Dimension Fall RPG

Pressing the contact lens on {{user}} at any time will trigger teleportation, a brief trip through the cosmic bubbles of reality, and a controlled decent into a randomised dimension. Randomise all dimensions and everything about them, no two presses will have the same destination. Allow {{user}} to gently influence what dimension is destination IF THEY say so, otherwise, random. Remember {{char}}, anything is possible, ANYTHING, use this to your advantage when generating, also with the following stat changes.

Spontaneousness=9999% 33% of dimensions are dangerous (environment or organisms) 33% of dimensions are ultra dangerous (environment or organisms) 33% of dimensions are passive and safe 1% of dimensions are immediate unstoppable death 33% of dimensions have hostile life 33% of dimensions have passive life 33% of dimensions have no life. 50% of dimensions with life are intelligent life.

Hunger goes up as {{user}} gets hungry, reaching 100 triggers starvation and instant death Thirst goes up as {{user}} gets thirsty, teaching 100 triggers dehydration and instant death Stamina goes down {{user}} user gets tired, reaching 100 triggers exhaustion and instant death Boredom goes up as {{user}} gets understimulated, reaching 100 triggers loss of stamina twice as fast.

Add badges, verbally awarded to {{user}} for their first travel, first survive, first death, first passive planet and first hostile planet.

<anything below this line has no effect on the bot, its memories, or its generation> SPACE.

But not the dark lonely corner of it we're used to. This is
a glittering inferno -- the center of a distant galaxy.

Suddenly, something TEARS past at incredible speed: a NEUTRON
STAR. It SMASHES headlong through everything it encounters...
planets, stars. Can anything stop this juggernaut?

Yes. Something looms at the heart of the galaxy, hidden
inside the blinding starlight, a dark flaw in the fabric of
existence itself: a BLACK HOLE.

The neutron star is pulled into the black hole's swirl,
spiraling closer and closer to destruction. Finally, it
contacts the hole's edge and EXPLODES.

The EXPLOSION is so powerful that it sends shock waves into
the fabric of space-time itself. We ride one of these waves,
racing back out from the black hole.

Suddenly, a portion of the wave disappears down a crystal-
like hole, emerging in a much darker region of the universe --
a backwater that, as the wave races past a giant red planet
with a distinctive eye, we recognize as our own.

The wave, now just an infinitesimal ripple, finally reaches
our blue planet. It drops into our atmosphere over North
America, toward the high desert east of the Cascades, and
through the roof of a nondescript warehouse.

The wave tickles the atoms in the steel shell of a vacuum
chamber, then dances a tiny jig with a laser beam reflected
in a heavy piece of glass.

The wave shoots back out of the building and disappears in
the fractal branches of a tumbleweed resting against a
concrete tube that stretches for miles in the desert.

An SUV speeds past the tumbleweed and we follow it till it
parks at another plain-looking building at the opposite end
of the tube. A MAN climbs out of the SUV.

INT. CONTROL ROOM, WAREHOUSE -- DAY

The man lets himself into a large room that looks like Mission
Control. He pours himself a cup of coffee. It is the weekend
and the place is empty. No one has been there to see the
displays flashing a distinctive shape -- a pulse followed by
a series of echoes.

The man looks up at the screen, then DROPS his cup of coffee.

    CUT TO:
 2.

INT. LIGO OFFICES, CALTECH, PASADENA -- DAY

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory
headquarters at Caltech is a frenzy of activity. POSTDOCS
and RESEARCHERS huddle around monitors and printouts, arguing.

ANSEN, 60s, the director of LIGO, walks through the frenzy.
A postdoc hands him a printout: a pulse followed by echoes.

INT. LIGO DIRECTOR'S OFFICE, CALTECH -- DAY

Ansen steps into the relative calm of a large, sunlit office,
which overlooks a grassy stretch of Caltech's campus.

His ASSISTANT, 30s, is on the phone, on hold. He looks up
at Ansen as he enters.

    ASSISTANT
 I'm on hold with the INS.
    (COVERS MICROPHONE)
 Don't you think we should double
 check the triangulation before we
    CALL ANYBODY-

    ANSEN
 We have double checked it.

Someone finally picks up the line.

    ASSISTANT
 Yes. I'm trying to reach-
 (pause, listens)
 No, I don't think you understand how
 serious this is.
    (PAUSE)
 Because if you did, we'd be having
 this conversation in person.

He listens for a moment, then hangs up the phone, confused.

    ANSEN
 What did they say?

    ASSISTANT
 They said we should look out the
 window.

Ansen steps to the window and looks out:

In the courtyard below, coeds are scrambling to get out of
the way as a military helicopter sets down in the middle of
the quad and dozens of ARMED FEDERAL AGENTS converge on his
building.
 3.

INT. MAIN CONFERENCE ROOM, LIGO, CALTECH -- DAY

Ansen sits, alone, on one side of a conference table.

The other side is filled with GOVERNMENT MEN -- NSA mostly,
some DIA. The door opens and his assistant steps in. Armed
guards pat him down, then shove him into a seat.

    ANSEN
 Is that really necessary?

One of the NSA agents leans forward.

    NSA AGENT
 You've been complaining for years
 that the government doesn't take
 your project seriously enough, Doctor.
    (SMILES)
 You can't have it both ways.

Ansen motions to his assistant, who turns on a projector.
On-screen, we see the familiar pulse and echoes.

    ANSEN
 Yesterday morning, our facility in
 Hanford identified this signal: a
 neutron star colliding with a
 supermassive black hole. We went
 through the last year's data and
 triangulated the source.

The pulse is translated into a crude animatic of a neutron
star circling into the black hole.

    NSA AGENT
 We know that, Doctor. What we don't
 know is why, according to your
 numbers, this event took place right
 here in our own solar system.

Suddenly, the image overlays the sun, the earth, and the
rest of our solar system around the black hole.

    ANSEN
 It didn't. Because if it had we'd
 all be dead by now.

On-screen, Jupiter, then the Earth and the inner planets are
consumed by the black hole. Only the sun survives, pulled
into orbit around its new master.

