ADMIRAL_HALSEY ALANA ANNOUNCER ASHLEY BORTUS BULLY_1 BULLY_2 BULLY_3 CHARLY CLAIRE DINAL ED FEMALE_STUDENT_1 FEMALE_STUDENT_2 FEMALE_STUDENT_3 FEMALE_STUDENT_4 GORDON ISAAC JOHN KELLY LIEUTENANT MALE_STUDENT_1 MALE_STUDENT_2 MALE_STUDENT_3 PILOT TALLA TEACHER WALLA KELLY Come in. KELLY Hey. Welcome back. You're early. DINAL Yeah. Well, if you spent a week with my parents, you'd wanna come back to work too. KELLY You have a restful trip at least? DINAL Yeah, you know, for the most part. KELLY How are your mom and dad? DINAL My mom's good. My dad's also good. He's his usual self. KELLY Work hard, play hard? DINAL I think the Fleet's the only thing keeping him from pursuing a full-time career as an alcoholic. But if the uniform's on, we can handle it. KELLY Sounds relaxing. DINAL Compared to the trip back, yeah. I put my report in your file. KELLY Report? You were on vacation. DINAL I picked up the residue of a Kaylon quantum signature out by the Avior system. It was pretty faint, so my guess is they're long gone. But anything near this sector is concerning. KELLY What the hell would they be doing out here? DINAL No idea. But I thought the captain should know. KELLY I'll make him aware. DINAL Permission to return to duty? KELLY Go to it. KELLY It's good to have you back. GORDON Oh, my God. These are insane, are you kidding me? CHARLY Ooh. What are they called? DINAL Xelayan chocolate trusses. My mom makes them. ED This is the most dense chocolate I've ever tasted. DINAL Heavy gravity, heavy desserts. DINAL Bortus, you want one? BORTUS No, thank you. I am dieting. DINAL Since when? BORTUS My shore leave is in 30 days. Klyden and I are visiting the Belajok Sea on Moclus. Lieutenant Malloy has advised me to get my summer body. GORDON You'll thank me. Klyden'll thank me too. ISAAC Captain, this is most peculiar. I am detecting narrow-band electromagnetic emissions from the surface of Narran 1, 13.4 light-years from our present position. KELLY That's impossible. You must be reading it wrong. ISAAC Negative. I am incapable of error. CHARLY Narran 1 is a barren rock. It always has been. DINAL Sir, I'm reading it too. Coherent pulses, not background noise. ED Maybe somebody's down there. Mining crew or something. ISAAC The electromagnetic emanations are far too numerous. Such intense and modulated signals can only be produced by the collective energy output of a substantial population of life-forms. ED Gordon, alter course for Narran 1. GORDON Aye, sir. ED Isaac? ISAAC Scans are showing industrial power sources and transportation networks, which would indicate the presence of multiple advanced cities all operating at a 25th-century level of development. Planetwide population: 8.5 billion, concentrated mainly in the northern hemisphere. GORDON It has to be a mistake. ED Mercer to LaMarr. Confirm forward scanners are functioning properly. JOHN Confirmed, Captain. I'm seeing it here too. I have no explanation. KELLY Every Union record of Narran 1, every scan ever taken shows a desolate world. ISAAC That is correct, Commander. However, this scan does not. ED Talla, hail them. DINAL Hailing. DINAL Nothing. Let me try a different channel. DINAL Scans show they have the infrastructure for communication. They're just not answering. ED Gordon, prep a shuttle. You, Bortus and Talla are with Kelly and I. ED Mercer to LaMarr. Report to the bridge and take the conn. ED Charly. CHARLY Aye, sir. KELLY Gordon, verify landing coordinates. GORDON Verified, Commander. We should be looking at downtown Manhattan. ED Set us down. DINAL So much for a day in the big city. GORDON Forget the city. This shouldn't even be here. There are no forests on Narran 1. ED Scans are confirming what we're seeing. These trees go on for thousands of square kilometers. KELLY Grayson to Orville. JOHN LaMarr here, Commander. I was just about to contact you. KELLY What are your scans showing? JOHN The cities are gone, sir. We're reading dense vegetation. Forest all across the continent. BORTUS Captain. Look at this. GORDON