good evening, rorschach. --and we see dr. manhattan for the very first time. he is sixty feet tall, blue light ripples from his skin, emanating pure power--he is god on earth. he works on a reactor--telekinetically moving parts in the air-- not even looking at rorschach. it's as if dr. manhattan already knew he was coming.
yes, since he and i are the only two extranormal operatives currently employed by the government, i was informed. the cia suspects one of the radical islamic groups. dr. manhattan shrinks from sixty to six feet in size. he speaks in a cold, even, matter of fact manner.
a live human body and a dead human body have the same number of particles. structurally there's no difference.
rorschach, please don't upset laurie. i
excuse me for a moment. suddenly he disappears.
these men were transporting a shipment of enriched uranium-- with a gesture, the container floats off the truck and separates into pieces . . revealing the uranium inside. suddenly the uranium changes--
i've safely transformed the uranium into sand. i trust you can take things from here. and just like that he disappears--
rorschach--you're upsetting laurie. i think you ought to go.
i said you ought to go.
he's gone. are you okay now?
i'm having trouble with my vision. i can't see clearly what lies ahead. there's some static interference.
i'm uncertain. a power surge of great magnitude? perhaps a nuclear detonation.
there's no such thing as the "future." i've explained to you on many occasions--
i understand your frustration, laurie. the human mind for some reason is only capable of viewing time frame by frame. perhaps you'd find it more comforting if you could perceive time as i do dr. manhattan touches her head--
i didn't mean to upset you.
you go ahead, laurie. i want to further investigate this interference with my vision. i find it troubling.
you sound bitter.
blake . don't. blam! blake shoots her; the girl slams against the far wall. she drops, dead.
blake. she was pregnant. you gunned her down. blake turns on him, spitting fury.
don't worry, we have plenty of time.
is this dark enough?
thank you.
it was my duty. cut to: dan and laurie surrounded by the thugs . when suddenly they dive into the group, fighting like the heroes they once were. dan grapples with one of the thugs and knocks his knife away-- --when another thug nails him from behind with a bat. dan drops to the ground . back to:
yes, he was a good friend of mine. when we were both physicists.
i remember. i attended his funeral.
i was not aware--
by your line of questioning, you're suggesting that i was the cause of cancer in these individuals.
it is irrelevant whether i was the cause or not.
a live human body and a dead human body have the same number of particles. structurally there's no difference. an appalled then angry buzz comes over the audience.
janey slater? wh--
no, janey, wait! in the audience, adrian turns to the press agent, frantic.
no. please let me through
please. if everyone would just go away and leave me alone. adrian hears the note of warning in his voice.
i said leave me alone! every last person bursts into particles and disappears. dr. manhattan is suddenly alone. he looks stunned almost.
hello laurie.
i am on mars. you and i are about to have a conversation there.
you are going to try to convince me to save the world.
so. what do you think?
oh. forgive me. these things sometimes slip my mind. he touches her mouth, forming a small atmosphere around her. she heaves in air, retching and choking at the same time.
our conversation commences when you surprise me with the information that you and dreiberg have been sleeping together.
not yet. but in a few moments, you're going to tell me.
why does my perception of time distress you so?
because everything is pre-ordained. even my responses.
you mean you're sleeping with dan dreiberg? contemplating this, he steps to the balcony's edge.
i said, often, that you were my only remaining link with the world. now that link is shattered. don't you see the futility of asking me to save a world that i no longer have any stake in?
not to me. my red world here means more to me than your blue one. i'll show you around if you like. the giant glass palace begins to rumble.
nor i. believe me, i fully understand the gravity of the situation. the clockwork glass palace rises high into the air
it ends with you in tears.
i return to earth at some point. the streets are filled with death.
i can't be sure. i'm still experiencing some static interference preventing any clear vision of what lies ahead.
tachyon particles. tachyons are a rare occurrence. the detonation of nuclear warheads could conceivably be the cause.
and the universe will not even notice. see the dual moons. aren't they breathtaking? above, two moons cross overhead. one is huge, crimson red, the smaller is a delicate shell pink. spectacular.
no, thermodynamic miracles are--
on the argyre planitia? as you wish. the structure descends. laurie stomps down the stairs.
laurie. you complain that i refuse to see life on life's terms. and yet you continuously refuse to see things from my perspective. if only you'd try to see the whole continuum, life's pattern, you'd understand. but you deliberately shut it out as if afraid to see.
the comedian was your father.
attacked your mother. yes. two years later he came back to her, to make amends. and you were conceived on that day.
i don't think your life is a joke.
but i've changed my mind. there are miracles in your world that are worth preserving.
i tried to explain. thermodynamic miracles--events with odds against so astronomical, like oxygen turning into gold. i have longed to witness such a thing and yet i neglect that in human coupling, millions upon millions of cells compete to create life over generation after generation: until finally, your mother loves a man--edward blake, the comedian--a man she has every reason to hate. and out of that contradiction, against unfathomable odds, it was you, only you, that emerged. to distill so specific a form from all of that chaos; your creation is like . turning air into gold. a miracle.
yes, anyone in the world. but the world is so crowded with miracles that they become commonplace and we forget. i forget. they stand there in silence. connected for the first time in years.
now. dry your eyes. from above: we see the full crater--the argyre planitia. round, with two, eye-like boulders set side by side, a ridge of land curling below . like a smiley-face.
this is dr. manhattan. for years, i have
interference. cataclysmic interference. laurie looks up and screams. thousands of black silhouettes are imprinted on the street and the walls. everywhere. there is no rubble--some buildings have simply disintegrated.
not a war. i .don't know what it was. dr. manhattan looks up into the sky, studying it.
i'm sorry. this must be very upsetting for you. i have traced the source of the tachyon particles to antarctica. shall we?
adrian, of course. who else would have the resources
yes. yes, he killed blake and millions of others. excuse me, daniel, i'm talking to laurie ninety seconds ago
i'm sorry. it's these tachyons. they're, muddling things up. i'd better follow him
yes. yes, he killed blake and millions of others. excuse me, daniel, i'm talking to laurie ninety seconds ago
i'm sorry. it's these tachyons. they're, muddling things up. i'd better follow him
adrian, don't be foolish. even if i can't predict where i'm going to find you, i can turn the walls to glass. the tachyons were clever but it's time to give up jon spots the lynx in a metal corridor.
very well. if i must, let us follow this through to the bitter end. on the other side of the walls is adrian, waiting by a control panel. he takes one last look at his lynx.
adrian? adrian, don't-- light blasts through jon and the lynx--both are obliterated. adrian peers around the corner, winded by his success.
restructuring myself was the first trick i learned! it didn't kill me before, did you seriously think it would kill me now? you are nothing but a man. and the world's smartest man means no more to me than its smartest termite! out of tricks, out of traps, adrian lifts the remote.
what is that, adrian? some new, ultimate weapon?
i'm afraid he's correct. exposing adrian would only doom the world to nuclear destruction again.
where are you going, rorschach?
rorschach, you know i can't let you do that. rorschach pauses. dan is halfway there . rorschach removes his mask, tears stand in his eyes.
laurie. i'm leaving this galaxy. for one a little less complicated.
i have. i think maybe i'll create some. goodbye, laurie. he kisses her on the cheek--
without condoning or condemning, i