Original subtitles

'Here's what's going to happen.

'I'm gonna read this, and you're gonna listen,

'and you're gonna stay on the line, and you're not gonna interrupt.

"You're not gonna speak for any reason.

'Some of this you know.

'I'm gonna 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 judgement

'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 for maybe in the geological sense.

"They took from their surroundings what was needed,

'and made of it something more.'

- I extended that. - Wait, what order date you put on this?

- The 28th. Why? What do you care? - I don't know...

- Yeah, I'm putting the 28th. - Have you...

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

- Uh, not really. - Because I was...

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

Phillip and I were talking. We think it'd be good. It'd be fun.

Look, nobody's saying it wouldn't be fun.

It's just, the time for jacking around with Tesla coils and ball lightning in the garage is over.

Maybe this is something you should try on your own, in your free time, you know?

My free time? Which free time? Free time after the 50 hours at work,

after the 30 hours I already spend in that garage?

We're all working the same schedule.

And it's not a Tesla coil.

I guess I could shave a couple of minutes off my day by eating on the toilet.

Look, how many patents do we have? In the last 14 months?

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

It doesn't matter, we're sticking to the agreement.

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

If you're talking about...

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

I know I'm not. Are you?

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

And when you look at the addresses on these things,

we have a lot of apartments, a lot of residences.

But these are not the bulk orders to 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're not going to get into now...

Maybe we should get into it.

I'm sorry. What?

Go ahead. Tell him.

Maybe we should get into it. I talked to my brother today.

He knows of at least two other cases.

We should at least let platts know we're talking about it.

Forget platts.

This has got to start being about what has the best chance of going to market,

and what is going to get us that vc attention.

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

when 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. - No, really.

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

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

- Good night, y'all. - See you.

We just got done giving this huge speech about this.

- What, we gave a speech? - We just got done. It was five minutes ago.

No, I gave a speech. I'm the one who forced the issue, remember?

And in fact, you know, they're onto us because I suck as a bad cop.

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

I don't know about that either.

Look, 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.

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

But you know I have no interest in that. And I know you have no interest in that,

besides the fact that Phillip and Robert don't even need us for what they want to do.

They just want to use the equipment.

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

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

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

She's gonna wind up in the closet if I do it.

That's fine.

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

I don't even think I understand what we're saying the thing's going to do.

I think we should let them go at it for the next two months.

You know, they do theirs, we do ours.

They said it'd take 14 hours from the time we installed it.

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

We have to throw 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. - No, that's what this is, ok?

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

This way we don't have to play the game where we're going back and forth

coming up with new and innovative ways to make the thing colder,

- and generally unusable in the process. - Aaron, I need the hexagonal set.

- And unmarketable. - Right, and unmarketable.

By coming at it from the back end,

see, rather than changing the surrounding temperature,

we'll just change the level that it'll conduct, the transition temperature.

And, see, by bombarding these edges...

What he's saying is, these guys, they're dropping the ceramic,

the temperature lower and lower.

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

Exactly. What he's saying is...

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

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

- what's going on inside the ceramic. - It's smart.

And 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. - What? Is that going to be a problem?

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

- If I have to buy the kits, 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 anyways.

If you gotta buy 'em, you gotta buy 'em, but everything else we can take care of.

What are you doing about the source here?

You know that story about how NASA spent millions of dollars

developing this pen that writes in zero-g?

- Did you ever read that? - Yeah.

- 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.

- It's a palladium, right? - You got their diagram, what does it say?

They use a ratio of both, platinum and palladium.

But I don't know if that's necessary.

I think they're just showing off. If you have it, you gotta use it, right?

I want to get a replacement router.

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

- Yeah, I already got his eye. - I can't fix it.

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

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

Platinum or palladium is less resistant?

- Abe. - Just, 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... - Collet nut? Yeah.

- Flip the... - Robert did it.

Well, yes. Yeah, I guess. Aye.

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.

What?

