- [WIND BLOWING] - [FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]
♪ [OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
[SIGHS]
[GUN CLICKS]
[BIRDS CHIRPING]
♪ [TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
[MORA SIGHS]
I don't like it.
His businesses are legitimate. Why would he need us?
[IN SPANISH]
[IN ENGLISH] He's been buying most of the old city
and the outlying areas using holding companies.
The land is mainly worthless,
but I don't understand what he's doing.
[IN SPANISH]
[SIGHS]
[ENGINE WHIRRING]
♪ [OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
Encantado.
[IN ENGLISH] Likewise. Have you seen it before?
When I was a kid. Road trip with my parents.
- Hasn't changed a bit. - Hmm.
Let me show you around.
Mm-hmm.
♪ [DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
HUGO: We've upgraded the turbines.
They're rated to last 100 years without maintenance.
All to power... this.
We're looking for resilience.
Our timeline is more ambitious than most.
We offer a unique proposition.
Data has always been fungible. Temporary.
If you invest yours with us, it will be written in stone.
- [SIGHS] Forever. - Forever...
[SCOFFS] ...in my experience is a little bit longer
than most people expect.
♪ [TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]
How much of our platform are you looking to reserve?
- All of it. - Come again?
What I want is already in there.
It was stolen from me.
From one of my facilities, eight years ago.
And I know you were paid handsomely to store it.
I would suggest you take it up with the person who stole it.
I can't. She's dead. Which means I can't decrypt it.
And no one else can.
I don't want it moved or disturbed.
So I'll take the whole shebang.
This is a unique asset, and as such, it's not for sale.
This is America. Everything here is for sale.
That's a pretty good return on your investment.
♪ [INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
HUGO: We know what you've been doing.
You think anyone sells land without our approval?
We've been happy to sell. It's worthless scrubland.
But you can't have this place.
[CHUCKLES] You ever hear the one about the missionary
who tried to negotiate with the tiger?
He told the tiger he could eat most of him,
but he had to stop when he got to his head.
[SCOFFS]
You and your friends in the cartel
or whatever the fuck you're calling yourselves these days
sell me this lump of concrete, today.
Or?
Or you give it to me for nothing. Tomorrow.
We, uh...
we weren't very welcome when we came here.
We had to accept
whatever the old timers offered, at first.
We buried most of them at the bottom of this lake.
Our organization has a long, proud history
of defending itself and its business aggressively.
Door number two, then.
Mañana.
♪ [INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
[CRICKETS CHIRPING]
Mañana.
♪ [OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
[FLIES BUZZING]
[FLIES CONTINUE BUZZING]
[BUZZING INTENSIFIES]
[BUZZING]
[FLIES BUZZING]
[GASPS]
[EXHALES]
[GRUNTS]
♪ [OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
[IN SPANISH]
[IN ENGLISH] He said that yesterday he would have paid.
But today we would give it to him for nothing.
[LAUGHS]
[ALL LAUGH]
- [BUZZING] - [LAUGHS, COUGHS]
[LAUGHTER ECHOES]
♪ [INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
- [YELLS] - [SCREAMS]
♪ [QUIET MUSIC PLAYING]
[HUGO BREATHING HEAVILY]
[BREATHES SHAKILY]
Thank you.
Is my work done?
Yes. You can rest now.
♪ [MUSIC INTENSIFIES]
[GROANS]
♪ [THEME MUSIC PLAYS]
♪ [THEME MUSIC CONCLUDES]
♪ [SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]
[ZIPPER CLOSES]
[BUTTON BEEPS]
You're up. I have a dilemma.
Which would you choose? White or black?
- Christina? - [CHUCKLES]
- They both look great. - Pick a side, Chrissie.
MAYA: What are you wearing tonight?
- Uh, this? - [WATER GUSHING]
Right.
It looks great,
unlike these damn bags under my eyes.
I look like a zombie.
- CHRISTINA: Bad night's sleep? - MAYA: Nightmares.
Maybe I should've taken a tab.
But, uh, I just kept tossing and turning.
- [CELLPHONE RINGING] - [DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE]
[PHONE CHIMES]
MAYA: Is it that weirdo again?
I blocked him, but he keeps getting through.
It's just some creep
or a bot trying to sell you a privacy subscription.
I guess.
Lately, I feel like someone's watching me.
MAYA: No offense, but how?
I mean, except for work, you don't leave the apartment,
which is why you're coming out tonight.
I mean, he's supposed to be a really nice guy.
And his profile's platinum rated.
Set-ups are just so awkward.
MAYA: And so is dying alone.
You cannot hide from the world forever, Christina.
Okay.
