Buried Pains Grows Poison Trees

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**Buried Pains Grows Poison Trees** is the third episode of *gen:LOCK* Season 2. It premiered on November 18, 2021, for HBO Max.

## Summary

Continuing from the last we saw Rob Sinclair who is shown to not only to be alive, but also in a city in Union territory that is under curfew, he witnesses some Union soldiers execute members of a Polity Fireteam. Two months later in No Man's Land, Rob saves two people from an armored Union car piloted by a Polity soldier. Rob now sporting a dirty ragged cape and a full-grown beard, uses a makeshift bow and arrow to kill the soldier exiting from the car. He then finds a foldable tablet revealing he's a wanted man. Just then a drone flies behind Rob and a hologram of Marc Holcroft tries to recruit Rob to the Polity, but he immediately destroys it with his bow and curses his war.

The Gen:LOCK Team accompanied by Miguel Garza reports to Colonel Raquel Marin about how the team managed to recapture Las Vegas. From there, the Colonel explains their new mission called "Operation Reclamation"; it involves the team retaking the Anvil completely from the Union. She also details that thanks to the new holon team have significantly helped their war efforts against the Union. Chase then chimes in and inquires who is piloting the new holon units. However, Raquel refuses to disclose classified information and notes that soon they'll retire from the field thanks to the new holon team. The news upsets Chase, but Raquel uses her authority as his superior commander to obey her commands and dismisses the team. As the rest of the team leaves the scene, Chase stays behind and asks if the Nemesis copies are piloting the new holon team. Raquel though reassures Chase that's not the case and suggests he enjoy some R&R while reinforcing it as an order.

Meanwhile, Miranda and Jodie have sex together, but stop midway and when they do, Chase appears and is astonished by what he walked in on. With Jodie out of the picture, Chase and Miranda have a heart-to-heart about Chase's newfound questions on the Polity's moral stance. Noting a couple of instances involving the Battle of New York City and a bombing of Kaaba in Babylon as a cover-up. Coldly, Miranda downplays Chase's assumptions and notes how the Union is not only just as bad, but also mentions who were lost in the Battle of New York City. This angers Chases as Miranda mentions his mother and sister and proclaims that the Polity threw down the gauntlet and the Union picked it up. Their conversation ends when Miranda believes Chase to be a Union sympathizer.

In Cameron MacCloud's hub, she talks with Valentina Romanyszyn who complains about a large number of bunnies in the room and the boundaries they violate. Cammie though claims she's not conjuring them and has no clue as to why they're multiplying so much, but enjoys their company, much to Val's disgust. Yasamin Madrani then appears and complains about the bunnies too. Kazu then appears and asks Cammie to fix an avatar problem he's having. Val cuts in saying they're trying to have a talk with Cammie about the importance of boundaries. A bunny then lands on top of Kazu's head, causing him to faint and reveal that the body of his avatar is female. Chase then appears and after his brief shock of Kazu's body, he claims they need to talk.

Afterward, Raquel is visited by Miranda in the auditorium and calls her out for the lies and hypocrisy she stared with the bombing of Kabaa and the war it started with the Union. However, Miranda levels with the colonel stating that a leader makes tough decisions and she hopes to do the same while requesting to join command. Raquel tacitly accepts the request and before Miranda leaves, she asks her how she learned of the Kabaa strike. Miranda answers that she learned it from Chase and as she leaves, Raquel orders Able to covertly surveiles the Gen:LOCK team. Able does so and back in the Hub world, Chase discusses his thoughts on the Polity, what Raquel has hidden from then, and how they've been lied to about their war efforts. Yasamin then chimes in claiming the truth has been revealed and sequentially, the team mindshares with her to witness her time in Babylon. Astounded by what they witnessed in the mindshare, they all give their separate opinions on it. As they do, an incessant ringing noise fills Chase's head causing him to fall down, which he claims was just a headache. Chase then phases out to the bridge and is told by Miguel that they've arrived in Vegas.

Elsewhere, in No Man's Land, at the California/Mexican Border, Fatima Jha is corned by Union soldiers. Back in Vegas, Cammie and Yaz have a heart-to-heart about what Cammie saw in the latter's mindshare. Mainly what Cammie wants to know is about her life in Babylon and her parents. Yaz then snaps at Cammie for trying to pry more information from her about her personal life, causing Cammie to scoff and leave. Regretting her outburst, Yaz notes that she's sorry and that she simply doesn't want to lose anyone else. In the hangar, Cammie runs into a bewildered Kazu who begs her to fix his broken avatar, and under pressure, she begrudgingly accepts. Using a remote transfer device, Cammie gives an explanation of how she found a new way to transfer their consciousnesses to the holon rather than using a pod. After reviewing the data, Cammie tells Kazu that his problem isn't with the code, but with his subconscious. Kazu loses his temper over this and walks off claiming he needs some beer, while Cammie simply notes how the "Family" is already falling apart. Unbeknownst to the two, they were being surreptitiously watched the holon that was there. Chase is seen wandering the streets of Vegas by himself and briefly watches a projection of the Polity's plans to colonize Mars. He then briefly transfers back to his hub where The Door once again confronts him. Back in the real world, Chase encounters a drummer who looks like his father whose drum beats mimic the exact sounds like the pounding of the Door makes. This causes Chase to fall off the balcony from where he stood. Meanwhile, in a strip club, Kazu drowns his sorrows he's joined by Val who insists they drink that night and talk about why he's been an asshole to them the next day.

At an undisclosed location, Rob gets notified of a Sky Chariot. Immediately, Rob hi-jacks it and causes it to land while one of the members of his group, welcomes the hostages to the Proletariat, a rebel group which he is in charge of. Back at the Anvil, Brother Tate welcomes Fatima back to the Anvil and she asks if she'll be brought to a cell or hung dead. On the contrary, Tate tries to convince Fatima to join the Union and when asked, elaborates on his experience with the "Flow". He does, however, confess his guilt and shame of committing things such as murder and deceit, but does this all in service of humanity, and humanitarian reasons like hope and non-profit, unlike Marc Holcroft's Mars colonization endeavor. Curious to know more about the "Lie" he speaks of, Tate shows Fatima video evidence of the truth behind the Mars endeavor. Fatima is then coaxed by Tate to join the Union and help with their 'Twilight initiative'.

## Characters

Heroes

* Julian Chase
* Valentina Romanyszyn
* Cameron MacCloud
* Kazu Iida
* Yasamin Madrani

Villains

* The Door
* Brother Tate

Others

* Rob Sinclair
* Marc Holcroft
* Raquel Marin
* Miguel Garza
* Miranda Worth
* Jodie Brennan
* Driana Chase (Mentioned; Avatar)
* Roberta Chase (Mentioned; Avatar)
* Able
* Caliban
* Alejandra (Flashback)
* Meshach (Flashback)
* Narong (Flashback)
* Fatima Jha

## Trivia

This episode is the first to show nudity and sex in the series.