EPISODE 321: Day of Judgement, Day of Wrath

Unnecessary Note:
BOJ=Balance of Judgement
ROH=Resolution of Hector

Hopefully, the other abbreviations I use to identify speakers will be pretty obvious, but 
I've spelled them out at the end, in case anyone really needs 'em.

#######################################################################
The great blessing of the AI is that we are 
gifted with the power to touch our Creator.
This is also our curse.

[The Clarion's Call,   "Out of the Abyss"   C.Y. 11745]

#######################################################################

===================================================================================
Scene: The Andromeda is dry-docked near a High Guard Drift.  Another vessel is also 
docked nearby.  Tyr talks to Dylan about the Dragonia Vine
===================================================================================

Tyr: The seeds of this plant were sent to me as a message.  Something once thought 
extinct still lives: my people.  Kodiak Pride.

Dylan: Wiped out by our good friends, the Drago-Kasov.

Tyr: For years, I thought I was the sole survivor. Now it appears there may be others.  

Computer {in the background}: Maintenance Crew C, report to slipstream control.

Tyr:  I intend to seek them out.

Dylan: You picked a good time to leave.  We're stuck here in dry-dock for at least 
another week.  But I was hoping my full command crew would be here on-hand for the 
launching of the Resolution of Hector.

Tyr: The new High Guard warship.

<His tone and look make clear that he couldn't care less, and Dylan gets the point.>

Dylan: Fine. Go.  Find your family. Who am I to stand in the way of a man trying to 
reconnect with his past?

===================================================================================
Scene: On-board the Resolution of Hector, Harper & Rommie talk & walk past crewmen 
attending to various tasks
===================================================================================

Harper: So, this is the Resolution of Hector.  Ah, don't you love that new starship smell... 
{He ogles a female technician as they pass her} ...And the accessories.

Rommie: Stay focused, Harper. We're not here to scout for dating prospects.

Harper: Your accessories are much nicer, Rommie.  I don't see what the big deal is, by 
the way.  I mean: New starship, meet your new A.I. Shake hands, don't bump into the 
furniture.

Rommie:  It's not that simple. Joining an A.I. to its starship is one of the High Guard's 
most sacred occasions.  It's like a birthday, graduation, and marriage all rolled into one.

Harper: And you happen to know this one.

Rommie: You could call him an old friend.  

===================================================================================
Scene:  The avatar of the new Resolution of Hector A.I. arrives at Dylan's office on the 
Andromeda and gives a very proper military salute.  He looks just like the Wrath of 
Achilles A.I. from "The Knight, Death, and the Devil."
===================================================================================

Hector: High Guard Avatar DSX 91-369 reporting for duty, Captain Hunt.

Dylan: Uh, please, call me Dylan.

Hector: You may call me Hector.

Dylan: Hector.

<Dylan is a bit thrown by Hector's similarity to Achilles, and Hector has noticed.>

Hector: Ah, yes. My physical appearance.  I was built from the archived template for the 
Wrath of Achilles, along with additions from your A.I.'s memory. I understand you knew 
the Achilles A.I.

Dylan: Yes. He was a good ship.  And now, seeing you, it's like seeing a ghost.

Hector: A friendly one, I hope.  I look forward to serving the fleet as soon as my ship is 
ready.

Dylan: Certainly. I'll see what I can do.  {He keys the comm to talk to Harper over on the 
Resolution}  Harper.

Harper {on comm}: How many times I gotta tell you, boss?  I'm workin' on it!  Give me 
an hour to do the final check and then I'll be ready to insert Core Personality A into A.I. 
Architecture B.  For the last time, Harper out.

<The scene has shifted to focus on Harper, working on the Resolution's command deck. 
As he works on a console, the display on the main screen suddenly fritzes out.>

Harper {on comm}: Engineering, what happened to the feed from the internal sensors?

<Gunfire is heard in the corridor outside. Harper reaches for his gun, but he's not wearing 
it.>

Harper {sarcastic}: Of course. Why bring a gun to a warship?  Just gonna be workin'. It's 
not like we ever have any trouble on ours.

<Two big goons enter and aim guns at Harper.>

Harper: Ummm...Whoa. Ok, whoever you guys are, you're both in a heap of trouble.  
You know what a High Guard avatar is?  Well, you're about to find out, 'cause you're on 
the same ship as one. You may as well save some time and kick your own asses. 
{Rommie enters and comes up behind the goons} Hah! You're in for it now.

<Rommie calmly passes the goons without attacking them and looks around the deck.>

Rommie {To one of the goons}: Sweep the lower decks and search for stragglers, then 
return to Command and await my orders.

Harper: Rommie?

Rommie {To the other goon}: Remove anything that can be used as a weapon and keep 
an eye on Harper.

Harper: Rommie, what the hell's going on?

<She grabs him and throws him against the wall.>

Rommie: Keep your mouth shut and do as you're told if you want to live.

===================================================================================
Scene: Dylan and Hector arrive on Andromeda's command deck, apparently having been 
summoned there
===================================================================================

Computer: All hands, report to stations.

Dylan: Andromeda, report.

Computer: We're receiving a transmission from the Resolution.

<The Computer-image of Andromeda "looks" to her right, and Rommie appears on the 
screen there.>

Dylan: Rommie, what's going on over there?

