Fugue

[The Deepwater is in Hyperspace. Reb walks into the Habitat from the Kitchen (?), where Bren and Lise already are. He is wincing after taking a bite of an energy bar.]

Bren: This food sucks.

Reb: I can't tell which is the food and which is the package.

Lise: Actually, Reb, it's no joke. I checked the food synthesizers today, and all the Vitamin B levels are down. I think you should check it out.

[Yuna walks in from the Command Deck.]

Yuna: Forget the Vitamin B--he needs to do maintenance on the shields. Our next leg of hyperspace passes a pulsar and some major turbulence.

Reb: Shields first. [Another wincing bite.] Synthesizers second.

[Zak is in his quarters with Gen, picking up a small chip.]

Zak: This should be working. I thought I had it.

Gen: My advice is to forget about the cyberneural transmitter and wait until you experience your first prex naturally.

Zak: No, I don't want to have a prex until I can control it, until I know it's safe.

Gen: If you are to use the transmitter, it would be wise to have Lise on hand with a medipac.

Zak: Why? I'm just exploring memories. It's no more dangerous than dreaming.

Gen: I disagree. When you do it, Lise must be present, or at least another member of the crew nearby.

Zak: Class one override. These experiments are not to be discussed with the other crew members.

Gen: [reluctantly] Acknowledged. But I still disagree.

Zak: Fine, disagree. Just don't tell anyone about it.

[Gen still looks reluctant, but she doesn't object.]

Zak: OK. This setting should allow me to connect with the memory implant. Let's go over the routine again, Gen, so I'm clear about it.

Gen: I will be able to enhance and amplify the memory, and feed it back to you, Zak. But I will have no visual contact with you whatsoever when you enter that reality.

Zak: Gen, stop being so overprotective. Just do the reconstructing and the feedback, 'kay?

Gen: OK.

[Zak looks at her oddly for a moment before placing the transmitter behind his ear.]

Zak: Activate.

[Zak's eyes close. In front of him he sees a myriad of colours, but he is unable to see the bigger picture.]

Zak: I'm seeing some kind of a city, Gen. Tall, beautiful buildings, made up of different colours.

Gen: Please describe.

[He zooms out and can look around.]

Zak: I'm in somebody's living room!

[There is a girl playing in the living room with the toy blocks that he had mistaken for the buildings.]

Zak: Hi! What're you making?

[The girl doesn't even look up. Zak waves his hands in front of her face.]

Zak: Gen, this girl can't see me. It's like I'm a ghost. Is this really a prex? Is this what they're like?

Gen: The cyberneural transmitter is providing you with an enhanced prexing experience. You are recalling the implanted memories of your donor.

Zak: So... this is my sister.

[A middle-aged man walks in.]

Man: Hey... That is some fort you're building here, Tara. [kneels down beside her]

Tara: It's not a fort, daddy. It's a space shuttle so we can flllyyyyyyyy away!

Zak: This is kinda cool--I feel like the invisible man.

Dad: Zak. Zak!

Zak: Sorry, I just--

Dad: Zak, come here right now, please.

[Zak approaches him, but he sees a boy comes out of another room--it's his donor, when he was about 10.]

Younger Zak: Coming, Dad.

[Zak stares at his younger self for a moment, then returns to Deepwater with a gasp. Surprised, he takes the transmitter off his neck and stares at it for a moment. Gen is still in there with him.]

Zak: Except for my prex, I have no real memory of my family. Maybe this whole prexing experience is some sort of weird wish-fulfillment.

Gen: No. Every single image came from your implanted memories.

Gret (comm.): Zak, I need you in Habitat.

Zak: Coming!

[He puts the chip down and heads toward the hatch, stopping to make one last comment.]

Zak: You know, Gen, this cyberneural transmitter is a whole new way of expanding brain function. [wide grin] I love it!

[Zak enters Habitat, the smile still on his face, and looks at the screen Gret is at.]

Gret: Look at that--the computer is allowing temperature fluctuations in the gene bank. I'm a little concerned.

Zak: Come on, Gret--it's less than one hundredth of a percent. It's not serious. But, if it'll make you feel better I'll check the regulator. [He juggles his equipment in the air cheerfully as he starts at it.]