♪ [SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
♪ [TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
MAN 1: That was insane.
This is way better than I expected.
MAN 2: This place is fucking wild.
Can't believe this is your first time.
- [LAUGHTER] - MAN 2: Come on.
I know a spot that's really gonna blow your mind.
♪ [TENSE MUSIC CONTINUES]
HOMELESS MAN: Can you see it?
It's looming over us. The tower! Can you see it? Huh?
Can you see it? Can you see it?
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[BIRDS TWITTERING]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[SCREEN CHIMES]
Record pitch.
There's a young girl.
Not that young.
More like late teens.
She lives at home with her father in the country.
Scratch that. The city.
He's a little infirm,
so she spends most of her time with him.
But she dreams of a bigger life
with excitement, adventure, romance.
EMMETT: Christina.
Pause record.
We need to talk about your work performance.
I mean, don't you want to advance in your career?
- Of course I do. - Well, then you got to stop
pitching these saccharine stories.
You know, people want sex, danger, violence,
transgressions, melodrama. They want tragedy.
- Yada, yada, yada. - I know. [CHUCKLES]
I-- I was thinking maybe I could write
in some different genres to broaden it out.
Maybe a little romance, some humor.
Maybe just save that for your diary.
I know you've got it in you
to write the kind of copy we need.
Now, take that story you wrote a couple months back.
Poor schmuck loses everything, drowns his sorrows,
stalks some girl. How'd it end again?
- Everyone dies. - Yes. That's right.
It's a real tearjerker.
Just, uh, bring more of that.
Or else I'm gonna have to find another writer who can.
- Understood? - Yes. Of course.
- All right. - [SCREEN BEEPS]
[CELL PHONE CHIMES]
[BEEPS]
CALLER: [OVER PHONE] Hello? You hear me?
I know you're out there. I saw what you wrote.
- [SIGHS] - Why are you doing this to us?
You have to help me. Your game is ruining my life--
[PHONE BEEPS]
♪ And the wind cries, "Mary"
♪ ["THE WIND CRIES MARY" BY JIMI HENDRIX PLAYING] ♪
ANNOUNCER: [OVER RADIO] Always a classic
by the inimitable Hendrix.
And now, back to our coverage of the festivities.
Preparations are underway for this year's...
- [RADIO TUNING] - [ANNOUNCER CONTINUES INDISTINCTLY]
[STATIC CRACKLING]
♪ [SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]
- [RADIO TUNING] - [ANNOUNCER SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
[STATIC CRACKLING]
♪ [SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING]
[SCREAMS] No!
MAEVE MILLAY: Are you ready, darling?
- CALEB NICHOLS: For what? - MAEVE: This is the new world.
And in this world, you can be whoever the fuck you want.
[BIRDS SCREECHING]
- [RADIO WHINING] - [GARBLED VOICES]
♪ [DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]
[GROANS]
[ELECTRICITY SPARKING]
[GASPS, EXHALES]
- [WIND BLOWING] - [FIRE CRACKLING]
Oh, for fuck's sake...
♪ [DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]
JO: Got any plans for the anniversary?
[EXHALES]
Nah. Just work.
JO: Cashing in on that overtime, eh?
Man, seven years ago,
it would've just been robots working the holiday, but...
lucky for us, they're all scrap metal now.
[CHUCKLES] Least the riots ensured our job security.
That wasn't exactly the point of the riots.
Yeah, 'cause the riots had no point.
They won us our freedom.
Sure, but from what? Ourselves?
Hey, man, the way I look at it,
that Incite machine that they blew up
didn't tell us who we could be, it told us who we already were.
- You actually believe that? - Don't you? Let me ask you this.
Has your life changed
since they destroyed those machines?
[EXHALES]
♪ [TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
- [DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE] - [CROWS CAWING]
♪ [SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]
[GUNSHOTS]
You haven't been practicing enough.
- FRANKIE NICHOLS: Dad! - [CHUCKLES]
Good to see you, Cookie.
Here. All right.
[GUNSHOTS]
- How'd you do that? - Like I said, practice.
A lot of it.
On cans?
Yeah. On cans.
Here.
CALEB: M'kay.
Remember. This.
Now stare at it.
Okay. Visualize.
- Breathe out. - [EXHALES]
Hold steady.
And squeeze.
- [GUNSHOT] - UWADE NICHOLS: Frankie! Caleb!
[FRANKIE GROANS]
FRANKIE: I was visualizing.
Well, come inside and visualize meatloaf.
[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE]
- FRANKIE: Just a little longer? - C'mon, listen to your mother.
- Coming. - [CROWS CAWING]
Go wash up.
Enough with the cowboy shit.
