Original release date: November 9, 2022
By breaking a water pipe and flooding his work floor, Cassian disables the floor’s security system, allowing work crews there to overpower the few guards and escape. Kino uses the prison’s intercom system to encourage other floors to escape and the rebellion sweeps through the entire prison. Despite his role in the escape, Kino reveals that he can’t swim and must remain in the prison surrounded by water. Cassian swims with the other escapees and reaches land. Mon meets with Davo Sculdun, a shady businessman who offers to help finance her projects, but Mon refuses after Davo requests that Mon arrange a meeting between her daughter and his son, an initial step towards marriage in Mon and Davo’s Chandrilan culture. ISB supervisor Lonni Jung, secretly a rebel informant, meets Luthen and updates him on the ISB’s activities. The two men reflect on how they are both trapped in their roles.
* * *
TAGA: Something’s wrong on Two.
Something’s really wrong on Two.
Look at me.
It takes a week for one word to get all the way up here.
You’re panicking about something that’s happening on the other side of the building!
You think they’re listening?
Like you would know.
I know this.
They don’t need to care.
All they need to do is turn this floor on twice a day and keep their numbers rolling.
MON: I need a loan.
You have someone in mind.
It’s not a long list.
And yet you’re afraid to say who it is.
Davo Sculdun.
He is not a banker.
He’s a thug.
(MAARVA WHEEZING)
Your breathing sounds weak.
The doctor was here yesterday. (WHEEZING)
You really don’t know where he is?
KINO: New man on the floor!
Hold your positions!
I have a new idea.
(ELECTRICAL BUZZING)
(PRISONER GRUNTING)
(WHOOSHING)
LUTHEN: Anto Kreegyr.
I want you to meet him.
Anto Kreegyr?
LUTHEN: He’s been probing the Imperial power station at Spellhaus.
We’ve got a rebel pilot in custody. One of Anto Kreegyr’s group.
We don’t think Kreegyr knows he’s gone missing yet.
What if we foul the ship?
Have the pilot found dead in the cockpit.
Make it so. Top priority. Quickly and carefully.
We leave no trace.
KINO: What, you can’t save him?
There’s nothing to save.
He’s had a massive stroke.
What happened down on Two?
A man who was just released on Four ended up back on Two the next day.
Word got out on the floor, and then they killed them all.
No one’s getting out, are they?
Not now.
Not after this.
(ZIPPER CLOSING)
(WHIRRING)
CASSIAN: We need to go tomorrow.
(BREATHES HEAVILY)
Tomorrow?
You heard me.
Go where?
Anywhere.
It has to be tomorrow.
Tomorrow.
We can’t wait.
We’ll never have a better chance.
You sound insane.
No, listen to me.
They don’t have enough guards, and they know it.
They’re afraid. Right now, they’re afraid.
Afraid? (YELLS) Afraid of what?
They just killed a hundred men to keep them quiet.
What would you call that?
I’d call that power.
Power? Power doesn’t panic.
Five thousand men are about to find out they’re never leaving here alive.
(SCOFFS) Don’t you think that worries them upstairs?
Whatever we’re making here, it’s clearly something they need.
(SHUDDERS) They can’t afford to be surprised again.
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
(ALARM BLARING)
There’ll never be less guards than tomorrow. You know that.
On-Program.
Everyday we wait, they get stronger.
It might be wise to have a plan.
We have a plan.
Oh, what? You and Birnok and Melshi?
You don’t have time to be stupid!
Come on!
The plan works around the new man coming down.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
They’ll replace Ulaf tomorrow.
That might not happen again until it’s too late.
I’d rather die trying to take them down than die giving them what they want.
(ALARM CONTINUES BLARING)
We won’t have a better chance.
It has to be tomorrow.
Program.
ANNOUNCER: Home Blue, proceed directly to your cell.
Keef, where is he?
CASSIAN: He’s dead.
MAN 1: He didn’t make it?
MAN 2: What happened?
MAN 1: He’s dead. Can’t you see that?
MAN 3: Who was it?
