INT. JASON’S APARTMENT – NIGHT
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Erh7zsuGc
[The room hums with low electricity and general “midnight maintenance” energy. Jason’s lying on his too-small bed like a metal pretzel. SD-A sits on a stack of old coolant containers like it’s a chair. SD-K is hunched near the wall, watching a cracked display screen playing what appears to be a human children’s cartoon... with most of the audio corrupted.]
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc35VGaxtZH
JASON
“You two are way too calm for guys hiding from the law, a parasitic plague, and probably a higher cosmic power with a grudge against robots.”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Vzovdk18T
SD-A
“Stress is inefficient. And this show is weirdly relaxing.”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTCHR4asPME
[The cartoon makes a distorted boing sound followed by a human child screaming in static.]
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡigwSDKGqfK
JASON (tilting his head)
“That kid’s either having fun or getting sucked into a pocket dimension. Hard to say with analog.”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0flNgW9ryP
SD-K
“Explain something to me. You live in a cube smaller than a standard maintenance locker, eat expired batteries, and shower under a leaking pipe. And yet you have the nerve to roast us?”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ74u1LL7VkK
JASON
“First of all, the shower mist is artisanal. Second, yes. I do have that nerve. Welcome to my trash castle, boys. This? This is a sleepover now. I hope someone brought ghost stories and illegal snacks.”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhXRKFYzV4
SD-A
“What’s a sleepover?”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbGL21Obu6p
JASON
“Oh boy. It’s a tradition from when humans were still around. Bunch of kids pile into one house, eat processed sugar death, scream about imaginary monsters, and pretend to sleep while talking about crushes and bodily functions.”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKs2O1OPSn1
[SD-K stares at him.]
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPDz5g0xj1r
SD-K
“Why would anyone choose that?”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLLfQaTadT
JASON
“Exactly. Humanity was weird. But now here we are—three fully-armed, socially dysfunctional war machines... sitting in a cube. Sharing feelings. Not trying to kill each other. That’s textbook sleepover behavior.”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpbTjyT5xKZ
SD-A
“Do sleepovers involve someone insulting everyone constantly?”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHOuV5NQeWt
JASON
“Only the good ones.”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjALIHdkor
[A loud POP from the mini-fridge makes all three of them jump slightly. Jason throws a slipper at it without looking.]
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhjIoU7i1t
JASON
“Shut up, Kevin!”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTqmiugMxE3
SD-K
“…Did you just name your fridge?”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ1eqqWADBz
JASON
“No, Kevin’s the thing inside the fridge.”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5kN4Y2hJpk
[Pause.]
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwPrzZqawvH
SD-K
“I hate it here.”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ZZjo889eY
SD-A
“This place is... strange. But strangely comforting. Like a defective warm-up cycle.”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYjIAYyiFq
JASON
“Thanks. I try to make my hellhole cozy. Carpeted the floor with dust and regret.”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHsrEecm0UB
[He gets up, plugs his arm into the wall port to recharge it slightly, and flicks a loose spark off his shoulder.]
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq660crZQDZ
JASON
“Seriously, though—whatever’s going on out there… I don’t know if it’s just a few parasite bots or a full-on reboot of the apocalypse, but it’s gonna get worse.”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFbfBs2HG32
SD-K
“Nice bedtime story.”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8OJAAuIWDf
SD-A (quietly)
“We’ll stop it. Somehow.”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡupjHZ2lwwE
[Jason glances over, half-sarcastic, half-serious.]
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9sBx4Pqn1
JASON
“You say that like you don’t hesitate every time someone needs killing.”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDwpZowLIn
SD-A
“Maybe some bots deserve hesitation.”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbsLV8tlStz
[Jason looks at him for a second longer, then shrugs and drops back onto the bed, hand behind his head.]
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlPHFXXbnua
JASON
“Well, just don’t hesitate if I start growing extra limbs or spouting glowing nanite goo. Deal?”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYEzATClrGx
SD-A
“Deal.”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhOUf5EcegH
SD-K
“I already have a weapon pre-set for that scenario.”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaaDwvPryuR
JASON
“I’m touched.”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTUgYD9FDa7
[The three sit in silence for a moment. A faint creak from a pipe sounds like a whisper. The cartoon on the display glitches again—this time showing a moment of static that vaguely resembles a Vision Tech logo.]
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtaIfmJiYD
JASON (noticing)
“…Did anyone else see that?”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBEEh4SXHyl
SD-A
“…Sleepover’s canceled.”
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGe8dzH3rEh
FADE TO BLACK.
ns216.73.216.205da2
