Dark Matter (2024) s02e09 Episode Script

1
[ball thudding]
[chattering on radio]
Well?
There's nothing, sir.
[ball continues thudding]
[sighs]
What does that mean?
There's a port for electrical,
but the cube isn't connected to anything,
and we can't detect
any obvious power source inside it.
What the fuck?
[ball continues thudding]
[ominous music playing]
Are you a glitch?
People go into the cube,
but they don't come out.
At first, I think, "Hack magic trick."
But there's nowhere for them to go.
No hidden walls. No tunnels.
We've looked.
You know, Lockheed Martin's
exploring advanced incineration.
Turning living things to dust
in 60 seconds.
But the cube doesn't leave behind dust.
Fine. Okay. Someone figures that out.
Why would your friends run from us
just to kill themselves? [chuckles]
See, I was operating under the assumption
that it was to leave behind
no physical trace.
Something about their bodies
they didn't want anyone to get ahold of.
It finally made sense today
with the whole power puzzle.
How can the cube be drawing power
from something it isn't
physically connected to?
Unless it's connected
on some level we can't see.
To another place entirely.
So, then I start thinking about you.
Jason Dessen.
Quantum physicist.
Could the cube be connected
at a quantum level to another cube?
[breathes heavily]
Teleportation.
All these copies it made of you,
it was all a glitch.
Where does it send people
when it's not glitching?
Where's its partner cube?
[sighs, clicks tongue]
Wow.
Okay.
To Mars.
[laughs]
- [lock beeps]
- Oh.
[tense music playing]
[intriguing music playing]
[Jason] Which one are you?
I think you know.
May I?
[breathes heavily]
What are you doing in this world?
Huh?
Why are you here?
I'm making amends.
Fuck does that mean?
[grunts] Hey, hey, uh, listen.
I've-I've had two years to think about
- what I've done to you.
- I don't need another fucking apology.
Okay. Then, um, this is not that then.
I just really wanna talk.
If you need to hurt me…
Just get on with it.
[breathes heavily]
Why are you here?
Curiosity.
You and I, for 28 years,
we were the same person.
Focused, determined, ambitious,
and therefore selfish.
Well, did you… just choose to…
- What? Give up?
- No. No, no.
[pensive music playing]
Did you choose to be good?
To be…
[chuckles]
Okay. So… [stammers]
…you wanna be good? Now?
[chuckling] Come on.
[mutters]
It's not about choosing to be good.
It's about the people
that my choices brought into my life.
Daniela. My sons.
I think they made all the difference.
No.
I do not always make the best choices.
Why? Why are you doing all this? Huh?
Why did you steal my life?
[sighs]
Okay.
I will tell you how to build the box
in a few simple steps.
Anything that threatens your time,
destroy it.
Sacrifice everything in your life
that gets in the way of the work.
And when you win, and you will,
that will be the highest high
that you will ever know.
But remember that high
instead of asking yourself the question,
"If the greatest scientific achievement
in history cannot make me whole,
what can?"
Have you ever been happy?
I was never bored.
You?
Yeah, I think I was happy. To a point.
And I was sometimes bored.
Mostly frustrated.
'Cause I never gave up wondering
what it would've been like to…
[inhales sharply] …chase the dream.
[melancholy music playing]
[sighs]
Question is, do you wanna know?
Are you close?
'Cause if you wanna choose this,
all of this,
you gotta really choose it.
Can't wake up in 20 years and think,
"Oh, where did it all go?"
You gotta really want it.
[clicks tongue]
[door opens]
[water dripping]
[wind howling]
[door clatters open]
[rap music thumping on car stereo]
- [music stops]
- [hand brake clicks]
Hey. How was the ride?
[groans] Pretty good.
[train rattling]
[Jason]
I'm going to the store for your mom.
Do you want anything?
[car door opens]
[Jason] Max?
Uh, no, I think I'm fine.
- [Jason] No?
- Thanks.
