Andromeda (2022) Movie Script
1
(suspenseful music)
(fast tempo suspenseful music)
(ship engine humming)
(ship engine humming)
(ship engine humming)
(ship thuds)
(ominous music)
(graphic whooshing)
(graphic thuds)
(water dripping)
(water splashing)
(Aiden gasping)
(Aiden panting)
(Aiden coughing)
(phone buzzing)
(lid clicks)
(pill rattling)
(lid clicks)
(water splashes)
(Aiden exhaling)
(water splashing)
(Aiden exhaling)
(brooding music)
(metal squeaks)
(hangers clanging)
(spoon clanging)
(milk splashing)
(spring boings)
(fast tempo suspenseful music)
(milk splashing)
(metal clangs)
(guns banging)
(bullets whooshing)
(spoon clanging)
(phone buzzing)
(motorcycle engine humming)
I guess that old English phrase
like father like son
isn't always true.
What was that?
He's late.
He'll be here.
Yeah, so he'll be here late.
(Joseph sighs)
(door clicks)
(folder thuds)
(Joseph sighs)
Mr. Crawford.
Aiden, please.
Call me by my last name
and I start looking over
my shoulder for my father.
Very well.
Aiden, I'm mission
specialist, Joseph Sharp.
This is my colleague payload
commander, Rob McGrady.
See you got our call.
You called me from a
dead man's telephone.
Uh, yeah, we saved that number
for emergencies, such as this.
Aiden, we both knew your father,
which is to say we,
we worked under him.
He was a, a, a great scientist
and a, and a hell of a pilot
if I might say so myself.
When he left he entrusted us
with continuing his life's work.
And what was that exactly?
Space exploration
and the development
of research beyond this planet.
Okay.
Do you recognize
either of these cases?
Yeah, that's my father's stuff.
Go ahead and open it up.
(case clicking)
Have you seen this
device before?
Drawings, or sketches,
or any literature of it?
No.
That's okay.
Have any idea what it is?
I have no idea.
It's called a neuro inhibitor.
Networks inside the
subconscious mind,
much like when you're dreaming.
Your father created
this before he left.
He left?
You keep using those words
like, like he went to
go get the morning paper
and a pack of Marlboro's,
and just what?
Got lost on his way home?
Took the wrong bus?
I mean.
I'm not sure what you're asking.
What's your point?
My point is that he
didn't leave anyone.
He's dead.
Aiden, even if that were true,
the circumstances surrounding
your father's death,
it's, it's, it's unlikely
that anyone knows.
You know, you fellas you
talk about Will Crawford,
my father, like you
knew him better than me.
And you, you know what?
Maybe you did.
I mean, he spent more
time in his office
than he did at home.
He missed more birthday
parties and Christmas mornings
than I, I can even remember.
So yeah, maybe he was
absent from my life,
but to say he's not dead.
We aren't saying
your father's dead
because he helped us
finish his research
six years after he went missing.
What'd you say?
Aiden, the neuro
inhibitor was his idea.
However, he couldn't
harness the technology
he needed to complete
it here on this planet.
[Robert] This
technology is alien.
Back up, back up.
You're saying he's still alive.
We don't know for sure.
There was funeral.
My mother, we, we watched 'em
lower the casket in
the ground, I mean.
Yeah, there were, there were
certain contingencies
that he requested.
Contingencies?
A closed casket.
At the time, your father
wasn't a hundred percent sure
he would be able to return home,
so he had the agency go through
the motions of his death.
It was beyond classified
even to you and your mother.
Why?
So his family wouldn't worry
about him while he was gone.
Gone?
Gone where?
(coughs) Aiden, you
might wanna take a seat
for this next part.
Your father's first legitimate
trip into space was to Mars.
Now I know you're probably
thinking a human being
has never set foot
on the Red Planet,
well, that's not true.
The space program was set up
to operate in secret back then.
We were worried that if news
of our ability to reach Mars
fell into the hands of
the rest of the world,
we'd suddenly find
ourselves in a monetary race
to see which nation could
reach the furthest the fastest.
Your father's mentor and
co-pilot was named Susan Ramirez.
She accompanied him
on this mission.
The two pilots had trained
together in Houston
before you were born.
If it wasn't the soil,
it was the atmosphere.
While it would've
been convenient,
Mars turned out not to be a
viable option for the program.
It was concluded that human life
would never thrive
on the Red Planet.
Ramirez refused to go home.
And when your father's guilt
of leaving you and your mother
behind set in, he
agreed to journey back,
this time alone while she
continued her research.
Ramirez did all she
could to find a way
to make Mars a solution
to Earth's growing
population problem.
In the end, she
ran out of supplies
and more importantly,
she ran out of time.
Ramirez's body was
never recovered
and your father began
working on a safer way
to travel through space,
the neuro inhibitor.
After we lost
communication with her,
we thought about
sending a team up there
to retrieve Ramirez's body,
but she had no
family here at home,
so that wasn't a very
cost effective option.
So Aiden, what would you
like to talk about today?
Last week it was raccoons
upstairs keeping you awake.
I called an exterminator.
They, they must
have trapped them.
Sounds at night have stopped.
That's good.
Turns out my dad isn't dead.
Who knew?
He was a pilot, your father?
Pilot, astronaut, stargazer.
So when you say turns
out my father isn't dead,
are we speaking metaphorically?
Literally?
It means we buried
an empty casket.
(gentle brooding music)
How does that make you feel?
There was this one night,
She don't want no city
slicker just a man who
He came home late and there's
nothing unusual about that,
Same time
but he had this
look on his face.
She'll be
And it's strange
because he'd come home
and look tired, you know,
just after a long
day type of thing.
But on this night, his
face was different.
I was sitting on the
floor Indian style
watching cartoons
in, in my Underoos.
[Cowboy] And how about
you folks warning him too.
I remember his face as he
sunk down into the couch.
She'll be coming 'round
the mountain when she
He'd never done that before.
My mom got up, left the room
and it was just he and I,
and the soft glow of the
black and white, said nothing.
(fast tempo suspenseful music)
Just the two of us.
(cymbals crashing)
That was the last time
I remember seeing him.
Sounds like a happy memory.
What was it about your father's
face that sticks with you?
I don't know.
It, it was like he
was hiding something,
you know, something good though.
Like, like, like,
like, like a secret.
Like he had heard something
and he wanted you to
know, but not yet.
Do you think he was
hiding secrets from you?
That's all he
ever was, a secret.
That night, that night rounded
the old man out for me.
Where is your father now, Aiden?
[Joseph] We don't know.
We lost contact with
him three weeks ago.
Where was he three weeks ago?
He named the planet NB22.
It's on the far outer
rim of Andromeda.
Andromeda?
So you're telling me
that my father invented
some kind of space travel
that allowed him to go what?
26 million light years away?
That's exactly what
we're telling you.
So that explains where
he was all this time.
[Robert] Not exactly.
He never actually
left this building.
Aiden, the neuro
inhibitor was the technology
that allowed your
father to leave
and come back whenever he wanted
without ever stepping
outside these four wall.
But you said it yourself,
his death was a sham.
In the physical
sense, yes, that's true.
However, your father lived
on just not on this planet.
He's alive inside
the neuro inhibitor.
Okay.
Where's the body.
I wanna see his body.
We had to make the
difficult decision
to get rid of the body.
There was significant decay.
How does it work?
Where do I begin?
The mind, it's as fast, if not
faster than a speed of light.
Take this table for instance.
Now, you know what
this table feels like
without ever touching it or
running your hand across it.
Why is that?
Muscle memory?
For hundreds of years,
scientists have tried
to understand the human brain,
known as the most complex
organ in the entire universe.
Your father was, he was
obsessed with this idea
that the brain was also
in control of the way
you experienced the
world around you.
Imagine that you're
walking in a forest.
(birds chirping)
(gentle music)
Light from the sun's beams
bounce off leaves, the branches,
and the bark of all the trees,
that enters your open eyes.
The tripping sounds of
the birds flying overhead,
those sounds reach your ears.
As you walk along,
smell of the forest soil
wafts into your nose.
Now the nerve cells of
your eyes, ears, and nose
detect these sensations
and send signals to different
parts of your brain,
which then turn them into
what you see here and smell
all in a matter of milliseconds.
[Robert] It's
called sense of self.
Your father used this idea
and harnessed it inside
the neuro inhibitor.
He made it possible to
experience the far reaches
of outer space without
ever really going there.
So it isn't real, this NB22.
Aiden, it's as real
as you want it to be.
The experience is programmed
in such great detail
that the average human brain
cannot detect a difference.
So he, he spent
decades doing what?
Exploring some place
that wasn't even real.
No, he made it real.
He built colonies,
ran experiments.
He was even in contact with
higher species while there.
And now he's stuck
inside that machine?
Yes.
And he documented all of it
with this neuro inhibitor.
So why tell me this?
Why now?
The Earth is dying,
over population,
dwindling food supply,
and can't keep up
with climate change,
and inadequate infrastructure.
I could go on and on.