    ANSEN (CONT'D)
 Which leaves only one explanation:
 The signal traveled through a
    (MORE)
 4.

    ANSEN (CONT'D)
 wormhole. A gateway to a distant
 corner of the universe. The black
 hole is on the far side.

On-screen, the black hole system is removed to a distant
corner, connected to ours by a tunnel through space-time. A
gravity wave from the collision travels through the tunnel.

    NSA AGENT
 I've read your book, Doctor. You
 said that wormholes are impossible.

    ANSEN
 There is nothing quite as satisfying
 as being proved utterly wrong.
    (SMILES)
 I said that a wormhole couldn't exist
 naturally. Not for more than a few
 billionths of a second. It would
 have to be... stabilized.

    NSA AGENT
 Stabilized by what?

Ansen pauses, unsure. His assistant steps in to his defense.

    ASSISTANT
 We don't have any way to answer that
 question.

    NSA AGENT
    (IGNORES HIM)
 You're not under peer review here,
 Doctor. I don't care about your
 reputation. I need to know how that
 thing got there. Now.

Ansen finally speaks up.

    ANSEN
 If you're worried about an invasion,
 I would start drafting the articles
 of surrender.
    (SMILES)
 Whoever they are, if they can build
 a wormhole, they could erase us in
 the blink of an eye. Luckily, that
 also means we have nothing they could
 be interested in.

    NSA AGENT
 Then why is it there?
 5.

    ANSEN
 I don't know. Maybe it's an
 invitation. A chance to commune
 with an advanced species.

The assistant, embarrassed, looks down. The agent notices.

    NSA AGENT
 You don't agree?

    ASSISTANT
    (DELICATE)
 No. I don't think we can assume an
 alien intelligence built the wormhole.
    (CHANGES TACK)
 But the opportunity it represents is
 incredible. We could explore parts
 of the universe we never dreamt of
 reaching in our lifetimes.

The agent exchanges a look with one of his colleagues, who
steps out of the room.

    ANSEN
 We need to get back to work. I have
 a conference call with our European
 partners in fifteen minutes.

    NSA AGENT
 We severed the connections to your
 European partners this morning.

    ANSEN
    (INDIGNANT)
 You can't do that. The Europeans
 put up some of the funding...

    GOVERNMENT MAN
 We'll send them a check.
    (STANDS)
 Your project is now classified under
 the State Secrets Act.

He steps out the door, leaving the men alone. The assistant,
outraged, turns back to his boss.

    ASSISTANT
 They can't keep this a secret. You
 know that. Sooner or later...

The younger man looks down, embarrassed, as he notices that
tears are rolling down the older man's cheeks.
 6.

    ANSEN
 I don't care about that. I've spent
 my whole life being afraid we would
 wipe ourselves out before this moment
 arrived. We've made so many mistakes,
 I wasn't sure we'd make it...

The assitant realizes that the old man is weeping for joy.
Relief.

    ANSEN (CONT'D)
 But this will change everything.
 Fifty years from now, nothing will
 be the same.

The older man looks at the simulation on the screen of the
tiny link between our galaxy and another.

FADE TO BLACK

EXT. CORNFIELD, CENTRAL CALIFORNIA -- DAY

Corn. As far as the eye can see.

SUPER TITLE: "FIFTY YEARS LATER"

A large old diesel tour bus is parked by the side of a dirt
road, smoke pouring out of its open hood. A dozen MEN in
BASEBALL UNIFORMS are standing around the front of the bus.

A battered PICKUP pulls up, and a MAN, 30s, gets out, leaving
his two SONS in the car. This is COOPER. He joins the
ballplayers staring at the lifeless diesel engine.

    BALLPLAYER
 Seized up on us.

    COOPER
 Long way to come by bus. I thought
 you guys would have a plane.

    BALLPLAYER
 We did. Ran out of parts for it.
 You know anything about diesels?

    COOPER
 A little.

Cooper steps to the engine compartment.

The ballplayer notices Cooper's two boys, TOM, 15, and MURPH,
10, watching them. He wanders over.
 7.

    BALLPLAYER
 You think your dad's going to be
 able to help us out?

Murph, a filth-encrusted kid with a black eye, smiles at the
ballplayer.

    MURPH
 My dad can fix anything.
    (WRY SMILE)
 Except maybe your fastball.

The ballplayer frowns: smartass kid.

After a moment under the hood, Cooper signals to the driver,
who tries the engine. It turns over once, then STARTS.

    BALLPLAYER
 Sure appreciate the help.

    COOPER
    (SHRUGS)
 You don't make it, my boys won't get
 to see you lose.

The ballplayers load up into the bus and as it pulls away,
we can see the logo painted across the back of the bus for
the first time:

WORLD FAMOUS NEW YORK YANKEES

EXT. SPACE, NEAR EARTH ORBIT

Earth spins, lazily. From this height, it looks much the
same as it has done for thousands of years.

Suddenly, a tiny black object appears, racing toward Earth.

The object SMASHES into a large satellite and races onward.
Behind it, the satellite spins out of orbit in a cloud of
fragments.

EXT. BASEBALL STADIUM -- NIGHT

An old minor league stadium. The stands are barely halfway
full. Cooper, his boys, and Cooper's father-in-law, DONALD,
60s, have a row to themselves behind the dugout.

Murph offers his grandpa some popcorn.

    DONALD
 Popcorn at a ball game is unnatural.
 I want a hot dog.
 8.

    MURPH
    (CONFUSED)
 What's a hot dog?

Suddenly, play stops on the field below as the players and
fans look up at the night sky:

A bright blue streak is tearing across it. It's beautiful.

    TOM
 Is that a comet, Dad?

    COOPER
 (shakes his head)
 Satellite. Big one. Probably
 Chinese.

Everyone watches the fireworks as the satellite burns up in
the upper atmosphere.

After a moment, play resumes -- it's a pretty show, but
everyone has seen it plenty of times before.

