Air Date: January 31, 2003
Written by Mark Saraceni
Directed by Geoff Bennett
Transcript by Xenajules2
Edited and put on-line by Bluey
Episode 4.15 - Mental as Anything
Previously on Farscape (voice of Ka D'Argo):
Scene One: from "Kansas", As John enters Moya's hanger bay, he sees a group of humans waiting for him. One of them is his father, Jack Crichton. John stops when he sees them. Jack: "Welcome home, son."
Scene Two: from "Twice Shy", John and Aeryn confront each other in a corridor on Moya. John: "Scorpius is here, looking for the key to what is inside my head. He will use you and the baby..."
Scene Three: from "Terra Firma", Commandant Grayza is communicating with a creature that is on Earth by placing a device on Captain Braca's forehead. Grayza: "Skreeth." Braca/Skreeth: "I'm confident I can capture him but doubt I can bring him to you." Grayza: "Wherever this "earth" is, the journey there obviously is impractical without wormhole travel... and only Crichton can command that." Braca/Skreeth: "Learn what we can from him... then execute him." The creature growls.
Scene Four: from "Terra Firma", John and Jack are saying goodbye at the Space Center. Jack Crichton: "Stay. We'll guard the wormhole. Nothin'll get through." John: "Naw, I have a job to do."
Scene Five: from "Twice Shy", John and Aeryn continue to talk in the corridor. John looks away: "It's over." Aeryn: "There's nothing more between us?" John smiles a lopsided smile: "Nothing." Aeryn grins. John laughs and they kiss.
And now, on Farscape...
PROLOGUE
Moya is flying through space, her interiors lights visible.
Pilot: "We have reached the optimal departure point. D'Argo, Scorpius and Rygel are boarding LoLah. Chiana, Sikozu and Noranti are already in a transport pod."
John and Aeryn are sitting together at the base of Pilot's console. Aeryn sits between John's legs and leans back onto him. She hands a small package to John while Pilot is talking.
Aeryn: "Here." She turns her head upwards so she can see his reaction as he unwraps the gift. She has a big, though closed-mouth grin on her face.
John unwraps a small, black object: "Tell 'em we're coming." He turns the object over and fingers the controls on its front.
Aeryn: "Merry Christmas."
John laughs and grins. He shakes the remote control devise he is holding: "Is there something that comes with this?"
Aeryn: "Mmm. It's big. It's taking over your room."
John: "Oh, okay." He speaks louder, to Pilot: "Tell them we're not coming." Then, back to Aeryn: " We're gonna stay. We'll watch tv. We'll eat popcorn, we'll act like normal people." All the while he is talking, John is fiddling with the remote control.
Pilot: "Captain D'Argo is asking where you are."
John: "I gotta go. I gotta go look after Scorpius."
Aeryn: "We should do it together."
John: "Now, you know we can't do that together."
Aeryn sighs.
John: "Besides, you've got to look after the girls."
Aeryn: "That's not fun."
John: "It's more fun than Mental Arts Training Camp."
Aeryn turns her head to look at John: "You know you can do with the mental discipline."
John: "Huh. Not from someone Scorpy recommends. You got the better job."
Aeryn: "What? Rummaging around on a dead Leviathan settlement, looking for a Moya part? Oh, that's infinitely more thrilling."
Pilot: "I'm sorry, but now Chiana is inquiring where
you are, Officer Sun."
John sighs.
Aeryn: "I'm coming, Pilot."
John sighs again and starts to get up from behind Aeryn: "Well, we gotta go."
Aeryn sighs and looks backwards, up at John. She grins.
John: "Merry Christmas."
Aeryn whispers: "Merry Christmas." and they kiss.
D'Argo's ship, LoLah, flies over the surface of a planet, towards a lighted geodesic dome that is surrounded by some kind of fence with search lights at the corners.
A man's voice: "You have all come to my dwelling to learn. Your objective is mental discipline."
The man who is speaking is wearing a gray robe. He has a high, ridged nose. There are several men seated on benches, listening. They include D'Argo and John. Scorpius, dressed in his usual black leather coolant suit, is standing behind them.
Man: "To focus your whole mind on a single task is a skill few ever achieve."
D'Argo is sitting, watching and listening. He is also wearing a gray robe, as is John.
D'Argo leans toward John and whispers: "How much did we pay for this?"
He has a small, shiny dot on his forehead. When John turns his head, it appears that he has one of these on his head too.
Man: "The taskchairs provide access to a mindscape... where you'll compete with an opponent, to the point of great pain."
Rygel, also wearing a robe, sighs.
Man: "Embrace the pain, and you shall succeed.
Scorpius nods.
Man: "Retreat... and suffer the consequences."
The man walks around the outside of an open faced icosahedron which has lights at many of its points. Within the construction are the two apparatus' which he has labeled as "taskchairs". The walls of the room that holds the icosahedron is made up of lines of lights.
Man: "If you have any self-doubt, you have eighty microts to exit, after which your Juxtowi crystal will be activated."
John reaches up and touches the shiny dot on his temple.
Man: "Any attempt to leave and the crystal will bore through your brain."
D'Argo leans over and whispers again: "Do you think it's worth going through with this?"
John: "Only if this guy can give us some information about that critter that attacked my family and killed my friend."
Scorpius takes a step closer and leans towards John to whisper: "The creature you described is neither Peacekeeper nor Scarran in origin. If it is from Tormented Space, Katoya will know about it."
While Scorpius is speaking, another person enters the room dressed in a gray robe. He has the hood pulled up so his face is hidden.
Rygel: "Then why won't he just frelling tell us... about it? We paid him."
The man, Katoya, stands to the side of the room, watching and listening.
Scorpius: "His price... is completion of the course." He has a crystal on his head too.
John raises his hand in the air, holding up his pointer finger: "Excuse me. Question."
Katoya turns and looks at him.
John: "Before we commit to your class..."
Katoya: "Are you afraid that you may not be able to handle the pain?"
John: "Look, I can put up with the fairy crystal and the jammies..."
As John is speaking, D'Argo wrinkles his nose and sniffs, twice.
John: "... but I need to know what else we get..."
