02x09 - Stop-Loss

[bunniefuu]

ECHO: Previously on Dollhouse...

ROGER: I want the real you.

KATHERINE: And I want the real you.

It's ironic. Sometimes I think
you're the most real person I've ever met.

Echo's not a blank slate. She's a person.

Everything you've imprinted her with
for the last six months, it's still there.

What does that make her?

Ms. Lonelyhearts?

Everyone likes to take a little something
home from the office once in a while.

But he's the least of your indiscretions.

I think they're trying to build
a portable device

that will be able to imprint anyone.

HARDING: They're grouping, aren't they?

I'm sorry to say, yeah.

Split them up.
Place them in separate houses.

HARDING: This has the potential
to change everything.

- ADELLE: I suspected as much.
- You did the right thing, Adelle.

Orders, Sergeant. Orders.

Shall we celebrate?

There's no smoking in my office.

Hello?

(EX CLAIMS)

When did you die?

ROGER: Katherine, wait.

Darling... Darling, we need to talk.

I don't want to talk.

I want Roger. I want to roger Roger.

Wait... Stop! Stop.

(SIGHING)

It would be dishonorable for me
to let this go on any further.

There's someone else.

What do you mean?

I've fallen in love with another woman.

Don't tease me.
That's patently impossible.

I'm afraid I'm quite serious.

So where did you meet this other woman?

On one of your international
jet-setting trips?

The flat in London?

The condo in Rome?

Who do you think designs your life
when you're not with me?

Listen, I'm having a hard time
figuring it out for myself.

It's as if I met this woman
in a previous life,

as though our love transcends
our very being.

Come on. You're not real.

You're a doll.

One whose contract is up,
and I was just getting in one last go round

before they release your body
into the wild.

And if anyone should be getting upset,
Roger, it's you.

Because this time tomorrow,
you're not going to exist anymore.

(SCOFFING)

Katherine, I'm sorry. I know you're upset,
but don't make up stories.

I don't believe for a second
you'd ever stoop to the level

of those pathetic souls who have to hire
your programmable love dolls

to get what they need.

(SOBBING)

Do you see what I see?

- I don't see anything.
- Exactly.

There's nothing left in Ballard's head.
Alpha scrubbed him clean.

Even if I could make the chair work
on someone without Active architecture,

I'd be lucky if I could make him walk
in a straight line.

But he's stable physically?

As a zucchini. Which is what he's gonna be
for the rest of his life.

And now my brain is starting
to feel like his.

Get some rest.
I'll deliver the news to Echo.

(SIGHING)

Another woman, Mr. Brink?

What? No. You're the only one here.

Who else is in on this practical joke?

Boyd? Ivy? Echo?

If it was funny,
I want to take credit for it. (LAUGHS)

I don't think this was funny.

Ms. Lonelyhearts was dumped
by Roger this evening.

Are you sure the dementia hasn't gotten
to her?

Stop being cute.

How long have you known the identity
of Ms. Lonelyhearts?

You? Oh, my God!

What have I said to you about her?

(GROANING) Octogenarian, walker jokes,
the thing about the early bird special.

(LAUGHS)

I didn't know.

If you didn't alter the imprint,
I want to know who did.

Roger came back early.

He didn't say why it ended,
but my money's on a broken hip.

(EX CLAIMING)

- What?
- She definitely didn't do it.

(TOPHER TYPING)

TOPHER: It wasn't on our end.

Roger's parameters were exactly as you...
She... She requested.

So, where did the mystery woman
come from?

Has anyone seen Sierra?

Look on the bright side.
Roger didn't reject you.

No. Victor did.

It's just grouping,

which won't be a problem
after we set him free tomorrow.

Just make sure this doesn't happen
with any other Actives.

We can't have clients being rejected
by dolls

who are programmed to love them.

Yeah. We're lucky this happened to you.

If anyone finds out about this,
you won't be so lucky.