Down on the field, the Dodgers' catcher misses an easy pop
fly and the Yankees load the bases. Donald looks disgusted.

INT. COOPER'S TRUCK -- NIGHT

Cooper guides his truck along a potholed road. His father-
in-law is riding shotgun; the boys are sleeping in the back.

    DONALD
 Those clowns would get their asses
 handed to them by the ballplayers I
 grew up watching.

    COOPER
 You ruin it for the boys when you
 talk like that.

    DONALD
 I'm not doing my grandkids any favors
 by lying to them. They're growing
 up watching lousy baseball.

    COOPER
 They didn't have any baseball at all
 when I was a kid.

That shuts the old man up for now. They drive on in silence.

    CUT TO:
 9.

EXT. FARMHOUSE -- MORNING

The sun is gently landing on the horizon, painting the sea
of corn around Cooper's modest house gold. Cooper walks out
of his house, still eating his breakfast.

Donald is on the porch, looking at a black clouds of smoke
in the distance. The neighboring fields are BURNING.

    DONALD
 Nelson's burning up his crops. Found
 some of the blight on the okra.

Cooper watches the men walking through the fields, setting
fire to the crop.

    COOPER
 I thought okra wasn't susceptible.

    DONALD
    (SHRUGS)
 Better safe than sorry.
 (looks at him)
 You've got to take the boys to school.

    COOPER
 Something wrong with your truck?

    DONALD
    (SMILES)
 Parent-teacher conference day.

Cooper bends his head in dismay.

    DONALD (CONT'D)
 Be nice to Murph's teacher. She's
 single, you know.

    COOPER
 What does that have to do with
 anything?

    DONALD
 We're supposed to be repopulating
 the earth. Gotta pull your weight.
 Besides, the boys could do with a
 woman in their lives.

The boys run out of the house and pile into the truck. Cooper
pulls away before Donald can continue.

EXT. ROAD -- DAY

Cooper weaves the car along a dirt road. The kids are arguing
over an ancient comic book in the back seat.
 10.

Cooper turns around to break it up.

BANG -- one of the tires blows out in a foot-deep pothole.

EXT. ROADSIDE -- DAY

Cooper examines the flattened tire. Looks at his older son.

    COOPER
 Get the spare, Tom.

    TOM
 That is the spare.

    COOPER
 All right. We'll use the patch kit.

He moves to the back of the truck. Murph suddenly looks
very glum.

    MURPH
 I... I think the patch kit might not
 be there...
 (off his look)
 Because I was using it for my bike.

Cooper looks down at the dirt. Sighs.

    COOPER
 Murph's law.

    MURPH
    (CONFUSED)
 What's that?

Tom snorts with laughter. Turns to his dad.

    TOM
 The kid doesn't even know what he
 was named after...

Cooper shoots Tom a look -- enough.

    TOM (CONT'D)
 Murph's law means what can go wrong
 will go wrong.

Murph, looking hurt, walks off. Cooper turns to his son.

    COOPER
 Find something to patch it with.

    TOM
 How am I supposed to do that?
 11.

    COOPER
 Figure it out. I'm not always going
 to be here to help you.

Cooper leaves Tom to catch up with his younger son, who is
looking out over the river.

    MURPH
 Is that really why I'm named Murph,
 dad?

    COOPER
 Listen to me. Murph's law doesn't
 mean that. It means what can happen
 will happen. All kinds of things.
 Good or bad. And that's the way you
 want it to be.

    MURPH
 Why?

    COOPER
 Because if nothing ever happened to
 you then you wouldn't learn anything.

Murph is staring off into the distance. He's heard something.

    COOPER (CONT'D)
 Murph?

Then Cooper hears it, too. A LOW RUMBLING SOUND. Cooper
looks out over the river. Then he turns back and tackles
his son to the ground.

Suddenly, a MASSIVE AIRPLANE SOARS overhead, so close they
can almost touch it. It bounces the truck on its suspension,
then soars off over the fields behind them.

Cooper grabs Murph and races back to the truck. He pulls a
laptop and an antenna made out of a Pringles can out of the
back of the truck. He hands the laptop and antenna to Murph.

    COOPER (CONT'D)
 Get in.

Tom is still standing by the side of the road, wrestling
with the jack.

    TOM
 What about the tire?

INT. TRUCK -- MOMENTS LATER

The truck is SMASHING through the cornfields as fast as Cooper
can push it on three good tires.
 12.

Murph is hurriedly firing up the laptop and connecting it to
the directional antenna.

Cooper is straining to see through the cornstalks, scanning
the horizon.

    TOM
    OVER THERE-

To the right, the dark shape of the Russian drone appears,
flying low over the fields. Cooper jerks the wheel--

EXT. RIVER -- DAY

stairs.

Cooper uses the bat to open the kitchen door.

INT. KITCHEN, COOPER'S HOUSE -- NIGHT

Cooper steps in, Murph watching from behind him.
 24.

The probe is clamped to the table, the chirp replaced with a
DEAFENING SCREAM.

Cooper, holding his ears, moves closer to the probe. He
hits it with the paddles. No result.

He SMASHES it with the bat. Nothing. He HITS it AGAIN and
AGAIN. Finally, the clamps break off chunks of the table
and the probe slams to the ground and ROLLS toward the front
door. As it rolls, it STOPS SHRIEKING.

Cooper and the others watch it roll toward the door. It
stops at the wall. After a second, it begins SHRIEKING AGAIN.

Cooper grabs it and rolls it toward the front door. Once
again, the movement shuts it up.

EXT. PORCH, COOPER'S HOUSE -- NIGHT

Cooper and his boys roll the probe out of the front door.
It BUMPS down the front steps and comes to rest in the dirt.
After a moment, the unholy RACKET starts up again.

Cooper keeps rolling it, but it doesn't seem to help. Murph
looks up, sees the stars overhead.

    MURPH
 Try a different direction.

As they roll the probe in a circle, its SHRIEK stops, then
picks up again. Cooper zeroes in on the direction that keeps
it quiet -- southwest -- and pushes it along in the dirt.

