INT. JASON’S APARTMENT – NIGHT
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[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.]
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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.”
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SD-A
“Stress is inefficient. And this show is weirdly relaxing.”
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[The cartoon makes a distorted boing sound followed by a human child screaming in static.]
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JASON (tilting his head)
“That kid’s either having fun or getting sucked into a pocket dimension. Hard to say with analog.”
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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?”
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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.”
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SD-A
“What’s a sleepover?”
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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.”
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[SD-K stares at him.]
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SD-K
“Why would anyone choose that?”
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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.”
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SD-A
“Do sleepovers involve someone insulting everyone constantly?”
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JASON
“Only the good ones.”
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[A loud POP from the mini-fridge makes all three of them jump slightly. Jason throws a slipper at it without looking.]
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JASON
“Shut up, Kevin!”
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SD-K
“…Did you just name your fridge?”
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JASON
“No, Kevin’s the thing inside the fridge.”
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[Pause.]
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SD-K
“I hate it here.”
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SD-A
“This place is... strange. But strangely comforting. Like a defective warm-up cycle.”
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JASON
“Thanks. I try to make my hellhole cozy. Carpeted the floor with dust and regret.”
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[He gets up, plugs his arm into the wall port to recharge it slightly, and flicks a loose spark off his shoulder.]
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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.”
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SD-K
“Nice bedtime story.”
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SD-A (quietly)
“We’ll stop it. Somehow.”
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[Jason glances over, half-sarcastic, half-serious.]
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JASON
“You say that like you don’t hesitate every time someone needs killing.”
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SD-A
“Maybe some bots deserve hesitation.”
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[Jason looks at him for a second longer, then shrugs and drops back onto the bed, hand behind his head.]
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JASON
“Well, just don’t hesitate if I start growing extra limbs or spouting glowing nanite goo. Deal?”
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SD-A
“Deal.”
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SD-K
“I already have a weapon pre-set for that scenario.”
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JASON
“I’m touched.”
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[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.]
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JASON (noticing)
“…Did anyone else see that?”
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SD-A
“…Sleepover’s canceled.”
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FADE TO BLACK.
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