The Man Who Fell to Earth (2022) s01e03 Episode Script
New Angels of Promise
1
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
[MICROPHONE FEEDBACK.]
Uber owns no vehicles.
Facebook creates no content.
Alibaba has no inventory.
The world is shifting from tangible assets to digital convenience.
That is why I'm here presenting this idea to the panel, today.
We've developed an app to bring the $10 trillion derivative industry to the blockchain by the year 2018, with our half percent fee charged on collateral deposited in our smart contracts.
May I ask you to pause it for a second? So using your app, I take my 100 Bitcoins - and pretend it's Apple shares? - Yes.
So, it's a bit like in trade.
Yeah, you're planning to launch other asset classes, yeah? I guess it wasn't clear from my presentation.
Well, we're Book Club, we like clarity.
This isn't Y Combinator.
We've created the framework for someone else - to create digital assets - No.
I got that.
- So it won't be our problem.
- Well, it will be your problem.
Because to the SEC or to the CSDC, it's gonna look like a brokerage trade.
Which exemptions do you plan to use? I don't have the answer to that right now.
I won't pretend to have the answer when I don't.
All right.
Well, "right now" doesn't exist in a vacuum.
So, why don't you think about what I've said and come back in a year, 'cause it's a great idea? [WHISPERING.]
Excuse me, sir.
Ms.
Flood is outside.
[HATCH.]
What do you mean she's outside? Why isn't she here? Uh, if you could excuse me.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
Hey.
Edes, what's up? Is it the AC? I had them turn it off.
We're in puddles of sweat in there.
I had to have three Kahlua popsicles to cool off.
Why aren't you in there? What are you doing here, Wyant? Hatch, as I'm sure you're aware, OriGen doesn't require notice for Well, for termination.
What are you talking about? [WYANT.]
We received confirmation 45 minutes ago.
- Confirmation of what? - That you're a fucking thief.
- What? - Thomas Newton's tenth patent was found on your personal computer.
By removing it from OriGen, you violated your non-disclosure agreements.
- We need you to sign, Hatch.
- [SCOFFS.]
No.
Fuck you! I was doing a 360 risk audit of Dad's annuities.
I'm the risk officer.
That's my job.
Which patent whore were you selling to? - Is it Intel? Apple? - Edie, please.
I wasn't stealing anything and I wasn't selling anything.
I was trying to understand the fucking thing.
Wyant, can you go recharge in your flying pod or whatever? I need to talk to my baby sister.
I didn't mean that pejoratively.
I mean, like a powerful baby.
A baby who can run a company You are the infant here.
You are so incompetent.
You disguised the patent on your computer as a fucking recipe.
For hummus? I'm the vegan, Hatch.
You eat cigarettes wrapped in shit! Whatever contracts Dad inherited when he took over OriGen have left us with massive exposure.
It's even more insulting that you think you can distract me with this bullshit.
Did you know that that patent was classified as top secret by the US Department of Energy? Which is fucking terrifying? You didn't.
And neither did I.
Because Dad didn't see fit to tell us before he jumped off a cliff.
Why would he tell you anything given how little he thought of you, huh? You somehow managed to be roiling in contempt for him while drowning in Kahlua.
Kahlua, in the 21st century.
You've never been able to get past that Dad left controlling interest of the company to me So that he could control you from the grave! You never wanted to see what he was.
- He was a visionary.
- He wasn't the visionary.
No.
No, no, no.
I am not gonna let you make this about your obsession with that freak.
Nobody knows what Thomas Newton's tenth patent was.
Nobody knows what it does.
Why was it written in base 60? That's not even our number system.
It's a word salad.
That's why it's been sitting on a shelf for 45 years.
Then why was it classified the second that he disappeared? I'm not engaging in this.
You're a thief.
- Who fucking cares? Sign.
- You should care.
Because without Newton's patents OriGen is nothing.
His tech was magic.
It was like from another planet.
Another planet? Oh, my God.
Can we please Can this just be about you and me? I've been killing myself holding this company together.
The only way we make money, Hatch, is with those patents, and you tried to go sell one to our competition.
It doesn't matter that it's old and it doesn't matter that it's useless.
You did it to fuck me because you're jealous! Because you hate that Dad hated you.
Edie Dad had a million secrets that you never wanted to look into.
This one is dangerous enough to be squashed by the US government.
This conversation's over.
Sign the papers.
Please, can I Can I just say "Please, don't fire me?" Look, OriGen is all that I have.
It's all that I am.
I love it despite Dad.
I don't know anything else.
I Look, I can't I can't bargain with you.
I can't, um, threaten consequences.
I can just say, "Please, don't fire your brother.
" Sign.
I'm erasing you.
He would've been happy about this.
Yeah, he would.
Um Edie Whatever's in that patent, there's no way it doesn't come back to burn you.
[WIND CHIMES TINKLING.]
[FARADAY GASPING.]
[STRAINED.]
Can we go to Seattle now? [WEAKLY.]
Water.
- Water.
- He hardly weighs a thing.
[FARADAY.]
Water.
[GROANING.]
[JUSTIN.]
Oh, my God.
[WHEEZING.]
I need something.
Come on, come on.
More! - More.
- Here.
Here.
- [BREATHING HEAVILY.]
- [JOSIAH.]
Come on.
[GROWLING.]
- [SQUELCHING.]
- Oh, sh [JUSTIN.]
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
[GASPS.]
[CHITTERING.]
- [CHITTERING CONTINUES.]
- Oh, my God.
[SQUELCHING.]
[SLUSHING.]
- [GASPS.]
- [JOSIAH.]
Oh.
We can go to OriGen now.
- [SNEEZES.]
- [JUSTIN GASPS.]
Bless you.
God bless you.
[WIND CHIMES TINKLING.]
I can shave.
[DOOR CREAKING.]
Wait.
I I'm not ready for this.
[JOSIAH.]
Don't be afraid, Juzzie.
It's okay.
Come on.
Come here.
[CRYING.]
Why are you crying? Hmm? There's a price for everything, Dad.
Well, maybe we already paid it.
I know how impossible this all seems.
But now there's this man [JUSTIN.]
He's not just a man, Dad.
[JOSIAH.]
I know.
He needs you to take him [JUSTIN.]
Yeah, I'm not leaving you and Molly now, Dad.
Now is exactly the time to leave.
We don't know if it's real, or It feels real.
Real as anything.
And even if it goes away, everything is different now.
It's still you and me, Dad.
You and me have been twisted around a couple of times already.
[SNIFFS.]
I should never have let it happen.
What does that mean? You think you owe me.
- Oh, I do.
- No.
- I do - No! But I let you think that.
You think your penance for what has happened is for you to quash your light because it's been blinding sometimes.
No one No one would ever want you to close the doors on your mind.
Now there's a door in front of you.
On the other side is something I could never imagine.
And this man [EXHALES.]
This man came to you for help.
How could you possibly deny yourself this next step, huh? You would lose your mind, and I will not be your excuse.
I don't want you here any longer.
Not a minute, do you understand? Hmm? Molly will be fine.
[JUSTIN LAUGHS.]
Look at me.
Hmm? Come.
Come.
One groove.
[FUNK MUSIC PLAYING.]
[LAUGHING.]
I want to give you a gift.
[JOSIAH SIGHS.]
My mother, Alma, made me a presentable man.
Now, you are traveling across the country with my daughter.
[SIGHS.]
We are going to have to tighten this up.
Gotta keep it tight.
See? Tight.
[HAIR CLIPPER BUZZING.]
I'll only be gone a few days, okay? Mom! Get out of the house, you drive everyone crazy.
You've been cast out.
Please, baby Jesus, cast her out! Molly, Molly, Molly.
I need to speak to you about Grandpa.
Yeah, yeah.
Grandpa's cured.
Grandpa's all better! He said he took like a hundred million medicines and this morning's medicine was the one that achieved - Mass.
- mass.
[BOTH.]
'Cause that's science.
And we're gonna make Eggos.
- And pancakes! - And pancakes.
[BOTH.]
All by ourselves! - So - On one [BOTH.]
Bye! [BOTH LAUGHING.]
He looks regular.
funk music continues playing music stops What did you do to my dad? I realigned him.
How long will he be like he is now? The rest of his life.
