01x07 - It Never Rains...

[bunniefuu]

["Belgrade" by Battle Tapes]

♪ Whoo ♪

♪ I believe, I believe there's a reason ♪

♪ There's a breach in the hull ♪

♪ Started going under, loot and plunder ♪

♪ Cut 'em down, cut 'em
down at the knees, yeah ♪

♪ Cut 'em down to the bone ♪

♪ Just a lesser evil, born unequal ♪

♪ You show them where they belong ♪

♪ Tear right through them,
tear right through them all ♪

♪ We pretend in the darkness ♪

♪ We pretend the night
won't steal our youth ♪

♪ Singing me the sweet
songs of seduction ♪

♪ Let me be the fool, fool, fool ♪

♪ Who will live and die for you ♪

♪ We pretend in the darkness ♪

♪ We pretend the night
won't steal our youth ♪

♪ Singing me the sweet
songs of seduction ♪

♪ Let me be the fool, fool, fool ♪

♪ Who will live and die for you ♪

1x07 - It Never Rains...

Still nothing?

- They're toying with us.
- You think?

Can we try messaging the Vanguard again?

Maybe poke around the Ether?

Not until we figure out
how the Union is tracing us.

I have the haziest memories
learning as a kid. It's weird.

Memories of me
learning old Gekirin songs

on a rooftop in Shinjuku.

Maybe now there are some things
you understand about me too?

You guys meta-minded
while fighting Nemesis!

Oh, but you were brilliant together.

I shared senses with Valentina
back at the Union facility,

and look what they did.

I'd feel bad when your head exploded

'cause you couldn't handle the
mind of a 17-year-old girl.

Other than that, I got no shame.

The rest of you had better
sort yourselves out though

'cause we need this.
It's what Doc would've wanted.

Alright, I'm gonna patrol a little
and see what I can see.

I've swept the ship best I can,
nothing transmitting.

And weather should solve
the satellite problem.

Fuel, food, sleep,
we can't do this much longer.

What would you like us to do, huh?
Drop you off at a club?

Yes.
Until then, we need a real plan.

If we keep doing this,
we must be lucky every time.

The Union only has to get lucky once.

Kind of drives
you crazy, doesn't it?

When you realize you can't cry
in one of these things.

There's a lot that's fuzzy.

But some moments, some memories...

Are you still human if you can't cry?

Or sleep? Or dream?

Yaz, Cammie, come in,
do you hear this?

We gotta go!

We've got another wave coming
in fast from the northeast.

When are you gonna
stop running from the truth?

That's the last of them.

Run all you want.
It doesn't stop until you're gone.

Man, I'd pay real
money if you'd just shut up.

- Say again?
- I... This...

- Nemesis keeps monologuing at me.
- You can hear him, now?

Yeah, of course,
he's on our network.

Down, we gotta put down now.

- Cammie?
- Land!

- What the hell, girl?
- Oh, I'm so stupid.

I know how they're finding us.

Don't download yet!
You've got to get on board.

Your holon, you need to stow it.

At least one of us
has got to be ready to fight.

Come on now, we've got to
move before they find us again.

- Who takes over for Chase?
- Nobody, none of us can upload.

The Doc told you he's you...
er, Gen:LOCK.

That means he's always
on the GL network.

He senses us when we're uploaded.

He can find us through gen:LOCK?

That's why he kept showing up
whenever we went on a mission.

Does that mean he's been
creeping on us the entire time?

Range might be a factor, I don't know.

But maybe... yeah,
he could've been listening in.

- Which gets him what?
- Well, it's you, what would you do?

He's fighting for the Union,

which says whatever he is, he ain't me.

Not anymore.

Cammie, can we not block him?

The GL net's all about
making it as easy as possible

to share your minds.
If I had the source codes,

maybe I could rewrite
the protocol stack, but...

So, we never upload again?

Stay off the gen:LOCK network,
they don't find us?

That doesn't feel right.

_

__

We promised him we'd
team up and try to help,

- see where gen:LOCK can go.
- Where it went is a dead end.

Without him, the
technology has no future.

So, I ask again, what is our end game?

We protect gen:LOCK.

- Like hell.
- If you insist on uploading again,

then we need to split up.

You need to be stronger than this.

Dr. Weller is dead, but we're not.

And I'm not gonna let
his hope die with him.

Omega protocols in effect.

Julian Chase code phrase required.

- What the bloody hell?

- Not till now.
- Why does it sound like the ...

Julian Chase,
code phrase required.

