Rebecca Stillman: We'd like to hire you to decipher an encrypted message.
Alex Jacobs: Okay, why me?
Rebecca Stillman: Because you're arguably one of the best cryptographers of your generation.
Alex Jacobs: No, come on, that's bullshit. Look, I'm good, but the best? No.
Rebecca Stillman: We like your work, Alex. We were particularly impressed with your Amber algorithm.
Alex Jacobs: My Amber algorithm.
Rebecca Stillman: Yes.
Alex Jacobs: That pissed a lot of people off, that one.
Rebecca Stillman: It did more than that. Broke countless laws, compromised the security of multinational firms, and folded the company you worked for.
Alex Jacobs: But I can't take all the credit for that. You see, the NSA pressured us into implementing back doors for the sake of 'national security'. You do know after that information leaked, they turned their backs and they threw us under the bus. Thank you, Uncle Sam.
Rebecca Stillman: It's business.
Alex Jacobs: It's conspiracy. So come on, I signed the NDA, what ethically ambiguous scheme is it this time?
Rebecca Stillman: Two months ago we detected a U.S. military satellite in orbit. A satellite we never sent up. It was retrieved and examined, inside we found an encrypted message, one we've been unable to decrypt.
Alex Jacobs: What do you mean you didn't send it up?
Rebecca Stillman: We never sent that satellite into orbit.
Alex Jacobs: So it's not American.
Rebecca Stillman: It is, it's ours, just not from now. We believe it's from the future.
Alex Jacobs: I'm sorry, what?
Rebecca Stillman: There was a non-encrypted message stating its origin. We were dubious at first, but after undergoing a variety of tests, we've come to the conclusion that it was in fact sent back in time.
