All language subtitles for Primer English Subtitles

[ Primer ]
[ English Subtitles ]

Here's what's going to happen.
I'm going to read this...

And you're going to listen, and
you're going to stay on the line.

You're not going to interrupt. You're
not going to speak for any reason.

Now, some of this you know. I'm going
to start at the top of the page.

Meticulous, yes.
Methodical. Educated.

They were these things.

Nothing extreme. Like
anyone, they varied.

There were days of mistakes
and laziness and infighting.

And there were days, good days,
when by anyone's judgment...

They would have to be
considered clever.

No one would say that what they
were doing was complicated.

It wouldn't even be considered new.
Except maybe in the geological sense.

They took from their
surroundings what was needed...

And made of it something more.

- We haven't even set up an appointment.
- What order date did you put on this?

- The 28th. Why?
- I don't know... yeah, I'm putting 28th.

Have you thought any more about
what you want to put forward?

- Not really.
- Because I was...

I mean I haven't changed
my mind or anything.

Phillip and I were talking, and we
think it could be good. It'd be fun.

Nobody's saying it
wouldn't be fun.

The time for jacking around with Tesla coils
and ball lightning in the garage is over.

Maybe you should try it on
your own in your free time.

My free time? The free time after
the 50 hours a week at work...

Or after the 30 hours of free time
i already spend in that garage?

And it's not a Tesla coil.

I could save a few minutes a
day by eating on the toilet.

How many patents do we have?
In the last 14 months?

- Did you sign the agreement?
- Nobody signed the agreement.

Doesn't matter, we're
sticking to the agreement.

Name one thing out of that garage
that's remotely profitable.

I don't see anybody quitting their
jobs because of it. Are you?

Abe just means that right
now the jtag cards are it.

When you look at the addresses, we have a
lot of apartments. A lot of residences.

But these are not the bulk orders
to the oems or retail giants.

- These are the quiet basement...
- Hackers.

Yeah, hacker wannabes testing
their dads' old motherboards.

And I know that a lot of that is
my fault, admittedly, you know.

With everything last year, and the
doubletalk we were getting from platts...

- And all the stuff we won't get into now...
- We should get into it.

I'm sorry. What?

Go ahead. Tell him.

We should get into it. I
talked to my brother today.

He knows of two other cases
like that at his firm.

- Let platts know that we're talking about it.
- Look, forget platts.

This has got to be about what has the
best chance of going to market...

And what is going to
get us vc attention.

Look, I stuck by you guys
when it was your turn.

And I wasn't 100% sure
of what we were doing...

Or even if I didn't
agree, maybe.

But if it's my turn...

If we're still playing by the rules,
then this is what I want to try.

Here, take it. They said
it wouldn't hold a freeze.

Robert, please. It's
not going to hold.

- It's going to go bad in my car.
- It'll go bad here. Okay, thanks.

- Good night, all.
- See you.

- We just got done giving this huge speech...
- We gave the speech?

We just got done. It
was five minutes ago.

I'm the one that forced the issue. They're
onto us because I suck as the bad cop.

- You should do it. You could fake it better.
- I don't know about that.

As long as we're going down this road
where it's eighth grade physics...

And happy fun time out in that garage,
i think we could stand to try this.

Phillip and Robert are gung ho
on theirs, and that's fine.

But you know I have
no interest in that.

I know you have no interest,
besides the fact...

That Phillip and Robert don't even need
us. They just want to use the equipment.

For what I want to do?
We don't need them.

Not even Phillip, because
it doesn't need software.

- Is she asleep?
- No, and she needs a bath.

- She'll wind up in the closet if I do it.
- That's fine.

You know, even if Robert's
okay with it, and he won't be.

- I don't understand what that thing will do.
- We'll let them go at it for two months.

- They do theirs, we do ours.
- They said it'd take 14 hours.

Don't eat that.
Seriously, it's bad.

We threw the first couple
of batches out. The filter.

What about crushed?

These guys are funded.

- These guys are... what?
- Liquid helium. These guys are funded.

That's what this is.

That's the whole difference.
That's what the box is.

We don't have to play the game where
we're going back and forth...

Coming up with innovative ways to make
it colder and unusable in the process.

- Aaron, I need the hexagonal set.
- This is unmarketable.

By coming at it from the back
end, rather than changing...

The surrounding temperature, we'll
change the level it'll conduct...

The transition temperature. And
by bombarding these edges...

They're dropping the ceramic, the
temperature lower and lower.

It makes the ceramic less resistant and
knocks out the interior magnetic field.

What I'm saying is we
drop the box down on it.

Focus our own magnetic field to
negate, knock out with the inverse...

What's going on
inside the ceramic.

That should change the transition
temperature to something we can work with.

- What are we saying that is?
- Hopefully, near room temperature.

What is that about? The best
mathematician is a lazy one?

- What did you ask for?
- I asked. I need the hexagonal set.

- What did you call it?
- Just come on.

- Are these type one?
- The superconductors?

Yeah, they're type one.

Is that going to be a problem?

There's plenty lying around at
work, but they're all bar coded.

- Lf I have to, I'll buy the kits.
- What are you doing about the source?

What?

- I can get them.
- You can... are you sure?

I thought you didn't
like this idea.

Buy them if you have to. Everything
else we can take care of.

What about the source here?

You know that story about
how NASA spent millions...

Developing this pen that writes in
zero-g? Did you ever read that?

- And how Russia solved the problem?
- Yeah, they used a pencil.

Right, a normal wooden pencil.

It just seems like Phillip takes
the NASA route almost every time.

- Palladium?
- You've got their diagram, what does it say?

They use a ratio of
platinum and palladium.

That's not necessary
with the changes I made.

They're just showing off.
If you have it, use it.

I want to get a
replacement router.

- I'm putting down four ounces of palladium.
- Did Robert look at it?

- I already got his.
- I can't fix it.

