Coroner (2019) s03e08 Episode Script
Blue Flock
Any idea where you're
going, or what you'll do next?
I haven't really thought about it,
I'm just,
ready for a fresh start.
- We made a pretty good team.
- Yeah, we did.
We should celebrate.
What are you doing tonight? It's a rage room.
Hey, Jenny.
Hi.
You still have to see a doctor.
Hmm.
I needed to see you first.
I wanna tell you that you were right.
You were right about me hiding.
You were right about me Being scared.
I felt like all I could do is ruin things so that um, that I couldn't get better here.
But that was my fear of things going wrong.
Okay, look.
Hey.
We uh, we can take it slow.
Huh? Start right here.
Where we are.
Sorry.
It's okay, it's just work.
No, no, hey, you can go to work.
It's important.
Me, I'm just, I'll, uh I'll take care of my stitches.
Okay.
Okay, uh I'll uh, I'll take a look at them afterwards just to, you know, to make sure that they're okay.
- Come by the office? - Yeah.
Okay.
Bye.
I can't believe we're about to go into Olivia Rice's house.
It's like visiting Kubrick or something, man.
I didn't know you were such a big fan.
When's the last time she even made a movie? Well, not since the 90's, but my high school friends and I, we used to do sci-fi marathons of her, Cronenberg, and Scott, and we would do a bunch of mushrooms, and we would just - Oh.
- Hey! Hey, are you the detectives? I called you, I called the police, but she won't let me in the house.
- I'm sorry, ma'am, who? - My stepmother.
She won't let me in because I know she killed my Dad.
Um, Miss? Lorde.
It's Lilium Lorde.
It's my Dad in there.
Okay, Lilium, I'm Detective Abed, maybe we can just hang outside, until you're ready, to give me a statement.
Come on, would that be okay? Oh, yeah.
You must be the detective everyone's been waiting for.
Ms.
Rice.
I'm Detective McAvoy.
Please, my husband doesn't have much time.
Ma'am, I'm a homicide detective.
I thought your husband already passed on.
- Please.
- Hm.
You Hey.
Hey.
Hey.
It's funny how some people's homes look exactly how you would imagine, right? So, uh, whadda we got on this? Xavier Lorde, well known neurobiologist.
Suffered from early-stage ALS.
He's been completely locked in, since his stroke last year.
His wife, Olivia Rice, says he communicated through voice technology he developed himself.
Ms.
Rice says she found him dead, at 7:00 this morning.
But the stepdaughter, Lilium Lorde Mm-hmm? Claims that Olivia pulled the plug on him.
Well, it's not the oddest thing, for family members to have different stories.
Well, you haven't seen what's odd, yet.
It's preparation for cryonics.
Cryonics? It's people who wanna be frozen, and woken up in the future.
Three letters? Hey! Hey! - Hey.
- Hi! - Hi, there, Captain! - Whadda ya doin'? - I didn't see ya sittin' there.
- Yeah? Okay.
Whatcha doing? A little shopping online there, are ya? Are you okay? Who, me? Fine, what about you? I'm doing well.
Cryogenics is the study of low temperatures.
Cryonics, is the use of low temperatures, to preserve - People.
- Cool.
Did you just Is there anything to the stepdaughter's accusation? The dry ice is uh, is new for me, but I don't, I don't see any foul play.
Cryonics is really just a alternative funeral arrangement.
If you're finished working, I'd like my husband back, please.
Ms.
Rice, uh Detective McAvoy relayed your request, but unfortunately, I, I can't release the body, until I finish my investigation.
Investigation into what? Xavier made his wishes quite clear.
And what were his wishes? I'm sure in your job you meet people of different beliefs.
This is our belief.
Transhumanism.
That technology can transform the human condition.
Xavier's wishes are stated in this.
- This is? - His living will.
Okay, it says here, upon his legal death, his body is to be sent to CryoSleep, facility for the Patients of Cryonics.
Xavier communicated through his voice tech.
He told me exactly - what he wanted.
- Just step back, please I'm his daughter.
You're a liar! You're not supposed to be in here.
Daddy and I spoke yesterday.
Just watch it.
Listen to him.
Her cryonics obsession was destroying his piece of mind.
Oh, Lilium, my sweet child, don't be sad.
Daddy, I'm afraid of what we'll do for this crazy belief.
I have to stop her.
You always know what's best for me.
Lily-Bear Your father transitioned to biostasis naturally.
He is a sick man! You are the sick one! She knew I was coming here, and turned off his machine before I could get here to stop her.
- This proves that she killed him.
- Spoiled child.
If you truly cared, you would know how much he wants this! Okay, let's just, let's, let's just take a second, okay? Was there anyone else in the house last night? Just the night nurse and myself.
Okay.
So, let's go over the events of last night and this morning.
All right, Olivia, you said you found your husband dead, at around 7:00 this morning? Dead? Xavier is in a metabolic state of suspension.
I got a notification on my phone, from the heart monitor company, saying Xavier was having a cardiac episode.
I ran into his room.
Where you found Cedric? Yeah, I am Dr.
Lorde's night nurse.
No, Barney is the night nurse.
What happened to Barney? Why were you here? Barney had a family issue, and needed the night off.
Cedric replaced him.
Okay, so what happened next? Uh, he's uh, DNR, so I called time of death, and immediately put him on ice.
It's what the family wanted.
Once Xavier went into biostasis, I called CryoSleep, so they could take the body there, and start the perfusion.
I got here just after 8:00 a.
m.
.
When you typically overreacted.
And called the police.
We need to get on with this.
The clock is ticking.
If my husband's body degrades, he will not be a candidate for preservation.
Excuse us.
Xavier was hooked up to a heart monitor.
Data is stored remotely, so I'm gonna try to call the company, and see if I can find out what time his heart stopped.
Yeah, and get an exact time of death? Right.
If I can get a look at the echocardiogram, I may be able to tell if it was a heart attack, or Something more sinister, like Lilium's suggesting.
