Crimes of the Future (2022)

1. Brecken...

2. I don't want you eating anything you find in there,

3. you understand me?

4. I don't care what it is.

5. Don't care what it is.

6. Ah...

7. Mum! Mum!

8. No! No!

9. No! No, no!

10. Yes?

11. Yes, it's still Djuna.

12. Now you've confirmed the phone number.

13. I want you to tell Lang that if he's interested

14. in picking up the corpse of that creature

15. he calls his son—

16. Yes, yes, I mean the Brecken thing.

17. So, you tell him to come to the address I gave you.

18. It will be here, and I won't be.

19. Oh, my boy, boy, boy.

20. My boy. Oh, my boy.

21. Saul.

22. Saul, darling,

23. can you wake up?

24. Who's here?

25. It's just me.

26. It's Caprice.

27. Did you sleep?

28. I think this...

29. bed

30. needs new software.

31. It's not anticipating my pain anymore.

32. It's not turning me properly.

33. Yes, I heard you.

34. A sleepless night.

35. I will call LifeFormWare right away.

36. They're usually very responsive.

37. - What else? - What else?

38. The tests cooked all night and were ready this morning.

39. There is a new hormone in your bloodstream.

40. Ah...

41. Great.

42. It's about time.

43. I thought I was all tapped out.

44. Dried up.

45. You always think that, and you're always wrong.

46. One day, I'll be right.

47. Not today.

48. Not today.

49. It's still before breakfast.

50. What do you see?

51. I can feel you pulling things around in there.

52. It seems to be some small sort of, uh,

53. endocrine gland,

54. about the size of an adrenal gland.

55. Small.

56. That's disappointing. It's not very dramatic.

57. It's a brand new organ

58. Never before seen.

59. Yeah.

60. And it's functioning.

61. Can you feel it?

62. That new hormone?

63. Yeah.

64. Oh, LifeFormWare.

65. LifeFormWare?

66. Yeah.

67. The pain is different.

68. That's probably why my bed's computer's having trouble.

69. This new organ, it's, uh,

70. it's shifting my pain centres.

71. For better or worse?

72. So far, just different.

73. How's the artwork progressing?

74. It's a slippery surface.

75. Hard to be precise with the ink.

76. Huh...

77. Why not do something that really looks like a tattoo?

78. A heart,

79. an anchor,

80. "Mother"?

81. That would be playful.

82. But the Registry insists on

83. "uniquely self-referential."

84. Ah, the Registry.

85. Of course.

86. Saul Tenser.

87. Caprice.

88. Oh, my God.

89. So you are.

90. Welcome.

91. I'm Wippet, by the way.

92. Wow, um...

93. This is a real treat

94. and a privilege for us, isn't it, Timlin?

95. That's Timlin.

96. This isn't very grand, is it, but this is

97. the National Organ Registry nonetheless, and

98. we're fully equipped, aren't we, Timlin?

99. Um, it's all secret stuff now

100. because we're part of the NVU of Justice,

101. but we'll be ready to break out and go public

102. when the time inevitably comes.

103. NVU?

104. New Vice Unit.

105. No crime like the present.

106. Sorry, we're a little confused about procedure.

107. This is our first time.

108. Hm.

109. But you understand the necessity of organ registration

110. from a security standpoint?

111. We understand

112. human bodies are changing.

113. I know this quite well.

114. Um...

115. And, apparently, this is of some concern

116. to the governments of the world.

117. Human bodies, yes.

118. "Human" is the operative word.

119. Human evolution

120. is the concern.

121. That it's going wrong.

122. That it's...

123. uncontrolled, it's...

124. insurrectional.

125. It might lead us to a bad place.

126. Look what's happened to the pain thresholds, for instance.

127. The world is a much more dangerous place

128. now that p-p-pain has all but disappeared.

129. What good is it that only a lucky handful of us

130. experience pain in our sleep?

131. Pain has a function.

132. It is a warning system that we don't have anymore,

133. and how did this happen, what does this mean?

134. Or, or what about infections?

135. Infections? What happened to them?

136. Nobody washes their hands anymore.

137. What is it- what is that new, uh, fad,

138. uh, what do they call it? Desktop surgery?

139. In public!

140. It's repulsive.

141. Um...

142. Our records indicate that you've been producing

143. random and novel bodily organs for some years,

144. but that you've had them

145. consistently removed.

146. Who wouldn't?

147. You'd be surprised.

148. We would be surprised.

149. They're basically tumours, right?

150. Who would want to keep them?

151. They could kill you.

152. What is the relationship between you two?

153. I remove these tumours as part of our performance.

154. We are performance artists.

155. We perform together.

156. Hm.

157. And you're qualified to perform surgery?

158. Well, as Mr. Wippet was saying,

159. everybody's qualified to perform surgery these days.

160. If consent is legally given,

161. there is really no- no issue there.

162. Hm.

163. I was speaking of your professional relationship.

164. You wouldn't want to kill your performance partner,

165. would you?

166. You never know.

167. There's a lot of improvisation in our shows.

168. Stop it.

169. Hm.

170. We met when Saul was cut up on duty.

171. I was a trauma surgeon at First General.

172. We unleashed things in each other.

173. We both changed,

174. left our professions.

175. And now we are what we are.

176. Oh.

177. You're stars, that's what you are.

178. Gosh, everyone wants to be a performance artist these days.

179. It's all the rage, but...

180. not everyone can do it.