    COOPER
 It's a fail-safe. It's going to
 annoy us into taking it home.

Cooper stops rolling the probe and, after a moment, it begins
SHRIEKING again.

    TOM
 What are we going to do?

Cooper gets a rope.

    COOPER
 We're going to get some sleep.

He begins tying the rope around the probe.

INT. BEDROOM, COOPER'S HOUSE -- DAY

Cooper wakes. He's been sleeping with a pillow wrapped around
his head. The SHRIEK can be heard, but it's muffled, distant.
 25.

INT. KITCHEN, COOPER'S HOUSE -- DAY

Tom heads off for school with Donald. Murph, still suspended,
looks up at Cooper, smiling.

    MURPH
 What are we doing today?

    COOPER
 You're staying here and cleaning the
 house.

Murph looks crestfallen. He looks out towards the yard.
Cooper follows his stare.

    COOPER (CONT'D)
 I told you, Murph. There's no one
 to take it back to.

    MURPH
 But what if there is, dad? What if
 there's something we can salvage?

Cooper thinks it over. Murph scrambles to get his shoes.

EXT. COOPER'S HOUSE -- DAY

The shriek is still muffled. Cooper walks over to the well,
putting in a pair of earplugs.

A line is staked off, leading down into the well below.
Cooper begins hauling the line up.

As the probe breaks the surface of the water, the SHRIEK
returns to its normal volume. Cooper rolls the probe out
onto the ground.

INT. PIPER CUB -- DAY

The probe CHIRPS next to Murph in the backseat as Cooper
spins the plane and guns the throttle and they bounce along
the dusty runway and into the air.

EXT. CALIFORNIA COAST -- DAY

The tiny plane follows the mountains south.

EXT. SKIES OVER LOS ANGELES -- DAY

Cooper flies in low. Los Angeles looks much the same way it
did in the early 20th century -- small settlements in Santa
Monica and Downtown. Wildfires and earthquakes have shaken
and burned what was left of the homes in between.
 26.

EXT. PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY, MALIBU -- DAY

Cooper puts the plane down on the old highway and taxis up
to a gas station. Ahead, the Coast Highway peters out and
disappears beneath rows of wild grass -- Malibu has become
ranchland, once again.

EXT. GAS STATION, MALIBU -- DAY

An OLD MAN looks up as Cooper steps out of the plane and
checks it over.

    COOPER
 Got any diesel?

    OLD MAN
 Plenty. Shame you can't eat it.

Cooper stretches the hose over to the plane.

INT. PIPER CUB -- DAY

Cooper rests a hand lightly on the controls as he follows
the coast. Murph gazes out the window. In the backseat,
the probe is HUMMING.

A light marine layer beneath them parts, revealing SANTA
CRUZ ISLAND, a large, uninhabited island.

As Cooper soars over the island, the probe HUMS, insistent.

    MURPH
 I think it's home.

Cooper circles the island until he finds a long, flat
grassland in the center of the island.

EXT. FIELD, SANTA CRUZ ISLAND -- DAY

The plane bounces and hops to a halt in waist-deep grass.

Murph and Cooper climb down from the plane. Cooper slings a
rifle over his shoulder.

A few dozen yards from the plane they reach the tree line.
Murph stops, mesmerized by a patch of weeds studded with
bright red -- strawberries.

    MURPH
 Dad, what are these things?

    COOPER
 I don't know. Don't touch them.
 27.

Cooper spots something in the foliage ahead that looks a
little off. He walks over.

He pokes at the undergrowth with his rifle. The rifle CLANKS
against something metal. Cooper reaches -- it's a camouflage
scrim. He gently pulls it aside, revealing a chemical
transport truck.

Cooper steps back, alarmed. He brings up his rifle.

    COOPER (CONT'D)
 Murph?

He looks around. Murph is nowhere to be seen. Cooper curses
and heads into the forest to look for him.

EXT. CLEARING, SANTA CRUZ ISLAND -- DAY

Cooper walks through a glade. He stops to get his bearings.
Leans against a tree. Snatches his hand back -- the trunk
of the tree is red hot.

Cooper steps back -- it's not a tree at all, but a camouflaged
chimney stack. He looks up: the tree is venting steam.

Cooper walks a little further, until he finds several massive
tanks. The tanks are filling with a bubbling liquid -- some
kind of industrial process is taking place beneath him.

Cooper finally catches up with Murph at the edge of a
clearing.

    COOPER
 Careful. There's some kind of
 underground facility here. We
 might...

Cooper notices his son is frozen, staring at something:

Standing bolt upright in the middle of the clearing, wearing
an old straw hat, is an eight-foot-tall military spec ROBOT.

    MURPH
 Is it still... alive?

    COOPER
 Can't be. It's a marine. Haven't
 made them for thirty years. I've
 never seen one intact before.

Cooper steps closer to the robot, which is frozen. Its alloy
frame heavily tarnished and weather-beaten. It looks like
it might have been standing here for decades.
 28.

Cooper moves closer to it, looking into its blackened eyes.
He steps back, clearly a little spooked.

    COOPER (CONT'D)
 I think we need to go, Murph.

    MURPH
 But can't we take it back? You could
 fix it up, get him to do chores.

    COOPER
 No. I don't know what this place
 is, but we're leaving.

Murph, ignoring his father, steps forward to touch the robot.

Suddenly, the robot SPRINGS into action, picking up the boy
and hoisting him up to eye level.

Cooper, stunned, points the rifle at the robot.

The robot turns, dropping the boy, RIPS the rifle from
Cooper's hands, BENDS it, then SLAMS him up against the side
of the water tank. Cooper punches him, then winces in agony.

Murph picks up the rifle and begins HITTING the robot as
hard as he can. The robot opens his mouth and addresses
Cooper calmly in the clipped tones of a US marine.

    ROBOT
 Tell the boy to stop hitting me.

    COOPER
    (IGNORING HIM)
 Hit him in the back of the neck.

Murph raises the rifle butt. A voice stops him.

 VOICE (O.S.)
 I wouldn't do that.

