Nightflyers (2018) s01e04 Episode Script
White Rabbit
1 Previously on "Nightflyers" I imagined that Roy Eris carried me out.
- You came to me.
- Let's get you out of here.
Dr.
Salzman has been encouraging me to go deeper.
Anything that could possibly remind me of her.
Those are memories of of us.
This is how the therapy works.
- What the hell was that? - My mother.
Your mother's dead.
Not before she uploaded her consciousness.
- Uploaded it where? - Into the "Nightflyer.
" She's the one who's been trying to kill you.
We need to send a probe.
Might be the closest we ever get to the Volcryn.
- It's beautiful.
- It will be even more beautiful if it sends us pictures back of the Volcryn.
Wanna say any last words? Safe travels, little robot.
[AMBIENT MUSIC.]
[INSECTS CHIRPING.]
So is this how you avoid me? I like this dome.
All this life I didn't know what to say.
Did Karl tell you? I need to hear it from you.
[SIGHS.]
My mother she's alive.
Alive? How? When her body was dying, she made contingencies.
She built this ship to be her home forever.
You're saying she's been using the ship to hurt us? No, she is the ship.
All of this The metal hull, the Crystal Matrix, the "Nightflyer" Is her body now.
That's why I'm hiding up here.
To get away from her voice.
You can hear your mother? Words feelings in my head, all the time.
You take me away from that.
[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING.]
[POWER WHIRS DOWN.]
[CHILD GIGGLES.]
[INDISTINCT, DISTORTED WHISPERING.]
Get it out of me.
Daddy? That thing.
Cancer inside.
Cut it out.
Just just leave me alone.
- Go away.
- Get it out.
- You brought it here.
- Brought what here? Please, Daddy.
It's hurting me.
Get it out.
It's it's hurting me.
Just walk through it.
She she's taunting me.
Eris's mother? You know it's an errant computer program? Yes, I-I know.
Well so don't leave yourself so vulnerable.
What exactly is it you want me to do? When you torture yourself, Karl, it makes it easy for other people to do the same.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
[DISTORTED, ECHOING INDISTINCT SPEECH.]
Rowan, why is the fuck Good evening.
Why is the fucking probe in my room? You tell me.
No, don't touch it.
Don't.
No.
Of course not.
Rowan, this should be a million miles away from us.
How did you get it in here? I didn't.
Then who did? [OMINOUS MUSIC.]
[PLEASANT MUSIC.]
[STATIC WARBLES.]
[GROANS.]
[YELLS.]
What? Roy! - Roy.
Roy.
Roy.
Roy.
- Oh, she's screaming at me.
- [GROANS.]
- Roy, run! Get out! I've never heard her like this.
[STATIC CRACKLES.]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]
[COMPUTER BLIPPING.]
[GASPS.]
[COMPUTER BLIPPING.]
[METALLIC CLANK.]
[HATCH HISSES, CLANKS SHUT.]
[COMPUTER BLIPPING.]
[COMPUTER BLIPPING.]
[KEYPAD BEEPING.]
Hey! Somebody! Open this thing! Thought you said no more needles.
[DRAMATIC WHOOSH.]
Careful.
You're transmitting.
I'm not suppressing you.
I'm just checking your levels of TEK hormones.
[POUNDING.]
Hey! [GAS HISSING.]
You're thinking about D'Branin again.
That's none of your business.
No, no, no.
[DRAMATIC WHOOSH.]
[GASPING.]
[SCREAMS.]
- [GROANS.]
- [ALARM BLARING.]
Thale.
Thale.
- [GASPING.]
- Okay, bring your levels down.
I can't breathe.
[GASPING.]
What are you sensing? It's dark.
I can't feel my fingers.
[GROANING.]
It's fucking cold.
- [GASPING.]
- Okay, just try to breathe.
I can't.
[ICE CRACKLING.]
[BREATHING HEAVILY.]
- [SNIFFLES.]
- Shh.
This is our first point of alien contact.
Well, that's That's a bit of a leap, Karl.
Oh, yeah? How do you explain how it just magically appeared in my room? I-I don't I don't know.
I-I can't.
Rowan, I built this probe, and they sent it back to me.
Surely Eris is involved.
I told you they could do incredible things.
We knew they could do incredible things.
Please stop there.
Let's take a step back and we'll run some tests.
Yes, I'll get Lommie to port in.
No, no, no.
You can't send her in there.
Rowan, I need you to get radiation monitors, spectrometers, cameras everywhere.
Record everything.
Everything.
Don't forget the duct tape.
Keep your head from exploding.
[COMPUTERS BEEPING.]
Sir, we're getting error codes a lot of them.
Warning.
System Isolate the malfunctioning systems.
Cut them off from the rest of the ship.
Dr.
Matheson, we're quite busy right now.
There's been an accident.
One of your crew members.
[COMPUTERS BEEPING.]
