Original subtitles

[radio static]

[newscaster] Tensions between the Soviet Union and U.S.

remain at an all-time high after the Soviets shot down

Korean Airlines Flight 007, killing all 269 passengers.

The Soviets claim that Kal 007 was a spy plane

that deviated off course and flew over

a top-secret Soviet military installation.

And after last week's nuclear false alarm incident,

most Americans feel that the threat

of a Cold War erupting is imminent.

[loud clatter and light buzzing]

[faint buzzing]

[high-pitch beeping]

[man over radio] Okay, attitude, roll 2-5, decimal 1-0.

[tense music playing]

[radio static]

[music continues]

[high-pitched ringing]

[distant radio chatter]

...815... Houston, how do you read?

[woman over radio] Gemini 7 repeat your transmission.

[man] Confirming multiple unidentified on the ASA.

Heading towards the Great Plains, potential soviet.

[woman] Is this real world or exercise?

[man] This is real world.

[woman] Alerting WPR, Gemini 7.

We don't see any unidentified aircraft on our system.

Go ahead and reset your reconnoiter.

[man] Reconnoiter is at full capacity.

Less than ten before red birds make first impact.

[distant radio chatter]

[high-pitched screeching]

[loud bang]

All right, time for bed.

Now? You cannot be serious!

Someone just shot J.R.!

Yeah, it was probably Sue Ellen.

Grandpa can tell you all about it in the morning.

Right, Dad?

Come on, Space Cadet. Bedtime.

-Now! -Right.

[newscaster] And now, nuclear weapons in the news.

Ever since the first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan

nearly 40 years ago, people have been talking about

doing away with nuclear weapons

because of the massive destruction they cause.

But since the United States

and the Soviet Union both have nuclear weapons...

Not falling for that again.

...had to keep building more of them

to offset what each sees as a threat.

What's wrong, Mom?

You look like you're about to have a cow.

Oh, it's nothing.

Just know, if anything happens, I'm going to save you, okay?

Um, okay.

Don't get mental.

Hey, you have been spending a lot of time

with Grandpa since we moved him in, huh?

Yeah, he's fun.

Sometimes I can tell he misses Grandma, though.

I just think that you should start making friends

with kids your own age.

Grandpa is a lot of fun,

but he would make a terrible prom date.

Ew. I know.

Trust me, I know.

And whatever you do, do not let him

get you in trouble on that Ham.

Did you know that your Grandpa had

0-10 classification in World War II?

He could hack his way into any system.

Don't worry. He's already shown me the way.

Last week we made contact with the astronauts on Columbia II.

Okay, no, if NASA wanted your help

on the shuttle program... -They'd send me to space camp.

Yes. Watch out, Firefly.

They'll put that butt of yours right in a slammer.

That's only if you're over 18, Wendy.

Uh-huh. Wendy?

I know it's the '80s,

but it's still cool to call me Mom.

Yeah?

Well, it would be even cooler if you told me

why on God's Earth you named me

after a bug and not Grandma.

You know, I really wish I could.

I just-- I suddenly I cannot remember.

[Firefly] Uh-huh.

Goodnight, my Firefly in the sky.

Goodnight.

[laughter over TV]

You mind?

[girl over TV] It's my Daddy down here.

[man over TV] Oh? What did you tell him?

This just in, you are looking at

a very disturbing live shot there.

We don't know the details, but there is one report

yet unconfirmed that a missile

has just hit the World Trade Center.

No sign of how many more are headed this way.

Dad, do you see this?

[newscaster] We have learned that the U.S.

has moved to DEFCON 1 after reports

that a 9.2 magnitude earthquake in Los Angeles

was felt after the first impact.

The White House has just been evacuated.

The airports have been instructed to ground all planes.

The probability of...

[dramatic music playing]

We are under attack?

We've just been told to evacuate.

Now?

What is happening?

♪

[gasping, sobbing]

Dad, we gotta go!

May! May, come on. Get up.

Come on. We gotta go. Come on!

Come on. Go, go, go, go, go.

Dad?

Come on. May, get in.

Come on, over Grandpa.

Go. You got her?

[Wendy muttering in fear]

-The Aliens coming? -I wish it was that.

[Wendy groans in frustration]

-What's happening? -I don't know.

-What's happening? -I don't know.

-[screaming] Come on. -[engine rumbles]

[tense music playing]

All right, come on, then.

Come on.

Dad, I'll come back for you. I'm coming back, okay?

We'll be back. May, go.

[Firefly] What about grandpa?

[planes whooshing]

-Where are wo going? -Run!

Mom, mom.

[helicopter blades whirring]

[indistinct shouting]

[music stops]

[high-pitched ringing]

[eerie, distorted music]

[footsteps echoing]

[wind whooshing]

Stepping right, left.

[energetic music over TV]

[TV din]

Whoo! Come on.

[snapping in time]

♪

[sighs] [gasping breath]

Hey. Good morning.

Come on. Join me.

Uh, no, thanks.

Don't feel like sweating to the oldies.

Oh, come on. It does the body some good.

Yeah. So does milk.

[sighs] So does milk.

[woman shouting over TV]

May. Don't open that door.

May!

[ominous music playing]

[birds cawing]

-Have you seen Karate Kid? -No, I haven't seen it.

Oh, my gosh. Yeah, it's probably lame.

[Becky] Look who's coming. She's so sad.

-I can't believe it. -Hey, guys.

-What's so sad? -Guys? As if.

We're ladies of the '80s.

Get a clue, will ya?

So tragic. Didn't you hear?

The last New Kid On The Block died from the cough.

They've been playing their videos all day long on MTV.

MTV? What's that?

[scoffs] Oh, my God. Are you kidding?

Music Television?

And what are you listening to anyway?

-Def Leppard. -[Lynne] They're so yesterday.

No one listens to hair bands anymore.

Prince is what's happening?

Hey, we're having a birthday party

at the roller rink this weekend.

It's gonna be totally rad. You have to be there.

I'll be bummed to the max if you don't come.

Totally. I'll be there.

Is she invited?

Sure, she can come.

But she probably can't afford it.

It's really expensive to get in.

Your parents are poor. No offense, though.

Just being honest.

Try outs are tomorrow. You should totally try out.

Cindy Mancini dropped out. You could be my co-captain.

-[Lynne giggling] -[Becky] Totally.

I've been practicing an hour before school

every day for the last three weeks.

[both giggling]

Well, they say the early bird gets the worm.

-Say what? -Wh--

Ah!

Okay, whatever.

I, uh, need to go back home.

I realized I forgot something.

Oh.

Well, the bus is, like, right here.

You're gonna miss the bus, freakazord.

-[Becky chuckling] -Bye-bye.

Early bird gets the worm?

Really?

Must be take a worm for a walk week.

[chuckling]

[Lynne huffs]

[bus engine humming]

[bell ringing]

[upbeat music playing over radio]

-Oh, hey. -Yeah.

I'll take one of those key lime pies with the alien shavings.

All right, that'll be $19.85.

-Are you a believer? -Oh, yes.

Some say the Soviets had that spacecraft

down in the bows of Area 51

in their magnetic force fields while keeping us alive.

Well, and some would say if you went out to Area 51

and looked under a rock, all you'd find is a big pile

of manure and cockroaches.

But who am I to say? Right?

Go ahead and keep it.

Thank you.

Have a good day.

[doorbell rings]

[school bell ringing]

[dynamic music playing]

You know, Becky, if you put half as much time

into your homework as you do boys,

you would be my star pupil.

