(On phone.)

Liz: Where have you two been? We’ve been so worried. Your mom’s been calling.

Maria: Would you believe, Devin kidnapped us. We were locked in a trailer.

Liz: What? You’re kidding! Let me get Max; he’s right here. He should hear this.

Maria: Kinda late for him to be there isn’t it?

Liz: Shhhh!

(Liz gets Max to pick up the extension phone.)

Maria: We were walking from the Crashdown and Devin offered us a ride to Michael’s. Somehow, he knocked us out and then took us and locked us in an abandoned trailer at the old mine.

Liz: Why? Does he know something he shouldn’t?

Maria: If he didn’t, he does now.

Liz: Does that mean you know something you should?

Maria: Yes…and everything’s just fine…I mean between Michael and me.

Liz: Oh Maria, I’m so happy.

Max: Now, what’s this about Devin?

Maria: Here, let me let you talk to Michael.

Max: OK! Put him on.

(Maria hands Michael the phone.)

Michael: Huge problem, Maxamillion.

Max: What happened?

Michael: Like Maria said, Devin knocked us out, I think with some kind of gas; kidnapped us and locked us in a trailer at the old mine. After we came to, I spilled my guts to Maria. Good thing! Devin was right outside listening. Bad thing!

Max: Bad thing! That’s probably an understatement.

Michael: Hey, you were the one who wanted to let the Devin thing play out. Well…it did and now it’s a disaster.

Max: I’m really glad Maria’s OK with everything. That will help. But did you have to tell her your life’s story while you were kidnapped?

Michael: Yes, actually, I kinda did Maxwell!

Max: Just wondering! Anyway, I think we’ve got to get with Alex as soon as possible about this. Devin’s out of control. Alex is going to have to help us.

Michael: I know he’ll want to help, but can he?

Liz: I’m sure he’ll find a way. Shall we call him?

Max: Probably not much he can do tonight. I’ll call him tomorrow and tell him we have to meet as soon as possible.

Michael: Max, will you tell Isabel what’s going on?

Max: I guess I better. She gets mad if I try to protect her.

Liz: She’ll be better off knowing, Max. I’m sure she’d rather…

(Maria takes phone back from Michael.)

Maria: Liz, what did you tell my mom?

Liz: The first time she called, I told her you went out with Michael.

Maria: Oh no! Well I’ll know what to expect then.

Liz: The second time she called, I told her you were still out with Michael.

Maria: Thanks a lot!

Liz: And the third time she called…

Maria: Never mind I’ll be grounded for a week. I can’t tell her what happened. She’d freak.

Michael: So you’ll let my reputation with her go…

Maria: What do you want me to do? Tell her? She’d tell the sheriff. He’d arrest Devin. They’d find out Devin’s an android. He’d get taken back to where ever he came from with a secret inside him that no one should know. A secret just waiting to be retrieved by whomever made him. No, I certainly can’t tell her what happened."

(Michael takes the phone back.)

Max: She always did have a knack for telling it like it is.

Michael: That’s one reason I love her. She makes perfect sense. You’re right! We’ve got to get Alex to do something about Devin. We just have to.

Max: Maybe you were right, Michael. We probably should have called time out on this when we first found out what Devin was. Although, you gotta admit he was pretty entertaining at the party!

Michael: If we don’t do something soon, he’s going to be entertaining some FBI committee on aliens.

Max: But not tonight. Let’s get some sleep. We’ll sort this out in the morning.

Michael: Tomorrow, Bro!

Max: Bye!

Michael: I think that was a first, Maria. Maxwell actually said I might have been right.

Maria: As far as I’m concerned, you’ll always be Mr. Right.

Michael: Thanks Maria. Can I walk you home?

Maria: Please...and if we see Devin…run!

(Back at the Whitman’s, everyone had gone to bed when Devin finally returned home. He felt like he couldn’t wait until morning for a rebuild, so he had to disturb Alex.)

Alex: (Waking up.) Devin…you’re awfully late getting in.

Devin: Alex…I’m sorry to wake you. I need to use your computer. I can’t get on the Internet with my laptop.

Alex: Can’t it wait until morning.

