CAST LIST

SYNOPSIS

Ros, in desperation at her situation, visits her old college professor. She has lost trust in both Beckett and Ed, who she is convinced are hiding information from her. There are also gaps in her memory which she is unable to satisfactorily explain. However, worse still is that the pair are now also monitoring her movements…via one of her own trackers, which she takes great pleasure in destroying…

The destruction of Ros’ bug throws Ed (who is close behind her) off the scent. Beckett however, once he knows where Ed is, offers to locate the name of Ros’ old tutor for him, but it is unnecessary, as Ed soon relocates his friend. Acting surprised when they meet, Ros cheerfully tells Ed she has found a solution to her problem. All the records on Roland’s disappearance will still exist on the Gizmos old file server which she swapped a month previously for the new machine: the machine is still in the basement, and it should be a simple task to locate. Ed quickly gets Beckett on the case: as he returns to Gizmos (having lost Ros yet again) Beckett is having little luck in locating the server. Asked how they might deal with the Cyberax virus in Ros’ mind, Beckett can only allude to the computer equivalent for guidance: delete the offending code or reboot the machine using a clean set of instructions… They have no time to discuss matters further as Ros locks and seals them in the basement, giving them one final chance to explain their behaviour. As they are unable to do so she coldly informs them she doesn’t need protection and whatever has happened to her (and them) will not prevent her from getting to the bottom of the mystery. As she walks away a desperate Beckett pleads with her not to try, knowing that if anyone is capable of finding out the truth it’s her, and if she does it will be the last thought she ever has… Ros packs a bag as a distraught Beckett refuses to believe what’s happened, and hopes that maybe the whole Cyberax set-up is some kind of fraud. Finally managing to release the hinges on their "prison" the pair enter the office to find a final saddened goodbye message from Ros and to intercept a ‘phone call from Ros’ tutor Talbot, who has a Cyberax Bio-feedback unit and believes he knows what has happened to her…

Arriving at Talbot’s office, Ed and Beckett find the professor has locked himself inside a glass-fronted room. He is concerned at Cyberax’s progress, feeling that its rapid expansion in intelligence now challenges man’s supremacy as dominant species on the planet. Ed realises Talbot is about to deliberately infect himself with Cyberax, and is preparing the event as a bizarre scientific experiment, that will allow the pair to understand why Cyberax possesses human bodies and steals their minds. Before he puts on the headset Talbot tells Beckett the last thing Ros told him: that if your friends are no help to you, then what does that leave? Seconds after he uses the Bio-feedback unit Cyberax grips him, but Talbot’s mind is strong enough to fight the virus: he has just enough time to tell the pair that Cyberax has chosen the Technopolis Tower as it’s home, a place that will soon be filled with the fastest computers on the planet. As he is about to tell them how to remove the virus itself, it finally takes over and as Talbot destroys the Unit, Cyberax destroys the professor’s mind. Thinking back to the last thing Ros told Talbot, Ed and Beckett realise that Ros feels now feels compelled to confront her enemies for answers…

Arriving at Technopolis, Ros finds the place completely deserted. Identified on her arrival by retinal scan, the Arrival Computer confirms an appointment at the Ultimax Prison facility… a place with no bars but full of the most violent social deviants. The reason is the method of incarceration: inmates are kept in a permanent state of desynchronised sleep, making them completely unable of doing anything. Ros feels the method is inhumane, but the Ultimax Governor is adamant: in their dreams, his prisoners are free... including one particular inmate of special interest to Ros: Jean-Daniel. "Woken" by the Governor, Ros asks a question that she hopes the Frenchman will answer: have her friends switched sides on her? Becoming increasingly frustrated Jean-Daniel laughs, telling her he knows EXACTLY what has happened to her, and that he’ll get more pleasure knowing Ros will find the answer herself whilst he’s "sleeping". He does offer her a start though, telling her to find out about Cyberax… the company whose machinery drives the Ultimax prison itself…

Ed and Beckett arrive at Technopolis to a less-than-warm welcome: in fact, as they are scanned at the airport the Arrival Computer identifies them as hostile (thanks to Cyberax, who has control over the system). Making a getaway in a hail of bullets the pair head for fuel drums, which they hope will offer them protection from the bullets, but unfortunately the Technopolis security officers have scant regard for safety. Finding a jeep the pair escapes and head into town, hoping to melt away into the crowd… Ros however seems to be the only person in Technopolis, as she heads to the main Information Desk. Asking for a place to stay Ros is amazed when told that everywhere is booked, as Technopolis expects a flood of international suppliers to attend the opening of the Technopolis Tower later in the day. Pointing out the distinct lack of anyone but herself, Ros is found a place in the same hotel reserved for Cyberax personnel… Inside that hotel Cassandra is talking to Cyberax itself, telling it that the Technopolis Tower has been finished, but only at her behest. The price for creating the intelligence the single biggest random access memory in history is simple: release Jean-Daniel. The task is simple, but the Frenchmen has to be first killed by his own prison machinery and rushed to hospital… helped by his own "paramedics" and using the Reticular Activation System the medics attempt to revive the Frenchman… as Ed and Beckett arrive at Technopolis’ Information Desk. Suddenly awake, Cassandra hopes that Jean-Daniel still remembers his plan…

