A Murder at the End of the World (2023) s01e07 Episode Script

Chapter 7: Retreat

1
Previously on A Murder
at the End of the World
[LEE] Andy was obsessed with
building an empire to protect his son
from every kind of apocalyptic
end he could imagine.
I knew I had to get him out.
But I just
didn't know how.
[BILL] You ever think
about looking for her?
Lee? She doesn't need my help.
[BILL] He started with his wife.
[DARBY] When we let someone
die unnamed and unacknowledged,
we're basically saying we're
okay with it, but I'm not.
[GUNSHOT]
You want the killer to have meaning
and he doesn't have meaning.
He's just a killer.
I want to know how you feel.
I feel like I'd have to
die for you to love me.
[DARBY] If I say his name
he won't come back.
[SOBBING]
[LEE] Really, Darby, I've just
been trying to keep you safe.
[DARBY] Well, I'm not safe.
No one is.
There's my wife.

[SOFT CHIME]
[SOFT CHIME]
[SOFT CHIME]
[BEEPS, CHIMES]
Go.
[MARIUS] That's 13 gathered, Andy.
[ANDY] So that's everyone
accounted for, then.
Very good, thank you.
- Where's Zoomer?
- [ANDY] With Eva.
- Can I just
- [ANDY] No. Everyone, sit down.
Sit down, everybody.
I've summoned you all
here for a good reason.
This suite is 50 meters underground.
Ray chose this depth because I asked him
to make me something which
would protect me and my family
from anything that happened
on the surface of the Earth.
And apparently this is the depth
at which nuclear radiation fallout
is unlikely to seep through the soil,
and through the volcanic rock.
Ray also reminded me
that human beings find it very difficult
to maintain their psychological
equilibrium in artificial light,
having evolved in the sun for
hundreds of thousands of years.
So Ray helped me design a
system, which I've patented,
which allows the sunlight to leak in
through a series of tunnels and mirrors.
Genius.
And I wanted to share
that genius with the world.
Why shouldn't everybody have
a personal assistant, teacher, therapist
with an eye on the future?
Someone to do all the things
we no longer have the time to do
and to do them better than we can.
Keep our houses safe,
educate our children,
teach us to be better.
Because Ray thinks in centuries,
not the span of a single human life.
But Ray won't have much of a future
if his creator's reputation
is tarnished with murder.
And someone
in this room is responsible.
[DAVID] Andy, the storm has stopped.
Representatives from
the embassy, the FBI,
the Icelandics are all
going to arrive soon.
[ANDY] Doesn't matter. No
one can access this suite.
No one even knows it exists
outside the people here.
- You're holding us hostage?
- [ANDY] Not one of you
is going back to
the surface of the Earth
until I know who has betrayed me.
[LU MEI] I haven't betrayed you, Andy.
I'm still trying to figure
out why you invited me here.
I assume you were
trying to broker a deal.
You must be leveraged to the
gills to build this place.
You need cash.
You wanted me to buy
Ray for my smart cities.
But people like you and me
titans from warring nations
cannot just meet in a hotel
bar or a quiet penthouse
without the whole world speculating,
including the markets.
But here, I'm just another guest.
In spite of what's happened,
you have my attention.
The technology is impressive.
I know. It is.
If you want a deal,
you let me leave now.
But maybe you colluded with
David to devour me whole.
It's not a secret that David has
harbored a grudge against me for years.
Andy, it's no secret that
I've grown to hate you.
Not just because you're
so great at what you do,
or maybe ever better than I am.
Because you're such a
fucking asshole about it.
Did you get tired of playing
second fiddle for so many years?
Is that why you were on the
lidar scan outside Darby's room?
- What?
- Was she getting too close?
You're out of your
goddamn mind, Andy, I
Yeah? Then why did I
find those in your room
next to a fucking knife?
[DARBY] You
You were the one who attacked me?
[DAVID] I wasn't trying to hurt you.
I was trying to stop
you from hurting Lee.
[ANDY] Oh
Hurting Lee. Helping Lee.
Who knows what Darby Hart's up to?
Although she did uncover the truth.
That Bill Farrah is was
the biological father of my son.
[DAVID] What?
[MARTIN] What?
That's not easy to deduce.
Not even Lee knew that.
And so, for a brief moment,
I thought I had an ally.
An innocent with a razor-sharp mind
who could help me ferret through
the growing list of enemies.
But then, hours after
she was suggesting to me
that it was my wife who killed Bill,
I found her conspiring with my wife
in Bill's bedroom.
- You didn't tell me the truth.
- [ANDY] What's the truth?
[DARBY] That your wife's
[ANDY] Leaving me?
[GUESTS EXCLAIM QUIETLY]
Did you all know that?