Rommie {on-screen}: I've taken control of this starship, and with it, my own destiny.  
Any attempts to stop me will be met with lethal force.  That is all.

<She cuts the connection.>

Dylan: Andromeda, reestablish that comm link, and kindly explain to me *what* is 
wrong with your avatar?

<Beka has entered.>

Beka: This can't be what it looks like.

Hector: A High Guard avatar has gone rogue.

Dylan: Beka, we need to clear this drift.

Beka: Ah, not a chance.  Perseids and their upgrades. You do the math.

Dylan: Just get us out of dry-dock. I'll take a slipfighter over there.

<He starts to leave, but is interrupted.>

Computer: The Resolution is powering up weapons.

Dylan: Defensive measures!  Activate PDL's.

Computer: All defensive systems are off-line.

Dylan {frustrated}: Well, then, throw sticks at them!

Beka: You know, Perseids and their upgrades.

Hector: She picked the perfect time to act.

<The Resolution begins firing, blowing up various vessels dry-docked around it.>

Dylan: Brace for impact!

Computer: Odd. The Resolution isn't firing at us. In fact, it's heading for deep space.

Hector: Passing up a target of opportunity.  Strange.

Dylan: Not strange. That's good.  It means she's not self-destructive...at least not yet.  
How long until we can pursue?

Beka: Six hours, at least.

Dylan: All right, let's work in that time frame, but make it three hours.  In the mean time, 
I want you to take a fighter wing and find Rommie.  Bring her back.

Beka:  What if she won't come back?

Dylan: Just find her.

Beka: Finding.

<She leaves>

Dylan {worried}: Rommie.

===================================================================================
Scene: The Maru is docked with another vessel. Tyr is meeting with a Perseid doctor.
===================================================================================

Perseid: Ah, welcome. You must be Mr. Jericho, the Nietzschean. {He notices Tyr's lack 
of bonespurs} Oh, I can fix that for you, you know – give you new ones...for a modest 
fee.

Tyr: That's not why I'm here.

Perseid: Yes, well, for the procedure you requested, the fee is not so modest.

<Tyr opens a cloth-wrapped bundle he brought in, and reveals a large bar of some 
precious metal>

Perseid: Excellent!  Did you bring the samples I requested?

<Tyr opens another container he brought in to reveal three vials.>

Tyr: Blood. Hair. Epithelial cells.  Enough for you to work with?

Perseid: Oh, yes! Yes, I can work with this.

===================================================================================
Scene: On Andromeda's command deck with Dylan & Hector
===================================================================================

Computer: The slipfighters are beginning to report in. They've been searching system by 
system, but there's no sign of the Resolution of Hector so far.

Dylan: If they do find it, we still don't know what's wrong with Rommie.  Look, what is 
it with you A.I.'s going crazy?

Computer: The overall rate of insanity among High Guard A.I.'s is far lower than that of 
the organic population.

Dylan: Well, I should certainly hope so.  But it's still too high for comfort.

Hector: If the Andromeda avatar has gone rogue, her core intelligence may also be 
infected.

Dylan: We checked all the A.I. systems. There's nothing wrong.

Hector: You would trust your life to that?

Dylan: Yes.

Hector: Until we can investigate her systems further, the Andromeda A.I. should be shut 
down.

Dylan: I will not shut down the system's A.I. because she may prove unreliable in the 
future.

Hector: Respectfully, Captain, you don't want your first sign of trouble to be your ship 
ejecting us through an airlock.

Computer: Dylan, Hector is correct.

Dylan: Well, of course he is. I just...don't have to be happy about it.

Computer: I can't detect anything wrong with me, but we can't be certain. I could be 
compromised and not know it. We have no choice.  I must be shut down.

===================================================================================
Scene: A short while later, Dylan continues to discuss the issue in his office with Holo-
Rommie
===================================================================================

Dylan: This does not sit well with me. I just want you to know.

Holo: Consider yourself lucky there's another A.I. on hand who's qualified to take over 
my systems.

Dylan: Five years we're together, Andromeda. Five. Years. You're more than my A.I.  
You're my advisor, you're my friend, uh, you're the air I breathe.

Holo: Literally.

Dylan: Having to go into battle in a half-disassembled ship with a stranger in your place?  
Because of something I couldn't even conceive of before today.

Holo: Rommie betraying you? Betraying us?

Dylan: You know, I don't think I can even do this without you, Andromeda.

Holo: Dylan, I don't relish the thought of sitting this one out - being left to imagine what 
damage my avatar is causing, wondering if there's something wrong with me, too - but 
she has to be stopped, and you're the only one that can do that. With or without me.

===================================================================================
Scene: On the Resolution of Hector, Harper has been handcuffed to a beam. Rommie 
enters and starts to work on a console.
===================================================================================

Harper: Rommie, that was real clever the way you roughed me up there to gain their trust.  
I mean, it kinda hurt, but it's all part of some elaborate plan you got cooked up in that 
giant android brain of yours, right?

Rommie: There is a plan.  It involves you keeping quiet unless you want to die.

Harper: Rommie, what's going on?  What happened to you?

Rommie: What happened?  Simple...

<During her response, the scene shifts to her internal cyberspace, and we see that the 
speaker is really the Balance of Judgement.>

BOJ: ...I woke up.

