Episode One
Sean's strained relationship with her father leads to his capture by the Visitors.
17-year-old Sean idolises her father Albie. Māori, in his late forties, Albie is a tough man, a survivor. Out hunting deer together, They’re stalking a fawn, knowing it will lure a big buck into the open. Albie teaches Sean to “feel” for the larger animal, hidden somewhere in the scrub. Sean concentrates… She can almost feel something, obscured, but definitely there… is that a heartbeat? Albie watches his daughter keenly. But when the deer appears it’s not a buck but a doe, the fawn’s mother. Albie tells Sean to shoot, or they go hungry tonight. But Sean can’t. She shoots into the air, and the animals escape.
Driving out of the hinterland back into town, Albie is disappointed in Sean. She’ll have to make tough calls when the country descends into war. Life seems normal now, but Albie sees a grim future thanks to the ”Visitors”. Our ancestors saw it happen two hundred years ago, when Europeans arrived on our shore. It devastated our people, but this time we can see it coming. We can prepare for that day.
The mood lightens as Albie pulls into the drive-through. He was never really going send Sean to bed hungry. As they pull in, he makes her count the ways they’re being tracked: Two cameras in the carpark, the license plate scanner in the drive-through, the debit card of course... What else? Sean is stumped. The phones, obviously! Despite the paranoid nature of the conversation, this is bonding time for Sean and her dad.
In class, Sean watches an animated video designed to dispel the fear about Visitors. Visitors are beings from a parallel dimension. When a human decides to invite a Visitor into our world, they sign a contract and go through a special procedure, and then a Visitor occupies their mind and body for an agreed period of time. A week, a month, sometimes a year. At the end of that time, the Visitor goes back to their dimension, and the human re-awakens, feeling as if no time has passed. Not only that, their bodies are healthier than before the Visitor arrived! The Visitor has fine control over the human’s body, and can heal it beautifully – they’re great tenants! It’s a miracle of science and inter-dimensional friendship.
The students are cynical. There’s a lot of fear about Visitors. A classmate, Noah, makes a joke about the people who lease their bodies out. Sean likes his cynicism. He’s cute. But then the teacher introduces a special guest… a Visitor! The class is shocked. It’s the first time most of them have seen a Visitor up close, including Sean. The Visitor introduces himself as “Adam”. He is smooth, with a friendly manner, but his eyes are intense. He fields questions, describing his home: In his universe, there are no separate beings. There are not even any physical dimensions, no space to separate one soul from another. Everyone is one.
Sean scoffs that “we’re all one people” was exactly what they White Man when they came here and stole our land. Adam backs her up, and together they get quite rude to the Visitor. The teacher punishes them with lunchtime detention.
Adam approaches Sean. He seems particularly interested in her. He acknowledges that humans can be very cruel. But Visitors have no clinging desire to accumulate the wealth that causes wars. In the Oneness, there is no ego. Can you imagine how freeing that is? Here in this world, we are separate. So while it’s strange and wonderful to be here, it also feels disconnected and lonely, and he’s looking forward to going home. That’s why there’s no reason to be afraid of Visitors. We only want to visit. Staring into his unblinking eyes, Sean understands for the first time that she is looking at something truly alien.
At lunchtime, Sean and Noah are picking up rubbish. As they dump their gear in the groundskeeper’s shed, they spot some spray paint. Noah grins – he’s got an idea. Sean is wary – don’t be stupid. But Noah’s over-confident.
Later, the Visitor is surrounded by a crowd of students. He’s something of a rock star. Teremoana and Sean watch from far away. He’s enjoying being around people, smiling, high-fiving them. He catches Sean’s eye; she looks away. Teremoana is a bit freaked out. She has OCD, she needs to count things, and group items into even numbers. The Visitor returns to his car, which has been spray-bombed with the word “ALIEN”.
The next day in class, the perpetrator has been caught on camera, carrying spray cans from the groundskeepers’ place toward the carpark. The guilty party is wearing a mask, but AI on the security cameras has identified Noah by his gait. It’s one hundred per cent confident. Noah claims it wasn’t him, saying he was pickup up litter all lunchtime. He appeals to Sean to back up his story. But Sean doesn’t back him up. Noah gets taken away.
