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I'm trying out a new style of writing today. I'd appreciate a comment to tell me if you prefer this or the old style. Thanks!
The Church of Morgan
Morgan, in VR, is playing drums in a jazz band. He’s actually pretty good.
Julia narrates. On day 38, the group is 6800 kilometres from New Pacifica, and ‘so far from home it’s unimaginable.’ Bess is taking a bath. She watches Morgan in his VR while Julia muses on the different ways people are handling – or not handling – their loneliness. She considers hers to be the worst because she’s carrying a secret. ‘It’s like being afraid of the dark as a child,’ she tells us, ‘and then growing up to find the dark is real and it’s coming after you. And maybe it’s you.’ Grow a pair, Julia.
Helping to pack up camp, Uly’s attention is caught by a patch of ground. He kneels to examine it more closely. He pushes on the ground but his hand sinks straight in. Frightened, he calls for Devon, but by the time she arrives everything is normal. She hurries him off to do his chores.
Julia’s been watching. She tests the ground, but it’s quite firm.
Credits.
Bess wanders through grass near the camp, finding Yale sitting nearby. He’s attempting some repairs on his arm. Bess offers some wisdom about the power cells, gleaned from her childhood where apparently, despite being dirt poor, her family had ‘droids to do the actual mining for them. Going by his hardware, Bess judges that Yale was an early part of the Yale programme. He assures her that his mind wipe is not in any danger of failing. She asks him if he has any religious data; on being told that he is programmed with the 99 widely practised religions, she clarifies ‘Catholicism?’ Which, hey, why is Catholicism not in the top 100 religions anymore, and where did we get 100 religions? When Yale agrees that he knows Catholicism, she tells him she wants to make confession.
Yale isn’t sure about that; he can reel off prayers or Bible passages but he isn’t a priest. Bes overrides him, blurting out that she’s cheated on her husband. She’s – gasp – thought about another man!
Yale hastily stops her from telling him who, exactly, she’s been thinking about, and tells her that many people have wandering thoughts. It might be nothing; it might mean a problem in the relationship. Bess is unsure whether to talk to Morgan. Yale advises her to be careful who she speaks to. This is clearly not what Bess was hoping to hear.
Julia slips away from camp, flipping into VR to met Reilly. She outs Uly to him, telling him about the incident with the ground. Reilly gets excited, telling her that Uly is what they’ve been waiting for. The Terrians are symbiotic with the planet; the Council can’t remove them or restrict them in any meaningful way. But Uly might show them how to do it.
Well, alright, he’s not actually excited, because he’s Terry O’Quinn. He’s close, though.
Reilly suggests isolating the difference in Uly in order to reproduce it. He tells Julia the changes begin in the pineal gland at the base of the brain. He knows this because twelve years ago a convict child was changed by the Terrians and he tried to remove the gland himself, killing the kid along the way.
Penal systems must be really harsh on the stations. Children tried as adults? Youch. Also, this means Uly is not as special and unique as we all thought he was...
Reilly orders Julia to remove Uly’s gland.
Morgan is sleeping under a tree when Bess comes to join him. He stays sleeping until she asks if he ever thinks about other women. That’ll wake you up, I guess... he attempts to fob Bess off with ‘You’re the only woman in the world for me’ which might have worked, except that he adds, ‘literally, there are only six women here...’ When Bess persists, he asks her if she’s ever thought about other men. Bess quickly says that it wouldn’t mean she didn’t love him.
Now Morgan is really awake. He sits up to face her, accusing her of an affair. Bess protests that thoughts don’t make an affair. She thought they’d be able to talk about it, but Morgan is having a meltdown. He stalks off back to camp to set up his own tent.
He passes Danziger and some of the others working on some equipment. Danziger suggests he pitch in whenever he feels the urge. Morgan assumes that’s a not very subtle dig and stomps off. Alonzo watches him fight with the tents and asks if he’s ok. Morgan rambles about not knowing anything; Alonzo has guessed he’s fighting with Bess based on the search for a tent. Morgan, of course, assumes he had prior knowledge of the discussion. He’s gonna be suspecting Yale or Uly next...
Devon is speaking to Julia about Uly, who’s been ‘distant and withdrawn’ for a couple of days. Julia asks if he was frightened by anything; Devon confirms that earlier, he’d thought he was turning into a Terrian. Julia suggests a deep scan to try and get a handle on the changes he’s going through, suggesting that maybe they’re impacting his emotional state. So now becoming a Terrian hybrid is like going through puberty, apparently. Devon agrees to the scan. In the background, Yale is conducting school. For once, True is the good pupil and Uly is completely ignoring them, staring up at the nearby trees.
