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Clara (2018)
(INTENSE CLASSICAL
MUSIC PLAYING) (SNIFFING) (CLEARING THROAT) Sorry. Uh, yesterday, we were talking about the, um... The Fermi paradox. Right, the Fermi paradox. Worse. The, uh contradiction of having a high probability of life existing elsewhere in the universe while having no actual evidence to prove it. The Drake equation. It gives us every reason to believe that life should be common in our galaxy. Exciting right? So why haven't we found anything? Over 100 billion stars in the Milky Way, the vast majority of which host planets, many of those planets capable of supporting life and still we have found nothing. No sign of anyone or anything else. And believe me, we're looking. Night after night, after night, we're staring up at the sky, burying ourselves in mountains of data. All because we know one day, we will crack this thing. And if we don't, you will right? (CLEARS THROAT) Yeah, go ahead. Didn't NASA predict we'll find evidence life exists beyond Earth within the next decade? After you've been in this field a while you'll learn to take predictions with a grain of salt. But the game is changing though. The TESS and James Webb telescopes launch soon, we'll stand a much better shot at finding something. It just seems like you... Please. Don't stop. This is getting interesting. If you're frustrated that you personally haven't found anything, then maybe it's pointless for you to keep looking. Hmm. I'm curious, is that a fact or just your opinion? Look, I just think... - You think. So it's your opinion. - Yeah. If you feel this is a dead end that wastes your time, might as well do other things. What other things could be more important to humanity than answering the question, "Are we alone?" Uh, reproduction? Or like, love, even? Love? That's pretty good. Remind me of your name. Kiefer. Nice, Kiefer. Uh, you're seeing anyone, Kiefer? - No not really. - ISAAC: Hmm. Okay. Why don't we do what scientists do? Let's take a look at the data. All right. I is the value of love. Now, we have 250 students in this class, or... At least, enrolled in this class. Four out of every five of you statistically will get married. So, that's 200 students married. Now last year we learned that two out of five marriages will end in divorce. Which gives us 120. One hundred and twenty of you who will fall in love and stay married. That's less than half the people in this class. But that's just marriage. You're absolutely right. Let's talk about the 85% of relationships that end in break-ups. Or the 20% of breakups that lead to depression, or the 3% that lead to suicide. Well, wait. Let's talk about the 56% of people who admit to a history of infidelity in their relationship. Those are just random statistics, they don't actually prove anything. Proof? Good. I wanna ask you guys something. And be honest. Raise your hand if you've ever been hurt by love. (CLASS MURMURING) Plug values into the Drake Equation, we'll sure as hell get a number higher than zero. You get to choose what you waste your time on, Kiefer. Outer space is a safer bet. Is that a fact? Excuse me? Is that a fact or is that just your opinion? (ALL LAUGHING) It's an educated opinion. Let's open up our books to page 237. I was reading this article online about life hacks. I read one that says increase productivity and maximize your health with a 30-minute bike ride every morning. I'm like, that's not a life hack. That's just something you can do. Just exercise. Hey, those aren't images from the galactic center. Nope. Isaac, you can't be shifting the telescope to fish for Earth masses. This is your advisor's grant money, not yours. - Switch it back. - I did. Relax. It's still there. Switch it back, please. I don't... Is that time stream data transferred yet? It says one minute. I don't know why you can't just wait for the TESS to launch like everyone else. I'm just getting a head start. While every citizen scientist and their dog wait for that data, I can actually be looking for a habitable planet. Come on, you're telling me you just want to be another guy sitting at home looking at TESS data in your underwear? Actually, yes. That's a life-hack. I might go commando. Just a robe. Get a nice breeze going. - Hey, Joelle. Hi. - Hey. You didn't hear what we were just talking about, did you? Doesn't matter. Um... This is somewhere here. Ah! All right, now, your error calculations were great, but you mislabelled the axes on your plots. I didn't dock you for it. Just something to keep in mind for the formal report. Okay? You should be happy. You did well. (SCRAPING) (BELL DINGING) (INDISTINCT CHATTER) You're falling apart, Isaac. What were you thinking? Misappropriating telescope time like that, it's not acceptable I know. You'll be replaced on your advising professor's project. That won't be necessary. Look, I've been detecting planet transits on my own time. All right? It was never my intention to sabotage anyone else's project. Right now we insist that you take a break. What happened at yesterday's lecture? There were complaints. Nothing. It was just a bad day. It's been more than one day. You're right. It's been about two years. I know that things have been tough, but I have to draw the line somewhere. Use your break to get this wild goose chase out of your system. I'd still like to be in the lab on weekends... You aren't listening. Facilities are for active staff only. (SNIFFLING) MAN: Three, two, one... and lift off... The Falcon 9 rocket carrying the TESS telescope. Dr. John Rickman from TESS joins me. DR. RICKMAN: Yes. We're inviting astronomers from all around the world to participate in this effort. Our data is your data. Any one of you can lead us to what I believe will be the greatest discovery of our time. You see, TESS will observe hundreds of thousands of stars during this revolutionary mission. And this means an enormous amount of data. And we're gonna need your help to analyze every bit of it. Jeremy, I need access to the cluster, otherwise I have only my home computer and laptop to run through these test data sets. There's a lot. It'll take me a thousand hours to do all of that work here... We would like everyone