The Outer Limits (1995–2002): Season 6, Episode 19 - Zig Zag - full transcript

(MEN SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY)

STOTTLEMEYER:
Take the 23rd.
MAN: Yes, Sir.

I want you to take
this personal info manager,

uplink all the data on it
to Washington, and then
bring the pin back to me.

Go!

How the hell
did this building's security
allow a guy like Zig Fowler

through its front doors,
let alone its
holy of holies?

I told you,
he isn't Zig Fowler.
Zig Fowler is dead.

I ran that bastard
to the ground
four years ago.

Then why does my pin say
this is Fowler?

Purge it, okay?



The guy in the server room
is named Unger, Cliff Unger.

And don't ask me how the hell
he got in here.

I'm still trying
to figure it out myself.

So, if this guy's not Fowler,
what's he doing here?

I don't know.

This guy should have
folded his cards already.

He's a glorified typist,
for crying out loud,
not a terrorist.

So, like you say,
if we move in on him,
he should lie down.

Get him on the horn,
keep him talking
for five to seven minutes.

Can you do it?

(BEEPING)

Unger.

(CELL PHONE RINGING)

What?
 PETER YASTRZEMSKI:
You thought about my offer?



I told you what you can do
with your offer, didn't I?
Yeah.

But now that I've removed
it from that particular place

and wiped it off,
I'm putting it right back
on the table.

Understand something.

There's no wriggle room here.

These FBI guys...
Oh! I've seen
their handiwork.

Oh, you think
that was bad?

Wait till you see
what they're gonna do to you.

If I let them.
Let's be real, Cliff.

My name is Zig Fowler.

Your name is Cliff Unger.
That's not what
my chip says.

I don't care
what your chip says.

Look, your only way
out of here is through me.

And you're definitely
gonna want a way out.

You're not gonna blow up
this building.

Oh, no?
I'm holding a detonator
in my hand.

Wanna see me push it?
YAS:
I'm willing to admit,

I might have pushed you
a little too hard.

I... I'll make it up to you.

I'll get that chip of yours
fixed today.

I can make it happen.
Right now.

Nah, it's a little late
for that now,
don't you think?

CLIFF: I'm on one path,

and it's heading
in one direction
and one direction only.

Look, you said before
you wanted to talk to me,
face to face.

What if I were willing
to agree to that? Huh?

What do you say, Cliff?

You and me.

Mano-a-mano.

Did you hear what I said?

Yeah. I hear you.

Okay.

CLIFF:
Come on in.

We'll be in position
in three minutes.

CLIFF:
Talk to me,
I am waiting.

YAS:
All right Cliff

I'm coming in.

But, first I've gotta run this
by Agent Stottlemeyer.

No. You come in, now.

Cliff, it's not gonna
take long. I promise you.

You come in right now,
or the deal's off.

You're not Zig Fowler.
Why are you acting like him?

Maybe because Zig Fowler
was right to try
to destroy you

and the unimpeded,
wholly democratic
free flow of information.

That flow of information
you're talking about

is what the Cliff Unger
I know believes in

with his heart and soul,
and that Cliff Unger...

Knows that if he blows up
that information server,

he'll be inconveniencing
an awful lot of people.

Oh! Is that all I'm doing?

You know? Maybe that's
the problem right there.

I think Zig Fowler just won.

Fowler's dead, man.

He was a loser
and so are you.

Have a nice day.
(CELL PHONE BEEPING)

Execute Zig Zag end game.

ELECTRONIC VOICE:
Zig Zag end game initiated.

Sixty seconds to detonation.

What the hell is that?

That is the sound
of the meter running.

You can stop it.

But only if you come in
here right now.

ELECTRONIC VOICE:
Fifty seconds to detonation.
Cliff.

Cliff!

Stottlemeyer.

I need another minute,
we're not ready yet.

We're not ready!

ELECTRONIC VOICE:
Forty seconds to detonation.

ELECTRONIC VOICE:
Thirty seconds to detonation.
CLIFF: Hey, Weatherman.

