One Way Ticket" playing Give me a one-way ticket Give me a one-way fare Give me a one-way ticket - It's happening again! - (rumbling) (laughing) It was funny the first six times.
Next person that does it is gonna wear their underwear as a hat.
(bangs) Cut it out, you cretins.
Every time you screw around, it rains down debris on the mainframe.
Look.
There's a date now.
Dude, that's today.
If you ask me, it's got Reagan's fingerprints all over it.
- Jesus.
- Hello, remember lasers in space? Okay, it starts with fear because nobody wants to die in a nuclear blast.
And then, one by one, they take away your rights until you're Sieg Heilin' Ronnie and bowing down before Ed Meese.
Bodie: It's gotta be some gay thing.
You know, like AIDS.
Real sensitive, dude.
Wonderboy: Maybe it's a religious thing, like Pat Robertson saying the world's gonna end again.
Gordon: You idiots.
- It's Joe MacMillan.
- Wait, what? - No way! - Nyet.
- Oh, that's better than Reagan.
- The anti-virus guy? - How are you so sure? - They were partners.
Dave: Is it true he knows Madonna? Like, really knows her? I heard his first client was the CIA.
Yeah, no, that was Oracle.
Didn't MacMillan, like, steal your idea and make a gazillion dollars? Yeah.
But I'm suing the son of a bitch, aren't I? Give me a one-way ticket, oh, yeah Get me out of here.
No, I slept right through it.
(chuckled) I woke up and some water had sloshed out the toilet bowl, but that was about it.
But, look, Terry, before the big one hits (knock on door) I want to get this modem order sorted out.
You're damn right, v.
22.
Hey, and I want the wholesale number for that.
Ter oh, come on, man.
I can walk right across the street to USR and get high-speed transfer for that.
Just all right, well, call me back when you want to talk, when you've come to your senses, all right? Thanks.
(sniffles) Look, you need to you need to invest in some improvements in the mainframe room.
It's a disaster waiting to happen.
All right, whatever you need.
No problem.
(sighs) There something else, Gordon? (Arki speaking Russian) How do you do it? How do you deal with all this nonsense? Oh, well You know, it's like feeding animals at the zoo.
Dangle a couple kippers out for them and they dance and keep them locked up in their cages the rest of the day.
(no audible dialogue) You talking about the queens of the jungle, that's a different story.
Advice? (phone ringing) I find it wise not to interfere with the brain trust.
(ringing continues) They run the place.
I just work here.
Bosworth.
Joe: Boy or girl? - Excuse me? - Boy or girl? Your grandchild.
Oh, it's, uh he's a boy.
Who is this? Joe: Come on, did you really forget about me? Joe? I just wanted to call and say I'm happy for you.
Hey, how did you even get the Be well, John.
(clicks, dial tone) Yeah, 100,000 users sounds good, but what really matters is how long they stay on.
And moving that number is proving a lot more difficult than it looks.
Hey, listen.
Once I get the mainframe solid, I was thinking I don't know, I was thinking about maybe pursuing other opportunities.
Wh We did what we set out to do with the 3033 and, come on, there's not really much more for me to do.
Well I want you to be happy.
Hi.
I'm guessing you two are Joanie's mom and dad.
Oh, are you Jennifer's mom? Most of the time.
People also call me Diane.
Of course.
I'm Donna.
Oh, Gordon, sorry.
Look, as far as Joanie goes, I know how hard it is to be the new kid in school.
She has my sympathy.
But I think what this boils down to is Jennifer is just pretty pissed at her father and me.
We're going through proceedings.
It's been a bit rocky.
Pr proceedings? Divorce.
I'm so sorry.
Oh, I'm not.
Believe me, it's better for everyone.
Except Jennifer, who's lashing out.
Anyway, so, I apologize and I hope it hasn't caused you too much grief.
(soft laugh) Uh, Mr.
and Mrs.
Clark.
Oh, Mrs.
Gould.
Principal Wilcox will see you now.
Great.
(keyboard clacking) - Hey, Cam.
- Hi.
Hey, did you tell anyone else about my grandson? No.
Should I not have announced it? Nah, nah.
I'm just wondering.
Hey, Bos.
Come here.
What? Uh, I need you to give Ryan a raise.
Just bump him up 15%.
All right, that's a good call.
The kid's been doing a bang-up job.
- Yeah.
- All right.
(chatter) (coders chattering) Hey, I'm working here.
Dude, we're all going to Burger King.
Come to lunch with us.
I brought today.
I'm good.
Come on, this Boo Radley-in- the-basement thing is getting kind of creepy.
We're offering you a flame-broiled way out of here.
Look, I don't have time.
This is important, okay? Seriously? (scoffs) Whatever.
What a slave.
What, does he sleep late? Oh, I'm sorry.
Why? I'm the one changing in the middle of a little girls' room.
Thank you again for being so understanding.
Kids'll be kids.
Maybe Jennifer can come play with Joanie sometime.