I I just Thank you.
A temporary solution is not a solution, boo.
Boo? No.
[CLEARS THROAT.]
None of that.
You know, you say things without understanding context.
That seems to be the strategy here.
The misperception regarding communication on this planet is the illusion that it has taken place.
Stop it.
Okay.
You have to tell me the plan.
In the vaults of OriGen is Thomas Newton's tenth design.
He failed to build it.
We have to build it.
Tenth design? You said it was fusion.
Your dissertation theorized the possibility of fusing atomic nuclei by combining magnetic field containment with plasma No, no, no, no.
There's no way of reaching the kind of temperatures you'd need.
And even if you could, there's still way too many questions about breeding enough tritium.
Drive over there.
[JUSTIN.]
It's dead.
[CLANGS.]
- Are you all right? - [GROANS.]
[RETCHING.]
[JUSTIN.]
Uh Are you all right? [WHIRRING.]
[POWERING UP.]
[MOTOR WHIRRING.]
[JUSTIN SCOFFS.]
There is no radioactivity.
[WHIRRING.]
[GASPS.]
This is cold fusion? No.
Quantum.
Ta-da.
How long will this pumpjack run for? - Decades.
- How'd you scale it? I mean, this is generations ahead of Centuries beyond human understanding.
- An energy cell.
- A prototype.
- You built it? - No.
Thomas Newton was the architect.
I assembled the components.
Totally clean? No radiation, no decay? But this prototype powered my journey here.
It is nearly drained.
The tenth design is for a regenerating cell.
Inexhaustible.
Limitless.
It will restore Anthea's core temperature.
[GASPS.]
Oh, my God.
It's barely warm.
Our sea is boiled.
To achieve fusion, we need Water.
You You came for water.
Earth is on the same trajectory, facing the same collapse.
You know this.
It is in your work.
I could've never imagined this.
You did imagine.
You came closer than anyone in human history.
And when you couldn't continue, you still chose to work as a caretaker of the planet.
Where are you going? Yeah.
I just I need a minute.
[FARADAY.]
We have to get to [JUSTIN.]
Please, I just need a minute.
[BIRDS CHIRPING.]
[GRUNTS.]
[SIGHS.]
[SIGHS.]
[REEL WHIRRING.]
[CRACKS.]
Dr.
Gregory Papel, Icarus Program.
Date is September 14th, 1984.
0300 hours.
Subject refuses to reveal algorithm for tenth design.
Ongoing dehydration protocol largely ineffective.
[NEWTON GROANING.]
[NEWTON.]
You're bleeding! Don't you see it? Your blood, your children's blood.
You are so careless! [MAN 1.]
Will you get Mr.
Newton some gin? [NEWTON.]
Yes.
[CRYING.]
Yes.
More.
[COUGHS.]
More.
I don't want to set the world ♪ On fire ♪ I just want to start ♪ A flame in your heart ♪ No X-ray! No, no, no.
No.
Not my eyes! - Not my eyes! - [BUZZES.]
[SCREAMS.]
Ah.
I can't see.
I can't see.
Please help me.
Mary Lou I just wanna go home.
Mary Lou.
Mary Lou [DISTORTED SINGING.]
I just want to be the one you love [SCREAMING.]
I'll have reached the goal I'm dreaming of Believe me I don't want to set the world on fire I just want to start A flame in your heart [MOLLY OVER VOICE MAIL.]
Mom, Grandpa said I don't have to brush my teeth.
- [JOSIAH.]
Don't tell her.
- [MOLLY.]
And we bought Skittles and ate 'em for dinner.
- [JOSIAH.]
Miss Molly! - [MOLLY.]
And then we watched cricket until 11:18.
[JOSIAH.]
Juzzie, everything is fine.
We love you, goodbye.
[FARADAY.]
The stars look very different from here.
Yeah.
Yeah, I'll say.
Is it time to leave? No.
We have, uh, something to discuss.
What was it like on Anthea? Before.
When I was a pupa, the sea was already disappearing.
The fauna was toxic.
Herd animals were dying.
How many of you are left? Only a few thousand.
There are still some at the pupal stage.
I'm so sorry.
How long do we have here? The domino has already tipped.
As a species, you have chosen to ignore the symptoms.
How long? By 2030, temperatures will have risen above your extinction threshold.
From there, the remaining dominos will fall in a matter of decades.
[SIGHS.]
I don't know if you're right about why I was working like I was working.
I just The work was like breathing.
- It felt - Inevitable.
Yeah.
But it was destructive to others.
If you destroyed nothing, you would have accomplished nothing.
What I accomplished wasn't worth what was lost.
By what scale? [CHUCKLES.]
Well, it's not so simple to answer that question now I've understood I'm not alone in the universe.
With the spaceman and blue cubes from other dimensions, thank you very much.
So are you a scientist or are you something else now? Take Take what you need back with you, but leave the blueprint here.
Give us the same chance to fix ourselves as you have.
That's the deal.
If I agree, you will agree to be a scientist again.
Yes.
Yeah, I will agree to be a scientist again.
When I am gone, you can keep the design.
How do you plan on getting back? Newton will inform me when it's time.
How are we supposed to get inside OriGen? Newton instructed me to find the Wizard of Risk.
- Is that a game? - No.
It's a person.
[HORN TOOTING.]
Please.
I just need a little more time.
I needed someone who could get me into Book Club! Okay? You said you could do that for me, Hatch.
I said I could try.
I said I would make some calls.
Well, Book Club's this fucking week! Look, your app isn't ready, it violates about a million privacy laws.
- Not that privacy exists.
- Oh, it's perfect.
So what? I'm supposed to wait until next year? Fuck me? Well, fuck you! You can wait till next year before I pay you.
All right.
You know what? Your app's a piece of shit anyway.
- [TIRES SCREECHING.]
- I wouldn't wipe my ass with it.
[COUGHS.]
You wanna get rich? Invent an app that can wipe my ass.
And go through puberty.
What are you, 11? [GROANS.]
[WINCES.]
- Hatch Flood? - Jesus.
Uh, to my intense regret, yeah.
[CLEARS THROAT.]
- You okay? - I have shingles.
Who are you? My name is Justin Falls, this is Mr.
Faraday, and your office told us you'd probably be here.
- What do you want? - An IP attorney.
You are the Wizard.
- Where is your hat? - [HATCH.]
Put that away.
- This is you.
- Yeah, I was blackout drunk.
But it is on the Internet.
You chose a font.
Have you ever made a sex tape? All right.
Well, that's mine, okay? And it has a font.
What do you want? I was instructed to harness your rage against OriGen.
That's not funny.
- It's an algorithm - I know what it is.
You remember the times you see base 60.
- How did you get this? - He wrote it.
Bullshit.
How did you I don't You know what? I don't wanna know.
Thomas Jerome Newton sent me to find you.
[HATCH.]
Thomas Newton sent you to me.
I just said that.
What else did Newton say about him? - He said that he - No, no, no.
Tell him.
[FARADAY.]
He said that you had a good nose, but the only one you could not sniff out was you.
Keep the fuck away from me.
[ENGINE STARTS.]
- You need to come with us.
- Get the fuck out of the way! - And stay away from me.
- [JUSTIN.]
All right.
We're at the Holiday Inn on Aurora if you change your mind.
All right? [SIGHS.]
[SPENCER.]
You had no idea what it was.
[DREW.]
Spencer, how the hell would I know what it was? [SPENCER.]
Let's just put a pin in the spaceman part for a sec.
[DREW.]
"A pin in the spaceman part"? - Oh, okay.
- Just follow me.
1975, Thomas Newton, he comes here and he makes a fortune off nine patents that he uses to start a company called World Enterprises.
Okay? And then he leads the tech industry for a decade.
Until we grab him.
We annex the company, we box it up, we ship it off to the UK to avoid congressional oversight, right? Then we fold it into a British industrial supplier called OriGen, uh, run by an Edward Flood.
And meanwhile, Newton just disappears.
What do you mean, "disappears"? During the interrogation, he revealed a tenth patent that he never built.
Okay.
He wouldn't give it all the way up.
Cryptography couldn't crack it.
And it was written in base 60.
Stop, Spencer.
What is that? It's a form of arithmetic last used by the Mesopotamians 3,600 years before Christ.
