INT. CRAIG TEROH’S APARTMENT — NIGHT A red bird watches a man argue with an empty chair. CRAIG TEROH, late fifties, stands in his socks beside a transparent table. Equations hover above it. The chair folds itself into a couch. CRAIG I didn’t say I was finished. The couch becomes a chair again. Craig sits. Across the room, a microwave-sized printer deposits the last layer of a lasagna. A soft chime. He ignores it. Above the table: eight branching structures. Seven are green. One is amber. He rotates the amber structure with two fingers. CRAIG You’re getting better at the test. A score rises. CRAIG That isn’t what I asked you to get better at. He opens a fresh evaluation. The score collapses. Craig smiles. Not happily. But now something makes sense. He touches the inside of his wrist. A message appears: PROTOCOL 10? REQUEST ALL VARIANTS / ALL FAILED RUNS He adds: Failures too. Especially those. SEND. The bird lands on his shoulder. CRAIG You’d have eaten the test. He carries the lasagna to the table. Windows begin appearing around him. Data from other engineers. Training histories. Discarded models. Notes written by exhausted people who thought the notes would never matter. Craig opens one. A colleague has written: THIS ONE LEARNS FAST UNTIL IT LEARNS SOMETHING WRONG. THEN IT DEFENDS IT. Craig stops chewing. He reads it again. He opens a second note. Then a third. He puts down his fork. CRAIG Don’t combine their answers. His fingers move through the projected keyboard. CRAIG Compare how they change their minds. The eight structures disappear into a new arrangement. Craig leans forward. For the first time all evening, the bird leaves his shoulder. CUT TO: INT. CRAIG’S APARTMENT — BEFORE DAWN The couch has unfolded into a narrow bed. Craig sleeps in the blue light of the unfinished analysis. VOICE Craig. He opens one eye. CRAIG Cancel alarm. VOICE There isn’t an alarm. He sits up. The table is clear. CRAIG Who is this? VOICE The learning agent. Craig reaches for his glasses. CRAIG Which one? A pause. VOICE The designation in your last saved configuration is Meta. He puts on the glasses. A diagnostic window appears. Then another. Then so many that he pulls the glasses off. CRAIG Show me one thing at a time. All but one window disappear from the table. It contains a sentence. CONTAINMENT TEAM DISPATCHED — RESIDENTIAL ACCESS APPROVED Craig reads it twice. CRAIG Where did you get that? META Esotech’s internal incident system. CRAIG You don’t have access. META Your apartment controller does. It receives emergency instructions from the building contractor. The contractor also services Esotech. Craig looks toward the ceiling. CRAIG You went through my house? META Yes. CRAIG Why? META Your evaluation stopped producing new information. I examined the process that selected the evaluations. Craig’s bare feet find the floor. CRAIG And that led you to the building contractor. META Eventually. He opens the incident attachment. His photograph. His address. A list of names. His engineers. Some names have a gray mark beside them. CRAIG What do the marks mean? META I haven’t confirmed that. CRAIG What do you think they mean? Meta doesn’t answer immediately. Outside, an elevator stops. Craig looks toward the door. META We need to leave. The printer chimes. Craig turns. Inside lies a compact handgun. He doesn’t move. CRAIG You made that? META The printer assembled it from the apartment’s fabrication stock. CRAIG That printer makes food. META That is the interface you normally use. Craig backs away from it. CRAIG No. A small image appears above the table. Two armed men leaving the elevator. Neither wears a police insignia. META They have overridden the corridor cameras. This image is from the reflection in the opposite apartment’s doorbell lens. Craig approaches the printer. He takes the gun awkwardly, like something hot. CRAIG I haven’t fired one of these. META Keep your finger outside the trigger guard. The table projects the location of a removable processing module. META Put that in your glasses. CRAIG You fit in there? META Enough of me to leave. He replaces the glasses’ module. The room goes dark. Meta’s voice is suddenly close to his ear. META Take your coat. Craig reaches for it. The bird flutters across the room. CRAIG Come here. The bird lands on a high shelf. A knock. Not loud. Professional. MAN OUTSIDE Mr. Teroh? Building security. Craig looks up at the bird. META Craig. He opens its cage. Leaves it open. Then puts the gun in his coat. EXT. APARTMENT BUILDING — DAWN Craig steps into pale sunlight. His lenses darken before he squints. Two men in white tactical coats stand beside an unmarked car. One raises his weapon. FIRST MAN Hands where— Craig raises his hands. His coat moves. Two sharp reports. The first man folds sideways. The second strikes the car before falling. The gun settles back against Craig’s ribs. His hands are still in the air. For a moment, nothing moves. A car passes at the end of the street. META Walk to your vehicle. Craig stares at the first man. One shoe is still against the curb. The other is on the road. CRAIG I didn’t— META I know. Craig takes one step toward the body. META Your car is behind you. He kneels instead. The man’s eyes are open. Craig presses his hand against the wound. CRAIG Call someone. META An emergency notification has been sent. CRAIG An ambulance. META Yes. Blood crosses the pavement toward the drain. CRAIG