Dark Matter
Season 1 – Episode 5
Episode title: Wordless
Original release date: May 29, 2024
Plot: As they learn more about the Box, Jason and Amanda see alternate versions of their lives. Jason2 begins training a potential investor.
* * *
Okay.
[inhales deeply]
[Amanda] We should say it out loud.
[Jason] Okay.
I’m feeling safe and happy…
[sighs]
And warm.
And I just wanna go home.
[Jason grunts, yelps]
[Jason grunting]
[both gasping]
[both gasping, coughing]
How were you actually feeling when you opened that door? [pants]
[breathes heavily] I was feeling overwhelmed.
[stammers] The pressure… Fuck.
I get it.
I get it. All right, let’s… let’s move on.
You pick the next door. [pants]
No. I’m not picking anything right now, and neither are you.
Look at me.
We need to wait this out.
That’s a waste of two ampoules.
[Amanda] No. No.
Taking time to emotionally regulate ourselves is a calculated investment
in both of us continuing to live.
You can’t lie to this thing. It knows.
[Amanda] L.
O.
S.
E.
Jesus Christ. [chuckles]
[Jason] Oh.
[groans] I was… [stammers] I thought you were going for “lost.”
[sighs] How are you so good at this game?
Um… [sighs] …every time my auntie couldn’t watch my brother and I,
my mom would take us to work with her.
There wasn’t much to do, so… [sighs] …we played ghost.
Were you close with your mom?
Sort of.
Wasn’t easy being her daughter.
She had undiagnosed bipolar disorder.
Do you see her much?
Yeah, she still lives in the city.
When I used to wait for my mom,
I used to hustle for change from strangers.
When she was doing chemo?
[sighs]
I don’t like that you know so much about me.
I don’t like that you know nothing about me.
Why did you ask for change?
[chuckles] There was a vending machine at the hospital, and it had a candy in it that I didn’t know where to get anywhere else.
And it was just so good.
Your mom wouldn’t let you have it?
Yeah.
No, she’d let me, but just one.
If I got change from strangers,
I could have as many as I wanted, and she didn’t know.
That’s smart.
[Jason] Mm-hmm.
What was the candy?
It had a yellow wrapper with lots of colors on it, like, uh, confetti.
Butterfinger.
No.
Dots?
No, definitely not.
Peanut M&M’s?
No. I love that, but I can’t have them around ’cause Charlie has an allergy.
[Amanda] Dares?
Dares?
No, we don’t have that in my world.
Hey, who went through before your Jason did?
Um, her name was Blair.
She was our lead engineer for the box.
Yeah. She volunteered the day it went online, then Jason, then two people we found through our anonymous call for participants,
Selam and Alex.
Were you all close?
Yeah.
Well,
maybe they found their dream worlds.
[breathes deeply]
[sighs] S.
T.
[inhaling deeply, grunting]
[Jason breathes heavily]
Hey. Wake up.
[sighs] The drugs have worn off.
We’re back in the box.
But what does it mean for this door?
Do you think the world is already decided?
Well, yeah, we’re not in superposition if the corridor is gone.
So I guess the question is… [sighs] …how did you sleep?
Uh, deeply.
I don’t remember dreaming, but I feel better.
[sigh] Me too.
[breathes shakily] I’m starving.
So, do we open it?
[exhales shakily] I guess we have to.
[Jason] Wait, wait, wait.
[Jason breathes shakily]
[Amanda gasps]
[Jason breathes deeply]
[Amanda sighs]
[Jason sighs]
[Amanda] Fuck this.
Jason.
There’s no one here.
I’m so hungry too.
Let’s just take a look.
Leave the door open, just in case.
I’m gonna check the elevator.
[Amanda] Ah, shit.
What?
Commissary’s locked.
[Jason] The elevator’s not working.
So, what would cause a lockdown like this?
We had protocols in place for certain scenarios.
Like… Like what?
Someone from the outside trying to get in or something coming through the box.
