Paycheck Quotes
What seemed like a breezy idea for an engineer to net him millions of dollars, leaves him on the run for his life and piecing together why he's being chased.
[last lines]
Shorty: You know what? I think now's probably a good time to discuss my commission, 33%.
Michael Jennings: I thought it was 5.
Shorty: No, 33 percent.
Michael Jennings: 33 percent!
Rachel Porter: He deserves it.
Shorty: It was found on my premises.
Michael Jennings: I'll get back to you. I'm gonna cash this in.
[arguing continues, indistinctly]
Shorty: You know what? I think now's probably a good time to discuss my commission, 33%.
Michael Jennings: I thought it was 5.
Shorty: No, 33 percent.
Michael Jennings: 33 percent!
Rachel Porter: He deserves it.
Shorty: It was found on my premises.
Michael Jennings: I'll get back to you. I'm gonna cash this in.
[arguing continues, indistinctly]
[Shorty enters with a pair of caged birds]
Michael Jennings: I think I remember - are those OUR birds?
Rachel Porter: Yes, of course they are! We bought them together.
Shorty: Oh, you remember the birds! Well done! You could see into the future, and all you remember are, are Polly and Tweety over there. Why don't you remember something that would make us rich?
Michael Jennings: I think I remember - are those OUR birds?
Rachel Porter: Yes, of course they are! We bought them together.
Shorty: Oh, you remember the birds! Well done! You could see into the future, and all you remember are, are Polly and Tweety over there. Why don't you remember something that would make us rich?
[Michael begins to suspect that the woman with him isn't really Rachel]
Michael Jennings: What's my favorite baseball team?
Maya: What?
Michael Jennings: What's my favorite baseball team?
[Maya pulls out a gun]
Maya: Who cares?
[Rachel appears behind Maya and knocks her out]
Rachel Porter: That would be the Red Sox?
Michael Jennings: What's my favorite baseball team?
Maya: What?
Michael Jennings: What's my favorite baseball team?
[Maya pulls out a gun]
Maya: Who cares?
[Rachel appears behind Maya and knocks her out]
Rachel Porter: That would be the Red Sox?
Shorty: But that's not the question you should be asking yourself.
Michael Jennings: No?
Shorty: The question that you should be asking yourself is, why did *you* give up all that money? That's the most bizarre part of this whole thing. 90 million dollars. Nobody changes that much in three years! Okay. All right, buddy. I wanna figure out what you built. All right, let's work backwards.
Michael Jennings: They told me that I was working on a design by someone named Decker.
Shorty: Decker?
Michael Jennings: Yeah.
Shorty: William Decker?
Michael Jennings: I think so.
Shorty: What I heard was, he was working on something Level 5 for the Feds when they came in one day and they just shot him down.
Michael Jennings: What was it?
Shorty: Consensus was a laser.
Michael Jennings: Why was that?
Shorty: Because Decker's drawings called for a mirror and a lens. Now, the only thing that uses those things is a laser. Some kind of satellite...
[Jennings is distracted by a wall television announcing the Lotto numbers]
Shorty: The lens required perfect optics. Uh, the mirror and the neutrino count... I mean, word was, the thing was going to cost 500 billion dollars. Now, who's going to spend 500 billion dollars just to see something?
[Shorty realizes Jennings has heard very little of his explanation]
Shorty: What?
Michael Jennings: There's no way I got out of that Extraction Room without the cigarettes and the glasses. I would have never gotten on that bus without the bus ticket. If I didn't have the diamond ring, I wouldn't have followed that kid to Reddy Grant.
Shorty: Right.
Michael Jennings: [excited] I gave up that money just to make sure that I would pay attention to these items.
Shorty: Why?
Michael Jennings: [whispering intensely] Because I know what you'd spend 500 billion dollars to see. The future.
[Astounded, Shorty looks at the winning Lotto numbers in Michael's hand, and then up at the TV]
Michael Jennings: No?
Shorty: The question that you should be asking yourself is, why did *you* give up all that money? That's the most bizarre part of this whole thing. 90 million dollars. Nobody changes that much in three years! Okay. All right, buddy. I wanna figure out what you built. All right, let's work backwards.
Michael Jennings: They told me that I was working on a design by someone named Decker.
Shorty: Decker?
Michael Jennings: Yeah.
Shorty: William Decker?
Michael Jennings: I think so.
Shorty: What I heard was, he was working on something Level 5 for the Feds when they came in one day and they just shot him down.
Michael Jennings: What was it?
