seaQuest DSV (1993) s01e10 Episode Script

The Regulator

It must be Who designed this thing? I did, Commander.
This originally was going to be the sauna.
Yes, sir.
It's toast.
I used the last stock on B-Deck two weeks ago.
We've been back ordered on thermal chips for months now, Captain.
It's a 50 cent item and we don't have it in stock? Yeah, that's the bottom line, sir.
How many crew members bunk in this deck? Thirty.
Shut it down.
They'll have to double bunk.
Please wait for full stop.
A- Deck.
Thank you for riding Mag-Lev.
Whoa, hold it! Ten hut.
Now you were military trained, and by golly, you're gonna behave that way.
I want a column of two's.
Paktan.
Sir.
Hernandez, up front.
Yes, sir! Forward, hut.
Andriadous, Grayson you're in with O'Neill.
Hey, guys, make yourself at home.
Loeb, Crenshaw, step up.
Chief, my quarters are exempt from the bunk crisis.
As supply officer, I've got valuable provisions in here I'm responsible for.
Wouldn't happen to have a thermal chip in there, would you? I'm back ordered for months.
That's a gaffe at UEO.
Loeb, Crenshaw.
Now, I am personally responsible for these supplies.
Are you suggesting, Ben, that Loeb and Crenshaw here can't be trusted? I'm saying that my quarters are part of the supply system and as such, require security considerations.
You're absolutely right.
Mars, Olden, step forward.
These are my two top security men, Ben.
Your supplies have never been safer.
Loeb, Crenshaw, this way.
Great, just great.
The 21st century.
Mankind has colonized the last unexplored region on Earth the ocean.
As captain of the seaQuest and its crew, we are its guardians.
For beneath the surface lies the future.
Does it mean anything to you guys that I'm trying to sleep? I mean, if nothing else, you gotta recognize the fact that I'm the superior officer in this room.
You made me lose count, sir.
Fine.
Sorry.
Return to whatever you were doing there, sailor.
Is the unit required for your equipment currently in supply? If not, has the proper requisition form been encoded and filed with our Central Processing Center? While waiting for a United Earth Oceans Organization Acquisitions representative Come in.
ask yourself the following questions Captain, if I could have a minute of your time? Come in, Lieutenant.
Sit down.
This concerns you.
I'm on hold with UEO Acquisitions.
Oh.
Why didn't you call me? Easy, easy.
A lot of us took in bunkmates last night and a lot of us are tired.
I let you sleep.
Thanks.
Who's bunking with you? Lucas.
That's nice.
A little father-son thing going on there? Beats Olden and Mars.
Hello, be prompt, I am very busy.
Hello.
My name is Nathan Bridger.
I'm Captain of the seaQuest.
Mr.
Nyeir, UEO Acquisitions and Procurement.
What do you need? Mr.
Nyeir, I can't see your face.
This is my face.
Now forgive me for not leaving it here.
I cannot sit all day like this, and I cannot get them to adjust my vid-com.
What do you want? We've run out of thermal chips.
Unit number? TC 154 L 58.
Where are your dashes? TC-154-L-58.
Authorization code? UEOS Excuse me.
UEO-SQ-1.
Your order is being processed.
This order is two months old.
How long do we have to wait? I only confirm orders, not fulfill them.
No, you don't do anything Wait, wait, wait.
We need this immediately.
I only confirm orders, I do not fulfill them.
Who fulfills them? Fulfillment.
Can you transfer me, please? I don't transfer, call back.
I've been on hold for half an hour.
Procedure.
I've got a serious problem here.
Everyone I talk to has problems.
Call Fulfillment.
Wait a minute, wait a minute.
Transfer me to your superior, please.
We're sorry, but we cannot Are they always this rude? Generally.
This is supervisor Charles Butch.
You got a problem, Cap? Yes, we need a unit that's essential to our boat's life support systems.
You're talking air conditioning.
I don't consider that essential.
Some of the sleeping quarters are over 100 degrees.
Units will be there inside of three weeks.
Your guys can't take the heat, let them sleep on deck.
We're on a submarine! Maybe there's a lesson in there for you.
Y'all have a good day.
If I wanted a nuclear warhead, I'd have it within an hour.
It's going to be a rough three weeks.
Well I might be able to remedy that for you, sir.
Really? How? You don't want to know.
Lieutenant.
There are salvage operators I can call.
Which one? I exhausted every possible means before calling this particular one.
A name, Lieutenant, please.
The Regulator.
