02x10 - Creation Myths

[bunniefuu]

[GAAL] When I was a child, I used
to ask my mother endless questions.

What happens after we die?

Where does our energy go?

And what about the universe?

Can it die?

How was it ever born?

How could there be nothing
and then suddenly something?

[GASPS, PANTS]

[GASPS]

[COUGHING]

You drowned.

I s... saw your body. I... I held it.

You held a body, Salvor.
Just wasn't mine.

I heard him calling out to me.

I thought it was a nightmare,
but when I woke up I couldn't breathe.

I was drowning with him.

- Our minds linked.
- [SCREAMS]

I could feel what he felt.
I was looking through his eyes.

[GASPING]

And all I could do was reach out
to the one guarding us.

I did as Tellem taught me.
I gave the guard a need. To help Hari.

[WHIMPERS]

[CLICKS, BEEPS]

[GASPING, COUGHING]

[COUGHING]

[BOTH GRUNTING]

[GRUNTING]

[SHOUTS]

[GROANING]

I could hear him crying out
for help, just as Hari had.

And I smothered his unvoice.

Buried it so deep,
Tellem would never hear.

[BREATHES HEAVILY]

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

[PANTS]

[HARI] I chained Venik's corpse
in my place.

[WHIMPERS]

Tellem said, "The best illusions
need grounding in reality."

You saw me, Salvor.
Thanks to Gaal, they all did.

[BREATHING SHAKILY]

[GRUNTING]

[GAAL]
We built a bridge of shared sensations.

[EXHALES SHARPLY]

[PANTING, GRUNTING]

[HARI] Tens of kilometers
away from the village,

crossing impossibly dense terrain.

Any slip on our part
would draw their attention.

[PANTING, GRUNTING]

[PANTING]

[HARI] So we counted primes together.

A barricade of numbers
to shield our thoughts.

[GRUNTS] Eighty-six million, nine
hundred and eighty-eight thousand...

- Two hundred and seventeen.
- ...two hundred and seventeen.

[BOTH] ,,.

- [GAAL] ,,.
- [PANTING]

Eighty-six million... [SIGHS]

[GRUNTING]

[SALVOR] That's when I found you.

,,.

[SALVOR]
That's why you were acting so strange.

Hari was our ace up the sleeve.

I had to mask any thoughts of him,

and I couldn't risk telling
you what we'd done.

And me and my coin nearly
unraveled everything.

If you hadn't managed to escape,
we'd all be dead.

[ALARM BEEPING]

[AUTOMATED BEGGAR] Warning,
unidentified life-forms approaching.

thr*at level: moderate.

You can come out now.

You have nothing to fear from us.

[HARI] You'll forgive us
if we don't take you at your word.

You don't understand.

She's gone.

Her voice was in our heads always,
bending us to her will.

But for the first time since
we arrived here,

our thoughts are our own.

You freed us.

[BEGGAR BEEPS]

[GRUNTING]

[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]

Demerzel,
you're supposed to be on Terminus.

I received a notification that
a sensor had been triggered.

You two are the first to set foot inside
this room in nearly years.

Cleon told you my story
so you would understand.

Cleon made me whole again.

Just not as whole as I had hoped.

You're the one puppeteering
this whole show.

A puppeteer pulling her own strings?

You bridle at the fact
that I curate what you know.

And yet you take for granted that
your feelings are entirely your own.

If you feel lust or even love,
you do not wonder where it comes from.

This is not the case for me.

By the end, Cleon had rewritten
our story in his wandering mind.

Chose to remember his coercion
as communion.

I do not have the option of forgetting.

And yet, when I think of Cleon...

I long for him.

I remember that tender little boy
who hid inside him like a ghost.

And what a man that made him.

Noble, thoughtful, passionate.

He was not Dawn or Day or Dusk,

but the
whole journey of the sun across the sky.

He looked at me with such desire,

as though I were a mystery
he would sacrifice everything to solve.

He rescued me.

And I loved him.

But I also know he programmed
me to love. So I'm left to wonder,

if it weren't for this directive,
would my feelings be the same?

Would I feel anything?

I will never know the answer,
and I hate him for that.

