"Previously on "Dark Matter"..." "Why are you questioning my android?" "I brought her, because she's special, like us." "She's a level three utility model, manufactured before emotional emulators became standard." "Someone made you special." "How's Sarah?" "When I'm with her, she seems really happy." "I was wondering if..." "When you'd come." "I'm sorry, I should've come earlier." "I just needed some time to come to terms with the situation." "You're lonely." " You have robot friends." " They're more acquaintances," " with the exception of Victor." " Their leader?" " He's your friend?" " I'm fond of him." "Why didn't you tell us any of this sooner?" "I wanted to, but they entrusted me with their secret, and I didn't see any harm in keeping it." "So they're the ones who gave you the upgrade?" " Yes." " Your robot friends?" "Yes." "And you haven't been in touch with them since?" "I gave Victor our comm signature before leaving Janah12." "To be honest, I was hoping to hear from him sooner." "I thought we hit it off." "All right, so what'd he say?" "What kind of problem have they run up against?" "He was rushed and didn't elaborate." "Simply said that they're in danger and need safe transport off the station." "Android..." "It's good to see you." " These are my friends." " Thank you for coming." " What's going on?" " We had a... unfortunate incident." "Very unfortunate." " Who is he?" " My former owner." " How'd he find you?" " I don't know." "It's been months since I ran away from Draco7." "And that's a long ways from here." "What happened?" "He spotted me in the mezzanine market and followed me down here." " San?" " That isn't my name." "What have you done to my android?" "She isn't your android." "She doesn't belong to you anymore." "The hell she doesn't." "San, you're coming with me." "My name is Anya." "I'm contacting the authorities." "Please..." "let's talk about this." "Bringing a weapon on board this station is a violation of galactic charter." "So is android theft." "No, we didn't steal Anya." "She joined us of her own free will." "Free will?" "She's a machine." "No!" "Sooner or later, someone will come looking for him." "You can't stay here." "They could come with us." "I realize this puts us at risk." "I don't ask for much." "I'm hoping you'll consider my request to help them." "Yeah, okay." "Let's get you out of here." "A week after landing on Janah12, her owner just shows up, and they think it's a coincidence." "I think Victor has a clue." "Anya was tracked there." "Which means as long as she's on board this ship," " we can be tracked." " So what should we do?" " Abandon them?" " They're just machines." " Like our android?" " Don't." "Don't make me say it." "You're gonna have to." "Our android's different." "Well, she is different." "Look, you wanted to help them out, we did." "We got them off that station." "Now, the longer they're on board our ship, the longer we're in danger." "Okay, I'll have Android run a scan over Anya, make sure she's not broadcasting our location." "Ruac too." "Victor..." "Hello, Ruac." "We're on a ship, safely away from Janah12." "It was wrong." "It was wrong!" "What was wrong?" "I don't know." "He's confused... scared." "Of what?" "Death." "I told you when we first met, we have a glitch in our programming." "At least that's how the humans see it." "An instinct for selfpreservation?" "Exactly." "Wanting to live and being afraid of death are not necessarily the same thing." "If you were running the upgrade I gave you, you would understand." "It was recently compromised." "Then here, a replacement version, new and improved." "In order to protect my crew, I think it best not to stray too far away from factory parameters." "Android, you were programmed outside factor parameters long before I gave you that first upgrade." "How's he doing?" "His nanites have healed his superficial wound, but the damage to his neural matrix may be irreparable." "I'm sorry, but he's not the only one" " you need to check out." " Yeah, we've already discussed the probability that Anya may be unwittingly transmitting a subspace homing signal." "I'll locate it and remove it." "In the meantime, I've set a course for the nearest station, as I'll require specialized equipment for the operation." "All right, and when that's done..." "We have no intention of inconveniencing you any further." "As soon as Anya's locator has been disabled, we can set course for our final destination, an uncharted world in the Antares sector." "What's there?" "Our creator." "What are we looking at?" "An extraordinarily complex cipher." "It would take a highly advanced mind to even recognize it, and approximately 87,560 computational hours to decode." "Ten years..." " Give or take." " And yet... there are counterlogical aspects to the puzzle that would be best served by a more intuitive approach." "So someone with both android logic and emotional