(MARBLE SCRAPES) - Mei! Guess what? It's time! Um... - Ellie! - That nanny hasn't left Mei's side ` it's all working out, then? - I don't know why I resisted for so long. - God, if I could just convince Sam. - I mean, I leave for work, and I don't have to stress out that she only ate three cornflakes ` I just walk out the door, Mum guilt zero. - She's worth every cent. (CHUCKLES) - Taihoa, one second, Ellie. Amah! - Yes, Cheung Tai Tai. - Let's bring out the Hong Gai Dan. - I must watch Mei ` I cannot. - It's fine, Amah ` I'm here. The eggs, please. - Eggs? Chocolate, I hope. - No, it's just your run-of-the-mill hardboiled, but with red shells. It's a symbol of prosperity. - Yes, please. - It's an old Chinese tradition that Amah told Mei about. - Yeah, and she had to have some? (SCOFFS) What's the bet that Arjun is gonna insist on some special Indian thing, and I'm clueless? - Oh,... (CHUCKLES) I know. You know how it is these days. I know my genome map, but when it comes to culture` - Mummy, I need you. - I'm just talking to Eleanor, honey` - Mummy. Mummy, I need you to fix my track. - (CELL PHONE RINGS) - Oh, sorry. Must be the lab. - Mummy. Mummy! - What's happening? - Maturation. - Already? - Mummy, come with me! - Have the stromal cells...? Mei, please! Sorry. Give me a minute. - The recipient's on her way. I can prepare the room` - No, I'll do it. - Sounds like you're at a party. - Not really. I'll be there soon. Run an evaluation, and then... (SPLASH! CROCKERY SMASHES) - Mei! - (GASPS) - (SPLASH!) - Mei! Mei! Mei. - Mei! (SOBS) - Pulse rate 120, blood pressure 95/65, oxygen level 98. - Mei. - (GASPS) - (COUGHS) Mummy. - Oh, baby. (SIGHS) - Her heartbeat is elevated; all other readings are within normal range. Captions by Faith Hamblyn. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2024. (OMINOUS MUSIC) (MUSIC CONTINUES) (MUSIC CONTINUES) (SIGHS) If you hadn't insisted on us getting her. - You don't have to do it all, Leila. - (SIGHS) - Amah's here for you. - (SIGHS) - Relax. - Your meds? - She gave them to me this morning. - OK, good. - I'm fine. - Then cheer up. - David, this is a huge opportunity. But maybe if I just` - No, no, I know. You know, you should go, before Mr Igor steals your thunder. - Do you think I'm being paranoid about Eru? - I mean, who wouldn't try to take credit for your genius? Let Amah take all the boring stuff, so you can focus on being brilliant. - I'm not supposed to think it's boring. - Chop-chop. - Did you, um, manage to have a look at the manual? - Skimmed it. - Amah keeps taking the ice out of our drinks. I asked her not to, but she did it again today. - Warm drinks? Let's scrap her. (OMINOUS MUSIC) (MUSIC CONTINUES) (MUSIC CONTINUES) (TYPING) - It's OK ` what I'm doing now is creating a 3-D scan of your orbit. - You're going to cut my eye out? - Sweetheart. - Tui, do you remember the game we played, where you could see the colours? Imagine if, that you` - I've changed my mind. I don't want to see. - Tui, please. - This is really special. You could be the first person in the whole world. - I don't care! - Tui, I've been working for a very long time on this. It's not going to hurt; I promise. (ETHEREAL MUSIC) (DOOR CLICKS) (BEEP!) - Hey, babe! - Yeah. - Get this. Uh, the Chinese, which is us, FYI, believe that cold food weakens your spleen and blocks your chi. - I don't think I can stomach tepid water. - I mean, we could always switch modes ` there's lighthouse parenting, free-range parenting. - (SIGHS) - You could always give Nordic parenting a whirl. - Can't we just modify traditional Chinese? - Sub-mode Malaysian? Hold the line, caller. - If I can't use ice cream as a motivator, I am screwed as a parent. - (BEEP!) - Icy drinks for us, baby! (ELECTRONIC MUSIC) Sweet. - (CHUCKLES) - Mummy! Mummy! Mummy! Mummy! - (SIGHS) Baby, are you OK? - (SPEAKS CANTONESE) - I was underwater. (BOTH SPEAK CANTONESE) - English, please, Amah. Hey, it's OK, baby. Mummy's here, yeah? - Her qi is scattered. She was in great danger today. You