The man's a thief.
There's no proof.
A thief.
Boats disappear, years later he's selling off their spare parts.
He's good at finding them.
He finds them before they sink.
A thief.
Lieutenant, you're right, I don't want to know anything about it.
Well? You cheated me.
We had a deal.
I am at the forefront of technology and you bring me the rear end of software.
You're standing in the way of progress.
It's research software.
It's all classified.
I risked my neck.
Take your hands off me.
It's worthless to me.
This is exactly what we agreed on.
Exactly? What do you know about "exactly"? You still owe me the money.
You've got all you're going to get.
There are people above me.
Yes, and I'm one of them.
You cheated me.
No.
You cheated me! No! You cheated me! No, no! Dive back to your boat, you bottom feeder.
I'll get that, Verne.
Why do I have to deal with the 21st century equivalent of the flat-Earth society? Sit there and act tough.
What do you want? Do you have you any idea what's stored in here? I'm Lt.
Ben Krieg, United Earth Oceans Organization.
We're aboard Krieg, you're buying, selling, or gone.
Speak to me.
Buying.
TC-154-L-58, thermal chip.
We need it immediately.
Position.
500 UEO credits.
Tank of nitro and 200 pounds of bananas.
We done? 500, just not Wait, okay, 500.
But I don't know if I can get my hands on 200 pounds of bananas.
Give me what you got.
We done? We're done.
Blood.
Yeah.
Yeah, I know.
Blood.
Regulator 1, engage magnetic guidance.
We ready with the nitro? Soon as he's docked.
What? Wound up a little tight there, aren't you, Ben? How many times are you going to count that? This is not a man you want to short-change.
Do you know this guy's reputation? He puts his pants on just like the rest of us, Lieutenant.
Well, you haven't seen his pants, have you? Docking procedure complete.
Caution, wet surfaces.
All visitors, please report to UEO Customs with inoculation papers before proceeding.
All visitors, please report to UEO Customs with inoculation papers before proceeding.
Fuel him up, on the double.
Aye, sir.
Welcome aboard the seaQuest.
500 UEO credits as you're And 138 pounds of bananas.
That's every banana we have onboard.
This is Security Chief Crocker and Lt.
Cmdr.
Hitchcock.
This is The Regulator.
Nice to meet you.
My pleasure, Commander.
Yes, well, and the thermal chip? I'd I'd like to see your boat.
I'm sorry, partner, we got a lot of highly classified material onboard here.
And no air conditioning.
And no one available to conduct tours.
Do I look like a tourist? Oh, no.
I wouldn't say that.
That'd be an insult to tourism, wouldn't it? Come on, now, Crocker.
Isn't there room on this ship for just a little bit of human kindness? It's Chief Crocker.
And you don't appear to have dressed to board the good ship Lollipop.
Load up his bananas.
Hey! Hold it right there.
Halt! Do you ever think about keeping that thing on a leash? Security.
What are you doing? Bridger knows this guy's onboard, he'll go nuts.
There! Verne! You've got some great supply contacts, Ben.
How did I know he'd bring his monkey? Verne.
Verne.
Verne.
Ens.
Filie, have you seen anything unusual? Is that a trick question, Chief? Never mind, I'm sorry to bother you.
Go on about your duties.
He obviously didn't cut down this corridor or Filie would have seen him.
Let's try down here.
Ape.
Ape.
Boat.
Boat.
Man.
Man.
Yeah.
Very good.
Dolphin.
Darwin.
No.
Dolphin.
I can't believe I've got to reprogram an entire language base.
Just be patient.
He's teasing me.
Darwin, it's not you.
It's the computer.
The heat fried it.
We've got to establish a language base again.
No.
Yes.
Man.
Man.
Man, Lucas.
Lucas, man.
Man.
Lucas, man.
Darwin, dolphin.
Darwin, dolphin.
That's it.
Darwin is dolphin, Lucas is man.
That's right.
Darwin is dolphin and Lucas is man.
Darwin is dolphin, Lucas is man.
Turn off the vocorder.
Excuse me, you shouldn't be here.
That dolphin talked.
Who are you? He's here to fix the air conditioning.
Very cool.
What you just saw is a classified experiment.
You will respect that and keep it to yourself.
I'm Lucas Wolenczak.
So it is, pioneer, The Regulator.
You shouldn't hold creatures against their will.
Look who's talking.
He's free.
He goes out to feed.
Lucas.
You're on the edge of the future, Lucas.
Don't let these uniforms stand in your way.
