In the real world, Trotter sneaks up on Chloe as she tappa-taps at the computer and whacks her in the head with the butt of her gun. Chloe goes down. Trotter sneers disdainfully, as is her wont. The other VRA ops join her. One of them takes Chloe's place at the computer. "Make sure Kent never makes it out of there," she says. "Do whatever it takes to stop him." She tells him to use Chloe's avatar. We cut to Virtual Chloe as she's crossing the street. Suddenly she staggers and frowns as if in pain. A moment later, a look of evil determination comes over her face.

She finds Lois and Clark waiting for her in the DP basement and acts like they're talking crazy talk when they express their readiness to jump off the roof. She says they're delusional, suicidal. Lois somehow realizes this isn't real Chloe (or even Virtual Real Chloe) and backhands her into the next room. Lois drags a bewildered Clark into the elevator.