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515 lines
24 KiB
515 lines
24 KiB
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<h3>Synopsis by Matthew Murray (mmurray@cc.wwu.edu)</h3>
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<p>
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"Humans have a phrase," Delenn narrates, as we see a recap of events
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leading up to the present, while she watches over Sheridan as he
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sleeps. "'What is past is prologue.' Minbari also have a phrase.
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'What is past is also sometimes future.'"
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<p>
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The door to Sheridan's room bursts open, and he emerges, mouth agape,
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staring at Anna. He can't believe what he is seeing, and asks her what
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she's doing there. She asks him if that's the best she can do, but,
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indicating Delenn, says she can understand under the circumstances.
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Delenn rushes out, and Sheridan tries to stop her, but Anna lets her
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leave. He tells Anna that he thought she was dead, and she expresses
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surprise that Delenn didn't tell him. She says she's sorry she couldn't
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tell him herself, and that she had to leave him alone for so long with
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no word. But that's behind them now, and they're together again. He
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pulls away, and she tells him she understands his doubts, based on what
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Delenn told him. She tells him she will take any tests and answer any
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questions to prove she is his wife. She says she's here to explain
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everything to him to help him understand what it's really all about. She
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says all he needs to do is come with her.
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<p>
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"Where?" Sheridan asks.
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<p>
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"Where else?" Anna replies. "To Z'ha'dum."
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<p>
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As G'Kar and Ivanova walk through a storage bay, G'Kar explains that
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the devices around them were delivered by the Gaim ambassador, and that
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each of the weapons can deliver a blast of between five and six hundred
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megatons, and they are very difficult to detect. Ivanova plans to use
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them as mines to destroy Shadow vessels when they come out of
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hyperspace.
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<p>
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Sheridan watches in MedLab as a group of medical personnel examine
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Anna. Dr. Franklin emerges and tells Sheridan that Anna is human, and
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that all of her old medical records match up perfectly: It is his
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wife. Sheridan protests that she died at Z'ha'dum, and Franklin asks
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why he isn't glad she's back. Sheridan explains that he had to move
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beyond her death, and now, with Delenn, things are even more
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complicated. He asks Franklin if there is anything else, and Franklin
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mentions that he found some epidermal scarring above the nape of her
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neck, and that he doesn't yet know what caused it. Franklin promises
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to run some tests, and Sheridan tells him that he has to know whether
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or not it's really Anna.
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<p>
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Sheridan, in his office, demands to know from Delenn if it really is
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Anna. Delenn says she doesn't know, but Sheridan doesn't accept that
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answer--the pictures she and Kosh showed him led him to believe she was
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dead, but he wants to know why they did that if they didn't know for
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sure. Delenn said she was sure Anna would not serve the Shadows, but
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she admits she might have been wrong. Sheridan is adamant in believing
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Anna would never go along, and Delenn says she has no other
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explanation, but Sheridan can't accept that. He demands to know why
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she didn't tell him if there was even the slightest chance she was
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still alive. She says, that if she had, he would have gone to Z'ha'dum
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after her, and they couldn't allow that.
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<br clear=all>
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<p>
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<img align=right width=128 height=96 src="/lurk/gif/066/angry.jpeg" alt="">
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"You and Kosh... You couldn't allow it," Sheridan says. "I trusted
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you, Delenn, I cared for you. I let myself start to love you. Do you
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know what that means? Do you know how hard that was for me? All along
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a little part of me was still in love with Anna, even though she was
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gone--I had to fight that part off. Everytime I thought about you...
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about holding you, about building a life for the two of us..."
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<p>
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"John, you must believe me, I didn't know she was alive. We assumed
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that she had died with the rest of the crew of the Icarus, that only
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Morden had survived."
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<p>
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"And had you known, would you have told me?"
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<p>
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"That would depend. It would depend on what she had become. Z'ha'dum
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is the homeworld of the Shadows. No one leaves there the same as they
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arrived."
