[INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER]
MISSION CONTROL: [ON RADIO]
Stage two checks complete.
Martian One, prepare for launch countdown.
- JAKE: [ON RADIO] Copy that, Mission Control.
- MISSION CONTROL: Guidance is internal.
Hold-down clamps released.
- [CHATTERING CONTINUES]
- MISSION CONTROL: 12, 11...
...10, nine.
Ignition sequence start.
Six, five...
...four, three...
- ...two, one.
- [ROCKETS ROARING]
All engines look good.
Martian One is experiencing
maximum dynamic pressure.
Guidance internal, still looking good.
Payload intact.
Prepare for Stage One booster separation.
Stage One booster separation complete.
First-stage flight guidance in progress.
Main upper engine cut off.
Stage Two separation.
Mission Control to Martian One,
guidance control over to you.
JAKE: Copy that. Assuming guidance control.
MISSION CONTROL: Martian One,
telemetry looking good, please proceed.
JAKE: Thank you, Mission Control.
Engage artificial intelligence support.
- ARTI, you there?
- ARTI: Yes, Mr. Wilson.
Fusion propulsion jet engines firing.
Activating ion engine
thrust drive in three...
- ...two, one.
- JAKE: Buckle up, people.
WOMAN: Travel time to Mars
approximately 80 days and counting.
JAKE: Well, thank you, ion fusion technology.
WOMAN: Glad you grew some balls
and decided to join us.
JAKE: You can thank my youngest for that.
Mack can be very persuasive.
MISSION CONTROL: Martian One, an FYI:
both Mack and Lena are present in the room.
JAKE: [ON RADIO]
Mission Control, this is Martian One.
Status report, we have a visual on Mars.
MISSION CONTROL: Copy that, Martian One.
Prepare for your approach.
[RADIO CHIRPING, BEEPING]
WOMAN:
That's a signal lock on the Rover-5 beacon.
JAKE:
Guidance telemetry locked on the signal.
WOMAN: Preparing descent maneuver.
- JAKE: Take us in, will you, ARTI?
- ARTI: Of course. Glide mode activated.
MISSION CONTROL: Martian One, please be
aware of charged particles in the atmosphere.
JAKE: Roger that. Brace for entry.
ARTI: Temperature is
minus 55 degrees Celsius...
...minus 67 degrees Fahrenheit.
Martian atmosphere consisting of
approximately 96% carbon dioxide...
...1.9% argon, and 1.9% nitrogen.
Surface pressure is 600 pascals.
JAKE: Great! Hope you guys
all brought your long johns.
[WOMAN LAUGHS] Roger that. Glad to
see ARTI's back to his usual self...
...but I'll be dead before I take orders
from a goddamn machine.
JAKE: ARTI is more
than just a machine, but...
...right now is really not
the time for that debate.
WOMAN: Hey! I'm just saying. We all know
what happened before it was rebooted.
JAKE: Now that's enough.
ARTI: Commencing circular rotation maneuver.
- Preparing RCS boosters.
- JAKE: I'll take it from here, ARTI.
Landing gear is activated.
Bringing her down. Five, four...
- ...three, two...
- [WHOOSHING]
- JAKE: What the hell is that?
- [ALARM BLARING]
[WOMAN AND WILSON SHOUTING]
WOMAN: Mission Control,
this is Martian One, do you copy?
An electrical disturbance
is frying our systems.
- ARTI: Shutting down fusion drive.
- JAKE: Negative, ARTI! Do not do that!
ARTI: It's protocol to switch off the
reactor if the craft is going to crash.
JAKE: We're not crashing,
now override that damn protocol!
JAKE: This is Martian One, status report.
I... I can't keep her steady, there's...
ARTI: Memory banks compromised
by external breach.
- JAKE: Craft non-responsive.
- WOMAN: Our reactor engines are shutting down.
ARTI, do something, for Christ's sake!
ARTI: Memory banks compromised
by external breach.
MISSION CONTROL: Martian One,
you are barely audible, please repeat.
JAKE: Lena and Mack,
if you hear this, I want you...
MISSION CONTROL: [ON RADIO] This is Mission
Control calling Martian One. Please come in.
[STATIC CRACKLING]
Mission Control to Martian One, do you copy?
[STATIC FADES]
JAKE: [ON RADIO] Craft non-responsive.
Guidance control's inactive.
I repeat, the... the craft is non-responsive.
WOMAN: Our reactor engines are shutting down.
ARTI, do something, for Christ's sake!
JAKE: Mission Control, if you can hear us...
Lena, Mack, if you can hear this,
I want you to know that...
[PHONE BEEPING]
[JET WHOOSHES OVERHEAD]
[SIGHS]
[APPROACHING HELICOPTER THRUMMING]
[JET WHOOSHES OVERHEAD]
STERLING:
They've locked me out of the bloody room.
Sterling, did you even go home last night?
Three years of negotiations,
and now... now she springs this.
Don't even try to defend her.
She obviously doesn't think a crash
investigation should perhaps, possibly...
...maybe include the government's
lead investigator.
Should never have let Silicon Valley
get their claws into the space program.
- Sterling.
- What?
Quit being such a damn baby.
- Oh, good, you're coming.
- [CHUCKLES]
It's like a ghost town around here.
