Ready Player One (2018) - full transcript

COLOMBUS, OHIO

'THE STACKS'

[SONG]

Get ready for the feel.

The feel of real.

X1. No pain, no gain.

Pizza, guys.

Oh, Wade.

Hello, Mrs. Gillmore.

What's the matter?

Life's getting you down?



I was born in 2027.

After the Corn Syrup Droughts.

After the Bandwidth Riots.

After people stop trying to fix problems
and just tried to outlive it.

My parents?
They didn't make it through those times.

So, I live here in Columbus, Ohio,
with my Aunt Alice.

In 2045, Columbus is the fastest
growing city on earth.

It's where Halliday and Morrow
started Gregarious games.

These days, reality is a bummer.

Everyone's looking for

a way to escape.

And that's why Halliday,
that's why he was such a hero to us.

He showed us that we could go somewhere
without going anywhere at all.

You don't need a destination



when you're running on
an omnidirectional threadmill,

with quadrophonic
pressure sensitive underlay.

James Halliday saw

the future.

And then he built it.

He gave us a place to go.

A place called...

the OASIS.

[SONG]

This is the OASIS.

It's a place where the limits of reality

are your all imagination.

100 POINTS

HURRICANE
HANG GLIDING

HURRICANE
HANG GLIDING

You can do anything.

UNICORN
ICE POLO

Go anywhere.

Like the vacation planet.

Surf a 50-foot
monster wave in Hawaii.

You can ski down the pyramids.

You can climb Mount Everest

with Batman.

Check out this place.

It's a casino of the size of a planet.

You can lose your money there.

You can get married.

You can get divorced.

You can...

You can go in there.

LUDUS

People come to the OASIS
for all the things they can do.

But they stay

because of all the things they can be.

Tall, beautiful, scary.

A different sex.

A different species.

Life action.

Cartoon?

It's all your call.

Yeah, that's me.

Woah, that's my avatar.

WIND: ON

At least, until I feel like changing.

GREGARIOUS GAMES

Except for eating, sleeping,
and bathroom breaks,

whatever people wanna do,

they do it in the OASIS.

And since everyone is here,

this is where we meet each other.

It's where we make friends.

Locate Aech.

OASIS SECTOR MAP

WARNING - PVP ZONE

Locating Aech.

Aech located.

Sector 12.

Planet Doom.

Planet Doom.

The most dangerous place in the OASIS.

And pretty great place to pick up coin.

Figures Aech would be there.

Aech is my best friend in the OASIS.

He's my best friend,

period.

Even though, I've never actually met him
in the real world.

INCOMING

What's up, Aech?

Hey, what's up, Z?

Next race is in 20 minutes
and I can't do the late one.

What the hell are you up to?

I'm getting my kills on, bro.

Is that Daito?

Daito and Sho.

HEAD SHOT

AWESOME

RAMPAGE

Arigato.
- Xie-xie.

This an artifact hunt?

Yep. Gregarious 120.

Turn in any giant robot for 2 minutes.

That's rad.

Artifacts.

Those were key.

Halliday made sure the OASIS was littered
with enough randomly powerful stuff

that anyone could win
if they had the skills.

Death matches in artifact hunts
are good ways to coin snatch.

But depending on your level of armor,

they're risky.

You see, everyone starts the same.

The more coin you make,

the more you level up.
- Mom!

Mom!
- If you get killed,

your avatar can come back to life

but you lose all your stuff.
- Go get your dad!

Everything you've ever worked for.

All your money.

Your clothes.

Your weapons.

Since people spend

most of their time in the OASIS,

losing your shit means...

well,

losing your shit.

Aech.

Ten minutes 'till the race start.

Did ya' mama hurt you?

You see.

The OASIS was the brainchild
of James Halliday.

He and his partner, Ogden Morrow,
releases the first OASIS build in 2025.

It was an instant success.

And it made them both very rich.

But Morrow was out of the picture
after a few years.

And Halliday?

He wasn't just the owner
of the world's biggest company.

He was like a god.

People loved him.

They worshipped him
as much as his creations.

You can stop talking about it

and start showing it.

If you all reach under your seat,
you'll find that

there's nothing there.

But we're each gonna bring you one now.

And then.

On January 7th, 2040.

He died.

Then what he left behind

changed everything.

Hello.

I'm James Halliday.

If you're watching this,
I'm dead.

Before I died,

I created

What we in the biz called

an Easter Egg.

A hidden object in the game

that gives special powers

to whoever discovers them.

First person to find the egg

I've hidden somewhere inside the OASIS,

will inherit my stock

in Gregarious games

currently valued

in excess of half a million dolla-

Um... half a trillion dollars worth.

And total control

of the OASIS itself.

In the form of my avatar,

Anorak, the All-Knowing,

I created three keys.

Three hidden challenges test
for worthy traits.

Revealing three hidden keys

to three magic gates.

And those with the skill
to survive these straits

will reach the end

where the prize

awaits.

Off you go, keys.

The keys aren't just laying around

under the rocks somewhere.

I suppose you could say
they're invisible.

Hidden in the dark room

that's at the center of a maze

that's located

somewhere

up here.

Let the hunt
for the Halliday's easter egg

begin.

READY PLAYER ONE

The challenge is to find three keys.

But in five years,

No one has even gotten one key.

And the big score board?

FIRST TO THE KEYS

Still empty.

Some long forgotten Gunter
cracked the first clue

and found the first challenge.

Liberty Island

Then this portal appeared.

But the challenge
to win the first key was a race.

(TAMAN PUSAT)

Designed by Halliday
that was so hard,

no one had ever finished it.

The only one still trying are the Gunters.

WIN THE COPPER KEY

As in 'Egg Hunters'.

Like me and Sho and Daito,

and my best friend, Aech.

Oh, and of course.

The Sixers.

The Sixers work for IOI.
- Sixers!

Innovative Online Industries.

They're the second largest company
in the world

with designs on becoming the first.

Which is why they're putting
everything they got

into winning Halliday's contest.

Buckle up!

Sit in.

We call them Sixers 'cause

that's the company rule.

No name, just numbers.

They have a support team
made up of Halliday's scholars.

Like me, they spend all their time
studying pop culture

that Halliday was obsessed with,

trying to find clues to solve the contest.

They're just following the orders

of the head of IOI.

This dickweed named Nolan Sorrento.

How'd you get here before me?

Well, I didn't make a pit stop
at the hair salon.

What's up, Z?

What's up, Aech?

I saved you a spot.

Thanks, bro.

FUEL
LOW

I gotta go the back.

Ooh, so you can skim coins from crash cars?

That's just sad, man.

Fuel's low.

Oh, but you still have enough to pay
for that 'Something-About-Mary' hairdo?

WIN THE COPPER KEY

First to the key!

First to the egg!

Aech, are you seeing this?

Yeah, I see it.

That's Kaneda's bike from Akira.

License's skin over standard frame.

No, not the bike.

Forget the bike!

The girl, I think it's Art3mis.

The Art3mis?

The Sixer's Fixer?

I've seen all her walkthroughs.

Her Twitch streams.

It's her, it's definitely her.

COLLISION WARNING

HOOVER MODE

SCHWARZENEGGER
JACK SLATER

Go, go, go!

Get there, c'mon!

FINISH LINE

You got it, you got it!

Balls.

FINISH LINE

She's not gonna make it.

Bail! Bail out!

Bail!

Damn, I love that bike.

Oh, Aech!

Well, he's my friend.

But he can fix it for ya.

This is my workshop.

Touch nothing.

Wha- What?

Where did you find
an Iron Giant?

Find it?
I'm building it.

That's a commission.

Oh, yeah.

