Ow.
Even sleeping, Hack's a total handful.
Is someone in the office?
Finn?
What's he doing at this hour?
He looks super serious.
Probably shouldn't bother him.
Mark Twain...
The sea.
My sea.
Good morning, diary!
Reach For The Heavens!
The ocean's really something.
Reach For The Heavens!
Hey, is that your boat, Hank?
The "River Queen," huh?
Nah, it's not that one. It's this one.
The scourge of the seven seas: the SS McDougal!
Oh, uh...
It's cute.
Ain't she though? She's my baby.
The first part of Hank's job is collecting junk.
Sometimes, he dredges up stuff from the sea floor, and sells it in his store.
That oughta do it.
Thanks for the help, Berry.
No sweat! You should take me on your next salvage job, too.
Sounds good!
Hey! Pudd'nhead!
That son of a...
Wil!
Oh crap, it's Hank!
Who's this?
This is Wilson, the gambling fool everybody calls Pudd'nhead.
See ya!
C'mon, Wil. How about you hand over the Love you owe me first?
I don't have enough right now.
I do have a hot tip, though.
Will you let me off with that instead?
Is it treasure that's sunk to the bottom of the sea?
Uh, not the sea, no...
Try the sky.
The Customer Center told everyone around these parts
Uh-oh!
Which means they're coming down from their tower and getting up to something.
Sounds Love-y! I wonder what it is.
Turns out, there's gonna be treasure flying down from the sky.
Now, according to what I heard,
it's gonna be an ancient model of satellite that's past its service lifetime.
Love-y! But what's a satellite?
It's like a star made out of junk.
I've got a good idea where it's gonna crash down, too.
So if you manage to get your hands on it...
It could be worth a lot, yeah.
How about it? Just between the three of us.
It's a hot tip all right.
Treasure falling from the sky...
Uh-oh!
How are things going, "Hackitt"?
This place is giga-nasty.
Thrills and chills!
Looking like this, though... It's a raggy-drag.
Deal with it.
Thanks to Madam...
...we now know about Kearney's alt account.
By logging in as Hackitt, you can trick the system.
Kearney's disappearance is linked to Phantom Zero and the Zero Phenomenon.
The same phenomenon that erased the AI you encountered, Analytica.
I believe Kearney, the designer behind the Phantom Zero Nation game...
...was investigating the same mystery we are.
Wow, glitzy. Bet ya could make a ton of Love from it.
The Zero Phenomenon, Phantom Zero,
and an AI who built the foundation of the system that administers this city...
Open sesame!
It's all connected. And when we get close enough, they'll appear...
Gulp! Glitchy-witchy?!
Huh? Frozen?
Don't spook me!
It's a reproduction created from stored data.
This is the same Phantom Zero you and Berry saw during the phenomenon, correct?
Yeah, man! The glitchy-witchy!
Looks paranormal.
So Kearney did encounter Phantom Zero before he disappeared.
Analytica and Kearney...
They both got too close to the truth, then vanished.
No, they were disposed of.
Okay, that's freaky.
But if we can figure out who's behind this, we'll find a way to Mark Twain.
Take all the hidden data you can.
I. Love. Ai!
Huh?
It's copy-protected.
Impressive, Kearney.
But there should be a way to disable the protection. Find it.
Understood!
Hey, Finn, I happen to know someone else who knew Kearney...
What?
All it'll cost you is some Love.
You can't rely solely on what you can see.
Especially when your imagination seems to be misaligned.
I'm not sure I follow.
You'll have to do the rest of the searching yourself. Good day.
Huh? Weird.
This one's fine.
Okay, take a closer look.
The room inside the mirror is where the data's actually stored.
Mine now!
What's with the card?
An ID card that allows access to the Angel Fish Club, a special search engine.
So it's, like, a members-only deal?
Right.
And with access, we can find things the Customer Center would rather keep hidden.
Got something you can use to test it out.
What's up, nerdy-birdy?