There is a flash and a whooshing sound. D'Argo sees a man's face. Another flash and whoosh and he sees a smiling woman with long blonde hair. Yet another flash and he sees the man again, his hand raised in a fist.
John: "... with the gym membership."
D'Argo: "What the blitz is that smell?"
Rygel: "The stench of that frelling Charrid."
D'Argo shakes his head: "No. I know that odor."
John looks across the room and sees the latest arrival as he takes the hood off his head.
D'Argo sees him too: "Macton." D'Argo hisses and growls. He leaps to his feet and goes after Macton.
John rushes after him: "D!"
Katoya stands to the side and watches.
D'Argo runs up to the man and hits him in the face.
D'Argo yells: "You killed my wife!" He stands over the fallen Macton and pulls him to his feet.
As John rushes up, Katoya holds out his arm and stops him.
Katoya: "This is not your fight."
Macton: "My sister."
D'Argo holds the struggling Macton: "You set me up and then you send me to prison!"
Macton: "Ahh, you didn't want the truth then... you're not interested in it now."
John pushes past Katoya and hurries over to D'Argo. He pulls D'Argo away from Macton.
John: "Get off him. Come on." He hangs on D'Argo's arm.
D'Argo takes a step back towards Macton: "I'm not interested in your lies."
Macton: "Ahh, let him hit me. Like he hit Lo'Lann. Beat his own wife to death."
D'Argo screams and flings John off his arm. He runs at Macton who takes advantage of his momentum and throws D'Argo to the floor.
Rygel gasps in alarm.
D'Argo gets right back up and comes at Macton again. Macton has his hands up in fists, in a fighting stance. D'Argo reaches past his guard and grabs Macton by the throat. He holds on, choking the other man. Katoya steps forward and holds his arms up. He moves them outwards and the two combatants are flung to the floor, away from each other.
Katoya: "That ends this."
END OF PROLOGUE
ACT ONE
John, D'Argo and Rygel are alone together in a room with a long table that has dishes on it. John sits on the table, D'Argo sits on a bench beside it. They are all still wearing the gray pants and hooded tops they had on previously.
John: "You okay, bro?"
D'Argo: "Macton's a liar. He's a frelling liar."
Rygel: "He's a frelling Peacekeeper! A frelling Peacekeeper found us. Let's go, fast... before more arrive."
Scorpius, still wearing his leather coolant suit, comes to the top of the stairs leading down into the room.
Scorpius: "I am afraid it will not be permitted to leave the compound prematurely."
Rygel: "Oh, ridiculous! What does Katoya care? He's got our currency."
Scorpius comes into the room with them: "Once you agree to stay, you must abide the rules."
John: "I don't give a damn about the rules. We're not going to stick around til a marauder lands."
Scorpius comes over to stand behind John, almost whispering: "This sector of Tormented Space is forbidden to Peacekeepers unless they have received express orders from First Command. Therefore, it is highly likely that Macton is here unofficially. Alone."
John: "Unofficially, Grasshopper? How the hell did he find us?"
D'Argo: "I'll be sure to ask him before I kill him."
Scorpius hisses and comes over to lean on the table, towards D'Argo: "Katoya will not allow you or Macton to kill each other."
D'Argo shouts: "To Hezmana with Katoya! Macton deserves to die!" He takes a breath then continues, his voice breaking: "He destroyed my family... my wife... my son..."
The blonde haired woman comes into a room with wooden beamed walls.
Lo'Laan: "He loves me. You mustn't do anything. D'Argo's done nothing to me."
She walks into another room, with a huge, flower-shaped window. A man, Macton, follows her.
Lo'Laan: "I'm fine. D'Argo's fine."
Macton: "You refuse to see him for what he really is."
Lo'Laan: "He is a Luxan warrior."
Macton: "Yes, and he cannot help but hurt you."
Lo'Laan: "D'Argo will never hurt me... and I won't hurt him either."
D'Argo is standing outside the room, listening, his arms crossed.
Macton hurries out of the room. He walks right past D'Argo, then stops and turns.
D'Argo: "Good to see you, brother."
Macton walks off. D'Argo turns and walks towards Lo'Laan.
D'Argo takes a deep breath and sighs: "Now, we're both here. One of us must die." He shakes his head: "I wouldn't run, even if I could."
John moves down the table, closer to D'Argo: "D. I got your back on this. Grasshopper may be tellin the truth. Katoya won't let us disrupt his class. You'll deal with Macton when school is out."
A buzzer sounds.
Katoya announces over the loud-speaker: "Return to the arena."
John puts his hand on D'Argo's shoulder and pats him. D'Argo sighs.
John: "Recess is over." He gets up and leaves.
Katoya is standing in front of the class, the light studded wall behind him.
Katoya: "Now that calmer minds prevail... a demonstration." He leans over so that he can see John's face: "Join me."
John: "I'm just here to watch."
Katoya walks across the room, to stand directly in front of John: "Everyone must participate."
John: "After the probes, land mines, corkscrews I've had in my head... I ain't offering up a chunk for your mind games."
Katoya: "It is not a game."
John: "It ain't gonna happen, Miss Krabobble. Fail me. Give me and "F" on my report card, but I ain't goin in you icosahedron."
Katoya whips his head around and stares at Scorpius.
Scorpius gets to his feet: "Yes, of course." He glances at John.
John looks up at him: "Proves nothing to me for you to win, Grasshopper."
Scorpius and Katoya are seated in the chairs inside the icosahedron. Their arms are outstretched to their sides, supported by the chair's frame. Suddenly their arms are jerked inwards with a loud clank and there is a buzzing noise. They are both now visible in an arena where they are standing. A lighted icosahedron forms from shards of light and is suspended in the air between them. It begins to glow an orange-red. Katoya holds out one hand, palm outwards, towards the icosahedron. Scorpius does the same.
Katoya: "Begin!"
The icosahedron moves towards Scorpius.
Katoya: "Overcome the pain."
Seated in the chair, Scorpius screws up his face and breathes through his teeth.
John and D'Argo are watching through some sort of viewer.
John: "Pain. See, that's what I'm talkin about. Pain."
