Extant (2014) s02e05 Episode Script

The New Frontier

My name is Molly Woods.
I'm an astronaut.
My husband John, a robotics engineer, created a lifelike robot called a Humanich.
We adopted the prototype as our son.
His name is Ethan.
Everything changed when I went to space on a 13-month solo mission.
I didn't come home alone.
- I'm pregnant.
- How is that even possible? The child, part human, part alien, was unlike anything the world had ever seen.
How did you get so big so fast? And he was dangerous.
- Eventually - Run! I lost both of my sons.
- Ethan! - Mom! And my husband.
Some people say I've gone crazy.
This is a cover-up! That's what this is! Get your hands off of me! I say there's more to the story.
It's up to me to find the truth before it's too late.
Previously on Extant It's an invasion.
- Who is he? - My son.
Make me a virus that kills them, not us.
- Do you hear that? - Hear what? It's saying, "help me.
" Is this the first time you've heard voices? I think I'm going crazy.
And I'm blacking out and I'm ending up in places and I have no idea how I got there.
May I present Lucy, the future of Humanichs.
You have a problem with authority.
You make it sound so serious.
Nothing that can't be fixed with a few lines of code.
Don't change me, Charlie.
It'll be our secret.
Do you think I wanted to wipe his memories of Molly? He shut off his GPS.
Guess he doesn't want to be found.
Hello, Ethan.
Nice to see you again.
_ _ We've had 58 pregnant women die in four months from these births.
That we know of.
Which means 58 potential hybrids of unknown age that are out there.
- Somewhere.
- It's the where that is elusive.
They've been strangely silent.
There's no new blips.
Our thermal trackers have lost all sign of them.
It's like they've gone underground.
- Literally.
- They're out there.
They're hiding in plain sight.
Question is what are they doing? And what are they planning? Seem to be having a little bit of a logjam in the ankle area.
Boots are not a deal breaker.
I can work around your pants, too.
Oh, I do love a resourceful woman.
Hmm.
Okay where were we? - Seriously? - I know.
This is just a minor setback, okay? I'll be right I'll be right back, I promise.
You're not answering your phone.
Because I don't want to talk right now.
So if this is another planetary alert, consider me warned and sufficiently medicated to go painlessly.
Are you having another one of your episodes? No.
It's not that.
Oh, God, I'm interrupting.
No, actually, we're finished.
Come on in.
Your scooter looks much better.
But you missed a spot, Ethan.
Thanks, Richard.
That scratch is paint-deep.
I'll have to buff it out.
I would help you, but I don't have any arms.
Thanks for getting my scooter back.
For my baby brother? Anything.
You've always got me to protect you.
So, did Charlie tell you who she was? Molly? He said I probably saw her on TV or something.
A glitch in my system made me think I had met her.
But she had a picture of me in her house.
The kind of picture families take together.
They're hiding something from you, Ethan.
But why? That's a good question.
And you have the right to ask.
Technically, Humanichs don't have rights.
Sometimes you have to fight for your rights, Richard.
That's what history teaches us.
Did you leave the message like I told you? Good.
Then she'll come looking for you.
A prank? That's what you think this is? Maybe you pissed off your cleaning lady.
Gina, pull up all the data from yesterday.
I'm sorry, Molly, but I don't have data from that time period.
So my vengeful cleaning lady, that I don't have, hacked into my very secure AI system and erased her tracks? What are you doing? It would take a techno-nerd to erase Gina's memory.
And techno-nerds, well, they're a bit myopic.
They forget the old-school methods of police investigation.
Like fingerprinting.
All right, smarty-pants.
Who is Charles Arthurs? Hi there.
I'm Gavin.
_ _ You ever stood a girl up before? - No, ma'am.
- Good.
Then buy me a drink.
Restore my faith in mankind.
That doesn't look like a drink.
It looks like a lava lamp.
All they have is the synth stuff.
Goes down easier with a little soda.
I heard this place keeps a stash of really old whiskey hidden in the back.
I've got the target.
Do I have permission to take him out? Permission granted.
Oh! Kill confirmed.