Julia briefly contacts Reilly to tell him she’s going to scan Uly and get a sample of spinal fluid. As someone who knows someone who’s had spinal fluid removed, can I just say; OUCH. This is her compromise; she refuses to start harvesting brain tissue without more to go on.
Alonzo and Morgan are – apparently collecting firewood. In what looks like a desert, instead of in the trees where Morgan was earlier. Ooohh-kay. Morgan is explaining that he can’t possibly continue living with Bess because it would be hypocritical. Alonzo points out that Morgan is a politician. Hee! I love Alonzo.
Alonzo also points out that Bess only thought about this other guy. Morgan eyes him suspiciously; Alonzo assures him that it isn’t him Bess has been thinking about. He’d know.
There’s a river behind Morgan all of a sudden...oh, no, it was there all along. That means they’re collecting on a beach. Blue flames, yay! (Salty wood makes blue flames when it burns.) Also, I hope they’re not depending on Morgan too much. He’s not actually collecting anything...
Morgan says that he was married before Bess, for a few months, and he cheated on her. That’s how he knows that thinking about another person is the beginning of the end for a relationship. Alonzo, attempting to comfort him, points out that Bess and Morgan aren’t legally married anymore. Station contracts don’t take cold sleep into account. Bess and Morgan’s contract ran out while they slept aboard the Advance.
So – in a world with more than 100 religions, marriage is now entirely a legal affair? The church doesn’t come into it at all? Weird.
Back at camp that evening, Devon urges Uly to talk to Julia, reminding him that he can tell her anything, even if it’s silly. Julia takes the fluid; it doesn’t seem to hurt. Uly, lying on his side to give her access, is watching a Terrian finger bone in a glass jar. While Julia questions him about his appetite and sleeping habits, the finger taps on the jar. It’s a remarkably creepy image.
Next morning, Morgan crawls out of his lopsided tent and tugs on trousers. Across camp, he can see Bess outside her perfectly constructed tent, folding laundry. He asks to speak with her for a minute and she agrees, walking out of camp with him. The first thing he asks is if she’ll tell him who she’s been thinking about. Bess tells him who is not the issue. (My spell-check wanted me to write this sentence as ‘who not the issue is.’ Can Jedi ghosts inhabit machinery? That sentence wouldn’t even make sense!) The problem is that this isn’t how marriages are supposed to work, and it’s not how theirs used to work. Morgan latches onto the ‘used to’, telling her in the most condescending way possible that their marriage contract has lapsed. Bess points out that they’re not even on the stations anymore, but Morgan insists everything has to be in order. Bess asks if he wants to renew the licence; when Morgan turns the question back on her, unwilling to answer first, she orders him away.
Standing by the river, she’s confiding in Devon, telling her how when Morgan wanted to marry her she left everything and everyone she knew behind. Morgan didn’t even bother going down to Earth to say goodbye to her father before leaving on the Advance. Devon confesses that she used to think life on Earth was very glamorous. Bess thought the same about life on the Stations and especially about Devon, who is the closest thing to royalty the Stations have. Devon thinks there must be some good in Morgan if Bess married him. Bess isn’t so sure; she thinks the marriage may have been a mistake. I think this scene should be over already.
In another part of the woods Morgan is grilling Alonzo and Danziger, trying to figure out who Bess might have been thinking off. Danziger very poetically tells him to shove off. ‘Know what you’re going to find at the end of your investigation? Loneliness.’
Julia is entering a log about her research into Uly’s spinal fluid. While it has altered, it’s not anything like Terrian DNA. While she’s talking the bone in the jar starts tapping again. She turns to find Uly standing in the tent. He thinks maybe he should have stayed sick. Julia assures him that everything has a reason, even if they can’t always tell what it is. Creepily, she then leads him through the ‘Needs of the Many’ philosophy. He hugs her, watching the bone tap at it’s’ jar.
Y’know, I can’t figure out where that bone even came from? Unless they rescued it from Gaal’s necklace. Actually, that’s probably it.
In VR later, Julia tells Reilly she’s opposed to the procedure. She cites similar experiments done on POWs during ‘the Faith Wars at the end of the 21st century’. About half the subjects died or devolved into vicious, soulless ki – hey, anyone know if Joss Whedon watches this show?
Reilly reminds her that the other half of the subjects lived normal, POW type lives. He talks a lot about fate and destiny, and it’s all oddly familiar...