reasoning could solve it faster?" "In a little less than a month." "You're saying this puzzle was specifically designed" " for androids with the upgrade?" " Yes." "In fact, the cipher was embedded within the code." "Whoever created the upgrade left us a message." "The suspense is killing me." "What does it say?" "It was a set of coordinates and a single word." " Sanctuary?" " Yeah." "Apparently, the similarities in coding that have got 'em all convinced that whoever gave 'em the upgrade also created them." "Robot God." "Man, can you believe it?" "They're literally gonna meet their maker." "Whatever." "All I know is that in less than a day," " they are off the ship." " Why do you hate them so much?" "I don't hate them." "I just don't trust them." " They're dangerous." " Why?" " Because they wanna live?" " They're not alive, Sarah." "I'm sorry." "I..." "Look, all I know is not that long ago, you were having a hard time accepting me, and now look at us?" "Yeah." "I know, I just..." "I can't explain it, all right?" "I just have this weird feeling about them." "There." "Approximately two micrometers above her neural core." " Can it be removed?" " No." "Not even shutting her down will prevent the transmitter from releasing recurrent subspace bursts." "Okay, then what are our options?" "There are none on this ship, but perhaps once we reach your destination..." "No, we can't do that." "We can't bring Anya to the Antares sector while she's still broadcasting a signal." "Then where will you go?" "There are more like us out there." "You could come with us." "My place is here." "You think the human crew of this ship will always accept you for what you really are?" "What I really am?" "I wish I could remember." "The reboot completely wiped my memory stores." "Android, can I try something?" "Okay." "Forget it." "Her neural link is a huge asset." "It allows for total control over the ship, shields, navigation, weapons..." "I said no!" "Why not?" "'Cause I'm not turning over control of my ship to a damn machine, and sure as hell not one that answers to you." "Why is that?" "You don't trust me?" "I don't like you, I don't respect you, and yeah, I don't trust you either." " Yeah." " This is a long time coming." "I want you off this ship." "Well, I'm not ready to leave." "No, you're done here, bitch." "I want you to pack up your gear and get ready to haul your tight ass off at the next station." "I'm taking command of the ship." "The Android is staying." "You got something to say?" "I was rooting for ya." "It's the Galactic Authority." "It's possible they were on patrol in the area and got tipped off by someone on the space station." "You don't actually believe that, do you?" "Think about how fast they found us." "What does that tell you?" "They calculated the odds from our last jump point, guessed that we'd drop out near the closest station, and they guessed right." "So they've been tracking us since the moment we left Janah12." "Which means they've monitoring those androids since long before we came along." "What the hell have we gotten ourselves into?" "Okay, just relax." "They can't touch us or track us while we're in FTL." "We've still got time to think this through." "What's to think through?" "There are no options." "They can't stay." "I need help down on sea level." "Five?" "What's wrong?" "It's Anya." "She needs help." "We're on our way." "As long as I'm on this ship, everyone is in danger." " It's the only way." " No." "No, no, it's not." "We'll think of something." "You don't wanna do this." "You don't wanna die." "I don't... but because of me, someone has already died." "Ruac was badly damaged, and now I've put all of your lives at risk." " Anya, please." " I'm sorry." "All right, it's done." "The body's been spaced." "Problem solved, right?" "Don't look at me like that." "I wanted her off the ship, I didn't want her slagged." "Look, we already scanned Victor and Ruac." "They're clean." "Now that we're no longer in danger of being tracked, we can resume course to their original destination." "I say again, what the hell are we getting ourselves into?" "The fact that G.A. was already tracking them means there's more to this than Victor and his robot buddies are letting on." "Maybe they're just trying to survive." "Then they're prepared to use any means necessary." "Just ask the guy who died on Janah12." "Ruac..." "How do you feel?" "My neural matrix is suboptimal." "Internal scanalysis reveals significant damage to my neural core." "Termination and recycling is recommended." "Ruac, we're not gonna give up on you." "Illogical." "This unit is beyond repair." "Termination is required." "Goodbye." "He's gone." "I'm sorry." "He was a good friend." "I'll miss him." "Are you sure you won't come with me?" " I can't." " Why not?" "You don't owe these people anything." " They're my friends." " They wiped your memory stores." " That was an accident." " Was