Lullaby

[Reb and Zak are in the Command Deck. Zak has pried open the back of the computer console and is tinkering with the circuits.]

Reb: Well, hyperdrive's back, but I've got damaged systems all over the place.

Zak: [not really paying attention] Uh-huh.

Reb: Any luck getting the computer up and running yet, Zak? How about the mission descriptor file, can you access at that least? [Nothing from him.] Zak!

Zak: Mm-hmm...

Reb: The mission statement, we need to find it. [Still nothing] Hello! Earth to Zak!

Zak: Mmm... [still not saying anything]

Reb: Zak!!

Zak: I'm hearing. You want to know what we're doing here: six complete strangers with almost blank memories on a crippled ship in unknown space. What I want to know is where an optic coupling this big got to.

Reb: You're working on it.

Zak: I'm working on it. Gen's cognitive integrators are a mess. I'm trying to re-route.

[Reb picks the coupling off the top of the console and hands it to him. Zak gives a chuckle as he takes it.]

Reb: How long?

Zak: With, or without you bugging me?

Reb: Right. I'm going to go away.

[He goes in to the "war room", where the rest of them are eating.]

Lise: [carrying two plates of food] I got the food synthesizers working. At least we won't starve. [Hands Reb a plate]

Reb: [stares at it warily] Mm, you sure about that?

Gret: Oh, I've had worse.

Reb: When?

Gret: [thinks for a moment] I can't remember.

[Bren is sitting by the screen, playing the mission log of the alien's attack, a remote control in his hand, staring intently at the screen.]

Yuna: Bren, give the instant replay a rest!

Bren: What if the hostile comes back? I want to be ready.

Lise: Don't worry, we're ready.

[Reb walks over to him.]

Reb: No, we're not. We got lucky.

Bren: I'm trying to pin down their weapon recharge times.

Reb: Good idea.

Bren: Sure would be easier if the [screams to Zak] computer was online!

Zak: [yells exasperated] I'm working on it!

Reb: Good! Let us know when you're ready.

[Zak's screen is showing Gen's image "getting better". At the bottom, it reads, "Initializing EQ Subroutine." Zak starts to laugh victoriously, when the terminal suddenly sparks out.]

Zak: Whoa, whoa, whoa, oh, MAN! [He slaps the console in frustration.]

[Habitat; Bren and Reb are still watching the replay. The shots hit the hostile's rear end.]

Bren: Dead in the [?shifts?]! Just like they taught us.

Reb: Nice shot.

[Zak stomps in from the Command Deck clutching his laptop and grabs a pretzel stick from a dish and heaves himself down on the "couch". Reb, seeing his frustration, goes over to him.]

Reb: Problem?

Zak: It was working. Until I fried the terminal.

Reb: All right, show me.

[They head for the Command Deck. Before they get there, Gen appears in front of them.]

Zak: Gen! You're back online.

Gen: Yes. Re-routing my cognitive integrators solved the problem.

Zak: You're a little shaky. Tell you what--shut down the holograms, please, and run a full level self-diagnostic.

Gen: I cannot comply. My instructions are to resume the primary mission.

Yuna: And that means?

Gen: It means you must all return to cryogenic sleep. [She disappears.]

[Gen is called back.]

Reb: You expect us to climb back into those pods and just go to sleep?

Yuna: Not a chance.

Gen: You were awakened prematurely to deal with an emergency situation. The emergency is over. The mission profile must be restored.

Reb: Gen, override the re-entry program.

Gen: No. I have initiated restart of cryogenic subsystems. The capsules will be ready for your re-entry in 63 minutes.

Zak: Wait. [To Reb] Let me try.

[Zak approaches her calmly and tries to talk reasonably.]

Zak: Unfortunately, you were damaged in the attack and, I think you're not working properly. Let me finish your repairs.

Gen: I cannot deviate from the mission profile. Beginning shutdown of redundant systems. [A door closes and seals.] You will proceed to the cryo chamber immediately.

[Sounds of systems shutting down can be heard, and Gen goes away.]

Yuna: I don't like this.

[More doors start to close.]

