The Peripheral (2022) s01e07 Episode Script
The Doodad
1
I look at you and all this
It's just so different
from where I live.
[JACKMAN] Thomas, we'll need
you to take some time off.
That man is loose on my watch, sir.
All that's gonna get sorted;
I'm gonna see to it myself.
[ELECTRICAL CRACKLING]
Maybe you and I could come
to some sort of understanding.
And I offer something in exchange.
No plan. No intel. No recon.
[WHIRRING]
Inspector Ainsley Lowbeer,
Metropolitan Police.
[SCREAMS]
♪
- [WATER RUNNING]
- [BOYGENIUS: "ME & MY DOG"]
I never said I'd be all right ♪
Just thought I could
hold myself together ♪
When I couldn't breathe, I went outside ♪
Don't know why I thought
it'd be any better ♪
I'm fine now ♪
It doesn't matter ♪
I didn't ♪
♪
Is anyone out here?
Something wrong, Ms. Fisher?
Reece, honey.
I think I might need you
to take me to the doctor.
- You want me to call Burton
- No, no, no.
I don't want to worry them.
I'm sure it's fine.
Let's just go, you and me.
- Uh
- It's okay, hon.
Promise. I'll talk to 'em
once once we get back.
Uh, my truck's on the drive.
I'm afraid I'll need your help, Reece.
I, uh
I can't seem to
I'm blind again.
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
[LOWBEER] Dear me.
It seems your life has taken
some decidedly unexpected turns
in the past week or so, young lady.
Yes, ma'am.
[LOWBEER] And now what?
Do you have a plan?
Or do you just intend
to keep parrying blows as they land,
hoping for the best?
Um
Well, I know what I'd
like to do, Beatrice.
I'd like to stretch my legs a bit.
- Get some fresh air.
- [BEATRICE] Yes, ma'am.
[LOWBEER] Now, please
don't take this wrong,
Mr. Zubov, but
you've chosen an extremely oppressive
decorative scheme here.
[CHUCKLES]
Well, then, Inspector.
Would you prefer the garden?
I'd prefer to leave
altogether. And take these three
young visitors with me, so we can finish
our little chat alfresco, as they say.
- Shall we?
- [FLYNNE] Um,
not to be disrespectful,
but I'd feel a whole
lot more comfortable
if Wilf could join us.
How sweet. [CHUCKLES]
You've already made a friend here.
Now be a sport, then, Mr. Netherton.
Do join us.
[ELLA] I'm sorry to burst in on you
like this without an
appointment, Dee Dee.
It's always a pleasure to see you, Ella,
appointment or not. Reece,
would you mind helping her up?
Yeah, sure. This way.
- There you go.
- Thank you.
So, what's troubling you?
Mind if I wait outside, Mrs. Fisher?
Oh, of course not, hon.
- Right.
- Oh, Reece, would you tell
Liz to go ahead and
take her lunch break?
Yeah, sure.
[DOOR CREAKS]
So
how are you feeling?
Aren't you supposed to be on
some sort of sick leave, Tommy?
Yeah. But I realized
I never followed up on
the evidence I collected
from that incident on the bridge.
Just, uh, wanted to make sure
it was all cataloged properly.
And what evidence would that be?
Weaponry the old man was carrying.
Which was what, exactly?
Well, he had a-a Glock, if I recall.
And this, uh, other doodad.
Looked a little like a flashlight.
Oh, a "doodad," huh?
That bear any resemblance
to a thingamabob?
Was anything taken into evidence?
- After that SUV hit me?
- The one you claim
was invisible, you mean?
- What are you doing?
- Calling Dee Dee.
So she can take you
You've been knocked sideways, Tommy.
Hard.
You need to lie down in a dark room
with ice on your head and
a cold beer in your hand.
You answer my question, Gladys,
and I will get right on that.
Promise.
Nothing was put into evidence
except your totaled cruiser.
No Glocks.
No "doodads."
No old man, for that matter.
Just you and your wrecked car, Tommy.
Now go home.
Before I call Sheriff Jackman
so he can tell you the same damn thing,
in a less loving manner.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[FLYNNE] What is this?
[LOWBEER] A Met Police
training facility.
- We call it The Zoo.
- Why?
It's where the animals come to play.
Completely secure from any potential
R.I. surveillance or interference.
Or Klept, for that matter.
You two and Beatrice are
going to have some fun.
You're going to climb to the
How many floors do you think
they can manage, Beatrice?
Let's try eight.
Feeling ambitious, are we?
All right, then.
Eighth floor.
Unlike Miss Fisher,
you're new to these bodies.
This exercise should
get you up to speed.
What?
[LOWBEER] This is where
our Met Koids are tested.
Think of it as something
like what your sister believed
she was playing when
she first came here.
A sim, I think you call it?
Follow Beatrice. She'll
explain everything.
- Well, can I go, too?
- Not this time, dear.
I have a different test for you.
Shall we sit?
[BEATRICE] It's fairly
straightforward, gentlemen.
We advance from floor to floor,
killing or disabling
everything we encounter.
Until we reach the roof.
What happens there?
- [BEATRICE] A surprise.
- [BURTON] What kind?
[BEATRICE] A surprise
is generally defined
as "an unexpected event."
Do you need me to define "unexpected"?
[CONNER CHUCKLES]
Don't take this the wrong way, ma'am.
But are you, like human?
Why do you ask?
Well, you don't seem too concerned
about potential bodily harm here.
That's very kind of you
to inquire, Lance Corporal.
Let's just say I'm special.
By which I mean you should
worry about yourselves
in the coming adventure.
Let me worry about me.
[BURTON] We get weapons?
Only what you can claim on the way.
Shall we?
[CONNER] You got night vision, dude.
How?
Tongue to palate. Just like our haptics.
[WHIRRING]
[GRUNTING]
Well, that wasn't so bad.
Are you good with numbers?
Top of the class, baby.
How many assailants
did we encounter here?
Six?
There will be 12 on the next floor.
Eighteen on the one
after that. And so on.
Forty-eight up top?
Only if you make it that far.
[BURTON] What are these?
Your basic Koid Series 24-A.
Modified, of course,
for the task at hand.
- What's a Koid?
- A robot. Bipedal.
Eyes are human.
Only for verisimilitude's sake.
Speed, intensity, and
violence of action.
Your unit's motto, if I'm not mistaken.
And?
A little more speed might
be nice here, gentlemen.
Most of our trainees are already
clearing the third floor by now.
♪
Yeah, Gladys.
A fucking doodad.
[POWERING UP]
[PHONE RINGING AND BUZZING]
[TOMMY] Sheriff?
[JACKMAN] Tommy, where are you?
I, uh
Whatever you're doing,
I need you to drop it.
Need you to come over
here to Corbell Pickett's.
- Thought I was on leave, sir.
- You were.
I just canceled it. Stop
talking and get your ass in gear.
We got a situation on
our hands over here.
I need you to help me fix it.
Copy that.
[EXHALES]
[SOFT GROAN]
[BOB GROANING]
Oh, Lord. I'm hurt. I'm hurt bad.
Hello?
Help me.
I'm hurt real bad.
Are you okay?
[GRUNTING]
[GUNSHOT]
[DEE DEE] Call Tommy.
Dee Dee? What's happening?
[LINE RINGING]
[BOTH GRUNTING]
- [TOMMY] I'm unavailable to take your call.
- [DEE DEE] Dammit, Tommy.
- Pick up.
- Leave a message.
I'll return it at my
earliest convenience.
[PANTING]
[GRUNTING]
That's it. That's it. Yeah. That's it.
