02x06 - 10Broad36

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: Previously on AMC's Halt and Catch Fire...

People talk about the computer revolution as if it were a thing of the past.

The revolution hasn't even started yet.

You should talk to Cameron.

I found a pregnancy kit in the trash out back.

It wasn't Cameron's.

I have brain damage, I think I'm dying.

We don't keep secrets.

I was thinking about visiting you, bringing the girls.

That's a great idea.

You really want me to come?

Why can't you see that I'm helping you here?

I don't want any help, especially from you.

This isn't want I wanted.

The network is done, Mutiny is done...

("Lucky I Got What I Want" playing)

♪ I steal living ♪
♪ Tell me I'm wrong ♪
♪ Will I be forgiven ♪
♪ If I wanna walk like you? ♪
♪ Swingin' it back when I want... ♪

(answering machine beeps)

It's me again.

Are you there?

Uh, I come home... and I can tell you've been here.

Sometimes it's an empty bottle on the counter or... suddenly some of your clothes go missing.

I feel like you want me to see these things, to notice, and I do and I call, and you don't pick up.

It's been a week.

I love you.

Call me back.

(sighs)

(rings)

Sara?

It's Jacob.

Business Development has made a few last-minute tweaks in the Mutiny contract and I want it out the door by this afternoon.

I was just going over it.

Um, specifically what kind of tweaks are we talking about?

But jumping Mutiny's hourly rate from $3 to $5 would hamstring their growth.

Say they have a bad month...

That's not our problem.

According to Business Development, the going market rate is $5

We have to set a precedent for our future clients.

It's all found money to Westgroup.

What difference does it make if we offer a temporary exemption?

Why are you so anxious to give this company a break, Joe?

I hope it's not your past relationship to the founder.

Absolutely not. Mutiny's our pilot program.

We both took a risk. They got a corresponding discount.

Look, I like Cameron, but I liked the deal you pitched me a lot more.

A bunch of companies give us free money to use our network when we aren't.

You're my building manager, Joe.

And I only want the tenants who pay the highest rent.

Jacob, I respectfully disagree.

With Mutiny, I see our role as much more hands-on.

This is a company with a real potential to innovate.

There's a lot of talent there, but it's raw.

It needs shaping, guidance.

That's where we come in.

Okay, start out at $5.

Go down to four, if you have to, but 3.50 is the absolute bottom.

If they don't sign, move on.

(children playing)

Gordon: Yeah, right here.

Thanks so much.

They're here! They're here!

Landshark!

Henry: Well, if it isn't Alfred Einstein!

I can't believe you got off of your butt, put your feet to the ground, and you actually showed up.

Get over here.

(both groaning)

Oh! Joanie and Haley?

Wh... you girls must have aged 100 years since I last saw you.

(giggles)

Yeah, thank God they got their mother's looks.

Hey, Jody, Michael, take your cousins to the back and...

New trampoline! Come on!

Wow!

I'll go.

It's really bouncy!

Michael: Come on, you guys!

Ah.

How you doin', man? You all right?

You up and flew out here awful fast.

Not that I'm not thrilled to see you.

Yeah, yeah.

Huh?

We'll get into it a little later, yeah?

Yeah.

Tada.

Oh, thank you for getting those.

Joanie practically refused to go to California without 'em.

Found them stuck in the corner pockets of your father's pool table.

(laughs)

Are okay, honey?

Yeah.

Yeah, I'm fine. I just have to get to work.

Well, I'm glad you at least took the morning.

You looked tired as a dog, for one thing, and I haven't even heard from you since Easter.

Gordon's been by with the girls...

Yeah, well, Gordon has a thing called free time.

How about you tell me what's really going on?

Is it you and Gordon? Are you two having problems again?

I, uh...

I was pregnant, but I, uh, lost it.

I... miscarried.

Oh, my God, Donna. Honey, I'm so sorry.

You know, I... wait, I wasn't very far along and I was waiting for the right time to tell Gordon, but then it...

You know, it's okay. It wasn't planned.

Like you said, I'm so underwater with work as it is and Gordon and I are already practically leading separate lives, so...

You know, it'll get easier.

But it'll take time.

I love the children we have.

You know, it really wouldn't have been fair to them.

It was a really special time when they were small, but we are in a different place now, our family feels complete, and so... maybe in a way... maybe this is what's best.

10 bucks says they're at it right now.

