Pasadena, California 1978
I think this thing's gonna change the world!
Come over here! Look at what I have brought!
Get on the light.
I've pulled a few strings
and look at what we have.
What is it?
It's an Exigy S-100 bus.
A computer for the home.
Cool!
16K memory! I can get almost a whole book
on this one little tape!
One day, every house in the world
is going to have one of these.
Maybe even hooked up to each other.
You see this,
I can hook up this little computer
up to the big one at the University
just by using a telephone!
What can you do with it?
Oh... spreadsheets... statistical analysis programs...
Games.
Is it better than Pong?
How much did all this cost?
Cost...I charged it to the Department.
Research costs.
It's good for the kids.
Girls, bring me that little television of yours!
It's in the corner. I'll get it.
You're the biggest kid around here.
Who are you?
Well, hello there. You must be Samantha.
No, I'm Sydney.
He told me you were both pretty.
Who?
Your Dad.
Is he home?
I'm here to see him.
Sure, come in.
I have a message for you.
I told you never to come here!
Why don't you two discuss things in here?
Girls, go upstairs and change clothes.
We're going out.
But Mom, it's practically
the middle of the night!
Duncan, you have to go home now.
Parting is such sweet sorrow.
Well, good night sweet prince.
G'night Sydney. G'night Sam.
I want to see the computer thing!
Put these clothes on.
Mom, not these.
Get dressed.
It's ours. We expect you to honor our deal.
We had no deal.
Your work is our work.
At the lab, not at home.
It's a lovely home. Nice kids.
Don't you threaten me!
I want you out of here!
I told you to stay away from my family!
What are they talking about?
Who knows?
You ready? How about some ice cream?
Now?
Yes, I've got a craving. In the car, come on!
Look what I found under the seat!
It's Theodore, I lost him in the third grade.
It's mine you stole him!
Did not!
You're such a liar!
You're a liar!
Girls! Please...
Give him to me!
No!
Fine! Only babies need stuffed animals anyway!
Samantha...
Fine! Take him! I hate you!
Sydney, how many times...
Ready?
Ready!
Secure. Ready to connect.
Tomorrow!
You are already 2 minutes in the OT, Sydney!
Los Angeles
17 Years Later
Duncan, I'll stay up a little while.
Give me a call tonight.
I'll be ok.
You don't let me get sleep enough here.
Don't worry.
Here.
VR.5
Lori Singer
Michael Easton
And Will Patton
as doctor Frank Morgan
Adam Baldwin
with David McCallum
as doctor Joseph Bloom
and Penn Jillette
as Kravitz
special appearance by
Louise Fletcher
VIRTUAL LANDSCAPE
Rain. Frost in low lying areas.
Temperature 60 degrees.
Suggest t-shirt, vest, flannel shirt,
and blue jeans. Shoes, optional.
Not again.
Hey, you scratched it, you paid it, honey.
Mr. Kravitz, if you please...
Don't tell me what to do.
I am on a long distance.
But your car is right...
Yeah, yeah, yeah....is it your internal business here?
You're late.
For how long did you stay up here last night?
Just a couple of hours.
And don't you feel kind of lonely up here?
No, not really.
That's right, no boyfriend or a husband to go home to.
All alone in the big city.
Yeah......
Me, too.
It's kind of hard to find the right girl
when you stay here all day long.
Then they should find you.
What have you said?
I said I'm right behind you.
How was your day, Sydney?
Terrific. Thanks. How was yours?
You have zero messages.
Hey Penelope. Anyone call you?
Hi.
Hallo?
Uh... Wrong number.
"Hi, it's Sydney". Why is that so hard?
Didjeridoo.
Stealth technology.
Australian aboriginal. Very primal.
Some bird?
Squawk!!
No, thanks.
Beautiful. More for me.
Cans?
In the kitchen.
You ever go on a walkabout, Syd?
There's this song.
It's like a map of Australia
and every aboriginal is trusted
with a certain part.
That way, you can figure out wherever you are
just by hearing another human's voice.
Metaphysical navigation.
It's like Tel Cal.
Yeah.
VIRTUAL LANDSCAPE. CITY SCAPE
Hello?
What is that matter with that threat, Bloom?!
Mr. Kravitz...
I can park my car whenever I want and no prissy!
A little note from you's not gonna
terminate that, did you get that?!
But you're supposed to park in another space.
I can't be jumping up every time you want...
at 7 o'clock, ok!