That'd be an impressive trick.
Yeah, it's worth a shot.
That's blood.
That's a perfusion machine.
I'm gonna go with sinister.
Perfusion machines are usually used in hospitals to recirculate blood, in a, in a heart surgery.
So, you're saying, that's five litres of Xavier Lorde's blood.
Dollars to donuts.
And perfusions normally take a couple of hours.
Yeah, then dollars to donuts, Olivia was lying about finding him at 7:00 a.
m.
.
Yeah.
Exactly.
Stop! You're killing him! Do you not understand? - Coming through! - Please stop! Murderer.
This is a suspicious death.
I don't have a choice.
I won't let you do this.
Please.
Please.
I'm begging you.
I'll stop this autopsy.
I'm calling my lawyer.
Cedric, the night nurse, he performed the perfusion? Do you know what the perfusion process is, Detective McAvoy? Or why it's essential to our science? Yes, actually, Dr.
Cooper explained it a little bit.
It's when you pump the blood from the body and replace it with an organ-preserving solution, kinda like an antifreeze.
That's right.
Without it, the cryo-freezing process could cause the water in the blood to expand, destroy the cells, and putrefy the organs.
But I also know that even the most skilled perfusionist, would take at least three hours to complete that job.
You still wanna convince me that good ol' Cedric is just the night nurse? Let me ask you, what makes you so certain Xavier will be brought back? It's never been done before.
Tell that to the Wright Brothers.
Okay.
Unimpressed by man learning to fly? How about harnessing nuclear energy? The internet? You see, nothing seems plausible, until we make it so.
Then we forget, and act as if it were there all the time.
One moment, please.
Security camera from the neighbour's showed a van arriving at about 4:30 a.
m.
, and leaving just before 8:00 a.
m.
.
That's when they pumped the blood.
That van have a logo? No, but I ran the plates.
It's a rental leased out to CryoSleep Inc.
.
Ah, Xavier Lorde's research assistant uh, got in touch, she's looking for that talking box thing.
Good.
Bring her in.
All right.
I'll see what I can find out.
We can't touch him.
According to his wife's lawyer, no, but I uh, I'm working on it.
Can he at least be moved into a locker? The frozen carbon dioxide is as good as putting him in the morgue.
He'll keep.
So, nobody touches him 'til I say so.
Oh, hey, uh, Dr.
Garcia, thank you for doing this on such short notice.
- I appreciate it.
- Are you kidding me? This is one for the books.
- Oh, hey.
- Hey.
Uh, should we, - talk, or - Sorry, uh, thank you, uh, for doing this, and uh, yeah, we uh Uh, looks like we're up.
The Honourable Judge Helen Koo is now ready.
Proceedings can begin.
Judge Koo, Clark Coleman of the Crown, representing the office the coroner, in a jurisdictional matter.
It's time sensitive, so, thank you for accommodating us.
What are the facts? Yes, thank you.
Uh, the next of kin is trying to block my autopsy.
The decedent has a will, uh, in which they express their wishes, to be cryo-preserved.
And is the autopsy warranted? Well, the parties involved have been deceitful, and as you can see from the documents that I've sent you, the body has also been interfered with.
That's good enough for me, Mr.
Coleman.
Dr.
Cooper, paperwork will be forwarded to your office.
You may proceed with your examination.
Thank you.
Wonderful.
Thank you.
Okay.
So, it's probably not a good time, is it? Uh, sorry um No, can uh, can we Can we raincheck? I can wait.
Okay.
Hey - Are you okay? - Me? Yeah.
I'm fine, kiddo, don't you worry.
I promise, I'm fine! You saw her again.
- Where? - Where? Everywhere! I saw her in there, she's in that window over there, now she's over here.
I saw her at the dining room window.
Look, it's it's different.
It's not like it was.
I, I don't know if I like it.
It's just not the same.
I mean, I shouldn't look.
Right? I, I know she's not there, so, my looking for her, this looking is only gonna make it worse, but I just miss her so much.
I know.
I miss my Peggy.
It was great for a while, there.
You know, conjuring her up, and seeing her again, - but it's just not the same.
- Listen What can I do? How can I help? My God.
You don't know, do ya? Just you listening to me and not thinking of me I'm ju as a crazy old man, it just means the world to me.
Don't know what I'd do without ya, to tell ya the truth.
I think I better take a nap.
I think so.
Just a 20-minute nap.
Wake me up.
I'll bring you some.
How could he not straighten these things? Looks like the members of CryoSleep.
Yeah, probably.
Check out the one on the end.
It's our boy, Cedric.
Looking to secure your future? Uh, please excuse my lunch.
Busy, busy, we're always eating on the run.
Please, have a seat.
I am the chief physician of this facility, Dr.
Benedict Yeats, but please, call me Dr.
Ned, everybody does.
I'm Detective McAvoy, this is Dr.
Jenny Cooper, the coroner.
Yes, I was expecting you.
Uh, we, we have nothing to hide.
Not even about Cedric there, employee of the month? Not quite a night nurse, is he? He's a highly qualified perfusionist.
I, I hope he's not being charged with anything? Not yet.
Tell me, why did he lie about who he was - and what he was doing there? - Oh.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
It was a misunderstanding.
My team and I, absolutely performed the perfusion on Xavier Lorde.
I have a legally binding contract to do so.
Okay, so Olivia just, just called you that night? Yeah, well that's the name of the game.
We can't exactly book appointments for our clients.
We aren't involved pre-mortem.
Because that would be illegal.
What time did Olivia call you? Uh About uh, 4:00.
Yeah, shortly after Xavier achieved biostasis.
We arrived about 30 minutes uh, after, and but, we left before we were able to complete the transport.
You mean, when the stepdaughter, Lilium, arrived.
Yes, knowing there was going to be uh, you know, a family issue, we opted to leave quietly.
Okay.
