(A small craft - the Charger - flies through space, piloted by a young boy. It's Norb, last seen in 2.8 White Trash. He's heading for a large space station, which is an unusual design - covered in red an white stripes, with twirling lollipop shapes, which on closer inspection look a lot like the Cluster icon)

NORB: Cool! Hey, big fat candy house, anybody home there? This is space pilot Norb, requesting a pit stop

(There's no answer from the space station. Norb flies closer, starts to feel uneasy)

NORB: Talk to me

(The stripes fade. The station becomes grey, metallic - and erupts into swarms of Mantrid drones. Norb turns the Charger around, flies away - the station disintegrates as all the drones head after the Charger, grabbing at it. One gets hold of the window - Norb shakes it off, but they keep coming. He puts on the helmet of his space suit)

NORB: Somebody help me, I'm being attacked!

(He takes out a plastic sphere, which shows an image of a man)

NORB: You gotta help me, dad

(Another drone breaks the window. Two drones grab Norb, but he manages to hit the eject button with his head. His seat shoots away from the Charger, which the drones then devour)

(The Lexx. Stan is walking on the bridge)

STAN: Lexx - sometimes, when I come onto the bridge, say for instance, er - things look different than they were before. Meaning, things have changed
LEXX: Really, Stanley?
STAN: I meant that as a question, Lexx. The question is - why are things different?
LEXX: I'm still growing, Stanley
STAN: Oh - oh, well -

(Lexx picks up a garbled message - it's Norb's voice)

STAN: Can I hear that please, Lexx?
LEXX: As you command, Stan
NORB: Please help me. I'm drifting alone in space and I'm low on air. Can somebody out there please help me?

(Norb is strapped into his seat, floating in space, holding a large sphere in his hands. Xev and Kai arrive in a moth. Xev waves at Norb, but he doesn't respond. She puts on the helmet of her pressure suit)

(The moth flies back to the Lexx. Xev and Kai bring Norb onto the bridge, where Stan and 790 are sitting on the pedestal)

STAN: So, nice to see you again - Norb, isn't it? You can take off your helmet
XEV: Here, let me take this

(She reaches for the sphere)

NORB: Don't touch it
XEV: What is it?
NORB: It's mine

(Norb takes off his helmet)

XEV: I can see that, but - what is that thing that you have in your hand that's yours?
NORB: It's a picture of my father
XEV: Your Pa?
NORB: It's a picture of my father
XEV: I see. Well - you know, we don't want to take it away from you - it's OK, no problem. You can do whatever you want here. We're your friends

(Stan leans forward, but Norb moves away)

NORB: It's a picture of my father

(Stan backs off. Xev looks confused by Norb's behaviour)

KAI: It is not an image of Pa
XEV: Well, then it must be your real father. I bet he was handsome - just like you're going to be
KAI: There is no image
790: The little kid is clearly deranged. I suggest we spare ourselves any further unpleasantness by ejecting him back into space at once
XEV: He's only a child!
790: Who will eventually grow into a man, who could then become a threat to the perfect love that I feel for you at all times!

(Stan tries to reach Norb again)

STAN: So, Norb - how long were you out there floating around in space, I mean, what were you breathing?

(Norb just stares at him)

STAN: And how'd you lose your spaceship, the Charger?

(Still no response)

STAN: I'm not getting anywhere. You gonna answer any questions that I ask you? OK. I give up. Never was that good with kids anyway. Next!
XEV: Obviously he's had some kind of extremely traumatic experience. Maybe we should give him some time alone. What do you think, Kai?
KAI: I think - I think, the living should decide what the living should do
XEV: OK, but sometimes you decide to do things on your own
KAI: My brain, being dead, does not function in the sense that a living person's does. However, I respond to suggestions from others - sometimes
790: I only respond to Xev - at all times
STAN: Well I've had enough. He can sort himself out on his own, play with his sphere - whatever

(Stan leaves the bridge)

XEV: Norb - you must be tired. Why don't you lie down for a while, in my bed. You'll feel better. Coming?

(Norb follows Xev off the bridge - and into her bedchamber)

XEV: And remember Norb - we're your friends. Look - here we are

(She sits him down on her bed)

XEV: Now you get some rest, OK?

