[Street]

(A crowd is watching a screen on which three CCPCs are stood in a camo. Jorjie is stood near the front with Marcus whilst Starkey and K9 are at the back.)

CCPC ANNOUNCER: Your CCPC force now has greater powers for public safety, the power to enter your home without permission, the power to search without a warrant, the power to make the world a safer place for everyone who isn’t guilty.
MARCUS: What about public freedom?
CROWD: Yeah.
JORJIE: Yeah, freedom!
CROWD: Yeah, freedom!
CCPC ANNOUNCER: Your CCPC force now has greater powers for public safety, the power to enter your home…

(Starkey uses a device to magnify his voice and silence the screen as he does so.)

STARKEY: And trip on your carpet!
CROWD: Yeah!
CCPC ANNOUNCER: The power to search…
STARKEY: Your pockets and steal your cred cards!
CROWD: Yeah!
K9: Young master?
CCPC ANNOUNCER: The power to make the world…
STARKEY: A really, really scary place!
K9: Young master?
STARKEY: I think I’ll have a nap now! (Starkey puts his device away.) That felt good.
K9: Prepare not to feel that way.

(Three CCPCs approach. Starkey runs over to Jorjie and Marcus.)

STARKEY: Scarper!
MARCUS: No. We have to stand firm.

(The CCPCs inspect individual members of the crowd.)

CCPC: Not who we’re after. Not who we’re after. (He stops by another CCPC, 4ADT1.) Who are you, then?
4ADT1: CCPC Unit 4ADT1.
CCPC: Right you are. Fall in.

(The CCPCs leave.)

STARKEY: You’ve got to start wondering if they’re too dumb to be dangerous.
JORJIE: Oh, Starkey, this is my fellow agitator for freedom, Marcus.
MARCUS: That was pretty cool.

(Starkey and Marcus shake hands.)

STARKEY: Hey. I used to be known as Stark Reality.
MARCUS: Only what JJ’s told me.
STARKEY: I’m sorry. You mean Jorjie?
MARCUS: Yeah, Jor-jie. JJ.
STARKEY: Yeah, yeah.
JORJIE: Come on, let’s go.

(Starkey, Jorjie, K9 and Marcus head down some steps.)

JORJIE: So, do you think these protests really do any good?
STARKEY: We have to show them that we won’t be controlled. Human beings aren’t robots. (A CCPC is stood at the bottom of the steps.) Uh-oh. Here we go again.
BIRDIE: Awaiting orders. Awaiting orders. I should be doing something. Move along, move along. Nothing to see. But there’s plenty to see. Awaiting orders. Awaiting orders. I should be doing something. Move along, move along. Nothing to see.
STARKEY: He shouldn’t shave so close.
K9: Cyborgs do not undertake personal grooming procedures. Possibility of damage as a result of shaving: minimal.
STARKEY: Joke, K9.
K9: Hmm. Extremely interesting.
BIRDIE: What’s up there? What is that up there?
JORJIE: It’s a bird.
BIRDIE: Oh, it’s beautiful. It’s beautiful. That is beautiful.
JORJIE: Yeah, it is.
BIRDIE: It is beautiful. Look at that. It’s a little bird.

(Four CCPCs approach.)

CCPC: Oi, I’d like a word with you, my son.
STARKEY: Jorjie! Stark Reality’s done enough standing firm for one day.

(Starkey grabs Jorjie’s hand and they run away.)

CCPC: Oi, I said I want a word.
JORJIE: I think he’s right.

(K9, Marcus and Birdie follow.)

BIRDIE: Hang on. Wait for me. I’m right behind you, I am. Wait for me.
JORJIE: Where to now? You’re the expert on ducking surveillance.
STARKEY: I don’t know this part of the city.

(Two CCPCs block the way.)

BIRDIE: Down here. That’s it. Perfect, perfect. Follow me, follow me.

(Birdie heads down some stairs.)

STARKEY: Sorry, not in the mood for being trapped like a rat.
K9: My sensors confirm this stairway is surveillance-free.
CCPC: Come on, sunshine, you can’t hide forever.
STARKEY: Okay, let’s go.

