Full transcript
0:00Someone slammed me into the lockers so
0:02hard my head bounced off the metal. I
0:04hit the floor and a kid I didn't
0:05recognize kicked me in the ribs and I
0:07curled up and another kick landed on my
0:09back. I tried to stand and someone
0:11shoved me down and I skidded across the
0:13tile on my hands and knees. Blood from
0:15my lip was dripping onto the floor. I
0:17looked up and Brooke was 10 ft away
0:19watching and I screamed her name and she
0:21turned and walked in the other
0:22direction. I crawled toward her and
0:24someone stomped on my hand and I heard
0:26something crack and then I [music] woke
0:28up. I was sitting up in bed drenched in
0:30sweat, shaking, gripping the sheets so
0:33hard my fingers ached. The room was
0:35dark. Oliver rolled over across from me.
0:37You okay? Yeah, bad dream. [music] Must
0:39have been a rough one. You were talking
0:40in your sleep. He propped himself on his
0:42elbow. Want me to get you water or
0:44something? No, I'm fine. He lay back
0:46down. Go back to sleep. Everything's
0:48fine. His voice was calm and kind and I
0:50believed him because why wouldn't I? I
0:52grabbed my phone off the nightstand and
0:54texted [music] Brooke. You up? Three
0:55dots. It's 2:00 a.m. you weirdo. Just
0:58wanted to say you're my favorite person.
0:59[music] You're my favorite person. Now
1:01go to sleep. I put the phone down and
1:03let my heart slow down. [music] Bad
1:05dream. Just a bad dream. Brooke came
1:07over the next afternoon and brought a
1:09photo of us at the pier. The two of us
1:11with the sun behind us and she'd written
1:12on the back in silver marker, [music]
1:14my favorite person. I taped it to the
1:16wall above my desk. Your stepbrother is
1:18intense, she said, leaning against
1:20[music] me while Oliver typed across the
1:22room with his headphones on. He's just
1:24quiet. He was staring at me when I came
1:26in. He stares at everyone. He's awkward.
1:28She shrugged and I kissed the top of her
1:30head. At dinner Phil raised his glass.
1:32[music] Six months under one roof and
1:34nobody's killed each other. Mom laughed.
1:36Oliver smiled into his plate. I clinked
1:38my glass against Phil's because he was
1:40trying and I wanted him to know I
1:41noticed. The hallway went wrong before I
1:43made it to my locker. A kid I'd never
1:45spoken to crossed to [music] the other
1:47side to avoid me and then another kid
1:49did the same thing and then a sophomore
1:51held up his phone and [music] turned the
1:52screen toward me and I saw my own face
1:54saying words I'd never said in my life.
1:56My [music] bedroom behind me, the photo
1:58of Brooke visible on the wall, my voice
2:00coming out of the speaker saying racist
2:02slurs aimed at a kid named Devon who sat
2:05behind me in history. That's not me. The
2:07kid pulled his phone back. Dude, it's
2:09literally your face. I know [music] it's
2:10my face. I'm telling you I never said
2:12those words. He shrugged and walked
2:14away, and I stood there with my knees
2:16going weak because the room in the video
2:18was my room, filmed from an angle I'd
2:20never set up a camera at, and the photo
2:22Brooke gave me 3 weeks ago was visible
2:24on the wall in the background. Whoever
2:26made this had been filming inside my
2:28bedroom while I slept. [music] I grabbed
2:29a locker handle to stay standing. Brooke
2:31was at my locker with red eyes. Is there
2:33something you want to tell me? That
2:35video is fake. It's your face, your
2:37room. I can see the photo I gave you on
2:39the wall behind you. Brooke, I am
2:41telling you someone manufactured that
2:43video. I have never said those words in
2:45my life. She looked at me and said, I
2:47[music] want to believe you. And the
2:48want to hit me in the chest because 3
2:50days ago she'd written my favorite
2:52person on the back of a photo, and now
2:54she couldn't look at me. She walked
2:56away, and my best friend Kai gave me a
2:58wide berth at lunch, and the seat next
3:00to me stayed empty, and I ate alone and
3:03stared at the table and thought about
3:04how the hallway parted for me like I was
3:06radioactive, which would be flattering
3:08if the reason wasn't that everyone
3:10thought I was a monster. A second video
3:12dropped that afternoon. [music]
3:13I was in the library when my phone
3:15buzzed with a link, and I opened it and
3:17watched myself threaten a girl I'd never
3:20spoken to in the school parking lot. The
3:22girl's mother called the school within
3:23an hour. A third video 2 days later. Me
3:26mocking a kid with cerebral palsy named
3:28James, imitating his walk, laughing. I
3:31watched that one alone in my room and
3:33threw my phone at the wall because James
3:35had never done anything to anyone,
3:36[music] and I was laughing at him. Each
3:39video was worse than the last. The first
3:41took Brooke. The second emptied my lunch
3:43table. The third got me pulled into the
3:45principal's office while James's parents
3:47watched from the lobby, and his mother
3:49looked at me through the glass with a
3:50hatred so pure it burned. And I pressed
3:53my hand against the lobby wall because I
3:55wanted to walk in there and say, "I
3:57would never hurt your son." But the
3:58person in that video had my exact face
4:01[music] and my exact voice, and he was
4:03hurting her son. And the fact that it
4:04wasn't really me didn't change [music]
4:06the damage. The principal suspended me.