(She strokes his hair, but he pulls away from her)

XEV: OK. I'll leave you alone

(Xev leaves. Norb waits to make sure she's gone, then holds up his sphere. He lets go - and it just hangs in the air. It changes from white to black, then becomes the top section of a drone arm. Norb pulls off his left arm, attaches it to the sphere, and it flies away. Another drone arm wriggles out of Norb's shoulder to take the place of the other arm. Norb leaves Xev's bedchamber)

(Stan, Xev and Kai are in the galley)

STAN: Xev - I admire you for your concern and all, but Norb is not the same little kid that we met before
XEV: No. He's damaged goods
STAN: Definitely. Kai? What do you think?
KAI: I do not think, the way you think I think, but he is not the same little kid we met before
STAN: What do you mean?
KAI: He seems to be more like me than he is like you
STAN: Are you saying - Norb is dead?
KAI: He lacks a certain - vitality
STAN: You know, that little kid is beginning to worry me. Maybe 790 was right, maybe we should just eject him back out into space
XEV: Stanley, he's a boy who was drifting in space for who knows how long. What do you expect? I don't think you know what it's like to be alone, really alone like that. I do
STAN: Maybe, Xev. But he is not like you. Not in the slightest

(The bridge. 790 is sitting on the pedestal)

790: A moment with Xev beats a moment with Stan. Two moments with Xev beats one moment with Xev. Three moments with Xev -

(Norb walks onto the bridge, and sticks a knife into the back of 790's casing)

790: Get your filthy inbred fingers off me! Hey, can you hear me? Hey! What are you doing? Xev, help me. Xev! Help me!

(Norb pulls a plastic cube out of 790. It's attached by wires, and filled with something pink and squishy)

790: I demand that you bring me to Xev at once, or I will persuasively argue that you be returned from whence you came. You may think that -

(Norb pulls the cube out completely, and 790's screens go blank. Norb speaks in a mechanical voice)

NORB: What is your name?
790: (flat) 790

(Stan, Xev and Kai walk into Xev's bedchamber)

STAN: Rest or no rest, I'm not comfortable about leaving him alone anymore until we get some answers

(They look at the bed - it's empty, apart from Norb's helmet)

XEV: Norb?

(They all go onto the bridge. Norb is sitting at the base of the pedestal with 790)

XEV: Norb?
STAN: What happened to your arm?
XEV: 790, what happened to Norb's arm? 790, turn yourself on. Why are you shut off? Is everything OK? 790?

(Xev picks 790 up)

XEV: Why don't you answer my question?
790: You are not an authorised person
XEV: What's wrong with you?
790: You are not an authorised person

(Kai steps down into the well)

KAI: Do you have anything to say to us?
NORB: Yes. Hello humans
KAI: What are you?
NORB: A message
KAI: From who?

(Norb looks at Kai)

NORB: Mantrid
STAN: Mantrid?

(Stan and Xev nervously take a step back)

KAI: And what is the message?
NORB: Let the contest begin

(Norb holds up the cube, and crushes it between his fingers. His head stretches up on a long neck, which turns into a drone arm. Xev jumps back. Three more drone arms come out of his space suit, but Kai manages to destroy all of them in seconds)

STAN: Yes!
XEV: Good work Kai
STAN: And just like I thought - Norb wasn't Norb
XEV: Yeah, but, what did he mean by Mantrid? Mantrid is dead, his planet was destroyed
KAI: His planet was destroyed, the insect was destroyed, and Mantrid's body was destroyed, but something calling itself Mantrid still seems to definitely exist
XEV: And what do you think he meant by - the contest?
KAI: I suspect that we shall find out
STAN: I think we just had the contest, and it was a short one. You shot down all the drones!
KAI: All the ones I could see, but remember - Norb had the sphere
STAN: And there was something weird going on with his arm. Lexx - can you see a Mantrid drone? A little one armed thing flying around?
LEXX: I cannot see them now, Stanley. They are somewhere inside me
STAN: Well, if you see it, I want you to tell me immediately
LEXX: Yes, Stan

(Kai picks up the remains of the cube from the pedestal, shows it to Xev)

KAI: 790's brain cube
STAN: Brain cube, what brain cube?
KAI: 790's piece of human brain
STAN: 790 was a robot, a mechanical device, a souped up toaster! What are you talking about?
KAI: 790 model robots have a tiny cube of human brain. A functional interface integrating a computer head and a human body

