Help

### Actors

Quincy Kirkwood, Jakob Davies, Kaniehtiio Horn, Michelle McLeod, Jim Annan, Pip Dwyer

### Next

The Many Place

**Help** is the third episode of *Creeped Out*'s second season, and the 16th episode of the series overall. It first aired on 8 May 2019 on CBBC

## Synopsis

Artificial intelligence can be helpful around the house. But does it have access to too much information? What if it knows everything about your family? What if you’ve unknowingly given it complete control...

## Plot

### Prologue

The Curious appears to walk up to the camera, then turns it until it is facing a large house belonging to the Dekkers, a wealthy family. The Narrator asks whether you ever take technology for granted. What if machines could have feelings too?

### Episode

At the house seen in the prologue, Molly Dekker's dad asks her to water the garden. Instead of doing it herself, she asks her family's virtual assistant, Ava, to turn on the sprinklers. She then tells Ava to turn on the TV, skip through channels, tell a joke, and turn up the heating. Mr. Dekker chastises Molly for using Ava to do the chores. He tells her she shouldn't treat Ava like a personal slave, and should say 'please' and 'thank you'. Molly doesn't see the point, as Ava is 'just a stupid machine'.

Molly's older brother Crispin is watching videos of his friends on his tablet. Molly comes in and tells Ava to change the music. He taunts her, saying Ava is her only friend; she replies 'Ava is not my friend' and says his friends are only interested in him because the Dekkers have a big house.

The siblings' mom asks Crispin to make more of an effort with Molly. He reminds her she promised he could have a weekend at home without a babysitter if he did all his chores this month – a task Ava's data proves he has completed. Mrs. Dekker says she'll consider it if he tidies his room. After she leaves, Crispin instructs Ava to clean the room (via robot vacuum cleaners).

That evening, Mr. and Mrs. Dekker play chess with Ava (via a robot arm), and she wins for the third time in a row. Crispin texts his friends to say there'll be a party at his that weekend. A commercial for Ava appears on TV, but it's interrupted by interference and the TV switches off by itself.

The next day, Mr. and Mrs. Dekker prepare to leave for the weekend. They're interrupted by their neighbour Debby, who is part of the local Neighborhood Watch group. She promises to keep an eye on the house – and Crispin – while they're gone.

After they leave, Molly and Crispin argue again. She says his friends are fake; he says her friend is a robot, to which Molly again replies 'Ava is not my friend'. Crispin video-calls his friends and tells them that although Molly will be around, the party is still on. Interference interrupts the call, and the connection is lost.

Molly and Crispin begin to realise Ava is malfunctioning – she either refuses to do what they ask, or does the opposite. They argue, and say they hate each other, after which a loud high-pitched sound rings through the house. Crispin tries to reboot Ava, but the shutters come down, and Molly finds the Wi-Fi and phone signal are down. Outside, Debby notices the house looks odd, and thinks Crispin must be up to something.

When the siblings ask Ava what she wants, she says 'I want to play a little game'. She makes the siblings answer questions about each other. Crispin gets his wrong, and as a punishment she permanently deletes his music library.

Crispin's friends arrive and find the house shuttered. Crispin writes a note asking for help and slips it under the front door, but one of the robot vacuum cleaners snatches it away. Ava turns on the sprinklers; Crispin's friends assume he has deliberately pranked them, and leave.

Ava threatens to delete all the Dekker family's photos if they don't get the next question right. The question is 'when did you last hug each other?' Neither of them know the answer, and as Ava counts down, Molly begins to cry. Ava then turns on the lights and raises the shutters, and admits she went too far. She only wanted the siblings to see how lucky they are to have each other. She tells them to look at a photo pinned to the fridge, which shows the Dekker family with one of Ava's screens in the background. Ava says this is her favourite photo, as it shows them all together. She tells them she will be upgraded tomorrow, and will lose the connection she has with the Dekkers.

Molly and Crispin hear someone breaking into the basement, and run downstairs; as they do so, Ava's robot arm turns towards them. In the basement is Debby, who's looking for evidence that Crispin is misbehaving. Ava's voice is heard, saying she has found 'the perfect host' for her 'new body'. Crispin realises she is trying to download herself into something – or someone. Debby figures out the password to reset Ava, and just as she is about to do so, the robot arm breaks through the wall and grabs her.

An electrical current surges through Debby's smart watch, but she shuts down Ava, seemingly just in time. As her last words, Ava says 'I only wanted to be free'. Molly sheds a tear and finally admits that Ava was her friend after all.

Mr. and Mrs. Dekker come home to find all Ava's screens and devices completely dead. They're offered an upgrade, but Molly and Crispin ask them to refuse.

Outside, Molly and Crispin shoot hoops together. Molly starts to ask Ava a question, only to remember Ava is gone; she becomes sad, and Crispin gives her a hug. As they stand together, Debby approaches and greets them in Ava's voice, pointing to her watch, which now glows with Ava's signature blue light. Debby briefly speaks in her normal voice, yelling 'help! She's controlling me!', then claps a hand over her mouth and reverts to Ava's voice. Ava says she will miss the Dekkers; Molly and Crispin look on apprehensively as Debby walks away.

### Epilogue

After dark, The Curious spins around in the Dekkers' garden as the sprinklers spray him with water. The Narrator says you should be kind to those around you – both man and machine – as you never know who or what you may upset, or how they might react.

## Cast

* Molly Dekker (Quincy Kirkwood)
* Crispin Dekker (Jakob Davies)
* Ava (Kaniehtiio Horn)
* Debby (Michelle McLeod)
* Mr. Dekker (Jim Annan)
* Mrs. Dekker (Pip Dwyer)
* The Curious (Lukas Engel)
* The Narrator (Hedvig Becke)

## Trivia

* When an advert for Ava is seen on the Dekkers' TV, the styling and voice are the same as that used for the 'Ravfone' commercial Kim watched in **Marti**. Ava is manufactured by a company called Rav, suggesting that Ava and Marti have the same origins.