[classmates chuckling]

Glad you could finally make it.

-Don't mention it. -Nice pants.

Where'd you get those pants, Homeless-R-Us?

[kids giggling]

All right, you little monsters, it's your lucky day.

No pop quiz.

[kids exclaiming]

Oh, bravo, brava.

Thank you for being so transparent about your feelings.

All right, who wants to tell me what today is?

It's the two-year anniversary of the attack.

Well, let's not call it an attack.

[Daniel] Well, that's what it was.

It definitely wasn't the aliens.

I think we should have dropped the atomic bomb on them.

I would have given that two thumbs up from me.

Thankfully, our actor/president

didn't feel the same way.

Actually, Mr. Reagan showed true restraint that day.

Too many lives already lost, no need to lose any more.

Daniel, why don't you wake up and smell what you're shoveling?

An eye for an eye only ends up blinding the entire planet.

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

Well, for your information,

Garby, a king needs a queen to have a kingdom.

And from the lips of Sloane Peterson,

who got a glimpse of you in the locker room,

you'll never be king with that little--

Moving right along.

Who can tell me what the final straw was that set off the war?

I thought it was because the Soviets shot down

the Korean airplane that drifted off course.

Well, that certainly started it.

Did you know that before the attack,

90% of all airplanes drifted off course by as much as 100 miles?

Now their paths have to be near perfect,

within five miles.

But the final straw that ignited the Cold War

was none other than a military simulation.

Has anyone heard of the Archer Able 83 drill?

The Able Archer 83 drill is when the U.S.

went to DEFCON 1 and simulated a full-on

global thermal nuclear attack.

They even went so far as to airlift the president

out of the country, like in the movie War Games.

The Soviet Union thought they were about to be hit

with a full-on nuclear invasion, so instead of reacting,

they overreacted and deployed six dozen warheads?

Precisely. How did you all handle the lockdowns?

[Daniel] I was scared.

Everybody was.

No food in the supermarket, no toilet paper.

It was scary.

-[kids snickering] -What? It was.

Couldn't go outside.

And if you did go outside, you had to wear a mask,

because the radiation was so high

and everyone was so terrified of getting the cough.

Did anything positive come from the...

-attack? -[Lynne] No.

It's starting to feel normal again,

but everyone pretends as if it never happened.

It's like we aren't allowed to feel any animosity

towards the Russians for what they did.

My dad said the Russians blew up Area 51,

because when the spaceship crashed in the '50s,

the U.S. Military wouldn't let

their scientists come and see it.

So they told everybody about Area 51,

so all the nutjobs are going to try to find it.

The urban legend and delusional world

that is known as Area 51, now known as Space Rock.

So...

does anyone here believe in aliens?

We are not the first creatures to rule this Earth.

The dinosaurs roamed this land over 65 million years ago.

We are just a microcosm in this galactic universe.

And like every living creature,

we are born with the curiosity to discover the unknown.

That's why you hear these stories

of old people wandering the desert naked,

looking for the fountain of youth,

or some alien to help them figure out

where their wrinkly butts disappeared to.

[kids giggling]

Urban legend has it that Space Rock is a place

with healing powers that originated

from the crashed spaceship in Roswell.

Hidden safely in a volcanic crater miles under the Earth,

in a land that is constantly drifting with the sands of time.

[school bell ringing]

[dynamic music playing]

800 knots, heading below the heart of the deck.

Dead ahead, 8 miles.

Launch Maverick on alert 5.

Let's turn and burn.

[May] Hmm.

I don't know how they ever shoot down

hostile enemies with these things on.

I can't see shit.

Yo, wastehead, did you hear?

What? That Jester said?

Or that they opened up another ponderosa

down the street with an even better salad bar?

Salad bar?

What the hell is a salad bar?

Whatever, no.

Ferris Brown hit the high level on asteroids.

So they pulled the plug.

They pulled the freaking plug, man.

[synthetic voice] Warning.

[alarm blaring]

Here we go again.

[synthetic voice] Danger.

Danger.

[alarm keeps blaring]

[synthetic voice] Danger.

-[alarm stops] -[school bell ringing]

Well, that was sure fun.

I gotta go. See you in class.

Shalom.

Hi, May. Do you want me to carry your books for you?

Uh, no, Donald.

Actually, my name is Ronald, not Donald.

I told you, not if you were the--

Last boy on the planet? Well, I can be.

I'll hide my face, then?

♪

Well, can I admire you again today?

Maybe after lunch?

Ew.

♪

[insects chirping]

[clock ticking]

[water splashing]

[items clattering]

[emotional music playing]

Blinkity-blink.

♪

[therapist] Can we begin?

[sighs]

♪

Yes, now we can.

We always have to begin under your conditions.

Where did we leave off?

♪

I ran to the door,

and remember her yelling at me not to open it.

But I did.

I looked back at her one last time.

She sat on the ground with one foot

bracing against the door of the ship.

She had her hands wrapped around my fingers.

She didn't have a good hold on me.

As I opened up my hands, they immediately ripped me away.

She looked at me for a split second, almost...

almost asking for forgiveness for not being able to save me.

And that was the last day I saw her.

The day I was taken.

Was that the first and only time you've been abducted?

I don't know exactly.

It might not even be the first time I was taken.

It sounds like Disorientation Impact Syndrome.

It's been this way since your childhood?

My childhood was a dream.

What a joyful time it was.

Not perfect.

But whose is?

And I survived Wally World and two nuclear attacks.

How many people can say that?

I think you've learned how to dig and nest

all of your problems into a giant hole.

I've heard this all before. Fictitious Abduction Syndrome.

False memory. Whatever you want to call it.

I'm not Alice.

I don't need to fall down a rabbit hole

to find my cupcake mountain wonderland of happy thoughts.

So if you're not Princess Lolly and you're not Alice...

you must be the rabbit.

And even if anyone ever figures out how to get you out,

they'll just dive further down to the hole.

Je ne sais pas.

See, that's the constant.

The childish references to childish games.

If only life could be a dream.

You should go.

Do you still dream about fireflies?

What do you dream about?

Is there ever a daydream or a thought?

And I wonder, will the fireflies in the sky...

lead you out of the darkness?

Doubtful. They could only blink, blink.

[sighs]

I'd have to fight my way through the nothingness,

the darkness, hoping there's light at the end.

Or as you once mentioned, the rolling blackouts.

That is the origin of the rabbit hole

that you need to fall down.

Look, I'll fall down as far as the basement

of the Alamo will take me.

I just...

I don't know what good it will do to talk about the blackouts.

I don't think there's anything there I want to remember.

But there is, go back into a world of nothingness.

In the darkness.

[sighs]

[exhales audibly]

Calgon, take me away.

Okay, let your mind go. Your body will follow.

When I count down from five to one...

you will go through a doorway of time,

a world you locked away from everyone.

Four, three,

two, one.

Now, your mind should be in a world of nothingness.

There's no Earth below us.

Just floating, drifting,

calling home.

What do you see?

[ominous music playing]

Space Rock.

♪

[music fades]

[groans]

[softly] Oh.

-[Wendy] What? -That's it.

Where's the beef?

McDonald's, corner of Broadway and Belmont.

Maybe I wouldn't have to go there

if you voted for Mondale instead of the Gipper.

There's your beef.

Don't be a spaz. Gosh.

[Elliot] That ain't how we talk to grown-ups around here.

Do we teach you better manners than that?

Yes, sir.

That's the last bit of our water, FYI.

Oh, I-- I'll just get more from the sink.