And that's not even
the classified stuff.
Quite frankly, your father knew
that even though the
human race was born here,
it was never meant to
die on this planet.
The planet's messed up,
we've known this for years.
Your father was
searching for a new home.
For who?
For all of us.
Aiden, something
happened three weeks ago,
an attack of some
kind, we're not sure.
But something caused
all of our communication
with your father to just stop.
Attack?
Your father found soil on NB22.
He called it the building
blocks of our new home.
He was able to grow
plant life there.
And we think some species
thought this was a threat
and took matters
into their own hands.
Species?
Other non-human life forms.
You're talking
about like aliens.
Aiden, your father
made it possible
for 12 other individuals
to use the neuro inhibitor.
Each of them were
given a prodigy chip,
which was fused to
their cerebral cortex.
Now this chip it's,
it's a brain booster
that allowed the user to harness
more subconscious brain function
than average human could.
Each of them were left
with a small surgical scar
at the base of the neck.
Think of it as the
ability to stay in a dream
for as long as you like
without ever having
the need of waking up.
Aiden, you don't remember
the accident do you?
(ominous music)
(police radio chattering)
(group chattering)
(siren wailing)
(police radio chattering)
It was a Saturday.
He always worked on Saturdays,
but he happened to be home.
You were seven-years-old.
Your father used your surgery
as the perfect opportunity
to equip you with
your own prodigy chip.
Why would he do that?
In case he needed you
to follow him to NB22.
Wait, so why not just send one
of the other 11 in after him?
We did that.
None of the other 11
have been able to return.
We sent each of them
back different moments
just prior to the attack
in hopes of finding out
what happened to
your father's work,
(brooding music)
yet none of them survived.
Survived?
You mean like physically or?
Wait, wait, so, so what happens
if you die inside
the neuro inhibitor?
People are dying.
That's why we called you.
You are our last hope
in reaching in NB22
and finding out what
happened to your father.
We also need to
know if that planet
is capable of hosting life
as we know it here on Earth.
You lied to their families.
That's what your
father would've wanted.
I, I, I'm not a scientist.
I'm not my father.
You are your father's son,
and the last person on
this Earth that he trusted.
Don't sit on your hands here.
You can't expect me
to believe all this.
You have the night to decide.
If you choose not to go,
your father will be lost forever
and all humanity will
die on Earth painfully.
Those are the only two things
I need you to believe in
as you make your decision.
Aiden, you've been coming
here for three years,
you refuse to take
any medication,
you speak in surly undertones.
Last week was the first
time you have ever spoken
with any specific detail
about your own father.
That isn't true.
I told you he was a pilot.
And we swept him under the rug.
Pipe dust.
What's your point?
Why are you here?
What do you get
out of all of this?
Have you ever had to make a
decision based off of faith?
[Rebecca] Sure.
No, I mean blind faith.
Literally something deep down
you know was so impossible
no one in their right
mind would agree to it.
Are you saying you are
not in your right mind?
I have to go.
I should tell you,
I have a moral and
ethical obligation
to call the authorities
if you're telling me
that you might be a harm
to yourself or to others.
Great.
Oh, and, uh, I take the
pills just so you know.
(door clicks)
(Rebecca sighs)
(monitor beeping)
(brooding music)
(water splashing)
(Aiden gasping)
(Aiden whimpering)
(water splashing)
(cap pops)
(pills rattling)
(water splashing)
We're working on it.
[Director] Well, working
on it doesn't cut it.
Last time we spoke,
you mentioned this
being our last option.
(brooding music)
It is.
It's quite a bit to consider.
However, we planted the seed.
Aiden isn't his father.
See William was a pioneer,
very forward thinking.
The kind of mind that seems
to have skipped over
this generation.
I still think the kid
will come through though.
I think the idea of following
in his father's
footsteps moves him.
I can see that look in his
eyes, that look of wonder.
His father had that
same look in his eyes
when he started the program.
[Director] Good.
Speaking of William, any luck
with the last transmission?
Actually, yes.
(keys clicking)
McGrady was able to
ping the last location
we believe is his whereabouts.
I'm gonna send you that file
now, so you can take a look.
Let me know when you get it.
We had to clean up
the image quite a bit.
The atmosphere is so
unstable that far out,
that there was considerable
damage to the lens.
It should be clear
enough for you.
[Director] What
are we looking at?
This is still the
Andromeda system.
However, it's further
out than we can see.
The final distress signal
that Williams sent
out originates here.
It's the best we got right now.
All right, now see the
planet on your left.
That's the dark side of NB22.
That's the location
we're guessing
the signal originated from.
Now as you know,
Aiden is the only hope
we have of getting our eyes
up there to take a look.
Robotics can't build another
prodigy chip without William,
so here we are.
[Director] Interesting.
Is there anyone
in there with you?
No, ma'am.
[Director] Our friends
across pond sent me something
you should take a look at.
Just got it.
(robot speaking in
foreign language)
[Director] We were able to
have the Russians translate
what they could in binary.
(robot speaking in
foreign language)
Interesting.
I've seen this code once before.
Never a message
this complex though.
My guess would be they
intended us to receive it.
Sounds like a threat.
[Director] Could be.
Tread carefully, and
get the kid on board.
Yes, ma'am.
(phone beeps)
(Joseph sighs)
(grunts) Look at that.
He's late again.
You think he's gonna show?
It's hard to tell.
Would you do it?
Hell no.
How get anyone believe
half the things we've said.
Chance to see his father
it'd be crazy not to,
but I can't help feel we've
manipulated the situation.
I guess it all
depends on the extent
of their own mutual
sense of self.
Meaning?
Relationship with the father.
You think fascination
is not enough?
Ah, fascination is fickle.
Feelings, the feelings
are unconditional.
Okay.
Show me how it works.
(folder slaps)
You got it.
(suspenseful music)
All right, so when you're there,
you should see clear skies.
[Aiden] Got it.
[Joseph] There,
that's the landing zone.
It's a way of knowing you're in.
[Aiden] I'm here.
[Joseph] Okay, now
it's important to note
that your breathing is key.
Deeper breaths can cause
the neuro inhibitor
to shut down and wake you
out of the simulation.
[Aiden] Stay calm, got it.
[Joseph] Now this
ship is called Monet.
It was built by your father.
[Aiden] There's gravity here?
[Joseph] Because your
father built this place,
he created the rules.
[Aiden] Oh, wow.
Is this it?
[Joseph] That's in NB22.
[Aiden] No wonder he
spent so much time up here.
[Joseph] Now,
this is the airlock.
You'll notice there's
no gravity in here.
Again, this was
designed by your father.
[Aiden] Zero gravity, right?
[Joseph] That's right.
You'll get used to it.
Bringing you out now out.
Out, what?
Whoa, whoa, wait.
No.
Oh, what happened?
No.
Baby steps.
Go on, take the water.
Put me back in.
[Joseph] Aiden, you
need time to adjust.
Well, according to you guys,
time is something that we
don't have a ton of so.
(sighs) Let's try
something different.
Put him in the white suit.
What's the white suit?
(suspenseful music)
(ominous music)
(bullets whooshing)
Oh, what's happening?
Why am I shooting?
[Joseph] Because
he's shooting at you.
This will make
sense to you later.
Self-defense is going
to be key in space.
Everything up there
is foreign to you.
All right, so let's
try the space jump.
[Aiden] Space jump?
Are you sure about this?
Wait! (screaming)
[Joseph] Remember what I said?
You need to breathe.
You aren't going to die in
the space jump program, okay?
So just relax.
All right, let's talk
about what we know.
Let's talk about planets.
This planet is called Cerberus.
Your father named it after
the three headed green demon
because from a distance the
planet gave off an amber glow.
[Aiden] But it's all ice.
[Joseph] Nothing in deep
space is what it seems.
[Aiden] This
place seems livable.
[Joseph] The air is laced
with lethal amounts of radon.
10 seconds without a
helmet, and you'd be dead.
I'm gonna give you some
time to take all this in.
There's nothing quite like it.
All right, so let's
talk about how looks
can be deceiving up here.
You see that there?
The planet looks like Earth.
[Aiden] Flowers.
What's wrong with this one?
[Joseph] Those
pretty little flowers,
they're covered in bactericides.
One sniff, and you'd
be dead in seconds.
Your father preached
to us the importance
of knowing your
surroundings on new planets.
Things we take for granted
down here and up there
can kill you in a
blink of an eye.
Let's get you back.
(bell dings)
(gentle upbeat music)
[Aiden] Um, someone want
to tell me what's going on?
[Joseph] All right,
so this is the escalator
your father took each morning
when he comes to work.
He built one inside
the neuro inhibitor.
If the sky was his way
of knowing he was in,
this was his way of
knowing he was out.
These little nuances kept him
from staying inside
for too long.
Hang on.
(suspenseful music)
(Aiden panting)
What was all that?
You guys are messing with me?
Deep breaths in through the
nose, out through the mouth.
Take it easy.
No, no, no, forget all that.
What just happened?
