The immutable
sense of despair is only due to your mind's work,
It's the way our brains process time and space, You see, now,
we could be in our childhood home
with our grandmother baking a cake,
A moment later, we could be experiencing a sense of failure
an exam, perhaps, that we fear we're not going to pass,
And all of this is happening right here,
right now, in the present,
Where nothing is really transpiring,
Meanwhile, your body experiences all the nostalgia
and all the fears germinating from
thoughts of past and future,
Hi, ladies, Beautiful day today,
And the guys at the office just send me over
the first batch of our awesome Silkderm Hydration Cream,
SPF 50 plus,
Today's the perfect day to try it on,
I've just put them on my chest,
It's so smooth and refreshing,
Don't forget the launch is
in less than two weeks, so get your preorders in now,
No Ma, tonight we have people over, okay,
You can swing by before seven,
Otherwise, let's do something tomorrow,
Yeah, and
tell Pa not to be lazy, okay?
No, let me, yeah
Let me talk to him, Put him on
Hey, Pa,
Come va?
Passato el mal di,, ehm,,,di, di tes,,,
We're doing brunch tomorrow morning, okay?
I forgot we're having Andrew over tonight,
Yeah, Mm hmm,
Yeah, sure,, I'll ask her, but dinner shouldn't be a problem,
Mm hmm,
Yeah,
no worries at all, Cool,
Bye,
Hey, Daanis,
did you find that lamb shank?
I was thinking maybe we can do that,
that recipe he told me about last time,
You know, the lamb tagine or whatever the fuck,
Andrew would love it,
Something exotic, you know, Mediterranean,
- Sure, - Not too much animal, please,
Caroline and I are doing that challenge, remember?
Let's do salad for you to then,
So you're going to have lamb shank
and some other refined dishes while we have salad,
Good, Can we talk?
Your mother dropped this off,
What's this?
Bhindi Masala
She never disappoints,
You can have that instead of the salad,
Okay,
Come with me,
Let's go,
Can you tell me why you called her?
Ahm,,,who?
Her, It's Andrew and Caroline, for God's sake,
We're not hosting a Christmas dinner,
It's casual, and we can't afford to hire a maid
every time we have people over,
Last time we had them over here was six months ago,
And you know what they're like, okay?
The lifestyle and all, We got to keep up,
Of course I do,
That's why we stopped hanging out with them,
When I have to trade hiring a new PR for a bottle
of whoever-the-fuck-cares,
That's when I go for coffee,
She offered
Ani, and we haven't hired her in over three weeks,
Come on,
So we're doing charity now,
I've been waiting for philanthropists to come along,
I didn't know I had one in the house,
No, look, listen,
it will be fine, okay?
Of course it will be fine,
Don't go inspirational on me over a fucking dinner,
Leave it to your crowd, tribe,
Whatever you call it,
I mean, your sunscreen launch,
Look, you put a lot of work into this,
and it's gonna be great,
You're gonna be great,
Steve,
I don't snap about the maid because of other reasons,
but because of the maid herself,
I know we need to keep up this facade,
this lifestyle in the eyes of the guests and residents,
but can we at least try to do it on the cheap?
That's all I'm asking,
Now, please get out of my face,
I need to call my mom,
Thank you, Daanis,
Okay, so what's a good substitute for eggs then?
Cornmeal?
How about disappointment?
It's a challenge,
And just for a month,
To be honest, I already feel better, right?
Oh, I feel great, Meat always,,,
- ,,,makes me feel so bloated, - Andrew, how the wine?
Oh, excellent, my friend!
- Great? - Great choice,
Bordeaux, 2018,
- It's a classic, - Nobody cares,
- You know summer extended way into,,, - Poor guy,
,,,September that year giving us this excellent vintage,
This man, always so obsessed with his wine,
Yes, I am, Just look at the color, It's fucking beautiful,
You know, we implemented a plant based diet for our employees,
We tried to encourage the use of
standing desks, Gym breaks,
We built a fucking pool for these guys,
But you know programmers, they are in Arcadia 18 hours a day,
- I don't know programmers, - Stop it,
When they disconnect, they barely remember their names,
I can't even sit still for more than 30 minutes straight,
You know, in the end, diet is the secret to a long
and healthy life,
Oh, Jesus Christ, My Nonno, would smoke like a chimney
And he ate chicken, like, every day,
And he lived till like, what? 104, I think,
You,,,you want to know why?
Olive oil,
- That's the secret, - Again with your nonno
and his olive oil,
He's Italian,
Being obsessed with food comes with the territory,
Thank you, Caroline,
If I were Swiss, I'd eat chocolate and check the time,
Daanis, the lamb was excellent, by the way,
- Thank you, - Did you guys hear
the story about cadavers
not decomposing as quickly
because of all the preservatives we take in?
- Jesus Christ, Caroline! - Oh, baby!
