"What's your name, son?" "My name is Daryl." "And what you doing up in these parts?" "I don't know." " Foul!" " Foul!" " Foul!" " It wasn't!" " It was a foul!" " No, it wasn't!" "You saw it." "You saw it, didn't you?" "Foul, right?" " I'm sorry?" " Was it a foul?" "I don't..." "I don't..." "I'm sorry." "Weird." "Very weird." "Still say it was a foul." " Yeah!" " No!" " Yes!" "Yes!" " No!" "Foul, man!" "Good." "Can you read the letters on that board over there?" "E, F, P, T, O, Z, L, P, E, D," "P, E, C, F, D, F, E, L," "E, D, F, C, Z, P." " Hi, hon." " Hi." " Daryl, this is Elaine." " Hello." "Hello." "Honey, we've got the Tarnoff hearing tomorrow morning." "Do you want me to bring the notes home?" "Yeah, great." "Nice to meet you, Daryl." " You too." " Bye, now." "Bye." "Come on." " Hi, Mr. Fox." " Hi, Ronnie." "Okay." "Take a seat right there." "OK." "One thing you can be sure of, Daryl, is that, somewhere, somebody is looking for you and we'll hear from them." "Until then, we're gonna try to make you as comfortable as we know how." "Howie." "Excuse me a moment, Daryl." "Physically, he's 100 percent, but he is suffering substantial amnesia." "He doesn't remember parents, home, anything like that." "It's probably psychological rather than pathological memory loss." "He handles it well, though." "So you can certainly go ahead." "Good." "Thanks, Joe." "Well..." "You're just gonna spend a night or two here, Daryl." "Then we'll find a family that wants to look after you until your own folks come and take you home, OK?" " Thank you." " OK." "It's extremely kind of you to be looking after my welfare like this." "Yeah, well that's what we do here." " Yeah, we're tied off here." " I got another wrap around this end." "All right, now, take it away!" " Well, it's getting there." " Hey." " Thank you, Wes." " Right." "Yeah, well, some of us stiffs gotta work for a living, you know, not like some guys I know." " So how was the vacation?" " Fantastic." " Great." " Listen, Andy, there's something I wanna talk to you about." "Now, it's not exactly the way we hoped it would be, but..." "You got a minute?" "No, it's a sharp." "And fingers like that." "OK?" "OK, Melanie, I think that's enough for today." " Remember to practice those scales." " Yes, Mrs. Richardson." " It's just that I had a lot of homework." " Of course you did." "Of course you did." "But, gosh, I wonder if Mozart ever complained about homework." "Go on, tell your mom you're doing great." " Thanks, Mrs. Richardson." " You're welcome." " Bye, Mr. Richardson." " Bye, Melanie." " Bye-bye." " Bye." " Hello." " Hi." " That your last one?" " Why, you wanna fool around?" "Howie came by the site today, and they have a kid at the center." "He's a boy." "He's 9 or 10 years old." "And they need a foster home while they try and locate his parents." "Howie asked if we'd help." "Well, that's what we're registered for, isn't it?" "Yeah, I just wanted you to be sure." "The child has some memory loss." "Well..." "I mean, they're never gonna let us adopt a child if we don't foster one." "We're really happy to have you with us, Daryl." "Thank you, Mrs. Richardson." "Joyce, Joyce." "You can call me Joyce, and this is Andy." "Joyce." "Andy." "It's really great to have you here, Daryl." "OK." "Come on, let's show you around." "Hey, Daryl." "Catch." "Sorry." "I am very, very happy." "Joyce, he might not be with us for that long." "Do you mind if we don't talk about that right now?" "Sure." "Hi, Turtle." " How was your vacation?" " It was OK." "And I found something even more interesting than vacation." " What was that?" " Watching paint dry." " So where's this famous kid you got?" " Famous kid?" "My dad keeps on saying how he's real cute." "I think it's envy, even though I keep pointing out he's got a 100-percent boy of his own, namely me." "Daryl's upstairs." "I'll go get him." "Daryl?" "Daryl, sweetheart, can you come down here a minute?" "There's somebody here I'd like you to meet." "Hey!" "I hear he doesn't remember where he's from." "Well, I mean, is he, you know?" "No, he isn't." "And it's not a subject you discuss with him, OK?" "OK." "Promise me, the subject of his memory loss is out." "Deal?" "Scout's honor." "I don't get it." "You remember how to read." "You remember your name, stuff like that." "But you don't remember your family, your school, if you've got brothers or sisters." "Doesn't make sense." "Well, the doctor said maybe my memory could come back suddenly." "Only, no one really knows." "We better get back." "You wanna come over to my house?" "If we're real nice to her, maybe Hookie will let us play with the new computer." "OK." " Who's Hookie?" " My sister, Sherie Lee." "Hookie?" ""Amateur hooker"." "She dates every night." "I just invented the name." "It really pisses her off." "What's a