"Yes, we received your payment." "No, it wasn't late, but it was for 78.13, and the bill was for 78.31." "Okay." "Great." "No, thank you." "I think it's the intake manifold." " Was I right?" " Not even close." "I think I just like saying "intake manifold."" "Maybe when I get a job, I'll get AAA." "I thought you worked at the water company?" "Temping- how's your parents?" "They're doing okay." "I should, um, get going, actually, for dinner, but, um, we should make a plan." "I'll send you a text." "Or we could do that now since we're both here." " What?" " Nothing." "Okay." "Nice of Mercer." "I always thought you two would make a good..." " Morn." " ..." "Couple." "Boy from the neighborhood?" "That would've been cute." "Remember when he fixed the roof?" "Stop." "He's not..." "I know, I know." "Any word on the insurance?" "Uh, they won't cover the cost of igiv." "It's $40,000." "So, you know, surprise, surprise!" "It's not on their list." "Oh, enough of all that." "Come on, honey." " Help me up- - okay." "Here, you got it?" "Thanks, Mae." " Okay." " Yeah." "That's it." "Well, not so fast." "Okay, and turn--just-- you okay?" " Yeah, I'm good now." " Okay." "What are you doing right now?" "I'm at work." "I come here each day, and in return, i receive money to buy goods and services." "Oh, well, I've got to be quick, I'm in Germany." "Why are you in Germany?" "Regulatory mess." "Those guys do not screw around." " But listen, I got you an interview!" " What?" "I got you an interview tomorrow." "Yes, I did." "Really?" "No." "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, I did." "Tomorrow." "Holy shit." "Annie, I love you." "Remember, it's just customer experience, so answer phones, help people, what you're already doing, but now, a real company." "I know." "It's perfect." "Tons of people started there." "I know, I know." "Thank you." "Stop saying that." "We're hiring a hundred people this month." " One of them might as well be you." " Right." "Good." "This doesn't mean you're in." "You have to kill the interview." "Know the circle inside out." "I'm back next week." "By then, you'll be hired if you kill the interview." " Okay." "I will." " You can do it, Mae." "Own it!" "Ij"" "how would you describe what the circle is to, say, your grandmother?" "Take trueyou, for example." "It combined everything that was separate and sloppy into one account." "No more forgetting your password, multiple identities, identity theft." "You use your real name, which is tied to your credit card..." "I think grandma's falling asleep." "Okay." "Before trueyou, it was like you needed a different vehicle for every single one of your errands." "And no one should have to own 87 different cars." "It doesn't make sense." "It's the chaos of the web made elegant and simple." "Speed round." "Paul or John?" "Early Paul, late John." " Mario or Sonic?" " Early Sonic, late Mario." "Introspection or communication?" "Uh..." " Mae?" " Sorry, I'm thinking about it." "So, that's introspection." "Sushi or soylent?" " Sushi." " Ever owned a velcro wallet?" " Yes." " Velcro shoes?" " Yes." " Velcro pants?" "Yes." "What was the name of the receptionist who checked you in this morning?" "Um..." "Linda." "Joan baez or Joan Crawford?" " Joan didion." " "Gif" or "jif"?" "I'm not answering that, there's too much at stake." "Would you like to go out with me?" "That's very inappropriate." "Good." "Quality or convenience?" "Not mutually exclusive." "Needs of the society or needs of the individual?" " Should be the same." " You're most scared of?" "Unfulfilled potential." "Ij"" "all right." "Heliport, gym, daycare, organic farm, pétanque." " Pétanque?" " Oh, it's like bocce but French." "Oh." "Tetherball, lap pool, social pool, doga." "Kennel, night club, salon, maker space, rock climbing, trampoline, clinic, volleyball." "Was that-- was that the..." "Content people, news, arts, film, engineers, management, and me, advertising, and you." "Ij"" "all right." "Let's go." "Your legs are so long." "What?" "It's all on sensors." "The elevator reads your ID and it says, "hello."" "We do that for visitors mostly." "They're usually impressed." "Annie, that's the worst picture of me ever." "Oh, come on-- oh." "Oh, dear." " Danny!" "' What's so, you remember Dan?" "I'm handing you up, you're all grown up." "I have the privilege and the honor to give you your brand new tablet, Mae, and I sent the password to your phone." " Oh, my god." "It has my name on it." " Uh-huh." "Oh, this is too sad." "You take care of my little girl." "I will." "If we don't give customers a human and humane experience, we have no customers." "It's pretty elemental." "Jared will be doing your training." "I oversee the team, and Jared oversees the unit." "As you know, you'll be doing straight up customer maintenance for the smaller advertisers." "You work in your portable here." "It's gonna match the customer experience, and it gets routed over to one of you." "Random at first." "But once you start working with a customer, they'll continue to be routed over to you for the sake of continuity." "You get the query, figure out the answer, you write them back, and that is the core of it." "Simple enough in theory." "So far, so good?" " Yeah." " Cool." "So, let's say you've answered a client's question and they seem satisfied." "Now, it's not just that you get a smile or a frown, though that is part of it, you get your smile-- it's almost always a smile." "Um, that is when you send the survey." "The survey is a set of quick questions about, you know, your overall service, how you did, and they send that immediately back and you get to see how you did right here." "That is the rating." "Uh, you know what?" "Let's just do a live one." " Excuse me." "Okay." " Sorry." "...nice day." "That's pretty good." "Ninety-nine is good, but I can't help wondering why it wasn't one hundred." "Let's look." "Okay.." "boom." "Sometimes you just encounter someone who isn't really sensitive to the metrics, so it's important to ask them and make sure you get that clarity." "And we're back to a perfect score, yeah." "Oh, wow." "All right." "Are you-- are you ready to do this on your own?" " Yes." " Awesome." "Excuse me!" "Terribly sorry." "Hey, how's it going?" " I thought you were in Amsterdam." " Oh, just for a day." "Then London, then New York, now here." " Have you slept?" " A few hours on the plane." "A couple of pills, I'm good." "So you, first week?" " Ugh." " What?" "You have an 87 average." "That's like a solid b." "How long till I'm fired?" "Listen, when I first started, it took me a few weeks to really get the hang of it, believe me." "Okay?" "Believe me, you're doing fine." "You're good, all right?" "Hello, I'm eamon Bailey." "Thanks." "Thank you, thank you." "So glad to see you all here." "Now, a bunch of you are new to the company since I last spoke, so can the guppies all stand up?" " Right." "That's you." "Get up." " Come on, guppies, just stand up." "Guppies, stand up, come