"Nothing. Nothing! A dead end! Dang it, not again!" Carolina angrily punches the ship, making Epsilon appear.

"Hey, watch it! I'm still in here!" 

Zone returns to Carolina who was kneeled next to the Pelican. 

[Response teams beat us to the crash, plain and simple. We knew the chances of finding something here were slim.] 

"Okay, well, what about the bases?" She inquires. 

[Blue Base was swept clean. As for Red base, any evidence that might have been there was completely destroyed during the construction of some kind of the giant, holographic projection room my father installed.] 

"Man...those guys are really starting to find creative ways to ruin my life...bunch of morons." Church exasperates. 

"This is our third wild goose chase, Wash! Even after she's gone, Texas is still finding ways to screw me over!" Carolina growls. 

[You can't seriously be blaming her for this! Time isn't on our side, Carolina. Any trails she left behind likely went cold years ago.] 

"Are you suggesting we give up?" 

[No, but what I'm saying is-] 

"Good." Carolina interjects. "Then go spread the word; we're leaving." 

[But...we just got here.] 

"What's your point?" 

[Well, don't you think we're pushing these guys a little to hard? This place is pretty much home to them. To me also. They may not be ready to leave it so soon.] 

"Yeah, I'm real choked up about it." Epsilon scoffs. Carolina walks up close to Zone until their helmets almost touch. 

"Despite what those idiots may think, this is not a road trip; this is a mission. And I will see it completed. Is that understood, Agent Arizona?" 

Zone and Carolina stare at each other before Zone replies, [Understood, loud and clear.] Zone mutters under his breath before walking away. 

"Man, what happened to that guy? Didn't he use to be awesome like you and Tex?" Church asks. Carolina walks up violently removes Epsilon from the Pelican.

"Ow! I meant awesome uh...just like you! Just like...just you...only you. Nobody else!" 

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Sarge and Simmons walk up to some kind of shack where Lopez's body, minus his head, is being used as a scarecrow. Perched behind some kind of garden next to the shack. 

"There he is! Spanish Inquisition! Someone's been torturing him!" Sarge declares. 

"Huh....I don't think so sir. He kinda looks like a scarecrow." Simmons ascertains. 

"Savages! And they've erected this fence as a warning for civilized people to stay away!" 

"It actually looks like a garden. Wait a minute, is that compost? Sustainable farming? Environmentally friendly housing? Oh no..." 

"What?" Sarge asks. A figure in pink armor exits the shack. 

"Oh, hey guys! I thought I heard voices!" Donut says walking to them. 

"Donut?!" 

"Hi, Sarge! Long time, no see!" 

"I thought you were dead!" Simmons states. 

"Y'know, we sure seem to say that a lot these days." Sarge says thoughtfully. 

"I almost was! That jerk Washington shot me in the stomach but then my armor locked up on me. Kept me alive for a while until it unlocked again for some reason. It was horrible! Do you know what removes bloodstains from this armor? Not a lot I tell you. I laid there forever wondering how I was going to get all that dark red outta this light red. You know?" 

"How did you survive? When your armor locked, you would've just bled to death!" 

"And when did you get all, new age-y?" Sarge asks looking at his armor from top to bottom. 

"Uh-oh..." Simmons says thinking. 

"What?" 

"Sarge, think about it. Medical attention, fringe holistic lifestyle choices, you know what that means..." 

"What?" A figure in dark purple armor walks up behind Sarge and Simmons.

"Wow, look what the cat dragged in! And by dragged in I mean spit out like a hairball, hey guys!" 

"Simmons? Is that Doc behind us?" Sarge asks groaning. 

"I think so." Simmons replies sighing. 

"Simmons. Get my gun." 

"You're holding it, sir." 

"Oh. Right. Simmons, I'm going to need you to commence Operation: Point my gun at Doc." 

"But sir, Operation: Point my gun at Doc was just a code phrase for Operation: Point my gun at Grif." 

"Drat! Fine. Switch to Operation: Point my gun at Grif!" 

"Yeah actually sir, that one was...just what it sounds like. Sorry." 

"Double drat!" Zone walks past the four, not looking at them. 

"Hey Rex! You okay there son?" Sarge calls to him. 

[Yeah, never better dad!] Zone says sarcastically before stomping into the base. 

"Geez, what's gotten into him?" Donut asks. 

"Uh, did he just call you dad?" Doc turns to Sarge. 

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Zone leans against the wall and slides to the floor. He rips off his helmet and throws at the adjacent wall. Zone pinches his nose and sighs frustratedly. 

"Zone...?" Xi appears. 

[You were right Xi. All this time you've been freaking right! I guess I just didn't want to believe it.] 

"Rex it's okay!" 

[NO IT'S NOT XI! CAROLINA IS OBSSESSED WITH FINDING THE DIRECTOR!] Zone yells. Xi slightly whimpers. Zone realized what he'd done. 

[I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at myself. Carolina isn't the woman I fell in love with anymore. She's just...I don't even know anymore.] Zone gets up and grabs his helmet, looking at its visor. 

~What's happened to us?~