Shorty: Consensus was a laser.
Michael Jennings: Why was that?
Shorty: Because Decker's drawings called for a mirror and a lens. Now, the only thing that uses those things is a laser. Some kind of satellite...
[Jennings is distracted by a wall television announcing the Lotto numbers]
Shorty: The lens required perfect optics. Uh, the mirror and the neutrino count... I mean, word was, the thing was going to cost 500 billion dollars. Now, who's going to spend 500 billion dollars just to see something?
[Shorty realizes Jennings has heard very little of his explanation]
Shorty: What?
Michael Jennings: There's no way I got out of that Extraction Room without the cigarettes and the glasses. I would have never gotten on that bus without the bus ticket. If I didn't have the diamond ring, I wouldn't have followed that kid to Reddy Grant.
Shorty: Right.
Michael Jennings: [excited] I gave up that money just to make sure that I would pay attention to these items.
Shorty: Why?
Michael Jennings: [whispering intensely] Because I know what you'd spend 500 billion dollars to see. The future.
[Astounded, Shorty looks at the winning Lotto numbers in Michael's hand, and then up at the TV]
Attorney General Brown: We knew Decker was trying to design something. But when he sold his plans, he wasn't even halfway done.
Agent Klein: I don't understand.
Attorney General Brown: Decker was working at JPL on a laser-enhanced lens. He claimed the lens was powerful enough to see around the curvature of the universe.
[He picks up a red apple to demonstrate]
Attorney General Brown: Decker believed that if you could see around a curve that went on forever, you would end up back where you started. Looking at yourself.
[Brown tosses the apple to Klein]
Agent Dodge: Except you're not looking back at yourself now, in the present.
Attorney General Brown: No, you are not. You're looking at the future.
[Klein understands now]
Attorney General Brown: Can you imagine what'll happen if Jennings figures out what he's done and tries to profit from it? Any nation in the world would give him a king's ransom.
Agent Dodge: Jennings won't do that. I was this close to him. He never lied. When he heard what he's being accused of, he was hurt and scared.
Attorney General Brown: Fine! Once you bring him in, I'll give him the Medal of Honor. That's if Rethrick doesn't find him first!
Agent Klein: I don't understand.
Attorney General Brown: Decker was working at JPL on a laser-enhanced lens. He claimed the lens was powerful enough to see around the curvature of the universe.
[He picks up a red apple to demonstrate]
Attorney General Brown: Decker believed that if you could see around a curve that went on forever, you would end up back where you started. Looking at yourself.
[Brown tosses the apple to Klein]
Agent Dodge: Except you're not looking back at yourself now, in the present.
Attorney General Brown: No, you are not. You're looking at the future.
[Klein understands now]
Attorney General Brown: Can you imagine what'll happen if Jennings figures out what he's done and tries to profit from it? Any nation in the world would give him a king's ransom.
Agent Dodge: Jennings won't do that. I was this close to him. He never lied. When he heard what he's being accused of, he was hurt and scared.
Attorney General Brown: Fine! Once you bring him in, I'll give him the Medal of Honor. That's if Rethrick doesn't find him first!
Shorty: You never once asked me what I see when I erase your memory. Basically, the last two months just never happened for you.
Michael Jennings: So, what's to know? Twenty hours a day in a clean room, ripping off one guy's idea for a computer, selling it to somebody. You know. What'd you do, the last two months? You know what the last thing I remember is? Driving in Spain in the Aston Martin, learning to dive in Belize with, uh, what's her name. The Seven Stadiums in Seven Days trip; it's great! I mean, uh, my memories are basically highlights. It's good. It's a good life. The stuff you erase? I, uh, it doesn't matter.
Michael Jennings: So, what's to know? Twenty hours a day in a clean room, ripping off one guy's idea for a computer, selling it to somebody. You know. What'd you do, the last two months? You know what the last thing I remember is? Driving in Spain in the Aston Martin, learning to dive in Belize with, uh, what's her name. The Seven Stadiums in Seven Days trip; it's great! I mean, uh, my memories are basically highlights. It's good. It's a good life. The stuff you erase? I, uh, it doesn't matter.
Jimmy Rethrick: Michael Jennings died exactly three minutes after 3. And the government was left with no case. Closed its case with Allcom. So you see, it's impossible that he escaped unless you've changed something.
Wolfe: I didn't.
Jimmy Rethrick: What were you doing, exactly?
Wolfe: I was eating pie.
Wolfe: I didn't.
Jimmy Rethrick: What were you doing, exactly?