- She likes it. - She's seven, Caleb.
Thanks to you, her hobbies are sugar and violence.
- [SIGHS] - UWADE: Look, I'm sorry.
I know it's not an easy day for you,
but the war is over.
It's time you start living that way.
- [EXHALES] - Okay?
Hmm.
Go set the table.
What's the magic word?
Divorce.
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
- Love you too. - Hmm.
♪ [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
[TIRES SCREECH]
[RAIN PATTERING]
[WIND HOWLING]
[DOORBELL JINGLES]
You lose power the other night?
Must've been spared.
WOODY: You, uh, sure you don't want
some extra bottles for your guests?
Guests?
Your friends.
Stopped by asking for directions.
I tried to describe it,
but you live pretty far off the beaten path.
You really should get a sat phone or, um,
- some kind of connec-- - These friends of mine,
how long ago did they stop by?
Not 20 minutes since you been in.
On second thought,
why don't you go ahead and add that to my tab?
♪ [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[BIRDS CALLING]
[ENGINE STARTS]
[ENGINE RUMBLES]
Fire!
- [HEAVY GUNFIRE] - [GLASS SHATTERS]
[BULLETS RICOCHET]
[GUNFIRE STOPS]
♪ [OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYS]
- [GUNSHOT] - [MEN YELLING]
[METAL CLATTERS]
[GUNSHOTS]
[RAPID GUNFIRE]
- [GUNSHOT] - [GROANS]
[BIRDS CALLING]
[TWIG SNAPS]
[MAEVE GRUNTS]
- [GROANS] - [GRUNTS]
[BRIGHAM YELLS]
How did you find me?
Two days ago. We got a signal.
Your little power outage. It was enough.
How many more are after me?
I'm no-- not at liberty to say.
MAEVE: Well, let me liberate you.
Seven years, I've been off the grid alone,
not bothering anyone.
And yet here you are darkening my door.
Who sent you, Colonel Brigham?
[WHISPERS] Who the fuck is that?
I'm afraid I don't have the patience to explain.
Now be a dear.
Close your eyes, won't you?
[VOICES ECHOING]
- [BIRDS CHIRPING] - [GUNSHOTS]
BRIGHAM: Go get her.
I've got no idea she's home or not.
Haven't seen her in a couple days.
[GASPS]
Shit.
[METAL CLATTERS]
♪ [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
[SPLASHING]
[MATCH STRIKES]
♪ [MUSIC INTENSIFIES]
[SCREEN CHIMING]
- AUTOMATED VOICE: Welcome home. - [DOOR LOCK CLICKS]
♪ [SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]
- [CELL PHONE RINGS] - [CHRISTINA SIGHS]
- Hello? - You on your way?
Shit. I forgot.
MAYA: [OVER PHONE] You didn't forget.
You repressed.
I'm not going to be an accessory after the fact
to the murder of your social life. Let's go.
- [LINE DISCONNECTS] - But--
[CHUCKLES]
[CLATTERING]
♪ [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
- [PEDESTRIANS CHATTERING] - [BICYCLE BELL RINGS]
♪ [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS]
MAYA: Look, I'm sure it was nothing.
Probably that kid from the fourth floor
that likes to smoke weed on the fire escape.
- CHRISTINA: Yeah. Right. - Mm. You want some?
- No, I'm okay. - Hmm.
Here. In case.
And remember, smile. You have to at least try.
Do I?
I mean, even if by some miracle we're right for each other,
shouldn't it be natural and easy?
[SCOFFS] Are you kidding? [LAUGHS]
Take a look at this world. Nobody wants easy or natural.
Art is a lie that tells the truth, honey.
And the truth is, you need to get laid. [CHUCKLES]
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER] - [DISHES CLATTERING]
Look at this. All the people. You like people.
- You should try breathing. - I should get a drink.
Uh-huh. Yes, you should. It's going to be great.
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER] - Thank you.
Huh. Just give me the signal if he's a dud.
Hmm?
Oh, and don't forget to smile.
Most people think it's just elite gambling,
but there's a system to investing.
Patterns that some minds can decipher.
[INHALES] If there weren't, I wouldn't be sitting
in this lovely restaurant drinking superb wine
- with such fine company. - [CHUCKLES]
So, enough about me. What is it you do, again?
I'm a writer for Olympiad Entertainment.
Thank you.
Uh, wh-- what games do you write for?
Maybe I've played them.
I've been working on a new game.
It doesn't have a name yet. It's still in beta.
But even after it's released, you probably won't know my work.
I mostly write non player characters.
What's that?
Background characters that interact with the players
on their journeys.
