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We could not have been more wrong all of this.
I'm not quite sure what time I'll be home,
maybe around... 7:00 or 8:00 tonight.
Um...
I was telling you about this... Filming thing we got going on.
You know, I was telling you they do these internal communication things
at the space agency.
Anyway, they asked me if, um,
they could, sort of, have a day in the life.
They want to do day in the life of some of the senior members of the agencies.
Um, I'm not... So how does this work?
Should... are you guys rolling now or...?
Yeah, that's why they're here.
Hello, everybody, welcome to our home.
Um... this is my lovely daughter, Mary.
- Hi. - She's a good girl.
She's at university.
And, uh, she's very smart like her mom.
Is it, like, going on the telly?
Mm-mm. I'm not going on telly.
No, it's just for internal... Communications.
- It's so they have a kind of resource. - Okay.
Mm-hmm.
Oh, right, okay.
Okay, I'm gonna change.
All right, sweetie.
Okay. See you in a bit.
She's a bit shy.
Can I get you guys a coffee
or a tea or...?
Well, I mean, obviously she's incredibly inspiring.
Um, I think, especially nowadays,
uh, to, like, have a mum who's
the head of, you know, one of the biggest international space agencies.
Obviously, my mom's Canadian,
um, but my dad was British.
They met, uh, at university.
He was doing a semester.
He was very special, very special man.
He was a peacekeeper.
Yeah.
We don't talk him that much, I suppose.
As much as we should.
Oh, no.
Um... I'm really sorry, I think I have to get this.
Just... sorry, bear with me one moment.
Hello?
What?
You're kidding me.
Uh, no, I can be there in about 25 minutes or so.
Yeah, yeah, just, uh, just hang tight.
Ask... yeah, get Alex on it.
Just tell... Okay, good, he knows.
No, no, no, just, uh, just hang tight.
Um, I'll be right there, hang on. Okay.
I'm so sorry, babe.
Uh...
Something has come up.
I'm really sorry. I have to go.
ISS, be advised.
Thermal increase detected in nodes two and three.
I repeat, thermal increase detected in nodes two and three.
Permission to attempt top hover and reboot of node two.
ISS, please confirm to mission control
when you are ready to proceed with the module rack replacement.
3va hatch in three, two, one.
Unity node, module visibility confirmed.
Copy that, Jim.
Jim to Francois, come in.
Reading you loud and clear, Jim.
Good 'cause you owe me big time, over.
ISS, copy that.
Connecting additional cable harnesses
for electrical and data systems rerouting.
Fluid lines check confirmed for thermal control.
Copy that, Jim.
Data systems routing is good to go.
Copy that. Making my way back...
Receiving interference with your last transmission.
Can you please repeat?
Can you confirm a strange sound
being picked up by our radios?
We don't recognize that frequency band.
Please check and confirm if this is a comms breach.
Uh, that's a negative.
All radio frequency bands are nominal.
Whatever that sound is,
it's not coming from us.
Whoa.
Mission control, you seeing what I'm seeing?
We seem to have lost your video uplink.
Please elaborate on your last transmission.
It looks like some kind of solar storm disturbance.
Francois, do you see this?
Jim, I see it.
Whatever that is, it's disrupting our communication.
Were there any solar storms expected to be coming our way?
That's a negative, Jim.
No solar storms have been reported.
It looks like the fourth of July up here right now.
Heavy vibrations.
I can see it on the panels.
Whoa!
Francois, engage the airlock.
Airlock engaged.
I'm making my way back, but...
This is so bright, I'm being blinded right now.
Jim, it looks like your tether is becoming unstable.
We suggest you use the handle grips to maneuver.
I can feel tension on this thing.
I'm gonna have to disengage.
I got to disconnect this thing if I'm gonna get back.
Jim...
I can't see anything. My tether...
My tether, I can feel is tense.
Come in, Jim. Tell me what you see.
It's still not known exactly
what caused the power outage on the ISS,
but what's complexing is that
all of the satellites that were in orbit
were affected at the exact same moment as well.
Now, of course, the tragic outcome
is that astronaut Jim Marcell is currently missing,
presumed dead.
And... it's possible that his tether was disconnected
during the incident.
Uh, well, firstly, I just...
Want to say that, uh, I've known Jim for a long time
so, um, obviously this is a very difficult time,
but we've... We've got to get on.
We've got to find out what happened.
Um...
We have a lot of footage that's come down
from, um, the ISS.
And we've got a team now that's going through that frame by frame,
and we don't know what it is yet.
Uh, we do know that it's not a solar flare,
we know that it's not an electrical storm.
This isn't the first time
that an anomaly has appeared above our planet.
We first encountered it in 1990.
And it was visible for about two months.
But before we could get any further data,
any meaningful data,
it vanished, never to be seen again,
until now.
Yeah, good morning.
Yeah.
Yeah, I will update you as soon as I'm in.
Well, um...
Basically, when I got the call,
um, I'd been asleep for about 45 minutes.
I've been working on a project for the last eight months,
um, so it's been pretty intense.
They wouldn't tell me anything on the phone,
space agency protocol,
only that it was of a classified nature,
which requires my expertise in the field of gravitational waves
and space anomalies.
The idea that this anomaly
is emitting some form of gravitational wave surprised us all,
and it was definitely outside anything predicted by science.
What could cause such a phenomena?
I don't know yet.
This morning, the space agency reported that
astronaut Jim Marcel was killed by incoming space debris
whilst on a maintenance mission on the ISS.
A space agency spokesperson said this is a tragic incident.
But Jim Marcell was passionate about his job,
and their condolences go to his family.
A name was given to this anomaly.