You ready to
blow this place up?

Yeah, sure. Why not?

What have we got to lose?

ELECTRONIC VOICE:
Twenty seconds to detonation.

Absolutely nothing.

ELECTRONIC VOICE:
Ten, nine...

CONTROL VOICE:
There is nothing wrong
with your television.

Do not attempt
to adjust the picture.

We are now controlling
the transmission.

We control the horizontal
and the vertical.

We can deluge you
with a thousand channels

or expand one single image
to crystal clarity

and beyond.

We can shape your vision

to anything our imagination
can conceive.

For the next hour,

we will control
all that you see and hear.

You are about to experience
the awe and mystery

which reaches from
the deepest inner mind

to
--The Outer Limits.

CONTROL VOICE:
As we surrender
more authority to our
evermore capable technology,

what will happen
when that technology
goes awry?

RADIO ANNOUNCER:
Now,
what's going on, Alan?

ALAN:
All we know for sure
is that the building
was taken over

by a refusenik group
calling itself The Syndrome,

and that cybercolumnist
Cliff Unger is among
the group's members.

The Syndrome, have tried
to make a name for themselves

and their anti-technology
campaign by hacking...

They make us sound
like a bunch of lunatics.

Yeah.
 YAS:
Can I get you
anything, Cliff?

Food, drink?

Well...

You could tell the media
the truth.

They're gonna find out anyway.

I don't know what truth
it is you're referring to.

That Zig Fowler is holding
this building and the servers
inside it hostage.

Because you're not him.

There's a flaw in your chip.

You're pissed off about it.
That's the truth.

Yes, that is the truth.

But you can't tell them that,

because the technology
is not supposed
to make mistakes, right?

The chip is biocoded
to my DNA.

Therefore, I am
who it says that I am.

And it says
that I am Zig Fowler.

Come on, you can
figure it out.
It doesn't take a genius.

YAS: Come on now, Cliff.

We're friends, or at least
we used to be.

Tell me, how do we
get out of this?

Well, for starters,
we can put down the phones

to start communicating
together like human beings.

Yas...

Uh, let me think about it
for a minute.

I want that bastard's head
on a stick.

Three of my men are dead.

What's the body count
on their side?

Two dead, one critical.

I just spoke
to the meat wagon

and all I got out
of the critical's

is what a son of a bitch
your boy, Cliff, is.

Like he has his own agenda.

What's going on, Yas?

I don't know.

CLIFF:
Hello, hello.

You've gone quiet on me.
That makes me nervous.

Uh, sorry about that Cliff.

I'm just trying to check
on something here.

Look, Cliff,
I'm trying to save
a few lives here.

Can we make that happen?

"Save a few lives."

Well, now that sounds
awfully funny coming from you

considering what you did
to my comrades.

The feds made a mistake.
I didn't know they were
gonna do that.

Now, I know it's asking
a lot, but I don't
want it to preclude

you and me coming
to some type of
an agreement here.

Yeah, okay.

We'll just chalk it up
to another valuable lesson

courtesy of
Pete Yastrzemski.

(CELL PHONE BEEPING)

Can you hold on
just a little longer?

I can try.

Try hard.

This is our destiny
we're talking about.

No tricks,
or I'll decorate
the wall with you.

Isn't that something?

I was just gonna say
the same thing
to Cliffy here.

You wanna settle the score
when the job's done,
be my guest.

But if we kill him now,
we can't finish the job.

See, here's why
I'm getting confused.

We're wired,
we're ready to rock
and now all of a sudden,

Cliffy wants to
lock eyeballs with
his buddy Yastrzemski.

Why?

I have my reasons.
Accept it.

Translation.
The man has got
his own agenda.

Geez, I wonder what it is.

Weatherman,
he's working for them.

And every second we wait,
we're one second closer

to them coming in here
and stopping us.

Maybe. Maybe we should,
you know.

Set the timers,
head for the basement.

WEATHERMAN:
This is not just about
blowing up the servers.

It's about doing it
the way Zig intended.

