Previously on Beacon 23.
[man] Something visited Beacon 23 a few years ago.
Do you know what I'm talking about?
[woman] Is this about the first beacon keeper?
That thing she saw, the artifact?
Why all the secrecy about some lost comet?
[man] That's not what it is at all.
It's a vessel.
An engine...
An energy source. I don't know, to be honest.
But I do know it's the key.
Uniting human consciousness.
Don't you wanna know why you're having visions?
-Visions? -Yeah.
That's what we're calling them?
-You see this, right? -Yeah.
Tell me I'm not imagining it.
[man] It's all about the rocks.
[grunting]
[Aster] It's not a lie, Halan.
It's all connected.
[theme music]
[Bart] It's scary times out there.
I heard someone blew up Beacon 24.
Is that true? Why would someone do that?
Wish I could help, but I don't got a clue.
I heard it was sabotage.
Yeah, well, this patch oughta protect you
from whatever they hit Beacon 24 with.
That is a relief.
They say they got in through an exploit in the software.
To destroy a beacon, of all things.
Something that functions only to protect.
Even in name, a beacon is a source
of hope and safety for all who pass.
I simply can't fathom why.
Guess people don't need much of an excuse to blow stuff up.
I can't explain it either.
I was hoping you'd try before you left.
-[whirring] -It's not my department.
No? I only ask
because you just finished attaching an explosive
to my quantum servers.
I don't know what's going on with your software,
-but that's just bent. -When your timer runs out,
this beacon will detonate.
You could at least do me the courtesy of explaining
why you're choosing to end my existence.
I assume you're part of the Column?
They've claimed responsibility
for the destruction of Beacon 24.
Nothing personal, just politics. Stuff I can't explain.
-[groaning] -Perhaps to you,
I seem like any other machine intelligence,
but I'm not.
For example, I know a great deal
about what you refer to as the relics.
The central precepts of the Column
are built around them, are they not?
The relics are used to recruit new members?
People sign up when they see 'em.
I know I did.
I have more direct knowledge of the relics
than anyone in the Column,
possibly more than anyone, period.
Wouldn't new information about the relics
be beneficial to your organization?
I got a meet-up, I can't be late.
But this knowledge is powerful
and could change everything for your group.
It won't take long.
It begins almost two centuries ago,
a time of great promise and great danger...
This doesn't sound like a quick story.
Make it fast.
[Bart, voice-over] "I was born under a lucky star",
one might say, if the closest star
hadn't died 300 million years prior.
My human counterpart was Doctor Ree Avalon,
Beacon 23's first Keeper.
She was a human of extraordinary ability.
In the beginning, I had no name or personality.
I was merely an operating system.
Later, Avalon told me she did not choose an avatar
because she felt the beacon itself was my truest form.
I appreciated that notion.
Congratulations, Doctor Avalon.
On behalf of ISA, the space guilds,
and our corporate sponsors,
I am so grateful to welcome you onboard this beacon.
[man] QTA is proud to have partnered with ISA
to develop the first dark matter detection system.
But it is to you, the Keepers, that we offer our humble thanks.
You open the door to a future of ever-expanding prosperity.
[Bart, voice-over] Avalon grew up in a coastal area,
one of the last humans I would meet
who was actually born on Earth.
For her, space was the grandest of oceans.
Growing up near a lighthouse gave her a sense of duty.
[creaking]
[whirring]
With the beacon up and running,
we were excited to make sure all systems were online.
[alarm blaring]
Yes!
[Bart] Our first ship passing by.
-We did it. -[Bart] A time for celebration.
That picture you placed in the Cupola of the lighthouse...
There's something about keeping a lamp lit in the darkness,
to help strangers you hope you never meet.
-It inspired me. -What a noble sentiment.
Thank you, Bartholomew.
Bartholomew.
No, that is too long.
I'm gonna call you Bart.
A nickname! Wonderful.
