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Ethan had no idea what Magnavox or Atari were planning. After all, he wasn't Professor X --- he couldn't read minds.
Right now, he was busy arranging the company's work schedule.
"Julis Noble."
"I'm here."
The young woman whose name had been called stood up.
"For the coming period, you'll be solely responsible for all matters
related to company orders."
"No problem, Mr. Jones." Julis nodded cheerfully. "I'm already familiar
with the process."
"Good." Ethan smiled in satisfaction, then called another name.
"Damio Dean."
"I'm here."
The young man answered quickly.
"In the coming period, you'll be in charge of all production and
distribution at the factory. For raw material procurement, coordinate
directly with Frank at San Francisco Electronics, then submit last
week's report to Allen every Tuesday for reconciliation. Any questions?"
"No problem." The young man grinned. "Don't worry, Mr. Jones. I won't
let you down."
"Hmm" Ethan admired his confidence, then turned his attention to the
company's oldest employee --- the finance director.
"After I leave, you'll actually be the one holding the company together.
Whether it's order intake, production, distribution, or payment
collection --- in the end, all of it has to go through your department
for verification and accounting. You're going to be very busy."
"Oh, Boss, I'm used to it."
Aaron Massey patted his round belly and laughed. "As long as we've got
work, being busy is a good sign! Besides, all this busyness is just for
the sake of our year-end bonus, right?
If tomorrow is going to be a bright and beautiful day, then today's hard
work is worth it."
"Oh, you're right." Ethan chuckled. "I'll make sure you get a year-end
bonus this New Year."
There was a real difference between a man who had been in the workforce
for decades and a young graduate fresh out of school.
Dreams no longer bound Allen --- and perhaps that was a good thing.
As human beings, we need to be realistic. If you work hard all year,
only to live miserably for three hundred days, what's the point of all
that struggle?
After waving his subordinates off to their tasks, Ethan turned his gaze
to the "boss" seated at the chairman's desk.
"Chairman, are you satisfied with my arrangements?" he asked his sister
with a smile.
Yes --- Evelyn had been watching the entire process.
Although she didn't take part in daily operations, she was still the
chairman. Equity aside, she was technically the highest-ranking person
in the company --- so Ethan had no reason to avoid her when delegating
tasks.
Hearing her brother's question, Evelyn smiled.
"Oh, Ethan --- I'm very pleased with your work. You did great."
"Thank you." Ethan nodded repeatedly, clearly happy.
But before he could say anything else, Evelyn added with a mischievous
grin:
"But I'm very dissatisfied with your job description.
As the company president, all you do is tell everyone to do their jobs?
In that case, anyone could be CEO.."
She leaned forward with mock seriousness.
"So, you're fired." Ethan froze for a moment --- then quickly realized
she was joking.
"Alright, alright," he said with a laugh. "I'll pack up and leave the
company right away."
But no matter how cheerful he tried to sound, his brief flash of
confusion didn't escape Evelyn's sharp eyes.
The girl burst into laughter.
"Hahaa haaahaa... Ethan... I wish I had a camera to capture that face
just now and frame it!"
"Because your silly look is so cute!"
"..."
Ethan's face immediately darkened. He really hadn't expected his sister
to describe him like that.
It wasn't that he disliked the word cute --- it was just that it felt
completely wrong for him.
So he pursed his lips, shook his head, and put on a mock-angry
expression.
"Oh, my dear sister, you can't describe me as cute. I hate that word."
"?" Evelyn blinked, genuinely confused.
"Why?" She thought he was actually upset.
"Oh, come on, Ethan --- you know I was just teasing you."
"I know you were joking," Ethan said seriously, "but I still don't like
that joke."
For a moment, Evelyn frowned, thinking she had really offended him ---
but then Ethan suddenly grinned and added:
"Because there are only three words in this world that can describe me:
one is handsome, the second is very handsome, and the last one is
super handsome!"
Evelyn was speechless. She couldn't believe there were people this
shameless in the world.
