Minor Premise (2020) - full transcript
Attempting to surpass his father's legacy, a reclusive neuroscientist becomes entangled in his own experiment, pitting ten fragments of his consciousness against each other.
I'm trapped.
- Ethan.
- You've made me unemployable.
Ethan, stop.
If you're determined to go, go.
Good luck.
But you'll get no credit
here, and no support from me.
You'll be doing this
on your own.
Oh, so this is
about my consciousness work.
Not yours.
Everything generated here
belongs to the university.
You mean you?
That's how this works.
Every thought, every half-baked
idea inside your head
starts with me.
Sometimes he
won't open it for weeks.
If it's urgent,
people call.
Okay, I swear, I can't with
him.
He would starve if I
didn't tell him to eat.
- So.
- Wait, you opened my mail?
- I did.
- You can't do that.
Dr. Ethan Kochar, we are
grateful for the opportunity
to consider your article.
We are pleased to inform you...
- Read the punchline.
- I know, I know,
that your article on
protein folding and memory
will be the focus of the March
5th publication of Nature.
What?
You serious?
Pretty good.
See, I should open
your mail more often.
Believe it or not, that
is not a telenovela clip.
It is a memory of yours truly
from when I made
the cover of Nature.
So how did we capture it?
You'll recall that
memories exist
as physical imprints
on the brain.
The R-9X identifies
these engrams
based on their
protein expressions
and transfers that data from
our internal hard drives
to external ones.
But making those memories
legible is a challenge
in and of itself.
You remember Berkeley, 2011.
Before I took over, the
R-9X could not render images
more clear than that.
So what do you think was
missing?
Emotions?
Thank you, Rachel, yes.
Euphoria, fear, lust.
Every memory is tied to an
emotional section of our brain,
even the ones that we bury
deep in our subconscious.
A sound, a smell, a shape
is all it takes for recall.
Shit.
So to get to legible memories,
I knew that mapping emotions was
key.
May 16th, 2019.
Previous findings show that
the R-9X can download memories.
Current experimentation is
a progression of that work.
Our major premise, the
link between our emotions
and our accumulated memories
regulates human consciousness.
Minor premise, the R-10
can isolate the sections
of the brain which impact
emotions and behavior.
Conclusion, the R-10 is capable
of controlling human
consciousness.
So why does this matter anyway?
I mean, it's nice to be
able to watch our memories
like home videos, but to what
end?
What about affecting
consciousness?
The emotions tied to memories
exist along synaptic pathways,
right?
So what if our ideal
self's just a question
of turning the right ones on and
off?
Isn't that, like, unethical?
Ah, there he is.
All right, how so, Mitchell?
We're talking about
altering
what makes you you.
Does anybody else find
Mitchell's stubbornness,
endearing or
is it just me?
I'm talking about a machine
calibrated to the individual.
A machine that can erase a
veteran's PTSD,
that suppresses the reward
center for an opioid junkie,
and that could boost your
intellect.
I'm sure some of you
could benefit from that.
Imagine, consciousness
constructed to your own liking.
Memories curated to a desired
state.
And yes, perhaps,
changing yourself for the
better.
All right, well, that's
enough for this week.
Be sure to read my essay on
the self and temporal sequence
by next class.
Have a great week.
Still struggling with the
initiation.
But I've ruled out the
distributors,
so it must be the equation.
Side note, I had another
blackout this morning.
Indeterminate time, but they
are becoming more frequent.
I'm still hoping that
the R-10 can pinpoint.
A man whose journey into
the mind
is the basis for all those who
come after.
His work, fully realized in the
R-9X,
is perhaps the most
groundbreaking discovery
of this century.
With applications from
education to national security.
So before I present the
plaque for our new lab,
I've asked Dr. Kochar's
partner to say a few words.
The co-creator of the
R-9X, Dr. Malcolm Bloom.
Thank you, Dean Myers, and
thank you all for coming.
We were all fortunate
enough to know Dr. Kochar.
But for a cocksure doctoral
student,
a position in his lab was dumb
luck.
I never questioned his
judgment, never had to.
Until he asked me to be his
partner.
You can say that I knew
Paul better than most.
No one could match his
brilliance.
Kendall, Kahneman, Einstein,
these are his equals.
We'll be hard-pressed to see
Dr. Paul Kochar's influence
matched in our lifetime.
There's the wunderkind.
You're a hard man to track down.
How's it coming?
- Good.
- Good.
That's good to hear.
Good enough for tomorrow.
I thought you rescheduled.
I did, for tomorrow.
No.
No, no, no, no.
Come on, Ethan, work with me,
so I can keep the committee off
your back.
Yeah, well, you do it
best.
Well I've got practice.
Ethan, look, you're going
through a lot.
I get it, we all miss your dad.
They'll replace you with someone
else if you don't deliver.
I thought I already did.
I fought hard for your credit,
but the R-9 was started
with your father and me.
You want one?
No, I quit.
Really?
Everyone who matters knows
you finished the R-9.
Forget the patent plaque.
Please, Ethan.
It's, it's not ready.
Then bullshit your way through.
Whatever you're working on,
present it.
Ethan, we need this renewal.
I'm gonna need you at 9:30.
I need you to be there tomorrow.
- Yeah.
- 9:30, okay?
Sir?
Sir.
Are you sure you want another?
Yeah.
Okay, this is the last one.
What's that?
Oh, it's...
It's nothing, it's a snowflake.
What?
I'm grateful we didn't lose her
to those Stanford hacks.
Can't I be grateful?
We'll talk about it
later.
I am so sorry.
He's just excited you're
back from Stanford.
Yeah, it's not a problem.
And Joe told me you're in
talks about the Kochar lab.
Congratulations, you must be
thrilled.
Thank you, Lauren, it
was great to see you.
Have a good night.
Okay, sure.
Thank you.
Hi.
Hey.
You want one?
I'm fine.
How are you doing, Ethan?
I'm great.
I saw you talking with Malcolm
earlier.
How'd that go?
I figured he told you.
Just about tomorrow.
Are you ready?
Would it be better if I
wasn't?
Why don't I take you home?
You trying to get me
in bed, Dr. Fischer?
If memory serves, you're
no use in your current state.
Mm.
Come on, I was an early
programmer, remember?
Let me help you prepare.
I work better when I don't
have
to walk you through things.
It's just...
- I'd rather...
- It's fine.
This is my work!
If you're gonna make me choose,
I won't!
I'm not asking
you to choose, Ethan!
It's not me or the
work, you can have both.
I don't know
what else to say to you.
If you wanna go, go.
You could tell me to
stay.
I want you to say that.
Hello?
Hey Mom, how are you?
Ethan, it's almost
one.
What's wrong?
It's fine,
everything's great.
Did you send me something in the
mail?
No, what is it?
One of Dad's old
notebooks.
Notebook?
Yeah, it's got a
bunch of his work in it.
Mom?
I'm here.
I didn't send it, you know I
don't have anything of his.
Shit.
What is it?
It's my nose.
What?
Nothing, I hit my nose.
Was it another
episode?
Yes.
When?
This morning, in the bathtub.
And then again at the
dedication.
Two?
Ethan, you need to get checked
out,
it's been eight months of this.
Yeah, I know, I'm fine.
