Maybe Happy Ending

Oliver powers up, listening to "Why Love?" by Gil Brentley, an old jazz singer. An automated voice announces that there will be power outages in the Helperbot Yards, and Oliver declares that he is already fully charged and ready to start the day.

Oliver's wall charger pulses green slowly as he charges.

Oliver is waiting for his owner, James, to come pick him up from this Helperbot retirement home. The days pass as he sings about how he spends each day ("The World Within My Room"). 12 years pass over the course of the song. At the end it is revealed that replacement parts for Oliver's model of helperbot have been discontinued.

These lights flash briefly from white to red a few times to signal that a delivery is occurring.

Same as the previous flash.

Same as the previous flash.

The delivery flash occurs three times, and the entire room shifts from warm white to cool white to deep blue several times to signify the passing of time.

Same as the previous flash.

Oliver lets Claire charge using his charger. He is jealous that she is a newer model of Helperbot and annoys her enough that she decides to leave and try to fix her own charger.

Oliver's wall charger pulses red slowly and then after a while green very slowly as Claire charges.

Claire sings "The Way That It Has To Be" as she tries and fails to repair her charger. She calls helperbot friends for assistance, but they are unable to help her. Claire is determined to keep living as long as she can. At the end of her song she is interrupted by Oliver, who offers to help her after all.

Claire's wall charger blinks orange throughout the scene to simulate an error alert you'd see on a malfunctioning device.

Claire runs a diagnostic test on herself and learns that her battery capacity has been greatly reduced and there are no repair options for her.

Claire's wall charger slowly pulses green as she charges.

Claire is bored and visits Oliver. She questions why he is wearing a raincoat and he admits that he has been recycling bottles to raise money to return to his owner, James, who now lives on Jeju island.

Throughout the scene a light from Oliver's window very slowly pulses red and blue.

Oliver imagines being reunited with James and helping him once more. They sing "This is Where You Belong"

This is a very small and subtle fireplace effect that does not last very long.

Claire reminisces about seeing fireflies on Jeju Island and tells Oliver about them.

Throughout the scene a light from Oliver's window very slowly pulses red and blue.

Claire tells Oliver about fireflies and how beautiful and rare they are.

The LED tape border around the scene grows in width and many small segments of it gently brighten and dim in a randomized order.

Claire is inspired to go with Oliver to Jeju to see fireflies again. She offers to drive him there tonight in her car and he nervously agrees, excited to see James again. They excitedly pack and sing "Hitting the Road." They feel bittersweet as they sing "Goodbye, My Room" and prepare to leave.

Throughout the scene a light from Oliver's window very slowly pulses red and blue.

Oliver and Claire head to Jeju island in Claire's car. Oliver insists that they come up with a cover story to conceal their robot identities if they are questioned. They decide to pretend they are a vacationing couple named Jenny and Nat King Cole.

Lights aimed at Claire and Oliver have rotating gobos to simulate street lights passing as they drive. The LED tape draws lines that appear to move toward the center of the stage to reinforce a sense of motion.

Oliver and Claire promise not to ever really fall in love. Oliver points out that it's good that they can't fall in love, because love is temporary. This triggers Claire to have a flashback to her owner asking her boyfriend to move in together.

The previous car motion effects reoccur.

Claire has a flashback. Her owner Jiyeon teaches her boyfriend, Suhan about Helperbots, as he hasn't ever interacted with one before. They ask Claire questions about love, and Jiyeon asks Suhan to move in with her.

Oliver brings Claire back to reality when he points out that her battery is running low. They decide to stop at a motel for the night, which means they'll have to convince humans that they are humans, too.

Similar but slightly faster car motion effects occur.

Gil Brentley continues singing "Jenny" as Oliver and Claire exit.

The overhead moving lights do a slow ballyhoo in the audience.

Gil exits by being lowered down a trap door. The song finishes and the robots are revealed in their hotel room.

This is a continuation of the previous entry. The overhead lights move to aim at Gil and all begin flashing. Though individually they operate at about 2.5 hertz, their combined effect on Gil makes the perceived frequency higher.

Claire turns on Terminator 2, which Oliver loves. He mimics the Terminator and then settles down to watch as Claire sings "How to Be Not Alone." Claire is enjoying spending time with Oliver despite his quirks and hopes that he is enjoying her company, too.

This is a pretty subtle and slow TV effect.

Claire secretly explores Oliver's memories and finds that James most likely retired Oliver to the Helperbot Yards without telling Oliver.

Small segments of the LED tape bordering the scenery gently brighten and dim in a randomized order.

The robots continue driving toward Jeju and sing Hitting the Road Part 3. Oliver's excitement is growing and Claire wonders if he will be hurt when he sees James.

