Arrival Page #4

communications channel.

We have our friends

in Pakistan to thank

for their study of

how heptapods write,

because unlike speech,

a logogram is free of time.

Like their ship

or their bodies,

their written language

has no forward

or backward direction.

Linguists call this

non-linear orthography,

which raises the question,

"is this how they think?"

Imagine you wanted to write

a sentence using two hands,

starting from either side.

You would have to know

each word you wanted to use,

as well as how much space

they would occupy.

A heptapod can write

a complex sentence

in two seconds, effortlessly.

It's taken us a month

to make the simplest reply.

Next, expanding vocabulary.

Louise thinks it could

easily take another month

to be ready for that.

Hey...

Oh, hey.

Weber's looking for you.

Yeah, well, why do you think

I'm hiding out here?

Come on up!

Thanks.

Nice out here, huh?

Yeah, it's a nice view.

Away from the noise.

You know, I was just

thinking about you.

You approach language

like a mathematician.

You know that, right?

I will take that

as a compliment.

Yeah, well, it is.

As I watch you steer us around

these communication traps

that I didn't

even know existed,

it's like, "what?"

I guess that's why I'm single.

Trust me, you can

understand communication

and still end up single.

I feel like everything

that happens in there

comes down to the two of us.

Yeah, that's a good thing

though, right?

You and I?

Have you seen the jokers

that we're working with?

Thank god I've got you!

Tonight,

the first photograph

of the aliens goes viral.

Biological contamination

is a major risk factor

at the Montana site.

So say environmental

pressure groups.

800,000 march on Washington

to protest the government's

handling of the crisis.

All this,

and more special coverage.

First contact with whoever it

is that is inside that thing,

and who's running the show?

The government.

That's right, folks,

the same government

who ruined our healthcare

and bankrupted our military.

Look at these people!

Most of them

don't even have guns!

We could be facing

a full-scale invasion.

Our president's

willing to sit back

and let them waltz in

and take our country.

We are falling asleep

at the wheel, people!

You know what I'm talking

about. I know you do.

What if the smartest thing

we could do right now

would be to give them

a show of force?

I'm talking about

a shot across the bow.

What do you think?

Caller no. 1,

you're on the air.

What do you think?

What's this word?

Planet.

That's, like, um...

The earth is a planet.

Want to see my project

for miss garriott's class?

Yeah, little nose.

We had to make up

our own TV show.

If we had one.

And who are

those two people?

That's you and dad.

The show is called

"mommy and daddy

talk to animals."

Oh!

Well, it's lovely.

Okay...

Um...

You know it's okay to be sad

that your dad and I...

I know. I'm not.

'Cause we both

love you very much.

I know. It's just a cartoon.

It's not real.

Louise?

You all right?

Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine.

I'm not sure it's something

i can... I can explain.

When was your last

checkup with Dr. kettler?

I'm okay.

I'm gonna get some air.

I'm okay.

All right.

I'm fine. Yep.

How you feeling?

Um...

I need some sleep,

but I'm fine.

Yeah.

You know, I was doing

some reading, um,

about this idea

that if you immerse yourself

into a foreign language,

then you can actually

rewire your brain.

The sapir-whorf hypothesis.

Mm-hmm.

The theory that, uh...

It... it's the theory

that, uh,

the language

you speak determines

how you think and...

Yeah. It affects

how you see everything.

It was, uh...

I'm curious...

Are you dreaming

in their language?

I may have had a few dreams,

but I don't...

I don't think that that

makes me unfit to do this job.

Did you sleep?

A little.

Do you know

mandarin?

It is shifting.

The voice

you're about to hear

belongs to

a Chinese military chief...

General shang.

Pull it up!

We got a satellite feed here

of who he's talking to,

if you want to look.

Wait, go back.

Stop.

He's saying that

each of the 12

is offering

advanced technology.

Go back again.

And play.

Um...

"Our science team is attempting

to decode the sets."

"Sets." I don't know

what that means.

Something about advantage,

suits, honor and,

uh, flowers.

I don't...

I don't know. That's all.

I don't know

what it means either.

An hour ago,

China mobilized forces.

And now, Russia's

following suit.

Shang's about to

start something.

Following suit. Suits.

Suits, honor, flowers...

Colonel, those are

all tile sets in mah-jongg.

God, are they...

Are they using a game to

converse with their heptapods?

Maybe. Why?

Well, let's say that i taught

them chess instead of English.

Every conversation

would be a game.

Every idea expressed through

opposition, victory, defeat.

You see the problem?

Hmm...

If all I ever gave

you was a hammer...

Everything's a nail.

We need to ask

the big question.

Ready or not.

Yeah, I know,

but between there and there.

Well, it's

time to go.

Okay...

Heptapods' purpose.

Heptapod purpose earth.

What is your purpose?

Do we only have costello?

Okay. There you are.

What does it say?

Offer weapon.

You saw what they wrote!

Using a word

they don't fully understand.

Could be a request.

A warning.

Enough! Louise?

We don't know

if they understand

the difference between

a weapon and a tool.

Our language, like

our culture, is messy,

and sometimes,

one can be both.

And it's quite possible

that they're asking us

to offer them something,

not the other way around.

It's like the first

part of a trade.

So, how do we clarify

their intentions

beyond those two words?

Well, I go back in.

Right away, we go back in

and we clear this up.

It's more complicated

than that.

How is it more complicated

than that?

Colonel,

the secretary of defense

is on the line for you.

We need to sit

on this information

till we know what it means,

so we aren't sharing it

with our enemies.

We must consider the idea

that our visitors are prodding

us to fight among ourselves

until only one

faction prevails.

There's no evidence of that.

Sure there is.

Just grab a history book.

The British with India,

the Germans with Rwanda.

They even got

a name for it in Hungary.

Yeah. We're a world

with no single leader.

It's impossible to

deal with just one of us.

And with the word

"weapon" now...

Halpern. Yes, sir!

No confirmation yet.

Standing by.

Anything?

What did they say?

China and Russia

are off the grid.

They aren't speaking

to anyone.

Whatever they learned in their

last session has them spooked.

Yes, sir!

We have orders

to do the same.

These are our allies!

You can't shut us down!

Put us on radio silence.

Do it.

We received a message

from the hept... damn it!

We need to be

talking to each other!

You want to talk to them?

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