- Okay. Where are you getting it?
- Wal-Mart. It's $50.

- Okay. Can you get a receipt, please?
- Yeah.

Wait, platinum or palladium
is less resistant?

- Abe? It's not a...
- Yeah, I don't care.

- So resistance doesn't matter.
- I need an aye or a yes.

- Did you jiggle the...
- The collet nut?

- Robert did it.
- Well, yes. I guess.

- Well, then, which is cheaper?
- You're not going to buy it, are you?

Well, unless you've got a few
grams of palladium lying around.

Why would they put it in
there if you didn't need it?

One catalytic
converter. It's fine.

Remember to put it back. Your
emission just went up 300%.

- Is there enough in here?
- Yeah, should be.

If not, we'll pull the one out of
my truck. Okay, copper tubing.

- This will be out of commission, right?
- Without the tubing?

- We can use the freon, too.
- No, it's going to be room temperature.

I know, just in case.

No, wait. Stop. I'll just buy the
tubing. This isn't saving us money.

- Jay? Hey, man. How are you?
- Good.

Should we be wearing goggles?

- Should we be wearing goggles?
- What?

Goggles. Should we
be wearing goggles?

Wait. Phillip, you don't
want to come out here.

Phillip, grab a mask, okay?

It is, though, right?
It's not just me?

No, it's definitely smaller, but it just
seems that way. Take what they have.

Minus the coolant
which we don't need.

The rest of it is
the Mercury bath...

Which you would know better than I do,
but they're probably just showing off.

I mean, you have it, you
got to use it, right?

- What? Does it hurt?
- No, I didn't feel anything.

That sound is just
weirding me out.

- What does it feel like?
- I don't know.

I don't know if
I'm making it up.

Here.

- Next part. Let's do the next part.
- Yeah.

Isn't there some sort of
glass or a transparent...

Anything we can use
as a window? Pyrex?

- Yeah, I'm in.
- Okay, drop it.

I don't know of anything that
won't leave a gap in the field.

But we got to see what's
going on in there.

- How much did that cost?
- Yeah.

- What?
- You want to put my camcorder...

Inside the box that's so
dangerous we can't look into it.

If something happens,
would you pay me back?

So we have a slightly
negative pressure in the box.

So we're ready for the argon.

- Which one is that?
- It's the blue one.

I weighed it at 77 grams.

I set the scale to
decagrams, though.

I'm showing 7.7 decagrams.

Ready for...

0.05 liters of argon.

- You ready?
- Just the plate first, right?

Right, first just the
plate, and then we'll...

Let's just give it a second.

- You want to do the box now?
- Yeah.

Let's go through the checklist.
Aaron, hold on a second.

Let's make sure everything's set
up right. Hold on, Aaron. Wait.

Just wait.

Okay.

Anything?

- Is this normal?
- I don't know.

- I'm turning it off.
- Wait! No.

- Okay, I didn't do that.
- Did we blow something?

Yeah, we did. That's destroyed.

- You want to check your camera?
- Yeah.

- Let's get this.
- You ready?

One, two, three.

Hey. Tell me you're hungry. Kara's
at her mom's and I'm starving.

Yeah, I'm hungry. What...

Abe, it's 7:00. Abe,
it's 7:00 at night.

- Okay, yeah, I have food...
- Okay.

- Wait, are those kids there?
- Just a sec.

Yeah, they're here.

Okay, screw that, let's just go somewhere.
I just pulled in, so come on down.

Come up first. I have some stuff
i want to take back to the shop.

All right, but meet
me at the door.

- Okay, all right.
- Seriously, meet me at the door.

Okay. All right. See you.

- What's up, Abe?
- Hey, Brad. How are you?

Good.

- How long did he say he would be there?
- Not long.

If he's got problems, he's got
to fix them. You're not his dad.

I know. I just thought it would be
good to do something charitable.

It definitely is charity.
At least you admit that.

You feel like a steak? To eat.

I don't want a steak. Let's just grab
some tacos on the way to the shop.

- I have some stuff I want to try out.
- Okay.

We can get some tacos on the way,
or we can get a steak afterwards.

What are you talking about?
I'm not paying for a steak.

It's stable?

Aaron, it's stable?

- What did you do to this thing?
- What?

- It looks like a dog digested it.
- Okay, that's the plate.

I rigged this into the box
so I could control the feed.

- I figured it's the easiest way...
- It's just controlling the box.

The plate stays the same. What
you do is you gradually feed it.

Okay. You hear that? How it's...

See, I'm not touching it anymore.
It's growing with its own momentum.

It's like a feedback loop, and
it just regulates itself.

And what you do is when it gets
there, you bring it back...

And there you go, it coasts.
It's stable. It stays like that.

So it works?

- Yeah, it does.
- What is that, like 10%?

It knocks another couple of points
by the time it reaches the peak.

You may want to come over
here and take a look at this.

Okay, what am I looking at?

- What are we pulling out of the batteries?
- Probably 24 volts.

- I mean, no more than that, right?
- Okay.

So your meter's jacked up.

That's what I figured. So I tried three
others. I got the exact same thing.

- I spent all last night...
- What was it?

I spent last night and a two-hour break
just double-checking everything.

There's something wrong here. We're not
pulling out more than we're putting in.

- Slightly more.
- Well, yeah, whatever.

It's not like a volt and a half
more than we're putting in.

It's probably the batteries. They're
cheap batteries, not regulated right.

That is weird, though.

You want to see
something weirder?

Okay, let's go over this again.
Two batteries, right? 24 volts?

What are we pulling out of
this one? Just for fun.

Twelve volts.

- How about this one?
- Should be 12 volts.

So, what the hell is this thing?

It doesn't stay like that.

No, it winds down in a few
minutes. What does that?

I don't know. I'll tell them something.
I'll tell them we're spraying for bugs.

It should just be a
day or two, anyways.

- Unless you want to bring them in.
- No, they have their work in there, too.

