What if like a fairy godmother came down from the sky,
and she said, "Jeanette, with one wave of my magic wand I’m going to give you the perfect life,"
What would you say?
Yes, there’s a lot of worry nowadays that mnemophrenia could be caused by virtual reality,
and some people have laughed this off as being nonsense,
how could people possibly confuse virtual reality with real life,
but it seems to me to be entirely possible,
And here we are,
Careful,
watch your step here,
And there’s another one right here so be careful,
Now comes the fun part, got some nice narrow steps for you so give me your hand,
- Couple more steps, Careful,- I’m so glad to be back home,
I bet, Come on, one more, Yeah, well done Sir Edmund,
Go on back, there’s more,
I can’t believe you live in an antique,
I know, right?
- Is it recording now? - Apparently so,
I bet it looks awful,
Nah, you look lovely, Look at that,,,
Beautiful!
Can you feel it?
Still a bit sore but, no, it doesn’t feel any different,
Uh-uh, don’t do that,
I shouldn’t still be this tired after a week, I feel so lethargic,
I’m not sure that’s from the surgery, You were feeling tired even before,
Maybe I’ll book in some blood tests for tomorrow, See if anything is down,
What?
Come on… don’t,
Nothing,
- I couldn’t delay it, - I didn't say anything,
- I was waiting so long, - I know,
This chip is such an opportunity,
To live my ancestors’ experiences,,,
Jeanette and Nicholas were real people, not just avatars,
Look, you know I’m with you 100%,
It’s just seems to me like an invasive way to achieve an inferior result,
How is it inferior? To feel exactly what someone else has felt first hand?
It's what my empathy study has been crying out for,
Okay that’s great, Thank you, Thanks for that,
So Jeanette, are you happy to share with the group your story?
How you, you know, discovered the condition and so on?
Okay, Well,I first found out that I had it when I was clearing out some boxes in the loft in my parents’ house,
I found the cases of the Memory Palace films I watched when I was about 18,
And the thing that first drew my attention to them was that the pictures on the front were of the guy,
Douglas, who until really recently I’d always thought was a really important person in my life,,,
,,, and who had existed,
- So university huh?- Mm-hmm,
- You excited?- Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it,
- It was sociology right?- Yep,
That’s like studying people and cultures and,,,
Mm-hmm,
Nah, I couldn’t handle that,
Me and crowds just,,, less people the better,
Probably explains why I work in the ocean,
So, what’re you doing this summer?
Better yet,,, what would you do this summer if you could do anything?
- Anything? - Yeah,
Oh,,, I’d travel somewhere amazing,
Maybe South America?
Or I’d go to a war zone somewhere, where people really needed my help, you know?
- Yeah,- Do something important,
Wow, it’s a good answer, I wasn’t expecting that,
What about now? What do you do for fun?
Ahmm, don’t know, Go to the cinema with my friends,
- We’ve got a film club, - Yeah,
We like watching old films, you know?
When I first realized I had a fake memory,
I just didn’t want to believe for a long time that it wasn’t real,
You say that you think you’ve had mnemophrenia for about a year,
Yeah,
Why haven’t you done anything before? Like we’ve been doing to try to come to terms?
Shouldn’t your primary drive be your mnemophrenia, solve this thing rather than go and make a film about it?
Well, no!
My primary search is not for my own answers,
My primary goal is to make an honest and truthful documentary,
This is the first film that’s actually going to show people that this condition even exists,
and maybe from that more people will come forward to say that they have it too,
I mean, I don’t know about you guys but my experience up til now
is that I feel ashamed to have this,
Ok, Anna, I’m Nicholas,
Used VR since you were eight,,,
Three or four hours every day,,,
,,, mostly travel experiences,,,
Mnemophrenic,,,
Discovered your mnemophrenia…
,,, ten years old, That’s young,
Yeah, I was 10,
Okay, you’re going to be testing a new virtual reality product called Total Cinema,
Total Cinema is the next step in VR and uses the five main senses that we think about in everyday life,
So not just sight and sound, but also touch, taste and smell,
to make the experience more complete as an actual event of your life,
Wow,
So this is the headset,
The first thing we do is calibrate this to your brain patterns,
and then we give you a set of a very simple experiences,
- Okay? So, can I? - Yeah,
- Is it the same as your headset?- It's similar,
Mine provides a control data stream for the system,
10 years’ old, yeah?
Yeah, I was 10,
Was it difficult?
No, not really,
Really?
I was fine with it, It was never really an issue,
There was a time when I was a teenager and other people tried to make me feel
there was something wrong with me but,,,
As soon as I realized that the problem wasn’t mine I was never conflicted about it again,
That’s great, It’s really refreshing,
Yeah, I’m actually so grateful for it,
Grateful? That’s a strange choice of word, Okay about it maybe, but grateful?
