- 6 hours ago
Perfect Lie ENGSUB She Discovered Her Entire Life Was a Simulation
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Short filmTranscript
00:00My mother was the tragic heroine of a story that ended before I was born.
00:04When she died, her four childhood friends cut me out of her body, still breathing.
00:10That is how I got four fathers.
00:13Alistair, the most powerful senator in the country, kingmaker of presidents.
00:18Garrison, the four-star general who has never lost a war.
00:22Dr. Julian, the Nobel-winning surgeon who built the largest pharmaceutical empire on Earth.
00:28Jax, the underworld king whose name makes the five boroughs go quiet.
00:33Every girl in America envied me.
00:35Until my 18th birthday gala.
00:38That was the night she came home.
00:40Sienna, the daughter of their perfect muse.
00:44From that day forward, my four fathers became strangers.
00:48Sienna claimed I insulted her.
00:51Alistair had his security detail wire my jaw shut and starved me in the basement for 72 hours.
00:58Sienna claimed I poisoned her.
01:01Dr. Julian dragged me into his black site toxicology lab and let the test specimens eat through my cheek and
01:08devour one of my eyes.
01:10Sienna claimed I hired traffickers to violate her.
01:14Garrison lifted me by the collar and threw me into the underground training grounds.
01:19Sienna made me a plaything for the men there.
01:21For three years.
01:24Three years.
01:25And I stopped fighting.
01:27Tonight, when my door opened again, I reached for my zipper like I always did.
01:32Then I heard a voice.
01:34Not from the doorway, from inside my skull.
01:38Ellie, do you want to come home to your mother?
01:41I looked up.
01:42The room was empty.
01:44And the voice whispered one more sentence.
01:46All you have to do, sweet girl, is die.
01:51The voice called itself a neural interface.
01:54It said my mother was the original host.
01:57That she'd left this world in a hurry.
01:59Never knowing I survived her.
02:01Now she knew.
02:02Now she wanted me back.
02:05All you have to do, Ellie, is let this body die.
02:09I was already moving.
02:11I pulled a combat knife from the weapons rack on the wall.
02:14Pressed the edge to my throat.
02:16Mom is alive.
02:17I am going to see her.
02:19The joy drowned out every instinct to flinch.
02:22I dragged the blade, and a hand caught my wrist mid-strike.
02:27Pain exploded through my fingers.
02:29The knife clattered to the floor.
02:31A boot stepped on it.
02:33Alara, you want to die?
02:35I knew that voice.
02:37I looked up before I could stop myself.
02:41Jax.
02:43His jaw tightened.
02:44Don't call me that.
02:46I cut ties with you three years ago.
02:49Jax the Underworld King.
02:51When I was seven, a rival cartel kidnapped me.
02:54He walked into their stronghold alone.
02:56I took three bullets and two blades in front of their box to buy my freedom.
03:01When they let me go, I cried at the sight of his wounds.
03:04He'd smiled and said the bullets didn't hurt.
03:07Only my tears did.
03:09Of all forefathers, Jax loved me the most.
03:13Until Garrison came back from deployment four years ago.
03:17With a wounded Sienna in his arms, Jax picked up the knife, glanced at the cut on my throat.
03:23Then, without warning, he slashed the blade across my skin.
03:26A fresh line of red bloomed.
03:28His voice came out like ice.
03:29You're as cheap as your mother, Alada.
03:31She at least had the decency to die in front of us.
03:34You picked a sewer.
03:36I almost told him I wasn't performing.
03:39Then I remembered.
03:40They never listened.
03:42I lowered my head.
03:44You're right, Mr. Sterling.
03:46Did you come all the way down here just to watch the show?
03:49Don't flatter yourself.
03:51It's Sienna's birthday.
03:53Her coronation as America's sweetheart.
03:56She said she's ready to forgive you.
03:58I came to bring you to her gala.
04:01Three days ago, the news had broken.
04:03Alistair was naming Sienna the official Sterling heiress.
04:06It was supposed to be mine.
04:08He'd promised it to me when I was ten.
04:11The old Alara would have set the city on fire.
04:13The new Alara just said,
04:15I'm not going.
04:17This isn't a request.
04:19He dragged me out by the wrist.
04:22Threw me onto the back of his motorcycle.
04:25Took me to his penthouse.
04:27Scrubbed the grime off me.
04:29Put me in a black couture dress.
04:31Then drove me toward the Sterling estate.
04:33Kneel when you see her.
04:34Don't provoke her.
04:35Don't speak unless spoken to.
