Secret Level (2024) s01e09 Episode Script
The Outer Worlds - The Company We Keep
1
[pulsing music playing]
♪
[dramatic music playing]
[playful music playing]
- Hey
- Beat it.
[Amos] You got it.
[sighs]
[beeping]
Yes, sir. Someone's gonna be getting
an extra serving of Vitagruel.
Uh, me.
Amos.
I-I'm getting it.
♪
- Hi, friend.
- [man scoffs]
[Amos] Nutritious and tested.
Mmm. Mmm.
Oh!
[squealing]
Sprats!
Hey.
Mister, what's that say?
Uh, I can't do
words.
Trust me, son,
you don't want no part of this job.
I'm an orphan on garbage duty.
Ain't a lot of jobs I won't do.
Okay, then.
It says: "Wanted:
Test subjects for Auntie Cleo
Brand Research and Development.
Numa Experimental Station needs
your body more than you do."
Numa? Did you say Numa station?
Um. That F-word that a name?
Yeah, says here the lead scientist
is one Dr. Felicity Karo.
[Amos] Hello? Please? Help.
Name's Felicity.
Nice to meet you, Amos.
Don't hurt?
Well, it feels like I got my skin
peeled off and rolled in salt.
Here, try this.
Ooh! Well, that
that tingles. [short chuckle]
But it feels better already.
Really? You're not just saying that?
Oh, I never lie.
Because I made it myself.
What? That's wonderful.
You're wonderful.
Felicity.
Law, you made it.
Are you talking to me, son?
Excuse me.
- Hey, watch it.
- [Amos] Thank you, sir!
I want to do this.
The testing for Auntie Cleo.
Look, you can't just walk in here
demonstrating that kind of malfeasance.
Sorry, my what now?
Tearing down company property.
Of course, the wind
could've just blown it down,
in which case, you were just
helping clean up the place.
Oh, no, I was the one tore it down.
Then you can't apply for this job
until you reimburse
the company for stolen property,
trademark abuse, misappropriation.
[thump]
Just say the wind blew it down.
Nope, I tore it down.
I'm no good at lying.
[sighs] I can see that.
How much?
75 bits.
'Tween you and me,
nobody with a lick of sense
is signing up for a job such as this.
Well, in a month's time,
I'm gonna walk in here
and pay you to give me that job.
Like I said,
nobody with a lick of sense.
- Good luck to you, son.
- I don't need luck.
[men exclaim] - ["Keep on the Sunny
Side"] - Keep on the sunny side ♪
- Three more credits.
- Always on the sunny side
She's the smartest person
I ever did meet,
- and so pretty and so funny.
- [screaming]
And here I was, thinking, well,
I'm never gonna see her again
It will brighten all the way ♪
If you keep on the sunny
Ain't gonna be much longer, Auntie Cleo.
- [sighs]
- [song ends]
[Felicity] Honestly? You actually
like this Law-forsaken backwater world?
I do.
Uh, we got jobs.
Most of the time, we got beds.
What else could you want?
I want to do more.
Get off-planet
and go where they invent stuff.
I want to help people.
I want to make things better.
You already make everything better.
But I could be making products
that help colonists everywhere.
Yeah, but your friends are here.
I don't have friends.
I've only got you, Amos.
Yeah, me too.
Amos! Amos!
[chuckles softly]
They're making me
an apprentice scientist.
I'm going to work for
Auntie Cleo on Numa.
- Off-world?
- Yeah!
Where the science
is. Can you believe it?
Wow. Uh, when do you go?
Today. Thank the Law
I don't have much to pack.
I'll tell you what,
I've no need for any of this.
I'm going to Numa.
[rocket engines starting]
- [dramatic music playing]
- [rain falling]
[short exhale]
[beeping]
Seventy-five bits.
Hope you still remember me, Felicity.
[upbeat music playing]
- Hey, colleagues.
- [guards grunt]
You're not simply test subjects.
You're engaged in a noble effort:
the perfecting of Auntie Cleo products.
Your eyes are Auntie Cleo's eyes.
Your lungs breathe her air.
Even your thoughts are proprietary,
so do not even think
of deceiving your supervisors.
Oh, I won't. I can't. Lie, I mean.
Really?
Tell me, then.
What's your biggest fear?
To live a meaningless life
and then die alone.
