Almost Human (2013–2014): Season 1, Episode 9 - Unbound - full transcript

WOMAN:
The year is 2048.

Evolving technologies
can no longer be regulated.

Dangerous advancements forever
alter the criminal landscape.

Police are not prepared.

Law enforcement combats
this corruption

with a new line of defense.

But not all are created equal.

RUDY: The idea behind the DRNs
was to be as human as possible.

They were based on a program
called Synthetic Soul.

JOHN:
That's one of the crazy ones.

- I'll lead you in?
- Let's go.



WOMAN:
Now all cops...

human and manmade together...

take on the battle
to watch over us all.

What do we want to see next?

How about somewhere
interesting?

Field trips are supposed
to be fun.

They're here to learn, John.

I'm sure they're
learning a lot.

All right,

which of you are the good guys?

(chattering in agreement)

Now, who wants to know
where the 911 calls go?

Or...

who wants to see
where we keep the guns?



(chattering in agreement)

Well, who wants
to meet Captain Maldonado?

(John snores)

(yawns)

Or who wants

to see what happens to bad guys?

(chattering in agreement)

Yeah.

You guys remember
Johnny Horowitz, right?

Well, old Johnny's luck

eventually ran out.

You see,
his organized crime pals,

they did this to him.

Blew his arm clean off.

- (students groaning)
- TEACHER: Okay.

You know what,
come on, let's go.

JOHN:
Hey, where-where you going?

You took it too far, John.

Bed-wetters.
(scoffs)

FLORIST:
Here you go.

They're lovely.

Put them in water as soon
as you get home.

I will, thank you.

(beeps)

- See you next week, Tanya.
- Okay.

Bye.

(gasps)
What do you think you're...

(whimpering)

Take it. Take it, please.

(gasps)

(sirens wailing)

(tires squeal)

MX:
Surrender your weapon!

Surrender your weapon!

Surrender your weapon!

(indistinct radio transmission)

(sirens wailing distantly)

No explosives,
no foreign objects.

This is another service bot

reprogrammed to commit a felony.

Yeah, I get it, Sherlock.

Lock up the scene, photograph
and bag the evidence.

Routine procedure.

(door beeps)

Where's the file?

Case number 45344.

Make sure you tag it, too.

(beeping)

?

?

(high-pitched mechanical whine)

?

How did you get in here?

I've been in here
for a long time.

It walked right to
that evidence crate

like it knew where
it was going.

Not like. It did.

VALERIE:
What do you guys got?

JOHN:
Call came in at 2247.

Multiple witnesses saw this
bot mug a woman at gunpoint.

After she handed over her purse,

it shot her point blank.

Officers chased it
and destroyed it.

At least, they
thought they did.

MALDONADO:
We have a huge problem here.

Can you bring up
a better angle?

Anybody recognize that head?

That's impossible.

It can't be.

- Are you sure?
- Positive.

It's an XRN.

What's it doing
in our evidence locker?

I'm sorry, I don't follow.

What is an XRN?

- I thought we destroyed it.
- Destroyed what?

The body was destroyed;
the head's been

in our evidence locker
for two years.

So someone programmed a bot
to commit a crime,

get taken out, and end up
in our evidence locker

to steal that head?

Exactly. This was
no random crime.

John, bring in Districts 14,

15 and 18.

Put BOLOs out to every
precinct in the city.

Consolidate all drone
and sat surveillance.

I want extra
security and patrols

at all high-value targets.

Insyndicate.
Insyndicate made a run

on our evidence locker
a few months ago.

I think this is what
they were after.

What would Insyndicate
or anyone else want with it?

I have no record of an XRN.

An XRN with that much firepower
is nothing short of terrorism.

The Wall.

What about the Wall?

If this is about terrorism,

I can't think
of a better target.

You think she would try
to create a breach

between us and the other side?

She's certainly got
enough firepower.

MALDONADO: Alert the watch
commander at the Wall.

Tell them to be extra vigilant.

