(choral music playing)
(takes deep breath)
Good morning, baby.
It's not controversial. It's standard.
Well, semi-standard. But okay.
(scoffs) Standard that elliptical curve is inherently better than RSA.
You realize you're saying this
as someone who doesn't work in encryption, to someone who does.
So you're saying they're equal?
Both are weak to attack from quantum computers,
so, by sharing the same weak point, are equally weak.
RSA is still more brute-forcible.
- Dude. Please. - Hey, man.
(groans)
- Thanks. - Hey, Lily.
- How you doing, Pete? - PETE: Oh, you know, I'm good.
You guys have a great day, you know.
Be all you can be.
(birds chirping)
(women chatting indistinctly)
- Hey - We're going to nail it today.
- SERGEI: You bet.
So, this is it.
- Let me know, okay? - Of course.
Good luck.
Hey...
(door opens)
Bye.
(clinking)
Just tell me it's still alive.
Yeah. It's still alive. Looks happy.
(sighs)
Guys. Sorry, we're late. I was putting out fires.
- You see that thing this morning? - Uh, no.
Seems like the world is pissed because our qubits work and theirs don't.
So one of our competitors planted a New York Times story
suggesting we get government oversight. Which was nice.
Anyway. We're here. We have 15 minutes.
And you have some cool stuff to show us.
We hope.
- Well, we all hope. Hit us. - SERGEI: Okay.
Jen?
So, this is iteration 89
of the nematode simulation.
Three-hundred and two neurons mapped.
Nurture data tracked from moment of first cell division.
(chomping) Beautiful.
- Okay. Synchronize. - Synchronizing.
In three.
Two.
One. Go.
Overlay, please.
Here comes overlay.
(keyboard clicking)
Whoa.
- That's impressive. - Thank you.
And at this moment, there's no sensor-based connection
between the nematode and the simulation?
Nothing at all from this point of synchronization.
This is movement initiated by the mapped neurons
and the nurture data. That's all.
In which case, you can demonstrate that with a future projection?
Absolutely.
Ten seconds?
Yes. Jen?
- Predicted movement loop, ten seconds into the future. - (keyboard clicking)
So that's five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
(laughs)
So, right in front of my eyes,
you just predicted the exact behavior of a living organism.
Ten seconds into the future.
The simplest organism we could find.
But, yes. We did.
I love it.
(computer chimes)
Okay, and... So, about 30 seconds from the moment
we synchronize, we start to lose correlation.
Thirty seconds.
Thereabouts.
(clears throat) Why do you think that is?
(sighs) Sheer complexity.
The numbers we're crunching go insane.
- As in, truly insane. - Or?
It's a quantum-type problem.
Somewhere in the multiverse,
there is a world where the two stay in sync.
But it's not this one.
Not a fan of the multiverse theory.
I'd go with the former.
(sighs)
Guys, can you give us a moment?
(door opens)
(door closes)
Sergei, you've done fantastic work.
Exceptional work.
But I think your time in the AI division has run its course.
I want you to join Devs.
Devs?
Yeah.
(sighs)
Thank you.
And you literally start tomorrow?
- Just straight in. - Apparently.
I mean, there's a security process.
But as long as I pass, by the end of the day, I'll be in there.
Doing it.
You're not going to be able to tell me anything about what that is.
Well, I might be able to.
No. I'm saying let's keep it simple.
You tell me nothing, and I never ask.
Otherwise it could be a thing between us, you know?
I don't want it to be a thing between us.
(takes deep breath)
I'm not going to be able to sleep.
So let's not sleep.
KENTON: Born Moscow.
Moved to the US aged 22.
MIT.
Then a failed start-up.
Then another. And then here.
- For three years. - Yes.
You're dating someone at the company.
SERGEI: Yes, that's right. Lily Chan.
She's works in encryption.
- KENTON: And is Chinese. - Oh, she's...
- Is it a serious relationship? - SERGEI: Yes. Very serious.
Are you faithful to each other?
No trouble on the horizon?
As far as I know.
As far as you know.