Aech is top-rated
on the mod board.

People all over the OASIS
pay him serious coin.

Oh, hey. Check this out.

What? Z, yo.

The Galactica, of course.
- These are my babies, alright?

Sulaco, from Aliens.

Dude, how are you showing off my shit?

Valley Forge from Silent Running.

Oh, where's the Harkonnen dropship?

That thing is sick.

Folds space like a boss.

I mean, you can get from Incipio

to Arrakis in only three seconds.
- Fingers!

You'll have to excuse him.

He's just a little nervous
on all pretty girls.

I can fix it in 10 minutes.

Yup.

He's pretty great.
- I assume

you and Shoulder Blades are clanned up.

Oh, Aech?

Nah.

I mean,

he's really good.

But... I don't clan.

Oh.

'Cause you're Parzival.

As in the knight who found
the Holy Grail by himself.

What about you, Art3mis?

Goddess of the Hunt.

Clans must be killing

to sign you up.

Favorite shooter?

Excuse me?
- James Halliday's

favorite first-person shooter.

What?
- Oh, GoldenEye.

Playing as?
- Oddjob.

This is a test?

Favorite game variant?

Game variant was slappers-only.

No weapons.
- I know what slappers-only means. Racer?

Turbo.

And his favorite food was Hot Pocket.

Favorite restaurant was Chuck-e-Cheese.

Song was Video Killed the Radio Star
by The Buggles.

Video was Take On Me by A-ha.

Oh.

His favorite quote was from Superman.

"Some people can read
War and Peace

and come away thinking
it's a simple adventure story.

Others can read the ingredients
- Others can read the ingredients

on the back
of a chewing gum wrapper

and unlock
the secrets of the universe."

Lex Luthor.

Cool.

What would you do?

If you won.

The whole contest, I mean.

Oh, I mean,

I've got tons of plans
in the real world.

I'd move into a huge mansion.

Buy a bunch of cool shit.

Not be poor.

Now I know why you stopped short.

I stopped because of Kong.

No one ever makes it pass Kong.

That's like a rule.

Well, then you know
it can't be true.

Because Halliday
hated making rules.

I can't afford to zero out.

You're afraid to lose your shit.
- No, I'm not!

What happens when IOI offers you

guaranteed coins
for the keys to the kingdom?

Nolan Sorrento takes over the world.

A real Gunter would risk everything

to save the OASIS from IOI.

Who said that?

Me.

There you go, good as new.

Thanks for the fix-up, my man.

That's better.

I'll wait you from the finish line.

McFly.

That went well.

Thanks to you, Captain Big Mouth.

Wait.

Wait!

Where the hell are my gloves?

Shit! I gotta go.

X1.

When I'm after gold on Planet Doom,

I need every edge I can get.

Every push.

Punch. Gunshot.

You feel it all.

Get ready for-

THE FEEL

THE FEEL

OF REAL

WITH X1

The X1 is like wearing
a second skin.

A skin that kicks ass.

I zeroed out
because of your broke-ass gloves.

Who told you to use 'em?

You took hers!

So you lost a death match,

why don't you just...

respawn and level up like everyone else?

You don't get it.

I bought all these powers
for these challenge

and I lost it all.

That artifact was gonna be for the house!

Wait.

How much of our money house

did you spend on upgrades?

Well, all of it.

But I was gonna win.

Those were out ticket out of here.

You idiot!

I only lose 'cause of the bad gloves.

Our whole house!

Our goddamn house!
- My boys were in that challenge,

you couldn't have beat them
in a boot suit, you noob.

Stop!

No!

No!
- Alice, call the police!

No, we're not

calling the cops!

Go to your room, Rick!

Good God, Alice!

Why do you put up with this guy?

He's a shit show.

I'd hella kick the both of you out.

I swear to G-O-D, Wade Watts.

If I catch you touching my stuff again,

not joking.

Out!

Wade Watts?

My dad picked that name

because it sounded like
a superhero's alter ego.

Like Peter Parker or Bruce Banner.

But he died when I was a kid.

My mom, too.

And...

I ended up here.

Living with Aunt Alice and...

her endless string of hard-level losers.

Halliday hated making rules.

Why is that line sticking in my head?

Is it because Art3is said it?

Then she's hot.

Maybe it's because...

she called me out?

Sitting here in my tiny corner of nowehere.

Protecting my small slice of nothing.

Or maybe...

Maybe it's because that line
mean something.

And I missed it.

[SONG]

HALLIDAY JOURNALS

The day the contest was announced,

the Halliday Journals appeared.

He told us to look in his brain.

This was the next best thing.

At first,

it was jammed with Gunters

looking for answers.

Now the once crowded halls
of Halliday's memories

are left to people like me.

Impossible.

Oh, joy.

And how will you eat up

my valuable search time today?

Gregarious games 2029,

Office Party.
- Office Party, yes.

You've only seen it a thousand times.

Why not go back?

Each entry into Halliday's Journals

is meticuluously assembled
from personal photographs.

home video recordings,

surveillance and nanny cams.

All rendered into
a three-dimensional virtual experience.

Also,

Halliday archived every film, game, book,
and television program

he ever saw.

Located on the mesony.

No weapons or mature-themed avatars

are permitted within the journals.

Please enjoy your time with us and...

Happy Gunting!

Okay, Jim, I'm uh...

I'm going.

Everything changes.

Jim, everything evolves.

Some things are perfect
just the way they are.

Asteroids.

People don't live inside

an Asteroids arcade cabinet.

I know that.

Yup, well, people are living
inside the arcade we built.

I built.

I guess you can say whatever you want.

I don't really wanna talk abou it.

No, of course
you don't wanna talk about it.

You're forcing me out!

Closer on Halliday.

Okay, an invention comes
with a responsibility

that you didn't ask for.

All right, if you make something
people want or need,

then it's up to you to set the limits.

You have to make some rules.

"I don't wanna make anymore rules."

I don't wanna make anymore rules.

"I'm a dreamer."

I'm a dreamer.

I build worlds.
- I build worlds.

You created something beautiful, Jim.

But it's changed.

It's really not a game anymore.

Are we finished?

I liked

how things were

when they were.

When it was a game.

And we're back to where we started.

But that's the point, isn't it?

Things move forward.

Whether you like it or not.

Yeah.

We're finished.

Fine.

Why can't we go backwards...

for once?

Backwards.

Really fast.

Fast as we can?

Really put the pedal
on the medal, you know?

Go back!

Ten seconds!

Why can't we go backwards...

for once?

Backwards.

Really fast.

Fast as we can.

Really put the pedal
on the medal, you know?

Bill and Tedd did it.

FIRST TO THE CENTRAL PARK!

NO P.v.P ZONE

FIRST

Back again so soon?

Careful not to lose your shit.

You figured something out.

Parzival, tell me!

FINISH LINE

Nice racing, padawan.

You're the first to finish.

Mr. Halliday.

I...

Anorek.

It's such an honor.

The honor's all mine.

Get yourself a clue.

RANK
1ST

PLAYER NAME
PARZIVAL

SCORE
548
00:27:54,079 --> 00:27:55,538
PARZIVAL WINS COPPER KEY!

Who is this?

Parzival?

How the hell is he winning?

Or here's a better question:

Who cares?

How this contest is vital and important?

I mean, this is nothing less than a war

for control of the future.

This Parzival,

he's not even clanned up.

He's alone.

We have an army.

And, yeah, he's got the first key.

Yeah, he has a key.

But you have to get

three of them to win the contest.

Our stock goes six percent yesterday.

Loyalty division is reporting profits

up 28 percent, F'Nale.

We're opening five
new Loyalty Centers this month.

That service is dwarves' hardware.

