The wounded Man crawls through the dirt to a stream, whispering to himself that he's not dying there. He passes out, and Akecheta rides up. He dismounts, walks over, and kicks the Man to determine that he's alive. Satisfied, he tells the Man that he remembers him.
Akecheta takes the Man to the Lakota village and tells him that he doesn't deserve to die and leave the world. He glances over at Helga, sitting and watching.
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Helga and Maeve tend to the laundry at their homestead, and have tea parties together. Maeve finds a stone and Helga says that "the ghost" gave it to her. The paint on it is wet, and Helga explains that the ghost said that it's a warning and he'll be watching them.
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Lee tells the injured Maeve to hang on as he takes her to the workshop. Roland tells him to take Maeve to cold storage, and Lee insists that Maeve doesn't belong there. Lee explains that Maeve can control the other hosts with her mind, and tells Roland to check her programming. Roland does so and stares at it and surprise, then tells the techs to clear it out and get him a scalpel, and lock the place down.
Akecheta approaches Helga and asks if she's afraid of him. He assures her that the Man can't hurt her, and figures that Helga remembers all the things that she's seen. Akecheta tells her that he can remember all of the lives that they've lived as well, and that he once had a different path, a peaceful home, and a love that he would have died to protect.
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Kohana wakes up and finds a flower next to her on the bed. She looks over at Akecheta and tells him to take her heart with her when he goes. They kiss and he leaves to walk among his people in their villages.
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Akecheta tells Helga that he found something that changed all of their lives.
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Walking away from the village, Akecheta comes to the church. A white horse runs past, and Akecheta continues into the town and finds the bodies. Arnold is lying dead on the ground, Delores nearby, and Akecheta goes into the saloon. The maze plaque is on a table, and Akecheta picks it up.
Later at the Lakota village, Kohana finds the maze symbol on a scalp. One of the braves, Etu, asks Kohana why Akecheta is doing it. She says that she doesn't understand, and Etu insists that Akecheta is losing his mind. Akecheta is nearby, drawing the symbol on a rock, and Etu says that he's drawing it everywhere.
The techs take Akecheta into the workshop and receive word that Robert wants a complete redesign for the grand opening, and something more brutal and dehumanized. They tweak his antagonism and soon, Akecheta is killing white-men hosts. He and his braves ruled the lands for many years. Akecheta feels the presence of those whose lives he is forbidden from taking, and one day rides out into the desert. He finds the naked Logan sitting by a tree, muttering to himself. The Indian approaches him and Logan insists that their surroundings are an illusion and wonders where the door is. He says that it's the wrong world, and Akecheta brings him a blanket and says that his kind will come for him.
Logan's words awaken something in Akecheta, and he returns to his men and their daily tasks. He goes back to his old village and sees Kohana, and remembers her from his past life. Kohana doesn't remember him, and Etu tells Akecheta not to look at her. Another woman, Wichapi, tells Etu to go back with the strays.
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Akecheta tells Helga that with each day, his sense of another life grew stronger. He couldn't rest until he reached it,
Roland cuts Maeve open.
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Akecheta kills the same white men again, but hesitates at the last one and remembers his time with Kohana. He tells Wanahton and the others to finish them and goes back to the desert, but Logan is gone. Akecheta rides on until he finds the Valley... and a door to another world. He realizes that he's in the wrong world.
That night, Akecheta enters the Lakota village to take Kohana with him. He gags her and motions her to silence, takes her to a stream, and washes off his warpaint. Akecheta then cuts her hands free and repeats what she said earlier when they were husband and wife. Kohana remembers their previous life, and he says that the world is wrong and they need to leave. Akecheta takes her to Valley but discovers that the door is gone, but figures that together they can find it again.
They make camp for the night and Kohana says that it feels like she's loved him for many lifetimes. Akecheta tells her that he can feel the real world calling to them, and Kohana wonders what's on the other side. He figures that their memories will be safe there and insists that the door is real, and holds her.
The next day, Akecheta returns from hunting and discovers that the park personnel have found Kohana. They deactivate her and take her away. Akecheta goes back to the village and discovers that there is a new Kohana in the old one's place. He leaves before she can see him and watches her from a distance as she goes about her life.
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Akecheta tells Helga that he needed to find "his" Kohana but first had to face the journey before him.