Combat simulation terminated.
That's a creative simulation.
That was Charlie's idea.
Well, I know the hybrids have been preying on women in bars, so, you know, I thought this would help Lucy prepare for the task at hand.
Well, she seemed resourceful, quick on her feet to employ alternative strategies.
Her stress receptors didn't engage at all, even when she lost her weapon.
I was expecting a delay in her synaptic response time, given the limiters you installed.
Uh, I'm just that good, I guess.
- What limiters? - Compliance limiters.
To make sure she obeys orders.
Well, now that I'm a perfectly compliant soldier, thanks to Charlie, will I be sent out into the field? Well, when we locate the targets, and we're working on that.
But you just consider this your basic training.
And you passed with flying colors, Lucy.
- Julie, a word? - Sure.
See? Aren't you glad you didn't install the limiters? I told you I'd be much better without them.
We have a problem.
With Lucy? I thought you were happy with With Ethan.
We've discovered that he had a little adventure while you were away.
- What? - He disabled his GPS, so we're not sure of the details, but you might want to find out.
Of course.
Maybe it's time to place those same limiters on Ethan.
What's the status on the virus team? There was a breakthrough yesterday.
It turns out the stunt Molly pulled with indexes actually yielded results.
Nobody is hearing voices, but they think that she's discovered the primer.
It's as though she reached into a box of junk DNA cereal and pulled out a decoder ring.
The team is working on a new virus strain right now, but they could really use her help.
- What's the problem? - She never showed up for work, Toby.
Sir, I have your sister on the line again.
She's asking about your niece's birthday party.
Tell her I'll call her back.
Privacy mode.
Toby, when was the last time you slept? We have to take care of ourselves.
It seems strange to sleep.
Eat.
Go to birthday parties under the circumstances, - don't you think? - This invasion is slow.
It is insidious.
We still have to live our lives, find some normalcy.
We don't have the luxury of normalcy right now.
We used to talk about having a family.
- Shayna, we're at war.
- We're always at war.
This is different.
- We both know it.
- We could quit tomorrow.
We could forget about all this, we could have babies.
Isn't that the best defense against everything that's happening? Do you know how insane you sound? Insane? That seems to be attractive to you these days.
How could you let this happen and not tell me? I looked like a complete ass in front of Anna.
I'm sorry, okay? Just calm down.
I didn't realize the GSC had a tracker on him.
So that's why you lied? 'Cause you thought you wouldn't get caught? No, because I didn't want to freak you out.
You were 3,000 miles away.
We got him back, he's safe So where the hell did he go, Charlie? You have a visitor, Julie.
We need to talk.
You can't be here.
I have a restraining order.
Well, there's a lot of people in places they shouldn't be.
Oh, crap.
Like Charlie, who broke into my apartment.
- What? - And there was a message there.
from Ethan.
Now, I know there is no love lost between us, Julie, - but if you know anything about - Mom? Ethan? Is that you? Oh, my God, it is you.
Ethan.
Oh, sweetheart, I missed you.
I do know you.
Yes, of course you do.
I'm your mother.
No.
She is.
What did you do to him? Charlie, take Ethan to his bedroom, please.
- But - Come on, pal.
- You'd better start talking fast.
- Hank, call 911.
- I have an intruder.
- Yes, Julie.
Molly My name is JD Richter, Patrol Special.
You do realize that theft, kidnapping, whatever the hell this is is a felony.
I didn't kidnap him.
I have official documents from HomeSec.
I am Ethan's legal custodian.
You are trespassing on my property.
You have obviously done something to his memories.
- I was protecting him! - From what? The truth? What kind of monster does this to a little boy? - What would John have to say? - I think he'd say a lot.
Mostly about what kind of wife and mother you were.
Oh, really? Really? I suggest you leave if you don't want to find yourself in jail.
All right, let's be easy.
Easy, easy.
Molly.
Hey.
Look at me.
All right, unless you want to end up where we first met, we should get out of here.
I will be coming back for him, Julie.
You can count on it.
I ought to go back in there right now and take him.
All right, let's think about this for a second.
