Just a Rat in a Cage

**Just a Rat in a Cage** is the eighth episode of the second season of *Another Life*, and the eighteenth episode of the series overall. It was released on October 14, 2021 on Netflix.

## Synopsis

In a flash, Niko and Richard's world takes a terrifying turn as they wake up in a cold, cruel trap. On Earth, the team grapples with memory gaps.

## Plot

Niko is laying next to Richard and is being electrocuted, just like he is as well. Richard tells her that the aliens are not Achaia. Richard and Niko are shot at by a hot laser, which burns their skin and they are opened up. When it stops, they do not move and their heartbeat slows down. Richard's eyes are open, but he is unable to move, and Niko calls for him to wake up, while they are both submerged under water.

After some time, Richard and Niko wake up, both okay. They have bands on and are able to move. They walks towards their clothes and notice that there was no scar. They see that they were being watched, so Niko tries taking her band off. Once she does, she starts feeling a lot of pain. Richard says that the aliens know how to control them and they start moving forward to a door which opens up. Since they do not move, they are punished and they analyze the creatures they had seen, which they plan on killing. Both Niko and Richard are separated by a large door.

Zeyn tells Bernie, Dillon, Cas, and Erik that she remembers the magnetar, but they know that Seth had gone into their brains to retrieve information. Zayn apologizes for having given information in order to save hir mother. Cas says that the Achaia had also offered her something, so she understands. Bernie says that the Achaia are helping them, but Dillon says that they need to follow Niko's orders. However, Bernie thinks Niko is dead; Erik tells him that Niko died so he could be there. They say that William is who knows all the information they need, so they say that they will race Seth in order to get there first.

William tries to contact Erik, who does not pick up. He tries Cas, but is blocked and is hurt by Seth, who ordered for him to be moved to the particle accelerator. Seth tells him that he needs information, since he is part Achaia, just like William. He reminds him what high-density neutrinos do to Achaians and knows that he was trying to turn it into a weapon.

Niko calls for Richard and tries to follow the right-hand rule. Richard pulls out a bit of string and leaves it on the floor, while calling for her as well. He finds his piece of fabric, and gets shocked.

A door opens for Niko and she walks inside. She touches a metal bar and sees a vision the creature's ship on the ground. Richard and Niko reunite, but when Richard touches it, he does not get a vision. Richard says that their energy core might be depleted and approaches when a door opens, but is electrocuted. Niko is allowed entry, so she goes in and is separated from Richard once again.

Niko goes outside and sees snow and the ship she had seen in her vision. She walks inside it. She grabs a sort of jacket from a dead creature and sees a weapon, which contains a lets out a big blast when she shoots it. Niko reaches the center of the ship and removes its green core. However, she hears a woman grunting, who turns out to be Paula.

Paula calls the creatures the Decuma and tells Niko that the gun belonged to another creature that the Decuma had caught, tortured, and killed. She tells her that the ship had landed a week after Niko's crew had left and were slaughtered after a fight. Paula tells Niko that she cannot escape because she needs a Decuma bio-scan in order to unlock their systems. Paula tells Niko that when their wristbands become red, they start to turn into one of them. She tells Niko why she is on the ship and lets her know that the Decuma kill each other over ships, but the Decuma cannot go down to retrieve the energy core themselves because cold crystalizes their blood, which was killing her. Paula apologizes for what had happened and says she failed. She begs Niko to not let her turn into a Decuma, so Niko kills her.

Niko keeps moving through the fallen ship and uses a broken arm to turn the ship on. She clicks on different buttons in order to find out what they did and manages to find a key to the wristbands.

Zayn is approached by Bernie, who tells hir to not beat hirself up, since ze was only trying to save hir mom, but Bernie admits to weakness when ze had judged Sasha. Bernie tells hir that ze is human, which is not a bad thing.

USIC shows up at the hotel, so Erik gathers Cas, Dillon, Zayn, and Bernie so they could go. Erik tells them that they were going after them since they had talked to him. Cas wonders if they could download William, but Dillon says that the only people with that kind of storage capacity was USIC, so Bernie suggests the Salvare's supply shuttles.

Niko brings the Decuma energy source, but is called by Richard, who is already turning. She tells him about Paula and what happens when the bracelet turns to red. He tells her to forget about him, but she tells him that if he died, they would die together. She unlocks his wristband, which he does for her as well. He grabs the power core, while they start moving. They are trapped, but Niko shoots through a wall and activates the ship's systems with the Decuma arm. She tells him which button to push and challenges the Decuma to show themselves. The Decuma approaches and tells her not to destroy the energy source, choking her. Richard hits the button and the Decuma starts freezing, which kills it instantly. Niko says she is fine, but tells him he would not like what was coming next. She cuts off his arm, which causes him pain, but he is submerged in the liquid to regenerate.

Cas and Erik try to get into USIC, but Erik's security ID is not working. Once it finally works, he goes in with Cas, making it to the Salvare's supply shuttle.

Seth tells William that he knows how to make him talk, so he shows him his "mother," Ursula Monroe.

Niko wakes Richard up. He takes some time to respond, sees his arm reattached and complete. They are happy it worked and turn the ship's systems on again. She recognizes where Pi Canis Majoris is and knows where the Sun is. They wonder how to fly the ship, but Niko pushes a button, realizing that the ship could not take them as far as they needed to go. Niko cries as Richard comforts her, but suddenly she gets up and notices there were Achaian artifacts, which meant the Decuma were aware of the Achaia. She tells him that she knows going to the Achaia was crazy, but says that the Achaia could maybe send them home. She tells Richard that she could be their ambassador, which worries him, but it was their way home.

## Cast

* Justin Chatwin as Erik Wallace
* Samuel Anderson as William
* Elizabeth Faith Ludlow as Cas Isakovic
* Tongayi Chirisa as Richard Ncube
* A.J. Rivera as Bernie Martinez
* JayR Tinaco as Zayn Petrossian
* Dillon Casey as Seth Gage
* Shannon Chan-Kent as Iara
* Carlena Britch as Paula Carbone
* Rekha Sharma as Ursula Monroe
* Derek Anderson as USIC Guard

## Trivia

* By reintegrating his Niko simulation and Iara into himself, William regains the memories that he had lost in *Will to Power*.