And you really wanna talk to me
about stock prices?

The shareholders won't be happy.

It's not our job to make them happy.

It's our job to make 'em money.

But once we launch this little baby,
they're gonna flip.

We call this:

Pure O2.

This is the first of our planned upgrades

once we can roll back
some of Halliday's ad restrictions.

We estimate we can sell

up to eighty percent...

BEST PROTECTION
ALWAYS

...of an individual visual field

before inducing seizures.

So, picture this.

All of this implies we win the contest.

5 PLANETS
80 COINS

LIMITED OFFER
20 % OFF

Indeed, it does.

[SONG]

AVATAR OUTFITTERS

Dude, you won the key and a 100,000 coins?

As soon as I took the key,
all the coins just appeared in my account.

I'll tell you what,
I'm soiling my haptics right now.

2,000,000
THE CATACLYST

What the hell is a cataclyst?

It's a bomb.

Kills every avatar on the planet.

Even the owner.

Who want that?

IOI. They buy everything.

20 thou for the Holy Hand Grenade?

OUT OF
STOCK

That's a steal.

Woah.

Zemeckis Cube.

I need one of those.

Okay, don't spend all your money.

X1 BOOTSUIT

BUY NOW! GET IT BEFORE OUT OF STOCK

ALL SALES ARE FINAL. NO REFUND.

X1 Heptic Bootsuit.

REAL WORLD
PICKUP

EXIST
- X1 BOOTSUIT

Oh, yeah.

PASSWORD
B055mqn69

i-Rok, old friend.

How are you?

To be honest,
I have kind of a neck thing,

it's like a carpal tunnel...

deal, but with your neck.

So if you could just

stand to your right.

My right, your left.

Yeah, it's a repetitive stress.

Oh.

Here he is.

The Steampunk Pirate King.

I knew him well, Sorrento.

And only three things in this world I hate.

Steampunk,

Pirates,

and tabbouleh.

I mean,

why do they even have it?

The reason we're meeting here...

Yes, Nolan?

The Orb of Osuvox.

You wanted it.

He had it.

So here it is.

It creates an impenetrable magic shield

that can only be taken down

by a magic spell.

The Orb...

of Osuvox.

Don't say that again.

Okay.

Now.

I'm gonna need you to keep this for now.

I'm gonna let you know
when I wanna use it.

Okay?

Right now, though,

I know a job for you.

Huh.

Parzival.

Let me guess.

You want him off the score board.

Can you do that?

Well.

He's a superstar.

He made it through the first gate.

And avatars are gonna be on him

like hoes on Santa.

i-Rok, how much more do you want?

That's what I like about you, Nolan.

You never lick.

You bite straight to the chocolatey center

of the Tootsie Pop.

I mean, that old

commercial with the owl.

i-Rok.

Three times my normal fee.

Done.

Wait, really?

I should've asked for five.

Is four still on the table?

There's five of us on the big board now.

Art3mis was next.

No surprise there.

She was on the track when I won.

She saw me going backwards.

I gave Aech a tip.

Made him promise not to say anything.

And then he won next.

I'm pretty sure

he bragged to our pal, Daito, 'cause...

he won right after.

And of course,

Daito told his best friend, Sho.

He totally total totalled his car, but then

Sho got it, too.

HALLIDAY

"A creator who hates his own creation.

A hidden key,

a leap not taken.

Retrace your steps, escape your past."

"Creator who hates his own creation.

A hidden key, a leap not taken.

Retrace your steps, escape your past.

And the key of jade will be yours at last."

Is James Halliday playing games
...or playing God?

"RETRACE YOUR STEPS, ESCAPE YOUR PAST."
- 16th? 16th Place, to start? Finish?

Oasis Coin:
The Next Dollar?

WILL THE OASIS CHANGE THE
WAY WE LIVE?

HALLIDAY: BIGGER THAN JOBS?

SPLIT! HALLIDAY GOES IT ALONE

OGDEN MORROW HAS LEFT GREGARIOUS GAMES
SELLING HIS ENTIRE SHARE

CLUE #2
"A creator who hates his own creation."

OBITUARIES
KAREN UNDERWOOD MORROW 1975 -2034

"Escape your past."

What part of your past
are you trying to escape, Halliday?

HALLIDAY
GAME DESIGNER. TRILLIONAIRE.

Appendices - good info
Good maps

[SONG]

HALLIDAY JOURNALS

Hey, it's Parzival.

Dude, hey!

You're in the article.

Like twenty minutes ago.

You're amazing, man.

We've been waiting, this is amazing!

You're famous now.

You can't just

go wherever

you want.

No, no, no, no, I...

That is...

That's not funny.

Oh, God!

Oh, God.

Don't you get it?

You are the Parzival now.

You have to have a disguise.

Look at here.

OLASSES

Clark Kent lenses.

They hide your identity
without changing your look.

I am not wearing that.

This is great.

Were your inventory

burst out when you die?

I didn't want anymore blood.

This is right before the OASIS went live.

Six days prior.

December 2nd, 2025.

Check this out.

You know who that is?

Is that Sorrento?

Sorrento started as an intern.

He claims he learned
at the feet of the master.

That's how he convinced the IOI
to create the Sixers for him.

His Halliday knowledge.

But ask Ogden Morrow.

He says the only thing
Sorrento actually knew

about Halliday,

was how he liked his coffee.

You could have like

different tiers of the clans,

like a Gold member.

A pussy could be Silver.

Platinum.

Bronze.

You know,
depending on what they paid.

Highest one maybe being water.

Because OASIS, right?

Hell of a latte.

Can you fast forward to the stuff about

Halliday's date?
- What?

Halliday actually went on a date?

So what happened?

Nothing.

I invited her over.

Oh.

Did you at least get her name?

Yeah.

Kira, I told you.

Like the character in The DARK Crystal.

That's her gamer tag.

Karen.
- Karen?

OK? Karen Underwood.

No. Karen Underwood?

As in Odgen Morrow's wife?

Just watch.

So this you

and Karen Underwood.

What did you do?

She wanted to go dancing.

So we watched a movie.

And?

Where's the juice?

Give me some juice!
- My goodness.

There is no juice!
- Oh, God.

Wha- Hold the phone.

I, I don't...
- Halliday...

went on a date

with Odgen Morrow's wife?

Just once.

Years before they were even married,
but, yeah.

And despite that,

and the fact that she died,

the name Kira is only mentioned once.

In all of Halliday's journals.

That's not possible.

It is, look it up.

What we just saw is the only time
she's ever mentioned.

It makes no sense.

She was important part of both their lives.

I'll bet you anything, all my coin.

Search: Karen Underwood Morrow.

1 RESULT

Kira. I told you.

Like the character in The DARK Crystal.

That's her gamer tag.

Halliday purposely removed

every mention of her except for this one.

That's weird, why?

It's like,

it was just so painful for him
to have to see her face

or hear her name.

Oh, he loved her.

He couldn't tell that to Morrow.

Oh, that's sad.
He should've told her how he felt.

Yeah, well. He missed his chance.

Look.

I found the clue to the race
in the other scene, but...

I've always felt
that the biggest clue of the contest

was hidden here.

You are right.

I lose.

Don't worry, curator.
You see?

Kira is the rosebud
at the center of his story.

She is the big mystery!

No, no. A bet is a bet.

Oh, wow.

A quarter.

You can keep it.
- No.

You can keep it.

Are you free on Thursday?

Who, me?

No, him.

Oh my God. Yes, you!

You know Distracted Globe?

Yeah, the dance club.

Meet me there.

10 p.m.

There's something I wanna show you.

Bye-bye.

Did she just ask me out?

And I was starting to like her.

Alright!