181. Well, then...

182. Registration?

183. Oh, my.

184. Oh, it is so beautiful!

185. I can't quite see it from my angle.

186. Can you pick it up from where you are?

187. - Oh, yes. - It's-it's very clear.

188. Oh, gosh!

189. It is a gorgeous,

190. I might even say, sensual example

191. of the registration tatooist's art.

192. Why don't you tell us what a registration tattoo is?

193. Well, um...

194. we here at the National Organ Registry

195. have just instituted a new policy

196. of tattooing novel organs,

197. or idiopathic organs, that is,

198. new organs whose function is unknown,

199. so that they can be registered

200. and kept track of.

201. Um, our fear is...

202. that some of these neo-organs

203. might establish themselves genetically,

204. and then be passed down from parents to children,

205. who would then no longer be,

206. strictly speaking, human.

207. At least, in the classical sense.

208. Our concept of the registration tattoo

209. was largely inspired by the performance art

210. of Saul Tenser.

211. Oh, I'm so sorry, but it's forbidden to record in here.

212. - Oh, right, right. - She's right.

213. I was thinking we could use it for our performance.

214. We record the most intimate things.

215. I'm sorry, but it is illegal.

216. This department does not yet exist.

217. Right, if it doesn't exist,

218. then, I guess, it's impossible to make a recording.

219. Sorry.

220. Too bad.

221. I don't think you should have invited those two creeps

222. from the registry to our show.

223. Why not?

224. Why not get 'em on our side?

225. I don't trust them.

226. The woman, Timlin,

227. she's, uh...

228. especially creepy.

229. Hm.

230. I thought she was rather attractive.

231. In a...

232. bureaucratic way.

233. Hm.

234. The LifeFormWare technicians are here.

235. They need to see you in your bed.

236. I'm a little upset about the tattoo.

237. Oh?

238. Rambunctious.

239. That's what I'd call it.

240. That's a technical term?

241. TENSER.; Uh.

242. It takes over the form,

243. the shape of the organ itself.

244. It really, in a sense, dominates it,

245. reshapes it.

246. It's not just parasitic,

247. although I suppose, in a sense, it is that too.

248. It seems to take meaning

249. away from the organ.

250. Takes the process of meaning

251. for itself,

252. so to speak.

253. You'd really better get into bed.

254. There, there.

255. You'll be comfortable again soon.

256. OrchidBed is our top of the line bed.

257. Once we correct the misalignment

258. caused by your...

259. hormonal imbalance,

260. you'll be floating.

261. Huh.

262. Isn't that right, Berst?

263. Uh-uh.

264. Yeah, these things are basically bulletproof.

265. This bed loves your body, Mr. Tenser.

266. It is so flexible,

267. so attuned to every shift of your pain centres,

268. it's a beautiful thing to behold.

269. I see you actually have several of our units here,

270. - don't you? - Mm-hm.

271. The OrchidBed Bed, the BreakFaster Chair,

272. that'll probably need some adjustment as well.

273. We can...

274. download your OrchidBed co-ordinates

275. into the BreakFaster, tweak the EatWare parameters,

276. and we should be very close.

277. Oh, my God.

278. Router.

279. What is it?

280. Mr. Tenser has a Sark unit here.

281. Yes.

282. He really does.

283. The Sark autopsy module was one of the best units

284. we ever made. It's gorgeous.

285. They're legendary.

286. So complex.

287. So subtle.

288. Do you ever work on one of these?

289. They stopped making them before our time.

290. I've never seen one in the flesh before.

291. They're legendary.

292. What do you use it for?

293. You're not in the autopsy business, are you?

294. It's my paint brush.

295. Hm.

296. Mm, oh, my God, look at this thing.

297. No, you can't.

298. Oh, my God.

299. Oh, my God.

300. It's not that small.

301. Quite big, actually.

302. Hm.

303. Do you mind if I ask you something intimate?

304. Hi.

305. No, go ahead.

306. That surgery is sex, isn't it?

307. Is it?

308. Hm.

309. You know it is.

310. Surgery is the new sex.

311. Hm.

312. Does there have to be new sex?

313. Yes.

314. Yes, it's time.

315. When I was watching Caprice cut into you,

316. I wanted...

317. Yes?

318. I wanted you to be cutting into me.

319. That's when I knew.

320. Hm.

321. Hm?

322. What was that all about?

323. Just another epiphany.

324. Art triumphs once again.

325. Hm.

326. His body needs are subtle and they're constantly shifting.

327. We feel,

328. Danny Router and I do, that the Tenser account

329. will force our entire organization

330. into new, exhilarating territory.

331. Saul Tenser is...

332. an artist of the inner landscape.

333. Creation of art is often associated with pain,

334. and pain, as we know, is always associated with sleep.

335. We at LifeFormWare specialize in

336. manipulating

337. and modulating the pain of artists,

338. and, to us,

339. Saul Tenser is the greatest challenge,

340. so intimate and involving in his art,

341. and the nature of his pain.

342. A good night's sleep is a...

343. hard thing to define when you're an artist

344. and you seek pain.

345. Hm.

346. Sit down.

347. I'm Detective Cope.

348. I'm with New Vice.

349. And you are?

350. - Wippet. - Timlin.

351. Hm, yes, good.

352. Have you had recent dealings with the performance artist,

353. Saul Tenser?

354. Yes.

355. And you have a portfolio of all the neo-organs

356. which he has

357. developed and removed?

