Chapter 01: Cubes

**Chapter 01: Cubes** is the first episode of the Season One. It is directed by Cesar Charlone and Written by Pedro Aguilera.

The episode followed by Chapter 02: Coins.

## Plot

Far in the future, the majority of the Brazilian population lives in poverty in an area referred to as the Inland. A separate area, the Offshore, houses 3% of the population in relative luxury and comfort. To become one of the 3%, each 20 year old in the Inland goes through a series of tests known as "the Process". The head of the Process, Ezequiel, lords over the tests while being wary of a group of rebels known as "the Cause" attempting to infiltrate the test. Michele Santana, the protagonist, begins her set of tests in an attempt to make it to Offshore.

## Summary

*The world is divided into two sides: one abundant, the other scarce. A selection process lies between them. At the age of 20, each person has one chance. The chosen ones never return. They are the 3%.*

**Year 104 of the Process**

Michele is sitting in a room waiting when she hears a sharp whistle. She looks down out the window to see her friend, Bruna. She looks at a picture, puts on a necklace, and hears a voice from her earpiece telling her the gates to the Selection process are open and it'll take her about 47 minutes to walk there.

Michele and Bruna hug and begin making their way towards the testing area of the Process. The earpiece technology is starkly contrasted by the poverty evident all along the way, in the form of crumbling buildings, begging children, and graffiti-covered walls. Bruna says she didn't sleep last night, which Michele thinks is common. Young people all around say goodbye and join the walk.

Ezequiel practices what he's going to say with Nair, who coaches him.

When they reach the entrance, Bruna says goodbye to her sister and sends her back home. Then she, Michele, and all the others start to climb the steps.

**Subequatorial Amazon**

All the participants are given clean clothes to put on. Then they gather and Ezequiel appears to them to explain the Process to them, explaining that only 3% of them will end up heading to the Offshore where the Founding Couple created the perfect world, where everyone gets a fair chance.

**Superior Council (Maralto)**

He goes on to talk about resistance groups who aim to destroy everything they believe, upsetting the superior council. He says the groups have always failed and will continue to fail. He welcomes them to the Process, greeting several by name. Then he leads them in a chanted thanks for the process.

The candidates are directed to the interview rooms. As they walk, a few other candidates try to push Fernando in his wheelchair, but he stops them, saying he wants them to see that he can get around on his own.

Ezequiel is walking when he sees Aline, who congratulates him on his presentation. He doesn't recognize her and she introduces herself, saying she's there to evacuate the Process. It was a recent decision. He confirms her identity and then leaves her.

Ezequiel is upset that Nair didn't want him that someone would come evaluate him. She didn't want to distract him. She reminds him that this year's Process is very important. He tries to say nothing has changed, but she says for the first time in 100 years, someone was murdered Offshore. As Process Leader, he's responsible for everyone who comes to the Offshore. She warns him that there are those who want to blame him for the murder. Councillor Matheus wants to put his people in charge of the Process instead. Ezequiel says only he can run the Process effectively. He hangs up the call and fills a tub of water. Then he puts his face underwater and holds it there. He starts to shake as water overflows, then he finally lifts his head and takes a gasping breath.

The interview process starts. Alexandre Nogueira, Fernando Carvalho, Joana Coelho, Michele Santana, Carolina Guimarães, Marco Álvares, and Bruna are asked a series of questions about their lives, The Cause, and have to answer riddles quickly. Joana is asked about the last time she washed her hair, while Michele's interviewer asks to get to know her outside of the Process, and Carolina starts to panic and is quickly eliminated. Marco jokes with his interviewer. Michele is asked if she knows anyone who made it through the process and says her boyfriend, Luis. Michele denies wanting to pass because of him, but still wears a necklace he gave her. Joana bites back at her interviewer. Alex is devastated to be eliminated. His interviewer explains that it was all memorized bullshit. No original thoughts. Alex has to be forcibly removed as he begs to stay. Marco reveals that everyone in his family before him has gotten through. Fernando explains that he's not a burden to his father, but can't explains why he wants to get through. He finally snaps and says he doesn't want to live the way his father does. Michele's interviewer looks up what happened to Luis and asks her if she really wants to know if he made it. She removes the necklace and he sends her to the next round. As she goes to leave, the interviewer tells her she did the right thing because Luis is dead.

While this is happening, Ezequiel oversees all the selected candidates. Then he goes to see Cássia, who tells him they caught someone who is with The Cause. They've started interrogating him and he revealed that one of the candidates was from The Cause. They don't have a name yet, but it's a matter of time.

A woman climbs down into a meeting area where she and a group of others, The Cause, discuss Jorge being captured. Jorge didn't have a name, so they need to figure out what exactly he knows. He'll be tortured until they know everything he knows, no matter how faithful he is to the cause.

Jorge is being tortured. He still hasn't revealed a name. Cássia says it's a matter of time.

The approved Candidates move on to the next stage while the eliminated candidates are forced to leave. Alex decides to jump from a great distance right in front of the approved candidates. He is quickly picked up and taken away as Ezequiel reassures the others, telling them to keep taking their tests.

Next, all the candidates are scanned to check their registration. Joana notices something on another candidate and realizes his registration has been faked, because proper registrations only have three stitches. Rafael claims he has no idea what she's talking about. When they reach the scanner, he gets rejected, but then a second scan approves him.

The next test involves pile of blocks. They have three minutes to assemble the greatest number of cubes possible. They expect a minimum of nine. Fewer will result in elimination. Their time is up when the table turns red. When the time starts, they start pulling blocks toward them. Michele notices that Fernando is struggling to reach and pulls blocks over for him. The candidates build cubes, but some start to panic as time winds down. With time running short, Rafael grabs a cube from the candidate next to him, giving himself nine and the other guy eight. Rafael passes and the other candidate is eliminated. Michele also only has eight cubes, but Fernando reaches over and arranges her eight cubes into one larger cube, giving her nine and allowing her to pass. Joana also passes with her nine, but then reveals two additional cubes in her hand, bringing her total up to eleven.

