Dollhouse (2009–2010): Season 2, Episode 10 - The Attic - full transcript

Welcome to the Attic.
We're so glad to have you.

She's expired already? She just arrived.

Strange. This one seemed fit enough
to be a lifer.

So young and so fit. It's a shame, really.

Victor and Sierra, where are they?

We... We don't use Active codes here.
We use your real names.

My real name's Echo.

It's okay. I'm right here. See? Look at me.
I'm gonna get us out of here, okay?

We gotta move now!

There!

Hey!



Back away from the glass!

No, no! Behind you!

No!

No!

Welcome to the Attic.
We're so glad to have you.

His EEG electro-activity readings
are so slight,

- it's probably just static in the bed sheets.
- I see.

I've tried homotopic
and heterotopic stimulation.

Haven't we all?

You don't view this
as a thrilling new project?

- You should be bouncing off the walls.
- I'm running out of options.

Paul has extensive cortical scarring.
That part of his brain is done, irreparable.

If I'm going to try anything else,
I need to install the Active architecture.

And even then,
there's no guarantee it'll take.



Well, I haven't spent all this time
nurturing an asset just to throw it away.

Get him stable enough
to handle the architecture,

and from there I'll consider what's next.

Alpha mapped his entire brain.
I'll try and piece it back together.

Maybe not.

I plan on making some changes
around this house today.

Perhaps his petulant personality
is a good place to start.

And we are in the market
for a strapping new Victor, are we not?

Is everybody in this house in a coma?

Sorry.

- No, by all means. Do you want a blankie?
- I was waiting for you. Guess I dozed off.

Haven't been getting much sleep lately.
Stuff going on at home.

- Wow. I thought you were here 24/7.
- I was when I had reason to be.

- What do we know about the Attic?
- No one comes back, Boyd.

But why?
What do they do to them in there?

We don't know. Experimenting, torture.

I think they're testing the limits
of the human mind.

The brain is kept in a fear-induced,
adrenaline-fueled overdrive state.

Like a problem you can't solve.
Either the nightmare lasts forever, or...

Or it doesn't last at all.

Hey!

Wait.

Don't be afraid.

Well, that's new.

The premotor cortex is, like,
15% functional.

The posterior parietal cortex
doesn't look as bad.

Yeah, but the SMA's just scar tissue.
And the M1's totally fried.

Even with Active architecture,

Paul won't be able
to execute basic commands.

It's like his brain is a football team

and I've got this whole new set
of brilliant plays,

but it doesn't matter
because the quarterback's in jail

for dog fighting.

Yeah. And it's not like his brain can run
the Wildcat formation.

That joke went under my head.

Wildcat formation? The running back
takes a direct snap from the center,

the quarterback
doesn't even touch the ball?

It's a sports analogy. You started it.

Wait. Don't shut up for a second.
You might be onto something.

Wildcat formation.

Topher's world.

Yeah. I got it.

Adelle wants to see you.

- Did she say why?
- Does she ever?

Hey, Darth Vader kills lieutenants,
not stormtroopers.

- Thanks. I'll be right back.
- Cool.

I love you, pretty horsy.

I think we can all safely say
that this isn't real.

Dr. Saunders?

- I don't think that's a smart idea.
- Boyd, where am I? What am I doing here?

Echo, you stir things up,
you might bring the storm on yourself.

- There are not a lot of good people here.
- There aren't?

What about my friends?
Where are my friends?

You have no friends. Now be quiet.

Or I'll find something
to stuff that mouth up.

How are you feeling?

Not exactly good as new.
The headaches are getting worse.

Everything's gonna be all right.

Now that you're here. Thank God.

And how are you doing, after Alpha?

Well, I'm a ghost. You can't fight a ghost.

This isn't right.
This isn't right. This isn't real.

What happened? Come on, Echo.
Be your fricking best.

What happened to you?
What happened to you?

DeWitt.

There is only one place for a doll
as irreparably damaged as you.

