The Geekcap: Killjoys "I Love Lucy"

D’avin goes undercover to a street salesman. He asks for a particular substance which the man gives him to drink. John quickly shoots the cup out of his hand, revealing the substance to be an acid. John berates his brother for not reading the entire warrant and realizing the threat, but D’avin is more concerned with catching the suspect. He tries shooting, but John reminds him that the substances the man is carry could destroy Old Town in fire. Instead, John has already tranquilized the man, allowing them to easily catch him.

On Lucy, Dutch thinks about Pawter’s mother attempting to infect herself with her own pathogen in order to discover a cure. She then decides that the best way to learn about the green substance is to experience it themselves. The only problem is that they have no way of finding the substance for themselves. However, D’avin reminds the group about the substance in the mossipede. Although John states that the substance are made of different materials, he nevertheless extracts a green substance from the mossipede. D’avin jokes about how he has been able to move the mossipede at will because of whatever immunity he seems to possess. Moreover, he also appears to control the green substance at will, moving the container back and forth from himself. When he finally touches the substance, he begins seizing back and forth, seeing visions of the mines. John and Dutch break him free as they notice that she seemed to share a link with the mossipede itself. D’avin agrees since he believes he was inside the mossipede’s head.

At the Royale, the Killjoys discuss the effects, believing the substance to be a part of the mossipede’s adaptive functions. As long as they only have the original creature, they will only make contact with the mossipedes. The only way to see its other effects is to acquire a pure substance. Listening in, Pree offers to help the group by making contact with some people from his old warlord days. Some of them could have deeper connections. Sabine follows, offering D’avin a drink if he can hold it without passing out again before last call. D’avin remarks that the Royale can’t possibly have a last call, but Sabine replies that she likes things old-fashioned, like the guy making the first move.

D'avin: I had teeth in my stomach!

John makes contact with Pawter over her holophone. She reveals that in her research for the wall she came across a program with mostly redacted files. While she has been able to decipher some of it, she came across an unfamiliar term: teleplasticity. She also asks how he is doing lying to the others. John insists he’s fine, but Pawter understands that this plan is dangerous by going against the RAC and the Quad. John remarks that once the wall is down, the others will understand what they did. Pawter tells John that she loves him though quickly adds that she loves him for helping her. Before she leaves him, she teases his interests by removing her robe before she disappears over the holophone. Against protocols, John orders Lucy to erase the recording of the previous conversation.

Pree contacts his old friend Mygly who gives him the name Sam Romwell. Romwell is a notable collector in the galaxy with some remarking that he had some green magic that could control people. Noting that it resembles the green substance, Dutch asks Pree for any codes related to Romwell to find him. During their conversation, Dutch then notices D’avin talking to Sabine at the Royale. Pree quickly sees through her feelings. He tells her that she “dwants” him. She may not want D’avin, but she doesn’t want him with anyone else. For Romwell, Pree warns that there will need to be a trade.

The Killjoys travel through an asteroid field in search for Romwell. While Romwell did not garner any warrants from the RAC, Dutch learned from Bellus that Romwell has over 300 warrants from elsewhere. When dealing with him, however, they need a deeper plan. Coming to the code locations, John discovers that there is nothing there but asteroids. When John has Lucy scan the area, she reveals that Romwell is making contact with them. He agrees to let them into his ship as long as they provide an exchange. Dutch agrees to trade the green substance for what she calls a “world of wonders.” He allows them to enter his facility which, to John’s surprise, is inside an asteroid.

The asteroid appears to be made of an ancient crystal, providing an everlasting power source for the facility. Romwell then greets the group with a flank of three women as he agrees to being the trade. He leads them back to his collection which is revealed to be a room filled with keys. He admits that his collection has grown so large that he has had most of his possessions preserved by a molecular printer that dissolves the object onto keys. He demonstrates by displaying the green substance up for grabs before re-dissolving it again. John handles the key with the green substance before Romwell replaces it on the wall of thousands. He then follows the team onto Lucy to examine their potential trade.