We started calling it "the void",
which is way better than "anomaly 234-b."
it had the appearance...
Well, similar to the remnants of a supernova.
But, due to its proximity to earth,
we knew it was something completely different.
But during its appearance,
we also detected a short-burst radio wave
and the signal was... It was...
Transmitted in a very specific frequency,
1420 megahertz.
This 1420 megahertz frequency,
a very strange and complex phenomenon,
also known as the "hydrogen line,"
the radio astronomers
who first recorded it,
they chased their tails trying to find the source of the...
Of the signal,
to no avail.
And then it disappeared.
All these years later,
we're still trying to find the source.
Never reoccurred.
If we miss any opportunity to investigate this now,
we may have to wait for another 25 years for it to reappear,
if it reappears.
And what we need to know is,
who put it there?
Where did it come from?
Is it intelligent?
Is it trying to communicate with us?
I mean, these are the questions that we need answers to.
So we have reconnaissance probes in orbit
to do routine external examinations of spacecraft and satellites in orbit,
as well as planetary exploration,
when the time comes.
So I made a call to authorize
a probe be sent on a recon mission into the void.
Maneuvering in space isn't quite as simple
as it's often portrayed in the movies.
Um, to move from one orbit to another
takes quite a lot of energy.
So we had to... Adjust the craft's orbit
to intersect with that of the void.
If something goes wrong here with the probes,
that might be it.
It might be our only chance to have a look.
We always expected to lose communication,
just not necessarily that soon.
But, thankfully, all is not lost.
Our probes are fitted with state-of-the-art, high-definition cameras
that stream directly to our servers here.
And, even in that brief, briefest of windows,
we were able to maintain a signal,
and we captured imagery.
As our probe moved closer,
we noticed this tunnel-like structure,
just directly ahead of us.
Now, have a look at this light at the center.
This is light and cosmic matter entering and leaving,
so what we're potentially looking at here
is a wormhole.
And, you know, we all know that there is an entrance and an exit,
so if this indeed a wormhole,
then the next question is,
what is on the other side of the void?
It looks like we're dealing with a wormhole.
We still need to run more data
and have a look over all the images that we've been sent back,
just to know exactly what we're dealing with here.
Technically, this is not a wormhole, huh?
Well, not in my opinion.
In the case of the void...
Well, we are sure that an entry point exists.
We call it "the throat."
The question is whether a second throat exists,
an exit point.
Would whatever we send in there emerge the other side
or would it remain stuck there for eternity?
Our finding was a little bit like, uh,
jumping and looking over a really high wall,
but only getting a glimpse of what's on the other side.
However, each time you jump, you capture a little bit more information.
And what began to emerge for us was a kind of flash frame
of what appeared to be a spherical shape in the distance.
Now, upon closer examination
of this flash frame,
we began to see the potential for this spherical shape to be...
Another planet.
We could be looking at the first contact with intelligent life.
That is a major possibility that we're looking at right now.
Now we have something,
something really big.
Perhaps too big.
I don't think we're prepared
or have the resources to investigate further.
I mean, something of this magnitude.
I want to send our astronauts up there.
I understand what happened to Jim Marcell. I can appreciate that.
I want it noted that I flatly object.
I cannot support that.
The reality is that we have to get information.
How are we going to get it?
We can't continue to send probes up there,
they don't have the capability.
We need to be in communication
with somebody on the other side.
Same conversation for the next two years.
If we miss the window, we miss our opportunity.
What stage are the probes at?
What stage are we at with their development?
We've lost them. They went through,
and we have no signal whatsoever.
Totally interrupted, totally blacked out.
It say here that so far we've lost a total of, uh,
$3.5 million in technology with the probes.
It's not a bottom-line thing here, we're not talking about a spreadsheet,
we're talking about probably one of the most important things that has happened
in... in space exploration,
and I think we need to move forward on that
and I think we need to move forward now.
What do you suggest?
Our immediate focus
is to define this mission.
Several ideas were discussed, but nobody's interested in sending more probes.
The determination was to finance a full mission.
And we were able to raise a large sum of funding.
In fact, the largest sum of funding ever raised
in the history of space exploration.
Because...
The mere glimpse of a potentially habitable planet,
well, I have to tell you, that raised an awful lot of interest.
Regardless, it was agreed upon to keep this mission classified,
for now.
A complete media blackout,
until we have a greater understanding
of what exactly it is we're dealing with.
The first step we took was to provide a cover story to the media
in order to provide a distraction as part of the media blackout.
In time, we will provide full disclosure to the media,
but, right now, the space agency feels that the public
is just not ready to know about the mission involving the void.
This notion of the...
Space agency's to send a human astronaut
through to the other side...
It's not going to happen.
Because, physically, we as human beings
couldn't possibly endure the extreme stresses
that such a venture would entail.
For decades, we've been developing suits
to protect our astronauts from the dangers of space.
What we're gonna need to do now to...
To protect our astronauts from travelling through the void is something...
Quite frankly, I don't think we have the technological capabilities to do.
As I've implied a few times before,
sending a human astronaut would be suicidal.
In order to survive a wormhole,
he or she would have to endure
gravitational waves that would spaghetti-fy them.
The only feasible,
though problematic, solution
would be to use robotics or probes.
People all over the world are reporting
strange activities in the skies.
Civilians from New York, Australia and Asia
are reporting what can only be described
as a terrifying distortion of clouds.
I think they're doing some kind of project.
Maybe they're testing some new weather machine.
It was pulsating.
Like, with light kind of.
It just, like... you could see the clouds moving.
It's really scary.
We're receiving new data from the void.
We weren't expecting this.