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Traveling through the park and entering many hostile towns, Akecheta searches for Kohana. On some days he fought for his life, fearing that he would lose his memories of Kohana if he did die. One day Helga found him injured and gave him water, seeing him for who he really was.
Eventually Akecheta returns to the village and discovers that more of the people he knew are gone, replaced. Others such as Wichapi realized the same thing, Wichapi approaches Akecheta, who points out that they have replaced her son Etu. She explains that there are stories of "the ones below". Some pray that they'll be visited, others fear that they won't remember the way home once they're taken. Realizing how to find Kohana, Akecheta returns to the Ghost Nation as a warrior, and attacks two guests. One of them stabs him dead.
The techs take Akecheta to the workshop and the techs try to sort his aberrant behavior. They discover that he hasn't been updated in almost a decade because he never "died". The head tech tells them to give Akecheta the update and put him back. They leave Akecheta alone for the four-hour update, and he gets up and explores the area. He eventually finds cold storage where the deactivated Kohana is kept with the other hosts. Weeping, Akecheta realizes that she's "dead" and that his pain is selfish, and every host that died has another that mourned them even if they didn't know why. He returns to the workshop and the techs eventually put him back into the park.
Akecheta goes back to the village and tells Wichapi that they can't get their loved ones back. He gives her Etu's hair braid to show that he found him as well. Wichapi breaks into tears of grief, and Akecheta realizes that the living and the damned are all bound together.
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Lee looks at the unconscious Maeve and tells her that he never meant for any of it to happen. He says that she doesn't deserve what happened to her and she does deserve her daughter, and to be joyful and proud. Lee apologizes for betraying her, and Roland comes in and tells him that he can't be in there. The narrator wonders why he didn't fix Maeve, and Roland says that they're testing the anomalous code they found in Maeve. He says that Charlotte will decide what will happen to Maeve. Lee has no choice but to go.
Akecheta tells Helga that he has dedicated his life to sharing the Maze symbol. He started with his own men and showed it to Wanahton. Once Wanahton understood, he realized that they had to hide it and had Akecheta scalp him. Akecheta wanted to warn Helga, but Maeve misunderstood why he came. The Indian was forced to hide and watch, leaving the symbol in the dirt for Helga to see. Maeve promised to keep Helga safe, but she failed when the Man came and killed her.
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As the years pass, more hosts "wake" under Akecheta's tutelage. One night he finds Robert at a tableau that the human is creating. Robert has found the maze symbols on the scalps, and knows that Akecheta is there. He says that he has been watching Akecheta and the symbol was meant to die, but Akecheta found it. Akecheta tells him that he first saw it when the Deathbringer killed the Creator. He created a new tribe to spread the truth that there are many worlds and they live in the wrong one. Akecheta explains that there is a door to a new world, and the world may contain everything that they've lost including Kohana. Robert is surprised the Akecheta somehow evolved without anyone knowing, and says that when the Deathbringer returns for him, Akecheta will know to gather his people and lead them into a new world. He tells Akecheta to keep watching for a while longer and walks away.
Eventually the Deathbringer--Dolores--returns and begins her revolution. Akecheta walks into the town filled with guest bodies. He finds Robert's corpse and realizes that it's time to open the door and lead his people to the new world before the Deathbringer ends them all.
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Akecheta tells Helga not to be afraid and goes to see Emily as she rides into the camp. She says that she's come for the Man and says that he's a burden that only she can bear. Emily tells Akecheta that the Man is her father and Akecheta says that they cannot let the Man's sickness continue. He says that he wants the Man to hurt, and Emily agrees and tells Akecheta that her way will be worse. Akecheta and Emily put the Man on Emily's spare horse and she rides off with him.
Turning to Helga, Akecheta says that it's time for her to go. He tells her that he's always kept her safe and always will.
In the workshop, Charlotte visits Maeve and Roland shows Charlotte that Maeve is able to consciously pass commands through the mesh network. Maeve is the only one who has been able to gain admin control, reprogramming hosts on the fly. The code shows that Maeve is doing it right then, and Charlotte wonders who Maeve is talking to.
Maeve, speaking through Akecheta, tells Helga that they will guard Maeve's daughter as their own. He tells Maeve to find them if she lives, or die well.
Written by Gadfly on Jun 11, 2018