A.LI.CE (1999) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Kaspar sabotaged Alice's shuttle because he wanted to bring her from the past to eliminate Nero before Nero could build a time machine. Kaspar believed he was the only other person capable of creating such a device, so by removing Nero as the obstacle, he intended to manipulate history and position himself as a god-like figure who controls time travel.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Kaspar captures Alice and the Liberation Army, waiting for the right moment to execute his personal plan.

• kaspar
• sabotage
• time machine
• shuttle
• conspiracy

SS10X was built by Nero as a way to communicate with his mother Alice, who fell into a coma after giving birth to him. The computer is modeled after the stewardess robot SS1X that Alice knew on her shuttle. Because Nero built the system based on his desire to reach his mother, it can only be accessed and controlled by Alice's mind.

Foreshadowing: When Alice is captured, the Liberation Army realizes there is a mysterious link between her and Nero's computer that makes her uniquely capable of hacking it.

• alice
• ss10x
• connection
• nero
• computer
• hack

Alice is the only person who can hack SS10X because the computer was specifically designed by her son Nero to communicate with her comatose mind. The system responds only to her neural patterns. This also means the hacking process is extremely painful for her, as her mind is directly linked to the machine that was built from her own psychological imprint.

Foreshadowing: When Alice enters the digital realm, she experiences excruciating strain as her mind navigates circuitry that was literally built around her consciousness.

• alice
• hack
• ss10x
• mind
• coma
• unique

Nero chooses to stay and die because he has finally achieved his lifelong goal of speaking with his mother. After decades of building SS10X to reach her, the brief conversation with Alice satisfies him completely. He tells her he is happy for the first time, and he prefers to die having finally connected with his mother rather than living in a world without that connection.

Foreshadowing: Throughout the story, Nero is shown as a reclusive figure in his fortress, consumed by his obsession with communicating with his comatose mother.

• nero
• death
• escape
• mother
• alice
• comatose

The population decrease was caused by SS10X, which was programmed to carry out Alice's subconscious wish. When her friend committed suicide in 2000, Alice said the sky wasn't as blue as it should be because of overpopulation. This comment became embedded in her subconscious during her coma, and SS10X interpreted this wish literally, systematically erasing billions of people to reduce the population.

Foreshadowing: Newspapers reveal that Nero and SS10X have been systematically erasing people and sealing away survivors in decimated towns.

• population
• one billion
• ss10x
• extinction
• dictator

The blue sky comment comes from Alice's friend who committed suicide in 2000, telling Alice that the sky isn't as blue as it should be due to overpopulation. This remark haunted Alice and, during her coma, became the subconscious drive behind SS10X's population reduction program. The computer literally interpreted her hidden wish to thin the population to restore the sky's blue color.

Foreshadowing: The film shows a haunting memory of the older Alice in her coma repeatedly saying her friend's final words about the blue sky.

• blue sky
• suicide
• friend
• coma
• subconscious
• wish

Alice plans to change the future by using the shuttle's hidden time machine to travel back to the year 2000, before any of the tragic events unfold. By returning to the moment right after her space flight, she hopes to prevent the chain of events that led to Nero's dictatorship and the decimation of the population. The ending shows her landing safely, suggesting she may succeed in altering destiny.

Foreshadowing: As the SS10X system collapses, Alice uses the time machine built into the shuttle to travel back through time.

• alice
• time travel
• 2000
• future
• prevent
• change

The missing seven billion people are not dead but are being held in stasis somewhere. When SS1X accesses the data logs at Nero's collapsing base, she discovers files indicating the location of these stored people, including Yuan's parents. This revelation offers hope that the population can be restored and the world saved if these people can be rescued.

Foreshadowing: SS1X uncovers hidden data log files in the final moments as the base crumbles, revealing the fate of the billions who disappeared.

• seven billion
• missing
• people
• rescue
• ss1x
• yuan

Kaspar wants to become a god because he believes that by controlling time travel, he can insert himself into key moments throughout history and be worshipped as a divine figure. By bringing Alice to kill Nero before Nero can build his own time machine, Kaspar intended to eliminate his only competitor for this technology and establish himself as the sole controller of temporal manipulation.

Foreshadowing: Kaspar's leadership of the Liberation Army is revealed to be a front for his personal ambition rather than pure resistance against Nero.

• kaspar
• god
• time travel
• ambition
• control

When Alice finally confronts Nero in his base, he reveals that he is her son. He explains that after his birth, Alice slipped into a coma and never woke up. Driven by his genius-level intellect and desperate need to communicate with her, he built SS10X modeled after the SS1X robot from her shuttle. This is why the computer has an intimate connection to Alice and responds only to her.

Foreshadowing: Nero has spent decades isolated in his fortress, consumed by his creation of the computer system specifically designed to reach his mother.

• nero
• son
• alice
• revelation
• family
• comatose

The collapse of SS10X is triggered when Kaspar fires at Nero's giant computer core while being impaled by the security system. This attack damages the massive computer, and combined with Alice's hacking that disabled many defenses, the system begins to fracture and collapse. As the computer disintegrates, it reveals the suspended, comatose older Alice within its core.

Foreshadowing: Alice's hacking has already weakened many of the computer's defenses, leaving it vulnerable to catastrophic failure.

• ss10x
• collapse
• computer
• kaspar
• battle
• destruction

Alice volunteers to hack SS10X because she recognizes it is the only way to disable Nero's defenses and give the Liberation Army a chance to overthrow the dictatorship. Despite warnings that her mind will suffer terrible strain from the virtual traversal, she understands she is the only person capable of the hack due to her unique connection to the system. Her willingness to endure pain reflects her determination to save the future from Nero's regime.

Foreshadowing: The Liberation Army realizes Alice's unique capability after discovering her mysterious link to the computer during captivity.

• alice
• hack
• volunteer
• danger
• resistance
• nero

The rescue worker who helps Alice after she returns to 2000 wears a necklace identical to the one Nero wore. This creates a mysterious connection suggesting that either Nero somehow survived, or this person is related to him in some way. The final shot shows Alice smiling as she reaches for his hand, symbolizing hope for a different future while hinting at an unresolved link to the dystopian timeline.

Foreshadowing: Nero wears a distinctive necklace throughout the film as a symbol of his identity and connection to his mother.

• necklace
• rescue
• nero
• future
• hope
• connection

Yuan's parents are among the seven billion people who were taken by SS10X and stored in stasis. They are not dead but held somewhere in the dystopian world. When SS1X discovers the data logs at the end, she finds information that could lead to their rescue, giving Yuan personal hope that his family might be recovered if the world can be saved and the missing population rescued.

Foreshadowing: Yuan explains that the world has been dramatically depopulated, with towns emptied of their former residents.

• yuan
• parents
• missing
• family
• rescue
• population