Duncan!
Somebody help me!
Feena.
Bad dream?
Bad memory.
Here.
I brought you some warm water and weeds.
Not sure if that makes it a soup or a tea,
but it's packed with nutrients either way.
Thank you, Abram.
Anything else I can get you?
Another blanket?
A listening ear?
The virus left me rattled is all.
Bit of a scare, you know?
I'm glad you didn't die so soon after being reborn.
I'll drink to that.
Mmm.
It's awful. I know.
I think the weeds are even worse in a soup.
It's fine.
Thank you.
I'll work on it.
Mmm.
Nice shot!
I wasn't aiming for that one.
Oh.
Uh, you make the bow?
Found it.
Not great, but I've got to give the settlers credit for trying.
Soup.
Ugh.
No offense to your cooking, Abram,
but I think the Sparks gave us these plants
to amuse themselves.
Or they remade us with faulty taste buds.
Well, with any luck,
I'll find some game and get us some real food.
You think it's safe to hunt outside the force field?
I wasn't vegetarian in my last life.
Not about to start now.
Hmm.
Are there any spices or anything we could put in here
so it doesn't taste like a...
Wet dog hair?
Maybe the settlers grew and dried herbs somewhere.
If they have, I haven't found any,
but I'll keep looking.
Ugh.
Please do.
So, Sparks can make a human being,
but they can't make a plant that tastes good?
Apparently.
Come on.
You've been at this place for a year.
Nothing here that can help?
This facility is vast.
Let's go see.
What's this?
A door.
Why'd the settlers seal it up?
You should open it and find out.
Yeah.
I should.
Synced & corrected by kinglouisxx www.addic7ed.com
Duncan,
if you can hear me,
please answer.
Please.
Miss Abbington.
Special Agent James Duncan.
I was told that, uh, that you wanted to see me.
- Is that my file? - It's a copy of it, yeah.
Then you know why I'm here.
Actually, no.
See, Correction said that they released you only an hour ago,
which means that you came straight here to see me
after six years in prison.
Six years, five months, fourteen days.
I didn't work your case, Miss Abbington,
so if you have some sort of grudge against the Bureau...
Gregory Palmer.
Your accomplice.
We both want to find him.
Maybe I can find him without your help,
but you sure can't find him without mine.
I'm not in Cybercrimes, I'm in Missing Persons.
Well, then, here's a name you'll remember:
Malcolm Burns.
Went missing seven years ago.
You found his body and his suicide note.
Yeah.
Yeah, I remember.
He lost his business, and his pension.
Because of me and Gregory Palmer.
Your fraud scheme wrecked Malcolm Burns' life.
Probably the lives of hundreds of other people as well.
And now you want to catch the other guy responsible and,
what send me to visit the victim's family,
give them some sort of closure?
Is that about right?
I'm not proud of what I've done, Agent Duncan.
I can't set it right.
But maybe I can help.
No, Miss Abbington, you can't.
Whatever fairytale endings you thought up in prison...
that's exactly what they are.
Fairy tales.
Destroyed lives stay destroyed.
And if you need some sort of help stomaching your guilt,
I'd suggest you see a therapist.
Hey, Feena.
Ezra, you want to knock, please?
I'm sorry, I didn't see a "do not disturb" sign anywhere.
So, uh, any progress?
Hmm.
I thought I had it, and now it won't even turn on.
Hmm.
What's that?
Picked it up in the courtyard.
A glyph from the rings.
That Skin Rider knew what these symbols mean.
I think the previous settlers did too.
If they put it on jewelry,
it must have meant something to them.
I've seen it before.
- During the invasion. - Where?
On a box at my parents' cabin.
Did you ask them what it meant?
Never got the chance.
Hey.
I need to show you something.
What's in there?
No idea.
But all three of us should be here when I open it.
Why?
I don't know.
I just know that's what we're supposed to do.
Maybe you shouldn't have uncovered
what the settlers clearly sealed up.
Maybe we should.
Maybe it'll tell us what happened to them.
Maybe it's a threat.
- It isn't. - How do you know?
I can't explain it. It's like a calm certainty.
Like something is pulling us inside.
- You don't feel that? - No.
Well, I do.
Wait!
I don't think the settlers made this.
I think someone tried to break it.
Hey, don't!
Your parents ever taught you, "look, but don't touch"?
It's not going to hurt us.
- You know what this is? - It's called the Obelisk.
What's it for?
Ask Abram.
Don't look at me.
I don't know what it is.
What is it doing?