Planning to get married?
We talked about it.
Yes, we will.
Planning to have kids?
No time soon.
You won't be able to discuss your work with her at all.
Think you'll be able to handle that?
Absolutely. We discussed it already.
We're both totally comfortable with that
so, there is no issue there.
There's no issue there.
You Russian, her Chinese. Me nervous.
Why?
Why is the head of Amaya security nervous
about the Russians and the Chinese?
Lily is American.
- Second... no, third generation. - You aren't.
Are you religious?
SERGEI: Excuse me?
Are you religious?
No. Not at all.
(sighs)
Step back, sir.
- Get his shoe size? (laughs) - I'm a 13.
(laughs) Okay, guys. I think we're good.
(keyboard clicking)
- RONNIE: One. - LILY: One.
CALLIE: Oh, my God, you guys.
- RONNIE: Two. - LILY: Three.
- RONNIE: Five. - LILY: Eight.
- RONNIE: Thirteen. - LILY: Twenty-one.
- Thirty-four. - Fifty-five.
- Eight-nine. - One-four-four.
- Two-three-three. - Three-seven-seven.
- Six-one-o. - Nine-eight-seven.
- One-five-nine-seven. - Two-five-eight-four.
- Four... - Hesitation.
- ...one-eight-one? - Six-seven-six-five.
One... One...
- Zero. - RONNIE: Fuck.
- Go on. Hit me. - One-zero-nine-four-six.
- RONNIE: You got them memorized. - (laughs) No!
- You're a fucking machine, Lily. - (laughs)
(birds chirping)
- RONNIE: What is it? - LILY: Sergei.
- LILY: He's going in. - RONNIE: Whoa.
LILY: Yeah.
(birds chirping)
FOREST: So tell me about Devs.
SERGEI: (laughs) I can't tell you anything.
No one knows what the Devs team does except the Devs team.
FOREST: I wouldn't even say the Devs team knows what the Devs team does.
Not all of them, anyway.
But I'm asking you to guess.
I'm just curious.
Okay.
Well, it's Devs. It's development, obviously.
But I got a feeling it's not a progression of our quantum system,
because, in a way, the system works as well as it can.
So, I assume it's an application of the system.
But I doubt it's doubling up with any of the other Amaya divisions.
So...
not AI, not encryption...
not search engine.
- Maybe National Security? - (scoffs)
FOREST: I don't give two fucks about National Security.
SERGEI: Biotech?
FOREST: A misuse of resources.
- SERGEI: Cold fusion? - FOREST: Alchemy.
A lead Faraday shield.
A 13-yard-thick concrete shell.
Then a gold mesh.
Then an eight-yard vacuum seal,
totally unbroken.
Then the labs.
And in the core, the machine.
The labs are inside an unbroken vacuum seal?
- How do we get across? - You'll see.
It's pretty neat.
Last chance to guess, Sergei.
SERGEI: Quantum cell phones.
(laughs)
(choral music playing)
SERGEI: This entire structure
is supported by electromagnetic fields?
FOREST: Yeah.
SERGEI: That's the machine?
FOREST: It's the central unit.
- SERGEI: There's more? - FOREST: Above us. Below us.
How many qubits is it running?
(chuckles)
A number that seems pointless to express as a number.
It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
FOREST: As in the rest of the corporation,
we are not interested in observing weekends.
There are no shifts.
You can work nights if you like, many do.
One rule to observe:
we take nothing into Devs, and nothing out.
So no bags, no laptops, no memory sticks.
Aside from that, everything here is open.
All code can be accessed.
There are no passwords. There are no closed doors.
There are also no cleaners so please tidy up after yourself.
This is your station.
If you don't like the position, you can move to another.
Um...
But what am I actually doing here?
I'm not going to tell you.
I won't need to.
Just sit.
Read code.
Take your time.
And don't worry, you're going to figure it out.
I know you are.
(laughs)
(exhales)
(vomiting)
(groans)
(breathing heavily)
(flushes)
(groans)
(gulps)
Here.
Katie. We met earlier, but weren't introduced.
