"76-year-old male." "Cause of death: internal bleeding resulting from rupture of preexisting abdominal aortic aneurysm." "Physiology otherwise un... remarkable." "Brain: 1,230 grams." "Normal." "Are you mad?" "My father's wish is to be cremated." "And he will be." "All of him." "Dr. Einstein, this is one of the most astonishing objects in the universe." "Studying it could unlock the mystery of genius." "Now, you are a man of science." "He was a man of science." "In the end, doesn't his brain belong to science, too?" "Happy birthday" "Dear Albert" "Happy birthday to you." "Speech!" " Speech!" "No, no, no, no." "Yes, well, the person most bored to tears by my babbling is me." "So I shall politely refrain and thank you all for coming." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Thank you." "I seem to have stumbled onto the wrong gathering." "I was meant to attend a birthday party, not a funeral." "Did you see what Halpern's wife asked me to sign?" "That?" "It's from last year." "So what?" "It's my face on the cover of Time magazine in front of a mushroom cloud." "It's a wonderful likeness." "You're the one who actually built the damn thing." "But, still, everybody blames me." "Albert, we have quite a surprise in store for you." "The only gift I want from you, Niels, is an admission that quantum mechanics is incomplete." "What fun would that be?" "Yes, well, we have to find some other excuse for our squabbles." "But the current situation is absurd." "Reality cannot be described by two theories which do not agree." "Unified field theory is not the answer though, Albert." "It will be the final chapter in physics." "You'll see." "I will solve it before I die." "Die?" "No, you'll never die." "No, you'll be chiding post grads long after the sun has burned itself out." "And besides, it's bad luck to be so morbid on one's own birthday." "I have been trying to tell him that." "Birthdays cause a man to reflect on what little he has accomplished." "You have achieved more than almost anyone in human history." "And yet, if I died tomorrow, I'd be remembered as the man who ushered in the nuclear age." "Well, be happy with what you have accomplished, Albert." "It's quite a lot." "What are you looking for?" "My good name." "It seems to have gone missing." "I'm forming a council, Oppie." "The Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists." "Albert, you have guests." "Go enjoy yourself." "If my legacy is to be tied to the atomic bomb, it will be for preventing its use." "I need you to join me." "I'm running the Institute now." "I can't get involved in politics." "What are you so worried about, the wrath of university administrators?" "I'm worried about Hoover." "He probably knows what color socks I'm wearing right now." "It's not safe for me." "You?" "Don't be ridiculous." "It's not safe for you either, Albert." "Trust me." "Aha." "There you are." "You are not to be smoking." "Isn't this the one day I should be allowed to smoke?" "Come." "Your grandchildren want to wish you a happy birthday." "Papa." "Are you enjoying my party, Evelyn?" "Yes, Grandpa." "I'm pleased." "Bernhard has some news he'd like to share with you..." "Oh." " Yes..." "BOHR:" "Professor Einstein." "Professor." "Please, everybody." "Our young prodigy here, David Bohm, has helped assemble this high-fidelity radio." "We all thought it was time to drag you kicking and screaming into the modern era." "Many of us here today are the beneficiaries of your generosity." "Some of us, like Dr. Oppenheimer, are colleagues who sharpen our minds coming up against yours." "Others are former students whom you've treated with the... patience and selflessness of a father." "But all have blossomed..." "I told you this was a ridiculous idea." "He isn't coming." "The weather has delayed the trains." "He may come yet." "Eduard was the one who wanted to go traipsing through the Alps." "And now he's terribly sick." "Would you like to trade places with him?" "Your father has wanted a holiday with you for quite some time." "You owe him at least that." "Why do you make excuses for him?" "Because we all make excuses for ourselves, and we should be good enough to make them for others." "People are complex." "So?" "You're going to tell him then?" "I don't know." "Mm, it would be one thing you both have in common." "Thank you." "Let's have a look at this." "Come on." "We're going." " Ah." " But Grandpa's present..." "Leave it." "Oh." "Huh." "Ah." "A few more items before you retire." "The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios are asking for your approval for the script they sent." "Is it still a movie about the making of the atomic bomb?" "It is." " Then I do not approve." "There are a number of speaking invitations:" "uh, Harvard, Cornell, University of Chicago..." "I've decided to accept only one." "Lincoln University." "Do you have an opinion on