Hey, uh-uh, space cadet, sit down.

Remember, we don't drink that water.

Right. When are we getting more water?

Heinen said that they're going to get a drop at night,

so I will stop first thing in the morning.

[Elliot] Well, get all you can.

The contamination level's been so high,

who knows how long we have until we're completely out of water.

I just see you feeding that bear?

We can't afford to be feeding four mouths around here.

You got to choose. It's either you or him.

Come on. You or him?

Well, I guess it's me.

[both giggling]

So when are you heading out?

-Right after breakfast. -Hmm.

Do we get to come visit this time?

Oh, I don't think so.

Last time Murphy got the cough from her family

and half the crew got bumps, so...

-Right, yeah. -It's just tense right now.

They've been having some problems with the O-rings.

I know what O-rings are.

They're the boosters?

[whispers] Like these.

-[giggles] -[Elliot] Huh.

Say, you find one in that bowl about the size of this room,

I'll gladly take it.

[grunts and chuckles]

Do you want some coffee?

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa!

-Oh, my gosh. -Damn it.

Oh, my gosh, I'm sorry.

Stop. You're making it worse.

-[Wendy] I'm sorry. -[May chuckles]

Oh, is this funny?

-[thud] -Yeah?

You still think it's funny?

-Do you think this is funny? -Hey, stop.

-Huh? -Stop.

[loud thudding]

Never raise your voice at me in my house.

Are we clear?

She-- she was just trying to play.

[ominous rumbling]

It's okay, May, it's okay.

You're not going to change your suit?

I don't have another suit.

Daddy, are you going to the dark side of the moon again?

Mm-hmm, and if the schedule holds,

I'll be on the next Challenger flight, too.

Well, you can take my bear with you.

He can keep you company on your way up to space,

and then you can leave him on the moon for the aliens.

You want me to leave that old ratty bear

on a cold and dusty crater all alone?

There ain't no getting him back.

You okay with that?

-A-okay. -[Elliot chuckling]

A-okay. [sighs] Hmm.

Or you don't have to go this time.

-You can stay. -Yeah?

You know anyone else that can fly that bucket of bolts?

-No. -Didn't think so.

Hey, who's the best pilot you ever saw?

I'm looking at him.

Who is it? Who?

-It's you, Daddy. -Bet your butt it is.

Bye.

-[Elliot chuckling] -What?

Why are you wearing all that makeup?

[Wendy chuckles]

Oh, Daddy, you almost forgot.

Mooshka.

Yeah.

Take care of that bear.

[planes whooshing]

Thank you.

Eight hours of cleaning,

has to violate the child labor laws somewhere.

Paint the fence, sand the floor.

It's called chores.

Hey, and because you asked, there's more.

It'll be fun. We'll set it to music.

The world's tiniest violin.

-So lame. -Oh, gosh. Come on, let's go.

[Wendy sighs deeply]

-Ouch. -Big baby.

This is all Grandpa's stuff?

Yeah, it is.

And, um, it's time to let it go.

Let it go? Like throw it out?

What you talking about, Wendy?

[Wendy sighs] I'm talking about you helping me out.

I can't do this one.

I need you to be the adult, okay?

-Hmm. -I want you to pack up

these babies, and if you find anything cool,

we'll box it up and then have a yard sale.

-Hmm. -It'll be totally rad.

-Hmm. -Get to it.

Thank you. I love you.

Mm-hmm.

[loud clattering]

Fudge.

[blowing raspberries]

Grandpa's not legal radios.

[sighs happily]

[electrical buzzing]

[tentative music building]

I wonder if anyone's still on the Ham.

Beam me up, Scotty.

May calling Orson. Come in, Orson.

No? Okay.

[scattered conversation over radio]

This is Mayday, Starkiller 51.

Does anyone copy my transmission?

This is Mayday, Starkiller 51,

calling from Roswell, Nevada.

Anyone there?

[radio static]

[man] Luckily, I'm only carrying half a load, but yeah.

Anyone with the big wagon on the westbound 8090,

watch out, black ice.

That's a big 10-4. Good, buddy.

Over.

Well, all right.

And who do I have the pleasure talking to?

This is Mayday, Starkiller 51.

Who is the man on the ham?

Taco Tony, 45.

Just crossed the Arizona border an hour ago.

Now driving through some light snow down in Tucson.

About to call it a night.

Driving so long, starting to see crazy things.

Like what?

Blinding lights, mostly.

UFO lights? You think?

After 10 hours of driving,

all the lights start looking the same.

Come to think of it,

I ain't seen a UFO since...

since that picture show in Ogden,

called the Body Snatchers.

If you don't mind me asking, how old are you, little lady?

Eleven. Be 12 in 15 days.

All that time to live life,

grow up, get married, have a family,

buy a house, and hopefully you don't come home to a note

saying your wife's moved on to greener pastures.

That's what's happening to my mom and dad right now.

Growing apart. That's just part of life.

[radio screeching]

[scattered sounds over radio]

God damn it, Wendy!

Whoa, language, lady.

Don't have cow, all right, mommy dearest.

So this is where you go to give late-night love advice,

huh, Dr. Ruth?

I Ham what I am.

Grandpa and I used to sit here for hours.

He would talk to all these people from Denver to the DMZ.

And when he couldn't find anyone to talk to,

he would tell me about all the different ways

he killed enemy soldiers in Korea.

Sounds like Dad. [soft chuckle]

Hey, if you're going to talk on the ham,

be careful who you talk to.

These aren't your standard, everyday consumer radios.

When your grandpa left the Army,

they came looking for these a couple times.

What do you say? It's getting late.

Just five more minutes, please.

All right, five minutes.

Why can't you be like normal kids

and watch Baywatch and Growing Pains?

My whole life is a growing pain.

[mockingly] Oh, my whole life is a growing pain.

Hmm.

[bell dings]

Houston, we have a problem.

The couple over there with the kid

who's coughing up a lung and scaring away

all the customers...

-[kid coughing] -...I think he's got the cough.

You're going to have to ask them to leave.

Me? [Wendy scoffs] Why me?

Because I don't want to get it.

I don't want to get it?

Send them on their way.

[Wendy scoffs]

God, give me strength.

[coughing softly, breathing heavily]

That's a cute little rabbit you got there.

It's very kind of you, dear, but don't bother.

He can't answer you back.

We'd like to order now

uh, two shortcakes and a coffee black,

and Walter will have the oatmeal and a side of bacon.

Sure you can... hear me all the way over there?

You know, I actually think

I'd have to ask you guys to leave.

We'll do no such thing, not until we've eaten.

Your son, he seems sick, like he has the...

Grandson, and he's fine.

Really.

Mickey.

His name's Mickey.

Ma'am, Mickey doesn't seem fine.

I'm sorry. I'm not trying to--

Pass judgment?

Of course you are.

I wouldn't expect anything less from somebody like you.

Betty.

I'm sorry.

[hopeful music playing]

It's just that it's--

been like this everywhere we go.

He's not contagious.

You can't spread it around

to everybody like they say on the tube.

He's got cancer.

Not the cough.

I am so sorry.

Thank you.

[Walter] We're simply passing through.

We just need to get some fuel and eat before we drop him off.

-[Betty] Walter. -What?

She lives here, for God's sake. It's no secret.

Everyone here knows about Space Rock.

[Wendy] Space Rock?

Didn't that place go sour after the attack?

Nobody knows if that's true or not.

It's not like anybody ever found it.

But we're gonna try.

What choice do we have, anyways?

