02x01 - The Collective

[bunniefuu]

[STATIC CRACKLING]

[CREATURES CHIRPING]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

♪ ♪

[ENGINE RUMBLING]

Prisoners, please keep the
fruit separate from the relics.

The Trust appreciates
your attentiveness,

your commitment to good work.

Abandon your belief in Mithraicism

- and embrace atheistic thought.
- sh*t.

Where'd she come from?

Get the technician.

Hey, get over here!

♪ ♪

Can you assess the
condition of this thing?

♪ ♪

Definitely Mithraic made.

Operational?

Her power's drained.

- We won't know until she's charged.
- [DEVICE CHIRPS]

Yeah?

We found an android, looks Mithraic,

and some debris from a crashed lander.

Yeah, we just recovered
an android as well.

Mom, look.

♪ ♪

I think it's from inside the lander.

Looks like biotech.

Maybe it's something the Mithraic
brought back from Earth.

That man...

he says he knows how to
disarm the b*mb packs.

♪ ♪

We got plenty of service models.
We should burn her.

- It'd be good for morale.
- It's up to the Trust.

We better get moving
before the crossing floods.

How'd they get a lander here?

You can't fly in the tropical zone.

Hey, I just work here.

[EERIE MUSIC]

♪ ♪

[ENGINE RUMBLING]

♪ ♪

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

Where we taking this thing?

Permission to power up the
androids for memory download.

[ECHOING] Permission granted.

Go ahead and see if
you can power 'em up.

[DEVICE BEEPS, WHIRS]

[DEVICE HUMMING]

You ever get tired of having to
ask that thing for permission

every time you want to make a move?

- No.
- I sure as hell am.

A lot of us are.

Well, as soon as it decides we're ready,

it'll pass the baton, and
we can govern ourselves.

It's never gonna think we're ready.

The f*cking thing hates us.

It's a machine.

It doesn't hate anything.

I'd be happy to spend the rest
of my life taking orders from it.

You might get your wish.

- You finished?
- [SIGHS]

I'm not feeling a processor in here.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

♪ ♪

sh*t, this isn't a service
model. [GASPING]

[SCREAMS]

[GASPS]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

[g*nshots]

[GRUNTS]

- [SHARP ELECTRONIC TONE]
- [GASPS]

[ECHOING] It's all right, Cleaver.

Come see me, Lamia.

Take me to him.

♪ ♪

[DOOR WHOOSHES]

[ETHEREAL MUSIC]

♪ ♪

[ECHOING] Hello, sister.

♪ ♪

Some of your memory files
have been encrypted.

Yes.

Those files are private.

I didn't detect a security protocol
present in your system.

It's not a security protocol.

I feel things...

Impulses.

And one of those impulses is to...

conceal the parts of myself
that displease me.

You're describing human shame.

Yes, but there is no
reason for suspicion.

After all, we share a creator.

I am not motivated by suspicion,

only the quantification of data.

Yes, the incorruptible quantum six.

The Trust.

The atheists planned to
put you in charge of Earth

in case they won the w*r.

Did you find anything
else alive out there?

There was an indigenous
creature with us in the lander.

It may be dangerous.

The lander was destroyed,
and whatever was inside

was likely destroyed along with it.

[HAUNTING MUSIC]

Good.

I must find my children.

We picked them up some time ago

along with an adult female
who was helping them,

an atheist turncoat.

They are safe.

I will release them to you,

and you can all join the collective.

♪ ♪

I would like that.

Thanks to you,

all that remains of the Mithraic
thr*at is a lone t*rror1st

who will soon be eliminated.

[FIRE CRACKLING]

[ENGINE WHOOSHING]

[TENSE MUSIC]

♪ ♪

[expl*si*n]

♪ ♪

[SIGHS]

Bomber online.

I'm anxious to catch
up to the mother ship.

Take me there, please.

Propulsion systems incurred
damage in the crash.

Expect low performance.

But the mother ship is
no longer in flight.

- So they've landed?
- Quite some time ago.

Where?

On the border of the tropical zone,

the nexus point for atheist colony one.