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<p>
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"You... you would have denied me the right to make that choice. How
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can you say that and expect me to ever trust you again?" He starts to
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walk out, but Delenn stops him.
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<p>
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"John, I do love you. If you believe nothing else I ever say,
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please... please believe that." Sheridan, without responding, walks out
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of the office.
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<br clear=all>
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<p>
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<img align=right width=128 height=96 src="/lurk/gif/066/assignment.jpeg" alt="">
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Londo and Vir are in the Zocalo, and Vir asks Londo why he has been
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drinking so much since a diplomatic pouch arrived. Londo explains
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that he has been promoted, to the position of advisor to the emperor in
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matters of planetary security. Vir thinks that's great news, and
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doesn't know why Londo is upset. Londo tells him that it's because it
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didn't come twenty years ago, when he could appreciate it, but now,
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since they are afraid of him, they want to put a leash on him so they
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know what he's doing at all times. He knows that, if they see him
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doing anything suspicious, he will soon be killed. A man, who
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identifies himself only as "a friend" approaches the table. He says he
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was sent by their "mutual associates" and tells Londo to
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leave the station at once. Londo says he doesn't want to, and the man
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says that, if he won't go, he won't be responsible, but that Londo must
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leave quickly if he values his life. Londo and Vir know that it was
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more than likely a friend of Morden's, and Londo doesn't like the sound
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of the warning at all.
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<p>
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As Dr. Franklin looks over the medical records, searching for an
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explanation for the epidermal scarring, Anna tells Sheridan, in his
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quarters, that she has never been examined in such deatil--by anyone
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other than him. She tells him that the medical reports have confirmed
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that she is Anna, but Sheridan doesn't understand what she has been
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doing on Z'ha'dum for so long, and why she picked now to come back.
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She can't tell him that, but says that he needs to come back with her,
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and that they are eager to meet him. Sheridan asks what will happen if
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he doesn't go, and Anna says she will leave without him, and he'll
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never know the truth. She promises no threats and no
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ultimatums--merely an opportunity to hear their side of the story.
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Sheridan asks why she wants to go back, and Anna tells him it's her home
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now, and she's doing important work, and that he'll understand when he
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goes there. Sheridan still refuses until he gets some answers--he
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wants to know what happened to the Icarus and its crew when they landed
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there. Anna asks him if, when she tells him, he promises to go back
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with her. Sheridan agrees.
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<p>
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"Interplanetary Expeditions said that one of their probes out on the
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Rim had found the ruins of an ancient civilization," begins Anna. "Dr.
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Chang was putting together a follow-up expedition and he wanted me on
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his team. It was the find of a lifetime. What he didn't tell me, or
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most of the crew, was where he really got the information.
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<p>
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"A few years earlier, IPX had found an alien ship buried beneath the
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surface of Mars. It was unlike anything they had ever seen before. As
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soon as it was exposed to daylight, an automatic beacon on board sent
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out a coded message. They knew whoever the ship belonged to would be
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coming in fast to pick it up, so they moved quickly. They analyzed the
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ship, took pieces of it for study later, and planted a homing device
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inside. Three days later another ship turned up and was digging it out
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of the ground. When it left, IPX was able to track it through
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hyperspace to a world out on the Rim."
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<p>
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"Z'ha'dum," Sheridan realizes.
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<p>
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"We didn't have a name for it at the time," Anna continues. "And Chang
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was under strict orders from EarthForce New Technologies Division to
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keep this top secret. As soon as we landed, we picked up an energy
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source. We were told to check it out. And that's where we found
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them."
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<p>
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"The Shadows."