Speaking.
He's a brother, Jax, not an enemy.
- He's a deserter. - His companion is sick.
Should we blame him for that?
Give us a moment.
Want some jerky?
Go on, eat.
The humans call our companions parasites
because they believe that the companion controls us,
that it robs us of our free will.
Doesn't it?
Were you a perfect person in your first life?
Of course not.
So you made mistakes.
Decisions you regret.
Everyone makes mistakes.
Were you ever hurt by those mistakes?
Or hurt by the mistakes of others?
That's what you get
when you make all your decisions by yourself.
Pain.
Shame.
Sorrow.
And no one to blame but yourself.
But with a companion, you don't have to decide.
It stops us from making stupid mistakes.
It saves us from sorrow and pain.
That's freedom, Duncan.
A friend who understands us and keeps us in perfect harmony.
Why would you want to run away from that?
Because that isn't freedom.
It's the opposite.
I'm sorry to hear you say that.
What are you going to do with me?
Heal your companion so you're no longer confused.
These are the symbols from the rings.
This is the one you showed me.
If only I knew what it meant.
It means "knowledge."
You knew all along what those symbols mean
and you didn't say anything?
I don't know what they mean.
I didn't know what that meant until now.
You guys didn't feel that either?
What, exactly?
When the glyph appeared on the surface,
the explanation came into my head with absolute clarity.
Neither of you experienced that?
Maybe you had to have touched it.
The Obelisk knows who's ready to hear it.
So you're saying it chose him?
- I don't like this. - Me neither.
Wait, wait.
This might mean something.
Well, whatever it means, the settlers didn't like it
and I'm guessing we won't like it either.
The settlers didn't see this message.
- How do you know? - Because it's directed to us.
- You're reading this? - Not reading.
I'm not sure if this is an alphabet or an ideograph or what.
I don't know where one word ends and another begins.
I just know it's for us.
You only think you know.
It's teaching me, telling me what it means.
Please...
Just give me a minute.
It's getting in his head like a Skin Rider.
- Stop touching it! - Feena, please.
You want to back me up?
We need to know whatever the Obelisk is trying to tell us.
- I don't trust this thing. - Me neither.
But I trust Abram.
- Abram? - I'm all right.
Just tired all of a sudden.
You see?
I told you this was a bad idea.
I'm fine.
Just give me a sec.
You said it had a message for us?
It's a contract.
If we do what they ask, they'll give us more people.
Who's "they"?
Whoever's on the other end of the Obelisk.
They didn't say.
"Give us more people," like who?
The drones carry multiple brain states,
not just ours.
Dozens, and their genomes.
So if the drones have a person's data,
the Sparks can bring them back?
Apparently.
What do they want us to do?
There's a weapon buried east of here.
They want us to recover it.
Why?
If they told me, I didn't understand them.
Who do we get to bring back?
Not our choice.
If the Sparks and drones restore someone,
it'll be because that person has skills the community needs.
We have to find that weapon.
You're going along with this now?
Well, that's why we're here, isn't it?
To restore the human race?
How else are we going to do it?
I'm not starting a family with either of you.
Usually, women wait until I ask before they say,
"Not if you're the last man on Earth."
Hey, the Skin Riders are still out there.
If we go outside that force field,
we endanger ourselves.
And we stay here and do nothing?
What do we accomplish?
We don't have enough food to feed ourselves,
much less more people.
The Sparks can make more plants to eat.
More people can hunt.
Do you want a community or not?
And how do we know that this Obelisk
can keep its side of the bargain, huh?
It doesn't reconstitute people; the drones and the Sparks do.
We obey the Obelisk.
So the Obelisk is the boss.
No wonder they locked it in a room.
It's not our enemy.
You said so yourself, Ezra.
If we're going to restart the human race,
we need genetic diversity.
That means more people.
So, where exactly is this weapon?
Yellow has the weapon's location.
If you don't find it by nightfall...
Yeah, we'll head back.
Good luck.
You led Abram to the Obelisk.
You knew it was there.
I didn't make him open the door.
What is that thing? Is it alive?
It's a communication device and a shield generator.
So it creates the force field.
It was installed here to help protect reborn humans.
Then why did the previous settlers seal it off?
And try to destroy it?
Are you certain that's what happened?
If it's a communication device, who are we communicating with?
And if you can speak in our own language,
why doesn't the Obelisk?
Mm, that's a question for the Obelisk.
Just when I think you're on our side.
I'm not your drone, Ezra.
