"Breaking Up" is the second episode to Chasing Seconds. It was released on October 23, 2013 and can be read here.
Synopsis[]
Pomson has returned to Carson City Camp, furious at what the trio did to her in the dorm room. General Mitchell Crota refuses to support her demands that they be punished, pointing out that she broke into their apartment, but does inform her that the three have flown to Washington, DC.
Meanwhile, James Zanasiu Jr, Malte Kerzach, and Florence Brennan visit the Smithsonian. Florence points them to the Einstein-Rosen bridge exhibit but is forced to escape when a guard recognizes her as someone who tried to steal the ROSS exhibit previously. Malte and Junior speak to ROSS using the radio-flashlight and agree to help bust him out.
The three hide in a locker room and break ROSS under the cover of night. Florence knocks out a guard, and the three escape through a window. Police arrive, but Pomson orders them to stand down, and investigates herself. She sets things up to throw the cops off their trail.
The three hide in a hotel and ROSS explains that they missed a binary number that explained the order the four numbers are supposed to be read. This forced them to visit the four potential coordinates and scan them with the radio-flashlight to see which gave a valid binary number. That night, Florence convinces Malte to have sex, who is very reluctant and dislikes his inability to say no.
The next day they hike out into the Blue Ridge Mountains to scan the first, but are accosted by Pomson. Junior is split up from the others and forced to hike all night through the rain. However he reaches the coordinates to find they are the wrong ones.
Florence and Malte take shelter in an abandoned cabin and have sex a second time. Malte continues to dislike the situation, and promises that was the last time. The next day, they find Junior and carry him to safety. Meanwhile, Pomson contacts an old man in the desert and warns him to prepare; the targets have begun the path that will ultimately lead them to him.
Characters[]
Trivia[]
- The title, like most of the other episode titles, has two meanings. Firstly it refers to the trio escaping the Smithsonian from the second-floor windows (referencing Florence's line: "Well, we're not breaking in. We're not really even breaking out..."), secondly it can refer to James throwing a rock at a beehive directly above him to escape from Pomson, and thirdly it can refer to Pomson destroying the radio allowing them to communicate with ROSS.
- Werner is seen reading The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. This confirms that he was the away team member who brought the copy that changed the history of Gaman.