mr. stevens, good morning.
you ready to take your test?
okay, i'm going to help you.
up.
okay, just step up on the treadmill, please.
first foot.
good.
now, we're going to start very slowly.
ready?
and start.
good.
that's not so hard, is it?
that's very good.
how about a little faster?
good work.
don't be deceived by the youthful appearance
of our subject, darius stevens.
he abused his body for 79 years.
now he's walking on his own bought-and-paid-for two feet
down a path he hopes will lead him into a new life.
this is sick.
the man is 79 years old, for god's sake.
and there's no reason why he can't live for another 79.
with an artificial brain?
you've turned him into a robot!
what does that prove?
no, no, no, he's not a robot by any means.
he's human.
it's incredible.
back in the '80s or early '90s, this would have been impossible.
but now, with ultra- miniaturization,
the sky's the limit.
well, seems to me the limit is good sense
and you've overstepped it by a long shot.
michael, please.
no, i mean it!
this experimenting with people's heads—
it's outrageous.
admit it, wilson.
you've never done this operation before on a human.
what might work for a monkey
won't necessarily work on a man...
even my father.
it's true.
your father was the first human
to receive a total brain implant.
however, if things go as expected,
with the last neurological tests,
he'll be ready
to lead a normal life within days.
normal?
essentially,
this is darius stevens.
we reduced all the memories,
all the facts, the powers of reason,
even the feelings
that comprise what we knew as darius stevens
into this microdisk.
my husband has one of those in his head?
no. this was just an interim step.
we had to digitalize the data.
then...
i'm sorry, i can't explain this without getting technical.
he thinks.
therefore, he is.
oh, ho.
how philosophical of you, doctor.
but let me address another question.
as i understand it,
my father is just about now 60% machine by weight.
does that sound very human to you?
maybe i'm asking the wrong person.
you're a mechanic...
uh, man of medicine.
i don't think we need to discuss this any further.
thank you for everything.
we're not out of the woods yet, anita.
darius was a very active man.
it'll be your job to see
he doesn't overdo it.
i will.
see you later.
so when is the tin man
getting back from physical therapy?
michael, i've had just about enough of your cynical attitude.
it sounds to me like you'd rather have him dead.
oh, really?
it wouldn't have anything to do
with you wanting to take over his company, would it?
the fact is, the man is brain dead.
and at the very least, he is not competent enough
to manage his own affairs.
the man is your father.
no, hewasmy father!
but this bunch of circuits and tubes and wires and pumps...
now you get this straight, michael.
as long as i am in control of his medical care,
i don't want you or anyone else interfering.
you don't say so?
let me tell you something, anita.
he was my father for 50 years.
he was your husband for six.
don't tell me whether i can interfere or not.
the man is dead.
i accept it.
why can't you?
i look pretty good for a dead man,
wouldn't you say?
michael.
you look wonderful, darling.
thank you, i feel terrific.
what are you staring at?
you look like you've seen a ghost.
michael has his opinions
as to whether or not you're actually here.
maybe you were expecting the frankenstein monster.
wilson is a harvard man, but he's not that bad.
hey, come on now.
don't ever forget i'm still your father, right?
you're my son.
well, i've got to be going.
stevens incorporated can't run itself.
don't worry, michael. i'll be back tomorrow.
call new orleans
about that jensen order.
don't forget to tell harris
about the sales meeting in phoenix.
and have stein drop some projections
on the western region.
and i want them on my desk by the end of the day.
you got that?
yes, sir.
suzie, would you come in here, please?
i hope you took your vitamins.
you're going to need them just to keep up.
okay, suzie, there's a couple of things
i want you to do for me today.
knock-knock.
anita!
all right, we'll talk after lunch.
i'm sorry, i didn't realize you were so busy.
no, problem.
just give me a second.
you've got to learn to slow down.
dr. wilson said you should ease into it.
dr. wilson. well, this is business,
and if you snooze, you loose.
great.
okay.
where would you like to have lunch?
well, uh...
excuse me.
i hope i'm interrupting.
michael.
larry.
nice to see you.
you know my wife, anita.
what can i do for you gentlemen today?
i'm here to enact the company's succession plan.
what are you talking about?
you can't do that unless i'm dead or sick.
now, do i look sick to you, son?
doesn't matter how you look.
that computer looks fine,
but it's neither alive or dead.
it's a machine, like you.
i'm taking over.
like hell you are.
there's nothing wrong with me.
i'm more alive than i ever was.
is that why you're here, larry?
did you smell a little blood in the water?
insulting my attorney won't do you any good.
he's here for a purpose.
do it.
are you darius stevens?
now, that's kind of a ridiculous question,
even from you, larry.
hey, what's this?
it's a summons to appear in court.
you left me no choice.
what are you trying to prove, michael?
what am i trying to prove?
that darius stevens is dead.
this is all new territory
for the law, darius.
there must have been cases before this.
some precedent must have been set by now.
the rights of patients
who have been kept alive on machines
have been established, over and over and over.
but there has never been a test case
involving a human being who is more than 50% machine.
what does having a few artificial organs
and joints have to do with it?
i don't understand.
that's not exactly the point.
nobody begrudges you
an artificial heart or liver or kidneys.
what's at issue is your brain, and that's a very gray area.
pardon the pun.
that is ridiculous!
you wouldn't say that someone with an artificial leg
wasn't human.
but your leg doesn't do your thinking for you.
