"EXistenZ." "Written like this." "One word." "Small "E," capital "X,"" "capital "Z."" ""EXistenZ."" "It's new, it's from Antenna Research and it's here, right now." "We encourage consumer loyalty, and want you to help our testing." "We're a team, Antenna and you." "Those of you who have come to our invited seminars before will know that I normally lead the groups through new games." "But tonight it won't be me." "No." "For our test launch of eXistenZ by Antenna, we have brought you a special seminar leader." "Yes, it is." "The world's greatest game designer is here, in person, to lead you, our first test enclave, through her newest creation, eXistenZ by Antenna." "I give you the game-pod goddess herself, Allegra Geller." "Allegra!" "Allegra!" "Yeah!" "Allegra!" "The world of games is in a kind of trance." "People are programmed to accept so little, but the possibilities are so great." "EXistenZ is not just... a game." "It's an entirely new game system." "And, uh..." "It involves a lot of new toys, which you are going to be the first to try." "So..." "We have 12 prototype MetaFlesh game-pods, and that means for our first test enclave we need 12 volunteers to port into these slave units with the game-pod goddess herself." " OK, if I pick you..." " Hold it!" "Not so fast." "Oh, jeez." "Right." "I'm not late, am I?" "You can be part of the second wave." "You, and the guy with the grey hair." "You, sir." "This lady here." "Just come up." "Thank you." " Noel Dichter?" " Yes?" " I have to scan you." " It's a weapons check?" "More for recording devices." "Lot of money invested in these games." "We'll help you to port your pod into your bio-ports using Antenna Research's new..." " What's in this case?" " I brought my game-pod." "It's, uh, got original Marway tissue architecture." "Even though I couldn't afford the Antenna 15 upgrade," " I figured out this method..." " You won't need it tonight." "Everything's provided for." " How are you doin'?" " Two hours, tops?" "Oh, two, three hours." " So, three?" " Yeah." "OK." "Everything's in order." "Ready, Allegra?" "Sure, this is my favourite part." "Take it away." "All right." "I'm ready to download eXistenZ by Antenna Research into all of you." "Now, I'm warning you." "It's going to be a wild ride." "But don't panic..." "No matter what happens, OK?" "See ya back here in no time at all." "She seems to be very shy." "Never occurred to me that a big star would be shy." "She spends most of her time alone designing her games." "She'd prefer it if she never had to show them." "Death to the demoness Allegra Geller!" " No!" " Aah!" "Death to Antenna Research!" "Aah!" "Get her out of here." "Save her." "There might be more." " Go!" " Me take her?" "We have enemies in our own house." "Trust no one!" "Trust no one." "Miss Geller, you're coming with me." "I'm responsible for you." "You're supposed to come with me." "What are we gonna do out here?" "Do you know your way around?" "Know any country people?" "Not country people, games people." "Countryside's full of games development people:" "Project coordinators, little factories, you name it." "OK, you know your way around." "We can hide out." "Maybe." "It seems I have some enemies I didn't know I had." ""Death to Allegra Geller."" "Would you like hearing someone with a gun screaming" ""Death to Ted Pikul"?" "Wow." "Hey, how'd you know my name?" "You're labelled." "Yeah." "What's that?" "It's my pink-fone." "Ted Pikul." "What happen..." "What?" "Hey!" "What did you do that for?" " That was our lifeline." " That was a range finder." " With that they know where we are." " "They?"" " You mean head office." " I mean anybody." "Pikul, why don't you have a gun?" " What?" " You're not armed." "You're my security, but you have no weaponry." "Who told you that?" "I'm just a marketing trainee." "Fucking hell." "I'm marked for death, and they send me out with a PR nerd!" "Marked for death." "Marked for death." "Oh, jeez." "OK, don't sweat it, Pikul." "Don't sweat it." "I'll handle it." "And, uh, right now we need to stop." "We do?" "Why?" "So we can have an intimate moment together." "If you're gonna do it, do it." "OK." "OK?" "Mm-hmm." "Ahh!" " Did somebody bite you?" " What?" "What I just dug out of you..." "It's a tooth." "A human... tooth." "Let me see that weirdo pistol." "Yep." "The bullets are human teeth." "This one's got a cavity." "That thing can get past any kind of metal or synthetics detector." "It's all flesh and bone." "I suppose smaller calibre pistols would have to fire baby teeth." "The tooth fairy could go into the arms business." " Where were you just now?" " I was wandering through eXistenZ." "The new system, I mean." "I like it in there." "'Course, without another player, you're only a tourist." "It's frustrating." "Why won't you let me contact Antenna?" "They'll be going crazy wondering what's happened." "I mean, it's not like we've done something wrong." "We ran because we didn't know how many of them there were, right?" "We owe it to Antenna to let them know you're all right, and get them to send somebody to help who knows what he's doing." "Besides, I can't..." "I can't just keep doing this, whatever it is, you know, forever." "Not having any idea when it's going..." "Hey!" " What are you doing?" " Where's your bio-port?" "You've never been fitted?" "I can't believe it." "No, I was never fitted." "What do you care?" "You wanna get into the biz and never played my games?" "You've never played any game." "Look..." "I've been dying to play your games, but I have this phobia about having my body penetrated... surgically." "You know what I mean." "No." "I'm not sure I do." "Getting a bio-port fitted." "I don't know." "I can't do it." "It's too freaky." "Makes my skin crawl." "They just pop your spine with a hydro-gun." "They shoot the plug into it." "It's like getting your ears pierced." "With only an infinitesimal chance of permanent spinal paralysis." " I've read about it." " Hey, it's your chosen profession." "Besides, once you're ported, zzzt, there's no end to the games you can play." "You can't seriously wanna play games now?" "Not while we're being hunted down by crazy people." "My baby here took a huge hit in the church." "One of those UmbyCords got ripped out of her." "Ripped out of her, just as the game architecture was being downloaded from her to all those slave-pods." "That's a very vulnerable time for her." "She could be crying out for help right here, right now." "The only way I can tell if the game's not been contaminated, if the pod is not about to be crippled because of my negligence," "is to play eXistenZ with somebody friendly." "Are you friendly, or are you not?" "Sure." "All right." "Let's do it." "Let's do it now." "Let me see." "To get... an illegal, unregistered bio-port installed, at about midnight, we just drive up to your local country gas station, right?" "Anything else I can do for you?" "Well, Gas, you could check your bio-port plugs." "The what?" "Sparkplugs?" "You heard me." "My friend here has a bio-port problem." "A bio-port?" "Now, that's a sorta hole in your spine, isn't it?" "Lots of assholes here, but that's generally it." "I don't know why you'd be talkin' to me, lady." "Sure you do." "Oh." "Ohh." "Allegra Geller, you've changed my life." "What was your life like before?" "Before?" "Before it was changed by Allegra Geller." "I operated a gas station." "You still operate a gas station." "Only on the most pathetic level of reality." "Geller's work liberated me." " Liberated?" " Did you ever play ArtGod?" " Capital "A," capital "G."" " I don't have a bio-port." "Thou, the player of the game ArtGod." "Very spiritual." "Funny too." "God, the artist, the mechanic." "Funny." "Here." "Those are sterilised, aren't they?" "Don't worry." "The way they set things up you could fire in a bio-port in a slaughterhouse and never generate an infection." "Then why the clean overalls?" "It's a mental thing." "Helps me focus." "The one thing you don't wanna do is miss with the stud finder." " Oh, God." " God, the mechanic." "Step into my office." "See?" "That didn't hurt, did it?" "I didn't expect that to hurt." "I expect the next part to hurt." "Yeah, that's what I expect to hurt." "I haven't crippled anyone yet." " How many have you done?" " Three." "Well, you'll be my third." "Hey!" "Easy." "Easy." "What's goin' on, Gas?" "Hell, he's actin' like I'm attackin' him." "People usually pay me to do this." "Yeah?" "All two of 'em!" "As you can see, I've decided not to have a bio-port installed." "This is it, you see?" "This is the cage of your own making which keeps you trapped and pacing about in the smallest possible space forever." "Break outta your cage, Pikul." "Break out now." "Unh!" "The