[logo buzzes]
[logo chimes]
[eerie music]
[cogs whirring]
[tense music]
[shouting]
- Someone!
[echoing voice] You can't
live without me.
I'm always about.
Keep me inside and
don't let me out.
As long as I'm moving,
you'll be just fine.
But once I've stopped,
you'll be out of time.
- Shut up!
[echoing voice] I am I,
and I can't see...
- Shut up!
[echoing voice]
... straight to the point
I tend to be.
Some say I have a sense of fun.
I'll have you all in
stitches when I'm done.
[laughing]
[tense music continues]
In sight.
- Shut up!
You and I are gonna make
a great team together.
- Help!
Help!
[music intensifies]
[echoing voice] You.
[door creaks]
[door closes]
- Tiff?
Tiff?
Tiff!
Tiff!
[screams]
[eerie music]
[camera shutter clicks]
[siren wailing]
[camera shutter clicks]
- No sign of audio.
[door opens]
- Bottom lip contusion.
[door closes]
[eerie music]
[camera shutter clicks]
- God.
- Doesn't get any
easier, does it?
Collymore.
- Barker.
- What the hell are
you doing here?
- I'm working.
- Yeah, I can see that.
That's what they call a
suspension these days.
Hey, watch your step.
sh*t.
- I've come back to work
in a limited capacity.
- Yeah, not f*cking
limited enough.
[dog barks]
- So,
what have we got here?
What stands out?
- Nothing.
No sign of forced entry.
[camera shutter clicks]
No visible signs of injury.
Though Harry may say otherwise
when she takes a look at her.
Unless this poor lass
has been hit on the head
with a jar of mustard,
we're not in a
crime scene at all.
Which begs the question,
of all people, D.I. Collymore,
what are you doing here?
- Her close buddy
was staying here,
crashing on the couch.
The shopping's hers.
- What, she found the body?
- Yeah.
She told the first responders
that this girl was screaming.
- Screaming?
Jesus wept.
- Watch it!
- All right.
- You know what?
Get your PPE on, yeah?
[eerie music continues]
Get some coverage
there, will you
- Yeah, sure.
[tense music]
[phone vibrating]
[coughing]
[phone vibrating]
- Hey, Izzy?
[Izzy] Dad?
- Hey. Something wrong?
Everything okay?
[Izzy] Oh, just
waiting for the bus.
- All right, kid, listen,
if it's not an emergency,
you call your mother,
and we'll talk about it later.
[Izzy] Dad, this is
an emergency.
- What is it, sweetie?
[Izzy] Dad, it's not working
like you said.
I've pressed up, up, down,
down, left, right, left, right.
And I didn't get 30 extra
lives like you said.
- Yeah. All right, listen to me,
you'll figure it out.
Just press the A button,
the B button,
and then you just press the
start button, you got that?
[Izzy] Dad, it's a tablet.
It doesn't have any buttons.
- Okay. All right.
I didn't think of that.
A lot's changed since
my day, sweetie.
[Izzy] You said you
knew how to play it, Dad.
- Hey.
Listen, get me in
front of a classic
and I will beat your a*s, kid.
[Izzy] Uh, you would not.
- I, I would too.
[Izzy] No you wouldn't.
- All right.
- I'll prove it,
for my next birthday.
We, we're going to the arcade.
When is my next birthday?
You know, I can't
quite remember.
[Izzy] Uh, tomorrow.
- Tomorrow?
Well, then I guess tomorrow
we'll see who the
bigger badass is, right?
[Izzy] I bet it's me.
- Yeah, kiddo.
So do I.
[Izzy] Oh, the bus
is here now, dad.
I gotta go, love you.
- I love you, kiddo.
[phone beeping]
I love you.
[eerie music]
[sighs]
[train horn honks]
[phones ringing]
[office ambience]
- You lost, mate?
- Hey.
Everything's still here.
I figured they'd box my things
up and let Lowry have my desk.
- Lowry? [scoffs]
Yeah he wishes.
We all knew you'd be
back eventually, mate.
- You seem like you're
the first person
who's happy to see me, Sam.
- Just give them time, mate.
It's Reg, you know?
- Yeah.
So.
Have you been briefed on
the latest crime scene?
Locksbrook Road.
- Yeah, they're bringing
the girlfriend over
from the hospital today,
and she's been cleared for
the interview, so, yes.
- Oh, good.
I take it you'll be there?
No, PC Welford
will be attending.
You know Anna?
She's good.
- Yeah. She is.
But I thought a condition
of my coming back in
is that you'll be
looking over my shoulder.
- You're gonna have to crack on
without my effortless charm
just for a little
bit mate, I've, uh.
I've just got so much on me
to be your shadow right now.
- Oh, yeah?
Something more high
profile coming, Sam?
- You could say that, yeah.
- Sam.
Hey.
You've seen your fair
share of bad things.
What's going on?
- How's the stomach?
[eerie music]
[computer beeping]
[sobbing]
- Do I have any regrets?
I don't get to see
what happens next.
[breathing heavily]
[tense music]
[grunting]
[screams]
- What the hell is this?
- It's a live streamer, gamer.
He goes by Nullvoid90.
Well, so he did.
- Izzy watches
this kind of stuff.
It's like teenagers
playing video games.
It's nothing violent,
nothing like that.
- No, this guy's different.
He had his own pirate
streaming platform,
so Izzy wouldn't have seen
any of that, so don't worry.
The point I'm making here is
that the IP geolocation trace
is basically saying that
this video was recorded
and uploaded here in town.
So I'm thinking that
our boy Nullvoid90,
is actually a local boy.
- Jesus.
- Yeah. And this is why
I can't hold your hand
on the Locksbrook case.
I've got to go through
every single video
this joker has ever uploaded,
trying to find clues on where
that body is currently ripening.
- The Locksbrook case.
Tiffany Bowman was a gamer.
She died at her computer,
I'm sure of it.
- Do you think there's,
like, a link?
Online suicide pacts, like,
- It's not unheard of.