In the arena, the glowing icosahedron has gotten almost in Scorpius' face and he pulls back from its heat. He brings up his other hand and holds it palm outwards. The icosahedron flies across the arena but stops short of Katoya's outstretched hand. It flies back towards Scorpius and he sends it back towards Katoya. The icosahedron makes a sighing sound each time it travels and stops.
Katoya sends it slowly back towards Scorpius: "Try again."
The seated Scorpius has his eyes closed and is panting through his open mouth.
The two men begin to walk, slowly, circling each other. The glowing orb is still at Scorpius' end.
Katoya: "Do not withhold your efforts."
Scorpius glares and hisses.
Katoya: "Nor is anger a substitute for clarity. The task may be completed with a minimum of physical harm."
The men continue circling until they have switched ends of the arena.
Katoya sends the orb, one handed, back towards Scorpius. Scorpius returns it to him. Katoya loudly takes a deep breath. Scorpius begins to move towards him, as if drawn, until he is staring directly into the glowing orb. He grimaces in pain.
Katoya: "Shall we end our demonstration?"
Scorpius answers in a strained voice, through clenched teeth: "I was just starting to enjoy the pain."
Katoya laughs. He shoves the orb, which shatters back into shards of light. In the chair, Scorpius gasps and opens his eyes. He takes several deep breaths, then gets up from the chair. He walks over to where John is standing.
John: "Well, that was instructive. Kinda lead with your chin there."
Scorpius: "It's not meant to be painless."
John nods once as Scorpius walks around behind him.
Scorpius: "It never will be painless, John."
John: "Huh." He walks away, glances at Katoya as he leaves.
John hurries down the stairs into the refectory, where the long table is. When he gets to the bottom, he finds Macton standing there.
John: "What the hell are you doin here?"
Macton: "Responding to D'Argo's death threats. He said he was coming for me."
John: "Oh. See, I was just wonderin why you followed me to the bathroom." He starts out a door at the end of the room.
Macton: "I don't want to kill D'Argo, but I won't allow him to kill me to conceal what he did. He killed his wife."
John: "No. You killed your sister."
Macton: "D'Argo murdered Lo'Laan in a fit of hyperrage. Do you know what Luxan hyperrage is?"
John: "Yes, I do. You... you know what a "crock" is? D'Argo says he didn't do it. That's good enough for me."
Macton: "You dont understand. He may not know what he did."
John: "Right. Eight cycles and change just "zoop" slips his mind."
Macton: You do know that Luxan hyperrage causes blackouts?"
John: "Is that a fact?"
Macton: "Yes... and any honest Luxan can tell you that."
Macton turns and walks away.
Katoya stands waiting as the class members return to their seats. Macton walks past him.
Katoya nods to the Charrid who is seated behind him.
Katoya: "Please."
The Charrid grunts and nods. He gets up and walks to the icosahedron.
Rygel: "The Charrid's going next. I'd love to take him on. I'd show him some real pain."
John walks into the arena as the Charrid sits down in one of the taskchairs.
John sits down at the end of the bench, next to D'Argo. Macton glances at them.
D'Argo: "What did he say to you?"
John: "Nothin. Forget about it."
D'Argo, loudly: "I can't!"
Katoya looks at him: "Perhaps you could spend some of that energy in here."
Rygel: "Not him. Me."
D'Argo waves his hand: "He chose me, Rygel."
Rygel: "These Charrid frax killed billions of my people."
Katoya: "This is not a safe place to settle grudges, Hynerian. It is not a game."
Rygel: "It's a war of wills. Where else will I get a chance at a fair fight... where I have the advantage?"
Katoya smiles and nods: "Proceed... at your own risk."
D'Argo: "What lies did Macton tell you?"
John: "Ah, he just mentioned you were sending some threats."
D'Argo: "Yah... it's true."
Rygel and the Charrid are both in taskchairs. Katoya pushes some buttons and the arms on the chairs fold inward with a snap and Rygel and the Charrid now appear standing, facing each other as Katoya and Scorpius did. A small, glowing icosahedron forms from shards of light in the air between them.
Katoya: "Begin."
The Charrid bends his knees and presses forward, forcing the icosahedron towards Rygel. Katoya turns his back on the men in the taskchairs and watches in the large viewscreen, along with the class.
D'Argo: "Come on. He must have told you more."
John: "I don't want to talk about it. It's just gonna piss you off, which is what he wants."
D'Argo: "I'm already pissed off."
There is a steady beeping sound coming from the arena.
In the chair, the Charrid is gripping the hand restraints and straining to keep the pressure on Rygel. Rygel has his eyes closed and is struggling as hard as he can, too.
D'Argo: "What did he say?"
John: "He mentioned something... about hyperrage causing blackouts. He said all Luxans get them."
D'Argo storms through the house, yelling.
D'Argo: "I do NOT want Macton here. I refuse to have him in this house!" He screams and picks up the kitchen table, slamming it back down with a resounding crash.
Lo'Laan: "You're upsetting yourself over nothing."
D'Argo continues to scream and crash the table repeatedly to the floor.
Lo'Laan: "D'Argo, can you hear me?"
D'Argo screams and roars, his head back and his eyes shut.
Lo'Laan: "D'Argo, can you hear me?"
D'Argo shakes his head as he continues to scream.
Lo'Laan: "D'Argo, can you hear me?"
Lo'Laan brings her hands to her mouth, crying, as D'Argo continues to rage.
Lo'Laan cries: "D'Argo..."
D'Argo: "Blackouts during hyperrage can... do... happen. But I learned to control all that."
John: "So, you got the problem licked."
D'Argo: "Young Luxans are genetically violent. Their impulses, chemistry, biology... it takes cycles to master. It's why Luxans aren't allowed to marry young."
John: "And you kids ignored all that."
D'Argo: "She said she knew I could never hurt her. Even more than that, I gave her my solemn vow... if I did ever hurt her, I would leave immediately, no questions."
John: "Well, it must have worked. You guys stayed together."
D'Argo: "Lo'Laan was always there for me."
John looks up at the arena.
Rygel is breathing heavily and he starts to groan. The glowing icosahedron is right in front of his face.
John: "Excuse me... Master Jedi. It looks like Sparky's losin more than a few brain cells in there."
Katoya: "He's expending a lot of energy."
Rygel is shivering and gobs of foam are coming out of his mouth onto his lip.
