It is then revealed that the mission is only a dream
constructed by D’avin as he is being experimented on in Red 17. The scientists
notice his dreams as he begins to hum. They then inject him with more chemicals
causing him to holler in pain.
Across space, Dutch shoots up from her bed as if hearing his
cry. John then enters to tell her to prepare to rescue D’avin. He explains that
they have found the location of Red 17 on Arkyn. The two, along with a tagalong
Pree, circle the world on Lucy as John sends off a probe to locate D’avin’s
location. However, the probe explodes upon entering the world’s atmosphere.
John discovers that the atmosphere is coated with a radioactive defense layer,
something their machines can’t survive. John suggests assessing what to do
next, but Dutch reminds him that D’avin has been taken for five days now. They
cannot afford to wait any longer. Dutch then takes control of Lucy and flies
directly into the layer, believing at some point to break through the
radiation. The defense keeps penetrating the system, nearly tearing the ship
apart until Lucy overrides the manual controls. The ship flies away from Arkyn.
John confronts Dutch about her rash move. Dutch reminds him
that every angle they have chased has led to Arkyn, but John replies that she
nearly risked their lives to rescue D’avin. They cannot rescue him if they
themselves are dead. Dutch solemnly agrees but remarks that someone had to have
escaped from Arkyn before them. John believes he has an idea.
Dutch: You look thinky.
The group travels to Leith Bazaar where they speak with
Bellus who provides them with information about the Conorver gang. Led by Abel
Conorver and her brothers, they have excelled in technological piracy by
stealing materials and making a quick escape, likely landing on Arkyn with a
device to allow them to pass the barrier. Dutch presses Bellus with information
on the device, leading Bellus to reveal she placed a live-or-dead warrant for
the person carrying the technology. However, when she sent an agent out to
retrieve it, he never returned. She then reveals that the location of the
device is at a place called Eulogy, a renowned casino where the main
requirements are to be a criminal carrying stolen goods. Although it could be
dangerous to partake in criminal bargaining for what they want, Bellus sees
that they have an expert for their help: Pree.
John, Dutch, and Pree travel to the White Sands of Westerly
where they find Eulogy, the criminal casino. Pree explains the policy around
the place, though John is more curious as to what Pree has done to earn a place
among criminals. John and Pree walk in under aliases with a trunk full of
supposedly stolen weapons valued at 15,000 joy. Though the guard is wary of
John, Pree assures them that he can vouch for his sake. Unbeknownst to the
guards, however, Dutch has hidden herself within the trunk to search for the
device herself.
Back at Red 17, D’avin dreams of being in vacant, cavernous
area on Arkyn. He calls out for help from Dutch or John, but no one comes. He
then walks around and finds a man on the ground pleading to be spared. D’avin
approaches the man, but the pleading figure is then taken by two other men
seemingly from nowhere. He leaves behind a green ooze.
At Eulogy, John and Pree continue to gamble as Dutch sneaks
around the building. Using a device implanted in her lenses by John, Dutch is
able to locate the device through the various clutter. According to John, the
device could help them by absorbing the radiation of the barrier, allowing her
to look for a red signal. Unfortunately for her, the device is behind a locked
door. In order to break into the place’s system, John fakes an argument between
himself and Pree by calling his mother a bitch. This insult halts the entire
room, allowing John to sneak a chip into the machine to let Lucy operate a system
takeover. While the place experiences electrical problems, Dutch sneaks through
the locked door to find the device. There she finds something else blocking the
device: a woman chained to the wall holding a gun.
In D’avin’s dream, he follows the figures taking the man to
a crowd of Scarbacks in chaos. Everywhere, the people keep fighting until
D’avin spots Khlyen in the fight. Khlyen is surprised to see that D’avin has
made it that far, telling him he isn’t supposed to see this. The scarbacks
start bleeding the green substance. Suddenly, D’avin wakes and sits up in the
lab, forcing the green substance away from his body. The men react in shock.