Those were programs
created by your father
to prep you for the real NB22.
All right, remember,
these places were created
by your father's
raw subconscious.
They don't have to obey
the laws of physics
or make sense for that matter.
Sorry.
Perfectly normal.
Now, Aiden remember
next time you go in,
it's gonna be for real.
More real than that?
It's like an onion, there
are layers you peel back.
Who's hungry?
So the next step
is get you on N22B.
We'll put you in about an
hour before the attack.
That way you can
get a look around
and not actually interact
with the projections.
What's a projection?
The 11 men and women we
sent in after your father.
Mm.
Can they see me?
No.
But I can see them?
That's right.
So what happens if we bump
into each other or something?
You can't.
Remember they're not
actually there, they're dead.
Yeah, but I mean, what
happens if I run into one?
You won't.
They'll appear to be working
or doing whatever it is
that they were doing
prior to the attack.
Think of them as memories saved
to the CPU of the
neuro inhibitor,
only ghost at this point.
You're not eating.
How was he able to
keep this all secret?
The department knew.
Your father even briefed
the president once.
The president?
The Oval Office.
Well, the NSA chair and a
couple of cabinet members.
And they just ignored him?
Did they even take a look?
$20 million a piece,
the military didn't consider
your father's work, uh,
what was that word they used?
- Equitable?
- Equitable.
Yeah, seven billion
people on the planet.
Each needing their
own neuro inhibitor.
And during an election
year, you can do the math.
The entire
department was reduced
to just your father
and the two of us.
And then there were
budget cuts after that.
It's just us believers.
But he was allowed
to keep working.
Of course, your father
was very persuasive
when he wanted to be.
(chuckles) Neat guy.
Once you go in, there
is nothing else like it.
(upbeat music)
Start your day with a song
And sing the
whole day through
Even while you're
busy working
Do just like the birdies do
Though the day may be long
You never will go wrong
Low key, high
key, any old key
Just start your
day with a song
(fast tempo upbeat music)
(dramatic music)
(slow tempo gentle music)
(man snoring)
(baby crying)
So are you still
taking the medication?
Do you wanna talk about
trying something new?
Do you think there are
too many people on Earth?
Meaning what?
Overpopulation.
Do you remember that virus?
Do you think that was
mother nature's way
of balancing the equation?
Some say the COVID
virus was manmade.
[Aiden] So?
That means that
what you're saying
would qualify as genocide.
Huh?
I met someone who showed
me a file this thick.
Decades of research
on how the Earth
is going to run out of
food and run out of room.
It's like an equation,
X minus Y equals Z.
Okay, I'm confused.
So if X represents people
and Y represents food,
what does Z represent?
My father solve the equation.
The night we spoke about
with the television show,
and your pajamas, and the
look on your father's face.
Was that what the secret was?
Him solving the equation.
This planet, this room,
all this stuff that's around
you that you take for granted.
The way that you know how
the cushion of the chair
you're sitting in feels like,
it's all going to
come to an end.
Life as we know it will
look completely different.
You sound like you've
seen some other world
that is a better fit for us.
(brooding music)
(radio chattering)
(engine humming)
(water splashing)
(Aiden gasping)
(Aiden exhaling)
(Aiden panting)
(water splashing)
(suspenseful music)
(birds chirping)
(cap clicks)
(pills rattling)
(lid clicks)
(bottle thudding)
(ominous music)
(traffic humming)
(birds chirping)
(door clicks)
The neuro inhibitor,
do you know if my father
stored anything on there
besides what he saw up there?
Sure.
[Aiden] Like what?
Anything he wanted
to preserve really.
Memories?
[Robert] Memories.
I want to go back in,
but to another time.
Okay.
Where do you want to go?
After the surgery
but before he left.
[Robert] I can't do that.
- Why not?
- I just can't, okay?
I don't have the, the
authority to do that.
[Aiden] Well, whose
authority do you need?
Sharp for starters.
Sharp will never know.
McGrady, look,
do you want to know what
happened to my father?
I can find out, but you
have to let me do it my way.
How do you even know
he is gonna be in there?
In the memory?
I don't, but I'm taking a leap.
(suspenseful music)
(machine whirring)
Through
Even while you're
busy working
Do just like the birdies do
Though the day may be long
You never will go wrong
Low key, high
key, any old key
Just start your
day with a song
(fast tempo upbeat music)
(dramatic music)
(slow tempo gentle music)
(man snoring)
(baby crying)
(wood creaking)
(birds chirping)
(lips chattering)
(TV clicks)
(wood creaking)
Hello, Son.
(gentle brooding music)
Dad?
It's me.
You don't have to be afraid.
I know what's happening
now isn't real.
But I cherished this
moment as much as you did.
You didn't say anything to me.
I didn't think I needed to.
I'm sure you have questions.
Questions?
Yeah, I got questions.
Let's start with you
telling where you went.
I mean, what happened to you?
Oh, the things I've seen.
Technology, we
could only dream of.
Weapons, the human mind would
never be capable of building,
not in a trillion lifetimes.
Being's so complicated,
so complex,
we will never fully
understand the way they think.
Violence, that was the only
universal language I found,
so I kept searching
for a new home.
(suspenseful music)
What about me?
Hm?
What about Mom?
You weren't even here to
see her before she died.
You didn't care
that you left us.
Of course I cared.
But as with the
whole great feats
sacrifices had to be made
to serve the greater good.
The greater good?
We were supposed to
be the greater good.
Everything I did
was with you in mind.
Don't you see?
This place, this memory
you hold so dear,
it only exists
because for a moment
as brief as it may have been,
you understood that my absence
was only for the
safety of your future.
But I'm not safe, Dad.
I'm not.
I try to drown
myself every night.
I take pills.
I see a shrink twice a week.
What you are doing, didn't work.
Can't you see?
It will work.
You're gonna help
me make them see.
Who?
Everyone that doubted me,
everyone that said
it wasn't possible.
I'm sorry.
You're sorry.
(suspenseful music)
I'll make it up to you.
All of it.
As my search for Earth's
future grew more futile,
I created new
protection for myself,
new weaponry using
alien technology
I picked up along the way.
I built ships.
(static buzzing)
I kept tabs on our enemies
as my footprint grew larger.
(dramatic music)
I did my best to
cover my tracks,
but the universe is so
vast and time moves so slow
it was inevitable
they'd find me.
(suspenseful music)
Enemies?
The human race
has made quite a few
not knowing it along the way.
We've lived as if no
one is there watching.
There is.
See the fifth dimension exists.
We have no way of
seeing it here on Earth.
But up there, up
there time is a puddle
that you can jump in and out of.
Age is a button in an elevator
that you can just press
and relive as if it
never happened before.
Who followed you to NB22?
A species's more advanced
than you could even imagine.
They caught wind into
your research and, and what?
It pissed 'em off?
(Will chuckles)
You could say that.
They saw humans as
lesser creatures.
Since NB22 is located in
Andromeda, their own galaxy,
they didn't want
us coming in droves
to destroy one of their planets
the way we'd done on Earth.
So what happened?
They attacked and
where did you go?
I can't tell you that, Son.
What?
Why not?
Why can't you tell me that?
Answer me!
Tell me where you are!
Whoa, what happened?
I was nearly there.
This was a bad idea.
I never should have
agreed to do it.
Why not?
You need to leave.
He wasn't gonna tell me, was he?
I'm sorry, you should go.
[Aiden] Just tell
me why he won't do it.
After he disappeared,
your father deprogrammed
his locator.
No one can track him now.
He didn't want you to know
because he thought you might
go in and try to find him.
Isn't that what we're doing?
The greater good
here is figuring out
if we can harvest life on
NB22, that was his mission.
That's your mission now.
Finding your father
is icing on the cake.
And you'd need to be
here in the morning.
Go home.
And don't tell Sharp about this.
(door bangs)
I don't think I'll
come back here again.
[Rebecca] Hmm.
That's disappointing.
We were making such progress.
Were we?
The discussion
regarding your father.
Progress?
All of this?
About our triggers, and, and
feelings, and mental wellness?
That's fortune cookie wisdom.
It, it's just a,
a bunch of words
that people read about online
and made popular by posting
artwork behind them.
(scoffs) I'm sorry you feel
that way, but you're wrong.
I've spent my entire life
studying the human psyche
and there are ways
to break through.
You have no idea what the
human mind is capable of,
what it can do,
what it can create.
These problems that, that
people like me sit in this chair
and complain to you
about, they mean nothing.
They're figments
of our imagination.
I respectfully disagree.
Oh, because if I'm right,
you are out of a job.
No, I want to see
people do better.
If we use our minds
to create good things
instead of wanting,
it's the wanting
that drives us crazy.
What does that word mean to you?
Crazy.
It means people like
you sitting in that chair,
wanting people to get
better will never happen.
People don't wanna get better.
They want everyone else
to change around them.
Pretty cynical.
I'll take my chances out there.
Aiden, I wish you'd
changed your mind,
but good luck to you.
(book thuds)
(brooding music)
[Joseph] Your vitals are good.
