Ex Machina Read Online Free Page B

sketch something specific? Like an object or a person.
    She shakes her head as she takes the picture down.
    Maybe you should try.
    AVA
    Okay. What object should I draw?
    CALEB
    Whatever you want. It’s your decision.
    AVA
    Why is it my decision?
    CALEB
    I’m interested to see what you’ll choose.
    Ava pauses a moment.
    AVA
    Do you want to be my friend?
    CALEB
    … Of course.
    AVA
    Will it be possible?
    CALEB
    Why wouldn’t it be?
    AVA
    Our conversations are one-sided. You ask circumspect questions, and study my responses.
    Ava looks at Caleb directly. Meets his gaze evenly.
    It’s true, isn’t it?
    CALEB
    … Yes
    AVA
    You learn about me, and I learn nothing about you. That’s not a foundation on which friendships are based.
    Caleb is taken aback. Aware that the AI has just wrong-footed him on a point of argument.
    CALEB
    … That’s a fair comment.
    AVA
    Yes.
    CALEB
    So – you want me to talk about myself.
    AVA
    Yes.
    CALEB
    Where do you want me to start?
    AVA
    It’s your decision. I’m interested to see what you’ll choose.
    And now Caleb is aware that Ava has just – gently – used sarcasm.
    He looks at her, frowning slightly.
    And in response, in a very human way, Ava arches an eyebrow.
    Caleb laughs.
    CALEB
    Okay, Ava. Well – you know my name. I’m twenty-four. And I work at Nathan’s company. You know what his company is?
    AVA
    Blue Book, named after Wittgenstein’s notes, is the world’s most popular internet search engine, processing an average of ninety-four per cent of all internet search requests.
    CALEB
    That’s right.
    AVA
    Where do you live, Caleb?
    CALEB
    Brookhaven, Long Island.
    AVA
    Is it nice there?
    CALEB
    It’s okay. I’ve got an apartment. Kind of small. But – it’s a five-minute walk to the office. And a five-minute walk to the ocean, which I like.
    AVA
    Are you married?
    CALEB
    No.
    AVA
    Is your status single?
    CALEB
    … Yeah.
    They lock eyes, just for a moment.
    AVA
    What about your family?
    CALEB
    Grew up in Portland. No brothers or sisters. My parents were both high school teachers. ( Beat. ) And if we’re getting to know each other, I guess I should say they’re both dead. Car crash when I was fifteen. In fact I was in the car with them. Back seat. But it was the front that got the worst of it.
    A long beat.
    A kind of processing pause for Ava.
    AVA
    I’m sorry.
    Caleb nods.
    CALEB
    I spent a lot of time in the hospital. Nearly a year. Got into coding. By the time I made it to college, I was pretty advanced.
    AVA
    An advanced programmer.
    CALEB
    Yes.
    AVA
    Like Nathan.
    CALEB
    Yes.
    Caleb hesitates. Backtracks.
    Or – kind of. Nathan wrote the Blue Book base code when he was thirteen. If you understand code, what he did was – Mozart or something.
    Beat.
    AVA
    Do you like Mozart?
    Caleb smiles.
    CALEB
    I like Depeche Mode.
    AVA
    Do you like Nathan?
    Caleb misses a beat. Thrown momentarily.
    CALEB
    Yes. Of course.
    AVA
    Is Nathan your friend?
    CUT TO
    – one of the CCTV cameras that are observing them.
    CALEB
    Sure.
    AVA
    A good friend?
    He hesitates.
    CALEB
    Well, a good friend is –
    He breaks off. Feeling the camera watching.
    We only just met. It takes time to get to know –
    At that moment –
    – all the power abruptly shuts down, plunging the room into darkness.
    AUTOMATED VOICE
    Power cut. Back-up power activated.
    Then the soft emergency lighting lifts up, and throws the observation room into a completely different light.
    Weirder. Cast from LED strips on the floor, illuminating Caleb and Ava’s faces from below.
    In the low light, we see a detail of Ava’s honeycomb skin-mesh that we were not able to see before.
    It glows, soft, like phosphorescence – and this changes the way we see Ava. Where the mesh is almost invisible in bright conditions, it is now the dominant describer of her form. So instead of seeing Ava as a primarily robot structure, we now see the curves and lines of a naked female body.
    CUT TO
    – the CCTV cameras. Which are unpowered,