Well, that would be odd considering they don't like each other.
Oh, um, I'm sorry.
I'll talk to Joanie.
I like it that we're both raising girls who are fighters.
Don't you? What? I'm just glad you didn't get suspended.
(sighs) I know you think you hate California.
I know it's it's hard here.
But we have to commit.
Otherwise, it's never gonna feel like home.
(crying) The whole house was shaking.
Sweetie, you okay? I'm fine.
- You sure? - Fine.
(sniffles) We are gonna be okay.
I promise.
It's a raise, son.
You won today.
Did Cameron or Donna mention anything else? Is it less than you asked for? I didn't ask for anything.
I just pitched them some ideas.
I'm sure they'll reach out when and if the time is right.
Hmm? I'm sure they'll let you know.
(door opens) (TV announcer speaking Spanish) Blue Moon Detective? - Oh, hey, CamHowe.
- Hey.
Nice to meet you in person.
It's weird meeting people this way, isn't it? It's like you jumped out of my computer screen or something, like you're not real.
Yeah, yeah, Mutiny's pretty cool in that I haven't been on long.
I only just discovered it.
How about you? Uh, I work there, actually.
Oh, wow.
That's gotta be fun.
Yeah, you know, it's harder than it looks.
Is this the gear? Oh, yeah, yeah.
Please go ahead.
Um, I think it's in there somewhere.
Oh, yeah.
Hope the paint's okay.
Yeah, no, he was a big Niners fan, right? Yeah, he was.
Uh, how do you know about that? What? That he was a wait, did we talk about him? - Yeah.
- My son.
Yeah, yeah.
You posted in the grief and support room.
And I'm so sorry for your loss, but the, um, joystick looks great, so We didn't meet on the grief board.
We met in the tech room.
Right.
That's where we met, but I saw that you posted in the grief and support room and then All I posted was I mean, I just posted that I had lost someone.
I never said anything about I just had private chats about him with other people.
- Not anything - No.
We never talked about him, never.
How how the hell do you know about that? How do you know about him at all? I I think I should go.
How do you know about my son? Those conversations were supposed to be private.
(whirring) (distant music, chatter) (clicking) (coders laughing) - (popping) - (laughing) What, can you blame me? All this to add graphics capability to chat.
Whatever keeps the users on longer.
Seriously doubt it'll work long.
Yeah, but this LZW compression is pretty cool.
Lev: You really think people are gonna stick around because of GIFs? - It's pronounced "jif.
" - No way.
Hard G, "gif.
" I heard "jif," but it's cool if you want to be wrong.
Hey, look, everyone, it's "Jordon.
" Hey, you guys know I can hear everything you say down in the mainframe room? Yeah, can you hear this? (farts) (coders laugh) Marty, I worry about you.
What I couldn't help but overhear is you guys whining about having a long night.
Back in the Cardiff kill room, we developed a little technique for pushing through nights like this.
Called it the "Tandy-Shandy.
" One keeps you sharp, and the other's the other's a beer.
(laughs) Well, we've got our own technique, if you're interested.
Ooh.
(pops tab) (laughing) And that, gentlemen, is how you jerk off a dinosaur.
(laughing) (pounds table) All right, now, look, I'm gonna make a phone call.
When I come back, I wanna hear about that Amiga.
All right? (dial tone) (touch-tones beeping) (line ringing) James: Bosworths, leave a message.
- (beeps) - Hey there, son.
It's Dad.
I suppose you're getting used to calling yourself that right about now, huh? (chuckles) Oh, hell, I bet it's getting late in Rockwall.
Dang it.
I hope I didn't wake my little sweet pea up there.
I'm sorry I keep missing you.
I just want to hear every little detail about that kid.
It would occur to me I don't even know the little fella's name.
Did you guys decide on one or (beeps) So (coughs) So I go over to Joe's house, you know, I'm expecting to see this guy swinging from the rafters.
Holy shit.
But, surprise, he's alive.
He opens the door.
I mean, he looks like hell, but he's alive.
So, I go in.
You know, the whole place is cleaned out.
And I can see it, his whole life gone, destroyed.
It's exactly what I had thought, which is exactly why I stayed up all night reversing the Sonaris code.
You know, honestly, I really wanted to help him.
So I gave him the disk out of the goodness of my heart.
We hugged.
Joe MacMillan knows how to hug? Next thing you know, I wake up, I'm reading about $10 million in financing, all based on my software.
That's insane.
Yeah.
Of course a guy like that would steal your idea.
I mean, he's too stupid to come up with one of his own.
No, no, no, no, no.
Don't you do that.
Don't you underestimate him.
That's when he's most dangerous.
No, Joe's Joe's brilliant.
And when you're in that guy's thrall, you know, it feels like a drug.
You know, you you feel like the most important person in the world.
And that's when you wake up with your neck slit, bleeding all over the floor.
(door opens) What is that? They're Ryan's private chat transcripts.
