[ominous music pulsing]
[knocking on door]
[pulsing subsides]
[birds singing outside]
- Thank you.
- [Saul] Mm.
[somber instrumental music playing]
[lighter clicks]
The blinking stars.
Yep.
Do you have a theory?
I do. [exhales]
It's bullshit.
Bullshit?
It never happened.
How can that be? The world saw it happen.
Sure, everyone on Earth.
But you know who didn't see it?
Webb, Hubble, CHEOPS.
None of the satellites saw it.
You know why?
- Why?
- Because it never happened.
It was a deepfake.
Interesting theory.
Who pulled this deepfake?
That's as far as I got.
[indistinct chatter]
[Auggie sighs]
Whatever you decide,
that's the right thing to do.
- Love you, Auggie.
- [Auggie] Love you more.
[sighs]
- [woman 1] Maybe.
- [Auggie] Morning.
[indistinct, excited chatter]
We've seen shifts in apparent magnitude
of single stars, but never this.
What about some kind
of atmospheric distortion?
Interstellar dust?
Then you'd expect variation
between lines of sight.
[man 1] Did you see the flickering stars
last night, Dr. Salazar?
Um...
[espresso machine whirring]
Yeah.
- [machine beeping]
- Any theories?
No.
- [indistinct chatter]
- [man 2] Good morning, Doctor.
- Morning.
- [man 2] Morning.
- Are you ready?
- [energy thrumming]
Let's see what happens.
[suspenseful instrumental music playing]
[Auggie inhales sharply]
[machinery whirring]
[woman 2 on PA] Nanofiber array is stable.
The synthetic diamond is secured.
Just briefly, Dr. Salazar,
I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say...
we thought you were crazy seven years ago.
[group chuckles]
But your extraordinary vision
has got us to this moment.
- So, thank you.
- [Auggie sighs]
It's been a privilege, really.
[hesitates] Whenever you're ready.
[Auggie takes a deep breath] Go ahead.
- [typing]
- [Auggie exhales]
[woman 2 on PA] Raising the diamond.
Nanofiber lattice is active.
[machinery humming]
[high-pitched whirring]
[suspenseful music building]
[faint slicing]
[suspenseful music swells]
[onlookers applauding]
[energy crackling]
[Auggie gasps]
[man 3] You did it.
You made history, Auggie.
- [group cheering]
- [woman 3] Well done!
We have to shut it down.
Shut it down!
I'm Chief Scientific Officer,
and I'm ordering you to shut it down.
Development stops.
[breathing shakily]
[softly] This is over.
[energy continues crackling]
[thrumming intensifies]
[thrumming subsides]
[birds singing]
I'd keep moving.
Your colleagues will be coming soon.
Who are you?
Maybe I can help you.
Maybe you can help me.
I don't think you can help me, Officer.
Maybe not, but don't you wanna know
why the stars flickered for you?
[menacing music pulsing]
{\an8}[futuristic piano theme playing]
- [theme song fades]
- [static crackling]
[man speaking Mandarin over radio]
We extend our best wishes to you,
inhabitants of another world.
We hope to establish contact
with other civilized societies.
We look forward to working with you
to build a better life
in this vast universe.
[man] We extend our best wishes to you,
inhabitants of another world.
How long have we been
transmitting our message?
A few years.
And the Americans? The Russians?
Longer than that.
It's the Fermi Paradox.
It comes from a question that Enrico Fermi
asked his colleagues at Los Alamos.
There are a hundred billion
stars in our galaxy.
Many of these stars
must have planets similar to our own.
And many of these planets
must have developed intelligent life.
So where is everybody?
Maybe there's no one out there.
Our signal is too weak.
It's one of the most powerful
transmitters on the planet.
Nobody will hear it.
I need to contact the scientist
who wrote this article. Can you do that?
[Yang Weining] Where is he?
California.
You want me to contact an American?
If they find out they will question us.
Then don't tell them about it.
[static pulsating]
[tapping on console]
Any messages from outer space?
I don't know how you do it.
It's like listening
to the ocean for eight hours.
I work out problems while I'm listening.
[scoffs]
Hmm.
What's this?
[quietly] Our secret?
[in English] Dr. Peterson. California.
[Yang Weining sighs]
{\an8}EARTH
[in Mandarin] On June 12th last year,
Dr. Peterson's team in California
observed strong bursts
of electromagnetic radiation from Jupiter.
