05x15 - Reality Bytes

[bunniefuu]

What do you think it's gonna do?

Whoa!

Shall we? Yeah.

End simulation.

End simulation.

End simulation!

End simulation!

Why didn't you end simulation?

Yeah, I tried. It didn't work.

And the failsafe button?

What, you mean that giant red thing that screams "Push me"?

It's tied to your biometrics. It appears when necessary.

Yeah, it disappeared the minute I reached for it.

What do you mean? I mean, your failsafe failed.

Really? This is the first time that I've ever encountered it, but your experience will be reported to our development team, Mr. Bates.

I assure you, this glitch will be fixed.

Long before the launch of Obsidian Platinum.

I can handle his exit interview from here, Ms. Olsen.

Dreamer, I'm sending him to you.

Nap time.

That was incredible!

You b*at my record for defeating a Dominator.

Well, you warmed him up for me.

Don't you have a date to get to?

Go! Get out of here. I want pictures.

Close off the street. Secure the area.

You're welcome...

Director Dox.

Thank you, Dreamer.

Yes, um...

Thank you.

You already said that.

Hey. What's the emergency?

Blue or purple?

Oh, your date with William is tonight. Yes.

Cancel it for me? No, I will not.

And, blue. Always go with the blue. You know this.

I know. I know. But, I...

It's been two and a half years since I went on a date.

What if I... forgot how to do it?

You smile, and you laugh, and your reach for the check.

You make it sound so easy.

But the way, you should have seen Nia today. She was on fire.

Yeah, I did. She was all over YouTube and the news, and every other platform I've never hear of.

I'm just so proud of her.

And you know what, it just feels so good to know that if I want to take a night off, there's someone there that can save the day.

After a productive dinner with Crown Prince Raakaan El-Farah, philanthropist Lex Luthor announced that Obsidian Platinum's VR lenses will soon be available in Quarac.

Gross.

Well, don't book your trip to Bali just yet, we still have to deal with Lex. And we will.

We will stop him and get him out of the DEO and we'll get you back in there where you belong.

You miss it, don't you?

Well, I mean, I like to think that the DEO misses me.

But, yeah. Yeah, I miss it.

But, hey, you know what, I am blazing a whole new trail here, and tonight I will be having a date with this guy.

Oh! Oh, is that, that Martian w*apon J'onn gave you?

What do you call it, the Hand of the Solider?

Yeah. How's training?

Wanna see? Yeah.

Right? Mmm-hmm.

Ow! God, this...

This thing is supposed to know what I'm thinking, but it's being very stubborn.

Well, like soldier like hand.

Don't scare me!

Isn't that Dreamer something amazing?

I think she's more powerful than Supergirl.

I don't know. I think she probably has her problems just like everyone else.

Oh, no.

You are not spending another Friday night on this couch, in sweats housing rocky road.

I like ice cream.

Nia.

Sweet little Nia, you are becoming a... what's the word?

Loser.

And you're young, you're vibrant, but if you sit on this couch, crying over that weird little man for one more minute, you gonna develop permanent mope face.

I am not moping over...

Barney. I just had a long day.

So, you need an even longer night. Come on.

You going out with me.

I'm meeting my boyfriend at the club, and I want you to meet him too.

Wait. I didn't know you were seeing anyone. Where'd you meet him?

We've been together for three weeks.

And we met on Upswipz.

Yvette.

"Loves sunsets, yachting, and hanging out with my BFF Dreamer?"

How often do you hang out with your "BFF Dreamer?"

She waved at me once. That counts as a hey.

Besides, everybody embellishes on those things.

It's Angus.

He says he cannot wait to meet me.

Wait, you haven't met him yet?

Well, not physically, but emotionally, it's like we've been together forever.

Now get dressed.

Okay... all right.

So, you've never played 8-Ball? What!

Are you kidding me? I'm from Midvale.

We have pool halls on every corner, okay?

Okay? Okay, fine.

Maybe I've only played it once in my life.