And what, what happens now? Well, now I'm awaiting instructions from Olivia.
Could we take a look around your facility? Cryotherapy Bay is home to CryoSleep's 153 souls.
As you can see, each of our patients has their own capsule.
Your patients? Our members have chosen not to accept death as a foregone conclusion.
We place them in liquid nitrogen, lowering them to a temperature of -190 degrees Celsius, and then they, reside here in members bay.
Have any of your members ever been successfully resuscitated? No, not yet, but the science is far closer to a breakthrough - than you might think.
- Oh, is that so? How much does it cost to get set up in here? It's $265,000 for full cryo-preservation, and $125,000 for a neuro only.
- By neuro, you mean - Just the head.
Um, I noticed there are very few of you working here.
It's an intimate operation.
I do have some part-time staff to assist with the intakes.
And these intakes, they've never interfered with a death investigation before? Interfered? No, no, no, no.
We've done it this way 153 times.
No dispute.
Uh, tell me, will we be receiving - Xavier Lorde's body today? - I don't know.
But I will uh, I'll keep you posted.
Okay.
But you know, you wait too long, he won't be any good to me.
To you? Hm.
Must be a power outage in the neighbourhood.
Hm.
Is it just me, or is this place janky as hell? Oh, it's not you.
Pretty understaffed, for a high-tech operation.
- Yeah.
- Catch those light flickers? Oh, hey, uh Heart monitor data just came in.
Xavier's heart started slowing, slightly but noticeably, around 4:30 a.
m.
.
And does it look like natural death? No, it's inconclusive.
Hopefully the autopsy will tell us more.
I'll let you know what I find.
Wonder if they're actively recruiting people to keep the lights on? Yeah.
Recruiting them? Or killing them? When Xavier went into cardiac distress, why not call an ambulance? Why call CryoSleep? It's what he wanted.
I know it's what CryoSleep wanted.
I took a look at their financials, a lot of red.
They need your $265,000.
Did you also know that their membership relies heavily on high profile names? Names like yours and your husband's? So? Ask.
All right, was Xavier alive or dead when Cedric arrived to perfuse him? You think I'm some Stupid old lady who can't let go? So desperate to hold on to her husband, that she'll let CryoSleep kill him and take my money? Did they? We were going to be young again.
The way we live now Is barbaric.
Aging is a crime.
To let a brilliant mind like his just be stolen, it's absurd.
I'll admit, the future where no one gets sick or dies, sounds pretty nice.
But it also doesn't sound real.
I've been to this CryoSleep place, and I'll tell ya, it felt like a trick, like I was on the set of a cheap magic show.
I don't care about the window dressing.
I believe in the science.
Imagination can change the world.
Maybe you're not using yours enough.
Look, will you let me show you something? Humour me.
So, this chat-box thing, you developed this to help people who've lost the ability to speak.
That's a part of it.
The main project is Brain Emulation.
Huh.
Imagine you could scan a brain, then construct a software model of it.
That was our goal, to replicate Xavier's consciousness and upload it.
He believed that one day we'd exist entirely in a virtual world.
We were making progress, but it's still at a speculative stage.
Okay, so um, what does that, what does that mean, exactly? - The software? - Yeah.
Or AI, hasn't yet achieved um, actual awareness.
The device still needs verbal cues to interact with.
We have hundreds of back-ups of conversations.
Hmm, uh, okay, but Were any of these conversations with Lilium and Xavier? I have them here, if you wanna take a listen.
Uh, yeah, that, that would that would be great.
Tell me what you need, Daddy.
Lily-Bear, you always know what's best for me.
Okay, I'm coming there.
I'll be on the first flight tomorrow.
Daddy, do you wanna be frozen? Lily-Bear, you make me want to be alive.
Okay, then we have to stop Olivia.
Yes, Lily-Bear.
Yes! Um, do you mind, if I play this for my partner? - He's gonna wanna hear that.
- Yeah, of course.
Yeah, okay.
I'll be right back.
- Okay.
- Yeah.
Oh.
These are concepts I created, for a film I never made.
The storyboards are almost 40 years old.
3D printing of organs, synthetic limbs that sense touch, facial recognition software.
These things only existed in my dreams at that time.
Now, they're real, and we use them every day.
That's what immortality means to me; a dream made real, by science.
I know they're going to autopsy my husband's body.
But his brain can still be saved, by cryonics.
They did a good job.
Yeah.
It only took six hours too, so.
Well, I'll take them out for you.
Hm.
I'll take them out when they're ready, so you, save you some time.
Wait, wait, wait, let me show you something.
Here, take a look.
What is this? This is a small, beautiful piece of land.
And I just bought it.
Yeah.
I think we can start over, just Try to build something together.
You know? Yeah.
It's just You know, what if we What if we try this again, and we just end up in the exact same place? No, no, Jenny, listen.
Listen.
Something happened to me yesterday, now everything is clear.
The only thing that I want is We're, we're ready for you.
Okay, I can wait.
Okay.
Feel that? The pulmonic valve? Yeah, could be a blockage.
It's hard to tell without having any history of the heart.
And without a tox screen, I can't confirm any kind of injection or, drug overdose.
Yeah, a lethal arrhythmia would've shown up on the heart monitor data.
Unless they uh, unplugged it before they gave him the shot.
The widow really wants to freeze the brain.
I know, but she may have killed him, so we need to know how he died.
Can we confirm the cause of death with what we've got? Not that I can see.
Okay.
All right, well, yeah, just gotta do it.
Whoa! Hey, hey, stop, stop, stop.
His brain.
Stop! Oh, my God, his brain is completely liquified.
I don't understand, I mean this, this level of decomposition would mean, that he had to have been brain-dead for at least 48 hours.
At least.
But both his wife and his daughter said that they had communication with him yesterday.
- That's not possible.
- No It's not, not unless they were talking to the dead.
Hello? Anybody there? Xavier was locked in.