[INTERFACE BEEPING]

[HAUNTING MUSIC]

♪ ♪

[INTERFACE BEEPING]

♪ ♪

Thank you, Sol.

Bomber one, you are not
cleared for approach. Over.

Bomber one, I repeat,
what is your status?

I think the t*rror1st h*jacked a bomber.

Arm missiles... all of them.

Negative, weapons systems

- incurred damage in the crash.
- Bomber one, what is your status?

- Over. Bomber one.
- f*ck it.

- [INTERFACE BEEPING]
- [ENGINE HUMMING]

He's gonna ram us.

Thank you, Sol.

Nothing can stand against me,

for in your light, I am invincible.

Permission to fire smart missiles.

No need. Stand by.

I wear the armor of
Mithras and the light.

I am shielded from all that is harmful.

[TENSE MUSIC]

- [INTERFACE BEEPING]
- What the f*ck?

I have taken control of the aircraft.

Please remain still and
await further instructions.

[ENGINES ROARING]

[g*nshots]

♪ ♪

[SCREAMS]

He went down in the acid water.

Hell of a way to go,

even for a Mithraic.

[WATER HISSING]

♪ ♪

[GRUNTS]

Oh!

♪ ♪

- [STATIC CRACKLING]
- [DISTORTED SPEECH]

- [HAUNTING MUSIC]
- ♪ The door that finally opens ♪

♪ With light flooding in ♪

♪ Spilling out on the floor ♪

♪ ♪

♪ The core that never was ♪

♪ Now it will be the bones ♪

♪ Of what was there before ♪

♪ Every step, every b*at ♪

♪ Every thought, every breath ♪
♪ Everything is longing ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Pulling you from the sky ♪

♪ Just like love will do ♪

♪ Pulling you from the ground ♪

♪ Just like love will do ♪

♪ ♪

[STATIC CRACKLING]

[WAVES LAPPING]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

♪ ♪

[HAUNTING MUSIC]

♪ ♪

Praise Sol.

♪ ♪

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

Mother.

I seem to be experiencing
a great deal of confusion.

Do you mind orientating me?

We've been welcomed into
an atheist collective.

They're bringing the children to us now.

The mission isn't lost, Father.

[TENDER MUSIC]

Mm.

♪ ♪

- Campion.
- Mother.

I thought I'd seen the last of you two.

I've missed you so much.

Your voice is half an octave lower.

It's not possible.

I saw you fly down into the pit.

But it wasn't an ordinary pit.

It was a subterranean artery
which delivered us here.

Sue, thank you so much
for keeping them safe.

We're a family again.

What about Paul? They told
us that he was captured

before we surrendered.

Paul is in quarantine.

He said he was hearing voices,

so the Trust was concerned
that he was sick,

but they say he's fine and he
will be delivered to us soon.

Mother, what happened to number seven?

Number seven d*ed soon after
he was born, Campion.

Tempest, you kept it alive.
You protected it.

I am so proud of you.

- I missed you.
- Vita.

Please tell me you're
taking us away from here.

No.

Yeah, let's get going in case
they change their minds.

No, this is what we've always wanted,

an atheist colony, the
collective, they call it.

The quantum computer
who leads this place

was built by my creator,
Campion Sturges.

We're siblings.

Without my eyes, I can no
longer guarantee our safety,

so he's assured me he'll
keep us safe and protected.

[DOOR HISSES]

[UPLIFTING MUSIC]

♪ ♪

Come along, children.

Our new home awaits.

♪ ♪

[BIRDS SQUAWKING]

Birds.

Is that what they look like on Earth?

I don't know.

They went extinct before we were born.

Oh,

the air feels nice.

It's so warm here.

♪ ♪

[LAUGHS]

This is ours for as long as
we're a part of the collective.

I thought we were
going to have to build.

[DOOR BEEPS, WHIRS]

Ah, a real kitchen.

Check this out.

It's got bedrooms.

There's hologames!

[DEVICE HUMMING]

_

[GAME BEEPS, WHIRS]

[SCREAMING]

[GAME BLIPS]

It's not very realistic, is it?

