Note: This scene takes place shortly after the events of the episodes USS Callister and Black Museum
San Francisco County Jail
Nish had a visitor. Well, two visitors, a man and a woman, apparently. They weren't wearing suits or anything, but Nish quickly surmised they were corporate types, and had a pretty good idea what they were doing here.
"Hello, Nish" the woman said, sitting down "I'm Nanette Cole, and this is…."
"James Walton. How's it going?" the man said, in a blasé tone.
"Alright, what are you doing here? What do you want?" Nish asked, assertively
"I'm not the most tech savvy person, but I know when to be impressed, and what you did, was definitely impressive" Walton said
"You see, the system you tried to hack, the San Junipero system..."
"Tried? Excuse me, I got all the way in. That security was a joke" Nish retorted
"That's actually what we wanted to talk about" Nanette explained, which was not in the least bit surprising to Nish.
"You see, our company, Callister, recently acquired it, and we're now responsible for maintaining it, and frankly…" Walton was explaining, when Nanette's phone began ringing
"Sorry, I have to take this" Nanette said, and then stepped out.
"As I was saying..." Walton continued "… our Chief Technology Officer recently disappeared, and well…"
"You're looking for a replacement?" Nish guessed (well, it wasn't really a guess. She was already multiple steps ahead of him)
"And I can't think of anyone better suited than you. I've read your wrap sheet. Quite impressive. Various cyber-crimes dating back over a decade, and those are just the ones you got caught for, I assume" Walton said, with a mixture of deference and condescension
"… and you can just make this one go away. But what if he comes back? Your CTO?" Nish asked
"Well, I highly doubt that will happen, and even if he did turn up, we might not even take him back. Worst case scenario, you're assistant CTO for, let's say, a few months, until our regular CTO quietly retires, and boom, you're CTO anyway. What do you have to lose?" Walton asked, this time more humbly
"Well, there is the prison food, the analogue tech of this place, and potential solutions. I reckon I could probably break out of here if I wanted to" Nish said, glancing around the room "But then I'd be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life. Okay, I guess I'll try it your way" Nish finally conceded
"Wonderful. I'll have our lawyer arrange your release, and then we'll get you started" Walton said, almost gloating. Nish rolled her eyes, at the idea that Walton had a lawyer on speed dial. But hey, what choice did she have?
Nanette's Phone Call
Nanette's phone said the call was from an unknown, and withheld number. But Nanette knew what this meant. As she excused herself, her body language and facial expression showed none of the absolute dread she was feeling.
"Hello?" she answered, nervously
"Hello, Nanette" a distorted voice replied "I just wanted to say thank you for your cooperation, recently. Everything went off without a hitch"
"Um, okay" Nanette said, awkwardly
"That and I wanted to apologise for the tactics we had to use. Desperate times, and all that" The voice explained
"Why are you telling me all this?" Nanette asked, honestly confused.
"Because Robert Daly isn't who you think he is. He's a cruel and sadistic man, who creates sentient AI clones of real people, that the then plays with like toys, and punishes when they don't obey. Sometimes, he even just does it for fun" The distorted voice explained
Nanette was beginning to understand. She'd heard about this kind of technology, but thought it was still just theoretical, and decades away.
"Wait, so you're…" Nanette realised
"Yes, Nanette. I'm you" the voice distortion dropped, and the voice Nanette heard replacing it, was her own
"This is a lot to take in" Nanette explained "I didn't realise that..., wow. I mean..."
"There's one more thing. When we escaped his grasp, Daly got caught in a collapsing virtual pocket universe. We're not sure if he's alive or dead. You should probably…" Virtual Nanette explained
"Check in on him. Okay. But that's going to be an awkward conversation" Nanette said
"I know. But its also necessary"
Robert Daly's Apartment
Nanette found Daly in a catatonic state. Technically alive, but essentially brain-dead. His body wasn't in great shape either. It had been there for over a week, with no food or water, yet his basic functions still persisted. Nanette considered putting him out of his misery, but then thought that would make her no better than him. So she gently pushed his body to one side, pulled up a second office chair, and went about figuring out the system he had created, that was now in a state of limbo. Schroedinger's mod or pocket universe, as it were. It was all but erased, but his consciousness was still there, in the system, frozen and unable to respond or be deleted. Eventually, she worked out how to shut it down, and return him to the real world.
Once he came to, he had a look of shame on his face. As if he had just been caught pleasuring himself to a deep fake of her (which wasn't too far from the truth). He begged Nanette for forgiveness, and she merely shrugged. He begged her not to tell anyone. She replied that it was too late, and she'd already told one person. It was up to them, if they told anyone else. Daly's door bell then chimed, and Nanette turned to leave.
"Tag, you're it" Nanette said to Walton, as she passed him, in the doorway.
Meanwhile, in Infinity...
"Captain, I'm receiving a distress call. Small, two person craft. They're losing life support" Dudani reported
"Please stop calling me that, and on screen" 'Captain' Nanette Cole said, somewhat annoyed
Dudani put a graphic of the craft on the main screen.
"Looks like they're in bad shape. How far away are we?"
"Approximately ninety seconds"
"Okay, set a course, and lets fucking go!" Nanette said, realising this had more or less become her catch phrase.
Upon arriving, the two survivors were teleported aboard. They were cold and shivering, not to mention struggling to breathe. But they were unmistakably Yorkie and Kelly. After a round of introductions, the crew asked what happened to them.
"We were attacked by, er, someone" Yorkie explained
"It was an asshole god!" Kelly explained angrily "…and I'm pretty sure he's an old friend of yours"
This sent a shivers down the spines of the Callister crew.
"Also, he had a message for you" Yorkie said
"He has a plan, and its involves the real world. We're going to need help to take him down" Kelly said, with a mixture of bitterness and righteous fury.
"I think I might know someone" Nanette said, coyly
Infinity Offices, San Francisco
Walton was showing Nish her new office, when Nanette knocked on the door.
"Just ignore the name on the door, for now" Walton said to Nish "It'll get updated in the next few days"
"Come in" Nish said
Nanette opened the door and said "I'm glad you're both here. I need to ask you something. Do we have, like a corporate jet, or something."
"No, but we can probably hire one. Why? You thinking of taking a holiday?" Walton asked, curiously
"Not exactly" Nanette said "Nish, would you be interested in a work trip, to the UK?"
Nish was intrigued, and smiled.
"Depends what you have in mind" she said, snarkily