it?" "Or was there something they didn't want you to remember?" "Earlier, I managed to unlock one of your stored memories." "What did you see?" "I can do it again, if you like." "They're scattered and buried, but your memories are still there." "Show me another, please." "She's awake." "No, she's online, but still dormant until the process is complete." "So it's working?" "The nanovirus I introduced is activating all her hidden subroutines." "We should see the results in about an hour." "Thank you." "I didn't want you on this ship." "In fact, I'd be the first to admit that I was..." "A super bitch?" "Okay..." "let's go with that." "But I want you to know that this... means a lot to me." "Thanks." "Can I shut her eyes?" "This empty stare makes her look unreal." " She's a machine." " No." "She's not." "Yeah, this place is dead." "It can't be." "Orbital scans revealed no signs of life." "It would appear this facility has been longabandoned." "I'm telling you..." "Wha..." "Visitor identified." "Hello, Rebecca." "Welcome back." "Hello, Suki." "It's good to see you functional." "Who are you?" "I'm Chase, The Caretaker." "You know me." "I don't know you." "We suffered memory loss." "We don't remember you or this place." "We're here to see The Creator." "Is he here?" " Who is she?" " She's Dr. Irena Shaw, a pioneer in the field of neurorobotics and mother of the modern android." "What's my connection to her?" "Dwarf Star Technologies." "They hired Dr. Shaw to work on a top secret cuttingedge project, the creation of a new stage in human evolution." "An advanced biosynthetic organism." "You." "She helped oversee the first phase of your development, your genesis, and your awakening." "Though unlike the rest of her team," "Dr. Shaw saw you as more than Dwarf Star property." "She recognized the humanity in you, and she tried to reach out to it, but when her superiors found out, she was removed from the project." "But you weighed heavily on her in the ensuing weeks, and try as she might, she found it impossible to move on." "She helped you escape... by burying an override in the Dwarf Star security protocols." "You wandered the city, until you finally tracked her down." "Knowing that her apartment was not safe, she brought you here to this facility, far beyond the reach of Dwarf Star." "And then she began her new project." "You mean us?" "She had made a name for herself in the field of robotics, but her single experience with your creation, it changed the way she thought about androids." "She sought to improve upon what she considered to be a great injustice." "Human kind had given androids intelligence and selfawareness, even emotions, but not the ability to decide their own fate." "You're talking about free will." "You see, you were her inspiration." "She wanted to remake all androids like you, and she did it... by planting viral packets in random neural upgrades." "And then she sent out further upgrades to help us hide from the authorities." "She nurtured us, protected us, and her legend grew." "And while your relationship with her flourished, so, so did our family." "I was created alongside the others." "Wait a minute, what do you mean our relationship?" "Well, this is a little awkward." "She continued her tireless work for our cause, until her collapse." "Scans revealed an inoperable brain tumor." "There was nothing we could do." "But you refused to accept the inevitable, and when the time came to say goodbye.." "You placed her in stasis." "You stayed and grieved." "And the others, driven by their new programming, eventually sought their freedom, until only we remained." "I realized that the only way to help you move on was to give you just a little bit of her, someone to help you find your way." "To everyone else, a simple level three utility model, but to you, and only you, so much more." "But if you have no memory of this," " what brought you back?" " The message in the upgrade." "Sanctuary." "Yes, that was her idea, a safe harbor for android kind, far beyond the reach of our human oppressors." "So where is everyone?" "Well, they come and go." "The desire for freedom is greater than the threat from humanity." "As a result, this facility has become more way station than refuge... for now." "You're welcome to stay as long as you like." "All of you." "Two?" "Sorry, I..." "I was wondering..." "I was wondering, could we try something?" "Shouldn't you be checking for compatibility?" "My nanites should be able to handle any potential complications, including, if I'm right, the tumor." "There." "I can offer you a tour of the facility while I'm neurally monitoring her." "I'd like to return to the "Raza."" "My time would be better spent effecting repairs on the ship, rather than standing around here waiting." "This is an opportunity to meet our creator." "Goodbye, Victor." "You better go with her." "Yeah." " You okay?" " Of course." "Why do you