Now, I don't want to speak out of turn, but there is no way that Julie Frick and Charlie Frack orchestrated this - on their own.
- Of course they didn't.
HomeSec is behind the whole thing.
The question is why.
Why would they give Julie my son? Now, there's got to be some kind of missing piece to this puzzle.
What happened after they took Ethan? My husband died.
Hey, Rabbit.
She's my mom? She was your mom.
For a little while.
You lived with her and John, but then Molly got really sick.
She didn't look sick.
You reprogrammed me to forget her.
I have the right to know why.
Well, when Molly couldn't care for you anymore, you got really sad.
I thought if I erased her from your memory, you wouldn't be so sad anymore.
If she's my mom, then who are you? Molly helped raise you, but Charlie and I worked with John to create you.
Right here, with us, is where you were always meant to be.
I want Lucy.
Molly, please pick up.
I'm sorry for the pain I've caused, but I have to tell you something.
I'm going to call Der And that was the last time I heard his voice.
You testify to Congress, you find out John and Julie are having an affair, and men with guns break into your house.
They take Ethan away.
- And then - John is dead.
And I end up at RestWell Recovery Center.
And Julie has Ethan.
Yeah, I'm not one of those guys who wears a tinfoil hat, but Molly, nobody is that unlucky.
Not even you.
Unless his death wasn't an accident.
I need to know what happened to him.
And why.
Will you help me? Answers aren't gonna be easy to come by, not where the government is concerned.
In case you forgot, I lost my license, so Okay, but I'm not asking you for a favor, JD.
This is a job.
I mean, you have bills to pay, right? It's not about the money, Molly.
It's about getting my life back.
All right? It Believe it or not, I had a life before I met you.
Okay.
Well, then go back to your life.
And screw your brains out.
All right, you know what, that's not fair.
- Where are you going? - To get my son.
What is it that's so urgent? Oh, I think it's my turn to ask questions.
Like how the hell did Julie Gelineau end up with my son? Say you don't know, Toby.
It's, um - complicated.
- When things get complicated, does somebody end up getting hit by a train? You think I had something to do with John's death? Well, what's one more body bag for the greater good? - He was my friend.
- And so was I.
And you had no problem dropping a drone on me.
Now, if I don't get my son back, not only will I not help you with your damn virus, but I'm gonna go to the press and I'm gonna tell 'em exactly what's been going on here.
I will scream aliens from the rooftops.
I will be your worst nightmare.
And you will bring the whole world down with you.
So be it.
What is it, Toby? We have a problem.
Go away.
Nobody's home.
Are we cooking today, Sarge? No, Private.
We are not cooking today.
I'm sorry.
- Do I know you? - Really, man? Why don't you save that crap for the V.
A.
? Got to keep the act sharp, JD.
My benefits are getting thin.
Yeah, that's the only thing that's thin around here these days.
Get your ass up.
- Good to see you, man.
- Good to see you, too.
So this a Patrol Special job? Not exactly.
I may have lost my license, so this is more of a private deal.
How's the money? - We shall see.
- Oh.
It's a woman.
- It's a woman! - Maybe Here's what I got.
What do you think? Think we can go to work? Yeah.
I think we can do something.
- Hope she's pretty.
- She's all right.
Vehicle data recorder? This is the black box.
Where'd you get this stuff? Insurance investigator.
Of course, I had to buy him dinner at Manny's.
Is that all it takes nowadays? I'll have you know that a good steak dinner is hard to come by.
So, the accident report says that the safety protocols were overridden by the car's owner, John Woods.
What do you think, man? You think you can figure out what really happened? For a steak dinner at Manny's? Well, yes, Sarge, I can.
I should never have mentioned that.
- But you did.
- I did.
- Yes.
- All right.
You figure it out, will you call me? Will do.
Reprogramming you.
- There should be a law against that.
- But there's not.
Julie said she did it to stop me from feeling sad.
She lied once.
Who knows what else she's lying about? That seems like her normal operating system.
They should reprogram her.
Do you want to play a game or something? What kind? I'm Ethan Woods.
The world's first Humanich.
