Interstellar Page #18

painting the relay a bright blue.

Cooper watches him for a moment. Tars looks up.

TARS:

It's the comms relay. It will allow

us to talk to earth, even on the far

side of the wormhole.

COOPER:

I know. So why are you painting it?

Tars looks almost bashful.

TARS:

It helps me calibrate my fine motor

control.

COOPER:

Sure it does.

(SMILES)

You're pretty good.

Tars double checks his work.

TARS:

I learned it during the war.

COOPER:

What'd you paint?

TARS:

Tombstones.

Cooper watches him finish in silence.

INT. COMMUNICATIONS ROOM, ENDURANCE

Cooper watches a highly-compressed video of his son, Tom,

talking about school.

TOM:

They said I can start an agriculture

class a year early.

Cooper shakes his head.

TOM (CONT'D)

I've got to go, Dad. Hope you're

safe up there.

54.

Tom gets up to leave. Donald sits down in his place.

DONALD:

I'm sorry, Coop. I asked Murph to

record you a message but he's still...

well, he's still angry with you.

I'll try again next week.

The video cuts out. Cooper stares at the darkened screen.

INT. ENGINE ROOM, ENDURANCE

Cooper, Brand and Tars are moving the bundles of colonization

equipment into bins along the wall of the craft.

Tars pulls a stack of equipment out the stack and stows it

against the wall. Cooper copies the procedure.

They labor in silence, working their way along the hull.

Cooper gets quicker with each bundle, keeping pace with Tars.

TARS:

Be careful. It's difficult to gauge

mass in zero gravity.

COOPER:

How much do these things weigh?

TARS:

Four tons.

Cooper looks at the incredibly heavy bundle spinning easily

in his hands. He tries to stop it. Catches his hand.

COOPER:

Damn.

He jerks his hand away, then pushes himself after the spinning

bundle, trying to stop it before it can damage the hull.

Tars helps him catch it inches from the hull wall.

Brand floats over to Cooper, smiling at him the whole time

with an exaggerated grin.

BRAND:

Smile.

Cooper smiles, taken aback by Brand's sudden friendliness.

COOPER:

Why?

BRAND:

Because it lowers your blood pressure.

55.

Cooper looks at his hand. Blood is pouring out of his palm

in large glistening bubbles.

INT. INFIRMARY, ENDURANCE

Cooper, slightly embarrassed, is seated while Case is hunched

over his hand, sewing the meat of it back together with

perfect little stitches.

CASE:

How are you feeling?

COOPER:

Fine. The anesthetic is working.

CASE:

No -- I mean how is your mood? You

seem to be developing good relations

with everyone on the mission. Except

perhaps Ms. Brand.

COOPER:

(EMBARRASSED)

You worry about my hand and I'll

worry about my mood.

CASE:

Only five percent of my resources

are devoted to human anatomy. Ten

percent is the mission protocol.

The rest is human psychology.

COOPER:

Why?

CASE:

We are floating in a total vacuum in

a plastic ship powered by nuclear

engines. But the most dangerous

thing onboard is the three pounds of

organic material in your skull.

COOPER:

If we're such a liability, why take

us along? You and Tars could build

the colony without us. You wouldn't

need to bring food or oxygen.

CASE:

Because humans, despite your obvious

physical shortcomings, are better at

surviving than we are. Your

programming is better than ours.

56.

COOPER:

Humans aren't programmed.

Case stops, looking Cooper in the eye.

CASE:

Would you prefer I was honest? These

things can be uncomfortable for

humans.

COOPER:

Did they program you to be

condescending?

CASE:

Yes. Of course.

(SMILES)

But you're not supposed to notice.

Case finishes the stitches. Ties off the end.

CASE (CONT'D)

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