The bulk of this segment is taken up by a group chess match in which Krzysztof and Pawel participate. A young woman is playing about a dozen players at a time, Pawel declares at one point that she has already defeated six. They are seated in a circle, the young woman walks in the center from board to board making her moves.
Krzysztof and Pawel discuss strategy. Pawel believes he understands her strategy — she follows a system — and he works out a couple moves he thinks will lead to checkmate. Krzysztof is skeptical, he thinks the moves are too simple. But the father agrees to Pawel’s idea and it works, they are the first to defeat her.
They have a wonderful relationship, to be sure. When they return home, Krystztof’s sister calls and asks if it’s ok for Pawel to begin religious studies. The father agrees to this without raising any issues or concerns. After he hangs up the phone, he notices that his computer is on. He asks Pawel if he turned on the computer, he responds no.
Krzysztof then talks to the computer: colleague, what do you want? The computer, as if answering a voice command, a technology that did not yet exist, responds in English text: I am ready …
Pawel asks what if the computer really wanted something, reminding him that he asked it what it wants. Krzysztof responds that he was being silly. He doesn’t yet believe in the ghost in the machine.
In the final shot, Krzysztof tells Pawel that he is going out. He puts on some cologne, so it’s likely he’s going to see a woman. Pawel then asks if he thinks mom will call before Christmas and he responds yes.
While they are having this conversation, there’s a side conversation about the temperature. Father and son are keeping track of the air temperature day by day to figure out when it is safe to go skating on the pond nearby. Krzysztof may not have faith in life’s little mysteries and intuitions, but his faith in technology is nearly unshakable,
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