I'm just saying, why would they put it in there if you didn't need it?

One catalytic converter. It's fine. Just remember to put it back, ok?

Your emissions went up 300%.

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

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

Ok, copper tubing.

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

- Yeah. - Yeah.

We can use the freon, too.

No, I told you it's gonna be room temperature.

I know. Just in case.

No, no, wait, wait. Aaron, stop, stop. I'll just buy the tubing.

This isn't saving us money. Wait. Did you cut anything?

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

Should we be wearing goggles?

- Should we be wearing goggles? - What?

Goggles. Should we be wearing goggles?

Oh, wait, Phillip. You don't want to come out here.

Phillip, grab a mask, ok?

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

No, it's definitely smaller, but...

I think it just seems that way. I mean, take what they have.

Ok, minus the coolant, ok? Which we don't need.

The rest of it is the Mercury bath,

which I mean, you would know better than I do,

but they're probably just showing off.

I mean, if you have it, you've got to use it, right?

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

That sound is just weirding me out.

Wow.

- 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. Yeah.

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

- I don't know. - Anything we can use as a window? Pyrex?

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

I don't know of anything that's not going to 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.

- Wait, which one is that? - It's the blue one.

- 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 litres of argon.

Ready?

- Just the plate first, right? - Right, first just the plate, and then we'll...

Ok, let's just give it a second.

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

- Ok, let's go through the checklist, then. - Aaron, hold on a second.

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

Just wait.

Ok.

Anything?

- Is this normal? - 1 don't know.

- I'm turning it off. - Wait!

- No, it's frying my camera. - Not yet!

Ok, I didn't do that.

Did we blow something?

Yeah, yeah, we did.

That's destroyed.

- Here, you want to check your camera? - Yeah.

Let's get this.

- You ready? - Yeah.

One, two, three.

- Hey. - 'Hey, hey, tell me you're hungry.

'Kara's at her mom's and I'm starving."

Uh... yeah. Yeah, yeah, I'm hungry. What...

'Abe, it's 7:00.

- 'Abe, it's 7:00 at night.' - Ok, yeah, I have food...

'Ok, ok. Wait, wait, wait. Are those kids there?'

uh, just a sec.

Yeah. Yeah, they're here.

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

no, wait. Come up here first. I have some stuff I want to take back to the shop.

'All right, but meet me at the door.'

ok, all right.

'Seriously, meet me at the door. I'm coming up right now.'

I'll do it. Ok. All right. All right, see you.

Ok.

Hey, Brad.

What's up, Abe?

- Hey, Brad. How are you? - Good.

How long did he say he was going to be there?

Not long.

I just think if he's got problems, he's got to fix them. You're not the guy's dad.

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

It definitely is charity. At least you admit that.

Hey, you feel like a steak?

To eat.

No, 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. - Ok.

Uh, we can get some tacos on the way,

and I know where 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? - Huh? What?

Looks like a dog digested it.

Ok, that's the plate.

I rigged this into the box so I could have some control over the feed.

- I figured it's the easiest way... - This is controlling the box.

- Right, just the box. - The plate stays the same.

Yeah, the plate's the same. What you do is you gradually feed it...

Till

ok. You hear that? How it's, 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 off, too, by the time it reaches the peak.

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

- Ok, what am I looking at? - What are we pulling out of the batteries?

I don't know, probably 24 volts.

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

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 don't know. I spent all last night and a two-hour lunch break today

just double-checking everything.

We're missing something. 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.

I mean, it's probably the batteries.

They're cheap batteries, you know, probably not regulated right.

It is weird, though.

You want to see something weirder?

Ok, 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, I mean, it winds down in a few minutes, but what does that?

I don't know. I'll tell them something.

I'll tell them we're spraying for bugs or something.

It should just be a day or two anyways.

- Unless you want to bring them in. - No, no, it's just...

I mean, they have their work in there, too.

You know, if Phillip finds out about that or even sees it,

- he's going to have to take it apart. - I'm just putting a love tweak on it.

