"♪ I am ♪" "Treasure Doll, here, giving you a dose of sonic courage to start your morning." "A little something to bolster your nerve, help you get through the day." "Because we all get a little lost sometimes, when all we want... is to be found." "♪ They really want you ♪" "♪ they really do ♪" "♪ yeah, they really want you ♪" "♪ they really want you ♪" "♪ and I do too ♪" "♪ I want to be the girl ♪" "♪ with the most cake ♪" "♪ I love him so much ♪" "♪ it just turns to hate ♪" "♪ I fake it so real ♪" "♪ I am beyond fake ♪" "♪ and someday you will ache ♪" "♪ like I ache ♪" "♪ someday you will ache ♪" "♪ like I ache ♪" " It's about time." " What took you so long?" "♪ I am doll parts, bi... ♪" "You might want to slow down, there, boss." "You're getting pretty drunk." "It's a crazy idea for me to take over the NeedWant." "This is Kenya's world, not mine." " I got to get out of here." " Hey, when Kenya disappeared, none of us knew what to do." "If you hadn't stepped up, and reopened the NeedWant, we would all be out of work." "This little family would've splintered." "I don't have any other family." "I need this place, these people." "Okay." "I assume you heard Deirdre Lamb was killed, Treasure Doll." " I heard." " Well, shouldn't you be" " figuring out who did it?" " It's gonna have to wait." "Irisa needs me." "And to find her, you need that much firepower?" "She stole a terrasphere." "What would she want with a terrasphere?" "No idea." "All I do know is, my emotionally disturbed daughter is in possession of the same weapon we used to destroy a Volge army." "A terrasphere could level this town." "I understand you have to go." "But who's gonna speak for the dead?" "Sorry, I don't know." "I'm a little short on deputies right now." "Give me a badge." "Give you a badge?" "You heard me." " It belongs to Irisa." " Take good care of it." "And try and stay out of trouble." "I was mayor of this town." "I think I can handle being lawkeeper." "Don't flatter yourself." "You're just a deputy." "Deputy?" "Nolan had an emergency." "Why don't you start with the picnic stuff?" "I'm on it." "Did Treasure Doll make this little feast for you?" "No." "No, I was at Tarr Traxx all morning." "I heard dead air on the radio, so I came here to see what was wrong." "By the time I got here, there was already a crowd of people gathered around her body." "So you have no idea who the strawberries and cheese were for?" "She liked to bring clients up here for sex." "The view is a turn-on." "I bet." "So were you having sex with her?" "Me?" "No." "No, I keep things professional with my employees." "Mm." "Is there usually a microphone attached to the end of this cord?" "Yeah." " Any idea where it is?" " I have no idea." "What, you think that I did this?" "I'll let you know." "Take a look at this." "It's one of my old surveillance cameras." "It's not supposed to be here." "Did you know that was up there?" "Absolutely not." "Memory card is missing." " So, what happened to Nolan?" " He got a lead on Irisa." "Took off after her." "He didn't tell you about it?" "Nolan and I aren't sharing our whereabouts anymore." " When did that happen?" " When he thought he lost you." "Irisa!" "Kiddo, what you got yourself into?" "Guess I'm a little late to the party, huh?" "All right." "Okay." "So what's going on down there?" "Stay back." "What, am I making you nervous?" "Why?" "Ow." "Jeez." "Whatever's infected Irisa, it's got you too." "Don't." "Go ahead." "Go on." "Do it." "Pull the trigger." "You've always pretended like you're better than me." "Prove to me you're exactly the same kind of animal I am." "Come on, Tommy, go right ahead." "I can't believe Quentin turned him in." "Isn't family supposed to mean something?" "Your brother had no choice." "Well, whatever happened to loyalty?" "Your father confessed to killing an Earth Republic ambassador." "If you should be angry with anyone..." "It's him." "I know." "It's just hard to accept that someone you love is a murderer." "We all do terrible things to get what we want." "It's unavoidable, I think." "The most we can hope for is that what we want is worth the evil we do." "You really think that?" "Hanya tavo, I think of little else." "Deirdre Lamb is dead." "Oh, my God." "How?" "She was thrown from the arch." "I'm sorry, forget it." "I don't want to hear about this." "Such a tragedy." "Yeah, terrible." "Mm." "At least you're bleeding now, like a normal person." "Why do you think your body rejected that thing?" "Maybe Irzu's gift doesn't work on humans." " It's not Irzu." " Whatever you want to call it." "The God that's pulling Irisa's strings." "It's not a God." "Those