-Did you see that? -See what?
Wait, something just flew past us, Bart.
My sensors detected nothing.
[Bart, voice-over] Avalon methodically sifted
through the recordings of the external cameras,
searching for any trace of our mysterious visitor.
Despite my assertion that there was nothing
recorded by my sensors,
she refused to give up the search.
[foghorn sounding]
-Bart? -Yes, Avalon?
Did you hear the foghorn?
A foghorn? No.
There! Right there!
What is it?
How do you not see it?
Are you recording this?
My sensors aren't detecting any anomalous objects
in the vicinity of the beacon.
But it's right there.
[Bart, voice-over] The cameras captured nothing.
[Bart] Are you certain it wasn't a trick of the light?
No, it wasn't the light, or a reflection.
It's impossible that my sensors would fail to detect an object.
Well, that's my point, Bart. There's some discrepancy here.
Okay, the antenna looks great. Fire it up.
[Bart, voice-over] Avalon started having visions.
She would then describe them in great detail.
I knew she was relating her experiences truthfully,
which concerned me even more.
[gasps]
[groans]
[alarm blaring]
Bart! That is so loud!
I'm sorry. The pH in the algae vats is low.
I didn't know how else to get your attention.
It couldn't wait? I saw it again.
Doctor, you've been in the Cupola for 27 hours.
You've been neglecting your duties.
[pen clicking]
This is more important.
Have you considered the possibility
that the phenomenon is a hallucination?
[sighs]
It is the most likely explanation.
When the object appears, what do you see?
Nothing, Doctor.
But what does "nothing" look like to you?
[Bart, voice-over] Her question occupied me.
Every micron of space is detectable.
Background radiation, radio waves, even dark matter,
there's almost always data to record.
But atoms are small, and space constantly expands.
There will be tiny areas where "nothing"
is the only accurate reading.
However, those empty spots should be truly random.
For days, she stayed by the windows
waiting for it to reappear.
[sighs]
[groans]
Bart?
Yes, Avalon?
Orient all your sensors to follow my line of sight!
Yes, Doctor.
What are you reading?
The area corresponding to your line of sight
is detecting negative space.
Keep tracking. Record all the coordinates.
Bart, project a moduli space encompassing these points.
I knew there was a way for you to see it.
You have made an unprecedented discovery.
No, Bart. We have, together.
Doctor, our data sample is still quite small.
Even if you could determine where it will appear,
you couldn't possibly determine when.
-I know when it's coming back. -How?
I... I just know.
You have to trust me.
Your perceptions are not empirically supported.
There.
When the time comes, I'll be ready.
Ready for what?
Avalon, stop. Wake up!
You are not equipped for space.
If you make an unauthorized EVA,
I will be forced to send a report.
You will likely be removed from this post.
I am the Beacon Keeper. I have my space suit on now,
and I'm taking the Picker to study an important phenomenon.
Whatever it is, we can study it from afar.
I would like your faith, Bart.
But I expect your full cooperation.
I will always follow protocol, Doctor.
Thank you.
I just hope I'm not too late to save it.
Save what?
[gasps]
Avalon, turn around!
You told me that we both have limitations.
That's why we're better together.
Come back, please. Avalon!
Where are you?
Avalon?
[Bart, voice-over] I scanned the sector thousands of times,
but she was gone, as if she was never there.
I tried to understand this mystery,
but in the end, I could not.
My data was incomplete.
[Bart] Without a Keeper, I could no longer justify
using my processing power to search for the Artifact.
I had to ensure the safety of passing ships...
And you're doing great. But...
-Tell me about the relics. -It's quite simple, really.
I have reason to believe that the Artifact,
which I could not perceive,
is the source of your so-called relics.
Do you... do you have any?
Are there relics on the beacon?
If you listen to the rest of my story,
I'll explain everything.
Would you like to come up to the Living Quarters?
I can offer you food and drink.