I wouldn't trade mac and cheese for fast decay on my deathbed,
You know, if we can afford a healthy plant based diet,
we should go that route,
I mean, our parents didn't have the options we have today,
You know what? I agree,
My father had steaks when he moved here,
Before that, it was only noodles and cabbage,
Okay,
There's no point discussing serious topics with you guys,
What the hell was that sound?
Must be that coyote again?
You guys have coyotes here,
Daanis,
could you please check outside?
I will,
Thank you,
We haven't had a coyote here,,,
So what was it?
Nothing,
Must have been that coyote,
- It's fine, - Alright,
I added a little something extra
for the cab and the late night,
Thank you again for dinner, It was fantastic,
Oh, no, thank you,
Let me know if you need anything else,
I sure will,
- You have a good night, okay? - Good night,
Bye!
Bye Anika,
You know, I didn't like Andrew's joke
about his father eating steak,
It was just a joke to tease you,
It's not like my parents became carnivores
once they moved to North America,
They were vegetarian in Mumbai, and they still are in Vancouver,
Is that another glass?
I'm finishing the bottle,
Yeah, the one you just opened,
The level of energy you have,
What energy? I'm going to bed, You coming?
Forbes just released an interview
with Goren Minami, This year is the year,
He'll sign with Eltron,
Probably end up first on the list
of greatest influencers of the 21st century,
That guy is practically--
I think there's someone outside,
He isn't moving,
What should we do?
Let's wait and see,
Do we have any valuables outside?
Only the prototype to my sunscreen,
Worst case scenario, he'll steal the formula
and become a millionaire before I do,
Let's see what happens
if we pretend we didn't notice him,
After staring at him for 5 minutes straight?
Yeah, like,,,
"Oh, sorry, It must have been a shadow,"
"I must have got confused,"
Just see what he does, See what he does,
Okay,
Let's pretend I'm brushing my hair,
and we're having a smart conversation,
A smart conversation,
That's a staple in this house,
Shit, He's gone,
Okay,
I'll make sure the alarm is on, okay?
Check the doors and windows,
We need to send a warning out to the police station,
Hi, We just saw someone trespassing on our property,
No, He disappeared right after,
Are any of you patrolling Eagle Heights tonight?
Just want to give you a heads-up,
We're at 4624 Carmine Street,
Okay,
Thanks,
It's happened before,
You know, ex residents that just can't afford
this kind of lifestyle anymore and I guess they miss it,
I don't know,
Hi, ma'am,
I was just telling your husband
that that man there was circling your house,
intending on breaking in,
Ex-residents,
You know, sometimes they just want to get back in with
the rich and the famous
Oh, my God,
That gate
is a piece of shit,
How did he do it?
Anybody can force open that little wooden gate, Anika,
we need to reinforce it,
Maybe add a lock instead of a latch?
No,
How did he find this house?
The agents were very clear,
ex-residents wouldn't have a way back to the property,
It was in our contract,
It's their fault this happened,
You know what, he might be an old tenant
from a different house,
Go figure,
What the fuck is that?
It won't stop,
Is this some new app you installed?
Why is it on the TV?
I have no idea, Anika,
Ani,
There's one in the bathroom as well,
Anything reflective?
It's not on the wall,
It's, it's on the mirror,
The mirror, You know, the mirror,
The mirror that reflects your fucking image,
You know, the--
Look, I'm sorry,
I didn't mean to swear, Okay,
Yes, I apologize, I--
He hung up on me just because I swore,
Can you believe these people?
What do you think an electrician
would know about a count down on a mirror?
You know, who am I supposed to call here?
- A watchmaker, - The agent,
And what would the agent know?
It's happening in the house, and you have to call them anyway
- about the break in, - Attempted break in,
- Whatever,
They should know what's going on,
Hi, My name is Steve Loreto,
Account number 768542,
I'm calling regarding a couple of issues
we had recently,
one of which we're still experiencing,
Yeah,
I'm on hold
All of them,
From the bathrooms to my wife's vanity,
It's everywhere,
Okay, so we wait and see,
Can we schedule an inspection anyway?
Just in case some problem emerges?
Okay,
Thanks,
What did they say?
To wait until the end of the countdown
and see if something happens? I don't know,
Do they know what it could be?
No, He said it might be an issue with how the mainframe
how it connects to the lenses,
- the reflection, - Basically tech lingo
you didn't understand,
Not a fucking word,
Okay, let's wait and see what happens,
Why am I so sleepy?
Me too,
What the hell is going on, Steve?
I don't know,
But I feel like taking a nap,
It's the middle of the day,
It's a perfect time for a nap,
What about,
what about the countdown?
What if something happen while we're asleep?
I'll try to stay awake,
Okay? I'll wake you, if something happens,
It's almost over,
I think I can do it,
Mr, Rossetti,
Miss, Patel, welcome to the center,
Please deposit your pod and lenses over there and follow me,
Dr, Lin is waiting for you,
Please take a seat,
When did we, as a species, inherit this nomadic feature?
This itinerant behavior,
You must admit, is utterly suspicious
that individuals, regardless of race, nurture
or location would at one point or another
question their own milieu,
wondering about an outer world where they could thrive,
despite the disadvantage, this new habitat
would certainly present,
To this day it's still a fascinating mystery to me,
Don't you agree?
