13. A Better Human Being

Complete story — includes the ending

A reporter is murdered by three teenagers. The Fringe team learns that another teenager, Sean Martin, in a mental institution witnessed the murder at a long distance by hearing voices from "outside" his head. Analyzing blood from an assailant injured in the attack, Walter finds that Sean and the assailant must have a common ancestor. Olivia and Lincoln learn that Sean was conceived by in vitro fertilisation, and that the killed reporter had been looking into the process. Walter concludes that Sean is reading the thoughts of other in vitro children who are protecting themselves like animals in a hive. The doctor that performed the process, Dr. Frank, admits to the team that he modified and donated samples of his own DNA to re-introduce instinctive traits into humans, attempting to build "a better human being". As Olivia and Peter try to retrieve Dr. Frank's files, they are ambushed but manage to capture their attackers. However, a second pair of attackers kills Dr. Frank. Walter discovers that Olivia has recently been given doses of Cortexiphan. He and Lincoln confront Nina Sharp and demand an inspection of the Cortexiphan samples in Massive Dynamic's headquarters. Those samples have been replaced with food coloring, implicating Nina. Meanwhile, Olivia is abducted. She regains consciousness tied up opposite Nina, who is also tied up.