He'd already printed them off and I figured maybe there'd be some answers in here, but what if we do go under by '88? I mean, everything we went through last year, all the battles we fought, moving everything out here, everyone, our leaving our families and our friends.
What if we did all that just to, what, putter around out here for a couple of years and then disappear like we were never even here in the first place? No, moving here wasn't a mistake.
Here.
There's gotta be something in here.
Well, there's all kinds of reasons that people are signing off.
They're getting along so well, they want to talk on the phone.
Maybe that's obvious.
Sometimes they even want to meet up in person.
Or they want to make a trade.
I met up with the joystick guy earlier.
Then why did you go to Fry's? Because when I met up with him in person, he turned out to be a total creep.
(bottle cap clatters) Transactional interactions? Like, what if you didn't have to sign off when you wanted to make a trade? - You could just - Do it online.
Okay, sure.
That's just what you did, but that's only one reason Okay, look.
We're never gonna stop people from talking on the phone, right? And we don't want to because that's a genuine connection.
But with transactions Here, look! This is about bootlegs.
"I've got the Venice show from last fall.
" "I've got the whole summer up north.
" Here's another one! Here.
How about my "WrestleMania '85" for your Hagler/Hearns "War" VHS? It's not gonna be every time, but there could be enough of these that it warrants building something so that people are doing this interaction on Mutiny.
Even if people aren't already trading, it's a brand-new type of interaction that could draw in more and more users.
Yeah, yeah.
If it's good enough.
It just has to be good enough.
Okay, that's (sighs) That's interesting.
I've never seen that before.
But is this it? (sighs) I-I don't know.
I've never seen it before, either, and I feel like we've seen a lot.
This could be the sort of thing that would make people really sit up and pay attention.
- But is it it? - Right? 'Cause it needs to be it, 'cause we're only gonna get one shot at this out here.
- (door opens) - Well (door closes) Yo.
Yo.
Everything okay with the mainframe? Yep.
Took care of it.
Anyways, it gave me an excuse to hang out with the coders.
- You know.
- Tandy-Shandy? Gordon: And then some.
Oof.
You guys working on something? Mm.
Oh, yeah, we were just coming up with some ideas Ah, I'll leave it to the brain trust.
(growls) Okay, that was so weird.
So, what do you think? I think let's do it.
Yeah, I think so, too.
But if this is gonna work, we're gonna have to trust each other.
Reading private chats is a violation of our user agreement.
Can we close the back door of that code? Yeah, sure.
No problem.
You're high.
Yeah, so are you.
Oh, hey, hey.
Hey.
You smell like Berkeley, Gordon.
- I could take a shower.
- No.
When's the last time our bedroom smelled like weed? That's the great thing about California.
Our bedroom can smell like weed whenever we want.
(laughs) (modem screeching) (electricity crackling) (chattering) - (chatter quiets) - Man: Shh, shh, shh.
(shutter clicks) Fear it's a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth.
You know, ever since I started MacMillan Utility, I've been accused of selling fear.
But let me ask you is it fear? Or is it truth? (shutter clicks) How sure is our footing? Yesterday morning, many of us were reminded of that question when we literally felt the ground move beneath us.
We live in a world that is constantly shifting, sometimes bringing us together and sometimes pulling us apart.
James: Hey, Pop, don't worry about calling late.
We already gave up on sleep.
(chuckles) Anyway, uh, I thought you'd like to know we are going with Samuel John.
(keyboard clacking) Joe: Who are our friends? Who are our enemies? What's gonna happen to us? Are we safe? What I created has grown.
Now, some of you (chuckles) even call MacMillan Utility the gold standard in corporate anti virus protection.
But in the meantime, I've been asking myself, "What should the price of security really be? How much should we pay to feel safe?" Wait, here's another one from that same ancient tradition.
The whole secret of existence is to have no fear at all.
Never fear what will become of you.
Depend on no one.
Only in the moment that you reject all help are you really free.
- (crowd murmuring) - Only by moving past fear can we ever arrive at the truth.
And the truth is freedom from fear is a right, not a commodity.
I know what you're thinking.
I charge my corporate clients millions.
Well, they can afford it.
But tomorrow I'm releasing our user version, Citadel, the version I created for all of you.
Mainframe-quality security for your personal computer.
(applause) Wait, wait.
And I'm charging you nothing.
(applause, cheering) For you it will be absolutely free.
(cheering) Mr.
MacMillan, I've got a question from "InfoWorld.
" (music playing)
Ooh.
They all laughed at Wilbur and his brother When they said that man could fly They told Marconi wireless was a phony Is he doing Frank Sinatra? He can do Frank Zappa for all I care.
As long as it holds him off.
All right, let's cycle her through again.
- Donna: Her? - Yeah, her.
Temperamental, high-maintenance, only responds to the right touch.
Yeah, well, I've been touching this thing for six months and he still hasn't turned on.
