Alien Code aKa The Men - Sci-Fi 2018 English
It's all already happened.
It was over before it began.
You know, the world could end tomorrow, but...
You know, but what else is new, right?
So maybe you... You can't change how it ends
but you sure as hell can change how you get there.
Shit.
Come on.
Hey.
Oh, shit.
Hey.
Jesus. Fuck.
What the fuck?
"Watch me."
Okay.
I know this is weird,
and you're probably freaking the fuck out,
but just relax.
You're not dreaming.
You're not drunk, and you're not high.
This is, um...
This is happening.
So if you could, uh...
You could stop your heart from doing somersaults,
and your thoughts from drowning in a sea of confusion, then...
Um...
Then I'll explain everything.
But, um...
you might wanna take a shot or two of bourbon first.
What the fuck?
I'm serious, man. It's gonna help.
Yeah, um...
Yeah. I... Shit. I...
Um, I'm... I'm not really sure how to...
explain this because it's... It's such a
gargantuan mind-fuck,
so I'll just, um...
I'll start at the beginning.
Alex Jacobs?
You a lawyer?
My name is Rebecca Stillman.
I work for A.R.I.S.T. May I come in?
Who the fuck is A.R.I.S.T.?
Advanced Research Institute of Science and Technology.
We're a private company under contract with the NSA.
NSA...
Look, lady, I've been cleared,
so if you wanna talk to my lawyer...
I'm here to offer you a job.
Mmm.
That's, uh...
hefty.
That's a hell of an NDA.
Okay. So you're gonna show up on my doorstep,
offer me a job, but you're not gonna
tell me what it is?
I can't divulge any specifics
until you've signed the non-disclosure agreement.
Yeah...
It's only a precaution. No obligation.
Mmm.
All right.
As a gesture of how important it is
for us that you consider our proposal,
I'd like to offer a little something just to hear me out.
What is this?
Sign, and it's yours.
You're gonna pay me just to sign the NDA?
You've got nothing to lose.
Well.
All right. Shoot.
We'd like to hire you to decipher an encrypted message.
Okay. Why me?
Because you're arguably one of the best
cryptographers of your generation.
No, come on.
That's bullshit. Look, I'm good,
but the best? No.
We like your work, Alex.
We were particularly impressed with your Amber algorithm.
My Amber algorithm.
Yes.
That, uh, pissed a lot of people off, that one.
It did more than that.
Broke countless laws, compromised
the security of hundreds of multinational firms,
and folded the company you worked for.
You know, I can't take all the credit for that.
You see, the-the NSA, they pressured us
into implementing back doors
for the sake of "national security."
And you do know after that information leaked,
they turned their backs,
and they threw us under the bus,
so thank you, Uncle Sam.
It's business.
It's conspiracy.
Come on. I signed the NDA. What, uh...?
What ethically-ambiguous scheme is it this time?
Two months ago, we detected
a U.S. military satellite in orbit.
A satellite we never sent up.
It was retrieved and examined,
and inside, we found an encoded message.
One that we've been unable to decrypt.
What do you mean, you didn't send it up?
We never sent that satellite into orbit.
So it's not American.
It is.
It's ours. Just not from now.
We believe it's from the future.
I'm sorry, uh, what?
There was a non-encrypted message stating its origin.
Of course, we were dubious at first,
but after undergoing a variety of tests
we've come to the conclusion that it was,
in fact, sent back in time.
Okay, you're, uh... You gotta be fucking kidding me.
It contains advanced apparati well beyond our...
This is gonna bounce, right? The check?
That check's gonna bounce. That check will not bounce.
I assure you.
Alex, I'm speaking to you with utmost sincerity.
Let me get this straight.
You're telling me that there is a satellite
that has been sent back in time,
and it has an encrypted message
that you want me to decrypt. That's what you're saying?
We'd like to bring you to a secure laboratory
where you will have all the time and resources you need.
Wait a minute. You're serious?
Very.
A secure laboratory?
In a private facility.
Yes, if you agree to my offer,
you'll be sedated and transported.
- What? - As a security measure.
Sedated? No! Okay.
Look, Alex, this is the opportunity of a lifetime.
No. The NSA sent you here to fuck with me, didn't they?
I understand this is hard to swallow.
Look, if you're trying to dupe me,
maybe you should use something more credible.
Okay. Okay.
Take out your phone.
Why?
I just had that check deposited into your bank account.
And that was just for signing the NDA.
You sign the contract to work for us...
