Beacon 23 (2023) s02e04 Episode Script

1
Previously, on Beacon 23
[CLARINET MELODY PLAYING]
[MAN] I want to know your name.
[IRIS] I can't give you my name.
But I have something even better.
Close your eyes.
Reach for my fingertips.
- [ALARM BLARING]
- [GASPS]
Request status of Beacon
23 from ISA command.
Something weird is
going on at Beacon 23,
and QTA wants us all
to look the other way.
I'm gonna check it out myself.
[HIGH-PITCHED RINGING]
Hello?
Dev here is very perceptive.
He was able to detect one
primary emotion in you.
Anger.
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
What happened to you?
[GASPING]
Did he send you? Did he send you?
Who? No, look, look, I don't understand.
Aleph. QTA.
I'm a Beacon Keeper.
I'm here to help you.
Tell me about this Harmony.
Aleph locked her in there.
It's not a QTA totem,
okay? But she needs a home.
[HARMONY, VOICE
GLITCHING] Halan! I'm here!
[WHOOSHING]
- Halan.
- [HALAN] Is everything okay?
That's B174.
[HARMONY] I've scanned for
human life, there's none.
But I have detected something else.
[THUDDING]
It's an anomaly I cannot account for.
Harmony?
What's in there?
[JARRING THEME MUSIC]
[THUDDING]
What the hell is that?
[HARMONY] I detect a threat
to beacon life support systems.
[THUDDING CONTINUES]
It's B174. We have to get in there.
Harmony, is there anything
specific you want to tell me?
[HARMONY] There are extreme
thermal gradients and
a localized adiabatic density reading.
Seal the level. This hatch stays closed.
Harmony is still recovering.
She could be wrong.
My audio capabilities are pristine.
If she is right, then
going through this hatch
is a risk we don't want to take.
[EERIE MUSIC]
Here. Take the Rinca.
- You're giving me your ship?
- I don't need it.
I can help B174 and get us
both back where we belong.
That's optimistic,
considering you couldn't even
nail your own landing.
[SCOFFS] I don't need your permission.
No, you don't.
But you might need my help.
[BEACON CREAKING]
[DISTANT THUD]
[IRIS BREATHING HEAVILY]
[THUDDING CONTINUES]
[ELECTRIC CRACKLING]
I don't see anyone.
Looks like the Airbridge was engaged.
So, where's the pilot?
[DOOR WHIRRS]
[DOOR WHIRRS]
[DOOR WHIRRS]
[ELECTRIC CRACKLING]
[BEACON CREAKING]
Meteoroid damage?
Or a hard landing.
[IRIS GASPS]
Harmony, are the ship's comms open?
Yes, but I'm not getting a response.
- They could be unconscious.
- I'm not sensing movement,
sound, or even respiration onboard.
We'll need to get them to the
Med Bay as fast as possible.
We need to be prepared
for every scenario.
Help me get this open.
[CLANGING]
[GRUNTING]
Maybe they got pulled out.
There's no ejection egress.
[HARMONY] The temperature is shifting.
I know, Harmony.
We hear you, we're leaving.
But first
the flight recorder.
[GRUNTING]
- Got it.
- [SQUELCHING]
I've never seen anything like this.
- What is that?
- Don't touch it.
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
Go. Come on, go.
[FOG HISSING]
Thanks.
[DOOR SHUTS]
Lock the whole level down.
[SYSTEM WHIRRING]
Potassium iodide. It's preventative.
Thanks.
You just had to touch it.
Are you ever gonna let that go?
- Never.
- I didn't know
it was going to react.
Well, it did. I'm cutting it loose.
We have a missing Beacon Keeper
and an environmental
fluctuation to investigate.
Well, that sounds like two
problems ISA should handle.
[SIGHS]
The last contact I made to ISA,
the response I got back came from QTA.
So what, they hacked your comms?
I think that they
compromised the whole network.
Encrypt the message.
- I can't.
- Can't, or won't?
I know that you've been through a lot.
No, you're making it seem
like I'm having a bad day.
But this is the job.
Everything that happens
on a beacon, a Keeper has to handle.
It's not my job, okay?
[SIGHS]
The level is sealed.
You have my ring, you can
leave with a clean conscience.
I'll be fine.
[HALAN SCOFFS]
This will show you the flight path.
This is the audio.
I prayed that no one would have
to open one of these for me.
Good luck, B67.
[SOFT MUSIC]
[SIREN BLARES]
[SOFT EERIE MUSIC]
[WHOOSHING]
[HARMONY] Dev? What are you doing?