If Phillip finds out about that he's
going to have to take it apart.

- No. I'm just putting a little tweak on it.
- Yeah, I know. No, you're right.

Abe, it's my garage, okay? It's
not like they're paying rent.

There was value in the thing. Clearly.
Of that they were certain of.

But what is the application?
In a matter of hours...

They had pinned it to everything from
mass transit to satellite launching.

Imagining devices the
size of jumbo jets.

Everything would be cheaper. It
was practical and they knew it.

But above all that,
beyond the positives...

They knew that the easiest
way to be exploited...

Is to sell something they
did not yet understand.

So they kept quiet. The
parties would continue.

Any birthday,
anniversary, holiday...

Maybe some obscure project launch. It
didn't matter. Any reason would do.

What was important is that Thomas Granger,
their last best hope of funding, show up.

If he left a little earlier than they
would've liked, he couldn't be blamed.

He was only there to please
his daughter Rachel.

And she was only
there to please Abe.

What did you say to Mr.
Granger a while ago?

- Did you flip my burger?
- You can't call him Mr. Granger.

You have to call him, like,
Thomas or something.

- Go ahead.
- No, because he won't take you seriously.

- He thinks we're kids.
- Lf you call him Mr. Granger...

He looks at you like you're a 6-year-old kid.
He does it with me. It won't work anymore.

Abe had taken on the task of
quantifying and explaining the device.

But as weeks became months...

Their enthusiasm became a slow realization
that they were out of their depth.

There he is. I've been
calling you all morning.

- Where'd you call?
- Your work and your cell.

I'm not there.

Really?

- March madness?
- It's Carolina and Michigan.

- Who's up?
- I don't even know what.

Do you have anything
important at work today?

I hope you're not implying that any
day is unimportant at cortex semi.

I was going to come give you this
big speech about how we've been...

Friends for a long time and built
up trust, that whole thing.

But how about this instead?

If you ditch work this afternoon and promise
to do the few small things I ask you...

I will in return show you
the most important thing...

That any living organism
has ever witnessed.

Well, it looks like
mustard to me.

I know, but it's a film.
It's a protein...

Secreted by a fungus
called aspergillus ticor.

He told you that?

No, he knew it was a protein but
didn't know where it came from.

All he really did was just take
some pictures with their equipment.

Guess where we're going.

- Do you know where will is?
- No, why?

The Ariel meeting is pushed
back till Wednesday.

I thought he was waiting around
for it. Where are you going?

What do they do with
engineers when they turn 40?

- What, bradshaw?
- Exactly. You know what?

I do know where will is. I'll
let him know on my way out.

- Okay. Thanks.
- Can you meet me out front?

- You got to drive.
- Okay, here. Take my keys.

Okay, if you can, just pretend that
this is the first time I came in.

And if you would just tell him
exactly what you told me...

- Okay, so what is it?
- Protein buildup.

- Okay, can you just tell him?
- Protein buildup.

- But what kind?
- Some fungus.

- Some fungus.
- Where did it come from?

- I don't know. You were to take it to the lab.
- Yeah, that's next.

- You were in design, weren't you?
- Yeah.

How did you get over here?

Do you know what they do with
engineers when they turn 40?

They take them out
and shoot them.

What the hell, Abe? You could
have just shown me the pictures.

- I want you to believe it.
- Believe what, the protein?

- I believe you.
- Okay, look...

This guy already thinks it's a joke,
so he may be a little defensive.

Really? Why would he think that?

Please.

Aspergillus ticor.

This is a fungus
that's everywhere.

It's in our bed, our skin, sometimes
even our gi tract. Everywhere.

It's basically the reason you don't leave
things in dark, damp, closed-off places.

Thank you. Do you have
that sample I brought?

There it is. Terger.
T-e-r-g-e-r.

Okay, when I showed you this,
tell him what you thought.

- You thought it was a joke, right?
- It is a joke.

Right, but how did you know?

Will you show him? Please?

This is how I get protein a out of
aspergillus ticor. We sweeten it.

We agitate it. We spin it
around. We sweeten some more.

- Takes about a month.
- To get the same amount I brought in.

To get the same
amount I brought in.

So if it's an Incubator for
fungus, is that valuable?

- That's not what it is.
- Then what is it?

There's another way to secrete that
much protein. Do it naturally.

But that takes a lot longer.

If it has a little moisture and it's left alone,
it'll start secreting and it'll build up...

- And build up, but it takes a long time.
- How long?

- A long time.
- More than a few days? Then how long?

To get the same amount of
protein that we have...

The amount that I was wiping
off every five days...

And five days later it
would accumulate...

He says it would take
about five to six years.

I don't want to
belittle this guy.

So, I said screw it and i
put my watch in there.

- And?
- I want you to do it.

- Where is it? The box?
- I took it back to the shop.

- Wait, digital or old mechanical?
- Exactly. I did both.

- And what?
- I want you to do it.

We thought that we were
degrading gravity, right?

That we were blocking
that information.

I think we're doing more than that. I
think we're blocking more than that.

When you were controlling the feed,
did you notice it was parabolic?

It's important. Parabolas are
important. Here, look at this.

I don't know, Abe.

I'm going to start it up and
let it run for 60 seconds...

With nothing in it.
It's empty this time.

That's 22...

In all the equations that describe
motion and heat and entropy.

In all feynman diagrams what's the one
variable that you can turn negative...

And still get rational
answers for? It's not mass.

Twenty-two hours, 27
minutes in the box.

- It's an odd number.
- That's 1,347 minutes.

- 1,347, man, you got that fast.
- How did you know it's odd?

Because this is it. This is what's going
on. There's an "a" end and a "b" end.

Let's say the a end is 12:00,
and the b end is 12:01.

All right? We start the machine
with the weeble at the a end.

- It travels forward...
- You got to write this down.

- There's nothing to write down.
- I'll write it down.

It travels forward normally
towards the b end.