For God's sake, Weatherman,
open your damn eyes.

What I'm talking about,
that's what Zig intended.

Wait a minute.
Cavalry's on its way.

One of the elevators.
It's not moving yet,
but it will be.

Would Yastrzemski
do that to us?

Is he that stupid?

You're asking him?
Yeah, he would.

If they're coming up,
we better hit them
before they hit us.

Come on, Weatherman,
let me drop a load
down the elevator shaft.

Man, this is gonna be cool.

Ten ounces of C4
in an elevator shaft.
Kaboom, boom, boom.

Hurry it up, Roy,
come on!
Don't rush me.

The elevator is coming up.

We're going down.

Everybody stand back.
When this baby goes,

it's gonna kick
all kinds of ass.

Three, two, one...

Boom!
Where's the God damn boom?

What the hell
are you looking at?
This isn't my fault.

That detonator was
state of the art.

C4. Son of a...

Hey!

We got to blow
the computers now.

What have you done to us?

Haven't done anything.

Weatherman.
DELL: Weatherman,
push the button.

If you don't finish the job,
then I will.

(ELEVATOR BELL DINGING)
Elevator.

It's empty.

(SCREAMING)

(GRUNTING)

Cover me.

(GRUNTING)

MAN: Move back, move back.
Shut the door.

We're secure at that end.
How did you get up
the exit stairs?

I punched in
the lockout codes
that Cliff gave us.

Does that mean
we're secure?
You got me.

What the hell's
that supposed to mean?

Hey, if it was Zig Fowler
telling us what to do,

it'd be one thing,
but it's not.

What is all this, anyway?

This is all the information
flowing into and out
of the servers.

Hundreds and millions
of terabytes a second.

This, is why we're here.

How are you
making out with
the charges?

CLIFF: Charges are set.

Good. Have you
done everything?
I think so.

Oh! Who asked you?

Where did you get
the idea that you were
in charge, anyway? Huh?

What? Did you and Weatherman
switch pants when you
woke up this morning?

Oh! You son of a bitch!

Listen,
let's not fall apart now.
We've come too far.

Oh, shut up! Just because
you got Zig somewhere
in that pin of yours,

does not make you him.

Hey, I got us
into the building, didn't I?

Zig got us into it.
You came along
for the ride.

Please don't tell me
you still think
I'm up to something.

When you think about it,
it's been pretty easy.

Yeah, a little too easy.

Like it's all
some kind of a setup, hey?

My ass is
on the line here,
same as yours.

What's waiting for us,
Cliffy, huh?
You can tell us now.

You're not Zig.
Are you, Cliff?

Tell you what.

You still don't trust me
after all this...

Go ahead, shoot me.

Anything you say.

WOMAN: (ON COMPUTER)
Miss Chalmers,
how nice to see you.

Mr. Ripken is
waiting for you.

Just step into the elevator
and I'll send you right up.

Now, remember,
when you grab
the security drop...

I know what to do.
Just reminding you,
we got to move fast.

If that backup drone
gets here before we
reprogram the first one...

I'll try to make sure
it zaps you first.

I'm sorry. Would you please
swipe your hand again?

Just step into the elevator,
and the security drone
will see you.

CLIFF: Okay.

Here it comes.

Please stand where you are.

Get ready.

Go!
(ALARM RINGING)

Hold it still.

Everybody out of here.
Now!

(GUNSHOT)
(WOMAN SCREAMING)

DELL: Let's go, move it!
Move it! Move it!

Execute Zig Zag
drone sequence.

Move it.

Out! Out! Out! Out!

Let's go, let's go...
Move it!

Let go.

WOMAN: (ON COMPUTER)
How nice... How nice...
How nice to see you...

CLIFF: Dell
secures an elevator.

After Weatherman and Roy
clear the lobby.

Yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah,
we know it already.

Quit treating us like morons.

I just wanna make sure
everybody knows the plan.

If we do this right,
the whole security system
will come to a halt.

And what if the plan
doesn't work?

Seems to me, like Zig
thought of everything.

