"Edison Carter calling Network 23." "Network 23, are you receiving me?" "[Man] This is Network 23." "Not receiving." "Intermittent loss." "Edison Carter to Network 23." "Come on, guys." "Clear this link." "Network 23 to Edison Carter." "The link is strong and clear." "Two minutes to air time." "Your controller is Gorrister." "[Edison] Thank you, 23." "Gorrister here, Edison." "Stand by." "Gorrister, what's Carter's ETA?" "I can have him on the ground on 30 seconds." "All right." "Good." "All right." "Bring up that satellite view." "Edison, we're going to lead with you." "[Edison] Copy that, 23." "On the air. 15 seconds." "Stand by to roll tape." "5, 4" "[Announcer] The award-winning Edison Carter in the..." " 3, 2..." " What I Want To Know world." "This is Edison Carter answering the questions other people are afraid to ask." "What I want to know is this-- who died today in apartment complex 142 zeta, and who is trying to suppress the story?" "Come with me now, live and direct-  [Man] Run eyewitness." " ...on Network 23." "We don't know what happened." "And now the Metropolice are everywhere." "There was this awful noise, and then a woman came out running." "They're taking her off." "I think they'll have to scrape him off." "Will you give me that wrench?" "[Edison] Control, I'm getting out of the chopper now." "Okay." "[Gorrister] I want you go to North 300." "There's security on the main door, so I'm going to bring you in on the east side." "Okay, I want you to go right." "Now turn left down that alleyway." "[Young man] Hey, look at that vidicam." "This door coming up on your left is a service entrance, probably locked." "I have indications of two security guards." "Go straight to the intersection." "Turn left." "The apartment's the third door on the right." "[Guard] Hey, where did this reporter come from?" "[Woman] Isn't that Edison Carter?" "[Edison] What's the woman's name?" "McWilliams, Gladys." "It's the dead guy's wife." "Mrs. McWilliams, my name is Edison Carter." "Network 23?" " Oh, yes." " We're on the air, ma'am." "Could you tell me what happened to your husband yesterday, please?" "Oh, it was horrible." "Stu was watching the game on TV, and the commercial came on, and so I went to get his bisonburger, and" "It's fantastic." "They stunned her." "[Edison] On whose authority are you sedating this woman?" "[phone rings]" "[Edison] 200 million people want to know where you're taking her." "What is it?" "Not now." "For God's sakes, we're on the air." "But, uh, Carter's on the scene." "The story is going out live." "It's incredible material." "Have you looked at our ratings?" "The numbers are up 3 points in the first five minutes." "Yes." "That is perfectly clear." " [Man] Look out for the big scroll." "[Woman] It's coming up on" "All right, Ted... cut up your story on 5." "Continuity, cover me with a stand-by intro on my mark...now." "[Man on TV] This is Colin Maxwell at" "Gorrister, your story's been pulled." "Get Carter out of there now." "Now!" "Control, what's going on?" "Story's been pulled." "Pulled." "Roll me in backup tape." "I'm not dropping this." "The story's been pulled." "The word just came down to Murray." "I'm bringing you back." "Gorrister." "Gorrister!" " Here." "Report this!" " Uhhn!" "[Man] Hey, look!" "It's a vidicam!" "Hey!" "I take that!" "Gorrister!" "Come on, Gorrister!" "Make it a chopper rush!" "[Man] Control, this is chopper 7." "Looks like Edison needs help." "[shouting]" "[Man] Come on, you idiot." "Don't let it go on." "[Man #2] Oh, get a load of this." "Hey, hey!" "[Edison] Gun it, Martinez!" "Gun it!" "Let's go, let's go!" "Get me back to Control!" " [Woman] Hey!" " [Murray] Edison!" "What the hell's the problem?" "I damn near got killed is the problem." "They pulled the story." "I pulled you in." "You cut me off!" "No job is over until the reporter's back at base, you little idiot." "Always pulling that prima donna crap!" "Get him away from me, Murray!" "It's my neck out there!" "I just want a controller I can trust." "The best." "Listen, Edison, I was out there once." "I know how you feel." "I want the best." "[Woman] We have not regained contact with Edison Carter, so now, direct from Alaska..." "This is big, isn't it?" "I don't know." "Isn't it?" "It was pulled from high up." "Mm-hmm." "Very high." "[Man] Yes." "Yes, yes, yes." "Yes." "Well done." "Well..." "I'm able to report that Edison Carter was pulled off the air." "The incident has not gone public." "Are we certain the incident was connected" " with the blipvertisements?" " Not yet." "But