Not so soon.
So over recent weeks,
our orbiting satellites have been observing the void
and collecting as much data as possible.
We can see that the void has been emitting
a series of invisible waves.
And it's this invisible wavelength
that has been growing and expanding
at a very, very fast rate.
And we believe that this activity
occurred at the same time
as the strange dark orbs
that have been appearing in our skies.
So we have, um, run this information through
our simulator to predict its activity
based on what we currently know.
The simulation is forecasting a storm
of invisible forces,
which could consist of dark matter and velocity fields
and other unknown fields and waves
that we know nothing about.
So when this storm reaches us,
our planet will be in the midst
of what could be a huge cosmic wave.
Since the appearance of the black orbs in our skies,
each nation's defense department has declared the situation
as a global security threat.
The defense department reached out to us in the space agency.
They realized our problem with sending astronauts through the void.
They believed they had a solution
and they directed us to their transhumanism division.
When we learned about the space agency's problem
of sending astronauts through the void,
we offered our classified technologies as a solution,
but, frankly, I don't think they have an alternative.
Within the defense research and tech divisions
were classified programs,
and they were taking place within the areas of neuroscience,
transhumanism and synthetic biology for advanced soldiers.
Now, you see, these programs were classified
for the obvious reasons of ethics
and were definitely not sanctioned officially
by the government as such.
Particularly, the human 2.0 program
because the nature of the technology,
utilizing the fusion of human cells
with synthetic biochemical structures
to create a new body powered by the soldier's preserved brain.
The brain can live without a body,
but the body can't live without its brain.
It's that simple notion which drives the human 2.0 project.
Our aim was to create a prosthesis
that could house the human brain,
a substitute body.
But most importantly, we wanted it to be recognizable
as a human.
Okay, I'm gonna up the back if you want to have a look.
Okay, so this compartment here's gonna house the brain.
And you see the red jell-o-looking substance here?
So that's actually a coolant gel,
and it travels throughout the body,
and it houses millions of tiny fiber optic threads
connecting the brain right down to all the synthetic muscles,
and even to really superficial sensors.
But the brain's gonna sit in here.
And the gel also acts as a shock absorber,
so should the human 2.0 receive any impact,
the gel will dissipate any force protecting the brain.
But here let me, let me show you this.
Okay.
Don't worry, he's not alive.
That's just a synaptic nerve reflex.
Uh... but a transplant hasn't been made into this body yet,
so, essentially, it's just a body.
Um... it's like... a bit like a computer without a hard drive.
In the recent week, we have covertly searched the globe
for candidates who are willing to push the barriers of science.
Now, officially, the selected candidates will be on a mission
to the international space station to conduct research.
However, once the transplant takes place,
they can never return to the lives they left behind.
Their families will be informed
and will be given an appropriate explanation
that will, of course, protect the mission and the space agency.
A closed-casket funeral will take place
to provide closure to the families.
Now, for the record, um...
Do you understand the classified nature of this mission
and the legal non-disclosure agreements that you sign,
which prohibit you from ever discussing this projects
to anyone outside of this room?
I understand.
Then you understand the full nature of this program?
Yes, I'm fully aware.
And what do you feel your strongest asset is
that'd you be bringing to this mission?
I'm hoping to bring to this mission my virology expertise.
Military background,
and in the short time I've been in the space program,
I have rised the ranks faster
than anyone in the history of the space program.
But you know this.
It's... it's the unknown.
It's the possibility of something else out there for us.
Even though there's some...
Pretty scary risks...
To know that there's a chance to do so much more.
Well, I think it's in our nature
to want to rise above our limits.
I feel that I want to do something great, you know?
Like, I want to be like my dad and be remembered for something.
Sure, I've spent the great majority of my life
in a chair.
Half of my body does not work,
I do not want sympathy for that.
I have come to terms with that.
I've made my peace with that.
Sure, for...
Also for most of my life, I have dreamed
of being and doing something more.
And part of coming to terms with my situation
is resigning myself to the fact that that,
that is not something that could happen, happen for me.
I will not... be...
The person I thought I could be.
What you're doing right now, sir,
is presenting me with a chance
to fulfill that dream,
that desire.
I have cancer, I...
If my body is limiting me, then I need to go beyond that.
This is the only way I can do it.
Are you sure that you're aware
that this is...
A one-way ticket?
We select, not only on physical prowess,
but also on the ability to emote,
to... to be empathetic.
Could I go through with the procedure?
There's just too many ethical issues to think about.
There would have to be a massive, massive reason
for me to go ahead with something like that.
And, uh, I can't think of one.
So, no, couldn't do it.
The subjects would have to pass a series of tests
as well as internal exams from our psychologist,
and fitness and medical checks.
The process in itself is painless.
The subject will be administered a cocktail of drugs
by I.V. Drips,
which will stop the heart for a few hours.
Simulating a peaceful death.
The most time-consuming part
is the wiring up, the remapping of the artificial spinal cords,
connecting to the brain, thus allowing for mind-body communication
to function,
very much like it does in each of us.
What you need to understand is...
It's this fusion process
where the, where the brain
imprints with the synthetic body and comes together,
that's the creation of the human 2.0.
That's the marvel.
But we must remember,
these human 2.0s aren't entirely mortal.
The brain also degenerates over a period of time.
Now... the difference being that, unlike humans,
their bodies last much longer,
so the period of life is extended for much longer,
but not forever.
The vetting process for the human 2.0 program is extremely high.
Basically these candidates will become ambassadors,
representing the human race on the other side,
and are selected based on their extraordinary cognitive abilities.
We only have two synthetics available for this program,
so the selection process has been extremely critical.
