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