John orders Lucy to examine the asteroid, but Lucy becomes preoccupied with Romwell’s system cataloguing the objects at hand. Romwell looks through the potential trades but appears uninterested in their possessions. However, he becomes more intrigued when he sees the mossipede in captivity, noting that it must have an interesting story. Although John advises against trading it, Dutch reminds him that they can just cut the creature in half to retain what they have. Romwell proceeds to cut the mossipede in half but only trades for the plasma already inside the insect. He notes that Dutch never specified the origin of the green plasma, securing his deal. Angry at the deception, Dutch threatens to invoke one of the 300 warrants against him unless he proceeds with the trade as planned. The women behind him suddenly turn weapons against the team, revealing them to be androids. With the upper hand, Romwell has his androids escort the Killjoys off of their ship. However, he provides a counteroffer for the team. If Dutch will trade her sitar, she can go free. John and D’avin will be forced to stay behind anyway. D’avin attempts to fight back, but he proves useless against the androids. With no choice, Dutch agrees to go with Romwell.

Romwell takes the sitar to his private room where he has another request for Dutch. While he desires the sitar, he also reveals that he wants the story behind the object. To accomplish this, he reveals a device that can allow them to share a consciousness to witness the story firsthand. With no choice, Dutch uses the device to begin her story.

Meanwhile, the androids take John and D’avin to a back room near leftover supplies and fruit. They plan to sterilize the Killjoys before they will be placed in molecular scanning. As they begin stripping D’avin, John works on a plan.

Dutch elaborates on her story to Romwell. She owned the sitar after coming from a wealthy family. However, once their wealth was lost, she was taken to a harem to support the others. There, she was to compete with the other girls in order to marry a prince. To ensure that she succeed, he parents gave her a tutor to learn the sitar: Khlyen. After sharing her part, she requests knowledge from Romwell on the green plasma. He reveals that he acquired it from his home planet as one of the first things he collected. He soon left his planet and never returned.

Android: Stop talking. Be naked.

John and D’avin execute their plan by attacking the androids. Although they prove useless against their force, John manages to link one of the androids to an interface. With the technology, John is able to override one of the android’s programming with the A.I. from Lucy. Lucy then takes control of the android to protect the Killjoys. Now that she has access to the android technology, she is also able to hold back the remaining forces for about five minutes, giving them a chance to escape.

Dutch then admits to Romwell that she was taught to play a song for the prince, but she never got to perform it. Under John’s orders to buy some time, Dutch offers to perform it for Romwell if he plays the sitar. As he plays, she sings a song which gives him visions of a new life, one that has him growing old with Dutch. This is the life one is supposed to have.

John, D’avin, and Lucy run through the halls trying to find their way back to the ship. Because of the ancient designs of the asteroid, Lucy is unable to clearly navigate their way. Meanwhile, the androids begin to follow them after Lucy’s hold breaks.

After the song, however, Dutch reveals a paralytic agent in the sitar, one that she has already built up immunity to years ago. As she takes hold of Romwell, she tells more of her story. While Khlyen taught her to impress the prince, he also taught her to kill. She listened to him out of a desire for freedom in her marriage, but, after her wedding, Khlyen forced her to kill her husband. As Romwell is paralyzed, Dutch takes a string from the sitar and strangles him to death.

In the halls, John, D’avin, and Lucy make their escape as the androids shut down without Romwell’s orders. Instead of heading towards the ships, however, Dutch attempts to search through the collection to find the green plasma. Unfortunately, she has little luck through the thousands of keys. Suddenly, she notices a thumbprint on one of the keys. With this knowledge, she scans the keys for hints of John’s DNA since the only one he touched was the green plasma. The other Killjoys continue their lengthy trek to the ship but are surprised to come across more of Romwell’s androids. To Dutch’s shock, Romwell returns despite her attempt to kill him.