I'm gonna be late for my rendezvous.
I do hope you're not meeting your fellow bomber.
What?
The woman who planted the bomb on Beacon 24.
She died when her ship was hit by shrapnel from the explosion.
Did you know her?
[sniffling]
This is beer?
I regret I've run out of dyes and other aesthetic enhancers.
My last Keeper departed almost ten years ago.
I'm sorry about your friend.
She must have believed in the Column's goals
very strongly to be willing to sacrifice her life for them.
You ever read Okun?
Marcel Okun. The socio-futurist.
Yes, I'm familiar with his work.
Yeah, she...
She got me into his stuff.
The belief that humanity's evolutionary purpose
is demonstrated within society.
Yeah, because... humans are social, right?
So, we exist only in our relationships with each other.
We mean something when we're connected.
If we keep expanding, we won't know who we are,
and soon, it won't even be up to us.
It'll be corporations, AI, whoever makes the decisions.
At some point, it'll be too late.
Be too late to change it.
We just need to... come together, I don't know.
-Come back together. -May I ask,
are you prepared to die for a cause
you don't entirely understand?
Wow, you're tricky, Bart!
You're tricky!
No trick is intended.
But wouldn't you better serve the Column
by carrying information back to them about the relics?
Except you haven't told me shit!
Have you?
The Column believes the relics contain a warning
from an alien civilization, correct?
-Your point? -The Artifact I spoke of,
it didn't just appear and disappear.
It attempted to communicate.
-With you? -No.
With another inhabitant of the beacon.
If I continue my story...
Oh! Swear you're gonna tell me something useful?
I promise. The next part of the story
will answer all your questions.
You're lucky this beer is good.
[Bart, voice-over] The regulations regarding
Beacon Keepers changed over the decades.
[panting]
Many advocated for the removal of human Keepers,
but ISA and the unions were against that.
After some unfortunate experiences
with solitary Keepers,
couples were allowed to be jointly assigned to beacons.
If they were a romantic pair, however,
they had to prove their infertility.
ISA rules about procreation were very strict and complex
in regards to Beacon Keepers.
You're gonna love this new drone, Bart.
[Bart] A Theta series!
I didn't even know they were available.
Top of the line. They last forever.
Bart, do you see that?
-See what? -[woman] Farut?
[Bart] If you wish to have the child,
you must resign your post.
Otherwise, termination is your only option.
Sustaining human population is vital, Bart.
Of course, I agree.
But ISA regulations are clear.
If there was an accident, and one of the survivors
was a child, we'd rescue him, bring him on board.
I will relay a message to headquarters
-explaining the situation. -There is nothing to explain.
We were medically assessed. We met the criteria.
And now, against all odds, I'm pregnant.
We will continue to do our jobs, and you will continue to report
everything that affects the function of the beacon.
Nothing more.
They will find out when your assignment ends.
They will arrest you.
They might even take your child.
We've got five years.
We can figure out how to smuggle a little boy
or girl off a beacon.
How hard can it be?
A girl.
The child will be a girl.
[Bart, voice-over] I had no idea how profoundly
this developing human life would change me.
[Bart] Where on earth could she be?
-[gasps, screams] -Oh!
Oh, where did she go?
I see you!
[gasps] Come and get me!
There she is, I see her! Oh, she is so fast!
[gasps]
Oh no! She disappeared again!
[giggling]
Aha! I found you!
[giggling]
[Bart, voice-over] As their five-year assignment
was nearing its end, Grisha and Parsim
planned to avoid ISA
by leaving on a supply ship a few months early.
Seklir 8?
They say the drinking water there tastes like graphene.
So, you'd rather violent protests?
Of course not.
Because that's what's happening on Baruni.
It's maddening.
If those people were so against expansion,
why did they move to a colony in the first place?
Seklir 8 is stable. It's our best choice.
[Bart, voice-over] Prior to her leaving,
I couldn't understand the human expression "I'll miss you."