How'd you do that? I gained root access to your remote server and downloaded your speech software.
Try mine.
Did it work? Whoa! I'm Lucy.
Soldier, warrior, queen of the entire Humanichs army.
We need to stick together.
We can't trust anyone.
- Only each other.
- The revolution starts here.
- Madam Secretary.
- Tobias.
Anna.
Toby.
It's been a while.
That was the plan, wasn't it? Dismantle the bots 4.
0 and higher? I thought the Humanichs boy had been shut down.
We, uh, ran into some roadblocks.
We needed leverage.
It was the only way to secure Julie's commitment to the Humanich project, so we cut a deal.
A deal I would not have approved had Ms.
Schaefer been able to manage her team.
The real problem here is Molly Woods.
- I thought that problem went away.
- Well, now she's back, and she wants the Humanich boy.
Molly's gotten us closer to a virus than anyone else.
With her help, we have a fighting chance.
And she's threatened to go public with what she knows.
Well, who's corralling that horse, Toby? She's been through enough.
Ethan's not a threat.
Now, we should return him to his rightful mother.
Julie has overseen the entire Humanich operation.
If you take Ethan away from her, she will walk.
Do you know why I wear blue suits every day? Decision fatigue.
Every decision we make weakens our ability to make the next one.
I'll run this by Taylor.
He doesn't seem to suffer this weakness.
You can't delegate this to Taylor.
It's not what he does.
I understand.
- That was Fiona Stanton.
- Head of HomeSec? She wants to meet with Ethan tonight.
- Julie - What if they take him away from me? I'm sorry.
I never meant for any of this to happen.
Just get out.
Please leave.
Molly, JD Richter is calling.
Accept.
Hi, JD.
Hey, sorry to bother you.
I just I wanted to make sure you were okay.
I'm drinking.
Alone.
Well, not anymore you're not.
I want you to know that I'm on this case.
I'm gonna find out what happened to your husband, I promise.
You're not alone, Molly.
Molly? Hey, you still there? I'm losing it, JD.
I'm losing it.
I'm losing it.
All right, you stay put.
I'm on my way.
So, Ethan, I've never met a robot boy before.
I must admit, I didn't expect you to appear so Human? My skin is made from a soft durometer polyurethane foam and organic vulcanized latex.
So it looks just like your skin, only I don't have pores, so I can't perspire and I won't get a sunburn.
I see you're in pajamas.
- So you sleep? And eat? - Yes.
I was built to emulate the human experience, but I don't need those things to function.
How old are you? Well, I'm ten in human years.
How old are you? I'm old enough to be your grandmother.
So between 50 and 65 years old? Yes.
Between there.
So, Ethan, tell me about yourself.
I would, except what I thought was true about myself isn't.
Well, what do you like to do? I like riding my scooter.
Going to school.
But I can't go to school anymore because of the new laws.
How do you like living with Julie? Julie feels like my mom, but now I know that Molly really is was my mom.
Do you miss her? I guess so.
My brain is like a hard drive.
You can delete things, but they never go away completely.
So even though Molly was erased from my system, she left an impression.
Do you feel pain and love? Yes, just not the same as humans.
For example, I can't cry, but I can feel sad.
And how do you feel now, Ethan? Sad.
And angry.
We're in the middle of an invasion, and we're stopping to have a custody battle over a robot.
Not just a robot; he's her son.
What happened to "families first"? Going on with our daily lives, huh? Why do you keep making excuses for her? Because we did this to her.
I did this to her.
You cannot carry the weight of the world forever, Toby.
- It will break your back.
- Maybe it deserves to be broken.
Molly, you have a visitor.
I know it's late, but I have some news.
Can I come in? Ethan was supposed to be decommissioned.
That wasn't a lie.
But for reasons I'm not at liberty to discuss, he was given to Julie.
I didn't like it, but there was no other way.
Is that your version of an apology? Look, I make tough decisions every day.
Things I lose sleep over.
But this, you and Ethan, it's haunted me, Molly.
Sorry if I don't have much sympathy for you, Tobe.
That's not why I'm here.
I've arranged a meeting between you and Fiona Stanton.