MAN 1: Ulaf, the old guy.
New man tomorrow.
JEMBOC: What’s going on?
CASSIAN: Tell them.
MAN 1: Collapsed in the walk way.
Tell them!
TAGA: Tell us what?
XAUL: What happened?
A doctor came out.
XAUL: He didn’t do much, did he?
CASSIAN: Kino?
ANNOUNCER: We will have immediate facility compliance or we will begin activating floors without warning.
TAGA: Keef! Floor!
(FLOOR POWERING UP)
(ELECTRICAL BUZZING)
XAUL: What’s going on?
The doctor told us what happened down on Two.
It’s true, isn’t it?
They fried the whole bridge.
It is worse than that.
It’s why.
MAN 1: Louder.
CASSIAN: He said they made a mistake, and sent back a man who’d just been released.
They fried two shifts to keep it quiet.
JEMBOC: You heard him say this?
MAN 2: How would he know?
MAN 3: I don’t believe it.
(EXHALES)
MAN 3: He’s a doctor, they would never tell…
No one is getting out!
It’s true.
(SMACKS LIPS) The rumors are true.
MAN: He said it’s true.
They’re not letting us go.
(PRISONERS CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY)
Ever.
(INHALES) We’re gonna die here, or in the next place.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
So let’s get out heads back in our cells, and start figuring this out.
(PRISONERS CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY)
LAGRET: Kreegyr’s men took the bait.
They’re asking for a landing bay.
They found it?
They’re towing it, sir.
“Pilot dead. Ship adrift. Port of origin unknown. Kafrene Rescue Salvage reports unresponsive, GPE 7000. Operator appears to have frozen following hydraulic failure on hyperspace re-entry.”
LAGRET: It worked.
Now we hang back and wait.
Suggestion, sir?
Yes.
I don’t think we should step away.
Go on.
We should do what we normally do.
Unidentified ship, dead pilot. We’d want to take a look, wouldn’t we?
Let’s assume Kreegyr’s watching.
The least suspicious thing to do would be to take an interest.
That is exactly what we will do.
(DOOR WHIRRING)
(THUDDING)
(PRISONERS GROANING)
KINO: Listen up!
We are done with counting shifts.
There is only then and now.
There is only one way out.
Play it how you want.
But I’m gonna assume I’m already dead, and take it from there.
There’s no sense in warning the night shift.
They’ll hear about it one way or another soon enough.
Let’s make it look good.
(ELECTRICAL BUZZING)
ANNOUNCER: New protocol announcement.
All skybridge transfers will be On-Program and silent until further notice.
Any shift not in full compliance will be punished collectively.
On-Program now.
On-Program!
(DRILLING)
JEMBOC: And turn.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Ready?
MELSHI: Yeah.
(CASSIAN GRUNTS)
(INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER)
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)
(JEZZI PANTING)
Doctor Mullmoy, (SNIFFS) we’re just not sure what to do.
She needs her meds, she knows it, but we caught her hiding them now, and when I asked her what she thought she was up to she said your pills put her off of food, and she’d rather keep eating than let you keep pretending.
DR. MULLMOY: Okay, where is she?
MAN: It’s over there.
Got it. Thanks.
DAVO: I was here once, 30 years ago.
I’d just left Chandrila, and my boss at the time thought I’d enjoy seeing it.
TAY: Has it changed much?
I can’t tell.
Didn’t pay enough attention.
Suppose I thought I’d be coming back regularly.
It’s State property.
The rules are strict on décor. Our choices for change are limited.
It’s a bit old, isn’t it?
I like new.
I know it’s tasteless and cliché, but one of the indulgences of great wealth is freedom from other people’s opinions.
You’ve made your point.
Yes, everyone says you’re very direct.
The Senator has many obligations, she’s learned to manage her time accordingly.
I like when things are clear.
But then I always get to thinking, what’s around the corner?
Mmm, your curiosity has clearly been profitable.
DAVO: I’ve met your husband several times.
I’m sure.