What is it? ED Life-forms. BORTUS Several hundred humanoids in that direction. ED All right, let's go. DINAL Sir. Weapons? ED Yeah. GORDON What the hell? ED Mercer to LaMarr. JOHN LaMarr here, go ahead. ED Scan the immediate vicinity of our location. JOHN We're just reading the landing party, sir. ED That's it? Nothing else? JOHN Like what? KELLY A high school? JOHN Say again, Commander? GORDON A high school. Like a 21st century high school. KELLY LaMarr, are you reading a structure of any kind? JOHN Negative. Just plant life. BORTUS What is this place? GORDON An old Earth high school in the middle of the forest on an alien planet. Completely normal. How's your day going? BORTUS Captain. BORTUS We are not alone. ED Mercer to Orville. ED Mercer to Orville. LaMarr, do you read? ED Talla. ED Come on. WALLA ASHLEY Um, do you mind? BORTUS What? ASHLEY You're, like, right in front of my locker. DINAL Captain. DINAL They read as human. ED Excuse me. ASHLEY Hmm? ED Where are we? ASHLEY We're in the hallway. ED Who are you? ASHLEY Ashley. This is a fun conversation, but I have to get to bio. GORDON Hey, hey. Um, what's today's date? MALE STUDENT 1 Uh, I think it's the 19th. GORDON No, no, no, the year. What's the year? MALE STUDENT 1 What are you, high? GORDON Possibly. That's what I'm trying to find out. KELLY Could it be time travel? ED I don't know. Somehow, I don't think so. ED All right, first things first, we need to find a way out. Kelly and I will search this direction, the rest of you take those corridors down there. We'll meet back here in ten minutes. JOHN Have you tried a subsurface tomographic analysis of the planet? ISAAC Affirmative. I have also run a full biometric scan. The shuttle appears to be intact, but there is no trace of the landing party. JOHN All right. I'm sending down a rescue team. ISAAC Sir, that may not be wise. If they have been harmed, the same fate could befall a second contingent. CHARLY They're our crewmates, Isaac. The Kaylon may throw people away like garbage, but we don't. ISAAC It is not my intent to minimize the value of the missing officers. I am merely suggest-- JOHN Hey, we don't have time to argue. Isaac, prep a second shuttle and take a security detail down to the surface. And bring Dr. Finn. They may be injured. ISAAC Yes, sir. TEACHER So, by 1914, when things were close to a boiling point, the European nations found themselves divided into two factions: the Triple Entente, which included Russia, England and France, and the Triple Alliance, which consisted of Germany, Italy. TEACHER Can I help you? BORTUS Perhaps. I am looking for a way out. TEACHER Well, I think you should talk to the guidance counselor. TEACHER This is History 103. Are you supposed to be in this class? TEACHER Hey. Just what in the hell do you think you're doing? TEACHER Hey, hey, hey! Knock it off! TEACHER Okay, if the two of you don't leave right now, I'm calling the principal's office. DINAL It's impenetrable. Just like the doors. It could be a force field of some kind. TEACHER Out! Now! DINAL Where's Gordon? GORDON Hey, hey. What the hell? What the hell is going on? Who are you guys? BULLY 1 Shut up. GORDON Wait- BULLY 1 Randall wants his money, asshole. GORDON Who the hell is Randall? BULLY 2 GORDON BULLY 3 You're pissing him off, and you're pissing us off. Now, where is it? GORDON Guys, I-I seriously have no idea what you're talking about. I don't even know where I am. GORDON BULLY 3 DINAL Look. His comscanner. DINAL BORTUS GORDON BULLY 1 Come on. Where is it, you little bitch? GORDON I swear to God, I have no i- BULLY 2 GORDON Okay, okay. I'll get him his money. Okay, I-I-I just don't have it right now, right? I need a little m-more time. BULLY 1 You got till 3:15 to pay up, or Randall's gonna put you in a world of shit. You got me? GORDON Yeah, yeah, yes. I got you. BULLY 1 Yeah? Yeah? BORTUS Lieutenant, are you all right? GORDON Yeah, I think so. DINAL What happened? GORDON Those guys jumped me. DINAL Who were they? GORDON I have no idea. They wouldn't tell