4:08I stood across his desk and said, "Those
4:10videos are fake." And he said, [music]
4:12"They appear authentic." And I said,
4:14"Reviewed by who? The guy who
4:15troubleshoots printers?" His face
4:17tightened. "You're suspended pending
4:19investigation." [music]
4:20I stood up so fast my chair hit the
4:22wall. "I didn't do this. The person who
4:24actually did it is sitting somewhere
4:26right now making more videos while you
4:28suspend the kid whose face [music] got
4:29stolen. You're punishing the victim." I
4:31walked out through a hallway where
4:33everyone [music] pressed against the
4:34walls, and I kept my eyes straight ahead
4:36because if I looked at anyone, I was
4:38going to start screaming. Oliver was
4:40sitting on his bed when I got home. "I
4:42heard about the suspension. I'm really
4:44sorry." "Yeah. Want me to look at the
4:45videos? I know some stuff about
4:47editing." He watched them on my phone,
4:49headphones in, scrolling carefully.
4:50[music] And after 20 minutes he handed
4:52it back and shook his head. "They look
4:54real. I'm sorry." [music] He said it
4:56with this careful, sad expression, and I
4:58almost thanked him, but a cold feeling
5:00settled in my stomach. He dismissed them
5:02too fast. Kai, [music] who actually
5:04edited video, hadn't even seen them yet.
5:06And Oliver had scrolled through three
5:08deep fakes and declared them genuine in
5:1020 minutes. I pushed the thought down
5:12because he was my stepbrother, and the
5:13idea was insane. That night I lay in bed
5:16watching the first video frame by frame
5:18while Oliver slept 6 feet away. The
5:20camera angle was wrong. It was filming
5:22from Oliver's side of the room, from the
5:24height of his desk. I looked across at
5:26his desk in the dark. A small black
5:28webcam [music] was clipped to the top of
5:30his monitor, the lens angled at my
5:32pillow. My blood froze. I sat up slowly.
5:35The photo of Brooke was visible from
5:36exactly that angle, [music] which
5:38explained why it appeared in the video.
5:40I looked at Oliver sleeping, his face
5:42peaceful, his breathing even, and the
5:44suspicion I'd been fighting since dinner
5:45turned into certainty because the webcam
5:48he told me was for a coding class was
5:50pointed at the exact spot where my face
5:52was every single night. I took the
5:54videos to Kai at a coffee shop because
5:56he didn't want his parents seeing us
5:58together. I slid my laptop across the
6:00table. Frame by frame, watch the
6:02jawline. Kai scrubbed through with
6:04headphones in and his expression shifted
6:06from uncomfortable to focused to sharp.
6:08He pulled [music] the headphones out.