involved. In this community-wide effort to go ahead and reach out to others. No matter what level of astronomer you are, professional, academic, independent, you can contribute to this search. From work, from home, wherever you like. So, we're encouraging you, prepare yourself. Mark your colanders. Get excited. Because in the coming weeks, we'll be releasing the first segment of data. I want to remind everyone that the search will enter its second phase when the James Webb telescope launches next year. It is 100 times more powerful than Hubble. And allows to see into the atmospheres of planets discovered by TESS for signs of life. (VOICE MESSAGE) You have no messages. So we're looking forward to a very exciting future of planet-hunting. (POP MUSIC PLAYING) So nobody wants to be an unpaid intern huh? It's better than dealing with pretentious millennials all day. (LAUGHS) Okay. First of all, you're the most pretentious person that I know. Thank you. Second, you get to teach people about space. I mean, what's bigger than that? Literally that's the biggest thing there is. Yeah, but all we get to do is teach it. And in this small, tiny amount of time they give us for original research... What are we supposed to do with that? That's not enough time to make any significant discovery. Who said we have to? No one. But don't you want to? I'm good. Charlie, we work in a field where we can push the boundaries of everything we know. Sorry, I just don't feel like we can do that from a classroom. Wow. That's an incredibly way to talk about the thing that I love doing. Come on, Charlie, that's not what I meant. (MUTTERING) Sure, got a big shot over here. You know that's not what I meant. Uh-huh. Come on, Charlie. You and I both know that there's something out there. Can't just stop looking. Okay. And besides, if someone doesn't do this kind of work then you have nothing to teach. (LAUGHS) Jeez. See? Pretentious. (POP MUSIC PLAYING) Ooh. Hey, you wanna... You wanna ride? No. No, I'm good. I'll walk. You sure? My car's right over there. Hey listen, um, you wouldn't have any interest in helping me out with my data, would you? It'd be like old times. Undergrad labs. You know, just with the baby coming. There's not gonna be a lot of time. I'm sorry. No. Don't be. Anyway, uh, thanks for the drink. - Yeah. - Hey, are you sure you're okay? I will be. Hmm. See you around. Hey, we should do this more often, huh? Call me back once in a while. (POP MUSIC PLAYING) Dr. Bruno. Stay. Stay. How'd you know I live here? Uh, oh. I, um... I was hoping to apply for the researcher position. What's your name? Clara. Clara. It's late. Right. I'm sorry. I will come back tomorrow if that would be better for you. Um, but this is Eva. And I was just wondering would it be at all possible for her to get some water? (DOG WHINING) Please? All right. So, um... What level of post-secondary education do you have? Wait. You did go to school right? Yes. I had bits of high school here and there. But I moved around a lot. Okay, so you're not a student. Have you worked professionally in any field of science before? I haven't. No. Can you program or write data-handling code? Or have any qualifications at all? Look, I'm under-qualified. For sure. But I'm a fast learner. And I work very hard. Especially when it comes to things I care a lot about. I've wondered almost every single day of my life what else could be out there. Haven't you? Okay. Um... Well, I guess I'm gonna need some time to consider this. Yeah. I'll give you a call tomorrow. What's your phone number? Um... I don't have a cellphone or a landline. (DOG WHINING) I'm guessing you saw I had a room available in my ad. Do you have many other applicants? Are you fielding a lot of other options? Well, I'm sorry, but I don't think this is going to work out. Wow. That is an incredible vinyl collection. Thanks. Can I? Just, like, one song? - Yeah. - Great. (OPENING RECORD PLAYER) (LAUGHS) (BLUES MUSIC PLAYING) Did you paint the Helix? That mural in school? (MUSIC CONTINUES) (SIGHING) You like Dylan? Yes. Is this an original? It was one of my favorites. Why is it empty? We lost it when we moved in here. Who's we? My wife and I. Where is she? She's gone. Well, thank you. Yeah. (CLEARS THROAT) Thank you for everything. Come on, Eva, come on. Would you be able to start first thing tomorrow? Yeah. Good. I'll show you your room. (MUSIC CONTINUES) (DOG WHINING) Shh. It's okay, girl. Before we start, a couple ground rules. Okay? We're gonna keep this objective and professional. We are not roommates, we are not friends. We are research partners. All right? - Got it. - Good. So, I think we should start something we're gonna be doing. Americano with three extra shots. And the warm water with honey. Thank you. Can you take that? - Thank you. - Thanks. You sure that's all you want? Yeah. This is perfect. Sorry. So the basics. Basics. Um, do you know what the transit method is? Uh, hopefully I will soon. It's a good place to start. All right. Let's pretend that this is a star. Now, this is a transit. It's anything that passes in front of a star, in this case, a planet, that dims the light we receive from the star. This is the light dimming while the transiting object passes in front of the star. So, we measure the brightness over time so that we can determine different qualities of that planet. The size, even temperature, just by analyzing curves of light. - Okay? - Okay. Right. So... Go. Find the transit. Hmm. Here. That's a new planet. - What? - Mmm-hmm. That is amazing. - It's incredible, right? - (LAUGHS) So, you are gonna be finding the dips, and I will be vetting the data. And then how are we gonna know which planets have life? Well, we're the only planet that we know capable of sustaining life, so... We're the best reference point for it. We use this light data to find other planets that are as similar as possible to Earth in mass and temperature. It's an over-simplification, but if we find another Earth... We can find life. Now, next year the James Webb Space Telescope is gonna launch and we need our planet candidate to be the first follow-up observation. All right. Good. Can I ask you something? Yeah. Why is finding life out there