swelling doesn't last long." "Tomorrow, you won't even notice it." "I love it." "Great." "What's going on?" "!" "I can't move my legs!" "The procedure comes with its own epidural." "Just like when you have a baby." "Kinda like instant paralysis from the waist down." "That's why it didn't hurt." "It'll wear off in no time." "I'm gonna go wash up." "You two, make yourselves at home." "You don't have to wait for the swelling to go down." "You're gonna port into me..." "while I'm paralysed?" "You wanted to play my game, didn't you?" "Yeah, I did." "I do, but..." "Here?" "Now?" "It's an instant-on world, isn't it?" "What's that for?" "Feels... cold." "New ports are sometimes a bit tight." "Wouldn't wanna hurt ya." "How come... bio-ports don't get infected?" "I mean, they open right into your body." "Listen to what you're saying, Pikul." "Don't be ludicrous." "Don't you think you could call me Ted?" "Maybe afterwards." "Shit!" "Pikul!" "I can't believe it." "You blew my pod!" " You must have neural-surged!" " What?" "I jacked you in and you panicked." "Now it's totally fucked!" "This is a disaster." "I was nervous, but I didn't panic." "I was forced to trust you and you panicked and you neural-surged and you blew my pod." "You can get a new pod." "Pikul, in this pod is the only, the original version of eXistenZ, an entire game system that cost 38 million to develop, not including pre-release marketing costs, and I'm locked outside my own game." "I can't get me in or it out!" "Are you serious?" "That's the only version that exists?" "It's the only one and it's stuck inside and it's your fault." "I've devoted five passionate years to this strange little creature." "And I've never regretted it, Pikul, 'cause it was the only thing that could give my life any meaning." "Allegra, why is it my fault?" "I'm telling you I didn't..." "I did not neural-surge." "I didn't." "I didn't feel any surging." "It's not your fault." "It's my fault." "Oh, no, Gas." "Not you." "I wouldn't try to use that bio-port again." "'Cept maybe for a toaster or somethin'." "What's going on?" "You're worth a lot of money..." "if you're dead." " What are you talking about?" " You know what." "It's all over the countryside." "$5 million for her dead body." "No questions asked." "But, she changed your life." "Yep." "And now I'm gonna change hers." "Wait!" "Why did you install a bad port into me?" "There's a big bonus for killing Allegra Geller's latest game or whatever it is." "I think I just did that, didn't I?" "But can you kill me, Gas?" "Can you kill a person?" "Can you do that?" "Hide my body?" "Contact the crazies?" "Trust them to pay up?" "Hand over my now decaying, fucking grotesque corpse?" "Really expect them to hand over five mil cash?" "Don't you ever go to the fucking movies?" "I like your script." "I wanna be in it." "Oh, God, I think he's dead." " He wanted to kill you." " Yep." "That's two people in one day... who wanted to actually kill you." "I've never been more popular." "Allegra, we need help." "You're right." "I've gotta get this pod fixed." "We're going skiing?" "Hey." "Hey." "Look at that huge bug." "It's got two heads." "It's not a bug." "It's a mutated amphibian." "It's a frog-salamander-lizard thing." "Sign of the times." "What happens if somebody here wants to ski?" "Come on, Pikul." "Nobody actually skis anymore." "You know that." "No, don't use that!" "And bring me the sterile wash." "My darling." "Allegra Geller." "I'm so pleased and..." "s- so astonished to see you here." " Kiri Vinokur, Ted Pikul." " Hello." "Sterile wash." "Um, I hear this ridiculous story about some fatwa against you." "The company are desperately trying to find you." "Is this really serious?" "Are you in danger?" "There have been a couple of attempts on my life." "This is unbearable." "The company must stop this." "They owe you protection." "But I don't know if they can do anything." "It's open season on me." "Well, you will be safe here." "I assure you." "I will contact Antenna right away and have them come to collect you." "No, Kiri, don't." "You mustn't let anybody know that we're here." "I can't be sure that Antenna is completely safe for me." "I understand." "Yes." "You know, you can hide out in one of the guest chalets as long as you like." "And I'll make sure you get fresh towels." "And make sure I don't lose everything in here." "You bet." "Take that." "Good." "Pull this back." " What did you port into?" " Pikul's bio-port." "Really?" "That's what caused all the damage." "It was, uh, a flawed installation." "My first." "Well... it fried a lot of very expensive neural webbing." " You see?" " Looks like an animal." "Feels like you're operating on somebody's pet dog." "I told you, Landry, we have become glorified veterinarians." "Put a little in there, please." "The eXistenZ game-pod is basically an animal, Mr Pikul." "It's grown from fertilised amphibian eggs stuffed with synthetic DNA." "Only Antenna Research has this." "Wow." "Where do the batteries go?" "Very funny." "He's not kidding." "He's a total PR nerd." "It ports into you." "You're the power source." "Your body, your nervous system, your metabolism, your energy." "You get tired, run down, it won't run properly." "OK." "Landry here will finish up the pod work." "Now, let's, uh, get that nasty bio-port out of you, put a fresh one in." "Oww!" "It hurts." "I think it's infected." "No." "It's not infected." "It's just excited." "It wants action." "But I don't want action - me, I mean - the bearer of the excited bio-port." "My baby here has now taken three major hits, Pikul." "In the church, in the gas station and on the operating table." "The only way I can tell if everything's OK... is to play eXistenZ with somebody friendly." "Are you friendly, or are you not?" "You're telling me this thing will run off my body's energy?" "That's how they work." "See?" "You're humming' along already." "OK." "EXistenZ." "Only from Antenna." " Here we go." " You..." "You've got an unfair advantage, don't you?" "How can I possibly compete with the designer of the system?" "Well, you could beat the guy that invented poker, couldn't you?" "That one?" "Yes." "Are you sure?" "Yes." "I wouldn't recommend it." "The graphics on this one are better." "This is the one you want." "That one?" "That was beautiful." "I feel just like me." "Is that kind of transition normal?" "That kinda... smooth interlacing from place to place?" "It depends on the style of the game." "You can get jagged, brutal cuts, slow fades, shimmering little morphs." "This is amazing." "I had no idea." "Look at this." "Games I've never heard of." "Wait a minute." "That reminds me." "What precisely is the goal of the game that we're playing now?" "You have to play the game to find out why you're playing." "It's the future, Pikul." "You'll see how natural it feels." "Look at this." "Can this be the future?" "Ever see anything like this?" "These are delicate." "You got to be careful." "Yes, I can imagine." "Cortical Systematics is the latest and the hottest." "Not just a new game, but a new system." "Will it work with an industry-standard bio-port?" "I'm D'arcy Nader." "Welcome to D'arcy Nader's Game Emporium." "Is there anything I can be, oh, uh, helping' you with?" "We're just looking." "I have what you're lookin' for." "Who sent you?" "It's none of your business." "We're here." "That's all that matters." "God." "What happened?" "I" " I didn't mean to say that." "It's your character who said it." "Kind of a schizophrenic feeling, isn't it?" "You'll get used to it." "Things need saying to advance the plot and establish characters, they get said whether you wanna say them or not." "Don't fight it." "Just go with it." "Should you say this in front of him?" "Look at him." " What's he doing?" " He's in a game loop." "He won't come out of it until you give him some proper game dialogue." "Uh, this is tricky." "Repeat your last line." "Include his name so he knows you're talking to him." "We're here, D'arcy Nader, and that's all that matters." "Yes, you're right." "That is all that matters." "Now, you said you have what we want." "We're waiting." "You're going to need these micro-pods to download your new identities." "I assume that you both have had these industry-standard bio-ports that you mentioned installed." "Yes, of course." "We both have bio-ports." " We do, don't we?" " I assumed we did." "In the game we might not." "We better check." "Yeah, it's there." "Looks a little different, but it's there." "Yeah, I see what you mean." "Yes, we both have bio-ports." "Good." "Port in, a-and this will tell ya all you need to know... for now." "I'm-I'm gonna leave while you two, uh, finish up here, because, uh, it wouldn't be good