Smoke and Mirrors

**Smoke and Mirrors** is the second episode of the second season of *Another Life*, and the twelfth episode of the series overall. It was released on October 14, 2021 on Netflix.

## Synopsis

Venturing into the ring to negotiate with the Achaia, Niko sees the unimaginable. Cas risks everything by sending Iara on a mission. Jana stuns Erik.

## Plot

Niko heads to the Achaian ring on the space shuttle and makes it there. She is able to communicate with the crew. William tells her she could not breathe in there, so she keeps her suit on and leaves the shuttle. The Achaian ship is completely dark except for energy bursts, which Cas finds weird. Niko sees a big light which appears to be forming something. Richard says that the Achaia could be a hybrid of energy and machine and so Niko walks towards it.

As Niko moves forward, she loses contact with the Salvare, which William says he is unable to fix. Bernie asks if they would send something, but Richard says that it is a negotiation. Tensions rise on the Salvare, but Cas calms everybody down. Cas asks Javier to make sure Iara's confinement was rock solid and wants to go out to finish what August and Oliver started, but Richard suggests that they should not leave Javier and Iara alone.

Iara asks Javier if he had been to the ocean because she knows that the ocean induces a meditative state in humans, but Javier tells her that he also likes silence. She tells him that she could change the room into a resort since he was grieving, but he says that that would not help. She says that the Achaians are not her friends, and tells him that he is also part Achaian; however, he says that they are not the same, which she agrees with because she is trapped. Javier changes the subject saying that the ocean is not very fun, but thanks her for thinking of him. She warns him that he is not really free either and he leaves.

Bernie works on a rock that he cannot cut through and tells Richard that it was indestructible. Richard says that he was not planning on rescuing Niko yet since they still did not know if it was even necessary. Bernie and Richard find that Cas and Niko are both very emotionally attached, which Richard finds dangerous if things went south.

Niko walks towards the light and touches it. She goes in and sees lights forming together and falling onto her suit. They begin covering her and startling her until she is dressed in normal clothes. She sees Jana on a bed and asks what is happening. Jana wakes up and calls for Niko. Niko tells them to end the simulation, but Jana simply asks if they could go home. Niko does not believe Jana is really her, but her daughter grabs her and insists. Jana asks if she died and if they are both dead. Niko asks why she would ask that and Jana says that she was sick and could not move after Erik had gone into the Artifact.

Jana sits up and tells Niko that Erik was waiting for her outside, but did not want to leave her. Niko tells Jana to go to Erik and tells her that she also needed her to take her ring and keep it safe until they saw each other again. Both of them hug and Jana leaves.

Erik sits at the tent when the Artifact opens once again. Jana runs outside and is met by Erik, who rushes towards her. Niko can hear Erik and runs towards him as well, walking through the door.

When Niko makes it through the door, she finds herself with her mother, who tells her that they are in a place of meditation.

On the Salvare, Cas fixes the FTL arrays and is congratulated by William, but she tells him to thank August and Oliver. She goes in and tells Richard that they could not just wait there, but William says that they still had heard nothing from the Achaian vessel. She says that she would send Iara to the vessel, which Richard does not entirely agree upon, saying that it could all be part of her plan, but Cas says that Iara could never escape. Cas walks into Iara's room and tells her that they need her help.

Niko's mother tells her that they should have some tea. Niko says that she prefers coffee, so that is what she is poured. Her mom says that nothing is real, so Niko wonders if her brain had been hijacked. Her mom says that she is only a representation of her thoughts, so Niko figures that Jana was not real either, but her mother does not deny that. The Achaian tells her that they wanted her to see what they were capable of since Jana was sick. They saved her life and even offer to take the Salvare's crew back to Earth. Niko asks what they would ask in return since she was there to negotiate. The Achaian asks that they spread a message for them, saying that the Achaia come in peace. Niko says that they have different definitions of peace.

Iara assures William that she would be fine and teleports onto the Achaian vessel. She sees the light that Niko saw and walks towards it. Once she touches it, the Salvare starts receiving a lot of information. Richard says that they need to shut that down and sever Iara's connection, but William tells them that Iara was hacking the Achaian ring. Richard tells Cas that she was right in sending Iara, but tells her that they need to do things right, saying that their best defense was knowledge. Cas instructs Iara to keep getting information, but reminds her that her priority is Niko.