Both moons are up as Bess prepares for bed. Her attention is caught by her necklace and as she studies it, Morgan peers into her tent. He’s starting to feel unsure about their fight. Bess tells him she thinks they made a mistake, and while he’s still sighing in relief she adds that she thinks they shouldn’t have gotten married. She’s decided that he’s ashamed of her status as an Earth Res. Morgan tries to protest that this fight has nothing to do with that, but Bess won’t hear it and sends him away.
Outside someone – Walman, I think – is badly keeping watch. We’re supposed to think a Grendler is creeping up on him, but really it’s Julia. She knocks him out – not sure why, he was asleep anyway – and sneaks into the Adair tent, where she also knocks out Devon before eyeing Uly creepily.
Morgan is moaning at Alonzo, who is mostly grunting in the appropriate places. Apparently the ten was too lop-sided for him, as they’re now both outside. Fed up with the moaning, Alonzo tells Morgan to fix the problems in his marriage.
Julia is beginning the procedure, narrating into her Gear as she goes. A Terrian appears holding a beating human heart. She looks down at Uly and when she looks up again the Terrian has become a misty-looking Alonzo. He tells her the heart is Uly’s, that he’ll die from the procedure and if he dies, so will everyone else. Uly is the first in series of changes that will save mankind. The Terrians went through these changes millions of years ago and are witnessing them now in the humans.
The moment is broken when Reilly beeps in on Julia’s Gear. Alonzo fades back into the much more solid looking Terrian. If they can do that why don’t they do it more often? Sure would come in handy on occasion.
Next morning Bess looks for Morgan. He’s seems to be missing. As does nearly everyone, actually, the camp is almost deserted. Probably-Walman and Maybe-Baines don’t look too concerned, though.
As Bess wanders off Julia steps out of her tent, almost crashing into Alonzo. It’s totally his fault; he had plenty of time to move. She asks if he dreamed, but he didn’t.
Yale comes over to ask her to check on Devon and Uly, who never sleep this late. Julia brushes it off, saying they probably need it. Yale does not look convinced.
In VR, Morgan is fumbling through a conversation with Bess’ father. He mentions the necklace her father gave her, the one she still wears – the last wildflower on earth. Bess comes across him and listens as he pours out his heart. Morgan is well aware of how hard he is to live with, and he’s been waiting for Bess to realise it and leave him. Bess turns off the VR and prompts him to ask her to marry him. Happy theme music plays as they make out.
Back at camp Devon has woken up but Uly is still asleep. Yale thinks he’s trying to wake but can’t get there. Devon notes she had trouble waking up too. Yale says Walman – score, I was right! – said the same thing.
Julia dismisses it as a mild form of shock and says he’ll be awake in a couple of hours. Devon isn’t happy but she lets it go.
Time line note: Yale says they’ve been on the planet for five weeks, probably rounding down as Julia said thirty eight days earlier.
Outside Morgan is touting the virtues of marriage. He manages to mix poetic images like ‘sees you through the blackest plagues’ with things like ‘washes your socks when you think there’s nothing left to live for.’ I hope those are metaphorical socks. Walman and Maybe-Baines don’t look too excited.
Alonzo comes to ask about a commitment term- how long do the Martins want to be married for. Morgan hadn’t thought about that.
In her tent Julia is concerned because his scar isn’t healing as fast as it should be. He wakes up and doesn’t seem to remember anything.
Yale leads the wedding ceremony. The Martins have chosen a life-long commitment, not something usually allowed. Everyone crowds up to congratulate them, but Uly is quiet and withdrawn. Julia smiles at him, but he doesn’t react.
In VR Julia tells Reilly that Uly’s pineal gland was missing. Reilly does not seem convinced, but he orders her to keep an eye on Uly anyway.
Julia narrates that the human species has learned to control almost everything around them. As a group, though, they’re still learning where their limits are. She thinks hers may be lying to save a young boy’s life.
In a different VR program a jazz band plays Bess and Morgan’s reception. The crew are dancing with simulated partners – even True has a size-appropriate partner. I don’t know why there isn’t a tiny girl waiting for Uly, but apparently he doesn’t get one. Julia enters to see him sitting on the sidelines. She charms him into dancing with her as a waltz starts up.
Julia narrates that though they can mimic life almost perfectly, they’ve never really understood what drives a living creature. She thinks that maybe true wisdom comes from knowing what questions not to ask.
As she narrates the view changes to the real world, where the crew dance alone to tinny music played by ZERO. It’s an oddly downbeat note to end the episode on.
