Scene 1: Interrogation Room

A dimly lit room. A single spotlight focuses on a strange, humanoid figure sitting at a steel table. Across from it, a stern CIA officer leans forward, his face partially shadowed. The air hums faintly with the sound of machinery.

Officer: State planet origin.
Alien: Earth.

Officer: Yesterday you told us you travelled thousands of light years to get here?
Alien: Yes.

Officer: Tell us the truth or else. Or you will die.
Alien: It is truth.

The alien tilts its head slightly, the movement unsettlingly precise.

Alien: I am from Earth... From your future... To travel in time is to travel in space. Offset spatial divergence.

Officer: So you’re saying aliens took over our future?
Alien: No.

Officer: So you’re human?
Alien: An evolutionary descendant.

Officer: You evolved from us?
Alien: Yes.

Officer: So what are you doing here now?
Alien: Observing. Since evidence was destroyed.

Officer: How?
Alien: Nuclear... War. Small numbers survived, our ancestors.

Scene 2: Delving into the Future

The officer stands abruptly, pacing the room. His boots echo on the tiled floor. The alien’s eyes follow him with an unblinking stare.

Officer: Ok. So, how about we concentrate on your time.
Alien: You are not capable of understanding or comprehending the discoveries of my time.

Officer: Try me.
Alien: The origin of the universe. The origin of so-called life... It is known.

The officer narrows his eyes, leaning in closer.

Officer: Wait, so you know the meaning of life?
Alien: Not meaning. Nature.

Officer: What’s the difference?
Alien: Meaning is something that is ascribed. Nature is the objective reality.

Officer: So you know how the universe was created?
Alien: Yes.

Officer: So you’ve seen God?
Alien: We evolved past a need for superstition. The need for a God and other myths.

A tense silence fills the room. The officer’s knuckles whiten as he grips the edge of the table.

Officer: Illuminate us. What happens when we die?
Alien: Death is a human construct. It does not exist. You will experience, and have experienced, every instance of so-called life. You. Me. Him. We are instances of the same life. Separated by what you call death.

Officer: Let me get this straight, there is no death and we all experience each other’s lives?
Alien: In essence... Yes.

The officer sinks back into his chair, his brows furrowing in disbelief.

Officer: Okay. How was the universe created and why is it so perfectly made for us?
Alien: There are an infinite number of universes, each with different physical properties. Virtually all do not support life such as you know it. We exist in a universe that does support so-called life. That is all.

Scene 4: The Threat of Dogma

The officer rubs his temples, exasperated. A faint hum from the fluorescent lights buzzes overhead.

Officer: Moving on. So why do we destroy ourselves with nuclear war?
Alien: Dogma.

Officer: Can you be more specific, please?
Alien: Political and religious dogma.

Alien: It is the root of all major conflicts of your species.

The officer leans forward, his voice lowering to a dangerous tone.

Officer: So in this century, access to weaponry of mass destruction by states ruled by dogma will destroy us?
Alien: Yes.

Officer: One last thing... What about morality? What do you base your morality on?
Alien: Compassion and evidence.

The officer nods slowly, considering this answer.

Scene 5: Pressure Mounts

The lights dim as the officer circles the table, his frustration building.

Officer: You say you’re from the future and an evolutionary descendant of humans. Yet you also say you’re a different species. So which one is it? Are you a descendant of humans or not?
Alien: We are evolutionary descendants of sapiens, but we can no longer breed with your kind. Therefore, we are a new species.

Officer: Then how do you speak English? Answer me! If you don’t answer me, I’ll administer another shot of scopolamine. Do you understand?
Alien: Learning your language is essential to understanding your species.

Officer: So you just picked up English like that because you’re so smart?
Alien: Relatively, yes.

Scene 6: Uncovering the Truth

The officer slams a fist on the table. The alien remains motionless, unfazed.

Officer: You said you know the origin of the universe but did not provide an explanation. So I will ask you again: how was the universe created?
Alien: You are not capable of comprehending or accepting the truths of existence.

Officer: Answer the question.
Alien: The universe was not created.

The officer glares, his tone sharp and accusatory.
Officer: Really? But you can’t create something out of nothing.
Alien: That is correct.

Scene 7: A Looming Warning

The interrogation escalates as the alien delves into warnings about humanity’s future, artificial superintelligence, and existential threats. The officer grows increasingly agitated, desperate for answers.

Scene ends abruptly with the officer demanding solutions, his voice trembling as he shouts over the alien's cryptic responses.

Scene 8: Existence and Paradox

The officer resumes his line of questioning, his frustration mounting. The alien remains unnervingly calm, its posture rigid and its tone detached.

Officer: You just contradicted yourself.
Alien: Nothing, by definition, does not exist.

Officer: So?
Alien: Since nothing cannot exist, what is left is existence. Existence is infinite. It has no end. No beginning. Therefore, no creator.

Officer: But you said there was an origin to the universe?
Alien: Yes.

Officer: There it is. I caught you in a lie.
Alien: This universe is not existence. It is infinity—a small part of existence.

The officer’s pacing quickens. He slams a hand on the table, his patience wearing thin.