me. GORDON KELLY My God. What happened? GORDON I'm okay, Commander. I just had a little run-in. ED With who? GORDON Bullies. ED What did they want? GORDON Money. They said I have till 3:15 to pay some guy named Randall. BORTUS Captain, his wounds are real. ED Which means that even if this is a hallucination, we can be hurt. KELLY We need answers. WALLA DINAL Now what? ED Find someone who looks friendly. BORTUS May we sit with you? FEMALE STUDENT 1 No. BORTUS Why not? FEMALE STUDENT 1 Because our table's full. BORTUS There are several available seats. FEMALE STUDENT 1 Not for you. BORTUS I am prepared to take them by force. ED Bortus, let's look someplace else, huh? GORDON BORTUS You have a fivehead. FEMALE STUDENT 2 It's not true. FEMALE STUDENT 3 No, you don't. KELLY Hey, can we sit here? MALE STUDENT 2 Sure. FEMALE STUDENT 4 Jeez, what happened to you? GORDON Maybe you can tell me. GORDON Do any of you know a guy named Randall? MALE STUDENT 3 Yeah, of course. Oh, wait, dude, that's you? GORDON Well, I don't know. I was- I was just told I owe him money. MALE STUDENT 3 Yeah, everybody's been talking about it. Dude, you gotta pay him. ED Pay him for what? Who is he? MALE STUDENT 2 You pay him not to beat you up. We've all been through it. I had to do it all freshman year. Then I got, like, massive on TikTok, and he stopped messing with me 'cause my followers would flame his 'gram. BORTUS What? FEMALE STUDENT 4 They're saying that he's gonna come looking for you after school unless he gets the money. DINAL Where do we find this guy? MALE STUDENT 3 He hangs out behind the bleachers. GORDON And what happens if I don't pay him? MALE STUDENT 3 You should pay him. ISAAC All systems ready for departure. CLAIRE Let's go. WALLA ED Come on. This could be our way out. DINAL There's no sign of the shuttle. KELLY Grayson to Orville. ED Ideas, anyone? BORTUS Perhaps this Randall could give us some information. GORDON Wait, wait. The- The Randall who just had me beat up? The guy who wants to kill me? KELLY It's the only lead we have. Maybe we can talk to him. ED All right, let's find the bleachers. GORDON Great. ED We're looking for Randall. BULLY 1 You found him. GORDON Oh, shit. ED What the hell is going on here? ALANA I'm going to have to ask you folks to please take your seats. We'll be landing soon. BORTUS What do we do? ED I guess we sit. ANNOUNCER KELLY It's the same as before. Pressurized oxygen atmosphere. As far as the scans can tell, this is an ancient aircraft. GORDON Captain, something happened when that creature had me in the air. ED What do you mean? GORDON It was like my whole brain froze, you know? I-I-I was there, but-- but I wasn't. DINAL Were you in shock? GORDON No, no, no. I- I mean, yeah, I was, but I've been in shock before. This- This was something different. BORTUS Perhaps whatever is causing these hallucinations is affecting our minds in other ways. ED We don't know if these are hallucinations. I mean, you said yourself, Gordon's injuries are real. And I think until we get to the bottom of this, we have to assume that everything is. CLAIRE Finn to Orville. JOHN LaMarr here. CLAIRE We've reached the surface. It's exactly what it's supposed to be. Completely desolate. ISAAC Scans do not detect any other life-forms. We appear to be alone. JOHN Any sign of the captain's shuttle? CLAIRE It's here. At its original landing coordinates. Stand by. CLAIRE Finn to Orville. They're gone. GORDON Um, excuse me, ma'am. Hi, uh, I'm a pilot, and I just wanted to let you know that if the folks in the cockpit need any help, I'm here. ALANA You're in good hands, but I'll let them know. GORDON Thank you. ED What's wrong? GORDON Well, these old planes were generally at the mercy of the atmosphere, but it feels like they're going out of their way to hit the rough stuff. Every time we hit a smooth patch of altitude, they climb or they dip. DINAL What happens if we get hit? GORDON Well, planes used to get hit by lightning more often than you think. Even old ones like this were designed