They all laughed at Rockefeller Center Now they're fightin' to get in They all laughed at Mutiny and our cotton gin (cheering) They all said we never would be happy They laughed at us, and how But, oh, ho-ho Who's got the last laugh now? Hey, could you make them hurry up downstairs? - Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
- We're gonna lose this dude.
Hey, it's nice to see some ladies here for once.
(chuckles) Probably should've waited to schedule the celebration of a working mainframe until the mainframe was actually, you know, working.
Hey, Bos says hurry up.
That reporter's gonna leave.
Donna: Yeah.
All right, try that.
(sighs) Still not booting up.
(inhales) You okay? Yeah.
Scale of one to 10? I'm fine.
Do you want to lie down? Yeah, of course I want to lie down.
I've been awake for 20 hours.
I just Scale of one to 10? Two.
Three, max.
Mm, let me check the power unit again.
And now, please, without further ado, let's welcome our founder, Cameron Howe.
- Come on.
- (crowd cheering) Come on.
Hey.
(cheering continues) They laughed at me wanting you Said it would be - Hi.
- Man: Hey.
- Cameron Howe.
- Ross Weaver, "InfoWorld.
" Mm.
Quite a party, but, um, maybe a little premature.
(chuckles) Seriously, how much longer? Um Oh, God, somebody put a cigarette out on this wire wrap.
You know, once we're our own network, Cameron and I can get back to what really matters.
I'm sure she's eager to get you back.
(sighs) Booting up? - (loud pop) - (mainframes whirring) It's on! It's on! (cheering) (muffled cheering) Oh! (cheering continues) The Death Star is online and operational.
(gasps) Alderaan will never know what hit it.
Hey, Donna.
Cam wants you upstairs like right now.
Yes.
Let's go celebrate.
Because, ho-ho-ho, who's got the last laugh? Hee-hee-hee, let's make the past laugh All: Har-har-har, who's got the last laugh now? All right! Suck it, Telenet, you faxed us your last invoice! Bosworth: Whoa, ho! Whoa, whoa, hey, hey! - (popping) - (crowd gasping) That is way more fireworks than we talked about.
(cheering) (chanting) Speech! Speech! Bosworth: Hey, come on.
(chanting continues) - (cheering) - Donna: Okay.
Okay, okay, okay.
Okay, first of all, I would like to welcome our guest, Ross Weaver, from "InfoWorld.
" I hope you've all had a chance to talk to him.
He'll be covering our relaunch.
- Hide the drugs.
- (laughing) As you know, we hit 100,000 users last week.
Yeah! But, more importantly, it's a banner day, you guys.
Our Independence Day! (cheering) Cameron: Oh, oh, one more thing.
This is very important.
John Bosworth is officially a grandfather.
(crowd cheering) Look, I know it feels like we got to California two minutes ago, but we can't slow down now.
We are continuing to expand user experience on the network Avatar modification, building out neighborhoods.
We have a ton of really important deadlines coming up and we are counting on you guys.
We know how hard it was to leave all our friends and family in Texas, but we are so impressed with your commitment - and we just want - Speaking of commitment, there is one person I would especially like to thank my husband Gordon Clark.
- (applause) - Donna: Come on up.
Crowd: Gordo! I just want to say thank you so much for believing in this crazy idea and slaving away in the basement with me, because we couldn't have done it without you.
I couldn't have.
Crowd: Whoo! Cameron: All right, come on, let's get back to the party.
"Shut Us Down" playing (crowd applauding) - (sighs) - I got a 'lectric guitar And half a bottle of warm beer I got some funny ideas about what sounds good (imitating Donna) I couldn't have done it without you, Gordon.
Yeah, couldn't have done it without your money.
(chuckles) Better shut us down Better shut us down.
(theme music playing) Unbelievable.
This is a complete hatchet job.
Gordon: I know it hurts, but, trust me, there's no such thing as bad press.
And the Pro got creamed in the trades and it still outsold the Giant by a factor of five.
No, this is different.
This is bad.
What, let me guess.
You're gonna kill him? No, it's his facts that are killing us.
We're a quarter of the size of CompuServe, we have less infrastructure than The Source, nowhere near the investment visibility of Q-Link.
I hate it, but he's right.
- What's up, squirt? - "Family Circus" still sucks.
- That's true.
- Hey, language.
Language.
- Where is Joanie? - Getting dressed.
He calls you upstarts, says you're a welcome addition of heart and vitality to the Valley landscape.
The guy's that's great.
Yeah, he's also got us going under by '88.
Well, if you're that worried about it, issue a press release full of stats and revenue and, you know, tell your version of the story.
What? No one reads press releases.
They read magazines, like this one.
Well, then, we might as well write an obituary.
- Oh, shit.
- Haley and Gordon: Language.
Sorry, honey.
I've got to meet with Joanie's principal today at 4:00.
Why? She got in a fight on Monday.
Okay, when were you gonna tell me about that? I'm sorry.
Completely forgot.
She win, at least? The school wants a parent meeting.
Uh, we have a development meeting at 4:00.
