07x02 - The Speed of Thought

[bunniefuu]

He was the most brilliant mind I ever met.

They all were.

Whatever the problem, you could count on a Wells...

A council of them, to have the answers.

Now, they're all gone.

We gotta find the answers ourselves.

Why does it always feel like for us to win, some of us have to lose?

This wall is nano-engraved with the names of everyone we've lost so that no matter how the timeline changes...

They'll never be forgotten.

Those Wells, they took some getting used to, didn't they?

If we learned anything from them, it was that our greatest w*apon against darkness isn't our superpowers.

It's our humanity...

and our love for each other.

Bar?

Bar, I know what you're doing.

Don't.

Don't blame yourself.

But what you just said...

Ramsey infecting me, Eva using a copy of Iris to manipulate my emotions...

Lately, it feels like my heart is my enemies' greatest w*apon.

Have faith, son.

We will get Iris back.

I feel that in my heart.

What the...

KAMILLA & DAVID.

IT'S IRIS.

EVA IS WATCHING US.

BE CAREFUL.

MEET AT SPEED LAB.

19:00 This is supposed to open a portal to the Mirrorverse?

Yeah.

Supposed to.

I thought I could use Atlantean tech to tackle perpetual motion, one of science's greatest problems, but guess what I found waiting for me?

More problems.

This thing's a dud.

I don't know what to do.

I lost my friend.

My girlfriend is trapped in another dimension, and nothing my brain comes up with seems to get me any closer to saving her.

I promise you, we will get them back.

Kamilla, Iris, Singh.

All of 'em.

Yeah.

Okay.

Refocusing!

So Chester's away at Grandma Runk's, but lucky for us, he's been science-ing in between bingo rounds, and he seems to think there are two problems we need to solve if we wanna open our portal.

Problem number one...

You haven't found the method to reconfigure the molecular stability of the dimensional barrier that damages organic matter?

Yeah.

Yeah, that's right.

How did you know that?

I saw you write it.

No, you didn't.

I thought I did.

I was about to.

But you guessed right.

Eva used Ramsey's blood to tackle that problem and open her portal.

Unfortunately for us, without a replacement for Ramsey's evil sentient goo, we're kind of up a creek.

So that brings us to problem number two...

Quantum entanglement from reversed Higgs boson particles disrupts the geospatial algorithm, preventing us from locating people in the Mirrorverse, meaning we have to know Kamilla, Singh, and Iris's location in order to pull them out.

You freaky.

I know where they'll be.

Iris sent a message to Kamilla and Singh in the Mirrorverse telling them to meet in the Speed Lab tonight.

Don't ask me how I got it, 'cause I have no idea.

Iris's neural pathways have likely achieved an equilibrium with the harmonic frequency contained within the fractalized dimensional plane.

He freaky.

Our mission's going better than expected.

Hoshi and Ultraviolet's raids on Black Hole stash houses have liberated crates of your mirror-tech.

Good.

Rawlins, do you notice anything...

different about me?

Sorry?

Do you see anything out of place?

Yeah, now that you mention it.

You look tired, your desk is a mess, and you skipped your coffee today.

You got me.

But there is something...

familiar.

That look in your eyes.

It's how Carver looked when he kept secrets from us.

I'm nothing like Joseph.

I will never lie to you.

I promise.

Good, because we've located our next stash house.

Want me to gather the Assassins Three?

No.

It's been a while since I've enjoyed the pleasure of tearing down my husband's empire, so I will handle this one myself.

So he's, what, a genius now?

No, I'm a genius.

My guy's on a whole other level.

His neurons are f*ring at super speed.

Synaptic connections are off the charts.

The quantum computers can't even keep up processing his results.

The Artificial Speed Force.

The Artificial fracking Speed Force.

It didn't just give you your old powers back, it gave you a new one.

Enhanced cognition by way of a Speed Force booster sh*t!

Barry can think fast now.

Cool.

How fast?

Let's find out, shall we?

Lady and gentleman, this...

is a Quantum Ball.

Trademark pending.

Ever heard of it?

Of course you haven't, but you will.

Mark my words, one day, Quantum Ball, trademark pending, will be the world's next great sporting event.

You see, this little sphere amplifies kinetic energy, f*ring in directions that can only be described as "unpredictable," but not for you.

Your enhanced cognition should let you analyze every variable in every scenario...

and predict the unpredictable.

Barry Allen.

Places, please.

Call it.

Eh, no cheating.

Turn around.

Ready.

Wall, lamp, pipe, conduit, duck.

Now!

I have superspeed thinking.

I know how to open a portal to the Mirrorverse.

- Uh, what?

- Yeah, repeat that.

For Allegra.

All right, I'm sorry.