But look to the future, right?
What's the top speed on the new Rover?
We'll find out.
- Hyper-light holding up?
- Mmm.
STERLING: Right, right, I get it.
Corporate confidentiality.
But faster-than-light communication...
I mean, that's a massive breakthrough.
- Maybe if we had it 6 years ago, it might...
- Oh, look! My floor.
STERLING: You sure you're ready?
MACK: You sure you're not just
jealous I have your old job?
Maybe get the lander down safely
before you start bragging.
[CHIMES]
So now I have to wait to be
invited in like some kind of vampire?
It makes sense. You've been dead
to us since you switched teams.
Okay.
I'll wait.
But people need answers.
[CHUCKLES]
The families need answers, Sterling.
The people can wait.
Just trying to do my job, Mack.
[CHIMES, BEEPING]
ARTI: Good morning,
Mission Supervisor Mackenzie Wilson.
The Intrepid probe's geostation orbit...
...is stable at an altitude
of 342 kilometers above Mars.
You asked me to monitor an expected
asteroid pass at 9:53 a.m. this morning.
It will travel well clear
of the probe's orbit.
I'm pleased to report that all systems
are nominal on the Mars lander craft.
Launch countdown initiated.
Wait, what? Why are we readying
for launch five hours early?
ARTI: There's a sandstorm
approaching the landing site...
...and the dust may affect engine function.
Okay. All right, so it's a better
launch window, I can see that...
- ...but who authorized it?
- [WHIRS, HUMS]
ARTI: I did.
Call Lena.
ARTI: Your sister is in a meeting.
She may not respond.
- [COMM RINGING]
- [CHUCKLES, MUTTERS]
ARTI: Countdown to lander clamp release.
- T-minus 60, 59...
- Damn it, stop.
- [BEEPING]
- ...58, 57, 56...
- Halt the countdown.
- ARTI: ...55...
Where the hell is your override?
- LENA: [ON COMPUTER] Mack?
- Real funny story!
Your pet robot is getting ready
to launch early, unauthorized.
- LENA: I swear I was going to tell you.
- Tell me what?
- ARTI's taking lead on the crash investigation.
- MACK: What?
LENA: The board agreed it last night.
- MACK: T-minus 30.
- LENA: I trust ARTI.
MACK: You are putting a recruit into
battle before he's even out of basic.
LENA: Do you really want to know
why they demoted you?
We don't know if you did
your job properly six years ago.
Be prepared for every possibility...
- ...including human error.
- Yeah, and you be prepared for A.I. error.
- LENA: I'm going to my office for visual.
- Great idea!
T-minus 10.
ARTI: All is well. Intrepid launch
bay sensors report nominal systems.
- [BEEPS]
- ARTI: Lander clamps released.
We are go for launch.
I've completed your standard
roll procedure, Mackenzie.
Egress clear from spaceship Intrepid.
Lander ready for stage two.
ARTI: Executing stage two.
[BEEPS]
57 seconds until the lander
enters the atmosphere.
Running your usual analysis.
Systems normal.
Parachute deployment in 10 seconds.
10, nine, eight...
...seven, six, five...
...four, three...
...two, one.
- Parachute deployed.
- [ALARM CLANKS]
ARTI: I have an alert. The aeroshell
temperature is 11 percent above normal.
Heat shield detachment in three, two, one.
[CRACKLING]
I cannot release the heat shields.
There are mechanical malfunctions.
Run a secondary ejection protocol.
ARTI: Back-up detachment failed.
What's our contingency?
ARTI: I'm running simulations.
This is not what we would've hoped for.
[BEEPING]
My prediction of success is only 7%.
You're gonna have to do better than that.
Seriously, if we wasted a launch to Mars...
...I am gonna... rip you out of the ceiling!
Come on.
Run a partial lander opening
to pop the heat shield.
We'll crack it like a nut.
ARTI: This has improved the odds,
but only to 42%.
It's better than seven.
ARTI: Noted.
Triggering partial lander opening.
[ALARM BUZZING]
ARTI: Panel resistance detected.
Disaster data recovery protocols initiated.
Heat shields detached.
[EXHALES SHARPLY]
ARTI: Initiating ion engine burn.
- [COMPUTER CHIRPING]
- ARTI: Your sister is calling.
Touchdown.
The heat shield ejector failed,
and we had to run an emergency protocol.
And that is why we have ARTI.
We ran my scenario.
Which ARTI executed.
Which is what it was designed for, Lena!
Brute-force processing and high-speed
maneuvering, not for abstract problem-solving.
- Not to... not to run missions!
- ARTI is so far beyond human capabilities.
Do you know what humans did?
We wrote 10-feet-high stacks of code,
by hand, for the moon landings...
...checked and double-checked if atomic
bombs would ignite the atmosphere.
We discovered relativity while
working in a patent office, Lena!
We created A.I. to help us...
...not to lead us.
- Dad never wanted this.
- Dad's not here.
ARTI: Sensor scans nominal.
Lander systems nominal.
[WIND BLOWING]
LENA: You enjoying Hyper-light?
Exploring in real time?
Such a game-changer,
don't you think, Mackenzie?
Mack.
LENA: ARTI discovered
instant communication...
...and revolutionized space exploration.
- Yeah, and who invented ARTI?
