HANDS OFFStoryboard · draft 1

Storyboard · draft 1 · 23 September 2026

Hands Off

A samurai pirate who serves no master, a boy drawing his future, and a VPN you forget you have. The cold open, three acts, and the machine under every frame.

The cast

Four characters

Nothing here comes from Elsewhere or from Lee's personal brand. Hands Off starts from zero: sharp, bold, and dangerous on your side.

The samurai pirate

Samurai inside, pirate by choice, joker in public.

A samurai's discipline and a pirate's flair; samurai were loyal to their lords, pirates answered to no one. In public he is a joker: he rides a unicycle and juggles three red balls, so everyone takes him for a harmless clown. The samurai shows if you look: perfect balance, a small bow, balls that always fly in a perfect circle, and a closed black parasol whose handle is a sword grip (a hidden blade, a real Japanese tradition). At the end he opens it: a black disc with a red ring, his colours. Immaculate, never scruffy: a tricorn in black lacquer with one plume, eyes always in shadow, a pointed goatee, pressed kimono, hakama and a haori with a red lining, black leather tabi boots, a silver hoop. He cuts the machine, never the people, and nobody ever kneels before him. Drawn in black ink and red even in the brightest meadow.

Why a pirate may be real history: in the 1500s the Murakami pirates of Japan's Inland Sea sold ships safe passage, gave them a pass flag, and flew a circle crest. From my memory; check it before any public use.

The officials

Bureaucratic demons.

Smiling people in grey suits and uniforms, with clipboards, rubber stamps and ID lanyards, who gather round the boy to keep him safe. The side they turn to the boy is human: kind faces, gentle hands. The side the mother sees is not: the backs of their heads open into wide jaws of sharp teeth, and arms grow out of their backs. Trackers, data brokers and country walls, as they look from outside. When he cuts the arms away they are just people again: they shake it off, smile, praise the boy's drawing and wander off in pairs.

The boy

The future being made.

A European boy of about seven: tousled fair-brown hair, freckles, a plaster on one knee, a navy-and-white striped long-sleeved top, shorts, scuffed sneakers. The same boy, the same age and the same clothes in every frame. Dreamy, curious, a little mischievous. He draws his future fantasy land and is so lost in it that he never sees the demons.

Her

The user, and in the film the boy's mother.

A European woman in her early thirties: shoulder-length wavy chestnut hair, a white linen shirt, jeans rolled at the ankle. Warm and strong. She sees the demons and cannot get through them. In the product she meets him once, in the tour, then forgets he is there, which is the whole promise.

Model sheets

SHEETThe boy and his mother

Model sheet · awaiting render · Helios

SHEET-boy-mother.pnglocks the design
Model sheet: The boy and his mother
The boy and his mother
SHEETThe samurai pirate

Model sheet · awaiting render · Helios

SHEET-samurai-pirate.pnglocks the design
Model sheet: The samurai pirate
The samurai pirate
SHEETThe officials, front and back

Model sheet · awaiting render · Helios

SHEET-officials.pnglocks the design
Model sheet: The officials, front and back
The officials, front and back

Cold open

No hands

About sixty seconds: the hero film for the landing page, with version B of Hands off (calm, snickering, then ZING). A 20-second ad cut and an 8-second after-install cut use version A (silence, HANDS OFF!, ZING). Colour carries the story: the demons drain it, the cut brings it back, and he stays black ink and red.

M1Wide. A sunlit hillside meadow under towering clouds.

A boy of about seven lies on his stomach in the grass, drawing his future fantasy land in bright crayons: castles on clouds, a flying whale, a rocket, a dragon. He is lost in it, tongue out. Further off, his mother sits on a picnic blanket and watches him with a loving smile. Far away on the hill road, tiny: a figure on a unicycle, juggling.

awaiting render16:9
A boy of about seven lies on his stomach in the grass, drawing his future fantasy land in bright crayons: castles on clouds, a flying whale, a rocket, a dragon. He is lost in it, tongue out. Further off, his mother sits on a picnic blanket and watches him with a loving smile. Far away on the hill road, tiny: a figure on a unicycle, juggling.