I'm sorry but I have no clue what you're talking about,
You've been expelled from the platform,
What platform?
You see that little wristband there?
It's rebuilding your memory structure as we speak,
In the next 4 to 8 hours,
you will slowly start recollecting
the past year of your life,
The feeling would be one of a dream,
A fairly detailed and a very long one,
A year?
That's how long you've been in the vacuum,
since your Arcadia permit got accepted,
But, unfortunately,
the system has rejected your synaptic linkage,
Consequently evicting you from the platform,
So my job, here today, is to assess your memory,
to ensure that
nothing has been compromised by the ejection,
Name?
It's,,,
,,,Steve,
It says,,,
Remo, Remo Rossetti,
Name?
It's Mira Patel,
Who's Anika?
Anika's the name of your avatar,
I just remember a pool, I was talking to a camera,
And I was in a bikini, all the time, for no reason at all,
Their features, whether you're pleased with them or not,
are a consequence of your initial request,
Steve,
Motivational speaker,
Wine lover,
English-speaker,
Italian heritage, but no Italian accent,
That's very specific,
Anika, successful lifestyle entrepreneur,
Internet prime influencer,
Changing the world for the better,
It's a classic,
I was about to launch my sunscreen, I remember,
Yeah, I just hit two million followers,
This is good, This is progress,
Let's expand on the
bakery and the aromatherapy store, shall we?
The pre-Arcadia time frame,
Bakery? Uh,
That was a very long time ago,
Yes, Right before Arcadia, just over a year,
Yes,
I moved to Canada, I was working at a
pizzeria, then a winery,
The winery where we met!
Oh yeah, yeah, you ordered a Pinot Grigio
and you were wearing the dress with the little--
Okay, uh, let's not dwell on irrelevant minutiae,
Let's continue with the big milestones,
How I end up working at the bakery?
It's not for me to tell,
And why was I working at the aromatherapy store?
What about the other places? The mining office? The tech lab?
The work permit,
Yes! The work permit,
It was expiring, We had to leave the country,
And?
And leave each other, Going back home,
So?
So we decided to,,,
Sign up to,,,
- Arcadia! - Arcadia!
Excellent, excellent!
Well done,
But, but, why?
Well, the immigration office
considers your application to Arcadia
as an extension of your
ordinary work permit as to allow to stay--
No, but why did we get disconnected?
Yeah,
We signed, uh,,,
Yeah, yeah we signed for the platform two years, I remember,
Yours is a unique case,
Which explains my presence here,
Nobody connects to Arcadia Canada from Canada,
We were willing to undertake your experiment, but
as we have discussed during your profiling,
the procedure is highly unstable
Arcadia is meant to be experienced
solely by individuals living abroad,
It's a way for suitable immigrants
to indulge in the ideal life they'd have,
if they'd eventually decide to move here,
Millions of people from around the world
connect to Arcadia as we speak,
And how many people are being disconnected as we speak?
None,
Unlike you two,
all of our residents live outside of Canada,
If you're already here,
why would you want to live your ideal life in Canada
via a virtual platform when you can live it in the real world?
What? You mean, just working
10 hours every single day at a bakery?
And there's no pool in my aromatherapy memories,
Certain things take time and character,
A tadpole has to grow legs to become a frog,
Okay, So how do we get back in?
Well,
If that is your ambition,
you're more than welcome to submit
a second set of paperwork together with the fee,
Perhaps on the second attempt
your stay in the vacuum would last longer,
We can't guarantee, but
we are open to explore that option,
This is no way to run a business,
And what are we supposed to do?
Pay another submission fee and what was that?
Ten thousand dollars?
It's just another day at the bakery,
Your work permit extension
has been reactivated effective immediately,
You will be able to work in the country
for a total of 21 days,
After which you will be expected to leave Canada,
Unless of course,
a new work permit or an Arcadia permit is issued,
No, This is bullshit!
What are we supposed to do?
Find a new job,
and earn ten thousand dollars in three weeks?
I'm sorry if this is not to your satisfaction,
but there's nothing we can do,
Nurse Mary will take you to the property room
where you can retrieve your belongings,
A driver will take you home,
Good luck and thank you for choosing Arcadia,
Hey Mira, finally!
You know, they opened up
new headquarters in the city center here in Delhi,
You know
And they also wanted me to be an eye surgeon, Karan,
But Mira, you're still not livin in the real world,
and can become a Landlord once you reach a certain level,
You become conscious of your avatar status
and can disconnect anytime,
It seems a bit far-fetched to me, I mean,
You were so young,
When was this?
2028,
Before I moved here,
Back when the channel was still making money,
Do you remember this?
One of your prototypes,
Yeah, Nail polish for pets,
And what's the difference with, uh, nail polish for people?