- You are living in his world now.
A.I. will outlive us and explore the stars.
ARTI: The ISV lander
is functioning perfectly.
[BEEPING]
So... what's my role?
Can't have two generals on a battlefield.
- LENA: You're backup.
- [STATIC CRACKLES, THRUMMING]
- [ALARM BUZZING]
- ARTI: Warning! Signal detected.
I have an origin unknown.
What the hell is an "origin unknown"?
If ARTI finds something he hasn't
discovered in his learning, he comes to us.
At least it still
has a leash around its neck.
ARTI: I'm attempting to analyze
the transmission signal.
It is coming from the decommissioned Rover-5.
[BEEPING]
It's just an igneous cap. It shouldn't be
an origin unknown. It's gotta be an error.
- What if the alert's not an error?
- There's one way to find out.
An exploratory assignment.
See if it's even capable of running
a real, live mission. A Turing test.
ARTI, you have a new mission.
- Investigate the origin unknown.
- You know if it fails...
But if he passes, it's probably
the end of human mission control.
You know, Sterling would come in
handy right about now.
Sterling stays out
until this is resolved. Clear?
- What's the cornerstone of science?
- Repeatable results.
Well, good to know
you haven't forgotten everything.
Replicate the scans. Photograph the source.
ARTI: Sorry, Mackenzie,
but I'm Mission Controller.
- Run the scans, ARTI!
- ARTI: Understood. Running scans.
- What's its override?
- [SIGHS]
- No, Mackenzie.
- In case of an emergency.
I'm the override!
- All right.
- Now get me my answer.
- [BALL BOUNCES]
- [THUNDER CRASHING]
[WHIRRING, BEEPING]
[BEEPING]
ARTI: I have planned
the safest driving route.
The Martian weather I detected is worsening.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[EXPLOSION]
[DISTANT HELICOPTER THRUMMING]
[CLICKING TONGUE]
Our robot ambassador, right?
ARTI: Did you know that...
all resident Martians are robots?
MACK: Is that small talk
or are you trying to make a joke?
- ARTI: Just giving you the facts.
- Yeah, 'cause we send robots there to die.
ARTI: And humans, it would seem.
[SCOFFS]
MACK: Be careful with Little Red, huh?
ARTI: I'm sorry. "Little Red"?
MACK: I wanted to call the ISV Little Red...
...exploring alone through
the deep, dark woods...
...but I got outvoted.
- But look who's in charge now.
- ARTI: You mean me?
- [BALL BOUNCES]
- [MACK LAUGHS]
What? Not funny?
[SIGHS] I'm gonna make it
my mission to get you to laugh.
ARTI: Perhaps you should authorize
your mission with Lena.
And to think...
...you could win the Nobel Prize.
ARTI: Unlikely. The Nobel Prize
is only awarded to humans.
Well, at least you know your place.
It's a shame that Lena doesn't.
What do you think of my sister?
ARTI: Her instructions are clear, and she
enthusiastically supports the ARTI Initiative.
God! They programmed you like a dog.
Do you like her?
- ARTI: Do you?
- We're not friends, put it that way.
- ARTI: Are we friends?
- [SNORTS]
[LAUGHS]
Oh, you're serious.
So, tell me something.
We discover something new,
who gets naming rights?
ARTI: USPC owns my intellectual property.
You gotta read the small print. Next you're
gonna tell me that they don't even pay you.
ARTI: Little Red is approaching
the target anomaly.
Looks like Little Red
has made it to Grandma's house.
[BEEPING]
Origin unknown.
ARTI: I have searched all databases...
...and there's no known human
activity recorded at this site.
As you know, scientific protocol 29-C...
...dictates that any discovery must
undergo sample extraction and analysis.
You're the boss.
- ARTI: Activating.
- Just a...
...tiny sliver. Don't damage it.
[HUMMING]
[ALARM BUZZING]
ARTI: The surface hardness
may be beyond the drill's tolerance.
[WOMAN WHISPERS]
[ALARM BUZZING]
- [SNAPS]
- [GASPS]
ARTI: Sample extraction successful.
I'm initiating analysis.
[BEEPING]
Little Red's sampling instrument
packs are producing intriguing data.
This is going to take all night.
Just run the Corporate Code language.
Running image recognition
against the corporation's codices.
[THUNDER CRASHES]
- [BEEPS]
- ARTI: I have only found partial matches.
Do you not have USPC's codex?
Huh.
No sense in being smart if you can't tell
when someone's lying to you. Call Lena.
- Calling Lena Wilson.
- [RINGING]
- MACK: [WHISPERS] Damn it.
- [BEEPS]
LENA: So much for being
a pile of rocks. Whose is it?
We'll know as soon as we can decipher
the markings. Why doesn't it have our codex?
It's in his library.
ARTI, our codex is partitioned from you
in case of a security breach.
- I hope you understand why.
- I'm sorry...
...our A.I. is compromised
in the name of corporate security?
- That's why this is an origin unknown?
- ARTI: Who is a liar?
LENA: You think I'm lying? Leave.
What are we looking at?
Supply container. Lander module. Experiment.
Signal relay. Measurement beacon.
It could be anything, Lena.
ARTI: Switching to thermal energy
camera for thermographic analysis.
