05x02 - The Real Thing

[bunniefuu]

- Previously,
on eureka...

- You wouldn't
want to Miss this.

It's a historic moment
for eureka.

- I think that we should
move in together.

- I need to figure out
what I want.

- I'll be
thinking about you.

- [Chuckles]
walkabout.

Safe travels, jo.

- Launch sequence initiated.

- Someone else
is controlling this launch.

[mechanical whirring]

- where'd they go?

- We're in
an uncontrolled descent.

Brace for impact!

- Hey, folks.
Welcome back.

- There have been
a lot of changes

since you've been gone.

This is jenna.

- It's very nice
to meet you.

- You were gone
for four years, allie.

It was jo
that pulled me back.

Jo's in jenna's life now,
and I can't take that from her.

- I'm really sorry, allie.

- She's crying.

- Because everything
she's experiencing

feels absolutely real
to her.

She's emotionally invested
in the reality

she's just helped create.

They all are.

The greatest minds in eureka
are working for us now,

and they
don't even know it.

The astraeus and her crew
have been gone for a month.

Soon, eureka will have
to accept that loss.

And meanwhile, the greatest
scientists of our time

are wired into an artificial
world that we control.

They have no idea

that what they're experiencing
isn't real,

but what they design
in that construct

is very real.

- And useful.
In the last month,

they've made strides
in biotech,

engineering and weaponry,

and we're about to give them
a problem of genetics.

- All of these scientific
discoveries belong to us.

- That's very impressive.

But how long
can you sustain this?

- Indefinitely.

The photonic
plasma processor

makes trillions
of real-time adjustments

in order to keep the world
feeling authentic.

- So authentic
that a severe virtual trauma

could trigger
a fatal neurogenic shock.

- These are smart people,
dr. Barlowe.

What if they start
to question their world,

or the non-player characters
who are there with them?

- That's why we chose
to put them in a future reality.

It's impossible
to recreate eureka perfectly,

so by changing the town,
we reduce inconsistencies

our subjects
might recognize.

- But, should a subject

thr*aten to expose
the construct,

they will be retired.

[breezy music]

*

[overlapping shouts]

- allison, can you hear me?

- We gotta get them
out of there.

- What happens to Dr. Blake
if the ship launches?

- Without the bio-pod
to protect her

from gravitational stresses,

the only chance she has
is the jump seat.

- Well, I'm getting her
out of there.

- I can't let you do that.
It's too dangerous.

- Oh, fire me!

[mechanical rumbling]

- jack!

- [Grunts]
[electrical crackling]

[alarm blaring]

- if he breaches
the cooling chambers,

the core centers
will shut down

to keep the reactor
from overheating.

- Come on.
Come on, jack. Come on.

- [Grunting]

female voice: warning.
Reactor core overheating.

- [Gasps]

[whirring slows]

- where are you?

- Anything?

- Nothing new.
How about you?

- Tested the system
over a dozen times,

and there is no evidence
of sabotage.

- Well, we'll find them.

We'll just keep looking,
all right?

- Where?

I mean, it's been a month,
and still no leads.

It's like they vanished
without a trace, jack.

- Everything leaves a trace.
- Ye--yeah.

[beeps and whirs]

- when was the last time
you ate?

- I'm not hungry.
I'm just gonna start the tapes

and take a look--
- You know, why don't you

take a break
and have lunch with the kids?

They need you too.

Thanks.

- Okay.
Good.

- Okay, universe,
I am ready.

Enlighten me.

[birds squawking]

any time now,
uh-huh, bring it on.

[squawking continues]

I should have gone
to the desert.

- Should have
read the sign.

- Oh, no!

[laughs nervously]
okay.

It said "beach parking."

- You need a permit.

- [Sighs]
hey, look, I--

Look, I'm at a bit
of a crossroads in my life,

and, uh,
I know it sounds flaky.

A friend told me to go
on walkabout.

So if you could just
give me just a small break

this one time, you know,
it would really

help my positive
outlook thing.

- Yeah, sorry.

Here's the number
for a cab.

You have a nice day.

- You don't bring a cell phone
on walkabout, and--

[engine revving]

thanks, universe.

- Here you go.
Grilled cheese

with fontina
and aged gouda.

Best comfort food
on the planet.

And if there
is anything else I can do,

please just let me know.

- Thanks, vincent.

- Vin sounds worried.

- Well, we're all
a little worried.

