Fabula
Object
Object

Terminus Automated Departure Sequence Handle

A conspicuous red handgrip protruding from Terminus’s bridge controls, its surface polished by repeated contact yet etched with faint directional arrows in yellowing paint. The handle’s position between the Doctor and Kari marks the fulcrum of their last desperate attempt to counter the station’s mass departure sequence—each notch moved forward narrows their window, the mechanism resisting their grip with a stubborn metallic reluctance. Its angle changes incrementally as they force it backward, resisting the pull of automated systems that threaten to hurl the station into irreversible drift.
6 appearances

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

6 moments
S20E16 · Terminus Part 4
Doctor calls the Garm for aid

The red handle, a focal point of Terminus’s automated departure sequence, moves incrementally forward another notch as the Doctor and Kari resist its pull. Each forced backward movement delays the sequence but narrows their temporal window for success.

Before: Positioned between the Doctor and Kari, resisting manual override with stubborn metallic reluctance.
After: Advances another notch despite their resistance, signaling the diminishing time remaining.
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S20E16 · Terminus Part 4
Nyssa confronts Olvir at her door

The red handle moves forward another notch, nudged by unseen forces guiding Terminus’s automated departure sequence toward irreversible drift. Its mechanical advancement marks the shrinking window for intervention as the Doctor and Kari race against time.

Before: Stationary at a critical position on the station’s control systems.
After: Further advanced, accelerating the station’s deadly countdown.
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S20E16 · Terminus Part 4
Doctor and Kari brace for last gamble

The red handle protrudes menacingly from the console, its polished surface etched with fading yellow arrows. As the scene unfolds, it moves forward another notch with stubborn metallic resistance, each increment a countdown to irreversible departure. Both the Doctor and Kari maintain tense physical contact with it, their grips the only tether against the station’s automated momentum.

Before: Stationary, reflecting repetitive manual operation by rogue users
After: Shifted one notch further toward departure, resisting their grip and signaling escalating danger
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S20E16 · Terminus Part 4
Doctor and Kari override automated systems

The red handle serves as the fulcrum of their desperate effort, its polished surface gleaming under the bridge's flickering lights as Kari and the Doctor force it backward. Each notch gains is a small victory against the station's automated departure sequence, its stubborn resistance mirroring the station's defiance of liberation.

Before: Positioned at the end of the automated departure sequence path, resisting manual interference.
After: Partially moved backward as the Doctor and Kari continue to force it, though the system fights back with stiff mechanical reluctance.
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S20E16 · Terminus Part 4
Doctor and Kari battle to activate the engine

The Departure Sequence Handle moves from the engine’s violent setting to its start position under the Garm’s control, temporarily reducing the surge. The handle’s shift signals the first successful manual override of the station’s automated departure.

Before: Set to a violent acceleration mode contributing to the station’s dangerous surge.
After: Returned to its start position, reducing engine output and stabilizing the crisis temporarily.
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S20E16 · Terminus Part 4
Doctor frees the Garm by destroying control box

The red engine departure handle is returned by the Garm to its start position, thereby ceasing the violent engine surge, marking the moment the creature obeys its mandate rather than the Company.

Before: Pulled into the active position by automated systems, resisting the crew’s attempts to counter the departure sequence
After: Restored to its starting notch, ending Terminus’s dangerous acceleration
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