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“Caleidoscope” is episode five of season two of Perception. Lewicki is giving Daniel a grapefruit with a candle in it. He knows Daniel likes to act like it’s just another day, but… Happy Birthday. Natalie tells Daniel that he forgot. Daniel says that he doesn’t care about birthdays, and hasn’t since he was a kid. Natalie corrects him; he doesn’t celebrate birthdays and hasn’t since he was diagnosed. At the university, Dean Haley has arranged a chef’s table at a new restaurant. A private dinner. Daniel tries claiming that he has an exam to prepare for, but Lewicki tells him he doesn’t. Then takes a call from Kate.
According to Kate, a Kurt Simpson was shot three weeks ago in a hotel room in Three Rivers, Michigan, shot twice in the chest. No suspect, no friends, no family, just a job managing a buffet restaurant. The FBI’s cyber unit received a civilian complaint regarding Simpson. Who did have a life, just not in the real world.
His life was in Caleidoscope, a massively multiplayer online social game (which sounds rather like Second Life). Daniel, once the concept is explained to him, starts saying that is a delivery system for ADD and the cyber agent, Fleckner, starts answering him on that. Even though Kate tells him not to. The murder victim engaged in identity theft, and used the game to sell stolen credit card numbers. The virtual tipster was Jeremy Nordhoff, aka Jeremy108. That’s where Daniel’s help is needed; according to Jeremy’s mother, he hasn’t spoken a word in five years,
Stephanie Nordhoff says that, one day, when he was 17, Jeremy went into his room, stopped talking and stopped leaving the house. She thought that was because of her abusive husband, but he has left. Daniel suggests that Jeremy answer Kate’s questions by pressing Y or N on the keyboard, but he can’t manage that and has a panic attack. Outside the house, Daniel says he needs to speak to Jeremy. In-game, because he needs therapy badly. Kate tells him there are rules, and it shouldn’t take more than a day for the paperwork to come through.
To be continued…