I've asked Bryce to meet us on the video link." "Now leave him absolutely to me." "He's our top man." "[Woman] Head of Research and Development on link, Mr. Grossberg." "Ah." "Bryce." "I trust we're not intruding." "I'm rather busy, actually." "I've just succeeded in computer generating a parrot onto the screen." "My congratulations." "Whatever next?" "It squawks." "I see." "Bryce, I understand you have some information regarding your blipvert project, which might help explain the unfortunate, um, accident in apartment 142 zeta." "I have a classified rebus tape which recorded the incident during a routine two-way sampler at the time." "It is a bit graphic, I'm afraid." "[sports announcer on TV]" "[voices speeded up] Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" "[explosion]" "My God." "Bryce, is there any way to explain this...side effect?" "Oh, yes." "It is rare but explicable." "See?" "The human body has millions of nerve endings." "Each carries an electrical charge-- individually very tiny, but in combination surprisingly large." "Now, normal people just burn this off in exercise, but in inactive people it sort of builds up." "Now, because I designed blipvertisements to compress a 30-second advertisement into 3 seconds, it seems that the brain violently stimulates all these nerve endings simultaneously." "In some viewers, this seems to cause to cause a short circuit throughout the body, and some particularly slothful perpetual viewers literally explode." "Pretty simple, really." "Simple." "It won't be so simple if news of this leaks out." "My God." "Come on, Ben." "The only people that inactive are pensioners, the sick, or the unemployed." "I mean, who really cares?" "Bryce, is there any way to resolve this side effect?" "Well, that really isn't my problem." "See, my brief was to find a way to compress ads to stop channel switching." "I mean, I only invent the bomb." "I don't drop it." "[laughing]" "Yes." "Well, unfortunately," "Edison Carter nearly stumbled onto the incident." "And if people knew about this" "Well, then don't tell them." "Well, thank you, Bryce." "These blipverts can be big trouble." "We cannot abandon blipverts." "The conventional ads give viewers time to switch channels." "We are the only channel with blipverts." "We lose them, and we lose the Zik-Zak Corporation to our competitors." "And I do not intend to lose our major client." "Edwards, ratings analysis, please." "Overnight low at 115 million, high at 236 million." "Projections are excellent." "We're still top network." "I intend to keep it that way." "[Man] Something wrong with Channel 5." "ou wanted the best." "I got you the best." "I know, but I just don't want to meet her now." "Shut up." "Edison Carter, Theora Jones." "Hi." "Uh, she just said hi." "Hi." "You've heard of her, so behave yourself." "I managed to pry her away from World 1." "Oh, yeah." "You think you can handle him?" "I don't know." "Well, watch him." "He's, uh, he's a charmer." "How's your head?" "Fine." "How's yours?" "Right." "Where would you like me to start?" "No trouble, or I stop your pocket money." " You know the rules." " Yes, we do." "What do you say we start by breaking one?" "See what you can get on this rash of reporters being pulled off hot stories for no reason." "Edison." "See if you can kind of, uh, access the inaccessible." "Edison, come here." "Now leave it." "Back off." "I mean it." "What is so special about some microwave oven going pop?" "Oh, come on, Murray." "Since when do Metrocops carry microwaves?" " Edison." " Unless they're cooking their lunch." "[Theora] How about this?" "Uh, that's the executive level." "You won't get in there." "This is about as inaccessible as I can get." "All right, Theora, what you got on the line apart from the dirty pictures?" "Okay, let's see." "Well, there's a missile missing from AKG." "That's hot." "Do you fancy that?" "Uh, no." "Assassination of the whole medic team in Bolivia." "Nuclear submarine explodes." "What about that one?" "Hmm." "Well, it is possible the situation is way out of control." "Wait a second." "Got to do something about that kid." "Bryce isn't the problem, Ben." "We've got to keep the blipverts on the air." "Keep them on the air?" "How can you say that after Bryce's rebus tape?" "I've got no choice." "We're committed." "The Zik-Zak Corporation's advertising contract with us is positively massive." "[Ben] Massive or no, if this gets out," "Network 23 is in very serious trouble." "Carter got too damn close to the truth this morning." "Theora, run that again, that