Excuse me, we've got some unfinished business to take care of.
Absolutely superb.
Naturally.
Please wait for full stop.
Bridge.
Thank you for riding Mag-Lev.
Excuse me? Crocker, there's a monkey in the Mag-Lev.
Port or starboard, sir? Starboard.
We're on our way.
Please wait for full stop.
C- Deck.
Thank you for riding Mag-Lev.
Boat.
Boat.
Lion.
Lion.
Ape.
No, this is a cow.
Ape.
Ape.
Ape.
Ape.
Ape! Security to C-Deck.
On the double, grab your sticks.
Lucas, don't move.
Coming.
Get around there.
Be careful now.
Back off! Put down the voltage disk.
They leave first.
Hello, Bridger.
Hello, Leslie.
What are you doing on my boat? Air conditioning repair.
I've come to hard times.
Nobody wants second hand anymore.
You can go back to work.
Thermal chip? I thought that was you, Verne.
You know, continued association with this character is a bad reflection on you.
What else have you got? I'm sorry, sir.
Chief if we've settled up with Mr.
Ferina, please escort him to his vessel.
And make sure that he leaves.
So long, Verne.
Okay, you and your monkey, this way.
He is not a monkey, he is an orangutan.
This way.
Ape.
Son of a He stole my weapon.
Open the doors, don't let him go.
He's separating now, I can't stop him.
Get to a speeder as quick as you can.
Notify the bridge.
Tell them we're in pursuit.
Give me your weapon.
Crocker is in emergency pursuit of civilian vehicle, will advise.
Hey, hey, nice lift, Verne.
I wonder what this thing does.
"Stun safety.
" That's a lot a bulk for a stun gun.
It must be worth something to somebody, huh? We got company, buddy, hang on.
Go to starboard, cut off his path.
He's pulling away.
Leslie, turn back.
Can you hear me, Leslie? Not anymore, Crocker.
Oh, nice guy.
That's just a warning, buster.
Crocker, what are you doing? The Regulator stole my disrupter, sir.
Let him go.
But, Cap, I You'll burn more fuel than the cost of replacing it.
It's the price of doing business with this man.
Cap, I Chief, come home.
Aye, sir.
Disengage.
Great having you, guys.
Stop by anytime, really.
Thank you.
Where are you going? You're coming, too.
Capt.
Bridger wants to talk to you.
Oh? About what? Got your room back, huh? Yeah.
How did you know that guy? Impressed by him, weren't you? He's pretty outrageous.
That's not always a good thing, Lucas.
Then maybe I should put on a jumpsuit and snap to every time you breathe.
What did you say? I think I said, "Yes, sir.
" I think you better call up The Professor.
I thought you all might want to hear this.
I'm curious, too, Nathan.
Of course, please.
Biography, Leslie Ferina.
Leslie Ferina was born in New York City in 1975.
After college.
In 1992, he received a Ph.
D.
in Marine Geophysics from the University of Rhode Island.
17 years old.
Correct, Mr.
Wolenczak.
He was a leading aquanaut of the '90s.
Do we have stored images? Yes.
Leslie Ferina studied experiments conducted at Duke University where mammals took their first breath directly from liquid a saline solution saturated with oxygen.
Duke developed the hemosponge, an artificial gill that extracts air from water.
In 1999, Dr.
Ferina was banished by the legitimate science community after trying to surgically adapt a miniature hemosponge to a mammal to advance his theory of spherical evolution.
In 2002, Dr.
Ferina designed Aqua Sphere 1 the first undersea colony, commonly known as Trench Town due to its failure to attract colonists.
In 2003, his houseboat burned to the waterline.
Subsequently, a suicide note was received by The New York Times.
Not what I'd expected.
Not dead, either.
Might as well be.
A genius whose every effort failed.
And then he fakes a suicide to escape the ridicule of his peers.
I can sympathize with that.
But you knew that he wasn't dead? Well, I bumped into him about six years ago, in a grocery store in Dominica.
I was running away from my own demons at the time, so I was a bit more tolerant.
He developed this bizarre persona didn't have a friend in the world, except for Verne.
What's spherical evolution? He's searching for the center of the universe.
That's spectacular.
Pick your pocket to get it.
Spherical evolution.
This from one of the most promising scientists of his time.
Come on, boy.
Come on.
Come on, boy.
Come on.
All right.
Now just hang tight for a couple of minutes we're gonna pick up some air and head on home.
No mind is as advanced as yours.
