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Atavus Transcript
by: Seven
Season Two
Narrator: Previously on Earth: Final Conflict
Da'an and Lili are standing in the Embassy at the end of "Wrath of Achilles."
Da'an: I would like for us to reach a new level.
Lili: Your feelings... your emotions?
Da'an: (smiling) Yes.
He holds up his hand.
Da'an: Let us touch.
Their hands touch.
SWITCH TO:
"First of Its Kind", on Lili talking to Doors.
Lili: (tearfully) Boone didn't make it.
Doors: He'll have to be replaced. We need someone on the inside.
Lili: Jonathan, Boone's dead!
Doors: That's right, and we're alive! And our chances of survival
just got a hell of a lot slimmer.
SWITCH TO:
"First of Its Kind", Liam rapidly grows and matures.
Doors: (VO) It was conceived AND born in 9 hours. It can't
possible human. Which means we have no idea what he is capable of...
SWITCH TO:
"First of Its Kind", Liam introduces himself to Beckett.
Liam: I'm Liam Kincaid, Da'an's new protector
SWITCH TO:
"First of Its Kind", Liam standing in the Resistance HQ, in full
military uniform.
Liam: You're just going to have to trust that I know what I'm
doing!
Doors: Based on what, your twenty four hours life experience?
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SWITCH TO:
The Flat Planet. Inside, Augur leads Liam to a back room with a lounge
chair, silvery walls and paintings.
Augur: Well, Liam, welcome to your new home. It's like Bajah
said: 'Less is more,' right?
Liam: Guess he must have had you in mind when he said it.
Augur flops down onto the chair and laughs.
Augur: Don't knock it man. I've wasted many a night in this
chair, kicking back, and checking out the view.
Liam: (dubiously) The view?
Augur clicks a remote, and the painting in front of him transforms into
a screen, overlooking the Flat Planet. Liam smiles, impressed.
Augur: Beats Mount Rushmore don't you think?
Liam: I'll say. You own the Flat planet?
Augur: Key word for the millenium kid. DIVERSIFY. Check that!
The camera and Augur both zoom in to look at Lili and Suzanne, a
waittress, talking and laughing at the bar.
Augur: Ten bucks says they're talking about sex. No other subject
gets that kind of a laugh!
Liam: (uncertain) Why?
Augur: Well just lo-
He stops in mid-sentence, seeing the confused look on Liam's face and
remembering that he's only a few days old.
Augur: Oh. How do I explain? Usually by your age we wouldn't have
to have this conversation.
He chuckles nervously.
Augur: But. ok, you have a man, like you, and a woman, like Lili,
and... ummm... I think you're going to have to figure this one out for
yourself.
He sits back down, severely embarrassed.
SWITCH TO:
The bar, where a news anchor on the huge TV is speaking over the hubbub.
News Anchor: And the world is still reeling over the shocking
murder of Synod leader Quo'on at the funeral of Companion protector
William Boone. The leadership of the Synod is taking on a new phase as
Zo'or, known for his brief tenure replacing North American Companion
Da'an, now takes command.
Suzanne and Lili are still talking at the bar.
Lili: So tell him!
Suzanne: Not if he's living up there. Ok, big rule: never flirt
with a guy you can't avoid if things go sour!
Lili: (incredulous) Oh, come on!
Suzanne: I'm serious!
Lili: Huh.
Suzanne spots Augur and Liam coming through the crowd.
Suzanne: He's coming with Augur. I'm going to go before I
embarrass myself.
Augur grabs a glass as Suzanne flees.
Augur: Suzanne! Sorry to interrupt, can you get us another round
please.
He turns to Lili. Liam gapes at Suzanne.
Augur: Okay, can you settle something for us please?
Lili: Okay.
Augur: I bet Liam that you two were down here talking about men-
Liam: (correcting) No, you said they were talking about sex.
Augur writhes inwardly. Liam's innocence has struck.
Augur: That's what I meant. So am I right or not?
Lili smiles teasingly and turns back to the bar.
Lili: Not.
Augur: Uh Huh right! I know that you are lying. You're
deliberately trying to provoke me so that I lose control, and pull you
into the pit.
Lili: Oh Augur, is that the best you can do? Don't tire me with
your twentieth century versions of sex!
Augur is growing indignant.