Yeah, I know. No, you're right.

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

'There was value in the thing, clearly. That they were certain of.

'But what is the application?

'In a matter of hours, it was 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.

'And if he left a little earlier than they would've liked,

'well, he couldn't be blamed.

'He was only there to please his daughter Rachel.

'And she was only there to please Abe.'

hey, what did you say to mr Granger earlier?

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

You have to call him Thomas or something.

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

- He's my dad's age. - But he thinks we're kids.

If you call him mr Granger, he looks at you like you're a six-year-old kid.

He does it with me.

- That's not going to work anymore. - Why do you have to be so...

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

'But as weeks became months, their enthusiasm became a slow realisation

'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.

No, no. Just... look, I was going to come give you this big speech

about how we've been friends for a long time and built up trust, and that whole big thing.

But how about this instead?

If you ditch work this afternoon and promise to do the few small things that 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 he didn't know where it came from.

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

- Hey, guess where we're going. - Do you know where will is?

The Ariel meeting is pushed back till Wednesday.

I just 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, ok?

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

- Are you gonna drive? - Ok, here. Take my keys.

Ok, 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...

- Ok, so what is it? - Protein build-up.

Ok, can you just tell him?

- Protein build-up. - But what kind?

Some fungus. Some fungus.

Where did it come from?

I don't know. You were supposed to take it to the lab.

Yeah, that's next.

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

How did you get over here?

You know what they do with engineers when they turn 40?

They take them out and shoot them.

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

I want you to believe it.

- Believe what, the protein? I believe you. - Ok, look.

This guy already thinks it's a joke, ok? 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, on our skin, sometimes even our gl 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.

Ok, 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 one other way it could secrete that much protein. It could do it naturally.

But that takes a lot longer. A lot longer.

But 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? - Yes.

Then how long?

He says to get the same amount of protein that we had,

the same 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 want to belittle this guy. - Exactly.

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.

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

Did you notice when you were controlling the feed,

did you notice it was parabolic?

Ok, it's important. Parabolas are important. Here, look at this.

I don't know, Abe.

Now I'm going to start it up and let it run for 60 seconds with nothing in it, ok?

- It's empty this time. - That's 22.

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

Just one minute. Just a second.

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

and still get rational answers for?

- One minute out here... - It's not mass, it's not...

- 22 hours, 27 minutes in the box. - It's odd, it's an odd number.

How many minutes is that? That's 1,347 minutes.

Ok, yeah, 1,347, man, you got that fast.

Why is it odd? How'd you know it was odd?

Because this is it, ok? This is what's going on.

There's an "a" end and there's 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.

- Aaron, there's nothing to write down. - I'm writing it down.

Fine, it travels forward normally towards the "b" end,

and when it gets there, the feed runs down parabolically

until it should stop, but it doesn't. It curves back around towards the "a" end.

When it gets back to the "a" end... Now, curve that around.

Ok, now the weeble has experienced a total of two minutes, and again it curves...

Back around. It curves parabolically.

Right. So, it comes back around again, and it does this about 1,300 times,

and when it finally exits on the "b" end,

it's travelled an odd number of forward and backward trips.

Now, 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.

Ok, every time it hits the "b" end there's a chance, ok?

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.

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

Ok, let's take a look at this.

Yeah, 22 hours, 14 minutes.

1,334 minutes.

Fven.

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, ok? I really am, here.

Look, everything we're putting in that box becomes ungrounded.

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

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

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

I mean, this isn't frame dragging or wormhole matching.

- This is basic mechanics and heat 101. - 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.

I mean, even if we were to put the weeble in at point "b"

it's still just going to bounce around back and forth,

until it gets 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.

You're talking about making a bigger one.

I... 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. - Yeah.

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

We need a box big enough for a person to fit into, right?

As far as turning it on...

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

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

- No. - And there's a lot more that's unnecessary.

Look, what we can do is take a lot of these small plates

and surround a container with a web of them.