We've decided to action the first transplant
before making the second selection.
For the first transplant,
uh, Carl Roberts.
He's, um, not as academic perhaps as the other candidates,
but his cognitive skills are, are...
Beyond our expectations.
When I opened that bit of paper, it-it...
It contained the information I wanted it to
and I was accepted.
Man.
Yeah, that is everything I wanted, man.
I'm... I didn't know if I'd said
everything I needed to say in that interview.
I can't describe the excitement I feel right now.
I mean, I'm gonna get out of this chair.
I'm ready.
Bring it on.
He has a certain hunger
that this requires.
It's that, um...
Sense of adventure that will drive this mission.
And we're very, very pleased that, uh,
that he's on board.
Today I'm having a full-body scan
to allow the human 2.0 body
to be as close to me as possible, warts and all.
Apparently, the agents think that if first contact to be made,
then it should be in human form
so that the extraterrestrials would know what we look like.
It's, uh, it's lucky I'm so attractive, don't you think?
So the bodyshell is a breakthrough
in nanomaterial technology.
It's made of a military-grade grapheme,
so millions of its tiny fibers
are woven to make the bodyshell impenetrable,
yet it can also maintain a flexibility,
which is important for some areas,
uh, such as the joints.
Its eyes use nano-based optics,
which allow the retina to adjust to several different lighting conditions.
And, yeah, you are probably wondering why
the human 2.0 is breathing.
Uh, well, this is just one of the many features
incorporated to help feel more familiar.
The breathing effect is actually caused by
a mechanism within the synthetic body, um,
to help with thermal regulation.
A tight regulation of glucose and oxygen metabolism
is essential for brain physiology.
So we developed a compound called "z02h",
which releases tiny amounts of electrochems into the brain.
This compound, essentially,
it mimics the properties of glucose and oxygen,
therefore fueling the brain and keeping it alive organically.
The original design of the spacecraft
was intended for human astronauts,
so we now stripped it bare of any hardware or technology
needed for life-support systems,
as the 2.0 human group won't need it,
therefore making it smaller and lighter,
which means it's faster
and it uses less fuel.
They will be jacked into the sockets
so that we can monitor their diagnostics.
But it also means that we can feed information
directly into their cerebral cortex.
I mean, that's a remarkable thing, don't you think?
First contact, of course, is of the utmost importance, how it's presented.
Concern for us:
What are we communicating to?
What exactly are we going to discover
when we make contact with a...
Intelligent extraterrestrial life form?
Are we thinking in terms of a human?
Um... perhaps a microbe?
It's very, very difficult for us.
So what we've done is we've put together a golden archive drive.
This is an upgrade, it has, um, more visuals,
more sound, videos.
And, uh, well, hopefully, when we do make first contact,
we will be able to communicate.
And all of the images, the sounds, uh...
An essence of who we are,
and our intention.
Oh, no, no, no, it's good, it's good.
I'm all right, sir.
- Thank you. - There you go.
Vitals look good.
Yes, sir, everything works.
Waist up.
Have you been made aware of the actual proceeding?
- Come here. - Thank you.
Have you been made aware of the procedure?
Uh, I think so.
I think, uh...
Yeah, quite a bit I don't know.
Okay, well, let me take you through it step by step.
The only level of, let's say, um...
Un-comfortability that you might experience is,
just at the very beginning, we need to make an incision
just around here to be able to gain access into the spinal cord.
You have to look at this as a procedure.
Not everything is going to happen straight away.
The actual time taken will be right about three days.
Your awareness begins to fade very slowly,
and your heart rate will begin to slow down.
As the heart rate slows down,
your level of consciousness will actually expand,
before then beginning to come down.
Okay, so I'll just fade, fade out.
That's one...
That's one of being able to...
I go to sleep.
It's a very peaceful sleep.
- All right. - A very peaceful sleep.
I guess this is my last interview
before I transplant into the new body.
I wanted to... Go out into space,
and live there forever among the stars.
And he told me...
That I could do whatever I wanted to do.
As long as I put my mind to it.
So...
This is for you, dad.
The military have been doing recon fly-bys
to get a closer look at the spheres.
Now what's complexing is that the spheres
don't seem to be reacting to us.
The space agency has convinced leaders of key nations
not to initiate an attack without us analyzing the data
to further understand what the spheres are
and what is their connection to the void.
Our advanced satellite geomapping indicates
that the spheres are scattered across the entire globe.
Although we don't have an accurate number,
it's estimated that there are hundreds of these spheres,
floating in our skies,
with more appearing every day.
The geomapping also revealed a pattern
within the formation of the spheres.
It's... it's as if they are aligning themselves
in preparation for something.
At 8:35 this morning,
our first human 2.0 transplant attempt... failed.
Our subject was pronounced dead.
There will be a second attempt tonight, I presume.
I'm devastated.
We lost someone who was so supportive of this mission,
of this... of this cause.
But we're losing time.
We have to launch within a week, and...
We can't afford to lose that window.
Carl's transplant revealed that
the brain couldn't fuse with the synthetic body.
And it rejected it during the fusion process.
And, pretty much,
scrambled the brain synapsis badly.
The brain just overloaded.
To prevent another loss,
uh, the idea is to update
the original synthetic body printing technology
with a new integrated tissue organ printing system.
Introducing a tiny amount of the subject's actual cells
into the synthetic gel
means the brain can make the connection
with something organic and not freak out
when it comes into contact with a foreign body structure
it's not used to during the fusion process.
My professional opinion?
This whole thing is being rushed.
We need more time.
Uh...
