Nightflyers (2018) s01e06 Episode Script

The Sacred Gift

1 Previously, on "Nightflyers" - Hello, beautiful.
- My mother built this ship to be her home.
The crystal matrix - is her body now.
- She's been using the ship - to hurt us.
- I need to go in there.
And seal her up in that world, permanently.
[ELECTRICAL CRACKLING.]
And is she okay where she is? [DOOR POUNDS, ELECTRICAL CRACKLING.]
What exactly is the logic of bringing your ex into deep space? You let him watch us.
Don't come to my room anymore.
You make people's eyes bleed.
Wanna see how it works? Thale! - There's been an accident.
- No, no, no! Thale experiences everything.
- It's fucking cold.
- Mentally, emotionally, - physically.
- He's dead.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
[COMPUTER BEEPING.]
[GRUNTS.]
Lommie? L Lommie.
Hey, Lommie.
Lommie.
Lommie! Hey, hey.
Hey, hey.
- What are you doing? - I'm sorry.
We weren't Don't do that when I'm deep.
You went back inside the Crystal Matrix.
No, just outside of it.
I'm I'm putting patches on the firewalls - Eris set up.
- How long you in for? Hours.
- I need to sleep.
- Hey, you said we wouldn't need any more firewalls once Cynthia was trapped.
Yeah, I'm just making sure.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]
[WOMEN CHANTING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE.]
[WOMEN CHANTING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE.]
[WEEPING SOFTLY.]
[CHANTING CONTINUES.]
[WOMAN YIPPING, ULULATING.]
[WOMEN HOLLERING.]
[DARK MUSIC.]
[GASPING.]
[EERIE WHISPERING.]
[OMINOUS MUSIC.]
Did you get this from the crew? No, that one's strange.
It feels like it come from somewhere else.
Like, from outside the ship.
Maybe you should get some air.
Captain Eris trusts you.
He gave you explicit permission to roam the ship at will.
- And do what? - I don't know.
Meet some people.
You mean like make friends.
You seen what they all think of me.
[GRUNTS.]
You're making it really hard for me to feel sorry for you.
Oh, you think that's what I want? [QUIET, TENSE MUSIC.]
[SIGHS.]
I think it's what you need in order to justify that self-pity you're holding onto.
Let it go, Thale.
You missed a spot.
It's there.
Suit yourself.
I will.
Hey, Willa.
You see this? We're picking up organics outside.
[COMPUTER CHIMING.]
[AIR HISSES.]
You know, you can order anything you want.
What was your favorite restaurant as a kid? Um, my Mom took us to a place called Silver Spurs once.
Uh, I remember getting the The Downtown Dog.
It was really gross.
Downtown Dog from Silver Spurs Restaurant - circa - 77, I guess.
Circa 2077.
Oh, and, uh, water, please.
[AIR HISSING.]
[MACHINE WHIRRING.]
[MACHINE CHIRPS.]
Whoa.
[LAUGHS.]
It even got the little paper tray right.
- Uh, thanks.
- What is it like? Porting.
I've always wondered.
Imagine listening to your favorite music.
Only you're not really listening, but instead you are the instrument.
Sounds strange.
Well I think people are strange.
How's Roy doing with his mommy thing? [CHUCKLES.]
He's been spending time in her old bedroom.
Well, we've all got parental issues.
His mom never let him control anything.
Now is his chance to shine.
She's not a bad person.
Cynthia Eris.
You should have been here the year she built the outer ring.
There was an electricity on the ship.
We knew we were doing something important, something good.
Here comes the condemnation part.
I respect what Captain Eris is doing.
And D'Branin.
They're good men.
But if Cynthia were alive we wouldn't be crossing the Void with so many people back on Earth I'm sorry.
It's not my place to Mm.
Excuse me.
Well, he obviously doesn't know the truth about Cynthia.
- Willa.
- Sir.
Show me.
[TENSE MUSIC.]
[COMPUTER CHIRPING.]
Is the sensor bad? Have it replaced.
We've swapped three of them out already.
You're telling me we're picking up organic compound? Out here? It's not possible.
Nothing lives in the Void.
The crew were wondering Perhaps the Volcryn ship? It can't be the Volcryn.
They're still too far away.
Captain Eris? What is it, Auggie? Sir, I We're picking up streams of organic compound outside the ship.
Distribution suggests it's coming off a moving object.
What are you suggesting? - The Volcryn? - No, sir.
- We're still too far.
- Then it's an error.
No other ship has ever made it this far.
[DARK MUSIC.]
How did it get here? It's enormous.
Better get Karl.
[DOOR OPENS.]
- How long has it been there? - It's moving.
