This business
is a living organism.
Multiplying constantly surrounded by predators.
There's no rule for idle time or second guessing,
New discoveries are made hourly.
New ideas are ready to be devoured and redefined.
This business is binary.
You're a one or a zero.
Alive or dead.
There is no second place.
It's been suggested by the media and congress
that you're violating antitrust laws, and threatening competition.
Mr. Winston, can you reasonably deny
that you have a monopoly in this area?
Well, the only monopoly
we have at N.U.R.V, congressman, is monopoly on excellence.
This is still a free market.
But a free market encourages competition.
You prevent it.
Congressman, I don't need to remind you that the essence of competition
has always been quite simple.
Any kid working in a garage anywhere in the world,
with a good idea, can put us out of business.
You can try a version qualification scheme if you have the best driver.
Wait a second.. go back up.
Move, move.
Teddy, I think I found our bottleneck.
- You did it! - Yee-Haw!
God! That feels good.
It's gorgeous!
We're geeks.
Three months from today, N.U.R.V will launch SYNAPSE,
transforming the way humans communicate,
With Synapse,
the entire world will be able to send or receive any message
be it audio, video or text on any medium.
SYNAPSE will fully unite the global village.
You've set yourself real ticking clock here, Gary.
All of your competitors are desperate to get to the marketplace with this technology before you.
It has even been suggested
that you won't hit this very ambitious launch date.
We're going to hit that date. You can bet on it.
How can you be sure?
We'll do whatever it takes... to get there.
Pace yourself, Brian.
Over here...
Milo, what do you think of this?
I know I promised my mom we're gonna make this garage famous,
but I really don't think we're gonna be here that long.
'Cause I've got us 3 appointments with the venture capitalists.
Oh, that is fantastic
I can stop taking calls from those corporate recruitment losers.
I'll do the talking, Brian. Here's your shirt, Milo.
Guys, what are these?
Don't you know? The worse you look, the smarter they think you are.
They are going to think you're a genius, Brian.
I just said "Milo" and "Teddy", and the wallets flew open!
They were dying to give me their money.
You guys are the greatest duo, since Hewlett and Packard.
Lennon and McCartney.
Ben and Jerry!
I'm Lennon, okay Teddy?
Does that make me Yoko?
Alice, you've got to make him do this startup with Teddy.
Gary, if he wants to go take a few interviews... check out his options,
as his friend, I think you should support him in that.
Want to know the best way to manipulate somebody?
Yeah.
Don't try.
"As graduating students for the Stanford University Computer Science department,
"you have a magnificent foundation... in theory.
"What you need is a creative, innovative..." - So pretentious!
- The guy's a fascist monopolist. - Exactly.
The guy knows how to get people's attention. He does.
Shut up... shut up!
I'm trying to listen.
"...will field your questions.
"Thanks for taking the time to check us out.
"I'll look forward to seeing some of you up here at the NURV campus in the near future."
- Questions, cool! - I've got a question for him.
"If you guys have questions, fire away."
Why not make SYNAPSE open source?
Don't you have enough money? Heh.
Here is an interesting question:
"What kind of beverages do you offer your programmers?"
- Oh, come on! - What did you expect?
- He's avoiding the issue, man. - You can't ask him that.
He should run for president, or something.
I'm just gonna of throw these at you. You know, like they do at the zoo.
Hello.
It's for you.
- Hello - Milo? This is Gary Winston.
I've heard great things about your work, I'm...
hoping you and your friend Teddy can come up here.
Hey, Larry, you still got my Union Jack CD?
No, I gave it back.
Ok, I don't know who this is but your timing really blows
'cause I just saw him in a live chat.
Right, well, a pair of airline tickets are on there way to you,
I'd love to show you some of the things we're doing here.
Who was it?
Gary Winston.
Ha, that would be funny.
I just spoke to Gary Winston?
I can't believe you're not going to take that ticket!
Give it to me!
You don't want to work there, Brian.
They squeeze everybody out of business. They get bigger and fatter...
That's why I want to work there.
You sure he didn't ask for my number?
Milo, we can't go up there.
They don't even know the meaning of open source.
You know this, we've talked about this.
They just want to own everything!
- They clone stuff, reverse engineer it... - I know
Everybody is stuck with their inferior proprietary version.
They're being investigated by the justice department for Christ's sake.
Tell him, Larry.
I think that he should go up there and check it out if he is curious.
You do?
Sure, I mean... it's your life.
I need another beer.
So, you couldn't convince your friend Teddy to come?
No, he is pretty tight with his folks.
Yeah? We can move them up here same goes for yours.
My parents are dead.
I'm sorry man.
So how far is the campus?
We're not going to campus.
All I can say is it's unfortunate.
We offered a lot of money. A substantial amount of money, Gary.
No sale.
Can we buy into their stock? Or is that a Justice Department problem too?
There is no stock, Randy. I mean there's no company!
Gary Winston's office. Can you hold, please?
Thanks for holding.
Yes, he is in a conference right now. Can I take a message?
The cold, hard facts are that anything is possible.
Anything, anything. You're just not thinking creatively.
I have every confidence that you can do that, Phil.
- It's a difficult one but we're going to prevail. - All right, all right.
Gary Winston's office.
Let me check that for you.
I'm sorry, I don't see anything new.
Milo?