to withstand it. That's not what's worrying me. PILOT Flight attendants, please take your seats. KELLY Gordon, what's going on? GORDON I'm going up there. ALANA Excuse me. Hey, you can't go in there. Sir! What are you doing? ED Talla, get this door open. ALANA Ma'am! Ma'am, you can't go in there. GORDON Oh, my God. ALANA I need you to take your seats. ALANA Sir! Excuse me! ED Are you out of your mind? There's no one flying the plane. ALANA I'm sorry, but I need all of you to go back to your seats and fasten your seat belts right now! ALANA Sir, you need to return to your seat immediately! Sir, I need you to- KELLY Sorry. It was distracting. ED You know how to fly one of these things? GORDON We're about to find out. GORDON Okay. Altimeter, airspeed, VSI, flight director. ED Fuel gauge light's on. GORDON Oh, man. Fuel's low. ED How low? GORDON Low. GORDON See if you can spot a patch of open space. KELLY It's all mountains out there. GORDON You better hope not, 'cause if it is, we're dead. GORDON Oh, no. GORDON No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. KELLY What? GORDON Engines are out. BORTUS There. GORDON Flaps! I'm gonna have to glide her in! GORDON Come on, baby. Come on. Come on! GORDON Grab onto something! GORDON Hang on, this is gonna be rough! KELLY Come on, let's go. KELLY What the hell? GORDON Where are we? GORDON DINAL DINAL Captain, your head. ED I'll be all right. KELLY Are you sure? ED Well, there's not much I can do about it. BORTUS There is an open chamber. That way. ED You know that feeling you said you had when the creature attacked you? GORDON Yeah? ED I felt it too. It was right before we crashed. It was almost like-- like I was somewhere else. GORDON Yes, exactly. Like-- Like your mind wasn't your own. ED I wish Claire were here. We could both use a brain scan. KELLY What is this place? BORTUS It is a Moclan morgue. GORDON Wait, so those-- those pods. BORTUS They contain the dead. ED We never should have left the ship. Should have smelled something was wrong at the start. KELLY Let's look for an exit. GORDON Why do you hang them like this? BORTUS We honor the dead by raising them for a period of nine days. Traditionally, it is to allow them to resolve any unfinished affairs on Moclus before moving onward. GORDON Oh, that's considerate. GORDON Jesus. KELLY Bortus? KELLY Bortus, are you okay? BORTUS I f-f-felt it. DINAL Felt what? BORTUS I was, for a moment, outside my own body. ED Come on. JOHN Orville to Isaac. Anything yet? ISAAC According to the scanner logs, the landing party arrived without incident. All five departed the shuttle. that, there is no record of their whereabouts. JOHN All right, you've done everything you can down there. Return to the ship. CLAIRE Maybe there's something wrong with the shuttle's systems. ISAAC Negative, my diagnostic indicates full functionality. CLAIRE Well, then w-what if we sent out a search party? JOHN It's a big planet, Doctor. We need a lead. Besides, we've already had one team vanish. We can't risk two. Return to the ship. DINAL Captain, there's a portal about a thousand meters down. Looks like an exit. GORDON What's, uh, directly beneath us? BORTUS Scans show nothing. GORDON Bottomless, terrific. KELLY Now where are we? DINAL This is Lake Ruell on Xelayah. ED Well, I guess now we know this is all an illusion. BORTUS How? ED Gravity. If we were on Xelayah, we'd be dead. GORDON What is that? KELLY It's a pattern. Repeated intervals. GORDON Communication? KELLY Possibly. DINAL From who? ED Whoever is behind all this? GORDON Or someone else in the same boat. BORTUS Or a trap. DINAL Captain, look. ED All right. Talla, you, Gordon and I'll take it across the lake. Find out what that is. KELLY Ed, you should stay here. I'll go. ED Look, if there's a possibility- KELLY That's a nasty head injury, whether you wanna admit it or not. You could have a concussion for all we know. If we encounter anything hostile over there, I don't want you putting yourself at further risk. ED Is that an order, Commander? KELLY