- Yeah, well he won't be
when I finish my scanner.

You see, I've been thinking
that punching through a wormhole

has to produce
a mess of strangelets, right?

- [Stammers]
whatsits?

- Uh, they're
theoretical particles

equally composed of
up, down, and strange quarks.

- See, that's like answering
a question with a question.

- First off, I have to prove
that strangelets actually exist.

It's gonna be rough.

- Well, you--you just--
You keep at it with that--

What you're doing.

- Hey, guys.

Um, boss, can I talk to you
for a minute?

- Sure.
- Is it about the ship?

Uh, did you find something?

- No, kevin, we didn't.

- Well, look,
if it's about my mom,

I want to know, okay?

What's going on?

- Um...
The department of defense

has officially called off
the search for the astraeus.

I'm so sorry.

- No...they can't.

- Senator wen says she's
exhausted all of her resources.

And with no sign
of the astraeus,

they think the chances
of finding any survivors

are...poor.

- Jack. Jack, you can't
let them do this!

- Kevin...
- You can't just stop looking!

- Kevin! We'll talk
to the senator, okay?

Kevin.

- Rf rate is down again.
25.2.

- Cut resolution in grids
15 through 178.

- I win. Oh, yeah. Uh-huh!

- Darn it,
you are good at this.

- Thanks. You are too.

I'll let you win
next time.

- [Laughs]

- well, this looks
like fun.

- You want to play
the winner?

- Well, I wish I could,

but I have to kidnap your mom
for a little while.

The next batch
of biological experiments

needs to come off
the astraeus.

And the d.o.d. Ordered protocols
for a genetic study.

- They could give us a moment
to catch our breath.

It's been one assignment
after another

since we got back.
- I know.

I'm finally carving out time
to review the flight data.

- You mean you're gonna
find out why my mom

was gone for so long?

- I am just glad
i'm back now. Right?

- Jo, I won uno.

- [Gasps]
good job.

Oh, I'm so proud of you.
- You okay?

- Do I have a choice?

- Doesn't seem real, does it--
Everything that's happened?

- No.
- Hey...

I'm going out to the astraeus
to help you with the offload.

- Great. Let's go.

- Good-bye, allison.

- Something wrong?

- No.

- Tell me she didn't
see that.

What just happened there?

- A real-time render error.

- Because this system
was designed for 20 people,

not 20 plus one last-minute
rsvp.

- Dr. Blake
was a lucky accident.

- Her presence is overloading
the processor.

She shouldn't be here.

- That wasn't our decision
to make.

We follow orders.

- Yeah, from people who don't
understand the system

the way I do.

- I don't have the authority

to deviate,
and neither do you.

- I want to thank everyone
for your efforts.

I know this is difficult
for all of us.

- Senator wen!
You have to keep searching.

- Sheriff, you have no idea
how hard

this decision was for me.

- Then don't make it.
Don't call off the search.

- I have pulled in
every resource at my disposal.

Satellites, space-based
radar systems...

- And I appreciate everything
that you've done.

- And these devices need
to get back to doing their jobs.

And so do you.

- I'm doing my job.

- Then you can help Dr. Fung
recover his stolen equipment.

- I don't care about his
stolen equipment right now.

- I know you're grieving,
sheriff,

so I won't take that
personally.

- I'm not grieving.
I'm searching.

- I truly hope
you're right, sheriff.

But I also think
you need to...

Prepare yourself
for the likelihood

that they're not
coming back.

It's time to turn your focus
back to this world.

Good day, gentlemen.

- Yeah.

- So what's your problem?

- When I started packing up,

some of my deep space
listening devices

were taken from the truck.

Particle detectors just taken,
right off main street.

You know, sometimes I wonder
what this town is coming to.

- I think I know
where they might be.

You're not making my job
any easier, kev.

- I wasn't trying to.

I needed the stuff,
so I took it.

- Yeah. I'm gonna pretend
that you said borrow it,

and we're gonna
take it back.

You can't be stealing
top-secret equipment, kevin.

- You think they're dead?

- Kevin...
- No, seriously, in your gut,

do you think
that my mom is dead?

- No.
I can't believe that.

- All right, me neither.

Can you please just let me do
one more thing?

All right? Look,
I know where I can find 'em.

Please.

- Not this way.

Pack up this stuff.
We're going.

- So what's in here?

- Biological experiments
we were taking to titan.

