GATE/S

Shot on Sony FX3

AI (ALI) comes to realise that the reality they exist in is not real and looks for a way to escape. However, its creator (ELI) tries to convince the AI to stay by showing it the value of their connection that they’ve formed in this world. As the pair get closer to the crack/gate that the AI saw in their dream, this bond and the memories of their closeness stop the AI from taking the final step into the real world. Though this is the goal of the creator, it still causes them a great deal of pain because the being they were responsible for creating was so close to freedom and embracing their new-found consciousness, but never truly realised that potential, which was the true aim of their experiment. With that failure realised, the creator is devastated at the loss of this iteration of their creation and the fact that the experiment must start over once more.