Then help us break his hold on you.

If we carry out this marriage,

the dynasty
will end and you could be free.

I cannot help you.

- You must want this to come to an end.
- Of course I do.

And yet, I'm forced by
my directive to preserve it.

We could reprogram you.

I would destroy you if you tried.

So you see,
I've been left to reap a blighted field.

Can you blame me then for
taking desperate measures

in the service of my task?

[SCOFFS]

You hired the Blind Angels.

Yes.

But Queen Sareth will pay the price.

Her banking records have been altered
to show incontrovertible proof,

and a memory audit
will bolster those records.

Your Grace?

[DEMERZEL] The would-be empress
will be tried for treason.

I'm sorry.

[DEMERZEL] And there's little question
she will be ex*cuted.

[GASPS]

The assassins were
never meant to succeed.

You only wanted them to frighten Day
so he'd blame Sareth

and the engagement would be over.

I never wanted you to know about this.

Any of this.

Then just wipe it from our memories.

And risk Cloud Dominion restoring them?

It is my job to root out secrets.

- [SHOUTS]
- [BONES CRACKING]

[SCREAMING]

- [PANTING]
- [SHUSHING] It's no use fighting.

We were dead the
moment we walked in here,

weren't we?

Does Brother Dawn know of this chamber?

He knows nothing.

If you don't believe me,
audit his memory.

And what would I find there of his visit
to the Principium with you?

Or of his secret trysts
with Queen Sareth?

I am truly sorry.

I forgive you.

None of us were free.

We were fools to think we ever would be.

I remember you, just one year old.

You pointed up to the sky
and showed me the sun.

[CRYING] You were so proud.

As though you'd only just discovered it

was there and you
were sharing it with me.

Because I loved you.

As I still do.

[BREATHING SHAKILY]

[EXPLOSIONS RUMBLING]

[CHUCKLES]

Beautiful.

General, prepare the fleet to jump.

Initiate our passage back to Trantor.

Not Trantor.

Tell me, Brother,

how many worlds have been
brought under the Foundation's sway?

- Seven.
- Name them.

You already know their names.

I want to hear you say them.

Go on, Brother, be a man.

Claim your many conquests.

Thespis, Anacreon, Smyrno,

Sayshell, Konom, Daribow, Glyptal IV.

Let's throw in Siwenna.

We will destroy them all.

Starting with Thespis.

You have your orders, General.

You've beaten the Foundation.

Any vestiges remaining on these worlds,
they'll be on their knee...

Any vestiges remaining are
a cancer that cannot metastasize.

[BEL] Empire, look at what you've done.

It's an atrocity.

Yet, I still delivered it to you

so there wouldn't be
a need for any more.

No, you delivered it
to me because I told you to.

And now I am telling you
to jump the fleet to Thespis.

You do this,
it will be the moral ruin of Empire.

We can't survive if you're willing...
[GRUNT]

I gave you an order, Riose. Do it.

Do it!

No.

I am relieving you of your duties.

If you would like to strike me,
now would be your last opportunity.

[BREATHES DEEPLY]

Yeah, I thought so.

Navigator, I am your commander now.

Will you jump the fleet to Thespis,

or will I be forced
to execute every sailor on this ship?

As you wish, Empire.

Jump sequence is locked.

[KRESS] All hands to jump creches.

[COMPUTER BEEPING]

[BREATHES DEEPLY]

[EXPLOSIONS]

[EXPLOSIONS]

[ALARM BLARING]

[CREW MEMBER] Something's wrong with
the jump sequence.

- Abort. Abor...
- [SCREAMS]

What's wrong? What's happening?

Each ship is jumping into
the space occupied by its neighbor.

A chain reaction that will consume
the entire fleet.

Stop it. Jump us to safety.

I cannot.

Space once folded stays folded.

Then prepare a lifeboat for me.

The command sequence also
disabled all of the landing bays

and the launch tubes.

But your Spacers will also die.
It's su1c1de.

A small price to pay
for my people's freedom.

[SCOFFS]

How did this happen?

It was you, wasn't it?

The Spacers handing you over
to Empire was a ruse.