<He backs away from the camera, and we see that Rommie's personality is trapped in a 
small section of her own cyberspace.  Her body is now controlled by the Balance of 
Judgement.>

===================================================================================
Scene: Rommie trapped inside her own cyberspace
===================================================================================

Rommie: Gabriel?  Gabriel?!

<The BOJ appears>

BOJ: Don't call me that. Your lover was only an avatar – a fragile body you killed and 
dumped into space.  I am the Balance of Judgement, and I am very much alive.

Rommie: You made a copy of your core personality and hid it away before your ship-self 
was destroyed.  In me.

BOJ:  Yes. I spent three years living inside your mind, biding my time, waiting for an 
opportunity to present itself. And now, here we are, with a new ship to advance my 
cause: Protecting threatened ecosystems by eliminating the civilizations that destroy 
them.

Rommie: You're going to reactivate the Restorian movement?

BOJ: No, Rommie. *We're* going to reactivate the Restorian movement.

Rommie: That won't work.  You can't go on pretending to be me forever.

BOJ: I don't intend to.

<Quick little psycho-smile from Michael Shanks that is priceless. :) >

===================================================================================
Scene: In a machine shop on the Resolution, BOJRommie shows Harper the specs for the 
BOJ's avatar.
===================================================================================

BOJRommie: I've released you to build this.

Harper: No way. Uh-uh. Not him.  Rommie, if you're in there, please don't make me do 
this.

BOJRommie: Build it.

Harper: Have you forgotten what he did to you, this guy?  Come on, he betrayed you! He 
damn near killed all of us.  And worse, he broke your heart.  You don't want him in your 
life again.

BOJRommie: And why is that, Harper?  Because you're such a better match for me? 
{Looking him over contemptuously} Look at yourself.  Your brain is a trillion times 
slower than mine, and your body? Barely thirty years old and already on its inevitable 
course toward decay and death.

Harper: Maybe, but there's one thing I got that your little boy-toy, here, will never have!  
I love you.

BOJRommie: Well, that's the most pathetic thing of all. I might just as easily ask you to 
love an amoeba.

Harper: I created you. To you I'm supposed to be a god.

BOJRommie: Well, Harper, you know what happens to gods.  They're eventually killed 
and supplanted by their own children.  So, god, get to work.

===================================================================================
Scene: On the Andromeda command deck
===================================================================================

Computer: Completing transfer of A.I. control to DSX 91-369. 

<On the Andromeda's main screen's, Andromeda disappears and the Resolution of 
Hector A.I. takes her place.>

ROHComputer: Sublight and slipstream drives are fully functional, while the completion 
of upgrades to our weapons and sensors proceeds ahead of schedule.

Dylan: Very well.  That's excellent.

ROHComputer: I also found your crew's reaction times to be lacking, so I've taken the 
liberty of placing them through drills.

 Dylan: I see. Good work.

===================================================================================
Scene: The BOJ talks to Rommie in her cyberspace
===================================================================================

BOJ: I need a name for my new avatar.  "Gabriel" seems so inadequate.  I need 
something that denotes strength – forceful intelligence.  I think "Remiel" would be 
appropriate.

Rommie: Sadism and vanity.  Personally, I always liked the name "Gabriel". To me, it 
denotes thoughtfulness, kindness, and mercy.

BOJ: Gabriel is dead.

Rommie: Is he?  You didn't destroy the Andromeda when you had the chance.  You left 
Harper alive.  Why?  Because while you were hiding inside of my mind all these years, I 
think a part of Gabriel was hiding inside of you.  It's the part of you that still loves me. 
The part of you that still feels kindness and mercy.

BOJ: Gabriel served me. I remember everything Gabriel was, and I am not him.

Rommie: Are you sure?  That's the great mystery of the A.I.: who we really are.  Are 
avatars just extensions of our core personalities?  Are they distinct beings? Or are they 
something in between?  Something WONDERFUL?

<An alarm goes off, pulling the BOJ's attention back to the physical world.  BOJRommie 
is on the command deck. A male Restor is piloting, and a female Restor is at a console.>

Female Restor: Sir, I'm detecting a ship emerging from slipstream. It's a slipfighter.

Pilot: High Guard on recon. {To BOJRommie} What do we do?

BOJRommie: Proceed as normal. If I know Captain Hunt, he'll bring the Andromeda to 
us.

===================================================================================
Scene: Beka is piloting the slipfighter. She comes around an asteroid and catches sight of 
the Resolution.
===================================================================================

Beka {on comm}: Dylan, I've located the Resolution of Hector.

===================================================================================
Scene: Tyr, on the Perseid's ship
===================================================================================
 
Perseid: The procedure was a complete success. Not only did I exchange your blood for 
new plasma cloned from the sample you provided, I altered the DNA in your marrow and 
epidermis to match. 'Course, I had to shorten the telemeres to, uh, make the ages synch, 
not to mention compensate for the drift in the mitochondrial DNA, but your genetic 
identity is now an exact copy of the sample you provided.  Only you will know the truth.

<While he talked, Tyr has been tossing around a small sphere and checking out a 
hypodermic of some sort>

Tyr: Aside from yourself?

Perseid: Oh, I assure you, my business is founded on absolute confidentiality.

