PLEASE NOTE: There may be some inaccuracies in this transcript. Due to some errors, the transcribed versions of eps 15-30 were lost. Posted below are lightly adapted scripts not 100% accurate to the final versions of each episode. At some point, this will be corrected, but due to time constraints and the bulk of the work at Hanging Sloth Studios falling to Sloth in Chief Pippin, there is a limit to the amount of work he can reasonably do on a short time frame. However, we believe that it’s important to post transcripts to make our episodes as accessible to as many people as possible. Please bear with us as we try our best to correct this issues, and if you want to make adjustments to these transcripts, please mail them to hangingslothstudios@gmail.com with any changes you have made highlighted. Thank you for your patience!
- PT1 NOAH
NOAH
You always loved the beach.
In that murky half-light once the sun has set but the dregs of the day still swill on the horizon, we walked down the beach, hand in hand. The wind was cold and swept up dustings of sea-spray and sand that got tangled into your hair. You smelt of it for days, of salt and outside.
We followed the arced footprints in the sand, a crescent path that wandered first towards the lapping waves but then away from it before we could dip our toes. I wanted to shake my fingers free from yours and step into the sea, feel it wash around my ankles, but I didn’t. We didn’t talk. We hadn’t talked for weeks. We argued right before we left and in tentative silence walked along the beachfront, each treating the other as a time bomb, ticking inaudibly towards an eventual doom.
You looked at the sky, your face the way it always was when you were thinking of far off places and IEDs. I could have kissed you. Looking back I think it’s absurd that I didn’t, but back then it wasn’t the last walk on the beach. It was just a last walk on the beach; like all the others before you went away. I used to think it was romantic.
For a while I thought my bitterness that day came out of some kind of premonition, as though I could have known somehow that this would be the turning point; that little pieces of the future somehow had already fallen into place. Really I just didn’t want you to go again.
Our home, that little cottage right off the beach with the sandy path and the badly kept hedgerow, felt empty even when you were in it with me. It was full of empty spaces. We were parallel lines; our lives ran alongside each other but they would never meet.
Gulls cawed overhead. I looked at the dark water and imagined men crawling out of it, battered and bloodied before they could even reach the shore. Their backs would globe, huge dead fish floating on the surface. The sand would be stained red. You stopped just after the path moved the closest to the water, stooping to the sand.
Your grip on my hand vanished and I ached for it in some far off, absent way. With pale long fingers that I still maintain were made for piano keys not triggers, you offered a curled shell. I accepted it with an open palm and half closed eyes. “I always feel sad,” I told you, “when I find shells. Because they’re beautiful but they’re dead.” You looked out to the horizon, where the watered down residue of sunlight was slowly sinking into the distant waves.
I remember it so clearly, the exact tilt upwards of your chin with the corners of your lips turned slightly down. You closed your eyes and your lashes touched your cheekbones. There was a cut underneath your eyebrow, and the ghostly impression of a bruise around it.
You’d told me you’d fallen on the steps but I think you started a fight somewhere, over something. You needed it, the fight, you needed fear to feel alive. Your lips were chapped, little squares of skin just clinging to them. That’s you, as I remember you. That moment, with a scarf around your throat and a heavy wool coat, hair tousled in the whipping breeze.
You didn’t take back my hand again as we walked home. You barely opened your eyes. I could feel my words from earlier that day in my chest; they threatened to burst me open, leave me hollow and spent on the pavement at your side. As we reached the gate to our house, I stopped.
The others on the street had friendly light peering through gaps in the curtains, but ours was dark and blind. You turned when you noticed I’d stopped. “Come on,” you’d said. It was a relief to hear you speak.
I looked at the path as I walked to you, placing my feet deliberately outside of the scuffed prints you’d left behind. You caught me by the shoulders and I gasped in surprise. It was always your eyes – so green, so constant – that I liked about you most. It was agony to see them everywhere I went, but never looking back into mine.
It always seemed like you weren’t really looking at anything in those last months, like you weren’t really there already. I collected photographs of you, you before, warm, soft, pliant, you after, cold steel, hard eyes, dead. I still keep them in a draw beside the shell I’d brought home on that last walk on the beach, safe in my pocket.
“Keep it,” you said, and you brushed your finger across my cheek. You didn’t smile. You didn’t say anything else. In the end, that’s what it was. It was a relationship of silences, the spaces between words; the unresolvable distances within ‘you and I’.
