[whirring and clanking]
-[loud burst of crackling] -[yelps]
[breathing shakily]
-[intense electric buzzing] -[gasps]
-[buzzing stops] -[gasping]
-[resonating growling] -[footsteps]
[whirring and whooshing sounds]
[Richard] Niko.
Richard.
They aren't Achaia.
[gasping] Wh-- what the fuck are they?
I don't know. I don't know.
-[intense humming] -[screams]
-[crackling] -[sobbing]
-[low, intense buzzing] -Richard!
-[screams] -Richard!
No!
Richard! Richard!
No! Stop!
[rapid heartbeat]
[fizzing and crackling]
[sounds stop]
[rasping breaths]
[heartbeat slowing]
[steady bleeping]
-[energy surges] -[low humming]
-Richard, wake up! -[thump]
Richard!
Richard, wake up!
[sobbing] Richard!
[thump]
No. No. No.
No. No! No!
[Richard gasps and groans]
[both gasping]
[Richard shivering]
Are you okay?
[whispers] I think so.
[low, pulsating hum]
-What do you think these bands do? -Nothing good.
[Niko grunts]
[pulsating whirring continues]
There's no trace of what happened.
Nothing. No scars.
Last thing I remember, they dropped the temperature,
and I felt like I was freezing to death.
And there was this thick, viscous fluid.
We were drowning in it. Like, it covered us entirely.
And now…
We're here.
Healthier than ever.
Uh…
What's that?
[rapid bleeping]
[high-pitched buzzing]
[rapid bleeping continues]
[rasping breathing]
-Cameras. -They're watching us.
We need to--
-[intense electric buzzing] -[screams]
-Niko? You okay? -[buzzing stops]
-I'm fine. I'm fine. -[Richard gasps]
[whooshing]
They've observed our physical reactions to various stimuli,
our physiological composition, and…
they punish us if we don't follow the rules.
So what, this is like some fucked-up test?
[whooshing]
Something tells me the next phase lies beyond that door.
The Salvare was marooned in deep space,
which means that this ship is also FTL-capable.
I'd like to know a bit more about these creatures
before we try and mutiny.
We know they're highly organized and technologically advanced.
[Richard] Cruel.
[Niko] Yeah. That too.
[whooshing]
[door closes]
Still being watched.
[rasping breathing]
[buzzing]
[rapid whirring]
[whooshing]
Do we follow?
Do we have a choice?
[ringing sound]
-What is it? -Thought I heard something.
[Niko] Should we stop?
-[splat] -[hissing]
-[intense whirring vibrations] -[screams and gasps]
[both yelling]
-[vibrations stop] -I think that's a no.
[breathing shakily] Okay…
We have to find their weaknesses so we can use them to our advantage.
We've yet to see one.
Mm-mm. During the torture,
I got a look.
Bipedal.
The hallways and surveillance methods also suggest they're sight-based creatures.
Unlike the Achaia,
they have bodies.
Bodies we can injure.
[Richard] Bodies we can kill.
Fuck this "first contact" bullshit.
"To know your enemy, you must become your enemy."
So, yes, fuck first contact.
[whooshing]
[door closes]
-Do you hear that? -[whooshing]
[door closes]
Richard! Richard!
Niko.
Richard!
Niko!
Niko, can you hear me?
[whirring]
Wait. Just mind-wiped?
Look, I remember the magnetar. I remember operating on Javier.
Remember why you were operating?
What happened to the Achaian ring Niko and Cas were on?
Listen, I know it's hard to believe, but you were, all of you--
Violated.
With surgical precision. [scoffs]
Seth went into our brains and took out
-just enough that we wouldn't notice. -How would Seth know where to look?
There are tens of billions of neurons in our brains.
One of you must have told him.
-Bullshit. -Look, the Achaia are manipulative.
They-- they exploit vulnerabilities. They use deception to force their will.
Or make us an offer we can't refuse.
My mother, she was sick.
Dying.
But now she's better.
No. You wouldn't do that.
An offer to save her life?
I mean, if that was put on the table, I might.
-I'm sorry. -[Dillon] Don't be.
Death fucks with everybody.
If it meant saving someone that I loved, I don't know what I'd do either.
[Cas] When I was on that ring,
the Achaia offered me something I really wanted.
So I get it, Zayn.
I do. It's okay.
Look, we just have to remember that no matter what gifts they offer,
these creatures are capable of wiping out entire planets.
Yes. But they're repairing ours.
-Curing sick moms, daughters. -So? Niko gave us clear orders.
-Yes. But Niko's dead. -[Erik] Yeah.
So you could be here.
I know. You're right, okay? I'm sorry. It's just--
What if Earth is different?
Or they're just playing nice until they go all apocalyptic?
Look, we fought them in space, we know what they're all about,
we're the only ones that can get ahead of them before it's too late.
Get ahead how? We can't remember anything.
[Cas] No, we can't.
But William can.
If we know that, then Seth knows that too.
Which is why we gotta get to William first.
[instruments bleeping]
[whirring]
[William] Come on, Erik. Pick up.