That's it.
That's it. There you go.
There you go.
[CHOKING]
[BOB EXHALES]
[PANTING]
[WHISPERS] Fuck's sake.
[GROANS]
Motherfucker.
Reece?
Anyone else here?
What's happening? What's going on?
Tell me, Dee Dee, what is going on?
[BOB] Hey. I need you to calm her down.
Or you're both gonna get shot.
[DEE DEE] It's all right.
I'm right here.
- Where's Reece? Why isn't he answering
- Shh.
He just
stepped outside.
[BOB] Sit. Both of you.
On your hands.
[BOB GRUNTS]
[CHIMES]
[SOFT GRUNT]
[QUIETLY] It's him, isn't it?
Who?
The man from the bridge.
[BOBB] I don't mean to be rude, ma'am.
But you need to shut your mouth.
And keep it shut.
[SPEAKING ENCRYPTED LANGUAGE]
Did you notice?
She sampled our fucking DNA.
How else could she be sure
we're who we claim to be?
We could bloody sample hers.
And be renditioned.
I've never met a senior
police officer before.
A rather extraordinary individual.
They're all like that, unfortunately.
There are
Himself?
Yes, sir?
[LEV] I need you to access
the Peripheral's point of view.
I want to know what they're discussing.
I'm afraid I can't do that, Mr. Zubov.
Or won't, rather.
[LEV] Excuse me?
[ASH] The inspector would
know if we were to attempt it.
Just as she very likely knows
that we're having this
rather misguided conversation.
He just ask what I think he did?
[SPEAKING ENCRYPTED LANGUAGE]
If we were smart, we'd be packing.
We'd be gone.
We leave, this was all for nothing.
We'd lose access to the stub
and what's inside the girl.
I'm not sure it's worth dying for, luv.
And I'm not sure I can live
with having run away from it.
How about you?
Are you steady, Ossian?
Yes. I'm fucking steady.
Well, Miss Fisher, the Aunties
have managed to track down
some rather interesting information.
The Aunties?
[LOWBEER] The Met's
data-sorting algorithms.
Busy little bees, buzzing about.
I imagine you'll be happy to learn that
your friend, Mr. Penske,
didn't lose his limbs
in my own timeline.
But that would mean
that-that Texas
[LOWBEER] That the R.I.
must've opened the stub
at least a decade earlier
than you've all been assuming.
As such, significant divergences
have already been occurring
in our two time lines,
the most disturbing of
which is the Jackpot.
It appears to be happening at an
accelerated rate in your world.
My assumption is the R.I. is driving
this process intentionally.
To what end?
That's a question only
Cherise Nuland can answer.
[FLYNNE] The Texas War?
The secession, did it happen for you?
[LOWBEER] Indeed.
Both Mr. Penske and your
brother went off to fight in it.
But the haptic technology
implanted in their bodies
was decades away from being
developed in my own time line,
so they fought as common soldiers.
A-and Conner didn't get hurt?
[LOWBEER] He survived the war unscathed.
But your brother did not.
What, he got wounded?
Killed.
I thought you said details like this
were impossible to retrieve.
[LOWBEER] And he was
correct, for the most part.
But the Aunties are privy to archives
unavailable to the general public.
Well, what about me?
The data becomes a bit spotty
once the Jackpot takes off.
But it appears you married.
Had two children.
Married who?
Sheriff Thomas Constantine.
I married Tommy?
Indeed. Makes one wonder about
etiquette here, doesn't it?
Whether congratulations are in order?
Now, of course, the
Aunties have told me about
a Flynne Fisher who no longer exists.
But about you, my dear
I know next to nothing.
It's rather refreshing.
I don't suppose you've
had many job interviews?
[FLYNNE] Just Forever Fab.
But it wasn't really a job interview.
Just a drug test.
- But did you pass?
- Of course.
Excellent.
What I mean to say is
let's approach this encounter
as something along those lines.
A getting-to-know-each-other moment.
I'm going to ask a few questions.
Try and answer them as quickly
as you can, without thinking.
Can you do that?
[GRUNTING]
[GRUNTING]
[BOB] A lot of people have
a tough time with it knife work.
You might laugh, but they have these
how-to videos online, you know.
Slashing versus thrusting,
arteries versus organs,
that sort of thing.
In my experience, though,
it's all about speed.
The most amount of holes
in the least amount of time.
Simple as.
When you think about it,
well, that's pretty much
the opposite of how you've
been trained, isn't it?
Which, I imagine, could make
it quite difficult to overcome.
Not to mention the other hurdles,
the "thou shalt not" of it all.
Now, I'd say you'd get
one good swipe, tops,
before I'd open you up like a
What do you call those
What's the difference between
a sieve and a colander?
Are they the same, or what?
[CLATTERS]
[MUFFLED GRUNTING, SHOUTING]
[CONNER WHOOPS]
This is fucking amazing.
I told you, bruh. I'm
moving here. Full-time.
What's the surprise?
The training module
isn't considered complete
until only one of us remains standing.
Surprise.
[GRUNTING]
[LOWBEER] Greatest fear?
[FLYNNE] My mama dying.
[LOWBEER] Greatest strength?
[FLYNNE] That I don't
know when to give up.
- Weakness?
- Same thing.
If you could turn back time,
and have none of this
ever happen, would you?
[FLYNNE] No.
[LOWBEER] If I had the
power to sever the connection
between our two worlds,
would you have me do it?
- No.
- [LOWBEER] Why not?
You thought too long on that one.
Froze up.
It happens.
Can I ask you some questions?
Like the ones you just asked me?
Let's say three, as
though I were a genie.
What's your biggest fear?
The past.
What, like where I'm from?
[LOWBEER] Precisely.
Two down.
One remaining.
Do you actually have that power?
To cut our connection?
I'm sorry, dear, I seem
to have overpromised.
It seems your brother and his
friend are almost finished.
So, I'll say goodbye and Godspeed.
Our next visit, you'll be
more active, I assure you.
[GRUNTING]
[CRACKING]
Shorty
you are fucking amazing.
[CONNER SCREAMS]
[LAUGHING]
- Ooh.
- [BURTON RETCHES]
[WHOOPS]
- [LAUGHING]
- [BURTON] Fucking Christ
You always feel like
this when you come out?
Boy, I'm gonna marry her.
- [LAUGHING]
- Who?
That robot lady. [LAUGHS]
[GROANS]
[PHONE BUZZING]
[CONNER EXHALES]
I can't even read this.
- [FLYNNE] What?
- [EXHALES]
Reece took Mama to Urgent Med.
He said to come right now. Come on.
[GROANS] Oh, fuck. Gimme a sec.
Man the fuck up, Burton. We gotta go.
[TOMMY] Hello?
Sheriff?
♪
[CORBELL] What, exactly,
do you think you understand?
[JACKMAN] That you're upset.
I mean, how could you not
[CORBELL] I don't think "upset"
quite captures the feeling, Davis.
- [JACKMAN] I guess not.
- [SPRINKLER CLACKING]
[CORBELL] What I mean is,
I want to kill someone.
I want to do it with my bare fucking
[WHISPERING] What the
fuck is he doing here?
Holster your weapon, son.
A little late to the party
for it to do any kind of good.
What happened?
Well, that prisoner that you lost?
He turned up here and
killed Mary Pickett.
Stole one of their vehicles.
Mr. Pickett, he, uh
he's pretty bent out of shape
about it, as you can imagine.
Right now, I need you to head
up to the Fisher residence.
I want you to take Burton into custody.
Might as well grab the kid
sister, too, while you're at it.
