03x09 - NIM

[bunniefuu]

announcer: Previously, on AMC's "Halt and Catch Fire"...

Look me in the eye and tell me you had nothing to do with the leak.

I had nothing to do with this.

You alienate everybody.

Says the woman that will take any excuse not to go home to her husband!

Hey!

Cameron, please don't do this.

Cameron gave her heart and soul to Mutiny.

Two unemployed CEO's both ousted from our companies.

Donna: My company is going public.

Tell me if it's good of bad.

You should move forward with the NSFNET project.

(drilling)

Donna Emerson, senior partner.

My God, that does have a ring to it, doesn't it?

Here.

You know I like redheads, but my God, that new girl at reception got a real attitude.

She make you sign in?

Well, she damn well did.

Hey, I'm sorry I missed the celebration.

We had a big storm down in the San Juans.

Wow. I never pegged you for a Montblanc kind of guy.

Well, I ain't. I thought it would go with the decor.

Also got that nice little snowflake thing right on top.

Thanks, boss.

Sure.

Jeez.

Hey, you wanna stick around?

Maybe go downstairs, get a cup of coffee, or...?

Oh, I would love to, but, uh...

I gotta hit the road.

Diane's already up at the Vineyard.

Look, anyway, congrats.

Oh, say. Are you going to Comdex this year?

Uh... no. Too much work this year.

Oh, you know, it's a circus now. Not like it used to be.

It's more trouble than it's worth.

Well...

All right. Hey, now, that's the good stuff.

Remember, respect the dirty bird or fear the kickin' chicken.

"Kickin' chicken"?

Announcer: ...16-point lead.

(overlapping, indistinct television announcers)

Announcer: ...1:09 to go, 14 to nothing...

(overlapping, indistinct television announcers)

(no audio)

(speed dial, phone rings)

Morning, Ray.

Mm-hmm.

Amgen's a yes, put it on the tape.

(pen clicking)

Yeah, I'm not interested, Ray.

Pass.

Pass.

Pass.

The guy's hunting elephants but bagging pigeons, Ray.

Pass.

Pass, Ray.

What's your position on Lam Research?

All right, set up a limit order.

I'm not interested. You know I'm long on telecom.

That's all.

Man: Look, we'd just prefer if it was you coming out, even for one night.

Guys, you're in great hands.

Elias will make sure that CaminoWare is the talk of Comdex.

Wait, wait, wait... - And by the time you're back in San Jose, I'll have the table set for your Series B financing.

How does that sound?

All right.

Well, we should go pack.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Oh, Jesus, guys, I've got your Heinekens.

Whatever you do, don't do that at Comdex.

Okay, thanks.

It was really sweet of you.

Hey, Donna. This is your area of expertise. Settle a bet for me.

This fellow thinks the feds are gonna deregulate all of NSFNET by '91.

(chuckles)

Gordon Clark, this here is...

Donna. Donna Emerson.

Nice to meet you.

Yeah, so I said the g*dd*mn federal government can't even deliver my Playboys without some creep swiping them every other month.

'93 at the earliest.

Well, there's a senator in Tennessee.

He's a real dog with a bone on this thing.

Oh, you seem really sure of yourself.

I am.

And you know, for a long time I wasn't.

And then this... weight was suddenly lifted off of me.

What kind of weight exactly?

Like someone poured cement in a bunch of bowling balls and then strapped those bowling balls onto a big fat circus man and then he climbed this ladder...

And then stood on your shoulders?

You get it.

I do! I cut loose a ball and chain of my own recently.

Mm.

Very liberating.

So, what now? Just casual sex and cosmos?

Casual sex and martinis.

Mm.

Oh, but "casual" makes it sound boring, lazy.

I'd rather go with "hot and dirty" sex.

Speaking of, what are you doing later?

Mm. Hot date, sorry.

We'll settle the bet later.

Yes, we will.

(clears throat)

Who was that?

I don't know.

So, congratulations, it's official.

Donna Emerson. You really couldn't stand being a Clark, could you?

Emerson has three syllables. It's got stature, you know?

Plus, it takes up more space on the sign, so.

Well, my name, your dad's name... what's the difference?

We should probably get a move on if we want to get our reservation, Gordo.

Um, yeah. Uh, Michelle, this is Donna.

Donna, this is Michelle.

Oh, of course.

Hi. Nice to meet you.

You as well.

Um, let me just close out my tab?

Sure, yeah. I'm gonna grab my coat.

It was... It was nice meeting you.

Gordo?

Ms. Emerson.

She seems nice.

She is.

Hey, can you watch Joanie on Friday?