When it gets there, the feed
runs down parabolically...

Until it should stop, but it curves
back around towards the a end.

When it gets back to the a end...
Curve that around. The weeble...

Has experienced a total of two
minutes, and again it curves...

- Back around. It curves parabolically.
- Right.

It comes back around and it
does this about 1,300 times.

When it finally exits
on the b end...

It's traveled an odd number of
forward and backward trips.

What is so special about 1,300? Why is
it about 1,300? Why isn't it exact?

- This is not empirical.
- Here, give me that.

I don't know why it's not exact. There's
some sort of probability there.

Every time it hits the b
end there's a chance...

A small chance it won't curve
back around towards the a end.

And for some reason, it takes about
1,300 trips before it finally does.

It does have to exit, or else we
wouldn't be able to see it afterwards.

Okay, let's take a look at this.

Twenty-two hours, 14 minutes.

- 1,334 minutes.
- Even.

Enter at the b end.

Exit at the b end.

- I just want you to see it the way I saw it.
- I am trying, okay?

Everything we're putting in
that box comes ungrounded.

And I don't mean grounded to the
earth, I mean not tethered.

We're blocking whatever keeps it
moving forward, so they flip-flop.

Inside the box, it's like a street,
and both ends are cul-de-sacs.

This isn't frame dragging or wormhole
matching. It's basic mechanics and heat.

This is not mechanics and heat.

- We can publish.
- Yeah, we can publish.

No, I mean we can
really publish.

Aaron, the weeble's
stupid. It can't move.

Even if we were to put the
weeble in at point b...

It's still going to bounce back and forth
until it's kicked out at the b end.

But if it were smart...

It could enter at the b end and exit
at the a end before it flips back.

You're talking about
making a bigger one.

I didn't say anything. You're
the one talking about it.

So, you believe me?

No, I don't.

Come on. Let's go get
a drink or something.

- We're going to have to move it.
- We will.

We need a box big enough for a person
to fit into. As far as turning it on...

I was testing the box. It turns out
over half the rings are redundant.

The inner ring is strong enough on its
own, so it makes the plate smaller.

A lot more is unnecessary.
What we can do...

Is take a lot of these small plates and
surround a container with a web of them.

How small?

It should be accumulative so a lot of
mini-fields equal one big one, right?

Yeah, sum of series,
that makes sense.

What I was going to say is we need to
find a place where we can put it...

And turn it on and it
won't be disturbed.

We could just lock
it in a closet.

Someplace where someone's not going to
go poking around and messing with it.

And climate-controlled.

Yeah, so whatever,
we'll find some place.

So, if we go your route with
what? A bunch of mini-fields?

That's a lot of work. We'd have to...
I mean, how many days is that?

Abe, you know what we could use?

I know we've seen a lot of
crazy things lately, okay?

I know you're still trying to put it all
together in a way that makes sense.

Look, I just want you to understand
that what's next is not a prank, okay?

I wouldn't do that to you and
I'm not doing that to you.

So when you see this, you can't yell
or make any noise or run anywhere.

I know you probably feel like you're being
tricked or made fun of. But you're not.

I promise you, you're not. Okay?

Who was that, Abe?

Let's just wait. Six minutes.

Look, you sure you're
okay to drive?

What did you do all day?
The first time through?

I spent the day in a hotel
room in russellfield.

- I'll just meet you back at the shop.
- I wonder what I did.

- I guess I went back to work.
- Yeah, probably.

Probably just worked, I guess.

Yeah, probably so.

Look, now that I know
about this, Abe...

don't do this again, okay?
Not where it affects me.

Go ahead.

Hey, Rachel.

Why not the lottery?

We can if you want, but
it's not until Saturday.

And even if we win the full $10 million,
that's only $200,000 for the next 30 years.

- And that's just one good trade.
- A couple days like this.

- I was just running a test. In and out.
- I want to do what you did.

Exactly what you did.

- The first thing I did is call in sick.
- Okay, I did that.

- Then I drove to the storage facility.
- But I need to drop Lauren at school first.

Then meet me there. We're
going to need both cars.

We need to park yours down the road,
out of sight of the facility.

- Why are we doing that?
- Because we need a ride home.

- What is that...
- It'll make sense.

Okay, I'll be patient.

When I got to the storage room,
i flooded the box with argon...

And I had to tighten it
up to secure the leaks.

- There's leaks?
- There's always leaks.

At 8:30 A.M., I set the
timer for 15 minutes...

I jumped in the car, and
drove to russellfield.

Okay, I lost it.

- What?
- Why the timer?

Because the moment we start those
machines is the moment we'll end up...

- Getting out of them, and-
- right. Got it. Sorry.

I don't want to be standing
around when they do.

While I was on the road at 8:45,
the machine kicked on by itself...

And by 8:49, it was
completely warmed up.

In russellfield, I got a hotel
room and tried to isolate myself.

Wait, what do you
mean "isolate"?

I closed the windows, I unplugged
everything in the room...

The telephone, TV, clock,
radio, everything.

I didn't want to take the chance
of running into someone I knew...

Or seeing something on
the news that might...

If we're dealing with causality,
and I don't even know for sure.

- I just...
- What?

- Took myself out of the equation.
- Err on the side of caution.

Yes.

Then what did you do all day?

- I just sat there. I had some books, but...
- What? Were you nervous?

Yeah. It's mind-numbing,
all the second-guessing.

"Evacipate."

At 3:30 P.M., I stopped by
Williams medical supply.

Picked up a class e
oxygen tank and mask.

I called my mutual fund company and asked
which stock in their mid-cap fund...

Had the greatest
percentage gain that day.

The idea was just to get enough
information for one good trade.

Can we just download chart data
and trade on each movement?

But if we do that, I want to use the library
in russellfield, use their computers.

So, I got to the storage room at about
3:15 and cut off the power to the box.

It cycled down to a tolerable
level at about 3:19.

