Three years ago, Leighton Vance arrives at the company in Dark Matter Season 2 episode 2. He sees Jason 02 and Amanda on the second floor. He asks them to come down. They come down. Leighton thinks Jason 02 did it. But Jason 02 says they did it. The two have a hug. Jason 02 tells Leighton that no jinxing. Let’s just get her online first. He notices the champagne he’s carrying. Leighton explains that it’s just regular afternoon champagne.
Jason 02 mentions Leighton said in Monte Carlo. But Leighton doesn’t want to take about it. He looks his engineer Blair. Blair shows up. He asks her is this thing gonna work? She says she doesn’t know. She did her job. He asks her to light it up.
She walks to her computer. She lights up the box. All levels in the green. Adaptive shielding is fully engaged. Leighton opens the champagne. Blair gives Jason 02 a hug. Amanda kisses Jason 02. Leighton stands in front of the box. He tells his employees that he’s so proud of each and every single one of them. They’re standing on the precipice of greatness. Take it in. He believes that this moment will be marked as the day that mankind stepped beyond their finite understanding of reality and into the infinite.
Through this door are worlds. Worlds that have cured diseases that still ravage ours. Through these doors are worlds that have reversed climate change, saved species from extinction, crushed poverty. Through these doors are worlds that have ended war. They will visit these worlds. They will find the best technology, the brightest ideas and they’ll bring them home. To building a perfect world.
They people have a dance party. Blair asks Amanda why doesn’t she go to dance? Amanda mentions Jason told her that Blair wants to be the first one to test the Box. Blair admits it. She says the first human being in superposition? Sign her all the way up. That’s some Neil-Armstrong-level thing right there. Amanda says there’s so much they don’t know about how it all works. They should keep the pedal down on Blair’s training, extra mental conditioning. Just to be safe. Blair agrees. But she wants to dance with Amanda tonight.
At present in the box. Daniela, Jason 01 and Charlie are looking for a place together. But Daniela worries that Jason 02 wasn’t dead.
Leighton is meditating in his house. Sandra wakes him up. She says he’s here. Leighton meets Ryan. Another Leighton shows up. Ryan mistakes them for twins. Leighton 02 shakes hands with Ryan. He tells him that they’re not brothers. He says people call him Oluko. Ryan learns that they’re both Leighton Vance. He stands up and he raises his hands. He spins around. Oluko laughs. He guesses it’s a lucid dreaming technique. If he spins around in his dream, it engages the senses. He’s not dreaming or tripping.
Leighton asks Ryan to have a seat. Ryan asks Leighton is this how his planet makes first contact? Leighton says they’re not aliens or hallucinations or spirits. Oluko says glitches in the simulation? He laughs. Ryan asks the two what’s happening. Leighton says it’s not a trick. His parents were killed when he was young. Oluko remembers his parents are still alive. Leighton went to Chicago, studied chemistry, physics, computer science.
Oluko says he went on a journey to access the deeper levels of consciousness. Leighton says after school, he built a box capable of putting a human being into superposition. Oluko tells Ryan that he and Leighton are the same person. Different choices. Different lives. Ryan asks Oluko is he talking about multidimensional travel? Leighton says they don’t call it that. Too comic book. They travel the breadth of all possible realities.
Ryan asks Leighton why is he here? Leighton takes out something from his pocket. He throws it to Ryan. He tells him that he needs a chemist. He hears he’s the best.
In the park, Ryan and Amanda approach the box. He tells her that he gotta get inside before they move it again. She thinks there’re no guarantees he’ll find his world. He says if Jason 02 moved back and forth between specific worlds, she knows it can be done. He just needs to make sure his Lilac Wings works. She wishes he wouldn’t do this. But if he has to, she’ll help him get ready for what’s in there.
Ryan and Amanda arrive at the house. Amanda mistakes the house for Ryan’s sister’s house. He says this is just where he has been working on his Lavender Wings. They get in the house. She sees the marigolds and the gladiolus. She knows it’s Leighton’s favorite. The coffee machine. It’s vintage Belle Epoque. It was a gift from Chuck Yeager to Leighton’s grandfather.
Leighton shows up. Amanda grabs a knife from the table. She points it at him. Ryan introduces the Leighton Vance of this world to Amanda. Leighton has been helping him, and he’s sure he’s not the one that tried to kill her. Leighton is surprised that he tried to kill Amanda.
Leighton apologizes to Amanda. He tells her that another Leighton wants to say sorry as well. Dinner is ready. Ryan hopes they both love fondue. But in other news, they got the results back. The drug they made is a 99.87 percent match to the ampoule. Ryan tries to leave. But Leighton stops Ryan. He says now that the Box is back, they want to move it and study it. Ryan doesn’t have much time. Also, he had a visitor. Before they moved the Box. Another Leighton. He guesses the Leighton wants to kill Amanda. He wanted him to join some doctors-without-multiverse-borders kind of thing. He’s building a technology trading network across realities. He says he wants to build a perfect world. Amanda says sounds like someone she knows.
