Evil brother Adrian has infiltrated the Warehouse again – oh will someone please kill him! he’s arrived to deliver more ominous threats – honestly I don’t get Artie’s shock and horror. I mean, ominous threats and warnings are pretty much how Evil Brother Adrian says hello.
His latest plot? To send Artefacts to Pete’s ex-wife, Claudia’s brother and Myka’s pregnant sister.
Pete’s ex-wife Amanda, at least, knows the big secret after her wedding and the bee hives (old Artefact). She’s burning up and feeling awful – and her touch boils water. She has received a package in the post – but all it is is an empty leather box. She collapses and they rush her to hospital where she and Pete have a touching moment (not that kind of touching). As she burns up he finds a tattoo on her back – he touches that and it leaps to him, giving Pete his obligatory shirtless scene, and passing the burning-up to him. Contacting Artie, it seems the tattoo is of Russian terrorist, Kotik, history’s first suicide bomber who used kerosene to try and kill the Tsar. Because he’s interrupted by Brother Adrian, all Artie can tell him is to get the tattoo off his body – cut it off if he has to.
Pete gives Amanda a scalpel and they attempt the desperate act of cutting it off – but it moves before she can touch his skin with the knife. Then the radiation detector goes off. They hurry him to a bomb shelter to contain any blast – and there’s a touching and funny good bye moment that makes me wonder if Amanda is going to re-become Pete’s love interest
He calls Myka to say goodbye as he burns up and the radiation meter keeps beeping (the bunker keeps out telephones but not Artefact communication). She asks for a resume and points out the box is leather- leather is skin, possibly even the skin of Kotik. To transfer it, he needs to push the box against the tattoo. Awkward because of where it’s placed, but he manages and just before he explodes, the tattoo moves to the box. Clever, I like it. Time for Pete to taunt Amanda with what she said when she was all sad and thought he was going to die.
At Myka’s sister’s, Tracy, they meet joyfully – and Tracy’s eyes glow green. Apparently the hyper squealing is nothing to do with an Artefact and how these 2 are supposed to act. Unfortunately, with the new kid on the way they have received 101 new items, gifts et al – the Artefact could be anything. And her eyes keep glowing green. And Myka gets purple, staining goop on the gifts trying to de-Artefact them – then spreads it around in a desperate attempt to clean them. While her sister, green eyes and all, pours poison into Myka’s tea. Ah, sibling rivalry. Myka has a great excuse for ruining the gift and accidentally knocks over her tear – which burns through the carpet.
Then Tracy finds a knife and the fight is on – except, as Myka points out, she’s a trained Secret Service Agent, despite this there is an actual fight and lots of sisterly sniping as Myka ties Tracy up with kids’ toys. Pete arrives in time to see Tracy beginning to feel ill and her heart giving out – time for a massive trawl through everything – including the wrapping, until they find the Artefact. Day is saved. Time for awkward explanations.
Claudia finds her brother Joshua encased in amber. She calls Leena and they brainstorm what it could be – a tiny scroll belonging to Pliny the Elder – which is in Joshua’s hand. Inside the amber. She takes a blow torch to it, heats it up, then ices it – causing the amber to shatter and letting her clear out the scroll. It seems that Artie was the one who sent Joshua to California in the first place.