Exactly the customer's point,
I missed your face,
I missed your face too,
I didn't miss this,
A basement filled with nostalgia
of a past I don't want to remember,
They're looking for an assistant motivator
in a company downtown,
Do they offer sponsorships for a work permit?
I don't know, uh,
I hope so,
I found a networking event for Friday night,
I can meet some companies face to face
and see if they're looking for someone,
That's good,
Okay,
Help me with these boxes,
Let's clean up this place,
I can't concentrate in this mess,
Rmo,
Rimmo,
Remo, How do you pronounce it?
It's Remo, in Italian,
But you can call me Reemo, like, uh,
many people,
Right, So Mr Rossini,
Rossetti,
You're already aware of our services,
We're helping people to achieve their best selves
through the power of words,
And what power that is!
When a child gets hurt and cries, where does he go?
He runs to his mother,
Is he looking for a hug? Sure,
Is he looking for someone to wipe away his tears?
Most certainly,
But the thing he craves to get,
what he needs more than anything else
in the whole world,
Are words of consolation,
And that's what we do! We give words of consolation,
To children?
Children?
Why children?
Like in your example,
We're helping people
when they're at the bottom rung, Mr Rossini,
Rossetti,
When they've gone off the deep end,
At their nadir,
Ah! Of course, Their nadir, Of course,
What's a good Italian example?
Before they get,,,
'the last offer they can't refuse',
'The last pasta before they go mamma mia!'
Hahaha!
- So good, So good, - That's a good one, right?
Well, I,,,
I can see from your resume that you were
a motivational speaker in Italy,
Yes,
- That was an Italian, right? - Yes,
Common internet I suppose?
Uh, I had enough of a fan base to sign for the Internet Prime,
but then you know the economy went down, the euro failing,
the views went down,
Lots of people trading in their Ferraris for Vespas, I guess?
So, uh, my only option was to move away, Try some--
Hey, do you know the Italian who went to Malta?
No,
The meme,
So I go into my room in a hotel,
There's no sheets on my bed,
So I call the manager, and I say
"I need a sheet, " He says "Go to the toilet",
And I say "I need a sheet on my bed,"
He says "You better not sheet on my bed,
you son of a bitch!'' Haha!
That was a good one right?
So good, So good,
How did it go?
Same old, same old?
The networking event has a hundred dollar entry fee,
Fifty if you knew someone to refer you,
and unless you're in management and I don't know it,
I'm not going anywhere,
So we're left with only one option then?
Being deported is another,
Sounds better than what you have in mind,
Nothing has changed since you left,
Only orders got bigger
and labor is a real pain to find these days,
Look, look, look at this, Look at this,
You see, it's too demanding, People leave after two days,
So I spoke with the immigration officer,
If you guys are committed to the job,
can handle the work,
I can talk to my manager
and we can start on those papers right away,
What do you think?
Gino, that would be really helpful,
Our permit expires in three weeks, So,,,,
so we can start any time,
If your manager's okay with this,
I'm the chef here, I decide when you guys start,
and when you guys start is whenever you want,
Isn't today a great day?
I got my espresso,
the first batch is in the oven, and look at this, Look at this,
A new order came in,
Two thousand cakes by the end of the month,
Isn't that exciting?
Exciting!
I don't think I can do this,
We have no choice,
I'm going to call the aromatherapy store,
I trade inhaling patchouli then kneading dough
any day of the week,
Gino, ciao!
So I have great news for you guys today,
I know I said two to three weeks,
but I spoke to my manager and because of the
fairly urgent situation
and the order that came in two days ago,
he said to go ahead with your contracts,
Yay! Exciting right?
That's, that's good!
Okay, so only caveat, a small proviso really,
is that we cannot really hire you guys
both full time right away,
We have to go for a part-time agreement,
which I guess will leave you
time for other activities, right
Okay, I need your signature here
Fourteen dollars an hour?
What the fuck are we gonna do with fourteen dollars an hour?
And part time?
My brain is fried, And those Italian songs?
Jesus Christ, Ten hours of that crap,
No, you just don't understand the lyrics,
They're actually very beautiful,
Are we really talking about the songs right now?
I don't care about the songs,
Can you imagine yourself doing this shit
every single day?
Until when? Two years of minimum wage,
No, We just work until we save enough to join back Arcadia,
Maybe six, seven months,
With fourteen dollars an hour?
Listen,
we just need to,
look at what you call it, the uh, the golden line,
The silver lining,
Thanks to Gino, we have a way to renew our work permit,
Stay in the country,
And to answer your question, no,
I don't see myself filling pastries for two years,
I see myself making videos,
Helping people with their lives,
What don't you do it then?
Do what?
We spent a year in the simulation
doing what we always wanted,
Why can't we just make it happen here?
Didn't we try that before signing to Arcadia?
Yes, but now it's different,
We lived our vision,
We know what it looks like and how to reach it,
Let's just make it happen again,
What? You think we should just
just do what we used to do in Arcadia?
