Original release date: October 28, 2022
* * *
[♪ ♪]
[Burton] They have no idea who they just picked a fight with.
[Wilf] This is London…
[♪ ♪]
…but London 70 years from what you think of as the present.
You’re inside what we call a Peripheral.
Telepresent.
Piloting that body as if it were your own.
I’m thinking you should probably tell me why people are trying to come and kill me and my family.
Let me show you.
[Flynne] Burton, get up here right now.
[♪ ♪]
I can see, Flynne.
Mama.
I can see you.
[chuckling softly]
[♪ Chris Stapleton: “Outlaw State of Mind”]
♪ Cut my teeth on Daddy’s old LGO ♪
♪ And I lost my mind ♪
♪ Somewhere in New Mexico ♪
♪ And TW put a snake on my back…
Two-inch polymer on those windows.
Kevlar plates in the door panels.
Run-flat tires. Thermal night vision.
Electrified door handles.
Spike and smoke deployment from the rear.
Explosive-proof gas tanks.
All I need is a quick scribble right here, and we are done… and done.
You go and get religion on us, Corbell?
[Corbell] Yeah, sometimes, Tut, a man reaches a point, realizes he’s got to make a change.
I mean, to his core.
And it appears I’ve arrived at that frightful juncture.
Know those billboards I got, road into town?
Taking ’em down.
Putting up these crosses in their place.
Promoting a… a different sort of venture.
[CJ] You stop selling cars, how do we get these serviced?
I’m gonna give you a lifetime guarantee, CJ.
For the rest of your lives.
Something goes wrong?
I’ll fix these for free.
[scoffs]
You know I’m true to my word.
Let’s shake on it.
♪ I’ve been higher than a Georgia pine…
Here.
Hop on in. See how they feel.
There you go, boys.
Here. Allow me.
Step right on in.
Feels pretty good, doesn’t it?
You good?
See how that feels.
[doors locking]
[♪ ♪]
[muffled] It’s not working?
What’s he saying?
Well, it appears that these vehicles aren’t starting up for our friends.
Windows and doors aren’t opening either.
Which is unfortunate.
Locked car, day like today.
Any idea how hot it can get?
No, sir.
[Corbell] Hundred and forty degrees.
Takes about an hour.
Come here!
I looked it up.
[Tut] Let us out!
Should I let them out?
[Corbell] You know what I love best about the U.S. military?
The way they coin phrases.
When the leadership of an enemy makes the mistake of gathering in one place, we drop a bomb on them.
Open the door!
[Corbell] Call it a… “decapitation strike.”
[knocking on glass]
Has a real poetic ring, doesn’t it?
[muffled gunshots]
[Corbell chuckles]
[muffled] What the fuck?!
Tut had his doubts, I guess, about that glass being bulletproof.
[knocking on glass]
[Tut] Come on, man, I can’t fuckin’ breathe!
Spray some water on ’em.
[Tut] Piece of shit!
[Corbell] Remind them how thirsty they’re gonna get.
[knocking on glass]
[Tut] This is fuckin’ bullshit, man!
Come on! Let us out!
[knocking on glass]
I’m gonna fucking kill you!
[Corbell] Now, you won’t get anywhere in life, Jasper,
if you don’t have the courage to be cruel now and then…
[muffled shouting continues]
…just for the pure animal joy of it.
[Tut] Kick it out, man!
[muffled shouting continues]
[grunting]
[CJ] It’s hot in here!
[breathes deeply]
[♪ ♪]
It’s hot in here!
[muffled shouting]
[laughing]
[shouting continues]
[Corbell laughing]
[muffled] You’re fucking dead!
Once you’re done here, drag those crosses over and lay ’em out on the pavement.
Uncle Corbell?
[Tut] I’m gonna kill you!
[knocking on glass]
You leaving?
I’ll be back.
Just got to fetch a hammer.
[shudders]
[♪ ♪]
[♪ ♪]
[sighs]
Are you peeing in that pool, Corbell?
It’s my pool, ain’t it?
You’ll grow up one of these days.
Then what?
Probably have to divorce you.
But I’ll have a clean pool, at least.
[chuckling]
So… been thinking on that deposit.
Way I see it, we got a few choices.
Safest route? Refuse the money.
Let the Fishers live out their natural lives.
Stop visiting Old Havana.
Riskiest?
Take the money. Kill the Fishers.
And if it’s some sort of boneheaded Homeland Security setup, you can spend the rest of your days in the Red Onion supermax, feeling like an idiot.