last bit." "Carter got too damn close to the truth this morning." "Did I now?" "[phone rings] [answering machine switches on]" "[Woman's voice] Thank you for calling Network 23." "This is Daytime Control." "For Night Control, reselect 1987." "Or you can leave a message." "We'll get back to you in the morning." "Have a nice night." "[keyboarding]" "Hold your position." "Stand by." "Copy Control." "No, there's security on this level." "Keep going." "What do you suppose a rebus tape is?" "A rebus is a kind of puzzle." "Mysterious pictures." "Secret." "Got anything on that name yet?" "No Bryce listed as staff." "No payroll record." "They must have him hidden somewhere." "I'll check Medical." "Here we go." "Bryce Lynch." "Research and Development, level 13." "Uh, Theora, I hate to tell you this, but there's no level 13 in this building." "Oh, yes, there is." "Got it." "I'm here." "Open it." "All clear." "Proceed." "There don't seem to be any security guards at all on this floor." "I'm at the video lock, but I need the code." "I know." "I can see you." "Okay, give me a tight close-up of the key pad." "On my infrared now." "The keys that get pressed are fractionally warmer." "Let's see." "Okay, Bryce Lynch, 7th of October." "Hmm." "Libra." "Might have guessed." "God, he's just a kid." "Okay, try B-Zed-2-U-H." " Uh-uh." " Right." "Two different codes-- one in, one out." "Try I-J-2-F-I." "[door buzzes]" "[squawking] [squawk]" "I think I've got a prank caller on the line." "he says there's been a break-in on level 13." "What?" "Who's the caller?" "He said his name was Lynch-- Bryce Lynch." "Go to code red." "Now." "How about the playback unit?" "How'd you know?" "Was there ever a kid who put things away?" "Even a clever one?" "I know all about little boys." "Yeah, I just bet you do." "[grumble]" "Camera check, please." "Fine." "You can start the playback." "Edison?" "Edison, for God's sake, your camera's gone down." "[sports announcer on TV]" "[voices speeded up] Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" " Zik-Zak!" " [explosion]" "God." "Control, did you get all that?" "Control?" "Control?" "Control, where the hell are you?" "Edison, thank God." "I'm pulling you out of there." "[alarm blares]" "Edison, turn around." "Both elevators are full of security guards." " Here he is!" " Let's get him!" "[guards shouting]" "[Female guard] Outsider!" "[Male guard] Keep moving!" "Okay, turn right and stop now." "[Guard] Down, down!" "He took the stairs!" "Look!" "I don't want to be picky, but we're going the wrong way!" "Edison, there's someone else in the system." "Edison, grab something." "I'm going to hit the emergency brake." "Whoa!" "Darn." "Edison, get out of there." "I can't hold the brakes." "[chuckling]" "Edison, I don't know what to do." "Is there an express elevator on this floor?" "There's an elevator that can't go anywhere but the basement." "Okay, I want you to go right." "He's gotten away from me." "He's on his way to the basement." "No!" "Let's go!" "He's down there!" "He's there!" "Come on!" "[guards shouting]" "Uhh!" "[screaming]" "Heh heh heh heh." "[Ben] But why?" "[Bryce] He saw the rebus tape." "Carter's the best known reporter we have." "He satellites globally in prime time." "He saw the tape, Ben." "And I'm pulling blipverts now." "You'll do nothing of the sort." "For God's sake, you want this network destroyed after all we've gone through to build it?" "Blipverts have to be pulled, at least until we know how much danger we're in." "And get that man some medical attention." "Just how much did Carter uncover, Bryce?" "Why not just ask him when he wakes up?" "Bryce, your naiveté is almost endearing, but the point is that I need to know before he wakes up." "Well, perhaps we could read his mind." " Bryce!" " No." "I mean it." "I can make a memory dump of his synaptic circuits." "Synaptic circuits?" "Yeah." "His mind, you know?" "No." "I don't know." "The brain is only a binary computer, a series of on/off switches." "That the basis of my computer-generated people program." "I can record Edison Carter's memory into the computer, then regenerate him on screen," " just like the parrot." " [squawking]" " The parrot?" " Exactly." "Then we can ask his computer-regenerated image what he knows." "Before he wakes up." "All right." "But what about his controller Gorrister?" "He knows what's on the tape, too." "Unlikely." "I jammed the transmission." "Of course, I can't be certain." "Well, I'll just have to make certain." "Oh, I do so hate wasting employees." "[Theora] Casualty