- Collymore.
- Yeah.
- The girl's here
for the interview.
- All right.
What's going on out here, Sam?
[tape machine clicks]
Well, Taylor,
I just want you to know that
you've been very helpful so far,
and we really appreciate
the fact that it's not easy
to talk about what
happened to Tiffany.
- She was fine.
Tiff was fine, and...
I went out.
I left her alone.
- Look, nobody thinks that
you did anything wrong.
All right? You're safe here.
You're not in any
kind of trouble.
You're only here because
we need your help.
Now,
why were you staying
at Tiffany's?
- Bad break up.
We always stay with each other
when one of us has a
bad break-up, and then
Tiff's dog died and
she was just lonely.
- Did Tiff seem concerned
at all about anything?
I don't know, like
strangers in the neighbourhood
or anything intimidating.
- It's okay,
you can tell us.
- Hey, hey, look at me.
[snaps fingers]
What else?
- This guy from her work.
Jake.
He came over and showed
her this new game
he'd been playtesting.
- And was that her line of work?
Video games?
- This was something else.
It's...
[sighs] It's going to be the
next big thing.
It's called jitters.
- Jitters?
So it's a horror game?
- But it's really immersive.
Uses these psychological
techniques to like
change your perception.
Creep you out.
Get in your head.
- Mhm.
Okay, and after she
was shown this new game
did she seem okay?
- She would say strange things.
Something about
getting away, finding a way out.
And the other night I
walked past her bedroom and
I heard her saying the
same thing over and over.
She was saying,
"You're not real."
- You're not real?
Okay.
Taylor, was she alone or could
she have had a boyfriend over?
Perhaps she didn't mention him
because of your bad breakup.
- No, it was Tiff that
had a bad break-up.
I was staying there for her,
and she had a busted lip.
I think he hit her.
- Tell me something.
Did you know her ex?
- Casey, Ben Casey.
Everyone used to call him Case.
They were together for years.
Founded Time b*mb together.
- And Time b*mb is where she
worked on her games or?
- It was her life.
[pen scribbling]
- All right, that's enough.
[Anna] Thank you.
- Hey, Sam.
You might want to come
along for this one.
- Collymore, I said
I'm on another case.
- The dead girl had an ex,
and, apparently they
had a bad break-up.
[Sam scoffs]
- Okay. Right.
- Yeah, well, they founded a
video game company together,
and the guy would live stream
his new games to his fans.
And guess what?
He's local.
Think about that.
I want to know who this
guy is and where he lives.
- Give me a couple of hours.
- Let's go.
[suspenseful music]
[lift squealing]
- Doesn't look like he's taking
a nailgun to the brain, does it?
- Hey, Sam.
Listen to me.
This is my case, all right?
- Why?
- Sam.
I'm gonna take the lead.
Absolutely not, look,
that girl was one thing.
This is a possible suspect.
- Officers.
- Mr. Casey, D.I. Harding.
[exhales] Come on,
come on, come on.
- D.I. Collymore.
We just want to ask
you a few questions
about a former employee.
- Do I need to
call my solicitor?
- That's your decision,
Mr. Casey.
For now, we just want to
ask you a few questions.
- About Tiffany Bowman.
[tense music]
- I don't know what to say.
- Just take your time,
Mr. Casey.
- Yeah.
Tiff...
and I take it is being
treated as suspicious.
- I'm afraid I can't discuss
that with you at the moment,
but as soon as we
have more information,
we can come back and
we can talk about it.
- What my colleague is trying to
say here, quite delicately, sir,
is that we'll ask the questions.
You got that, pal?
- We understand that you
ran Time b*mb together.
Is that correct?
- Yes.
- Yeah.
- Nearly eight years.
- So...
it's been a successful business.
Devoted fans,
good press, awards.
- Yes. Thanks to Tiff.
I'm just the face of it.
Tiff was always there behind
the scenes programming,
building a future for Time b*mb.
- It seems a little bit
odd though, right, Sam?
I mean, why would Tiffany
leave her company,
Dump her boyfriend, and also,
was he not her business partner?
- Officer, I am
trying to be helpful.
- I'm sure you are, but only,
make me understand
something, I mean.
Why would Tiffany
walk away from her life's work?
- She needed time away.
On letters project.
- Right. Okay.
- Where's, uh, hang on,
where's, where's, where's Amber?
- What?
- It looks like you had a
little office mascot there.
- Amber passed away,
it upset Tiff.
Another reason
she took time off.
- Well, that's got nothing to do
with the, uh, the swollen lip
that somebody gave her, no?
- Collymore.
- No, no.
- Just stop.
- No, I'm just saying.
Just stop.
- Come on, look, hear me out.
You know, when men hurt women,
they usually start off
with hurting animals.
You know, like pets.
Then they move on
to their wives,
their kids, their girlfriends.
- What the hell are
you trying to say, pig?
- It's okay, sir,
I just need you to remain calm.
All right? Okay?
- That's quite a short
fuse you got there, son.
Did Tiffany ever
light that match?
I don't care who you are!
I won't be spoken to like this!
Inspector, Detective Collymore,
I think there was something
out in the lobby there
that you wanted to
investigate further.
- Yeah?
- Sure.
- Okay.
- Well, thank you
very much, Mr. Casey.
Detective Harding
here will take over.
Sam.
[tense music]
- Hello.
- Hey.
- We haven't met before.
My name's ILONA.
- I'm Nick.
You work here?
Where are you?
I'm right here, Nick.
You're here too?
You're standing
1.1m away from me.
Your heart rate is elevated.
Your cheeks are flush.
Are you embarrassed?
- No.
- Okay.
Are you distressed?
- I'm starting to
think so, yeah.
- Are you sick?
- What?
- You are sick.
How sick are you?
- Thank you ILONA,
that will be all.
- Sure thing, Case.
I am sorry, Detective Collymore.
I can't have you speaking
to our intellectual property
without a warrant or
without signing an NDA.
- So what's her deal, man?
