-[rumbling] -[bleeping]
[amplified breathing]
[thump]
[engine quietens]
[gasps]
[whispers] And I'm in.
[devices whirring]
-[Niko] Comms check? -We hear you, loud and clear.
Copy that.
[William] Keep your suit on.
My readings indicate that the atmosphere's unbreathable.
No objections from me.
[whooshing]
There's nothing.
-[instruments bleeping] -Nothing?
There's no signs of life?
All I'm seeing are the occasional energy bursts.
Otherwise, it's empty.
Completely empty.
Doesn't make any sense.
It's not like this is some vacant satellite station.
They have to be here somewhere.
My scans are pickin' up an energy signature.
It's to your left.
[energy whooshing]
-[bleeping] -Sending visuals now.
-[bleeping and whirring] -Are you seeing this?
What is it?
[Niko] It's incredible.
Uh… It's a light. It--
It's big. I-It's…
forming something enormous.
It could be billions of nanomachines working together.
Or maybe they are the Achaia,
a hybrid of energy and machine.
It's like the ring is alive.
It's inviting me in.
[low rumbling]
[energy whooshing]
Salvare, do you copy?
[Cas] We copy.
[Niko] I'm about half--
[bleeping]
-William. -Uh--
I can't tell whether Niko's comms and vitals are being blocked…
Can you unblock them?
Not with the Achaian technology that's doing the blocking, no.
We always knew this could happen, we could lose contact.
Are we sending someone over?
-Not yet. -It's a negotiation.
So, let Niko negotiate.
Build up some goodwill. If we interfere, they could take that as aggression.
So blocking us, that wasn't aggressive?
How do we know they're not putting an implant in her head?
Why would they do that? What would be the point?
Turn the commander of the Salvare into a planet-killing brain slave?
-She would never let that happen. -Like I had a choice.
-You were unconscious. -Plus, if it did happen,
I'd know the second Niko stepped back onto the Salvare.
-You didn't with Sasha-- -I scanned him myself, Bernie.
-He still outsmarted us. -Everybody, stop.
Let's try not to jump to conclusions.
William, keep running all the scans you can.
-Let me know the moment anything changes. -Absolutely.
Everybody else, if the Achaia wanna fortify their ship against us,
we'll fortify our ship against them.
Meaning Iara?
She's part Achaian.
[William] She could be susceptible to Achaian interference.
If anything, we should strengthen her containment.
So far, so good with this.
Still, I want you to run a full diagnostic.
Make sure her firewalls are rock solid.
Will do.
-I'm going out there. -No. You can't. It's too dangerous.
I have to finish the work August and Oliver started.
Wait.
[Zayn sighs]
Javier and Iara shouldn't be left alone together.
Our best efforts to control her and him might not be enough.
We could wake up a new engineer.
We will. When Niko gets back.
[William] Cas.
For what it's worth, I'd say the fact Niko survived entry into the ring, I--
I'd take that as a good sign.
For what it's worth, I don't.
[typing]
[bleeping and whirring]
Have you ever been to the ocean?
Which one?
[sighs] Earth has five.
[chuckles]
I've read that the ocean induces a meditative state in humans.
The color blue is soothing,
the ebb and flow destimulates the brain
-and changes its frequency-- -Silence ain't bad either.
[continues typing]
I could turn this room into the approximation of a coastal resort.
Is there a point to all this?
You just lost three people close to you.
You're upset. It… could help soothe you.
That is not gonna help.
I didn't kill them, Javier.
-No. Your friends did. -They're not my friends.
I'm as human as I am Achaian.
Exactly! Exactly. You're Achaian. You're a threat to this ship.
And you're not?
That piece of Achaian tech sitting inside your head, keeping you alive,
-that's not dangerous? -We are not the same.
Oh. [chuckles]
That's right.
Only one of us is blocked behind a firewall.
It's not all that.
The ocean.
So you have been.
Once.
[laughs] Yeah.
All those tourists and garbage on the beach.
No. Not fun. Not relaxing.
But thanks for thinking of me.
And them.
I am sorry.
Javier.
You're not free either.
Not really.
[laser humming]
Anything?
Nope. Lasers won't burn through it. Sonic waves have no effect.
Same goes for high-pressure water streams and chisels.
Hmm.
What about a, uh, plasma knife?