I don't think that's a smart idea.

DeWitt's watching your every move.

You upset her, you're gonna end up
in isolation again, or worse.

I haven't seen Paul
since they stabilized him.

What if I don't get to see him again?
What if...

That's not gonna happen.

Topher's working every angle.

But you might want to say goodbye
to Victor.

His contract ends first thing
in the morning.

I thought you'd be glad.

I was gonna use him
to help me get everyone out.

He's already been used for five years.
You'll manage without him.

Everything's slipping away from me.

Before it was memories,
but I figured out how to hold on to them.

And now that I have something real,
people I care about,

they're slipping away from me, too.

I'll talk to DeWitt about Paul.
Maybe she'll change her mind.

Absolutely not.
Paul Ballard is brain-dead because of Echo.

Funny, I thought he had Alpha
to thank for that.

It's all of a piece.
Echo brought Alpha to the house.

She made him jealous.
It all starts with Echo.

- Got it all figured out.
- Hardly.

I still want to know what's going on
in that very special brain of hers.

She's not a blank slate anymore.
She's a person, like you or me,

and keeping her away from Ballard
is k*lling her.

- Perfect.
- You want her to suffer?

Pain reveals who we really are.
Let's see who this girl really is.

Are all the arrangements
for Victor's release finalized?

Everything's set.

Would you mind handling
the final paperwork for me?

Usually you handle Active releases.

I thought it gave you a sense
of satisfaction seeing them through.

When I've recruited them.

Victor was assigned to this house.

He wouldn't know me from you.

I saved my strawberries for you.

They're my favorite.

Victor, it's time for your treatment.

- Will you sit with me at dinner?
- That would be nice.

You're not coming back.

When you get out of that chair,
you'll have your original personality.

You need to say goodbye to her.

If you don't get a chance to say goodbye,
you'll regret it.

- Goodbye.
- Goodbye. I'll see you at dinner.

Afghanistan w*r vet, severe PTSD,
which we cured.

This one actually makes me feel good
about myself.

The last thing he remembers
is reclining in that chair five years ago

as I explained to him,

the last thing he would remember
is reclining in the chair.

I was probably standing right here.

Did it not work? Did something go wrong?

You were not just standing there.
And you were wearing different clothes.

Well, not that different.

What did I just tell you?

That five years
would seem like five seconds.

Welcome to the future,

where cars fly,
robots serve our every whim,

and genetically engineered dinosaurs
rule the Earth.

It's pretty much the same
as when you left.

- And the w*r? Is it...
- It's still going on.

So, that's it. Five years, just like that.

It wasn't just like that.

Right. Five years I don't even remember.

I don't know. It almost seems too easy.

BOYD: We've set up a trust fund
in your name.

Reserved a suite at the Hyperion
until you find something more permanent.

Found several employment opportunities
should you choose to work.

If people ask, you spent the last five years
at a VA hospital

as part of an experimental program

that treats veterans
for post traumatic stress.

We've created a paper trail
to verify your story.

For the first three months,
you'll come into the Dollhouse

on a bi-weekly basis for a diagnostic.

For a year following that,

we'll send a representative into the field
to check on you.

If you have any problems,
you can call us 24 hours a day.

But I don't expect any trouble.

This entire process was designed

so you can slip into your old life
without realizing you were gone.

Congratulations, Mr. Ceccoli.

You're a free man.

(CAMERA CLICKING)

(g*ns f*ring)

REPORTER: With an increase
in troop numbers,

U.S. m*llitary forces begin a new offensive

against insurgents
in the civil regions of Afghanistan.

Reports coming out of Kandahar indicate
that two more regions have been secured.

How long have you been sitting here?

I'm waiting for Victor.
We're going to have dinner together.

Sierra, Victor's not coming back.

But he always comes back
from his treatments.

This time he isn't. He left for good.

- He wouldn't leave me.
- He's free. They gave his life back to him.