Or…
Take the money. Then do nothing.
Problem being, maybe it isn’t a sting.
And we’ve crossed someone who has some resources at their disposal along with an inclination to solve disagreements in a rather vigorous manner.
Can’t say I’m liking any of these, hon.
Sure you can’t do better?
Jasper.
His wife, Billy Ann?
Best friends with Flynne Fisher.
You really want to put something like this in the hands of our half-wit nephew?
Let the money sit.
Get Jasper to poke around.
Find out if anything unusual is happening with the Fishers, and then, revisit the matter.
And my new friend in Old Havana?
Tell him you’re busy prepping.
Might take a minute.
That makes me look weak, don’t it?
Does a lion look weak crouching before it pounces?
[♪ ♪]
[Billy Ann] Damn, Flynne. Trips to the future.
Dead bodies behind your house.
Magic medicine.
I feel like my head’s about to explode.
[Flynne] Yeah.
[Billy Ann] What are we looking at, anyway?
Stupid app Burton put on my phone.
It lets me see the drones.
I don’t know, I guess I… find it kind of soothing.
[Billy Ann] Are they up at your house?
[chuckles] No, ma’am.
[drones buzzing]
[Billy Ann chuckles]
[Flynne] Yeah.
They followed us all the way here?
Leon followed us all the way here.
He must’ve put ’em up.
That’s supposed to make us feel safer?
[both chuckling]
So, if they can tell you about your mama, they must know about you, too.
Or-or their version of you?
[Flynne] I asked them. And they stonewalled me.
I don’t know why, but… kind of makes me start to think that I ought to stop asking.
Because?
Must be pretty hard news, don’t you think?
Them not wanting to tell me this badly?
One thing I know for sure.
There’s a lot less people in 70 years.
Whole lot.
Oh, shit.
Yeah.
I know.
You really believe, don’t you?
Yeah.
[train horn blows]
[electronic whirring, beeping]
What are you doing?
[Burton] Gearing up.
What’re you doing?
You can’t print this here.
They won’t let you.
[Burton] Who?
Forever Fab, Burton.
Well, uh, that’s us now. So we can do whatever we want.
What are you talking about?
We bought it this morning.
Or Milagros Cold iron did.
I put Macon and Edward in charge. [Chuckles]
I need to talk to you.
You need to be in that headset is what you need.
Outside.
Now.
You made Macon and Edward my bosses?
They’re not your bosses.
You just said they were…
They can’t be your bosses if you own the place, nitwit.
And you don’t have time to work here anyway.
They need you in London.
Why are you going and acting like you’re in charge all of a sudden?
There’s a lot of moving parts right now.
And it seemed like you needed the rest.
We got to be a team here, you understand that?
Otherwise, none of this shit’s gonna work.
Agreed.
What’s up with your hand?
Nothing. It’s just stiff.
I don’t know.
[vehicle approaching]
Hang your bike on that.
I’ll drive you home.
Dri…?
You bought a car?
It’s a rental. I’ll be right there.
So I woke up from a drunken stupor this morning.
And guess what I found?
Some dumb fuck said you might have a job for me?
Get inside. They’ll get you sorted out.
[grunting]
[clattering]
You want a hand?
Sorry, man. Wrong word.
Shit, man.
You really hurt my feelings.
[both laughing]
[grunts]
Hey, there it go.
[clears throat]
All right, fuck off then. Head on in.
Put your best foot forward.
[chuckling]
Now you’re just being an asshole.
I’m serious, dude.
I’d give an arm and a leg for a rig like this.
[laughs] You cut me deep.
I mean it.
You got a leg up on all of us.
Hands down.
This one’s for you.
Motherfucker.
[♪ ♪]
[Burton] Listen, Flynne, we need to talk contingencies.
Okay?
What people need to know. When they need to know it.
I told Reece and them that you were playing a sim.
And that you saw something you weren’t supposed to, and that now somebody wants you dead for it.
Which I guess has enough truth in it for my comfort.
For now, at least.
You?
Yeah.
[Burton] Which brings us to Mama.
Where does she think those drugs came from?
Hasn’t asked yet.
Well, if she shows them to her doc, we’re gonna have some explaining to do.
Yeah, I think we’re gonna have a lot more explaining to do when she shows up to her next appointment seeing.
I mean, I’d tell her the truth, if I could find a way to make it sound halfway convincing.
[cracking]
You gonna share what’s going on there?
I keep losing control of it.
It just starts squeezing without me meaning it to.