What do the Fishers got
to do with any of this?
Well, I'm still crossing my T's
and dotting my I's on
that, Tommy. But, uh
how's this sound as a first draft?
Burton and his war buddies,
they've been dipping
their collective toe
into the drug trade.
Seems that they crossed
somebody they shouldn't have.
And that somebody hired a hit man
to come take them out of this world.
Now, you had this hit man character
in your custody, Tommy.
But you lost him.
And he made his way over
here to the Pickett residence,
intent on stealing a car and
making good on his escape.
Killed poor Mary Pickett
rather violently in the process.
How's that sound, buccaneer?
Like you just fucking made it up.
[JACKMAN LAUGHS]
Well, that's what you do when
you're telling a story, Tommy.
You make shit up.
Sort of like what you've been doing
for the last ten or so years.
Pretending you don't know the
way things run around here.
Telling yourself whatever little
fairytale you needed to hear
so you can feel like some sort of
blameless Knight of
the fucking Round Table,
when all the while, you working for me.
Which means you working
for Corbell Pickett.
Trust me, son.
Gonna be a whole lot easier
being honest with yourself.
Takes a frightful amount of energy,
working to stay stone blind
every fucking waking hour.
Now, goddammit, you go get Burton.
Corbell's got some questions
he wants to ask him.
No.
[SIGHS]
[SCOFFS]
Boy, that old man said your life
had reached a fork in the road.
I think he was dead right about that.
Christ almighty, Tommy.
You need me to lay this out for you?
Sure. Sure, you can do
the "right" thing here.
Take Corbell and I down to the station
in handcuffs like two dirt dogs.
And then the three of us,
we're going to present
our stories to the world.
Corbell and I, we're gonna tell a story
about how you tried to blame
others for your failures,
which is what the young
and the feckless often do.
[SIGHS] You want a stick?
You panicked, Tommy.
You made some
un-fucking-believable story up
about how I, Clanton's
four-term elected sheriff,
crashed a invisible
SUV into your cruiser,
made off with your prisoner,
took him over here, turned him loose
at Corbell Pickett's house.
This being the same Corbell Pickett
who employs some 50 to 60%
of the people here in Clanton, mind you.
And then and then,
well, fuck me, Tommy.
Even now I'm getting confused.
You see where I'm going
with this, I assume.
Corbell and I, we get set free
with the sincerest of apologies.
You? At best, you simply lose
your job at the department.
Although there may be some
charges pending on you, too
false arrest and that sort of thing.
[CHUCKLES] Or
there's the other road.
The go-along-to-get-along road.
Where you can keep doing the fine work
you've always done as a lawman.
Maybe even pick up some
other responsibilities, too
with the appropriate
remunerations, of course.
Or you could just try being
adult for a fucking change.
[SIGHS HEAVILY]
You don't have a choice,
Tommy. You see that, right?
Because my story might not be true
it sure as hell sounds true.
It's gonna beat your
story every goddamn time.
So why don't we stop dicking
around with one another,
and you go fetch me Burton Fisher.
Along with that little sister.
[GRUNTING ON VIDEO]
[BEATRICE] As you can
see, they discovered
and utilized their augmentations
with admirable dispatch,
networking to share
visual and aural input.
Which would imply an overlap
with their own rudimentary
haptic implants.
What did you make of them?
Their characters, I mean?
[BEATRICE] Brave. Assertive. Resolute.
The brother is likely the more
predictable and dependable.
But I'd be marginally more inclined
to turn to his friend in a crisis.
Why?
Ma'am?
Well, if the brother is more
predictable and dependable,
why would you turn to the friend?
I'm afraid I lack specific
data on that, Inspector.
The decision was made in
my deep neural network,
below any level of consciousness.
Interesting.
And the young woman?
[LOWBEER] Still an open question.
Which I hope to answer shortly.
What is it?
Cherise Nuland is downstairs,
requesting an audience.
You were expecting her?
I lifted the veil, ever so slightly,
on our visit to the Zubov residence,
allowing us to be
surveilled as we arrived.
But I certainly didn't anticipate
Dr. Nuland to react with such alacrity.
Have her sent up, please.
This should be quite informative.
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
You fucking loser.
How the fuck you gonna live with this?
Huh? I mean
How the fuck you gonna live with this?
[SNIFFLES]
Now what?
We wait.
[DEE DEE] For?
I need to kill two people.
And it would appear that one
of them is on the way here.
You're talking about
my children, aren't you?
Yes, ma'am, I'm afraid I am.
[CHIMES]
[TIRES SCREECHING]
[FLYNNE] Mama's not answering.
- [BURTON] Reece, neither.
- [PHONE CHIMES]
Reece. "Your mother is asking you
to come as quickly as possible."
"Your mother"?
Yeah, that's fucking weird.
Can you link up with him?
- Oh, shit.
- What?
[LEON] I can't get a read on his vitals.
I'm almost tempted to
call the police, Inspector.
The Uncanny Valley
Statute is rather clear
that Peripherals should never operate
as autonomous beings.
Beatrice exists under a
special waiver to the UVS.
Hmm. Of course.
Doesn't look like the R.I.'s handiwork.
- Nice to meet you, Beatrice.
- Pleasure is mine, ma'am.
[CHERISE] Know what's startling?
We've found that a lingering
effect of the Jackpot
is that now the vast majority of Koids
have been modified to resemble
a missing personal connection.
Siblings.
Colleagues.
Not, as a rule, parents.
Which is intriguing, is it?
It's as if there's something natural
about losing a mother or father
that makes it easier for us to accept.
But a child?
A daughter
for instance?
I'm so sorry, Beatrice.
I'm going to have to ask
you to power down now.
And please scrub
the past five minutes from your memory.
Powering down now. Commencing scrub.
Pleased with yourself?
I'm curious. Why keep it a secret?
It would complicate our relationship.
- Yes, I rather suppose it would.
- Why are you here, Doctor?
Something of great value
has been stolen from me.
And I seek redress from the law.
I know you're uneasy with this.
Uneasy?
Fucking terrified is what I am.
[SPEAKING ENCRYPTED LANGUAGE]
It's not just the Klepts
we're crossing here.
There's the Met Police now
too and either one of them
- would end us
- Want me to do it?
You realize what this could mean?
We're the only ones who know.
Aelita knows.
Aelita's dead
Or gone to ground so
thoroughly she might as well be.
This is ours. For the taking.
How do we access the bacteria?
How do we sequence it?
All we'll need to do is hire
someone in the stub to
Himself, luv.
Tell me that won't be
part of the pleasure.
Stealing it right out from
under his arrogant fucking
[LEV] Arrogance is a form of stupidity.
Wouldn't you agree?
It could seem a bit
arrogant, for instance,
to assume that one's
encryption is unbreakable.
Given that, historically,
the supposed impregnability
of any particular code
has always proven
disappointingly short-lived.
Run to Daddy's study.
- Fetch him a knife.
- Which one?
[LEV] Any will do.
I'm in a bit of a quandary here.
Part of me, naturally enough,
wants to destroy both of you.
My inner child, I
suppose you could call it.
Raging. Petulant. Vengeful.
But the part of me with a cooler head
realizes how much I need you.
Your skill set, certainly.
And now, it would
appear, your secrets, too.
Also, I like you.
Well, you, Ash.
Ossian I could take or leave,
depending on my mood. But you
You have a Klept's heart,
whether you realize it or not.
Proud.
Scheming.
Aggressive.
[SPEAKING ENCRYPTED LANGUAGE]
And yes: arrogant.
So it's all a bit up in the air
I fear.