04:37Every word cut deeper than Dr. Julian's scalpel ever had.
04:41I stared at the East River blurring past the window.
04:44I want to see my mother.
04:46Opened the door.
04:47And jumped.
04:49Laura!
04:49And then I was in someone's arms.
04:51Jax.
04:52Alara!
04:53Are you insane?
04:54I reached up to wipe the blood from his cheek.
04:57And he shoved my hand away.
04:59If you want to die next time, die.
05:01I won't save you again.
05:03I laughed once, bitter.
05:05Remember what you said, Mr. Sterling.
05:08I saw the Hudson.
05:10Then I ran four strides.
05:13I launched myself over the edge.
05:15Jax was terrified of water.
05:17He'd almost drowned as a child.
05:18He'd just said he wouldn't save me.
05:20So when the freezing Hudson flooded my nose and dragged me under, I smiled.
05:25I'm coming, Mom.
05:27Then, a slap across my face so hard my teeth rang.
05:31You little bitch.
05:33You can't stand a little honest work at the training grounds?
05:36You had to stage this whole performance in front of your father?
05:40Do you know he almost died in that river?
05:43Dr. Julian, of the four he and I had been closest, the other three ran empires.
05:49He was the one who raised me.
05:51He taught me to read.
05:52Taught me medicine.
05:53Taught me which herbs could kill and which could save.
05:56He never raised his voice at me.
05:59Not once, until Sienna came home.
06:01Sienna had planted one of his venomous specimens on herself and screamed that I did it.
06:09Alara, I failed you.
06:12I raised a monster!
06:16Later, when Sienna was poisoned again, he force-fed me pheromone pills and locked me in the containment chamber.
06:26The specimens chewed through my skin from the inside out.
06:30He saved my life afterward.
06:32But he couldn't save my left eye.
06:34I didn't speak now.
06:36He took my silence for defiance.
06:38Sienna raised his hand to strike me again.
06:40And Jax's hand shot out of nowhere, catching his wrist mid-air.
06:45She's tried to kill herself three times tonight already.
06:49I looked at Jax.
06:50He'd changed clothes.
06:51His wounds were bandaged.
06:53His face was ghost, white.
06:55So it was him who pulled me from the river.
06:57He couldn't swim.
06:59I didn't want to imagine what that cost him.
07:02Dr. Julian scoffed.
07:04You're soft, Jax.
07:06She used this trick on us a hundred times before you left as just a cry for attention.
07:11Jax exhaled, relieved.
07:13Thank God.
07:14Alara, today is Sienna's gala.
07:17Act out in front of us if you must.
07:19But do not do this in front of Alistair and Garrison.
07:22I was already moving.
07:23I yanked open the drawer.
07:25Closed my fingers around the black vial.
07:27Swallowed it whole.
07:29Dr. Julian's face drained of gold.
07:31He lunged.
07:32Shoved his fingers down my throat.
07:34Do you know what that was?
07:36Needle to my wrist.
07:37Black blood out.
07:39When the black turned red, he exhaled.
07:41Alara.
07:43You would die over a title?
07:46I dropped to my knees.
07:48Tears rolled down my cheeks.
07:49They mistook them for joy.
07:52Doctor.
07:53Mr. Sterling.
07:55Please.
07:56Just let me die.
07:59I don't want to come home.
08:01I want my mother.
08:02I told them everything.
08:04The voice.
08:05The neural interface.
08:06My mother waiting.
08:09Alara.
08:10Your mother is dead.
08:13We sat with her body for seven days.
08:16We watched her rot.
08:19The voice is trauma.
08:21It wasn't.
08:21I knew.
08:22Tires screeching outside.
08:24Alistair and Garrison burst through the door.
08:26Brothers.
08:27Have you seen Sienna?
08:28She's missing.
08:29All four of them turned to me.
08:31No.
08:32It wasn't me.
08:33Jax's hand closed around my throat.
08:36He dragged me into the courtyard.
08:38He crunched my head into the stone fountain.
08:41Last time.
08:43Under.
08:43Up.
08:44Under.
08:44Up.
08:45Where is Sienna?
08:51Sienna?
08:52Oh.
08:53I killed her.
08:54And before I did, I let 12 of my favorite guests from the training grounds have her first.
09:01Four faces went white.
09:04Then Jax ordered that I be taken to the underground interrogation room.
09:09Alistair sent for the instruments.
09:12Garrison brought the agency's best interrogator.
09:15Dr. Julian Force fed me a stimulant so I'd stay conscious.
