Prototype: The New World Episode Guide (Revised)

## Episode 1 - "Welcome to G.R.I.D."

One month following the end of *Prototype: Genesis*, Mig, Rashard, T-Y and Ferrari are working for G.R.I.D. (Global Research and Investigation Division), which is led by Regina (from the *Genesis*finale). Having trained for two weeks under a rigorous military program, the team is now conducting a series of missions for G.R.I.D. as precursors to the elite work under direct command from Regina, who works in their biggest and most maximum-security building, "the Watchtower". GRID has divided the world into fifteen sections - the organization is based in Section I, Europe, while the U.S. is Section VII and Australia, Section XV, is where *Genesis* happened.

The team's first elite mission is to travel to Section IX (China) and investigate a series of acidic catastrophes plaguing the Hong Kong area. Much of the city appears somewhat intact, though the team stumbles upon a network of tunnels burned into the ground by the corrosion. They eventually encounter a strange Chinese engineer in charge of supervising the tunnel network until he is revealed as an acidic metahuman. During the encounter, a blast of ice suppresses the man's powers and a booby trap the team set up to attack his acidic form instead triggers on his human form, crushing him under debris. Before he dies the man says the words "Sānchā jǐ" (三叉戟) which translates to "Trident".

While Rashard begins to lucidly experience flashbacks of being wired to a machine, the team reports back to Regina, who claims not to have any intel regarding "Trident". T-Y doesn't seem to believe her though he/they let it go. However, Regina later privately logs the mission data and includes information regarding Trident, stating that the Chinese engineer was involved in "Project Trident" but is now merely a loose end that her team has tied for her.

## Episode 2 - "Hell on Earth"

The team learns that Afghanistan, a former warzone ("former" meaning our day right now) is now a quarantined settlement housing a very specific set of Event survivors. GRID has provided maximum security to the perimeter, but Regina is spooked by news that the security has in fact been finally breached. Some grainy footage shows hundreds of GRID soldiers being wiped out in seconds while the mapping screen for secure areas is rapidly emptying.

The team rushes to Afghanistan, only to find it a rather empty graveyard. Several of the corpses have sticky, elastic-like skin that "mushes" when you touch it (these were actually metahumans whose synthetic material has been damaged, but the team doesn't know all that). The barren village leads into a series of caves. Regina points them to an engineering division they had set up inside but that entire place has been wrecked. On their way out they encounter a devil-like creature who they chase out into the village but to no avail. They do, however, recover some radioactive material found on one of the corpses and return to base.

Regina analyzes the material, acting somewhat clueless while T-Y breaks down the chemical components filed inside. Regina secretly takes notes on it before keeping the sample for "further study". She helps the team cross-reference a few leads on what they found on the devil creature and asks them to investigate a military outpost near Jalalabad. After sending the team out, she meets with her mysterious superior handing him T-Y's chemical breakdown. He orders her to keep a closer watch on T-Y without getting in his way, and also to destroy the sample. She does so.

In Jalalabad, the team finds an abandoned military base with all sorts of cryptic wall scratchings. Figuring that the Devil creature has been here, they investigate the building and find a blood trace. They follow it under the base, inside which they find a bunker full of bloodstains. It belongs to a soldier names Kabul Ransto, whose entire team was killed while he was paralyzed during an old mission. The creature attacks them again with the fight culminating in Mig standing the creature down - it can talk and appears to possess only Ransto's war nightmares within a neurological sample found inside it. Regina orders Mig to kill the creature and Mig hesitates until Rashard kills it for him.

After the mission, Regina doesn't bring up why she wanted Ransto dead. She meets with her mysterious superior again, and it's revealed that they lured the team into Ransto's lair in an attempt to draw him out and have him killed. This was to protect the secret of synthetic metahuman DNA being found in the remnants of some Event survivors. Regina's boss knows the mission was a success but asks how much the team knows about Project Trident. She says "nothing" and her superior replies with "have a good evening, Regina".

## Episode 3 - "Iskaldt"

Regina, who has increased surveillance on T-Y, watches him/her/them study details of the Chinese engineer they encountered in Hong Kong. She starts to get worried and is about to order a strike team to be sent into his/her/their bunker until T-Y's true intentions come to light - they find a cryogenic sample of matter used to trace the engineer's killer.