tendrils are sections of arkbrain." "Billions of tiny robots, working together to control their host." "So I was possessed by what, a machine?" "Kaziri." "It's an ancient spaceship buried under Old St. Louis, an artificial intelligence pretending to be a God." "It's pretty convincing." "You know it wants to destroy the world, right?" "Irzu wants to terraform the planet and start fresh with its chosen few." "Vulaaishe, they say." "Paradise." " Votan rapture." " A rapture?" "Old-earth Bible thing." "The righteous are swept up and saved before God obliterates the wicked and destroys the world." " Holy shit." " Exactly." "Positronic charges." "They scramble arkbrains." "These things should knock those doomsday cultists on their asses long enough for us to get Irisa clear." "You can't have an apocalypse without your key horseman." "What are these for?" "I'd put those down and wash your hands." "Ah." "A-ha." "Memory card." "See what's on it." "I'll take it to the workshop." " Here we go." " What?" "Treasure Doll's most recent clients." "Hmm." "Gail was on shift at the mines, so we can rule her out." "Jeru's afraid of heights, so we can rule him out." "Oh, here's a promising client." "And he just visited her last night." "Excuse me." "I said, "excuse me."" "Oh, please." "Last week, you were a madam." "This week, you're a lawkeeper." "What's next, pantomime artist?" "Well, we all need a fallback position." "Was there something you wanted, other than to touch my undergarments?" "You had an appointment recently with Treasure Doll." "It was probably right before her nails met your neck." "Oh, her nails were like vetho *claws coming in to claim his prey." "Oh, it was a good time, worth every tazhwayo." "Was it worth killing her?" "Treasure Doll's dead?" "Huh." "Oh, that's too bad." "One of Defiance's more engaging entertainments." "Did she say something to incite you?" "Make you violent?" "She called you a haint." "Oh, Amanda, that's a very naughty word, even coming from the mouth of a filthy human whoremonger." "At least I have a job." "You haven't seen Treasure Doll in months." "Why did you suddenly need her services last night?" "Answer the question." "It was a family matter." "It's the real thing this time." "I am completely in love." "With a client?" "His father's a client." "But my guy's not into night porters." "So what's the name of this smooth talker?" "It's a secret." "Wow." "So Alak was sleeping with Treasure Doll." " I never said that." " Thank you for your help." "I'd ask you not to leave town, but from the looks of this place," "I doubt you could afford a land coach ticket." "Get those hands up!" "Now!" "This is my prisoner." "Don't shoot." "_" "You should not have brought him here." "You should have killed him." "It's not what Irisa would have wanted." "Tishinkaa is strongly connected to Nolan." "His words may weaken her resolve." "_" "No, Alethea, the burden is mine." "No." "I'll see him, alone." "You're coming back home." "We can do it the easy way, or we can do it the hard way." "Your choice." "And what will you do to my people?" "Nothing if you tell them to stand down." " They won't listen." " Too bad for them." "It's a good thing they can't be killed, 'cause that's how you handle everything, with violence." "All right, well, that's not fair." "I'm not interested in being fair." "I'm interested in truth." "You raised me to enjoy hurting people." "Stop it." "You taught me how to use a blade, how to kill." "I mean, for a child, than can feel like play, a game." "I taught you how to survive." "I saw you as a hero because you rescued me." "You took away my pain." "But I didn't see what you were." "I was blinded by..." "I don't know." "I..." "I..." "I thought it was love." "You weren't blinded." "The love was there." "You murdered so many Votans." "Our lives meant nothing to you." "You're a monster, a predator." "And that is why I can't save you." "You're evil." "No, this isn't you." "I wanted so much to make you happy, I imitated you." "I did the same awful things." " This isn't you." " This is me!" "It has always been me!" "You were blind and stupid." "You killed my parents, and I loved you for it." "Don't you understand how sick that is?" "You broke me into little pieces." "You ruined me." "I went on the run for you." "I lost my commission for you." "I took you as my own daughter, even though..." "Even though I was a disgusting alien." " No, I never said that." " But you thought it!" " I never said it!" " Admit it." " No!" " Liar!" "I can see what's in your head." "You can't hide from the truth." "You can't hide from my God's light." "Your God is a fraud." "This