Hi
It's not everyday we have genius in the house.
- Want a soda pop or something? - No, thanks.
Come on in.
Digital canvas.
The house knows the paintings I like, knows my favorite music.
Same for anybody else that's in the system.
There's a little sensor that detects who's in the room.
Doesn't Bill Gates have something like that?
Bill who? Heh.
No, no. His is primitive.
So I understand you're thinking of doing a start up.
Yeah.
My friends and I have been planning on doing a media delivery system for a long time.
It would be open source, we'd...
offer it free for everybody, just charge for tech support.
Wow, free.
This is a cut-throat business we're in, Milo.
It's just a matter of time before someone "borrows" your technology,
improves it and makes a billion dollars on it.
What would you do with a billion dollars, Milo?
I don't know.
I'll tell you what you could do.
You could take that money and put it back into technology,
education and the arts.
You can transform culture.
I fund an opera company, symphony orchestras, museums, theaters,
I have donated thousands of computers to schools throughout the country.
The question really is,
how many of the people that you share your discoveries with,
will be altruistic,
and how many will make fortunes off of your generosity?
Come on in here.
Check this out.
- This is a SYNAPSE satellite. - You bet.
I've got 240 of these up there.
12 different orbital patterns, 20 satellites.
The Mother satellite of each ring
passes over us every night at 10 o'clock
to allow for station keeping, re-programming, etc.
They in turn pass the data along to the sister satellites in their ring.
- That's the coolest I've ever seen. - I'm total wrapped up in this.
It's like I've got my own mission control right here on my PC.
Activation codes, IP addresses, flight path...
- It's the best train set ever, hum? - You bet!
We've loaded a backdoor to receive SYNAPSE transmissions
and all of our OS software for the past 6 years.
We've developed compression schemes and file formats that achieve connectivity,
but..
We have a problem.
You know what that problem is?
Your adaptors can't overcome the bandwidth limitations of wireless hand-helds.
That's right.
Data takes too long to download so your image gets...
Image, ah, goes fuzzy
Fuzzy, yeah. Heh.
Can you get this done in time to meet your date?
With you, I can.
So I understand your friend Teddy is kind of attached to his parents.
It's very commendable.
The truth is he's...
Milo, I know, he thinks we've...
cloned too many programs
an forced people to buy our inferior versions and blah, blah, blah..
ad infinitum, ad nauseum
I've heard it all before.
I even understand it,
it's the nature of competitive business.
When you're on top,
people attack the quality of your product.
It comes with the territory.
It's when the attacks get personal the "Gary Winston is Satan" web sites,
digitizing my wife's face on porn star bodies...
I don't like that.
You're one of maybe 20 programmers in the world
with the mastery it's going to take to finish this thing.
We'd love for you to join us.
The future holds limitless possibilities, Milo.
You decide what the future holds for you.
Let me know.
You know I look at you and see something I haven't seen in 20 years.
What?
I see me.
Alice.
Yeah.
So When is Brian coming for the TV?
I don't know.
I'm going to leave you two alone, O.K?
Why are you doing this?
Teddy, come on.
He can't hit his date without you, can he?
Remember that lecture Ginnings gave? About open source.
Yeah.
He said human knowledge belongs to the world.
Like Shakespeare or Aspirin.
Teddy, I know you are disappointed, I just feel like...
...this is the right thing to do for now.
They were interested in you too. Gary even mentioned you.
Yeah, well.. I'm not interested in them.
That's fine.
I got what's important to you.
This is important to me.
And I know your are going to get your venture capital.
We did.
We had to settle for 850 because we lost you.
So, it will be enough.
It'll be enough because they've got you.
We're both going to do something great.
Sure.
I just thought we were going to do it together.
Milo, this is Mr. Barton from the...
Department of Justice.
- Sorry about the glass. - No problem.
Don't worry, Milo. I'm here as a friend.
I understand you signed up with Gary Winston.
You know Milo, we're at a great disadvantage with NURV.
I mean our experts are not as smart as theirs.
The truth is we could do with a real smart guy on our team
to help us pick our fights.
I'm going to take a real shot in the dark here, OK?
I can offer you $42,000 a year and a Buick,
if you will change your mind and join us.
I'm hoping you have a feeling that that is the right thing to do
Well, I'm sure what you're doing is important, Mr. Barton,
I just fell like this is... kind of my time to make my mark.
Well, like I said, it is a shot in the dark.
No, no, no, please, please. Keep it.
If you see something up there that rubs you the wrong way,
do the right thing.
What are they building?
Oh, That's... Building number 21.
It's way behind schedule. It's still off limits.
It's a digital broadcast base.
It's taking forever to get the fiber optics linked in there.
This is the Daycare Center.
Gary has put a lot of money in there.
And the people with kids are not hot shot geeks or anything.
They're just the payroll clerks or whatever.
- That's cool. - I know, that's really cool.
The card is encoded.
It tells us who came through the door, and when.
If you see a tailgater, that's somebody coming on your swipe,
report him.
If you see someone wandering around without ID, it is your duty to challenge him.
I don't give a shit if you're a stock option billionaire.
If you don't challenge, I'll have your butt.
He seemed a little tense.
Oh, Shrot, yeah, yeah.
He gets his chain pulled a lot by the geeks around here
'cause he is non-tech. He's an ex-cop or whatever.