What I should do
[PANTING]
- My favorite.
- Ah!
And it's a beauty, my boy.
May I watch, Daddy?
[LEV] I think not.
Run along to the kitchen.
Nanny's made pudding.
We're very sorry, sir.
Shut up, Ossian.
Tell me what you're up to.
Or I'll kill him. You have ten seconds.
Aelita thought she was working
with the polt's brother.
She planned to download the stolen
R.I. files into his haptic implants.
Storing them in the
stub, in other words,
where they'd be untraceable.
Rather brilliant, I think you'll agree.
Except for the fact it was the
sister piloting the Peripheral.
And the girl doesn't have implants.
So her headset translated
the data into bacterial DNA.
Began to colonize her brain.
What were you hoping
to do with that data?
Sell it to the highest bidder.
I don't believe you.
[GASPS]
[BREATHING SHAKILY]
Give it to the Neoprims.
Why in the fucking hell
would you want to do that?
So they can burn this world down.
And build a new one in its place.
You're a fool.
A romantic fool.
If you try to double-cross me again
I will have no choice
but to carve you up
and feed you to my little beauties.
[GROWLS]
But I do admire the rest of your plan.
Let's proceed, shall we?
[CONSOLE CHIMING]
Every single vector of the Jackpot
was weaponized by the same disruptor.
Human nature.
Now, it might've manifested
itself as selfishness
or venality or simple stupidity,
but at the bottom, it all
amounted to the same trait:
our persistent,
self-destructive resistance
to acting for a collective good.
May I?
Please.
The R.I. was subject to
a critical data breach
a few nights ago, at the
hand of an R.I. employee
and a Peripheral piloted
from within a stub.
The presence of a Zubov associate
at a subsequent crime scene
connected to the breach
points definitively
to Klept involvement.
We have reason to believe
they were targeting
our neural adjustment mechanism,
which, as you know, is a highly
sensitive area of research.
[LOWBEER] So you're telling me
that the data that's
been stolen from you,
it would document the
existence of this mechanism?
- It would.
- And that's what you fear?
Backlash and repudiation,
should knowledge of this become public?
Of course.
But even more so,
a potential hack of the mechanism
to employ it in a less benign manner.
A possibility already
inherent in this technology?
Well
I think you'll agree, Inspector,
that a hammer is a very useful tool.
It can also be a deadly weapon,
in the wrong hands.
I believe you met with
Lev Zubov recently?
I imagine he had quite
an interesting tale
of his recent adventures
in the R.I.'s stub.
"The R.I.'s"? You claim ownership?
Well, I created it, didn't I?
For use as a laboratory
to develop this technology.
I don't imagine I need to tell
you how dangerous it might be
for the Klepts to gain control of it.
What are you asking of me?
Destroy the Zubovs,
Flynne Fisher,
and everyone associated with them.
Both here, and in the stub.
[LAUGHING] You make it sound so simple.
As if I could merely wave a wand.
There's precedent, you'll concede.
The Samsonovs.
Their entire clan
[IMITATES EXPLOSION]
erased from the face of the Earth.
It was quite an awe-inspiring spectacle.
An entirely different situation.
Mm Was it?
Sedition? I should think so.
"Inciting violence
against a lawful authority,
with the intent to overthrow it"?
If I had a hammer ♪
You'll need to absorb and
process this all, obviously.
But you should know: I
only share this with you
because I'm confident
you have the sophistication
and perspicacity
to grasp all that's at stake here.
Come to my lair next time. Hmm?
Tea, if you'd like.
[DOOR CLOSES]
It's for money? What you're doing?
There's money involved.
But that's not why I'm here.
Why, then?
[SIGHS] I have a daughter of my own.
I'd like to keep her alive, if I could.
Someone's threatening to harm her
if you don't kill my children?
In a nutshell.
[ELLA] My mother always said,
"Only a fool sees the
world as either-or."
Which is an admirably simple thought
for simple folks living
in a simple place.
But unfortunately,
none of that's at play
here at the moment.
You imagine there are only two options.
Either your daughter has
to die, or my children will,
and that's the end of it.
You're saying there's another option?
I am.
But I can just listen to you,
to the sound of your voice,
and tell you're not
the man to consider it.
Try me.
You could die.
- [BRAKES SCREECH]
- What the fuck are you doing?
Fuck.
Why are we stopped?
Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
We need to get a read on the situation.
If we don't move now, Mama's
gonna be next. You know that.
There's a killer in
there, just set a trap.
- We rush in, we all die.
- Burton
This is the one fucking
thing I'm good at, Flynne.
So right now, I just need you
to trust me to do it right.
Fuck.
Take these, go that way around the car.
[BOB] Let me get this straight.
So, my not wanting to die
here, that makes me a fool?
Not just a fool.
Cowardly, too.
And selfish.
Selfish to the point of evil.
I'm starting to get the impression
that you don't like me
very much, Mrs. Fisher.
[BURTON OVER EARBUD] You
see the three heat sigs?
And the colder one on the floor?
That's Reece.
[CONNER] So we got Dee Dee,
your mama, and our target.
Which is a little too
eeny-meeny-miny-moe for my taste.
[FLYNNE] He's probably the one
on the right, but I'm not sure.
We got to get him to move.
See if you can link up with Reece again.
- Trigger his ANS.
- [CONNER] Fuck that, Burton.
He'd be connecting to a corpse.
Get the body to twitch,
and maybe the old man
will think Reece is still alive.
He'll try to finish him off,
and then we can tag him.
Bruh, are you hearing
me? Leon would feel it.
Yeah. And Reece would
do the same thing for us,
if he was in our position.
Why the fuck are you two still
talking? Let's get this done.
[BURTON] Flynne, tell us
when the target's clear.
[FLYNNE] It's him. He's moving.
Execute.
[GASPS]
[GROANS]
[GROANING]
Mama?
Oh.
[PANTING]
- Lights out.
- [THREE GUNSHOTS]
I need that old man alive, Davis.
There's some things I want to do to him.
[JACKSON] Oh, I understand, Corbell.
We're gonna do everything
we can. You know that.
She was a real wonderful
woman, Corbell. I can't imagine.
[TOMMY] Think I might've come up
with a pretty good one, Sheriff.
Wanted to run it by you.
Let's say the old man came here.
Killed Mary.
And Mr. Pickett there,
he called the police.
You were first on the scene, Sheriff.
Because even after four terms,
you still take your job seriously.
And we all appreciate that.
Tommy, what in the fuck
- do you think you're doing
- The old man was still here.
Armed with this .45.
And when you drew your own weapon?
Well, he went and shot you.
Multiple times, I'm afraid.
All right, easy. You
need to calm down, Thomas.
I'm already too calm, Sheriff.
That's what's scaring me.
It's like you said.
Ain't got much of a choice, now, do I?
Tommy, don't!
Well, fuck me.
I did not see that coming.
Not by a mile.
Now
that calm you were talking about?
I think you need to lower
your gun until it comes back.
So we can talk this thing through.
Come to an understanding here.
You don't really think
that old man would've
let you live, now, do you?
[CORBELL] What I don't think
is that you have the necessary balls
to pull this off on your own, young man.
[CHUCKLES] Or the bullets.
The fuck's that supposed to be?
Oh, it's a doodad, you
arrogant piece of shit.
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
♪
[CONNER] You die,
- it's for real.
- I die and I save my family.
I want you to kill him.
Wolf!
I'll tell you everything.
Give you my word.
- Deputy. EMTs got a pulse.
- For who?
All we need are the secrets
inside the girl's head.
[BELL CLANGING]
No!