If I had 10 bucks to burn, you think I'd be back here wrestling coax, trying to steal us HBO?

(electricity crackles)

Damn it!

Told you.

All right, 10 bucks.

Follow me.

(music playing in background)

(laughing)

(knock on door)

Lev: A sub breached the network.

He broke into the autoexec.bat file and now he's giving out free user IDs.

Oh, sh*t!

Come quick! Go.

Cameron: Coming! Just one second!

How many, uh, IDs?

(whispers) I'll see you at work.

Bye.

(door slams)

(laughing)

(coders laughing)

(clapping)

Aw, man! I missed it!

That's good. Back to work, guys. Come on.

He wears boxers.

Guys!

(music playing in background)

So this is Mutiny.

(theme music playing)

(pages flipping)

$5 an hour is unmanageable.

Actually, it's insane.

If we have one bad month or if we're doing well and we want to make new hires,

this leaves no room for error.

This feels like a bait and switch.

Of course it's a bait and switch.

It's Joe MacMillan.

That's not our intent.

With Jacob Wheeler involved, things changed. - Your fiancée's dad.

They evolved. This was out of my control.

Yeah, you evolved back into an assh*le.

Oh, but look, he held out three whole days, so hat's off.

Okay, message received.

I wanted to do the courtesy of coming here in person, but there are certainly other companies who are interested in your space on our network.

I'll reach out to one of them.

No, look.

Just give us a minute.

Am I the only one that sees what's happening here?

First he's the man behind the network, now he's changing our deal terms?

What's next?

Look, I don't like it either.

But his network is the best thing to happen to us, and right now we need him more than he needs us.

Yes, and he knows it.

Yes, but if you can keep your cool, I can get us a number we can live with and then he's back to being a name on the 12th page of our contract, right?

Fine.

So, uh... you and Cameron worked together at Cardiff, huh?

We did.

She must be an interesting boss.

She knows what she wants.

You ran PCs for them?

I've been knocking around tech for a long time, always working to the next new thing.

Well, time-sharing's not that new.

Time-sharing's just a way in.

CompuServe started as a division of a life insurance company, then got bought by H&R Block who wanted to diversify.

Now it's a 500-pound gorilla in the world of commercial online service.

Who knows where Westgroup can take it from there?

Yeah. So, how are you guys handling security?

Are you multiplexing them in from an SNA network from the modem banks with task-switching...

Comes a time when vision meets engineering... you hire people.

Thanks for the coffee.

So, you've said your party line, I've said mine.

Let's cut the posturing and we'll get down to the real number.

$5.

Donna: Joe.

It's $5.

No.

No, this is where you say 4.50 and then I say 3.50, and then eventually we settle on four, which is fair.

$4.

$5.

This isn't a negotiation.

You started at a promotional rate.

I'm sorry, this isn't a negotiation?

That promotion is over.

If you don't agree to the $5 terms, Westgroup is moving on.

Moving on?

That's... that's not...

Charity?

No, it's not. This is a partnership.

Jacob Wheeler isn't interested in a typical landlord-tenant relationship with you.

He wants to work with innovative companies who are agile and committed.

$5 is the ante for this table.

If Mutiny can't compete at the going market rate, maybe it shouldn't be in the game.

(Donna crying)

Donna?

Donna?

(crying continues)

This is bullshit!

Joe, this is bullshit!

All you own is time on a network.

What entitles you to have an opinion about anything that we do here?

What makes you think that you can question our commitment for one dollar an hour?

(glass shatters)

Calm down.

I'm fine, I'm fine.

God...

Maybe being in bed with a billionaire...

I'm sorry, with a billionaire's daughter makes you think that you can jerk us around for your own amusement...

Donna.

...but this is real to us.

So it's $4, Joe.

It's $4.

(exhales sharply)

(Cameron stammers) Just...

Don't bother.

(door opens)

It's fine.

(door closes)

He's gonna call in three hours and he's gonna say $4.

He's bluffing.

So, that's where I'm at.

(music playing in background)

Uh, look... anything you need, okay?

Anything at all, you just say the word, okay?

And the girls, they can come stay with us, or I could fly out if you need, you know?

Yeah, yeah.

Jesus, Gordon.

Hey, hey, hey.

Seriously, it's okay, all right?

I know it's a shock.

I shouldn't have laid it all on you at once like that.

Jesus, I'm sorry. I should be the one comforting...

What can I do?

