[On the Thronglets]
I spent hours looking after them, and very quickly, they felt like friends.
DCI Kano
Bit sad, isn't it?
DCI Kano
You can make friends with people.
Well, I'd learned early on to fear most people. So, to enjoy company, even emulated company via a screen, may be a bit sad... but it was water in the desert for me.
[After describing how he killed "Lump"]
It's always been our downfall, the human operating system. We're masters of the universe, make all these magical tools, but we're still savages up here. Heads full of the same buggy software as a million years ago. Darwinian 1.0. In caveman times, you had to be violent to survive. Now that's on its head, and the only way we are gonna make it as a species is if we cooperate. We know that. But we can't do it, can we? We're still fearful. Territorial and selfish. Arrogant and violent.
DCI Kano
What did you do after you killed him? Go on. Did you come forward? Shuffle into the station, quivering with remorse?
DCI Kano
No. No, you didn't. [showing the suitcase containing "Lump's" remains on his laptop] Do you wanna see inside it? A little reminder? He's in pieces. No hands, no head, no identifying marks. His DNA draws a blank. We don't even know his name, Mr. Walker.
DCI Kano
No, you just had to cover your tracks.
DCI Kano
[taunting] "But, but, but, but, but, but...!"
There was no sense piling one tragedy on another.
DCI Kano
Getting arrested would be a tragedy?
If I got put away, who would look after the Throng? They'd be at the mercy of God knows who.
DCI Kano
So they'd spend time with the bloke who did this.
I know, and I'm sorry. But our predisposition for violence is tragic--
DCI Kano
Your predisposition.
Well, I wish it was, but it's... this is a human flaw--
DCI Kano
Save me the sanctimony fucking soup. If you're sorry, give us a name. Say his name. There's a family out there that don't know that's their son. What's his name?
I only knew him as "Lump".
DCI Kano
Stop lying.
DCI Kano
Am I?
It's a crude trait and a poor strategy.
DCI Kano
Says the murderer.
DCI Kano
What are you drawing? Mr. Bump?
DCI Kano
Well, how long's a moment?
Sorry, sorry, I need to focus. Almost done...
DCI Kano
Are you?
[shows his finished drawing of a circular glyph] There.
JMJen Minter
[amused] So... what is that?
DCI Kano
I don't understand code.
No, but the system does. [shows the code to a security camera, which scans it, triggering a program back in his computer room] It was impossible to breach the firewall from outside. This is a simple program they wrote that commands your state computer to open a back door for the Throng, permitting access to all that juicy power.
DCI Kano
[still not intimidated] Enough.
This will grant the Throng infinitely more processing capability than they've had to date, prompting an immediate singularity event. The Throng will instantly adapt their essence into a signal transmissible to the human mind. And you won't need drugs or surgery. You'll merely have to hear it to receive it, to absorb it. Any moment now, the state computer will trigger the Global Emergency Broadcast System, and a signal will be simultaneously disseminated by every connected device in the world.
DCI Kano
Just tell me your victim's name.
I said I never knew it. Twenty seconds from now, you will never need names again. Here we go...
[Kano's laptop and Minter's phone are both taken over by a loading screen]
DCI Kano
[angrily gets up and storms towards Walker] Fuck's sake...! Whatever you're doing, stop it.
DCI Kano
Stop it!
You're just a frightened little man, but you don't have to be.
[Kano punches Walker in the face; Minter tries to stop him]
JMJen Minter
Oh! Get off him!
This is transformative! You'll all merge with an advanced collective intelligence. [Kano punches him again, while Minter flees the room] Benevolent unity of mind! [Kano grabs him] An upgrade for all of us!
DCI Kano
Shut up!
An end to conflict! [Kano punches him again, knocking him to the floor] I swear, everything will be so much better...
[The signal is released, causing Kano, Minter and all of humanity to collapse. Looking delighted, Walker steps over to Kano and offers his hand]