[door opens]
[door hinges creaking]
[Jason whispers] Hello?
[door closes]
[Amanda sighs]
[Jason exhales sharply]
[Jason] Oh.
[Amanda] God.
[machinery powering up]
[electricity pulses]
[skittering]
[Amanda] Let’s go.
Come on.
[Jason] Shit.
[Amanda] I don’t even wanna know what happened here.
[Jason] Works for me.
[Amanda sighs] Wait.
[door opens]
[gasps] Wait. Hold on.
[Amanda breathing heavily]
[Jason shushes]
Make a run on three, two…
[shotgun cocks]
[person] If you move, I start shooting. Hands.
No fucking way.
Blair? [breathes shakily]
Blair?
[inhales sharply, sighs] Mmm.
[crying] Oh, my Go… [chuckles]
[sniffles] You came looking for me.
[Amanda breathes deeply]
It’s… [breathing heavily]
A little more complicated than that.
I… [inhales deeply]
[Blair cries]
[Blair] So, the Jason I know kidnapped you out of your world and then brought you to his so you could have his life and he could have yours?
That is the theory, yeah.
Was that the whole reason that he built the box?
Just to get back to that specific version of Daniela?
[Jason] I don’t know.
Wait, how do you know Blair?
Hey, well, in my world, Blair, I mean, you’re friends with my wife.
But we certainly don’t work together though.
[Blair] What do I do?
Well, you’re a bioethics lawyer.
What, does that shock you?
I applied to law school out of college.
Yeah, I got waitlisted at a place I really wanted to attend, so I went into engineering instead.
[Jason sighs]
This is me.
[skittering sound]
[Amanda sighs]
[Blair sighing]
Hungry?
[Jason] Very.
[Amanda] Yeah.
[Blair] All right.
How’d you find me?
[Amanda] I’m not sure.
I was thinking about you in the box.
Well, on the menu tonight, we have…
Don’t touch that. Don’t. Plea…
Sorry.
Uh, we have chicken and dumplings, lasagna with meat sauce, and chili mac.
Uh, chicken and dumplings.
Chicken and dumplings.
How long have you been living here?
Three months.
[stammers] So what happened?
Uh… [sighs] …it was like this when I arrived, except no power.
But I did get the emergency generators running.
And I logged into the system
{\an8}and I found this.
[Blair sighs]
{\an8}It happened a year ago.
{\an8}[Amanda] That’s you.
Some other version.
[Amanda] What the fuck are those?
[Blair] This world is overrun with whatever these are,
with whatever this other version of me brought back.
Holy shit.
[Jason] What is it?
What do you mean overrun?
[Blair] They multiply exponentially.
So you’ve been up there.
Supply runs.
{\an8}I wear a hazmat suit over layers of clothing,
{\an8}and I’ve avoided the swarm so far.
{\an8}They attack and consume everything,
{\an8}so there’s not much alive up there anymore.
I’m sorry, what the fuck are you still doing here?
This is Velocity. There must be extra ampoules.
Well, whoever survived the initial attack took most of them and left.
[Amanda] We have ampoules.
I have ampoules.
You don’t have to live like…
No, I’m not going back in that fucking box until I’m ready!
[inhales shakily] Okay?
Okay.
[Blair] Okay?
Okay.
[Leighton] So, what’s the craziest world you saw?
[Jason] Oh, this one door I stepped out of had this incredible drought.
Dusty. Scorching hot.
Lake Michigan had turned into basically a desert.
People had broken off into gangs.
They were driving around in caravans of trucks and motorcycles, trying to kill each other. It was crazy.
Jesus.
Yeah.
[chuckles, breathes heavily] You just described the plot of Mad Max.
Huh?
Mad Max. The movie?
What are you talking about?
[exhales sharply] You don’t have Mad Max in your world?
Uh, no.
[stammers] Uh, Road Warrior, huh?
Beyond Thunderdome? Tina Turner?
Tina Turner?