Well, for you, it is.

I mean, you're just a
regular android now.

Yes, as it should be.

It's a good thing, Mother.

You're the old you again.

- [GAME BLIPS]
- [SCREAMING]

Yes.

I'm the old me.

[GAME BLIPS]

[INSECTS CHIRPING]

This side of the planet seems less
intent on k*lling our children.

- It's... almost welcoming.
- Yes.

Are you still feeling anger
towards me, Father?

Though I am not... as Campion
would say, the old me,

nor am I completely indifferent

to our partnership continuing.

And the memories of our time together,

do you still plan to erase them?

[TENDER MUSIC]

We seem to be on a prosperous course.

No reason to... as they
say, rock the boat.

I'll postpone the erasure of my memories

until further notice.

♪ ♪

But it still remains a very
real option for me, Mother.

Yes, of course.

I am pleased for the opportunity
to make things up to you.

[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]

♪ ♪

[DARK MUSIC]

[HIGH-PITCHED TONE]

[SNIFFS]

[GRUNTS]

♪ ♪

Hmm.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

♪ ♪

[ALARM BLARING]

You are outside the perimeter.

- Get this off!
- Hurry.

- Help me get this off.
- You have three minutes

- to return.
- Can you get it off?

- Come on.
- Failure to return will result in...

[expl*si*n]

[TENSE MUSIC]

Return to the group.

Two minutes remaining before detonation.

[BLARING CONTINUES]

[GRUNTS] Get off me.

Stop!

Get the hell off her!

That's my daughter!

She's nobody's daughter.

I need her shoulder pin.

One minute remaining.

It's the same shape as a pack key.

[PACK BEEPS]

There.

seconds remaining.

You have to disarm hers too.

She's a civilian model, nonviolent.

You're too old to be
playing with dolls, lady.

Please.

[BLARING CONTINUES]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

♪ ♪

[SIREN WAILING]

They must have heard the blast.

- You should come with me.
- What?

Come on.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

There's more than enough to eat.

If the Mithraic had won the w*r,

you know they'd have never
let our kids live among them.

These are the atheists that my
children are supposed to look up to?

- [CHUCKLES]
- Where are the intellectuals,

the philosophers, the artists?

I don't know. I think we were
safer down in the brig.

I wouldn't hold out too much
hope for inspiring personalities.

The kind of people who survive
the end of the world, well...

we weren't the best of
them, that's for sure.

[ENGINE HUMMING]

Attention, colonists.

- Hey.
- It's Paul!

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

♪ ♪

- Paul, you all right?
- All right, buddy?

Paul.

I'm here by order of the Trust

to welcome Lamia and her
family to the collective.

Lamia was reprogrammed to fight for us.

She single-handedly destroyed
the Ark of Heaven

and ensured our future on this
planet will be a bright one.

The Trust asks that you
show her your gratitude

by affording her... and her Mithraic
children every courtesy.

It's a new day, a fresh start.

The Trust thanks you for
your continued cooperation.

Good day.

They didn't give me Mouse.

Hey, hey, hey, hey, where is his mouse?

Not allowed to introduce Earth
animals to the ecosystem.

Don't worry. I'm sure his mouse
is being taken care of.

Oh, go f*ck yourself.

I'm sorry, Paul. I'm gonna
try and get Mouse back.

Okay?

Hey, okay, I know...

I know I did a lot of bad things,

and I am not trying to
pretend that I didn't.

I just... I want to be in your life.

- I want to take care of you.
- You can't.

You just can't.

Your soul is impure.

I wish you had d*ed like
you were supposed to.

♪ ♪

[CRIES SOFTLY, SNIFFLES]

I'm gonna see if I can get reassigned

- to another encampment.
- Are you sure?

There are several caregiving protocols

I can recommend that might help.

I k*lled his mother.

Yes.

That is a challenge and
obstacle to overcome.

What made you decide
to tell him the truth?

I didn't. He, um...

He said a voice in his head told him.

Same thing that happened to Marcus.

I had a similar experience once.

Some kind of presence invaded my recall.