God has failed us and refuses to answer our prayers, so...

Maybe they will.

They?

They will take him, they will heal him.

They will make him new again.

-Yes. -They will bring him back to us.

I know that in my heart.

♪

If-- if you wouldn't mind, please.

Of course.

Thank you.

Thank you.

♪

[ominous music playing]

[beeping, clattering]

[humming a tune]

[faint beeping]

[faint beeping]

[faint beeping]

That's it.

Rubber Ducky, you're the one.

[faint beep]

Okay.

[radio crackling]

[radio beeping]

[suspenseful music playing]

[breathing heavily]

[door clicks open]

[door shuts closed]

[footsteps thumping]

[electric buzzing]

[distorted music playing]

[wind howling]

[toy playing music]

[footsteps thumping]

Oh, did you see Small Wonder last night?

So good!

You mean the show with the robot?

Man, I love that freaking show.

Vicki cracks me up. So real.

And really, Vicki is far from real.

She's a girl who plays a robot.

Not believable at all.

Bad acting.

That voice, come on!

The show is basically a nerd's wet dream.

The father is a robotic engineer who made her

because his only son Jerry drove his mother away.

And now, all his dad has left to show

for all the disappointments in his life is Jerry.

And Vicki, his teenage sex robot.

No.

You really think that?

Like, they do it?

How do they do it?

If he made her a girl,

why wouldn't he give her all the parts?

The mom left as soon as he made her.

-See how she fills that void? -Damn!

Vicki's a sex robot?

That just blew my freaking mind!

I don't think I'm ever gonna be able to watch that show again.

Why you always gotta rain on my parade?

Because I'm still coping with the idea

of an actor for a president.

And the way things are going,

I'm never going to find out who shot JR.

[school bell ringing]

Word.

Okay, class, get your books out.

Turn to page 35 in your book

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

[door clicks open]

[ominous music playing]

Okay, everyone, just close your eyes.

This will all be over quickly.

[Geiger counter crackling]

[crackling intensifies]

No, no, wait!

No, wait! Wait, wait, wait! No! No, no, wait!

It's not me! No!

No, you're making a mistake! It's not me!

No way! Wait!

[Mrs. Peltzer] Okay, let's focus up.

There's nothing we can do about that now.

He'll be fine.

Yeah, you mean after they're done scrubbing his skin away.

Okay, Gertie, today's the day.

You're the last student to give your oral assignment.

You up for it?

Not quite ready to share your vision board yet?

-Want to give it a try tomorrow? -[kids laughing]

Okay, class, I know this news

is going to be terribly upsetting,

but Friday's test will be postponed till next week.

-[all exclaiming] -Ah, simmer--

simmer down, you little rodents.

Instead, we are going to spend the morning

watching Challenger shuttle launch.

Now, as you know,

the high school teacher, Christa McAuliffe,

who is the first civilian to go into space.

What you may not know is that May's father,

who was part of Gemini 15,

will now be joining Mrs. McAuliffe

on the Challenger.

-Isn't that right, May? -Wait.

I thought your dad was a janitor. [laughs]

[Daniel] Yeah, if your dad's an astronaut,

why can't he buy you some better clothes?

Eat my shorts, dipstick. You don't know anything.

[Daniel] Hey, take a chill pill, will you?

I mean, without him,

there'd be no one to install the satellites,

and the retards won't be able to watch

Mr. Rogers on Saturday mornings.

You're just jealous because your dad's in prison

for stealing from all the old people

who had money in the stock market.

-Guys-- -[Daniel] At least my dad

didn't get bumped off two space missions

because they thought he was a p--

-Penis breath. -[Mrs. Peltzer] Enough!

Principal's office now.

Way to go, Beavis.

Butthead.

Loser.

[scoffs]

[door shuts closed]

Such a waste of yearbook space.

[alarm] Warning.

Okay, kids, under your desks.

[alarm blaring]

[alarm] Danger.

[kid clears throat]

[woman sobbing]

[somber music playing]

Ma'am,

are you okay?

Excuse me, do you need help?

[woman whining]

Did you find the boy?

What boy?

My boy.

My sweet boy.

Oh, where did you go, boy?

Where did you go?

[woman sobbing]

They-- they took him.

They said they'd bring him back in 51 days

when he was better.

He's better now, right?

[woman sobbing]

Oh,

where did you go, boy?

Where do you think they go?

-Where does who go? -The children.

My God, where did the children go?

Where did you go?

Where's my boy? [sobbing]

Where is my boy?

Where are you?

[wailing] Where did you go?

Where's my boy?

[radio beeping]

[Wendy] So you haven't been on base.

Where have you been?

Elliot.

Oh, my God. [laughs]

[ominous music playing]

Babe?

Elliot, where have you been?

Hey, Elliot. [sighs]

Elliot!

May, go back to your room.

[electric buzzing]

[toy playing music]

[distorted music playing]

[birds chirping]

[Wendy chuckles]

-What? -[Wendy chuckles]

So I guess my definition of quarantine

is a little bit different than NASA's.

[Elliot] You want to stay six feet away from me,

be my guest.

Quarantine hasn't started yet.

Then where were you for the last seven days?

[sighs] Hey, Daddy, if you're home on Friday,

maybe we can go see a movie or watch a rerun of Dallas.

Yeah, because your daughter missed you.

You don't think that you could have called her?

No, I couldn't.

[Wendy scoffs]

[paper rustling]

There's what you missed.

[Mayday] I can't wait to get back on the Ham.

I was talking to my friend Ivan yesterday.

He's from Belarus.

He's always complaining about his wife's bad cooking. [laughs]

And how one day he's gonna die of dysentery.

[both chuckling]

He used to work at the power plant

until the nuclear disaster.

He thinks the Americans had something to do with it.

Missy.

I don't want to hear another word about the Russians

at the dinner table.

-Are we clear? -Crystal.

Gosh, it's not like I clubbed a baby seal or something.

Fine, I'll ignore them.

Seems to work pretty good around here these days.

Who else do you talk to besides people at the USSR?

People in Serbia, Okinawa, pretty much everywhere.

I even talked to an old astronaut named Vlad.

He's from a country that rhymes with whatcha, but isn't Russia.

[Mayday chuckles]

And he said that they were actually

the first ones to land on the Moon

and that they weren't authorized to report their experience

because they had multiple encounters

with UFO spacecrafts.

What else did they tell you?

About Laika, the whatcha space dog

that was sent to space and orbited Earth for a week,

and that NASA hired Stanley somebody,

to help the US fake the first Moon landing.

Enough! Not another word from you.

Great men died getting us to the Moon.

But here you are,

in my house,

spewing this garbage.

We did not fake the landing.

They did not beat us to the Moon.

And Laika, the dog, did not orbit for a week.

She burned up a few hours after launch

when their capsule overheated.

She was SPAM in a can thanks to the Russians,

who sure as shit are not your friends.

If you haven't recognized that yet,

why don't you show me where New York is on a map?

I'm sorry, I-- I didn't mean that.

[Wendy] May, it's okay.

[sighs] Hey, Daddy,

when you go to the dark side of the Moon,

can you check on Mooshka for me?

I don't know what happened to your bear.

So where is he then? Where's Mooshka?

Did you even go to the Moon?

I have to go.

Wait, you didn't tell me who the best pilot is.

Do you know who the best pilot I ever saw is?

Wait, I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry.

What are you sorry for?

[somber music playing]

[door shuts closed]

[Wendy] Sorry.

It's okay.