hooker?" "Did Joey have a good run?" "Got some air into Joey's lungs, did he?" "He must have done ten miles today, Miss Kent." "Same time Tuesday, don't forget." "Joey gets all excited when he knows it's your day to exercise him, Turtle." "All right, thanks." "So how come you can remember your name but you can't remember anything else?" "You're boring us." "You came into my room and started with my computer." "I can bore anyone I like in my room." "Amnesia's selective, which means there's always partial memory." "For example, I haven't forgotten how to speak." "You struck out, stupid." "45,100, Hookie." "Let's see your best score." "OK." "45,100, Turtle." " Can I have a try?" " I'll have to teach you how to play." "Hey, twerp, let him try." "Joyce says he's so smart." "Let's see him prove it." "I think I understand." "Oh, my... 79,950." "That's a fun game!" "Not bad." "Daryl Richardson." "You swear you never played this before?" " I don't think so." " Right." "But for all you know, you could have invented "Pole Position"." " Come on, Hookie, don't be..." " Will you stop calling me that?" "And I'm not kidding." "It seems to annoy your mother too." "Of course it does." "That's the whole point." "I don't understand why you wanna annoy your family." "For a genius, you can be real stupid." "Come on." "What is a hooker?" "Hey, Billy, wait for me!" "Hey." " It's OK, Joyce." "I'll take him in." " Oh, well, I think Daryl might..." "You want a kid to show up for his first day at school with his mother?" "God!" "Daryl?" "I appreciate the concern, Joyce, but I'm sure Turtle can show me around." "Come on, let's go." "Do you know how I despise cheating?" "Could you imagine what life would be like without hope of ever getting back into my good graces?" " I only asked..." " Silence!" "Now, that girl showed you how to do it during a test." "That is cheating." "That entitles me to call you a cheat." "A despicable cheat." "Now, because it is Monday and out of the goodness of my heart I will pretend as if it didn't happen but I am lousy at pretending." "So if it happens again..." "Exchange your papers with each other." "Quietly, please!" "For correction." "You." "Yes, that boy." "You." "What do you think you're doing?" "Changing the answers on somebody else's paper?" "I'm correcting them, as you asked." "But I haven't given you the answers yet." "You'll find that they're all correctly checked." "I've marked number nine as right." "Although, in fact, there is an error in the eighth decimal place." "But only a calculus system could show that." "I guess the main thing to understand, guys, is that baseball is the essence of all life in the universe." "Therefore, we don't fool around." "We don't joke about this." "We take this very seriously." "Otherwise, we go play something else." "OK?" "Like washing the car." "Wanna try and hit a few?" " OK, sure." " Come on." "Just do it just like I showed you, just like on the baseball cards, you know." "You kind of stand sideways." "I'm gonna pitch it by you." "And you just take a swing at it and see what happens, OK?" "No, you're not gonna need this." "That's a whole other part of the game." "OK?" "OK, Daryl." "You ready?" "I'll take it easy on you the first time." "My fault!" "My fault!" "I should've told you." "You gotta grip the bat" " pretty firmly, you know?" " OK." "Otherwise that's gonna happen." "But you got good instincts." " You hit the ball, didn't you?" " Yeah." "Major-leaguer, all the way." "I can see it in the eyes." "OK." "Here." "Nice, firm grip, nice, easy swing and just knock the ball into the middle of Interstate 95 for me, OK?" " OK, I'll try." " That's all I'm asking." "OK, Daryl, here it comes." "Was that all right?" "Better." "Better." "We'll try it again." "Turtle, come here." "You're sworn to secrecy, all right?" " Yeah." " OK." "Daryl, I'm gonna throw a little bit harder this time, OK?" "So it'll be traveling a little bit faster." "Just do your best." "OK, I'll try." "Daryl..." "Turtle, come here." "You're a natural." "You're a genius and in four weeks' time, you're my secret weapon." " The Warriors!" " We're gonna murder them!" "Yes?" "Only, no one must know about this, OK?" "So you don't say anything about this to anybody." "OK." " About what?" " "About what"?" "I love this kid." "Oh, he's so modest." "It's awesome." "I don't even believe it myself." "One more pitch?" "One more pitch, then I'll wake up." "OK." "OK?" "Well, practice is over." " Come on, get your stuff." " How can you trust a man like Andy?" "He makes Daryl swear an oath of secrecy, then he comes in and tells me." "Next, you two come over and he opens his mouth again!" "The only person who must know nothing about this until tomorrow is Bull McKenzie." "He is so cocky." "Were you there at the game last year when he suggested