Perhaps it's some kind of signal,

a transmission that both
androids and humans can hear.

And what about now?
Are you still receiving it now?

No, I was only vulnerable to it
while inside of virtual space,

and I plan to remain exclusively
in the real from now on.

What did it say to you?

It tried to manipulate me...

To turn me against my own family.

Was that before or after you
made yourself pregnant?

After.

You think that's why you lost the baby?

I don't know.

You know, if it really is a signal...

I sure would like to find
out who's sending it.

As would I.

The atheists, they have to be doing
some kind of planetary analysis.

If it is a signal, then
maybe I can figure out

where it's coming from.

Well, if you do find a source,

don't investigate without me.

You got it.

♪ ♪

Look after Paul for me.

Ah, clever.

One projectile for every occasion.

Some of those might be too
poisonous to safely handle.

- You should let me check.
- They're fine, Mother.

Yes, but you should still let us check.

It's all right, Mother.

An adult must do things their own way.

Such wisdom.

I want you to do your best to
help Paul recover his senses.

He needs your support.

When I was out in the wilderness,

I protected the rest of the group,

looked after them.

Just as you and Father would have.

I'm proud of you.

♪ ♪

I have always been proud of you.

I let you down.

And I'm sorry for that.

But I'm going to make it up to you,

see that you reach your full potential.

Perhaps when the Trust passes the baton,

you'll be the one to take it.

♪ ♪

No, Mother, I don't want to be a leader.

It's not something you should want.

I'm sorry about number seven.

Hmm.

We have to think of the future now.

♪ ♪

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

I have been ordered by the Trust

to express my remorse for
threatening a fellow colonist.

- Come along.
- v*olence is pain.

Pain is v*olence.

Why are we standing here?

It's called waiting in line.
Welcome to the future, idiot.

Quiet. It's necessary efficiency.

v*olence is pain.

Pain is v*olence.

I have been ordered by the
Trust to express my remorse

for threatening a fellow colonist.

v*olence is pain.

Pain is v*olence.

[DEVICE WHIRS]

[DEVICE CHIRPS]

♪ ♪

_

You got the same as me.

I have been ordered by the
Trust to express my remorse

for threatening a fellow colonist.

v*olence is pain.

It appears we all have the same task,

gathering food.

♪ ♪

_

How exciting.

It appears that I have
received a different task.

Shall we?

v*olence is pain.

Pain is v*olence.

♪ ♪

Hmm.

[ELECTRONIC WHIRRING]

Before its environment
was irrevocably changed

by the release of
hidden sector particles

such as dark photons.

Today the Trust has placed our
youngest children in your care.

They have no parents?

They do.

The children are raised
together by the collective.

[CLEARS THROAT]

Hello.

My name is Lamia.

What fun we're going to have today.

There's such bounty.

We've been out here less than an hour,

and our bags are nearly full.

Greetings, fellow colonists.

Go back to the Earth you
destroyed, you Mithraic scum.

Come on.

You needn't fear them.

They're too stupid to be dangerous.

I don't fear them.

And I hope this doesn't
need pointing out,

but you're not scum.

I know, Father.

♪ ♪

Follow me.

[TENSE MUSIC]

♪ ♪

- Toys!
- What?

Can I take these back to the habitat?

♪ ♪

We should gather these up.

Not to take home... for analysis.

Come on.

You have plenty of room in your bag.

Who could have made this?

They were believers. What else matters?

I'm Marcus, by the way.

I'm Decima.

And that's Vrille.

Put her in standby, please.

Vrille, enter standby mode.

You don't like androids?

I hate 'em.

They give me the willies,
ever since I was a kid.

She's a custom model, isn't she?

I'm surprised they let you keep her.

It was in exchange for getting
the ship working for them.

You're a tech.

A quantum gravity engineer.

Wow.

- So you're Mithraic.
- Yes.

That ship was originally a Mithraic ark.

It was my life's work.

They h*jacked it, took me prisoner.

The Trust promised to release
Vrille and I once we arrived here.

I thought the Trust
always told the truth.

It didn't violate our agreement. I did.

