Twisters

Scientific Breakthrough

[Cathy, tidying up dishes, announces]

Cathy: I invited Tyler to stay the night in the guest room.

Faith: [sighs] Mom.

[The clinking of dishes continues as the door slides open.]

[The next day they were in the barn]

Tyler: You thought you could disrupt a tornado?

Faith: Hey, don't look at that.

Tyler: Oh, you're the OG Wrangler.

Faith: Tyler, can you pass that to me?

Tyler: [examining a paper] "Using superabsorbent polymers to reduce moisture in the updraft, trying to collapse it like a house of cards."

Faith: I mean, you'd have to drop a silo of it in a funnel for any real effect.

Tyler: Well, yeah, that's why we were trying to use different reagents to enhance it.

Faith: It's a dumb idea.

Tyler: Yeah, some of your reactants are off. A few of these solubility rules skew...

Faith: [sighs] What?

Tyler: You really think I'm an idiot, don't you?

Faith: No, I don't think you're an idiot. It's just...

Tyler: Hey, modeling's gotten so much better.

Faith: Tyler.

Tyler: I can upload this to my laptop, link up with a supercomputer.

Faith: No, no...

Tyler: I'm telling you, we can get a new model running.

Faith: That's okay. Please, can you stop?

Tyler: It's a great idea.

Tyler: How did you not tell me about this before?

Faith: Because I got it wrong! [panting] In the field, in the moment, when it mattered, I got it wrong. Okay, I underestimated what we were up against, and I pushed it too far. And for what? [sobs softly] Some childish dream I had that I could make a difference? It was never gonna work. And I have to live with that forever.

Tyler: [sighs] You know, an EF1 or EF5 tornado rating... it's not based on size or wind speed. The power we ascribe to it is based on damage. It's only after the fact we can really define it—what it destroys, what it takes from us. I'm sorry for what happened. But how much more are you gonna let this thing take from you?

Faith: [sniffles] You should get some sleep. Don't want to miss any storms tomorrow.

[Tyler clears his throat softly, exhaling sharply. The room is quiet except for the sound of soft music playing and distant thunder rumbling. Faith wipes away a tear.]

[Later on that day, Tyler was leaving and it was raining and he was already in his truck]

Faith: You said you could get a new model running?

Tyler: Yes, ma'am.

[in the barn it was Tyler and Faith]

Tyler: So, this is an EF1, perfect conditions. Run your experiment, see if it works.

Faith: Okay, so, um, 1,500 kilos of polymer absorbing 300 times its weight.

Tyler: [adjusting calculations] So, it's 450,000 kilos of precipitation loaded into our water-filled polymer to load the updraft. Let's see how the model responds.

[The steady beeping of the equipment fills the room. The display shows data changes.]

Faith: Buoyancy of the rising air is reducing.

Tyler: It's reducing. Slowing the updraft. Temperature is going down.

Tyler: [after a pause] Faith? In theory, this should've worked.

Faith: [nodding] In theory.

Faith: But it wasn't an EF1 that day. I mean... we never had a chance.

Tyler: [offering a small, weary smile] You want one?

[Faith looks at him, her face a mixture of gratitude and lingering sadness, as the thunder rumbles outside.]