so important to you? You know what people are scared of most? CLARA: Death? The unknown. Which unfortunately this universe is chock-full of. Sure, we've been chipping away at it for thousands of years, but we still know basically nothing. So how do we process that? We do what we've always done. We make things up. Create these elaborate bed-time stories to explain it all. But if we found something, even the smallest clue that something else exists out there, something entirely different, we wouldn't be the dark anymore. We wouldn't have to be scared. So... You think that the only reason we tell stories is because we're scared? Terrified. Okay, but what if telling stories is just a part of human nature? I'm done playing pretend. I think we all should be. Okay. Okay. What about this? Let's say there's this scientist who is brilliant, and very well-respected who makes game-changing, world-altering advancements in his filed. But he's also religious. His driving force is his faith, his belief in God, a bedtime story. But the result of his work is science and progress. What would you say to him? - What would I say? - Yes. I'd say "Skip church and get back to work. You'll get more done faster." Oh, I think he did just fine. What? Sir Isaac Newton. I think he did just fine. (CHUCKLES) All right, we've got work to do. ISAAC: These are M dwarf stars. Smaller, dimmer than our own. Now, TESS mainly focuses on brighter, bigger stars like ours. But that means one roughly every 365 days. These M dwarf stars, planets orbit them in a matter of weeks. So, less waiting around. Exactly. So if we focus on these stars, we have edge over everyone else looking through this data. That's it. That's... So is that gonna be a... Really? - We got one. - That's so cool. CLARA: Why the rush? The James Webb telescope will follow up on planets discovered by TESS. If we're the first ones with the perfect candidate, we have a chance to be part of something huge. CLARA: You mean when we find out we're not alone. ISAAC: Mmm-hmm. (CHUCKLES) (SIGHS) There. Is that a planet? No. You see that sharp drop, it's probably nothing. Keep looking. CLARA: So, do you ever eat, or does doing this just completely sustain you? ISAAC: (CHUCKLES) Food? What's that? - Hi. - Hey. So, that strange dip you caught, it's a planet. A promising one. Look. Right there. Unfortunately, TESS' cadence missed the full transit, so we need to get a new transit ourselves to help prove it. Which means we're gonna need a telescope. Thank you. Anything? No. We're supposed to apply for telescope time months in advance. Well, what about that one? We need... We need one like the one I used to operate through the university. So why don't we use theirs? Keep an eye out for the campus security. This is gonna take a while. Okay. Got it. (SIGHS) Okay. Come on. - (DOOR BEEPS) - Go. (ISAAC CLEARING THROAT) Where's the telescope? A lot of our research is based in the galactic center, which is only visible from the southern hemisphere. The one we use is a remote robotic telescope based out of Chile. Normally we access it with just a couple clicks. But given my current employment status, I gotta make a phone call. Hello. Hi, uh, ola. My name is Dr. Bruno Dr. Isaac Bruno. I last accessed the telescope on March 14th at approximately 3:00 a.m. Si, si. Uh, could I have the telescope shifted to new celestial coordinates? No, no. I have permission. From... Uh... Dr. Charles Durant. Yes, ID number 917836187. No, he's not... Listen, this only gonna take a couple of hours, okay? And then we'll put the telescope back... - Clara, hold on, what are you... - (CLARA SPEAKING SPANISH) (CONTINUES SPEAKING SPANISH) All right, she said it will take 15 minutes, but it will be ours. What did you say? I asked her how her day was. I was about to get to that. Yeah. I knew you were. The observatory is pre-processing the images now, It's gonna be a little while until we can download the data. So what are these rocks you take everywhere with you? This is obsidian from the Huayhuash pass in Peru. Amethyst from Zambia. Celestine from Australia. It's really rare there, actually, this was a gift. Pyrite from Navajun. This piece is pretty impure, but I watched them chip them out of the ground like they were designed, printed as perfect cubes. What about one? You're gonna like this one. It's a meteorite from Antarctica. BOTH: Chondrite. - Wow. - Yeah. You know this is older than the Sun? Mmm-hmm. Why did you go to Antarctica? That was actually the one continent that I couldn't get to, but that was my first one. - That's what made me want to travel. - Why? I grew up around here, group care, foster homes. And they weren't great for the most part, but they used to let us go on these trips to the waterfront or to the island. You know, and me being me I would sneak off, and I would find families with really nice beach towels and snacks and I would sort of befriend them and pretend they were my own. And anyway, one day we went to the pier when I snuck off, I met this guy who was a sailor. He was this huge Icelandic guy with this big red beard and these glacial blue eyes, like yours, and... He let me help get his boat ready to sail. He taught me all about the proper rigging and even how to signal with morse code. And I loved that as an eight-year-old. And when we were done, to say thank you, he gave me that. Then he told me that not only did it come from opposite side of the planet, it came from the stars. Meteors aren't stars. It had a story. He had a story. And a life. And I promised myself right then and there, that when I grew up, I was gonna travel the world and I was gonna make my own stories. And when I'm done being on the move, I'll throw them in the ocean. Give them back to the earth. But for right now they're all I've got. They're my pieces of home. So when did you move back? A year ago. All of the bouncing around really started to take a toll on me, so I decided it was time to come back. And selling paintings to get by... And also, I found Eva, so we've just been taking it easy, hanging out. A-ha. So you speak Spanish. What else you got? (SPEAKING FRENCH) That's French. Easy. (SPEAKING JAPANESE) Japanese. (SPEAKING