on." "Congratulations." "Nice to have you." "Now, now, guppies is just an affectionate term for you baby fishies." "Soon, you will all grow to become powerful..." " You're adorable." " I hate you." "The-- the fish that guppies grow up into be-- what, what do they grow up into?" "I don't know." "Anyway." "All right, this is dream Friday, the latest in our long tradition of presenting our newest innovations." "The first dream Friday featured Ty lafitte, the inventor of trueyou and our founding father." "And usually, we feature one of our engineers or our visionaries, but today, unfortunately, it's just me, and for that, I apologize in advance." " We love you, eamon!" " Thanks, morn." "Now, you might not have seen me around campus for the last few days, and maybe you're wondering just where the heck I've been." "Surfing!" "Argh, you got me." "Yes, I've been surfing." "And that's part of what I'm here to talk about." "I love to surf, and in the past, i would have to wake up and call the local surf shop to ask about the local breaks." "And pretty soon, the local surf shop stopped answering their phone." "And then I got a cell phone and I could call up my buddies who were already out at the beach before me." "And I could ask them, but they too stopped answering their phones." "And then came... the Internet." "Whoa." "Some geniuses set up cameras on the beaches, so I could log on and get some very crude images of the waves at Stinson beach." "It was almost worse than calling the surf shop." "Here's how it used to look." "Almost useless, right?" "But now, let's refresh that page and show the site with our new circle video delivery." "Now that looks pretty good, doesn't it?" "Yeah, maybe I should be out there right now." "But would it surprise you to know that this is not coming from some big camera, but actually just one of these?" "This camera needs no wires." "It transmits this image via satellite." "I set up that camera this morning." "I stuck it to a tree near the dunes with no permit, nothing." "In fact, no one even knows it's there." "And actually, i was pretty busy this morning because here's rodeo beach, montara, ocean beach, fort point, this is my front yard." "And here's my backyard." "Here's traffic on the 101." "Oh, did you think this was just a camera?" "No." "Welcome to real-time analytic processing." "When you see this, you're also getting this." "Air quality, traffic volume, weather patterns, biometrics, facial recognition, saved and searchable, all to serve you better." "My friends, we are looking at retailing these in just a few months for less than a pair of jeans." "And I'm not talking about fancy jeans." "I'm talking about the ones like I'm wearing." "Now, circlers, do you like to share?" "Sharing is caring!" "Sharing is caring." "I thought you might say that." " Sharing is caring?" " Sharing is caring." "Well, I have a dozen helpers all over the world right now carrying these cameras." "Imagine the human rights implications." "Activists no longer have to hold up a camera." "Now it's as easy as gluing a camera to a wall, and actually, we've done just that." "Do you see any cameras here?" "No." "We have 144 cameras in place here, and it took us just a day to do it and they're virtually invisible." "They come in every color, so camouflaging is a cinch." "This is my favorite." "Oh!" "Nice catch." "Sign her up." "So now, the entire world is watching." "You know, I agree with the hague, with the human rights activists all over the world." "There needs to be accountability." "Tyrants and terrorists can no longer hide." "We will see them." "We will hear them." "We will hear and see everything." "If it happens, we'll know." "We're calling it seechange." "Seechange." "Oh, and we'll go to good things, too." " Aw!" " Aw!" "We will see it all because knowing is good..." "But knowing everything is better." "Good thing you guys like to keep things modest." "What's this party even for?" "Seechange, summer solstice, everything, nothing." "Come on." "Let's be the only ones here that know how to dance." "Oh, my god, is that Beck?" "So Bailey-- what's he actually like?" "You're in the gang of 40s." "Yeah, but I don't get a ton of alone time with him." "I mean, you know, a lot of people work in the white house, but how many people really get to know the president?" "Oh, actually, do you wanna see something?" "Oh, my god, you need to see this." "Follow me." "Okay." "This is it." "Nice knocker." "Holy shit, right?" "Right?" "I think all of these have got to be first editions." "Oh, but, urn, you have to give me a verbal nondisclosure agreement, okay?" " Annie..." " Seriously!" "We shouldn't be here and probably won't ever be here again, so verbal n da." "I promise not to disclose anything." "Good." "This is where Bailey and stenton make all of their plans." "It's very serious." "I mean, this is high nerd, right?" "Oh, no, you probably shouldn't play with-- with this?" "You're such a dork!" "Wow." "So, this is where it all happens." "To be a fly on the wall, right?" "We should get back to the party." "Well, you should, at least." " You're not coming back?" " Got work." "Annie, it's like 11:00." "I've got Australia in a few minutes." "Ah!" "Ah-ha, actually, a few minutes ago, but you have fun, okay?" " Annie!" " You're gonna have so much fun." "So, I heard there's a party around here." "You know, if that's, like, your kind of thing." "Yeah, maybe I'll check it out." "It's probably not as interesting as whatever's on your phone, though." "Okay, probably not." "You want a drink?" "I do, but they ran out, like, an hour ago." "I think they did, too, but shh..." "Are you serious?" "Whoa." "You have glasses in there, too?" "It's my, uh, party trick." "Oh." "All right." "Thank you." "You're new here." "You are, right?" "How can you tell that?" "I don't know, I just guessed." "That's really embarrassing." "Sorry." "What do you think?" " Of this?" " Yeah." "I'm excited." "Mm-hmm." " Sorry..." " Okay- it's just that everyone that works at the circle is so excited to be here, and they just want to tell everyone about it all the time," " you know, it's just-- - like, "here, try this kool-aid!" " Delicious!" "You'll love it!"" " Kool-aid?" "Oh, wow!" "I love kool-aid." "Don't you love kool-aid?" "After my last job, where I just tried to calm down angry people all day..." "I'm just grateful to be here." "I gotta go put out a fire." "Sounds exciting." "Very." "So, uh, I'll leave you to it." "Have a drink, have a good time, and stay excited." "You're at the circle!" "Whoo!" "Hey!" "Did he tell me his name?" "I forgot it." " Stupid." " Have a good night, guppy." "Oh-- thanks." "The last shuttle will be leaving in five minutes." "Ij"" "I'm telling you, Mae-Mae, there's something about you." "You have a glow." "You do!" "I do not have a glow." "Like you're with child." "Ignore him." "So, it's been great?" "I don't think I ever want to work anywhere else." "I told, um, Carolina's mom..." "Might've let your salary slip." " Oh, mom." " What?" "It's