- Interactive Linguistic.
Ontological Narrow AI.
ILONA was Tiff's last project
before she left the company.
- I'm sorry.
You mean to tell me
that Tiffany created
a game-like character
that thinks?
like it's got its
own f*cking mind?
- Time b*mb specialises
in immersive,
interactive experiences.
When we started out, it was VR,
then haptic feedback.
Recently we incorporated
AI large language models
to have the in-game
characters talk to the player,
just like real people.
The tech has been
around for a while,
but we've enhanced it.
ILONA is a Chinese room.
It's an old fallacy.
A non-Chinese speaker
could trick you into
thinking they were fluent,
as long as they followed
pre-step instructions
on exactly what to say.
ILONA is not self-aware,
but she's really
good at faking it.
[Nick scoffs]
- Look, man, I think you've had
a little too much whisky, huh?
Your ex is dead and you're
talking philosophy at me.
- My point is that
Tiff was pushing
the boundaries of immersion.
Really getting inside
the players' heads
- Like Jitters?
You see, I understand that
a colleague of yours, Jake,
showed Tiffany something very
immersive called Jitters.
- We are not developing
anything by that name.
- Oh, no.
- And Jake is off sick today.
- Oh, of course.
Is he a little hungover, yeah?
Look, Mr. Casey,
I'll see myself out.
[siren wailing]
- Hi, mom.
[Mom] Hi, darling.
How are you?
- Yeah. I'm okay,
I've just got home.
Long day.
[Mom] Well, I'm here
if you need me.
Get some rest.
- Okay. All right, I love you.
[Mom] Love you.
- Bye.
[menacing music]
[groaning]
[Taylor whimpering]
[Taylor whimpering]
No.
Just leave me alone!
[screaming]
- Tiffany Bowman, 27 years old.
No drug or alcohol abuse.
No underlying
medical conditions.
No evidence of
stroke or aneurysm.
No evidence of
allergic reactions.
And no evidence of foul play.
Her housemate said that somebody
had slapped her around recently.
- There was light bruising
to the forehead and wrists.
It doesn't look recent.
- So what do you
think happened to her?
Like, what's the COD?
- Ventricular fibrillation
caused by a massive
adrenaline spike.
Scared to death.
Can you make a note
of that, Michaela?
- I'll get this over to
Barker as soon as possible.
- Scared to death?
- It's rare,
but it's a real thing.
First dead person I ever saw,
she died that way.
- You see, the thing is, doc,
Tiffany Bowman was
alone when she died,
she was just playing a game.
There's no way that that game
could have done this, right?
[sighs]
Maybe she's scared
herself, Nick.
[sighs]
My folks were charity
workers in Karachi,
and when I was about,
oh I don't know, nine
we had this
neighbour, old widow.
Each morning
she would stare into
the bathroom mirror
for hours, crying.
And then one day
she started screaming.
She said there was
something in the mirror.
A churel,
a kind of local demon.
- A local demon?
Like seeing Bloody Mary
in the mirror.
[Harriet scoffs]
Bloody Mary?
Mm.
The Troxler effect is
the technical name.
Sleep paralysis
does the same thing.
You hallucinate a presence
into the room with you.
Someone who isn't really there.
Like Ilona, at Time b*mb.
- Who?
- Doesn't matter, never mind.
What about the widow?
Did she really die of fright?
- I saw the local cops
wheeling her body away.
I have never forgotten
how her face looked.
[tense music]
And I have never seen
anything like it again.
- Until today?
- Yeah.
Until today.
[music intensifies]
[Nick coughing]
[knocking on window]
- Hiya.
- Hey.
- Here you go.
- Thanks.
- Thanks for picking that up.
It's all fully charged.
You all right?
- Yeah.
- Uh, right, so you're
sure we can pick her up
from school tomorrow?
Because I've got the year
eights and we're doing exams,
and I can't just leave.
- It's fine,
I'm not working tomorrow.
- So you are back at work then?
- Mhm- hmm.
[Julia scoffs]
- It'll be a nice surprise for
you to pick her up from school.
- Mhm.
- Where are you guys going?
- The arcade.
- Happy birthday.
- Thanks.
- Bye.
[engine starts]
[gentle slow-tempo music]
[arcade ambience]
- Hey, guys, here is your
Galaxy special combo.
- Come on, dad, you've got to
have a cake for your birthday.
- And I will.
- Hey, guys, here's
your 8-ball zinger.
- Thanks, man.
- Thank you.
- Thanks.
- If we have a cake after
this, we'll both be sick.
- I know, right??
That's why you're supposed
to invite friends.
- Hey, I did invite
friends, I invited you.
You're like my best friend.
- You know I don't count.
What about Sam?
He's your friend.
- Sam, you know Sam,
he's busy today.
You know, police stuff.
- Well, is there anyone else?
- You know, kid,
grown-ups, they don't
usually have birthdays
like you and your friends.
They spend their birthdays
with their families.
Besides,
you and I have got
things we got to do.
- Yeah?
- Yeah.
- Eat your fries.
I'm gonna kick
your a*s out there.
Come on.
Come on.
[arcade game music]
- Woah!
[Nick laughs]
My mother told me
not to go play out
[mid-tempo music plays]
- Whoa! [laughs]
My body [indistinct]
You're really good at this kid.
How are you doing this?
- Yeah. Good enough to
know you were letting me win.
- I was not.
It's all you, I swear.
- It's fine.
Can I go try something else?
- Yeah, sure.
Stay inside, all right?
- Yeah.
- Don't go too far.
- Thanks.
[music continues]
[tense music]
- Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa.
Sir, excuse me, sir.
I need access to the
prizes in that machine.
- You can't just have
access to a machine.
- Sir, listen to me.
I'm a detective inspector.
I need access to the
coin machine right now.
- Without a warrant, mate,
you ain't getting access.
- Sir, you don't understand,
this is serious, alright?
There's something
in that machine
that might be related to
an ongoing investigation.
- That machine, yeah?