Haley's still at space camp and, you know, Joanie just listens to CDs and makes collages.

You really don't have to do anything.

Look, Diane's at the Vineyard, Elias is at Comdex, Gilson's useless, so, the whole company's on my shoulders.

I just thought I'd ask.

Suck it up. It's your turn.

("The Star-Spangled Banner" plays)

♪ Over the land of the free... ♪

(phone rings)

♪ And the home... ♪

(ringing)

♪ Of the brave ♪

(ringing continues)

Yeah?

Joe.

It's Donna.

Donna Clark.

How have you been?

You shouldn't have this number.

All right, look, I'll cut to the chase.

Are you going to Comdex?

What do you want, Donna?

Cameron will be there.

I want to send you something... to give to her... a memo.

You want me to go to Comdex to give Cameron... a memo?

Just read it.

If it makes the same impression on you as it made on me, you'll be on the next plane to Vegas.

If you want to get in touch with Cameron so bad, why are you calling me, not her?

You know why.

Joe, this thing is perfect for her.

Just... read it. You'll see.

I can't help you. Good-bye, Donna.

(ringing)

(fax machine beeps)

(beeping)

(music playing)

Mrs. Howe-Rendon?

Hi.

I almost didn't recognize you.

I expected you'd be wearing a leather jacket and have bunch of tattoos.

Like in Space Bike.

We're different people.

Of course.

Oh.

Let's get you set up.

(soft laugh)

They fly you all the way out from the Orient just for this?

Amazing.

Here it is.

Whoa.

Yeah.

Hi, I'm Tracy.

Hi, Tracy.

They told me not to sit on the bike because I might crush it.

That's probably good advice.

(laughs)

You've got a few minutes to settle in before the signing starts.

Oh, yeah.

Here's your lunch.

As you requested, a bean and cheese burrito.

Thank you.

I've been in Japan for four years.

Oh.

Mmm.

If I had to choose one word to describe myself, I guess I would say, um, "seeker."

Yeah, you know? And, uh...

And "giver." Yeah.

I mean, I'm a tech professional but I'm not just bits and bytes.

I own a regional network that's part of NSFNET, which connects researchers to the National Science Foundation super-computing center, via T-1 backbone through a Unix-based rout...

Look, (clears throat) let's just say I do well for myself.

Fun is very important to me, and listen, if, you know, it's casual, you know, it stays casual, I'm okay with that.

And if it becomes something more than casual then I'm okay with that too. Yeah.

And I like camping. I really like camping.

Do... do you like camping?

Recently, I've gotten into fine cuisine, uh, cooking.

But, like, really doing it.

You get to cook something, and then you look at it, and you think, "I made this!"

And then you get to eat it and then move on.

That makes me happy.

My, uh, name... Can I look into the thing?

Uh, my name is Gordon...

Joanie?

number 108A-2...

Joanie, that is private.

Mm. Yeah. Making a video that screams "I need to get laid" is totally private.

"Get laid"? Who taught you that?

Dad, I know kids in school giving handjobs in the parking lot. I'm not a kid.

No, you don't. And yes, you are.

All right. Now, what time am I taking you to this party?

It starts at 9:00.

Can I take you a little earlier?

My date... Okay.

I'm cooking dinner for someone and she'll be here at 7:30.

Yeah, but Jennifer is seeing Child's Play 2 at 6:30 to go stalk Bobby Ostoff.

So, she probably won't even be back until 8:30.

The party's at Jennifer's?

Mom said I could go.

Yeah, well, Mom told me that Diane was out of town all week.

You can't go to a party if there aren't any parents there.

You know that.

But Mom said!

Joanie, when you're staying with me, I make the decisions.

God!

Joanie?

Ugh!

Thanks.

Right, okay, so I've got some banging ideas for Space Bike 5.

Okay, so there's this... there's this space goldfish...

Fantastic! So, just pay over there.

Hi, I'm Jessica.

Hey.

Alex.

You two going to the Atari keynote later?

Yeah.

Good.

Don't let boys like that push their way in front of you.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Can you make it out to "Joe"?

Yeah, it's just a really amazing culture, you know?

Do you even speak Japanese?

(speaking Japanese)

Ooh.

That means, "I don't want the shrimp with the heads on."

It's a very useful phrase in Tokyo.

So, you're gonna stay?

Maybe, yeah.

It's... I don't know, we've really settled in.

It was weird at first.

Like, alien, you know?

And that's what Space Bike 2 was all about.

It was just, Tom was working a ton and I was wandering around this strange city feeling lost.

And then...

I don't know, one day I just decided to give myself over to it.

Just like that, like a... like a switch... flicked in your brain?