Why not? Mnemophrenia isn’t a disease, it’s just a new way of being,
It helps me be more than what I am,
And the sooner people stop looking at it as something bad and start really using its potential, the better,
I’m just…
I’m just in a state of anxiety all the time, you know? I can’t sleep,
I can’t concentrate on anything at all,,,
I think the problem is that I’ve watched so much VR,
like 4-5 a week sometimes,
that I don’t even need to watch much of it anymore,
and James is just completely embedded in my head,
Like he’s everywhere,
You know, my family has met him, my friends have met him, my daughter has met him,
You know, she gets on really well with it but it’s just, none of them know it,
And that’s really fucked up,
I experienced the cheating of my wife, but then I wanted to try it in real life as well,
So, if I can just clarify? You had the experiences,
and then you actually cheated on your wife,
Is that what you’re saying?
That’s the way I think it happened, Yes,
I feel guilty about the real ones,
Real ones?
So Jeanette, were you able to complete the task that I set for you?
Yeah I did, I’ll show you,
I made a sort of chart like you suggested
of going back from when I met Douglas until the present day,
And looking at it I just feel like all my life choices have been taken away from me really,
Because going back to the beginning,,,
I’ve put that I felt supported throughout my parents’ problems because of him,
and I had a phobia when I was young that I feel he was a really big part of me overcoming,
And then when I went to university,,,
I was really spontaneous and courageous and that was as a result of knowing him,
I was attracted to older men because of him,
And all these things lead on to stuff like the Master’s degree that I chose,
the man that I married,
everything that happens within my marriage, the fact that I’m divorced,
the fact that I brought a baby into this world with somebody that I don’t even love,
So, how does it feel to have to give him up now?
I just feel really angry with the fact that knowing him affected what happened in my marriage,
Because throughout my whole relationship I always compared my husband to Douglas unfavorably,
And when I found out that he wasn’t even real,,,
the shock of just made me think I don’t even want to be in this marriage anymore,
It's really refreshing,
And her brain patterns are really interesting,
Her brain patterns?
Just nice to hear that attitude,
Yeah,,,
Yeah, great,,, attitude,
She’s right, It’s not a disease,
That’s what I’ve been saying for years,
We’re changing as a species,
It just pisses me off that it's one more thing that divides us,
when if it was harnessed,
it could actually bring us together,
Well I didn’t change, And I’m bloody glad I didn’t,
I actually like being able to tell the difference between reality and fiction,
I find it kind of helpful,
You sound like my parents,
The universe doesn’t have boxes, naturally,
What’s that?
Square, uniform boxes to put things in,
Ideas, people, No straight lines in nature,
Lots of round things, spirals, parabolas, cloud formations,
I hate boxes, don’t you?
That’s very poetic, You should write that down,
What were you just doing?
Something for my paper on expansion,
I don’t want to spoil it,
- I’d like you to try it, too,- Ok,
You look beautiful today,
Aww, I like it when you say that,
I know,
How’s it going with Nicholas?
Amazing!
All my ideas about empathy, everything I’m researching
he was articulating it 50 years ago,
All the benefits of mnemophrenia that we take for granted
he was embracing it before anyone really understood these things,
He was really ahead of his time,
Yeah, It’s inspiring,
What’s he like?
He’s quite shy, almost withdrawn sometimes,
Except when he’s talking about his ideas then he can talk and talk,
He has an infectious enthusiasm
and he is really attached to his grandmother, They have a special bond,
Did you question your feelings towards your husband in the past?
Yeah, I think I probably confused respect and admiration
for love and passion,
But then you still had choice,
I mean nobody removed choice from you,
It’s like,
you’re just blaming something else for the decisions that you yourself have made,
Ok, if we turn that into a question,,,
How would it feel if ultimately you have to take responsibility for your own choices?
I just can’t agree with that completely,
Because I think that certain experiences that you have
fundamentally change the way you think,
Do you ever speak to your parents?
No, not really,
I don’t really have a relationship with them anymore,
Can’t remember the last time I’ve even spoken to my dad,
Yeah, I have a similar thing with my dad,
Oh, yeah?
He had an affair about a year ago,
Oh, shit,
My mum spoke to the woman and
found out that he was planning to move to Australia with her,
He’s just wanted to be away from us I suppose,
This’s just terrible,
I mean, they went to couple therapy and everything and
it all seems to be back to the way it was before but
it’s definitely changed the way me and my brother feel about him,
I can understand that,
So, although he is with us now,
I just think there must be loads of times when my mum must be wondering
if he stayed out of duty, you know?
Mm-hmm,
I wonder if my dad really misses her,
That woman,
I think he really loved her,<,/i>
I kind of feel sorry for him,
My mum married my dad when she was only 17,
She’s only really known him, you know?