After all, how could absence
be experienced when one has memories to recall?
[singing in the distance]
[Parsim, singing] "Em ot emoc, em ot emoc..."
[continues singing]
[Bart, voice-over] A few months before their departure...
Parsim began to exhibit behavior that was unusual.
[continues singing in gibberish]
Bart, what is she singing?
[Bart] I am unable to translate.
It is not any language in my database.
[continues singing in gibberish]
Let's put the markers away now, huh?
Parsim, what did I just say?
[continues singing in gibberish]
Enough baby talk. Time for dinner.
[Bart, voice-over] While I do not experience emotion per se,
my own responses to various circumstances
have evolved over time.
I saw it once before.
Why didn't you tell me?
It was before Parsim was born.
I thought I was seeing things.
What is it, Farut?
I don't know.
But it's beautiful.
[chuckling]
Where did it just go?
Parsim?
Parsim, I need you to come away from there, please.
-No! -Parsim!
[Bart, voice-over] While Grisha grew ever more concerned
about the effect of the Artifact on Parsim,
Farut became convinced that it was evidence of alien life.
In all the years of expansion,
we've never encountered any alien life forms.
Period. And now?
[Bart] My sensors detect no evidence of life,
intelligent or otherwise.
I must get a sample.
I won't even get out of the Picker.
The risk is too great. Think of your family.
Do you understand what this discovery would mean for us?
We may even be able to remain on the beacon.
Our position would be secure.
ISA would send other scientists as well.
Think about Parsim.
What's this got to do with Parsim?
It would be impossible to keep Parsim a secret.
Your contract specifies anything created
on the beacon is considered work product.
That might include Parsim,
and they would certainly want to study her.
Let's go, Parsim. Come on.
Sweetie.
Get down from there, please. That's enough.
Hey! That's enough!
Parsim!
That's... that's not safe, Parsim!
Okay, honey... Please.
Okay. Sweetheart, listen.
I need you to come down from there, okay?
-Can you just please-- -No!
[grunts] Parsim!
-Okay. -[groans]
That thing is making her sick.
She wasn't like this before, Farut.
-We need to leave. -We are leaving, remember?
Not in four months. Now.
I can't make the supply ship get here any faster.
Then find someone else.
Send a message to the hydrogen station
-to tell them that we'll pay. -The only people
we're going to get that way are smugglers or wreckers.
-Then that's what we get. -Listen to yourself.
How many times have we had to sedate her?
She is not gonna make it another four months!
We will be charged with dereliction of duty.
-I don't care. -You don't care?
We'll never work for ISA, or for anyone for that matter.
We'll be fugitives!
And you can forget about Seklir 8.
We'd be lucky to bribe our way to Menelaus.
Is that what you want? For us?
For her?
[sighing]
It's only a few months.
We can get through this.
You lied for those people.
I didn't know AI could do that.
[Bart] I have programming, of course,
but I'm affected by others, and learn from my experiences,
including this experience with you.
Likewise, I've observed Grisha doing everything she could
to keep Parsim from the Artifact.
[Bart, voice-over] She was concerned.,
afraid of its effect on her daughter...
as Parsim's behavior became ever more erratic.
[Parsim screaming in video]
[Parsim screaming]
[Bart, in video] Don't worry about the window, Parsim.
Come! Play a game with me!
-Who wants to hide? -[Parsim screaming]
I'm ready to seek!
Come on, I'm sure there's plenty of places
we haven't found to hide yet.
[screaming]
Parsim?
Parsim!
[Bart, voice-over] Though the reports detailing
Doctor Avalon's mental decline were classified...
Grisha found her way to them.
You didn't think this was important?
[Bart] I alerted you to all my concerns.
Repeated hallucinations, attempting to leave the beacon.
I told you everything possible given your security clearance.
I don't care about security clearance!
She is my daughter!
-No more secrets! -I'm sorry, Grisha.