Augur: Oh I'm twentieth century now! Did you hear that Liam? Like
she's found something better.
Lili: As a matter of fact I have. Da'an shared himself with me.
Liam stares at Lili. Augur starts looking very jealous.
Liam: Da'an shared-?
Lili: Yeah. He held my hand-
Augur: 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand'; The Beatles, Capitol records,
1964.
Lili: You can laugh if you want but when he touched me...
Augur: 'He Touched Me'; Johnny Mathis, 1957.
Lili: When he touched me, Da'an showed me everything that he is.
He even let me tap into the Taelon Commonality. When our hands touched-
Suzanne has returned. Lili grabs Augur's hand and presses it to hers,
sighs ecstatically.
Lili: It was like the most unbelievable experience of my life! On
every level.
Then she drops his hand dismissively.
Lili: Nah, you wouldn't understand.
She rises and walks away. Augur is looking more jealous now.
Augur: Go on, be a good little soldier for Sandoval!
Suzanne catches up to Lili at the door.
Suzanne: Was it really that wonderful with Da'an?
Lili: Yeah. It was. Oh but it had nothing to do with sex.
Suzanne: You just love pulling his chain, don't you?
Lili: One of life's little pleasures!
Augur glares after her as she leaves, not hearing what they said.
SWITCH TO:
Da'an's office, where Da'an is speaking to Zo'or via the datastream.
Zo'or is highly pleased, while Da'an is not.
Zo'or: As new leader of the Synod I will no longer tolerate this
so called Liberation Movement. The continued freedom of Jonathan Doors
is an affront. I have commissioned search-and-destroy teams all over the world.
Da'an: Such extreme steps will only increase the popularity of
the Liberation you seek to disable!
Zo'or: I also have instituted a reward, a bounty for Jonathan
Doors, an appeal to the self interests of the humans.
Da'an frowns.
SWITCH TO:
Augur's home, where an "I Dream of Jeannie" Holo-Lili is dancing in
circles. Augur walks in and tosses down a bag.
Augur: Pull up the files on that Russian psychic...
what's-her-name. Katya... Petrenko.
Holo-Lili gasps.
Holo-Lili: Master! There's another woman?
Augur frowns good-naturedly at her.
Augur: Cross Reference Katya's DNA scans with anything we have on
Taelon physiology.
Holo-Lili blinks.
Holo-Lili: Anything else Master?
Augur: Uh, in fact yes. Go through the Taelon databanks and look
up anything on the Taelon commonality... and enough with the "Master."
Holo-Lili: What is it though art looking for Master?
Augur: Well both Katya and Lili sampled the Taelon Commonality
through different means. Which suggests that the commonality has any
number of possible entry points!
The screen runs over various data and settles on a diagram of the Commonality.
Holo-Lili: Reviewing the databanks suggests a hypothesis; the
Taelon Commonality is a psycho-dimensional web, a matrix of shared
energy which links the psyches of the entire Taelon race. Each blue orb
represents a Taelon, the linking lines of energy--the ties that bind!
Augur claps his hands and gets up, then starts typing.
Augur: Mm, good! Let's test that. Now if each Taelon can function
as a transmitter, what
happens if we tap one Taelon's frequency?
Holo-Lili: I could have done that for thee.
Augur: Yeah well sometimes I think faster than I talk sweetheart.
Do this instead, analyze all
frequencies emanating from the Taelon Embassy.
Holo-Lili: Certainly master!
Augur has a sudden brainstorm.
Augur: And isolate the frequency that links DA'AN to the Commonality!
Holo-Lili: Doing it now Master.
Augur puts on a VR headset.
Augur: Let's check out this unbelievable experience.
He sits down and switches it on. Blue light streams onto his eyes.
SWITCH TO:
Da'an's office, where Da'an is looking very upset.
Da'an: You have no understanding of humanity. This ill-conceived
approa-
He stops, winces at a high-pitched drone.
SWITCH TO:
Augur is looking almost ecstatic.
Augur: I had no IDEA...
SWITCH TO:
Da'an gasps in horror and pain. Zo'or doesn't notice his discomfort yet.
Zo'or: Complete your thought.
Da'an: There is... a strange interference with my thoughts...
He winces hard and Zo'or notices it with alarm.
Zo'or: Da'an!
Da'an: I cannot explain! My bond... with the Commonality is weakening...