Yeah. (laughs)

It's just, you go through life and you have this idea of who you are, and what you do, and then... you discover it's total bullshit.

It's a defense mechanism, and once you stop defending yourself you can be all these other things, and that...

Yeah. seems totally cheesy.

No, it's not.

I still suck at using chopsticks.

So, what are you doing here?

Are you still consulting?

I'm thinking about getting back into that, if the gig is right.

It's amazing how much changes in just a few years.

And how much stays the same.

So, what do you think?

What should I see?

Oh, uh...

Well, you can skip all the laptops.

They're just variations on a theme.

Uh... the Microsoft booth is "ugh."

Gates' speech is overrated. Just get the transcript.

Oh, Phillips just released a recordable CD and Adobe added some cool stuff to this thing called Photoshop.

So...

Yeah, great.

That's interesting.

Yeah. (laughs)

Well, God, it was... it was great to see you, and, uh, this was a lot of fun.

Wait. Are those... those guys from '83 that had that really terrible printer?

You convinced them you were from IBM?

Oh!

Yeah. We bought out their suite for the Giant.

That suite came with that free seafood tower.

Hey, what are you doing?

Offering, uh, fully-integrated TypeKit compatibility while our superior heat sink ensures that your... presentation won't drown, but rather, float...

Into the sky.

Moreover, paper jams can scram...

(screams, laughs)

That just happens.

Um...

meaning that you can sit back and relax....

And enjoy the flight... the flight of your data, that is, due to transfer speeds so fast that you'll think your documents were...

Come on. Come on, Petey.

There's a little breeze. Get your hand in front of it.

Use your backhand.

On fire.

Cool, cool, cool.

So, it's called the, uh, the "S Printer"?

Oh, no, um... "Sprinter."

Because it prints really fast.

No space.

It's kind of confusing with the flame gag, though.

It's a mixed metaphor.

"S Printer" does sound better, though.

Doesn't it?

Yeah. It's got rigor behind it.

Like the R&D Department was unsatisfied with models A through R, and then finally, after a lot of sweat and tears...

We proudly bring you version S.

Um... it's the Sprinter.

No space.

Hey, do I know you?

Here, help yourself to a lighter. No, just one, please.

Oh, that's a lot.

Good luck, guys.

Not all of...

She took so many.

Just one, please, one.

(rock music playing in distance)

(doorbell rings)

Hey. Michelle.

Hi. Hi.

What you got, what's...

Oh, it uh, it says "kiss the cook" but in binary code.

(laughing)

So, uh.

Oh. Well.

It smells great.

That's the Bolognese.

You know, a lot of people think that pasta's Italian, but it actually originated in China.

Huh.

Yeah, 1100 B.C.

You're taking me to the party. I left a message on Mom's service.

She's gonna tell you to let me go.

Um, Joanie?

This is Michelle.

Hi.

Michelle, this is my lovely daughter, Joanie.

Hello.

Hey.

I, uh... I like your shirt.

It's very... cultural.

Do you like culture?

(laughs) What's it, um, say?

Well, "shonen" is Japanese for "boy."

So, it means "boy Kn*fe."

Huh.

"Boy Kn*fe" means "d*ck."

Hmm.

Um, do you want some wine?

Mm-hmm.

(clears throat)

Cameron: I wonder how high you'd have to be up for your spit to actually k*ll someone.

(laughing)

(yawning)

Okay, let's see what we got.

Ooh.

What do you think?

Oh, I wouldn't. They make your ass look big.

Oh, okay.

Here are the rules.

Four rows of lighters.

When it's your turn, you can take as many or as few as you want, as long as they're from the same row.

The person who ends up with the last lighter loses.

You wanna go first or second?

Mm, bold.

Is there anything on the floor catch your eye?

No, I'm going whole hog on the Sprinter.

Those guys really have their finger on the pulse.

Actually it was... it was all pretty overwhelming.

You know, if you look closely, there are some diamonds in those dorks.

(laughs) Would you really wish me on anyone?

You lose.

You go first this time.

Hey, I knew what I was doing, you know, when we worked together.

And Mutiny took a nosedive all on its own, didn't need you to screw that one up for us.

And Gordon, would be the first to admit that he made his own bed.

Yeah, but...

But Ryan, right?

Yeah, Tom and I were... leaving for Japan when we heard.

At first I was... angry.

At you... and at him.

And at myself... for all these things I never said to him.

Then I realized there was nothing anyone could have done about it.

Not you and not me.

You don't know that.

Neither do you.

You're not that powerful.

So, eventually, my anger turned into sadness, and... that's fine, that's healthy.

I mean, yes, be sad.