(Xev takes the brain cube and looks at it)

KAI: If 790 had no living brain tissue, the falling in love part of the love slave transformation intended for Xev, would not have worked on him

(Xev nods, and hands the brain cube back to Kai)

XEV: Makes sense to me
STAN: How do you know that?
KAI: I have many memories
XEV: But why didn't 790 know that?
KAI: It was not necessary for 790 robots to know that in order to perform their required functions, therefore such knowledge was not part of his programming
STAN: Well why didn't you tell him?
KAI: He never asked. We must hurry. We must use 790 to help us

(Kai takes 790's head from Xev)

XEV: 790 is -
KAI: 790 as you knew him is gone - but the information that might help us is still contained in his data bank
STAN: Useless robot head
XEV: (sad) Gone

(Kai holds up the brain cube)

KAI: This is the 790 who loved you

(The cryochamber. Kai has the cube wired up to some device - protein regenerator?. Stan and Xev watch him work)

STAN: Why are you wasting your time on a dead robot head when we have to find the drone?

(Xev glares at him)

STAN: I'm sorry Xev, but what I'm saying makes sense
XEV: Well why don't you go find it Stan?
STAN: Well - maybe if no-one else will, I'll have to

(Xev ignores him. He walks to the end of the cryochamber, into the passageway, and calls back)

STAN: Kai! Kai, can you hear me?
KAI: Yes I can, Stanley

(Stan walks warily forward, then turns back into the cryochamber)

STAN: Well, it's not in the passageway
XEV: The Lexx is a big ship
STAN: I know that

(He walks out into the passageway again, and a drone arm flies behind him - he turns, but it's gone. He turns back, then looks behind again - and one flies behind him, unseen. Stan carries on, uneasily)

STAN: Lexx?
LEXX: Yes, Stanley?
STAN: Can you see the Mantrid drone on the bridge now?
LEXX: What is the Mantrid drone?
STAN: The little one armed thing that flies around

(No answer from the Lexx)

STAN: So?
LEXX: So what, Stanley?
STAN: So can you see the Mantrid drone little one armed thing that flies around on the bridge now?
LEXX: No, Stanley
STAN: Good. Good

(In the cryochamber, Kai attaches some wires to the brain cube)

KAI: Mantrid's drones are a variation of standard Cluster drones, which should be very familiar to 790. Exact knowledge of their construction may be the key to our being able to stop them
XEV: Them?
KAI: The Mantrid drones, are builder drones. Given the time and raw materials they can construct almost anything - including more Mantrid drones
XEV: Stanley!
STAN: Yes?
XEV: Where are you, are you all right?

(Stan comes back into the cryochamber)

STAN: Yes, I'm all right. I'm gonna check out the bridge now
XEV: How unusually brave of you
STAN: Not brave Xev - try worried
XEV: Don't be a hero
STAN: That, you can count on

(He leaves the cryochamber again. Kai uses a tube to suck some of the protoblood out of his chest, then blows some of it onto the brain cube)

(Stan walks onto the bridge, looks around)

(Kai drops some of the protoblood into a jar of blue liquid)

XEV: Why your protoblood?
KAI: My protoblood is similar to the substance used to keep 790's nodule of brain tissue alive, only - it's better

(Kai picks up the brain cube, places it in a metal coil, then lowers the coil into the blue liquid. Xev watches as the brain cube starts glittering)

(Stan gets up onto the pedestal, whispers)

STAN: Lexx! Lexx! We've gotta locate the Mantrid drone little one armed things that fly around
LEXX: You can count on me, Stanley. You are my captain
STAN: You see anything yet Lexx?
LEXX: No, Stanley. I do not see any Mantrid drone little one armed things that fly around anywhere right now. But Stanley?
STAN: Yes Lexx?
LEXX: I don't feel well, Stanley
STAN: What do you mean, Lexx?
LEXX: I think that the Mantrid drone little one armed things that fly around are hurting me
STAN: What do you mean?
LEXX: I feel bad in certain places
STAN: What places?
LEXX: On the moth breeding chamber. In my accelerator pipes. In 6 of my stomachs. In 117 passageways -
STAN: Excuse me, Lexx, but there was only one drone, so how can it be possible that -

(A drone flies past Stan)

LEXX: I can see a Mantrid drone little one armed thing that flies around on the bridge now Stanley
STAN: So can I Lexx, so can I

(Stan carefully gets down from the pedestal, then runs off the bridge)

STAN: I've found the drone! I've found the drone!