(DAVO CHUCKLES)
I take it that’s not a corner we’re turning in this conversation.
It is not.
Many cultures don’t fully appreciate the clarity of the Chandrilan marriage.
Even our own people are confused at times.
Boundaries can be liberating.
The old ways have value.
Good.
We understand each other.
So, searching for a more fluid banking situation, are we?
We’ve discussed all this, Davo.
I’d like to hear her say it.
Yes.
We’re exploring alternative financing arrangements for our foundation.
As Tay has no doubt already told you, we’ve reached a scale in our holdings that permits a great variety of transactions to be bundled in ways that make outside observation impossible.
Yes, I’ve been informed.
What’s unfortunate is that people such as yourself, those with immaculate reputations, sometimes feel that by taking advantage of the opportunity they’re somehow tarnished.
The money is yours.
Family wealth is a thing to be proud of and you ought to be able to move it as you like with your privacy intact.
The Empire’s new regulations, made without Senate consultation, I might add, are as cumbersome as they are avoidable.
They’ve made a game of it and we play.
This is a charitable fund we’re establishing.
DAVO: So I’ve been told.
What will it cost?
My fee?
We assume it’s a percentage of funds transferred.
I want no fee.
Money means very little to me at this point.
Charity, isn’t it?
I insist.
DAVO: And I refuse.
Please take no offense, I’d prefer not to owe any favors.
I’d feel far more comfortable paying you for your trouble.
A drop of discomfort may be the price of doing business.
(DAVO SIGHS)
Let’s have it.
I’d like a return invitation.
I’d like to come back here at least once.
I’m sure that’s something (CHUCKLES) that can be arranged.
DAVO: I have a 14-year-old son.
I’d like to bring him with me.
You can’t be serious.
I’m not asking for betrothal.
Then what are we talking about?
An introduction.
Your daughter is 13. She’ll soon come of age.
Two young people.
Attractive and privileged Chandrilan citizens.
What makes you think I approve of that tradition?
Our position sometimes makes decisions for us, don’t you find, Senator?
Neither of us have lived a life that encourages nonconformity.
Is that your only offer?
I’m afraid so.
Tay will see you out.
Of course.
(DAVO SIGHS)
DAVO: It’s a lot to think about.
I’m not thinking about it.
That’s the first untrue thing you’ve said.
It’s been a pleasure.
(WHIRS)
(SHUDDERING)
(DEVICE WHIRRING)
There was a mark on the fountain.
Could be anything.
That’s what I thought, so I went to the stairs.
The rail was gone.
A clean break. Fresh.
He wants a meeting, face to face.
There goes the day.
KLEYA: I don’t like it.
Not now, I don’t like the timing.
You don’t like anything.
(SIGHS) At the very least you need to let me go.
Take the Fondor, go to safety and I’ll take care of it.
You know that’s not happening.
Stop wasting time.
It’s been a year.
I’m surprised he waited this long.
Then if it’s a trap?
Oh, if it’s a trap, we’ve already lost.
JEMBOC: Hands away.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Are we really doing this?
You’re still on board?
I want out. Don’t care how.
I’m dead. I’m dead.
Hey, hey, hey!
I’m pretending to be dead.
(BREATH TREMBLING)
Don’t die until you put up a fight.
One way out.
Come on!
Keep it moving!
Come on!
(DRILLING)
Pick it up.
(PRISONERS CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY)
Right now, I’m two racks behind!
And we are not gonna close out the shift like that!
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(SCRAPING)
Stop right there.
On-Program. Hands on your head. Eyes front. Feet down.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
KINO: Keep it moving!
(PANTING)
(SOFTLY) Come on, come on.
KINO: Come on!
(GRUNTING)
(GRUNTS)
Step forward, move, stop there.
(ELECTRICAL BUZZING)
Zap-rod.
If I have to use this, you’ll remember it, yes? Yes?
We owe a check on Three.
GUARD 1: Do that now.
We’re already behind.
Stepping off.
GUARD 2: You’re good.
GUARD 3: I said eyes front.