09:20Jax gave the order.
09:21The blades went in.
09:24Mom.
09:25I'm coming.
09:27An assistant sprinted down the hall.
09:29Senator!
09:29Sienna!
09:30We found her!
09:31Alive!
09:32Four faces drained to paper white.
09:37They threw the door open.
09:39My scream tore through the estate.
09:41The interrogator's blade, driven clean and perfect, straight through my heart.
09:46The blade in my chest burned.
09:48I almost cried almost.
09:50But I was going to see my mother.
09:52Through the haze, I saw them running toward me.
09:55Alistair stripped off his thousand dollar suit jacket and pressed it to my chest.
10:00Garrison kicked the interrogator into the wall.
10:02I heard something crap.
10:04Dr. Julian shoved an experimental compound between my lips.
10:08Jax just kept whispering my childhood name.
10:11Ellie.
10:12Ellie.
10:13Don't close your eyes.
10:14Don't you dare.
10:15It reminded me of a winter I'd forgotten.
10:17I was six.
10:18I had a fever of 104.
10:20They'd canceled four boards, a Pentagon briefing, and a ceasefire negotiation, just to sit around
10:26my bed and coax me into taking medicine.
10:29They used to love me.
10:30They really, really used to love me.
10:32I memorized their faces one last time and closed my eyes.
10:38The world should have ended there, but five days later, I opened them again, alive.
10:42In Dr. Julian's guest room, and the girl perched on the edge of my bed was Sienna.
10:51Sister.
10:53You're awake.
10:55Dr. Julian crossed the room to take my pulse.
10:57The blade missed the ventral by a hair.
10:59I flew the experimental regen serum in from Switzerland.
11:02Five days.
11:03He'd burned a million dollar compound on someone who just wanted to die.
11:07Waste.
11:08Hilara, if you didn't touch Sienna, why didn't you just say so?
11:14Why put us through that?
11:17Don't scold her.
11:18It's my fault.
11:20I got lost.
11:21I just wanted to buy her a gift.
11:25Alistair's fury turned back on me.
11:28Sienna missed her own gala worrying about you.
11:31Apologize.
11:31Now.
11:32I laughed.
11:33It hurt my ribs.
11:34I laughed anyway.
11:37Apologize for what, exactly?
11:39I never laid a finger on her.
11:42Not once in my life.
11:44Every crime she cried about, she staged.
11:48And you bastards believed every tear!
11:52Sienna's face crumpled on cue, and Dr. Julian's hand came up so fast...
11:57Sienna ran to Alistair, clung to his sleeve.
12:00Send me back to the compound in New Mexico!
12:02That's where I belong!
12:04The four of them melted instantly.
12:06They hushed her.
12:07Promised her she was their precious girl.
12:09Then they turned on me.
12:11Alistair's voice dropped.
12:12You're jealous.
12:13That's all this is.
12:15Jealous.
12:16Like your mother.
12:17Something snapped.
12:19Don't!
12:21Jealous like your mother?
12:22Spiteful like your mother?
12:23Your mother would be ashamed of you!
12:25Years of swallowed venom came up at once.
12:28Don't you dare bring up my mother!
12:30My mother risked her life to hide you four when your father was assassinated.
12:34My mother emptied her trust fund to buy the evidence that exonerated the sterling name.
12:39My mother found the witnesses.
12:41My mother testified at the hearings.
12:43My mother gave you this empire.
12:47And what did you do?
12:50Alistair, you left her at the altar for a stranger who'd been in your life eight weeks.
12:55Garrison, she called you crying for help and you didn't pick up the phone.
13:00Julian, Jax, you swore you'd protect her.
13:05You drove her into the water.
13:06No one on earth called them by their first names.
13:09Four faces went bone-white.
13:11They hadn't realized I knew.
13:13And Alistair's voice came out hoarse, almost a whisper.
13:16How do you know any of this?
13:18Because of Lily.
13:19My mother's maid, the one person they couldn't make disappear.
13:23Alistair had banned her name from every inch of the estate after she died.
13:27Burned every portrait.
13:29Paid off every witness.
13:31Shipped every servant back to wherever they came from.
13:34The tabloids thought the Titans were grieving too hard to bear her image.
13:37I knew better.
13:39They were furious.
13:40Because my mother had driven Zhang Ying, Sienna's real mother, into hiding by dying.
13:45When I was nine, I fell out of a tree and into the condemned east wing of the estate.
13:50Lily was there, still living in my mother's old rooms.
13:54The ones they'd sealed.
13:56She looked at me and started to cry.