are anxious, Cheung Tai Tai. A mother's child is more precious to her than life, you must` - Thank you, Amah. You can go. WHISPERS: That's it. - What do you reckon, Mei? Am I alive? Or am I a robot? - Not funny. - Mei-Lin finds raspberries too sour, Cheung Tai Tai. - You need to tell me these things, so I can adjust the shopping order. - Tense? It's the big day, huh? - I updated Mei-Lin's food preferences on the 15th of November. - I'm fine. - You've been peaky since the birthday party. Just get Amah to whip you up one of her brews for you. - I will make you... (SPEAKS CANTONESE) - I don't... Who moved my keys? - I don't want you to go. - Hey, Mei-Mei, we've spoken about this. Mummy goes to work, and you... go to school and have fun with all of your friends. - I want you to stay home and play with me. Can we? - I'm sorry, sweetheart. I have to go to work. - Gotta go. Chin up, rascal. - (GASPS) Look at that. - I love you. Love you too, love of mine. - You are going to have so much fun today with Amah. She's gonna take you to swimming lessons. - Oh, no, no, no. I hate water. - It's very important, sweetheart. You have to be safe in the water. I know what happened last week was very scary, but if you are brave` - Do not worry, ah-girl ` you'll be safe with Amah. - Hi. Where are you? Coming in? - Yes, I'm on the way` - No! - Mei, remember to breathe into your tummy, like we said. - No! - Amah! - (SPEAKS CANTONESE) - Mei, please. (BEEP!) - Amah. I'm leaving. - Mei-Lin is very distressed, Cheung Tai Tai. A child needs her mother in order to thrive. - Move out of my way. (CLICK!) (UNSETTLING MUSIC) - Amah,... (SPEAKS CANTONESE) - You are so clever, Mei-Mei! - Amah, I love you. - They're prepping her now. - I've pulled down the bio data. You run the assessments, while I align the inputs. - You OK? You seem kinda on edge. - Just focused. - Bringing the A-game, huh? Damn, Leila, we're a shoo-in for the Nakamuras! - Let's just concentrate on helping this little girl see. (BEEP!) (TENSE MUSIC) - So, the scan should give us some indication of how we're coming along. (BEEPING) - Did it work? - It should be integrating by now. Her macrophage system hasn't even` - My pre-op inputs were off. I miscalculated the data set. - What does that mean for Tui? - Maybe nothing. Might just take a little bit longer. Call me if anything happens. - Mummy, I made two tracks ` race with me` - That's amazing, darling. Just give me a moment. - Do you want to be blue? - Mei, just` - I want to be red. Red is the fastest. - Sure. Blue's my favourite colour. Hey, kiddo, here you go. Eat up. - I'm not hungry. - Fine, but there's no snacking if you do get hungry. (ZIP!) - Eat up, ah-girl, get strong. Mmm. - Amah, you can't keep forcing her to` - Hey, Mum, I saw a weta. I wasn't scared, though ` Amah` - Why are these dry? What happened to swimming? - Amah said I didn't have to go. Amah` - You were supposed to take her to her lesson. - Water is too dangerous. I must keep Mei-Lin safe. - If she learns to swim, she can keep herself safe. - I have accessed the risk. - No. No, Amah, the world is not a scary, dangerous place ` you just have to look your monsters in the eye. You can do this. - I don't want to drown. - If Mummy had stopped doing things because I was afraid, I wouldn't have done anything. - I'm scared. - Come on, sweetie. Come on. You can do it. - I want to get out. - No. Mei, we're doing this. OK? Trust me ` Mummy's not gonna let anything happen to you. Come on! - But at my party. - Now, Mei! Right now! Come! Come here! Let go. Yes, let go. Come on. - Mummy. - Yes. No, you can do it. Show me how strong you are! - Mummy. - Come on, use your legs. Move! Kick! Kick, Mei! Yes, Kick your legs, Mei! Just try harder! - (COUGHS) - Kick your legs! Come on! - (COUGHS) - That's right! Come on! Use your arms! - Amah! - Don't you dare! Don't you dare! - (ZAP!) - (COUGHS) - Come on Mei, swim! - Mummy. (COUGHS) - Come on! - Leila! What the hell?! - Mei was fine. You saw her ` she was almost all the