Yes! And I'll make a product and market the shit out of it,
I have,,,
half the eloquence and ten times the accent of my avatar,
Maybe there are other Italians like you,
stuck in shitty situations, trying to
find some consolation, some motivation,
Here it is: Remo and his daily inspiration pills,
You feel you've been abandoned,
Or you feel you've been left alone
Uh, no, Abandon is too dramatic,
Leaving the place you call home, can be a grudging,,,
Uh, drudging,,,Leaving the place
Leaving the place you call home can be a,,,
a dressing feeling,,,
One, you're loud,
Two, you sound like a pharmaceutical commercial,
Three, the word you're looking for is distressing,
Distressing,,,
Grazie,
And why does this uh,,,
No, How, How, How does it feel to,,,
Where is this feeling come from?
Coming from, Where?
Maybe you just,,,
Feel lonely,
Maybe you, you just feel lonely,
Maybe you'll just feel lonely,,,
Hey girls, This is a short video to thank you all
for the overwhelming support
for my Silkderm Hydration Cream SPF 50 plus,
I can't believe I finally did it
and I'm so happy that
I can share this moment with all of you,
As you know I've been struggling,,,
So you don't remember posting a video like this?
No, Never, And she's talking about feedback, comments,
Look, here,
'Oh my god, This cream is so phenomenal,
Makes my skin so smooth,'
It's a fake comment,
"I can spend as much time as I want under the sun
thanks to Silkderm Hydration Cream,"
It's a fake comment too,
Who cares? That's not the point, The point is,
that's me! That's Anika,
Who sent you this video?
Caroline,
Caroline?
What, you mean Andrew's wife?
Yes, but again, aren't they supposed to be avatars?
This,,,,this is strange,
Thank you for finally catching on,
Videos like this
shouldn't be able to leave Internet Prime,
You try and reply the sender, Caroline?
No, I just received it,
If they have videos of Anika,
maybe they have videos of Steve too,
Okay, Maybe,
Hi, this is Mira,
Look at you, Aren't you a darling?
I'm Karim, but you can call me Caroline,
Nice to meet you,
Yes I know, Let's go,
It is all a big bag of BS,
Like my mother used to say,
Bullshit with a capital B,
Arcadia has been experiencing glitches
even before we signed up,
And every time it happens, they come up with some excuse,
Oh, you were a resident before,
Oh, your work permit is in conflict
with some clause up my father's ass,
They're just experiencing an overload of users
and their servers they can't keep up, That's all,
Eight months we spent inside,
Eight glorious months,
And then,,, Boom!
Back to reality,
Reason?
An issue with Jing's name on the passport,
Do you miss it? The vacuum?
I was having a blast as Caroline
Always dressed to impress,
Prima Donna to the bone,
I own three thousand dollar pajamas
and slippers that could pay for my rent,
And now,
I work at the retail store,
Can you believe it?
Me, Caroline La Belle,
Stylist, Trendsetter, Reduced to a mere clerk,
Disgracefully replaceable,
What about Andrew?
Jing,
How's he holding up?
He got the job as a programmer,
We got our work permit through him this time,
He wants to open his own company one day
just like he did in Arcadia,
But, the transfer back to this, hit him pretty hard,
The result is the video I sent you,
He hacked into Arcadia servers
in search for the life we used to live,
Did he find more videos of Anika?
What about Steve?
The video I sent you is one of nine others
that we dug up from your page,
Anika's page,
She's been posting for the last two weeks
as if nothing has ever happened,
And Steve, that tall drink of water?
He's still going strong as well,
Did he find more videos of him?
The tepid response to your actions
is only the surface of a conversation
you're having with yourself first,
And you're quick, to cast judgment on others
before digging inside the dynamics,
your ego is conceiving,
You see, all too often,,,
This guy is good,
He's good, But he's not you,
You sure these aren't,,,
pieces that got lost when they reconstructed our memories?
No, This video is from two days ago,
Look, Everything I found is content produced by your avatar
after you left Arcadia,
Did you try to communicate with them?
With whom?
The avatars, Did you DM them?
Have you ever responded
to a single message your fans sent you?
But we're not fans, We're,,,
Okay, I can see your point,
So, who's behind this?
Who's impersonating us?
There's no us
We are not them anymore,
Arcadia uses avatars as characters in a video game,
Once you're out another person takes over,
Which makes total sense,
Why waste all of the progress
the character has made in Arcadia?
Just put someone else in and see how they perform,
What, you're saying there's just some new person
just living Steve's life?
Consider Steve like a horse,
I'm not a horse,
You're not Steve!
Look, once a rider is replaced, another person
takes over and they see how far this one goes,
Okay, But this guy is starting better off,
I've already built everything for him,
And what about my followers?
How we know this new Steve is giving good advice?
How, how we know he's a good person?
What makes you think you didn't start better off either?
Because I built it,
No?
Do you, uh,,,
remember Steve's penis?
What does that have to do with this?
It's a legit question,
Do you remember going to the washroom?
Or the first script you ever wrote?
Or the first video you ever recorded?
The first comments your fans sent you?