M1Paradise

Shot
Wide. A sunlit hillside meadow under towering clouds.
Picture
A boy of about seven lies on his stomach in the grass, drawing his future fantasy land in bright crayons: castles on clouds, a flying whale, a rocket, a dragon. He is lost in it, tongue out. Further off, his mother sits on a picnic blanket and watches him with a loving smile. Far away on the hill road, tiny: a figure on a unicycle, juggling.
Feeling
Warmth. Home.
Him
A dot on the horizon, juggling.
Sound
Wind in the grass. Crayon on paper. A lark.
Machine

STANDS FOR Your life online as it should be: yours.

M2Medium: the boy, and a stranger kneeling beside him.

A smiling man in a grey suit with an ID lanyard kneels by the boy and praises the drawing. The boy beams and keeps drawing; his mother smiles, a little unsure. Only we notice: the man's shadow on the grass has one arm too many, and the grass under his shoes has turned grey.

awaiting render16:9
Stand-in from the model sheets: the visitor, the boy drawing

M2The visitor

Shot
Medium: the boy, and a stranger kneeling beside him.
Picture
A smiling man in a grey suit with an ID lanyard kneels by the boy and praises the drawing. The boy beams and keeps drawing; his mother smiles, a little unsure. Only we notice: the man's shadow on the grass has one arm too many, and the grass under his shoes has turned grey.
Feeling
Something is off, and you can't say what.
Him
Not here yet.
Words
MAN: What a wonderful world you're drawing. We'll keep it safe for you.
Sound
The lark stops.
Machine

STANDS FOR The first tracker: friendly, free, helpful.

M3Wide, from behind the mother.

More of them arrive, smiling, with clipboards and badges, and kneel in a ring around the boy, praising, promising. Outside the ring the colour is draining out of the meadow. The mother stands and calls to her son. At her call, the juggler on the unicycle rolls up beside her.

awaiting render16:9
Stand-in from the model sheets: the mother calls, the juggler arrives

M3The ring

Shot
Wide, from behind the mother.
Picture
More of them arrive, smiling, with clipboards and badges, and kneel in a ring around the boy, praising, promising. Outside the ring the colour is draining out of the meadow. The mother stands and calls to her son. At her call, the juggler on the unicycle rolls up beside her.
Feeling
Unease turning to fear.
Him
Arrives at her call.
Words
OFFICIALS: For your safety.
Sound
Overlapping, murmured praise. The mother's voice rising.
Machine

STANDS FOR Data brokers and walls gather because it looks like care.

M4Medium, at the edge of the ring.

Perfectly balanced on his unicycle, a closed black parasol across his back, the juggler keeps three red balls flying in a perfect circle. He tips his tricorn with a small bow and politely asks to pass. Two officials shove him aside, laughing: a clown. One ball rolls away through the grass. Only the attentive notice that the parasol's handle is a sword grip.

awaiting render16:9
Stand-in from the samurai sheet: the joker on his unicycle

M4The joker

Shot
Medium, at the edge of the ring.
Picture
Perfectly balanced on his unicycle, a closed black parasol across his back, the juggler keeps three red balls flying in a perfect circle. He tips his tricorn with a small bow and politely asks to pass. Two officials shove him aside, laughing: a clown. One ball rolls away through the grass. Only the attentive notice that the parasol's handle is a sword grip.
Feeling
The one who could help is taken for a clown.
Him
Bows, lets himself be pushed. Waits.
Sound
Laughter. A ball rolling through grass.
Machine

STANDS FOR Nobody takes the quiet tool seriously, until it works.

M5Wide, from outside the ring, the mother in the foreground.