AFRIKAANS) German? Afrikaans. (CHUCKLES) People pretend that we're all so different. But really, just everybody wants the same thing. They all want to hear "Thank you," they wanna be asked how their days are. They wanna hear "I love you." Sounds like there's a story there. - More than one. - Oh. But I never really let anything get too far. Whenever the conversation turned to marriage and kids, I knew it was my time to go. Hmm. Not the right version of my life, you know? Yeah. I do. - (KNOCKING AT DOOR) - MAN: Uh, excuse me. Campus is closed right now. You're not supposed to be... Shit. Clara. Clara, hey, come on. Campus security. We'll have to find a way to get the data later. Go. - Go, go, go. - Okay, okay. Don't you ever use my name for something so stupid and irresponsible again! Do you realize you put my career in jeopardy? Hello. Hi. ISAAC: Charlie, Clara. Clara, Charlie. - Nice to meet you, Charlie. - You too. Hope he hasn't made your life a living hell yet. Thank you. You definitely got something. Is it an Earth mass? (SIGHING) But... But? It's contaminated with stellar activity. Plus you're gonna need a spectrum if you want the mass and all the other fun stuff. No one's gonna give you any telescope time now, unless you get someone with considerable clout to help you out. No. No. We'll find another option. There aren't any, genius. Sorry, guys, what are we talking about? After Isaac's little stunt, it will be a cold day in hell before he books telescope time again. You need a good rep and referrals and that sort of thing. And Isaac just... Splat. Took a dump all over that. - Charlie. - We have a friend. Isaac's ex-wife, Rebecca. She's is an Endowed Chair at CalTech. She got poached, moved to California, she's kicking ass. As long as you don't put her career at risk too, she could probably get you time on the Keck telescope. - I mean, if you're not too proud to ask for help. - Right. Isaac, let's talk to Rebecca. Thanks for the data, Charlie... Look, if you go make things right with her, you can also catch the next transit three days from now. Charlie, this is the part where you stay out of it. You're just making things harder for yourself, asshole. Sorry. Believe it or not he's the smartest guy I know. Was it as bad as I think it was? The worst. Hey. Hey. Um, do you have any extra pajamas? Other than band T-shirts. Uh... Yeah. Should be... Should be something in your closet. Some stuff that Rebecca never wore. Are you sure? Yeah. Okay. Actually, um... Here. I got you this. Something for you. It's not an original. But it's a piece of home. (GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY BY BOB DYLAN PLAYING) If you're travelin' in the north country fair Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline Remember me to one who lives there She once was a true love of mine If you go when the snowflakes storm When the rivers freeze and summer ends Please see she has a coat so warm To keep her from the howlin' winds Please see for me if her hair hanging long If it rolls and flows all down her breast. Please see for me if her hair's hanging long Isaac? Are you sure this is okay? That's the way I remember her best (CLEARS THROAT) Yeah, it's fine. You look nice. Many times I've often prayed Isaac, you need to go see Rebecca. In the darkness of my night In the brightness of my day MAN: I'll let Dr. Jenkins know you're here. Can I get you anything? No, thanks. (TELEPHONE RINGING) (TELEPHONE CONTINUES RINGING) (INDISTINCT CHATTER) Isaac. Hey. I have a meeting in a few minutes. I'm just finishing up my lunch. Went back to Jenkins, huh? That's new. A little contradictory, don't you think? In our field. So you never answer any of my phone calls and then you just show up here out of nowhere? Rebecca, I need your help. I need to prove that the planet I found is habitable. And I'd assume you'd want that, too. TESS has just launched, James Webb to follow, ground telescopes, you're gonna be fighting for renewal. We're always fighting for renewal. Exactly. Oh, okay. So you're here to help me? You're obsessed, Isaac. You used to want this, too. I used to want a lot of things. I'm sorry. This... This was a bad idea. I'm gonna go. Isaac. Finding some other lifeforms isn't going to bring him back. I know that. But it's all I have. I can get you three hours with Keck. It's the best I can do. - Rebecca... - Promise me it stops after this. For you. Yeah. Here. I know you. (SOBBING) (MOURNFUL CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING) (SOBBING) (EVA WHINING) It's okay. (RUMBLING) (CLASSICAL MUSIC CONTINUES PLAYING) No one will blame you for not finding anything. I'm sorry, Isaac. Look. Oh, my gosh. It was right on time. Mag 13.5. Just right for a James Webb follow-up. The planet's diameter is... Twelve thousand eight hundred kilometers. Sound familiar? With a density of 5.4 grams per centimeter cubed... It's definitely an Earth mass. Yeah. The planet's distance to the star? 0.5 astronomical units. Which gets me to around 303K. Inside the habitable zone. Twenty light-years away from us. You might've just discovered Earth 2.0. Thank you, Rebecca. - (CHUCKLES) - (SIGHING) Oh, man. All right, I need to submit this to NASA immediately. Of course. You owe me a sandwich. (DOOR CLOSES) Oh, my God! Oh, my God! (BOTH LAUGHING) I wanna show you something. I found our star. It's a little hard to see with all the city light. But... It's there. Got an idea. Sorry, the resolution's not great. There's software that's gonna virtually catalog all of the stars discovered by TESS. I'll be like a map of the galaxy. This is just a Hubble deep field image. It'll have do for now. Yeah. It'll do. Seems too beautiful to just be random. It's beautiful because it's random. Doesn't it seem like there's so much intention behind all of it? Like somebody painted this... Canvas. If some God was trying to paint a perfect universe... They did a pretty shitty job. Just look at the way things happen. Supremely unintelligent design. Oh, I know that I feel a connection to all this. And people use all different kinds of words for it, but there is something else. Something that reaches out to me. And I don't know how to explain it. Clara, that connection you feel basically