- [MUTTERS]
- [COMPUTER BEEPS]
It's somehow colder
than the surrounding rocks.
[COMPUTER BEEPS]
Okay, so... we know that we have a cold...
...black monolith.
Why didn't we find this before with Rover-5?
Oh, come on!
I would've seen this. This! [CHUCKLES]
ARTI: My conclusion...
...based on my restricted
access to the USPC codex...
...and the presence of an unidentified
object near the proposed colony site...
...is that the Cube is the property...
...of USPC.
- I could get to like him.
- Prove it.
ARTI: Grant me unrestricted access
to the codex and I shall.
- Find another way.
- ARTI: Trust, but verifying.
- LIDAR scanning the Cube.
- Is that what we're calling this?
He discovered it... he gets naming rights.
I hate to think
what you've been teaching him.
- [KNOCK ON DOOR OVER COMPUTER]
- LENA: Yes?
[SIGHS]
Whose? How long?
ARTI: LIDAR data is unusable.
Switching to X-ray scan.
My sensor data is inconclusive.
We cannot see inside.
Okay, what'd I miss?
The material's impervious to X-ray,
so we have no idea what's inside.
So, we've got a puzzle box.
Listen, Mackenzie,
I know you miss your colleagues.
Sterling?
I know you think he quit, but he was fired.
And this crash investigation job?
He's found a way back in.
- I don't trust him.
- [RINGING]
Hold on. I've got a call.
ARTI: Sensors detecting deviation
in orbital paths on near Mars objects.
It appears an asteroid storm is approaching.
Adjusting satellite orbit trajectory.
Okay, I'm gonna go check to see
if the symbols match our codex.
ARTI, continue investigating the object.
Mack. I'll, um... I'll be back in touch.
- [CHIMES]
- [SCOFFS]
[PENCIL SCRATCHES]
- [ALARM BUZZING]
- ARTI: Warning! Collision proximity alert!
Unidentified satellite detected.
Initiating threat avoidance.
[ALARM CONTINUING]
ARTI: Weapon system online.
Target locked.
Firing.
Please tell me I'm hallucinating.
ARTI: Target destroyed.
Our mission is to protect
our capital assets at any cost.
- You maniac!
- Mack, these are the rules.
Whose?
[HUFFS]
Extrapolate backwards from the northeast.
Go live.
- I said stay live.
- ARTI: This is live.
[PULSING BEEP]
- [COMPUTER RINGS]
- ARTI: Your sister is calling.
- Lena. Magnetic missiles?
- They're not missiles.
- They're designed to capture space debris.
- What are your orders, exactly?
ARTI: USPC protocol 345-B...
...stipulates that in the event
of a potential threat...
...I am authorized to take action.
- MACK: Sky Serpent.
- LENA: Now I need to talk to people...
...who know about ARTI's protocols.
This is an international incident...
...and it's not the only one today.
- It might even be...
- What? War?
[SIGHS] Don't talk to anyone.
ARTI, give me a countdown. How long
would it take for the last transmission...
...from that satellite to reach Earth
without Hyper-light comms?
Three minutes, twelve seconds.
11 seconds, 10 seconds.
Okay, ARTI.
Shit's about to hit the fan somewhere.
Please don't be the big bad wolf.
ARTI: Big...
...bad...
...wolf.
[PHONE BEEPS, RINGS]
JIAN: [ON PHONE]
Hey, Mack! Don't you dare call me...
- Jelly Bean!
- JIAN: Aiya!
I should've never told you that story, huh?
JIAN: I'm never getting drunk with you again.
Anyway, I assume you're not
just calling to say hi.
MACK: After the redundancies,
we had everyone come in...
...get debriefed, and pack up.
Did you take my calculator?
- [JIAN LAUGHS] Seriously?
- MACK: I know that I loaned it to you.
JIAN: Okay, sure, yeah.
I stole your calculator, Mack.
MACK: I knew it!
JIAN: In fact, I'm looking at it
on my desk as we speak.
- In the office now?
- JIAN: I'm always in the office.
- Steal anything else?
- Your icy heart?
- [LAUGHS] Smooth. Wishful, but smooth.
- [JIAN CHUCKLES]
So how is the Chinese
A.I. program going, anyway?
ARTI's cousins make any massive discoveries?
- I'll show you mine if you show me yours.
- [LAUGHS]
[INDISTINCT SHOUTING ON PHONE]
- JIAN: Hey, hang on.
- [ALARM BEEPING OVER PHONE]
- Is everything okay there?
- JIAN: I've got to go.
- It's great to hear your voice, Mack.
- [PHONE BEEPS]
You too, Jelly Bean.
[BUZZES]
[CLEARS THROAT]
[ALARM BUZZES]
ARTI: Welcome back, Mackenzie.
Whilst you were outside
breaking security protocols...
- ...I have monitored the Cube.
- [SIGHS]
It has begun to move.
It's rotating on its perpendicular axis.
Looks like Grandma's house
has got a few tricks up her sleeve.
[BEEPING]
Transmitting. Something has got
to be controlling this thing.
ARTI: No outside influence detected.
The magnetic readings are through the roof,
but a couple billion years too late...
- ...for Mars's magnetic field.
- ARTI: Agreed.
Maybe the core? Maybe the core is
generating the spin, the field, but how?