Not as high-profile as programming the leads.
But it's just as important.
For most players, the background characters
are just cannon fodder.
♪ [SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING]
I'm not doing it for the players,
I'm doing it for myself.
HENRY: How so?
Real life can be disappointing.
Not that it's so bad. Just... there should be more to it.
Maybe you just haven't found the right man yet.
[INHALES]
You sound depressed.
There's tabs for that.
They'll fix you right up.
What if I'm not the one that's broken?
What if it's the world that needs fixing?
There's tabs for that feeling, too.
Of course.
Will you excuse me?
[HENRY HUMS]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[EXHALES]
♪ [SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]
[CELL PHONE RINGING]
- Please stop calling me. - CALLER: Wait, wait!
Don't hang up. You need to help me.
- [DOOR OPENS] - The doctors think I'm crazy.
But I know you're real. Just like the tower is real.
You need to stop what you're doing.
I told you, I'm not doing anything.
CALLER: You're destroying my life.
CHRISTINA: I'm not. I don't even know you.
CALLER: You can't hide from me.
I will find you.
Do you understand? You have to end this, or I will.
You need help, and I hope you get it.
But next time you call, I'm going to the police.
- CALLER: No, no, don't hang-- - [LINE DISCONNECTS]
[SIGHS]
MAYA: [OVER PHONE] Yeah, I'm surprised.
I just bumped into a work friend.
CHRISTINA: Oh, really?
MAYA: I think I'm gonna be out for a while.
Don't be discouraged about tonight.
Are you sure you're okay?
Maya, it's fine, really. Have fun.
- MAYA: Where are you? - CHRISTINA: I'm almost home.
MAYA: Okay, good. I gotta go. You're okay?
- Yeah. - MAYA: Take care.
Bye.
- [GASPS] - [PHONE CLATTERS]
- Sorry about that. - It's my fault.
I wasn't paying attention.
I, uh, I didn't see you there.
- But now I do. [CHUCKLES] - It's okay. [CHUCKLES]
You scared me. [CHUCKLES]
- I guess we're even. - I'm Peter.
I-- I just have to get home. My roommate's waiting for me.
I've been wanting to meet you for such a long time.
- Excuse me? - I knew you existed.
I was worried you weren't real, but here you are.
Why are you doing this to us?
♪ [INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
It's you. You're the one who's been calling.
I need to ask you to leave us alone.
- No. - No, stop!
Stop! No, no, no!
- No! - This isn't who I am.
- [SCREAMING] Get away from me! - Please, this is important.
I lost my job, my wife.
I thought it was the tower. But...
it was you. You made me do those things.
All these people do what you want them to.
I don't know what you're talking about--
- PETER: No! - CHRISTINA: No, no, let me go!
- [SOBS] - PETER: You need to stop!
- [KNIFE SNAPS] - No! No! No! [SOBS]
How did you know so much about us?
[CRIES]
The game. You wrote us into it. How?
Listen to me. Listen to me. Pe-- Peter--
I'm so sorry for everything that's happened to you.
But I have nothing do with that. I can't help you.
- You need to help me. - [BREATHES SHAKILY]
I need for the story to change.
I need the ending to be different.
- I'm sorry. - No! [SCREAMS, GROANS]
[PETER GRUNTS, GROANS]
[GRUNTS] Get off me, man!
[PETER GRUNTS]
♪ [INTENSE MUSIC STOPS]
[BREATHES HEAVILY]
CALEB: "They heard a voice scream,
'We need our dragon!'
But my father and the dragon knew
that nothing in the world would ever make them go back
to Wild Island. The end."
All right. Time to tuck in.
CALEB: All right.
You and Bear Bear sleep good, all right?
[KISSES]
Can we leave the lights on tonight?
- Why would we do that? - Bear Bear's scared.
I told him I'd keep watch over him.
Well, you know the best way to keep watch at night
is to turn the lights down around you and light up--
Light up the perimeter.
That way, no one can see you, but you can see.
See everyone.
Look, um, Bear Bear doesn't need to think about this stuff.
Okay? Everyone is safe and sound.
Promise?
I promise.
Okay, goodnight. [KISSES]
[CLATTERING]
♪ [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
- Did you hear that? - It's probably nothing.
Goodnight, Mom.
UWADE: Come on, let's get you in bed.
- ♪ [DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING] - [LOCKER BEEPS, CHIMES]
- UWADE: Hey. - CALEB: Fuck!
What the hell is this, Caleb?
There is something out there.
Yeah. A raccoon or a neighbor or a delivery man.
- [SIGHS] - We've been through this.
You just need to take deep breaths. Calm yourself.
The past is in the past.