{\an8}JUPITER
On the same day,
we detected an intense radio burst.
So we detected the same thing as America?
No. Our recordings picked up the burst
And not from Jupiter.
From the Sun.
{\an8}SUN
From Jupiter to the Earth,
it took 38 minutes.
From Jupiter to the Sun,
it took 43 minutes.
From the Sun to the Earth,
A difference of 13 minutes.
I simplified the math for you.
The Sun reflected
the radio waves from Jupiter?
Not just reflected. It amplified them.
The signal from the Sun was millions of
times stronger than the one from Jupiter.
So we can use the Sun as a super-antenna?
By aiming our signal at the Sun?
Exactly.
"We extend our best wishes to you,
inhabitants of another world."
Ye Wenjie. This is genius.
It could take us
many years to get a reply,
but imagine China leading the world
in interstellar communication.
I want to take it to Commissar Lei.
[Yang Weining sighs]
Yes. We should.
This is a radical idea, Comrade Yang.
Yes.
I've been working on it for some time.
It could take many years
to get a response, but...
Enter.
I want her to verify your work.
Comrade Yang has devised a way to use
the Sun to amplify our transmission.
His numbers are compelling.
You believe his calculations
to be correct?
[quietly] They are correct.
[Lei Zhicheng] You want to aim
a super-powerful radio beam at the Sun.
At the Red Sun?
Have you thought about the
political symbolism of such an experiment?
[Yang Weining] Well. Commissar, I...
[Lei Zhicheng] Who is the Red Sun
in the heart of the People?
This is very disappointing from you,
Comrade Yang.
And I would think, Comrade Ye Wenjie,
that as the daughter of a class enemy
you would have warned him
how dangerous his ideas were.
[Yang Weining] Sir.
Imagine our great Red Sun, our Chairman,
amplifying the words of the People,
a hundred millionfold.
Absolutely not. I forbid it.
This could get us all ex*cuted.
- [Lei Zhicheng lecturing indistinctly]
- [somber instrumental music playing]
[somber music fades slowly]
Test transmission in sixty seconds.
[fly buzzing]
[Ye Wenjie breathing shakily]
[buttons clacking]
[tense music playing]
[resolute instrumental music playing]
[satellite dish groaning]
[engineer]
Test transmission in thirty seconds.
[fly buzzing]
Test transmission in ten.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Begin test transmission.
[music building]
[loud thud]
- [fly buzzing]
- [chuckles]
[engineer] Message sent.
Test transmission complete.
[dramatic orchestral music playing]
[birds calling]
[in English] What do you know
about this man?
[Auggie] He was at Vera's funeral.
Mike Evans.
Owns Evans Energy, the biggest
privately held oil company on the planet.
Now, does it surprise you
that Vera had a friend like that?
Nothing surprises me anymore.
You know what surprises me?
This woman you say you spoke to.
Here's security footage
of the alley you were in.
There you are.
All alone,
talking to no one.
No. No, she was there.
- Doesn't look like it, does it?
- I swear to God she was there.
I wasn't talking to myself.
I believe you. Look.
Your cigarette's unlit, and...
Your cigarette's lit.
You didn't light it yourself.
Your lighter doesn't work.
Now, I don't know how, but someone
scrubbed her out of the footage.
My team couldn't find
any trace of it being manipulated
but we know it was,
which is f*cking... pretty weird.
Not as weird as the stars
turning on and off, but weird.
Why did they wanna shut down your lab?
I don't know.
Well, you must be someone important.
I'm not important.
Well, you just invented
the world's finest nanofiber,
invisible as air,
as strong as steel, all that sh*t.
All that sh*t.
Well, it's obviously dangerous to someone.
Competitor, maybe.
Yeah, a competitor
who made the universe flicker.
Were you close to Vera Ye?
I used to be.
Smartest person I've ever met.
Then I think I disappointed her
'cause I quit her course
and switched into applied science.
Maybe that's why she k*lled herself.
This countdown you saw,
it disappeared as soon as
you stopped your work, right?
Has anyone else seen it?
They have.
A cybernetics professor in New Delhi.
An AI scientist at Boston Dynamics.
A physicist in London just the other day.
Couple of dozen more.
What happened to them?
They quit working.
[unsettling music plays softly]
Either they quit like you,
or they quit like Vera Ye.
[Jin on phone] Hey.
You said you were gonna call.
You okay? Hope so.