Thale, he felt something.
Where did it happen? I can't be sure unless we take him out of the dome.
I'll gather a security detail.
No.
Better just you and me.
It'd help a lot for Thale to feel you trust him.
[AMBIENT MUSIC.]
Last night, you very specifically told me to run the wave patterns, - so that's what I've been doing.
- Yeah.
That was before.
Before what? [DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
We can't let this get out, not yet.
Think of the crew if they found out.
Or Eris.
I don't understand.
How how did it get back on the ship? We don't know.
Makes nice Beach Boys music, though.
Listen.
[ELECTRONIC HUMMING.]
Did it reach the Volcryn? We don't know.
What's this, uh This crust on the outside? Uh, that's isotopes of iridium and palladium.
It's all over the hull.
It's kind of like a Like space rust, if you will.
You touched it? No.
Had to get a small sample.
Rowan, you got to be careful.
We don't know what this shit is.
There is so much data in there.
We're finally gonna get some answers.
What kind of answers? Well, how it got back here for a start.
How far down? I'll let you know.
[SCREAMS.]
Oh, we just went past it.
Go back.
Cargo.
[ELECTRONIC BEEP.]
Thale experiences everything Mentally, emotionally physically.
Incredible.
And not pleasant.
He describes it as a suffocating dread.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]
[SIGHS.]
It's one of those.
These bins are locked.
It's not possible to close them from inside.
Maybe someone did it from outside.
You're suggesting this wasn't an accident.
[SCREAMS.]
[ELECTRONIC BEEPING.]
[LATCH CLANKS.]
[HATCH HISSES.]
[EERIE MUSIC.]
We died together.
[SIGHS.]
Can you do something about the room? It's too hot.
Uh, sure.
Okay, well, is it is it not working? There's nothing wrong with the controls.
What what do you mean? Then why are we not What are you saying? We think it's intentional.
What do you mean intentional? Eris's mother.
She's, uh, inside the ship.
We think she's the one turning up the heat.
So that's what I felt.
That's what I felt when I ported into the system.
- It was her.
- Yeah.
Yeah, that's That's what we're thinking.
Or more likely a simulation based on her psychological protocols.
No, it's not a simulation.
She's in there, and she's real.
- Come on.
- [SIGHS.]
Let's get you to bed.
Ain't easy, you know Dying over and over again.
Mm.
I'll get you some suppressives.
[SIGHS.]
I ain't going back on that shit.
Do you remember when you were a little boy? Used to have your episodes.
I was the only one you'd let get close to you.
Yeah, well, I'm not a little kid anymore, am I? You don't give a shit.
You're thinking about him.
That's not fair.
Karl and I used to be close.
I've known him for a long time.
I think about you all the time.
Shouldn't lie.
It doesn't suit you.
All right.
You should get some rest.
I'll bring you your dinner in an hour or so.
- Is she still screaming? - No.
Now she's lashing out.
And there's no way to predict who she'll hurt.
The guy in the cargo bin, you're sure that was her? Commander.
The system controlling the bins was interrupted last night.
We didn't get a warning.
It reset itself.
[SIGHS.]
The probe can't take this heat any longer.
[COMPUTER CHIMES.]
Commander Eris requests entry.
I wouldn't do that.
Karl, open up.
I'm going to override the door.
- [ELECTRONIC BEEP.]
- [DOOR HISSES.]
[DISTORTED SPEECH.]
- Roy, run! - Oh, my God.
- [STATIC WARBLING.]
- [DISTORTED SPEECH.]
- [GROANING.]
- His mother.
That thing.
You are not the captain! That's what she's screaming about.
- Roy, run! - She wants it off her ship.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
[SOFT MUSIC.]
[SOFTLY.]
Hey.
Thanks for meeting me.
I'm only in town for a few days.
- A conference.
- Right.
You look good, Karl.
I miss you.
We never really got a chance to talk.
No.
You left too abruptly for that.
I know.
I'm sorry.
I just didn't know what to say.
You can't just show up out of the blue after two years without contact and then Well, I wanted to see you to talk about what happened.
Okay, so let's talk.
Well, it's complicated.
Um Okay, so I'll talk.
So after you bailed on me, I, uh met someone else.
Her name is Joy, and we're getting married this summer.
Wow.
That's that's really great, Karl.
Guess I'm getting older, 'cause, um sold my motorcycle, bought a house in Ross, and we're talking about having kids.
I'm really happy for you.
Can you imagine me being a father? You'll be a great father.
That means a lot, Aggie.
[AMBIENT MUSIC.]
Yes, sir, what can I do? Send a welding team to Karl D'Branin's quarters.
There's some equipment here we need to remove.
No, no, no, no, no! I'm not gonna let you do this.
I'm not asking your permission.
No, this is my probe! It's too important! I'm trying to save your life.
My mother can feel this thing inside of her like a cancer.
