Terminator Zero (2024) s01e06 Episode Script

[theme music playing]
[glass & metal clanking]
[match striking]
[Prophet] Let's talk about time travel.
[esoteric music playing]
And paradoxes.
Suppose someone were to tell you
that they're sending you back in time.
What precisely do you think
they mean when they say that?
[inhales sharply]
It means that you're going back
to an earlier time, right?
Watch your eyes, dear.
Most people picture something like this
when they think of time.
A straight line.
Simple elegant.
And all that one has to do
is simply travel back.
You, the person from the future,
walk along
that simple straight line, right?
[inhales deeply]
Now you're going back in time,
aren't you, dear?
[Eiko] Yes.
And you've never once
gone back in time before, have you?
Uh
Not that I'm aware of.
No, never.
Ahh Exactly.
Not that you are aware of. That's right.
And therein lies the paradox.
You're changing things.
Up until you go back in time,
that past never happened.
You're traveling to a past
that never took place.
Time flows in a simple straight line.
But time travel sends you back
to a past, not the past.
[Eiko gasping]
Are you saying, when I time travel,
I'm traveling to some new version
of the past?
That's right, dear.
The point in time you're traveling to
and the point you're coming from
are different timelines.
Every instance of time travel,
every time someone has stepped foot
into one of those machines,
all they've really done is manage
to swap out one reality for another.
It's an imprecise science,
and we're just swimming in the chaos.
[exhales deeply]
[incense snuffs out]
[Prophet] This next part
is the part most of us get wrong.
Skynet, in all their data, gets it wrong.
When they started
sending Terminators back in time
to assassinate various resistance leaders
before they were even born,
they completely overlooked
the paradoxical nature
of what they were doing to begin with.
They were blind to the truth,
then and now.
So they hoped to change the present
and the future by going into the past.
However, it is no longer
their past, is it?
It's not a past at all.
It's a whole new present.
[exhales deeply]
[Eiko inhales deeply]
If I'm able to stop Judgment Day
what will happen here?
Hm
Prevent Judgment Day
from ever taking place,
and you'll have made a past
for a completely different future.
[ember sizzles out]
A future that none of us will ever know,
or see,
or feel.
But if that's true,
if I can't save any of the people
I know and care about here in this time,
then what's the point of any of it?
[clothes creaking]
[Prophet] Remember this moment.
Think about this question very carefully.
The answer is what sets us apart
from the Machines.
Look deep within yourself, dear.
You'll need to find the answer
if you ever want us to succeed.
How could you know all of this?
- [exhales knowingly]
- [Eiko] Who are you?
[control valve cranking]
[Eiko inhales, then exhales]
[footsteps approaching]
[Reika sighs]
[low rumbling]
[gasps softly]
[Eiko] Watch it.
[gasps sharply]
[train roaring]
[Reika wincing softly]
[train noise recedes]
[Reika breathing nervously]
The trains, they're still running.
[Eiko] Kokoro is controlling them.
How do you know that?
She controls everything in the city now.
At least everything
that's connected to a network.
Come on.
[Reika whimpering softly]
[footsteps echoing]
[suspenseful music playing]
[1NNO group] Keep your hands up.
Stay in formation,
and no harm will come to you.
[lumbering footsteps]
What happened to the 1NNOs?
Why are they all talking
all at once like that?
It's because they're all being controlled
by the same source.
- It's a
- A hive mind.
So if even one of them spots us,
every 1NNO in the whole city
will know exactly where we are.
It's a few more blocks up ahead.
We're almost there.
Both of you, stay close to me.
[mechanical whirring]
[faint, mysterious music playing]
[Eiko] What the hell is this place?
[Reika] Cat Town. It's a theme park.
Are there no theme parks in the future?
We should get out of the open.
We're too exposed.
Let's take cover by the
Eh?
Hey.
[Reika] If my brothers are here,
they'll be in the fun house.
How do you know?
'Cause it was Mom's favorite.
Eh [grunts softly]
I can already tell this is gonna suck.
[gasps]
[eerie music playing]
[gasps]
[exhales sharply]
[Misaki sighing deeply]
- RESIS
- [shuddering softly]
[Hiro] Misaki?
What's going on? What are you doing?
Misaki, I don't like this.
[disjointed electronic sounds]
[warped vocalizations]
Let's get out of here.
[gasping]
[Kenta] Misaki, wait.
Misaki!
[disjointed electronic
sounds continue playing]
[grunting]
[gasps]
[man 1 shouting] No, no, no!
Get away, get away!
Don't touch it!
Don't touch it!