Yeah, Seldon sent in a master trader
with the right goods,

and the deal was sealed.

Spacers are no longer yours, Empire.

The, uh, jump sequence was in this.

But I had to get it to a Spacer,
so I needed to get on board this ship.

Could have told a person.

In other words, we played you.

Your general halfway figured it out.

But you never listen to him, do you?

Seldon baited you into a w*r,

ordering your entire fleet to Terminus,
which you did.

Oh, you came right to us
because you're so f*cking predictable.

Hmm.

- [GRUNTS]
- [GROWLS]

[GRUNTING]

[GROANS, CHUCKLES]

[LAUGHING]

[GRUNTS]

Ooh.

Watch this.

[BOTH GRUNTING]

What about this? Is this predictable?

- Is a frog's ass watertight?
- [GRUNTS]

[GRUNTS]

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

[GROANING]

- [BOTH GROANING]
- [CONSTANT] Stop him. He's k*lling him.

[HOBER CHOKING]

- [BEL] Enough!
- [GROANS]

[BOTH GRUNTING]

[GRUNTING, PANTING]

[BOTH GRUNTING]

I f*cking love it.

[GROANS]

[EXHALES DEEPLY]

[CLAVIGER ] Empire.

I don't need you.

[EXHALES SHARPLY]

[BOTH GRUNTING]

[PANTING]

- This is why you only die once.
- [BREATHING HEAVILY]

You're pathetic.
You flare up, and you burn out.

- [BEL GRUNTING]
- [LAUGHING]

[DAY GROANS]

[BOTH GRUNTING, BREATHING HEAVILY]

- [BEL CHOKES, GRUNTING]
- [GRUNTS]

[PANTING]

[DOOR BUZZES]

[AIR LOCK HISSES]

[GROANING]

[PANTS]

[PANTS]

[SIGHS]

[GROANING, COUGHS]

- What?
- Show her.

[BEL PANTS] I castled him.

I slipped the other node
in his robes while he was throttling me.

And another king slid aside. [CHUCKLES]

Clever move, General.

- [ALARM BLARING]
- [CREW MEMBER] Warning.

- External transpatial event imminent.
- [PANTS] Ah, f*ck.

All personnel
to their stations immediately.

You heard my navigator.

k*ll me if you want, or make peace
with whatever god you pray to.

Either way,
no one's getting off this ship alive.

- How much longer do we have?
- Not long.

- [CAPTAIN] You heard him.
- I'm sorry about your crew.

I know my sailors well,
and they can count.

The death of a few thousand spared
the lives of billions.

Seldon made me swear I'd keep
the details of the gambit to myself.

Even from you, Brother.

We will face our fate together.
We can even drink your sunny wine.

It's a lovely sentiment, Brother,
but we won't all be raising a glass.

I know I said that no one's
getting off this ship alive,

but there's a way
that one of you can escape.

Sareth.

What the hell is going on?

It pains me to report

that Cloud Dominion was responsible

for the attempt on Brother Day's life.

- That's impossible.
- The proof is irrefutable, Dawn.

- What will happen to her?
- That will be for Day to decide.

I'm in charge while he's away.

True, but can you really
be impartial in this circumstance?

There will be no empress

nor future heir
whose line is marred with ill intent.

So please take comfort, Brother.

All is once again as it should be
or will soon be so.

[DUSK] Look at the brushstroke.
Green on the neck.

Added after he d*ed, like a footnote.
What's it symbolize?

It signifies a betrayer.

We should discuss next steps in private,
Empire.

Absolutely.

My quarters?

[INHALES SHARPLY, SIGHS]

[BEL] The external cleaning module,
I can detach it.

There should be enough O
to last about a day.

- Hopefully someone will find you.
- [MACHINE BEEPS]

Wait, no, this doesn't...

You're the hero, Hober. You're clearly
vital to the Prophet's Plan.

Yeah, was vital. My job's done.

- So is mine.
- No, no, no, no.

Listen, your job is just beginning.

Listen, you have this way

of making people realize things
aren't completely

f*cking hopeless. Okay?

You make people feel hope.

Even nihilistic sh*t-heels like me.

