Annihilation Page #2

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it becomes immortal.

Keeps dividing, doesn't die.

They say aging is a natural process,

but it's actually a fault in our genes.

I get really turned on

when you patronize me. It's really hot.

Without it,

I could keep looking like this forever.

Oh, okay.

-Well, that could constitute a mistake.

You didn't tell me

where you're heading this time.

I know there's something strange

about this mission.

Why?

The silence around it

is louder than usual.

Kind of angling for a clue here.

So...?

We'll be under the same hemisphere.

What does that tell me?

It tells you that if you step outside

and you look up...

we'll be looking at the same stars.

-Holy f***ing sh*t.

You think that's what I do

while you're away?

-You think I'm out in the garden,

pining, looking up at the sky?

Shut up. All right.

-Oh, to think my beloved Kane...

-Okay. Uh-huh.

-...is looking at the selfsame moon.

Stop it.

Oh,

my distant celestial friend...

No. No.

...please care for my brave soldier.

Jesus. You know what?

You are disrespectful,

seriously, not only to your former

comrades in the armed forces,

-but also to the president.

-You forgot the flag.

Oh, I'm getting--

I'm getting to the motherfucking flag.

Oh, my hero.

-Screw you.

-Okay.

She's all by herself.

Don't you think we should make friends?

Well, obviously you should.

Yep, I'll do it.

Hey. Hey.

-No, not at all.

Cool. Phew.

You know, I always see you here alone.

It's...

I'm guessing you probably feel weird

or awkward.

Somewhat, I guess.

Don't. Seriously, don't.

The people here put themselves to sleep

in the fetal position

making cooing noises.

It's freaky, you know.

-I'm Anya.

-Lena.

-Nice to meet you.

-You, too.

Um, why don't you come and meet my crew?

Come make friends. Come on.

Ladies, meet Lena.

Hi nice to meet you.

Yeah, that's Cassie Sheppard,

and Josie Radek.

Hi. Nice to meet you.

-Hi.

Do you want to have a seat?

-Thank you.

-So, first day at the Southern Reach.

-Yes.

-Ah!

-Thank you.

-You're welcome.

You all been here long?

Um, yeah, right from the start.

I'm a geomorphologist.

I've been testing the magnetic fields

around the boundary,

which is like using confetti

to test a hurricane.

Uh, and I've been here... ten months.

Wow, ten months.

Paramedic from Chicago.

Tried to join an NGO,

but my application got flagged,

so Southern Reach got me.

Only two months.I'm a physicist.

I came straight from my Cambridge postdoc.

She's very smart.

What's your story, Lena?

Uh, I'm from Johns Hopkins, biologist.

-Oh, there you go.

-Told you she was smart.

What?

We had a bet on your profession,

and Josie had biologist, of course.

-I had law enforcement.

-I had you as single.

Jesus. Do you have to hit

on everyone, like all the time?

F*** that. Under the circumstances,

I think I'm allowed to roll the dice

a few more times.

Under what circumstances?

Well, yeah, um, crazy as it seems...

Crazy as it is.

...we are headed that way.

-Six days and counting.

-Four.

Ventress.

Mmm. Team leader.

-All women.

-Scientists.

The previous teams

have been largely military, so, yeah.

What do you think happened to them?

Well, there are two theories

of what went wrong in the Shimmer.

One, something kills them.

Two, they go crazy and kill each other.

There was one military guy

who made it out.

Yeah. A sergeant.

Yeah, but you heard

about the state that he was in.

Kane...

I know why you went in.

I am so sorry.

And I know what I have to do.

So you didn't tell them

about your connection to Sergeant Kane?

I thought it would complicate things.

What?

What would it complicate?

Why are you going into the Shimmer?

The mission statement is to reach

the supposed source of the Shimmer,

the lighthouse,

enter and acquire data, and return.

But I don't think that

that's your mission statement.

No.

I've been watching the phenomenon

for a while now.

I profile the volunteers.

I pick the teams.

They enter, I watch.

I watch it grow closer.

There's only so long one can do that.

But you need to know what's inside?

Yes, I do.

So do I.

So that's the complication.

You want to come with us.

I can't do anything for him here.

Soldier-scientist.

You can fight.

You can learn.

You can save him.

You requested to join the mission.

You knew all other missions had failed

and the only survivor

was barely surviving.

That was a brave choice.

I owed him.

I'm only trying to understand

what drove you.

I owed him...

so I went in.

And then we get some real meals.

Spaghetti.

Here's Radek's vegetable crackers.

Wow, cornbread. That's not so bad.

Oh, you're finally awake.

You gotta give me a second.

I'm a little disoriented.

Join the club.

You don't remember

setting up camp, do you?

I don't remember anything...

after we reached the tree line.

None of us do.

And we did a food inventory.

From the depletion, we've been out here

for at least three or four days.

That's not possible.

That's what I said.

Guys, I've been checking

my comms and nav equipment.

They boot up fine,

no problem with the electronics,

and the camera is working,

but anything that sends a signal

out of the Shimmer... is down.

Even though we've probably got

about 20 satellites above us right now,

and... check this out.

So we've got no compass,

no comms, no coordinates...

and no landmarks.

Well, we know we're in the state park.

We head south, we hit the ocean,

then we can just follow the shoreline

until we hit the perimeter wall. Right?

-Come on, Josie, you know this.

Hour hand at the sun.

Split the difference

between the hour hand and 12, south.

Good.

We're oriented.

We weren't really expecting

the comms equipment to work, were we?

There's been three years of expeditions

and three years of radio silence.

Let's pack up and get moving.

We've already lost a lot of the day.

Oh, I'm gonna check this out.

Get us out of this damn swamp.

All right.

Let's check out the hut.

Looks like someone's

about to have a wedding. These are very strange.

Why?

Well, they're all so different.

To look at them, you wouldn't say

that they're the same species.

But they're growing

from the same branch structure...

so it has to be the same species.

It's the same plant.

It's like they're stuck

in a continuous mutation.

A pathology?

Yeah, well...

you'd sure as hell call it a pathology

if you saw this in a human.

Jackpot.

Sheppard! Mode of transportation.

Anything interesting in there?

No. It's been long abandoned,

maybe even before--

Radek?

Radek!

-Radek!

It's got my bag!

Radek!

Something's got my bag!

Oh, no!

It's got my bag!

Help me with her!

What's going on?

Hey, grab my shoulder!

Get her. Come on.

I got her.

Okay

I got her. Okay.

You're good, you're good.

It's okay.

Let's sit you down.

Help me with her bag.

Okay, just breathe.

It's okay. You're just fine.

-Something in the water.

-Get up, get up. Go.

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