Hey, are you sure you don't know
anything about this notebook?
Positive.
It's not like he shared
any of that with me
when we were married.
Okay, well I gotta, gotta go.
I got a big day tomorrow.
All right, well,
thanks for the wake up call.
No, I know, sorry.
Just promise
me you'll get checked out
as soon as you can.
The university doesn't have to
know.
You know Peggy Sanders,
Darren's mom?
Had horrible migraines, just
horrible.
He was able to get her to a
specialist
who cleared it right up.
I'm gonna call her, see
if I can get a referral.
You have to take better care of
yourself.
Ethan?
Mom, I gotta go.
Holy shit.
May 17th, 2019.
12:58 a.m. and counting.
R-10 has a calibrated map of my
brain.
I'm counting nine sections.
Oh, there's a high
co-activity in my cerebellum
and prefrontal cortex in section
five.
Labeling section five
as my core intellect.
Okay, I'm going to isolate
section five
and attenuate the others for an
hour.
See if I get any smarter.
Why not?
Baseline note.
I'm a little drunk.
It's 1:03 a.m.
No discernible boost
in cognitive awareness.
At least not yet.
Shit.
Shit!
Shit.
Another blackout.
Full memory loss for an hour.
Let's look again at the
memory wipe from last year.
I had a week of anterograde
amnesia,
and now these blackouts.
But I don't know, this
one feels different.
As for last night's experiment,
intelligence isolation appear...
Intelligence isolation appear...
Don't get me wrong,
I'm glad you're in such a good
mood,
but I just can't help but worry
after how you sounded last
night.
I know how much you've dealing
with...
Hey Mom, I'm sorry,
I can't talk right now.
Coil readout.
All the coils are up.
Who ran this?
I didn't run this, who the fuck
ran this?
12:05, 25 seconds, 26.
27.
Okay, 55, 56, 57.
Six minutes, six minutes past,
six, six...
Christ!
I could've fucking killed you,
man!
Get the fuck out of, oh my god.
Okay, it's 2:04 p.m.
I don't know how, but someone
set up the security system.
There are four live feeds
set up around the house.
I'm gonna try to figure
out what's going on.
Can I help you, Malcolm?
You wanna tell me what
happened this morning?
Oh, yeah, the grant renewal.
Yeah.
I got a little tied up here.
All right.
Open the door.
I can't do that.
I'll talk to you tomorrow, I
promise.
Hey, you're not the only
person on this project.
You fuck up, it comes back on
me.
Malcolm, the only reason
why they listen to you
is because you got me to come
back.
My work on this project
was just as crucial as yours.
You wanna escalate this?
I'm more than happy to involve
the police.
Either way, you're gonna open up
the door.
Okay.
Just give me a minute.
Oh, baby.
Like an angel!
Shut up.
See, time is curved.
This is how it's supposed to be.
Okay.
It's 1:32 p.m.
I've installed four
wireless security cameras
around the house so we
can track my behaviors.
Instead of suppressing
my competing emotions,
it seems we've isolated them.
Looks like 10 sections,
including the default.
Be sure to take precautions
against any outliers.
Time to work.
Can anybody hear me?
Hello!
- Alli?
- Ethan, what the fuck?
What, what happened?
- You tell me!
- No, I don't know
what you're doing here.
Malcolm sent me, I told
you that.
Why are you in this room?
You locked me in.
You took my phone, you
were all over the place.
Hello?
You were trying to fuck me.
And then you passed out, and
I...
Ethan?
Ethan.
What are you doing here?
I screwed everything up.
No, wait, wait.
Please, please, please,
don't go.
- Please don't.
- Okay.
- Please don't leave me.
- Ethan, calm down.
I'll be right back, okay?
What are you doing in
there?
Ethan, just tell me what's
going on.
Tell me what the fuck
you were doing in there.
Don't, no, no, no!
- No!
- Get out!
Open the door, Alli!
Open the door, open the door!
Malcolm, it's me, I'm
at Ethan's.
- Something's happened.
- Baby?
Just call me when you get
this,
or I'll explain when I
get back to the office.
Can I come in?
Hey, I'm sorry, I don't
know what happened before.
Hey, remember when we
went down to the stacks,
and oh god, you were so wild.
I can't stop thinking about it.
I want you so bad right now.
Ethan?
Ethan.
Ethan, wake up.
Alli?
Alli, please wait.
Look, Ethan, back off.
Alli, please wait.
This is monumental for both of
us.
Last night I had a breakthrough,
but it left my consciousness
fractured,
so now there are 10 of us.
But we each only have
six minutes every hour,
which is why I need your help.
I only have a few minutes left.
I need you to wait here
'til the top of the hour.
That's when the default
is back in control.
Look.
I think you're gonna
wanna see where this goes.
That's the R-10.
It's a build out of the R-9,
but it can direct energy
at emotion and behavior.
I finally got it to map, so I
figured, okay, what the hell.
Let's isolate my
intellect, see the effect.
But this morning, I wake up,
and suddenly I'm skipping
through time.
I'd been having these blackouts,
so I figured it was that,
but it keeps happening, like
clockwork.
Six minutes every hour.
So what were the blackouts
before?
Another experiment after my
dad died.
Okay.
So you were trying to cycle
through these fragments?
No, I wanted to attenuate
the others for an hour,
but the sequencing's off,
so every six minutes,
another section gets a turn.
Like DID.
Kind of, but these aren't
personalities.
It's all still me.
So what were you trying to
isolate?
Hard to say.
The patterns for intellect
are easy to spot,
but the others are less
pronounced.
You know, there are some
things
you shouldn't try to control.
What's it feel like when you
shift?
Headache.
Everything gets fuzzy.
I feel like I'm underwater.
Why?
I was thinking, sometimes
dissociative patients
can fight off a shift if
they know the triggers.
So if this is similar, maybe
you can push through, too.
Yeah, maybe.
The next time you feel it
coming, just try to focus.
It could buy us time.
Don't touch that, Ethan.
Did you do that?
I'm presetting this video
to play during your section.
That's section five, my
intellect.
He's the one I talked to.
So, the cycling is not
sustainable.
We're losing too much oxygen,
which means we're getting
some cortical-spreading
depression.
And these headaches, they're
gonna get worse and worse
'til there's cell death.
We need to get
to the reintegration
as fast as possible.
You're the one section that's in
balance,
so we need to map you across the
whole.
That's the reintegration,
it's like a reboot using
your consciousness.
Okay, you have 20
seconds before you shift.
When that happens, Alli, I'm
gonna need you to go to my room
and lock the door.
I'll need you back here at 6:30.
Interact with only me and the
default.
You have five seconds.
Ethan.
Ethan, just look at me.
You gotta try, Ethan, come on.
Okay, section one now.
It's up.
There's no system confirmation,
but it's showing a power drop.
Still not isolating
the coils correctly.
What about the old sequential
startup?
Good idea.
Which coil's reading?
C14.
I've got that one,
too.
You okay?
Yeah, I'm fine.
Try C14 and D5.
Okay.
Anything?
No.
Distributor must be fried.
It'll have to be hand-wired.
Then spike my dopamine
levels or risk a coma.
So we'll need a dopamine
agonist.
You are correct.
We'll be in good hands when you
take over.
What are you talking about?