Devin: No, it can’t Alex. And I think you know why. I think everyone knows why. I guess I’m toast anyway, but I need…I need...

Alex: Yeh…I know what you need. Go ahead!

Devin: When did you figure it out?

Alex: About the third day you were here.

Devin: Let me do this…it will clear my head. Afterwards, we need to talk?

Alex: OK! I can wait.

Devin: Can you show me how to use your scanner? It’ll make this much faster if I don’t have to type everything.

(Alex turns on the scanner and boots its program. Devin stares into it. Alex watches as he sees red pulses coming from Devin’s eyes going into the scanner, creating a page with complex computer codes. Shortly, a similar page emerges from the printer. Devin takes the page and just stares at it as if in a trance. After about five minutes…)

Devin: That’s better. I was getting to where I couldn’t think straight.

Alex: I understand. The first time I saw what you had downloaded, I recognized it as a rebuild program.

Devin: But I never left one here. I put it on a floppy disk and loaded it into my computer.

(Alex walks over and brings up all the pages Devin had downloaded since his arrival.)

Alex: I don’t trust floppy disks.

Devin: (Surprised) Me either.

(Alex finds that almost ironic.)

Alex: I guess we have something in common. So Devin, what are you. And why are you here?

Devin: You know what I am. Your uncle built me.

Alex: I gathered that.

(Alex plays the phone conversation between his uncle and his father.)

Devin: I should have known this wouldn’t work. It’s just that I…I wanted to be out in the world. I’d done everything I could in the lab. You uncle wanted that for me too. He programmed me the best he could to interact with humans. I was supposed to come here and make friends. He wanted to see if I could pass as a human. I guess I didn’t get very far.

Alex: That’s it? You’re just being tested? You’re not here to spy on anyone?

Devin: Spy? Oh my no! My being here was simply an experiment to see if I could function in the world. I was kind of a spare time experiment for your uncle. He doesn’t work on rockets all the time…just when they need him to. His bosses let him use the lab facilities to do personal stuff when he’s not assigned to a project. He’s made lot’s of things…but I was his pride and joy.

Alex: And he asked my dad if he could bring you here and see if you could assimilate with us?

Devin: Yes! Your dad knew that your uncle was experimenting with artificial life several years ago. He agreed to help prove out what had been done.

Alex: That explains the implication I got that dad would eventually tell me.

Devin: It was always planned that I’d go back, one way or the other. If you hadn’t figured it out, I suppose he would have told you sooner or later.

Alex: So you clearly know what you are. I wasn’t sure.

Devin: Yes, I know. But I like being out with you and the others. I don’t want to go back. I was thinking that if anyone were to find out it would be you…and that maybe I could beg you not to tell…so that I could stay here. But that’s probably no longer an option. I’m toast, Alex. I've been found out; apparently by more people than just you. That alone will get me a ticket back to the lab where I came from. Besides, I did something today that I shouldn’t have. I can’t explain why I did it. I’m not programmed to ever do anything wrong like that. But I did.

Alex: What did you do?

Devin: I was…I was almost obsessed with wanting to fit in. Remember when I asked you what to do with girls after I met them. I needed to find out. Something got into me that was not supposed to happen. I stole some anesthetic gas from the hospital. I drove around until I found Michael and Maria. They were walking and I offered them a ride. When they got in, I gassed them, and then I took them and locked them in a trailer at the old mine site. I wanted to watch them when they came to. With no way out, I knew they’d probably do what couples do together and I could learn.

Alex: And you’re not programmed to do that sort of thing?

Devin: Of course not. I’m never supposed to hurt people or cause them problems.

Alex: I think there’s a bug in that routine. Are Maria and Michael still stuck out there?

Devin: I don’t know. I got so overwhelmed by what I heard, I drove away.

(Alex feels like he should call Michael’s apartment to see if he’s there; if he got out of the trailer. Alex is thinking he may have to go help them get out.)

Michael: (Groggy.) He…Hello…

Alex: Michael! I guess you got out. Thank God you’re OK. I just heard what happened.

Michael: From Max?

Alex: No! From Devin.

(There’s along pause on the other end of the line.)

