Arrival Page #3

That's gotta take longer.

You're wrong. It's faster.

Everything you do in there,

i have to explain to a room full of men

whose first

and last question is...

"How can this

be used against us?"

So you're gonna have to

give me more than that.

Kangaroo.

What is that?

In 1770,

captain James cook's ship

ran aground

off the coast of Australia,

and he led a party

into the country,

and they met

the aboriginal people.

One of the sailors

pointed at

the animals

that hop around

and put their babies

in their pouch,

and he asked

what they were,

and the aborigine said,

"kangaroo."

And the point is?

It wasn't till later

that they learned that

"kangaroo" means

"i don't understand." So,

I need this so that we don't

misinterpret things in there.

Otherwise, this is gonna

take 10 times as long.

I can sell that

for now.

But I need you to submit

your vocabulary words

before the next session.

Fair.

And remember what happened

to the aborigines.

A more advanced race

nearly wiped them out.

It's a good story.

Thanks.

It's not true.

But it proves my point.

We think

we were able to reproduce

some prime number

sequences back at them.

So that's something.

Well, congratulations.

You're a parrot.

It's a lot more than that,

you cheeky bastard,

don't you see?

They can't seem to

follow our algebra,

but complex behaviors,

that clicks.

Well that doesn't make

any sense at all, does it?

Problem is,

not everyone shares our policy

of being open

with the aliens.

Have you met

general shang?

The call sign for him

is big domino.

Whatever shang does,

at least four other nations

will follow.

Louise? We have to

gain ground today.

Okay.

You have a vocabulary list

for me?

I do.

You're gonna teach them

your name and Ian's?

Yes, so that

we can learn

their names

if they have names,

and then introduce

pronouns later.

These are all

grade-school words:

Eat, walk.

Help me understand.

Okay. Um...

Oh, no, no, no!

Not the top!

Okay, this is where

you wanna get to, right?

That is the question.

Okay.

So, first, we need to

make sure that

they understand

what a question is.

Okay, the nature of

a request for information

along with a response.

Then, we need to clarify

the difference between

a specific "you"

and a collective "you,"

because we don't wanna know

why Joe alien is here,

we want to know

why they all landed.

And purpose requires

an understanding of intent.

We need to find out:

Do they make

conscious choices?

Or is their motivation

so instinctive

that they don't understand

a "why" question at all?

And... and biggest of all,

we need to have enough

vocabulary with them

that we understand

their answer.

I get it.

Stick to your list.

Just

don't add anything to it.

...are at 2.97.

Oxygen level:
21.4%. Over.

Condor, Alpha's now

in the nave.

Setting up equipment

and telemetry. Over.

Let's get started.

Louise. Louise.

I am Louise.

What is that?

Is that a new symbol?

I can't tell.

I don't know. I think it's

the symbol for human again.

It just has a little

curl on the end,

maybe to indicate

a question.

I don't know.

I don't know, Louise.

I think

they're getting confused.

Dr. banks,

perhaps we should

move on to the next word.

Dr. banks!

It's okay.

What's going on?

Hey! What are you doing?

Yeah, I'm fine.

Are you insane?

They need to see me.

She's taking off

her Hazmat suit.

Is it okay?

You're

risking contamination.

They need to see me.

Dr. banks...

Dr. banks.

She's walking

towards the screen.

Should we abort?

Recourse noted.

Stand by for further orders.

Go back to your stations.

Now that's

a proper introduction. Hey.

Louise.

I am Louise.

Ian, do you want to

introduce yourself?

Uh, yeah.

Louise.

Screw it!

Everybody dies, right?

Sir, Donnelly is

taking off his Hazmat suit.

Permission to abort?

Continue the session.

Ian.

Louise.

You...

Who are you?

I think those

are their names.

They have names.

So, what are

we gonna call them?

I don't know.

I was thinking

abbott and costello.

Yeah.

Yeah?

Yeah, I like it.

I like it.

Wow!

Team 1, exit your vehicle

and proceed directly ahead

to the decontamination tent.

Leave your respirator on until

you reach the equipment room.

I know. Shhh!

Team 2, exit your vehicles

and continue to

the decontamination tent.

Leave your respirators on

and do not hesitate

until you have reached

the equipment room.

How do you feel?

Overworked.

Well, I guess

i don't need to tell you

you're putting yourself

at risk.

There's no signs of

radiation poisoning yet.

We'll see how

your blood tests look.

For now, I'm gonna

give you another boost.

Okay.

No radiation.

Nothing else

we can detect either,

but I'd give them a strong

cocktail, regardless.

It's the first time we've

made significant progress.

All right.

We'll take the risk.

Okay, honey...

What is going on there?

Honey...

Just tell me!

You don't need

to worry, okay?

How can I not worry?

Just calm down.

Just calm down.

Becky asked me if the monsters

are going to kill daddy!

Honey,

it's not gonna happen.

Just stay safe.

You don't need to worry.

Please! I'm so scared!

All junior xenolinguistics

and science personnel

must observe

general curfew

unless expressly authorized

for extended work hours

by unit cos.

Curfew in effect

as of 2200 hours.

Notice to all late workers,

fire watchers and night staff.

Effective immediately,

midnight rations will be served all night.

Here are some of

the many things

we don't know about heptapods.

Greek. Hepta, "seven."

Pod, "foot."

Seven feet. Heptapod.

Who are they?

Trying to answer this

in any meaningful way

is hampered by the fact that,

outside being able to see them

and hear them,

the heptapods leave

absolutely no footprint.

The chemical composition of

their spaceship is unknown.

The shell emits no waste,

no gas, no radiation.

Assuming that the shells

communicate with each other,

they do so without detection.

The air between the shells

is untroubled

by Sonic emission

or light wave.

Are they scientists?

Or tourists?

If they're scientists,

they don't seem to ask

a lot of questions.

Why did they park

where they did?

The world's most decorated

experts can't crack that one.

The most plausible theory is

that they chose

places on earth

with the lowest incidence

of lightning strikes.

But there are exceptions.

The next most

plausible theory is that

sheena Easton had a hit song

at each of these sites

in 1980.

So, we just don't know.

How do they communicate?

Here, Louise is

putting us all to shame.

The first breakthrough was

to discover that

there's no correlation

between what a heptapod says

and what a heptapod writes.

Unlike all written

human languages,

their writing

is semasiographic.

It conveys meaning.

It doesn't represent sound.

Perhaps they view

our form of writing

as a wasted opportunity,

passing up a second

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