Your reputation's tarnished, Alex.
No one wants to hire a cryptographer
who specializes in subverted implementations.
You're scraping by, freelancing for start-ups under an alias.
You're drowning in legal debt,
and living in your mom and dad's old home.
You can't afford to turn this down.
Check your phone.
You're serious.
Very.
You sign this contract,
the first half will be transferred
into your account immediately. The rest upon completion.
Yeah, I signed it.
I would've been crazy not to.
It was a ridiculous amount of money.
They came for me the next day.
Your arm.
Are you fucking kidding me?
Don't get any ideas.
Ah!
Jesus.
Fuck.
How's your head?
I feel like I was roofied and lobotomized.
That'll pass.
You ready to see the lab?
Come on.
Let's do it.
Here you go.
I'm only decrypting a message, right?
You'll find everything you need.
If not, we'll do our best to accommodate any requests.
Is that it?
Yeah. That is the chamber that contained the key.
No fucking way.
It's a vacuum.
They used quantum memory?
Yeah, but what we extracted was just a lot of noise.
I'm assuming you guys tried a dictionary attack, yeah?
No luck. We think they sabotaged
the encryption algorithm.
That's your real entry point.
They left a back door.
Something with which you're uniquely qualified.
Ai-ai-ai. Okay. Uh.
This... This could take a little bit.
They sent it back this way,
to this specific time, for a reason.
They believed we could crack it.
We've uploaded a portion of the message onto a secure server.
That can help you recover the key.
Any idea what it could be?
We're all waiting to find out.
Okay,
um...
All right. Well, I'm not seeing a coffee pot in here.
That's gotta change.
Um, I'd also like a minifridge filled with beer.
Not kidding. And if you could get me
a bottle of Scotch or bourbon.
Nothing under 20 years. It's essential to my process.
You get me those things...
I'll get you the key.
Good morning.
Is it?
I must have missed the sunrise.
Progress?
We know this work can be taxing,
and this environment claustrophobic.
We've arranged for a weekend leave.
You keep saying "we."
Who is "we"?
It's been five weeks, Alex.
We think it's time you take a break.
Get outside, maybe interact with other people.
- I don't need it. - We think it'd be good for you.
Yeah. I don't need it.
Human interaction is important,
and you refuse to speak to our psychologist.
Even one conversation a day helps keep the mind healthy.
I don't need to hear myself talk.
I do not crave comfort through interaction,
and I do not feel particularly compelled
to play pedestrian psych games with your in-house shrink.
So why don't you just let me soak up the me time,
and get some fucking work done, all right?
Do you mind?
I'm on the clock,
and I'd like you to get your money's worth.
I am going to assign
a one to the vertical spin, and...
uh, let's make the diagonal 0.
Let's try that.
Holy shit.
Oh, man...
Okay.
Yes...
Hey.
Hey!
Assholes...
What's up?
- You never told me. - Never told you what?
I wasn't the first person here.
You hired another cryptographer, didn't you?
Well, I guess I'm the guy you call
when nobody else can get the job done.
They're blueprints.
Designs for a machine of some sort.
Not really sure what, though. It's incomplete.
You guys only gave me a portion of what you found on that thing.
You read through all this?
Some of them.
Uh...
There's something else.
It's a message.
This is...
It's Navajo.
Keeping it local.
It's a... It's a warning.
Yeah.
Yeah, apparently, we are on the eve of the Third World War,
and that machine, whatever the fuck it is,
is our first line of defense.
Your service has been appreciated.
The remainder of your fee will be transferred.
That's it?
You'll be sedated and escorted home.
Come on, come on. What, no...? No champagne?
To ensure your adherence to the terms of the contract,
you'll remain under surveillance.
Not one word is to be spoken, written or thought.
You're welcome. You're welcome!
Do you have any idea? Any idea what I did here?
Get off me.
Fuck.
What the fuck?
Oh...
Oh, shit.
I thought, at first, it was a, um
side effect of the sedative,
or that maybe I was just
purging the stress from my system.
It was about three or four days
before I could keep anything down.
Then it started.
Now you see what we see.
Alex Jacobs?
Yeah.
My colleague and I would like to ask you a few questions.
You from A.R.I.S.T.?
May we come in?
Sure.
Okay, um...
So, uh...
what's this all about?
We're here to ask you a few questions.
Yeah?
What, like a customer-satisfaction survey?
The questions are regarding your recent work.
The satellite.
Yes.