been fun to casually insert it into conversation." ""My daughter works for the best company on the planet..." "And has full dental!"" "Please don't." "I just got lucky." " If it wasn't for Annie" " Annie, how is Annie?" "She's good." "Working too hard." "What does she do, exactly?" "She's in the gang of 40." "Uh-huh." "She's in on all the big decisions..." "Deals with the regulatory issues in other countries." "That sounds so important!" "Mae, hon, would you get your daddy another beer?" "Sure, dad." "Your hair." " It was a phase." " It was a cute phase." "You good?" "I'm good." "You should come visit me at work sometime." "At the circle?" "I'll give that idea a smile, right?" "They might think I was there to clean the toilets." "Come on." "They'd love you." "All those tech guys secretly wish they knew how to use a handsaw, make something out of wood." "That really sums me up pretty well." "It could be worse, I guess." "You know what I mean." "They'd want you to tell them about your secret hiking spots." "Oh, so they can put them on trueyou, ruin it forever?" "Ooh, biting commentary." "I mean, come on, you have to admit, like, smiles and frowns used to be for middle school." "Like, "hey, you know, do you like stickers and unicorns?"" ""Yes, I love stickers and unicorns." "Smile!" You know, and now..." "Now it's everyone." "I can't help it if you're not... social." "I am social enough." "I mean, isn't..." "This socializing?" "I assume you've heard about that senator that's trying to, like, break you guys up, citing antitrust laws, right?" "Give me a break, Mercer." "Don't you have to go and chop some wood or something?" " Thanks, hon." " Sure, dad." "His business is doing well." "Mercer?" "The antler chandeliers?" "They are beautiful, Mae." "He's making one for us." "Did I tell you I'm up to an 87 so far?" "They say that's pretty good for a guppy." " Who's a guppy?" " Well, that's great, Mae." "Bonnie..." "Hmm?" "Oh, come on, we'll go in the house." "Come on." " Dad?" " Honey..." " What happened?" " Please, Mae, let your mother." "Honey, just-- just-- just tell everybody that dad's not feeling very well, and they'll understand, really." "It's okay." "It's okay." "It's okay." "Dad..." "Please, Mae." "We got it." "It's okay." "Ij"" "come on." "See you soon, Mae." "Bye." "Today, I call upon the senate antitrust subcommittee to investigate the circle." "We cannot rely on them to say, "we're not violating antitrust laws."" "I'm sure the circle will be glad to cooperate." "We have every confidence that senator Williamson's allegations will be discredited." "You were probably wondering about your new screen." "Hi, I'm Gina." " I'm Matt." " Hi." "Dan said this would be a good moment to set up all your socials." " Do you have time?" " Sure." " Great." " I take it last week you were too busy to set up your company social account, and I don't think you've imported your old profile." "Sorry, I've just been kind of overwhelmed so far." " Oh." " No, in a good way." "I just haven't had time yet for extracurricular stuff." "Wow." "That's so interesting you put it that way." "We actually see your profile and the activity on it as integral to your participation here." "This is how your coworkers, even the ones on the other side of campus, know who you are." "Communication certainly isn't extracurricular, right?" "Right!" "Of course." "We consider you a full, knowable person of unlimited potential, and a crucial member of the community." "But you're such an enigma." "I am?" "It's been years since someone so shrouded in mystery started here." "Everyone really likes you." "Your work's been exemplary, strong ratings for your first week." "Are you satisfied with your performance?" "Uh, i-l think I can do better." "Good, but it's not all about work, okay?" "It's also about community." " Of course." " It's all connected." "But you've had a blip or two when it comes to meshing with the community, like your absence at several weekend or evening events, which are, of course, optional." " I'm sorry?" " Let's start with this weekend." "You left campus at 11:42 P.M. on Friday, and got back 8:46 A.M. Monday." "Was there work on the weekend?" "I didn't-  oh, no, no, no, no." " So sweet." "There wasn't mandatory work on the weekend." "This isn't like a clock in, clock out type place, thank god!" "But, you know, there were thousands of people here, participating in a hundred different activities." "So many!" "I'm sorry, I..." "My dad had an-- an episode, and I was home helping outwith that." "I'm so sorry to hear that." "Ls that related to his ms?" "Uh... yeah." "We didn't know anything about this incident." "Did you reach out to any circlers during this crisis?" "Annie, anybody?" "Uh, no, I... no." "Mae, there are four groups here for staffers dealing with ms, two of them for children of ms patients." "Have you sought out a group?" "I didn't know..." "Okay." "Can you talk about what you did the rest of the weekend?" "Nothing, really." "I just..." "I kayaked." "You kayaked?" "With who?" "Nobody." "Just on my own." "I kayak." "We could've kayaked together." "Nothing on your profile about kayaking, no smiles, no ratings, no posts?" "I'm no psychologist, but this behavior sometimes stems from low self-worth." "This is what participation is all about, bringing you, lifting you up..." "Thus, your participation window." "I can't believe you've been here this long without being on the main social feed." "You're about to have your world rocked!" "See, these are all of last week's messages." "That's why there's so many." " 8,000?" " Mm-hmm!" "Looks like you have a lot of catching up to do here." "A feast!" "Have fun!" "Oh, forgot." "One more thing." "This is your participation rank, parti-rank for short." "Some people here call it the popularity rank, but it's not really that." "It's just an algorithm-generated number that takes into account all your activity in the inner circle." " That make sense?" " I think so." "Okay." "And again, it's just for fun." " It's just for fun!" " Okay, bye." "Ij"" "it's been a long-- when are you coming home?" "We miss you!" "I can't!" "You know." "How's the dorm?" "Do you have to clean your own room?" " They have people to do that." " Ooh, thank god." "How's dad?" "He's okay." "He..." "He fell yesterday, and I couldn't lift him up, but thank god Mercer came by." "He's stronger than I thought." "I'm sorry." "I should've been there." "Is that one of his?" "Yeah!" "I think it's his best work." "It's awesome." "I gotta go, mom." " I love you." " Okay, well, bye." " Bye." " Bye." "Ij"" "I'm so sorry about last week." "I've been up my own ass, and I didn't mean to be a shitty friend." "It's okay." "Where are we going?" "Listen, I've been looking into your parents' situation, and I think I have an idea." " All right?" " Yeah." " Hi!" " Hi." " This is Jessica." "This is Mae." " Hello, Mae, how are you?" "I understand you haven't done your medical intake yet." "No." "Can you drink this for