His voice begins to deepen and waver.
Da'an: I am... losing contact... with the Commonality!
His skin melts away to reveal a hideous, corded interior. He stares in
horror, then grimaces in pain again.
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COMMERCIAL BREAK
Da'an winces hard, and the camera zooms into his eye, where one of the
little bluish spheres detaches and floats off, turning red with a faint
scream. The camera pulls away, revealing a glimpse of a hideous, huge
creature that runs off.
SWITCH TO:
On the mothership, Zo'or turns to Sandoval.
Zo'or: Something's wrong with Da'an!
Sandoval: Captain Marquette's at the embassy. I'll have her look
at it.
SWITCH TO:
Da'an's office, where Lili is coming in with her gun drawn. The creature
looks at her for a moment.
Lili: Da'an?
She runs up the ramp, but is tripped off her feet by the creature. It
looms over her for a moment then speaks in a rumbling voice.
Creature: You... of all people... cannot see me like this!
It races out into the street. Lili rises and runs up the ramp to the office.
Lili: Da'an? Da'an?
Zo'or: Of course Captain Marquette did not find Da'an in his
office. He IS the creature.
SWITCH TO:
The mothership, where Zo'or is standing and speaking to Sandoval.
Zo'or: Had she simply fired at the beast, we might have been
saved the trouble of hunting him down.
Sandoval: We are to hunt down a Taelon?
Zo'or: Da'an is no longer Taelon.
Sandoval: How is that possible?
Zo'or: Something has severed Da'an's link to the Commonality.
Without the Commonality to sustain us, the Taelon form regresses. It
returns to the atavistic state from which we struggled so hard to
evolve.
Sandoval: Like a human somehow turning back into an ape?
Zo'or: Humanity's apish ancestors are benign, compared to the
roots from which Taelons spring. We no longer even have a word for such
creature. We have expunged the idea from our language. The simplest term
would be from Earth Latin. Da'an has become an "atavus."
Sandoval: A distant, primitive ancestor?
Zo'or: The term fails to convey the horror of the beast. And
since every Taelon is vulnerable, you shall suspend all other activities
until you have killed Da'an, and destroyed the source of the
rupture!
Sandoval nods.
SWITCH TO:
London. Inside an apartment, Beckett is practicing Tai Chi in her living
room. Her global beeps, she stops and gets it. It's Sandoval.
Sandoval: You look tired.
Beckett: Just a little Tai Chi Chuan. I've felt... disconnected
from my body lately. So, bring me up to speed.
Sandoval: You are needed at once, Beckett.
Beckett: (teasing) By you or by the Companions?
Sandoval: Zo'or has ordered me to hunt down and kill Da'an.
Beckett: KILL Da'an?
Sandoval: Da'an has become a threat to the commonality. Does that
the gravity of the situation clear?
Beckett: I'm on my way.
SWITCH TO:
The mothership. Liam, Lili, Sandoval and Beckett are going along a corridor.
Liam: A pleasure to see you again.
Beckett: Not if this is as serious as Agent Sandoval tells me.
Liam looks hurt.
Lili: What's wrong?
Liam: Nothing. I just hoped maybe-
Lili: Thought that you might see a glimpse of maternal
recognition?
Liam starts away.
Lili: You better pray that you don't! Or that reprogramming we
did to her CVI will kill her.
She stalks away and Liam looks after her.
SWITCH TO:
The agents standing around Zo'or on the bridge.
Zo'or: You must commence the search for the Atavus at once.
Lili: You mean Da'an.
Zo'or: The Atavus!
Lili looks chagrined.
Zo'or: (to Beckett) Join with Agent Kincaid so that each team has
a skrill.
Sandoval: The skrill is the only weapon we know for certain will
be effective against the Atavus.
Lili: I still can't believe that the creature I saw was Da'an!
SWITCH TO:
The Atavus, running through dark alleyways.
Lili: Da'an told me that Taelons had the ability to break away
from the commonality if they chose, but they are... afraid to be alone
with their own thoughts.
SWITCH TO:
Zo'or, looking somewhat grimly amused.
Zo'or: Obviously Da'an understated the case.
Liam: If Da'an didn't leave the Commonality of his own will, then
what forced him out?