So the reason he rejected cute... was because he considered himself
too handsome?
"Oh, for heaven's sake...Alright, alright --- you're very handsome,"
Evelyn said with a laugh.
Standing up, she grabbed Ethan by the arm as if coaxing a spoiled child
and gently pushed him toward the door.
"Oh, Ethan --- I admit it, you're handsome. You're the most handsome man
in the world.
So let's stop wasting time on this obvious fact, okay?
Let's go to Los Angeles! Let's go to Hollywood! We're going on
vacation!"
Yes --- that was the real reason Ethan had just delegated all company
operations to others: he was taking a vacation.
Ever since the lawsuit began, he hadn't had a proper rest for nearly a
year.
Now that Pac-Man was a huge success and Kismet Games was running
smoothly, Ethan --- who had been going full speed for so long ---
decided it was time to pause and enjoy the beautiful summer.
Since Spielberg was filming in Los Angeles, Ethan decided to visit him. When he mentioned the plan to Evelyn, who had also been working
tirelessly, she immediately decided to join him.
This would be the first time Evelyn had truly sat in the chairman's seat
since the company was founded.
And the first thing she did with her authority was to fire the company's
president.
Neither of them took the joke seriously, and their cheerful departure
sparked waves of envy among the staff.
Some thought leaving everything behind like that was far too carefree.
Others believed making money and enjoying life was the perfect way to
live.
But either way, it had nothing to do with Ethan. He stepped on the gas,
turned the wheel, and with a loud roar, they were on their way to Los
Angeles.
To be honest, after being thoroughly shown up by Steve Jobs during his
last visit, Ethan came fully prepared this time.
Floral shirt, big sunglasses, and even a fresh haircut --- his bangs
styled into a trendy side part reminiscent of a young DiCaprio.
With the top down on his convertible, there was only one goal: look as
handsome as possible.
But, unfortunately, whether it was the long straight highway from Palo
Alto to LA, the spiderweb-like streets of Los Angeles, or the winding
roads through Hollywood, he didn't attract much attention along the way.
This honestly left Ethan baffled.
Because he considered himself much more handsome than Steve Jobs ---
far more handsome, in fact --- Ethan simply couldn't understand why,
this time, he wasn't getting any attention.
Before, plenty of girls had looked at him when he passed by. But now? Nothing.
He couldn't make sense of it. Then, as he turned right, his gaze
subconsciously shifted toward the passenger seat...
The sight of his sister, with her golden hair fluttering in the wind and
her pure white dress glowing under the California sun, instantly made
him realize the problem.
"Damn! If I had known, I would have driven alone car!"
All at once, Ethan felt like an idiot for baking under the sun so long
for absolutely no reason.
Stop the car. Put the roof up. Restart the drive.
And he did all of this with a sulky expression that made Evelyn burst
into uncontrollable laughter.
Honestly, the moment Ethan decided to take a convertible drive through
California in June, Evelyn already knew exactly what he was trying to
do.
But she didn't say a word. Because Ethan's silly, frustrated look was
just too adorable. The contrast between this side of him and his usual
serious, confident demeanor was enormous --- and amusing.
By the time Ethan finally drove them to Warner Bros. Studios, he was
wearing a completely straight face.
Spielberg, who had been notified of their visit in advance, had arranged
for someone to wait at the entrance. Under the assistant's guidance,
Ethan and Evelyn were brought to Warner Bros. Studio Lots 15 and 16.
The moment Spielberg saw him arrive, he immediately set aside his work
to greet them.
"Oh, Ethan! We meet again --- I'm really glad you came to visit me while
I'm working.
Oh, Evelyn! You look stunning today. I'm so happy to see you both."
Although Ethan had come to visit Spielberg, he wasn't about to delay the
man's work.
After a brief exchange of greetings, Ethan urged Spielberg to return to
the set and promised to catch up after work.