for us all to be seen together." "I assume that Nader is our entry point into the game." " Yeah." "Kinda disappointing." " Nader?" "Yeah." "He's not very well-drawn." "His dialogue was just so-so, his accent..." "Yeah." "OK." "Pods are so small." "They plug directly into the bio-port." "OK." " Oh God!" " What?" "The whole pod just disappeared into your back." "It disappeared into my back?" "It's in my spine?" "!" "It's around my spinal cord?" "!" "It's just a game." "Do you feel anything yet?" "No, I don't." "I don't feel a thing." " Want me to do you?" " Yeah." "What the hell was that?" "That wasn't me." "It was my game character." "I wouldn't have done that." "Not here, anyway." "Our characters are obviously supposed to jump on each other." "It's most probably a... pathetically mechanical attempt... to heighten the emotional tension of the next game sequence." " No use fighting it, huh?" " What about... our new identities?" "Do you feel yours yet?" "They'll take care of themselves." "I'm very worried about my body." "Your what?" "Where are our real bodies?" "Are they all right?" "What if they're hungry?" "What if there's danger?" "They're just where we left them." "They're sitting quietly." "Eyes closed." "It's, um, just like meditating." "I feel really vulnerable." " Disembodied." " OK." "Don't sweat it." "All your senses are still operating." "You're gonna pop right out if there's a problem." "Forgotten who you are?" "Hey." "Hey, it works." "I must be Yevgeny Nourish." "And you, you are new to Trout Farm?" "Yeah." "Yes, I'm..." "I'm very new." " Did you say Trout Farm?" " Yeah, Trout Farm." "Trout Farm, raising baby trout from eggs and releasing them in rivers." "Entire place used to be Trout Farm." "From outside you would never guess it's a factory for making game-pods." "Seems like most everything used to be something else, yes?" "You seem to know what you're doing." "It surprises me more than it surprises you." "You seem to know what you're doing." "I've been trained by the very best." "So have I, my friend." "So have I." "Where are you planning to have lunch?" "I'm new here." "Uh..." "I have no plans for lunch." "May I suggest the Chinese restaurant in the forest?" "Everyone knows where it is." "Just ask." "Well, won't you be going there too?" "Unfortunately, I have other plans for lunch, but I suggest you order the special." "And don't take "no" for answer." "All right." "I'll do that." "Larry!" "Yes?" "They need this in the back room." "They asked for you." "Hey." "I saw you make contact, Larry Ashen." "What'd the guy on the line say?" "Can you believe the game version of your pod?" "It's sick." "And so unconvincing." "I mean, using mutated animal organs as game-pod parts is certainly feasible, but... everything here's so dirty, absurd, grotesque." "I saw you make contact, Larry Ashen." "What'd the guy on the line say?" "He told me where to have lunch." "We have nice sea bass today." "Shall I bring it for everyone?" "We want the special." "Did you hear me, Chinese waiter?" "We want the special." "The special is for special occasions." "I cannot give you the special." "But... this is... a special occasion." "It's... her birthday." "A birthday is a special occasion." "I will, therefore, bring a special for everybody." "I guess the special isn't very popular." "I guess not." " I want to pause the game." " Eh?" "The game can be paused?" "I mean, all games can be paused, right?" "Yeah." "Sure." "But why?" "What's wrong?" "Aren't you dying to see the special?" "I'm feeling a little disconnected from my real life." "I'm kinda losing touch with the texture of it." "You know what I mean?" "I actually think there's an element of psychosis involved here." "Yes." "This is a great sign." "It means your nervous system is engaging with the game architecture." "EXistenZ is paused!" "Did I do that?" "I guess I did." " So, how does it feel?" " What?" "Your real life." "The one you came back for." "It feels completely unreal." "You're stuck now, aren't you?" "You want to go back to the Chinese restaurant 'cause there's nothing happening here." "We're safe." "It's boring." "It's worse than that." "I'm not sure..." "I..." "I'm not sure here, where we are, is real at all." "This feels like a game to me." "And you, you're beginning to feel like a game character." "Definitely not." "Let's go back." "Special order for the birthday girl." "Hope you enjoy it very much." "Look, it's our two-headed friend." "Doesn't look too healthy." "I think I lost my appetite." "Oh, a shame." "Mutant reptiles and amphibians provide new and previously unimagined taste sensations." "Shall I clear all this away?" "No, um... we're... happy." "Very good." "Enjoy." "Pikul, what are you doing?" "I don't know." "I find this disgusting, but I can't help myself." " Good." " Good?" "You think this is good?" "Yeah, it's a genuine game urge." "It's something your game character was born to do." "Don't fight it." "I'm fighting it, but it isn't doing me any good." "Oh, my God." "This looks awfully familiar." "You sure this is OK?" "Yeah, it... should be OK." "Do you have that bridge in real life?" "Absolutely not." "My teeth are perfect." "Death... to the demoness, Allegra Geller." "That's not funny." "Sorry." "But, you know..." "I do feel the urge to kill someone here." "Who?" "I need to kill our waiter." "Oh." "Well, that makes sense." "Er, waiter!" "Waiter!" "When he comes over, do it." "Don't hesitate." "But... everything in the game is so realistic, I..." "I don't think I could." "You won't be able to stop yourself." "Enjoy it." "Free will is obviously not a big factor in this little world." "It's like real life." "There's just enough to make it interesting." "He's too nice." "I won't do it." "What can I do to make your lunch more pleasant?" "I found this in my soup, and I'm very upset." "It's all right!" "Just, uh... a little misunderstanding over the cheque." "Pay no attention, and enjoy your meal!" "I feel a serious game urge to get outta here." "Through the kitchen." "That way." "Did you like the meal I prepared?" "Yeah." "It was very... revealing." "Yes, it certainly was for me." "You both passed our little test with flying colours." " Why did the waiter have to die?" " Waiters hear many things... spoken when people are relaxing and eating." "A waiter has many opportunities for betrayal." " He betrayed you?" " He betrayed us." "Us." "Come." "This way." "Come." "These are the breeding pools." " Breeding pools." " Is this, er..." "Is this where you caught today's special?" "We originally were raising these mutant creatures for their nervous systems for game-pods, but then we found they could be quite tasty." "So we opened the restaurant, and now that is our cover." "But, of course, we're also raising them as components for undetectable and hypoallergenic weapons right under our enemies' noses." "And speaking of our enemies, it's important that you go back to work at Cortical Systematics." "We... we need to maintain as many agents there as possible." "The Trout Farm is owned by Cortical Systematics?" "Yeah." "Their corporate slogan should be "Enemies of Reality."" "Someday we will destroy Trout Farm and all game-pods inside it." "We love you... now that you have proven to be true and trustworthy Realists." "We'll be in touch." "I'm looking for D'Arcy Nader." "Hugo Carlaw, is D'Arcy Nader here?" "He's in the back." "You want him?" "There he is." "You shouldn't have killed the Chinese waiter." " Why not?" " He was your contact at the Farm." "Damn good man." "His, er, dog brought me this." "We were contacted by Nourish." "He seemed to know exactly who we were." "That's because Nader tipped him off." "Nader worked for Cortical Systematics." " You're with the Realists." " Yes." "I was placed here to keep an eye on Nader." "If Nourish isn't our real contact, who is he?" "Nourish is a double agent." "He was working with Nader to subvert the Realist cause, and rather well, after all, he got you to..." "assassinate your own contact." "But now you're gonna stop him." "I don't wanna be here." "Come on, Pikul." "You've just got a bad case of first-time-user anxiety." "I don't like it here." "I don't know what's going on." "We're both stumbling around together in this unformed world whose rules and objectives are largely unknown, seemingly indecipherable or even possibly non-existent, always on the verge of being killed by forces that we don't understand." "That sounds like my game all right." "Sounds like a game that won't be easy to market." "But it's a game everybody's already playing." "The cashier said it would be in a familiar place." "Is there such a thing here?" "My assembly bay." "Psst." "Is that it over there?" "God, it's ugly even