[music fades out]
[sighs]
'Kay. Bye.
[exhales]
[sighs]
[menacing instrumental music playing]
[Jin exhales]
[woman] Level one.
[exhales softly]
[gull crying]
[Jin] This is insane.
[icy wind gusting]
[footsteps approaching]
- I am the Count of the West.
- [Jin chuckles]
Whoa.
Oh wow.
Very cool.
- [gasps]
- Whoa!
How dare you touch a man of royal blood?
[chuckles] Sorry. I just didn't know
you were, um...
Are you real? Like, another player?
Or no?
You're an AI.
I am the Count of the West.
So, a character in the game, then.
[Count] Enough talk of games!
This is no game.
This is my follower.
You may call her Follower.
[Jin] I'm Jin Cheng.
Please, choose a better name.
- Oh.
- [Count] One befitting a hero.
For we hope you will be ours.
Uh-huh.
Your mission is to solve
the riddle of this world.
[Jin] Riddle of this world?
All right. How about, uh...
Copernicus.
Welcome to Civilization 137, Copernicus.
Hey...
[sighs]
Where are we going?
We're going to the pyramid
to see Emperor Zhou.
This is a chaotic era.
[Jin] A chaotic era?
[Count] Except for stable eras,
all times are chaotic eras.
When a new era arrives,
the Emperor consults great minds
about the movements of the sun.
This is a weird f*cking game.
You must decide
whether an era is chaotic or stable.
If Emperor Zhou is wrong,
an entire civilization will be destroyed.
What? How?
[Count] Like this.
[sun sizzling]
[wind picks up]
[Count] Run!
Hurry!
[dramatic orchestral music playing]
[ice crackling]
[Jin] Hey, don't push her.
There's only enough shade for two of us.
Count.
[Count] Well, it can't be me.
I must get my prediction to the Emperor.
- You won't abandon me, will you?
- Go.
[Jin] It's too hot. She's gonna burn up.
[Count] No, she won't.
- [flesh writhing]
- [bones creaking]
[Jin groans]
[music fades]
Is she dead?
[Count] No.
Those who dehydrate fast enough
can be preserved.
We rehydrate them
when a stable era arrives.
So, this is how people
survive the chaotic eras?
If one of us survives, we all survive.
[tender string music playing]
Count? Count!
What do I do with her?
Count!
[string music building]
[Jin sighs]
[woman 1] Well, if science can't explain
the blinking stars, why can't it be God?
Why would He be so subtle about it?
In the Bible, He sent down
angels of death with flaming swords.
He sent she-bears to maul children
who f*cked with His prophets.
Now He's blinking stars
to show some kind of stupid code?
- What? Does that sound like God to you?
- [laughter]
[woman 2] Who else can make stars flicker?
- [Saul] No one can do that.
- [woman 1] So, how did it happen?
[Saul] I don't know.
But if science tells you that something's
impossible, and it happens anyway,
it means one of two things.
[chuckles softly]
Either the science is wrong,
or it's a scam.
[Saul laughs]
Hey, do you guys wanna drop acid
on the marshes?
- Yes? Yeah!
- [all laugh]
[Jack sighs]
Hmm. There's no screen.
There's no headphone jack,
not even a f*cking charging port.
And usually, there'd be logos all over it
if it was a Sony or Oculus or whatnot.
- [Jin] Mm.
- It's probably a beta tester.
No, this is not beta anything.
You don't understand.
This was indistinguishable from reality.
Do you need a password
or anything to log in?
No, you just put it on.
Okay.
[ominous music playing]
[sounds distort]
[muffled echoing]
[Jack gasps]
Holy sh*t.
This is f*cking mental.
[spits]
[chuckles]
This is...
f*ck!
Ah.
[blows]
Whoa.
[woman] You were not invited.
[Jack gasps, panting]
[panting] What the f*ck?
What? What happened?
Some bird just cut my head off.
[splutters] This...
This is not normal.
I could smell the f*cking...
I could feel the cold.
I could taste the f*cking dirt.
You ate dirt?
Do you understand how far beyond
the current state of the art this is?
I mean, we're talking about...
We're talking about fifty years, 150?
[Jin] Yeah, feels about right.
This is what Vera was playing
before she k*lled herself.
What if this had something to do with it?
I really don't think we should play again.
Oh no, that's just f*cking absurd.
Come on.
Where are you...
[gasping]
I could taste blood that time.
So, you said that your man was talking
about predicting the movements of the sun?
