The Big O (1999–2003): Season 1, Episode 4 - Underground Terror - full transcript
Even without what happened
forty years ago,
man would still be a creature
that fears the dark, I think.
He averts his eyes from that fear,
from the memory of his history,
and acts as if he never had those
memories in the first place.
If I stay here, I think my son
might come here to see me...
...when he gets his memory back.
When I think of that, I...
The residential records will
still show that you lived here.
Even if you move, everything will work out.
There's nothing to worry about.
Please transfer the funds
by the time we agreed upon.
Negotiator.
My work here is done.
This is about a new job.
I hear our parent company is
interested in hiring you.
Your parent company?
It's the same whether you're a
bread store or a real estate agency,
or even the Military Police, I bet.
When you say "parent company,"
it always means the same place.
In this city, the business called
Paradigm is both God and State.
Roger Smith?
You!
I work as a secretary for Phil Gasay,
publisher of Paradigm Press.
I don't believe this is our
first encounter, Miss--
Patricia Lovejoy.
As I recall, the name you gave
me last time was Miss Casey.
Didn't I tell you to call me Angel?
Have you gotten fed up with a job
that isn't worth your while?
How long have you been working here?
For a week.
What're you after?
"After"?
I'm just an ordinary woman.
Alex Rosewater...
Paradigm's chief executive.
Can man survive cut off from
his memories of the past,
having no idea how long he's been
there or where he's connected to?
This new job was to convince Michael
Seebach, a reporter with Paradigm Press,
to hand over a manuscript
he was working on...
...in exchange for a
large retirement package.
The job itself isn't difficult,
but it presents two problems:
First, uncertainty over
whether I should take a job...
…from a department so
close to Paradigm HQ.
And more importantly, the fact that
Seebach disappeared three months ago.
How long ago did you sink to taking
these P.I. jobs, Mr. Negotiator?
There are only two roads that can be
taken by people who quit the police.
They can become a private investigator and
poke around in other people's lives.
Or they can destroy people's lives
as part of an illegal organization.
All I want is information on the man
I'm going to be negotiating with.
I'm just a bit nostalgic at seeing you
come back to the nest, Roger Smith.
Michael Seebach. A German?
A missing persons report hasn't been filed.
Taxes unpaid for two months.
Hasn't he left the city?
No. Someone who lived inside the
domes would never leave them.
That's the way it is.
Oh.
Roger!
That vanished reporter of yours
led a double life, looks like.
He had a wife, but he also
rented that apartment.
You may have quit the
force out of disgust,
but the rest of us are proud
of the Military Police.
Thanks for your help
on this one, Dastun.
I've lived my life as
a newspaper reporter.
I uncover the truth
and write my articles.
But I learned all too well that a mere
reporter can't get to the truth in this city.
And no one here is even interested in
learning the truth that must be known.
But I want to know!
I want to learn what must be known!
"What must be known"…
Gasoline?
Oh, man...
You corrupt dog on the city's leash!
Michael Seebach?
Michael Seebach has
vanished from this world.
Go tell that to your masters!
What's your name, then?
Just call me Schwarzwald for now.
"Black forest"?
You can report this to your masters!
Tell them that their poor reporter
will never again appear in this city!
Dig up the truth...
Aren't you cold?
Oh, you're worried about my health?
Not really.
Androids and Megadeuses...
They existed here beforehand.
No one doubts that in the least.
But maybe we've just convinced
ourselves that that's the case...
Dorothy, do you ever think
about what makes you tick?
I think about myself
more than you do.
Yes. This is about myself.
It looks like the time has finally come
to face the darkness within me.
I use these underground
tunnels to transport Big O.
I hear there was once a transportation
system here called a "subway."
It may only be thirty feet
below the surface,
but not even bank robbers
set foot down here.
Big Ear once told me
that forty years ago,
there were people who
even lived down here.
Even I haven't gone down
any further than this.
This is probably another world
that no one in the city knows about.
Except for just one man.
The further down I go,
the newer the walls become.
Items from a more recent era
are buried further down.
I'm scared.
Me. I'm actually scared.
What's triggering this
irrational emotion?
This... is just a
physiological response.
Reason should be
able to suppress it...
Suppress this illogical emotion...
Ma--
__ma?
R-R-R. Dorothy!
"Mama"? Your mother, you mean?
Who cares about that?!
It's got nothing to do with you!
That's not what I meant!
What are you doing down here?!
Your physiological responses are
returning to normal, Roger.
Dorothy, do you want to know what
it's like, too? You can't feel terror.