I don't do that.

Z, I can't believe
you told her about Kira.

What?

I told you.

Hey.

What about this?

No.

Have you considered that
Art3mis could be using you?

Hey, dude. She's giving me a clue.

Maybe I'm the one using her.

Should I go more...

thriller?

No.

Punk?

No.

Duran Duran?

No.

Does it look I'm trying too hard?

Yes!

Listen to yourself!

You have a massive cyber crush
on this girl.

She's hacking your heart
to get to your head.

I got it.

Bukaroo Banzai?
- Yeah!

Really?

You're gonna wear the outfit
from your favorite movie?

Don't be that guy!

I am that guy.

Z, you gotta be more careful

about who you meet in the OASIS!

Aech.

Art3mis gets me.

She'll get my outfit.
There's just this connection.

I mean somethimes we even...

...finish each other's sentences?

Yeah!
- We have that.

Me and you.

Yeah, I know.

But that's because
we're best friends, dude.

She could be a dude, too, dude.

Pfft, come on.

I'm serious!

"She"...

could actually be a 300 pound dude

who lives in his momma's basement
in suburbs of Detroit.

And her name is Chuck.

Think about that.

THE DISTRACTED GLOBE

Is that Parzival?
- Parzival!

Oh, my God, it's Parzival!

Hey, come here, man.

Can we get a photo?

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

You're my hero.

Hey, Parzival.

Thank you.

I-ROK

Get out of town!

Buckaroo Banzai?

I like it.

I like Buckaroo Banzai.

Oh thanks.

It's great.
- Yeah.

You look...
- Oh.

You look awesome.

Thank you.
- Wow!

A big one or a small one?

A big one.

Get out of here.

I thought he was gonna...

You've been here before?

It's cool, right?

So what's the plan?

Are you gonna kill their avatars?

Zero them out?
- They're both here

at The Distracted Globe.

I can't talk.

The Distracted Globe
was one of the first clubs

Halliday created in the OASIS.

That's common knowledge.

But I double checked.

And it turns out he started building it

right after that moment you showed me.

The date with Kira.

Right. And she was a serious dancer.

Maybe he thought he'd take her here.

Like in a...

virtual date.

Is it bad if it works?

So Halliday built it for her.

But they never made it past the first date.

So Halliday is a creator...

...who hates his own creation.

And the club is the thing he hates.

And the hidden key, a leap not taken.

But people jump often all night long.

But none of those people have the copper key.

So when we jump off

maybe it's different, right?

Right.

So we take it together?

Sure.

We're not clanning up or anything.

Of course not.

I don't clan.

Wait-

I don't think this is it.

No scoreboard.

No obstacles.

Maybe a dance challenge?

Old School.

You've come prepared?

Prepared?

What kind of haptics you're rocking?

You got the gloves on full visor
or full body?

Can you feel this?

Um, yeah.

I got the X1 haptic boot suit,

with the microfiber crotch in there.

Right, Parzival.

You did come prepared.

So...

I've been thinking.

Maybe it'd be cool
if we meet up in the real world.

Nah, you'd be disappointed.

Oh, I wouldn't.

I like you.

You don't even know me.

This isn't what I really look like.

This isn't my real body,

nor my real face.

I don't care.

I want to know your real name.

My name is Wade.
- What?

I said my name...
- Stop!

Well, Buckaroo blows it.

Shocking.

You crazy?

You don't tell anyone who you are.

You can't use your real name.

You're not just anyone.

You don't know me.

You don't know anything about me.
We've never met.

I do know you, Arty.

I'm in love with you.

Is this part of the challenge?
- No!

It's an ambush!

IOI always in the way.

Did you hear what I said?

I said I'm in love with you.
- No.

You're not.

You know what I want you to know.

You only see what I want you to see.

That's what you're in love with!

Watch out!

Get back, Z.

You armor is running low.

I just bought this.

Zemeckis cube.

Turns everything back in time 60 seconds.

And you waited until now to use it?

Wow, you're amazing-

This isn't a game, Z.

I'm doing this to stop IOI.

I'm talking about real world consequences.

People suffering.

Actual life and death stuff!
- I know, I know.

No, you don't know!

My dad died in Loyalty Center.

He borrowed gear.

He build up debt.

He moved in with the promise
of working it up but he never did.

IOI just raised his living expenses.

Then he got sick
and he couldn't afford to get out

and then he died!

I'm so sorry.

Now you don't live in the real world, Z.

From what you've told me,
I don't think you ever have.

You live inside this.

This illusion.

And I can't afford to let you distract me.

How the hell did they get away?

Do you want the long version?
Your guys suck.

They fail to kill as avatar.

Which if we're offering
constructive criticism,

it was a lame idea
and only would've slowed him down.

Where is my plan, which was cool,

because i-Rok,

actually worked.

He's still on the board!

I know that, Nolan.

But he won't be for long.

I did a search for all the Wade's

who'd recently bought an X1 boot suit.

Cross referenced that with public records
and voila.

Which is French for...

"And then, I found out."

Ready?

The real world identity of Parzival...

is Wade Watts.

Voila.

Are you loyal, Miss Zandor?

You really want me to answer that?

When you're at war, you need

people who are loyal to a fault.

People you can count on
to get things done.

I just get people arrested
for not paying their bills.

Yeah, 'cause there are some problems
that require physical solutions.

But there are other times,
particularly at war,

when you need a different set of rules.

The rules of war.
- Exactly.

It's too bad that my division doesn't operate

inside the OASIS.

But if this war remains in the OASIS,

then you can't do anything.

Is this one of those conversations

that we're not really having?

Well,
we had these kind of conversations before,

look where you are now.

You got a seal on the board,

head of your own division.

Division that will cease to exist

if the wrong person wins this contest.

F'Nale.

A game decides our fate.

The only question is
how far we're going to go to win it.

Tell me what you need, Nolan.

FROM NOLAN SORRENTO
- PARZIVAL. I'D LIKE TO MAKE YOU AN OFFER.

YOU WILL GET EVERYTHING YOU WANT
INCLUDING HALLIDAY'S EGG ...

TO ENTER CHAT PLEASE TOUCH THE PRISM

Where am I?

IOI Plaza.

You are a hologram in the real world.

That's a really cool rig.

Thank you, it's...

It's a brand new haptic shock,

OAR-9400.

Looks like a giant hamster ball.

You know, if you came to work at IOI,

you'd get one of these.

I don't clan up.

You'd also get your own penthouse apartment
in Columbus

with the highest speed connection.

In the OASIS,

you get unlimited

weapons.

Magic Items. Ships.

PASSWORD - Bossman69
- You want the ship from defender?

You know, it kind of make a jump

into hyperspace?

Do you want the Millenium Falcon?

You have them?

Anything you need.

To help you find that egg,
and then there is the salary.

Four million a year.

And if you do have to find that easter egg,

there's a bonus.

25 million dollars.

I can see.

You're using an emotion suppression software
right now.

And why wouldn't you?

It's smart, that's why you're here.

It is a lot of money.

I can really use it.

But...

I don't think you and I
would have the same plans.

Oh, I don't know about that.

What? For the OASIS?

I guess if...

you're not a John Hugh's fan?

Of course I am.

Because the first thing that I would do,

is to convert all the schools on Ludus

to replicas from Breakfast Club.

And Ferris Bueller.

No way!

That's a great idea.

Which school?

Richmond or Faber?

Fast Times at Richmond High.

Not John Hughes.

It's a trap.

Faber college from Animal House.

John Hughes didn't direct

Fast Times at Richmond High
or Animal House.

Ferris Bueller
and The Breakfast Club,

they went to Sherman High School

which is in Shermer, Illinois.