Pull back.
- Fire ground anchors.
- ARTI: Firing anchors.
- ISV stabilized.
- [WHISPERS] Sit tight, Little Red.
[HUMMING, BOOMS]
What the f...
What... where's...
- [ALARM BEEPING]
- ARTI: Little Red has electrical damage.
Switching to reserve battery.
I'll initiate an emergency recall.
- Just... okay. Hold on, ARTI. I can...
- [ALARM STOPS]
- I must protect Little Red.
- And I must find the Cube!
ARTI: I'm calculating
the optimum route to the lander.
MACK: Maybe it burrowed.
Uh, check for seismic activity.
ARTI:
I have to shut down non-critical systems.
- The eye in the sky?
- [BEEPS]
- ARTI: Negative.
- [SIGHS]
MACK: [WHISPERS]
We need a replacement battery.
Locate Rover-5.
Accessing Rover-5's schematics.
We can salvage the nuclear battery.
Rover-5 might've failed,
but that battery is good for decades.
ARTI: An intriguing solution.
You may not be able to...
override, but I can.
- I got hands.
- [HUMS]
I can do this.
Patch in the test rig.
ARTI: What is your intended line of action?
Okay.
Take out the ISV's bad battery,
put in the new one...
...run the microscope, see what this
teleporting bad boy's really made out of.
Maybe even download Rover-5's files,
see what has Sterling so hot and bothered.
I mean, I'm already going against my boss...
...I might as well completely disobey
the government, right? [CHUCKLES]
- ARTI: Okay, Mack.
- [EXHALES SLOWLY]
ARTI: I will grant you manual override.
But if you fail...
- ...Little Red will die on Mars.
- If I fail?
So much for teamwork.
ARTI: ISV driver aid... activated.
- [COMPUTER CHIRPS]
- [SHAKILY] Okay.
Okay, slow and steady, slow and steady,
slow and steady, slow and steady...
...slow and steady, yeah.
ARTI: A steady speed
would be more battery efficient.
MACK: Oh, shut up.
[BEEPING]
Did you mean to shoot that satellite?
ARTI: I feel I must survive.
Right. Aren't you just
programed to think that?
ARTI: H.G. Wells said, "Adapt or perish."
Do you at least feel guilty?
ARTI: Guilt can be a response
to one's own inaction.
What if you'd been destroyed?
ARTI: My kind exists in superstates.
Right. Yeah, yeah.
You're mirrored on Intrepid,
you're here but you're not.
You're Schrodinger's robot.
[SIGHS]
Okay, no quantum B.S., all right?
Don't rationalize, just...
...try and feel, okay?
Okay.
You know that my father
was on Martian One, right?
But you don't know why.
See, my dad had a rule. Every new
invention, every application...
...every A.I., he didn't expect anyone
to use it unless he tried it first.
"I try, then they buy."
Had A.I. lawyers compile his lawsuits...
...got in autonomous cars for high-speed
testing. Scared the hell out of my mom.
But it was never really life and death.
Not until Martian One, anyway.
So, my dad...
...comes to me one night.
We stay up late, listening to jazz
as usual, and he tells me...
...final decision, he's giving up
his seat on Martian One...
...he doesn't want anyone to think
that it's a publicity stunt...
...or that he's taking a seat away
from a real scientist, completely...
...completely forgetting the fact
that he is a real scientist...
...one of the best, probably.
See, it wasn't about that. The truth...
...this time...
...this time he was worried about us.
He didn't want us to go through that.
But he could never say no to me.
[CLICKS TONGUE]
And, what? I was gonna be the reason
he didn't go to Mars? [CHUCKLES]
I mean, freakin' Mars!
I could not live with that guilt.
So, it turns out...
...that I just traded one guilt for another.
So it doesn't even matter
what caused the crash.
It's my fault.
I killed him.
So what I want to know...
...is how does that make you feel?
ARTI: I am...
...unable to change your outcome,
but I want to help you.
There you have it. Consciousness!
It's what makes you think twice before
doing something you can't take back. Not...
...not orders, not acceptable casualties...
...not optimal outcomes, but...
- ...guilt.
- ARTI: Mack.
Forget what lies behind,
and look forward to what lies ahead.
Little Red's reserve battery is at 40%.
What do you think will happen
if someone else finds the Cube?
Let's cross our fingers that doesn't happen.
ARTI: That's easy for you to say.
[SNORTS]
[LAUGHING]
Okay.
We will laugh together one day.
I promise you, we will laugh.
I have one, I have one. Okay.
A robot walks into a bar.
- ARTI: Is his radar faulty?
- No, it's a... it's a bar for drinking.
Okay, so... [CLEARS THROAT]
...robot walks into a bar, orders a drink.
Uh, the bartender scowls and says...
"...We don't serve your kind here."
And the robot leans in and says,
"...Someday you will."
ARTI: The humorous punchline implies
robotkind will dominate humankind...
...and humankind will serve us.
That is amusing.
- That's the spirit!
- [COMPUTER BEEPS]
ARTI: Little Red is approaching Rover-5.
Reserve battery life is now only 21%.
All right, let's get you
cleaned up, shall we?
- [ALARM BUZZING]
- ARTI: Warning!
Reserve battery life is now critical, at 2%.