The trick is to get in after it
reaches a comfortable level...

But before it shuts off completely.
There's a window there.

So, does it hurt?

Yeah, it does a little.

It's not bad if you wait for the right
time. It's like a small static shock.

- Once you're in, you're fine, though.
- What?

I know you've done it, and I can
only assume that you don't have...

Cancer or male impotence.

But what is your opinion
on how safe this thing is?

I can imagine no way in which
this thing would be...

Considered anywhere
remotely close to safe.

All I know is I spent six hours
in there and I'm still alive.

You still want to do it?

I set the alarm on my
stopwatch for six hours.

I regulated the O2 tank, took some
dramamine, and tried to sleep.

Did you?

- What?
- Did you sleep?

Not at first. I've never considered
myself claustrophobic...

But I started sweating and I couldn't
find the right flow rate on the tank...

And I was breathing differently than I was
when I was testing it on the outside.

Eventually, I settled
down, and...

I don't know, maybe it was the dramamine
kicking in, but I remember this moment...

In the dark with the
reverberation of the machine.

It was maybe the most
content I've ever been.

I woke up on my own
without the alarm...

And waited for the machine to cool
down. Cool down from my perspective.

It got to a point where it
sounded safe to get out...

But the stopwatch still
showed a couple minutes...

So I trusted the
math and waited.

That's not a static shock,
Abe. Okay, please stop it.

You got out too soon.

You have to wait for the stopwatch so
that you know the gain is low enough.

So, we're back here?

Yeah, we're here. It's
8:50, Tuesday morning.

All right. Give
me a few minutes.

From there it was easy. The
bulk of the work was done.

I just left everything the way I found
it. I left the machine alone...

And didn't turn it off, and
just cleared out of there.

So your double would find everything the
same later that day and get in the box?

Right, but also, I or my double or
someone was in the box coming backwards.

So who knows what that would've
done if I'd turned the machine off.

Definitely. So, they're
one-time use only.

So then, at that moment, since my double
was on the way to the hotel in my car...

I had to take a taxi home. But when we
go, we'll be able to use your truck.

- You have a margin account, right?
- Yeah. I do now. What are we buying?

Good. Today, before 12:30, we'll buy
as many shares as we can of rgwu.

They'll say their earnings that quarter
are three and a half times consensus...

And the stock will nearly
double in afternoon trading.

- What do they do?
- What do you mean?

What does this company do?
Do they make things or...

I don't know. All that matters
is the price goes up.

The volume is so high that the number of
shares we trade won't affect the price.

You really don't
know what they do?

That's why you spoke about a mid-cap fund,
so volume is high enough to hide us.

- Do you think it's too cautious?
- I don't know.

I know there's a lot of
other stocks out there...

That do a lot more than double,
but this is my first day.

- My god.
- She's not going to answer.

I know, Abe. That's
the question.

I know, so what's the answer?
You've got the $400 billion...

You've gone the charity route, you
have this perfect 100-room mansion...

With matching his and her
yachts and helicopter pads.

Basically, you have absolute
impunity to do whatever you want...

Nobody can touch you.

- You're back from a two-year...
- Above the law.

Absolutely, well above. You're fresh back
from this two-year world-galloping vacation.

How do you fill your
day? What do you do?

Abe, I know that's the question, but it's
not a real question, so why does it matter?

So what's the answer?

Babe, he knows that's the question,
okay? He's asking you the question.

What do you mean? What would I do with
my life or what would I do tomorrow?

My god, either.

I'd have to do something constructive. I'd
have to do something that would help...

- Something that would make me feel good.
- I know. That's fantastic. Good.

- My wife. So good. So pure. You are pure.
- Shut up. Why did you ask, then?

This is what I would do: I would
wake up tomorrow morning...

And I'd go over to
Gabriel capital inc...

And I would tell Joseph platts'
receptionist that I'm there to see him...

And when he comes out...

I would ram my fist through
the flat of his nose.

Just one good punch,
one good pow.

- That's amazing. It's about time.
- That is so great.

Where did this come from? You're
always defending the guy.

- It's unnatural.
- I'd only do it if I knew that...

No one would find
out or get hurt.

Like, I wish that there was
a way that I could do it...

And then I go back and
tell myself not to.

Because I just want to know what
it feels like. That's all, really.

I'm so proud.

Finally, my husband, the hero.

- We can't do that.
- I know.

Did you call pest control?

Babe, they're birds. You don't want a bunch
of dead baby birds up there, do you?

- They don't sound like birds.
- She thinks there are rats in the attic.

But the idea had been spoken...

And the words wouldn't go back
after they had been uttered aloud.

So you are understanding
this, right?

You don't have to sell me
on not doing this, okay?

- I don't think I told you...
- Even if you do stop yourself...

Your double, from hitting platts, why
would he, your double, get in the box?

And with no need for it, no
possible real-world application...

No advantage at all to be gained
from it, the idea stayed.

- How would you do it?
- I wouldn't.

- Just for fun.
- I still wouldn't.

- But what if there was a way to...
- Look, Abe, look.

I'm not going to pretend like i
know anything about paradoxes...

Or what follows them, and honestly, i
really don't believe in that crap.

Kill your mom before you were born, whatever.
It has to work itself out somehow.

- I don't know.
- This is what I know for sure.

The worst thing in the world is to know
that the moment you are experiencing...

Has already been defined,
that this is the second...

Or third time through, or whatever.
And do you ever feel like...

I don't know, maybe things aren't right,
like maybe your life is in disarray...

Or just not what you would like and
you start to wonder what caused this.

People are always blaming
their parents...

As if, if their mom had breastfed
them, their lives would be different.

Bunch of whiners.

Yeah, they are. But what if it
wasn't something you wonder about?

What if you knew this is not the
way things are supposed to be?

I'm not like that. I'm not into the whole
"destiny, there's-only-one-right-way" thing.