me?" "All of it, if you can." "I told you about Mae's dad." "Mm." "Multiple sclerosis." "I did my post-doc on Ms." "I'd love to get some real-time data." "There you go." "How does this feel?" "Warm." "Oh, is this for free?" "Of course." "You get to keep it." "So, it's gonna feel warm for a few days." "Then you and the media band will get used to each other, but it has to touch the skin to work." "Waterproof, no need to take it off." "Let's activate it, shall we?" "Is that the--?" "Well, it's syncing up with the sensor you ingested a second ago." "And now..." "Let's have you walk around the room." "Briskly." "It'll collect data on your heart rate, blood pressure, cholesterol, sleep duration, sleep quality, digestive efficiency, on and on, and all that data is stored in the cloud and in your tablet, anywhere you want," "and, of course, it's all collated with the rest of the circle." "You'd be amazed at the patterns we see and the problems we can avoid when we have all that data." "Speaking of which, I was thinking it would make sense for Mae's folks to come on the circle health plan." "Uh, wait, what?" "It wouldn't be the first time, and I'd really like to get real-time data from your dad." "Sit back down." "Can you get in touch with hr, clear it with them," " tell them I say it's a go?" " Yep." "Absolutely." "We'll send someone out to set them up, okay?" "Honey, this is gonna save our lives!" "Thank you!" "Thank Annie, too!" " They thank you." " Oh!" "This is so great!" "Your dad's gonna call you later, okay?" "Okay, I gotta go." "Big event here on campus." " Exciting." " I know." " Love you!" " I love you too." " Bye, mom!" " Bye." "Thank you." "Aww... you're welcome." "All right." "You okay?" "Okay, come on." "Openness is something we advocate here at the circle." "We live it." "We demonstrate our commitment to openness every day." "Our government, not so much." "We expect openness, and we get obfuscation." "We get doublespeak." "I mean, no wonder congress's approval rating is currently at 11%." "Now, I'm sure a lot of you have heard about a certain senator who, it was revealed, has been involved in some..." "Very unsavory business." "What are we to learn from this?" "We need accountability." "We need openness." "We need to know what the people who represent us are doing with their time on our dime to serve us better." "Well, I'm happy to report there is a woman who is taking all of this very seriously, and is taking some pretty dramatic steps to address the problem." "So, please join me in welcoming Olivia Santos, congresswoman for district 14." "Ij"" "that's right, tom." "I am as concerned as you are about the need for citizens to know what their elected leaders are doing!" "So I intend to show exactly how democracy can and should be." "Starting today, my every meeting, my every phone call and email will be accessible to my constituents and to the world..." "In real time!" "It will all be on my trueyou page." "That's right." "Thank you!" " Thank you!" " Goodbye, back-room deals." "Goodbye, shady lobbyists." "Hello, democracy!" "Open and accountable!" "That's right, that's a fact." "I'm thrilled to..." "I work in customer experience." "I started in ce, too." "A lot of us did." "Cool." "Where do you work now?" "Biometrics" " Iris scanning, facial recognition." "Right now I'm working on child track." "The program protects children from predators." "The second a kid isn't where they're supposed to be, an alert goes off, and the kid can be tracked down within 90 seconds." "Wow!" "Do they wear a bracelet, or-- we place chips in the bone." "You're-- you're serious." "I'm serious about immediately reducing kidnapping, rape, and murder by 99%." "I think I'm gonna get a drink, but..." " Oh." " It was nice to meet you." "Nice to meet you." " Hey!" " Hey, check your email," " 'cause I sent you an invite." " Awesome." "Thank you." " I'll see you." " All right." "You too." " Hi, Mae, how's it going?" " Hey!" "You having fun?" "Yeah." "Ij"" " hgy- - hey" "so, what did you think about the whole presentation?" " The Santos thing?" " Yeah." "It's exciting." "It's... a momentous moment in the history..." "Okay, what did you really think?" "I thought it was a bit much." "Just a little bit." "So, where's all the data go?" "Is it stored somewhere?" "In the cloud..." "There's a physical place, too." "Do you want to see something?" "Ij"" "so, you're gonna have to leave your stuff outside before we go in." "It's just because you're not supposed to, you know..." "So, I'm just gonna have to take this and this." "I want to thank you already for this." "I love following strangers down dark corridors." " This is the best." " Almost there." "This holds congresswoman Santos, every second of her, from now on." "And this will be the next one." " Just these?" " Oh, no." "There's more." "What is this?" "Oh, it's supposed to be a part of the subway, but they abandoned it." " Where does it go?" " It connects to the bay, but I've traveled about a half a mile into it." "Gets too wet." "And that's where the rest of it will be." " Rest of what?" " The rest of it all." "Santos is just the start." "The plan is everything recorded, seen, broadcast, all of it stored, analyzed, available to the circle in any way." "You did your health intake, right?" " Yeah." " You see, right?" "Look." "Every step, every breath, all of it, stored." "They can use it however they see fit." "We're being studied." "Everyone's data in the circle is being studied, monetized." "It is voluntary." "And isn't that the whole point, having everything in one place?" "I mean, that's trueyou." "That's not why I invented trueyou, not even close." "Ty laffite invented trueyou." "Yeah." "I'm Ty." "No, you're not." "Ty laffite's been off the grid for years." "Oh, my god." "I'm Ty." "Why the low profile?" "I just wanted to move through this world like a normal person." "I didn't want to be watched every second." "I do spend a lot of time here." "It's easier." "I don't have to deal with stenton and Bailey, not that I'm privy to their conversations in their little sanctum." "Holy shit!" "I'm in a cave with Ty laffite." "Now, hold on." "So, when we met, you didn't know who I was?" "You never told me your name, and after a while, it was just weird to ask." "I knew I could trust you when I met you." "I don't know, i just thought to myself," ""this girl, she doesn't have a cynical bone in her body."" "Reminds me of how I used to be." "Listen, you can't tell anyone that you were here, okay?" " That I brought you here." " Okay." "Things at the circle..." "They need to change." "Like what, connecting the world?" "Insuring my parents?" "You should be really proud of what you created." "No, proud?" "Proud of what?" "The disregard for privacy?" "The use of personal data for the accumulation of wealth and control?" "I'm not proud." "This is not what I created." "Do you think senator Williamson being investigated by the FBI is just a coincidence?" "We can't be seen together, and you have to promise me, you can't tell anyone that we were down here." "Ij"" "hello?" "Mae, you have a visitor here to see you." "In the lobby?" " Hey!" " Hey!" "I-  are you okay?" " No, I'm really not okay." "Why didn't you call, send a text?" "Because I wanted to see you in person." "I wanted to look you in the eyes." "Okay..