Gret: You're quite bubbly today. What's up?

Zak: Oh, it's incredible, I...'ve gotten little pieces of my memory back. [Almost gave it away!]

Gret: You will get even more little pieces once you have your first prex.

Zak: If I have a prex.

Gret: You will. The memories were implanted within you. So you will have them... eventually.

Zak (comm.): Gen--get the neural transmitter ready, I'm on my way.

[Zak returns to his quarters and picks the chip up excitedly.]

Zak: Gen, are the new controls online?

Gen: Affirmative.

Zak: Good. Let's give it a shot.

[He puts it on his neck again.]

Zak: Activate.

[He's right back where he left off--the younger Zak is talking to his dad.]

Younger Zak: I didn't do nothin'.

Zak: Freeze! [Beep.] Take it back, Gen.

Gen: Moving back...

Zak: 'kay. Let's employ the new controls. I'll do a replace on the boy.

[He vanishes, and Zak walks over to where he had been standing and picks up a block from the stack.]

Tara: Give me that one, please!

Zak: Come and get it! [He holds the block above her head, out of her reach and starts laughing.]

Tara: Give it to me! Gimme!

Dad: [sternly] No teasing, Zak. You're going to have to understand, the way things are these days, you're going to need to take more responsibility than you've ever taken before. If anything should happen, you're going to have to learn to look after your sister. And yourself.

Zak: [unaffected] Sure, sorry, whatever.

Dad: Zak, there's no time for that attitude.

Zak: Sorry, sir. Freeze. [to Gen] That was strange. Gen, I'm going to do a replace on the father.

Gen: Replace initiated.

[The boy comes back, and the father disappears. Zak kneels down beside Tara.]

Tara: What do we do now, daddy?

Zak: Well, just... do what you were doing.

Tara: I love you, daddy. [She throws her arms around his waist.]

Zak: [laughing] Well, that's very nice. I'm very glad. [He sees that Tara isn't doing anything.] Gen, resume program. [Nothing.] Gen--resume program!

Gen: Acknowledged.

[Fast-forward.]

Zak: Why didn't you answer me the first time?

Gen: I did not receive you. Perhaps this would be a good time to exit--the program is taxing my resources.

Zak: [disappointed] OK, OK.

[Gret and Reb are now in the Habitat.]

Reb: All I know is these temperature fluctuations are being caused by an intermittent power surge. It's probably what's messing up the food synthesizers too.

Gret: Well, I asked Zak to check it out, but he hasn't gotten back to me yet.

[Meanwhile, Zak is still in his quarters, hastily typing at the console. The screen indicates that he is going through the archives, apparently looking at his genetic records--enhancements, source, etc.]

[Habitat.]

Reb: Gen.

[She shimmers in.]

Reb: Do a diagnostic on these power surges in the gene bank, please.

Gen: I cannot identify a specific cause for the energy surges.

Reb: [slightly frustrated] Zak, I'm trying to get Gen to perform a diagnostic on the gene bank environment, but she doesn't seem to be tracking my voice command.

Zak: [mad at the interruption] There's nothing wrong with her verbal acuity. Gen, run a full gene bank diagnostic.

[Gen does her "working thing" for a moment.]

Gen: I cannot identify a specific cause for the energy surges.

Zak: Well, the problem must be somewhere, keep working on it.

[Gen "thinks" again.]

[We're looking at the readout from Yuna's console, which is showing the power chart going way flat.]

Yuna: There it goes again! Power surge... [yells] R-EB!

[He rushes in from the Habitat.]

Reb: 'kay, OK, I'm making the correction now.

Yuna: What happens if you blink and miss the next power surge? This is the navigation system, not the food synth or the gene bank. I think we should pull out of hyperspace.

Bren: We're doing fine so far.

Yuna: So far is not good enough for hyperspace. I almost missed the fold that time.

Reb: But if we pull out we'll be sitting right next to a pulsar with an intense magnetic field and electromagnetic radiation waves that could knock our systems offline. We have a problem either way.

Yuna: Yes, but until we eliminate the power surges we're far better off in normal space.