supervisor, please." "[Female voice] Casualty supervisor." "Yes, I'm tracing a Mr. E. Carter." "That's Edison Carter." "Ident number?" "Personal ident code 74928B DG6629." "Incident?" "Auto accident." "Section 5, area 23." "No, we don't have anyone answering that description." "Have you tried the body banks?" "Yeah, but body banks are for dead people." "Yes, of course." "Can't you get on with this?" "I'm making really quite a bit of progress." "Look, his childhood is here, his sexual memory there-- which is really quite interesting." "This is a quantum leap over my parrot." "Billions of bytes were required rather than millions." "[stammering]" "Um" " Um" "Ma" " Ma" " Ma-ma" "Ma-ma-ma-ma-m" "[Bryce] It's talking to me, Mr. Grossberg" "Max." "I think it's calling me Mama." "[stammering]" "What is that?" "Ma" " Um-um-um." "Ma-ma-ma." "Ma-ma." "Computer-generated Edison Carter." "For the moment there's only enough memory buffer to generate his head." "Too many coordinates for the rest of his body." "Um-um-um-um" "But you're looking at the future, Mr. Grossberg." "Ma-ma-ma-Max." "People translated as data." "M" "Max-x-x-x." "What's it saying?" "His circuits are randomizing a little bit." "I need more time on the recall generator." "It's bouncing." "It takes a while for the frames stored to read out all the information." " Max." " Well, damn it, Bryce, how long is this going to take?" "I've got a difficult decision to make, and we're running out of time." "Unfortunately, his most recent memory's rather scrambled, probably from the blow to the head." "It could take quite a while to sort through it." "We don't have quite a while." "I'm afraid our star reporter's just going to have to disappear... permanently." "[Men chattering]" "I'm listening." "Yes, sir." "We can do that right away." "There will be the usual expenses, of course." "Discretion is our trademark, sir." "[laughing]" "Another nice accident, then?" "It's just a carry-out." "It's on the way." "Max." "Max." "Max Headroom." " Max Headroom?" " Max." " Max." " Max." "Max Headroom." "All right." "Now what happened?" "I don't know." "He keeps shifting his memory location." "He?" "This was live and-- live and direct-- di-di-di-dir-- What I have here?" "What I want to know is identify station." "Enter da-da-da-data now." "Excellent." "Let's enter Network 23." "This is-- is live and direct" "N-N-Network 23." "Am I on air?" "I'll be damned." "I beg your pardon?" "Was that thing talking to me?" "Now he's talking to you." "Well, say something back." "Uh, hi, Max." "Hi, b-both of you." "Welcome to Network 23." "Want to check these ratings?" "I seem to have an audience of two." "[both laughing]" "This is fantastic." "Hello-Hello-Hello." "And welcome to N-N-Network 23." "Live and direct, it's Network 23." "The network where t-t-two's company and three's an audience." " Ha ha!" " Wait a minute." "Where does all this stuff come from, Bryce?" "The components of Carter's mind." "But he's adding to it." "He's learning, Mr. Grossberg." "Ha ha!" "Is he still alive?" "He's a bit alive." "Hey, nasty bump on the head, though." "Easy, Luddite." "Hands are rare and expensive items, worth more than cameras." "[laughing]" "Metropolice just called me." "Gorrister's missing." "There was a break-in in his apartment last night." "They suggested we check the body banks." "[Female voice on P.A.] This zone is reserved for complete bodies." "Please unload and move on." "Parked vehicles will be cited." "Small organs to Zone Blue." "Please have your deposit forms ready." "Gather up what you can." "We'll talk price when I see the bits." "Goodbye." "Two for tonight, huh?" "All right, let's have a look." "Seems familiar." "Was he on TV?" "People pay extra for celebrity parts." "Definitely." "[both] On TV." "Yeah." "Uh-huh." "For what's the bonus for a live dead body?" "Clinical brain death only carries 20 points." "This one's still warm." "And famous." "There's got to be a value in that." "There is." "20 points." "Do you realize how much we have at stake at this particular point?" "[Woman] Ben, you're not listening to me." "[arguing]" "Enough!" "[silence]" "Chaos is not helpful." "Please, be seated." "Edwards, what exactly did the Zik-Zak Corporation say?" "Their whole campaign is designed to use blipverts to prevent channel switching." "Ordinary ads allow channel switching." "Their view is that they could buy time on any network for that." "No blipverts, no deal." "We can't reinstate blipverts." "They're lethal." "You know that." "That hasn't been proven." "If the rebus tape isn't