TARAKANOV Careful now. Slow. SLOW. That's it.
Soldiers gingerly offload an ORANGE, HIGH-TECH ROBOTIC VEHICLE with TANK TREADS. It's far more muscular than the flimsy lunar rovers.
TARAKANOV (proudly)
Joker.
Legasov and Shcherbina turn to Tarakanov. What now?
TARAKANOV That's what the Germans named it. "Joker."
SHCHERBINA (heavy sigh) Germans.
(beat) Is it ready?
TARAKANOV
It's ready.
Shcherbina looks at Legasov. Legasov nods.
SHCHERBINA So. Let's introduce Joker to Masha.
442 OMITTED 442
443 EXT. MASHA - LATER 443
CLOSE TO THE ROOF SURFACE - black chunks of graphite. One of the pieces has the tell-tale smooth semicircle in it... the channel for a fuel rod...
The wind picks up... granular bits of deadly graphite swirl, and - JOKER lands SOFTLY on the rubble.
The cable coupling detaches, and the helicopter QUICKLY swerves away from the deadly roof.
Joker sits there. Impressive. Armored. Strong. This is clearly a superior vehicle. A match for Masha.
444 INT. REMOTE COMMAND CENTER - CONTINUOUS 444
Legasov, Shcherbina and Tarakanov stand behind the operators. Nervous anticipation.
JUGHASHVILI
Good signal.
TARAKANOV
Cameras.
Jughashvili hits a switch on the control module. A GREEN LIGHT immediately comes on.
ON THE MONITORS - views from Joker's cameras. Legasov and Shcherbina watch intently. So far, so good.
TARAKANOV
Motors.
Jughashvili hits more switches on the control module. The lights go GREEN in succession. Joker is the real deal.
JUGHASHVILI Motor good, signal good.
TARAKANOV
All right. Let's start easy. Forward one metre, reverse one metre.
The operator pushes a joystick. Legasov and Shcherbina stare at the monitors. Unblinking. Please.
ON THE MONITOR - the image SHIFTS... as Joker MOVES.
JUGHASHVILI
Forward one.
The men in the room are all smiling.
SHCHERBINA (nudges Legasov) Germans!
JUGHASHVILI
Reverse one.
He pulls back on the joystick, and on the monitor, we can tell Joker is faithfully moving backwards.
Then: THE MONITORS lose signal. STATIC.
CONTROL MODULE - the GREEN LIGHTS start to turn RED... one, two, three.... then ALL of them.
Dead silence in the room. No one breathes. Then:
TARAKANOV Did you lose the signal?
The operators are flipping switches. Checking the remote TRANSMITTER boxes. Sweating.
JUGHASHVILI It's not the signal. It's the vehicle.
He turns back to Tarakanov. Pale. At a total loss.
JUGHASHVILI
It's dead.
They all stand there in shock. All but for Shcherbina. We PUSH IN ON HIM - see the RAGE building inside...
CUT TO:
445 INT./EXT. MOBILE OFFICE - LATER 445
Legasov and Tarakanov. Wincing at the sounds of FURNITURE SMASHING and GLASS BREAKING.
REVEAL - they're in front of the mobile command trailer. It's ROCKING from within. And now we hear Shcherbina's muffled voice, screaming.
INTERCUT BETWEEN - INTERIOR and EXTERIOR of MOBILE OFFICE
SHCHERBINA (O.S.) GOOD! GOOD, I WANT THEM TO HEAR! DO YOU KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING? THE MEN WE'RE BURNING? BURNING!!!
The sound of something TOPPLING. Then a STOMPING noise.
Legasov lights his cigarette. He looks over and sees: A SOLDIER, standing nearby. Frightened at the noise and anger coming from inside that trailer.
SHCHERBINA (O.S.) YOU THINK I CARE? I'M A DEAD MAN! TELL RYZHKOV! TELL LIGACHEV! TELL GORBACHEV! TELL THEM! TELL —
Then the sounds of PLASTIC being battered... the sad clinking of a damaged BELL... and...