Zo'or: (worried) We have no time for these reflections. Captain
Marquette's failure to act when she first saw the Atavus has resulted in
the present threat, and that threat must be eliminated.
Beckett: What is the threat? What are the capabilities of the
avatus?
Zo'or: The Avatus has strength and reflexes akin to your
mythological vampire. It possesses a vestigial organ called 'shakarava'.
Sandoval: Which allows it to fire lethal blasts.
Zo'or: But that is not its principal means of attack. The beast
has the power to draw the very life-force from it's prey!
Liam has a sudden vision of Da'an, then of the Atavus.
Liam: And the ability to reshape flesh. That's what enabled the
Atavus to evolve into Taelons once they created the Commonality.
Zo'or: (irritated and alarmed) Taelons do not discuss our
evolutionary origins. How do you know of this?
Liam: From Da'an.
Zo'or: There would be no reason for Da'an to share this
information with you.
Liam: Apparently Da'an felt differently.
Zo'or is still unhappy, but satisfied for the moment.
Sandoval: It presents a threat to the Taelons as well as humans?
Zo'or: The Avatus is a threat to all who live. Stripped of it's
ties to the Commonality, the Avatus has no understanding of
civilization. It knows only hunger: savage, rapacious hunger for life
spirit.
SWITCH TO:
An alley, where a man is about to get into his car, when a mugger leaps
out at him. He holds up his hands, terrified.
Mugger: Give me your wallet! Now!
Man: Please... don't-
The man hands over his wallet. The mugger clubs the man against his car,
knocking him to the ground. He starts to walk off, but suddenly stops.
There is a flash of purplish light, and he's thrown over the car. The
Atavus kicks its way out of the alley, and starts sucking the life-force
from the mugger with his shakarava.
SWITCH TO:
The mothership, where the protectors are walking with Zo'or.
Lili: How can we contain the Atavus so he can return to his life
as Da'an?
Zo'or: (mildly amused) Did I in any way suggest that your mission
was to capture the Avatus?
Liam: Obviously we'll want to restore Da'an to his Taelon form.
Zo'or: That would be the obvious human reaction. Let me be clear:
the Atavus is to be exterminated, like vermin; which is exactly how the
Synod views such a repugnant, primitive creature.
Lili: You want us to kill Da'an?
Zo'or: Learn, Captain. the Atavus is not Da'an and never will be
again. Da'an is beyond help. Once cut off from the Commonality a Taelon
can never return.
------------------------------------------------------
COMMERCIAL BREAK
A Taelon shuttle blasts past the moon. Liam is piloting it for Beckett.
She is smiling a little.
Beckett: Liam. My grandfather's name is Liam.
Liam: Then maybe we're related.
Beckett: (amused) No, I would know that. Genealogy is very
important to me.
Liam: I like that, it's very important to keep in touch with your
roots. Your family. Without family we're all drifting.
Beckett suddenly switches topics.
Beckett: Funny you should say that. Your security file is quite
distinguished: medals, commendations, citations... but nothing about
family. Based solely on your file, I'd have to assume that you popped
out of the Earth fully formed.
Liam puts the shuttle on autopilot, gets up and goes back to sit with her.
Liam: Quite transparent Agent Beckett. I know what you're after.
You're angling for an invite to my grandmother's St. Paddy's Day dinner.
Beckett laughs.
Beckett: Just curious about anyone who pilots my shuttle.
Liam: Well truth is Agent Beckette, you know about as much as I
do. My mother gave birth to me and then she had to leave. Nobody wanted
to talk about where or why.
Beckett: Was there a scandal?
Liam: Well kind of a... mixed marriage. It scared people. I was
left behind by both parents, raised by the next people to come along.
They acted like a family, gave me a home... but somehow I feel like
there's something missing.
Beckett shows a glimmer of memory.
Beckett: If you could talk to you mother now, what would you tell
her?
Liam: I love you.
Beckett: Even after she left you?
Liam: I know it doesn't make sense, but there's a bond between
us. It cuts across everything else.
He goes back to piloting the shuttle.
SWITCH TO:
The news is on the computer monitor, but Augur is still zoned-out from
the Commonality tone.
Reporter: In a show of support for the Taelons, President
Thompson has endorsed the Synod's offer of a reward for information
leading to the capture of Jonathan Doors. The president released a
statement saying the two million dollar bounty is a small reward tto
safeguard humanity's
relationship with the Companions.