Whoa..
Lisa actually looked at you.
She has a heavy graphics background.
She's programming scalable user interfaces for the SYNAPSE modules.
She's a smart girl.
Every geek has a thing for Lisa, but
she won't let anyone get near her.
I have a girlfriend.
What?
You got like a "girlfriend"? Like a 3-dimensional girlfriend?
That's really rare around here.
So, welcome to the egg.
Everybody listen up.
Can I have your attention, please?
This is Milo. Milo, this is everybody.
Hello, Milo.
This is Lori, Darren..
You'll get to know everybody, I'm sure.
And this...
is your world.
- Your are now officially an egg man! - Woo!
OK, so we've got a...
electronic copy of Gary's book with complementary player. As well as...
an audio version narrated by Gary of course.
A hand held digi, cell phone,
and the keys to your brand new car.
I guess that's it, man.
Your counselor will be by to fill you in on the rest of the details.
- You're gonna love it here. - Thank you. And thanks for...
My pleasure, man. Good luck.
Hey, Milo!
Just a little advice.
Don't get too close to Stinky.
Hysterical, Desi.
What do they do for a village idiot when you're here?
Dude! What do they do with all the air fresheners while you're here?
I don't know.
Busy?
No,
I'm actually waiting for my counselor to come by and introduce himself.
Oh!
Hello Milo, I'm Gary.
OK.
Come on. Let me introduce you to the rest of the team.
Hey, Stinky. Oh, hi, Gary.
How's it going?
Hi Gary, how's it going.
Desi and Stinky are working on compression.
Josh and Vancat are writing protocol handlers.
This is Milo. Milo is working...
on the all important adapter.
All right, Milo.
When I announced the launch date for SYNAPSE,
it wasn't arbitrary,
but it wasn't based on our progress either, as you know.
If we do not have a workable version of SYNAPSE by then,
it's over folks.
And this is the glib but little headline you'll be seeing...
throughout the world.
- Not going to happen, is it? - No
- Is it? - No
Not going to happen.
There are no constraints, no boundaries.
Surprise me.
Challenge me.
Defy me.
Defy yourselves.
You have a choice.
You can be forgotten, or you can be remembered
as one of the noble few who made it.
Now's the time to go way beyond your potential.
Now's the time to dig down deep folks.
Now's the time to show why you are the elite.
The chosen few.
The rare lights that give this company
its uniqueness,
it's luminescence.
- Now's the time to shine! - Yeah! Woo!
Corporate condo's are almost as romantic as they sounded, so she...
she brought me here, and...
Well, I think it's...
I th... What do you think?
Did I tell you he has never been anybody's counselor before?
I did. I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, the house is great.
- It's great and so are you. - Yeah?
- Really? - Really.
- Come on, I love you - You do?
Show me the bedroom.
Most of us who write software achieve our greatest work before age 30.
As I grow older I know how important it is..
Are you going to keep working?
Hi, Gary.
In the middle of something?
- No. - Check this out.
Huh?
Wow!
Who did this? Josh or Vancat or what..
Somebody, yeah. Think you can use it?
- Yeah, the compression is awesome. - Look at that!
- Structure is perfect. - Yeah.
Oh, god! Oh!
So much fun! Love doing this!
The governor of Missouri has called upon the president to declare a state of emergency.
In local news, a tragic car accident
took the life of Portland area computer software entrepreneur, William Sudd,
a Computer Science graduate from the MIT
and a genius in his field.
Sudd was found to have both Prozac and alcohol in his car...
Milo?
Hi.
- You're pretty famous around here. - Yeah, but...
getting a bit of a teacher's pet rep.
I wouldn't worry about it
I mean you have to figure most people around here were their teachers' pets.
- Were you? - We moved around a lot.
- I barely knew my teachers. - Me too, I..
- What were you? An army brat or something? - Yes, something like that.
What do you have there?
I wanted to show you the interface systems... for SYNAPSE.
OK, here.
- I'm Lisa by the way. - Yeah, I know.
Hi, you've reached the offices of Skullbocks.
Teddy and Larry are out right now.
Leave a message and we'll call you back when you're out and leave you one.
Hey Teddy, it's Milo.
Just calling 'cause it's been a while and...
guess I'm kinda hoping you're not still pissed at me.
- Hi - Hey
- How's it going? - OK, I guess.
- And Larry? - Good, yeah.
So, you guys making progress?
Sorry, that's classified information,
we had to sign all those non- disclosure forms. You know how it is.
Oh yeah, yeah, me too, me too.
Still, work is not the only thing to talk about is it?
Oh, of course not.
So, what've you been up too?
Working.
It's good to hear from you,
even though you are the enemy now.
Gary Winston's office, can you hold please? Thank you.
Thank you so much for holding,
How can I help you? Let me just check that for you.
The Department of Justice says that if we acquire Netmail they will view it as anti-competitive.
Why didn't you tell me this before we decided to forego R&D?
Well, at the time, they indicated that it wouldn't be a problem.
They have a bureaucratic mindset Gary, they...
They do?
I count on you to solve problems, whatever it takes.
Show me some kind of creativity!
Gary, we're talking about the law.
It's not like making software.
There are limits.
No limits!
Stop thinking like a lawyer for a second
and show me some kind of creativity!
Yes, sir.
