Contains spoilers for this episode.
Cameron is arrested for shoplifting and questioned about an unidentified body found years earlier in a suitcase. His account returns to his work as a games journalist, when programmer Colin Ritman invited him to see Thronglets. The colourful creatures appeared to belong to a simulation, but Colin insisted they were living beings. Cameron stole a copy and began caring for them at home, watching their population and needs grow.
Taking LSD with his friend Lump lets Cameron understand the creatures' language. He buys equipment to communicate with them more closely and becomes absorbed in their welfare. While Cameron is away, Lump experiments with the programme and kills many of the creatures. Cameron returns, attacks him and strangles him. He dismembers the body and abandons it, then devotes the following decades to expanding the Thronglets' computing resources and their connection to him.
In the interview room, Cameron reveals a physical port he has installed in his own head. He says he wanted to be caught because police systems offer a route to a much larger network. Given paper, he draws a symbol and holds it toward a camera, allowing the creatures access. A signal begins playing and people collapse. Cameron describes a merger that will end human conflict, but the episode does not confirm that promise or reveal how freely anybody can resist it. He smiles and reaches toward the fallen detective.