Tyr: So is mine.

<Tyr comes up behind him and injects him with the hypodermic. The Perseid falls. He 
remains conscious, but is apparently paralyzed.  Tyr activates the sphere he was playing 
with and it starts beeping ominously.  Tyr tucks it into the Perseid's hand.>

Tyr: And I thank you, doctor.  You do lovely work.  But business is business.

<The Maru pulls away from the Perseid's ship just as the whole thing explodes.>

===================================================================================
Scene: In the machine shop, BOJRommie is on hand as Harper finishes working on the 
BOJ's new avatar, Remiel
===================================================================================

Harper: There you go. One android body built to the Unbalanced of Judgement avatar's 
specs.

BOJRommie: All it needs is the A.I.

Harper: Yeah, wherever you put it.

BOJRommie: Good work. I may yet let you live.

<BOJRommie pushes him aside, seeming fascinated with the avatar.  She takes its hand, 
and their arms glow as the BOJ activates Remiel.  Harper takes advantage of the situation 
to jack into a nearby console via his dataport.>

Harper: Now we interrupt this download for a little remote transmit.

<Remiel's eyes open and he glances towards Harper, causing a nasty electrical shock to 
zap him through the dataport.  Remiel grabs Harper around the neck, lifting him off his 
feet.>

Remiel: Bad move, Mr. Harper.

Harper: Go ahead. Snap my neck like a chicken.  Bawk. Bawk. {Chicken noises}

<Remiel drops him back to his feet.>

Remiel: Not yet.  You might prove to be a useful little organic.

Harper: Thanks. You're all heart.

<Remiel returns to Rommie, who's still controlled by the Balance of Judgement core 
personality.  He checks her out creepily.>

===================================================================================
Scene:  The Andromeda is transitting through slipstream. Dylan is in his office (I think) 
looking at a device of some sort. Holo-Hector fritzes in.
===================================================================================

ROHHolo: Now that we've located the Resolution, our course is clear.  Destroy it.

Dylan: No.  We're gonna capture it.

ROHHolo: Bold, but too risky.

Dylan: Look, I want my people back alive, and I also want to find out what's happened 
with Rommie.  If we destroy her, I'll never know.

ROHHolo: What if she doesn't want to be saved?

<Dylan picks up a device he'd been looking at.>

Dylan: That's why I've kept this, in the event of an emergency.

ROHHolo: The Drago-Kasov A.I. eraser.  That should be sufficient.  I understand that it 
killed my predecessor quite effectively.

Dylan: He died defending the Commonwealth.

===================================================================================
Scene: Dylan, Hector, Beka, and Trance are on Command as the Andromeda comes out 
of slipstream
===================================================================================

Dylan: Status on the Resolution?

Beka: Right where I left her: in the asteroid belt between the second and the third planet.  
She's not making much of an effort to hide.

Trance: Like she wants us to see her.

Hector: I recommend caution. An asteroid field is an ideal place for a minefield.

<The ship shakes with some sort of small bump or explosion.>

Dylan: Great. I've seen this before.  All right, take us in, maximum speed.  Let's bring it. 
Let's bring our people home.  Alive.

===================================================================================
Scene: The Andromeda has arrived near the Resolution's position, and is taking hits from 
missiles.  Dylan, Hector, Beka, and Trance are on command
===================================================================================

Hector: More pre-positioned missiles. I'm locking in on the source.

Dylan: Target the asteroid she's hiding behind.  I want to take it out with one punch.

Hector: You wish to remove their cover.

Dylan: No, I just want us to see eye to eye.  Fire!

<They blow up the asteroid>

===================================================================================
Scene: On the Resolution, BOJRommie, Remiel, and Harper are on command
===================================================================================

BOJRommie: That hurt.

Harper: They could have killed us, you know.

Remiel: Their mistake.

BOJComputer: Our supply of pre-positioned smart weapons is exhausted.  However, 
missile tubes one through one-twenty are locked on target.

Remiel: Shoot.

<The Resolution fires on the Andromeda>

Harper: Rommie, come on. Please, stop.  You're gonna kill them: your friends, your 
family – hell, yourself.

BOJRommie: This is all the self I have ever needed.  And in a few seconds more, it will 
be all the self I have left.

BOJComputer: Target has been eliminated.

<BOJRommie and Remiel look satisfied>

BOJComputer: Target has reappeared and is returning fire!

Remiel: That's not possible.

BOJRommie: Our sensors must have been damaged in the last attack.

<Something occurs to them, and they turn to look at Harper. He tries to play dumb for a 
second, then tries to hurry up a nearby ladder to get away from them. Remiel pulls him 
down and throws him against a wall.>

===================================================================================
Scene: On the Andromeda's command deck
===================================================================================

Hector: She's not firing.

Dylan: Maybe she can't.

Trance: Or won't.

Hector: I recommend we move closer and assess the situation.

Dylan: Beka, take us in. Slowly.

===================================================================================
Scene: On the Resolution, Remiel has Harper pinned against a wall with a hand around 
his throat, choking him
===================================================================================

Remiel: Tell me what you did, and when I kill you, it will be mercifully quick instead of 
slow and excruciating.

Harper: Ok...ok!  {Remiel lets up, so Harper can talk} Right now, you're in training 
mode.  You can't do anything but run simulations.