The team meets in the Watchtower with T-Y's new discovery and they map traces of the cryo-matter to a series of locations around the world. The last trace mapped to Bergen, Norway. Upon arrival, the team finds the country's previously sunny climate turned into a dark, wintery hell with the quiet mountain villages reduced to a series of blocky ice sculptures. Ferrari's speedster abilities have been significantly weakened due to the conditions.

The team journeys to the Løvstakken mountain, where they encounter a series of mutant "ice wolves" which lead them to a humanoid controlling ice. Ferrari attempts to fight the man until he immobilizes her limbs - before he can take the final blast, Mig, who was previously unable to get himself to kill the devil creature, shoots the man with a flamethrower, knocking him over the edge of the mountain. He helps Ferrari heal and she begins to like him more.

Rashard, however, is angry at Mig for blindly attacking the man without trying to find out who he is. They settle in near one of the caves but realize that the power in their weapons has been drained and they cannot reach Regina. Ferrari, however, recalls Regina saying that GRID has set up their own communications outposts at areas of weak cellular range including most of northern Europe. Since they still can't reach Regina, they travel over to the outpost and find a GRID rescue helicopter, which was intended for them, having crashed with its pilot and control systems cocooned in ice.

They spot the iceman, who has survived, near the outpost and chase him up the tower. He tells them that his body can take as much cold as there can be and that they cannot kill him here, before freezing out Mig's flamethrower. He fights Mig while Rashard attempts to restore communications to the tower, but Rashard is shot by an ice blast. Mig is knocked to the ground and when the iceman returns to the controls, Ferrari is waiting for him and uses the warmer indoor setting to "recharge" her speed, creating enough friction to cause sparks to fly. Mig gets up and traps the iceman inside the control room with Ferrari, who electrocutes the controls and fries the man's surgically-attached weaponry. They unmask him as former fugitive Cody Ward, who tells them that he is on a mission against GRID. Rashard restores power to the systems and Regina sends in another aircraft to pick them up. Mig and Ferrari form a bond after saving each other.

Back at base, Ward is imprisoned inside one of GRID's research labs. Regina gets a call from the Director to sample Ward's DNA and bring it to him. GRID removes Ward's surgically-installed weapons and stores them in their research vault, inside which is a picture of a young Regina with her father, whose lab coat has a Project Trident logo on it.

*Note: "Iskaldt" means "ice cold" in Norweigan.*

## Episode 4 - "Metakiller"

A strange Chappie-like robot is found wandering around near the Watchtower late at night. It spots some of the guards and becomes surrounded, and plays a recorded message saying "I want to talk to the director." The guards refuse but Regina's boss, revealed to be the director of GRID, walks out. The robot holographically projects a random series of letters, numbers and symbols before accidentally activating its turret. The guards shoot it but the Director, who has already memorized the characters, asks the tech team to decipher it before morning, and orders the robot stored in his evidence vault. Around thirteen hours later, the tech team has discovered the code: when duplicating its binary translation millions of times, it eventually forms the coded image of a screenshot taken from a security camera seventeen hours earlier: Thirty dead metahumans with text in the image saying "there will be more".

Regina continues to observe T-Y, whose concentration is slightly faltering while he helps the team break up a turf war between metahumans using stolen GRID military tech. He's stayed at the base after reporting some severe headaches lately. The team, meanwhile, takes care of the turf war until Regina checks in notifying them on some "murders" of metahumans in the area. Another group of guerrilla metas ambushes them and they are trapped in the crossfire, until a robotic silhouette (different from the one the Director found) comes in and shoots down all of them. The team is smoke screened and knocked out.

Upon awakening they all feel slightly weak. The robot has gone, having left behind at least fifty bodies. Regina appears distressed while they investigate, but they find puncture marks on all the metas' shoulders. Regina orders them back to base, where T-Y runs a medical check. Mig, Rashard and Ferrari have also been punctured and realize that the "metakiller" has been taking blood samples.

T-Y spots flecks of some chemical traces on them and takes it to his lab to investigate. He synthesizes a fresher sample, but upon closer analysis it seems to have some kind of DNA inside it. Looking at it triggers a migraine attack in which T-Y flashes back to images of only Tyler experimenting on a similar-looking DNA cell. When he snaps out, Regina has a gun aimed, prompting him to beg for his life. Regina puts the gun away and apologizes, knowing now that T-Y clearly doesn't trust her. T-Y sees his sample missing, thinking it disintegrated.