13:59Your eyes are exactly like hers.
14:02She told me everything.
14:04My mother helped Alistair escape the men who killed his father.
14:08My mother nursed Garrison through his first combat wound.
14:11My mother synthesized the rare compound that saved Dr. Julian's dying sister.
14:17My mother found Jax when the underworld left him for dead and brought him back with her bare hands.
14:22She'd been their whole world.
14:25Until Zhang Ying came.
14:27Alistair broke off the engagement two weeks before the wedding.
14:31Jax, who'd comforted my mother through the humiliation, confessed his love to Zhang Ying behind her back.
14:36Garrison imprisoned my mother for her own safety.
14:39Dr. Julian watched it all happen and said nothing.
14:42When Zhang Ying planted the last false accusation, my mother stopped fighting.
14:51Everyone thinks she drowned herself out of heartbreak.
14:55But that morning she was smiling.
14:59She told me she was going home.
15:03Isn't this her home?
15:05She said her real home was another world.
15:08And she said, you could go there too.
15:12Back in the present, the four of them sat in broken silence.
15:16Finally, Jax reached for me.
15:18Ellie, if you're miserable here, come with me.
15:21Come see the world.
15:23Travel.
15:23You said once you wanted to be like me.
15:29Jax.
15:31You don't want to take me away because you love me.
15:33You want to take me away so I stop making Sienna uncomfortable.
15:37His eyes flickered.
15:39Bullseye.
15:41If you take her with you, she needs medical supervision.
15:46I'll take her to my private facility in Geneva.
15:49No!
15:49She'll come back to the training grounds with me.
15:51She was obedient there.
15:53I laughed out loud.
15:54Loud enough that Garrison's own chair fell over as he shot to his feet.
16:00Back to the training grounds?
16:02Garrison, haven't your men violated me enough yet?
16:05The room went dead silent.
16:07Suddenly, his voice came back at me like a gunshot.
16:10What did you just say?
16:15You said to make me work.
16:16You said keep me busy.
16:19And the second you left,
16:21they told me the general himself had given the order.
16:24I was a new asset.
16:26Don't go easy on her.
16:28There was someone in my cell every night.
16:31Sometimes one.
16:32Sometimes three.
16:33Dr. Julian,
16:35you taught me about contraceptives.
16:37I use them every time.
16:38Dr. Julian's lips went gray.
16:40Tell me you didn't use sylphice extract.
16:42I nodded.
16:43He doubled over.
16:44That compound erodes the uterine liner.
16:46Every dose is like grinding bone.
16:48How did you-
16:49Better than a baby.
16:51Jax moved first,
16:52grabbed Garrison by the collar,
16:54slammed him into the wall.
16:56You piece of shit!
16:58You told them to!
16:59I didn't.
17:00I never gave that order.
17:02Good sister.
17:04Be exaggerating.
17:06Exactly.
17:06My men would never-
17:07I peeled off my blouse.
17:09My back was a map.
17:10Whip scars.
17:11Burn marks.
17:12The ruined tissue from the sylphium.
17:15Lacerations that had healed wrong
17:16because no one had set them.
17:19Pull every officer
17:20who had access to her cell
17:22tonight.
17:23The four men who had tortured me
17:25for three years
17:26were finally, finally looking at me
17:28like I was real.
17:29Sienna saw it too.
17:31Her eyes flickered with something cold.
17:38I pushed.
17:39I don't want to live with any of you.
17:43I want to go home to my mother.
17:46Alora.
17:46Jax said carefully,
17:47You've been through trauma.
17:50The voice isn't real.
17:53But we can make you comfortable.
17:55Each of us kept one of your mother's rooms.
17:57You can live in whichever one you choose.
17:59I shook my head.
18:00I want my mother.
18:02Then Sienna.
18:03Stepped forward.
18:04Why doesn't sister stay with me?
18:06Dr. Julian and Jax exchanged
18:08a look I couldn't read.
18:09She's afraid of men now.
18:10My staff are all women.
18:11I'll take care of her.
18:12Four pairs of hopeful eyes
18:14swung toward me.
18:15I opened my mouth to refuse.
18:17Then I saw Sienna's expression.
18:19And I understood exactly
18:21what she wanted.
18:22Living with the fathers
18:24would keep me alive.
18:25Living with Sienna would kill me.
18:28I smiled back at her.
18:30Matching her mask with my own.
18:32Okay.
18:33Sienna.
18:34She led me to a windowless room
18:36in the sub-basement
18:37of the brownstone.
