Music starts.
Open on:
INT. OFFICE – DAY
A computer monitor.
Lines of code appear, as they are typed.
main ( ) {
extrn a, b, c;
putchar (a); putchar (b); putchar (c); putchar(‘!’*n’);
}a ‘hell’;
b ‘o, w’;
c ‘or
CUT TO
– a view above a huge open-plan office.
Just over the heads of the young men and women who sit at desks, in front of a computer screen and keyboard.
Each workstation is personalised. Photographs of friends or family, or pets. Cutting from magazines. Ironic superhero/video-game figurines.
CUT TO
– the hands of the young man doing the coding. He types fast, with two fingers.
CUT TO
– extreme close-up of a pinhole webcam lens in Caleb’s monitor.
CUT TO
– the point of view of the webcam.
Looking back at Caleb.
Twenty-four. Glazed. Ear buds in, connected to cell phone. Head bobbing slightly to the music.
As we watch from the monitor point of view, we can see the computer’s facial recognition system in operation. Imaged as vector boxes, which track Caleb’s face, and the faces of all the people behind him.
CUT TO
– the computer monitor.
On which a message appears, in a small window, over the code.
VIP EMAIL RECEIVED
Subject: HIDDEN
CUT TO
– the monitor webcam point of view.
As Caleb stops typing –
– he gazes at the message. Then clicks on the link. Then mouths the word: ‘Fuck’. Caleb reaches for his cell phone.
CUT TO
– the cell phone point of view, seen from the tiny camera above the screen, as Caleb lifts the phone, and starts keying in a text.
We see facial-recognition software flickering over Caleb’s features, and reacting to shifts in his expression.
CUT TO
– the cell phone. The screen. The tiny camera nestled above it. Lens glinting.
On the screen, a time-bar extends next to the word:
Sending
A beat later, a reply text message appears.
WTF? seriously!?
CUT TO
– the webcam point of view, watching Caleb react to the arrival of the text.
CUT TO
– cell phone screen.
Caleb sends the word:
Yes
A beat later, a stream of text messages start appearing:
Buena estoria bro
omfg fucking AWESOME
:o
take me take me?!?
Caleb > ∞
CUT TO
– the computer monitor point of view.
A few of the people behind Caleb in the office are reacting.
One stands and applauds.
A girl comes out from behind her desk, runs over to Caleb, and embraces him from behind, planting a kiss on his cheek.
Caleb still looks dazed.
He still has his headphones in. Still in the audio bubble, which, despite the commotion around him, remains unburst.
Title:
EX MACHINA
EXT. MOUNTAINS – DAY
A spectacular mountain landscape. Waterfalls drop down massive rock faces to inland lakes. Rivers push through forest. Forest spreads across valley floors, which rise to snow peaks.
INT. HELICOPTER – DAY
Caleb wakes abruptly –
– to find himself in the front seat of a helicopter.
The pilot, Jay, is a man in his forties.
Outside the window is the mountain landscape.
CALEB
How long was I out?
JAY
You fell asleep almost as soon as we left the airport.
Caleb looks around. Wipes sleep out of his eyes. Gets his bearings.
CALEB
Damn. Can’t believe I’ve been missing this. I was so psyched to be coming here, I was awake all night.
Jay smiles.
JAY
You’re a programmer, right?
CALEB
Yeah.
JAY
Bay facility?
CALEB
Long Island. I work on algorithms for the search engine.
JAY
Algorithms. Nice.
CALEB
You know what they are?
JAY
Nope. But I knew you were a programmer. Soon as I set eyes on you.
CALEB
Is that a good thing?
JAY
Means you and Mr Bateman speak the same language. I’d say that’s a good thing.
Beat.
CALEB
I guess you know him pretty well.
The pilot laughs.
JAY
I’ve never even met him. I only fly this shuttle between the airport and his residence. I did see him one time. Stood on one of these mountain ridges.
He shrugs.
Assume it was him, anyway. No one else around for a hundred
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