Rashard has done his own research and finds a new trail of metahuman deaths closer to their area. He, Mig and Ferrari follow the lead against Regina's wishes (she refuses to explain). T-Y wants to come along but the team advises against it since his health is faltering. Regina monitors the three during their journey. The team ends up in some kind of secluded mountain range under a no-fly zone.

T-Y goes to get some rest, but finds himself unable to sleep. Security cameras are seen watching him as he tosses and turns in his sleep (implying that someone else is watching him) - he experiences more flashbacks to when Tyler was experimenting with the DNA cell from before, except this time it's revealed that the project was something having to do with Trident. T-Y witnesses more images which appear somewhat clouded until he is woken up... by the robot the Director found. It attacks him and a modified built-in soundboard demands to know what he "saw". Regina witnesses this, knowing that it's the Director who has sent the robot, but decides not the intervene since she can more closely monitor the team while the Director is distracted. Sparing little time she sends a drone into the no-fly zone before coming in and shooting the robot. T-Y has passed out.

Regina, trying to decide between tying loose ends and showing T-Y that she can be trusted, decides to extract a blood sample from T-Y trying to understand what's going on. She sends the sample to the team via airdrop, but they can't seem to make out what exactly is triggering T-Y's internal issues. They eventually stumble upon a cave near which several metahuman corpses are piled up. The drone, however, ambushes them. It's surprisingly powerful and the team is forced to retreat, until the metakiller shows up and destroys it, confirming that it doesn't command the drone. Regina becomes distressed and asks the team to back out despite the metakiller not harming them. Rashard attempts to approach the metakiller, but when it hears Regina's commands, it fires at Rashard. He retreats with the rest of the team, having noticed the reason why the metakiller attacked him.

When the team reaches their ship, Rashard asks the others to wait ten minutes and then leave if he's not back by then. He takes a speeder bike back to the cave, alone, finding it empty. He walks through carefully, asking out loud for a blood sample to be analyzed to "help his friend". The metakiller appears near the end of the cave and takes the sample. Rashard is surprised when a man's voice is heard from inside - he says that the sample is in fact a compound of two different ones, even though its two components appear to be "breaking apart". He suggests separating the chemical signatures, with Rashard understanding what he means. The metakiller gives Rashard the sample back and tells him that he has ten seconds to get out of the cave and that they will meet again, addressing him by name. Rashard remains intrigued as ever and returns to the ship, remaining silent.

At the end of the episode, T-Y is seen in a hospital bed, passed out but still twitching and looking agitated. The robotic "what did you see" voice echoes in his head as a sequence of blurry images passes through his mind. Eventually he images come into focus as in a "tunnel view" effect, containing what T-Y did see before waking up: Rashard's father Lincoln working with Tyler on Trident.

## Episode 5 - "Division"

Picking up directly from where the previous episode left off, the team is on its way back to GRID, with Rashard solemnly watching a 3D simulation of a compound DNA signature. The team is implied to have been brought up to speed. Cut back to T-Y, whose mid-coma seizures are worsening. This time, we see a longer flashback to Project Trident, in which Tyler and Lincoln are conversing over whether to go through with their first test. Lincoln is behaving somewhat strangely as though something is worrying him, but he explains to Tyler that he's "synthesized a somewhat safer formula" which he's delaying the experiment to test. Tyler isn't comfortable with the decision to delay the experiment, and Lincoln claims to be "concerned for him" ("he" is unknown), and that "he's taking a tighter hold on this than I am". Tyler promises Lincoln that there isn't anything to worry about since the project is "back on track". The scene changes to a flashback of Tyler intently working on something regarding the DNA sample from the previous episode. He watches a progress meter while voices echo around the scene saying "fifty percent", "sixty-five percent", etc. The image becomes completely distorted...

Tyler awakens from his coma gasping in fear, seeing the team surrounding him alongside someone else... there stands Trailor.