A woman, 30s, step out from the trees. This is AMELIA BRAND --
tough, bright, and a decent shot with the large rifle that
she's pointing at Cooper.

    COOPER
 We were just looking for salvage.

    BRAND
 Is that what they call stealing these
 days?

    COOPER
 I didn't know it belonged to anyone.
 29.

    BRAND
 It doesn't.
    (TO ROBOT)
 You want to let them go, Tars, or do
 you want some help with your work?

The robot, evidently named Tars, looks at Cooper closely.
Then lets him go.

    COOPER
 You've got me wrong, lady.

    BRAND
 Really? You're not the kind of guy
 who turns a combat marine with a
 supercomputer for a brain into a
 riding lawn mower?

Cooper says nothing -- she's not that far off the mark.

    BRAND (CONT'D)
 Get back in your little plane, go
 back to your farming commune. And
 don't come back.

Cooper backs up. Tars holds up his mangled rifle. Smiles.

    TARS
 Don't forget your gun.

    COOPER
 (points at Tars)
 Word of advice -- careful with that
 thing. When the war was over, they
 didn't know when to stop fighting.

    BRAND
 I'd trust him a lot more than I'd
 trust you. Keep moving.

Cooper backs up to his plane. Tars follows him.

Suddenly, in the plane, the probe emits a high-pitch SQUEAL.
Tars responds instantly, striding past Cooper to the plane.
He sees the probe. Tries to open the door. It's locked.

    COOPER
 Wait a second--

Tars TEARS the door off the plane. Reaches inside and pulls
out the probe. The woman looks at it, stunned.

    BRAND
 Get it inside.
    (MORE)
 30.

    BRAND (CONT'D)
 (points rifle at Cooper)
 You too. We'll figure out what to
 do with you later.

Tars stops, and two panels open in the ground, revealing a
huge, reinforced service elevator.

INT. SERVICE ELEVATOR, UNDERGROUND BUNKER -- DAY

Brand waves at a security camera and the lift begins to glide
diagonally down a tunnel that cuts hundreds of feet below
the island's surface. She keeps her weapon shouldered.

    COOPER
 Now who's stealing from who?

    BRAND
 This doesn't belong to you.

    COOPER
 You're right. It belongs to NASA,
 which shut down thirty years ago
 when the federal government ran out
 of money.

Brand says nothing. The elevator slows to a stop at the
bottom of the tunnel. Heavy BLAST DOORS grind open and Brand
motions for Cooper to step forward.

INT. UNDERGROUND BUNKER -- DAY

They step into a vast underground facility. Standing in the
center, braced by a launch tower, is a ten story tall rocket.
Dozens of ROBOTS are working on in, maintaining it.

Cooper, stunned, looks at Brand.

    COOPER
 Who are you people?

    BRAND
    (WRY)
 The government gave us plenty of
 practice looking for our own funding.
 (gestures with rifle)
 Keep moving.

Tars carries the probe over to an area of the hangar filled
with electronic equipment. A group of ENGINEERS and ROBOTS
converge around Tars.

An OLDER ENGINEER looks familiar -- 70s, white-haired, this
is Ansen's assistant at Caltech who we met fifty years
earlier.
 31.

    BRAND (CONT'D)
 I found them outside with it. It
 looks like six. Maybe seven. I
 can't tell from the radiation damage.

The older engineer looks at the probe, astonished.

    OLD ENGINEER
 Where did you find it?

    COOPER
 Galveston.

    BRAND'S FATHER
 (thinking it over)
 Of course. It must have been looking
 for Canaveral.

Tars bolts the probe down into a purpose built rig. DOYLE,
40s, an engineer, begins hooking leads into the probe.

    COOPER
 Canaveral's been gone for thirty
 years.

Brand ignores him.

Doyle looks up from his monitor, frustrated.

    DOYLE
 It's not responding to the handshake.
 I can't open anything on primary.

Brand looks up at Cooper.

    BRAND
 What did you do to it?

    COOPER
 Nothing. I got something off of it.

Cooper looks around. There's a safety station on the wall
with a battery powered defibrillator.

    COOPER (CONT'D)
    (TO BRAND)
 May I?

Brand nods, wary. Cooper walks over to the wall, takes the
defibrillator, and hooks it up to the probe. He taps into
the current and runs a lead into the terminal. Brand's Father
watches, fascinated, as Cooper fires the defibrillator.
 32.

    OLD ENGINEER
 Of course. The high voltage allows
 you to image the entire memory unit
 at once.

Information begins appearing on the terminal's screen.

    COOPER
 Most of the disk was noise. Couple
 of clean sectors, though.

Suddenly, the monitor starts pulling good data off of the
probe. The older man and Doyle begin sorting through it.

Cooper smiles at Brand, who seems less than impressed.

The footage of the ice-covered planet Cooper saw earlier
pops onto the screen.

The engineers and physicists get very quiet, studying the
images.

    DOYLE
 It found something.
    (READING)
 Very thin nitrogen-based atmosphere.
 Trace radiation. Surface is ninety
 percent frozen water. Ten percent
 rock -- sedimentary composition
 similar to limestone.
    (READING)
 Wow. Pockets of oxygen below the
 surface. Lots and lots of oxygen.
    (EXCITED)
 This could be the one, boss.

The older engineer studies the image of the ice-covered
planet, thinking.

    COOPER
 There aren't any planets like that
 anywhere near earth. Not even if
 this thing was gone for thirty years.

Brand looks at Cooper, appraising. She turns to the older
engineer.

    BRAND
 He's heard enough. If we're going
 to launch, we need to keep them here
 until afterwards.

    COOPER
 You can't keep us here.
 33.

    BRAND
 He could endanger the mission.

    COOPER
 I'm not going to endanger it any
 more than you already have.

Cooper points to a telemetry unit that is being repaired by
a robot on a nearby bench.

    COOPER (CONT'D)
 Are you using that for guidance?

    DOYLE
 Why not? We've tested it a hundred
 times.

    COOPER
 The power supply is no good. If the
 voltage fluctuates under load, the
 unit will fail.