John: "Is he in any real danger in there?"
The Charrid redoubles his effort. The icosahedron comes even closer to Rygel's face. Rygel screams and appears to seizure.
John: "Alright... that's the ballgame. Get him out."
Katoya: "It was his choice."
John looks at D'Argo: "Let's get 'im out."
They both stand up and start towards the arena. As they hurry towards Rygel, Katoya makes a gesture towards them with his arm. John is thrown backwards into D'Argo and falls down. In the arena, the Charrid grits his teeth and strains to keep the ball by Rygel. Rygel brings his head forward and suddenly, the icosahedron flys across the arena and strikes the Charrid in the forehead, knocking him to the floor. Rygel collapses in the taskchair, blobs of foam still on his lips.
D'Argo carries Rygel in his arms, into the refectory.
D'Argo: "He's like ice."
John: "Keep him covered."
D'Argo carries Rygel further into the refectory. John hurries halfway up the stairs to confront Katoya.
John: "That's a great job. Nice of you to step in before somebody got hurt."
Katoya: "What he did was his choice. I hope what he learned will serve him well."
John: "I'll tell you what we've learned. We've learned not to take classes from a head job. Now we're out of here."
Katoya: "Your training isn't over."
John turns and starts down the stairs: "Oh, yes it is."
Katoya throws his arm out toward John. There is a whoosing noise and John is thrown down the stairs, landing face down on the floor, unconscious.
Katoya: "It's just begun."
END OF ACT ONE
ACT TWO
Coming into the arena, Macton puts his hand together in front of him and nods to Katoya.
Macton: "Master."
Katoya nods back and Macton goes to sit down. The other class members follow, Scorpius and D'Argo coming in last. D'Argo stops and stares at Katoya.
Scorpius: "Crichton is fine. He's been moved to remedial training."
D'Argo: "Yah, I know." He looks over at Macton and watches him sit down on a bench.
Scorpius: "The Dominar is recovering as well."
D'Argo: "Yah, I wasn't thinking about that, either."
Scorpius follows D'Argo's gaze, to Macton: "I'm aware of that. But perhaps you should heed their example and attempt to remain focused on your more immediate tasks first."
D'Argo turns toward Scorpius and growls quietly.
Katoya nods at them: "Please." He gestures towards their seats.
D'Argo looks hard at Scorpius, then walks to the bench.
Scorpius calls after him: "Stay focused."
Lo'Laan's voice sounds hollow, like it is far away or down a well.
Lo'Laan: "D'Argo? D'Argo, can you hear me?"
D'Argo sits up, breathing heavily. His breathing slows.
D'Argo: "Did I hurt you?"
Lo'Laan is kneeling in front of him: "No. I know this upsets you."
D'Argo reaches out and touches her face: "It upsets you too."
Lo'Laan: "We'll get through it." She smiles.
D'Argo: "If I did hurt you... you'd tell me, wouldn't you? You promised."
Lo'Laan shakes her head: "You never hurt me, D'Argo."
D'Argo: "But you'd tell me if I did."
Lo'Laan smiles again: "Absolutely. I promise I'd tell you." She reaches out and strokes his face.
D'Argo is sitting in a taskchair. Katoya stands outside the arena, his back to D'Argo. The arms of the chair snap shut with a clang.
In the arena, D'Argo is standing in an aisle between two broad beams of light. The beams appear to be coming from twin spotlights, some distance away. D'Argo is facing away from them. He turns slightly and touches a beam.
D'Argo yells and jumps.
Katoya: "Avoid pain and find a way out."
D'Argo steps to the side and touches another beam. He yells out again and struggles to keep his balance.
Katoya: "Try harder."
D'Argo stoops down and tries to touch the floor. A beam touches him.
Katoya: "Anger will not serve you."
D'Argo gets down and rolls under one of the beams.
Katoya: "Find your path."
Scorpius comes to stand behind D'Argo, outside the arena.
D'Argo takes a deep breath and tries running forward. He touches a beam, yells and spins away. He yells again and falls to the floor as another beam touches him.
Katoya shakes his head: "Release your mind."
Seated in the taskchair, D'Argo keeps his eyes closed and grits his teeth.
In the arena, D'Argo gets to his feet, only to have a beam appear above his head and drive him down to the floor again.
Sitting nearby and watching, Macton smiles and nods.
On his belly in the arena, D'Argo turns his head back and forth, looking for a way out.
Katoya shakes his head again.
D'Argo: "Stop it!" He screams.
Macton is standing over a fallen Lo'Laan in D'Argo's house. The flower-shaped window is at his back.
D'Argo screams again and pounds his fist on the floor.
Macton grimaces.
D'Argo screams: "I'll kill you."
Lo'Laan is standing in the kitchen.
D'Argo throws his head back and howls.
Macton pulls his fist back and hits something.
D'Argo continues to scream.
Lo'Laan lies on the floor, a knife sticking out of her side.
D'Argo screams.
Katoya waves his arm behind him and the chair releases. D'Argo slumps forward. He struggles to catch his breath.
Katoya whirls around to face him: "To exert even a microt of self-control over your personal impulses is the point of the exercise."
D'Argo slams himself free of the arm restraints and jumps to his feet. Macton looks on and smiles.
D'Argo leans forward, stuffing things into a pack that is lying on the refectory table. Katoya comes in to stand at the other end of the table.
D'Argo: "I'm leaving."
Katoya: "That won't provide you with the answers you seek."
D'Argo: "What answers."
Katoya: "What questions."
D'Argo shakes his head and yells: "Look! I'm not playing any more of your stupid games and I do not need to be reminded of my mental limitations. If I stay here, I will kill Macton!" He shakes his fist to punctuate the words: "I... will... kill this man!"
D'Argo breathes deeply and gasps one... two... three... four times.
Katoya: "You see? You can control your anger. You have no limitations."
D'Argo stands there, looking at Katoya and breathing heavily.
Katoya leaves. D'Argo turns around and sits heavily on a bench.
John regains consciousness alone, inside a metal box. There are glowing coals beneath a portion of it. He struggles to sit up in the confined space.
John: "Ahh!" He jerks away from the fire grate. "Ahh!" He pats at the arms of his suit, trying to put out sparks.
