INT. JASON’S APARTMENT – NIGHT
86Please respect copyright.PENANAbVzjWQbCWC
[The room hums with low electricity and general “midnight maintenance” energy. Jason’s lying on his too-small bed like a metal pretzel. SD-A sits on a stack of old coolant containers like it’s a chair. SD-K is hunched near the wall, watching a cracked display screen playing what appears to be a human children’s cartoon... with most of the audio corrupted.]
86Please respect copyright.PENANA7Sr8doZu7T
JASON
“You two are way too calm for guys hiding from the law, a parasitic plague, and probably a higher cosmic power with a grudge against robots.”
86Please respect copyright.PENANATe9eTHI5cD
SD-A
“Stress is inefficient. And this show is weirdly relaxing.”
86Please respect copyright.PENANAA1Za0e02Ln
[The cartoon makes a distorted boing sound followed by a human child screaming in static.]
86Please respect copyright.PENANA5eR51l59BW
JASON (tilting his head)
“That kid’s either having fun or getting sucked into a pocket dimension. Hard to say with analog.”
86Please respect copyright.PENANARYOJXcIpo8
SD-K
“Explain something to me. You live in a cube smaller than a standard maintenance locker, eat expired batteries, and shower under a leaking pipe. And yet you have the nerve to roast us?”
86Please respect copyright.PENANASJfIjOvOMD
JASON
“First of all, the shower mist is artisanal. Second, yes. I do have that nerve. Welcome to my trash castle, boys. This? This is a sleepover now. I hope someone brought ghost stories and illegal snacks.”
86Please respect copyright.PENANAcRKff455fx
SD-A
“What’s a sleepover?”
86Please respect copyright.PENANAc8gEDaVMkD
JASON
“Oh boy. It’s a tradition from when humans were still around. Bunch of kids pile into one house, eat processed sugar death, scream about imaginary monsters, and pretend to sleep while talking about crushes and bodily functions.”
86Please respect copyright.PENANAqgCsJHwvAA
[SD-K stares at him.]
86Please respect copyright.PENANAPkm3Ftd6Ks
SD-K
“Why would anyone choose that?”
86Please respect copyright.PENANA1crlcLkATR
JASON
“Exactly. Humanity was weird. But now here we are—three fully-armed, socially dysfunctional war machines... sitting in a cube. Sharing feelings. Not trying to kill each other. That’s textbook sleepover behavior.”
86Please respect copyright.PENANArOL6Y1PUQG
SD-A
“Do sleepovers involve someone insulting everyone constantly?”
86Please respect copyright.PENANAmsJCzybYoT
JASON
“Only the good ones.”
86Please respect copyright.PENANAj2pil0DfiE
[A loud POP from the mini-fridge makes all three of them jump slightly. Jason throws a slipper at it without looking.]
86Please respect copyright.PENANA0BYouaAmQx
JASON
“Shut up, Kevin!”
86Please respect copyright.PENANAPAyYSYqfws
SD-K
“…Did you just name your fridge?”
86Please respect copyright.PENANAB6XNQYqYYv
JASON
“No, Kevin’s the thing inside the fridge.”
86Please respect copyright.PENANAgSPCvXZlWT
[Pause.]
86Please respect copyright.PENANAbf4bSe9s02
SD-K
“I hate it here.”
86Please respect copyright.PENANASRqEKfGJ8v
SD-A
“This place is... strange. But strangely comforting. Like a defective warm-up cycle.”
86Please respect copyright.PENANAMaDNdw1vcY
JASON
“Thanks. I try to make my hellhole cozy. Carpeted the floor with dust and regret.”
86Please respect copyright.PENANAjQjGCL3ZWs
[He gets up, plugs his arm into the wall port to recharge it slightly, and flicks a loose spark off his shoulder.]
86Please respect copyright.PENANAW1Ep6dcYBU
JASON
“Seriously, though—whatever’s going on out there… I don’t know if it’s just a few parasite bots or a full-on reboot of the apocalypse, but it’s gonna get worse.”
86Please respect copyright.PENANAZo586xD9KE
SD-K
“Nice bedtime story.”
86Please respect copyright.PENANAR7UfUREKNX
SD-A (quietly)
“We’ll stop it. Somehow.”
86Please respect copyright.PENANAp5gVsDIXXG
[Jason glances over, half-sarcastic, half-serious.]
86Please respect copyright.PENANAXvkQ79EF9y
JASON
“You say that like you don’t hesitate every time someone needs killing.”
86Please respect copyright.PENANA8SfTWDoNU6
SD-A
“Maybe some bots deserve hesitation.”
86Please respect copyright.PENANAdFIFOBPQi9
[Jason looks at him for a second longer, then shrugs and drops back onto the bed, hand behind his head.]
86Please respect copyright.PENANAfwlLK8WwqH
JASON
“Well, just don’t hesitate if I start growing extra limbs or spouting glowing nanite goo. Deal?”
86Please respect copyright.PENANAas6LY4NapN
SD-A
“Deal.”
86Please respect copyright.PENANA3ZcTLGKo79
SD-K
“I already have a weapon pre-set for that scenario.”
86Please respect copyright.PENANAypCpNYIYES
JASON
“I’m touched.”
86Please respect copyright.PENANAGj69RUZzIg
[The three sit in silence for a moment. A faint creak from a pipe sounds like a whisper. The cartoon on the display glitches again—this time showing a moment of static that vaguely resembles a Vision Tech logo.]
86Please respect copyright.PENANA6dzt5js9bP
JASON (noticing)
“…Did anyone else see that?”
86Please respect copyright.PENANAHcHLvAOYlQ
SD-A
“…Sleepover’s canceled.”
86Please respect copyright.PENANAuNZ11cVqmd
FADE TO BLACK.
ns216.73.216.224da2