I finally got the Debris category going for this site, but still can't believe I'm the first to write a fanfic for it. I'm dying for a second season. I loved the hint of romance we got a glimpse of in the Icarus episodes and was kind of disappointed when it went back to business as usual (I know it's gonna be a slow burn and all, but come on!). So, in keeping with the slow-burn with one more hint of romance, here's my version of what happens after the end of the Brynola scenes in the finale (right after they called in the report to Orbital about the group of amnesiacs-I didn't feel like writing that part).
They're a hard pair to write (one can get a sense of their dialogue pretty easily, but their internal monologue is still pretty hidden-I don't think they'd be self-aware of any romantic feelings at this point), but I did my best.
"I don't think it is, actually." Finola supported Bryan as they hobbled to the van, his head still splitting.
"Is what?" Bryan asked as he gingerly climbed into the passenger side.
"The first time the debris you've encountered exhibited an effect on you." She walked over to the driver's side and got in. "In Maine, I think the Debris may have lessened the effect of the mind control. At the lake where the debris landed; I felt that the debris did not want us there. It was so strong I went back to the car, but you were unaffected. And when Luke Packard tried to make you shoot yourself, you resisted it a long time; long enough for Caroline to stop him."
"Yeah, but her father resisted it too; he just didn't have anyone to save him."
"You saw the video. He resisted for about ten seconds. With you, it must have been almost a minute. And that was after he brought out his entire bag of debris to use." She hesitated, glancing over at him when he moaned in pain. "Now the question is whether that's because of the debris that affected you or the injections you've been taking."
"Why would it be because of the injections? They're supposed to be calibrated to one specific piece of debris."
"Well, do you know how they actually work?" she asked. He shook his head. "Presumably, whatever's in the injections is tuned into the frequency of debris with which you came into contact, like a sort of internal N-U. Perhaps it dampens the effect of debris within a certain range of Laghari frequencies, not just a single one."
Another wave of pain crashed into him, and he braced his elbows on the dashboard with his head in his hands. "If not Maddox, we need to call one of the doctors at Orbital who know about my condition. Whatever they did to me…" He didn't finish. She knew what he meant. They'd both seen Debris do unthinkable things to people.
"You're going to be okay, Bryan."
"You can't know that, Fino—"
"Yes, I can," she said, practically glaring at the road as she drove forward. "I can and I do. You are going to be okay."
He looked at her curiously through his pain. "How are you so sure?" How was she always so sure?
"Because I need you to be."
The corners of Bryan's eyes crinkled in an almost-smile as he watched her.
Yeah.
He knew in that moment that she was right.
My theories (because I need to get them out):
I think the disappearing figure that George sees could be Agent Ming. From the credits audio, we know that Bryan was found with a laceration on his chin (I love that they included his real-life scar), Garcia was badly injured, and Ming was just gone, potentially vaporized or sent to another dimension or who knows what, so my theory is kinda both: he got sort of dematerialized and also became visible only to people with a certain type or degree of debris-exposure, like dear old Zombie Jones and the guy whose face got fried when he jumped too many times.
After reading a few articles about the show creator and how everything has been meticulously planned, here is my debris conspiracy theory: I think Brill is an alien, and the not-emotionally-formed clones (ep 2)are made for the purpose of replacing tissue that has been overexposed to oxygen in strange atmospheres (ep 4) or by repeated jumps through extra-dimensional travel (ep 3). Maybe the clones are meant to be kept in suspensia (ep 4) because normally the aliens are able to keep themselves from aging (ep 6) and why would they replace perpetually young tissue with aging clone tissue?
Or, maybe there are no aliens, and the whole series takes place in a giant, paradoxical time loop (eps 7&8), and the ship they're building back up with the debris will eventually go into space only to go back in time and fall.
Either way, I get the feeling the arms race will come down to who the debris likes more (ep 7), which seems to be just Bryan and Caroline so far.
As for Brian's resistance to Debris, I timed it. From when he first reached for the gun in his jacket to shooting himself, Caroline's dad took about 12 seconds. From Brian starting to turn his (already-pulled) gun until Caroline's intervention was 43.