Solaris (Солярис)

SOLARIS

Part One

Kris, come here.

You're just in time.

He takes a walk every morning for at least an hour.

I forbade him to come back earlier.

He's had a lot of work, sometimes staying up all night.

These Solarists.

He reminds me of a bookkeeper, preparing his accounts.

We expected you yesterday.

He wanted to run away when he saw me.

Hello.

Hello.

I probably shouldn't have bothered you today.

How old you and I have become. I've only just realised that.

What are you apologising for?

Does he understand that everything depends

on his first report from the station?

Everything we've received so far has been confusing or incomprehensible.

If he confirms that the work can't continue for some reason,

the station can be taken out of Solaris' orbit.

He understands.

You promised to talk to him. I brought the film.

That's what I came here for. - Yes, of course.

Can the boy stay with you for a few days?

I have a lot to do and no one to leave him with.

Anna will look after him. She'll have more free time now.

When does he leave?

He'll be gone by tomorrow morning.

It's so pleasant here.

This house reminds me of my grandfather's house.

I liked it.

So we decided to build one just like it.

I don't like innovation.

I'd better get going.

I have a lot to do.

Don't you want to see this?

I've already seen it many times.

On the 21st day of our expedition,

radio-biologist Vishyakov and physicist Fekhner

went on an exploratory flight over the Solaris Ocean in a hydroplane.

When they failed to return after sixteen hours, we declared an emergency.

The fog was thick and we were forced to call the search off.

All of the rescue craft returned to the station

except for the helicopter operated by Burton.

Burton returned an hour after dark.

Once out of the helicopter, he ran to his quarters.

He was in a state of shock.

This was highly unusual

for a man with eleven years of experience in space-flight.

He recovered in a couple of days,

but he would never leave the station

and refused to approach the window overlooking the Ocean.

Later he wrote to us from the clinic.

He was preparing a statement of great importance,

one that would decide the fate of Solaristics.

Excellent. Let's hear what he has to say.

At this time, let us give the floor to Burton.

Thank you.

When I first descended below 300 meters,

I had trouble maintaining altitude.

There was a strong wind.

All of my attention went towards operating the ship.

I did not look out of the cabin.

As a result, I wound up in a fog. - Was it an ordinary fog?

Of course not.

It seemed to be colloidal and viscous.

It coated all of the windows.

Because of the fog's resistance, I began to lose altitude.

I couldn't see the sun,

but the fog glowed red in its direction.

After half an hour I came out into a large, open space.

It was almost round, a few hundred meters across.

At that point, I noticed a change in the Ocean.

The waves disappeared.

The surface became almost transparent, with clouded patches.

Yellow sludge gathered beneath it.

It rose up in thin strips and sparkled like glass.

Then it began to seethe, boil and harden.

It looked like molasses.

This sludge or slime gathered into large lumps

and slowly formed different shapes.

I was being drawn into the fog,

so I had to struggle against this for some time.

When I looked down again, I saw a sort of garden.

A garden?

Attention, please.

I saw shrubs, hedges, acacia trees, little paths.

Everything was made of the same substance.

Did these trees and plants have leaves?

These shrubs and acacias?

No, I already said they were all made of plaster, but life-sized.

Then everything began to crack and break.

Yellow sludge poured out of the fissures.

Everything began to boil even harder, and foam appeared.

You can see for yourselves.

I used a camera from time to time.

Everything I saw before and after should be on film.

Then I propose we interrupt these discussions

and see everything with our own eyes.

All right, show us your film. This is very interesting.

Is that it?

That's all of your film?

Yes, that's everything.

But we don't understand. You filmed clouds.

Why did you film clouds?

That must be the fog I told you about.

I wasn't expecting this.

All of this could be the result of Solaris' bio-magnetic current

acting on Burton's consciousness.

We now know the current is not only a gigantic cerebral system,

but a substance capable of thought processes.

That hypothesis is questionable.

Were you feeling sick that day?

The next part is meaningless.

Let's pick up here.

I discovered something floating in one of the openings.

It looked like Fechner's spacesuit.

Its shape was that of a person.

I turned around - I didn't want to lose sight of that spot.

At that moment, the figure rose slightly,

as if it were swimming or treading the waves.

This person had no space suit, and he was moving.

I don't understand. 'Person'?

Yes, person.

Just a minute. Did you see his face?

Yes.

What person?

Who was it?

It was a child.

What child? Had you seen him before?

No, never. In any case, not that I remember.

When I flew closer to him,

I noticed something awful.

What do you mean?

I couldn't make it out at first.

Then I saw that he was unusually large. Gigantic.

He was about four meters tall.

He had blue eyes

and dark hair.

Perhaps you're not feeling well?

We'll postpone the meeting.

I'll continue.

He was naked, absolutely naked,

like a newborn.

He was wet, or rather, slippery.

His skin was shiny.

He rose and fell like the waves, but he was moving by himself.

It was disgusting.

I'm sorry. I'll move ahead a little.

There isn't much more.

Burton's statements appear to be the result of a hallucinatory complex

brought on by the planet's atmosphere,

as well as symptoms of depression

exacerbated by inflammation of the associative zone

of the cerebral cortex.

This report in no way, or in almost no way,

corresponds with reality.

What do you mean 'almost'?

Excuse me, I'm not finished yet.

Professor Messenger offers a different opinion.

He believes that Burton's statements could be founded in reality

and merit further study.

That's it.

I saw it all with my own eyes.

I would like to offer another opinion.

We stand on the brink of an enormous discovery,

Our decision should not rely on the observations

of a man without any scientific qualifications.

Although any researcher may envy this pilot,

his presence of mind, his gift of observation.

Moreover, in light of recent information,

we are morally obligated to continue the exploration.

I can understand how Professor Messenger feels.

I understand him.

But let's take a look at the road we've travelled.

Solaristics is exactly where it began.

Years of work have been in vain.

Everything we now know about Solaris is negative

and has come to resemble a mountain of disjointed, incoherent facts

that strain credulity.

We're in exactly the same situation today.

Solaristics is degenerating.

But what we're talking about is far more serious

than just the study of Solaristics.

We're talking about the boundaries of human knowledge.

Don't you think that by establishing artificial barriers

we deliver a blow to the idea of limitless thought?

By limiting our movement forward, we facilitate moving backwards.

I nevertheless repeat my question.

What do you mean by saying

the report of my observations in almost no way corresponds with reality?

I saw everything with my own eyes. What do you mean by "almost"?

"Almost no way" means that some real phenomena

could have triggered your hallucinations, Burton.

When it's windy,

it's easy to confuse a swaying bush with a living being,

to say nothing of a foreign planet.

I meant no offence, Burton. None.

I'd like to know what impact Professor Messenger's opinion will have.