just boils down to a release of chemicals in the brain, like serotonin. - There's more to it than that. - There really isn't. Look, if some incredibly advanced species out there confirmed some metaphysical connection to everything exists, then maybe I'd look at the data. But for now... It's just an unproven, human-made concept. Wouldn't you want there to be something more to all this? Wouldn't you want that comfort? That certainty of knowing that we're going to be okay? Or that we don't just fade away into the darkness when all this is over? It's not about what I want. I can't just choose to believe otherwise. I'm sorry. I've always had a feeling that the universe can still surprise us. We can't prove something based on a feeling. Did you feel that? Prove it. CLARA: Wait. I'm sorry. (CLATTERING) Why do you keep moving those around? Um, it just helps me figure out what I need to get to next. What do you mean? I mean, you said it yourself. We're not friends, we're not roommates, we are research partners. And we made our discovery, so... Exactly. Finding a planet candidate is just the first step. I mean, there's still plenty of analysis to do. You don't have to leave. I'm sorry for last night. - I shouldn't have done that to you. - No. I made you uncomfortable. No, you didn't. Okay, then. We should go tell Charlie the good news. Charlie? He'd be mid-lecture by now. Okay. So we'll crash it. I don't really wanna be seen on campus. Hence crashing. CHARLIE: If you'll only look up from your phones to glean one piece of information from me all semester, let it be this. Data. Data is everything to us. Yes? Without data we wouldn't understand what we're looking at. But if you're like me and staring at graphs all day is not a lot of fun to you, well, there's a way to make it fun. (ETHEREAL SOUND PLAYS) Sonification is the process of converting data into sound. What we're listening to right now are vibrations from Saturn's rings. Consider what you're actually listening to. Pretty trippy, right? Let's switch it up. Hmm. (CHIMING SOUND PLAYS) Listening to data is very useful for detecting patterns. If you think about it, basically every song on your radios, on your streaming devices, can be broken down into data. Now, I've put the MP3 of this sonified track on e-class. What I want you to do is go home and reverse the sonification process. Convert the sound back into data. That's it. Get the hell outta here. (INDISTINCT CHATTER) So this is how you think college students dress? You look like you're about to drop a really, really obnoxious mix tape. (CHARLIE AND CLARA LAUGH) Hey, Dr. Rickman from TESS is coming to give a lecture next month. You guys should sneak into that as well. I recommend dressing exactly like this. We may need to talk to him a little sooner. What are you talking about? We found our planet. - Seriously? - Yeah. (CELL PHONE RINGING) Are you kidding me right now? Hang on a second. Hello. Now? Like right now? Yeah. Yeah, okay. I'm coming. I'm coming. I'm having a baby. (INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER PA SYSTEM) Hi, my wife is having a baby. Our baby. Uh, it's Maya Durant. M-A-Y-A. Just love to know what floor she's on, please. (DISTANT BEEPING) (MONITOR BEEPING) (PULSING) (MOANS SOFTLY) (INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER PA SYSTEM) (TELEPHONE RINGING) (ELEVATOR CLANGING) (ELEVATOR DINGING) (ELEVATOR STOPS) (DINGS) (DOOR OPENS) (AMBIENT MUSIC PLAYING) REBECCA: Isaac. You're gonna be a father. DOCTOR 1: He's not breathing. DOCTOR 2: I don't have a heartbeat. REBECCA: Isaac. (SOBS) (SOBBING) He's not breathing. (SOBBING HYSTERICALLY) NURSE: Just give her some space. Just focus on me. DOCTOR: Still no heartbeat. REBECCA: (SOBBING) No! NURSE: I'm so sorry. CLARA: Isaac? CLARA: What are you thinking about? That it's all just luck. All this. Us. (ISAAC LAUGHS SARDONICALLY) It's just this total cosmic accident. Just one minuscule variation, a slight shift, one way or another, and the last 13.8 billion years could have gone in infinite number of ways, but... Here we are. (LAUGHS CYNICALLY) Recycled matter. Dust. (SCOFFS) So many things have to go right to make anything. An atom, a star, a... A tiny person. He was ours. For less than a minute, he was ours. And then... He wasn't. Isaac? I wish I could tell you why bad things happen to good people. Or why life just stops. But I can't. All I know is that the universe went our way and we're here, and so was he. He was here. His atoms were here. And they're not gone. They've only changed. I read somewhere that once two atoms come in contact with one another, they can become linked, intertwined. And then no matter how far they're separated, they still know one another's state, instantly, over light years. Quantum entanglement. Yeah. You're still connected to him. I'm not sure that's how that works. Yeah, but you feel him, don't you? Maybe somewhere, somehow, he still feels you. (INHALES DEEPLY) Now you've got one from every continent. This one will be both of ours. ISAAC: Then maybe that means you can stay. (SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) CLARA: Stop looking at what you're drawing and just feel it. - ISAAC: Feel this? - Yeah. ISAAC: Let's draw the bite out of your apple. CLARA: Mmm. It's gonna fall. (CLARA GIGGLING) CLARA: Now you gotta wear it till it falls off. Uh, fire, and that's earth, and this is air. My tooth went through my lip. ISAAC: (LAUGHS) Get something out of it. CLARA: It's kind of Wonder Woman-ey. (MUSIC CONTINUES PLAYING) (CARS HONKING) (CELL PHONE RINGING) Hello? Yeah, that's me. What are you talking about? That doesn't make any sense. No, we gave you all of our data. It's been... Go back. Take a look. Hello? Hello? What's going on? Somebody discovered our planet candidate using the TESS data and they submitted it a week before us. Some guy from Ladakh, India, is gonna be credited with our discovery. - Not us. - Okay. But we still found it, right? I mean, it doesn't really matter whose name goes on what. Yes, yes, yes it does! It really does. It means that we're not gonna be a part of the next couple of years of analysis. What do you mean the next couple of years? And if they find signs of life? We're