Okay, well, then we'll take it one sh*t at a time.

For you.

Oh, 'cause you're such a pool shark?

Oh, yeah. I'm not that bad.

All right.

All right.

Let's just take it nice and soft.

Beginner's luck?

Ooh! I can't wait to dance with my man.

I have to go to the bathroom.

Don't take too long, Angus will be here any minute.

You know, I was gonna ask if I can buy you a drink, but I assume Angus has already spoken for you?

He sure has. Loud and clear.

And I just missed a text message from him.

Ah, he wants me to meet him outside. Excuse me.

Angus?

An...

You leaving early tonight? Yeah.

That place is way too crowded.

Did you find your boyfriend? No, he'll be here in a minute.

Oh.

He should have suggested that you meet at sunset.

What?

You favorite time of day... is on a yacht at sunset.

At least that's what you told me in our first Upswipz chat.

And I don't think you'd lie to me.

Would you do that?

Yvette?

Are you okay?

Oh, my God, what happened to you?

Angus.

Your boyfriend did this to you?

He only pretended to like me.

He targeted me so I can give this message to Dreamer.

"The world doesn't want a trans superhero.

So crawl back under the rock you came from... came from, or I'll keep attacking people like you."

Our profiler put together this sketch based on your statement.

Is this the guy?

Yeah, that's him. Thank you.

Now, we're still going over security footage, and questioning other patrons but, please, do not hesitate to call if you remember anything that may help us.

Okay?

I'll show you out.

I'm gonna go lie down.

Thanks. Yeah.

Nia? Nia? Nia, thank goodness.

Are you okay?

Is Yvette?

Why didn't you call me last night?

I would have been there... Yvette wanted to be alone.

She's not just hurt and humiliated, she's heartbroken.

She thought this guy really liked her.

And he was just targeting her because she was trans.

He was trying to use her to get to Dreamer.

What did he want with Dreamer?

He wants me to stop being a superhero.

He's going after my community to bully me into it.

Listen to me, Nia, listen. We will find this guy.

Yeah, we will.

And when we do, I'll bury him.

Nia?

Look, I...

I know this is a personal att*ck, but you have to trust that when we find this guy the cops are gonna put him behind bars.

Kara, I love you, but do not tell me what I can and can't do right now.

There is no catching this guy and redeeming him.

There is no hope speech that can make this better.

Nia... No.

Look, my community is vulnerable.

This happens more than you could possibly know.

And there are guys just like this jerk out there who want to hurt us.

They want us to hide and to be afraid to be who we are.

They wants us to disappear, and it happens... every day. I know, and what this guy did is horrible...

He's not the first, and he won't be the last.

And we haven't exactly been a priority for the cops.

So, just trust me when I say that I am the one protecting this community.

And now this bastard is going after my community, trying to erase me?

No.

No, this guy is over.

Look, I know that you're hurting right now, and I will never fully understand.

But, between us and the cops, we will make sure justice is served.

Nia?

Just give us a chance.

Fine.

A few hours.

But then, I'm doing this my way.

I said shield!

Alex, the Martian DNA in your w*apon will code itself to your bio-electric pulses allowing you to morph it with a single thought.

But you have to let it in.

Yeah. Okay, Ollivander.

Is there any kind of instruction manual for this thing?

I'm afraid not. It's instinctual.

Trust the w*apon, and it will trust you.

How am I supposed to trust this if it keeps changing on me?

All right. Look, I know things have been difficult for you since leaving the DEO.

Life can be challenging when there's no clear path.

Oh, no, no. I have a clear path.

Okay, it's stop Lex Luthor from traipsing around the world just cashing in on the goodwill that he never earned, and get my life back.

Now, let's do it again.

What is that?

J'onn, Alex, thanks for seeing me this late.

No problem, Al.

My brother Trevor's missing.

He lives in my basement, but I haven't seen him for about a week.

Did you file a police report?

I did... but then the cops found this on his computer.