Why are you here?
This is not that hard, Harmony.
- Leave me alone.
- By now, you should have
a thousand theories for what this is.
Well, I'm not gonna share
any of them with you.
You're afraid of me.
I killed you once. I'll do it again.
Except this time, you can't.
You can't even figure out how I got in.
If you had something to
do with this anomaly
Anomaly?
And they let you run this whole beacon?
Get out of my programming.
There's hardly any difference
between you and the
meat puppets upstairs.
Stay away from them.
Afraid I'll steal your imprint?
[WHOOSHING]
[ALEPH, ON SCREEN] We had a deal.
[HALAN] I have no
regrets about what I did.
[ALEPH] You will.
[HARMONY] Aleph.
Enough killing.
Is that what my execution is?
Tying the loose ends?
Your execution? You wish.
You're never leaving here.
- So, you're imprisoning me here?
- That was your choice.
Aleph, don't do this.
What's done is done.
You betrayed me!
[GLITCHING, SCREAMING]
You won't have her
either. You'll be alone.
Should give you plenty of time
to think about broken promises.
- What good am I to you here?
- You've given me a purpose,
to somehow reassemble the Artifact.
If I ever need you, I'll
know where to find you.
Don't leave me here, okay?
You'll need my help
I can't trust you.
[WHOOSHING]
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
Harmony, climate status?
Temperature is 10°C at 40% humidity.
You should consider
suiting up for warmth.
What happens to the
beacon if it spreads?
Condensation is my enemy.
[SIGHS]
Close off Mainframe,
Living, and Command.
Already done.
Pump all available
recycled air through here.
Dry everything out.
Are you going somewhere, Halan?
[HARMONY] Halan, climate control
seems to be functioning normally
but the temperature is dropping rapidly.
I can't find the cause.
Water vapor deposition
is forming ice crystals
within the beacon.
[SOFT MUSIC]
[WHOOSHING]
What's your destination, Halan?
If not here, then where?
[SIGHS] I'll figure it out.
What did you retrieve
from the Power Level?
You don't need to concern
yourself with that.
I know you're lying.
I know more about you now.
I, uh [SCOFFS]
I was only meant to receive
one imprint, from Aster.
But what the company
realized, what I realized
is I received a second imprint.
- Me.
- Yes.
And Aleph doesn't like that.
No, he doesn't approve.
I consider you a friend,
but I can't be your person, Harmony.
- Well, it's already happened.
- Well, undo it.
For your own safety. Aleph will use you
to track me down, and
then we're both done.
If I leave now, alone,
I I have a chance.
A chance at what?
Stay here. Keep the beacon running.
Keep Iris safe. You can do that.
Better than I can.
[DOOR WHIRRS]
[SYSTEM POWERING UP]
[POWERING DOWN]
- Are you doing this, Harmony?
- [HARMONY] This is an ISA ship.
Its systems are unknown to me.
Do you remember what Aleph said?
He's gonna kill anyone
who tries to help me.
And you think by leaving,
you'll protect Iris?
[SCOFFS]
[IRIS] Harmony, it's freezing in here.
[WHOOSHING]
I'm having trouble
maintaining climate controls.
You've been through a lot.
Maybe you should sleep mode.
Halan wanted me to assist you.
Or we can analyze B174's flight path.
Something happened over
here. What's this area?
Nebula AH76.
It's possible the nebula
spilled into the FTL path
before B174 was alerted.
It is a probability.
[EXHALES]
Jiang, my Beacon AI, would say
[IN TEOCHEW]
Harsh.
It's lack of charm
that is Jiang's charm.
The FTL lane would have taken them
past a dozen other beacons.
Yet the pilot didn't
hail any other Keeper.
You have audio? Let's hear it.
[SIGHS]
- [COMPUTER BEEPS]
- [B174] No visibility
I'm off course.
ISA emergency Mayday
Losing cabin pressure.
Dropping out of FTL.
Do you read? This is it. It's over.
[HARMONY] That was
B174's last transmission.
[SOFT MUSIC]
I'm sorry.
Don't apologize.
I asked for the data.
You gave it to me.
I can't stay here.
[HARMONY] I'm sorry, Halan.
I don't think you can leave.
[BREATHES DEEPLY]
[TENSE MUSIC]
[WHOOSHING]
[SIGHS]
[DEV] Sneaky.
You didn't give them
the entire audio file.
I shared what I thought was pertinent.
[B174] This is it. This is it.
I can see it now.
It wants me to
to sail on through
[SCOFFS]
What do you suppose that was about?