6:09Rendering artifacts, jaw and ear
6:11margins. These are AI generated. He
6:14rubbed his face. I've been avoiding you
6:16for 2 weeks because I thought I know
6:17what you thought. I'm sorry. Help me
6:19find who did it and we're even. He
6:21nodded and I [music] could see the guilt
6:22on his face like sunburn. 2 weeks of
6:24avoiding me when I needed someone in my
6:26corner. For what it's worth, he said,
6:28you're the [music] least racist person I
6:30know and I should have known those
6:31videos were garbage. Yeah, you should
6:33have. I know, but you're here now and
6:35that counts. He zoomed in on the
6:37background. The footage was captured
6:39from about 4 feet off the ground,
6:40slightly left. That's not your desk. No,
6:43it's not. [music] I changed the Wi-Fi
6:44password, taped over my laptop camera,
6:47checked my phone for spyware. If someone
6:49was hacking the webcam remotely, I was
6:51going to cut them off. 2 days later, a
6:53fourth video dropped and it included
6:55footage from after I changed the
6:56password, which meant it wasn't remote
6:58access. It was someone with physical
7:00access to the room. I sat in my car in
7:03the school parking [music] lot and
7:04stared at my hands on the wheel because
7:06the list of people with physical access
7:08to my bedroom was exactly three and two
7:10of them were my parents. I told my mom,
7:13showed her the artifacts, the camera
7:15angle, the webcam on Oliver's monitor.
7:17She went pale. Are you sure the webcam
7:19is pointed at my bed? Please, [music]
7:21we're finally a family. If you accuse
7:23him, I'm being destroyed, Mom. I got
7:25suspended. Brooke left. I eat lunch
7:27alone and you want me to protect the
7:29family vibe? Just let me talk to Phil.
7:31She talked to Phil. [music] Phil came to
7:32my room and stood in the doorway with
7:34his arms crossed. You're not going to
7:35blame my son because you got caught on
7:37camera. There's a webcam aimed at my
7:39pillow. [music] That's for his coding
7:41class. At the angle of my bed, Phil
7:43stepped into the room. You've been
7:44trying to push Oliver out since [music]
7:46the wedding. I clinked my glass at
7:48dinner when you said this family was
7:50working, Phil. I was happy, [music] and
7:51Oliver was sitting across from me at
7:53that table filming me. I defended
7:55Oliver. I stuck up for him when kids at
7:57school called him weird. I formatted his
7:59homework. Phil walked out. The next
8:02morning, [music] Oliver's computer was
8:03gone. Phil had hidden it overnight.
8:05Oliver knocked on our door that
8:07afternoon holding a plate of cookies.
8:09Phil said you're going through a lot. He
8:10set them on my nightstand and sat on his
8:12bed. I've been thinking about who could
8:14do this. There's a kid in my coding
8:16class who talks about deepfake software
8:18all the time. His name's Mitchell. He's
8:20in your English class, right? I looked
8:21at him. Mitchell did sit [music] behind
8:23me in history. Maybe. I could ask around
8:25if you want. Quietly. Sure, thanks. He
8:27nodded, helpful, concerned. Then, did
8:30your friend Kai find anything? I looked
8:31at him. Why? Just curious. I hope he can
8:34help. The second tell. Why did he care
8:36what Kai found? [music] Nothing yet, I
8:37lied. Too bad. I spent two days looking
8:40into Mitchell, talked to kids in his
8:41coding class, checked his social media.