this matter?" "Of course not." "You never do." "The sun's gravitational pull is sufficient to bend light itself." "And bend light it does." "That is how I finally found proof of the theory of general relativity." "Most scientists thought" "I was mad." "Funny, isn't it, how progress can provoke such an emotional response?" "Though, of course, this idea is not foreign to most of you." "Many believe that young men such as yourselves do not deserve the same opportunities as everyone else." "All because of the color of your skin." "How absurd." "What do I know of it?" "After all, look at me." "I'm an old white Jew with crazy hair." "But I, too, have been disparaged for how I look." "For my heritage." "We all share the same decent humanity." "The same curiosity." "Hopes, dreams." "The same God." "He consorts with dangerous types." "Communists, Negroes, anarchists." "I have to say, sir, I'm surprised" "Einstein is the target of an investigation." "Einstein's office is already bugged, but I have decided to inject new blood into this case." "That's why you're here." "This could be a rewarding stepping stone for you, McKee." "You'll be on the front lines in the next war." "War, sir?" "Communism is an existential threat to our great republic, and Einstein is on the side of the enemy." "Find what I need to put this son of a bitch in jail." "Or... at least send him on a one-way trip back to Germany." "Yes, sir." "Is it worth it, Edgar?" "Going after the world's most famous scientist?" "Einstein humiliated me." "Could've lost my job." "I almost did lose my reputation." "What is it that the scientists say, huh?" "For each action there is an equal and opposite reaction." "Nuclear weapons are the obstacle to world peace, not its solution." "But they exist." "Well, I think the best way to ensure they're never used is to give control of them to the scientists who made them." "Not the American military." "You think the Red Army is going to leave the bomb to their scientists?" "Harold's right." "The Soviets are mad." "Which is why we must push for containment." "That is a fantasy." " Exactly." "The U.S. and the Soviets will continue to build their nuclear stockpiles." "And perhaps they should." "What the hell are you talking about, Leo?" " Are you crazy?" "Perhaps what will ultimately save us is two superpowers with the ability to completely destroy one another." "Atomic use leads to atomic retaliation and that retaliation leads to more retaliation and we end up at reciprocal annihilation." "Which is why neither side will ever dare to use even one weapon." "I cannot believe my ears." "I'm sorry, Leo, but I cannot." "That is lunacy." "Whether by accident or idiocy or the will of a tyrant, these weapons will be used." "And when they are, not even" "God can help us." "What is it you suggest, Albert?" "A world government." "It would sit on top of all existing nations and, as adjudicator in all disputes, would make world wars a thing of history." "No nation would give up its sovereignty." "We are dealing with a threat to the basic existence of humanity." "In my own work, I find when I'm faced with an audacious problem, an audacious solution is usually the answer." "So let's put our prodigious heads together and see what we can come up with." "Professor Bohm to see you?" "Of course." "David, come in." "I've just read your paper." "It's remarkable." "Well, hopefully it'll give you some ammunition to fire back at the quantum contingent." "It does, and it came at just the right moment." "I've been stalled on unified field theory for months." "So you'll recall the idea of hidden variables from my paper." " Ah." "If we assume both a quantum particle, for example, an electron, and a guiding wave that governs its motion..." "He's not at the office, either." "I've been admitted to Zurich Polytechnic." "I'll be following in your footsteps." "This is wonderful." "This will be an extraordinary adventure." "Engineering?" "But why?" "Engineering is the future, Papa." "No." "You've been sold a story." "It isn't science." "It's tinkering." "Tinkering?" "Hans, trust me." "This is beneath you." "You have a gift." "You've always excelled in science." "Target your ambitions, and then aim higher." "Engineering is my ambition." "It isn't science, Hans." "I don't want you to give up on science like your mother did." "Give up?" "She sacrificed herself for all of us." "For you, most of all." "She's no martyr, Hans." "She made her own choices." "Don't squander your talents like she did." "There are nobler pursuits for a brain like yours." "No, you mean a brain like yours, Papa." "I want to do something different." "Ah." "It's days like today, Helen, that I'm reminded that science is primitive and childlike." "Thank God for that." "What is it?" "Thank you." "I'm sorry for your loss, my boy." "My loss?" "That's an interesting way to put it." "Tell me, what