Look, the only way that this could work,
the... the feasibility of it,
is to ensure that the human transplant is tested
with the enzyme beforehand.
We would need to test each candidate.
But this would require several months.
We don't have months or even weeks,
we're really up against it.
We have the military human 2.0s, we should deploy with them.
Sending one military human 2.0 is one thing,
but sending two as a replacement
to our astronauts...
Well, I think you have to ask yourself,
"do we want soldiers representing humanity,
especially in that state of mind?"
And I can confidently tell you that that is not something
that I am comfortable with.
Thankfully, I have been advised by my medical science team
that there is a potential solution
which would fit in our timeframe.
Ever since our probes have been sending back samples
from the moon mining missions, the Mars rover missions,
those samples have been kept in storage
in the space agency facility.
As protocol, we take blood samples
and urine samples of all space agency staff
to monitor any radiation effects coming from the labs.
And this protocol is, in part, us keeping our team safe,
but also conforming to science and technology workplace regulations.
Out of the entire agency,
only three came up with a positive match for the enzyme.
One is an astronaut who's just come back from the ISS,
the other is our head of I.T.,
and the other is our expert cosmologist
on the subject of the void,
Jessica Johnson.
Yeah, can I take your coat?
Oh, yeah, lovely, thanks.
- That's it. - Yeah, great.
- How's things? How's Mary? - Good, she's good.
- It's really nice to have her back. - Oh.
- I haven't seen her for a little while, so... - Yeah, she...
- Hey! - Hey, how are you?
Yeah, I'm good.
- A long time. - I'm laden with a cat.
Yeah. Aw.
So good to see you.
Um, when am I gonna see you again?
Um, I don't know.
- Soon? - Um... yeah, soon.
- Sooner than, sooner than... - Yeah, definitely soon.
- ...this time, okay? - And I promise,
I will definitely text you back.
Okay. Enjoy the puzzle.
- Good luck. I'll see you. - I'll be back around 8:00.
Good luck, Mary, take care.
Yeah.
Obviously, you know why I'm here.
- Yes, I do. - Yeah.
Um, and to be honest,
I'm having some reservations myself.
Of course.
I'm coming to you sort of off the record
- and as a friend more than a colleague. Um... - Mm.
I respect that and I get that this is a really difficult decision for you
as much as it is for me, I know that.
And I... I want to make the right decision
that I'm better going ahead with the procedure
- than... my knowledge being here. - Mm.
But also... there's no way back.
There is no way back.
And...
I'm sorry, but, um...
Excuse me.
I need to make sure my family are really well cared for.
- That I can guarantee. - Yeah?
I can guarantee that your family will be taken care of.
And it needs to...
Be delicate, the way you tell them.
I will be sensitive.
- Thank you. - Of course.
You don't need to worry about that.
This can't be for nothing.
And I'm aware that we've got one shot at this,
- and time is running out. - Yes, it is running out.
It's... it's very pressing.
You know, you will go down in history books
for what you, potentially, if you agree to do it.
Well, Jessica is faced with a very difficult decision.
She is the best candidate that we have at the present time
to participate in the human 2.0 project.
Of course... it's not an easy choice to make.
I don't really know...
I really don't know how to convince her
to make this choice.
I feel terribly conflicted
because we all know that...
Her life will change irrevocably.
And, uh...
There's no guarantee that she will, um,
you know, make it out of this process alive.
It's a very big responsibility for me.
And it's, uh, ultimately, up to her.
- I'm going to do it. - What?
It makes perfect sense.
I know this mission more than anyone here
and I understand the objective.
I'm the only person here who understands
what could potentially be on the other side.
You don't have to do this.
You're much more valuable to us down here.
Well, given the tight timeframe,
you know that this is the right thing to do.
Look, we'll have to run tests. And besides, we have the other two positive candidates.
- What makes you think...? - The astronaut, James good,
firstly, just back from the ISS,
secondly, he has a family.
And David Jennings in I.T., I mean, seriously,
the guy is so defensive.
Definitely not first contact material.
I've already done the psych test
and I'm cleared for the procedure.
Now I haven't worked directly with her,
but in light of recent communications,
it's clear that she's volatile and, frankly,
a ticking time bomb.
I don't think we should have someone like that
lead a scientific investigation
in what could possibly be the most important discovery
in the history of space exploration.
She has, um, this ability to focus
and this attention that she applies to her work,
which is very impressive.
And she has this exploratory nature
with veering that she does.
Always looking deeper into ever anomaly that she's researching,
drawing conclusions from the data
and, and thinking about things
in a way that's very valuable and unique.
And, really, I think Jessica's the ideal person
for this mission.
When Jessica was making her decision,
she came to me to find out more about
what it was gonna be like in the human 2.0 body.
So, obviously, we discussed the physical differences,
but she was more concerned about her emotional capabilities.
And I reassured her, um, you know,
this is the most important aspect to us;
preserving her emotional intelligence
and, in a moral compass,
you know, that's what makes you human.
And it's a human that we want to send up there.
Well, it's, um, absolutely incredible
what they can do.
Um, it's very overwhelming.
Um, but Alice was wonderful.
She told me exactly what is entailed with the procedure.
Um, I know a bit more about it now.
Um...
It's... it's incredible. I'm ready.
Um, I absolutely have to do this.
And, uh, yeah.
The hardest part of this decision
to go ahead with the procedure
has been calling up my friends and family
to just hear their voice one last time.
These phone calls
really made me realize the sacrifices I'm making.
Even if I do survive it,
I am well aware that this is a one-way mission
and there is no point of return to my original life.
The fusion has been successful.
We have our first human 2.0.
We are literally god right now.