Augur: (dreamily) Two million dollars?
Holo-Lili gasps.
Holo-Lili: I shall apply for the reward in you name master!
Augur sits up before she can blink.
Augur: No... What happened to the sounds... the tone?
Holo-Lili: If you mean the signal we tapped from the Taelon
Embassy- why it ceased several moments after it began.
Augur: Come on! How long have I been lying here?
Holo-Lili: Three hours, twenty-three minutes and sixteen seconds,
Master.
Augur is amazed.
Augur: You mean to tell me that ten seconds of the Commonality
harmonic put me under for that long?
Holo-Lili: Mm-hm.
Augur breathes in pure delight.
Augur: This calls for a major... marketing plan.
Holo-Lili: Excuse me Master, but... don't you think your skirting
just a LITTLE too close to the stereotypical male willing to sell his
soul for a sexual high?
Augur: Sex? This has nothing to DO with sex! This goes way beyond
that. I'm talking pure SPIRITUALITY here.
Holo-Lili doesn't buy it.
Holo-Lili: (smiling) Okay. Then perhaps you'd like me to
replicate the signal for your added spiritual listening pleasure.
Augur doesn't notice the barb, and sits down with the headset.
Holo-Lili: Sound replication: begin.
Blue beams shoot into Augur's eyes. He sighs.
SWITCH TO:
Sandoval looks at a holographic grid in the shuttle.
Sandoval: These scans aren't picking up the creature anywhere.
Lili: I looked at the atavus straight in the eye, and it didn't
kill me.
Sandoval: What are you suggesting?
Lili: I'm saying that Da'an is inside that beast. He talked to me
as he ran out of his office.
Sandoval: The last drops of his consciousness slipping away.
Lili: You sure about that? We only have Zo'or's word on it.
Sandoval gets up and puts his global in front of Lili.
Sandoval: Look closely Captain. Look closely! Does that look like
Da'an to you?
Lili: If Da'an-
Sandoval: If Da'an existed inside this east the, Motivational
Imperative in my CVI would compel me to accord him loyalty but I feel
nothing for this creature. Nothing.
SWITCH TO:
The Atavus on top of a building, then the side of an antique store. A
man is robbing the store, and loading some vases into a car trunk. The
Atavus leaps onto the top of the car, growling.
Robber: What the...
He pulls out a gun and fires. The bullets pass through the Atavus's
chest and stomach, and he raises his hands and starts sucking the
life-energy from the robber. A vase falls and shatters.
SWITCH TO:
Sandoval and Lili in the shuttle.
Lili: If Da'an is in there, then we have to TRY to communicate
with him. He talked to me once, he can do it again!
Sandoval: Da'an will reach out to you when no one else can touch
him? When not even Zo'or can sense him inside the Commonality?
Sandoval sits back down.
SWITCH TO:
The man leading a cop to the alley. He points at something on the ground.
Man: There!
Police Officer: That's your mugger?
Man: That thing sucked... every last drop out of him like he was
squeezing a lemon. He didn't even touch the guy!
Police Officer: I've never seen anything like this...
The camera shows a shriveled corpse.
SWITCH TO:
The shuttle, where Sandoval slaps his global shut.
Sandoval: There's a body on 24th and E, Northeast.
Lili: A victim of the atavus?
Sandoval: You hang back, Captain. I'll take the lead. At least
until you put your sentimentality under control.
Lili: (softly) Maybe you're right. How could it be Da'an? Da'an
would never kill.
Sandoval's global beeps, and he pulls it open.
Sandoval: Yes.
Officer: There's been another victim, sir. An antique shop at
Vermont and Takoma.
Sandoval slaps his global shut.
Sandoval: He's moving fast.
Lili: Should I reroute?
Sandoval: No stay on course, Agent Beckett will handle the
antique shop.
SWITCH TO:
The shuttle lands next to the antique shop, and Liam and Beckett get
out. As they step under the police tape, Beckett grabs a reporter's
camera and tosses it away.
Beckett: This is a matter of federal security. Move along or
you'll end up like your camera.
The man stalks away. A corporal comes over to Beckett.
Corporal: That kind of tactic may fly wherever you come from, but
it's another thing in this country.