were you doing earlier?" "Before I arrived." "I was working." "And yesterday when I couldn't reach you?" "I was at the office." "No, I called the office." "There was no answer." "There are moments when I get absorbed in what I'm doing, Hans." "You know that." "Yes, I certainly do." "But I have always hoped that once... just once in my life... you'd be absorbed with your family instead of your work." "But we're just a burden to you." "That's not fair, Hans." " Isn't it?" "I think you're relieved she's dead." "How could you say such a thing?" "You'll never again have to worry about her money problems or feel guilt for what became of her." "I thought we had put aside all this bitterness years ago." "That is because you are completely oblivious to the feelings of those closest to you, Papa." "You're so kind to so many people." "But you have been so cruel to your own family." "I have accepted a teaching position at Berkeley." "We won't have to see each other again." "Hans, wait." "Don't leave like this." "Not today." "You treated her miserably, and you should be ashamed." "I'm only angry with myself for taking this long to say that to your face." "Don't contact me, Papa." "Ever." "The neutron itself was discovered by Chadwick, an Englishman." "The cyclotron by Lawrence, an American." "And the splitting of uranium was detected by Hahn, a German." "Don't blame it all on me." "Would it be possible for you to go and see President Roosevelt yourself?" "But I have a cold." "And besides," "I do not know" "Mr. Roosevelt very well." "I'm sure the president knows you, sir." "It will be more polite if I just write him a letter." "Thank you, sir." "The acting was abominable." "The science, completely wrong." "And I don't really talk like that, do I?" "Well, at least they implemented some of the changes you proposed." "Well, to my mind, it certainly didn't improve..." "Oh." " Professor?" "The pain is likely due to an aneurysm of the aorta." "Basically a small bulge in the artery." "Is it serious?" "Not if he doesn't smoke, cuts out sweets and avoids strenuous activity." "That does include sexual congress, Dr. Einstein." "I see." "To live long, I must forego anything worth living for." "David." "Where is everybody?" "They're terrified, Albert." "Of what?" "This." "It's a subpoena." "The Un-American Activities Committee." "What could be more un-American than an inquisition?" "I'm scared, Albert." "You'll be all right, David." "You have the First Amendment in this country." "Stand up." "Tell the truth." "Say, "Yes, I was a communist."" "It is not illegal to have been one." "And then what?" "I-I won't be able to get a job." "I'll be ruined." "They cannot force you to speak." "Mr. Bohm, are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?" "On the..." "On the advice of counsel," "I invoke my right under the Fifth Amendment not to answer, on the grounds I may incriminate myself." "Order!" "Order!" "How could those bastards suspend a man for attending a few meetings?" "You know it's out of my hands." "I'll offer to pay his salary." "He can be my personal assistant." "Albert..." "If David Bohm sets foot on the Institute's grounds, he will be arrested for trespassing." "And you and I will soon thereafter be polishing our resumes." "The United States government sees Bohm as a threat, and no matter what its flaws..." "I still believe a man must put his country first." "You are a coward." " Albert." "This is a man's life." "If we sit on our hands, they'll come after us next." "They want to intimidate us into silence." "That way we become easier prey." "Don't do anything rash, Albert." "Don't worry, whatever I do will be quite deliberate." "You think it's foolish, I know." "Yet again, I'm inviting controversy." "So why not say it, just this once?" "You truly are a sphinx, Helen." "Elsa had opinions, advice." "Elsa had strategy." "I am not Elsa." "No, you certainly are not." "The only thing you show enthusiasm for is keeping my pipe from me." "You haven't seen it, have you?" "Hello and welcome." "I'm Eleanor Roosevelt." "On today's program," "I'll present a special segment from renowned physicist" "Albert Einstein." "Good evening." "The arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union has assumed hysterical proportions." "On both sides, means of mass destruction are being perfected with feverish haste, and behind walls of secrecy." "And now the production of the hydrogen bomb will be accomplished." "If these efforts prove successful, annihilation of all life on Earth will have been brought within the range of what is possible." "Outside the United States we establish military bases." "Inside the United States..." "Inside the United States, the loyalty of citizens is carefully supervised by a police force growing more powerful every day." "People of independent thought are being harassed." "The public is indoctrinated." "Get