Oh.
We're testing a new antacid today.
Rub it on your arm,
then we'll pour the acid over it.
This cream is formulated
to keep your arm
- [whimpers]
- mostly unscathed.
- That's what? Uh
- [Langdon] There are rags to use in case you spill.
[test subject] Uh, I-I don't think
it's working.
It burns!
[test subject 2] I I didn't know
I was signing up for this.
- Untie me.
- [shouting, yelping]
[test subject] Sweet
mercy, it burns! Aah!
[Langdon] Try to stay still, now.
I need clean results.
[test subject] It's definitely
not working!
[screams]
It does not work!
How would you rate
the effectiveness of the product?
I-It worked for a few seconds,
so I'd give it a fi four.
When do we get to meet
the other scientists?
[Langdon] Can you still feel your thumb?
Take one Carbolated Lung Tablet
and then step into the tank.
Let the water fill your lungs,
and then breathe
for as long as you're able.
[guard] Subjects, step up to the ledge.
[subjects grunting]
[gasping]
[calm music playing]
[muffled groaning]
♪
[laughing]
♪
Ready?
[EMT] Amos.
- Amos.
- Amos.
Amos, say something.
[gasps]
[coughing]
Three out of ten.
It's better than last time.
How many experiments
until I can meet Felicity Karo?
[Langdon] We just need
one product to work.
Let the Raptidon bite you
until it loses interest.
[female test subject] No,
I-I like the water!
[snarling]
- [chomp]
- [gasps]
- [others yelling]
- [snarling]
- When it's done, apply the
- [Courtright] People look to Auntie Cleo
- for quality.
- Mr. Courtright.
Chairman. [chuckles]
Well, isn't this a surprise?
A routine assessment.
Carry on.
Where was I, now?
- [scientist] Quality, sir.
- Yes, quality.
Unlike our competitors,
Auntie Cleo wouldn't put her name
on a product less than 60% effective.
- Please lose interest.
- [snarling]
[groaning, panting]
Good.
Now the gel.
- This is why our test program
- [Amos panting]
is so vital
- to our corporate image.
- [cries]
- How do you feel?
- Uh, it hurts.
[panting]
[distorted] It's like a thousand bugs
crawling through
[distorted speaking]
Hmm. Now,
if you'll just follow me
to our prestigious marketing department.
- [Langdon] Of course.
- [Courtright] Not you, Langdon.
[Felicity] Where did
you get that bandana?
Felicity?
[echoing] Amos?
Felicity!
- [laughing]
- [scientist gasps] The gate's open!
Wait, wait, wait. Don't move.
- They react to movement.
- It's so good to see you.
[scientist 2] What? No, they don't!
- [screaming]
- [scientist] They're still moving!
Remember that time I got myself stuck
in the garbage pile?
[Felicity] Seriously,
if I'd have not shown up,
- you would have become garbage. [chuckles]
- [laughs]
Or the time we shared
that expired Auntie Cleo ChumBar.
[Amos] I was sick all day.
It was so hard to work
while we was vomiting.
[gentle music playing]
[Felicity] Look at you.
You're like an automechanical now.
Yep. Brand-new arm.
Heat sensor.
And they made me smarter. Look at this.
- [rewinding]
- [Felicity] would have become garbage.
That's amazing.
You're amazing. I mean
from orphan to lead scientist.
You're doing so much good,
helping so many people.
I'm trying.
I miss how simple it used to be.
I missed you.
Me too, Amos.
I'm so pleased
I got to see you one last time.
What? One last time?
I'm up for a promotion.
I mean, the promotion.
I have a chance to become Auntie Cleo.
Become? What do you me
Auntie Cleo isn't just
a CEO or a person.
She's an idea, handed down
from one generation to the next.
Chairman Courtright says
I could be a perfect Auntie Cleo,
so long as I can figure out
a way to boost our profits.
And it's so simple.
All we have to do is stop testing.
I'm real good at testing products.
It's only slowing down progress.
We should simply let the market decide.
And the sample size
will be our whole customer base.
People are gonna die.
Test subjects die all the time.
Yeah. But it's our job.
This is gonna work.
I just have to keep it from the chairman
until the job is mine.
And then
I'm going to be Auntie Cleo.
Being Felicity was enough for me.
You can't be serious.
