Empathy, Inc.

To thine own self be true.

At least that's what I used to think.

Now I wonder if it isn't something more insidious.

Like a curse or a joke.

Of all the different people we are inside...

Who are we to be true to?

Maybe they're not home.

Hey, it's gonna be okay.

Temporary, remember.

Temporal.

So how was your flight?

Oh, I feel terrible you had to fly coach. You should've said something to me.

We would've bought you a better ticket.

Mom, coach is fine.

- When's your stuff getting here? What stuff?

Your furniture.

- I told you, mom, we sold it. - What, why?

Cos they had to get the hell out of dodge. Am I right, Joel?

I guess I still don't get it.

I don't even know what GTI stands... Or stood for.

Joel, what happened, exactly?

- You know what, mom, let's not discuss this. - It's all the papers are talking about.

Guys, we just got here, let's enjoy this amazing meal.

Alright, honey.

But Joel, you wanna give us your side of the story, right?

Otherwise...

We're gonna think all the bad things they're saying about you are true.

How about some wine, mom? It's fine.

Um...

GTI...

Genesis technology integrated.

My partner, Craig Vine, developed a process that could catalyze water.

No pollution, just steam.

We were gonna save the world.

All I had to do was raise the money.

30 copies by 11 o'clock, please. Sure, I'll get started on that now.

Oh, and your wife's on line two.

Hello, Mrs. Eastman-Green, are you ready for this afternoon?

- Oh, shit. Did I forget to tell you? - What?

The realtor moved the closing to 11. Does that work?

Oh, babe, that's when we're closing GTI.

Shit, I'm sorry, I forgot.

You know what, don't worry about it. I can handle it.

We'll celebrate tonight, though.

You know what? I'm gonna do both.

I'm gonna run Sonny through the agenda, let him get caught up to speed,

- he can take care of the rest. - Babe, are you sure?

- I'm gonna be late, but I'm gonna be there. - Oh, that is so great, okay!

See you in a bit.

- Sonny, I'm gonna need a favor. - Joel, we need to talk.

Joel, did you hear what I said?

Craig faked his results, the board's withdrawn support.

I don't understand.

Now, I know how much you put into GTI,

both personally and all your friends,

but the board's exposed here. This is a... it's a scandal.

And Ventura needs a firewall or a lot of people are gonna lose a lot more.

What do you mean, "firewall"?

There's gonna be a press release.

You'll be named - cutting corners, looking the other way.

And, hey, one bad egg sounds a lot better than bubble, OK?

There's so much more at stake here than just GTI.

I'll lose all my relationships. No one's ever gonna trust me again.

You'll bounce back.

Bounce back? I don't have time to bounce back, Sonny!

I'm buying a house in an hour! What am I supposed to tell my wife?

I need you out of here by the weekend.

Wait, Craig's still in town, let me talk to Craig.

Dude, it's over!

No, it's not, gimme a day!

An hour, gimme one hour to figure something out.

Fine! You save GTI by lunch, I'll take it back to the board.

- Let me in, Craig. - You don't wanna come in here, man.

How do we save GTI?

We don't. It's over, Joel.

No, it's not! I'm gonna lose everything.

What did you fake?

Did your process ever even work?

Look, early on I had a partner, okay?

He didn't exactly do things above board.

As long as he was cutting me checks, I needed to show results.

The whole thing just kind of snowballed.

I knew if I got Ventura involved,

I could buy enough time to figure out how to make the process work.

Help me save GTI.

- Bro, you're not hearing me. It's dead. - That's unacceptable.

I don't care if you have to fake more numbers,

I'm gonna lose my house! Do you understand?

Ventura is pinning the whole thing on me!

I worked on this thing for twelve years, Joel, you've been on it for two.

My old partner, that guy's probably looking for me right now.

My wife is suing me.

I'm outta here in two hours. I don't know where I'm sleeping tonight,

so I'm sorry that you lost your reputation!

Word of advice, Joel.

Don't believe everything you see.

