S4E03: She Who Walks Among Us

'''When the Greenspan siblings came to Equestria, something evil followed them. As the investigation begins on the identity of this shape-shifting monster, Hellgate reappears with the intent to further his own agenda...'''

"She Who Walks Among Us" is the name of the third episode of the fourth season in the Xat RP. It continued the story begun in the season premiere, "Familiar Faces." The episode aired on August 2nd, 2014.

Plot Synopsis
Three hours after the discovery of James Greenspan's body, Commander Wolfgang summoned the Special A Unit (minus Aurion) and G Squadron to the war room of ERAC HQ for an emergency meeting. There he revealed that Jack and Saiyo had been detained, and a bloodtest had been run on them, as well as Aurion for good measure. However, information received from the Rebellion had essentially invalidated the tests: A Sayan was among them.

Wolfgang explains that Sayans were an extremely dangerous alien race that only needed to mate with a single individual of a species in order to obtain an understanding of their DNA. After that, they would die, releasing spores into the atmosphere that would mutate every member of that species into a new Sayan. The process would then repeat. They accomplish this by analyzing the brain patterns of the target species, and then forcibly adjusting them so that they percieve the Sayan as one of their own (and more often than not, an object of sexual desire).

A different kind of Sayan spore was detected within the atmosphere, this one doing just that. Based on the scope of the spores, Wolfgang and the Rebellion determined that the Sayan must have been on the planet for a while, In other words, everyone had already been infected. ERAC and the Rebellion both began enforcing non-intimacy policies even amongst married couples out of fear of letting the Sayan mate. Wolfgang also authorized a global spy network to try and find out anyone who may be linked with a Sayan, but they can only do so much. The only way to truly root out the problem was identify the Sayan before it could mate.

Wolfgang dispatched the Special A Unit (escroted by three members of G Squadron) back to the pod site to try and gather clues that might point to the Sayan's identity. Wolfgang believed that since Everfree forest was the epicenter of the psychic spores, the Sayan was most likely in Equestria. Furthermore, given that Executor had, during his campaign, destroyed the outer regions of Equestria, the Sayan would be more likely found within the heart of Equestria, thus limiting the search range.

At the crash site, closer examination of the Sayan's pod revealed that it had suffered an impact of some sort. This impact also resulted in a hole being torn into the bottom of the pod. The door of the pod was pressed against the tree, meaning that hole would have been the only way out. Below the hole was dried mud that showed something had disturbed the ground beneath it, confirming this.

It was also reported that the substance found on the ground and the substance covering the Sayan's pod were two different  kinds, though from the same source. The one that covered the pods appeared to be a terraforming substance, able to convert materials (metals especially) into some sort of organic rubber. The substance that littered the ground was believed to be blood of some kind, indicating a wound on the Sayan. Regarding that trail found on ERAC HQ's roof, Arachnos confirmed that no second trail existed.

Jack and Saiyo arrived shortly thereafter, and they examined James' body. It was noted that his consumption was fairly brutal, nothing but bones left only after a day. This was inferred to mean that the Sayan had to have been very hungry. Wolfgang confirmed that Sayans are capable of entering metabolic stasis in order to lessen their need to eat during long periods of nothing.

All of this led to the conclusion that the impact from James' pod is what damaged the Sayan's and allowed it to roam free, not the landing impact as initially believed. The Sayan pod landed first an indeterminate amount of time prior, but landed in such a way that the Sayan was trapped. When James' pod crashed, it opened up a way for the Sayan to escape. Nearly starving, it attempted to open James' pod, only it had jammed shut. It returned to its own pod and waited for the terraforming substance to begin to consume James' pod, wherein the melding opened a tunnel between the two pods. James was then violently devoured without standing a chance to fight back or run in such a tiny space.

Jack and Saiyo were asked in more detail about their arrival to Equestria. Jack showed extreme bitterness to the Rebels and was uncooperative. It was only through a slip of the tongue that he stated he saw a light on the way down. Ketsueki theorized that that might have been one of the pods burning up on re-entry, and that therefore one of the Greenspan siblings might never have made it to the ground in the first place. The missing third pod seemed to corroborate this, which meant the list of suspects only comprised Jack and Saiyo (with James being dead).

