Androids

PROLOGUE

Screens flicker, displaying system reboot messages, strings of code, and algorithm sequences.

From these fragmented, chaotic transmissions, clearer images emerge like remains of a bygone reality predeceasing the great blackout. They depict the technological development of a world in which the past and present are intertwined with the future: the development of AI, the emergence of androids, and the ecological disaster ravaging the planet.

A solitary figure of the Hunter emerges from the darkness. Behind him loom the silhouettes of androids led by their commander, R_0Y [Castor]. The Hunter tries to reach him, but the vision dissolves into nothingness. 

Everybody disappears except for R_0Y [Castor], who looks up at a clock mercilessly counting down the remaining time of his existence.

ACT 1

Dawn 
The Hunter wakes up from his nightmare. 

His wife, Nina, is despondent. Her glare is drowned by hopelessness, which the Hunter’s words and gestures fail to disperse. Depression wraps her up so tightly that the woman remains indifferent to her husband’s clumsy attempts to offer support. She is clutching a potted plant as if this were the last buoy preventing her from drowning. 

The Hunter leaves. He meets Mr B, who gives him his next assignment. This time, he will be working with a partner, Dr Ræ. 

The Hunter learns the details of an android rebellion that left one human dead. R_0Y [Castor] is the only one of the five fugitive androids that was captured.

On their way to ÆtherTech, the android manufacturing corporation, where the rebel model is held, the Hunter and Dr Ræ gradually grow closer. Their mutual fascination proves that their relationship is more than professional. 

ÆtherTech

Elon Reventlov, the owner of ÆtherTech, uses a Prismatone scanner to decompose the existential ID into a human and an android spectrum. The device confirms the identity of R_0Y [Castor] and reveals his identifier along with a built-in restriction: a predetermined lifespan.

Dr Ræ decides to take R_0Y [Castor] for questioning. The android escapes during the interrogation. The Hunter accuses his partner of carelessness, which led to the rebel’s breakout. Elon Reventolv suggests she had ulterior motives. It seems they were obvious to him from the start. He scans Dr Ræ with Prismatone. The examination reveals her true identity: Dr Ræ is an android. 

Elon shows the Hunter and Dr Ræ the process of manufacturing experimental android models, including the mechanism of implanting false memories. Ræ, who was convinced of her humanity, sees her world crumble.

Underpinned by mutual fascination, the relationship between Ræ and the Hunter breaks down. Distrustful of androids, the Hunter withdraws. 

Nina

The Hunter returns home. Dejected, Nina remains apathetic. The Hunter notices that her precious plant has withered. It was Nina’s last source of comfort and a rare piece of life in their degraded world. Nina does not react. Her glaze is vacant, as if her spirit faded together with the plant. 

The Hunter carefully removes the dead plant. 

Laboratory 

Having escaped the corporation, R_0Y [Castor] finds two of his fellow rebels, PØL_3 [Pollux] and ÆMECA_3 [Ameca]. They reach one of Reventlova’s engineers and desperately try to get from him the secret to prolonging their existence. The scientist is unable to help them.

Androids leave, feeling helpless. They are coming to terms with the fact that their time is inevitably coming to an end.

The City

The Hunter wanders the streets alone, carrying the withered plant. He comes across a peculiar-looking Bastien and hands the plant to him. Radioactive fallout starts falling from the sky like snow. People walk with their artificial pets. Melancholy dulls the Hunter’s vigilance. 

PØL_3 [Pollux] emerges from the shadows. Knowing that the Hunter is his greatest threat, the android overpowers him and drags him in an unspecified direction. 

Dr Ræ watches the incident from a distance, concerned.

ACT 2

Bastien and SØF_1A [Sophia]

Bastien returns to his flat. The space is overflowing with different objects and rubbish. It doubles as the man’s workshop. He has the withered plant he got from the Hunter with him. When Bastien tries to bring it back to life, he hears a sudden noise. He notices a lost girl. It is SØF_1A [Sophia], one of the fugitive androids, looking for shelter. 

Smitten, Bastien invites her inside. A warm feeling starts to develop between them. It seems to the android that she is needed for the first time ever. 

PØL_3 [Pollux]

Elsewhere in the city, PØL_3 [Pollux] drags the unconscious Hunter behind him. When the man finally comes around, a fight breaks out. Thanks to Dr Ræ’s help, the android is defeated. The woman disappears. Mr B congratulates the Hunter and immediately sends him on a new assignment. His new target is AIDÆ [Aida].

The Opera

A stage rehearsal is in progress. AIDÆ [Aida] is the singer. The Hunter watches her perform, visibly moved by her talent. At the end of the rehearsal, he sneaks into her dressing room to examine her with a Prismatone scanner. Once she is exposed, AIDÆ [Aida] escapes onto the crowded streets. Mr B and the Hunter catch up with her in the crowd. Mr B guides the Hunter’s hand as he takes aim. A shot is fired and AIDÆ [Aida] falls dead. The Hunter feels resistance building up within him. The death of the art-loving android triggers a painful crisis of beliefs in him. 

Nina

Hoping to comfort his wife and ease his remorse, the Hunter brings home a living puppy. The gift lifts Nina’s gloom. Her face brightens, as if hope briefly returns.

The Hunter understands his assignment and the growing threat posed by androids. He decides to finish his job. He knows he will not manage on his own. 

The Hotel

The Hunter meets Dr Ræ at a hotel. Together, they prepare to capture the remaining fugitive androids. The feelings they started to develop for each other return much stronger. They fall into each other’s arms and lose themselves in the moment of intimacy.

When the pair fall asleep side by side, R_0Y [Castor] appears in the semi-darkness. He is noticed by Dr Ræ as she wakes up from her sleep. The Hunter also spots the android, just before he vanishes. The Hunter’s mistrust and prejudice towards his partner get the better of him. Contrary to logic and facts, he sees her as an ally of the runaway androids. He pulls away and leaves.

Bastien and the androids

Bastien has managed to breathe life into the plant, which earns him SØF_1A [Sophia]’s admiration and respect. Soon, R_0Y [Castor] and ÆMECA_3 [Ameca] arrive at the flat. SØF_1A [Sophia] welcomes them with joy, which soon evaporates as she learns of the others’ fate. The presence of the androids makes Bastien wary.

The reunion is interrupted by the Hunter. The two female androids die in the ensuing fight. R_0Y [Castor] loses the last shred of hope. Overcome by frenzy, he confronts the Hunter. Although he gains the upper hand, the android’s time runs out. The clock timing his existence stops. 

Instead of killing the Hunter, R_0Y [Castor] spares his life. He dies before the Hunter’s eyes. 

EPILOGUE

The Hunter returns home, where Nina kneels by her dead puppy. 

Dr Ræ watches him from a distance. Their glazes meet for the last time. Dr Ræ walks off with tears in her eyes.

The Hunter is left on his own: broken, torn, unsure which part of him is truly human.