The Church of Morgan
Morgan, in VR, is playing drums in a jazz band. He’s actually pretty good.
Julia narrates. On day 38, the group is 6800 kilometres from New Pacifica, and ‘so far from home it’s unimaginable.’ Bess is taking a bath. She watches Morgan in his VR while Julia muses on the different ways people are handling – or not handling – their loneliness. She considers hers to be the worst because she’s carrying a secret. ‘It’s like being afraid of the dark as a child,’ she tells us, ‘and then growing up to find the dark is real and it’s coming after you. And maybe it’s you.’ Grow a pair, Julia.
Helping to pack up camp, Uly’s attention is caught by a patch of ground. He kneels to examine it more closely. He pushes on the ground but his hand sinks straight in. Frightened, he calls for Devon, but by the time she arrives everything is normal. She hurries him off to do his chores.
Julia’s been watching. She tests the ground, but it’s quite firm.
Credits.
Bess wanders through grass near the camp, finding Yale sitting nearby. He’s attempting some repairs on his arm. Bess offers some wisdom about the power cells, gleaned from her childhood where apparently, despite being dirt poor, her family had ‘droids to do the actual mining for them. Going by his hardware, Bess judges that Yale was an early part of the Yale programme. He assures her that his mind wipe is not in any danger of failing. She asks him if he has any religious data; on being told that he is programmed with the 99 widely practised religions, she clarifies ‘Catholicism?’ Which, hey, why is Catholicism not in the top 100 religions anymore, and where did we get 100 religions? When Yale agrees that he knows Catholicism, she tells him she wants to make confession.
Yale isn’t sure about that; he can reel off prayers or Bible passages but he isn’t a priest. Bes overrides him, blurting out that she’s cheated on her husband. She’s – gasp – thought about another man!
Yale hastily stops her from telling him who, exactly, she’s been thinking about, and tells her that many people have wandering thoughts. It might be nothing; it might mean a problem in the relationship. Bess is unsure whether to talk to Morgan. Yale advises her to be careful who she speaks to. This is clearly not what Bess was hoping to hear.
Julia slips away from camp, flipping into VR to met Reilly. She outs Uly to him, telling him about the incident with the ground. Reilly gets excited, telling her that Uly is what they’ve been waiting for. The Terrians are symbiotic with the planet; the Council can’t remove them or restrict them in any meaningful way. But Uly might show them how to do it.
Well, alright, he’s not actually excited, because he’s Terry O’Quinn. He’s close, though.
Reilly suggests isolating the difference in Uly in order to reproduce it. He tells Julia the changes begin in the pineal gland at the base of the brain. He knows this because twelve years ago a convict child was changed by the Terrians and he tried to remove the gland himself, killing the kid along the way.
Penal systems must be really harsh on the stations. Children tried as adults? Youch. Also, this means Uly is not as special and unique as we all thought he was...
Reilly orders Julia to remove Uly’s gland.
Morgan is sleeping under a tree when Bess comes to join him. He stays sleeping until she asks if he ever thinks about other women. That’ll wake you up, I guess... he attempts to fob Bess off with ‘You’re the only woman in the world for me’ which might have worked, except that he adds, ‘literally, there are only six women here...’ When Bess persists, he asks her if she’s ever thought about other men. Bess quickly says that it wouldn’t mean she didn’t love him.
Now Morgan is really awake. He sits up to face her, accusing her of an affair. Bess protests that thoughts don’t make an affair. She thought they’d be able to talk about it, but Morgan is having a meltdown. He stalks off back to camp to set up his own tent.
He passes Danziger and some of the others working on some equipment. Danziger suggests he pitch in whenever he feels the urge. Morgan assumes that’s a not very subtle dig and stomps off. Alonzo watches him fight with the tents and asks if he’s ok. Morgan rambles about not knowing anything; Alonzo has guessed he’s fighting with Bess based on the search for a tent. Morgan, of course, assumes he had prior knowledge of the discussion. He’s gonna be suspecting Yale or Uly next...
Devon is speaking to Julia about Uly, who’s been ‘distant and withdrawn’ for a couple of days. Julia asks if he was frightened by anything; Devon confirms that earlier, he’d thought he was turning into a Terrian. Julia suggests a deep scan to try and get a handle on the changes he’s going through, suggesting that maybe they’re impacting his emotional state. So now becoming a Terrian hybrid is like going through puberty, apparently. Devon agrees to the scan. In the background, Yale is conducting school. For once, True is the good pupil and Uly is completely ignoring them, staring up at the nearby trees.
