 Angier meets scientist Nikola Tesla ( David Bowie ) and asks him to build him the machine he built for Borden . While waiting for Tesla to finish , Angier fully deciphers Borden 's diary , which he discovers to be fraudulent : Borden confesses that Tesla has nothing to do with Borden 's trick and how Borden ordered Olivia to give Angier the diary . Angier confronts Tesla , who admits to never building any teleporting device for Borden , but has successfully built a replicating machine for Angier , capable of reproducing animate and inanimate objects a distance from the original machine . Tesla departs , advising Angier to destroy the machine . 
