Thanks to Reddit user Infintie_3ntropy we now know that there’s a hidden code in Ex Machina. It’s pretty easy to miss, but when you plug it into a compiler — using the right language — it returns something pretty interesting.
Spoilers ahead if you haven’t watched Ex Machina yet.
What’s the Hidden Code?
The code appears near the end of the movie when Caleb sits down at Nathan’s computer to reprogram the security doors, just before he watches the security footage of Nathan building the other androids — that he severely mistreats.
I have to admit, it was tough getting a screen cap of the finished code. Here’s what it actually says:
Here’s what it actually says:
#BlueBook code decryption
import sys
def sieve(n):
x = [1] * n
x[1] = 0
for i in range(2,n/2):
j = 2 * i
while j < n:
x[j]=0
j = j+i
return x
def prime(n,x):
i = 1
j = 1
while j <= n:
if x[i] == 1:
j = j + 1
i = i + 1
return i – 1
x=sieve(10000)
code = [1206,301,384,5]
key =[1,1,2,2,]
sys.stdout.write(“”.join(chr(i) for i in [73,83,66,78,32,61,32]))
for i in range (0,4):
sys.stdout.write(str(prime(code[i],x)-key[i]))
Apparently, when you run and compile this code using python2.7 it returns the following:
ISBN = 9780199226559
You may recognize that as an ISBN or barcode number for a book. It’s actually for Embodiment and the Inner Life: Cognition and Consciousness in the Space of Possible Minds.
The book is about the consciousness of the human mind, which has everything to do with a pretty big question that the movie raises. Did Ava use Caleb to escape and kill Nathan out of her own free will — her consciousness — or was it simply part of her programming?
Trippy stuff, man!
