ETXR

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1

Ever since I was a kid,

I felt like

I was being watched.

Hidden cameras

recording my life.

And I'd lie awake at night

and think,

"Who's watching me?

What makes me so special?"

Now it's a transparent society.

We're all bugged 24/7

in everything we do,

watched and measured,

counted and stored.

Data becomes metadata,

and all our lives

are digitized.

So I embrace it.

I am The Bug.

I'm always listening,

recording,

mixing, remixing.

I'm a sound collector,

sonic manipulator.

My music comes

from the world around me.

Noises are my instruments.

The Bug is bugged.

My cameras are always on,

antennas up,

ready to receive.

And still I wonder,

who's watching me?

And why?

Are you ready for this?

It's Bix the Bug!

Go! Go!

I am The Bug.

Transmission in 10...

Nine, eight,

seven, six, five,

four, three, two,

one.

Hey, hey.

Great show tonight, B.

Bet we had over a hundred people

out there.

Yeah, at the most.

Oh, come on, man.

I mean, it's growing.

We got the helmet,

website, spy cams.

Something's missing, Danny.

The Bug is bugged,

but nobody cares.

Maybe you need

a new sound.

What's that supposed to mean?

I don't know, man.

Mix it up a little bit,

try to go mainstream.

No compromising the music.

Look, I'm trying

to do something different.

Well, here's something

different, okay? We're broke.

We got a stack of bills

like the Leaning Tower of Pisa

over our heads.

I don't wanna leave

living in the RV.

F*** it, man,

at least we got tonight, right?

We might as well party

while we can.

By the way,

that dude came by again.

What?

Yeah, that guy who's, like,

stalking you. Curtis Garret.

Garret? I thought

you got rid of that guy.

I did, but he came back.

He said he needs to talk to you.

It's very important.

Just hear him out.

He's harmless.

Sure. I mean, invite him

to the party. I don't care.

Here's the guy, Bix. Say hello.

Hey.

Matthew Laughlin.

Long time.

Do you remember me?

Curtis Garret.

Um...

I was in your class at MI a few years back.

Professor Hanson's

Robotics Computing.

I dropped that

a long time ago, though.

And the name is Bix now.

Yeah. No, I know.

I mean, I know

that you dropped out.

It doesn't matter.

Um...

Actually, is there someplace

that we could talk in private?

Yeah, dude,

you're looking at it.

Do you remember

Hanson's research

involving the Teslascope?

Um...

Sure. Maybe.

The Hyperdimensional

Oscillator.

It's real, Matthew.

I... I have a prototype

that I built.

It works.

Yo.

You're still here?

Um... I have the scope all set up.

It's outside in my truck.

Will you listen?

You are a persistent

little f***er, aren't you?

Come on, it's time to go, bro.

Party's over.

Look, Matthew.

I promise you,

I'm not crazy, okay?

I'm not delusional.

You might understand

these signals I'm receiving.

They're just

radio intercepts, man.

You're hearing voices,

my friend.

No, not voices. No

language, sounds.

Noises.

Very unique harmonic

electronic noises.

What, you mean like music?

Yeah, musical in tone,

definitely.

Possibly a code.

I don't know.

See, I'm not... I'm not a

musician.

I'm not an artist.

That's why I came to you.

Look, will you just

listen?

So you built this

yourself?

Well, using Tesla's

original schematics, yes.

Wait, so let me

get this straight.

This thing talks to outer space,

huh, buddy?

Nikola Tesla claimed

that it could make contact

with extraterrestrial worlds.

Right. You do remember.

Extraterrestrials,

like aliens? Ha, ha.

"E.T. phone home."

Extraterrestrial means

not of this Earth.

We're not talking about

flying saucers or green men.

We're talking about

unprecedented contact

with non-human intelligence

from beyond our concept

of space and time.

That's really cool.

Which end do I stick my dick in?

Does he need to be here?

He's just f***ing with you.

Go on.

Okay.

Well, the device,

it functions on a quantum level.

I mean,

the smallest scale imaginable,

but it still needs

a high-energy power source.

Look, don't get

too close,

because when the transmission

comes through,

the energy exchange

is quite intense

and things do get

kind of hot.

How can I help?

Well, I need you to listen

to all the transmissions

I've received,

help me

put the pieces together,

you know, crack the code.

Code?

Yeah, I think

that it's a message.

Whatever's on the other end,

it's something or someone that

we've never heard from before.

"It's like radio

for speaking to God."

I don't like you.

Would you come talk?

Would you play along,

you douche?

This guy is clearly cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.

I don't wanna get

ball cancer

from this thing,

whatever the f*** it is.

You obviously did not hear

what I just heard.

I heard something raw, okay?

It sounds like f***ing noise.

It is noise. But guess what?

That's the business we're in.

Just follow my lead.

This has structure.

Exactly. Exactly.

There's clearly some form

of communication going on.

It's almost...

It's hypnotic, yes?

You know, some sort of,

like, resonant telepathy.

I mean,

the spoken word is limited,

but vibrations, harmonics,

I mean, that is communication,

like, on a primal level.

You came

to the right MIT dropout,

because this is

what Bix the Bug does.

Check this out.

Yeah, um, but why are you...?

Why are you adding a drum beat

and all those extra effects?

I didn't come here to make

techno music. I came here...

Hey, hey, pal.

That's what my boy does.

He makes music.

That was

f***ing killer, bro.

Okay, yeah, it was killer,

but I don't need a DJ.

Hey, excuse me, you gotta...

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Ryan Seacrest

is a f***ing DJ.

Bix the Bug is an artist.

I don't need to dance to this.

I need to crack it.

Look, you came to me,

and I can help you,

but it's obviously incomplete.

It's incomplete?

What, you can't feel it?

Yeah, yeah.

Obviously something's missing.

I mean, it's got no oomph.

It's incomplete.

Think about it like a song.

We have maybe

half the stems here,

so what we need

is more tracks.

More transmissions.

A song?

- I don't know.

- Look, dude.

I got a mad genius here

giving you gold.

I mean, you give us,

what, two, three days?

A week.

A week, and he will

crack this puppy.

I don't have

that kind of time.

Where do you gotta be?

That's none of your concern.

Curtis, look, you know,

I do remember you. I do.

You were the guy always sitting

at the back of the class

who was never

asking questions.

Yeah, because

I was taking notes.

Look, I have an idea.

Let me take the scope

on stage

and mix the transmission live

in front of an audience.

What, in public? No.

Yeah.

No.

No, just listen to me.

We'll set it up as a prop.

Nobody will be able to tell.

No, but it's not

a prop, okay?

The Teslascope

is very high-voltage.

I don't just

press play, man.

I mix my music live.

I feed off

the energy of the crowd.

That's how I make music.

Now, you were right,

this is important.

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