Spielberg, who knew perfectly well that every minute on set was burning
through production money, gladly accepted Ethan's consideration. He
asked his assistant to keep Ethan and Evelyn company and quickly picked
up his director's tube again, resuming work.
And just like that, Ethan had achieved the main purpose of his trip: to watch Spielberg work.
He had specifically come to see him shoot this film. The movie was
called Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Ethan had seen it in his previous life. The main story followed several
ordinary people who encountered UFOs at different locations and were
mysteriously drawn to Devil's Tower in Wyoming. Meanwhile, the U.S.
government and scientists received signals from extraterrestrials and
decided to build a base near Devil's Tower to make contact.
Everything proceeded surprisingly smoothly. In the climax, humans and
aliens communicated through light and music, ultimately reaching a
peaceful understanding.
Finally, the alien mothership arrived, revealing itself for the first
time, releasing several humans who had mysteriously vanished years
before --- and taking with them one man who volunteered to leave Earth
and join the alien civilization.
If Ethan remembered correctly, that man was just an ordinary
electrician.
He had to admit, when he first watched this movie, he had found it
rather boring.
The narrative felt disjointed --- instead of starting with a clear plot,
it jumped between three different perspectives, three separate
storylines, which together built up the theme.
If it hadn't been a Spielberg film, Ethan doubted he would have made it
through to the end.
But when he stuck with it and finally saw the alien mothership...
Its grand reveal was breathtaking. At that moment, Ethan had to admit
--- sometimes pictures truly were far more powerful than words.
And as he watched, all he could think about was one thing:
How on earth did Spielberg create that alien mothership?
And now...
When Ethan saw the massive model --- forty feet in diameter --- sitting
in Warner's studio, he finally realized the alien mothership was
actually built and filmed in real life.
But the moment he stepped closer for a better look, the illusion from
his childhood completely shattered.
Tiny light bulbs. Black optical cables. Everything that had once felt
mysterious and otherworldly now looked like... well, a giant science
project.
"Oh, are you using light bulbs to create the spaceship's lights?" Ethan
asked curiously.
"Yes," a voice replied before he even finished. "Steven needs every section of the spacecraft to light up in sync with
the musical cues. We installed over 10,000 light bulbs on this model.
Only that way can we create a rhythm that feels like music."
He paused, then added with a hint of pride, "And building this ship cost
us about 3.5 million U.S. dollars."
Ethan turned toward the speaker and found a middle-aged man with glasses
smiling at him.
"Hello, sir. Thanks for answering my question," Ethan said, stepping
forward and extending his hand. "I'm Ethan Jones."
"Ethan Jones? Oh, I know you!" the man said warmly. "Steven spends almost every evening after work playing the Pac-Man
arcade machine you invented. He says it inspires him."
The man shook Ethan's hand briefly before introducing himself.
"I'm Douglas Trumbull, visual effects supervisor for the film. You may
not know me personally, but you probably know my work. I did the visual
effects for 2001: A Space Odyssey."
"Oh, so you're a big deal too." Ethan grinned and shook his hand a little harder this time.
With Trumbull's explanation, Ethan gradually pieced together how
Spielberg brought those stunning visuals to life.
Put simply --- it was brute-force magic. They used models to physically
build the imagination, then relied on the simplest principles of physics
to make them come alive on screen.
The process...
"Why do I feel like this is similar to building a circuit-board arcade
machine?" Ethan muttered under his breath.
"It's basically the same," Evelyn agreed with a nod. "Only difference is... the budget."
Since they were Spielberg's guests, whatever they were curious about,
there was always someone on the crew ready to explain it.
But after hanging around the set for a while, Ethan's interest in film
production quickly started to fade.
And the reason was simple --- behind-the-scenes work was tedious. For
example, cameras of this era didn't have automatic focus, so the camera
crew had to measure the exact distance between the camera and the actors
with a ruler, then tape marks on the floor and make the actors stand in
those exact spots during shooting.