358. He donated it to us.

359. He was the first to undertake the logging,

360. the archiving,

361. of his inner creations.

362. We call it the Tenser Organography.

363. For him, it was an art thing,

364. an artist wanting a systematized record

365. of his art.

366. But, for us, it triggered

367. an awareness of the flow, the significance

368. of these spontaneous growths

369. which many people were experiencing in secret.

370. So, now, we have actually required

371. the legal registering of these growths.

372. The registering of a genuine, new...

373. Saul Tenser internal organ...

374. It's like discovering a new species of animal.

375. Well,

376. more like discovering a new Picasso.

377. How can a tumorous growth be considered art?

378. Where is the emotional shaping,

379. the philosophical understanding,

380. which is basic to all art?

381. Look...

382. I have a lump on my abdomen.

383. You see it?

384. Picasso?

385. Duchamp?

386. Francis Bacon, perhaps?

387. Am I an artist?

388. He takes the rebellion of his own body

389. and seizes control of it.

390. Shapes it,

391. tattoos it, displays it,

392. creates theatre out of it.

393. It has meaning, very potent meaning, and...

394. many, many people respond to it.

395. Yes.

396. Tattoos it?

397. Here we go.

398. Hm.

399. You see?

400. See, right from the beginning,

401. after he met Caprice,

402. all his neo-organs were tattooed

403. while they were still inside his body.

404. Caprice is his lover?

405. Caprice is his performance partner.

406. She does the tattoos.

407. And the surgery.

408. Hm.

409. Looks to me as though Caprice is the artist.

410. Tenser is just a glorified organ donor.

411. Well, there are the performances.

412. And, then-then, there is the question of will.

413. Will?

414. Yes.

415. We believe, that on a certain level,

416. perhaps a subconscious one,

417. Saul Tenser wills these new organs to grow.

418. So...

419. Hm, you really ought to get that lump on your abdomen looked at.

420. Saul?

421. Saul, darling, can you wake up?

422. Your bed says that you're working on something new.

423. Can that be right?

424. So soon?

425. The bed is very quiet.

426. The bed is never wrong.

427. Just ask our friends at LifeFormWare.

428. Is this something we should worry about?

429. The interval between growths seems to be closing up.

430. I'm feeling very creative.

431. I guess.

432. We'll just have to start cutting faster.

433. It is time to stop seeing.

434. It is time to stop speaking.

435. It is time

436. to listen.

437. I don't like the ears.

438. What?

439. The ears.

440. They're cute, they're striking, but

441. a thousand ears is not good design.

442. Surround sound?

443. The extra ears don't even work.

444. They're just for show.

445. How do you know?

446. I'm Adrienne Berceau.

447. I'm Klinek's Biomorphology Coordinator.

448. Don't tell him I said this, but he's better with the dancing

449. than he is with the conceptual art.

450. Are you working on anything new, Mr. Tenser?

451. I never really know

452. when I'm working on something new.

453. It doesn't seem to be my decision.

454. What if it is?

455. If it is?

456. The creation of inner beauty cannot be an accident.

457. Forgive me for quoting you and your show.

458. Have you heard of Dr. Nasatir?

459. No.

460. You should pay him a visit.

461. Inner beauty is his specialty,

462. as it is yours.

463. I've booked you an appointment.

464. Go to the address written here.

465. A consultation about a medical problem?

466. A consultation about a political problem.

467. I have a concept for you.

468. Yeah?

469. Yeah, yeah.

470. It came to me when I saw you

471. use a Sark unit as part of your show.

472. The Sark was originally an autopsy module.

473. Did you know that?

474. I knew that.

475. Have you ever thought about using it for a real autopsy?

476. As part of your show?

477. Perform an autopsy?

478. - On a corpse. - Mm-hm.

479. I have a corpse for you.

480. It's a very special corpse.

481. You could do a live autopsy on a dead body.

482. And there would be surprises. I can guarantee a few surprises.

483. What corpse are you talking about?

484. My son.

485. Eight years old.

486. Why is he a corpse?

487. - His mother murdered him. - Wouldn't that be...

488. good raw material for a performance?

489. You have the body of your son?

490. Yes, of course I have the body of my son.

491. He's my son.

492. Wow.

493. Yeah, I know.

494. I mean, how radical are you?

495. Hm?

496. Are you afraid of a little emotion?

497. I'm afraid of everything.

498. The throat thing

499. is very severe

500. today.

501. I can't open it.

502. What's going on?

503. I am not sure.

504. You were out for a very long time yesterday.

505. Yeah.

506. It's not my allergies.

507. In fact,

508. they're not bothering me.

509. It's strange.

510. Are you in discomfort?

511. No, it's a...

512. compelling fullness.

513. Not a completely bad feeling.

514. At least not...

515. uninteresting.

516. I went to see the Klinek.

517. How was it?

518. The usual.

519. It was packed.

520. Jealous?

521. Of course.

522. But that's not it.

523. I met this guy...

524. On the street.

525. He had an idea

526. for a show.

527. So,

528. I'm the boy's corpse.

529. We'll have to modify the Sark.

530. Hm.

531. Convert it back into an autopsy module.

532. I don't know where the law is

533. on acts degrading to human remains.

534. We'll have to be outrageous to make it worthwhile.

535. We have to go deep.

536. I'm not sure how we'd play the inner beauty angle.

537. This guy, Dotrice, he said there'd be surprises...

538. Oops.

539. - Oh. - Sorry.

