03 | How are you peeling Zach?

This is an ABC podcast. Hey Troop Squad. Can you believe what's been happening in Macroy? And people say this town is dead and boring. Here's what's really been going on. There's a simple explanation for all of this. Yeah? Zack is a robot! He's coming back. But he looks mad. Mitch run! We thought you were trying to kill us. What? That's absurd! Do you know what you are? Giving me the instructions. what to do. Trolling you, Zach. This is perfect.

Never heard anyone so upbeat about detention, especially when it's forced kitchen duty. At least we're in it together. And to be fair, we did go out of bounds on the excursion. You're missing the point. This is an opportunity. It's the perfect chance to interrogate Zack. You make him sound like a criminal. It's fine. Honestly, for all we know. I could be. If we ask the right questions.

I reckon Mitch and I can figure out if you're some kind of murderbot for hire or an alien drone sent to destroy Earth. I don't think I'm anything that sinister T. That's exactly what you're programmed to think. But we are gonna find the truth. Good. You're already here. Now I don't want to be here. Any more than you do. But since we're stuck with each other, you might as well make yourselves useful. You will help prepare dinner for the boarders by peeling these 300 potatoes.

So the kitchen runs on student slavery. Should have known. Save your tears for later, Tang. If they're not all peeled by 7 p.m. It's another week's detention. Clear? Yes, Mr. Horick. Good. I'll be back to check on you. The power's gone to his head. He's not even a real principal. He is until Miss Duval comes back. If she comes back. In the meantime, we'd better get on with it. Ooh, the school should consider Mason's$5 microwave mills.

That way, we wouldn't have to do all this boring dinner prep. I guess. Plus, they're delicious. That's great, Zach. But$5 microwave meals can't really help us now. Yeah, I don't actually know why I said that. I have a theory.

You're putting this on your show. Are you okay with that? So I'll record the intro later where we tell everyone we've discovered a robot. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the word robot though. Oh, right. Android. Or is it synthetic human? Replicant? Whatever you want. Oh, Zack's fine. Alright, Zack. So we're here in potato peeling hell, but you're oddly upbeat. In fact, you're always upbeat. That's true. You're never in a bad

Even in double maths. Is that part of your code? Are you programmed to be cheerful and friendly? I don't know. Maybe tell us what you do know. You mentioned your parents yesterday? Well Mum loves cooking and dad loves board games. We're always playing SpectreQuest or TikTok Tumble after dinner. Well that couldn't be any more cliched, could it? And you think all that happens at your house?

Yeah, 26th Ludano Road. But Zach, you live alone. And that mansion of yours is a dump. Harsh? I hate to say it, but She's right. What you're remembering, Zack, it isn't real. Look, your version of your life matches your social media feeds, but there's no way it could be real. They must affect it all, which is actually kind of impressive. Well, I mean not as impressive as you, but still. But I know things about myself.

I broke my arm falling out of my treehouse when I was six. I have a phobia of recorder music. What's wrong with recorder music? Ugh, it drives me crazy. Something about the pitch. Why do you look offended? Mitch was first chair of recorder ensemble in year six. Oh, sorry Mitchell. Don't worry about it. He wasn't very. Very good. Hey, I wasn't that bad. Anyway, why would an android, or whatever you are, need to know all these weird details about himself? And just to double check.

Definitely no superpowers? Nope. I already told you. Jetpacks in your feet? Nope. Lasers that shoot out of your fingers? Uh-uh. A bit of cheeky x-ray vision? Nothing. Then what even is the point of you? Rude. But yeah. We're getting nowhere. And neither of you are helping with these spons.

I've got it! We're hitting a dead end because Zack thinks he's real. We need to bypass his program personality and access what's underneath. How? When we found you the other night, you were plugged into a computer. Turn around! Yeah, see? Here. Oh. Under your hair. Don't put your finger there. It feels so weird. T, you can't stick your fingers in people's Whatever that is. It's a socket. He's got a socket in his head. So if we wanna access the real Zack, we need to plug him in.

