8. Incursion

Complete story — includes the ending

Ethan learns to ride a bike. He encounters two older boys in a park who destroy a sweeper robot, then they try to steal his bike. The boys push Ethan into a mud puddle. When he stands, they see that part of his face is torn, revealing the mechanics inside, and they run off. Ethan identifies with the relatively primitive bot, and takes it home. When Julie tells him the bot has "served its purpose," Ethan asks what his own purpose is. John is alarmed at Ethan's rapid intellectual growth and wants to slow down his brain development, but John finds he has been locked out of the reprogramming mode. Julie suggests that Ethan did it himself, based on his newly developed survival instinct. Sparks meets with Yasumoto to discuss his concerns about Molly, but Yasumoto reminds him that Molly is the offspring's mother and they must keep her alive until they know the "boy" can thrive without its parent. Yasumoto also says he is dying, revealing his motivations for bringing the offspring to Earth. Despite Yasumoto's directive, Sparks later orders Kern to kill Molly. Kern devises a plan to disable security systems in the building where the offspring is kept, whereby Molly and Kryger can get past Sparks and the team. Making it into the chamber, Molly approaches the box, only to have Kryger shoot it full of holes, saying they are all better off with the offspring dead. A concerned Molly removes the box lid, finding only the technician's dead body inside.