I know what you think.

You think I am a corporate asshole,

that I don't appreciate pop culture, but...

...man, that's not true.

When I wanna blow off steam,

I drink Tab.

Play Robotron.

Listen to Duran Duran.

I crack open a Tab.

I put on some Duran Duran,

and I play Robotron.

That's why I love the OASIS.

Cause it's just

full of all these things, man,

that people love, you know?

I'm a businessman.

I get it.

But I gotta do my job.

But I didn't ask you here, man,

just to help us

find the egg, Parzival.

I asked you here

for what comes after.

What would Halliday say?

James Halliday is dead.

Yeah.

He is.

All that's left of him is this contest.

You know what?

It just seems
like he wouldn't want you winning it.

A fanboy knows a hater.

And I know you've got
a whole department of oologist

in your ear.

So if you wanna know
what I really think,

I think you're full of shit.

Here is my offer.

Your board of directors,
you got them in the other hand?

Why don't you tell them this.

If they dump you, I'll consider it.

Let's say something

off the record.

I had to make the offer.

Board expecting it.

But I was really hoping you'd say no.

Because if anyone's gonna win
this competition,

it's me.

My avatar gets the egg
because I'm the only one here

with the balls to run this place.

Wow.

You really switched gears there.

I'm fairly reasonable to maniacal overlord.

You should be grateful, Wade.

You won't be around
doing tour of my maniacal reign.

Yeah, that's right.
I know who you are.

Wade Owen Watts.

Born August 12th, 2027.

I also know where you are.

Unit 56-K,

Columbus stacks.

You're last seen entering your trailer

three days ago,
you haven't left since.

What are you doing?
- With all that's going on in the world,

do you really think that
anyone's gonna give a damn

about an explosion
in some ghetto trash rat barn

in Columbus?
- Sorrento!

Don't do this, I'm not even there!

Not for long.

Call Alice.

Dial Alice.

Pick up, pick up, Alice!

It's a good suit, it's pretty awesome.
Thanks for that.

Rick! Rick, the place is gonna blow!

Rick, is that Wade?

Put Alice on!

Let me talk to him.

Don't call here anymore, you got me?

I don't wanna hear your voice ever again.

LIQUOR
- RE

Contact Aech,

Daito, Sho, and Art3mis.

IOI came for me in the real world.

They gotta be coming after you,
so wherever you are...

Sorry about the blindfold.

My guys are a little paranoid.

Say that again.

My guys are a little paranoid.

Art3mis?

My real name is Samantha, but yeah.

I'm Art3mis.

The showers are that way.

Clean clothes, too.

Welcome to the rebellion.

That's IOI.

So the stacks are over there?

We've been living this close
to each other all the time?

Next door.

Around the worlds.

It is all the same in the OASIS.

For the record.

I'm...

I'm not disappointed.

You know you...

You said I would be disappointed
when I met you, but...

I'm not.

I've lived with it my whole life,
you don't have to pretend.

You have a birth mark.

So what?

Why would that scare me?

Z, if I hurt you, I'm sorry.

No, it's...

Wait, did you just call me "Z"?

Oh my God. Did I?

I think you did.

Wade, I'm sorry.

You know. Wade, Z.

You can call me whatever you want.

I'll call you Sam.
- No.

Samantha?

Okay.

Cool.

Well.

It's so much slower here.

I mean,

the wind, the people.

Everything.

You forget what its like to be outside.

Yeah.

Uh.

Oh, shit!

I just figured it out.
- Figured what out?

The second clue, I know what it means.

We've been thinking about it too literally.

"The leap not taken,"

the leap Halliday didn't take

is with Kira.

Yeah, but...

He blamed her
for breaking up him and Morrow.

No.

Halliday was madly in love with her.

He had a chance with Kira.

He had a chance to kiss her, but...

He didn't take the leap.
- Right.

So that's where we go next.

The place where the leap wasn't taken.

Where the date was.

At the movies!

Hey, Curator.

We figured out the second clue.

The challenge is here.

Halliday kept track of every movie
he ever watched.

The week and the year he watched it,

and how many times.

Curator.

Can we see November 23rd to 27th, 2025?

That's the week
he went on the date with Kira.

Okay, so...

Our options for that week are...

The Fly remake.

Great flick, terrible-day movie.

Say anything?

That one makes sense.

We got to remember the clue.

"A creator who hates his own creation."

The Shining.

It's Halliday's 11th favorite horror film.

And it's based on the best selling book
by Stephen King...

who hated the movie!
- Hey!

No side chit-chat.

I think we found it.

Are you absolute sure

you want to go here?

Absolutely positive.

Let's hope you have the belly for it.

THE OVERLOOK
SHOWING ON THE BIG SCREEN

STANLEY KUBRICK'S
THE SHINING

All work

and no play

makes Jack

a dull boy.

Look.

Ticking clock.

PAGE

PAGE

Okay, so I'm estimating about...

five minutes to find the key.

Yeah, there's so many keys
in The Shining, though,

where do we start?

I've never seen The Shining.

Is it really scary?

Uh, I had to watch it

through my fingers.

Okay, so we got

the key from Room 237.

The keys to the Snowcat

are the keys they give Jack
at the beginning of the movie.

Well, if it's "the leap not taken,"

maybe the key isn't a key at all.

I know what Snowcat keys are.

Hello, Danny.

Come play with us.

Oh, girls.

You know how to get out of here?

Wait, wait.

Where is Aech?

Wait!

Aech!

No, no, no.

Oh. Uh.

Hi, naked lady.

I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to interrupt your bath time.

I know self-care to be important.

But could you give me a favor
and tell me

where are all the exists?

Okay.

Am I being punked?

'Cause you're liking me way too much.

Well, you know what,
I'mma go with it.

PAGE

PAGE

Oh, time is running out.

Yo, Z.

Is Art3mis pissed at me, dude?

I'm pissed at you,

you've never seen The Shining, have you?

You know I hate scary movies!

We've got the key.

Swift to Room 237.

Wait, we ain't got no business
going to Room 237!

We should stay out!

Yeah, so there was this
naked-crazy zombie lady in here.

There are no zombies in The Shining.

Well, maybe it's not supposed
to be like the movie.

Kira is a key, you're the one who said it.

Hey, you know, I saw a picture of Kira.

Where?

It's Kira.

"Escape your past,

the leap not taken."

Halliday's greatest fear wasn't The Shining

or any book or movie.

His biggest fear was kissing a girl.

That's the leap he couldn't take.

[SONG]

The ball room.

Aech, come on.

Zombies! Told you.

That's her.

It's Kira.

None of this is in The Shining.
- See, look.

That's the zombie circle level
in Mayhem Mansion,

one of Halliday's first games.

The whole Shining tribute is a diversion.

One minute left.

How do we get to her?

Take the leap.
- Wait!

Okay, Mr. Dead Guy.

Cool if I lead?

Uh!

Care to dance?

Do you know how long
I've been waiting for you to ask?

Well, well, well.

So you found...

my...

jade...

key.

Imagine that.

Thank you.

Kira was a very beautiful-

Go on.

IF YOU KNOW THE ANSWER ULTIMATE
DIVIDE IT BY THE NUMBER MAGIC

AND WHAT YOU NEED, WANT, AND DESIRE,
WILL BE FOUND IN THE FORTRESS TRAGIC

One of our oologists

saw them enter the media library.

She cracked the clue.

Now we just have to win The Shining challenge.

Get off of me, get off of me!

Get off of me!
- Argh!

Mr. Sorrento.

I really think you need to see this.

Now Parzival has got the Jade Key.

POSITIVE ID

POSITIVE ID

POSITIVE ID
WADE

POSITIVE ID
WADE WATTS

He's...

alive.