Uh, yeah. I can't talk about it. I'm... I'm under contract.
We're curious to know why you agreed
to help decipher the code.
You're what?
We are curious.
Still can't talk about it.
These questions do not betray the parameters of your contract.
All right, so...
So you wanna know why I took the job.
Yes.
Yeah, I took it because you paid me.
You did it for money?
No. I didn't do it for money.
Look, between you and me,
I actually did it for the year's supply of mouthwash.
Ah, yeah, yeah. I did it for the money.
You acted in no part out of a sense of altruism?
Altruism? No, guys, I'm not curing cancer, okay? I...
Ugh. I decrypted a message.
Then your decision was purely selfish?
All right, look,
I've had the mother of all migraines
for the past week. I'm a little bit out of it.
I'm gonna need you guys to help me out here.
You're in need of help?
What do you want?
We are curious.
Jesus Christ.
You agreed to decipher the code for profit.
Much like your previous work
implementing back doors in security programs.
The outcomes of your actions do not concern you?
The outcomes? It's a job.
I mean, if I'm not doing it, someone else will.
Why did they ask you?
What? What?
Why did they ask you?
Why did...?
You know what, can I see some, uh, identification?
Identification?
Yeah, I'd like to see some.
Will you feel responsible
for the harm that will come from the weapon?
We... The weapon?
Will ID make you feel more comfortable?
The weapon that will be constructed from the blueprints.
Will it make you compliant?
What are you talking about? What weapon?
The blueprints you decrypted.
I deciphered blueprints, but...
Is it something you base trust on?
You did not know?
No, I didn't.
I did not know this.
How do you feel now that you know?
Do you feel regret?
It was a job.
Okay? I needed the money,
so I took the job.
There was no... You know,
no forethought, no ulterior motive.
It was just a fucking job.
So whatever...
I deciphered was not my creation,
and I am not responsible for what happens next.
Does it scare you?
Do you trust us?
Have you thought about...
- your own death? - the people that will die?
No, no, all right. You guys...
You gotta go.
You got...
We are thankful for the time
you have taken to answer our questions.
It means a great deal to us.
What the...?
What are you doing?
Rebecca?
You were not authorized to
commit that message to memory.
That is property of the U.S. government.
Shit, are you kidding me? You hacked into my computer?
You were informed you'd be under surveillance.
The fuck are you...? Are you watching me? Huh?
You're legally bound to the terms of the contract.
This place bugged?
Don't let this happen again.
You've been warned.
Fuck. You send...
Fucking send people here.
I hope you got a good show last night
when I was jacking off.
Are you fucking kidding me?
Jesus Christ. These pricks...
Cut the lights.
Shit.
No.
- Alex? - Yeah.
Alex?
In here.
Wait here.
Whoa.
Hey, um...
Yeah, I know this...
This looks a little, um, ahem...
So... Right.
So I was... I was stuck on this... On this one...
On this one... This one thing on this one equation, right?
And-and I was thinking to myself maybe...
Maybe it had to do with-with quantum foam,
because of all the little wormholes in there, or maybe...
Maybe it had something to do with the, um...
With the holographic, ah, principle.
Maybe it was that, and maybe
we're in a two-dimensional space,
because that would explain the size difference.
Alex...
Just wait a minute. Just wait a minute.
I realized that I was being misdirected
and that I was too busy focusing on what I was seeing
and not when.
What is all this?
It's the answer.
To what?
To them.
You see, if they can travel here through space and time,
then that means that they can probably control space and time.
Which means they can exist in the same space as us,
just at a different time.
No, no, no. Think about it. Think.
They could be in this room, just not right now.
They could be six hours into the future,
12 hours into the past.
They could be in a time where nobody can see them,
but in a place where they can watch.
Now here's the part that I didn't get at first.
I didn't understand, but they're watching us.
They're watching us through windows in time.
They're observing us, they're studying us,
and they are fucking everywhere.
You need to stop this.
No, no, no, no, no.
No, I'm not the one that needs to stop.
You need to stop.
You need to stop building that machine, okay?
It's not from us.
It is not from the fucking future, okay?
It is from them.
They put those blueprints on that satellite with that message
to start the next war, not to prevent it.
That's their plan.
We have your medical records.
We know about the tumor.
A.R.I.S.T. have a compensation package for that one?
We're very sorry, Alex.
You're fucking sorry. You put me in a room
with a satellite emitting
fucking God-knows-how-much radiation.
That's the thing, right?
