Swan Song

**Swan Song** is the tenth episode of *Nexus Academy's* first season and the tenth episode overall. It premiered on September 7, 2015.

## Plot

**November 15, 5016**

The episode begins with Professor Rohlandu alone in the Orb, at a series of strange monitors displaying images of the dance. Doctor Zeiss comes onto her radio, and tells her that all is going well at the dance. Rohlandu briskly commends him before beginning to eavesdrop on Quincy. She then reveals herself as the speaker of the mysterious last line from the preceding episode, and murmurs that her foe should reveal themselves.

In the heart of the dance, John and Lock discuss their lack of dates. While a seemingly unconcerned John assuages Lock's disappointment, Tom idles up to them, and amiably attempts to join the conversation. Initially the two of them do not notice him; instead discussing the whereabouts of Quincy, whom Lock hopes to make up with. John says he is unaware of his whereabouts, and then notices Tom. Tom attempts to get them to dance with him, but he is rebuked by them. Despite this, he attempts to dance, and Lock walks away.

Quincy enters, and recoils when he catches sight of Tom. He is then intercepted by Lock. The two greet each other awkwardly, Quincy admitting he has been avoiding him. There is a brief silence, interrupted by Tom's continued dancing. Quincy and Lock demand he stops, while John takes his leave. Tom then proceeds to trip and fall into the punch bowl, causing multiple students to yell at him. An embarrassed Tom flees.

Quincy and Lock awkwardly agree not to be mad at each other any more, a melancholy Quincy stating he just wanted Lock to trust him. Lock assured him he does, and sends him off to dance with Claire.

As Tom departs the dance, he hears and notices something strange, and realizes the doors to the dance have sealed shut, locking the other kids inside the Greenhouse. He bangs on the door and tries to warn the others, but they ignore him, and he flees for help.

Annabel and Dakota reflect briefly on Tom's departure, with both of them being entirely unsympathetic. Annabel discovers this is Dakota's first time dancing, and is horrified by his inability to do so. After forcing him to get her a drink, she offers to teach him to dance, giving him some advice which he initially flunks. They keep working on it, and Annabel seems to be bemused by his optimistic failures.

Fergus and Erica are dancing elsewhere. Fergus, noticing how distant Erica has been, surprises her by "breaking up" with her and telling her to pursue John. He tells her that even if she doesn't realize it, they have chemistry. A happy Erica thanks him and departs to find John.

Erica finds John, and surprises him. John is initially gruff, asking about Fergus, but after they banter a bit Erica asks John to dance. He reluctantly agrees, saying otherwise he'll never hear the end of it. As they step onto the dance floor, John grumbles as he realizes that they must dance to a slow song. As this occurs, Lock is feigning romantic interest in a sandwich he obtained from the catering.

Quincy and Claire awkwardly dance, as Quincy relates to her that he and Lock have made up. They lean in closer to each other, as if to kiss, when the lights abruptly go out. Quincy yells at Tom to stop whatever he is doing, but is only met by screams. He raises his hand and starts to glow it, but he discovers his power is being blocked somehow. Across the dance, the other characters make similar discoveries.

Professor Zeiss shouts for everyone to stay calm, but is drowned out by hysteric students as the lights begin to flicker on and off. As the crowd swarms towards the doors, Quincy loses Claire, and trips over something and falls. To his horror, he discovers he has tripped over a human corpse, which has been torn apart like Arthur's body. He calls for help.

In the center of the room, a mysterious green light flickers and mechanical laughing is heard. Dakota and Annabel try to run for the doors, but discover they are locked. A confused Erica and John watch the chaos unfold, unaware of the danger. As they are observing the light, John remarks that something has spilled on his shoes. He bends over to clean it up, and realizes with horror that the liquid is blood.

Dakota and Annabel find Quincy, and help him up, horrified. They discuss the locked doors, and try desperately to find a plan to get out. There are no windows and the walls are reinforced. They bicker, frightened. Dakota attempts to use his powers, before discovering they don't work.

On the other side of the room, John realizes that there is something behind Erica. A strange creature attacks her- a mechanical beast vaguely resembling a wingless dragon- and John leaps into its path, allowing himself to be badly hurt by it. Erica cries out. The creature disappears back into the darkness as a nervous John scrambled away from where he was attacked. Pulling himself together, John sees the light again, and rushes at it, attempting to use his powers. Unfortunately, he realizes mid leap that his powers aren't working, and he is thrown onto the ground.

Across the room, Dakota sees that somebody is being attacked and he, Quincy, and Annabel, rush towards them.

John gets up weakly as Dakota, Quincy, and Annabel find him and Erica. Quincy attempts to pull along the corpse but gives up as it turns out to be too bulky. Dakota draws the creature's ire by bashing it with a chair, and as it leaps at him carefully rolls out of the way so the wall is destroyed. He screams for everybody to get out, and the students begin to pour into the stark white hallways.

Discovering he can't move on his own, Erica and Dakota each help to support him as they attempt to flee, the creatures snapping up several more students. They rush out into the hallway, and Quincy points out the hallway with the least amount of screams. Erica, Dakota, Quincy, and John escape that way, while Annabel has already fled with the larger group.