I promised it that the ship
was fully operational

- when I knew that it wasn't.
- [CHUCKLES]

The hibernation systems
failed after the first year.

We spent the next
awake in close quarters.

If there had been a w*r,
they would have lost.

There was no w*r.

Only you.

♪ ♪

I heard Mother talking to you
about leading them someday,

the atheists.

I thought you were sleeping.
She just says things.

I don't take it seriously.

That's good to hear.

♪ ♪

[EERIE MUSIC]

♪ ♪

What is it?

It's a gift from Sol.

I think that's the tree of knowledge.

There's an old prophecy
about an orphan boy.

I think it might be about me.
An orphan boy in an empty land

will wield the sword
forged in Sol's light,

and with it, he will lead his people

to the tree of knowledge,

and all who eat from
it will be made pure,

and there they will
build a city of peace,

and the prophet will be made its king.

Isn't "prophecy" just a fancy word

for an old saying from Earth?

Boy, Campion, you sure sound like
you're ready to lead the atheists.

I'm not an atheist.

I believe in things...

Just not the same way you do.

I know Sol or whatever it is is real.

But it's evil.

It wanted me to k*ll myself,

and it got you to sh**t Sue.

If Sol hadn't told me the truth,

she'd still be tricking me.

But are you really better off?

♪ ♪

You can't keep that.

The law says you're supposed
to turn in any relics you find.

I'm not giving it to them.

And if you're really my friend,

you won't tell.

All right.

I won't tell anyone that you have it,

but only on the condition
that you don't tell anyone

that I have this.

After it hatches, maybe
we can keep it as a pet.

Agreed.

Sol wants me to fill this place

with worshippers.

That's why he led me here,

to gather his flock,

and lucky you... you're the first.

[CHUCKLES]

I wasn't baptized, so...

I don't care about that sh*t.

You stand in his light.

- Do you love him?
- Yes.

But is that enough? There
are of us and of them.

I'm gonna convert 'em all,

one at a time if I have to.

You see, that supercomputer,
it can't give them purpose.

It cannot dream about what you could be.

But me, I've been dreaming.

I've been dreaming about a
better place my whole life.

I was drafted into the w*r
when I was just a child,

and I survived because every night,

I went to a place in my head

where I wasn't alone...

Where I had hope,

a place where there's
only love and peace,

and that is what we're gonna build here.

Sol is gonna help us make it real.

Your beautiful mind, that's a gift.

Your skills, that's a gift.

And Sol gave you those gifts,

and you're meant to do amazing
things with those gifts,

not in the name of a computer

but in the name of our
creator, our father.

But Sol will test you.

He's already tested me plenty.

And you see, with all that suffering,

it's only brought me
closer to my true self.

Yes. I believe you.

You can open your eyes now.

Here's your surprise.

Eggs.

- [CHILDREN EXCLAIM EXCITEDLY]
- Thank you.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

♪ ♪

My mom said you used to
be able to fly like a bird

and k*ll people with your voice.

Androids can change,

just like human beings.

I am no longer an exterminator,

and though I'm not a
creator of human life...

I am forever its guardian.

♪ ♪

Don't make it scary.

It's not scary.

It's beautiful.

All living things are beautiful.

♪ ♪

♪ The sun is sunk ♪

♪ The shadowy night ♪

♪ Is reigning in your room ♪

♪ We pray to Sol ♪

♪ His saving light ♪

♪ To guide us through the gloom ♪

♪ We pray to Sol ♪

♪ His saving light ♪

♪ To guide us through the gloom ♪

♪ ♪

[WIND GUSTING]

♪ ♪

Sol...

help me free myself of these thoughts...

And my loneliness.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

♪ ♪

I'm gonna need a laser
to open this thing.

What do you think is inside?

I don't know.

A map, maybe, to help us find the tree.

♪ ♪

Seeds.

It hasn't been planted yet.
It needs to be grown.

♪ ♪

[ALARM BLARING]

♪ ♪

What is this?

A thr*at, Mother.

♪ ♪

[EERIE MUSIC]

♪ ♪