John: "Damn." He looks around and out the grilled top.
John calls: "Hey! D'Argo? Anybody hear me?! This must be detention then."
He stands up and hits the top grill with the heel of one hand a couple of times. "Hey! It's gettin kinda ripe in here."
Rygel sits with D'Argo at the refectory table.
Rygel: "Macton is lying."
D'Argo: "How do you know?"
Rygel: "Because he's a Peacekeeper. Because he has to be. Look... he's trying to get to you and it's working."
D'Argo: "Lo'Lann and I were happy together. He can't change that. I won't let him."
Rygel: "He's definately getting to you."
D'Argo: "I should have killed him."
Rygel: "Isn't that what you set out to do when we all left Moya?"
D'Argo: "Part of me knew that wouldn't bring Lo'Laan back. And another part couldn't resist letting him know that I knew exactly where he was."
Rygel: "Pay attention to the part that wants to kill him. He's given you a second chance to take your revenge."
D'Argo: "I'm not sure I want to."
Rygel: "For yotz sake! Kill him and be done with it!"
John sits with his back to the bars of his cage. He whistles. [the name of the tune is: "The Colonel Bogey March". Think the movie "Bridge on the River Kwai" OR "Winners warm up with Malt-o Meal" if you don't recognize the name. Jules ;0)]
Katoya walks to the edge of the cage and crouches down to look in at John. He holds both his hands out in front of him. One is closed in a fist. The other is open, palm up, except for the thumb which is curled inwards.
John: "Are you real?"
Katoya: "Are you?"
John: "Oh, riddles. Riddle me this, riddle me that... I have one. Why is it never just the heat, it's the humidity? While you're pondering that why don't you let me the hell out of here?"
Katoya: "As you wish. One thing first..."
John looks up at him, through the barred top.
Katoya drops a small piece of metal out of his hand.
Katoya: "... here's a key."
It falls through both sets of bars and lands on the glowing coals. The coals flash and sizzle and the metal begins to melt.
Katoya: "You weren't quick enough. Get a key and you many come out." Katoya stands up and walks away.
John starts to whistle again, but stops almost immediately. He looks down at the coals and then upwards, out of the cage.
D'Argo enters the refectory from the door at the far end. Macton enters at the same time, by coming down the stairs from the arena. D'Argo stops when he hears footsteps on the stairs. Macton looks around the room, then turns to face D'Argo. The long table is between them.
D'Argo: "I'll say this just once. Stay away from me. Stay away from my friends. And stop spreading your lies."
Macton: "I"m not the one lying."
D'Argo: "Oh, you're full of dren. You've always hated me. You'd have hated any non-Sebacean who married your sister."
Macton: "I may have come to accept the marriage until you started beating her."
D'Argo takes a long, deep breath and slowly lets it out through his nose. Macton nods at him while he does this.
D'Argo: "I'm violent... when I choose to be. And right now, I choose
not to kill you. But that could change."
Macton: "Really?" He walks over and stands right in front of D'Argo. "Well, if I chose to kill you, you'd never see me coming. No, I came to give you the truth..."
D'Argo: "Dren."
Macton: "The truth your blackouts stopped you from seeing... that poor Lo'Laan stopped you from seeing..."
D'Argo: "You're full of dren."
Macton: "Am I lying about your hyperrage? Am I lying about your blackouts? I say even a stupid Luxan should be able to see the truth."
D'Argo: "You're full of lies!" D'Argo growls and grabs Macton by the shoulders. He throws him backwards, onto the long table. D'Argo goes to the table and leans over to grab Macton again...
Lo'Laan is lying on her back on the long table. As D'Argo reaches down and grabs her, she shrieks.
Lo'Lann: "D'Argo, no."
D'Argo looks at her in amazement, his mouth and eyes open wide.
Macton: "Look at you. Your uncontrollable rage."
D'Argo has one hand made into a fist, held in the air, ready to strike Macton.
Macton: "You're violent."
D'Argo sighs and brings his hand down.
Macton:
"You really think you'd be able to protect Lo'Laan from that? No. You must have known the truth. You've always known."
Macton gets up off the table and leaves the refectory. D'Argo watches him go.
END OF ACT TWO
ACT THREE
John sits in his barred cage. There is a tiny clink of metal hitting metal as another key falls past him, onto the coals. John grabs for it and hits his palm on the hot grate. He yells in pain and grabs his hand. He cradles his hand and rocks,
John: "D'ah! Yah! Summa..."
Scorpius walks over and peers down through the bars.
John looks up and sees him: "You'd better have a key." He licks his burnt fingers.
Scorpius: "Katoya informs me you've been experiencing some setbacks."
John: "He tell you who sicced that critter on my family?"
Scorpius: "That is relatively unimportant."
John: "It's important to me."
Scorpius: "Because it was unsuccessful."
John: "That's okay, then. I don't need to be in here..." He sighs: "... Earth is safe, everything's fine."
Scorpius: "No, Earth is not safe. And neither are you. The Scarrans know you exist. They are already coming for you, John. You cannot run away for your whole life and I... cannot protect you from them."
John: "Little cat a... I don't want you to protect me because, little cat b, you haven't been doing such a bang-up job of that in the first place which brings us to little cat c, get me the hell out of this hole!" John ends in a scream.
Scorpius gets down on his knees and then lies down with his face over the top of John's cage: "You are undergoing a very specific training. Anti-Scarran training."
John: "Well, I figured that out already. It's not the heat... it's the humidity." He holds up his hand with the burn marks on the palm, so that Scorpius can see them.
Scorpius: "The heat mechanism the Scarran employs is just the beginning, John. If that heat succeeds indisabling your mind's defenses there is not fact, no fear, no deep secret that they will be unable to extract."
John: "I'll take my chances on my own, thank you."
Scorpius: "You misunderstand my objectives, John. WIthout Katoya's training, when the Scarrans find you... they will take your wormhole knowledge and then they will kill you. I would never allow that."
John: "Ah, Scorpy-Sue... after all we've meant to each other, you'd kill me first."