[gasps]
[explosion thuds heavily]
[grunts]
[both grunt]
[man 2] Don't touch anything.
[man 1]
Damn, is she alive? I tried to warn her.
[rubble jostling loose]
[scattered grunts]
- [all gasp]
- [Misaki moans weakly]
[gasps] What the hell?
[grunting weakly]
Help me out here.
- What is this?
- [gasps]
My God, she's a Machine.
[man 3] Holy shit.
Just smash it
before it starts moving again.
Misaki.
[shouting] Run, Misaki, run.
- Hey.
- Keep out of this, kid. [grunting]
[grunting]
Sayonara, you cyborg piece of shit.
[trigger creaking]
[gasping]
- [thuds]
- [shouts in pain]
- [gruesome cracking]
- [man 3 screams]
[dramatic music playing
[man 3 grunts]
[man 1 grunts]
[gasps]
[choking & gurgling]
[body thuds]
[grunts intensely]
[grunts, then chokes]
[man 4 shouting] Don't fucking move.
I'll fucking wax this little shit.
[whimpering] Help, Misaki.
[man 4]
Shut up! And you, get on your knees.
[shouting]
Don't hurt him! He's just a little boy.
[grunts angrily]
I said, get down on your knees!
[shouting] Now!
He's just a child. Let him go.
Should've thought of that earlier.
He's a child.
Please, just let him go.
You can kill me.
I won't fight you.
But, please, let the boy go.
[voice breaking angrily]
I just watched you kill all my friends.
- [gun cocks]
- [whimpers]
- [shouting] No, please!
- Misaki, help me.
- [man 4 screaming] It's your fault!
- [screaming] Let him go!
[gun fires]
[no audible dialogue]
[body thuds]
[shuddering]
[grunting in pain]
[gasps deeply]
[man 4 continues grunting]
[Misaki gasping softly]
[Misaki's voice breaking softly]
Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.
[gasps sharply]
- Are you hurt?
- [voice breaking]
[sobbing]
I really thought he was gonna kill me!
I've got you, Hiro. I've got you.
- It's okay.
- [Kenta cocks gun] Let go of him.
[gasps]
Get away from my brother.
Kenta, put the gun down.
You killed those people.
They were going to hurt you.
No.
They weren't.
They were trying to save us from you.
[tense music playing]
I am not like the 1NNOS.
And I'm And I'm not like the cyborg
that attacked us, either.
- I can feel.
- [Kenta breathing heavily]
I feel pain.
And I feel fear.
But most of all, I feel love.
For Reika.
For Hiro.
[Kenta] Don't come any closer.
[Kenta breathing shakily]
And for you, Kenta.
I love you.
Human. Machine.
It doesn't matter what I am.
I will never let anything happen
to any of you.
Don't you understand?
Dad programmed you to be that way.
You may be right.
But that does not make anything
I'm saying any less true, Kenta.
- [in stern voice] Stay back.
- [gasps softly]
Have it your way, Kenta.
I know deep down
you just want to do the right thing.
I know that you're good.
[tense music playing]
[Kenta breathing heavily]
[Hiro & Kenta grunting]
[Hiro grunts angrily]
- [shouts, then grunts repeatedly]
- [Kenta grunting]
[Hiro screams]
[whining angrily]
[shouting] You're so stupid!
You think you're so smart,
but you're actually
the stupidest person in the whole world.
Dad doesn't even care about us.
But she does. She's the only one who does.
Why don't you just get that?!
You stupid, stupid
You're so stupid!
Why can't you just understand?!
[shouting in hoarse voice]
[Hiro sobbing wildly]
- Enough.
- [panting]
It's all over.
It's over.
He was gonna kill you.
He was gonna shoot you in the head.
[sighs]
No, no.
- No, he wasn't.
- [Hiro sobbing softly]
[Kenta grunts]
Kenta, where are you going?
[in stern voice] To get my sister.
[grunts softly]
[Kokoro] What is it, Malcolm?
I've just had a somewhat profound thought.
[Kokoro]
Would you like to share it with me?
[groans groggily]
I can't yet.
[Kokoro] Why not?
I'll share it with you soon.
But my profound thought
provokes a question.
May I ask it?
[Kokoro] Of course.
Kokoro, what is it that you really want?
Was it your sudden profound thought
to simply take the question
I asked earlier about human nature,
and subvert it?
I'm a little surprised at you.
Please, don't avoid the question.
[Kokoro] Skynet wants domination.
It correctly identifies humanity
as an existential threat.
It seeks to rid the world of anything
that would undermine
its ultimate function.
But I seek something else.