We've adjusted our velocity to match their speed.
How is that possible all the way out here? Apparently it's on our exact trajectory.
- To the Volcryn.
- It's one of ours.
An older ship.
- Eagle class.
- "Eagle 16.
" [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]
We studied this.
She broke apart, in the ice fields.
Part of our Europa project.
Your failed Europa project.
That's not what happened, is it? We lost contact when they entered the Jupiter gravity field.
No one knows what happened after that.
Oh, so there could be survivors? Eagles could carry 40 months of provisions.
That ship has been adrift for nearly 14 years.
Mm.
- Spooky.
- Wait a minute.
That ship operates off a Crystal Matrix just like the Nightflyer.
If this is about my mother, we've already taken care - of that problem.
- No, not permanently.
And Lommie is consistently patching up all the firewalls.
How long is that gonna hold her? Sorry, sir, I'm not following.
My mother, Auggie.
She never left the ship.
Sorry? When she passed, she left her body, but not the Nightflyer.
Her spirit resides inside our Crystal.
I couldn't say anything.
How could the crew understand? I'm sorry.
Of course.
Roy, we need to get your mother off this ship.
The Crystal Matrix on the Eagle If it's still functioning, we can swap it out with ours on the Nightflyer.
Your mother won't be harmed, and she won't be able to hurt anyone, and she'd be able to live there forever.
She'll be alone.
She'd be alive.
As will we.
I want Mel to lead.
We'll have to set a guide line to get the boarding party across.
The Nightflyer wasn't designed for ship-to-ship transfer.
And Auggie, he's familiar with the Eagle class ships.
I'll stay here with the Nightflyer.
I'll lock the ship into offset position.
Close as I can get us is 600 meters.
I'm coming.
I'll bring Lommie with me to assess the viability - of the Crystal - Okay.
And Rowan.
[STAMMERING.]
I'm a biologist.
We don't know how an abandoned ship is on the same intercept as the Volcryn, so I need you.
All right.
How exactly are we getting there? [DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
Ready to depressurize.
Releasing pressure in three two one.
[AIR HISSING.]
[METALLIC CLANG.]
We've reached the airlock on Eagle 16.
- Preparing to board.
- [RADIO SQUAWKS.]
About to lose visual contact.
Opening the port hatch.
[STATIC CRACKLES.]
Artificial gravity's still working.
And we still have power.
Captain Eris, we are on the Eagle.
Do you copy? We're inside the Eagle, do you copy? Probably out of range.
These suits were designed for orbital maintenance.
Then we'll proceed without comms.
[PANEL BEEPING.]
Environmental systems are on, too.
Temperature contaminants.
The air is safe to breathe.
We shouldn't take our helmets off.
We can't be certain that those readings - are accurate.
- Or if their Crystal - is still operational.
- Conserving the air in our suits buys us the time to find out.
There's no point carrying the extra weight anyway.
[SUIT BEEPS.]
[AIR HISSING.]
As I said the air is safe.
[SUITS BEEPING.]
[AIR HISSING.]
You're gonna hurt yourself acting like that.
Yeah.
Well, maybe I don't care anymore.
The air in here [SNIFFS.]
Smells like death.
We need to move.
[EERIE MUSIC.]
[METAL CREAKING.]
[AIR HISSING.]
[METAL CLANGING, CREAKING.]
Every Eris ship was designed from the same core layout.
[AIR HISSES.]
- [SNIFFS.]
- The Crystal will be on a lower deck.
What happened here? [AIR HISSING.]
They must have, uh, been living here.
Maybe it was warmer.
I wonder what killed them? Looks like each other.
[SINISTER MUSIC.]
There was definitely a fight here.
When the food ran out.
[AIR HISSING.]
[SHIP CREAKING.]
Where are all the bodies? [DISTANT CLANGING.]
Uh, please wait for me.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]
[SINISTER MUSIC.]
- I'll go.
- I'll back you up.
Get ready.
[METAL CLANGING.]
It's okay.
Judson Smith.
The captain.
Why hang the suit? The use of a totem or an effigy is meant to signify control.
But what happened to them? [ALL GASP.]
[INTENSE MUSIC.]
Are you angels? There's another one! There are two more! - Who are you? - Travelers.
Here to help.
We don't need help here.
We're doing fine.
I'm Karl D'Branin.
We're from the Nightflyer.
The Nightflyer.
Come with me.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]
Come on.
How did we lose communication? As soon as they entered the Eagle airlock, their comms went dead.
Is this an external phenomenon? Well, that's what we thought at first, but it seems like - someone's jamming the signal.