Just steady your
breathing, all right?
Keep the control centered
and McGrady will do the rest.
All right, we're
piloting you down now.
All right, Aiden,
watch your entry.
It can be a bit bumpy if
it's windy down there.
All right, we're initiating
landing sequence now.
That's right.
Just like that,
keep her centered.
You're doing great, Aiden.
Just keep her steady.
[Aiden] All right, I see
the colonies from here.
[Joseph] Now you should be able
to see the projections as well.
[Aiden] I see them.
You're sure they can't see me?
[Joseph] They're
just projections.
You're not even there
at the same time.
You should see them working
on a Rover of some type.
[Aiden] I see it.
[Joseph] Okay, just behind
the Rover is the outpost.
We need you to get over
there as soon as you can.
[Aiden] Got it.
(ship engine humming)
(ship thuds)
[Joseph] All right, Aiden,
you have to keep an
eye out at all times.
Whoever planned the attack
could be anywhere at any time.
Now that's your father's
living quarters.
Looks like the structure
is still intact,
which means our timing is good.
The attack hasn't happened yet.
All right, so there's a
projection coming up beside you.
Now watch as they move about
as if you're not even there.
You see that?
All right, look for the
greenhouse structures.
They look like clear
tubes about 10 feet tall.
There should be a few
of them on the surface.
[Aiden] I see it.
He did it.
My old man figured it out.
[Joseph] Aiden, are you saying
that everything is contained?
[Aiden] Yes.
Sending visuals now.
[Joseph] Terrific.
Now let's get you out of
there before the attack.
[Aiden] You know what, Sharp?
It doesn't look like there's
anyone else here but us.
[Joseph] Well, that's the point?
Don't assume anything.
Scanning now.
That's strange.
Sensors are bouncing
on and offline.
Aiden, something must be
interfering with the frequencies.
(suspenseful music)
[Aiden] Oh, look.
Oh, look out!
Hey guys, watch out!
Sharp, they're coming
from the hills.
[Joseph] Aiden,
they can't hear you.
Do you copy?
(ominous music)
(Aiden panting)
His readings are off the chart.
If we don't pull him out right
now we're gonna lose him.
(keys clicking)
(computer whooshing)
(Aiden panting)
I saw them.
[Joseph] You saw who?
They came from the hills.
They were hiding an
entire army of them.
The projections had no
way of being warned.
You should have left me in.
No, we had to take you
out prior to the attacks,
so we didn't lose you
like we did the others.
I can go back in.
I can try to save them.
You can't no way.
We can warn them if
we can figure out a way
to let me interact with them.
It's impossible, Aiden.
Why?
No, no, no, no, tell me why.
Three days ago, space
travel was impossible.
Look at what we're doing here.
Tell me why we can't warn them.
Because they aren't
alive anymore, Aiden.
They're just memories, remember?
Ghosts saved to the CPU.
Well, then we go back
and try to save them.
Now that we know that the colony
was stabilized
prior to the attack,
there's no need to
go back in at all.
So those people, my father,
they died for nothing?
No, they gave us all the
information that we needed.
All we needed to
confirm was that indeed,
your father was able to
sustain life on that planet,
and he did it.
He did it.
But we have no way of
getting anyone there.
Whoever destroyed the colony,
isn't going to allow
just seven billion people
to just migrate onto
to their planet.
Their planet.
Andromeda is their galaxy.
Well, the sun is in our galaxy,
but that doesn't make it ours.
They're not gonna let
us come back, Sharp.
They'll attack again.
And they'll keep attacking
until we leave in
NB22 alone forever.
What have you done?
Either or you two can answer.
I,
I went in and I
spoke to my father.
You what?
And, and who gave you
the authority to do that?
I told him it was a bad idea.
He shouldn't have done it.
I.
He warned me that even
though he colonized NB22,
these beings never wanted
us there in the first place.
There has to be another planet.
Well there isn't.
And don't you think if there was
your father would've
told us about it?
And you, you just
allowed this to happen.
I did this on my own.
He had nothing to do with it.
Either way we only have
two options here, guys.
We find another
planet to colonize
or you send me back in and
let me try to save in NB22.
What's it gonna be, Sharp?
Huh?
We can do this.
We can find another way and
find my father in the process.
Persuasive when he wants to be.
All right, let's
put him back in.
(suspenseful music)
Okay, you're there.
I'm only giving you
one shot at this,
so make it stick if you wanna
make it off that planet alive.
As soon as I see danger,
I'm pulling you out.
Do you copy?
Aiden?
[Aiden] There has to
be a way I can warn them.
[Joseph] There isn't.
Aiden, if you get killed in
there, I can't get you out.
Do you understand
what I'm telling you?
In order to save the
planet and yourself
you need to make it
out in one piece!
You see anything,
anything at all?
Wait a minute, we're saying
something on our end.
Movement and it's a lot of
it, and it's moving fast.
Aiden, do you copy?
[Aiden] (panting)
It's happening.
We're under attack.
(explosion booming)
[Joseph] Aiden, get the
hell out of there now!
(explosion booming)
Do it!
(explosions booming)
[Aiden] There's so many
of them, there's no way out!
(explosion booms)
Aiden, Aiden!
Losing communication.
Aiden, can you hear me?
Aiden, this, this is hopeless.
If you can hear
me find cover now!
(explosion booming)
McGrady, something is
blocking our transmission.
It must be location
beacons or something.
Maybe they're crashing.
Aiden, can you see
the com's tower?
Aiden, the com's tower.
We're losing you.
Aiden!
(explosion booming)
McGrady something is
blocking our transmissions.
The location beacons
are crashing.
Aiden, listen, can you see
any of the com's towers?
McGrady, he is surrounded.
Aiden, I'm looking at
your vitals right now.
You have to watch
your breathing.
Aiden, you got two choices.
If you can hear me,
you have to find cover
or get out of there.
(explosion booming)
Aiden, if you can hear me,
you must survive this attack
or I will not be able
to bring you out alive.
Aiden, do you copy?
Aiden!
(explosion booms)
(Aiden panting)
What is that?
He's, he's peaking again.
I can't, I can't pull him out.
(Aiden panting)
He's, he.
(Aiden gasping)
(melancholic music)
(computer whooshing)
What should we do?
Should we call someone?
No.
McGrady.
[Robert] Sir.
(brooding music)
We need to call the director.
Go on, do it!
(Joseph inhaling)
(Joseph exhaling)
(water dripping)
(folder thuds)
(phone ringing)
(Joseph sighs)
(liquid slurps)
(phone beeps)
Ma'am.
[Director] What do we
have in place for this?
The same protocol
we had for his father?
[Director] You have
my go ahead on that.
Keep it quiet, and I want
you and Robert in my office
first thing on Monday morning.
Ma'am.
[Director] We have
to make a decision
on how to move on from this.
(sighs) Ma'am, if I may,
perhaps that wall is
there for a reason.
[Director] Meaning?
What if William didn't
put that wall there
to keep something
or someone out?
What if he put it there for
us to try to climb over for?
Ma'am?
[Director] Go on.
Once Aiden's neuro
inhibitor went offline,
I received a beacon
signal on a private server
even McGrady doesn't
have access to.
[Director] What kind of signal?
Apparently one
of the projection's
survived the attack on NB 22.
The beacon signal that
we couldn't decipher,
however, the internal log shows
that someone made
it off that planet
and they made it off alive.
[Director] Do we know who?
That I don't know.
Be that as it may,
I need to know how you
want me to proceed.
[Director] Bury it,
and I'll see you first
thing Monday morning.
(Joseph sighs)
(folder thuds)
(Joseph exhales)
Destroy it, files,
hard drives, all of it.
Anything that links the program
to Will Crawford or the
other 11, including Aiden.
But we don't know
that Aiden is dead.
We don't know that he isn't,
and in the eyes of the program,
that's more important
than knowing for sure.
Now this isn't a discussion.
Just do it.
[Robert] And this?
Yeah, keep it somewhere safe.
I'm gonna go home for once
and try to get some sleep.
Sleep sounds impossible
at a time like this.
Well, try, all right?
Because it's gonna get
real busy around here
or it's gonna get very slow.
Take the time while you have it.
[Robert] I'll see you Monday.
(Joseph scoffs)
Maybe.
(door clicks)
(door bangs)
(machine beeps)
(machine beeps)
(brooding music)
(button clicks)
[Aiden] McGrady, tell
Sharp he was wrong.
There is another
chance for mankind.
My father and I
found it together.
That's right, my father
survived the attack on NB22
and escaped unnoticed.
He programmed the
neuro inhibitor
with the same escape plan
for me, the projections too.
At the moment of
death, we were remade.
This new home is incredible,
full of life, space, time.
My only hope is that you
can pass this message along.
If the powers that be deem
the human race worth saving,
there is finally a way.
Convince them to
come, all of them.
We'll be here waiting
on the rest of you.
(bodies whooshing)
(key clicking)
(machine humming)
Sharp!
