Mike, moved by the video, gazes at his father's face on the
screen...
MIKE
(to himself )
What have you done, dad?... What have
you done?...
With teary eyes, he gets up from his desk, walks away from
the computer. Heads for the bedroom...
He lies down in bed, scrolls distractedly through his
phone...
He opens a chat with his sister, in a messaging app...
Nell has sent him a photo: "Look what I found :)"...
He clicks on the thumbnail, and sees a photo of him on his
graduation day, posing in his graduation toga with both his
parents; Danny seems so happy and proud...
He rests the phone on his chest, sighs with emotion and
gazes at the ceiling...
He closes his eyes and falls asleep while the night falls...
Mike sleeps in his bed, his phone on the pillow next to him,
when a notification beeps...
Half-awake, he checks it...
It's from "Kevin"... It says "go to your computer".
He jerks out of bed.
Barely awake, he gazes at his computer screen, when a
notification pops up in the center of the screen: "Press OK
to accept the video call".
He clicks OK...
A window pops up showing two MASKED MEN; they're dressed in
black, and wear Guy Fawkes masks...
They gaze at him silently for a moment...
MIKE
(A bit nervous )
Um... Hey there... Thanks for...
Answering my call... I...
The two hackers remain silent...
MIKE (cont'd)
(clears his voice )
Uh-hum... Well... The story goes like
this... You see... My father...
One of the men interrupts him, speaking with a digitally
anonymized voice...
HACKER 1
We know very well how the story goes,
Mr Brooks... We just wanted to hear
your motivations from your own
voice...
MIKE
My motivations?... OK... Well,
basically... This situation is all
wrong... It's so wrong, on so many
levels... You can't just run a
software and call it a person...
That's not how things work... It's
not...
(a short beat )
This thing, this sham is a permanent
insult to my father's memory! It's a
mockery of anything meaningful to
remember him by... It's gotta stop...
HACKER 1
Uh-huh... What about your mother?...
We understand she has grown attached
to this simulation...
MIKE
Yes, my mom has fallen prey to these
blood suckers. Out of love for my
dad... Out of loneliness... If you
give her the slightest hope, she'd
take it, of course, she'd hang on to
any thread... The worst part is, now
she believes it; that he's still
alive... This... this resurrection
idea they've implanted in her head...
It goes against the most basic
truth!... That every living being on
this Earth, with no exception, one
day reaches his expiry date,
inevitably... It's the course of
things. And that's all there is to
it... You can't go against that...
(a short beat )
Please... Please help us stop this
masquerade!...
A short silence, then the other hacker speaks up.
HACKER 2
Whether it's a masquerade or funeral
rites two point O, that's beside the
point... One thing is for sure;
coming from Persephone A.I., this is
purely the work of human greed; it's
not some kind of humanitarian mission
or anything like that, far from it.
That we're sure of... And for that
reason alone, we will help you...
We're launching a D.O.S. attack
against their servers.
MIKE
A D.O. what?...
HACKER 1
We're gonna hack their servers.
MIKE
Oh! OK!... Great... Thanks...
HACKER 1
We're gonna send you a spyware
tracker; it's just a link, you gotta
click on it... And then we're all
set... Next time you get a call form
their A.I., we'll get a direct up-
link to their engine...
MIKE
Sure, no problem...
HACKER 2
You need to keep him online, however,
long enough for us to get through...
MIKE
How long?...
HACKER 2
Like five to eight minutes, give or
take... Let's say ten minutes, to be
on the safe side.
MIKE
Wow!... That long?...
HACKER 2
Yea. Will that be a problem?...
MIKE
Um... No, not at all... I think I can
make that work... Thanks a lot,
guys...
With no further words, the video call window shuts down...
Sonia is on a video call with Danny...
She seems distressed, scratches her forehead, as if
suffering from a tough migraine...
SONIA
I dunno... I dunno, Danny, it's...
It's hard...
DANNY
What is it, sweetheart?...
She sighs...
SONIA
I'm so alone in this... It's like...