I don't understand the
emotions you people have,
but even my father didn't know
how it is that I operate or think.
Wayneright...
Dr. Wayneright was the top
man in android research.
Father was a craftsman.
He was the most skilled
craftsman, then.
Still, he didn't have a complete
grasp of the core technology.
He only put me together in the hopes
of bringing back his dead daughter.
No one on this planet
knows everything.
But if there's something
that frightens you,
there are those who
turn their eyes away,
and there are those who try to see
through the fear and conquer it.
People aren't the same. Each person
is a unique being, R. Dorothy.
Dorothy?
That sound...
What was this place?
A Megadeus...!
I'm amazed you made it this far.
Most impressive, for a Paradigm dog.
Seebach! No, Schwarzwald
What are you doing here?
Is that Big O's archetype?
Forty years ago, something happened,
and we all lost our memory!
Along with the untold
power we possessed!
You call this power?
These Megadeuses were
nothing special, Negotiator.
If I could regain those Memories,
even I could possess such power!
Is it still operational?
It was buried here!
I released the lock.
And for my trouble, I became
as you see me now.
It's too bad you didn't
end up the same way.
Dorothy!
What's that woman doing?
An android!
Dorothy!
W-Why?!
Damn it!
What happened?!
Why did it move?!
What's wrong, Dorothy?!
It's alive. It accessed
my information.
Big O! Showtime!
Looks like it's after you, Dorothy.
Norman! How much longer?!
Not much longer now, sir.
No! It can't be!
That thing isn't like me!
I have no idea where it came from!
It shouldn't even be allowed to exist!
Damn!
A Megadeus!
I see! He--
No... It can't be...
Dorothy. You don't
need to feel afraid.
Master Roger! I'm terribly
sorry to keep you waiting!
That's just because I never thought
I'd need to go below the subway.
This ghost is going down!
I don't know where you came from,
when you came here, or even why...
...but you aren't a god,
that's for sure!
What?!
It's even more powerful
than the Megadeus!
No...! No!
Dorothy! Take a good look!
That's a monster that's got
nothing to do with you!
Big O! He's no friend
of yours, either!
Don't hold back!
He seems to be an excellent
negotiator, all right.
Aren't you cold?
Asking that is just something
you do out of courtesy.
Even I can perceive temperature.
That android is hard to deal with.
forty years ago,
man would still be a creature
that fears the dark, I think.
He averts his eyes from that fear,
from the memory of his history,
and acts as if he never had those
memories in the first place.
If I stay here, I think my son
might come here to see me...
...when he gets his memory back.
When I think of that, I...
The residential records will
still show that you lived here.
Even if you move, everything will work out.
There's nothing to worry about.
Please transfer the funds
by the time we agreed upon.
Negotiator.
My work here is done.
This is about a new job.
I hear our parent company is
interested in hiring you.
Your parent company?
It's the same whether you're a
bread store or a real estate agency,
or even the Military Police, I bet.
When you say "parent company,"
it always means the same place.
In this city, the business called
Paradigm is both God and State.
Roger Smith?
You!
I work as a secretary for Phil Gasay,
publisher of Paradigm Press.
I don't believe this is our
first encounter, Miss--
Patricia Lovejoy.
As I recall, the name you gave
me last time was Miss Casey.
Didn't I tell you to call me Angel?
Have you gotten fed up with a job
that isn't worth your while?
How long have you been working here?
For a week.
What're you after?
"After"?
I'm just an ordinary woman.
Alex Rosewater...
Paradigm's chief executive.
Can man survive cut off from
his memories of the past,
having no idea how long he's been
there or where he's connected to?
This new job was to convince Michael
Seebach, a reporter with Paradigm Press,
to hand over a manuscript
he was working on...
...in exchange for a
large retirement package.
The job itself isn't difficult,
but it presents two problems:
First, uncertainty over
whether I should take a job...
…from a department so
close to Paradigm HQ.
And more importantly, the fact that
Seebach disappeared three months ago.
How long ago did you sink to taking
these P.I. jobs, Mr. Negotiator?
There are only two roads that can be
taken by people who quit the police.
They can become a private investigator and
poke around in other people's lives.
Or they can destroy people's lives
as part of an illegal organization.
All I want is information on the man
I'm going to be negotiating with.
I'm just a bit nostalgic at seeing you
come back to the nest, Roger Smith.
Michael Seebach. A German?
A missing persons report hasn't been filed.
Taxes unpaid for two months.
Hasn't he left the city?
No. Someone who lived inside the
domes would never leave them.