Hey, Henry, you're already doing it, okay?

It's all right.

Oh.

Donna must be a mess with all this going on.

Actually, uh, she doesn't know.

Gordon...

Look, you have no idea what the last year has been like.

I mean, you know, her work's taking off, you know, and it's driving her, you know, like... well, like mine used to, you know?

She's happy, okay? She's energized.

And she'd stop everything to take care of me and I can't ask her to do that.

Not... not yet, at least.

So, um, if we had to switch back to XTs, how long would that take?

We're not gonna have to do it.

Okay, but just in case we do, just round number it for me.

Look, I'm sorry, okay?

I don't know what else you want me to say.

(door opens)

Guys?

What?

It's not the modem.

(coders clamoring)

What is it? What happened?

Joe MacMillan happened!

He pulled the plug!

So I guess he wasn't bluffing.

Okay, okay, okay.

Um, so do you want to call him, maybe, or are you just gonna cry again?

Bosworth: That's enough.

Come on, Donna.

The name on page 12 of our contract just shut our company down because of your great negotiation skills!

Bosworth: Cameron.

Could you have had your day on the rag when the entire network wasn't at stake?

I said that's enough, damn it!

God, what is wrong with you?

I'm... I'm gonna fix it.

I'm gonna fix it.

(music playing in background)

Oh, the shop's been slippin' the last few years.

I still think we can pull it out, but Dad wants to sell it, let it get turned into a Midas.

Where does that leave you?

I'd stay on, work for the new owners.

Oh, come on, that doesn't seem right.

I'm gonna call him, tell him he's making a mistake.

Oh, no, no, no, no. You've... you've got enough on your plate right now.

Oh, what time is it?

Hoohoo!

Should we settle up?

You know, go give Wendy some relief?

Uh, yeah, yeah. I'm gonna go hit the head.

You wanna get the... (whistles)

Excuse me, can we get our tab?

Ju... Jules Duffy?

Gordon. I'll be damned.

Thought you'd gone all rich and famous on us.

Yeah, I got my plane parked out back.

(chuckles)

I'm here with Henry.

Yeah, I see plenty of Henry.

You two still trying to get back what you had in high school?

Nope, just trying to get him to pay his bar tab every once in a blue moon.

Hey, you remember that time that I caught you and Henry breaking into Dad's liquor cabinet?

Y'all made me drink a coffee cup full of brandy just so I couldn't tell on you?

No. Did it work?

God, I nearly d*ed the next morning.

(laughs)

The house is still there. You can come by anytime.

Yeah, I'll just crawl into Henry's old window, scare his kids, leave mine alone.

You have kids?

He's 12.

You have 12 kids?

I have one kid, 12 years old.

Oh.

He's my anchor. R.J.

Jules Duffy, married with a kid.

Well, half right. Single mom.

All right, pay up, pecker.

Heard you got rich, so big tip.

What the hell was that about?

You're asking me?

Yeah.

She lost it. Now we're dead.

All Donna did was behave like you do every day without bailing you out for it like usual.

You know, maybe you didn't like it...

I never...

...because it was like looking in a damn mirror!

People have other things going on in their lives that you don't know about.

And you do, huh?

Can't you see that that woman is going through something?

She could use a friend right now.

(computers humming)

I was out of line and I apologize.

This work... this work means a lot to me.

And if we accept your deal, we're risking our survival, and if we don't, we could scramble for months to try and find another network.

Months in this business could crush us.

That's not what you want, is it?

If this is about Cameron...

It's not.

Then to pull the plug over one dollar, that's what you do when you're trying to get out of a deal.

Which is where we find ourselves now.

Well, I can't leave here until we work this out, so you tell me.

What can I do?

(exhales)

Maybe... uh, maybe I could find some wiggle room on the price if Mutiny met a few, um... strategic benchmarks.

Benchmarks.

For example, when I log onto Mutiny, the main screen, it's boring.

There's a company in Houston that has news and weather as soon as you log on.

Delphi has a travel agency.

There's an outfit in Galveston that has a stock ticker updated hourly.

That's the kind of thing that makes me the user want to stay longer.

We can do that.

Another thing... check out the messaging available on something like IBM's Vnet.

Mail programs have been around for over a decade.

Exactly. Why doesn't Mutiny have one?

Because that's not...

We can do mail and we can do the interface, and if we do...

He's not gonna like it, but I, uh, bet I could get Jacob to shave off a buck for one last thing.