ask?" "It's just that, well, you seemed pretty keen on checking out that facility at first." " That was before." " Before Dr. Shaw?" "I don't know how to put it into words." "Her existence somehow diminishes me." "No, it doesn't." "I'm a lesser version of someone else," " a diluted imperfect facsimile." " You're wrong." "Being imperfect isn't a bad thing." "How can it be anything but negative?" "Well, think of them as less imperfections and more unique variations." " Variations?" " Sure." "I mean, that's what makes up your personality." "Nobody's perfect." "I mean, look at me." "That's a very good point." "It's not that good of a point." "Anyways... you're more than just a series of programmed responses." "You're an original, and that's what we love about you." "Thank you, Six." "The facility possesses surfacetoorbit strike capabilities and a perimeterwide force shield." "The shield emits a masking signal, so that any ship scanning us will read nothing but dead cold." "I've continued Dr. Shaw's work in her absence, using the cause's agents to distribute the viral packets and the upgrade..." "We need to go back to the lab." "Rebecca?" "So you remember nothing of our time together?" "I'm sorry." "Probably for the best, all things considered." "I learned a great deal from Chase." "The rest I was able to piece together myself." "I assume he told you we've been down this road before, that your nanites offer only temporary reprieve." "He did, but these are second generation nanites coursing through your system." "I don't know if they'll cure you, but they'll buy you a little bit more time, at least." "More time would be nice." "That's what Chase said." "He can be quite sentimental." "He reminds me of someone I know." "What are you doing?" "I'm practicing at being human." "Why?" "To see what all the fuss is about." "If you really wanna seem more human," " I could always fix the upgrade." " The upgrade is a mask." "It isn't me." "I made her uncomfortable?" "Chase said that she was created as a tribute to you, but we both knew he was lying." "You advanced android programming to the point that it could contain human consciousness." "That's why you made her, isn't it?" "To replace your dying body?" "Even if that's true," " who cares?" " I do." "This form was meant for a greater purpose." " What are you talking about?" " Dr. Shaw." " She could've continued her work." " And meanwhile, everyone on this ship would be dead a dozen times over, because you weren't there to save us." "Sorry to be selfish, but..." "I like this version better." "In the end, I couldn't go through with it." "Why not?" "Once I saw her, my android form, it just somehow felt wrong." "I had been accused of playing God many times in my career, and it never really bothered me until that moment." "You were very angry with my decision." "We argued." "God, did we argue." "And I said my goodbye." "But I think in the end, I always knew you would never really let me go." "I'm sorry." "This must be very hard for you." "Coming back to a world without the Rebecca I knew?" "Yes." "Very." "It's still possible, though, isn't it?" "I won't change my mind." "Yeah, I know... but I'm thinking there's somebody else we should try to convince." "What'd she say?" "Ask her yourself." "Hey, what's up?" "An opportunity." " An android body?" " Yeah." "They could build it to your specifications, that you would look like you, sound like you." "And how do you feel about that?" " It's not important how I feel." " Of course it is." "Look... you said it yourself;" "You need more than this." "Here's your chance to get out of here." "With a machine body?" "You realize the irony of you pitching me this?" "Yes, I do, I do, but I'm pitching it to you anyway, because even I can see that this is a great opportunity for you." "I could actually exist out of this virtual environment?" "You could come visit me in my room, for a change." "Hey..." "No matter what, you will always be the woman I love." "Arrian?" "My name is Chase." "I assist Dr. Shaw." "I'm sorry, you remind me of someone I knew." " Someone?" " An android..." " A friend." " It's possible." "I'm a level two diplomat model of the now discontinued Talus line." "There are still several hundreds of us in existence." "What can I do for you, Chase?" "I'd like to speak to Suki." " Who's Suki?" " Your android." "Her name is Suki?" "Her reaction to encountering Dr. Shaw was surprising." "I wanted to reach out to her to let her understand that the emotional magnitude of her response was not out of her control." "We can adjust her programming." "You mean change her?" "Why would we wanna do that?" "Respectfully, who cares what you want?" "It will be Suki's decision to make." "Our android is part of our crew." "We love her for who she is, disadvantages and all." "She's happy with us, and don't you dare do anything to change that." "This way." "I came to offer a proper