This device it works on the eye tracking tech, right? Yeah.
Without Xavier, I don't think we're gonna get anything.
Hi, Daddy.
Lilium, my sweet Lily-Bear.
So happy to hear your voice.
All right, Teja, I wanna be very clear, are you saying it's probable that, when Olivia and Lilium were talking to Xavier yesterday, they were actually talking to that? Things have always been toxic between Lilium and Olivia.
Communicating with them was draining for Xavier.
He was always caught in the middle.
So, you made some adjustments.
I reprogrammed the box.
I wrote in an algorithm, to mimic Xavier's conversation, to use his words and his expressions.
So, the algorithm was created to de-escalate conflict between them? Tell Olivia and Lilium what they wanted to hear? So that he wouldn't have to.
So that he could rest.
The algorithm is triggered by verbal cues, specific to Lilium and Olivia.
Dad, Daddy, Darling, My Love, and so on.
So, yes, when they thought they were talking to Xavier, it was the box talking.
100%.
That's impossible.
I don't believe you.
It's the truth.
The autopsy revealed that Xavier lost brain function days ago.
So, when I wasn't talking to Daddy? Lily-Bear, you're upset.
What can I do to help? I'm sorry, no.
Okay.
After everything I did.
What did you do? I overheard them talking.
I couldn't understand why Xavier would say different things to Lilium and me.
I thought he was just Trying to spare her feelings.
Knowing Lilium was on her way I I called Dr.
Ned.
He said the window to get Xavier into cryo-preservation was slim.
So I told him to come.
He gave Xavier a muscle relaxant, to put him at ease.
And I I I took him off the ventilator and I I shut off his machines.
Olivia, for what it's worth, I hope I'm wrong about the future.
No.
Where are you going? You have to arrest me.
I just told you I murdered my husband.
You didn't murder him.
He was already dead.
Olivia? I am sorry.
I'm sorry.
I lost him.
I was glad you DM'd me.
I wasn't sure where we left it.
I was worried about you, you know, after the party.
I'm okay.
I pretty much just needed a wingman, with wheels and, nothing to do.
That's basically what it says on my ID.
Oh, perfect! Is your boyfriend cool with us chilling? Yeah, yeah, super cool.
Super cool with the chilling.
Okay.
So, we're here.
What now? I guess I have to go in there.
You can always just buy flowers.
You can do it.
Yeah.
Right.
I just need a minute.
Take your time.
I got nowhere else to be.
Thank you.
Excuse me, sorry, you can't be in here.
Dr.
Benedict Yeats, I'm arresting you on suspicion of criminal harassment, malpractice, and anything else I can think of on the drive over to lockup.
No, no, don't Please, you need, to let me finish this intake.
This patient's life is in my hands! Jenny No, no, no, you mustn't go in there.
- Get him outta here.
- No, you don't understand this work! I'll be right there! Hi there.
- Hi.
- Can I help you? Uh, um, yeah.
Yes.
I would like some flowers please, for my boyfriend.
Oh.
Well, what's he like? I don't know, he's um, he's kind of metropolitan, he's, very sweet.
Um He sounds like a keeper.
How long you been together? I'm sorry, that question is really none of I'm just nosy.
No, no, don't worry.
Why don't we um, make him something that he'll really love? I'll just Sorry.
Are you Margaret? I am.
Most people call me Peggy.
I'm Ross.
- Hello, Ross.
- Hi.
I have been wanting to meet you for such a long time.
Hey, uh What did you mean when you said you hope you're wrong about the future? Oh uh, you know, Olivia just showed me some things that, that got me thinking.
Don't tell me you wanna get frozen now? I have cancer.
Or, I had cancer.
I got treatment, and it caused a hole in my spine, so, now I need surgery, and there's a chance I could lose the use of my legs.
Oh, my God, Donovan! I don't know what to do.
It started with this shooting pain up my leg.
Next thing I know, hearing the words a "solitary spinal plasmacytoma.
" And the radiation caused damage to your spine.
Yeah.
You know, they say it's operable, but high risk.
Well, Dr.
Lamb is a great orthopedist.
You couldn't be in better hands there.
Look, I uh I know this doesn't make it any less scary but But this is a, this is a really good place to start.
So, he showed up this morning.
- Yep.
- But you hadn't been home yet, - from the night before? - No.
- It's not funny.
- I'm sorry.
It's not ah I mean, like, what am I gonna do? Well, how serious is it with Clark? I mean it's, you know, it's Not serious, it's just Different.
Different is good.
There's nothing wrong with different.
What about you? What about me? How's it going with - Oh, Kirima? - Yeah.
Yeah, she's really cool.
I don't know what else to say, she's just Very cool.
Great.
Awesome.
I love that for you.
Sounds like we're having the exact same experience in our love lives.
I mean, why choose? Or maybe I choose both? Ooh! I get both! Yeah, I know, I know.
Uh, I was just imagining I was someone else for a minute.
Ah, wouldn't that be nice, be someone else for a minute.
Okay, all right.
Let's take a look at that spine.
- Oh, so this is official now.
- I am a doctor.
- That shouldn't hurt.
- Yeah.
I mean, the radiation reduced your tumour.
I think the pain you're feeling is uh, it's from the damage to your spine.
Look As your friend, you know, I want you to do whatever is right for you.
- Um - Yeah.
But as a doctor, I don't, I don't I don't see a way around this.
You know, I think if you don't get the operation, your spine Will collapse.
So I mean, I would say I'd say to book your surgery.
Yeah.
You're right.
I'm gonna book it.
I think, I think I've always known, but, you know, I just Yeah, maybe, I was just hoping for a miracle.
- Just - I know.
- Hey, Ross! - Hey! - You good? - Yeah.
- You okay? - Oh, yeah.
- Thank you.
- Bye.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- These are beautiful.
- Mm-hmm.
- They from you? - Uh, no.
They're from my grandmother.