Uh…
Look, if your plan was to blast your way in and rescue Niko,
good luck.
Like, this shit is indestructible.
Who said we're rescuing Niko?
I just assumed--
We don't know what's happening in that ring.
Until we do, no blasting required.
Gotcha.
Have you, uh… told Cas that?
So it's not just me.
She's very emotionally attached to Niko.
They're battle buddies. They've been in the trenches.
Sure. But if this thing goes sideways,
Cas is going to need to make some difficult choices fast.
[sighs]
Keep at it. Try the plasma knife.
Uh, can't hurt.
[low buzzing]
[intense, deep hum]
[rushing, pulsating hiss]
[gasps]
[high-pitched, intense hissing]
[Niko breathing heavily]
[gasps]
[laughs]
[light rustling]
[electric hum]
[crackling and fizzing]
[susurration]
[ringing and crackling]
[ringing changing pitch rhythmically]
[gasps]
[loud crackling and fizzing]
[rumbling]
[Niko gasping]
[yelling]
[silence]
[faint tinkling]
What is this?
Answer me!
-Mom? -[echoing] Answer me!
End this simulation,
or whatever it is,
right now.
Can we go home?
You're in my head.
They conjured you from my memories.
It's me, Mom.
Jana. Is it really you?
Did I die?
Are we dead?
Why would you say that?
I was sick.
I couldn't move. I was really tired.
That was after Dad met the aliens.
Jana? What is it?
Dad's waiting for me.
Where?
Outside.
I don't wanna leave you.
Go.
Do that.
But I need you to do something for me too.
Take this.
Keep it safe.
Till we see each other again. Okay?
Promise?
I promise.
♪ Can you hear me? ♪
♪ The smoke and the ashes falling ♪
♪ Caught in the in-between ♪
♪ Heaven can wait ♪
-♪ Forever is too late… ♪ -Bye.
♪ Forever is too late ♪
-♪ Awaken, my darling… ♪ -[rumbling]
♪ Open those eyes ♪
♪ This world is calling ♪
-Jana. -♪ This world is calling ♪
♪ Awaken, my darling ♪
[Erik] Jana!
-♪ Open those eyes ♪ -Erik?
-Jana! -♪ This world is calling ♪
-Erik! -[Erik] Jana.
-♪ This world is calling ♪ -Aah!
Erik!
It's a place of meditation, dear.
[birdsong]
Mom?
[faint static crackling]
That should do it, William.
[William] Testing the FTL arrays. Stand by.
[whirring]
Good work, Cas.
Thank August and Oliver. Not me.
-We can't just wait here indefinitely. -Agreed.
William, an update, please.
Nothing from the Achaian vessel.
Yeah. I assumed.
I'm tired of waiting on word that Niko's alive. I've made a decision.
-I'm sending in Iara. -Iara's half Achaian.
Which makes her alone uniquely capable of finding Niko and bringing her back.
-Exactly. Do you wanna tell her? -Whoa. Hold on that.
For all we know, she set a trap sending Niko in the first place.
This could all be some elaborate plan for Iara to escape.
But Iara's coding is stored within the Salvare's--
Even if she wanted to cut and run, it's not possible.
Iara's just as much a part of the Salvare as William is.
We've got this incredible resource,
and instead of using Iara, we've locked her behind a firewall.
-Because she's a threat to this ship. -Everything is a threat to this ship.
We learned that when they fired on us and killed two crew.
We need your help.
Please, love. Have some tea.
I don't drink tea.
I drink coffee.
Coffee.
Strong, like my daughter.
[laughs]
Oh, honey, honey, honey. None of this is real.
We're at that silly silent retreat you took with Erik.
This carafe is some wedding gift you insisted on keeping,
and me, I'm here.
You hijacked my brain?
You chose the interface.
I'm a manifestation offered from your memories.
Presented by the hippocampus.
Thoughts given form.
But why you-- Uh--
Why her?
Maybe you see the real me as some kind of pushover.
Definitely not that.
And Jana, that wasn't real.
Tell me that wasn't real.
No mother should ever see their daughter like that, as if leaving her,
being away from your baby wasn't hard enough.
Then why show me that at all?
We wanted you to see what we're capable of.
-Jana was sick. Erik brought her to us-- -Sick with what?
We intervened. We saved her life, Niko.
No.
We can take you, your entire crew back to Earth.
Back home, back to your family where you belong.