That's the thing. That's the thing that lets me see them.
Lets me look at them as they look at me.
- You're hallucinating. - No, I'm not.
That's what they want you to think.
- This won't change anything. - Yes, it will.
You cannot build that machine.
- This is not about a machine. - Yes, it is.
- You're sick! - No!
I'm sorry.
Look, I know you don't have any family,
but maybe there's friends that you wanna...
I mean, is there someone you wanna see,
or a place you wanna go? We can help with that. We can.
But you have got to stop this.
Let the work and the message you've...
I'm not dying!
God, denial's a bitch, man.
But they weren't listening
and I was adamant that there was something sinister at play.
I mean, sure, you know,
there was a part of me that thought that maybe I was...
losing my mind...
but then I remembered
I wasn't the only cryptographer they hired.
Hi.
Um...
Beth Carter?
I'm Alex Jacobs. I'm a... I'm a cryptographer.
W-Why are you here?
A couple months ago, I was hired by a company, um...
A.R.I.S.T.
I-I'm sorry, I'm not feeling very well.
I know, but I need... I need to talk...
- I have to go. - Can I just talk to you
for one second? It's-it's important.
Listen...
I worked on... Shit.
I worked on the same message as you!
All right, listen to me.
You don't have to worry, okay? I'm not with A.R.I.S.T.
I went to the library to track you down.
They don't even know that I'm here.
Ow! Fuck. Look.
I stayed in the same room as you.
Okay? I saw...
I found your name etched onto the bedpost.
The message, it's not... It's not...
It's not what it says it is. It's... It's...
It's not from us.
I tried to tell them, but they won't...
They won't...
listen, and...
I'm seeing things that I can't explain,
but no one believes me because I'm...
I'm dying.
They gave me six months.
I've got two left.
I still don't accept it.
It's hard to imagine that
four weeks from now,
I will no longer be able to walk.
In six weeks, I'll be so weak, I...
won't be able to talk.
And in eight weeks, I'll be ashes.
Was there something wrong with my decryption?
Is that why they brought you in?
No, no, no, no, no.
As far as I know, they...
They only brought me in to corroborate.
Yeah.
You know it's a weapon, right?
Of course.
A warning from the future isn't exactly gonna
show up with blueprints for a microwave.
Yeah.
It's, uh...
It's not from the future.
I'm-I'm so sorry, I... I didn't even
offer you something to drink.
- Coffee? - Um...
I'll actually take something
a little bit harder, if you don't mind.
Oh. Ha.
I forgot I even had that.
You're not gonna have any?
No, I don't drink.
I thought about quitting...
but fuck it.
You know you're the first person I've talked to in over a month?
Well, other than doctors.
And Cipherman, but he's...
Do A.R.I.S.T. still contact you?
I... I'm pretty sure he works for them.
I mean, he must.
There's no way he'd know what he does if he didn't.
Who is...? I'm sorry, who's Cipherman?
The screen just went black, and then the next thing I know,
he was communicating with me.
That was about a month ago,
and I've spoken every day since.
He gave you problems to solve?
It was a nice distraction.
What else do you guys talk about?
Quantum physics, mostly.
Sometimes, it felt like he was
challenging my understanding of it.
What, like, testing you?
I think it was
for the sake of conversation, more than anything.
I took those screen shots to prove to myself it was real.
After I was diagnosed, I never could tell.
I'm still not even sure you're real.
- Hey, hey. - Ahh...
- I... I need to lie down. - You okay?
Okay. All right, come here. I got you.
Thanks.
Want some, uh...?
Some Valium?
Oh, those don't work any more.
I'm real.
Hmm.
- No, you're not. - I am.
I'm here. I'm real.
I never wrote my name in binary.
Fast. How are you feeling today?
"Nauseous."
Shit.
Oh, my God.
Hi. Oh, you feel better?
Good. Hey, I got a... I got a question.
I was looking around.
Ah, do you have...? Do you have any more...?
Do you have more of these things with the...?
With the problems that he gave you?
What did you do?
Well, it's... It's, uh...
It's... It's a message.
Heh, heh. There's... There's gaps in it,
there's pieces missing, but it's...
It's a message to, um...
Have you ever put these together before?
- Huh-uh. - No, no, no. It's... It's pieces.
It's pieces of a puzzle, and... And, um,
you decipher them, you solve them independently,
and you put them together.
I think this guy's trying to tell you something.
Did...? Did you...?
Did I...? Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Uh, he contacted me, um last night, but I...