Yuna: She's shutting everything down. Oxygen?

[She turns to Lise, who looks at her communicator.]

Lise: O₂ levels...dropping.

[A door opens.]

Yuna: I think she's steering us to cryo.

Bren: That's it, pull the plug.

Zak: No, we can't do that!

Bren: Don't tell me you think she's right! What if there's another emergency and she forgets to wake us up?

Gret: Well, I have no intention of playing Sleeping Beauty again.

Reb: Zak, there must be a way to disconnect her.

Zak: Gen is a biomass computer. She has organic components. [shouts] She's alive!

Lise: She's not alive, Zak, she's a machine.

Zak: That's your prejudice, Lise. Her central processor has a living, neural core!

Bren: Come on! If you're telling me Gen's a person you're as messed up as she is.

Zak: No, what I'm saying, is that if I shut her down part of her dies! [Lowers his voice a bit] And I'll probably never get her running again.

Yuna: Fine by me.

Zak: Yeah? [Crosses his arms fiercely and speaks in an almost sinister tone] You tell me how you're going to navigate without her. [calms down] Look. We don't know how we got here, or where we're headed. Do you really want me to kill the only chance we have of getting any answers? There's an access terminal in the cryo chamber. Let me try to fix her.

Reb: OK.

[All six are in the corridor on their way to cryo.]

Zak: She's using a very primitive layer of cognitive functioning. She's designed to explore alternative solutions--but she's not doing it.

Yuna: No kidding.

Zak: And there's something else--her EQ is gone.

Lise: Her what?

Zak: Emotional Quotient--Gen's supposed to have feelings.

Gret: You mean simulated feelings.

Bren: Who cares about feelings--can you fix it?

Zak: Uh...I won't know until I get deeper into the system.

Bren: Well, that's not much of an answer, is it?

Gret: Oh, Bren, get off his back.

Bren: I will--when he fixes it.

[Zak is typing at the cryo terminal and rises from it.]

Zak: Ah, no good--this terminal doesn't access Gen's subroutines--all I can pull up is cryo indexes.

Reb: What about the operating record? [He taps a few keys.] Here we go--current date, Earth terms, September 21, 2695--that's today. Departure date, April 19, 21...2167. We've been on board five hundred years.

Lise: Can't be right. [goes to the terminal] The human organism starts to lose stability at a hundred years in cryo--after five hundred years, we'd be toast.

Gret: Well, maybe we came aboard much later than 2167.

Lise: But--

Yuna: All right, the calendar is not the issue right now. Zak, where can you get full access to Gen?

Zak: A diagnostic terminal--but I have no clue where to find one.

Bren: Well, what's it look like?

Zak: A terminal? You know, like this--only bigger, probably marked with a computer symbol?

Reb: OK. Let's all split up and look for one.

[Yuna begins to look annoyed at Reb.]

Reb: We'll start with the lower levels. Yuna, you and Zak take deck two, Bren and Gret, take deck three, Lise and I'll take deck four. And everybody stay in contact.

[Everybody switches their communicators on, Yuna doing so in a very sarcastic manner. They start toward the cryo hatch. It closes and seals before they get there.]

Bren: Cute. She locked the hatch.

[Everybody starts looking around for another way out. Yuna spots the emergency hatch in the corner; while Reb picks up a laser tool.]

Reb: We can pop it with this--a laser scalpel.

[Yuna nods in mock agreement.]

Yuna: Or maybe the emergency hatch was devised for emergencies? [She goes and opens the hatch, eyes rolling all the way.]

Bren: Well, glad there's something on this boat the computer doesn't control.

[Everyone follows, Reb slightly amused.]

[Bren and Gret are looking on their deck. Bren stops at a hatch marked with a black and red symbol.]

Gret: What?

Bren: Armory. Weapons lockup. [He starts punching in his code on the keypad and hits the enter key. It doesn't open. He tries again.] Access denied. [Angrily, he hits the door.]

Gret: Mmm, testosterone fit. How civilized.

Bren: Are you always like this?

Gret: Like what?

Bren: Like...you!

Gret: How would I know--you know me as long as I have, what do you think?