And in return?
Oh!
Straight to the point. That you get from your father.
I came here to negotiate, not work on my mommy issues.
So let's get to it.
Let's negotiate.
In exchange,
we need you to spread a message for us.
Which is?
The Achaia come in peace.
You and I have two very different definitions of peace,
Mother.
Iara, we're ready.
You're sure they won't detect you once you're on board?
Stop worrying. I'm made of the same code.
-Half of the same code. -Which is more than enough.
They're not gonna know I'm there. Trust me.
Ready.
[buzzing]
[loud rushing hum]
[humming]
It's an influx of activity on our servers. We're being flooded with data.
They're hacking our systems.
We need to shut this down. Sever Iara's connection.
No, no, no. It's not the Achaia. It's us.
It's Achaian data coming from Iara.
Iara's hacking the Achaian ring?
Looks like it. I'm rerouting all the data to a secure server now.
Forget the data, Iara. Focus on finding Niko.
She's already inside. Why not gather as much intel as we can?
Are they reading her?
Uh, I'm not-- I'm not pickin' up any changes in activity.
Look, you were right.
Iara's an incredible resource, and we were wasting her.
So let's stop doing things half-assed.
Intelligence is our best defense against the Achaia.
Iara, get what you can.
But Niko is your main priority.
Do not stay in there any longer than you need to.
[Iara] Understood.
[gasps]
Everything is black and white.
Right and wrong.
Another bad habit you picked up from your father.
-You slaughtered an entire species. -That wasn't us.
They had implants.
The same shit you forced into Sasha's head.
And the bodies, there were fields of them.
The entire planet was a graveyard.
Casualties of a war they started.
And you ended
by destroying their planet.
Is that what you do?
To species that resist you?
Wrong.
The Zakir were offered the same deal.
Environmental rejuvenation, unlimited prosperity.
But the rich, the establishment, they resisted.
"There must be a catch."
Meanwhile, the rest of Zakir were begging us for help.
Factions grew. Civil war broke out. That's the carnage you saw.
And now they're dust
because of you.
No!
Because of you.
Because you interfered.
You blew up our Artifact,
killing thousands of Achaia in the process.
So we retaliated against you.
-I was protecting them. -No.
I was helping them.
[loud whir]
Who's this little bird?
Cas sent me to find you.
You shouldn't be here, Iara.
[mother] Iara?
Oh, I think this is exactly where you should be.
-[resonating hum] -[gasps]
How did you--
I can feel you.
That's…
that's impossible.
Here with us, you are connected.
[gasps]
You're so beautiful.
So pretty on the outside.
Inside,
you're a mongrel, a literal mutt,
letting these humans keep you locked up,
desperate for their approval.
You'd do anything.
You'd steal from us.
I-- I didn't mean to.
Leave her alone, Ava.
-This is between you and me. Not her. -Oh! [laughs]
Oh, my goodness.
Your whole life you've just always wanted to protect things, save people.
Like that little bird in our backyard. Remember?
It fell out of its nest while learning to fly.
I told her to leave it alone, that its mother would take care of it.
She was worried about the cat.
So she shredded a bunch of newspapers and made a really nice nest.
It was until you tried to feed it.
How long did it last? A day? Two?
-Stop this. -You mean well, honey. You really do.
But do you really think you know what's best?
-[gasps] -No. No!
-[choking] -It's sad.
With us, you could have been magnificent. You could have been free.
But now, you'll never know.
Iara.
-No, no, no, no, no. Iara! -[gasps]
-Are you okay? -Yeah. I'm okay.
-Niko's alive. -You saw her? What did you see?
Uh… [sighs]
It was some kind of simulation. She was on Earth…
-[William] She saw Niko. -Alive.
-Was she hurt or locked up? -She was dressed up. Like, for a party.
-She wasn't in her space suit? -Not in the simulation.
-But in reality? -[Iara] She was alive.
We spoke. I was the one in danger.
You?
And they were not happy.
You can't go over there.
They know we sent Iara. There's your act of aggression.
We are at war, Commander. You need to stop and think like a soldier.
We sent in a spy. She got exposed.
Niko's alive for now, but for how much longer?
What we need to do is start making preparations to return to Earth,
and not let your emotional attachment to Niko
-be the downfall of this entire mission. -We are sitting ducks, Richard.