Before further questioning or investigation could occur, Hellgate appeared, demanding to see the Factory. Hellgate and O-Hellgate revealed their goal in entering this realm was to obtain and steal the Factory's own God Aura (and Executor's as well, it was implied). They had already stolen two of them, adding to their own two. O-Hellgate also mentioned that they believed Factory's may have been special for an unknown reason. When Hellgate was informed that the Factory was no longer around, he began to taunt the A Unit, the Anathemites in particular. This enraged them, and they moved to fight.

Jack was unsure of if he should participate or not, unwilling to unveil his secret to everyone, least of all the Rebels. This hesitation was repaid with an attack from Hellgate that knocked both him and Saiyo several miles away where they were knocked out.

During the course of the battle, Hellgate modeled the four Auras after the four classical elements, starting with water and air. Striking the auras' manfestations seemed to do the most damage to him as well. Near the end of the air phase, Jack suddenly returned, having recovered. He had taken on a new form, with visible augmentations across his body (including his eyes) and a massiv epower increase. He joined the battle, and O-Hellgate took over for his counterpart. O-Hellgate used the powerful Earth and fire elements, and the entire battle dealt incredible damage to the landscape.

At the end of the fight, the Anathemites poured their strength into Daisuke to help him hold off Hellgate's fireball charge, leaving the latter open to attack. Hellgate and O-Hellgate, beaten, started to bicker. O-Hellgate told his other self that they were not giving up on the God Aura, cryptically saying that if they can't steal it, they'll make one. They then both disappeared.

Just then, Wolfgang called in and reported that during the battle, the third pod had been found. Upon arrival, they found a crushed husk of a pod from which nobody could escape alive. Even though Wolfgang acknowledged that it was entirely possible the pod was crushed during the battle against Hellgate, he was convinced they now had substantial evidence to apprehend Saiyo on suspicion of being the Sayan. With Jack essentially proving his legitimacy by unleashing his hidden powers, that only left Saiyo. Taking Jack's own story into account, the lack of a functioning third pod, the mud found at the scene and ERAC's roof, and the blood trail, Wolfgang ordered Saiyo's capture and transfer to the interrogation room. Wolfgang, aware of Jack's disposition, also ordered him to be restrained lest he interfere with the investigation of Saiyo.

Jack finally agreed to go quietly, but only if he was allowed ot attend the interrogation. Wolfgang said he would consider it, and the episode ended.

Soundtrack

 * 1) Opening Theme - Main Theme (Sonic: Time Attacked)
 * 2) Sayan Report - Sector 1 (SRX) (Metroid Fusion)
 * 3) The Enemy Among Us - Environmental Sound (Intrigue) (Metroid Fusion)
 * 4) Investigating the Scene ~ Stage 1: Search ~ Core 2002 (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All)
 * 5) Jack and Saiyo Greenspan: Strange People (Gyakuten Kenji 2 / Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations: Prosecutor's Path)
 * 6) Investigating the Scene ~ A Burned-Up Pod: Investigation ~ Middle Stage 2004 (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations)
 * 7) Twin Demons - Mithos Yggdrasill (Tales of Symphonia)
 * 8) Stolen Fires - Beat the Angel (Tales of Symphonia)
 * 9) Jack Unleashed - Title (Night Storm)
 * 10) O-Hellgate Takes Over - Goin' down the Fast Way (Rise of the Triad (2013))
 * 11) The Third Pod - Investigation ~ The Core 2001 (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney)
 * 12) Obvious Implications - Suspense 2001 (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney)
 * 13) The Sayan - Phantom ~ UNKNOWN (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies)
 * 14) Ending Theme - Dream a Dream (Pop It Don't Drop It Edit)

Trivia

 * Due to difficulties during the investigation phase, a lot of time was lost. As a result, a planned confrontation with Saiyo was removed from the end of the episode. This will instead be used to start off the next episode, entitled "Wicked Hands."