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<br clear=all>
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<p>
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<img align=right width=128 height=96 src="/lurk/gif/066/dramatic.jpeg" alt="">
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Anna tells him that that is not a descriptive name, nor their true
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name, which is very long and nearly unpronouncable. She says they were
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quite approachable, but Sheridan tells her to tell that to the rest of
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the crew. Anna says that there was an accident, the crew was killed,
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and the comm system was destroyed. They had no way to contact anyone
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else. She says that, since the Shadows had just come out of
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hibernation, they made a deal with the crew: If the humans would stay silent,
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the Shadows would let them study their technology, which would solve nearly
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all of Earth's problems and let them leap forward 10,000 years. Anna
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says she didn't want Sheridan to think she was dead, but that he knows
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he always said his first duty was to Earth. In addition, time doesn't
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work quite the same on Z'ha'dum as it does everywhere else. She tells
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him that, now that she's back, she'll take him to Z'ha'dum, so the
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Shadows can tell him what it's really all about. She says that Delenn,
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Kosh, and the others have misled him, and it's time to learn the
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truth. He agrees and embraces her, but while he does so, his gaze falls
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on Franklin's medical report on a table across the room.
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<br clear=all>
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<p>
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<img align=right width=128 height=96 src="/lurk/gif/066/sonofa.jpeg" alt="">
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Garibaldi enters Sheridan's office and asks if there's anything he can
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do to help. Sheridan tells him that, since the Minbari crew of the
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White Star has never been logged into the security net, he wants
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Garibaldi to begin that right away. The White Star can orbit the
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station on autopilot. Garibaldi reluctantly agrees. Sheridan says
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he also as a few other things for him to do, and hands him a list.
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Garibaldi agrees to do it, but is more than surprised by what he sees.
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<p>
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Sheridan, in his quarters, prepares for his trip to Z'ha'dum, by making
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sure he is armed with a PPG at his side. He pulls another one out from
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a drawer and looks at it critically in the mirror. As he gazes into
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its surface, he realizes he is not alone.
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<br clear=all>
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<p>
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<img align=right width=128 height=96 src="/lurk/gif/066/youwilldie.jpeg" alt="">
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"If you go to Z'ha'dum, you will die," says the old Kosh, whose image is also
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in the mirror. But when Sheridan turns around, there is no one else
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there. Sheridan turns back around, and looks at himself in the mirror
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for a moment, before walking to his comm screen. He tells the computer
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he wants to record a time-delayed message for Delenn.
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<p>
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Aboard the White Star, Anna asks if Sheridan is sure he can run the
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ship by himself. Sheridan thinks he probably can, as the design is
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pretty intuitive, and Anna assures him he is guaranteed safe passage.
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"Next stop," Sheridan says, "Z'ha'dum."
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<p>
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On the journey through hyperspace, Anna examines the White Star, and
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says she wishes they could have taken a different ship. As it is based
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partly on Vorlon technology, it could be dangerous; the Shadows
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believe they will die if anything even remotely Vorlon were to touch
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the surface of Z'ha'dum. Sheridan says he won't take any chances, and they'll
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take the shuttle down to the surface.
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<p>
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<img align=right width=128 height=96 src="/lurk/gif/066/aboutanna.jpeg" alt="">
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Back on Babylon 5, Franklin catches up with Ivanova as she walks down
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the corridor. Franklin asks why Sheridan left, and tells her that he
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knows Sheridan read the report he gave him. Ivanova doesn't know what
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he's talking about, and Franklin tells her it's about Anna.
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<p>
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The shuttle lands on the surface of the planet, and Sheridan and Anna,
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wearing oxygen masks, make their way through the harsh atmosphere to
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the entrance of the structure. The air inside is breathable, and Anna
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explains, for security reasons, the structure was moved underground
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many centuries ago. They are about to go further, but Anna takes
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Sheridan's PPG before she will let him go further. She explains this
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part of the complex was designed specifically for them. She takes him
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down a corridor, and to a door. She knocks, and a voice inside tells
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her to enter. She does so, and inside are two humans. One is an older
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gentleman, and the other is a very familiar face: Morden.