WHAM. The trailer door gets KICKED OPEN, and Shcherbina emerges, red-faced.
He HURLS the smashed remnants of a TELEPHONE into the air... the cord trailing behind it... sending it clattering to the ground in pieces.
Legasov and Tarakanov wait quietly for Shcherbina to catch his breath. It takes some time. Then:
SHCHERBINA The official position of the State is that a global nuclear catastrophe is not possible in the Soviet Union, (beat)
They told the international community the highest detected level of radiation was 2,000 roentgen.
Legasov is stunned. Oh god. No.
SHCHERBINA They gave the propaganda number to the Germans. The robot was never going to work.
Tarakanov closes his eyes. Hangs his head. The three men stand there, dejected. Lost.
Then Shcherbina, now drained of all his fight, turns to the nearby soldier.
SHCHERBINA We need a new phone.
446 INT. BASE CAMP TENT - NIGHT 446
CLOSE ON: two glasses. Vodka pours into each.
Shcherbina hands a weary Tarakanov one glass. Takes the other for himself. A heavy RAIN batters the tent from outside. Water occasionally drips in through faulty seams.
SHCHERBINA (drinks, then) What if we don't clear it?
LEGASOV (O.S.) We have to clear it.
Legasov sits off to the side. Scribbling notations on a pad. Never looks up. Keeps scribbling as he talks.
LEGASOV
If we don't clear the roof, we can't build a cover over it. If we can't build a cover, that's 12,000 roentgen. Nearly twice the radiation from the bomb in Hiroshima, every hour, hour after--
SHCHERBINA (waves him off) Yes, okay, I remember.
(back to Tarakanov) What about lead? We could— I don't know. We could melt it down, then pour it from above, like a coating.
TARAKANOV
First of all, we've already used most of the lead we had--
SHCHERBINA There's lead sheeting around instruments in the other reactor buildings. The soldiers are stripping it to make their armor.
TARAKANOV Are you serious?
Yes. Shcherbina is serious. Tarakanov shakes his head.
Embarrassing. But back to the bigger issue:
TARAKANOV Even if, you're still talking about boiling metal in a helicopter-- and it's lead, Boris. It'll weigh a ton...
Shcherbina puts his hands up. All right. It was stupid.
TARAKANOV What if we shoot the graphite into the hole?
Shcherbina looks up from his drink. Excuse me?
TARAKANOV We have heavy caliber bullets-exploding bullets, so they won't just ricochet... they push...
SHCHERBINA You want to shoot exploding bullets at an exposed nuclear reactor?
TARAKANOV (sheepish)
Well--
SHCHERBINA No, let's go light the roof back on fire. It was so easy to put out the first time.
(frustrated) What are we even talking about? We need another robot. Something that can withstand the radiation.
TARAKANOV I've asked. There's nothing.
SHCHERBINA The Americans--
TARAKANOV If the Americans have that kind of technology, do you really think they would give it to us? And even if they would-- the Central Committee will never stoop to ask. You know it, and I know it.
(beat) There are no robots.
LEGASOV (O.S.)
Biorobots.
Shcherbina and Tarakanov turn to Legasov. He's been so quiet, they almost forgot he was there.
SHCHERBINA What was that?
Legasov removes his glasses. Stares down at the calculations on his notepad. Utterly defeated.
LEGASOV We use biorobots.
He finally turns to look at them. Grim.
LEGASOV
Men.
And so, the unthinkable has finally been said.
447 EXT. ANOTHER TINY VILLAGE - ANOTHER DAY 447
A cold, gray day. We're in a DEAD FIELD. Plowed earth. The everpresent RADIATION SIGNS stuck in the ground where scarecrows might have once gone.
IN THE DISTANCE - a small farming village. Barely a dozen tiny homes.
GUNSHOTS echo in the air.