me McKee." "With one television interview he humiliated the Bureau." "We must move on him before he does more damage." "I'm doing all I can, sir." " Do more." "Search his mail, tap his home phone, follow his acquaintances." "You have discretion to do whatever it takes." "McKEE:" "I'm just wondering what evidence persuaded a judge to sign a warrant for such an extensive operation." "We cannot wait on the slow wheels of justice." "I'm not sure I understand, sir." "Look at Bohm." "Nobody would hire him after his hearing and now he's in Rio with diarrhea and a sunburn." "And you can bet your Brazil nuts he spends every waking moment wondering," ""Why did I stonewall the Bureau?"" "I have confidence... you'll get the results I need, McKee." "Until we are left with a unique modification to my previous" ""guiding wave" proposal, because this wave can influence a quantum particle without becoming..." " Albert, we've been down this road many times." "No, no, no, no, no, no." "Yes." " This is different." "It seems that the more the rest of physics accepts my work, the more you resist it." "Because it's all conjecture." "Where is your proof?" "Y-You sound just like one of those stodgy members of the establishment who said the same thing about general relativity..." "Are you actually comparing quantum mechanics with relativity?" "Albert, tell me, what do you have to show for all this time you've spent chasing unified field theory, huh?" "Perhaps, if you'd just let go of your ego for just a moment, you could admit that you're simply wrong." "You're as bad as those fools in Washington, trying to ruin anyone who comes up against you." "You think I'm trying to ruin you?" "You make me out to be a laughingstock, a has-been." "Anyone who doesn't follow your decree, is a traitor or an imbecile, and I've had enough." "Albert, you've lost yourself." "Yes." "Like one or your unobserved particles." "I'm not even here." "Albert." "I think you should go." "This is a CBS news bulletin." "Julius and Ethel Rosenberg have been found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage." "Under federal law, the Rosenbergs are eligible for the death penalty." "A country which prides itself on freedom of speech must not commit the most barbarous act of retribution on those who disseminate information." "That much, Your Honor, should be self-evident." "Is that all?" "No." "I'd like my pipe, please." "It's the one thing left in this world that gives me pleasure." "I cannot help you with that." "As true as the moon pulling the tides, here we find ourselves again." "You want to say my little controversies are pointless, but you will not say it." "Silence again." "Silence always." "As though it were a virtue." "It is no virtue, Helen." "Pull the page and let me sign it." "There are controversies, and then there is absolute stupidity." "You do understand I'm speaking out against a clear wrong." "Did you not ask my opinion?" "This isn't like speaking at a Negro college." "This is about meddling in the affairs of the United States government." "My own son will not speak to me." "I'm made to feel like a dinosaur in the physics community." "I've completely stalled on unified field theory." "And I have no idea where my pipe is." "I'm getting old, Helen." "I'm sick." "My voice is all I have left." "This is precisely what we need." "Yes, sir." "But we intercepted Einstein's letter before it reached the judge." "Seeing as we don't have a warrant..." "Oh, be creative, McKee." "Reseal the letter." "Have it sent to the judge." "Then pay him a visit." ""Have you received correspondence from Albert Einstein?" you ask." ""Whatever would give you such an idea?" he replies." ""Confidential source, you answer." ""But if you are a good American" ""and you believe in our institutions," ""I'm sure you'll aid the Bureau in this quite sensitive matter of national interest."" "You want me to intimidate a federal judge?" "Who said anything about intimidating?" "There is no evidence of a crime here, sir." "Has Einstein actually done anything illegal?" "Einstein is a fox." "And we have him up a tree." "It's time to pull the trigger." "I'll find someone to make noise with that letter." "Here it is, in his own hand, a letter trying to influence a federal judge on behalf of spies and pinko subversives who delivered our closely-guarded atomic secrets right up the steps of the Kremlin." "This so-called genius, he would replace the stars and stripes with a hammer and a sickle without breaking a sweat." "Congressman Rankin, over here, sir." "How did you come to be in possession of the letter?" "Judge Kaufman himself, a true patriot." "Now, are there any other questions?" "The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune," "The Philadelphia Inquirer, even this commie rag has denounced him." "You just earned yourself a promotion, McKee." "Close the case." "My