Oh, they're from - Muna.
- No.
My other grandmother.
What? I met your Mom.
Get those in some water!
- We made a pretty good team.
- Yeah, we did.
We should celebrate.
What are you doing tonight? It's a rage room.
Hey, Jenny.
Hi.
You still have to see a doctor.
Hmm.
I needed to see you first.
I wanna tell you that you were right.
You were right about me hiding.
You were right about me Being scared.
I felt like all I could do is ruin things so that um, that I couldn't get better here.
But that was my fear of things going wrong.
Okay, look.
Hey.
We uh, we can take it slow.
Huh? Start right here.
Where we are.
Sorry.
It's okay, it's just work.
No, no, hey, you can go to work.
It's important.
Me, I'm just, I'll, uh I'll take care of my stitches.
Okay.
Okay, uh I'll uh, I'll take a look at them afterwards just to, you know, to make sure that they're okay.
- Come by the office? - Yeah.
Okay.
Bye.
I can't believe we're about to go into Olivia Rice's house.
It's like visiting Kubrick or something, man.
I didn't know you were such a big fan.
When's the last time she even made a movie? Well, not since the 90's, but my high school friends and I, we used to do sci-fi marathons of her, Cronenberg, and Scott, and we would do a bunch of mushrooms, and we would just - Oh.
- Hey! Hey, are you the detectives? I called you, I called the police, but she won't let me in the house.
- I'm sorry, ma'am, who? - My stepmother.
She won't let me in because I know she killed my Dad.
Um, Miss? Lorde.
It's Lilium Lorde.
It's my Dad in there.
Okay, Lilium, I'm Detective Abed, maybe we can just hang outside, until you're ready, to give me a statement.
Come on, would that be okay? Oh, yeah.
You must be the detective everyone's been waiting for.
Ms.
Rice.
I'm Detective McAvoy.
Please, my husband doesn't have much time.
Ma'am, I'm a homicide detective.
I thought your husband already passed on.
- Please.
- Hm.
You Hey.
Hey.
Hey.
It's funny how some people's homes look exactly how you would imagine, right? So, uh, whadda we got on this? Xavier Lorde, well known neurobiologist.
Suffered from early-stage ALS.
He's been completely locked in, since his stroke last year.
His wife, Olivia Rice, says he communicated through voice technology he developed himself.
Ms.
Rice says she found him dead, at 7:00 this morning.
But the stepdaughter, Lilium Lorde Mm-hmm? Claims that Olivia pulled the plug on him.
Well, it's not the oddest thing, for family members to have different stories.
Well, you haven't seen what's odd, yet.
It's preparation for cryonics.
Cryonics? It's people who wanna be frozen, and woken up in the future.
Three letters? Hey! Hey! - Hey.
- Hi! - Hi, there, Captain! - Whadda ya doin'? - I didn't see ya sittin' there.
- Yeah? Okay.
Whatcha doing? A little shopping online there, are ya? Are you okay? Who, me? Fine, what about you? I'm doing well.
Cryogenics is the study of low temperatures.
Cryonics, is the use of low temperatures, to preserve - People.
- Cool.
Did you just Is there anything to the stepdaughter's accusation? The dry ice is uh, is new for me, but I don't, I don't see any foul play.
Cryonics is really just a alternative funeral arrangement.
If you're finished working, I'd like my husband back, please.
Ms.
Rice, uh Detective McAvoy relayed your request, but unfortunately, I, I can't release the body, until I finish my investigation.
Investigation into what? Xavier made his wishes quite clear.
And what were his wishes? I'm sure in your job you meet people of different beliefs.
This is our belief.
Transhumanism.
That technology can transform the human condition.
Xavier's wishes are stated in this.
- This is? - His living will.
Okay, it says here, upon his legal death, his body is to be sent to CryoSleep, facility for the Patients of Cryonics.
Xavier communicated through his voice tech.
He told me exactly - what he wanted.
- Just step back, please I'm his daughter.
You're a liar! You're not supposed to be in here.
Daddy and I spoke yesterday.
Just watch it.
Listen to him.
Her cryonics obsession was destroying his piece of mind.
Oh, Lilium, my sweet child, don't be sad.
Daddy, I'm afraid of what we'll do for this crazy belief.
I have to stop her.
You always know what's best for me.
Lily-Bear Your father transitioned to biostasis naturally.
He is a sick man! You are the sick one! She knew I was coming here, and turned off his machine before I could get here to stop her.
- This proves that she killed him.
- Spoiled child.
If you truly cared, you would know how much he wants this! Okay, let's just, let's, let's just take a second, okay? Was there anyone else in the house last night? Just the night nurse and myself.
Okay.
So, let's go over the events of last night and this morning.
All right, Olivia, you said you found your husband dead, at around 7:00 this morning? Dead? Xavier is in a metabolic state of suspension.
I got a notification on my phone, from the heart monitor company, saying Xavier was having a cardiac episode.
I ran into his room.
Where you found Cedric? Yeah, I am Dr.
Lorde's night nurse.
No, Barney is the night nurse.
What happened to Barney? Why were you here? Barney had a family issue, and needed the night off.
Cedric replaced him.
Okay, so what happened next? Uh, he's uh, DNR, so I called time of death, and immediately put him on ice.
It's what the family wanted.
Once Xavier went into biostasis, I called CryoSleep, so they could take the body there, and start the perfusion.
I got here just after 8:00 a.
m.
.
When you typically overreacted.
And called the police.
We need to get on with this.
The clock is ticking.
If my husband's body degrades, he will not be a candidate for preservation.
Excuse us.
Xavier was hooked up to a heart monitor.
Data is stored remotely, so I'm gonna try to call the company, and see if I can find out what time his heart stopped.
Yeah, and get an exact time of death? Right.
If I can get a look at the echocardiogram, I may be able to tell if it was a heart attack, or Something more sinister, like Lilium's suggesting.
That'd be an impressive trick.