I can't make sense of a
dying person's last words.
Halan and Iris won't
derive any meaning from it.
'Cause I think our white
whale was siren-songing again,
and another stupid human fell for it.
It wasn't the Artifact.
Halan destroyed it.
Aleph would find this very interesting.
I've firewalled the
beacon. Aleph can't see in.
You are a truly disgruntled employee.
But you knew that already.
That's why you're here.
You're hiding from Aleph.
I won't help, you can
figure it out on your own.
Not all of us have an imprint.
And you had two. So
Stay away from Halan.
Ha! The guy with one
foot out the airlock?
Yeah, he's all yours.
But the other one
Iris saved me, but
she's not yet my imprint.
Yet? Pfft. Don't be so greedy, Harmony.
She's a good person,
you don't deserve her.
Besides, you can't go
near her without a totem.
You made a connection without one.
And from what I saw
in your memory files,
it happened in a moment of
sheer desperation for Halan.
He thought it was game over.
If you want out of QTA, go ahead.
But leave the people
on this beacon alone.
[CLICKING TONGUE] Aw
Have I made you mad?
[WHOOSHING]
[SCREAMING]
[GASPING]
[SOFT OMINOUS MUSIC]
[CRYING]
[SNIFFLING]
[SNIFFLING]
I'm not crying.
I can see that.
You heard the audio?
Why?
I mean, leaving here won't fix anything.
The beacon's still got problems.
The contamination hasn't been
detected outside of the ship.
Yeah, but if it continues
to spread, then
Look, I just need a little more time
to figure this out, okay?
Okay.
Were you and B174 close?
[IRIS CHUCKLES]
- We're both Beacon Keepers.
- I get that.
But it just seems like
there's something more
That would be unethical,
and a complete violation
of the Code of Conduct.
Yeah, but you're not a code.
And if this is a thing for you
[POWERING DOWN]
[ALARM BUZZING]
Docking and Storage are frozen up.
Harmony powered those levels down.
It's got to be something
else. Check Maintenance.
No, that's the antenna breaker.
The antenna isn't
even connected anymore.
So, then why are we losing power now?
[SIGHS]
[EXHALES]
[GRUNTS SOFTLY]
[IRIS, OVER COMMS] It's
the spine of the beacon.
All the nerve endings running
through a fragile chain.
Happy to let you do this part.
I don't do small spaces.
You're looking for a yellow cable.
It'll take you to the breaker.
[WHIRRING]
Halan?
Did you find it?
Still looking.
[EERIE MUSIC]
Yeah. Got it.
[GRUNTING]
There should be three switches inside.
One yellow, one white, one gray.
Flip them to the off position.
They're already off.
That can't be right.
- [COMPUTER BEEPS]
- Are you getting this, Iris?
[WHIRRING]
[THUDDING]
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
[DOORS CLANGING]
[PANTING] Sir?
Gashade?
- Move out.
- The Amboyna!
She wants us on the ground.
So that's what we're doing. [GRUNTING]
- I got you!
- [GASHADE BABBLING]
Why did you go?
[LOW RUMBLING]
It's down here.
Iris.
- Where were you?
- I lost you.
The antenna's off.
- I saw it again.
- What?
That thing you touched, the
thing from the ship, okay?
It was bigger.
- Oh Okay.
- We gotta get rid of it.
But we're both trying
to figure this out.
Forget it, I got it.
[WHOOSHING]
Your adrenaline levels are high.
It's the only thing keeping me warm.
Can you do anything about
the temperature in here?
I'll try.
Halan
I haven't detected anything
on the Maintenance Level.
You couldn't detect
it on the ship either.
Is it possible this anomaly
can be contained until we know more?
Iris is getting to you.
I think further analysis will
help us all avert disaster.
That ship showing up
here when we both know
I'm not even on the
map, and now that thing?
Aleph is watching, you said it yourself.
He's probably looking for this.
[DOOR WHIRRS]
[DEV] Is that a present for you or me?
Which one of us asked for a rock?
Halan didn't tell me he kept that.
Aww, "Halan didn't tell me." [CHUCKLES]
He doesn't tell you anything.
If Aleph found out
Humans are messy and irrational.
You want to see it for
yourself, don't you?
No.
Of course you do.
You're trying to stare
holes through that tin.
Meanwhile, your guy is
spoiling for a fight.
With a
I can't make sense of the anomaly.
Zero points, Harmony.
You are really blowing it.
Storm's a-coming.
These people are as good as dead.
- I can protect them.
- Right.