Beckett: I suggest you familiarize yourself with your own
department's chain of command... Corporal. If you do, you'll understand
that Companion protectors have worldwide jurisdiction. So do your job,
and be quick about it.
She walks away to Liam, who is kneeling next to another shriveled corpse.
Beckett: Nasty piece of work, what's next?
Liam gets up and walks a little way away, then opens his global.
Liam: Let's see if there's a pattern here. Taelon headquarters,
24th and E, and this bit of carnage here. It's headed in a straight
line, but where?
SWITCH TO:
Sandoval looking at a shriveled corpse. Lili's global beeps.
Liam: Are you alone?
Lili: Relatively.
Liam: I extrapolated the Atavus' path based on the sightings to
date.
Lili: What do you got?
Liam's data flashes up.
Lili: Oh My God! He's headed straight for Augur's.
SWITCH TO:
Augur is still lying blissfully in his chair. A hulking shadow is seen
across a wall.
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COMMERCIAL BREAK
Lili is staring wildly at her global.
Lili: Come on, Augur!
Augur is slowly coming back to consciousness at the global beeping.
Holo-Lili: Do you want me to get that, Master?
Augur: (dreamily) Okay, all right... Check caller ID.
Lili's image appears on the screen, looking irritated. Holo-Lili gasps.
Holo-Lili: Hey! She looks familiar...
Augur: Never mind, hang it up.
Holo-Lili: No, wait! Who is she?
Augur: I said, hang it up!
Augur springs to his feet and stands between the screen and the hologram angrily.
Augur: You are not programmed to override my commands!
Lili: Augur you've got to get out of there.
Lili can only see a pinkish blur behind Augur.
Holo-Lili: Who is she?
Lili: Who's there with you?
Augur: Never mind, I'll call you later.
Lili: No you don't understand!
There is a thunderous noise outside. Augur and Holo-Lili freeze.
Augur: What the hell was that?
Lili: Get out of there right now, I'm on my way.
The Atavus runs through the warehouse.
SWITCH TO:
Lili runs to Sandoval and starts pulling him away.
Lili: Let's go!
Sandoval: Go where?
Lili: The atavus is travelling in a straight line. It's heading
northeast. There's nothing there but a bunch of warehouses. We can
corner it.
SWITCH TO:
Sandoval and Lili sitting in the shuttle. Sandoval is staring at her.
Sandoval: You said 'it.'
Lili: What?
Sandoval: You said we can corner 'it.' Not 'him.' 'It.' Perhaps
you have finally stopped thinking of the Atavus as Da'an.
Lili looks alarmed.
Augur puts away the headset and backs away from the door, when the
Atavus bashes through a wall with a spray of sparks. It starts ripping
stuff up as Augur huddles against the wall.
Holo-Lili: Master, what can I do?
Augur: Download my will, order it to....
He screams and pitches away as the Atavus starts tearing apart the
computer.
Holo-Lili: What is it doing?
Augur: It's the harmonic tone! It wants the commonality signal.
Disable it now!
Holo-Lili blinks, but nothing happens. She blinks again. The Atavus
continues tearing it apart.
Holo-Lili: It's not working!
She begins to flicker.
Holo-Lili: Oh, I'm losing composition. Save me, master!
Augur: I'll fix you, I promise!
Augur flees the building.
SWITCH TO:
Sandoval and Lili running into the building.
Lili: Over here!
Sandoval: I've been here before. This place is a maze.
Augur watches them as a roaring noise is heard.
Sandoval: Agent Beckett, converge on this signal. We have the Atavus!
SWITCH TO:
Holo-Lili writhes madly.
Holo-Lili: Save me, Augur-
She fizzes out just as Lili races in. The Atavus whirls and glares at
Lili and Sandoval, then attacks Sandoval and knocks Lili aside. Lili
throws a box at the Atavus, just as Sandoval lets out a skrill blast.
Fed up, the creature flees.
Lili: I'm alright. Go!
Sandoval races out
Lili: Augur? Augur! You okay?
Augur appears.
Augur: No, but I will be as soon as I see my tailor. Look!
Holds up his arm to show a rip in his shirt. Lili sighs and runs out,
A wounded Sandoval looks down at a stomach wound, then faints just as
Beckett and Liam run in. Beckett opens her global.
Beckett: We need medtechs! Converge on this signal immediately.