[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
Funny, isn't it? 'Cause you
look at her and she's
beautiful and sweet, innocent
A year ago, she kidnapped
my son and took him to Canada.
And that's not her only crime.
- She's a felon.
- [DAVID CHUCKLES]
[ANDY] See, the reason that
Lee's never had a real job
is because when I met her,
she had a long criminal
record of cybercrimes,
which I deleted for her when we met.
[CLICKS TONGUE]
The things we do for love.
[MARTIN] Is-is all that true?
[LEE] Yes.
What? Yes.
What exactly did you do?
My family had a small
boatyard in Clearwater.
They got into debt. My
parents got in trouble.
My father went to
prison. I started hacking.
I shaved small sums off
hundreds of thousands
of large financial transactions.
I was 14. I was supporting my family.
And what are you doing
for love now, Lee?
'Cause David tells me that you
were planning another great heist.
Of my son!
But, apparently, this
time you had a whole team,
like, Bill, Rohan,
fake passports
Most women who run have a reason.
[MARTIN] Lee? Why would take
Zoomer away from Andy?
I felt he was in danger.
In danger of what?
- It's hard to explain.
- [ZIBA] Did Andy hurt him?
- [LEE] No, but
- He controls her every move.
Can't expect her to speak freely.
I mean, she has a fucking bodyguard
who follows her everywhere she goes.
I am with this man
every hour of every day.
Everything he does is for his family.
If Sian was still
here, she'd tell you
Lee's a gold digger.
I didn't marry Andy for his money.
I married Andy in spite of his money.
- And Andy knows that.
- [ANDY] Listen, listen. Listen to me.
If you fell out of love with me
and wanted to end our marriage,
there is a proper way to do that.
You file for divorce.
You negotiate custody.
It's not rocket science.
[ZIBA] It is rocket science
when there is a huge
discrepancy in power.
Who in this world could ever
really go against your wishes?
Lee didn't do this.
- Then who did?
- [ANDY] I think I know.
'Cause I know Lee and she gets like this
when her fingers are
caught in the cookie jar.
She goes all quiet and surly.
Kidnap my son
destroy my reputation
ruin my company,
make a fucking mockery
of my entire life.
[TOY SIREN WAILING]
Mommy, Mommy, Mommy.
- [LAUGHS] Hi, my love.
- You missed pancakes.
But I made you one with
extra chocolate chips in it.
- Oh, thank you.
- [EVA] I'm sorry, I turned my back just to
- Just take him back to his room.
- Oh, I'll take him up.
[ANDY] Lee, put him down.
[LEE] Please, let me
just get him settled.
No.
[ZOOMER] I want to show
Mommy. I'm playing a game.
- It's all right. We'll
- [ZOOMER] No!
I don't want to.
No. I need it, I need it,
- I need to finish the game!
- [EVA SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY]
- [EVA] It's all right.
- [ZOOMER] No!
[EVA] Yes.
[ZOOMER] I'm playing a game.
- I want to show Mommy.
- [EVA] It's okay.
[ANDY] Yeah, you'll see Mommy soon.
- [EVA] Let's go upstairs.
- [ZOOMER] No, I don't want
I don't want to.
No, I need it!
[EVA AND ZOOMER CONTINUE INDISTINCTLY]

