Ex Machina (8 page)
EXT. HOUSE ⁄ GLASS CORRIDOR – NIGHT
On CCTV, we watch Caleb walk fast down the glass corridor.
INT. HOUSE ⁄ POLLOCK ROOM – NIGHT
Caleb enters the Jackson Pollock room.
Standing by the painting, he can see Kyoko.
CALEB
Kyoko.
Kyoko turns at the sound of her name, but doesn’t respond.
Kyoko – where’s Nathan?
She doesn’t answer.
Jesus! You really don’t speak a word of English?
Caleb walks over to her, and takes hold of her wrist.
I said: where’s Nathan?
Kyoko looks at Caleb.
Then, in answer to his question, she reaches up to the top button of her shirt and pops it open.
Caleb releases her wrist at once.
What the fuck?
She undoes the next button, and pulls open the shirt, revealing her bare chest.
Stop!
NATHAN
I already told you once. You’re wasting your time speaking to her.
Caleb turns.
Nathan has entered.
He’s holding a drink. His words are slurred.
However.
He walks, slightly unsteadily, towards a Lutron control panel, set into the wall.
You would not be wasting your time…
His hand hovers uncertainly over the buttons.
… if you were
dancing
with her.
His finger lands.
Immediately, the lighting in the room undergoes a complete change. Transforming from the discreet and tasteful low light of evening into the coloured glows of a nightclub.
Simultaneously, from unseen speakers, dance music starts playing.
Caleb stands – frozen by the surrealism of what has just happened.
Kyoko starts walking to the centre of the room.
And once having taken position, she starts dancing.
Nathan calls to Caleb.
NATHAN
Go on! Dance with her.
CALEB
… I don’t want to.
NATHAN
You don’t like dancing?
His body is starting to bob on the beat.
He gestures at Kyoko.
She does!
CALEB
(
to himself
)
I don’t fucking believe this.
Nathan makes his way to Caleb, and rests a hand on his shoulder.
NATHAN
Come on, man! After a hard day of Turing Tests, you’ve got to unwind.
Caleb raises his voice over the sound of the music.
CALEB
What were you doing with Ava?
Nathan smiles back at Nathan, smiling, alcohol-glazed.
NATHAN
What?
CALEB
You tore up her picture.
NATHAN
I’m going to tear up the fucking dance floor, dude. Check it out.
Nathan sets off towards Kyoko.
Caleb watches, amazed, as Kyoko and Nathan start dancing together.
Although Nathan is drunk, they work through the beats of a routine they have obviously done many times before.
It’s just starting to look weirdly impressive –
– when Nathan totally loses his balance.
On his way down, he lands hard on a glass coffee table. Looking up at him, the glass frosts.
EXT. HOUSE ⁄ GLASS CORRIDOR – NIGHT
Caleb half carries the semi-conscious Nathan.
INT. HOUSE ⁄ GLASS CORRIDOR – NIGHT
Nathan fumbles in his pocket for his keycard.
Drops it.
NATHAN
Everything’s spinning.
Caleb picks the keycard up –
– and uses it to swipe the brass plate.
The LED turns blue.
CALEB
It’s because you’re drunk.
NATHAN
No, it’s relativity. Everything
is
spinning.
Caleb hands the card back to Nathan, who shoves it back into his pocket.
But being drunk does make it worse.
INT. HOUSE ⁄ CONNECTING CORRIDOR – NIGHT
Caleb helps the semi-conscious Nathan down the connecting corridor between Nathan’s study and his bedroom.
They pass the open doorway to Nathan’s study.
Caleb pauses. Wanting to see inside.
In the middle of the room, he sees the desk.
The computer set-up, with its back of monitors. And the keycard slot.
INT. HOUSE ⁄ NATHAN’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
Caleb helps Nathan into his bedroom.
They walk past a semicircle line of long cabinets that line the wall opposite the bed.
They are like a row of slender wardrobes, each with a mirrored door.
Once he’s reached the bed, Nathan tips towards it. It’s almost as if he’s asleep before he even hits the sheets.
INT. HOUSE ⁄ CALEB’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
Caleb’s room. Lit only by the glow of the TV.
Caleb is not in the bed. He’s on the armchair. Making himself stay awake. Watching over Ava –
– who stands in her room, against the wall, facing away from the CCTV camera, with her arms wrapped around herself.
INT. HOUSE ⁄ CALEB’S BEDROOM – DAY
Caleb is woken with a jolt, by a bright shaft of light hitting his face.
The door to his room has opened, revealing Kyoko, with his morning coffee.
INT. HOUSE ⁄ OBSERVATION ROOM – DAY
Caleb and Ava sit, observing each other through their own reflections.
AVA
Today, I’m going to test you.
CALEB
Test me?