18:39Her smile died.
18:41Her two handmaids
18:42forced me to my knees.
18:44I didn't fight.
18:47You brought me here
18:48to torture me.
18:49Congratulations.
18:50I'm not surprised.
18:51Sienna lowered herself
18:53into a chair across from her.
18:54Legs crossed,
18:56wine glass in hand.
18:57Your mother killed mine.
18:59I'm just balancing the books.
19:01My eyes lit up.
19:03Then kill me.
19:04Kill me and we're even.
19:06Go on.
19:07She leaned in.
19:08You think I won't?
19:11You won't.
19:13Your mother was a cheap slut.
19:16A homewrecker.
19:17A whore passed around
19:18every bed in Manhattan.
19:20Thy we can softy...
19:22Don't speak about my mother.
19:23Don't speak about mother!
19:26She lunged.
19:27Slapped me.
19:28Drew a knife.
19:29Pressed it to my throat.
19:34My mother was royalty.
19:37My mother was the last daughter of...
19:39Princess.
19:41Careful.
19:42Her chief of staff
19:43caught her wrist.
19:45You may go.
19:47Death is a second of relief.
19:50I'm not giving you that.
19:52I'm going to keep you alive.
19:55Conscious.
19:56Watching.
19:57While I take everything
19:59that was ever yours.
20:00One piece at a time.
20:02She clapped twice.
20:04Four large men walked in.
20:05My stomach dropped
20:06before my brain caught up.
20:08I knew those faces.
20:09Every single one of them.
20:11They were from the training grounds.
20:13My body started shaking
20:14before I could stop it.
20:18The men who came to my cell
20:20for three years.
20:22They were yours.
20:23Sienna laughed.
20:24Every single one.
20:25Hand-picked.
20:26For you.
20:27I'm a generous sister,
20:29aren't I?
20:29Aren't you afraid
20:30Garrison will find out?
20:33If I wasn't certain
20:34he wouldn't,
20:35I wouldn't have done it.
20:37Which meant she had moles
20:38inside the U.S. Army.
20:40And if she could bend
20:41Garrison's command
20:41to her will,
20:42there was no telling
20:43how deep the rot
20:44in this city went.
20:45Or which of my father's empires
20:47was already hollowed out
20:48from the inside.
20:49She clapped again.
20:50The men moved toward me.
20:52The familiar smell
20:52hit me first.
20:53Cheap cologne
20:54and military-grade soap.
20:56My stomach flipped.
20:57Sienna didn't want me dead.
20:58She wanted me hollow.
21:00Every time I got too weak,
21:02her doctors revived me.
21:03Two weeks in,
21:04I was skin and bone,
21:05barely lucid.
21:06Then the father
21:07started showing up.
21:08One of them every day.
21:11She wouldn't let them see me.
21:13Sister is resting.
21:15She gets agitated
21:16when she sees men.
21:18They came back
21:18and back and back.
21:21Until Dr. Julian,
21:23on his fourth visit,
21:24I've arranged a flight
21:25to Geneva.
21:26Inpatient,
21:27neuropsychiatric care.
21:28She needs it now.
21:29Sienna had no way
21:30to refuse
21:31without exposing herself.
21:36Remember,
21:36my sweet sister.
21:38They believe me,
21:40not you.
21:42one wrong word
21:43inside that room
21:44and I swear to God,
21:46I will burn your eyes out.
21:49I nodded.
21:52Good girl.
21:54Then I walked into the room,
21:56dropped to my knees
21:56in front of Dr. Julian.
22:01Save me.
22:02Julian, please.
22:03She has men here.
22:04The soldiers who raped me
22:06in the training grounds,
22:07they're hers.
22:08She brought them here.
22:09She's planning
22:10to overthrow Alistair.
22:11She wants to destroy
22:13all of you.
22:14Oh, sister.
22:15Your delusions are back.
22:18You're having another episode.
22:20I just wanted to help you.
22:24I'm not delusional.
22:25You liar.
22:26Enough!
22:29Alara,
22:30I agreed to let you
22:31stay with Sienna
22:32because I thought
22:33it would humble you.
22:34I thought you would
22:35finally learn
22:36to repent
22:37for your sins.
22:38Instead,
22:39you're spreading
22:40venomous slander
22:41against your own sister.
22:44You are beyond saving.
22:46You don't see it.
22:47You're all blind.
22:49You're handing her
22:51the knife.
22:51I won't visit you again.
22:53You bring this
22:54upon yourself.
22:55He walked out.
22:59Sienna bent down,
23:00whispered in my ear.