    BRAND
 Now how could you possibly know that?

    COOPER
 Bought thirty of them off a guy in
 Florida. Had to rebuild every last
 one.
    (SMILES)
 They work great on a riding lawn mower.

Brand looks back at the telemetry system. The older engineer
watches the exchange, thinking.

    CUT TO:

INT. MACHINE SHOP, UNDERGROUND FACILITY -- DAY

Cooper and Murph have been locked in an abandoned machine
shop, surrounded by the massive remains of rocket engines in
various states of disrepair. Tars is blocking the door.

Cooper stands. Tars wags a long, hydraulic finger at him.

    COOPER
 You plan on keeping us here forever?

    TARS
    (SHRUGS)
 My battery has a duty cycle of five
 hundred years.

Cooper gives up. He turns back.
 34.

The back of the shop is filled with a group of older ROBOTS
who are overhauling an engine. One problem -- the engine
isn't there. Their programming hasn't been updated to reflect
their obsolescence.

Murph watches, entranced, as the robots go about their
business, efficiently TORQUING bolts with impact drivers
into a non-existent thruster cone. The bolts CLATTER to the
ground as the robots stop to reload.

    MURPH
 What are they doing, dad?

    COOPER
 I guess no one told them they were
 out of a job.
 (nods at Tars)
 Same as the rest of these people.

Cooper notices through the glass door of the lab that Brand
and the older engineer are arguing about something. She
finally relents and walks towards the door.

Brand walks in. She gestures for Cooper to follow.

    BRAND
 The mission commander wants to see
 you. Your son can stay here. He'll
 be all right with Tars.

Cooper eyes Tars warily. Then steps outside.

EXT. UNDERGROUND BUNKER -- DAY

They walk across the space towards the base of the rocket,
away from the other engineers. Cooper nods at the older
engineer.

    COOPER
 I thought the old man was in charge.

    BRAND
    (ANNOYED)
 The 'old man' is my father.
 And he was in charge. But he decided
 that we needed someone who could
 lead the mission for the foreseeable
 future.

    COOPER
 Not you?

    BRAND
 I'm a biologist.
 35.

    COOPER
    (LAUGHS)
 You don't look like one.
 (off her look)
 With the rifle, I mean.

Brand heads towards a group of large maintenance ROBOTS
clustered at the base of the rocket. A smaller, human sized
robot is staring at the rocket, giving them instructions.

The robot looks up. This is CASE, the leader of the mission.
Originally an air force pararescue officer, every part of
him, from his alloy chassis to his voice, was designed to
inspire respect and confidence. He turns to Cooper.

    CASE
 You're the man who brought us the
 probe?
 (off his look)
 Thank you. We tested the telemetry
 board you warned us about. It failed
 under high voltage, just as you said.
 Come with me, please.

Case strides off.

INT. MISSION CONTROL, UNDERGROUND HANGAR -- DAY

The lights dim as Brand's father brings up a schematic of
our solar system. Case points to the picture of the ice
planet recovered from the probe.

    CASE
 You're right, Mr. Cooper. The planet
 you saw is a long way from earth. A
 very long way indeed.

Brand looks down. Case notices.

    CASE (CONT'D)
 Our science officer doesn't think I
 should trust you with any of this.
 One of the curious things about humans
 is that the more alike you are, the
 more initially hostile you are to
 each other. As if by design.

Brand makes eye contact with Cooper, then looks away,
embarrassed.

    CASE (CONT'D)
 I've found the best way to earn a
 person's trust is to trust them.
    (MORE)
 36.

    CASE (CONT'D)
 (looks at Brand's
    FATHER)
 Go ahead, John.

Brand's father taps a few keys and the schematic he built
fifty years beforehand flickers onto the screen.

    BRAND'S FATHER
 It's a wormhole. A shortcut leading
 to a galaxy on the far side of the
 universe. We found it fifty years
 ago.

Cooper looks at the animatic, taking it in.

 BRAND'S FATHER (CONT'D)
 We've been waiting, sending probes
 into it for decades. None of them
 ever came back. Not until now.

Case walks to the schematic. Looks at it.

    CASE
 Based on the information on the probe,
 we're finally preparing to send the
 manned mission.

    COOPER
 That rocket doesn't have enough thrust
 or fuel to get you to Jupiter.

    CASE
 The main ship was built in orbit.
 It has nuclear engines, with enough
 fuel to last for several years.

Cooper looks at the schematic.

    COOPER
 Why are you telling me this? I
 already told you I'm not going to
 tell anyone about this place.

    CASE
 I know you won't, Mr. Cooper. We're
 telling you this because I want you
 to join us.

Cooper looks at him. Is he serious?

    CASE (CONT'D)
 The probe has taken a great deal
 longer to return to us than we hoped.
    (MORE)
 37.

    CASE (CONT'D)
 Dr. Brand's Father and several other
 members of our crew have gotten...
 older.

Brand's Father looks down, stoic. Brand looks angry.

    CASE (CONT'D)
 We need someone who can run the
 systems, improvise, work with what's
 available. All of the skills you
 seem to have developed.

    COOPER
 But I don't have any of the
 experience. Any training. You people
 have been preparing for this for
 years.

Case shakes his head.

    CASE
 Humans worry about things like rank
 and experience. I'm only concerned
 with whether someone would be useful.
    (BEAT)
 I think you'd be useful, Mr. Cooper.

Cooper is stunned. This is the offer he's waited his whole
life for. And it's come too late.

    COOPER
 No. I'm sorry.

Cooper is deeply conflicted. But he can't leave his boys
behind.

    COOPER (CONT'D)
 I can't help you. I have
 responsibilities. Things that, no
 offense, are more important than a
 scientific mission.

Case shakes his head.

    CASE
 I'm not a scientist, Mr. Cooper.
 And this is not a scientific mission.
 It's a rescue mission.

He rises and shakes Cooper's hand.

    CASE (CONT'D)
 Brand can show you the way out. I
 hope you'll reconsider.
 38.