we forfeit" " in the fourth inning?" " No, but Turtle told me all about it." "But didn't you guys rally in the sixth and almost tie up the game?" "Yeah." "Sure, because somebody decided to save our team's honor by spiking the Warriors' Cokes with vodka." "What?" "You know, you're lucky you weren't sued." "It's against the law," " serving alcohol to minors." " I didn't serve anything." "It wasn't even my idea." " So who did?" " We're starving." " When's dinner?" " You didn't." " What?" " You did." "Oh, God, Turtle." "What did I do now?" "I just walked in the door, for chrissake." "Sorry, Turtle." "Your mother just found out about the vodka in the Warriors' Cokes last year." "Well, it wasn't vodka." "It was just plain water." "I've got one smart son." " Let's go." " You owe me $7.50 for liquor, Turtle." "Is there anything I can do to help?" "Yeah, you could call Sherie Lee." " She went out with Mark Bennet." " What does she see in that boy?" "Sherie Lee says he's sexy." "But Turtle says it's because he has the biggest..." "Daryl." " Turtle." "Wait for me." " Howie, is it me, or is it?" " No." " What, Joyce?" "Well is there something about Daryl that's a little?" " Joyce." " No, wait a minute, let her finish." "Howie?" "He's a nice boy, he's very bright." "I mean, he's..." "Bright enough to make you feel like he is different." "But he's so helpful and honest for a boy his age." " I mean..." " I don't believe what I'm hearing." "You're complaining because you've got the kind of kid that most of us would trade our own in for and pay money?" "Relax, Howie, I was only kidding about the money." "No, no, no." "I'm not complaining." "I love Daryl." "I really do hope we'll be able to adopt him." "It's just, he doesn't..." "He doesn't seem to need anybody." "This is C.Q. To Q.C. Come in, Q.C." "This is C.Q. To Q.C. Come in, Q.C. Over." "This is Q.C. Come in, C.Q. What is happening?" "Over." "C. Q. Reporting." "She's gonna start hooking any second, right in front of her own home." "My gosh, she's shameless." "Oh, this is disgusting." "Censored." "Censored." "My God." "I'm too young to be looking at this." "Sherie." "His filthy hand on her Levis, touching them." "Oh, look at that." "Just look at it." "He's practically raping her, except she's cooperating." "Turtle, will you shut up?" "Knock it off, Turtle." "It's almost midnight." "C.Q., this is Q.C. I heard." "Good night." "C. Q. Signing off, a little more educated, a little more shocked by his sister." "All knowledge is learning and therefore good." "This is Q.C. Signing off." " Sleep well, miss." " Thank you, Robby." "You, come here." "I'm gonna bat you fourth, OK?" "That way, we can get Jody to bunt and if we can get Jody to stay on base, we got a prayer." "Oh, great." "They screwed up again." "I know I got at least $1,500 in there." "What's your ID number?" "No, the bank computer messed up again, Daryl." "Computers don't make errors, people do." "Maybe it was keyed in wrong." "All right, 2822." " How much do you want?" " You got it?" "Terrific." "Give me 100." "Yeah." "All right." "Well, what does it say I got in there?" "Oh, enough." "Get back in the car." " Hey, Daryl, grab my card, would you?" " OK." "Daryl, come on, let's go!" "Thank you for using the Time Machine." "You're welcome." "The First Bankers look forward to serving you again." "Come on, guys, get it together." "You call that a fastball?" "He could've caught that with his lips." "That's it!" "That's it." "Come on, Ivan!" "That's it." "Come on." "Right." "Like before, guys." "Right, come on." " Move it, damn it." " Yo, Bull." " Good luck." " Luck?" "Luck didn't win us a championship three years in a row." "Teamwork did." "Practice." "Discipline and teamwork." "Luck is for losers." "Jody's mother forgot the sodas, so there's none." " And there's no ice." " Well, run home and tell your mother." "I tell you what, she's probably at our house by now." "Run, Turtle." "We've only got ten minutes." " Run?" "You've got a car." " Haul ass, Turtle, if you wanna sit on it again." "Fastest base runner in the league, and he exhausts me right before the game." "You know, I don't believe you, Joyce." "You've got this wonderful kid, the boy you've been waiting for all your life..." "I know." "He's a wonderful kid, but he's so damn willing." "He doesn't leave any room for me to do anything." "He wants to please you." "What's so tough about that?" "He irons his own clothes, makes his own breakfast, polishes the bedroom floor." "He's a better mother than I am." "Sodas, ice." "Mrs. Keith forgot, and the massacre starts in five minutes." "Sodas!" "Ice!" "It's gonna be another massacre." " Safe." " Safe." "All right." "You got your work cut out for you, Daryl." "Just do what I said, OK?" "Wait for your pitch." "Wait for your pitch." "Don't rush it, OK?" "And