When I told Jessica I lost our savings, our home,

and was responsible for a 90 million dollar screw-up,

- she said we ought to come back East. It's all gonna blow over.

He's gonna find something else.

The goddamn media blows everything up.

They said you took people's money.

- That's ridiculous, you lost everything! Thank you.

So, what's everybody else been up to?

- I got an audition already. - Really, honey? Well, that's great!

Yeah, it is. I think that I'm gonna do really well here.

The theater scene is big, so, you know, fingers crossed.

- I love seeing her onstage. I can't wait!

But it's gonna take a lot more than acting to get you two back on your feet.

She's right, Joel.

Tomorrow you and I should hit the links.

I might know a couple of guys that could use a financial advisor.

We could talk about it.

Thanks, Ward, but I'm pretty tired.

Come on, fresh air'll do you good!

- That's okay. - Yeah, we're still on West coast time, dad.

So, push through it, that's how you beat jet lag.

Trust me, Joel, we'll warm up on the driving range,

we'll go for $20 bucks a hole. You might even make some money!

Maybe this weekend, huh? I'm pretty tired, probably just gonna sleep in.

Am I missing something here?

You lose everything, you run out of town and you wanna sleep in?

- Dad! I'm serious.

I know what it is to be depressed, I was a cop.

And you gotta be proactive. You gotta get out of your head.

- I'm not depressed, Ward. - You don't know what you are.

I'm gonna call and set up a tee time for 7:30 tomorrow,

and you will thank me when we're out there.

How do you even afford club dues on a cop's pension?

Pension, nothing.

We got a million and change in mutual funds.

- Don't worry how I pay my dues. - Okay, could everybody just please relax?

We just don't want you two to run out of time to have kids.

Kids? Mom, that's our business.

But you gotta lay the groundwork and you gotta be aggressive.

And you can't sleep in.

- Right. - Tell them about the house.

There's a very nice house for sale across the street, very modestly priced.

And we could help you guys out with a down payment.

It'd be even easier with grandchildren somewhere on the horizon.

That's all we're saying. - That's all we're saying!

Just think about it.

So, what do you think?

Thank you both very much,

but we really don't need all this extra pressure right now.

You're right, Joel. This is too much pressure.

We need to relax.

Thank you.

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we can get up and we...

I'm not golfing tomorrow, Ward!

Calm down. - Me, calm down?

Just... why don't you just golf? It's fine.

You know what, maybe I am a little wound up.

Uh... (CHUCKLES)

I'm gonna go for a walk.

Thanks for dinner.

Joel?

- It is you. - Veazy.

How you been, Joel? I didn't know you were in town.

Sleazy Veazy. You still slingin' apps?

No one calls me that anymore.

Sorry. How you been, man?

Amazing.

GTI, huh?

You okay, buddy?

Well, everyone I know hates me, and I live with my in-laws.

Other than that, yeah, pretty good.

You moved here?

You know what? Good for you! Fuck Silicon Valley!

Perfect's not good enough out there. You know, back here people understand.

You go up, you go down, but in the long run we're all dead.

So, who gives a fuck, right?

Thanks. Let me buy you a drink.

Joel, let me ask you a question.

If you had the inside track on the next big thing,

how much do you think you could scrape together, hypothetically?

Nothing.

Everybody I know got burned on GTI.

Why?

Me and a friend of mine, an engineer,

we started something that we think is pretty unique.

Right now we're just trying to close the gap on product testing before we go live.

What do you make?

It's a service, actually, we sell virtual experiences.

That's great, Nick, I'm glad you're doing well,

but, uh, right now I have no access to capital.

None?

Until I can rebuild a stable of investors. I need a day job.

- Damn. - Yeah.

All we're looking for is a million and change.

We're not just offering this to just anybody.

I want to work with someone I know.

Why just a million? Isn't VR supposed to be big boys only?

Yeah, well, we're small, but our tech is revolutionary.

It's called XVR,

and it's realer than anything anybody's ever seen.

- That's what everybody says. - (CHUCKLES) You don't understand.

XVR feels and looks as real

as this conversation we're having right here, right now.

Taste, too.