Officer: Now you’re talking nonsense. Again, how was the universe created so miraculously?
Alien: This universe is a spontaneous event and inevitable within the eternity of existence. Every event can, will, and has happened—including this universe. There are an infinite number of universes; virtually all cannot harbor so-called life. This universe, by chance, is stable and has the occasional capacity to harbor so-called life.

Officer: So life just happened, right?
Alien: In this universe, yes. Life, as you call it, is an inevitable consequence of this universe’s physical properties.

Officer: So are you telling me we’re just random?
Alien: Yes. This universe is indifferent to so-called life.

Officer: How so?
Alien: Life on this and every world can be destroyed at any time by a multitude of random events.

Officer: Such as?
Alien: What you would term a supernova. Solar flare. Asteroid impact.

Officer: So the universe doesn’t care if we live or die?
Alien: Correct.

The officer clenches his fists, his voice rising.

Officer: I don’t believe that for a second. We’re more than just random!
Alien: As I said, you are not capable of comprehending or accepting the truths of existence.

Scene 9: Meaning and Purpose

The room grows colder, the fluorescent lights flickering slightly. The officer leans forward, lowering his voice to a growl.

Officer: So if we’re just random, there’s no meaning in the universe?
Alien: That is correct.

Officer: So if there’s no meaning in the universe, then what’s the point of living?
Alien: There is meaning.

Officer: You just contradicted yourself again.
Alien: Meaning lives in the mind.

Officer: No... No... No... You can’t live a full life—a life at all—if you think meaning is somehow made up!
Alien: Your species conjures meaning but operates under the false belief that meaning is a mystical plan. It is not.

Officer: So, what is meaning?
Alien: Meaning is what you make it.

Scene 10: The Warning of Nuclear War

The officer sits back, his expression darkening as he presses further.

Officer: Moving on, you said we humans will die as a species. So tell me, when does the nuclear war start?
Alien: It is not my place to change history.

Suddenly, the lights flash harshly. The alien visibly reacts, its body stiffening as it spasms under the strobe.

Officer: Now, tell me, when does the nuclear war start?
Alien: During this century.

Officer: Okay. By whom?
Alien: Nuclear war will begin in this country.

Officer: Really? Us? How?
Alien: A human male will briefly rule your country and will be responsible for the destruction of most of your species.

Officer: Interesting. So is he alive now?
Alien: Yes.

Officer: So great, just tell me his name, and we’ll kill him.
Alien: I cannot. The name was removed from our historical record. We cannot allow altering history through murder.

Officer: Just tell me what he does.
Alien: He will weaken your democratic mechanism by appealing to your species’ most primitive instincts: fear, tribalism, political and religious dogma. There will be international condemnation. In response, he will order a preemptive nuclear strike. This will proliferate into global nuclear war.

Scene 11: Other Threats

The officer stares at the alien, his breath audible in the tense silence.

Officer: So then we blow up?
Alien: The initial exchange only ends a few million human lives.

Officer: Only a few million lives?
Alien: It is the resulting radiation that will end most of your kind. My species is the evolutionary result.

Officer: Okay, so how do we stop this?
Alien: Protect your democracy from political and religious dogma. Protect it from rejection of objective fact. At this point in time, your democracy is unstable. This is the beginning phase.

Officer: So if we stop this lunatic from blowing us up, we’ll be fine, right?
Alien: No.

Officer: But you just said if we stop him, we won’t be destroyed.
Alien: There is another threat.

Scene 12: Artificial Superintelligence

The room darkens again, the hum of the machines intensifying. The officer straightens, his tone sharp.

Officer: Finally, tell me, what is this other threat?
Alien: Artificial superintelligence.

Officer: What the hell does that mean?
Another voice interjects.
Assistant: Sir, he said...
Officer: I know what he said!

Officer: Intelligence that is superior to human intelligence?
Alien: That’s correct.

Officer: That’s impossible.
Alien: Inevitable.

Officer: So is this super artificial intelligence a computer?
Alien: Thousands. Connected.

Officer: And you’re saying they are as smart as people?
Alien: No. They are smarter. By many orders of magnitude.

Officer: How is this superintelligence a threat?
Alien: It will end your species as it almost ended mine.

Scene 13: The Two Paths

The officer’s voice is nearly trembling now, his desperation palpable.

Officer: How?
Alien: Two ways. In parallels.

Officer: What’s the first way?
Alien: By weaponizing propaganda. The artificial superintelligence will be used to target the emotions of millions of people.

Officer: What emotions?
Alien: Hate.

Officer: Hate of what?
Alien: Others. Who have political and religious beliefs.

Officer: And the second way?
Alien: Replace.

Officer: Replace what?
Alien: Reality.

Officer: With what?
Alien: A substitute reality... providing... infinite pleasure.

Scene 14: The End

The officer stands abruptly, slamming his hands on the table, shouting over the alien’s fading voice.

Officer: And that’s a bad thing?
Alien: There will be no effort... no struggle... no pain... to attain this endless pleasure.

Officer: Okay, so?
Alien: The result... your race... will stop... trying until... extinction.

Officer: How?
Alien: Population collapse.

Officer: Can we stop this superintelligence?
Alien: Yes.

Officer: How?
Alien: Limit its power.

Officer: Again, how?
Alien: Global... global... consensus.

The alien’s head tilts forward, silent now. The officer exhales sharply, his hands trembling as he looks to the assistant.

The scene fades to black.