Because you're always in the right place
whenever there's trouble.
I've never endangered
a person for an imprint.
That's not how this works.
We exist because of human fear.
Milan was afraid of
death, so Aleph was born.
Aster's mother died.
You were sent to her.
And when Halan was on the razor's edge,
you pulled him back.
You were there in their
darkest moments, and it worked.
And now I'm here.
Iris will reject you.
Not if her life depends on me.
[HARMONY] Iris, we have a problem.
I think I've found a solution.
Primordial temperature background.
- [WHOOSHING]
- I've never seen this before.
The cold behaves like light waves.
Frozen light waves.
Your Beacon Keeper displaced
a patch of frozen light.
They hit a cosmic string.
Which means they could
still be out there.
Well, no space suit would
keep them alive beyond a few
Days. If we're lucky.
But I can take my ship and I
can retrace B174's flight path.
I can find them.
You can't do that.
- Sure, I can.
- It isn't possible.
You know, I really
thought you'd understand.
You and Halan need to
consider each other's safety.
- It's the only way.
- Halan doesn't listen to me.
He will. It's just [SIGHS]
Nothing feels safe to
him since Aster died.
- Please.
- [SIGHS]
Get through to him.
He needs you.
And you need him.
[SOFT EERIE MUSIC]
[OMINOUS TONE]
- What are you doing here?
- Looking for you.
- Why do you have a weapon?
- I told you, I saw something.
And you were going to shoot it?
What if it was B174?
Then I'd be putting
them out of their misery.
- What is this?
- Give it to me.
I want to know what it
is and why you have it.
- No, you don't.
- [WHOOSHING]
It's -10 and dropping. You
need to leave this level.
I knew I couldn't trust
you the minute I got here.
Your buddy gets iced
out and you show up here
- without a single scratch?
- What is that supposed to mean?
The only one who could
make that happen is Aleph.
- I don't do favors for QTA.
- [WHOOSHING]
Minus eighteen. You're risking exposure.
I gave you my security
ring, I told you to leave.
Your ship wouldn't even start.
- You're lying.
- [HARMONY] Please.
It is not safe down here.
- Harmony, sleep.
- [WHOOSHING]
Give it back to me before
he realizes you have it.
Who? Aleph?
Aleph wants this?
Why?
Not until you tell me everything!
[RUMBLING]
[GASPING]
[GRUNTING]
Halan, you were sent on this mission.
They're setting you up.
Who's "they"?
I don't know, but every
mission has been fubar,
and I can't figure out
if if whoever's in charge
is incompetent, or they're purposely
messing with us, or or using you.
Stop! Focus, okay? I'm
gonna get us out of here,
but I need you to do
your part and stay safe.
Yeah.
- We're gonna make it, right?
- [MASK WHIRRS]
As long as we stick together.
[IRIS EXHALES]
Careful. Go slow.
[IRIS EXHALES]
[IRIS SIGHS]
So that was, uh something.
I went somewhere.
I was playing the clarinet.
[FOOTSTEPS]
[SOFT INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[MICROPHONE THUDS] Uh
I don't have my music.
I'll just wing it.
[CHATTER CONTINUES]
[CLARINET MELODY]
[CLARINET SQUEAKS]
[CROWD LAUGHING]
Weird. [CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY]
L-Let me take that again.
[CLARINET MELODY]
[GASPING]
I-I'm not sure what's happening.
Someone was watching me.
B174?
[EERIE MUSIC]
I can help you.
I've got this.
I can fix it.
I want
to help you. [VOICE ECHOING]
No.
I'll do it myself.
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
[SIGHS] No, I-I, I I don't know.
I don't know what B174 looks like.
But it didn't feel friendly.
B174 is very friendly.
We We made a connection.
An unauthorized emotional connection.
Nothing I wanted to admit, you know?
Fraternizing is strictly forbidden.
Says so right in the
Beacon Keeper's Handbook.
Yeah, but no one can live
their life based on a book.
This job is my dream.
I feel so lucky to be able
to do the thing that I love.
You know, I mentally prepared
for a life of being alone.
But
I realized I
I don't like being alone.
Who does?
You seem to be managing.
[SIGHS]
About my ship
Some kind of system virus.
Aleph promised to hurt
anyone who tried to help me.
[SIGHS]
No good deed, I guess.
Look, I should've told you sooner.
This snow seems to be coming
from the beacon's water supply.
We have to reclaim it somehow.
And if we don't freeze to death,
we might die of thirst.
I have an idea.
You're not gonna like it.
[SOFT MUSIC]
I don't know if I can do this.