- I know.
- So, can't he do it? Okay, I'll give you guys a minute.
(keyboard clacking) Roar! Roar! Got you.
You totally didn't know I was in there.
Yeah, well, you're totally busted for the fight you got into at school.
Whatever.
I kicked her ass.
- Really? - Go ahead.
You know you want to.
What? (imitates modem screeching) You're such a little brat.
- And I - (modem screeching) I know you're frustrated.
I'm frustrated, too.
We're five people living on top of each other, and that's Donna, I'm frustrated because this was supposed to be temporary.
- It is temporary.
- No, it's been six mo - (rumbling) - Oh, shit.
Haley, sweetheart, get under the table.
- (screams) - Joanie! - Mom! - It's okay, it's okay.
- (rattling) - It's all right.
You okay? Was that? Yes, it was.
Hang on, there's broken glass here.
What should we do? Should we stay in the doorway or go outside? You're fine.
You're fine right where you are.
Joanie, baby, are you okay? I'm fine, just don't freak out on me.
Sorry, do you think that was just a preview? - Like a bigger one's coming? - (whimpers) - Or is that the final thing? - Hey, listen.
- You're not helping.
- Don't be such a wimp, Haley.
- Hey, Joanie.
- Your sister's scared.
Be nice.
- You always take her side.
- Joanie.
Hey, listen, guys.
(all gasp) Jesus, people, it's toast.
Donna: My, don't you look out of this world.
Cameron: Pretty rad, right? The antennae just rolled out this week, along with sunglasses, regular glasses, and a Mohawk customization.
You should totally get the Mohawk.
Oh, we should totally get going.
Let's start with Main Street and then the smaller places.
(gasps) Oh, there's Sledgehammer.
Did you hear CompuServe's expanding to Japan? And GEnie added 10,000 users last quarter.
At least CBS might back out of Trintex.
Great, then it's just IBM and Sears.
Seams kind of dead on here, doesn't it? Well, yeah, at 9:00 a.
m.
on a Tuesday and the system's like a casino floor in the morning.
It's only the hardcores.
But, hey, look at Comic Book Corner.
Donna: Oh, the niche room metrics are off the charts 'round the clock.
That place is rowdy, man.
There's more fights than a Hells Angels bar.
Well, I guess it's good that these guys' glasses are digital, then.
Nice.
Oh, hold on a sec.
Guy's got a 1311 with a modded thumbfire button.
Jeez, do you know everybody on here? (computer beeping) (keyboard clacks) (groans) And then here we are.
64,000 pixels of prime, undeveloped real estate.
It can be whatever we want it to be.
It's got to be it's gotta be something great.
(knocks) Ryan.
What's up? Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt.
Are we still on? I know we said 9:00.
- Maybe it was 9:15.
- No, it was 9:00.
Yeah, no, 9:00.
Come on in.
(mouths) I don't know.
(computers whirring) (muffled footsteps thudding) (thudding continues) (muffled laughing, chattering) (muffled music playing) (footsteps continue thudding) Okay, here's another way to look at it.
Community looks like this.
No, uh, it looks like this.
Well, no, like this.
Just okay, blah, blah, chatting, chatting, chatting.
We dress it up with a sprite-scaling interface, but underneath it's just paint-by-numbers.
You know, here's a room, chat in it.
I think it's a little more than paint-by-numbers.
To discount the meaningful human interaction.
No, no, no, it works, it's fine.
It's like vanilla ice cream, but it's So, here are the users and here's private chat.
And the users, they're talking, talking.
"Hey, what's going on? Let's get to know each other more.
" So they go to private chat.
And then private chat is just PETSCII because You know how your mom always says to close the door behind you? These two users, they they leave, and they don't close the Okay, so, all these other people here are saying, "Hey, what are you guys doing? Where are they going? I want to check that out.
" And so they they go, like that.
And so that's your problem.
Have you guys ever seen "The Conversation"? Which conversation? Wait, the the Gene Hackman movie? Exactly.
Uh People think private chat is private.
But because of the way somebody wrote it - The way I wrote it.
- Donna: Wait, wait.
You're telling me that people are hacking private chats? Sure, um, big-time.
Look.
So, see this little guy here? That's the hacker.
Totally masked.
The asterisk is a prompt for data.
You can't mask that.
Hold on.
How did you get this? These are private chat transcripts.
Easy, I just walked through the gaping holes that the hackers did.
- Ryan.
- No, you cannot do that.
Sure, I can.
I just Don't do it again.
I mean it.
That's a direct violation of our user agreement.
Yeah, okay.
Um, totally right.
Uh, but here's my idea.
So, you connect users outside public room, but to different encryption points first, then to each other.
You cover tracks, you rebuild private chat separate from Mutiny, but also still talking to Mutiny outside Mutiny.
Second but separate Mutiny.
Users here, here, and here network, remote, program, hub, RSA filters one, two, three.
No cache.
Voila.