as far as the law is concerned,
when your brain is dead, you're dead.
but i am not dead.
and with this brain, i can do the work of three men.
being superhuman may in fact work against you.
but i'm everything i ever was, only better.
everything i felt and thought with my biological brain,
i still think and feel.
and what makes me most human,
what makes any of us human at all,
is that drive to live.
and i have it.
i have it inside of me.
obviously.
but what we're talking about is a power grab.
and you are up against your son.
and he has a lot of cards in his hands.
damn it, this is my company!
i fought to make it what it is
and i'm going to keep it... keep it.
i'll do what i can.
i've already got my staff working on it.
just relax.
just relax?
my own son... son is contending that i'm dead.
we know better, don't we?
well, i'm not going to sit on my hands, dave.
i'm going to do a search... search
for any legal precedent that is vaguely related to this.
i can do it faster than your staff... your staff.
fine.
come on, come on.
i can do this ten times as fast... fast.
i am processing the data within normal specifications.
increase your spec... specifications.
what did i do with that readout?
i can't believe it.
oh, hi.
don't "oh, hi" me.
the doctor said you should take it easy.
well, in addition to my legal problems,
i have a business to run and a wife to support.
i wouldn't be much good to you if i was broke... broke.
well, you won't be much good to me
if you're dead-dead, either.
honey, i'm really up against it now... now.
i know.
i can't believe michael would do this.
we have to believe it.
the hearings start in a week.
i'm going to need your help... help and understanding.
i'll be pulling some long hours
to get ready... ready-ready for this.
are you okay, darling?
yes, i'm all right.
why?
it's the way you're talking.
you're repeating words.
i'm sorry.
i didn't realize it.
i'm probably just tired.
darling, we have enough money to live on.
why don't we just turn our backs and walk away?
i can't do it.
it's the principle... principle of it.
well...
you can count on me to help you in any way i can.
oh, god, what a day.
i'm going to fix myself a drink.
how about you, dave?
no, thanks. i got to go home.
i've seen so little of my family
in the last couple of weeks,
my wife thinks i have a woman on the side.
darling, can i fix you anything?
no.
i was hoping we could go over... go over
the supreme court opinions.
there's one in particular...
give me a break.
we're doing fine.
okay, where do we go from here?
the day after tomorrow,
we'll present our concluding arguments,
then it's out of our hands.
but, tonight, i'm going to go home and get some rest.
i think you ought to, too.
you sound exhausted.
i know i am.
good night.
good night, dave.
you didn't even say good-bye to dave.
i'm going over these opinions.
i'm a little bit preoccupied right now.
why don't you go home?
darius stevens,
don't you dare try to dismiss me like that.
look, i'll read these and you read those.
i'm glad you're not doing...
not doing research for the other side.
darling.
darling, wake up.
it's time to go... go... go home
and go to bed... bed.
what?
i'll come back tomorrow and finish my reading...
my reading.
don't you ever let up?
you know what they say.
the early bird catches... bird catches...
the worm.
are you okay?
i guess... guess... guess... i'm just ti... ti...
tired... tired.
i think you...
(computer voice:) bad sector.
invalid file name.
i think you better call the doctor...
call the doc... call the doctor.
retry... retry.
bad entry.
invalid error.
retry...
retry.
bad sector.
what are you doing here?
just came to see for myself.
my, how the mighty have fallen.
i hope you're happy.
me?
you did this...
you and your power-grabbing attorneys.
calm down.
don't take it so personally...
to you, this is just business.
but you're going to have to live the rest of your life
with the knowledge of what you did to your own father.
i didn't do this.
he did it all by himself.
what's happening?
what is it?
what does it mean?
what's happening? what's happening?
would you just move aside?
doctor, we have renal failure.
we should have shut his kidneys down
when he first came in.
the power drain is too much.
we're losing systolic pressure.
what does that mean?
anita, michael, wait outside.
wilson, i think i have a right to be here,
and i'd like to kn...
outside now.
how is he, doctor?
anita, i'm sorry.
we lost him.
oh...
i want to be with him.
of course.
go ahead.
so what finally killed the superman?
can't explain it for sure.
his c.p.u. shut down completely.
what do you suppose caused that?
whether it's overload or fatigue,
i don't know for sure.
maybe we'll know more after the postmortem.
oh, doctor,
i have just one more question.
yes, michael,
this time, he really is dead.
thank you.
i'll make the arrangements.
anita.
darius.
are you alone?
yes.
obviously, things didn't work out like i planned.
but i thought you were...
dead? oh, no.
there's still some kick left in this old man yet.
damn wilson and his prototype.
i knew a harvard man couldn't pull it off.
it really is you.
you're darn right.
you're going to have to be my arms and legs now.
we have a real fight ahead of us, anita.
fight?
you didn't think i'd take this lying down, did you?
but are you really alive?
that's what we're going to have to prove, isn't it?
first, i want you to fill me in
on everything that's happened in the last few days.
then i want you to go down to the hall of records
and bring all that information to dave,
so he can compare that data
with the data recording at the hospital.
then you'll have to bring wilson into it
because he signed my death certificate.
we have a good case, anita.
darius stevens—
the product of a new generation of medical miracles
that began with false teeth, expanded into prosthetic limbs
and reached near godhood
in plastic surgery and mechanical hearts.
as we continue to second guess and improve upon nature,
we are reminded that there is more to being alive
than mere flesh and blood... in the twilight zone.
we'll be helping the next man this happens to.