Trailor's memories as T-Y remain intact, though she too cannot remember anything about or before the Event. Tyler, meanwhile, more vividly remembers his flashbacks, though newer ones stop surfacing following his separation. Regina and the team give the two some time alone - Trailor is behaving rather erratically and appears paranoid and worried about something. Her mind functions at the peak of its ability, but Trailor is in a constant sense of confusion and panic even at Tyler, who she trusts most. Tyler, frightened by the robot attack in his bunker, contemplates telling Trailor about his visions, but holds off on it and attempts other avenues to calm his "sister" down, but to no avail.

In the Watchtower hub, Regina briefs the team on a series of strange deaths that appear to be asphyxiations due to contractions in the neck muscles, though there is zero other evidence to be found other than a pattern that most of the deaths occur near previously crime-infested neighborhoods, and that a strange smoke was spotted at at least four of the deaths. Trailor bursts into the room and asks to see the images and mission data, triggering a memory of a rather obscure and specific archive T-Y found the previous week describing a distinctly similar death involving some kind of chemical agent originating from a nuclear plant somewhere in Russia. Impressed, the team follows the lead.

On the way there, Rashard experiences a small headache while talking to Tyler about his stress when Tyler accidentally mentions the DNA sample from earlier. At the plant, Mig uses his radioactive anatomy to make it through several layers of wreckage, finding several dead bodies. Suddenly, a blast of smoke hits him and he begins to choke and cramp up. Trailor instructs Ferrari on how to revive him and it narrowly succeeds, though he is still unconscious. Rashard tries to chase the smoke using his enhanced cellular structure to survive, and is able to catch a glimpse of a humanoid silhouette before having to retreat.

At the Watchtower, Ferrari stays beside Mig during his recovery. Tyler and Trailor investigate a sample of blood taken from Mig. They find many air bubbles inside caused by either muscular contractions and/or side effects of some kind of chemical. The two connect the dots and report to the team that these are indeed murders committed through the use of sarin, a deadly nerve agent commonly considered a WMD. It shouldn't be found anywhere but someone is manufacturing and likely enhancing it. They search for any concentrations of the chemical around the Earth and cross-reference it with recent deaths. An abandoned subway in Tokyo shows the highest concentration but no deaths. Trailor suggests looking for camera feed and ends up finding an encrypted surveillance tape. She hacks into it.... there stands the Metakiller.

The team is shocked except for Rashard, who was waiting to come back into contact with the killer, and Regina, who once again appears rather distressed. The Metakiller has left them a recorded message saying he too was following the trail of chemicals, since most of the dead metas have been so internally damaged that he is unable to collect any samples for his "research". He found a large mass of smoke and corpses at the train station but his DNA scanner shows zero mutated traces. The team rushes to the train station, and before leaving, Ferrari gives Mig a light kiss while he's asleep.

However, when they arrive at Tokyo, a thick white gas cloud covers much of the city and is constantly expanding. They head underground and are ambushed by a number of masked drug dealers. Rashard interrogates the last one, who admits that their provider is the one behind the killings since he's a madman testing effects of the sarin formula. The only know him as "the smoke" even though there is a humanoid silhouette inside. Ferrari, meanwhile, realizes that the Smoke is reactivating the trains to distribute the sarin over Japan. He's already gotten most of Tokyo covered.

Rashard asks Ferrari to chase the train and find its source while he goes up to ground level attempting to locate the Smoke user. However, he is jump-scared by the Metakiller, who says that Rashard's metabolism can only last around five minutes under the modified sarin formula. He asks him to stay underground and cut the source to the power lines while he stays up top fighting off the gangsters. Rashard complies and finds the control room, and thinks back to the pilot when he and Mig had to cut off the electric metahuman. Thinking like Mig, he absorbs metal and uses a high amount of friction to light flame to the power lines, while Trailor and Tyler shut down the digital trackers and help additionally overload the power. The systems explode and send out an electrical surge.

At the same time, Ferrari speeds through the bullet train and finds the Smoke man inside. They fight, but Ferrari remains cautious and tries her best not to breathe the chemical. However, this slows her down and the Smoke man catches her off guard, causing her to gasp in some of the smoke. The criminal begins to choke her to make sure she's dead but Rashard's electrical current, which sets off at this time, derails the train and causes a burst of flame to erupt from underground. The electrical surge causes the Metakiller's suit to malfunction, but since the new sarin formula is modifed, side effects include combustion. The sarin fog fades into ash and smoke, allowing Ferrari to rush the criminal out of the train.