Bren: I don't know. [pauses, then cracks a smile] Maybe it'll grow on me.

[Zak and Yuna come across a diagnostic terminal, covered with black scorch marks.]

Zak: Look at this. [He goes over and opens part of the terminal and studies it.] This thing's a mess.

Yuna: Must have overloaded during the attack. Can't you tap into the connectors?

Zak: Mmm...no...the whole terminal's dead. There's no power.

Yuna: Then let's keep looking.

[Bren and Gret come across another mysterious hatch, this one with two symbols--a green one with a twisted ladder, and a blue one.]

Bren: I don't recognize this one.

Gret: It's a double helix. It's the symbol of DNA--it's the fundamental building blocks of human life.

Bren: What's that, deja vu?

Gret: Yeah, I...I think so.

[Bren stands in front of the keypad, ready to type in the code.]

Bren: OK. If this doesn't work...

Gret: What? You're going to attack it with your bare fists?

Bren: No--I'm going to act very civilized. [starts tapping in the code] I'm going to say, "Oh, that's frustrating." And then I'm going to attack it with my bare fists. [BEEP.] OK, so I lied. [He raises his shoulders--]

[Gret gets between Bren and the door and holds him back.]

Gret: At ease, soldier. [grin] I, um...I think I remember the code.

[She types it in, and the door is released.]

Bren: Nicely done.

[As Bren walks in, Gret stares at the symbols on the door again. Suddenly, a flash of images hit her--a yellow caution sign, a white hallway...but only for a second. She blinks, thinking it nothing, and moves on. Meanwhile, Bren has found a small console in front of a small, covered hole in the wall.]

Bren: Doesn't look like an emergency terminal. Must be something else. Storage or something. [He tries his code.]

Gret: [reading] 'You are not cleared for entry. Do you wish a visual inspection?' [Glances at Bren] Yes.

[A screen comes up, asking for a passcode.]

Gret: Enter passcode. Passcode, passcode... [On impulse, she enters a few numbers and gets through.] I know what's behind this window...I just can't remember what it is.

[It opens. Inside is something that can only be described with a visual...

The flash hits Gret again. This time, it's faster. And much more intense. So much so that she falls over, eyes rolling.]

Bren: Gret...

[Bren grabs his communicator.]

Bren: Lise, medical emergency...

[We see what Gret is seeing--the white hall, men in protective suits...]

[Gret is on the table in cryo, her eyes moving around rapidly under her eyelids, wearing a neuroscanner. Lise is examining her with the medical scanner, trying to determine what's going on.]

Lise: Intensification of neural activity...vital functions erratic...

Bren: She just passed out. What's wrong with her?

Lise: I don't know. I'll have an analysis in a minute. I'm just checking for abnormalities--arterial blockages, aneurysms, that sort of thing...

Reb: But you remember what to look for.

[Lise nods. She looks at the console.]

Lise: That's unusual. Encephalographic contour consistent with spontaneous replicatory syndrome.

Yuna: Which is what, plain language?

Lise: Uh, I think it's called, uh...

Zak: Prexing?

Reb: Prexing? What does it mean?

Lise: It happens to people with memory implants--Gret's in a stage of preexistence, or prexing, and she's reliving a memory that belonged to her original donor.

Yuna: One of her parents?

Lise: No, people with mothers and fathers don't need memory implants.

Reb: Are you saying Gret is a clone?

Lise: Yes. It explains the amnesia--she was awakened from cryosleep before her memory implant was complete.

Reb: We're all suffering from memory loss.

Zak: Yeah, does that mean we're clones too?

Bren: [shaking head] No. Not possible.

Yuna: I'm with you. Lise, are you sure?

[Lise is scanning Gret, who starts to toss.]

Lise: Mmm...I don't like these vital signs. I'm going to try and bring her out now.

Bren: Lise, do something! [He grabs Gret's shoulder to try and keep her still.]

Lise: I've got it under control... [She injects something into Gret's neck. Gret stops and wakes up.]

Lise: BP levels are coming down...

Bren: [rips the neuroscanner from her head] Gret, it's Bren. Talk to me.