Um...

let me show you.

Ramsey's unique cells created a polar covalent bond with the molecules in Eva's mirror portal.

That's why she needed his blood.

Right, it formed, like, a bio-friendly skin on the interdimensional barrier.

So we need Ramsey's blood.

We knew that.

No, we don't need it.

His blood would have bonded with the electronegative particles and become dark matter photons.

Those particles wouldn't just stay on the mirror portal.

No, they wouldn't.

They'd attach themselves to Eva.

Those photons are still on her.

If we could collect them, we could open our portal.

But it would take, like, years to develop a prototype that could do that.

Not if we integrate the neural net in the Thinker's chair, synced to a nanite bridge, fed into the Tachyon Enhancer's non-reductive loop.

N...

no, but wait, wouldn't...

well...

well, yeah, I guess...

I guess that could work.

But isn't Eva still holed up behind McCulloch Tech's force field?

We'll never get close to her.

You're gonna bring out another board?

Factoring in geographical analytics, concealment probability, these are the remaining Black Hole stash houses.

There's a 97.

6% chance Eva's hitting this one next.

Right.

Right.

So that's where we go.

And that's what we do.

Just wish I could have seen it earlier.

This isn't on you.

We wouldn't be in this mess if I'd seen through Iris's mirror duplicate sooner.

Eva's not the first to use my emotions against me.

Let's make sure she's the last.

_ - Kamilla?

- Iris!

Thank God.

When you disappeared, I thought that neural dissonance sickness got you.

Yeah, well, she tried to use it against me, but I was able to fight her off.

I think I've been in this place for so long that I've gained control over it.

I think that's how I was able to send you and Singh that message.

That's amazing.

What about Singh?

Did you find him at the hospital?

I looked everywhere, but...

Iris, what if we never find him?

What if we never escape?

What if we stay here so long that our minds just get completely destroyed and...

Kamilla, we have been through our fair share of danger, so no matter what dimension we're in, no matter what kind of villain we face, there is nothing that can stop us as long as we stick together.

Are you with me?

Let's do this.

Good.

Because I'm thinking if my message got to you, then it could have gotten to Singh too, so let's go find him.

Come on.

IRIS, I GOT YOUR MESSAGE.

HEADING TO SPEED LAB.

KAMILLA.

That doesn't belong to you.

Then again, it never belonged to my husband either.

It was my reflective chip technology that was twisted to create that w*apon, so it's mine to wield or destroy.

Now step aside.

You were right.

Eva's here, and she's amped.

How do you like your phantom now, Joseph?

Not the day for us to be short-staffed.

Actually, we're good; I called in a little bit of extra muscle.

'Sup?

Nice outfit, by the way.

Why are you here?

You know, for funsies.

Looks like someone's back to 100%.

Long live the snow queen.

Eva's faster than me.

Frost is gonna distract her while I run by with the Tachyon Enhancer and collect the particles we need.

We might only get one sh*t at this.

Let's make it count.

Flash!

Barry, help her!

Frost!

Frost.

Frost.

You let her get hit.

Whatever Eva hit Frost with, it's light-based.

Her healing's trying to compensate, but it's not enough.

I can't fix this without Caitlin.

- What is that?

- A cure.

- Has it been tested?

- I ran 2,371 tests in my head.

- We're good.

- Barry, that is not a...

what are you doing?

What happened?

You took the brunt of Eva's laser blast to help us.

I just returned the favor with a cryogenically-fortified paracetamol cocktail...

That fortified my cellular walls.

Yep, that'll do it.

Of course, you wouldn't have had to take the brunt of the blast if Barry hadn't let you get hit in the first place.

Cisco, let me explain.

Barry...

what were you thinking?

I saw you.

You had the time to run her out of the way, and you just stood there like you wanted her to get hit.

There was a 0.0002% chance of the Tachyon Enhancer getting damaged in that scenario.

I couldn't risk that.

I also knew I could reverse any ill effects Frost received from Eva's blast.

These aren't ill effects!

This was a light wound, like the kind that almost k*lled her, and we just got her back!

Cisco, it's okay.

I'm fine, and now we have a chance to save our friends.

I'd take a hit for that any day.

You got lucky with that cocktail.

Luck had nothing to do with it.

So superspeed thinking, huh?

What's that like?

Sometimes it's like a barrage of images flying at me.

Others, it's like a scene playing out in my head.

So what does your speed brain say our next move is?

You saw Iris's message, "Eva is watching." She would no doubt see our attempt to open a portal to the Mirrorverse and stop us.

I need to find a solution.

You should recuperate for 14.2 minutes, then help Cisco gather our McCulloch intel so I can cross-reference it with our Eva data.

I need to aggregate.