Headset?
Maybe.
I don’t know.
I told Billy Ann this morning.
Told her what?
Everything.
Why the fuck did you do that?
Answer me.
Goddamn it, Burton, don’t take that fucking tone with me.
I’m not a child.
Then maybe you should stop fucking acting like one.
[Flynne] Goddamn it, pull the car over.
Pull it over now!
I’m not pulling the fucking car over.
Goddamn it. You know what, Burton?
You got your whole little posse in front of that fire outside your fucking camper, but me?
Billy Ann is the only friend that I’ve got.
Okay.
Obviously, it ain’t okay.
Clearly you’ve got some other shit that you’re brewing on that you want to say to piss me off.
You might just want to remember that when you tell Billy Ann something, you’re telling Jasper, too.
Yeah, okay.
And I told her to keep it a fucking secret.
That’s not how it works, Flynne.
You can’t expect a married couple…
You don’t know the first fucking thing about a married fucking couple and how it works.
Who’s Jasper’s uncle?
Fuck.
[phone vibrates]
They’re waiting on you.
Great.
[♪ ♪]
Oh.
For some reason, I assumed it would be stored on a bed.
That’s because you’re a romantic, Wilf.
It’s just a thing until our polt arrives.
And where else would you keep a thing but in a box?
Mm.
Ash just now asked… if I’d ever killed a man.
Awake and rise.
Why would she ask that, Lev?
I was simply reassuring her that you’re the right person to find Aelita.
As you most certainly are.
There’s no shame in what you did.
Quite the contrary.
My family, the Klept oligarchy at large, it’s why we took you in.
Protected you.
Treated you as one of our own.
Well, almost.
You’ve never told anyone, have you?
What you did to those neoprims?
Not even Aelita?
You will never be fully yourself until you embrace that part of your soul.
Lay claim to its power.
Otherwise, you’re just as empty as this thing.
Do you feel like a thing?
A thing is an insensate material object.
Technically, I qualify as such.
But I’m afraid your question lacks…
[soft whooshing]
[inhales deeply]
And welcome back.
Please tell me you do not keep me in a box when I’m not here.
[Lev] No, no, no.
Of course not.
We’re in the kitchen again.
[playful clamoring]
[Flynne] Seems simple enough to me when it’s laid out like that.
We kidnapped the Mariel woman.
Stole her eyeball.
Used that to get into the underground place.
Got caught.
Your Aelita woman ran away while I got myself killed.
I’m not really a detective, but I feel like that’s more than enough to get going on.
Start with the party. Find out who the Mariel woman is and go from there.
Mariel Raphael.
Assistant security manager at The Research Institute.
Which is also Aelita’s place of employment.
It would seem logical to surmise that you used her iris to gain access to one of the institute’s restricted facilities.
Which immediately makes everything that follows far more complex than it might otherwise be.
More dangerous, too.
Y’all are afraid of that place, huh?
[Lev] Let’s just say that minimizing our exposure to the RI would be in our collective self-interest.
Weren’t y’all stealing from it, though?
Using Aelita to sneak into my world?
Stealing seems a strong word. Sneaking, too.
Then, what would you call it?
I believe you had something you wanted to ask this young lady.
What connection do you have to a man named Corbell Pickett?
None. And I’d like to keep it that way.
Why?
[Ash] He’s a narcotics manufacturer in your region.
Quite violent.
[news anchor] A grisly discovery in Clanton, North Carolina this morning.
Twelve bodies found hanging from crosses on Siltwell Road…
I know who Corbell fucking Pickett is.
[news anchor] …reportedly members of the Mad Dogs cartel.
What he is, too.
Just turn that shit off, please.
[news anchor] …or the perpetrators behind it, please call…
We’ve been monitoring your stub’s web traffic.
We’ve detected a considerable spike in interest from his IP address.
Interest in what?
You and your family.
[Wilf] Which would lead us to believe that someone from here might have contacted him.
In the hopes of recruiting him to harm you.
Then you need to send me back.
[♪ ♪]
Now, I mean.
You keep looking for Aelita, and I’ll be back in an hour.
[panting]
[birds chirping]
[♪ ♪]
[director] Wolfgang.
Uh, have they been immunized?
In full compliance with state guidelines.
[♪ ♪]
How old are you, darling?
I’ll be ten in 27 days.
Wolf is eight.
Open.
Needs a bit of work, but not terrible.
The stipend from the state ought to cover such expenses.
We won’t require any charity.
