The Abyss FAQ

FAQ

1.WHAT ARE THE NTIs ?

The NTI is a short for Non-Terrestrial Intelligence. Terrestrial means inhabiting the land, so since the NTIs reside in the Oceans, they're the Non-Terrestrial beings. They come from the place with similar conditions to those of Ocean's bottom. Someplace with cold and intense pressure.

Novelization: Our thin layer of the Earth's crust is as hostile to them as the moon is to us.

The Only part of our planet they cared was down so deep in the ocean that the water presses like the hands of cruel giants. Only there did they feel at home

When no details about their origin planet are known, it is made clear that they came from a very distant world. Novelization: They had crossed vast reaches of space to get here. Their original starship is still circling around, hidden behind the moon so the landbound telescopes won't be able to spot it.

They've been on Earth for centuries watching the human population and it took them a long time to act and reveal themselves to the world, and they did so only when they were forced to by human pollution and scarring of the Oceans. They thought people are trying to poison or starve them. It is not clear when did they arrive on Earth, but it was before human species appeared and even before the Oceans were fully formed. When the pollution began they started to observe the human race trying to understand it. They thought we were evil because of the wars that kept erupting within the human species. They thought of us as insane monsters. To study us they kept sending newly developed ships on the surface

Their bodies are very feminine in shape and the novelization itself refers to them as females.

The Builders came to Earth because the Oceans provided them with perfect environment to built new cities which they also call arks. Once they finish building the ark, they will rise up and leave the Earth in search for another world to settle their colony on.

NTIs call themselves Builders of Memory. They cling to and remember everything that they lived through and encountered. They evolved from their original form to adapt even more the the Earth's oceans. Novelization: (the builders) released certain chemical codes among some of the porters, a related species that they had long ago domesticated. When young ones budded off the altered porters, they looked different. (...) they grew into gliders

Those gliders could not only travel in the water at unmatched speed, but could also fly above the oceans. The builders, or more accurately - their consciousness/mind, travels inside of them.

Not only can they store and extract memory from each other, but also from human beings as well. They did so with the dead crew members onboard USS Montana.

The NTIs have a peculiar sense of time. The novelization explains that they only grasp the idea of before and after, and do not measure time. It also hints that the NTIs do not age, but can surely be hurt by human pollution and starvation. When time doesn't have an affect on them at all, there's no need to measure it or understand it's concept.

The NTIs have lots of different abilities, and only few of them are shown in the movie. They can control the weather on Earth. Not only the Oceans but the sky too. They are able to quickly build up gigantic waves capable of leveling the cites with the ground and 'diffuse' them just as fast. Same with tornados and hurricanes. Within seconds they were able to make the huge Hurricane Fredrick disappear, and they're also the ones who controlled it and created it so the ships and the escort will leave Deepcore alone, so the NTIs could study them and eventually make contact.

The Builders' light contains invisible tendrils and chemicals that can read minds and memories and communicate on telepathic level. They can actually plant thoughts in other's minds, that's how they communicate with themselves. That's how the Deepcore crew knew they were friendly, because they gave them those thoughts, even thought the crew didn't understand how they knew it and why they were so sure.

They absorb the energy from the ambient energy sources and that's why the power weakens when they're around electronic equipment. They can control how much energy they absorb. This is also the reason why they glow - it's the visible channels of energy flowing through them.

2.WAS USS MONTANA ATTACKED BY THE GLIDER ?

No. According to the novelization, the glider went to space to examine the new satellite launched by human race. the satellite tracked all submarines in earth waters. Since such information could spark a nuclear war from either side, the glider decided to destroy it immediately. Since it could only shield its memories in the glider, its intelligence and judgment was destroyed by the powerful nuclear explosion of the satellite. The glider itself, which was programmed on autopilot to come back to the Underwater city, went straight back without rethinking its trajectory path. Unfortunately for the USS Montana, the Glider passed right next to it with the incredible speed, causing a ripple that spun the ship out of control

3.WHY THE POWER WEAKENS WHEN NTIs ARE PRESENT ?

The NTIs instinctively and reflexively pull their energy from any ambient source

4.WHY WAS LINDSEY AGAINST THE OPERATION ?

Lindsey knew right away that its not really a rescue mission for USS Montana's survivors. She knew the military only wants the codebook and possibly some other information from the sub. Novelization: They didn't make one inquiry about provisions Deepcore might have for any rescued seamen. They didn't even try to find out how they might manage getting the survivors from some compartment of the sub - presumably still at one atmosphere - into this pressure chamber. (...) No, the military knew there were no survivors. Which meant that the whole purpose of sacrificing well was just to keep some damned secret for the government.

Deepcore was still in testing phase and had very little to finish it's first assignment and pass the test. By performing the operation, Deepcore has now an unpredictable conditions in front of it and since it still didn't finish its testing period, Benthic Petroleum wouldn't pay for its repair and the project would most likely be shut down.

5.WHAT SONG DO ONE NIGHT (IN FLATBED), BUD, AND HIPPY START SINGING WHEN THEY ARE MOVING THE DEEPCORE?