(dramatic music)
(gentle brooding music)
(suspenseful music)
(fast tempo suspenseful music)
(ship engine humming)
(ship engine humming)
(ship engine humming)
(ship thuds)
(ominous music)
(graphic whooshing)
(graphic thuds)
(water dripping)
(water splashing)
(Aiden gasping)
(Aiden panting)
(Aiden coughing)
(phone buzzing)
(lid clicks)
(pill rattling)
(lid clicks)
(water splashes)
(Aiden exhaling)
(water splashing)
(Aiden exhaling)
(brooding music)
(metal squeaks)
(hangers clanging)
(spoon clanging)
(milk splashing)
(spring boings)
(fast tempo suspenseful music)
(milk splashing)
(metal clangs)
(guns banging)
(bullets whooshing)
(spoon clanging)
(phone buzzing)
(motorcycle engine humming)
I guess that old English phrase
like father like son
isn't always true.
What was that?
He's late.
He'll be here.
Yeah, so he'll be here late.
(Joseph sighs)
(door clicks)
(folder thuds)
(Joseph sighs)
Mr. Crawford.
Aiden, please.
Call me by my last name
and I start looking over
my shoulder for my father.
Very well.
Aiden, I'm mission
specialist, Joseph Sharp.
This is my colleague payload
commander, Rob McGrady.
See you got our call.
You called me from a
dead man's telephone.
Uh, yeah, we saved that number
for emergencies, such as this.
Aiden, we both knew your father,
which is to say we,
we worked under him.
He was a, a, a great scientist
and a, and a hell of a pilot
if I might say so myself.
When he left he entrusted us
with continuing his life's work.
And what was that exactly?
Space exploration
and the development
of research beyond this planet.
Okay.
Do you recognize
either of these cases?
Yeah, that's my father's stuff.
Go ahead and open it up.
(case clicking)
Have you seen this
device before?
Drawings, or sketches,
or any literature of it?
No.
That's okay.
Have any idea what it is?
I have no idea.
It's called a neuro inhibitor.
Networks inside the
subconscious mind,
much like when you're dreaming.
Your father created
this before he left.
He left?
You keep using those words
like, like he went to
go get the morning paper
and a pack of Marlboro's,
and just what?
Got lost on his way home?
Took the wrong bus?
I mean.
I'm not sure what you're asking.
What's your point?
My point is that he
didn't leave anyone.
He's dead.
Aiden, even if that were true,
the circumstances surrounding
your father's death,
it's, it's, it's unlikely
that anyone knows.
You know, you fellas you
talk about Will Crawford,
my father, like you
knew him better than me.
And you, you know what?
Maybe you did.
I mean, he spent more
time in his office
than he did at home.
He missed more birthday
parties and Christmas mornings
than I, I can even remember.
So yeah, maybe he was
absent from my life,
but to say he's not dead.
We aren't saying
your father's dead
because he helped us
finish his research
six years after he went missing.
What'd you say?
Aiden, the neuro
inhibitor was his idea.
However, he couldn't
harness the technology
he needed to complete
it here on this planet.
[Robert] This
technology is alien.
Back up, back up.
You're saying he's still alive.
We don't know for sure.
There was funeral.
My mother, we, we watched 'em
lower the casket in
the ground, I mean.
Yeah, there were, there were
certain contingencies
that he requested.
Contingencies?
A closed casket.
At the time, your father
wasn't a hundred percent sure
he would be able to return home,
so he had the agency go through
the motions of his death.
It was beyond classified
even to you and your mother.
Why?
So his family wouldn't worry
about him while he was gone.
Gone?
Gone where?
(coughs) Aiden, you
might wanna take a seat
for this next part.
Your father's first legitimate
trip into space was to Mars.
Now I know you're probably
thinking a human being
has never set foot
on the Red Planet,
well, that's not true.
The space program was set up
to operate in secret back then.
We were worried that if news
of our ability to reach Mars
fell into the hands of
the rest of the world,
we'd suddenly find
ourselves in a monetary race
to see which nation could
reach the furthest the fastest.
Your father's mentor and
co-pilot was named Susan Ramirez.
She accompanied him
on this mission.
The two pilots had trained
together in Houston
before you were born.
If it wasn't the soil,
it was the atmosphere.
While it would've
been convenient,
Mars turned out not to be a
viable option for the program.
It was concluded that human life
would never thrive
on the Red Planet.
Ramirez refused to go home.
And when your father's guilt
of leaving you and your mother
behind set in, he
agreed to journey back,
this time alone while she
continued her research.
Ramirez did all she
could to find a way
to make Mars a solution
to Earth's growing
population problem.
In the end, she
ran out of supplies
and more importantly,
she ran out of time.
Ramirez's body was
never recovered
and your father began
working on a safer way
to travel through space,
the neuro inhibitor.
After we lost
communication with her,
we thought about
sending a team up there
to retrieve Ramirez's body,
but she had no
family here at home,
so that wasn't a very
cost effective option.
So Aiden, what would you
like to talk about today?
Last week it was raccoons
upstairs keeping you awake.
I called an exterminator.
They, they must
have trapped them.
Sounds at night have stopped.
That's good.
Turns out my dad isn't dead.
Who knew?
He was a pilot, your father?
Pilot, astronaut, stargazer.
So when you say turns
out my father isn't dead,
are we speaking metaphorically?
Literally?
It means we buried
an empty casket.
(gentle brooding music)
How does that make you feel?
There was this one night,
She don't want no city
slicker just a man who
He came home late and there's
nothing unusual about that,
Same time
but he had this
look on his face.
She'll be
And it's strange
because he'd come home
and look tired, you know,
just after a long
day type of thing.
But on this night, his
face was different.
I was sitting on the
floor Indian style
watching cartoons
in, in my Underoos.
[Cowboy] And how about
you folks warning him too.
I remember his face as he
sunk down into the couch.
She'll be coming 'round
the mountain when she
He'd never done that before.
My mom got up, left the room
and it was just he and I,
and the soft glow of the
black and white, said nothing.
(fast tempo suspenseful music)
Just the two of us.
(cymbals crashing)
That was the last time
I remember seeing him.
Sounds like a happy memory.
What was it about your father's
face that sticks with you?
I don't know.
It, it was like he
was hiding something,
you know, something good though.
Like, like, like,
like, like a secret.
Like he had heard something
and he wanted you to
know, but not yet.
Do you think he was
hiding secrets from you?
That's all he
ever was, a secret.
That night, that night rounded
the old man out for me.
Where is your father now, Aiden?
[Joseph] We don't know.
We lost contact with
him three weeks ago.
Where was he three weeks ago?
He named the planet NB22.
It's on the far outer
rim of Andromeda.
Andromeda?
So you're telling me
that my father invented
some kind of space travel
that allowed him to go what?
26 million light years away?
That's exactly what
we're telling you.
So that explains where
he was all this time.
[Robert] Not exactly.
He never actually
left this building.
Aiden, the neuro
inhibitor was the technology
that allowed your
father to leave
and come back whenever he wanted
without ever stepping
outside these four wall.
But you said it yourself,
his death was a sham.
In the physical
sense, yes, that's true.
However, your father lived
on just not on this planet.
He's alive inside
the neuro inhibitor.
Okay.
Where's the body.
I wanna see his body.
We had to make the
difficult decision
to get rid of the body.
There was significant decay.
How does it work?
Where do I begin?
The mind, it's as fast, if not
faster than a speed of light.
Take this table for instance.
Now, you know what
this table feels like
without ever touching it or
running your hand across it.
Why is that?
Muscle memory?
For hundreds of years,
scientists have tried
to understand the human brain,
known as the most complex
organ in the entire universe.
Your father was, he was
obsessed with this idea
that the brain was also
in control of the way
you experienced the
world around you.
Imagine that you're
walking in a forest.
(birds chirping)
(gentle music)
Light from the sun's beams
bounce off leaves, the branches,
and the bark of all the trees,
that enters your open eyes.
The tripping sounds of
the birds flying overhead,
those sounds reach your ears.
As you walk along,
smell of the forest soil
wafts into your nose.
Now the nerve cells of
your eyes, ears, and nose
detect these sensations
and send signals to different
parts of your brain,
which then turn them into
what you see here and smell
all in a matter of milliseconds.
[Robert] It's
called sense of self.
Your father used this idea
and harnessed it inside
the neuro inhibitor.
He made it possible to
experience the far reaches
of outer space without
ever really going there.
So it isn't real, this NB22.
Aiden, it's as real
as you want it to be.
The experience is programmed
in such great detail
that the average human brain
cannot detect a difference.
So he, he spent
decades doing what?
Exploring some place
that wasn't even real.
No, he made it real.
He built colonies,
ran experiments.
He was even in contact with
higher species while there.
And now he's stuck
inside that machine?
Yes.
And he documented all of it
with this neuro inhibitor.
So why tell me this?
Why now?
The Earth is dying,
over population,
dwindling food supply,
and can't keep up
with climate change,
and inadequate infrastructure.
I could go on and on.