Inside the ring, facing the boy, the officials still smile with human faces and gentle hands, and his island of colour has shrunk to a few metres of grass. Outside, the side we see, the backs of their heads have split into wide jaws of teeth, and clawed arms grow from their backs. Everything outside the ring is black-and-white ink, a flood of demonic forms. The mother, the only colour out here, fights to push through and is swept back.

awaiting render16:9
Inside the ring, facing the boy, the officials still smile with human faces and gentle hands, and his island of colour has shrunk to a few metres of grass. Outside, the side we see, the backs of their heads have split into wide jaws of teeth, and clawed arms grow from their backs. Everything outside the ring is black-and-white ink, a flood of demonic forms. The mother, the only colour out here, fights to push through and is swept back.

M5Two faces

Shot
Wide, from outside the ring, the mother in the foreground.
Picture
Inside the ring, facing the boy, the officials still smile with human faces and gentle hands, and his island of colour has shrunk to a few metres of grass. Outside, the side we see, the backs of their heads have split into wide jaws of teeth, and clawed arms grow from their backs. Everything outside the ring is black-and-white ink, a flood of demonic forms. The mother, the only colour out here, fights to push through and is swept back.
Feeling
Horror. She sees what he can't.
Him
Out of frame.
Sound
The praise goes on, sweet, over a rising roar.
Machine

STANDS FOR What trackers show you, and what they are.

M6Close on the boy, the ring of faces bending over him.

The ring closes over the boy, murmuring. His island of colour is the size of his drawing. Two versions, both authentic. A, the kendo way: the murmur stops dead, total silence, then one sharp shout, and the cut in the same breath. B, the iaido way: one calm voice from outside the ring, a beat, the ring snickers at the clown, and then the cut nobody expects.

awaiting render16:9
The ring closes over the boy, murmuring. His island of colour is the size of his drawing. Two versions, both authentic. A, the kendo way: the murmur stops dead, total silence, then one sharp shout, and the cut in the same breath. B, the iaido way: one calm voice from outside the ring, a beat, the ring snickers at the clown, and then the cut nobody expects.
HANDS OFF!A: silence, the shout, ZING · B: calm “Hands off…”, snickers, ZING
Reused: M5, a beat later

M6Hands off

Shot
Close on the boy, the ring of faces bending over him.
Picture
The ring closes over the boy, murmuring. His island of colour is the size of his drawing. Two versions, both authentic. A, the kendo way: the murmur stops dead, total silence, then one sharp shout, and the cut in the same breath. B, the iaido way: one calm voice from outside the ring, a beat, the ring snickers at the clown, and then the cut nobody expects.
Feeling
A: a jolt. B: dread flipping into delight.
Him
A: names the target as he strikes, as kendo requires. B: speaks once, lets them laugh.
Words
OFFICIALS (murmuring): We will protect you… · A: HIM: HANDS OFF! · B: HIM (calm): Hands off… (a beat; snickering from the ring)
Sound
A: silence, the shout, ZING. B: a calm voice, a beat, snickering, ZING.
Machine

STANDS FOR The product's name is the moment it acts.

M7Top-down. The boy's island at the centre.

ZING: one ultra-fast circular stroke paints a blood-red circle across the dark. Every demonic arm growing from their backs is cut at once and falls into the grass as ash; the jaws snap shut and vanish. No person is hurt. Of him, only a flash of steel.

awaiting render16:9
Stand-in from the samurai sheet: the draw and the red circle

M7ZING

Shot
Top-down. The boy's island at the centre.
Picture
ZING: one ultra-fast circular stroke paints a blood-red circle across the dark. Every demonic arm growing from their backs is cut at once and falls into the grass as ash; the jaws snap shut and vanish. No person is hurt. Of him, only a flash of steel.
Feeling
A gasp. Over before it started.
Him
Unseen. Too fast to see.
Sound
ZING. Then dozens of soft thuds.
Machine

STANDS FOR It cuts the machine, not the people.