When I watched her eyes open,
and when I saw her take her first breath,
it, uh... it was like she was reborn.
But it's like you're watching consciousness come alive
right in front of you.
And this unprecedented mix of,
of human consciousness and technology.
Okay, guys, can you check on this?
Okay, Jessica, just calm down, it's okay.
The speech synthesizer, it needs the reconfiguration, okay?
But just calm down, this isn't permanent.
We can fix this, okay?
But try, try and relax yourself.
Uh, so we're having some issues with the speech synthesizer.
Basically, the electrode that's implanted in the brain,
which is communicating telemetrically with the neural decoder,
this is where, I think, we're having some issues.
We need to do some reconfiguration here.
Strange hearing my voice.
I don't feel like myself.
But I'm just in a new body.
My... I can feel pressure when I touch my fingertips together.
But I don't have any sense of pain.
When I look in the mirror, I see my old face,
only inside a new body.
Sometimes, when I close my eyes,
I totally forget that I am in a synthetic body.
Everything which makes me who I am,
it's in my consciousness.
I'm told that I will have to go through extensive rehabilitation
to get my brain used to the synthetic body.
After the first time, when we lost Carl,
I sometimes doubted that we'd be here today.
Seeing her now,
alive...
It changes everything.
That's, um, that's so profound.
Sorry, I find it really, um... staggering.
And I suppose mixed in with that is, uh...
The fact that she is a woman, a human being like you and me.
Um...
And she must be wondering how it's all gonna work out as well.
But I think she's gonna be just fine.
I would suggest that this is the beginning of the future
of astronauts to come.
I won't deny the fact
that our human 2.0 solider may possess certain hardware attributes
within its synthetic body,
which will differ from the synthetic astronaut.
Yes, he is carrying small arms,
which is part of the human 2.0 soldier body design.
You don't send a soldier on a mission without a weapon
and considering that we do not know what is behind the void,
it is inherently dangerous to be unprepared.
Human 2.0 has just docked on and looking good.
Prepare for launch countdown.
Five, four, three, two, one.
We have ignition, engines start.
Lift off.
Power is nominal.
Engines at 101% and nominal.
Altitude is 2,000 feet and climbing.
Avionics power is at nominal.
Altitude is at 10,000 feet and climbing.
Engines remain nominal.
Preparing for main engine cut off.
Two minutes to EPOS.
Sequence 30 seconds.
Speed, 7,200 miles per hour.
Stand by for stage one and EPOS separation.
ESS is disabled and we have stage one separation.
Payload separation in three, two, one.
Eject.
Alignment and trajectory is looking good.
We still have good, strong telemetry in the RCC.
Standing by for human 2.0 connection
in three, two, one.
Jessica, we see what you see, over.
Please commence on observation report.
Pressure stable inside the craft.
It's all looking good.
Jessica, you are a go.
Engaging on board trajectory system.
We're getting closer.
We're approaching the void.
I can almost see it.
It's almost within range.
There it is, there's the void.
Wow. It is beautiful.
Be advised,
we are no longer receiving craft telepatry.
As we get closer, I can feel everything around me.
It's starting to move too.
Oh, the pressure's so strong.
Pressure readings are fluctuating. It's becoming irregular.
There's a strange light coming in from all around, up ahead.
Oh, wow, this is incredible.
Especially since the void is starting to distort everything.
Here we go!
We are losing your transmission.
If you can still hear us,
good luck and godspeed, Jessica.
Well, we don't know, uh,
exactly when we can expect our astronauts to return.
Um, we can only speculate and hope,
and I hope that they will be back, you know, within the year,
but it's possible that it could take several years,
several decades even.
And there is also the remote possibility that we...
May never hear from them.
Uh, we're prepared for every eventuality.
We're tracking them right now.
And, um, well, as you can see,
we're all working flat out,
keeping tabs on what's going on.
And everybody is listening,
every single second.
There's been an accident.
And...
I'm afraid that Jessica has been involved.
There was, um, an explosion...
On the rocket and...
I'm really sorry to say, but...
We've lost her.
Everything that's dangerous, must be...
And why was she on it?
It's her job.
Couldn't they have put someone else on the rocket?
No, darling.
No.
Yeah, that was tough, my goodness.
Uh...
Oh, it's all very complicated
I've never lied to my daughter about anything before.
And, um, of course, the last time I had to tell her somebody died,
it was my husband.
Um, and it's not pleasant to have to go through that again.
I knew that, um...
Well, if she could know the truth and if she knew why
she would forgive me.
That's hard.
This morning, one of our defense ballistic missile radar systems
picked up a... A fast-moving object
heading towards the Atlantic ocean.
We use this to track space debris,
uh, satellites.
This object, it has the same size, velocity,
trajectory as the craft that we sent through to the void.
I mean, we were awe struck, that's for sure.
I mean...
Within a few days of launching, um...
To return so quickly...
Well, when we arrived, we lifted the craft out of the water
and I remember smearing black residue off the side.
Well, usually, when you see a craft with that amount of aging,
you would expect that the craft had been out for a long period of time
and had a very forcible entry back into the atmosphere.
From my experience from previous missions,
what would happen is that you would enter the craft
and there'd be two astronauts there.
But in this case, the military astronaut was nowhere to be found.
We need to consider the fact that perhaps
that this whole void...
Is a Trojan horse.
That...
That this could be perhaps a message, a warning.
I don't think it's a failure
that it's come back in seven days.
I mean, we have something
that has been through the void and come back.
Now our next step is to start doing tests.
As standard protocol for all our astronauts,
we have to keep miss Johnson in quarantine
to prevent any form of biological contamination
she may have been exposed to.