The Attic.

You're not real.

That's real. That's very real.

There you are.

So it's you!

You just can't stop trying to kill me!

I'm not trying to kill you! It is!

- What "it"?
- Down!

Of course you'd be in my nightmare.
You were Rossum's rising star.

No, I was a defect,

and I'm pretty sure
you're in my defective head.

No. I'm in the Attic,
trapped inside my own mind.

- This is my mind!
- Are we really arguing about this?

I've accepted it. I chase Arcane,
and I try to stop him from killing.

The reality changes,
but the enemy stays the same.

- I'll never rest, and I'll never catch him.
- That's pretty cool and all,

and I don't want to ruin
your whole Highlander vibe,

but I'm pretty positive
that this is my mind.

- I think you just saved my life, for real.
- What do you mean?

That's the tree
from one of my childhood homes,

and those are my hateful relatives
playing croquet,

and that...

That's a long story.

- How is this possible?
- I think you are real. I can feel it.

I'm not making you up
or remembering you.

All of the minds in the Attic
must be connected somehow.

- Adelle finally put you in the Attic?
- I could feel it with that monster, too.

Arcane. That's what he calls himself.

I was trapped inside the NSA.
It felt like years.

He came there to murder me.
I fought back and I chased him out,

and I've been chasing him ever since.

- So you travel from mind to mind?
- I guess so, yeah.

I need to know how.
I need to find my friends.

Well, he'll probably go after them.
He targets newcomers.

He might even lead us
right into their heads.

How do you track him?
How does he get in and out?

He can sense fear. He finds something
that you're deeply afraid of.

This would be the much badder kind.

Multiple minds thinking as one.

...you're absorbed,
the individual ceases to exist.

This would be the much badder kind.

Multiple minds thinking as one.
Once you're absorbed...

- My worst nightmare.
- That would be the point.

Whoa, whoa. Hold on.
We don't even know where he's going.

We have to travel together.
A stranger's mind's a big place.

It's easy to get lost.

Thank you.

Oh!

Good afternoon.

How are you?

Um...

Lost?

Hey, wildcat!

Hey, I've been thinking about your theory,
and it might work.

Why not bypass the motor cortex?

We can reprogram another part
of the brain to serve its function,

reprogram it to think
it is the primary motor cortex

and always has been.

Obviously we can't use
his medulla oblongata,

but there are plenty of parts
that'll work perfectly.

We just have to decide what to sacrifice.

Sarcasm. Already doesn't have that.

Memories of high school, fear of dancing.

What's up?

How was your come to Jesus with DeWitt?

What did she say?

- Hey...
- Don't speak to me.

What did you say to Ivy?

I merely prepared her for the possibility
of taking over your position here.

What? My position?

What are you gonna do with me?
I've done nothing wrong,

apart from the things
that got you your job back.

You gave us extraordinary technology
which will be used soon.

The question is whether you have
anything more to offer.

Whether you can accept radical change,
or if you'll buckle under pressure.

I don't buckle.

- Occasionally I swashbuckle.
- Yes, you're quite a pirate hero,

swinging in
and dismembering Nolan Kinnard.

If you try to keep secrets
from the corporation,

you may have every expectation
of being chopped into pieces yourself.

How do you imagine that would feel?

Do you know a way out of here?

I can't leave.
I must stay and try to enjoy myself.

Thank you.

- Wouldn't want to end up in the Attic.
- But this is the Attic.

Rossum's been watching me closely
since I moved here to Tokyo ningyo kaoku.

Have you seen my friends?

I thought I saw them,
but I was imagining it.

But I do think they're really in here.

Well, I wouldn't worry.
I'm sure they're enjoying themselves.

I love you.

I've always loved you.

I know.

We're cornered.

Go!

Go for cover!

They got us pinned down pretty good,
Sergeant. Any ideas?

I think it's a small company
trying to act big with this barrage.

There's no air support.
We should just hole up.