for a game-pod." "I have a terrible urge to port into it." " What about you?" " Sure." "Yeah." "Desperate to port into it." "You want to give me a hand?" "You're not serious?" "That's a diseased pod." " You port into that..." " Yes, exactly." "Help me." "How long does it take for the infection to take hold?" "No time at all." "And then you port into the other pods and spread the infection." "Oh, God." " What's happening?" " Something's wrong." "I'm gonna unport you now." "Ah, God!" "Don't!" "Don't!" " That really... that really hurts." " I'm gonna cut you free." " No!" "I'm afraid!" " Shh." "Pikul..." "I'm bleeding to death." "I'm sorry." "I don't know..." "I don't know what else to do!" "I know what to do." "I know exactly what to do." "Death to Realism!" "Burn!" "Burn, diseased pod!" "Spores!" "No!" "No!" "Spores!" "Deadly spores!" "Spores, no." "Death to the demoness!" "Demoness!" "I think we just lost the game." "Or maybe not." "Allegra, we're back home." "We're back home!" "Pikul." "Pikul." " What's the matter?" "What's wrong?" " It's here." "It's happened." "It's come back here with us." "We brought it back from eXistenZ." "Brought what back?" "I don't understand." "We brought the disease back with us!" "My pod is diseased." "Oh, God." "I'm really gonna lose it." "I'm gonna lose my game." " Unport me." "Come on, unport me." " All right." "OK." "I'm comin'." "I'm comin'." "This... this can't be possible." "How can a game event merge into real life?" "There's a very weird reality bleed-through effect happening here." "I'm not sure I get it." "Come on, baby." "What's in the needle?" "It's a sporicide." "Pods are susceptible to spore infections." "It can work if you get it in time." "Come on." "Come on." " Let me see your bio-port." " What?" "Let me see it!" "What?" "I know what happened." "It's Kiri Vinokur, that bastard!" " Vinokur?" " Your new bio-port?" "Oh, God." "He gave you an infected bio-port so that my pod and my game would die!" "I'm infected?" "Wait a minute..." "The poor thing was telling us, introducing the theme of disease." "The theme of disease?" "I'm fucking really infected!" "Is it gonna rot my brain?" "All right, just calm down." "I've got something that will help you." "Turn around." "I'm gonna seal up your bio-port with this sporicidal resonator." "It uses the Umby pick-ups for power." "It should cleanse all your porting channels within a few hours." "It's gonna give you a slight skin buzz when it's done." " 'Course, we can't play until then." " Great." "Now, listen." "Listen." "This... this could be critical." "Were you really saying that Vinokur is an agent for..." "Oh, God." "Pikul, my pod's dying." "I can't help it." "There's nothing I can do for it." "Shh." "The uprising has begun!" "The world's in flames!" "You gotta get outta here!" "They'll be lookin' for ya!" "The cashier." "He's a game character." "How can he be here?" "Leave that rotting piece of meat!" "Wait!" "I can't let my game die." "No!" "Wait!" "Allegra, listen to me." "Listen to me!" "I think we're still inside the game." "I think your pod's out there, somewhere safe." "I think it's all right to let go of this pod." "It's not the real one." "Everybody out!" "Now!" "This way!" "Come on!" "Follow me!" "This way!" "Come on!" "Up here!" " You can see everything here!" " What are we seeing?" "The victory of Realism, and you were part of it." "The death of eXistenZ, and we were part of it." "There's just one more thing." "We're on your side!" "How could you be?" "How could Allegra Geller, the game designer, be on our side?" "Oh, yeah." "We know who you are." "You can't hide inside a game forever." "Something's slipped over the edge here, Allegra." "Something's wrong." "See what I mean?" "See the problem?" "I've been trying to find you." "Thank God I got here in time." "My dog brought me this." "You didn't get here in time!" "My game is dead!" "You murdered my game!" "No." "I murdered your pod." " Your game is healthy and happy." " No." "I replicated your pod's entire nervous system during our little surgical procedure at the chalet." "Complete with contents." "You copied eXistenZ?" "Allegra, come over to Cortical Systematics." "Yes." "Yes." "Cortical Systematics." "I am defecting, so are Antenna's top brass." "You're a spy for Cortical Systematics?" "To be reunited with your baby, come over to us." "Can you talk to her?" "It would be best for everyone." "I mean, you can come with us too." "What the fuck are you doing?" "You've killed him." "You gonna kill me next?" "He was only a game character." "He was messing with my mind." "You didn't like that?" "So you killed him." "He's only a game character." "Allegra, what if we're not in the game any more?" "Lf... if we're not..." "If we're not, then you just killed someone real." "It was no accident we ended up together." " Not an accident?" " No." "That's why you never had a bio-port." "You were one of them." "I still am one of them." " But you have a bio-port now." " I made the sacrifice to get you." " Why would you do that?" " To understand what I have to kill." "Then understand this." "Understand I knew that you were my real assassin when you pointed the gun at me in the Chinese restaurant." "And understand that... you're dead." "Death to the demon, Ted Pikul!" "Have I won?" "Have I won the game?" "Have I won?" "Are you all back?" "We're back." "We're back, Merle, but..." "I have a feeling some of our crew doesn't realise it yet." "Wow!" "Anybody want a bowl of hot and sour soup?" "It's on me." "I'll have some." "If you make sure there's some mutated amphibian... nervous systems in the rice." "You know, my accent was so thick I could hardly understand myself." " How long was it?" " About 20 minutes." "God, it seemed like days." "It's fantastic." "Man, if you stayed your whole life in the game world, then you could live to about, I don't know, uh, 500 years." "The twists and turns at the end made my, uh, head spin." "Maybe there was too many too... fast to absorb." "Uh, I, uh, sucked, but you guys were great." "You were like game divas." "You know, personally I think you both deserved to win." "I was really bummed out at first." "I got knocked out so soon." "It was fantastic how mean you were." "Really scary and crazy." "I liked the scene at the church, but the character was boring." "Hmm." "No matter how boring, you still all get a certificate for helping us out here." "And am I right, Merle?" "I think..." "Yes, and to reserve one of the first batch of the transCendenZ by Pilgrlmage game modules at a seriously discounted price." "Remember, it's written like this:" "Capital "C," capital "Z," transCendenZ." "New from Pilgrlmage, capital "P," capital "I," and it's coming soon." "I just want to say thank you to Mr Nourish for giving me the chance to play the role of a star designer." "I guess the game picked up on my ambition to be like you." "Allegra, you were so good in that role it won't be long before Pilgrlmage is after you to sign a contract." "And maybe you should bring along your friend Ted here, Mr Pikul." "He's obviously good in a crisis, and when you're designing games, there's plenty of those." "I guess you could tell that Pikul and I had a prior relationship." " We do like to play together." " We do." "But, I'd like to assure everybody that Allegra wouldn't really jump into bed with a security guard." "Unless he were me." "What do we have to say to our brilliant game designer, Yevgeny?" "Does he have another winner on his hands or not?" "Merle, I was very disturbed by the game we just played." "What do you mean?" "It had a very strong, very real anti-game theme." "It began with the attempted assassination of the designer." "Really?" "That's... that's very creative." "On second thought, I see what you mean." "You think this must have come from our game players?" "Well, it sure didn't come from me." "Let's probe it when we do the focus group." "Thank you for looking after my dog." "Hi." "We just wanted to ask Mr Nourish some questions away from the others." " Yeah." " Shoot." "Just don't ask me to fill in questionnaires." "We've played your game now, so we can agree that you are indeed the world's greatest game artist." "We weren't... sure... before." " Well, thanks so much." " Yevgeny?" "Shouldn't you suffer for the harm you've done to the human race?" " What?" " Yes." "Shouldn't the world's greatest game artist be punished for the most effective deforming of reality?" "This isn't very..." "Guys, come over here, now, please." "Death to the demon, Yevgeny Nourish!" "Death to Pilgrlmage!" "Death to transCendenZ!" "No!" "You don't have to shoot me." "Hey, tell me the truth." "Are we still in the game?" "DVD subtitles by European Captioning