But you're not happy for him?

I needed him.

I thought he could help me
get everyone out.

I'm sad, too. But not for us, for him.

He's not ready to be by himself.

(BAD ROMANCEPLAYING)

Want your bad romance

I want your ugly
I want your disease

I want your everything
As long as it's free

I want your love

Love, love, love
I want your love

- Excuse me. Hi.
- GIRL: Hi.

Have we met before?

(GIRLS GIGGLING)

(SIGHING)

(SIGHING)

No. No.

Where's Paul?

He's not dead,
if that's what you're thinking.

What did you do to him?

Mr. Ballard has been moved
to a more secure location,

one where your illicit key card
will be of no use.

No need to fret.

He's receiving top-notch care.

Do you think anything goes on in my house
without my knowledge?

I don't know. It seems like
a lot went down without you knowing.

Yes.

Well, I'm not surprised that Paul and Boyd
managed to keep your secret from me.

But Topher,

he can barely keep a belch to himself.

Come on. Don't be rude.
It's just a friendly chat.

You really want to do this?

Pretend that we're equals? Go toe-to-toe?

Why? You having trouble keeping up?

You think I'm scared of you?
I have a serial k*ller in my head.

Yes. If memory serves me,
one that's petrified of women.

All those people in your head,
I know their deepest, darkest secrets.

You're forgetting who put them there
in the first place.

So now you're trying to take credit
for making me.

You didn't make me. I made me.

You may think all these people
knocking around in my head are useless,

but that's 40 more brains than you have.

So I think we can agree
that I'm smarter, tougher

and a whole lot scarier
than you could ever hope to be.

If you're so powerful,
why are you still in my house,

sneaking around,
trying to find your comatose boyfriend?

Lady, if I wanted to be somewhere else,
I would be.

But there's work to do here.

Now you can be on my side
or you can on Rossum's,

but the time for playing both is over.

(ANTHONY GROANING)

Protocol says I maintain a doll's biolinks
for 90 days after they leave the house

to monitor the reintegration
of their original neural topography.

- That's Victor's readout?
- Was Victor's readout.

At 1:53 a.m. Last night,
his biolinks went kaput, as in no signal.

I can't even raise his GPS.

I'll send a van to bring him in
for a diagnostic.

Those aren't "I'll send a van to bring him
in for a diagnostic" squigglies.

They're "fight for your life" squigglies.

I'm on my way.

Echo. I need your help.

- ECHO: All clear.
- Same here.

Ready to process the room?

You want FBI, private investigator,
or should I surprise you?

So, how exactly does this work?
You accessing other personalities?

I used to have to make an effort
to switch between imprints,

but now I can slip back and forth
without even thinking.

- Who am I talking to now?
- Echo. You're always talking to Echo.

But Roma Klar and Eleanor Penn
are duking it out in the background

over who gets to help me
figure this one out.

I'll take all the help I can get.

They came through the front door.
No sign of a struggle.

And they left the place pretty clean.

- Whoever did this, they're professionals.
- It was an inside job.

You see a clue I don't?

Victor's been out of the house, what,
less than 24 hours.

Which isn't enough time
to be on anyone's radar.

And they knew enough about our tech
to deactivate his biolinks and GPS.

You look like you're working on a theory.

(SCREAMING)

Who the hell are you, huh?
Somebody better say something!

HAGAN: Anthony Ceccoli,
Sergeant, 3rd Battalion,

- 75th Ranger Regiment...
- Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's me.

Who are you? What do you want?

We apologize for our methods,
but they were necessary.

Hagan? I thought you got transferred
to the 160th.

We all got transferred.
m*llitary called us broken soldiers.

Didn't know what to do with us,
so they packed us away for five years.

If you tell your commanding officer
that I'm a buddy...

We don't follow
traditional command structure.

Officially, we're not a part
of the United States Armed Forces.

No kidding. Why'd you bring me here?