Wow, Barry seems like he has things in hand and then some.

Yep.

He'll probably have this Eva sitch wrapped up in no time.

You're thinking about Nash.

I'm sorry.

Honey, I just... my empathic abilities, they take on a mind of their own sometimes.

It's okay.

It's just...

my dad left me before I could walk, and ever since then, anyone who's even come close to being...

A father figure?

Yeah, I... I cut them out of my life before they could cut me out of theirs.

That's why I pushed Nash away.

Anyway, I should just get over it.

- He's gone.

- Only if you let him be.

Did you know that the law goes way back in my family?

Yeah, my... my granddad was the first Black paralegal in Oklahoma, and my mom, first female independent counsel in the state of Texas.

Both of them were pioneers for social justice and my heroes.

- I'll say.

- Yeah.

Right now, my granddad's file cabinet is in the corner of my office, and I carry my mom's briefcase into court with me every single day.

Honey, the people that we love, they're only gone when we stop carrying them with us.

How you choose to carry Nash is up to you.

I figured out her secret.

This isn't her world.

It never has been.

Thank you, Arielle.

I'm glad to be here.

I'm lucky to be anywhere.

Indeed.

Let's jump right into it.

You came here today to make an announcement.

Yes.

Before I was kidnapped, I was developing technologies with promise to advance the world.

Fresh water, healthier crops, clean, renewable energy.

I am thrilled to finally return to my life's work, improving our world.

Why are we watching this?

At the stash house, Eva referred to herself as a phantom.

It reminded me of Carver's dying words when Eva k*lled him... that she wasn't his wife.

I've analyzed behavioral patterns, body language, even graphological handwriting.

That...

is not Eva McCulloch.

What?

What do you mean?

She's sitting right there, talking to Rachel Maddow 2.0.

I slept in the same bed with a mirror duplicate of Iris without knowing the difference.

You did the same with Kamilla.

So you think this is a mirror Eva?

McCulloch's security database will show us.

Yeah, good luck.

I tried hacking them a week ago.

BREACHING FIREWALL ACCESS GRANTED What?

How...

McCulloch's black box servers run a hybrid theorem-proving system with model checking.

His mind is getting faster.

Yes, it is.

Did she just die?

Oh, my God.

No.

Help!

Someone help me!

Which brings us to why you're here today.

Precisely.

Allow me to present McCulloch Technology's future for humanity.

Whoa, what are you doing with that footage?

Exposing the truth.

TRANSMITTING SOURCE FOOTAGE Eva?

No.

No.

No.

Please.

Come on.

Stay with me.

I don't think that's such a good idea.

- Help!

- No, no, no, stop that!

- Stop!

- Someone help me!

No, no, no, no, no.

Stop, stop, no, no!

Stop!

I'm so sorry.

- I'm sorry.

- That footage we saw.

Does it show you k*lling the real Eva McCulloch?

No, of course, I...

I wouldn't do that.

I...

I didn't do that.

What are you, a meta?

A shape-shifter?

- No, I...

- The world wants answers.

- We deserve to know.

- Rawlins!

If you're not Eva McCulloch, who or what are you?

I'm not a monster.

I'm not a monster!

Why did you do that?

Eva would sense us opening a portal.

Now she is too distracted to notice.

And there couldn't be another way to distract her...

There were 141 ways.

This was the most efficient.

Uh, I'm not sure emotionally wrecking an already-whacked-out villain was "efficient." Historically speaking, when our enemies are upset, which is exactly what I accomplished, they make mistakes.

We need to prep the portal machine while Eva is on her heels and then retrieve our targets.

You mean our friends.

One and the same.

- Cisco?

- I know.

Something's seriously wrong with Barry.

Greetings, Barry Allen.

Your biological signals indicate a state of distress.

May I assist you?

I needed a second opinion, Gideon.

I just ran the necessary calculations to operate Cisco's portal device.

The results have me concerned.

Analyzing temporal-spatial data.

Estimated time to complete quantum computations, 18.4 hours.

Invert the Feynman shortcut and apply it to 1/2 mass times velocity squared, compensating for tachyon decay.

Thank you for a more efficient method.

Calculations complete.

I was correct.

We cannot save all of them.

We have to choose.

Would you like me to inform the rest of the team?

What do you mean, we have to choose?

Simply put, the longer the person is in the Mirrorverse, the more dark matter photons are required to pull them out.

Kamilla and Singh have been trapped for less time.

Therefore, they can be retrieved together.

With Iris, it would take everything we have to retrieve her.

Well, there's gotta be another way.

Barry, what's your speed brain tell you?

We have to choose.

Kamilla and Singh or Iris.

It is the only way.

How the hell are we supposed to do that?