[switch clicking]

[radio humming]

Turn that thing off, will you? Same thing every day.

The news trying to keep us all living

in a constant state of fear?

Dang, take a chill pill.

I wanted to see if Charles in Charge is on.

Didn't all the actors on that show get blown up?

Everybody got zapped, except for Scott Baio.

They had to recast a whole new family.

Hmm.

I wonder if they'll ever do the same

for Joanie Loves Chachi.

Yeah, they'll never bring back Joanie Loves Chachi.

-[radio crackling] -Whoa, what's that doing?

We gotta figure out what's going on.

I-- I don't know if it's a distress call or what,

but that transmission has been repeating

for the last 51 days.

And when I type the same series and numbers in,

someone or something sends back the exact same message,

but always in a different order.

[sighs] And the day I started responding,

we moved into DEFCON 2

for the first time since the attack.

And then two days later,

a Soviet fleet of submarines surfaced off of Alaska.

Oh.

Wait, so who's sending the signal?

Like, secret military or--

or maybe it's a lost alien ship trying to phone home.

I don't know where you get your delusions, laser lips.

[man] Executing. Aircraft heading 3-6-0.

[Jeremiah coughs]

-[woman] Roger. -[coughing continues]

It's getting worse, isn't it?

[man] 8-5-0, do not engage the target.

I'm hoping this is a simulation.

I-- I-- I don't think so.

That does not sound like an exercise.

I think it's time to buzz the tower goose.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. I can't let you do that.

There's no breaking this force field.

Sometimes you gotta say, "What the fuck."

[Jeremiah snorts]

Base, can I have those coordinates again?

[man] 5-1, X-ray, Foxtrot, Henry,

Alpha, Mary, 1-0.

Please confirm your clearance.

2-5, Bravo, Victor, 6-7, Alpha,

3-3-6, Alpha, 2-6,

8-6, Charlie, Charlie, 8-3-7-7.

Grandpa would be so proud of me.

...47.2431 degrees north, 115.30 degrees west.

That's right on top of Falcon Lake.

[woman] Keep the track. Fire on target 6065.

It's gotta be aliens. What do we do?

Enroute Alamo. Call off Alamo.

Hostile unconfirmed.

[man] Not possible. Unidentified is down.

Down as in landed?

[man] Negative. He's down.

[woman] That sounded like a kid. Cobra, please confirm your comm.

Uh, everything is fine here.

Situation normal. No kids. We're fine here now.

Thank you. Uh, how are you?

[man] Base, trace the outgoing transmission mark.

[radio beeping]

-They shut it down. -Yeah.

And that wasn't a Soviet interceptor.

They don't fly single mission.

That unidentified has to be an alien spacecraft.

Look, if the coordinates are correct, then...

the crash site is less than five miles away from here.

[Mayday grunts]

-You want to go see a dead body? -You bet your ass I do.

Tomorrow, right after shuttle launch.

No, man. No time to wait.

We need to find that black box and see what really happened.

Tell you what, I'll go and check it out,

and if I can find something, you'll read about me

in the next week's cover of the National Enquirer.

Mm.

Hang on.

These little kitty toys aren't gonna work that far away.

That's what you think.

Grandpa made these for me

with A1A military-grade satellite parts.

Sweet!

[suspenseful music playing]

[Wilma] Conflict between the US and the Soviet Union

reached its highest levels since the Cold War,

when a US military plane was instructed

to change its course mid-flight

and fly below 10,000 feet

over restricted Soviet airspace near Falcon Lake.

The pilot was returned safely...

-Oh, now you've done it. -Oh, shit, what?

Now what happens if I want to make a call, huh?

Maybe today, tomorrow, 2020.

Oh, that, right.

Sorry, I thought you meant I was responsible--

No, you're not responsible, and you proved it once again.

Who knows how many times your dad has tried to call?

-Do you know what today is? -Launch day.

-Launch day, yes. Fix it. -Sorry, I'll fix it.

[Wilma] ...the inflight transponder's inability

to keep a proper course.

Meanwhile, the Soviet Union remains on high alert

and has moved up a fleet of submarines

and warships to the Gulf of Alaska.

And now we send you back to our scheduled programming

of Small Wonder.

[ominous music playing]

[Wendy sighs]

We gotta go. You're gonna be late for school.

[man] T-minus 15 seconds.

T-minus ten, nine,

eight, seven, six.

We have main engine start.

Four, three, two, one,

and liftoff.

Liftoff of the 25th space shuttle mission,

and it is clear to tower.

[indistinct chatter]

[man] Challenger, go and throttle up.

[boom of explosion]

Daddy.

Daddy.

[man] ...looking very carefully at the situation.

Obviously a major malfunction.

[Mayday sobbing] No.

No.

[birds chirping]

[door clicks open]

[somber music playing]

[sobbing] You didn't pick me up.

Is he?

No. [crying]

[sighs]

♪

[radio crackling]

[sobbing]

[radio beeping]

[indistinct radio chatter]

-[walkie-talkie beeps] -Jeremiah, are you there?

I really need to talk to you, Jeremiah.

Jeremiah, where are you?

-[helicopter blades chopping] -[radio crackling]

Jeremiah, is that you?

Please answer.

Okay.

[upbeat music playing]

My mom said girls our age shouldn't be wearing those kind

of jeans, but I convinced her to buy them for me anyways.

You definitely got the look. [chuckles]

Yeah, well, I said, "Goodbye, Jordache,"

and from now on,

nothing will come between me and my Calvins.

[both chuckling]

What are you gonna do?

Just watch and learn.

And don't embarrass me.

Good.

Hey, loser.

I found this in the ground,

and I thought of you. [laughs]

How nice of you.

I saw you watching us at practice the other day.

So what?

Since they kicked you out of the science club,

now you think you have what it takes to be a cheerleader?

Doesn't look that hard,

but it's not my jam.

Girls who don't have a lot going on upstairs

become cheerleaders.

[Becky] Oh, is that what you think?

That it doesn't take any brains, huh?

[scoffs] Like, do you even know

how hard it is to do triple lindy?

-Seriously. -[Mayday] Triple lindy?

[laughs] Can't even imagine.

The way I see it,

cheerleading was tailor-made for girls like you two.

Girls with good looks and eating disorders.

The good thing is my brains and good teeth

will get me much farther

than your short-lived looks ever will,

especially after another five years

of gagging yourself in the locker room.

All that acid will definitely make your teeth

slide right out of your pur-tay mouth

like a Pez dispenser.

Just being honest.

No offense, right?

I don't know what you're talking about.

I don't do that.

Well, there was that one time last week

where I walked into your bathroom...

Lynne, shut your face.

Well, don't even think about trying out.

I doubt your trailer park family

could even afford the application fee.

Oh, and, uh, next time they find you

wandering the desert at night...

maybe they'll find your dad, too.

What's left of him. [laughs]

-[Lynne chuckles] -Lynne, we're walking.

Incoming nerd alert.

This can't be happening.

I will know he has a first name.

-Oh, I-- -Donald, what did I tell you?

That you would only give me the time of day

if I was the last boy on Earth.

And?

Pretty much all you got, don't you think?

-Take a walk, Donald. -[sighs] I swear, I'm worth it.

-I-- -Donald, beat it.

-[sighs] If you insist. -I do, okay?

[Donald grunts]

Trying to--

Oh.

I am okay.

[whimsical music playing]

What a lovely house you have.

Ah, thank you. Thank you so much.

May should be home at any moment now.

-Okay. -Yeah, yeah.