["Woodchukk" playing on stereo]
[exhales] I thought you were
supposed to be in school?
What? Did you flunk out?
What? No.
I didn't know you were coming home.
Are you on… on drugs or something?
No.
All right. Well, you're acting, like,
super fucking weird.
And your hair?
Shit, you're even standing strange.
I'm not who you think I am.
- I'm, uh, not the Charlie that you know.
- [sighs] Oh, my God.
Dude, I don't care
if you like dudes, okay?
No, no. Um…
Oh, shit.
Well, hello.
What are you doing here?
I… I was missing you guys.
Missing us?
Hey.
Everything okay?
- [Charlie] Yeah.
- [Jason] Okay.
Yeah? And school?
Yeah, all good.
"All good." All right.
You've done something to your hair.
All right. Well, come on in.
It's family night. That's great.
Your mom's gonna love it.
She's cooking something special.
She's gonna be thrilled.
[exhales deeply]
[exhales deeply]
[people chattering]
Hi there.
Hey.
Did someone come through?
Oh, gosh. Well, uh, we have
a lot of folks coming through here…
[chuckles] …as you can imagine.
Um, wha… what did they look like?
Uh, a boy. Eighteen. My height.
Okay. Well, we'll have to check the logs.
I'm sure we can figure it out.
Uh, every visitor that we have
that comes in or out gets logged.
And the logs have a date and time stamp.
- [grunting]
- [Mitchel grunts] Go, go.
[Daniela grunts]
I'm just trying to find my son.
Get her backpack and get her out of here.
Wait.
Please.
Wait, wait. I need to find him.
Put her in the cell. Come on.
It's okay. Go ahead.
[exhales deeply]
[tense music playing]
- [Max] Hey, Mom.
- Hey, loves.
- Hey. Look what washed up.
- Hi.
[gentle jazz music playing]
Wait, what? [chuckles]
I didn't know you were coming.
- Yeah.
- [gasps] Hi.
Everything okay?
Yeah, I just, uh,
wanted it to be a surprise.
Oh, my God. Are you kidding?
That's the best surprise ever.
- Yeah. Do I have time for a shower?
- [Daniela] Thank you. Perfect.
Oh, so, we should open some wine.
I think it'd be foolish not to.
Yeah. Perfect timing on this.
Glass.
[Daniela] Oh, fuck.
Why do they make these so hard to open?
What the…
[guitar tuning]
[door creaks]
[train rattling]
Yo.
[guitar tuning continues]
What's all that shit about you not being
who I think you are?
Uh…
I'm a… a different version
of your brother.
[scoffs]
Shit, like, multiple personalities?
[Charlie] No.
You couldn't hack it at Rhode Island
and went a little cray cray?
Your brother is still in college.
No, seriously, call him.
Fuck you.
No. Call him!
Relax.
[breathes shakily]
[line ringing]
All right, dude,
why are you making me do this shit?
Keep calling him, okay. Until he answers.
- Get out, dude. Get the fuck out.
- Fucking FaceTime him.
[Max sighs]
[line ringing]
What?
I'm with people.
[students chattering]
Wait, wait. What?
[stutters] Where are you right now?
At school, dickhole.
[call ends]
All right.
How… How are you doing this shit?
Plug this in. I lost my charger.
It's been dead for months.
So, you are on drugs?
Yeah, but not in the way that you mean.
What's it do?
[sighs] There's an infinite number
of realities all around us.
Your world is just one of them. [inhales]
And you take that, and you-you can see…
All right, dude. Is this just because
I stripped your bike for parts?
I'm not fucking with you.
I'm not. [sighs]
Look, go to my phone.
Open it. Look at my photos.
[melancholy music playing]
- [Jason] I'm gonna do it.
- [Daniela] No. No. No. You're declaring…
- [Jason] Yeah.
- [Daniela] But you're not… [groans]
- I am a super-sleuth detective…
- [Daniela laughing]
- …and I'm doing it.