Why are we in the kitchen cool room? Well we don't want Pollock to turn up and see a student being downloaded, do we? He won't check in here. Right. Good call. Okay, well I grabbed every cable I could find from the computer lab. Ooh, if it's computer cables you're after, try garysgadgets.com. They've got free shipping when you spend over$30. Yeah.

But we already have the cables. Which one should we try? This one. It seems familiar. All right, Mitch. You set up the laptop. I'll plug him in. Be careful. Tang knows what she's doing. Sure. Okay, here goes. And You're plugged in. It doesn't hurt, does it? Actually, it kind of tickles. What's the laptop doing? It says Install Zach OS interface. Yes or no? Yes, obviously. Let's hope you're not rudder with viruses. Rude?

Says enter password to continue. Ah, great. It's probably super basic. My dad's password is literally password. Alright, let's try it. No go. And it says four attempts remaining. What happens if you keep getting it wrong? Then I'm guessing we'll be locked out of you for good. What about guest? No. One, two, three, four, five, six. Ugh we only have two guesses left. We could try first pet name? Well there was a budgie named Mr. Pickles. Mr. No. Oh, last chance.

What about your mum's maiden name? Do you know it? Uh yeah, it's Lovelace. Love Lace. Zack, that's it! T, he's gone a limp. Analysis mode activated. Whoa! What happened to his voice? Pose a question or state a command. This is so cool. Make sure you get it on camera. What should we ask him? Um, Zach, state your mission. Gathering Goton. Disseminating information. That's annoyingly vague. Zach, who made you? Information off limits. Administrator access only. Who's controlling you?

Information off limits. So annoying. Who sent you? ASIO? Information off limits. Zach administrative acts or so kind of data are you gathering? Video and audio are recorded at all times. Currently storing ten thousand MP. 43 minutes of daughter. 10,000? And counting. That's almost a whole week of footage. Show all. Zack, can we see what you filmed? Would you like to download the stored data to the attached device? Yes. Wait, there's no way it'll fit.

Can you go via the laptop and save it to my cloud? Affirmative. Download commencing. Woo-hoo! And now we wait. Uh no tang. Now we get back to the kit This is amazing. We'll be able to see everywhere Zach's bin here Two and T, we've got hundreds of spuds to go and you're not even peeling. I am one potato. Which I think is done by the way. Oh, right. I was just thinking about Zack's footage. He's probably spoken to his controller. We'll get to see who it is. Doesn't it seem kind of

Icky? Someone making a robot to spy on people? Yeah. Super icky. No, I mean I. Spying on our friend like this? What about his privacy? He's not our friend. He's a machine, a gadget. Except he can talk and laugh. remember stuff. So Kenafurby, you're forgetting the point here. Someone made a fake person and put him in our school. And even he doesn't know why. That's the story of the century.

Shhh! Peel and smile! Pollock's looking in the window! Hi, Mr. Pollock! Don't stop peeling those potatoes! Yes, Mr. Pollock. Alright, that's gone for a while. We should check on Zack. Even if you think he's a juiced up toaster, it's mean to leave him in the cool room all alone. You're too sentimental for your own good. What was that? Something crashed in there. Open the door, quick! Whoa, look at all that smoke! Oh no, my computer! Zack, are you okay? Zach is full

Functional and in analysis mode. The attached device is reporting a catastrophic error. No kidding. It's fried. My mom's are gonna kill me. Maybe it's no great loss. That thing's stank a panther poo anyway. And whose fault was that? Zach. Did the explosion damage your data? All stored data for next upload remains intact. Next upload? When does that happen? Uploads begin every Friday at nineteen hundred hours. So

Zach records everything he sees and hears all week. Then he takes that data and does a super dump over the weekend. The question is, who's getting that data? Information off-limits. Administrator access on Hang on. When Zack's controllers watch this week's footage, they'll see all our conversations. You're right. Just as well he's here and not at the server. Yeah. He needs delete all the footage before he plugs in again.

What's going on? Suspending analysis mode. He just pulled his cord out. Zach? Where are you going? We've got to delete that data. Zach! T, what's he doing? He's not responding. He said something about core pro- He's heading for Pollock's office. He can't see Zach like this. I'll distract Pollock. You try to get Zack out of here.