We gotta take away the high ground.

Lay down suppressive fire.
Give me a window to flank from the left.

Meyers, you're with me.

What did you mean when you said
Rossum was keeping an eye on you?

In my recent transfer to Tokyo,

I was asked to report
any areas of weakness.

I found that Rossum's mainframe
was both fallible and vulnerable.

- Vulnerable how?
- Well, that's why I'm here, isn't it?

Having that information
made me a point of weakness.

Rossum put me in here
to eliminate that point of weakness.

- Hey, but it's better than being in the Attic.
- Not really.

- We have to run.
- I can't leave. I have to stay...

- Please.
...and try to enjoy myself.

- We have to go now...
- But I can't leave until I'm done.

- Stop doing that.
- Sorry. It took me forever to find you.

- Arcane is here.
- I know.

Listen. Not only are the people
in the Attic connected,

but all the Attics in different Dollhouses
all over the world are connected.

- This dude's hooked up in Japan.
- You think?

Oh, no.

Now the meat won't be fresh.

What happens when Arcane
kills someone?

Their world disappears.

He's dead. His brain's shutting down.

Then we're trapped in it.

You've been dragging your heels
a bit lately, Mr. Langton.

Tardy even, spending more and more time
out of the office.

- I've been taking care of personal stuff.
- Mmm. And this stuff, is it top secret?

It's personal.

- Are you still upset over Echo?
- We all are.

Yes, but you... You...

You've always been like a father to her.

And you took her away from me!

Shelved her.
My only goal was to protect that girl.

You knew where she was heading.
You encouraged her.

You put her in that Attic
as much as anyone else.

Is that what you tell yourself?

You didn't come to the Dollhouse
because of Echo.

You came
because you had nowhere else to go.

You work for Rossum, and that means
your options tend to slim to three.

Carry out Rossum's work
without question, the Attic,

or death.

The moment you stepped into this house,
you, in effect, gave us your life,

and you must decide if that life
is to be put to good use or laid to waste.

I have seen the future, Mr. Langton,

and it is not for the weak.

I've been through this before.

- Well, then what do we...
- We gotta do the thing he fears most

to get out of his mind. The thing he dreads.

Enjoy myself.

Good times.

Lay down suppressive fire.
Give me a window to flank from the left.

Meyers, you're with me.

- What are you doing?
- It's not safe here!

Reinforcements are pinned down
south of Herat!

There's no air support!

Tony, Tony, don't be afraid. Take a breath.
You're in the Attic.

You're in the Attic, man.
None of this is real. Okay, fine.

Wait a minute. I know you. Echo.

You need to stop being afraid.
This is all in your mind.

That explains a lot.

- How long have we been in here?
- Feels like years, but who knows?

- And you?
- Longer.

- So this murderer...
- He's called Arcane.

Chasing's not gonna do it.
We gotta take away the high ground.

- Go on the offensive?
- We can't anticipate where he's going.

We trap him. Lure him in, pin him down.
Kill him then and there.

- We gotta hurry before he gets to Priya.
- Priya's in here, too?

You know, this is a scenario I never tried.

Rigor mortis,

the new Viagra.

It's all in my mind. It's all in my mind.

This isn't.

There is no reason to be afraid.

You sure about that?

What have you done?

Arcane?

Well, Clyde, actually.

So this is your mind, huh, Clyde?

- This is your worst nightmare?
- No.

This isn't a nightmare.
This is the shape of things to come.

- Does that take away the fear?
- And the pain, too, sometimes.

That's what we're gonna do to Paul,
you know. Take something away.

Yeah. I heard.

That's gonna make him more pissed off
than he usually is.

Not if I take away his anger.

No. Anger will be all he has.

That woman is gonna drag us
straight to hell.

You shouldn't have brought me here!
It's too dangerous!

- That was the idea.
- Who are you?

How did you do that?
You people are aware?

- Why do you call yourself Arcane?
- It sounded badass.