I don't know if it's something the Volcryn did, but she wants it out.
You feel sorry for her.
Roy, you have to stand up to her.
This is your chance.
We'll do whatever it takes to help you.
It's not that simple, Melantha.
No, wait, Roy.
It is that simple.
I know how important this mission is to you.
And I know you are not gonna destroy the only alien artifact that anybody has ever come in contact with because you're afraid of pissing off your mother.
What she's doing with your cabin, the heat She'll do this to the entire ship or worse.
Just give me the time to get the data I need off my probe.
Please.
Please.
One cycle.
I can hold her off for one cycle, but I'm cutting up that probe and sending it out the air lock.
- That's all I need.
- Do you understand me? Yes.
- [ELECTRONIC BEEP.]
- [DOOR HISSES.]
[SIGHS, SNIFFLES.]
Well, he took that well.
Maybe, uh, you should take a minute to clear your head.
Don't want to be making any mistakes, given we're now being rushed.
Okay.
[SIGHS.]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
Can't sleep? No, I'm worried about Thale.
He experienced the dockworker's death, and he's taking it pretty badly.
I'm just I don't want him to start slipping.
Sorry.
I know how you feel about telepaths.
What do you mean? I work with L-1s.
I know that's what drove us apart.
When I took the job at Sutherland, I knew how you felt.
No, no, Agatha, I was scared.
I wasn't the only one.
We've all seen what Ls can do on those vids.
Telepaths are misunderstood.
I took the job to help people to understand that there's a place for everyone in this world.
Agatha, that's all very honorable, and obviously I'm all for the idea of using Ls for their abilities, but I don't want to have my thoughts invaded Wait, you think they want to see inside your head? It's a curse.
Okay, malicious or not, it's still an invasion, though.
I mean, okay, they can't control it, but [LAUGHS.]
What? I just remembered how you can be when Yeah? [DOOR HISSES.]
You really need to see this.
Hi.
- Now.
- Uh yeah.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
[ELECTRONIC PULSING.]
[EXHALING HEAVILY.]
You may wish to remove a layer or two of clothing.
Cynthia Eris is doing this.
She thinks the heat will damage the probe.
Won't this heat warp the circuits? No, it should be fine.
It was designed for deep space.
Have a look at this.
That's blood.
Where's it coming from? That's a good question.
Follow me.
I was removing the internal drive tray.
And, what, it just started bleeding? Which makes perfect sense because it's alive.
Okay, Mother, it's going to be okay.
[DISTORTED SPEECH.]
Please, just just try and get some rest.
[DISTORTED SPEECH.]
No.
Stop it.
Mother, stop it.
Stop it! Was that her? I used to hear her clearly.
Now there are so many voices fighting Fighting for attention terrified.
- How do you know it's her? - What do you mean? - Maybe those - I'm, not crazy, Mel.
But they could just be echoes of your mother, not the person that she was when she was alive.
Cynthia Eris is a memory to the world.
But up here on the "Nightflyer" She never went away.
[DISTORTED SPEECH.]
My whole life, I've heard her Her voice, her criticisms, every judgment coming from inside of these walls, and She wants you to get rid of me.
I'm sorry, Roy, but maybe it's not the probe that you need to try to get rid of.
- [SCOFFS.]
- Maybe you What? She told me you'd say that.
[OMINOUS MUSIC.]
[COMPUTER BLIPPING.]
[DOOR HISSES.]
[MUSIC INTENSIFIES.]
[GRUNTING.]
[GASPING.]
Die.
[BREATHING HEAVILY.]
Fuck.
Central components intact.
Can it sustain this heat? For the time being.
But clearly it's not enjoying it very much.
All this organic material, what if I mean, could this actually be Volcryn? Or is it some sort of message? [CHUCKLES.]
Certainly enjoying this.
Of course, aren't you? I mean, you came all the way out here to find some form of alien life.
Look what came back.
Certainly is quite incredible.
Okay, so we know that they can move through the walls, which means that they can Say it out loud.
The Volcryn may have the ability to control space-time.
Right, they they sent this here for a reason to us.
Well, we don't know that.
We we can send Lommie, and, Lommie, you could go in and extract all the information.
Too dangerous.
We don't know what will happen.
No, it's fine.
I want to do it.
Who knows how long it'll survive? Her system isn't designed to go into things like that.
Rowan, then we fucking lose everything.
The heat is gonna destroy all of the data.
She has to go inside.
- Suppose it is conceivable.
- Yeah.
But they're using organic material rather than words or sounds.
Perhaps this tissue is their language.
You see? See what you did just there? What? You admitted that this could be the Volcryn, that it is No, that's That's not what I did at all.
Actually, it is.
I said conceivable.
- [COMPUTER BEEPING.]
- What's that? That is the analysis of the probe blood sample.
[COMPUTER BLIPPING.]