- [Charlie] He's not.
[Jason] Am I doing… Yes, I'm doing it.
Okay, so… [imitates shutter clicking]
- [Charlie] Mm-hmm.
- [Jason] Miss Scarlet…
- [Daniela] No.
- [Charlie] Mm-hmm.
- In the study, obviously, with the…
- [Daniela] No.
[all laughing on video]
[Jason] No!
Why am I not in any of these?
When you were four,
you had a heart transplant, right?
Yeah.
In my world, you didn't get one.
You died when I was four.
And all my life, it's been like
I'm missing a part of myself.
Every year on our birthday,
we-we light a candle
and-and look at a picture of you.
And…
I can't believe that
I'm looking at you right now.
[melancholy music continues]
Can I… Can I?
Yeah.
[Charlie cries]
[Max] It's okay.
[crying]
It's okay.
[cries]
You're… You're from another world, dude?
Yeah.
How?
[Charlie sighs]
This super shitty version of Dad
built this box,
and you can take that drug
and you can move between worlds.
Holy shit.
[knocks on door]
Dinner in ten, okay?
- [door closes]
- [Max sighs]
[Charlie] Can we, uh…
Can we bail on dinner?
Hmm, definitely not.
Look, they can't know about…
Yeah, it's fine. No, mostly they just
want to talk to each other.
God, this is so fucked up, dude.
I can say I need to leave, or…
No. I love it.
[chuckles]
[chuckles]
[Ramirez] Hey.
[lock beeps]
[Jason exhales deeply]
Daniela.
Do you have a tattoo?
Tattoo?
- No.
- [sighs]
[sighs]
[ominous music playing]
Did they do that?
This?
Yeah.
That's nothing.
[Daniela] Who are they?
[Jason] Government.
Department of Defense.
I heard that you escaped our world
with another Jason.
I'm sorry.
Sorry?
I mean, no. What were you supposed to do?
[inhales sharply]
You couldn't leave with-with all of us.
Hey.
Have you seen Charlie?
No. Why?
He went into the box looking for Max.
[exhales deeply]
[Mitchel] You know you're missing?
Along with your son, Charlie.
Where you been? Hmm?
You know,
I-I hate doing this kind of stuff.
Really, I do.
But I need information, and, uh,
well, I have these… techniques
that encourage folks to tell me things.
We can even let him watch.
No?
Or you can tell me where you're from,
what the cube is, how it works.
Think on that.
Have they kept you here for a long time?
Uh, two years almost.
[sighs]
So, if I tell them,
will they even let me go?
Probably not.
[ominous music continues]
[exhales deeply]
[inhales sharply]
[unsettling music playing]
If we drink them, will it work?
Yeah.
[footsteps approaching]
[exhales deeply]
[suspenseful music playing]
[door opens]
[suspenseful music intensifies, fades]
[Ryan breathing shakily]
[breathes shakily] Okay, girl, come on.
[groans, breathes shakily]
Come on. Shit.
Hey. Hey, girl.
Amanda?
Come on, Amanda, please wake up.
[breathing shakily]
Please.
- Ryan?
- [Ryan gasps]
[melancholy music plays]
Ryan.
The last time I saw my Ryan,
we were at the Village Tap…
celebrating his win of the…
Pavia.
Pavia.
[breathes shakily] J, oh.
[laughing]
Fuck. [laughing]
- Ryan.
- [Ryan] Hey, buddy. Hi. Hi.
Ryan.
- Is that…
- Yeah, it is.
[exhales deeply]
[exhales deeply]
[melancholy music continues]
Do you know me?
Last time I saw you,
we were saying goodbye in the mile-high
skyscraper in futuristic Chicago.
- Do you remember?
- [chuckles]
You're safe.
[exhales deeply]
[exhales deeply]
[grunts]
Hi. [chuckles]
[Jason] Oh.
Hi.
- [exhales deeply]
- Hi.