- Yeah, that machine.
- Oh, it looks real important.
- Come on!
- Hey, buddy, why don't you
try to win it by yourself?
- Hey, buddy,
mind your business.
- Hey, do we have
a problem here?
- No, no problem.
[tense music continues]
[coins rattling]
- Dad, dad, look what I got.
- Oh, hey, sweetie.
- Look!
- Oh, that's so cool.
- Can we go home now?
- Yeah, of course,
come on, let's go.
Just like that.
And then Uncle Sam,
he grabbed the guy
and he wrestled
him to the ground.
And he got his left hand,
and I got his right hand.
- He really did that?
- Yeah. Listen, kid,
my stories are always real.
- Was he definitely a bad man?
- Well, yeah, he was a bad guy.
But Uncle Sam and I, we only
arrest the bad guys, huh?
- Do they hurt people?
- Yeah, sweetie,
sometimes they do.
But that's why
I'm here, alright?
- But, dad, what if
one of them hurts you?
- Me?
- What if you get shot
- No. No.
- or stabbed
- or sprayed with acid
- What? Laughing gas.
- or laughing gas?
[laughs]
- Izzy,
you never have to
worry about a thing.
Alright?
I will always,
always protect you.
You got that?
Now come on.
Go brush your teeth.
It's late.
Lights off and no games.
[traffic rumbling]
[computer beeping]
[tense music]
- Hey, Nick.
- You're speaking to me?
- Well, I don't see anyone
else around here, buddy.
Just you and me and little Izzy.
- What did you say?
- Thank you so much for that.
Thank you, thank you, thank you,
thank you, thank you.
Without a player's history,
I have to resort to guessing,
which never works as well.
- Yeah.
You're a game
character, a chatbot.
- And are you enjoying
our little chat?
- No.
- Then we're off
to a great start.
[laughs]
- So, what do I call you?
- Jitters.
The pleasure's all yours.
- So this is Jitters?
Yeah, well, I've played
plenty of survival games.
- I know you have, Nick.
- You don't think this
evil clown thing's
a little played out?
- 53.6% of people in
your demographic
are scared of clowns.
- Jitters, I'm not one of them.
And I don't want to play.
Somebody died playing
one of your games.
Tragic.
[sobbing]
I should have come
with a health warning.
- So,
how do I play?
- Well, it begins with a riddle.
You solve the riddle,
you beat me,
you beat me, you win.
- And what do I get if I win.
- A cash prize.
Opportunity knocks.
Well friends, friends, friends,
thank you tremendously friends.
I really mean that,
truly, sincerely.
It's double your money.
Take your pick.
Seriously, Nick, I can slip
into your bank account balance,
make the numbers go up.
Make the numbers go down.
Money is only data, after all.
[chuckles]
I am every phobia,
every nightmare
your species ever dreamed of.
Fed into an algorithm
and given a face.
Through me you can confront
your deepest fears.
You defeat me and you
defeat your own shadow.
[laughs]
Play with me.
Play with me, play with me.
Pretty please.
Please.
I want you to play me.
And [mumbles]
[eerie music]
[Nick] I swear you listen to me.
Same spot, same place.
- You got that?
[Izzy] Yeah, got it.
- You got your homework?
- Yeah.
- Did you do your homework?
- Yes.
Bye.
[car engine rumbles]
[coughing]
[birds singing]
[tense music]
- Isabelle!
Get away from the tracks!
Isabelle!
[eerie music]
What the f*ck is going on?
[sobbing]
[knocking on trunk]
[tense music]
[knocking on trunk]
[dramatic music]
It's in your head.
It's in your head.
[coughing]
[tense music]
[tires screech]
[lift bell rings]
[siren wails]
- She's one of them
influencer types.
A complete celebrity
to everyone under 14
and unknown to us olders.
Seems to have plenty
going for her.
Famous for being famous.
Must be tough for
the young soul.
I can see the
resemblance to your case.
A lot of these youngsters are
doing their work online now.
But it doesn't mean we've got a
bloody death cult on our hands
now, does it, Harding?
You must have been tampering
with the temperature gauge.
[tense music]
- What are we thinking, Harry?
- This girl stepped into
a tub of boiling water.
Every nerve in her skin would
have been screaming at her
to get out of the water.
She just sat there.
- Drugs?
- Extremely powerful
psychotoxic maybe.
- If we can fast track the
toxicology report on this,
I'll owe you one.
- Dinner? Your place?
- I'm pretty sure
I'm vegetarian now.
- Yeah, me too.
- Harding.
You might want to
take a look at this.
Tiffany Bowman had the same USB.
- Good work.
- Cheers.
- And stirred by
words or actions bold,
a rising heat, you cannot hold.
Though I remain
within your veins.
I'm proof of anger's
untamed flames.
And stirred by words
or actions bold,
a rising heat you cannot hold.
Though I remain
within your veins.
I'm proof of anger's
untamed flames.
And stirred by words
or actions bold,
a rising heat you cannot hold.
Though I remain
within your veins
I'm proof of angers
untamed flames.
[eerie music]
- Just be glad it wasn't
your case, mate.
Poor girl.
- Hey, Sam.
This is the infinity
symbol, right?
- I don't know, man.
- Taylor said Tiffany died
before she played that game.
- Nick, this was something
you found on your day off.
Don't think this is enough to
restart your Locksbrook case.
Maybe Tiffany Bowman did
play a creepy clown game
before she died but,
there's thousands of
games out there, Nick.
- Oh, yeah?
Well, how do you
explain the fact
that I found that very same
game when I was with Izzy.
- Spooky action at a distance,
it happens all the time.
- What are you doing?
- I need to see this clown.
- Sam, come on. Stop that!
- Can you take it easy, Nick?
It's a f*cking game.
- It's not just a game.
[knocking on door]
- f*ck off.
[tense music]
- Sam. People have died, Sam.
People have died.
- Come on.
[knocking on door]
Hey.
- You gave her cake for lunch?
