Pandora (2019) s01e04 Episode Script
I Shall Be Released
1 Previously on Pandora I just lost the two most important people in my life.
I'm not looking to care about anyone else.
I'm sorry things didn't work out with your girlfriend, Tom.
You can do better.
[JAX.]
I didn't expect this to happen so fast.
What are we doing? For years, I lived as a slave among the Adari.
[SEEKER.]
How can we enslave those who have no souls? Get in the escape pod.
I'm going back to engage the dorsal thrusters.
- You'll die.
- Are you saying that she's not human? - I have to try.
- I know.
[GASPS.]
[INAUDIBLE.]
[ARTILLERY FIRE.]
[GREG.]
Jax.
You need to let me go.
[GUNFIRE.]
Jax! Been looking for you.
Jax, can we Can we talk? Seriously? [JAX.]
What do you want, Xander? We have a training mission.
- I want nothing to do with it.
- It's a test, Jax, - to qualify for Command Track.
- I requested assignment to the Exploratory Corps Science Division.
I didn't apply for Command Training.
I know you didn't, but I see it in you.
- You have what it takes.
- I'm not interested A good captain can be the difference between life and death for those under their command.
It's a responsibility that very few can handle.
But maybe we were wrong about you.
I'll see you tomorrow at 0500 hours.
Or not.
It's your choice, Jax! [SCHOOL BELL RINGS.]
[PILAR.]
So, do you think she'll show? [RALEN.]
You would know better than me.
[PILAR.]
I'm pretty sure she's not even interested in Command Track.
I don't think she knows what she wants.
Avar Sumitov, reporting for duty.
Magda Coy.
Science and Medical Division.
Greetings, I'm Ralen the Zatarian.
I know.
I saw you at open Mic night at the Black Hole.
I liked what you said.
Are you going to be the first Zatarian captain in EarthCom? You can call me Pilar.
Or future captain, if that's easier.
Jax Zhou.
Future captain's roommate.
Command Track, huh? Keeping my options open? You dated Greg Li, right? You knew him? We dated freshman year.
Great guy.
Killer abs.
I was shocked to hear he dropped out of the Academy.
Me too.
[XANDER.]
Cadets! Each of you has the potential for Command Track.
But it takes more than potential to get a special recommendation from me to Chancellor Melvoin.
To that end, today's mission will be something of a pop quiz that you will be tested on your piloting ability, as well as overcoming unexpected obstacles.
You will also be graded on how well you can work as a team.
You get me? [ALL.]
We get you, sir.
Good.
[SIGHS.]
Oh, man! Oh, that was, like, so amazing.
Way better than the VR sex I was having with my ex.
Oh, I should have broken up with her eons ago.
I'd cut her some slack.
VR sex can never be as good as the real thing.
Yeah.
Physically, that was amazing.
Mind blowing, actually.
Physically? I don't know.
I feel like there was something more going on, you know? Like a real connection.
Well, we did connect.
Several times, actually.
Not the connection I was talking about.
But I don't know, just different.
Does sex ever feel different for you? [SCOFFS.]
Well, yeah.
Of course.
I've had sex in all sorts of different positions.
You know, it feels different every time.
Okay, no, that's That's not what I meant.
I mean I mean, yeah, sex in different positions, that's great.
But what I mean is connecting with a sexual partner, but in an emotional way, where it was truly something special.
Have you ever experienced that? Honestly, no.
[LAUGHS.]
I mean, I do have emotions, of course, but sex has always been just, well, sex.
Oh, Atria, Atria, sex can Sex should be, so much.
.
So much more than that.
Then help me.
Tell me what "so much more" feels like.
It's just more.
I don't know.
It's just Just more, I don't know.
Must be a really important feeling if that's all you can say about it.
It is.
The most important feelings are the hardest to describe.
You feel it in more than just your body.
You feel it in your in your Soul? Remember, I was raised believing I didn't have a soul.
And really, how does anyone even really know they have one? You just feel it.
And I feel I feel our souls connecting.
[BOTH LAUGH.]
Okay, okay.
I think I know what we should do.
We should go on a date.
Atria will you go on a real date with me? How is that different from what we're doing right now? Oh, it's just It's just different.
It's special.
It might It might help you feel what I'm talking about.
If it's important to you, let's do it.
- Really? - Uh-huh.
Okay, well, it's a date.
Yes, it is a date.
[CHUCKLES.]
Whatever that means.
[DOOR SLIDES OPEN.]
Sometimes your navigation goes down.
And as a commander, you're forced to take the helm.
Cadet Coy, final year at the Academy, hoping for a command posting in the Science Division.
Yes, fingers firmly crossed, Sir.
As you know, the electromagnetic radiation from this nebula is going to play havoc with the navigation, so we're going to need you to fly us safely through the nebula without the use of your instrumentation.
Copy that, Sir.
What'd I do? I didn't touch anything.
[WOMAN, OVER RADIO.]
Help! Please! We're 12 sectors out of Gamma Hydra.
Section 11.
We're dying here.
Please.
This is part of our training mission too, right, Sir? - Please, anyone - The realism and inflection of the voice is most impressive.
This is EarthCom training vessel Earhart responding.
What is the nature of your emergency? I think this is the real deal, guys.
I repeat, this is EarthCom training vessel Earhart.
What is the nature of your emergency? [VOICE SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY OVER STATIC.]
Hello? Hello? Do you read me? [MAN, OVER RADIO.]
There are no other EarthCom ships in the sector, Commander Duvall, just yours.
Sir, my cadets are not prepared or equipped to give emergency assistance or exfil.