[Jason chuckles]
[Amanda chuckles]
[Jason scoffs]
Where's Ryan?
He's, uh, crashed out in Charlie's room.
He's okay.
Are Charlie and Daniela here?
Uh, Charlie is in college.
[both chuckle]
And… Yeah. Daniela is, uh… She's out.
Come on. Lay down.
[grunts]
[sighs]
I thought I would never see you again.
- [Jason] Hmm.
- [chuckles]
Yeah, I…
[sighs] I loved it there. I did.
But it was just not…
Your life.
Yeah.
[Jason] Yeah.
What about you?
Good. Yeah.
Things have been… good.
[knocks on door]
- Hey. Is everything okay?
- [Blair] Hi.
Can I just… I… No. It's not.
It's not at all. I…
Blair?
No fucking way.
- Is it you?
- Yes.
[Blair, shakily] Hi.
- Hi. Hi. [chuckles]
- Hi. [laughs]
Thank God.
You're alive.
- [laughs]
- [Blair] Hi.
[sniffles] Oh, God. Hi.
Oh, my God.
Hey.
So, I heard from Ryan today.
Oh, yeah?
Yeah. He got that research grant.
[Daniela] Whoa. That was a big one, right?
Yeah, yeah. It's a game changer for him.
Good for him.
[Jason] Hmm.
- Mmm. Couscous is good.
- Is it?
- [Jason] Yeah. Sorry.
- [Daniela] Uh-huh.
[Jason] Um, anyway, he wants to, um, have
a little get-together on… on the weekend
on the boat.
[Jason, Daniela continue speaking
indistinctly]
[uplifting, melancholy music playing]
Okay.
[chuckles]
[cheers]
[chuckling]
- [chuckles]
- [Charlie cheers]
[thunder rumbling]
There's a storm over the lake.
Whoa.
[Max] You like that other world?
[Charlie] Yeah.
It's… It's real.
People actually talk to each other.
I think Mom and Dad
are gonna get a divorce.
[scoffs] What?
They're, like, obsessed with each other.
Yeah.
Dad's been… different.
You know, trying to figure out the box.
It's, like,
all he ever thinks about anymore.
Mom's… I don't even know
what's going on with her.
[thunder rumbling]
That why you came to find me?
I don't know. I… I have friends…
But I feel alone a lot.
You gonna be okay?
Yeah.
I met this other version of Dad in
another world on my way here to find you,
and it was crazy.
But he had sort of, like,
made peace with everything.
He missed us.
But he was okay.
And he made me promise him
to stop looking back, only forward.
So, that's what I'm gonna do. [sighs]
[thunder rumbling]
I'm glad you came, man.
Yeah.
Me too, Max.
- Dickhole.
- [chuckles] Okay, bro.
[chuckles]
- Shut the fuck up, dude. [chuckles]
- [thunder rumbling]
[sighs] We gotta get the fuck out of here.
It's gonna rain.
I'm telling you for real,
it's… it's massive.
You can drive a transfer truck inside it.
Why is Leighton even doing this?
He can't let go of his original vision.
The-The best technology,
brightest ideas, remember?
Yeah. I can see that totally.
Also, he is working with
another version of himself,
a version of you, and you.
Wait… Which Jason?
- The one from our world.
- Jesus Christ.
He was… He was here earlier.
Did he mention any of this?
No. Oh… [stammers] …does the Pyramid work?
He needs more quantum computing tech,
which luckily this world doesn't have,
but we need to stop him
from ever using the box again,
so he can't go and find those parts.
What if we, like,
just seal the box up somehow?
No, I've tried it. It doesn't work.
- Let's talk dynamite. Blow it up.
- It wouldn't work.
- No. It wouldn't work either.
- No?
Because if someone connects to this world,
it would respawn.
- She's right.
- Then we take it apart.
- Piece by piece. Just shred it.
- Tried it.
No, it'll respawn.