23:01When will you learn,
23:02Alara?
23:03You are nothing.
23:05They will always
23:06choose me.
23:08Tonight,
23:09nobody holds back.
23:11Have your fun.
23:12Break her completely.
23:26She dipped a braided
23:28leather whip
23:29in salt water.
23:30You thought
23:31Julian would save you?
23:32You thought
23:33any of them cared?
23:34You are just
23:35a parasite.
23:37I will peel
23:37the flesh
23:38from your bones!
23:39The first lash fell.
23:41Then another.
23:42Then tires
23:44outside,
23:45screeching.
23:46What was that?
23:47Sienna froze.
23:49The door
23:49exploded inward.
23:52Alara.
23:54Alistair stepped in first.
23:56Kicked the nearest
23:57of Sienna's men
23:57across the basement.
23:59Sienna,
24:01what are you doing?
24:03Father,
24:05I can explain.
24:06I was just,
24:07I was playing
24:08with sister.
24:09She was so afraid
24:10of men.
24:10I was helping her
24:11overcome her trauma.
24:13Playing?
24:13Then what are the
24:14soldiers you've been
24:14training at the compound
24:15in North Hills?
24:17What kind of game
24:18requires a private militia?
24:21You thought
24:22we were blind forever.
24:23Garrison tossed
24:24something at her feet
24:25to the severed head
24:26of her own commander,
24:28staring back at her.
24:31I'm so sorry,
24:32Alara.
24:33I'm so sorry.
24:35No.
24:36No.
24:36This is a frame-up.
24:38Father,
24:38you have to believe me.
24:39They are lying.
24:42Lying?
24:43He'd noticed
24:44Sienna's handmaids.
24:45The throats
24:46weren't right.
24:46Calluses from weapons
24:48training on their palms.
24:49Earlier that day
24:50when I whispered
24:51the truth to Dr. Julian,
24:52he'd believed me.
24:53You thought a few dresses
24:54could hide the calluses
24:55of trained killers?
24:56I am a scientist,
24:57Sienna.
24:57I noticed details.
24:58Once Julian alerted us,
24:59I ordered an immediate
25:00internal audit
25:01of the training grounds.
25:02The trafficking scheme,
25:03the abused funds,
25:04it all unraveled in hours.
25:05We traced the money.
25:07Millions of dollars
25:08slifened out
25:09under my nose,
25:10leading straight
25:10to an abandoned
25:11industrial site
25:12in North Hills.
25:12You built a standing army
25:14inside U.S. borders,
25:15pointed directly
25:15at Manhattan,
25:16pointed at U.S.
25:17No!
25:19I didn't!
25:20We stormed the base
25:21this afternoon.
25:22Most of your
25:23pathetic force
25:23were cheap mercenaries
25:24and ex-cons.
25:25They folded in 20 minutes!
25:27They stormed it
25:28that afternoon.
25:29Most of the force
25:30was mercenaries
25:31and ex-cons.
25:32They folded in 20 minutes.
25:35Your precious commander,
25:37he broke under questioning
25:39in 10 minutes.
25:40He wasn't American,
25:41he wasn't a mercenary,
25:41and he wasn't working
25:42for any cartel
25:43we'd ever heard of.
25:44He was the last living general
25:45of an Eastern European monarchy,
25:48a regime we helped
25:49overthrow a generation ago.
25:52Tell us, Sienna,
25:54who is pulling
25:55your strings?
25:56That deposed
25:58Eastern European general,
26:00he was taking orders
26:01directly from you.
26:03And your mother,
26:05Jiang Ying,
26:06she wasn't just
26:07some pretty stranger
26:08I met by chance,
26:09was she?
26:10She was the deposed
26:11monarchy's
26:12youngest princess,
26:13exiled,
26:14forgotten,
26:15living in a content
26:17like a rat.
26:17She spent 20 years
26:19in the shadows,
26:20planning her revenge
26:21against the four of us
26:22who destroyed
26:22her father's empire.
26:24Step one,
26:26seduce the four men
26:27who ruined her bloodline,
26:28play the victim,
26:29make us fall for her,
26:31and turn on us
26:31into fools!
26:33Step two,
26:34destroy my mother,
26:35who was the one person
26:36who saw through her.
26:38My mother
26:40didn't drown herself?
26:42No, Alara.
26:43We just learned this today.
26:45Jiang Ying poisoned your mother
26:46to silence her,
26:48then vanished.
26:49She left her daughter behind,
26:52raised on hatred.
