| Lockout | |
|---|---|
| Season 8, Episode 6 (95) | |
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| Air date | September 15, 2016 |
| Written by | Jon Graham |
| Directed by | Jon Graham |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous Reentry |
Next Triple Fault |
"Lockout" is the sixth episode of the eighth season of Arby 'n' the Chief.
Summary[]
Arbiter attempts a life-or-death negotation with PAL.
Plot[]
Following a mysterious black-and-white image of an Elite resembling The Arbiter, color resumes as the docking bay and the armory of the Truth & Reconciliation are visible, appearing unchanged. Having locked Arbiter out of the ship, and pushed Cortana off it, PAL has returned to the control deck to play video games. It taunts Arbiter using the communication channel. Arbiter, having figured out that Cortana is gone, asks the machine what it did, and how much she suffered. PAL explains that it tried to push her off the ship by surprise, but that she fought back momentarily. The struggle caused her to start spinning upwards and her visor to collide with the ship. PAL then says that the two left it with no choice, having observed Cortana's plan to deactivate the AI, and having not seen any objection from Arbiter. Arbiter attempts to convince PAL that he doesn't know what it's talking about, but PAL doesn't believe it.
Feeling good about itself for its victory over Arbiter and Cortana, PAL goes to the computer to watch porn, mockingly thanking Arbiter for fixing the satellite uplink so that it can access the internet.
As PAL leaves to the computer, a terminal is made visible, with a message in red text showing the status of the space ship's doors, which it says are locked.
Arbiter continues to plead ignorance, and, as PAL goes silent, Arbiter begs him to allow him back on board before his oxygen expires. He then attempts to use the plasma pistol previously used to open the panel with the satellite uplink's circuit board, to force the airlock open. This fails, and Arbiter attempts to punch the airlocks on both sides of the area in vain.
As PAL begins downloading more porn, frustrated at the speed of the internet connection, Arbiter contacts him, and admits he knows why PAL has turned on him and Cortana. He explains that, while Cortana wanted PAL deactivated, Arbiter disagreed with her, revealing his discussion to her in the suspension deck.
Arbiter's mention of the suspension deck reminds PAL of the remaining crew members scheduled to be woken from stasis shortly, and it decides to kill them as well, telling Arbiter that it'll be right back, but not specifying what it's leaving to do.
When PAL arrives in the cryo bay, it makes fun of the names of the remaining four crew members, Todd, Travis, Greg and Randall. Then it somehow has them killed, which is successful for Todd, Travis and Randall, who are listed as terminated on the nearby screen monitoring the stasis pods. Greg, however, has his status listed as "-no reading-", which is the same status Arbiter and Cortana are listed with.
Afterwards, PAL returns to speak to Arbiter again, who continues arguing that he never agreed with Cortana's intentions to shut PAL down, but also argues that she had a point and that PAL is dangerously paranoid and that there's something wrong with it, citing the turrets guarding the ship's core, and the missiles in the cargo bay. PAL reminds Arbiter of its full name, "Perfect Algorithmic Computer", and concludes that it can't be faulty. Arbiter tries to argue that PAL will need him to bring whatever they find at the ship's destination on board the ship, but PAL disagrees, and goes on to say that it didn't wake Arbiter up because it needed his help for the mission, but because it thought he was its friend. Arbiter then tries to convince PAL that they can still be friends, and apologizes for not sticking up for him against Cortana. However, PAL refuses to believe he's really sorry, and decides to end the discussion because it's "gay now", asking if he has any last words. Arbiter's only reply is for PAL to "go fuck yourself." PAL tells him it "won't let" him listen to Activate as his oxygen runs out, and gives his goodbye, but backpedals a moment later to let him listen to it. Arbiter cuts the transmission.
As Arbiter gazes into space, his vision of Eugene reappears, and asks Arbiter if they can talk again, with Arbiter's predicament not leaving him any other options. The two return to Ridgeline, where Arbiter asks what the significance of the place is. Eugene instead expresses amusement that Arbiter doesn't remember. He explains that he used to be Arbiter's friend. Their surrounding changes once again to Tempest. Eugene asks if he remembers it, and Arbiter tells him that he finds it familiar. Eugene tells him that the map is where "everything became clear to you". Eugene starts to walk into the sea ahead of them. After a pause, Arbiter joins Eugene, and they both stand still with the water up to their legs. Arbiter jokes that they're skinny dipping together, but Eugene tells him that he knows exactly what they're doing. Arbiter stares into the water, noting how dark it looks. Eugene implies that he shouldn't take that as a bad thing.
Back inside the ship, PAL returns to dance hall' speaker system, and puts on Activate again. It decides to increase the volume, and starts pressing buttons on the machine. With the volume not going up, PAL starts to get frustrated, and starts rapidly pressing one of the buttons.
The terminal on the control deck displaying the status of the space ship doors is seen again, changing between red and green text as PAL presses the button on the speaker system.
PAL eventually stops pressing the button, and returns to the control deck. It starts praising and reassuring itself as a result of its success over the ship's crew, but stops as it realizes that it's now alone again as a result. PAL hovers in silence, until he finally notices that the door terminal is green instead of red. He takes a closer look at the terminal, which now visibly displays that the ship's doors are unlocked.
PAL immediately deduces that Arbiter could have gotten into the ship and fearfully tries to contact him again, but with no response. It checks the airlocks, but doesn't find him, either inside or out. It then checks the armory, finding some of the weapons gone, including one of the heavy machine guns, detached from its tripod.
Arbiter, meanwhile, has made his way to the suspension deck, discovering the fate of the rest of the crew from the stasis pods' monitoring screen. He leaves to confront PAL with the weapons he took. PAL heads back to the dance hall, but finds no one there. It lies that its actions were a joke, and that Cortana is still alive, with no response from Arbiter. Arbiter eventually approaches PAL, and opens fire with the machine gun, and PAL flees.
Arbiter chases PAL throughout the ship, as PAL tries to reason with him, still lying that it was a joke. Arbiter sarcastically replies as he ambushes the machine with a shotgun, switching to a magnum as it retreats. still furious over PAL's actions and behavior. PAL makes it to a room with several computers, and asks Arbiter not to fire at him because of the expensive equipment, but Arbiter continues shooting regardless, as PAL continues to flee.
Arbiter eventually loses sight of PAL, and goes to the room PAL uses to watch porn.
PAL, meanwhile, has gone to the cargo bay, still containing the chemical warheads. Arbiter eventually finds it there. PAL looks around at the missiles, as Arbiter stands there in silence with his machine gun aimed at it.
Cast[]
Transcript[]
- Main article: Lockout/Transcript
Watch the episode[]
| Season 8 |
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