What the hell? That's not possible.
Uh, the blood coming out of the probe, it's you.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
Apparently the Volcryn know who you are.
No.
No.
That doesn't make Does that does that mean that this is me? All right, I'm in charge.
We follow my lead, my orders from here on out.
No.
No fucking way.
- Yes fucking way.
- No, no, no.
This is my probe.
I-I built it.
I sent it out there.
Technically, Karl, I sent it out.
So I'm sorry, but you can no longer study the phenomenon because you are the phenomenon.
There's too many at once.
Off of my ship.
This is my ship.
- Roy! - No.
This is my ship.
No, no, no, no.
That's not true.
You don't get to decide.
I get to decide! This is my ship.
I'm in control.
Mother? End this mission.
Mother.
End this mission.
[STATIC WARBLING.]
Mother! [UNSETTLING MUSIC.]
Get it out now.
Now.
Now.
No.
No, no.
No.
Karl.
You see that, right? I see how you think of me.
- I see how you think of me.
- How you hate who I am.
- How you hate who I am.
- Hate you? No, I-I don't hate you.
What are you talking about? BOTH: You would if I told you how I knew.
Okay, Aggie, stop.
You're you're scaring me.
- Don't be scared.
- Don't be scared.
- It's so beautiful.
- It's so beautiful.
La-la-la-la Look.
What we could've had.
I found out after I left you.
We could've had a child together.
You and me.
This child.
But I knew how you felt That there was no future for us.
- Kill.
- I was in a new city - Kill.
- Alone - Kill.
- Surrounded by strangers - No.
- Kill.
- No hope.
- Agatha, stop.
- Kill.
- Stop.
- So - Kill.
- I cut it out.
- Death.
No! [GROANS.]
[FURTIVE, OMINOUS MUSIC.]
[DRAMATIC WHOOSHING.]
[GASPS.]
Joy, hey, it's me.
We are so far into the Void, I have no idea when this message is actually gonna reach you, so I've been thinking about your therapy, and I know that you know that I wasn't exactly in love with the idea.
And I don't want to forget about Skye.
I don't think I can.
And I'm not going to.
But I know that I remind you of her.
And I want you to know that If you want to start releasing your memories of me That I understand.
So Go ahead.
Release me and start over.
'Cause I want you to be happy.
Okay.
[TABLET BEEPS.]
[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING.]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
[STATIC CRACKLING.]
Lommie, did you do that? Shit.
- Hey.
- [SCREAMS.]
- No, no! - [ELECTRICITY SURGES.]
Don't cut the link, not while she's under.
[TENSE MUSIC.]
[BREATHING HEAVILY.]
[GASPS.]
[SIGHS.]
[SIGHS.]
It's dying.
[BLOOD DRIPPING.]
No! Ah, shit! It's in irreversible descent.
Full system collapse.
Shit.
Come on, we need more samples! We need everything we can get! [EERIE MUSIC.]
What is it, Karl? Something Cynthia Eris showed me, taunted me with.
- Was it Skye again? - Yeah, and it was you.
The memory I accessed.
She was able to see it.
- Damn it.
- Was it true? Were you were you actually I found out when I was going through medical clearance for Sutherland.
[SIGHS.]
Why didn't you, um Why didn't you just call me? - I-I knew it wouldn't work.
- How? How could you know? Tell me how you knew.
[SHUDDERING.]
It was too dangerous to keep going in there with a life inside me.
I had to make a choice.
I tried to put it out of my mind for a while, but that's the thing about working with Ls.
You can't bring your baggage into the room.
So I took some time.
And I tried to find you to tell you what happened.
There was no conference.
And when I saw how happy you were When you told me about Joy, I just I couldn't.
[SIGHS.]
Jesus.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
We can't let Cynthia Eris tear us all apart.
[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC.]
Anything salvaged from the probe? What do you care? I put everything on the line for this mission.
And if there's some way for us to learn about them Maybe she saved us.
She's not going to stop at the probe.
You must know that.
- [INHALES SHARPLY, GROANS.]
- Hey.
- How you feeling? - [MOANS SOFTLY.]
You got out of there just in time.
How are you? Hmm.
Yeah.
So what did you see when you were inside that thing? - Everything was jumbled.
- The data? Chaos.
But beautiful.
Organized in a way I've never seen.
Okay.
So I mean, there must have been something, then, right? A message from the Volcryn or You're so used to looking for details that you can't see what's right in front of you.
The probe The probe was the message.
You sent them something you made, a piece of you.
And then they sent it back but with more of you in it.
That's a response.
Right, we have to keep studying the pieces Karl, there's one more thing.
The timestamp on the sensors, it was from a month ago.
But the sensors recorded far more than a month's worth of data.
They more than they could store, just data over previous data, layer over layer.
[LAUGHS.]
How much? According to the drives on that probe it's been out there for over a thousand years.