26:53I found Sienna in Albania.
26:55I thought I was saving her.
26:57I brought a weapon
26:58into our home!
26:59Father!
27:00Father, please!
27:02Please, I'm your daughter!
27:04I have your blood
27:06in my veins!
27:07You can't do this to me!
27:09I only did
27:10what my mother forced me!
27:12I am a sterling!
27:14You can't kill
27:14your own flesh and blood!
27:18Father, I am your blood!
27:20You loved my mother!
27:22You have to spare me!
27:28I never slept with your mother.
27:30None of us did.
27:32You are nothing
27:33but the bastard child
27:34of an exiled pretender.
27:36Sienna snapped.
27:37She threw her head back
27:39and laughed.
27:39I'm not yours?
27:41I'm a bastard?
27:42Then whose is Alara?
27:44Because none of you
27:46know either!
27:47The room froze.
27:48Sienna pulled a transmitter
27:49from her sleeve.
27:50Black, clad men
27:51flooded every entrance
27:53of the estate.
27:54Her second army,
27:55the one she'd kept
27:56in reserve
27:56in a cascade of gunfire.
27:58Alara!
28:00Stay down!
28:01I slipped past
28:02all of them.
28:03Out the front door
28:05and into the night.
28:11The fire fight
28:12was short and loud.
28:13I watched it
28:14from the floor.
28:15Then I stood up,
28:17walked past them.
28:19Past the bodyguards
28:21screaming my name.
28:22Past the burning wreckage
28:23of my sister's rebellion.
28:25Into the street.
28:26I walked for a long time
28:28through Central Park.
28:30Past the reservoir
28:31where I'd fed ducks
28:32with jacks.
28:33Past the Met
28:34where Dr. Julian
28:34had lectured me
28:35on anatomy at age 7.
28:37Past Alistair's
28:385th Avenue building.
28:39Past the brownstone
28:40where Garrison
28:41had taught me to shoot.
28:42I walked to the top
28:43of one sterling tower.
28:45The tallest of Alistair's
28:46properties,
28:4786 floors.
28:48The wind-up there
28:49was sharp enough to cut.
28:50Finally,
28:51I'm coming, Mom.
28:52No!
28:52And when I turned my head,
28:55they were 20 feet away.
28:57Ellie, please.
28:58Step back.
29:00Ellie, what are you doing?
29:01We can talk about this.
29:03Don't leave us.
29:04We'll do anything you want.
29:07Ellie, we know everything.
29:09We were wrong.
29:10We were so wrong.
29:11I'm going to posturously
29:13legitimize your mother.
29:14She'll be named
29:15the rightful duchess.
29:17Don't jump.
29:18Please don't jump.
29:19We'll make it right.
29:20Too late.
29:21I smiled.
29:24No!
29:26Saw Jack
29:27scrapped by two security men
29:29to keep him
29:29from leaping after me.
29:31Let me go!
29:32Ellie!
29:33I'm coming with you!
29:35The fall was longer
29:36than I expected.
29:38I saw them flatten
29:39against the ledge.
29:40The city lights blurred.
29:42Then,
29:43light.
29:44A ceiling fan.
29:45I opened my eyes.
29:47I was in a bed
29:48with white linens.
29:50An IV drip in my arm.
29:51Clean,
29:52white,
29:53antiseptic.
29:54Where am I?
29:55The door opened.
29:56A woman walked in.
29:58Her eyes met mine.
29:59They were my eyes.
30:01She burst into tears.
30:04Ellie!
30:05I knew her
30:06without being told.
30:09And as I reached for her,
30:11Mom.
30:14Here.
30:15We say Mom.
30:16Her name was Elena.
30:18She made me stop
30:18calling her mother.
30:19She ran a small
30:21biotech startup.
30:22She was doing okay.
30:24I dove into the
30:25neural interface game
30:26as a beta tester.
30:27A narrative simulation
30:29designed to save
30:29my Comus brother's
30:30consciousness.
30:31The simulation
30:32had dropped her
30:32into the fictional life
30:33of a 22nd century
30:35European heiress.
30:36She finished the mission,
30:37her brother woke up.
30:38But the sim had glitched.
30:40The exit had killed
30:41her character.
30:42I assumed you died
30:43with me.
30:45Then Dr. Julian,
30:47even inside the sim,
30:48pulled you back
30:49from the edge.
30:50I was going to
30:51come back for you.
30:52I had to wait
30:53for the interface
30:53to ping me
30:54that your character
30:55was dead.
30:56Five days.