world is an abomination." "And not because of Arkfall or terraforming." "It's because of you, humans." "You spent thousands of years ruining this beautiful world." "And that is why I can't save you." " Where's my daughter?" " Where is she?" "No!" "That is enough." "Enough." "I'm planning a food walk this afternoon to deliver supplies to the poor and disabled." "I won't be needing your company." "Are you going to see Datak?" "My husband is poor, but hardly disabled." "Favi Tarr." "May I speak with you a moment?" "What is it?" "I found this under Alak's bed." "Alak." "No love for R.E.M., I see." "Mm, kids these days, no respect for the classics." "I already told you everything I know about Treasure Doll." "You didn't tell us you were sleeping with her." "In fact, you told us the exact opposite." " Why'd you lie?" " I didn't sleep with her." "I'm faithful to my wife." "Good." "Because if you were sleeping with her and we caught you lying about it, that would look pretty bad." "Of course, it would look a lot worse if we learned that Deirdre had been secretly taping and editing a blackmail package." "That would be a pretty strong motive to kill her, don't you think?" "Maybe she threatened you over a nice picnic lunch." "If you stir up trouble, if you get in my way, I swear," "I will drop your skinny ass off the top of this arch." "You know, this is a horrible mistake." "Alak didn't hurt anyone." "You know that." " He'll have his day in court." " With the E-Rep in charge?" "You won't rest until my whole family is in jail, will you?" "_" "You don't think I killed her, do you?" "I know you didn't." "But I also know that you betrayed me, and you betrayed our child." " I've been so stupid." " Yes." "But it's good that you now understand that your wife is not Castithan." "You swore a human oath of fidelity, which she expects you to honor." "Perhaps some time behind bars will help you grow, as it has your father." "Did you set me up?" "Is this supposed to be some sort of weird family life lesson you're trying to teach me?" "Of course not." "What about dad?" "How could you say such a thing?" "I don't know, mom." "You tell me." "I'm late for my food walk." "This is amazing." "Could I have another?" "Eat as much as you wish, Andina." "These were my son's favorite when he was your age." "I knew we had the Tarr family to thank for the food walk, but I didn't realize that you were involved so personally." "What is runoff for some is, to others, river." "It's an old Castithan saying, meaning..." "We should help others." "My mother used to say it." "She died in the last razor rain storm." "I am so sorry." "Please, can you fill this for your father?" "Yes, Favi." "I brought some kataranda roast, a small reminder of home." "But a large comfort." "Thank you." "What will become of your daughter after you have passed on?" "I have tried to locate family to care for her, but I have been unable." "My household recently lost a handmaiden." "Perhaps we could bind her to us." "You... you would do that?" "The purpose of a food walk is to provide comfort and peace to the dying." "I imagine knowing that your daughter would never go hungry again would provide that." "Favi, I could never repay such kindness." "That's not precisely true." "We're not killing him." "If you let him go, he'll be back." " He's too dangerous." " I said no." "You're putting everything at risk." "Oh, it looks like you're stuck, Sukar." " The boss wants me alive." " Don't push your luck." "Oh, he's afraid, kiddo." "I can smell it on him." "Sukar knows I always win in the end." "You make him stop, or I will." "Hey, did you tell your cultist buddies about the time" "I stole that ark-tech out from under your nose, made you and your crew look like monkeys?" "Probably too embarrassing." "How did that stab wound heal up?" "Tishinkaa." "He's trying to get under your skin." "It's working." "Or what about the time I kicked your ass, shot you full of holes, and then threw you out of the gateway arch?" "Do you remember that?" "The look on your face, it was priceless." ""Tishinkaa."" "Sorry, Sukar." "Sorry." "The stink from your beard, it caught me by surprise." "So you want to punch me, or what?" "Hurt him." "Don't kill him." "_" "_" "You should write children's books." "Hey, you guys got to see this." " Come on, now." " All right, come on, everybody." "This is something you're gonna want to tell your kids about, seeing the ugliest Irathient on the planet crying like a little girl." "Shit." "Forgot about the whole heal instantly thing." "Tommy." "Irisa." "He was gonna marry me." "I was gonna be his princess." "I'm so sorry." "How could he