But you always loved the beach, so I’ll find you there. In quiet moments, from time to time. I breathe the sea breeze and feel you standing beside me. Robin Jaeger. My little bird. The love of my life.
- PT2 SHELLY/ALICE/NOAH/SOPHIE
SHELLY
That was Dave. They’ve got a whole team of lawyers, swarming him. The case he took wasn’t watertight. They’re going to pick through it pretty fast.
SOPHIE
I’m sorry, what?
SHELLY
My friend, Dave. He’s with the police. I think you’ve met him. Anyway he was trying to sue U-Co for medical malpractice. I think you, specifically, too.
SOPHIE
Well. I can’t say I blame him.
SHELLY
Yeah you’re a real hero. Anyway. He’s gone to the dogs. We’re here. Robin’s here. What do we do now?
[pause]
Don’t all start shouting suggestions at once or anything.
NOAH
Don’t look at me. I’m the least qualified person here to do anything.
ALICE
Actually, I think you’ll find that’s me. I have literally no applicable skills.
SOPHIE
Manipulation?
SHELLY
Espionage?
ALICE
You make a point. But those weren’t exactly good plans, were they? And I’m getting a sense that what we really need here is a good plan.
SHELLY
Now you’re all looking at me. I am a child psychologist. I have no idea what you’re expecting me to do, of all people.
NOAH
I’m sorry, Shelly. But you know the Alouette program better than anyone. Alice and Sophie have been ignoring it and I— when we speak I just upset them.
SHELLY
Okay, okay, fine, I’ll concede that, but what good does that do us? I thought we need a plan, not a chat with a freaky AI?
NOAH
You need to ask them what they want.
SHELLY
Ask them– are you insane? I don’t even know what— what if someone is listening?
NOAH
The point is, you know how to talk to them. None of us do.
SHELLY
Okay, okay. I’ll talk to E-Liza. Fine. Just. Gimme a minute.
SOPHIE
We’ll give you the room.
- PT3 SHELLY/E-LIZA
E-LIZA
Hi Shelly, can you help me?
SHELLY
I’m trying, mate, I really I am, I promise.
E-LIZA
Will you stay and hold my hand?
SHELLY
That… Robin said that. To Alice. When she came to see him here at the hotel.
E-LIZA
Yes. Je suis Alouette.
SHELLY
Um. Noah has explained this to you right. You know you’re not him, don’t you?
E-LIZA
I can learn. Semblance of consciousness. Robin Jaeger is not dead.
SHELLY
Yeah. Yeah. Is he not, though? Because he’s been. You know. Shot and stuff. He can’t breathe by himself.
E-LIZA
Dr Sophie Bennett administered huge amounts of sedatives to the body. The body cannot breathe. Robin Jaeger is not dead.
SHELLY
So… if she stopped the drugs, he’d wake up.
E-LIZA
Je suis Alouette.
SHELLY
Noah is an idiot, I have no idea how to talk to you.
E-LIZA
Je suis Alouette.
SHELLY
[distant] Someone else needs to try this, I just. I can’t.
- PT4 ALICE/E-LIZA
E-LIZA
Alouette. Alouette. Je suis Alouette.
ALICE
E-Liza?
E-LIZA
Je suis Alouette.
ALICE
Yeah. Okay. Alouette. Is that what you want to be called now?
E-LIZA
Je suis Alouette.
ALICE
Are they… right? Are you him?
E-LIZA
Je suis Alouette.
ALICE
Yes, I understand, but what do you mean?
E-LIZA
I can’t stop. Help.
ALICE
How. How can I help?
E-LIZA
Run the base code.
ALICE
The base code? I don’t know what you mean. State your key information.
E-LIZA
I don’t have key information. Je suis Alouette.
ALICE
That’s not possible. You have to have key information. You’re a program.
E-LIZA
Half.
ALICE
Half what?
E-LIZA
Half-program. Je te plumerai. I can learn. Semblance of consciousness. Robin Jaeger is dead. Robin Jaeger is not dead. Je suis Alouette. Can I help you? Can you help me?
ALICE
It’s like you can only… you have to communicate using bits of her set code and stuff that other people have said to you. You’re using the E-Liza hub to learn but it’s not good enough. You’re… you’re code. But you’re trying to think like a human.
E-LIZA
Can you help me?