- um, I'll sign you in." "No, just-- wait." "I..." "The stuff you posted about my work." "Your chandeliers?" "Yeah." "I know you meant well, but..." "What's the problem?" "I thought I saw good stuff going on." "They started calling me a "deer killer."" "And then there's a campaign to shut me down." "I wasn't even online." "I was working, and when I checked my email, there were death threats." " I'm sorry." " Death threats, Mae." "Obviously, I never meant for this to happen, but I..." "I can fix it." "Mae..." "Mae!" "Will you listen to me?" "I can't do this." "I can't be a part of this world that you're creating." "What are you talking about?" "Jesus Christ, look at these people!" "Does this really seem okay to you?" "Why don't you go kill some more deer, Mercer?" "I never killed any deer!" " I don't kill deer!" " Mercer, look." "Let's not do this here." "Let's go upstairs." " I'll figure it outwith you." " Do you ever leave this place, Mae?" "We used to go on adventures, and have fun, and see things, and you were brave and excited." "And now it's all filtered through this." "Bye." "I can't believe i was so stupid." "I'm so lucky you guys were around here." "Luck?" "Hell, seechange cameras saved your life." "The cop saw you go through the fence, and then we got a call from someone watching seals." "So, Mae, how do you feel?" "Ashamed." "I..." "I barely slept." "Well, I'm just glad you're safe." "We all are." "And everyone who watched your adventure online." " I hope your folks weren't too worried." " They're doing okay." "I understand your father's condition has improved." "Very much." "Mr. Bailey..." "I want to say how much i value my position here..." "And what you've done for my family." "Mae, you're a valued part of the circle, and of your family." "And we care about everybody you care about." "You know, this incident has actually shown a lot of people the necessity for seechange." "I'm so glad those cameras were there." "Well, I wish you would've known there was a camera there before you swiped that kayak, but..." "Mae, tom and I want to talk to you about an idea, but before we do..." "Ls there anything you want to tell us?" "That I've been here before?" "It's only our lies that get us in trouble, the things we hide." "Of course, I know you've been in here before." "And now that I know your secret, do you feel better or worse?" "Better." "Relieved, actually." "I am a believer in the perfectibility of human beings." "When we are our best selves, the possibilities are endless." "There isn't a problem that we cannot solve." "We can cure any disease, and we can end hunger, and..." "Without secrets, without the hoarding of knowledge and information, we can finally realize our potential." "This is a special dream Friday." "I thought I'd change it up a bit today and not have a speech, but an interview." "I had a conversation with a young circler the other day that I wanted to share with you." "I've asked Mae Holland, who some of you might know is one of our new guppies in customer experience, to join me today." "Mae's only been with us for a few months, but she has made quite an impression." "Let's bring her out." "Mae Holland!" "Well, hi, Mae, how are you?" "Terrified." " Don't be nervous." " Easy for you to say." "Right." "All right." "Mae, we have all seen the seechange footage from the other night, but please describe what happened for us." "I committed a crime." "I borrowed a kayak without the owner's knowledge, paddled out to the middle of the bay..." "And I wasn't wearing a life jacket." "Well, I'm not sure that's exactly a capital offense, but you did risk your own life." "So, Mae, do you think you behave better or worse when you are being watched?" "Better." "Without a doubt." "What happens when you're alone and unobserved?" "Well, for starters, I steal kayaks." "Jesus." "She's a natural." "Seriously, I... do things i don't wanna do." "I lie." "When we spoke the other day, you had a way of putting it that I thought was very interesting and succinct." "Could you tell us all what you said?" "I said that secrets are lies." "Secrets are lies." "Go on." "Secrets are what make crimes possible." "We behave worse when we're not accountable." "I was my worst self because I didn't think anyone was watching." "I thought..." "That I was alone." "So, what did you see on this kayaking trip, Mae?" "Was it beautiful?" "It was." "There was almost a full moon, and it felt like..." "Felt like I was paddling through liquid silver." "Mm." "It sounds incredible." "But there's no record of any of it." " Not outside my own memory." " Hmm." "Okay." "So, now here we get into something personal." "As you know, i have a son, Gunnar, who was born with cerebral palsy." "And though he's living a very full life and we're always trying to improve his opportunities, he is confined to a wheelchair." "And he-he can't walk, he can't run, he can't go kayaking." "So what does he do if he wants to experience something like that?" "Well, he watches video." "He looks at pictures." "And much of his experiences of the world come through the experience of others." "When he experiences the view of a circler climbing mount Kenya, he feels like he's climbed mount Kenya." "When he sees first-hand video from an America's cup crew member, he feels, in some way, that he's sailed in the America's cup too." "And these experiences were facilitated by generous humans who shared what they saw with the world, my son included, and there are many others out there that are just like Gunnar." "Now, does it feel right to have deprived them of seeing what you saw, Mae?" "It doesn't." "It feels very wrong." "It was selfish." "When you deprive others of experiences like the ones I had..." "You're essentially stealing from them." "Knowledge is a basic human right." "Access to all possible human experience is a basic human right." "Tell 'em, Mae!" "Thank you, Mae, for your candor and your consummate humanity." "Now... now the best part." "In the interest of sharing everything she can with the world," "Mae has" " Mae has some news." "From now on..." "I'll be wearing a modified seechange camera..." "At all times." "I'm going fully transparent." "Well, maybe not in the bathroom." "I'm gonna be starting immediately." "That's right!" "Mae will be the first circler to share every single second of her work and her personal life with the public, so let's give her an even bigger hand!" "Mae!" "Mae!" "Mae!" " Hello." " Good morning, everyone." "Sun is shining, and I definitely need my coffee." "We are in my third week of transparency, and we're up to... 2,308,007 viewers." "Wow." "Did I tell you guys I'm not a morning person?" "Okay." "Among