Institute" "EXistenZ." "Written like this." "One word." "Small "E," capital "X,"" "capital "Z."" ""EXistenZ."" "It's new, it's from Antenna Research and it's here, right now." "We encourage consumer loyalty, and want you to help our testing." "We're a team, Antenna and you." "Those of you who have come to our invited seminars before will know that I normally lead the groups through new games." "But tonight it won't be me." "No." "For our test launch of eXistenZ by Antenna, we have brought you a special seminar leader." "Yes, it is." "The world's greatest game designer is here, in person, to lead you, our first test enclave, through her newest creation, eXistenZ by Antenna." "I give you the game-pod goddess herself, Allegra Geller." "Allegra!" "Allegra!" "Yeah!" "Allegra!" "The world of games is in a kind of trance." "People are programmed to accept so little, but the possibilities are so great." "EXistenZ is not just... a game." "It's an entirely new game system." "And, uh..." "It involves a lot of new toys, which you are going to be the first to try." "So..." "We have 12 prototype MetaFlesh game-pods, and that means for our first test enclave we need 12 volunteers to port into these slave units with the game-pod goddess herself." " OK, if I pick you..." " Hold it!" "Not so fast." "Oh, jeez." "Right." "I'm not late, am I?" "You can be part of the second wave." "You, and the guy with the grey hair." "You, sir." "This lady here." "Just come up." "Thank you." " Noel Dichter?" " Yes?" " I have to scan you." " It's a weapons check?" "More for recording devices." "Lot of money invested in these games." "We'll help you to port your pod into your bio-ports using Antenna Research's new..." " What's in this case?" " I brought my game-pod." "It's, uh, got original Marway tissue architecture." "Even though I couldn't afford the Antenna 15 upgrade," " I figured out this method..." " You won't need it tonight." "Everything's provided for." " How are you doin'?" " Two hours, tops?" "Oh, two, three hours." " So, three?" " Yeah." "OK." "Everything's in order." "Ready, Allegra?" "Sure, this is my favourite part." "Take it away." "All right." "I'm ready to download eXistenZ by Antenna Research into all of you." "Now, I'm warning you." "It's going to be a wild ride." "But don't panic..." "No matter what happens, OK?" "See ya back here in no time at all." "She seems to be very shy." "Never occurred to me that a big star would be shy." "She spends most of her time alone designing her games." "She'd prefer it if she never had to show them." "Death to the demoness Allegra Geller!" " No!" " Aah!" "Death to Antenna Research!" "Aah!" "Get her out of here." "Save her." "There might be more." " Go!" " Me take her?" "We have enemies in our own house." "Trust no one!" "Trust no one." "Miss Geller, you're coming with me." "I'm responsible for you." "You're supposed to come with me." "What are we gonna do out here?" "Do you know your way around?" "Know any country people?" "Not country people, games people." "Countryside's full of games development people:" "Project coordinators, little factories, you name it." "OK, you know your way around." "We can hide out." "Maybe." "It seems I have some enemies I didn't know I had." ""Death to Allegra Geller."" "Would you like hearing someone with a gun screaming" ""Death to Ted Pikul"?" "Wow." "Hey, how'd you know my name?" "You're labelled." "Yeah." "What's that?" "It's my pink-fone." "Ted Pikul." "What happen..." "What?" "Hey!" "What did you do that for?" " That was our lifeline." " That was a range finder." " With that they know where we are." " "They?"" " You mean head office." " I mean anybody." "Pikul, why don't you have a gun?" " What?" " You're not armed." "You're my security, but you have no weaponry." "Who told you that?" "I'm just a marketing trainee." "Fucking hell." "I'm marked for death, and they send me out with a PR nerd!" "Marked for death." "Marked for death." "Oh, jeez." "OK, don't sweat it, Pikul." "Don't sweat it." "I'll handle it." "And, uh, right now we need to stop." "We do?" "Why?" "So we can have an intimate moment together." "If you're gonna do it, do it." "OK." "OK?" "Mm-hmm." "Ahh!" " Did somebody bite you?" " What?" "What I just dug out of you..." "It's a tooth." "A human... tooth." "Let me see that weirdo pistol." "Yep." "The bullets are human teeth." "This one's got a cavity." "That thing can get past any kind of metal or synthetics detector." "It's all flesh and bone." "I suppose smaller calibre pistols would have to fire baby teeth." "The tooth fairy could go into the arms business." " Where were you just now?" " I was wandering through eXistenZ." "The new system, I mean." "I like it in there." "'Course, without another player, you're only a tourist." "It's frustrating." "Why won't you let me contact Antenna?" "They'll be going crazy wondering what's happened." "I mean, it's not like we've done something wrong." "We ran because we didn't know how many of them there were, right?" "We owe it to Antenna to let them know you're all right, and get them to send somebody to help who knows what he's doing." "Besides, I can't..." "I can't just keep doing this, whatever it is, you know, forever." "Not having any idea when it's going..." "Hey!" " What are you doing?" " Where's your bio-port?" "You've never been fitted?" "I can't believe it." "No, I was never fitted." "What do you care?" "You wanna get into the biz and never played my games?" "You've never played any game." "Look..." "I've been dying to play your games, but I have this phobia about having my body penetrated... surgically." "You know what I mean." "No." "I'm not sure I do." "Getting a bio-port fitted." "I don't know." "I can't do it." "It's too freaky." "Makes my skin crawl." "They just pop your spine with a hydro-gun." "They shoot the plug into it." "It's like getting your ears pierced." "With only an infinitesimal chance of permanent spinal paralysis." " I've read about it." " Hey, it's your chosen profession." "Besides, once you're ported, zzzt, there's no end to the games you can play." "You can't seriously wanna play games now?" "Not while we're being hunted down by crazy people." "My baby here took a huge hit in the church." "One of those UmbyCords got ripped out of her." "Ripped out of her, just as the game architecture was being downloaded from her to all those slave-pods." "That's a very vulnerable time for her." "She could be crying out for help right here, right now." "The only way I can tell if the game's not been contaminated, if the pod is not about to be crippled because of my negligence," "is to play eXistenZ with somebody friendly." "Are you friendly, or are you not?" "Sure." "All right." "Let's do it." "Let's do it now." "Let me see." "To get... an illegal, unregistered bio-port installed, at about midnight, we just drive up to your local country gas station, right?" "Anything else I can do for you?" "Well, Gas, you could check your bio-port plugs." "The what?" "Sparkplugs?" "You heard me." "My friend here has a bio-port problem." "A bio-port?" "Now, that's a sorta hole in your spine, isn't it?" "Lots of assholes here, but that's generally it." "I don't know why you'd be talkin' to me, lady." "Sure you do." "Oh." "Ohh." "Allegra Geller, you've changed my life." "What was your life like before?" "Before?" "Before it was changed by Allegra Geller." "I operated a gas station." "You still operate a gas station." "Only on the most pathetic level of reality." "Geller's work liberated me." " Liberated?" " Did you ever play ArtGod?" " Capital "A," capital "G."" " I don't have a bio-port." "Thou, the player of the game ArtGod." "Very spiritual." "Funny too." "God, the artist, the mechanic." "Funny." "Here." "Those are sterilised, aren't they?" "Don't worry." "The way they set things up you could fire in a bio-port in a slaughterhouse and never generate an infection." "Then why the clean overalls?" "It's a mental thing." "Helps me focus." "The one thing you don't wanna do is miss with the stud finder." " Oh, God." " God, the mechanic." "Step into my office." "See?" "That didn't hurt, did it?" "I didn't expect that to hurt." "I expect the next part to hurt." "Yeah, that's what I expect to hurt." "I haven't crippled anyone yet." " How many have you done?" " Three." "Well, you'll be my third." "Hey!" "Easy." "Easy." "What's goin' on, Gas?" "Hell, he's actin' like I'm attackin' him." "People usually pay me to do this." "Yeah?" "All two of 'em!" "As you can see, I've decided not to have a bio-port installed." "This is it, you see?" "This is the cage of your own making which keeps you trapped and pacing about in the smallest possible space forever." "Break outta your cage, Pikul." "Break out now." "Unh!" "The