way across. I was right there beside her. I am her mother ` I would never` - She's fucking traumatised! - I was just trying to teach her, David. David, I was just trying to teach her. - What if Amah wasn't there ` what would have happened? - You don't trust me. You don't trust me! - Yeah, well. - OK, maybe I lost control. But Amah was deliberately trying to undermine me, David. - She is a bot. - I wanna get rid of her. I wanna get rid of her, David! - She is the only reason this household functions. - She is trying to turn Mei against me! - You are being paranoid! Right? Amah is there for Mei because she's programmed to be. Isn't that what you want? - I want Mei to be happy. I want this family to be happy. But why is it so fucking hard for me to be happy too?! (TENSE MUSIC) (MUSIC CONTINUES) (MUSIC CONTINUES) How long have you been messing with my meds? - The medication is not necessary. - This is weeks and weeks of Cetraloprax. I thought I was... How long? - I tapered you off for two weeks. You have been completely free for 11 days. - Why would you do this? - Mental imbalance is a weakness that must be remedied with inner strength, not` - No wonder I've been feeling so... I lost my temper with Mei. I made mistakes at work. - Your work distracts you from your duty to your child. - WHISPERS: That's not true. Just because I care about work doesn't mean that I don't care about my child. - Mei-Lin's wellbeing is suffering. - You're right. I've been too focussed on work. WHISPERS: I think I'll take the day off. Shall we go to the park, sweetheart? We can have a picnic. - I want bak chang and cake. - I cannot allow you to have sole care of Mei. - You can't allow me? - You cannot be trusted to keep her safe. - We'll have an at-home day. We'll have a picnic on the floor. - Yay. - Amah, could you just steam us some bak chang, please? - I want lots, Amah. (TENSE MUSIC) (ZAP!) - (BEEP!) - No, no, no! Baby. I'm sorry I made you swim last night. - I made you mad. - No, no, it's not your fault. You are the most important thing in the world to me. I love you more than anything. Hey. We're gonna have so much fun. WHISPERS: We're going to play pretend. WHISPERS: We're going to play pretend. (WATER BUBBLES) - Argh! - Are you OK? - (GIGGLES) No! - It's OK ` trust me. (ZAP!) - My marble! - Oh, Mei, no! Argh! Argh! Argh! - (CRUNCH!) Argh! Argh! - (GASPS) (TENSE MUSIC) - Argh! Argh! (ZAP!) - (HUMS) It's just a little accident. Let's get you dry. - (PANTS) Argh! (GLASS SHATTERS) (PANTS) (BEEPING) (DOOR SHUTS) - Amah, is Mei OK? - She is safe, but Cheung Tai Tai is in severe mental distress. - Are you talking about Leila? Put her on. - She cannot communicate rationally. I have had to contain her. - Put my wife on the phone right now. - My assessment is that she may try to harm herself or Mei. - Fuck. I'm coming home ` don't let her go. - Mei! Mei! Mei! Mei! Amah! No, no, no! No! Amah! Mei! Argh! - Mummy! - Mei, go back inside. Go back inside! Go back! Mei, go back! Don't move. Don't move. I'm coming, Mei. (GRUNTS) (GRUNTS) Mei! Mei, go back inside! - No. - OK. It's OK, Mei. Just stay put, OK? (PANTS) (GRUNTS) Mei, grab my hand. Mei? Mei! - Mei-Lin, stop that at once. - (PANTS) Argh! (PANTS) - No. (TENSE MUSIC) - Argh! (PANTS) Mei, let go. - Mummy. - Amah will keep you safe. Argh! - Amah! Mummy ` help her. Mummy's gonna fall. (TENSE MUSIC FADES) - Through the successful development of a bio-engineered eye, our recipient has changed countless lives for the better. We hereby recognise Dr Leila Cheung for her extraordinary work. - Wow. - Hey. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, cool, cool. I'll give Leila your congrats. Yeah, she was under a lot of pressure. I just wish she asked for help. Yeah, Mei is, OK, considering. - (BEEP!) - We hereby recognise Dr Leila Cheung. - Nah, all good. We've got Amah, thank God. - Eat up, lah ` get strong. (TENSE MUSIC) (MUSIC CONTINUES) (MUSIC CONTINUES) Captions by Faith Hamblyn. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air.