We’ve been called upon by our country to assist with the reformation.
It’s our duty to do so.
Would you like to come and live with us in Oxfords hire?
Can Wolf come?
[director] They were reclaimed together from the streets.
A bonded pair.
We were only planning to adopt one.
Well, perhaps in that case we could…
I’m not going without Wolf.
Wolf is the boy’s name?
[director] Short for Wolfgang.
DNA reveals German and North African heritage.
Do you like your name?
Yes, sir.
[Mr. West] But say we wanted to call you by a different name, something a little more traditional.
Like, um… Wilfred.
Would that be okay?
I can be Wilfred.
Good boy.
[♪ ♪]
[♪ ♪]
[Aelita’s voice] ♪ Mary, Mary ♪
♪ Quite contrary ♪
♪ How does your garden grow? ♪
♪ With silver bells ♪
♪ And cockleshells ♪
Aelita?
♪ And pretty maids all in a row ♪
♪ Mistress Mary, quite contrary ♪
♪ How does your garden grow? ♪
Wilfred?
♪ With silver bells and cockleshells…
Hello, Mum.
When was she last here?
It’s been years.
Like you.
Prior to your father’s death, I’m certain of that.
I still haven’t forgiven you…
You know, both of you… For not attending his funeral.
We don’t have to do this, do we?
It was quite embarrassing.
Not that I’m expecting an apology.
But as usual, you’re asking the wrong question and therefore, getting the wrong answer.
What I suspect you meant to ask is, when was the last time I saw Aelita?
And?
A month ago.
Perhaps not even quite that.
I was in St. James’s. I came out of Wiltons.
Practically ran right into her.
And did you speak?
[Mrs. West] I attempted a conversation.
But Aelita being Aelita, the effort proved to be rather one-sided.
I asked her where she was staying.
She took on that rather unattractive haughty air that she can sometimes assume and said,
“Where snow last fell in London.”
“Where snow last fell in London.”
After all these years, I can’t quite understand why she needs to play at such riddles.
She grew affronted when I expressed confusion.
Said that if I’d ever bothered to pay the slightest degree of attention, I’d know precisely what she meant.
But you paid attention, Wilfred.
And do you know what she meant?
[chuckles softly] You see?
Oh, do sit, Wilfred. Even for a moment.
It’s so tiresome to have you looming over me like that.
[Wilf clears throat]
[Mrs. West] Sometimes, when I can’t sleep, I lie there trying to solve the riddle of your sister and you.
I suppose your father and I had our failings.
Or perhaps our standards were simply too high, given the particularities of your origin.
But you can’t deny we gave you the absolute top shelf of everything.
Schooling.
Opportunity. A…
[liquid pouring]
Thank you, dear.
My pleasure, ma’am.
[Mrs. West] I wouldn’t expect you to understand.
Try me.
A soul grows lonely, Wilfred.
Living without companionship.
A generic model wouldn’t suffice?
Well, yes, yes.
I suppose it is all very sentimental of me.
But there was something about Aelita…
Something in the way she carried herself…
That I always found deeply comforting.
Hmm.
Untainted by any unattractive quirks of personality, you mean?
As I said, I wouldn’t expect you to understand.
I’ve said all I know about her whereabouts.
And our tea has grown unpalatably tepid.
So it might be time for you to be on your way, don’t you think?
[♪ ♪]
[drones buzzing]
[Burton] I’ll take care of Pickett.
What do you mean “take care” of him?
Burton, you can’t go and kill Corbell Pickett in cold blood.
You said he was planning to kill us.
There’s nothing too hot-blooded about that.
But that’s the kind of person that he is.
That ain’t who we are.
I don’t know if you know this, but the Corps actually spent a lot of money making me exactly that kind of person.
Come on, Burton, you’re not in the Marine Corps anymore.
You know what semper means?
I do.
I also know what fidelis means.
So I think you got to ask yourself… loyal to what?
All right, how about this?
You find me a workable plan…
…or we go with mine.
You’ll talk to me first? Before you make any decisions?
Agreed.
Say it.
We’ll talk about it first.
I promise.
[door opens, closes]
[Flynne] Shit.
And that goes for Conner, too!
[taps roof]
[♪ ♪]
[electronic chirping]
[Wilf] Welcome back.
I’ve programmed the car to move in a grid with Buckingham Palace at its center.
If you see anything familiar from that night, we can try to trace your route back to Aelita’s.
What happened to her?
Mariel? Afterward, I mean?
Assemblers can work miracles.