We just received Intel that another ship is within ten hours from the source of the transmission.
Ten hours? With respect, that might be ten hours too late.
You and your team will stand down and resume your original training mission.
Commodore Saninski out.
Copy that.
Earhart out.
[SIGHS.]
Jax? So now we just sit around and hope that whoever was on the other side of that distress call can make it another ten hours.
We have to do something, Xander.
We can't do something.
And while we're on a mission, it's Commander Duvall, Cadet Zhou.
An EarthCom ship could have made a huge difference if it were in the vicinity of New Portland when attacked.
My parents and everyone else on that colony might still be alive.
And I would be devastated to know there was a ship close enough to help.
A ship that was just told to do nothing.
[SIGHS.]
Only recon.
Nothing more.
Simple recon.
Nothing more, Commander.
Commander, there's no record of any Earth outpost in this sector, but I am detecting life signs on the planet.
Bring us down, Cadet Coy.
Once we achieve seal, Cadets Zhou, Coy, Ralen, and Avar, you're with me on the surface.
Pilar, stay with the ship and monitor comms and vitals.
[MAGDA.]
Emergency lights.
They're running on auxiliary power.
Jax.
[WHISPERS.]
What? Simple recon.
I know.
[STEAM HISSES.]
[MAN GROANING.]
This is Commander Duvall of EarthCom, responding to your distress call.
[CROAKS.]
Can you hear me? [GASPS.]
What is that? We need to get back to the ship.
Now.
We can't just leave.
We can't just stay either, Jax.
You're not trained for this.
Isn't training meant to prepare us to risk our lives to help others? Like Greg did.
Yeah, but not to throw them away.
That is the job of any good commander, and right now, I am the only commander here.
My responsibility is the safety and life of everyone under my command, and that includes you, Jax.
People are in trouble, Xander.
We have to do everything we can to help.
[SNARLS.]
- [SCREAMS.]
- Avar! Guys! Come on! Aah! Help me! Come on! Help me! [SCREAMING CONTINUOUS.]
[CREATURE SNARLING.]
[SCREAMING STOPS.]
[SNARLING AND WET RIPPING.]
[ROARS.]
We need to fall back.
Right now.
This way.
Hurry, follow me before they finish him and get you.
- Let's go.
- Go, go.
Go, go! What the hell is going on here? Look, I'm trying to save you so you can save us.
The distress call.
That was you? What are those things? Those "things"are us.
[LOUD BANGING AND SNARLING.]
Okay, we should be safe in here.
[DOOR CREAKS CLOSED.]
Okay, I need one of you to tell me right now why that distress call was sent, why I just lost one of my cadets Wait, wait, you guys are cadets? Even the Zatarian? You got a problem with that? [COUGHS.]
This is a research facility.
Strictly built for special projects.
Special, as in off the grid.
Forging bacteria strains? At a level you wouldn't understand.
What does any of this have to do with what we were just attacked by? [BENNINGS.]
Some experiments fail.
Some failures are catastrophic.
[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING.]
[ROARS.]
What is really going on here? [BENNINGS.]
We've all been infected.
Dr.
Palmer got hit before any of us, so we've been watching him, trying to better understand.
The strain incites a series of alarming mutations.
It suppresses the higher brain function and stimulates the more primal one.
How long did this metamorphosis take? The length of the cycle is unpredictable.
Whereas the stages remain consistent.
In just a few hours, a once brilliant mind has been reduced to one singular, horrific drive.
To eat.
Eat what? Whoever they get first.
[SNARLING.]
Tell me all your thoughts on God The best thing about the 1990s? - Mm-hmm.
- Boy bands, Dunkaroos, Doc Martens, grunge.
Kind of everything, really.
I'd never driven a car before.
I love it.
I've been on ground transports, but that was awesome.
How does it work? Old-fashioned combustion engine.
Ran on fossil fuels.
Fossil fuels? Rotting plants and dead dinosaurs.
Ew.
Is this what Earth used to be like? No.
This was way before the Great Migration started, and from what I've read, Earth was getting crowded.
We would never have had the road to ourselves.
[SCOFFS.]
I can only imagine how Pilar would have lived back then.
Like, the Internet had just begun.
No datastream.
And if you wanted to know something, you'd have to go to a library and look it up in a book.
- That would take forever.
- Right.
And, and, and the traditional way to greet a friend was [CLEARS THROAT.]
"Wassup?" [BOTH LAUGH.]
You know, I've never been on a date before.
As a slave on Adar, I was created to only serve my masters.
I'm so sorry you had to live like that.
Yes and no.
I wouldn't exist at all if it weren't for the Adari.
Well, I hope our date is living up to your expectations.
Thank you.
[LAUGHS.]
Mm, this is fun.
But I'm still not sure what it has to do with us having a sexual relationship.
[LAUGHS.]
Okay there is more to a relationship than just sex.
It's about enjoying everything about each other and feeling our souls connecting.
You feel it too, don't you? I'm honestly not sure.
[LAUGHS.]
Hey.
Wait, wait, where are you going? Emergency evac.
These are cadets, trainees, and you've invited them into a hotbed of virulent infection.
- Commander Duvall - We are not taking them with us.
We are sending a properly equipped medivac team.
Tell them.
Go on, tell them it's too late.
Too late for what? You can't leave.
The infection is airborne.
Ever since you arrived, you've been infected.
In just a few hours' time, we'll all be like him.
[HISSES.]
[DEVICE CHIMES.]
Commander Duvall, I'm sorry.
You're also positive for infection.
Pilar? We're under full quarantine.
Under no circumstances should you break seal, no matter what happens in here.