As Felicity, I'm just a cog.
A nobody, like you.
As Auntie Cleo, I'll finally matter.
A little surgery, a few grafts.
But you'll still know it's me.
There'll be so many new products.
"Human-tested."
[Amos] Five out of ten.
- Five out of ten.
- [rewinding]
[Felicity] I'm going to be Auntie Cleo.
[rewinding]
I'm going to be Auntie Cleo.
How are those pegs?
Five out of ten.
I'm sorry, Amos.
They're cutting back on the program.
Besides which, you've barely
any human parts left worth poking at.
You were always my
favorite test subject, Amos.
You gave everything you could
to the company.
Well, I suppose that's it, then.
Dr. Langdon,
if somebody here was
telling lies and hurting people,
that'd be bad, right?
Uh
Not for something good like testing.
Just
if they wanted
to hurt real people, like
customers.
You're asking if assault and fraud
are against corporate policy?
If I had recorded evidence of, um
c-corporate mal
- Malfeasance?
- Uh-huh.
- Deceiving the supervisors.
- Well.
That could get somebody
in a great deal of trouble here.
Are you sure
that's something you want to do?
[Felicity] As Felicity, I'm just a cog.
A nobody, like you.
Yes.
[majestic music playing]
[Amos] Hello?
Um
I have evidence of
- Amos.
- [gasps]
Felicity?
[breathing heavily]
I've been self-centered and ruthless.
I've never stopped
climbing towards the top,
even when I had
to step on people to get there.
I've helped this company destroy lives.
I supervised a testing program
that hurt people.
That hurt you.
The one person I could count on.
Sweet, good,
honest Amos.
You have to tell me the truth.
[sniffles]
Are we the bad guys?
Am I a bad person?
You
You ain't a bad person, Felicity.
I don't want to stop, Amos.
I need this. [sobs quietly]
I know.
Go be Auntie Cleo.
[gasps]
[Amos exhales]
[sniffles]
Go be everything you need to be.
[gentle music playing]
[cries]
[ominous music playing]
Know who's in that ship?
They say it's the next Auntie Cleo.
That's wonderful.
I love Auntie Cleo.
[gentle music playing]
[gentle music playing]
♪
♪
♪
[pulsing music playing]
♪
[dramatic music playing]
[playful music playing]
- Hey
- Beat it.
[Amos] You got it.
[sighs]
[beeping]
Yes, sir. Someone's gonna be getting
an extra serving of Vitagruel.
Uh, me.
Amos.
I-I'm getting it.
♪
- Hi, friend.
- [man scoffs]
[Amos] Nutritious and tested.
Mmm. Mmm.
Oh!
[squealing]
Sprats!
Hey.
Mister, what's that say?
Uh, I can't do
words.
Trust me, son,
you don't want no part of this job.
I'm an orphan on garbage duty.
Ain't a lot of jobs I won't do.
Okay, then.
It says: "Wanted:
Test subjects for Auntie Cleo
Brand Research and Development.
Numa Experimental Station needs
your body more than you do."
Numa? Did you say Numa station?
Um. That F-word that a name?
Yeah, says here the lead scientist
is one Dr. Felicity Karo.
[Amos] Hello? Please? Help.
Name's Felicity.
Nice to meet you, Amos.
Don't hurt?
Well, it feels like I got my skin
peeled off and rolled in salt.
Here, try this.
Ooh! Well, that
that tingles. [short chuckle]
But it feels better already.
Really? You're not just saying that?
Oh, I never lie.
Because I made it myself.
What? That's wonderful.
You're wonderful.
Felicity.
Law, you made it.
Are you talking to me, son?
Excuse me.
- Hey, watch it.
- [Amos] Thank you, sir!
I want to do this.
The testing for Auntie Cleo.
Look, you can't just walk in here
demonstrating that kind of malfeasance.
Sorry, my what now?
Tearing down company property.
Of course, the wind
could've just blown it down,
in which case, you were just
helping clean up the place.
Oh, no, I was the one tore it down.
Then you can't apply for this job
until you reimburse
the company for stolen property,
trademark abuse, misappropriation.
[thump]
Just say the wind blew it down.
Nope, I tore it down.
I'm no good at lying.
[sighs] I can see that.
How much?
75 bits.
'Tween you and me,
nobody with a lick of sense
is signing up for a job such as this.