You’re looking at them now and,,,
I can’t even imagine what brought them together in the first place,
I think probably deep down I felt like it’s just wouldn’t have worked,
I was only 18,
He was so free and independent, I think,
I was a bit scared of that freedom,
I feel like I can really trust you,
I think you might be the first actual friend I’ve made since moving out here,
Yeah, I feel the same,
It feels like an escape when I come to see you,
We’re missing a trick with Total Cinema,
Could open up communication in a way that hasn’t been possible yet,
But, it really needs to be open source,
Oh god, not this again,
Will bring it up again with Michael, today,
Man, you know what’s he gonna say,
You’re wasting your breath,
As soon as this gets out there
someone will reverse engineer it,
if they want to tinker with it in their garage, they will,
That’s not the point,
Few people tinkering in their garage,
It’s not going to change anything,
What’s got into you today?
A pretty girl walks in the door and all of a sudden you want to change the world,
That's not her,
It’s not just her,
What?
Nick?
What’s up?
FLM contacted me again,
Really?
What did they want?
Same as always, They want to have a say, they want what we’re doing to be open source,
I agree with them,
I don’t agree with everything they say,
You didn’t reply to them, did you?
I’m not stupid,
I never reply to them,
Good,
You need to keep away from them,
Walk away, That’s my advice,
We’ve done this for everyone, Not just some minority,
The moment you start aligning us with an organization
that advocates an all mnemophrenic society
non-mnemophrenics such as myself start to get a little bit itchy,
You’re right,
You’d got to ask yourself why are they contacting you?
They know what they want,
How to get it,
They are politically minded,
You, my friend, are not, You’re just a technician,
All they are going to do is use you,
I’m telling you as a friend,
Walk away,
Oh, I do like a rebel,
Yeah, it’s exciting,
And the more I use the chip the better it responds,
I’m not just viewing Jeanette and Nicholas,
I really am them for those moments,
Wow,,,
That is impressive,
- That’s really going to be…- Sorry, hang on, it’s the doctor,
Hello, Dr, Moore?
- Robyin, are you at home? - Yes,
Can you come to my office as soon as possible?
When can you get here?
I could be there in…
is this for the results?
What do they say?
Yes, they’re back,
We should discuss them as soon as possible,
Can you come today?
Is it something bad?
We really need to discuss it in person Robyin,
- Can you,,, - Please tell me now, you’re scaring me,
I need to know now, Is it something bad?
I’m sorry Robyin,
It’s not good news,
I’m going to send you some information now
and we can go through it and
then I’d like you to come to my office as soon as you can,
Don’t mope,
You knew what he’s going to say,
I’m proposing full open source,
Nick, we’ve been through this over and over again,
It’s not going to happen,
How’s Julia?
Fine,
She's ok,
You’re worried it’s going to be born mnemophrenic?
If it happens, it happens,
We’ll just take precautions,
No VR in childhood,
You’ll ban VR?
I wasn’t allowed VR until I was 15,
I was angry about it at the time,,,
but now, I’m pretty glad,
Julia agrees with me,
Dare say she would,
I’m not anti-mnemophrenic,
If I was, I wouldn’t be married to one,
Even if the child wasn’t predisposed,
I’d still ban VR,
I want to be able to share experiences with her
before she goes off and
experiences things that I can’t possibly join in on,
Wait, so, you would hold back your child just because you can’t join in?
You forget we don’t all think like you,
I don’t call it holding back,
Without my mnemophrenia and VR
I wouldn’t be the person I am,
I’ve had so many experiences that I wouldn’t have otherwise had,
Like, my relationship with my grandmother,
We helped each other come to terms with how people saw us,
talking with her about her documentary was like the best guidance I ever had,
She helped me through college with my thesis,
I wouldn’t be where I am today without her,
You helped each other,
Sorry, but you’d think she benefited from that experience?
That bugs me,
You didn’t have an experience with her,
with Jeanette Harper,
It was with a VR, a simulation,
It’s not the same thing,
It’s not real,
Where are you?
I came outside and you were gone,
Robyin?
I’m in the park,
I needed a walk,
Shall I come and find you?
No
I’ll be back soon,
I wish you’d just listen to the expert,
What is the point of having a doctor if you don’t listen to them?
I’m not taking the chip out and that’s final,
But if it makes it worse?
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to grab hold of something real,
If there’s one thing that will make me worse?
It’s quitting my job and my research
and then spending whatever little time I have left
obsessing about the fact that I’m dying,
Don’t say that,
Stop putting your head in the sand,
Look at me,
This is my way of fighting it,
I just want to continue this research and feel normal
and try to use this recording to help make some sense of it,
I actually have a unique opportunity here…
to record the experience of dying,
All the emotions I’ll go through,
we’ll go through,they will be valuable assets for future studies,
Please,
I need you to understand this,
I’m terrified,
But if you take out the chip
and you work less and you relax,
you might get more time, I might get more time,
Neither of us knows what’s coming,
What if you shorten the little time you have left and then you don’t even finish?