What? What is it that you need?

Mutiny currently runs exclusively on Commodore 64s, right?

64s will be boat anchors by '88.

In the meantime, UNIX is poised to explode.

If Mutiny could port to a machine that runs UNIX, say the new AT&T box, I think I could justify a lower price.

But UNIX is a completely different operating system.

That's a major coding overhaul...

In fact, I would go so far as to plug you back in right now, ink the contract at $5...

But...

...and add a provision that once you meet these benchmarks, we'll drop it down to 3.50.

I'll see what I can do.

UNIX? Christ.

I think he knew he wanted these benchmarks before he ever came over here this morning.

It was all just about leverage.

Yeah. Well, I guess it was a negotiation after all.

But the AT&T isn't even in color.

Hey, let's look at the bright side.

I guess we'll have stock ticker and mail now.

Great, we'll be bleeding edge for 1979.

You know, there are blueprints to build mail out because it's been around forever.

It wouldn't take that long.

Cool. Thanks.

Just trying to help.

Look, I just... I don't know what choice we have.

You could fake UNIX.

Make it look like Mutiny is running on the AT&T, get your better rate locked in now, actually go multiplatform at your leisure.

I talked to him this morning and he knows the script, sure, but his actual tech knowledge is really limited.

If you get him in here tomorrow morning and you sit him down at a demo, and if it looked real enough...

No, the boot and interface screens for the 64 and the AT&T are completely different.

Yeah, but we can paint the screens however we want.

I mean, write a Commodore program that makes it look just like the AT&T.

But Joe would know that porting to an OS like UNIX would take longer than 24 hours.

Would he?

What, you're gonna say, "Bad idea"?

It is a bad idea.

So we run the demo off a C64 and we don't invite him till tomorrow night.

The goal is simple: replace the guts of this AT&T box with those of a Commodore, hook up the video cards inside to the monochrome CRT.

When Joe boots up, he'll think he's running UNIX, but really it'll be our 64.

A wolf in UNIX clothing.

Okay, screwdriver.

The thing only has enough room for an internal serial modem.

How the hell are we supposed to fit an external Hayes box inside?

Let alone the Commodore cards.

We could lay the cards flat and connect them out the back with ribbon cables.

The metal connections will touch the case and each other and short everything out.

We could put cardboard between.

Well, then we'll have a cooling problem, if we can even fit the fan.

Unless we don't even use a fan.

Yeah, we just turn it on before he gets here and kick him out before it melts.

Or you could just take your time, do it for real.

Well, we don't have that kind of time at $5 an hour.

So it's about price, it's not about Joe.

No, it's about both. It's about not letting him dictate our vision.

But couldn't this make Mutiny better, these things that he wants?

All right, I'll leave you to it.

Ah.

You always were the prodigy.

Mm, not with transmissions.

You always kicked my ass at those.

(groans)

You think that stuff made you sick?

Maybe, but that time in the shop made me an engineer, you know?

Guts in a machine equals guts in a machine.

You know, I bet Dad wishes you had stayed behind to run the shop.

Hey, why don't I borrow your truck tomorrow?

I'll head up to Sacramento, talk to Dad?

Yeah.

Hmm?

Yeah, of course. Yeah.

Um, I should warn you, though, that some... some jag-off backed into it a week or so ago and so there's just one headlight.

I know. I'll be careful.

It's really good to see you, brother.

Yeah.

(engine stops)

Hey, thanks for meeting me.

Not a problem. So where you wanna have this talk?

Hop in.

(bird screeching)

Gordon: So, how often during the work week?

Well, a little less since that bar fight, but probably still three, four days, often before noon.

Does Wendy know?

Oh, she knows.

And the truck?

He stayed till after close a couple weeks ago.

Next day, he said he swerved to avoid a deer.

Yeah, I called my dad.

Although, it was a rabbit when he heard that story.

(Gordon exhales)

(sighs)

So, anyway, that's the boring-ass story of your alcoholic brother.

If you've heard enough, I think I'll get home to my kid, stop narcing on my high school boyfriend.

(chuckles) Hell, I got weed in my purse right now.

Call myself a mother.

(laughs)

(sighs)

What?

I'm sure you're a great mother.

I was also thinking how great weed sounds to me right now.

Tom: The external modem is not gonna fit.

The box, it's big enough, but it's not tall enough, okay?

The L clips on the 64 serial port, they're too high.