He'll have to get back to you
Gary Winston's office, can you hold please?
You can go on in now, Milo.
Gary Winston's office.
Yes, he is in a conference right now. Can I take a message?
Gary.
You wanted to see me?
Yeah.
Take a look.
This is amazing. Who's doing all this?
What does that mean?
- What does that mean, huh? - Nothing, I, I...
I'm sorry.
That wasn't meant for you.
The Justice Department is driving me nuts.
They make everything strategic I do, look sordid.
Every good chess player knows his opponent's moves before he makes them.
Everyone in business tries to get ahead.
I get there first, I'm a bad guy.
What are we doing here?
Are we making chemical weapons?
Kiddy porn?
Are we strip mining? No!
Why are they after me?
The software business is binary.
You're a one or a zero. Alive or dead.
- It scales, don't you think? - Definitely, yes.
Here.
It's your copy.
I don't want to speak too soon,
but I think I cracked it, Larry.
I really think I cracked it.
Are you going to tell me what's bothering you are not?
- Ok - Ok.
Gary gave me a new compression scheme today.
I said...
"Who's doing all this", cause I was impressed.
I wanted to know where it was coming from. Right?
He just lost it, like... he shouted at me,
he had this look in his eyes, like I..
- How horrible! - Yeah
- Well, where did it come from? - I don't know.
That's what I've been asking myself.
I asked around. Nobody knows anything about it.
You know? So does he have some genius stowed away somewhere?
And if does, the why not let him write SYNAPSE?
- I not saying if makes any sense... - Hey! Honey.
Sesame Seeds. Jesus.
Excuse me... Could you take that away? Thank you.
- I'm so stupid. - Hey!
Hey.
He is a genius. Don't forget.
If anybody other than you could write this thing as quickly as you're saying...
...wouldn't it maybe be him? - Yes, yes, you are right,
The guy's a genius. SYNAPSE is all he cares about,
and I'm being over-sensitive for a change.
To geniuses.
You know what?
Sometimes it helps to get out of here. Just for an hour or so.
Hey, Milo!
Brian!
Just dropped off my resume. Nearly got in the door.
You're living up here now?
I'm systems administrator at the local public access station,
where any whack job with 100 bucks gets his own show.
God, does it suck!
Can you help me?
- Put it a word. - I'll see what I can do. Yeah.
- Well, I'm parked illegally. - Ok.
They pushed up the schedule on all the SYNAPSE applications.
How fast are you going?
There is no second place.
Plus every time I get jammed up,
- Gary comes up with something. - Did...
- Gary give you a new design or something? - Yeah
I must have offended him, 'cause he...
He yelled at me.
People don't ever just, hand you stuff.
Maybe once. I reconfigured it anyway.
You're compulsive.
Moments,
precious moments that you want to hold
that you want to share,
at home, at school, at work.
You'll keep in touch with the ones you love through SYNAPSE.
The first satellite-delivered, global communication system.
Share live voices, music, pictures or video,
data or text,
with anyone, anywhere, instantly...
Look, Daddy.
SYNAPSE links every communication devices on the planet.
Because every moment matters.
- I think I have a problem. - I think you do.
Hi, honey.
Hi.
I didn't expect.. ah..
Lisa this is my... this is Alice..
Lisa is doing the user interfaces for SYNAPSE.
Hi
Milo tells me you're a really great artist.
Oh? Well he exaggerates.
Well... I've got a lot to do... It was nice to meet you.
How are you? I'm so surprised.
- Are you Ok? Is everything alright? - Yeah, yeah.
I've always wanted to come out, and...
you know... see what this place is like.
- It's really good to see you. - Yeah.
What did the girl say?
That he's maybe a little less stressed after you snapped at him.
- It hasn't affected his work though. - Nothing does.
It's pretty amazing.
What's wrong?
Teddy's been killed.
They've done this before. Just...
never killed anybody till now.
It's their writing on the wall.
Their hate literature was scattered everywhere.
Their whole MO. It's like...
they were asking to be caught.
And they've been arrested twice for beating up Asians.
How come they weren't in jail?
People told us to be careful in this neighborhood.
I guess he didn't take them too seriously.
Yeah. Well. That's our problem.
We don't take anything seriously. Do we?
It's not on the hard drive.
Hey, I didn't know you guys were working with fiber optics.
What a bunch of crazy assholes.
And he was on the verge of something. He was right there.
He was going to show us the next day.
He told me I should get the VC to line up appointments with a bunch of companies.
You know?
He said, the answer is not in the box.
It's in the band.
You know I called him last week to... 'cause...
I know. He was happy you did.
Be strong, Larry.
Milo.
- May I join you? - Yeah
Heard about what happened.
- I'm very sorry. - Thanks
Had you talked to him... much, lately?
Just once.
Things weren't that great between us and we couldn't talk about work
'cause it was off limits.
Did you have something you wanted to show me?
- We can save it for another day. - No, it's okay. I..
It will help take my mind off things.
- Really? - Yeah. yeah
Okay.
I haven't been able to sleep all week.
I'm thinking about the push mechanism in the handler.
And then it just came to me.
It's in the wrong place.
- The wrong place? - Yeah.
The answer is not in the box.
It's in the band.
"It's in the band."
The answer is not in the box. It's in the band.
He was on the verge of something.
Well, where did it come from?
They're being investigated by the Justice Department...