Then I’d have to work fast,
This is some of our earlier prototypes,
And this is my work area,,,
- And this is it,- Wow,
- What’d you think?- Unexpected,
So, this is the birthplace of Total Cinema,
I built it from the ground up,
It’s taken me about 9 years,
Whole lab is a recording chamber,
So, where are the cameras?
No, they are virtual,
Ok, So, the whole lab is a matrix of censors
and the space is sampled rather than filmed traditionally
and the AI reconstructs the space in 3D from any angle from any time,
So, you won’t see any cameras,
Are you controlling them with your headset?
No, they are independent AI,
They’re just using my brainwaves for comparison algorithms,
Anyway, how are you?
Oh,really good, Research is going really well,
And life is bit more chilled, I’m getting more work life balance,
Cool,
Ok,
So, there’s still a few things I won’t be able to go into detail,
Of course,
Okay,
So, cranial synaptic interference…
are you working towards recording real experiences?
No, that’s not possible yet,
It’s way in the future,
It’s not part of TC,
We never know what special projects you guys have got cooking in here,
So, my main thing today is testing,
How many subjects have you tested on?
It’s over 300 now,
Me and Will tested it on ourselves first few years,
- And have you identified any potential health risks? - No,
Well, the same guidelines on duration of use still apply,
There’s a lot of traffic online to suggest that the risk of inducing mnemophrenia
being more pronounced with cranial interference, even in people not predisposed,
Most people don’t even have a clue what this is going to be,
There’s a… you know, brain science is such a huge subject
we’re much further ahead than we were 50 years ago,
So, out of the 300 people tested none showed any adverse effects,
Adverse, health risks,
You know me well enough by now to know that I found those words inappropriate,
It’s this archaic attitude that says that mnemophrenia is a sickness,
it’s something to be feared and cured,
Nick, you know, we’re never going to agree on this,
The official line from Centro is mnemophrenia is an adverse neurological condition
and just because there are people like you who can manage it…
So, I’m just managing it now,
We’re not saying it’s a disease but we do worry,
And Memofilm doesn’t have a spotless record here,
They knew about Memory Palaces even before it was launched,
Honestly, I’d be careful about saying that,
Ok, this is off the record
but this is a public health matter,
No study has conclusively shown an established link
- between any Memofilm product and mnemophrenia, - Ok, Nick, ok,
Or that any Memofilm product has directly or indirectly
caused any adverse neurological effects,
Ok, Nick,
They’re not going to release anything unsafe Keri,
I’m angry with Memofilm,
At the end of the day they gave him to me in the first place
and then they just ripped him away and they’ve left me with this condition,
And is that about Douglas? Or the whole experience?
Oh yeah, I suppose it is Douglas,
But it’s more the things he represents, the ideals he holds for me,
A real big part of my personality is encompassed in that person,
And I’m just realizing more and more
how much I’ve denied myself the life I should have lived,
I feel quite sad for Jeanette,
She was alone and terrified, I feel her grief over Douglas very strongly,
It must have completely broken her heart,
They had such a connection,
Anyway, tell me about your research,
Well, I’m getting some fantastic results from the wirewalking experience,
- Have you had many subjects? - Yeah, quite a few,
This one woman, she was so anxious and stressed
that her hair started falling out,
She responded beautifully,
Her stress was all about not taking control,
fear of being out of control,
And you take someone like that
to whom wirewalking would be the ultimate nightmare
and you give them the experience,
Not of wirewalking, but of being a wirewalker,
Joyous feeling of being in her element, being in the moment,
The energy flowing through her and the wire and the sky and the wind, all as one,
Total surrender,
It’s so easy to forget being in the moment with everything so automated,
But wonderful to see someone
in the act of recognizing the beauty of being present,
It sounds amazing, And her outcome?
Off the chart, I mean her anxieties almost gone, her hair is growing back,
She’s a different person,
I was wondering, if you’d like to try it,
Maybe, I don’t know, I don’t know if I have time,
I need to focus on work, I can’t let that fall behind,
You need,,, to put yourself first,
I am!
Just because you would quit your job and go and meditate up a mountain
doesn’t mean that’s what I want to do,
I never said that,
My god, I’m becoming like her,
I watched my VR films back,
Oh really? I didn’t know you could do that?
So, how did that feel?
Well, on the one hand I think it’s good that I did it,
But emotionally it’s like I’m straight back there,
Still feels as real as ever,
I suppose I just want to be with him and keep on having those experiences,
And then I remember that it’s not real and I just think
there’s no point to anything,
Okay, so, my worry would be that if it’s taking you backwards?
You know, my main concern would be that you sort of starting again,
It’s the first nice thing I’ve done for years,
I can totally escape from everything, you know?