Look, if you want what you're
after,
just focus on getting
default in one piece.
He'll need you to be the
face of the project anyway.
- Hey.
- Hey.
Where were you?
The animal lab.
Ethan, come here.
Look at me.
How do you feel?
I'm fine.
Why were you at the animal lab?
We needed MDMA for the
reboot, intellect sent me.
Intellect sent you?
Yeah.
Okay, we need to figure out
who the hell these other
sections are.
I was dancing with your
grandmother
- at one point.
- Uh-huh, you did.
There's some fireworks over
there, Ethan.
Ethan, I promise that's not
gonna help.
Just put it down, put it down.
We're just gonna work through
this, okay?
These herring bodies are
releasing doses of oxytocin,
dopamine from the basal ganglia,
too,
coming in at minute 54,
that's section nine.
Euphoria.
Oh my god!
What?
Appreciate you, ma'am.
What do you want me to do?
I mean, need some
self-restraint, maybe.
See this concentration
of serotonin transporters?
Yeah, kicking in at minute
six.
Generalized anxiety.
Section one.
Certain cultures, it's
considered very masculine.
Which
cultures?
Several of them.
It's okay.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Okay, so we have the nine
sections after default.
Section one, anxiety.
Then 12 minutes in, section two,
anger.
Section three is libido.
Section four is unconscious.
Right, all sections asleep.
Which is the opposite of you,
default,
all sections awake and in
balance.
We know that section five is
intellect.
And then section six...
Calling him primitive.
Section seven, creative.
And section nine, euphoria.
So we just need section eight.
Let's take a look at the tape.
Okay, now section eight.
Wait, stop.
Look.
Aw, for fuck's sake.
What?
The notebook.
I got a notebook in the
mail, it was one of my dad's.
Check, check the drawer.
Had this equation.
Yes, this is all his
handwriting.
Jesus.
Yeah.
This is mine.
I don't remember any of this.
Ethan.
Ethan.
Come on, try to focus.
Can't breathe.
I can't fucking breathe!
Did you do this?
No, my guess is
that it was section eight.
If so, we need to move him.
- What are you doing?
- Calling the police.
Alli, if you do that,
they'll take away the work.
We'll never get it back, and
I'll probably go to prison.
The R-10's almost ready.
We wipe his memories and
we get him out of here
like nothing happened.
This is insane, this whole
fucking thing is insane.
We have to protect the
work.
It's that important.
If I do this, it's
not to protect the work.
Let me get his head.
- I got his head.
- Okay.
How long before the R-10's
ready?
A few more cycles.
Can you manage this?
You can't tell any of the
others, not even the default.
I need him to focus on the
reintegration.
Malcolm will be fine, trust me.
Ethan.
You should never have left.
But you'll get no
credit here,
and no support from me.
You'll be doing this on your
own.
Oh, so this is
about my consciousness work.
Not yours.
Everything generated here
belongs to the university.
You mean you?
That's how this works.
Every thought, every half-baked
idea inside your head
starts with me.
They asked about your work
habits, I told the truth.
Stop with the melodrama.
I don't have time for
it, I don't have time.
Blow out your candles.
Paul!
Can one of you just find Paul?
Alli?
Alli!
Ethan, how are the headaches?
They're worse for me, too.
The highest functioning ones
are...
Can I talk to you for a
sec?
- You should get going.
- I know, but
I need to confirm something.
Ethan, how are the headaches?
They're worse for me, too.
The highest functioning
ones are burning out first.
I have maybe two hours left.
Creative, three.
Then probably another six hours
for you and section eight.
And so on.
I'd say we have less than 24
hours until full brain death.
So I need you to listen,
because I don't have much
more time to help you.
Alli said you remember the
notebook.
This equation is not the
solution we thought it was.
The equation we need
to do the reintegration
is from the same proof,
and I'm working on it.
But in case I run out of time,
you and Alli will have to figure
it out.
By the way, I figured
out what was going on
with those blackouts.
Seems we were trying to
communicate with ourselves,
even going so far as to
send ourself this notebook.
It's not my place to opine on
why,
but I think we saw what a
sad sack of shit we'd become,
and decided with total
conviction that the solution
was to fracture and reset our
mind.
These were clearly moments
of heightened brain activity.
It's like psychedelics.
- Did you watch the video?
- Yeah.
It's total bullshit.
If I had the answers
during these blackouts,
you think I'd wanna do this to
myself?
Ridiculous.
Listening to a fucking fragment.
He's got you running around
doing...
Maybe you should take a step
back.
It's all you, remember?
You did this to yourself.
Time's up.
Checklist.
Okay, I already did that.
Check the coolant tank.
Careful, it's cold.
No it's not.
It's not.
Doesn't make sense.
I changed it yesterday.
Oh shit.
Duct tape.
- Seriously?
- Yeah.
- Will that hold?
- Yeah.
And if it doesn't?
Best case, it doesn't power
up.
Worst case, it fries
whoever's in the chair.
It's okay.
It'll be okay.
- Ethan?
- Huh?
Get over here.
Shit.
That's intellect.
Let's see how far
he got on the equation.
What the fuck?
Ethan.
Section eight again.
Who is this guy?
Ethan, remember those
scans we did at UT Dallas?
Yeah, the antisocial ones?
Right.
See, this is all in line
with you, the default.
But look at the activity
in the basal ganglia here.
Psychotic.
He's gonna try to map himself
across my consciousness.
What?
Nothing.
No, Alli, I know that look,
what is it?
Ethan.
Come on, try to push through it.
Focus.
Every thought,
every half-baked idea
inside your head starts with me.
Did it work?
Can they push through you, too?
What's your mother's maiden
name?
My mother's maiden
name?
Yeah.
Come on, seriously, what is it?
Magill, why?
Don't say it again.
Section eight acts just like me,
except he's picked back
up my smoking habit.
Look at me.
How are you feeling, Ethan?
That bad, huh?
Body's getting hit with a lot.
Like a new drug every six
minutes.
Feels pretty shitty.
Did you find the pages?
Intellect didn't know, either.
Now he's too sick to help.
If section eight figures
out that equation...
I know.
I made a real mess of this,
haven't I?
It's okay.
I'm okay.
How close were you
to the equation before?
Close.
But without the notebook, I'll
have to recreate the work.
Shit.
There's another equation.
You've got five
minutes.
God damn it.
It's on a piece of paper.
I wrote it down during
one of my blackouts.
I got it, I got it.
Here.
This is the one I used
before, from the notebook.
It's different, close, but
different.
This is the one we need.
- Are you sure?
- Yeah.
It's clear to me.
Can you push through again?
We've got 12 minutes now,
but we can use another six.
No, the pain's too much.
I also wonder what
happened to the other guy.
Maybe you erased your anxiety.
No, I can assure you, my
anxiety is alive and well.
Oh.
Goddamn!
Go, Alli.
Piece of shit!
Why are you still here?
Ethan.
Come in the room now.
Why the fuck are you here?
Just calm down, let's just go
take a...
No, shut the fuck up!
You answer my fucking question,
what are you doing here?
I'm just trying to help.
Bullshit!
Bullshit!
There's an angle.
There's always a fucking angle
with you.
It's that, huh?
You're here for this, huh?
No, Ethan.
Ethan, stop it.
Stop it.