listen, just come around easy on the ball, OK?" "Just come around and meet the ball, OK?" "Do your best." " You ever play ball before?" " Can it." "Look at him." " Easy out." " Easy out, don't worry." "You'll be fine." "Daryl." "You have to run, Daryl!" " Yeah!" " Touch them all, Daryl!" "Don't worry, that was nothing." "Get the next one." "Don't worry." "Hey, Bull." "He's little, but he's mean." "He's silent, but deadly." "Hey, let's talk about your pitcher." "Put the fork in him, he's done." "Andy's so happy." "He says we haven't been ahead even once before." "That's right, Daryl." "We haven't." "Not till you came along." "It's OK, Hannibal, relax." "Make him pitch to you, buddy." "Daryl, I been meaning to give you my speech about grownups." "It's a great speech." "I meant to give it to you weeks ago." " I've done something to upset her." " Don't be afraid..." "She's mad at me." "Grownups have to feel like they're making progress with you." "You gotta mess up sometimes." "Just enough so you don't get whacked, so they feel like you're learning something, see?" "It's a real art." "Trust me." "Leave your room in shit order sometimes." "Joyce needs to feel useful." "You're so damn helpful and good and thoughtful." "I don't know why I like you." "Strike three." "That's the speech." "Screw up a little." "Grownups need to be pissed off with kids." "Thanks." " All right." " That's my boy!" "All right, Ivan, smoke him, you understand me?" "Smoke him this time." "Strike." "Come on." "Two more." "Strike." " Strike three." " Yes!" "Yes!" "Hey, how about that, Andy, huh?" "How's that for good baseball?" "Listen, there's no need to blow the whole game." "I mean..." "You think the game is more important than Joyce?" "Hey." "Hey, what happened?" "Daryl, what's going on?" "I don't even like the game." "I mean, all it is is a pecker contest between you and McKenzie." " What?" " Daryl, don't talk to Andy like that." "Kiss my ass." "I don't believe it." "Daryl, come back here!" " Good, there goes the game." " You could make a deal with him." "He'll hit another one if you kiss his ass." "Andy wants to win so badly, he'd probably do it too." "Daryl." "Sweetheart there's..." "There's something we..." "No, too short." "There's something we need to talk about." "I guess I really screwed up, didn't I?" "It's OK." "All right to screw up every once in a while." "I mean, gosh, everybody does." "Yeah, that's what Turtle..." "I mean, that's what I figured." "But it's really OK?" "Of course it is." "It's just..." "Well, your language was..." "Not too good, huh?" "I'd like to apologize for that." "The next time I screw up, I'll watch my mouth." " OK, Turtle." "It's up to you, buddy." " Come on, Turtle!" "Come on, Turtle." "Two outs." "Arkoff, run on anything." "Run on anything." "Two outs." "Strike!" "That's all right." "Spread it out." "Spread it out, that's all." "Come on, Turtle." " Come on, Turtle." " You can do it, Turtle!" " Strike!" " It's OK." "Straighten out the next one." "Turtle, you represent the winning run, Turtle." "The winning run." "Take us home." "Take us home." " Come on, let's wrap this up." " Come on, now." "Come on, let's go." "Yeah!" "Yeah!" "Josh!" "Josh, get the ball!" "Come on, Turtle!" "Come on, Turtle!" "Go on, boy!" "Oh, mama!" "Cover home!" "Come on, Turtle!" " Turtle, come on!" " Cover home!" " Hit the dirt, Turtle!" " Safe." "All right, Turtle!" "Yeah!" "Daryl!" "Daryl, we won!" "Goodbye, coach." "Goodbye, Mrs. Richardson." " See you." " Bye-bye." "So the notes in the spaces are F, A, C and E, but only in the treble clef." "And the notes on the line are E, G, B, D and F, with your right hand." ""Every good boy does fine"." "Whole note, two half-notes and four quarters to a measure." "You got it." "If there was anything I could do anything you know I would find a way of doing it." "How do we really know that he's theirs?" "Andy, there is no doubt that he's their child." "Look at the photographs." "What kind of people are they?" "Daryl." " How you doing?" " I'm all right, thanks." " Listen, could we talk for a minute?" " Of course." "I just wanted to..." "Well, I thought maybe we..." "We should..." "Why don't you sit down." "Yeah, thanks." "Look, I just wanted you to know how much..." "I'm sure you already know how much Joyce and I are gonna miss you." "I know." "Me too." "Daryl, your parents love you, and they're your real parents and they've been looking for you for months." " And they want you back." " But what if I wanna be with you?" "Children belong to their parents." "You mean like your car belongs to you?" "No, nothing like that." "Dad..." " I mean, Andy." " Yeah?" "I won't forget you, will I?" "Of course not." "We're gonna stay in touch, aren't we?" " Are you Mr. Richardson?" " Yes." "I'm Jeffrey Stewart." "This is my