02x03 - Buried Pain Grows Poison Trees

[bunniefuu]

[sirens wailing in the distance]

[helmet whooshes]

[panting]

Come on, Sinclair,
get it together.

Oh, damn it.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

Get it together.
Get it together.

Get out of Union territory.

The Vanguard needs you.

One of our Polity Fireteams?

[chuckles]
Christmas came early.

Take these sh*t stains out.

We're supposed
to capture them, sir.

Does the Smoke just capture us?

Take them out.
Orders from the top.

[g*nsh*t]

[soldiers screaming, sobbing]

[g*nf*re continues]

[tires screeching]

[engine stops]

♪ ♪

[grunts]

It happened so fast,

I couldn't even tell
if they were Union or Polity.

Doesn't really matter, does it?

[device chirps]

[drone whizzes]

Robert Sinclair.
I am pleased we found you.

The Polity needs your help.

[drone hisses]

f*ck your w*r.

[energetic electronic music]

♪ ♪

[soft dramatic music]

♪ ♪

It feels weird not to be out there.

Everything feels weird nowadays.

Hey, we got Vegas back, baby.
I hope it's in one piece.

Those Union hypocrites

didn't change a thing
in our "sin city."

They were too busy enjoying it.

- General, what are we looking at?
- Operation: Reclamation.

We're taking back the Anvil.

We're b*ating back the Union
thanks to the Holon frames.

So I can give you
the R&R I promised.

Speaking of your impressive
new gL Units General,

whose minds
are driving the new Holons?

That's classified, Chase.

We need to know who
we're fighting alongside.

You need to know what I tell
you you need to know, soldier.

Frankly, if the success
of the new division continues,

you may not be fighting at all
from now on.

- What do you mean?
- Don't take this the wrong way,

but with the Holon frames
divisions active,

you're outdated tech now.
You should be glad.

You've given so much
and you finally get a reprieve.

gen:LOCK started with us.

We deserve to know
what's going on.

Enough. Chain of command
exists for a reason.

Dismissed.

[all sigh and scoff]

♪ ♪

But it's not Nemesis, right?

Not more of me
inside of those Holons?

I promise, Chase.

Nemesis copies are not driving
the Holon frames.

Now, enjoy R&R.
That is an order.

Ugh, so good.
You close, babe?

Shh, no talking.
And no babe.

- No babe?
- [grunting]

I know you said no labels,
but c'mon.

Ugh.

So, uh, you close?

Ugh.

I'm as far away
as I could possibly be.

But you're, like, my girl, right?

For the billionth time,
we're just f*cking, Jodie.

We were just about to...

- I'm sorry.
- I was just...

I'm sorry,
I didn't mean to... nope.

Jodie was just leaving.

- Really? I thought that...
- Jodie, out. No babe.

No talking next time.

[gasps]

- What the hell, Chase?
- Sorry.

What are you doing?

You've seen me naked, like,
a billion times.

Just, I don't know,
it feels wrong.

But it didn't feel wrong
to just blip into my room

without, like, saying,
"Knock, knock" first?

[stammers] I'm sorry.

I've been having a lot of
trouble with boundaries lately.

Lately?

It's just, I'm learning things
that are making it tough

- to keep it together.
- What things?

I don't even know if we're
the good guys anymore, Miranda.

- You're not making any sense.
- New York was blowback...

a response to a top-secret
Polity air strike on Babylon,

ordered by Marin.

- What? How do you...
- You remember the reports

about an expl*si*n at the Kaaba?

Yeah, our intel said
something went wrong

at the m*llitary manufacturing
site where they make Smoke.

Our intel, our spin.

Marin sent our jets,
weapons hot,

into a non-combat zone
filled with civilians.

The Union's just as guilty.

Think of who we lost
in New York...

people like your mother
and your sister.

When am I not thinking of them?

The w*r was cold, Miranda.
Polity lit the match.

Us, not them. Us!

We've been lied to for years.

They were feeding their own
people to it every day.