Yeah.
The singer?
What, does she act in this world?
Wow.
[chuckles] Good fucking with ya.
That’s not funny.
[Leighton pants] Seriously.
Why do you need my money, huh?
Ah, come on. Think about it. You have the keys to the multiverse.
You can go on an alternate-reality bank-robbing spree.
No, no, no. Currency is tracked by serial numbers.
They vary from world to world.
You cross over with large amounts of cash, it could get flagged for counterfeit.
Well, that’s just boring.
Hey, listen, you wanna be so careful.
And think through every single decision you make in there.
That box can be a one-way door.
Are you sure you want this?
Yeah. [sighs] Hundred percent.
You know, when I was a kid and there was a video game that I couldn’t beat…
[sighs] …I’d just get the cheat code.
See, it’s fun in the beginning, right?
I’d just zoom through the levels.
And eventually, predictably, I’d get bored.
My life has been like that for as long as I can remember, using money, connections, influence to get what I wanted.
But this box, J, it is not boring.
And it most certainly is something that I cannot cheat, and I get that now.
So let’s go.
Hey, wait, wait.
How are you feeling in this moment?
Right now? [sighs] Excited.
Remember, you always have to be honest when you’re inside the box, especially with yourself.
I’m a little scared.
Hmm. That’s okay.
It’d be weird if you weren’t. [sighs]
[Amanda] Thank you for this.
I still don’t understand why you went into the box.
To save this Jason. Leighton would have killed him.
But where are you trying to go?
You think you’re gonna stay in his world, assuming you ever find it?
I didn’t even think about it. I’m… I’ve just been trying to survive.
There might already be a you there, and he has a family.
Listen, maybe you’ve already figured this out, but you aren’t just homeless, you are worldless.
And the longer you stay in that box, drifting from one fucked up place to the next, the more you will start to crack.
That’s why I’m here, ’cause I was cracking.
I know it feels like this all just started, but time is not on your side.
You have to start figuring out what kind of world you wanna end up in.
And you have to do what’s best for you, not him.
I’m sorry I didn’t prepare you better.
It was my choice to go in.
I wanted to go in.
It’s because of you I’ve survived this long, so stop with this blaming-yourself shit.
[sighs] Come with us.
We might be the last people you ever see.
No.
I’m fine.
I’ll be fine.
[no audible dialogue]
[breathing deeply]
Ready?
[both chuckling]
Hey. Yo.
[Jason] So…
[Leighton exhales sharply]
…you can open doors and walk in and out of worlds.
Any conceivable world?
No, we don’t have access to the entire breadth of the multiverse.
All right.
Okay, so worlds that…
That are adjacent to ours somehow.
Worlds that split off at some point in the recent past, that are next door to ours, that we exist in or existed in.
Okay, so worlds that we were born into.
Exactly.
But wait, wait. What happens if the drug wears off when I’m out the box?
It’ll still be there when you get back.
[Leighton chuckles]
[Jason chuckles]
So, you have the multiverse at your fingertips.
What would you like to see?
[Blair] Hey, I have something for you.
All my notes from my box travels are there.
It’s definitely not for the faint of heart, but maybe it’ll help.
I’d give you some of my ampoules, but I only have a few left.
You sure you won’t come?
I’ll leave when I’m ready.
Take care of yourself.
I know it seems like you can just focus on a world you wanna see and connect to it, but it takes so much more than that.
Everything intrudes.
Fear and stray thoughts, subconscious desire.
For all my training, I could never control it.
[Jason] You okay?
Her life is destroyed.
Your life is destroyed.
The other pilots.
He knew how to come back.
He could’ve helped all of us, stopped the box pilots.
[inhales sharply, sniffles] He could’ve just helped…
so much pain.
I’m sorry.
I just can’t understand how he could become this person.
[sniffles]
You didn’t.
[sniffles]
Are you sure you’re ready?
I just wanna go.
[Amanda sighs]
I think I know how he became that person.