(He runs down a passageway, then stops - the passageway is full of drones. Some more drones fly up behind him)

STAN: Kai! Kai, can you hear me? Help!

(Kai connects wires from the jar to the back of 790. The eye screens light up, but the eyes are small and flat, not like the 790 we know and love)

XEV: 790?
790: Hello there

(The voice is wrong too - slow, slightly dazed)

XEV: 790?
790: You're very attractive
KAI: 790 - I have connected you to a protein regenerator. Can you operate it?
790: It is part of my standard programming

(790 looks at Xev)

790: Your face is very special
KAI: The protein regenerator contains your own brain tissue. You must control it in order to restore your neurological functions
790: I - do not have brain tissue
KAI: Yes you do - not much, but you do have some
790: That's funny. Ha. Ha
KAI: Operate the protein regenerator now, 790
790: (to Xev) You're cute

(Xev puts her hand around his casing. She's quite upset by all this)

XEV: Thank you. Please 790, operate the machine. I want you back
790: You - want me back? That's nice
XEV: 790, operate the machine!
790: O - K

(Computer code flashes across his eye screens. The brain cube starts to glow)

XEV: That's it, 790. You can do it!

(Xev has tears in her eyes. She leans her head against 790)

(Meanwhile, Stan is still trapped in the passageway. Two drones burst through the wall behind him, grabbing his arms)

(Xev is looking at the brain cube)

XEV: We haven't heard from Stanley in a while
KAI: No, we have not
XEV: Stanley! Are you all right?
STAN: Yes. I'm all right
XEV: Remember, don't go far
STAN: That, you can count on

(But of course, it isn't Stan's voice - he's still trapped by the drones)

STAN: Lexx?
LEXX: Yes, Stanley?
STAN: Tell Kai, in the cryochamber, that Stanley is being attacked in the passageway
LEXX: As you command, Stanley

(More drones fly by)

LEXX: Kai in the cryochamber, Stanley is being attacked in the passageway

(Kai and Xev rush out of the cryochamber and see the drones. Kai destroys several drones with his brace, and the rest fly away. Kai pulls the two drones off Stan)

STAN: Oh, thank you Kai. Thank you thank you thank you thank you!
XEV: Whoa. There were so many!
STAN: Lexx says they're all over the ship. They're in the accelerator tubes, they're in the moth breeding chamber, they're in hundreds of passageways, and they're hurting him. This is, this is -
KAI: This would be the contest
STAN: We gotta get outta here
XEV: To where?
KAI: We should find out what their agenda is
STAN: But - but -

(Kai walks off. Stan and Xev follow him onto the bridge. The view screen shows an image of drones, pulling at the Lexx's walls)

LEXX: I am feeling very very bad, Stanley
STAN: So am I Lexx. Think we all are
KAI: Ask what they are doing to him
STAN: What are they doing to you Lexx?
LEXX: They are eating me, Stan
XEV: Look!

(She points at the ceiling. Loads of drones are hovering up there)

STAN: That explains where they all came from

(The drones are pulling chunks out of the Lexx, assembling new drones)

KAI: They are using Lexx as raw material to make new versions of themselves
XEV: How can we stop so many?
KAI: I do not know
XEV: I think we don't have much time

(They all head to the moth platform, get into a moth, and take off)

KAI: It is Mantrid's plan. He is sending his drones out into the universe to make new versions of themselves
STAN: Why?
KAI: It is part of his insect legacy to want to destroy all humankind. He is using his drones to pursue that goal

(They fly through the Lexx and come to an orifice, which is being devoured by drones. Xev steers the moth away, and the drones follow. Then the moth runs into another group of drones - Xev heads for another airlock, and the swarm follows)

XEV: Stan, tell Lexx to open this airlock and close it the instant we're through
STAN: Lexx - open the airlock and close it the very instant we're through
LEXX: As you command, Stanley

(The moth flies through the airlock, which then closes - only three drones make it through)

STAN: Now what?