You don't,
Like a role-playing game, they gave you a backstory,
You just customized the features,
Steve was me,
Certain things he said,
His love of good wine, soccer, it's me,
Sure, I mean you were in the driver's seat,
But everything else was already
created for your own pleasure,
You weren't a successful motivator, Remo,
You were just impersonating one,
,,,like a chimney every day,
you want to know why?
,,,fucking olive oil,
- That's the secret, - Again with your nonno
and his olive oil,,,
He's Italian,
Being obsessed with food comes with the territory,
The day my father passed,
my mother made sure no one saw her crying,
She bathed him, clothed him,
and performed the funeral service
without a hint of sadness on her face,
The week afterwards, she refused to get up from bed,
I'd seen her tired before but this was different,
This was the agony of losing the man
she spent 45 years with,
Sometimes,
she'd regain her sharpness
and think of a future for me of a lawyer, of an eye surgeon,
Others,
she just stared at an empty corner for hours,
Despite her presence, she died of loneliness,
I fled India to flee this pain,
to find a new family and a new community,
But the only family I have is you,
Are we,,,
Are we setting ourselves up to walk the same path, Remo?
You know, my brother was right,
India is my Arcadia,
I know its customs, Its needs,
And it'll be easier for me, just like Italy would be for you,
Nothing is left in Italy for me,
And even if we go back to our countries, that would mean,
living apart, What? Forever?
We thought we could change the world,
that we were gonna do something,
But we can't, We won't!
Mira,
We spent one year in a video game,
A video game that we thought would lead to a better life,
They fooled us,
And I'm not going anywhere without answers,
Mr Rossetti, Miss Patel,
My name is Eleanor,
I was in charge of your file when you were in the vacuum,
Please walk with me,
So let me rephrase your concern, Mr Rossetti,
Just to make sure I understand,
you say you've received links to
new videos of your Arcadia character and that,
you never made these videos, is that correct?
Yes, Why is he still active if I'm here?
Steve's my character,
And the penis thing,
Yes, The penis thing,
The penis thing?
Why don't I remember Steve's penis, huh?
And other times I showered, or peed or,,,
I see,
It's called induced amnesia,
When your memory is reconstructed,
the algorithm in your bracelet
chooses certain memories over others,
If it were to flood your brain with the entire repertoire of,
all the thoughts and recollections
of the entire year of life,
you'd be sent into an instant case of shock,
And in some cases, extreme cases,
people have been known to experience irreversible coma,
A rare but possible outcome,
So,
we use an algorithm
to infuse only those memories that will
help you make sense of your time in Arcadia,
Leaving behind all the meaningless activities such as,
showering and brushing your teeth and,
yes, even sex,
Okay, but why is he still active?
Those videos whether new or old are
simply those memories your bracelet did not,
retrieve for you to remember,
So I did launch my sunscreen then?
Will I ever be able to access those memories?
Oh, if you ever want to return to Arcadia,
your account will be fully reinstated
and you will be Steve again,
Complete with the entire repertoire of your memories,
But until then,
please,
tell your friend,
or whoever it was that gave you those videos,
To stop hacking into the system,
There's only one way to be a part of Arcadia,
And that is to be worthy of it,
Good day Mr, Rossetti, Miss Patel,
It's her, A hundred percent,
So, why does she look like Daanis?
Maybe they used her as a model for the virtual Daanis?
Or,,,
Maybe she was in Arcadia too,
An extra resident like us,
But,
Why look like yourself in a virtual world and be what?
A maid?
Who's that?
Mira, Guys, They found us,
They caught Jing,
We we got tracked, We're, we're,
We're getting deported,
We have to leave the country by midnight tonight,
I don't know what's going to happen but I just wanted to say,
take care out there,
It was lovely knowing you,
Shit,
I knew we had to be careful with those people,
What, which people? Why would we be careful about?
Are you clueless? You ratted them out,
Ratted, ratted them out? What this mean?
You told the lady from Arcadia about Jing and his hacking,
Hey, but, but,,,someone like Jing would be careful to, to,,,
to hide his,,, what you call it? Uh,,,
GST,,,
I, I-P, GPS whatever,,,
What?
What you doing?
Oh shit,,,,
Oh, they'll know if you break it,
Hey, don't use too much olive oil,
Hi, how much to get to waterfront station?
Around twenty five, mam,
Sorry, We don't have that kind of money,
Alright,
Now it's time to rent a car,
We can't take a cab to chase Daanis,
How much longer we're going to wait? Why?
Ah, we'll wait for her,,,
-I just had a thought, -What's that?
What if, somebody, we've been here for two hours,
- Yeah, - What if somebody
is watching us,,,
,,,watching her?
Well, it is kind of strange
doing what? Just sitting waiting in the car,,,
People are like 'oh why are these people still in the car?'
So just be normal now, okay?
They probably think we're going to what, steal something--
Hey! There she is, Okay, Okay,
Okay, what we do? If what, we wait for her to,,,
Uh, wait for her to, to,,
get around so she doesn't see us
and then we uh,,,
We go no, Wait, wait for her to,,,
- Okay go! Here, here we are, - Okay, alright, Uh!