I’m sure she’s fine.
I’m not asking you that so you can make me feel better, Wilf.
She appears to have vanished.
Assemblers can do that, too.
Aelita killed her?
Either Aelita or the RI.
They don’t take fondly to security lapses there, I’m afraid.
I thought I was playing a sim.
[Wilf] Yes, well.
It turns out if you prick us, we bleed.
[Flynne] Wait, go back.
I think we turned there.
I don’t know.
Why don’t we take a walk for a bit then?
See if anything jumps out.
You go that way. I’ll go here.
We can link up so you can see what I’m seeing.
Link up?
You’ll hear a ringing.
When you do, swipe, tap your thumb and forefinger.
[chiming]
[electronic chirp]
Holy shit.
It’s set to full sensory.
Not just visual and aural.
Ah…
So it might take a moment to acclimate.
Ah, fuck, I feel sick.
Ah, yes. My hangover, I imagine.
You should be able to calibrate it here.
Better?
[chuckling]
Yeah.
This is the weirdest fucking thing I’ve ever felt.
I mean, it’s like I’m… I’m part of you?
Does that make sense?
Does it work both ways?
What do I feel like?
What?
You’re all rainbows and unicorns, Ms. Fisher.
Fuck off.
With a bluesy sort of soundtrack underneath.
Heavy bass.
Up or down. To pull me in or out.
[♪ ♪]
[indistinct chatter]
[Burton] Jasper.
I think Mr. Pickett and I are overdue for a discussion.
How can I be of assistance?
I’ve got a carrot and I’ve got a stick, Mr. Pickett.
You want the carrot first?
How much did they promise for you to make me and my sister dead?
I don’t know what you’re talking about.
[Burton] Going rate a few nights ago was nine million dollars.
So if they told you any less than that… they obviously don’t think too highly of you.
What’re you mixed up in?
[Burton] Nothing that’ll encroach on your line of business, I promise.
But I can offer you 200 grand a week just to leave us the fuck alone.
So, why don’t we shake on it and I’ll be on my way.
I’m curious about the stick.
You know what these are?
Heard about them.
What, exactly?
[Corbell] How they messed you up pretty good.
And I thank you for your service.
Can I tell you a story?
The Corps targets rural towns for haptic recruitment.
Kids who grew up together offer ready-made small-unit cohesion.
Plug the haptics in and you got a unified organism.
Speed, intensity, violence of action.
Honestly, when it got hot enough, generally, I wasn’t even aware of what I was doing.
Like a hand wouldn’t be, if you get my meaning.
Anyway, when the war was over, I was at Quantico.
Walked into a bar.
Saw a guy sitting on a stool… and I just blacked out.
Gone.
When I came to, I was standing over that guy.
Found that I’d beaten him ’bout a half inch shy of death.
I’d never even seen him before.
But a sergeant in my unit… he’d gotten jumped by that motherfucker when he was 16 years old.
And because of the haptics, I had that in me.
Along with a visceral imperative to destroy that son of a bitch, without even knowing why.
That is quite a tale.
But if there’s a moral in it, I believe I missed it.
If anything happens to me or my sister, and you’re behind it, you ought to have your affairs in order.
‘Cause I’m not just me now.
I’m all the men I served with.
That’s your best stick?
You feel safe here, Mr. Pickett?
[Corbell] You’re too young to remember, maybe.
But this town was a real shithole once.
Run by the lowest sort of trash.
I changed that.
Pretty much overnight.
Made it a nice place to live again.
Clean, quiet.
My town.
So, yeah.
Yeah, I guess I do feel pretty safe here.
[Burton] The next one’s in your fucking ear.
That’s my fucking stick.
Two hundred a week sound good?
[♪ ♪]
Appreciate it, man.
[Cherise] Acrophobic?
[Daniel] Not particularly.
[Cherise] Good. Walk with me.
I need some air.
The R.I. Headquarters was the first of our air scrubbers.
Built long before you joined us.
Do you know how they work?
Only in the broader sense.
Tell me.
They capture carbon from the atmosphere.
But beyond that, the specific technology?
It would be like asking me how a bird flies.
Hmm.
You’re taking too much time.
We can’t afford it.
The stub…
Yes.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
It presents unique challenges.
I’m well aware.
Maybe you have too many moving parts.
Teams of mercenaries.
Impenetrable small-town alliances.
It seems there ought to be a simpler way to kill a girl, doesn’t it?
Just one person.
With the appropriate weapon?