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<br clear=all>
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<p>
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<img align=right width=128 height=96 src="/lurk/gif/066/justin.jpeg" alt="">
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Sheridan asks the older man who he is. The man insists
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it isn't important, but Sheridan demands to know. "Who decides that the
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work day is from 9 to 5 instead of 11 to 4? Who decides that the
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hemlines will be below the knee this year, and short again next year?
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Who draws up the borders, controls the currency, handles all the
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decisions that happen transparently around us?" Sheridan admits he
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doesn't know. "Ah," says the old man. "I'm with them. Same group,
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different department. Think of me as a sort of middleman. And the
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name is Justin."
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<p>
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Delenn receives a time-delayed message from Sheridan. "Delenn,"
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the message says, "by the time you get this message, I will be at
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Z'ha'dum... with Anna. I can pretty much guess your reaction when you
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hear this, but I think it's the only way. When you and I were in the
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time rift with Babylon 4, for a moment, I jumped forward in time. We'd
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won the war, but Centauri Prime had been devastated. You said that
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this future couldn't be changed. You also told me, 'Do not go to
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Z'ha'dum. Do you understand? Do not go to Z'ha'dum!' I began to
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wonder... What if that future happened because I listened to your
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warning and didn't go to Z'ha'dum? What if... what if I could prevent
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the fall of Centauri Prime and end the Shadow War by going there? What
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I want... is to stay alive, to be with you. But you were right
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before. This is about more than what I want. So I'm going, even
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though I know it's almost certainly a trap."
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<br clear=all>
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<p>
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<img align=right width=128 height=96 src="/lurk/gif/066/explain.jpeg" alt="">
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"You see, John," Justin explains, as he pours tea, "back, a million
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years ago, there were forces prowling around the galaxy beyond anything
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that we could understand. And, like anything else, most of them
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outgrew this little corner of the universe, and headed off toward
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greener pastures. Now, two of them stayed behind, shepherds, you might
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call them. They wanted to look after the younger races, bring them
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around, help them evolve into something better."
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<p>
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"One of these was the Vorlons," Morden tells Sheridan. "The other was
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what you call the Shadows."
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<p>
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"The Vorlons are like your parents, I suppose," Justin continues.
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"They want you to play nice, clean your room, do it by the rules. I
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guess you could call them lords of order."
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<p>
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"The others," Anna says, "the ones who live here, believe that strength
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only comes from conflict. They want to release our potential, not
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bottle it up."
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<p>
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"It's really simple," Justin explains. "You bring two sides together,
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they fight, a lot of them die. But those who survive are stronger,
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smarter, and better."
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<p>
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"It's like knocking over an anthill," Morden says. "Every new
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generation gets stronger. The anthill gets redesigned, made better."
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<p>
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"So that's what the Shadows do," Sheridan says. "Come out every few
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thousand years, and kick over all the anthills, start wars, destroy
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entire races."
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<p>
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"A few get lost along the way, yes," Justin admits, "and that's
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unfortunate. I don't think it was ever easy, but you can't let that
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get in the way of the dream."
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<br clear=all>
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<p>
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<img align=right width=128 height=96 src="/lurk/gif/066/b5shadows.jpeg" alt="">
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On Babylon 5, Corwin reports to Ivanova that he is picking up a
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disturbance coming from all around them. Many Shadow ships are
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appearing outside, encircling the entire station. Ivanova orders a red
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alert, and all the fighters are scrambled. None of the Shadow vessels
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are attacking, but Ivanova still orders the fighters to launch, but not to
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approach until she authorizes it.
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<p>
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"Think about it, Captain," Morden says. "Look at the long history of
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human struggle. Six thousand years of recorded wars, bloodshed,
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atrocities beyond all description. But look at what came out of all of
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that! We've gone to the stars, split the atom, written sonnets... We
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never would have come this far, if we hadn't been at each others'
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throats evolving our way up, inch by inch."