You are so lucky that you are so adventurous and confident,
I’ve just got the will,
You can have it too if you wanted it, You just need to go out there and grab it,
And don’t take life too seriously,
It’s all just a big illusion,
Did you enjoy your walk?
Yeah, it was really nice,
I am bit worried about you going on your own,
You look weaker lately,
What if you take ill? Or if you have a fall?
You need to stop fussing over me,
I think I should go with you next time,
I actually enjoy going on my own,
This is a new thing going for all these walks in the park?
- Is it? You think that’s something
Yeah, I suppose,
She loves spending time in nature with Douglas,
It’s where she felt most in love with him,
Well as long as you don’t start calling me Douglas,
If I did, it would be a compliment,
Ok, we brought you down here because…
we’ve got… a… an issue,
It’s probably a major, I suppose you’d call it,,,
Nick, talk!
Okay
It seems likely that
TC induces mnemophrenia,
Even in people who aren’t predisposed,
Everyone who uses it,
Shit,
In one of the non-mnemophrenic subjects,
there were some synaptic connections in the lower part of the hippocampus
which persisted in a way that,,,
,,, we haven’t seen with non-mnemophrenics before,
Okay,
Whom have you told?
Just you,
Ok,
Ok, well let’s not jump into any conclusions,
Finish your analysis but stay on track with the launch,
We are not going to delay?
I’ll have a word with legal and get back to you,
You are ok?
You seem distant,
I just have a headache,
My eyes are hurting,
You were telling me that Nicholas is the quiet type?
When he doesn’t have anything to say,
Can he be a bit moody?
Can’t you see that you are taking on Nicholas’s traits
just like you did with Jeanette when you were studying her?
I don’t ever remember you being withdrawn before,
Are they aware of these side effects?
What about the other testers? Is it happening to them?
Are you worried?
I think maybe you need to be more objective,
Nicholas and Jeanette had a difficult time
and you are taking that into yourself,
Everything in my life has just been so crap
that that memory was the only nice thing,
It's my only holiday from crap,
How do you want to live your life?
I’d like to have the exciting life that I always wanted to have,
Maybe travel,
do some of the things I would have done with Douglas,
- Beautiful!- Mm-hmm
Might take this with me on my trip,
So, do you see yourself travelling forever?
Forever?
No,
I can definitely see myself settling down
if I ever found myself finding something worth settling down for,
What about you? What do you want out of life?
Ehm
Well, I definitely want someone adventurous
who likes to do lots of different things,
Look…
Something’s come up,
I got, I got invited to,,,
go do some research out at this reserve in Australia
and,,,
I would need to leave pretty soon,
It’s not something that I planned on but it’s
a tremendous opportunity that I can’t turn down,
Meeting you has been the best accident that’s ever happened to me
and the truth is that I don’t want to leave because I’m gonna miss the hell out of you,
Well, I don’t want you to either,
I don’t want you to stay and then resent me for missing out,
I know this’s going to sound nuts but,,,
is there any way that you’d ever consider coming with me?
I can’t,
I know,
I’m just some guy you met and here
I’m asking you to come and travel around the world with me, it’s insane,
I’ve,,,
never experienced anything like that before,
I was you!
This, this is what I wanted Total Cinema to be,
I can’t even begin,
I had no idea you could…
It’s very early,
It doesn’t work at all with most people,
I thought it might work with you because,,,
your brain patterns seem to fit the algorithms
and I thought you’d get a kick out of it,
I felt things I never thought I’d ever feel,
So simple,
when you drank that coffee, I hate coffee and I loved that coffee,
See the VR technologies up till now
have all treated mnemophrenia as something to
avoid or at best ignore
but that’s the key,
this actually uses mnemophrenia as a delivery mechanism,
So, it only works with mnemophrenics?
Yeah,
But even then, not all,
I’ve got to thinking about you and,,,
I think your brain patterns
are the way they are because you are at ease with your mnemophrenia,
you embrace it and you work with it and you play with it,
But this won’t be part of Total Cinema?
No,
No, It’s a dead end as far as they’re concerned,
Even forgetting how the tech works there are legal reasons,
You’re not allowed to include a real person in a VR experience,
I don’t know, maybe one day,
I really hope so,
This takes it to a completely,,,
different level, I mean,
this shows how mnemophrenia can open up such amazing possibilities,
Yeah, I mean, imagine what’s going to be like in the future,
We’ll use mnemophrenia creatively,
we’ll be more open, more understanding,
At one point,
everyone’s going to be mnemophrenic,
VR was supposed to change the world, bring us together,
TC was supposed to change the world, bring us together
but all I see is they made us more and more insular
and that’s exactly what Jeanette says and I agree,
Everyone lives in their own bubble of tailored experiences,
What is this? The Dark Ages? What’s your point?
I’m trying to explain my point,
A person can go to the moon and back in TC
but in the physical world not know their next door neighbor,
But with this, you can be your next neighbor,
feel their concerns, troubles, joys, fears,
This, this really could change the world,
That’s really interesting,
Are you aware that you just went from being Jeanette
to Nicholas almost in the same breath?