Nobody would make this game
for something that boring.
There has to be a bigger mission.
There always is.
So? What's our mission?
Our mission, Jin Cheng,
is Jack f*cking Rooney
getting his mortal f*cking revenge.
- She cut your head off again? Mm.
- Cut my head off, yeah.
- Well.
- So... [sighs]
Oh. [chuckles] I see.
So, you're gonna play, yeah?
[Jack over laptop]
And I'm just gonna sit here and...
Right, well, that's, um... That's great.
I guess she's not cutting your head off.
[tense music playing]
[birds singing]
- [Auggie sighs]
- Hey, uh...
I came as soon as I saw your message...
Uh, messages.
What happened to the countdown?
[Auggie] It's gone.
That's good news. [chuckles] Right?
- I shut down the project.
- What?
She told me if I stopped working
the countdown would stop.
I stopped, and she was right.
The board wants to fire me.
I mean, of course they want to fire me.
They have no idea why I shut down.
What was I supposed to say?
- That the stars told me to? I...
- Yeah. That's...
It... It's f*cked up.
"It's f*cked up"?
My life is falling apart,
and I call you because I need you,
and you can't call me back?
And now you give me, "It's f*cked up."
Auggie, can we just...
Can we go get a cup of coffee
or something and... and just talk about it?
You're a child, Saul.
[quietly] It's not cute anymore.
[Clarence sniffles]
[crows cawing in distance]
Happy birthday, love.
I miss ya.
[woman] I thought I was the only one.
Sorry, I... I didn't... [clears throat]
...mean to interrupt you.
Yeah, you... you're all right.
I bring my dad coconut cake
on his birthday.
Oh, right, yeah.
Red velvet.
It's obscene, isn't it?
How fragile we are.
My dad thought
he'd walk me down the aisle.
No.
One mistake,
one stupid mistake,
he's gone.
[softly] Yeah.
[Clarence clears throat, sniffles]
What happened to your wife?
Uh...
[hesitates] Breast cancer.
Your dad?
sh*t in the head.
[tense music plays]
Oh, sorry.
Don't be.
No, it's a good way to go.
So quick.
[Clarence grunts]
Well, uh...
Better get back to work. [sighs]
Keep warm, eh?
I will.
[unsettling instrumental music builds]
- [music fades]
- [crickets chirping]
[lights humming]
[ominous music playing]
[breathing shakily]
[breathing heavily]
[sounds distort]
[muffled echoing]
[static crackles]
[woman] Level one.
[Jack] Merrie Olde England, is it?
[quietly] Right.
Custom skins.
I like it.
[footsteps approaching]
Here we go.
I'm ready for you this time, mate.
God be with you.
I am Sir Thomas Mo...
[groans]
Bastard! f*cking hell.
[shudders] No.
How dare you
lay your hands upon a privy councilor?
- I said, my name is Sir Thomas More...
- Yes. All right, pal.
Wind your neck in.
Sir Jack Rooney.
[sighs]
You need to choose a better name.
- [Jack grunts]
- [groans]
[thuds heavily]
[moans]
So, if the many worlds theory is true,
that means there could potentially be
an infinite number of Jessicas or Vishals
or Mr. Downings in the multiverse.
And some physicists even think
that if there are exact carbon copies
of your body out there
with the exact same quantum processes,
then all of your thoughts
and feelings are simultaneously arising
in an infinite number of elsewheres,
an infinite number of times.
So, when your consciousness ends
in one world,
it could continue to exist
in another world.
In many other worlds.
- ["Moonlight Mile" playing]
- ♪ When the wind blows ♪
♪ And the rain feels cold ♪
♪ With a head full of snow ♪
♪ With a head full of snow ♪
♪ In the window ♪
♪ There's a face you know ♪
♪ Don't the nights pass slow ♪
♪ Don't the nights pass slow ♪
[muffled]...heretic, right?
Then, f*cking Thomas Moron
thinks he knows how to save the world.
So Henry VIII's like,
"All right, then. Rehydrate the masses!"
So we go outside, and I put this biltong...
Jack, can... Sorry. Can you shut up a sec?
I need to talk to you about something.
Oh yeah? What's this big news, then?
No, no. Don't tell me.
After ten years you finally asked Jin out,
now that she's dating an admiral.
I have pancreatic cancer.
Stage four.
It's spread all over.
Liver, lungs.
Median survival time is, uh...
