Free Ex Machina by Alex Garland Page A

the monitor for a few moments.
    Then turns.
    He walks towards a chair. And sits down.
    As he does so, Nathan has started to play another clip.
    Caleb can hear the audio.
    CALEB
    ( recording )
    We’re getting out of here tonight.
    AVA
    ( recording )
    What? How?
    CALEB
    ( recording )
    I get Nathan blind drunk. Then I take his keycard, and reprogram all the security protocols in this place. When he wakes, he’s locked inside, and we’ve walked out of here. I only need you to do one thing. At ten o’clock tonight trigger a power failure
    CALEB
    Turn it off.
    NATHAN
    Sure.
    The recording stops.
    Caleb feels short of breath.
    You feel stupid. But you shouldn’t. Proving an AI is exactly as problematic as you said it was.
    CALEB
    What was the real test?
    NATHAN
    You.
    Beat.
    NATHAN
    Ava was a mouse in a mousetrap. And I gave her one way out. To escape, she would have to use imagination, sexuality, self-awareness, empathy, manipulation – and she did. If that isn’t AI, what the fuck is?
    Caleb looks upwards.
    Directly above, he sees a spotlight in the ceiling.
    It dazzles him.
    CALEB
    So my only function was to be someone she could use to escape.
    NATHAN
    … Yes.
    CALEB
    And you didn’t select me because I was good at coding.
    Nathan hesitates.
    NATHAN
    Don’t get me wrong. You’re okay. Even pretty good, but –
    CALEB
    You selected me by my search-engine inputs.
    NATHAN
    They showed a good kid.
    CALEB
    With no family.
    NATHAN
    With a moral compass.
    CALEB
    And no girlfriend.
    Caleb stares into the brightness above him.
    CALEB
    Did you design her face based on my pornography profile?
    NATHAN
    Shit, dude.
    CALEB
    Did you?
    Beat.
    NATHAN
    Hey. If a search engine’s good for anything – right?
    Silence.
    Can I say one thing?
    Caleb doesn’t answer.
    The test worked . It was a success. Ava demonstrated true AI. And you were fundamental to that. If you could just separate –
    Nathan cuts off. Because at that moment –
    – the lights and the monitors suddenly die.
    EXT. GARDEN – NIGHT
    Through the circular window, the emergency lighting lifts up. The window glows red.
    INT. HOUSE ⁄ AVA’S ROOM – NIGHT
    Ava’s head turns to the door of her room.
    Where, discreetly, the LED by the keycard plate glows blue.
    INT. HOUSE ⁄ NATHAN’S STUDY – NIGHT
    Nathan checks his watch.
    NATHAN
    The power cut. Must be ten o’clock.
    He glances at Caleb.
    Guess Ava’s going to be wondering where you are.
    Caleb says nothing.
    How was that escape going to go down, anyway? You didn’t completely explain. You said you were going to get me drunk, take my card, then reprogram the security protocols. But, reprogram them to – what?
    CALEB
    To change the lockdown procedure. So that in the event of a power cut, instead of sealing, the doors all opened.
    NATHAN
    Huh.
    Beat.
    Not bad. Might have even worked.
    CALEB
    Well, we’ll find out.
    Nathan frowns.
    NATHAN
    What do you mean?
    Caleb looks away from the dimmed ceiling light, to Nathan.
    CALEB
    I figured you were probably watching us during the power cuts.
    Beat.
    So I already did all those things. When I got you drunk yesterday.
    Nathan freezes.
    NATHAN
    … What?
    At that moment, the power comes back on.
    The lights rise.
    The computer monitors come back to life.
    Revealing something.
    On the CCTV feed of Ava’s room, the door is open.
    And on the feed of the glass corridor –
    – Ava is walking down it.
    Nathan freezes as he sees her.
    … Fuck.
    Both Nathan and Caleb simultaneously rise.
    Almost as an afterthought, Nathan lands a deceptive, fast punch into Caleb’s solar plexus.
    Caleb folds, the air forced out of him, gasping for breath.
    Nathan helps him down to the floor.
    A couple of yards away is one of his curl dumbbells.
    He walks over.
    Picks the dumbbell up.
    Spins off the weights. Leaving him with a thick metal bar.
    Then exits.
    INT. HOUSE ⁄ GLASS CORRIDOR – NIGHT
    Nathan enters the glass corridor.
    He sees, directly ahead of him, Ava and Kyoko. By their