Lise: Pulse, one ten...

Bren: Gret?

Lise: Temperature coming down...

Bren: Gret? You OK?

Gret: Yeah, I'm a little shaky. [She sits up on the table.] I was someplace else.

Lise: It's called a prex. You were re-experiencing a memory.

Reb: What did you see?

[Gen appears.]

Gen: Has she resumed full function?

Reb: [walks over to her] You need to be restored to full function.

Zak: I can do that, if you'll allow me full access.

Gen: I cannot comply. Dormancy routines are ready to activate. Enter your cryo capsules now.

Bren: We're not going anywhere.

Gen: If you do not enter your capsules in 26 minutes, I will replace you. [She disappears.]

Bren: Replace us? ZAK! What is this?!?

[Yuna gives a snort.]

Yuna: It's a bluff.

Gret: No, it's not! If we refuse to take our little naps, this ship is equipped to create new versions of us.

Yuna: It's...what?

Gret: These cryo capsules are part of a cloning module. The ship grew us from genetic samples.

Yuna: Gret...maybe you're a clone, but--

Gret: No, Yuna, not maybe, I am a clone. And so are you, and so is Reb, and Lise, and Bren and Zak.

Reb: Gret, how do you know all of this?

Gret: I saw it--in my prex. I was on Mars, at the Command Centre at Araxes, where this ship, Deepwater, was built. In its cargo bay is a bank of cloning capsules and genetic samples--it's enough material to populate an entire planet--or repopulate one.

[The reaction leaves everyone devastated and gasping.]

Yuna: So that's our mission.

Gret: To make sure that the human race survives.

Bren: And the six of us, we're just copies of somebody else.

Gret: Genetic twins, with their life memories programmed into us while our bodies grew in these capsules...

Zak: [quietly] So...we can be replaced.

Reb: No. No one is getting replaced. I have a better idea.

[Reb and Yuna are crawling through a narrow crawlspace. Torn wires are hanging around everywhere. Yuna scrapes her hip rounding a corner.]

Yuna: This was your better idea?

Reb: Well, best I could think of. If we can restore power to that dead terminal you and Zak found, then he can tap into it manually. Zak, how close am I?

[Zak and Gret are outside the crawlspace, Zak staring at his computer.]

Zak: Almost there. Another five metres.

[He keeps on going and sees some broken wires.]

Reb: Zak, is this section still alive?

Zak: I'm not sure.

[Reb picks up the two ends of the wire. A huge spark comes out of it.]

Reb: Maybe you'd better hang back.

Yuna: Don't get chivalrous on me. I thought you wanted some help.

Reb: All right. Hand me the welder.

[He lies down by the bunch of wires and Yuna kneels next to it, holding the two pieces.]

Yuna: I'll hold the conduit. Try not to burn my fingers off.

[Reb starts at it...]

[Lise and Bren are in cryo.]

Lise: Reb? Yuna? Do you read me?

Reb: Yeah, I read you.

[On Lise's screen is a reading of the oxygen levels.]

Lise: O₂ levels in the access duct are dropping fast.

Reb: So that's why I can't breathe.

Yuna: I'll check the O₂ percentage. [She turns to her communicator, which shows the levels--they are indeed dropping.]

Lise: Reb, get outta there.

Reb: Can't. Don't have power to the crossover yet.

[Reb's vision starts to blur as he welds the wires.]

Gen: Automatic shutdown of O₂ levels is beginning in preparation for crew re-entry. I detect only two crew in cryo. All others report to the cryo chamber now.

[Reb glances at Yuna.]

Yuna: We've got a few seconds.

Lise: O₂ levels in there are critical. Reb?

Bren: Reb, get out now.

Zak: Reb, do you copy?

Reb: I'm working on the division line now. If I've got it right, your lights should come on.

[Everyone waits in anticipation. Suddenly, Gret and Zak's spot is illuminated by the lights.]

Zak: Reb, you've nailed it! We've got power! Now get out of there!

[Yuna and Reb get out to where Gret and Zak are.]

Gen: Report to the cryo chamber now.

