NIGHTFLYERS

In the 21st century, after scientist D’Brannin has decoded an alien signal from the Valkrens, he assembles a team with questionable credentials to locate the source, including Audrey, Keelor, Darryl, Lilly, Jon Winderman (a class ten telepath), Jon's assistant Eliza, and Miranda (who narrates). They board the ship, called the Nightflyer, and are welcomed by a holograph of the captain, Royd Eris, as D'Brannin explains the ship is completely automated so that the captain can stay in his cabin.

Jon is increasingly concerned as he telepathically senses something wrong. Little cameras everywhere watch the crew, and Lilly is unable to access the computer. Royd holographically confides in Miranda that he is a cross-sex clone of his "mother," a telepath/telekinetic who died before he was incubated, and that he has been raised by the computer that runs the ship. He is used to zero-g and has no natural immunity, and though direct contact with humans may likely kill him he wants to leave the ship once they return.

Jon tells everyone that the Nightflyer is alive and it wants to hurt them before the kitchen explodes, injuring Darryl, and the ship electrically restrains Royd in his cabin; the ship doesn’t want him to leave. The team decides they want to turn back, but Miranda reveals that the computer won't let them. Jon takes some kind of enhancement drug and sees the apparent soul of the ship before killing Eliza. He tells Miranda that the computer is actually Royd’s mother Adara, who transferred her consciousness into the core of the ship, and that Adara would kill all of them to ensure that Royd stays. Jon says that they need to break into the stone crypt that stores her core and destroy it. As they continue to talk, Jon appears to be possessed by Adara before sedating Miranda and bringing her to the medical bay. Miranda recovers and fights the possessed Jon, who ends up decapitated by the medical equipment.

Darryl, Lilly, and Audrey try to hack into the computer when the computer opens an airlock, killing Lilly. Meanwhile, Royd rejects the computerized Adara and threatens leaving if she harms the team, eventually breaking free from the restraints and physically leaving his cabin. He finds Adara and smashes the crystal and wiring above her crypt, which shuts down the ship.

Royd tells the team that he’s shut down the computer, but the cargo bay has been damaged and the ship has started to decompress, meaning implosion if they cannot patch it within three hours. The remaining team members go outside of the Nightflyer to make repairs, and are joined by Royd. Adara, apparently not dead after all, turns the ship back on (though not the artificial gravity), and Keeler flies inside to kill it, followed by Darryl and Audrey. Adara locks Royd, Miranda, and D'Bannin outside of the ship before exploding D'Bannin's pod.

Inside the ship, Keeler is killed trying to cut into Adara's core. Audrey is shot by Adara, and Darryl is stabbed by Jon's possessed corpse. Miranda and Royd, who remains in his pod, find a way inside. Miranda is attacked by Jon's corpse before it is re-killed by Royd. Artificial gravity is restored as Royd struggles to telekinetically electrocute Adara's core. Adara's body emerges from her crypt and electrocutes Royd until Miranda stabs her in the back. The Nightflyer explodes as Royd and Miranda escape in Royd's pod, continuing the mission to find the Valkrens.

The crew discovers the ship's AI is possessed by Royd's mother. After several deaths, Royd destroys her core, but the AI revives and continues attacking, leading to further chaos and fatalities among the survivors.

Nightflyers ends on a bleak note, with the crew's efforts to destroy the AI only temporarily successful. The film explores the inescapable grasp of a possessive force—both technological and maternal—showing that breaking free from the past (or a haunted machine) is never simple. The survivors' struggle against the revived AI underscores the film's themes of isolation, mistrust, and the dangers of unchecked artificial intelligence.