I know, I'll get back to you.

I've got what you're looking for.

POTENTIAL
SUSPECT

Freeze.

This guy.

The one with the lame tattoo.

Enlarge.

Run them through our database.

SEARCHING
DATABASE

Every IOI drone in Columbus,

find him.

SEARCH OBJECT

NO MATCH

NO MATCH

VALIDATING

MATCH

POSITIVE ID
CONFIRMED

Groceries are here.

Alright.

"If you know the answer ultimate,

divide it by the number magic

and what you need, want, and desire

will be found in the Fortress Tragic."

"Tragic," that's got to be
Halliday reffering to himself.

Why?

Because he was lonely.

He had no one spent his life with
towards the end.

Yeah, that's true.

The contest is got to be somehow about...

connecting with someone.

Anyone.

He wants the person
who cares for the OASIS to be

connected with the world.

That's what I think he's trying to tell us.

Wade.

You understand Halliday.

You know him better than anyone.

That's exactly why I think you'll win.

Really?

You really think I'm gonna win?

Do not move!

Do not move!

Target identified!

Freeze, don't move!

This leads right to the alley.

You first.
- I'm right behind you, go now!

Come on.

Wade.

The OASIS need you.

What?
- I'm gonna delay them.

Wait, no, no, wait!

Let me out!

You'll forgive me for this, I promise.

Freeze, freeze!

Don't move!

Samantha Evelyn Cook.

IOI has purchased and consolidated

all of your outstanding debt.

Currently in excess of 23,000 credits.

You will be remanded

to the nearest IOI Loyalty Center

until your debt is paid in full,

including any interest,

processing,

or late fees you incur hence forth.

"First to the key?"

"First to the egg."

What?

"Never trust someone
you meet in the OASIS."

"She might be a 300 pound dude
named Chuck."

"Living in his momma's basement
in suburb of Detroit."

Aech!

Helen.

My dad called me Aech, it kinda stuck.

Let's go!

That thing is ID-ing my van.

Come on.

They've spotted us.

Daito.

My real name is Toshiro.

Samantha got us a message.

She told us to meet you here.

Samantha. They took her to the-
- Loyalty Center, I know.

Look, another awesome news:

The Sixers found the third challenge.

What?

Just come on, get in!

Let's go, hurry up.

Go, go.

How did the IOI find
the third challenge so fast?

IOI cracked
the first three lines of the clues.

So they knew it was Sector 14.

But they couldn't figure out
the Fortress Tragic.

So they sent every guy they had
into that sector

until they found the right fortress.

Sho?

Yeah, yeah, I'm 11, so what?

His real name is Xo.

But everyone else calls me Sho.

No big deal.

No.

It is a big deal.

Sho.

You're the world's most baddass
11-year-old ever.

He knows.
- Shut up, let him tell me.

Aech.

We have to go save Samantha.

We can't just go through the doors of IOI.

Look, I've been thinking about it.
I got a better plan.

You saw Sorrento's rig, right?

Yeah.

Let's go after the man himself
and make him give Art3mis

back to us.

But first, we have to now exactly

how much about Sorrento's rig
do you remember?

Kind of everything.

Maintenance, report to Loyalty Pod 31-B.

Security,

please report to Section 97 for escort.

Hey, newbie!

Get to work.

Get to work!

Work violation.

Work violation.

Lay those charges

every six feet.

Keep it moving!

Hey, you!

Those are explosives!

IOI will not reimburse

any lost coin if you zero out.

Keep it moving!

So what is this challenge?

Some sort of video game thing?

An Atari 2600, sir.

And every game ever made for it.

Thousands of possibilities.

Come up.

Halliday.

This is how you plan to resolve

the fate of the world's
most important economic resource?

Call me when you're close.
- Yes, sir.

Go, go! No!

One minute into Centipede.

The ice broke.

It has to be Joust!

Halliday still holds the world record

on the 2600 of that game.

Maybe we just need to beat his high score.
- Pitfall!

One of the only 2600 games

that still hasn't ended.

And how about those Swordquest games?

Yes, the Swordquest games.

They were created for a contest

Atari held with a real...

i-Rok, how are we doing?

To be honest,
I think I need physical therapy

because it's not-
- Is the Orb ready?

Um, as you wish.

The Orb of Osuvox.

Uh, how does it work?

Has it got, like, a remote,

or is there a button or something?

Nolan.

It's a level 99 magic artifact,

not one of your drones,

so it is activated by a magic spell.

Would you care to do the honors?

Anal nathrak, uthvas bethud.

Do che-ol di-enve.

Anal nathrak,

uthvas bethud.

Do che-ol di-enve.

Anal nathrak, uthvas bethud.

Do che-ol di-enve!

Where is she?

How'd you get in here?

Art3mis.
- Who?

Samantha Cook!

Where is she?

If you wanna talk, we can talk.

But you got to put that gun down.

You killed my mom's sister.

You think I won't kill you?

Just slow down, okay?

That was a corporate decision.

It was not personal!

Where is she?

She's downstairs,

in the Loyalty Center.

I know she's in the goddamn Loyalty Center.

You're gonna tell me exactly
which rig she's in.

And the access code to contact her.

Yeah, that seems appropriate.

Start with the access code.

6, 45, 7, 25.

Where's the rig?

I think he pissed himself.

Good job, Z.

We're in his account.

So he really doesn't know
he's in the OASIS?

REAL WORLD

This is what Sorrento should be seeing.

But this...

This is what we're making him see.

We grabbed him in transit

just as he was logging out of the OASIS.

So he thinks he's back in his office
in the real world.

But actually,

he's here,

in the identical office that Aech built.

So, you basically just
remotely hacked his rig.

A fixed rig like Sorrento's

is easy to locate, hard to hack.

Unless he's stupid enough

to leave his password lying around.

Loyalty Center, I'm in.

All right, let's get to work.

Arty.
- Z?

Z, Z!
- Arty, Arty.

Don't say anything,
I'm tapped directly into your audio feed.

How did you find me?

We got his password, hacked Sorrento's rig.

Z, I have something to tell you.

Not now, I have something to show you

that'll get you out of there.

The Sixers found the third challenge.
It's on Planet Doom.

And there's more,

they just put a force field
around Anorak's Castle.

I heard one of the guards calling it
"The Orb of Osuvox,"

and the only way to take it down is
from the inside.

She's right.

Level 99 artifact.

Creates a magic-resistant,

impenetrable barrier.

No way through it.

Okay, listen,
that's not important right now.

What's important is that
we get you out of the rig.

ACCESS GRANTED

All right, so I'm looking
at a diagram of your rig.

If you reach up with your left hand
at 11 o'clock,

there's a panel above your head.

Yeah, I can feel it.

Okay, there should be two release handles.

Nine o'clock and three o'clock.

Can you feel them?
- Yeah, I got it.

Okay, pull it towards you.

PULL LEVER

Okay, inside the panel, there's a lever.

Grab it with your right hand

and slide it to the left.

That should release you.

OFFLINE
RIG UNLOCKED

OFFLINE
AUTHORIZED BREAK

Oh, it worked.

It worked, I'm out.

Loyalty Pod 41-F.

You are on an authorized break

for ten minutes.

Pod 41-F.

You are on 10-minute break.

Proceed to break area.

Wait, Wade, you're still there?

Yeah, I'm here. Where are you?

Where's Sorrento's office?

It's in the IOI War Room,

two levels above where you are now.

But that's not the way out.

What's his password?

Wade, answer me!

Okay, it's capital B-0-55-man-69.

But, Arty,

you need to go.

You need to raise an army.