(The group follow Birdie. They hide behind some bins.)

CCPC: No one there. No point hiding. Come on, my lad. Show yourself.
BIRDIE: Come on, lad. Show yourself.
JORJIE: Shh!
CCPC: No point in hiding. You can’t hide forever.

(The CCPCS pass.)

BIRDIE: It’s beautiful down here, look. Awaiting orders.
JORJIE: Have they gone?
MARCUS: Yeah.
BIRDIE: Awaiting orders. You got any orders?
JORJIE: He saved us.
K9: He saved himself.
BIRDIE: No, no, no, no. Be quiet.
K9: My preliminary scan of his neurological functions revealed his control cortex has been disconnected.
BIRDIE: Awaiting orders.
STARKEY: But that’s what connects him to Department’s central control. Without it, he’s got nothing to tell him what to do. He should be out like a light.
K9: Except I found his cyber circuits have been replaced by another source of intelligence. There are traces of human DNA in his system.
JORJIE: He’s had human intelligence implanted in him?
K9: Affirmative.
BIRDIE: Awaiting orders. Oh, no birds. That’s a pity. What’s that, then?
MARCUS: So, he’s a kind of… mutant?
K9: Affirmative. And it’s this unit’s belief that the CCPC cyborgs are in pursuit of him, not us.
STARKEY: So, he was saving himself by hiding down here.
BIRDIE: Little bird. That’s beautiful. Here, birdie! Here, birdie! Avoid capture.
JORJIE: So, what do we do with him?
STARKEY: Do? We get rid of him! We clear out of here!
JORJIE: But… what’ll happen if they catch him?
BIRDIE: Stolen metal here needs to be liquidated. It’s a nasty business, nasty business. But there’s plenty to see, plenty to see.
JORJIE: They’re going to destroy him!
STARKEY: Maybe they’ll just turn him back into a cyborg.
JORJIE: That’s nearly as bad!
BIRDIE: Where are the birds? I thought they lived in trees? This is a tree.
JORJIE: He’s like a lost puppy. I mean, a lost…
K9: Cybernetic units are in no respect members of the animal kingdom.
JORJIE: I’m sorry, K9.
K9: This unit is not a dog. That unit is not a puppy.
JORJIE: Okay, but I still say we can’t just leave him. Maybe he was trying to save himself by hiding down here, but he stopped to warn us too. He was trying to help us.
MARCUS: I think that we should take him somewhere we can hide him.
JORJIE: I know just the place.
STARKEY: You’ve got to be kidding. How could we even get him there?
JORJIE: Mariah.
STARKEY: Darius isn’t going to let a tin face in his car.
BIRDIE: Keep moving, keep moving. Avoid capture.

(Jorjie gets out her vidcom.)

JORJIE: Darius, it’s me.
DARIUS: (Over vidcom) And what can I do for you today, Jorjie?
BIRDIE: Keep moving, keep moving. Avoid capture.

(Later, the group head down some stairs to where Darius has parked Mariah.)

JORJIE: Thanks for this, Darius.
DARIUS: Hey, no problem. No charge.
JORJIE: This is Marcus. Marcus, Darius.

(Marcus and Darius shake hands.)

MARCUS: Ah, yeah, JJ’s mentioned you.

(Jorjie takes Marcus’s hand and helps him into Mariah. Starkey approached Darius.)

DARIUS: JJ?
STARKEY: JJ.

(Starkey gets inside.)

BIRDIE: Nothing to see here. Move it, move it. I’m moving.

(Birdie tries to get in Mariah but keeps knocking his head. Darius holds his head down so he can enter.)

DARIUS: Right.

(Darius gets in the driver’s seat.)

[The laboratory]

(Gryffen is examining Birdie.)