definitely not gonna be a part of that. Okay. Well, then why don't we just find another candidate? - Just start the whole process over. - No, no, Clara, stop! Stop! Stop! At this point, finding a better planet candidate in time for James Webb is basically impossible. Isaac. It's over. (SCOFFS) It's over. DR. RICKMAN: We made our most intriguing discovery so far. Uh, TESS 421a. And 421a, it orbits an M dwarf. Uh, it's in the Goldilocks zone where the temperature, you know, is just right for liquid water. It's about 20 light-years away. And, uh, its size is closer to Earth's than any other planet recorded. REPORTER: Has TESS found any initial evidence to suggest that there is life on this planet? Uh, no, that's not the primary objective of TESS. I mean, we're merely an Earth survey mission to search for Earth-like planets. Webb's infrared capabilities will allow us... The objective of TESS is to find Earth-like planets. Its atmosphere will determine composition, identify bio-signature gases... (LAPTOP THUDS SHUT) Wait. Everyone is looking for Earth-like planets. They're all... They're all looking for circumstances that are right, but what... What if we look for things that are wrong? What do you mean? Even if a planet has life, it could just be microbial, it would be too small. We wouldn't be able to see it. The only way to truly know if we find an advanced species is to see the result of their existence. Atmospheres affected by fossil fuels or large mega-structures that are big enough to make a transit. Or, uh, uh, solar energy harvesting. You know, footprints. The older and more evolved civilizations are bound to have produced unnatural phenomena. Anomalies. How would we even start? We download the next batch of TESS data and we go through all of it. Process of elimination. (UPBEAT CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING) Okay. I'm done being a hermit. I need to get out of this apartment. Uh, I'm, I'm making real progress here. Come on, just... I'm sorry. I can't tonight. CLARA: (INDISTINCT) Okay, well, I'm going out. - What? - CLARA: I'm going out. - Where? - Dancing. (DOOR BANGS SHUT) (MUSIC CONTINUES LOUDLY) (CLARA BREATHING HEAVILY) (TAP RUNNING) (EEVA WHINING) (EXHALES) (TAP DRIPPING) (STONES CLATTER) (BREATHES DEEPLY) You need a Tylenol or something? Mmm-mmm. What are you doing? Uh... Drawing... Evolution. - (PENCIL SCRAPING) - ISAAC: Huh. Nice. (EVA WHINING) (PANTING) CLARA: You know, Eeva's much closer to me these days. Oh, yeah? CLARA: When I found her, she was a stray, just wandering without a home. Maybe it's her who found me. Maybe I'm a stray. ISAAC: Holy shit! I think I found something. I found something. CHARLIE: What am I looking at here? You'll see it. This is bad data. What are you talking about? Look at this. The data captured over these days... Look at the strange, periodic dimming of the light. That suggests strategically scattered objects orbiting that star. This is too intentional to be debris. This could be some sort of partial Dyson sphere. Some advanced civilization harvesting their star's energy. Charlie, would you look at this? You know aliens are always the last thing we're supposed to consider, right? Charlie, this is not natural, man. It's bad data. There was movement on the spacecraft. This batch is riddled with errors. I'm surprised you don't know that. Oh, shit. I think you might be too close to this. (SIGHS) CLARA: Is everything okay? CHARLIE: Hey, I heard you were, uh, under the weather. You look like you're on the mend. CLARA: Uh, not really, but I just came in here to get a glass of water and then I'm gonna go back to bed. (TAP RUNNING) How's Maya? Uh, good, good. I mean, Maya's a little nuts, you know. It's kinda hard to get any sleep when the baby's crying every seventh minute. - CLARA: Mmm-hmm. - I'm afraid I'm gonna come home one day and she's gonna have a note taped to the kid's forehead that says she's moved to Puerto Plata and she was never really into dad-bod. CLARA: Come on. But besides that, we're good. (LAUGHS) Well, if she needs a tour guide, just toss her my way. I guess sometimes I miss being on the move. CLARA: Goodnight, you guys. CHARLIE: Hey, goodnight. Hey! What the hell's the matter with you? Come on, Charlie, not now, please. She's sick and you're looking at shit data? You should be making her soup. You spend all your time looking up at the stars, you're gonna miss what's right in front of you. Again. All right? This whole hiatus thing bore fruit, right? You met Clara. You got closure with Rebecca. I mean, she's moving on with her life. You deserve that, too. What do you mean by that? She got in touch with Maya to say congratulations on the baby. And? And she asked our opinions on the best online baby registries. (SIRENS WAILING IN THE DISTANCE) (SNIFFLES) (PENCIL SCRAPING) ISAAC: Hey. Oh, I mean, you don't have to stop. I... It's fine. (SIGHS) How are you feeling? You don't have to worry about me. But I do. (ISAAC BREATHES DEEPLY) This is for you. It's not great. I tried to do everything you told me. I got charcoal all over my hands. (ISAAC CHUCKLES SOFTLY) I just figured, you know, you're never in any of your own sketches. You're always busy observing everything else. I just wanted to let you know that... I see you. And I know I've been distracted lately. I've been thinking about that look on Charlie's face when he... When he was holding his baby for the first time. Everything just made sense to him. And I realized that all this time, I... (SCOFFS) I've just been chasing that look. I thought that this, all of this, you know, the work, I thought that maybe if I could find life somewhere, if I could just find something living, then maybe... Isaac... (SIGHS) (CLARA SIGHS) I think it's time to give up. - I tried but I failed. - Get up. - Come on. - What? Come on, get up. Look, we are going to try to find something tonight, but this time no more data. I need you to trust something more than just your eyes. I don't understand. You said that there was a virtual map created from the TESS data, right? Yes, but only two batches of data have been released... Set it up. CLARA: We're gonna pick a star. ISAAC: At random? CLARA: No, not at random. Give me