assignment was to amass evidence and either charge him criminally or find grounds to have him deported." "Have you assembled evidence so that I may charge Einstein?" "No." "Have you brought me grounds by which I may deport him?" "Not yet, sir, but..." "Then you have failed." "Men like Einstein confuse an unstable nation." "And such confusion is as reprehensible and is as punishable as any other crime." "So," "I found a way to punish him." "And this is it." "Your solution is to humiliate a man?" "To silence him?" "Einstein has spoken out with impunity for years." "It was time someone shoved a gag in that mouth." "McKee." "When you question the integrity of the Bureau's actions, you question the integrity of my actions." "And such questions... they can get a man in a whole mess of trouble." "Let Einstein speak out, and he'll be drowned by the patriotic citizens of this fine country." "It takes a man a lifetime to build his reputation, and yet a mere moment to scuttle it." "That's a version of relativity Dr. Einstein ought to have learned long ago." "Perhaps now Einstein will retreat to the laboratory, where he belongs." "In the meantime, all good citizens would do well to turn a deaf ear to his subversive screeds." "We should instead pay attention to the patriots who have lived all their lives in this great country." "Uh." "Huh." "It's time to get out of the house." "Is there somewhere I'm meant to be?" "Go to your office." "You haven't been there in months." "I haven't had an original thought for so long," "I've forgotten what it feels like." "If I went to my office, I'd only stare at the walls." "The wallpaper is much nicer here." "Helen?" "What's an eight-letter word that means "frozen treat"?" "P, something, P, something, something, something, something, something." "I'm going to the market." "Dr. Einstein, my name is Alice Edwards, and, well, you are the smartest man in history, sir." "All the papers say so, and all that stuff you said about the universe and whatnot." "Well, it's really important to kids all across America." "And that's why your brain is critical in helping me with my long division, which..." "I have cookies." "If you could kindly fill in the answers here, here and here," "I'll work backwards and get the gist." "That's kind of how I learn." "Why do your teachers make you study mathematics?" "Exactly." "What good is stupid math anyway?" "Here's a strange thing." "Almost all flowers in nature have a certain number of petals:" "either five, eight, 13, 21," "34 or 55." "It's called the Fibonacci Sequence." "Yikes." "And the Fibonacci Sequence, in turn, is related to the Golden Mean." "Sounds like an Agatha Christie book." " Ha." "And who are you?" "My name is Alice Edwards, ma'am." "Dr. Einstein was kind enough to help me with my long division." "Well, Miss Edwards," "Dr. Einstein isn't taking visitors at the moment, despite his willingness to accept bribes." "Out with you." "Come." "Gee, she's a real charmer." "I wish my teachers were more like you." "You make this stuff sound fun." "It is fun." "Thank you for reminding me of that." "You can keep this." "Count them... before next time." "Where on Earth are you going?" "You told me to go to the office, so I'm going to the office." "Was that Dr. Einstein?" "Rumors of an Einstein sighting on campus made waves very quickly." "Had to come see if it was true." "How are you, Niels?" "In my own little world, marking time." "It's good to see you're back at work." "I'm muddling my way through unified field theory again." "Oh." "You know, there... there is a bit of an anomaly i-in your work." "I beg your pardon?" "That-that, uh, derivative?" "It can't be third order." "Oh, yes, yes, yes." "Yeah." "Hmm." "What anomaly?" "My God, you're right." "I'd have gone on fumbling my way through that for another week if you hadn't pointed it out." "Yes." "Ah." "How about a stroll?" "Ah." "I read the manifesto you and Bertrand Russell wrote." "It was very impressive." "And yet no one listens." "I fear my influence on the use of atomic weapons is long past." "If only I could turn back the clock to when people actually cared about what I had to say." "Well, time travel." "Perhaps that could be your final triumph, Albert." "There are many moments I'd like to relive and many ills I'd like to fix." "Time is a tricky thing." "You taught me that." "People have missed you here, Albert." "Purely selfish on their part, to be sure, but they need you to keep their minds sharp." "Well, I need you." "Not just to keep my mind sharp, but for this." "What are you looking for?" "Uh, an equation." "Well, half-formed." "It's more of a scribble." "Maybe ten, 15 years old." "If you can give me anything else to go on?" "It must be here." "It's very important." "Niels and I have been talking abou..." "You kept these?" "I keep... everything, Professor." "You have a visitor." "Oh." "Hello, Alice." "Thank