However, since the train crashed at ground level, the Metakiller arrives, except he's now a man in a black jumpsuit and a gas mask, forced out of his exosuit. The Smoke man is dressed similarly, but the Metakiller unmasks him and injects a syringe into his neck, analyzing the blood sample. Rashard, Trailor and Tyler arrive, prompting the Metakiller to hold the Smoke man hostage. The blood synthesis finishes the analysis, and the Metakiller is shocked - the Smoke man is indeed just a man, not a metahuman. Rashard attempts to negotiate with the Metakiller to give the criminal back, and the Metakiller's voice sounds familiar to him, but suddenly some of the city's power units come back. The Metakiller releases the criminal, but remarks that he "doesn't always need to be in the suit." He presses a button on an interface attached to his wrist and the suit arrives automatically, unleashing its lethal riot suppressor. Rashard, playing on a hunch, tells the Metakiller that he'll "tell Regina things we'll both regret" - the man deactivates the suit and warns them that the criminal's mortality makes him the most dangerous. The Metakiller goes back in the suit and stands the team down, insisting that his actions are for a "greater good" and that their answers will come "with a war as a trade-off". They'll know when "he" arrives. The Metakiller departs.

In their ship, Trailor reveals that she took a voice analysis of the Metakiller, though it comes up with zero match for anything. Tyler, meanwhile, seems to recognize the voice from one of his past dreams. Rashard, who was asleep, awakens with more flashback triggers, claiming that he remembers Tyler having something to do with Trident, and also thinking that metahumans could have existed prior to the Event.

The Metakiller is seen returning to his lair and removing the exosuit... it's one among hundreds of identical ones painted differently. A holographic model is seen of a much more advanced exosuit, alongside its constructed real-life head.

## Episode 6 - ""

On an island off the shore of Wales (Sector I) is a camp-like settlement built in the middle of a dense forest. One of the villagers there awakens in the middle of the night to the sound coming from the blacksmith's shop. He's lured inside by a strange man who caresses and encases the villager in a metallic carbon mold.

Mig has now recovered from his coma and is undergoing additional medicative procedures to resume fieldwork. He and Rashard are talking while Rashard is making concept sketches of the Metakiller in his notebook, and Mig secretively admits that he likes Ferrari and he's wondering how to "make his move". Rashard of course doesn't know where to start but Mig is happy to have someone to talk to. Ferrari comes in with some kind of protein smoothie that Mig is prescribed to in order to prevent any arthritis-based symptoms from his muscular contractions. She tells him he's lucky to have survived. After drinking the rather repugnant smoothie, Mig is able to slowly but surely get up from bed. Regina comes in and helps him out, and "borrows" Rashard's Metakiller drawings for "additional research on the case". She keeps them in a locker.

Trailor and Tyler, in their spare time, take random unfiled evidence from GRID lockups and attempt to further their research on them. A collection of blood samples came in today from a series of villagers living on "Greenwillow Island", a quarantined settlement also housing some Event survivors. The GRID barrier has recently been abandoned due to lack of activity within the village, and since most of the elite command has been shifted over to a task force for increasing turf wars since the Metakiller incident. One blood sample catches their eye in that it's been taken from infected muscle tissue, explaining why so little was found in the vial. Trailor spots flecks of carbon and a strange discoloration, while Tyler runs a scan and sees a massive spike in the iron level in their blood. They report their findings to Regina, who hasn't checked in with Greenwillow Island for a month. The GRID scan shows a 12% decrease in population. Mig decides to accompany the team to the site thinking it's no big deal, though Rashard and Ferrari make sure he's cautious due to yet another disease-driven case.
A flyover of Greenwillow Island seems to yield zero results, and the village seems perfectly peaceful. However, when they get close, they're attacked a few tribal inhabitants. They retreat, but Ferrari takes them back on foot. Some of the elder villagers apologize for the tribe, who are devoutly against anything borne from the "new generation". Ferrari and Mig convince the villagers that it was simply a transport vehicle and nothing from GRID. or any military force. However, Rashard's presence makes the tribe panic, as they feel he's an embodiment of the devil. Rashard thinks this has something to do with speculation that he's responsible for the Event, and is forced out of the island. He monitors the team from the GRID base.