I want her off the street.

Captain, what the hell
is going on?

Dorian,

as long as she's out there, a
lot of people are gonna die.

Hello.

Where are you going?

(gunshot)

(beeps)

Whatever you're looking for
in those files,

you won't find it.

- They're mostly redacted.
- Why?

Because it's an embarrassment
to the department.

What happened that day, John?

First of all, it
wasn't one day.

It was three.

You heard of a company
called Lumocorp?

Yes. They made me.

Well, then you know

not long after
they were integrated

into the police force, the DRNs

began to malfunction.

Their behavior became
unpredictable, erratic.

Some of them even took
their own lives

because they just couldn't cope
with what they saw.

So you were all decommissioned

and replaced by a
generic robot, the MXs.

After Lumocorp's order
was canceled, overnight,

they went from being one
of the most successful companies

in the world
to a complete failure.

So,

faced with a mountain of debt
and a bunch of androids

that nobody wanted,

the guy who ran the company
came up with a new bot.

The XRN.

He designed it to be
more soldier than cop,

and they had a big demo
for it downtown, Green Street.

All the politicians were
there, power players.

Let's just say

it didn't go well.

By the time my unit was
called in on the second day,

they'd set up a triage
outside the building.

Medics couldn't keep up
with the casualties.

For 36 hours,

we assaulted it with
everything we had.

Armor-piercing rounds,

light bombs, waves of MXs.

26 cops went into
...and never came out alive...

How many XRNs were there?

On the third day,

we finally cornered her
up on the top floor.

We destroyed it.

The only thing that
was left was its head.

That head.

?

(gun clicks)

(phone rings)

JOHN:
Rudy, what have you got?

Captain Maldonado sent me

what was left of the bot
that walked out

of your evidence locker.

I got good and bad news.

Bad news is, whoever
programmed it is talented.

How talented?

Well, the body was

basically just an old scrap bot.

There's nothing unique
or traceable

about the materials used,

but it's been ingeniously
modified.

Modified?

Yeah, it was designed with a
hidden secondary power source.

The officers that took
the android out thought

they'd destroyed it,

but once it was booked
into evidence,

that alternate power
activated, and, well,

we all know what happened next.

Do you have any idea who could
create such a thing?

Uh, I don't know. I could make
a few calls, ask around.

You said something
about good news.

Um, yeah, that burning
was nothing.

Uh, my test results
came back negative.

Wait... how do you know
about that?

About the case, Rudy.

Yeah.

Ah, yes, the good news,

she may have
her own Achilles' heel.

As I was saying, the materials
used to make the body

are very crude,
and if it's running

on a secondary power source,

I'll wager
she won't get very far.

She'll need a new body.

?

(footsteps approach)

Danica.

(gun cocks)

OFFICER:
Attention, all units:

target sighted in Section 43,
warehouse district.

Target has fled the scene.

Victim is conscious,
minor lacerations.

Detective Kennex.

Thanks, Morris.

DORIAN: The warehouse is
owned by a Nigel Bernard.

The bot was here
when he got home.

EMTs are with him now.

JOHN: Looks like it came
here to change bodies.

What does this Bernard guy do?

That's a good question.

Whoever Dr. Bernard
is, that's not him.

JOHN:
What do you mean?

Do you know this guy?

Excuse me.

You're still a police officer.

I am.

They call me Dorian.

Yes, of course they do.

May I?

I never thought that...

Is there something I'm missing?

Uh, forgive me.

It's been quite a morning
for surprises.

Detective John Kennex,
this is Dr. Nigel Vaughn.

He created me.

JOHN:
You're Nigel Vaughn?

Dr. Nigel Vaughn,
founder of Lumocorp?

Regrettably, I'm a very long way
from those days.

You changed your name.

Yes, I-I did.
How are you still on the force?

I was recommissioned.

- Are you the only one?
- Yes.

I've missed you
so much, Dorian.

(laughs)

DANICA:
Hey.