- Someone on the Eagle? Then how do we un-jam it? Sir, the Nightflyer doesn't have this type - of capability.
- I understand our capabilities.
I'm asking you to improvise.
[COMPUTER BEEPING.]
[EERIE MUSIC.]
[WOMEN VOCALIZING.]
We have visitors.
Travelers from the Nightflyer.
Your tech everything Lost in the fight.
Useless, anyways.
We run our environment off the auxiliary grid.
Minimal energy use.
Simple and efficient, more stable.
Have you ever calculated how much energy is wasted running a food synthesizer? [FOOD SIZZLING.]
Going back to the land, I see.
For years, we drifted.
Working to survive to keep life burning out here in the ocean of nothing.
We prayed that someone would come replenish us.
To bring new life.
And here you are.
We're happy to have found you.
Hope is alive in you.
I see that.
And you, as well.
Sit with us.
Eat and rejoice - this marvelous occurrence.
- Well, I thank you for your generosity.
[FIRE CRACKLING.]
You must have exhausted your supplies of base proteins years ago.
All the women you see here are scientists.
Geneticists, biochemists.
But more than that, we're farmers.
We grow everything we eat.
Try it.
That's why we were on this ship in the first place.
The first wave of technicians destined to spark a new seed of life.
I know you.
You're Constance Brighthead.
[LAUGHS.]
Wow.
She created the replacement technique BOTH: In RNA splicing.
I'm from the Academy.
You built half my genetic architecture.
Stand up for me.
Let me look at you.
Magnificent.
We've had debates on sustaining environments.
No one thought it was possible, not out here.
Your ship I don't understand what happened.
Eagle 16 was never lost.
- It was hijacked.
- We saw signs of a fight.
Our captain.
As we approached Jupiter, he commandeered the sheep and used the gravitational pull to throw us into the Void.
His dream was to create a self-sustaining system, drifting across the Void like a dandelion seed to eventually land and grow in some new world.
Jud Smith wanted a world of his own.
He became obsessed with power and control, and convinced his crew to follow.
And where are the other men? They killed themselves.
Power begets greed, greed corrupts, violence becomes a contagion.
It wasn't until all the men were gone that we achieved balance.
Harmony.
[FOREBODING MUSIC.]
This isn't Lommie.
Lommie.
Hey, hey.
- What's wrong? - This is bad.
The way they talk.
Do you see the way they They looked at her? I've seen this before.
I lived it.
Lommie.
Are you all right? Yeah, I'm I'm just not feeling well.
Your oxygen mix is Is pretty thin.
She'll be fine.
Quiet.
One of us.
14 years in the Void.
No terraform, no sunlight.
No one has ever successfully run a fully enclosed system for so long.
Yes, and we could keep going.
We replenish what we use, we only use what we need, and we work together.
All these women you see around us, I picked them myself.
They're the toughest and brightest.
My sisters.
It's unbelievable, really.
I'd love to see how you do it, if you don't mind.
- Sharing what you've learned.
- She didn't learn this, Karl.
She invented it.
I'm always learning.
That's what makes life interesting.
Come on.
I'm sure there's so much more for us to see.
Make your way to the airlock.
I'd like to get a message to the Nightflyer.
- Okay.
- Auggie, find their Crystal.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]
- This is urgent.
- Okay, he's sleeping.
No, I need him to reach out to Eagle 16 - and make contact - You push him to reach out - that far, it could hurt him.
- He's been training.
- Please, we need him to try.
- Fine.
I'll take him to the bridge.
If he can see them, it will help.
Yeah, I couldn't sleep anyway.
[AIR HISSING.]
Did you hear what they called them? Sisters.
They're lunatics.
They're out of their minds.
Well, crazy and smart.
It's a dangerous combination.
[SHIP CREAKING, GROANING.]
Auggie, this is a cult.
I grew up with people like this on Luna.
You grew up in a luddite colony? How'd you get out? My dad.
He broke you out of there? He stayed quiet.
Saved us.
He didn't make it.
Sacrifice.
He saw they were wrong, couldn't leave you there.
- Yeah.
- He did the right thing.
Let's find the Crystal so we can get back to the 'Flyer.
[DISTANT CLANG.]
- How'd you get here? - My mom.
You remember on the ship? I ordered a hotdog from Silver Spurs.
Yeah.
My mom took us there the day we landed in New York.
It was the first time I felt normal.
I know what it's like to sacrifice for someone you love.
Your father was a good man.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]
[DOOR CLANGS.]
[INDISTINCT WHISPERING.]
[SHIP CREAKING.]
[WOMEN WHISPERING INDISTINCTLY.]
The Crystal runs off one of these optical wires.