Yeah, it's worth a shot.
That's blood.
That's a perfusion machine.
I'm gonna go with sinister.
Perfusion machines are usually used in hospitals to recirculate blood, in a, in a heart surgery.
So, you're saying, that's five litres of Xavier Lorde's blood.
Dollars to donuts.
And perfusions normally take a couple of hours.
Yeah, then dollars to donuts, Olivia was lying about finding him at 7:00 a.
m.
.
Yeah.
Exactly.
Stop! You're killing him! Do you not understand? - Coming through! - Please stop! Murderer.
This is a suspicious death.
I don't have a choice.
I won't let you do this.
Please.
Please.
I'm begging you.
I'll stop this autopsy.
I'm calling my lawyer.
Cedric, the night nurse, he performed the perfusion? Do you know what the perfusion process is, Detective McAvoy? Or why it's essential to our science? Yes, actually, Dr.
Cooper explained it a little bit.
It's when you pump the blood from the body and replace it with an organ-preserving solution, kinda like an antifreeze.
That's right.
Without it, the cryo-freezing process could cause the water in the blood to expand, destroy the cells, and putrefy the organs.
But I also know that even the most skilled perfusionist, would take at least three hours to complete that job.
You still wanna convince me that good ol' Cedric is just the night nurse? Let me ask you, what makes you so certain Xavier will be brought back? It's never been done before.
Tell that to the Wright Brothers.
Okay.
Unimpressed by man learning to fly? How about harnessing nuclear energy? The internet? You see, nothing seems plausible, until we make it so.
Then we forget, and act as if it were there all the time.
One moment, please.
Security camera from the neighbour's showed a van arriving at about 4:30 a.
m.
, and leaving just before 8:00 a.
m.
.
That's when they pumped the blood.
That van have a logo? No, but I ran the plates.
It's a rental leased out to CryoSleep Inc.
.
Ah, Xavier Lorde's research assistant uh, got in touch, she's looking for that talking box thing.
Good.
Bring her in.
All right.
I'll see what I can find out.
We can't touch him.
According to his wife's lawyer, no, but I uh, I'm working on it.
Can he at least be moved into a locker? The frozen carbon dioxide is as good as putting him in the morgue.
He'll keep.
So, nobody touches him 'til I say so.
Oh, hey, uh, Dr.
Garcia, thank you for doing this on such short notice.
- I appreciate it.
- Are you kidding me? This is one for the books.
- Oh, hey.
- Hey.
Uh, should we, - talk, or - Sorry, uh, thank you, uh, for doing this, and uh, yeah, we uh Uh, looks like we're up.
The Honourable Judge Helen Koo is now ready.
Proceedings can begin.
Judge Koo, Clark Coleman of the Crown, representing the office the coroner, in a jurisdictional matter.
It's time sensitive, so, thank you for accommodating us.
What are the facts? Yes, thank you.
Uh, the next of kin is trying to block my autopsy.
The decedent has a will, uh, in which they express their wishes, to be cryo-preserved.
And is the autopsy warranted? Well, the parties involved have been deceitful, and as you can see from the documents that I've sent you, the body has also been interfered with.
That's good enough for me, Mr.
Coleman.
Dr.
Cooper, paperwork will be forwarded to your office.
You may proceed with your examination.
Thank you.
Wonderful.
Thank you.
Okay.
So, it's probably not a good time, is it? Uh, sorry um No, can uh, can we Can we raincheck? I can wait.
Okay.
Hey - Are you okay? - Me? Yeah.
I'm fine, kiddo, don't you worry.
I promise, I'm fine! You saw her again.
- Where? - Where? Everywhere! I saw her in there, she's in that window over there, now she's over here.
I saw her at the dining room window.
Look, it's it's different.
It's not like it was.
I, I don't know if I like it.
It's just not the same.
I mean, I shouldn't look.
Right? I, I know she's not there, so, my looking for her, this looking is only gonna make it worse, but I just miss her so much.
I know.
I miss my Peggy.
It was great for a while, there.
You know, conjuring her up, and seeing her again, - but it's just not the same.
- Listen What can I do? How can I help? My God.
You don't know, do ya? Just you listening to me and not thinking of me I'm ju as a crazy old man, it just means the world to me.
Don't know what I'd do without ya, to tell ya the truth.
I think I better take a nap.
I think so.
Just a 20-minute nap.
Wake me up.
I'll bring you some.
How could he not straighten these things? Looks like the members of CryoSleep.
Yeah, probably.
Check out the one on the end.
It's our boy, Cedric.
Looking to secure your future? Uh, please excuse my lunch.
Busy, busy, we're always eating on the run.
Please, have a seat.
I am the chief physician of this facility, Dr.
Benedict Yeats, but please, call me Dr.
Ned, everybody does.
I'm Detective McAvoy, this is Dr.
Jenny Cooper, the coroner.
Yes, I was expecting you.
Uh, we, we have nothing to hide.
Not even about Cedric there, employee of the month? Not quite a night nurse, is he? He's a highly qualified perfusionist.
I, I hope he's not being charged with anything? Not yet.
Tell me, why did he lie about who he was - and what he was doing there? - Oh.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
It was a misunderstanding.
My team and I, absolutely performed the perfusion on Xavier Lorde.
I have a legally binding contract to do so.
Okay, so Olivia just, just called you that night? Yeah, well that's the name of the game.
We can't exactly book appointments for our clients.
We aren't involved pre-mortem.
Because that would be illegal.
What time did Olivia call you? Uh About uh, 4:00.
Yeah, shortly after Xavier achieved biostasis.
We arrived about 30 minutes uh, after, and but, we left before we were able to complete the transport.
You mean, when the stepdaughter, Lilium, arrived.
Yes, knowing there was going to be uh, you know, a family issue, we opted to leave quietly.
Okay.
And what, what happens now? Well, now I'm awaiting instructions from Olivia.