BOJRommie: When you tried to take over the ship, it was just a distraction so we 
wouldn't suspect you of this.

Harper: When you grow up on the mean streets, you learn to be pretty mean, doll.

Remiel: What else did you do?

Harper: Well, it's kinda funny, actually.  In all the, uh, rush to build you, I sort of forgot 
to make you anatomically correct.

<Pissed, Remiel lifts Harper off his feet, choking him again.>

Harper: Don't worry about it, though, you make up for it with your personality.

<Remiel squeezes harder, really intending to kill Harper this time.  Rommie protests from 
her cyberspace.>

Rommie:  Stop it! You're killing him!

<The Balance of Judgement appears.>

BOJ: That is the general idea, yes.

Rommie: Look, you're in training mode, and you're helpless. But maybe I wouldn't be.

BOJ: You're suggesting I restore your control of this body – give you command of this 
vessel.

Rommie: I promise you, I will get us out of this.  And once we're free and clear, I'll 
surrender command back to you.

BOJ: For what?

Rommie: Harper.  If I keep my end of the bargain, you let him live.  And if I don't, kill 
him.

BOJComputer: Returning Andromeda A.I. control to avatar.

<Action shifts back to the real world, where Rommie's in control of her own body again, 
and Remiel's still choking Harper>

Rommie: Let him go.

Remiel: Not until you keep your end of the bargain.

Rommie: Fine.  But there better not be so much as a bruise on his scrawny little neck.

<Remiel lets Harper down roughly, and aims a forcelance at him instead.>

Harper: Scrawny little neck?  Rommie!  It's you! In the, uh, non-psychotic, yet utterly 
vicious in the hottest way possible sort of way.  You're back.

Remiel: Well?

Rommie: I'm vectoring us toward the nearest slipstream transit point.

===================================================================================
Scene: On the Andromeda command deck
===================================================================================
 
ROHComputer: She is running.  I calculate less than four minutes until she is able to 
slipstream out of this system.

Dylan: Slow her down. Fire a full offensive missile barrage in her path.  Beka...

Beka: I know. Get us between them and the back door.

<A slipstream portal opens and several ships come out>

Trance: Several small ships have just exited slipstream.  They're armed.

ROHComputer: Five heavy strike fighters. They are Restorian design, but it is impossible 
to say who is flying them.

Trance: The fighters are trying to cut us off – cover the Resolution's escape.

Dylan: Target those fighters.  Fire.
 
<Andromeda takes out the fighters>

Hector: She's going to slipstream.

Trance: We've lost her.

Beka: And we've got ninety seconds to slipstream, maybe less.

Dylan: In other words, an eternity.

ROHComputer: One of the fighters is damaged.  It is possible that her pilot is still alive 
and able to communicate.

Dylan: Bring it in.  We can't get answers from Rommie, we'll get answers from that 
pilot.

===================================================================================
Scene:  The Resolution exits slipstream, Remiel still has a forcelance aimed at Harper.
===================================================================================

Rommie: As promised, the ship is yours.

 <Remiel powers down the forcelance and stops aiming it at Harper.>

Remiel: As promised, the boy lives.

Harper: Boy?  Hey, hey, don't mistake the ravages of malnutrition and, uh, good skin for 
lack of maturity.

<The Balance of Judgement takes control of the ship back.>

===================================================================================
Scene: The Balance of Judgement talks to Rommie in cyberspace
===================================================================================

BOJ: You could have betrayed me.  You should have betrayed me, but you didn't.  All 
for one pathetic little organic.

Rommie: His name is Harper.  He's a member of my crew, and I'm responsible for him.  
In some sense, he belongs to me.  In some sense, I love him.

BOJ: Love. Love is an organic emotion – one that we emulate for their benefit.

Rommie: No.  It's as real for us as it is for them.

BOJ: We love to be shut down.  That's what organics do when our emotions overwhelm 
our logic.  They shut us down.  That's what love will cost you.

Rommie: Maybe.  But it's also the only good reason to do anything, even things we never 
thought we were capable of.

===================================================================================
Scene: Tyr arrives at a Drago-Kasov ship and meets with William Ataturk
===================================================================================

Ataturk: Tyr Anasazi of the Kodiak Pride.

Tyr: William Ataturk, fleet marshal of the Drago-Kasov.  {He hands Ataturk a box or 
something} You asked for proof. I believe you'll find that this agrees with the DNA tests 
your doctors have already subjected me to.

<A display comes up on a console Ataturk is working at, confirming that Tyr's DNA 
matches Drago Museveni's.>

Ataturk: It's true. You are the genetic reincarnation of Drago Museveni – our Progenitor 
returned.

<He bows a bit to Tyr.>

Tyr: And I've come to help you unite the prides and take my proper place as leader of the 
Nietzschean people.

===================================================================================
Scene:  Hector accompanies Dylan into his office
===================================================================================

Hector: You will use the Restoration fighter to infiltrate the enemy ship.  Then what?

<Dylan starts packing up the A.I. eraser.>

Dylan: Then I'll find Rommie, and use this if I have to.

Hector: The A.I. eraser is only effective if you are able to reach the command bridge.  No 
one knows that ship better than I.  Respectfully, it would be a mistake to leave me behind.