Dr. Vaughn, what did
it want from you?

Danica.

Danica?

- My prototype. That's what
I called her. - Right.

So, uh, what did it want
from you?

She wanted me
to take her to my lab.

I told her I no longer have
a real lab.

I lost my license
to practice robotics.

She didn't take that very well.

You know, for a guy

who doesn't have
a license in robotics,

you kind of got
a lot of robotics here.

I just repair things now

and I sell old parts
whenever I can.

I mean, we all have
to eat, Detective.

- Why would she want to use your lab?
- (sighs)

- I don't know.
- You changed your name. You've...

gone to extraordinary lengths
to keep a low profile,

but somebody programmed
Danica's head to find you.

- Do you have any idea who? - I've made a lot
of enemies since my botched demonstration

on Green Street,
Detective. I'm...

- sure you can well imagine. - DORIAN: Any
of them capable of building an android

like the one that broke
into our evidence locker?

- I don't know.
- Dr. Vaughn...

Please, call me Nigel.

Nigel, do you have any idea
where she's going?

What she might need or want?

No. No, I...

You know, I went through
all of this two years ago.

I don't know
what she wanted then,

and I don't know
what she wants now.

Danica was the greatest mistake
of my career,

of my life.

I take responsibility for that,

but it's not my fault
that she got out.

I don't know if you know what
it's like to be part of something

that defines you forever
and in a way

that you do not
wish to be defined.

It's not easy. Everywhere I
went, people looked. They knew.

They heard my name, they knew.

"There goes that guy that
made that killer robot,

that machine that
murdered all those people."

I'm sorry.

Well, thank you for your time.

If you can think of
anything that'll help us

in our investigation,
please give me a call.

- Thanks again. - Nigel, I
know this is hard for you.

It's not our past
that defines us.

It's what we do now.

There is a chance...

a very small chance,

that if I had some
of my old equipment back,

I might be able to trace her.

We're taking Vaughn and Rudy.

You think it'll work, John?

Look, we don't have a choice.
I need you to get

a release order
for Dr. Vaughn's lab equipment.

I've got a cop-killing android

at large in my city,
with no clue what it wants

or where to find it, and
your answer is lab equipment?

- Vaughn says he can track it.
- Oh, whoa, I said I think

- I can track her. - JOHN: He
thinks he can track it.

- VALERIE: I got the case files.
- Get an order to release it.

Fast. We're on it.

Who are you?

Wow. Well, whose temple is this?

Mine... Y-Your Highness.

Uh, Dr. Rudolph Lom,

- at your service.
- Um,

I'm Nigel. Um, you may,

uh, rise.

You've been such an inspiration.

Th-The DRNs are simply
amazing, Well...

the greatest robotic, uh,
achievement of our generation,

uh, in my humble opinion.

Well, um, thank you, Rudolph,
for saying that.

Watching you work even
from afar was like

glimpsing Michelangelo
at the peak of his talents.

Your hands are instruments

of innovation. They should be...
they should be bronzed.

Do you mind if I see them?
Uh...

Sorry. I...

I don't mean to gush.

I'm just a big fan.

Uh, thank you. I should have you
talk to my ex-wife.

Oh, I'd be happy
to give her a call.

- It would be an honor...
- I was... joking.

Oh, yeah. So am I.
(chuckles nervously)

We were... sharing a moment.

So what are
we looking for here, Doc?

Ah. A, um,
silver case,

and it'll be marked 10-68.
The contents may...

give us the ability to track
Danica, and I emphasize "may."

After we find her, what then?

Well, hopefully, we'll be able
to shut her down peacefully

and avoid any further bloodshed.

That's a pretty big "if."

Yes, I suppose it is.

DORIAN: I think I
found something.

Yes? May I see?

What are these?

(exhales)
My greatest achievement.

It's what makes you

you.

Synthetic souls.

So you're to blame.
No,

Detective, I can be blamed

for many horrible things,

but synthetic souls are not one
of those horrible things.