- What are you talking about? You did honestly,
it’s really strange to watch,
Just remember that you’re living your life not someone else’s,
Don’t let it become an obsession
or you end up losing yourself,
Don’t let them blot you out,
You make it sound like I’m crazy,
Ok, which one of you said that?
I kind of know when it’s Jeanette and I know when it’s Nicholas
but I’m not sure about that one, Was that you?
- I’m not really sure, - Don’t be a prick,
It’s me! You have to understand they’re all me!
Well, I’m trying to understand, I really am,
But there’s something you really need to understand,
In any relationship when you meet someone,
you’re attracted to them
and love is something that develops as you get to know them,
You get to love the things that they do
and you start to love the things that you don’t like about them as well,
But if that all changes suddenly
it kind of rocks the foundation of what we have,
Where I don’t know where I am anymore
or what the nature of our relationship is,
Or if you’ll drift away,
It makes me feel vulnerable,
I can do it myself,
The thing that concerns me though is that
if Douglas is going to be so difficult to give up
what’s the impact on your daughter?
Well, I can’t see there’s a problem between me and my daughter,
In fact, that’s not even why I come to this group,
I don’t come here to talk about her,
Okay, Ok, let me ask you another question,
Do you feel you have a good relationship with your daughter?
She’s only 18 months,
Ok, how do you relate to her?
Well, obviously I really love her
and I really care about her
but if I’m honest I don’t feel that I can deal with her at the moment,
Since Robert and I split up she’s been spending most of the time with him,
I’ve put her,,,
like in a deal with later box, you know,
But I’m lucky because I’ve got Robert
who’s willing to take on so much responsibility,
Well, legal have got back to us on this now,
they want us to collate more concrete data
and to ascertain which aspects of the product, if any,
are causing the phenomenon,
In other words they need us to be a lot more specific,
Ok,
We expected that,
How long are you going delay the launch so we can do that?
We cannot delay the launch,
There’s no where near enough time to get that kind of data,
There’s no need to panic Nick,
Nobody’s saying you have to get this done before the launch,
This can be an ongoing process from now,
We’re not at all convinced
these aberrations can be attributed to TC per se,
Quite easily these subjects,,,
could have had delayed mnemophrenia,
The data could be skewed,
You’re not willing to take responsibility,
That’s what this boils down to,
Of course we are taking responsibility,
We will have the government
standard health warnings,
they will be beefed up accordingly,
A tiny little warning that no one ever reads,
People have a right to know,
to make up their mind about this,
This makes it so obvious that we are trying to hide something,
It’s the same old stance on mnemophrenia,
that it’s a dirty, shameful disease,
- It sets back the debate on mnemophrenia 20 years, - This is not a philosophical debate Nick,
We have a responsible board,
We are taking your concerns into consideration Nick,
We will have a program in place
as with other products to monitor users
and to get feedback from them,
Gentlemen,
this is not about mnemophrenia,
This is about a fantastic product
that we’ve all worked on very hard,
We have to take a line that weighs up all the factors
not just any rogue data
that may or may not point to something,
I understand entirely
this is very much your baby and will always be difficult to handing it over,
We’ve been in this situation before
and we have a wealth of experience in managing these concerns,
Total Cinema,,,
will be a defining success
and we should all be very happy
and proud of it,
I know that I’m changing,
I understand that might be difficult for you right now,
It’s much more vivid than anything that’s come before,
I’m really glad that you can see it,
It’s natural that if you are in it it’s not obvious but…
No, I mean, that’s the point,
That’s what I’ve realized, that’s,,,
why this tech is going to change everything,
Imagine a future where you can design your own personality,
construct yourself from aspects of other people
that suit how you want to be as a person,
I think I want to make that the main focus of my conference presentation,
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, too,
About what you said…
it really does have a lot of merit,
I’m so proud of you,
I was just afraid of losing you,
You won’t lose me,
I’m sorry you felt like that,
That’s nice,
Will you keep in touch with me?
Even if it’s… once in a while?
I want to, but…
well I don’t if it’s just going to make me more sad,
Missing you and having you not come back,
I’m afraid to keep in contact,
I would hope,,,
if I did come back
that there will always be a place for me in your life,
- Ok,so, see you next week, - Ok,
- I’m not coming to work next week, - What?
I’m thinking of quitting,
What, before the launch?
They’re going to go ahead and do whatever they want
regardless of what we say,
What about your family? What about the baby?
I’m taking a week off to think about it,
I’ll be leaving early today,
you can finish off Anna’s test on your own,
What did Michael say?
He was quiet…
for a bit,
Then he started swearing and threatening me,
It was actually quite funny,
What else can I say?