8:43Complete dead end [music] because
8:45Mitchell could barely code a website,
8:46let alone render deepfakes. Oliver had
8:48sent me chasing a ghost. [music] He
8:50picked up a book and started reading,
8:52and I sat 6 ft away from a person who
8:54was asking for progress reports on the
8:56investigation into himself. Devon's
8:58older brother caught me in the school
8:59parking lot. He walked up and shoved me
9:01into my car so hard the side mirror
9:04snapped off and clattered to the
9:05asphalt. He grabbed my jacket and
9:07slammed me against [music] the door. Say
9:09that stuff to my face. His brother had a
9:11panic attack and missed a week [music]
9:12of school. He pulled me forward and
9:14drove me back into the door a second
9:16time. My lip split on my own teeth, and
9:18blood ran down my chin, [music] and I
9:20didn't fight back because if anyone
9:22filmed me throwing a punch, it would
9:23become the next evidence. So, I stood
9:25there and bled [music] for something I
9:27never did. A girl walking to her car
9:29stopped and stared. A teacher on parking
9:31lot duty turned the other way because
9:33nobody wanted to be seen [music] helping
9:34me. I wiped the blood off my chin with
9:36the back of my hand and picked my
9:38backpack up off the ground and drove
9:40home with my lips swelling and the taste
9:42of copper in my mouth and the radio off
9:44because music felt like it belonged to
9:46someone else's life. Brooke called that
9:48night while I held ice against my
9:50swollen lip. The third video, you're
9:52wearing the blue Henley. So, you donated
9:54that shirt last [music] spring. I was
9:56with you at Goodwill. You haven't owned
9:58it in eight months. I pressed the phone
10:00against my ear. Brooke, that's I'm not
10:02saying I'm back, but something doesn't
10:03add up. And I'm sorry it took me this
10:05long to see it. I hung up and sat in the
10:07dark and something Kai said echoed
10:09[music] back. Whoever filmed this was on
10:12the other side of your room. Mitchell
10:13couldn't code a website. The fourth
10:15video used footage from [music] after I
10:17changed the Wi-Fi password. Oliver had
10:19offered to analyze the videos and
10:21dismissed them in 20 minutes. Oliver had
10:23suggested Mitchell. Oliver had asked
10:25what Kai found. I pressed my palms
10:27against my eyes because the list of
10:29people who could do this had been one
10:31name long the entire time and I'd spent
10:33weeks refusing to read it. I set the
10:36trap at dinner. I loaded my fork with
10:38pasta and said, Kai [music] traced the
10:39rendering software to a specific IP
10:42address. The police are requesting a
10:44warrant. I didn't look at Oliver, but in
10:46my peripheral vision, his fork paused
10:48for a fraction of a second. Phil looked
10:50up. What does that mean? They can trace
10:52the exact computer that made the videos.
10:54Every file has a digital signature.
10:56Oliver chewed slowly. That's great news.
10:58His voice was perfectly supportive,
11:00[music] but under the table, his knee
11:02was bouncing so fast the silverware
11:04rattled and I gripped my fork and
11:05thought, gotcha. I pretended to fall
11:07asleep that night. I lay on my back with
11:09my eyes closed and my jaw clenched so
11:11tight my teeth ached listening to Oliver
11:14breathe six feet away and counting the
11:16seconds between each exhale because if I
11:18didn't focus on something specific, I
11:20was going to get up and flip his
11:21mattress over. At 2:00 a.m., his bed
11:23creaked, blankets sliding off, bare feet
11:26on carpet. He stood beside his bed for a
11:28long time and I kept my My slow because
11:31[music] one wrong breath would blow
11:32everything. The bedroom door opened a
11:34crack and he slipped [music] through. I
11:36counted to 30 because careful people
11:38check behind them. Then I followed down
11:40the hallway in the dark, shoulder
11:42against the wall, testing each
11:43floorboard with my toe. The garage door
11:45opened downstairs. [music] I went down
11:47the steps one at a time, gripping the
11:49banister. A yellow line of light under
11:51the garage door. I crouched and looked
11:53through the gap. Phil had hidden the
11:55computer on a shelf behind the toolbox
11:57and Oliver had it open on the workbench
11:59deleting files. His face was lit blue by
12:01the screen and his hands moved fast,
12:03clicking and dragging, emptying folders.
12:06The IP trap [music] had worked. He
12:07thought the police were coming and he
12:09was destroying evidence at 2:00 in the
12:11morning in his pajamas. I watched for 3
12:13minutes, then I pushed the garage door
12:15open. Find anything interesting? He spun
12:17around and knocked the mouse off the
12:18workbench. His face was pure terror. I
12:21was just Phil asked me to Phil asked you
12:23to delete files at 2:00 a.m. He backed
12:25against the shelf. I walked to the
12:27computer. Folders organized by name,
12:29[music] mine at the top. Six others
12:30below it. I opened raw footage and found
12:33hundreds of clips of me sleeping,
12:35studying, changing my shirt. My face
12:37cataloged by expression, anger, [music]
12:39surprise, talking left, talking right.