proof, what the hell do you need, a live demonstration?" "Ben, I find that tasteless." "Nevertheless, blipverts are killing people." " Some." " Maybe." "Look, I've heard enough of that." "We're talking business here." "We're talking ratings." "You should be talking people." "[scoff]" "The same thing." "Why don't you give us your analysis, Ben?" "To what do you attribute the ratings drop?" "We're only down 2%." "2% is 6 million viewers, and if they start channel switching, it's war." "You know that, Ben." "We're used to it." "it happens all the time." "But if we were still using blipverts instead of regular adverts, there wouldn't be any channel switching." "Blipverts have been off the air only 10 hours, and our ratings are actually 3.7% down, not 2%, as you suggest, Ben." "I'm going to reinstate blipverts." "And that is final." "[keyboarding]" "Nightingale's Body Bank." "Florence speaking." "Can I help you?" "Yes, I'm looking for a body-- male." "Any particular piece in mind, honey?" "No, the whole thing." "Name of Gorrister." "Oh, yes." "Heavy guy." "He's here, all right." "He's in Cryo, freezing down." "I see." "Thank you." "Anything else?" "Yes." "You wouldn't happen to have an Edison Carter, would you?" "Mm, no one here by that name." "But we do have a lot of Blank Does." "Care to see them?" "Is this him?" "Yes, it is." "Then let's have a look." "Well, his head is a bit dicey, but otherwise he looks good." "Supposed to be some kind of a celebrity." "Yes, he was." "Look, Florence, what do I do" "I mean, what do I do if I want him?" "Do?" "Just pay and pick him up, honey." "You want him alive or dead?" "You mean he's still alive?" "Ladies and gentlemen," "I would like to show you something truly remarkable from Research and Development." "Get me Bryce on the link, please." "Mr. Lynch's latest development is of even greater significance than blipverts." "This will in fact revolutionize television." "This network has the world's first completely programmable presenter." "Bryce, would you please introduce us to Max Headroom?" "What kind of sh-sh-sh-show is this anyway?" "[laughter]" "This is not a show, Max." "This is the executive board of Network 23." "Oh" " Oh" " Oh." "Exec-Exec" "E-E-Exec" "You mean you're the people who execute audiences." "[Max popping lips]" "Heh!" "Uh, this, of course, ladies and gentlemen, is a completely computer-generated person." "Yes, t-t-t-tune in to Network 23, the network that's a real night blower." "And I love-love-- love-love-love-- love those blip-blip-blip-blipverts." "That's enough, Bryce." "Thank you." "He's got quite a sense of humor, doesn't he?" "Yes." "I think I need to come see you, Bryce." "This zone is reserved for complete bodies." "Please unload and move on." "Load number 28-dash-40." "Small organs to Zone Blue." "Please have your deposit forms ready." "You'll make a lovely couple." "He's a good value at that price." "Enjoy yourself." "You idiot." "Don't you have any idea how catastrophic this whole thing could be?" "I'm sorry, Mr. Grossberg." "It was an oversight." "Oversight?" "This computer-generated geek of yours knows everything that Edison Carter knew." "He knows about the rebus tape." "He knows about the blipvert effect." "It's a simple matter, really." "Simple?" "A reporter and his controller are both dead, and my position as president of Network 23 is jeopardized." "There's no reason to panic." "I can simply erase his memory." "Er-Erase?" "What good is he to Network 23 without his memory?" "Not all his memory." "Just the parts pertaining to the rebus tape and the blipverts." "And you're sure this can be successful?" "Completely successful." "Then do it now." "All right, where is he?" " [parrot squawks]" " I don't know." "You don't know?" "He's shifted his whole entire file set to some other place and memory." "What?" "Please, Mr. Grossberg." "This is very unusual." "I require absolute concentration." "What has happened?" "He's gone." "Gone?" "He's escaped into the system." "Escaped?" "Find him." "You know..." "I get the feeling there's a lot of faces out there watching...me, and I can tell you it brings a lump to my ratings." "Yes, this is Network 23, the net-net-network that puts you right... where they want you to be." "[Female voice] Good morning, Miss Jones." "This is your daybreak call." "It's a lovely morning." "The sun is shining, but there's a slight chill in the air." "Your breakfast is preparing, and your shower is ready." "Good morning." "Good morning." "You feeling okay?" "Yeah." "Why?" "It was quite a night." "[exhale]" "What