That's the way it is.
Oh.
Roger!
That vanished reporter of yours
led a double life, looks like.
He had a wife, but he also
rented that apartment.
You may have quit the
force out of disgust,
but the rest of us are proud
of the Military Police.
Thanks for your help
on this one, Dastun.
I've lived my life as
a newspaper reporter.
I uncover the truth
and write my articles.
But I learned all too well that a mere
reporter can't get to the truth in this city.
And no one here is even interested in
learning the truth that must be known.
But I want to know!
I want to learn what must be known!
"What must be known"…
Gasoline?
Oh, man...
You corrupt dog on the city's leash!
Michael Seebach?
Michael Seebach has
vanished from this world.
Go tell that to your masters!
What's your name, then?
Just call me Schwarzwald for now.
"Black forest"?
You can report this to your masters!
Tell them that their poor reporter
will never again appear in this city!
Dig up the truth...
Aren't you cold?
Oh, you're worried about my health?
Not really.
Androids and Megadeuses...
They existed here beforehand.
No one doubts that in the least.
But maybe we've just convinced
ourselves that that's the case...
Dorothy, do you ever think
about what makes you tick?
I think about myself
more than you do.
Yes. This is about myself.
It looks like the time has finally come
to face the darkness within me.
I use these underground
tunnels to transport Big O.
I hear there was once a transportation
system here called a "subway."
It may only be thirty feet
below the surface,
but not even bank robbers
set foot down here.
Big Ear once told me
that forty years ago,
there were people who
even lived down here.
Even I haven't gone down
any further than this.
This is probably another world
that no one in the city knows about.
Except for just one man.
The further down I go,
the newer the walls become.
Items from a more recent era
are buried further down.
I'm scared.
Me. I'm actually scared.
What's triggering this
irrational emotion?
This... is just a
physiological response.
Reason should be
able to suppress it...
Suppress this illogical emotion...
Ma--
__ma?
R-R-R. Dorothy!
"Mama"? Your mother, you mean?
Who cares about that?!
It's got nothing to do with you!
That's not what I meant!
What are you doing down here?!
Your physiological responses are
returning to normal, Roger.
Dorothy, do you want to know what
it's like, too? You can't feel terror.
I don't understand the
emotions you people have,
but even my father didn't know
how it is that I operate or think.
Wayneright...
Dr. Wayneright was the top
man in android research.
Father was a craftsman.
He was the most skilled
craftsman, then.
Still, he didn't have a complete
grasp of the core technology.
He only put me together in the hopes
of bringing back his dead daughter.
No one on this planet
knows everything.
But if there's something
that frightens you,
there are those who
turn their eyes away,
and there are those who try to see
through the fear and conquer it.
People aren't the same. Each person
is a unique being, R. Dorothy.
Dorothy?
That sound...
What was this place?
A Megadeus...!
I'm amazed you made it this far.
Most impressive, for a Paradigm dog.
Seebach! No, Schwarzwald
What are you doing here?
Is that Big O's archetype?
Forty years ago, something happened,
and we all lost our memory!
Along with the untold
power we possessed!
You call this power?
These Megadeuses were
nothing special, Negotiator.
If I could regain those Memories,
even I could possess such power!
Is it still operational?
It was buried here!
I released the lock.
And for my trouble, I became
as you see me now.
It's too bad you didn't
end up the same way.
Dorothy!
What's that woman doing?
An android!
Dorothy!
W-Why?!
Damn it!
What happened?!
Why did it move?!
What's wrong, Dorothy?!
It's alive. It accessed
my information.
Big O! Showtime!
Looks like it's after you, Dorothy.
Norman! How much longer?!
Not much longer now, sir.
No! It can't be!
That thing isn't like me!
I have no idea where it came from!
It shouldn't even be allowed to exist!
Damn!
A Megadeus!
I see! He--
No... It can't be...
Dorothy. You don't
need to feel afraid.
Master Roger! I'm terribly
sorry to keep you waiting!
That's just because I never thought
I'd need to go below the subway.
This ghost is going down!
I don't know where you came from,
when you came here, or even why...
...but you aren't a god,
that's for sure!
What?!
It's even more powerful
than the Megadeus!
No...! No!
Dorothy! Take a good look!
That's a monster that's got
nothing to do with you!
Big O! He's no friend
of yours, either!
Don't hold back!
He seems to be an excellent
negotiator, all right.
Aren't you cold?
Asking that is just something
you do out of courtesy.
Even I can perceive temperature.
That android is hard to deal with.