(ELECTRICAL BUZZING)
Where is he?
Are they even watching?
Calm down.
How?
I thought you were dead already.
(GRUNTING)
(PIPES CREAKING)
(GRUNTING)
New man ready on 5-2-D, requesting unit override.
How’s it looking out there?
GUARD 4: Copy that, coming up.
Looks good.
(DRILLING, WHIRRING)
Okay, go.
(WHISTLES)
(CASSIAN GRUNTS)
(PIPES CREAKING)
(GRUNTING)
(SCRAPING)
(GRUNTS)
(GRUNTS)
(GRUNTING)
(ALARM SOUNDING)
(SOFTLY) Oh, no.
(GRUNTS)
ANNOUNCER: On-Program.
(ALARM CONTINUES)
(DOOR WHIRS)
(GRUNTING)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(BREATH TREMBLING)
(ALARM CONTINUES)
ANNOUNCER: On-Program.
New man on the floor. Everyone hold positions.
KINO: New man on the floor!
Hold your positions!
Lift engaged.
(LIFT CLICKS)
(LIFT WHIRRING)
What’d you say to me?
HAM: I said nothing.
If you wanna say something, you should say it now.
You start…
(BOTH YELLING)
Hey! You lot, back on program!
(PRISONERS YELLING INDISTINCTLY)
You lot, back on program!
Get back on program!
(GRUNTS)
(RATTLES)
Whoa, what’s going on? What’s that?
KINO: Now!
(ELECTRICITY CRACKLING)
(AIR HISSING)
What’s going on out there?
Go! Go!
Clear the target.
What are you doing?
(ELECTRICAL BUZZING)
(CREAKING)
(THUDDING)
(GROANS)
(ELECTRICAL BUZZING)
(GRUNTING)
(PRISONER GRUNTS)
PRISONER 1: Come on! Help them!
PRISONER 2: Let’s go!
Attack!
(PRISONERS ROARING)
(GRUNTS)
(BIRNOK YELLS)
(BLASTERS FIRING)
(PRISONERS YELLING)
(YELLS, GRUNTING)
Spark the floor! Spark the floor!
Get on the tables! Get up on the tables!
GUARD: Spark the floor!
(ELECTRICAL BUZZING)
(PRISONER SCREAMING)
(PRISONERS SCREAMING)
PRISONER 1: Talk to me!
-(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(CLICKING BUTTON FRANTICALLY)
PRISONER 2: Right, are you all right?
PRISONER 3: You all right? You good?
PRISONER 4: I’m okay.
Attack!
(PRISONERS YELLING)
We have a situation on 5-2-D.
Repeat, we have a situation…
(BLASTERS FIRING)
(PRISONERS SCREAMING)
(GRUNTING)
No! Xaul!
PRISONER 5: Come on!
(BLASTERS FIRING)
GUARD: Hey!
(GRUNTS, GROANS)
They’re down!
KINO: Come on! Climb!
(PRISONERS YELLING)
KINO: We’re in!
(GUARD GRUNTS)
(GUARD GRUNTS)
(ALARM BLARING)
(PANTING)
PRISONER 6: Right.
Gimme a hand.
MAN: That’s it. Go.
(DRILLING, WHIRRING)
PRISONER 1: Got it.
PRISONER 2: Hey, did you see that?
PRISONER 3: Yeah, hold up.
PRISONER 4: What’s that?
PRISONER 5: Where’s that coming from?
(PRISONERS YELLING)
Hand it off.
CASSIAN: Move!
(BLASTERS FIRING)
Kino, come on!
KINO: We need to hold the level!
Let someone else do that.
HAM: Go! Go!
CASSIAN: Blow the consoles!
Keep the doors open!
GUARD: What’s going on down there?
I’m not sure, Sir…
GUARD: I’m looking at a water break.
I’ve got service warnings on every panel.
GUARD: Get over there and check it out. Now.
Check out 5-2-D. Now!
PRISONER 1: Let’s go. Okay.
PRISONER 2: Go, go.
Jemboc!