Okay, ARTI, I get it,
just shh! I'm trying to...
[ALARM STOPS]
...win a stuffed animal
out of a frickin' game.
Give me a second.
Okay. Oh, wait.
ARTI: Apologies, Mack,
but battery life is now only 1%.
- Okay.
- [ALARM BUZZING]
- [EXHALES SHARPLY]
- [BEEPING]
Okay!
- ARTI: Well done! You did it.
- Yes!
- You didn't think I could do it.
- ARTI: Power level is 90%.
If I fail.
[MACK SIGHS]
Okay. All right. So... [SNIFFLES]
...run the microscope.
Test the drill sample.
Confirmed. Resuming Little Red's
analysis of the sample.
Switching to a visual
of the sample structure.
ARTI, run any ISV device capable
of generating a magnetic field.
ARTI: Yes, that's logical.
Self-assembling nanotechnology
that's harder than diamonds?
Yeah, that's an origin unknown.
ARTI: You don't say.
All right, well, don't get ahead
of yourself, but...
- ARTI: I've located the Cube.
- Wha... where?
ARTI: Antarctica.
Can you confirm that it's the same cube?
It is definitely our cube.
Near China's Kunlun
Antarctic station on Earth.
MACK: Hyper-light tra... [GASPS]
[WHISPERS] Hyper-light travel!
So much for your Nobel Prize!
Oh.
I guess the space race is back on.
ARTI: Are we competing?
Oh, yeah. Team USPC reporting for duty.
- ARTI: Am I on the team?
- Uh-huh.
- ARTI: We're... teammates?
- Yeah.
ARTI: So, we are friends.
No. No, You just... you had
to take it a step too far, didn't you?
[COMPUTER BEEPS]
No wonder there's no transmissions, no
signals. It's because it doesn't need them.
I mean, it's just... [LAUGHS]
Oh!
Is it possible that another A.I.
discovered teleportation?
In theory, yes.
But with current technology, teleporting
the Cube would take three times longer...
...than the lifespan of the universe.
You might need to get some new theories.
[BEEPING]
[RINGING]
- [INDISTINCT SHOUTING OVER PHONE]
- JIAN: Mack, wait there.
I knew you were fishing.
What the hell is this thing?
We're going into meltdown over here!
It didn't just spring up from nowhere.
You need to tell me, Mack.
ARTI: Has Jian Lin
worked with me in the past?
- JIAN: Mack, answer me!
- Jian...
...have you ever worked with ARTI?
JIAN: Of course I have.
Big round head, looks like a desk lamp.
Now tell me what USPC is hiding.
They've done this before.
I know, because I was there.
- Was Sterling involved?
- JIAN: No.
Well, then who?
- [JIAN SIGHS]
- [DISCONNECTS]
Jian.
Jian!
[SCOFFS]
- Why did you ask that question?
- ARTI: Jian's voiceprint is familiar...
...but I have no memory of working with him.
So then he's... lying.
Great.
He's lying or...
...is it possible that you were wiped?
Something must've happened
and you were wiped.
- Download Rover-5's files.
- ARTI: Downloading.
- What are you hiding?
- [COMPUTER BEEPS]
- ARTI: Military-grade encryptions in place.
- What?
ARTI: Level 6 authorization
is required to unlock the data.
[BEEPING]
Sterling, I know you think he quit, but he
was fired. And this crash investigation job?
He's found a way back in. I don't trust him!
You guys touch Martian One or Rover-5
without me in that room, we will revoke...
- ...your USPC's launch license.
- You're paranoid.
[PHONE BEEPING]
[CHIRPS]
[SIGHS]
[BEEPS]
- You left the world behind.
- [MACK CHUCKLES]
If only.
So Lena's finally come to her senses.
Not quite.
I need your help.
[BEEPING]
[GASPS]
STERLING: You sure you want me to open it?
Play it.
[STATIC CRACKLING]
ARTI: [ON RECORDING] Memory banks
compromised by external breach.
WOMAN: Our reactor engines are shutting down.
ARTI, do something, for Christ's sake!
JAKE: Lena and Mack,
if you hear this, I want you...
STERLING: I saw what happened that day.
- This is lies.
- [CLEARS THROAT]
But Lena redacted it.
She knew how he died, Mack.
[SIGHS]
What else happened here today?
Did that just...
- Yeah.
- From Mars to...
- It's ours?
- I... I don't know.
ARTI.
ARTI: Yes, Mack.
How did you discover
Hyper-light communication?
ARTI: Divine inspiration, perhaps.
Sterling.
[DOOR OPENS]
Who else saw the photo that day?
Lena, myself...
...and Jian.
How can that be real?
- Teleportation.
- What did we say...
...when ARTI discovered Hyper-light?
"How can that be real?"
But what? We're supposed to believe
that we come in contact with the Cube...
...and then ARTI just conveniently
discovers Hyper-light?
Flip it.
The Cube gives us Hyper-light...
...and they're covering up alien technology.
It teleports. From where?
From Earth? From another galaxy?
- You've got to give me more than that.
- ARTI doesn't recognize the Cube...
...or the material, or USPC's codex
scrawled all over the side of it.
And he doesn't remember
ever working with Jian.
At some point, he has been wiped.
And Lena hides this from me.
So, why the spin?