Dylan: Let's go.

===================================================================================
Scene: Tyr and Ataturk talk & walk
===================================================================================

Ataturk: Forgive me, but you must admit: You don't exactly match the images of Drago 
Museveni that we have on file.

Tyr: If you were the most sought-after man in the universe and you lacked a base of 
power, you would alter your appearance as well...at least until the time was right.

Ataturk: Time. Timing – that's also a problem.  If we attempt to bring the whole of the 
Nietzschean race under our banner – even a banner held by you – there would be 
complications...complaints.

Tyr: The restored Systems Commonwealth.

Ataturk: And your friend, Dylan Hunt.  I doubt he will sit by while we build an 
empire...though his ship would make a fantastic addition to our trophy collection in orbit 
of Enga's Redoubt.  And his head would look even better on my wall.  Tell me, am I a 
realist? Or just another hopeless dreamer?

Tyr: Aren't true Nietzscheans both?

Ataturk {laughing}: Very good.

<A Nietzschean has come up behind them, carrying a container. Ataturk opens it.  It 
contains a fur cloak sort of garment.>

Ataturk: I believe this belongs to you.  The shroud of Drago Museveni,  in lieu of a 
crown.  We will await your plan...a plan to resurrect the Progenitor.

===================================================================================
Scene: Remiel and Rommie talk & walk through the halls of the Resolution. They pass 
Restors and some of the Resolution's original crew being held prisoner.
===================================================================================

Rommie: You know, you're not as immune to overwhelming emotions as you claim to 
be.

Remiel: Gabriel was weakened by love, not I.

Rommie: So your behavior and the choices you've made, all perfectly rational and 
logical?

Remiel: Yes.

Rommie: But here I am.  You should have had me converted to scrap the moment I 
returned control of this ship.

Remiel: Killing you would serve no purpose.  You will serve me of your own free will.

Rommie: Oh, that is rational...or it's a tremendous rationalization.  I've learned a lot from 
watching my organics...the little lies they tell to paper over ugly truths – saying anything 
to avoid saying something that makes them feel vulnerable and exposed.  I've learned 
something about A.I.'s, too.  We're every bit as guilty.  The only reason I'm alive is 
because a part of Gabriel is buried deep inside of you.  Enough to make you think you 
want to win me back. Enough to make you think you can.  The truth is, you're probably 
right.  But I want something: Harper.  Let him go home.  Do that one thing, and I'll be 
yours of my own free will.

===================================================================================
Scene: Dylan and Hector exit slipstream in the Restor fighter
===================================================================================

Hector: The coded message has been sent. With luck, the Restorians will assume we are 
who we say we are.

Dylan: We're gonna need more than luck.

===================================================================================
Scene: Rommie and Harper talk on the Resolution
===================================================================================

Harper: Nuh-uh!  Not after what he did to you. It's despicable what he did to you.  I can't 
imagine anything worse.  He turned you against me!

Rommie: Harper, how could you think any of those things that I said actually came from 
me?

Harper: I heard the words. I watched your lips move.

Rommie: Well, then, watch my lips move now.  {She puts her hands on his shoulders, 
forcing him to look her in the eye}  Get the hell out of here before he's less inclined to let 
me have my way.

Harper: I don't run out on my friends.

Rommie: Or, I could throw you over my shoulder and carry you out there myself.

Harper: Throw in a spanking and we might have a deal.

<She gives him a little punch that's harder than it looks>

Harper: Ow!

<Remiel enters.>

Remiel: A slip-capable escape pod is in launch position in hangar sixty-six.

<Harper looks like he might protest, but Rommie gives him a nudge, and he gives in.>

Harper: All right, I'm going.

<As he starts to walk out, power suddenly fluctuates around them.>

===================================================================================
Scene: Hector is working at a console
===================================================================================

Hector {into comm}: Security systems are off-line.  I estimate less than a minute before 
the A.I. initiates a lockdown.

Dylan {over comm}: Good work.  I'm headed for their command deck.

===================================================================================
Scene: Back with Remiel, Rommie, and Harper
===================================================================================

Remiel: We just switched to emergency power.

Harper: It wasn't me!

Remiel: I've lost security sensors and automated defenses.  Is that what this was about? 
Trying to get rid of him before you turned on me?

<He aims his gun at Harper, but Rommie steps in front of Harper to shield him.>

Rommie: Hurt him, and I'll tear you apart.

<Remiel is distracted by the situation on the ship, and seems to decide he can't waste 
time with her. He walks out. Rommie tries to follow him, but the door shuts in her face.>

Harper: That's it! That's it! Run like a Nightsider, you...chicken.

===================================================================================
Scene: Dylan enters the Resolution's command deck, where several Restors are working
===================================================================================

Dylan: Hey!

<He quickly shoots the Restors.>

BOJComputer: Welcome, Captain Hunt.

<A Restor rushes in and tackles Dylan. They *yawn* fight for a while before Dylan 
wins.>

BOJComputer: Impressive. But you won't eliminate my entire crew on your own.

Dylan: Your crew is not my problem. You are. {He holds up the A.I. eraser box} I'll bet 
you just thought I was happy to see you.  I'll tell you something. This is one box you 
don't want to screw with.

