...
✡⚐🕆☼ ❄☼🕆☜
FADE IN:
BLACK SCREEN
A cassette is pushed into an old tape player.
CLACK.
A mechanical motor catches.
WHRRRRRRRR.
The television flickers.
Static.
ON SCREEN
ARCHIVE TAPE #001
DATE: ██/██/19██
CONDITION: PLAYABLE
Thick bands of interference roll vertically across the picture.
TRACKING...
TRACKING...
A WHITE ROOM appears sideways.
Gone.
A METAL TABLE.
Gone.
A HUMAN HAND reaching toward the camera.
Gone.
The image stabilizes.
INT. LABORATORY — UNKNOWN TIME
A cluttered laboratory.
Wires hang from the ceiling.
Camera lenses cover one shelf.
Speaker components fill another.
Old television screens are stacked against the wall.
Something LARGE rests beneath a gray tarp.
A finger taps the microphone.
TAP. TAP.
MAKER (O.S.)
Testing... testing...
Another tap.
MAKER (O.S.)
If you're broken, blink twice.
Silence.
A MAN leans into frame.
Messy hair.
Protective goggles.
Dark gloves.
A stained white laboratory coat.
He studies the camera.
MAKER
Good. We're both professionals.
He drags a chair into frame and sits.
MAKER
My name is—
SKRRRRRRRT!
The tape violently distorts.
His voice disappears.
ON SCREEN — THREE FRAMES ONLY
████████████
Normal footage returns.
The Maker stares at the camera.
MAKER
...Rude.
He stands.
MAKER
There are three kinds of inventions.
He raises one finger.
MAKER
Useful.
A second.
MAKER
Dangerous.
A third.
MAKER
Interesting.
He smiles.
MAKER
If you're lucky, you make all three at once.
He walks toward the tarp.
The camera follows him without anyone touching it.
The Maker doesn't notice.
MAKER
This tape is for whoever eventually asks the obvious question.
He places one hand on the tarp.
MAKER
Where did they come from?
A beat.
MAKER
And unfortunately...
He YANKS the tarp away.
MAKER
...the answer is me.
Underneath—
A HUMANOID MACHINE.
Metal arms.
Metal legs.
Reinforced torso.
Five-fingered hands.
And instead of a head—
A CAMERA.
Its lens is closed.
The Maker's joking expression softens.
MAKER
This is Unit One.
He rests a hand against its chest.
MAKER
My first successful autonomous recording unit.
Nothing happens.
He taps its chest twice.
MAKER
Or my first successful expensive table decoration.
Nothing.
The Maker frowns.
MAKER
Don't do this. I'm recording.
CLICK.
UNIT ONE'S head suddenly turns.
Its lens opens.
A BLUE LIGHT appears.
The Maker freezes.
Unit One slowly sits upright.
Metal joints GROAN.
Its camera-head rotates around the laboratory.
Observing.
Recording.
Learning.
Then—
It looks directly at the Maker.
The Maker smiles.
Not like a scientist looking at equipment.
Like a father seeing his child awake for the first time.
MAKER
There you are.
Unit One tilts its head.
MAKER
You don't understand me yet.
Beat.
MAKER
You will.
The Maker steps backward.
MAKER
And someday...
His smile weakens.
MAKER
...you won't need me.
Unit One abruptly turns toward the far corner.
The Maker notices.
MAKER
What?
Unit One doesn't respond.
Its lens remains locked on something.
The recording camera slowly adjusts focus.
In the corner—
A WHITE PORCELAIN TOILET.
The Maker stares at it.
MAKER
That wasn't there.
Silence.
The toilet lid TREMBLES.
Once.
Twice.
The Maker's smile disappears.
Slowly—
A FOREHEAD rises from the bowl.
Then eyes.
A nose.
Finally—
An entire HUMAN HEAD.
Unit One takes one step in front of the Maker.
Protective.
The head's eyes SNAP OPEN.
It smiles.
Far too widely.
The Maker whispers—
MAKER
...I definitely didn't build that.
The head opens its mouth.
SKIBIDI TOILET
Skibidi—
The Maker's expression goes completely blank.
MAKER
No.
SKIBIDI TOILET
Dop dop—
MAKER
No.
SKIBIDI TOILET
Yes yes—
MAKER
Absolutely not.
The Maker grabs a wrench.
SKIBIDI TOILET
SKIBIDI SKIBIDI—
MAKER
STOP.
He lunges.
The camera is knocked sideways.
BANG!
MAKER (O.S.)
STOP SINGING!
CRASH!
MAKER (O.S.)
WHO TAUGHT YOU THAT?!
SKIBIDI TOILET (O.S.)
SKIBIDI—
CLANG!
MAKER (O.S.)
THAT WAS RHETORICAL!
The screen erupts into static.
Distorted fighting continues underneath it.
Then—
Silence.
The picture returns.
Sideways.
The Maker crawls into frame.
His goggles are cracked.
One coat sleeve is missing.
Smoke rises behind him from something porcelain.
He looks directly into the fallen camera.
Long beat.
MAKER
There are now four kinds of inventions.
He raises one finger.
MAKER
Mistakes.
CUT TO BLACK.
ON SCREEN
TAPE #001 COMPLETE
Beat.
SUBJECT: THE MAKER
PROJECT ALLIANCE: INITIALIZED
PROJECT SKIBIDI: UNAUTHORIZED ACTIVATION
A cursor blinks.
ARCHIVE CLASSIFICATION: ORIGINAL
Another line appears.
RECORDED BY: THE MAKER
The screen glitches.
The words erase themselves.
They are replaced.
RECORDED BY: UNKNOWN
Static begins crawling across the screen.
One final sentence types itself slowly.
THE MAKER NEVER TURNED THE CAMERA ON.
Silence.
CLICK.
The cassette stops.
CUT TO BLACK.
END TAPE #1