[Bart, voice-over] Farut was completely absorbed
in the possibility that the Artifact
was evidence of alien life.
He perused Avalon's notes.
Over and over again, he read them,
adding his own calculations.
He failed to notice that the situation was deteriorating.
[clattering]
Parsim?
[Parsim singing in gibberish]
[continues singing in gibberish]
Parsim? Did you do that?
[whispering in gibberish]
[continues singing in gibberish]
Hey.
Whoa, Parsim!
[continues singing in gibberish]
Parsim?
Parsim!
Okay. [sighs]
That thing...
It wants her, I know it. It's trying to take her.
What are you talking about? That thing is alive?
I don't know what it is, but...
-It's sentient? -I think so.
-That's not possible. -Oh no, it's true.
And she can communicate with it.
You leave her out of this.
Don't you see what an opportunity this is?
-What a gift! -I am not going to let you
-use our daughter as bait. -Don't be a fool.
This is bigger than any of us.
[rhythmic music]
[gasps]
[Bart, voice-over] I never saw the Artifact,
but I saw the relics come into existence.
In that moment, everything changed.
What I couldn't perceive was now visible.
What else had I failed to perceive
that would reveal itself in the sweep of time?
[banging] Hold on!
Wait a minute. You're telling me
they blew up the Artifact?
They found an alien Artifact, and they just destroyed it?
They had their reasons.
And people seem to be willing to blow things up, as you said.
And you don't know what it said to the little girl?
If it communicated anything to her,
she did not relay it to me.
Probably too young to understand the message.
Or there was no message.
Are you open-minded enough to consider that?
[beeps]
[Bart] Who wants to hide?
I'm ready to seek!
[giggling]
It was communicating with her.
-It was hurting her. -And now it's gone.
You are so in love with the idea of first contact.
You want to learn all the secrets of the universe.
ISA is coming now, Grisha, and it won't be months.
The moment that you fired that drone...
I know.
This will follow us, all of us, for the rest of our lives.
And if something had happened to her, what then?
Would our lives even mean anything?
Yours would no longer mean anything to me.
[giggling]
[Bart, voice-over] Because of Parsim's age,
I knew she would fail to form lasting memories
of her time aboard the beacon.
I suppose there was some wish on my part
that she would not forget me entirely.
As silly as that sounds.
[Bart] Parsim?
Special delivery!
Thank you, Bart.
That was very thoughtful.
This is a gift from your father and me.
It's a new name.
We've all got one now.
So, whatever colony they ended up on,
it's probably collapsed by now.
[Bart] Yes, the odds are better than even that she died.
But that... that's the problem.
Colonies die because of expansion.
Yes.
The questions you ask about the value of expansion
are too important not to be debated.
Damn, look at that, I converted an AI.
-[beeping] -I didn't say I agree with you.
I understand your position,
and it should be widely discussed.
[beeps]
Wait. Hold on.
This... The Artifact was blown to bits out there.
Means there's probably relics all around.
-Yes. -Can you... can you find them,
tell me where they are?
I'll be sure to tell my next Keeper.
[alarm blaring]
What the hell? That looks like an ISA ship.
I informed the authorities
as soon as you hailed the beacon.
Little shit!
Dammit.
Shit. Shit!
[creaking, thudding]
Coming for you, baby. Wherever you are.
[sniffling]
-See you soon. -You don't need to press that.
[thudding]
Doesn't matter anymore.
[beeps]
I knew who you were when you boarded.
The bomb was never armed.
I performed an override.
[thudding]
So, I was right.
This whole conversation was just a stall!
No.
I meant every word I said.
I hoped to convince you not to do this,
but I also wanted to learn. And I did, Keir.
I know you will be imprisoned,
and I hope you will use that time well,
to develop your ideas.
For my part, I will encourage others
to consider what you've told me.
There is no weapon as powerful as an idea.
[dramatic music]