One bot takes out the rest,
and while the system deals

with what's happening,
we slip through the crack.

Except it cannot possibly
be that easy.

Why are you doing this,
Dell? Why now?

'Cause I feel like we're
all being sucked into
this by him.

And I'm not afraid
if that's what
you're thinking

and screw you
if you are thinking it.

You know what?
I am willing
to die for this.

But something
is not right here.

You want me to
prove myself some more,
is that it?

Hey! If we're gonna do this,
you got to take
a leap of faith.

Listen to me.

When I first met Zig,
I thought the world
was an awful place.

Totally irredeemable.

But Zig showed me
how to have faith.

The first step towards
finding your own humanity,

is finding it in others.

I trust Cliff.

I trust him implicitly.

But if you're not gonna make
that leap with me,

then we stop this right now.

Either we all
go forward together,
or we don't go at all.

She's beautiful, huh?

Your mom?

She was a great lady.

Smartest person
I've ever known.

She died of a
genetic heart condition.

Chip didn't pick it up.

You know...

I'm still trying to
figure out what exactly
is happening here.

I mean, two days ago,
I would have walked
through fire

to kill you, and now...

Well...

You know what they say
about opposites attracting.

Come here.

Kiss me.
Don't think about it,
just do it.

You don't believe
half that crap you put
your name on, do you?

I might have said
a few things to get
a rise out of people.

It definitely got
a rise out of me.

There's more Zig Fowler
in you than you know.

Getting our hands
on a bunch of explosives
is one thing.

Getting them on DIR's
main servers
is something else.

I'm with Weatherman.
And if we're smart,
we'll quit while we're ahead.

I don't understand you people.

You have
this amazing plan here.

Zig Fowler must have spent
years working out
all the details.

Hell, if I was some
kind of cyberterrorist,

I'd be wetting my pants
trying to get at
a target like this.

Yeah. well, you're not.

So, why don't you
clean yourself up
and get out of here.

Well, I guess I was right.

The only real threat
this group poses

is that they might talk
their enemies to death.

Hey. I'm perfectly willing
to walk into that building
and blow up those servers.

I don't know
about wetting myself, though.

I'd do it.
Beats sitting around.

WEATHERMAN: Why are you
so determined to do this?

This isn't some game,
you know?

I mean, even if Zig's plan
went perfectly

in all likelihood,
we're gonna end up killed.

You just want
your old life back, right?

Thought I did.

I have a confession to make.

When I was going through
Zig's files...

I came across
your correspondence with him.

That was private,
you son of a bitch!

(STUTTERING)
I know, I didn't mean
to read it, except...

Once I started,
I began to understand
why you're doing all this

and what it means to you.

That's why I came back here.

I always used to
think of you
as this lost soul.

But when I read your words,

I realized I'm the one
who's lost.

Really?

You know, I spend
a lot of time preaching
to the converted.

I don't think I've ever
actually ever converted
someone myself.

(SIGHING)

Zig once told me,
"Have faith in people."

"They are the disease.

"But they're also the cure."

Funny thing is...

...now that I'm here,

doing this,

I feel like it's my destiny.

Your destiny?

That's an intriguing word.

(SIGHING)

Okay.

Now it's my turn
to tell some
dirty secrets.

From the first time
I read your column,

even though
I hated everything
you had to say,

there was something
about how you said it...

I don't know how
to explain this,

but I had the bizarre feeling
that you,

of all people,

were my destiny.

Twenty pounds of C4.
There's more of it,
if we want.

I guess you guys
just walked into
the warehouse and took it?

Well, it wasn't
quite that simple but...

More or less,
that's what we did.

Fed a few instructions into
the security system,

the whole thing
froze up.

We dropped down from
the ceiling, Cliff here swiped
his way into the storage room,

we filled up the bags
and off we went.

Right out the front door.

Cliffy did okay,
for a newbie.

What do you think, Dell?
Is he for real?

I don't trust him.

What have I got to do?
Kill someone?

I'm a changed man.
Why is it so hard
for you to accept that?