If things get ugly then you retreat to Earth.
I will not leave you all behind.
[XANDER.]
That's an order, Pilar.
In two hours, there might not be anyone left to leave behind.
Duvall out.
Jax, you're next to get tested.
[BENNINGS.]
This is all a waste of time.
We already know the results.
Is there any way to synthesize an antidote to reverse the infection? Well, yeah, that's what I've been trying to do.
I just need to get to my lab so I can continue my work.
There is no cure.
Guys, I found something.
Ralen's sample is negative.
No infection detected.
They know something.
What are you not telling us? I am not infected because I am Zatarian? Is that it? Yes.
Yeah.
It's It's your Zatarian blood.
Its makeup differs from that of humans.
So it responds to certain strains, bacterias, in very different ways.
[MAGDA.]
It's true.
Different species respond differently to pathogens.
Look, if you survive, the less you know, the better.
Pilar, I need you to get on the datastream and find out everything you can about this outpost.
The entire research outpost is off the grid.
It's completely severed from the datastream.
It's like it doesn't even exist.
Pilar, what if I were able to network you over a local node onsite.
Could you hack the mainframe's encryption protocols? You already know the answer.
It's a private stream.
Government-level encryption.
Top-level security.
You'll never Clearly, you've never met Pilar, Doctor.
No.
Jax.
I'll go.
I'm in command.
It's my responsibility.
[COUGHS.]
In your condition, you'll never make it.
It's not your responsibility to get yourself killed Commander.
I will go with her.
Fine.
But watch your backs.
Watch your fronts.
You can't hack the mainframe if you're dead.
Atria? Thomas.
What the hell are you doing? What do you mean? I thought we were dating.
What are you doing with that guy? Oh, Thomas, he's got nothing to do with you.
I'd really like to date again.
Oh.
Okay, Atria, whoa.
This This is not how I roll.
I want to be in a relationship with you, one-on-one.
Thomas, please.
I do care about your feelings, but just try to understand.
Soul connection or not, sex for me is just a biological function.
A pleasurable one that I've enjoyed fulfilling with men, women, and many other alien species.
Not counting my time on Adar, sex has almost always been just an enjoyable function.
And with you, it's been a really enjoyable one.
Oh, yeah, just what every man wants to be.
An enjoyable function.
You know, my dad can read minds.
But me, I read emotions.
And I know what you're feeling.
More importantly, what you're not feeling.
I get it.
[SIGHS.]
I thought I could change you, but I guess not.
Pilar [OVER COMM.]
Keep going.
You're only a few meters away - from the mainframe vault.
- Pilar, we're in.
I've activated a local network hub.
Can you access a local node now? Attempting to establish a connection.
They weren't kidding, Jax.
This is some major league encryption.
This is no ordinary research outpost.
Can you break it? - It's not working.
- It has to work, Pilar.
Xander doesn't have much time left.
I know.
I'm trying, okay? Pilar, can you hear me? Pilar, can you hear me? Answer me.
Pilar, are you all right? Do you copy? Pilar! [ELECTRICITY CRACKLING.]
[SNARLS.]
I've run the simulation ten times.
Everything tells me the antidote should work, but it's not.
There's something they're not telling us, sir.
[JAX.]
Pilar, can you hear me? Answer me.
- Pilar.
- [GASPS.]
It's okay, Jax.
I'm all right.
Unfortunately, you're not.
What is it? This isn't an EarthCom research outpost.
It's a classified biochemical weapons facility owned by Parallax Galactic.
What kind of weapons? [RALEN.]
Jax you need to see this.
Oh, my God, Ralen.
They're all Zatarian.
Yes.
Oh, Thomas.
Hi.
Hey.
Do you [LAUGHS.]
do you want to maybe get together and study tonight? Maybe we can work on our stellar cartography homework and watch the stars together.
Yeah, I finished that last night.
Oh.
That's cool.
Maybe we can get together anyway.
No, I have other plans tonight.
Thomas, I Look, I want to be with you and only you.
It's not crazy to expect the same thing.
But you're just not capable of that, so [SIGHS.]
Look, I I have to go.
Sorry.
Thomas, wait Please.
How could you experiment on the Zatarians? You're supposed to be doctors.
You swore an oath to do no harm.
They were already dead when we got them.
What were you doing with them? Don't tell them.
Answer her question.
[BENNINGS.]
You're under orders.
It's classified.
Wipe out the Zatarians.
That was the objective.
One, aggressive, lethal infection that humans wouldn't be susceptible to, and that also would not appear to not be responsible for.
The irony is, Zatarian biology is similar to humans, but strangely responded differently to our pathogens.
Our attempts had the opposite results.
Now, the only ones in danger of being wiped out are humans.
I should kill you where you stand for what you tried to do to my people.
Stand down, Ralen.
Did Pilar manage to penetrate the mainframe network? Yes.
We have a bigger, more immediate problem.
This entire facility is owned by Parallax.
They have a ship en route here as we speak.
[CHUCKLES SOFTLY.]
Well, that's no rescue ship.
That's a cleanup ship.
They'll recover whatever research they want to keep, and then they'll incinerate this entire outpost from orbit.
Including us.
If the infection doesn't get us first that Parallax ship will.
[DEVICE BEEPING.]
You said Zatarian biology was unaffected by the pathogen, right? More than being unaffected, Ralen's blood cells seem to be outright killing the infection.
I think what you've been missing this whole time is a living, breathing Zatarian sample.
It appears the only good Zatarian is not always a dead Zatarian after all.
It's possible the antibodies in Zatarian blood may be what we need to potentially reverse the infection.
[COUGHS.]