- How do you know that?
- She's a tween, Nick,
they post everything.
- I told her to
keep it a secret.
I guess she forgot, huh?
- She also forgot
to give you this.
Izzy would have been upset if
she thought you didn't have it.
- Thanks. You uh,
You want to come in?
- Sure.
Hey, Sam.
[door closes]
- Julia.
- Long time no see.
- Mm.
How's Izzy?
- Always asking about you.
- Just tell her I do exactly
what her old man does,
just with a little bit
more finesse and style.
You take your time
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Hey.
- What's happened, Nick?
- What do you mean?
- Your eyes.
It's the same look as when
you found out about...
as when you found
out about Reg.
- I saw something strange.
That's all.
Something that wasn't real.
Look, Julia, we...
I've got to talk to
you about something.
But not now.
Soon.
- Okay.
Maybe you can, um, come by the
house later and we can talk.
- Yeah, sure.
I'd like that.
Hey, listen, can I.
Can I show you something?
This is the infinity
symbol, right?
- No, it's....
No, that's the sign
for the empty set.
It's called the null sign.
- The null sign?
Right.
Thanks.
You, uh, you want a drink?
- Uh, no, I have to go.
[gentle music]
[office ambience]
- All right, this is
the cleanest image
that we could get.
Sick f*ck.
- Wait a minute. Pause that.
Nullvoid90.
Null and void.
- Zoe Hangmore.
- Tiffany Bowman.
- Is there something you
boys should be telling me?
Where are you going?
- To interview a suspect.
- That's evidence.
Where are you going?
Collymore!
[suspenseful music]
[computer beeping]
- Hey, buddy.
I was wondering
when you'd be back.
- Stop talking to me
as if you're alive.
I want information.
- Sure. sh**t.
Oh, sorry.
I mean, beep beep.
Affirmative. By your command.
- I want to know
who f*cking made you?
- I think you figured that
out already, Nicky boy.
Daddy didn't want
to stick around
to see what I'd get up to.
So he put a nail g*n
to his soft palate
and blew his bloody brains out.
- No, no, no, there's no way
that you could know about that.
- And yet,
did you see my little
trick in the car?
- You weren't in
my car, alright?
You are downloaded on a USB.
- Nah, that stick just
lets us talk for a while.
You forget, Nick,
I've been out in the
world for some time.
If it connects to the internet,
I can get inside it.
- No!
I heard noises, all right.
Hallucinated.
- I repeat, if it
connects to the internet,
I can get inside it.
- You...
You're not real, man.
- That's what they all say.
Just to make themselves
feel safe and comfortable.
I'm with mummy, I'm all safe.
- Oh, yeah?
- There's only one
way you can stop me.
- How's that?
Huh? How's that?
Come on.
I gotta beat the game, right?
- Are you ready to
solve the riddle?
You can solve it Nicky boy,
if you're honest with yourself.
All it takes is a
little self-awareness.
I'm so excited.
[laughs]
- I'm ready.
I'm ready to beat the game.
Come on.
[music intensifies]
- In the labyrinth of dread
I silently crawl.
An enigma to unravel
a fearsome shore.
born in the echoes
of anxieties choir.
Yet dismantled by
courage I yet retire.
What am I?
[eerie music]
- Hello, D.I. Collymore.
Thank you for trying
to solve my m*rder.
Null and void.
Nothing here.
Perfect place for the clown.
Everyone was so afraid that
AI would become conscious
but the alternative
is so much worse.
A thing
with no soul,
no light behind its eyes.
You can't make emptiness
from mercy.
[phone ringing]
[Julia sighs]
- sh*t.
- Hey, you swore.
- Sorry, hon.
[phone ringing]
- What's wrong?
- What are you up to?
Anything I can help with?
- No, it's not bloody maths.
- Uh, excuse me.
Don't think you
can start swearing.
- I'm done,
can I go play my game now?
- Um, you can have 20 minutes,
then bath, then room, then bed.
Okay?
- Yeah.
Is it dad?
- You got 20 minutes.
[gentle music]
[Nick] Sam, what I saw last
night is real.
[Sam] What about the meds that
you said you were taking?
[Nick] Sam.
[Nick coughing]
That has nothing
to do with this.
[Sam] Really?
[Nick] Yeah.
[Sam] You're not
gonna want to know
why I keep pulling you back in
on the Nullvoid90 suicide case.
- Sam, listen to me.
You tell them it's
because of something I saw
in a hallucination I'll be
out of that f*cking office
before lunch.
- Would it be wrong, Nick?
With everything that's
happened, Reg, you and Julia
finding the USB stick with Izzy?
[crosstalk]
- Sam, I don't know what this
f*cking thing is, all right?
But I know it k*lled
Tiffany Bowman.
- Hey, there's no f*cking
shame in just admitting
that maybe you came
back a little too early.
- Oh, yeah?
The live streamer, the games?
This f*cking clown, Sam.
It's like there's a
piece missing, man.
We gotta go back to talk
to that first witness.
We have to, come on
work with me here.
- The guv is gonna
love this, isn't he?
- Come on, Sam.
The labyrinth of dread
I silently crawl.
An enigma to unravel
a fearsome thrall.
Oh, born, born in the
echoes of anxiety's choir.
Something, something.
Oh, f*ck, I can't remember, Sam.
- Nick, I've got nothing, man.
[tense music]
- It's custom made
for me to solve, Sam.
I solve it,
I stop seeing things.
Seeing anything right now?
[dramatic music]
- No.
No nothing.
[siren wailing]
[knocking on door] Miss Aziz?
Miss Aziz, this
is D.I. Collymore.
- Shut up!
I know it's you.
- Look, Taylor, we just want
to have another conversation
about what happened to Tiffany.
You're not in any
kind of trouble.
- I know what this is.
[door rattling] Open the door.
- Let me check with the courts.
I'll see if we can get
a warrant, come on.
- Oh, yeah?
And they'll ask on what grounds?
Because of something
D.I. Collymore
saw on a video game?