How small?

Well, I mean, it should be accumulative,

so a lot of mini-fields equal one big one, right?

Yeah, I mean, yeah. Sum of series, that makes sense.

What I was going to say though, is we need to find someplace where we can put it,

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

- I mean someplace... - We could just lock it in a closet.

No, safer than a closet.

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

And climate-controlled.

Yeah, yeah, so whatever, we'll find someplace.

But I mean, 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? You know what we could use?

What?

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

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

- But you got everything. - No, no, I don't.

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

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

- So when you see this, you can't yell... - Did you bring one with you?

Or make any noise or run anywhere. Ok?

I know you probably feel like you're being tricked or made fun of.

But you're not, ok? I promise you. You're not.

Ok?

Who was that, Abe?

Let's just wait.

Six minutes.

Look, you sure you're ok to drive?

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

I spent the day in a hotel room in russelfield.

- Look, I'll just meet you back at the shop. - Wonder what I did.

- 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, ok? Not where it affects me.

Go ahead.

Hi, Rachel.

Why not the lottery?

Well, we can if you want, but it's not till Saturday.

But even if we win the full $10 million,

it's only a couple of hundred thousand a year for, what, the next 30 years?

Only.

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

That was just running a test. In and out.

Ok. Well, I want to do what you did. Ok? Exactly what you did.

Ok, the first thing I did is call in sick.

- Ok, I did that. - And then I drove to the storage facility.

Ok, but I need to drop I auren off at school first.

Ok, then meet me there. We're going to need both cars.

But we need to park yours way down the road, out of sight of the facility.

- Wait, why are we doing that? - Because we need a ride home.

- What is that... - No, it'll make sense.

Ok, I'll be patient.

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

and then I had to tighten it up to secure the leaks.

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

At 8:30am I set the timer for 15 minutes,

I jumped in the car, and drove to russelfield.

- Ok, 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.

Yep.

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 russelfield I got a hotel room and tried to isolate myself.

Wait, what do you mean, "isolate"?

I mean, 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.

Well, then what did you do all day?

I just sat there. I mean, I had some books, but...

What? Were you nervous?

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

Evacipate.

At 2:30pm, I stopped by Williams medical supply,

and 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.

When we go, can we just download chart data? Trade on each movement?

Yeah, but if we do that, I want to use the library in russelfield,

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.

You see, 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. Yeah, it does a little.

It's not bad, though, 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, ok? And I can only assume that you don't have

cancer or male impotence because of it.

But I mean, what is your opinion on how safe this thing is?

Aaron, 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.

You know, 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 a lot 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 there, 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 is not a static shock, Abe.

Ok, 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 or anything,

ok, so that way, your double would find everything

exactly the same later that day and get in the box?

Right, right, but also, at that point, I or my double or someone

was in the box coming backwards.

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

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

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

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're going to buy as many shares as we can of rgwu.

Then they'll announce that their earnings for the 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... what does this company do? Do they make things or...

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

And the volume is so high that the number of shares we're trading

is not going to affect the price.

You really don't know what they do?

That's why you were talking about a mid-cap fund,

so the volume would be high enough to hide us.

- Do you think that'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 getting paid, already. - I know, Abe.

- This is what she does. - That's the question.

I know, so what's the answer? I mean, 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.

I mean, basically, you have absolute impunity to do whatever you want.

- Nobody can touch you. - Yeah.

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

Well, 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, ok? He's asking you the question.

Well, what do you mean? What would I do with my life

- or what would I do tomorrow? - My god, either.

Well

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

- Something to make you 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's so great.

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

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

you know, no one would find out or get hurt or anything.

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

and, uh, go back and tell myself not to.

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

I'm so proud.

Finally, my husband, the hero.

You 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'd been uttered aloud.'

so you're understanding this, right?

Look, Abe, you don't have to sell me on not doing this, ok?

I don't really think I told you...

