Crosswired – Recap of Episodes 1 – 12

Spoiler Alert – This special episode recaps the first 12 episodes. If you have not yet listened to the first 12, you may wish to start with Episode 1.

Simon Dougherty is a cyber offensive specialist working for the NSA. He’s also a diabetic, receiving treatment from Dr Clement Garvin at a nearby medical facility. When an attack on the facility by the terrorist group KANTO leaves him injured, he discovers his life has been a lie. Instead of bone and blood, he finds his body is composed of metal and electronics. He confronts Dr Garvin, who had to have known this. Simon senses, however, that Garvin now means to destroy him. He murders Garvin and goes on the run with his girlfriend, Gretchen Williams, in tow. Their destination? MIT and the man who taught Simon so much: Dr Hadoop.

On their way to Cambridge, Simon and Gretchen stop in Rhode Island to visit Simon’s mother and to get some answers. Instead, they find a woman suffering from mental instability. Simon’s special senses kick in, alerting him to danger. They flee the house just as Mrs Dougherty blows the house up, killing her. As helicopters rush onto the scene, Simon and Gretchen again flee.

Arriving in Cambridge, Simon and Gretchen meet with Dr Hadoop, a specialist in Artificial Intelligence. Simon reveals his nature, leaving the good doctor in disbelief. This technology goes far beyond what mankind is capable of. The sudden trigger of a fire alarm forces the three to seek cover. Hadoop leads them to a top secret lab in which he’s developing some kind of satellite for the government. They tap into some security cameras to reveal a team armed with microwave weapons is searching for them. Once the threat has passed, Hadoop takes them to see a friend who may be able to shine more light on Simon’s nature.

That evening, they arrive at the back door of Dr Natalia Warkovsky, director of biological and computational learning. Despite friction between her and Gretchen, they learn the cyborg technology may be alien and that the neural network that integrates Simon’s organic brain with his android body is likely responsible for his heightened senses and ability to detect danger and even read people’s emotional states. The entire group is captured when Simon’s boss, Mr Kazin, arrives with a team of NSA field agents.

Back at the NSA, Director of Tailored Access Operations, Ms Aster, listens in on a recording retrieved from Simon. It is clear that Simon has been used to infiltrate the Agency and exfiltrate data to KANTO. Meanwhile, Chet, a forensics expert, tries to determine exactly how Simon is put together. Before he can get very far, however, an armed Gretchen breaks into the forensics room and rescues Simon. As they flee Fort Meade, she reveals she is actually a KANTO operative and she was rescued as she was being brought in. She uses a device to disable Simon’s body and they flee south.

With Simon’s nature revealed and his escape at the hands of KANTO, Mr Conway, a senior leader within IAD (Information Assurance Directorate) grills Kazin over his failure to capture Simon. Kazin is granted the opportunity to redeem himself and go after the cyborg. Chet is brought before Director Aster and reveals what he learned from Simon before he escaped – that he may have been designed by aliens. Ms Aster instructs special agent Roger Boyle to go after Simon, suggesting that there may be some within the agency with a hidden agenda. Mr Conway, the sponsor of Hadoop’s satellite project meets with the doctor and offers additional resources to ensure the project is completed on time.

Agents Boyle and Abrahms begin trying to find Simon, starting with Valerie, Dr Garvin’s admin and the last person known to have seen Simon. She provides them with the name of another doctor who worked on Simon’s case – Dr Bannister. Drs Hadoop and Warkovsky take the Acela train ba...