We fill a pool with acid…
[laughs]
You… You're pitching a vat-of-acid amount…
I'm pitching melting that bitch down.
- [laughing]
- Am I talking to myself? It will respawn.
You guys, do we have to kill Leighton?
- [Ryan, Blair] No.
- [Amanda] Ryan.
That's a terrible idea.
What? I'm not saying that.
God. There are bad ideas
in brainstorming. I'm sorry.
I don't have any more ideas.
Hold on.
[intriguing music playing]
There might be a fix.
If I could get back to the original box,
the box from our world,
I could sneak a kill switch
into the master code
that maintains quantum coherence.
How would doing that, uh, take the box
in this world offline? I mean…
That would take all the boxes offline.
Format the qubits.
That's what he was looking at!
That's what I…
Oh, I was close.
Blair…
Right… [stammers] …I need a pen.
Like, lightning speed. I need a pen.
- [Ryan] I don't know…
- Right here.
Yes.
Here.
Right, so all the boxes… [sighs]
…they're quantumly entangled
and they form
a vast quantum circuit, right?
So, all the boxes derive source power
and programming from the original box,
the first box.
That's how they come online.
- It's the box in your world.
- Yes.
And it was programmed
to actively counter decoherence.
That's what keeps the whole circuit alive.
So if we kill this box…
then all the children die.
And then no traveling across worlds.
Except how do we go about
getting this done?
A little bit of time.
[scoffs]
And a brilliant fucking physicist.
[suspenseful music playing]
[door opens]
[door closes]
Hey. You okay?
Just clearing my head.
When did she leave?
Um, about five weeks ago.
[huffs]
I was… I was just hoping that we could
get back to what we were, you know.
I think she realized before I did
that we were never gonna
be those people again.
So…
Yeah.
Mmm.
Did Ryan tell you
what's happening in our world?
- The plague. Yeah.
- Yeah.
Blair thinks Leighton might have
access to a cure.
I'm gonna try to find him in the morning.
See if he'll help.
And if he does?
Ryan and I will take the cure back.
You going with Blair?
She's working on
building a hacking device.
And I guess I'll help.
You guess?
[chuckles]
Yeah. I know the box has to end.
But it's… [stammers] …fucking beautiful.
It's a perfect thing.
Almost.
You wanna know how it feels
to make something like that.
Mmm.
Kinda hard to miss
the crazy-person wallpaper motif
you got going on in there.
[laughs]
[groans]
Is that why Jason 2 was here?
Uh, he, believe it or not,
came to ask me how to make better choices.
Yeah.
Wow.
- Listen, I know that I sorta lost my way.
- [sighs]
We can't control our desires,
only what we do about them.
You're not like him.
You're not.
Mmm.
You'll find your way.
[pensive music playing]
I don't even know what that means anymore.
Me neither.
- [laughs]
- [chuckles]
But we keep looking.
[buzzer sounds]
[hopeful music playing]
[Jason] Hey.
[Leighton] Hey.
Have you guys seen the latest
on the cooling pump?
I think we're gonna need a new one.
- [sighs]
- You good?
There's another version of me
living in the city.
A box traveler.
Oh, my God. You knew? You knew?
Did you meet him?
[scoffs]
Is there something you wanna tell me?
Ugh. Listen, I know that
you've done a lot of good.
But… [stammers]
…we've opened Schrödinger's box.
The consequences, Leighton,
are infinite, unpredictable, severe.
You wanna kill this thing?
[exhales deeply]
[stammers] I don't know.
I just think that we need to talk more.
We just really need to be sure, you know?
Well, I have to leave
to get some of the parts we need.
Which ones?
The superconducting array
of topological qubits.
Where-Where from?
The Velocity hangar
Blair was living out of.
[stammers] Murder hornets.
We'll keep talking, all right?
Nothing's decided.