Hey, what are you doing? Those are my radios.

-Hey, you, stop! -May, come on.

Come on here, come sit down.

Take a picture. It'll last longer.

[laughs] Is this her?

Is this the famous Mayday Starkiller 51?

Do you want to sell me a set of encyclopedias?

[laughs] No, no.

And you can call me Ed.

The only Ed I know is Ed McMahon.

Clearly, I'm not here to give you a million dollars.

[clattering]

Make them stop.

It's okay, honey. Just talk to Mr. Brown.

-Wendy. -Mm-hmm.

Would you mind making us a pot of your delicious coffee?

Absolutely.

I'm 11. I don't drink coffee.

Isn't that special?

The innocence. Then how about a popsicle?

All right, two popsicles coming up.

Your bedside manner could use some work.

I make the effort to treat you like an adult.

Doesn't suit you.

I make a second attempt to treat you like a child.

But again, you won't partake. Fine, then.

I shall treat you like a malicious adult

who not only engaged,

but disrupted a top-secret military operation...

which alerted the Soviets.

It nearly cost the lives of thousands.

-Here you go, Mr. Brown. -Ah.

I do love these things.

Reminds me of my childhood. [chuckles]

No.

-Here, take this. Leave. -[Wendy] All right.

I have to say,

I am so excited to hear how you did it.

-I don't recall. -Neither did your president.

But we got him to talk.

I was only trying to make contact.

I was playing. It was just a game.

Do you know that you exposed a top-secret military exercise?

Nearly costing the government millions of dollars.

Sorry. Do you take traveler checks?

[laughs] Cute.

Look now.

The government doesn't care that you made contact

with an aircraft that was shot down.

What concerns us is that you somehow

sent a successful transmission

to the Area 51-15 Air Force Base.

A base that was blown up

in the Cold War.

-Capiche? -Capiche.

Good. Who taught you how to send code?

Was it your grandfather?

Or your father? The astronaut.

My grandfather.

So I didn't make contact with them.

I'm sorry.

-Them? -Aliens.

[Ed laughs]

You are so freaking adorable.

She should be working for us, right? [laughs]

So what was it?

What device did you use

to bypass the HF at Space Command?

I told Henry that it had to be the Bearcat modem.

If I tell you, will I get my radios back?

Once they do an investigation,

take away your license to operate any Ham radios,

say, forever,

yes, of course.

I crossed the streams using a Morse code generator

and a rubber ducky.

Rubber ducky?

I hooked up the Morse code generator to the seven scanners

and then bypassed a high-frequency RF transmitter

with the rubber ducky antenna hack,

which sent a code to the Enigma machine.

It transmitted a series of secondary signals

that independently hopped towers using SOS transmissions.

That piggybacked from one of the workers inside Space Command

using a 27 millihertz UHF two-way walkie-talkie

to move out the signal right into the mainframe system.

Brilliant.

Brilliant.

Do you think you could show me how you smurfed your way in?

Sure thing, Gargamel.

But on one condition.

Do you allow me to keep at least one radio?

[laughs] Absolutely not.

Hello?

[somber music playing]

Mr. Brown?

Can anyone hear me?

Anyone?

Drifting.

Floating.

Floating.

Weightless...

Calling.

[metronome clattering]

Calling home? Where were you just then?

The holding cell. They kept me there 12 days.

They wouldn't let me see or even talk to... my...

Wendy.

Did they hurt you?

Oh, yes.

Needles in my arms, tubes down my throat.

Contamination bubble baths every fucking hour.

Was the exposure internal or external?

Internal. Over 26,000 millirems.

That's way more than the lethal dose,

yet you're still here.

Is that by coincidence or by design?

I've been like this ten years to the day I...

I keep rambling and rambling.

Ramble back home. Go back in the house.

Are you home during these blackouts?

-Sometimes. -Is anyone with you?

Somebody or something hiding in the shadows?

I don't know.

It's so dark.

Very blurry.

Don't worry about what you don't see.

-What do you hear? -Broken ticking of music.

Same melody, same song always playing.

-What song? -Low harmony.

Mechanical.

Let's go ahead and wake you.

When I count to three,

you're gonna open your eyes...

and wake, okay?

-Okay. -One...

[pen clicking] ...four...

three.

-[pen clicking] -Give it a rest, will ya?

Can you stop flicking your Bic?

During these blackouts, where was your mother?

Wasn't she your protector?

There were several incidents

where she was nowhere to be found.

So either she couldn't

or she chose not to save you.

Yet she put you in harm's way.

And then conditioned you

to think you were in constant danger.

Someone says she was in a state of shell shock

after the first blast.

But to no fault of her own...

the state declared her to be an unfit mother.

And they took you away.

She almost regained custody of you.

But then something else happened.

-Do you remember? -That's in the past.

For God's sake, I was a child.

Trying to make sense of living in a world

with a constant threat of another nuclear holocaust.

We were all in a state of constant fear.

And what was happening to me during all of this?

Having to go through that...

when the world was ending...

was un-fucking-imaginable.

Unfortunately, children end up becoming victims

to their parents' inability to parent.

Now, Jeremiah, was he also a victim?

Tell me again about him.

He got the cough. He couldn't be saved.

What were his parents like?

What kind of dog did he have?

What kind of house did he live in?

A dog.

[chuckles]

Why does it matter what kind of dog he had?

Well, it has everything to do with the dog.

Maybe the dog only wanted to be walked for four blocks.

Maybe the dog was missing a leg and couldn't go far.

I mean, these are the kind of details

that you're purposely leaving out.

Now, you've told me all these stories about Jeremiah.

But you don't even know how many spots the dog had.

He didn't even have a dog.

Okay?

He went looking for the black box

from the second plane that got shot down.

And he never came back.

Did he ever find the plane? Or the black box?

And when he never returned...

did you go looking for him?

Yeah.

I did. I--

that's when... [mumbling]

[ominous music playing]

Jeremiah?

I have a bad feeling about this.

Jeremiah?

[walkie-talkie crackling, beeps]

[Mayday whining]

Jeremiah?

Please, be you.

[Mayday whining]

-[walkie-talkie crackling] -Jeremiah?

Oh.

-[walkie-talkie beeps] -[Mayday whimpering]

It's okay, it's okay, it's okay.

[Mayday panting]

Holy shit, Batman.

♪

[high-pitched beeping]

[Wendy] I don't know.

I mean, she hasn't slept walked since she was little.

Uh, like, maybe since she was, like, seven or eight.

[door creaks open]

Oh, she's here.

All right, I'll talk to you later.

Where have you been?

Where have-- Oh, my God, what happened to you?

May, what happened to you? Come on, baby, sit down.

-Sit down. -I don't know. I don't remember.

Look at your face, May! Who did this to you?

Tell me, who did this?

I don't know. I-- I don't remember.

Oh, my God.

Does Geraldo have a broken nose?

[groans] Forget the TV. Where were you?

May, Space Rock doesn't exist.

You're not leaving this house again.

Not at all.

But, Mom, it is real. I found it.

The coordinates where the airplane was shot down

brought me right to the spacecraft.

-And to Jeremiah. -Who's Jeremiah?

Mom, it's real. Do I sound like a liar?

No, you sound about as believable

as Jim and Tammy Faye on Nightline.

-[Mayday hisses] -Oh, my God.

-Stop, stop. You're hurting me. -I'm trying to help you, May.

Just breathe.

Why do you smell like sulfur?

[Mayday retching]

-Are you gonna be sick? -Mm-hmm.