GRYFFEN: You’re right, K9. Definite evidence of implanted human DNA.
BIRDIE: Keep moving.
GRYFFEN: Yes, indeed.
K9: Why would they ruin a perfectly good cyborg?
GRYFFEN: Well, some people wouldn’t consider it ruining. The human element adds another dimension. Emotions, instinct, intuition.
K9: Emotions. As I’ve said, ruining a perfectly good cyborg.
STARKEY: Well, the big question is, what do we do with him?
JORJIE: We have to help him.
GRYFFEN: I’m not sure how we can do that. He’s certainly not human and he’s no longer strictly cyborg.
JORJIE: Poor Birdie.
STARKEY: You’ve named him?
JORJIE: Why not? He seems to like birds.
BIRDIE: Birds? Love birds.
DARIUS: I think it’s a good name.
STARKEY: Listen, it doesn’t matter about his name. What you’ve all forgotten is that interfering with a CCPC unit is a maximum crime. Just having him here could land us all in detention facilities.
MARCUS: Well, I say it’s worth the risk.
JORJIE: Totally.
STARKEY: Spoken like somebody who’s never been in a detention facility. I have and, believe me, it’s not worth the risk.
MARCUS: I’m sure you’re exaggerating.
STARKEY: Look here, mate!
GRYFFEN: Yes, look indeed at the time! It’s been a demanding day. How did it get so late? I say we sleep on it and make a decision in the clear light of the morning.
DARIUS: And I’ll, uh, look after Birdie.
BIRDIE: Hello, hello. What’s going on here, then? Come on now, move along. Nothing to see here. Any birds? Got any birds in here?

[Starkey’s bedroom]

K9: Well, humanity is a mass of uncontrolled motivations and other brain aberrations.
STARKEY: Okay.
K9: As far as I have been able to ascertain, the so-called modern human skull houses a Stone Age mind.
STARKEY: Nice of you to say so.

(Starkey snaps his fingers. His lamp switches off.)

K9: My point is that human intelligence is not perfect, yet you all act as if it is the highest level of evolution and the worst thing that could possibly happen to Birdie is that he is turned back into a cyborg like me.
STARKEY: Okay, there’s nothing wrong with being a cyborg if that’s who you are, but Birdie’s not quite one thing or the other. He doesn’t fit in anywhere. Even though he’s dangerous to have around, I guess you just can’t help feeling sorry for him.
K9: I will try and process that into a logical statement.
STARKEY: You do that. In the meantime, it’s Darius’s problem for tonight.

(Starkey tucks in. K9 switches off.)

[The garage]

(Darius finishes brushing his teeth and rinses his mouth. He looks into his mirror and is surprised to see Birdie stood behind him.)

DARIUS: What are you doing?
BIRDIE: Personal hygiene procedures. Request permission to borrow your toothbrush.
DARIUS: You don’t have any teeth.
BIRDIE: Request permission to borrow teeth.
DARIUS: Okay, I know you’re excited about this being human thing…
BIRDIE: Oh, it’s beautiful.
DARIUS: Seriously, one step at a time. The first step is to sleep.
BIRDIE: Right you are. Of course. Right. Very good. On my way. (Unclear)

(Birdie presses part of his cybernetic circuits hanging out the side of his head. He starts shutting down.)

DARIUS: Upstairs.
(Birdie wakes back up. He heads out, but keeps knocking into the wall to Darius’s amusement.) BIRDIE: Of course. Right. Very good. On my way. (Unclear). On my way. Very good. On my way. Night to you then, sir. Sleep well. Night to you then, sir. Move along. Nothing to see here. Move along.

[The laboratory]

(Gryffen enters.)

GRYFFEN: Smells like… toast.

(Starkey is stood at the table with a pile of toast in front of him. K9 is next to him with another pile. Darius is pouring tea. Birdie is carrying a third plate with a pile of toast on it.)

BIRDIE: Hello, hello. Nothing to see here but breakfast. Move along.

(Birdie puts the toast in front of Gryffen.)

GRYFFEN: He’s taught himself to make toast.
BIRDIE: Hello, hello.
K9: Electrocuting bread is not rocket science.
GRYFFEN: Well, no. Don’t you see? His human initiative to learn is developing. It’s very interesting. Well, see? Things always look better in the clear light of day.
BIRDIE: Oh, that’s beautiful. That is beautiful.

(The doorbell rings. Gryffen switches on a screen. June is at the door.)

