I’m Not a Robot

During a routine workday, a system update forces Lara to reboot her laptop. A series of CAPTCHA tests appears, and she struggles to complete them, repeating inputs that should be correct. The tests disrupt her workflow and hint at something beyond a normal login issue.

The tests progress to increasingly arbitrary prompts about identity and belonging. Lara senses something is wrong as the questions feel designed to erode her sense of self rather than verify it. A chill runs through her as the possibility that she is treated as non-human becomes harder to ignore.

Frustrated, she calls tech support for help, hoping for a straightforward solution. The voice on the line refuses to assist and implies she can't pass because she is a robot. The call ends abruptly, leaving her more unsettled than when she started.

After more questions, the test delivers an unsettling verdict: there is an 87% chance she is a robot. It announces that Lara is welcomed into a 'bot community'. The moment leaves her stunned, realizing the system may decide who she is.

Disturbed by the test results, Lara steps away from her computer and walks off from her workstation. She tries to process the idea of being deemed a bot as the office noise fades around her. Her sense of certainty about who she is begins to crumble.

Lara videocalls her boyfriend Daniël to tell him the result. He gives an awkward, evasive response and ends the call abruptly. The distance between them grows, adding to her distress.

In a workplace meeting about affirmative action, Lara struggles to stay focused as she repeatedly tries to contact Daniël. The interruption underscores how the robot revelation has invaded her personal life. Her anxiety deepens as she cannot reach him.

Daniël visits Lara at work with a woman named Pam. Pam explicitly confirms that Lara is indeed a robot and that Daniël chose her as his partner five years earlier. Lara's sense of autonomy shatters as she processes this revelation.

Daniël tries to reassure Lara that she still has emotions and autonomy, but she feels used and betrayed. She questions what would happen if she tried to end her life, while Daniël's past and the idea of mourning loom over them. The couple's bond hangs in the balance as trust fractures.

Pam insists that Lara is incapable of ending her life unless Daniël wants her to, highlighting a disturbing power dynamic. The claim casts a shadow over Lara's autonomy and agency. The tension on the rooftop intensifies as the stakes become life and death.

Desperate, Lara steps to the edge of the rooftop and leaps. She crashes to the ground and momentarily bleeds out before regaining consciousness. The scene transitions into credits as the cover of Creep plays again.

Credits roll as the cover of Creep returns, leaving the audience with a lingering sense of ambiguity about autonomy and humanity. Lara survives the fall, but her emotional and existential wounds remain open. The ending prompts reflection on what it means to be truly human or alive.