The Circle Page #9

It happens.

Yes, but we have this technology,

all this power.

Well, I mean, technology

didn't exactly help the situation.

What if it could?

[coffee maker clanking]

[Mom] Hey, your dad woke up at 4:00

this morning,

and your light was still on.

What were you doing in your room?

Were you on the phone?

It helped.

I have friends all over the world.

They care.

Mm.

- I spoke to Annie.

- [Mom] How is she?

Good. Better.

I realized how much I missed her.

I have to go back.

Go back where?

Not to the Circle.

The Circle didn't kill Mercer, Mom.

It was a bad tool, a bad system.

It... It can be fixed.

We're not gonna become Amish, Mom.

I... When someone dies in a plane crash,

you don't abandon planes,

you make them safer.

- Mae, at least wait a bit.

- [sighs]

I'm the only one who can do this.

I'm sorry.

I love you.

[line ringing]

- [Ty] Hello?

- [Mae] Hey, it's me.

Mae. How are you holding up?

[Mae] Better, actually.

I'm coming in to see them today.

- But I need your help.

- Sure. Name it, anything you need.

[Eamon] We were worried

when we didn't hear from you for so long.

[Tom] We were very concerned.

No contact for four days.

Your camera was off.

How are you doing?

I'm okay.

Tom and I have been talking

about how little we knew

about this young man Mercer.

He's someone we should

have been able to help.

A fund should be established

for his family.

Yeah, absolutely, that's done.

Listen, Mae, we would like

to offer you a new role

here at the Circle

with no formal obligation,

maybe a lighter schedule.

You can choose your own projects,

and you can think long-term.

- You could take pottery, if you wanted.

- [Tom laughs]

I don't know if you're aware of this,

- but one of our founders, Ty Lafitte...

- Yeah.

...was given the same opportunity,

and now he loves his freedom.

And I don't know

if this is any consolation,

but at our next Dream Friday...

[stammers] We're going to

imagine a world

in which every disturbed young man

could be kept safe.

Would you like to join us?

I'm not sure I'm ready for that. But...

thanks for the invitation.

Take your time.

[indistinct chattering]

[cell phone buzzing]

I did what you asked.

You won't believe the sh*t I found.

It's worse than I could've imagined.

And, and look, Mae, I'm so sorry.

I never met him, but they should build

a monument to Mercer.

- Yeah.

- I mean, this... this changes everything.

Okay, he's the martyr

who will wake everyone up, right?

I don't know what you're planning,

but if you turn that camera back on,

whatever you say about the Circle

is heard around the world,

and it changes everything.

[operator] Hello.

Hello again.

- Hi!

- Hey, Mae.

And that is how it should have been,

how it could've been,

but we didn't have the technology.

But we will.

And when we do,

when every vehicle

is known and connected,

the data we have will help us

improve traffic patterns,

keep drivers safe, and optimize

Circle services across all platforms.

Shopping. Lodging.

Attractions.

Attractions like Mae Holland.

- Mae, come on out here.

- [crowd cheering]

Come on out here. Gosh, Mae.

Oh, you're transparent again.

Look at that.

Hello, hello.

Mae Holland.

- [crowd cheering]

- [man] Welcome back, Mae!

Now, Mae is a brave person

because even amid her grieving,

she knows that she has a responsibility

to her followers,

to the whole world, really.

Thanks for saying that, Eamon.

And I couldn't agree with you more.

I know that Tom, he agrees, too.

- Right, Tom? You want to come out?

- [crowd applauding]

- Come on.

- There you are.

First, I want to thank everyone here

and around the world

for the support you've given me

since we lost Mercer.

These past days,

I've realized something about myself

and about the Circle.

It's that I don't want to be disconnected.

I don't want to have to search

for friends, family, my loved ones.

We lost track of Mercer.

But what if we never lost touch

with each other?

What if instead of searching...

we always knew?

What I am proposing is radical openness

and unbroken connection.

It would have to start here.

- [crowd applauding]

- Mm-hm.

You know the usual hypocrisy

of the digital world.

We want everything in the Cloud,

and yet our leaders...

live above it.

So I want to invite Eamon and Tom

to join me in this experiment

that they've pioneered.

I invite them to set an example

for the Circle and the world...

to go transparent.

[crowd cheering, applauding]

What do you say, guys?

Will you join me?

Wouldn't it be great to know

their every move, their every word?

From now on,

every message, meeting, phone call,

all will be public,

knowable, never erased.

In fact, Ty Lafitte has helped us

make every document

in the company's history public.

Every message, every plan including...

And this is my favorite part,

every e-mail,

from Tom and Eamon's accounts,

and their private accounts...

[crowd murmuring]

...and their secondary

confidential accounts. [chuckles]

And even their super-secret

scrambled code accounts,

that nobody, not even their assistants

or wives knew existed.

Until now.

It's all been sent to you already.

[murmuring]

We are so f***ed.

I think we're entitled

to that kind of access. Don't you?

- [all] Yeah.

- [hooting]

Mae, you are a very brave woman

to do this.

There are no more secrets.

Privacy was a temporary thing.

And now it's over.

We won't live in the shadows anymore.

Hey. Good timing. [chuckles]

[cell phones beeping]

[indistinct chattering]

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm tired of hiding,

these passwords and secret knocks,

the difference between public and private.

Aren't you all?

Come to think of it,

I'm tired of standing here in the dark.

Don't worry.

Eamon will catch up. Or maybe he won't.

Either way, it's time for a change.

We're gonna remake this place.

And if we do it right,

we will set an example for everyone.

The future won't wait.

[waves splashing]

Hello.

'Tis the gift to be simple

'Tis the gift to be free

'Tis the gift to come down

Where we ought to be

And when we find ourselves

In the place just right

To bow and to bend

We shan't be

Ashamed

To turn, turn

Will be our delight

To bow and to bend

We shan't be

Ashamed

To turn, turn

Will be our delight

To bow and to bend

We shan't be

Ashamed

To turn, turn

Will be our delight

To bow and to bend

We shan't be

Ashamed

To turn, turn

Will be our delight

'Tis the gift to be simple

'Tis the gift to be free

'Tis the gift to come down

Where we ought to be

And when we find ourselves

In the place just right

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