JEMBOC: Taga, come on, let’s go!
Let’s go!
GUARD: Let’s go. Fall in. Come on.
Go! Go! Go!
(BLASTERS FIRING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(GUARD SCREAMING, GRUNTS)
One way out!
Come and fight!
What?
(PANTING)
(BUZZING)
HAM: Come on.
(PRISONERS CHEERING)
(CASSIAN PANTING)
(BLASTERS FIRING)
(PANTS)
Ah!
We’re leaving! Join us!
Climb! Use whatever you can!
(BLASTERS FIRING)
Go!
ANNOUNCER: This is a facility-wide emergency announcement.
Complete program protocol will commence in 40 seconds.
Any deviation or failure to comply will result in unit-wide activation.
Start the count.
Count engaged.
ANNOUNCER: How much longer to find the water break?
Techs waiting for a secure floor.
Isolate Five.
TECH: Locked in.
5-5, 5-3, 5-6. Burn a firewall around it.
Fry the whole Level. Make the epicenter 5-2.
Too late.
There’s nobody there.
You shouldn’t be here.
Turn it off.
ANNOUNCER: Excuse me?
KINO: Turn it off!
That could mean so many things.
(GRUNTS)
I… I’ll turn it off.
CASSIAN: Step away.
Now!
Shut down the floors. Everywhere.
Do it.
CASSIAN: No.
Don’t just turn it off.
Cut the power.
It’s all hydro.
Once we turn it off it takes months to get it back up and running ag…
I don’t have it.
He has the Hydro Gens.
(ELECTRICITY POWERING DOWN)
(WHIRRING)
(PRISONERS CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY)
(ELECTRICITY POWERING UP)
That’s the backup power supply.
Get out of there.
There.
With him.
Move!
On-Program! Now!
All yours.
Kino.
(DIGITAL BEEPING)
Tell them what to do.
It has to be you.
Come on, Kino.
You do this every day.
Tell them what to do.
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
My name is Kino Loy.
I’m the day shift manager on Level Five.
I’m speaking to you from the command center on Level Eight.
We are, at this moment, in control of the facility.
(BREATHES HEAVILY)
Is that the best you got?
How long we hang on, how far we get, how many of us make it out, all of that is now up to us.
We have deactivated every floor in the facility.
All floors are cold.
Wherever you are right now, get up, stop the work.
Get out of your cells, take charge and start climbing.
They don’t have enough guards and they know it.
If we wait until they figure that out, it’ll be too late.
(SHUDDERS)
We will never have a better chance than this and “I would rather die trying to take them down than giving them what they want.”
We know they fried a hundred men on Level Two.
We know that they are making up our sentences as we go along.
We know that no one outside here knows what’s happening.
And now we know, that when they say we are being released, we are being transferred to some other prison to go and die and that ends today!
There is one way out.
Right now, the building is ours.
You need to run, climb, kill!
-(PRISONERS YELLING)
KINO: You need to help each other.
You see someone who’s confused, someone who is lost, you get them moving and you keep them moving until we put this place behind us.
There are 5,000 of us.
If we can fight half as hard as we’ve been working, we will be home in no time.
One way out!
One way out!
One way out!
(PRISONERS CHANTING) One way out!
KINO: One way out! One way out!
(PRISONERS CHANTING) One way out! One way out! One way out…
CASSIAN: Come on!
Let’s get out of here!
(PRISONERS CONTINUE CHANTING)
(SOFTLY) Quiet.
(PRISONERS CONTINUE CHANTING)
One way out!
Whatever happens now, we made it!
What’s wrong?
Can’t swim.
What?
What did he say?
I can’t swim!
(SIGHS)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(ALIENS CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY)
(WHOOSHING)
(DIGITAL BEEPING)
(DEVICE BEEPING)
LUTHEN: If this is a trap, press the buttons for 215.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
LUTHEN: We’ll have privacy.
We’re running express.
(THUDDING)
First of all, congratulations.
On what?
LUTHEN: Your daughter.
Healthy. Beautiful. You must be pleased.