Or take playback monitors --- they didn't exist yet. The director and
crew could only watch the actors' live performance. The only person who
could see what the shot really looked like was the cameraman. The
director had to wait for the film to be developed to confirm whether the
footage matched his vision.
And because there was no way to check instantly, reshoots were often
inevitable.
When Ethan realized that pre-production prep could take longer than the
actual shooting time, his curiosity plummeted off a cliff. Even if a
kind old man reached down to pull him back up, that curiosity fire was
never getting lit again.
Evelyn felt the same way. She had imagined that a Hollywood set would be
lively, glamorous, even exciting --- but the reality was...
"That's it?"
Out of politeness, they didn't leave right away. When Spielberg wrapped
for the day, he personally invited them to dinner at the restaurant he
had once recommended to Ethan --- the MK restaurant, Chaplin's favorite
spot.
And while the day's on-set experience hadn't exactly been thrilling,
dinner made up for it --- because over the meal, they heard some very
interesting gossip.
"Oh, Ethan," Spielberg said with a grin, "you're asking me where the
inspiration for Close Encounters of the Third Kind came from?"
"The inspiration for this movie actually has a real-life prototype,"
Spielberg began.
"Do you know about the Roswell incident? It's the alien flying saucer crash that happened in 1947.
That story actually has a sequel. I don't know if it's true, but I
thought it was fascinating, so I decided to make it into a movie.
The follow-up should have happened more than ten years later. In America, we finally made contact with the alien civilization involved
in the Roswell incident. They came to Earth in a spaceship, and after
some communication, we discovered... they were very kind."
Spielberg continued, "Because the aliens were so friendly, we wanted to
learn more. The president at the time signed a secret exchange plan. A
small team of American soldiers followed the aliens back to their home
and gathered information. In return, they promised to bring them back to
Earth after several years.
The story is simple. I don't actually know the ending --- I've never
heard of any humans returning --- but it doesn't matter. These details
alone were enough for me to make a movie."
"Good guy!" Ethan exclaimed, stunned.
So that was it --- Close Encounters of the Third Kind was essentially
a follow-up to the Roswell incident? And the reason was simple.
Ethan had heard of the Roswell incident. Back in the era he grew up in
his previous life, newspapers were full of it. From the Legal
Evening News, there wasn't a paper that didn't cover it.
The story itself was straightforward: in 1947, a thunderstorm hit
Roswell, New Mexico. A farmer heard a loud noise, and the next day,
metal fragments were discovered around his farm. This prompted the U.S.
military to investigate.
A few days later, another resident claimed to have found a UFO wreckage
surrounded by several small bodies. The U.S. government intervened
forcefully and sealed off the site.
And just like that, the idea that aliens had visited Earth grew louder.
In his previous life, Ethan had only treated it as gossip --- after all,
no publicly recognized aliens existed until 2025 by U.S government.
But now...Close Encounters of the Third Kind was a follow-up to
Roswell?
"Okay..." Ethan muttered in awe. Spielberg was truly incredible. Any
little piece of gossip could become a blockbuster movie.
Ethan found Spielberg's source of inspiration delightfully outrageous.
Evelyn, however, thought the story was a bit silly. After dinner, on the
way back to the hotel, she sat in the passenger seat and complained
about the movie's somewhat dull plot.
"If this story really connects to Roswell," she said, "they should've
made it darker. That would have been much more fun.
Imagine if the aliens didn't come with friendly intentions. They could
be advanced beings observing a lower civilization --- humans --- to see
if we're a threat. If we are, they'd attack. If not, they could study
us, collect genetic data, and limit our development.
That would explain why they took a group of humans with them. Not just
for kindness, but for research. And promising to return them? That could
be a ruse. They could send back spies disguised as humans after studying
our DNA. A secret invasion of Earth."
And this breaking point would occur after humans were taken away by the
aliens. In other words, this fact could only be discovered by the humans
on board the spacecraft.
At the end of the movie, they would stare at Earth, shrinking smaller
and smaller in the distance, slowly turning dark. This would be a sign
that Earth was headed for a deep crisis.