swelling doesn't last long." "Tomorrow, you won't even notice it." "I love it." "Great." "What's going on?" "!" "I can't move my legs!" "The procedure comes with its own epidural." "Just like when you have a baby." "Kinda like instant paralysis from the waist down." "That's why it didn't hurt." "It'll wear off in no time." "I'm gonna go wash up." "You two, make yourselves at home." "You don't have to wait for the swelling to go down." "You're gonna port into me..." "while I'm paralysed?" "You wanted to play my game, didn't you?" "Yeah, I did." "I do, but..." "Here?" "Now?" "It's an instant-on world, isn't it?" "What's that for?" "Feels... cold." "New ports are sometimes a bit tight." "Wouldn't wanna hurt ya." "How come... bio-ports don't get infected?" "I mean, they open right into your body." "Listen to what you're saying, Pikul." "Don't be ludicrous." "Don't you think you could call me Ted?" "Maybe afterwards." "Shit!" "Pikul!" "I can't believe it." "You blew my pod!" " You must have neural-surged!" " What?" "I jacked you in and you panicked." "Now it's totally fucked!" "This is a disaster." "I was nervous, but I didn't panic." "I was forced to trust you and you panicked and you neural-surged and you blew my pod." "You can get a new pod." "Pikul, in this pod is the only, the original version of eXistenZ, an entire game system that cost 38 million to develop, not including pre-release marketing costs, and I'm locked outside my own game." "I can't get me in or it out!" "Are you serious?" "That's the only version that exists?" "It's the only one and it's stuck inside and it's your fault." "I've devoted five passionate years to this strange little creature." "And I've never regretted it, Pikul, 'cause it was the only thing that could give my life any meaning." "Allegra, why is it my fault?" "I'm telling you I didn't..." "I did not neural-surge." "I didn't." "I didn't feel any surging." "It's not your fault." "It's my fault." "Oh, no, Gas." "Not you." "I wouldn't try to use that bio-port again." "'Cept maybe for a toaster or somethin'." "What's going on?" "You're worth a lot of money..." "if you're dead." " What are you talking about?" " You know what." "It's all over the countryside." "$5 million for her dead body." "No questions asked." "But, she changed your life." "Yep." "And now I'm gonna change hers." "Wait!" "Why did you install a bad port into me?" "There's a big bonus for killing Allegra Geller's latest game or whatever it is." "I think I just did that, didn't I?" "But can you kill me, Gas?" "Can you kill a person?" "Can you do that?" "Hide my body?" "Contact the crazies?" "Trust them to pay up?" "Hand over my now decaying, fucking grotesque corpse?" "Really expect them to hand over five mil cash?" "Don't you ever go to the fucking movies?" "I like your script." "I wanna be in it." "Oh, God, I think he's dead." " He wanted to kill you." " Yep." "That's two people in one day... who wanted to actually kill you." "I've never been more popular." "Allegra, we need help." "You're right." "I've gotta get this pod fixed." "We're going skiing?" "Hey." "Hey." "Look at that huge bug." "It's got two heads." "It's not a bug." "It's a mutated amphibian." "It's a frog-salamander-lizard thing." "Sign of the times." "What happens if somebody here wants to ski?" "Come on, Pikul." "Nobody actually skis anymore." "You know that." "No, don't use that!" "And bring me the sterile wash." "My darling." "Allegra Geller." "I'm so pleased and..." "s- so astonished to see you here." " Kiri Vinokur, Ted Pikul." " Hello." "Sterile wash." "Um, I hear this ridiculous story about some fatwa against you." "The company are desperately trying to find you." "Is this really serious?" "Are you in danger?" "There have been a couple of attempts on my life." "This is unbearable." "The company must stop this." "They owe you protection." "But I don't know if they can do anything." "It's open season on me." "Well, you will be safe here." "I assure you." "I will contact Antenna right away and have them come to collect you." "No, Kiri, don't." "You mustn't let anybody know that we're here." "I can't be sure that Antenna is completely safe for me." "I understand." "Yes." "You know, you can hide out in one of the guest chalets as long as you like." "And I'll make sure you get fresh towels." "And make sure I don't lose everything in here." "You bet." "Take that." "Good." "Pull this back." " What did you port into?" " Pikul's bio-port." "Really?" "That's what caused all the damage." "It was, uh, a flawed installation." "My first." "Well... it fried a lot of very expensive neural webbing." " You see?" " Looks like an animal." "Feels like you're operating on somebody's pet dog." "I told you, Landry, we have become glorified veterinarians." "Put a little in there, please." "The eXistenZ game-pod is basically an animal, Mr Pikul." "It's grown from fertilised amphibian eggs stuffed with synthetic DNA." "Only Antenna Research has this." "Wow." "Where do the batteries go?" "Very funny." "He's not kidding." "He's a total PR nerd." "It ports into you." "You're the power source." "Your body, your nervous system, your metabolism, your energy." "You get tired, run down, it won't run properly." "OK." "Landry here will finish up the pod work." "Now, let's, uh, get that nasty bio-port out of you, put a fresh one in." "Oww!" "It hurts." "I think it's infected." "No." "It's not infected." "It's just excited." "It wants action." "But I don't want action - me, I mean - the bearer of the excited bio-port." "My baby here has now taken three major hits, Pikul." "In the church, in the gas station and on the operating table." "The only way I can tell if everything's OK... is to play eXistenZ with somebody friendly." "Are you friendly, or are you not?" "You're telling me this thing will run off my body's energy?" "That's how they work." "See?" "You're humming' along already." "OK." "EXistenZ." "Only from Antenna." " Here we go." " You..." "You've got an unfair advantage, don't you?" "How can I possibly compete with the designer of the system?" "Well, you could beat the guy that invented poker, couldn't you?" "That one?" "Yes." "Are you sure?" "Yes." "I wouldn't recommend it." "The graphics on this one are better." "This is the one you want." "That one?" "That was beautiful." "I feel just like me." "Is that kind of transition normal?" "That kinda... smooth interlacing from place to place?" "It depends on the style of the game." "You can get jagged, brutal cuts, slow fades, shimmering little morphs." "This is amazing." "I had no idea." "Look at this." "Games I've never heard of." "Wait a minute." "That reminds me." "What precisely is the goal of the game that we're playing now?" "You have to play the game to find out why you're playing." "It's the future, Pikul." "You'll see how natural it feels." "Look at this." "Can this be the future?" "Ever see anything like this?" "These are delicate." "You got to be careful." "Yes, I can imagine." "Cortical Systematics is the latest and the hottest." "Not just a new game, but a new system." "Will it work with an industry-standard bio-port?" "I'm D'arcy Nader." "Welcome to D'arcy Nader's Game Emporium." "Is there anything I can be, oh, uh, helping' you with?" "We're just looking." "I have what you're lookin' for." "Who sent you?" "It's none of your business." "We're here." "That's all that matters." "God." "What happened?" "I" " I didn't mean to say that." "It's your character who said it." "Kind of a schizophrenic feeling, isn't it?" "You'll get used to it." "Things need saying to advance the plot and establish characters, they get said whether you wanna say them or not." "Don't fight it." "Just go with it." "Should you say this in front of him?" "Look at him." " What's he doing?" " He's in a game loop." "He won't come out of it until you give him some proper game dialogue." "Uh, this is tricky." "Repeat your last line." "Include his name so he knows you're talking to him." "We're here, D'arcy Nader, and that's all that matters." "Yes, you're right." "That is all that matters." "Now, you said you have what we want." "We're waiting." "You're going to need these micro-pods to download your new identities." "I assume that you both have had these industry-standard bio-ports that you mentioned installed." "Yes, of course." "We both have bio-ports." " We do, don't we?" " I assumed we did." "In the game we might not." "We better check." "Yeah, it's there." "Looks a little different, but it's there." "Yeah, I see what you mean." "Yes, we both have bio-ports." "Good." "Port in, a-and this will tell ya all you need to know... for now." "I'm-I'm gonna leave while you two, uh, finish up here, because, uh, it wouldn't be good