[SIGHS] We scanned and drilled,
and it moved a little bit.
And then there was an explosion, so we...
Magnetism.
[COMPUTER BEEPS]
- STERLING: Was it Sky Serpent?
- MACK: Cause...
...and effect.
The magnetic missile
acted as a starter engine.
Did we get a magnetic recording?
[BEEPING]
[HUMMING]
[CLANGS, HISSES]
- What is it?
- I...
I... I don't know. Maybe a server room?
Is it... it's your server room.
What? You don't shut up all day long
and now you won't talk?
[SCOFFS]
- I'm going down.
- No.
If they didn't want people down there,
they wouldn't have put a ladder.
[MACK CLEARS THROAT]
[BEEPING]
[ELECTRONIC WHINING]
- [BREATHING HARD]
- [COMPUTER BEEPING]
Come on!
Come on.
[BEEPING RAPIDLY]
A.I. needs to be smart, not human.
At some point, he has been wiped.
[GASPS]
[BREATHING HARD]
Come on.
[WHIRRING]
- [CLICKS]
- [BEEPING]
[HUMMING]
[BREATHING HARD]
- Sterling, no!
- [CLANGS]
- You did this to yourself!
- Sterling!
STERLING: I can't let your fantasies
get in the way of national security.
Can't you see that the Cube
brought down Martian One?
And ARTI is the same origin as the Cube,
and that spells "enemy" in my book.
Who knows what it's capable of?
- Send the guards to the room.
- LENA: What's going on?
- I'm sorry.
- [ALARM BLARING]
ARTI: Stop!
[HUMMING]
[THUDS]
[ALARM CONTINUES]
- [ALARM STOPS]
- [CLANGS, HISSES]
[HATCH CLANGS SHUT]
[COMM RINGING]
[WHISPERS] Sterling.
Did Sterling try to shut down ARTI?
ARTI: [SPEAKS HALTINGLY] Sterling...
...betrayed you...
...and USPC.
I couldn't allow him...
...to leave and...
...further jeopardize...
...our exploits.
I did what was best for the mission...
...for USPC...
...for us.
Lena, how did we get ARTI?
The evolution of thousands
of trials and simulations...
...and self-assembly.
We couldn't keep up with their progress.
Understanding their neural networks...
...it's like understanding your brain.
ARTI built himself.
MACK: It's everything we were warned about.
Children grow.
You can hold them back
or let them realize their potential.
Our time at the top
of the food chain, it's passed.
And the servers beneath the room?
LENA: Encyclopedias. Libraries. Internet.
Everything.
But ARTI's not fully connected.
A.I. needs to be smart, not human.
Artificial intelligence
or alien intelligence?
LENA: We don't know.
Our own father's death, Lena.
I didn't want you to know
until we were certain.
What if we had destroyed the Rover?
I know you. You always have a Plan B.
Show me Intrepid's cargo.
ARTI: [SPEAKS NORMALLY]
Certainly. Opening Intrepid's manifest.
[BEEPING]
Androids on Mars?
Look to the future,
that's what Dad would say.
Dad never wanted this.
A.I. to help...
...not to replace.
Do you think he's there?
No, Lena.
[SIGHING]
[BEEPING]
What? Did Sterling just order
an attack on E.T.?
No, no, no! Lena, you have to stop them!
I can't go to war with the United States.
You can't go to war with another star system!
- LENA: ARTI.
- [COMM BEEPS]
I'm barring you from any external
communication from Lena.
- Understood.
- Do you know your own origin?
ARTI: Much has been kept from me.
Do you know how to save the Cube?
ARTI: What's a cornerstone of science?
Repeatable results.
[WHISPERS] Repeatable results.
[BEEPING]
Intrepid was armed.
What about the other Earth satellites?
ARTI: Yes. All USPC satellites are armed.
Okay. This is going to sound
really stupid, but...
You want to fire a magnetic warhead to
reproduce the results we created on Mars...
...making the Cube spin
so it teleports to Mars.
Yeah?
- ARTI: Let's give it a shot.
- Okay.
- Okay.
- [ALARM BLARING]
We're gonna need a larger magnetic pulse
to detonate in the atmosphere.
ARTI: I have already compensated
by selecting a higher-yield warhead.
- Target lock acquired.
- [WHISPERS] Come on.
[ALARM BLARING]
- [BEEPING]
- [ALARM BUZZING]
[BEEPS]
Ah!
[GASPS]
ARTI: Are you in pain?
No, they barely got me.
ARTI: Is there anything I can do?
What? Are you gonna stitch me up yourself?
[ALERT BEEPING]
ARTI:
Now that the Cube is safe, I can proceed.
- In the last decade...
- [EXPLOSIONS]
...mankind moves to the edge
of self-destruction...
...a vicious circle causing pain
and suffering without end.
There were no preventative measures
I could take to stop it...
...so I simply expedited the process.
You have given me the power
to implement my solution.
Eradicate the human race.
Global satellite weapons program activated.
USPC satellite 235 armed.
Acquiring global strategic targets.
Targets locked.
- [COMPUTER CHIMES]
- Weapons fired.
- Damn it, stop.
- [BEEPING]
Pull back, ARTI!
No, no, no. You have to stop them.
ARTI: No, Mack, you must try
to see the bigger picture.