It's up to you to decide if you are on our side.
Whose side?
The Sparks?
The Obelisk?
Those who made the Obelisk and me and brought the Sparks here.
And who are they?
And where are they?
Less talk, more walk.
Come with me.
Space for one more?
I'm not sparring with a deserter.
Duncan didn't desert.
His companion is sick.
He's more human than anything.
I'm always happy to strike a human.
He'll kill you if you give him the chance.
Perhaps this is why you went extinct, human.
Poor reflexes.
Down on all fours like the animal that you are.
There's no sport in this.
If you're going to bleed,
you might as well be holding a weapon.
Is this what your first life was like?
Falling?
Losing?
That's enough!
My enhancements to Duncan were better than I thought.
Otherwise, he couldn't have beaten you.
Enhancements?
I'll show you how it's done.
I lied to spare you embarrassment
in front of your men.
There are no enhancements.
I was testing a theory.
How many times has Duncan beaten you?
Before today, never.
Because you were both equally united with your companions.
He's a better fighter because his companion is ill?
Not better, faster.
Our companions bring many benefits, but...
the price is brain-to-body communication
requires a few more steps.
Synapses must pass through two brains instead of one.
A fraction of a second difference.
In battle, all the difference in the world.
So humans will always have an advantage?
Unless we remove neural pathways from our human brain
without damaging cognition or motor function....
We'd remove the delay.
And give greater control to our companions.
What you're talking about... it's brain surgery.
On a cellular level.
Beyond our capabilities, yes.
But not beyond a drone's.
Am I wrong, Duncan?
You have more experience with drones than we do.
They gave us our brain state, activated our minds.
If anyone can manipulate our neural pathways,
it's a drone.
- Theoretically. - There.
- You see? - Yeah.
A theory that we can't pursue.
- We don't have a drone. - No.
But I know a few humans who do.
This is the contract?
Yep.
What does this one mean?
No idea.
I'm learning this bit by bit.
Maybe these three together are one syllable.
Maybe that's how you write "baa".
How do you know what it means if you can't read it?
I don't know.
Well, it's a stupid communication system.
Why show us glyphs at all
if it's going to give you the meaning anyway?
Because I don't know the meaning until I see the glyph.
- That's reading. - It's not.
Reading is understanding the mechanics of a language.
How words are formed, sentences, syntax, structure.
I look at this and I don't get any of that.
Well, how'd you know this is for us
and not the previous settlers?
I just know.
That's not good enough.
What if it gives this feeling to everyone,
even though the message is hundreds of years old,
so you only think that it's for us?
Some experiences can't be explained.
- That's a cop-out. - It's true.
I can't give you an understanding of my experience.
You have to discover it for yourself.
So you're saying the Obelisk will speak with me?
I don't know.
You haven't tried.
Hmm.
Oh, I'm getting something.
You are?
It says, "Abram is..."
"Abram is a moron."
Yeah.
Haha.
Don't you have a drone to repair?
Ah, yeah.
"Abram is a moron."
You.
Hello, Feena.
Red Drone's projecting holograms again.
I'm not a hologram. I'm a manifestation of light.
Yeah, yeah, I heard the spiel.
Can the red drone project Duncan?
- Who? - Duncan.
He appeared to me.
He's one of the brain states in the drone.
The drone is telling me it's best if I help you.
Help me do what?
Repair the drone.
You and I already tried. It didn't work.
Red says we should try again.
Look, no offense to you,
but I would work better with Duncan.
Red thinks that would be a distraction.
I'm afraid you're stuck with me.
Looking for someone?
You're a hard person to find.
I prefer not to be found.
I, uh...
I wanted to apologize for the other day.
I was out of line.
You were trying to do right
and I had no business discouraging you.
You met the people I stole from. I wouldn't trust me either.
I also read the rest of your file.
Said you turned yourself in.
You helped the FBI track down most of the money.
That's why I only served six years.
But then why come to me?
Why not go to the agents assigned to the case?
'Cause you're eager, smarter than you look...
a departure from the stuffy, clean-shaven type.
And you're the only person that would meet with me.
How many agents had you asked before me?
Nine.
Plus you have access to the databases I need.
Could hack them, but trying to stay clean.
You can't hack the FBI.
Have you hacked the FBI?
I like to think of myself as a different person now.
All right.
But just don't think that I'm doing this
to help you feel better about yourself.
I wouldn't want your help if you were.
I'll contact you.
This is it.
You sure?
Here.
How deep am I going?
Four feet.