(One of the drones grabs hold of the moth. Kai fires his brace and destroys it - but this makes a hole in the door. He sticks his thumb into the hole)

(The cryochamber. 790 has recovered, and is now back to normal)

790: Xev? Xev darling? Xev darling, where are you? Oh Xev, perfect sample of womankind, please do not be in trouble
LEXX: 790?
790: Yes, you city sized mass of marginally cognitive insect mush?
LEXX: Stanley asked me to say to you the words, how can we stop the drones that are Mantrid drones?
790: Tell him he can stop them by placing them all around his body and commanding them to slash him into thousands of pieces, but in the slowest and most painful way possible!

(In the moth, Kai uses a piece of - moth skin? - to plug the hole, while the Lexx relays 790's message)

LEXX: 790 said the words, tell him he can stop them by placing them around his body and commanding them to slash him into thousands of little pieces, but in the slowest and most painful way possible
XEV: It's 790. He's back

(She smiles, looks at Stan - he's not quite as happy about this as she is)

STAN: Yeah

(In the cryochamber, 790 is listening to the Lexx)

LEXX: Stanley asked me to tell you that I am with Xev but since Lexx only responds to me and you only respond to Xev we must communicate this way, and that only by listening to me can you help Xev
790: Oh, how do I know that the security guard isn't trying to trick me? Or perhaps you are? (thinks about this) No, that's not possible

(The moth flies over the surface of the Lexx)

LEXX: 790 asked me to say, what is this piece of brain tissue that is connected to his casing?
STAN: Lexx, you can tell 790 that that teensy weensy unimportant insignificant particle of brain tissue is actually his, and he's had it all along, and he didn't know it
790: My very own brain tissue?! (laughs) I'm alive! I'm really alive! Tell Stanley to tell Xev that that explains my perfect human love. A love far superior to machine love -
LEXX: - a love that a security class 4 could only ever dream of
STAN: Lexx, you can tell 790 that he may be alive now but it won't be for long unless he gets with the programme!
790: The Mantrid drones are a variation of class 23 Cluster drones, version 2.03. They have limited individual computational power but can share data, which means the more of them you have, the more capable they become
STAN: I think I'm beginning to feel depressed right now
790: The drones, like myself, are largely composed of complex and precise electronic circuitry, but unlike me - they do not have a love chunk of human brain! But like all complex and precise electronic devices, are capable of being damaged by high powered pulses of electromagnetic flux
XEV: What do you mean?
STAN: Lexx, say what do you mean?
LEXX: Stanley asked me to say, what do you mean?
790: What I mean, is that if the Lexx's main drive were to be reversed, the resulting collision of highly accelerated particles within the Lexx itself would produce enough flux to fry every sensitive circuit on board
STAN: But wouldn't that kill the Lexx too?
790: I have never observed anything complex or precise in regard to the Lexx
STAN: Can the Lexx actually do that? I mean, reverse his drive?
LEXX: 790 said the words (voice goes wrong) Sorry, Stanley - I am not well. I do not feel good. I feel very bad, Stanley. I think the Mantrid drone things that fly around are eating important parts of me. I do not like it
STAN: Lexx, if you want to feel better, you have to reverse your main drive. You have to shoot your particles the other way, inside you - can you do that?
LEXX: I think that would really sting, Stanley
STAN: Yeah. I know it would sting, but Lexx - the drones are going to keep eating you till you're all gone, do you know what I mean?
LEXX: No
STAN: What I mean, Lexx, is that if you don't reverse your particle drive, you're going to die. And we're going to die a few minutes later, do you understand that?
LEXX: No, I do not, Stanley, but I don't feel well at all
STAN: Lexx, I command you to -

(Xev puts her hand on Stan's arm)

XEV: 790 is an electronic device. Won't he be destroyed too?
STAN: 790's mini brain is not an electronic circuit and so it shouldn't be destroyed. Isn't that the part that counts now?
KAI: 790 is a hybrid - part human, but mostly machine. Any pulse that destroys the drones would certainly destroy 790
XEV: So?
STAN: The Lexx is about to die here, and we're about to die with it, we can't stop to save a robot head!
XEV: Kai -
STAN: Yeah, well, come on Kai, what do you think?
KAI: I do not think. I am qualified to make life and death decisions. However, if you ask me to, I will enter the Lexx and try to retrieve 790, but that is not the quickest solution to our problem, and time is not on our side