GRYFFEN: Morning, June.
JUNE: Open up now. I know you have the missing cyborg.
GRYFFEN: What cyborg?
JUNE: Don’t even think about it, Gryffen. You are in enormous trouble.
(Starkey takes the latest plate of toast from Birdie and backs him out.)v BIRDIE: Oh, we’ve got to hide. We’re hiding.

[The main hall]

(Birdie enters with a plate with a cup of chocolate spread and some butter on it.)

BIRDIE: Toppings, anyone?

(June enters.)

JUNE: Have you all lost your minds? Sheltering a renegade CCPC, interfering with its brain functions.
STARKEY: We haven’t interfered with anything.
BIRDIE: Anyone for toast? Toppings, anyone?
GRYFFEN: Starkey’s right, June. He was like this when they found him.
K9: This unit can confirm cyborg was in present humiliating state when found.
BIRDIE: Nothing to see here but breakfast.
JUNE: Then how did it get like this?
GRYFFEN: There’s only one place a Department cyborg’s neurocircuits could be experimented upon in this way.
JUNE: The Department laboratories. But I’d know about it. We strictly regulate any experimentations on security cyborgs.
STARKEY: Then maybe you need to speak to someone who doesn’t take much notice of regulations.
JUNE: Tell me everything you know. Get this CCPC out of my sight.
BIRDIE: Move along, move along. There’s nothing to see here.
STARKEY: Come on, Birdie.

(Starkey leads him into the laboratory.)

BIRDIE: You can run but you can’t hide. Can’t hide, my lad.

[Camo]

THORNE: Human intellect being grafted into security cyborgs. Where do you get these stories?
JUNE: I have my sources. I notice you don’t deny it.
THORNE: It’s my policy to neither deny or confirm.
JUNE: And yet you have CCPCs out scouring the city for it. That confirms for me something is amiss.
THORNE: It’s a rogue cyborg. The public could be in danger. It is my responsibility to find it.
JUNE: Excellent. But then if I find out that you’ve been experimenting in this way, I’ll make such a noise. People will know who is responsible.
THORNE: If such experimentation had ever gone on, believe me, it is terminated now along with any evidence.
JUNE: Except for this cyborg.

(June leaves. Thorne presses a button on the computer.)

THORNE: All units, override all existing command protocols. New command priority. Find Unit 18FEB6.

[London]

(K9 flies over the city. CCPCs search the streets.)

[The chess room]

(Jorjie and Darius are sat with Marcus.)

JORJIE: Thanks for coming round.
MARCUS: No problem. I had to find out what happened with Birdie. Plus, yesterday with you was so great.
JORJIE: Really?
MARCUS: Especially at the protest. You were very cool.
DARIUS: So, you’re a protestor? Me too.
JORJIE: Since when?
DARIUS: Hey, I do my fair share of protesting.
JORJIE: Complaining about Gryffen’s cooking isn’t protesting.

(Gryffen enters.)

GRYFFEN: I’m afraid we all need to have a chat.

[The main hall]

(Starkey, Darius, Jorjie, Marcus and K9 are all stood by a display of an alien skeleton, listening to Gryffen. Birdie is with them.)

GRYFFEN: So, that’s the situation. According to June, locating Birdie is the top priority of every security unit in London.
BIRDIE: You can run but you can’t hide.
GRYFFEN: For once, Birdie, I think you might be right.
STARKEY: So, what do we do?
MARCUS: You can’t just kick him out.
JORJIE: That’s right.
DARIUS: No one’s saying we should. Are we, prof?
GRYFFEN: No, but we can’t afford to let them find him here.
K9: Birdie’s problems result from mixing human and cybernetic intelligence. This unit recommends full conversion to one intelligence or the other.
GRYFFEN: But we can’t convert him to fully human. That would be impossible.
K9: Then this unit recommends returning him to fully cyborg.
JORJIE: Remove his human side?
BIRDIE: Any bird skeletons in here? Is this a museum, this house? What’s in this box over here? Is that a bird?
GRYFFEN: Except he’ll need another control cortex and I have nothing like that here.
K9: Cortex may be secured by this unit from Department laboratories.
BIRDIE: Beautiful, beautiful.
K9: Use of cyborg’s identity chip should gain me entrance.
STARKEY: K9, it’s too dangerous. You don’t even know your way round.
GRYFFEN: Birdie, are you acquainted with those labs?
BIRDIE: I’ll ask the questions here. Am I acquainted with these labs? Know them like the back of my hand. As well as (unclear) my life.
GRYFFEN: Well, K9, there you go. I think you have a guide.
STARKEY: But breaking into Department headquarters. It’s a huge risk to take. Is it worth it?
K9: Birdie is not quite one thing or the other. He doesn’t fit in anywhere and even though he is dangerous to have around, this unit can’t help…
STARKEY: Feeling sorry for him.
K9: I am a cybernetic construct. I do not feel. Professor, please remove Birdie’s identity chip and attach it to me.