That what you want, huh?
Ethan, don't!
You take and you take!
No, no, no, Ethan, stop, stop.
- Let go of me.
- Just take it easy, Ethan,
try to breathe.
- It's okay.
- Let go!
Fuck!
Sorry.
Motherfucker!
I'm a big piece of shit!
Alli.
Alli.
God, that feels good.
Got the equation.
No shit, really?
Yeah.
You have it with you?
Is it right?
Yeah.
Do not let anyone else have it.
How's Malcolm?
He's fine, sedated.
Good.
Do the reintegration first.
After that, wipe his memory.
So without you?
It'll be default's
consciousness.
He won't remember any of this,
will he?
No, he won't.
Just remind me you had no other
choice.
I'll be pissed, but I'll get
over it.
So how are we sure this
is gonna work this time?
It's just a matter of
inhibiting the right proteins.
Should've worked the first time
when I did it to myself
before, but as we know,
drunk and impulsive, my
precision suffers.
Why'd you do it?
What?
Try to wipe memories of my
father?
Mm-hm.
Resentment.
I was with him when he died.
He was so hungry.
He kept begging for food,
but the nurses wouldn't give him
any.
They were afraid he'd choke.
I was so angry.
Next thing I know, I'm in
a hospital a week later,
memories of my father still
intact.
I wish I could've been more help
to you.
We'll be fine.
I know.
Hey, I'm almost done with this
rewire.
Would you power up the coils?
Just wanna make sure these
connections are good.
Yeah.
What happened?
Section two.
Jesus.
Alli, I'm sorry.
Look, I don't...
I know.
Let's bring up the diagnostic.
Hey.
There's something else going on,
right?
What do you mean?
I don't know.
It's hard playing catch-up every
hour.
That's why I'm here.
What is that?
It's a song.
Oh really, is that
what that is?
Okay, great, now give
me all of them at once.
You sure?
Yeah, what?
You don't want
me to check your work?
Come on, just do it.
Nice.
Looks like I got it.
Should be good to go next
hour.
Why don't you go get
some rest?
No, I'm all right.
You look exhausted.
You looked in a mirror?
Okay.
I just mean, look, it's late.
You should go lie down.
I can finish.
Don't worry, I have the time.
I'll be out of here before the
shift.
Alli, it's time to work!
How the fuck
could you hide this from me?
I didn't.
I showed you, and we decided
when the R-10's up and running,
we'll wipe his memory and get
him out.
You mean you showed
intellect and he decided.
Ethan, if Malcolm remembers
any of it, we're done.
Bullshit.
You let my intellect use you.
You've been using me for
years.
And you don't give a shit
about anything but yourself.
I did this to protect you,
asshole.
Are we doing this or not?
Ethan!
Okay.
I'm setting the wipe to the last
12 hours.
Shut it off, shut it off!
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!
Hello.
Malcolm home?
He is.
Brain fried?
He was lucid when I left.
We should be okay, but I don't
know.
What are you doing?
Relaxing.
Shouldn't you be in the lab?
Figured I'd sit this one out.
What are you doing?
Getting my keys.
I'm gonna get more coolant from
campus.
How you gonna use it, anyway?
The lines are shot, remember?
Guess we'll
have to figure it out.
Sounds great.
Ethan, we had no idea what
section eight
was gonna do to Malcolm.
It was better for intellect to
handle.
Well gee...
Guess it's better when I'm in
the dark.
Why are you even here, Alli?
Well you botched your science
project...
No, no, no, I mean
why'd you leave Stanford?
You could have made a name for
yourself,
why did you come back?
You're wasting time.
They promise you my work?
They did, didn't they?
Figured I'd fuck it up
and it'd fall to you.
You know, I expect my father
to fuck me over, not you.
Ethan, your father
tried to give you credit.
The board said no.
He got sick and you finished
it, but it wasn't yours.
And now that it is, you've shut
them out.
So yeah, they asked me back.
They weren't gonna trust this
project to an angry child.
You know, I used to indulge
all this when we were together,
but the world's not out to get
you, Ethan.
I'm gonna go figure out the
coolant.
And be careful, that's
where the noise comes in.
You got it?
Wait.
There's some early work.
Could be of interest.
Ethan.
You should never have left.
Hey, it's me.
Hope you're not avoiding me.
I just wanted to see how you're
doing.
I know it's tough being back
home,
but I think it'll be good.
Anyway, I hate the West Coast,
but it's beautiful here.
I think we should talk things
over, so call me when you...
Hey.
Any, any troubles?
No, I figured it out.
Good, so we're almost all set,
then.
Yeah, I just gotta rig the
coolant, and then the equation.
We'll do the reintegration next
hour.
Fantastic.
Hey, can I see it again?
Yeah.
Are you smoking?
I got worried.
Hey, Alli, it's fine.
Just give me the equation.
You pushed through,
section eight pushed through.
Oh, what are you talking
about?
What's my mother's maiden
name?
Don't be ridiculous.
Give me the equation.
Stop.
Stop, stop.
Alli, it's me.
- Ethan.
- No!
Alli, open up!
We're running out of time.
Alli, it's me!
Open up!
Alli!
I feel real sick.
I don't think I'm gonna last
much longer.
Let me in.
Please?
- Get off me.
- Don't.
Don't.
Alli.
Don't.
Okay, got three more minutes.
Nice work.
Ethan, don't do this.
I know you're still in there.
Have you considered the
possibility this is me?
Alli, I'm the real Ethan.
It's confirmation bias.
If you knock on my door
a few minutes earlier,
you'd be helping me.
Ethan, if you do this,
the whole you will be lost.
If I'm right, then I have to.
If I'm wrong, my choice is the
same.
Wait.
What?
Did someone change the clock?
Alli.
Hey.
How are you feeling?
Good.
I want you to take over the
project.
You know the work, you're
smarter than me.
I just piss people off.
Are you sure?
I've spent too much
of my time being bitter.
And the things I'd change, I
can't.
I just know I don't wanna
do this by myself anymore.
Groundbreaking
work on temporal perception,
I am proud to welcome Dr.
Fischer
as our newest tenured professor.
Thank you, Dean Myers.
You're all familiar with Dr.
Ethan Kochar and his father,
and the work they pioneered.
It provided the basis for
our design of the R-11,
which the university has
graciously allowed me
to take the lead on.
Dr. Kochar's R9-X allowed
us to map the neuropathways
of memories and extract them.
Similarly, the R-10 allowed us
to map the neuropathways of
consciousness,
giving insight into the
architecture of behavior.
What we saw was both
surprising, and yet logical.
Our personalities share
considerable real estate
with our memories.
But we still have a choice to
make.
We get to decide how we
interpret our experiences
and how they effect who we are.
Ethan!
Malcolm.
You just missed Dr. Fischer's
Christening.
I know, I'm on my way now.
You've even got her doing
your lectures for you.
Well, it's her project now.
Don't wanna miss too much.
All right, Malcolm, nice to
see you.
We're not merely
computers,
time stamping information
our senses take in.
Nor are we adding machines
marking ones and zeroes
on a cerebral ledger.
There's something else.
Traits that mark us,
intelligence, anger, love,
do not define us.
For in isolation, these
fragments are course,
even unrecognizable.
But when they coexist in
a single consciousness,
something emerges.