- All right.
- No, no, please.

If I die, there'll be nobody left
to take down Rossum.

That's my line.

- You were trying to kill us!
- It was a necessary evil.

I was trying to take out
Rossum's mainframe computer.

Wait, we heard something about that.
The mainframe is vulnerable.

How do we take it out?
Is it accessible from inside the Attic?

Tell us how to destroy it!

No, no, no, no. You don't understand.
That's the problem.

You, me, everybody in the Attic,
we are the mainframe.

What do you mean,
"We are the mainframe"?

We all have repeating
worst-case scenarios, right?

Problems we're continually trying to solve.

Yeah, okay.

Well, that's because the people
in the Attic,

our brains are being used as processors,
human computers.

- How is that even possible?
- Well, it's more practical, really.

The human brain
is 20 times more powerful

than the most massive
multi-processing computer in the world.

- Rossum has hundreds of them.
- Hundreds?

Well, many Attics,
all networked to a central hub,

our brains continually soaked
with adrenaline from the fear,

running on maximum,
the processing power behind Rossum.

And you're killing people.

I'm trying to put them out of their misery,
freeing them from an eternal hell.

But mostly, I was trying to take out
Rossum's number of CPUs

to prevent this.

How do you know this is true?

Because it was my idea.

- We need to hole up! Find someplace safe!
- It's your head, genius!

Let's go!

In my scenario,
I was constantly fighting myself, at war.

I was trying to get home to my girl.

In mine,
I was constantly making love to you.

Oh?

And then you'd turn
into the rotting corpse of a rapist I killed.

Oh.

Talk to us, Clyde.

Talk!

I'm one of the original founders of Rossum.

One of two, actually.
Me and my best mate at university.

- I'd discovered ECC.
- ECC?

Encephalic communication and coding.
He was the one that had a plan for it.

I hadn't even begun to imagine
all the possible applications

for the technology.

We thought we were making history.
We weren't wrong.

- How did you end up here?
- It was the very beginning.

Our first test subject was to be imprinted
with my own personality.

We both agreed it would be too dangerous

to imprint a persona
with my knowledge and ambition,

so we slightly modified Clyde 2.0,
we called him.

Modified his persona
to have no aspirations,

so that he would just follow orders.

- And your friend betrayed you?
- Yes. Another possibility I hadn't imagined.

He was the only one I trusted.

He gave Clyde 2.0 the order to betray me.

That's how the Attic was founded.

They cleared my head out, hooked me up.
I became a human computer.

The first one in history, I suppose.

- And you've been here ever since?
- Yes. That was 1993.

Oh!

My nightmare, my loop, has been
to run statistical probability scenarios

for where the technology might lead.

All but 3% of them
include the end of civilization.

- What year is it?
- 2010, I think.

We don't know how long
we've been off the air.

2010?

That's all? Then there's still time.

- We might still be able to stop them!
- That's our mission.

Listen. The first thing they'll do

is try to install an imprinted person
in the government.

Yeah, they did that.

- They did?
- They did?

Then they're way ahead
of most schedules.

Your friend who betrayed you,
what's his name? Who is this man?

I don't even know if it is a man!
That's the first thing they erased.

I can't remember faces or names,

not to mention the fact that Clyde 2.0's
probably switched bodies by now.

If we could eliminate that backstabber

and the copy of me that does his
or her bidding,

- then we might be able to stop them.
- But there's no way out of here, is there?

No. There isn't. Believe me, I've tried.

And even if we could find a way out,

we'd just be putting a blank face
to a name we don't even have.

There has been talk

amongst some of the security personnel
that they place here.

They mistakenly let a woman in.
She saw them. She could identify them.

But apparently they got to her, too.
They scrubbed her clean.

- So we still have no way of telling...
- Caroline.

- Yes! Caroline! That was it!
- Wait. Echo, why does that sound familiar?

That's me.
I was Caroline before I became Echo.