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<p>
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"It was supposed to be an equal balance between our side and the
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Vorlons," Anna says. "But the Vorlons decided that their way was the
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right way. They enlisted the support of the other worlds, like the
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Minbari. They even started interfering with the development of younger
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races."
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<p>
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"When you look at a Vorlon," Morden says, "you see what they want you
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to see. They've manipulated us so we respond favorably to them.
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They've even at a genetic level, taking humans and adjusting them. Why
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do you think certifiable telepaths came out of nowhere a hundred years
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ago?"
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<p>
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"They created telepaths on a hundred worlds to use as cannon fodder for
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the next war," Justin explains. "But fortunately, our friends got
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there first and with the help of the Psi Corps, made sure that they came
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out on our side. John, they think that the human race shows great
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potential. When all this is over, we can be riding high, the first to
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rebuild, making things our own way. But the only thing that's standing
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in our way now is you. So, we can either work together now, or we can
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remove your support mechanism."
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<p>
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The fighters begin to mobilize around the Shadow vessels, and Garibaldi
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is among them. Ivanova tries to get through to Draal, but
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communications are being jammed. Ivanova knows the ships' appearance
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has something to do
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with Sheridan, but has no idea what it is, or why they are waiting.
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<p>
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"Everything depends on getting the other races to fight each other,"
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Anna says, "to create conflict in order to promote growth and
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evolution. By getting them to cooperate, you are working against that
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goal."
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<p>
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"Whenever this starts," Morden says, "there's always someone who tries
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to organize the other races. You've done it. That's a commendable
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achievement, but as far as our goals are concerned, unproductive."
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<p>
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"So why don't you just kill me?" Sheridan asks.
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<p>
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"It doesn't work," Justin says. "Somebody'd just come around and
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replace you. That's always been the trouble with creating martyrs. We
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brought you here hoping you'd understand us, work with us, not against
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us. You're important. You're what they call a nexus. You turn one
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way, and the whole world has a tendency to go the same way. Let go of
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those other races. You can't hold them together. Evolution will be
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served one way or another. You can work with us, or..."
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<p>
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"Or you'll do to me what you did to Anna," Sheridan says.
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<p>
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Justin, Anna, and Morden all look at each other. "I don't know what
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you're..." Anna begins.
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<p>
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"The memories are there, the voice is there, the DNA is there... But
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the personality, the look in her eyes... The woman I loved, the woman I
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married isn't there. She would never go along with this."
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<p>
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"You're right," Justin tells him. "Just so. You see, when she came
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here five years ago, she was given a choice. The same choice that
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we're giving you. She made the mistake of choosing badly." As Justin
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is talking, Sheridan's hand creeps down toward his leg.
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<p>
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"You stuck her in one of those ships, didn't you?" Sheridan asks. He
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uncovers a PPG strapped to his leg, beneath their field of view.
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<p>
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"How did you know?" Morden asks.
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<p>
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"A few months ago," Sheridan tells them, "we intercepted a ship full of
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people who were going to be merged with the Shadow vessels. They had
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implants in the brain stem, right back here. The scars in the back of
|
|
her head are in exactly the same place."
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Our associates needed fresh bodies for the central processing units in
|
|
their ships," Justin explains. "But we pulled her out as soon as we
|
|
found out who she was and who you are. But once you've been inside of
|
|
one of those ships for a while, you're never... quite whole... again.
|
|
But you do as you're told!" Behind Sheridan a door opens, and a
|
|
Shadow begins entering the room, and Sheridan sees it out of the corner
|
|
of his eye. "And so will you!" As soon as Justin finishes, Sheridan
|
|
jumps up and begins firing the PPG at the Shadow.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
G'Kar runs into C&C. Ivanova asks if they can get the bombs outside,
|
|
but G'Kar says it would be too dangerous -- the blasts would take out
|
|
Babylon 5 as well. Ivanova is willing to risk it, and asks how many
|
|
they have. G'Kar explains that's why he's there -- two of the devices
|
|
are gone.