M8Wide. The meadow, colour flooding back.

The officials blink and shake it off, human again, looking around confused. Their lanyards slide off into the grass. They smile at each other, lean down to praise the boy's drawing, and wander off in pairs and small groups, chatting. At the edge of the frame, the juggler keeps his three red balls flying in a perfect circle.

awaiting render16:9
The officials blink and shake it off, human again, looking around confused. Their lanyards slide off into the grass. They smile at each other, lean down to praise the boy's drawing, and wander off in pairs and small groups, chatting. At the edge of the frame, the juggler keeps his three red balls flying in a perfect circle.

M8Freed

Shot
Wide. The meadow, colour flooding back.
Picture
The officials blink and shake it off, human again, looking around confused. Their lanyards slide off into the grass. They smile at each other, lean down to praise the boy's drawing, and wander off in pairs and small groups, chatting. At the edge of the frame, the juggler keeps his three red balls flying in a perfect circle.
Feeling
Relief, and a laugh.
Him
Stands aside, juggling.
Words
OFFICIAL (to the boy, warmly): That's a very good dragon.
Sound
Birdsong returns. Chatter drifting away.
Machine

STANDS FOR The sites still serve you, minus the grabbing.

M9Medium, at the boy's height.

The samurai pirate rolls over and juggles for the boy, then steps off the unicycle and hands it to him with a small bow. His mother arrives, laughing, and steadies the saddle while he climbs on.

awaiting render16:9
Stand-in from the model sheets: the gift, the boy's delight

M9The gift

Shot
Medium, at the boy's height.
Picture
The samurai pirate rolls over and juggles for the boy, then steps off the unicycle and hands it to him with a small bow. His mother arrives, laughing, and steadies the saddle while he climbs on.
Feeling
Delight.
Him
Gives the unicycle away.
Words
BOY: For me?
Sound
A laugh. The clack of the balls, caught.
Machine

STANDS FOR The freedom becomes the user's own.

M10Wide. A sunlit road at golden hour.

The boy rides the unicycle, wobbling, then balanced, arms stretched out wide. His mother runs alongside, laughing. Far down the road, the samurai pirate walks toward the horizon and opens his black parasol. From behind it is a black disc with a blood-red brushstroke ring.

awaiting render16:9
The boy rides the unicycle, wobbling, then balanced, arms stretched out wide. His mother runs alongside, laughing. Far down the road, the samurai pirate walks toward the horizon and opens his black parasol. From behind it is a black disc with a blood-red brushstroke ring.

M10No hands

Shot
Wide. A sunlit road at golden hour.
Picture
The boy rides the unicycle, wobbling, then balanced, arms stretched out wide. His mother runs alongside, laughing. Far down the road, the samurai pirate walks toward the horizon and opens his black parasol. From behind it is a black disc with a blood-red brushstroke ring.
Feeling
Freedom. Laughter. The end.
Him
Walks into the horizon, parasol open.
Words
BOY: Look, mom, NO HANDS!
Sound
Wheel on gravel. His mother's laugh.
Machine

STANDS FOR Hands off, handed on.

FinderFileEditViewWed 23:40

Built in code · no render needed

M11The mark

Shot
The same frame, the horizon.
Picture
The red ring on his parasol, small in the distance, rises and shrinks into the top corner of the screen: a 22-pixel ring in the menu bar. Title: HANDS OFF.
Feeling
Oh. That's the icon.
Him
Folded into 22 pixels.
Sound
Silence. One soft click.
Machine

STANDS FOR The mark, the icon and the state are one thing. Built in code, not rendered.

Act I

First contact

The only time she sees him. The tour is where he shows what he can do, once.

P01Her laptop. A landing page.

The film plays, about thirty seconds. Then one line and one button: Get Hands Off.

interface · built in code16:9

P01The door

Feeling
Curious. A little dared.
Him
Only the circle so far.
Words
Flip it on. Nothing touches you.
Sound
The film's own sound, off until she taps.
Machine

BUILD A landing page that plays the film muted with captions and loads fast on a phone.

