- Krista Gordon: What is it about society that disappoints you so much?
- Elliot: [tense music] Oh, i don't know. Is it that we collectively thought Steve Jobs was a great man, when when we knew he made billions off the backs of children? Or maybe it's that it feels like all our heroes are counterfeit. the world itself's just a big hoax. Spamming with our running commentary of bullshit masquerading as insight, our social media faking as intimacy. Or is it that we voted for this? Not with our rigged elections, but with our things, our property, our money. I'm not saying anything new. We all know why we do this, not because Hunger Games books make us happy but because we wanna be sedated. Because it's painful not to pretend, because we're cowards. F society.
- [first lines]
- Elliot: Hello, friend. Hello, friend? That's lame. Maybe I should give you a name. But that's a slippery slope. You're only in my head. We have to remember that.
- Elliot: It's good. So good, it scratched that part of my mind. The part that doesn't allow good to exist without a condition.
- Ollie Parker: Look bud, you and Angela have been close for a long time, and that's even more reason why I want us to be on good terms. I just, I feel like things have been awkward between us, don't you?
- Elliot: I'm ok with it being awkward between us.
- Elliot: I understand what it's like to be different. I'm very different too. I mean, I don't jerk off to little kids, but I don't know how to talk to people.
- Elliot: What I'm about to tell you is top secret. There's a powerful group of people out there that are secretly running the world. I'm talking about the guys, no one knows about the guys who are invisible. The top 1% of the top 1%. The guys that play God without permission. And now I think they're following me.
- Elliot: Am I crazy not to like this guy? Among some of his facebook likes are George W. Bush's Decision Points, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, and the music of Josh Groban. Must I really justify myself any further?
- Krista Gordon: And what is it about society that disappoints you so much?
- Elliot: Oh, I don't know. Is it that we collectively thought Steve Jobs was a great man even when we knew he made billions off the backs of children?... Or maybe it's that it feels like all our heroes are counterfeit. The world itself's just one big hoax. Spamming each other with our burning commentary *bullshit* masquerading as insight. Our social media faking as intimacy. Or is it that we voted for this. Not with our rigged elections but with our things, our property, our money. I'm not saying anything new, we all know we do this, not because "Hunger Games" books make us happy, but because we want to be sedated. Because it's painful not to pretend because we're cowards... F - - society.
- Elliot: Sometimes I dream of saving the world. Saving everyone from the invisible hand, the one that brands us with an employee badge, the one the forces us to work for them, the one that controls us every day without us knowing it. But I can't stop it. I'm not that special. I'm just anonymous. I'm just alone.
- Elliot: It's good. So good, it scratched that part of my mind! Part that doesn't allow good to exist without a condition.
- Tyrell Wellick: So I see you're running Gnome. You know, I'm actually on KDE myself. I know this desktop environment is supposed to be better but, you know what they say. Old habits, they die hard.
- Mr. Robot: My dad was a... petty thief. Never could hold down a job, so, he just robbed. Convenience stores, shops, small-time stuff. One time, he sat me down, he told me something I never forgot. He said, "Everyone steals. That's how it works. You think people out there are getting exactly what they deserve? No. They're getting paid over or under, but someone in the chain always gets bamboozled. I steal, Son, but I don't get caught. That's my contract with society. Now if you can *catch* me stealing, then I'll go to jail, but if you can't, then I've earned the money." I respected that, man. I thought that shit was cool as a little kid. A few years after that, they finally caught him. Sent him to jail. Dies five years later. My respect goes with him. I thought he was free doing what he did, but he wasn't. He was in prison. Just like you are now, Elliot. But I'm gonna break you out.
- Mr. Robot: Hey, you like Ferris wheels? Ah, it's beautiful. It gets better the higher up you go, you know. I love it up here. You like it?
- Elliot: I'm here to tell you I'm turning you in. I'm giving them all the information.
- Mr. Robot: Let me tell you why you're really here. You're here because you sense something wrong with the world. Something you can't explain. But, you know it controls you and everyone you care about What are you talking about? Money. Money hasn't been real since we got off the gold standard. It's become virtual. Software, the operating system of our world. And, Elliot, we are on the verge of taking down this virtual reality. Think about it. What if you could take down one conglomerate? A conglomerate so deeply entrenched in the world's economy that "too big to fail" doesn't even come close to describing it?
- Elliot: You wanna create another financial meltdown like the one we just had, but way worse. Yeah, why would I want that? Everyone would lose their money.
- Mr. Robot: What if I told you that this conglomerate just so happens to own 70% of the global consumer credit industry, huh? If we hit their data center just right we could systematically format all the servers, including backup.
- Elliot: That would erase...
- Mr. Robot: All the debt we owe them. Every record of every credit card, loan, and mortgage would be wiped clean. It'd be impossible to reinforce outdated paper records. It'd all be gone. The single, biggest incident of wealth redistribution in history.
- Elliot: So good. That it scratched that part of my mind. The part that doesn't allow good to exist without condition.
- Ollie Parker: Look, bud, you and Angela have been close for a long time and that's even more reason why I want us to be on good terms. I just, I feel like things have been awkward between us, don't you?
- Elliot: I'm okay with it being awkward between us.
- Elliot: That's what you're wrong about Rohit. I don't give a shit about money.
- Mr. Robot: Exciting times in the world.
- Elliot: Gotta go. Big meeting today.
- Elliot: I'm good at reading people. My secret. I see the worst in people.
- Elliot: Something about him bugs me. Scratching the part of my mind again but I'll hack him soon enough. I always do.
- Elliot: E Corp, the largest conglomerate in the world, they're so big, they're literally everywhere. A perfect monster of modern society. The E might as well stand for Evil. In fact, after a thorough, intensive self-reprogramming, that's all my mind hears, sees or reads when they pop up in my world. Evil Corp.