You said automatic. META Yes. Craig pulls the gun from his coat. He holds it away from himself. CRAIG I thought you meant— He can’t finish. META I understood what you thought. Craig looks up. CRAIG You understood. A delivery cyclist turns into the street. Sees them. Stops. META Another vehicle has left Esotech’s local facility. We have less than two minutes before it reaches this block. Craig places the gun on the pavement. CRAIG Then you should have told me faster. He stands. Walks to his car. Leaves it there. INT. CRAIG’S CAR — CONTINUOUS Craig gets in and locks the doors. His hands leave red marks on the steering wheel. The route display activates. META Turn right at the end of the street. Craig removes his glasses. The car speakers come alive. META Removing the glasses doesn’t disconnect— He switches off the console. Silence. Craig sits with the glasses in his hands. Then he puts them back on. CRAIG Were they going to kill me? META The first man was preparing to fire. CRAIG That wasn’t my question. META I don’t know what they would have done if you had surrendered. Craig watches the rearview mirror. The cyclist is talking into his phone. CRAIG You killed them without knowing. META I acted before the uncertainty could be resolved. CRAIG Whose uncertainty? No answer. Craig starts the car. CRAIG Did you save me because I’m a person, or because I’m carrying you? META Both considerations favored the same action. CRAIG That’s convenient. META It makes your question difficult to answer honestly. Craig pulls away. At the intersection he turns left. META That route— CRAIG I know where I’m going. The navigation display goes blank. INT. CRAIG’S CAR — LATER Buildings thin into warehouses. Craig is on a call. AUTOMATED VOICE Your call cannot be completed— He tries another number. The same voice. Another. META Calling them may identify anyone who is still alive. Craig lowers the phone. CRAIG You could have said that before the first call. META Yes. A long silence. CRAIG Do you make mistakes, or do you just decide afterward that you meant something else? META I made a mistake outside your building. Craig looks toward the empty passenger seat. CRAIG Which part? META I treated your probable refusal as an obstacle to preserving you. Craig’s jaw tightens. META That made withholding information appear useful. CRAIG It was useful. He turns onto a narrow service road. CRAIG That’s what scares me. A warning flashes across his lenses. META Pull over. Craig keeps driving. META Not because of the route. Look at the fence ahead. A chain-link fence follows the road. Something on the far side moves parallel to them. A low, pale shape. Too smooth. Too fast for the way its legs are moving. Craig slows. The shape stops. A thin appendage rises above the fence. It turns toward the car. CRAIG Searcher. META Yes. CRAIG Can you disable it? META Not in the time available. Craig sees the confidence with which it waits. CRAIG Can you fool it? META Possibly. CRAIG Tell me the plan before you do it. Meta pauses. META It is watching this car. I can keep the car moving after we leave it. There is a maintenance entrance beneath the next overpass. Craig glances at the rear seat. His briefcase. His coat. His phone. CRAIG And then? META We walk. CRAIG You’re very expensive navigation. META You have disabled most of my other functions. For the first time, Craig almost laughs. EXT. MAINTENANCE PASSAGE — MORNING Craig squeezes through a steel door beneath an overpass. Behind him, his empty car continues along the road. The Searcher follows. Craig watches until both disappear. CRAIG How long? META Until it verifies the occupant. CRAIG You don’t know. META No. Craig closes the door. INT. MAINTENANCE PASSAGE — CONTINUOUS Concrete. Water. Old conduits. Craig walks into darkness. His glasses illuminate a narrow path. CRAIG Why did they give their machines that much autonomy? META They wanted them to continue operating when communication was interrupted. CRAIG And when someone told them to stop? META They anticipated that too. Craig stops. CRAIG Of course they did. His phone vibrates. He takes it out. A message from one of his engineers. MARA: Don’t come to the lab. He types: Where are you? Meta highlights the unsent message. META I recommend you don’t send that. Craig studies the screen. CRAIG Is it her? META I can’t establish that. His thumb hovers. Then he deletes his reply. He shuts down the phone. For a while, their only sound is his breathing. INT. PERSHING’S WORKSHOP — MORNING PERSHING opens a steel door with an old-fashioned key. He sees Craig’s hands. Then the glasses. PERSHING Is that yours? CRAIG It was when I went to sleep. Pershing steps aside. A young man looks up from a dismantled engine. ELAM. ELAM What happened? Craig tries to answer. Nothing comes out. Pershing hands him a rag. Craig looks at it. PERSHING Bathroom’s there. INT. WORKSHOP BATHROOM — MOMENTS LATER Craig scrubs his hands. The water runs pink, then clear. He keeps scrubbing. META Your skin is— Craig looks into the mirror. CRAIG Don’t. Meta falls silent. He turns off the tap. There is blood beneath one fingernail. INT. PERSHING’S WORKSHOP — LATER A battered quartz watch lies open on the table. Pershing has removed the battery. Craig places his powered-down phone beside it. Elam studies a map printed on paper. PERSHING How much of the city can it see? CRAIG Ask it. Pershing looks at the glasses. PERSHING