Something material, yet
immaterial.
Dare I even say immeasurable.
Something called self.
- Ethan.
- You've made me unemployable.
Ethan, stop.
If you're determined to go, go.
Good luck.
But you'll get no credit
here, and no support from me.
You'll be doing this
on your own.
Oh, so this is
about my consciousness work.
Not yours.
Everything generated here
belongs to the university.
You mean you?
That's how this works.
Every thought, every half-baked
idea inside your head
starts with me.
Sometimes he
won't open it for weeks.
If it's urgent,
people call.
Okay, I swear, I can't with
him.
He would starve if I
didn't tell him to eat.
- So.
- Wait, you opened my mail?
- I did.
- You can't do that.
Dr. Ethan Kochar, we are
grateful for the opportunity
to consider your article.
We are pleased to inform you...
- Read the punchline.
- I know, I know,
that your article on
protein folding and memory
will be the focus of the March
5th publication of Nature.
What?
You serious?
Pretty good.
See, I should open
your mail more often.
Believe it or not, that
is not a telenovela clip.
It is a memory of yours truly
from when I made
the cover of Nature.
So how did we capture it?
You'll recall that
memories exist
as physical imprints
on the brain.
The R-9X identifies
these engrams
based on their
protein expressions
and transfers that data from
our internal hard drives
to external ones.
But making those memories
legible is a challenge
in and of itself.
You remember Berkeley, 2011.
Before I took over, the
R-9X could not render images
more clear than that.
So what do you think was
missing?
Emotions?
Thank you, Rachel, yes.
Euphoria, fear, lust.
Every memory is tied to an
emotional section of our brain,
even the ones that we bury
deep in our subconscious.
A sound, a smell, a shape
is all it takes for recall.
Shit.
So to get to legible memories,
I knew that mapping emotions was
key.
May 16th, 2019.
Previous findings show that
the R-9X can download memories.
Current experimentation is
a progression of that work.
Our major premise, the
link between our emotions
and our accumulated memories
regulates human consciousness.
Minor premise, the R-10
can isolate the sections
of the brain which impact
emotions and behavior.
Conclusion, the R-10 is capable
of controlling human
consciousness.
So why does this matter anyway?
I mean, it's nice to be
able to watch our memories
like home videos, but to what
end?
What about affecting
consciousness?
The emotions tied to memories
exist along synaptic pathways,
right?
So what if our ideal
self's just a question
of turning the right ones on and
off?
Isn't that, like, unethical?
Ah, there he is.
All right, how so, Mitchell?
We're talking about
altering
what makes you you.
Does anybody else find
Mitchell's stubbornness,
endearing or
is it just me?
I'm talking about a machine
calibrated to the individual.
A machine that can erase a
veteran's PTSD,
that suppresses the reward
center for an opioid junkie,
and that could boost your
intellect.
I'm sure some of you
could benefit from that.
Imagine, consciousness
constructed to your own liking.
Memories curated to a desired
state.
And yes, perhaps,
changing yourself for the
better.
All right, well, that's
enough for this week.
Be sure to read my essay on
the self and temporal sequence
by next class.
Have a great week.
Still struggling with the
initiation.
But I've ruled out the
distributors,
so it must be the equation.
Side note, I had another
blackout this morning.
Indeterminate time, but they
are becoming more frequent.
I'm still hoping that
the R-10 can pinpoint.
A man whose journey into
the mind
is the basis for all those who
come after.
His work, fully realized in the
R-9X,
is perhaps the most
groundbreaking discovery
of this century.
With applications from
education to national security.
So before I present the
plaque for our new lab,
I've asked Dr. Kochar's
partner to say a few words.
The co-creator of the
R-9X, Dr. Malcolm Bloom.
Thank you, Dean Myers, and
thank you all for coming.
We were all fortunate
enough to know Dr. Kochar.
But for a cocksure doctoral
student,
a position in his lab was dumb
luck.
I never questioned his
judgment, never had to.
Until he asked me to be his
partner.
You can say that I knew
Paul better than most.
No one could match his
brilliance.
Kendall, Kahneman, Einstein,
these are his equals.
We'll be hard-pressed to see
Dr. Paul Kochar's influence
matched in our lifetime.
There's the wunderkind.
You're a hard man to track down.
How's it coming?
- Good.
- Good.
That's good to hear.
Good enough for tomorrow.
I thought you rescheduled.
I did, for tomorrow.
No.
No, no, no, no.
Come on, Ethan, work with me,
so I can keep the committee off
your back.
Yeah, well, you do it
best.
Well I've got practice.
Ethan, look, you're going
through a lot.
I get it, we all miss your dad.
They'll replace you with someone
else if you don't deliver.
I thought I already did.
I fought hard for your credit,
but the R-9 was started
with your father and me.
You want one?
No, I quit.
Really?
Everyone who matters knows
you finished the R-9.
Forget the patent plaque.
Please, Ethan.
It's, it's not ready.
Then bullshit your way through.
Whatever you're working on,
present it.
Ethan, we need this renewal.
I'm gonna need you at 9:30.
I need you to be there tomorrow.
- Yeah.
- 9:30, okay?
Sir?
Sir.
Are you sure you want another?
Yeah.
Okay, this is the last one.
What's that?
Oh, it's...
It's nothing, it's a snowflake.
What?
I'm grateful we didn't lose her
to those Stanford hacks.
Can't I be grateful?
We'll talk about it
later.
I am so sorry.
He's just excited you're
back from Stanford.
Yeah, it's not a problem.
And Joe told me you're in
talks about the Kochar lab.
Congratulations, you must be
thrilled.
Thank you, Lauren, it
was great to see you.
Have a good night.
Okay, sure.
Thank you.
Hi.
Hey.
You want one?
I'm fine.
How are you doing, Ethan?
I'm great.
I saw you talking with Malcolm
earlier.
How'd that go?
I figured he told you.
Just about tomorrow.
Are you ready?
Would it be better if I
wasn't?
Why don't I take you home?
You trying to get me
in bed, Dr. Fischer?
If memory serves, you're
no use in your current state.
Mm.
Come on, I was an early
programmer, remember?
Let me help you prepare.
I work better when I don't
have
to walk you through things.
It's just...
- I'd rather...
- It's fine.
This is my work!
If you're gonna make me choose,
I won't!
I'm not asking
you to choose, Ethan!
It's not me or the
work, you can have both.
I don't know
what else to say to you.
If you wanna go, go.
You could tell me to
stay.
I want you to say that.
Hello?
Hey Mom, how are you?
Ethan, it's almost
one.
What's wrong?
It's fine,
everything's great.
Did you send me something in the
mail?
No, what is it?
One of Dad's old
notebooks.
Notebook?
Yeah, it's got a
bunch of his work in it.
Mom?
I'm here.
I didn't send it, you know I
don't have anything of his.
Shit.
What is it?
It's my nose.
What?
Nothing, I hit my nose.
Was it another
episode?
Yes.
When?
This morning, in the bathtub.
And then again at the
dedication.
Two?
Ethan, you need to get checked
out,
it's been eight months of this.
Yeah, I know, I'm fine.
Hey, are you sure you don't know
anything about this notebook?
Positive.
It's not like he shared
any of that with me
when we were married.
