At the house, Kirsten goes to Camille's bedroom and confirms that she's alone. Camille apologizes for snapping at Kirsten the day before, and Kirsten says that Cameron betrayed her to Maggie. She says that she didn't tell Camille to protect her, and Maggie had her mother moved. Camille tells Kirsten to put the screws to Maggie to find out where her mother was moved, and Kirsten asks where Amanda is. Depressed, Camille covers herself over with the blanket.
At Cameron's apartment, Linus and Cameron are playing video games and Cameron tells him what happened. Linus tells him to apologize and do nice things, and Cameron asks how Linus is doing with Ivy. His friend admits that he doesn't know what is going on with her.
An engineer lies dead in a simulation of Mars.
Kirsten goes to Maggie's office and demands to know where Jacqueline is. Maggie tells her that the less she knows, the better, and their mission stays the same. Cameron comes in Kirsten doesn't want to hear it and walks out, and Maggie tells Cameron that he did the right thing.
The team meets to brief on their new stitch, Jake Rowland. He's an engineer at the Aero Velocity Research Institute and was found shot dead in the Mars simulation chamber. Linus notes that they have high security because they're trying to send people to Mars, and gets a text from Ivy asking if they can talk. Meanwhile, Maggie reports that the security cameras around the chamber were shut down when Jake was shot so they don’t have much to go on. Cameron tries to compliment Kirsten without success, and she walks out.
In the lab, Camille tells Linus that she's having girl problems and he admits that he is as well. She snaps at him and then apologizes, and Linus tells her that Ivy wants to talk to him later. They begin the stitch and Kirsten sees Jake talking to another man about how he messed up something the other man messed up. She then gets a memory of people cheering in some kind of sports center, and can't tell where she is. Kirsten spots an auto parts sign. A woman tells Jake that she used to love him, and Kirsten goes to a memory of Jake examining a black eye in the mirror. She then sees Jake playing a game at AVR, and someone shoots him when he's leaving work. Jake staggers into the chamber and crawls toward a desk. The bullet hit Jake's cell phone, and when he can't get to the phone desk he writes something in the sand. The death moment and comes and Kirsten bounces.
Back in the conference room, Camille checks the crime scene photos but discovers that Jake's blood wiped out the sand. Maggie tells Kirsten to go to AVR with Cameron, but Kirsten insists on going with Quincy. Afterward, Cameron tells Maggie that Kirsten won't get over it until she knows where Jacqueline is, but Maggie insists that she won't put any of them I danger.
Linus goes to Ivy's apartment, and she says that now that she's with him, she can't break up with him. She tells Linus that he's awesome and does see them happening, and kisses him.
As they go to AVR, Quincy asks how long she and Cameron not talking going to be a thing. Kirsten tells him to stay out of it. Mark Fleming greets them and says that before Jake died, he took their Mars communication satellite off-line. If they can't get the control system back online then they can't control it. If it collides with something, it will crash down to earth. The government wants them to trigger the self-destruct in 48 hours, so they have that long.
Kirsten and Quincy go to the chamber and Mark explains that Jake was their project gremlin. His job was to screw with the simulator so the others would know how to deal with the unexpected. Jake came in after hours and worked out problems for their "fixer" to solve. If he couldn't solve them, Jake told the fixer Kenny Lee what he did and they'd work together to fix it. Jake and Kenny had a rivalry going, and they can't figure out what Jake did to the satellite control system.
Mark introduces the agents to Kenny, who says that he and Jake were a team. He admits that he isn't getting the satellite back online, and says that Jake was into his games. Kenny snaps at them, saying that he doesn't know much about Jake's personal life. Kirsten explains that their engineer will be glad to help, but Kenny says that he doesn't want to be distracted. Mark overrides him and tells them to send their engineer by.
Back at the lab, Quincy and Kirsten tell Linus that he's going in to help Kenny. Cameron knows about competitive video gaming because he's won contests, and Camille says that the logo belongs to an abandoned automotive warehouse. Cameron offers to go there with Kirsten, while Camille insists on going to AVR with Linus.
At AVR, Mark introduces Linus and Camille to Kenny. Kenny refuses to shake hands, and Linus confirms his knowledge of the satellites. Camille admits that she doesn't know about the subject, and Mark tells Kenny to work with them.
Maggie calls Quincy in and shows him photos of Ivy meeting with Daniel. She admits that she had Ivy under surveillance and kept it off the NSA radar. Maggie figures that they have an opportunity.
At AVR, Camille runs the system diagnostics for Linus. He goes outside and when Camille comes out, he says that he and Ivy are going to dinner. Camille admits that she put Ivy on notice when they had their double date, and insists that she's trying to protect all of them. Linus tells her to stay out of his relationship, and then apologizes. Camille says that they need Amanda and walks off.
Cameron and Kirsten go to the game center where a crowd has gathered to watch two players compete. Kirsten spots Zelda I the ring, and recognizes another man that she saw in the stitch. She walks around to check things out and finds a computer in an office. Kirsten accesses it and downloads the financial files, and then goes back to Cameron. She explains that the business is generating tens of thousands of dollars a night, and Jake was winning most of his matches against Zelda. Kirsten suggests that Zelda might have killed Jake over their rivalry, and explains that there's no Internet access to preserve the integrity of the game. Cameron says that he's going to stick around to learn what he can. When he tells Kirsten that she can't stay mad at him forever, he she warns him that she can.