[beeps]
[sighs]
Cas. Come on, Cas. I need you now, mate.
Come on, Cas. I need you.
[beeps]
[whirring]
[grunts]
The Phantom of the Salvare,
-doomed to haunt the halls forever. -That was you?
Technically her, following my orders to hack your coding.
-Why? -Can you give us a minute?
-[Seth] You know who I am? -Yes.
You know what I want? Unfortunately, it's encrypted.
Locked up, squirreled away.
And since I can't physically rummage through your brain to delete it,
it's just… in there,
like a bomb waitin' to take us out.
-You're not Achaian. -No. But the thing in my head is.
And so is the future of my species.
Oh, and so is a tiny part of you. Right?
Half of Iara? Also locked up, also squirreled away.
-Cas was gonna-- -Not here. Like Niko's not here.
I'm the senior USIC rep. If I ordered it, you'd have to fly into the sun.
The Salvare encountered a magnetar.
You saw what happened
when high-density neutrinos and Achaian matter meet.
You saw a ring get dusted,
and now you're lookin' for a back-pocket plan B.
You're thinkin' "Can I duplicate it here?"
"Can I turn it into a weapon?"
-I miss anything? -My instructions are explicit.
So are mine.
Can't say I didn't ask nicely.
[thump]
Richard!
Richard.
Right-hand rule.
Let's hope they don't know maze theory.
Niko!
-[whooshing] -[thump]
[sighs] Come on.
[gasps]
Richard, where are you?
Right is right.
-[rasping breathing] -[static fizzing]
Niko!
If you can hear me…
-[whooshing] -[thump]
Shit.
Niko!
Niko.
[rasping breath]
Fuck!
This is some bullshit.
Left. Right.
Right, back round again.
Fuck!
-[intense buzzing] -[screams]
[door thumps]
[groaning]
[panting]
[crackling]
[whirring]
[ringing]
[gasps]
[groans]
[electric humming]
Found you.
What took you so long?
Turns out I'm not as good at puzzles as I thought.
What does it mean?
Your guess is as good as mine.
Do you feel different? Like weak or anything?
Nothing.
They led us here.
Why?
When I approached this, my armband turned blue.
When I touched it, I had images in my head.
Flashes of things.
Anything?
Nothing.
-What did you see? -A star map, uh, a planet.
Ship just like this one.
And this was highlighted.
And it was green, more vibrant than this one.
This energy core might be depleted.
What now?
[whirring sounds]
Richard.
-[intense crackling] -[screams]
-Richard. -[yells]
-[crackling subsides] -[yells] I'm fine.
-[whirring] -[Richard groans]
[moans]
[rasping breathing]
-[clank] -[engines powering up]
[rattling]
[engines roaring]
[loud thumping]
[gasps]
[engines powering down]
[wind whistling]
[shivering]
[dripping]
[clicking and buzzing]
[grunts]
[clanking and scraping sounds]
-[gasps] -[whirrs]
[gasps]
[static buzzing]
[power humming]
[thump]
[power fading]
[woman gasps]
[woman panting]
[woman grunts]
Paula.
Jesus.
[gasps] Niko.
How did you get here?
Is the Salvare ba--
[Niko] Back on Earth.
Half of it, anyway.
Richard and I stayed behind.
-Then those creatures-- -The Decuma.
Is that what they're called?
Yeah. I took this off a dead one.
That wasn't a Decuma.
They don't wear anything.
So it was something else.
That the Decuma caught, tortured, and killed.
Like the rest of us.
Where are the other colonists?
This ship landed maybe a week after you left.
We tried to fight.
Most got slaughtered.
They took the survivors back here.
I think I'm the last… one.
-[screams] -No. Okay. Okay.
I can save you. I have one of their shuttles.
I'm not going anywhere.
Then I will fix this ship and use it to attack the other ship and rescue Richard--
-You can't. -Why?
Because you need a Decuma bio-scan to unlock their systems.
-[gasps] -What is happening to you?
Is this one of their experiments?
There were a lot of experiments.
Not everyone survived them.
Or we'd be taken to the point of death, and then revived and do it all over again.
Us too.
But when this thing turns red,
you start to turn into one of them.
What?
No, no. Are you sure?
Yeah. Pretty fucking sure.
How do you stop it?
If you could get it off you, it might stop the transition.
You were sent to retrieve their energy core.
It's what the Decuma use to power their ships,
and they're in short supply.
They kill each other over them. That's how this ship ended up here.
And now you're down here because they couldn't retrieve it themselves.
Why?
[gasps] The cold crystallizes their blood.
That's what I saw in the corridor. I saw one.
We couldn't kill it. But the cold sure did.
-The cold. That's all it takes? -That's what's killing me.
Niko, I'm sorry about what happened before
-with Cas and the colony… -Hey, it's fine.
-It's fine. -It's not.
I failed.
Cas… Is she--
As far as I know, she's back on Earth, safe.
[gasps]
-I have to-- -I know.
[metal clanking]
Don't let me turn into one of them, Niko. Please.