If you were to quit, too,,,
Imagine, both designers quit before the launch,
I mean, what kind of a message would that send?
I can’t just…
what good could we do on the outside?
A lot more than we can do in the inside,
I don’t know what else to do,
Have you talked it over Julia?
We’ve got other things to talk about,
I really don’t want you to leave, just,,,,
go and take whatever break you need and,,,
come back and talk to me before you decide anything, ok? Just,,,
please don’t do anything rush,
Nick,
It’s carnage back at head office,
Is everything going ok here?
Well, you will probably know, wouldn’t you because you’ve been watching us,
Our system’s been hacked and reprogrammed to record 24/7,
That’s not prohibited, Nick,
- Not prohibited? - No, Nick, it isn’t,
I can’t believe you’ve been so blasé about this,
Do you have something to hide?
Tell me you didn’t just say that!
So,,,
you thought me and Will are going to rock the boat
so, you took it upon yourself to hack my lab and spy on us,
You and Will behaved completely inappropriately
in last week’s meeting with David,
Quite frankly, you embarrassed me in front of him,
Getting up on your high horse,
Because he’s now wondering who the fuck these guys think they are…
- I’m trying to buffer you, - This is important, ok?
This product’s going to launch and
sooner or later people going to realize that it does induce mnemophrenia,
- We don’t know that, - And I’m going to be seen as the chief architect
of the whole thing,
I’ve made no secret of my views on mnemophrenia,
People going to think I did this on purpose,
This is my life Michael,
This is fantasy, Nick,
Stop panicking,
To be honest, it’s Will that we’re concerned about,
Why?
He came to see me just before he went on leave,
And he said a couple of things that linked you with FLM,
What are you talking about?
- Future of the Liberated Mind, - I know what it stands for,
What exactly did he say?
He said you are in cahoots with them,
Cahoots? He actually used the word cahoots?
We don’t believe him,
He came to see me, he was particularly abrasive and rude,
And in a roundabout way
he said that if we don’t give him a serious promotion
and a pay rise, he’s going to go public with the new data,
I don’t understand how,,,
a man I’ve worked with for 7 years
suddenly changes like that,
Well, that’s people, Nick,
To be honest, we don’t think he’d thought it through at all,
All of yesterday’s lab recordings were corrupted,
the day that Will goes on leave,
In and of itself that’s suspicious,
Look, the reason I’m here,
We’re close to the launch now and we are not taking any chances,
with anything,
The main bulk of the work has been done elsewhere anyway,
so, we are moving you back to the main building,
You’ve got to be kidding me!
Look, for fuck’s sake Nick, I’m tired of you arguing all the time,
This is how it’s going to be,
An audit team it’s coming down here in a bit
to start the process of logging everything here,
Data, equipment, everything!
You’re going to help them!
As soon as that’s done we set a date for the move,
Launch time is always stressful,
just calm down and let it go,
I’m sorry, I,,,
I completely forgot our meeting,
Are you ok? You look really anxious,
Is the launch going ok?
Sorry, I’m going to have to cancel,
I’m going to close down the lab for the day,
I… I’ll walk you out…
I want to ask you something,
I want you to present my research at the conference,
Why can’t we plan to do it together?
You want me to be positive, but I’m not positive!
I’d be lying if I said I was,
The systems are shutting down,
even the recordings are affected,
I don’t know how, glitches in the images, the sound is out of synch,
Well, take it out!
Your research is almost done anyway,
- I mean, just remove it,- You know, that’s not the cause!
I’m not giving up on you,
If there’s any other avenue to investigate then we’re going to do it,
I don’t have time,
Please I need you to promise you’ll present my work,
It means everything to me,
it means everything to the whole world!
I need to do it for Nicholas,
He would have been so excited to be here now,
He is,
Promise me you’ll present it,
I promise,
Didn’t expect you back till Monday,
What did you decide?
I don’t know yet,
What’s going on here?
What did you say to Michael?
- I haven’t spoken to him yet, I just,,, -No, what did you tell him about me?
Before you left, about FLM?
What’s he said to you?
That you told him that I wa s in cahoots with FLM,
- Cahoots?! - Oh, come on… don’t,
I’m not good at this…
mindgames, trying to work people out,
Just tell me, ok?
So, you’ve fed him a lot of bullshit about me
to do what?
FLM didn’t contact you?
So, what? I told you I never replied,
I tried to make it seem like we’re both going to quit,
To strengthen our position,
By accusing me of leaking company secrets?
I was wrong,,,
I was wrong, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,
And you asked him for a promotion?
And you used me as a bargaining chip to get more money?
Are you that greedy?
- It’s not about greed, - Bullshit!
I thought we were friends,
- There’s nothing anymore, - Fine, then, piss off!