Zelda wins the game and she sits down next to Cameron. She introduces herself and she says that the game, War Zone, isn't available to the public. They don't know who developed it, and Zelda points out the MC, Rick. She explains that Rick DelToro put together the whole underground gaming arena, and people bet on the outcomes. Rick announces that it's open competition time, and anyone who lasts two minutes against DK wins $1,000. Zelda goes up and tells Rick to call Cameron in, and Rick does so. They play and Cameron wins. DK accuses Cameron of cheating and punches. Cameron punches him back and just hurts his hand, and everyone leaps into the ring to tackle both players.
Afterward, Zelda sits with Cameron and admits that people take War Zone seriously. Cameron asks if Zelda knew Jake, and she says that she didn't like him much but they played each other. Rick comes over and asks if he'd be interested in coming back. Cameron agrees and once he leaves, Rick tells Zelda to find out what she can about Cameron.
At home, Ivy packs dinner and calls Linus to say that she's on her way. As she leaves, Quincy brings her in to the interrogation room. Maggie joins them and asks how long she been in contact with Daniel. Ivy denies it until Maggie shows her the photos. The girl says that Daniel came to him and she refused to help him. Maggie doesn't believe her, and Quincy tells her that what happens next is up to her.
Linus is checking the hardware when Camille and Amanda come in. Camille shows her the photo of the crime scene, and Amanda tells Camille that she needs space.
Cameron arrives at the lab the next morning, and Maggie notices the bruises Cameron got from the fight. He explains where he was, and Kirsten comes in. Cameron says that he's going back there to find out more, and asks if Kirsten is concerned about him. She tells him that he's no good to her dead and they begin the second stitch. Kirsten sees the argument between Jake and Zelda, and Zelda says that Jake is cheating because no one is that good. Back at AVR, Jake has a copy of the game up. As Jake examines the coding, Kirsten sees Jake meet with Rick and pocket a lot of money. She then sees Jake putting up a satellite dish on a rooftop, and then him telling Kenny to trust him. Kenny asks what Jake did to the rover or Mark is going to fire him, and Jake insists that Mark isn't going to fire him. He tells Kenny that it's just a game and he shouldn't overthink it, and they kiss. Kirsten makes the bounce and tells the others what she saw. AVR has a strict dating policy and they would have been fired if the company knew. Camille says that Amanda is working on who killed Jake.
Later, the team goes to AVR and Amanda runs a simulation reversing the shifting sand and recreating Jake's message. He drew a pattern, and Cameron and Kirsten argue about whether Zelda killed Jake. Cameron goes back to the warehouse, and Kirsten goes after him and she admits that she doesn't know how to stop being mad at him. She tells Cameron not to do anything stupid while she's figuring it out. Kenny comes in and asks Kirsten what her skill are, and Cameron says that death is her superpower.
Camille asks Amanda if she can call her later, and Amanda tells her that it's not a good idea. She refuses to discuss what happened between them and leaves. Kenny figures that it's all over, and Kirsten realizes that Jake was working at another workstation there. They have Kenny take them to it, and Camille tells him that it never gets any easier with relationships. Camille figures that they always lose the people they love, but Kenny says that it's worth it. Kirsten brings up Jake's computer and finds War Zone. Camille finds 41 iterations of the game, meaning that Jake created it. Linus discovers that Jake made an encrypted addition to the end of the game, and figures out how Jake altered the computers at the warehouse. They go back to the simulation and Linus explains that the satellite dish is aimed at the warehouse. He gremlined the warehouse, not AVR, and they have two hours until self-destruct. Kirsten figures that owe it to Jake to figure out why he did it.
At the warehouse, Cameron tells Zelda that he's ready to take her on. She secretly takes his ID and goes to Rick, Zelda confirms that Cameron is NSA and asks Rick what he did. Rick dismisses it as nothing, and tells Zelda not to worry about anything. Once she leaves, Rick takes a gun out of his safe.
Kirsten and the others arrive at the warehouse and tell Cameron that Jake encoded a message and hid it at the end of the game. To read it, Cameron will have to win the game in the next 45 minutes before they have to reposition the satellite. Cameron and Zelda enter the ring, and Zelda whispers to Cameron that Rick knows that he's NSA and advises him to get out. Despite that, Cameron refuses to go until he wins the match. The game begins and Cameron falls behind. They only have a couple of minutes left until the satellite is repositioned.
Cameron tells Zelda that Jake needs her help. He explains about the message and how it will lead to his killer, and Cameron figures that she wants to see how it ends. Zelda points out that the game is designed so that the computer will take over if one player goes over, and Cameron says that they have to beat the computer together. The game begins and Zelda surrenders. The computer takes over and Cameron plays against it. When Cameron starts losing, Zelda helps him while Linus and Quincy hold back the rioting crowd.
With Zelda's help, they win and a pattern comes up. Kirsten recognizes that it's a passcode, and they enter the pattern on it that Jake drew. A video of Jake comes up saying that he created War Zones, and Rick threatened everything that he cared about. He explains about Rick rigging the odds, and says that his secret is out... and so is Rick's.
Rick draws his gun, but D.K. knocks him out and Cameron congratulates him. Quincy arrests Rick and takes him away, and Zelda tells Cameron that Jake would have liked him. She kisses Cameron on the cheek and walks away, and Cameron goes to Kirsten, who admits that he was right about Zelda. He apologizes for betraying Kirsten's trust, but admits that he doesn't know how to fix them. Kirsten doesn't know either.
Later, Kirsten is drinking alone when Ivy comes in and says that she needs a friend. Kirsten says that she does as well and they sit together.
Written by Gadfly on Jul 18, 2017