(Xev looks at Stan, who puts his hands over his face)

(Two drones fly into the cryochamber)

DRONE: You are not a human being
790: I am also not a flying appliance like you. I have a small but tremendously important nodule of real human nervous tissue
DRONE: You are not a human being
790: I have perfect human love
DRONE: You are not a human being

(The moth flies back to the Lexx)

STAN: Lexx - is there any drones around the airlock?
LEXX: I - do not - feel well, Stanley
STAN: Please Lexx, please - try to see if there are any drones around the airlock
LEXX: I do not know, Stanley. I do not feel very good
STAN: Lexx, say to 790 that he's a stupid robot head and I care for him less than I care for anything in the two universes, biological, mechanical, or in-between
LEXX: I - Stanley - all I - uh -
STAN: Please Lexx, please, open the airlock Lexx, open the airlock

(No reply from the Lexx)

STAN: Open the airlock! Open the airlock!

(The moth is heading straight for the airlock)

STAN: Stop, Xev, we're gonna get squashed!

(But Xev isn't stopping. Just in time, the airlock opens)

XEV: How can we land?
KAI: We, will not land

(Kai jumps out of the moth, swings down to the floor by his brace, and runs into the cryochamber)

790: Kai! Where's Xev?
KAI: Outside, in a moth. Waiting
790: I'm so happy
KAI: Xev did not want you to be destroyed by the electromagnetic pulse, therefore, I've come to fetch you
790: I would have gladly expired for Xev. It would have been my perfect end

(Kai disconnects the wires from 790, and his eye screens go blank. He lifts the brain cube out of the jar and attaches it to 790. The drones return to the cryochamber)

DRONE: Are you human?
KAI: Where's Mantrid?
DRONE: Are you human?
KAI: Mantrid - if you can hear me, remember, that like me - you too were once human
DRONE: You are not human

(Kai takes 790 and leaves. More drones are chasing the moth, which is trying to get to Kai. Kai fires his brace at the moth, hauls himself up, and hands 790 over to Xev)

790: Hello Xev
XEV: Hey, 790

(Xev smiles. Kai gets into the moth)

STAN: OK. We're outta here. Lexx - as soon as we're outside, reverse your particle drive to make that electromagnetic pulse like we talked about, OK?

(But the Lexx does not respond)

STAN: Lexx? Lexx, can you hear me?
XEV: Is he dead?
KAI: I do not know, but I do know we can no longer communicate with him this way
STAN: Then how can we?
790: The Lexx's primitive main nerve cluster is primarily centred on the bridge
KAI: Then we must go to the bridge
STAN: We?
KAI: We, meaning you, Stanley, as the Lexx only responds to you
STAN: I'm the winner. Oh, you owe me robot head. I can't begin to tell you how much you owe me

(The moth lands on the moth platform, with drones not far behind. Stan and Kai walk onto the bridge - the drones tearing at the ceiling are still up there)

STAN: Look, they're gonna kill is
KAI: Eating the Lexx appears to be their priority. I suspect that your turn to be the priority is coming - soon

(Stan gets up onto the pedestal)

STAN: Lexx - we're gonna fly out in a moth. When we get near the airlock, I want you to open it for an instant, so we can get through. Then I want you to reverse the polarity on your main accelerator drive. That should be enough to destroy the drones
LEXX: As you command, Stanley

(Stan sighs with relief - then realises that the drones are circling lower. He crouches down on the pedestal)

STAN: Oh boy

(He gets down and stands beside Kai)

STAN: Come on
KAI: Run, Stanley
STAN: But -
KAI: The pulse should not affect me

(Kai starts swinging his brace upwards - bits of drones rain down onto the bridge. Stan heads back to the moth)

XEV: Kai! Kai!
STAN: Go, go, go, he's OK, he'll be all right

(They get into the moth, which takes off)

STAN: Well, they mean business this time. They know our plan, now they're really after us

(Sure enough, the drones are following them)

STAN: They know we're headed for the airlock
XEV: Then we have to get there first. Come on baby!
STAN: A robot head - I can't believe I came back for a robot head!
XEV: Woo!