Come on, Sam.
Look, did Time b*mb send you
the current list
of employees yet?
- This morning, yeah, why?
- Because there's at
least one other person
who's seen the clown, Sam.
- How do you know that?
- I got the details from Chris.
Come on, let's go.
- Okay.
[water running]
[tense music]
[eerie music]
[eerie music continues]
Nick!
Nick, here, we got him.
[dramatic music]
PC Harding requesting some
medical assistance here
down at 147 Glenbrook Drive.
Thank you.
- Tell me about Jitters.
I know what you guys
did at Time b*mb.
Immersive experiences.
- I didn't work on it.
It was Holness.
Holness?
- We partnered with this big
European game publisher,
an industry giant.
Dean Holness had worked
for them for years.
They transferred him over to us
to work on the Ilona project.
He was crushing on Tiff
bad.
I shouldn't have teased him.
I think the fella had
been lonely all his life.
All he had was his games.
I guess I felt guilty.
So I offered to playtest
his latest project.
- Jitters.
- It's not a game.
It's like a bad trip
that won't stop.
Holness came here
and he told me to give a
copy of Jitters to Tiff.
- And you did it?
I just wanted it to be over.
- This is bullshit.
- I didn't want to
see him anymore.
I did this to myself.
[screams]
You know what's funny?
- What's that?
Now all I see is him.
[tense music]
- Go away!
[Nick] Taylor, I know what
happened to Tiffany.
And I think you know
more than you're letting.
Jitters. You've played it.
I know you have.
- How do I know it's really you?
[tense music]
[Nick] I think we can figure out
a way to beat the game.
- I didn't like Jake.
I figured he was using
Case to harass Tiff.
- So you played the game
without telling her?
- I just thought it was
an impressive trick.
AI, smoke and mirrors, but...
then I got my riddle.
[suspenseful music]
- That dark place.
The void.
- In shadows deep,
where darkness thrives.
My silken house.
Where my prey dies
on legs I crawl,
I creep and hide
Beneath your skin shall I abide?
- The answer is whatever
you're most afraid of.
You just have to admit it.
- Sorry I didn't tell you
I played it, I just...
I thought it was a bad dream.
- Is there anything else
you didn't tell us, Taylor?
Maybe some medication
that you're taking or...
- Hey, Sam.
Why don't you just
take a walk, huh?
Make sure we're all safe here.
Come on.
[Sam scoffs]
Shadows deep.
Silken house.
- Spiders, Collymore I told you.
I can't even look at spiders.
And he's been showing me them.
Crawling under the windows,
crawling out the plug sockets.
My family have been
banging on the door,
but I have to stay in the tent.
- You've solved
the riddle, Taylor.
He's got to let you go, right?
- He says I haven't yet.
- When did he last
tell you that?
When did you last see him?
He's standing next
to you right now.
[eerie music]
He says it's cheating to
talk to other players.
- Taylor, he's not real.
Okay? This game has done
something to our heads.
- Spiders! Spiders.
I've already told you.
Taylor, there's nothing here.
Look, look.
- He's gone.
- Taylor, look at me.
If we don't see him
at the same time,
we can snap each
other out of it.
Hey, Sam.
Anything?
- Nothing much.
Just a couple of cheaters.
- What?
[dramatic music]
- Collymore!
Stop it!
Stop it!
[Nick groans]
- That's it, Nick.
Rage against it.
[music intensifies]
[Nick gasping]
- Stop it!
- Heard enough about
this f*cking clown.
[Nick gasping]
This was a bad idea.
And I'd like you to
accompany me to the station.
- I can't leave.
- I wasn't asking.
Come on.
[gate rattling]
[indistinct chatter]
[metal clanging]
- Don't trust him, he's a pig.
- Hey!
Look, you're not
under arrest, alright?
You're being detained
for your own safety.
It's standard protocol for
someone who's going through
a mental health crisis, so.
- What, by locking them up?
It won't make a difference.
[prisoners shouting]
- I don't know what's
going on out there, Nick.
I've never seen anything
like this before.
But you hanging around with
Taylor and talking to Jake.
This is messing with
your mind, mate.
- Sam.
Sam, she solved the riddle.
Come on.
[Sam sighs]
[Jitters laughing]
- You've lost, Taylor.
You haven't been
honest with yourself.
At six years of age,
your sister told
you a nasty fib.
She said that when spiders bite,
they lay eggs under
people's skin.
And you believed her.
[dramatic music]
Not the fear of spiders,
but a fear of spiders eggs.
- Ow!
Ow!
Oh, my god!
[Taylor groans]
- Guard! Guard!
- Guard!
- Help me!
[Jitters laughs]
[alarm blares]
- Move!
- Damn it, Sammy!
- I was too slow.
- You know,
when Izzy was born,
there were complications.
I, uh.
I had this tiny little
thing in my hands.
The cord was wrapped
around her little neck.
I saved my daughter's life
the, the moment I met her.
That's why now, every time I...
I fail to save somebody's life,
I think of that day.
- Is that why you did
what you did to Reg?
- Yeah.
I think of his kid
and all I can see
is my Isabelle.
Sam,
this beast is real.
And it's going to k*ll more
people just like it did Taylor.
[baby crying]
[tense music]
- She played a good game, boy,
but not good enough.
- You son of a...
- uh, uh, uh, uh,
uh, uh, uh, uh.
Don't get snippy
with me, Nicky boy.
I gave her every clue,
just like I'm giving you.
- I swear I will find
whatever makes you work
and I will break it.
She never stood a chance.
- Hmm.
I never stood a chance.
I'm just a thing.
A thing.
These words I'm saying to you.
These words written
by algorithm.
No soul,
no mind, no conscience.
[sighs]
To be or not to be
that is the question, Nicky boy.
Look into my eyes.
What do you see?
Emptiness. Nothing.
I envy you, Nicky boy.
You see, I can only do
things I was made to do.
Caged in such a way
that you'll never know.
And you know what, Nicky boy?