We have to prepare ourselves for the fact that
the mission is a failure.
What we need to do now is get ready for next steps.
To be honest, whether she wakes up is another thing.
She may physically wake up now,
or even next week, or next year.
When a patient has suffered severe brain damage,
then... they go into a coma or vegetative state.
It's possible that the sustained injury
is impairing their normal brain function.
When we plugged her into the transcode bay,
we discovered that the recorded data in her brain
showed several years-worth of new memories recorded.
Yet she had only been away for five days.
It's possible, even probable,
that the time on the void
is well different from our concept of time.
What is a couple of years the other side
may well just be a few days here.
The transcode process works by
tapping into the connector where the memories are stored.
This is made possible by artificial intelligent chip implants
that's stored at the side of the brain.
So this helps us encode memories
and also stores them as synaptic connections.
What our transcode technology does
is it unscrambles this chain of synaptic connections
into a stream of data.
Our software then processes this stream of data as imagery.
So when played back, it's.. It's incredible.
It's actual memory footage.
We've transcoded bursts of memory.
And, although short, it's very promising,
in fact, it's... I think it's better than anybody expected.
Um, at this stage of the game, however,
it... they are short because it's very, uh, taxing mentally
for Jessica.
So she needs a certain amount of time
to recover for the synapses in her brain
to recover from the experience that she's had
to, sort of, re-gather, as it were,
um, and then we start again.
So, for me, there's a priority, obviously,
which is to take care of Jessica.
I certainly don't want the information that she has
to be compromised in any way
by pushing this process too quickly.
However, there is an imperative that we get the information as soon as possible.
We have some very worried people here at strategic defense committee.
With the heightened activity in our skies,
national security alert was elevated to code red.
Now bear in mind, we have protocols set in place
for this kind of event.
Since the '40s.
Something must've triggered her brain synapse like a switch.
Her brain activity lit up like fireworks.
Her diagnostics were normal.
Nothing seemed damaged.
Well, her brain did have a level of trauma,
but that's to be expected,
and her memories will take a while to reconnect.
Despite my professional advice to the space agency officials,
not enough time was given to allow for her recovery.
There were too many questions.
And everyone wanted answers.
Jessica, I'm gonna ask you some questions
and it's very important
that you answer them as clearly as possible
so that we can prevent confusion with the memory transcodes.
I understand.
What do you remember from the launch?
It was so much light.
I remember thinking to myself that
this light is going to blind me if I keep my eyes open.
Can you tell me what happened with the soldier 2.0?
The solider... he remained quiet as we went into the void.
But as the light flashes became more violent,
I... I couldn't watch him, I had to close my eyes for a moment.
And when I opened my eyes, I noticed
that he was no longer in the craft.
I looked outside and I could see him floating away.
Jessica, sorry, can you confirm that again?
I said, there was no way that he could've left the craft via the hatch.
He just floated there as if frozen.
He had a look of fear in his eyes
and he kept looking down at his arm.
His arm exploded into a white flash of light,
which looked like a nuclear bomb detonation.
And then the craft began spinning out of the void
and towards what looked like a planet.
I must've passed out because I then found myself
on the planet's surface and had no idea how that happened.
I kept walking and walking.
It was as if I was drawn to a specific location.
Jessica,
did you make first contact?
Yes.
I saw them.
But they had no shape or form.
I felt their presence as if they were trying to communicate with me.
And there was a flash,
and I found myself inside a white environment.
In the distance...
Was something approaching me.
I felt paralyzed.
I-I just couldn't move.
I know I should've been scared or terrified
but I wasn't.
I actually felt calm.
It was Jim Marcell.
But he didn't physically speak.
I could hear him, though, in my head,
telling me that everything is going to be okay.
What are their intentions?
He kept saying it's going to be okay
and that our time has come.
It was strange, I could feel what it was saying.
It-it... it wasn't a voice as such.
It was just information being presented into my mind.
Many in the committee are questioning
the validity of Jessica's memory transcodes,
in particular, the appearance of astronaut Jim Marcell.
Um, they are questioning whether this is a manifestation of her imagination
or a kind of mirage, if you will.
However, I have to wonder why he appeared in the first place.
And, to me, I think it's important to, perhaps,
examine the idea that astronaut Jim Marcell
is alive and well,
and on the other side of the void.
He's not damaged in body or mind, seemingly.
So perhaps this would indicate that their intentions towards us
are positive and that they mean us no harm.
We have to be extremely cautious
in our response to Jessica's statements.
We have to run... A whole lot of tests
to ascertain whether or not she's suffering
from any form of post-traumatic stress.
She's been through one hell of an experience.
It's bound to have some side effects,
even if they are temporary.
We have a lot at stake here.
And we can't afford to make any rash conclusions at this stage
about what the transcodes are and where they come from.
Are they really Jessica's own organic memories?
Or are they imposed, placed there,
by someone or something else?
This is ISS, be advised of incoming debris.
The blowback does not look good.
Multiple collisions with our outer-orbit satellites
and the debris speed is accelerating rapidly.
It's heading right at us.
Standing by for collision avoidance maneuver.
100 meters and closing.
75 meters and closing.
50 meters and closing.
25 meters and closing.
Ten meters and closing.
Five meters and closing.
Three meters.
Brace for impact.
We were so wrong.
We could not have been more wrong about...
All of this.
We were so blinded by our own paranoia
that we couldn't see what was really going on.
We thought that we were being attacked.
It didn't occur to us in our wildest dreams
that actually we were being saved.
That thought never crossed my mind.
And I am feeling...
Uh, humbled I think is the word that comes to mind.