Yes, it is. ED All right. ED Just be careful. That's also an order. GORDON Um, guys? KELLY I saw it. Let's keep moving. GORDON What the hell is that? DINAL It's big, whatever it is. KELLY Wait, look. GORDON What happened to the light? GORDON Commander! ED Kel, are you all right? KELLY Yeah, I'm- I'm okay. DINAL Captain, when we were under, I felt this- ED Let me guess, same thing we all felt. Out of your own body. KELLY I felt it too. Right before I lost consciousness. ED No, that's enough. ED If you can hear me, whatever this goddamn game is, it's over! We're done. So either kill us or let us go, because we are done with this bullshit! GORDON Well, so, now where do we go? ED Anywhere but there. This time we're not taking the bait. Come on. GORDON What is it? BORTUS A power signature. Emanating from that cave. DINAL I'd say we found our culprit. ED Bortus? BORTUS It appears to be a holographic power generator of some kind. The projection radius is significant. GORDON Ow! BORTUS There is an axionic shield in effect. GORDON Thanks for telling me. BORTUS Its frequency is constant. I believe I can deactivate it. BORTUS The shield has been neutralized. KELLY What do you wanna do? GORDON It's Narran 1. The real Narran 1. KELLY Right where we parked it. ED Mercer to Orville. JOHN LaMarr here, sir. What happened? Are you all right? ED We're okay. I'll explain everything once we're back on board. Mercer out. KELLY We should take these fragments back with us. Have Isaac do an analysis. CLAIRE Look at this. It's a residual polarization along the cognitive pathways of the cerebral cortex. And it's present in all five of you. DINAL So whatever it was, it affected all of us the same way. CLAIRE This is evidence of a highly invasive neurogenic scan. Think of it as electromagnetic ayahuasca. GORDON So you're saying we all just had a bad trip? CLAIRE Partly. ED Doctor, you saw our injuries. I mean, Gordon got beat up in a bathroom. That's not a hallucination. CLAIRE Bortus, you said the device's power signature indicated a holographic generator. BORTUS That is correct. CLAIRE Well, if you shut off the safeties in our simulators, you could be hurt. Even killed. Now, I'm just theorizing, but if this were a technology that combined neurogenic and holographic elements, in effect, they could split the workload. CLAIRE The holograms would outline the environment, and the neurogenic scan would prompt the brain to color it in. It would explain how such a small device was able to create such vast simulations. BORTUS To align and synchronize such technologies would require a highly sophisticated operating system. DINAL Who'd be capable of that level of technology? KELLY And why those specific illusions? JOHN LaMarr to Captain. ED Go ahead. JOHN We've finished our analysis of the fragments. I think you better come to the lab. ISAAC There are vestiges of unfamiliar technology present within the device's components, but the primary elements appear to be of Kaylon design. GORDON Oh, man. KELLY Talla, you said you picked up Kaylon quantum signatures on your way back from Xelayah. DINAL I did. KELLY Then it's possible they planted the device on Narran 1. BORTUS For what purpose? JOHN You got me. GORDON So the Kaylon have figured out a way to mess with our minds. Great. DINAL It makes sense. With the Krill at our side, they can't outgun us. But with this, they may not need to. ED If you can control someone's perception of reality, peaceful conquest is easy. ED Between Talla's initial report of Kaylon activity in the sector and what we've found on Narran 1, I think there's something big brewing out here. ADMIRAL HALSEY It looks that way. We'll dispatch a convoy to begin a tactical survey of the region. They'll be escorting a science vessel with instructions to retrieve the device fragments and return them to Earth for further study. They'll rendezvous with you at Narran 1. KELLY Thank you, Admiral. ADMIRAL HALSEY Keep me posted with any new developments. Halsey out. DINAL Sir, we're being signaled