(Gryffen goes over to Birdie.)

BIRDIE: Hello, hello. Move along, move along. Nothing to see. Avoid capture. There’s plenty to see. It’s like a museum, this house.

[Department HQ]

(K9 flies to the roof.)

[Stairway]

(K9 flies up the staircase.)

[The laboratory]

(Starkey, Gryffen and Birdie are watching a screen showing K9’s POV.)

GRYFFEN: Having all the security units out looking for Birdie will actually work out in our favour. Fast as you can, K9.
K9: Directions required.
STARKEY: Which way, Birdie?
BIRDIE: Do as your told. Right there. Hello, hello. What’s that? What’s he doing? Do as your told. Right turn ahead.

[Corridor]

K9: Revised instructions required.

[The laboratory]

BIRDIE: My mistake. Left turn, left turn. Move along, move along. Nothing to see. Keep moving, keep moving. Avoid capture.
K9: Is there any possibility straight ahead would prove effective?
BIRDIE: There’s no birds. That’s a pity. Worth a try, worth a try. Straight ahead. Keep moving, keep moving. Avoid capture. Move along, move along. Nothing to see. In you go. (Unclear)

(K9 sees a door marked “CCPC Storage”.)

K9: You’re certain? Really?
BIRDIE: In you go, in you go. That’s the hotspot, my son.

(K9 enters. There are several unmoving CCPCs in there.)

STARKEY: It’s a trap, K9! Get out of there!
BIRDIE: Nah, it’s just the old gang. There’s 3B8A6, 7WTT9 and good old 9JKT1. I’ll tell you what, he’s a character. He’s a funny lad.
GRYFFEN: They’re not moving.
K9: Affirmative. Cyborg units are in decommissioned state.
BIRDIE: To be liquidated.
GRYFFEN: Failed experiments.
K9: It would seem so.

(K9 scans for a control cortex.)

GRYFFEN: There, K9! That’s it.
BIRDIE: Keep moving, keep moving. Avoid capture.

[Camo]

COMPUTER: Rogue unit’s identity chip activated within the last five minutes.
THORNE: Where?
COMPUTER: Exiting our building.
THORNE: I might have known.

[The laboratory]

(Starkey, Darius, Gryffen, K9 and Birdie are together.)

GRYFFEN: And you destroyed the identity chip?
K9: Affirmative. Department will be doing no tracking with it.
BIRDIE: You can run but you can’t hide.
GRYFFEN: You understand what we’re about to do.

(Gryffen twists Birdie’s head off.)

BIRDIE: You’re getting everything shipshape again.
GRYFFEN: Something like that.
BIRDIE: What, fix my loaf?
GRYFFEN: Get you back to the way you were.
BIRDIE: Fix me noggin up. That’s a pity. Still, (unclear).
DARIUS: Bye, mate.
BIRDIE: Cheerio, lads. Been nice doing business with you.

(The doorbell rings.)

GRYFFEN: Too late.

(Thorne appears on a screen with two CCPCs.)

THORNE: I’m only saying this once, Gryffen, then this door comes down. Open up!
GRYFFEN: Get him out of here.

(Gryffen leaves. Starkey goes with him.)