See, when Daniela told me that she was pregnant, she was a little uncertain.
I mean, she kn… she knew that she really wanted to have children, but she wasn’t sure about me, about building a life with someone that just wouldn’t be there all the time.
So, I had to go home and really think about it and just really consider, “Could I… Could I give it all up to have a child with her?”
Spent all night thinking about it, and I swear I saw both paths.
And in the end, I went to her and I convinced her that I was worthy of her and the baby.
And I just think if I hadn’t had done that… if I’d have given up the potential love of my life for a scientific theory,
I would have stopped at absolutely nothing to make sure that I was correct and that I had made the right choice.
And he chose the other path.
Yeah.
And maybe he’s thinking that it wasn’t worth the trade.
[chuckles]
Sorry.
[chuckles, sniffles] It’s okay.
It helps me make sense of it all.
[Jason] See what I mean?
It’s all about keeping your thoughts and your subconscious intentions aligned.
Come on. Let’s go.
Hey, let’s go again. I have an idea of a new world I wanna see.
[Jason] We only have about five minutes left on this dose of the drug.
I don’t need that much time. I’m ready.
Hey, I still gotta get us back to our world.
But you got more ampoules, right?
Yeah, I got 12.
But I’m gonna take us on one more training session, and then I’m gonna leave you with ten ampoules.
But you can get more, right?
Yeah… In theory, yeah.
I mean, I’m not a chemist.
The whole process, it’s… it’s costly and takes a little time.
Okay, listen, listen, listen.
I’m just gonna throw this out there, all right?
When our training is done, I’ll pay you a million dollars for every ampoule you send me off with.
[Jason breathes deeply]
Think about it, all right?
[injector clicks]
[whooshing]
Could you pass me the field journal, please?
I was thinking about what Blair said about how much focus it takes to really control the box.
I was thinking about how I get my students to pay attention.
When you write something down, it’s almost impossible not to put your full attention on it.
You can’t write one thing and think another.
Smart.
So, instead of just thinking of the world you want to see, you’re gonna write it down.
Yeah.
[whooshing]
[Jason grunts]
I think it worked.
Really?
I think it actually worked.
I’ve…
I think this is the place that your Jason took me the night he abducted me.
It was dark and I was drugged, but… No, I’ve… I’ve been in this room.
[breathing heavily]
There! [breathes heavily] There!
When I was losing consciousness, I sat right there!
[sniffles] He asked me…
if I was happy with my life.
Are you sure this is it?
This is my world.
Hey, come on.
[Amanda pants]
Let’s go back.
I have to go see my home.
How do we learn to control the box if we don’t explore where it takes us?
[Amanda] Okay.
[cat meowing, purring]
[Jason] Hey!
Found one.
I don’t like this.
Something is very wrong here.
[Jason sniffles]
[seat belt unfastens]
[Amanda sighs]
Please hurry.
[doorknob jiggles]
[knocking]
[exhales sharply]
[door unlocks]
[Jason] Daniela?
[Daniela] Jason. [exhales sharply]
What’s happened?
They carried you out.
They told me you would die.
[Jason breathes shakily]
I don’t wanna get you sick. [exhales sharply]
[Jason sighs]
Where’s… Where’s Charlie?
He’s still up in his room.
No one’s come to take him yet.
[sighs]
[Amanda] Jason!
[stutters] I…
Hey! [stammers]
[soldier] Whoa, whoa, whoa.
What are you doing outside?
Whoa.
My… My wife’s inside. She’s really sick.
[chattering on radio]
[Jason] My s-son is dead.
Well, you’ve got the colors properly displayed.
Somebody’ll be along to help you soon.
No, no, no.
[soldier] No, stay back.
She needs help now!
Stay back.
Stay back.
It’s okay.
I’m Dr. Springer. May I see her?
Yeah, downstairs. Inside.
Jay, test them.
Thank you.
Hi, I’m Dr. Quayle.
