Listening Page #2

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That's your contribution

to this situation right now?

Relax, man,

you're gonna screw up

if you're all tense like that.

Just get ready.

- I'm ready.

- Okay.

- Give me your hand.

- Okay.

- You feel those two bumps?

- Yeah.

Those are his L-three

and L-four vertebrae.

You want to stick the needle

in the space

just between those two.

You should feel

a give right away,

otherwise you're

in the wrong spot.

Okay.

I can't do this.

I don't like this.

The computers

I could justify somehow.

They've got tons of computers.

Well, you didn't like injecting

me blind either, now, did you?

This will let you see

what you're doing.

We should be doing this

at night.

It's more suspicious at night.

Plus everything's locked up.

Don't worry.

No one would ever expect

a fluoroscope to be stolen.

Somebody's definitely

gonna notice when it's gone.

That was easy. Grab the blanket.

How you doing?

You're insane.

Hey, kiddo, I think it's time

for you to paint your volcano.

Will you paint it with me?

I tell you what,

how about you paint it,

and then later I can show you

how to make it explode?

Okay.

All right.

Here you go.

- You got it?

- Mm-hmm.

Awesome.

Shouldn't we be wearing

lead vests or something?

Probably.

- All right.

- Thanks.

You know what you're doing?

Yeah.

Just, uh,

talk about something else,

so I don't get all

freaked out, okay?

We can do that.

- So...

- Mm-hmm.

Ryan,

why don't we ever

go to your place?

I only bring girlfriends

to my place.

You don't want me

to be your girlfriend?

Mm.

I live

in a tiny studio apartment

with my grandma.

Not exactly

the glamorous lifestyle.

What about your parents?

My mom died when I was 16.

I'm sorry.

What happened?

She'd been sick for a long time.

It was one of those awesome,

slow, agonizing cancers.

- What was that?

- No, it's okay.

You broke through

the arachnoid matter.

It means you're in.

Keep talking.

My, uh, dad...

Remarried about a month later.

Turned out he'd been

cheating the whole time.

Told me he had a new family now

and that his dead wife's

kid and grandma

were no longer

his responsibility.

That's it.

Done.

Thanks for telling me that.

Whatever, I was just trying

to keep Dr. Pansy over here

from cracking

under the pressure.

No, you weren't.

How long does he

have to hang like that?

Long enough for gravity

to take the nanotubes

into his brain.

And, uh, how long is that?

I don't know.

No one's ever done this before.

You're back.

Just for a little bit.

I'm picking up

Angela's shift later.

Um...

Where's...

where's Lana?

She's in the bathroom.

She was covered in paint.

Where is the TV?

We needed it in the garage.

Right.

Okay, I'll admit it.

If this thing works,

I'll be thoroughly impressed.

And don't you forget it.

But if it cooks my brain,

you just remember my glory days.

Yeah. Spent in a garage

playing with yourself.

Okay, how are we gonna know

that this thing is working?

Ryan's thoughts should appear

on this output screen here.

Let's start the party!

All right, here we go.

Please, God, don't let him die.

Ryan? Ryan?

- You okay?

- I'm fine. Careful with that.

Okay, what just happened?

The array struggled to enumerate

the number of electrode cycles

flowing through,

let alone to analyze

the input frequencies.

I'll have to apportion the feed

to sector designated processors

before we're even able to fathom

a conscious filter algorithm.

It means it worked.

Whoo!

Sir, it's one

of the university leads.

They've shown progress.

That'll be all, Gates.

Next suggestion:

"Kill the dog."

Suggest:

"I want to kill the dog."

"I must kill my dog."

"I have to kill my dog.

My life depends on it."

We need something new.

Trace...

Track...

Traction...

Tractor...

Trade...

Trademark...

Tradition...

Well, the system,

it isn't crashing,

which is really good news.

How is any of this good news?

That we found a couple

of words in the feed.

It's just... it's just way more

data than we thought.

It's just going to take time

to decode, that's all.

How much time?

Months? Years? I don't know.

It has to happen live.

Real time.

What's the point of a machine

that reads your thoughts

a year after you have them?

It'd make a pretty nifty diary.

Damn it! I'm not kidding.

Okay, a full night's worth

of data,

and all you've got is...

"Hippopotamus"? "Menstruate"?

I need an aspirin.

Look, man, I'm... I'm sorry.

There's just not a machine

fast enough

to decode human thought

in real time.

It just... just doesn't exist.

Well, there is one.

No.

The brain is

the world's fastest computer.

- Nothing else is even close.

- No. No, no, no.

- Yes.

- No.

The only thing fast enough

to decode the human brain

is the human brain.

What's the worst

that could happen?

Worst-case scenario,

it's too much activity,

completely fries your cortex,

and you lose

all cognitive ability.

Relax. It's gonna be fine.

It's only a one-way connection.

I'll hear her thoughts.

So, uh,

what do you think of Jordan?

So what, are you guys,

like, officially dating now?

No, no, nothing's happened yet.

But I like her.

Like, I think she could be...

I don't know, something.

She's cool, right?

Ready?

Damn.

Just try to think

simple, clear thoughts.

What does that mean?

Uh, I-I have no idea.

- Whoa.

- You okay?

Fine.

I just got dizzy for a second.

Just try and clear your mind.

It's a blank slate.

- Ten seconds.

- Don't stop it early.

Okay.

Don't think about DARKBIRD.

I know what you want.

I understand

what you've been through.

It's okay.

Touch me, Ryan.

Love me. Feel me.

I want it too.

Don't let him find out.

Ryan?

Ryan, can you hear me?

Are you okay?

- I'm great.

- What happened?

- It worked.

- Yeah, but what was it like?

- Better than sex.

Ladies and gentlemen...

We have just invented telepathy.

Guys, she said she wanted

no cheese on the salad,

and the burger's supposed to be

well done.

Don't look at me.

I wrote it down.

- Yeah.

- Rough night?

Yeah. Wake me when it's over.

Just getting started, girl.

Honestly, man,

I thought we killed you,

and then I went through

the seven stages of grief

in, like, half a second,

and then I was like...

David, what is this?

Hey, we're having a party!

What are you doing?

Get off of me!

What is this?

What does it mean?

It means we're being evicted.

I thought you were calling

the landlord.

What are you celebrating?

That's what she said.

That doesn't even

make any sense.

Come here, sweetie.

How long do you have?

Two weeks.

So what are we gonna do?

Get a finished product

before then.

Blueberries are my favorite.

It's our secret what happened.

I hope he doesn't find out.

Keep it a secret.

Take my body, David.

That's enough.

- Oh.

- I'm so sorry.

- It's okay.

- I didn't mean to scare you.

They said they had

a pot of coffee on.

Do you mind if I...

Sure.

What's this?

We're going around in circles.

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