And that's not even
the classified stuff.
Quite frankly, your father knew
that even though the
human race was born here,
it was never meant to
die on this planet.
The planet's messed up,
we've known this for years.
Your father was
searching for a new home.
For who?
For all of us.
Aiden, something
happened three weeks ago,
an attack of some
kind, we're not sure.
But something caused
all of our communication
with your father to just stop.
Attack?
Your father found soil on NB22.
He called it the building
blocks of our new home.
He was able to grow
plant life there.
And we think some species
thought this was a threat
and took matters
into their own hands.
Species?
Other non-human life forms.
You're talking
about like aliens.
Aiden, your father
made it possible
for 12 other individuals
to use the neuro inhibitor.
Each of them were
given a prodigy chip,
which was fused to
their cerebral cortex.
Now this chip it's,
it's a brain booster
that allowed the user to harness
more subconscious brain function
than average human could.
Each of them were left
with a small surgical scar
at the base of the neck.
Think of it as the
ability to stay in a dream
for as long as you like
without ever having
the need of waking up.
Aiden, you don't remember
the accident do you?
(ominous music)
(police radio chattering)
(group chattering)
(siren wailing)
(police radio chattering)
It was a Saturday.
He always worked on Saturdays,
but he happened to be home.
You were seven-years-old.
Your father used your surgery
as the perfect opportunity
to equip you with
your own prodigy chip.
Why would he do that?
In case he needed you
to follow him to NB22.
Wait, so why not just send one
of the other 11 in after him?
We did that.
None of the other 11
have been able to return.
We sent each of them
back different moments
just prior to the attack
in hopes of finding out
what happened to
your father's work,
(brooding music)
yet none of them survived.
Survived?
You mean like physically or?
Wait, wait, so, so what happens
if you die inside
the neuro inhibitor?
People are dying.
That's why we called you.
You are our last hope
in reaching in NB22
and finding out what
happened to your father.
We also need to
know if that planet
is capable of hosting life
as we know it here on Earth.
You lied to their families.
That's what your
father would've wanted.
I, I, I'm not a scientist.
I'm not my father.
You are your father's son,
and the last person on
this Earth that he trusted.
Don't sit on your hands here.
You can't expect me
to believe all this.
You have the night to decide.
If you choose not to go,
your father will be lost forever
and all humanity will
die on Earth painfully.
Those are the only two things
I need you to believe in
as you make your decision.
Aiden, you've been coming
here for three years,
you refuse to take
any medication,
you speak in surly undertones.
Last week was the first
time you have ever spoken
with any specific detail
about your own father.
That isn't true.
I told you he was a pilot.
And we swept him under the rug.
Pipe dust.
What's your point?
Why are you here?
What do you get
out of all of this?
Have you ever had to make a
decision based off of faith?
[Rebecca] Sure.
No, I mean blind faith.
Literally something deep down
you know was so impossible
no one in their right
mind would agree to it.
Are you saying you are
not in your right mind?
I have to go.
I should tell you,
I have a moral and
ethical obligation
to call the authorities
if you're telling me
that you might be a harm
to yourself or to others.
Great.
Oh, and, uh, I take the
pills just so you know.
(door clicks)
(Rebecca sighs)
(monitor beeping)
(brooding music)
(water splashing)
(Aiden gasping)
(Aiden whimpering)
(water splashing)
(cap pops)
(pills rattling)
(water splashing)
We're working on it.
[Director] Well, working
on it doesn't cut it.
Last time we spoke,
you mentioned this
being our last option.
(brooding music)
It is.
It's quite a bit to consider.
However, we planted the seed.
Aiden isn't his father.
See William was a pioneer,
very forward thinking.
The kind of mind that seems
to have skipped over
this generation.
I still think the kid
will come through though.
I think the idea of following
in his father's
footsteps moves him.
I can see that look in his
eyes, that look of wonder.
His father had that
same look in his eyes
when he started the program.
[Director] Good.
Speaking of William, any luck
with the last transmission?
Actually, yes.
(keys clicking)
McGrady was able to
ping the last location
we believe is his whereabouts.
I'm gonna send you that file
now, so you can take a look.
Let me know when you get it.
We had to clean up
the image quite a bit.
The atmosphere is so
unstable that far out,
that there was considerable
damage to the lens.
It should be clear
enough for you.
[Director] What
are we looking at?
This is still the
Andromeda system.
However, it's further
out than we can see.
The final distress signal
that Williams sent
out originates here.
It's the best we got right now.
All right, now see the
planet on your left.
That's the dark side of NB22.
That's the location
we're guessing
the signal originated from.
Now as you know,
Aiden is the only hope
we have of getting our eyes
up there to take a look.
Robotics can't build another
prodigy chip without William,
so here we are.
[Director] Interesting.
Is there anyone
in there with you?
No, ma'am.
[Director] Our friends
across pond sent me something
you should take a look at.
Just got it.
(robot speaking in
foreign language)
[Director] We were able to
have the Russians translate
what they could in binary.
(robot speaking in
foreign language)
Interesting.
I've seen this code once before.
Never a message
this complex though.
My guess would be they
intended us to receive it.
Sounds like a threat.
[Director] Could be.
Tread carefully, and
get the kid on board.
Yes, ma'am.
(phone beeps)
(Joseph sighs)
(grunts) Look at that.
He's late again.
You think he's gonna show?
It's hard to tell.
Would you do it?
Hell no.
How get anyone believe
half the things we've said.
Chance to see his father
it'd be crazy not to,
but I can't help feel we've
manipulated the situation.
I guess it all
depends on the extent
of their own mutual
sense of self.
Meaning?
Relationship with the father.
You think fascination
is not enough?
Ah, fascination is fickle.
Feelings, the feelings
are unconditional.
Okay.
Show me how it works.
(folder slaps)
You got it.
(suspenseful music)
All right, so when you're there,
you should see clear skies.
[Aiden] Got it.
[Joseph] There,
that's the landing zone.
It's a way of knowing you're in.
[Aiden] I'm here.
[Joseph] Okay, now
it's important to note
that your breathing is key.
Deeper breaths can cause
the neuro inhibitor
to shut down and wake you
out of the simulation.
[Aiden] Stay calm, got it.
[Joseph] Now this
ship is called Monet.
It was built by your father.
[Aiden] There's gravity here?
[Joseph] Because your
father built this place,
he created the rules.
[Aiden] Oh, wow.
Is this it?
[Joseph] That's in NB22.
[Aiden] No wonder he
spent so much time up here.
[Joseph] Now,
this is the airlock.
You'll notice there's
no gravity in here.
Again, this was
designed by your father.
[Aiden] Zero gravity, right?
[Joseph] That's right.
You'll get used to it.
Bringing you out now out.
Out, what?
Whoa, whoa, wait.
No.
Oh, what happened?
No.
Baby steps.
Go on, take the water.
Put me back in.
[Joseph] Aiden, you
need time to adjust.
Well, according to you guys,
time is something that we
don't have a ton of so.
(sighs) Let's try
something different.
Put him in the white suit.
What's the white suit?
(suspenseful music)
(ominous music)
(bullets whooshing)
Oh, what's happening?
Why am I shooting?
[Joseph] Because
he's shooting at you.
This will make
sense to you later.
Self-defense is going
to be key in space.
Everything up there
is foreign to you.
All right, so let's
try the space jump.
[Aiden] Space jump?
Are you sure about this?
Wait! (screaming)
[Joseph] Remember what I said?
You need to breathe.
You aren't going to die in
the space jump program, okay?
So just relax.
All right, let's talk
about what we know.
Let's talk about planets.
This planet is called Cerberus.
Your father named it after
the three headed green demon
because from a distance the
planet gave off an amber glow.
[Aiden] But it's all ice.
[Joseph] Nothing in deep
space is what it seems.
[Aiden] This
place seems livable.
[Joseph] The air is laced
with lethal amounts of radon.
10 seconds without a
helmet, and you'd be dead.
I'm gonna give you some
time to take all this in.
There's nothing quite like it.
All right, so let's
talk about how looks
can be deceiving up here.
You see that there?
The planet looks like Earth.
[Aiden] Flowers.
What's wrong with this one?
[Joseph] Those
pretty little flowers,
they're covered in bactericides.
One sniff, and you'd
be dead in seconds.
Your father preached
to us the importance
of knowing your
surroundings on new planets.
Things we take for granted
down here and up there
can kill you in a
blink of an eye.
Let's get you back.
(bell dings)
(gentle upbeat music)
[Aiden] Um, someone want
to tell me what's going on?
[Joseph] All right,
so this is the escalator
your father took each morning
when he comes to work.
He built one inside
the neuro inhibitor.
If the sky was his way
of knowing he was in,
this was his way of
knowing he was out.
These little nuances kept him
from staying inside
for too long.
Hang on.
(suspenseful music)
(Aiden panting)
What was all that?
You guys are messing with me?
Deep breaths in through the
nose, out through the mouth.
Take it easy.
No, no, no, forget all that.
What just happened?