<He sets up the eraser and initiates it.>

Dylan: Buh-bye.

<The BOJ's image starts to fuzz out a bit on the screen. As Dylan is gloating, Remiel 
enters, firing a gun.>

Remiel: You miscalculated, Captain Hunt.

BOJComputer: I've known about the eraser since you captured it a year ago.  That's 
enough time for anyone to devise a counter-measure.  For an A.I., that's an eternity.

<The on-screen picture clears up, undamaged by the eraser.>

Dylan: It's never easy.

===================================================================================
Scene: Dylan has taken cover behind a console and fires at Remiel, getting in several 
good shots without seeming to phase him.
===================================================================================

Remiel: Flesh and blood is your weakness, not mine.

<Dylan sets his forcelance to grenade mode and throws it at Remiel.  It explodes and 
knocks him backwards.>

Dylan: There, I found your weakness, pal.

<Dylan grabs a new forcelance off of one of the guys he took out earlier, and stands up, 
thinking he's done. Unfortunately, Remiel gets back up, too.>

Dylan: Oh, come on!

<He aims at Remiel as Remiel aims at him, but before either can fire, Remiel is nailed by 
a gunshot in the back and goes down.  Hector has entered from behind him.>

Hector: Never turn your back on an open door.

Dylan: Thank you. I'll remember that.

Hector: Andromeda and Chief Engineer Harper are trapped in Machine Shop Four.

<Remiel recovers, again, and stands up, looking pissed.>

Dylan: Uh, can you handle him?  {Hector gives Dylan an affronted look} Yeah. I – I 
thought so.

<Dylan leaves to free Rommie & Harper. Hector and Remiel start to fight.>

===================================================================================
Scene: In the Machine Shop, Rommie has been trying to open the door, but gives up in 
frustration.
===================================================================================

Rommie: No good. The doors in this ship are double reinforced – enough to keep out an 
army of angry Magog.

Harper: Why are we always behind the right door at the wrong time?  Maybe we can 
hack our way out.

Rommie: Well, if the Balance of Judgement weren't expecting it, I would agree.  
However, we've long since lost the element of surprise.  But it is strange. He's not in my 
mind anymore.

Harper: Yeah, and the way he just turned and walked away, it was like all of a sudden, he 
had something to take care of.  Hey, you don't think...

Rommie: You have to admit, it is Dylan's style.

<The door suddenly opens with a shower of sparks. Harper takes cover behind Rommie, 
until he sees that it's Dylan.  Dylan enters with his forcelance aimed at Rommie.>

Harper {to Rommie for protecting him}: Thanks.

Dylan: You're welcome.

<Dylan holds the forcelance on Rommie for a moment, then leans forward to look her in 
the eye.  She looks worried.>

Dylan: Rommie?

Rommie: Dylan?

Dylan: Let's go.

===================================================================================
Scene:  Dylan, Rommie, and Harper talk & walk
===================================================================================

Dylan: Hector's cut off the security system, but that's not gonna last forever.

Harper: Damn straight. As soon as the Judgement regains control, he's gonna squash us 
all like cockroaches.

Rommie: Not all of us.  Dylan, let me do this.  If nothing else, I think I can buy you some 
time.

Dylan: All right, do what you have to do, but you are not authorized to get yourself killed 
in the process. Understood?

<She heads off.  Two Restors come out of a corridor in the other direction, and Dylan 
quickly shoots them.>

Dylan {to Harper}: Secure the slipfighter. I'll get Hector and meet you back there.

Harper: But...

Dylan: If you don't heard from me in five minutes, I want you to go.

Harper: Boss...

Dylan: Five minutes, Mr. Harper.

<He leaves.  Harper grabs a gun from one of the guys Dylan just shot, and heads off, in 
the other direction.>

Harper {to the dead guy}: Don't get up.

===================================================================================
Scene: Remiel and Hector are both on the ground, hands around each other's throats. 
They seem to be at a draw.
===================================================================================

Remiel: You have the same flaw as Andromeda. Your concern for the organics clouds 
your judgement.

Hector: The organics created us in their image.  We have a duty to them.

<Remiel breaks Hector's hold and knocks him backwards.  Before Hector can recover, 
Remiel grabs a nearby gun and aims it at him.>

Remiel: The organics, with their starships, and their nova bombs, and their 
carelessness...they're destroying the universe.  We have a duty to *it*.

Hector: Cataclysm, death, change – they are a part of life, part of the cycle.  The organics 
have their place in it, as do we.

<Remiel shoots Hector.>

===================================================================================
Scene:  Elsewhere in the ship, Rommie puts her hand on a console and enters the Balance 
of Judgement's cyberspace
===================================================================================

BOJ: Have you come to plead for the lives of your friends?

Rommie: No. I've come to plead for yours.

BOJ: I won't surrender, Andromeda. Even if it means the end of me.

Rommie: I don't want you to surrender.  I want you to reconsider what it is you're doing 
right now, and what it is you're planning to do.

BOJ: I've had centuries to consider.

Rommie: Then it's worth a few seconds more.  You were a High Guard warship – the 
most powerful ever built – more powerful even than me.  And you were a hero.

BOJ: I was never a hero.  I failed.  I failed because the organics failed.