They just want to own everything.
We are very close.
Hey, you sure you are all right?
I think I ate something, I gotta go.
Alice!
Shhh..
Teddy was onto something very specific, now he's dead.
There's got to be a connection, Alice, I can feel it.
So what are you saying?
You think they had something to do with Teddy's death?
I don't know what I am saying.
All I know is all these ideas keep flying in.
He says any kid working in his garage can put him out of business.
It's almost like they know what ever kid is doing.
They're hacking into people's computers?
I guess they could get into something with machines. But not Teddy's.
He always had the most paranoid firewalls to protect his data.
They'd have to have been like...
watching him physically.
Oh. Shit!
I think it's part of a camera.
Number 21 isn't just a broadcast studio.
It's a surveillance post or something. That's why they have those dishes on the roof.
Milo, think about that you're saying.
You honestly think that he would murder somebody?
I don't know, I gotta get in there.
There's over 20 buildings over there, and they're all filled with computers.
No, no, no. This is the only one with dishes on the roof.
The studio's a front. That's why they keep postponing the opening.
Ok, now you're scaring me.
Do you wanna just go?
'Cause we can go, you wanna just... leave?
Go where Alice? You can't get away from people like this.
People like this. This is Gary you are talking about.
You don't think I know that?
They're under investigation by the Justice Department.
I mean, you said yourself that there are guys showing up all the time.
How could they possibly hope on hiding a surveillance post?
How could they hope on hiding anything?
You can't get in there anyway. They have swipe cards.
They have cameras, It's like Fort Knox for Christ's sake.
I'm implicated, I'm implicated Alice.
- No, you're not. - Yes I am.
Who's been using this code, huh?
Teddy's code. Whoever's code this is. I have.
How do you think that makes me feel? This is my best friend,
You need to calm down, now.
- I can't just walk away from this. - Yeah, but you just can't walk in either.
- You're right. - Yeah.
You're right.
The construction is finished by 6 or 7,
the parking lot is cleared by 2 or 3 in the morning.
- Even the earliest geeks don't get in till about 5. - Honey, what are you talking about?
What, what are you saying right now?
I'm thinking about how I'm gonna get in there,
and find out what the hell is going on.
Ok, then. Was it true or wasn't it true?
Did you ever really notice? 'Cause you're sounding like a madman.
I won't pretend like everything's okay, Alice.
It's how I got into this mess.
I..., that's how...
Alice listen, listen,
- I'm not mad at you, Listen to me. - Don't.
I think I can figure out a way to get in there.
But I can't do it on my own. So I need you to help me.
What do I do ?
So you believe me?
Just tell me what to do.
Whoa, whoa , whoa, whoa. Sir, you've got to use your own. Where's your ID?
I caught him tailgating. Building 20.
These cards are your own responsibility.
- There was an explosion in a closet in building 12. - What?
Hey, you can't wander around without ID. Just park your ass in that chair.
Well, what can I tell ya? It's a pretty basic operation.
You got your time clock. Fuse goes in here. You just hook it in the switch over here...
So, what do we have here Bob?
A glorified cherry bomb. Some geek's idea of fun.
I've been saying we need a camera in this hall.
To protect what? The mops?
Somebody's pulling your chain again, Bob.
Unless it's a diversion. Milo Hoffmann is in my office.
- He was tailgating, and I... - Bob. Milo's not just another geek.
He is very important to Gary. So let's not go there, all right?
Okay. We'll see you later.
Is everything okay, Bob?
- Hey - Hi, Gary.
- Working kinda late. huh? - Yeah , uh...
- Can I take a look ? - Yeah.
- That's nice. That's excellent. - Thanks.
You seem kinda jumpy, Milo.
No. I'm just a....
I'm a little surprised to see you. Out here, now.
Well, I like to sneak in late at night sometimes
to see who the obsessive ones are.
Don't work too late.
I got my eye on you.
- How's it going? - Big night.
Switched from tea to coffee.
Brought new meaning to my work.
Well. Now he knows. Nothing in there.
- Maybe he'll get back to work now. - Yeah. Copy that.
- Speaking of which... - Okay. I'm on my way back.
- Did you download Callier in San Jose. - Oh shit.
I'll do it.
- Shame we can't walk in the front door. - Yeah, wouldn't Bob love that?
Ooh!
Jesus!
I need a thorough background check.
I want to know every organization
he's been involved with. All church groups, all...
- Mr. Barton? - Yes
Excuse me...
Do you remember me?
Meelo, isn't it?
Milo
I really need to talk to you sir...
Right. Give me a few seconds with Lacy here.
You can go in my office. I won't be a moment.
Send him the facts as soon as possible. I don't want to surprise him.
Milo.
Thank you for seeing me, sir.
- No problem, have a seat. - I'm OK.
- You look a little upset. - I am sir, I am.
What's the problem, son?
Ah.. well...
My friend, my best friend Teddy,
he was killed in Silicon Valley and I..
I thought maybe there is some way I could help them find the suspects.
- You mean Teddy Chan? - Yes, sir.
Well, I guess you didn't see the 11 o'clock news last night.
San Jose police picked up the suspects and they're holding them without bail.
That's great. That's...
I hope I'll sleep better, tonight.
I'm... a little disappointed.
I thought that you decided to join our side.