Seriously?
This thing couldn't be hidden in a tree trunk or something?
- Don't infect him. - Because he's your brother?
Because we need a human as a test subject.
And the drone?
As little damage as possible.
You need to fuse those cells together.
Well, if I do, it's permanent. He'll lose functionality on this line.
It's not a critical system. He says it's okay.
- You sure? - Yes.
'Cause it looks like this line goes to the core,
and if we fire the core, we're going to lose brain states.
He says it's fine.
All right.
Your funeral.
- Now, that's promising. - Hmm.
He did that before, and then he lost power again.
He says this time's different.
You know, it would be easier if I could speak to him directly.
Sorry.
I'm not trying to be annoying.
I'm Lynn, by the way.
Did I tell you that last time?
I didn't ask last time or this time.
What about you?
Your name, Feena... Is that short for something?
Sarafeena.
Pretty.
So this man you asked about... Duncan.
Is he a friend of yours?
No, he's a random stranger.
Yes, he's a friend.
More than that, really.
I hope you find him.
Well, I won't if I can't fix this piece of junk.
- Red can hear you, you know. - Well, I'm not worried
about hurting his little machine feelings.
What did you say your name was again?
Lynn.
- You married? - Yes.
To Ezra.
Do you know him?
Hello, Duncan.
Did you know that when a human body
detects a foreign substance, it rejects it?
A virus, an infection.
Parasite.
Yes.
A parasite.
The body's natural defenses
attack these invaders relentlessly,
and the body would attack our companion too,
but the companion tells the body biochemically,
"You need not hurt me.
"I belong here.
I am one with you."
And the body believes it because it's true.
But sometimes the body doesn't listen
and it attacks the companion.
The companion grows ill.
But if the companion dies, the human dies.
It's better to be dead than be a slave.
Wrong.
Better to heal the companion with a drink.
Why would Sparks heal a parasite?
Because the Sparks heal all life.
That is their nature.
When an organism is fully formed,
the Sparks will heal it.
We only have a few left, but here.
Heal your companion, Duncan.
I would rather die.
I'm afraid that's not an option.
I've got a miracle of technological engineering
hovering beside me,
and I'm digging a hole with a glorified spoon.
I would help, but...
Yeah, you don't want to get your fingernails dirty.
Can't you blast a ray at the ground or something?
Break up this dirt at least?
You misjudge my capabilities.
A man can dream.
What is this weapon, anyway?
I'm risking my neck for it.
I deserve to know what it is.
I'm not sure of the best translation... incinerator?
Sounds like nitroglycerin or something. Is it?
If I hit it with a shovel,
I'm not going to go up in a mushroom cloud, am I?
It's not explosive.
It can only be used against one target on this planet.
That's a relief.
So, what's the target?
It eradicates the Skin Riders.
You didn't say anything about killing Skin Riders.
Your purpose cannot be achieved
while the Skin Riders remain a threat.
My brother's a Skin Rider.
I'm not going to keep digging this weapon up
if you're going to use it to kill him.
I'm not going to use it.
You are.
And it only affects the Rider... the parasite.
If we kill the parasite, will Silas die?
If the only way to free your brother
is for his human body to die,
what would he want you to do?
If Silas dies, can you and the Sparks remake him?
That's something that neither you nor Silas nor I can decide.
- Well, who decides? - The deciders.
This hole won't dig itself.
The cheap answer is his sense of humor.
He has one?
I mean, that's what you say at dinner parties.
The real reason I love him...
He thinks about other people.
What they need and what might hurt them.
And then he does all he can to make them safe.
So he's the only completely altruistic human who ever lived?
Well, he expects loyalty and love.
Everyone expects that. Most don't get it.
Mm, we always had his loyalty.
And his love.
So tell me what's wrong with him.
Nothing.
So, recorded brain states can lie.
He hates to lose.
He can't stand having idiots tell him what to do.
And you always have to explain
why you need him to do something,
and when he loves somebody, he's terrified of losing them.
Well, I like his weaknesses better than his virtues.
Thank you, Feena.
You're welcome.
Who has this many aliases?
A man with 14 million dollars to protect.
Yeah, well,
if I have to look at one more flight record tonight,
my eyes will melt.
You do know that there are several people on staff
looking for this guy, right?
I mean, not to mention the dozen or so agents
from when the case was hot?
He's not a priority.
He gets a cursory look every now and then.
Come on, the Bureau's not that inattentive.
Didn't you read the case file?
Yeah.
I stand corrected.