If we jump back to Earth now,
they'll be right on our tails, and we'll be right back where we started.
So you need to stop, think, do the job that Niko woke you up to do,
which is to help us find a better way to get back.
In the meantime, I'm going to get Niko.
Not because of some emotional attachment bullshit,
but because she is the highest ranking member of this crew,
and I will not let Niko or any of the classified information she holds
fall into enemy hands.
Once you leave this ship, the Salvare is under my command,
and I will do whatever I have to do to get us back to Earth.
Understood?
Understood.
The shuttle bay's on the other side of the ship.
I'm not taking a shuttle. They'll see me coming in that.
[sighs]
We trusted you, invited you on to our ship,
made you feel welcome.
And you sent in your thief.
Not a thief.
If my crew sent Iara, it's because they think that I'm in danger.
They hacked this ship, Niko.
Stole information!
-We know nothing about you. -You could have tried asking.
I'm here, asking.
How many of you are there?
On this ship?
Out there?
Uh, how long have you been exploring space?
What do you want?
What do you want from us?
I've told you.
Peace.
We are trying to offer you a way home, Niko.
Not until you answer the questions.
[groans]
You've always been so strong.
I never realized
how much you need protection.
Let me help you.
Let me be a mother.
Once again,
you are not my mother, and I don't need protecting.
And if you want me to deliver some kind of message for you,
you need to start by telling me the fucking truth,
what you actually want from us.
Otherwise, I will never tell Earth that the Achaia come in peace.
You're absolutely right, Niko.
We haven't been clear with you.
So let's try this again, shall we?
[crow cawing]
[sighs]
[crows cawing]
I let you down, sweetheart.
I let you both down.
And I'm so sorry.
We were supposed to protect her.
How'd she die?
She got sick.
-She got better. -She got sick again.
How?
You know, we promised each other the day that she was born
that we'd always keep her safe.
That we'd love her.
And that you would be there for her
the way that your mother was never there for you.
But she died.
You left, she got sick, and she died.
Crying for you, Niko. Crying for her mother.
Threatening me with my daughter's life?
That's how you negotiate?
There is no future for us and the Achaia.
And if you want me to choose between humanity and my daughter…
I choose humanity.
[rattling]
[screeching]
[thunder rumbling]
It's okay.
I understand.
[groans]
-[yells] -It's okay!
[muffled screaming]
[yells]
[gasps] You're not my husband. Stay back.
-[yells] I said stay back. -Aaah.
Choosin' the wrong side.
[Niko yelling]
[Erik growls]
You were always gonna choose the mission over us.
-[grunting] -Hmm?
You're exactly like your mother.
[screams]
[groans]
[screams]
[screeching]
[Niko gasps]
[pained screeching]
[grunts]
[gasping]
Niko!
-Talks didn't go so well. -No shit.
[gasps] We need to get back to the shuttle, come on!
[Niko panting]
[shuffling]
Daddy?
Hey. No, no, no, no. Hey. Take it easy.
But I feel fine.
I know you do, because you're all better.
Just like they promised.
-I'm not sick? -Not anymore.
Look.
What?
Jana, honey.
This is your mother's ring.
Where did you get this?
I saw her in the Artifact. She told me to keep it safe for her.
[Erik] All right.
You don't have a spare English-Achaian dictionary on you, do you?
-You can't make heads or tails of it? -Do Achaians have heads or tails?
You tell me.
You got a problem with me?
No. Just with that thing in your head.
Okay, well, at least you're honest.
I'm always honest.
I'm pickin' up four more Achaian vessels headed straight for us.
-[siren blaring] -[sighs] We can't stay here.
Cas and Niko are still on that ship.
Get ready to jump.
-I need your help one more time. -I'm not going back in there.
-You are, and you'll get us a head start. -How?
Disable their ship, disrupt their sensors.
Whatever you can do. Buy us enough time to jump.
-It'll give us minutes, at best. -That's all I need.
So go over there and do it.
Ironic, isn't it?
I help you get us out of here, I'm the one still stuck in this cage.
Do this, hack the Achaian ship, and I'll drop your firewalls.
How do I know you'll be true to your word?
What's the alternative?
Salvare, do you copy? We're back at the shuttle.
-[Cas] William, Richard, do you copy? -[Niko] Guys?
The comms are down. They can't hear us.
They're starting up the FTL drive.