It's, like, two to six months, so...
There it is.
[quietly] f*ck that.
What?
Some NHS doctor says so,
and you're just gonna accept it?
No.
No, no, no. No, no. f*ck that.
We'll... We'll go to Switzerland.
- Or New York, or somewhere f*cking good.
- No, Jack. I'm too far gone, mate.
All they can do now is
to make me comfortable. All right?
So they're gonna operate
on my tumors, that's...
They're gonna... fluff the pillows
on the sinking ship.
And I said,
"f*ck that, pal."
- My money says they're wrong.
- Come on, Jack.
You f*cking come on.
This is what you always do, man.
You... You give up on everything...
I didn't give up...
You quit physics,
thought you weren't smart enough.
You gave up on Jin because
you thought you were punching above.
You're not giving up
on your own f*cking life. [sniffles]
f*ck that.
Eat.
[sighs]
- I don't feel like eating, Jack.
- Will. Just...
Try.
[tense music playing]
[ominous orchestral music playing]
[Count] If I may, Emperor Zhou,
the sun is Yang.
The night is Yin.
Presently we are caught
in the chaos of imbalance.
But we shall be no longer.
I bring you salvation
for our civilization...
[Zhou] Yes. Yes, get on with it.
I have created a code for the universe.
And with this code,
I can predict the movements of the sun.
That's what they all say.
[tense, rhythmic music playing]
I hope your prediction can save us,
for your sake.
- This is prophecy, not prediction.
- [Zhou] What?
Speak aloud, child, or die.
[clears throat]
Emperor. This is the I Ching.
It's beautiful, but it's not scientific.
Explain.
[Jin] I don't think
it will solve your problem.
It's divination.
It doesn't follow any physical laws.
Physical laws?
Yeah. The laws of physics.
Everything we've observed
to be true about the world.
Which world?
[Count] Your Imperial Majesty.
The code is complete.
It will answer your questions.
[Zhou] Very well.
When will it be safe
to rehydrate the masses?
[sizzling]
The chaotic era
will last another eight days.
And when it is over, we will enjoy
a glorious stable era for 63 years
with a climate so mild,
it will be a golden age.
Sky. Now.
Let the days fly past.
Let the days fly past.
[Jin] Hmm?
Put your hand on the ground.
It speeds up time.
[dramatic orchestral music playing]
[Jin gasps]
There!
Stability for 63 years.
- Is it possible?
- It is, Emperor.
I advise you to awaken your dynasty
and let it prosper.
Rehydrate!
[bright instrumental music playing]
[group exclaims]
[laughing]
[Jin inhales sharply]
[uplifting orchestral music playing]
[Follower gasps]
[exhales]
You didn't abandon me.
Of course not.
[wind picks up]
[Jin gasps]
Count! Look!
[Zhou] No.
[ominous string music playing]
[wind gusting]
[all screaming]
[Follower] Copernicus!
Copernicus, please!
[wind whistling]
[crowd clamoring]
[Follower] Save me!
- [gasps]
- [Follower] Copernicus, please!
[Jin groans]
[Follower] Please, Copernicus!
[Jin grunting]
[Follower] Copernicus!
[people shouting]
[Follower] Save me!
Please!
Save me!
- [Jin grunts]
- [icy shards splintering]
[frigid wind whipping]
[Jin breathing shakily]
[wind dies down]
[Jin sighs]
[somber instrumental music playing]
Civilization number 137
was obliterated by extreme cold.
You did not save them.
But you did establish the superiority
of science over mysticism.
In level two, you must use science
to save the next civilization.
[Jin gasps]
[stirring orchestral music playing]
[music fades slowly]
- [birds calling]
- [horn honking in distance]
[door opens]
I received a complaint about you,
Clarence.
What did I do now?
Apparently you've been smoking
in your office.
Yeah, I'd go outside, but it's a long way.
I'll go outside next time.
No need. I sacked the guy
who made the complaint.
If he's worrying about you,
he's not worrying about our adversaries.
Well, I wish you hadn't fired him.
Tell me about Evans.
[Clarence sighs]
Turns out he likes paying for things.
Anti-vax propaganda,
anti-science politicians around the world.
I'd bet money
he's behind all the rest of it too.
What about the stars?
Did he pay for them to disappear?
There's someone behind everything.
You just have to dig.
Well, I dug up this.
I was reading up on radio telescopes
after the stars blinked.