Let the good times roll?

Accepted, please confirm
the status of Dr. Weller.

Dr. Weller is dead.

Omega protocols apply,
message as follows.

Hello, well, here's
your Deus ex machina.

Or would it be doctor ex machina, eh?

Well, horrible cliché
either way, I suppose.

If you're seeing this, then you
are my recruits, and I am... no more.

Caliban, however, is clearly with you

and ought to be of some assistance.

You should know that he was one of
my earliest gen:LOCK experiments.

Not just for testing
holon frame ideas either.

He contains one of the earliest
cyberbrain dev platforms

loaded with a sliver of
my own neural pattern,

which makes him rather effective
as my walking personal data assistant

but horrible at my wit, which
is why I tend to leave him muted.

He's been loaded over the years
with everything I know about gen:LOCK.

Notes, theories, plans.

So, probably best you don't
broadcast exactly what he is.

Now, I'm not good with the
personal touch, opening up.

It's something I've struggled with,
and that has cost me over the years.

And as you are seeing this message,

it means it also cost me the ability
to tell you in person

how much you mean to me.

You're each so very special.

I regret I shall not have the chance

to see all your finer
moments that lie ahead.

But you share such a unique bond.

I have faith that even in
the most challenging times,

it will help see you through.
Be well.

- Cal.
- Julian Chase.

Just call me Chase.

Cal, what was the next
step for the gen:LOCK team?

Did the doc intend for us to
stay at the Anvil forever?

Upon completion
of prototype phase,

Vanguard is to commence
phase two, manufacturing,

while phase three,
research and development,

relocated to the Rogue
Technology, Aeronautics,

and Space Administration
assembly facility.

Whoa, RTASA, seriously?
Why?

All in favor for going there now
and figuring it out later?

Anywhere is better than nowhere.

_

Depends what kind of
drinks they serve in nowhere.

Yeah, but you know what RTASA's got?

Astronaut ice cream!

Really, nothing?

Caliban, coordinates for
the RTASA facility please.

Certainly, after all the only
disability in life is a bad latitude.

Holding for laugh.

Transferring coordinates.

Huh, never heard of a base out there.

It's RTASA, they're not exactly known
for advertising their location.

All right, everyone better strap in.
A lot of turbulence ahead.

Ain't that a metaphor.

Hey, talk to me.

That's really me out there,
Yaz, hunting us.

- We've been fighting "me."
- You're so much more than that thing.

Am I?

For better or worse,
I don't believe it's you.

Not anymore.

Who knows what the Union
did to that version of you

once they understood what you were?

Certainly experimented.

Knowing them, they
probably brainwashed you,

damaged or wiped portions of you.

And then aimed what was left back at us.

And that brain's been
running nonstop ever since.

Who knows what that would do to a mind?

The real me got turned into that.

- I'm a copy, a code branch.
- Another chance, a "what if".

You're real to them, to us, to me.

I don't know if that's enough.

Yaz, how you holding up?

It's possible I'm more
caffeinated than you.

_

I've tried standard
frequencies, nothing.

- Not a great sign.
- No ground markings of any kind.

Either they moved or...

Or they don't wanna be found
any more than we do.

Or I entered
the wrong coordinates.

I didn't, but it's a less
ominous thought, don't you agree?

_

- I got a bad feeling about this.
- Don't you start with that.

I have
experienced warmer welcomes.

Cemeteries, the Arctic, the ex-wife.

Hey, Cal, I'm gonna need you
to stay on mute for a little bit.

Eyes up.

Anybody here order a pizza?

Nobody, really?

All right, we were supposed to
deliver to a secret facility

in the middle of nowhere,
this has got to be it.

- Wait, lower your g*ns, everybody chill.
- Henry?

They're cool, and they have
cool toys, so stand down.

Hey, no sh**t.

- Henry, what are you doing here?
- Science. What are you doing here?

You've not heard any news?

I-Is something up, you guys okay?

Is there somewhere we can talk?

Well, we do have this giant
secret research facility.

Follow me.

And who have we here?

Dr. Jha, this is the team
I told you about.

Rescued us with the badass mecha.

Ma'am, I'm Lieutenant
Julian Chase of the...

Formerly of the Vanguard 101st.
These are my teammates.

Ma'am, we've been attached to
a project for Dr. Rufus Weller.

Do you know him?

Better than most.
Hmph, never as well as I think.

- Sounds about right.
- He sent us.

Sent you, already?
Just like him not to update me first.