Maybe because the man
you changed from

was a scum sucking,
low life, rat bastard

who fattened himself
with everything
the system had to offer.

Aside from that.

What about Roy?
He used to be a scum sucking,
rat bastard.

Touch me again, asshole,
and I swear...
I'm making a point.

I used to be a mouthpiece
for the system,

but I never picked up a gun
on its behalf.

Oh! So I'm worse than you?
I don't think so.

I got out of the army,
and I got the army
out of me

with a grapefruit spoon.

They treated me
like dirt.
Same way they treated me.

I'm no different than you.

What about Walt?
He's still got his chip,
you let him join the club.

I came with certain expertise.

Without my chip,
we would've been
locked out of the system.

WEATHERMAN: Both these guys
came to us with a purpose.

They've dedicated themselves
to the cause.

CLIFF: So have I.

Now.

And I brought you
something very valuable.

Zig Fowler is this chip.

Don't flatter yourself.
You're just the ugly box
the Christmas present came in.

The only difference is...

This particular present,
only works when the box
comes along.

So...

If you wanna play
with Zig Zag,

you're just gonna
have to invite me
to the party.

You want me to kill him,
Weatherman?

What do you mean you
wanna join us?

I wanna join you.
I wanna do what this thing
says I'm supposed to do.

You must think we're
really stupid?

Just say the word.
Please say the word
and I'll kill the little SOB.

I told you to back off,
Chance.

I don't wanna think
about what will happen
if the whole flow

of information
comes to a grinding halt,

but I do think
that something has to happen.

What exactly brought about
this little conversion?

Zig Fowler.
I never understood him
before but now I do.

You wanna prove yourself?
You break into the warehouse.

You get us the explosives.

And Zig Zag?

CLIFF: Listen to me.

These people...

They're... They're dreamers.

See, they've...
They've all been hurt.

One way or another,
they've all been hurt
by the system.

And they just want
a little justice.
That's all.

Just a little...

Just a little recognition
that for all the good
that technology does,

it also does a lot of bad.

Look at me.

My chip suddenly stops
working. My whole life gets
turned upside down.

Maybe there's something
to what these people
are saying.

Answer my question.

Why are you still
so obsessed
with Zig Fowler?

Because if he's come back
from the dead,

I need to know about it.

See, that's not possible

because he's dead.
He died in a fire.

You found his chip.

Look. Zig Zag.
It's just this pipe dream
that these people have

that they're gonna see
the system in ruins.

"What if we did this?
What if we did that?"

They're waiting for this
messiah to return.

But he's not going to return
because he's dead.

You killed him, right?

Maybe I did,
and maybe I didn't.

What does that mean?

What that means, Cliff,
is that until I'm
150% satisfied

that I know everything,
you can't have your life back.

Now, you go back
to those Syndrome people

and you stay with them.

I can't. I can't.

First of all,
they're never gonna trust me.

Then you've got a problem,
Cliff.

A big problem.
If you think
your life is bad now

because you can't find work
and you've got no money
and no place to live?

How would you like it
if every time you swiped
your hand across a reader,

it told everyone in the system
that you were a pedophile...

Or a murderer, hmm?

I can do that,
you know.

Just like that.

You... You can't.

You go back
to those Syndrome people

and you stay with them
and you find out everything
you can

about this Zig Zag scenario.

And you report back to me
and then, maybe,

just maybe, Cliff,
I'll give you your life back.

Now, don't take
this personally,

but get the hell out.

Answer the question, asshole!
How did you find us?

What did you do to my chip?
Why does it think
I'm Zig Fowler?

Does anybody know
what he's talking about?

I can't get into my apartment
or my bank account
or my computer.

I'm locked out of everything.
It's because of you.

Is that possible? I mean,
we didn't do this, did we?

I wish. It's a cool idea.
We should have thought of it.

Are you telling me
it wasn't you?

He still hasn't answered
how he found us.

I found a reference
on one of his files
to a package

he sent about four years ago
to a woman
named Diane Konzelman.