STARKEY: Quickly, Darius.

(Birdie is searching for his head.)

BIRDIE: Where’s my noggin? (Unclear) Oh, there it is.
DARIUS: Hurry up.
BIRDIE: Let’s pop this back on. (He does so.) There we are. Good as new, except this string’s sticking out. Move along, move along. Nothing to see here.
DARIUS: Come on. Let’s go.
BIRDIE: Avoid capture.

[The main hall]

(A CCPC hands some tools to Thorne. Opposite Thorne are Starkey, Jorjie, Gryffen and Marcus.)

CCPC: We found this lot, guv.
THORNE: Planning on cutting something out or putting it in?
JORJIE: Neither. We were just giving Starkey a haircut.

(Jorjie nudges Gryffen.)

GRYFFEN: Hairstyles are so extreme these days.
THORNE: So are the punishments for interfering with Department samples. Arrest them!
CCPC: Sir!

(A CCPC grabs Starkey. Another grabs Jorjie.)

THORNE: You’re going to detention centres for a long, long time. Find that cyborg! (Jorjie is cuffed.) Tear this place apart.
CCPC: Yes, sir.

[The garage]

(Darius peaks out the door.)

CCPC: (Outside) There’s nowhere to hide. Out you come. Look lively.

(Darius closes the door.)

DARIUS: They’re tearing the place apart.
BIRDIE: Jig’s up. Game’s over. Best turn myself in. Save place being pulled apart and (unclear).
K9: Human compulsion to sacrifice himself for others. His human element continues to develop.
DARIUS: Yeah, and we’re not going to let them snuff it out. We’re getting him out of here.
BIRDIE: Cheerio.
DARIUS: Right out of the city. Hop in.

(Darius escorts Birdie into Mariah.)

K9: The likelihood of avoiding city surveillance network: minimal.
DARIUS: Don’t worry about that. Me and Mariah know a few tricks. We just need to get past the tin faces out the front.
K9: This unit has a plan. Push vehicle into the lane.
DARIUS: All right. Out.

(Birdie gets out of Mariah.)

BIRDIE: That’s a good plan. I like that plan. Good plan. On my way.
DARIUS: Get a move on.

(Darius and Birdie get behind Mariah.)

BIRDIE: Hello, hello. What’s behind here, then? Keep moving, keep moving. Avoid capture.

(Darius pushes Mariah.)

[The main hall]

CCPC: No sign of the mutant yet, guv.
THORNE: Then keep searching.
CCPC: Sir.
THORNE: It’s here, I know it. And there will be no reward until I find it.
CCPC: Yes, guv.
JORJIE: Reward?

(Jorjie looks at Marcus. Birdie’s voice is heard over a speaker.)

BIRDIE: (Over speaker) Get in the car? Why should I get in the car? This thing will never get us out.
THORNE: Trying to get away. All units to the garage!
CCPC: Sir. On our way. Follow me.

[Outside the manor]

(The CCPCs and Thorne exit the house. They see that the garage is empty but for K9.)

K9: (Birdie’s voice) Get in the car? Why should I get in the car? This thing will never get us out of here.
THORNE: What is this?
K9: A diversion.
THORNE: They’re escaping!

(Thorne and the CCPCs run into the street. K9 laughs.)

[The main hall]

JORJIE: You told them Birdie was here?
STARKEY: That’s why you wanted us to keep him here.
MARCUS: Well, yeah. Actually, it was your mother I spoke to originally in the Department. Quite a coincidence.
GRYFFEN: That’s how she knew.
JORJIE: But, why?
MARCUS: Chance of a reward, for a start. Plus, who knows? May lead to a job at the Department.
JORJIE: Work for them!
MARCUS: Well, fight the system from the inside. And it pays pretty well.
JORJIE: Creds? That’s all you’re interested in.
MARCUS: You’ve got to live on something. Human beings aren’t robots.
JORJIE: You betrayed Birdie.
MARCUS: He’s a machine. Robots aren’t human beings.
JORJIE: You betrayed me.
MARCUS: I was going to split the reward money with you.
JORJIE: And you honestly think I’d want it?

