Ex Machina by Alex Garland Read Free Book Online Page B

way along the riverside.
    Their conversation floats over water.
    CALEB
    But the calculation of knowledge –
    NATHAN
    It’s not a calculation. It’s a system.
    CALEB
    But probabilistic.
    NATHAN
    Why? A six-month-old infant doesn’t run data analysis to start understanding its parent. Start with the neurophysiology, not the math. There are only three hundred neurons in the nematode C elegans, and you still can’t predict what the fuck it’s going to do …
    EXT. GLACIER – DAY
    Nathan and Caleb sits near the base of a spectacular glacier.
    Behind them, from a blue cave cut into the ice, water flows.
    A silence.
    Then –
    CALEB
    Can we talk about the lies you’ve been spinning me?
    Nathan glances over at Caleb.
    NATHAN
    What lies?
    CALEB
    I didn’t win a competition. And there was no lottery to meet you. I was selected.
    Nathan waits.
    It’s obvious, once I stop to think. Why would you randomly select an examiner for a Turing Test? You could have had some bean-counter turn up at your front door. Or the guy who fixes the air conditioning.
    Beat.
    NATHAN
    Are your feelings hurt?
    Caleb doesn’t answer.
    Nathan shrugs.
    The competition was a smokescreen. I didn’t want anyone to know what I was doing here, or why you were required.
    CALEB
    Why me?
    NATHAN
    As a Blue Book employee, you were pre-screened. Loyal. And I needed someone who would ask the right kind of questions. So I did a search, and found the most talented coder in the company.
    Nathan corrects himself.
    Or – second most.
    He stands. Looks up at the ice structures around them.
    You know what? Instead of seeing this as a deception, see it as proof.
    CALEB
    Proof of what?
    NATHAN
    Come on, Caleb. Fuck modesty. You think I don’t know what it is to be smart? Smarter than everyone else around you. Smarter than all the other kids, jockeying for position in school, college, work.
    Beat.
    You have the light on you. Not lucky. Chosen.
    Above them, clouds fragment and re-form.
    EXT. CLEARING – NIGHT
    Night has fallen.
    Caleb lies in the clearing, looking up at the stars.
    The glow from the circular window to Nathan’s study is like a full moon on the grass.
    Caleb stands.
    Looks down the light-well to Nathan’s study.
    Where he sees Nathan and Kyoko.
    They are having sex.
    Caleb watches. Just for a beat.
    CUT TO
    INT. HOUSE ⁄ CALEB’S BATHROOM – NIGHT
    Caleb standing in the shower.
    He shuts his eyes.
    INTERCUT WITH
    Images of Ava. Torso, hands, mouths.
    FLASH OF
    Ava and Caleb kissing.
    CUT TO
    Caleb opening his eyes. He exhales.
    Then switches off the taps.
    INT. HOUSE ⁄ CALEB’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
    Caleb enters his bedroom.
    The TV plays the live stream from the observation room.
    On the screen, we can see Ava, sitting at her table, drawing.
    Caleb pulls on shorts.
    Reaches for a T-shirt.
    As Caleb pulls on the shirt –
    – behind him, on the TV, we see Ava suddenly look round.
    A moment later Nathan enters the frame.
    There’s no volume on the TV, so we can’t hear their exchange. Only see it.
    Caleb is unaware of the silent exchange behind him.
    As Nathan and Ava talk, Nathan reaches out to Ava. His hand touches the side of her cheek. The gesture is not quite neutral. Feels predatory, but not unambiguously so.
    Then he tugs at the material of her shirt. Pulling up the sleeve from her wrist. Revealing the robot structure of her arm.
    Ava pulls away. Tugs the material back down –
    – and Nathan takes a corrective-movement step to regain his balance. Showing that he is drunk.
    Only now –
    – Caleb turns.
    And freezes. Seeing the TV.
    On the screen, Nathan reaches down to the table.
    He picks up the drawing Ava was working on, and he looks at it for a moment.
    They exchange a few words.
    Then abruptly Nathan rips the drawing in half. Drops it on the floor. Then turns, and exits.
    Leaving Ava alone.
    EXT. HOUSE ⁄ GLASS CORRIDOR – NIGHT
    On CCTV, we watch Caleb walk fast down the glass corridor.
    INT. HOUSE ⁄ POLLOCK ROOM –