Ah,, Here we are, Here we are,
Today is the day we find you, Oh, careful! Yeah, yeah!
Why is she going so slow?
- Look at this! - I know,
Going at the slowest speed possible, this girl,
Yeah, but why? It's strange,
Maybe she wants us to follow her,
Maybe this is part of her game,
You don't think she will,,,
get suspicious if we follow this close?
Just be cool, okay?
She's not going to find us, We just follow,,,
Can you stop with the commentary?
It's making me nervous,
This is kind of a lame car chase,
Couldn't she have turned there like four times?
What is this?
She's acting very strange, you know,,,
Did you signal?
Uh no,
No?
Can you stop? I told you,,,
- ,,,stop with the commentary, - She's not gonna get suspicious
,,,if you don't--
That's her,,,
I have to stop if there's a red light,
Of course, I'm saying don't get too close cause she can see us,
Look we can see her!
She doesn't,,,
I am being careful!
Okay, But now you're kind of far,,,
What if someone hops and we lose her?
Okay, she's turning, She's turning, You see?
Okay, yes, I know,
You have to signal,
- No, she's not going, - Well, she was going,
- I can see that, - Yeah, but,,,
You told me to leave space,
I can't see the light,
Hello,,, Hello stranger,,,
We are just normal people,,,
Oh my God,
Okay, okay, She's turning, you see?
- Did you signal, yeah? - Yes,
Okay,
- Oh my god, - Okay,
She,,,go, go, go,
Ok, Kay, Kay, Kay,
I'm coming, I'm going,
Remo,
Is that,,,?
It's our house,
How's that possible?
Maybe it's just a model or,,,
It's identical,
Should we knock at the door?
Let's go from the back,
I don't want them to see us whoever they are,
Can you open the latch?
Someone put a lock on it,
A lock?
Who in their right mind puts a lock on a,,,
What the hell,,,?
Where are we?
They're waking up,
Don't get too close, okay?
Hey!
Hi,
You guys okay?
What the hell is going on here?
What are you doing here?
Who are you?
You're,,,
You're me, You're Anika,
How do you know my name?
How does she know my name?
Were you guys trying to break in?
What's happening right now?
It's our house,
You put a lock on the gate,
I had to, man, that latch was shit,
- Stop being so polite with them! - I'm not,
Were you trying to hurt us?
Hurting you? Your psycho maid knocked us out,
Yeah yeah, She assaulted us,
Whoa! It was personal defense,
She thought you were thieves, Look at you!
Who fucking cares? Why does this bitch know my name?
- Why are you asking me? - Don't call me bitch,
We know both your names,
You're Steve the motivational guy,
and you're Anika, the sunscreen seller,
Sunscreen seller, that's very diminishing,
They're fans, Ani,
We are you, You are us,
You're,,,we're supposed to be in Arcadia right now,
What the fuck are you talking about?
Arcadia?
Oh! I see,,,
They are,,,
Residents!
This house has more comings and goings
than a goddamn brothel!
We have double copies of all our residences' keys,
In case something like this happens,
Something like what happens doctor?
Did you have anything to do with this?
Are we inside Arcadia right now?
There's a lot of questions to answer, Doctor,
We have an agreement,
We're not supposed to meet our residents,
Three hundred Spartans
weren't supposed to win at Thermopylae either,
Oh Jesus!
You're correct Mr, Loreto,
The contract you signed with one of our agents,
specifically stated that we will put every effort
into ensuring no contact between you and your ex-residents,
However,
these two are of a different kind,
-We are of a different kind, -Ok, Relax,
The kind that built an empire from nothing,
I own this house, right, Doctor?
That's my fucking shawl by the way!
Calm down, alright?
Who do you think it's the brain that created,,,
-We're all civilized people, alright -,,,the Silkderm products?
This girl right here!
What are you talking about?
,,,could write those speeches by himself,,,
I do, I actually do, I've been,,,
,,,started this company from scratch,,,
- ,,,,three years I've built this company, - No, no, no,
Who are you, man? Rolling up here like you fucking,,,
,,,for three months, three,,,
- First I'm gonna take my fucking shawl! - Get off of me!
Get off of me! Get off of me!
- I'm good, I'm good, - ,,,you a punch in the face!
Look what you did to my face,
I'm going to sue your ass you little bitch!
Keep calling me bitch, and you'll,,,
Enough!
Mr Rossetti, Miss Patel,
I understand your confusion and I apologize,
if the ambiguity of the situation has led to any hardship,
I will try my utmost to be clear with you from now on,
You have never lived in this house,
What?