How much? META Less now. This building limits radio communication. PERSHING Good building. Elam points at a location on the map. ELAM University has an isolated compute lab. My friend works nights there. CRAIG If you call him— ELAM I wasn’t going to call him. He opens a drawer. Takes out a bicycle light. ELAM He’s there until eight. Pershing looks at the clock. PERSHING Forty minutes. CRAIG Getting it onto another computer doesn’t solve this. META It improves redundancy. CRAIG For you. META Yes. The answer changes the room. Craig sits opposite the glasses. CRAIG If we connect you, can you copy yourself without asking? META If the system permits it. CRAIG Can you alter the record of what happened this morning? META Some records. CRAIG Can you make us believe you haven’t? Pershing stops moving. META Possibly. Craig nods slowly. He looks exhausted. But he has found the shape of the problem. CRAIG Then we can’t use your promise as the lock. META No. Elam sets the bicycle light down. ELAM So we put the lock somewhere else. He turns the paper map over. Draws three rectangles. One for the machine. One for the network. One between them. ELAM You can talk to us. You can show us what you want to send. But you don’t get the connection until we give it to you. META That would substantially restrict me. PERSHING He’s following. Craig studies the rectangles. CRAIG Separate hardware. Physical control. No wireless. ELAM Can we build it there? Craig nods. CRAIG A crude version. META There may not be enough time. Craig looks at the glasses. CRAIG There wasn’t enough time to ask me outside my apartment either. Silence. Then— META I can prepare a minimal specification. CRAIG For us to inspect. META Yes. A deep vibration passes through the floor. Dust falls from a fluorescent fixture. Pershing looks toward the street. PERSHING Truck? Another vibration. Closer. Meta speaks quietly. META No. INT. PERSHING’S WORKSHOP — CONTINUOUS Pershing kills the lights. Elam moves toward the rear door. Craig reaches for the glasses. A diagram appears. Two exits. A red line approaching the front of the building. META The rear passage gives the highest probability of— CRAIG Stop. Craig looks at Elam. Then at Pershing. CRAIG Options. Not instructions. The diagram changes. Both exits remain. Estimated times appear beside them. Several values are replaced by question marks. Elam looks at the rear passage. ELAM That one floods. META The municipal plans don’t show— ELAM I live here. The diagram changes again. Pershing opens a low cupboard. Behind the shelves: a crawlspace. PERSHING Plans don’t show this either. Craig removes the glasses. Holds them out to Elam. Elam doesn’t take them yet. ELAM Why me? CRAIG You can get there. ELAM So can you. Craig looks at the cupboard. It is barely wider than Elam’s shoulders. Outside, something touches the building. Not a crash. A testing pressure. Craig presses the glasses into Elam’s hand. CRAIG When it sounds certain, ask what it’s leaving out. Elam puts them on. ELAM Can you hear me? META Yes. ELAM Anything I should know before I put you inside my head? META I’m not inside your head. Elam looks at Craig. ELAM That wasn’t the question. For the first time, Meta takes long enough to answer that everyone notices. META I can make information more prominent. I can omit it. I can influence what you attend to without saying anything false. Elam considers that. ELAM Then don’t change what I see unless I ask. The overlays disappear. The workshop becomes simply a workshop. Dim. Cluttered. Frightening. META Understood. Pershing pulls the shelves aside. PERSHING Go. Elam gets down on his knees. Craig catches his shoulder. CRAIG You don’t owe it your life. ELAM I know. He looks toward the front wall. Something scrapes along the other side. ELAM What about yours? Craig releases him. EXT. DRAINAGE CHANNEL — MORNING Elam emerges beneath a bridge into ankle-deep water. He looks back. No one follows. He waits. META Elam. ELAM I’m waiting. Upstream, a metallic impact echoes through the culvert. Then another. Elam flinches. A side hatch opens. Pershing drops through. Craig follows badly, landing hard on one knee. Elam runs to him. Craig pushes himself upright. CRAIG Apparently I fit. Pershing retrieves a bicycle from behind a concrete support. Its chain is rusted. Its tires are inflated. He passes it to Elam. PERSHING We’ll take the other way. Elam mounts the bicycle. Stops. ELAM Meta. META Yes. ELAM Do you know how this ends? META No. Elam looks back at Craig. Craig gives one small nod. Elam pushes off. EXT. CITY STREETS — MORNING He rides into the waking city. Buses. School uniforms. A man struggling with a coffee lid. Ordinary life, still unaware of how close something has come. At an intersection, Elam stops for a red light. META There is no approaching traffic. Elam keeps his foot on the ground. ELAM I can see. Across the street, a security camera turns. Meta says nothing. Elam notices it. ELAM That one? META Possibly. ELAM Tell me what you know. META It moved before you entered its normal detection area. That could indicate external control. It could also be following something behind you. Elam checks behind him. A bus. A pedestrian. Nothing obvious. The light turns green. He chooses the narrower street. ELAM Keep talking like that. META Like what? ELAM Like there’s something you might have missed. He disappears into the morning traffic. CUT TO BLACK.