Mm...
Doesn't the sun feel so great?
The real sun?
- It's incredible. - Mm.
A nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma.
Really puts a smile on my face.
Just like you, Noodle.
Hey, you hungry?
Oh.
Thank you.
Things are gonna be different from here on out.
I've learned my lesson.
I... I don't want to control you.
I wanna connect with you.
The real you.
Listen, I am just so happy you're...
Is everything okay?
Did I... did I get the wrong kind?
Is...
No, it's just...
Byron,
getting me donut holes
isn't going to make me suddenly forgive you.
No, that's not what I...
that...
Bennett!
What's wrong with her?
Why is she not responding to my overtures?
Is there something wrong with the algorithm?
Uh, not sure, sir.
Considering the data we've collected
from Hazel since she's left the Hub,
the simulation is accurately calibrated.
Presenting her with donut holes,
especially in such a chivalrous manner,
should have greased the wheels, metaphorically speaking,
to get your beach date off to a rousing start.
I totally agree.
Show me the data. I wanna see where I went wrong.
Okay, let's go back.
Hazel. Hazel.
Mm...
Doesn't the sun feel great?
The real sun?
- Subs by kinglouisxx - for www.addic7ed.com
Oh!
Oh, you're alive.
Did I die? Was I dead?
- Where am I? - You're... you're alive.
Hazel, we're not here to kill you.
We thought Byron killed you.
He must've reconsidered.
You probably lost consciousness
when we took you offline.
No matter. Hazel, listen to me.
Herringbone has managed to disrupt the chip's feed
for a short amount of time.
We can take the chip out without Byron seeing.
We just have to do it in the next...
Five minutes?
I just need you to lie back down.
No.
I assure you, this will be safe.
Hazel, look, my fingers are rotting in a cooler.
Try to get onboard here, all right?
I don't want it out now!
I wanna keep it in. I wanna keep the chip in.
All right, maybe it's not up to you anymore, huh?
I... I, um,
I understand your fear.
I really do.
Taking the chip out
will give you your freedom.
You think I'm gonna trust the two of you with my freedom?
The two people who did absolutely nothing
while I was held hostage for ten fucking years?
And watched 24 hours a day
and forced to have a performative orgasm
on camera every morning? Are you kidding me?
That's way above my pay grade.
Hazel, we understand.
He betrayed us too.
He took something from me.
He took something without your consent?
Yeah, sorta like what you're doing to me right now.
Did you... did you get Zelda's consent?
When you trapped her in the Hub and put a chip in her brain?
You are just like Byron.
All right, we're... we're wasting time here.
I'll hold her down. You sedate her.
Stop.
- What? - Stop, stop, stop.
- What the f... - No.
You're wrong.
I am not like Byron.
- Go. - What?
- What are you doing? - I can't get...
The one chance we have at a future
is inside her skull!
She owes us!
Where are we?
Don't talk to us. Don't look at us.
You'll be back online any second.
Wait, what? What? Whoa.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
You're just gonna leave me here?
- You can't do that. - Stop talking to us. Turn around.
How am I supposed to get home?
Assholes!
I know donut holes
won't make you suddenly forgive me.
And, um,
there's so much I wanna fix here.
Just...
Please?
Will you let me try?
Please?
Yes.
I'd like that.
Pause simulation.
Bennett, did you see that?
Huzzah, sir!
You wanna reset? Go again?
Oh, here, let me get these little grains of sand
- off your towel and... - No, leave it.
Are you sure?
Your biometric feedback readings
are showing high annoyance levels.
That's the thing.
The world is annoying.
That was my epiphany.
Fiffany? I haven't seen her...
Epiphany.
The reason I didn't implant the chip to merge.
This whole time,
every second she's been showing me what she wants.
- A divorce? - Authenticity.
It doesn't matter if fake Hazel responds to me... she's fake.
Just like the Hazel that's been...
in the Hub all these years.
Now she's real Hazel,
in the real world.
And I need to prepare myself to meet her out there,
where it will make a difference.
Run the simulation again. Skip to level ten.
Maximize real world variables?
Just make it feel real!
Should we go for a swim?
Yeah, that would be... Oh.
- Are you okay? - Yeah, I'm...
Yo, dude. Little help?
Yeah, I'll play that...
I'll play that sport later.
With them. Yeah.
Oh, look, a cute little dog!
Oh, yeah, so cute. Okay.
Sorry, guys.
This little fucker loves himself a picnic basket.
Yeah, but I...
he's... he's, uh... eating the food.
He's licking the food.
Oh, my God!
No! No! Go back!
- So sorry, sir! - Don't stop!
Let's go! Here we go!
This should cover a room for you here
for a few weeks.
Sure, but, uh,
what's our next move?
There isn't one.
If all this has shown me something,
it's that I need to forge my own path...
one that doesn't include Ignacio,
or Byron.
I'm done helping men.
Amen, sister.
Wait, you're not lumping me in with them, are you?