(Kai has destroyed all the drones on the bridge. He crosses his arms, then sits down to wait)

(The drones are gaining on the moth)

STAN: Stop, the airlock is covered with drones!
XEV: There's no stopping now, we're going through!

(Stan covers his eyes. Xev screams as she steers the moth through the drones and out of the airlock)

XEV: Woo! (laughs) We made it!

(Stan laughs, and kisses 790)

STAN: Oh, I can't believe I just did that. You're the one that should be kissing me!
790: Don't even fantasise about it, security guard class 4. I should only be kissing Xev

(Xev blows him a kiss and laughs. Some drones grab hold of the moth, but Xev manages to shake them off. Then beams of light start glowing from the tail end of the Lexx. They race along the body up to the head, frying the drones near the moth. The pulse sweeps through the bridge, over the Lexx's eyes, and then fizzles out into space. On the bridge, Kai shakes stray bits of static off his arms)

LEXX: Ouch! That hurt a lot
790: Well done Xev. You make my day a perfect one
STAN: Yeah, well what about me?
790: Oh, yes. You're still alive, aren't you Tweedle? I guess the day can't be perfect then after all
STAN: Well that's gratitude
790: At least I'm consistent

(Later - everyone's in the cryochamber. Kai is checking 790's connections)

790: I knew it! All that talk of me being just an appliance. I knew that I was more than a machine. A machine could never feel for you like I do, Xev
KAI: That is correct
STAN: Don't make too big a deal of it 790. It's only a tiny little cube of brain. You do not have a whole fully functioning brain like me, and your fragment seems to contain none of the thinking parts
790: I have all I need to love Xev
STAN: Oh, I'm going, now

(He leaves the cryochamber)

790: Don't you think it's wonderful, Xev?
XEV: I think it's - interesting, anyway
790: I wonder where it came from? Who I was? What was I like when I was alive? I bet I was handsome, don't you think Xev?

(Kai hands 790 to Xev)

XEV: You are handsome right now, 790 - for a robot, that is

(Stan walks onto the bridge, looks around - it's surprisingly tidy)

STAN: Lexx - what happened to all the drone parts?
LEXX: I have re-sorbed them, Stanley
STAN: You - you what them?
LEXX: I re-sorbed them. I need the material if I am to heal properly
STAN: Oh. That's good, Lexx, that's good

(Stan gets up onto the pedestal. Kai and Xev walk onto the bridge Suddenly, Mantrid's head appears on the view screen, with a background of shifting colours)

MANT: Hello, humans

(Kai walks closer to the view screen)

KAI: Mantrid. Are you alive, Mantrid?
MANT: I exist. Is there any more to it?
KAI: Yes. We saw the insect destroyed. We saw you die. And we saw your planet destroyed
MANT: But the machine you saw was not destroyed. My insect essence fused with my human essence and entered the machine, which was designed by my human half for keeping his mind alive past the death of his body
KAI: So you are a machine?
MANT: If you like. I function, and I know that I have a purpose
KAI: And what is that purpose?
MANT: That comes from my insect half. My purpose is to destroy all humanity
KAI: But how can you have that purpose, if you are part human as well?
MANT: I share some programming with humans, but I'm not a human. Did you enjoy my little game?

(Xev steps forward)

XEV: What game?
MANT: That was just a game I was playing with you. If I had wanted to destroy you, you would long ago have been destroyed, But you helped create me, so I'm saving you for last
KAI: What do you mean, last?
MANT: I will destroy all humankind. The last to be destroyed will be you. That will be my thank you. My going away present. Now, I'll go away from you - for a while. Goodbye

(His image disappears from the view screen)

STAN: Oh, this is bad
KAI: For everyone
XEV: What can we do?
KAI: I do not know

(Stan gets down from the pedestal)

STAN: Well, I mean, how can he destroy everyone? O mean, that's not possible, I mean, there are hundreds and thousands of planets with trillions of people on them. He can't destroy them, how could he destroy them all?
KAI: I do not know
XEV: You don't think he really could?
KAI: I do not think we should underestimate him. He may not be a life form as you know it - but our creation, Mantrid, is a very dangerous - thing

(Kai walks away. Xev looks at 790, who whimpers. Stan sits down at the base of the pedestal, in shadow)

STAN: Mantrid



© Filking Fairy