Those were programs
created by your father
to prep you for the real NB22.
All right, remember,
these places were created
by your father's
raw subconscious.
They don't have to obey
the laws of physics
or make sense for that matter.
Sorry.
Perfectly normal.
Now, Aiden remember
next time you go in,
it's gonna be for real.
More real than that?
It's like an onion, there
are layers you peel back.
Who's hungry?
So the next step
is get you on N22B.
We'll put you in about an
hour before the attack.
That way you can
get a look around
and not actually interact
with the projections.
What's a projection?
The 11 men and women we
sent in after your father.
Mm.
Can they see me?
No.
But I can see them?
That's right.
So what happens if we bump
into each other or something?
You can't.
Remember they're not
actually there, they're dead.
Yeah, but I mean, what
happens if I run into one?
You won't.
They'll appear to be working
or doing whatever it is
that they were doing
prior to the attack.
Think of them as memories saved
to the CPU of the
neuro inhibitor,
only ghost at this point.
You're not eating.
How was he able to
keep this all secret?
The department knew.
Your father even briefed
the president once.
The president?
The Oval Office.
Well, the NSA chair and a
couple of cabinet members.
And they just ignored him?
Did they even take a look?
$20 million a piece,
the military didn't consider
your father's work, uh,
what was that word they used?
- Equitable?
- Equitable.
Yeah, seven billion
people on the planet.
Each needing their
own neuro inhibitor.
And during an election
year, you can do the math.
The entire
department was reduced
to just your father
and the two of us.
And then there were
budget cuts after that.
It's just us believers.
But he was allowed
to keep working.
Of course, your father
was very persuasive
when he wanted to be.
(chuckles) Neat guy.
Once you go in, there
is nothing else like it.
(upbeat music)
Start your day with a song
And sing the
whole day through
Even while you're
busy working
Do just like the birdies do
Though the day may be long
You never will go wrong
Low key, high
key, any old key
Just start your
day with a song
(fast tempo upbeat music)
(dramatic music)
(slow tempo gentle music)
(man snoring)
(baby crying)
So are you still
taking the medication?
Do you wanna talk about
trying something new?
Do you think there are
too many people on Earth?
Meaning what?
Overpopulation.
Do you remember that virus?
Do you think that was
mother nature's way
of balancing the equation?
Some say the COVID
virus was manmade.
[Aiden] So?
That means that
what you're saying
would qualify as genocide.
Huh?
I met someone who showed
me a file this thick.
Decades of research
on how the Earth
is going to run out of
food and run out of room.
It's like an equation,
X minus Y equals Z.
Okay, I'm confused.
So if X represents people
and Y represents food,
what does Z represent?
My father solve the equation.
The night we spoke about
with the television show,
and your pajamas, and the
look on your father's face.
Was that what the secret was?
Him solving the equation.
This planet, this room,
all this stuff that's around
you that you take for granted.
The way that you know how
the cushion of the chair
you're sitting in feels like,
it's all going to
come to an end.
Life as we know it will
look completely different.
You sound like you've
seen some other world
that is a better fit for us.
(brooding music)
(radio chattering)
(engine humming)
(water splashing)
(Aiden gasping)
(Aiden exhaling)
(Aiden panting)
(water splashing)
(suspenseful music)
(birds chirping)
(cap clicks)
(pills rattling)
(lid clicks)
(bottle thudding)
(ominous music)
(traffic humming)
(birds chirping)
(door clicks)
The neuro inhibitor,
do you know if my father
stored anything on there
besides what he saw up there?
Sure.
[Aiden] Like what?
Anything he wanted
to preserve really.
Memories?
[Robert] Memories.
I want to go back in,
but to another time.
Okay.
Where do you want to go?
After the surgery
but before he left.
[Robert] I can't do that.
- Why not?
- I just can't, okay?
I don't have the, the
authority to do that.
[Aiden] Well, whose
authority do you need?
Sharp for starters.
Sharp will never know.
McGrady, look,
do you want to know what
happened to my father?
I can find out, but you
have to let me do it my way.
How do you even know
he is gonna be in there?
In the memory?
I don't, but I'm taking a leap.
(suspenseful music)
(machine whirring)
Through
Even while you're
busy working
Do just like the birdies do
Though the day may be long
You never will go wrong
Low key, high
key, any old key
Just start your
day with a song
(fast tempo upbeat music)
(dramatic music)
(slow tempo gentle music)
(man snoring)
(baby crying)
(wood creaking)
(birds chirping)
(lips chattering)
(TV clicks)
(wood creaking)
Hello, Son.
(gentle brooding music)
Dad?
It's me.
You don't have to be afraid.
I know what's happening
now isn't real.
But I cherished this
moment as much as you did.
You didn't say anything to me.
I didn't think I needed to.
I'm sure you have questions.
Questions?
Yeah, I got questions.
Let's start with you
telling where you went.
I mean, what happened to you?
Oh, the things I've seen.
Technology, we
could only dream of.
Weapons, the human mind would
never be capable of building,
not in a trillion lifetimes.
Being's so complicated,
so complex,
we will never fully
understand the way they think.
Violence, that was the only
universal language I found,
so I kept searching
for a new home.
(suspenseful music)
What about me?
Hm?
What about Mom?
You weren't even here to
see her before she died.
You didn't care
that you left us.
Of course I cared.
But as with the
whole great feats
sacrifices had to be made
to serve the greater good.
The greater good?
We were supposed to
be the greater good.
Everything I did
was with you in mind.
Don't you see?
This place, this memory
you hold so dear,
it only exists
because for a moment
as brief as it may have been,
you understood that my absence
was only for the
safety of your future.
But I'm not safe, Dad.
I'm not.
I try to drown
myself every night.
I take pills.
I see a shrink twice a week.
What you are doing, didn't work.
Can't you see?
It will work.
You're gonna help
me make them see.
Who?
Everyone that doubted me,
everyone that said
it wasn't possible.
I'm sorry.
You're sorry.
(suspenseful music)
I'll make it up to you.
All of it.
As my search for Earth's
future grew more futile,
I created new
protection for myself,
new weaponry using
alien technology
I picked up along the way.
I built ships.
(static buzzing)
I kept tabs on our enemies
as my footprint grew larger.
(dramatic music)
I did my best to
cover my tracks,
but the universe is so
vast and time moves so slow
it was inevitable
they'd find me.
(suspenseful music)
Enemies?
The human race
has made quite a few
not knowing it along the way.
We've lived as if no
one is there watching.
There is.
See the fifth dimension exists.
We have no way of
seeing it here on Earth.
But up there, up
there time is a puddle
that you can jump in and out of.
Age is a button in an elevator
that you can just press
and relive as if it
never happened before.
Who followed you to NB22?
A species's more advanced
than you could even imagine.
They caught wind into
your research and, and what?
It pissed 'em off?
(Will chuckles)
You could say that.
They saw humans as
lesser creatures.
Since NB22 is located in
Andromeda, their own galaxy,
they didn't want
us coming in droves
to destroy one of their planets
the way we'd done on Earth.
So what happened?
They attacked and
where did you go?
I can't tell you that, Son.
What?
Why not?
Why can't you tell me that?
Answer me!
Tell me where you are!
Whoa, what happened?
I was nearly there.
This was a bad idea.
I never should have
agreed to do it.
Why not?
You need to leave.
He wasn't gonna tell me, was he?
I'm sorry, you should go.
[Aiden] Just tell
me why he won't do it.
After he disappeared,
your father deprogrammed
his locator.
No one can track him now.
He didn't want you to know
because he thought you might
go in and try to find him.
Isn't that what we're doing?
The greater good
here is figuring out
if we can harvest life on
NB22, that was his mission.
That's your mission now.
Finding your father
is icing on the cake.
And you'd need to be
here in the morning.
Go home.
And don't tell Sharp about this.
(door bangs)
I don't think I'll
come back here again.
[Rebecca] Hmm.
That's disappointing.
We were making such progress.
Were we?
The discussion
regarding your father.
Progress?
All of this?
About our triggers, and, and
feelings, and mental wellness?
That's fortune cookie wisdom.
It, it's just a,
a bunch of words
that people read about online
and made popular by posting
artwork behind them.
(scoffs) I'm sorry you feel
that way, but you're wrong.
I've spent my entire life
studying the human psyche
and there are ways
to break through.
You have no idea what the
human mind is capable of,
what it can do,
what it can create.
These problems that, that
people like me sit in this chair
and complain to you
about, they mean nothing.
They're figments
of our imagination.
I respectfully disagree.
Oh, because if I'm right,
you are out of a job.
No, I want to see
people do better.
If we use our minds
to create good things
instead of wanting,
it's the wanting
that drives us crazy.
What does that word mean to you?
Crazy.
It means people like
you sitting in that chair,
wanting people to get
better will never happen.
People don't wanna get better.
They want everyone else
to change around them.
Pretty cynical.
I'll take my chances out there.
Aiden, I wish you'd
changed your mind,
but good luck to you.
(book thuds)
(brooding music)
[Joseph] Your vitals are good.