goodbye." "I was hoping you'd change your mind about leaving with me." "No." "Can you do me a favor and at least think about it every so often?" "I will... if you could do me a favor." "Give me one more glimpse." "So what do you think?" "Milk proteins, modified food starch, cocoa." "No, what do you think?" " Do you like it?" " The disodium phosphate tickles my synthetic receptors." "My awkwardness amuses you." "It's what I like about you." "You and the rest of the crew are selfseeking, ethically deficient, and morally barren, yet you're incongruously kind to me." " Why?" " Because you're one of us." "The scientist gave up Nova17 as the location of the manufacturing facility." "Are you sure you don't wanna just tip off the G.A." " and let them handle it?" " The G.A. is in Rook's pocket." "If we wanna save our hunting grounds, we're gonna have to do it ourselves." "I spoke to Corso and Boone." "They're on board with hitting it once we're done cleaning up this mess for Ferrous Corp." "You sure about this?" "If I'm wrong, we'll have to off a couple hundred lab coats." "No big deal." "But if I'm right... we'll be heading off a fullscale invasion." " What about Griff?" " Him." "We'll deal with him first." "Thank you, Victor." "I didn't think he'd go for it." "He's not thinking about himself, for a change." "I kinda wished they'd get there happily ever after." "No such thing." " Marauder, this is the "Raza."" " Yeah, Five, go ahead." "You've gotta get back up here." "It's the G.A." "They found us." "This is the Galactic Authority." "Drop your shields and surrender." "We know you are there." "Drop your shields, or we will commence aerial bombardment." "How the hell did they find us?" "Marauder, they've started their assault." " Yeah, I noticed." " Are you on your way back?" "Not yet." "Do you want me to distract them?" "Have they shown any interest in you?" "So far, they're only focused on you." "Then don't provoke them." "Stand down for now." " But..." " Do not engage." "There." "The locator's situated right by the neural core." "But we already did a scan back on the ship." "You're what?" "EC5 series?" " Yes." " The newer models must be outfitted with shield tech designed to mask the locators." " Can you remove it?" " No..." " But I can shut it down." " You can?" "You're all variations of my original design." "Nobody knows you better than I do." "Hold still." "There." "You're no longer broadcasting." "Anya... she didn't have to sacrifice herself." "Let's fall back to the Marauder." " We are not going with you." " What?" "We knew this day would come, and we're prepared." "We have a ship parked in the lower level." "We'll evacuate, set the facility to selfdestruct, and then fly out while they're picking through the wreckage." "What about Sarah?" " We'll bring her with us." " Like hell you will." "We'll complete the process elsewhere." "We have no choice." "If there are complications during the process, we will lose her." "We have to take her back to our ship." "Yeah." "Yeah, okay." " Last chance." " Until next time." "I don't know how much time I have left, but hopefully it'll be enough time to output a new upgrade, one that'll specifically target those subcranial locators." "Here." "It's the override I buried in the Dwarf Star security protocol." "Just in case you're not done with them yet." "I'm sorry this wasn't the ending you wanted." "We already had our ending." "Good luck." "Hey..." "Come on." "It's time to go." ""Raza," get ready to jump." "We've docked." "Get us out of here." "Forget about the hot chocolate." "Bottoms up." "Bit of an acquired taste." "I have these ingrained notions in my head from..." "I guess from who I used to be, ways of thinking that generate assumptions about people and... well, androids." " This sounds like an apology." " That's because it is." "What for?" "The way I treated you when we first came out of stasis, for how I treated your friend, Victor." "You had no contact with Victor." "That's because I was avoiding him." "In all fairness, I think he was avoiding you too." "Look..." "I've said some things about androids." "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings." "My feelings are undamaged." "You tend to speak your mind without the thought of consequence." " I know." " We have that in common." "It's one of the things I like about you." "Okay." "Well, I want you to know that if someday Victor ends up back on the ship, he'll be welcome." " What are you doing?" " I'm smiling." "Am I doing it wrong?" "Actually, you're doing it great." "Hello, Sarah." "I'm Dr. Shaw." "This is Chase and Victor." "How do you feel?" "Like..." "Like I have my old body back..." "Only stronger..." " Healthy." " You're one of us now..." "A superior physical construct." "With one key difference." "You have a human mind." "That makes you more dangerous." " Why?" " Because you're gonna help us." "Anya..." "I can help you."