Continuum Episode 1.04 Matter of Time

Carlos and Kiera investigate the unexplained death of professor Martin Ames at an area research facility. Ames had been shot and killed with a single-entry laser wound that shot through five stories of the research building. Perplexed, they bring in one of Ames' grad students for help.

Carlos and Kiera meet with Ames' grad student, Shane Mathers who explains that their anti-matter machine had backfired, killing Ames in the process. Kiera determines that their research was focused on developing a clean energy product. Mathers admits that the lab had received threats for their work, particularly from a group called "Stop Mad Scientists " and their leader Vincent. Mathers also admits that the professor turned down military backing, despite repeated interest. During their questioning, Mathers finds that all of the professor's backup research files have gone missing, apparently hacked from his encrypted backup server.

Back at the original time jump site, Eduoard Kagame, the original leader of Liber8 appears in a burst of blue light from 2077 and lands on the ground, unconscious. Liber8, meanwhile, has been on the run since they destroyed their last safehouse. They commandeer a new hideout from a gang-run marijuana grow house.

After Mathers leaves, Carlos offers a theory that he rigged the machine to backfire, killing Ames and stealing his research. He challenges Kiera to trust her gut more often, noting that she merely observes and calculates during interrogations instead of just listening. Unbeknownst to him, Kiera uses her HUD and her CMR to monitor a person's heart rate, breathing and other micro-movements to decipher their sincerity.

When Kagame wakes in the hospital, he makes for an escape.

With his knowledge of future events, Kellog begins to cash in on his profitable investments and sports bets, earning a fortune overnight. He buys a house and begins supporting a young woman and her widowed mother. When he takes the young woman shopping downtown, Kellog tells her that she'll have a grandson one day. She laughs off the statement from her kindly benefactor.

Kiera and Carlos confront the clean energy protest group, Stop Mad Scientists. Their leader points them in the direction of Melissa Dobeck, former partner of Ames' who had a falling out with him and left the company in a bitter dispute. When they confront Melissa, she and Kiera engage in a terse, standoffish interrogative dance that provides few answers.

When they return to the precinct, Carlos is shocked to find that the Department of Defense has shut down his investigation. Carlos immediately suspects that Kiera's clandestine "Section Six" status led to the DOD shutdown, which Kiera vigorously denies. She proposes that Liber8 might be involved somehow and asks Carlos to buy her some time as she heads off to follow her hunch.

She meets with Mathers who departs suddenly after receiving a text. With Alec's help, she tracks the text back to Melissa Dobeck and learns that she was involved in a legal challenge to Ames' research and patents. As she tells Carlos about Melissa's involvement, Betty runs over to show them a news broadcast featuring an unidentified older man who has escaped from a local hospital; they are shocked to see that the man is Edouard Kagame. Back in their new safehouse, Travis and Sonya see Kagame on the news and go to meet him at their backup rally point.

While the VPD is on the hunt for Kagame, Carlos and Kiera confront Melissa over involvement with Ames, his research, and more specifically, his grad student, Mathers. She admits to sleeping with Mathers but says the relationship is over and she's engaged to another man. Kiera, in an effort to wean herself from her HUD and CMR in the event her battle suit is permanently damaged, periodically turns it off to learn to trust her gut. Without a warrant to press Melissa for more information, she dismisses them.

Kagame, meanwhile, arrives at the backup rally point at a Buddhist temple from his past.

Mathers is brought in for questioning where he admits that he was involved with Melissa, because he knew she was the better scientist. When Kiera reveals that Melissa is engaged to another man, Mathers realizes he's been played. Still, he takes the fall for Ames' murder to protect Melissa and confesses that he deleted the backup research files.

Kagame is spotted at the temple and the cops are in hot pursuit. Liber8 arrives at the same time as Carlos and Kiera. They split up and Kagame confronts Kiera, as they wrestle for control. Kiera holds Kagame at gunpoint just as the members of Liber8 take a woman and her baby hostage. To avoid more bloodshed, Kiera trades the hostages for Kagame and they flee peacefully. When Carlos arrives, Kiera lies and says they just missed them.

Alec cuts in and reveals that Melissa has booked a last-minute flight to Costa Rica and that she's carrying a second backup of Ames's research. When Kiera confronts Melissa at the airport with a warrant, she surrenders the research and begs Kiera not to turn it over to the military. Melissa's fiancé, Drew LaRoche, comes over to the pair and introduces himself. Kiera realizes that Melissa Dobeck becomes Melissa LaRoche; with her knowledge of future events, Kiera hands the research back to Melissa. Confused but grateful, Melissa thanks her and boards the plane.

As Kagame reunites with Liber8, they gain a newfound resilience. He commits to bringing on their terrorist war on their terms in this timeline.

Kiera returns to her apartment to find Alec having broken in and waiting for her. He takes a look at her damaged battle suit and offers to help fix it. He questions why Kiera let Melissa go. She explains that in the future, Melissa LaRoche solves the global clean energy problem by creating LaRoche Energy. She adds that she struggled with the choice to let Melissa go for one man's murder, since her work would benefit millions in the future.

Disappointed in her choice, Alec calls Kiera out for playing God with her knowledge of future events.