You set out to end all Zatarians, and now only a Zatarian can save you from ending yourself.
Who says the universe doesn't have a perverse sense of humor? [NORRIS.]
I still need to get to the main lab, and then maybe we can synthesize a cure.
I did not say I would give my blood.
You wished to commit genocide against my entire race.
And now you expect me to save you.
Xander [COUGHS.]
you need to order him to give his blood.
Otherwise, we all die here.
Then we all die.
It's his choice.
I can't make it for him.
[DEVICE BEEPS.]
I think I found something, Commander.
I just ran the infection test again, and I can't explain it.
I thought it was a mistake at first, but Jax's sample is also negative.
No infection detected.
[SIGHS.]
There's no sign of anything.
No no infection.
She's in perfect health.
How is that even possible? If we had longer, I could study the bloods further.
But for now we can just say it's a miracle.
Call it whatever you want.
We don't have time to worry about this.
A Parallax ship is en route to vaporize this place.
Your blood, your call, Ralen.
We're with the commander.
We support whatever you decide to do.
I will assist you because you are my friends.
And it's what any honorable commander would do.
But I do not have to like it.
Jax Jax neither you nor Ralen are infected.
[COUGHS.]
You don't have to do this.
Just be here when we get back.
Is that an order, cadet? You bet your ass it is.
I don't have much time left myself.
I need your scientists to come with us and help me in the lab.
On it, sir.
[BONES CREAKING.]
[SNARLS.]
[ROARS.]
You need to go.
Now! Okay, just a bit further to the lab, up the stairs.
- [ROARS.]
- [ALL SCREAM.]
Okay, let's go.
Let's go.
- Let's run! - [ALL SCREAM.]
[SNARLING AND HISSING.]
Here.
In here.
Let's go, let's go.
We got to go! Come on! Go! We have to stop firing on them.
If we synthesize an antidote, we could save them too.
We could have cured him.
I consider him cured.
Go.
Go.
Run.
[ALARM BLARING DISTANTLY.]
[GASPS.]
- [SHUSHING.]
- [STEAM HISSING.]
[BREATHING HEAVILY.]
[DOOR CLOSES.]
Okay, Ralen.
- How long will this take? - Well, once we get started, the Fractionator will need 60 seconds to complete a full synthesis.
[SIGHS.]
Pilar, talk to me.
You find anything? Yes.
A self-destruct protocol.
Built into the facility for an emergency cover-up.
Yeah, and we can destroy it all before Parallax get their hands on anything.
Pilar as soon as that Parallax ship is in the system, initiate self-destruct [WHEEZING BREATH.]
whether the rest of us are out or not.
[COMPUTERS BEEPING.]
[MAGDA BREATHING HEAVILY.]
[MACHINERY WHIRRING.]
That thing have a volume switch? Unfortunately not.
[MACHINERY WHINING.]
[WHISPERING.]
Oh, my God.
[PANTING.]
[YELPS.]
No, you've got to wait.
They're coming! Aah! You got to hold them off! It's almost done.
[PANTING.]
Okay, stop.
[SCREAMS.]
[MAGDA.]
Watch out! [ROARS.]
[SNARLING.]
Ralen.
[SOBS.]
- [POUNDING ON DOOR.]
- The cure it's gone! Not all of it.
- Cadet Coy? - [DOOR CLOSES.]
Jax? Where's Cadet Coy? [XANDER COUGHS.]
In case there are any immediate adverse affects, I need to go first.
And then Dr.
Norris.
If anything happens don't hesitate to put me down.
[COUGHS.]
[SYRINGE WHIRS.]
Cheers.
[GROANS.]
How long does it take to work? How do we even know if it's working? [GASPS AND PANTS.]
It's working.
It's working.
Pilar fire up those engines.
We're getting the hell out of Dodge.
Now it's your turn, Dr.
Norris? I don't think so.
I only managed to save enough antidote for one person.
Who knows? Maybe there's a modicum of forgiveness waiting for me on the other side.
Perhaps there is.
[PLAYING.]
[CLAPS.]
[BOTH CHUCKLE.]
I thought you would be more upset.
There's no profit in peace.
We always need an enemy.
And the Zatarians play their role all too well.
Nonetheless, the Adari will be disappointed that their little science project to annihilate the Zatarians failed.
I assume you want to tell the Seeker yourself? That zealot is of no concern to me.
If Captain Jaworski's Intel about Tiaga proves accurate, then every government in the civilized worlds will be beholden to us Hmm.
Or risk annihilation.
So how was the little training mission? We are forbidden to speak of it.
Hmm.
Classified.
Top secret.
Very hush-hush, huh? Something like that.
Yeah.
What else is new? So, what's up with you and Atria? Also classified.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
I'm sorry, Wendall, but we are not having intercourse anymore.
"Wassup?" [BOTH LAUGH.]
Aww.
Excuse me.
[SIGHS.]
Drinking alone? [LAUGHS.]
Yeah.
The military man in me knows that casualties are a part of the job.
- It - It sucks.
I know.
I've been working alone for a really long time, and working with a team is is different.
You start to feel incredibly responsible for the people under your command.
You start to care for them, and so To Magda and Avar.
- [GLASSES CLINK.]
- Magda and Avar.
And Greg.
And Greg.
You know, you're a leader, Jax.
You inspire people around you.
Your friends over there, they would follow you until the ends of the galaxy.
I mean, they've only known you a short while, and yet you can bet they would give any sacrifice necessary for you.
Greg certainly did.
Don't.
You need to be on Command Track, Jax.
And believe me when I say that you have no idea what's in store for you.
