Recap by Lilly

 

The story opens amusingly with James and Jessica on the telephone kidding around and talking about her new movie, Slayer Wars. They are being totally nice to each other until Anya interrupts as usual.

Two of the Council’s main nemeses, Horatio Tyrell and Dr. Martin So, are back and nastier than ever, as they watch and discuss two "patients" that they are cruelly using as lab rats for a virus they seem to be testing. (It is probable that these people are clones created by Dr. So for this very purpose.) Eris is furious because Tyrell refuses to let her in on his latest plans.

 

Meanwhile, Toni is feeding Willow Rosenberg’s chicken soup [also known as Jewish penicillin] to a flu-ridden Lex, as the two watch a panel discussion between Jo, Giles, and Velika, and three senators. The senators are questioning the Council representatives about how they intend to ensure humanity’s safety from demons if they are awarded the Human Defense Treaty [HDT] contract. Giles explains that he intends to restore the three-part structure [Watchers-Slayers-Coven] of the Council and move the Seraphim suit into full production. Jo states that a functioning Coven is invaluable against an evil that will not hesitate to use magic. Velika adds that a long-term part of the plan is to train all slayers in the use of the Seraphim for special occasions, although under normal circumstances the natural strength of slayers would be more than enough. They also discuss the portal project, which is designed to study and hopefully one day permanently close the hellmouths and other dimensional portals. The senators are clearly impressed. While watching with Rayne, Eris becomes enraged and decides to take charge, no matter the cost.

 

The next day as they watch a report of a mysterious illness that is literally petrifying its victims (turning them into stone), Giles instructs Dr. McClelland work with the CDC while he agrees to allow Jo and Katie try to determine if there is a supernatural cause.

 

Later that afternoon Eris boasts to Tyrell and Dr. So that she has stolen their research and a sample of the virus, made it more potent, and then released it. As she infects both men, a battle ensues in which Dr. So is killed and Tyrell escapes.

 

Meanwhile Jo and Katie arrive at Fairview Hospital where the emergency room is in such chaos that they cannot get anyone’s attention. So Katie leads Jo to a friend who works in the administrative office of the hospital. She convinces him to take them to the quarantine area where her examination of several victims rules out the involvement of magic. However, just as the two decide the disease is not natural but man-made, Lisa Lance appears on a newscast, on the vidscreen in the hospital’s waiting room, to inform the public that she has evidence that links the virus to a research facility subsidized by the Council.

 

At that exact moment, Giles finds an obviously ailing Tyrell waiting for him at the Council Skimmer lot to offer him a deal – evidence proving the Council was not connected to the virus [now known as the Medusa Virus or MV] in exchange for being the first to be cured.

 

Later that night, using Tyrell’s information, Livia, Mira, and Katherine lead a team of slayers to an abandoned factory in search of the cure to the virus, while in another part of the same building, Rayne, accompanied by Eris's strike team, is also searching for it. At the same moment, both Katie and Rayne seem to detect the other’s presence. Although none of the other slayers hear anything, Livia exchanges looks with the blonde slayer and puts them all on alert. (Rayne has cast a spell which makes his group invisible to the slayers.) As he decides that its time to kill the unsuspecting slayers starting with his former charge, Katie reveals that she is indeed aware of his presence. Livia, having moved behind Rayne’s troops, is able to disarm two soldiers who are aiming at Katie while the blonde interrupts her former watcher’s spell, resulting in a short-lived battle between the two groups. The slayers easily overpower the opposition and find the serum, although Rayne escapes in the confusion.

As more victims of the MV are discovered, Tyrell is given the promised first dose of the cure. But it doesn’t work, and the man’s condition becomes much worse! Eris's modification of the virus has made the disease more powerful and has rendered the original antidote useless.

 

After sneaking out of his sick bed and spending all day working on refinements to the Seraphim suit, Lex is finally ready to go home – but he collapses. While Jocasta and Giles are discussing how much to tell the Command Council, they are interrupted as emergency medics rush by them with Lex. Later that day Dr. McClelland gives Antonia, who has been in the quarantine zone’s waiting room with her cousin Jocasta and Giles, the bad news – Lex has the virus.

 

The next morning finds Jocasta and Antonia in protective suits visiting a panicked Lex in the quarantine zone. Jo leaves the two in the hospital room and falls apart in Katie’s arms outside. Later that morning, Giles meets with most of his brain trust [Jocasta, Katherine, Willowgram, Livia, James and Dr. McClelland] to discuss the matter. The CDC has quarantined the Council. There are no cases in any other cities. The disease is progressing steadily, as demonstrating by Tyrell’s deteriorating state. Jo is not at all sympathetic to Tyrell’s condition after all he has done to them. Giles tells her that despite what he has done in the past, Tyrell is to be treated humanely. He assigns Livia and Katie to work with Velika and the slayers on damage control and panic prevention; James to tap into Council and outside computer resources; and Jo and Willowgram to work directly with Dr. McClelland to find a cure, while he deals with the Command Council. As always, Travers confronts Giles and tries to undermine Chairman’s leadership at the Council meeting. But Giles is quite able to stand up to the attack, explaining that Tyrell will soon be telling all about the virus.

 

Meanwhile, Eris puts her mole at Council Headquarters into action by sending a computer message to kill Tyrell. The question is – who exactly is the mole? We are about to find out as Dr. McClelland interrupts the murder attempt on his patient. Guards arrive and hold the assassin as the doctor revives Tyrell. Outside the hospital room, an irate McClelland removes the potential killer’s hood and is shocked to find – Anyabot.

 

Later that afternoon, Jo and Toni join Giles, Veronica, John, Livia, and Katherine to discuss Anya’s assassination attempt. James is being detained by Security, although they all know that, while able, he would never have programmed the android to kill. The most obvious suspect is Eris Pantelles. Giles dispatches John to question James and investigate when, where, how, and by whom Anya was programmed to kill; he sends Livia and Katie to guard Tyrell. When Jo volunteers to help John, Toni angrily storms out of the room. At Katie’s suggestion Jo searches Toni out only to find her cousin furious that she wants to help find out why Anya tried to kill Tyrell rather than help Dr. McClelland find a cure for Lex and the other innocent victims. Antonia is too upset to listen to her cousin’s explanation and leaves.

 

When Jocasta and John are completely unsuccessful in their attempts to prove that Anya’s reprogramming occurred at Hubris, they have to ask a confined and very reluctant James for help. Using his advice, they proceed to deactivate Anya. Their subsequent investigation finds proof that the tampering was done at Hubris before Anya was even given to James, prior to his employment at the Council. This information clears James but confirms that there has been a spy within the Council for years. When Jo informs Giles of their discovery, she is pleased to learn that James will be released but distressed to find out that federal agents are coming to take the Anya away. After all, as annoying as she can be, Anya is still a part of their team.

 

Meanwhile Willowgram and Dr. McClelland are finally successful in finding what they believe is a cure for the Medusa Virus. As Tyrell takes a turn for the worse, the doctor gives him the untested serum. And it works!!

 

Tyrell recovers enough to make his televised confession to a very interested public and Senate HDT committee. Jo and Katie visit a recovering Lex where the cousins make peace.

James is released but devastated to discover what has happened to Anya. Authorities raid Hubris, but Eris and Sean have once again escaped.

 

The next day Lisa Lance announces that the Council has been cleared of any wrong-doing in the Medusa Virus matter and has been praised for its work in finding a cure and the true culprits. She further reports that the Senate has awarded the HDT contract to the Council. However, with Eris and Sean still on the loose, we can be sure that the calm will not last for long.

 

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