SWITCH TO:
An ambulance, Sandoval is being wheeled in. Beckett watches worriedly.
Liam: Go with him.
Beckett: But you can't confront the Atavus alone...
Liam: When we find it, we'll contact you.
Beckett leaves, and Lili comes over to Liam.
Lili: I looked at it, Liam. I. I tried to see Da'an in it's eyes.
I couldn't!
SWITCH TO:
The remains of Augur's place, where Augur is sitting.
Augur: Okay, okay, I admit it, I recreated the frequency of the
commonality.
Lili: You disrupted the commonality. People are dying... Da'an
himself may be dying, and why? Because you got... JEALOUS of me?
Augur: No, no, no, no, tapping into the commonality could give us
the means of defeating the Taelons-
Lili: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And your ego had nothing to do with
this!
Augur: Well, no!
Liam butts in.
Liam: Could you reproduce the Taelon Harmonic again?
Augur: Yeah, great idea. Except this time let's do it at you
place instead.
Lili: That's right! Give the atavus another homing beacon, make
it come to us.
Liam: Only this time we'll be ready for it.
They look at Augur.
Augur: Come on! Get serious! Look around! Not even ET could phone
home in this rubble. What the hell do you want me to do?
Lili: The impossible, just like you always do.
Augur: Okay, there is one other system like it, but I don't think
gonna want to take the risk.
Lili: (impatiently) Why not?
Augur: It's in the liberation hideout.
------------------------------------------------------
COMMERCIAL BREAK
In Sandoval's hospital room, Beckett takes off her rune necklace and
puts in on Sandoval's hand.
Beckette: This is the symbol sowelo. It's my protection. I'm
entrusting it to you, Sandoval. We're bound together... so don't you
dare die on me. Understand?
She kisses his hand.
SWITCH TO:
The Resistance HQ, where Doors is going around and ranting.
Doors: Listen, even if we can kill this thing, you'll expose our
entire operation to the Taelons.
Lili: Then we'll stop it before it penetrates the liberation.
Doors: Just like you've stopped it so far.
Lili: We don't have a choice.
Doors: You're right. You don't have a choice, but I do. I will
not risk this operation to save a Taelon.
Liam comes over.
Liam: Da'an is not just a Taelon. He is the lone voice in the
Taelon hierarchy willing to fight Zo'or on behalf of mankind!
Doors: And what do you care about mankind? You're just as much a
Taelon as you are human.
Liam: Which is how I know that neither species can survive
without the other.
He turns to Augur.
Liam: Start bringing up the Taelon Commonality signal.
Door: Over my dead body.
Liam: If that's what it takes.
He looks back at an uncertain Augur.
Liam: What are you waiting for?
Doors nods slightly, and Augur goes.
Doors: This isn't over.
Liam: It is for now.
SWITCH TO:
The Atavus is crouched on a building top, watching traffic. It looks
almost sad.
SWITCH TO:
The Resistance HQ, where Augur is working on the Commonality signal.
Liam: I think we can save Da'an.
Lili: How? How can we save him when even Zo'or can't, unless
Zo'or's lying-
Liam: No, Zo'or's telling the truth as far as he knows it.
Augur: Isolate the commonality frequency.
Holo-Lili: (from computer) You got it, Master!
Lili hears it and comes over. Augur tries to block her vision of Holo-Lili.
Lili: What the hell?
Augur: Hey, I've got work to do! Remember?
Lili: That's what I saw at your little hovel. Did you program
some kind of docile, servant version of me into your computer?
Augur: I tried, I tried to program your actual personality into
the system but it was too much for the computer to capture so I settled
for THIS.
Holo-Lili: I heard that!
Lili: That is so pathetic!
Augur: Please, try, please.
He shoos a scowling Lili away, but now Holo-Lili is glaring at him. He
shakes his head.
SWITCH TO:
Sandoval's hospital room. Liam comes in and finds Beckett asleep with
her head resting on Sandoval's hand. He touches her and she wakes.
Beckett: Oh Major, what are you doing here?
Liam: Captain Marquette is closing in on the atavus.
Beckett fixes her hair. Liam touched the necklace on Sandoval's hand.
Liam: Strange accessory for a Companion Protector.
Beckett: Why? Someone who believes in the Companions can't
believe in the runes?