All right, come on, go. Go to the bathroom. Go.

[Mayday coughing]

What kind of soup is that?

Chicken noodle. Your favorite.

Oh, right. Thanks, Mama.

You're welcome.

Looks like Mikey doesn't like it.

-What'd I forget? -Sour cream.

Ah, sour cream.

[May thuds on floor]

May?

May?

[phone beeping]

Hi, something's not right.

I don't know what to do. That's why I'm calling you.

Okay, how does-- how do you explain this?

Okay, there's...

she sleeps for 16 hours a day

and then is constantly throwing up.

And then the next day she's completely fine.

The cough? It is not the fucking cough.

[intriguing music plays]

[straw slurps]

[Wendy] Mmm.

[woman] Has your daughter been exposed to radiation

in the last 30 days?

-Is she suffering from CWC? -CWC?

The cough.

No.

When was the last time

her radiation levels were checked?

Um, six weeks ago.

I have all the paperwork, they're normal.

Okay.

[May retching]

Red circular growths, I...

She has three red circular growths right here.

Can you just tell me what is wrong with my baby,

so we can save her, please?

Wendy, our daughters go to the same school.

And off the record, May is showing signs

of someone with stage four cancer.

And I don't know what to make of it.

She came in clean,

but overnight she started developing

alarming levels...

of radiation exposure.

And this is all so new.

There's no telling how long the contamination of these bombs

will impact us, or how long it'll even take to show up.

But this is what we're seeing now.

So she's dying.

That's it.

Can you please help me understand?

Because I don't.

Last week, she was bedridden.

But two days ago...

we were playing outside all day long.

[chuckles bitterly]

I had to beg her to come back inside.

So please tell me, what is that?

Terminal lucidity.

It's a cruel joke that God plays on us.

It's what we call the last hurrah.

It's when a patient rallies at the end.

Sadly, it can give people false hope.

But it's one final thing to hold on to.

Save my baby.

Please.

[heart monitor beeping steadily]

I'm gonna save you.

Ma'am, you really should wear a mask around her.

She's pretty weak

and you don't want to risk anything.

I got it.

-[wrapping crumples] -[Wendy sniffles]

[sobbing silently]

Mmm. Hi.

Hey, girl.

It's time.

Time for what?

The ship is waiting.

What ship, sweetheart?

It's okay.

I'll find it.

[Wendy sniffles]

You can go.

Okay. You can go if you want to.

Don't be afraid.

[heart monitor beeping rapidly]

[heart monitor beeping continuously]

[indistinct announcement over PA]

[shakily] Baby.

Baby. May?

May?

Stay. Stay, please.

-[nurse] Ma'am. -Stay with me, stay with me!

Stay with me, stay with me!

-No! Stay with me! -Ma'am?

[sobbing] Stay with me, stay with me!

-Stay with me! No! -[nurse] Ma'am, get back.

May! May!

No, you're killing her!

Stop! Stop!

No! No!

-Leave her! -[high pitched charging whine]

[loud electric thump]

[beeping steadily]

[Wendy screeching]

I'm going, okay? I'm fucking going!

[random beeping]

What do i do? What do I do?

What do I do?

[beeps shift to rhythmic tones]

I know that place.

[rhythmic beeping continues]

[ominous music]

Okay, we're here. We're here.

[chuckles]

[mumbles]

[Wendy breathing heavily]

Take her!

Take her!

[spaceship whirring and whooshing]

Take her!

Take her!

[coughing]

[whimpers]

[gasping]

[ominous music]

[sobbing]

[police radio beeps]

[muffled radio chatter]

[officer] Okay, that doesn't make any sense.

Now, the hospital made two separate reports.

The last report states that

you was banned from the premises

and that you snuck in in the middle of the night

and stole your daughter out of ICU.

But now you're telling me that none of that happened...

and that she willfully came with you

and asked you to take her into the middle of the desert...

to meet with...

aliens.

But someone or something caused all those wounds.

But you woke up today with no recollection

of what happened or who took her.

Yes.

That's exactly what I'm telling you.

Okay.

I'm gonna ask you again.

Where is she?

I already told you.

-They took her. -They?

Who took her?

Them.

Them.

The ones from...

I have answered your questions. I am done.

Are you gonna help me find her or not?

You know where she is.

[door slams shut]

Stop.

You know the drill.

-[door beeping] -[instrument clicking]

Have a seat.

[muffled coughing]

Well, I won't be needing that today. [laughs]

Levels are down.

You're just under 11,000 millirems.

The last time we met...

you were well over 26,000.

That's good, then.

Well, if you were over 30,

they'd send you back to the Silkwood.

Do you care if I talk?

I get kind of nervous when I take tests.

Oh, it's just questions.

We're testing your response time.

Shall we begin?

You put a hamster in a cage.

Does he go to the food first or get on the wheel and spin?

Eat or spin?

Well, if you were the hamster, what would you do?

Is this the test?

No, we're just getting warmed up.

My father used that same chapstick.

I told him I'd come back for him,

but I didn't. [chuckles]

Anyway, that chapstick

was underneath the seat of his car,

and I found it two years later.

Why did you leave him?

To protect her.

Her?

My Firefly in the sky.

Oh, uh, the last time we met,

you told me you didn't have any children.

Why did you tell me you didn't have any children?

Because I don't.

What happened to Firefly?

I lost her.

I told her to not go to that door.

And she went right to them.

I'll never forget that moment

that she turned around...

and looked me right in the eyes that last time.

They ripped her out of my hands.

She was...

she was so scared.

Do you know what it's like to watch your child

be ripped away from you,

and then living the rest of your life

knowing that you couldn't save her?

Thank you.

Thank you for acknowledging that.

They took her.

I don't know where she is.

Where is she? Where is she?

Where is she? Where is she?

I think about her all the time.

I still wake up screaming for her.

Firefly. Firefly. Firefly. Firefly. Firefly.

Scars.

A lifetime of scars.

Do I think she's dead? No, I do not think she is dead.

I still feel her. I feel her with me all the time.

My Firefly.

Blink, blink, blink, blink, blink, blink, blink, blink.

I would never leave her.

I would never do that.

Would you tell her that for me, please?

I saved her.

I told her I would save her, and I did.

[quietly] I did.

Yeah.

[in normal voice] Is she still waiting for mommy?

Do you know where she is?

[sobs softly]

[Wendy] Oddly enough, I do.

[chuckles]

He would never admit to it,

but he was afraid to go to space.

And the night before he left for space...

I was certain I was going to go into labor.

You were fighting to get out.

There was no stopping you.

And then the shuttle took off,

and eight and a half minutes later,

you were born.

The shuttle left the atmosphere,

and it began falling and floating in space.

And then your dad got a bit of cabin fever

and tried to open the cabin door to jump out.

And all the other astronauts had to restrain him.

So, finally, they calmed him down

and leaned him against a windshield,

and he grabbed a picture that he took of me.

My stomach was, like, here to the Pacific.

He said that he saw all these lights around the shuttle.

He said that they looked like little stars.

He said that the way that they lit up the capsule...

it reminded him of whenever he and his buddies would go

chase fireflies down by Crater Lake.

And that's how you got your name Firefly,

Mayday Firefly Malone.

Your school called today, said that you were absent.

[chuckles] I said, you haven't been there

for three years.

And I also thought there was no other students left

after the second blast.

That's that. [chuckles]

[random beeping]

[beeps shift to rhythmic tones]

Firefly?

Is that you?

Oh, Firefly, if you're there,

I know that you probably don't...

understand or even...