RUDY:
May I ask what was

your inspiration?
Ah.

Well, I was trying
to capture the intangible.

Y-You understand, of course,

that DNA can be isolated under
a microscope. Uh, you know,

hair color, eye color, height,

weight, ethnicity...
the fundamental

basic data can be traced
to individual chromosomes.

But the soul...

That is who we are.

That is our passion.

Our pain.

It's why we laugh, why we cry,

why we strive to be better.

DNA, it's

the-the data, but the soul...

that's the story.

That is the essence of life.

I wanted to create life.

What did you do...

differently?

With her

synthetic soul?

Just remember something:
you are not like her.

Okay?

I mean, the blueprint
is the same, but...

How can you be sure?

Some things

I really wish
I'd have done differently.

(phone ringing)

Kennex.

It's me.

What's up?

I'm at a, uh, tech company
in the downtown core.

Looks like your girl
came in swinging.

She painted the walls
with a lab assistant,

and she massacred
a bunch of other employees

just to get into the clean room.

What did it want in there?

She stole 500, uh...

"ZNA processing cores"?

What are they?

Like I know.

Okay. Thanks.

Your robot just broke into

a company downtown,
killed a bunch of people,

and stole some
ZNA processing cores.

That mean anything to you?

Well, I mean, they're...
they're processors.

Every android has one.

But those are very advanced.

I mean, they're capable

of a zeta-flop

of parallel computations
per second.

I don't know

what that means, but, um...

she stole 500 of them.

Why 500? NIGEL: Simple math.

One chip per android.

RUDY:
With those processing cores,

you'd be well on your way

to conceivably making
500 Danicas.

Someone's building androids.

- You have a visitor. - Great.
I love visitors.

He works in robotics

for some big tech company.
Rudy called him.

Thought he might
have some insight

into whoever put this homicidal

robot back onto the street.

Where are you at
with Dr. Vaughn?

He and Rudy are working on
the tracking software now.

They need a little
bit more time

- to attempt to locate Danica.
- Danica?

That's what Dr. Frankenstein
called it.

Cute.

I'm Detective Kennex.

(man sighs)
This is my partner, Dorian.

Luther Estes.
We're investigating

a suspect with
a robotics background.

Dr. Lom said that you may be
able to help us build a profile.

(beep)

This isn't a normal worker bot.

These are cutting-edge designs.

Some of these concepts are just

being theorized
in the top robotic universities

in the world.

This bot has
palladium-encrusted circuits.

They're hugely expensive
and extremely rare.

But the work is raw.

Someone who's not
beholden to conventions.

Probably younger.

Do you have any idea who might
be capable of this kind of work?

There's a kid
in New Tokyo... Hikari.

She'd be capable
of work like this.

If it were someone local, I'd
have heard about them by now.

What about someone
on the other side of the Wall?

We have to consider
the possibility that

the bot came from over there.

What is that, a joke?

Where would they
get the resources?

Anyone this intelligent
would not still be on that side

of the Wall.

Not willingly, anyway.

NIGEL: Here it is... it's our
best shot at finding Danica.

Well, inside of this...

is a unique signature,

an energy specific to Danica.

Once we isolate that signature,

we can upload it
into your department's

tracking system and,
theoretically,

be able to track her, just
as you would any MX or android

on your network.

I don't think you understand
what you created.

Pardon?
With Dorian.

Your goal was to design androids

to integrate
into the police force,

but you created
so much more than that.

Yes, well, I'm afraid the world
wasn't ready for a machine

quite so evolved.
(high-pitched beeping)

I remember your trial.

I felt badly for you.

You were in the minority,
I'm afraid.

The Synthetic Soul program
was ahead of its time.

I don't know if
I'd have had the courage

to push boundaries like you did.

Perhaps your caution

is why you still have
a lab and I don't.

The DRNs were my life's work.

Don't have any children.

The love I felt for them...

was not unlike a father's.