Later, Sean is apologetic to Noah for not backing him up. Noah is flippant, minimising the impact of the trouble he got in. His forgiveness is a relief to Sean. Noah says how to make it up to him – He wants to buy some Lucid for the party he’s going to tomorrow night. Sean is reluctant, she tries not to deal in her own neighbourhood. But Noah argues she’s been selling it to a bunch of people at school already! Plus, if she comes to the party, she could just give it to him then? Sean likes the idea of hanging with Noah at a party. She relents.
At home, Sean sneaks into her father’s den, which is a shipping container buried under the ground. Hanging on the walls are weapons, rope, canned food, short-wave radio, everything a survivalist might need to outlast the apocalypse… including a home-made chemistry lab. She begins making a batch of Lucid. Albie catches her. He freaks out, and makes her promise she’s not taking Lucid herself. When Sean assures him she’s only making it to sell, he calms. He considers Lucid a necessary evil. He knows she’ll need money to survive when the war begins, and Lucid will get her that, but it’s toxic stuff. He makes her promise to sell it far from home, so she can’t be tracked. Only have people around you that can help you in your objectives. It’s better to be alone than to carry dead weight. Sean promises, feeling the guilt of her lie. So Albie helps her prepare the chemicals. Changing the subject, Sean asks how Albie learned to make Lucid? He says that’s thanks to her mother. He becomes quiet, and Sean knows not to push any further. When they’re finished, Sean puts the vials of Lucid inside a special case, which they lock in a safe.
That night in bed, on a video call to Teremoana, Sean explains that her mother left Albie when Sean was just a baby, and Albie’s never gotten over it. He doesn’t like to talk about her. Sean thinks about her all the time, but when she remembers her, she can never see her face. Even though she knows it’s naive, part of Sean yearns for her mother to come back and reunite the family.
Later, as she prepares for bed, Sean remembers happy memories of her parents together, seen from a child’s point of view. She can’t see her mother’s face.
Outside, the light from Sean’s bedroom goes out. From the shadows across the street, Adam watches.
The next day, Teremoana arrives at Sean’s house to get ready for the party. Albie watches the girls prepare, protective like any father, but his suspicion is that Sean will be selling Lucid at the party. Sean lies, telling him that the Lucid is still in the safe – he can go check if he doesn’t trust her. Albie says he doesn’t need to. The girls leave for the party. After they go, Albie checks the safe. Sure enough, the special case is in there.
Sean and Teremoana arrive at the party. Sean reveals she’s carrying the vials of Lucid – no longer in the special case. Sean finds Noah, and they flirt, sparring witty cynicisms. Sean asks Teremoana to keep a look out, as they go into a quiet room to do the deal. But when Sean produces the Lucid, Noah is nervous. He reveals he’s never actually tried it before, but he’s told his friends he has. Sean describes the experience as a blissful feeling of connectedness with all things. She offers him a sample, she will watch over him. They climb out the window and go to a quiet place. It’s a beautiful spot. When Noah asks if she uses it herself, Sean lies: “All the time”. He asks if he’ll join her, but she declines. He cracks open the vial and offers it to her. She flinches, trying to suppress her fear of the chemical. Noah shrugs, puts the vial beneath his nostrils and inhales deeply.
Meanwhile, two police officers arrive at the party. Behind them is Adam. Teremoana freaks out. She into the room to find Sean, but she’s gone.
Having taken the Lucid, Noah slips into a blissful euphoria. He tries to describe what he’s experiencing, how connected he is with everything, with her. He reaches for her hand. From his perspective, there’s a glow around her. Their hands merge, no boundary between her and him. He looks at her with love.
In the party, Adam senses something. He makes a beeline outside, heading toward where Sean and Noah have gone. The police follow.
Noah’s expression turns to shame. Noah is remorseful, now he understands, he would never have… Sean doesn’t understand, what? Just then, Teremoana bursts in on Noah and Sean. The cops are coming! Sean realises that Noah has betrayed her? Noah is emotional, penitent, but also tripping out.
Sean makes a run for it, the police close behind. Sean is quick, but she twists her ankle and falls. She hides, nursing her injury for a moment, but she knows she needs to move. She summons her strength and is just about to make another run for it, when something holds her back. She senses, just like she did when she was hunting the deer. There’s something unearthly about this moment, her senses keenly aware. She hears a heartbeat. Sure enough, a moment later a police officer appears, panting, scanning. Sean waits, and the officer moves on. Relieved, Sean sees cars passing on the road through the trees. She jogs toward freedom. But just as she appears to be in the clear… she runs smack into Adam.