Treasure's gonna fall from the sky.
No time like the present.
I've got the results.
It seems your fisherman friend was right, Hank.
A satellite! We're about to get Love-rich quick!
That's not all.
The satellite has a core with records
on a variety of experiments the Customer Center has been running.
Uh-oh!
A capsule containing the core will be ejected before the satellite crashes down.
The Customer Center has declared this area off-limits so they can collect it.
Uh-oh!
Which means this capsule likely contains valuable data.
So it might have stuff about Phantom Zero?
And the Zero Phenomenon?
Right.
So we're gonna go nab it!
That works out nice.
You guys focus on grabbing the capsule. I'll be satisfied just collecting the scrap.
Then, let's get to work.
Right!
And so, our plan to catch the capsule got underway.
Gotta figure out where it's coming down, then get there before the Customer Center.
Hack and I will feed the Customer Center false information beforehand.
Send 'em on a loosey-goose chase.
We're counting on you.
Gonna be a cinch.
What're you making?
A glove.
I mean, this is gonna be the biggest pop fly anyone's ever caught.
I see.
A terminal disguised with information camouflage.
A veritable ticket to heaven.
Huh? You spending the night in here again?
You were here the night before last, too.
The night before last?
Oh, I suppose I was.
So are you looking up stuff about the capsule?
No. It's not important. Different case.
Oh, okay.
Finn's acting kinda weird.
Now this is perfect weather for a ball game!
We need to practice if we wanna get the "catch" right.
Hey!
Which is why we arranged for some help.
This certainly looks like fun.
It's been a while! You been okay, Doron?
Yes, and I'm still grateful for everything the Yurei Detective Club did for me.
I called him up. Perfect choice for helping us catch crap out of the sky, right?
After hearing what we'd be doing, I contacted a few associates of mine.
Meet my fellow lost drones.
Beep boop, beep boop.
Nice to meet you!
So how should we begin?
This is a test run for catching a capsule that's gonna be falling out of the sky.
So drop this from up high.
Understood. But how exactly will you be catching something like that?
It sounds dangerous.
You don't need to worry about that.
That's a point. Who's gonna actually be catching it?
Here she comes.
Good afternoon, all.
Let's get started.
Okay!
Doron Pass!
Incoming!
Left a little!
Next!
All right...
Just call me the "Catcher in the Sky"!
Nice catch!
You gotcha-got it!
High five!
Something about all of us working together towards one goal...
It's so Love-y, diary!
Let's keep it up! Next!
I'm on it!
Tomorrow's the big day.
I was wondering...
What's up?
I think Finn's hiding something from us.
Sounds about right.
Whole time I've known him, he's never been what you'd call "open."
We met at my old shop.
Is that a machine for constructing Hyperverse spaces?
Yeah. Someone asked me to do some repairs.
You come by here a lot lately.
Am I too conspicuous?
A little. Since you're always alone.
The harder one strives for righteousness, the lonelier their path becomes.
Is that right? You looking for anything in particular?
Would you be able to put together a highly customized rig for world-building?
Highly customized? Hm, I don't see why not.
I'll also need an interface that lets me operate it without a Deco.
No Deco at all? Seems like kind of a pain, man.
If it can't be done, I'll go ask elsewhere.
Whoa, hold up!
Could be a fun puzzle.
Then, please build it. I can get you as much Love as you need.
Come to think of it, why doesn't Finn ever use a Deco?
It's not that he doesn't. He can't.
He gets Deco-sick.
Using one does a number on his inner ear and he gets real shaky as a result.
And he can build such awesome Hyperverse worlds, too...
Yeah. He's stuck looking at the worlds he makes from the outside.
Why's Finn so interested in Phantom Zero and the Zero Phenomenon?
Well, he wants to clear your name, of course. Hack's, too.
Nah, can't be that.
Yeah, I don't think so, either.
Phantom Zero...
Hack told me this case had been going on since forever.