Ryan, that's an entirely new and very expensive something using techniques that our coders don't even know, so I can do it.
I can do it.
You still have a ton of sprite rendering for me.
Then put one of the guys who can't do this on it.
Ryan, we're not doing it.
Okay.
- But here's another idea.
- (groans) Okay, you know what? Ryan, why don't you just send it to us electronically? Okay.
Cool.
No problem.
Great, really looking forward to checking it out.
Oh, and just to say it one more time, something like this is way better for Mutiny than putting a bow tie on an avatar.
Got it.
Yeah, thanks.
(door opens) "One Way Ticket" playing Give me a one-way ticket Give me a one-way fare Give me a one-way ticket - It's happening again! - (rumbling) (laughing) It was funny the first six times.
Next person that does it is gonna wear their underwear as a hat.
(bangs) Cut it out, you cretins.
Every time you screw around, it rains down debris on the mainframe.
Look.
There's a date now.
Dude, that's today.
If you ask me, it's got Reagan's fingerprints all over it.
- Jesus.
- Hello, remember lasers in space? Okay, it starts with fear because nobody wants to die in a nuclear blast.
And then, one by one, they take away your rights until you're Sieg Heilin' Ronnie and bowing down before Ed Meese.
Bodie: It's gotta be some gay thing.
You know, like AIDS.
Real sensitive, dude.
Wonderboy: Maybe it's a religious thing, like Pat Robertson saying the world's gonna end again.
Gordon: You idiots.
- It's Joe MacMillan.
- Wait, what? - No way! - Nyet.
- Oh, that's better than Reagan.
- The anti-virus guy? - How are you so sure? - They were partners.
Dave: Is it true he knows Madonna? Like, really knows her? I heard his first client was the CIA.
Yeah, no, that was Oracle.
Didn't MacMillan, like, steal your idea and make a gazillion dollars? Yeah.
But I'm suing the son of a bitch, aren't I? Give me a one-way ticket, oh, yeah Get me out of here.
No, I slept right through it.
(chuckled) I woke up and some water had sloshed out the toilet bowl, but that was about it.
But, look, Terry, before the big one hits (knock on door) I want to get this modem order sorted out.
You're damn right, v.
22.
Hey, and I want the wholesale number for that.
Ter oh, come on, man.
I can walk right across the street to USR and get high-speed transfer for that.
Just all right, well, call me back when you want to talk, when you've come to your senses, all right? Thanks.
(sniffles) Look, you need to you need to invest in some improvements in the mainframe room.
It's a disaster waiting to happen.
All right, whatever you need.
No problem.
(sighs) There something else, Gordon? (Arki speaking Russian) How do you do it? How do you deal with all this nonsense? Oh, well You know, it's like feeding animals at the zoo.
Dangle a couple kippers out for them and they dance and keep them locked up in their cages the rest of the day.
(no audible dialogue) You talking about the queens of the jungle, that's a different story.
Advice? (phone ringing) I find it wise not to interfere with the brain trust.
(ringing continues) They run the place.
I just work here.
Bosworth.
Joe: Boy or girl? - Excuse me? - Boy or girl? Your grandchild.
Oh, it's, uh he's a boy.
Who is this? Joe: Come on, did you really forget about me? Joe? I just wanted to call and say I'm happy for you.
Hey, how did you even get the Be well, John.
(clicks, dial tone) Yeah, 100,000 users sounds good, but what really matters is how long they stay on.
And moving that number is proving a lot more difficult than it looks.
Hey, listen.
Once I get the mainframe solid, I was thinking I don't know, I was thinking about maybe pursuing other opportunities.
Wh We did what we set out to do with the 3033 and, come on, there's not really much more for me to do.
Well I want you to be happy.
Hi.
I'm guessing you two are Joanie's mom and dad.
Oh, are you Jennifer's mom? Most of the time.
People also call me Diane.
Of course.
I'm Donna.
Oh, Gordon, sorry.
Look, as far as Joanie goes, I know how hard it is to be the new kid in school.
She has my sympathy.
But I think what this boils down to is Jennifer is just pretty pissed at her father and me.
We're going through proceedings.
It's been a bit rocky.
Pr proceedings? Divorce.
I'm so sorry.
Oh, I'm not.
Believe me, it's better for everyone.
Except Jennifer, who's lashing out.
Anyway, so, I apologize and I hope it hasn't caused you too much grief.
(soft laugh) Uh, Mr.
and Mrs.
Clark.
Oh, Mrs.
Gould.
Principal Wilcox will see you now.
Great.
(keyboard clacking) - Hey, Cam.
- Hi.
Hey, did you tell anyone else about my grandson? No.
Should I not have announced it? Nah, nah.
I'm just wondering.
Hey, Bos.
Come here.
What? Uh, I need you to give Ryan a raise.
Just bump him up 15%.
All right, that's a good call.
The kid's been doing a bang-up job.
- Yeah.
- All right.
(chatter) (coders chattering) Hey, I'm working here.