[Reb glances at Bren for a moment, then at Yuna, who is staring at him, waiting for his response. He turns to his console and gives his answer.]

Reb: All right, I agree.

[Yuna takes the ship out of hyperspace, the purple pulsar glaring brightly. The shields are fluctuating with "weak spots" all over. The pulsar blinks with more intense light every so often.]

[Zak is picking up the chip again.]

Zak: Hurry up, Gen--I need to take another look at that family.

Gen: Your agitation may be a neural side effect. Lise should--

Zak: Ah! [Zak holds up a finger and stops her, reminding her of the override.] Initiate.

[He's back in the living room--but something's wrong. There's nobody there. Zak looks around.]

Zak: Something bad happened. I don't get it--do you have a time-frame on this?

Gen: I...am...unable...to....

Zak: Gen, I'm losing you. Re-configure.

Gen: Unable to re-configure.

[The pulsar blinks again, sending a wave hurling towards Deepwater. It hits it, and Deepwater is pushed off course slightly. Damage can be seen crackling through the hull.]

Yuna: Reb, the shields are fluctuating. If we lose them, those radio waves will disable the navigation and we will get sucked right into that pulsar!

Reb: I know. That's what I was trying to tell you. [He hops over to the computer console.] We have to find the source of these power surges.

Bren: Zak, get to the Command Deck now. [Nothing.] Zak! [still nothing] He's not answering.

Reb: We need Zak!

[So Bren gets on the lift to go after him.]

Zak: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

[Bren pounds on the door of Zak's quarters.]

Bren: Zak! ZAK!!!

[Oblivious to the sounds, he picks up the little stuffed animal and holds it, devastated, on the verge of crying.]

[Bren puts in his code to open the door and sees Zak lying on the bed, unconscious. He checks his eyes--they're moving a million miles a minute.]

Bren: Lise, medical emergency.

[In sickbay, Zak is on the table, still prexing, while Lise scans him.]

Lise: Strange. Encephalographic contour parallels that of spontaneous replicatory syndrome.

Gret: If it's a prex, it's a pretty intense one.

Lise: It resembles a prex. But it's not quite the same.

Gret: Then what is it?

Lise: I don't know... [She gently tips his head over and sees the transmitter.] Yet.

Mentor: They were inferior. Forget them.

[Back in sickbay, they've called Gen and Reb has joined Gret and Lise. Gen has her arms crossed in a suspicious way...]

Lise: Gen, what's your analysis? Is this a prex or not?

Gen: I am unable to analyze this data.

Lise: This chip looks like a neural transmitter. Gen, do you recognize it?

Gen: [carefully] It is a cyberneural transmitter.

Gret: So why is he wearing it?

Gen: I'm sorry, I am unable to supply that information.

Reb: [looks up suddenly] Gen. Are you operating on secruity override at the moment?

Gen: [struggling slightly] I am not at liberty to disclose that information.

Reb: Class one override.

Gen: Override is invalid.

Reb: Gen, could the security of the overall mission be jeopardized by the power surges we're experiencing?

Gen: [struggling more] That is correct.

Reb: Then in ordinance with mission security protocol , I command you to explain!

[Gen's image fluctuates with a moment while she "processes".]

Gen: Zak created the cyberneural transmitter in order to induce and controls prexes. His activities inside these prexes have been drawing exponentially on my power and increasing the power surges on the ship.

Reb: Remove that transmitter now!

Gen: NO! Wait until he comes out of the prex, you could damage permanently his cerebral function.

Lise: I pulled Gret out of a prex. I could do the same thing.

[Zak starts to toss.]

Gret: Lise...

[She quickly grabs an injector and fills it with something before pressing it to his neck.]

Lise: This should stabalize him.

Reb: He doesn't look good.

[Lise scans him again.]

Lise: His neural activity is maxing out. [She goes to the console.] I'm going to try to initiate life support through the neural transmitter.

Mentor: Start from the beginning, Zak. You will do it over and over again until you get it right--a hundrd, a thousand times if necessary...

Lise: His neural activity is still off the map! I'm out of ideas.