Is that you?
Is that you?
Is that your real name?

Zig sent me a disk
before he died.

That brought you here?
Bullshit.

I'm not making it up.
Why would I make it up?

Maybe to suck us in so
you can do another one
of your idiotic cyber columns.

"They're out there
and they're dumb as shit.
It's The Syndrome."

Is that it, Cliffy?
You making fun of us?

Can you access Zig's files?

Yes. That's all I can access.

Good.
Move your ass.

Make yourself useful
for the first time
in your life.

I'm totally screwed.

Not little screwed,
not medium screwed,
totally screwed.

You're upset.
Who wouldn't be?

I held my chip to the reader
and all of a sudden,

security bots are flying at me
from every which way.

This whole thing
is a total nightmare.

Look,
we'll run some diagnostics

and we'll get to the bottom
of it, okay?
(DOOR OPENING)

Morning, Mr. Yastrzemski.
Morning, Ben.

This is my friend,
Cliff Unger.

The Cliff Unger,
who writes that great
cyber column?

Yeah, are you a fan?
(SCOFFS)

I read
Strictly From Unger
every day before
I crank her up.

Where's your column been
the last few days?

Well, you know...
Don't get him
started, Ben, please.

Can I get you to scan
your chip for me, Mr. Unger?

Boy, wait till my wife
hears that I met you!

Is she a fan too?
(CHUCKLING) Oh no!
She hates your guts.

Well, all the circuits
check out.

Let's see if any of
your base files got corrupted.

Pretty ironic don't you think,
that a big IT supporter
like you

gets hoisted
on his own petard?
(CHUCKLING)

Hysterical!

(MACHINE BEEPING)

Huh...

Problem?
BEN: Um...

I'm getting a stage four
security alert here,
Mr. Yastrzemski.

A what?

According to this,
your chip's IDing you
as, um, Zig Fowler.

The cyber terrorist guy?

No, that's impossible, Ben.
Run it again please.

Did.
Got the exact same result.

What's happening?

What's happening?

YAS: This had better not be
some type of an elaborate hoax

you and your editors
have cooked up.

CLIFF: Mr. Yastrzemski,
we've been working together
a long time.

We have an understanding.
Now I came to you as a friend
because I need help.

So, please, just help me.

I am, we're going
to the main server room.

YAS: I'd like you to download
everything off his chip
and give me a full analysis.

So, after you do this,
after you analyze
everything that's on my chip,

I get a new one, right?

Cliff, there's a reason
this is happening.

Zig Fowler never did anything
just for the hell of it.

See, when you say
things like that,
you scare me.

Listen to me.

Someone is trying
to resurrect this bastard.

I'm gonna help you,
but you are gonna
have to help me.

You pissed off
an awful lot of people,
lot of dangerous people.

So you think one
of these people is
doing this to me?

No. What do you think?

Mr. Yastrzemski,
something strange just
came up with this chip.

The coding almost
looks like a key file.

It's the sort of thing
a hacker uses to access
someone else's files.

The coding indicates...
I think it's aimed at
the security system.

Is it dangerous?

No, it's dormant,
like it came with
its own firewalls.

We should be able
to neutralize it.

I was right.
Someone is using you.

WOMAN: And a strange sequencer
file that keeps looping
around the whole thing.

YAS: I don't like
where this is going.

I don't like this at all.

Johnny, don't do this to me.
I'm having a horrible day.
Now, open this door.

Look, I'd love to let you in.
But if I did that
and Mr. Unger came home...

What are you talking about?
I'm Mr. Unger.
You know who I am.

Yeah, sure I do.
But don't you understand?

Doesn't matter
if I think you're the guy.

If the building doesn't think
you're the guy,
you ain't the guy.

I am the guy.
Look, open this door
or I'm gonna have you fired.

(CHUCKLING)

Now that's a laugh.
You can't get me fired
'cause you ain't the guy.

Mickey...

Mickey.

Give me IS.
My computer won't talk to me.

And that's a surprise to you?
The way you talk to it.