for us all to be seen together." "I assume that Nader is our entry point into the game." " Yeah." "Kinda disappointing." " Nader?" "Yeah." "He's not very well-drawn." "His dialogue was just so-so, his accent..." "Yeah." "OK." "Pods are so small." "They plug directly into the bio-port." "OK." " Oh God!" " What?" "The whole pod just disappeared into your back." "It disappeared into my back?" "It's in my spine?" "!" "It's around my spinal cord?" "!" "It's just a game." "Do you feel anything yet?" "No, I don't." "I don't feel a thing." " Want me to do you?" " Yeah." "What the hell was that?" "That wasn't me." "It was my game character." "I wouldn't have done that." "Not here, anyway." "Our characters are obviously supposed to jump on each other." "It's most probably a... pathetically mechanical attempt... to heighten the emotional tension of the next game sequence." " No use fighting it, huh?" " What about... our new identities?" "Do you feel yours yet?" "They'll take care of themselves." "I'm very worried about my body." "Your what?" "Where are our real bodies?" "Are they all right?" "What if they're hungry?" "What if there's danger?" "They're just where we left them." "They're sitting quietly." "Eyes closed." "It's, um, just like meditating." "I feel really vulnerable." " Disembodied." " OK." "Don't sweat it." "All your senses are still operating." "You're gonna pop right out if there's a problem." "Forgotten who you are?" "Hey." "Hey, it works." "I must be Yevgeny Nourish." "And you, you are new to Trout Farm?" "Yeah." "Yes, I'm..." "I'm very new." " Did you say Trout Farm?" " Yeah, Trout Farm." "Trout Farm, raising baby trout from eggs and releasing them in rivers." "Entire place used to be Trout Farm." "From outside you would never guess it's a factory for making game-pods." "Seems like most everything used to be something else, yes?" "You seem to know what you're doing." "It surprises me more than it surprises you." "You seem to know what you're doing." "I've been trained by the very best." "So have I, my friend." "So have I." "Where are you planning to have lunch?" "I'm new here." "Uh..." "I have no plans for lunch." "May I suggest the Chinese restaurant in the forest?" "Everyone knows where it is." "Just ask." "Well, won't you be going there too?" "Unfortunately, I have other plans for lunch, but I suggest you order the special." "And don't take "no" for answer." "All right." "I'll do that." "Larry!" "Yes?" "They need this in the back room." "They asked for you." "Hey." "I saw you make contact, Larry Ashen." "What'd the guy on the line say?" "Can you believe the game version of your pod?" "It's sick." "And so unconvincing." "I mean, using mutated animal organs as game-pod parts is certainly feasible, but... everything here's so dirty, absurd, grotesque." "I saw you make contact, Larry Ashen." "What'd the guy on the line say?" "He told me where to have lunch." "We have nice sea bass today." "Shall I bring it for everyone?" "We want the special." "Did you hear me, Chinese waiter?" "We want the special." "The special is for special occasions." "I cannot give you the special." "But... this is... a special occasion." "It's... her birthday." "A birthday is a special occasion." "I will, therefore, bring a special for everybody." "I guess the special isn't very popular." "I guess not." " I want to pause the game." " Eh?" "The game can be paused?" "I mean, all games can be paused, right?" "Yeah." "Sure." "But why?" "What's wrong?" "Aren't you dying to see the special?" "I'm feeling a little disconnected from my real life." "I'm kinda losing touch with the texture of it." "You know what I mean?" "I actually think there's an element of psychosis involved here." "Yes." "This is a great sign." "It means your nervous system is engaging with the game architecture." "EXistenZ is paused!" "Did I do that?" "I guess I did." " So, how does it feel?" " What?" "Your real life." "The one you came back for." "It feels completely unreal." "You're stuck now, aren't you?" "You want to go back to the Chinese restaurant 'cause there's nothing happening here." "We're safe." "It's boring." "It's worse than that." "I'm not sure..." "I..." "I'm not sure here, where we are, is real at all." "This feels like a game to me." "And you, you're beginning to feel like a game character." "Definitely not." "Let's go back." "Special order for the birthday girl." "Hope you enjoy it very much." "Look, it's our two-headed friend." "Doesn't look too healthy." "I think I lost my appetite." "Oh, a shame." "Mutant reptiles and amphibians provide new and previously unimagined taste sensations." "Shall I clear all this away?" "No, um... we're... happy." "Very good." "Enjoy." "Pikul, what are you doing?" "I don't know." "I find this disgusting, but I can't help myself." " Good." " Good?" "You think this is good?" "Yeah, it's a genuine game urge." "It's something your game character was born to do." "Don't fight it." "I'm fighting it, but it isn't doing me any good." "Oh, my God." "This looks awfully familiar." "You sure this is OK?" "Yeah, it... should be OK." "Do you have that bridge in real life?" "Absolutely not." "My teeth are perfect." "Death... to the demoness, Allegra Geller." "That's not funny." "Sorry." "But, you know..." "I do feel the urge to kill someone here." "Who?" "I need to kill our waiter." "Oh." "Well, that makes sense." "Er, waiter!" "Waiter!" "When he comes over, do it." "Don't hesitate." "But... everything in the game is so realistic, I..." "I don't think I could." "You won't be able to stop yourself." "Enjoy it." "Free will is obviously not a big factor in this little world." "It's like real life." "There's just enough to make it interesting." "He's too nice." "I won't do it." "What can I do to make your lunch more pleasant?" "I found this in my soup, and I'm very upset." "It's all right!" "Just, uh... a little misunderstanding over the cheque." "Pay no attention, and enjoy your meal!" "I feel a serious game urge to get outta here." "Through the kitchen." "That way." "Did you like the meal I prepared?" "Yeah." "It was very... revealing." "Yes, it certainly was for me." "You both passed our little test with flying colours." " Why did the waiter have to die?" " Waiters hear many things... spoken when people are relaxing and eating." "A waiter has many opportunities for betrayal." " He betrayed you?" " He betrayed us." "Us." "Come." "This way." "Come." "These are the breeding pools." " Breeding pools." " Is this, er..." "Is this where you caught today's special?" "We originally were raising these mutant creatures for their nervous systems for game-pods, but then we found they could be quite tasty." "So we opened the restaurant, and now that is our cover." "But, of course, we're also raising them as components for undetectable and hypoallergenic weapons right under our enemies' noses." "And speaking of our enemies, it's important that you go back to work at Cortical Systematics." "We... we need to maintain as many agents there as possible." "The Trout Farm is owned by Cortical Systematics?" "Yeah." "Their corporate slogan should be "Enemies of Reality."" "Someday we will destroy Trout Farm and all game-pods inside it." "We love you... now that you have proven to be true and trustworthy Realists." "We'll be in touch." "I'm looking for D'Arcy Nader." "Hugo Carlaw, is D'Arcy Nader here?" "He's in the back." "You want him?" "There he is." "You shouldn't have killed the Chinese waiter." " Why not?" " He was your contact at the Farm." "Damn good man." "His, er, dog brought me this." "We were contacted by Nourish." "He seemed to know exactly who we were." "That's because Nader tipped him off." "Nader worked for Cortical Systematics." " You're with the Realists." " Yes." "I was placed here to keep an eye on Nader." "If Nourish isn't our real contact, who is he?" "Nourish is a double agent." "He was working with Nader to subvert the Realist cause, and rather well, after all, he got you to..." "assassinate your own contact." "But now you're gonna stop him." "I don't wanna be here." "Come on, Pikul." "You've just got a bad case of first-time-user anxiety." "I don't like it here." "I don't know what's going on." "We're both stumbling around together in this unformed world whose rules and objectives are largely unknown, seemingly indecipherable or even possibly non-existent, always on the verge of being killed by forces that we don't understand." "That sounds like my game all right." "Sounds like a game that won't be easy to market." "But it's a game everybody's already playing." "The cashier said it would be in a familiar place." "Is there such a thing here?" "My assembly bay." "Psst." "Is that it over there?" "God, it's ugly even