by the USS Franklin. The convoy is two minutes out. ED Tell them the fragments are ready for transport. DINAL Aye, sir. BORTUS Convoy is approaching the system. KELLY On screen. ISAAC Captain, those are not Union ships. They are Kaylon vessels. ED What? ISAAC It is a trap. KELLY Bortus, scan and confirm. BORTUS Scanning. Verified. It is a Union convoy. ISAAC Captain, they are Kaylon spheres. It is possible there is another neurogenic device in use. You are being deceived. ED Charge all weapons. Prepare to go to quantum. GORDON Aye, sir. CHARLY Whoa, hang on a second. Captain, you're not just gonna take his word for it? ED If there is another device in use, Isaac is the only one who wouldn't be affected. CHARLY Or he's trying to trick us into firing on our own ships with their deflectors down. KELLY Why? CHARLY With all due respect, sir, do you have to ask? ISAAC I assure you, my statement is accurate. CHARLY Is it? You don't know what kind of sleeper programs the Kaylon could've hidden inside your head. CHARLY Sir, please, we can't trust him. KELLY That's enough, Ensign. BORTUS The vessels are closing. ED Go to red alert. ED Gordon, bring us about. ED Evasive maneuvers! GORDON Aye, sir! DINAL All sections reporting heavy damage! ED Engage quantum drive! GORDON Helm is not responding, sir! KELLY John, what's happening? JOHN Quantum core has been fractured, Commander. We can't risk a breach. LIEUTENANT Sir, I'm receiving a transmission from Lieutenant Keyali. JOHN Thank God. Put her on. LIEUTENANT Sir, it's not coming from the planet. JOHN Talla, can you hear me? TALLA John? Yeah, I hear you fine. Are you on the bridge? JOHN Yeah, I am. TALLA Must be busy out there. JOHN Well, yeah, we've been trying to find you. Are you okay? TALLA Yeah, I'm-- I'm fine. I've been at the rendezvous point for three hours. JOHN W-What? TALLA Yeah, I mean, if you don't want me back, I'm happy to take another week off, but I'd rather get back to work. JOHN Talla, we picked you up hours ago. TALLA You-- Say again? JOHN We were at the rendezvous point. We picked you up. You went down to the surface of Narran 1 with the captain, Commander Grayson, Bortus and Gordon. You all disappeared, and we've been trying to find you ever since. TALLA John, I left Xelayah two days ago. I came straight here. JOHN Look, just meet us in orbit of Narran 1. TALLA All right, I'll see you in a bit. Keyali out. CHARLY What the hell is going on? JOHN Isaac, you're still scanning, right? ISAAC Yes, sir. Still no indication of the landing party. ED Return fire! DINAL Tactical array is down! BORTUS Deflectors are failing! JOHN Captain, quantum core has been breached! BORTUS Deflectors are gone! CHARLY So is the navigational array. I have no helm control. ED All hands, abandon ship! Repeat, all hands abandon ship! KELLY What's happening? ED Who are you? DINAL Don't be afraid, Captain. I'm not going to hurt anyone. My name is Dinal. ED Are you responsible for all this? DINAL Guilty as charged. You still look unsettled. It's really okay, you can relax. Can I offer you some tea? KELLY We'll pass, thanks. DINAL I understand. You wanna know what's been happening. KELLY That'd be nice, yeah. GORDON We never left the planet. DINAL A point for Gordon. You are correct. BORTUS What have you done with Lieutenant Keyali? DINAL Oh, she's fine, don't worry. In fact, she's back aboard your ship right now, safe and sound. ED You still haven't told us who you are. DINAL You don't know me. But you knew my ancestors. KELLY Your ancestors? DINAL Oh, Kelly. Our goddess, lord, and savior. Or more accurately, a simple human woman with a less- than-simple relationship to our forebears. DINAL About two years ago, by your perception, you encountered a planet locked in what you would call a "multiphasic orbit." KELLY That's right. Every 11 days it would enter our space, and during that time it advanced 700 years. DINAL And also during that time, you watched as a religion sprang up. A religion devoted to you, thanks to your clumsiness amid one of our