It's symbols, Drew, okay? And the most recurrent in Newton's patent is a sun motif, which leads me to believe it's a design for some kind of energy source.
Okay.
So now there's another visitor and the two of them are We don't know what they're doing.
Okay? All we know is that there is a blueprint for a power source from outer fucking space sitting in the OriGen vault and Newton's still in the wind.
Spencer, you know what I have to ask you here.
I know that my own psych map inclines me to The white whale obsession.
Yeah, I was gonna say hyper focus but [SIGHS.]
It doesn't mean I'm off the mark, you know? It means it could be dangerous for you.
Listen to me.
Listen to me, please.
I know what this is activating in you.
You'll never find the first eight years of your life because there's nothing there.
If I hadn't stopped you, you would've searched forever and died empty-handed.
I know you want me safe.
Safe and optimal.
Fuck.
I put a lot of effort into you.
That patent could be a recipe for dip.
Oh, it's not fucking dip, Drew.
Everyone involved in the original op is dead.
Of course.
It's been 45 years.
After talking to Papel, there's no way I'm gonna believe they all died in their sleep.
You got to trust me on this.
[DREW EXHALES.]
Spencer, I can't compute "spaceman.
" But I can compute "everybody's dead.
" Because we do that when there's something worth killing for.
I want to run this, okay? I want the resources.
I want the clearances.
You just got to put me on it.
Let me find the new one.
I'll find him.
I will find him and I will bring him in.
I always do, you know.
Find him.
But you let him run a little bit.
Yeah.
If that tenth design is a weapon, maybe it can be our weapon.
How much do you need? Half a million for surveillance build-out, and a person to help me with intel.
That'd be good.
Oh.
Somebody in mind? Yeah, um Your analyst who first detected the signal in New Mexico, her background is very interesting.
Hmm? I'll be nice.
[KNOCK ON DOOR.]
I know of one other person who understood base 60, let alone calculated in it.
And I have a nightmarish, crazy-making idea about where he was from.
So I need to know where he's from, and I need to know what he's doing here.
And please, God, don't lie to me.
Come on in.
[INDISTINCT VOICES.]
[JUSTIN.]
Hatch? Hey, come on.
You passed out.
Hey, hey.
Are you okay? - Can you sit up? - [GROANING.]
Here you go.
Have some water.
Are you afraid of me? [BREATHING HEAVILY.]
Yes.
The message is "Mars needs women.
" "Mars needs women.
" He's been watching TCM.
Look, I know that you must have questions, - so - [HATCH.]
Yeah, I have a bunch.
- He's from - Anthea.
And he brought cold fusion.
Quantum.
That's the tenth design? Does OriGen know what they have? No.
Nobody could figure it out.
Jesus.
Fusion? [WHISPERING.]
Do you know what this is? I mean, do you know what this means? Why are you whispering? [IN NORMAL VOICE.]
Because I'm fucking terrified.
Okay, I do risk.
I hedge against very real, very bad things.
Okay.
And you're talking about liberating the planet Earth from oil forever.
Do you know what that looks like? In the first 30 days, the exchanges collapse.
Nobody has any security from anything.
Policing is gone.
People are jumping off of buildings.
It makes 1929 look like fucking Christmas.
It's an addicted planet going cold turkey.
There's lots of riots.
Power grids go obsolete.
I mean, a massive devaluation of land.
I mean, I could buy a fucking 747 for two Pokemon cards.
Millions of people are gonna lose their jobs in the gas and oil sector alone.
Governments slash funding to everything.
Okay.
Everybody withdraws their troops from everywhere, because there's nothing left to fight for.
Until they decide to train their weapons on their own citizens for begging for food and water and medicine and humanitarian aid.
And hey, if you're in the cardboard coffin business, it'll be a fucking bonanza.
Iraq, Bolivia, Norway are done.
China, Germany, France are better.
Nobody gives a shit about the Saudis anymore, so we just redraw the map of Central Asia.
Africa.
The entire continent of Africa.
They've got the minerals, the infrastructure I can't, I can't - I I've gotta go.
- [DOOR OPENS.]
Hey! Hey.
Hey, hey, hey.
- Ah! Shingles.
- Oh, I'm so sorry.
Look, fusion declares war on everything.
And everything is gonna declare war on us.
[JUSTIN.]
If we don't, we're done by 2030.
2030? Where did you get that? I can't hedge chaos.
Chaos is why humans exist.
Meteors and dinosaurs.
Shifting land masses.
Eclipses, plague, war.
You rise and you adapt.
You regrow your brains and you adapt.
This is the next step, Mr.
Flood.
When we take it nothing will ever be the same.
I'm Spencer Clay, Miss Dominguez.
- Come in.
[CLEARS THROAT.]
- [LISA.]
Oh, okay.
I'm sorry, I thought we were meeting half an hour ago.
Did I get the time wrong? No.
[CLEARS THROAT.]
No, you didn't.
Pleased to meet you, sir.
You're doing well in SIGINT, huh? Thank you, sir.
Do you know why I wanted to meet you? I did not invite you to sit.
Now I'm just wondering about your accent.
You didn't do the work to get rid of it.
It's either arrogant or dumb.
Let's hope it's the former.
Five days ago, you intercepted a signal out of New Mexico coming from inside a tornado.
- Yes, sir.
- Did you discuss that with anyone? Of course not.
Okay.
Findings? The tornado was spinning counter clockwise.
Only around 5% do that, and none ever reported in New Mexico.
[SPENCER.]
And what does that tell you? The frequency of that signal correlates to nothing on Earth.
[SPENCER.]
Lisa Elizabeth Dominguez.
ROTC at 18.
Tours, running signals in Islamabad.
Sit.
Oh.
So this is interesting.
Your parents immigrated from Portugal legally.
Your uncle and his family did not.
- Correct.
- So you turned them over to ICE.
My uncle thought he could game the system while my parents did the right thing and earned their way into this country.
You could have just left your uncle alone, but what you did was punitive.
One could say the same about you, sending that Ukrainian family to a detention facility in Abilene and their little boy died in a cage.
I think he was nine? I'm running an op.
Close hold.
Funded.
Never gonna give you the whole picture, but if you figure it out yourself, I'll know I made the right choice.
You do what I tell you, when I tell you, and nothing else.
Read this.
Find me any living connection to the subject.
Name's Thomas Jerome Newton.
Help me find him, you can just write your own ticket Lisa.
Thank you, sir.
I look forward to the opportunity.
Well, all right.
Oh, and, hey, Lise, now that we're gonna be working together, watch your fucking mouth.
[DOOR SLAMS.]
[CHUCKLES SOFTLY.]
R&B music plays [SIZZLING.]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
[HATCH.]
I got to ask.
Your face is amazing.
Is that a real face, huh? How is it Did you make it? What's the deal? It's a skin suit.
Oh, a skin suit? Skin suit.
Skin suit.
I do not understand.
I was told OriGen was in Seattle.
What's in Seattle is a phone and an office.
OriGen proper is in London.
London's the only top-five tech ecosystem with a startup visa program.
So, the capital benefits outweigh even Silicon Valley.
He really likes his hot sauce.
I fled England in disgrace, if you're wondering.
Do you have disgrace on your planet? No, but I can smell it.
[WAITER.]
You can't drink that in here.
Oh, it's okay.
I'm an attorney.
We are going to England.
- No, we're not.
- I have fusion.
- I have a family.
- You can collect them when we are at OriGen.
I can't just leave my daughter.
Your child has one possible habitable future.
[CHILDREN LAUGHING.]
So do mine.
I have shown you the prototype.
Are you going to deny what you have seen? It's not that simple.
Edie doesn't trust me.
She believes that I tried to sell Newton's design.
- Did you? - No.
And don't ask me that again.
How do we get your sister to trust you? [LAUGHS.]
Okay.
Tell me more about your prototype.
It is nearly capacitated.
Okay.
But it works? You could demonstrate it? Uh, demonstrate it where? Book Club.
- The tech startup thing? - Yeah.
Have you been? A recruiter came to me at UNM.
No one would remember that.
We are going to Book Club.
Well, it starts in 36 hours.
Uh, Edie always keeps a seat.
I mean, we'd have to get him a passport.
You need fingerprints.