I'm not, either.
But what's worse?

Thinking you're being paranoid
or knowing you should be?

You don't have to look at
me like that. I'm okay.

No, I just assumed that
you would. I trust her.

- I know that when I decided to tell you...
- Decided to tell?

I knew that you are married and that there's
no secrets. Anything I tell you, she'll know.

- It's not a matter of trust.
- I know.

It's just how much better will
it be if in a few days...

I surprise her and we all just fly to
Costa Rica or somewhere for a month?

We'll let her understand it gradually.
Maybe do some real estate shopping...

For now, you can tell her you
had a good day in the market.

- You don't understand.
- No.

You don't understand the
questions that come with that.

But we'll explain it to her,
and we'll take some time...

To figure out what's next...

Which, I think, should be building a
bigger box, like the size of a room...

Where more than one
person could fit in.

Safe or not, the thing feels
like a coffin the way it is.

By the way, this is our guy.

- What's the volume?
- Five-and-a-half.

What's the return? Holy...

No, I can't beat that. But mainly, I guess i
was just talking about Robert and Phillip.

I don't want to tell them.

I know they have a lot
invested in the group...

I don't want to tell them.

If you need me to take the
guilt on this one, fine, okay?

I accept it gladly. It's mine.

At the end of this week, they
can have whatever they want.

I'll turn over patent rights on
everything from the last two years.

They can have the equipment,
the garage, the house.

They can have my truck if
that makes you feel better.

But I am not telling them a
thing about this. We're not.

God, everything is so
different in there.

You can feel how
cut off you are.

It's this entirely separate world
and you encompass most of it.

And the sound. Isn't the sound
different on the inside?

It's like it's singing. I guess you
can't hear it on the outside...

- I had this dream in there.
- About what?

I was on or near the ocean, and
i just kept hearing the surf.

It was so uneventful.

At night. And the tide
kept coming in and out.

Come here for a second,
man. What's on your hand?

- Are you bleeding?
- That is blood.

- Turn around.
- You see it?

Where is it coming from?
It's your notebook.

- It's you. My gosh, it's on your ear.
- What is this?

- Your ear's bleeding. Man.
- Give me that. I got it.

- Is that normal? This isn't normal.
- For the machine?

For people. You think it's
the machine? I got it.

Great. I can actually get
some work done today.

Hi, guys, what's going on?

I always seem to get a lot more
done when I'm not locked out.

He says they had to spray again.

But he can't tell us about it
in advance. Is hero even here?

You never see anything around
here but those geckos.

- I know.
- I think it's for the geckos.

- What?
- Why?

- Hey, man, thanks for the present.
- How is that working out for you?

You know what? You guys, both of you, you
make fun, but there is a difference.

Wait. What did you call him?

- What?
- When you walked in? What did you say?

- He didn't tell you about it?
- No.

All right. Rachel's ex-boyfriend walks
into my birthday party with a shotgun.

- What?
- Swear to god.

I've already gotten
that speech from Kara.

- Filby!
- You'll get it. You have a wife and kid.

It's funny how you two are the only
people that have a problem with it.

- Everybody else thinks I did a good thing.
- You didn't.

You can't risk your life and especially
the welfare of Kara and Lauren...

For someone like Rachel.

She practically begs for
this to happen to her.

I figured at least
you'd understand.

Understand what? You've
never been like this.

That's what I mean. You see
how different things are now.

Different? How are
things different?

You see it, okay? I know you do.

Look, that was the night...

You had told me everything
about the machine.

Everything you showed me was so fresh
in my head and when I saw this guy...

I'm looking at him. I wasn't
going to let him do that.

I wasn't going to let him
scare people like that.

I know it was stupid, okay?

But I mean, this whole idea, this
whole thing that we're doing.

It just took some getting used to for me.
I wasn't completely acclimated to it.

If it was just you, you had to worry
about, I'd still think you're stupid.

But you have a family now,
and god, especially now...

Anything like this
would be crazy.

- I know, okay.
- I know you know that, but you've got to...

- I know, okay?
- Filby!

You little sack of... even if
you see him, don't tell me.

It's not my fault if I don't know,
and I just hope the thing runs away.

Then what are we doing out here?

She worries about the cat. So you
look for the cat. It's what you do.

- I don't know.
- What do you mean?

It's embarrassing that the storage
room guy sees us come in together...

But he never sees us leave.

Yeah, but what do you think
the receptionist thinks...

About two guys that come and get
a room for six hours every day?

Did you unplug this?

You brought your cell phone?

Can I check the caller ID?

Yeah, we're not back.

Yeah, but you can't take
it back with you, okay?

This is Aaron. Hey, babe.

I'm not there. I had to come downtown
and hold some of these guys' hands.

Tell me.

That sounds good. No, I've got
to eat with these offsite fags.

Save mine, though.
I'll have it later.

Okay. Yeah, 6:00.

- What?
- What?

We're supposed to win this by two, they
just turned over with 12 on the clock.

- We have to foul.
- No.

What? No, we foul here, they
miss the first free throw...

- And they come back with the three.
- Three points.

That's right.

Man, are you hungry? I haven't
eaten since later this afternoon.

What's up, you guys?

- You have got to be kidding.
- I'm sorry. I forgot it was in my pocket.

- It's Kara?
- Yeah.

How do cell phones work?

If there's two duplicate phones
and I call the same number...

Do they both ring at the
same time, or is there...

- That's not how they work.
- It's a radio signal.

No, it's a network.

It checks each area and when it
finds the phone, it stops ringing.

It rings the first one.

- This one is ringing.
- Right.

So the one your double has
in russellfield can't be.

Right. I think we
broke symmetry.

- Are you sure that's how cell phones work?
- No.

You feel all right?

- I feel fine. Do you?
- Yeah.

Is Kara asleep? Did
i wake you up?

Yeah. No, not me, it
felt more like a nap.

I think my body's getting used to
these 36-hour days. What's going on?