more primitive eras. KELLY I'm sorry for that. DINAL Ancient history. It's irrelevant. ED Is that why you're here? To check up on us? DINAL No, no. We've been watching you for some time. Now, don't worry, we're very discreet. But your significance to our past made you a logical choice. Or at least as good as any other. BORTUS A choice? For what? DINAL By your chronology, roughly 50,000 years have passed for us. I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say, we advanced. KELLY You've evolved 50,000 years? DINAL "Evolved" is an arcane term in this case. Evolution is blind and drunk. It stumbles along by trial and error, and emerges with a barely adequate excuse for a being. No offense. GORDON None taken. DINAL Long ago, we learned to take the reins of evolution and guide it with a greater efficiency. Let's just say things move faster. A lot faster. ED You're immortal. DINAL Gold star, Captain. The cultivation of the mind becomes a lot less stressful when you don't have to worry about dying. KELLY None of this explains why you created these hallucinations. DINAL Oh, everything you experienced was real. Think of them as custom-made micro-universes, tailored just for you. DINAL The content was gathered from your own minds and cultural data banks. That's not what mattered. What did matter is that each of you experienced a moment where you thought you were going to die. DINAL And we were there to experience it with you. I apologize for the brief disorientation. That's what happens when you share a mind. BORTUS Why would you wish to experience death? DINAL Immortality has its rewards. But after a while, the drive to advance begins to atrophy. Once you've seen it all and done it all, and time has no worth, all that's left is idle play. DINAL We become complacent, because none of us can conceive of our own mortality. That's why we had to see it through your eyes. ED Well, I'm glad you got your existential rocks off, but the fact is, you put us through hell. DINAL It was all in the interest of knowledge. KELLY You poke a worm to see what it'll do, you could still kill the worm. ED Centuries ago, my people used other species for experimentation in the name of knowledge. Didn't take us 50,000 years to realize it was wrong. DINAL You were never in any real danger, I promise you that. GORDON What's it like? Immortality? DINAL You outgrew your gods and your nations, as we did. You left your training wheels behind, and you made it to the stars. Your next hurdles are really no different. You simply must outgrow self. DINAL These abstractions that you inhabit for now... captain, explorer, husband, man- They are irrelevant when you become one with the cosmos. DINAL And when you do, sculpting a universe will be as simple as blinking an eye. DINAL You're an interesting species. We'll meet again. ED Mercer to Orville. JOHN LaMarr here, sir! Are you okay? ED We're all right. We'll see you soon. JOHN Sir, w-what happened? ED We ran into an old friend. Mercer out. GORDON Well, I'll tell you this. Here's to reality, with all its troubles. ED You know, it's interesting. As far beyond us as those people are, there's one thing we have in common. ED Neither of us can fathom our own mortality. I mean, we all know we're gonna die, but it's impossible for us to visualize it. GORDON Oh, I can visualize it. Yeah. Big funeral, lots of people weeping, wishing they'd been nicer to me. ED Well, I'm not talking about your funeral. I'm talking about your actual death. I mean, it's impossible. KELLY I guess it'd be like a black emptiness? ED Well, yeah, but even in that scenario, you're still there as an observer, picturing that void. Nonexistence is beyond our capacity to imagine. KELLY The only difference is they never have to worry about it. We do. BORTUS Death is an essential part of life. It is a noble rite of passage. ED Yeah, that's the conventional philosophical wisdom, but it doesn't work for me. Never has. KELLY You'd live forever if you could? ED Yep. GORDON Why? ED I wanna see what happens.