Just do it.
I'm not in the mood.

Hello, info services
can only be accessed online.

Hello, I know that.
I can't get online.
That's why I need your help.

Good thing I got
no work to do.

There's a problem here.
It ain't your computer.

Oh, look. It's working.
Maybe it's your chip,
have you thought of that?

Don't say that.
Jesus, with a thing like that,
I could be in hell.

And I can't think of
anyone more deserving.

CLIFF:
Unfortunately,
the truth is we're not

nearly as intelligent
as the computers we've built.

There are roughly
12,000 people joining us in
this cyber conference today.

Put all our brains
into one box,
not a pleasant thought,

and our collective
computing power
is less than

half of the
computing power
of one server

in the building that I'm
standing in right now.

Does that answer
your question?

Mmm, kind of.
I mean, I'm not
disagreeing with you.

There's no doubt
that the proliferation
of biometrics

has improved our lives.

It's improved my life.

Life is better for everyone.

Example.
A cashless society
is a safer society.

Why?

Because we've removed
human beings
and their weaknesses

from the equation.

You can't steal
what doesn't exist.

CLIFF: Just like the Internet
revolutionized computing,

personal information
technology has revolutionized
what it is to be human.

That's why
we built the system.

That's why we have the system.

And that's why the good people
here at DIR are helping us
to spread the word.

YAS: We've got time
for one more question.

Luciana from
Sao Paulo, Brazil

I would say that we had
a connection problem, but...

But that would be admitting
that your faith in technology
is based on a lie.

Hackers...

Uh, to whom
do I owe the pleasure?

Weatherman...
Just Weatherman.

Weatherman, really?
The Weatherman, hmm.

Don't take this personally,
but you're a lot better
looking than I had imagined.

Fuck you.

Just for everybody out there,
Weatherman is a frequent
e-mailer to my cybercolumn.

She and her group,
the, um...

(STUTTERING)
The... Was it the sandunes?

The Syndrome.

Right, right, right.
The Syndromes are under
the ridiculous notion

that all of the wonderful
technological advances
that we've made

in the past few years
are somehow

eroding our humanity,
isn't that right?

As always, you've
oversimplified a complex
and significant problem.

CLIFF: Hmm.
Significant to whom, sweetie?

The few Luddites
and know-nothings
that would rather live

in divine ignorance
outside the boundaries
of big, bad, technology?

WEATHERMAN:
I don't need
a chip in my body
to feel like I belong.

People like you
and your audience
have become so reliant

on technology,
that they let
their humanity wither.

You don't have
conversations anymore.
You have conjoined data flow.

You don't have relationships,
you have cybercommunion.

Doesn't that tell
you something?

Don't just stand there.
Get her off. Get her off.

(STUTTERING) It's okay.
It's these postcards
from the lunatic fringe

that remind us
of how good we have it.

Now, I think
this is a good thing.

It's good that you
feel that way, Cliff.

Because time is on our side,
not yours.

And the day will come
when the unimpeded flow
of information will stop,

and people will have
to deal with each other
like humans again.

Thank you. Next time,
don't call us, we'll call you.

God, am I glad
this is over.

I hate these
cyberconferences.

ZIG:
Weatherman,
how's the weather?

WEATHERMAN: You just love
that joke, don't you?

Never seems to get old.

Trust me Zig, it does.
So, what's up?

Oh, I just called to chat.

No, you never just call
to chat. What's wrong?

You know me too well.

Yeah, except...
I don't know
what you look like.

I don't know what kind
of food you eat.

I don't know
whether you're a boxers
or briefs man.

Other than that,
yeah, I guess
I know you pretty well.

Boxers.
Predictable.

So, what's wrong?

I'm gonna have to
go away for a while.

How long is awhile?

Till they forget about me.

Doubt that'll be
anytime soon.

You're wrong.

That's the problem.

They will.

So, why don't you come
work with us?

We have the same goals.
You'll just have to
learn to do it

without that
chip inside you.

This chip is what's
gonna bring them down.