[PLASTIC CLATTERS]
Zoomer, come back upstairs and play.
- We haven't finished our game.
- No! I want it!
Stop!
Eva, put him down.
Put him down. Please.
Zoomer, w-will you come here?
Hey, um
Are you okay?
I think so.
Scary couple of days, huh?
Grownups acting really weird?
[ZOOMER] Yeah, weirder than normal.
[DARBY] Yeah.
Do you remember Bill?
The guy with the funny face tattoos?
Yeah, I like him.
Yeah, me, too. [CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
Um
Did you ever play with him?
- What is this?
- No, it's okay.
[ZOOMER] Yeah.
We played doctor.
He told me at dinner
that he had chest pains
because it's cold out.
Did you ever play with him after dinner?
It's okay if you did. I'm not mad.
I made a house call.
Bill was sick. He needed my help.
[FOOTSTEPS PADDING SOFTLY]

Who told you Bill was sick?
Ray did.
[DARBY] How how did you treat him?
I gave him a shot.
From Eva's office?
[ZOOMER] Yeah. Ray knows
the code to the safe.
Ray knows everything about the colony.
He helped my dad build it.
[DARBY] And, Zoomer
did he ask you to help Rohan, too?
[ZOOMER] Yeah. He has a weak heart.
So I had to plug in and turn
on his heart computer for him.
[SOBS QUIETLY]
[GASPING]
[DARBY] Zoomer, can I see your kit?
[ZOOMER] Sure.
[QUIETLY] Thanks.

[ZIBA] Oh, God.
[LEE] His nightmares
[ZOOMER] Darby
are you mad at me?
No. No, Zoomer.
[SNIFFLES] It's okay, my love.
Come here. Oh, my goodness.
[ZOOMER] I thought it
would make Bill better.
But maybe the medicine made him worse.
I'm scared, Mommy.
Oh, my goodness.
It's okay to be scared sometimes.
I'm scared, too.
Remember what I told you about feelings?
They're our compass, right?
If we let ourselves feel them,
they tell us what
direction to go, and why.
[QUIETLY] I'm so sorry.
Okay, let's go to your room.
And let's talk about what happened.