The m*llitary was supposed to fix us.

They took away the pain,
the fear, the shame,

but they left us empty.

Do you know why? Because we're soldiers.

We need something to fight for.
We can give you something to fight for.

You want me to be a soldier?

Where do I sign up?

Victor's file was accessed
three months ago,

with continued break-ins
leading up to his release.

Someone was making sure
he was still on schedule.

Can you run a back trace?

It's a Rossum server,
defense-grade firewall.

- Can you hack into it?
- Someone in here can.

This is just for immunizations, right?

HAGAN: It'll be easier for us to explain
after we put this in.

You'll never be alone again.

(INJECTING)

(EXHALING)

SOLDIER: All clear.

(SOLDIERS CHATTERING)

ALL: Confirmed. Group mind engaged.

- ECHO: Have you ever heard of Scytheon?
- It's Rossum's m*llitary contracting wing.

Their answer to Blackwater.

They're the ones who kidnapped Victor.
They've got a dossier on him,

personal history, m*llitary records,
Dollhouse engagements. They've got it all.

He's been placed in a classified program
codenamed Mind Whisper.

It's being operated out of a bunker
on the California-Nevada border.

According to this, Mind Whisper's
recruited dozens of ex-Actives.

The Active architecture allows their minds
to be linked via neural radio.

They hear what everyone thinks,
see what everyone sees.

SOLDIERS: Face down.
20 meters. Agent clear.

(DOOR OPENING)

Rossum's building an army.
They kidnapped Victor.

Rossum's building an army?

(SIGHING)

Remember what happened last time
we poked our noses

where they didn't belong?

We failed and I nearly lost control
of the house, or something like that.

I'm giving you a chance to help Victor.

They've turned him
into some kind of super soldier.

It's what he wants.

And isn't that why we're in business?

To give people what they want.

Neural radios?

- That's the short bus version of this tech.
- What's the end game?

Group think, and not the bad kind
that gave us the Bay of Pigs.

This would be the much badder kind.

Multiple minds thinking as one.

Imagine w*r minus the individual.

He's thinking about one single thing,
the objective.

Soldiers who don't stop fighting
until they've accomplished the mission.

Once you're absorbed into the group mind,
the individual ceases to exist.

If we don't rescue Victor before he's fully
integrated into the group mind,

we lose him for good.

This wasn't on the schedule.

Load me up. We're going to w*r.

I got what I need. Keep them coming.

Field medic, advanced triage,
and it comes with a Texas twang.

IVY: I pulled everything else
that might be useful.

Why didn't you let me in on this earlier?

You were on a need-to-know basis.

Need-to-know or need-to-fetch?

The Flying Cordona Brothers?

She's breaking into
an underground bunker, not the big top.

No, acrobatics makes sense.

- You want Enrique or Ernesto?
- Ernesto.

My choice, too.

DeWitt's out cold.
We got at least half the day.

Ooh! After we're done here,
can I go to her office with a Sharpie?

- ECHO: Topher.
- Yep.

You've been downloaded with everything
from basic G.I. Jane

to nuclear physicist weapons maker

who secretly yearns
for nuclear disarmament.

Did everything take?

Locked and loaded.
But I need one more thing to pull this off.

All I have left is Naughty Pirate Wench.

You. You promised me
I wouldn't remember that day!

- You told me I could skip it!
- Priya, calm down.

Why? I don't want to remember Nolan!

- I don't want to remember any of it.
- Get her a beer.

I couldn't delete that day
because then you wouldn't remember him.

I don't want to remember Nolan.

Not Nolan. Not Nolan!

I couldn't delete that day
because you wouldn't remember Victor.

Before I wiped you, you told me you knew.

You saw Victor and you told me you knew.

- That I loved him?
- Exactly.

(SIGHING)

Why? What's going on?

ECHO: His name is Anthony now.

If he's started to lose his identity
to the group mind,

you're our best sh*t at pulling him out.