We can do this, but
we have to do it now.

- Do you have his home address?
- Why now?

We were planning on taking a trip
tomorrow, right? Just like today?

Yeah, for stocks.

Okay, well, half an hour ago I was
asleep. This car alarm woke me up.

These kids were down skating
by, hitting cars on the block.

So we go right now, do our business
at platts', get back in the box...

And come back before those
kids set off those alarms.

All we really have to do is stand there in
plain sight. That should scare them off.

That way my double sleeps
through the night...

They don't have this conversation, and
they get in the box tomorrow as usual.

- They'll be changed. But...
- Yeah, but at least they'll get in the box.

Wait, how do we go back that far if
the machines haven't been running?

- Have they been running?
- Yeah.

I started going by at 5:00, and
turning them on, 5:00 P.M.

I got tired of the whole
unanswerable question...

Are we doing this as an experiment
or are we doing this for me?

- A little of both.
- 5:00.

If we get this done by 3:00,
that's 10 hours in the box.

I've got the O2
tanks in the car.

- Is that...
- Is that Rachel's car?

No, that's not Rachel's, that's her
dad's. They have the same kind.

Did you see that?

That's Mr. Granger. That's Thomas.
He's sitting in that car.

What?

I swear that was him. What
the hell is he doing...

Sitting outside my house
at 2:00 in the morning?

I don't believe this.
What, is he following us?

- What are you doing?
- Let's just see what he wants.

No, let's just get out of my
neighborhood first. Come on.

- Did you see him today?
- No.

I did. I saw him
this afternoon...

Around 6:00.

Are you sure you didn't see
him when we drove past?

No, what?

I'm positive this afternoon he
was clean-shaven. I know he was.

He was ready to go to some
function with his wife.

He looks like he's got a two
or three-day growth now.

- Are you sure?
- No, I'm not sure, but I think so.

Rachel. This is Abe.
Did I wake you up?

Can I get your dad's number
from you real quick?

Yeah. Okay, go ahead.

- Yeah, thanks.
- What's he doing?

He's just sitting there.

He got out for a second and i
thought he was coming over...

And then he got back in the
car. I think he's drunk.

Hi, sorry to call so late.

May I speak to Thomas
Granger, please?

Yeah, this is James Miller
from putney and Myers.

Hi, Mr. Granger?

Thomas Granger?

What are you doing
here? Come here!

What happened?

I'm okay. I slipped.

I want to know what box he used. You
built one for you, right? Just one.

Yeah. How many do
you think I made?

These are set right. I
turned them on at 5:00.

He could have used one
and gone back to 5:00.

He could be in one
of them right now.

I say we shut them off and
see if he's in there.

Were you planning
on talking to him?

Just tell me if you were.
I'm not going to be mad.

No, I promise you.
You know I wouldn't.

Are you sure you wouldn't?

You're the one he can't get
near without passing out.

There is no way I would tell
anyone about this. No way.

- Can you think of any reason you might?
- No.

Sometimes we do things but don't
know how we got to that point.

- No, I can't.
- Can't what?

I can't think of any
reason why I would.

Well, I can't either.

What if it was an emergency?

- So you'd do it if it was an emergency?
- No, I don't know. What, so you might then?

I don't know. What
kind of emergency?

The permutations were endless.

They tried again going
to the source...

But even while keeping him
separated from Abe by two rooms...

Ask him his name.

Granger's condition could
only be described as vegetative.

What did he say?

From this they deduced that
the problem was recursive...

But beyond that, found themselves
admitting, against their own nature...

And once again, that the
answer was unknowable.

- What do you think he changed?
- Not much.

We didn't have any contact with him in
the 3 hours he could've done anything.

I know he changed this. I know we weren't
having this conversation the first time...

So you don't know what we lost.

It really could not
have been much.

It doesn't matter how much. It
just matters that it's changed.

I know what you're saying.

The question should have been...

What to do with the comatose
man in the guest bedroom.

But in Abe's mind he was
already compiling the list.

Two mg of oral triazolam...

Every seven hours induces a safe sleep
state and a minimal metabolic rate.

At this continued
state of rest...

The human body breathes 0.3
liters of oxygen a minute...

Or roughly 2,000
liters in four days.

A class e oxygen tank
holds 625 liters.

To maintain hydration...

The body cycles through a minimum of
two-and-a-half liters of water per day.

Any food would be a luxury...

But the small tank of medical
grade nitrous oxide...

Would be needed on
the other side.

Past the room that contained their
machines and up two levels...

He made his way to
another room...

Where he had stored what I will refer to
from here on as the failsafe machine.

There he is. I've been
calling you all morning.

Really?

Your cell and work.

I'm not there.

Really?

I don't even know what.

I'm just tired.

I hope you're not implying that any
day is unimportant at cortex semi.

I was going to come give you this
big speech about how we've been...

Friends for a long time and built
up trust, that whole thing.

But how about this instead?

If you ditch work this afternoon and promise
to do the few small things I ask you...

I will in return show you
the most important thing...

That any living organism
has ever witnessed.

At this point there would
have been some discussion.

Abe would, of course,
want to know how.

Aaron would have to explain all
about the storage manifest...

And how it showed two rooms
under the name Abram terger.

Then Abe would need to know how.

Aaron would explain that
when he went up there...

And found the
failsafe running...

He knew exactly what it was.

But Abe would ask how.

And then the bit about the
modular design of the coffins...

And how it meant he could fold one
up and take it back inside another.

They are not one-time use only.

They are recyclable,
Aaron would say.

How, Abe would ask.

And Aaron would describe how
simple things become...

When you know precisely what
someone will have for breakfast...

Even in a world of
tamper-proof lids.

How?

And that's where I would
have entered the story.

Or exited, depending
on your reference.

Because when Aaron came back the
second time, it wasn't so easy.

He wasn't expecting
me to put up a fight.