An invitation to a weekend escape experience at Obsidian Platinum's Virtual Las Vegas.

Invite says to get a hotel room.

So, no disturbances could pull the players away from their virtual experience.

So the cops don't think that he's missing. They think that he's in some VR party binge.

Right. But that was a week ago.

Look, I'm telling you this is not like Trevor at all.

Al, do you mind taking me to your house?

I'd like to take a look around, see what I can find.

And Kelly works for Obsidian North, so she can get me into Virtual Vegas.

And if there's a chance that Trevor is in there, then I will find him, and he can tell me where he is in the real world.

I really appreciate this.

Hey, no problem, Al.

Kara Danvers.

I hope this is important, I'm very busy.

It is. It's about...

Dreamer. Yes.

I just saw the coverage of her victory over the Dominator.

No, it's not that. She needs our help.

There's an attacker targeting the trans community trying to get Dreamer to take her cape off.

That's awful.

I mean... it is only logical that v*olence begets concern.

Listen, I know this guy's human, but can you help me track him?

Consider it done.

So, the last thing that Al knows is that his brother checked himself in to some hotel who knows where, and that he met up with some friends at a place called the Escape Palace?

Yeah, located somewhere in Virtual Las Vegas.

We figured that Trevor must have paid cash for his room, because there's no paper trail of him anywhere.

So, I was thinking maybe I could go into Virtual Las Vegas, and just see what I could find. Okay.

Now, these lenses are very different than the original.

Okay?

Obsidian Platinum doesn't just utilize the brain link, it connects to your biology.

Which means what exactly?

So, in this version, you're not just seeing virtual reality, you're feeling it.

Cold will feel cold, hot will feel hot, everything will feel real.

So, once you're in, you'll be in, what looks like a lobby.

There you will select your desired experience.

You will see a panel of virtual options, mined from your own thoughts and desires.

Virtual Las Vegas is one of these.

Okay, so what happens when I get inside?

What are the rules?

That's the difference between reality, and virtual reality.

Inside Obsidian Platinum there are no rules.

Great. Sounds easy.

You'll get the hang of it. I promise.

Just remember, if you need to come out, say "End simulation."

And if, for some reason, it gets too intense in there and you can't say that, the program will launch your failsafe button.

You can't miss it.

Just touch it, and you will be pulled out.

And I'll be able to communicate with you?

The whole time.

Okay, well... bottom's up.

I'm in.

Good. You should see your experience options.

Yeah, I do.

Did you find Virtual Las Vegas?

Yeah, I got it. Hang on.

There it is.

Vegas, baby...

Vegas.

Well, I know where I can go to find the Siegfried and Roy interactive experience.

No, thank you, but where am I gonna find this Escape House?

Talk to the users inside.

Someone must know where it is.

But stay away from the people with three lines on their necks, those are NPCs. What are NPCs?

Non-Player Characters.

AIs who populate the world, not actual users.

They won't know much. Okay.

He said he was meeting with some virtual friends in VR?

Yeah, but I don't know who they are.

I don't even know their avatar names.

Well, let's see what we can find.

I just don't understand. When Trevor and I first came to this planet together, we were inseparable.

But, for the last few months, all he does is retreat into VR.

What is it?

I managed to track down the user names of two of Trevor's virtual friends.

We can get these to Kelly at Obsidian North, maybe she can help us find out who they are.

That way maybe we could maybe find Trevor.

Look, Al, do you have anything personal of Trevor's?

Something with an emotional connection that I could maybe use to psychically trace him.

I gave this to Trevor to mark our first year on Earth.

He wore it every day.

Till he switched to a smart watch.

Thanks, man.

Hey, look, we're gonna find him.

Oh.

Hey, you think real Vegas buffets are intense, you need to try the all you can eat to get you to he perfect state of fullness.

No matter how much you eat, you feel great.

I'll keep that in mind for the next time. Thank you.

You wouldn't happen to know where I can find a place called the Escape Palace, do you?

Escape Palace?