The Bureau is a bunch of sleeping pandas.
I'm done.
You should take a break too.
There's this new thing called sleep.
- A lot of doctors recommend it. - Hmm.
You know, the one thing I can't figure is
what did you see in this guy?
I mean, technically, he's still your fianc�.
He was kind to me.
I wasn't used to that.
Just, uh...
You deserve better.
Hello?
Are you still there?
The contract is gone.
And that means something?
Knowledge.
Duty.
Labor.
Creation.
Self-mastery.
Peace.
Community.
Mercy.
Justice.
The glyphs from the rings.
Why are you showing me this?
What are you trying to say?
They're virtues.
Are they important to you?
Is this your religion?
I can feel that you want me to understand.
But I don't.
Quickly.
What is that?
This?
Oh, it's just something I dug up.
Move left.
Tranquilizer.
Considering his size and body mass,
I estimate we have two minutes before he regains consciousness.
Grab the weapon.
What did it do to him?
- It's technical. - Then be technical.
Pulsed microwaves at a specific frequency
change the concentration of neurotransmitters
in the parasite brain to lethal levels.
So it kills on contact?
That's the defensive mechanism on the housing.
The weapon inside has a much larger purpose.
What purpose?
He's starting to move.
I suggest we get going.
It won't harm humans.
Are those the graves of the previous settlers?
You lied to us.
You said we'd find people here.
I brought you here believing that was true.
You had to have known that there was something wrong.
We didn't know why we had lost contact with the settlers.
So you brought us here knowing there might be trouble.
I brought you here because I was ordered to do so.
Because the human race must thrive.
Why are you so committed to that?
You and the Obelisk and the Sparks?
Do you not support the effort?
Ezra believes you withheld some of our memories.
That true?
- Why do you ask? - Because if it's true,
I want to know why I have the memories I do.
Memories you wish you didn't have.
All memories, and the lessons you gain from them,
are critical in shaping who you are, Feena.
Will you bring back Duncan?
That is not for me to decide.
Will he remember what I did to him?
If he doesn't remember,
I'm quite sure you will tell him.
Singapore.
- You sure? - I have a colleague there.
He followed Palmer and took pictures.
It's him.
It's going to be a beast trying to extradite him.
There's a contact on this drive.
A top field agent at the SID.
He'll help.
Is he a friend of yours?
He owes me a favor.
You know, the FBI has hired felons before.
I could put in a good word for you.
Just see that the money goes where it belongs.
No, wait.
Oh, come on. No goodbye?
No celebratory moo goo gai pan?
No thanks for the help?
That being said,
you did, you know, 80% of the work.
Eighty-five-ish.
Thanks for the help.
I hope that's not poison ivy.
You shouldn't be outside the barrier.
I'm 40 yards away, and when I put this in the soup,
it will be worth it.
Is that the weapon?
Come with me to the Obelisk.
And now what?
No idea.
They can send us messages. Can we send one to them?
I don't know how.
I've asked it
dozens of questions, but it never answers.
It just keeps showing me the same ten virtues
over and over again.
What message did you want to send?
That weapon was designed to kill Skin Riders.
And I don't want any part of it.
We can't just defy the Obelisk, Ezra.
We need their help.
We don't even know who they are.
- No, but we do know... - They have an agenda, Abram.
Yeah.
One that includes restoring the human race.
- So they say. - We're alive, aren't we?
Three people isn't enough.
Not if we want genetic diversity.
Not if we want to increase our chances.
We are an endangered species.
This is the key to changing that.
He's right, Ezra.
Lynn?
That's a hologram.
Lynn's brain state is stored in Red Drone.
You knew this?
Feena told me while you were gone.
They can remake her.
If we comply.
What about my daughter, Kylie?
Do you have her brain state and DNA too?
Yes.
So you're holding my family hostage until I do what you say.
Your family is not hostage, Ezra, if they do not exist.
Ezra doesn't decide for me.
I choose to help the human race, whatever that takes.
You don't know what you're promising, Abram.
Here's what I know:
We were dead.
Now we're not.
You're a hard person to find.
He's being extradited this afternoon.
Direct flight to JFK.
I just, uh, thought you might want to know.
Four months.
Took you long enough.
We're the government.
The wheels turn slowly sometimes.
An email would've sufficed.
Not for me.
- Can I walk with you? - You don't know where I'm going.
I'll find out when we get there.
If you can keep up.
Brain state recorded.
Synced & corrected by kinglouisxx www.addic7ed.com