- He doesn't have any.
- [FARADAY.]
No X-rays.
We require alternative transportation.
Last time he was at the airport, he vomited water for, like, an hour.
Oh, that's wonderful.
Um, well, listen.
Uh Fuck, we could book a private plane.
I know a guy who's got a timeshare who might take my call.
Then we could change the flight plan once we're airborne.
Blame it on engine trouble.
Then we could land off-grid at the Isle of Mull, they don't have customs.
Then we could rent a car to London, we'd probably make it.
[CHATTER STOPS.]
Nobody was moving.
[AIRPLANE WHINES.]
This costs like [HATCH.]
Yeah, my every last dime.
Yesterday, my life was different.
- Boy, do I fucking hear you.
- Uh-huh.
Hello, sir, I'm Ashley.
I'll be your flight attendant today.
Will the cabin be pressurized? Uh Yes.
Of course, sir.
Wow.
[ASHLEY.]
Can I offer you something to drink? - Water, champagne? - Yeah.
I'll have a double vodka tonic, please.
What the fuck? Justin? Face.
Face.
Fucked-up face.
[HISSING.]
Shit.
Shit, shit.
You You have to stay seated! - What's happening to his face? - Uh, nothing.
- Is he having a stroke? - No.
It's a nut allergy, but don't worry, she has his EpiPen.
- So listen, Ashley - Your face is falling off your skull.
Is this maximum velocity for the aircraft? I'm sure you've seen things on this plane before.
You know, like, billionaire things and acts of human callousness and depravity.
The company makes you sign an NDA, right? What the fuck is happening? I was not wearing my skin suit when I traveled here.
I don't know.
It's fucking falling off.
Will it go back? - [BREATHING HEAVILY.]
- Unclear.
Sir, you need to sit down! You need to stay in here and not come out.
Unless you have a staple gun, then we'll be fine.
I'll just get the chips and drinks, and don't worry.
Have a great flight! [HORNS HONKING.]
[HATCH.]
Why don't you bring your head in the car so that it doesn't explode? Is it your first time in London? If anybody offers you jellied eels, say no.
[JUSTIN.]
So we just walk in? [HATCH.]
Yeah.
I mean, that's the last favor in the favor bank, last bullet in the chamber.
And when people see the thing Hey, look, if it's what you say it is, then we'll have term sheets from every company in the world by midnight.
And if it's not, we're fucked.
[CHUCKLES.]
I mean, I guess we could go see Phantom of the Opera and commit suicide.
[CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING.]
Hi.
Um, Hatch Flood.
Sir, we must collect your pass.
[HATCH.]
Yeah.
"Flood" like the disaster.
I have an Edie Flood.
Of course.
Yeah.
Please keep scrolling.
Flood, Flood Ah! Here you are.
You were a Post-it.
Of course I was.
Um, thank you.
No cell phones allowed inside.
Thank you.
Thank you.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
I would like to present my science now.
It's when you're onstage.
I would like to present my science now.
No.
That's the only way that this works, okay? There's gonna be a panel of smug people and you guys are gonna go up No.
Not me.
Just him.
Yeah, I don't need to stand in front of all these people.
[HATCH.]
Okay.
So then, um, it'll be you up there just, uh, you know, being a genius.
And everybody here will hate you because you're what they wish they could be, so they'll try to fuck you up.
Whose design is this? [JUSTIN.]
A chicken's.
- I'm so sorry.
Sorry about - [MAN.]
Whatever.
Enjoy.
Hey.
Hey.
No.
No.
No.
No, no, no.
No.
Hatch.
Hey, Rajiv.
Michael.
- Uh, this is Justin Falls.
- Hi.
And, uh, this is Mr.
Faraday and his pillow.
[JUSTIN.]
Shit.
No, no, no.
Stop it.
Stop.
Great glasses, Michael.
I tried a pair like that but I looked stupid.
- But you look cool.
- [JUSTIN.]
Uh, hey.
- [WHISPERS.]
I'll find you, okay? - Yeah, okay.
I think I know him.
Was he at Gartner IT? Uh, Gartner? No.
Um, hey, thank you for clearing a path for me tonight.
Um How are you? How's your family? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We're good.
We're good.
It's great to see you.
And a bit of a surprise.
I mean, you vanished.
Yeah, well I have a client presenting tonight.
I wish you'd told me that part, Hatch.
I thought you just wanted to mingle, to say hi.
I saw your sister in the atrium.
She didn't say you were presenting.
Oh, is Is Edie here? Sorry.
How exactly are you going to get into the lineup? Well, you know, I got one more favor to call in.
Um, I'll have to put out afterwards, I'm sure, but - That's a joke.
- [RAJIV.]
A joke? You're scamming your way onto the stage.
You don't have the fucking courtesy to tell me before I vouch for you.
Look, some of us have a reputation to protect, Hatch.
I mean, you're a thief and the Floods are a joke.
All right.
You can leave Edie out of - your high dudgeon, please.
- Why? You know there's a pool on when she'll figure out that OriGen's a punchline? So you'd prefer she fell on her sword? Certainly be less painful than having to watch her desperately waving the banner of a company that hasn't innovated since, what? 1978? Enjoy the donuts, Hatch.
[SCOFFS.]
[HATCH.]
Yeah, I will.
I am.
Fucking dickhole.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION.]
[COCKATOO CAWING.]
What does it do? It's a bird.
It does bird stuff.
- These are both for me.
- Are you sedating? [JUSTIN.]
Mm-hmm.
Absolutely.
[CAWS.]
Fuck it, man! [MAN.]
Sybilla is a rescue bird.
She lived with a weird family before we took her in.
She imitates to integrate.
[CAWS.]
Fuck it, man! Fuck it, man! Fuck it, man! Fuck it, man! Shh.
- [FARADAY.]
Fuck it! - [COCKATOO.]
Fuck it! - [PEOPLE LAUGHING.]
- No, no, no.
No.
Fuck this, man! - We don't engage with birds.
- Fuck this guy! - Fuck it.
- [COCKATOO.]
Fuck it, man! - [COCKATOO CAWING.]
- [FARADAY.]
Fuck it! Fuck this guy.
- Edie.
- [PEOPLE LAUGHING.]
Hey.
I'm here with a client.
How are you? - I'm fine.
Thank you.
- I don't care.
Listen, I'm here with someone special.
I'm here with somebody who can give you what you want.
Who? Birdman? [SCOFFS.]
Listen.
You should really meet this guy, Edie.
- Should? - I'm trying to help you.
Then after all these years, have the decency to admit what you did.
Jesus Christ! Will you let that go? Look.
This guy could be something for you, okay? Something that doesn't have Dad's fingerprints all over it.
[ANNOUNCER.]
Ladies and gentlemen, the presentations will begin momentarily.
Please make your way to the library.
Thank you.
Okay, Hatch.
Admit what you did and we'll walk in there together right now.
Fine.
You die a public death.
It's better.
This way we don't have to fucking run into each other.
[CROWD CLAPPING.]
Like that building block, graphene, carbon nano tubes are extremely durable and provide the opportunity to develop ultra-high strength, low-weight materials that make them highly attractive [HATCH.]
Does he know the rules? [JUSTIN.]
Yes.
I went over it with him like a million times.
I have told you that about a million times.
- Okay, well - So can you stop freaking out? Just take some deep breaths and calm the fuck down.
[HATCH.]
I am trying to.
[JUSTIN.]
You're actually freaking me out right now, do you know that? [HATCH.]
Well, then don't look at me.
- Calm down.
- [JUSTIN.]
Okay.
[HATCH.]
In 45 minutes, we'll be Just take some deep breaths.
Go to a happy place, you know? So tell me why what you're showing me is exceptional, - or go back to school.
- We [INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
Fuck.
- Go get him.
Go, go.
Go get him.
- Shit.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER CONTINUES.]
Someone, please What the fuck are you doing? He has not calculated the chirality structure properly.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
[WOMAN.]
Excuse me.
Are you a presenter here tonight? I am.
[WOMAN.]
And what makes you think you can interrupt this presentation? I have come with a prototype for a quantum fusion process.
[CHATTER STOPS.]
Do it.
[ELECTRIC PULSATING.]
[CROWD MURMURING.]