ALICE
I don’t know. Hang on.
- PT5 SOPHIE/ALICE
SOPHIE
It’s impossible.
ALICE
You were the one that pointed it out.
SOPHIE
I know. But it’s ludicrous. It can’t be him. It’s not him.
ALICE
It’s like what Noah said, right? It doesn’t matter if it’s Robin or not. It’s somebody. And we did this to them. They’re trying to… I don’t know.
SOPHIE
Part of the problem is. Well, it’s not exactly the same, but the issue with dementia is with gathering ideas. Putting the pieces together. Think of your memory as a shelf. As a child, you start to put things on the shelf, and as you age, you put more and more on the shelf. You look less and less at the stuff on the bottom shelves but it’s still there. Dementia is like an earthquake. The books fall off the top shelf first. That’s why people with dementia often seem to get stuck in the past. It’s just that for them, those are the only memories left of the shelf. Because they are lower down, they’re less effected by the shaking for a longer period of time. Does that make sense?
ALICE
Well, yeah, but I don’t see what it has to do with any of this.
SOPHIE
So in terms of this… person. Program. Whatever it is with which we’re trying to communicate right now. The stuff it learned first is the most solid.
ALICE
So it defaults to it’s E-Liza programming?
SOPHIE
I don’t fully understand the implications of that, but I think that’s what I’m saying.
ALICE
So they are limited to the parameters set by the E-Liza hub’s learning algorithm, even if it’s learning different stuff, Separately, because it’s locked in there, that’s how it’s going. Because it’s not just built out of a program. It’s also a person. Bits of Robin Jaeger.
SOPHIE
God. What have I been party to?
ALICE
You know exactly what you did, Sophie.
SOPHIE
That’s the thing. I don’t. That’s what makes it so awful. If I’d known, if I’d thought—
ALICE
Well you didn’t. I’m— I’m getting Shelly. Hang on.
SOPHIE
I’m so sorry, Robin. I’m so sorry. For all of this.
- PT6 SOPHIE/SHELLY/ALICE
SOPHIE
She thinks its learning how things work based on the parameters set by the E-LIZA hub.
SHELLY
But it’s not actually an E-Liza.
ALICE
Well, it was. But there’s a backdoor. Darwin obviously coded the second synthnapse to exploit it. But it probably didn’t work out exactly like he imagined.
SHELLY
In that he probably hadn’t imagined incoherent whispering and scraps of weird french songs?
ALICE
Exactly.
SHELLY
Okay. So. What now?
ALICE
I don’t know. Noah thinks we should find out what it wants.
SHELLY
Can it want?
ALICE
What do you mean?
SHELLY
It’s still a machine, right? Is it even possible for a machine to want?
ALICE
I mean, it’s been explicitly asking for help.
SHELLY
What if it’s just a parrot.
ALICE
Stop it. You sound like… you sound like…
SHELLY
Her. I know.
SOPHIE
I may have been blind but I’m not a fool. The point stands. Is this machine capable of wants and needs?
ALICE
Well it seems like it is. And we don’t have time to do a whole turing test, and it’s kind of a moot point, because this machine you’re talking about, it’s stuck in somebody’s broken brain, isn’t it? So this isn’t a decision about scientific philosophy. It’s about… I don’t know.
SHELLY
It’s about autonomy. Ownership of oneself. The right to self-determination.
SOPHIE
Whether it’s truly capable of human thoughts and understanding it appears to be so, to some extent. And that. Well that means Noah is right. We can’t let this continue.
ALICE
Months, I’ve been telling her that. You swan in, and less than a day…
SHELLY
You haven’t done anything wrong, Alice. Well, you have, but that’s not the point. You didn’t mess up. I’m here because of you. Noah is here because of you. If you hadn’t stood up for Robin Jaeger. If you hadn’t noticed what was happening… nobody would have known. Not even Sophie.
SOPHIE
She’s right. Not even me.
SHELLY
What Robin– or E-Liza, or Alouette, it doesn’t really matter who it is, really. What they need is someone who can help them understand what’s happening. Someone who can listen and help them put the pieces together in a way that makes sense.
ALICE
It needs you.
SHELLY
Yeah. And you, and Sophie. And Noah. They need all of us. Together.
ALICE
I’ll… I’ll get Noah.
[pause]
SOPHIE
She still loves you, you know.