"Well, doesn't that sound way more interesting?" Evelyn winked at Ethan,
as if no praise needed to be written on her face --- her imagination
said it all.
Ethan marveled. Oh, fuck! he thought. If you change the plot like
this, it instantly turns a science fiction movie into an action-packed
sci-fi thriller! A second part could focus on aliens infiltrating
Earth!
As soon as the thought left his mind, Ethan realized something was off.
If they followed his sister's imagination, wouldn't the story basically
become Marvel's Secret Invasion event?
Somewhat outrageous... yes. But just as Ethan was about to lament the
coincidence of this cross-time, cross-plot connection, a sudden flash of
insight hit him.
He frowned slightly. "Evelyn... um... did Steven just say that at the
end of the story, the aliens promised to return the humans they took
away after some time?"
"Yeah... what's wrong?" Evelyn asked instinctively, not understanding
why Ethan was asking.
At that moment, Ethan's mind clicked. Spielberg's story: aliens come to
Earth, take an electrician, and return him years later.
Evelyn's story: aliens have evil intentions and plan to subvert all of
human civilization.
Combine the two... and it all made sense. The aliens take the
electrician away, then send back a disguised body years later. Onboard
the spacecraft, the human electrician learns of the aliens' conspiracy.
Once on the alien planet, he seeks out the aliens planning to invade
Earth and incites them to rebel.
And the alien, being kind-hearted and opposed to its civilization's plan
to subvert others, agrees. It decides to warn humans of the alien
threat.
Since the aliens first contacted America, they've learned to avoid the
failure of their subversion plan. When they return, they approach from a
different direction. And because the kind alien absorbed much human
knowledge --- especially electrical knowledge --- during its time with
the human electrician, it gradually becomes an electrician upon
returning to Earth.
But this identity doesn't allow it to directly warn humanity. So after
much thought, it decides to write a book to spread the warning. After
countless drafts, it finally writes a line based on its own experience:
"The universe is a dark forest, and every civilization is a hunter with
a gun..."
That's right!", the electrician with thick eyebrows and big eyes, is
actually an alien!
The logic puzzle was solved!
"Ha ha ha ha---\" Ethan burst into laughter, and his strange outburst
left Evelyn confused.
"Ethan... what's wrong with you?"
"I'm fine... hahaha... I just... hahaha... I just thought of something
funny..." Ethan said, almost unable to stop laughing.
At that moment, he felt pure happiness. Today, he had finally found joy.
Even if no one else could understand this idea, it didn't matter. His
own happiness was enough.
"Ha ha ha ha"--- he tried to keep from laughing too loudly.
While still laughing, another realization struck him. Evelyn thinks
that after the Third Kind of contact, aliens would attack Earth...
"So... isn't this basically the story of Space Invaders?"
So that's where the inspiration for the game came from!
At that moment, Ethan felt certain that no one in the world understood
Space Invaders better than he did.
Note:
① The Roswell Incident has already been covered on Station C. If you're
interested, you can check it out directly. There are more
interpretations of it than there are hairs on a telephone pole. This
incident later inspired the book The Truth About Roswell. Even if
you're curious, don't bother buying it --- the content is basically the
same as what's widely available online, just with a lot of extra,
unnecessary details. It's really a waste of money.
② Whether Close Encounters of the Third Kind was directly inspired by
the popular Operation Zeta in the U.S. remains unconfirmed; Spielberg
has never commented on this.
However, the movie's popularity is indeed tied to the Roswell follow-up.
Extraterrestrial beings were a hot topic among Americans at the time, so
watching Close Encounters of the Third Kind today may feel slow or
boring, but back then, people watched it as if it were a documentary.
The story reflects the imagination and fantasies of Americans of that
era --- a true "dividend of the times."
③ Space Invaders can be seen as a reverse interpretation of Operation
Zeta. Personally, I feel that aliens probably wouldn't be so benevolent
or "beautiful."