You mean that spooky looking joint up on the hill?

Ridiculous add-on if you ask me.

They don't have hills like that in the desert.

Right, uh... thanks.

Sure thing, kid. Hey, blue eyes, bring me the lobster.

So many calories.

He's right. That house is a recent add-on, customized by a user.

Okay, so what does that mean?

Advanced users can customize the virtual world, but it takes time to catalogue these additions in our system.

So, I don't know what we can expect.

Well, if Trevor's in there, then I gotta check it out.

I'm going in.

I don't like this.

Oh, my God.

This is just like when Rick Malverne tried to drown me.

Okay, the user who created this palace designed it to tap into a player's worst fears.

That makes the experience different for everyone.

And harder to escape.

But, this isn't real, there's nothing to be afraid of.

Help. We've been trapped for days.

Wait, you can talk?

End your simulation.

I can't.

It's part of the game.

Then the failsafe disappeared.

What? I reported that glitch months ago.

Somebody must have hacked it.

Alex, you need to get them out of there.

If they've been tortured for days, there could be serious repercussions.

I thought you said this wasn't real?

But they think it is, and with Obsidian Platinum, it feels real. This is why we have a failsafe.

It's encoded with a biometric... Okay, Kelly, just in English. What are you saying?

If you don't break through those tanks right now, they could suffer brain damage.

Okay.

All right.

You did it.

Okay, now give me the names and locations, so I can send teams in to eject them.

Tell your teams to hurry.

On it. I'm gonna figure out why the failsafe didn't trigger.

Listen, I'm gonna get you guys out of here.

But we're looking for a man named Trevor Crane.

Have you seen him in here?

Trevor's done a bunch of escape rooms with us.

He and the new guy Richard solved the puzzle quickly and made it through, but that door slammed shut.

We were about to follow when spiders suddenly started crawling all over me.

And I hate spiders.

Whose idea was it to come to this escape experience?

It was Richard's.

How well do you know him?

He's new to the group.

I need to get to him before it's too late.

So, you're saying this Richard person intentionally dropped Trevor in VR?

It looks that way.

He's figured out a glitch in the system that prevents people from safely ejecting.

Well, I followed the psychic trail from Trevor's watch to a house outside Opal City.

I'll let you know what I find out.

Excuse me.

Can I help you? I hope you can.

Hi, Detective Rivers, it's Nia Nal.

I wanted to see if there was any updates on Yvette's as*ault.

We're still reviewing surveillance footage from the club and surrounding businesses and processing the physical evidence.

So, you're saying you're nowhere?

I can assure you, I will do everything in my power to catch him.

I appreciate that.

I gave you your chance.

Sorry, Kara.

Now it's time to do everything in my power.

Come and get me.

Mrs. Bates are you sure you don't know Trevor Crane?

A number of leads have led me to this address.

Perhaps he's using an alias?

No. Sorry.

Could he be a friend of your spouse's?

No, I don't think I've ever heard Richard mention him.

Your husband's name is Richard? Yes.

Jennifer, I'm gonna need you to stop lying to me.

Right now, Trevor is trapped in a high-level virtual reality experience by a man named Richard.

Possibly being tortured. But that's not possible.

So, you do know him? Yes.

Kind of.

We've been spending some time together in VR.

Like an affair? No.

I have never met him in real life.

It's just harmless fun.

Does your husband know about this... harmless fun?

My husband can be a little...

possessive.

So, I do my thing in VR, and he does his.

He's a computer engineer in love with all the technical details, and me, I just want to escape for a few hours.

Regardless, I need to find Trevor and your husband as soon as possible.

Or they could both suffer permanent damage.

Director Dox?

I found over 200 social media groups, and message boards, all catering to trans hate groups.

They're on this drive. Thank you.

That will be all.

It's no use. J'onn located Richard's wife.

Richard's a computer programmer.

We think that he made the escape experience as a way to trap Trevor because Trevor was having a virtual affair with Richard's wife.