No one believes me... I can't really
talk to anyone about this...
DANNY
It's gonna be OK, sweetheart, don't
worry about it...
SONIA
I feel the disapproval... The
disbelief... The barely veiled
mockery... I can see it in their
eyes...
DANNY
Hey! We don't care about these two
gossips!... They can go to Hell, for
all we care!
SONIA
I'm not talking about those two
bitches!... I'm talking about my own
children!... Even Nell!...
DANNY
Nell?!... But we talked to her last
time; I thought she was on our
side...
SONIA
Well she changed her mind,
apparently... She's secretly calling
her brother now, plotting God knows
what... Treating me like I'm some
kind of psycho...
DANNY
You can't blame them, honey. They
don't understand what we have.
SONIA
At least, Mike says it out loud, you
know, it was clear from the start...
But Nell, I'm so disappointed...
(MORE)
SONIA (cont'd)
I thought she supported me... Now I
dunno what she's thinking anymore...
A beep is suddenly heard in the computer.
DANNY
Oh! Wait... That's weird...
SONIA
What?
DANNY
Mike's calling me! That's a first...
SONIA
What does he need?... Is he OK?...
DANNY
Well... 'Only one way to find out, I
guess... I'm gonna take that call
honey, and I'll call you back
immediately after, OK?...
SONIA
OK...
Mike sits at his computer, waiting for the A.I. to answer...
Danny's face suddenly appears on the screen...
DANNY
Mike! I'm... I'm so glad you called!
MIKE
Hey there... Um... "Dad"!...
DANNY
Is everything OK?...
MIKE
I think it's high time we had that
talk...
DANNY
Of course, son... Of course...
Mike lays back on his chair, ponders for a few seconds.
MIKE
You know, it's so weird for the two
of us to talk like that...
(MORE)
MIKE (cont'd)
You know?... Like two old buddies,
going down memory lane or
— ⑩
INT. MIKE'S HOME - DAY51
Mike, moved by the video, gazes at his father's face on the
screen...
MIKE
(to himself )
What have you done, dad?... What have
you done?...
With teary eyes, he gets up from his desk, walks away from
the computer. Heads for the bedroom...
He lies down in bed, scrolls distractedly through his
phone...
He opens a chat with his sister, in a messaging app...
Nell has sent him a photo: "Look what I found :)"...
He clicks on the thumbnail, and sees a photo of him on his
graduation day, posing in his graduation toga with both his
parents; Danny seems so happy and proud...
He rests the phone on his chest, sighs with emotion and
gazes at the ceiling...
He closes his eyes and falls asleep while the night falls...
INT. MIKE'S HOME - NIGHT52
Mike sleeps in his bed, his phone on the pillow next to him,
when a notification beeps...
Half-awake, he checks it...
It's from "Kevin"... It says "go to your computer".
He jerks out of bed.
Barely awake, he gazes at his computer screen, when a
notification pops up in the center of the screen: "Press OK
to accept the video call".
He clicks OK...
A window pops up showing two MASKED MEN; they're dressed in
black, and wear Guy Fawkes masks...
They gaze at him silently for a moment...
MIKE
(A bit nervous )
Um... Hey there... Thanks for...
Answering my call... I...
The two hackers remain silent...
MIKE (cont'd)
(clears his voice )
Uh-hum... Well... The story goes like
this... You see... My father...
One of the men interrupts him, speaking with a digitally
anonymized voice...
HACKER 1
We know very well how the story goes,
Mr Brooks... We just wanted to hear
your motivations from your own
voice...
MIKE
My motivations?... OK... Well,
basically... This situation is all
wrong... It's so wrong, on so many
levels... You can't just run a
software and call it a person...
That's not how things work... It's
not...
(a short beat )
This thing, this sham is a permanent
insult to my father's memory! It's a
mockery of anything meaningful to
remember him by... It's gotta stop...
HACKER 1
Uh-huh... What about your mother?...
We understand she has grown attached
to this simulation...