♪
♪
♪
♪
I look at you and all this
It's just so different
from where I live.
[JACKMAN] Thomas, we'll need
you to take some time off.
That man is loose on my watch, sir.
All that's gonna get sorted;
I'm gonna see to it myself.
[ELECTRICAL CRACKLING]
Maybe you and I could come
to some sort of understanding.
And I offer something in exchange.
No plan. No intel. No recon.
[WHIRRING]
Inspector Ainsley Lowbeer,
Metropolitan Police.
[SCREAMS]
♪
- [WATER RUNNING]
- [BOYGENIUS: "ME & MY DOG"]
I never said I'd be all right ♪
Just thought I could
hold myself together ♪
When I couldn't breathe, I went outside ♪
Don't know why I thought
it'd be any better ♪
I'm fine now ♪
It doesn't matter ♪
I didn't ♪
♪
Is anyone out here?
Something wrong, Ms. Fisher?
Reece, honey.
I think I might need you
to take me to the doctor.
- You want me to call Burton
- No, no, no.
I don't want to worry them.
I'm sure it's fine.
Let's just go, you and me.
- Uh
- It's okay, hon.
Promise. I'll talk to 'em
once once we get back.
Uh, my truck's on the drive.
I'm afraid I'll need your help, Reece.
I, uh
I can't seem to
I'm blind again.
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
[LOWBEER] Dear me.
It seems your life has taken
some decidedly unexpected turns
in the past week or so, young lady.
Yes, ma'am.
[LOWBEER] And now what?
Do you have a plan?
Or do you just intend
to keep parrying blows as they land,
hoping for the best?
Um
Well, I know what I'd
like to do, Beatrice.
I'd like to stretch my legs a bit.
- Get some fresh air.
- [BEATRICE] Yes, ma'am.
[LOWBEER] Now, please
don't take this wrong,
Mr. Zubov, but
you've chosen an extremely oppressive
decorative scheme here.
[CHUCKLES]
Well, then, Inspector.
Would you prefer the garden?
I'd prefer to leave
altogether. And take these three
young visitors with me, so we can finish
our little chat alfresco, as they say.
- Shall we?
- [FLYNNE] Um,
not to be disrespectful,
but I'd feel a whole
lot more comfortable
if Wilf could join us.
How sweet. [CHUCKLES]
You've already made a friend here.
Now be a sport, then, Mr. Netherton.
Do join us.
[ELLA] I'm sorry to burst in on you
like this without an
appointment, Dee Dee.
It's always a pleasure to see you, Ella,
appointment or not. Reece,
would you mind helping her up?
Yeah, sure. This way.
- There you go.
- Thank you.
So, what's troubling you?
Mind if I wait outside, Mrs. Fisher?
Oh, of course not, hon.
- Right.
- Oh, Reece, would you tell
Liz to go ahead and
take her lunch break?
Yeah, sure.
[DOOR CREAKS]
So
how are you feeling?
Aren't you supposed to be on
some sort of sick leave, Tommy?
Yeah. But I realized
I never followed up on
the evidence I collected
from that incident on the bridge.
Just, uh, wanted to make sure
it was all cataloged properly.
And what evidence would that be?
Weaponry the old man was carrying.
Which was what, exactly?
Well, he had a-a Glock, if I recall.
And this, uh, other doodad.
Looked a little like a flashlight.
Oh, a "doodad," huh?
That bear any resemblance
to a thingamabob?
Was anything taken into evidence?
- After that SUV hit me?
- The one you claim
was invisible, you mean?
- What are you doing?
- Calling Dee Dee.
So she can take you
You've been knocked sideways, Tommy.
Hard.
You need to lie down in a dark room
with ice on your head and
a cold beer in your hand.
You answer my question, Gladys,
and I will get right on that.
Promise.
Nothing was put into evidence
except your totaled cruiser.
No Glocks.
No "doodads."
No old man, for that matter.
Just you and your wrecked car, Tommy.
Now go home.
Before I call Sheriff Jackman
so he can tell you the same damn thing,
in a less loving manner.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[FLYNNE] What is this?
[LOWBEER] A Met Police
training facility.
- We call it The Zoo.
- Why?
It's where the animals come to play.
Completely secure from any potential
R.I. surveillance or interference.
Or Klept, for that matter.
You two and Beatrice are
going to have some fun.
You're going to climb to the
How many floors do you think
they can manage, Beatrice?
Let's try eight.
Feeling ambitious, are we?
All right, then.
Eighth floor.
Unlike Miss Fisher,
you're new to these bodies.
This exercise should
get you up to speed.
What?
[LOWBEER] This is where
our Met Koids are tested.
Think of it as something
like what your sister believed
she was playing when
she first came here.
A sim, I think you call it?
Follow Beatrice. She'll
explain everything.
- Well, can I go, too?
- Not this time, dear.
I have a different test for you.
Shall we sit?
[BEATRICE] It's fairly
straightforward, gentlemen.
We advance from floor to floor,
killing or disabling
everything we encounter.
Until we reach the roof.
What happens there?
- [BEATRICE] A surprise.
- [BURTON] What kind?
[BEATRICE] A surprise
is generally defined
as "an unexpected event."
Do you need me to define "unexpected"?
[CONNER CHUCKLES]
Don't take this the wrong way, ma'am.
But are you, like human?
Why do you ask?
Well, you don't seem too concerned
about potential bodily harm here.
That's very kind of you
to inquire, Lance Corporal.
Let's just say I'm special.
By which I mean you should
worry about yourselves
in the coming adventure.
Let me worry about me.
[BURTON] We get weapons?
Only what you can claim on the way.
Shall we?
[CONNER] You got night vision, dude.
How?
Tongue to palate. Just like our haptics.
[WHIRRING]
[GRUNTING]
Well, that wasn't so bad.
Are you good with numbers?
Top of the class, baby.
How many assailants
did we encounter here?
Six?
There will be 12 on the next floor.
Eighteen on the one
after that. And so on.
Forty-eight up top?
Only if you make it that far.
[BURTON] What are these?
Your basic Koid Series 24-A.
Modified, of course,
for the task at hand.
- What's a Koid?
- A robot. Bipedal.
Eyes are human.
Only for verisimilitude's sake.
Speed, intensity, and
violence of action.
Your unit's motto, if I'm not mistaken.
And?
A little more speed might
be nice here, gentlemen.
Most of our trainees are already
clearing the third floor by now.
♪
Yeah, Gladys.
A fucking doodad.
[POWERING UP]
[PHONE RINGING AND BUZZING]
[TOMMY] Sheriff?
[JACKMAN] Tommy, where are you?
I, uh
Whatever you're doing,
I need you to drop it.
Need you to come over
here to Corbell Pickett's.
- Thought I was on leave, sir.
- You were.
I just canceled it. Stop
talking and get your ass in gear.
We got a situation on
our hands over here.
I need you to help me fix it.
Copy that.
[EXHALES]
[SOFT GROAN]
[BOB GROANING]
Oh, Lord. I'm hurt. I'm hurt bad.
Hello?
Help me.
I'm hurt real bad.
Are you okay?
[GRUNTING]
[GUNSHOT]
[DEE DEE] Call Tommy.
Dee Dee? What's happening?
[LINE RINGING]
[BOTH GRUNTING]
- [TOMMY] I'm unavailable to take your call.
- [DEE DEE] Dammit, Tommy.
- Pick up.
- Leave a message.
I'll return it at my
earliest convenience.
[PANTING]
[GRUNTING]
That's it. That's it. Yeah. That's it.
That's it.
That's it. There you go.