P02Over her shoulder.

Download, open. No wizard, no account form. The Mac asks once for permission to add a VPN. One line tells her what to do.

interface · built in code16:9

P02Install

Feeling
That was fast.
Him
Waiting in the dark.
Words
Your Mac will ask once. Say yes.
Sound
Silence.
Machine

BUILD A native Mac app with a system VPN extension, so the whole Mac is covered, not only the browser. Today Elsewhere is a browser extension.

P03Her screen, full frame.

The screen dims. From the edges, grey hands reach for her open tabs, one for each real thing reaching for her right now, each labelled in small type: ad tracker, on 4 tabs · Café_Free_WiFi, anyone can listen · your provider, sees every site you open · hulu.com, not available in your region.

awaiting render16:9

P03The hands on you

Shot
Her screen, full frame.
Picture
The screen dims. From the edges, grey hands reach for her open tabs, one for each real thing reaching for her right now, each labelled in small type: ad tracker, on 4 tabs · Café_Free_WiFi, anyone can listen · your provider, sees every site you open · hulu.com, not available in your region.
Feeling
Oh. They were always there.
Him
Not visible yet.
Words
These are the hands on you right now.
Sound
The rustle from the film.
Machine

BUILD The count is real and made on her Mac: trackers on her open tabs, whether the network is open, which sites block her country. Nothing leaves the Mac.

P04Close on her face, lit by the screen. Her reflection in the dark glass.

One switch in the centre of the screen. She flips it. In the reflection, the samurai pirate is already standing behind her.

awaiting render16:9

P04First contact

Shot
Close on her face, lit by the screen. Her reflection in the dark glass.
Picture
One switch in the centre of the screen. She flips it. In the reflection, the samurai pirate is already standing behind her.
Feeling
Safe, and a little scared of how safe.
Him
Wide stance, hand on the hilt.
Words
SHE: Is it on? · HIM: It's on.
Sound
One breath.
Machine

TODAY Protection is tested with a real request before anything says connected, as Elsewhere already does.

BUILD The cut plays only after that test passes. The animation never lies.

P05Her screen, full frame.

One circular slash across the whole screen. Every hand drops at once. The red circle hangs over her desktop for a beat, then fades.

awaiting render16:9

P05The cut

Shot
Her screen, full frame.
Picture
One circular slash across the whole screen. Every hand drops at once. The red circle hangs over her desktop for a beat, then fades.
Feeling
Power, and it's hers.
Him
The product's one strike.
Sound
One clean ring of steel. Soft thuds. Silence.
Machine

BUILD Trackers blocked. Name lookups moved inside the tunnel. The Wi-Fi now sees only encrypted noise.

NEEDS MN Every open site moves to its own local exit. That needs several residential routes at once.

P06Five doors in one long frame.

A card: Try to break me. Five doors: her Vilnius bank, a US-only service, a Japanese shop, a show that says not available in your region, a search engine that usually throws puzzles at VPN users. She opens all five, and each opens as if she lived there. Beside each door, a cut grey hand on the floor. He has already been there.

awaiting render16:9

P06Try to break me

Shot
Five doors in one long frame.
Picture
A card: Try to break me. Five doors: her Vilnius bank, a US-only service, a Japanese shop, a show that says not available in your region, a search engine that usually throws puzzles at VPN users. She opens all five, and each opens as if she lived there. Beside each door, a cut grey hand on the floor. He has already been there.
Feeling
Delight. Wait. All of them?
Him
Never seen. Only what he left.
Words
Every site sees a local. Each sees a different one.
Sound
Doors opening, quick, one after another.
Machine

NEEDS MN Each site gets an exit in the country it serves: the bank sees Lithuania, the shop sees Osaka. Each site keeps its address for the whole visit, and the page's images and scripts leave from the same exit, so nothing looks split.