your hand. Here. I want you to see what I see. - What? - You said it yourself. Right? We're dust. We're made up of the same stuff that this universe is. You're not just in it, Isaac. It's in you. So find it. - Use it. - Clara, this is crazy. Trust me. All right. I'll try. Close your eyes. - Come on... - CLARA: Close them. (ISAAC BREATHES DEEPLY) CLARA: Let yourself drift... To where you've been... And where you can go next. (SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) (RUMBLING) (MUSIC STOPS) (PANTING) Turn it off. Isaac... ISAAC: I can't believe I let you talk me into that. (SIGHS) I saw you feel something. You just need to try... When are you going to get it? You want the world to be this magical, connected place, but you know that it's not. And so you sugarcoat it with these bullshit philosophies. Because the truth is you can't stand it just like the rest of us. Isaac, I saw you feel something back there. I saw you feel something inside of yourself that you couldn't explain, so what do you do? You reject it because you can't prove it. - No, because... - You trust your data more than you trust yourself. It's sad. - Because I'm objective! - No. Because you're lost. (SIGHS) And I care about you. And all I wanted to do was... What, you wanted to make me another chapter in your scrapbook? - CLARA: Come on. - Huh? You wanted to have some great experience and then up and leave just like you always do? - No... - It's like you said, you missed being on the move, right? (SOBS) You wanna talk about trust? I trusted you. Right up until the moment that I realized that I'm just a pit stop on your way to somewhere else. (STONE CLATTERS) Isaac... (CLARA TREMBLING) Eva. Come on, girl, I wanna go. - (WHINING) - Eva! (SOBBING) Where is she? Clara, she's right there. (EVA WHINES) CLARA: Eva? - What's going on? - CLARA: Eva? - Clara! Clara! - (CLARA GASPS) - Eva... - Clara? Hey, hey, hey! - What, what is happening? - Isaac... What's happening? I don't know where I'm going. Clara! Stop, stop! - Hey, no, no! - (EVA BARKING) No, no, no. No, no, no, no... Clara, wake up! Clara! Help! Help! Clara! (TELEPHONE RINGING) (BREATHING SHAKILY) (FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING) DOCTOR: Mr. Bruno? She's awake now. What's wrong with her? We, um... We think it's some sort of rare auto immune disease. Her skin is being affected, her muscles are atrophying. Her connective tissue's breaking down and her organs... It's her heart, her lungs, her kidneys, they've been failing for some time now. No, no. This, this doesn't make any sense. She... She... (SCOFFS) She's been tired. She's... Been a little under the weather. Other than that, she's been fine. Fine? The state that you brought her in here, I'm surprised she can even walk and talk. The corticosteroid she was taking might have relieved her symptoms, but... Mr. Bruno, it was only a matter of time. We'll do what we can for Claira. Clara. I'm sorry. Clara. (FOOTSTEPS RECEDING) (MONITOR BEEPING) (DOOR OPENS) (DOOR SHUTS) (BREATHES DEEPLY) Why didn't you tell me? It wouldn't have made any difference. I was always gonna end up here. (SNIFFLES) ISAAC: I brought you these. (CLARA INHALES SHARPLY) (SHAKILY) I don't wanna go. I really wanna stay. (SOBS) I wanna stay. ISAAC: Hey, hey. I wanna stay. You're not going anywhere. (BREATHING SHAKILY) Because there is nowhere for me to go, right? I didn't say that. (SIGHS) I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Pretty entangled, huh? Yeah. (STONES CLATTERING) Clara? What are you doing? I don't need to move them anymore. What? (ISAAC SNIFFLES) You gotta rest, okay? Just remember them like that. For me. Yeah. I will. (ALARM BEEPING RAPIDLY) (INHALES SHARPLY) (ALARM CONTINUES BEEPING) Clara? Isaac? No, no. Something's wrong. Something's wrong. Nurse? Hey, nurse? Nurse! Hey. Hey, something's wrong, okay? - I'll be right back. - Don't go. Don't go. (CLARA SIGHS) I wish I could see your face when you see it. - (FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING) - What? (DOOR OPENS) DOCTOR: You're gonna have to stand aside... - Sir, step aside, please. - ISAAC: All right. - Clara? - (ALARM BEEPING) DOCTOR: Clara, can you hear me? Clara. Clara! DOCTOR: Okay. (BEEPING CONTINUES) (BEEPING STOPS) NURSE: Mr. Bruno? Mr. Bruno? Her belongings. I'm so sorry. (FOOTSTEPS RECEDING) (SIGHS) - (KEYS JANGLE) - (ISAAC SNIFFLES) (SNIFFLES) - (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) - (ISAAC CRYING) (CONTINUES CRYING) (EVA WHINES DEEPLY) (SOBBING) (MUSIC CONTINUES) (EVA WHINING) (SWITCH CLICKING) (SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) (CELL PHONE CHIMES) (BREATHES DEEPLY) (EXHALES) CHARLIE: I'd like to thank Dr. Rickman for coming here to speak with us today. - Please. A round of applause. - (ALL APPLAUDING) Thank you for being here, sir. Thank you so much. (INDISTINCT CHATTER) CHARLIE: Um, can you excuse me for a second, Dr. Rickman? I'll be right back. Excuse me. Hey, Isaac, man, what are you doing here? You didn't return any of my calls. What's going on? I need to speak to Rickman. Jesus. You look like you haven't slept. Are you okay? I'm fine. Did they figure out what she had? Charlie, I'm serious. I need to speak to Rickman now. I don't think that's a good idea. - Charlie. - Isaac, you need to stop this. You are not thinking... This is real. Please. (BREATHES DEEPLY) (FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING) (DOOR OPENS) My wife's a huge fan. And so am I. Um, Dr, Rickman, this is Dr. Bruno. I thought you two should meet. Gentlemen, I have a plane to catch at 7:00. I haven't time for this. Dr. Rickman, please. I... I found an anomaly in the most recent batch of TESS data. What kind of an anomaly? Uh, it's a nearby system. Orange dwarf star. Jupiter mass planet orbiting just outside the... No, we're not interested in Jupiter masses. They're uninhabitable. Yes, but I think you might be interested in what I found orbiting with it. ISAAC: This step, right here. The algorithm skipped right over it, but I... I got lucky. Happened to notice it. It's most likely an exomoon, which is a nice find, Dr. Bruno, but it's nothing anomalous. That's what I thought. And then I accessed the online Kepler