540. That was the machinery talking.

541. That was you talking.

542. Keep going.

543. Really?

544. So far...

545. so good.

546. Oh...

547. Oh...

548. Oh! Oh...

549. You could be on the inside for the next show.

550. Maybe.

551. But maybe

552. this is just for us.

553. How are you feeling?

554. What do you mean?

555. Got anything cooking in there?

556. Huh.

557. Your imagination's working overtime.

558. I just got to see your portfolio.

559. You are very prolific.

560. I had no idea.

561. It must be exhausting, uh?

562. I could live without it.

563. Listen, illuminate me.

564. Why is Saul Tenser doing undercover?

565. I mean, you seem to be pretty deep

566. into that body-art stuff.

567. Well...

568. What I'm saying with that body-art stuff

569. is that I don't like what's happening with the body.

570. In particular, what's happening with my body,

571. which is why I keep cutting it up.

572. Your partner, Caprice,

573. she's in the dark about this?

574. The under the covers?

575. Yeah.

576. - Totally? - Yeah.

577. She can't read your insides?

578. There aren't any traces there that say undercover stoolie?

579. You really are imaginative.

580. What have you got for me?

581. Dr. Nasatir.

582. Cosmetic surgery.

583. Someone contacted me at the Klinek show.

584. I heard it was a good show.

585. Very disturbing. Multiple ears.

586. Wow.

587. Got to be good.

588. It was okay.

589. If you like escapist propaganda.

590. This someone

591. talked to me about

592. my take on inner beauty.

593. Said I really should consult with a doctor.

594. Dr. Nasatir.

595. Inner beauty, huh?

596. That's right up your alley.

597. Guess that's why she was talking to me.

598. Okay, good.

599. Follow it up.

600. Find out what it means.

601. What else?

602. Why is your body-crime unit called New Vice?

603. I don't get the vice part.

604. Somebody in the Bureau thought it was sexier than

605. Evolutionary Derangement.

606. Sexier means easier funding.

607. Anything else?

608. Yeah.

609. You have a woman named Djuna Dotrice in the Metro Pen.

610. We have?

611. New Vice has her?

612. - Probably just Old Homicide. - She's in for murder.

613. Murdered her own kid.

614. Yeah.

615. Well?

616. I need to talk to her.

617. The Sark was originally

618. a coroners' autopsy sarcophagus.

619. When it went out of style in the medical profession,

620. it took on new life as

621. artists' supplies.

622. I've heard that some of the Sarks

623. that were modified for performance surgery

624. have been really brutally hacked around,

625. but this one was converted by someone

626. with a very delicate touch.

627. It's in beautiful shape.

628. Where's your partner?

629. Saul likes me to do the techno dog work.

630. Keeps me in touch with my roots.

631. What happened to him?

632. The body-growth thing.

633. Is there a name for it?

634. Accelerated Evolution Syndrome.

635. Your body gets very inventive

636. and throws a lot of new stuff at you.

637. I guess it wants to see what sticks

638. for the next generation.

639. Yeah, but, uh...

640. Tenser's not letting anything stick, is he?

641. I mean...

642. not if he's getting rid of it all.

643. the new, improved body parts?

644. It's pathological.

645. It's not healthy.

646. It's a breakdown of the system.

647. An organism needs organisation.

648. Otherwise, it's just designer cancer.

649. Hey, Caprice.

650. Check us out!

651. Whaddya think?

652. Do we got a future in performance here?

653. Definitely.

654. Saul Tenser.

655. Come on in.

656. This

657. is very exciting.

658. Is it?

659. Seeing you here,

660. is like a lightning bolt from the blue.

661. It strikes you very hard and very convincingly.

662. Let me take your coat.

663. Uh, I prefer to keep it on.

664. I get cold.

665. If you don't mind staining.

666. Please, just hop up on there and expose your abdomen.

667. Tell me about the lightning bolt.

668. Saul Tenser and the Inner Beauties.

669. It's a marriage made in heaven.

670. Inner Beauties.

671. I propose

672. to install the rip-lock

673. here.

674. This will give you maximum access.

675. Access to what?

676. I believe I'm here to discuss my political problem.

677. I wasn't aware you had one.

678. I wasn't either,

679. but Adrienne Berceau seems to think I do.

680. Oh, Adrienne.

681. She's so dramatic.

682. Listen...

683. Me, I'm just a mechanic.

684. I install doors and windows into the future.

685. Politics will come soon,

686. when you're registered.

687. Registered?

688. For what?

689. He doesn't even know.

690. For the Inner Beauty Pageant.

691. I'm sure you'll be a contender.

692. - Hi. - Hi.

693. How's the Sark coming along?

694. Our LifeFormWare friends are very...

695. How can I put it?

696. Very playful.

697. Huh.

698. Is that a good thing?

699. They love it to death, that piece of machinery.

700. They literally salivate on it.

701. They won't hurt it.

702. Huh.

703. Wow.

704. And what's this?

705. Cut yourself shaving?

706. I seem to be a contestant

707. in the Inner Beauty Pageant.

708. It's very hush-hush.

709. Might not be quite legal.

710. The things you drag home.

711. Hm.

712. I'm entering in the category

713. of Best Original Organ With No Known Function.

714. This is like a raincoat for internal organ flashers.

715. Wow.

716. A new world opens up.

717. Hm.

718. Wait a minute.

719. Have we just been made, um...

720. obsolete?