BET The show plays because the machine finds the country whose catalogue has it. Streaming terms forbid this: a legal and store risk.

P07The app window, calm.

Three things only. The switch. A strip of red dots: Today you were local in 5 countries. Under a small arrow, the paddles: Be local in… for this site, for the rare time she wants to drive.

interface · built in code16:9

P07Almost no settings

Feeling
Control, with no homework.
Him
Leaning on the wall.
Words
He drives. The paddles are there if you want them.
Machine

BUILD An override applies to one site and is remembered. Every override teaches the machine.

P08Her desktop, wide.

He gives the screen a small bow and rolls off across her desktop on his unicycle, juggling. At the edge he opens his black parasol, and its red ring shrinks into a small red ring in her menu bar.

awaiting render16:9

P08The vanishing

Shot
Her desktop, wide.
Picture
He gives the screen a small bow and rolls off across her desktop on his unicycle, juggling. At the edge he opens his black parasol, and its red ring shrinks into a small red ring in her menu bar.
Feeling
He's gone, and she knows exactly where he is.
Him
A bow, a grin, the parasol opening.
Words
Hands off. Go live.
Sound
The soft clack of juggling balls, fading. A parasol snapping open.
Machine

BUILD From here on the app is a menu-bar ring. Closed means protected. Open means off.

Act II

Forgetting

He becomes a red ring in the menu bar. Everything works, everywhere, and she stops thinking about it.

P09A café table, morning light.

She opens the laptop. The ring is already closed. She never saw the café's Wi-Fi login page. By the door, one cut grey hand on the floor.

awaiting render16:9

P09Monday, café

Shot
A café table, morning light.
Picture
She opens the laptop. The ring is already closed. She never saw the café's Wi-Fi login page. By the door, one cut grey hand on the floor.
Feeling
Nothing. That's the point.
Him
Only what he left.
Sound
Café noise.
Machine

BUILD Wi-Fi login pages open in a sealed window. He presses the café's Connect button for her, and nothing else gets out until the tunnel is up. She agreed to this once, at setup.

P10Three screens, side by side.

She pays rent at her Vilnius bank, signs a contract on a US-only portal and orders a Japanese book. She notices none of it.

interface · built in code16:9

P10Three countries before lunch

Feeling
Normal. Which is new.
Machine

NEEDS MN Three local exits in three countries at the same time, each staying with its site.

BET A shared map of which sites need which country, learned across all users without knowing who anyone is. The privacy design has to be proven before it ships.

P11Montage.

The red ring in her menu bar at dawn, at noon, on a train, at 2 a.m.

interface · built in code16:9

P11Day 12

Words
Day 12. She hasn't thought about it once.
Machine

BUILD The number we steer by: days since she last had to think about us.

Act III

The test

Something breaks and he handles it without her. He surfaces once, for the one thing only she knows.

P12Hotel room at night. Then far outside: a rooftop.

Hotel Wi-Fi. She pays for a flight. The form submits. Done. Far away on a rooftop, the samurai pirate, coat moving in the wind, parasol already closed, the blade back inside it.

awaiting render16:9

P12Lisbon, 23:40

Shot
Hotel room at night. Then far outside: a rooftop.
Picture
Hotel Wi-Fi. She pays for a flight. The form submits. Done. Far away on a rooftop, the samurai pirate, coat moving in the wind, parasol already closed, the blade back inside it.
Feeling
Nothing. She will only see it in the monthly ledger.
Him
Already done.
Sound
Rain on glass. A keyboard. Nothing else.
Machine

TODAY When a route fails, Elsewhere keeps its proxy in place, so traffic stops instead of leaking.

NEEDS MN 0.8 seconds earlier the route to her bank's country died. A spare route in the same city was already warm, so the payment moved without the bank seeing a new country.

P13Close on the menu bar.