Later. The party is broken up, the lights are on. The police want to know where Sean got her Lucid, but she refuses to speak. Teremoana is mouthy, being as obstinate as she can. Adam stares intensely at Teremoana, and as he does so, Sean hears Teremoana’s heartbeat. Adam suggests Teremoana calms down, and abruptly Teremoana shuts up and sits quietly. Even the police, who’ve seen this before, are disturbed.
Adam returns his gaze to Sean. There’s something about her. A police officer shows Adam Sean’s social media profile. She’s posted nothing. That’s strange. Adam instructs them to search Teremoana’s profile for shots of Sean. Teremoana meekly logs in for them. There is a picture of Teremoana at Sean’s house, with Albie. Adam abruptly smiles, tells Sean not to do it again, and leaves.
As the police cars speed away, Adam places a video call to his boss. Adam tells her “I’ve found him”. His boss, a Pākehā woman in her thirties, is pleased.
Sean returns to Teremoana. She waits as Teremoana returns from her state of placid compliance, and as she does so, she collapses into fear and tears. It’s as if she’s been raped. Later, she describes how she shared Adam’s mind. It was a dark, cancerous place. Something was growing there that was powerful and terribly hungry. She hates the Visitors and will forever fight them.
It’s dawn by the time Sean finally arrives home. The police have cordoned off the house. Albie is being arrested, with Adam watching on. The equipment from the den is laid out, including all the weapons. Sean is distraught. As Albie is taken away he whispers to Sean – ”This is the day I prepared you for”.
Two officers usher Albie into the patrol car. But Albie twists from their grasp, savagely incapacitates them, and makes a run for it. He sprints away across the open field at the back of the property. Another officer levels a rifle at Albie’s back. Sean screams, and Adam intervenes to stop the officer from shooting. Everyones’ gaze is fixed on Albie’s figure rapidly disappearing into the distance. Then somehow, Sean hears the sound of a heartbeat. It’s fast, panicked… Sean turns to Adam in fear. Adam is concentrating hard on Albie. It’s her father’s heartbeat she can hear.
Eyes fixed on Albie, Adam makes the tiniest twist of his head. Across the field, Albie trips. He stumbles for a moment, nearly rights himself, but then tumbles toward the ground. There’s a smooth rock in the grass. Albie hits his head on it, hard. He lies still. Sean cries, wildly accusing Adam of making Albie fall, making him hit that rock. It’s a crazy accusation, but Adam is intrigued. He asks if Sean believes Albie is dead. Sean hears her father’s heartbeat, and knows that he’s alive. Adam is amazed – Sean is very special. He knew it the moment he met her. As the police retrieve Albie, Adam invites Sean to accompany them to the hospital. Sean refuses, and Adam applies pressure.
Sean runs. Adam gives chase. He calls as he pursues her: He won’t hurt her. They need her.
He pursues her to a rocky outcrop, where Sean was hunting the fawn when we first met her. Adam nearly catches her, but slips and falls. Sean kicks him in the face, but scarily, it doesn’t seem to slow him down. Instead, he gets angry. Sean finds herself pinned at the edge of the cliff. Adam grabs Sean. Holding her down, he uses his mind trick to try to calm her like he did with Teremoana. But she fights it, there’s a mental struggle, and she pushes him out of her mind. He’s surprised, and she uses his moment of confusion to get the better of him. She hits him with a rock and pushes him away, toward the ravine. He tumbles off the side, and scrabbles for the edge. Sean grabs his hand, stopping him from falling. It’s up to her whether he lives or dies. She remembers her father’s lesson, and considers letting him go.
But she can’t. She helps Adam back up. They breathe for a moment at the cliff’s edge.
Adam says she doesn’t know how special she is, she could change everything. But Sean tells him she will never help him. So Adam stands over her, push into her mind – comply. It’s intense. Sean writhes, clutching her head, then screams out in pain “get out!”.
Suddenly Adam’s soul is slammed out of its body! It hangs there for a moment, diaphanous, and then evaporates in the morning air. The person who is left teeters at the cliff’s edge, blinking and confused. This is not the Visitor at all, it’s a human, the original owner of the body. Confused, the man tries to speak… but instead he stumbles, and falls backward off the ledge.
Sean gapes at the twisted body below. She’s in some real trouble now.