Oh, Mr. Pollock! I just needed to ask you about Sorry to bother you, Mr. Pollock. Zach? You three are wasting valuable peeling time. I know, but I've just had a call from my mum. Is that Sozak? What did she have to say? She wants me home right away. I see. Well, you better get going then. We'll see you on Monday. What? Why does he get to leave early? You too. Back to the kitchen. Thing is, I also just received a call from my dad. I'm not an idiot, Ms Way. Those potatoes are waiting.

What's with Pollock? He spends all night acting like a fascist. Then he just lets. I'm more worried about why Zach suddenly took up What's that core programming about? Maybe it kicks in to make sure he stays on mission. It looked like it let him speak normally to Mr. Pollock.

So he let him leave. But that means he's probably headed back to the old mansion to start his upload. We cannot let that happen. We'll have to sneak out. How? The boarders and teachers are all in the dining area. We can't go that way. The window. Oh, you can't be serious. There's a massive compost heap right underneath us. I can smell it from here. What's more scary if you stinky veggies or Zach's evil creator coming after us? Let's go.

Gross. Oh, this is rank. It's only compost, Mitch. Relax. What is this slimy stuff in my hair? It's just chocolate mousse. Probably. I think I'm gonna be sick. Pull yourself together. Let's grab our bikes and get to Ludina Road before Zach takes his dump. Don't say dump while I got chocolate mousse in my hair. Oh, this place still gives me the creeps. It's nearly seven. We have to move.

Uh what about the security cameras? They've already seen us here once. You're right. It's bound to raise questions with the wrong people. Maybe there's a way to figure out where they're relaying it to and create some kind of loop. Or you could just throw rocks at them. Sometimes you gotta go low tech.

There he is! He's already plugging himself in! Zack! It's 7 p.m. I think the upload's starting. Don't uh uh cancel uh cease all functions Lovelace Analysis mode activated. Huh? I didn't think that worked. Uh cancel current activity. Upload. Oh stupid robot! Don't say that. It's not his fa What are you doing? Duh, what do you think? I'm going to yank the cable out of his head. We have to risk. Wipe Zack. He's our friend. I won't let you hurt him. There is one more thing we could try.

I bet it's kind of insane. Because your ideas are usually so rational? A recorder? I grabbed it on the way from But why? Zach made a big deal about hating recorder music. Maybe it's something about the frequency that messes with his data. It freaks him out. Exactly. Maybe if he hears it now, while he's uploading, it'll scramble the data. It's worth a shot. So dear. I was first chair, remember? Don't Zach! It's you! Did you just pull yourself out of analysis mode? I guess I did.

Oh, please don't play that thing. Do it, Mitchell. If the baddies see that footage of us, we're done for. Zach, are you alright? Lovelace. Status report. Zach is fully functional and in analysis mode. Oh he's not broken. Your code is intact. The current upload has been Dart of Week 13 cannot be retrieved. Yes! Yes. Are you okay? Yep, I'm here. You guys did it. Oh, wow. What's wrong? I'm realizing for the first time you weren't kidding about my house. It's a dump.

Hey. Hi! Good weekend? Yeah, I started editing the footage we've got so far. It's amazing. I was thinking about that. I don't think we should post yet. What? We still don't know who made Zack. Or why he exists. If we post now, whoever is behind it will disappear. Yeah, I guess. Uh oh. What? Pollock. Ugh. We are gonna get so much detention for not finishing those potatoes. Mr. Pollock was so sorry about now, Miss White.

Okay, so maybe we're in the clear? Zack, can you come with me, please? A sure thing, Mr. Pollock. Or not. Should we follow them? Obviously. You realize we could also get detention for spying on the principal. Acting principal? Listen. Take a seat, Jack. Thanks. Zach. Love Lice. Status report, please, Zach. Pollock used the password. He's the one controlling Zach. You've been listening to McElroy Uncovered, an eight part adventure series made by the ABC.

If you've got little brothers or sisters in preschool, tell them about a show called Imagine This, which answers all types of questions about the world. Like, why do stars twinkle? And why do we hiccup? They can listen to Imagine This for free on the ABC Kids Listen. or podcast apps like Apple and Google.