Why didn't I get infected? I wish I knew.
Have a good night, Jax.
I'm not looking to care about anyone else.
I'm sorry things didn't work out with your girlfriend, Tom.
You can do better.
[JAX.]
I didn't expect this to happen so fast.
What are we doing? For years, I lived as a slave among the Adari.
[SEEKER.]
How can we enslave those who have no souls? Get in the escape pod.
I'm going back to engage the dorsal thrusters.
- You'll die.
- Are you saying that she's not human? - I have to try.
- I know.
[GASPS.]
[INAUDIBLE.]
[ARTILLERY FIRE.]
[GREG.]
Jax.
You need to let me go.
[GUNFIRE.]
Jax! Been looking for you.
Jax, can we Can we talk? Seriously? [JAX.]
What do you want, Xander? We have a training mission.
- I want nothing to do with it.
- It's a test, Jax, - to qualify for Command Track.
- I requested assignment to the Exploratory Corps Science Division.
I didn't apply for Command Training.
I know you didn't, but I see it in you.
- You have what it takes.
- I'm not interested A good captain can be the difference between life and death for those under their command.
It's a responsibility that very few can handle.
But maybe we were wrong about you.
I'll see you tomorrow at 0500 hours.
Or not.
It's your choice, Jax! [SCHOOL BELL RINGS.]
[PILAR.]
So, do you think she'll show? [RALEN.]
You would know better than me.
[PILAR.]
I'm pretty sure she's not even interested in Command Track.
I don't think she knows what she wants.
Avar Sumitov, reporting for duty.
Magda Coy.
Science and Medical Division.
Greetings, I'm Ralen the Zatarian.
I know.
I saw you at open Mic night at the Black Hole.
I liked what you said.
Are you going to be the first Zatarian captain in EarthCom? You can call me Pilar.
Or future captain, if that's easier.
Jax Zhou.
Future captain's roommate.
Command Track, huh? Keeping my options open? You dated Greg Li, right? You knew him? We dated freshman year.
Great guy.
Killer abs.
I was shocked to hear he dropped out of the Academy.
Me too.
[XANDER.]
Cadets! Each of you has the potential for Command Track.
But it takes more than potential to get a special recommendation from me to Chancellor Melvoin.
To that end, today's mission will be something of a pop quiz that you will be tested on your piloting ability, as well as overcoming unexpected obstacles.
You will also be graded on how well you can work as a team.
You get me? [ALL.]
We get you, sir.
Good.
[SIGHS.]
Oh, man! Oh, that was, like, so amazing.
Way better than the VR sex I was having with my ex.
Oh, I should have broken up with her eons ago.
I'd cut her some slack.
VR sex can never be as good as the real thing.
Yeah.
Physically, that was amazing.
Mind blowing, actually.
Physically? I don't know.
I feel like there was something more going on, you know? Like a real connection.
Well, we did connect.
Several times, actually.
Not the connection I was talking about.
But I don't know, just different.
Does sex ever feel different for you? [SCOFFS.]
Well, yeah.
Of course.
I've had sex in all sorts of different positions.
You know, it feels different every time.
Okay, no, that's That's not what I meant.
I mean I mean, yeah, sex in different positions, that's great.
But what I mean is connecting with a sexual partner, but in an emotional way, where it was truly something special.
Have you ever experienced that? Honestly, no.
[LAUGHS.]
I mean, I do have emotions, of course, but sex has always been just, well, sex.
Oh, Atria, Atria, sex can Sex should be, so much.
.
So much more than that.
Then help me.
Tell me what "so much more" feels like.
It's just more.
I don't know.
It's just Just more, I don't know.
Must be a really important feeling if that's all you can say about it.
It is.
The most important feelings are the hardest to describe.
You feel it in more than just your body.
You feel it in your in your Soul? Remember, I was raised believing I didn't have a soul.
And really, how does anyone even really know they have one? You just feel it.
And I feel I feel our souls connecting.
[BOTH LAUGH.]
Okay, okay.
I think I know what we should do.
We should go on a date.
Atria will you go on a real date with me? How is that different from what we're doing right now? Oh, it's just It's just different.
It's special.
It might It might help you feel what I'm talking about.
If it's important to you, let's do it.
- Really? - Uh-huh.
Okay, well, it's a date.
Yes, it is a date.
[CHUCKLES.]
Whatever that means.
[DOOR SLIDES OPEN.]
Sometimes your navigation goes down.
And as a commander, you're forced to take the helm.
Cadet Coy, final year at the Academy, hoping for a command posting in the Science Division.
Yes, fingers firmly crossed, Sir.
As you know, the electromagnetic radiation from this nebula is going to play havoc with the navigation, so we're going to need you to fly us safely through the nebula without the use of your instrumentation.
Copy that, Sir.
What'd I do? I didn't touch anything.
[WOMAN, OVER RADIO.]
Help! Please! We're 12 sectors out of Gamma Hydra.
Section 11.
We're dying here.
Please.
This is part of our training mission too, right, Sir? - Please, anyone - The realism and inflection of the voice is most impressive.
This is EarthCom training vessel Earhart responding.
What is the nature of your emergency? I think this is the real deal, guys.
I repeat, this is EarthCom training vessel Earhart.
What is the nature of your emergency? [VOICE SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY OVER STATIC.]
Hello? Hello? Do you read me? [MAN, OVER RADIO.]
There are no other EarthCom ships in the sector, Commander Duvall, just yours.
Sir, my cadets are not prepared or equipped to give emergency assistance or exfil.
We just received Intel that another ship is within ten hours from the source of the transmission.