721. No, of course not.

722. It's just a functional thing.

723. It's a zippered fly;

724. it's not art, It's not sensual.

725. Besides,

726. remember what

727. sex is surgery.

728. A zipper can't replace our Sark.

729. I think she said, uh...

730. "Surgery is the new sex."

731. Besides,

732. zippers...

733. have their own

734. sex appeal.

735. Careful...

736. don't spill.

737. He ate a plastic wastepaper basket.

738. What would you do?

739. I wouldn't kill him.

740. A little kid, my own son.

741. But he wouldn't be your own son.

742. He wouldn't even be a little kid.

743. What would he be?

744. A creature.

745. A thing.

746. A thing my husband invented to torment me.

747. A thing that can eat a plastic wastepaper basket.

748. Eat it and enjoy it.

749. And eat nothing but plastic and weird synthetic stuff.

750. He would take that watch and he'd have it for lunch.

751. He could digest plastic?

752. He had this

753. weird,

754. thick white drool

755. that he'd sometimes slurp over everything.

756. It was like acid.

757. It'd dissolve any kind of plasticky stuff.

758. It would sting if you got it on your skin.

759. Didn't bother him, though.

760. That lizard.

761. Your husband is Lang Dotrice.

762. Was.

763. Was my husband. I've disowned him - fuck him.

764. He invented your son?

765. Yeah.

766. That's how I think of it.

767. And here's another thing

768. the thought of that slimy worm

769. growing in me still makes me sick.

770. The police tell me

771. they haven't found your son, Brecken.

772. I get the feeling

773. they don't think you really killed him.

774. I confess

775. they don't believe me.

776. The perfect crime.

777. You confessed?

778. Yeah.

779. Why?

780. I'm guilty.

781. Where's the body?

782. Lang has it unless he's thrown it away.

783. How'd he get it?

784. I left it for him.

785. My little divorce present.

786. What is Lang going to do with the body?

787. Maybe him and his cannibal friends are going to eat it.

788. Who the fuck knows? Who the fuck cares?

789. His friends are cannibals?

790. Um-hm.

791. If you're a Barbie Doll,

792. then they're cannibals.

793. If the police found Brecken's body

794. and did an autopsy,

795. what do you think they'd find inside it?

796. Outer space.

797. - Tarr. - Lang.

798. Everybody's here.

799. Good.

800. Our supply lines are up and running again,

801. so we're in very good shape.

802. Production will soon be back to maximum.

803. Tarr, if we have to move the commune,

804. I mean, the whole operation, the assembly line, everything...

805. Sit.

806. How quickly can it be?

807. You're expecting problems?

808. I'm going ahead with the Brecken autopsy.

809. Finally, what we're doing is going to be very public

810. and it's going to resonate.

811. Oh...

812. Oh.

813. Where's Mr. Tenser?

814. - He's doing some research. - Ah.

815. Where's your friend, Timlin?

816. Oh, she was, uh, intimidated.

817. By whom?

818. Well, we've been

819. forbidden to mingle.

820. It's now part of the job description.

821. I'm risking my career just being here,

822. but, uh...

823. I can't stay away.

824. I've got the fever.

825. Forgive me.

826. I've got to talk to her before she goes.

827. Odile.

828. Caprice.

829. Oh, you have no idea how hard it's been for me

830. to find plastic surgeons who understand

831. that I do not wish to be made more beautiful.

832. Surgeons tend to be very focussed

833. and unimaginative.

834. It's considered a strength.

835. I was a surgeon myself.

836. Not cosmetic surgery, though.

837. Trauma.

838. Trauma.

839. But that's very um...

840. provocative.

841. I enjoy trauma.

842. What I do to myself is very traumatic.

843. Is it?

844. You seem so peaceful, so...

845. beatific while your surgery's going on.

846. Watching you suddenly...

847. filled me with the desire to cut my face open.

848. It's a feeling that shocked me.

849. A desire to be open

850. is often the beginning of something exciting...

851. new.

852. Perhaps you would like to join me and the troupe

853. later this evening,

854. at the hotel?

855. A desire to be open?

856. Metaphorically.

857. Emotionally.

858. Artistically.

859. You want to take over the Brecken show.

860. I want to perform the autopsy.

861. I want to perform.

862. Well, this is new.

863. Yes, it is.

864. Maybe...

865. you were too shy before.

866. I'm not too shy now.

867. Will you have something new for the show?

868. We could definitely do work in a Tenser extraction.

869. Double Autopsy.

870. Hm.

871. I do have something cooking.

872. Maybe a few things.

873. But I'm happy to let them stay inside for now.

874. That might not be healthy.

875. We can extract in private,

876. if it's a problem.

877. Doesn't have to be a performance.

878. Don't let it go too long.

879. How was Odile's show?

880. It was...

881. Brilliant.

882. She's exhilarating.

883. Yeah.

884. She says hello.

885. Hello.

886. I want to do more than perform.

887. I want to construct.

888. I want to construct the Brecken show.

889. It already has an innate structure.

890. A murdered boy.

891. A very strange boy.

892. A public autopsy, some...

893. surprises.

894. I want to work with it.

895. It's juicy with meaning.

896. Saul Tenser.

897. Well, then,

898. come on in.

899. Hm.

900. Just...

901. What's up?

902. Oh, well...

903. I just want your advice as a neo-organ generator.

904. I...

905. just...

906. Uh...

907. actually, I wanted to show you our safe room.

908. Can I?

909. Yes...

910. So, this is where we archive our more

911. provocative material in here.

