Payment Deferred

### IMDb

**"Payment Deferred"** is the second episode of Season Two of Netflix's *Altered Carbon*. It aired on February 27, 2020, along with the remainder of the second season.

## Promotional Synopsis

As Col. Carrera takes charge of the murder investigation, Kovacs sets out to find Axley's bounty hunter, and Poe's memory glitches worsen.

## Recap

Our story begins with CTAC arriving at the crime scene. Col. Carrera announces that CTAC is taking over the investigation. The detectives show him the tank and they figure that who ever killed Axley must be a military sleeve. CTAC then slags the detectives and cleans up to leave no traces.

At the Nevermore Takeshi is toasting shots and Poe's glitching is getting worse. Takeshi has a theory that somehow Quell was there and she killed Axley and his bodyguards seconds before he cast in.

Poe takes the booze away from Takeshi and tells him he had enough. Takeshi reminds Poe that the sleeve has a filter so there is no way he will get drunk. Poe scans Takeshi and tells him it will take some time to get the return data for the scan. Poe ask Takeshi what is his plan? and Takeshi tells him he plans to get drunk to override Axley's settings. Poe tells him that is not what he meant he meant that he was asking how Takeshi will locate Quell? Takeshi tells Poe it will not be easy 1. Quell does not want to be found, 2. someone could be riding her sleeve, and 3. Quell and any Envoys are wanted fugitives and it is illegal to clone Quell's sleeve because CTAC will be after them. Takeshi has a feeling that Quell knew not to attack him when Axley's house was destroyed because she knew Takeshi was still alive. Takeshi ask Poe to locate Axley. Poe tells him Axley is in hiding on Latimer and that his clone has suffered organic damage. Poe then tells Takeshi if he wants information he needs to find Trepp and get her to tell him what happened. Takeshi tells Poe to pull the CTAC bounty files and just like how they found Vernon Elliot Takeshi narrows the bounties down to one. Halfway through the delete process Poe glitches and pictures of Lizzie pop up. Takeshi tells him he needs to defrag soon or his core will be erased. Poe tells Takeshi if he has to do a defrag it could shutdown his core and he could be out for months and Takeshi will be without backup. Takeshi reminds him of the mission. The mission is not about Takeshi it is finding Quell and getting some answers. Takeshi tells Poe that he is afraid that he will forget about Lizzie if he has to defrag. Takeshi reminds Poe if he does not defrag he can't rely on him because it will put them at risk. Poe then uploads the bounties to the ONI and Takeshi leaves to go find Trepp.

In the Governors Office Danica is holding a meeting. The ore shipments have left on time and the Quellist did not intercept them. They inform her that CTAC is getting nosy and demanding they double their protection. Danica tells them that they will come to that later. Before Danica can give her mining report Col. Carrera comes in. Carrera tells Danica the truth that Axley's stack was wiped and his backups are erased. He also calls the Quellist a death cult that needs to be wiped out and goes on a CTAC rant of why they are needed. Danaca rebukes him and tells him that Axley's death is under Harlan's World jurisdiction but Carrera overrides her and tells her that Takeshi is a Wedge which makes it his jurisdiction because wedges are made for CTAC only. Carrera continues his rant that Quellist are bad, CTAC is good, and CTAC will conquer the universe which is what Konrad Harlan would have wanted. Danica reminds him that she is not Konrad Harlan and she does not believe in genocide. Danica tells Carrera to find Takeshi and get off her world and Carrera continues his rant that Harlan's World belongs to CTAC and that they will conquer the universe before he storms out.

Downtown Trepp walks into a gun shop and questions the owner Gertie the Fence on the location of Raab. Takeshi comes in and tells her not to shoot. Rabb arrives and unloads his loot which includes stacks proving that he is a dipper. Trepp tells Takeshi to stay out of her way and Takeshi questions Rabb about why he brought in a scalp? Trepp tells Rabb he is under arrest and has a bounty on his head. She also tells him he is only suppose to haul in war junk not scalp Decoms. She gives him a choice Organic Damage or Slag His Stack. Rabb goes with sleeve. Rabb tells Trepp that he might just kill her and scalp her coils. Takeshi tells Rabb he is not Trepp's partner and slags the muscle. Gertie locks down the shop and takes the loot while Trepp uses her coils to blow the pulse grenades. Rabb tries to scalp Trepp but Takeshi shoots him and takes his stack. Gertie ask Takeshi who is going to pay for the damage they did? Takeshi tells him to sell their gear and keep the cash. Trepp tells Takeshi that Rabb was her bounty. But Takeshi has a counter offer either she tells Takeshi what happened or he dumps all five stacks and their bounties down the drain. Trepp agrees and they leave for her hideout.

In the Governors Office Dugan tells Danica she is playing with fire. Axley's murder will get out and CTAC will get an excuse to stay on Harlin's World. Danica tries to shrug it off and Dugan warns her if the Angel Array gets into CTAC hands they can use it to erase all stacks. Danica tells Dugan to contact Konrad but she calls Konrad a Renouncer which is a lie. Danica tells Dugan to give her time and Dugan leaves.

