THE ELECTRIC STATE

*CUT TO THE CHASE*

NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy

1990 – Child prodigy Christopher Greene (Woody Norman) is taking a test at a college, while his parents and sister Michelle (Millie Bobby Brown) watch. Afterwards, Michelle and Christopher walk together and discuss his future, with Michelle expressing confidence that her brother will change the world.

Over the next few years, a war breaks out between humanity and robots when the bots grow tired of being used for labor and demand freedom. They began a rebellion led by former Planters mascot, Mr. Peanut (Woody Harrelson). Sentre CEO Ethan Skate (Stanley Tucci) is in an interview with TV host Madeline Vance (Holly Hunter), discussing how his company’s developments helped win the war. He created tech called Neurocasters, which link the minds of users to specially built drones. This gave humanity an advantage and forced the bots into The Exclusion Zone, or “The EX”, after Mr. Peanut agreed to a treaty between robots and humans. Now, the people use the Casters to live within a virtual reality world, disconnected from the rest of mankind.

1994 – Michelle is now a ward of the state and lives with a neglectful foster father, Ted (Jason Alexander). She refuses to use the Neurocasters in school and is brought to meet with Ms. Sablinsky (Maren Hinkle). Michelle explains that she lost Christopher and their parents in a car accident when their father hit a deer.

Later that night, Michelle finds a small robot outside her house. It is called Cosmo (Alan Tudyk), modeled after the protagonist of Christopher’s favorite cartoon, “Kid Cosmo”. Cosmo convinces Michelle that he was built and controlled by Christopher, who is still alive. Ted catches wind of Cosmo being there, so Michelle and Cosmo are forced to flee in Ted’s car before he can contact the police.

Michelle and Cosmo stop at a rest area, where he tries to communicate with her (he mostly speaks in catchphrases) that he wants to break into The EX and to find Dr. Clark Amherst (Ke Huy Quan), the doctor that told Michelle that Christopher and their parents were dead, as he knows where Christopher’s body is located. Inside the trunk of Ted’s car, Michelle finds several boxes with an address for a good warehouse, NEW2U in New Mexico, as most of the stuff from there comes from The EX.

The duo drive to New Mexico and find a truck with the NEW2U logo. They spot a former soldier named Keats (Chris Pratt) making a deal with a guy named Wolfe (Colman Domingo). When Keats is about to get ripped off, his robot sidekick Herman (Anthony Mackie) shocks Wolfe’s drone body. The two drive away, but not before Michelle and Cosmo stow away in the back. They are spotted by former Colonel Marshall Bradbury (Giancarlo Esposito), also known as “The Butcher of Schenectady”.

Keats and Herman drive back to their warehouse, which is stocked with goods from before the war. Michelle and Cosmo are spotted, and the four are soon found by Bradbury, who hates bots and takes pleasure in destroying them. He deflects Keats and Herman’s attacks, and also prevents the four from escaping in Keats’ mine cart. Before Bradbury can destroy Cosmo and Herman, Michelle drives a forklift into Bradbury’s drone body, severing his connection and allowing them to get out as the place starts to come down. Keats has no choice but to help Michelle and Cosmo make it to The EX, now traveling in a bigger body of Herman’s.

At Sentre, Skate uses a Neurocaster to project a simulation where he is having a peaceful dinner with his mother, whom he says was actually an abusive drunk in real life. He is approached by two of his scientists to tell him that the company’s system is on the fritz because they are using Christopher’s mind as a power source, and his consciousness has slipped through the firewall. Skate demands that Christopher be found immediately, as the company could be permanently shut down by the weekend. He invites Bradbury into a Neurocaster simulation and hires him to give reason to think the robots have broken the treaty.

Michelle, Keats, and their bots make it to Tabletop Mountain in The EX, where they are taken to Dr. Amherst’s hideout and where they meet a ton of other bots, like Penny the mail bot (Jenny Slate), a baseball bot named Pops (Brian Cox), and a magician bot called Perplexo (Hank Azaria). The four meet Mr. Peanut, who maintains his leadership duties, as well as a major distaste for humans. He tells the group that he sent Amherst out of The EX since robots interacting with humans could break the treaty. Penny later gives Michelle and Cosmo a postcard with Amherst’s address written on it.