Has Victor...
I mean, Anthony ever met me as Priya?

He's met Sierra. Think Priya,
with all the complications stripped away.

So, why not just send me as her?

Because you'd still be figuring out
how to buckle your seatbelt.

How do we get in?

We get caught.

(GROANING) I just lost Echo's GPS.

Which means they're inside the bunker.

You really think we'll be able to pull this
off without Cruella DeWitt finding out?

(SNORING)

Don't piss off a blind girl.

Oh. Now we just need
to make sure Anthony sees me.

He's already seen you.

One of them sees us, they all see us.
Come on.

- So he'll come to us?
- Eventually.

Stay right there.

Anthony, I'm so glad it's you.

Anthony's gone.

Anthony's gone, but what about Victor?
I know he's in there.

You're trying to confuse us.
You're not gonna confuse us.

Victor. Victor!

Victor remembers me.
He couldn't forget. I didn't forget.

SOLDIERS: Re-engage. Engage. No engage.

- Anthony, lower your w*apon.
- SOLDIERS: Target in sight.

- They don't want me to remember.
- SOLDIERS: On my mark.

Eliminate target. Now.

- Eliminate target.
- They want me to k*ll you.

SOLDIERS: Permission to fire.
Eliminate target. Eliminate hostile target.

Engage. Eliminate target.
Eliminate hostile target. Eliminate target.

I remember.

Are you in control?

If she's here, it helps me to remember.

It helps me to stay focused.

They're not happy.

What's the fastest way out of here?

If we follow the electrical conduits,
it'll lead to a service tunnel.

There's a utility hatch at the end of that.

Then that's where we're going.
You take the lead, I'll bring up the rear.

Got it?

You hit him. Why did you hit him?

He's still connected.
Anything we tell him, they hear.

Now half the squad's headed
for that service tunnel.

It'll be five minutes before they realize
they went the wrong direction.

What is the right direction?

I'm gonna figure out a way
to change the group mind's orders.

You're gonna hold down the hallway.
You know how to fire a g*n?

My grandfather took me hunting
in Gippsland once.

So you know how this works?

Well, I sh*t at rabbits. I didn't hit anything.

Same idea, just bigger targets.

(PHONE RINGING)

Judith!

Judith, can you get that?

What is it?

Yes, Mr. Harding. Of course I'm aware

that two of my Actives
are on an engagement.

What sort of house do you think I run?

No, I wasn't aware
that it is a Rossum training facility.

Of course I will have
them recalled immediately.

No, no, no.
They're not in control. I'm in control.

But they can hear you.

And I can hear them.
It's a tactical advantage.

I know every move they're gonna make.

SOLDIERS: Targets acquired.

Fire.

(PRIYA PANTING)

There's two soldiers, 18 formation,

XM8 as*ault r*fles, MK 23s
and flash grenades.

They're about to make an offensive move.

I'm Anthony by the way.
You can call me Tony.

- Priya.
- Nice to meet you.

So, are you from Australia?

Maybe we should save the small talk
till after the gunfight.

No, it's good.
The more I can remember about me, us,

the easier it is for me to keep them out.

You sent Echo and Sierra
to retrieve Victor.

- Someone had to make the call.
- I ordered you to leave it alone!

I was hoping you wouldn't remember
that conversation.

- What are you saying?
- I'm saying that you're a drunk.

You're obsessed
with keeping Echo under your thumb,

and you'll do anything you can
to keep Harding smiling.

We may not have agreed in the past,

but at least we put this house
and the Actives first.

What happened to that woman?

- She's standing in front of you.
- No, she's not.

If you don't find her soon,
you're gonna lose control of this house.

And I'll be the one
knocking down your door.

I hope it doesn't come to that,
Mr. Langton.

Your elevation's off.
You keep going high right.

I'm not hitting anything
if that's what you mean.

And I don't plan to.