But Jesus, stop blaming yourself.

I win.

This isn't about Ryan.

It's, um...

I'm just saying I don't think you should... deprive the world of what you do.

Okay.

What is it that I do?

It's so hard... to bring about actual change.

Real change.

The whole world conspires to stop that from happening.

But you bring people together.

You... create change.

I think that that's... really great.

Hey, so I have this Atari party that I have to go to that would be so much more fun if you would come and get drunk with me.

What, so I can fend off your groupies?

Exactly.

Mm.

I'm not really dressed for that kind of thing.

Okay.

Well...

Okay.

Now I'm ready.

(laughs) The future's so bright.

(laughing)

Anyways, back to the important stuff.

Do you know why most people screw up their pasta?

Here we go.

Not salting the water enough.

You know, it should taste like the ocean.

You know, when properly portioned, salt will not make food taste salty, but instead will enhance the flavors that are already present.

(phone rings)

It's for me. It's my mom.

She's a partner at a VC firm so she has her own messaging service.

(clicks on)

Mom?

Joanie, I got your voicemail. What's going on?

You made it sound like World w*r III from your message.

Yeah, Dad won't let me go to the party, which is bullshit because you explicitly told me I could go.

I'm sure he has good reasons, Bug.

There is no good reason why I should be stuck here making pasta from scratch with freaking Chef Boyardee and some random lady.

Is it that Michelle woman?

Bingo-rama. She works for Dad.

Look, when you're at Dad's house, his word goes.

You know the rules.

Can you just talk to him?

No, I don't have time...

Dad! Mom wants to talk to you.

So, what grade are you in?

You know, I'm gonna, like, go in a second.

You don't have to talk to me anymore.

Donna, I don't wanna have this conversation right now.

Neither do I.

She wants to go over to Jennifer's and there's not gonna be any parents there.

I already told her that she has to listen to you.

She just put you on the phone because she thought we'd fight and she'd come out on top.

(laughs)

Since when do you make pasta?

Oh, well, I-I...

I took a cooking class.

Ah.

My parents got divorced when I was little, too, so, I know it stinks.

But it gets better.

All right, you're, uh, you're not going.

So, even with a conservative estimate of the licensing fees for the voice-recognition component, we'll be in three million domestic refrigerator-freezers by the end of Q3.

And I'll hit profitability by Q4.

So, what is it you do?

I think this is definitely him.

I think it's him!

Listen, man, we hereby confer upon you...

Uh, Bob.

(together) Bob!

...the greatest honor of Comdex '90: the Party Pitch Swami and a Vanquisher of Earthly Tedium.

And we proudly present to you...

This...

100% synthetic ergonomically designed OSHA-approved Cisco wrist rest.

Live the life of your words, Bob.

(The Pixies' "Velouria" playing)

♪ On to somewhere near ♪
♪ And far in time ♪
♪ Velouria ♪
♪ Her covering ♪
♪ Traveling career ♪
♪ She can really move ♪
♪ Oh, velveteen! ♪
♪ My Velouria ♪
♪ My Velouria ♪
♪ Even I'll adore ya ♪
♪ My Velouria ♪
♪ Even I'll adore ya ♪
♪ My Velouria ♪
♪ Say to me ♪

Hey.

♪ Where have you been? ♪

You want a refill?

Yeah!

Jesus, my refills want refills!

(laughs)

♪ And how does lemur's skin ♪
♪ Reflect the sea? ♪
♪ Move away in the shine of the other ♪
♪ Move away in the shine of the other ♪
♪ Move away in the tides of the summer ♪
♪ Every summer, every My Velouria ♪

I love Space Bike!

Oh! I love you! (laughing)

Woman: Cameron?

Cameron!

How are you? How's Japan?

♪ California ♪

What are you doing here?

You know, I just...

♪ I can see the tears... ♪

.. came to make an appearance at the parties, and...

Okay...

Look, I... I came to see you.

I don't know why you would do that.

Well, because I've got this...

There's this thing.

It's really exciting and I want to show it to you.

You've got to be kidding.

Please, just...

Come on, have lunch with me tomorrow.

No, I'm on an early flight out to Tokyo.

It's been four years, we need to...

We don't need to do anything!

We both did things we're not proud of, and if could turn back the clock, I'm sure we'd do it differently.

I can't believe this is happening.

What, you're gonna tell me that you've completely moved on?

No.

I think about you and me every day.

And it makes me furious.

So, let's fix it. I wanna fix it.

I don't.

Everything okay?

Let's go.

♪ Oh, hey ♪
♪ Velouria ♪
♪ Oh, hey ♪
♪ Velouria ♪
♪ Velouria ♪

Parmigiano-Reggiano?