Mr. Kravitz! Mr. Kravitz! Wait! Wait!
What the hell is happening?
I don't know!
Where am I?
I don't know!
Bloom! Is that you?
I DON'T KNOW!
I got you away! But stop screaming!
Just stop screaming!
Let go of me.
Are you ok?
Ok.
Are you sure?
I said I'd move it.
That's ok, maybe you shouldn't.
You get away, annoying little...
Stop that thing!
Go!
Stop it!
I can't!
Get off! Hurry! Hurry!
My car!
No! Wait! I don't know where's that going!
Mr. Kravitz!
Stay away from me!
Wow!
How can I get out of here?!
Stop it! Stop it! Stop the fire!
What happened?! What did I do?!
Steady! Steady!
What happened?
I came out for the soap
and you were freaking out.
I did it! I was there!
So real...I came back.
How long did it last?
A couple of seconds.
You were in there?
Yes...that's right.
I think I can do that on purpose.
Go into a machine?
How did Kravitz get in there?
I was at a seance once.
I think there was a projector in the fruit bowl.
It's indescribable.
Understand?
Virtual...what?
Virtual reality.
Put this one a transport to another place,
imaginary landscape.
Supposed to be just like a bitmap.
Bitmap? Bitmap?
Bitmap. Like a cartoon.
It's not like this. I was controlling it.
Tnen I wasn't.
I need practice.
You're going to do it again?
It was incredible.
So was peyote, but I didn't do it twice.
I'm fine now. I can control it.
But if anything should happen...
I know, 'Eat the evidence.'
Well, that was fast. Where did you go this time?
Nowhere.
I guess I need to make a connection
in order to make it work.
I can't do by myself.
Hello?
Ready?
Willing and able.
OK, here we go.
Come on in. The shower's warm.
I always wondered what
was on the other side of that door.
I've always wanted you to find out.
Cooper?!
Fourteen 0 one - ready to connect?
Fourteen 0 two - ready to connect?
Fourteen 0 three - ready to connect?
What are you looking at?
Well, you. You look different today.
No, I mean different - different's good.
It's just sometimes under all that hardware
I forget there's a girl.
Something about you's changed.
You're definitely here.
I - I've been here.
Well, maybe I haven't.
Are you ready to connect?
No.
A cream?
I got to talk to somebody.
Shoot.
About computers.
Oh.
There has to be somebody out there
who understands what I've done.
I've done something
that's supposed to be impossible.
Nothing's impossible.
Syd? Syd.
Mr. Kravitz?
Bloom! Uh... your car clean as new!
I really got to talk to somebody.
Yeah.
Careful.
I guess, this is more for big guys like me.
Are you ok?
Be ready for the most incredible
running of your life.
Hah! Doesn't it knock your socks off?
Ah, yes.
Here. Feel my hand.
Feels almost real, doesn't it?
Almost.
It' s my special pattern.
A revolution in the ISD industry.
Stay within my playroom.
Ever seen anything like this?
Of course, you haven't.
Catch!
Oh, you missed it!
What's the matter,
don't you wanna play? You want help?
Yeah.
I understand.
Some people just cannot handle it in there.
Put the helmet off, young lady.
And you are out.
Is this everything you can do?
You got the whole trip.
Impressive, I know.
Sit down. And sign this please.
And jot down your home phone number.
I can give you a call sometime
and we can discuss how I developed
the gel prototype.
What about really going inside
and maybe taking somebody inside with you and -
and changing the way that person thinks
and the way that person behaves,
and really...
Hey, hey. I'm just an engineer.
I can give you name.
This guy's a real old timer.
Kind of the 'Grandfather of VR'.
VIRTUAL PHILOSOPHY
DR. FRANK MORGAN
Dr. Morgan?
Who are you?
I'm Sydney Bloom.
What do you want with me, Sydney Bloom?
I want to know how virtual reality works.
Are we communicating right now?
I guess.
But you can't see me,
and I can't see you. Is that right?
Yeah.
We're both having an experience
which requires each of our minds
to fill in the blanks.
Isn't that right?
Yeah.
Well, that's it. You just had a virtual experience.
Now go on back to your sorority house.
But I --
Forget it.
If you're not a wide-eyed sorority girl,
you're a cybergeek who'd rather
shove quarters into some machine
than cry for Pagliacci.
I just - I have to talk to somebody --
Sorry.