Scorpius snorts and pulls himself further over the grate: "You... have such a limited mental capacity, John but apparently... an abundant will to prevail. Well, my advice to you is to use that will right here, right now. Katoya... is the only one that can give you the tools to resist the Scarrans!" Scorpius bangs his hand on the grate, in frustration an gets up to leave.
John resumes whistling.
Katoya and Scorpius stand next to each other, talking.
Katoya: "Your Crichton may not survive the training."
Scorpius: "He will. He is like me in that respect. He'll survive."
Katoya: "For you to have survived so long, my teachings must have been helpful."
Scorpius: "They've saved my life... on countless occasions."
Katoya: "I attempted to teach you to overcome your need for a coolant suit and yet, you still have use of one."
Scorpius: "One can always learn more."
Katoya nods slightly and looks away.
Scorpius: "I request... three favors."
Katoya: "Do I owe so many?"
Scorpius: "I did spare you from both Peacekeeper captivity and my Aurora chair."
Katoya: "I would have survived your Aurora chair."
Scorpius inhales deeply, through his nose.
Katoya: "Proceed."
Scorpius: "Firstly, intensify Crichton's training."
Katoya: "Even if it kills him?"
Scorpius: "Without the training, he will die anyway. Secondly... Macton... has become a distraction. Maybe a dangerous one."
Katoya: "He has done nothing wrong."
Scorpius: "I believe despite his protests, he will kill D'Argo."
Katoya: "Or D'Argo will kill him. I will have neither here."
Scorpius: "Still... some preemptive action... could be called for."
Katoya: "Third?"
Scorpius: "Information about a species I have no knowledge of. This... species... has recently attacked Crichton. May I... describe it
for you?"
John sits cross-legged in his cage, holding his hands loosely on his knees. Suddenly, the walls of the cage begin to glow orange. Something falls, there is a clink, and John leans over the coals in an attempt to grab key. He misses it and rocks back. He cries out in frustration.
John: "Durn! Hyah!"
D'Argo appears above John's cage.
D'Argo: "John... you okay?"
John stands up and grabs one of bars: "Come and help me." He presses upwards on the bars: "Get this thing open."
John pushes and strains, huffing and groaning. D'Argo grabs hold of the bars and pulls. The grate moves slightly with a clank.
John: "Hunh! That didn't budge it, did it?"
D'Argo: "It's gonna need at least a Qualta or a pulse grenade. Here. I brought you something to drink."
John turns his face upwards and D'Argo pours liquid over it. Some makes it into John's mouth. Some gets past him onto the coals and they sizzle and steam.
John: "Thanks."
D'Argo: "Listen, John... this is really doing my head in. I've been thinkin about killing Macton for half my life." He sits down beside the grate.
John remains standing: "That's a hell of a thing, man. Look, you get me outta here, I'll... kill him for you, all right?"
D'Argo: "No, no, I can kill him. Frell knows I've wanted to, but, uh... what if Lo'Laan lied? She lied about the blackouts. Then, perhaps not knowing or remembering... I hit my wife."
John: "Don't go there. That's Macton talkin."
D'Argo: "I am there, John. If that's possible... and more..."
John: "D'Argo... many things are possible. Macton is just filling you with possibilities. What Lo'Laan did... and that's what matters. Whatever she did, she did for you. That's what's important. And that means something."
D'Argo: "That means... that it's possible I killed the woman who loved me more than life."
D'Argo is sitting at the table in the refectory. Katoya comes in with a cup in his hand. He sets it on the table.
D'Argo takes a deep breath and then exhales. He reaches for the cup Katoya has set in front of him. Katoya takes a seat across the table from D'Argo.
D'Argo fiddles with the mug: "Um... probably won't be apparent from my actions, but I really do have a great deal of respect for your work here. I'm sure many warriors have been made great from your teachings. I just won't be one of them."
Katoya: "Do not sell yourself short."
D'Argo: "Mental strength is, uh... well, it's not my strength. I know that. It's why I've come to you."
Katoya: "Your mind is troubled. Whose isn't?"
D'Argo: "Can you help me... find an answer?"
Katoya leans towards him: "What would you like to know?"
D'Argo: "What kind of monster I really am."
The scene shifts to the pinpoint lighted arena. There is a metallic, whooshing sound. Katoya and D'Argo are each seated in a taskchair, their arms outspread.
Katoya: "This need not be difficult."
D'Argo: "But it probably will be."
The chairs arms close with a loud snap. D'Argo is standing up, in the arena. He looks around.
D'Argo: "Where do we start?"
Katoya walks across the arena, towards him: "What would you like to see?" He continues to walk towards D'Argo.
D'Argo exhales loudly.
On the floor of the arena, behind Katoya, Lo'Laan's body lies on its back, a knife sticking out of its side.
D'Argo: "I... uh... ( he pants and gasps several times)... I don't want to see that."
Katoya: "Stay focused." He walks around behind D'Argo. "I realize this is difficult."
Lo'Laan: "I know this upsets you."
D'Argo gasps and turns back around.
D'Argo: "I know this upsets you too."
Lo'Laan: "We'll get through it. You're upsetting yourself over nothing."
D'Argo grimaces and hisses.
Lo'Laan: "D'Argo?"
D'Argo hisses and grimaces again.
Lo'Laan: "D'Argo?" She starts to back away. "Can you hear me?" She puts her back against the table.
Katoya: "Hyperrage is a natural function of Luxan physiology."
D'Argo: "But it's a function to be controlled, not flaunted. Not to be used against someone you love."
Lo'Laan: "Can you hear me?"
Katoya: "Did you use it against her?"
D'Argo: "I don't know."
Katoya: "But you want to know."
Lo'Laan: "Can you hear me?"
D'Argo: "No."
Katoya: "But you came here to know."
Lo'Laan: "Can you hear me?"
D'Argo: "No!" He lashes out with his hand and hits Lo'Laan back against the table.
She cries out, then lays quiet.
D'Argo pants quickly. He turns to face Katoya: "I hit her." He continues to pant as he turns back towards the vision. "Did I hurt you?"
Lo'Laan shakes her head: "No."
D'Argo: "B... but you'd tell me? Promise me you would, please?"
Lo'Laan: "You never hurt me, D'Argo."