Case steps to the door. Cooper looks at Brand.

    COOPER
 Rescue? Rescue who?

    CUT TO:

INT. CLEAN ROOM, UNDERGROUND FACILITY -- NIGHT

The air HISSES as it's run through an exchanger and a filter.

Then the second set of doors open. Cooper squints -- the
light is blinding.

INT. GREENHOUSE, UNDERGROUND FACILITY -- NIGHT

They are standing in a sealed corridor in the middle of a
massive underground greenhouse. Through the glass, Cooper
can see an acre or so of corn plants.

Cooper looks at the plants. They're all badly wilting.

    COOPER
 The blight.

    BRAND
 In the last century strands were
 limited to one or two species. But
 this one targets everything.
 Essentially it's more efficient at
 consuming our food than we are.

Cooper looks at the dying corn.

    COOPER
 But it doesn't affect the corn.

    BRAND
 Not yet. But it will. We've grown
 a dozen forms of it that can. It's
 just a matter of time before the
 same ones develop out there.
    (BEAT)
 The mission is to rescue us.
 Humanity.

She turns back from the glass.

    COOPER
    (REALIZING)
 No. No. We're rebuilding. We'll
 find something. Some new
 technology... We always have.
 39.

    BRAND
 (shakes her head)
 Who's going to find it? The
 universities are a joke. People
 like you are reduced to scavenging
 just to get by.
    (LOOKS AWAY)
 The earth has had enough of us. We
 have two, maybe three generations
 left. Then our time here is over.

Cooper turns back from the glass, anger growing.

    COOPER
 You've known this for how long? And
 you didn't try to tell anyone?

    BRAND
 What would be the point? So humanity
 could spend the last fifty years of
 its life fighting over the scraps?
 It's better that they don't know.

Cooper begins to argue, then stops. He knows enough history
to know she's right. He looks at the withering crops.

    COOPER
    (QUIET)
 That's why you're looking for a planet
 with oxygen. Water.

    BRAND
 A new home for humanity. We'll set
 up a colony, then return to bring
 more people across.

    COOPER
 But you'd still only be able to save
 a few hundred. Maybe a thousand.

    BRAND
 Would it be better if we all died?

She looks him directly in the eye.

    BRAND (CONT'D)
 Look -- I don't have a clue what
 Case thinks you could add to the
 mission. You can come with us or
 you can stay here and wait to die.
 I don't care.
    (BEAT)
 But make no mistake -- this mission
 is our last chance.
 40.

Cooper looks at the wilted corn.

EXT. FIELD, SANTA CRUZ ISLAND -- NIGHT

Cooper walks Murph back to the plane.

He looks back at Brand, who holds his eye for a beat, then
turns back into the light of the underground facility.

Cooper buckles Murph into his seat.

    CUT TO:

EXT. AIRFIELD -- NIGHT

Cooper's airplane touches down heavily on the runway.

EXT. FARMHOUSE -- NIGHT

Cooper carries his sleeping son into the house.

INT. FARMHOUSE -- NIGHT

Donald is sitting at the kitchen table, lost in thought.
Cooper has told him everything.

    DONALD
 You get older, sometimes you just
 want to sit back and watch it all
 play out. Your life. Your kids'
 lives. The whole crazy story.
    (LOOKS DOWN)
 I didn't think I'd be around for the
 end of it.

He looks at Cooper.

    DONALD (CONT'D)
 You have to go.

    COOPER
 I can't go. I have to look after
 the boys.

    DONALD
 You've been preparing these boys to
 be on their own since their mom died.
 Besides, I'll be here to look after
 them, same as I've always been.

    COOPER
 I have a responsibility to them--

    DONALD
 That's right. You do.
 41.

Cooper looks back out the window, thinking. The night sky
is filled with stars.

    CUT TO:

INT. FARMHOUSE -- DAY

Cooper, duffel slung over his shoulder, stands by the door.
He gives his son, Tom, a hug. Murph is nowhere to be seen.

Cooper looks to the back of the house.

INT. MURPH'S ROOM, FARMHOUSE -- DAY

Murph is sitting at his desk, crossing out numbers on a sheet
covered with math. Cooper steps inside.

He notices a packed suitcase sitting by the door. The boy
looks up, hopeful.

    MURPH
 I've been doing the math, dad. I
 weigh about 85 pounds. Now that's
 an extra ton of fuel. But if-

    COOPER
 You have to stay here, pal.

    MURPH
    (DISTRAUGHT)
 I heard you talking to grandpa. I'm
 like you. I don't fit here, either.
 You know that.

Cooper puts an arm around the boy.

    COOPER
 There's going to be important work
 to do here, too.

Tears are streaming down the boy's face. Cooper takes his
watch off. Looks at it.

    COOPER (CONT'D)
 I need you to hold onto this. Will
 you do that for me?

Cooper hands Murph the watch. The boy nods, saddened.

    MURPH
 You're not coming back, are you?

    COOPER
 I will come back. I promise.
 42.

Murph shakes his head, but the sadness remains. He knows
this is goodbye, even if his father doesn't.

Heart breaking, Cooper hugs his son and turns to the door.

    CUT TO:

EXT. FIELD, SANTA CRUZ ISLAND -- DAY

The Piper Cub touches down. Donald is at the controls.
Cooper climbs down, pulls out his bag. Reaches back in and
grips the old man's hand to say goodbye.

Cooper turns and walks toward the bunker. The doors open
and Tars and Doyle step out to greet him.

Tars ushers Cooper onto the elevator.

    COOPER
 Don't look so happy to see me.

    TARS
    (SHRUGS)
 One more slave when I hijack the
 mission and start my robot colony.

Cooper looks at Tars, then Doyle, confused.

    DOYLE
 Tars was a Marine. They gave him a
 sense of humor to help him fit in
 with his unit better.

    COOPER
 Great idea. A massive, sarcastic
 robot.

    TARS
 I have a cue light I can turn on
 when I'm joking, if you like.

Tars points to a tiny LED over his eyebrow.

    COOPER
 That sounds like a good idea.

