Listening

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1

Tell me, why are you here?

I'm here to become a student.

I need to learn how to meditate,

how to control my thoughts,

and where they happen.

Why do you need to learn this?

I've done something.

Something very bad.

And I need to set it right.

Let me take care

of dinner tonight.

I've got an extra sausage.

How could I turn down

charm like that?

I'm serious.

I'm tired.

Yeah, but tonight, I mean.

I'll be more tired after work.

Let's go out, then.

You work too much.

We could ask your mom

to take care of Lana.

We could go to that Thai place

that you really like.

Fine.

Won't the paper burn

when it explodes?

It's not that kind of explosion.

We're going to make

a chemical reaction.

What's a chemical reaction?

It's kind of like magic.

- Cool.

- Yeah.

There you go, Grams.

Let's roll, gangsta.

What, what!

- Seriously?

- Shut up.

Such a dork.

For example,

the subject is asked

to think about Marilyn Monroe.

My study suggests

not only conscious control

in the hippocampus

and parahippocampal cortex...

Hey, did you hear about

the new bioengineering transfer?

My friend's in her class.

He says on a scale

of one to ten,

she's a lemniscate.

But also...

Mr. Thorogood,

perhaps you could

enlighten us all

with Ryan's gossip

or tell us what else

we can conclude

with this study?

We can conclude that

all neurosurgeons

are in love with Marilyn Monroe.

A single neuron

has not only the ability

to carry complex code

and abstract form

but is also able to override

sensory input

through cognitive effort.

It suggests thought

is a stronger reality

than the world around us.

Unfortunately,

I think you're both correct.

Dude, that's bullcrap.

I'm telling you, man,

brains out-duels brawn

every time.

It's not just brawn.

He's the most powerful character

in any universe.

He's unbeatable.

Except for kryptonite.

Blanket?

He could only win

if he fought dirty.

If Supes took a sucker punch,

it'd be over just as easy.

Say, no warning,

they're both just teleported

into a cage match.

It doesn't matter.

Batman keeps kryptonite

in his utility belt.

Man, oh, man,

give me some gloves.

Those Bunsen burners

are too hot to handle.

Dude, did you just see that?

See what?

She totally just checked me out.

I'm gonna go talk to her.

Not now. I'm...

Hey. I'm Ryan.

I know.

We have chemistry together.

Slow down.

- David Thorogood?

- Yeah?

You missed your rent payments

for November and January.

I'm here to collect.

No, I-I talked to Stan.

He's... he's our landlord,

and he...

He handed the situation

over to us.

No, he said...

You owe 5,690.

Late fees included.

Um...

Is that a new computer, David?

Ah, damn it.

David, I'd like you

to meet Jordan.

Hi.

Dave's my best friend,

business partner,

and the second smartest person

I know after yours truly.

- Nice to meet you.

- Dude, what are you doing?

Just wait a minute.

I know what you're going to say.

I-I'm sorry. We have to talk

for just a minute.

- Do you mind waiting outside?

- Sorry, babe, one sec.

You told her about our research.

Well, yeah,

'cause she's assigned...

You just met this girl.

If it gets out that...

- I know...

- You're the one that said

it has to stay secret

to remain valuable.

It's fine. I understand I said...

If the school finds out...

if they even suspect,

I cannot afford to lose

my financial aid.

- You said...

- I know what I said.

My own wife doesn't even

know what we're doing.

No... no girls, man.

That was your rule.

All she's gotta do is make one

phone call to administration...

She's not gonna make

a phone call.

About some missing equipment,

unauthorized experiments,

and that's it.

We're done!

Everything all right with Mel?

You want to tell me

what's really going on?

Shut up.

Now will you just

listen for a minute, okay?

Jordan might just look

like a hot body,

but she's assigned to

Professor Hamamoto's experiments

with ATP powered,

cell-powering nanotube devices.

Let's give her a peek,

see what she says.

We'll make her sign

a nondisclosure agreement

and the whole nine yards, okay?

She doesn't know

we've borrowed lab equipment,

so you don't have

to worry about that.

I've seen this before.

Accuracy takes a nose dive

once the word library

goes over 80 or 90 words.

We're averaging

almost 90% accuracy.

Most EEG nets track less

than 100 neurons.

My compact electrode design

lets us track almost 1,000.

How many words

does it recognize?

2,486.

Holy sh*t.

Military applications

are obvious, right?

DARPA's been trying to get this

to work for years.

Cell phones themselves

will become obsolete.

But we are nowhere

near there yet.

It's tedious...

it's like training

voice-recognition software

from scratch

with a stutterer.

Yeah.

And response time is slow.

Exactly. It's...

Your mind can have a dozen

thoughts in a millisecond,

but it takes you

five seconds to say,

"Hi, sexy"?

- It's not perfect.

- It's crap.

You're proud of measuring

1,000 neurons?

You're trying to read the

contents of an entire library

by walking through the aisles.

You gotta open the books to know

what's really going on inside.

Look, we're not neurosurgeons.

You don't need surgery.

You need nanotubes.

We can create

molecular electrodes

by embedding carbon nanotubes

into microscopic transistors

that can bond with every neuron

in your brain.

So you can decode signal

from 1,000 electrodes,

so what?

What are you gonna do

with 100 billion?

I told you.

Next suggestion.

Yes, sir.

Sit.

Good boy, Bubba. Good boy.

Oh, hi.

- Who are you?

- I'm Jordan.

Oh, you must be David's wife.

David?

Yeah?

David?

Hey, Mel, you look amazing.

Who is that?

Um...

it's Ryan's friend.

She's helping us out now.

Well, are you ready?

Listen, um, we had

a significant breakthrough.

Things are just changing

so fast.

We really need this

right now, like...

So?

Could we just... could we just

do this another night, please?

Yeah, sure.

It wasn't a big deal anyway.

You look really nice.

Did you get a haircut?

Hey, man. How's it going?

I'm just getting

something to drink.

Uh, you need a ride home

or something?

Nah, it's cool actually.

I think Jordan can take me.

Uh, so how's your grandma doing?

It is what it is.

If I could afford a doctor,

they'd probably find

a million things wrong with her.

You know what?

Why don't you take

some fruit for her?

Come on, man.

You don't have to do that.

Ah, it's fine.

Here.

We're gonna bust

this thing open soon.

You know that?

You know it.

Got you some carne asada, Grams.

No, I ate.

They're beautiful.

All right.

Let's do this.

Um, where did this

come from again?

Stop stalling.

You should feel numb

pretty quick.

Why do I have to do

the injections again?

Because, if we need

a second test subject,

I don't want you injecting me

without practicing first.

Here you go.

Holy crap, that's big.

- That's what she said.

- Really?

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