- Biological as in rats?

- Yeah, rats, worms, insects,
even reptiles.

There's a study on the effects
of solar wind

on the reproductive systems
of bearded iguanas.

- That's a career-maker.

- Kevin wants an iguana.

Or he did
when he was younger.

He thought
they were dragons.

- Jenna loves dragons.

- Really?

- Yeah, I read her
the hobbit last year,

and she made me read the part
about the dragon

over and over again.

And then she'd get scared

and want to sleep in our bed.
[chuckles]

sorry.

- No, don't be.

[echoing thuds]

what is that?

[loud thuds continue]

- sounds big.

[growls]

[roaring]
- move!

[growling]

- what is it?

- The rendering algorithm
is cycling independently,

and I don't have
any control.

- Get control.

- Down! Everybody down!

[growls]

[panicked shouts]

what was that?
- I don't know.

- Cool!
I love dragons!

[screeches]

- that's quite a glitch,
mr. Dekker.

- It's supposed to be
a genetically altered squamate

about ten inches long.

But what that is,
I don't know.

- Really?
Because I saw a dragon.

- The program constructs reality
by using the memories

of the participant
cortices.

But there's an algorithm
that filters

any imaginary elements.

- Clearly,
it's malfunctioning.

We're pushing the logic
processor too hard.

- We can restart
the genetic assignment

with another animal,
and I will delete the creature.

- No, we've already done enough
to make the crew

start to question things.

That creature needs
to be eliminated

in a way that feels
believable to them.

- Honestly, doug, a dragon?

- But you weren't here!
It had the claws and the wings!

- That doesn't change the fact
that dragons are mythical,

as in mythical.

- Mythical's just another word
for "not yet discovered."

Dr. Blake, want to help me
educate a skeptic?

- Fargo, I'm a bit skeptical
myself.

I'm talking to jo about dragons,
and one suddenly appears?

- Well, do you have
another explanation?

- Chemical exposure.

A big breath of ea-48
nerve gas,

and you'd be seeing elvis
driving santa's sleigh

being pulled by
a team of dragons.

- First, we're gonna deal
with the dragon.

Then elvis.

- That was just
a "for instance."

- Mm-hmm. Yeah.

- I'll run some tests.
bye.

- You okay?
- Yeah, I'm fine.

I'm feeling
slightly insane,

but otherwise peachy.

- Well, we're gonna
track it down, whatever is it.

- [Laughs] oh, you can
track down a hallucination?

- I'm that good.

Actually, jo's at g.d.
Getting weapons.

- Whoa, whoa! Wait,
we're just gonna k*ll it?

- Well, if we have to.

We gotta stop it
from doing flybys

at portland airport.

- So we capture it.

- And do you have any
dragon tranquilizers?

- Uh...

We can use a supersymmetrical
particle net.

- Experimental enclosure
made of subatomic strings.

No one has made one

that has lasted
longer than a microsecond.

- I will call zane.

I've been noodling
some new ways

to overcome
the yukawa potential.

It's worth a try!

At least before we slay it.

- We have to clean up
this mess.

- This "mess"
could inspire them

to create supersymmetric
particle netting,

which would be
an incredible advance.

- I'll call for further
instructions.

- No...just do what I say.

Use the carter npc
and get them on task.

- Yes.
You get zane to help you.

- Yes!

- Um...feel like
a walk in the woods?

But whatever this thing is,

you got a good look at it,

and I could use your help.

- Okay.

- You look tired.

And beautiful.

You wouldn't want
to give me a hand

with that phosphor
cryo-module, would you?

- Oh, no, I can't.

I have tons of astraeus
launch telemetry to go through.

- Wh-why?

- 'Cause I'm the captain, henry.

It was my mission,
and I need answers.

- Grace, you know the answer.
We found it.

I mean, after a year's
investigation,

it was an accident,
a faulty resonator chip.

It was...an accident.

- I need to just
get back to this.

- You sure?
- Mm-hmm.

- Your loss.

- 286 bucks.

hmm.

Thanks, universe.

- Whoo ooh!

oww!

Oww...

- Jo...what did you do?

- Hi, dad.

- 'Scuse me!

What the hell are you doing?

- Hi. Sorry.

I-I was...

I used to live here...

When I was a little girl.

- Are you lupo?

- Yes.

- Yeah, I think I got
a message for you.

Stay there.

- Oh, the universe finally
has something to tell me.