[ELECTRIC PULSATING.]
[LAUGHS.]
[MICROPHONE FEEDBACK.]
Uber owns no vehicles.
Facebook creates no content.
Alibaba has no inventory.
The world is shifting from tangible assets to digital convenience.
That is why I'm here presenting this idea to the panel, today.
We've developed an app to bring the $10 trillion derivative industry to the blockchain by the year 2018, with our half percent fee charged on collateral deposited in our smart contracts.
May I ask you to pause it for a second? So using your app, I take my 100 Bitcoins - and pretend it's Apple shares? - Yes.
So, it's a bit like in trade.
Yeah, you're planning to launch other asset classes, yeah? I guess it wasn't clear from my presentation.
Well, we're Book Club, we like clarity.
This isn't Y Combinator.
We've created the framework for someone else - to create digital assets - No.
I got that.
- So it won't be our problem.
- Well, it will be your problem.
Because to the SEC or to the CSDC, it's gonna look like a brokerage trade.
Which exemptions do you plan to use? I don't have the answer to that right now.
I won't pretend to have the answer when I don't.
All right.
Well, "right now" doesn't exist in a vacuum.
So, why don't you think about what I've said and come back in a year, 'cause it's a great idea? [WHISPERING.]
Excuse me, sir.
Ms.
Flood is outside.
[HATCH.]
What do you mean she's outside? Why isn't she here? Uh, if you could excuse me.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
Hey.
Edes, what's up? Is it the AC? I had them turn it off.
We're in puddles of sweat in there.
I had to have three Kahlua popsicles to cool off.
Why aren't you in there? What are you doing here, Wyant? Hatch, as I'm sure you're aware, OriGen doesn't require notice for Well, for termination.
What are you talking about? [WYANT.]
We received confirmation 45 minutes ago.
- Confirmation of what? - That you're a fucking thief.
- What? - Thomas Newton's tenth patent was found on your personal computer.
By removing it from OriGen, you violated your non-disclosure agreements.
- We need you to sign, Hatch.
- [SCOFFS.]
No.
Fuck you! I was doing a 360 risk audit of Dad's annuities.
I'm the risk officer.
That's my job.
Which patent whore were you selling to? - Is it Intel? Apple? - Edie, please.
I wasn't stealing anything and I wasn't selling anything.
I was trying to understand the fucking thing.
Wyant, can you go recharge in your flying pod or whatever? I need to talk to my baby sister.
I didn't mean that pejoratively.
I mean, like a powerful baby.
A baby who can run a company You are the infant here.
You are so incompetent.
You disguised the patent on your computer as a fucking recipe.
For hummus? I'm the vegan, Hatch.
You eat cigarettes wrapped in shit! Whatever contracts Dad inherited when he took over OriGen have left us with massive exposure.
It's even more insulting that you think you can distract me with this bullshit.
Did you know that that patent was classified as top secret by the US Department of Energy? Which is fucking terrifying? You didn't.
And neither did I.
Because Dad didn't see fit to tell us before he jumped off a cliff.
Why would he tell you anything given how little he thought of you, huh? You somehow managed to be roiling in contempt for him while drowning in Kahlua.
Kahlua, in the 21st century.
You've never been able to get past that Dad left controlling interest of the company to me So that he could control you from the grave! You never wanted to see what he was.
- He was a visionary.
- He wasn't the visionary.
No.
No, no, no.
I am not gonna let you make this about your obsession with that freak.
Nobody knows what Thomas Newton's tenth patent was.
Nobody knows what it does.
Why was it written in base 60? That's not even our number system.
It's a word salad.
That's why it's been sitting on a shelf for 45 years.
Then why was it classified the second that he disappeared? I'm not engaging in this.
You're a thief.
- Who fucking cares? Sign.
- You should care.
Because without Newton's patents OriGen is nothing.
His tech was magic.
It was like from another planet.
Another planet? Oh, my God.
Can we please Can this just be about you and me? I've been killing myself holding this company together.
The only way we make money, Hatch, is with those patents, and you tried to go sell one to our competition.
It doesn't matter that it's old and it doesn't matter that it's useless.
You did it to fuck me because you're jealous! Because you hate that Dad hated you.
Edie Dad had a million secrets that you never wanted to look into.
This one is dangerous enough to be squashed by the US government.
This conversation's over.
Sign the papers.
Please, can I Can I just say "Please, don't fire me?" Look, OriGen is all that I have.
It's all that I am.
I love it despite Dad.
I don't know anything else.
I Look, I can't I can't bargain with you.
I can't, um, threaten consequences.
I can just say, "Please, don't fire your brother.
" Sign.
I'm erasing you.
He would've been happy about this.
Yeah, he would.
Um Edie Whatever's in that patent, there's no way it doesn't come back to burn you.
[WIND CHIMES TINKLING.]
[FARADAY GASPING.]
[STRAINED.]
Can we go to Seattle now? [WEAKLY.]
Water.
- Water.
- He hardly weighs a thing.
[FARADAY.]
Water.
[GROANING.]
[JUSTIN.]
Oh, my God.
[WHEEZING.]
I need something.
Come on, come on.
More! - More.
- Here.
Here.
- [BREATHING HEAVILY.]
- [JOSIAH.]
Come on.
[GROWLING.]
- [SQUELCHING.]
- Oh, sh [JUSTIN.]
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
[GASPS.]
[CHITTERING.]
- [CHITTERING CONTINUES.]
- Oh, my God.
[SQUELCHING.]
[SLUSHING.]
- [GASPS.]
- [JOSIAH.]
Oh.
We can go to OriGen now.
- [SNEEZES.]
- [JUSTIN GASPS.]
Bless you.
God bless you.
[WIND CHIMES TINKLING.]
I can shave.
[DOOR CREAKING.]
Wait.
I I'm not ready for this.
[JOSIAH.]
Don't be afraid, Juzzie.
It's okay.
Come on.
Come here.
[CRYING.]
Why are you crying? Hmm? There's a price for everything, Dad.
Well, maybe we already paid it.
I know how impossible this all seems.
But now there's this man [JUSTIN.]
He's not just a man, Dad.
[JOSIAH.]
I know.
He needs you to take him [JUSTIN.]
Yeah, I'm not leaving you and Molly now, Dad.
Now is exactly the time to leave.
We don't know if it's real, or It feels real.
Real as anything.
And even if it goes away, everything is different now.
It's still you and me, Dad.
You and me have been twisted around a couple of times already.
[SNIFFS.]
I should never have let it happen.
What does that mean? You think you owe me.
- Oh, I do.
- No.
- I do - No! But I let you think that.
You think your penance for what has happened is for you to quash your light because it's been blinding sometimes.
No one No one would ever want you to close the doors on your mind.
Now there's a door in front of you.
On the other side is something I could never imagine.
And this man [EXHALES.]
This man came to you for help.
How could you possibly deny yourself this next step, huh? You would lose your mind, and I will not be your excuse.
I don't want you here any longer.
Not a minute, do you understand? Hmm? Molly will be fine.
[JUSTIN LAUGHS.]
Look at me.
Hmm? Come.
Come.
One groove.
[FUNK MUSIC PLAYING.]
[LAUGHING.]
I want to give you a gift.
[JOSIAH SIGHS.]
My mother, Alma, made me a presentable man.
Now, you are traveling across the country with my daughter.
[SIGHS.]
We are going to have to tighten this up.
Gotta keep it tight.
See? Tight.
[HAIR CLIPPER BUZZING.]
I'll only be gone a few days, okay? Mom! Get out of the house, you drive everyone crazy.
You've been cast out.
Please, baby Jesus, cast her out! Molly, Molly, Molly.
I need to speak to you about Grandpa.
Yeah, yeah.
Grandpa's cured.
Grandpa's all better! He said he took like a hundred million medicines and this morning's medicine was the one that achieved - Mass.
- mass.
[BOTH.]
'Cause that's science.
And we're gonna make Eggos.
- And pancakes! - And pancakes.
[BOTH.]
All by ourselves! - So - On one [BOTH.]
Bye! [BOTH LAUGHING.]
He looks regular.
funk music continues playing music stops What did you do to my dad? I realigned him.
How long will he be like he is now? The rest of his life.
I I just Thank you.
A temporary solution is not a solution, boo.