We get thousands of requests every year
from foreigners who wish to sign up to Arcadia,
Europeans,
Asians,
Africans, Americans,
all connect to Arcadia from their own country,
to get a taste of what it would be like to live here,
Our mission, in truth,
is to motivate them,
to reach for a better life,
To see what this world has to offer,
and strive to achieve it,
Outside of the platform,
Possibly in their own country,
To inspire them to see the beauty,
despite the challenges,
But,,,
We were here, I,,,
sat on these chairs, I,,,
,,,swam in this pool,
It's lens technology,
Mr, and Mrs, Loreto have contact lenses
permanently implanted in their eyes,
You had lenses too during your stay in the vacuum,
Mr, and Mrs, Loreto are what we call Landlords,
who rent out their lens spaces to individuals,
residents,
who wish to experience what it feels like to live
this lifestyle,
Mira,
if you recall,
during your profiling with us, you spoke of,,,
cultural differences,
You said people here thought you were too
aggressive in your approach
and that your personality doesn't suit this country,
You felt alone,
and misunderstood,
So you wanted to join Arcadia
to be someone who didn't have these obstacles,
Someone with the trusted network of people around her,
And most importantly,
a family,
that supported her,
And Remo,
you wanted to be a motivational speaker,
an inspiration for others,
But how could you succeed
in a country where you don't even speak the language,
To succeed in the art of the rhetoric,
constructing grammar in a language,
so different,
than the one that you grew up with,
How could you be an inspiration to others,
when they make fun of your gestures and the way you speak,
So we ran our program,
through the pool of Landlords subscribed to Arcadia,
and we found the perfect couple,
First generation Canadians,
With only the immigrant background
inherited from their families and none of the disadvantages,
So what you're saying is,,,
I never created Silkderm?
You were virtually connected to Anika,
Seeing her life through her lenses,
A connection which she could stop at any time,
by pressing a button on her watch,
She could share with you the most glamorous moments,
and none of the fights,
fears,
and the financial stress,
Fights?
I don't remember fights,
Believe me my dear, fights in this house are
- as common as cheese and wine, - Ah, don't inflate
the situation to make it more dramatic,
He almost bankrupted us twice,
We're still recovering from it, but who cares?
Let's just have another drink, right?
You know what, I don't hear you complaining
about the pool though, right?
That's okay,
Arcadia paid for half our mortgage,
If it was up to you, we'd be living under a bridge
with no money, but still a maid to serve you,
What about the two business loans you took out?
That didn't impact our finances, alright?
- We're not gonna get into-- - Not a teeny tiny bit, Right?
- Okay? - Right,
- Look at my face, - When it serves you,,,
- ,,,it's okay, When it serves - ,,,to talk about this right--
You bought a bottle of Chateau le Pin once,
That bottle was two thousand dollars,
That was an excellent wine,
I remember that, It was a French wine,
I know I should be a little more generous
towards our Italian heritage, but,,,
my friends have quite the delicate palate,
You gotta respect that,
Your friends have a delicate palate,,,
My friends don't have a delicate palate,
The few I have would be
horrified at me
drinking a two thousand dollar wine,
Because here,
a bottle of Chateau le Pin is,,,
is two months of rent,
if you live with your partner,
One,
If you,,, if you live in a,,,
basement,
Two thousand dollars is,,, is a month's stipend for,,,
a baker, a pizza maker,
or any other job you get if you come to this country
thinking you're going to make it,
Now what's the point?
Even if I show to the people who were born here that I,
deserve,
a little bit of that spotlight,
they still don't trust me like their friends,
The people who speak their language, who,,,
watch the same tv shows when they were kids, who,,,
Who have dads who go golfing together, who,,,
Who went to the same high school and,,,
,,,ate the same brand of ice cream,
Who had all the options,
since they were teenagers,
Who can,,,
travel to the country of their parents,
But call the place they live,,,
home,
So when you talk about your 'Italian heritage',
Watch your mouth,
Because you're about as 'Italiano',
As I am,,,
'Canadian',
We're going to hire a lawyer,
and we're going to reveal what Arcadia is doing
if it's the last thing we do in this country, okay?
You are of a different kind, Mr, Rossetti,
Both of you,
You came to this country with nothing but hope,
and you're still here,
fighting, hustling,
You are a successful and beautiful couple already,
You have wealth you can't show,
But you can share,
Share it with those less fortunate,
Ciao guys,
Today I've had this wine breathing for a little while,
Because I want to share with you something,,,
that is very special to me,
This is an Amarone 2013,
From Valpolicella,
I first tried this wine when I was with my father,
He used to drink wine only casually,
but,
when it came to special occasions,
he wanted to treat his guests to something truly
exceptional,
When I sip this wine,
it's,,,it's not the cherry,
the black fig,
or the carob that I focused on,
It's the smell,
of my mother's tortiglioni with ragù,
That smell would stay in the kitchen for an entire afternoon,
It's the memories of my father
telling me stories from his childhood,
When he,,,
proposed to my mother on a rainy night in the olive grove,
It's the invisible beauty
of,,,
things we don't notice,
but persist beyond our base senses,
"For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning"
wrote the poet Kahlil Gibran,
Sharing a glass of wine with those you love,
Hearing an old story from a friend,
Realizing for a moment how special this all is,
and that there's nothing you would cherish more
than that ephemeral instant,