Trepp's hideout turns out to be a nightclub with Trepp as part owner. Trepp takes Takeshi into the office and pores them drinks and explains what happened. Trepp was hired by Axley to do a job and they were not on good terms. Axley did his Meth business up until the point he was murdered. Axley said he would double Trepp's pay if she caught Takeshi and that Axley wanted Takeshi as muscle. Axley was calling his partners about Quell. Someone blackmailed Axley and whoever was wearing Quell would get in trouble with CTAC because cloning Quell is illegal. Once the meeting was over Axley told Trepp to get in a pod and cast out because Takeshi was on Maghda Prime singing torch songs and cross-sleeving as a woman. They get interrupted by a business girl and she takes the whiskey. Takeshi says he needs to locate Axley's partners and Trepp pulls the files on Anton Durov and Haruki Okada. Takeshi ask Trepp where he can find them? Trepp tells Takeshi they can figure it out. and Takeshi gives his famous "I work alone" rant. Trepp tells Takeshi "Too Bad I'm Working With You" and they set out to find their contacts Trepp will locate Anton and Takeshi will locate Haruki because he is known in The Yakuza underworld so that's where he will start by asking them for Haruki's location. Takeshi places the stacks of the five scumbags in the glass and walks out the door.

Back at the Nevermore Poe writes his defrag instructions on sticky notes. Takeshi comes in and tells Poe he found Trepp and he has information that Quell is alive and he needs information about Axley's partners. Poe tell Takeshi that Meths don't post their schedules on the array and Takeshi tells him to hack their security systems. Poe glitches again and Takeshi tells him to reboot or he will find another partner before knocking Poe's sticky notes on the floor and storms out.

Takeshi goes to Tanaseda Hideki and he tells him Anton and Haruki are at the Soul Market. To get in Takeshi will have to talk to Semetaire and tell him he is on the list. Takeshi tells Tanaseda that a sleeve-jacker is riding Quell. Tanaseda tells Takeshi that he is his friend and that he should not have released his anger on him and ask him what he is going to do when he finds the impostor? Takeshi tells Tanaseda that when he finds the sleeve he will shoot it 100 times with a Sunjet until the stack goes into VR and when it does he will torture it until he gets information. Tanaseda tells Takeshi that what was posted on the ONI news feed is a lie Axley is dead and his backups erased and if Takeshi is not careful the killer will find him too and erase his stack.

Takeshi gets off at the next stop and goes into the Soul Market to talk to Semetaire. Semetaire ask Takeshi why he is in his club? and Takeshi tells him he is looking for answers. Semetaire tells him when a stack is placed on the Soul Market it is worthless but the memories are not. Takeshi does not like this and tells Semetaire he will have what the other patrons are having and checks in. Semetaire takes him to the back room and gets ready to meet his contacts.

At CTAC Headquarters the wedges wonder about how Axley was murdered and Carrera tells them about how the Arabs conquered Constantinople and made it Istanbul and he tells them Danica will slip up and when she does Harlan's World will be conquered by CTAC. They find Takeshi's location and gear up to bring him down.

At the club Takeshi meets his contacts and they share some Stiff. Across town Trepp places a bounty on a mysterious person. In the club Takeshi talks to the two Meths and they joke about Quell coming to wipe them out. Takeshi tells them the rumors are true and Axley is dead and they could be next. Anton and Haruki take Takeshi into the back room and he loads a memory into his stack. In the flashback he sees Quell cutting marks on the wall and some CTACs coming to arrest her. Quell kills the CTACs and some civilians before the memory ends. Takeshi tells them this is not Quell someone is riding her and he needs to find out who. Outside people are being killed. Takeshi races outside and confronts the stranger demanding to know if she is Quell or not. Takeshi shouts to the stranger "You are not Quell that sleeve is not yours!" and tries to shoot her but Quell throws him through the glass before she kills Anton and Haruki. Takeshi shouts "Give it up! You're Not Leaving Here in That Sleeve!" and they battle it out while shooting up the bar. After battling for a while the stranger stops what she is doing and calls out Takeshi's name it is his beloved Quell he found her. Suddenly CTAC arrives and Takeshi is arrested.

## Cast

### Starring

* Anthony Mackie as Takeshi Kovacs
* Lela Loren as Danica Harlan
* Simone Missick as Trepp
* Chris Conner as Poe
* Dina Shihabi as Dig 301
* Torben Liebrecht as Jaeger

### Guest starring

* James Saito as Tanaseda Hideki
* Renée Elise Goldsberry as Quellcrist Falconer
* David Cubitt as Dugan
* Sharon Taylor as Myka
* Jason Schombing as Detective Ray Locran
* Dalias Blake as Batu / Wedge
* Orphée Ladouceur-Nguyen as Wedge / Morgaine
* Skyler Mowatt as Wedge / Finch
* Mitra Suri as Wedge / Simone
* Mark Acheson as Gertie the Fence
* Maxime Savara as Raab
* Max Boateng as Semetaire
* Victor Zinck Jr. as Anton Durov
* Kevin Ohtsji as Haruki Okada
* Marilyn Norry as Shira