Yes, please.

I'm a vegetarian.

Oh, yeah? Since when?

Since I started paying attention to the thinking, feeling creatures we share the planet with, and realized they probably don't like being eaten.

That's since when.

Well, you can rinse yours off.

Mmm.

Too late. It's tainted.

Mmm. This is really good.

Mm.

Grazie.

What did you put in this?

Ah, it's the Bolognese.

It's taken a while to perfect, but...

(sighs)

Did you know that almost all beef you buy at the supermarket tests positive for E. coli?

Mm-mm.

Because cows, when they're slaughtered, are decapitated. And when you decapitate a cow, all the stuff in the intestines and the stomach flies out through the neck hole, all over the body.

And E. coli is found only in excrement.

Basically... there's sh*t in your Bolognese.

Okay, Joanie, we are trying to eat.

So am I.

And that's why we all need to think about the gross, and, like, inhumane process that we get all the stuff we consume on our plates.

Well, did you know there's a detectable level of cow piss in most milk?

(chuckles)

You know, I understand. When I was five, I gave up eggs for a whole year because I thought when you cracked the eggs, that you were k*lling little baby chicks, and every time my dad made an omelet I would just burst into tears and just cry for hours.

(laughs)

I'm 14, not five.

She'll grow out of it. It's a phase.

You think this is just a phase?

Okay, Joanie, why don't you take your plate into the other room and we'll talk about this tomorrow.

Fine.

I am so sorry.

No. No, no, no. Why? I mean, I honestly can barely taste the sh*t in your spaghetti.

Uh, for me, friendship is...

is very important. I mean, I...

It's not all bits and bytes for me.

(laughs)

And I see a lot of movies and it would just be nice to have someone special to share that with or talk to about that stuff.

Intimacy, that's... it's... that's nice.

So, listen, um.

I... I really am sorry.

I, um...

I'll see you at the office.

Okay.

("Twist Barbie" by Shonen Kn*fe playing)

♪ Ooo, aah, aah ♪
♪ Bang, bang, bang, Twist Barbie ♪
♪ Bang, bang, bang, Twist Barbie ♪
♪ Bang, bang, bang, Twist Barbie ♪
♪ Bang... ♪

Joanie.

What the hell was that?

You should have just let me go the party.

Joanie, just because you are unhappy does not mean that you can inflict your total misery onto everyone else.

You're so obvious!

What is that supposed to mean?

You work for Mom and now Michelle works for you.

You could do better.

You already did once.

Can you believe her?

It's like she ambushed me.

Why does she care so much about kissing and making up?

We don't even live in the same country anymore.

She called me.

A few days ago.

Why?

She wanted me to find you... and bring you some idea.

That's why you're here?

No.

I told her if she wanted to talk to you, she could do it herself.

I don't even know what the idea was.

I didn't read it and I don't care.

Come on, Cam.

You can trust me.

(wrapper crackling)

(cork pops)

God, that's terrible.

Hey, I think I figured it out.

You can't b*at me. It's...

It's a system. You have to count in Nim sums.

It's just a trick.

Why... are you here?

You know why.

Nope.

Tell me.

You.

I came to see you.

We shouldn't be up here.

It's getting late.

I have to leave early tomorrow.

Maybe we should call it a night.

Yeah.

Yeah, we should call it a night.

(heavy breathing)

(sharp moan)

Boy on television: ...lawyer.

Girl on television: Slater, I am impressed.

Spare me.

I want to have at least seven kids!

Oh, great, so I'll have to take a number to get into the bathroom!

Seven kids? Slater, I don't know.

Consistency.

I can admire that.

Slater: Why? Because I'm a good boss.

God, I hate it when Slater does that stupid turnaround thing with his chair.

I know.

It's like, okay, we get it, you're the cool jock.

(indistinct dialogue continues)

Are you serious?

What?

You...

I can't totally commit to a label.

People aren't one thing.

Yeah.

You're right.

(sighs) All right.

Is it bad this morning?

No, it's fine.

I'm just a little stiff.

Nothing a hot shower won't fix.

This is ridiculous.

I'm making you switch bedrooms with me.

Climbing these stairs is totally dumbass.

Yeah. I'm sure that would work out great for you.

Nice fancy bed, big closet...

Oh, it's really the bathroom I'm after.

Working with you was... the most fun I ever had in my life.

Okay?

Oh, Cam.

I picked up the phone so many times.

Never actually called, though. Did you?

Well...

I'm here now.

Uh-huh.

Did you even read it?

What?

What I sent Joe. The idea.

He never even showed it to me.

What was it?