And... um, you know, you see something,
I guess you can't help but question everything that you...
You think you know.
Breaking news, today, not matter which race,
religion or political view you hold,
or wars which you are fighting,
everyone on this planet is witnessing
a historical event,
which experts are calling the cosmic event of our lifetime.
Since the event, Jessica's mind is less constricted
and more memories have been transcoded.
The more we've transcoded, the more we've learned about
Jessica's first contact experience with them
and their intentions.
He said that this is all part of the cycle.
A process created by them to keep the universe stable
and working.
I had to ask, "why us?
Why did they save us?"
Whatever they learned about us...
Perhaps made them decide
that we were a species worth preserving after all.
Regardless of our flaws.
He said their work is done
and, in time, they will return.
I never thought that the gad would've played
such an important part in saving humanity.
We designed it to inform extraterrestrial intelligent life
if they bothered reading it.
Uh...
It happened, they did.
Human beings, when faced with the unknown,
there's an immediate reaction to go on the offense.
You have two choices really:
Fight or flight.
That was our mindset.
Of course, having the military involved,
that's going to be part of how we approach these things.
And I think from early days, you know,
since the beginning of this discovery,
we gradually entered onto that path
of feeling that we were under threat.
And I have to say it never really crossed our minds
for one single second
that there was something out there that was helping us.
Now, I don't know why that didn't occur to us,
but maybe it's a question we need to ask ourselves.
Is everything that we don't understand,
is it something to be feared right off the bat
as a knee-jerk reaction,
or is there space that we can make to contemplate
that there could be forces out there
that really are on our side,
and that are part of helping us evolve?
Nothing...
We thought we knew about physics, science...
About intelligent life,
nothing that we've theorized
could ever have prepared us for this.
There's no physical,
scientific explanation for this
or why it happened.
Although the scientists and other members of the space agency
are overwhelmed by this event,
the defense department can't help but ask the question
about these aliens.
Is it in their best interest...
If the human race survives?
Every astronaut is fitted with a tracking device.
So, in the early hours of this morning,
the military honed in on a tracking signal
that was consistent with the device
carried by astronaut Jim Marcell.
They found him wandering around
in a state of complete shock in the Arizona desert.
And, um, we have no idea how he got there.
I think maybe we can assume that,
now that the void has disappeared,
his role as a conduit is no longer necessary.
Unfortunately, um, Jim Marcell has no recollection
of what happened to him on the other side of the void.
And he will need some time to come to terms with recent events.
We really have no idea
what he experienced on the other side of the void.
Since the disappearance of the void
and the black spheres, we've been noticing a lot of strange
and fascinating activity above our planet.
An aftermath of recent events.
This swirling cloud of gas, and dust and ice
could be seen producing what appeared to be planets
and their moons being pulled down into their own gravity.
It's now looking like we have a new solar system.
The fact that it's actually happened,
unsettling on, sort of, the deepest level
because it throws into question every single thing
that I and my colleagues have learned about our earth,
our solar system, space and beyond.
What resulted was the formation of a new planet...
Right next to ours.
Like a sister planet directly in our orbit.
Our unmanned probes performed atmosphere and surface scans.
And the resulting data indicated that this new planet
has all of the ingredients required to sustain human life.
From surface temperature, to magnetic field,
water, oxygen.
It was as though this planet was custom-built just for us.
This new planet and its mass,
it's almost identical to our planet.
With a 10% variation in size.
That's why we're starting to refer to it as "earth two."
Future world populations predicted to soar
above 12 billion and resources are running out,
it's impossible to accurately determine
how long we'll actually sustain life here.
So when a mission like this comes along,
leaders of the world's nations will pay any cost to be part of this.
The arrival of earth two has set off
what can only be described as a 21st century gold rush.
Corporations and governments alike
are quickly positioning themselves,
and their country's interests,
for our new neighboring planet.
The U.N. Has called upon all leaders from key nations
to come together to discuss interplanetary strategies,
which include the use of nuclear power
to assist in colonization.
Meanwhile, people all over the world
are taking to social media to express their hopes,
thoughts and concerns.
Earth two is a chance to build a new life.
What I'd like to know is who is making those decisions?
Rich and politicians, they can't be the one
to make this decision about our children's future hope.
I mean, what if there is life on the new earth?
I mean, what are we gonna see?
What are we gonna find when we get up there?
We're gonna absolutely destroy that planet.
Because the governments are corrupt.
We should go to earth two because that way
they can stay here and they can continue to fight.
I don't buy it.
I think this is a mining operation
for minerals and resources.
This discovery changed
everything we know about the universe
and about ourselves.
Not like democracy exists anyway, right?
But we should vote on the kind of people that we want to send there.
The very best scientists, the very best artists,
the very best philosophers,
and people that actually think and care about humanity.
Well, this occurrence has opened up the Pandora's box
of whys.
There's also a whole host of-of...
Other complicated questions.
Specifically, how do we proceed?
It's been 12 months since we last saw the void.
Yet I have this sure feeling,
they haven't really left us.
And, if anything,
they're still observing us.
Today, we are sending the first manned spacecrafts
to earth two.
The space agency decided that we send only human 2.0s first
with the intention of running tests on earth two
in order to lay down the foundations
for when the time is right
to commence sending humans to settle down
and colonize for future generations.
But one does wonder whether we will make the same mistakes
we've been making for centuries.
How can we ensure this new home
brings out the best in us?
Or how we, and our future generations,
don't make the same mistakes we did in our past,
and prove that our existence was worth saving.
We were so obsessed with discovering new life
when, on reflection,
we have still yet to discover ourselves.
We now have another chance to do just that.
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