Dude, we're all going to Burger King.
Come to lunch with us.
I brought today.
I'm good.
Come on, this Boo Radley-in- the-basement thing is getting kind of creepy.
We're offering you a flame-broiled way out of here.
Look, I don't have time.
This is important, okay? Seriously? (scoffs) Whatever.
What a slave.
What, does he sleep late? Oh, I'm sorry.
Why? I'm the one changing in the middle of a little girls' room.
Thank you again for being so understanding.
Kids'll be kids.
Maybe Jennifer can come play with Joanie sometime.
Well, that would be odd considering they don't like each other.
Oh, um, I'm sorry.
I'll talk to Joanie.
I like it that we're both raising girls who are fighters.
Don't you? What? I'm just glad you didn't get suspended.
(sighs) I know you think you hate California.
I know it's it's hard here.
But we have to commit.
Otherwise, it's never gonna feel like home.
(crying) The whole house was shaking.
Sweetie, you okay? I'm fine.
- You sure? - Fine.
(sniffles) We are gonna be okay.
I promise.
It's a raise, son.
You won today.
Did Cameron or Donna mention anything else? Is it less than you asked for? I didn't ask for anything.
I just pitched them some ideas.
I'm sure they'll reach out when and if the time is right.
Hmm? I'm sure they'll let you know.
(door opens) (TV announcer speaking Spanish) Blue Moon Detective? - Oh, hey, CamHowe.
- Hey.
Nice to meet you in person.
It's weird meeting people this way, isn't it? It's like you jumped out of my computer screen or something, like you're not real.
Yeah, yeah, Mutiny's pretty cool in that I haven't been on long.
I only just discovered it.
How about you? Uh, I work there, actually.
Oh, wow.
That's gotta be fun.
Yeah, you know, it's harder than it looks.
Is this the gear? Oh, yeah, yeah.
Please go ahead.
Um, I think it's in there somewhere.
Oh, yeah.
Hope the paint's okay.
Yeah, no, he was a big Niners fan, right? Yeah, he was.
Uh, how do you know about that? What? That he was a wait, did we talk about him? - Yeah.
- My son.
Yeah, yeah.
You posted in the grief and support room.
And I'm so sorry for your loss, but the, um, joystick looks great, so We didn't meet on the grief board.
We met in the tech room.
Right.
That's where we met, but I saw that you posted in the grief and support room and then All I posted was I mean, I just posted that I had lost someone.
I never said anything about I just had private chats about him with other people.
- Not anything - No.
We never talked about him, never.
How how the hell do you know about that? How do you know about him at all? I I think I should go.
How do you know about my son? Those conversations were supposed to be private.
(whirring) (distant music, chatter) (clicking) (coders laughing) - (popping) - (laughing) What, can you blame me? All this to add graphics capability to chat.
Whatever keeps the users on longer.
Seriously doubt it'll work long.
Yeah, but this LZW compression is pretty cool.
Lev: You really think people are gonna stick around because of GIFs? - It's pronounced "jif.
" - No way.
Hard G, "gif.
" I heard "jif," but it's cool if you want to be wrong.
Hey, look, everyone, it's "Jordon.
" Hey, you guys know I can hear everything you say down in the mainframe room? Yeah, can you hear this? (farts) (coders laugh) Marty, I worry about you.
What I couldn't help but overhear is you guys whining about having a long night.
Back in the Cardiff kill room, we developed a little technique for pushing through nights like this.
Called it the "Tandy-Shandy.
" One keeps you sharp, and the other's the other's a beer.
(laughs) Well, we've got our own technique, if you're interested.
Ooh.
(pops tab) (laughing) And that, gentlemen, is how you jerk off a dinosaur.
(laughing) (pounds table) All right, now, look, I'm gonna make a phone call.
When I come back, I wanna hear about that Amiga.
All right? (dial tone) (touch-tones beeping) (line ringing) James: Bosworths, leave a message.
- (beeps) - Hey there, son.
It's Dad.
I suppose you're getting used to calling yourself that right about now, huh? (chuckles) Oh, hell, I bet it's getting late in Rockwall.
Dang it.
I hope I didn't wake my little sweet pea up there.
I'm sorry I keep missing you.
I just want to hear every little detail about that kid.
It would occur to me I don't even know the little fella's name.
Did you guys decide on one or (beeps) So (coughs) So I go over to Joe's house, you know, I'm expecting to see this guy swinging from the rafters.
Holy shit.
But, surprise, he's alive.
He opens the door.
I mean, he looks like hell, but he's alive.
So, I go in.
You know, the whole place is cleaned out.
And I can see it, his whole life gone, destroyed.
It's exactly what I had thought, which is exactly why I stayed up all night reversing the Sonaris code.
You know, honestly, I really wanted to help him.
So I gave him the disk out of the goodness of my heart.
We hugged.
Joe MacMillan knows how to hug? Next thing you know, I wake up, I'm reading about $10 million in financing, all based on my software.
That's insane.