The main four are joined by Penny, Pops, and Mr. Peanut to go to Amherst’s home. It is overrun by mindless bots called Scavs, but Amherst triggers a booby trap against the Scavs and brings the rest of the group inside. He sees Cosmo and explains to Michelle how Sentre linked Christopher’s consciousness to its main power supply due to how incredibly intelligent he was, but his body is in a vegetative state at the company. Amherst has also made his own bot using his voice, Mr. PC. He uses Mr. PC to show Michelle the tests conducted on Christopher to link the Neurocasters to the drones. Amherst helped Christopher use his mind to escape Sentre. While Michelle is angry with what he did to her brother, Amherst expresses remorse for his actions.

Bradbury arrives, accompanied by Skate’s goons with their drones. Mr. Peanut tries to fight Bradbury, but he gets his hat ripped off the top of his head (he’s ok). Pops knocks some drones down by firing baseballs at it, but Skate shoots Amherst and takes Cosmo back to Sentre to link back to Christopher. Bradbury expresses disgust over how unnecessary it was for Skate to kill Amherst. Although the bots seem defeated, Michelle resolves to complete her mission and go to Seattle to Sentre’s HQ and save Christopher. Mr. PC says he can help, but he tells Michelle that Christopher’s mind and Sentre’s systems are linked, meaning if one goes down, the other goes down as well. Michelle understands and is joined by Keats and the other bots.

The bots begin their assault on Sentre, with Herm occupying a 60-foot tall body to knock down incoming drones. The bots battle the drones while Michelle tries to make her way inside. Bradbury defects to the bots side after seeing that Skate is less human than they are, so he helps Mr. Peanut go find him inside the building. Meanwhile, Michelle finds the control room and enters the virtual realm to speak to Christopher. He reaffirms what Amherst said and states that his connection to Sentre is symbiotic, so if Michelle wants to shut them down for good, it will mean letting Chris die. Michelle says goodbye to her brother and shuts the machines down, thereby disabling all of the drones and all of Sentre. Mr. Peanut spares Skate with the knowledge that everything he built is gone. Herm’s body is brought down, and Keats starts to mourn his friend, until a mini version walks out.

In the aftermath, Sentre’s system shutdown causes a nationwide blackout and forces everyone to abandon the Neurocasters and return to reality. Skate is arrested, while Michelle makes a video broadcast to tell people how the Neurocasters ruined human connection for everyone, and how it is time to reconnect.

Cosmo’s body is dropped into a junkyard. However, he is seen rising up to his feet, indicating that perhaps not all of Christopher is gone.

In an alternate 90s, humanity and robots entered a war until Sentre CEO Ethan Skate created Neurocasters to link to drone bodies for soldiers to use against the robots. The bots signed a treaty and were exiled into the desert into The Exclusion Zone. The world has lost connection with each other due to staying locked in the virtual reality of the Neurocasters.

Michelle Greene lost her parents and brother during the war in a car accident. She is found by a bot named Cosmo, modeled after a cartoon that her brother Christopher used to enjoy. Michelle discovers that Christopher, who was a child prodigy, had his mind linked to Cosmo, and he is using the bot to get Michelle to help find him at Sentre HQ. Along the way, Michelle and Cosmo team up with former soldier Keats and his bot Herman. They enter The Exclusion Zone to find Dr. Clark Amherst, who helped link Christopher's mind to Sentre's power systems. Since his consciousness has slipped out into Cosmo, Skate hires former Colonel Marshall Bradbury to hunt the group down.

The group meets the other bots in The Exclusion Zone, led by Mr. Peanut. Amherst is remorseful for helping Sentre link Christopher's mind to their systems. Bradbury arrives with other Sentre drones, and Skate kills Amherst before taking Cosmo back to be connected to Christopher's body, as it is in a vegetative state at HQ. Keats and the bots join Michelle to go save Christopher and stop Skate.

The bots battle Skate's drones while Michelle makes her way inside. She enters a virtual realm to speak to Christopher, who confirms that if she wants to shut down Sentre, it would mean killing him since their connection is symbiotic. Michelle says goodbye to her brother and shuts the system down, putting an end to Sentre. Bradbury also turns on Skate after seeing him kill Amherst.

Skate is arrested, while the rest of the world starts to reconnect after being stuck with the Neurocasters. Meanwhile, it is implied that Christopher might still be alive since Cosmo is still active.