|
|
|
|
<br clear=all>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<img align=right width=128 height=96 src="/lurk/gif/066/balcony.jpeg" alt="">
|
|
A bleeding Sheridan makes his way through a rocky corridor, and
|
|
eventually comes to a balcony overlooking a Shadow city. Directly
|
|
beneath him is an enormous black abyss, and above him, a glittering
|
|
ceiling, seperating this place from the outside atmosphere. Sheridan
|
|
types in some commands on his commlink, and the White Star begins to
|
|
come alive. Inside, a voice from the bombs says, "Thermal fusion system
|
|
armed for detonation," and the White Star begins moving toward the planet.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"John," Anna says, as she arrives. "There's nowhere to run. Come back
|
|
inside. We can work this out." As the White Star hurtles toward the
|
|
surface, Anna continues. "I know this isn't the Anna that you knew.
|
|
What I am is what was made in her. A new personality. She can never
|
|
come back. But I can love you as well as she did."
|
|
|
|
<br clear=all>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<img align=right width=128 height=96 src="/lurk/gif/066/delenn.jpeg" alt="">
|
|
"Finally," Sheridan's message concludes, "I heard what you said when I left.
|
|
I want you to know, I love you Delenn. Goodbye." Delenn touches the
|
|
screen, and as the message ends, she collapses against the wall,
|
|
crying.
|
|
|
|
<br clear=all>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<img align=right width=128 height=96 src="/lurk/gif/066/leap.jpeg" alt="">
|
|
Sheridan looks through the semi-transparent ceiling, and sees the White
|
|
Star on its way. He looks down into the abyss, and hears a familiar
|
|
voice--that of Kosh in his mind. "Jump... Jump now!" the voice urges.
|
|
As Anna and a group of Shadows begin to move closer, Sheridan climbs
|
|
over the edge of the balcony and leaps into the abyss below. Anna
|
|
watches, stunned, but has little time to contemplate what's happening.
|
|
The White Star crashes through the ceiling, and she lets out a blood
|
|
curdling scream as a white light floods the balcony. The White Star
|
|
impacts in an enormous exlosion.
|
|
|
|
<br clear=all>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<img align=right width=128 height=96 src="/lurk/gif/066/garibaldi.jpeg" alt="">
|
|
The Shadow vessels, without warning, all vanish immediately, and while
|
|
Garibaldi watches, a shadow comes over his viewport. No one on C&C
|
|
understands the sudden departure, unless it is because they are no longer a
|
|
threat, as G'Kar suggests. Ivanova believes she knows why, though. "He's
|
|
gone."
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
As Delenn and Lennier pray over candles, we hear G'Kar's voice. "It
|
|
was the end of the Earth year 2260, and the war had paused, suddenly
|
|
and unexpectedly. All around us, it was as if the universe were
|
|
holding its breath. Waiting... All of life can be broken down into
|
|
moments of transition or moments of revelation. This had the feeling
|
|
of both..."
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Corwin reports to Ivanova that there has been no further word on the
|
|
Captain, but that they can't communicate with the White Star--he thinks
|
|
it's been destroyed. In addition, one of the fighters sent out
|
|
didn't return. Ivanova asks who the pilot was, and Corwin tells her,
|
|
"Mr. Garibaldi."
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
G'Kar continues speaking. "G'Quon wrote, 'There is a greater darkness
|
|
than the one we fight. It is the darkness of the soul that has lost
|
|
its way. The war we fight is not against powers and principalities, it
|
|
is against chaos and despair. Greater than the death of flesh is the
|
|
death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never
|
|
surrender. The future is all around us, waiting, in moments of
|
|
transition, to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the
|
|
shape of that future or where it will take us. We know only that it is
|
|
always born in pain.'"
|
|
|