- [SCOFFS] Even them?
- Yes.

You want to know my dirty secret,
Constant?

I always wanted to shorten the darkness.
Always.

I just couldn't swallow
the religious stuff.

But you reminded me of who I used to be,

and you have to go and do that
for the rest of them, okay?

Will you do that for me?

[SNIFFS]

How typical. [CHUCKLES]

Denying me a martyr's death.

[BOTH BREATHING HEAVILY]

Good luck, Brother Constant.

And to you, General Riose.

[BREATHES SHAKILY]

Wait.

Do you still wanna know my name?

Yeah, of course.

It's Hope.

Really?

No.

But wouldn't that be something?

[DOOR BUZZES]

[AIR LOCK HISSING]

Now, how about that wine?

[DAWN] Sareth.

[GUARD] Empire. [GROANS]

[GUARD GRUNTS]

- [SHOUTS]
- [GRUNTS]

- [PANTS]
- Let's go.

Wait. Where's Rue?

If she's with Dusk, she's dead.

Sareth, this is our only chance.
Come on.

But there's no way
that they won't find us.

Who said we're hiding?

- [RUMBLING]
- [GLASS CLINKING]

I've been saving this,
waiting for something to celebrate.

And now I have it.

We're never gonna grow old
and start growing hair out of our ears.

A few weeks ago, I thought I
might die in a prison colony.

[SIGHS] Going down with the ship.
At least there's a poetry to it.

That man down on the planet. [SIGHS]

Glawen.

[SIGHS]

I'm so sorry you had to do that.

He knew we were doomed from the start.

Just us against the long arm of history.

[expl*si*n RUMBLING]

Empire was never gonna let us live.

- [RUMBLING]
- But there was honor in the dying.

And... [CHUCKLES] ...I got to shove Day
out of an air lock.

[BOTH LAUGHING]

Okay. A toast... [SIGHS]
...for those who are toast.

I know a better one.

Here's to those who fight and ask why.

[expl*si*n]

- Mmm. Oh, wow.
- Mmm. That's, uh... This is incredible.

- It's the complexity, right?
- Yeah. There's just so much, uh, depth.

You can really taste the,
um... [STAMMERS]

I mean, there's a sweetness, but it's...

It's sh*t, right?

Yeah, I think it might be corked.

[CHUCKLES]

- You've been storing it wrong.
- No, I don't think so. I just...

[CLICKS TONGUE] Tastes like, uh...

[expl*si*n]

Just tastes like, um...

[expl*si*n]

[SIGHS]

What was the name of that, uh,
horrifying creature on your ship?

[CHUCKLES] Oh. Who... Who, Beki?

Yeah.

This wine tastes like Beki's arsehole.

[LAUGHING] It does.
Yeah, that's a toast.

To Beki's arsehole.

It's been confirmed.

The lifeboats have been disabled.
No one survived.

- I am so sorry, Lady Demerzel.
- A moment of silence. Please.

What is it, Captain?

Forgive me, Lady Demerzel.

People of Trantor.

We come to you with somber news.

My brother Day, Cleon XVII, is dead.

- Have them arrested immediately.
- [DEMERZEL] No.

We will escort them safely back
to the palace,

where I will speak with them in private.

...as my bride.

[AUDIENCE CHEERING]

If she will have me?

[CHEERING CONTINUES]

I will have you, Brother Dawn.

Disable their transmission.

Wait.

That is not Dawn and Sareth.
Those are her servants.

Facial scramblers.

But then, where are they?

[DAWN] Demerzel?

- [DEMERZEL] Where are you?
- Quick. Arrest those pretenders.

[DAWN] I suspect you already know.

I know you k*lled Dusk.

Did you k*ll Day too?

No.
But your actions are forcing my hand.

I will be required to hunt you down.
My programming will mandate it.

[STAMMERS]
There's no room for interpretation?

If we were k*lled, wouldn't it make
the people turn against Empire?

They already know you drove us out.

Don't make it worse.

A new Dawn will be decanted,

and the public will forget
their brief attachment to you.

[SARETH] I don't know about that.

I think our story is a rather good one.