Boo? No.
[CLEARS THROAT.]
None of that.
You know, you say things without understanding context.
That seems to be the strategy here.
The misperception regarding communication on this planet is the illusion that it has taken place.
Stop it.
Okay.
You have to tell me the plan.
In the vaults of OriGen is Thomas Newton's tenth design.
He failed to build it.
We have to build it.
Tenth design? You said it was fusion.
Your dissertation theorized the possibility of fusing atomic nuclei by combining magnetic field containment with plasma No, no, no, no.
There's no way of reaching the kind of temperatures you'd need.
And even if you could, there's still way too many questions about breeding enough tritium.
Drive over there.
[JUSTIN.]
It's dead.
[CLANGS.]
- Are you all right? - [GROANS.]
[RETCHING.]
[JUSTIN.]
Uh Are you all right? [WHIRRING.]
[POWERING UP.]
[MOTOR WHIRRING.]
[JUSTIN SCOFFS.]
There is no radioactivity.
[WHIRRING.]
[GASPS.]
This is cold fusion? No.
Quantum.
Ta-da.
How long will this pumpjack run for? - Decades.
- How'd you scale it? I mean, this is generations ahead of Centuries beyond human understanding.
- An energy cell.
- A prototype.
- You built it? - No.
Thomas Newton was the architect.
I assembled the components.
Totally clean? No radiation, no decay? But this prototype powered my journey here.
It is nearly drained.
The tenth design is for a regenerating cell.
Inexhaustible.
Limitless.
It will restore Anthea's core temperature.
[GASPS.]
Oh, my God.
It's barely warm.
Our sea is boiled.
To achieve fusion, we need Water.
You You came for water.
Earth is on the same trajectory, facing the same collapse.
You know this.
It is in your work.
I could've never imagined this.
You did imagine.
You came closer than anyone in human history.
And when you couldn't continue, you still chose to work as a caretaker of the planet.
Where are you going? Yeah.
I just I need a minute.
[FARADAY.]
We have to get to [JUSTIN.]
Please, I just need a minute.
[BIRDS CHIRPING.]
[GRUNTS.]
[SIGHS.]
[SIGHS.]
[REEL WHIRRING.]
[CRACKS.]
Dr.
Gregory Papel, Icarus Program.
Date is September 14th, 1984.
0300 hours.
Subject refuses to reveal algorithm for tenth design.
Ongoing dehydration protocol largely ineffective.
[NEWTON GROANING.]
[NEWTON.]
You're bleeding! Don't you see it? Your blood, your children's blood.
You are so careless! [MAN 1.]
Will you get Mr.
Newton some gin? [NEWTON.]
Yes.
[CRYING.]
Yes.
More.
[COUGHS.]
More.
I don't want to set the world ♪ On fire ♪ I just want to start ♪ A flame in your heart ♪ No X-ray! No, no, no.
No.
Not my eyes! - Not my eyes! - [BUZZES.]
[SCREAMS.]
Ah.
I can't see.
I can't see.
Please help me.
Mary Lou I just wanna go home.
Mary Lou.
Mary Lou [DISTORTED SINGING.]
I just want to be the one you love [SCREAMING.]
I'll have reached the goal I'm dreaming of Believe me I don't want to set the world on fire I just want to start A flame in your heart [MOLLY OVER VOICE MAIL.]
Mom, Grandpa said I don't have to brush my teeth.
- [JOSIAH.]
Don't tell her.
- [MOLLY.]
And we bought Skittles and ate 'em for dinner.
- [JOSIAH.]
Miss Molly! - [MOLLY.]
And then we watched cricket until 11:18.
[JOSIAH.]
Juzzie, everything is fine.
We love you, goodbye.
[FARADAY.]
The stars look very different from here.
Yeah.
Yeah, I'll say.
Is it time to leave? No.
We have, uh, something to discuss.
What was it like on Anthea? Before.
When I was a pupa, the sea was already disappearing.
The fauna was toxic.
Herd animals were dying.
How many of you are left? Only a few thousand.
There are still some at the pupal stage.
I'm so sorry.
How long do we have here? The domino has already tipped.
As a species, you have chosen to ignore the symptoms.
How long? By 2030, temperatures will have risen above your extinction threshold.
From there, the remaining dominos will fall in a matter of decades.
[SIGHS.]
I don't know if you're right about why I was working like I was working.
I just The work was like breathing.
- It felt - Inevitable.
Yeah.
But it was destructive to others.
If you destroyed nothing, you would have accomplished nothing.
What I accomplished wasn't worth what was lost.
By what scale? [CHUCKLES.]
Well, it's not so simple to answer that question now I've understood I'm not alone in the universe.
With the spaceman and blue cubes from other dimensions, thank you very much.
So are you a scientist or are you something else now? Take Take what you need back with you, but leave the blueprint here.
Give us the same chance to fix ourselves as you have.
That's the deal.
If I agree, you will agree to be a scientist again.
Yes.
Yeah, I will agree to be a scientist again.
When I am gone, you can keep the design.
How do you plan on getting back? Newton will inform me when it's time.
How are we supposed to get inside OriGen? Newton instructed me to find the Wizard of Risk.
- Is that a game? - No.
It's a person.
[HORN TOOTING.]
Please.
I just need a little more time.
I needed someone who could get me into Book Club! Okay? You said you could do that for me, Hatch.
I said I could try.
I said I would make some calls.
Well, Book Club's this fucking week! Look, your app isn't ready, it violates about a million privacy laws.
- Not that privacy exists.
- Oh, it's perfect.
So what? I'm supposed to wait until next year? Fuck me? Well, fuck you! You can wait till next year before I pay you.
All right.
You know what? Your app's a piece of shit anyway.
- [TIRES SCREECHING.]
- I wouldn't wipe my ass with it.
[COUGHS.]
You wanna get rich? Invent an app that can wipe my ass.
And go through puberty.
What are you, 11? [GROANS.]
[WINCES.]
- Hatch Flood? - Jesus.
Uh, to my intense regret, yeah.
[CLEARS THROAT.]
- You okay? - I have shingles.
Who are you? My name is Justin Falls, this is Mr.
Faraday, and your office told us you'd probably be here.
- What do you want? - An IP attorney.
You are the Wizard.
- Where is your hat? - [HATCH.]
Put that away.
- This is you.
- Yeah, I was blackout drunk.
But it is on the Internet.
You chose a font.
Have you ever made a sex tape? All right.
Well, that's mine, okay? And it has a font.
What do you want? I was instructed to harness your rage against OriGen.
That's not funny.
- It's an algorithm - I know what it is.
You remember the times you see base 60.
- How did you get this? - He wrote it.
Bullshit.
How did you I don't You know what? I don't wanna know.
Thomas Jerome Newton sent me to find you.
[HATCH.]
Thomas Newton sent you to me.
I just said that.
What else did Newton say about him? - He said that he - No, no, no.
Tell him.
[FARADAY.]
He said that you had a good nose, but the only one you could not sniff out was you.
Keep the fuck away from me.
[ENGINE STARTS.]
- You need to come with us.
- Get the fuck out of the way! - And stay away from me.
- [JUSTIN.]
All right.
We're at the Holiday Inn on Aurora if you change your mind.
All right? [SIGHS.]
[SPENCER.]
You had no idea what it was.
[DREW.]
Spencer, how the hell would I know what it was? [SPENCER.]
Let's just put a pin in the spaceman part for a sec.
[DREW.]
"A pin in the spaceman part"? - Oh, okay.
- Just follow me.
1975, Thomas Newton, he comes here and he makes a fortune off nine patents that he uses to start a company called World Enterprises.
Okay? And then he leads the tech industry for a decade.
Until we grab him.
We annex the company, we box it up, we ship it off to the UK to avoid congressional oversight, right? Then we fold it into a British industrial supplier called OriGen, uh, run by an Edward Flood.
And meanwhile, Newton just disappears.
What do you mean, "disappears"? During the interrogation, he revealed a tenth patent that he never built.
Okay.
He wouldn't give it all the way up.
Cryptography couldn't crack it.
And it was written in base 60.
Stop, Spencer.
What is that? It's a form of arithmetic last used by the Mesopotamians 3,600 years before Christ.