And what about our problems in the here and now?
[Daniel] It appears that Aelita West went to school with Grace Hogart.
They were roommates for a year.
Well, that’s distressing.
I’ve always been quite fond of Grace.
I can address it, if you’d like.
No.
I will.
Have you discovered the source of Aelita’s funding?
We’re still struggling to untangle that.
You were right, though. There’s a Klept feel to it.
Which specific family remains murky, but if I had to guess…
I don’t want you to guess, Daniel.
I want you to find out for certain.
And then I want a body count.
I’m sure you’re aware that I could easily eliminate you.
In any number of ways, with the simple wave of my hand.
But… I value you, Daniel.
And I wouldn’t want you serving the needs of the Institute simply out of fear, which is the weakest type of motivation.
Powerful only in the short term.
[panting]
Doctor!
They flap their wings.
Ma’am?
Birds.
That’s how they fly.
Kiss, kiss, Daniel.
Get it done.
[Flynne] Aelita says I’m likely not to exist in ten years.
What’d she mean by that?
[chiming]
Hello? You there?
Wilf?
When we find Aelita, you can ask her because I have no idea.
[Flynne] She called me a polt. What’s that mean?
Short for poltergeist.
That’s how we refer to people from the stub.
Like a ghost. Here but not here.
[Flynne] Perfect accomplice, you mean.
Speaking of which, is there any reason I should be worried about the police?
Turn right at the corner.
Walk in an unhurried manner.
I’ll approach from the opposite direction.
[chiming]
Yes?
[Wilf] Please tell me the Peripheral is registered.
It is.
With a few frowned-upon augmentations.
Okay, right, and you couldn’t tell me that before I stepped out with it?
What’s the problem?
We separated to cover more ground.
Now a Met koid is following her.
[Ash] Well, catch up to her, and for Christ’s sake, don’t let her talk to the damn thing.
If the Met finds out Flynne is from the stub, you’re on your own.
We’ll scrub all connection.
I’ll be sure to post a care package to you in Wakefield prison, though.
For fuck’s sake, Ash.
I could just send her home now.
No, it’ll look dodgy.
Just wait for my prompt.
I’ll be listening.
Follow my lead.
And when you see me touch my chin, ask if you can go home.
May we be of assistance, Constable?
[Met koid] This Peripheral has been moving about the neighborhood in a manner that violates algorithmic predictions, by several degrees of certainty.
I was dispatched to investigate.
Identity, sir?
Wilf Netherton.
[Met koid] Confirmed.
And this is Rainey Portis, in the Peripheral.
A citizen of Canada.
If you check, I think you’ll see I applied for a remote-visit visa in her name.
Ten trips.
Two of which have been used. This being the third.
[whirring softly]
A third visit was neither requested nor approved.
Well, Rainey was feeling spontaneous.
Your remote visit is revoked.
Please surrender the Peripheral immediately for inspection and deconstruction.
You’ll be wondering why we exited the vehicle, I suppose.
Bit of an argument, actually.
I’d really value your opinion, if you wouldn’t mind.
On Rainey’s first two visits, she mentioned how the Peripheral didn’t look much like her.
Wanted me to rent a different model next time she came to London.
But… what she didn’t know is the peri isn’t a rental.
I own it.
It was modeled on an ex-girlfriend.
And it seemed easier to just keep using it which was lazy of me and wrong because when Rainey arrived this time and found herself in the same peri, she grew angry.
Said I must not respect her if I ignored her requests so cavalierly.
She jumped out of the car.
Which led us here to this present moment.
But here’s the thing, Constable.
[chuckles softly]
I believe I’m starting to have feelings for this woman.
Or at least I’m feeling the possibility of feelings, if you follow my drift.
I find you extremely alluring.
Intelligent.
Intriguing.
Intrepid.
Can’t you fucking see that?
[♪ ♪]
May I go home now, Constable?
Yes, ma’am.
I’d advise you to register her visit as soon as possible, Mr. Netherton.
Yes, of course, Constable. Good day.
Follow me.
[panting softly]
[buzzing]
[Grace] Dr. Nuland?
Grace.
Thank you for popping by on such short notice.
Of course.
Feels like… we never really have much of a chance to chat, do we?
Feels like a dereliction on my part.
Well, we all know how terribly busy you are.
[Cherise] Do you have a favorite spot?
[Grace] Ma’am?
A place you go to, to revive your spirits?
This is mine.
It’s the view that nourishes you?
The bees.
Their ignorance, I mean.