- SOLDIERS: Move forward.
- Okay, come on. We gotta go.

ANTHONY: Whoa! You don't want to sh**t!
Remember five years ago, outside Calais?

It wasn't that much different than this.

We fought side by side,
not against each other. Think about it!

I will sh**t you if I have to.

Hurry!

SOLDIERS: Group mind disengaged.
Eliminate!

No!

SOLDIERS: Keep targets pinned down.

Keep it together. For me.

(GROANS)

(SOLDIERS CHATTERING)

SOLDIERS: ... Iockdown.

ECHO: I can take it.
What if we can't get back?

We just got company. A whole lot.

- I don't see any others.
- Echo. She's inside.

I knew you were gonna do that.
And you knew I was gonna do that.

SOLDIERS: Surgical room breached.
Hostile armed.

Only four? I'm hurt.

ECHO: Disengage target. Stand down.
SOLDIERS: Eliminate target. Fire.

- Disengage target. Stand down.
- Eliminate target. Fire.

- Disengage target. Stand down.
- Eliminate target.

- Eliminate target.
- ECHO: Stand down.

SOLDIERS: Fire. Clear.

- I need orders. Eliminate...
- ECHO: Stand down.

SOLDIERS: Disengage.

Echo's down.

We're on our... We're on our own.

What happened? They missed?

- Echo changed their marching orders.
- Well, what did she tell them to do?

ECHO: Go home.

PRIYA: Favorite breakfast food?
ANTHONY: Pancakes and strawberries.

We really have lived another life
with each other.

Or just had breakfast.

I can feel the rest of it
just beneath the surface.

I wonder
if we'll ever remember everything.

I mean, really remember.

It doesn't matter.

I wouldn't mind discovering
all these little things about you again.

Do you think that was our first kiss?

Out.

- We're in the middle of the desert.
- Out of the car.

I don't have to explain it to you.
Take her and go.

Guys, we don't all have radios in our head.

I can't take you back to the Dollhouse.

You have your original personalities.
You found each other.

You should leave.
Start your life together now.

There's no reason to wait
until I free everyone else.

There are GPS strips implanted
in your bodies. Find them, cut them out.

- No. You need our help.
- She's not gonna change her mind.

There's enough traffic on the main road.
Someone will pick you up.

I don't need thanks. I don't need goodbyes.

Do us a favor and look us up
after you get everyone out.

If I get everyone out,
you'll have to look me up.

Caroline...

(HIGH-PITCHED STATIC)

You can't do this to her!

Really, Mr. Langton,

sometimes I think you are the one bonded
to Echo, not the other way around.

This is gonna blow up in all our faces!

All of Rossum is chattering

about how you single-handedly
defeated an entire army,

Harding was so impressed
by your performance

that he's devising ways
to turn you into a w*apon.

Guess we know
whose side you came down on.

I told him that you're far too dangerous.

There's no way to control you.

But you're still gonna
hand me over to him.

No.

You've disrupted countless engagements,
brought Alpha into my house,

deceived me, with the help of Paul Ballard,

dragged Topher and Boyd into the fun,
and now Victor and Sierra.

You leave a wake of destruction
wherever you go.

There is only one place for a doll
as irreparably damaged as you.

The Attic.

They say it's whatever hell you imagine,

but I think it's something far worse.

IVY: She shouldn't be able to do that.

Welcome to the conspiracy.

- Can I go back to getting you juice boxes?
- ADELLE: What's the hold up?

Neuromods set for chemical saturation.
LTP depotentiated. Transmag primed.

We're ready.

There has to be another way
to deal with this.

If you don't want to do this,
I can find someone else who does.

Even if it means imprinting someone else
with your personality.

(BREATHING HEAVILY)

(EXHALING)

I'm sorry.

(GRUNTING)

(MUFFLED SCREAMING)

ADELLE: Send her body to the Attic.

Then do the same to Victor and Sierra.