Nothing is going to hurt you except your own mind.
I'm sorry.
[SIGHS]
[EXHALES]
♪ [SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]
- [DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE] - [CELLPHONE RINGING]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
PETER: [OVER PHONE] Are you gonna help me or not?
Peter, I know that you're upset,
but whatever you think is happening,
you're just confused.
PETER: So you're not gonna help.
I wish I could, but the stories that I write,
they're not real.
PETER: [CHUCKLES] Do you remember how mine ends?
What?
♪ [MUSIC BUILDS]
- Peter, where are you? - PETER: Look up.
♪ [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
[GASPS]
Is this up to me, or did you write this, too?
- [GASPS] - [BODY THUDS]
- [WIND WHISTLING] - [LEAVES RUSTLING]
- [CRICKETS CHIRPING] - [DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE]
[HUMMING]
- I found it under her pillow. - [CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
You're rubbing off on her, Caleb.
Isn't that a good thing?
Not when she's pretending to have PTSD.
I see the messages
you and your war buddies send to each other.
Chemtrails, government cover-ups.
You see threats everywhere, and now so does Frankie.
Look, I am not paranoid.
Maybe you're right.
I'm beginning to think it's not that you fear war,
- it's that you miss it. - Oh, my...
This life is too ordinary for you.
What?
You have a job, a home,
a beautiful child, and a very patient wife.
But it's never enough, is it?
Hey.
[CRICKETS CHIRPING]
[METAL CLANKING]
[WINDOW SQUEAKS]
- [METAL CLATTERING] - [RACCOON CHITTERS]
False alarm, Bear Bear.
See? It's just a raccoon.
[GASPS] Crap.
♪ [OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE]
WALTER: Hey there.
Is your daddy home?
♪ [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
Daddy, this man wants to talk to you.
Frankie! [GRUNTS]
- [GUNSHOTS] - [FRANKIE SCREAMS]
[SWORD SLICES]
[GRUNTS]
MAEVE: I believe this is yours.
- Who are you? - An old friend.
Caleb!
Frankie! [PANTS] Are you okay?
- Go inside. - UWADE: Okay. Are you okay?
[BODY DRAGGING]
[SWORD CLANKING]
Hello, darling.
It's really you.
You know, I thought...
I was sure I was never gonna see you again.
And yet here I am,
disposing and dismembering just like the good old days.
If something happened to my daughter,
you have no idea--
I have every idea...
which is why it won't come to that.
I know who sent those men after us.
William.
He's back at it.
[SIGHS]
[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE]
♪ [SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING]
I, uh... Frankie's asleep. Thank God.
I called Carver. The guys are downstairs.
UWADE: All these years, I thought you were paranoid.
But the war isn't over, is it?
No, it is me they wanted.
[SCOFFS]
CALEB: Look, I am the one who brought this upon us.
And I am the one who has to end it.
So you're leaving.
Only for a little while.
You promised you'd be a father.
I am one. Everything I do is for you...
and for Frankie.
You're going to get yourself killed.
Hey, I will come back to you.
I promise.
♪ [SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING]
[BREATHES DEEPLY]
[CRICKETS CHIRPING]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
CALEB: All right.
- You know the drill. - CARVER: You got it.
I always knew this day was coming.
As soon as you stop running,
everyone else starts to catch up.
- Any idea why now? - I don't know.
But I had a little tête-à-tête
with the one that they sent after me.
We're not the only ones William was after.
He was very interested in talking to
a Senator in California.
CALEB: Then we should get to him first.
We?
I'm coming.
It's the only way I can protect my family.
I'll be fine on my own. You can stay here.
- You probably should. - Would you?
No.
But I'd regret it.
[ENGINE STARTS]
♪ [SOFT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING]
[CRICKETS CHIRPING]
[EARPHONE CHIMES]
Record pitch.
I want to write a new story.
About a girl... a girl who's searching.
The girl doesn't know what she's searching for.
[GUNSHOT]
- [GUNSHOT] - [CAN CLANKS]
CHRISTINA: She just knows there is an emptiness in her life.
♪ ["VIDEO GAMES" BY LANA DEL REY INSTRUMENTAL COVER PLAYING] ♪
CHRISTINA: Or maybe it's inside her.
And when she finds the thing she's searching for,
everything will make sense.
I want a story with a happy ending.
Stupid.
Stupid stories nobody wants to hear.
♪ [VIOLIN MUSIC SWELLS]
♪ [MUSIC CONCLUDES]
♪ ["VIDEO GAMES" BY LANA DEL REY INSTRUMENTAL COVER PLAYING] ♪
♪ [MUSIC CONCLUDES]