[CHUCKLES SOFTLY.]
[BOTH CHUCKLE.]
- You came to me.
- Let's get you out of here.
Dr.
Salzman has been encouraging me to go deeper.
Anything that could possibly remind me of her.
Those are memories of of us.
This is how the therapy works.
- What the hell was that? - My mother.
Your mother's dead.
Not before she uploaded her consciousness.
- Uploaded it where? - Into the "Nightflyer.
" She's the one who's been trying to kill you.
We need to send a probe.
Might be the closest we ever get to the Volcryn.
- It's beautiful.
- It will be even more beautiful if it sends us pictures back of the Volcryn.
Wanna say any last words? Safe travels, little robot.
[AMBIENT MUSIC.]
[INSECTS CHIRPING.]
So is this how you avoid me? I like this dome.
All this life I didn't know what to say.
Did Karl tell you? I need to hear it from you.
[SIGHS.]
My mother she's alive.
Alive? How? When her body was dying, she made contingencies.
She built this ship to be her home forever.
You're saying she's been using the ship to hurt us? No, she is the ship.
All of this The metal hull, the Crystal Matrix, the "Nightflyer" Is her body now.
That's why I'm hiding up here.
To get away from her voice.
You can hear your mother? Words feelings in my head, all the time.
You take me away from that.
[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING.]
[POWER WHIRS DOWN.]
[CHILD GIGGLES.]
[INDISTINCT, DISTORTED WHISPERING.]
Get it out of me.
Daddy? That thing.
Cancer inside.
Cut it out.
Just just leave me alone.
- Go away.
- Get it out.
- You brought it here.
- Brought what here? Please, Daddy.
It's hurting me.
Get it out.
It's it's hurting me.
Just walk through it.
She she's taunting me.
Eris's mother? You know it's an errant computer program? Yes, I-I know.
Well so don't leave yourself so vulnerable.
What exactly is it you want me to do? When you torture yourself, Karl, it makes it easy for other people to do the same.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
[DISTORTED, ECHOING INDISTINCT SPEECH.]
Rowan, why is the fuck Good evening.
Why is the fucking probe in my room? You tell me.
No, don't touch it.
Don't.
No.
Of course not.
Rowan, this should be a million miles away from us.
How did you get it in here? I didn't.
Then who did? [OMINOUS MUSIC.]
[PLEASANT MUSIC.]
[STATIC WARBLES.]
[GROANS.]
[YELLS.]
What? Roy! - Roy.
Roy.
Roy.
Roy.
- Oh, she's screaming at me.
- [GROANS.]
- Roy, run! Get out! I've never heard her like this.
[STATIC CRACKLES.]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]
[COMPUTER BLIPPING.]
[GASPS.]
[COMPUTER BLIPPING.]
[METALLIC CLANK.]
[HATCH HISSES, CLANKS SHUT.]
[COMPUTER BLIPPING.]
[COMPUTER BLIPPING.]
[KEYPAD BEEPING.]
Hey! Somebody! Open this thing! Thought you said no more needles.
[DRAMATIC WHOOSH.]
Careful.
You're transmitting.
I'm not suppressing you.
I'm just checking your levels of TEK hormones.
[POUNDING.]
Hey! [GAS HISSING.]
You're thinking about D'Branin again.
That's none of your business.
No, no, no.
[DRAMATIC WHOOSH.]
[GASPING.]
[SCREAMS.]
- [GROANS.]
- [ALARM BLARING.]
Thale.
Thale.
- [GASPING.]
- Okay, bring your levels down.
I can't breathe.
[GASPING.]
What are you sensing? It's dark.
I can't feel my fingers.
[GROANING.]
It's fucking cold.
- [GASPING.]
- Okay, just try to breathe.
I can't.
[ICE CRACKLING.]
[BREATHING HEAVILY.]
- [SNIFFLES.]
- Shh.
This is our first point of alien contact.
Well, that's That's a bit of a leap, Karl.
Oh, yeah? How do you explain how it just magically appeared in my room? I-I don't I don't know.
I-I can't.
Rowan, I built this probe, and they sent it back to me.
Surely Eris is involved.
I told you they could do incredible things.
We knew they could do incredible things.
Please stop there.
Let's take a step back and we'll run some tests.
Yes, I'll get Lommie to port in.
No, no, no.
You can't send her in there.
Rowan, I need you to get radiation monitors, spectrometers, cameras everywhere.
Record everything.
Everything.
Don't forget the duct tape.
Keep your head from exploding.
[COMPUTERS BEEPING.]
Sir, we're getting error codes a lot of them.
Warning.
System Isolate the malfunctioning systems.
Cut them off from the rest of the ship.
Dr.
Matheson, we're quite busy right now.
There's been an accident.
One of your crew members.
[COMPUTERS BEEPING.]
Thale, he felt something.
Where did it happen? I can't be sure unless we take him out of the dome.