(RATTLING, THUDDING)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
Is that meant to scare me?
LUTHEN: Well, it’s been a year since we’ve had a chance to catch up.
You’ve become a father.
It’s not worth mentioning?
It’s not fair.
You knowing.
Watching me.
Do you ever think how it might feel from my side?
LUTHEN: I think about you constantly.
(RATTLES)
Why are we here tonight, Lonni?
There’s a new supervisor rising.
Dedra Meero.
She’s focused on a suspect she’s calling Axis.
She thinks he’s building a rebel network.
She started looking into stolen Imperial Naval equipment and now she’s looking for a link to Aldhani.
LUTHEN: Dedra Meero.
There was an incident on Ferrix a few months ago.
She thinks there’s a link. She’s been tearing the place apart.
They’re searching for a thief and the middleman.
LUTHEN: Huh. “Axis.”
She’s gathering interest. Partagaz likes her.
LUTHEN: Well, this is good.
Encourage this.
(STATIC)
Why is this good?
LUTHEN: Because she’s wasting time.
(THUDDING, RATTLING)
You had nothing to do with Aldhani?
LUTHEN: Well, almost nothing. We were invited, but declined.
They got lucky. We don’t build on luck.
But this can’t be why you’re here.
(GULPS, SHUDDERS)
She just captured a Rebel pilot running supplies for Anto Kreegyr.
They turned him immediately and staged an accident.
We know that there’s a raid planned on the power station at Spellhaus.
If Kreegyr attacks, they’ll be waiting.
LUTHEN: And if he doesn’t, they’ll know something’s amiss.
They’ll be slaughtered.
LUTHEN: It’s 50 men.
You’re worth more than that.
You have to warn them.
LUTHEN: To what end?
Ruin everything?
What better way to reassure the ISB there’s no leak in security than sacrificing Kreegyr.
I’m doing this for you as much as anything.
(ELECTRICAL BUZZING)
(THUDDING)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(WHIRRING)
(DIGITAL BEEPING)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
Tell me why we’re really here today, Lonni?
I can’t do this anymore.
I’m a father now.
I had no idea how it would feel.
We took a vow.
I’m giving you Dedra Meero.
I’m giving you Spellhaus.
I’m warning you about Ferrix. I’m honoring my vow.
I’ve been working my way through there for six years.
Working my way up.
Alone.
So, what was your plan?
Gather a big basket of goodies for me as a farewell gift?
What were you planning to tell the ISB?
My health.
My wife’s family has an import business.
Even as you say the words, you know it’s impossible.
We can’t let you go, Lonni.
We can’t spare you.
We’ve been grooming you for too long.
And yes, you’ve been alone, but your career has profited greatly from information that we’ve provided.
Information that cost me dearly.
You love your daughter.
Kreegyr’s men will be dying to make sure she has a father.
You’re trapped, Lonni.
There’s no pleasure in saying it but you’re going nowhere.
My sacrifice?
It means nothing to you, does it?
I said I think of you constantly and I do.
Your investment in the Rebellion is epic.
A double life? Every day a performance?
The stress of that?
We need heroes, Lonni, and here you are.
And what do you sacrifice?
Calm.
Kindness. Kinship.
Love.
I’ve given up all chance at inner peace.
I’ve made my mind a sunless space.
I share my dreams with ghosts.
I wake up every day to an equation I wrote 15 years ago from which there’s only one conclusion, I’m damned for what I do.
My anger, my ego, my unwillingness to yield, my eagerness to fight, they’ve set me on a path from which there is no escape.
I yearned to be a savior against injustice without contemplating the cost and by the time I looked down there was no longer any ground beneath my feet.
What is my sacrifice?
I’m condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them.
I burn my decency for someone else’s future.
I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I’ll never see.
And the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror or an audience or the light of gratitude.
So what do I sacrifice?
Everything!
You’ll stay with me, Lonni.
I need all the heroes I can get.
(CLICKING, WHOOSHING)
(PANTING)
(CASSIAN AND MELSHI PANTING)