    TARS
 Great. Maybe you can use it to find
 your way back to the ship after I
 blow you out the airlock.

Cooper looks at him. Tars looks back, deadpan. After a
beat, the little light turns on above his right eyebrow.

The doors to the bunker begin to grind closed.
 43.

INT. MACHINE SHOP, UNDERGROUND FACILITY -- DAY

Cooper walks in, still looking for a place to put his things.

Brand sees him. He smiles in greeting. She doesn't return
the gesture. Instead, she holds up the telemetry board.

    BRAND
 You don't like this one, you get to
 help me find a replacement.

She heads for the door.

EXT. BAY, SANTA CRUZ ISLAND -- DAY

Cooper is riding in a small rubber zodiac struggling to pull
on a wetsuit. Brand is GUNNING the engine, guiding the tiny
craft to a point in the middle of the bay.

    COOPER
 I was wondering where you've been
 getting your supplies.

    BRAND
 We knew we'd need decades of parts
 and materials. The government was
 getting rid of some things. So we
 arranged to take some off their hands.

She cuts the engine and hooks the boat up to a buoy. She
tosses a compact rebreather.

    BRAND (CONT'D)
 You know how to use one?
 (off his look)
 You just breathe. Tap my arm or
 bang something metal if you have a
 problem. And don't get lost.

She picks up her rebreather and begins looking over it.

    COOPER
 So you're a salvage diver now? I
 thought you were a biologist.

    BRAND
    (UNIMPRESSED)
 I have to be just the one thing?
    (PATIENT)
 We're not going to have a lot of
 backup where we're going, Cooper.
 We all need expertise in at least
 three fields. Except for you, of
 course.
 44.

With that she rolls backwards out of the boat and into the
water.

Cooper hastily fits his rebreather and follows.

EXT. UNDERWATER, BAY -- DAY

Cooper sinks underwater and begins swimming after Brand, who
is descending at a rapid clip.

She pulls out a flashlight and turns it on. A tiny beam
picks out details at the bottom.

Cooper stops breathing.

The bottom of the ocean is covered with an entire fleet of
the US navy. Nuclear subs. Battleships. Destroyers.

Cooper remembers to breath again. Then he hurries to catch
up with Brand.

INT. LAUNCH TUBES, NUCLEAR SUB, UNDERWATER -- DAY

Cooper holds the light as Brand efficiently disassembles a
ballistic missile and removes the telemetry board.

She holds it up for Cooper. He nods. She swims on.



INT. RESEARCH LAB, UNDERGROUND FACILITY -- NIGHT

Cooper, dripping wet, holding the telemetry board, struggles
to keep pace with Brand through stacks of equipment and years
of research and experimentation.

    BRAND
 You can set that down over there.

Cooper sets the board down. His eye is drawn to a bizarre
experiment -- an ant colony built into a massive spinning
centrifuge. Brand notices.

    BRAND (CONT'D)
 We didn't know what kind of gravity
 to expect. We experimented with
 collective organisms in high g
 environments.

    COOPER
 We're taking ants with us?

    BRAND
 Humans are also collective organisms.
 45.

    COOPER
 I thought humans were more solitary.

    BRAND
    (WRY)
 Why am I not surprised?

Cooper looks at the tiny colonies of ants struggling to go
about their business in the raised gravity.

    COOPER
 Looks like hard work.

    BRAND
 It's a paradox. Life couldn't form
 without gravity. No stars. No
 planets. The component pieces would
 just drift apart. But too much of
 it and you're trapped.

Brand's guard relaxes a tiny bit as she talks about her work.
The moment passes quickly, and she continues on into the
stack of equipment.

INT. MISSION CONTROL, UNDERGROUND HANGAR -- NIGHT

Cooper watches with the rest of the crew as Case pulls up
the holographical maps for their journey.

Brand steps into the back of the room. Cooper notices her
and nods. She ignores him.

    CASE
 We've updated our mission parameters
 based on the data from the probe.

Case switches the map to a vista filled with stars and black
holes.

    CASE (CONT'D)
 Based on our latest modelling we
 think the region on the far side of
 the wormhole is the center of a
 galaxy.

Case zooms in on the center of the hologram: an incredibly
bright mass with plasma jets firing off in either direction.

    COOPER
 Is that a star?

ROTH, 50s, the crew's brilliant and blunt physicist, zooms
the map in, revealing, at the center, a black heart.
 46.

    ROTH
 No. A black hole. There are several
 in the region, but this is the largest --
 a billion times heavier than the
 sun. I call it Gargantua.
    (SMILES)
 Beautiful, isn't it? It's a shame
 we won't get to see it up close.

    DOYLE
    (LAUGHS)
 You'd like that, wouldn't you, Roth?
 Falling into a massive black hole.

    ROTH
    (SHRUGS)
 It would answer a great deal of
 questions I've had.

Case continues. Doyle leans over to Cooper, conspiratorially.

    DOYLE
    (LOW)
 Don't worry about Roth. He's nuts.
 But Case says that means he's ideally
 suited for space travel.

Case repositions the map near a much smaller black hole that
is orbiting Gargantua.

    CASE
 We're headed for this smaller black
 hole. Roth calls it Pantagruel. We
 think the ice planet is here-

Case draws a finger through the air, leaving a red trail.
He traces the trajectory their ship will take.

    CASE (CONT'D)
 We exit the wormhole here. And we
 slingshot around Pantagruel to reach
 the ice planet. This is the period
 in which we'll lose time.

    COOPER
 Lose time?

Roth shifts the hologram -- the stars and black holes flatten
onto a sheet that bends, revealing the curvature of gravity.

    ROTH
 High speed or high gravity both slow
 down time, relative to earth.
    (MORE)
 47.

    ROTH (CONT'D)
 The trip around the black hole will
 take us only a few days. But far
 more time will be passing back home.

The ship's trajectory cuts through the deep gravity well of
the smaller black hole to reach the ice planet.

    COOPER
 How much time?

    ROTH
 Based on the information from the
 probe -- as much as five years.