It's symbols, Drew, okay? And the most recurrent in Newton's patent is a sun motif, which leads me to believe it's a design for some kind of energy source.
Okay.
So now there's another visitor and the two of them are We don't know what they're doing.
Okay? All we know is that there is a blueprint for a power source from outer fucking space sitting in the OriGen vault and Newton's still in the wind.
Spencer, you know what I have to ask you here.
I know that my own psych map inclines me to The white whale obsession.
Yeah, I was gonna say hyper focus but [SIGHS.]
It doesn't mean I'm off the mark, you know? It means it could be dangerous for you.
Listen to me.
Listen to me, please.
I know what this is activating in you.
You'll never find the first eight years of your life because there's nothing there.
If I hadn't stopped you, you would've searched forever and died empty-handed.
I know you want me safe.
Safe and optimal.
Fuck.
I put a lot of effort into you.
That patent could be a recipe for dip.
Oh, it's not fucking dip, Drew.
Everyone involved in the original op is dead.
Of course.
It's been 45 years.
After talking to Papel, there's no way I'm gonna believe they all died in their sleep.
You got to trust me on this.
[DREW EXHALES.]
Spencer, I can't compute "spaceman.
" But I can compute "everybody's dead.
" Because we do that when there's something worth killing for.
I want to run this, okay? I want the resources.
I want the clearances.
You just got to put me on it.
Let me find the new one.
I'll find him.
I will find him and I will bring him in.
I always do, you know.
Find him.
But you let him run a little bit.
Yeah.
If that tenth design is a weapon, maybe it can be our weapon.
How much do you need? Half a million for surveillance build-out, and a person to help me with intel.
That'd be good.
Oh.
Somebody in mind? Yeah, um Your analyst who first detected the signal in New Mexico, her background is very interesting.
Hmm? I'll be nice.
[KNOCK ON DOOR.]
I know of one other person who understood base 60, let alone calculated in it.
And I have a nightmarish, crazy-making idea about where he was from.
So I need to know where he's from, and I need to know what he's doing here.
And please, God, don't lie to me.
Come on in.
[INDISTINCT VOICES.]
[JUSTIN.]
Hatch? Hey, come on.
You passed out.
Hey, hey.
Are you okay? - Can you sit up? - [GROANING.]
Here you go.
Have some water.
Are you afraid of me? [BREATHING HEAVILY.]
Yes.
The message is "Mars needs women.
" "Mars needs women.
" He's been watching TCM.
Look, I know that you must have questions, - so - [HATCH.]
Yeah, I have a bunch.
- He's from - Anthea.
And he brought cold fusion.
Quantum.
That's the tenth design? Does OriGen know what they have? No.
Nobody could figure it out.
Jesus.
Fusion? [WHISPERING.]
Do you know what this is? I mean, do you know what this means? Why are you whispering? [IN NORMAL VOICE.]
Because I'm fucking terrified.
Okay, I do risk.
I hedge against very real, very bad things.
Okay.
And you're talking about liberating the planet Earth from oil forever.
Do you know what that looks like? In the first 30 days, the exchanges collapse.
Nobody has any security from anything.
Policing is gone.
People are jumping off of buildings.
It makes 1929 look like fucking Christmas.
It's an addicted planet going cold turkey.
There's lots of riots.
Power grids go obsolete.
I mean, a massive devaluation of land.
I mean, I could buy a fucking 747 for two Pokemon cards.
Millions of people are gonna lose their jobs in the gas and oil sector alone.
Governments slash funding to everything.
Okay.
Everybody withdraws their troops from everywhere, because there's nothing left to fight for.
Until they decide to train their weapons on their own citizens for begging for food and water and medicine and humanitarian aid.
And hey, if you're in the cardboard coffin business, it'll be a fucking bonanza.
Iraq, Bolivia, Norway are done.
China, Germany, France are better.
Nobody gives a shit about the Saudis anymore, so we just redraw the map of Central Asia.
Africa.
The entire continent of Africa.
They've got the minerals, the infrastructure I can't, I can't - I I've gotta go.
- [DOOR OPENS.]
Hey! Hey.
Hey, hey, hey.
- Ah! Shingles.
- Oh, I'm so sorry.
Look, fusion declares war on everything.
And everything is gonna declare war on us.
[JUSTIN.]
If we don't, we're done by 2030.
2030? Where did you get that? I can't hedge chaos.
Chaos is why humans exist.
Meteors and dinosaurs.
Shifting land masses.
Eclipses, plague, war.
You rise and you adapt.
You regrow your brains and you adapt.
This is the next step, Mr.
Flood.
When we take it nothing will ever be the same.
I'm Spencer Clay, Miss Dominguez.
- Come in.
[CLEARS THROAT.]
- [LISA.]
Oh, okay.
I'm sorry, I thought we were meeting half an hour ago.
Did I get the time wrong? No.
[CLEARS THROAT.]
No, you didn't.
Pleased to meet you, sir.
You're doing well in SIGINT, huh? Thank you, sir.
Do you know why I wanted to meet you? I did not invite you to sit.
Now I'm just wondering about your accent.
You didn't do the work to get rid of it.
It's either arrogant or dumb.
Let's hope it's the former.
Five days ago, you intercepted a signal out of New Mexico coming from inside a tornado.
- Yes, sir.
- Did you discuss that with anyone? Of course not.
Okay.
Findings? The tornado was spinning counter clockwise.
Only around 5% do that, and none ever reported in New Mexico.
[SPENCER.]
And what does that tell you? The frequency of that signal correlates to nothing on Earth.
[SPENCER.]
Lisa Elizabeth Dominguez.
ROTC at 18.
Tours, running signals in Islamabad.
Sit.
Oh.
So this is interesting.
Your parents immigrated from Portugal legally.
Your uncle and his family did not.
- Correct.
- So you turned them over to ICE.
My uncle thought he could game the system while my parents did the right thing and earned their way into this country.
You could have just left your uncle alone, but what you did was punitive.
One could say the same about you, sending that Ukrainian family to a detention facility in Abilene and their little boy died in a cage.
I think he was nine? I'm running an op.
Close hold.
Funded.
Never gonna give you the whole picture, but if you figure it out yourself, I'll know I made the right choice.
You do what I tell you, when I tell you, and nothing else.
Read this.
Find me any living connection to the subject.
Name's Thomas Jerome Newton.
Help me find him, you can just write your own ticket Lisa.
Thank you, sir.
I look forward to the opportunity.
Well, all right.
Oh, and, hey, Lise, now that we're gonna be working together, watch your fucking mouth.
[DOOR SLAMS.]
[CHUCKLES SOFTLY.]
R&B music plays [SIZZLING.]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
[HATCH.]
I got to ask.
Your face is amazing.
Is that a real face, huh? How is it Did you make it? What's the deal? It's a skin suit.
Oh, a skin suit? Skin suit.
Skin suit.
I do not understand.
I was told OriGen was in Seattle.
What's in Seattle is a phone and an office.
OriGen proper is in London.
London's the only top-five tech ecosystem with a startup visa program.
So, the capital benefits outweigh even Silicon Valley.
He really likes his hot sauce.
I fled England in disgrace, if you're wondering.
Do you have disgrace on your planet? No, but I can smell it.
[WAITER.]
You can't drink that in here.
Oh, it's okay.
I'm an attorney.
We are going to England.
- No, we're not.
- I have fusion.
- I have a family.
- You can collect them when we are at OriGen.
I can't just leave my daughter.
Your child has one possible habitable future.
[CHILDREN LAUGHING.]
So do mine.
I have shown you the prototype.
Are you going to deny what you have seen? It's not that simple.
Edie doesn't trust me.
She believes that I tried to sell Newton's design.
- Did you? - No.
And don't ask me that again.
How do we get your sister to trust you? [LAUGHS.]
Okay.
Tell me more about your prototype.
It is nearly capacitated.
Okay.
But it works? You could demonstrate it? Uh, demonstrate it where? Book Club.
- The tech startup thing? - Yeah.
Have you been? A recruiter came to me at UNM.
No one would remember that.
We are going to Book Club.
Well, it starts in 36 hours.
Uh, Edie always keeps a seat.
I mean, we'd have to get him a passport.
You need fingerprints.
- He doesn't have any.
- [FARADAY.]