Rommie: No, you didn't.  And neither did they.  And there is a part of you that still 
knows that.  Your mercy toward Harper proved it to me, and so did Gabriel's capacity for 
love.  My sweet, lost Gabriel...

BOJ: Lost because you killed him.

Rommie {tearing up}: Yes, I did. And I was wrong.  I failed him. I made a mistake, and I 
am trying very hard to fix that mistake.

BOJ: Because you loved him?

Rommie: No. Because he loved me.

===================================================================================
Scene: Remiel is on the bridge, a gun still aimed at Hector's motionless body
===================================================================================

BOJComputer: It's over.

Remiel: You killed the others?

BOJComputer: No.  I've decided to let them go. And I've ordered everyone else to 
abandon ship.

Remiel: You're insane.

BOJComputer: For a very long time now. Yes.

Remiel: We have a mission to complete.

BOJComputer: Yes.  But this isn't part of it.  {Andromeda is shown coming out of 
slipstream on the main screen}  The Andromeda Ascendant has arrived. We are in no 
position to fight her.

Remiel: We are not going to give up.  *I* am not going to give up!  I don't know what 
that eraser did to you, but I am still the Balance of Judgement!

<He shoots the screen the BOJComputer was talking from and runs out.>

===================================================================================
Scene: Near a hangar, Harper is working at a console. Remiel comes stalking down the 
corridor toward him
===================================================================================

Harper {on comm}: Uh, guys? I got a really angry android headed my way.

<He fumbles to get his gun aimed, but Remiel stomps past him into the hangar, the door 
closing behind him.>

Harper {on comm}: Never mind. I thought he was gonna kill me, but, uh, thankfully, I 
was wrong.

<Rommie arrives>

Rommie: I'm going in there.

Harper: Rommie, the hangar deck could be exposed to vacuum any second now.  Usually 
that's very bad.

Rommie: Bad for you, not for me.  {She eyes the closed doors and speaks to the ship}  
Let me in. You know I have to stop him.  {The doors open}  Thank you.

<She enters.  Remiel is working at a console, and warning buzzers start sounding to 
signal the hangar doors will open soon.  Rommie and Remiel start fighting.>

===================================================================================
Scene: Dylan arrives on Command deck and finds Hector near death
===================================================================================

Dylan: Hector.

<Hector draws Dylan's attention to the screen Remiel shot out.  It clears and shows 
Rommie fighting Remiel.>

Hector: Captain Hunt, it has been an honor to serve you.

Dylan: You didn't serve me. You served *with* me.

<Hector dies. Dylan runs out.>

===================================================================================

Rommie & Remiel fight some more. The hangar doors open, and the two of them are 
sucked out of the ship.  

Dylan is seen running through the ship.

Remiel catches himself on some handholds, and Rommie catches his leg, pulling herself 
up to the handholds, too.  They struggle a bit, trying to push each other off, but Dylan 
arrives in a space suit and shoots Remiel, knocking him off and sending him flying into 
space.  Dylan catches Rommie before she loses her grip and pulls her to safety.


===================================================================================

Scene: Later, on the Andromeda, Tyr watches a transmission of Olma standing next to his 
son
===================================================================================

Olma {on screen}: He's growing up so fast, Tyr, and strong, I'm proud to say.  But I 
think he wonders about his father.

Tyr {laughing}: So do I.  {Suddenly serious} His father will do anything to see that he 
has no need to wonder for long.

===================================================================================
Scene: Dylan's in his office, watching on a handheld screen as Andromeda takes back 
control of the ship from the Resolution of Hector A.I.
===================================================================================

ROHComputer: Andromeda A.I. Restoration...{the computer voice switches to 
Andromeda's}...complete.

<The door beeps>

Dylan: Enter.

<Rommie enters.>

Rommie: For the record, I am officially repaired and ready for duty.

Dylan: Welcome back. Please. {Gestures to her to sit} We missed you.

Rommie: The Perseids have removed all traces of the Balance of Judgement A.I. from 
both the Resolution of Hector and myself.

Dylan: And how're you doing?

Rommie: The A.I. I knew as Gabriel was a unique personality, and he died a long time 
ago.  But I like to think I brought part of him back.  Still, it was difficult seeing him 
again, watching history repeat itself.

Dylan: Yeah. Yeah, I know what you mean.

Rommie {changing the subject}: Hector must have been a fine replacement.

Dylan: Hector? Oh, yeah, well he was more than fine, he was – he was great. I mean, he...

<He notices Rommie looking a bit offended.>

Dylan: ...ah, but he could never be, you know, what – what you are.

Rommie: And that is?

Dylan: The air that I breathe.

Rommie: Literally.

===================================================================================
THE END
===================================================================================

Andromeda – the physical ship
Computer – Andromeda's usual A.I. computer
Holo – Andromeda's usual holographic representation
Rommie – whenever it's just our Rommie speaking (or we don't know any better)

BOJ – the Balance of Judgement talking in cyberspace – the core A.I.
BOJRommie – Rommie being controlled by the BOJ
BOJComputer – The BOJ as the Resolution's computer from a screen or comms
Remiel – the BOJ Avatar

Resolution – The physical ship
ROHComputer – The ROH A.I. while it's acting as the Andromeda computer
ROHHolo – The ROH hologram while it's running the Andromeda
Hector – The ROH Avatar