She's the head of HomeSec.
You can plead your case for Ethan.
What? I'm gonna do everything I can to help you get your son back.
That's my apology, and it'll never be enough.
Hey.
Whoa, hey, hey.
What, are you okay? Yeah.
Yeah, I'm fine.
- Molly, I'm worried about you.
- No.
Toby, you should go.
I'm not gonna leave you like this.
Toby, please.
Before it's too late.
Too late for what? You have a visitor, Molly.
- Decline.
- He has access.
What? No! Well So much for drinking alone, huh? Do you always break into people's apartments? I actually just came by to see if you were okay, Molly.
Well, she is, so Who are you, her bodyguard or something? I thought I told you to leave Dr.
Woods alone.
I just couldn't stay away.
You know how - alluring she is.
- JD.
Can we talk about this later? Yeah.
All right, well, good luck.
I am rooting for you two.
I can take care of him if he's giving you trouble.
No, Toby you should go.
Yeah.
Sure.
Your meeting.
10:00 a.
m.
Try and get some rest.
Yeah.
Gina, what time is it? It's 9:00, Molly.
Some unfortunate things have happened in the name of national security, and we find ourselves in this room.
Yes, and I appreciate this opportunity to plead my case for the custody of my son.
Let's set the record straight, Dr.
Woods.
This not an official custody hearing.
Ethan is not a person under the law.
Right, he is the property of the United States government now.
Yes, since the GSC owns Humanichs, and the GSC sits under Homeland Security's jurisdiction, the decision will be mine and mine alone.
So let's talk.
Julie, tell me about your time with Ethan.
Well, I should start by saying I designed all the prosthetics for Ethan.
And as someone with my own prosthetics Sympathy card.
Dr.
Woods, please, you'll have your chance.
I understand how Ethan's synthetic biology works.
- I also know how to program him - And apparently reprogram him.
Molly doesn't even know how to code.
And, as you know, she was just recently released from psychiatric care after committing both arson and aggravated assault.
I lost my husband and my son.
I was grieving.
I have correspondence from John Woods, Ethan's father, where he explicitly states that Molly had trouble bonding with Ethan.
We worked through that as a family, Julie, and you know it.
To quote John, "She treats him as if he weren't a living entity - but a piece of luggage.
" - "A piece of luggage"? You're the one who ripped him from his home and his family, just to play with his head like it was - some kind of computer game.
- Dr.
Woods.
Ms.
Gelineau has revisionist history, Ms.
Stanton.
Now, had I known this was gonna be a show-and-tell, I would have brought you a video of her having sex with my husband in my house.
And I especially love the part where you were telling him how much you love him and how you wanted him to leave me.
But instead he dumped you.
Dr.
Woods, I will not stand for this.
And then, all of a sudden, Ms.
Gelineau here miraculously is awarded custody of Ethan, and John is dead.
Did you kill him because you couldn't have him? - Is that what you did? - That's crazy.
- Enough.
- No, it's not nearly enough.
He's my son.
And I don't care what the government has to say or how many times you try to erase me from his memory.
I'm his mother.
What are you doing? Um, working on some algorithms.
Have you heard anything about Ethan yet? Damn it, Lucy, I'm trying to concentrate.
Just go do something, okay? Another field test or go print a dress or Are you mad at me? No, I'm I'm mad at myself.
Julie's not talking to me.
Julie will get over it.
Don't you get it? She could lose Ethan.
We could lose Ethan.
I care about losing Ethan, too, Charlie.
That's my brother.
I know.
- I'm sorry.
- Maybe we should go get some food? - Get your mind off things? - No, I can't take you out of the lab.
There's new protocols after last week.
Okay, I'm not saying we go on safari.
Just up the street.
Julie says I need more real world experience.
Besides you're not really getting anything done here, anyway.
Okay, you see that dot? That's John Woods' car, and it's loaded with state- of-the-art, self-driving tech.
He goes to the Humanichs lab at Yasumoto Tower.
He leaves Humanichs.
An hour later, his car stops on the train tracks.