Well, in a month's time,
I'm gonna walk in here
and pay you to give me that job.
Like I said,
nobody with a lick of sense.
- Good luck to you, son.
- I don't need luck.
[men exclaim] - ["Keep on the Sunny
Side"] - Keep on the sunny side ♪
- Three more credits.
- Always on the sunny side
She's the smartest person
I ever did meet,
- and so pretty and so funny.
- [screaming]
And here I was, thinking, well,
I'm never gonna see her again
It will brighten all the way ♪
If you keep on the sunny
Ain't gonna be much longer, Auntie Cleo.
- [sighs]
- [song ends]
[Felicity] Honestly? You actually
like this Law-forsaken backwater world?
I do.
Uh, we got jobs.
Most of the time, we got beds.
What else could you want?
I want to do more.
Get off-planet
and go where they invent stuff.
I want to help people.
I want to make things better.
You already make everything better.
But I could be making products
that help colonists everywhere.
Yeah, but your friends are here.
I don't have friends.
I've only got you, Amos.
Yeah, me too.
Amos! Amos!
[chuckles softly]
They're making me
an apprentice scientist.
I'm going to work for
Auntie Cleo on Numa.
- Off-world?
- Yeah!
Where the science
is. Can you believe it?
Wow. Uh, when do you go?
Today. Thank the Law
I don't have much to pack.
I'll tell you what,
I've no need for any of this.
I'm going to Numa.
[rocket engines starting]
- [dramatic music playing]
- [rain falling]
[short exhale]
[beeping]
Seventy-five bits.
Hope you still remember me, Felicity.
[upbeat music playing]
- Hey, colleagues.
- [guards grunt]
You're not simply test subjects.
You're engaged in a noble effort:
the perfecting of Auntie Cleo products.
Your eyes are Auntie Cleo's eyes.
Your lungs breathe her air.
Even your thoughts are proprietary,
so do not even think
of deceiving your supervisors.
Oh, I won't. I can't. Lie, I mean.
Really?
Tell me, then.
What's your biggest fear?
To live a meaningless life
and then die alone.
Oh.
We're testing a new antacid today.
Rub it on your arm,
then we'll pour the acid over it.
This cream is formulated
to keep your arm
- [whimpers]
- mostly unscathed.
- That's what? Uh
- [Langdon] There are rags to use in case you spill.
[test subject] Uh, I-I don't think
it's working.
It burns!
[test subject 2] I I didn't know
I was signing up for this.
- Untie me.
- [shouting, yelping]
[test subject] Sweet
mercy, it burns! Aah!
[Langdon] Try to stay still, now.
I need clean results.
[test subject] It's definitely
not working!
[screams]
It does not work!
How would you rate
the effectiveness of the product?
I-It worked for a few seconds,
so I'd give it a fi four.
When do we get to meet
the other scientists?
[Langdon] Can you still feel your thumb?
Take one Carbolated Lung Tablet
and then step into the tank.
Let the water fill your lungs,
and then breathe
for as long as you're able.
[guard] Subjects, step up to the ledge.
[subjects grunting]
[gasping]
[calm music playing]
[muffled groaning]
♪
[laughing]
♪
Ready?
[EMT] Amos.
- Amos.
- Amos.
Amos, say something.
[gasps]
[coughing]
Three out of ten.
It's better than last time.
How many experiments
until I can meet Felicity Karo?
[Langdon] We just need
one product to work.
Let the Raptidon bite you
until it loses interest.
[female test subject] No,
I-I like the water!
[snarling]
- [chomp]
- [gasps]
- [others yelling]
- [snarling]
- When it's done, apply the
- [Courtright] People look to Auntie Cleo
- for quality.
- Mr. Courtright.
Chairman. [chuckles]
Well, isn't this a surprise?
A routine assessment.
Carry on.
Where was I, now?
- [scientist] Quality, sir.
- Yes, quality.
Unlike our competitors,
Auntie Cleo wouldn't put her name
on a product less than 60% effective.
- Please lose interest.
- [snarling]
[groaning, panting]
Good.
Now the gel.
- This is why our test program
- [Amos panting]
is so vital
- to our corporate image.
- [cries]
- How do you feel?
- Uh, it hurts.
