1.14 Harper 2.0
Harper finds himself overloaded with information when a dying Perseid transfers data into his brain.
Episode Synopsis
The Eureka Maru collides with a small object while returning from a trip to pick up supplies. Beka and Harper find a deflating opaque ball inside the airlock. They cut it open to find a dying Perseid inside. While Harper tries to keep pressure on his wound, the Perseid bites him on the back of his neck. A brilliant energy transfer takes place, the Perseid collapses, and dies.
Beka and Harper return to the Andromeda with the corpse, and Tyr notes that the body shows signs of defensive wounds, suggesting that he was running from someone. Trance examines Harper, who surprises the crew by speaking in medical jargon. Meanwhile, a bounty hunter called Jeger comes on board with a warrant for the Perseid's arrest. Beka informs Jeger that his fugitive is dead, but Jeger insists on examining the body. Rommie discovers that the Perseid was a librarian and senior researcher for the Special Collections Division of the All-Systems University. Dylan wonders whether the Perseid's crime was stealing from the library, and why the information might be worth killing for.
Harper has a troubling nightmare featuring images of the Holocuast, Vietnam and the Civil War. Uneasy, Harper gives up sleeping and decides to put his energy into a project. Rommie detects an elevation in Harper's breathing and pulse rates, and worries that he is working too fast. Meanwhile, Jeger examines the dead body, but does not find what he is looking for. Believing it to be on the Maru, he resolves to find what he needs.
On the Andromeda, Harper runs around frantically, singing in several different tongues. The rest of the crew approaches him as he works on several projects at once. Harper acts surprised when he sees Rev Bem, and threatens to attack the Magog. Baffled and hurt, Rev Bem leaves. When Harper is hooked up to sensors, they realize his brain is on overload, and his condition may be the result of the Perseid downloading information into his system.
Harper enjoys having a new level of creativity, knowledge and power, but Trance worries about his insomnia and nightmares. Harper brags that he has the entire Commonwealth medical archive in his brain, and even though his non-stop activity and lack of sleep are starting to catch up with him, he refuses to rest.
Jeger suddenly appears and starts to twist Harper's head, but Tyr slashes Jeger with a forearm blade. Jeger knocks Tyr down as Dylan enters and blasts Jeger with his F-lance. Unfazed, Jeger simply disappears through the hangar's floor. In the hangar deck, Harper sees several Magog drop from the ceiling. He starts running through the corridor of the Maru, encounters more Magog, then has a black and white vision of Magog charging a victim.
Rommie believes that the download gave Harper access to the latest quantum and neutrino-based engineering platforms, which could provide information on hidden treasures, valuables, mineral rights and weaponry. Without warning, the Andromeda is hit by an unknown force. While Tyr and Harper survey the damage, Rev Bem asks if he can help. Harper calls Rev a murder and rapist, and although Rev initially says he will not fight Harper, a predatory look crosses his face when Harper wields a pipe-lance at him. Dylan and Beka break up the fight and remind Rev to focus on "The Way."
Trance injects Harper with chemicals and attempts to isolate and copy the information downloaded into his brain. During the procedure, the electrical processes in Harper's cerebellum are disrupted, and he begins to have a seizure. Dylan and Beka review Harper's digital-video archive and see images of Magog attacks at Brandenburg from his nightmares. Harper wakes up and apologizes to Rev. Rev reassures him that he will have wisdom when he completely submits himself to the Divine.
When Jeger starts firing at the Andromeda, Harper announces that he is in the Maru and challenges Jeger to come and get him. Jeger enters through an exotic-matter chokehold, but Andromeda doesn't manage to squeeze through after it. While Jeger chases Harper, the Andromeda crew tries to find a way help him. Trance looks at the digital video again and sees a humanoid figure who appears to be commanding a Magog attack and the fall of Brandenburg, which Dylan thinks is the footage Jeger is after.
Jeger captures Harper and prepares to open his skull to extract his database. The Andromeda tries to follow the trail of Jeger's point singularity projector, which exerts a large gravitational force. The Andromeda finds Jeger's ship and the Maru and swallows both of them whole. Beka rescues Harper, while Dylan and Tyr take on Jeger. Jeger gets away, mysteriously folds into a point and disappears. His craft emerges from the Andromeda, is hit by missiles and explodes.
Synopsis from AndromedaTV