you, Helen." "So I looked up that "Finobacci" thing in the Encyclopedia Britannica." "Here's what I don't get." "The flowers, how do they know the math?" "I mean, does a flower realize it's supposed to have a certain number of petals?" "And why the heck does it care, anyway?" "That's a very interesting question, Alice." "Hmm." "Let me show you something." "I think I might find an answer for that." "I'm sure it's in this book somewhere." "What's this thing?" "That was a gift from my grandchildren." "It's strange." "If you hadn't noticed it, I... might have forgotten it existed." "That's probably because you're getting old." "Hmm." "Finished already?" "He said he's not feeling well." "Asked me to come back tomorrow." "So, see you later, I guess." "Are you all right?" "I'm fine." "It's time." "For what?" "Call him." "That door is closed." "Are you really such a fool?" "I'm a realist." "I know when there's nothing more to be done." "I see." "And yet you never gave up on nuclear proliferation." "You did not find it too daunting to speak at a Negro college when no one else would dare, or to defend convicted spies." "You have compassion for so many people." "You fight for so many people." "Why is it you cannot fight to be reconciled with your own son?" "I think I liked you better when you kept your thoughts to yourself." "I am certain you did." "Hans told me that he wants nothing more to do with me." "You care so much about your legacy, about how you will be remembered by the world, but the world begins and ends in your own family." "Hello, Hansie." "Hi, Grandpa." "Hello, Evelyn." "Come in." "Come in." "Hi, Grandpa." "Bernard." "Come in, my boy." "You're helping a ten-year-old girl... with long division?" "She's very bright." "You're good with other people, with your colleagues, the cleaning woman, taxi drivers." "But you made me... feel inferior." "When I was young, my father told me that physics was a waste of time." "I only realized at the end of his life that he wasn't being cruel." "He was terrified for me." "And I forgave him for it only too late." "I'm proud of you, Hans." "I hope you know that." "You're a brilliant engineer." "Bernard, it's your turn, go." "And a far better father than I ever was." "What about Eduard?" "I love Eduard as I love you." "I wish I could've spent more time with both of you." "And Mother?" "You made her feel inconsequential, Papa." "You told me she wasted her life." "Your mother was the blood in my veins, but I was the thorn in her side." "She was a great scientist, Hans, insatiably curious." "I would never have achieved anything without her." "She was the love of my life." "Stop, you're cheating!" "It's not cheating." "I'm winning." "Stop!" "Oh, did they make their flight?" "Yes." "Hans said he hopes to be back in a few weeks." "I don't have a few weeks." "Look deep into nature." "Then you will understand everything better." "Helen." "You are a blessing." "His brain... you want to, what, slice it up and gaze at it under a microscope?" "What's the alternative?" "Cast it into a furnace?" "Before us is your father's last great gift to the world." "Do what you will with the brain." "But if you think you can comprehend who my father was or why he was so brilliant by... looking at his brain under a microscope, you are sorely mistaken." "It is just a thing." "That... that is not the man." "What is time?" "And, for that matter... what is space?" "The goal of scientific pursuit should not merely be to make use of the world around us." "It should be to understand it, fundamentally." "No matter what use it might be." "From the smallest molecule to the largest galaxy, every question must have a definable answer, and, well," "I intend to find those answers." "What is it, Papa?" "It's a compass, Albert." "With it, you will never be lost." "But why does the needle move?" "Something called "magnetism."" "Magnetism?" "What is that?" "There is a field all around us." "Invisible, but very powerful." "A field?" "What's that?" "And how can it be so powerful if it's invisible?" "And how does a magnet know how to talk to the field?" "So, how'd you get so smart, anyway?" "I have no special talent, but I am very, very curious, Alice." "All I do is ask questions, just like you do." "That's the most important thing." "Anybody can do that." "You know, I was looking up at the moon last night and wondering, why doesn't it come crashing down?" "And is it true that it causes the tides?" "And if that's true, then how come my cat's milk doesn't slop out of the saucer and spill all over the floor when the moon's flying over?" "And where did the moon come from, anyway?" "I mean, I know it's not made of cheese or anything, but it had to come from somewhere." "It has to be made of something, right?" "The stars and all the planets, too, how did they get there?" "How many of them are there, anyway?"