Back in 1977, Ohio State University
detected a 72-second sequence.
They called it the Wow! signal
because it made
all the astrophysicists go, "Wow!"
They said it looked like
an attempt at communication.
Attempt from who?
Little green men.
What's it say?
No one knows.
No one's been able to decode it,
and nobody outside of Ohio State
detected it.
Except for one observatory
in Northeast China.
And?
Well, it's probably nothing.
[sniffles]
[sighs]
Funny thing about Mike Evans.
Guess where he lived in 1977?
{\an8}[birds singing]
{\an8}[gentle orchestral music playing]
[man, in Mandarin] No coffee,
sorry.
No coffee,
many years.
[in English] May I ask why you are here?
I'm trying to save lives.
The locals?
- [scoffs]
- [Ye Wenjie] How are you helping...
You hear "lives,"
and you think human lives.
Of course,
we always think of ourselves first.
I'm trying to save a bird, a subspecies
of the northwestern brown swallow.
I doubt I'll succeed. The loggers,
they work faster than one person can.
You planted all those trees yourself?
Mm-hmm.
How long will you stay here?
My whole life if I have to.
How many people
get the chance to save a species?
Ten thousand species go extinct
every year because of the greed of one.
May I ask why you are here?
We are looking for a site
to build a radio astronomy laboratory.
Here?
- This land isn't yours.
- It shouldn't belong to anyone.
It belongs to the People.
And the People will destroy it.
Ruin an entire ecosystem for a radio lab.
It doesn't trouble you?
The stupidity of the People?
It isn't up to me.
I have work to do.
[in Mandarin] What did he say?
He understands.
[in English] Yes, I understand. Please go.
[tense music playing]
[in English] "In nature,
nothing exists alone."
What's your name?
Ye Wenjie.
Mike Evans.
- I will try to stop them.
- [Evans sighs]
[in Mandarin] Ye Wenjie,
we have discussed it,
Commissar Lei and I...
Site 1 fits all the parameters.
Minimal electromagnetic interference,
access to good roads for construction...
That's true of Site 2 as well.
The villagers at Site 2...
Are desperate for work.
Too desperate.
They'll see the lab
as a piece of meat to take bites from.
Commissar Lei and I have decided,
together, that Site 2 is better.
[Ye Wenjie sighs]
I know you're disappointed.
You're sure it's not because
you're trying to help the American?
You've been doing good work
for eight years. Don't throw it away.
There is something I can do for you.
The Commissar gave me
the names and records
of the new arrivals
at the work camp in Qiqihar.
In case there's anyone
who could be useful for us.
No scientists, unfortunately.
But there's a woman called Tang Hongjing.
She used to be a Red Guard.
During a struggle session
at Tsinghua University in 1966,
she dealt a fatal blow to a professor
called Ye Zhetai.
[official speaking Mandarin]
This is a new era. The past is finished.
The past is not finished.
You want me to repent?
You don't think you should?
Then who will repent for me?
Who will atone for what I have lost?
The Party sent me to Shaanxi
to work the wheat fields.
After a day's work,
I didn't even have the energy
to wash my clothes.
We slept on the ground at night.
Listening to the sound of wolves.
My arm was infected with gangrene.
The guards pinned me down...
and cut it off me.
[crying softly]
I was just a kid.
I was just a kid when I watched you
break my father's skull with a belt.
They told me you're clever.
And you should be.
Daughter of an academic.
I was not clever.
I had no utility.
Your mind spared you.
Otherwise you would have ended up
the same as me.
My father's mind did not spare him.
Even now
I would scythe him like wheat.
You will not repent?
No one repents.
[somber orchestral music playing]
[static pulsating]
[static warbling]
[buzzing]
[tense music playing]
Signal coherence rating: AAAAA
Do not answer. Do not answer.
Do not answer.
I am a pacifist in this world.
You are lucky that I am
the first to receive your message.
I am warning you: do not answer.
If you respond, we will come.
Your world will be conquered.
[Ye Wenjie breathing shakily]
Do not answer.
[tense music builds slowly]
[wind gusting]
[resolute string music playing]
[Ye Wenjie exhales]
[console whirring]
[satellite dish groaning]
[buttons clacking rapidly]
[string music building]
[music dies down]
Come. We cannot save ourselves.
I will help you conquer this world.
[Ye Wenjie breathing shakily]
[music fades out]
[ominous closing theme playing]
[closing theme fades]