You talked to him?
Yeah. Well, no, he knew I wasn't you.
No, you... You can't talk to him.
I... I didn't talk to him, okay? He knew that I wasn't you.
Okay, but this is mine. Okay?
This is my computer, these are my notes, my house.
- You can't... - That's fine, it's fine.
Look, I don't think he's working for A.R.I.S.T.
You can't be here.
Do you wanna know what the difference
between me and you is?
I'm the guy that doesn't give a shit.
Okay? The NSA, they came in
and forced the company that I worked for
to write back doors in our algorithms,
and I didn't think twice about it.
I figured they were gonna do it anyway,
I might as well collect the check.
But you?
No, not you. I read your bio.
You worked for Everleaf.
Okay? They told the NSA to go fuck themselves.
Rather than compromise the privacy of their clients,
they shut down.
You? You give a shit.
Help me stop this.
Come with me.
June 4th.
That's the day I accepted the job.
After that, I got sick.
I started hallucinating.
I tried to come up with rational,
reasonable explanations, but none of them satisfied me,
so I started thinking about the message.
About the key and quantum memory.
Polarized photons carrying a message from the future.
And photons are just packets of light, and...
light crosses the universe.
What if someone or...
something was sending messages into the abyss?
Across space.
Across time.
All we have to do is look for them.
I started capturing photons
and deciphering codes.
I became obsessed.
I believed the dead were speaking to me.
Calling down from the heavens.
Then, among their voices, I heard my own.
I was just talking to myself.
Neither one of us should ever have taken this job
because it's taken our health.
And whoever we used to be...
isn't who we are now.
You see them.
Right?
Everything you think you see is just death.
Do you see that one out the window there?
If I'm hallucinating,
then how are we hallucinating the same thing?
This is real.
This is happening.
They put that message on that satellite,
and this machine... This is gonna tip the first domino.
We have to do something.
I just wanna die in peace.
Please...
leave.
Yeah.
- We've warned you. - What?
Why were you in contact with Beth Carter?
- Are you fucking serious? - How did you find her?
I told you to leave all this behind.
What are you gonna do? Kill me?
This is a matter of national security.
You can only push so far before it's out of our hands.
Great. Then do me a favour.
Why don't you take a gun and shoot me
right through this fucking tumor?
You're not alone.
I know there's not much left in this life for you,
but if there's some place you wanna go or unfinished business,
- we can help. - What about Beth?
Beth is none of your concern.
- Yeah. - She's to be left alone.
Did you help her too?
You're not to visit Beth again.
This is the last time I'll be coming here.
Do you understand?
Or what? Hm?
Or else?
You weren't the only one exposed in that lab.
Time is all we have, Alex.
Use yours wisely.
What the fuck?
Oh, shit.
Fuck.
Fuck!
I thought that I...
wasn't here any more.
I thought that I had been taken.
I was in a...
glass tank somewhere.
Like ants in a colony...
going about our business.
Oblivious to the scientists watching over us.
Mm.
Is this real?
Oh, I fucking hope not.
You're drunk.
They took fucking everything.
Who did?
That bitch and her fucking A.R.I.S.T. watchdogs.
Are you okay?
Yes. No.
I'm fucking dying.
He was just here.
- One of them? - No, not one of them.
Those assholes are always somewhere.
I'm talking about your boy. I'm talking about Cipherman.
He contacted you?
Mm-hm.
He told me to come here.
He gave me your address.
I think you're right.
I think he's trying to figure out a way
to stop the machine.
He sent me the blueprints.
He's gotta be working on the inside
to have access to these.
This make sense to you?
A beam pipe, a thermal shield...
a vacuum vessel.
It's... It's all controlled by, uh...
By an air-gapped computer.
This is... playing with existence.
He had you figuring out algorithms, right?
Which means he's targeting the computer,
which would mean the machine's already built.
It doesn't make sense, though. How is that...?
How is that even possible?
I mean, something like this would...
Would take years, right?
I guess it's gotta be.
I mean, otherwise, he would just...
change the blueprints and have them build a dud.
We did this.
We didn't know.
We knew.
We just didn't want to acknowledge it.
You experience the time rifts?
They're getting worse.
I don't want what I saw to come true.
We started developing a virus...
to target the machine's zero-day vulnerabilities,
with, uh... With Cipherman's help.
We were just three people...
doing what we could.
Trying to right whatever wrongs we felt responsible for.
Then there was this moment.
This moment I thought to myself,
you know, I just thought, "Fuck.
