"dreaming."

"dreaming." is the first episode of the third season of "My Virtual Escape", and the thirteenth episode overall. It premiered on March 11, 2018 on StoryFire.

Description
Isaac recruits a new member to the team while John deals with the fallout from the battle.

Plot
The episode begins with Isaac running from John, and eventually entering the house of two bots. They give him some XP to heal him, but John comes in from the back door and shoots the two bots. He and Isaac have a shootout which ends with Isaac running away after running out of ammo. John follows him into a barn and begins choking him. Before he can finish him off, Arachnid shoots and kills John. Isaac celebrates, but is betrayed and shot by Arachnid. After some strange things happen such as Malachi talking to Isaac in a wheelchair, Abraham being called the overlord, and John being resurrected, Isaac is shot by Arachnid and wakes up to find that it was all a dream.

Isaac monologues to himself about his depression and newfound purpose with E.V.E., then Capt. Louis Phillips arrives at Solomon's house to investigate the disappearance of Mother Sarah while John, Jesus, and Gingy are carrying the bodies of the dead brothers into the woods. Jesus sees him arrive and informs John who asks where Elijah is, and Jesus tells him he's in E.V.E. Capt. Phillips hears John downstairs and goes to investigate, but he instead finds Elijah playing E.V.E. and arrests him. John suspects that he will rat of them, so he logs into E.V.E. and strangles Elijah to death. Unbeknownst to John, Solomon has been watching the whole time.

Meanwhile, Archie is visiting Mary-Two after her recent cancer diagnosis, but leaves once he hears Joseph return home. He and Archie begin to argue, which causes Isaac to come out and see what's going on. Joseph tells him to go back to his room, so he pretends to, but hides out in the hallway to eavesdrop. Joseph tells Archie he is not welcome in his house after he undermined him, and Archie leaves after saying he did the right thing. Isaac quickly runs back into his room and gets Archie's attention through his window. Archie explains to him he can't tell him what it was about, but he tells him that he will always be there for Isaac, even if Joseph doesn't want him around. He tells Isaac that what happened "that day" is not his fault, then leaves. Isaac then decides to log into E.V.E.

He meets with Arachnid and tells him that he thinks Rebekah should join Team Piece of Shit, but he profusely denies and the two go inside to discuss it more. Arachnid tells him that she's only using him to get to haven to which Isaac says that he's doing the same thing, but he ignores Isaac's accusation. He thanks Isaac for saving him, gives him some clear XP, then logs out. Isaac logs out as well and sees Joseph watching a KNN story about Mother Sarah's disappearance and it's connection to The Brotherhood. He logs back into E.V.E. to meet with Rebekah and tells her that he wants her on the team, but Arachnid doesn't and will kill them if he sees her around. She says that she'll defend him if he tries, then Isaac has to decide whether to accept Rebekah onto the team, or deny her.

StoryFire Prologue
The sun is setting in E.V.E. Issac is running out of time… He has to hurry.

JOHN: *yelling* Come back here, motherfucker!

Isaac escapes from the forest and makes it onto a paved road. Gingy comes out of nowhere  and shoots Isaac. The bullet phases right through him.

ISAAC: What the…? Oh, that’s right! I forgot you’re a bitch, Gingy! Maybe you should flip to ranked mode, pussy! Hahahaha!

Isaac laughs and runs away. John makes it out of the woods and catches up to Gingy.

JOHN: How the fuck did you catch up to him before me?

GINGY: I just killed myself and spawned closer to him boss!

JOHN: What the hell are you doing standing around? Chase after him!!

GINGY: I already caught up to him, boss. And shot him!

JOHN: AND?!

GINGY: Well… He’s ranked and I’m not.... so apparently… I’m useless.

JOHN: No fucking shit, Gingy! That’s why I told you just to hold him down so THEN I CAN KILL HIM!

GINGY: Ohhhhhh… that makes more sense.

JOHN: Jesus…

GINGY: What about him? Is he chasing after him too…?

JOHN: Oh my God… Nevermind!!!

John starts running down the road after Isaac… who’s practically a blip on the radar at this point. John readys his pistol, aims down the sights… and fires an epic shot. Isaac hears the gunshot and turns around… feeling confident that he’s far enough away.

*** SMACK***

The bullet lands right into Isaac’s shoulder sending him cascading into the pavement…

ISAAC: AHHHH!!! FUCK! How on Earth…….. Shit! SHIT!

Isaac, now in severe pain, gets back on his feet and continues running down the road.

JOHN: *to himself* That’s what happens when you fuck with a double-question mark.

John starts sprinting after Isaac. He’s gonna catch him. Isaac’s pace has slowed down... He’s bleeding out. The sun has almost set. This could be it for him.

If he doesn’t find aid soon… He WILL die.

Characters

 * Isaac Kalder
 * Arachnid
 * John
 * Malachi
 * Solomon's Unnamed Brothers (flashback)
 * Great Aunt Martha (flashback)
 * Farmer Bots
 * Joseph Kalder
 * Mary-Two
 * Captain Philips (debut)
 * Jesus
 * Gingy
 * Judas
 * Archie
 * Rebekah
 * Solomon
 * Daniel M. Keem

Trivia

 * The episode's title refers to the opening sequence, which was "all a dream". It could also a reference to the first word spoken in the series premiere, paralyzed.
 * The setting and actresses of the two bots from the dream sequence are Easter eggs to McCann's farm from The Psycho Series.

Dream Sequence Foreshadowing and Symbolism

 * John dies on the ground after pleading for his life, similar to what happens in double-cross.
 * Arachnid betrays Isaac like he does in noah's ark.
 * Arachnid quotes what Elijah said to him in brother's in arms.
 * Malachi is in a wheelchair because he was paralyzed after being hit by a car in paralyzed.
 * Malachi tells Isaac to remember Hawaii because, as shown in break free., they are friends and are beta testing E.V.E. in Hawaii.
 * Malachi says to Isaac "come find me" which is the last thing Rebekah says to Isaac before she is killed.
 * Arachnid quotes what he said when he saved Isaac from drowning in a tangled web.
 * Malachi tells Isaac that Arachnid is The Overlord which is revealed to be true in break free.
 * E.V.E. helmets keep appearing on characters because, as shown in break free., there are multiple layers of E.V.E.
 * John tells Isaac that "he's" coming back, which is revealed to be true later in the episode when Solomon is back in E.V.E.
 * Isaac says "stop haunting me, E.V.E.", but the line could also be interpreted as "Eve", Isaac's deceased little sister.

Soundtrack

 * "Give Up the Fight" - Juliette Reilly
 * "Most Likely to Fail" - Braiden Wood