Orbiter 9

Helena grows up isolated on the Orbiter 9 space craft while the ship’s AI, Rebecca, cares for her. Her parents broadcast archived plans to sacrifice themselves to ensure her survival due to oxygen depletion. The isolation and caretaker dynamic shape Helena’s longing for life beyond her orbiting home.

With oxygen levels falling, a maintenance engineer named Alex docks to repair the ship. Helena quickly forms a romantic attachment, imagining a life beyond her orbiting home.

Helena enters Alex’s sleeping quarters and persuades him to share intimacy, believing it may be her only chance for closeness. Their encounter marks a forbidden bond that crosses the line between patient and visitor.

Alex leaves Orbiter 9 and emerges in a wooded area inside a guarded research compound on Earth. He learns that the mission aims to reach Celeste, a habitable planet orbiting Alpha Centauri, because Earth's oceans are poisoned.

Alex reports to Hugo, the head of a four-site covert program studying space simulation experiments. Hugo reminds him that departure is twenty years away and that accidents are inevitable.

Alex regularly visits Silvia, a therapist, and confides about his feelings for Helena. These sessions reveal the depth of his attachment and his dilemma about her fate.

To keep Helena safe, Alex uses video and bio-feeds to show her world and smuggles her to his apartment. She enters life outside the simulator and faces new dangers.

Alex introduces Helena to a social life by taking her to a bar with friends, including Xiao the doctor. Helena develops a rash, and Xiao suspects she has never been exposed to sunlight and promises tests.

While exploring Alex’s secure office, Helena uncovers files suggesting she is a cloned human. She learns from her parents that the subjects are clones of deceased people, redefining her sense of identity.

Helena’s father tries to call security, but her mother knocks him out and helps Helena escape. Hugo launches a manhunt, driving the chase through city streets and rooftops as she and Alex stay ahead.

Silvia offers to hide the couple in her apartment, but Hugo and his guards locate them and Hugo shoots Silvia, prompting Helena to cry out in fear before they flee again.

Hugo orders the termination of Helena as a liability. Alex, via Xiao, learns that Helena is six weeks pregnant and informs Hugo of this new development.

Hugo and Katherine decide the project can gain insights by observing a real birth inside Orbiter 9, while Helena imposes a condition for her and Alex’s return.

Several years pass and a girl exits Orbiter 9 in the forest, greeted by a satisfied but aged Hugo. An unrevealed figure steps from behind the girl, hinting at a hidden future.