We're just these two people dying.
Going crazy, you know?
Hiding inside each other."
We felt...
isolated from it all.
That didn't last long.
Lock the door.
Good. You got them.
Hey, what are...? What are you doing here?
A.R.I.S.T. They're on to me. They'll be here soon.
- Are you...? - No, but I know him.
I've been trying to stop this from the inside.
No one can be trusted.
There is a man,
one of the founders of A.R.I.S.T.
Here.
"Miles Driskoll."
- Cipherman. - That's his address.
I couldn't get you the schematics directly.
I used him to communicate with you and develop a virus
to disable the machine. I was gonna upload it myself.
Now you see what we see.
None of this is what they think.
No one at A.R.I.S.T. believes that.
They think we're hallucinating. They're blaming the tumors.
If more than one person sees the same thing...
There's no proof.
With the military funding the project,
there's no way they're walking away
from the most powerful weapon.
One message is all it took to scare them into building it.
- The prospect of power. - Do they know what it does?
They think they do.
But what it says on the box isn't what it really does.
- Which is what? - God, there's no time. Please.
Pack as much as you can.
You gotta get out before they come.
Please. Go, go.
You etched Beth's name on the bedpost, didn't you?
I was hoping you'd figure that out sooner. Hurry.
Hurry!
They're here.
Go. Go. Find Driskoll.
Make sure you're not followed. They'll be looking.
Don't use your cell. Use only cash. Don't leave a trail.
Hurry. You're running out of time.
The closer we get to the activation,
the worse the time ripples will get.
What does that mean?
Understand they're getting stronger
with every passing minute. They're starting to interact.
Their existence is evolving beyond just observation.
- Go. - What about you?
I'll buy you some time. Hurry. Go. Now. Go!
What do you think they'll do to her?
Must not like people very much.
Yes.
- It's open. - Hello.
Beth, so good to... To meet you.
I've... I've so enjoyed our conversations.
And Mr. Jacobs. Please, come in.
So sorry about all the clutter,
but you never know when you might...
need something.
I am one of the original scientists.
One of the original founders of A.R.I.S.T.
You see, this recent discovery
wasn't our first encounter...
with our strange friends.
There was another satellite.
Found many, many, many moons ago...
orbiting Earth for, we believe...
maybe hundreds of years
before we were capable of retrieving it.
Which was roughly 50 years ago or so.
I'm sorry, you...? You said there's another satellite?
Yes. Oh, yes.
Spinning around our little world
until we advanced technologically
to the point where we could retrieve it
and discover its secrets.
They were waiting for us.
In a sense. Come in.
Please, come on in.
So if this has happened before,
then that means it can be stopped, right?
Ooh. Ah...
Not exactly. No, this was
a very similar state of affairs
to what is happening now, but not quite the same.
We retrieved the satellite.
We... We found, inside, an encrypted message...
along with blueprints.
- Mm? - But the purpose was different.
The purpose, I believe, was to tether themselves to...
To our dimension.
An anchor of sorts.
Our dimension.
- You mean...? - Yes, yes, yes.
Yes. I mean, yes, inter-dimensional beings.
Yes, that's what I believe them to be.
It's wonderful, isn't it?
Although I'm not sure that A.R.I.S.T.
shares my enthusiasm.
When I tried to communicate this to them,
they had me discredited, locked up and...
excommunicated from the scientific community.
They said I was paranoid, schizophrenic.
Not unlike what you two have been going through, I'm sure.
I, too, developed a tumor.
A small one, non-fatal,
which I believe enabled me to... To see them.
But they don't exist on the same plane
of linear time as we do.
It was challenging to try to figure out any way in which
I could make some kind of sense of it,
which I-I'm sure you two can relate to.
Not to mention, psychiatric institutions in the '70s were...
Were a bit different than they are today.
Please, sit. Sit, sit, please.
So if they... If they exist on another plane...
then that means their perception of our reality
would be different.
Well, I am quite certain that they are incapable
of perceiving things the way we do.
We are so, so primitive. They are so advanced.
So that means whatever dimension they're from...
Wouldn't experience time in linear form.
- Right. - Yes, well, I believe that,
to them, quite possibly, time is one moment.
So... Ha.
So if the, uh... If the first machine...
was a tether
then what does the new machine do?
Ah, well... Ha.
I believe the new machine will allow them,
for lack of a better word, access...
to our dimension.
Think of it as if they are watching a video cassette,
and we are the characters in that story.