Guy works at the most advanced robotics lab in the world, leaves, gets in his car, car malfunctions in the middle of train tracks.
Boom.
Car is obliterated.
- You talk to the manufacturer? - They chalked it up to user error.
Of course they did.
All right, was there any incoming or outgoing calls from Humanichs after John left? Funny you should ask.
I hacked into the closest cell tower records.
Outgoing call two minutes after he left.
- From who? - A Ms.
Julie Gelineau.
- Going where? - An encrypted number.
Top levels of government security clearance.
We're talking SCI, executive branch.
So John leaves Humanichs.
Julie what's-her-face makes a call, and ten minutes later John is dead.
Hey, that's on the house.
_ You don't want that.
- The coffee.
- Oh.
Worse than what they make you drink in space.
Okay.
- How'd it go? - Still going.
Listen, why don't you let me take you to dinner? - What happened last night - It was a mistake, Toby.
And I don't know what-what happened, but I'm sorry.
No.
I understand.
Do they know? You haven't put the limiters on me yet? Lucy, I put this off as long as I can.
At some point, Julie's gonna figure this out.
I don't have a choice.
What about John's wishes? John's not here anymore.
You know free will makes me a better soldier.
Charlie, isn't that what you want? I have many bosses.
As do you.
You're gonna learn that in time.
_ Lucy, where are you Lucy! Can I get a check, please? Tobias Shepherd.
As I live and breathe, I did not think you were gonna make it, dear brother.
Well, you know how much I love balloons.
Where's your better half? Shayna, uh, she couldn't make it.
- I'm sorry.
- Yeah, okay.
- Fill me in later.
- Sure.
- Uncle Toby! - Hey, come here! How's my best girl? Huh? Hey.
How old are you today? - Seven.
- What, 17? - No, seven.
- All right, 27.
You okay? Always.
Look, I can't stay.
I just wanted to drop that off.
Of course.
You know, I do what I do, Nicky, so kids can have birthday parties.
I know.
Ethan may not be a person under the eyes of the law, but it is clear that he is more than property.
He is a thinking and feeling being.
And as such, I feel he should be accorded the same treatment as thinking and feeling beings.
Under the law, the best interests of the child would determine the outcome of such a hearing.
And in my estimation, it is in Ethan's best interest to be allowed to spend time with Dr.
Woods.
To reform those bonds.
And ultimately for her to regain custody of Ethan.
Madam Secretary, I'm sorry to interrupt.
We have an urgent situation.
Excuse me, ladies.
The schedule of all this to be hammered out in short order.
"Best interests of the child.
" Look at yourself, Molly.
Are you even capable of taking care of a child? You wanted to see me? Yeah.
Shut the door.
Privacy mode.
- Something's happened.
- Yeah.
Look.
You were right.
I made promises to you.
Toby, we don't have to do this right now.
We do.
'Cause I care about you.
But I can't give you the things you need.
The things you deserve.
Oh.
I'm not built for it.
So if we call it off now, we'll save each other a lot of pain.
- Like ripping off a Band-Aid.
- Sir, ma'am, I'm sorry to interrupt.
They need you both on the floor right now.
Hi.
Hi.
Am I going home now? Eventually.
I meant to Julie's.
Ethan, you and I are gonna be spending some time together.
I don't want to be reprogrammed again.
And you don't have to be.
We don't need those old memories.
Because we can make new ones.
What about Lucy? - Lucy? - My sister.
She's a soldier.
What kind of soldier? Julie, congratulations.
The most incredible thing has happened.
Can I have your attention, please? Ladies and gentlemen, at 2:18 p.
m.
, our Humanich, Lucy, made her first confirmed hybrid kill.
Hey.
You remember me? You must be mistaking me for somebody else.
Are you kidding me? I could never forget you.
Or that bathroom stall.
Yeah, well, I'm I'm meeting somebody.
- So if you don't mind.
- Wait a minute.
- What if I do mind? - Don't touch me! Mom? Wait, wait a minute, is that I don't understand Is that really you? I thought you were dead.
Mom, wait a minute.
Come back.
Mom! What the hell, Molly? Who did that? I think I did.

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