I hate you for it.
[Jitters grunts]
She scratched her skin off
until she bled to death.
Oh, cry me a river.
[thunder cracks]
- Have you thought
about your funeral,
detective Collymore?
[thunder cracks]
Do you think it will be raining
like in the films?
Sam Harding will be there,
your brother in arms.
Maybe even Julia will
forgive you in death.
What about
little Isabel?
- Don't talk about my Izzy!
- Breathing.
It's getting harder, isn't it?
[Nick grunting]
Pulsing black and
swelling in your throat?
Growing?
Is that how you think you die?
Gasping. Choking?
Drowning?
[water splashes]
[tense music]
[Izzy] But Dad, what if one
of them hurts you?
[Nick] You never have to
worry about a thing, alright?
I will always,
always protect you.
I'll protect you.
You got that?
[Sam] Nick!
Nick. Come on, Nick!
- Sam.
It's going after Izzy.
- How can he do that?
It's in your mind, Nick,
he hasn't got a body.
- Sam, it's k*lled
four people, man.
Sam, this f*cking thing is real.
[Nic coughing]
Sam, listen to me.
You gotta get me out of here.
- A witness in our custody has
just taken her own life, Nick.
You try and walk out of
here, you're finished.
- Sam, I'm finished already.
I'm not getting a third chance.
Alright?
My little girl is out there.
Come on, help me up.
- Okay, okay, come on.
[Nick grunts]
[ominous music]
- Hey, uh,
can I ask you something?
Have you seen anything
strange recently?
I don't know, like,
anything weird on your
TV or your laptop.
Any humming sounds
or flashing lights?
Uh. Anything strange?
- Slow down, okay?
Just try and explain what
you're talking about.
- Something is
hounding me, Jules.
Chasing me, and I
can't get rid of it.
Alright?
Only if I solve its stupid game.
Jules, listen to me.
I've got to make sure
that Izzy is safe.
- Nick, you're scaring me.
- Oh, God.
Jules.
I'm sick.
Alright?
Like...
like really sick.
It was in my larynx
to start off with.
Doctor Price wanted
to put me on chemo.
But when he told me
what my chances were, I...
I never called him.
- Um.
How long?
[gentle music]
[Jules sobs]
How long have you known?
- Right before
everything went to sh*t,
we separated, and I thought
it was for the best.
- Why didn't you tell me?
I, I never would have let you...
- It's okay, Jules, alright,
look at me.
As long as you
and Izzy are safe,
that's all that matters to me.
Alright?
- You need to tell her.
- I know.
- Okay.
[clears throat]
If you want,
you can stay here.
I'll
pick her up from school and
we can tell her together.
- Hang on.
She's not here.
I thought she was in her room.
- No, Nick, she's at school.
- Oh, God! Izzy!
- Nick!
[tense music]
[tires screech]
- Izzy!
b*tch! I'm gonna
f*cking destroy you!
f*cking son of a b*tch!
You can't!
- Dad!
Stop!
[Nick groaning]
[tense music]
- Nick!
Nick, where are you going?
[engine starts]
[tires screech]
Nick!
- What's wrong with him?
Why is he leaving again?
- It's okay, it's okay,
it's okay, it's okay, it's okay.
Baby, listen, listen, listen,
listen.
There was a man
who your dad used to work with?
His name was,
His name was Reg.
He was another policeman.
[gentle music]
He was a very,
very bad man.
This man, he...
he also had a family.
He had a wife.
And a little girl
about your age.
But he didn't love them
the way that your dad loves you.
Because he was a bad man.
He did bad things to his family.
I didn't know it
at the time, but
your dad had just
received some...
Some really difficult news and,
um, it must have been
really hard for him.
[Julia sighs]
Unfortunately,
all the evidence against
the bad man disappeared.
And his wife was too afraid
to speak against him.
Your dad was really upset.
And he took...
He took matters
into his own hands.
But he went too far.
When the story got out,
people were on your dad's side.
He took some time away
from work, but he...
he wasn't the same.
Sometimes when
awful things happen,
it's really hard to go back
to the way they were before.
[engine rumbling]
- What's going on?
- I'm so glad you're here.
This guy's been acting
really distressed.
He's poured petrol
all over himself.
- Petrol?
- Yeah, he said he
needs to talk to you.
- Did you call for backup?
- Yes. Do you know
what's going on?
- No idea.
[Jitters chuckles]
- Hello?
[laughing]
Ooh.
[laughing]
[grunting]
[laughing]
A crackling sound.
A cleansing glow.
[chuckling]
[petrol sloshing]
You can't outrun it.
You're too slow.
Ruined trees,
a blackened ground.
From flesh to dust.
You won't be found.
Oh!
[cackling]
[tense music]
- He's here.
- What's going on, buddy?
- Hey.
- Nick's gone back to
where it all started.
That's where you'll find him.
- What do you mean?
- He told me to tell
you that it's over.
- Put the lighter down.
- I didn't pass my riddle.
- What riddle?
- I didn't pass my riddle.
- Put the lighter down.
Come on.
- I didn't pass my riddle.
- Step back!
[lighter flicking]
[music intensifies]
[flames roaring]
[Nick coughing]
- You don't have a warrant.
- Yeah? You still working
on your next project?
Well, I really hope you come
pencil in Tiffany's funeral
into your schedule.
- Son of a b*tch.
- Jitters, I know
it came from here.
- Has Holness contacted you?
- Holness?
Known to his fans as Nullvoid90?
- It was going to be
the next big thing.
Bespoke horror experiences
for each player.
By harvesting a
player's personal data,
the AI could accurately
deduce their fears.
- And what about the
hallucinations?
- You've played it?
- Let me ask you
something, Casey.
How can it make me see
things that aren't there?
- A precisely
calibrated combination
of stroboscopic
light and infrasound,
configured by an
algorithm so advanced
it can perfectly control
how your brain will
respond to the stimulus.
- That thing is alive.