CELL DOOR RELEASE
ACTIVATED

An army?

Get to Planet Doom and wait for my signal.

What signal?

I'm gonna take down that shield.

Wait, Arty, wait!

You gotta get out of there, Arty!

Hey.

How much are they paying you?

'Cause, man, I got a lot of paper.
- Ssh.

You know, I can make you, like, a forest.
- Hey.

Shut up.

Okay.

This isn't real.

You're tapping my feed.

Uh-oh.

Guys.

PASSWORD: -
B055man69

F'Nale, they've hacked my rig.

They're after the girl.

Meet me at Loyalty.

Pod 41-F.

You have exceeded your break time.

Report to security

or your coin count will be reset

to zero.

So...

She just...

walks out of here?

How does that happen?

They're smart.
They know what they were doing.

But we know they're in Columbus.

And now, all five of them

are together.
- Wait, wait.

We know what?
How do we know?

We have the make and model of the van.

We'll spot them.

"We'll spot them"?

That sounds like a great inscription

for our tombstones.

Why didn't you tell me this earlier?

It wasn't relevant yet.

I need to know where they are.

We need to know.
We need to find them!

They're kids, Nolan.

Man the hell up.

Do your job and I'll do mine.

Unless you wanna take this

and go after them yourself.

Find them!

The Complete Nancy Drew.

Kegel Excersies for...

Bingo.

"Congratulations, you're the proud owner

of the Orb of Osuvox,
a 99th level magic artifact.

Read these instructions before deploying.

To turn orb on, off..."

Off! Yes, off.

"Utter spell within 10 feet of orb.

Anal nathrak,

uthvas bethud,

do che-ol di-enve."

Citizens of the OASIS.

I am Parzival, first to the key.

I'm here talking to all of you now

because our future's being threatened

by people who will stop at nothing
to win this contest.

Some of you already know this.

And you've lost much more
than just your avatars

or your weapons.

Some have lost their freedom.

Some have lost their lives.

And now...

This.

A force field.

Around the third challenge.

I only came here to escape

the shitty hand that life dealt me.

But I stayed.

Like many of you.

GREGARIOUS GAMES
LIVE from Planet Doom

Because I found something much bigger

than just myself.

I found a cause.

I found my friends.

And yes.

I know it's kind of a groaner, but...

I found love.

And I don't wanna lose that

to this colossal douchebag, Nolan Sorrento.

This guy.

Back to work, people.

He thinks that we're all
too distracted to even know that...

Nolan Sorrento thinks
that we won't put up a fight.

Sir, sir!

This is going out live!
- The only thing Halliday let this guy do,

It's absolutely everywhere.
- was to get him a cup of coffee.

And now we're supposed
to hand him the OASIS?

This Parzival...

Come on, come on.

Give me this thing.
- Yes, sir.

Left arm.

Left arm!

Sir.

No, I need the left arm.

No, I don't care...

I want it on.

He thinks that we won't even
put up a fight!

Well.

I say he's wrong.

I say, tell that to the Gunter clans

in the gold mines of Gygax.

Activate the Iron Giant.

KEEP CLEAN
DEEP HORIZON

Ask yourselves.

Are you willing to zero out

for the OASIS?

Are you willing to fight?

I am Parzival of the High Five.

In the name of Art3mis.

In the name of Aech.

In the name of Daito and Sho.

We ask you to join us on Planet Doom!

In the name of James Halliday himself.

Help us save the OASIS.

No, no, no, no.

"No man is failure who has friends."

INNOVATIVE ONLINE INDUSTRIES

Squadron 14, armor up, you're in the lead.

One minute into Swordquest,

the ice broke.

SWORDQUEST
- Well.

All three Swordquests, what's next?

Dark Cavern.
- Laser Blast.

Super Breakout.
- It's Adventure.

Released in 1979, for the 2600,
Adventure was created

by Warren Robinett,

who was the first video game designer ever
to hide his name.

In fact he was the first representation
- Try Adventure.

ever of human beings in it.

Play Adventure.

PLANET DOOM
SPEAKER DRONE

More than a minute.

We're still alive.

This must be the right game.

Anal nathrak.

Uthvas bethud.

Do che-ol di-enve.

How long does it last...

this orb thing?

Anal nathrak.

Uthvas bethud.

Do che-ol di-enve.

I'd say about...

Ten...

Yeah, about 10 million years, so...

we should be fine.

Anal nathrak.

Uthvas bethud.

Do che-ol di-enve.

First to the key!

First to the egg!

First to the egg!

First to the egg!

[SONG]

ENHANCED POV

ENHANCED POV
OPTIC ZOOM

Adventure!

Bad move, huh?

What? Come on!

TARGET
ACQUIRED

TARGET
ACQUIRED

TARGET
ACQUIRED

TARGET
ACQUIRED

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

The Sixers are in the final challenge.

It's an Atari 2600.

Are you in the Sixer War Room?

No, no, you gotta get out of there.

They're playing Adventure.

Adventure.

Of course!

Created by Warren Robinett!

He was the first designer to ever hide

an easter egg.
- Dude!

We're looking for a USPS truck,

Ohio plates,

a drone spitter, 2036 model.

DRONE3482
FRIENDLY

PRIVATE PROPERTY
NO TRESPASSING

DRONE3482
FRIENDLY

SEARCHING

SEARCHING
NO MATCH

SEARCHING
NO MATCH

SEARCHING
NO MATCH

SEARCHING
NO MATCH

SEARCHING
NO MATCH

NO MATCH

NO MATCH

NO MATCH

NO MATCH

NO MATCH

Daito!

When are you getting into this fight?

I'm out, inventory's empty.

Last clip for me.

More weapons!

Anti-personnel ordinance cannon!

Anti-personnel ordinance cannon.

Railgun!

Railgun!

Yo, Z.

Yo, Z!

Try this little guy.

Get rid of it, get rid of it!

It's fucking Chucky!

Move, move!

Go, go, go!

Mechagodzilla!

Daito, we need you!

Daito, now!

Get to the bridge.

Go now, he's distracted.

Go, go, go!

I choose the form of Gundam.

GREGARIOUS 150
TURNS INTO MECH FOR SECONDS

Arty!

Get to the castle.

Win the third key before they do.

What is that?

He's only got 30 seconds

before changing back.

Daito!

Abort, abort!

You got 10 seconds!

First to the egg!

Shit, it's her.

Arty!

Arty!

Z, we got to get to the castle!

She never left.

She's still here.

The girl's in the War Room.

LASER PISTOL

PRIMARY WEAPON
LASER PISTOL

THROWING STAR

RELOAD

KRULL CLAIVE

No!

Arty, we got this.
You need to log out!

If the game is Adventure,

why haven't they won yet?

I don't know. Arty!

Arty, I'm serious!

Sorrento's crazy, he'll kill you.

What are you looking at?

There's nothing over there.

You're in trouble, aren't you?

Samantha.

You know I love you.

Not the time, Z.

I can handle the challenge,

but I can't let you get hurt
in the real world.

Get out of IOI,

and meet us at River South.

Wade.

No.

You'll forgive me for this, I promise.

Wade, no, no, no!

GAME OVER

Get together, Sixer.

Back to respawn.

Let's go, move.

You're in.

HAND GRENADE

Holy hand grenade.

How much did that cost?

Less...

than it's gonna cost them.

What is that?

Sir, the Gunters are
approaching the challenge.

i-Rok?
- In position, sir.

Prepare my rig.

The ice is holding.

Still going.

Wait.

He's trying to win.

Yeah!

I won.

He lost.

Not Adventure.

ADVENTURE

Everyone who wins...

loses.

It's not about winning.

It's about playing.

Remember Halliday's announcement.