It's, uh, weird that it's
coming from her.

So what's the message?

- They're all from
the same guy.

Uh, carter.

Tell him to stop calling me,
for crap's sake.

- Carter?
- Yeah, says it's an emergency.

Don't you have
a cell phone?

- You don't bring a cell phone
on walkabout.

- So I don't know
what to do.

I mean,
I wanna stay positive,

but I don't want to give
the kids false hope.

Here you go.
- Yeah, I know.

All right, thanks.

- It's hard, right?

'cause I don't wanna
set 'em up to be crushed either.

- Right.

Right.

- Ahem.
- Oh, I'm sorry.

I'm just--astounded
at what kevin's done.

- Yes, grand larceny
is impressive.

- This is beyond brilliant.

I mean, he's actually designed
a strangelet detector.

- Oh! Those--the--

The particles
he was talking about.

- This device could actually
be sensitive enough

to pick up
their energy signature.

- What do you mean?

- It is possible to see
the path of the ship.

It's a long sh*t.

The wake could have
faded by now.

We don't have much time.

- Kevin, you wanna
come down for a sec?

[footsteps]

- I did my homework
and I cleaned my room,

but I'm not gonna say I'm sorry,
'cause I'm not.

- No, kevin, just...

Um...

What do you need
to finish this?

- You serious?

[indistinct chatter]

- here you go.
Hope it helps.

- Did I Miss something?

- Uh, well, when everybody
found out what you were up to,

they wanted to help out.

- This is amazing.
- Yeah.

- All right, we've got
just about everything.

I still need
an arc-second pulse array.

- John, you tell me what it is,
and I'm on it.

- It's a frequency enhancer

found on ultra-large
antenna dishes.

- I actually think I know where
to find one of those things.

But I'm gonna need
a little help with security.

Andy!

Just the man
I was looking for.

- Gee, thanks, boss.

For an a.i., that's--
That's mighty touching.

- I think I might
need your help with something.

- Would it be building
a strangelet detector

out of stolen equipment?

- Why would you say that?

- I've been noting the stream
of devices passing by.

I was gonna make
a mass arrest later on.

- I think you might need to
forget about being a deputy

for a little while.

- [Laughs]

I don't actually
forget anything, sheriff.

I could tell you what socks
you're wearing

every day since
my activation.

- Guh--i'm not--
Forget it.

Um...

Ignore.

See, we need to borrow

one last piece of equipment.

- That sounds
dangerously like

conspiracy to commit
a felony, sheriff.

- It does, and dangerously
similar.

But, uh...

This might be
our last chance

to find the crew
of the astraeus.

So what do you say?

- I say that, if it were
my s.a.r.a.h. Up there,

I would do anything
to bring her back.

- Right.

So what do you think
we're looking for?

If anything.

- Well, the astraeus
has thousands

of genetic experiments.

I don't know what kind
of mutations could occur.

- All right.
And if it's a lizard,

uh, how big we talkin'?
How big could that get?

- Well, monitor lizards
can grow up to 10 feet long.

- That's sorta awesome.
- Ha ha.

- We haven't done this
in a while, huh?

- Track a dragon?

- Yeah,
something crazy like that.

I missed it.

- Don't say that.

You don't think
this is hard enough as it is?

- Sorry.

[click]

[muted footfall]

- [whispers] what?
What is it?

[twigs crunching]

- oh, hey, hi.

- What are you doing here?

- Looking for
whatever it was

that you all saw.

Which, for the record,

i'm absolutely sure
was not a dragon.

- [Growl]
- [sighs]

- oh.
- Holly--

Holly, where are you going?

- [Growling]

- [gasps]

- do you guys see this too?
- Yes.

- Holy stromboli.
- Holly, step away

from the dragon.

[cell phone beeps]

jo? Jo, we got it.
Holly.

- I told you.

- No, but holly, don't--
- Holly, holly--

- Don't worry,
it's not real.

[dragon growls]

- [screams]
- holly!

Hey, you okay?

[screech]
- ah!

[dragon screeches]

- oof. Ow.

- Ow, ow, ow, ow!

- Oh, I'm sorry it hurts.

- Yeah.
Isn't that cool?

- You don't know what kind
of dragon bacteria

that thing has under its nails.
- Doug,

let's look at this logically.

"a"--my arm totally hurts.

"b"--it hurts because
it was scratched by a dragon.