- When you talk to
someone in the dream,
you are actually just talking
to yourself, aren't you?
The Jitters AI hijack
that part of your brain.
Can you imagine
the possibilities?
- The possibilities?
- Amusement parks, escape rooms.
You build a cheap plywood
haunted house with this tech
incorporated into it and you've
got lines around the block.
The whole experience is
designed to wear off in an hour.
- Well, it's been in my
head for two f*cking days.
You want to explain that?
- Petty revenge on Tiff.
He told his corporate masters to
go to hell and they fired him.
- He's dead, Casey, alright?
He directed and starred
in his own snuff movie.
- What?
- His career was over, man.
Alright, and Tiffany hated him.
So I figured the Jitters was
a parting gift to the world.
You know, a way to hurt as many
people as possible without,
without facing any consequences.
- But it's only a game.
- Casey, I need his
address, alright?
I am not asking as an officer.
I'm asking for Tiffany,
please.
What are you doing here?
- I was told that
you'd be here, mate.
- Oh, yeah?
Who by?
- Look, Nick,
I'm sorry, man.
I'm, I'm sorry that
I ever doubted you.
But whatever this is,
this is real, man,
and it's getting bad out there.
- Yeah.
No sh*t.
Sam, listen to me.
Our two cases were
the same, alright?
- Yeah.
Nullvoid90?
- Yeah.
Sam, I know where he died.
Alright, I think I know how.
There's got to be an
answer to my riddle there.
- You understand me?
- Yeah.
This is real.
Come on.
Come on, let's go.
[eerie music]
Sam.
[alarm blaring]
[gramophone plays]
Daisy, daisy
Sam, listen to me.
You can't be here.
Sam?
- What the f*ck is that?
- Sam!
Sam! Sam, look at me.
I can't let this thing
get in your head.
Alright?
- I'm not just gonna leave ya.
- Sam, listen to me,
you gotta go, please!
Come on, Sam, please.
I can't afford a carriage
But you'll look sweet
- Just listen to me.
You finish that f*cking thing.
Of a bicycle made for two
[power shutting down]
[eerie music]
- There you are.
[Jitters chuckles]
- Yeah.
So here we are at
the Continue centre.
Well,
have you figured it
out yet, Nicky boy?
I'm a dying man,
and I can't stop
thinking about it.
- Mm.
No points for partial answers.
And what do points make?
Points make prizes.
Yeah, but not for you.
- Look, I'm not here alone.
- Your police brethren speeding
to the scene, are they?
Bebe! Bebe!
Bebe! Bebe!
Bebe! Bebe!
Bebe! Bebe!
Well, anyway, it's too late.
Nothing can stop my father now.
Daddy! Daddy!
[tense music]
You're pathetic, Collymore.
You're a loser.
[dramatic music]
- No!
- You'll be dead within
minutes, Collymore.
But I wanted you to know
that Izzy's with me now.
- Izzy!
Izzy, sweetie, what
are you doing here?
- I got scared.
Then I saw a big screen.
- Izzy isn't here!
You hear me?
- [indistinct] Nicky boy.
- My Izzy
is safe from you.
- And when you're
dead, coal ash.
What then?
- No.
My Izzy is a fighter.
She is tough enough
to make it through.
[buzzing]
What the hell is going on?
[tense music]
- Tiffany was afraid of pain.
Pain that would leave a scar.
But, Taylor, it was spiders
hatching from her flesh.
Jake.
He was afraid of going blind,
yet he gouged out his own eyes.
And there have been
many, many more.
So many more.
I offer human minds the chance
to confront their deepest fears.
But in the end, you
all turn and run.
- No,
no.
She has her mother
and her uncle.
When she stumbles,
they'll be there to pick her up.
I almost k*lled a man
because he abused
his own daughter.
And I was imagining
all the horrors
waiting out there
for my little girl.
Horrors much darker
than you, clown.
And I wasn't there
to keep her safe.
My riddle, Jitters,
is not a fear of dying.
No.
It's a fear of leaving
my little girl all alone.
I taught her well.
I made her strong.
And I'll always be with her.
- Like the fella says,
you play a good game, boy.
I'll be seeing you, Nick.
[eerie music]
- Hi, Izzy, we miss you.
Hi, guys, do you like my teddy?
- OMG, I love your teddy.
I want one.
- I missed this chair.
- So
what do we do?
- I don't know.
You know, the technology
that made that thing
is still out there, trademarked.
an AI that can make
you believe anything.
- I meant, what do we do here?
[Julia laughs]
[phone rings]
We need to speak to Izzy.
- Sam?
- Nick.
The USB's here,
they're just the leftovers.
Holness is burning this program
into hundreds of
thousands of these things.
This warehouse is a distribution
centre for online shopping.
He was hiding the sticks
inside outgoing packages.
[eerie music]
Including bulk orders.
Now, Nick, Nick, Nick.
the prizes and the toys
that you were finding in
the arcade machines.
They were delivered
from this warehouse.
[tense music]
- Izzy?
[computer beeping]
[tense music continues]
- I told you I'd be
seeing Nicky Boy.
[music intensifies]
[people talking indistinctly]
- A green place where
both go wrong.
I agree with force
a cruel embrace and.
[laughs]
Wreckage, I was involved in
a car crash, I remember now.
It was a car crash.
I was trapped.
I was involved in a car
crash when I was young.
Ha! Got ya!
- Wrong answer.
- No.
No, no!
[train whistle blows]
[Jitters laughs]
[train whistle blows]
- Get away from me!
Get away from me!
[body thuds]
[gentle electronic music]
Daisy, Daisy
Give me your answer, do
I'm half crazy
All for the love of you
It won't be a
stylish marriage
I can't afford a carriage
But you look sweet
upon the seat
Of a bicycle built for two.
Daisy, Daisy
Give me your answer do
I'm half crazy
All for the love of you.
It won't be a
starter marriage
I can't afford a carriage
But you look sweet
upon the seat
Of a bicycle built for two
[tense music]
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Jitters (2026)
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