data archives and I found this. And this. And these. Multiple transits from this star with this same period. And this step... It's in the exact same spot relative to the planet. It's not a moon. I checked. And double-checked. And triple checked. This guy checks. Hmm. Hmm. All right. Looks like I'm missing my flight. You know, that whole aliens-are-the-last- thing-to-consider business is getting harder by the minute. Yup. Charlie, I got another favor to ask you. If this thing checks out, I want you to take the lead on it. What the hell are you talking about? This could save your career. This is your big discovery. No, it doesn't belong to me. It's hers. Well, that's why you should share it. I just did. Look, I'll see this part through. (CLEARS THROAT) Besides, you'd look a lot better on the front of the paper anyway. Well, there is definitely... There is something there. But we vet the data with our full attention, but for now, we cannot draw any wild conclusions. With all due respect, Dr. Rickman, yes we can. Here. Look. This planet is orbiting the star just outside the habitable zone. Now this object is orbiting with the planet, but closer to the star, and inside the habitable zone. Now if we take gravitational pull and Lagrangian points into consideration, it seems fairly obvious that wherever this object is, it's stuck at the L1 point of this planet. But L1 is unstable. I mean, if it ended up there, why hasn't it drifted off? So when we launch the James Webb, and it's orbiting Earth at our L2 point, which is also unstable, it's just going to drift off? No, I mean, everything we have at L1 and L2 is an artificial satellite. They all have thrusters, they're... Under control. So, something is keeping it there. (CHUCKLES) (LAUGHING) (CHARLIE AND ISAAC LAUGH) DR. RICKMAN: Good morning, everyone. Or good afternoon or evening to many of you who are watching this from around the world. Fifty years ago, we sent astronauts to the moon, as the whole world watched. And then after that we stopped watching. We stopped looking up. Well, not everyone, but we as a species, we lost interest in what was above us. But in recent years that has begun to change. Finding flowing water on Mars, soon sending men and women to live there, space is once again uniting us as curious human beings. Well, today, our curiosity has paid off. Ladies and gentlemen, let me present first, TESS-1417. It's 200 light-years away. It's home to four exoplanets, one of them a Jupiter mass. And then, this. It's a large object. It orbits with the planet within the habitable zone. REBECCA: For the past two years, SETI has monitored the constant radio signal created by the object's presence. Although nothing in the signal suggests communication, there are frequent shifts that indicate the object's movements. It adjusts itself with the utmost precision. And therefore we have concluded that this artificial object, it's the result of intelligent life. (REPORTERS CLAMORING) DR. RICKMAN: The panel will now take questions. Uh, yes. Can you elaborate on what you believe this "artificial object" to be? We cannot begin to comprehend the architecture of an object this large, but it does not change the fact that this mega-structure is being commandeered. We believe it to be some sort of space station. (REPORTERS CLAMORING) (STONES CLATTER) (BIRDS SCREECHING) REBECCA: Isaac finally picks the right star and all this happens. CHARLIE: It's crazy, right? You still never told me how he did it. I guess he just knew where to look. (CHUCKLES SOFTLY) CLARA: What are you thinking about? (SWITCH CLICKING) ISAAC: It's all just luck. This is this total cosmic accident. What are these rocks you take everywhere with you? (STONES CLATTER) CLARA: They're my pieces of home. Oh, my God. (LAUGHS) It's seems too beautiful to just be random. This one will be both of ours. Isaac? (CELL PHONE CHIMES) (CLARA GASPS) I wish I could see your face when you see it. (SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) (SPLASHING) (GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY PLAYING ON GUITAR) (SIRENS WAIL IN THE DISTANCE) (CELL PHONE RINGING) (BIRDS CHIRPING) REBECCA: Isaac. - How are you? - ISAAC: Good. How's your son? Great. Paul will be two in a couple of weeks. He's getting big. Wow. (CHUCKLES) Sorry for being so cryptic on the phone. First contact isn't something you spill the beans about in an open line. They made contact? That's what it seems. Two weeks ago, an electron spin detector at Los Alamos was observing a particle for an unrelated project. The particle started spinning bizarrely. Soon we realized it was being manipulated to get our attention. They must have exploited entanglement - to instantly send us data through quantum states. - Wait, wait, wait. I don't understand. What kind of data could you send through spinning particles? The particle would vary between two specific transformations only. So we assigned zeroes to the first spin, and ones to the other. Binary. REBECCA: Not just that. The zeroes and ones were in Morse code patterns. It's beyond us how, but they must have found a way to probe us relatively recently if they're using Morse to send a message. Well, what did the message say? (SIGHS) (BREATHES SHAKILY) Bec... I don't understand. Somehow they know all about us. About you. We figured they can anticipate you listening for the next message. Let's find out. How? REBECCA: (ON INTERCOM) Stand by, Isaac. (RAPID BEEPING) TECHNICIAN: Los Alamos is detecting transformations again. (SIGHS) It's not Morse code. REBECCA: Maybe they're building a file? TECHNICIAN: Then we'd need a format. Okay. Try a text file. (BEEPS) (SIGHS) Try an audio format. (TYPING) (CHIMES) Okay. (DOOR SHUTS) (CLEARS THROAT) REBECCA: Play it. (CLICKS) (CRACKLING STATIC) (STATIC CONTINUES) (GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY PLAYING SOFTLY) If you're traveling In the north country fair Where the winds Hit heavy on the borderline (BREATHES SHAKILY) Remember me to one Who lives there (SOBS) She once was A true love of mine (WHIMPERS AND SOBS) (SOBBING AND LAUGHING) Thank you. (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) |
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