They both breathe a sigh of relief, removing their masks and glasses.

After a breath, Clarke is the first to freak out.

CLARKE " I may not have grown up on Earth, but I know rocks don't do that. "

Baxter sees the node-board secured in a slot on the dash.

BAXTER " You grabbed the node-board. "

CLARKE " Yeah. I plugged it in while you were out scooping up rock monster. "

BAXTER (checking its status) " The firewall’s been uploaded. "

CLARKE " Good. "

That’s why we're out here. Baxter nods and points to the soil-core.

Clarke spins her seat ninety degrees, looking around. She spies the soil-core.

She opens a port on the dash and pops the cylinder inside.

BAXTER (CONT’D) " We need Omni to do an analysis. "

Clarke nods and plays with the comm-system.

OMNI (COMM VOICE) " Roger, TerraCat. Are you alright? "

CLARKE " We’re fine. We’re riding the flare out in the shadow of that crater. "

BAXTER " We grabbed Kyle’s sample. Transmitting the data now. "

CLARKE " Omni, it tried to eat the TerraCat! We barely made it out of there. "

BAXTER " She's exaggerating. "

Baxter has a sudden revelation.

BAXTER " ‘Energy output’? Wait a minute... When we were in orbit, I overheard Kyle saying the glyphs looked shriveled up. Can I talk to him? "

The older images are clear and distinct, while the newer ones look smaller and anemic.

CLARKE " 'Killing it'? You’re acting like it’s alive. It’s a fucking rock! "

Clarke rolls her eyes.

Baxter laughs.

BAXTER " Is it a rock or a monster, kiddo? "

Clarke has nothing to say.

BAXTER " We have to shut down the shield until we figure it all out. "

CLARKE " How about the opposite? What if we upload your firewall to the entire shield grid? Then add a firmware update that increased power? "

BAXTER " Darcy, you want to destroy an indigenous species before we learn how it’s alive in the first place. "

CLARKE " Sorry. Whatever those things are, they’re jeopardizing our mission. It's us or them. "

OMNI (COMM VOICE) That may be unintentional. This is an unprecedented discovery. It requires further study.

CLARKE " No. Send another data-pac, Omni. Tell them these organisms have attacked us multiple times. (steeling herself) And we’re fighting back. "

OMNI (COMM VOICE) " I must protest! Fact-based decision making requires-- "

CLARKE (interrupting) " Shut up! Send the message. "

Baxter can tell something bigger is going on with Clarke.

BAXTER " Omni, how long will the flare last? "

OMNI (COMM VOICE) " Four and a half hours. "

BAXTER " We’ll be in touch. TerraCat out. "

Baxter shuts off the comms and turns to chat as Clarke sits.

BAXTER (CONT’D) " Darcy, destroying the geoglyphs won’t bring Jim back. "

CLARKE " Don’t you think I know that?! "

BAXTER " Then why are you doing this? "

Ignoring Baxter, Clarke grabs her O2 mask and an Omni Disc from its CHARGING CRADLE on the wall.

CLARKE " Better put your mask on. "

BAXTER " Why? "

CLARKE " Because I'm going for a walk. "

INT. AEROFOX

Dyson is awake. He rips off the X-Doc and tosses it aside.

OMNI " What are you doing? "

DYSON " She's gonna kill it! "

He collapses onto the floor. The gyroscope falls beside him.

DYSON (CONT’D) " If she uploads the firewall, we'll never stop it. "

Dyson pulls himself across the floor, dragging his numb legs.

DYSON " This is more important... "

Omni gives in. He removes the bed and deploys a stool and keyboard at the science station for Dyson's task.

Dyson finally reaches the station.

With a pained face, he grabs the seat as leverage, hauling himself halfway up.

DYSON (CONT’D) " The geoglyph isn't life as we know it. But it’s alive. What do we know about its composition? "

Dyson manages his way into the seat and orients himself. A data analysis of the sample pops up onscreen.

DYSON " And we wanted to build roads and cities out of it. How much have we destroyed? "

DYSON " The shield was active for two years. Did the geoglyphs try to talk to us in that time? Look for odd fluctuations in the system. "

A DATABASE of the shield operation scrolls onscreen. ENERGY SPIKES appear in the history of the power flow.

OMNI " It appears that on seven separate occasions, the geoglyphs attempted to make contact with our computer system via electromagnetic pulses. "

DYSON " My god... When shield built up enough low-frequency radio waves to block out the flares, the geoglyphs starved. They had to fight back. "

OMNI " It’s akin to an immune response. "

DYSON " Like colonists bringing smallpox. It’s goddamned genocide! Weak from the realization, he collapses against the station. "

OMNI " Kyle! "

DYSON " I'm okay. We need to call Darcy. "

DYSON " Shit. "

DYSON " No. We need to figure out what makes these things tick... Before it’s too late. "