pick her?" "I'm on the radio, for Christ's sake." "Do you really care about this guy?" " I do." " Then you have to fight." "It won't work." "You don't know him." "I haven't even told you his name." "I don't need to know his name." "I know this world." "Anything you have, anything worthwhile, there is someone out there who will take it from you." "So you have to fight, or you're gonna end up with nothing." "I had a guy." "He was with my sister, so he was off-limits." "But she kicked him aside." "And I could have told him how I felt." "But I didn't." "I didn't fight." "Don't make the same mistake." "You're right." "I won't let anybody take him away from me." "I didn't kill her." "But I did treat her badly." "She was hot and fun for a while." "But then I got bored, and I threw her away." "Look, I wish she was alive, so I could... so I could tell her I'm sorry." "You and me both." "Alak, for whatever it's worth, we all do stupid things." "Can I help you with something?" "I'm here to confess to a murder, the murder of the girl on the radio, Treasure Doll, at the arch." "I loved her too much." "Do you know her real name?" "I didn't want to." "Real names spoil the magic." "Do I look really stupid to you?" "Maybe this will convince you." "This is what I hit her with." "I've just gone to a great deal of trouble to free our son from the lawkeeper's jail." "You're a good mother." "Is that sarcasm?" "Oh, if you have to ask, it probably is." "So..." "Alak, did he do it?" "I think we both know the answer to that." "Do we?" "I know you placed the microphone under his bed." "What I don't know is why." "What microphone?" "Are you seriously trying to tell me you did not kill Deirdre?" "Well, actually," "I assumed it was you." "Then who..." "Christie, I'm home." "Christie." "Christie." "This is poison." "I know exactly what that is." "Prostitutes use it to end unwanted pregnancies." "A few splashes can trigger a miscarriage." "What was it doing sitting in our room?" "You're not... you're not thinking of... using it." "Treasure Doll invited me to the arch this morning." "She knew I was upset about my father's arrest, and so she made me breakfast." "She said it was to cheer me up." "Here, fresh-squeezed noomel juice." "I pressed it this morning." "What's in this?" "Did a seed get in there?" "This is poison." "It smells okay to me." "I have a Castithan baby in my stomach." "All my senses are sharper." "Are you trying to kill me?" "Not you." "It." "Alak loves me." "But he won't leave his pregnant wife." "You're lying." "Not this time." "You were never my friend." "Encouraging me to dress up as a Casti, that was all a setup." "I don't have a rich father." "I didn't marry into a rich family." "Good-bye, Deirdre." "If you want anything in this world, you have to fight for it!" "Stay away from my family." "Alak, you're a Castithan male." "I know you have needs, but you must never again let them threaten our child." "I promise." "_" "_" "_" "How long you think we have?" "No idea." "Don't worry about her." "She's gonna be okay." "I admire your optimism, kid." "That's because I don't accept the world is coming to an end." "See, now you're just getting annoying." "Whatever, pick at me." "I don't care." "I don't treat you right, do I, Tommy?" " This is not the time." " Oh, you follow the rules." "You obey the law." "You do everything right." "And, here I am giving you a hard time." " Right, kid?" " I've noticed." "I got a different relationship with the rules." "They bug me." "It's hard to be a lawkeeper unless you follow the law." "Yeah, well, my way, it gets results." "Mind you, your way... it gets results too." "You're good for Irisa." "You're good for the town." "If we get out of this thing in one piece, I'd be honored to have you by my side again." "What are you saying?" "I'm not saying anything." "I'm saying you're a good man, and I respect you, is all." "Don't go making a big thing of it." "Okay." "Thank you." " You tricked me." " I did." "But when this is all over, you're gonna thank me." "This is all over tomorrow." "At sunfall, the Kaziri's holy fire will reshape this planet into vulaaishe ( _ )." "Look, I know you feel like yourself." "It seems like you're making decisions on your own." "You're not really in control." "The Kaziri is controlling how you feel." "Irisa..." "Come back to me." "I love you." "Tommy." "The Irisa you knew is gone." "Do it." "You have to kill him." "No." "Cut his throat." "You can make me do anything else, but you can't make me do that." "We have a deal." "Tommy." "Tommy?" "Tommy!" "Hey, hey." "Put pressure on it." "Hold on, okay?" "I'm not gonna let you die."