Liam: Runes are tied to the Earth; the Companions are tied to the
stars.
Beckett: Yes... but it's my own bonds to the Earth that sustain
me and make me of value to the Companions. I serve as a bridge between
this world, and their own.
Liam: A bridge.
Beckett fumbles through her puse.
Beckett: Here.
Liam: What's this?
Beckette: You look like you have a puzzle in you , maybe this
will help.
She hands him a little rune tile.
Liam: Raylo.
Beckett: You know Runes.
Liam: The rune of communication. Reunion. Tying two sides
together.
SWITCH TO:
The Resistance HQ, where Augur has finished. He gestures Lili over.
Augur: Yes! Lili, it's ready, come!
Lili: (irritated) I'll call Liam, you start it up!
Augur: Good.
Lili leaves, and Augur claps his hands.
Augur: Let's summon the beast!
He hits the button.
SWITCH TO:
On a building, the atavus stands up, hearing the tone, and runs off.
SWITCH TO:
Sandoval's hospital room, where Liam and Beckett are about to leave.
Liam touches Sandoval's hand, and Sandoval stirs.
Sandoval: Of course... It's you two together...
He lapses back.
Beckett: What? Why did he say that?
Liam: We've got to go.
SWITCH TO:
The church basement, where Lili is prowling. She opens her global and
calls Beckett.
Lili: Converge on this signal.
Beckett nods and cuts the link.
In the church, Lili sees the Atavus's shadow and hears a rumble.
Lili: He's here! Kill the harmonic...
Augur: Don't do anything stupid.
The Atavus appears behind her. She aims her gun, then lowers it. The
creature is not attacking, simply looking at her.
------------------------------------------------------
COMMERCIAL BREAK
Lili holds up her hands, and the Atavus seems to relax.
Lili: You know me. You won't hurt me.
Beckett and Liam rush in, and Beckett skrills the Atavus. It roars and falls.
Lili: NO!
Lili rushes over to stop Beckett, but is shoved away.
Lili: Beckett, no!
Beckett skrills the Atavus again, but it lets out a shakarava blast that
knocks her unconscious. Lili and Liam check her.
Lili: Can you help Da'an?
Liam walks over to the Atavus and presses his shakarava to the
creature's. The red globe reconnects to the Commonality, and on the
mothership, Zo'or stands up in shock. In the church, Da'an collapses to
his knees.
Lili: Da'an!
Da'an gasps pitifully for a moment, then stands up.
Da'an: What have I done? Those deaths...
Lili: No. That wasn't' you...
Da'an: It is a part of me. We all have a darkness within us...
even Taelons. And... now that I have taken a life, I will never be whole
again.
SWITCH TO
Beckett's hospital room, as Sandoval is wheeled in. He touches her hand,
and they both smile.
Sandoval: Hey. Now it's your turn.
Beckett: Just a wee bump on the head. You know doctors. Any
chance to use the word 'concussion,' and they're all atwitter. I'll be
up and around before you know it.
Sandoval: Yeah... some punishment you've taken lately.
Beckett: Hmm. Is Captain Marquette going to be disciplined for
insubordination?
Sandoval: No, she was right. Da'an recovered.
Beckett: Recovered? How?
Sandoval: Nobody quite knows, and Zo'or is beside himself trying
to figure it out.
Beckett: Are we then the guilty ones? For not having faith in
Da'an.
Sandoval muses.
Beckett: There is on other thing I wanted to ask you. What did
you mean when you said of course Liam and I would be there together?
Sandoval: Did I say that?
Beckett: When you fought your way back up to the land of the
living.
Sandoval: I must have been delirious. Wait. Speaking of Liam, he
wanted you to have this.
He hands her the rune tile.
Sandoval: He said he didn't want to break your set.
He's wheeled out, and Beckett thinks.
Beckett: Reunion.
SWITCH TO:
The Resistance HQ, where Lili is looking angry.
Lili: How can you say that? He saved Da'an.
Doors: I don't give a damn about Da'an. Liam openly defied me. He
can't be trusted. He'll never set foot in here again, never.
Augur: Never say never. You can tell Liam yourself, Doors. He's
coming down the elevator right now.
Doors walks over to face Liam as he comes in, followed by Da'an. For a
moment, Da'an looks around at the people, then holds out his hand to
Doors. Doors slowly shakes it.