Michael: Alex…this is serious. He knows about us being…you know…what we are. He overheard me telling Maria. He knows everything. You can’t let him out of your house. We need to talk tomorrow.

Alex: Oh man…how did…never mind…I’ll talk to Devin. And I will talk with everyone tomorrow. This is bad.

Michael: You’ve got to help us, Alex. He can’t be allowed to continue to exist.

Alex: You’re upset, Michael. I don’t know if we need to go that far. We can work something out.

Michael: I don’t see how. For God’s sake Alex. He’s a machine. Max, Iz and I are real living people. This is a no brainer, man.

Alex: Talk to you tomorrow, Michael.

Michael: Good night!

Alex: Devin my friend. You are toast!

Devin: Don’t you think I know it? I’m thinking very clearly now.

Alex: Why in the world did you do what you did?

Devin: I can’t explain it. It had to have been a glitch in my programming.

Alex: When did you last rebuild…before tonight.

Devin: Yesterday…I had just finished when you came in and we talked.

Alex: Let’s look at what you got from the lab computer.

(Alex brings yesterdays rebuild routine template.)

Alex: Look! There’s a big data hole right there. No data! You got an interrupted download.

Devin: My program is supposed to check for that.

Alex: Well you better check the checking, ‘cause the data hole's right there.

Devin: That’s explains why I did what I did. My basic program took over and made me do whatever I could to learn more ways to fit it in. The social inhibition routine must have been corrupted.

Alex: That certainly could explain why you could do what you did. But it doesn’t solve the problem of what you know. What you overheard will probably cost you your existence?

Devin: What? Why? I won’t tell anyone. You don’t tell about me…I don’t tell about your friends. I can just go on living here. I’m really enjoying the experiences.

Alex: It’s not that simple. I think you’re a wonder Devin. I think you may even be sentient. In a way, I even like you. As someone who loves computer technology, I don’t want to see you lose your “life”, if that’s what we can call it. But for my friends' sake, as long as you have the knowledge you have about Michael and the others, there’s no way you can continue to interact with anyone…especially anyone at your laboratory. You say you won’t tell…and I believe you’re intentions are real… but what if you got some bad programming again? Can you guarantee that you wouldn’t reveal their secret? It’s way too risky, Devin.

Devin: So they’re aliens! What’s the big deal?

Alex: It scares me that you don’t know. Many people are not ready to accept that there is life beyond the earth. If Michael and the others were found out, it would cause a panic. Then too, there are those, including branches of the same government for which my uncle works, that would lock up these people and run experiments on them to see what they’re made of. These folks don’t deserve that. They’re good people, Devin. It’s not their fault they’re here. They just want to live normally.

Devin: As do I. I want to stay here with you.

Alex: (pause)There is something I might be able to do, but I’d need your help.

Devin: Anything!

Alex: You need to tell me some things about yourself. If I could erase the part of your matrix that holds that critical information, I might be able to convince the others not to insist on…well…you know...

Devin: I never wanted to know that anyway.

Alex: I just don’t know if you’d be the same if I do that. It might alter your personality. Do you know if your CPU is accessible?

Devin: (pause) Don’t laugh! It’s in my butt.

(Alex has to laugh at that.)

Alex: I’m sorry. That is funny.

Devin: Not to me. The jokes I’ve heard about sitting on one's brains make me cringe.

Alex: I’ll bet!

Devin: The left side, there's a small panel that kinda snaps off. I know your uncle has hooked up wires there.

Alex: I guess if there’s a serial port connection, I could give you an electronic enema. Maybe you could poop out the unwanted information.

Devin: Hey! I’m willing to let you try if it will save my life. Be careful though! My food processing discharge is also down there.

Alex: I wondered about that.

Devin: Your uncle knew I’d have to appear to eat on occasion, so there’s a small holding tank on the other side. I really can use the bathroom…sitting and standing.

Alex: You’re pretty amazing, Devin. We’ve really got to see if we can find a way to keep you functioning without jeopardizing my friends. I’ll talk to the others tomorrow. In the meantime…I’ve got to ask you to stay in your room.

Devin: Do I have to?