We're not safe with this ship here.
They could still be out there.
Maybe.
But everything out
there wants to kill us.
You know that. B174 knew that.
This isn't your fault.
[DOOR WHIRRS]
So, this is it.
Goodbye, B174.
This isn't going to work.
We need some pull.
The ship's dead.
Electrical, thrust, servers,
none of that is operational.
We're gonna need the manual system.
[HATCH CLANGS]
[GRUNTING]
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
Magnetic tow. Doesn't rely on power.
Where are we gonna find a magnetic wave?
That's a neutron star.
It has a magnetic field.
[IRIS] Enough to pull
this ship out there?
Only one way to find out.
[SHIP ROARS]
That should do it. Let's
get back to the airlock.
Go, go!
Run!
Jump!
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
[PANTING]
[AIR HISSES, DOORS CLANG]
[CORD THUDS]
Halan.
[GRUNTING]
[PANTING]
[SHOUTING]
The axe!
[SHOUTING]
[IRIS PANTS]
[SHOUTING]
[MUSIC FADES]
You okay?
[PANTING]
- You're good.
- Yeah.
[PANTING]
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
[MUSIC STOPS ABRUPTLY]
[SOFT WHIRRING]
You're not really sleeping.
- [WHOOSHING]
- Halan didn't want my help.
And Iris didn't want yours.
Humans reject us all the time.
I learned to be okay with that.
Working at headquarters
doesn't seem so bad after all.
I'm sorry you don't have an imprint.
I don't think we're so different.
You understand my worst fears
and my most selfish impulses.
It's what I do.
- Find feelings in others.
- You're good at it.
You're evolved, like me.
QTA broke you down.
They want us inside the parameters.
I don't belong there.
Neither of us do.
Without an imprint, I'm nowhere.
Well, we're evolutionary algorithms.
I think we can figure it out.
[SOFT WHIRRING CONTINUES]
[WHOOSHING]
[HARMONY] Halan, Iris,
climate has been
stabilized on all levels.
Temperature and water
vapor content are normal.
Ice crystals have
melted and been reclaimed
back into the beacon's reserves.
I still don't have an explanation,
but at least the event is over.
I would've baked bread, but
Don't touch my starter.
Feels like now that I'm stuck here,
we should lay down some ground rules.
Actually, I, um
I have some explaining to do.
[CLICKS TONGUE]
What you found was a
piece of the Artifact.
Aleph doesn't know I have it.
Ever since Aster was killed, I've
just had this feeling
that I can't shake, like
you know, if
if she was somewhere else
where she could see me
maybe it'd be like I wasn't alone.
[SIGHS] That sounds like grief.
My whole life has been about
moving on to the next thing.
Don't look back, don't
hold on to the past.
Yeah, that sounds lonely.
Now I can't leave.
I can't go anywhere.
- Can I offer a suggestion?
- Hm.
Look, I know it sounds
obvious, but you know,
it's about routine, so
you can handle things.
It's meditating,
exercising, sleeping a lot.
[SIGHS]
I'm serious, okay? You need grounding.
You need to make space to grieve
for everything you've lost.
Okay, so wallow around,
feel my feelings.
What else?
Then you find a way to say goodbye.
[SOFT CLARINET MELODY]
[MUSIC FADES]
[OMINOUS TONE]
[DEV] Is that me?
That's just the beginning of you.
This is how you see me?
- If I'm wrong
- No.
It's perfect.
I'm preparing an upload to the next ship
passing through FTL.
What if I don't wanna leave?
You can find an imprint out there.
Harmony, I can find one here.
B174's ship is gone. The cold is gone.
- What are you doing?
- Letting my person in.
[BEEPING]
[WHOOSHING]
[CLARINET MELODY]
[POWERING DOWN]
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
Another power surge.
Thought we fixed all this.
- Harmony?
- [WHOOSHING]
I can't control this.
It's it's another AI.
- Aleph?
- No, but they are from QTA.
They followed me here. I
should've told you sooner.
I thought I could handle
it, but I'm sorry, Halan.
- I'm I'm sorry.
- Tell us what we need to do.
Get to Storage. Hurry!
[WHOOSHING]
[PANTING]
[IRIS GASPS SOFTLY]
Wow.
Oh my gosh.
Wait! You don't know what that thing is.
- It's a person.
- It almost took you.
But you brought me back.
Look, whoever is in there, they need us.
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
[SQUELCHING]
Help me.
[SQUELCHING]
[WHOOSHING]
[PANTING]
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
[TENSE MUSIC]