The Imitation Game Page #6

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A test of sorts.

For determining whether something

is a...a machine or a human being.

- How do I play?

- Well, there's a judge and a subject.

And the judge asks questions

and depending on the subject's answers,

determines who he is talking with, er,

what he is talking with and, um,

all you have to do

is ask me a question.

What did you do during the war?

I worked in a radio factory.

What did you really do during the war?

Are you paying attention?

Damn it!

We're soon out of time. Our month.

So that's it, then, is it?

Oh, the trouble is it doesn't matter

how much we improve it.

The machine's never

going to be able to process

159 million million million

possibilities in time.

It's just bloody hopeless.

It's searching. It's just...

It doesn't know what it's searching for.

If we knew what the messages

were going to say...

If we knew what the messages

were going to say,

we wouldn't have to decrypt them at all.

Who's Alan's friend?

Hugh? He's a bit of a cad, actually.

So my type, then?

- Well, I'll introduce you.

- No...

He'll come over.

- Are you sure?

- Yes.

I smiled at him 15 minutes ago

and haven't looked back since.

- Who's that with Joan?

- Mmm?

Er, Helen. Works with her.

She's really pretty.

She wants me to come over-

What? How... How on earth

can you know that?

She smiled at me a while back

and she hasn't looked again since.

And got him.

Now, why is this, that when

I was single I found it very boring,

but now that I'm engaged,

I just rind it dreadfully fun?

Bingo, she's in.

Alan, introduce us.

What? Why me?

Because there's nothing

like a friend's engagement

to make a woman want to do

something she'll later regret

with the fianc's

better-looking chum. Let's go.

Half a crown says

Alan bollockses this up entirely.

No bet.

- Alan Turing has a theory.

- He has many.

He believes that the regulations

against men and women

working side by side are sound

because such proximity

will necessarily lead to romance.

- Er, what? No, I don't. I...

- However, I disagree.

- You do?

- Yeah.

I think that if I were working

beside a woman all day long,

I could appreciate

her abilities and intellect

without taking her to bed.

I'm sorry, have we met?

I don't recall.

But let's assume we haven't.

Helen Stewart, Hugh Alexander.

So who do you agree with?

Alan or myself?

Well, Alan, of course.

I'm very flattered really, but I...

I don't think that...

Rubbish.

Well, I work beside a man every day

and I can't help but have developed

a bit of a crush on him.

Well, who is this man?

So I can kick his arse.

Oh, there's no need to worry,

it's been chaste.

We've never even met. He's a German.

Now I really want to kill him.

Er... How... How do you mean

you work alongside a German?

Well, each of us intercepts messages

from a specific German radio tower.

So we have a counterpart

on the other side

who's tip-tapping out the messages.

Everyone types a touch differently,

so you get to know

the rhythm of your counterpart.

It's strangely intimate.

I feel as if I know him so well.

It's a pity he has a girlfriend

but that's why I disagree

with you, Mr Alexander,

because I'm in love

with a co-worker of sorts

and we've never even met.

Well, allow me to buy you another pint

and I'll tell you why you're wrong.

Let's.

Excellent.

Thanks.

Erm... Pints and a sloe gin.

In case you were wondering,

that's what flirting looks like.

Helen!

- Alan!

- Yes, Alan?

Why do you think your German

counterpart has a girlfriend?

It's just a stupid joke.

Don't worry about it.

No, no, no, no, no. Tell me.

Well, each of his messages

begins with the same tive letters.

C- I-L-L-Y.

So I suspect that Cilly

must be the name of his amore.

But that's impossible.

The Germans are instructed to use

five random letters

at the start of every message.

Well, this bloke doesn't.

Love will make a man

do strange things, I suppose.

In this case,

love just lost Germany

the whole bloody war!

- Oh!

- Go, Peter.

Sorry.

Alan!

Alan!

- Whoa, whoa!

- Stop!

- No, no, no...

- Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!

Hugh Alexander. John Cairncross.

Peter bloody Hilton.

Alan?

What..

What... What if...

What if Christopher doesn't have to

search through all of the settings?

What if he only has to search through

ones that produce words we already

know will be in the message?

- Repeated words. Predictable words.

- Exactly.

Look. Look, like this one.

"0600 hours. Weather today is clear.

Rain in the evening.

"Heil Hitler."

Oh, that's it.

Exactly.

They send a weather report

every day at 6:
00 am

So that's... That's three words we...

We know will be

in every 6:
00 am message.

Er, "weather", obviously and...

- Heil bloody Hitler?

- Heil bloody Hitler!

Here's the 6:
00 message

from this morning.

Hugh, the, er, the right-hand

letter wheels. Set them to...

Yes, yes, I know.

"Weather" and "Hitler",

- Peter, John.

- Yes.

Run voltages through those letters,

through the back scramblers

So we'll use the loops?

Yes.

Joan, what was the last

6:
00 am. message?

- L.

- L.

- H.

- H.

- W.

- W.

- A.

- A.

Q.

Done.

Come on. Come on, Christopher.

Oh, my God.

What... What happened?

- Did it work?

- Alan?

Alan! Alan!

I need a new message.

The latest intercept.

Thanks.

E...

O... T.

- Ready?

- Yes.

- M.

- M.

- Y.

- Y.

- M.

- M.

- S.

- S.

- A.

- A.

- C,

- C.

- T.

- T.

- R.

- R.

- S.

- S.

- O.

- O.

- A.

- A.

- Y.

- Y.

- R.

- R.

"KMS Jaguar ist aufpunkt... is directed

to 53 degrees 24 minutes north

and aufpunkt one degree west."

Heil Hitler.

Turns out that's the only German

you need to know to break Enigma.

Yes!

Come here.

M.

A.

Y.

- I.

- I.

T. R.

R.

- O.

- T.

T.

A.

A.

H.

H.

Q,

Q.

U.

U.

R.

My God, you did it.

You just defeated Nazism

with a crossword puzzle.

There are five people

in the world

who know the position

of every ship in the Atlantic.

- They're all in this room.

- Oh, good God.

Oh, I don't think even He has

the power that we do right now.

No, there's going to be an attack

on a British passenger convoy.

- Right there.

- Oh, God, you're right.

All those U-boats

are only 20, 30 minutes away.

Civilians. Hundreds of them.

We can save their lives.

I'll phone Denniston's office

- so that he can alert the Admiralty.

- No.

Do you think there's enough time

to save them?

There should be if we can get

a message to that convoy.

Commander Denniston's office, please.

it's urgent.

- No.

- What the hell are you doing?

You... You... You can't call Denniston.

You... You can't tell him

about the attack.

What are you talking about?

We can have air support

over that convoy in 10 minutes.

- Let the U-boat sink the convoy.

- Look, it's been a big day,

maybe you're suffering

from a bit of shock...

- We don't have time for this.

- No!

- That's enough! That's enough!

- Stop, Hugh!

John, the attack is in minutes.

Yes, no, I'm fine. I'm fine.

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