And when they started
to malfunction,

the powers that be
quietly decided

in some back room that...

the logic-based
MXs were...

the better way to go.

Didn't even give me an
opportunity to try and fix them.

Uh, I work with MXs every day,
and let me tell you,

they have their limitations.

I mean, for a start, they
just stare at you with those...

beady eyes.

Look... they
don't even respond.

(sighs)

Sorry, you were saying?

Well, I had a...

a second fleet of DRNs
already built,

ready to be deployed,
when they pulled my contract.

Then I was crushed
under a mountain of debt,

lost everything...
my company...

my reputation.

Had to do something.

Is that why you created her?

Mm-hmm.

Did you know what
she was capable of?

No, I didn't predict
any of this.

None of it.

Although...

you know, when I made
the DRNs, I was filled

with a passion for my work

and hope for where
we were going.

When I made Danica...

I was filled with resentment...

desperation.

I sometimes wonder if,
back then, something

that was dark inside of me...

got put in... her.

I mean, we are...

an integral part of our
creations, aren't we?

But, you know, Danica is...

is complex.

Not just black and white
or good and evil.

The world only saw
one part of her, and that,

as they say, was that,
and I've been prevented

from practicing robotics
ever since.

(beep)

(Rudy laughs softly)

You captured

her energy signature.

Let's go see if this works.

WOMAN: Take us to 4th
and Caspar, now.

This cab is off duty.
Your light was on.

And your meter's still on.
Take us to 4th

and Caspar now.

I just said I'm off duty.

GIRL:
I think you're very pretty.

WOMAN:
Let's go, honey.

Just got to install
her frequency

onto our tracking software.

What's wrong with this?

I don't know why
I can't get it up.

RUDY: I mean with her. I mean...
with her signal.

I can get it up.
I have no problem

in that department whatsoever.
I'm just... that's not...

really an appropriate thing
to be talking about

in the middle of an emergency

with... you guys.

I'll, uh... I'll
just keep working on this.

Dr. Vaughn, is there anything
else that you require?

Go away.

What the hell is that?

An EMP spike.

If we set the
electromagnetic pulse

to her frequency, we
should be able to disable her.

That's her. It worked.

Well done, Dr. Vaughn.
Where is she? Find out

- what's in that area, Stahl. - RUDY: She's
moving towards the northwest corner

of 3rd and Main.
She's in a vehicle.

- Looks like mostly retail and restaurants.
- If this is about

stealing tech, why is she there?

Track her signal
and send drones.

- (sighs) Doc? - Yeah, now, listen,
you need to get close enough

to insert that.
It has to go

precisely into
the back of her skull.

The back of her skull?

You're telling me to walk up
to a homicidal robot

and stab it in the back
of the neck?

Uh-huh.

Great.

Take as many available
MXs as you need.

Great work.

Uh, Dorian?

Be careful.

(tires squealing)

- How far out are we?
- Less than two minutes.

DORIAN: She just went into a bar.
2720 3rd Street.

Pull up the phone number.
Start evacuating the building.

What the hell is
she doing in a bar?

I just spoke to the
bar's corporate office.

They're holding a reelection
fund-raiser for Councilman James Hart.

They forwarded over
the guest list...

it's a who's who of the
city's power players.

Cross-reference the list...
see if anybody

has any ties to robotics.

I'm on it.

(indistinct chatter, laughing)

WOMAN:
Um... hi.

Are you on the list?

- WOMAN: Bar Luxon. Can I help you?
- This is the police. We need you

(automatic gunfire) to evacuate
the building as soon...

(gunfire, panicked shouts)

Hello?

Hello?

Shots fired.

We're hearing shots fired now.

Paul's on his way
with reinforcements.

(sirens chirping)

Officer Kennex.

The building has east and west
access on the first floor.

Take a team
in the west entrance.

I need a diversion.

There's a fire escape
around the back.

I'll evacuate people from there.

Let's go, come with me!

Move!