There you go.
[CHOKING]
[BOB EXHALES]
[PANTING]
[WHISPERS] Fuck's sake.
[GROANS]
Motherfucker.
Reece?
Anyone else here?
What's happening? What's going on?
Tell me, Dee Dee, what is going on?
[BOB] Hey. I need you to calm her down.
Or you're both gonna get shot.
[DEE DEE] It's all right.
I'm right here.
- Where's Reece? Why isn't he answering
- Shh.
He just
stepped outside.
[BOB] Sit. Both of you.
On your hands.
[BOB GRUNTS]
[CHIMES]
[SOFT GRUNT]
[QUIETLY] It's him, isn't it?
Who?
The man from the bridge.
[BOBB] I don't mean to be rude, ma'am.
But you need to shut your mouth.
And keep it shut.
[SPEAKING ENCRYPTED LANGUAGE]
Did you notice?
She sampled our fucking DNA.
How else could she be sure
we're who we claim to be?
We could bloody sample hers.
And be renditioned.
I've never met a senior
police officer before.
A rather extraordinary individual.
They're all like that, unfortunately.
There are
Himself?
Yes, sir?
[LEV] I need you to access
the Peripheral's point of view.
I want to know what they're discussing.
I'm afraid I can't do that, Mr. Zubov.
Or won't, rather.
[LEV] Excuse me?
[ASH] The inspector would
know if we were to attempt it.
Just as she very likely knows
that we're having this
rather misguided conversation.
He just ask what I think he did?
[SPEAKING ENCRYPTED LANGUAGE]
If we were smart, we'd be packing.
We'd be gone.
We leave, this was all for nothing.
We'd lose access to the stub
and what's inside the girl.
I'm not sure it's worth dying for, luv.
And I'm not sure I can live
with having run away from it.
How about you?
Are you steady, Ossian?
Yes. I'm fucking steady.
Well, Miss Fisher, the Aunties
have managed to track down
some rather interesting information.
The Aunties?
[LOWBEER] The Met's
data-sorting algorithms.
Busy little bees, buzzing about.
I imagine you'll be happy to learn that
your friend, Mr. Penske,
didn't lose his limbs
in my own timeline.
But that would mean
that-that Texas
[LOWBEER] That the R.I.
must've opened the stub
at least a decade earlier
than you've all been assuming.
As such, significant divergences
have already been occurring
in our two time lines,
the most disturbing of
which is the Jackpot.
It appears to be happening at an
accelerated rate in your world.
My assumption is the R.I. is driving
this process intentionally.
To what end?
That's a question only
Cherise Nuland can answer.
[FLYNNE] The Texas War?
The secession, did it happen for you?
[LOWBEER] Indeed.
Both Mr. Penske and your
brother went off to fight in it.
But the haptic technology
implanted in their bodies
was decades away from being
developed in my own time line,
so they fought as common soldiers.
A-and Conner didn't get hurt?
[LOWBEER] He survived the war unscathed.
But your brother did not.
What, he got wounded?
Killed.
I thought you said details like this
were impossible to retrieve.
[LOWBEER] And he was
correct, for the most part.
But the Aunties are privy to archives
unavailable to the general public.
Well, what about me?
The data becomes a bit spotty
once the Jackpot takes off.
But it appears you married.
Had two children.
Married who?
Sheriff Thomas Constantine.
I married Tommy?
Indeed. Makes one wonder about
etiquette here, doesn't it?
Whether congratulations are in order?
Now, of course, the
Aunties have told me about
a Flynne Fisher who no longer exists.
But about you, my dear
I know next to nothing.
It's rather refreshing.
I don't suppose you've
had many job interviews?
[FLYNNE] Just Forever Fab.
But it wasn't really a job interview.
Just a drug test.
- But did you pass?
- Of course.
Excellent.
What I mean to say is
let's approach this encounter
as something along those lines.
A getting-to-know-each-other moment.
I'm going to ask a few questions.
Try and answer them as quickly
as you can, without thinking.
Can you do that?
[GRUNTING]
[GRUNTING]
[BOB] A lot of people have
a tough time with it knife work.
You might laugh, but they have these
how-to videos online, you know.
Slashing versus thrusting,
arteries versus organs,
that sort of thing.
In my experience, though,
it's all about speed.
The most amount of holes
in the least amount of time.
Simple as.
When you think about it,
well, that's pretty much
the opposite of how you've
been trained, isn't it?
Which, I imagine, could make
it quite difficult to overcome.
Not to mention the other hurdles,
the "thou shalt not" of it all.
Now, I'd say you'd get
one good swipe, tops,
before I'd open you up like a
What do you call those
What's the difference between
a sieve and a colander?
Are they the same, or what?
[CLATTERS]
[MUFFLED GRUNTING, SHOUTING]
[CONNER WHOOPS]
This is fucking amazing.
I told you, bruh. I'm
moving here. Full-time.
What's the surprise?
The training module
isn't considered complete
until only one of us remains standing.
Surprise.
[GRUNTING]
[LOWBEER] Greatest fear?
[FLYNNE] My mama dying.
[LOWBEER] Greatest strength?
[FLYNNE] That I don't
know when to give up.
- Weakness?
- Same thing.
If you could turn back time,
and have none of this
ever happen, would you?
[FLYNNE] No.
[LOWBEER] If I had the
power to sever the connection
between our two worlds,
would you have me do it?
- No.
- [LOWBEER] Why not?
You thought too long on that one.
Froze up.
It happens.
Can I ask you some questions?
Like the ones you just asked me?
Let's say three, as
though I were a genie.
What's your biggest fear?
The past.
What, like where I'm from?
[LOWBEER] Precisely.
Two down.
One remaining.
Do you actually have that power?
To cut our connection?
I'm sorry, dear, I seem
to have overpromised.
It seems your brother and his
friend are almost finished.
So, I'll say goodbye and Godspeed.
Our next visit, you'll be
more active, I assure you.
[GRUNTING]
[CRACKING]
Shorty
you are fucking amazing.
[CONNER SCREAMS]
[LAUGHING]
- Ooh.
- [BURTON RETCHES]
[WHOOPS]
- [LAUGHING]
- [BURTON] Fucking Christ
You always feel like
this when you come out?
Boy, I'm gonna marry her.
- [LAUGHING]
- Who?
That robot lady. [LAUGHS]
[GROANS]
[PHONE BUZZING]
[CONNER EXHALES]
I can't even read this.
- [FLYNNE] What?
- [EXHALES]
Reece took Mama to Urgent Med.
He said to come right now. Come on.
[GROANS] Oh, fuck. Gimme a sec.
Man the fuck up, Burton. We gotta go.
[TOMMY] Hello?
Sheriff?
♪
[CORBELL] What, exactly,
do you think you understand?
[JACKMAN] That you're upset.
I mean, how could you not
[CORBELL] I don't think "upset"
quite captures the feeling, Davis.
- [JACKMAN] I guess not.
- [SPRINKLER CLACKING]
[CORBELL] What I mean is,
I want to kill someone.
I want to do it with my bare fucking
[WHISPERING] What the
fuck is he doing here?
Holster your weapon, son.
A little late to the party
for it to do any kind of good.
What happened?
Well, that prisoner that you lost?
He turned up here and
killed Mary Pickett.
Stole one of their vehicles.
Mr. Pickett, he, uh
he's pretty bent out of shape
about it, as you can imagine.
Right now, I need you to head
up to the Fisher residence.
I want you to take Burton into custody.
Might as well grab the kid
sister, too, while you're at it.
What do the Fishers got
to do with any of this?