Wolfe: I was eating pie.
[Michael and Rachel have entered the inner sanctum, where the computer is which, presumably, Michael designed or reverse-engineered]
Michael Jennings: Let's take a look at the future before we destroy this thing.
[Jennings looks intense, then smiles as he discovers that he innately knows how to place his fingers and palms on the devices. But his smile turns to a frown as he discovers the same virus message that Brown has been receiving: ERROR - 41. He taps at some controls, then whispers:]
Michael Jennings: I bugged it! I rigged it, so Jimmy wouldn't use it against me.
Rachel Porter: Then you can fix it, right?
[He sighs and climbs down into the engineering section]
Michael Jennings: Where would I have planted that bug? Maybe I wanted the motherboards. Whoa! Whoa!
[He sees that Rachel has picked up a monkey wrench]
Michael Jennings: We won't be needing this, okay? You're dangerous with that thing!
[He seizes the monkey wrench and tosses it away onto the ground. Rachel's fingers curl against her bosom]
Rachel Porter: You must have given yourself something to help you find it.
Michael Jennings: I know. The only things left would be are the bullet and the, this.
Rachel Porter: The crossword?
Michael Jennings: Yeah!
Michael Jennings: [He studies it] Look at this: 12-Down.
[the clue is circled in ink and it reads: Used for changing connections in a circuit]
Michael Jennings: Maybe it's here.
Michael Jennings: [He counts circuits until he comes to the twelfth] Maybe it's a circuit diagram? I wouldn't have put it in the primary path. Twelve down.
[By placing the crossword puzzle over the grid, he discovers the bug; and he looks at Rachel with sly pride. They grin at each other. The virus warning turns into a pleasing display on the screen]
Michael Jennings: [In another room, Rethrick has been spying on them and has followed their progress]
Jimmy Rethrick: Take 'em.
Wolfe: Okay, Corridor 3, Level A: Jennings' lab.
[Rethrick arms his pistol and starts walking]
Michael Jennings: Let's take a look at the future before we destroy this thing.
[Jennings looks intense, then smiles as he discovers that he innately knows how to place his fingers and palms on the devices. But his smile turns to a frown as he discovers the same virus message that Brown has been receiving: ERROR - 41. He taps at some controls, then whispers:]
Michael Jennings: I bugged it! I rigged it, so Jimmy wouldn't use it against me.
Rachel Porter: Then you can fix it, right?
[He sighs and climbs down into the engineering section]
Michael Jennings: Where would I have planted that bug? Maybe I wanted the motherboards. Whoa! Whoa!
[He sees that Rachel has picked up a monkey wrench]
Michael Jennings: We won't be needing this, okay? You're dangerous with that thing!
[He seizes the monkey wrench and tosses it away onto the ground. Rachel's fingers curl against her bosom]
Rachel Porter: You must have given yourself something to help you find it.
Michael Jennings: I know. The only things left would be are the bullet and the, this.
Rachel Porter: The crossword?
Michael Jennings: Yeah!
Michael Jennings: [He studies it] Look at this: 12-Down.
[the clue is circled in ink and it reads: Used for changing connections in a circuit]
Michael Jennings: Maybe it's here.
Michael Jennings: [He counts circuits until he comes to the twelfth] Maybe it's a circuit diagram? I wouldn't have put it in the primary path. Twelve down.
[By placing the crossword puzzle over the grid, he discovers the bug; and he looks at Rachel with sly pride. They grin at each other. The virus warning turns into a pleasing display on the screen]
Michael Jennings: [In another room, Rethrick has been spying on them and has followed their progress]
Jimmy Rethrick: Take 'em.
Wolfe: Okay, Corridor 3, Level A: Jennings' lab.
[Rethrick arms his pistol and starts walking]
[Jennings visits the bank to deposit his $92 million-plus dollars and to ask for some cash. Jane, the banker, hands him a large envelope, which he had mailed to himself]
Jane: Your personal items.
Michael Jennings: Yes?
Jane: [Smiling about the postage on the envelope] You only needed four stamps.
[He sees that there are five postage stamps with the picture of Albert Einstein on each one]
Michael Jennings: Oh. Well, I guess I can afford the extra fifty cents.
[She laughs. He shakes the items out of the envelope. They include a watch, a book of matches, a pack of cigarettes, sunglasses, a diamond ring, a bent piece of steel, a coin, and other items]
Michael Jennings: Um, I don't think this is my stuff.
Jane: It's not?
Michael Jennings: No.
Jane: I, I, I don't know what happened.