We had to hacksaw them down.

Yeah, but an external modem will give it away.

We can't...

Could we fake an online connection?

Have Joe dial into the network, but he's actually just linked to another Commodore in the house?

I have completely corrupted you.

That's a great idea.

But what cable's gonna be fast enough and also not completely give it away by being out in the open?

(Donna hisses, sighs)

Wait, what if we...

Carl, did you guys ever get the HBO working?

Uh, kind of. Like, we watched "Cat People" the other night.

You could see about half a boob, which we...

Oh, my God! The coax.

Lev: Yes.

10BROAD36.

We can use Ethernet encoding.

Plus... plus, the cable's already hidden along the walls.

We can just adjust it where we need to.

We'll still need to hear a modem, though.

Bodie?

Yeah?

Do you still have that little recorder?

Okay, go record the modem connecting.

Then we'll pull out the recorder's power switch, we'll run wires up it, stash the whole thing in the AT&T...

Someone pinches the wires and then it triggers the recording.

Bodie: On it.

Okay, how much time do you need for the coax? - Two hours, tops.

Gordon: Oh... oh, my God, I was so paranoid after that first experience.

I think I stopped getting high till college.

(laughs) And then you made up for it.

I totally made up for it. It was Berkeley.

Yeah, yeah, you were always the smart one.

If I was so smart, why'd you go out with Henry?

I was 16. He was the cute one.

Oh, jeez!

(laughs)

He was never as funny as you.

Henry could catch a pass, but you always had us cracking up in the stands.

Jesus.

What?

It's just been a long time since anyone's thought of me as being funny.

You know, it's so interesting who we grow up to be.

Have you ever thought about who you could've been if you'd have taken a different path?

Sure.

So, what are you saying, you should've done something else?

Stayed here? Sold tractors off the 5?

You got nothing to complain about.

Yeah.

God, it feels so good to just sit here and do the wrong thing with you.

(lighter clicks)

Well, I don't want to keep you.

I'm sure you got better things to do than sit in the back of a truck and just listen to me babble on.

Yeah, actually I do.

I'm having a good time.

Okay, log on.

(keyboard clicking)

(modem dialing, ringing)

(modem beeps)

(modem screeching)

(keyboard clicking)

Not bad.

Yeah, for monochrome.

Go ahead, play something.

Whoa, hang on.

I wanna... I wanna see mail.

Uh, so it's inside the game, so select what you wanna play.

Uh-huh.

Okay, and now find Lev on the user list.

I'm NewWaveLev.

Okay, then hit Alt+M.

(keys clack)

Donna: Mm.

This is still Community.

Exactly. We built the mail client on top of the existing code.

So if a user is online, they get the message instantly, and if they're offline...

Lev, sign off... and, "What hath God wrought?"

Okay, now, Lev, sign back on.

(computer beeps)

Now.

That's very clever.

Okay, so, that's everything you asked for.

Looks like it.

Wait, wait, wait. I've got a game open.

I want to play it.

Yeah, go... play it. Go ahead.

(beeping)

Hmm.

Here, try something else. There's...

No, I want to play chess again.

(beeping)

What about...

One more time.

(beeping)

Hmm. I find it remarkable that three different human Mutiny users opened with the same King's Indian defense.

It's almost as if they were programmed to do so.

Oh.

Oh.

Your computer is melting to the table.

Here.

(grunting)

(computer case creaking)

Interesting.

I've never seen a Commodore like this before.

Must be an exclusive model.

And look... there's no modem.

We're not even online.

UNIX.

You couldn't do it.

Oh, it's not that we couldn't do it, we just thought it was a waste of time.

But you did have time to animate the games, gut the box, fake the data.

How are you streaming it?

Joe?

What? What do you want?

You want to insult me again, say I'm a bad guy, a bait and switch artist? I put you on the network.

I handed you a deal my boss didn't want you to have.

Don't do this to me again.

You did this to yourself.

What kills me about it is you're so much better than this.

(engine starts)

(screams)

(door opens)

(footsteps approaching)

I have to tell you something.

Well, this night took a turn.

Hey.

What?

Can I be honest with you?

Gordon, I'm a big girl. I know what this is.

There's something wrong with me.

Tell me something I don't know.

No, there's something wrong with me.

It's in my brain.

I've had problems with my hands and my speech.

I may not ever be the same.

I mean, it may even get worse.

Gordon, I'm sorry.