912. I thought it was all provocative.

913. You,

914. you provoke us.

915. Uh...

916. You, you provoke me.

917. I'm—

918. I'm just so glad you're with us, you know.

919. It makes such emotional sense.

920. Who's us?

921. It's me, I'm...

922. I'm the one.

923. I am the Registrar for the Inner Beauty Pageant.

924. Sh, don't tell.

925. Registration

926. seems to be your strong suit.

927. I-I think you have

928. a very good chance of winning your category.

929. In fact, if I were you, I'd go for Best in Show.

930. I'm not sure I'll have anything to show.

931. Might have to fake it.

932. Speaking of faking it,

933. I said it makes emotional sense for you to be with

934. the Inner Beauties, and it does, but...

935. you know,

936. doesn't make logical sense.

937. - No? - No.

938. Because the Inner Beauty Pageant is all about acceptance.

939. It's about acknowledgment, aesthetic empowerment,

940. And you, Saul Tenser,

941. you're all about anger, and rebellion, and...

942. rejection by scalpel.

943. This has been a mistake, hasn't it?

944. No.

945. - No, you're right. - I'd be a fish out of water

946. at your little secret event.

947. But, no, no, no.

948. We want you, we need you, we-we...

949. It'll all fall apart without you!

950. What if I won for best original organ

951. and then I ripped it out in public at my next show?

952. Wouldn't that humiliate your group?

953. It's star power. We'll-we'll-we'll cover it.

954. We'll, we'll settle.

955. We'll give you whatever you want

956. and maybe, just maybe, you'll begin to see it our way.

957. Uh...

958. So—

959. So, okay...

960. we rewind.

961. I, uh...

962. I'm here to register for the Inner Beauty Pageant.

963. - Mr. Tenser? - Ah! Oh.

964. - Saul... - It's you.

965. Could you come into my office?

966. You were just with Mr. Wippet.

967. I was.

968. I'm very worried about him.

969. He seemed to be in fine form.

970. Oh, no, it's a very dangerous form to be in.

971. I—

972. I don't understand.

973. It's...

974. in our line of work, very easy to be dazzled

975. by the glamour of the performance world,

976. the charismatic people we meet,

977. like you.

978. Mm.

979. I see.

980. Do you?

981. - Maybe not. - Tell me.

982. Well, this is our world.

983. This office, this building.

984. From the centre of it,

985. deep,

986. deep within it,

987. this beautiful white light emanates outward.

988. That light is you,

989. what you create,

990. and those like you.

991. Mm...

992. It's hard-it's hard for us, drab

993. little bureaucratic insects that we are,

994. not to be drawn into your powerful gravitational field.

995. Hurtling towards you,

996. plunging into your black hole that pulls all light into it.

997. We want to follow that light,

998. fuse with that light.

999. Is—

1000. Is Wippet doing some fusing,

1001. do you think?

1002. Oh...

1003. He's-he is drawn to inner beauty.

1004. Is he playing games with subversive groups?

1005. Is that-is that what you mean?

1006. I...

1007. I am very, very fond of him, but...

1008. Yes, I think I might have to actually turn him in.

1009. No, don't-don't-don't do that.

1010. Uh...

1011. How safe is this room?

1012. Oh, it's...

1013. It's totally safe.

1014. You can be open with me.

1015. Yeah, open.

1016. Um...

1017. Have you run across a neo-organ...

1018. or rather, a system

1019. of neo-organs,

1020. that had a digestive function?

1021. A system that can digest synthetics, plastics...

1022. that sort of thing?

1023. No.

1024. No, but that sounds interesting.

1025. We've only come across single organ growths here,

1026. like yours.

1027. Of course, nobody knows what would happen

1028. if those growths were allowed to accumulate.

1029. Do you think they could ev—

1030. Um, I almost

1031. said evolve,

1032. - but I didn't. - Hah.

1033. Um...

1034. Do you think they could actually develop into...

1035. a system of organs?

1036. like a...

1037. circulatory system,

1038. nervous system, um...

1039. lymphatic...?

1040. You know a lot about human physiology.

1041. Yeah.

1042. Hm.

1043. Do you think you would ever

1044. let me be a part of your show?

1045. Uh...

1046. Because I would love to...

1047. find myself in that Sark module with...

1048. you at the controls.

1049. That would, that would

1050. definitely fall into the category of New Vice.

1051. Mm...

1052. Well, that is where I live.

1053. Hm.

1054. Ah.

1055. - Oh... - Uh...

1056. - I'm sorry. - No.

1057. I'm just not very good at the old sex.

1058. Please, come in.

1059. Sit, uh, anywhere you like.

1060. This is Caprice.

1061. She's my partner.

1062. Yes, I've seen your work.

1063. Beautiful. Outstanding stuff.

1064. Thank you.

1065. I spoke to your wife.

1066. Your ex-wife.

1067. Why'd you do that?

1068. I wanted to know what we were getting into.

1069. Do you know now?

1070. Not exactly.

1071. Okay.

1072. Why don't we, uh,

1073. start with this.

1074. Don't you want to take a look at your raw materials?

1075. Please.

1076. I don't think we should do this.

1077. Maybe you shouldn't.

1078. But you obviously really want us to.

1079. Why do you?

1080. I need to make a statement.

1081. A very public statement.

1082. Hm.

1083. Wouldn't a

1084. formal police autopsy make that statement?