(gunfire)

(gunfire)

(yells)

We've lost all visuals!

John, what's happening?

Gorson is down.
Hernandez is down.

We lost five MXs.

Oh, my God.

- You okay?
- This is happening again?

It's not your fault.

Dr. Vaughn,
maybe you should wait

in the conference room.

Huh? Yes.

This better work.

(yells)

The E.M.P. didn't work!

Get Dr. Vaughn!

Where'd he go?

(both grunting)

(gunshot)

Why are you doing this?

Because my sacrifice
is necessary.

Just like yours.

We're nothing alike.

(both grunting)

Dorian!

Dr. Vaughn's not
in the building!

- What?
- He's gone.

We have no feed.
I cannot see anything!

(grunts)

(cocks gun)

(yells)

(both grunting)

(gurgling)

(grunts)

(John laughing)

What's so funny?

I got the pin to your grenade.

(grunts)

(panting)

You okay?

You?

Ah...

I'll be better.

Better than a human leg, huh?

Still anti-synthetic?

It's growing on me.

(both laugh)

(comm chirps)

Kennex.

MALDONADO:
John?

Are you okay?

Yeah, we're fine.

Bot's destroyed.

Tell Dr. Vaughn it's over.

Dr. Vaughn is gone.

Gone?

Gone where?
We don't know.

VALERIE: Captain?
We have a problem.

I fully endorse replacing
the DRNs with MX androids.

I think I know why they're
targeting Councilman Hart.

Need to be lost
before we decommission

these dangerous bots and end
this failed experiment?

RUDY: John, I'm telling
you, this is all a mistake.

You've got it wrong,
Nigel wouldn't do this.

Yeah? Then show me
those damn synthetic souls.

I saw him put them away.
They're right here.

Where?
They're gone.

Drive.

When the DRNs malfunctioned,

Hart was the force
behind the recall.

He voted to take away the city's

DRN contract from Lumocorp
and awarded the new MX contract

to Vaughn's competitor.

It was one last "screw you"
to his competitors

before he disappeared.

The councilman's recovering
at Mercy General.

I put a personal security
detail on him, just in case.

- This wasn't about Councilman Hart.
- Yeah, Hart was just a bonus.

This was about resources.

Vaughn wanted
the microprocessors

and the synthetic souls.

MAN: Captain, there are
no sightings of Vaughn

in District 7 or 8.
We put out BOLOs

and assigned drones to the
airport, the monorail lines,

and the ports.

Any conceivable place he'd
think to exit the city from.

But he didn't just disappear,
so keep looking.

(sighs)

How's he handling this?

JOHN: Must be a hell of a
thing to meet your maker.

But to be betrayed by him...

You okay?

He told me something
in the lab.

What?

I asked him what
he did differently

with Danica's synthetic
soul than he did with mine.

He said "nothing."

She malfunctioned.

She killed all
those people, John.

You're afraid that's
gonna happen to you?

How could the same man
that made her make me?

- If she's capable of all
those things, I... - Dorian.

You're not like her.

And you're not like him.

You're you.

And nothing's
going to change that.

Vaughn was in a different space
when he made her.

He was desperate.

He was losing his company, his
reputation, his lab, everything.

What?

His lab.

Vaughn stole enough robotics
to build an army, man.

He doesn't want to
hide away or disappear,

he wants to work.

He needs a new lab.

- Captain.
- Yeah?

Vaughn's not looking to run.
He needs a sanctuary.

A place where he can work.
Someplace big enough

for that kind of manufacturing,

off the power grid.

The abandoned shipyards
at the Old Port,

that might be a place to start.

What about the subway tunnels
that collapsed during

the light bomb attack?
It's subterranean,

it's out of sight of the drones.

What about over the Wall?

If you really didn't
want to be found...

to disappear off every grid...

that would be the place to go.

I mean, Vaughn's crazy, but...

not that crazy.

I think John's right.

I don't think he'd
go over the Wall.

(whistle)