Well, I'm still crossing my T's
and dotting my I's on
that, Tommy. But, uh
how's this sound as a first draft?
Burton and his war buddies,
they've been dipping
their collective toe
into the drug trade.
Seems that they crossed
somebody they shouldn't have.
And that somebody hired a hit man
to come take them out of this world.
Now, you had this hit man character
in your custody, Tommy.
But you lost him.
And he made his way over
here to the Pickett residence,
intent on stealing a car and
making good on his escape.
Killed poor Mary Pickett
rather violently in the process.
How's that sound, buccaneer?
Like you just fucking made it up.
[JACKMAN LAUGHS]
Well, that's what you do when
you're telling a story, Tommy.
You make shit up.
Sort of like what you've been doing
for the last ten or so years.
Pretending you don't know the
way things run around here.
Telling yourself whatever little
fairytale you needed to hear
so you can feel like some sort of
blameless Knight of
the fucking Round Table,
when all the while, you working for me.
Which means you working
for Corbell Pickett.
Trust me, son.
Gonna be a whole lot easier
being honest with yourself.
Takes a frightful amount of energy,
working to stay stone blind
every fucking waking hour.
Now, goddammit, you go get Burton.
Corbell's got some questions
he wants to ask him.
No.
[SIGHS]
[SCOFFS]
Boy, that old man said your life
had reached a fork in the road.
I think he was dead right about that.
Christ almighty, Tommy.
You need me to lay this out for you?
Sure. Sure, you can do
the "right" thing here.
Take Corbell and I down to the station
in handcuffs like two dirt dogs.
And then the three of us,
we're going to present
our stories to the world.
Corbell and I, we're gonna tell a story
about how you tried to blame
others for your failures,
which is what the young
and the feckless often do.
[SIGHS] You want a stick?
You panicked, Tommy.
You made some
un-fucking-believable story up
about how I, Clanton's
four-term elected sheriff,
crashed a invisible
SUV into your cruiser,
made off with your prisoner,
took him over here, turned him loose
at Corbell Pickett's house.
This being the same Corbell Pickett
who employs some 50 to 60%
of the people here in Clanton, mind you.
And then and then,
well, fuck me, Tommy.
Even now I'm getting confused.
You see where I'm going
with this, I assume.
Corbell and I, we get set free
with the sincerest of apologies.
You? At best, you simply lose
your job at the department.
Although there may be some
charges pending on you, too
false arrest and that sort of thing.
[CHUCKLES] Or
there's the other road.
The go-along-to-get-along road.
Where you can keep doing the fine work
you've always done as a lawman.
Maybe even pick up some
other responsibilities, too
with the appropriate
remunerations, of course.
Or you could just try being
adult for a fucking change.
[SIGHS HEAVILY]
You don't have a choice,
Tommy. You see that, right?
Because my story might not be true
it sure as hell sounds true.
It's gonna beat your
story every goddamn time.
So why don't we stop dicking
around with one another,
and you go fetch me Burton Fisher.
Along with that little sister.
[GRUNTING ON VIDEO]
[BEATRICE] As you can
see, they discovered
and utilized their augmentations
with admirable dispatch,
networking to share
visual and aural input.
Which would imply an overlap
with their own rudimentary
haptic implants.
What did you make of them?
Their characters, I mean?
[BEATRICE] Brave. Assertive. Resolute.
The brother is likely the more
predictable and dependable.
But I'd be marginally more inclined
to turn to his friend in a crisis.
Why?
Ma'am?
Well, if the brother is more
predictable and dependable,
why would you turn to the friend?
I'm afraid I lack specific
data on that, Inspector.
The decision was made in
my deep neural network,
below any level of consciousness.
Interesting.
And the young woman?
[LOWBEER] Still an open question.
Which I hope to answer shortly.
What is it?
Cherise Nuland is downstairs,
requesting an audience.
You were expecting her?
I lifted the veil, ever so slightly,
on our visit to the Zubov residence,
allowing us to be
surveilled as we arrived.
But I certainly didn't anticipate
Dr. Nuland to react with such alacrity.
Have her sent up, please.
This should be quite informative.
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
You fucking loser.
How the fuck you gonna live with this?
Huh? I mean
How the fuck you gonna live with this?
[SNIFFLES]
Now what?
We wait.
[DEE DEE] For?
I need to kill two people.
And it would appear that one
of them is on the way here.
You're talking about
my children, aren't you?
Yes, ma'am, I'm afraid I am.
[CHIMES]
[TIRES SCREECHING]
[FLYNNE] Mama's not answering.
- [BURTON] Reece, neither.
- [PHONE CHIMES]
Reece. "Your mother is asking you
to come as quickly as possible."
"Your mother"?
Yeah, that's fucking weird.
Can you link up with him?
- Oh, shit.
- What?
[LEON] I can't get a read on his vitals.
I'm almost tempted to
call the police, Inspector.
The Uncanny Valley
Statute is rather clear
that Peripherals should never operate
as autonomous beings.
Beatrice exists under a
special waiver to the UVS.
Hmm. Of course.
Doesn't look like the R.I.'s handiwork.
- Nice to meet you, Beatrice.
- Pleasure is mine, ma'am.
[CHERISE] Know what's startling?
We've found that a lingering
effect of the Jackpot
is that now the vast majority of Koids
have been modified to resemble
a missing personal connection.
Siblings.
Colleagues.
Not, as a rule, parents.
Which is intriguing, is it?
It's as if there's something natural
about losing a mother or father
that makes it easier for us to accept.
But a child?
A daughter
for instance?
I'm so sorry, Beatrice.
I'm going to have to ask
you to power down now.
And please scrub
the past five minutes from your memory.
Powering down now. Commencing scrub.
Pleased with yourself?
I'm curious. Why keep it a secret?
It would complicate our relationship.
- Yes, I rather suppose it would.
- Why are you here, Doctor?
Something of great value
has been stolen from me.
And I seek redress from the law.
I know you're uneasy with this.
Uneasy?
Fucking terrified is what I am.
[SPEAKING ENCRYPTED LANGUAGE]
It's not just the Klepts
we're crossing here.
There's the Met Police now
too and either one of them
- would end us
- Want me to do it?
You realize what this could mean?
We're the only ones who know.
Aelita knows.
Aelita's dead
Or gone to ground so
thoroughly she might as well be.
This is ours. For the taking.
How do we access the bacteria?
How do we sequence it?
All we'll need to do is hire
someone in the stub to
Himself, luv.
Tell me that won't be
part of the pleasure.
Stealing it right out from
under his arrogant fucking
[LEV] Arrogance is a form of stupidity.
Wouldn't you agree?
It could seem a bit
arrogant, for instance,
to assume that one's
encryption is unbreakable.
Given that, historically,
the supposed impregnability
of any particular code
has always proven
disappointingly short-lived.
Run to Daddy's study.
- Fetch him a knife.
- Which one?
[LEV] Any will do.
I'm in a bit of a quandary here.
Part of me, naturally enough,
wants to destroy both of you.
My inner child, I
suppose you could call it.
Raging. Petulant. Vengeful.
But the part of me with a cooler head
realizes how much I need you.
Your skill set, certainly.
And now, it would
appear, your secrets, too.
Also, I like you.
Well, you, Ash.
Ossian I could take or leave,
depending on my mood. But you
You have a Klept's heart,
whether you realize it or not.
Proud.
Scheming.
Aggressive.
[SPEAKING ENCRYPTED LANGUAGE]
And yes: arrogant.
So it's all a bit up in the air
I fear.
What I should do
[PANTING]
- My favorite.