1085. No, no, it would be covered up.

1086. You'd never hear a thing.

1087. Performance art is all consensual.

1088. This one would be different.

1089. This would be different.

1090. Yes, well, you'll have my consent.

1091. Brecken isn't talking.

1092. I'm sure you realize that Djuna doesn't care

1093. what happens to her son's body.

1094. I got the feeling she was obsessed with his body.

1095. Especially his digestive system.

1096. - Ah. - Well...

1097. Ever eaten one of these?

1098. Never seen one of those before.

1099. - Go ahead. - Please.

1100. I think it'll be a revelation.

1101. I'm very fussy about my food.

1102. Yeah, so am I.

1103. So was Brecken.

1104. Let me

1105. does the EatWare application work for you?

1106. I looked at one of those BreakFaster chairs

1107. from LifeFormWare in a showroom window once.

1108. The way they adjust every part of your body

1109. to make chewing, swallowing and digesting easy.

1110. At one point in my life

1111. I thought that might be the answer.

1112. To what question?

1113. The eating problem that I have,

1114. Brecken had...

1115. and that you have.

1116. Hm.

1117. You think they're related?

1118. You're a man who's fighting what he really is.

1119. Don't you see?

1120. You should let your body lead you to

1121. where it wants to go instead of

1122. hacking it to pieces and displaying it

1123. in some hidden museum

1124. like the bones of an extinct animal.

1125. Saul would be dead now if he listened to that advice.

1126. His body wants to kill him.

1127. What we're doing is we're making art

1128. out of anarchy.

1129. We are creating meaning out of emptiness.

1130. Are you?

1131. Has it ever occurred to you that you might simply be

1132. interfering in a fantastic natural process

1133. that you should surrender to?

1134. Never has.

1135. Will you do

1136. the Brecken show?

1137. Should I do the Brecken show?

1138. What does New Vice want to get out of this?

1139. You have a new best friend.

1140. Who would that be?

1141. Lang Dotrice.

1142. We want him.

1143. But we don't just want him.

1144. We want his group of freaks.

1145. All of them.

1146. I don't know anything about a group.

1147. You will find out about the group.

1148. He likes you.

1149. He trusts you.

1150. He trusts me to cut up his dead son in public.

1151. What'll that get us?

1152. It could get you to the next stage,

1153. which is infiltration.

1154. We want to know everything there is to know about Dotrice

1155. and his plastic-eating comrades.

1156. Plastic-eating?

1157. You don't get it yet?

1158. You talking about those

1159. purple candy bars?

1160. Ever try eating one of those?

1161. One of our agents did.

1162. He's as dead as Brecken now.

1163. Poisoned him?

1164. They're synth bars.

1165. Synthetic, man-made stuff.

1166. Toxic.

1167. A normal human can't eat that stuff.

1168. But those people,

1169. they just...

1170. they just munch away, no problem.

1171. They're evolving away from the human path, Saul.

1172. It can't be allowed to continue.

1173. Doctor Nasatir?

1174. Yes?

1175. Router and Berst of LifeFormWare.

1176. Authorized technicians.

1177. You called us,

1178. we're here.

1179. Did I call you?

1180. A paradigm shift with your BreakFaster chair.

1181. Yes, that's true, but I'm just eating now.

1182. Oh,

1183. it's perfect timing.

1184. We're moving everything out.

1185. Mr. Tarr here, he's taking care of everything.

1186. I figure the Brecken show is going to make us too hot

1187. but this,

1188. this is what all of us eat.

1189. All of us, is how many?

1190. Well, our own little cell, 60, 70 souls

1191. but around the world, our network is vast.

1192. And, really, the number's unknowable.

1193. And everybody's had the same elaborate surgery?

1194. Tarr.

1195. Everyone around the world, yes.

1196. The procedures were developed over years of collaboration.

1197. There are variations, of course.

1198. Culturally unique versions.

1199. And you did it because?

1200. Because our bodies were telling us

1201. it was time to change, yes?

1202. Time for human evolution to sync up

1203. with human technology.

1204. We've got to start feeding on our own industrial waste.

1205. It's our destiny.

1206. The end result is you can't eat food.

1207. Well, we eat modern food.

1208. We eat plastic.

1209. And that's what we like to call it.

1210. And Brecken?

1211. Brecken.

1212. Brecken was the first-born.

1213. The first to be born with a plastic...

1214. processing digestive system.

1215. To be...

1216. naturally unnatural.

1217. - She hated us. - Djuna hated us.

1218. She stole Brecken away from us.

1219. She never really understood what a gem her kid was.

1220. She— she couldn't handle it.

1221. He really must have been a gem,

1222. because what you're saying sounds insane to me.

1223. Why?

1224. Well, you're saying your surgery,

1225. the surgery that made you plastic eaters,

1226. was somehow replicated genetically in your son?

1227. That surgically acquired characteristics

1228. became inheritable?

1229. You cut off your little finger

1230. and your kids are born without little fingers?

1231. Brecken was our miracle child.

1232. He was everything we all wanted to be.

1233. That's all I can say.

1234. Can't say I understand the process.

1235. But why a Brecken show?

1236. Because I wanted to, someday, present my son to the world.

1237. I wanted to show the world

1238. that the future of humanity existed

1239. and was good.

1240. Was at peace and harmony with the techno world

1241. that we've created.

1242. Now, all I can do is present the reality

1243. of his dead little body as a promise of that future.