12:41He'd mapped me like a lab specimen. My
12:43own face, the face Brooke kissed, the
12:46face my mom held in her hands when I was
12:48little, reduced to data points in a
12:49folder. I opened final and found
12:51finished deep fakes [music] I'd never
12:53seen, worse than the released ones,
12:55including one where I confessed to a
12:57crime. He had a pipeline. I opened the
12:59next students folder, same structure,
13:02then another, seven students, each one a
13:04complete operation. Each folder I opened
13:07landed [music] like a blow because this
13:08wasn't anger and it wasn't revenge. This
13:11was a hobby. I looked at Oliver pressed
13:13against the shelf. Why? He shook his
13:15head. Why? Devon's brother [music] split
13:17my lip open. Brooke won't look at me. I
13:19sit by myself every day. James had a
13:21panic attack. Why? His chin trembled.
13:24You got everything. Mom loves you. Phil
13:26tries with you. Everyone knows your
13:27name. I've been in that room for 2 years
13:30and you don't even see me. I defended
13:31[music] you, Oliver. I stuck up for you
13:33at school. I helped you with your
13:35homework, and you were filming me in my
13:36sleep." He slid down the shelf to the
13:38garage floor. "I just wanted someone to
13:40notice me. [music] Seven people, Oliver.
13:42Were all of them ignoring you, too?" He
13:44didn't answer. "Devon's little brother
13:46had a panic attack. James couldn't come
13:48to school for a week. A girl's mother
13:50called the police. [music] Did any of
13:51that matter to you?" He whispered. "I
13:53didn't think it would get that bad."
13:55"You didn't think?" I grabbed the edge
13:56of the workbench so hard my fingers
13:58ached. "You sat across from me at dinner
14:00and asked if I was having a rough day
14:02while you had a folder on your hard
14:04drive called my name." I unplugged the
14:06drive. "People are going to notice you
14:08now." I brought the drive to my [music]
14:09mom, then I called the police. The
14:11school scheduled an assembly where I was
14:13supposed to apologize. I drove myself.
14:15The hard drive was already with the
14:17police. They told me they were sending
14:18officers to the school.
14:20>> [music]
14:20>> I walked into the auditorium and every
14:21seat was full. Devon in the front row,
14:24Brooke in the back, Oliver in the middle
14:26section, [music] slouched low,
14:27performing calm. The principal pointed
14:29me to the podium. I adjusted the mic and
14:31looked out at 400 [music] people who
14:33thought I was a monster. The school's
14:35apology was in my pocket. I left it
14:37there. "I'm supposed to say sorry for
14:39things I didn't do. Instead, I'm going
14:40to tell you how those videos were made."
14:42The room shifted. Deepfake software
14:44needs a training set. Hundreds of photos
14:46and videos of the target's face [music]
14:48captured over months. You'd need
14:50constant access. You'd need to share a
14:52room with the person. Oliver's [music]
14:53hands gripped his armrests. "You'd need
14:55a webcam at their bed, filming them
14:58[music] sleeping and changing clothes
14:59without their knowledge. You'd need to
15:01catalog their face by expression, label
15:03each one, and build a model so precise
15:06that the target's own girlfriend can't
15:08tell the difference. In the background
15:09of the first video, you can see a photo
15:11on the wall. It's a photo my girlfriend
15:13gave me for our anniversary. [music]
15:15She wrote 'my favorite person' on the
15:16back. The person who filmed me captured
15:18[music] that photo while I was sleeping
15:20and used it as set dressing for a video
15:22that made her leave me. I looked [music]
15:24at Brooke in the back row. She was
15:26crying. I looked at Oliver. His face was
15:28white. This wasn't a prank. This [music]
15:30was a project. Seven students at this
15:32school had their faces harvested and
15:34their identities weaponized. I found the
15:36files. I found the software and I gave
15:38everything to the police this morning.
15:39[music] Oliver stood up. His chair
15:41scraped the floor. Every head turned. He
15:44looked at me and his mouth opened and
15:46nothing came out and he shoved past
15:48people and sprinted [music] for the
15:49exit. He slammed through the double
15:51doors and they banged against the walls
15:53and 400 people watched him run. He made
15:55it to the parking lot. Two officers were
15:57leaning against their car waiting. I
15:59couldn't see it from inside but I heard
16:01about it later from three different
16:03people. He ran through the school doors
16:05and stopped dead when he saw the
16:06cruiser. He turned to go back inside and
16:08a third officer was standing behind him.