Linda Ronstadt's version of the song "Willing", written by Lowell George and first made famous by Little Feat

6.WHEN DOES THE MOVIE TAKE PLACE ?

The movie is set in January 1994. January 18th to be specific. The date can be seen on the monitor when the crew enters the wreck of the SS Montana Submarine.

7.WHAT WAS AN NTI DOING IN USS MONTANA WRECK ?

The lone builder was studying the warheads in order to learn how they work and how to destroy/neutralize them, until it felt Jammer's and Bud's presence. It waited for them to separate and tried to make contact with Jammer. When Jammer panicked, the NTI manipulated his mind and induced a deep sleep so he will be calmer and safe until others would find him.

8.WHY DID THE NTIs CHOOSE LINDSEY AS THEIR FIRST CONTACT ?

Because she was the only one who didn't freak out at their sight. She didn't know it, but they communicated with her telepathically, sending their chemicals to her mind to calm her down and tell her that they want peace and they're not malicious. That's why Lindsey knew that they don't mean any harm but couldn't explain or articulate how she knows that.

9.WHAT WAS COFFEY'S CONDITION?

Pressure-induced psychosis also called High Pressure Nervous Syndrome. Referred to as "HPNS," the symptoms include tremors, psychosis, myoclonic jerking, somnolence, EEG changes, visual disturbance, nausea, dizziness, and decreased mental performance .

Lt. Coffey adds "a partridge in a pear tree" as a symptom, in an attempt to downplay the risk of the team falling victim to the disorder. He says they've all "checked out" fine. Ironically, Lt. Coffey himself is the only member of the team who actually becomes afflicted by this syndrome.

10.WHY DIDN'T LINDSEY RECOGNIZE COFFEY'S PSYCHOSIS DURING THE ARGUMENT OVER THE WARHEAD?

The issue was addressed in Card's novelization. Lindsey was simply acting under emotions and didn't notice what should be obvious to her. After she cooled down she even started questioning her own mental state for not recognizing HPNS in Coffey right away

11.WHY DIDN'T THE PSEUDOPOD WEAKEN THE ENERGY ?

Pseudopod was a newly developed (novelization: they had built something new and it worked. (...) this would be worth sharing with other builder colonies on other worlds), different kind of porter/probe. Since it had to enter the human atmosphere it had thicker outer layer and thus the builder inside couldn't absorb the energy from around or the sound waved. The NTIs knew that drawing energy from the Deepcore could hurt people and take their precious oxygen and the little power they had left. In addition to that, they knew people got spooked by the power dim, and they didn't want that. The Pseudopod concentrated on moving and maneuvering inside the Deepcore so they wouldn't hit any obstacles. Novelization: each friction point would require much greater energy and attention to support the walls of the tube.

The Pseudopod realized that he isn't able to communicate with people on just visual level and began to back up when he scanned Monk's mind and found out about the warhead. That's why it went to see it.

The builders inside the Pseudopod weren't hurt when Coffey closed the door because they sensed the danger and went back through the tube in less than a second, before the doors closed.

12.WHY WAS COFFEY CUTTING HIMSELF ?

The pain was keeping his mind focused. he knew he was loosing it and didn't want anyone to see that he's shaking. The best way to do it was to focus on sobering pain.

13.WHY DID JAMMER WAKE UP WHEN HE DID AND WITH NO BRAIN DAMAGE ?

When the Pseudopod was passing Jammer it entered his mind and sensed the brain damage. Since it scanned and 'recorded' his mind when he was completely healthy in the USS Montana wreck, it restored and healed hi mind. That's why it only took a while for him to wake up completely healthy.

14.IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE TO BREATH FLUID ?

Yes. The idea wasn't written for the movie, it was taken from James Cameron's real life experiences with the man who breathed liquid. When he was 17 he met the person who did it. His name was Frank and he was the guinea pig for the Dutch scientist who studied breathing the oxygenated saline. Although Frank had some anxiety attacks, the experiment proved the viability of the concept. Later the scientist found the fluorocarbon medium that was 20 times better than the saline, but it was not approved by the FDA for internal use. He was never able to experiment on humans although he and a number of other researchers did a tremendous amount of work on dogs and chimpanzees

15.HOW DID BUD KNOW WHICH CABLE IS RIGHT ?

If you think about it, he was already in NTIs light - which meant he was being influenced and scanned by it. The NTIs supplied him with the right information, feel and confidence.

Novelization: They showed him which wire to cut and made him sure of his choice.

16.WHERE WAS THE NTI CITY LOCATED ?

According to the novelization: The oldest and greatest of all the builders' cities was here in the Caribbean, deep in the Cayman Trench.

17.HOW DID NTIs LEARNED OUR LANGUAGE ?

They were picking up and storing all the radio and TV waves ever sent. This way of communicating seemed alien for them since they themselves don't speak. The novelization says that 'their communication is chemical'. They couldn't decipher it until they searched the mind of a live human being. When they met Jammer they deciphered our language and understood all the signals they stored.