I'll gather a security detail.
No.
Better just you and me.
It'd help a lot for Thale to feel you trust him.
[AMBIENT MUSIC.]
Last night, you very specifically told me to run the wave patterns, - so that's what I've been doing.
- Yeah.
That was before.
Before what? [DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
We can't let this get out, not yet.
Think of the crew if they found out.
Or Eris.
I don't understand.
How how did it get back on the ship? We don't know.
Makes nice Beach Boys music, though.
Listen.
[ELECTRONIC HUMMING.]
Did it reach the Volcryn? We don't know.
What's this, uh This crust on the outside? Uh, that's isotopes of iridium and palladium.
It's all over the hull.
It's kind of like a Like space rust, if you will.
You touched it? No.
Had to get a small sample.
Rowan, you got to be careful.
We don't know what this shit is.
There is so much data in there.
We're finally gonna get some answers.
What kind of answers? Well, how it got back here for a start.
How far down? I'll let you know.
[SCREAMS.]
Oh, we just went past it.
Go back.
Cargo.
[ELECTRONIC BEEP.]
Thale experiences everything Mentally, emotionally physically.
Incredible.
And not pleasant.
He describes it as a suffocating dread.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]
[SIGHS.]
It's one of those.
These bins are locked.
It's not possible to close them from inside.
Maybe someone did it from outside.
You're suggesting this wasn't an accident.
[SCREAMS.]
[ELECTRONIC BEEPING.]
[LATCH CLANKS.]
[HATCH HISSES.]
[EERIE MUSIC.]
We died together.
[SIGHS.]
Can you do something about the room? It's too hot.
Uh, sure.
Okay, well, is it is it not working? There's nothing wrong with the controls.
What what do you mean? Then why are we not What are you saying? We think it's intentional.
What do you mean intentional? Eris's mother.
She's, uh, inside the ship.
We think she's the one turning up the heat.
So that's what I felt.
That's what I felt when I ported into the system.
- It was her.
- Yeah.
Yeah, that's That's what we're thinking.
Or more likely a simulation based on her psychological protocols.
No, it's not a simulation.
She's in there, and she's real.
- Come on.
- [SIGHS.]
Let's get you to bed.
Ain't easy, you know Dying over and over again.
Mm.
I'll get you some suppressives.
[SIGHS.]
I ain't going back on that shit.
Do you remember when you were a little boy? Used to have your episodes.
I was the only one you'd let get close to you.
Yeah, well, I'm not a little kid anymore, am I? You don't give a shit.
You're thinking about him.
That's not fair.
Karl and I used to be close.
I've known him for a long time.
I think about you all the time.
Shouldn't lie.
It doesn't suit you.
All right.
You should get some rest.
I'll bring you your dinner in an hour or so.
- Is she still screaming? - No.
Now she's lashing out.
And there's no way to predict who she'll hurt.
The guy in the cargo bin, you're sure that was her? Commander.
The system controlling the bins was interrupted last night.
We didn't get a warning.
It reset itself.
[SIGHS.]
The probe can't take this heat any longer.
[COMPUTER CHIMES.]
Commander Eris requests entry.
I wouldn't do that.
Karl, open up.
I'm going to override the door.
- [ELECTRONIC BEEP.]
- [DOOR HISSES.]
[DISTORTED SPEECH.]
- Roy, run! - Oh, my God.
- [STATIC WARBLING.]
- [DISTORTED SPEECH.]
- [GROANING.]
- His mother.
That thing.
You are not the captain! That's what she's screaming about.
- Roy, run! - She wants it off her ship.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
[SOFT MUSIC.]
[SOFTLY.]
Hey.
Thanks for meeting me.
I'm only in town for a few days.
- A conference.
- Right.
You look good, Karl.
I miss you.
We never really got a chance to talk.
No.
You left too abruptly for that.
I know.
I'm sorry.
I just didn't know what to say.
You can't just show up out of the blue after two years without contact and then Well, I wanted to see you to talk about what happened.
Okay, so let's talk.
Well, it's complicated.
Um Okay, so I'll talk.
So after you bailed on me, I, uh met someone else.
Her name is Joy, and we're getting married this summer.
Wow.
That's that's really great, Karl.
Guess I'm getting older, 'cause, um sold my motorcycle, bought a house in Ross, and we're talking about having kids.
I'm really happy for you.
Can you imagine me being a father? You'll be a great father.
That means a lot, Aggie.
[AMBIENT MUSIC.]
Yes, sir, what can I do? Send a welding team to Karl D'Branin's quarters.
There's some equipment here we need to remove.
No, no, no, no, no! I'm not gonna let you do this.
I'm not asking your permission.
No, this is my probe! It's too important! I'm trying to save your life.
My mother can feel this thing inside of her like a cancer.
I don't know if it's something the Volcryn did, but she wants it out.