Complex communication cycling faster than I can blink.
Send and receive information simultaneously.
Process and respond to it before I can even construct a valid question.
And I'm in the top one percentile of intellectual development based on any acceptable standard of measurement.
Something your species probably surpassed But what really matters here and now is that you can talk.
Speak to me, Darwin, open my eyes.
You see, I have no idea what you're saying.
But you speak English.
Look.
Sphere.
Vertical.
Horizontal.
Center, center.
You know what I'm saying.
Verne, get the tub.
Don't deny me.
You can help me comprehend.
I have fish.
You see? You see, you understand.
You're just toying with me, and don't think I don't know I deserve it.
But I'm only searching for the truth.
Tell me, on the scale of evolution that the truth is beyond my grasp and I can accept that.
Captain.
Darwin is missing.
Since when? Second shift let him out to feed.
I've been calling him all morning.
Could he have encountered a shark? I've got my WSKRS out searching.
We haven't run into a shark big enough to be a threat.
There is a tuna fleet about a 100 miles north.
They say there's safe netting, but How far have we gone since he was let out to feed? Keep calling him.
I don't know what else to do.
Aye, sir.
Well, that's it? You two are just going to keep on working? Yes, Lucas, that's it.
Lucas, I think you might find this interesting.
Yes, well, I would rather find Darwin, okay? Yes, well, listen anyway.
Look.
A sponge lives on microorganisms in the seawater.
A single sponge can pump of water through its pores to extract its daily nutrients.
It's a natural filtration system.
Here, hold this a minute.
Since the water in the moonpool and also in the corridor tubes are drawn from the sea, we're considering the possibility of using sponges to provide a secondary filtering system to help keep the water clean.
For Darwin.
Yes, but since Darwin's gone, maybe I can use this to wash my car.
If I ever get a car.
If I ever get off this whale.
That's enough.
Come with me.
What? Bridger? Yes, sir.
I want Lt.
Krieg in the ward room with his supply binder immediately.
Aye, sir.
Come on.
Come in.
Sir.
I need Leslie's phone number.
Leslie? The Regulator.
Yes, sir.
You think he can help us find Darwin? I think he took Darwin.
Took him, no.
He wouldn't do that.
You've known him for two minutes and you're able to make that judgment? He said it was wrong to keep creatures against their will.
You saw how protective he was with Verne.
Sir.
It's the least he owes Verne.
Speak to me.
Speak to you? I want my dolphin back, Leslie.
He's not your dolphin, Bridger.
He doesn't belong to UEO.
And you have no right to conduct experiments on him.
I know that firsthand and better than you can imagine.
I set him free.
Leslie Lucas, the dolphin information that was in the vocorder was that erased when we blew the chip? Was it? It wasn't erased, it was scattered.
When things got too hot on B-Deck, the program became unglued.
So it's in there somewhere, right? Yes, but it could be in single bytes.
But you're going to find it for me anyway.
Mr.
O'Neill? Yes, sir.
I just made a transmission in the ward room.
I want you and Mr.
Ortiz to isolate a frequency for me.
Yes, sir.
Is there a specific frequency we're looking for? Yes, Darwin's.
He's not your dolphin, Bridger.
He doesn't belong to the UEO.
And you have no right conducting experiments on him.
There's not enough information.
I can't match it with Darwin.
Can't match what? The dolphin.
There's a dolphin? It's faint, but it's there.
I think we better check out The Regulator's operation.
Wait a minute, why would he take Darwin? Spherical evolution.
I want to go! Of course you do.
Come on.
Mars, earplugs.
Earplugs.
What's the matter with you? Tell me something, Lucas.
Are there times when you feel separated from the rest of this crew? More like an observer than a participant? Yes.
All the people I'm with are adults and I'm 16.
Yeah, a very normal 16.
But then there's another part of you.
Now what? Wait a minute I was just saying that the normal Kreig and Ortiz but the more imaginative part of you hangs out with Westphalen.
I think you've got a neural drip you can't shut off.
Some people see that as a behavioral problem.
Probably why your father unloaded you on the seaQuest.
And I'm wondering whether being here contributes to the separation.
Captain, do you want me to leave? Is that it? No.
Did I say that? I want you to listen.
I'm saying that who you are, and what you are and where you are makes you a very smart observer.
I just don't know if you're lonely.
My father put me here so they didn't have to deal with me.
Yes, maybe so.
But I think he was afraid that without the discipline that comes with working with people who have to function well together that you would become some kind of a weird genius.