Ten hours? With respect, that might be ten hours too late.
You and your team will stand down and resume your original training mission.
Commodore Saninski out.
Copy that.
Earhart out.
[SIGHS.]
Jax? So now we just sit around and hope that whoever was on the other side of that distress call can make it another ten hours.
We have to do something, Xander.
We can't do something.
And while we're on a mission, it's Commander Duvall, Cadet Zhou.
An EarthCom ship could have made a huge difference if it were in the vicinity of New Portland when attacked.
My parents and everyone else on that colony might still be alive.
And I would be devastated to know there was a ship close enough to help.
A ship that was just told to do nothing.
[SIGHS.]
Only recon.
Nothing more.
Simple recon.
Nothing more, Commander.
Commander, there's no record of any Earth outpost in this sector, but I am detecting life signs on the planet.
Bring us down, Cadet Coy.
Once we achieve seal, Cadets Zhou, Coy, Ralen, and Avar, you're with me on the surface.
Pilar, stay with the ship and monitor comms and vitals.
[MAGDA.]
Emergency lights.
They're running on auxiliary power.
Jax.
[WHISPERS.]
What? Simple recon.
I know.
[STEAM HISSES.]
[MAN GROANING.]
This is Commander Duvall of EarthCom, responding to your distress call.
[CROAKS.]
Can you hear me? [GASPS.]
What is that? We need to get back to the ship.
Now.
We can't just leave.
We can't just stay either, Jax.
You're not trained for this.
Isn't training meant to prepare us to risk our lives to help others? Like Greg did.
Yeah, but not to throw them away.
That is the job of any good commander, and right now, I am the only commander here.
My responsibility is the safety and life of everyone under my command, and that includes you, Jax.
People are in trouble, Xander.
We have to do everything we can to help.
[SNARLS.]
- [SCREAMS.]
- Avar! Guys! Come on! Aah! Help me! Come on! Help me! [SCREAMING CONTINUOUS.]
[CREATURE SNARLING.]
[SCREAMING STOPS.]
[SNARLING AND WET RIPPING.]
[ROARS.]
We need to fall back.
Right now.
This way.
Hurry, follow me before they finish him and get you.
- Let's go.
- Go, go.
Go, go! What the hell is going on here? Look, I'm trying to save you so you can save us.
The distress call.
That was you? What are those things? Those "things"are us.
[LOUD BANGING AND SNARLING.]
Okay, we should be safe in here.
[DOOR CREAKS CLOSED.]
Okay, I need one of you to tell me right now why that distress call was sent, why I just lost one of my cadets Wait, wait, you guys are cadets? Even the Zatarian? You got a problem with that? [COUGHS.]
This is a research facility.
Strictly built for special projects.
Special, as in off the grid.
Forging bacteria strains? At a level you wouldn't understand.
What does any of this have to do with what we were just attacked by? [BENNINGS.]
Some experiments fail.
Some failures are catastrophic.
[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING.]
[ROARS.]
What is really going on here? [BENNINGS.]
We've all been infected.
Dr.
Palmer got hit before any of us, so we've been watching him, trying to better understand.
The strain incites a series of alarming mutations.
It suppresses the higher brain function and stimulates the more primal one.
How long did this metamorphosis take? The length of the cycle is unpredictable.
Whereas the stages remain consistent.
In just a few hours, a once brilliant mind has been reduced to one singular, horrific drive.
To eat.
Eat what? Whoever they get first.
[SNARLING.]
Tell me all your thoughts on God The best thing about the 1990s? - Mm-hmm.
- Boy bands, Dunkaroos, Doc Martens, grunge.
Kind of everything, really.
I'd never driven a car before.
I love it.
I've been on ground transports, but that was awesome.
How does it work? Old-fashioned combustion engine.
Ran on fossil fuels.
Fossil fuels? Rotting plants and dead dinosaurs.
Ew.
Is this what Earth used to be like? No.
This was way before the Great Migration started, and from what I've read, Earth was getting crowded.
We would never have had the road to ourselves.
[SCOFFS.]
I can only imagine how Pilar would have lived back then.
Like, the Internet had just begun.
No datastream.
And if you wanted to know something, you'd have to go to a library and look it up in a book.
- That would take forever.
- Right.
And, and, and the traditional way to greet a friend was [CLEARS THROAT.]
"Wassup?" [BOTH LAUGH.]
You know, I've never been on a date before.
As a slave on Adar, I was created to only serve my masters.
I'm so sorry you had to live like that.
Yes and no.
I wouldn't exist at all if it weren't for the Adari.
Well, I hope our date is living up to your expectations.
Thank you.
[LAUGHS.]
Mm, this is fun.
But I'm still not sure what it has to do with us having a sexual relationship.
[LAUGHS.]
Okay there is more to a relationship than just sex.
It's about enjoying everything about each other and feeling our souls connecting.
You feel it too, don't you? I'm honestly not sure.
[LAUGHS.]
Hey.
Wait, wait, where are you going? Emergency evac.
These are cadets, trainees, and you've invited them into a hotbed of virulent infection.
- Commander Duvall - We are not taking them with us.
We are sending a properly equipped medivac team.
Tell them.
Go on, tell them it's too late.
Too late for what? You can't leave.
The infection is airborne.
Ever since you arrived, you've been infected.
In just a few hours' time, we'll all be like him.
[HISSES.]
[DEVICE CHIMES.]
Commander Duvall, I'm sorry.
You're also positive for infection.
Pilar? We're under full quarantine.
Under no circumstances should you break seal, no matter what happens in here.
If things get ugly then you retreat to Earth.
I will not leave you all behind.