You feel sorry for her.
Roy, you have to stand up to her.
This is your chance.
We'll do whatever it takes to help you.
It's not that simple, Melantha.
No, wait, Roy.
It is that simple.
I know how important this mission is to you.
And I know you are not gonna destroy the only alien artifact that anybody has ever come in contact with because you're afraid of pissing off your mother.
What she's doing with your cabin, the heat She'll do this to the entire ship or worse.
Just give me the time to get the data I need off my probe.
Please.
Please.
One cycle.
I can hold her off for one cycle, but I'm cutting up that probe and sending it out the air lock.
- That's all I need.
- Do you understand me? Yes.
- [ELECTRONIC BEEP.]
- [DOOR HISSES.]
[SIGHS, SNIFFLES.]
Well, he took that well.
Maybe, uh, you should take a minute to clear your head.
Don't want to be making any mistakes, given we're now being rushed.
Okay.
[SIGHS.]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
Can't sleep? No, I'm worried about Thale.
He experienced the dockworker's death, and he's taking it pretty badly.
I'm just I don't want him to start slipping.
Sorry.
I know how you feel about telepaths.
What do you mean? I work with L-1s.
I know that's what drove us apart.
When I took the job at Sutherland, I knew how you felt.
No, no, Agatha, I was scared.
I wasn't the only one.
We've all seen what Ls can do on those vids.
Telepaths are misunderstood.
I took the job to help people to understand that there's a place for everyone in this world.
Agatha, that's all very honorable, and obviously I'm all for the idea of using Ls for their abilities, but I don't want to have my thoughts invaded Wait, you think they want to see inside your head? It's a curse.
Okay, malicious or not, it's still an invasion, though.
I mean, okay, they can't control it, but [LAUGHS.]
What? I just remembered how you can be when Yeah? [DOOR HISSES.]
You really need to see this.
Hi.
- Now.
- Uh yeah.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
[ELECTRONIC PULSING.]
[EXHALING HEAVILY.]
You may wish to remove a layer or two of clothing.
Cynthia Eris is doing this.
She thinks the heat will damage the probe.
Won't this heat warp the circuits? No, it should be fine.
It was designed for deep space.
Have a look at this.
That's blood.
Where's it coming from? That's a good question.
Follow me.
I was removing the internal drive tray.
And, what, it just started bleeding? Which makes perfect sense because it's alive.
Okay, Mother, it's going to be okay.
[DISTORTED SPEECH.]
Please, just just try and get some rest.
[DISTORTED SPEECH.]
No.
Stop it.
Mother, stop it.
Stop it! Was that her? I used to hear her clearly.
Now there are so many voices fighting Fighting for attention terrified.
- How do you know it's her? - What do you mean? - Maybe those - I'm, not crazy, Mel.
But they could just be echoes of your mother, not the person that she was when she was alive.
Cynthia Eris is a memory to the world.
But up here on the "Nightflyer" She never went away.
[DISTORTED SPEECH.]
My whole life, I've heard her Her voice, her criticisms, every judgment coming from inside of these walls, and She wants you to get rid of me.
I'm sorry, Roy, but maybe it's not the probe that you need to try to get rid of.
- [SCOFFS.]
- Maybe you What? She told me you'd say that.
[OMINOUS MUSIC.]
[COMPUTER BLIPPING.]
[DOOR HISSES.]
[MUSIC INTENSIFIES.]
[GRUNTING.]
[GASPING.]
Die.
[BREATHING HEAVILY.]
Fuck.
Central components intact.
Can it sustain this heat? For the time being.
But clearly it's not enjoying it very much.
All this organic material, what if I mean, could this actually be Volcryn? Or is it some sort of message? [CHUCKLES.]
Certainly enjoying this.
Of course, aren't you? I mean, you came all the way out here to find some form of alien life.
Look what came back.
Certainly is quite incredible.
Okay, so we know that they can move through the walls, which means that they can Say it out loud.
The Volcryn may have the ability to control space-time.
Right, they they sent this here for a reason to us.
Well, we don't know that.
We we can send Lommie, and, Lommie, you could go in and extract all the information.
Too dangerous.
We don't know what will happen.
No, it's fine.
I want to do it.
Who knows how long it'll survive? Her system isn't designed to go into things like that.
Rowan, then we fucking lose everything.
The heat is gonna destroy all of the data.
She has to go inside.
- Suppose it is conceivable.
- Yeah.
But they're using organic material rather than words or sounds.
Perhaps this tissue is their language.
You see? See what you did just there? What? You admitted that this could be the Volcryn, that it is No, that's That's not what I did at all.
Actually, it is.
I said conceivable.
- [COMPUTER BEEPING.]
- What's that? That is the analysis of the probe blood sample.
[COMPUTER BLIPPING.]
What the hell? That's not possible.
Uh, the blood coming out of the probe, it's you.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
Apparently the Volcryn know who you are.