Michael Jennings: That's all right. Don't worry about it. I'll... um, it doesn't matter. Let's talk about my shares. Um, what I'd like to do is get some money now.
[They both laugh]
Michael Jennings: And, you know, put the rest away for long term, you know, to live off. So, how do we do that?
Jane: [puzzled] Mr. Jennings, you forfeited your shares.
Michael Jennings: I beg your pardon? What?
Jane: Yeah, uh, here. Uh, dated, um, four weeks ago. You surrendered the shares and stated to deliver only the envelope with personals. Don't you remember doing that, sir?
Jane: Your personal items.
Michael Jennings: Yes?
Jane: [Smiling about the postage on the envelope] You only needed four stamps.
[He sees that there are five postage stamps with the picture of Albert Einstein on each one]
Michael Jennings: Oh. Well, I guess I can afford the extra fifty cents.
[She laughs. He shakes the items out of the envelope. They include a watch, a book of matches, a pack of cigarettes, sunglasses, a diamond ring, a bent piece of steel, a coin, and other items]
Michael Jennings: Um, I don't think this is my stuff.
Jane: It's not?
Michael Jennings: No.
Jane: I, I, I don't know what happened.
Michael Jennings: That's all right. Don't worry about it. I'll... um, it doesn't matter. Let's talk about my shares. Um, what I'd like to do is get some money now.
[They both laugh]
Michael Jennings: And, you know, put the rest away for long term, you know, to live off. So, how do we do that?
Jane: [puzzled] Mr. Jennings, you forfeited your shares.
Michael Jennings: I beg your pardon? What?
Jane: Yeah, uh, here. Uh, dated, um, four weeks ago. You surrendered the shares and stated to deliver only the envelope with personals. Don't you remember doing that, sir?
Rachel Porter: Michael, are you okay?
Michael Jennings: I'm all right.
Rachel Porter: Michael, I don't know what you saw in your machine, but I remember a few weeks ago, you came back from your lab and you were pale. You asked me the strangest question.
Michael Jennings: What?
Rachel Porter: If I knew it wouldn't work out for you and I, before we were together, would I have done it?
Michael Jennings: What did you say?
Rachel Porter: That I wouldn't trade our time for anything. It's all we are: the sum of our experiences. Besides, some of the best things in life are total mistakes.
Michael Jennings: I'm all right.
Rachel Porter: Michael, I don't know what you saw in your machine, but I remember a few weeks ago, you came back from your lab and you were pale. You asked me the strangest question.
Michael Jennings: What?
Rachel Porter: If I knew it wouldn't work out for you and I, before we were together, would I have done it?
Michael Jennings: What did you say?
Rachel Porter: That I wouldn't trade our time for anything. It's all we are: the sum of our experiences. Besides, some of the best things in life are total mistakes.
[Michael is focusing on the Einstein stamps on the envelope of items]
Rachel Porter: What?
Michael Jennings: You know, when I checked this envelope out of Reddy Grant, they told me I signed in twenty items. But there were only nineteen.
Rachel Porter: I don't understand.
[He picks up a magnifying glass and examines the Einstein stamps. One of them has a strangely pixelated eye. The camera cuts to a laboratory in which Jennings is examining the stamps under a microscope while Rachel stands behind him. The pixels turn out to be Seattle newspaper headlines, such as "Machine Predicts Future" and "Stock Market Panic."]
Rachel Porter: [frightened] What are these pictures of?
Rachel Porter: What?
Michael Jennings: You know, when I checked this envelope out of Reddy Grant, they told me I signed in twenty items. But there were only nineteen.
Rachel Porter: I don't understand.
[He picks up a magnifying glass and examines the Einstein stamps. One of them has a strangely pixelated eye. The camera cuts to a laboratory in which Jennings is examining the stamps under a microscope while Rachel stands behind him. The pixels turn out to be Seattle newspaper headlines, such as "Machine Predicts Future" and "Stock Market Panic."]
Rachel Porter: [frightened] What are these pictures of?
Rachel Porter: I, um, I brought you some clothes. I thought you might need them. It's okay.
Michael Jennings: Thank you. These are mine?
Rachel Porter: You don't remember?
Michael Jennings: No.
Rachel Porter: You don't remember me, do you?
Michael Jennings: Well, uh...
Rachel Porter: These are for you.
Michael Jennings: Thank you. These are mine?
Rachel Porter: You don't remember?
Michael Jennings: No.
Rachel Porter: You don't remember me, do you?