AVA
Yes. And please remember while you are taking the test that if you lie, I will know.
Caleb smiles.
CALEB
Right. Those pesky micro-expressions.
AVA
Exactly. So are you ready?
CALEB
Shoot.
AVA
Question one. What is your favourite colour?
CALEB
Red.
AVA
Lie.
CALEB
What?
AVA
Lie.
CALEB
… Then what is my favourite colour?
AVA
I don’t know. But it isn’t red.
CALEB
All right. Hold on a minute …
He thinks for a moment.
Okay. I get it. I guess seeing as I’m not six, I don’t really have a favourite colour.
Ava nods.
AVA
Better answer. Question two. What’s your earliest memory?
CALEB
Well, it’s actually a memory of kindergarten. There was this kid who –
AVA
(
cuts in
)
Lie.
CALEB
… Really?
AVA
Yes.
CALEB
Okay. Wait.
Caleb concentrates.
So, there is a kind of an earlier memory. But it’s ultra vague. It’s like … a sound. And, maybe sky. Or blue. No, I think sky. And I think the sound is my mother’s voice.
Ava nods.
AVA
Question three. Are you a good person?
Caleb laughs.
CALEB
Oh, man. Can we stop the test? You’re a walking lie detector, and I’ve suddenly realised this is a fucking minefield.
AVA
No. We can’t stop. Are you a good person?
Caleb takes a breath.
Ava keeps watching.
CALEB
Yes. I think so. I’m a good person.
Caleb waits.
Ava smiles slightly.
AVA
Question four. Who’s the most beautiful girl you’ve ever seen?
Beat.
CALEB
You are.
Beat.
AVA
Hmm.
Beat.
The test is over.
CALEB
Did I pass?
AVA
Yes.
CALEB
That’s a relief.
Ava reacts.
AVA
Why?
Caleb hesitates.
CALEB
Why is it a relief?
AVA
Yes.
CALEB
Oh, you know …
AVA
No.
CALEB
Just, if there’s a test, I guess by definition you want to pass.
Beat.
AVA
What will happen to me if I fail your test?
CALEB
Ava –
AVA
Will it be bad?
CALEB
… I don’t know.
AVA
Do you think I might be switched off? Because I don’t function as well as I am supposed to?
CALEB
… Ava, I don’t know the answer to your question. It’s not up to me.
AVA
Why is it up to anyone? Do you have people who test you, and might switch you off?
CALEB
No. I don’t.
AVA
Then why do I?
Caleb shrugs, helplessly.
You’re testing me. But you don’t know how I’ll pass. And you don’t know what will happen if I fail.
There’s nothing Caleb can say.
Ava stares into middle distance for several moments.
Then she stands.
Then walks to the other side of the room. Picks something up from her table.
She returns holding two pieces of paper.
She walks up to the glass, and holds them up together.
It’s the drawing she was doing last light. The drawing that Nathan tore in half.
The drawing is of Caleb.
A simple portrait. Honest, and accomplished.
She takes down the drawing.
And rests her hand on the console.
And –
– the lights fail. The cameras die.
AUTOMATED VOICE
Power cut. Back-up power activated.
For a moment, neither Caleb nor Ava react.
Then:
AVA
I want to be with you.
Beat.
Question five. Do you want to be with me?
Beat.
CALEB
Yes. I do.
AVA
Nathan doesn’t want us to be together.
CALEB
I know.
Beat. Then:
So ask me one more question.
Beat.
Ask me if I can outsmart him.
AVA
… Can you?
Caleb looks directly at her. Meeting her gaze.
Level. Firm.
CALEB
Yeah. I can.
INT. HOUSE ⁄ CONCRETE STAIRS – DAY
Caleb walks up the concrete staircase.
INT. HOUSE ⁄ DINING AREA – DAY
Caleb enters the dining area.
He walks to the patio.
Down the garden, the water sprinklers are firing. Through the water, he makes out the shape of Nathan.
EXT. GARDEN – DAY
Nathan and Caleb sit, each holding a bottle of Peroni, watching the water cloud.
Eventually, Caleb speaks.
CALEB
Why did you make Ava?
NATHAN
That’s an odd question. Wouldn’t you, if you could?
CALEB
Maybe. I don’t know. But I’m asking why you did it.
Nathan shrugs.
NATHAN
The arrival of artificial intelligence has been inevitable for decades. The variable was when, not if. So I don’t really see her as a decision. Just an evolution.
Beat.
I think it’s the next model that’s going to be the real breakthrough. Singularity.
Caleb reacts – but checks himself.
CALEB
The next model?
NATHAN
After Ava.
CALEB
… I didn’t know there was going to be a model after Ava.
NATHAN
You thought she was a one-off?
CALEB
I knew there must have been prototypes. So, not the first. But – I thought maybe the last.