I find it cautionary, in a bracing way.
They go about their business so assiduously without any awareness of how vulnerable they are.
All the things that killed them off in the first place, they’re still out there.
We do our best to keep them at bay, of course.
But one momentary lapse in vigilance, and a whole cascade of crisis descends.
Do you know they’ve had two extinction events, just in the past five years?
And then, well, you know… that long climb back up from nothingness.
Well, they’re lucky they have you.
We’re no different, really.
People.
We look out on all this and we imagine that the Jackpot, with all its horrors, is safely buried in the past.
But the labor involved to keep it so.
The care…
You’d be the first to understand, though, wouldn’t you?
That’s the whole point of the work you’re doing.
The data you’re bringing back from the stub may save us all one day.
From ourselves.
I’m honored to be in a position to help, Doctor.
Do you have many friends, Grace?
Some.
Aelita West. Does she count as one?
I suppose.
We boarded together in school.
[Cherise] Then you’re aware she was employed in our Biodiversity Department.
Was?
[Cherise] How do you suppose someone in Grains and Legumes might become aware of our Stub Research Division?
She was curious, so I…
It’s not as if I shared anything of substance, Doctor.
I-I would never…
There was a country called Paraguay once, before the Jackpot.
Do you know it?
No.
[Cherise] People there had a saying.
[buzzing]
If you feel compelled to share a secret, I mean, a really important secret…
An existentially important one…
Then you should dig a grave first.
For who?
For whom, dear.
Either for the person you’re telling… or for yourself.
[♪ ♪]
I’m so sorry, Doctor.
I’ve let you down. I can see that.
There’s a chemical in the tea.
As your body processes it, your sweat begins to mimic a pheromone hornets release.
It’s gotten our little friends a tad agitated, I’m afraid.
You understand, don’t you?
How you’ve left me no choice?
I have two small children.
That’s it. Exactly.
Think of them.
Think of the lengths you’d go to, to protect them.
[Grace] Dr. Nuland, please.
Please. Please don’t, I beg you.
Please. Please don’t. I’ll do anything.
[grunts, screams]
[lamp buzzing, crackling]
Ask you a question?
Mm-hmm.
Using a urinal, how hard is it to get the pee in the right spot?
[chuckles softly]
And by right spot, I mean anywhere but the floor.
It ain’t me doing it.
Well, I mean, you could get your friends to stop, too.
Start a trend.
[chuckling] I could try, if you want, but… to be fair, women do have it easier.
Sitting down and all. Which was a joke.
[chuckling] It was a joke.
Mm-hmm. Super funny, too.
Thanks.
[engine idling]
This is home, Jasper. Time to shut off the truck.
I got to drop something at my uncle’s.
What?
I don’t know. It’s a bag.
Better not be any drugs in there.
There ain’t.
How do you know?
‘Cause my uncle understands how you feel about that.
Also, it’s from Forever Fab.
[Billy Ann] Flynne gave it to you?
Macon and Edward.
Billy Ann… don’t.
[gasps softly]
[exhales]
I’ll get dinner started if you do me a favor.
Hmm?
Find out what this is about.
How am I supposed to do that?
Figure it out.
I’m not asking you how to get dinner going, am I?
[chuckles softly]
And don’t even think about taking any of that, Jasper Baker.
Jesus, Billy Ann. I’m not an idiot.
[scoffs] Okay.
[thunder rumbling]
[♪ Colter Wall: “Sleeping on the Blacktop”]
[♪ ♪]
♪ High heel lady spitting at the Nickajacks ♪
♪ Businessman with a needle and a spoon ♪
♪ Coyote chewing on a cigarette ♪
♪ Pack o’ young boys going howlin’ at the moon ♪
♪ Hey, darlin’ ♪
♪ Sleeping on the blacktop ♪
♪ Hey, darlin’ ♪
♪ Running through the trees, honey ♪
♪ Hey, darlin’ ♪
♪ Leaving for the next town ♪
♪ Less’n my sense catches up with me ♪♪
Hey.
Here you go. [exhales]
Any trouble with that?
No, sir.
I told them what I was after, and they handed it over.
[Corbell] Have a peek inside?
No.
[scoffs]
You know I wouldn’t feel right doing that, Uncle Corbell.
I mean, I can kind of tell what’s in it.
I think. Just by the feel.
And what’s your guess?
Money.
Mm. [Chuckling]
Oh…
From the Fisher family.
Neighbors of yours, aren’t they?
[Jasper] Yeah.