Okay, well I gotta, gotta go.
I got a big day tomorrow.
All right, well,
thanks for the wake up call.
No, I know, sorry.
Just promise
me you'll get checked out
as soon as you can.
The university doesn't have to
know.
You know Peggy Sanders,
Darren's mom?
Had horrible migraines, just
horrible.
He was able to get her to a
specialist
who cleared it right up.
I'm gonna call her, see
if I can get a referral.
You have to take better care of
yourself.
Ethan?
Mom, I gotta go.
Holy shit.
May 17th, 2019.
12:58 a.m. and counting.
R-10 has a calibrated map of my
brain.
I'm counting nine sections.
Oh, there's a high
co-activity in my cerebellum
and prefrontal cortex in section
five.
Labeling section five
as my core intellect.
Okay, I'm going to isolate
section five
and attenuate the others for an
hour.
See if I get any smarter.
Why not?
Baseline note.
I'm a little drunk.
It's 1:03 a.m.
No discernible boost
in cognitive awareness.
At least not yet.
Shit.
Shit!
Shit.
Another blackout.
Full memory loss for an hour.
Let's look again at the
memory wipe from last year.
I had a week of anterograde
amnesia,
and now these blackouts.
But I don't know, this
one feels different.
As for last night's experiment,
intelligence isolation appear...
Intelligence isolation appear...
Don't get me wrong,
I'm glad you're in such a good
mood,
but I just can't help but worry
after how you sounded last
night.
I know how much you've dealing
with...
Hey Mom, I'm sorry,
I can't talk right now.
Coil readout.
All the coils are up.
Who ran this?
I didn't run this, who the fuck
ran this?
12:05, 25 seconds, 26.
27.
Okay, 55, 56, 57.
Six minutes, six minutes past,
six, six...
Christ!
I could've fucking killed you,
man!
Get the fuck out of, oh my god.
Okay, it's 2:04 p.m.
I don't know how, but someone
set up the security system.
There are four live feeds
set up around the house.
I'm gonna try to figure
out what's going on.
Can I help you, Malcolm?
You wanna tell me what
happened this morning?
Oh, yeah, the grant renewal.
Yeah.
I got a little tied up here.
All right.
Open the door.
I can't do that.
I'll talk to you tomorrow, I
promise.
Hey, you're not the only
person on this project.
You fuck up, it comes back on
me.
Malcolm, the only reason
why they listen to you
is because you got me to come
back.
My work on this project
was just as crucial as yours.
You wanna escalate this?
I'm more than happy to involve
the police.
Either way, you're gonna open up
the door.
Okay.
Just give me a minute.
Oh, baby.
Like an angel!
Shut up.
See, time is curved.
This is how it's supposed to be.
Okay.
It's 1:32 p.m.
I've installed four
wireless security cameras
around the house so we
can track my behaviors.
Instead of suppressing
my competing emotions,
it seems we've isolated them.
Looks like 10 sections,
including the default.
Be sure to take precautions
against any outliers.
Time to work.
Can anybody hear me?
Hello!
- Alli?
- Ethan, what the fuck?
What, what happened?
- You tell me!
- No, I don't know
what you're doing here.
Malcolm sent me, I told
you that.
Why are you in this room?
You locked me in.
You took my phone, you
were all over the place.
Hello?
You were trying to fuck me.
And then you passed out, and
I...
Ethan?
Ethan.
What are you doing here?
I screwed everything up.
No, wait, wait.
Please, please, please,
don't go.
- Please don't.
- Okay.
- Please don't leave me.
- Ethan, calm down.
I'll be right back, okay?
What are you doing in
there?
Ethan, just tell me what's
going on.
Tell me what the fuck
you were doing in there.
Don't, no, no, no!
- No!
- Get out!
Open the door, Alli!
Open the door, open the door!
Malcolm, it's me, I'm
at Ethan's.
- Something's happened.
- Baby?
Just call me when you get
this,
or I'll explain when I
get back to the office.
Can I come in?
Hey, I'm sorry, I don't
know what happened before.
Hey, remember when we
went down to the stacks,
and oh god, you were so wild.
I can't stop thinking about it.
I want you so bad right now.
Ethan?
Ethan.
Ethan, wake up.
Alli?
Alli, please wait.
Look, Ethan, back off.
Alli, please wait.
This is monumental for both of
us.
Last night I had a breakthrough,
but it left my consciousness
fractured,
so now there are 10 of us.
But we each only have
six minutes every hour,
which is why I need your help.
I only have a few minutes left.
I need you to wait here
'til the top of the hour.
That's when the default
is back in control.
Look.
I think you're gonna
wanna see where this goes.
That's the R-10.
It's a build out of the R-9,
but it can direct energy
at emotion and behavior.
I finally got it to map, so I
figured, okay, what the hell.
Let's isolate my
intellect, see the effect.
But this morning, I wake up,
and suddenly I'm skipping
through time.
I'd been having these blackouts,
so I figured it was that,
but it keeps happening, like
clockwork.
Six minutes every hour.
So what were the blackouts
before?
Another experiment after my
dad died.
Okay.
So you were trying to cycle
through these fragments?
No, I wanted to attenuate
the others for an hour,
but the sequencing's off,
so every six minutes,
another section gets a turn.
Like DID.
Kind of, but these aren't
personalities.
It's all still me.
So what were you trying to
isolate?
Hard to say.
The patterns for intellect
are easy to spot,
but the others are less
pronounced.
You know, there are some
things
you shouldn't try to control.
What's it feel like when you
shift?
Headache.
Everything gets fuzzy.
I feel like I'm underwater.
Why?
I was thinking, sometimes
dissociative patients
can fight off a shift if
they know the triggers.
So if this is similar, maybe
you can push through, too.
Yeah, maybe.
The next time you feel it
coming, just try to focus.
It could buy us time.
Don't touch that, Ethan.
Did you do that?
I'm presetting this video
to play during your section.
That's section five, my
intellect.
He's the one I talked to.
So, the cycling is not
sustainable.
We're losing too much oxygen,
which means we're getting
some cortical-spreading
depression.
And these headaches, they're
gonna get worse and worse
'til there's cell death.
We need to get
to the reintegration
as fast as possible.
You're the one section that's in
balance,
so we need to map you across the
whole.
That's the reintegration,
it's like a reboot using
your consciousness.
Okay, you have 20
seconds before you shift.
When that happens, Alli, I'm
gonna need you to go to my room
and lock the door.
I'll need you back here at 6:30.
Interact with only me and the
default.
You have five seconds.
Ethan.
Ethan, just look at me.
You gotta try, Ethan, come on.
Okay, section one now.
It's up.
There's no system confirmation,
but it's showing a power drop.
Still not isolating
the coils correctly.
What about the old sequential
startup?
Good idea.
Which coil's reading?
C14.
I've got that one,
too.
You okay?
Yeah, I'm fine.
Try C14 and D5.
Okay.
Anything?
No.
Distributor must be fried.
It'll have to be hand-wired.
Then spike my dopamine
levels or risk a coma.
So we'll need a dopamine
agonist.
You are correct.
We'll be in good hands when you
take over.
What are you talking about?
Look, if you want what you're
after,
just focus on getting
default in one piece.
He'll need you to be the
face of the project anyway.
- Hey.