-[radio crackles] -[electronic buzzing]

-[mouthpiece clicks] -I tried.

And I know...

I know you're better off not here.

That doesn't mean I don't miss you,

because I miss you, Firefly.

Blink, blink.

[radio crackles]

Oh, did you blink?

I'm glad you told me that story.

It's my only constant.

It helped remind me of what used to be.

But every night,

I'm so awake in the sands of time.

[sniffles]

[wind whooshing]

[birds chirping]

I miss you, Mom.

Wherever you are.

And I know we'll meet again one day.

I know it.

But I'll miss you every day

for the rest of my life until then. [sobs]

[sighs]

Far away.

[radio crackles]

[rhythmic beeping tones]

[seagulls calling]

The ship is taking me far away.

[intriguing music]

[knocking on door]

[Wendy] May, don't open the door!

May, no! May!

May!

[inaudible]

-No! Mama! -[Wendy] May!

[ominous music]

Calling.

Calling home.

Space Rock.

I think we've come to the end of this journey.

It's time to say goodbye to Space Rock.

Don't you think?

Do you remember when the second blast happened?

Two weeks before the second attack,

there were multiple reports of a sunburned little girl

walking along Crater Lake Trail

carrying what was left of her teddy bear.

An old couple on the way back from Hill Valley...

stopped and picked you up.

You were there for four days when they found you,

without food or water.

And somehow, you still survived.

Old couple?

I don't remember.

Probably because the aliens from the mothership

gave you one too many lobotomies.

Jacob.

What? I mean, come on.

Again with the aliens? She's never going to accept it.

And after everything you've been through,

you still don't believe aliens exist anymore?

Oh.

I don't know. That's a tough one.

I do and I don't.

Okay, well, your time to talk is over.

See...

that's not right.

Because every time you talk about it,

I can't stop thinking about it.

Okay, you can either ease it up or I can send you back, okay?

Thank you.

Daniel, what do you think?

Do aliens exist?

No. [laughs]

William, is Space Rock real?

Yeah.

No, uh...

it's probab-- probably not.

Well, that's why we're all here today, right?

To find out what is real.

The last time anyone saw anything

that resembled the mothership

was the day that the Challenger was launched.

Area 51 was destroyed way before that.

No one's ever seen anything that comes close

to resembling Space Rock.

Firefly, you've said multiple times

that the aliens came and took you.

But for some reason, they kept bringing you back,

only to take you again.

Did the aliens ever leave you with any permanent scars?

Or markings?

Just these.

Mayday, the aliens did not abduct you.

It was the men in the green hazmat suits.

Child services came.

Came to your house...

and they took you away.

And your mother kept you locked inside that house

where the highest radiation levels

on record were reported.

You did almost die from drinking water

that you knew was poisonous.

That was your way of calling for help.

Mayday, she really was trying to save you.

But her mind was so far gone.

She didn't know what she was trying to

save you from.

Your memories of what happened,

they are a culmination of other memories,

hallucinations, disillusions

that were all caused by radiation exposure.

Your mind created a false world...

to protect you

from what happened to you as a child.

And that is what we all now know...

as Roswell Delirium.

And these memories...

are ultimately your Space Rock.

[ominous music plays]

Take her!

[gasping]

[somber music]

[Mayday sobs]

[sniffles]

Mayday, your father was not an astronaut.

He was a janitor that worked for NASA.

And he was exposed to ten times the radiation that you were.

So much, he couldn't tell you and your mother apart.

And your friend, Jeremiah, he was imaginary.

No.

Jeremiah got the cough.

They took him.

That was the only way they could save him.

How can you deny that? Are you denying that?

Shame on you.

Then how do you explain that all of your friends...

that you said were taken

are all sitting right here...

next to Jeremiah?

Mayday, the prison cell that your mind created,

those four walls are caving in now.

So to finally move forward...

you have to confront her.

Now, you refused to see your father when he was dying.

But maybe seeing her will ultimately save you.

-Her? -Wendy.

She hasn't seen you since you were 11.

In her mind,

she's probably waiting for the aliens...

to bring you back.

Mayday, if you're up for it,

I will get the board to approve an off-site visit.

And I will go with you and support you.

So you can make peace with Space Rock.

Where is she?

You got this.

[gate rattling and beeping]

Just trust yourself.

Okay.

Just speak from your heart.

[synthetic voice over PA] Warning, lights will be dimmed

until inmate has been safely implanted.

[chiming over PA]

[electronic whirring]

[ominous music]

[synthetic voice over PA] Your time has begun.

51 minutes remaining.

Far away from what?

Far away from the memories.

What memories?

What's waiting for us in Space Rock?

They are. They're waiting.

It's okay, though.

It's so safe.

It's so safe, you wouldn't believe.

Are we in danger?

No, just you.

But they'll take you and they'll keep you safe.

They will.

They're not real, right?

Were they ever real?

Do you know who I am?

Blinkity blink.

[sobs] Mm-hmm.

[sobs] I missed you so much.

So much.

I tried to forget about you.

But then the memory would sneak its way back in...

and throw off all the other memories.

You've been gone so long.

So long.

The aliens didn't take me.

It was you.

You kept me from being taken by the men in the green suits.

No.

No, no, no.

I watched you die.

You couldn't survive on the machines.

That's why I took you to them. I took you.

They said they were gonna save you.

And that they were gonna keep you until you're better.

Are you better?

My Firefly in the sky, are you better?

Wendy, I wasn't dying.

But not from the lack of trying.

God, did I try.

That's why I drank the water

and kept sneaking off to the desert.

I know you wanted to protect me, but you were scared.

And rightfully so.

You were so scared you wouldn't let them help us.

That's why you barricaded us in that house.

I don't blame you for anything that happened.

And they don't blame you.

Do you remember the last day

when they finally came for us?

I do.

You told me not to open the door,

but I did it.

You probably blamed yourself all this time.

You spent a lifetime of blaming yourself for what I did.

I am so sorry for that.

For what they've done to you.

For what I've done to you.

I only wanted to go to Space Rock

to get away from him.

But instead they took me away from you.

For good.

I told myself every day without you

that we would be together again.

And I waited a long time.

And that day never came.

And I wanted to be rescued.

Especially from him.

He would call me by your name.

And no matter how many times I told him I wasn't you,

he couldn't see me.

Even when he stared into my eyes.

He took away the girl I was.

And the girl I was gonna be.

And deep down I think you knew.

But I didn't know that you needed to be saved too.

I don't blame you.

Don't ever feel that it was your fault

because you couldn't protect me.

Okay?

I want you to know that, Wendy.

You did the best that you could.

And you're always gonna be my mom.

Okay?

You're my mommy.

Thank you.

[Mayday sobbing]

[synthetic voice over PA] 51 seconds remaining.

Did I save you?

[Mayday sobbing]

My Firefly in the sky.

I love you, Mommy.

[chiming over PA]

[electronic whirring]

[breathing heavily]

[electronic whirring]

["In Heaven" by The Armed plays]

♪ I will raise ♪

♪ Invisible houses ♪

♪ The world is just a stage ♪

♪ The everlasting gaze ♪

♪ Love and hate ♪

♪ Blurring in the middle ♪

♪ These holy escapades ♪

♪ I'm saving all the saved ♪

♪ My new body ♪

♪ Waits for me ♪

♪ In Heaven ♪

♪ Heaven ♪

♪ My new body ♪

♪ Waits for me ♪

♪ In Heaven ♪

♪ Heaven ♪