[Corbell] You, uh, find it at all surprising?
Them paying me 200 grand?
Little bit, I’ll be honest, yeah.
[Corbell] What if I told you they were planning to keep doing it, once a week for the foreseeable future?
I don’t know, I suppose I’d wonder where all the money was coming from.
[Corbell] You are a smart young man, Jasper.
For that is indeed the million dollar question.
You want one?
No, I wouldn’t, uh…
I mean… [scoffs]
Go ahead, take it.
Go ahead. [Chuckling]
All right.
Thanks.
Now, I’m gonna offer you a valuable life lesson here.
Hmm?
Before you accept any cash from someone, always ask what they might want in exchange.
No, no, no, no. Too late.
You’ve taken it.
What do you, uh…
What do you want in exchange?
For you to find the answer to that million dollar question.
You mean, like…
[exhales] Look, tell you straight up.
I’m a little concerned about the Fishers.
I think they’ve gotten themselves involved in something that’s maybe a tad bigger than they can handle.
You remember the Mad Dogs?
That’s the sort of wickedness we’re talking about.
Coming back to our town.
Now, the more I know, the more I can watch out for the Fishers.
‘Cause, uh, they seem like nice folks.
They are.
So you wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to them… would you?
Mm-mm.
[Corbell] Well.
Right.
Okay.
[sniffs]
[Flynne] Hey, what’s it feel like when you link up with your haptics?
Uh…
It’s hard to describe.
Why you asking?
[Flynne] Well, I think I did it.
Or I guess something similar to it.
With Wilf.
You know?
[Burton] You better be careful, now.
[scoffs] Why?
It takes training to handle a merge.
Folks can get lost in it.
Lost how?
[Burton] Well, two souls coming together as one can kind of feel a lot like love, if you don’t know any better. [Chuckles]
Haptic drift, that’s what they call it.
Right.
[♪ ♪]
[electronic chirping]
[Wilf] Welcome back.
It ain’t real, is it?
No, I’m afraid.
Aelita left a clue as to her potential whereabouts.
A riddle.
She was always fond of riddles.
I was trying to get into her frame of mind.
What was it?
The clue.
[exhales]
“Where snow last fell in London.”
My mother had a painting over her bureau. It said, um… “Battle of the Abbey. The Spot Where Harold Fell.”
You don’t think that…
I mean, Snow could be a person, do you?
John Snow.
Who’s that?
One of Aelita’s intellectual heroes.
An English doctor.
He discovered how cholera spread.
Where did John Snow die?
[computer] In London. On June 16, 1858.
Where precisely?
[computer] 18 Sackville Street.
[chuckles softly] Let’s go.
To where Snow last fell in London.
[♪ ♪]
[rain pattering]
[♪ ♪]
I’ve arrived.
[♪ ♪]
[door creaking]
Someone got here before us.
We have one of those back at home.
The exact same?
[Flynne] Yeah.
Ours is broken, too.
It stopped after my dad died.
[Wilf] What time is your clock set to?
[Flynne] 2:15.
[clock chimes]
[whirring]
[Flynne gasps softly]
Well done.
What happened to them?
Peripherals.
Abandoned for days without a nutrient bath.
Ash and Ossian should be able to trace the connections back to their operators.
What?
[♪ ♪]
Burton.
What is it?
[Wilf] It’s an implant.
[Flynne] Aelita’s?
[Wilf] She must have removed it after the attack so she couldn’t be traced.
We should go.
[rattling]
Welcome back, Ms. Fisher.
[Flynne coughs]
[Daniel] And Wilfred Netherton, is it?
[grunting]
Remember this?
[coughing]
[groans]
[groaning]
[labored breathing]
I assume you’re thinking, “Kill me, then game over,” right?
But I assure you, the trauma leaves a mark.
[high-pitched ringing]
[grunting]
[grunts]
Hurts a little, don’t it?
[coughing]
What do you want with me?
Huh? Answer me!
[Daniel] She won’t stop. Not till you’re dead.
You’re only delaying the inevitable.
Drawing out the pain.
You took something.
What?
[weapon whirring]
[high-pitched ringing]
[♪ ♪]
[♪ ♪]
I wanna go back, Burton.
I’m worried you’re not thinking clearly.
[Flynne] How long do you think it’s gonna be till someone else comes around wanting to kill us?
Your constant slipping away is as if you couldn’t be trusted.
[♪ ♪]
So this is what’s coming in my world.
[♪ ♪]
[♪ ♪]