No.
No.
That doesn't make Does that does that mean that this is me? All right, I'm in charge.
We follow my lead, my orders from here on out.
No.
No fucking way.
- Yes fucking way.
- No, no, no.
This is my probe.
I-I built it.
I sent it out there.
Technically, Karl, I sent it out.
So I'm sorry, but you can no longer study the phenomenon because you are the phenomenon.
There's too many at once.
Off of my ship.
This is my ship.
- Roy! - No.
This is my ship.
No, no, no, no.
That's not true.
You don't get to decide.
I get to decide! This is my ship.
I'm in control.
Mother? End this mission.
Mother.
End this mission.
[STATIC WARBLING.]
Mother! [UNSETTLING MUSIC.]
Get it out now.
Now.
Now.
No.
No, no.
No.
Karl.
You see that, right? I see how you think of me.
- I see how you think of me.
- How you hate who I am.
- How you hate who I am.
- Hate you? No, I-I don't hate you.
What are you talking about? BOTH: You would if I told you how I knew.
Okay, Aggie, stop.
You're you're scaring me.
- Don't be scared.
- Don't be scared.
- It's so beautiful.
- It's so beautiful.
La-la-la-la Look.
What we could've had.
I found out after I left you.
We could've had a child together.
You and me.
This child.
But I knew how you felt That there was no future for us.
- Kill.
- I was in a new city - Kill.
- Alone - Kill.
- Surrounded by strangers - No.
- Kill.
- No hope.
- Agatha, stop.
- Kill.
- Stop.
- So - Kill.
- I cut it out.
- Death.
No! [GROANS.]
[FURTIVE, OMINOUS MUSIC.]
[DRAMATIC WHOOSHING.]
[GASPS.]
Joy, hey, it's me.
We are so far into the Void, I have no idea when this message is actually gonna reach you, so I've been thinking about your therapy, and I know that you know that I wasn't exactly in love with the idea.
And I don't want to forget about Skye.
I don't think I can.
And I'm not going to.
But I know that I remind you of her.
And I want you to know that If you want to start releasing your memories of me That I understand.
So Go ahead.
Release me and start over.
'Cause I want you to be happy.
Okay.
[TABLET BEEPS.]
[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING.]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
[STATIC CRACKLING.]
Lommie, did you do that? Shit.
- Hey.
- [SCREAMS.]
- No, no! - [ELECTRICITY SURGES.]
Don't cut the link, not while she's under.
[TENSE MUSIC.]
[BREATHING HEAVILY.]
[GASPS.]
[SIGHS.]
[SIGHS.]
It's dying.
[BLOOD DRIPPING.]
No! Ah, shit! It's in irreversible descent.
Full system collapse.
Shit.
Come on, we need more samples! We need everything we can get! [EERIE MUSIC.]
What is it, Karl? Something Cynthia Eris showed me, taunted me with.
- Was it Skye again? - Yeah, and it was you.
The memory I accessed.
She was able to see it.
- Damn it.
- Was it true? Were you were you actually I found out when I was going through medical clearance for Sutherland.
[SIGHS.]
Why didn't you, um Why didn't you just call me? - I-I knew it wouldn't work.
- How? How could you know? Tell me how you knew.
[SHUDDERING.]
It was too dangerous to keep going in there with a life inside me.
I had to make a choice.
I tried to put it out of my mind for a while, but that's the thing about working with Ls.
You can't bring your baggage into the room.
So I took some time.
And I tried to find you to tell you what happened.
There was no conference.
And when I saw how happy you were When you told me about Joy, I just I couldn't.
[SIGHS.]
Jesus.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
We can't let Cynthia Eris tear us all apart.
[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC.]
Anything salvaged from the probe? What do you care? I put everything on the line for this mission.
And if there's some way for us to learn about them Maybe she saved us.
She's not going to stop at the probe.
You must know that.
- [INHALES SHARPLY, GROANS.]
- Hey.
- How you feeling? - [MOANS SOFTLY.]
You got out of there just in time.
How are you? Hmm.
Yeah.
So what did you see when you were inside that thing? - Everything was jumbled.
- The data? Chaos.
But beautiful.
Organized in a way I've never seen.
Okay.
So I mean, there must have been something, then, right? A message from the Volcryn or You're so used to looking for details that you can't see what's right in front of you.
The probe The probe was the message.
You sent them something you made, a piece of you.
And then they sent it back but with more of you in it.
That's a response.
Right, we have to keep studying the pieces Karl, there's one more thing.
The timestamp on the sensors, it was from a month ago.
But the sensors recorded far more than a month's worth of data.
They more than they could store, just data over previous data, layer over layer.
[LAUGHS.]
How much? According to the drives on that probe it's been out there for over a thousand years.
[CHUCKLES SOFTLY.]
[BOTH CHUCKLE.]