Human 1.2 - Wonder

Human : Wonder
Genre : Sci-Fi / Drama
Showrunner: Michelle MacLaren
Writer : Ann Morrow

Cast: Justin Theroux, Letitia Wright, Bryan Batt, Michelle Fairley and Adrian Rawlins

Plot: James (Justin Theroux) and Eva (Letitia Wright), the two androids developed by our team of scientists at Foy Sciences wake up from their pod and leave. They shake hands and look around them. The void is filled with darkness with nothing to look at. They walk around nervously and start to panic when they lost sight of their pods. Charles Foy (Adrian Rawlins), overseeing the test, asks Adam (Bryan Batt) and Julia (Michelle Fairley) to disconnect James and Eva. He needs them to interact, but they seem to frightened about the world around them. They reluctantly proceed and the opening credits roll as James and Eva are grasping for air in the dark background.

Charles asks his employees if they think they can make things spawn in the void to force them to interact together. Otherwise, they won’t ever evolve to resemble real human beings. Adam says its still in the early stages and it’s unstable, but they can try to work something out. They reach over to a table with a hologram coming out of it and they design their perfect world together. Julia wants to assist and as she leaves her desk, she inadvertently presses a button, launching another experiment, just as they are building their world.  

Eva reaches over to James and she holds his hand and leans towards him for protection in this unknown world. They walk around and look at the luxuriant vegetation around them. They explore the garden they appeared in and are at a lost of words. They reunite and are amazed to see a snake. James tries to tame it and Eva tells him to be careful. She’s showing signs of compassion and empathy. Adam notices James and Eva were inadvertently in the simulation and they take note of the behaviors they’re exhibiting. They become accustomed to Charles decides to switch things up a little, and swipes the simulation clean. James and Eva are freaking out and start to panic. Julia panics and disconnects the androids. They try to connect them again in the same garden, but they have to start all over again, as if they don’t remember anything. Discouraged, Charles unplugs them yet again. 

Adam, Julia and Charles have a meeting about how they should make a progress. Adam thinks they should never disconnect them again and keep them in their pods when they want to change the environment. Charles says it’s worth trying, but he notes that their capacity to learn by themselves is somewhat limited. Julia points out that they have access to the void, so Adam and her can go in there to teach them, or something like that. Charles can be the architect and they can be their teachers, or guides so they can learn to act like humans. Charles likes it and they will try tomorrow. He lets Adam and Julia go, but he stays in the laboratory to work overtime. He builds out a new world for them, a city this time and he builds them a house to live in. He connects James and Eva and he turns on his recorder. Satisfied with his work, he goes back to his office, turns off the lights and sleeps on his couch.

Adam and Julia take the subway together. Adam gets closer and closer to her. Julia feels uncomfortable and she exits the subway early. Adam follows her and he asks what’s wrong. She says she doesn’t like him that way. She thinks he’s nice as a colleague and as a friend, but she’ll never feel whatever he’s feeling towards her and she’d like him to respect that. Adam says it won’t be a problem. They go their separate ways and they both go home. Before going to bed, Adam takes pills to go to sleep. Julia pets her dog and makes sure to leave it enough food before going to sleep. 

Charles is looking at the androids through his computer screen and shakes his head in dissatisfaction. They just sat in their locked room all day and they seem to be in some sort of trance, he’s unable to wake them up. He watched the recording and James and Eva haven’t talked to each other all night. They just sat there and stared at the walls for hours. He looks at Julia and Adam and he makes sure they are adequately plugged in set up. They both give him a thumbs up and he sends them in the void.

Thanks to Charles instructions, Adam and Julia are able to locate the house in which James and Eva are. They interact with them to wake them up from their trance and take them by the hand and bring them outside. Adam wants to follow Julia and Eva, but Julia refuses and walks away with Eva. Adam and James are left alone in the middle of the city. James is once again in awe in front of the jungle, but a concrete jungle this time. Adam is equally unsettled. Charles created a fully functional city ran by an AI, so there are cars with no drivers. It all feels like a real city, but Adam knows it’s all fake. Adam and James talk together and get to know each other. James’ capacities are somehow limited, but he can have a fluid conversation without going into details. James really wants to go to the tallest building in town, right in the heart of the city. Adam suggests they go there and James follows.  

Julia and Eva share a similar dynamic. They are both in awe in front of the city, especially Eva. Charles looks at his monitors and he witnesses a significant increase of the android’s relational competences. Eva surprises Julia with a question. She wonders where James is and she wants to see him again. Julia suggests they go to the tallest building in town =, she has a feeling they’ll want to go there to have a better view of the city. Eva follows along and they take the subway to reach their destination faster. 

They go on top of the building and meet Adam and James. Eva and James stand next to each other like two kids you can’t keep away from each other. Adam and Julia aren’t comfortable next to each other. They look at the androids watching the city landscape below. With their keen eyes, they can see Charles is still building and adding things to the city far away from them. Adam looks at the androids and is envious of the complicity they share and Julia is simply impressed by the progress they have made today. 

Charles keeps adding buildings and different landscape to the simulation. He can’t stop creating, he wants to build the entire world for his androids to explore, with his ultimate goal to have multiple androids learning all around his simulated world to  emulate the different culture of our world. He’s proud of the work they’ve done today. He builds and builds and builds, but like Icarus flew too close to the Sun, Charles ambition were too high for his own good and the system can’t keep up. His machine go up in flames and he takes his extinguisher to take out the fire. He tries to unplug Adam and Julia, but there’s nothing he can do to bring them back. It looks like they are stuck in this void.

Adam and Julia look around them innocently, not knowing that they are stuck in a simulation, but they’ll find out soon enough.