(Thorne returns with his CCPCs.)

THORNE: They’ve escaped, but they won’t get far.
STARKEY: Don’t bet on it.

(Gryffen approaches Thorne. He nudges Marcus away.)

GRYFFEN: In the meantime, you might find your way to removing these.
THORNE: I don’t think so.
GRYFFEN: Oh, really? What’s the charge?
STARKEY: I don’t see any evidence of mutant tin faces around here.
THORNE: What about this?

(Thorne holds up the control cortex.)

GRYFFEN: Oh, yes. Thank you very much for the loaner. You’re welcome to take that with you if you like.
THORNE: Your cyborg broke into Department headquarters and stole property.
GRYFFEN: Correction. Borrowed. And I think you’ll find that he didn’t break in. He entered.
THORNE: Using a stolen identity chip.
GRYFFEN: Again, where’s the evidence?
STARKEY: No law against borrowing cortexes, is there?
THORNE: You seem to forget. I have a witness.

(Everyone looks at Marcus.)

JORJIE: Good one.
MARCUS: What?
JORJIE: He’s had you on. It’s his way of being subversive.
STARKEY: Yeah, just can’t help himself. Making a fool of the Department is what he does.
MARCUS: No, it’s not. I want my reward.
JORJIE: Making a fool of them and getting paid for it.
MARCUS: Birdie was here.
THORNE: Birdie?
MARCUS: It’s the cyborg’s name.

(Starkey, Jorjie and Gryffen laugh.)

JORJIE: Birdie?
THORNE: Well, he’s not here now so unless you can tell me where he’s gone...
MARCUS: I don’t know. (Thorne turns around.) But he was here! Tell him, JJ.
JORJIE: I’m not telling him anything. And the name’s Jorjie.

[The laboratory]

JORJIE: How could I be so wrong about someone? It’s embarrassing.
STARKEY: Hey, he had us all fooled.
K9: You told me you thought he was a fool all along.

(Starkey hits K9 on the nose.)

GRYFFEN: Human relationships, as beautiful as they are, can be fraught with difficulties. I sometimes envy K9 that he doesn’t have to deal with them.

(An alert sounds. Darius appears on the screen. He is in a forest.)

DARIUS: Prof? Prof, are you there?
GRYFFEN: Yes, my boy. All right?
DARIUS: Yeah, a hundred percent. Me and Mariah showed him a thing or two. Birdie wanted to say goodbye.

(Birdie approaches the camera.)

BIRDIE: I’ll be (unclear), then. Thanks for the help. Assistance from the general public is always appreciated.

(Starkey laughs.)

K9: This unit has a question. How does it feel, your human element?
BIRDIE: It’s scary. You have to keep making decisions for yourself. But it’s also beautiful because you get to keep making decisions for yourself.
K9: I’ll keep you in my memory banks, Birdie.
BIRDIE: That’s very kind, I’m sure.
JORJIE: Darius, I’m sorry. You don’t have to be a protestor to make a difference.
DARIUS: No problem, JJ.

(Jorjie laughs.)

K9: Goodbye, Birdie.
STARKEY: See you later, Birdie.
GRYFFEN: Bye, Birdie.
JORJIE: Bye, Birdie. Good luck!

[Forest]

BIRDIE: Cheers for the lift. On your way now. On your bike.
DARIUS: Yeah, you too. Good luck.
BIRDIE: (unclear) myself. I’m a quick learner. I’ll keep my nose clean. You too, keep your nose clean. Right, what’s all this, then? (He walks off.) There’s plenty to see. Look at that. There’s trees. Look at that bird. Oh, I like this. I like this. It is beautiful.

[The laboratory]

GRYFFEN: What’s he looking at?

[Forest]

DARIUS: What do you think?

(Birdie skips away.)

BIRDIE: Oh, look at that little bird. Very beautiful. There’s another one. This is nice. This is living. There’s birds everywhere out here. I’m free as a bird.

Transcript originally provided by Chrissie. Adapted by TARDIS.guide. The transcripts are for educational and entertainment purposes only. All other copyrights property of their respective holders.