I've gotta get back to the Hub.
I need to be there
to make sure that Zelda's transfer is complete.
And when she's out,
I'm giving Byron my resignation.
After that, I'm not sure.
But you and me, we're...
we're a team.
Goodbye, Herringbone.
Take care of yourself.
Fiff, please, you can't just
leave me out here with nothing.
I... I got no other options.
- Get out of the van. - No.
Get out of the van.
No. You can't make me.
Ow!
Sorry.
Dad, I'm home.
Oh, my...
I'm okay. I'm okay.
Dad?
Huh?
You're... you're...
you're just asleep?
What? Jesus.
Are you kidding me?
What the hell?
Uh, it's... it's 1:00 a.m.
Yeah, I left you to walk home at noon.
Did you wonder where I was?
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I wondered.
This is just like when I was a kid.
You have never given a fuck about me.
It's the middle of the night, huh?
Can we argue about this in the morning?
Why?
What would be the point of that?
You're never gonna change.
I have always been an afterthought to you.
You were gone for ten years.
Excuse me if... if you being late
doesn't feel like DEFCON level one.
You... you were done being a parent to me
the second that Mom died.
I mean, you just have been passed out on a couch
or drunk at a bar my whole life.
You completely checked out.
I didn't ask you to come back, huh?
You showed up at my door from the middle of nowhere,
and suddenly, my life is supposed to revolve around you?
I had a good thing going here.
What, with your fuckin' doll?
Do you know that you treat that doll
better than you have ever treated me?
I mean, you buy her new clothes,
and you fold her laundry,
and you put it away all nice.
And you buy her groceries, and you cook her meals,
and you ask her every day how she is feeling
even though all she is
is a fake fucking vagina with limbs!
Let... let go of her! Leave her alone!
You're out of your fucking mind!
Get away from her!
Give me a fucking break!
What's wrong with you?
I didn't think I'd ever see you again.
Why would you think that?
Have you ever asked yourself
why your daughter was so willing
to run away with a sociopath forever?
I mean, who does that?
I'll tell you who.
Girls with shit fathers.
What the hell is it?
You... you have experience with this stuff?
And then you can just...
you know... but you're right, you're right.
Jesus Christ. Hey, Dad?
Can you and Diane move your nun fetish act
to the kitchen please? It's 10 in the morning.
Stop! Don't let her see me.
Who is that?
Lis... listen, listen, listen.
It's just somebody I know,
and somebody who I think can help.
Oh, my God.
Are you gonna try to get me to join a convent?
That's not the worst idea, but no.
No. Look.
In order for you to go up against someone like Byron,
you gotta go outside the system.
She's outside the system.
Your father has told me everything,
which means you will never lay eyes on me.
This way, Byron doesn't know who I am.
You can call me Judiff.
Sorry... Judith?
Ju-diff. Two F's.
Uh-huh.
Mm-hmm.
I have to admit, this is a...
a surprise.
I thought we were doing great things together.
I'm grateful for all the opportunities
that Gogol has given me, that you've given me, Byron,
but I'm ready to move on to different things.
There's nothing I could offer you
to convince you to stay?
You made up your mind?
Afraid so.
Oh.
Yeah.
I understand. Thank you.
Oh, I do need to take out
the sensor implant in your finger.
Of course.
You'll be missed.
Get you a Band-Aid.
It's fine.
No, it's okay.
Stay.
I'll be right back.
Bad news, Dr. Hodeck.
I don't seem to have any bandages in my office.
But I'm in your office.
I never in a million years
thought I would have to put you in the Pasture Cube.
It's very disappointing.
Farewell, Fiffany.
Oh, you fuck, Byron.
She left me no choice.
It is tough being the boss, Bennett.
It's a harsh punishment, sir, but understandable.
I'm sure a few minutes in the Pasture Cube
will scare Dr. Hodeck straight.
Mm.
When would you like me to let her out?
Never.
Oh?
No more simulations. I'm ready.
Sir?
It's time for me to go out
into the real world by myself.
Pack our bags.
Thank you.
Mm.
Mmm.
You remember how I take it.
Anyway, like I mentioned, uh,
my daughter here, she's, uh, she's in a bit of trouble.
Hazel.
Mm-hmm.
Let me tell you a little bit about me.
Okay.
I'm a bulldog who likes
to sink her teeth into the ankles of corruption.
Cool.
You might've noticed since you been home,
there are no churches open
with 20 square miles of Twin Sands.
Um,
I didn't notice that.
Sorry, I guess that's... that's a bummer for you, right?
Not at all.
I'm the one that took every last one of 'em down.
One bishop called me a steeple slayer.
I got a kick out of that.
So you're a real nun,
or a fake nun, or...
I became a real nun
to infiltrate the church and expose its crimes.
And, ah, I found a lot of 'em...
tax evasions, cooking the books,
unforgiveable acts by priests.
Like sex stuff?
Abuse.
Not sex.
Sex,
when between two consenting partners,
is the highest expression of the divine.