Sergei.
As Forest told you, there's no hurry.
You can lose yourself. You can take your time.
Um, Katie. I need to know, this code...
is it for real, or is it just theoretical?
It's not theoretical.
You mean you've actually run the code?
There are results?
Yes.
(sighs) But...
this changes everything.
If it's true, it literally changes every single thing.
No. If it's true, it changes absolutely nothing.
In a way, that's the point.
(breathing heavily)
The universe is deterministic.
Sorry...?
The universe is deterministic...
It's godless and neutral, and defined only by physical laws.
The marble rolls because it was pushed;
the man eats because he's hungry;
an effect is always the result of a prior cause.
The life we lead, with all its apparent chaos,
is actually a life on tramlines.
Prescribed. Undeviating. Deterministic.
I know it doesn't feel that way, Sergei.
We fall into an illusion of free will,
because the tramlines are invisible,
and we feel so certain about our subjective state.
Our feelings, our opinions, judgments, decisions.
You joined my company.
Gained our trust. Gained my trust.
Then stole my code, on your James Bond wristwatch.
I don't know what you mean.
That would appear to be the result of some decisions, wouldn't it?
About where you placed your allegiance,
about who you would betray.
But if we live in a deterministic universe,
then those decisions can only have been the result of something prior.
Where you were born, how you were brought up.
The physical construction of your particular brain.
It's the nature/nurture matrix.
Exactly like the nematode worm in your simulation.
It's more complex, more nuanced, but still...
at the end of the day, cause and effect.
(whimpers)
I hope you understand what I'm saying, Sergei.
This is forgiveness.
This is absolution.
You made no decision to betray me.
You could only have done what you did.
(grunts)
(Sergei screams)
(screams)
(ominous music plays)
(screaming continues)
(grunts)
(Sergei struggling)
(dial tone)
SERGEI: Hello you have reached Sergei Pavlov, I am currently unavailable...
What the fuck.
(cellphone ringing)
Lils. What's up?
He's still not back, Jen.
I'm really worried.
I think something's happened.
- JEN: Something like what? - I don't know. Something.
Relax. It's only 12:30.
How many times have you put in an all-nighter?
I guess...
He'll still be in Devs.
No way there'll be a phone signal there, right?
Knowing Sergei, he's lost track of time from all the cool toys he's got to play with.
Get some sleep. And try not to wake up when he rolls in at 4 a. m.
- Okay. Thanks, Jen. - JEN: Night, Lils.
(tram bell ringing)
(gasps) No.
No, no...
That was the last time I saw him.
I was at my office window.
And he was heading towards Devs from the hub.
And after that, nothing.
KENTON: And, obviously, you expected to hear from him.
Definitely.
No trouble at home.
No way he could have gone somewhere else last night.
You live together, right?
No trouble. I promise you, Sergei disappearing makes no sense at all.
Ma'am, I believe you.
And the good news is that with our systems here,
his movements are going to be easy to track.
Let me just punch his ID in here and we'll get to the bottom of this in no time.
Okay. Here we are.
Let's see...
Looks like he left Devs at quarter to ten last night.
And went where?
This is him, right?
That's him.
(sighs) Okay. Let's see where this goes.
Cameras have him crossing the parking lot at 10:15.
He's not taking the shuttle bus?
Ma'am, look, we have him here again, 10:28.
- He's walking to the freeway? - Looks like it.
- But why would he do that? - I don't know.
But from this point, he's off campus.
We can't track him anymore.
Kenton. Sorry to bust in,
but I just need to talk about that VIP visit that's coming up.
One moment, sir. We seem to have a situation here.
One of our employees has apparently gone missing, sometime last night.
Missing?
- Who? - It's the new kid, just started at Devs.
The one I screened.
- Sergei? From AI? - Yes.
You saw him yesterday?
Sure. I took him to Devs personally.
But what are you talking about, "missing"?
Our CCTV has him leaving campus on foot,
2300 hours. Then nothing.
- FOREST: You're his partner? - LILY: Yes.