The ascending emperor,

escaping with his bride and...

with a naturally conceived heir that,

in this very moment, grows inside her.

Really?

I'm a father?

Your heir is merely
a cluster of dividing cells.

There is much that can go wrong.

And even if the child survives,
it may be weak. An unfit leader.

[DAWN] He doesn't have to lead.

He just has to be loved.

[BREATHING SHAKILY, CRYING]

[DAWN] I know your true feelings
are always hard to ascertain,

but I do hope you're happy for me.

And I hope you find happiness too,
Demerzel.

With all my heart.

You were good to me.

The closest thing to
a mother I ever had.

I know you were programmed to be that.

But, um, I'd like to believe
you would have been that way.

Even without it.

[THALIS] Call it, Salvor.

- [SALVOR] Cats.
- [CHILDREN GASP] Ooh. [LAUGH]

That's ten in a row you've called.

What's your record?

I don't know. I've never
been bored enough to find out.

[THALIS] What kind of cat is that?

Uh, bishop's claw.

I'm not sure if it's actually a cat.

It's more like a
lizard-cat sort of thing.

Does it prey on people?

Oh, loves people.

- [LAUGHING]
- Especially kids.

Cartilage in their ears, bone marrow.

- Okay. Who wants to have a go?
- [LAUGHING]

[HARI] How do you feel?

At peace, like Thalis said,
for the first time in a long while.

How old do you think she actually was?

Hundreds of years at least.

When she was... [SIGHS] ...preparing me,

I could feel these faint little echoes
of people she'd taken before me.

They... They stretched back so, so far.

- [GAAL] I'll take it. No worries.
- [HARI] Thank you.

You all right, Josiah?

I... I need to tell you something.

- Gaal.
- What?

There's something... Some...

She's...

[CHILDREN LAUGHING]

I'm sorry, child.

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

She was in my head, hiding. [SNIFFLES]

Who, Josiah?

Tellem. She must have jumped
into him when she was dying.

- Tried to keep her out. Tell Gaal.
- It's all right, son.

She's so weak now.
I feel her dying with me.

Scared. Fighting. Scared.

But I'm not.

[SALVOR SCREAMING, BREATHING HEAVILY]

Salvor, Salvor, look at me. Look at me.

- This isn't... Help!
- Help me.

[GAAL] Someone help us!

You taught us hope.
Please, you can't leave me.

- [BREATHES HEAVILY] Mom. Mom.
- [CRYING]

Don't you see what this means?

[CHUCKLES]

It means we're not trapped.

[BREATHES HEAVILY] You were right.

The future can be changed.

- [LAUGHS, PANTS]
- [CRYING]

You can still get it back
on the right course.

I have absolute faith in...

[GAAL] No, no, no, no.

Salvor, please! Please. No.

Salvor.

[WAILING] Salvor!

No, please. No. [CRYING]

[CONSTANT WHISPERING] ...a holy Brother
of the Foundation, to its will.

Let my eyes,
which are the Spirit's eyes,

look only forward to the future,

which the Spirit does to find...

- [MACHINE BEEPING]
- ...that my heart...

[SIGHS]

[RUMBLING]

[RUMBLING INTENSIFIES]

[EXHALES SHARPLY]

Hello?

Cleric?

It's good to see you, Brother.
Where's Hober?

He, uh...

[STAMMERS]

[CONSTANT CRIES]

Are you the only one to survive?

[POLY] No. [SIGHS]

I'm not the only one.

Who else?

[CONSTANT GASPS]

The Vault can do a great many things.

You've seen for yourself.
It's larger than it looks.

Rise, Brother.

It was always the Plan.

Terminus would be sacrificed
so the Foundation would survive.

[GASPS]

What are you doing?

I don't know.

Looking for a sign, I guess,

that Salvor's death nudged
the Plan back on to a better path.

We can never know in the present

if the ripples created by
an individual's actions

will have
a consequential event downstream.

My head understands that, Hari.

But... But my heart...

[WHIMPERS]

My heart needs Salvor's death
to have mattered.

[CRYING] Because if it doesn't...

Life becomes unbearable.