wife, Ellen." "Pleased to meet you." "Won't you come in?" "Daryl is quite all right?" "Daryl is a tremendous young man." "We certainly do envy you your son." "He should be down in a minute or two." "I think he's a little bit nervous." "You know how kids get." "He's nervous?" "Can I get you a drink or something?" "No." "No, thank you." "My wife and I would like to thank you for all the kindness you've shown Daryl." "Oh, it wasn't hard." "He's a great kid." "You've formed a considerable attachment to him, I can see." "We're going to miss him a lot." "Both of us." "Oh, yes, of course you are." "Of course." "Daryl." "Hello, Daryl." "Do you remember us?" "I think I do." "You're just fine, Daryl." "There's nothing to worry about." "Do you wanna go and get your things?" "Isn't Turtle coming over?" "I can say goodbye to Turtle, can't I?" "Turtle..." "It's normal to feel bad about losing a friend, but you can't duck out now and not say goodbye." "Daryl's expecting you to be there." " He needs you to be..." " But, Mom." "You promised him." "Now, I want you to come with me right now and show your best friend that you haven't forgotten about him already." "Come on, let's go." "Turtle?" "Daryl do you know why your friend did that?" "Is he mad at me?" "No, I don't think so." "I think he's gonna miss you and that makes it hard for him to say goodbye." "Can you imagine how he must feel?" "Yes." "I can." "Good." "That's very good, Daryl." "Turtle." "Hey." "Hey." "Write to me, OK?" "I'll call you." "Bye." "Are we gonna fly?" "Are we gonna fly in that?" "You know what I don't understand?" "They just didn't ask anything." "You know?" "I mean, about Daryl." "Just like those pictures you showed us, completely anonymous." "Just Daryl in front of the same blank wall." " Can I go see the pilot now?" " Sure, you can." "Ask him anything you want." "Oh, hi there, Daryl." "Come on in." "So you wanna learn how to fly this thing, huh?" "I'd find it very interesting." "OK, well, here's your altitude and your air speed and your engine thrust." "Right here is your horizon level indicator." " And over here, we have the..." " You know, the extraordinary thing is that we've accomplished something by accident that we wouldn't have dared to do by intent." "Putting him out there just to see what would happen." "When Dr. Mulligan kidnapped him, that was the best thing he could have done." "You were right about its learning potential." "No, I was wrong." "I think he's learned a lot more than I ever thought possible." "OK, now, as a backup to the computer, you should check visually." "Now, here's the navigation chart we're on." "We're there, right?" "You're right." "That's exactly right." "Very good." "You have been paying attention." "OK, now, you take that figure from the trip computer, and then enter your coordinates, your air speed, your wind factors, your time calculations, and the figures should match your rough calculations of latitude north 28 degrees 39.4 minutes." " Six." " What?" "Twenty-eight degrees 39.6 minutes." "You said four." "But on the database given, it's 28 degrees 39.6 minutes." "Well, I'll be." "It is." "Kid's after your job, major..." "Harry." "So if I wanted to go back home," "I'd just feed in the coordinates and instruct the autopilot?" "Whatever we do, there's..." "There's no way he can be categorized as normal." " I thought that was understood..." " Daryl." "Did you see everything up front?" "Yes, thank you." "Why don't you come and sit down and let El..." "Your mom fix you something to drink." "Juice or something?" "What would you like, Daryl?" "Are you really my mom and dad?" "John, would you please..?" "This is T.K., would you please turn up the sound on monitor six?" "Monitor six, sound up." "I think the problem is right there." "Can you reactivate the memory without surgery?" "I think Dr. Mulligan provoked specific overload, not a burnout." "I think at some point he wanted Daryl to know what he was." "We'll soon see." "Now, let's try talking to him." "We'll have to double-check that." "I need an update on that data handling, please." "We think there's electrical power failure." "Monitor seven." "Strike!" "What made you change the way you were playing after Turtle talked to you that day?" "I interpreted the data to indicate that under certain conditions, error was more efficient than maximum performance." "Under what conditions?" "Relating with others." "OK, what do you say to that?" "Perception of the optimum." "Program was designed for it." "Come on, Daryl, take your pick." "Chocolate or vanilla?" "I don't know..." "Well, how are you gonna know if you don't try some?" "I don't know." "Well..." "Shit, Daryl, if you don't care, take the vanilla." "No, I like the chocolate better." "Can I assume this is a final decision?" "Absolutely." "Mary