And we can move from the beginning
through the middle to the end.
We can only experience things as such.
The first machine was the remote,
with which they could jump around
at any point and watch the story.
But they couldn't affect us.
They couldn't alter, they couldn't interact.
But I believe this new machine...
will enable them to... Ha.
To reach right through the screen.
And the closer we get to the machine's activation,
the stronger we're feeling its effects.
They're becoming more present.
The effects of the machine are rippling
as soon as the machine is activated.
Time is bleeding backwards.
There's an overflow of-of effects
moving out to the future and to the past.
The closer we get to that moment,
the more concentrated the ripples are,
the more powerful they become.
Yeah, uh, Rebecca tried to warn us.
Yes, well, things are getting very strange
at A.R.I.S.T. Yes.
Very strange indeed. Ha, ha.
Anything in close proximity is...
Are being affected dramatically.
People are moving in slow motion,
looping conversations. Can you imagine?
I-it's crazy. It's crackers.
We know nothing.
We can try to reason the rules of their existence,
but we don't even understand our own.
My theoretical description of their existence is just that.
It's a theory. It's just so we can begin to understand.
But it's probably nowhere near the actual truth.
Case in point.
When you look at them...
you perceive them as what?
As men, correct?
Yeah. Yeah.
Tall, pale, no features.
Yes, you perceive them as humanoid
because that is the only way your brains can process them.
But it's probably nothing of what they actually look like.
How can we know what they look like?
We know nothing of the higher dimensions.
One thing I do know for sure, they look nothing like men.
You should see the one in my backyard.
There's one in your backyard?
Oh, yes.
He's been there for, oh, 30 years.
Hasn't moved one inch.
In the beginning, I saw him as anthropomorphic.
But the more time passed, the more my mind had to adjust.
And the more he changed.
He's a loyal friend.
The most loyal friend I've ever had.
I don't see anything.
Really?
Well, that's interesting.
What does it look like?
Indescribable.
Quite terrifying, actually.
Everything about them's so fascinating.
So mysterious.
Like the encryptions, for example.
- What about them? - Well, your solution...
to the decryption was different to Beth's,
which was different to mine. How can that be?
They know nothing of our reality.
How can they encrypt something for us to decipher?
It's... No. They put something out there
that was different for each of us,
yet always came to the same result.
It's really... It's quite embarrassing
because I can't even begin to explain that.
That's why A.R.I.S.T. hired multiple cryptographers.
Oh, and I have another theory, I don't think it was radiation
that caused our little... Our little friends here.
No, they are rather physical side effects
of altering our perception of reality.
Yes? Like a challenging puzzle can cause a headache.
This puzzle caused us a tumor.
It's remarkable.
So...
we're fucked.
Yes, I suppose... I suppose you could say that.
But we can stop this. There's still time.
Oh, no. I don't... I think there's...
We can actually do anything.
You wasted our time developing a virus
that doesn't stand a fucking chance?
Oh, no, no, no.
Th-the virus will work.
It's just that we don't have the luxury of time
to complete it. I mean...
these ripples we are feeling are likely from an event
that has already happened.
You know, the machine's activation
may already have happened.
Some point in our future.
We can't...
There must be something.
I mean, for all we know, the effects may not be
from the machine's activation. They may be from its detonation.
Jesus Christ, what the fuck? Can we stop this thing or not?
Its detonation?
You know, there may be another method to destroy it.
Dismantle it,
take a sledgehammer to it, blow it up.
That's great. That's great.
I'm so glad
we spent all that time developing the virus.
Ah, yes, well, you see, the problem is A.R.I.S.T.
will most definitely rebuild it.
No, so you have to go, get to the server
and erase the blueprints.
But we don't even know where the A.R.I.S.T. facility is.
Yes, well, now you do.
You forget, I was one of the original
founders of A.R.I.S.T. I know this place inside and out.
You should be able to access the facility
through the east-wing maintenance tunnel here.
There's a hatch about a mile down the road...
that'll take you directly to the lab.
Oh, shit.
Oh, shit, we gotta go.
Hello...
old friend.
We shouldn't have just left him.
There's nothing we could do.
So the hatch is just a couple miles off this back road.
If we leave first thing in the morning,
we should be there by evening.
No.
Aah!
Fuck.
Ugh!
Relax.
Where am I? Where am I?
What do you see?
I don't know. I don't know.
Am I dead?
Not as you understand it.
Do you fear death?
No.
Do you fear living?