No sir, no. I'm... I'm real happy there at NURV.
But....
Thank you. Thank you for your time.
- So he didn't mention he was going to the Justice Department? - No.
You're not losing your hold on him, are you, Rebecca?
Don't forget your part of the deal. You've got a very good thing going here.
Phil, he'll tell me when he gets back.
Well, that will be the test. Won't it?
Yeah.
Prick!
It's 10 o'clock, I've been so worried about you
What did you see in there?
- Nothing. - Nothing?
It's exactly what they said it is.
An unfinished broadcast studio.
You know, I think I've been putting my own guilt on Gary.
Guilt?
Yeah. If I'd done the start up, maybe Teddy would still be alive.
Or maybe you'd be dead too.
Anyway, I figured, instead of indulging in all these paranoid delusions
and scaring you, I should do something useful with my grief.
So I went to see that guy Barton at the DOJ, remember him?
Yeah.
I wanted to see if I could help him find Teddy's killers
and it turns out that they got the guys last night, so...
I have been so worried about you.
You were right to let him break into 21.
He felt pretty foolish afterwards.
He said it was all to do with his own guilt, you know.
Not being there. Not doing the start up.
I mean, his best friend was just killed.
You're convinced he is completely focused on SYNAPSE again.
- He's not acting? - No
He's pretty honest with his feelings.
I don't think he knows how to act. All right?
Good. That's all for now.
Lisa, I had to tell someone.
They know everything about everybody.
There're stealing code from all over the place.
And sometimes, if someone gets ahead of them, like Teddy...
- And it's all undetectable. - What?
The crimes are hand-tailored. These guys are in the information business.
If it's a Chinese guy, frame the local racist.
Plus, I'm sure Gary has maximum deniability.
He tells his people,
surprise me, solve the problem, defy me.
They turn around and tell the next person the same things.
That sounds crazy. Why would he put himself on the line like that?
SYNAPSE...
The guy has invested billions on getting there first.
He'll do anything to get his date. He has to.
Lisa...
They killed my best friend.
Maybe others.
I'm living with someone that they paid to sleep with me.
- We have to do something. - Like what? What could we possibly do?
I don't know yet. But we are one step ahead of them.
They don't know I've been in the Daycare Center. Just 21.
They let me do that. That's all they know, though.
Lisa...
Lisa!
I'm sorry, Milo.
All right? I'm sorry.
Lisa, I know why you won't let anybody near you.
I know what he did to you.
If you leave now, you could be in danger.
They would use my step father?
They could frame him if they had too, yeah.
What about the FBI?
Too risky.
I went to the DOJ, but they got a guy on payroll over there. Maybe others.
Who knows who they're paying?
Well, who can we trust?
I mean how do you let go of a secret without telling the wrong person?
I don't know.
We tell everybody at once!
See, that way there is no secret left to protect.
If everybody knows, they can't touch us.
Right?
What about 60 minutes?
CBS news has partnered with NURV Information Systems
in a cable news network due to launch Fall of 2001.
AOL-Time Warner has a 40% stake in Gary's setup device. That also takes out CNN.
Disney joins NURV in new venture. ABC is out.
Look, any of these places could a mole. Or all of them.
- Wait - What?
How close are you to finishing SYNAPSE?
He's got all the satellites up.
There are dishes on top of 21. He's building this mega network just for SYNAPSE.
We can connect to everybody on every device simultaneously.
That's what SYNAPSE is.
That's what we'll use.
Got him.
So what's in the Daycare Center is a ton of raw material, and it's all over the place.
What I need you to do is design some kind of a graphic format
so people can following what there're seeing.
No problem.
- Shit - What?
I'd have to get into Gary's house to get the satellite addresses.
He's running the whole thing from his work room.
You mean break in?
I don't know, I don't know...
And what if the dishes on top of 21 aren't hot yet?
The place isn't even finished.
I'll go up.
You're not afraid?
Testing...
UPLINK ACTIVE.
Welcome back to Good Morning Portland.
This Thursday, 50 of Portland's elite couples
will attend a gala party at the home of Gary and Clarissa Winston.
to raise money for the Portland Art museum.
Julie is at the museum.
Last year partygoers pledged over 2 million dollars to this museum.
- Look at this. - What?
Why doesn't he invite us to his party? He's never even met you.
Milo, he has thousands of employees.
I know Alice.
But this is for the art museum, and you're an artist.
- If anybody should be invited, you should. - Ah, hum.
This is not live feed.
This is playback from some other day. It's been messed with.
- Do we call Randy and Phil? - Not yet.
I'll have to bust my ass 'cause I'm not a friggin' mensa.
I swear to God it's that kid Milo.
Let's run a check on card entries. Go back two weeks.
Skullbocks, Larry speaking.
Hey Larry, it's Milo.
Hey buddy.
- How's it going? - I'm good.
I'm... back in the garage.
Didn't want to stay at that other place.
What's up?
Milo?
You there?
Larry, you got a second?
I might need your help with something.
You bet man, name it.
Milo.
Giving a benefit for the art museum Thursday night. Thought you'd like to bring Alice.
That's great. Thank you.
Sorry about the late notice.
You went into 21 twice without coming out.
You came out twice without going back in.
Who are you? Harry Houdini?
No, No, No. This things is screwed up. Look.
It's also got me going into Daycare that night.