Could we take a look around your facility? Cryotherapy Bay is home to CryoSleep's 153 souls.
As you can see, each of our patients has their own capsule.
Your patients? Our members have chosen not to accept death as a foregone conclusion.
We place them in liquid nitrogen, lowering them to a temperature of -190 degrees Celsius, and then they, reside here in members bay.
Have any of your members ever been successfully resuscitated? No, not yet, but the science is far closer to a breakthrough - than you might think.
- Oh, is that so? How much does it cost to get set up in here? It's $265,000 for full cryo-preservation, and $125,000 for a neuro only.
- By neuro, you mean - Just the head.
Um, I noticed there are very few of you working here.
It's an intimate operation.
I do have some part-time staff to assist with the intakes.
And these intakes, they've never interfered with a death investigation before? Interfered? No, no, no, no.
We've done it this way 153 times.
No dispute.
Uh, tell me, will we be receiving - Xavier Lorde's body today? - I don't know.
But I will uh, I'll keep you posted.
Okay.
But you know, you wait too long, he won't be any good to me.
To you? Hm.
Must be a power outage in the neighbourhood.
Hm.
Is it just me, or is this place janky as hell? Oh, it's not you.
Pretty understaffed, for a high-tech operation.
- Yeah.
- Catch those light flickers? Oh, hey, uh Heart monitor data just came in.
Xavier's heart started slowing, slightly but noticeably, around 4:30 a.
m.
.
And does it look like natural death? No, it's inconclusive.
Hopefully the autopsy will tell us more.
I'll let you know what I find.
Wonder if they're actively recruiting people to keep the lights on? Yeah.
Recruiting them? Or killing them? When Xavier went into cardiac distress, why not call an ambulance? Why call CryoSleep? It's what he wanted.
I know it's what CryoSleep wanted.
I took a look at their financials, a lot of red.
They need your $265,000.
Did you also know that their membership relies heavily on high profile names? Names like yours and your husband's? So? Ask.
All right, was Xavier alive or dead when Cedric arrived to perfuse him? You think I'm some Stupid old lady who can't let go? So desperate to hold on to her husband, that she'll let CryoSleep kill him and take my money? Did they? We were going to be young again.
The way we live now Is barbaric.
Aging is a crime.
To let a brilliant mind like his just be stolen, it's absurd.
I'll admit, the future where no one gets sick or dies, sounds pretty nice.
But it also doesn't sound real.
I've been to this CryoSleep place, and I'll tell ya, it felt like a trick, like I was on the set of a cheap magic show.
I don't care about the window dressing.
I believe in the science.
Imagination can change the world.
Maybe you're not using yours enough.
Look, will you let me show you something? Humour me.
So, this chat-box thing, you developed this to help people who've lost the ability to speak.
That's a part of it.
The main project is Brain Emulation.
Huh.
Imagine you could scan a brain, then construct a software model of it.
That was our goal, to replicate Xavier's consciousness and upload it.
He believed that one day we'd exist entirely in a virtual world.
We were making progress, but it's still at a speculative stage.
Okay, so um, what does that, what does that mean, exactly? - The software? - Yeah.
Or AI, hasn't yet achieved um, actual awareness.
The device still needs verbal cues to interact with.
We have hundreds of back-ups of conversations.
Hmm, uh, okay, but Were any of these conversations with Lilium and Xavier? I have them here, if you wanna take a listen.
Uh, yeah, that, that would that would be great.
Tell me what you need, Daddy.
Lily-Bear, you always know what's best for me.
Okay, I'm coming there.
I'll be on the first flight tomorrow.
Daddy, do you wanna be frozen? Lily-Bear, you make me want to be alive.
Okay, then we have to stop Olivia.
Yes, Lily-Bear.
Yes! Um, do you mind, if I play this for my partner? - He's gonna wanna hear that.
- Yeah, of course.
Yeah, okay.
I'll be right back.
- Okay.
- Yeah.
Oh.
These are concepts I created, for a film I never made.
The storyboards are almost 40 years old.
3D printing of organs, synthetic limbs that sense touch, facial recognition software.
These things only existed in my dreams at that time.
Now, they're real, and we use them every day.
That's what immortality means to me; a dream made real, by science.
I know they're going to autopsy my husband's body.
But his brain can still be saved, by cryonics.
They did a good job.
Yeah.
It only took six hours too, so.
Well, I'll take them out for you.
Hm.
I'll take them out when they're ready, so you, save you some time.
Wait, wait, wait, let me show you something.
Here, take a look.
What is this? This is a small, beautiful piece of land.
And I just bought it.
Yeah.
I think we can start over, just Try to build something together.
You know? Yeah.
It's just You know, what if we What if we try this again, and we just end up in the exact same place? No, no, Jenny, listen.
Listen.
Something happened to me yesterday, now everything is clear.
The only thing that I want is We're, we're ready for you.
Okay, I can wait.
Okay.
Feel that? The pulmonic valve? Yeah, could be a blockage.
It's hard to tell without having any history of the heart.
And without a tox screen, I can't confirm any kind of injection or, drug overdose.
Yeah, a lethal arrhythmia would've shown up on the heart monitor data.
Unless they uh, unplugged it before they gave him the shot.
The widow really wants to freeze the brain.
I know, but she may have killed him, so we need to know how he died.
Can we confirm the cause of death with what we've got? Not that I can see.
Okay.
All right, well, yeah, just gotta do it.
Whoa! Hey, hey, stop, stop, stop.
His brain.
Stop! Oh, my God, his brain is completely liquified.
I don't understand, I mean this, this level of decomposition would mean, that he had to have been brain-dead for at least 48 hours.
At least.
But both his wife and his daughter said that they had communication with him yesterday.
- That's not possible.
- No It's not, not unless they were talking to the dead.
Hello? Anybody there? Xavier was locked in.
This device it works on the eye tracking tech, right? Yeah.
Without Xavier, I don't think we're gonna get anything.