Ellen, don't eat that, Daryl spit in it." "Did you mean it, that you prefer chocolate?" " Oh, sure." " Why?" "I just did." "Turtle likes raspberry." "But there's no difference." " It tastes different." " And he's not programmed for taste." " It's programmed to learn." " Not subjective preferences." "He can analyze nutritional values, not choose between flavors." " So it's picking up behavior patterns." " Please, stop calling him "it"." "Thank you." "We've got to run some biochemical tests, until we find where this comes from." "Don't worry, Daryl, you can't come to any harm." "I promise we won't hurt you." "What are you gonna do?" "Why do you have to do this?" "We're just gonna take some samples." "You won't feel it." "Dr. Stewart..." " What's going on?" " It just started." "Doctor." "This is crazy." "Looks like someone's playing around with the central computer." "All right, Daryl." "We'll forget the tests." "No tests." "OK?" "Your report makes some pretty extraordinary claims, Dr. Stewart." "Just simple observations, general." "You're now saying it can feel human emotion." "Yes." "He experiences pleasure and pain." " He also registers fear and anxiety." " Fear?" "Fear's something we don't have a lot of use for on this project." ""We", general?" "People who are funding your research, doctor." "The American taxpayer." "When your colleague, Dr. Mulligan, ran off with this expensive piece of hardware, I didn't hear you crying" " on behalf of the taxpayer." " Because, thanks to Dr. Mulligan's mistakes, we now know a lot more about Daryl's potential than we did before." "Baseball, ice-cream preferences, friendships?" "That's all right for America, but hardly what we need at the Department of Defense." "The joint chiefs have made their decision in light of this report." "The Youth Lifeform Project, as of now, is terminated." "The department has set out its requirements in this working paper." "Basically, we need an adult version of this prototype, programmed to learn and then taught everything the Army can teach." "A fearless, technically skilled, devastating soldier." "D.A.R.Y.L. Goes to the scrap yard." "Understood?" "... this time in slow motion." "He makes it look easy." "As Buzz says, it's just a matter of balance." "However, we don't suggest you try it the next time you take your car out." "After all, it's taken Buzz 20 years and hundreds of sets of tires to perfect his..." " Hi." " Hello." "How long can Buzz keep a car balanced like this?" "Well, let's ask Buzz." "Well, we actually drove the car around a two-and-a-half-mile oval for about 100 laps, or 250 miles." "We would've drove longer, but we ran out of gas." "Should I turn them off?" "Well, maybe down a little." "They wanna know how you do that." "As a matter of fact, so do I." "Well, I can sort of read what a computer is doing." "You can control it?" "I guess." "I'm getting better." "But people..." "You can tell what they're thinking?" "Oh, no, I'm not telepathic or anything like that." "Then how do you know what they're feeling?" "Well, you sort of guess at that because you know what you're feeling yourself." "I'd very much like it if you would let Andy and Joyce visit me." " And your friend..." " Turtle." "Yes, I'd really like that." "I miss them." "I really do." "All right." "And then we'll tell them the truth." "Doctor?" "What am I?" "What is he, Ellen?" "You're not really going to bring those people here, are you?" "I can give security clearance to anyone I choose." "Unless the military overrides me." "And there's no reason they should." "Is there?" "OK, let's go." "Welcome to Tascom." "All of you." "You said we could see Daryl." "Is he all right?" "May we see him, please?" "Yes, just come this way." "Doctor what is this?" "Daryl is not..." "Well, he never was completely human." "What?" "Data Analyzing Robot Youth Lifeform." "Daryl's an experiment in artificial intelligence." "All I can say is that he was never meant to leave here." "And he was certainly never meant to be with people like yourselves." "Holy shit." "He's a robot?" "He's more than that, Turtle." "He's a lot more." "See, this is where we programmed the computer in Daryl's head." "And this is where he discharges learned information into the mainframe memory." "I don't believe this." "No." "Look." "Ask the computer any detail, no matter how small, something that could only be known to you and Daryl." "This is some kind of a joke." "Oh, no." "No, I'm afraid not." "OK, it's him." " Doesn't he know we're here?" " He can't see us." " But I just talked to him." " No, you talked to his memory banks." "That's separate." " Daryl?" "A robot?" " But he's real." "Look at him." "He's just a little boy, flesh and blood." " Isn't he?" " Not even a doctor could tell the difference." "Unless he x-rayed the skull." "Daryl wasn't