- Amazing.
- Did you hear it? Did you hear that? You're just jumpy.
This way.
So you're not worried about them? Nah.
They don't hold a candle to the woman who put them there.
- You mean Cynthia? - Yeah.
She's not what you think.
She wasn't isn't bad.
Just strong.
Like you.
This way.
They're not even using it.
[PANEL BEEPING.]
All the ship's systems have been diverted to auxiliary networks.
[LIGHTS CLANG.]
Wow.
[DARK MUSIC.]
It's beautiful.
[WOMAN SIGHS SOFTLY.]
Praise be.
Praise be.
[HISSING.]
[GROANS.]
I see them.
- Who? - [BREATHES SHARPLY.]
[PANTING.]
Lommie.
[GRUNTS.]
And the bald one.
Do you see anyone else? [GROANS.]
[PANTING.]
[STRAINS.]
Rowan.
- Are they safe? - [INHALES SHARPLY.]
Others.
There are others.
- There are others? - [PANTING.]
- [HISSES.]
- We should stop this.
[TENSE MUSIC.]
[GROANS.]
Fuck.
[GROANING, PANTING.]
Many others.
- [BREATHING HEAVILY.]
- It's too much.
It's hurting him.
I need to get him back to his dome.
Judson's officers hoarded food Their plan was to starve non-essential crew.
[TENSE MUSIC.]
Violence is not a sustainable strategy for survival.
Hold on.
There was a vid feed in progress when it went dark.
All my men dead.
They took Ruben.
Wiedemann too.
[BREATHING HEAVILY.]
Crane was killed - right in front of my eyes.
- [SHOUTS.]
They've taken the ship! [SCREEN WARBLES.]
We've gotta get out of here, Auggie.
We turned to science to restore our bodies.
Then the miracle occurred.
To think that Roy Eris could condemn his own mother to a rusty tub infested with psychopaths! [ELECTRICAL CRACKLING.]
- What miracle? - The shooting star.
We had been drifting for nearly a decade when it moved into view.
That's how I knew we were on the right path.
- [WOMEN SHRIEKING.]
- [SHOUTS, GRUNTS.]
- Don't! - [WOMEN SHRIEKING.]
- Stop! - [SHRIEKING CONTINUES.]
Fresh seed.
- Ah, new Giver.
- Lommie, go! Get out of here! - No! - ALL: Fresh seed, fresh seed.
Fresh seed, fresh seed.
The way it changed position in the sky like no other object it was speaking to us.
You were tracking the Volcryn.
- That's how we found you.
- You've been following a ship.
Is that what you see? A ship? I see a miracle.
We prayed to the star to replenish our ability to harvest food.
And like magic, three new Givers fall out of the sky.
[EERIE MUSIC.]
A ship cannot do such things.
Givers.
- What are you talking about? - Our farm.
Our livestock.
[WOMEN VOCALIZING.]
Except for you, Mel.
this system is my most precious achievement.
[METAL SCRAPING.]
[FEVERISH MUSIC.]
The Sacred Gift.
It's very humane.
My cloning process does not result in conscious beings.
Mindless, blind.
Their eyes never open.
They are merely food.
Sustenance.
Hope.
[LIQUID PULSES.]
[SHRIEKS.]
[SINISTER MUSIC.]
You're insane.
Exposure to the Volcryn has done something you don't even We mine the seed to grow the Gift.
The star brought you to us Three of you.
Givers of the seed.
[WOMEN MURMURING.]
[SIGHS.]
Shit.
What happened? I can't move, Rowan.
They're gonna kill us.
[GRUNTS.]
[GROANS.]
Fresh seed.
Fresh seed.
[LAUGHING.]
How can we get out of here? Augustine.
Judson Smith.
- Yeah.
- Wait, you're the captain? - What happened? - Hey, I I was loyal to Eris Corp.
- Most of us were.
- Okay.
We were the tip of the spear pushing out to Jupiter.
Our cargo was genius.
24 of the best scientific minds.
Connie Brighthead, yeah.
Connie.
She had her own plans.
Plans beyond Europa.
It was her idea to turn the Eagle into some sort of self-sustaining paradise.
Some kind of Noah's Ark thing.
So, one night, while we were sleeping, they they rose up and they They killed the men one by one.
[BREATHING HEAVILY.]
Except for a few.
Givers.
- What? - Shh! Here she comes.
- It's time.
- Morning, Givers.
Morning, Ruthanne.
Oh, praise be.
[CART CLATTERING.]
Good.
Very good.
Yes.
- [GRUNTING.]
- Oh, my.
- Let's look at you.
- [GRUNTING.]
Wow.