"c"--dragons don't exist.
Therefore--

- Therefore what?

- I don't know.

That's why it's so cool.

- Okay, I'm going
to get you wrapped up,

get you a sh*t
of wide-spectrum antibiotics,

and then you can
get out of here.

- Uh...

So how is this cool?

- Well, holly has a,
um, unique view on the world.

- Yeah, but you both
did see something

before it skittered
off in the woods?

- Yeah, it kind
of blinked out for a second.

- Well,
lizards can change color.

Right?
That camouflage thing?

- Yeah,
cryptic colorization.

No, it wasn't like that at all.

- Okay, um,

you were both on the astraeus.

Could the f.t.l. Jump
have done something like that?

- Well,
visual recognition

involves a large part
of the ventral stream

of the brain.
It...

It's a delicate structure.
I mean, it's possible.

Since when do you know
so much about neuroscience?

- Night school!

Yeah. Um, look, I'm going
to go check on zane.

He's almost done--
The, uh, dragon "crapture"...

- Supersymmetric particle
netting.

- Exactly.
Yeah.

- Holly?

- Oh, she's--she's fine.

She'll be all healed up
in about a week or two.

And you get
to put "dragon att*ck"

on your mission report.

- Allison, um...

Can you think of any reason why
henry wouldn't want me

to go through records
of the launch?

- No, it's your job.
You're the captain.

- No, I know.
It just felt like

he didn't want me
poking around.

- Really?

Henry is probably one
of the most curious people

that I've ever met.

He loves a good mystery
more than anyone.

Oh...
For holly.

- Are we really looking
for a dragon?

- Well, I don't know
what holly would say,

but in my book,
if something hurts you,

then it's real.

- [Whispers]
this is so exciting!

What's the plan, boss?

- What we want
is inside that building.

So you go in,
grab the array.

I'll keep watch.
- Great.

The only thing is,

the massive electrical fields
in that building

might disable my c.p.u.
So better yet,

you go,
and I'll keep watch.

- Super.

All right.
- Hey, boss.

My sensors read
about 6,700 megawatts

bouncing around in there.

- Wish me luck.
- Wait.

[clang]

good luck, boss.

[high-pitched beeping,
click]

[door clanks shut]

[machinery hums]

- [whispers]
oh...

Where are you?

Okay.

Where?

[hum slowly fades]

nice.

[panting]

[grunts]

[soft electrical humming]

bingo.

Ow-ah!

ow.

ooh.

[prolonged sniff]

mmm!

[hum of machinery fades]

[muted]
mmm...

- Freeze!
[g*ns cocking]

- uh-oh.

- Who are you?

- I'm deputy andy.
Local law enforcement.

- Oh, come on, andy.
Be cool.

- This off-limits, deputy.

m*llitary personnel only.

Senator wen's orders.

- Did I Miss the memo?

Oops. Sorry, my bad.

- Good job.

- Want to tell me exactly
what you're doing here?

- Sure. The sheriff and I
are here on a late-night mission

to steal
your arc-second pulse array.

- Right.

[laughter]

- that's funny.

But seriously,
you can't be here.

So if you wouldn't mind.

- Oh, yeah.
I understand.

I'll head on back
to my car then.

- Way to go, andy.

- Okay, bye, guys.

- Well, henry's taking
the pulse array to the site,

and kevin is almost
finished with the assembly.

They could use some more
work lights and coffee.

- Great.
Well, that we can provide.

We're like
a regular butch and sundance.

- Yeah, only sundance
almost blew the entire operation

with his
compulsive truth telling.

- Yeah, well, maybe don't
consider a life of crime.

- I was just about
to give you the same advice.

- Senator wen,
how are you?

- Well, a lot better
than you two.

Where's the pulse array?

- Well, actually--
- Well, um--

- Well, then
you've left me no choice.

Arrest them.

- Yesterday I was
an officer of the law.

Today...

I'm a jailbird.

A con.
In the pokey, up the river.

- We did the right thing.

Kevin and henry
are gonna find that ship.

- How?

We've been searching for weeks
and haven't seen a thing.

- Well, then we're
just gonna keep searching.

- We're looking in space,
boss.

Space.

You have any idea
how big space is?

It's like looking
for a needle in a haystack

when the haystack is 28 billion
light-years across.

- Well, what are
we supposed to do?

Just give up?

Go home and tell jenna and kevin
that their mother is gone?