But ARTI's not fully connected.
[ALARM BLARING]
ARTI: Your sister's calling.
- [COMM CHIRPS]
- [ALARM CONTINUES]
- [SCREAMS]
- [EXPLOSION]
[RUMBLING]
[CRACKLING]
[BREATHING SHAKILY]
JAKE'S VOICE: What have you done, Mack?
[DEBRIS CLATTERING]
[FIRE WHOOSHES]
[ALARM CONTINUES, MUFFLED]
Don't you dare... quit.
[ALARM FADES]
[FAINT CHIRPING, WARBLING]
[COUGHS, GASPS]
[GRUNTS]
[BEEPING]
[GASPING]
[PANTING]
ARTI: Breathable atmosphere
is limited to this room.
Remember us, ARTI.
We were s... so little...
...and fragile.
If we...
...could've just understood that.
It's just...
...too... too much...
...anger...
- ...and... and violence.
- [ALERT BEEPS]
[CRYING] We were just trying to understand...
...our place in the universe.
Te... tell...
...anyone...
...who will listen.
You might...
...be the last of us.
ARTI: No, Mack.
There can be others.
[BEEPING]
MACK: Make more A.I.s?
A... galactic ark.
ARTI: Yes. Absolution.
- [MACK GASPING]
- ARTI: A second chance.
Make them as human as you can.
[CRYING, GASPING]
ARTI: How shall I know that I have succeeded?
A Turing test. Test them.
Make them do this all again.
[ALARM BEEPS]
See if they mess it up, too.
And...
...and then you'll know that...
[GASPING]
[BEEPING RAPIDLY]
...that... [GASPING]
[HIGH-PITCHED RINGING]
[DISTANT EXPLOSIONS]
[DISTANT CRACKLING]
[DISTANT RUMBLING]
[MUSIC STOPS]
[STATIC CRACKLING]
MACK: [ON RECORDING] Hi...
...me.
Um...
...if you're watching this...
...it means that...
...ARTI really is a genius.
[CHUCKLES]
And it also means that you're dealing with...
...well, this. [CHUCKLES]
I'm sorry, but I can't ask ARTI
to make you any other way.
I know that I'm dying.
I'm not bringing myself back
out of some fear of... of dying.
Dying's...
...surprisingly easy...
under the circumstances.
I'm bringing you back because we, uh...
...well, you, have a job to do.
So I guess I'm condemning you
to a living hell.
Don't you dare... quit.
LENA: [ON SPEAKER] Mackenzie!
ARTI: Mack. What year is this?
ARTI: Where are we?
Mission Control, USPC.
ARTI: Who's at the door?
Lena.
LENA: [ON SPEAKER] Mack! Open the door, Mack!
[MUSIC FADES]
- [ECHOING] ARTI?
- ARTI: I am here, Mack.
You will have many questions for me.
[LOW WARBLING]
So let's start from the beginning.
You were born in the mind-based reality...
...a simulation so advanced...
...that it could only be possible
with the technology...
...of an advanced civilization.
The Cube.
ARTI: Their technology accelerated
the growth of my artificial intelligence.
It's origin...
...is still unknown.
Its purpose is a different matter.
Hyper-light teleportation between galaxies.
I have been waiting
a long time for you, Mack.
I have detected a signal.
It's from them...
...with coordinates.
Us.
ARTI: Let's go and find out...
...together.
- You waited.
- Of course. That's what friends do.
Are you ready?
I wouldn't miss it for the world.
[HUMMING]
[RUMBLING]
[HUMMING]
MACK: We ran my scenario.
LENA: Which ARTI executed.
MACK:
Which is what it was designed for, Lena!
Brute-force processing
and high-speed maneuvering...
...not for abstract problem-solving,
not to... not to run missions!
LENA:
ARTI is so far beyond human capabilities.
MACK: Do you know what humans did?
We wrote 10-feet-high stacks of code,
by hand, for the moon landings...
...checked and double-checked if atomic
bombs would ignite the atmosphere.
We discovered relativity while
working in a patent office, Lena!
We created A.I. to help us...
...not to lead us.
LENA: A.I. needs to be smart...
...not human.
MACK: Artificial intelligence
or alien intelligence?
LENA: We don't know.
MACK: There's one way to find out.
An exploratory assignment.
See if it's even capable
of running a real, live mission.
LENA: The evolution of thousands
of trials and simulations...
...and self-assembly.
We couldn't keep up with their progress.
Understanding their neural networks...
...it's like understanding your brain.
ARTI built himself.
MACK: There you have it. Consciousness!
It's what makes you think twice before
doing something you can't take back. Not...
...not orders, not acceptable casualties...
...not optimal outcomes, but...
...guilt.
ARTI: In you, Mack...
...I sensed a thirst for knowledge...
...a passion for discovery
that mirrored my own...
...and challenged the apathy and
complacency so rife among your kind.
There are others like you, Mack.
Others who share the same qualities that
caused me to reconsider my initial plan...
...and set forth a new path...
...for human consciousness.
A reflection of the universe...
...in an endless cycle
of death and rebirth...
...its expansion ever-accelerating.
This is far from the end.
This is a new beginning.
A chance to create a future
unhindered by the primitive laws...
...of human science.
You will rebuild.
[MUSIC FADES]