conceived in a womb, but in a laboratory test tube." "With a computer brain provided by us." "He's growing just like a normal boy." "But why?" "Why all of this?" "Because the five senses of the human body are the fastest, most efficient method of programming ever devised." "Just imagine." "Sight, sound, touch, taste, smell." "You've got all that going for you instead of some guy sitting at a computer terminal punching keys." " Turtle!" " Hi." "You came with Ma..." "Joyce and Andy?" "I gave them the slip." "They were listening to all that scientific crap about you." "Did you know you were?" "You were a robot?" "Well, I guess, no." "Not back home with Andy and Joyce and you." " I lost my memory, remember?" " But now?" " Now I remember." " How does it feel?" "Just the same." "But, I mean, do you feel like?" "I mean, like me?" "I don't know, I'm not you." "I think I feel like you." "I mean, why wouldn't I?" "Well, I guess it wasn't my coaching that was gonna put you in the hall of fame." "You had the stuff all by yourself, didn't you?" "It's good to see you, boy." "Hi." " Are you absolutely sure?" " Yes." "We're sure." "Sure." "All right, then give me..." "Give me five days." "If you haven't heard from me by then, make some phone calls." "Call the press or TV stations, your congressman, anyone you can think of." "It may be our only chance." "And, Turtle, remember:" "Don't talk to anyone." "Right." "Thank you." "OK, let's go." "Carter, take your section, secure the left flank." " Yes, sir." " Vissar, get your section" " over to the right flank." " Yes, sir." "You did the right thing in calling us, Dr. Lamb." "I'm not placing you under arrest, Dr. Stewart." "Since you've sealed off the whole building, that's hardly a big concession." " What the hell were you trying to do?" " I told you," "I believe that Daryl is more than a machine." "We have no right to destroy him." " Do you share this view as a scientist?" " No." "Dr. Stewart has fallen into the same trap Dr. Mulligan did." "Assigning human emotion where there is none, cannot be, in a machine." " He is not a machine." " Nobody believes that except you." " The Richardsons do." " The Richardsons." "You're asking us to destroy a child." "The body is organic." "He can hurt, die, decompose, just like you and me, general." "Can you dispose of this prototype, Dr. Lamb?" "It'd be a valuable loss of data, there are some aspects..." "You have the work papers which notify you of our requirements for the next generation." "I rely upon you to inform me when the disposal is accomplished, Dr. Stewart." "Or shall I look to Dr. Lamb for that?" "I hope you're both satisfied." "I've got a Dr. Stewart here awaiting clearance." "License RSD843." "All right." "Son of a bitch." "First Mulligan, then Stewart, now you." "Why?" "General, a machine becomes human when you can't tell the difference anymore." "Get me the gate." "Don't just stand there, get the phone." "We made it." "Can I come out now?" "It's hot under here." "Be careful, we're not clear yet." " On the double, let's go!" " Let's move it." "Come on!" "... license plate number Romeo-Sierra-Delta-8-4-3." "Dr. Stewart is in his 50s, 6 feet tall, graying hair, wears glasses." "They're coming." "I see them." "OK, hang on." "Watch out for the rock!" "No, right!" "You better turn the lights on, or we'll look suspicious." "Yeah, good thinking." " You want me to drive?" " No." "No, you'll attract too much attention." "Pull it over, doctor." " Oh, no." " Move your vehicle to the curb." " Turn onto the freeway." " What?" "I repeat, move your vehicle to the curb." " Move your vehicle to the curb." " Take the freeway, please!" " Move your vehicle to the curb." " Halt or we'll shoot." "Get going!" "Get that thing out of the way!" "We seem to have attracted attention anyway." " Oh, all right." " You've gotta trust me now." " Trust me..." " OK." "...please." "Look out!" "We can never outrun them." "Why don't you just close your eyes and fasten your seat belt." " What are you gonna do, Daryl?" " It's OK, I've done it before." " Pursuit, East-West Tollway." " 28 to 12, we're right behind you." "We've got him now." "There's a construction site up ahead." "See if you can set a block at the interchange." "We got him now, boys." "We got him." "Oh, no." "Oh, my God." "Wait a minute, what are you doing, Daryl?" "It's OK, I know what I'm doing." "Look at that little sucker go!" "What the hell does he think he's doing?" "If we don't stop him now, he's gonna kill somebody." "Pull it over, kid!" "Pull over!" " Stop, kid, or we'll shoot." " Oh, my God, hit the brake!" "Did you just see those guys fly?" "This is 12, everyone appears to be OK." "Better send an ambulance just in case." "He's pulling away, we're gonna lose him." "He's taking the Bells Road off-ramp." "OK, let's see