1244. I don't know what we'll see.

1245. But I know he'll be beautiful.

1246. Sweet and real

1247. and beautiful.

1248. Sorry, I gotta...

1249. I didn't expect you to be here.

1250. - Hm. - Couldn't keep away, huh?

1251. Guess not.

1252. Special event.

1253. Mm-hm.

1254. Worth the risk.

1255. We've all wanted to see an autopsy, haven't we?

1256. We've all felt that the body was empty,

1257. empty of meaning

1258. and we've wanted to confirm that,

1259. so that we could fill it with meaning.

1260. Autopsia means

1261. the seeing for oneself.

1262. Why First Autopsy?

1263. Because we know

1264. there'll have to be a Second Autopsy.

1265. If you want to do an autopsy,

1266. you need a corpse.

1267. Corporeal,

1268. incorporate,

1269. corpulent.

1270. Body words.

1271. Fleshy words.

1272. Brecken is our corpse.

1273. Brecken was a young boy

1274. who was murdered by his mother

1275. because of what was hidden in his body.

1276. Because of the meaning that was there.

1277. For her, the body was not empty of meaning.

1278. And now

1279. let us dive deep into the body of Brecken

1280. and, like professors

1281. of literature,

1282. search for the meaning

1283. that lies locked

1284. in the poem

1285. that was Brecken.

1286. Oh, my God.

1287. Oh.

1288. So, we see

1289. that the crudeness

1290. and the desperation

1291. and the ugliness of the world

1292. has seeped inside even

1293. our youngest and most beautiful.

1294. And we see that the world is killing our children

1295. from the inside out.

1296. Here we have the anatomy of today's pathology.

1297. And we know now why we'll have a Second Autopsy,

1298. and a Third.

1299. We know

1300. that we'll have to keep...

1301. diving back deep inside,

1302. hoping to find a different answer.

1303. But for tonight,

1304. let us not be afraid to map the chaos inside.

1305. Let us create a map

1306. that will guide us

1307. into the heart of darkness.

1308. No, no, no.

1309. No, no, no, no, no, no.

1310. That was hideous.

1311. I feel so awful.

1312. That's not what he was inside, that's not what he was.

1313. She did this.

1314. - She? - She, she, she.

1315. The ex-wife; the mother of the cadaver.

1316. Djuna?

1317. No, she didn't.

1318. She had nothing to do with it.

1319. Of course she did.

1320. What you saw in there, that was her message to me,

1321. to me.

1322. No, it wasn't.

1323. I have a feeling she'd approve of this, though.

1324. I'm sorry I'm late.

1325. Lots of meetings these days.

1326. Hm...

1327. New Vice is getting quite big, is it?

1328. It is now.

1329. A lot of people running scared.

1330. So many plastic-eaters running around with scalpels.

1331. Makes people insecure.

1332. They're pretty good with the scalpels,

1333. those plastic-eaters.

1334. Better than whoever did that hack job

1335. on Brecken's insides.

1336. Yeah, so...

1337. Okay...

1338. Okay, we've got a man inside.

1339. We got there first.

1340. The kid was pretty weird inside anyway.

1341. You wouldn't have recognized a thing,

1342. but the hell of it was that...

1343. it was all natural.

1344. He was born that way.

1345. You wouldn't want everybody to know that.

1346. I couldn't.

1347. I couldn't let that out.

1348. Once that got out of the box,

1349. you would never be able to put it back in.

1350. Your friend at the Registry did the work.

1351. "Inspired by Caprice."

1352. My friend?

1353. You mean, Wippet?

1354. No, that strange little woman.

1355. What's her name?

1356. Uh, Timlin.

1357. I wondered what she was doing at the show.

1358. I guess she couldn't resist checking out her work.

1359. She really wants to be Caprice for you,

1360. if you know what I mean.

1361. And I know that you do.

1362. And Dotrice's assassination?

1363. Assassination?

1364. Fancy word for murder.

1365. He was a leader.

1366. He had a cause.

1367. Whatever it was, it was a surprise to me too.

1368. You have a bad habit of not telling me things.

1369. It makes it difficult to function.

1370. I'm telling you, we didn't know about it.

1371. Maybe...

1372. Maybe

1373. his crazy wife got to him somehow.

1374. I don't know.

1375. No, no, no.

1376. Well, it doesn't matter who killed him.

1377. It's going to make him a martyr.

1378. Just what the cause needs.

1379. The cause?

1380. Sounds like you are becoming a believer.

1381. If you're going to be good at living undercover,

1382. a part of you has to believe.

1383. Saul!

1384. Saul!

1385. Oh...

1386. Uh!

1387. Uh, uh-uh.

1388. You are in pain.

1389. Uh...

1390. Was I?

1391. What's it like?

1392. Physical pain?

1393. Yes.

1394. It's hard to be clear about it.

1395. It becomes...

1396. part of the dreaming.

1397. mixes with

1398. the emotional pain of the dreaming,

1399. so it's-it's...

1400. It's confused.

1401. I...

1402. I almost thought...

1403. I almost thought I was...

1404. I was feeling.

1405. Ah.

1406. Ahh...

1407. Did you dream about Dotrice?

1408. Dotrice...

1409. Djuna and Brecken.

1410. They were all in the Sark

1411. together.

1412. A family autopsy.

1413. Who was at the controls?

1414. You.

1415. And I.

1416. We both were.

1417. Well, Saul...

1418. what do you think?

1419. - Yes. - I think yes.

1420. It's time to try it.