[panting]
[distorted] It's like a thousand bugs
crawling through
[distorted speaking]
Hmm. Now,
if you'll just follow me
to our prestigious marketing department.
- [Langdon] Of course.
- [Courtright] Not you, Langdon.
[Felicity] Where did
you get that bandana?
Felicity?
[echoing] Amos?
Felicity!
- [laughing]
- [scientist gasps] The gate's open!
Wait, wait, wait. Don't move.
- They react to movement.
- It's so good to see you.
[scientist 2] What? No, they don't!
- [screaming]
- [scientist] They're still moving!
Remember that time I got myself stuck
in the garbage pile?
[Felicity] Seriously,
if I'd have not shown up,
- you would have become garbage. [chuckles]
- [laughs]
Or the time we shared
that expired Auntie Cleo ChumBar.
[Amos] I was sick all day.
It was so hard to work
while we was vomiting.
[gentle music playing]
[Felicity] Look at you.
You're like an automechanical now.
Yep. Brand-new arm.
Heat sensor.
And they made me smarter. Look at this.
- [rewinding]
- [Felicity] would have become garbage.
That's amazing.
You're amazing. I mean
from orphan to lead scientist.
You're doing so much good,
helping so many people.
I'm trying.
I miss how simple it used to be.
I missed you.
Me too, Amos.
I'm so pleased
I got to see you one last time.
What? One last time?
I'm up for a promotion.
I mean, the promotion.
I have a chance to become Auntie Cleo.
Become? What do you me
Auntie Cleo isn't just
a CEO or a person.
She's an idea, handed down
from one generation to the next.
Chairman Courtright says
I could be a perfect Auntie Cleo,
so long as I can figure out
a way to boost our profits.
And it's so simple.
All we have to do is stop testing.
I'm real good at testing products.
It's only slowing down progress.
We should simply let the market decide.
And the sample size
will be our whole customer base.
People are gonna die.
Test subjects die all the time.
Yeah. But it's our job.
This is gonna work.
I just have to keep it from the chairman
until the job is mine.
And then
I'm going to be Auntie Cleo.
Being Felicity was enough for me.
You can't be serious.
As Felicity, I'm just a cog.
A nobody, like you.
As Auntie Cleo, I'll finally matter.
A little surgery, a few grafts.
But you'll still know it's me.
There'll be so many new products.
"Human-tested."
[Amos] Five out of ten.
- Five out of ten.
- [rewinding]
[Felicity] I'm going to be Auntie Cleo.
[rewinding]
I'm going to be Auntie Cleo.
How are those pegs?
Five out of ten.
I'm sorry, Amos.
They're cutting back on the program.
Besides which, you've barely
any human parts left worth poking at.
You were always my
favorite test subject, Amos.
You gave everything you could
to the company.
Well, I suppose that's it, then.
Dr. Langdon,
if somebody here was
telling lies and hurting people,
that'd be bad, right?
Uh
Not for something good like testing.
Just
if they wanted
to hurt real people, like
customers.
You're asking if assault and fraud
are against corporate policy?
If I had recorded evidence of, um
c-corporate mal
- Malfeasance?
- Uh-huh.
- Deceiving the supervisors.
- Well.
That could get somebody
in a great deal of trouble here.
Are you sure
that's something you want to do?
[Felicity] As Felicity, I'm just a cog.
A nobody, like you.
Yes.
[majestic music playing]
[Amos] Hello?
Um
I have evidence of
- Amos.
- [gasps]
Felicity?
[breathing heavily]
I've been self-centered and ruthless.
I've never stopped
climbing towards the top,
even when I had
to step on people to get there.
I've helped this company destroy lives.
I supervised a testing program
that hurt people.
That hurt you.
The one person I could count on.
Sweet, good,
honest Amos.
You have to tell me the truth.
[sniffles]
Are we the bad guys?
Am I a bad person?
You
You ain't a bad person, Felicity.
I don't want to stop, Amos.
I need this. [sobs quietly]
I know.
Go be Auntie Cleo.
[gasps]
[Amos exhales]
[sniffles]
Go be everything you need to be.
[gentle music playing]
[cries]
[ominous music playing]
Know who's in that ship?
They say it's the next Auntie Cleo.
That's wonderful.
I love Auntie Cleo.
[gentle music playing]
[gentle music playing]
♪
♪
♪