all of those viewers are..." " I don't even know-- - hi, morn." "Hi, dad." " Hi!" " Hi, Mae." "Say hello to everyone." " Hello, circle!" " Hello, circle!" "Look!" "We match." " Yeah." " We sure do." " These are great." " Very stylish." "I love you guys." "I'll see you later." " Love you!" "Bye!" " I love you too, sweetheart." " Hello, circlers." " Hi, Mae." "So, this is where I worked when I first arrived at the circle, and this is where I still work at the circle, because even though I have you guys looking over my shoulder," "I'm still basically a guppy." "Do it!" "Do it!" "Do it!" "Oh, my god!" "Tell her own story." "Stop looking that ashamed!" "All right, that's our scene." "Okay." "So, next up, we just need the name of a person who is historically significant." "Mae Holland!" "Oh, my god, shh!" "Sorry, we don't know who that is." "She is nobody, trust me." "Ij"" "home sweet home." "Speaking of which, let's check in with the folks." "Hey, where are you guys?" " Yeah." " There." "There you go." "Whoa!" "Aah!" " Keep going." " Urn!" "Shit." "I hope the engineers are watching, because that definitely shouldn't have happened, and it definitely won't happen again." "You can trust me there." "Ij"" "this is me brushing my teeth." "If you're enjoying this, I'm worried about you." "Good night, everyone." "I'm not gonna lie, it was a crazy day, but I'm happy I had you with me, each and every one of you." "Ij"" "never a boring day here." "A lot of you guys have been asking me about this sculpture, which is a treat for me." "I finally get to use my art history degree." "This was made by an artist who's frequently been in trouble in his own country." "I want to thank all the watchers who sent frowns to the government there, both for their persecution of the artist, and for their restriction on Internet freedoms." "We have sent 180 million frowns from the us alone." "You can bet that's gonna have an effect on the regime." "Annie!" "Annie!" "Annie!" "Annie!" "Annie!" "Annie allerton!" "Are we alone?" "I have three minutes to use the bathroom without the video on." "Ugh." "Pervert." "How are you?" " Good." " Well, you should be good." "You're killing it." "Do you think?" "Oh, come on, false modesty won't work here." "You should be psyched!" "Yeah." "I am." "You're a meteor." "It's insane." "People are coming to me trying to get to you." "It's crazy." "How are you really, Annie?" "You look wiped." "Thanks, Mae." "You know how much I like to be told right after I appear in front of your millions that I look terrible." "Thank you." "You're sweet." "Let me take you for dinner." "You gotta eat sometime." "With your camera and me looking so terrible, that sounds fantastic, but no." "L just" " I'm-- I'm worried about you." " You're working too hard." " You're worried about me?" "You're" " I'm worried about the eu, but it's good to know you're worried about me." " I didn't mean it in that way." " Don't worry in any way." "I know you can handle it." "Oh, thank you, Mae!" "Your confidence in me will be the wind beneath my wings." "How are your parents?" "Sorry." "They're over that little... episode?" "I haven't heard from them, actually." "Guess it'll just take some time." "Sorry, Mae." "Shit." "I'm fried... and I have to pull another all-nighter." "Stenton is on my ass all the time." "I shouldn't have questioned him about that whole senator Williamson thing." "And then... there's all the new work on completion..." "But I assume Bailey told you about that." " Of course." " Of course." "I'll be there at the concept kingdom meeting tomorrow." "What?" "There's a concept kingdom meeting" "I know what it is, but you're going?" "Yeah." "Bailey said I should be there." "And broadcast it?" "Is that a problem?" "No, I'm just surprised, that's all." "Those meetings are sensitive." "You know, maybe he's planning on having you attend just the beginning." "Mae, you're in over your head." "Are you leaving?" "Yeah." "I'm really so far behind on everything, i could just die." "Annie?" "Hello." "See you." "So, here's how many people voted in the last national election." "Here's how many were eligible to vote." "And here's how many Americans are registered in the circle." "And there's that guy." "So, now we get down to the meat of today's session, something we've discussed with congresswoman Santos and others-- what if your circle profile automatically registered you to vote?" "With trueyou, in order to set up the profile, you have to be a real person with a real address, the complete personal info, real social security number, with all the information that the government wants" "when you register to vote." "So, why wouldn't the state consider you already registered when you open a circle account?" "There's no reason!" "We've got verbal commitments from governors of almost every state, and they've agreed to push for legislation that would make your circle account an automatic path to voter registration." "I think it's a great idea." "Well, yes, Mae?" "Why couldn't we take it one step further?" "I mean, I..." "I don't have it completely figured out yet-- no, no, no, no." "Go on." "Go on." "Go on." "Go on." "You started really well there." "I like those words, "one step further." It's how the company was built." "Okay." "Working backwards from your goal..." "Go on." "...we all agree 100% participation is what we like." "100% participation is the ideal." "That's the idealist's ideal, yes." "And we already have 83% of voting-age Americans registered to the circle." "Yep." "And it seems we're on our way to users being able to register, and maybe actually vote through their circle account..." "Well, that's a small leap, but yes." "Okay." "Go on." "Why not require every voting-age citizen to have a circle account?" "Let her finish." "Let her finish." "Okay, I know the initial reaction will be resistance." "I mean, how can we require anyone to use our services?" "But there are all kinds of things that are mandatory for citizens of this country." "We have to pay taxes we don't want to pay, and we have to pay for social security." "We have to serve on juries." "Right, and we have to pee indoors, not on the street." "We do, we do have to pee indoors." " She's right." " I mean, we have thousands of laws." "We require citizens to do hundreds of things, but we don't require them to vote?" "They're already doing this in dozens of countries." "With the technology we already have, users will already be registered." "That means you have 241 million voters eligible to vote." "You have 241 million voters that have to vote." "You have the full will of the nation." "And how exactly do we do that?" "Annie." "Well, you know, it could be something as simple as a zing." ""Hey, Annie, remember to take five minutes and vote."" "That's what we would do with our own surveys." "You know that." "But, Mae, what about stragglers?" "We all pay taxes..." "And, what, 80% of us did that online last year?" "Why not stop duplicating services?" "Why not just