Ezequiel, who has watched this whole Process, tells Aline, who objected to Rafael passing while the other candidate was eliminated, that each task has a goal, but what's really important is what's behind it.

The candidates go to lunch next. Marco sits next to a girl who knows of his family and how they all pass. She asks what the secret is and he says congeniality. Michele thanks Fernando, but he says it was nothing. When Rafael comes in, the other candidates are upset that he passed by cheating. Rafael knows they're talking about him and says that's fine. He says no one else spoke up because everyone here will do whatever it takes to get through. He goes to a big guy and picks a fight. The guy beats him up and others join the fight, beating on him until Marco stops the fight. As Rafael gets back up, Joana approaches him. She knows he took the beating to get sympathy. She forms an alliance with him, saying if he betrays her, she'll reveal that he faked his registration.

Ezequiel is watching the candidates over a monitor when Aline comes in to talk to him. Ezequiel defends the Process. Aline then asks about Ezequiel's wife. Denise, the interviewer who eliminated Alex, comes and Aline decides to sit in on that meeting. They're there to discuss Alex taking his own life. She explains what happened in the interview and says she's fine. He says suicide is not uncommon among the candidates. They do it because they're ashamed and weak. He says there's no shame in admitting that it affects them. Then he takes her to the tub of water and pushes her head under. Aline tells him to stop, but he persists until finally letting Denise up to take a breath. He says he does that to himself as a reminder that what they do is life and death. Denise leaves, saying she understands. She returns a moment later to thank Ezequiel before leaving again.

Cássia tells Ezequiel they have a lead. It's one of two candidates.

Michele and Bruna are pulled away from lunch by Bernardo. They're taken to Cássia, who covers their eyes with a black compound and leads them into a room. She removes their blindfolds. Michele thinks it's about her complaining about Rafael's cheating and promises not to question the Process again. Cássia tells them about the mole, who lives on their same block. One of them must be the mole. She has three minutes to find out which of them is the mole. If she doesn't, the procedure is to kill both of them. They both deny involvement with the Cause. They argue with each other, each asserting that it's not them. Cássia is called away and Michele begs Bruna to save her life. Bruna say she's not with the Cause and they must have bad information. Michele says their only chance is to attack Cássia. They'll take her gun and escape the Process. Cássia returns and says their time is up. She asks who is going to talk.

Michele practices with the leader of The Cause, who tells her she has to say exactly what the Process wants to hear.

Michele signals and Bruna lunges for Cássia, who shoots her. Ezequiel comes in.

Michele tells the leader that Ezequiel killed her brother. The leader tells her to stay far away from Ezequiel.

Michele goes for Cássia's gun, but Ezequiel grabs it first and tells Michele to move away. Cássia gets up.

Michele assures the leader she can do it. Her brother was five years older than her and after their parents died ... The leader tells her it's not about killing Ezequiel, but about destroying their whole world. She must act as though she believes in the Process. The key is fighting back tears. That'll get to them.

Cássia tells Michele what happened stays between them. The infiltrator is none of their concern. Michele is blindfolded again and led back to the others. Before she joins them, she takes a moment to cry.

Fernando asks Michele what happened, but Michele doesn't answer.

## Cast

### Main Cast

* João Miguel as Ezequiel
* Bianca Comparato as Michele Santana
* Michel Gomes as Fernando Carvalho
* Rodolfo Valente as Rafael Moreira
* Vaneza Oliveira as Joana Coelho
* Rafael Lozano as Marco Alvares
* Viviane Porto as Aline

### Guest Actors

* Mel Fronckowiak as Julia
* Sérgio Mamberti as Matheus
* Zezé Motta as Nair
* Celso Frateschi as Old Man

### Additional Cast

* Anapaula Csernik as
* Angela Valentin as
* Cacá Ottoni as Carolina Guimarães
* César Gouvéa
* Clarissa Kiste as Luciana
* Daniel Uemura
* Danilo Mesquita as Alexandre Nogueira
* Dárcio De Oliveira as Fernando's dad
* Ediana Souza as Camila
* Geraldo Rodrigues
* Giuliano Laffayette as Lucas
* Jorge Dias
* Julia Simões
* Júlio Silvério as Otavio
* Lilian Regina as Bruna
* Luana Tanaka as Ágata
* Luciana Paes as Cássia
* Marçal Costa
* Maria Gal
* Rita Batata as Denise
* Roberta Calza as Ivana
* Soraya Suri Saide
* Teka Romualdo as Larissa
* Thiago Amaral as Álvaro

### English Dubbing Cast

* Cristina Valenzuela as Ágata
* Cherami Leigh Kuehn as Aline
* David Keefir as Álvaro
* Jay Kasten as Bernardo
* Sarah H. Fairbrook as Cássia
* Kirk Thornton as César Franco
* Haviland Stillwell as Denise
* Chris Smith as Ezequiel
* Sean Johnson as Fernando
* Ki-Ki Fab as Joana
* Sabrina Weisz as Luciana
* Bojo Wulff as Marco
* Bianca Comparato as Michele
* Carol Dennis-Dylan as Nair
* Marcus Griffin as Otávio
* Jay Preston as Rafael
* Stephanie Thomas as Teresa

*Additional Voices*

* Jake Eberle
* Todd Haberkorn
* Marianne Miller
* Ethan Murry
* Christopher Niosi
* Cindy Robinson
* Arthur Romeo
* Kaiji Tang
* Shayla Micole Williams