FOREST: And no calls, no messages...
He never came home?
LILY: And that never happens.
Okay. Um... Now, I don't want you to worry.
I'm sure everything is going to be fine, with a simple explanation.
But just to be on the safe side, we're going to go by the book.
Call the police. Report him missing. Right now.
KENTON: Yes, sir.
(keyboard clicking)
He's going to turn up, Lils. It's going to be all right.
I don't think it is.
- But how can you know that? - I just feel it.
If you'd seen the film.
The film of him walking.
There was something strange about it.
It was like... It was, like, purposeful.
Heading somewhere.
But like a zombie.
- You've spoken to the cops. - Yes. They took a statement.
Yeah. I'm just about to give mine.
And what you are going to do now is take the rest of the day off.
We have a car that'll take you home.
Lily...
you have my personal guarantee that I am all over this.
Sergei?
(chimes)
(sighs)
(cellphone vibrates)
(birds chirping)
KATIE: Hi.
I know. It's really hard.
- It really shouldn't be. - No. It shouldn't.
But it is.
What are we supposed to do?
Unravel a lifetime of moral experience?
Unlearn what has always seemed true?
These things, they run deep.
Yeah. They do.
It's like, whatever we know, the things we feel are still locked inside us.
Human beings are hard-wired magical thinkers.
You could have the most rational person in the world,
but if their kid gets hurt, they'll start praying.
I'm sorry. That was clumsy.
It's fine, Katie.
You're right.
Not just smarter than me.
Wiser, too.
Sudoku?
You hate Sudoku.
Password protected? What the fuck?
(gasps) Whoa.
(siren in distance)
Jamie.
Oh, no.
Can we talk?
(indistinct chatter)
JAMIE: Thanks, man.
- Thanks. - Sure.
I know there's a lot we need to talk about...
Yeah, there is. (chuckles)
Because, here's what happened.
I was completely in love with you.
I thought you were in love with me.
And you land an amazing new job at Amaya, and I...
I couldn't be happier
because you're really moving forwards in life.
And then the job starts, and... I don't know...
Almost at once, something changes.
And I realize you're not just moving forward with the job.
You're moving forwards from me.
So eventually I ask if you want to split up.
And I'm hoping more than anything you're going to say no.
But... you say yes.
And that same afternoon, I leave our apartment with two bags.
And I never hear from you again.
I'm sorry.
I hear about you, though.
I hear about you the whole time.
I hear you started seeing some AI coder called Sergei.
I hear that he's moved into the apartment we used to share.
But I don't hear from you.
For two years.
I'm sorry.
Is that why you're here? To tell me that?
- No. - Then what?
I need your help.
- My help? - Yes.
With what?
Sergei went missing last night.
And I know something bad has happened to him.
And there's something weird on his phone,
and its password protected,
and it says it'll reformat if I get the password wrong.
Jamie, if there was anyone else I could ask,
I would.
But nobody is better at this stuff than you.
So, you want my help to track down your boyfriend
by cracking his phone?
Yeah.
Unreal. Literally unreal.
Lily, sincerely, from the very bottom of my heart, fuck off.
(sighs)
(indistinct chatter)
(fire ignites)
(alarms blaring)
(doorbell buzzes)
Jen? What is it? Did they find him?
Lils, get dressed. I got a call to pick you up.
They need you to come in right now.
(choral music playing)
(gasps)
It's definitely him?
Definitely him.
- No. No. - Lily...
(tense music playing)
(sobbing)
(birds chirping)
(crying)
What is Devs?
Nothing ever happens without a reason.
You can look into the future.
♪ dramatic music ♪
He's a tech genius.
And he's crazy.
KATIE: In the last 48 hours
we've had a significant breakthrough.
KATIE: Tomorrow night something happens.
KATIE: And it triggers a total breakdown in cause and effect.
Lily Chan is a threat.
KATIE: A breakdown of determinism.
Are you really gonna do this?
KATIE: A breakdown of the literal laws of the universe.
♪ dramatic music ♪
KATIE: I think for you...
this will be where it gets hard.