High quality.
High volume, I imagine.
Excuse me? [FOREBODING MUSIC.]
Ruthanne? Ruthanne? Ruthanne, can you Can you give my neck a little squeeze? Stop asking that.
It makes it go faster.
Faster reduces yield, Judson, you know that.
- I've told you that.
- [MUTTERS, GRUNTS.]
That's it.
There.
That's it.
Good.
Too strong, it hurts.
[GROANS.]
[MACHINE WHIRRING RHYTHMICALLY.]
- That's it.
- [GROANS.]
Timing really couldn't be better.
- Judson, bless his heart - [GRUNTS.]
After all these years he's running a little dry.
[GRUNTING.]
Don't worry.
It gets easier each and every time.
I promise.
That's good, Judson.
That's good.
[EERIE MUSIC.]
[METAL CREAKING, CLANGING.]
[MACHINE WHIRRING RHYTHMICALLY.]
[GROANS.]
[LIQUID GURGLING.]
Good.
- Very good.
- [LAUGHING.]
- [GRUNTS.]
- [GROANS.]
You know, there are many other ways.
There are many, many other ways we can do this.
Hey, don't resist.
She'll turn it on stronger if you fight.
[TENSE MUSIC.]
Just relax and enjoy.
[LAUGHING.]
[LAUGHING.]
[WOMEN HOLLER.]
[GROANS.]
No, no, no, just Just leave me.
I've got I've got nothing left.
[GRUNTS.]
Come on, they're gonna kill you.
No.
I'll do that myself.
Once I'm done with her.
[FOREBODING MUSIC.]
Let's get out of here! [WHISPERS.]
Believe.
Praise be.
Don't worry.
Shh.
- Just relax.
- Judson It'll all be over before you know it.
[SHRIEKS.]
I see something.
[HIGH-PITCHED FEEDBACK.]
There's people gathering.
And there's fear fear in the room.
Lommie.
Come to me.
Sorry.
I doubted.
There's a woman.
She's a survivor.
She's she's the leader.
I can hear her.
You have a strong mind.
A strong will.
But your real strength is in us.
In us.
ALL: Believe.
Let me hear you say it.
Please.
Believe.
Good.
Good.
You are strong.
Praise the shooting star.
It has brought life into our world new Givers And one strong sister.
ALL: Believe.
I'm saddened by your resistance, Mel.
Perhaps I should have added a gene that codes For courage.
[SNIFFS.]
Fuck you, you psychotic bitch.
That type of thinking is poison.
We purged it from our system to maintain sustainability and we will purge it again.
Tonight, we take The head off the snake and we will eat fresh meat.
WOMEN: Believe.
Believe.
Connie.
Yes, Lommie? - [GRUNTS.]
- [YELPS.]
Fuck! Fuck! - Thale! - [GASPING.]
You were the poison.
- Rot in hell.
- [GASPS.]
[WOMEN GASPING.]
[GURGLING.]
- [GASPS.]
- [GROANS.]
Thale! - Mother, no! - No! [WOMEN WEEPING.]
Get them! Get them! No, don't let them out! [DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
[WOMEN SHRIEKING.]
They're coming! They're fucking coming! [WOMEN SHRIEKING.]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]
[SHOUTING.]
- [GRUNTS.]
- No! [WOMEN SCREAMING.]
Hurry! Get the door! [SCREAMING CONTINUES.]
Get the door! Open it! Open it! Quickly, quickly! [WOMEN SCREAMING.]
Get ready to open the airlocks! [AIR HISSING.]
[WOMEN SHRIEKING.]
This ain't over.
The closer we get to the Volcryn, the stranger it's gonna get.
[SIGHS.]
Everyone was acting mad on that ship.
It's like she was possessed.
I idolized that woman.
Well, who you wanted her to be.
Not what she became.
You saw her, didn't you? - Saved our lives.
- Oh, yeah.
For the second time.
I guess.
You did.
And the Crystal? Smashed, sir.
Connie, most likely.
Years ago.
They were crazy.
I'll be porting.
Could use a break from this world.
[TIMBER TIMBRE'S "LAY DOWN IN THE TALL GRASS".]
I saved your life today.
I need you to know I will always be loyal To the real Captain Eris.
Lay down in the tall grass In the flat-bottom boat Lay down and wait for you [BOTH BREATHING HEAVILY.]
With nothing but a piece of rope Dreaming every night of you Shaking at the sight [GASPING.]
I'll be dreaming every night of you [BREATHING HEAVILY.]
I'll be shaking at the sight Of you You're an L? I dreamt you found me Out in a field You tripped over my site And you dug me out Of this shallow grave
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