Ryan asks Leighton what did he say? Leighton claims that he’s ambitious, as ambitious as the next Leighton, but changing the course of an entire world is some god-level thing. He’s not messing around with that. He reveals the Leighton is doing it with other versions of himself.
Ryan and Amanda leave the house. She thinks the differences in his drug could actually be an improvement. It might help suppress some of the reactiveness of their subconscious emotional states. He asks her if that gonna make world-targeting a little easier? She thinks maybe. They have two options. They can keep working on his version until they achieve a 100 percent match, or they can. He asks her what’s the faster option?
Jason 01, Daniela and Charlie walk out of the box. They go to a library. Jason 01 tells the lady that they’re looking for the computers. But she says they don’t have computers here. Charlie asks his father did they go back in time? Jason 01 denies it. He says the Box doesn’t work that way.
Jason 01 looks up the phone book, and there’s no Dessens listed. He thinks he knows why this world is so technologically behind. Daniela figures they never went to the moon. He tells her that JFK lost to Nixon, and then Nixon defunded NASA. Charlie wonders why would that affect technology? Jason 01 says the development of the microchip and the microprocessor were all a direct result of the race to space. Without that competition, then scientists, they never would have worked together or got the funding and the drive to push the tech that far that fast.
Charlie asks his father how do people live without computers? Daniela says without the internet, computer isn’t a huge win. Jason 01 tells his son that he may have just brought them to the perfect world.
Daniela pawns her bracelet at the store. The old woman tells Daniela that 500 dollars. Four weeks at 20 percent. Jason 01 tells his wife that that barely gets them a few nights at the hotel. He wants to pawn the gun. She goes against it. She says they might need it. He takes off his ring. He says he still has his hair tie. She takes off her ring as well. He gives her a kiss. He gives the rings to the old lady. He asks her to help them. They’re really in a bind. She tells him that she can do 1500 dollars.
Daniela asks the old lady can they make it 12 weeks? The old lady says she can do ten. That’ll cost Daniela 25 percent.
In the room at the hotel, Jason 01 and Daniela are looking for jobs. Charlie wants to go to school after his parents have jobs. But Daniela wants her son to study at home. He’s not happy with it. Jason 01 tells Charlie that they won’t make him stay home. His mother’s saying they should be cautious, which he agrees with. They’re strangers in a strange land. Jason goes to the pool to study how to ruin the box.
At the school, Daniela visits the teacher. She tells her that they don’t want their son to fall behind. He’s 17. The teacher asks Daniela would her son be joining them as a senior? Daniela says yes. The teacher wants to start with Daniela’s address, make sure she’s within their zone. Daniela says 25 North Milwaukee. The teacher asks Daniela does she have a phone number for emergency contact? Daniela says no. The teacher thinks it’s not a problem. She asks Daniela for her son’s birth certificate, his immunization records, proof of residency, and this transcripts. Daniela says that’s a little tricky. Part of the reason why they relocated is they had a house fire. They lost everything, including their papers. They’re working on getting new papers. The teacher tells Daniela that she reminds her of someone. A lovely woman named Daniela Dessen. Very involved in the PTA. She could be her twin.
Daniela returns to the room at the hotel. She asks Charlie how was his day? He thinks she’s looking at it. He lies on the couch, and he reads something. She asks Jason 01 not to mess with the safe word. It freaks her out. He apologizes to her. She doesn’t want to let her son hear it. She offers to talk in the hall.
In the hall, Daniela tells Jason 01 that Charlie could start the school right away. But the registrar recognized her. Charlie of this world went to that school. He’s surprised that the Dessens are in Chicago. She says they were. Apparently, they moved to California three years ago. Which is good news, but Charlie cannot go to that school. Wherever he does go, they have to provide papers within 30 days. So, they need a plan.
Charlie needs to get back in school. He cannot start if they’re going to take him back out again. Daniela thinks they should do some research on the Dessens. No more surprises. Jason 01 agrees. She thinks they would be a lot easier if they weren’t in Chicago. He agrees to move to another city, but they need to get rid of the Box first. She tells him a good news that she got a little gig today. She spoke to the hotel manager, if she cleans three rooms a day, their room is free, and if she cleans more, she gets cash.
Jason 01 visits Agent Mitchel MacNamara. He asks him to look into Jason, Daniela, and Charlie Dessen. Mitchel learns that it’s Jason and his family. Jason 01 explains it to Mitchel that he wants to know what anyone who looked into them might know them and find. He asks Mitchel is that weird? Mitchel says he deals in weird. He asks Jason 01 what might those people be looking for? Jason 01 says last known address, employment records, education, criminal records.