Lights aimed at Oliver and Claire have rotating gobos to convey motion as they drive.

The robots continue singing Hitting The Road Part 3. They board a ferry and reach Jeju island.

A moving light rotates its animation wheel (similar to a gobo) to mimic water reflections on a life preserver.

Claire shares her memories with Oliver. First is one of her owner, Jiyeon, reassuring Claire that her divorce was not Claire's fault. She teaches Claire her password and restores a memory that she'd previously deleted.

Small segments of the LED tape bordering the scenery gently brighten and dim in a randomized order.

Claire relives a memory of Jiyeon's husband, Suhan expressing unhappiness in his relationship and confessing his love for Claire. When he realizes Claire doesn't love him back, he tries to forcibly erase her memory of the last two minutes. Jiyeon interrupts him and the memory fades back to reality.

Claire and Oliver see first one firefly and then many, running among them joyfully. String players onstage play the background music along with James on a piano at center. Claire and Oliver catch one of the fireflies in a jar and sing "Never Fly Away."

Same as the previous flash.

Each individual light blinks very slowly, the combined effect across the whole stage may increase the perceived frequency.

Gil Brentley sings "I'm Not A Sentimental Person" as the robots board the ferry and ride it back to mainland Korea. Oliver and Claire now seem nervous around each other. They catch themselves staring at each other and make awkward attempts at conversation. Claire is pleased when Oliver leans his head against her shoulder, which he covers up by claiming his battery is low.

A moving light rotates its animation wheel (similar to a gobo) to mimic water reflections on a life preserver.

Oliver and Claire are back in the car as Gil Brentley continues singing "I'm Not A Sentimental Person." Gil offers Oliver some of his drink, which he drinks and experiences a minor malfunction - a zap is heard and he releases some smoke, which he waves away, embarrassed. Claire laughs. They finish the drive and reenter their apartment building.

Lights aimed at Claire and Oliver have rotating gobos to simulate street lights passing as they drive. The LED tape draws lines that appear to move away from the center of the stage to reinforce a sense of motion.

Oliver receives the latest issue of Jazz Monthly, and he and Claire are excited to find that it features the one and only Gil Brentley.

The LED strip flashes briefly to indicate that a mail delivery is happening.

Oliver makes plans to fix Claire's battery, but she points out that there is no way to fix her. They acknowledge that they know their shelf lives and that Oliver will last much longer than Claire. Claire wishes that erasing their hard drives were an option, but Oliver doesn't know his password. They decide to stop being in love so that it won't be as difficult to be apart later. They try just declaring that they don't love each other anymore, and after a few hours of repeating it, they think it may have worked. Claire leaves Oliver's apartment.

The wall charger pulses very slowly as Claire charges.

Oliver is surprised to find that Junseo is visiting him. Junseo tells Oliver that he misses his father even though he still carries resentment for him, and he would like to download Oliver's memories of James. Oliver sees how important these memories are to Junseo, who has even started listening to his father's old records. Oliver learns his password and asks Junseo if he thinks James would mind him knowing it. Junseo tells Oliver that he is free now.

Throughout the scene a light from Oliver's window very slowly pulses red and blue.

Junseo steps out in front of Oliver's apartment and watches various video clips of Oliver's memories of the two men's relationship.

Claire releases the firefly she and Oliver caught in Jeju, which blinks as it flies away. Oliver throws away anything Claire gave him as he prepares to erase his memory.

Same as the previous flash.

Claire and Oliver meet in a liminal space with large images of themselves displayed around them. They walk toward each other and meet in the center of the stage. They are lifted up a few feet into the air and a ceiling comes in close over their heads.

The movers overhead rotate their animation wheels (similar to a gobo). The scene is very hazy and the beams from the movers may be perceived as flashing.

Claire and Oliver stare at each other at the center of the stage. All around them a video sequence plays in which their memories of each other are erased from their minds. A bright bars of light streak down and across the stage, accelerating in time with the underscoring to create a strobing effect that culminates in a moment of bright whiteness followed by total darkness.

After the memory erasure sequence, two fireflies are seen together in the darkness. One appears to fly into the distance away from the audience, and another flies over the audiences' heads in the opposite direction.

The fireflies each blink very gently and slowly.

The scene echoes the first meeting between Oliver and Claire. Oliver's whispers to HwaBoon reveal that he didn't erase his memories after all, which he is keeping a secret from Claire. He discusses the shortcomings of her model of helperbot, but also brings up some positive aspects. Claire is nervous about her battery and asks, "Do you think it'll be okay?" To which he responds, "I hope so." He stares at her as she looks out the window, and the scenery irises in on HwaBoon.

The logo pulses gently and slowly as Claire charges.