happened?" "You don't remember?" "You had an accident." "You mean we-- we didn't..." "No, we did not." "Are you sure?" "Maybe we did and just forgot." "By the way, we didn't get the recording of the rebus tape from Bryce's lab." "Your camera cut out." "I got to get into some of your clothes." "Edison, you can't go back." "And I'll be talking to you about Zik-Zaks' 1000-volt C-C-Christian converter!" "Just plug yourself in, and your friends will see the light-- a very large flash of light." "Ha ha!" "Bryce, if you don't get that computer-generated geek off my network, you will cease to have a future-- any future." "Do you understand, Bryce?" "It's all right." "I've traced him." "I'm jamming his transmission codes now, if I'm lucky." "Lucky?" "Well, he's terrifically versatile." "It's rather exciting." "This is not exciting, Bryce." "This is catastrophic." "I'd k-k-k-keep-keep... talking to you if I had time, but it's not in my hands." "I just haven't got any-- hands." "[chuckle]" "Or time." "But I'll see you again." "And again and again and again." "Look at the ratings." "We went up 2 1/2 points just in the time he was on." "Murray, I'm going to need a live news feed override with an open EQ sometime in the next 45 minutes." "What's up?" "I've got a story that's going to blow this network." "Who's in the field?" "Edison Carter." "Theora." "He's dead." "Grossberg is holding a press conference this morning." "Then I guess Edison will be broadcasting from the grave." "How's that for a story?" "What is going on?" "No going." "They've changed the codes." "Okay." "Let's try the ventilation system." "What is that?" "It's computer-generated, whatever it is." "It looks like Edison." "[parrot squawks]" "Mr. Carter." "Hey, there." "N-N-N-Nice of you to drop in." " I thought you were..." " Dead?" "Yeah." "So did I." "Um, I'm glad you're not." "Thanks, kid." "Where's the rebus tape?" "I'm afraid Mr. Grossberg's got it." "Was there another one?" "There was only one." "He's r-r-r-right." "But you don't need one." "You saw the tape." "It's in your memory." "Therefore, it's in Max' memory." "Max?" "Max." " Max Headroom." " M-M-M-M-Max Headroom." "He's a computer-generated person based on you." "He's not perfected yet." "But everything you saw is in his memory." "Hi, Max." "Hi, M" " Hi, Max." "Edison, we can record Max' memory on camera, and we'll have the rebus tape." "Uh, this will be the first time" "I've ever shot material from beyond the grave, especially when it appears to be me." "Let's go on the line." "Two minds but with one single memory." "Ah." "[voices speeded up] Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" " Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" " [explosion] [phone beeps]" "Cheviot." "What do I do, Mr. Cheviot?" "Do what you have to do, Murray." "[chatter]" "[Man] Okay now." "Here we go, here we go." "Ladies and gentlemen, we have very sad news for you today." "Network 23 regrets to announce its award-winning news reporter and on-air personality Edison Carter was killed yesterday while on assignment." "You're on the air live in five seconds." "Edison Carter was more than just a popular figure on Network 23." "He was an inspiration to all of us." "Edison Carter was one who always was striving" " to reach the truth." " [murmuring]" "This is Edison Carter coming to you very much live and direct on Network 23." "The news of my death, Mr. Grossberg, is obviously premature." "And now I'd like your comment on the revolutionary form of advertising called...blipverts." "And their shocking and lethal side effects as demonstrated in this rebus tape." "Okay, control, roll the tape." "[voices speeded up] Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" "Zik-Zak!" "[Man] Hey, here he is, here he is." "Hey, looking pretty alive." "[Woman] Ha ha!" " [Woman #2] All right!" " [applause] [no audible dialogue]" "And I-I-I'll be back in a few moments with more from Network 23." "Hi." "Hi." "No, this is not a blip-blip-blipvert." "This is Max Headroom on Network 23." "And I" " And I-- And I know that right now you're looking at me and you're thinking" "Wow, wow, he could become a star." "So, so before you get the wrong idea about me, let me just say very humbly... you're right." "I could." "Now, I d-d-don't want to be gloomy, gloomy, but what does the future hold?" "Some say" " Some say it holds the promise of a young olive branch, which-which-which means" "I might have to turn over a new leaf in the future." "How can you tell when our network president is lying?" "His lips move."