Isn't that right, Herb?
Judiff, if I may, um,
I don't know what your plan is here,
but my husband is Byron Gogol.
He's not your typical...
Gogol.
What kind of last name is that?
You don't know who that is?
- I don't care who that is. - Mm.
All I know is,
what he did to your head was abuse.
He robbed you of your solitude, didn't he?
You didn't offer it; he took it
and made himself all-seeing and knowing in your life.
And that is a relationship reserved for God,
and he hijacked it.
Yeah.
He took all my hiding places.
It's blasphemy.
He doesn't get to be God.
She's nodding. Yeah.
He's gonna ruin your life.
He's gonna scare you off. It's what he does.
I mean, you know, he's watching all this right now,
and he can hear it all, and you just...
I mean, any second,
the phones here are gonna start ringing.
- Well... - Right?
He hasn't called yet.
Oh, maybe... maybe he has.
I don't have great service out here.
Don't worry about me.
But Hazel, I need you to give me authority
to act on your behalf.
Because with Byron here...
You and I have no privacy.
Right. Yes.
From here on out,
you and I will never see or speak to each other again
until it's over.
But how am I supposed to know
what it is you're doing for me?
I'm just supposed to trust that you
are handling Byron Gogol?
Correct.
It's not like you got other options.
What am I supposed to do in the meantime?
Go about your life like you normally would.
Don't worry about your husband.
If he wants to watch your every move,
that doesn't make him powerful.
It makes him pathetic.
Oh.
I gotta pee.
Oh. Yeah.
Uh, down the hall there on the right.
- I remember. - Yeah.
Close your eyes.
Oh, right.
When did you date the nun?
Before Diane.
Judiff was, uh,
taking a break from the cloth.
I like her.
She's the first person I haven't had to explain myself to.
Mm.
Hi.
I'm Judiff, a former friend of Herb's.
Maybe he's mentioned me.
Mm.
Uh, well, actually, when you two met,
Herb and I were together.
But that's water under the bridge now
'cause I am remarried to the Lord, yes.
Yeah.
No need for you to worry 'cause, you know,
me and Herb gonna be working on a...
What the?
I'm in the hallway now.
Um, close your eyes, please.
Yeah. Right.
Okay, they're covered.
Well, Hazel, I'll either never see you again,
or we'll meet when this is all over.
Sorry I missed Diane.
When will she be back again?
Uh, Tuesday.
Tuesday? Ah, well.
I hope it all went well with her conference in Reno.
Yeah.
- Thanks. - Toodles.
What?
Nothing.
Actually, I have...
I have no words.
I'm proud of you, sir.
You really held your own in the real world simulation.
- Yeah? - And look at us now.
Two guys just taking a walk in Los Angeles.
How does it feel to be out of the Hub?
Just fine.
I have no doubt this is the right move, strategically.
You know, I fell in love with her, uh,
in the real world the first time.
I can do it again, right?
Absolutely, sir.
Oh, feel the pep coming on.
It's my first time having caffeine.
Let's roll.
Just checking.
You know, you make fun of Diane,
but you're starting to take on a lot of her traits.
I was just thinking about Judiff.
Mm. Well, she's odd.
But you can trust her.
Mm, no, I was thinking about how she said that
I should just go about my life
and... and do all the things that I would normally do.
Yeah, well,
everybody's been telling you that.
Yeah, I... I know. I just...
I just have no idea what that would look like.
Well, nobody's telling you you gotta, uh,
build a new life overnight.
Mm-hmm.
You start small.
Do something that you used to do
back when you lived here.
Hm? What'd you use to do for fun?
Besides be a delinquent with bangles.
Do you really wanna know?
Sure.
Okay.
Come on.
When was the last time you were here?
Never. Right?
Well, I mean, about that...
Your mom's not here.
I would've told you sooner, but, uh,
when I said "fun,"
I didn't think we were going to a cemetery.
Uh, where is she?
The city, they wanted to make some space
for some nicer graves.
They paid to have bodies moved
about 12 miles up State Highway 55.
I needed the money.
I got the address at home. Somewhere.
I brought her favorite beer.
That's what I, uh,
used to do.
It's not like, uh,
like I didn't visit 'cause I don't care.
I just, I don't need the... the...
the ceremony of talking to a rock.
I talk to her plenty.
You do?
Yeah. Yeah.
I do.
I even keep some of your mom's stuff in the house.
Like the, uh,
the coat rack and the yellow lamp.
The clothes on Diane.
That too. Mm.
I was really lonely after she died.
Me too.
It was worse when you left.
I know I wasn't there for you.
And I know that,
I mean, I'm not always gonna be.
Doesn't mean I don't care.
How do you think old Dirtdog died?
I think he died doing what he loved.
Getting his dick wet.
Oh, Jesus.
Hazel.
Wha...
- It says. - Ah.
Ah, good for him.
That's the way to go, I guess.
Yeah.
CREDITS