[Paula sobbing]
[metal creaking]
[instruments clicking and buzzing]
[Niko gasps]
[whirring]
[power humming]
[garbled ship's voice]
-[gasps] -[whirring]
[exhales]
Let's see what else you do.
[crackling]
[clicking]
[gasps]
[grunts]
-Uh, no, thanks. -No? You sure? It's sparkling rambutan.
Listen. You can't beat yourself up.
I failed, Bernie.
I put the fate of the entire world at risk.
Yeah, yeah, to save your mom.
It's not an excuse.
Niko and Cas, they were tempted, but they-- they didn't give in.
But I did.
I judged Sasha so harshly, and…
-it turns out I'm just as weak as he was. -No, no, no, no. Okay? No.
You're just as human.
Right? And no matter what the Achaia might want us to think,
that's never a bad thing.
[alarm siren blaring]
Guys, it's USIC. We gotta go.
What, we're fugitives now? What did we even do?
You talked to me.
What? We have laws.
I saw Seth kill a woman in front of my eyes.
I saw USIC annihilate the rest of them.
Nothing's gonna stop Seth or them from gettin' what they want.
-Yeah, well, what the fuck do they want? -We need William. Can we download him?
Even if we could, I don't know anyone who has that storage capacity besides USIC.
I could reach out to my contacts. There were underground data storage facilities
-in my Water City-- -A supply shuttle.
-What? -Okay, look.
USIC sends supply shuttles to the Salvare every day to recommission it.
-What if we can get Erik and Cas in there? -[Cas] Bernie, USIC is already on to us.
Unless we send someone else up there instead.
[grunts]
-[door thumps] -[groans]
I have it.
[device chirps]
So, what now?
[Richard] Niko.
Richard?
-Richard. -[whispers] Here. Over-- over here.
Over here.
[Richard gasping]
I saw Paula on the crashed ship.
-From the colony? -The Decuma got them too.
She was turning into one of them.
Huh.
I knew this wasn't just a bad rash.
Forget about me.
You still have a chance. You--
You got what they want. Maybe they'll let you go.
No.
No. If this is it, if you're gonna die,
we're dying together.
Give me your arm.
-Come on. -[groans]
-[crackling] -[screams]
-[Richard grunts] -[screams]
[panting]
Grab the power core.
-Take my arm. -I'm fine. I'll keep up.
All right. Stay close.
-[Richard groaning] -Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on.
[gasps]
[thump]
We're trapped.
Richard, stand back.
We're taking a shortcut.
[grunts]
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, hey. What are we doing back in here?
-[grunts] -What's the plan?
The Decuma bio-scan activates the ship's systems.
-[whirring] -You see this symbol?
When I tell you, press that and hold it until I say stop.
Give me the power core. You get ready.
Come and get it.
I will smash this.
I'm pretty sure it'll kill me, but I'll take you with me.
So stop being a fucking coward and show yourself.
[rasping breath]
-Get ready. -Okay. Yeah.
[rasping breathing]
Richard.
[distorted voice] No, don't.
[buzzing, distorted speech]
[gasping]
Richard. Now!
[Decuma screeching]
[coughing]
[Niko coughing]
Hey. Hey. You okay?
[coughs]
I'm fine.
You're not gonna like this next part.
[gasps]
[groans]
[gasping]
Are you ready?
[bleeping]
[thump]
[bubbling]
[radio chatter]
-Name and biometrics. -Hope Ellison.
Go ahead.
[whirring]
-[high-pitched bleep] -Good to go.
-John Davis. -Go ahead.
[whirring]
[low beep]
Run it again.
[whirring]
[low beep]
-One more time. -[whirring]
[high-pitched bleep]
-Good to go. Have a good one. -Yeah.
There he is. William.
Whew! Have I got a surprise for you.
Nothin' to worry about. Come on, I'll show you.
So I thought about it, and I can't get you to talk, but I do know somebody who will.
Miss Ursula Monroe, your… mother?
Hello, William.
Hello.
[Niko] Richard.
Richard.
[chuckles]
It worked.
[bleeping and humming]
[whirring]
[distorted ship's voice]
We're here.
Wherever "here" is.
You recognize anything?
Okay.
This area here looks like the field of dark matter
-that the Salvare encountered. -Mm-hm.
Which would mean that this is Pi Canis Majoris.
On the other side…
That's the sun.
And the red markers?
[Niko] I have no idea.
Next question.
How do you fly this thing?
That's as far as she'll go?
No.
I can't take it. I can't do it anymore.
[pulsing buzz]
These are Achaian Artifacts.
This is Zakir, or what used to be Zakir.
So the Decuma were monitoring the Achaia?
Or at least aware of them.
Here.
A few light years away. We need to go here.
-Go to the Achaia? -I know it sounds crazy and maybe it is,
but if they can send data and wedding rings and entire ships,
maybe they can send us.
Look, Richard, we go to the Achaia.
We tell them that I've had second thoughts. No, no. Hear me out.
And if the offer still stands, I will be their ambassador.
-Niko. -Richard.
It's how we get home.