This has never happened. D’avin demands to know what they are doing to him.
Dutch approaches the woman, trying to explain that she only
came for the shield to sneak into Arkyn. Dutch then recognizes that the woman’s
gun likely doesn’t have bullets if she is still chained to a wall. The woman
explains that the Conorvers implanted the device inside of her to ensure that
it would be protected. The electrical system begins to falter as the guards
detect Lucy in the system. John and Pree are forced to move through the system
old-school to find Dutch and escape through the elevator. Dutch promises the
woman that she will get her to Arkyn if she tries to help. The woman agrees, as
long as she brings Alice, her good arm. The two are ambushed by guards until
the woman pulls out Alice, her gun-loaded arm to fight off the men to the
elevator. John and Pree arrive for backup just as the woman makes a finishing
blow. However, she is shot down by a retreating soldier. John and Dutch take
her still-breathing body to the elevator where Pree has another idea of escape.
He takes the group to the top of the casino where Lucy is waiting for their
escape.
Pree: All locked and cocked. Let's give these bitches some stitches. What? I rhyme when I'm nervous.
At Red 17, Khlyen and the scientists discuss what happened
with D’avin. Not only did he seem to resist the substance, his body appeared
immune to it altogether. Now that he is free, D’avin fights back against his
guards and the men, including Khlyen. He manages to stab Khlyen who is shocked
that the wound isn’t healing. At a turn of events, however, Khlyen shoots the
men around them to corner D’avin himself. D’avin asks what happened to him, but
Khlyen offers him a chance to escape with him. If not, D’avin will surely be
killed.
On Lucy, John examines the woman’s technology which shocks
her awake. He fills her in on their escape but admits he had to examine her
modifications, revealing the woman to be a HackMod or a modified human wanted
by immigration. He assures her that, as Killjoys, they don’t care about her
history. That’s when Dutch arrives to ask her name. The woman, named Clara,
explains that she was kidnapped by the Conorver gang and sent to the Factory
where they modify humans past the legal limit. Once they discovered the shield
was wanted, they placed it inside her and took her arm to force her to defend
it. If she were to fight back, the gang electrocutes her into submission.
Nevertheless, Clara is not one to give up a fight. She agrees to use the shield
to take Lucy to Arkyn as part of her deal, but John maintains that she should
get some rest. Dutch reminds him that Khlyen could be killing D’avin at this
moment.
As D’avin and Khylen sneak through the lab, Khlyen reveals
his motives. He had planned to modify D’avin to be Level 6 when he would be
sent back to Dutch. D’avin would have been stronger but loyal to Khlyen.
However, Khlyen also maintains that it was for her protection as something
worse is likely to come after the group. Without all the answers, D’avin is
forced to follow him.
John then explains to Dutch that if they were to use the
shield it would likely pose deadly threat to Clara after seeing her tech. Dutch
asks him to take it out of her, but John admits that the Conorvers rigged her
technology to explode should anyone try to tamper with Clara. However, the only
alternative is to leave D’avin at the mercy of Khlyen. The last time the two
had this situation, Dutch’s husband was murdered. Clara overhears the
conversation and asks about Khlyen. Dutch admits that Khlyen trained her to be
an assassin before she escaped with John, and now he has returned taking John’s
brother hostage. Clara understands Dutch’s motives, seeing Khlyen as Dutch’s
Conorvers, and offers to take them to Arkyn now. John protests on the damage it
could do, but Clara insists on helping. She reveals that her own family of
brothers neglected to save her, so she must help the people who did. In
exchange, Dutch offers to help burn down the Factory anytime she needs.
Clarac takes control of Lucy and attaches her shield to the
mainframe. The ship then flies to Arkyn where Clara takes the full force of the
radiation. Once they hit the planet, Lucy easily tracks D’avin’s comms link for
them to search. Clara, winded but otherwise fine, warns them that the people
there are sure to find them after they’ve landed. Dutch and John prepare to
leave as Pree and Lucy tend to Clara.