D'Argo: "You promised you'd tell me. Why didn't you tell me?" He reaches out with a finger to touch the face of the vision. "Don't you know how much I loved you?"
Lo'Laan smiles and nods: "Yes."
Standing in the background, watching, Katoya suddenly cries out. There is a flash of bright light and Katoya breaks up in splinters. Outside, in the real arena, Katoya is laying on the floor with his head against one of the metal struts. Macton sits in Katoya's taskchair, across from D'Argo.
Macton: "Sorry to interrupt, Master."
He pulls the arms of the chair inwards. D'Argo gasps.
END OF ACT THREE
ACT FOUR
The coals beneath John's cage continue to glow and sizzle. John crouches in the cage until he collapses onto one knee. He stands up and looks out of the top. He hunkers down, looking at the burn marks on his palm. He finally falls over, onto his face.
D'Argo kneels beside the vision of Lo'Laan, in the arena.
Macton: "Ka D'Argo..." He walks towards them. "... time to revisit your memories."
D'Argo: "What have you done with Katoya?"
Macton: "I refocused his energies."
The vision of Lo'Laan turns her head and looks at him.
Macton: "Hello, sister."
D'Argo hisses and jumps to his feet. Macton strikes him in the face with his elbow. D'Argo falls to the floor.
Macton stands in the doorway to the kitchen. The flower-shaped window is behind him. Lo'Laan lies on the floor in front of him, a knife sticking out of her side.
Macton: "Welcome home... the scene of the crime."
D'Argo gets up and faces Macton, hissing.
Macton: "The scene of your many crimes."
D'Argo yells and charges across the room and hits Macton in the face.
Lo'Laan is lying under D'Argo as he pulls his fist back to strike again. She cries out.
Lo'Laan: "D'Argo, no!"
He reaches out and touches her hair.
Macton: "Just like before."
D'Argo turns his head around and looks back at Macton.
D'Argo: "That never happened."
Macton hits D'Argo in the face again.
He lands on his back on the arena floor.
Lo'Laan stands in front of him, her hands on her hips: "Go ahead. Hit her." She walks towards D'Argo. He starts to sit up.
Macton's voice comes out of the Lo'Laan vision: "Never a problem for you when she was alive."
D'Argo breathes: "No. I never meant to."
Macton/Lo'Laan: "Aww."
Lo'Laan's voice next comes from Macton: "Never meant to do this?" He holds up his leg which now looks like Lo'Laan. She pulls back her dress to expose a bruise on the knee.
D'Argo stares, breathing heavily.
Lo'Laan: "Or this?" She shows him a bruise on the inside of an arm. She changes back into Macton. "Or this?" He displays a large bruise on his neck. The neck becomes Lo'Laan's neck.
D'Argo pants: "Hy... hy... hyperrage."
Macton's voice comes out of Lo'Laan again: "It was you." She changes back into Macton: "Because you couldn't control yourself. Because you were weak!"
Macton hits D'Argo heavily in the face again.
D'Argo cries out and falls backwards against a wall with some chains hanging on it.
D'Argo looks around wildly at all the chains. Macton walks into the room and the door closes behind him.
Macton: "Recognize this place? Your cell."
D'Argo: "Not here. Not now. Not like this."
Macton: "Where else? This is where you belong. You're a wild beast. A mad dog."
D'Argo hisses at him. He starts to get up and Macton kicks him. D'Argo finds himself on his feet, in chains.
Macton: "You've earned these chains... and worse."
John is standing up in the cage. A key falls past him and he tries to catch it. He misses and it falls onto the hot coals. He bends down and tries to reach between the bars to grab it, but his fingers don't fit. He yelps and pulls his hand back. While he is kneeling beside the pit, another key falls. He puts his palm on the grate. His flesh sizzles. He pulls his hand back and looks at it, crying in pain.
Macton slams his fist into D'Argo's face as D'Argo stands in chains. D'Argo sways, off balance.
Macton: "How does it feel to be helpless?" He hits him again.
Seated in the taskchair with his eyes closed, D'Argo jerks as the visionary D'Argo is struck by Macton.
Macton: "Defenseless?" He grabs the much larger D'Argo by the waist, to steady him, then brings his leg up and knees him in the groin.
D'Argo: "Ahh!"
Macton: "This is what you did to Lo'Laan." He body punches him and knees him again. He hits D'Argo in the face.
D'Argo cries out with each blow.
In the chair, D'Argo jerks again with each new blow.
Macton: "This is what your rage felt like." He backhands him to the face.
D'Argo sways backwards and forwards in the chains.
Macton: "Rage that destroyed a beautiful girl." He pulls back his fist and slams D'Argo in the face yet again.
John sits on his knees next to the grate. He is swaying from the heat and exhaustion. He holds his arms outstretched, looking upwards and waiting for another key to drop.
John whispers: "Come on." He keeps peering upwards while he sways. Finally, he looks down. When he does, a key falls past him and lands on the coals with a clunk.
John: "Ahh! Gotcha."
He bends over and grabs hold of the bars of the grate with both hands and pulls it up, screaming as he does so. He sets the grate aside, holding his hands out, not touching anything. He takes two deep breathes, exhaling with a loud "huh!" each time. He reaches in with his burned fingers and struggles to take the key from the coals. He screams as he pulls the key out of the coals, clutched tightly in his fist.
D'Argo sits still in the taskchair.
D'Argo stands in his chains: "I didn't kill Lo'Laan."
Macton: "No. No, you did much worse. Your violence drove her to her death." He points towards the cell door, which opens, loudly. Lo'Laan is standing in the doorway. She holds a serrated knife in her hand which she slowly raises.
D'Argo: "No."
Macton repeatedly shakes his head, yes.
Lo'Laan takes the knife and drives it into her own side. Her eyes open wide and a sigh escapes her lips.
D'Argo breathes: "No..."
Macton: "You beat her beyond her capacity to endure any more."
Lo'Laan's eyes close and she sinks to the floor.
D'Argo releases a shuddering sob: "Oh, no."
Lo'Laan falls over onto the floor as D'Argo watches and cries.
Macton: "But I got there first. I doctored the scene.
Another Macton steps over Lo'Laan. He is wearing a short leather coat. He looks around.
Macton: "Provided the evidence... that put you in prison..."