- Hey.
Where were you?
The animal lab.
Ethan, come here.
Look at me.
How do you feel?
I'm fine.
Why were you at the animal lab?
We needed MDMA for the
reboot, intellect sent me.
Intellect sent you?
Yeah.
Okay, we need to figure out
who the hell these other
sections are.
I was dancing with your
grandmother
- at one point.
- Uh-huh, you did.
There's some fireworks over
there, Ethan.
Ethan, I promise that's not
gonna help.
Just put it down, put it down.
We're just gonna work through
this, okay?
These herring bodies are
releasing doses of oxytocin,
dopamine from the basal ganglia,
too,
coming in at minute 54,
that's section nine.
Euphoria.
Oh my god!
What?
Appreciate you, ma'am.
What do you want me to do?
I mean, need some
self-restraint, maybe.
See this concentration
of serotonin transporters?
Yeah, kicking in at minute
six.
Generalized anxiety.
Section one.
Certain cultures, it's
considered very masculine.
Which
cultures?
Several of them.
It's okay.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Okay, so we have the nine
sections after default.
Section one, anxiety.
Then 12 minutes in, section two,
anger.
Section three is libido.
Section four is unconscious.
Right, all sections asleep.
Which is the opposite of you,
default,
all sections awake and in
balance.
We know that section five is
intellect.
And then section six...
Calling him primitive.
Section seven, creative.
And section nine, euphoria.
So we just need section eight.
Let's take a look at the tape.
Okay, now section eight.
Wait, stop.
Look.
Aw, for fuck's sake.
What?
The notebook.
I got a notebook in the
mail, it was one of my dad's.
Check, check the drawer.
Had this equation.
Yes, this is all his
handwriting.
Jesus.
Yeah.
This is mine.
I don't remember any of this.
Ethan.
Ethan.
Come on, try to focus.
Can't breathe.
I can't fucking breathe!
Did you do this?
No, my guess is
that it was section eight.
If so, we need to move him.
- What are you doing?
- Calling the police.
Alli, if you do that,
they'll take away the work.
We'll never get it back, and
I'll probably go to prison.
The R-10's almost ready.
We wipe his memories and
we get him out of here
like nothing happened.
This is insane, this whole
fucking thing is insane.
We have to protect the
work.
It's that important.
If I do this, it's
not to protect the work.
Let me get his head.
- I got his head.
- Okay.
How long before the R-10's
ready?
A few more cycles.
Can you manage this?
You can't tell any of the
others, not even the default.
I need him to focus on the
reintegration.
Malcolm will be fine, trust me.
Ethan.
You should never have left.
But you'll get no
credit here,
and no support from me.
You'll be doing this on your
own.
Oh, so this is
about my consciousness work.
Not yours.
Everything generated here
belongs to the university.
You mean you?
That's how this works.
Every thought, every half-baked
idea inside your head
starts with me.
They asked about your work
habits, I told the truth.
Stop with the melodrama.
I don't have time for
it, I don't have time.
Blow out your candles.
Paul!
Can one of you just find Paul?
Alli?
Alli!
Ethan, how are the headaches?
They're worse for me, too.
The highest functioning ones
are...
Can I talk to you for a
sec?
- You should get going.
- I know, but
I need to confirm something.
Ethan, how are the headaches?
They're worse for me, too.
The highest functioning
ones are burning out first.
I have maybe two hours left.
Creative, three.
Then probably another six hours
for you and section eight.
And so on.
I'd say we have less than 24
hours until full brain death.
So I need you to listen,
because I don't have much
more time to help you.
Alli said you remember the
notebook.
This equation is not the
solution we thought it was.
The equation we need
to do the reintegration
is from the same proof,
and I'm working on it.
But in case I run out of time,
you and Alli will have to figure
it out.
By the way, I figured
out what was going on
with those blackouts.
Seems we were trying to
communicate with ourselves,
even going so far as to
send ourself this notebook.
It's not my place to opine on
why,
but I think we saw what a
sad sack of shit we'd become,
and decided with total
conviction that the solution
was to fracture and reset our
mind.
These were clearly moments
of heightened brain activity.
It's like psychedelics.
- Did you watch the video?
- Yeah.
It's total bullshit.
If I had the answers
during these blackouts,
you think I'd wanna do this to
myself?
Ridiculous.
Listening to a fucking fragment.
He's got you running around
doing...
Maybe you should take a step
back.
It's all you, remember?
You did this to yourself.
Time's up.
Checklist.
Okay, I already did that.
Check the coolant tank.
Careful, it's cold.
No it's not.
It's not.
Doesn't make sense.
I changed it yesterday.
Oh shit.
Duct tape.
- Seriously?
- Yeah.
- Will that hold?
- Yeah.
And if it doesn't?
Best case, it doesn't power
up.
Worst case, it fries
whoever's in the chair.
It's okay.
It'll be okay.
- Ethan?
- Huh?
Get over here.
Shit.
That's intellect.
Let's see how far
he got on the equation.
What the fuck?
Ethan.
Section eight again.
Who is this guy?
Ethan, remember those
scans we did at UT Dallas?
Yeah, the antisocial ones?
Right.
See, this is all in line
with you, the default.
But look at the activity
in the basal ganglia here.
Psychotic.
He's gonna try to map himself
across my consciousness.
What?
Nothing.
No, Alli, I know that look,
what is it?
Ethan.
Come on, try to push through it.
Focus.
Every thought,
every half-baked idea
inside your head starts with me.
Did it work?
Can they push through you, too?
What's your mother's maiden
name?
My mother's maiden
name?
Yeah.
Come on, seriously, what is it?
Magill, why?
Don't say it again.
Section eight acts just like me,
except he's picked back
up my smoking habit.
Look at me.
How are you feeling, Ethan?
That bad, huh?
Body's getting hit with a lot.
Like a new drug every six
minutes.
Feels pretty shitty.
Did you find the pages?
Intellect didn't know, either.
Now he's too sick to help.
If section eight figures
out that equation...
I know.
I made a real mess of this,
haven't I?
It's okay.
I'm okay.
How close were you
to the equation before?
Close.
But without the notebook, I'll
have to recreate the work.
Shit.
There's another equation.
You've got five
minutes.
God damn it.
It's on a piece of paper.
I wrote it down during
one of my blackouts.
I got it, I got it.
Here.
This is the one I used
before, from the notebook.
It's different, close, but
different.
This is the one we need.
- Are you sure?
- Yeah.
It's clear to me.
Can you push through again?
We've got 12 minutes now,
but we can use another six.
No, the pain's too much.
I also wonder what
happened to the other guy.
Maybe you erased your anxiety.
No, I can assure you, my
anxiety is alive and well.
Oh.
Goddamn!
Go, Alli.
Piece of shit!
Why are you still here?
Ethan.
Come in the room now.
Why the fuck are you here?
Just calm down, let's just go
take a...
No, shut the fuck up!
You answer my fucking question,
what are you doing here?
I'm just trying to help.
Bullshit!
Bullshit!
There's an angle.
There's always a fucking angle
with you.
It's that, huh?
You're here for this, huh?
No, Ethan.
Ethan, stop it.
Stop it.
That what you want, huh?
Ethan, don't!
You take and you take!
No, no, no, Ethan, stop, stop.