Too weird for your own good or anyone else's.
Captain, we're coming up on the air lock.
You mean like The Regulator? You got it.
We're about to dock, sir.
You know your likeness is stamped in a Greek coin at the temple of Delphi, the Greeks called Apollo Delphinios.
You sleep with one eye open.
You know things.
Go away, Bridger.
Open up, Leslie.
Leslie! Leslie's dead.
I heard it on the news.
Listen, Mr.
Regulator, open this up or we'll drill it open.
Watch this, tell me the truth, or tell me I'm wrong.
Verne, listen, we've got bananas.
Verne, you'd turn on me for bananas? He's an orangutan, Leslie, what's the big surprise? Darwin.
You stole Darwin.
We're having a conversation.
What's this? Spherical evolution? He tell you I was crazy, too? He told me you were searching for the center of the universe.
That's right.
How can Darwin help you find it? Harmony can only exist in perfection.
And perfection can only be found in the sphere.
The Earth is a sphere, turning on its axis revolving a perfect sphere around the spherical sun like all the spherical planets.
That's incorrect, the planets turn an elliptical path around the sun.
An illusion of nature.
The solar system circles through the galaxy.
And the galaxy circles through the universe eventually ending its journey where it began.
No beginning, no end.
A perfect circle.
And at the center of the circle, the center of the universe is harmony.
And so it is with man.
In order to evolve he must finish where he began.
That is spherical evolution.
I've got a bulletin for you, pal.
This guy here, his name is Mars.
You bought the mainstream, didn't you, pioneer? I don't have to fake suicide to sleep at night.
You're young, there's still time.
How do you justify stealing my dolphin? Spherical evolution, Lucas if you believe that man marched out of the ocean a billion years ago then to complete the circle, he has to march back in again.
Dolphins did.
50 million years ago, they walked on the land.
And then they returned to the sea.
Darwin's ancestors leaped up the ladder of evolution.
And you think by talking to Darwin he's gonna tell you where the center of the universe is? It stands to reason.
He can't talk.
I heard him.
He doesn't speak English, he speaks dolphin.
What is this, Bridger, some kind of military project? Talk to the dolphin, tell him where to plant the bombs? That was you, Leslie.
I've left it behind.
You've still got your feet in it.
You'd sell those to anyone who met your price.
You still got your feet in it.
Now I want you to open up those pool doors.
And let the dolphin go.
We're not finished.
Back off.
Make him talk.
No.
Cover.
What is that thing? It's a sonic stun gun.
It plays havoc with your inner ear, doesn't it? Unless, of course, you happen to be wearing some of these.
How's Verne? He's okay.
Captain, look.
You tried to give him artificial gills.
You still haven't learned to breathe underwater, have you, Verne? That's because you're an orangutan.
And Darwin is still a dolphin, and he doesn't speak English.
But you're trying to do the same thing all over again, aren't you? I heard him talk, it's classified.
Let it go, Leslie.
You have no idea what you heard.
You're wrong, Nathan.
I know exactly what I heard.
But like everything else in my life, what I know doesn't seem to matter.
Go home, Darwin.
You think it's possible that I could end up like him some day? He was 16 once.
Tell him about Darwin.
Please.
Lucas would like you to come back to the seaQuest.
There's someone there he wants you to talk to.
Every step with this program is total R&D.
Basically, I'm flying blind, but it's self modifying.
What's self modifying? It teaches itself.
Once the program has a base language for translation it can begin to instruct itself.
Lucas, let him try it.
I don't know if it's gonna work.
Failure is no stranger in this room.
All right.
Darwin, this is Leslie Ferina.
Leslie Ferina.
Leslie Ferina.
Hello, Darwin.
Can I ask him something? Sure, sure.
Darwin, do you Do you have a sense of history? Do you know why the dolphins returned to the water? Why did the dolphins go back into the water? Dolphin.
Yes.
Swim.
That okay, Leslie? No, no, wait.
Darwin, help me find the center of the universe.
I need to know what's there.
Darwin do you know where the center of the universe is? Yes.
See.
Where is it? Where is the center of the universe? Inside you.
Hello, I'm Bob Ballard, from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
For several years now scientists have been experimenting in the laboratory with liquid breathing by circulating an oxygen rich fluid in and out of the lungs.
One man has used liquid breathing for 45 minutes.
Although the average depth of the ocean is 12,000 feet the deepest a diver has ever been is a little over 2,200 feet.
Join us on the next exciting adventure of seaQuest DSV.

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