No X-rays.
We require alternative transportation.
Last time he was at the airport, he vomited water for, like, an hour.
Oh, that's wonderful.
Um, well, listen.
Uh Fuck, we could book a private plane.
I know a guy who's got a timeshare who might take my call.
Then we could change the flight plan once we're airborne.
Blame it on engine trouble.
Then we could land off-grid at the Isle of Mull, they don't have customs.
Then we could rent a car to London, we'd probably make it.
[CHATTER STOPS.]
Nobody was moving.
[AIRPLANE WHINES.]
This costs like [HATCH.]
Yeah, my every last dime.
Yesterday, my life was different.
- Boy, do I fucking hear you.
- Uh-huh.
Hello, sir, I'm Ashley.
I'll be your flight attendant today.
Will the cabin be pressurized? Uh Yes.
Of course, sir.
Wow.
[ASHLEY.]
Can I offer you something to drink? - Water, champagne? - Yeah.
I'll have a double vodka tonic, please.
What the fuck? Justin? Face.
Face.
Fucked-up face.
[HISSING.]
Shit.
Shit, shit.
You You have to stay seated! - What's happening to his face? - Uh, nothing.
- Is he having a stroke? - No.
It's a nut allergy, but don't worry, she has his EpiPen.
- So listen, Ashley - Your face is falling off your skull.
Is this maximum velocity for the aircraft? I'm sure you've seen things on this plane before.
You know, like, billionaire things and acts of human callousness and depravity.
The company makes you sign an NDA, right? What the fuck is happening? I was not wearing my skin suit when I traveled here.
I don't know.
It's fucking falling off.
Will it go back? - [BREATHING HEAVILY.]
- Unclear.
Sir, you need to sit down! You need to stay in here and not come out.
Unless you have a staple gun, then we'll be fine.
I'll just get the chips and drinks, and don't worry.
Have a great flight! [HORNS HONKING.]
[HATCH.]
Why don't you bring your head in the car so that it doesn't explode? Is it your first time in London? If anybody offers you jellied eels, say no.
[JUSTIN.]
So we just walk in? [HATCH.]
Yeah.
I mean, that's the last favor in the favor bank, last bullet in the chamber.
And when people see the thing Hey, look, if it's what you say it is, then we'll have term sheets from every company in the world by midnight.
And if it's not, we're fucked.
[CHUCKLES.]
I mean, I guess we could go see Phantom of the Opera and commit suicide.
[CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING.]
Hi.
Um, Hatch Flood.
Sir, we must collect your pass.
[HATCH.]
Yeah.
"Flood" like the disaster.
I have an Edie Flood.
Of course.
Yeah.
Please keep scrolling.
Flood, Flood Ah! Here you are.
You were a Post-it.
Of course I was.
Um, thank you.
No cell phones allowed inside.
Thank you.
Thank you.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
I would like to present my science now.
It's when you're onstage.
I would like to present my science now.
No.
That's the only way that this works, okay? There's gonna be a panel of smug people and you guys are gonna go up No.
Not me.
Just him.
Yeah, I don't need to stand in front of all these people.
[HATCH.]
Okay.
So then, um, it'll be you up there just, uh, you know, being a genius.
And everybody here will hate you because you're what they wish they could be, so they'll try to fuck you up.
Whose design is this? [JUSTIN.]
A chicken's.
- I'm so sorry.
Sorry about - [MAN.]
Whatever.
Enjoy.
Hey.
Hey.
No.
No.
No.
No, no, no.
No.
Hatch.
Hey, Rajiv.
Michael.
- Uh, this is Justin Falls.
- Hi.
And, uh, this is Mr.
Faraday and his pillow.
[JUSTIN.]
Shit.
No, no, no.
Stop it.
Stop.
Great glasses, Michael.
I tried a pair like that but I looked stupid.
- But you look cool.
- [JUSTIN.]
Uh, hey.
- [WHISPERS.]
I'll find you, okay? - Yeah, okay.
I think I know him.
Was he at Gartner IT? Uh, Gartner? No.
Um, hey, thank you for clearing a path for me tonight.
Um How are you? How's your family? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We're good.
We're good.
It's great to see you.
And a bit of a surprise.
I mean, you vanished.
Yeah, well I have a client presenting tonight.
I wish you'd told me that part, Hatch.
I thought you just wanted to mingle, to say hi.
I saw your sister in the atrium.
She didn't say you were presenting.
Oh, is Is Edie here? Sorry.
How exactly are you going to get into the lineup? Well, you know, I got one more favor to call in.
Um, I'll have to put out afterwards, I'm sure, but - That's a joke.
- [RAJIV.]
A joke? You're scamming your way onto the stage.
You don't have the fucking courtesy to tell me before I vouch for you.
Look, some of us have a reputation to protect, Hatch.
I mean, you're a thief and the Floods are a joke.
All right.
You can leave Edie out of - your high dudgeon, please.
- Why? You know there's a pool on when she'll figure out that OriGen's a punchline? So you'd prefer she fell on her sword? Certainly be less painful than having to watch her desperately waving the banner of a company that hasn't innovated since, what? 1978? Enjoy the donuts, Hatch.
[SCOFFS.]
[HATCH.]
Yeah, I will.
I am.
Fucking dickhole.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION.]
[COCKATOO CAWING.]
What does it do? It's a bird.
It does bird stuff.
- These are both for me.
- Are you sedating? [JUSTIN.]
Mm-hmm.
Absolutely.
[CAWS.]
Fuck it, man! [MAN.]
Sybilla is a rescue bird.
She lived with a weird family before we took her in.
She imitates to integrate.
[CAWS.]
Fuck it, man! Fuck it, man! Fuck it, man! Fuck it, man! Shh.
- [FARADAY.]
Fuck it! - [COCKATOO.]
Fuck it! - [PEOPLE LAUGHING.]
- No, no, no.
No.
Fuck this, man! - We don't engage with birds.
- Fuck this guy! - Fuck it.
- [COCKATOO.]
Fuck it, man! - [COCKATOO CAWING.]
- [FARADAY.]
Fuck it! Fuck this guy.
- Edie.
- [PEOPLE LAUGHING.]
Hey.
I'm here with a client.
How are you? - I'm fine.
Thank you.
- I don't care.
Listen, I'm here with someone special.
I'm here with somebody who can give you what you want.
Who? Birdman? [SCOFFS.]
Listen.
You should really meet this guy, Edie.
- Should? - I'm trying to help you.
Then after all these years, have the decency to admit what you did.
Jesus Christ! Will you let that go? Look.
This guy could be something for you, okay? Something that doesn't have Dad's fingerprints all over it.
[ANNOUNCER.]
Ladies and gentlemen, the presentations will begin momentarily.
Please make your way to the library.
Thank you.
Okay, Hatch.
Admit what you did and we'll walk in there together right now.
Fine.
You die a public death.
It's better.
This way we don't have to fucking run into each other.
[CROWD CLAPPING.]
Like that building block, graphene, carbon nano tubes are extremely durable and provide the opportunity to develop ultra-high strength, low-weight materials that make them highly attractive [HATCH.]
Does he know the rules? [JUSTIN.]
Yes.
I went over it with him like a million times.
I have told you that about a million times.
- Okay, well - So can you stop freaking out? Just take some deep breaths and calm the fuck down.
[HATCH.]
I am trying to.
[JUSTIN.]
You're actually freaking me out right now, do you know that? [HATCH.]
Well, then don't look at me.
- Calm down.
- [JUSTIN.]
Okay.
[HATCH.]
In 45 minutes, we'll be Just take some deep breaths.
Go to a happy place, you know? So tell me why what you're showing me is exceptional, - or go back to school.
- We [INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
Fuck.
- Go get him.
Go, go.
Go get him.
- Shit.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER CONTINUES.]
Someone, please What the fuck are you doing? He has not calculated the chirality structure properly.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
[WOMAN.]
Excuse me.
Are you a presenter here tonight? I am.
[WOMAN.]
And what makes you think you can interrupt this presentation? I have come with a prototype for a quantum fusion process.
[CHATTER STOPS.]
Do it.
[ELECTRIC PULSATING.]
[CROWD MURMURING.]
[ELECTRIC PULSATING.]
[LAUGHS.]