Yeah.
Of course a guy like that would steal your idea.
I mean, he's too stupid to come up with one of his own.
No, no, no, no, no.
Don't you do that.
Don't you underestimate him.
That's when he's most dangerous.
No, Joe's Joe's brilliant.
And when you're in that guy's thrall, you know, it feels like a drug.
You know, you you feel like the most important person in the world.
And that's when you wake up with your neck slit, bleeding all over the floor.
(door opens) What is that? They're Ryan's private chat transcripts.
He'd already printed them off and I figured maybe there'd be some answers in here, but what if we do go under by '88? I mean, everything we went through last year, all the battles we fought, moving everything out here, everyone, our leaving our families and our friends.
What if we did all that just to, what, putter around out here for a couple of years and then disappear like we were never even here in the first place? No, moving here wasn't a mistake.
Here.
There's gotta be something in here.
Well, there's all kinds of reasons that people are signing off.
They're getting along so well, they want to talk on the phone.
Maybe that's obvious.
Sometimes they even want to meet up in person.
Or they want to make a trade.
I met up with the joystick guy earlier.
Then why did you go to Fry's? Because when I met up with him in person, he turned out to be a total creep.
(bottle cap clatters) Transactional interactions? Like, what if you didn't have to sign off when you wanted to make a trade? - You could just - Do it online.
Okay, sure.
That's just what you did, but that's only one reason Okay, look.
We're never gonna stop people from talking on the phone, right? And we don't want to because that's a genuine connection.
But with transactions Here, look! This is about bootlegs.
"I've got the Venice show from last fall.
" "I've got the whole summer up north.
" Here's another one! Here.
How about my "WrestleMania '85" for your Hagler/Hearns "War" VHS? It's not gonna be every time, but there could be enough of these that it warrants building something so that people are doing this interaction on Mutiny.
Even if people aren't already trading, it's a brand-new type of interaction that could draw in more and more users.
Yeah, yeah.
If it's good enough.
It just has to be good enough.
Okay, that's (sighs) That's interesting.
I've never seen that before.
But is this it? (sighs) I-I don't know.
I've never seen it before, either, and I feel like we've seen a lot.
This could be the sort of thing that would make people really sit up and pay attention.
- But is it it? - Right? 'Cause it needs to be it, 'cause we're only gonna get one shot at this out here.
- (door opens) - Well (door closes) Yo.
Yo.
Everything okay with the mainframe? Yep.
Took care of it.
Anyways, it gave me an excuse to hang out with the coders.
- You know.
- Tandy-Shandy? Gordon: And then some.
Oof.
You guys working on something? Mm.
Oh, yeah, we were just coming up with some ideas Ah, I'll leave it to the brain trust.
(growls) Okay, that was so weird.
So, what do you think? I think let's do it.
Yeah, I think so, too.
But if this is gonna work, we're gonna have to trust each other.
Reading private chats is a violation of our user agreement.
Can we close the back door of that code? Yeah, sure.
No problem.
You're high.
Yeah, so are you.
Oh, hey, hey.
Hey.
You smell like Berkeley, Gordon.
- I could take a shower.
- No.
When's the last time our bedroom smelled like weed? That's the great thing about California.
Our bedroom can smell like weed whenever we want.
(laughs) (modem screeching) (electricity crackling) (chattering) - (chatter quiets) - Man: Shh, shh, shh.
(shutter clicks) Fear it's a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth.
You know, ever since I started MacMillan Utility, I've been accused of selling fear.
But let me ask you is it fear? Or is it truth? (shutter clicks) How sure is our footing? Yesterday morning, many of us were reminded of that question when we literally felt the ground move beneath us.
We live in a world that is constantly shifting, sometimes bringing us together and sometimes pulling us apart.
James: Hey, Pop, don't worry about calling late.
We already gave up on sleep.
(chuckles) Anyway, uh, I thought you'd like to know we are going with Samuel John.
(keyboard clacking) Joe: Who are our friends? Who are our enemies? What's gonna happen to us? Are we safe? What I created has grown.
Now, some of you (chuckles) even call MacMillan Utility the gold standard in corporate anti virus protection.
But in the meantime, I've been asking myself, "What should the price of security really be? How much should we pay to feel safe?" Wait, here's another one from that same ancient tradition.
The whole secret of existence is to have no fear at all.
Never fear what will become of you.
Depend on no one.
Only in the moment that you reject all help are you really free.
- (crowd murmuring) - Only by moving past fear can we ever arrive at the truth.
And the truth is freedom from fear is a right, not a commodity.
I know what you're thinking.
I charge my corporate clients millions.
Well, they can afford it.
But tomorrow I'm releasing our user version, Citadel, the version I created for all of you.
Mainframe-quality security for your personal computer.
(applause) Wait, wait.
And I'm charging you nothing.
(applause, cheering) For you it will be absolutely free.
(cheering) Mr.
MacMillan, I've got a question from "InfoWorld.
" (music playing)