Michael Jennings: Well, uh...
Rachel Porter: These are for you.
Wolfe: So, you're saying he sent himself a different set of personal items, ones he'd selected after using the machine, and nothing our security would flag.
Jimmy Rethrick: Everyday things. Combined with the power of foresight, transform Michael from engineer to escape artist.
[Rethrick looks at the continued computer virus signal and adds grimly: ]
Jimmy Rethrick: I don't know about you, but I'd like to return the favor.
Jimmy Rethrick: Everyday things. Combined with the power of foresight, transform Michael from engineer to escape artist.
[Rethrick looks at the continued computer virus signal and adds grimly: ]
Jimmy Rethrick: I don't know about you, but I'd like to return the favor.
[first lines]
Holographic Woman: It's time to wake up... and get a life. We live in a 3-dimensional world. Until now, the world of computing has been a flat world, consisting of 2-dimensional imagery. Now, through the use of exclusive breakthrough technology, ARC has made it possible for you to get a life. A-Life, where we can work and play in a lifelike world of 3-dimensional reality. A-Life, the living monitor.
Holographic Woman: It's time to wake up... and get a life. We live in a 3-dimensional world. Until now, the world of computing has been a flat world, consisting of 2-dimensional imagery. Now, through the use of exclusive breakthrough technology, ARC has made it possible for you to get a life. A-Life, where we can work and play in a lifelike world of 3-dimensional reality. A-Life, the living monitor.
[Jennings sees Rachel at the party and is fascinated by her beauty; he leaves Shorty, who has no one else to hang out with]
Michael Jennings: Hello. I'm Michael.
Rachel Porter: I'm Rachel. Rachel Porter.
Michael Jennings: Is that Miss or Mrs?
Rachel Porter: Mm. That would be Doctor Porter.
Michael Jennings: Doctor! Well. Excuse me, Doctor.
Rachel Porter: [laughs] It's all right.
Michael Jennings: What kind of, uh, doctor are you?
Rachel Porter: I'm a biologist.
Michael Jennings: Really.
[Across the room, Shorty sees a waiter passing with a tray of hors d'oeuvres and gestures that he would like one, but is ignored. He grimaces]
Michael Jennings: Do you work for Jimmy?
Rachel Porter: [nodding] Mm-hm.
Michael Jennings: So it must be very top-secret biology that you practice.
Rachel Porter: [with a sly, sexy look] Oh, yes. Isn't everything?
Michael Jennings: Let's go.
Rachel Porter: Excuse me?
Michael Jennings: I mean, I'm happy to continue blathering on and trying helplessly to charm you, but I thought maybe, you know, cut to the chase and just, you know, go somewhere.
Rachel Porter: [laughing] I'll tell you what, Michael. I'm gonna walk over there and talk to a friend of mine. If you get the urge to have a real conversation, you'll know where to find me.
Michael Jennings: Okay. Fair enough. It was nice to meet you.
Rachel Porter: Giving up so easily? You don't believe in second chances, now, do you?
Michael Jennings: In my experience, no, I don't.
Michael Jennings: Hello. I'm Michael.
Rachel Porter: I'm Rachel. Rachel Porter.
Michael Jennings: Is that Miss or Mrs?
Rachel Porter: Mm. That would be Doctor Porter.
Michael Jennings: Doctor! Well. Excuse me, Doctor.
Rachel Porter: [laughs] It's all right.
Michael Jennings: What kind of, uh, doctor are you?
Rachel Porter: I'm a biologist.
Michael Jennings: Really.
[Across the room, Shorty sees a waiter passing with a tray of hors d'oeuvres and gestures that he would like one, but is ignored. He grimaces]
Michael Jennings: Do you work for Jimmy?
Rachel Porter: [nodding] Mm-hm.
Michael Jennings: So it must be very top-secret biology that you practice.
Rachel Porter: [with a sly, sexy look] Oh, yes. Isn't everything?
Michael Jennings: Let's go.
Rachel Porter: Excuse me?
Michael Jennings: I mean, I'm happy to continue blathering on and trying helplessly to charm you, but I thought maybe, you know, cut to the chase and just, you know, go somewhere.
Rachel Porter: [laughing] I'll tell you what, Michael. I'm gonna walk over there and talk to a friend of mine. If you get the urge to have a real conversation, you'll know where to find me.
Michael Jennings: Okay. Fair enough. It was nice to meet you.
Rachel Porter: Giving up so easily? You don't believe in second chances, now, do you?
Michael Jennings: In my experience, no, I don't.