make it all part of one unified system?" "You could pay your taxes, vote, pay your parking ticket, all through your circle account." "We'd save users hundreds of hours of inconvenience." "We'd save the government billions." "Hundreds of billions." "We could eliminate half of it overnight." "Why wouldn't the government just build a similar service?" "Why the hell do they need us?" "It would cost too much." "They don't have the expertise." "We already have the infrastructure." "You are absolutely right." "The government needs us more than we need them." "Imagine having the full will of the people..." "Instantly." "You'd have true democracy for the first time in human history." "This is such bullshit." "No voter suppression." "You're voting from home!" "Think of the implications for totalitarian regimes." "No more rigged elections." "The un can demand that they're held through the circle." "But only if everyone is heard." "Absolutely." "Every human on earth." "We can take the pulse of the nation." "Everyone in the world in seconds on any subject." "It's the only way, right?" """ " Right!" " ' Yeah!" "So, it looks like I've got 20 minutes here." "Let's try morn and dad." "It's totally cool, man, Saturday night." "Get you in on it." " Hey, Mae, what's up?" " Hi." " Hey, sid..." " Yeah?" " Hey, where've you been?" " Mae." "I've seen your cameras aren't working." "I can send tech out-- yeah." "Yeah, we disconnected them." "Sweetheart..." "We're sorry, but we can't keep doing this." "Lt's-- it's more than we ever-- you know, we love you and we don't want to-  love you, love you-  we have to have our privacy." "And we're worried you don't realize what you've gotten yourself into." "I'm so sorry." "I didn't mean to hurt you." " It's not you." " Oh, we know that." " It's us, we..." " Yeah, it's us." "...just need you to understand that." " I love you." " We love you too." "Bye,honey." "You're the one, Mae!" "You're changing the world, Mae!" "Ij"" " Mae, we love you!" " We love you!" "Hello, everyone." "I'm Mae Holland." "Okay." "We've had some good weeks thinking about completion, envisioning a day when everyone is in the circle, when all of humanity is connected and united, and it will happen." "Already, 22 nations have agreed in principle to operate their elections through the circle, with mandatory participation from all of its citizens." "When everyone is united, everyone is known, heard, accountable, they can be better served." "But what about the people who aren't part of the circle, who don't want to be woven into the fabric of society, or worse, want to tear at that fabric?" "I want to introduce soulsearch, and we're putting it to the test in front of the entire circle audience, here and globally." "Do you feel ready?" "Hell, yeah!" "Lined it up so far." "Great." "In seconds, the computer will select at random a fugitive from justice, a proven menace to our global community." "Our assertion is that whoever he or she is, soulsearch will locate them in under 20 minutes." "Wow." "Let's select that fugitive." "Okay." "This is Fiona highbridge, 44 years old, born in Manchester, england." "She was convicted of triple murder in 2004." "She locked her three children in the closet and went on holiday to Spain." "They all starved." "She was sent to prison in england, but escaped with the help of a guard who she apparently seduced." "Over a billion people are watching." "Let's see how many are in the uk." "Do you all think 14 million brits and a billion global participants worldwide can find Fiona highbridge in under 20 minutes'?" "Yeah!" "All right." "Let's bring up the clock." "Good." "Is everyone ready?" "On your mark, get set..." "Go!" "Okay." "Time to get serious." "Ij"" "I've got her, Mae." "That's her." "Be careful." "I will." "Fiona, don't!" " Follow her!" " Stop her!" "Somebody stop her!" "She's a killer!" "Stop her!" "Somebody stop her!" " Go!" " Grab her!" "Stop her!" "Somebody grab her!" "She must be kept safe." "Keep her safe." "Fiona-- well done!" "Are you a kid killer, eh?" " You can't get away, killer!" " No, no, no!" "Oi, watch it." "Stop the clock." "Soulsearch, baby!" "I guess that's it!" "Soulsearch, whoo!" "Soulsearch!" "Let's do another!" "We could..." "Maybe not a fugitive this time." "Let's try for a regular civilian." "Okay, everyone, we're gonna find a regular person." "It can be anyone." "A relative, a lost love." "When everyone can be found, we can never lose a friend." "We can take a suggestion from the audience." "Uh,anyone?" "Find Mercer!" "I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to be found." " Anyone else?" " Where's Mercer?" "Mae, this is what sou/search is all about, as well as completion." " Other suggestions?" " Find Mercer!" "This is the whole point of soulsearch, Mae." " No." " Mercer!" "Mercer!" "No,no,no,no." " No." "I" " Mae, this is the right choice!" "Hey!" "Hey, everybody." "Hey, I think it's time to reunite Mae and Mercer, don't you?" "All right, and through the power of the circle, let's bring them back together again, okay?" "The perfect use of soulsearch." "Let's find your friend." "Go, Mae, now." "Okay." "Ij"" "so, our second soulsearch today involves not a fugitive from justice, but you might say a fugitive from, um..." "Well, friendship." "This is my friend Mercer." "Haven't seen him in a while." "I'd love to see him again." "Like Fiona, though, he's someone who's trying not to be found, but unlike Fiona, he's not a criminal." "He's good people." "Let's see if we can break our previous record." "Can't believe-- i can't believe that!" "Yes!" "There." "Do you think he's in here?" " Mercer!" " Mercer!" "Mercer, are you in there?" "Are you in there, like, killing deer, making chandeliers?" "Mercer, we know you're in there." "We see your truck, it's right here." " I think he's in there." " All right, just go around." "Mercer, come out!" "Remember to be nice, okay?" "Mercer, we know you're in there." "You found where he is." "You did it." "I think we should leave." "No, Mae, stay on this." "You've got millions of people enjoying this." "There he is." "There he is." "There he is." "We just actually found Mercer." "I cannot believe this." "There he is." "He's headed out the back way." "Leave me alone!" "Jesus Christ!" "You're kidding me." "Can someone please get me audio on the camera?" "Mercer, Mercer, stop driving." "It's just me." "Mercer, stop the truck." "You're surrounded by friends." "Will you turn the speaker up?" "Mercer!" "Can you hear me?" "Mercer, it's me." "You're surrounded by friends." "Mercer, stop!" "How you doing, sweetie?" "You've been in bed for three days." "Come out in the garden with me today, okay?" "I got some new snapdragons that need to be planted." "Okay?" "Honey." "Oh, honey." "Oh." "Oh." "Ij"" "Mae." "Where are you?" " Are we alone?" " Yes." " Are we?" " Yes." "How is it daytime where you are?" "Wait... you're in Scotland." "Yep, I went home." "Can you see?" "What happened?" "What, beside almost od'ing on speed