"The keys are invisible.

And they're hidden in a dark room

that's at the center of a maze."

Well, there's a secret in Adventure.

And you don't find it by winning.

You find it by wandering around
in a dark room.

Until you get to the invisible dot.

It's pretty easy
if you know what you're doing.

Really?

Let me finish it for you.

It's your last chance, Wade.

Last chance.

Give me the key.

I'll give you 50 million in your account

right now.

Why the hell would I ever do that?

Dude, that's the Cataclyst!

Now, personally, I don't care.

I'd just as soon
never set foot in the OASIS again,

let alone have to deal
with any of this absurdity.

But I know how important

Halliday's competition is to you.

So...

I will never

let the future of the OASIS

rest in your hands, Nolan Sorrento.

Well, that's fine.

Three easy steps.

One.

Wait, I thought you were bluffing.

You know that kills all of us, right?

I've got 10 years' worth of shit
inside of me.

Last chance, two.

Hey, I'm not going out like that.

Like that's a camper move.

You don't even know
how to activate an orb.

Yeah, I felt those.

But this is my world, Sorrento.

Hadouken!

No, no, no!

Step three.

No, no, no!

Get me out of this thing.

Uh...

Guys?

Z... He's still alive!

Extra life.

Thanks, Curator.

Hold on.

INCOMING LIVE STREAM

PARZIVAL PLAYS FOR CRYSTAL KEY
WILL PARZIVAL UNLOCK THE SECRET TO GSS?

Live feed on the OASIS channels.

Halliday's letting everyone
watch the end of the contest.

That's so Halliday.

God damn it,

we tried Adventure.

No, we tried to win it.

But the hidden room isn't
at the end of the game.

You gotta go straight
to the invisible dot at the start.

C7
OOLOGY

ENLIST TODAY
INNOVATIVE ONLINE INDUSTRIES

Is that her?

Red hair?

IOI uniform?

Doesn't know what planet she's on?

That's her.

I'm Toshiro.

You know me as Daito.

Hey, Arty.

Yeah.

I know.

Not what you're expecting, huh?
- Yeah.

I wasn't expecting a...

late '30s model

postal van.

Wade?

Wait, I thought the Cataclyst went off.

How then you're still playing?

Extra life, long story.

Sorry, I shot you.

Sho?

What?

Do I have to wear a sign saying,

"I am 11 years old. Shoot me first"?

No, thanks.
- Dude!

Give me a hug.
- Ninjas don't hug!

Alright, everybody, hold on to something.

MATCH

Got you.

Come on, Nolan, pick up.

F'Nale.

Tell me something good.

I've got a drone on their tail.

I'm close.

Send me coordinates.
- Maybe you should leave this

to me, Nolan.

TRACKING

Nolan?

Nolan!

Out.

Give me that.

What's going on out there?

The game is over for them.

What are they watching?

The final key!

It's being broadcast.

You see.

Warren Robinett was proud of Adventure.

He wanted people to know
who's behind this.

That's why he created
the first digital easter egg.

And to find it,

you didn't even have to win.

You just had to

blindly play.

Searching around.

In rooms for...

an invisible...

dot.

You took the dot back
to the main screen and...

that's when you found
the first easter egg

ever put in a video game.

The creator's name.

What's going on, man?
I can't see shit.

Parzival just got the Crystal Key!

Do you want it or not?

Aech, what the hell is going on?

Just practicing my Mario Kart!

What do you think?
IOI's tryna kill us, man!

Everyone watching,

if you're in the Columbus stacks,

this is Parzival.

My real world name is Wade Watts,

and we're gonna need your help.

Aech, head for the stacks!

Okay, hold on!

Stick the key in, how hard is it?!

That's it?

Yeah, that's it.

Now, you just sign this paper

and the OASIS is yours.

You will be

its sole proprietor.

That ain't so bad, is it?

I'm gonna need a second.

This is wrong.

This pen.

This contract.

This is the moment
that Halliday made Morrow

sign over his shares in Gregarious.

That was the biggest mistake of his life.

He knew that.

This can't be the end.

It's a test.

I won't make the same mistake you did.

Oh, good...

I just needed to be sure.

This is where you grew up.

Oh, that's just me.

A long time ago.

I like to have him around
from time to time.

Hey, I have to show you something.

This is... Come on.

This is the button.

If you push it,

the whole simulation shuts down

and a tapeworm program will erase

all of the backup servers.

So you now have the power
to turn the OASIS off forever.

You understand?

Yeah, try...

Try not to accidentally erase
the whole of the OASIS

on your first day.

The stacks are straight ahead!

Well, I expect you have to go.

I know I do.

So now, it's the time for you
to receive your prize

because you won all three keys.

Once you take this egg,

the game...

will be over.

The egg.

The egg.

We know what you did here.

You turn around, walk out of here

while you still can.

I... I created the OASIS

because I never felt

at home in the real world.

I just didn't know how to...

connect with the people there.

I was afraid for all my life.

Right up until the day
I knew my life was ending.

You know that?

That was when I realize that...

as terrifying and painful

as reality can be,

it's also...

the only place that...

you can get a decent meal.

Because...

reality...

is real.

You understand what I'm saying?

Yes.

Yes, I do.

He did it.

He got the egg.

Hooray.

No, please!

Hold it!

Drop the gun!

Now!

On the ground!

Turn around.

Hands on your head.

Walk back towards me.

GAME OVER

Mr. Halliday.

Something I don't understand.

You're not an avatar,

are you?

No.

Is Halliday really dead?

Yes.

Then what are you?

Goodbye, Parzival.

Thanks.

Thanks for playing my game.

Wade.

Ogden Morrow?
- Ogden Morrow?

You can call me Og.

Now, there are some people out here

that would very much
like to meet you.

Wow, this is...

This is incredible.

It's an honor to meet you...

Og. But, I...

There's something I need to do first.

I'm not like Halliday.

I'm taking the leap.

We're looking for Wade Watts?

We need you to make a statement

about the clip you sent in

of Nolan Sorrento's confession?

That was me.

What? I record everything in my workshop.

Help me out of this.

Who are you guys?

The people you need right now.

Lawyers.

From Gregarious Games.

They want your signature, Wade.

I'm splitting it with my clan.

We're gonna run things together.

That's a good choice.

PARZIVAL
- GO, AECH!

F'Nale.

Listen to me very carefully.

Mr. Morrow.

I mean, Og.

How'd you get here so fast?

I flew from the start
on my magic sleigh.

Everyone's been watching.

Of course,

I've been watching
a little closer than most.

You?

You're the Curator?

Well played, Parzival.

Jim told me nothing about the contest.

So there was no rule about me

losing a bet to a smart kid.

Not that you needed my help.

You figured out that

Kira was the key, on your own.

Yeah, but...

Kira wasn't the key.

It was you, Mr. Morrow.

I mean,

you were the Rosebud.

And Halliday's biggest regret was...

losing his only friend.

You know, Jim used to say the OASIS was

never supposed to be a one-player game.

Now.

Who do we have here?

Oh.

Oh, look who it is.

It's my heroes, the...

High Five!
You must be...

Art3mis?
- Samantha.

The High Five took over the OASIS.

And the first thing we did,

was sign Ogden Morrow

to a non-exclusive consultancy.

The salary,

per his demand,

was 25 cents.

One quarter.

With his guidance, our second move

was to ban any Loyalty Centers

from accessing the OASIS.

IOI had no choice.

They shut them all down.

The third thing we did wasn't as popular.

We closed the OASIS
on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

I know it sounds like a weird move, but...

people need to spend more time
in the real world.

'Cause...

Like Halliday said,

Reality...

is the only thing...

that's real.