How is that not v*olence
worth preventing?

For all we know they wouldn't
have even att*cked New York

if we didn't decide to go off
all half-cocked

and destroy the one thing
that they think is heaven.

I can't believe you're sounding
like a Union sympathizer.

♪ ♪

[sighs]
This is what I'm talking about.

We're all frustrated with
how much of you falls into us.

I'm not conjuring 'em.
I swear.

I don't know why they pop up.
But how can you not love 'em.

'Cause of them,
you're never gonna be alone.

Cammie, that's just it.
Sometimes, we want to be alone.

I mean, that's why we limit
mind-sharing to battle.

One of your rabbits
sh*t in my hair!

- Stop making them!
- Yaz, calm yourself.

Cammie, Yaz is trying to say
we need boundaries.

Even a loving family
needs doors.

Not my family.
Growing up, we shared...

[whimpering]

Kazu, wait your turn.

We were talking boundaries
with Cammie.

[grunts]

Oh, that.
Yeah, I'll, uh...

I'll definitely look into that
for you.

Team, we need to talk.

[door whooshes]

Miranda!

Why don't you take a seat
and tell me why you're...

I know about the first strike
on the Kaaba.

Way I see it, you tried to stop
a w*r before it started.

Some argue I started the
very w*r I tried to prevent.

In the face of extinction,
the Union convinced themselves

they'd found heaven
inside tiny f*cking robots,

then went around selling their
mind poison to whole countries.

You knew the att*ck
would k*ll many,

but if it succeeded,
it would save far more.

A great leader
makes tough decisions.

- I hope to do the same.
- I know that you will.

I'm requesting to join command.

How did you learn about
the strike, Major Worth?

Chase knows.
He told me.

[door whooshes, closes]

Able.

Initiate covert surveillance
on the gen:LOCK unit.

[ship whooshes]

Chase, what's wrong?

Everything...
this w*r, why we fight.

The Polity kept us in the dark
this entire time.

You may look different, but
you're definitely still a man.

[grumbles]

The w*r didn't start in New York.

Marin ordered a strike
on the Kaaba first.

No declaration of w*r.
No warning.

My mom, my sister...

every life we've taken
in service of a lie.

- So it has finally come out.
- You knew?

Why didn't you tell me?

If you were there,
you'd understand.

Then show us.

You know I hate mind-sharing.

But Cammie's right,
we need to see it.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

My consciousness melted
into the silver river.

Night has already fallen for me.

Ascension will free him.

♪ ♪

[all gasp]

- Who cares who sh*t first?
- Marin started a world w*r, Yaz.

Don't act like the Union is
innocent. They are a death cult.

How you lived
was so peaceful, Yaz.

Families altogether.

I saw how happy
they were to ascend.

I mean,
what if there is a Hereafter?

[sharp ringing]
[grunting]

How dare you.
I was there.

Earth is burning and
they throw themselves into...

[gasps]

[grunts]
Just a headache.

Bro! Vegas dead ahead, baby!

[woman vocalizing somberly]

♪ ♪

[drone whirring]

[dramatic music]

[drone blaring]

♪ ♪

[elephant trumpets]

I love how huge
elephant ears are.

- Were.
- [clears throat]

So I can't stop thinking
about what I saw

in the Union in your mind.

I wanna know more.

There's so much
I don't know about that world.

Like, I'd love to know
about your parents.

You can't stop pressing
like a damn child.

You're still so impressionable.

The Union's ideas
are built to seduce.

You think
I'm an innocent wee babe

'bout to walk into the traffic, eh?

Fine!
I'll just f*ck right off then!

- Hey.
- Rude.

It isn't you, it's...
[sighs]

I can't lose anyone else.

[scoffs] Bug?
You sure it's not a feature?

Ah, so that's why you've been
a ball bag to Val

for no good reason?

Ugh, fine.
Follow me.

[device chirps]

I'been futzing with
remote transmissions,

trying to replace our
clunky-ass gen:LOCK pods.