Bored and disillusioned, Ros sits in her hotel room watching an information film on Technopolis. Recognising Jean-Daniel in the film, Ros rings Room Service and orders a bottle of champagne for the Cyberax Suite… Cassandra prepares Jean-Daniel to leave the hospital, as Cyberax asks for help in hunting down Ed and Beckett: the machine itself has plans for Ros, and tells the Frenchman it was Cassandra’s idea to release him. At the Cyberax Suite it is an easy task for Ros to enter, where she finds everything wrapped in plastic but the television on and blaring. Drawn into the TV room she is confronted by Cyberax itself, but does not believe she’s talking to a machine. Blithely unaware of the true nature of Cyberax the machine itself is about to tell her when Beckett arrives, throwing an ornament at the TV to save Ros from knowing the truth. Singularly unimpressed and deciding Beckett is an impostor she hits him and trips up Ed, trapping them both in the Suite as she leaves. Ed inadvertently tells her not to go to the Tower itself, and Ros immediately goes and calls up an interactive film on the Tower, and it’s enormous potential processing power. Finally releasing themselves, Beckett suggests a two pronged attack: Ed will get to Ros, while he blows the data cable to the Tower, preventing Cyberax’s access. However, his timer has broken and Beckett is concerned that he won’t have enough time to escape if it is manually detonated. Ed however feels he shouldn’t be blowing the data cable up at all, but should wait until Cyberax has moved all it’s components into the Tower itself. At that point destroying the power feed will totally destroy Cyberax…

Ros heads for the Technopolis Tower, whilst below Beckett and Ed set about their various tasks. Inside the Tower Ed finally catches up with Ros (who finds the local cuisine and champagne both have a beetroot taste) and is able to stop her leaving. Moments later Jean-Daniel arrives, opens the tower with no ceremony but a lot of violence, and is about to kill Ed and Ros when Cassandra informs him of Beckett’s presence in the Operational Zone. Desperate to explain to Ros her predicament without explaining the truth, he gets her to not think about an Elephant… as the Frenchmen confronts them and takes them as hostages… Beckett sets the explosives with a manual timer, and watches as Cyberax enters the building. Leaving, he stumbles across a room filled with the humans subjected to Cyberax’s virus, the next stage in Cyberax’s plan. Human processors will exceed even the niobium’s speeds, and as Jean-Daniel arrives he points Beckett to 3 empty spaces reserved for the trio… Beckett is incredulous, convinced Jean-Daniel won’t get away with the plan despite the fact that the virus is already in Ros’ brain. Jean-Daniel deliberately prompts him to reveal his knowledge of the true meaning of Cyberax, unaware that Ros has heard him and is already fighting the virus. Ed reacts quickly, and as Beckett knocks out Jean-Daniel he grabs a cable and electrocutes Cassandra via her gun. Confronting Ros (who is still aware and fighting Cyberax) Ed looks at her, and at the cable. Ros knows what he is thinking,, and accepts his unspoken suggestion: without a second thought Ed electrocutes her, and kills her.

Rushing out of the building Ed reminds Beckett of his thoughts on destroying the virus: either wipe the disk clean or reboot, using a new set of instructions. Reviving Ros under such circumstances should clear her memory, and with the City Hospital two blocks from the Tower Ed leaves carrying his friend, whilst Beckett goes back to set the manual trigger on the bomb. Cyberax appears to a stunned but alive Cassandra, who goes to wake Jean-Daniel. Incensed, Jean-Daniel sets his new terms to the machine intelligence: do the Frenchman’s bidding or he will cut the power. Cyberax happily accepts and informs the pair that a Bomb is already in place…as Ed arrives with Ros at the hospital. Beckett is already in the Power Room as Jean-Daniel and Cassandra arrive to find the bomb, and Cyberax decides that it will accept the Frenchman’s terms, not preferring the alternative it has been given…

Beckett activates the timer but doesn’t pull the pin, as Cassandra finds him before he can do so. He doesn’t need to worry however, because Jean-Daniel himself inadvertently does the job for him, aptly destroying both himself, Cassandra and Cyberax. Beckett gets out with seconds to spare and rushes to the Hospital, to find Ros pronounced dead by the doctors: the automatic revival unit being unable to save her life. However, the doctors have been trying to use the Cyberax procedure when the computer system no longer exists…a conventional crash team is called, and as Ros’ life finally ebbs out of her they desperately try to breathe life back into her inert form. Beckett and Ed watch helplessly, Beckett desperately calling to her and willing her to survive…

The call works, and Ros snaps back to life: her first thought is of elephants…

Ros later visits an inert Blatty in hospital, concerned but relieved her memory (although missing some vital facts) is now largely intact. She apologises to both Ed and Beckett for not believing them. All memory of the virus however is gone, but as the trio leave it becomes clear that for Roland Blatty the Cyberax virus is still active…