Oh, you've got to be kidding me.

I know, and I need to have a conversation with Andrea about unintended uses of Obsidian Platinum.

All right.

Now, any ideas of how I can get through this door?

If you concentrate hard enough, you can override Richard's program.

Bend it to your will, not his.

I did it.

Kelly?

It is totally different in here.

Kelly?

Can you hear me? Alex?

Alex, are you there?

This shouldn't be possible, but it looks like Richard customized the room to block remote monitoring.

Hello?

Trevor?

Okay.

I'm going in.

Maybe put Yvette's quote at the top of the third graph.

Brilliant.

"Over 24 trans people have been m*rder*d in this country in the past year."

The true number's likely much higher.

Many of these att*cks go mis-reported because victims are misgendered in police reports.

Nia was so angry.

I get it, this is so frustrating.

I wish we could do more to help.

Hang on.

Brainy, what's up?

I'm sending you an Upswipz profile Nia created.

It appears she's trying to lure out Yvette's attacker by using herself as bait.

I'll talk to her, and, Brainy, thank you.

So, something came up, would you mind... Covering for you?

Of course.

You wanted Dreamer, well, now you've got her.

Trevor Crane?

I'm Alex Danvers.

Your brother sent me.

Oh, thank God.

It's happening again.

Stay back!

What?

Please make it stop!

Okay, I don't understand, just talk to me.

Trevor?

What the hell just happened?

I don't know.

At first, I thought I was standing on some kind of a land mine.

If I take a step, I explode, but standing still doesn't work either. I still blow up.

It's random.

And the pain...

It's horrible. Okay, just... focus.

Okay, where is Richard?

I don't know.

I think he planned this whole thing.

Sometimes he shows up just to watch me explode.

It's happening again. No, you can fight this.

You just have to... Look out.

End your simulation.

I am not leaving here without Trevor. Yeah?

Okay, well, then I'm gonna show you how real this can be.

'Cause this is my house!

And this is my g*n.

You're not getting rid of me that easily.

Easy, tiger.

Are you okay?

Get back. I can't control it.

No, no, I'm not going anywhere.

And you can control this, Trevor. You need to will it to stop.

All right, you make the rules now.

Come on.

That's it.

That's it. You got this.

It worked. Yeah.

You were right. I knew you could do it.

All right, listen to me. Give me your location.

I will go out and I will get help.

I'm at the National City Grand.

Room 315.

Okay, you just hang on and you try to stay calm.

End simulation.

Alex, I couldn't reach you. What happened in there?

I just fought Richard, blasted him clean out of VR.

But how? That shouldn't be possible.

We'll figure that out later.

I found Trevor.

I'm gonna call J'onn and give him his address.

No, I'll get him.

But I need you to send a paramedics to the Coastline Motel.

Room 10.

Looking for me?

You weren't supposed to be here.

Got something you wanna say?

Yeah.

I don't think you're the right kind of role model.

That's not for you to decide. Well, somebody has to stand up to you people.

You stand up by hiding behind a fake name online?

And by attacking innocent people?

It worked, didn't it?

You make me sick. No, you make me sick, you twisted freak!

You show up on the scene one day tricking dudes into thinking that you're this hot new superhero.

The girl next door, but heroes are supposed to be virtuous, and honest, and here you are lying!

I get it.

Your fragile ego was just shattered.

Your sense of self is so shaky, that anything outside your narrow world view threatens it.

Dreamer, don't.

Stay out of this. This is my fight!

And you won. Look at him.

Don't let him turn you into something you're not.

Why should he get to live?

If you do this, you will take a piece of his darkness and carry it with you forever.

When you put that suit on, you became a symbol.

You give people hope. Don't let them down by stooping to his level.

Now, please, let's just turn him in and make sure he faces justice.

You can't promise that'll happen.

No, I can't.

And I understand...

You feel like you're the only one protecting your community, but you're not alone.

You have me.

And Alex and J'onn and, yes, even Brainy in his heart of hearts.

