Ex Machina Page #9

A long beat.

A kind of processing pause for AVA.

AVA:

I'm sorry.

CALEB nods.

CALEB:

I spent a lot of time in the

hospital. Nearly a year. Got into

coding. By the time I made it to

college, I was pretty advanced.

AVA:

An advanced programmer.

CALEB:

Yes.

AVA:

Like Nathan.

CALEB:

Yes.

CALEB hesitates. Back-tracks.

CALEB (CONT'D)

Or - kind of. Nathan wrote the

Blue Book base code when he was

thirteen. If you understand code,

what he did was - Mozart or

something.

Beat.

AVA:

Do you like Mozart?

CALEB smiles.

CALEB:

I like Depeche Mode.

AVA:

Do you like Nathan?

CALEB misses a beat. Thrown momentarily.

39.

CALEB:

Yes. Of course.

AVA:

Is Nathan your friend?

CUT TO -

- one of the CCTV cameras that are observing them.

CALEB:

Sure.

AVA:

A good friend?

He hesitates.

CALEB:

Well, a good friend is -

He breaks off. Feeling the camera, watching.

CALEB (CONT'D)

We only just met. It takes time to

get to know -

AT THAT MOMENT -

- all the power abruptly shuts down, plunging the room into

darkness.

AUTOMATED VOICE:

Power cut. Back up power

activated.

Then the soft emergency lighting lifts up, and throws the

observation room into a completely different light.

Weirder. Cast from LED strips on the floor, illuminating

CALEB and AVA's faces from below.

In the low light, we see a detail of AVA'S honeycomb skin-

mesh that we were not able to see before.

It glows, soft, like phosphorescence - and this changes the

way we see AVA. Where the mesh is almost invisible in bright

conditions, it is now the dominant describer of her form. So

instead of seeing AVA as a primarily robot structure, we now

see the curves and lines of a naked female body.

CUT TO -

- the CCTV CAMERAS. Which are unpowered, hanging dead.

CUT TO -

40.

- CALEB, glancing round at the door to the room, where the

panel LED glows red.

CUT TO -

- AVA.

Watching CALEB with a strange intensity.

The vague quality of blankness in her eyes is completely

gone.

AVA:

Caleb.

CALEB turns. Sees the way AVA is looking at him.

AVA (CONT'D)

You're wrong.

CALEB:

... Wrong about what?

AVA:

Nathan.

CALEB:

... In what way?

AVA:

He isn't your friend.

CALEB:

Excuse me?

CALEB frowns.

CALEB (CONT'D)

I'm sorry, Ava, I don't understand

what you're -

AVA:

(cuts in)

You shouldn't trust him. You

shouldn't trust anything he says.

AVA presses her hand to the glass.

AVA (CONT'D)

Trust me.

Then -

- the emergency lighting suddenly dims...

... and the normal lighting starts fading up.

CALEB turns -

41.

- just in time to see the CCTV CAMERAS twitch back into life.

AUTOMATED VOICE:

Power restored.

When CALEB looks back at AVA, she has returned to her

previous posture, facial expression, and manner.

She looks directly at CALEB, and talks, as if continuing a

conversation they have been having.

AVA:

- and if we made a list of books or

works of art which we both know, it

would form the ideal basis of a

discussion.

A beat.

AVA (CONT'D)

(prompts)

Is that okay, Caleb?

They lock eyes for a moment.

CALEB:

... Yes.

AVA smiles.

AVA:

Good.

33 33

INT. HOUSE/CABIN - LATE AFTERNOON

Trees and shrubs cast long shadows across the manicured lawn.

Through the glass wall, we can see the Japanese girl, KYOKO,

preparing sushi.

34 34

INT. HOUSE/DINING AREA - NIGHT

CALEB and NATHAN sit at the dining table.

Lanterns are laid out across the terrace.

KYOKO lays out different kinds of salad between them. Each

is beautifully prepared. Leaves are spread and overlapped

like fish scales.

As she does so, she knocks a bottle of wine on the table.

It tips, and lands on its side, and immediately starts

emptying. A deep red stain, blossoming across the linen.

42.

CALEB pushes back his chair as the liquid pushes towards him,

then starts to fall to the floor.

NATHAN:

Sh*t, Kyoko. Are you serious?

(to Caleb)

Did it get you?

CALEB:

No. No problem.

CALEB takes his napkin, and leans down to start wiping the

floor.

Then KYOKO appears beside him.

She holds her hand out for the napkin.

NATHAN:

Give her the cloth.

CALEB:

(to Kyoko)

It's okay, don't worry. I've got

it.

NATHAN:

Dude - you're wasting your time.

She can't speak a word of English.

Her hand remains outstretched.

CALEB hesitates. Then hands her the napkin.

KYOKO kneels and starts to wipe the wine off the floor.

NATHAN (CONT'D)

It's like a firewall against leaks.

Means I can talk trade secrets over

dinner with an HOD or CEO, and know

it will go no further. Right,

Kyoko?

She looks up at her name.

NATHAN (CONT'D)

But it also means I can't tell her

I'm pissed when she's so f***ing

clumsy that she pours wine over my

house guest.

KYOKO goes back to cleaning around CALEB'S feet.

CALEB looks visibly uncomfortable.

CALEB:

I think she gets that you're

pissed.

43.

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