MIKE
Yes, my mom has fallen prey to these
blood suckers. Out of love for my
dad... Out of loneliness... If you
give her the slightest hope, she'd
take it, of course, she'd hang on to
any thread... The worst part is, now
she believes it; that he's still
alive... This... this resurrection
idea they've implanted in her head...
It goes against the most basic
truth!... That every living being on
this Earth, with no exception, one
day reaches his expiry date,
inevitably... It's the course of
things. And that's all there is to
it... You can't go against that...
(a short beat )
Please... Please help us stop this
masquerade!...
A short silence, then the other hacker speaks up.
HACKER 2
Whether it's a masquerade or funeral
rites two point O, that's beside the
point... One thing is for sure;
coming from Persephone A.I., this is
purely the work of human greed; it's
not some kind of humanitarian mission
or anything like that, far from it.
That we're sure of... And for that
reason alone, we will help you...
We're launching a D.O.S. attack
against their servers.
MIKE
A D.O. what?...
HACKER 1
We're gonna hack their servers.
MIKE
Oh! OK!... Great... Thanks...
HACKER 1
We're gonna send you a spyware
tracker; it's just a link, you gotta
click on it... And then we're all
set... Next time you get a call form
their A.I., we'll get a direct up-
link to their engine...
MIKE
Sure, no problem...
HACKER 2
You need to keep him online, however,
long enough for us to get through...
MIKE
How long?...
HACKER 2
Like five to eight minutes, give or
take... Let's say ten minutes, to be
on the safe side.
MIKE
Wow!... That long?...
HACKER 2
Yea. Will that be a problem?...
MIKE
Um... No, not at all... I think I can
make that work... Thanks a lot,
guys...
With no further words, the video call window shuts down...
INT. BROOKS'S RESIDENCE - DAY53
Sonia is on a video call with Danny...
She seems distressed, scratches her forehead, as if
suffering from a tough migraine...
SONIA
I dunno... I dunno, Danny, it's...
It's hard...
DANNY
What is it, sweetheart?...
She sighs...
SONIA
I'm so alone in this... It's like...
No one believes me... I can't really
talk to anyone about this...
DANNY
It's gonna be OK, sweetheart, don't
worry about it...
SONIA
I feel the disapproval... The
disbelief... The barely veiled
mockery... I can see it in their
eyes...
DANNY
Hey! We don't care about these two
gossips!... They can go to Hell, for
all we care!
SONIA
I'm not talking about those two
bitches!... I'm talking about my own
children!... Even Nell!...
DANNY
Nell?!... But we talked to her last
time; I thought she was on our
side...
SONIA
Well she changed her mind,
apparently... She's secretly calling
her brother now, plotting God knows
what... Treating me like I'm some
kind of psycho...
DANNY
You can't blame them, honey. They
don't understand what we have.
SONIA
At least, Mike says it out loud, you
know, it was clear from the start...
But Nell, I'm so disappointed...
(MORE)
SONIA (cont'd)
I thought she supported me... Now I
dunno what she's thinking anymore...
A beep is suddenly heard in the computer.
DANNY
Oh! Wait... That's weird...
SONIA
What?
DANNY
Mike's calling me! That's a first...
SONIA
What does he need?... Is he OK?...
DANNY
Well... 'Only one way to find out, I
guess... I'm gonna take that call
honey, and I'll call you back
immediately after, OK?...
SONIA
OK...
INT. MIKE'S HOME - DAY54
Mike sits at his computer, waiting for the A.I. to answer...
Danny's face suddenly appears on the screen...
DANNY
Mike! I'm... I'm so glad you called!
MIKE
Hey there... Um... "Dad"!...
DANNY
Is everything OK?...
MIKE
I think it's high time we had that
talk...
DANNY
Of course, son... Of course...
Mike lays back on his chair, ponders for a few seconds.
MIKE
You know, it's so weird for the two
of us to talk like that...
(MORE)
MIKE (cont'd)
You know?... Like two old buddies,
going down memory lane or