I figured, we already upload
back and forth from our pods

to our Holons using the cloud.

So there's gotta be a way
to get rid of the pods.

Then with enough bandwidth,

any amount of people
could gL remotely.

But I haven't gone there,
'cause what's the point?

There's, like, only six of us
in the whole world

that are gL compatible.

[gasps]

You were wrong.

It isn't some kind of
mind-shared gender thing.

Your avatar presents female,
but your code hasn't changed.

I can't fix your subconscious.
That's on you, mate.

- [grunts]
- [gasps]

Our little family is falling apart.

[soft dramatic music]

♪ ♪

Mars. Unreal.

When I was growing up,
I wanted to see another world.

With low-interest Mars
relocation loans available,

now you... can.

Ugh, holograms. They get
you excited, and then fwoosh!

Remember, they're not real.

[knocking at door]

Baby, can you get the door?

[pounding at door]

[door growling]

[energetic drumming]

[cheers and applause]

[jazzy music playing]

♪ ♪

[rigorous pounding]

No.

No, no, no, no.
Not here too.

♪ ♪

Buddy, you okay?

[screaming]

[sultry music]

[crowd cheering]

♪ ♪

[laughs] Yeah!

- Yeah!
- Man, why is she so cold?

I completely regret
saying yes to this.

[growls softly]

[indistinct chatter]

So you wanna tell me why

you've been a huge assh*le
to me recently?

Fine. In that case,
tonight, we drink.

Tomorrow, we talk.

[wind whooshing]

Sinclair,
come take a look at this.

De-incrypted comms say
there's a Sky Chariot

making a detour nearby,
caught in the blizzard.

What are you gonna do?

[soft dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[Sky Chariot whooshes]

♪ ♪

[thunk]

Was that turbulence?
[dashboard beeping]

[thunking on glass]
[gasps]

Welcome to the proletariat.

- Where you wanna take her?
- Up to you.

Take her to somewhere where
there are no sides. No w*r.

I hear New Zealand
still has trees.

You're not coming?

I enjoy getting people out of hell.
Think I'll keep it up.

Coyoting people
out of No Man's Land.

Polity and Union will cr*ck

- down even harder on you.
- Let 'em.

They'll get a lot more
than they bargained for.

Welcome back
to the Anvil, Dr. Jha.

Tate. Here to show me to
my cell, or the gallows?

On the contrary.

You're free to go after my...

what would Polity folk call it?

Ah, yes. Sales pitch.

[chuckles]

As scientists, you and I
rely on evidence, yes?

I was pulled apart
on a subatomic level,

yet here I stand before you.

I am, quite literally,
The Miracle Incarnate.

[scoffs]

Come on. Try harder.

What happened to me
happened to others.

You needn't take my word.

- Comfy?
- Tell me, Tate.

When the Smoke ripped you
apart, how did it feel?

The Flow pulled me
into a home I never knew I had.

I remember every moment
of my time in the Hereafter

with a crystalline clarity
only pure joy can carve.

Upon my return to the material
plane, I was heartbroken,

until I realized the universe
had shown me my purpose.

To save humanity

by convincing it
to commit group su1c1de?

The Flow is everlasting life.
It is real.

I was blessed to experience it,

then returned to ensure
as many as possible

have access to everlasting life

with what little time I have
before the Earth burns.

I know I've wielded great cruelty
in service of this task. [chuckles]

Every m*rder, every deceit
is a thorn in my crown,

digging into my skin.

But I do these things
in service of humanity...

of hope, not profit,

- not like Holcroft's Martian lie.
- What do you mean, "lie?"

Allow me to show you the light.

In all my time selling pretty lies,

I never thought I'd sell one

as grandiose
as your Martian mirage.

Selling a fictional city on Mars
to half the human population?

Even if your UnLock succeeds,

Holcroft won't save anyone
who can't pay.

I ask you, please.

Work with my people
on our Twilight initiative.

Help us defy extinction.