Who are you kidding?

You're just trying
to embarrass Yastrzemski
at his own game.

He's benefitted at
my expense long enough,

I think it's time
I returned the favor.

What, so this is
all about making
a name for yourself?

You know me better than that,
don't you?

Yeah, I do.

I'm gonna miss
your words.

(CELL PHONE RINGING)

Yastrzemski.
Were you planning to call
before you stopped by?

Oh, no, Zig.
What would be
the fun of that?

We've got you this time.

Oh! Well now,
how do you figure that?

I'm a mile away
and I've got three dozen men
riding shotgun.

All this attention,
I'm touched.

Okay, so it was a bad joke.
So, we're even.

Are you there?

Zig?

WEATHERMAN:
Zig,
it was a joke.

How are you
gonna know it's me?

YAS:
Oh, your chip
will tell me, of course.

Yes, you're right.
You got me this time.

You're right, you know.
(WEATHERMAN SIGHING)

You're gonna have
to be more specific.

I'm right on
so many occasions.

Computers aren't the problem.

They have failsafes
built right in.

Thousands of ways
to correct themselves.

Hell, I see that every time
I try to hack in.

It's when the
Yastrzemskis of the world
enter the picture.

When humans get involved,

see, that's when
things get scary.

So, what? You gonna concoct
some elaborate scenario

where the computers
are always right and the
humans screw it up?

WEATHERMAN:
Sounds complicated.

It is.

But it'll be worth it.

Wish I could be there
to see it.

I gotta go.

You will be there.

Promise.

See you soon.

What's that?
Another bad joke?

We'll see each other.

It's our destiny.

ELECTRONIC VOICE:
Six, five, four,

three, two, one.

Zig Zag detonation module
is now activated.

You know,
you could have saved us
a lot of trouble

if you'd just told me
who you were.

I didn't have to.

You knew.

Ah! I knew you'd come.

I knew you didn't
have the guts to do it.

Well, had to get you
in the room somehow.
And here you are.

Back away from the server...
It's all right,
it's all right.

(GUNS COCKING)
Hold your weapons.

Relax, we got 'em.

How do we know
there's not some other
detonation device in here?

ZIG: Oh! There is.

There most certainly is.

But you won't find it
in that modeling clay
we strapped to the servers.

What the hell
are you talking about?

Zig Zag...

It's alive.

It's growing.

Just waiting to be set free
into the information grid.

Oh! By the way,
thanks for letting me in.

You let me into this room,
remember?

The key that you allowed me
to leave on the server,
came real handy.

This is bullshit.

Is it?
It doesn't look
like bullshit.

Zig's chip didn't fail,
Yastrzemski.

You did.

Oh, he's playing
a head game.

Yeah, he wants the world
to know how smart he is.

Well, I caught you once
and I caught you
a second time.

End of story, Zig.

No. See, when the execute
command is given,

these servers will begin
hoarding electricity

interconnecting with
all the power that
they can tap into.

This is gonna happen
so quickly, they won't
be able to handle it.

There's going to be
a massive explosion.

It's not gonna be pretty.

They're gonna go, boom.

Then the building.

Then the block.

Then the city.
(MIMICS EXPLOSION)

Mass destruction.

Oh, it's gonna get ugly.

The funniest part is,
the on and off switch
is right there in your hand.

You crazy son of a bitch!

ZIG: And now,
the real countdown begins.

All you had to do
is keep your hand
away from that reader.

ELECTRONIC VOICE:
Sixty seconds to detonation.

Your chip is the
execute command.

YAS: No...

ELECTRONIC VOICE:
Fifty seconds to detonation.

That's the end of the story.

ELECTRONIC VOICE:
Forty seconds to detonation.

Thirty seconds to detonation.

So, this is our destiny?

Enjoy the ride.

ELECTRONIC VOICE:
Twenty seconds to detonation.

Ten, nine, eight, seven,

six, five, four,

three, two, one.

CONTROL VOICE:
In the end,
it may be our certainty
that we are infallible

which will prove
our downfall.