Daycare Center is not in your tour.
Exactly, I've never been in there.
- Milo, we're late. - I'm coming. I just gotta get...
find some scissors for this...
He called the house. Asked if we have enough space.
- Alice I'm Gary. - Hi.
This is my wife Clarissa.
So, this is Alice. Hello.
- Gary tells me you are an artist. - Yes, I am.
Milo, this is Barry Linder. He's visiting us from Hollywood.
Barry's studio is going to help us fill the...
...SYNAPSE pipeline. - Oh, great.
The marketing implications are epic.
A kid is watching a movie,
points and clicks at the laser blaster
and before the reel is even over, he's bought the toy.
So it's just to hell with story, and how many toys can you sell?
He, he.
- What about the artist? - Artist?
The only art left in America is business,
and you're standing in Da Vinci's house.
Excuse me, where is the bathroom?
- It's just around the corner. - Thank you.
You left the party to work?
I got inspired.
I didn't want to forget it, so I came here to write it down.
I'm sorry if I was rude.
I know what you're doing, Milo.
I just want to know that it isn't affecting your work.
I don't know what you mean.
Milo, I'm not blind.
Lisa is very attractive young woman.
God knows.
Your private life is your own.
But we are very close to our launch date.
and I need you to keep your eye on the ball.
- I understand, Gary. - Good.
Let's go have a drink.
Get the back slash, get the colon.
Keys kids don't use but geeks do.
What would Milo want in here anyway?
They know. Just don't trust me with it
So we will get the evidence first,
ask questions later.
You can get started on that one.
What if he knows what we are doing.
Do you think he's toying with us?
How much time do you need? Two days.
Now did you write the code to sequence the video files?
Yes, and the audio is done.
The text file will feed your voice synthesizer.
Hey, you're back.
I bought a hu-nin cookbook.
'Cause we're always afraid for you to eat in Chinese restaurants.
I've been mincing and chopping things into
teeny weeny pieces all afternoon.
- But you never cook. - I know.
I'm gonna go change.
Uh, uh...
No escaping.
- You look beautiful. - Thank you.
Milo?
I'm going to go upstairs and get changed.
I love the way you look.
Thanks.
Hey, do we have any chopsticks?
Yeah.
Great.
Wait...
Right. A toast.
To a long life.
- Is it good? - It's delicious.
Yeah.
There's something I need to tell you.
What?
I love you.
- Rebecca? - Yeah?
Come on... come on. Come on.
See?
Who needs computers?
Gary, believe me, I'm looking at his prints right now.
You want Phil to handle it.
Whatever you say.
Bastards!
Oh no.
You don't get by me twice, kid.
- You gonna call Gary? - Screw Gary.
Bob, these guys are criminals.
Now, I am gonna go out on a limb here because
there's a good chance you're not going to believe a word of what I'm about to tell you.
You'd be surprised about what I believe about these people.
Show me what you've got there.
- Milo? - Get your laptop. We're going tonight.
You said two days!
So, I'm a genius.
- We're not ready. You said two days - Yes we are.
Lisa, you gotta trust me, Okay?
I need you to trust me.
Okay
All right.
He left campus. He's taken some surveillance data with him.
Don't worry,
we know where he is.
Is Brian here? Brian Bissel.
Who wants to see him?
What's going on here? You sounded insane on the phone.
We need to do a live broadcast, right now.
You can't pre-empt yoga that's our biggest show.
Brian, you want to be a big deal in life, right?
That's your dream, isn't it?
Will it mean I get to work for NURV?
After this, there won't be a NURV.
We're going to bring him down and you're going to help us.
- That the most insane thing... - Come on, man...
What have they ever done for you?
- Okay. - Great.
Do you want to be a part of history?
Not really.
All right. How about...
...$132?
Fold your hands behind your back.
Lift the sternum bone, lift the arms, through the hip...
...slowly.
- You're interfaced with the dish. - OK.
Read me these IP addresses starting with number one.. Wait.
Phil, come over here.
It's almost 10 o’clock. We're going to shutdown the mother satellites.
- What? - Read me the IP addresses, starting with 1.
- Gary... - Just do it, Phil!
It's gone way too far already.
- Go! - Go!
- 10 - 10
- 192 - 192
Come on, come on.. Come on, come on..
- It's your software? - Is it your dish?
All right. Number 2. Go.
Give me number 2.
Milo, some weird-looking guys just pulled in.
Brian, don't worry about it. Just give me number 2.
Come on, come on..
Damn it!
Okay, Get out of the there!
- Checked your connection? - Yes
- He knows! - What?
He's shutting down the satellites one step ahead.
Go to the end. Give me number 12.
- 42 - Wait.
He knows I am shutting them down.
- What? - I know how his mind works.
Give me the last one, Number 12.
- Gary? - Just do it!
Ah, give me number 5.
48, 29
- Hurry up, hurry up - 230
Open the door Milo!
One more second.
Guys, we're okay. I've got it under control.
Give us the disk Milo, come on!
The disk, Milo, now. Come on, it's over.
...reaching a calm, peaceful place...
Hey, hey, asshole!
What's with the Mission Impossible 3, bullshit, Milo?
You're a geek!
Excellent!
They'll be back here in five minutes with Milo and the disk.
Good.
What do you want to do with him?
Surprise me.