- Let go of me.
- Just take it easy, Ethan,
try to breathe.
- It's okay.
- Let go!
Fuck!
Sorry.
Motherfucker!
I'm a big piece of shit!
Alli.
Alli.
God, that feels good.
Got the equation.
No shit, really?
Yeah.
You have it with you?
Is it right?
Yeah.
Do not let anyone else have it.
How's Malcolm?
He's fine, sedated.
Good.
Do the reintegration first.
After that, wipe his memory.
So without you?
It'll be default's
consciousness.
He won't remember any of this,
will he?
No, he won't.
Just remind me you had no other
choice.
I'll be pissed, but I'll get
over it.
So how are we sure this
is gonna work this time?
It's just a matter of
inhibiting the right proteins.
Should've worked the first time
when I did it to myself
before, but as we know,
drunk and impulsive, my
precision suffers.
Why'd you do it?
What?
Try to wipe memories of my
father?
Mm-hm.
Resentment.
I was with him when he died.
He was so hungry.
He kept begging for food,
but the nurses wouldn't give him
any.
They were afraid he'd choke.
I was so angry.
Next thing I know, I'm in
a hospital a week later,
memories of my father still
intact.
I wish I could've been more help
to you.
We'll be fine.
I know.
Hey, I'm almost done with this
rewire.
Would you power up the coils?
Just wanna make sure these
connections are good.
Yeah.
What happened?
Section two.
Jesus.
Alli, I'm sorry.
Look, I don't...
I know.
Let's bring up the diagnostic.
Hey.
There's something else going on,
right?
What do you mean?
I don't know.
It's hard playing catch-up every
hour.
That's why I'm here.
What is that?
It's a song.
Oh really, is that
what that is?
Okay, great, now give
me all of them at once.
You sure?
Yeah, what?
You don't want
me to check your work?
Come on, just do it.
Nice.
Looks like I got it.
Should be good to go next
hour.
Why don't you go get
some rest?
No, I'm all right.
You look exhausted.
You looked in a mirror?
Okay.
I just mean, look, it's late.
You should go lie down.
I can finish.
Don't worry, I have the time.
I'll be out of here before the
shift.
Alli, it's time to work!
How the fuck
could you hide this from me?
I didn't.
I showed you, and we decided
when the R-10's up and running,
we'll wipe his memory and get
him out.
You mean you showed
intellect and he decided.
Ethan, if Malcolm remembers
any of it, we're done.
Bullshit.
You let my intellect use you.
You've been using me for
years.
And you don't give a shit
about anything but yourself.
I did this to protect you,
asshole.
Are we doing this or not?
Ethan!
Okay.
I'm setting the wipe to the last
12 hours.
Shut it off, shut it off!
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!
Hello.
Malcolm home?
He is.
Brain fried?
He was lucid when I left.
We should be okay, but I don't
know.
What are you doing?
Relaxing.
Shouldn't you be in the lab?
Figured I'd sit this one out.
What are you doing?
Getting my keys.
I'm gonna get more coolant from
campus.
How you gonna use it, anyway?
The lines are shot, remember?
Guess we'll
have to figure it out.
Sounds great.
Ethan, we had no idea what
section eight
was gonna do to Malcolm.
It was better for intellect to
handle.
Well gee...
Guess it's better when I'm in
the dark.
Why are you even here, Alli?
Well you botched your science
project...
No, no, no, I mean
why'd you leave Stanford?
You could have made a name for
yourself,
why did you come back?
You're wasting time.
They promise you my work?
They did, didn't they?
Figured I'd fuck it up
and it'd fall to you.
You know, I expect my father
to fuck me over, not you.
Ethan, your father
tried to give you credit.
The board said no.
He got sick and you finished
it, but it wasn't yours.
And now that it is, you've shut
them out.
So yeah, they asked me back.
They weren't gonna trust this
project to an angry child.
You know, I used to indulge
all this when we were together,
but the world's not out to get
you, Ethan.
I'm gonna go figure out the
coolant.
And be careful, that's
where the noise comes in.
You got it?
Wait.
There's some early work.
Could be of interest.
Ethan.
You should never have left.
Hey, it's me.
Hope you're not avoiding me.
I just wanted to see how you're
doing.
I know it's tough being back
home,
but I think it'll be good.
Anyway, I hate the West Coast,
but it's beautiful here.
I think we should talk things
over, so call me when you...
Hey.
Any, any troubles?
No, I figured it out.
Good, so we're almost all set,
then.
Yeah, I just gotta rig the
coolant, and then the equation.
We'll do the reintegration next
hour.
Fantastic.
Hey, can I see it again?
Yeah.
Are you smoking?
I got worried.
Hey, Alli, it's fine.
Just give me the equation.
You pushed through,
section eight pushed through.
Oh, what are you talking
about?
What's my mother's maiden
name?
Don't be ridiculous.
Give me the equation.
Stop.
Stop, stop.
Alli, it's me.
- Ethan.
- No!
Alli, open up!
We're running out of time.
Alli, it's me!
Open up!
Alli!
I feel real sick.
I don't think I'm gonna last
much longer.
Let me in.
Please?
- Get off me.
- Don't.
Don't.
Alli.
Don't.
Okay, got three more minutes.
Nice work.
Ethan, don't do this.
I know you're still in there.
Have you considered the
possibility this is me?
Alli, I'm the real Ethan.
It's confirmation bias.
If you knock on my door
a few minutes earlier,
you'd be helping me.
Ethan, if you do this,
the whole you will be lost.
If I'm right, then I have to.
If I'm wrong, my choice is the
same.
Wait.
What?
Did someone change the clock?
Alli.
Hey.
How are you feeling?
Good.
I want you to take over the
project.
You know the work, you're
smarter than me.
I just piss people off.
Are you sure?
I've spent too much
of my time being bitter.
And the things I'd change, I
can't.
I just know I don't wanna
do this by myself anymore.
Groundbreaking
work on temporal perception,
I am proud to welcome Dr.
Fischer
as our newest tenured professor.
Thank you, Dean Myers.
You're all familiar with Dr.
Ethan Kochar and his father,
and the work they pioneered.
It provided the basis for
our design of the R-11,
which the university has
graciously allowed me
to take the lead on.
Dr. Kochar's R9-X allowed
us to map the neuropathways
of memories and extract them.
Similarly, the R-10 allowed us
to map the neuropathways of
consciousness,
giving insight into the
architecture of behavior.
What we saw was both
surprising, and yet logical.
Our personalities share
considerable real estate
with our memories.
But we still have a choice to
make.
We get to decide how we
interpret our experiences
and how they effect who we are.
Ethan!
Malcolm.
You just missed Dr. Fischer's
Christening.
I know, I'm on my way now.
You've even got her doing
your lectures for you.
Well, it's her project now.
Don't wanna miss too much.
All right, Malcolm, nice to
see you.
We're not merely
computers,
time stamping information
our senses take in.
Nor are we adding machines
marking ones and zeroes
on a cerebral ledger.
There's something else.
Traits that mark us,
intelligence, anger, love,
do not define us.
For in isolation, these
fragments are course,
even unrecognizable.
But when they coexist in
a single consciousness,
something emerges.
Something material, yet
immaterial.
Dare I even say immeasurable.
Something called self.