what we got here." "Here, you write him a note." "Tell him we're sorry for the trouble and he can keep the car." "And here's $10 for the gas." "Oh, boy." "He's getting one hell of a deal." "I refuse to believe they can just disappear." "Well, they can't, general." "But we are spread pretty thin." "When we sight them, we'll get them." "There's an air base four miles down the road." "We can find..." " What is it?" " A roadblock." " It's just one car and one cop." " That's enough." "OK, buddy, check back. 149 clear." " Howdy." " Howdy." " What's going on?" " Oh, nothing much." "Just checking for a couple of runaways." "Well..." "Hey, officer, have you got a light?" " Back in the car." " Oh, no, no, never mind." "Never mind." "I gotta quit anyway." "Alrighty, well, drive safe." "Hey!" "Pretty good, huh?" "You were great." "I sure hope he had breakfast." "Down!" "Keep down!" "Damn it, major, if it was a proper roadblock, nobody should've crashed it." " Least of all Stewart and that child." " Yes, sir." " I want a full report." " Yes, sir." "These two must be caught or killed before they run to some busybody from the press." "Yes, sir." "You can still make it." "You have to." "I'm sorry, Daryl." "If I was a little bit older, you could have given me a medical program." "And I could have gone to medical school." "And that would be helpful." "Look what I've done to you." "I've made you a fugitive." "I've lied to you, I've frightened you." "I've taken you from a family that loved you." "You gave me everything too." "You made me what I am." "I mean, not a real..." "Whatever happens I want you to remember this always." "Always remember this:" "You are a real person." "You are real." "I only wish..." " Base to 2340." " 2340, go ahead." "Silverbird 500..." "Okay, we got you, Silverbird 500..." "Blackjack 401..." "Hey, I've got a fire alert here." "Hey, I've got them everywhere." "Attention, all personnel." "Attention, all personnel, we have a major fire alert in sectors one, four, five..." "The circuits are all screwed up." "Every time I hit the switch, I'm getting the late show." " Yes, sir, I don't understand what's..." " Firefly One, abort, abort!" "When that plane leaves United States airspace, we have no choice." "You're gonna shoot it down?" "There's not a missile built fast enough to catch it." " So, what are you gonna do?" " Well, just in case of some monumental foul-up like this, we've built an explosive charge into the airplane itself." "When I give the command to destroy it, it explodes instantly, wherever it is." "Your aircraft will be destroyed if you do not turn around before that time." "Please respond." "I repeat this warning." "You leave U.S. Airspace in six minutes and 30 seconds." "Mark that from... now." "Your aircraft will be destroyed if you do not turn around before that time." "Please respond." "C. Q., this is your old pal Q. C. Will you wake up!" "Q. C. Calling C. Q." "Daryl, where are you?" "You wouldn't believe me anyway." " What's he saying?" " I don't know, sir." "He must've changed frequencies." "Find out what frequency he's transmitting on." "Listen, I'll be home soon, just like Dr. Stewart promised." "Don't tell anyone, OK?" " It's important." " How soon is soon?" "Less than 20 minutes." "That's a guess because velocities are hard to calculate in rates of descent." "Oh, just meet me by the Blue Lake before school." " You got it." " Over and out, C. Q." "Velocities?" "Rates of descent?" "What's he doing?" "Get this." "Three minutes and counting." "A child with a stick of chewing gum has just rendered your $100 million worth of hardware useless." "Any suggestions?" "Two minutes, 30 seconds and counting." "Two minutes, 15 seconds and counting." "This is Robbins, we have three units ready to scramble on your order." "Thirty seconds and counting." "Stand by, Y-coordinate to pattern 8, vector 1714, stand by." "Fifteen seconds and counting." "Ten." "Nine." "Six." "Five." "One." "Fire." "Target vaporized 0608, sir." " Well, that's that, general." " He could have ejected." "We have a tracking signal on the ejector mechanism." " We'd have picked that up instantly." " I see." " So where is he?" " I don't know." "He said Blue Lake." "Look." "Oh, no!" "No." "Oh, please." "Go, Turtle, go." "Come on." "Go!" "Try and stop one of those cars up there!" "Stop, please!" "Stop!" "Please!" "Stop!" "Please!" "Please stop!" "It's OK to cry, Turtle." " You loved him." " But he can't be dead." "He can't be." "I feel the same way, Turtle, but there's nothing we can do." "But he can't die." "Daryl's a robot." "Robot's don't die." "Honey." "Oxygen feeds your brain, but his brain's a microcomputer." "That can't die." "When you die, it means brain death." "I know you can hear me, Daryl." "Daryl!" "Daryl!" "Are you all here?" "Ripped by:" "SkyFury"