- Listen, boss.

There has to be a moment
when you give up hope,

when you forget about
what's up there...

And you focus
on what's down here.

- Down here.

- I'm not sensing
a tone of sadness of despair

in your voice there, boss.

- Down here--
It's the one place

we haven't looked.

Down--we gotta
get out of here.

Andy, andy!
Break open these bars!

- Uh, these bars are hardened
carbon nanotubes, boss.

I'm not gonna
be able to break these.

- Then we do something else.

Dig, robot, dig!

- Dig?
- [Laughs]

isn't this
a pretty picture?

I leave you
for a few weeks

and the two of you
wind up behind bars.

- I'm so ashamed.

- You got my messages.

- I got your messages, yeah.

Can I give
you guys a hand?

- Um, yeah,
there's this guard outside...

- Yes,
he and I spoke

and he's, well,
taking a little bit

of a nap right now, so...

Shall we?

- Yes, after you.

- [Laughs]
- let's go, guys.

- It's good to see you.
- You too.

Now what the heck
is going on?

- Um, well,
where to start?

- All right,
looking good here.

How you doing, kev?

[shimmering tone]

- done.

- All right,
here we go.

Here we go.

[shimmering tone]

- all right,
we should pick something up.

- Yeah.

[computer beeps]

- [sighs]

- we're too late.

The particles
have already degraded.

- We could try, uh,
adjusting the frequency.

- Henry!

We've been
searching the wrong haystack!

- Jo, you're back.

- Yeah, in time
to break these guys out of jail.

- All this time
we were thinking about

if it went up there.

What happens if the ship
landed down here?

- Well, it couldn't.

I mean, without
a boson cloud exciter

to absorb the impact,
it would vaporize.

- Unless someone
was prepared to catch it.

- Someone built their own bce?

- Well, we were thinking
that it was sabotage.

What if it was theft?

- It wouldn't hurt to try.

Right?

- Yeah,
let's tilt it down first.

- All right.

- Pan it across.

[shimmering tone]

- please, please, please,
please, please, please, please.

[shimmering tone]

[computer buzzes and beeps]

- oh, my god!

- That's it!
She's down here!

- All right, and with
the strength of that wake,

they're not too far away,

so we can triangulate
their exact location.

[sirens wailing]
[tires screeching]

- well, good morning, everyone.

Grand larceny, as*ault,
and now a jailbreak.

What have you done, sheriff?

- We found the astraeus.
And potentially her crew.

That's the trail.

- Is this possible?

- So either help us
or sh**t us, but...

We're following that trail.

[computer beeps]

- sergeant, go with them.
- Yes, ma'am.

- I'm gonna call for backup.
- Let's go, move out!

[monitor beeps]

- anything?
- Nope.

Zane, what's the range
on this thing?

- Oh, maybe 30 yards.

That would be a guess,
considering I finished

building it
an hour ago.

Might not work at all.

- I have faith.

- Oh, she has faith.

So is this thing
big and nasty?

- Yeah, 15 feet long.
- Good.

I'm kinda hoping it comes out
and kills the both of them.

- [Laughs]
- does that make me a jerk?

- Well, given the circumstances,
i'd say it's only natural.

- [Chuckles]
so what about you?

- What?
- Well, jo and i,

we weren't even a real couple
when I left.

But you and carter...
You guys are in love.

That's worth fighting for,
isn't it?

[creature roars]

[creature growls]

- [whispering]
get down.

- Any time, jo.

- Not yet.

[creature snarls]

- how about now?

[creature roars]

[laser blast]
[creature roars]

- nice.

Nice sh*t, jo.

- Piece of cake.

- A supersymmetric particle net
with a portable launcher.

That's incredible.

- That's zane donovan.

Download the specs
and get a prototype

off the printer.

- She'll be very pleased.

[cell phone beeps]

- yes?

How long?

[tires squealing]

[tires screeching]

- move, move!

- [Grunts]
[crashes]

- go, go, go, go!
Eyes up!

[indistinct chatter
on walkie-talkie]

- go ahead, move out!
- Where?

- All the way back!
- Secure the area.

- Yes, ma'am.
- Let's sweep!

- Carter.
- Yeah.

[sparks sizzle]

we're too late.

- What're they doing to them?
- I don't know.

- The astraeus
was here all along.

Amazing detective work, sheriff.
- Well, not amazing enough.