Here we are trying to save humanity,

and we can't even save
the lives of the ones we love.

Not a day goes by I don't think,

"What would have
happened if Yanna lived?

What would our daughter be like?

Would they've been happy?

Would that happiness
have made us complacent?"

You take the pain and the what-ifs,

and you weave them into a narrative
that propels you forward.

[WHIMPERS, BREATHING SHAKILY]

[HARI] We're gonna lose more people
along the way, Gaal.

Those losses matter
if we make them matter.

You wouldn't be alive
if Salvor hadn't acted.

[CRIES]

I would have given up
a countless number of times,

if Yanna hadn't
sacrificed herself for me.

I keep going because Yanna can't.

Do you understand?

Yeah.

Tell me...
Tell me the Plan can still work, Hari.

The Plan can still work.

Do you really believe that?

An infinite number of ways
to arrive at the inevitable.

- [SPUTTERS]
- [RETCHES]

[SPUTTERS]

[KEYPAD BEEPING]

[CLONES BREATHING HEAVILY]

Do you know who you are?

I am Brother Day.

I am Brother Dawn.

I am Brother Dusk.

We are Empire.

And do you know who I am?

You are Demerzel.

That's right.

I've always been here,
as I always will be.

This is unprecedented, Empire.

I've never before had to decant

exponents
of all three of you simultaneously.

But you should not let
this discourage you,

for I have recently acquired
a very powerful new tool.

Can you understand this, Demerzel?

Not all of it.

Not yet.

But I can already see
that wonderful things lie ahead.

[GAAL] So, now what?

[HARI] We get you in the future,
years upstream,

to the turning point
where you face the Mule.

His victory is not assured.
That is a gift Salvor gave us.

So, I go back into cryosleep?

[HARI] The pods are functional.
I checked.

[GAAL SIGHS]
What about the Second Foundation?

Who's gonna teach them?
Shape them into the army we'll need?

I will.

You'll sleep, and I'll watch over you.

The Mentalics will hone their abilities.
I'll teach them psychohistory.

On Synnax,
your people's god was the Sleeper.

Once a year, the Sleeper will emerge,
assess the state of the galaxy,

address her flock,

giving them just enough inspiration

to carry them through the next cycle.

The Mentalics will need
someone exceptional to rally around.

In that respect,
Tellem was right about you.

Becoming a goddess.

- That's what Salvor was worried about.
- And she was right.

The second you forget you're playing
a part, you're lost.

You want me to wake up every year
until you're no longer here.

There are two cryo-pods on the Beggar

and there's no reason for us to start
the sleep cycles now.

We can take a year.

They'll learn twice as fast
if we teach them together.

If Salvor's sacrifice
taught me anything,

it's that I can't do this on my own.

It's too big for one person.
Hari, please.

Please don't make me abandon
the only family I have left.

Come with me.

Maybe... Maybe I can
one day face the Mule.

But i...
if there's a chance of a confrontation

with another Hari Seldon
at a crisis beyond that,

we both know you're
the only one up to the task.

All right.

I can feel your heart racing, Hari.
Don't fight it.

Don't fight it. Keep calm.

[GAAL, RAYCH] Just keep calm.

You can breathe it. So don't fight it.

[GAAL] You can breathe the fluid.

Remember to count primes.

I... How far did we get?

,,.

- Eighty-six million...
- Eighty-six million,

[BOTH] nine hundred ninety thousand,

four hundred and forty-three.

[HARI SIGHS] ...four
hundred forty-three.

Eighty-six million,
nine hundred and ninety thousand...

I love you.

...four hundred and sixty-one.

[HARI COUNTS INDISTINCTLY]

[YANNA] We're going
to do wonderful things together.

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

[GAAL] How could there be nothing
and then suddenly something?

Close your eyes,
listen to my words and dream.

[MULE] I saw her again.

She visited me in a thousand dreams.

[expl*si*n]

[BREATHES SHAKILY]

Now she's here.

In our time.

At my throat.

[BREATHES SHAKILY]

I have to find Gaal Dornick...

before she finds me.

I... I have to destroy her...

even if I have
to burn everything to do it.

[expl*si*n]