At Red 17, Khlyen works in the system using the green
substance to erase traces of D’avin from their records. Then, D’avin notices
the symbol on the ground from his dreams. Khlyen informs him that those were
not dreams but old memories. A guard arrives and shoots at Khlyen, but D’avin
fights them off. Before his eyes, Khlyen’s wound heals almost instantly since
he is Level 6. Quickly, Khlyen informs him that the Black Root is arriving,
which means D’avin must escape. He asks D’avin if he is prepared to die for
Dutch. D’avin states that he would die for both Dutch and John if necessary.
Khlyne then pushes him out the building and informs him that Dutch is on the
planet looking for him. He must get her off Arkyn. D’avin warns that Dutch
would never leave if she learned Khlyen was on Arkyn. Because of that, Khlyen
advises him to lie.
Dutch and John sneak into Red 17 where they find Fancy
captured. John releases him who warns them to evacuate D’avin. Lucy sends John
D’avin’s coordinates as the three leave the building. Meanwhile, members of the
Black Root seem to subdue and take Khlyen.
Outside on Arkyn, the three find a wounded D’avin and joyfully
reunite. Dutch informs them to return to Lucy while she searches for Khlyen. D’avin,
however, tells her that Khlyen had escaped where he barely survived himself.
The best they can do now is leave. Dutch then takes D’avin as the group returns
to Lucy. Before they take off, though, D’avin shoots at Fancy to the shock of
the team. D’avin explains as Fancy stands back up that Fancy was turned into
Level 6. They have lost him. The group shoots Fancy off of Lucy as they escape
Arkyn.
As a test, John and Dutch stab D’avin to prove that he has
not been turned with a bloody hand. D’avin advises them to return to Old Town
to check for sure, but John informs him the truth. Old Town had been bombed by
the Company and now contains a fence around the borders with no one getting in
or out of the city. Despite this destruction, Dutch tells D’avin that their
next plan is to enter into Old Town to find Pawter and Alvis to escape, if they
survived.
Lucy lands on Leith where Clara begins collecting her things
as well as John’s tools. John tells her that she can stay, but Clara informs
him that as a HackMod she would put the team in danger from being hunted in the
Quad. John believes that if they can get her to Pawter in Old Town they could
fix her modifications, but Clara refuses. Although she hates the Conovers for
what they did, the modifications are a part of her now. Moreover, she
understands that the team has a warrant on her. However, John informs her that
the warrant was for the person or persons carrying the device. Clara, being
more than 26% modified, does not qualify as a person under the Quad’s rules.
With Dutch’s help, they plan to smuggle her out on Leith. Clara then says a
warmer goodbye to John and tells Lucy to keep her number.
Lucy: I like that one John. Couldn't we keep her?
John: That's not how it works Lucy. Not even a little how it works.
Dutch sits alone on the ship when John gives her a drink. D’avin
admits that he had lied about Khlyen’s escape, but Dutch admits that she knew.
She only left because John and D’avin needed her more. Since D’avin was
captured, she realizes that she needs to keep the team safe more than exact her
revenge. D’avin then admits that he doesn’t believe that Khlyen is their real
enemy. Perhaps, he believes, there is another level above him on the RAC.
As they discuss this, the Black Root take Khlyen’s body
before they are murdered by Fancy. Fancy then keeps watch over the case.
D’avin admits that he believes that Khlyen is likely
protecting Dutch from their real enemy whoever that may be. Dutch fires back
that whatever the Rack have planned, Khlyen is still a part of it, meaning they
can’t trust him. D’avin, however, adds that in his memory he saw another figure
among the Scarbacks: Dutch.
Level 6 Notes
- The episode title is a reference to the movie Lars and the Real Girl.
- Apparently, Pree has a history beyond the bar that has quite a few skeletons in his closets.
- We have our first look at Abel Conover, leader of the Conorver gang. Perhaps this might not be the last time we hear of her.
- One thing you can never do in the Quad, even among criminals, is insult someone's mother.
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