[sighs, mutters]
[suspenseful music playing]
[exhales]
[keypad beeping]
[suspenseful music continues]
[exhales deeply]
[exhales deeply]
[powers down]
[exhales deeply]
[typing]
[exclaims]
[exhales]
[typing]
[typing]
[no audible dialogue]
[breathes shakily]
Okay, listen, I know it's been a while
but you do remember the original dream…
[chuckles] …right?
I had a lot of time to think about
your vision when I was trapped inside it.
Are they concerned
about drastic weather changes?
Yeah, but for now their focus is food.
UV grow operations are being set up,
but it's not enough.
They're projecting
millions of deaths globally this year.
[Ryan] Millions.
They need to take action soon.
What about the world
where they had several nuclear blasts?
[wind whistling]
[Leighton] That's right.
They managed
to solve their food supply issue.
Yeah, wasn't it something to do with
shade-tolerant cereals?
Pull up that world's map,
I'll go see their Leighton.
Everything I've done, I had to do.
I know I've made mistakes, but…
I never wanted to hurt anyone.
Stop!
Stop.
[sighs]
All right.
[lock beeps]
Well?
[Daniela] Yeah,
I will… [sighs] …tell you
everything you wanna know.
[Jason sighs]
If you let me go.
Well, that's an intriguing proposition.
I'm gonna counter with how about
you tell me everything I wanna know
while you're standing there
and I'm standing here.
[sighs]
Unlike him,
I have nothing to protect here.
I'll give you what you want,
but not if you won't let me find my son.
Because then, well… [scoffs]
…nothing matters.
You can beat the shit out of me
all day long and you'll get nothing.
And I fucking mean it.
[tense music playing]
If you bring me my bag,
I will show you how this thing works.
But until then, we're just wasting time,
so it's your call.
[tense music continues]
I'll make that deal.
He comes too.
- [lock beeps]
- [Daniela] I need him.
If he tries to run,
shoot her.
So, you've been inside the box?
Yeah.
- With the door closed?
- Yep.
He wonders why nothing happens.
Because you need this.
- What the hell is that?
- It's a key.
Fits a keyhole behind an interior panel.
Yeah, we haven't been able
to remove any of the panels.
What do you need a key for?
Because the box is a portal.
To where?
Other worlds.
Ready?
[chuckles]
So, um, we'll have to shut this
for it to work.
Yeah, hang on a second.
Wait, you-you could…
you could do with more light.
Yeah, get a flashlight.
Show me the keyhole.
It's in the corner.
[Mitchel] Where?
Ah! Fuck!
No, no! Don't let…
[Mitchel grunting]
Motherfucker.
[exhales deeply]
What am I seeing?
You're seeing doors to different worlds.
[breathes deeply]
You stabbed me. [grunts]
It's a drug.
It's what allows you to see all this.
[Mitchel sighing, breathing heavily]
Two years and you never
said a thing about this.
You're kind of a prick, you know that?
[breathes heavily]
All right.
[laughing] All right.
How does it work?
You have to…
We have to clear our minds.
And then I open a door.
[inhales deeply, sighs]
[Mitchel] Wait.
I open the door.
Okay.
[chuckles]
[tense music intensifies]
[gulls squawking]
[gasping]
[chuckles]
[exhales]
[breathes heavily]
I'm getting a fucking promotion.
To all you fuckers I love.
[friends] Cheers!
[people laughing, chattering]
- Hey, man!
- Hey.
Fucking insane.
He will wipe away
every tear from their eyes.
There will be no more death
or mourning or crying or tears.
The old order of things has passed away.
- So, it's true? Yes.
- So, it will be so true.
I-I poisoned my first husband!
[exhales deeply]
["Holes" playing]
[person] Twenty seconds!
Fifteen seconds!
Till what?
Till what?
[people] Nine! Eight! Seven! Six!
- [rumbling]
- Five! Four! Three! Two! One!
[people gasp]
[exclaims]
[people screaming]
[muttering]
[gasps, cries]
["Holes" continues]
[song fades]