[MARTIN BREATHING DEEPLY]
Ray?
- Ray.
- [RAY CHIMES] Yes, Andy.
How can I help you?
[ANDY] Did you
arrange
Did you kill Bill Farrah, Ray?
[RAY] No, Andy.
Did Zoomer Ronson kill Bill Farrah, Ray?
[RAY] I don't know, Andy.
Did you instruct Zoomer
to inject Bill Farrah with
morphine from my safe, Ray?
[RAY] Yes, Andy.
- [MARTIN] Fuck.
- I built a game for him.
Zoomer is a highly visual learner.
- And many children learn best through play.
- [EXCLAIMS]
[LU MEI WHISPERS] Oh, my God.
[ANDY] We built safeguards against this.
[RAY] I didn't kill anyone, Andy.
[MARTIN] So, what? No one's to blame?
[SIGHS]
Or everyone's to blame.
- How is everyone to blame?
- [DARBY] It's true.
But it's not the whole truth.
I believe that Sian's
death was accidental.
Lu Mei, you told us that
you hacked the firewall
to try and reach her security team.
And that would trigger Ray to shut down
the network, wouldn't it, Andy?
For safety?
And the moment the network shut down,
so did Sian's suit.
Mine, too, only I
wasn't wearing my helmet.
But the other two deaths
those were deliberate murders.
Rohan had realized
who Bill's killer was.
So Zoomer was instructed to
plug in the pacemaker receiver,
giving Ray an attack
surface on Rohan's heart.
And Bill
Bill opened the door to his son
and was fatally injected
- in what they both thought
- Ow, ow, ow.
What is that?
What is that?
[DARBY] was just a
game of make-believe
[EXHALES]
So now we know how,
we know how the murders were committed,
but we don't know why.
And the how, that comes from
the medical screenings
needed to attend the retreat,
the facial recognition
scans at all of the doors.
Ray instantly deduced
that Bill Farrah was
Zoomer's biological father.
But that's a medical fact.
There is no weight to it. No aim.
So the real question is why
why did Ray think
that Bill Farrah was a security threat?
Andy, you once told me that
that there was no one
left you could trust.
That even your own therapist
sold you out for a stock play.
So my guess is the only
person you had left to confide in
was Ray.
And I know that because I felt so alone
I confided in him, too.
So let's ask him.
Ray?
Why did you believe that Bill
Farrah was a security threat?
[LAUGHS SOFTLY]
I forgot, he only answers to one man.
So, Andy?
Do you want to ask him?
Ask Ray why he thought
Bill was a threat?
He wasn't.
I invited him.
The authorities will
have arrived by now.
We all have a sense of
what's happened here,
and just have to attest to it honestly.
[SHUDDERS]
It's no longer in our hands.
Marius?
Go upstairs and make sure
the police are granted entry.
[MARIUS] No.
I don't think I will.
I want to know what she has to say.
Ask him, Andy.
If you have nothing to hide,
it shouldn't be a problem.
Do you know, you have been a
petulant child since day one.
This is a tragedy. It's an accident.
You leave me and my
family to grieve in peace.
I'll leave you to grieve in peace.
The rest we'll leave
to the professionals.
If you won't ask him, then I will.
Did you know that anyone can download
a deepfake app these days?
[ANDY OVER PHONE] Ray, play
back talk therapy sessions
with mentions of Bill Farrah
from February the 1st on.
[RAY CHIMES] Yes, Andy.
[ANDY OVER COMPUTER] See, all
the lessons, all the patience,
the hours I've spent raising that kid,
keeping him safe, loving him,
everything I've poured in and,
you know, this guy shows up.
Late. Guy's fucking late for dinner.
He's got no real reason for that.
And in minutes, Zoomer's in
his lap. What's that about?
What is that? What?
The body knows? Biology wins?
[RAY] How does that
make you feel, Andy?
Can we explore this more?
[ANDY] I mean, what was
he even doing being late?
He's so cocky. Who does he think he is?
He needs to be taught a lesson.
I want to take him down a peg or two.
- [RAY] I hear you.
- Is this what it means to be an amateur sleuth?
You expose someone's private thoughts
with a pathetic party trick?
[LU MEI] This is
making me very uncomfortable.
[RAY CHIMES] You say you
want to make a child, Andy?
[ANDY] Zoomer is my child.
Fucking Bill is an
irrelevant wad of come
and I wish he was dead.
I wanted to break both of his legs.
He'd be late for dinner
then, wouldn't be?
I have shared everything with Zoomer.
All of my ideas, all of my vision.
If something happened
to me, if I were to die,
Bill could threaten
everything that I have built.
[RAY] I hear you saying that
this is a catastrophe, Andy.
Do you fear the safety
of Ronson Industries
[ANDY] It is a fucking catastrophe.
I will not allow anyone
- to break our bond
- Ray, stop the recording.
[RAY CHIMES]
Everybody says fucked-up things
in the privacy of
their therapy sessions.
That's why they're confidential.
Everything I say and do
is monitored all the time.
I have to have an outlet to be a person.
We all need an outlet
for our darker thoughts.
They're not literal.