A creature bursts into the hallway in front of them, tossing aside a corpse as something retracts into its mouth. As the friends back away slowly, the creature is attacked from behind by Lock, wielding his katana to slash off the creature's tail. Lock tells his surprised friends to run, and all but a shocked Quincy do so. Quincy attempts to argue with Lock, as Dakota calls for him to hurry. Another creature breaks through the ceiling, separating Quincy and Lock from the group.

The rest of the group are forced to keep running, despite their desire to save Quincy. They arrive at the train station, and begin heading along the very high elevated tracks towards the main city. Unfortunately, they have been followed by another creature.

In a laboratory, a crowd of students, among them Claire, discover they are trapped. As the creatures pick them off one by one, a desperate Claire observes a closet. She makes a break for it across the room and manages to get to it, where she locks herself in and begins barricading it. As she finishes up, she notes that the sounds of chaos have dimmed outside. The creature has finished off all but a few of the students. Claire slows her breathing, terrified, as the creature begins to approach her closet, going as far as to sniff it before someone else whimpers, causing the creature to turn its attention to them instead. Claire lets out a shaky breath, and slides down against the back of the closet.

In the Orb, Rohlandu calmly watches the carnage unfold. She remarks that Dakota was able to lure the creatures into brighter light, where she could get a good look at them. Arthur steps out from behind the monitors, asking if this is a good thing. Rohlandu reminds him it is not, to his chagrin. Rohlandu seems to soften, and apologizes for not being able to save Arthur. Arthur reminds her to focus, and Rohlandu switches back on the powers, stating they have enough information. Arthur then tells her that what she is doing will never be enough.

Quincy and Lock bicker back and forth as they are faced by one of the creatures. An upset Quincy asks Lock if he is supposed to pretend he doesn't realize the katana is what Lock has been hiding from him. Lock tells him he can pretend what he wants, stating he lost his sandwich to the creatures. As they dodge the beast's blows, Lock with confidence and grace, Quincy, irate, reminds him that people are dying. Lock tells him that he and Quincy will not be among those people, and proceeds to injure the creature a few more times. Observing that the powers are back on, Lock instructs Quincy to use his powers when he says so. Quincy reluctantly complies, and his glowing hand is enough of a distraction for Lock to stab the creature through the head. Lock then convinces Quincy to go find Claire, despite Quincy's reluctance to leave without an explanation from him, citing his own need to find his sandwich. As Quincy sprints away, Lock looks after him sadly.

Back on the tracks, the remaining students discover their powers are back online. With frustration, Erica notes that they have no minds. The three of them try futilely to develop a plan, but are abruptly saved by Dr. Zeiss. Noting John's injuries, he begins to bring them to where a train will be waiting. They ask him what happened, but Dr. Zeiss is adamant that this information is classified, and that they should keep moving. A train begins to approach, and Dr. Zeiss instructs them to get on and go home, and to lock all their doors. They all get onto the moving train, John by blinking, and watch the Greenhouse grow smaller in the distance. A concerned Erica stays with John until medics arrive, who instruct him to drink a painkiller until they can get to a hospital wing. He complies, though he says it tastes gross. John falls asleep in Erica's arms as the train continues to speed away.

A few hours later, Claire, who had fallen asleep in her closet, is woken by the sound of approaching footsteps. To her surprise, it is Annabel, who pauses in the middle of the room to begin a phone call to Rohlandu. Annabel tells Rohlandu that she is certain that Quincy and Dakota are up to something, despite Rohlandu's dismissal of her concerns. Annabel swears that she will find proof after Rohlandu hangs up. Claire tentatively exits her closet, pretending to have just woken, and the two greet each other with simulated happiness. Quincy enters, and is relieved to have found Claire. Annabel excuses herself, leaving Quincy and Claire alone.

Quincy and Claire wonder why Annabel is associating with Dakota, before Quincy tells her that everyone has been evacuated. Quincy is ecstatic that they have a lead again, to Claire's chagrin.

Days later, Rohlandu gives a speech on the events of the dance, saying that while what occurred was a tragedy, any attempts to mention the death and violence would only disturb the learning environment. She also mentions that a guidance counselor is booking mandatory meetings with all of them. As she speaks, the camera cuts to the various characters-- Professors Zeiss and Wing looking upon the dead bodies sadly, among them Fergus, Erica sitting worriedly by an unconscious John, Claire numbly manipulating her food at her lunch table, where she is sitting alone, Dakota obsessively training in the Armory, and Quincy poring over more books on aliens in the library.

The show cuts to Annabel's dorm, where she is cultivating a board of everything she knows about Quincy, Dakota, and their friends. She proclaims that the game has only begun, and the episode ends.

## Guest Cast

### Co-Stars

* Craig Selbrede as Rohlandu Yung
* Craig Selbrede as Arthur Quon
* "Sue Storm" as Annabel Steel
* Parker Nebel as Soren Zeiss
* Parker Nebel as Tom Rayvun

## Trivia

* This episode was followed by the midseason break.
* This episode kickstarted a fan movement for the pairing of Lockwich- Lock and his sandwich.

### Goofs

* Dr. Zeiss tells them to go home and lock their doors, but since Dakota sleeps in the Greenhouse that is impossible for him.