for a game-pod." "I have a terrible urge to port into it." " What about you?" " Sure." "Yeah." "Desperate to port into it." "You want to give me a hand?" "You're not serious?" "That's a diseased pod." " You port into that..." " Yes, exactly." "Help me." "How long does it take for the infection to take hold?" "No time at all." "And then you port into the other pods and spread the infection." "Oh, God." " What's happening?" " Something's wrong." "I'm gonna unport you now." "Ah, God!" "Don't!" "Don't!" " That really... that really hurts." " I'm gonna cut you free." " No!" "I'm afraid!" " Shh." "Pikul..." "I'm bleeding to death." "I'm sorry." "I don't know..." "I don't know what else to do!" "I know what to do." "I know exactly what to do." "Death to Realism!" "Burn!" "Burn, diseased pod!" "Spores!" "No!" "No!" "Spores!" "Deadly spores!" "Spores, no." "Death to the demoness!" "Demoness!" "I think we just lost the game." "Or maybe not." "Allegra, we're back home." "We're back home!" "Pikul." "Pikul." " What's the matter?" "What's wrong?" " It's here." "It's happened." "It's come back here with us." "We brought it back from eXistenZ." "Brought what back?" "I don't understand." "We brought the disease back with us!" "My pod is diseased." "Oh, God." "I'm really gonna lose it." "I'm gonna lose my game." " Unport me." "Come on, unport me." " All right." "OK." "I'm comin'." "I'm comin'." "This... this can't be possible." "How can a game event merge into real life?" "There's a very weird reality bleed-through effect happening here." "I'm not sure I get it." "Come on, baby." "What's in the needle?" "It's a sporicide." "Pods are susceptible to spore infections." "It can work if you get it in time." "Come on." "Come on." " Let me see your bio-port." " What?" "Let me see it!" "What?" "I know what happened." "It's Kiri Vinokur, that bastard!" " Vinokur?" " Your new bio-port?" "Oh, God." "He gave you an infected bio-port so that my pod and my game would die!" "I'm infected?" "Wait a minute..." "The poor thing was telling us, introducing the theme of disease." "The theme of disease?" "I'm fucking really infected!" "Is it gonna rot my brain?" "All right, just calm down." "I've got something that will help you." "Turn around." "I'm gonna seal up your bio-port with this sporicidal resonator." "It uses the Umby pick-ups for power." "It should cleanse all your porting channels within a few hours." "It's gonna give you a slight skin buzz when it's done." " 'Course, we can't play until then." " Great." "Now, listen." "Listen." "This... this could be critical." "Were you really saying that Vinokur is an agent for..." "Oh, God." "Pikul, my pod's dying." "I can't help it." "There's nothing I can do for it." "Shh." "The uprising has begun!" "The world's in flames!" "You gotta get outta here!" "They'll be lookin' for ya!" "The cashier." "He's a game character." "How can he be here?" "Leave that rotting piece of meat!" "Wait!" "I can't let my game die." "No!" "Wait!" "Allegra, listen to me." "Listen to me!" "I think we're still inside the game." "I think your pod's out there, somewhere safe." "I think it's all right to let go of this pod." "It's not the real one." "Everybody out!" "Now!" "This way!" "Come on!" "Follow me!" "This way!" "Come on!" "Up here!" " You can see everything here!" " What are we seeing?" "The victory of Realism, and you were part of it." "The death of eXistenZ, and we were part of it." "There's just one more thing." "We're on your side!" "How could you be?" "How could Allegra Geller, the game designer, be on our side?" "Oh, yeah." "We know who you are." "You can't hide inside a game forever." "Something's slipped over the edge here, Allegra." "Something's wrong." "See what I mean?" "See the problem?" "I've been trying to find you." "Thank God I got here in time." "My dog brought me this." "You didn't get here in time!" "My game is dead!" "You murdered my game!" "No." "I murdered your pod." " Your game is healthy and happy." " No." "I replicated your pod's entire nervous system during our little surgical procedure at the chalet." "Complete with contents." "You copied eXistenZ?" "Allegra, come over to Cortical Systematics." "Yes." "Yes." "Cortical Systematics." "I am defecting, so are Antenna's top brass." "You're a spy for Cortical Systematics?" "To be reunited with your baby, come over to us." "Can you talk to her?" "It would be best for everyone." "I mean, you can come with us too." "What the fuck are you doing?" "You've killed him." "You gonna kill me next?" "He was only a game character." "He was messing with my mind." "You didn't like that?" "So you killed him." "He's only a game character." "Allegra, what if we're not in the game any more?" "Lf... if we're not..." "If we're not, then you just killed someone real." "It was no accident we ended up together." " Not an accident?" " No." "That's why you never had a bio-port." "You were one of them." "I still am one of them." " But you have a bio-port now." " I made the sacrifice to get you." " Why would you do that?" " To understand what I have to kill." "Then understand this." "Understand I knew that you were my real assassin when you pointed the gun at me in the Chinese restaurant." "And understand that... you're dead." "Death to the demon, Ted Pikul!" "Have I won?" "Have I won the game?" "Have I won?" "Are you all back?" "We're back." "We're back, Merle, but..." "I have a feeling some of our crew doesn't realise it yet." "Wow!" "Anybody want a bowl of hot and sour soup?" "It's on me." "I'll have some." "If you make sure there's some mutated amphibian... nervous systems in the rice." "You know, my accent was so thick I could hardly understand myself." " How long was it?" " About 20 minutes." "God, it seemed like days." "It's fantastic." "Man, if you stayed your whole life in the game world, then you could live to about, I don't know, uh, 500 years." "The twists and turns at the end made my, uh, head spin." "Maybe there was too many too... fast to absorb." "Uh, I, uh, sucked, but you guys were great." "You were like game divas." "You know, personally I think you both deserved to win." "I was really bummed out at first." "I got knocked out so soon." "It was fantastic how mean you were." "Really scary and crazy." "I liked the scene at the church, but the character was boring." "Hmm." "No matter how boring, you still all get a certificate for helping us out here." "And am I right, Merle?" "I think..." "Yes, and to reserve one of the first batch of the transCendenZ by Pilgrlmage game modules at a seriously discounted price." "Remember, it's written like this:" "Capital "C," capital "Z," transCendenZ." "New from Pilgrlmage, capital "P," capital "I," and it's coming soon." "I just want to say thank you to Mr Nourish for giving me the chance to play the role of a star designer." "I guess the game picked up on my ambition to be like you." "Allegra, you were so good in that role it won't be long before Pilgrlmage is after you to sign a contract." "And maybe you should bring along your friend Ted here, Mr Pikul." "He's obviously good in a crisis, and when you're designing games, there's plenty of those." "I guess you could tell that Pikul and I had a prior relationship." " We do like to play together." " We do." "But, I'd like to assure everybody that Allegra wouldn't really jump into bed with a security guard." "Unless he were me." "What do we have to say to our brilliant game designer, Yevgeny?" "Does he have another winner on his hands or not?" "Merle, I was very disturbed by the game we just played." "What do you mean?" "It had a very strong, very real anti-game theme." "It began with the attempted assassination of the designer." "Really?" "That's... that's very creative." "On second thought, I see what you mean." "You think this must have come from our game players?" "Well, it sure didn't come from me." "Let's probe it when we do the focus group." "Thank you for looking after my dog." "Hi." "We just wanted to ask Mr Nourish some questions away from the others." " Yeah." " Shoot." "Just don't ask me to fill in questionnaires." "We've played your game now, so we can agree that you are indeed the world's greatest game artist." "We weren't... sure... before." " Well, thanks so much." " Yevgeny?" "Shouldn't you suffer for the harm you've done to the human race?" " What?" " Yes." "Shouldn't the world's greatest game artist be punished for the most effective deforming of reality?" "This isn't very..." "Guys, come over here, now, please." "Death to the demon, Yevgeny Nourish!" "Death to Pilgrlmage!" "Death to transCendenZ!" "No!" "You don't have to shoot me." "Hey, tell me the truth." "Are we still in the game?" "DVD subtitles by European Captioning Institute"