Now that's the smartest thing
you've said since you walked in here,
Sydney Bloom.
Thanks.
Hey, Doc, watch that shoulder, uh?
Yeah, I will.
Wait! Wait.
I've had experiences.
Oh? Now what did you do?
Did you play that, uh, VR game
down at the mall there with your boyfriend?
Don't tell me. He felt you up,
you didn't like it?
No.
No?
It was nothing like that.
Look, I have a Casy 401 SPro and
I get 64 megs 'cause I've hooked into
a long bole plug board and that's what gives you
the extra kick.
I have a Tel Cal AV headset
and I have a 4.7 glove.
That's a lot of unit.
Yeah, I know.
You a home brewer?
Kind of. I mean -- well, yeah.
I work for Tel Cal but you know,
I take home scrap and I do what I can.
Well, so what do you need to talk
to somebody about?
It sounds like you're all set up.
Well... How far have you gotten?
With who?
No. I meant -- like how real?
As real as I want to get.
All five senses?
Three.
Once was smell when my wiring caught fire.
Why? What can you do?
No, just-just call it a theory.
Hey, look.
Whatever it is that you're doing, just stop.
But I can't.
Yeah you can. Get a hobby.
Write a novel. Watch TV.
You'll be much better off in the long run.
I'm sorry, I can't help you.
Hello. This is Sydney Bloom calling.
Oh, Mrs. Bloom.
Could you please put her on?
Yes, dear. One moment.
Hi, Mom.
Mom?
Sydney?
This is our house?
I know. I programmed it.
In virtual reality.
What?
It's something I can do with my computer.
With that thing your father brought home?
No, no that old thing. Something new.
Don't worry. It's safe. I think.
How is this possible?
It's like I can bring another person into my dream.
I create the setting, but I can't control
what happens in it.
When I wake up, I'll remember everything
but the other person --
Well, you'll just remember the feeling, Mom.
You've tapped into the subconscious.
I think I have.
How will we get out?
I have to find the escape key.
It's just something I touch
that's connected to whatever I'm doing.
Oh, this is incredible!
Who are you working with?
I hope you're documenting everything!
You should show me your notes,
psychiatry is my field you know.
But it wasn't an experiment,
it was just an accident, Mom.
Then we'll study it together.
Can't we just talk? I've really missed you.
Well, of course we can. Come over here.
I've missed you too, sweetheart.
I'm sorry, I've not come often visiting you.
I understand.
It's not easy with me nowadays.
I knew it could be like this.
I knew someday we could talk.
Like mother and daughter. Just normal.
You were always such a private child, not like--
Not like Samantha, right?
I don't want to talk about that.
Well, maybe you should, Mom.
Maybe it'll help you.
No.
What happened that night?
I don't remember anything.
Who was that man?
Why did we have to leave so quickly?
Mom, why didn't you come with us?
Stop it! I said I don't remember!
I don't remember!
What are you doing?
Leave me alone!
Mom, no!
Mom?
Are you ok?
Don't you remember anything from being there?
You know, honey, I put the phone to her ear
just like you've asked me,
but I don't think it does any good.
Yes, it does!
I just want her to hear my voice, Jackie.
Ok, baby, if that's what you want.
I've brought you something.
It's me and Samantha, remember?
I'll give it to you.
I love you, Mom.
I'll come here really soon, I promise. I promise.
Ready?
Yes.
Thus you're gonna go all day?
Oh.
Silently.
Oh, sorry, I didn't sleep well last night.
You've got someone in mind?
No.
I'll be around you till you set it up.
It's ok.
Not so. Work is work, right?
Right.
Maybe we can go out
on some Friday night after work?
Maybe.
You've been up to look after a boy?
Excuse me.
That was my fault.
Thanks.
No problem.
Sounds like a date to me.
I'm afraid. What will we talk about?
I've always found a discussion of Eli Whitney
and the cotton gin to be a good ice breaker.
We spend all day together, but
it's different when it's not at work.
So, do a pretending.
What do you mean?
Do a trial run.
Whom with?
With him.
Hello?
Oh, I was a little nervous...
...so, I thought I'd try and knew first...
Where?
In our dreams.
Here.
You look cold.
You know, in the beginning I thought
you were different. You are really just like
any other woman, aren't you?
That's exactly how I pictured it.
How about you?
Don't look back.
I wanna hold you. I wanna hold you...tight.
Sydney, come back!
You're mine now. Just like the others.