The "other" Macton bends over Lo'Laan and moves her hand away from the knife.
Macton: "... to rot forever."
D'Argo breaks down and weeps uncontrollably.
The D'Argo in the chair still sits, quietly, but there is foam coming from between his lips with each sob of the vision D'Argo.
Macton steps away from D'Argo: "Don't try to resist. It's my gift to you, D'Argo."
D'Argo starts to sob faster and swing his arms, trying to reach Macton.
Macton: "Your own hyperrage in a place where you can rot in it forever."
D'Argo screams and yanks on the chains.
Macton: "Just you and your hyperrage, for eternity." He turns and starts towards the door.
D'Argo: "Arrgh! Arrgh! Arrgh!" He swings his arms with each scream.
Macton walks out the cell door.
D'Argo: "Focus." He hears the vision D'Argo continue to scream.
D'Argo: "Arrgh! Arrgh! Arrgh!" His hair and his tenkas swing so fast they are a blur.
D'Argo: "Arrgh! Arrgh! Arrgh! Arrgh!"
D'Argo: "Focus."
D'Argo: "Arrgh!"
D'Argo: "No."
D'Argo's screams turn to labored breathing. Lo'Laan begins to rise up from the floor, reversing her fall.
D'Argo: "Ahh!" He exhales deeply.
She pulls the knife back out of her side and looks at D'Argo.
D'Argo's breathing slows and quiets.
Macton, standing in the doorway, turns back.
D'Argo looks at him and scowls. He pulls down with one arm and the chains break and fall away. The wrist cuff on the other arm falls open as well and D'Argo's arm falls free.
D'Argo: "You're lying. Every word you've said is a lie."
Macton: "No... You beat her and you killed her. You know the truth."
D'Argo crosses the room to where Macton is standing, in the doorway.
D'Argo: "You never knew Lo'Laan... and you knew nothing about love."
D'Argo hits Macton in the face with his fist.
Macton falls down, into D'Argo's house. D'Argo follows him and stands over him.
D'Argo: "I know what Lo'Laan went through for our love. I wish I could have loved her half as well."
Macton climbs to his feet: "Oh... you loved her to death!" He tries to hit D'Argo, but D'Argo grabs his hand and stops him. Macton: "Uff!"
D'Argo presses against his hand and pushes him back down.
Macton: "You do not have this power!"
D'Argo: "Lo'Laan told me I do have power... over my hyperrage, and it's more than enough to control you in here."
Macton: "You cannot kill me. Not in here."
D'Argo: "I have no intention of killing you. I loved my wife. But you wouldn't know that. You didn't know Lo'Laan. I did. She could have left me for my failings. Maybe she should have, but I know this... she would never have left her son... without a mother. So..." D'Argo reaches down and grabs Macton by the shoulder and hauls him around so he's facing the other way. "... I want you to show me your memories. Tell me why you killed Lo'Laan."
Macton: "Trying to save her from you."
At the other end of the room, the "Macton" in the leather coat stands and talks to Lo'Laan, in front of the flower-shaped window.
Macton: "D'Argo will be dishonorably discharged, jailed for as long as you need."
Lo'Laan: "But he's done nothing wrong!"
Macton: "He has done everything wrong. You'll thank me for this, sister." He turns and starts to walk away.
Lo'Laan: "No, I won't let you!" She grabs a knife from a holder on the wall and comes after Macton. He twirls and grabs her arm. In the struggle, Lo'Laan is stabbed in the side. She cries out and falls to the floor, dying.
Macton: "It was your fault. She attacked me. My reflexes took control. My Peacekeeper training. It was over before I realized.
Macton catches Lo'Laan in his arms and lowers her to the floor. She falls out of his arms, limp, a red stain spreading out from the knife in her side. He is breathing heavily.
D'Argo: "It's not the truth. Not the whole truth. She was beaten."
Macton: "It was your fault she died. You had to pay. I had to make you pay. I had to make it look like you'd done it in a fit of hyperrage."
Macton holds Lo'Laan's body. He whimpers and rocks her, looking around the room.
Macton: "Had to make sure you were blamed."
Macton lays Lo'Laans body back down on the floor. He looks away from her and takes a deep breath. Then, he looks back and makes a fist. He hits her body. Over and over and over...
Macton shakes and cries. D'Argo releases him and walks away. Kneeling on the arena floor, Macton makes striking motions as if he were still hitting Lo'Laan's body.
D'Argo takes a couple of deep breaths and opens his arms, releasing the taskchair. He leans forward, putting his hands on his knees, to catch his breath. In the chair across from him, Macton sits, slumped over. Katoya lies on the floor unmoving, his head against a metal stanchion.
END OF ACT FOUR
EPILOGUE
D'Argo flies his ship away from the planet. John sits in the co-pilot seat liberally smearing a clear gel substance on his hands. Scorpius sits, tall and straight, behind them.
John: "You okay?"
D'Argo: "Fine."
John holds up his goo covered hands: "You want me to drive?"
D'Argo: "No. I'm fine."
Rygel: "If you were fine you'd have killed Macton instead of leaving him there."
D'Argo: "He's trapped in a coma with his own nightmares. Killing him would have been merciful. I'm not that enlightened."
Scorpius: "So, tell me, John... were you able to obtain the key?"
John doesn't look at him. He starts whistling the "Colonel Bogey March" again.
Scorpius: "Incidently... that creature that attacked you on earth, it might interest you to know it is called a skreeth. Apparently it can communicate telepathically over vast distances."
John continues to mess with the goop on his hands.
John: "Yah... Katoya give you that?"
Scorpius: "If it did map Earth's location, it may well have passed on that information."
John: "Who'd it pass it on to?"
Scorpius: "Grayza, almost certainly."
John: "So the Peacekeepers know where Earth is."
Scorpius: "May know."
John: "Would Grayza go there?"
Scorpius: "Eventually, perhaps. Grayza... does not want Earth. Grayza... wants you."
John: "Why do I always attract the psychos? Hey man, you sure you're okay?"
D'Argo: Yah, I'll be fine. I've... got things on my mind. Things I've done. Things I can't take back."
THE END
Background and screencaps courtesy of Marion. ;0)