16:10He sat down on the curb and put his head
16:12in his hands. He was still sitting there
16:14when they put him in the car. A
16:16sophomore told me later that Oliver
16:18didn't resist. He just sat on the curb
16:20with his head in his hands and waited.
16:22And when the officer said, "Stand up."
16:24he stood up. And when they opened the
16:25car door, he got in and he never looked
16:28back at the school. Devon stood up in
16:30the front row. He looked at the doors,
16:32then at me. That was your stepbrother?
16:34We shared a bedroom for two years. He
16:36sat down and put his head in his hands.
16:38James was [music] crying. The girl from
16:40the second video had her hand over her
16:42mouth. A teacher was on her phone. The
16:44principal stood at the side of the stage
16:46and [music] didn't take the microphone
16:47away. Phil showed up at the house that
16:49evening with his jaw set. He packed a
16:51suitcase while my mom sat at the kitchen
16:53table. He walked past me in the hallway
16:55and stopped. You [music] destroyed this
16:56family. Your son filmed me sleeping,
16:58Phil. He cataloged my face by [music]
17:00expression. He built videos of me
17:02confessing to crimes. He did it to six
17:04other kids. And when I told you, you hid
17:06his computer and called me a liar.
17:08Phil's grip [music] tightened on the
17:09suitcase. He's 14. Devon's brother split
17:12my lip open in a parking lot because of
17:14what your 14-year-old made. I got
17:16suspended. [music] Brooke left. Nobody
17:18would sit with me. I stepped closer. I
17:20defended your son at school. I helped
17:22him with his homework. [music] I said
17:23good night to him every night for two
17:25years, and he repaid me by recording me
17:27in my sleep. Your son [music] destroyed
17:29seven kids. I told the truth. Those
17:31aren't the same thing. He walked out,
17:33and the door clicked shut. Mom and I sat
17:35across from each other at the kitchen
17:36table. Oliver's chair was empty. Phil's
17:38mug was in the sink. She looked at me
17:40with mascara streaked down her face.
17:42[music] I should have believed you from
17:43the first day. Yeah. What do you need? I
17:45touched my lip where the scar was
17:47forming. I need people to stop seeing me
17:49as the person in those videos. The
17:51school is sending [music] An email
17:52doesn't fix it, Mom. Those videos are
17:54online forever. Someone will Google my
17:56name in 10 years and find them. She
17:58closed her eyes. What can I do? You're
18:00doing it. You're sitting here. She took
18:01my hand and held [music] it with both of
18:03hers. I'm not going anywhere. I know. Do
18:05you? Yeah, Mom. I know. She squeezed
18:07tighter, and her chin trembled. I picked
18:09Phil because I thought he was safe. I
18:11[music] thought he'd be good for us. He
18:12wasn't. No. She looked at Oliver's empty
18:15chair. Neither of them was. Brooke
18:16texted that night. I should have
18:18believed you. I stared at the message. I
18:20thought about typing something angry.
18:22Instead, I wrote, "You noticed the
18:23Henley before anyone else. You said it
18:25when it mattered." She replied, "Can I
18:27come over?" [music] Yeah. I sat on my
18:28bed in the room I finally had to myself.
18:31Oliver's desk was empty. The webcam was
18:33gone. The wall had a clean rectangle
18:35where his monitor used to be. The photo
18:37of Brooke [music] was still taped above
18:38my desk. The pier, the sun behind us, my
18:41favorite person [music] on the back in
18:42silver marker. I touched it with my
18:44fingertip. Then I heard Brooke's car
18:46pull into the driveway. I went
18:47downstairs and opened the front door,
18:49and she was standing on the porch with
18:50the porch light on her face, and she
18:52looked at me and said, "Hi." And I said,
18:54"Hi." And she stepped inside and put her
18:56arms around me and held on, and I held
18:58on [music] back. She was the first
18:59person to touch me in weeks who wasn't
19:01trying to hurt me.