What are you?
Nothing you can understand.
What the fuck do you want?
We are very curious about your kind
and your experience of time.
That's all this has been?
It is a curiosity to us.
So... So all...
All this...
We would like to understand.
Linear time seems so impractical a state of being.
To learn is a tediously slow process...
and with each generation, it begins anew.
A laborious cycle of empty promise.
It banishes mankind to the torment of ignorance.
Forever a child in the dark.
How curious that nature could punish
a creature so malevolently.
You are condemned to relearn pain for an eternity.
How painful it must be to possess self-awareness,
and consciousness as you do...
trapped in a lower dimension, such as you are.
Jesus Christ, what the fuck do you want from me?
Why did you choose me? "Choose"?
Yeah. Why did you choose
to decrypt the message?
You asked me that before.
You came to my house.
We do not understand decision.
We exist in one single moment.
One blink of instantaneity.
We understand everything there is
to be understood in our world.
Therefore, causality,
probability and consequence are a mystery to us.
It's something that doesn't exist in your time.
If man's experience of time was like ours...
would he remain? Would he remain?
Would he remain?
Oh, fuck.
Relax.
Fuck! Oh, fuck.
Relax.
If the cracks of time were filled
and man had no place left to hide...
what then?
I don't know. Oh, fuck.
I don't know. I don't even know what the fuck you mean.
What happens when man must wait no more?
We become you?
Is that something you'd like?
I can't exist here.
It's making me sick.
You... You're killing me.
But there is only one certainty for man:
Death.
Yet man hides from this inevitability.
Man desires more time to distance himself from it.
However, the more time man has...
the more it takes from him.
Prolonging your existence
comes at the cost of unknown suffering.
Time determines all for man.
Ironic that it should be both the gift and the thief.
What's it like?
In your world?
You cannot understand.
If you can bridge the gap between dimensions
to communicate with me, then you can...
Then you can fucking try.
You know things about us...
and about our universe. Tell me.
If you're seeking answers to alter
your understanding of reality...
does that not make your world a projection
rather than a perception?
What is the actuality?
Do you see the world as you imagine it...
or are you observing what is really there?
If reality is just a projection, what happens when the source,
when consciousness, is absent?
Even with an eternity of self-reflection,
man cannot understand the difference
between actuality and illusion.
With every man born comes a new reality...
all competing in perpetuity.
Perhaps this is why man is so perpetually at odds.
So conflicted.
- Stop. Stop. Stop. - So divided.
Stop.
Am I the only one you're doing this to?
Would you feel better if you weren't?
You don't want to be alone.
I don't wanna suffer.
- You're in pain? - Yes.
Yes, I'm in pain, and now I just have to sit here
until I fucking die.
What if you could return to a moment
in what you understand as the past?
Before you were sick?
If I were to travel back in time?
Yes.
With the information you now possess.
How do you think it would alter your behavior?
What would you decide to do differently,
if anything at all?
I would tell A.R.I.S.T. to go fuck themselves.
You would choose differently?
I would stop this.
I would stop you.
- Remove us from the equation. - I can't.
You would be unable to see us.
Doesn't matter.
I would know that you're there.
I would know that you were watching.
The idea alone would change your perception of reality,
and therefore change your behavior.
Yes.
Why would you behave differently if there was
nothing you could do to alter the situation?
- I just would. - We find this curious.
We don't choose.
We don't decide what happens. I didn't choose to be here.
I didn't choose to get sick.
Things happen that we have no control of.
We don't just... We don't just look at the world...
and paint it however we want.
If you really believe that,
then you believe you are not in control,
and you exist at the mercy of all else.
You believe your thoughts are of no consequence.
If you returned to a time with knowledge you now possess,
that you did not before...
what would it matter?
What would our existence matter?
What would our observations matter?
If time was reset...
and you were put back...
what difference would it make?
Well, that's it.
So...
that's everything.
I don't know if this is all a test, or...
I do know it can't change.
But, you know, the world could end tomorrow, but...
Fuck. You know, what...? What else is new, right?
It's all already happened.
Satellite's been found, code's been cracked.
Message decrypted.
It was over before it began.
So maybe you... You can't change...
how it ends, but...
Aah!
You can change how you get there.
And another thing:
Warn her.
Lie to her.
Spare her from the truth, so that she can...
She can live in peace.
And then forget.
Forget this message.
Forget what's going to happen.
Forget what's... What's already happened.
Just...
Just forget everything.
And live.