MONDO EXTRAS

And the teacher gives the authority answer, no less wrong for being logical: "River, we're not telling people what to think, we're just trying to show them how." She leans in and stabs something deep into River's forehead. We jump-cut to an older River (Summer Glau, the River you know already), where she's being experimented upon in a cold, blue laboratory, needles in her brain, strapped in a chair. The world of you watching a movie has become the world of a history lesson, has become the world of a history class, which has become a nightmare. She screams. Dr. Mathias registers that she's in REM, "off the charts," and wants to "amp it up." He turns to a freakishly beautiful Alliance inspector, a guy named Simon we know from the show, who's holding a strange-looking device and looking at him intensely. Simon does everything intensely.

"See, most of our best work is done when they're asleep," the doctor explains to the guy. "We can monitor and direct their subconscious implant suggestions. It's a little startling to see at first, but results are spectacular. Especially in this case. River Tam is our star pupil." The man, whose name is Simon, has in fact heard that. The doctor refers to her suitability for "defense deployment, even with "the side effects." Yeah, the side effects are a bitch. "Tell me about them." She unstable, clearly, due to the "neural stripping" somehow fragmenting "their...reality matrix." This gobbledygook is basically manifested as "borderline" something. "What use do we have for a psychic if she's insane?" This Simon man is wearing a flattering uniform. "She's not just a psychic. Given the right trigger, this girl is a living weapon." She screams and moves, in the chair. He doesn't seem to notice. "She has her lucid periods. We're hoping to improve upon the...I'm sorry, sir, but I have to ask. Is there a reason for this inspection?" Simon, who is creepy on a good day, asks if he's making Mathias "nervous."