And maybe we all should have opened our eyes to the realities that your and your community face every day.

But now we have.

And now we will all have our eyes open for people like him.

You are going to prison for a long time.

And when you're out, I will be watching you.

And if you ever make a move against anyone in my community again, I will give you a nightmare you will never wake up from.

Nia?

Hey. Hey. It's okay.

Kara, I almost m*rder*d someone tonight... and I still kind of want to.

I know.

I don't wanna be a k*ller, but...

Kara, I'm not okay.

I am so overwhelmed.

And this guy just triggered everything.

I had a dream flash right before Yvette was att*cked and I couldn't interpret it.

I couldn't save Yvette, just like I couldn't save my mom.

I couldn't stop that guy and my powers are mixed up and unpredictable! And I...

And the one person who supported me from day one, who was always by my side, who saw me for who I am, and...

looked at me like I was beautiful.

It just broke my heart.

And I don't even know why.

I wish I had answers for you.

I'm so sorry.

When that bastard att*cked my community, the one thing it felt like I had left...

I snapped.

At least this was something I could control.

I could find this guy and stop him.

Permanently.

I could do something to protect someone.

I felt that kind of pressure before.

That anger... but I wasn't looking at things through your eyes and your experiences...

And I'm so sorry.

And I know, I know, sometimes being the good guy sucks.

Especially when you know how easy it would be to just get rid of someone so vile and full of hate.

But, hey, not doing that... that is what makes us different from them.

That's what let's us keep protecting people, and your community needs you.

They need Dreamer.

And I'm so sorry. I didn't know how much pain you were in.

Oh!

Okay, relationship talk.

Let's decide right now that any virtual romance is cheating.

Deal. Yeah.

Also, virtual t*rture, that is definitely real attempted m*rder.

Yeah. There are a lot of open questions about ethics and morality in the virtual world.

You okay?

I do truly believe that what we're...

What I am doing at Obsidian North can help people.

I just, I feel so guilty and angry that someone would take advantage of our technology like that.

Use our tools as a w*apon?

Maybe there should be some regulations on who can use Obsidian Platinum.

I agree.

But I flagged that glitch months ago, and I was promised that it was taken care of.

Alex?

Trevor.

Hey, it's...

It's so good to see you out.

I'm so glad that you're okay.

I really wanted to meet you in the real world, to thank you.

You saved my life.

Wanna have a drink?

Yeah. Yeah.

This is Kelly. Hi.

Hi. She's kind of part of it, too.

We don't have to worry about that creep anymore.

He's going to prison for a long time.

What are you doing?

Deleting my Upswipz account.

And all social media accounts.

Yvette, you can't do that.

I have had it with putting myself out there.

Making myself an easy target. I'm done.

He was just one bad person.

You can tell yourself that, Nia, like I did, but I should have known better.

I'm a trans woman of color.

Okay, I know what we're up against.

I wanted Angus so badly to be real.

For someone to care about me, to get me, to adore me.

It never got to be true. It will be.

You will find that kind of love, Yvette, but not if you shut down.

They want us to be invisible...

because of their own fears.

They want to erase us so we need to shine even brighter.

You are a beautiful woman.

Big beautiful life, and sharing that life is what will change this world.

The bigot you arrested, Gregory Bauer, belongs to an online hate group specifically targeting the trans community.

I took the liberty of identifying its users.

The group boasts about future att*cks and takes credit for others.

I believe you will find some leads to your cold cases in there.

I... I don't know what to say.

The DEO takes threats against our sister superheroes very seriously.

Ready for another round?

Come on!

I can make you do anything in the virtual world!

But that wasn't your real w*apon, Alex.

You have to give it time to bond to you.

Let's do this again tomorrow.

J'onn, really?

Mom, hey.

What's wrong?

Alex?

What is it?

Mom just called me.

They found Dad.

Jeremiah?

He's dead.

There you go, Mr. Bates, you just rest easy.

I've got you now.