Mitchel asks Jason 01 who’s after them? Jason 01 says he just wants to know if anyone is looking into them, what they might find, and if there’s any way that it could connect them back to Chicago. Mitchel asks Jason 01 is it a loan shark? Jason 01 doesn’t strike him as the jealous-lover type. Jason 01 says he hasn’t done anything wrong. Mitchel tells Jason 01 that it helps if he knows who’s looking for him. He can guarantee total confidentiality. His wife won’t know it. Jason 01 tells Mitchel that they’re just looking for a new start.
In the lab, Ryan tells Amanda that he will leave in the morning. She reminds him that they’re not done training. He reveals Leighton says the city’s putting more security around the Box, so he thinks they should get on with it. He shows her the video that Jason 02 walks out of the box. She learns that the guy never made it home. Ryan says he’s not pretending he’s some kind of saint. He just wants to go home and have his life, but this kills him. He sees her hurting. And how every day that she comes in and helps him, she just loses a little bit more of her own peace, and he cannot let her do this anymore. He cannot. He has opened up all her old wounds. The least he can do is get on with it. Maybe he can pay back her help with a little bit of justice along the way. He’s going to try his hardest to get home and kick Jason 02. For Jason and Daniela and Charlie. And for them.
Amanda sleeps in her bedroom. She has a nightmare. She apologizes to Blair that she didn’t prepare her better. But Blair tells Amanda that it’s because of her she has survived this long.
In the park, Amanda finds Ryan. She says good morning to him. She tells him that she’s coming with him. He thought the Box was the last place she wanted to go. She says she may not have stranded him here, but her work made it possible. She needs to make some things right. Starting with them. At least this time she knows what she’s getting into. She takes out a card. She tells him that it will help her know she’s back. He asks her the “make things right,” that’s about Jason 02? She says it’s about a lot of things. He thinks one of those things has to be her desire to give Jason 02 a kick.
Amanda and Ryan get in the Box. Ryan gives his arm a shot. He’s nervous. Amanda calms him down. She opens the first door for him. They see a zoo. He asks her if it’s what she wants. She denies it. She closes the door. She says she was thinking about a safe, beautiful Chicago. She asks him what was he thinking about? He says he was thinking just about all the things she said. He’s glad that she’s here. He’s pretty sure he left his shades at Leighton’s. She laughs. She says there they have it. All of that somehow equals zoo.
He says it also equals Lilac Wings works. She asks him to choose the next door. Focus on a memory of his home world or a person. Something positive.
Mitchel arrives at his office. Jason 01 is waiting for him. Mitchel gives the papers to Jason 01. Jason 01 pays Mitchel some cash. He leaves his office. Mitchel takes out the photos from his drawer. He puts the photos on the desk one by one. Jason is in the photos.
Daniela returns to the room at the hotel. She tells Jason 01 that she only did three rooms. He says at least this room is free tonight. He shows her the dinner. He tells her that he got takeout from the diner that she likes down the street. She asks him where’s Charlie? Jason 01 gave Charlie 20 bucks and told him not to be home before 10:00.
Jason 01 drinks with Daniela. He’s very happy. He asks her how is she with everything? She says she’s fine. She asks him how are thing at the Box? He says really good. He has been out to the pool maybe a few times. He’s just trying to puzzle out how to get it done. She asks him how long does he think it might take? He guesses waiting until they have all the stuff. Jobs and papers and Charlie’s school. Hopefully a new home. She thinks they’re basically there now. He agrees with what she said. Back on track to having a normal life.
He asks her to close her eyes. He puts a ring on her. He kisses her on the floor. She tries to sleep with him. But she stops. She thought Charlie would be back. They just haven’t been able to be together. He lies on the floor with her. He tells her that they can be together. But he worries that they cannot be them.
Ryan and Amanda walk out of the Box. He thinks it’s not his world. He asks her why does the drug wearing off only bother him? She seems fine. He just cannot do this. She says she’s starving. She offers to go to get some food, get some rest. They’ll come back with more positive vibes. He asks her what is she saying about his vibes currently? They’re not positive? She’s saying he’s grumpy.
SEE ALSO: Dark Matter Season 2 Episode 1 Recap
Amanda takes Ryan to the hotel. He asks her why does she always stay here? She loves the place? She says it’s great. In every world, they always take cash and never ask questions. He says nice, like an inter-dimensional hostel. They get in the hotel. He tells her that he has never drank an Angry Grandma before. That was delicious. Tasted like Pop Rocks. He doesn’t know if they have them in her world. They enter their rooms. Jason 01 walks out of his room. He doesn’t see Amanda and Ryan.
Amanda and Ryan go to the pool. He asks her did she notice no one had phones? One guy was listening to what looked like a Walkman. He likes the vibe. They get in the Box. Amanda closes the door. Mitchel shows up. He opens the door of the box. He enters the box.