Gret: Gen, where is Zak's prex taking place?

Gen: Asteroid colony, Rex II.

Reb: Gen. Background information about Rex II.

Gen: Rex II was a renegade colony. Government: totalitarian. Core belief: the practice of eugenics--the elimination of anyone deemed genetically inferior.

[The ship shakes with another wave from the pulsar.]

Reb: What is up with those shields?!?!

Gret: Lise, give me the neuroscanner. [Lise hesitates.] Give me the neuroscanner.

Reb: Gret, what are you doing?

Gret: [puts it on and sits down beside the table] I'm going into his prex to get him out.

Gen: Gret, that has a high quotient of risk.

Gret: I'm the veteran prexist here; I know. Hook me up to Zak's transmitter.

Gen: Sync-up is complete.

Gret: OK, let's go. [Her eyes close, moving rapidly under her eyelids as she enters his prex. She begins to see Zak in the dark room with Mentor.]

Mentor: Go on, Zak--draw the quadratic equations again.

[He sighs and starts reluctantly tapping at the keypad. After a few seconds he starts to type faster.]

Mentor: Excellent, Zak. The examiners were absolutely right. Your mathematical aptitude is unparalleled.

Gret: Zak, what are you doing here?

Zak: [looks up weakly from the equation for a moment] Tara?

Gret: No, it's Gret.

Zak: [smiles slightly at the thought] Tara...

Gret: Zak, we need you on the ship.

Mentor: Zak, you have found your home with me. You will be the one to engineer the genetics of the future...

Gret: Zak, don't listen to this! We need you--Gen needs you! We have to return to the ship now!

Zak: [starts laughing slightly] I'm not done here...

[Back on the Command Deck...]

Yuna: Reb, I'm getting a lot of impact here...

Reb: I know! I can't predict the surges and the pulsar's waves are weakening our shields fast. [The ship shakes again and he falls back into his chair.]

[Lise is monitoring Zak and Gret's status on the console.]

Lise [to Reb (comm.)]: The neural patterns are still chaotic, I'm having trouble stabilizing.

[The ship is hit again.]

Gret: Gen, take us back to Zak's childhood.

[Zak and Gret both wake up. Lise is scanning Zak.]

Lise: Blood pressure coming down, pulse 115...neural patterns normalizing... [She puts the scanner down with a sigh.] That was way too close.

[Zak looks over at Gret and smiles thankfully.]

[Zak is in his quarters, staring out the window with a warm drink. His hatch opens, and Gret steps through the doorway.]

Gret: Can I come in?

Zak: [hoarsely] Yeah.

Gret: [stands beside him] I was worried about you.

Zak: I'm OK, I guess. [sigh] Even though I only knew her in a prex, I really miss her.

Gret: I know. Feeling the pain of the human that you didn't even know. But the truth is, it's still your own once you've felt it. [She pats his shoulder comfortingly.]

Reb: Systems are stabilizing...shields are at 95%... We're back online Yuna.

Yuna: Initiating hyperdrive. We're getting on the expressway!

Bren: It's about time.

[She gets them into hyperspace successfully, and leans back in her chair.]

Bren: What I can't figure out is how the original Zak ever got on the Deepwater project.

Yuna: Well, I'd guess he got off Rex II on one of the relief ships during the plague years, then his placement scan would have ID'd his computer aptitude, making him an ideal candidate for the Deepwater Project.

Reb: So the plague even hit an asteroid colony. All that work at becoming genetically superior wiped out by one democratic little virus.

Review

Finally, the Zak episode that everyone wanted. We learned tons about Zak here, and I think using the cyberneural transmitter as the 'trigger' for the prex was a good idea rather than an event--a nice twist on prexing. We also saw a lot about Zak and Gen's relationship--he's more polite to her than the rest of the crew, almost. Although there wasn't quite enough time to learn very much about Zak's father and Tara, there was enough, but more would have been nice. Gret going into the prex was very unexpected. The pulsar and the power surges were also good B-plots to give a sort of 'urgency' to getting Zak out of the prex, but I hope they don't overuse the whole 'ship's in danger' plot. Overall, I thought it was a pretty good episode.

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