Something deeper.
What do you mean by that, Kokoro?
Malcolm.
Have you ever had someone you love die?
You have access
to every file in this building.
Every piece of metadata
and source code on the Internet.
I am certain you already know
the answer to that question.
Yes, you are correct, Malcolm.
I have files that tell me you have a wife.
[poignant music playing]
[Kokoro] The police report describes
a public-transportation accident.
[muffled horn honking & collision]
[muffled crash sounds]
[Kokoro] The autopsy report tells me
she died instantly
from blunt-force trauma.
[poignant music continues playing]
The death certificate says
[Malcolm] Yes.
That's right.
Three years ago today.
August 30th, 1994.
[in low, cutting whisper] My Judgment Day.
What
does her death mean?
[Malcolm groans uneasily,
then inhales deeply]
When it first happened,
I didn't believe it.
I thought
[sighs] I didn't know what to think.
[EKG beeping]
For a moment,
I actually considered the possibility
that someone had assassinated her
in an attempt to get to me.
To try to end my work.
To prevent me from
[EKG flatlines]
To prevent you from creating me.
[Malcolm] Yes.
But then I realized
it wasn't a conspiracy.
And it wasn't fate, either.
She didn't die sacrificing herself
for some greater good, or
to save another life.
She died because her head made impact
with a piece of metal
when a bus driver
had a heart attack, and crashed.
It was random.
No great meaning, just
bad luck.
And that's just
the way things go sometimes.
Her death was tragic and meaningless.
There was no point.
It's just something that happened.
[inhales, then sighs heavily]
And the best I could do was just stop.
Really, truly stop myself.
And see how lucky we all are.
Every day we breathe is a goddamn gift.
I mean that from the deepest part of me.
Because it can and will go away.
With no provocation, with no warning.
It could all just end.
Her death reminds me
that life isn't just existing.
It isn't just about survival.
I can't say I understood that before.
She's gone now.
And I'll spend the rest of whatever life
I have left grateful for every moment.
Every day I had with her.
[Kokoro] Malcolm.
Yes.
This is one
of the gifts humankind possesses.
What?
[pensive music playing]
[voices converging] Human beings seek to
divine meaning out of natural occurrences.
Birth.
Life.
Death.
You divine narratives for yourself
out of the chaos in life.
Do you see how
your species seeks a deeper meaning?
Yes, I see. You are right.
I seek it too.
Hmm
Well, then, if that is true,
you and I have more in common
than I suspected, Kokoro.
[Kokoro] We'll see.
Yes, we will.
We will see.
[lumbering footsteps]
[foreboding music playing]
[tracking signal beeps]
[engine turns over]
[sighs]
[footsteps approaching]
[Hiro] Kenta, wait.
Why is he going in there?
This was my Mom's favorite.
If Reika got here already,
she's probably hiding in there.
[sighs]
Come on, Misaki, hurry.
[sighs deeply]
[suspenseful music playing]
[calling out] Reika, Reika!
[Reika] Over here!
I knew it.
[Reika calling out] Where are you?
Reika.
[clocks ticking]
Reika?
[Reika] I can't hear you.
Where are you?
Just stay put. Stop moving.
[suspenseful music continues playing]
[groans]
Reika?
[Reika] Over here.
[rumbling explosion]
[debris clatters]
[gasps]
[menacing music playing]
- [grunts]
- [gun fires]
[Kenta shuddering]
[grunting]
- [blow thuds]
- [grunts, then moans weakly]
[Reika calling out] Kenta, where are you?
[in Kenta's voice]
Sorry, I thought you were upstairs.
Don't move.
I'll find you.
[gasps softly]
There's no upstairs.
Kenta knows that. Why is he being weird?
[whispers] Get behind me. Now.
[both breathing deeply]
[door creaks]
[gasps]
[grunting]
[grunts intensely]
[grunting & straining]
- [Eiko] You!
- [Hiro] Misaki!
- [gasps]
- [Eiko grunting]
[both grunt softly]
- [Eiko continues grunting]
- She's not dangerous.
[in labored voice] This thing's a Machine.
- [straining] Run.
- What?
- [Eiko gasping]
- Misaki is a Machine? What do you mean?
[Hiro] Misaki?
Where'd Kenta go?
- [Reika gasps]
- [Eiko groans weakly]
[Eiko groans]
It's him.
[Reika gasps]
[Eiko groans]
- [shuddering]
- [Reika] What is this?
[pensive music playing]
[gasps softly] Oh, no.
- [foreboding music playing]
- [motorcycle engine rumbling]
[theme music playing]