Julia briefly contacts Reilly to tell him she’s going to scan Uly and get a sample of spinal fluid. As someone who knows someone who’s had spinal fluid removed, can I just say; OUCH. This is her compromise; she refuses to start harvesting brain tissue without more to go on.
Alonzo and Morgan are – apparently collecting firewood. In what looks like a desert, instead of in the trees where Morgan was earlier. Ooohh-kay. Morgan is explaining that he can’t possibly continue living with Bess because it would be hypocritical. Alonzo points out that Morgan is a politician. Hee! I love Alonzo.
Alonzo also points out that Bess only thought about this other guy. Morgan eyes him suspiciously; Alonzo assures him that it isn’t him Bess has been thinking about. He’d know.
There’s a river behind Morgan all of a sudden...oh, no, it was there all along. That means they’re collecting on a beach. Blue flames, yay! (Salty wood makes blue flames when it burns.) Also, I hope they’re not depending on Morgan too much. He’s not actually collecting anything...
Morgan says that he was married before Bess, for a few months, and he cheated on her. That’s how he knows that thinking about another person is the beginning of the end for a relationship. Alonzo, attempting to comfort him, points out that Bess and Morgan aren’t legally married anymore. Station contracts don’t take cold sleep into account. Bess and Morgan’s contract ran out while they slept aboard the Advance.
So – in a world with more than 100 religions, marriage is now entirely a legal affair? The church doesn’t come into it at all? Weird.
Back at camp that evening, Devon urges Uly to talk to Julia, reminding him that he can tell her anything, even if it’s silly. Julia takes the fluid; it doesn’t seem to hurt. Uly, lying on his side to give her access, is watching a Terrian finger bone in a glass jar. While Julia questions him about his appetite and sleeping habits, the finger taps on the jar. It’s a remarkably creepy image.
Next morning, Morgan crawls out of his lopsided tent and tugs on trousers. Across camp, he can see Bess outside her perfectly constructed tent, folding laundry. He asks to speak with her for a minute and she agrees, walking out of camp with him. The first thing he asks is if she’ll tell him who she’s been thinking about. Bess tells him who is not the issue. (My spell-check wanted me to write this sentence as ‘who not the issue is.’ Can Jedi ghosts inhabit machinery? That sentence wouldn’t even make sense!) The problem is that this isn’t how marriages are supposed to work, and it’s not how theirs used to work. Morgan latches onto the ‘used to’, telling her in the most condescending way possible that their marriage contract has lapsed. Bess points out that they’re not even on the stations anymore, but Morgan insists everything has to be in order. Bess asks if he wants to renew the licence; when Morgan turns the question back on her, unwilling to answer first, she orders him away.
Standing by the river, she’s confiding in Devon, telling her how when Morgan wanted to marry her she left everything and everyone she knew behind. Morgan didn’t even bother going down to Earth to say goodbye to her father before leaving on the Advance. Devon confesses that she used to think life on Earth was very glamorous. Bess thought the same about life on the Stations and especially about Devon, who is the closest thing to royalty the Stations have. Devon thinks there must be some good in Morgan if Bess married him. Bess isn’t so sure; she thinks the marriage may have been a mistake. I think this scene should be over already.
In another part of the woods Morgan is grilling Alonzo and Danziger, trying to figure out who Bess might have been thinking off. Danziger very poetically tells him to shove off. ‘Know what you’re going to find at the end of your investigation? Loneliness.’
Julia is entering a log about her research into Uly’s spinal fluid. While it has altered, it’s not anything like Terrian DNA. While she’s talking the bone in the jar starts tapping again. She turns to find Uly standing in the tent. He thinks maybe he should have stayed sick. Julia assures him that everything has a reason, even if they can’t always tell what it is. Creepily, she then leads him through the ‘Needs of the Many’ philosophy. He hugs her, watching the bone tap at it’s’ jar.
Y’know, I can’t figure out where that bone even came from? Unless they rescued it from Gaal’s necklace. Actually, that’s probably it.
In VR later, Julia tells Reilly she’s opposed to the procedure. She cites similar experiments done on POWs during ‘the Faith Wars at the end of the 21st century’. About half the subjects died or devolved into vicious, soulless ki – hey, anyone know if Joss Whedon watches this show?
Reilly reminds her that the other half of the subjects lived normal, POW type lives. He talks a lot about fate and destiny, and it’s all oddly familiar...