Dutch accuses him of being a Level 6, but Romwell states that he has nothing to do with the RAC. Instead, he reveals more of his own story. In the past, he was taken by alien invaders of his planet. They tortured him for information, leading him to sacrifice others to save himself. In that time, they also developed experimental procedures on him onboard their ships which were powered by the green plasma. The invaders had injected him with a form of nanites that expanded his life, revealing himself to be 432 years old. With that in mind, Romwell invites her to stay with him, giving her a hairpin from his first collection. Dutch refuses his offer in her bout to protect her friends from his androids. He states that they should have been shut down after he woke up, but they seemed to have malfunctioned. She advises that if he wants to satisfy his guilt, he will help her stop the androids for her friends.

Meanwhile, John, D’avin, and Lucy barricade themselves against the oncoming androids. At that moment, Lucy requests a kiss from John, having wondered about the sensation for the past three years. John balks at the suggestion, but Lucy remarks that this could be his first time kissing a robot. With that in mind, John and Lucy share a kiss before the androids burst through their defense. In an effort to protect the others, Lucy sacrifices herself for the others to escape.

John and D’avin find their way back to the ship, but Lucy is prevented from leaving from Romwell’s hacking. Dutch and Romwell catch up with the others, but the androids are close behind them. In desperation, D’avin comes up with a solution using the remainder of Dutch’s plasma. He pours the substance over one of the crystals in the asteroid, causing an explosive force. Using his abilities, D’avin tosses the crystal towards the androids, giving the team a chance to escape.

On Lucy, D’avin apologizes to Dutch about wasting their only supply of the green plasma, but Dutch is satisfied that he fought back for them. Despite what happened, D’avin admits that for the first time in a while, he felt good about himself. With that feeling, plan to return to Old Town.

John: Rich girlfriends are the best.

Dutch meets up with Romwell as he eventually accepts the loss of his collection. She gives to him safe passage through Westerly with the help of Bellus, and he reveals that he made a copy of the green substance for Dutch to receive, fearing that whatever took him could very well return to the Quad. Before he leaves, he remarks that centuries of life people begin to remind him of others. Dutch, however, reminds him of no one. He then remarks that not everybody can have a happy ending, so she must secure her happiness when she can. Taking his words to heart, Dutch flies back to Leith to finally consummate her relationship with Alvis.

With Dutch on Leith and D’avin in Old Town, John contacts Pawter to discuss his research. She suddenly arrives face-to-face through his holophone as he elaborates what he found. The term teleplasticity had to do with EMRs disrupting thought patterns. Although he does not know much about the work, he has located the architect of the design hiding out in Old Town. In the meantime, Pawter reveals that she has really infiltrated the ship with Lucy’s help as well as the procurement of a private jet. The two then consummate their own relationship.

When Dutch wakes up in bed with Alvis, he then discusses his findings from Olin’s transmission.  He discovers an ancient code which relates to an old Scarback story regarding the tree of life. Its elixir was said to enhance life, reminding the two of the green substance. While Alvis had previously thought the story to be metaphorical, he then considers that they story led to the creation of the Scarback tradition. The older monks cut themselves not to provide penance but to prove that they could still bleed.

Finally, D’avin returns to Old Town to deliver a special gift to Sabine: peaches. To show her gratitude, Sabine and D’avin indulge themselves in a night of sex. In the morning, Sabine remarks that she is happy, but suddenly, she stops. Her eyes begin to leak with the green plasma, causing her to seize back and forth. D’avin tries to help her as she oozes more of the substance from her body. 

Level 6 Notes

• The episode title "I Love Lucy" refers to the popular sitcom I Love Lucy.
• This marks the first time that Pawter and John have said "I love you"...indirectly.
• The android that "played" Lucy in the scene is actually Tamsen McDonough, the voice behind Lucy!
• Romwell, who is 432 years old, says that Dutch doesn't remind him of anyone. Considering the vision of Dutch on Arkyn occurred 200 years ago, could this mean that Khlyen was right about the figure not being her?