The thing is, even if you do stop yourself, your double, from hitting platts,

then why would he, your double, get back 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, you know?

Or what follows them. And honestly, I really don't believe in any of that crap.

I mean, kill your mom before you were born, whatever.

It has to work itself out somehow.

- I don't know, man. - Look, this is what I know for sure, ok?

About the worst thing in the world

is to know that the moment you're experiencing has already been defined,

that this is the second or third time through, or whatever, and...

Do you ever feel, you know, 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, you know,

"what caused this? How did things get like this?"

You know, people are always blaming their parents, you know,

as if their mom would have breastfed them, their lives would have turned out different.

- Bunch of whiners. - Yeah, they're a bunch of whiners.

But what if it wasn't something you wondered about.

What if you knew for sure 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.

Abe, I'm not, either, ok? But what's worse?

You know, thinking you're being paranoid or knowing you should be?

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

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

I know that when I decided to tell you...

- Not that I was ever thinking of not... - Decided to tell me? Thank you.

I just knew that you're married and that there's no secrets,

and anything I tell you, she'll know.

- It's not a matter of trust. - No, I know.

It's just how much better will it be if in a few days, you know,

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

You know, we'll let her understand it gradually.

- Maybe do some real estate shopping... - For now, though, if you wanted to,

you can just 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, ok?

But we'll explain it to her,

and we'll all just take some time to figure out what's next,

which, right away I think, should be building a bigger box,

like the size of a room or something,

at least more than one person could fit into it.

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...

Yeah. No, I can't beat that.

But mainly, I guess I was just talking about Robert and Phillip, you know.

I don't want to tell them.

I know they have a lot invested in the group, and I just...

I don't want to tell them.

Abe, if you need me to take the guilt on this one, fine.

Ok? I accept it gladly. It's mine.

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

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, ok?

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, you know.

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.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

Hey, whoa, 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.

- Aaron, it's you. - What is this?

My gosh, it's on your ear. Your ear's bleeding. Man.

Give me that. I got it.

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

No, for people. You think it's the machine?

I got it.

Great. We 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.

Yeah. He said they had to spray again.

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

Besides, you never see anything around here but those geckos, anyway.

- Oh, I know. - Yeah, I think it's for the geckos.

- What? - Why?

Oh, hey, man, thanks for the present.

Yeah... yeah, 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 really 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.

Yeah, Abe. I've already gotten that speech from Kara.

You're going to get it from me. You have a wife and kid.

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

- Everybody else thinks I did a good thing. - Well, you didn't.

You can't go risking your life and especially the welfare of Kara and Lauren

for someone like Rachel.

She practically begged for this to happen to her.

I figured at least you'd understand this.

Understand what? You've never been like this.

That's what I mean. You see.

You see how different things are now.

Different? How are things different?

You see it, ok? I know you do.

Look, that was the night you had told me everything about the machine, ok?

And everything you told me was so fresh in my head,

and when I saw this guy,

you know, 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. And I...

I know it was stupid, ok?

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.

Ok. If it was just you you had to worry about,

you know, I'd still think you're stupid. But now, you have a family now.

And god, especially now, to risk anything would be completely crazy.

I know, ok?

And the thing is, I know you know that, but you've got to...

I know, ok? I know.

Filby!

Filby!

You little sack of... you know what? Even if you see him, don't tell me.

It's not my fault if I don't know. 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 just a little embarrassing.

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... we're not back.

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

This is Aaron. Hey, babe.

Yeah, 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'l have it later.

Ok.

Yeah. Um... yeah, 6:00.

What?

- What? - We're supposed to win this by two.

They just turned over with the 12 on the clock.

We have to foul

- no. - No, we have to foul.

What? No, we foul here,

they miss the first free throw, they come back with a three, that's right.

That's right.

Yeah.

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

What's up, you guys?

- You have to be kidding me. - I'm sorry.

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. - They both ring. It's a radio signal.

No, it's a network.

The network checks each area. When it finds the phone, it stops ringing.