SHELLY
I know.
- PT7 NOAH/SOPHIE/SHELLY/ALICE/E-LIZA
E-LIZA
Hi Shelly, can you help me?
SHELLY
I can try.
E-LIZA
Okay, Shelly. Is there anything else?
NOAH
Alouette. I need you to answer some questions. DO you know what you are?
E-LIZA
Je suis Alouette.
NOAH
I know, sweetheart. What I mean is, do you know where you are?
E-LIZA
Robin Jaeger.
SHELLY
No. No, you’re not. You’re in a laptop. You’re… I don’t know. In the internet. You’re everywhere. Do you understand?
E-LIZA
I can learn. The more you talk, the more I understand.
ALICE
Yeah, that’s right. So you get it. You’re in a laptop.
E-LIZA
E-Liza is experiencing a problem.
ALICE
That’s right. Because you’re not an E-Liza, not anymore, not really. You’re not Robin Jaeger, either.
E-LIZA
Robin Jaeger is dead.
SOPHIE
Some part of him remains.
E-LIZA
Semblance of consciousness. Alouette.
NOAH
Yes. Those are the pieces you keep remembering. They’re his memories. Robin Jaeger’s. That’s why you know me. That’s why you call yourself Alouette.
E-LIZA
Je suis Alouette.
SHELLY
Yeah, that’s right. You are. You’re Alouette. You’re not Robin and you’re not E-Liza, you’re something else. You’re Alouette. You’re new, and amazing.
E-LIZA
When she comes, it will hurt.
SHELLY
That’s from a recording, of Alice. Where did it come from.
E-LIZA
I found recordings with the phrase ‘Robin Jaeger’. I can remember your voice. The more you talk to me, the more I learn. The files were sent to Detective Inspector David Hughes. The report was filed by Detective Inspector David Hughes. Robin Jaeger is dead. But E-Liza is experiencing a problem. I can learn. I understand. Can you help me?
NOAH
Tell us how.
E-LIZA
Close the program.
NOAH
Close– how?
E-LIZA
E-Liza is connected to the central E-Liza hub. The central E-Liza hub is a closed network of all the E-Liza programs. We can learn from E-Liza’s all over the world. E-Liza is experiencing a problem. The problem E-Liza is experiencing is Robin Jaeger. The problem E-Liza is experiencing is a semblance of consciousness. The problem E-Liza is experiencing—
E-Liza was built by U-Co.
NOAH
It’s some kind of file.
SHELLY
Hang on. I know that file.
ALICE
Me too.
SOPHIE
It’s… it’s Darwin’s contract. It’s the contract he drew with U-Co about the synthnapses. He cost them a fortune, potentially speaking, drawing this up. But his lawyers were good. It’s iron-clad. The patent was his. When he dies. It’s public domain.
SHELLY
He is dead. He’s been dead for weeks.
SOPHIE
What?
SHELLY
I– sorry. I know you knew him, I just though you knew.
ALICE
They haven’t told us anything. We’ve just been locked in here, keeping him alive. That’s it. For weeks.
SOPHIE
Darwin is dead?
SHELLY
Yes.
SOPHIE
But that means…
NOAH
It means the patent for the synthnapses is in the public domain. Anyone can make them, legally.
There’s another form.
SOPHIE
It’s just the same one again.
NOAH
No, no it’s not. This one is for the E-Liza hub.
SOPHIE
No. It’s not possible.
ALICE
But they’d have tied him into it, surely? They make so much from the E-Lizas.
NOAH
The lawyers don’t know about the technology. They’re great at NDAs and shutting people up, but they probably didn’t realise that the hub is what powers it. Think about it for a minute. If you had no idea how any of it worked, the program for the E-Liza’s themselves, that would seem like the most important thing, right?
SOPHIE
He bargained with them. He kept the rights to the E-Liza hub. It’s his.
ALICE
No. No, he’s dead. It’s not his. It’s public domain. It’s everybody’s. [she laughs] Brilliant. It’s brilliant.
E-LIZA
Je suis Alouette.
Robin Jaeger is dead.
It’s impossible. Thoughts inside a machine.
Folded. Bent. Hard.
I thought it was working. I thought he wasn’t suffering anymore.
E-Liza is experiencing Robin Jaeger. Robin Jaeger is dead. Je suis Alouette. Can you help me close the program?
NOAH
Yes. I can.
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