Fabula
S20E15 · Terminus Part 3

Garm bears Bor away from Engine Room

The Doctor and Kari discover the Garm standing over Bor in the claustrophobic engine room, its unnatural form gripping the wounded man as it turns away from them. The creature’s presence confirms the station’s hidden mechanisms are responding to Bor’s revelations, accelerating the crisis beyond their control. With Valgard’s patrol waking nearby and the Garm’s swift departure, the Doctor grasps the dire stakes—Bor’s knowledge must be silenced before the Vanir learn the truth of Terminus’s imminent collapse. The moment forces their hand, revealing how little time remains to prevent universal annihilation. key_dialogue: [ DOCTOR: What's that?

Plot Beats

The narrative micro-steps within this event

1

The Doctor and Kari encounter the Garm, which picks up Bor, and they observe this unusual event.

curiosity to concern ['Forbidden Zone - Engine Room']

Who Was There

Characters present in this moment

5

Controlled urgency masking underlying tension about Bor’s compromised knowledge

The Doctor swiftly observes the Garm and comprehends the immediate threat it poses to their fragile mission. He orders Kari to retreat with urgency, demonstrating his blend of detached analysis and protective instinct as he prioritizes their survival over investigation.

Goals in this moment
  • Ensure Kari’s immediate safety to prevent Terminus’s mechanisms from targeting them next
  • Prevent Bor’s knowledge from being silenced by the Vanir before they can act on it
Active beliefs
  • The station’s systems are designed to eliminate threats to its secrecy, no matter the cost
  • Their window to act is narrowing rapidly, requiring immediate, decisive moves
Character traits
Perceptive Decisive Protective Urgently pragmatic
Follow The Fifth …'s journey
Garm
primary

Emotionless execution of institutional will

The Garm manifests as an unnatural, spectral enforcer, silently removing Bor from the area without resistance. Its formless obedience to the station’s directives is displayed through its swift, mechanical compliance, acting as a harbinger of Terminus’s ruthless erasure of inconvenient truths.

Goals in this moment
  • Retrieve Bor to silence his knowledge of the station’s collapse
  • Enforce the station’s sterilization protocols without hesitation
Active beliefs
  • The station’s survival depends on the elimination of all threats, however subtle
  • No individual’s survival overrides the station’s operational secrecy
Character traits
Obedient Spectral Ruthless Mechanical
Follow Garm's journey

Confusion followed by instinctive trust in the Doctor’s lead

Kari reacts with confusion and wariness to the Garm’s appearance, asking about its nature while instinctively following the Doctor’s retreat order. Her pragmatic instincts align with his urgency, revealing her adaptability under pressure despite her initial caution.

Goals in this moment
  • Understand the immediate threat posed by the Garm to survive
  • Collaborate with the Doctor to mitigate the station’s hidden dangers
Active beliefs
  • The Doctor’s expertise is their best advantage in this crisis
  • The station’s anomalies are escalating beyond controllable limits
Character traits
Quick-thinking Intuitive Adaptive Observant
Follow Kari Olvir's journey
Supporting 2

Submission to fate amid the station’s implacable erasure of the weak

Bor is carried away by the Garm in its spectral form, his injuries and delirious state leaving him helpless as the station’s mechanisms dispose of a relic no longer considered valuable. His physical removal underscores the station’s callous disregard for expendable lives.

Goals in this moment
  • Survive long enough to see the station’s secrets exposed
  • Reach a place of stability after being discarded by the Vanir
Active beliefs
  • His knowledge of Terminus’s origins is the only thing worth preserving
  • The station’s systems are designed to extinguish the voices of the inconvenient
Character traits
Vulnerable Helpless Expendable Haunted
Follow Bor's journey
Valgard Olvir
secondary

Unaware of the immediate supernatural threat but alert to potential disturbances

Valgard awakens in the midst of the crisis, his presence adding a layer of immediate danger as he stirs nearby. Though not yet aware of the Garm’s actions, his proximity heightens the stakes, forcing the Doctor and Kari to prioritize their stealth and evasion.

Goals in this moment
  • Regain control of the situation once he detects anomalies
  • Enforce Vanir authority under the station’s failing conditions
Active beliefs
  • The station’s crises can still be managed through ruthless efficiency
  • Personal ambition must wait for institutional stability
Character traits
Unsuspecting Potentially threatening Professional
Follow Valgard Olvir's journey

Location Details

Places and their significance in this event

1
Terminus Station Forbidden Zone

The engine room of the Forbidden Zone serves as a claustrophobic battleground where the station’s hidden mechanisms assert dominance. Its corroded infrastructure and erratic lighting amplify the tension, revealing the Garm’s spectral form as it enforces the station’s ruthless sterilization protocols without resistance.

Atmosphere Cold and oppressive with an undercurrent of supernatural dread
Function Stage for confrontation with the station’s unseen enforcers
Symbolism Embodiment of the station’s degenerative secrets and its willingness to purge knowledge to survive
Access Restricted to authorized personnel only, with lethal enforcement for trespassers
Fluorescent strips flicker erratically through ionized air Corroded metal grates and jury-rigged scaffolding create a claustrophobic maze

Narrative Connections

How this event relates to others in the story

What this causes 1

"The Doctor and Kari's encounter with the Garm in the Forbidden Zone's engine room (beat_d97f1c135a2a5b80) leads directly to the creature's subsequent action of freeing Nyssa and leading her into the zone, followed by Olvir (beat_fd513903e3dc94ef), demonstrating the Garm's unpredictable but beneficial intervention."

Convergence in the Forbidden Zone
S20E15 · Terminus Part 3