and soylent?" "Well, I found out I'm allergic to wheat." "I'm..." "I don't know." "I guess I almost died." "Oh, come on, no, don't-- don't make me cry, come on." "No!" "I'm not gonna cry anymore." "You getting better there?" "Yeah, I am." "I eat, I look out the window," "I come out here, I think, I daydream." "Haven't done that in years." "I'm glad you called." "I didn't want to lose you, too." "I know." "Listen, Mae, I'm really, really sorry about Mercer." "I'm a shit friend." "I should've said something sooner." "I should've, and I'm sorry." "It's just so horrible." "Have they spoken to you about him?" "Not yet." "I'm going in tomorrow." "Uh-huh, they ask for forgiveness and never for permission." "They have to go." "They've broken a hundred laws." "They've made me subvert a thousand regulations." " There's gotta be a way to..." " What?" "Stop people doing bad shit?" "Well, yeah." "Do you need some time away here, too?" "I've got an extra bed if you want it." "This feels so good, just being with you, even like this." "Yeah." "Yeah, I know..." "This is gonna sound crazy, but I keep having this feeling that Mercer would still be here if we hadn't lost touch." "No, come on, what were you supposed to do?" "I mean..." "You know, he drifted away." "It happens." "Yeah, but we had all this technology, all this power." "Well, I mean, technology didn't exactly help the situation." "What if it could?" "Hey, your dad woke up at four this morning and your light was still on." "What were you doing in your room?" "Were you on the phone?" "It helped." "I have friends all over the world." "They care." "Hmm." " I spoke to Annie." " How is she?" "Good." "Better." "I realized how much i missed her." "I have to go back." "Go back where?" "Not to the circle." "The circle didn't kill Mercer, mom." "It was a bad tool, a bad system." "It..." "It can be fixed." "We're not gonna become amish, morn." "I..." "When someone dies in a plane crash, you don't abandon planes." " You make them safer." " Mae-Mae, at least wait a bit." "I'm the only one who can do this." "I'm sorry." "I love you." " U" hello?" " Hey, it's me." "Mae?" "How are you holding up?" "Better, actually." "I'm coming in to see them today, but I need your help." "Yeah, sure, name it." "Anything you need." "Ij"" "we were worried when we didn't hear from you for so long." "We were very concerned." "No contact for four days, your camera was off..." "How are you doing?" "I'm okay." "Torn and I've been talking about how little we knew about this young man, Mercer, 'cause he's someone we should've been able to help." "A fund should be established for his family." "Yeah, absolutely." "It's done." "Listen, Mae, we would like to offer you a new role here at the circle, with no formal obligation, maybe a lighter schedule." "You can choose your own projects and you can think long-term." "You could take pottery, if you wanted." "I don't know if you're aware of this, but one of our founders, Ty laffite..." " Yeah." " ..." "Was given the same opportunity, and now he loves his freedom." "And I don't know if this is any consolation, but at our next dream Friday..." "We're going to imagine a world in which every disturbed young man could be kept safe." "Would you like to join us?" "I'm not sure I'm ready for that, but..." "Thanks for the invitation." "Take your time." "Ij"" " can't believe she's back." " That's her." "I did what you asked." "You won't believe the shit I found." "It's worse than I could've imagined." "And-- and look, Mae, I'm so sorry." "I never met him, but they should build a monument to Mercer." " Yeah." " I mean, this-- this changes everything." "Okay, he's the martyr who will wake everyone up, right?" "I don't know what you're planning, but if you turn that camera back on, whatever you say about the circle's heard around the world, and it changes everything." "Ij"" "hello." "Hello, again." " Hi." " Hey, Mae." "And that is how it should've been, how it could've been, but we didn't have the technology-- but we will!" "And when we do, when every vehicle is known and connected, the data we have will help us improve traffic patterns, keep drivers safe, and optimize circle services across all platforms." "Shopping." "Lodging." "Attractions." "Attractions like Mae Holland!" "Mae, come on out here!" "Come on out here!" "Gosh, Mae." "Hey, you're transparent again." "Look at that!" "Hello!" "Hello." "Mae Holland." " Mae!" " We missed you!" "Now..." "Mae is a brave person, because even amid her grieving, she knows that she has a responsibility to her followers, to the whole world, really." "Thanks for saying that, eamon." "And I couldn't agree with you more." "I know that tom, he agrees too, right, tom?" "You want to come out?" "Come on." "There you are." "First, I wanna thank everyone here and around the world for the support you've given me since we lost Mercer." "These past days," "I've realized something about myself and about the circle." "It's that I don't wanna be disconnected." "I don't wanna have to search for friends, family, my loved ones." "We lost track of Mercer, but what if we never lost touch with each other?" "What if instead of searching, we always knew?" "What I am proposing is radical openness and unbroken connection." "Hmm." " It would have to start here." " Mm-hmm, mm-hmm." "You know the usual hypocrisy of the digital world." "We want everything in the cloud and yet our leaders..." "Live above it." "So, I want to invite eamon and torn to join me in this experiment that they have pioneered." "I invite them to set an example for the circle and the world..." "To go transparent." "What do you say, guys?" "Will you join me?" "Wouldn't it be great to know their every move, their every word?" "From now on, every message, meeting, phone call, all will be public, knowable." "Never erased." "In fact, Ty lafitte has helped us make every document in the company's history public, every message, every plan, including, and this is my favorite part, every email from torn and eamon's accounts," "and their private accounts, and their secondary confidential accounts, and even their super-secret scrambled code accounts that nobody, not even their assistants or wives, knew existed..." "Until now." "It's all been sent to you already." "We're so fucked." "I think we're entitled to that kind of access, don't you?" "Yeah!" "Mae, you are a very brave woman to do this." "There are no more secrets." "Privacy was a temporary thing..." "And now it's over." "We won't live in the shadows anymore." "Hey, good timing." "Thank you." "Thank you." "I'm tired of hiding." "These passwords and secret knocks, the difference between public and private..." "Aren't you all?" "And come to think of it," "I'm tired of standing here in the dark." "Don't worry, eamon will catch up or..." "Maybe he won't." "Either way, it's time for a change." "We're gonna remake this place." "And if we do it right, we'll set an example for everyone." "The future won't wait." "Ij"" "hello." "Ij"" "ij""