The Achaian tells Niko that things are not always black and white, but Niko tells her that they had murdered an entire planet, where they even saw implants. The Achaian says that that was not them, that the aliens in Zakir had started the war. Niko asks if that was standard procedure for species that do not listen to them and the Achaian tells her that the Zakir were offered the same deal, but the powerful people of Zakir resisted. The Achaian says that the Zakir were killed because of Niko's actions where she killed thousands of Achaia, which is why they had retaliated. The image alters and Iara shows up, which shocks them both.

Niko tells Iara that she should not be there and the Achaian says that she was indeed in the right place. She touches Achaia's head and Iara says that she can feel her since they were connected. The Achaian says that on the outside she is beautiful, but a mutt on the inside because she was allowing herself to be locked up and begging for approval. The Achaian tells Niko that her whole life, Niko had wanted to protect everything until things went wrong. The Achaian grabs Iara by the throat and shoves her back onto the Salvare.

William finds Iara and asks her if she is okay. She says she is and tells William that Niko is alive. She describes the simulation to Richard and Cas and says that she was the one in danger because the Achaia are not happy. Cas tries to go in, but Richard says that they need to think about what is next and prepare to go back to Earth. Cas, however, tells him that if they went to Earth they would be followed by the Achaia, so she would go get Niko because she is the highest ranking member of the crew. Richard tells her that once she leaves, he was in command and would do anything to go back to Earth.

The Achaian tells her that they had trusted her and were angry that she had sent Iara, but Niko says that it was not her who made the call. She explains that if Iara was sent it was because the Salvare thought she was in danger. The Achaian tells her that Iara had stolen information and says that she could have asked for information instead of stealing it, which Niko says is what she is currently doing. Niko asks how many they are, how long they had been in space for and what they wanted from them. The Achaian simply says that what they want is peace and is trying to offer them a way home, but Niko wants answers. The Achaian says that she never realized how much she needed protection and asks to let Niko help her. Niko tells her that if she wants a message sent, she needs to tell the truth. The Achaian agrees with Niko and says that they should try again. The simulation alters and Niko is in different clothes, at a funeral.

Cas prepares to leave the Salvare in a space suit and makes her way to the Achaian ship.

At the funeral, Niko approaches Erik and holds his hand. Erik tells her that he had let both her and Jana down and apologizes. Niko realizes the funeral is Jana's and she asks how Jana had died. Erik explains that Jana had gotten sick once again and complains that Niko was not there, just like her mother. Niko asks if the Achaia are threatening her with her daughter's life and declares that there was no future for them. She tells them that if she wants to choose between humanity and her daughter, she would choose the former.

Outside of the simulation, Niko has her eyes closed while a small robot makes its way up her body.

The simulated Erik tells Niko that he understands and opens her mouth, telling her that it was okay. Niko shoves him off of her and tells him that he is not her husband. Erik makes his way back to her and he tells her that she was choosing the wrong side. They punch each other and wrestle as Erik tries shoving his fingers in her mouth. He tells her that he knew she would always choose the mission over them since she was exactly like her mother. Niko puts her fingers in Erik's mouth and pushes in deep. She awakes from the simulation and finds herself fighting the robot, which she crushes. Cas finds Niko, who tells her that the talks did not go do well. Cas tells her that they need to leave and they head for the shuttle.

At a hospital, Jana wakes up and sees Erik. He tells her that he knows she feels fine, but asks her to stay in bed. She shows him Niko's ring, which surprises Erik; he tells her that that was Niko's ring and asks where she had gotten it. Jana tells him that she had found her mother in the Artifact and had promised to keep it safe.

Javier tells Erik that he is having trouble figuring out the Achaian language and wonders if they even have heads or tails. Richard asks him to tell him himself, so Javier asks if he has a problem with him, to which Richard responds that he does not with Javier personally, but he does with the thing on his head.

William tells Javier and Richard that he is picking up four more Achaian vessels headed straight for them, so Richard says that they cannot stay there and tells them to get ready to jump.

Richard makes it to Iara's room and tells her that she should go back on the ship and give them a head start by disabling their ship and disrupting their sensors, so they could have enough time to jump. She mentions that it is ironic that she should help them get out while she is still stuck, so Richard tells her that if he does that, he would lower her firewalls.

Niko and Cas try communicating with the Salvare, telling them they had made it to the shuttle. However, they see that the ship had started the FTL drive. The Salvare takes off, leaving both Niko and Cas on the Achaian vessel.

## 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
* Alexander Eling as Javier Almanzar
* JayR Tinaco as Zayn Petrossian
* Dillon Casey as Seth Gage
* Lina Renna as Jana Breckinridge-Wallace
* Shannon Chan-Kent as Iara