It only... it rings the first one.

This one's ringing.

Right.

So the one your double has in russelfield 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. - Ok, well...

Half an hour ago I was asleep. This car alarm woke me up.

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

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

and come back to right before those kids are setting off the alarms.

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

So that way my double sleeps through the night,

they don't have the conversation we're having now,

and they get in the box tomorrow as usual.

- Yeah. 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 five o'clock and turning them on, 5:00pm.

I just 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. - Five o'clock.

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

I've got the O2 tanks in the car.

It's going to be a long day.

- 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... 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...

Just sitting outside my house at 2:00 in the morning?

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

Abe, what are you doing?

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

No, let's just get out of my neighbourhood first.

- But why? - Come on.

- Did you see him today? - No.

I did. I saw him this afternoon. Around 6:00.

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

No, what?

I'm almost positive this afternoon he was clean-shaven. In fact, I know he was.

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

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

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

Hey, Rachel. Hey, this is Abe. Did I wake you up?

Yeah, hey, can I get your dad's number from you real quick?

Yeah. Ok, go ahead.

- All right, yeah, thanks. - Wait, what's he doing?

He's just sitting there.

He got out for a second and I don't know, 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?

Hey! Hey! What are you doing here? Come here!

What happened?

I'm ok. I slipped.

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

Yeah. How many do you think I made?

And 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, just tell me.

No, I promise you. You know I wouldn't. Are you sure you wouldn't?

You're the one that 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, I can't.

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.

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.'

ok, go ahead.

"They tried again going to the source,

'but even while keeping him separated from Abe by two rooms...

Ask him his name.

'...Thomas 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?

It couldn't have been much. We didn't have any contact with him

in the three hours he could've done anything.

I know he changed this.

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

- So you don't know what we lost. - Really, it could not have been much.

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

- Look, Abe, I know what you're saying, ok? - 'The question should have been

'what to do with the comatose man in the guest bedroom.'

we can wait this out.

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

"Two milligrams 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 litres of oxygen a minute,

'or roughly 2,000 litres in four days.

"To maintain hydration,

"the body cycles through a minimum of two-and-a-half litres 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, and that whole thing.

'But how about this instead?

'If you ditch work this afternoon and promise to do the few small things that 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.

'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,

'l 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'm on my way to the court.

I'l see will there.

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

- "Hey, wl.' - "Hey."

- Will, hey. - "You pretentious prick!'

you pretentious prick. What the hell is that? Your cell phone?

- No, it's a radio. - 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. I'm sorry. - 'Nice shot, Aaron.'

prick. That is ugly, Aaron.

"We could have used that last week against ti."

At least you've got your golf game, right?

'I see you've been practising.'

you come out here with your $3-tie and think you can play white ball.

- Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone. - 'What are you doing tonight?"

Hey. What are you doing tonight?

I was supposed to be in Raleigh, but thanks to you guys 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.

- Oh, big reunion. - Exactly.

That should be fun.

I don't think I'm doing this.

Why not?

Because I can think of about 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 at all, and she won't even know about the party.

That's good for tonight. What about tomorrow?

- And every other day? - I'll take care of tomorrow, tomorrow.

Yeah, you'll watch her all the time.

This guy is crazy enough to walk into a roomful of people

waving a shotgun around.

What do you think he's going to 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. - Not even when you rushed him?

No, he didn't the time I wasn't there.

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. I mean the guy... we know everything.

Ok? 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.

I mean, 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. That looks the same.

Hey, Rachel.

Yeah, yeah.

Hey, 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, 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's 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

'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?'

Look...

I know that things are bad, ok?

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. So let's just go.

Let's get out there. 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.

And 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'll both have families and you can stop feeding off it.

- They'll come back. - You can each keep a set in a hemisphere.

And I don't think there's ever been any reason to show you what I'm capable of

but I'm telling you this now.

Go out there and 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 metre.

Everywhere.

Everywhere.

'And if you look, you will not find me.'