PROFESSOR MAY: Alpha, how old are you?
ALPHA: (REALLY BAD FAKE ROBOT VOICE) Fourteen years.
SOUND: CROWD GASPS
PROFESSOR MAY: What do you weigh?
ALPHA: One ton.
PROFESSOR MAY: What do you like to eat?
ALPHA: The food here at the California Pacific International Exposition of nineteen thirty-five is very appetizing.
PROFESSOR MAY: Good, Alpha, good!
SOUND CROWD CHEERS
IMAGE: EXHIBIT HALL, INTERIOR IF AVAILABLE
BUDDY: Wow, Dad, that was amazing. The robot could talk and respond to commands and everything. How do you think it works?
PROFESSOR THOMPSON: Well, Buddy, I have my suspicions. And they involve snake oil. (LAUGHS)
BUDDY: Snake oil?
PROFESSOR THOMPSON: It’s just an expression, dear. I think our robot Alpha may not be all he’s cracked up to be, that’s all. (INDIGNANTLY) The food is appetizing, indeed.
SOUND: CLOSING CHIME
BUDDY: There’s the chime, Dad. Ten minutes to closing. We didn’t get to see much. Can we come back tomorrow? Please?
PROFESSOR THOMPSON: We’ll see, Buddy. We’ll see. It is fascinating, and I wouldn’t mind seeing some more of this Palace of Electricity myself.
BUDDY: And I did get this cool stamped coin. It’s the best thing ever.
PROFESSOR THOMPSON: Well if you keep tossing it in the air like that, you know you’re going to…
SOUND: COIN CLATTERING TO FLOOR
PROFESSOR THOMPSON: …lose it.
BUDDY: Oh, no, Dad, there it goes.
PROFESSOR THOMPSON: I’ve never seen a stamped elongated coin roll like that. Seems impossible. (PAUSE) Buddy!
SOUND: ROLLING COIN
NARRATOR: The souvenir coin rolled like a wagon wheel. Across the exhibit floor and through some double doors. Down a passageway where it wobbled and took a left turn. Into a darkened hall, and on it rolled. Buddy chased the coin, and the Professor chased Buddy.
PROFESSOR THOMPSON: (OUT OF BREATH) Let it go, Buddy. You know Director Bradley said some of these staging areas could be dangerous.
BUDDY: I’ve almost got it, Dad. It’s slowing down.
NARRATOR: And with that, the coin finally tipped to its side and slid.
SOUND: SLIDING COIN (?SLIDE WHISTLE)
NARRATOR (CONT.): Slid right under a closed door. A door from which emanated a soft blue-green light.
PROFESSOR THOMPSON: Buddy! Don’t go in there.
SOUND: DOOR THROWN OPEN
NARRATOR: But Buddy had already thrown the door open and followed her runaway souvenir coin into the room. She stopped and stared in surprise as her father staggered up behind her.
PROFESSOR THOMPSON: Good heavens, would you look at that.
IMAGE: STEVE BREEN’S POSTER
NARRATOR: The professor and his daughter gazed upon an immense machine. Shaped something like a giant cone, and glowing of its own power with the blue-green light they’d seen from the hallway, it stood alone in the cavernous room. Silver letters circling its huge surface spelled a single word: Proxima.
BUDDY: What is it, Dad? Do you think it’s supposed to be on display? Why is it hidden in this back room? It’s beautiful! But it almost seems like someone is trying to keep it a secret. What does it do?
PROFESSOR THOMPSON: Whoa, Buddy. One question at a time. Looking at this machine, I would say it is a very advanced prototype of a new household convenience, such as a clothes-washing machine.
BUDDY: But Dad, it’s huge!
PROFESSOR THOMPSON: Or it may be some developmental piece of mining or drilling equipment.
BUDDY: It says Prox-zee-ma on the machine, father. Is that anything like Noxema?
PROFESSOR THOMPSON: (LAUGHS) Uh no, Buddy. It’s pronounced Prox-ih-muh. Proxima Centauri is a star. It was named that because it is the nearest known star to our Sun.