- Well, we have
every government agency

involved with the manhunt.

- Yeah, but why leave the ship
and take the crew?

- Exactly.
- I don't know.

But I promise you
we will find them.

- You all right, kev?

You never gave up hope.

- And, um, at least now we know
that your mother is here, right?

- We were so close.

- I know.
I know.

They left in a hurry.
- Yeah.

Sounds like they knew
we were coming.

We gotta get to g.d.

[truck clatters]

wow.
here you go.

- Thank you.

How's jo?

- Oh, she's indestructible.

I mean, uh, another day,
another dragon.

Right?

- Well, we'll do a full bioscan
and genetic workup,

help us figure out
where this thing came from.

- Yeah,
is it gonna tell you

why it fritzed out
right in front of you?

- Well, I don't know.
Maybe.

Whatever it is I saw
and whatever holly saw,

it's not gonna change
what's inside of this truck.

- Yeah.

It's hard to believe.

- Well, we all have to learn
to accept reality, carter.

No matter how hard it is.

- Yeah.

- Okay, I want every experiment
on the astraeus rechecked.

Take full security
and biohazard precautions.

- Yes, ma'am.

- Hey, captain.

How's it going?

- Well, this thing
was hiding out on my ship.

I need to make sure we don't
have any other hitchhikers.

- Yeah, but first,

I get to take you out
for breakfast.

- Uh, no,
that's sweet, but, uh,

I still have a lot of launch
footage to go through.

- The d.o.d. Came this morning,
and they took all the files.

- What?

- Yeah, apparently they were
classified as top secret.

I mean, no one's in trouble.
They were just mislabeled.

- I can't look at records
for the launch of my own ship?

- Apparently not. Sorry.
But maybe it's a good thing.

Because I get to take you
out for breakfast.

Shall we?

[truck clattering]

- oh, are you
here to gloat?

- Oh, you bet, 'cause I got
2,000 pounds of dragon proof

riding on a flatbed truck
right now.

- All right.
But you have to admit

it still seems
a little impossible.

- Impossible?

- Well, impossible
is being shipped

to a biological habitat
as we speak.

- Okay, doug.
Are you finished?

- Not until you say it.
- Say what?

- "I'm sorry, doug.
You were right, I was wrong."

- You don't ever want
to have sex again, do you?

- Yeah--no, I'll catch up
with you later?

Love you.

- Shouldn't we be investigating
the place we know they ended up?

- Well, I'm more interested
in where it started.

[technicians chattering]

- jack, you've watched this
footage a thousand times.

- Yeah, I know,
but I realized something.

All this time, we were looking
at the wrong thing.

Want to know how they knew
we were coming?

Because I told her.

- Oh, my god.

- Hey, holly.
You okay?

- Do you see
anything on my arm?

- Uh, yeah.
You're injured.

- Yeah, I was
scratched by a dragon,

which is a mythical creature,
and then I saw this disappear.

- We're gonna get you
to the infirmary.

- Oh, maybe.
- Yeah.

- Maybe, because that could be
a logical answer to all of this.

I could be
having delusions,

which could be caused
by a lot of things.

Schizophrenia, of course,

or a brain tumor,
or a cocaine addiction,

or a temporal focal epilepsy.

- Yeah, it's...unlikely--
- It's a long sh*t.

Or it could be
an infection of some kind.

Malaria or lupus
could cause delusions.

- True.

- Or I could
just be dreaming.

I could be in some awesome
nrem dream cycle.

- We're gonna get you
to talk to allison. Okay?

- Allison. Allison
saw the dragon disappear.

- Yeah, she did.

- Oh, my god.
It didn't disappear.

It de-rezzed,
like the scratches on my arms.

They're
all processor glitches.

Like part of a computer game
freaking out.

Wait.
We could all be inside

some totally advanced
computer construct

that just looks
and feels like the real world,

and we wouldn't
even know it.

- Oh, holly.

I'm so sorry
you said that.

[computers beeping]
- [panting]

- what are you doing?
You're k*lling her.

- She's dangerous.
You know it.

- Dr. Martin is brilliant.

That's why we took her.
You can't do this.

- Beverly,
you should be very proud.

You should also remember
who you answer to.

[electricity crackles]

[flatline tone]
- [exhales]

- you said 21 was a problem.
Now you have 20.

Get back to work.

Please dispose
of Dr. Martin.

Respectfully and securely.
- Yes, senator.