30:57I fought with them
30:58for five days
30:58to let me dive back in.
31:00I am so sorry, baby.
31:02I'm so, so sorry
31:04it took this long.
31:10She hired me
31:11a tutor phones.
31:13Cars, democracy,
31:14Wi-Fi, credit cards,
31:16consent,
31:16the 18th Amendment.
31:20Six months later,
31:22I enrolled in a private academy
31:24on the Upper East Side.
31:25Every girl there was my age,
31:27but none of them
31:28had ever been starved
31:29in a basement.
31:31For the first time
31:32in my life,
31:33I was a regular girl.
31:34Then the interface
31:35activated again.
31:40Ellie, Ellie, Ellie.
31:42Your death broke them.
31:44All four of them went dark.
31:45They're burning
31:46the country down.
31:47Thousands are dying.
31:48You have to come back.
31:50Just long enough
31:51for them to see you.
31:52And Ellie,
31:53your mother's new boyfriend
31:54left her because of you.
31:55They had a huge fight.
31:57Do you want her
31:58to grow old alone?
31:59I almost said yes
32:01until a voice behind me...
32:05I...
32:06Yes.
32:07Take us back.
32:09I'm coming with her.
32:10I spun around
32:11and Mom was standing
32:12in the doorway
32:12with her company's mat,
32:14black prototype handgun
32:15already loaded in her hands.
32:19The interface dropped us
32:21into my old bedroom
32:22at Alistair's estate.
32:23The four of them
32:24were already there.
32:25Waiting for me,
32:26they saw me
32:26and broke.
32:28Ellie!
32:30Ellie!
32:30Ellie!
32:31You came back, baby!
32:34Dad made your favorite.
32:35They're still warm.
32:36I fixed the swing
32:37in the garden.
32:38It's exactly like
32:38it was when you were six.
32:41Don't touch her.
32:43Elena!
32:44The four of them froze.
32:48Elena!
32:50Elena, is that you?
32:51God, it's you!
32:53God, it's you!
32:54Elena!
32:56Elena, we can be a family now,
32:58the five of us,
32:59a real family!
33:00She comes with me!
33:01No, with me!
33:03You don't deserve her!
33:04Mom spoke once.
33:05Who said I came back
33:06to be your family?
33:07Mom drew the gun.
33:08Four shots.
33:09Four clean guns.
33:11Four bodies dropping
33:12in perfect choreography.
33:14And inside my head,
33:15the neural interface
33:16began to scream.
33:21You killed them!
33:22You killed the pillars
33:24of this world!
33:28Shut up.
33:30They hurt me.
33:32Fine.
33:33But they hurt my child.
33:36Then,
33:37youn.
33:40My daughter was 16
33:42when you threw her
33:43to an army.
33:45My daughter lost an eye
33:47because a jealous girl
33:48cried wolf.
33:50My daughter jumped
33:52off a skyscraper
33:53to reach me.
33:56These four were never
33:57walking out of this room
33:59alive.
33:59The country will collapse.
34:01The monarchy.
34:02The bloodline.
34:03Then find another king.
34:08Countries are replaceable.
34:10My daughter is not.
34:11We stayed for a year.
34:13Mom hand picked the new ruler.
34:15Rebuilt the government.
34:17Stabilized the nation.
34:19Then pulled the plug.
34:20Before we logged out,
34:22I hesitated.
34:23The interface was right
34:24about one thing.
34:25Mom's boyfriend had left
34:26because of me.
34:27If I went home,
34:28she'd be alone.
34:29I was about to tell her
34:30to stay behind.
34:31She read my face.
34:32Baby.
34:33Men come and go.
34:35You are the only family
34:36I have left.
34:36That interface is a liar.
34:38I have a line of men
34:39interested in me.
34:41I'm gorgeous.
34:42I'm rich.
34:43I'm not worried.
34:44All men are the same.
34:46None of them are worth
34:47trading you for.
34:48Hard shutdown.
34:53On the car ride home,
34:54I looked at her
34:55in the driver's seat.
34:57One more question
34:57had been burning in me
34:58for six months.
35:04Mom?
35:05Yeah, baby?
35:09Who is my real father?
35:11She laughed,
35:12long and soft.
35:18Then she leaned over
35:19and whispered
35:20a single name
35:20into my ear.
35:21A name I had heard
35:22a thousand times.
35:24A name that made
35:24my blood freeze
35:25in my veins.
35:26A name that could not
35:27possibly,
35:28in any universe,
35:29be the answer.
35:35How is it him?
35:36How is it him?
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