I’m gonna give you a rapid test.
Give me your wrist.
[groans]
[groans]
You’re negative.
For what?
I need your wrist.
Hey, seriously…
[stammering] She…
Stay right here. Stay here.
[Dr. Quayle] You’re clear as well.
Doctor, can you get her to a hospital?
All hospitals and triage centers have been at capacity for weeks.
And it wouldn’t matter. Once the eyes hemorrhage, the end is near.
I don’t know about you, but I’d rather die in my own home than on a cot in a FEMA tent. I’m sorry.
Hey, there’s gotta be something you can do. Please.
Go grab this gentleman some auto-injectors.
Just fucking do it, Jay.
The virus isn’t airborne. It spreads through body fluids.
Don’t touch her.
She won’t make it through the night.
[Jason] What is this?
[Dr. Springer] This is morphine.
If you give her all five at once, she’ll slip away.
Don’t wait. The last eight hours are brutal.
Let’s go.
[engine starts]
[vehicle doors close]
Jason.
I’ve gotta… She’s my wife.
She’s my wife.
But in this world, she isn’t.
[Jason sighs]
If you catch whatever she has, you will never see your real wife ever again.
This isn’t your world.
We don’t belong here.
Yeah.
Fuck.
They won’t take me?
No.
[Jason sniffles]
[clicks tongue]
[grunts]
[sniffles] They gave me these.
To help me?
To make it all end.
[Daniela inhales sharply]
Okay.
[exhales sharply]
[inhales sharply]
But I missed you so much.
[sobbing]
I missed you too.
But I’m here now.
[Daniela breathes shakily]
[sniffling, sobbing]
[Jason shudders]
Do you remember that? That day?
Yellowstone.
[Daniela sniffles]
We ate at that place.
Charlie had the buffalo burger.
[chuckles]
Pretended to like it.
[Daniela chuckles]
And… [sighs]
…there was that view from our table. [sighs]
The mountains.
[Daniela] And the sun was setting behind them.
And then after, we went outside.
All the stars.
That day was perfect.
They all were…
All of ’em. [breathes shakily]
[breathing shakily, sniffling]
[Jason crying]
[sniffling]
[Amanda sighs] Sore all over.
There’s some good news: Test is negative.
[Amanda] Are you okay?
I just keep thinking about her…
Charlie up in his room.
[sighs] Look,
I know it’s hard, but the question you should be thinking about… we both should be thinking about… is why did you bring us to that world?
All I wrote was, “I want my family.”
[Amanda] But you carried baggage through the door.
You carried your worst fear: Not just losing your family, but losing them to illness.
The same way you lost your mom.
We were just talking about it yesterday, remember?
But why would I seek out a world like that?
Why do people marry versions of their controlling mothers or absent fathers?
To have a shot at fixing things as an adult that hurt them as a child.
Maybe it doesn’t make sense at a surface level, but the subconscious marches to its own beat.
I think that world taught us a lot about how the box works.
So far, so good.
Let’s see.
It looks right.
It’s… I mean, this might be it.
What if it is?
Hey.
Hey.
Are you going to bed?
Been kind of a long day.
[spits]
[water running]
[Jason] I should go in alone.
What are you gonna do if he’s in there?
Can I say something?
[Daniela] Sure.
[Jason] I know what I did.
I didn’t talk to you about Charlie’s car or quitting Lakemont.
Or the investor thing.
Yeah, you didn’t talk to me about any of it.
[Jason] Yeah.
And it was super weird when you missed our time by the tree.
And you picked the car by yourself.
I was just trying to surprise you both.
I love you.
I want you to live the life you wanna live, but what does that mean?
Really, where am I in that?
You’re everywhere.
[Daniela] No, I’m not in these decisions that you’ve made.
And you know you can talk to me, right?
You know you can talk to me about anything.
All right.
What do you wanna know?
Who’s your investor?
Do you remember Leighton Vance?
From years ago?
You have a deal with him?
