Alphaville Page #3

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Yes, we spent three years looking

for Grand Omega Minus.

Well, Mr. Johnson...

How do you find Alphaville?

Not bad, if I knew where I was.

You are in the center of

Alphaville, inside Alpha 60.

The task of Alpha 60

is to calculate and project

the results which Alphaville

will subsequently enjoy.

Why?

No one ever says "why";

one says "because".

In the life of individuals,

as in the life of nations

all is linked,

all is consequence.

That's the famous theory of

Professor Leonard Nosferatu.

Leonard Nosferatu no longer

exists, Mr. Johnson.

The Outlands expelled him in 1964.

Today there is only

Professor Vonbraun.

I remember. He was sent

to a village in the desert

to perfect his invention.

He was exiled, you mean.

Now the Outlands wring their hands,

wishing him back.

They flood us with spies. Perhaps

you are a spy, Mr. Johnson.

You know I'm only a free man.

A meaningless reply.

We know nothing.

We record, calculate,

draw conclusions.

An hour ago,

one of Alpha 60's.

1.4 billion nerve centres

questioned you.

Your replies were difficult and

sometimes impossible to codify.

We deduce an above-average

intelligence.

We are sometimes in mortal need

of superior intelligences.

At other times we have a no less

mortal distrust of them.

So what will you do with me?

For the moment, we're ordered

to show you Alpha 60.

Who ordered you?

Professor Vonbraun?

Absolutely not.

An order is a logical conclusion.

One must not be afraid of logic.

Simply that. Period.

The circuit elements...

of 183 Omega Minus... malfunction.

Calculating or memory elements?

Memory.

Professors Eckel and Jeckel.

I'm very well, thank you,

pleased to meet you.

Me too.

I'd like to know what

Grand Omega Minus is.

Our 17th electricity plan

is inadequate.

Sooner or later, the Outlands

will declare war on us.

Therefore, we decided

to invade them.

Directed by Professor Vonbraun,

Omega Minus will be

victorious over anti-matter.

I see, it's ideal.

We can perhaps use men like you

to tell us the weak points

of the Outlands.

Your tendency to dwell

in the past...

...could be useful to us.

We send those properly brain-washed

to provoke the other galaxies,

the strikes, revolutions,

family rows, student revolts.

That's us:
Grand Omega Minus.

- Where now?

- The invisible part of Alpha 60.

You think more

of what has been...

...than of what will be.

It's old, your camera.

The technical...

I don't believe in it.

Yes, of course.

Jeckel asked why I shot

the individual in my bathroom...

...when the whole thing

was just a psycho-test.

I replied, because I'm too old

to argue. So I shoot.

It's my only weapon

against fatality.

- What's this?

- Central Interrogation Station.

Here Alpha 60 sets itself problems.

The forms and references used

by Alpha 60

are too complex

for human understanding.

What sort of problems?

Train and airplane departures...

movement of people and goods...

electricity distribution...

crime suppression... war operations.

Element Seven, Malfunction.

What's happening?

It's war with the Outlands.

A simple instruction...

...is usually insufficient...

...to put into...

...execution...

...a task set by Alpha 60.

Do not think...

...that it is I...

...who initiate

this destruction...

...nor the scientists...

...who have accepted my plan.

Ordinary men...

...are unworthy...

...of the positions they hold...

...in the world.

Analysis of their past...

...automatically leads one...

...to this conclusion.

Therefore...

...they must be destroyed.

That is to say:
transformed.

I don't need anyone

to draw it for me.

During these years,

under the direction...

...of Vonbraun

and his assistants...

...Alphaville had developed

by leaps and bounds...

...guided by electronic brains

that developed themselves...

...by conceiving problems...

...that the human imagination

couldn't grasp.

Foreigners were gradually

assimilated...

...especially the Swedes,

Germans and Americans.

The others, the unassimilatables

were purely and simply killed.

I walked through the threaten

of executions.

Usually, we would seat them

in a room...

...and electrocute them in their

chairs as they watched a show.

Then we'd dump them into

huge rubbish bins...

...and the theater was ready

for the next batch.

If an individual showed hope

of reclamation...

...he was sent to a chronic

illness hospital where...

...mechanical and propagandistic

treatments soon cured him.

I felt that my existence here...

...was becoming a distorted,

twilight memory...

...and without a doubt,

a terrible destiny.

I was left only one solution.

It would not be logical...

...to prevent...

...superior beings...

...from attacking...

...the other galaxies.

Put in one token.

Thank you.

Going up, sir?

- No, I'll shine my shoes.

- Please, sir.

- This man has the key.

- This way, sir.

You're tired, sir?

You'd like to sleep, sir?

Yes, to sleep:

perchance to dream.

What are you exactly?

I'm a seductress, third class.

Has your colleague gone?

Who? Beatrice?

I don't know;

a blonde with long legs.

She's working

in the peripheral flats.

We're only replacements.

Ever heard of the Outlands?

Never.

- Get out of here!

- Why?

If anyone asks,

say you don't know.

I'm very well,

thank you so very much.

If it isn't the little princess.

I was forbidden to come,

but I wanted to see you again.

Not me!

Since you're here,

order breakfast for me.

Yes, sir.

Pardon, I'm very well,

thank you so very much.

Me too.

Bow your head.

What is it?

Nothing. Just a thought.

What about my breakfast?

I want to tele-order breakfast.

What is your number?

You have a number?

They didn't give me one

at Alpha 60.

Not your control number,

your room number.

Ever heard of this book?

"The Capital of Pain".

Some words are underlined.

We live in the void

of metamorphoses.

But the echo that runs

throughout the day...

...that echo beyond time,

anguish or caress...

Are we near to our conscience,

or far from it?

These are words

I don't understand.

Conscience...

And this:

death in conversation.

And this?

Your eyes have returned

from a despotic land...

...where no one has known

the meaning of a glance.

You've really no idea

what this is?

It reminds me of something.

I don't know what.

Naked truth.

I know it well.

Despair has no wings,

nor does love.

No face, they don't speak.

I don't look at them,

I don't speak to them.

But I am as alive

as my love and despair...

And this:

Dying is not dying.

And this:

The beguiler beguiler.

This:

Men who change.

Never heard of secret messages,

Miss Vonbraun?

A secret message?

Don't you know what a secret is?

Yes. Secrets of planning,

atomic secrets, secrets of memory.

Now what are you looking for?

This town is driving me nuts!

I'm looking for a Bible,

to see if it's in it.

Are you a complete idiot? The word

I'm looking for, obviously...

Where is it? There's always

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