The hotel's Wi-Fi wants a room number, the one thing the machine can't know. A small card slides down from the menu bar: Room number? She types 214. The card is gone.

awaiting render16:9

P13The one question

Shot
Close on the menu bar.
Picture
The hotel's Wi-Fi wants a room number, the one thing the machine can't know. A small card slides down from the menu bar: Room number? She types 214. The card is gone.
Feeling
Respect. It asked one thing, the right thing.
Him
His hand, holding the card. Nothing else of him.
Words
Room number?
Machine

BUILD He asks only for what only she knows. Everything else, never.

P14A card, full frame.

Once a month, one card: September. 4,812 hands cut. Local in 9 countries. 3 breaks fixed before you saw them. 0 times you had to think about me. At the bottom, the samurai pirate on his unicycle, juggling three red balls.

awaiting render16:9

P14The ledger

Shot
A card, full frame.
Picture
Once a month, one card: September. 4,812 hands cut. Local in 9 countries. 3 breaks fixed before you saw them. 0 times you had to think about me. At the bottom, the samurai pirate on his unicycle, juggling three red balls.
Feeling
Pride, and a small laugh.
Him
Juggling on his unicycle.
Words
No hands.
Machine

BUILD Counted on her Mac; nothing leaves unless she shares it. This card is how the product spreads: a screenshot that brags without selling.

P15A dinner table, candlelight.

A friend complains about her VPN: the map, the puzzles, Netflix breaking. What do you use? She shrugs. On the wall behind them, faintly, the shadow of a man in a tricorn.

awaiting render16:9

P15The friend

Shot
A dinner table, candlelight.
Picture
A friend complains about her VPN: the map, the puzzles, Netflix breaking. What do you use? She shrugs. On the wall behind them, faintly, the shadow of a man in a tricorn.
Feeling
The best review is forgetting.
Him
A shadow on the wall.
Words
I forgot I have one.
Sound
Cutlery. Laughter.
FinderFileEditViewWed 23:40

Built in code · no render needed

P16Last frame

Shot
Her menu bar.
Picture
Clock, battery, Wi-Fi, and a 22-pixel red ring, closed. Fade to black.
Him
At rest. Sword in the scabbard.
Machine

BUILD Two states: closed red ring means protected, open grey ring means off. For a few seconds at most, a red ring with a gap: holding, nothing leaks, fixing now.

Myth to machine

What the film means

Every image in the film is a promise the product has to keep.

The drawing
Your life online: what you make, plan and dream. They reach for it.
The officials' human faces
What trackers show you: free, friendly, for your safety.
Their demonic backs
What they are: data brokers and country walls, seen only from outside.
The shrinking island of colour
Your freedom as the watchers close in.
The joker on the unicycle
Nobody takes the quiet tool seriously, until it works.
“Hands off.”
The product's name is the moment it acts.
The one cut
The tunnel, the blocking and the per-site exits, switched on together and proven.
The officials, freed
He cuts the machine, not the people: the sites still serve you, minus the grabbing.
The gift
The freedom becomes yours to ride.
He stays black ink and red
He wears the dark so you don't have to.
The parasol
Hidden blade, balancing prop, his colours: samurai, joker, pirate in one object.
A unicycle
No handlebars: hands off by design.
No master
No government, no company, no advertiser gets a say in where your traffic goes. Not even him: nobody kneels.

His articles

The code he wrote himself

Pirates sailed under articles they agreed among themselves, not orders from a lord. These are his. They are also the product's trust rules.

  1. 1
    The animation never lies. The cut plays only after protection is proven with a real request.
  2. 2
    Nothing leaks. If no route is proven, nothing goes out.
  3. 3
    He never reads what you send. Each connection stays encrypted to the site. He moves it; he doesn't open it.
  4. 4
    He asks only what only you know. A room number. Never a country.
  5. 5
    He doesn't cut the law. Gambling bans, sanctions and age checks stay where the law puts them. He cuts walls built for business.
  6. 6
    What he counts stays on your Mac. The ledger is yours. Nothing leaves unless you share it.