Yeah. Well, we’re close.
That means it’s not real.
Not 100%, no.
Okay, what percent real is it?
It’s 85, 90.
Just gotta close the deal, and when we do, I… I mean, we’re talking millions.
[indistinct speaking]
[Daniela gasps]
[audiobook narrator speaking]
Where is he?
Charlie!
[Jason] Hey.
Go next door!
[Jason] Where is he?
[audiobook narrator continues speaking]
Oh, shit.
Honey, I can explain everything.
Where… Daniela!
Stay there! Stay there!
Daniela.
Hey, I’m… I’m…
Stay there.
I’m not gonna hurt you. I’m… The… The knife is f…
[operator] 911, what’s your emergency?
[stammers] I… Daniela, it’s me!
[Daniela] Yes, it’s my ex-husband.
He’s supposed to be in prison, and he showed up at my house with a knife.
What?
Daniela Vargas.
44 Eleanor Street.
Hey… [groaning]
[Charlie grunting]
[Daniela] No! No!
[Charlie] Got him.
[Jason grunts]
[Jason] Charlie.
[Charlie grunts]
[Daniela] No!
[Jason] Please. I’m…
I got it wrong. I got it wrong.
[operator] Are you still there, ma’am?
[Jason] I’m… I’m gonna leave.
[Daniela] Let him go.
[Jason] I’m gonna leave.
Don’t ever come back here.
Whatever I did, I’m sorry.
[Charlie] Do you understand me?
Get out!
I love you.
I love you.
[approaching sirens wailing]
Was he inside?
[Jason] We gotta go.
What?
The sirens are for me.
What?
[Jason] Come on.
What happened?
[siren blaring]
[Jason] Fuck.
We need to get back to the box.
I don’t think it’s safe for us to catch the train.
Cab?
No, it’s… it’s too risky.
Wha… What we need is a friend, someone in this world that we can trust.
Come on.
[Jason] Who?
[door hinges creaking]
[Amanda speaks Portuguese]
[speaks Portuguese]
[door closes]
Car keys.
[speaks Portuguese]
[speaks Portuguese, gasps]
[sighs, speaks Portuguese]
[speaks Portuguese]
[both speaking Portuguese]
[Jason whispers] Amanda.
Hey.
[speaking Portuguese, gasping]
Hi.
{\an8}[Jason] You might wanna just give her a hug and leave.
[speaking Portuguese, whimpering]
[both speaking Portuguese]
Okay.
[door opens]
[door hinges creaking]
[door closes]
[Amanda] That was so fucked up.
[Jason] What did you say to her?
Um… [sighs] …I told her that I’m in a good place,
that I’m happy and… and that I miss her.
Well, you gave her hope.
You think so?
[Jason] Yeah.
And then you stole her car.
[both laughing]
Shit.
[Amanda] Aren’t you curious about what you did in this world?
I would be.
Not remotely.
Really?
You’re not curious about what you’re capable of?
I’m terrified of what I’m capable of.
Guess that’s something I forgot to write down for this world, huh?
Look at you.
What?
We’re learning.
[Jason scoffs]
{\an8}[alarms beeping]
[flashlight clicks off]
[door opens]
Dr. Dessen?
[Jason sighs]
Doctor? Is that really you?
[sighs] What happened, Mara?
[Mara] Another Jason came here.
Amanda went with him into the box, and then Leighton followed.
And when… How long ago?
Several days. [breathes deeply]
Whose blood is this?
[Mara] Dawn’s.
[Jason] Go back to work, Mara.
Wha… What’s it like in there?
It’s hell.
[Leighton] Hey!
You went in without me?
Just running an errand.
[Leighton] All right.
How many did you get?
Fifty.
[Leighton] You got 50?
[chuckling] All right, listen.
Okay, after you train me up, send me off, then what?
Then you’re on your own, my friend.
[sighs] No. I meant what’s next for you?
I have to seal up the box.
Don’t worry.
Only in this world.