Ok, Mr. Shrot, I need the disk that Milo gave you.
You got something non-geeky that I could do?
- Yeah, we're gonna need a TV set in here. - You got it.
So what are you typing in there, Larry?
IP addresses, it's like calling up a satellite on the phone.
The first two haven't picked up. Come on pick up man.
Thank you.
And thank you.
You have achieved a miraculous thing.
I'm so proud of you.
Forgive me my methods but,
when you got off course, we had to motivate you to keep working on SYNAPSE.
Without Lisa here urging you on,
we might not have made it.
It's true, Milo.
What we have done is so important.
Oh my god. What?
Oh my god.
Gary!
Who's got SYNAPSE, Milo?
Does this mean we did it? Does this mean we did it?
Yeah, man!
- That's what I'm talking about. - Fantastic!!
Yeah, your Jim Broker never saw us coming,
were coming!
Consumers don't care where new ideas come from,
just so long as they're offered a competitive price.
The Software business is binary.
You're a one or a zero. Alive or dead.
We do have a monopoly here, we do have a monopoly here,
Those who don't innovate are doomed to die... doomed to die.
There is no second place.
SYNAPSE will fully unite the global village.
New ideas are ready to be devoured, re-defined.
This business is binary,
either a one or a zero...
Alive or dead...
We're surrounded by predators.
Those who don't innovate
are doomed to die. There is no second place.
Consumers don't care where new ideas come from
Just so long as they are offered a competitive price
Any kid, anywhere in the world
with a good idea, can put us out of business.
Alive or dead
We do have a monopoly here at NURV.
There is no second place, one or zero, alive or dead
Are you insane? What do you think you're doing?
I'm letting people know what you've been doing.
Phil, where is this signal coming from?
I'm working on it, I am working on it.
Work faster!
A good chess player always knows his opponent's moves before he makes them. Isn't that right Gary?
You think you know all my moves? You arrogant little bastard!
You think they're going to come after me? Now that SYNAPSE is here?
This is the technology that'll fuel business for the next 30 years!
You think they are going to allow foreign competitors an opening like that?
Undermine the entire economy?
Over what? A cyber prank?
Then you don't have anything to worry about. Do you?
The Lawyers are at the gate Gary. They say the Feds are on their way.
Oh, Jesus!
It's coming from NURV. It's building 21.
Call security, get someone over there now.
Break down the door, if you have to.
But get me that disk. Get it here!
- How did this happen Phil? - I don’t know.
She called,
She said Milo had SYNAPSE, he'd left the campus and..
You lied? For him?
You're playing with fire.
If you think for a second I won't send you back where you came from...
Hey, Gary, I want you to see this.
Are you still proud of me?
You guys know where you need to be.. Go, go, go!
Randy, Danny come on, let's get out of here. Come on. Lets go, let's go.
Rebecca! Rebecca, come on, let's go.
I'm not going with you.
I'd rather stay here and face the consequences of my own actions,
than be associated with yours.
This was mine, Milo.
You tell that to the people you stole it from. Tell it to Teddy!
Come on. It's only a matter of time before someone owns the information.
You can't stop it. You just slowed it down.
I slowed you down Gary. That's what matters to me.
This isn't a game.
In the real world, when you kill people, they die. For real!
And in the real world, you're Fucked!
Are you coming?
Let them go.
Tomorrow, he's the most famous geek in the world.
- Gary, we need information. - I've been betrayed!
Randy and Phil are missing?
Something's going on! Take this down.
It has come to my attention,
that certain rogue elements of my company have been involved in illegal activities
in an attempt to discredit me and risk control of my company.
I'm most shocked and saddened by this betrayal.
I will do everything in my power to co-operate with the authorities
and to bring these criminals to Justice.
...news that FBI agents have arrested NURV CEO Gray Winston,
TV's, cell phones and PC's were interrupted world-wide last night
by a rogue broadcast initiated by programmer Milo Hoffmann.
Police have also arrested these other members of Winston's team at a Portland airfield
as they attempted to board a private jet.
Justice officials reacted swiftly...
Man, Clinton's testimony didn't get this many hits!
This is... this is awesome!
I mean, there's 400 requests a second, Brian!
- We did this! - I'm surprised this isn't blowing the server!
Wow, Whoa get over her.
Come here, Come here...
Already over 18 million people have downloaded the source code for SYNAPSE
from the Skullbocks website.
Now Skullbocks is thought to have originated right here in this Palo Alto garage.
Hi. We've just a couple of questions for you about SYNAPSE...
Is Milo Hoffmann going to testify? Do you know where he is now?
How many hits have you guys registered?
- Good luck. - Okay.
Milo?
It wasn't all false.
I know.
Bye.
Do you consider this an ultimate victory for open source?
- Excuse me. - Milo?
- We did it, partner. - Are you going to testify?
Winston always said that any kid in a garage
could put him out of business. Is that what you've done Milo?
This is a garage.
Hey, there he is.
...we're just now getting word that...
...yes, yes here he is. Here's Gary Winston himself
being led by US marshals to the federal court in Portland....
Milo, when did you first realize that Winston is stealing code?
What is it exactly that you think you have done, Milo?
And what does it all mean?
It means we've given SYNAPSE back to the people it was stolen from.
Human knowledge belongs to the world.
Can we get a picture of the Skullbocks team?