I...

I'm scared.

Like, I'm really scared.

It's okay.

I mean, it's okay to be scared.

I'd probably be scared, too.

Part of me wanted to believe that if I didn't say anything, it wouldn't be real.

But the weight of it...

I understand.

You can't imagine what it's been like.

I mean, what does this mean?

You know, what about my kids?

Gordon, I...

Am I gonna wake up one day and not feel my legs?

Are they gonna have to put me in a home?

I mean, Jesus, Jules, I could die.

And I haven't even told my wife.

What?

I can't, her job.

I've been carrying this all alone.

Okay, stop. Stop.

Gordon, what are you doing right now?

Nothing. We're just talking.

No, no, you're dumping all this on me.

Wait, what?

Wait, is that what this is?

Is that why you brought me out here?

So you could unburden yourself?

No.

Look, if you wanted someone to talk to...

Wait, Jules.

Oh, my God.

I'm grateful to you.

Grateful?

Yeah.

(scoffs)

Jules.

(turns engine off)

You know, Donna, Mutiny might be done.

I mean, we might not exist tomorrow.

So if you're doing this for the company...

That's not why I'm doing this.

Do you want me to come with you?

It's all right.

Thanks.

Yeah.

(crying)

Look, I don't know, Dad.

Hey, what happened? You okay?

Where were you?

Come here.

Henry: She woke up and didn't know where you were.

I tried Dad, but I guess you didn't make it.

Yeah, I had to stop and talk to Jules about a few things.

You kidding me?

Wendy: Henry.

Yeah, like hell you were just talking. (sniffs)

Yeah, you smell like weed and you also smell like...

Henry! What is going on?

What's going on is my brother's a selfish prick and he always has been.

Hey, get ahold of yourself.

I thought you were driving up to talk to Dad to help me out.

I did talk to Dad on the phone before I went to Duffy's.

He said that you leveraged the shop into the ground over the past three years and pissed away half the customers.

That's bullshit!

Look, he's worried about you, Henry.

I'm worried about you.

Okay, so let me get this straight.

So you... you bang my ex-girlfriend, cheated on your wife because I drink too much?

Listen to me, we were just talking.

Now you're lying to my face!

You can't stay here tonight.

Hey, listen, Henry, the whole reason that I flew out here...

Please, just leave, Gordon.

Just go.

(Haley crying) Daddy.

Oh, come here, sweetie. Come here.

(phone ringing)

Girls on answering machine: You've reached the Clarks!

Gordon.

Donna.

Joanie.

Haley.

All: Leave a message.

(beeps)

Gordon: Donna, are you there?

(Haley crying) Mommy.

Haley, it's okay. It's okay.

Gordon: Honey, it's me. Pick up the phone.

Hi, I'm here. Is everything okay?

No, it's Haley. She woke up.

There's some bedtime thing you do.

She said it'd help if...

Yeah, yeah, of course. It's...

Does she have Jinx?

Yeah, she's lying down with him now.

Okay, put the phone on the pillow next to her.

Hey, come here. Come here.

Hey, hey, baby girl. You okay?

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

You listen really carefully now, all right?

Mm-hmm.

♪ Haley, mine, don't you cry ♪
♪ Haley mine, dry your eyes ♪
♪ Rest your head close to my heart ♪
♪ Never to part, baby of mine. ♪

(humming)

(humming continues)

(humming continues)

Two days ago you told me that I was the building manager and that our involvement with our network partners ended at the rent we charged them.

I disagreed, so this is what I did.

I gave Mutiny a very specific set of benchmarks, goals I wanted them to achieve in exchange for a reduced network rate of $3.50 an hour.

The floor you specified.

I'm sure you did.

This is beginning to feel like a pattern, Joe.

How am I supposed to trust you if every...

Here's what happened.

They completed the first two in 24 hours.

The third they deemed a waste of their time, but they didn't tell me that to my face.

Instead, they decided to try and deceive me.

Now you know how it feels.

Here's the interesting part.

Just to avoid doing it, they ended up using a sophisticated Ethernet encode and streaming data over line they were using to steal pay television.

The technology is called broadband.

So new it's only being used in a couple college campuses and m*llitary bases.

Commercially it's too expensive and there's not nearly enough line laid, but...

But?

10 years from now, it'll likely make modems irrelevant.

These kids rigged it up on their own in a day.

So what's your point, Joe?

I think we should acquire them.