Both moons are up as Bess prepares for bed. Her attention is caught by her necklace and as she studies it, Morgan peers into her tent. He’s starting to feel unsure about their fight. Bess tells him she thinks they made a mistake, and while he’s still sighing in relief she adds that she thinks they shouldn’t have gotten married. She’s decided that he’s ashamed of her status as an Earth Res. Morgan tries to protest that this fight has nothing to do with that, but Bess won’t hear it and sends him away.
Outside someone – Walman, I think – is badly keeping watch. We’re supposed to think a Grendler is creeping up on him, but really it’s Julia. She knocks him out – not sure why, he was asleep anyway – and sneaks into the Adair tent, where she also knocks out Devon before eyeing Uly creepily.
Morgan is moaning at Alonzo, who is mostly grunting in the appropriate places. Apparently the ten was too lop-sided for him, as they’re now both outside. Fed up with the moaning, Alonzo tells Morgan to fix the problems in his marriage.
Julia is beginning the procedure, narrating into her Gear as she goes. A Terrian appears holding a beating human heart. She looks down at Uly and when she looks up again the Terrian has become a misty-looking Alonzo. He tells her the heart is Uly’s, that he’ll die from the procedure and if he dies, so will everyone else. Uly is the first in series of changes that will save mankind. The Terrians went through these changes millions of years ago and are witnessing them now in the humans.
The moment is broken when Reilly beeps in on Julia’s Gear. Alonzo fades back into the much more solid looking Terrian. If they can do that why don’t they do it more often? Sure would come in handy on occasion.
Next morning Bess looks for Morgan. He’s seems to be missing. As does nearly everyone, actually, the camp is almost deserted. Probably-Walman and Maybe-Baines don’t look too concerned, though.
As Bess wanders off Julia steps out of her tent, almost crashing into Alonzo. It’s totally his fault; he had plenty of time to move. She asks if he dreamed, but he didn’t.
Yale comes over to ask her to check on Devon and Uly, who never sleep this late. Julia brushes it off, saying they probably need it. Yale does not look convinced.
In VR, Morgan is fumbling through a conversation with Bess’ father. He mentions the necklace her father gave her, the one she still wears – the last wildflower on earth. Bess comes across him and listens as he pours out his heart. Morgan is well aware of how hard he is to live with, and he’s been waiting for Bess to realise it and leave him. Bess turns off the VR and prompts him to ask her to marry him. Happy theme music plays as they make out.
Back at camp Devon has woken up but Uly is still asleep. Yale thinks he’s trying to wake but can’t get there. Devon notes she had trouble waking up too. Yale says Walman – score, I was right! – said the same thing.
Julia dismisses it as a mild form of shock and says he’ll be awake in a couple of hours. Devon isn’t happy but she lets it go.
Time line note: Yale says they’ve been on the planet for five weeks, probably rounding down as Julia said thirty eight days earlier.
Outside Morgan is touting the virtues of marriage. He manages to mix poetic images like ‘sees you through the blackest plagues’ with things like ‘washes your socks when you think there’s nothing left to live for.’ I hope those are metaphorical socks. Walman and Maybe-Baines don’t look too excited.
Alonzo comes to ask about a commitment term- how long do the Martins want to be married for. Morgan hadn’t thought about that.
In her tent Julia is concerned because his scar isn’t healing as fast as it should be. He wakes up and doesn’t seem to remember anything.
Yale leads the wedding ceremony. The Martins have chosen a life-long commitment, not something usually allowed. Everyone crowds up to congratulate them, but Uly is quiet and withdrawn. Julia smiles at him, but he doesn’t react.
In VR Julia tells Reilly that Uly’s pineal gland was missing. Reilly does not seem convinced, but he orders her to keep an eye on Uly anyway.
Julia narrates that the human species has learned to control almost everything around them. As a group, though, they’re still learning where their limits are. She thinks hers may be lying to save a young boy’s life.
In a different VR program a jazz band plays Bess and Morgan’s reception. The crew are dancing with simulated partners – even True has a size-appropriate partner. I don’t know why there isn’t a tiny girl waiting for Uly, but apparently he doesn’t get one. Julia enters to see him sitting on the sidelines. She charms him into dancing with her as a waltz starts up.
Julia narrates that though they can mimic life almost perfectly, they’ve never really understood what drives a living creature. She thinks that maybe true wisdom comes from knowing what questions not to ask.
As she narrates the view changes to the real world, where the crew dance alone to tinny music played by ZERO. It’s an oddly downbeat note to end the episode on.
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