Yuna: [gasping] OK! Let's go, let's go...

[Zak is at his computer restarting Gen...]

Zak: Almost there. Re-loading the start-up codes... Initializing the EQ subroutines... Enabling the independent logic module... Got it!

[Quickly, Zak snaps his laptop shut and they all start running to cryo. Meanwhile, in cryo...]

Gen: First phase of re-entry is engaged. Please enter your cryo capsules now.

[Bren and Lise start to take their communicators off. Gret, Reb, Yuna and Zak come in through the emergency hatch.]

Gen: Please, enter your capsules now.

Reb: Zak, it didn't work.

Zak: It will, Reb; just give her a second to restart.

[Gen's image and sounds fluctuates, takes a breath, changes her outfit, shakes herself loose, changes her outfit again, and smiles along with Zak.]

Gen: [serenely] Thank you, Zak. I was finding it very difficult without my EQ. Humans can be so puzzling if one doesn't emphasize on their emotions. [turns to Bren and Lise, in capsules] Bren, Lise: I truly appreciate your cooperation. [turns back to the others] Now, it would be very helpful if the rest of you took your places in the capsules.

Yuna: I think you blew it, Zak.

Reb: What happened to the independent logic module?

Zak: I enabled it; she just isn't using it!

Bren: A lot of good this EQ does, Zak!

Gen: We are starting re-entry.

[The doors on Bren and Lise's capsules start to close. Bren tries to stop them but he can't. Gen disappears. Reb sighs.]

Reb: Zak--these emotions of hers: are they real or are they an act?

Zak: They're real. Her EQ is a part of her design, it influences everything she does.

Reb: OK, is it strong enough to override the rest of her programming?

Zak: [pause] I don't know.

Reb: Well, let's find out.

[He walks over to the hatch and picks up the laser scalpel from the table.]

Reb: Gen.

[She's ba-ack.]

Gen: Yes, Reb?

Reb: I'm opening this hatchway.

Gen: You can't. It's sealed.

Reb: Yes, I can, Gen, I can pop the seal with this laser scalpel. What will happen when I do?

Gen: The oxygen in this chamber will dissipate. You'll all suffocate.

Reb: Good! And we'll die. Unless you find a way to restore oxygen to the ship.

Gen: My instructions don't permit me to--

Reb: You have five seconds, Gen! One... Two...

Gen: Reb, please, don't! Zak, tell him not to!

Reb: Three! Find another option, Gen!

Gen: I can't!

Reb: Four...

Gen: Zak, help me...

[Zak starts to reach into his bag, but Yuna stops him.]

Reb: Five. [He turns to the hatch, his finger on the button.]

Gen: No! STOP!

Gen: I have suspended the re-entry sequence. Replenishment of oxygen has begun.

[The cryo hatch opens, as do the ones on Bren and Lise's capsules.]

Zak: And?

Gen: I'll help you re-construct the mission profile. We'll search for alternate strategies. I should have suggested that earlier. Was I malfunctioning?

Zak: Let's just say, you weren't yourself.

[She disappears.]

Reb: Zak--I think you and Gen should program an emergency override in case this ever happens again.

Zak: I'm on it.

Reb: [To Bren and Lise] You guys OK?

[They nod.]

Yuna: So, what do we do now?

Reb: We go on. Carry out the mission.

Review

Most elements of this episode I liked, but there were a few that just didn't click with me. The introduction to the prex was one that I liked, as was the crew's reactions to being clones. Continuity of Reb/Yuna and Gret/Bren was also nice. At the beginning, when they're showing the crew "settling in" was good. Zak's "relationship" with Gen was also carried out well. And, of course, the mission is discovered. I was surprised that there was so little reaction to it, but, like Gordon said, a half hour is a half hour.

Now for the stuff I didn't like. The ending was wrapped up just a little too quick and nicely to be realistic--I mean, the independent logic module wasn't the ONLY thing that wasn't working after she restarted, was it? And there were a lot of things that didn't really contribute to largely to the ep that made it seem really Trek-ish, which I also didn't like very much.

An observation: this is the only episode of the first season that didn't have the Command Deck.

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