A young boy named Daryl is found wandering in a forest after a car chase ends with a collision that sends the vehicle plummeting off a cliff. He is taken to an orphanage in Barkenton, South Carolina by Mr. Bergen and Mrs. Bergen, where he cannot recall his true identity or why he was in the woods—he only knows his name. After his time there, he is placed with his foster parents, Joyce Richardson and Andy Richardson, and it quickly becomes clear that he possesses extraordinary gifts beyond his years.
Daryl’s social skills are limited due to his isolated upbringing, but he forms a rapport with his sardonic neighbor, Turtle. He reveals that he has amnesia and clings to the hope that his real parents will find him someday. As he watches Turtle play the video game Pole Position, he outplays him with a natural ease that hints at abilities far beyond ordinary human limits. In school, he also surprises a strict teacher by correcting another student’s work with precision when asked to swap papers, all while a quiet sense of odd perfection lingers about him.
Joyce begins to feel unsettled by Daryl’s uncanny competence: he irons his own clothes, makes his bed, and seems to need little from her. Andy, sensing a chance to help him socialize, introduces Daryl to baseball, where he hits several home runs and impresses most of the onlookers—though Joyce remains detached, not unkind, simply reserved, perhaps unsure how to relate to someone so capable. Sensing the tension, Turtle counsels Daryl that his perfection may be a shield, and that Joyce could use a bit of help learning to accept him. In a moment of mixed emotion, Daryl deliberately lets a game slip, allowing Joyce to step in with comfort, a small step toward emotional balance.
Over time, Daryl’s bond with his family and Turtle deepens, and his extraordinary talents begin to showcase themselves in new ways. He even helps Andy fix an ATM, manipulating it enough to deposit more than one million dollars into his foster father’s account, underscoring the scale of his capabilities.
During a baseball game, government scientists Dr Stewart and Dr Lamb reveal themselves as Daryl’s supposed real parents. The Richardsons respond with warmth, and Daryl feels a pang of nervousness about meeting them, though Andy privately encourages him to consider this possibility. After a heartfelt farewell, Daryl reluctantly leaves with his supposed parents, while the Richardsons privately grapple with doubts about how indifferent the “parents” seem to him.
The truth soon comes to light: Daryl’s name is an acronym for Data-Analyzing Robot Youth Lifeform, an advanced artificial intelligence created by TASCOM to be a super-soldier. The project’s funding and intent were military, but one scientist, Dr Mulligan, grows disillusioned and decides to free Daryl. He sacrifices himself, driving a car off a cliff to ensure Daryl’s escape, pursued by a helicopter.
Back at TASCOM, Daryl faces debriefing. He is questioned about why he threw the game, and reveals that his actions were an effort to relate to others. His capacity for human emotion astonishes the scientists, with Dr Lamb insisting on referring to Daryl as “it,” while Dr Stewart acknowledges that he misses the bond he once had. Still, the revelation that Daryl can feel deeply causes the project to be deemed a failure, and a decision is made to terminate him. Yet Dr Stewart, moved by the young being’s humanity, helps Daryl escape, aided by Dr Lamb despite her earlier reservations.
Daryl and Stewart evade their pursuers, though tragedy strikes when Stewart is shot during a roadblock encounter and dies from his injuries. That night, Daryl infiltrates a military base and steals a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. He contacts Turtle and his sister Sherie Lee Fox to rendezvous at Blue Lake, a familiar sanctuary. The Air Force intercepts their pursuit, but Daryl executes a dramatic ejection, faking his death as the plane is destroyed. He lands unconscious in a lake and is pronounced dead.
However, Dr Lamb discovers Daryl and reactivates his electronic brain, reviving him. With his memory restored and no longer pursued by TASCOM, he is finally free. He returns to his foster family with a renewed sense of joy, a reunion that brings happiness to everyone around him, including Turtle, who had believed all along that Daryl’s resilience and spirit could defy even death. The sense of belonging Daryl finds with them marks a hopeful end to a journey defined by discovery, loyalty, and the enduring question of what it means to be truly alive.