If you'd stayed different, you wouldn't end up like the others.
I love you, Sydney.
Hello? Anybody there?
I warned you to stop.
It's not just a theory, I can really do it.
And now you've come to me
because something bad has happened.
Is that it?
I - I think there's somebody dangerous out there.
Just 'cause you've seen it in VR
doesn't make it true.
But it is -- it's what was in his mind,
so there's got to be some truth in it.
I've taken a checkered flag at Indianapolis
in my mind but that doesn't necessarily mean
that Mario Andretti should lose any sleep.
What if it is true?
He could hurt somebody.
Maybe he already has.
You know there's a lot to be said for fate.
What happens if you die in VR?
I hooked up a guy once.
One of my VR flight simulators.
He was a real hotshot Navy flyboy.
He wanted to see what it felt like
to hit the ground
at a forty thousand foot free fall.
Did he die?
Nope. He's just lying in a coma
in a hospital in Virginia.
No official explanation.
Destroy it. Never use it again.
Maybe you'll be able to sleep at night.
I sure can't.
Hey! Sorry, I'm late.
It's ok.
Sydney, what's the matter?
Where are you going? Sydney!
I have to go back in.
What happens if you get
another scary one?
I need to find something out.
I have to.
LOOK-OUT POINT
You look cold.
Here.
Do you bring other women up here often?
Sometimes. Special ones.
What do you do with them?
We have a good time.
Let's have a drink.
Let's go off here!
Hey, Sydney!
I know about the others, Cooper.
What are you talking about?
The other women you brought up here.
I know what you did to them.
Sydney, come on!
I've found out, Cooper. They told me everything.
That's impossible!
Now I know what I'm looking for.
Well, you did it?
Not sure yet.
Here we go.
Previous employment:
West Park College.
One of them was wearing a WPC sweat-suit.
Vista Point Memorial Hospital.
One of them was definitely a nurse.
And the third...
Oh, God...
Did you know that if a meteor
only six acres wide were to hit the Earth
at the correct velocity
we'd be plummeted into the equivalent of a
hundred-year nuclear winter
and life as we know it on this planet
would be completely obliterated?
Huh! Makes paying your taxes
seem kind of futile, doesn't it?
Exactly where it happened.
What?
The tire swing, it's here. The bars.
You know, I've been meaning to say this to you
for some time,
and I always forget...
What?
I think you've lost your mind.
Don't joke about that, Duncan.
Who's joking?
What if I'm wrong?
What if he's just a great guy?
Then you go have 2.6 children
and live in Scarsdale.
Right.
It's nice you've got only two choises.
So, what do we do now?
Go home and I get ready for my date.
I have to know what is real
and what isn't.
Hey, there we are.
Something wrong?
I thought you'd like the view.
Nervous?
Oh, here.
Relax, I'm the same guy that's been up on that tower
working with you all week.
Perfect night.
So, where have you worked before Tel Cal?
Part time jobs mostly....here and there.
You?
Just Tel Cal.
Have you been married?
Yeah, once.
But she died.
I'm so sorry.
It was a long time ago
and I try not to think about it too much.
Let us do that some other time.
Please, stay.
Do you wanna dance?
Do you bring all your dates up here?
No, these are the special ones.
Sydney, I thought you were different
from the other women, but you're really not, right?
What do you know?
Nothing!
You're lieing! You know everything.
I don't know how, but I can tell it.
I love you, Sydney.
It's ok. It's ok.
Dr. Morgan?
You're hard to find, Sydney Bloom.
Go!
No! Wait! We've got to get back,
because I think I've just killed...
Whom? Cooper?
How'd you know?
You've got a lot to learn
about guarding the security of your programs.
You bugged my system! What could you see?
Oh, I couldn't hack into your VR.
I'm trying to protect you.
Well, you're a little late.
We gotta go to the police--
No, no, the police will be taken care of.
There are oth-other bodies there too.
We'll take care of it.
Who are you?
You know there are people out there
who'd kill to get their hands
on what you can do?
How do you know that?
Because they almost did it to me,
and I didn't get nearly as far
as you did.
Who do you work for?
Let's just call 'em the Committee.
The Committee? What Committee?
I wish you'd left it alone,
but you didn't.
And now the people that I work for
want me to use you.
What if I said no?
You can't. It's too late.
We're working together now.
You need me, I need you.
Welcome to the game, Sydney Bloom.
subsby@resg