Even the first time we met, Hack was doing a job for Finn...
Sleepyhead!
...investigating the Zero Phenomenon.
Play ball!
But why?
Hey, nerdy-birdy!
We're shipping out, too.
We're all working together on this one. The plan's pretty simple.
We're gonna collect the capsule, and Hank's gonna collect the junk.
Each boat heads to the estimated coordinates of the splashdowns.
Meanwhile, Hack sends the fake info about the expected coordinates
that Finn cooked up to the Customer Center.
Then, once Smiley and I spot the falling capsule, we give Madam the signal.
Still nothing?
There it is!
Oh, yeah!
More that way!
Go, go!
Looks like it's my turn.
This is nerve-wracking.
I haven't felt this tense since my very first secret tryst.
I can feel my heart pounding.
You gonna be okay?
Oh, yes. I haven't felt this young in ages!
We're almost there, Hack.
I got ya, nerdy-birdy!
Here it comes.
Catcher in the Sky!
Dammit, Wil, you pudd'nhead.
I thought it was "just between us." How many people did you tell?
Well? Any sign of the treasure?
Was that the capsule?
We did it!
That was a nice catch!
Yeah!
Well done. Now, don't get caught.
Time to make waves!
We did it, diary! The plan went without a hitch!
The Detective Club has never felt more like a team than right now! It's Love-y!
Man, that satellite's nowhere to be seen.
But we did get the capsule.
Yeah.
So you gonna kiss the sky now?
That's the plan.
Gobble, gobble, gobble!
So good!
Finn really is a Love-y cook!
Again with the cilantro...
Having a meal that's overflowing with nature every once in a while is nice.
Yeah, it's not bad.
That satellite never did show up...
You all did a great job, though.
Yeah. It was really exciting.
Nerdy-birdy was weaky-weak!
Well, who wouldn't be nervous?
I thought it was a piece of cake.
Huh? Didn't you mention nerves? And how it was like a "secret tryst"?
Pipe down.
Everyone. I need to speak with you.
So how'd it go?
Well... we worked hard to obtain the capsule, but...
So what's the deal, Finn?
What's wrong?
I couldn't learn anything from it.
Why not? We managed to catch it.
Unfortunately, the data with the records is damaged.
Aw!
What the heck?
I see.
More wasted effort!
It is what it is.
I think I'll be heading home now.
I'll walk you there.
Crazy waste.
Hack. Can I borrow you for a sec?
Wha—
Finn!
You guys...
How long have you been there?
That's the capsule, isn't it?
Looks like the data's loadin' fine.
You said it was broken.
What's the big idea?
Why'd you lie?
Lie?
You just messed up, right?!
This has nothing to do with you all.
We're all members of this Detective Club! It has plenty to do with us!
Were you examining it on your own with Kearney's card?
Whoa, hang on. That's seriously messed up.
Man, you knew all along the capsule was comin' down but not the satellite, didn't you?
I did.
I've had about enough of you being secretive.
What is this, Finn?
Why're you keeping all these dumb secrets?!
I thought we were a club. Aren't we friends?
Friends?
We're not friends. We're not anything.
We're just a bunch of outcasts who have nowhere else to go.
Outcasts?
What are you talking about?! We've done plenty of stuff together!
Just 'cause you got what you're after doesn't mean you have to be a jerk!
You're making it sound like... from the very beginning...
Yes. I was using you. You've been nothing but pawns all along.
Pawns, huh? Yup, sounds like you.
I put together the SOS.
Watson and the Madam were for intel.
And Hack and Berry were doing the footwork in the Hyperverse, since you can't use a Deco.
I've exploited you all in pursuit of my agenda.
And I don't need you anymore.
The glitchy-witchy!
You just gonna forget about the glitchy-witchy?!
The identity of Phantom Zero?
That was just part of my pretense for recruiting you.
I couldn't care less.
Liar...
You've done admirable work.
But this detective club is dissolved.