I guess we vote?

- On this?

- I don't know, dude.

Do you know another way to be fair?

This is beyond screwed up.

But if this is the only way...

Who thinks we should save Iris?

And Kamilla and Singh?

Sorry, Barry.

Gotta go with the numbers.

Are you all right, Barry Allen?

You appear to be distracted.

I just ran a simulation to see how this would play out.

Would you like me to inform the rest of the team - of this development?

- No.

This is something I must do alone.

Are you sure that's the best...

What is all this stuff?

I have no idea.

Iris, help me, please.

David!

David, can you hear me?

- Is this neural dissonance?

- No, but it's similar.

It's a side effect of being sent to the Mirrorverse by the Mirror g*n instead of Eva pulling Singh through her office mirror.

How do you know that?

I don't know.

I just do.

Iris, I was sh*t too.

Wou...

Kamilla!

DARK MATTER DIAGRAM PORTAL TARGET WEST-ALLEN IRIS Hey.

Talk for a sec?

- Of course.

- What's with the suit?

We are about to open a portal to the Mirrorverse.

One must be prepared.

Right, about that.

I looked over the schematics, and I think there might be something wrong with the Artificial Speed Force.

You remember how Thawne used negative emotion to stabilize his Speed Force machine?

Well, since we didn't wanna make the same mistake, we used an inert substance, an argon-xenon hybrid that would generate no emotional fallout.

But I think that was a mistake.

Yes, the ASF gave you increased cognitive function, a thousand times over, but...

it's done the exact opposite to your emotional response.

I am better this way.

The team is safer this way.

Look, man.

I know you think your heart has been used against you, but it's not a weakness.

It's what makes you human.

I mean, without it...

Why is the portal target set to Iris?

What about saving the others?

We do not have enough dark matter photons to save all three of them.

So, instead of consulting your team, you just decided on your own?

I've already seen the outcome of this debate.

You eventually vote to save Kamilla and Singh.

Like hell.

I would never vote on something like that.

If you had come to me, I would've told you we'll find another way.

That's what we always do.

Your emotions are making you irrational.

And your lack of them are making you wrong!

You cannot predict what I would've done because you cannot predict emotion!

Barry, I know you.

I know your heart, and I know that you're doing this because you miss Iris.

My feelings are irrelevant.

Iris has knowledge of Eva, which could give us a tactical advantage.

Therefore, Iris is the logical choice to liberate.

The fact is, Singh and Kamilla are expendable.

Expendable?

Don't ever call her expendable.

We're gonna give you back your heart, Barry, and it's gonna be by choice...

Or by force.

Don't make us do this, Barry.

Iris would agree with me.

No.

She wouldn't.

You've just been hit with Velocity-Zero charge.

It temporarily dampens your speed.

You're not the only one who can predict reactions.

Your defeat is inevitable.

The Velocity-X in your system is nearly depleted.

Your time as a Speedster is coming to an end.

Maybe.

But I'm not only a Speedster.

The Babel Protocols aren't just force fields and tech.

It's us.

Sorry for the tough love.

But we need the real you back.

Don't worry.

We're gonna shut off the Artificial Speed Force and get your head straight.

You lost this fight before it even began.

Look out!

Hang on, guys.

I'm gonna get you to the med lab, and we'll get you...

Barry?

Oh, my God.

Please tell me this isn't a trick.

Your message to Kamilla and Singh led us here.

I am ready to bring you home now.

Okay.

Um, I just wanna get Singh and Kamilla through first.

They're in pretty bad shape, and they're gonna need some help...

Not them.

Just you.

We cannot bring you all back.

You have been there longer.

You have more knowledge of Eva.

Therefore, retrieving you is the logical choice.

Did you hear what I just said?

Barry, they could die.

They need you to save them.

This is not the outcome I predicted.

What?

You need to come through.

Now.

ACTIVATE Iris, stop.

Your resistance is destabilizing the portal's energy.

- That is dangerous.

- Barry.

Barry, this isn't you.

This isn't right.

WARNING Iris?

Iris?

Hey, hey.

Hey, Iris.

I didn't see this.

No.

No, no, no.

No.

No, no, no, no.

Iris.

This isn't my world.

This isn't my world.

This isn't my world.

This isn't my world.

This isn't my world.

This isn't my world.

This isn't my world.

This isn't my world.

This isn't my world.

This isn't my world.

This isn't my world anymore.

This isn't my world.

This isn't...

But it can be.

CENTRAL CITY POLICE Good night, Hawkshaw.

Tell Gwen thanks for the brownies.

I will.

- Help!

- ONCE UPON A TIME You see, they're not coming to save you.

They're coming...

to save me.

TO BE CONTINUED