[XANDER.]
That's an order, Pilar.
In two hours, there might not be anyone left to leave behind.
Duvall out.
Jax, you're next to get tested.
[BENNINGS.]
This is all a waste of time.
We already know the results.
Is there any way to synthesize an antidote to reverse the infection? Well, yeah, that's what I've been trying to do.
I just need to get to my lab so I can continue my work.
There is no cure.
Guys, I found something.
Ralen's sample is negative.
No infection detected.
They know something.
What are you not telling us? I am not infected because I am Zatarian? Is that it? Yes.
Yeah.
It's It's your Zatarian blood.
Its makeup differs from that of humans.
So it responds to certain strains, bacterias, in very different ways.
[MAGDA.]
It's true.
Different species respond differently to pathogens.
Look, if you survive, the less you know, the better.
Pilar, I need you to get on the datastream and find out everything you can about this outpost.
The entire research outpost is off the grid.
It's completely severed from the datastream.
It's like it doesn't even exist.
Pilar, what if I were able to network you over a local node onsite.
Could you hack the mainframe's encryption protocols? You already know the answer.
It's a private stream.
Government-level encryption.
Top-level security.
You'll never Clearly, you've never met Pilar, Doctor.
No.
Jax.
I'll go.
I'm in command.
It's my responsibility.
[COUGHS.]
In your condition, you'll never make it.
It's not your responsibility to get yourself killed Commander.
I will go with her.
Fine.
But watch your backs.
Watch your fronts.
You can't hack the mainframe if you're dead.
Atria? Thomas.
What the hell are you doing? What do you mean? I thought we were dating.
What are you doing with that guy? Oh, Thomas, he's got nothing to do with you.
I'd really like to date again.
Oh.
Okay, Atria, whoa.
This This is not how I roll.
I want to be in a relationship with you, one-on-one.
Thomas, please.
I do care about your feelings, but just try to understand.
Soul connection or not, sex for me is just a biological function.
A pleasurable one that I've enjoyed fulfilling with men, women, and many other alien species.
Not counting my time on Adar, sex has almost always been just an enjoyable function.
And with you, it's been a really enjoyable one.
Oh, yeah, just what every man wants to be.
An enjoyable function.
You know, my dad can read minds.
But me, I read emotions.
And I know what you're feeling.
More importantly, what you're not feeling.
I get it.
[SIGHS.]
I thought I could change you, but I guess not.
Pilar [OVER COMM.]
Keep going.
You're only a few meters away - from the mainframe vault.
- Pilar, we're in.
I've activated a local network hub.
Can you access a local node now? Attempting to establish a connection.
They weren't kidding, Jax.
This is some major league encryption.
This is no ordinary research outpost.
Can you break it? - It's not working.
- It has to work, Pilar.
Xander doesn't have much time left.
I know.
I'm trying, okay? Pilar, can you hear me? Pilar, can you hear me? Answer me.
Pilar, are you all right? Do you copy? Pilar! [ELECTRICITY CRACKLING.]
[SNARLS.]
I've run the simulation ten times.
Everything tells me the antidote should work, but it's not.
There's something they're not telling us, sir.
[JAX.]
Pilar, can you hear me? Answer me.
- Pilar.
- [GASPS.]
It's okay, Jax.
I'm all right.
Unfortunately, you're not.
What is it? This isn't an EarthCom research outpost.
It's a classified biochemical weapons facility owned by Parallax Galactic.
What kind of weapons? [RALEN.]
Jax you need to see this.
Oh, my God, Ralen.
They're all Zatarian.
Yes.
Oh, Thomas.
Hi.
Hey.
Do you [LAUGHS.]
do you want to maybe get together and study tonight? Maybe we can work on our stellar cartography homework and watch the stars together.
Yeah, I finished that last night.
Oh.
That's cool.
Maybe we can get together anyway.
No, I have other plans tonight.
Thomas, I Look, I want to be with you and only you.
It's not crazy to expect the same thing.
But you're just not capable of that, so [SIGHS.]
Look, I I have to go.
Sorry.
Thomas, wait Please.
How could you experiment on the Zatarians? You're supposed to be doctors.
You swore an oath to do no harm.
They were already dead when we got them.
What were you doing with them? Don't tell them.
Answer her question.
[BENNINGS.]
You're under orders.
It's classified.
Wipe out the Zatarians.
That was the objective.
One, aggressive, lethal infection that humans wouldn't be susceptible to, and that also would not appear to not be responsible for.
The irony is, Zatarian biology is similar to humans, but strangely responded differently to our pathogens.
Our attempts had the opposite results.
Now, the only ones in danger of being wiped out are humans.
I should kill you where you stand for what you tried to do to my people.
Stand down, Ralen.
Did Pilar manage to penetrate the mainframe network? Yes.
We have a bigger, more immediate problem.
This entire facility is owned by Parallax.
They have a ship en route here as we speak.
[CHUCKLES SOFTLY.]
Well, that's no rescue ship.
That's a cleanup ship.
They'll recover whatever research they want to keep, and then they'll incinerate this entire outpost from orbit.
Including us.
If the infection doesn't get us first that Parallax ship will.
[DEVICE BEEPING.]
You said Zatarian biology was unaffected by the pathogen, right? More than being unaffected, Ralen's blood cells seem to be outright killing the infection.
I think what you've been missing this whole time is a living, breathing Zatarian sample.
It appears the only good Zatarian is not always a dead Zatarian after all.
It's possible the antibodies in Zatarian blood may be what we need to potentially reverse the infection.
[COUGHS.]
You set out to end all Zatarians, and now only a Zatarian can save you from ending yourself.
