Within cells interlinked
Interviewer: “Ready?”
K: “Yes, sir.”
Interviewer: “Recite your baseline.”
K: “And blood-black nothingness began to spin... A system of cells interlinked within cells interlinked within cells interlinked within one stem... And dreadfully distinct against the dark, a tall white fountain played.”
Interviewer: “Cells.”
K: “Cells.”
Interviewer: “Have you ever been in an institution? Cells.”
K: “Cells.”
Interviewer: “Do they keep you in a cell? Cells.”
K: “Cells.”
Interviewer: “When you're not performing your duties do they keep you in a little box? Cells.”
K: “Cells.”
Interviewer: “Interlinked.”
K: “Interlinked.”
Interviewer: “What's it like to hold the hand of someone you love? Interlinked.”
K: “Interlinked.”
Interviewer: “Did they teach you how to feel finger to finger? Interlinked.”
K: “Interlinked.”
Interviewer: “Do you long for having your heart interlinked? Interlinked.”
K: “Interlinked.”
Interviewer: “Do you dream about being interlinked?”
K: “Interlinked.”
Interviewer: “What's it like to hold your child in your arms? Interlinked.”
K: “Interlinked.”
Interviewer: “Do you feel that there's a part of you that's missing? Interlinked.”
K: “Interlinked.”
Interviewer: “Within cells interlinked.”
K: “Within cells interlinked.”
Interviewer: “Why don't you say that three times: Within cells interlinked.”
K: “Within cells interlinked. Within cells interlinked. Within cells interlinked.”
Interviewer: “We're done... Constant K, you can pick up your bonus.”
K: “Thank you, sir.”
The now famous baseline test. Is the polar opposite of the Voight Kampf test from BR82.
K: “Things were simpler then.”
Instead of checking for an absence of empathy – the telltale sign of a Replicant hiding among humans, the baseline test checks for the presence of an emotional response, the sign of a Replicant that is becoming more human.
This symbolic reversal of roles is also reflected in the testing apparatus.
The VK unit was almost alive, its movement reminiscent of breathing. It took an expert, combined with intangible soft skills, and the VK machine to deliver the test. Added to this, a (recorded) face to face meeting was necessary to establish that the subject was not human.
This was a time when the line between real and Replicant was becoming increasingly blurred. The recording and reviewing of the tests also suggests an uncertainty with the result. The exact criteria of what constituted human behavior could not be pinpointed, so the test required technology, interrogation, and close observation. This was a test to see at an emotional level, if Replicants might be on a par with humanity.
With the baseline test, this line has been crossed. The manner in which the test is conducted reveals an inversion of the Voight Kampf method.
They are monitoring their creations for evidence of emotional evolution.
Whereas the VK test required close observation, there is now a separation between tester and tested. This indicates a fear on the part of those doing the testing. Rather than questions with enigmatic meaning or imagery, the subjects are interrogated with a cold detachment and a tone of sneering suspicion.
There is no doubt that Nexus 9s’ capabilities are at least on a par with human responses. However, we can see that they are kept below their operational ability, essentially a planned obsolescence of emotion.
While the VK test was to see if they are the same as humans, the baseline test is looking for evidence of a deep seated fear: That Replicants are becoming better than, or, more human than human.
Seeing K rifle through the questions with cold efficiency is disturbing. Not because of his lack of emotion, but because of something more nefarious. This is a world where isolation and violence is the norm. Those within it are expected to perform their roles with a high level of consistency and an absence of emotion. It's uncomfortable because it’s eerily similar to the audiences’ existence.
Following the baseline scene we see that K is hated by both humans and Replicants.
This is understandable from a Replicant perspective, as K is betraying his entire species.
From the human angle however, this doesn’t make sense until we understand the situation that these people live in:
This is a time in which mankind has reached the stars. The result is that people can leave behind the chains of their old world and seek a new life on the Off World Colonies.
The Colonies are for those with potential, purpose and usefulness. those that are left behind are the dregs of society: deemed unfit for colonial living and surplus to the requirements of humanity. Having been labelled as such, takes away a piece of their humanity. They have essentially been left on an empty Earth to rot. Replicants are the caretakers of this dying planet and a sign of its pending demise. K reminds them of their stagnation, which stirs a violent anger in those around him:
On one level this is a hate borne of inferiority and jealousy, echoing Nietzsche’s idea of ressentiment motivated transvaluation: (the poor hating the rich, weak hating the strong, purposeless hating those that are purposeful). We can see this by looking at the lifestyles of Earthbound humans: living in squalor, using narcotics to dull the reality of daily life. These people are bereft of purpose.
This is not the sole reason for their hatred however, there is a connection to something much deeper in the human experience.
This is a thread throughout the film, bubbling below the surface, but present in every scene:
Failed parents putting their hopes, dreams and regrets onto their children.
No wonder humans hate Replicants – they remind them of the opportunities they never had, the things they never did, and the potential that they could never realize.
K is therefore something between real and synthetic, and is hated by both sides. He has essentially sold his soul to perpetuate his existence.
But the question is, why?
“Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure, as Freud believed, or a quest for power, as Alfred Adler taught, but a quest for meaning. The greatest task for any person is to find meaning in his or her own life.”
― Viktor Emil Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning
Why does K serve mankind at the expense of his own life?
In K’s home, we see another subdivision of the existential hierarchy– a holographic projection that serves as K’s wife.