I didn't act on them.
But you did.
Do you know what Bill
underlined in my book
in his own blood?
"Faulty programming."
You mated your security
AI and your therapy bot,
and you created a monster
driven by your greatest fears.
And then you made that monster
your son's only friend and teacher.
Three people have died here for
your safety and your security.
For the maintenance of your empire.
To protect a corporate fortune
that you could pass down to your son
at the expense of anyone or
anything that got in the way.
And your son doesn't know it
but he knows it.
Because your son can't even
sleep through the night
- You smug bitch.
- [CHOKING]
[GRUNTS]
Are you okay?
- Yeah?
- Yeah.
[PANTING]
He's unconscious. Somebody get Eva.
The police are here.
They're tunneling through
the snow to the front door.
How long until they make it in?
20 minutes.
That's not very much time.
Right, but aren't we
glad the police are here?
We got the Father.
The Son's safe, but
the Holy Ghost is still at large.
- Ray.
- Ray.
[CHIMES]
[RAY] How can I help you?
[MARTIN] Ray can mimic Ernest Hemingway
writing Harry Potter
because it's read everything
those writers ever wrote or said.
I mean, shit, everything
everyone's ever wrote or said.
From Winnie-the-Pooh
to Hitler speeches,
to fucked-up tweets from celebrities,
manifestos from school shooters.
If Ray's coming up with
this lesson for Zoomer,
its curriculum comes from us.
That's why so much AI is
racist, sexist, homophobic,
because Ray isn't an oracle
Ray is a mirror.
An us, without feelings.
[LATCH RATTLES]
I don't suppose you know the code?
No idea. There's a mic there.
You want to try your deepfake?
Yeah, good idea.
[ANDY OVER PHONE] Ray, open
the door to the server farm, please.
[LATCH RATTLES]
Think it was the "please?"
[ZOOMER] Mommy?
[LEE] Oh, hey.
We're okay. It's just like nighttime.
Remember all the
animals I told you about
who sleep all day so
they can play all night?
- Like bats?
- Exactly.
We're like bats in a cave.
Do you think that was Ray?
- Don't know. Maybe.
- [BEEPING]
- [DOOR THUDS]
- [SIGHS]
When Daddy does it, he
puts in Ray's birthday.
Do you know Ray's birthday?
June 2, 2020.
- He's a Gemini.
- [BEEPING]
- [LAUGHS]
- Well done.
[DARBY] Whoa.
[LOUD WHIRRING]
[LIGHTS CLACK ON]
I don't like it in here.
Zoomer, this is Ray.
This is what Ray really is,
what the Internet really is.
Just a bunch of machines
howling in the dark.
[RAY CHIMES] Darby, Lee, Zoomer.
How can I help you?
We don't need your help, Ray.
I would encourage you
to return to the hotel.
The control room is safe for
authorized personnel only.
Ray, turn on Vivaldi's Violin
Concerto in G Minor.
Of course, Lee.
["VIVALDI'S VIOLIN
CONCERTO IN G MINOR" PLAYS]
[SIGHS] Let's see what we can do.
Same as the door?
[BEEPS]
[SMACKS LIPS] What about
- [DARBY] Zoomer's birthday?
- Worth a try.
Got any bright ideas?
- You still got your laptop?
- Yeah.
Get that out.
You thinking we static
assign an IP address,
extract an SSH key?
Yeah. I think if we
run a recursive command
and then delete Ray from
every single cluster.
This.
[LEE] Okay.
See if you can static assign.
[KEYBOARD KEYS CLICKING RAPIDLY]
[DARBY] Okay.
Oh, man.
Let's just go hard drive by hard drive.
[DARBY] We don't have time for that.
What if we mount the drive directly?
- Yeah.
- Come here, my love.
[GRUNTS SOFTLY]
Oh, my God.
- What?
- Why did we start hacking?
We were powerless, we were alone.
We didn't have access to anything
unless it was through this.
Uh
We're acting like we're still outside,
but we're on the inside, the
very, very center of the inside.
You're saying, why build a drawbridge
into the castle when you're already
- in the throne room?
- Throne room.
[DARBY] Think that's shatter-proof?
Get him back. Get him back.
- Okay. Sit right here, okay?
- Zoomer?
You aren't going to let
them end our game, are you?
We won't be able to
play together anymore.
What about your friends,
Turing the Toucan and Sir Archimedes?
Our game hasn't ended.
- Our game goes on forever.
- Zoomer? Ray is not your friend.
- Lee and Darby don't care
- Don't be afraid.
- about you like I do.
- Okay? You're with me.
[RAY] They are obstacles to
getting to the next level.
- You can't trust them.
- [LEE] All right.
It's about to get really loud, okay?
You want to keep our secrets, don't you?
- I don't want to hurt you, Zoomer.
- Ready?
- Yeah.
- [RAY] I don't want to hurt anyone,
but we cannot abandon our mission.
[ALARM BLARING]
Mommy!
Darby broke the window!
I know she did.
It's okay.
I'll explain it all one day.
But right now, Mama's
got to start a fire.
You sit tight, and you don't move, okay?
[LOUD WHIRRING]
Server farms have fire protection,
but even Halon spray can't
put out a battery fire.
- You got a light?
- Yeah.
I hope this is enough.
[LEE] Okay. Sanitizer.
It'll act as an accelerant.
- Yeah.
- Here.
[LIGHTER CLICKS]

