| The Tet | |
|---|---|
| Status: | Destroyed |
| Date of creation: | Unknown |
| Date of death: | 2077 |
| Cause of death: | Interior thermonuclear detonation |
| Alias(es): | The Tet |
| Affiliation: | Unknown |
| Expertise: | Systematic exploitation of planetary resources |
| Played by: | Melissa Leo |
| First appeared: | Oblivion |
The Tet is an enormous tetrahedral space station, 30 miles per side[1][2] orbiting Earth that was originally thought to be inhabited by humans who were yet to travel to Saturn's moon of Titan. It was later revealed to be an alien artificial intelligence that invaded Earth, and wiped out most of human civilization in the year 2017.
Origin[]
The Tet's core
Very little is known about the Tet's origins. It presumably originated somewhere outside the solar system. According to Malcom Beech, the artificial intelligence feeds off of one planet after another for its resources, most likely for its own survival, as it was only interested in fusion energy during the harvesting of Earth. Should the Tet collectively (and not just the core AI within it) be an entity, it could be considered a compact mobile Jupiter Brain.
Due to the fact that it is not a biological entity, its creators are likely incredibly advanced. They may even be a civilization made up wholly of robots. Perhaps it may have even created itself.
in an interview with director its is revealed that the aliens who created the Tet are aboard the ship, but as uploaded digital minds rather than as physical forms, that being the only way in which any crew could survive the immense amount of time that it takes to travel from star system to star system.
A subordinate artificial intelligence created by the alien machine, using Nasa mission control director's Sally's video and audio recordings to form an anthropomorphic and complex personality interface, the original AI machine was in turn constructed by an unknown race who uploaded the minds of their species into a computational construct to survive the rigors of space travel and with the goal to power said travel by strip mining Earth and any other planets it came across for resources and energy.
Behind The Scenes Interview Transcript[]
Q. We see the Tet at the end-- were there ever any creatures? Was it always that Borg voice?
Joseph Kosinski: Y'know, I met with a group of scientists at the beginning of this project. My own belief, and the consensus among the scientists, was that if we ever actually encounter another intelligent life form, it will much more likely be in the way it is depicted in Oblivion than the way it's depicted in other science fiction films. It won't be some other bipedal creature. The time required to travel the distances that exist between stars is so great that organic life forms aren't going to be able to survive the trip. Any hyper-advanced civilization that has the technology to do what the Tet does is going to be a deeply digital life form. We're ants on an ant hill, basically.
In-Movie history[]
2017[]
The Tet orbiting Earth.
In the year 2017, NASA's deep space and ESA's ESTRACK scanners detected the Tet near Saturn, and redirected the Odyssey spacecraft to investigate. After abducting astronauts Jack Harper and Victoria Olsen along with the cockpit of the Odyssey, shortly after the rest of the crew were ejected back to Earth, the Tet proceeded to invade Earth. The Tet would first destroy the moon, causing devastating earthquakes and tsunamis. It then wiped out survivors using an army of Harper and Olsen clones, which were created by the obtained DNA of the original astronauts.
Once humanity had been weakened to a minuscule underground resistance, the Tet began to convert Earth's oceans into fusion energy via gigantic ocean-borne power stations. These hydro-rigs were protected by security drones, which were maintained by repurposed clones of Harper and Olsen.
2077[]
In the year 2077, the Tet continued to maintain dominance over resistance forces on Earth. However some time in this year, one of Harper's clones known as Tech 49 discovers his true origins, and proceeds to infiltrate and detonate a thermonuclear weapon inside the Tet, ultimately destroying it forever.
Personality[]
Sally, seen in original footage from the Odyssey
In 2017, astronauts aboard the Odyssey spacecraft were redirected to investigate the Tet after it was discovered by NASA. During this encounter, the Tet most likely obtained footage and audio of communication between the Odyssey and Sally, the crew's mission director. The Tet then used this footage to develop a complex personality, adopting Sally's appearance and voice to communicate with maintenance clones it would later commission to protect the hydro-rigs.