- Do you have any memories of...
- Not hers. Not in here.

Go!

- We've got to find a way out of the Attic.
- There is no way out.

What if someone unplugs us
from the outside?

Our minds are engaged, integrated.

Disconnection will fry the circuits,
turn our brains to mush. I'm sorry.

Echo! Echo, get down!

- Wait.
- What are you doing?

I know a way out.

He's not gonna take this well.

What's happening? It didn't work?

- His brain is completely reorganizing.
- It'll take a minute to adjust.

Paul? Wait, wait! No! No, no, no, no. Hey.

What the hell?
What the hell did you do to me?

You were in a coma, Paul.

Alpha damaged your brain.
We did it to save your life.

Did what?

You made me a doll?

Active architecture
was the only way to save you.

- Then why do I feel like myself?
- You are, but it's an imprint.

- I'm sorry. It was an order.
- And we need you, Paul.

- We don't have many friends left.
- What do you mean?

Echo, Sierra, Victor,

they're in the Attic.

Wait.

This should be interesting.

At some point, he's gonna figure out
what we took away from him.

I know.

I'm not afraid to lose my life
taking you down.

I don't want to die.

Then only one of us
is going to be disappointed.

Any last words?

- Oh, my God.
- No, Echo.

Listen. My worst-case scenario, my loop,
was getting out of the Attic,

the place where our bodies are hooked up.
I think I can unplug.

Won't her brain turn to mush?

No. When a person flatlines,
the computer disengages.

That's right, it would.
To avoid any corrupted data.

If I can flatline and manage to wake up,
then I can get out of here and send help.

Your plan is to come back from the dead?

Then you'll be there to revive us,
when we flatline.

- Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute.
- No, no. I can't risk you, too.

I'm not normal, so I think I can do this.
I've been through worse.

- And we haven't?
- No, Priya, please.

The only way the scenario worked
was if I didn't have to fight for you two.

Then we'll fight for ourselves.

You don't have to look after us anymore.
You've been inside our minds.

You know we're just as abnormal
and just as ready as you.

We're a team now. We go together.

We go together.

- Are you in?
- I'm staying.

I want out, but there are hundreds
of people being tortured here.

Rossum's feeding off it.
I gotta help them. Clyde?

Well, my body's halfway
across the country anyway.

Yeah. We'll teach them to be aware,
face their fear. Might even be fun.

That'd be nice.

If you succeed
and you can get a signal to me,

we'll shut down the mainframe.

I guess I'm glad I never did kill you.

Don't get sloppy.

Here goes everything.

No I don't remember

What brought us to this

What places we blindly passed

What turns we missed

When things really mattered

And we really cared

When simply being was easy

Just having you there

The life I knew by heart

And lived everyday

The secret codes and signs

You and I, and eye to eye

Wake me up, hurt me, you have to

I forgot how to cry

Remind me of who I used to be

Back when

Nothing could come between us then

That thought would never leave us

So remind me of how

I used to feel

Remind me of who I used to be

Back when

Nothing could come between us then

That thought would never leave us

We got it.

The information we were looking for.
Maybe more.

I understand the mainframe,

and I know how to get at the heart
of Rossum, or at least someone who will.

Your plan worked.

Thank you.

There is only one place for a doll
as irreparably damaged as you.

The Attic.

They say it's whatever hell you imagine,

but I think it's something far worse.

I think the Attic is where Rossum
is keeping some of its darkest secrets.

They are rabid in their protection
of whatever's in there.

- And you want me to go in?
- I need you to go in.

But far more importantly,
I need you to come back

and bring the secrets with you.

It's the only way we'll ever get an edge.

- We?
- We can bring them down.

Nobody's ever gotten out of the Attic.

Nobody else is you.

And everyone else?

I think I've impressed upon them
the dangers we'll be facing.

- We're ready.
- No.

We're one soldier shy.

It's time for me to meet Caroline.

It's time to win her war.

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