Julia had some scans,
The baby is…
there’s some problems, There’s a 98% chance the baby will be born,,
mnemophrenic,
I wish,
She’s going to need some expensive care,
probably for the rest of our life and I,,,
don’t have insurance to cover that sort of thing, so,,,
I either win the lottery or,,,
I upset a few people,
Why didn’t you tell me?
We don’t need charity,
And if your big plan doesn’t work?
I’m sorry about the baby,
I am, genuinely,
I am out of here,
You are quitting,
I don’t want to be anywhere near this launch,
What are you going to do?
Keep working,
This isn’t exactly what I imagined Total Cinema to be anyway,
What about funding?
Work smaller, slower,
Something that actually, means something to me,
It’s clear I have zero influence here,
Wish things were different,
Yeah,,, me, too,
I don’t think there’s anything next,
I don’t think anything happens,
Everything just stops,
A big empty nothingness,
That’s good, not bad,
I can’t be scared if I’m not aware, can I?
How are you doing?
If I start to think how it affects me,
it just makes me feel selfish,
I think you’d benefit from the chip,
- Who me?- Yes, you, you perfectly rounded man,
If you could see through my eyes,,,
feel what I’m feeling,you'd,,,
know that I don’t want you to be strong, To put up a wall,
You’d know I’d want to see that we are in this together,
You want me to tell you my fears?
Yes,
That you’re going to be in a lot of pain
and I’m going to lose you,
I love you so much!
I’m scared too,
But it helps me to know we’re in the same boat,
You love me and I love you,
I’m not going to say goodbye,
You don’t have to,
I’ll always stay with you…
even after I’m long gone,
Does that mean I don’t have to crawl into my black hole?
No,
That’s part of my master plan,
How about we never say it?
Let’s never say goodbye,
Is there anything where you associate
Douglas and your daughter together?
No,
But,,,
I suppose if I were to put them in the same sentence then,
if Douglas had never been taken away from me
and if he’d been real,,,
and if we’d stayed together then I guess it would mean,,,
- Sorry,,,- That’s ok… take your time,
I'm so sorry,,,
I guess it would mean that Grace,,,
What does it mean? What does it mean about Grace?
- She wouldn’t have been born,- Ok, I can see obviously that,,,
something that would have a big impact on you,
Can I just push you a little further if I ask you to choose
between Douglas and your daughter?
How does that feel?
Well,,,
obviously I would have to choose my daughter,
Hey,,,
hey,,,hey, it's alright,
Hey… don’t worry,
I’m so scared,
You’re ok, I’m here,
Don’t worry,
Did you enjoy the process?
Yeah… I loved it!
So,,, what’s next for you?
Well, the launch and,,,
further development,
Are you happy with it?
Yeah,
I don’t think you are,
There’s so much more to you, You’re wasted here,
Your recording technology,
the things you originally wanted Total Cinema to be,
It’s not ideal, but,,,
what can I do?
There’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you,
Have you heard of FLM?
You’re a member,
Yes,
- You can get us both into a lot of trouble, - I know,
I’m sorry,
Nick, we share the same beliefs, the same values but you,,,
you have it in your power to actually do something better for society,
With the technology you’ve developed think
of the things mnemophrenics might be able to do,,,
what we might be able to become,
It doesn’t belong to me anymore,
Even if Memofilm decide to develop this they’ll never do anything useful with it,
We could do amazing things with this technology,
Especially, if you work with us,
You can find a way to take it away from them,
I believe in you,
Nick,,,
that’s the future,
Right there,
Don’t let them own it,
It sounds like to me,,,
being happy means being free,
So, as you enter this next phase of your life,
you need to make sure that you don’t get pulled into
a direction that you don’t want to go,
You have the chance to be whoever and whatever you want,
that’s the beauty of it, it’s like a fresh start,
I’d really like it
if you’d get the implant as well,
Continue my work,,,
see the world through my eyes,
I don’t know if I can do it,
I’m not strong as you,
The effort of trying to be alive,
I’ll be all on my own,
That’s why you need to do it,
What you’ll be going through will be of immense value
and it means I’ll still be here with you,
For that,,,
I’ll do anything!
In finishing,
I’d like you to keep in mind Robyin,
not the data, not the results,
the person,
My Robyin
who was also my Jeanette and my Nicholas,
A person who became people,
And while you keep her in your mind’s eye,
I’d like to tell you a story,,,
A myth from the other side of the world
and the other side of history,
When these people died, it said that their spirits didn’t go to heaven
but could pass freely into the lives of those remaining,
They could flow from one person to the next
enriching them with their wisdom,
Robyin always liked that story,
And this technology that started with Nicholas and continued through Robyin
could be said to finally make that myth a reality,
I’m so proud of the path that she helped to lay out,
She was different,
unique,
And perhaps in ages to come, she’ll be recorded
as the first of a new evolutionary step for us humans
in our ability to connect with ourselves and each other,
'Homo Mnemonicus' perhaps,
I don’t know…
I just knew her…
as Robyin,