Ma'am, Dr. Weller d*ed
in a Union att*ck yesterday.

- Rufus d*ed?
- Yes, ma'am.

Rufus d*ed...

- I told him, I told him!
- Ma'am?

And you are all part
of the gen:LOCK program?

You know about gen:LOCK?

I was there when he first proved it out.

You worked with him at the ESU?

No... I was married to him.

Damn.

So you see, ma'am,
we barely got out of there ourselves.

You should
know he d*ed saving us,

- giving us time to escape.
- And you brought the holons.

Not in the best shape now, but yeah.

Holons, brains, whole system.

Five field-ready holons?

I knew he made it to recruiting,
but progress at this pace is astounding.

Yeah, life's been coming at
us kind of fast these days.

I wonder if he even let Holcroft know.

Holcroft, like the Marc Holcroft?

He's the principal investor
in the ESU, RTASA as well.

The three of us were more
or less partners before...

Before I decided it would be better
if I returned to my work here.

How strange. If gen:LOCK worked,
we planned to share it

with a variety of other
organizations, including RTASA.

But once the w*r began, I stopped
believing it would happen.

Yeah well, gen:LOCK's here now.

Just probably not how you imagined it.

And it possibly should not stay here.

Where we go, danger tends to follow.

I wonder if Rufus kept Marc up to speed.

- Okay, what's the password?
- Open up before I k*ll ya?

Good guess.

And these are Weller's recruits.

Cameron MacCloud, Scottish hacktivist

turned white hat cybersecurity
expert for the Polity

after going just a bit too far.

Iida Kazu, Japanese SDF washout.

_

Valentina Romanyszyn,
former Russian advanced recon

and stealth ops, fell in with
the Ukrainian Resistance due to,

shall we say, societal pressures.

Retired but pressed
into service again, eh?

Yasamin Madrani, former Union citizen.

Sought asylum at the Polity
after learning she was

responsible for outing her
parents as intellectuals,

after which the Union took them.

Not least is Julian Chase, American.

Father NYPD, d*ed in the line of duty.

Rising star of the Vanguard's
aerial combat wing until

the Battle of New York where his
mother and sister were also lost.

Recovered by the ESU where he became

the very first human mind in history

to be transferred to an electronic brain.

Not without incident, of course.

- Now listen here, O great and powerful Oz ...
- Please, relax.

Rufus passed along your
names as you were identified,

and I'm always sure to
research my... investments.

I am sorry that Rufus won't be here

to see his work change the world.

He was a brilliant engineer...
and a friend.

But this leads us to you.

Whatever in the world to do with you now?

We got the last known
working bits of gen:LOCK tech,

and the Union wants it.

We're putting Dr. Jha and her team
at risk just by being here.

There is a rogue version of Chase

who can track us when we're uploaded.

- We cannot even use gen:LOCK now.
- The lost holon, yes.

The Union is nothing if not thieving.

Incapable of innovating on their own.
You say it's located?

If you wanna get specific,
it can locate us.

_

__

It never rains.

Well, what do you propose?

I was apprenticing under the doc.

He started to teach me
the ins and outs of GL.

I got a fair idea how to
at least maintain things.

Well, isn't that fortuitous?

Perhaps you can devise a way
to shut down your interloper.

I find it irksome that the
Union has my technology.

Can we not forget it's
a stolen version of me?

Chase, I can only imagine
what you're going through.

But in times of stress,

I find it most productive
to keep focused on the goal.

Do I assume correctly
that if you were enabled,

- you'd go after this lost holon?
- That's for damn sure.

Then that's the deal.

Dr. Jha, help the gen:LOCK
team repair their holons.

Why don't we make use
of our latest materials?

If I may, I'd like to ask
we don't simply repair them.

I've got some new designs for
armor upgrades I think would help.

We have to work from something.
You have the CAD files?

- Yes, send them over.
- Bring in the lost holon or eliminate it.

So long as it doesn't remain
in the hands of the Union.

After that, we can discuss the future.

_

They're... beautiful.

_

__

Yeah, you got some catching up to do
on the manga, but...

_

What have you done to yours, Cammie?

It me.

Chase, we cool?

We're better than cool.

And your holon's not the only one
who changed its look, eh?

It didn't occur to me that I should try

to change my look every four years.

- Plus, I got a new team now, you know?
- It looks good on you.

Excellent.
Well, I'm gonna go sleep for a week.

Then what, boss man?

We deal with Nemesis.

One way or the other.