Hi, Daddy.
Lilium, my sweet Lily-Bear.
So happy to hear your voice.
All right, Teja, I wanna be very clear, are you saying it's probable that, when Olivia and Lilium were talking to Xavier yesterday, they were actually talking to that? Things have always been toxic between Lilium and Olivia.
Communicating with them was draining for Xavier.
He was always caught in the middle.
So, you made some adjustments.
I reprogrammed the box.
I wrote in an algorithm, to mimic Xavier's conversation, to use his words and his expressions.
So, the algorithm was created to de-escalate conflict between them? Tell Olivia and Lilium what they wanted to hear? So that he wouldn't have to.
So that he could rest.
The algorithm is triggered by verbal cues, specific to Lilium and Olivia.
Dad, Daddy, Darling, My Love, and so on.
So, yes, when they thought they were talking to Xavier, it was the box talking.
100%.
That's impossible.
I don't believe you.
It's the truth.
The autopsy revealed that Xavier lost brain function days ago.
So, when I wasn't talking to Daddy? Lily-Bear, you're upset.
What can I do to help? I'm sorry, no.
Okay.
After everything I did.
What did you do? I overheard them talking.
I couldn't understand why Xavier would say different things to Lilium and me.
I thought he was just Trying to spare her feelings.
Knowing Lilium was on her way I I called Dr.
Ned.
He said the window to get Xavier into cryo-preservation was slim.
So I told him to come.
He gave Xavier a muscle relaxant, to put him at ease.
And I I I took him off the ventilator and I I shut off his machines.
Olivia, for what it's worth, I hope I'm wrong about the future.
No.
Where are you going? You have to arrest me.
I just told you I murdered my husband.
You didn't murder him.
He was already dead.
Olivia? I am sorry.
I'm sorry.
I lost him.
I was glad you DM'd me.
I wasn't sure where we left it.
I was worried about you, you know, after the party.
I'm okay.
I pretty much just needed a wingman, with wheels and, nothing to do.
That's basically what it says on my ID.
Oh, perfect! Is your boyfriend cool with us chilling? Yeah, yeah, super cool.
Super cool with the chilling.
Okay.
So, we're here.
What now? I guess I have to go in there.
You can always just buy flowers.
You can do it.
Yeah.
Right.
I just need a minute.
Take your time.
I got nowhere else to be.
Thank you.
Excuse me, sorry, you can't be in here.
Dr.
Benedict Yeats, I'm arresting you on suspicion of criminal harassment, malpractice, and anything else I can think of on the drive over to lockup.
No, no, don't Please, you need, to let me finish this intake.
This patient's life is in my hands! Jenny No, no, no, you mustn't go in there.
- Get him outta here.
- No, you don't understand this work! I'll be right there! Hi there.
- Hi.
- Can I help you? Uh, um, yeah.
Yes.
I would like some flowers please, for my boyfriend.
Oh.
Well, what's he like? I don't know, he's um, he's kind of metropolitan, he's, very sweet.
Um He sounds like a keeper.
How long you been together? I'm sorry, that question is really none of I'm just nosy.
No, no, don't worry.
Why don't we um, make him something that he'll really love? I'll just Sorry.
Are you Margaret? I am.
Most people call me Peggy.
I'm Ross.
- Hello, Ross.
- Hi.
I have been wanting to meet you for such a long time.
Hey, uh What did you mean when you said you hope you're wrong about the future? Oh uh, you know, Olivia just showed me some things that, that got me thinking.
Don't tell me you wanna get frozen now? I have cancer.
Or, I had cancer.
I got treatment, and it caused a hole in my spine, so, now I need surgery, and there's a chance I could lose the use of my legs.
Oh, my God, Donovan! I don't know what to do.
It started with this shooting pain up my leg.
Next thing I know, hearing the words a "solitary spinal plasmacytoma.
" And the radiation caused damage to your spine.
Yeah.
You know, they say it's operable, but high risk.
Well, Dr.
Lamb is a great orthopedist.
You couldn't be in better hands there.
Look, I uh I know this doesn't make it any less scary but But this is a, this is a really good place to start.
So, he showed up this morning.
- Yep.
- But you hadn't been home yet, - from the night before? - No.
- It's not funny.
- I'm sorry.
It's not ah I mean, like, what am I gonna do? Well, how serious is it with Clark? I mean it's, you know, it's Not serious, it's just Different.
Different is good.
There's nothing wrong with different.
What about you? What about me? How's it going with - Oh, Kirima? - Yeah.
Yeah, she's really cool.
I don't know what else to say, she's just Very cool.
Great.
Awesome.
I love that for you.
Sounds like we're having the exact same experience in our love lives.
I mean, why choose? Or maybe I choose both? Ooh! I get both! Yeah, I know, I know.
Uh, I was just imagining I was someone else for a minute.
Ah, wouldn't that be nice, be someone else for a minute.
Okay, all right.
Let's take a look at that spine.
- Oh, so this is official now.
- I am a doctor.
- That shouldn't hurt.
- Yeah.
I mean, the radiation reduced your tumour.
I think the pain you're feeling is uh, it's from the damage to your spine.
Look As your friend, you know, I want you to do whatever is right for you.
- Um - Yeah.
But as a doctor, I don't, I don't I don't see a way around this.
You know, I think if you don't get the operation, your spine Will collapse.
So I mean, I would say I'd say to book your surgery.
Yeah.
You're right.
I'm gonna book it.
I think, I think I've always known, but, you know, I just Yeah, maybe, I was just hoping for a miracle.
- Just - I know.
- Hey, Ross! - Hey! - You good? - Yeah.
- You okay? - Oh, yeah.
- Thank you.
- Bye.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- These are beautiful.
- Mm-hmm.
- They from you? - Uh, no.
They're from my grandmother.
Oh, they're from - Muna.
- No.
My other grandmother.
What? I met your Mom.
Get those in some water!