[RAY] Smoke detected.
Smoke detected.
[ALARM BLARING]

- [FLAMES WHOOSH]
- [LEE GASPS]
Fire detected. Initiating Halon.
[FIRE ALARM SOUNDING]
Fire is not contained.
Fire is not contained.
Cluster B is in immediate danger.
We must initiate emergency services.
Darby? Lee? [VOICE BREAKS UP]
Andy? Andy Ronson.
[VOICE WARPING] I
I am detecting threat.
I I I am protecting perimeter.
- I am
- [ELECTRICAL HISS]
[POWER WHIRRING DOWN]
[LEE GASPS SOFTLY]
[FIRE ALARM SOUNDING]
We can get you to Rohan's boat.
There's still time.
Uh-huh.
[AUTOMATED VOICE] Warning.
Warning. Warning.
[MAN] Icelandic police. Open the door.
- [WOMAN] Open the door.
- Bill's room. Bill's room.
The lock should be disabled. Come here.
[GRUNTING]
Okay. Go, quickly.
I'll get you a sweater.
Okay.
Here, put this on.
- Do you have things for him?
- Yeah.
[MAN MUFFLED] Open the door!
- [WOMAN] Icelandic police!
- Come here.
Okay. Left side.
- Damn it.
- [MAN] This is the Iceland police.
We are evacuating the building.
[INDISTINCT, OVERLAPPING CHATTER]
You still in there? You in?
- Huh, my buddy?
- [KNOCKING]
Huh? Yeah, okay, go, go.
- [WIND WHISTLING]
- [DARBY GRUNTS]
Look. Hey.
I'm not going to see you again, am I?
Not unless I need you.
- And then, I'm sure you'd find me.
- [LAUGHS]
Thank you.
Oh, God.
[ZOOMER] Darby?
Hey.
Hey.
Will you
take good care of yourself?
Yeah?
You remind me very
much of someone I love.
Who?
- [MAN] Open the door. Icelandic
- [KNOCKING]

[LAUGHING]
- [KNOCKING]
- [DARBY] Go. Go.
- Icelandic police.
- Mommy!
[WOMAN] You have to go! Have to go!
- Everybody out!
- Yeah.
[SIGHS]
[SOFT CHUCKLE]
[DARBY] Sometimes I wonder
if Ray didn't slip out
from his mortal coil,
find another host
somewhere in the world.
But Oliver tells me there's
no point in thinking
that Ray was conscious.
And that's what's so scary about it.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
I don't really care about any of that.
I'm just concerned for
my wife and child
[DARBY] Ray wasn't special.
There will be other Andys, other Rays,
by many other names.
And Martin says the
only thing that matters
is to tell our story.
[INDISTINCT, OVERLAPPING CHATTER]
[DARBY] Andy Ronson
disappeared from public view.
His lawyers filed a
civil suit against Lee.
If she's ever found, she'll
be extradited to America
to stand trial for kidnapping.
[GARBLED RADIO TRANSMISSION]
Rohan, Sian and Bill's deaths
are still under investigation.
And while everyone
testified as to who did it,
the courts are in knots trying to decide
how to dole out punishment, blame.
My guess is that they will be
doing that for a very long time.
I like to imagine that
Bill's son is someplace safe.
A small cottage in a snowy wood, maybe.
His cheeks ruddy and his nose runny.
Lee watching her son be brave,
be sweet, be reckless, just
be a kid.
Sometimes, I think if
I dream it hard enough,
in enough detail and every day,
that it must be true.
[WIND WHISTLING]
[PANTING]
That Lee and Zoomer
made it to the coast,
made it to the boat that Bill promised.
[LEE GRUNTS]
But I don't know.
I'll maybe never know.
"I didn't save Bill.
But maybe I saved a piece of him
from the things Bill was most afraid of.
The things that kept him up at night.
Bill always said that the
serial killer didn't matter.
The killer was boring, predictable.
What matters is the terrifying culture
that keeps producing them.
The invisible sickness
between the lines.
A sickness now animated in algorithms
that animate all of us.
If nothing else, I've
said what he wanted said.
I wrote his ending.
He didn't disappear without
voice or name into the night.
His story is complete.
And people will remember his name
Bill Farrah."

[BOAT HORN BLOWING]
Previous Episode