- Ah!
And it's a beauty, my boy.
May I watch, Daddy?
[LEV] I think not.
Run along to the kitchen.
Nanny's made pudding.
We're very sorry, sir.
Shut up, Ossian.
Tell me what you're up to.
Or I'll kill him. You have ten seconds.
Aelita thought she was working
with the polt's brother.
She planned to download the stolen
R.I. files into his haptic implants.
Storing them in the
stub, in other words,
where they'd be untraceable.
Rather brilliant, I think you'll agree.
Except for the fact it was the
sister piloting the Peripheral.
And the girl doesn't have implants.
So her headset translated
the data into bacterial DNA.
Began to colonize her brain.
What were you hoping
to do with that data?
Sell it to the highest bidder.
I don't believe you.
[GASPS]
[BREATHING SHAKILY]
Give it to the Neoprims.
Why in the fucking hell
would you want to do that?
So they can burn this world down.
And build a new one in its place.
You're a fool.
A romantic fool.
If you try to double-cross me again
I will have no choice
but to carve you up
and feed you to my little beauties.
[GROWLS]
But I do admire the rest of your plan.
Let's proceed, shall we?
[CONSOLE CHIMING]
Every single vector of the Jackpot
was weaponized by the same disruptor.
Human nature.
Now, it might've manifested
itself as selfishness
or venality or simple stupidity,
but at the bottom, it all
amounted to the same trait:
our persistent,
self-destructive resistance
to acting for a collective good.
May I?
Please.
The R.I. was subject to
a critical data breach
a few nights ago, at the
hand of an R.I. employee
and a Peripheral piloted
from within a stub.
The presence of a Zubov associate
at a subsequent crime scene
connected to the breach
points definitively
to Klept involvement.
We have reason to believe
they were targeting
our neural adjustment mechanism,
which, as you know, is a highly
sensitive area of research.
[LOWBEER] So you're telling me
that the data that's
been stolen from you,
it would document the
existence of this mechanism?
- It would.
- And that's what you fear?
Backlash and repudiation,
should knowledge of this become public?
Of course.
But even more so,
a potential hack of the mechanism
to employ it in a less benign manner.
A possibility already
inherent in this technology?
Well
I think you'll agree, Inspector,
that a hammer is a very useful tool.
It can also be a deadly weapon,
in the wrong hands.
I believe you met with
Lev Zubov recently?
I imagine he had quite
an interesting tale
of his recent adventures
in the R.I.'s stub.
"The R.I.'s"? You claim ownership?
Well, I created it, didn't I?
For use as a laboratory
to develop this technology.
I don't imagine I need to tell
you how dangerous it might be
for the Klepts to gain control of it.
What are you asking of me?
Destroy the Zubovs,
Flynne Fisher,
and everyone associated with them.
Both here, and in the stub.
[LAUGHING] You make it sound so simple.
As if I could merely wave a wand.
There's precedent, you'll concede.
The Samsonovs.
Their entire clan
[IMITATES EXPLOSION]
erased from the face of the Earth.
It was quite an awe-inspiring spectacle.
An entirely different situation.
Mm Was it?
Sedition? I should think so.
"Inciting violence
against a lawful authority,
with the intent to overthrow it"?
If I had a hammer ♪
You'll need to absorb and
process this all, obviously.
But you should know: I
only share this with you
because I'm confident
you have the sophistication
and perspicacity
to grasp all that's at stake here.
Come to my lair next time. Hmm?
Tea, if you'd like.
[DOOR CLOSES]
It's for money? What you're doing?
There's money involved.
But that's not why I'm here.
Why, then?
[SIGHS] I have a daughter of my own.
I'd like to keep her alive, if I could.
Someone's threatening to harm her
if you don't kill my children?
In a nutshell.
[ELLA] My mother always said,
"Only a fool sees the
world as either-or."
Which is an admirably simple thought
for simple folks living
in a simple place.
But unfortunately,
none of that's at play
here at the moment.
You imagine there are only two options.
Either your daughter has
to die, or my children will,
and that's the end of it.
You're saying there's another option?
I am.
But I can just listen to you,
to the sound of your voice,
and tell you're not
the man to consider it.
Try me.
You could die.
- [BRAKES SCREECH]
- What the fuck are you doing?
Fuck.
Why are we stopped?
Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
We need to get a read on the situation.
If we don't move now, Mama's
gonna be next. You know that.
There's a killer in
there, just set a trap.
- We rush in, we all die.
- Burton
This is the one fucking
thing I'm good at, Flynne.
So right now, I just need you
to trust me to do it right.
Fuck.
Take these, go that way around the car.
[BOB] Let me get this straight.
So, my not wanting to die
here, that makes me a fool?
Not just a fool.
Cowardly, too.
And selfish.
Selfish to the point of evil.
I'm starting to get the impression
that you don't like me
very much, Mrs. Fisher.
[BURTON OVER EARBUD] You
see the three heat sigs?
And the colder one on the floor?
That's Reece.
[CONNER] So we got Dee Dee,
your mama, and our target.
Which is a little too
eeny-meeny-miny-moe for my taste.
[FLYNNE] He's probably the one
on the right, but I'm not sure.
We got to get him to move.
See if you can link up with Reece again.
- Trigger his ANS.
- [CONNER] Fuck that, Burton.
He'd be connecting to a corpse.
Get the body to twitch,
and maybe the old man
will think Reece is still alive.
He'll try to finish him off,
and then we can tag him.
Bruh, are you hearing
me? Leon would feel it.
Yeah. And Reece would
do the same thing for us,
if he was in our position.
Why the fuck are you two still
talking? Let's get this done.
[BURTON] Flynne, tell us
when the target's clear.
[FLYNNE] It's him. He's moving.
Execute.
[GASPS]
[GROANS]
[GROANING]
Mama?
Oh.
[PANTING]
- Lights out.
- [THREE GUNSHOTS]
I need that old man alive, Davis.
There's some things I want to do to him.
[JACKSON] Oh, I understand, Corbell.
We're gonna do everything
we can. You know that.
She was a real wonderful
woman, Corbell. I can't imagine.
[TOMMY] Think I might've come up
with a pretty good one, Sheriff.
Wanted to run it by you.
Let's say the old man came here.
Killed Mary.
And Mr. Pickett there,
he called the police.
You were first on the scene, Sheriff.
Because even after four terms,
you still take your job seriously.
And we all appreciate that.
Tommy, what in the fuck
- do you think you're doing
- The old man was still here.
Armed with this .45.
And when you drew your own weapon?
Well, he went and shot you.
Multiple times, I'm afraid.
All right, easy. You
need to calm down, Thomas.
I'm already too calm, Sheriff.
That's what's scaring me.
It's like you said.
Ain't got much of a choice, now, do I?
Tommy, don't!
Well, fuck me.
I did not see that coming.
Not by a mile.
Now
that calm you were talking about?
I think you need to lower
your gun until it comes back.
So we can talk this thing through.
Come to an understanding here.
You don't really think
that old man would've
let you live, now, do you?
[CORBELL] What I don't think
is that you have the necessary balls
to pull this off on your own, young man.
[CHUCKLES] Or the bullets.
The fuck's that supposed to be?
Oh, it's a doodad, you
arrogant piece of shit.
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
♪
[CONNER] You die,
- it's for real.
- I die and I save my family.
I want you to kill him.
Wolf!
I'll tell you everything.
Give you my word.
- Deputy. EMTs got a pulse.
- For who?
All we need are the secrets
inside the girl's head.
[BELL CLANGING]
No!
♪
♪
♪
♪