After the tour

22 pixels

Once the tour is done, Hands Off is a ring in the menu bar and nothing else. Click the ring to see its states.

FinderFileEditViewWed 23:40

The only red thing on your screen all day.

Closed red ringProtected. Every site sees a local.
Open grey ringOff. You turned it off; ordinary internet.
Red ring with a gapHolding. Nothing leaks; fixing now. Seconds at most.

VPN physics

Why the machine can do this

The limits most VPNs accept, and how Hands Off breaks each one. The tag on each says how real it is today.

  • NEEDS MN
    One tunnel, one country is a habit, not a law. Every site can leave from its own local exit. Your bank sees Lithuania while a shop in Osaka sees Osaka, at the same moment.
  • BET
    Local is fast. An exit in the site's own country sits on the road the traffic was taking anyway. A one-country VPN sends every other site on a detour. Big global sites are the exception: for them the exit nearest you wins. This is my reasoning; it needs measuring.
  • NEEDS MN
    A normal VPN makes you easier to follow. It gives every site the same new address, and that shared address links your visits together. A different exit per site breaks the link.
  • NEEDS MN
    Residential only where a site cares. Home internet connections pass the checks that block data centres, but they are slower and cost more. Use them only where a site checks, and faster routes everywhere else.
  • NEEDS MN
    Make before break. The next route is warm before the current one dies, in the same city, so a bank never sees you jump country.
  • TODAY
    Nothing leaks, by construction. Until a route is proven, nothing goes out. Elsewhere already fails this way today.
  • TODAY Works in the Elsewhere code today
  • BUILD We know how to build it
  • NEEDS MN Needs Mysterium engineering or pricing
  • BET Unproven; needs a test or a legal read
  • STANDS FOR What the film image stands for in the product

Honest flags

What could hurt us

  • Keep “pirate” in the picture and out of the words. “Pirate VPN” reads as torrenting, the first association the app stores and the press will reach for.
  • The mark is a red brushstroke circle on black. Never a solid red disc on white (Japan's flag), and never with rays (the Rising Sun flag, still a wound in Korea and China).
  • “No masters” echoes the anarchist slogan “No gods, no masters”. Sharp, and some people will read it politically.
  • The history on this page is from my memory and needs checking before public use: the Murakami pirates' pass flag and circle crest.
  • The officials say “for your safety”. The film now mocks the argument used for message scanning and age-verification laws. It is a political stance, and MN must be ready to own it.
  • Never write “Ghibli” or “Miyazaki” in a prompt, and never let the meadow become a pastiche. In 2025 Ghibli-style AI images became a scandal; a privacy brand born from that would be an easy target.
  • The juggling joker shares a motif with the Apex Oracle deck's Joker card (Lee's personal brand). Different medium and character; noted, not a problem.
  • A felt tricorn reads as fancy dress. His is black lacquer with one plume: sharp, never costume.
  • He must not read as Lee. The Apex Oracle cards are drawn from Lee (top-knot, groomed beard); the samurai pirate has no top-knot, carries a katana, wears a pointed goatee, and is never drawn as a silhouette on white.
  • Finding the country whose streaming catalogue has a show (Act I, P06) breaks streaming terms of service. It stays a bet until someone reads the law and the store rules.
  • The Mac menu bar is the end state. Today's product is a browser extension; the whole-Mac version is to build.

Your pick

The line

Three candidates for the one line under the film. Pick by ear.

Flip it on. Nothing touches you.

Plain, and it promises the two things that matter: one action, full protection.

I forgot I have one.

The ending of Act III as a line. Only true once the product earns it.

No masters. No flags. No hands.

Three true things: no one owns your route, no country to pick, nothing to touch. Echoes an anarchist slogan (see the flags).