Who says the universe doesn't have a perverse sense of humor? [NORRIS.]
I still need to get to the main lab, and then maybe we can synthesize a cure.
I did not say I would give my blood.
You wished to commit genocide against my entire race.
And now you expect me to save you.
Xander [COUGHS.]
you need to order him to give his blood.
Otherwise, we all die here.
Then we all die.
It's his choice.
I can't make it for him.
[DEVICE BEEPS.]
I think I found something, Commander.
I just ran the infection test again, and I can't explain it.
I thought it was a mistake at first, but Jax's sample is also negative.
No infection detected.
[SIGHS.]
There's no sign of anything.
No no infection.
She's in perfect health.
How is that even possible? If we had longer, I could study the bloods further.
But for now we can just say it's a miracle.
Call it whatever you want.
We don't have time to worry about this.
A Parallax ship is en route to vaporize this place.
Your blood, your call, Ralen.
We're with the commander.
We support whatever you decide to do.
I will assist you because you are my friends.
And it's what any honorable commander would do.
But I do not have to like it.
Jax Jax neither you nor Ralen are infected.
[COUGHS.]
You don't have to do this.
Just be here when we get back.
Is that an order, cadet? You bet your ass it is.
I don't have much time left myself.
I need your scientists to come with us and help me in the lab.
On it, sir.
[BONES CREAKING.]
[SNARLS.]
[ROARS.]
You need to go.
Now! Okay, just a bit further to the lab, up the stairs.
- [ROARS.]
- [ALL SCREAM.]
Okay, let's go.
Let's go.
- Let's run! - [ALL SCREAM.]
[SNARLING AND HISSING.]
Here.
In here.
Let's go, let's go.
We got to go! Come on! Go! We have to stop firing on them.
If we synthesize an antidote, we could save them too.
We could have cured him.
I consider him cured.
Go.
Go.
Run.
[ALARM BLARING DISTANTLY.]
[GASPS.]
- [SHUSHING.]
- [STEAM HISSING.]
[BREATHING HEAVILY.]
[DOOR CLOSES.]
Okay, Ralen.
- How long will this take? - Well, once we get started, the Fractionator will need 60 seconds to complete a full synthesis.
[SIGHS.]
Pilar, talk to me.
You find anything? Yes.
A self-destruct protocol.
Built into the facility for an emergency cover-up.
Yeah, and we can destroy it all before Parallax get their hands on anything.
Pilar as soon as that Parallax ship is in the system, initiate self-destruct [WHEEZING BREATH.]
whether the rest of us are out or not.
[COMPUTERS BEEPING.]
[MAGDA BREATHING HEAVILY.]
[MACHINERY WHIRRING.]
That thing have a volume switch? Unfortunately not.
[MACHINERY WHINING.]
[WHISPERING.]
Oh, my God.
[PANTING.]
[YELPS.]
No, you've got to wait.
They're coming! Aah! You got to hold them off! It's almost done.
[PANTING.]
Okay, stop.
[SCREAMS.]
[MAGDA.]
Watch out! [ROARS.]
[SNARLING.]
Ralen.
[SOBS.]
- [POUNDING ON DOOR.]
- The cure it's gone! Not all of it.
- Cadet Coy? - [DOOR CLOSES.]
Jax? Where's Cadet Coy? [XANDER COUGHS.]
In case there are any immediate adverse affects, I need to go first.
And then Dr.
Norris.
If anything happens don't hesitate to put me down.
[COUGHS.]
[SYRINGE WHIRS.]
Cheers.
[GROANS.]
How long does it take to work? How do we even know if it's working? [GASPS AND PANTS.]
It's working.
It's working.
Pilar fire up those engines.
We're getting the hell out of Dodge.
Now it's your turn, Dr.
Norris? I don't think so.
I only managed to save enough antidote for one person.
Who knows? Maybe there's a modicum of forgiveness waiting for me on the other side.
Perhaps there is.
[PLAYING.]
[CLAPS.]
[BOTH CHUCKLE.]
I thought you would be more upset.
There's no profit in peace.
We always need an enemy.
And the Zatarians play their role all too well.
Nonetheless, the Adari will be disappointed that their little science project to annihilate the Zatarians failed.
I assume you want to tell the Seeker yourself? That zealot is of no concern to me.
If Captain Jaworski's Intel about Tiaga proves accurate, then every government in the civilized worlds will be beholden to us Hmm.
Or risk annihilation.
So how was the little training mission? We are forbidden to speak of it.
Hmm.
Classified.
Top secret.
Very hush-hush, huh? Something like that.
Yeah.
What else is new? So, what's up with you and Atria? Also classified.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
I'm sorry, Wendall, but we are not having intercourse anymore.
"Wassup?" [BOTH LAUGH.]
Aww.
Excuse me.
[SIGHS.]
Drinking alone? [LAUGHS.]
Yeah.
The military man in me knows that casualties are a part of the job.
- It - It sucks.
I know.
I've been working alone for a really long time, and working with a team is is different.
You start to feel incredibly responsible for the people under your command.
You start to care for them, and so To Magda and Avar.
- [GLASSES CLINK.]
- Magda and Avar.
And Greg.
And Greg.
You know, you're a leader, Jax.
You inspire people around you.
Your friends over there, they would follow you until the ends of the galaxy.
I mean, they've only known you a short while, and yet you can bet they would give any sacrifice necessary for you.
Greg certainly did.
Don't.
You need to be on Command Track, Jax.
And believe me when I say that you have no idea what's in store for you.
Why didn't I get infected? I wish I knew.
Have a good night, Jax.