And by that time, he was
too exhausted to take me.

But for reasons that are
only evident to me now...

I understood that he
simply wanted it more.

That he just had more
invested. So I left.

He had already performed the
task, as I had intended to...

Of recording the conversations
of the day just in case.

Through that earpiece he had a
three-second lead on the world.

Aaron, you need some
sleep. Some real sleep.

I can't. I've got a schedule.

He had but to speak aloud the
words that came into his head...

And those around him
would fall in line.

This is track 3.

Abe is bringing my car around and
i am on my way to the court.

I'll see will there.

I'll invite him to the party and make
sure he's bringing Rachel's boyfriend.

Will.

You pretentious prick.

What the hell is that?
Is that your cell phone?

- No, it's a radio, man.
- You look like secret service.

- You look like secret service.
- Ariel meeting is moved to Wednesday.

What? What the hell am i
hanging around here for?

Yeah, I know. Sorry.

Nice shot, Aaron.

Brick. That is ugly, Aaron.

We could have used that
last week against ti.

At least you've got your golf game.
I see you've been practicing.

You come out here with your $3 tie
and think you can play whiteball.

What are you doing tonight?

I was supposed to be in Raleigh.
Thanks to you I missed my flight.

- You know Robert?
- Yeah.

He's got a birthday tonight.
Why don't you come out?

- I'm just going to hang out with my cousin.
- Bring him. Rachel will be there.

- Big reunion.
- Exactly.

I don't think I'm doing this.

Why not?

Because I can think of a million
different ways that this can happen...

And nobody comes anywhere
near getting hurt.

I can call her and see if she
wants to do something else...

Or better yet, not even talk
to her about the party.

That's good for tonight. What about
tomorrow? And every other day?

- I'll take care of tomorrow, tomorrow.
- You'll watch her always.

This guy is crazy enough to walk into
a room of people waving a shotgun.

What do you think he'll do
if he ever finds her alone?

This way, we know exactly what happens.
We have complete control over it.

At the end of the night, this guy
is arrested and goes to jail.

That's the way it goes.
Your words, not mine.

Now come on, it has to be you.

She said she was there because
you told her you would be there.

Don't tell me I came back
and did this for nothing.

He doesn't fire?

- No. He didn't fire.
- He never fires?

- Not even when you rushed him?
- No. He didn't.

He didn't the time i
was, when I rushed him.

And from what Robert tells
you, he didn't do it tonight.

He doesn't have the nerve.
We know everything.

Okay? We're prescient.

We can still be careful.

Maybe we can get to the
gun without him knowing.

We definitely can.

He leaves it in the truck before he
goes in. We don't even need to...

- But if it makes you feel better...
- What's wrong with our hands?

What do you mean?

Why can't we write
like normal people?

I don't know. I can
see the letters.

I know what they should look like. I just
can't get my hand to make them easily.

Try comparing it to your left
hand. Mine looks the same.

Guess what today is.

No, no. It's your friend
Robert's birthday.

He says he likes records, so
i got him the best of bread.

No, real records, like vinyl.

I can tell you with certainty what i
did that night when it was my turn.

But I think it would do little good,
because what the world remembers...

The actuality, the last revision
is what counts, apparently.

So how many times did
it take Aaron...

As he cycled through the
same conversations...

Lip-synching trivia
over and over?

How many times would it take
before he got it right?

Three? Four?

Twenty?

I've decided to believe that only
one more would have done it.

I can almost sleep at night
if there is only one more.

Slowly and methodically, he
reverse-engineered a perfect moment.

He took from his surroundings
what was needed...

And made of it something more.

And once the details had been
successfully navigated...

There would be nothing left to
do but wait for the conflict.

Maybe the obligatory
last-minute moral debate...

Until the noise of the room
escalates into panic...

And background screams
as the gunman walks in.

And eventually he must have got it perfect
and it must have been beautiful...

With all the praise and
adoration he had coming.

He had probably saved
lives, after all.

Who knows what would have
happened if he hadn't been there?

I know that things
are bad, okay?

I know that you don't agree
with what I've done.

I know that you're upset.

And to be honest, I'm not too happy
with you, either, right now.

But you know that this is
going to pass. Let's just go.

Let's go somewhere where we
don't speak the language.

Aaron, we don't have
the money back here...

And we'd have to steal
our own passports.

Money? We'll make money.

They have sports betting
in Vegas. March madness.

We'll make enough in one night
to finance a thousand vacations.

Passports. You know they're
not using theirs, anyways.

Now, come on. I'm
thinking star city.

Check out the cosmonaut
training grounds.

I'm staying here.

Why?

They'll be building their
own boxes in another day.

And yours already knows
what they've built.

You're not going to be able
to watch them forever.

The box Abe is
building won't work.

He's got it wired wrong.

And if they fix that...

I'll start actually taking pieces
out of it. It's just a gimmick.

It doesn't work anymore.

Your double will say they have
to move on to something else.

And mine will agree.
They're friends.

You're staying? Why?

Why? Let's see, why
would Abe stay?

What possible reason could
there be to be here?

I guess that it just won't
go back far enough, will it?

Tell you what, why don't you take Kara
and Lauren and put them in the box...

And then you and Aaron can each keep a
set and you can stop feeding off it.

- Don't come back.
- You can each keep a set and a hemisphere.

There hasn't been a reason to
show you what I'm capable of...

But I'm telling this
you now. Go out there.

Do whatever the hell you want. There's
no way in the world I can stop you.

But don't come back here...

And don't come near them.

Any of them.

Now I have repaid any
debt I may have owed you.

You know all that I know.

My voice is the only proof that you
will have of the truth of any of this.

I might have written a
letter with my signature...

But my handwriting is
not what it used to be.

Maybe you've had the presence
of mind to record this.

That's your prerogative.

You will not be
contacted by me again.

Good morning.

Every half-meter.

Everywhere.

And if you look, you
will not find me.