Just steady your
breathing, all right?
Keep the control centered
and McGrady will do the rest.
All right, we're
piloting you down now.
All right, Aiden,
watch your entry.
It can be a bit bumpy if
it's windy down there.
All right, we're initiating
landing sequence now.
That's right.
Just like that,
keep her centered.
You're doing great, Aiden.
Just keep her steady.
[Aiden] All right, I see
the colonies from here.
[Joseph] Now you should be able
to see the projections as well.
[Aiden] I see them.
You're sure they can't see me?
[Joseph] They're
just projections.
You're not even there
at the same time.
You should see them working
on a Rover of some type.
[Aiden] I see it.
[Joseph] Okay, just behind
the Rover is the outpost.
We need you to get over
there as soon as you can.
[Aiden] Got it.
(ship engine humming)
(ship thuds)
[Joseph] All right, Aiden,
you have to keep an
eye out at all times.
Whoever planned the attack
could be anywhere at any time.
Now that's your father's
living quarters.
Looks like the structure
is still intact,
which means our timing is good.
The attack hasn't happened yet.
All right, so there's a
projection coming up beside you.
Now watch as they move about
as if you're not even there.
You see that?
All right, look for the
greenhouse structures.
They look like clear
tubes about 10 feet tall.
There should be a few
of them on the surface.
[Aiden] I see it.
He did it.
My old man figured it out.
[Joseph] Aiden, are you saying
that everything is contained?
[Aiden] Yes.
Sending visuals now.
[Joseph] Terrific.
Now let's get you out of
there before the attack.
[Aiden] You know what, Sharp?
It doesn't look like there's
anyone else here but us.
[Joseph] Well, that's the point?
Don't assume anything.
Scanning now.
That's strange.
Sensors are bouncing
on and offline.
Aiden, something must be
interfering with the frequencies.
(suspenseful music)
[Aiden] Oh, look.
Oh, look out!
Hey guys, watch out!
Sharp, they're coming
from the hills.
[Joseph] Aiden,
they can't hear you.
Do you copy?
(ominous music)
(Aiden panting)
His readings are off the chart.
If we don't pull him out right
now we're gonna lose him.
(keys clicking)
(computer whooshing)
(Aiden panting)
I saw them.
[Joseph] You saw who?
They came from the hills.
They were hiding an
entire army of them.
The projections had no
way of being warned.
You should have left me in.
No, we had to take you
out prior to the attacks,
so we didn't lose you
like we did the others.
I can go back in.
I can try to save them.
You can't no way.
We can warn them if
we can figure out a way
to let me interact with them.
It's impossible, Aiden.
Why?
No, no, no, no, tell me why.
Three days ago, space
travel was impossible.
Look at what we're doing here.
Tell me why we can't warn them.
Because they aren't
alive anymore, Aiden.
They're just memories, remember?
Ghosts saved to the CPU.
Well, then we go back
and try to save them.
Now that we know that the colony
was stabilized
prior to the attack,
there's no need to
go back in at all.
So those people, my father,
they died for nothing?
No, they gave us all the
information that we needed.
All we needed to
confirm was that indeed,
your father was able to
sustain life on that planet,
and he did it.
He did it.
But we have no way of
getting anyone there.
Whoever destroyed the colony,
isn't going to allow
just seven billion people
to just migrate onto
to their planet.
Their planet.
Andromeda is their galaxy.
Well, the sun is in our galaxy,
but that doesn't make it ours.
They're not gonna let
us come back, Sharp.
They'll attack again.
And they'll keep attacking
until we leave in
NB22 alone forever.
What have you done?
Either or you two can answer.
I,
I went in and I
spoke to my father.
You what?
And, and who gave you
the authority to do that?
I told him it was a bad idea.
He shouldn't have done it.
I.
He warned me that even
though he colonized NB22,
these beings never wanted
us there in the first place.
There has to be another planet.
Well there isn't.
And don't you think if there was
your father would've
told us about it?
And you, you just
allowed this to happen.
I did this on my own.
He had nothing to do with it.
Either way we only have
two options here, guys.
We find another
planet to colonize
or you send me back in and
let me try to save in NB22.
What's it gonna be, Sharp?
Huh?
We can do this.
We can find another way and
find my father in the process.
Persuasive when he wants to be.
All right, let's
put him back in.
(suspenseful music)
Okay, you're there.
I'm only giving you
one shot at this,
so make it stick if you wanna
make it off that planet alive.
As soon as I see danger,
I'm pulling you out.
Do you copy?
Aiden?
[Aiden] There has to
be a way I can warn them.
[Joseph] There isn't.
Aiden, if you get killed in
there, I can't get you out.
Do you understand
what I'm telling you?
In order to save the
planet and yourself
you need to make it
out in one piece!
You see anything,
anything at all?
Wait a minute, we're saying
something on our end.
Movement and it's a lot of
it, and it's moving fast.
Aiden, do you copy?
[Aiden] (panting)
It's happening.
We're under attack.
(explosion booming)
[Joseph] Aiden, get the
hell out of there now!
(explosion booming)
Do it!
(explosions booming)
[Aiden] There's so many
of them, there's no way out!
(explosion booms)
Aiden, Aiden!
Losing communication.
Aiden, can you hear me?
Aiden, this, this is hopeless.
If you can hear
me find cover now!
(explosion booming)
McGrady, something is
blocking our transmission.
It must be location
beacons or something.
Maybe they're crashing.
Aiden, can you see
the com's tower?
Aiden, the com's tower.
We're losing you.
Aiden!
(explosion booming)
McGrady something is
blocking our transmissions.
The location beacons
are crashing.
Aiden, listen, can you see
any of the com's towers?
McGrady, he is surrounded.
Aiden, I'm looking at
your vitals right now.
You have to watch
your breathing.
Aiden, you got two choices.
If you can hear me,
you have to find cover
or get out of there.
(explosion booming)
Aiden, if you can hear me,
you must survive this attack
or I will not be able
to bring you out alive.
Aiden, do you copy?
Aiden!
(explosion booms)
(Aiden panting)
What is that?
He's, he's peaking again.
I can't, I can't pull him out.
(Aiden panting)
He's, he.
(Aiden gasping)
(melancholic music)
(computer whooshing)
What should we do?
Should we call someone?
No.
McGrady.
[Robert] Sir.
(brooding music)
We need to call the director.
Go on, do it!
(Joseph inhaling)
(Joseph exhaling)
(water dripping)
(folder thuds)
(phone ringing)
(Joseph sighs)
(liquid slurps)
(phone beeps)
Ma'am.
[Director] What do we
have in place for this?
The same protocol
we had for his father?
[Director] You have
my go ahead on that.
Keep it quiet, and I want
you and Robert in my office
first thing on Monday morning.
Ma'am.
[Director] We have
to make a decision
on how to move on from this.
(sighs) Ma'am, if I may,
perhaps that wall is
there for a reason.
[Director] Meaning?
What if William didn't
put that wall there
to keep something
or someone out?
What if he put it there for
us to try to climb over for?
Ma'am?
[Director] Go on.
Once Aiden's neuro
inhibitor went offline,
I received a beacon
signal on a private server
even McGrady doesn't
have access to.
[Director] What kind of signal?
Apparently one
of the projection's
survived the attack on NB 22.
The beacon signal that
we couldn't decipher,
however, the internal log shows
that someone made
it off that planet
and they made it off alive.
[Director] Do we know who?
That I don't know.
Be that as it may,
I need to know how you
want me to proceed.
[Director] Bury it,
and I'll see you first
thing Monday morning.
(Joseph sighs)
(folder thuds)
(Joseph exhales)
Destroy it, files,
hard drives, all of it.
Anything that links the program
to Will Crawford or the
other 11, including Aiden.
But we don't know
that Aiden is dead.
We don't know that he isn't,
and in the eyes of the program,
that's more important
than knowing for sure.
Now this isn't a discussion.
Just do it.
[Robert] And this?
Yeah, keep it somewhere safe.
I'm gonna go home for once
and try to get some sleep.
Sleep sounds impossible
at a time like this.
Well, try, all right?
Because it's gonna get
real busy around here
or it's gonna get very slow.
Take the time while you have it.
[Robert] I'll see you Monday.
(Joseph scoffs)
Maybe.
(door clicks)
(door bangs)
(machine beeps)
(machine beeps)
(brooding music)
(button clicks)
[Aiden] McGrady, tell
Sharp he was wrong.
There is another
chance for mankind.
My father and I
found it together.
That's right, my father
survived the attack on NB22
and escaped unnoticed.
He programmed the
neuro inhibitor
with the same escape plan
for me, the projections too.
At the moment of
death, we were remade.
This new home is incredible,
full of life, space, time.
My only hope is that you
can pass this message along.
If the powers that be deem
the human race worth saving,
there is finally a way.
Convince them to
come, all of them.
We'll be here waiting
on the rest of you.
(bodies whooshing)
(key clicking)
(machine humming)
Sharp!
(dramatic music)
(gentle brooding music)