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INT. CCPD CRIME LAB

BARRY ALLEN sits at his desk, leaning back in his chair. JOE WEST arrives with a cup of coffee, his jacket in his arms. He hands the coffee to Barry.

JOE WEST
How's it feel to finally have a slow day at the lab, Barr?

BARRY ALLEN
Honestly? Boring. There's no metas robbing banks. No evil speedsters trying to kill me. Just... paperwork.

JOE WEST
(chuckles)
At least you got that speed of yours to help you out.

BARRY ALLEN
I don't know, Joe. Sometimes I like just doing it at normal pace. Makes me feel human again.

JOE WEST
You're still human, Barry. You've just got a little extra juice.

The two of them laugh and clink their glasses.

BARRY ALLEN
Is this what normal people feel like everyday?

CAPTAIN SINGH enters the lab.

CAPTAIN SINGH
West, Allen! Just got a call about a break-in at Mercury Labs. Some experimental prototype's been stolen. I need you two to get down there immediately.

Barry gathers his equipment. Joe throws his jacket on. Singh exits.

JOE WEST
For us Barry, this is normal.

TITLE:

INT. MERCURY LABS

Barry and Joe through the halls of MERCURY LABS towards the crime scene.

JOE WEST
Another visit to Mercury Labs, another stolen piece of advanced technology to get back.

BARRY ALLEN
Dr. McGee already filled in the Captain that something was stolen. She said she'd meet us in the lab that was broken into. Belongs to a guy named...

Barry looks at the file in his hand. Joe looks up with an awestruck look.

BARRY ALLEN
"Will Magnus."

Joe nudges Barry, prompting him to look up at MAGNUS'S LAB. Barry shares Joe's expression. The lab is HUGE, with mechanical appendages all around. Six VATS of molten metal, each with a different colored metal in them. From left to right, each is labeled with a different metal: LEAD (BLACK), IRON (BLUE), MERCURY (RED), GOLD (YELLOW), PLATINUM (WHITE), TIN (GREY).

BARRY ALLEN
Woah.

The two look around at the lab, with Barry eyeing the vats of metal. Near them, he notices a small VIAL, with a bit of GREEN TOXIN left in it. Barry sets up his equipment as TINA MCGEE enters the crime scene, followed by WILL MAGNUS.

TINA MCGEE
Detective West. How nice to see you again.

JOE WEST
Dr. McGee. I wish we met under better circumstances.

TINA MCGEE
Well, considering our line of work, I'm thankful we only cross paths when we do.

WILL MAGNUS
Can we move this along, please?

TINA MCGEE
My apologies, Will. Detective, this is my employee, Dr. William Magnus.

JOE WEST
Dr. Magnus, Detective Joe West.

WILL MAGNUS
Yes, yes, I can tell that, I heard the conversation. Can we make this quick?

JOE WEST
Uh, sure. It was your lab that was broken into, correct?

WILL MAGNUS
That's where we are, aren't we. Just minor damages to the door, nothing we can't fix. Everything else was fine.

JOE WEST
What is it exactly that you specialize in here at Mercury Labs, Doc?

WILL MAGNUS
First, don't call me "Doc". Second, if you must know, I'm a roboticist. Why do you ask?

JOE WEST
I'm just trying to get a feel for what exactly was stolen?

WILL MAGNUS
Stolen?

JOE WEST
Dr. McGee said that some piece of experimental tech was stolen from your lab. Can you tell me what exactly it was?

WILL MAGNUS
(to McGee)
You reported it missing? Dr. McGee, this device is extremely top secret! Do you know what would happen if word about it got out.

TINA MCGEE
Dr. Magnus, I've worked with the CCPD in the past. I can assure you that they are of the utmost trust and will be very discreet.

WILL MAGNUS
(si
ghs)
The device was called a Responsometer. It's a small computing machine able to process a large amount of information extremely quickly. To put it in layman's terms, it's the most advanced thinking device in existence. Bu it only ever reached prototype stage. The prototype barely worked anyway.

BARRY ALLEN
What do you mean "thinking device"?

WILL MAGNUS
Nothing you need to concern yourself with Mr...

BARRY ALLEN
Allen. Barry Allen.

TINA MCGEE
Mr. Allen here is a bit of a scientist himself, William.

WILL MAGNUS
Oh is he now?

JOE WEST
How did the thief get in, Barry?

BARRY ALLEN
Well judging by the distortion on the door's lock and the security system, the thief used some some sort of toxic material to melt away the lock.

JOE WEST
Are we talking metahuman here?

BARRY ALLEN
I doubt it. I'd need to run some more tests to determine the exact compound, but if the meta could create acid, they could have easily destroyed the whole door.

JOE WEST
What about the rest of the lab? Anything else missing besides the, uh...

WILL MAGNUS
Responsometer.

JOE WEST
Responsometer, thank you.

WILL MAGNUS
(under his breath)
People.

BARRY ALLEN
No. This guy knew exactly what he was looking for.

JOE WEST
Dr. Magnus, do you know who would want to steal your device?

WILL MAGNUS
I haven't the faintest idea. How anyone could know about it is the real mystery. The project was top secret, and it never made it past that one prototype.

JOE WEST
Do you have some sort of visual reference we could use?

Magnus rolls his eyes, handing Joe a photo of the Responsometer.

JOE WEST
Is that your office in the back?

WILL MAGNUS
It is.

JOE WEST
You mind if we take a look around?

WILL MAGNUS
As a matter of fact, Detective, I do mind. I can already assure you that nothing was stolen from my lab. Now if you're quite done here, I'd like to get back to my research as soon as possible, thank you.

Magnus storms off.

TINA MCGEE
My apologies, Detective. William has never really gotten along very well with... well with other humans. Seems the only thing he does like is his robots.

BARRY ALLEN
Dr. McGee, just out of curiosity, what was he working on with those metals?

TINA MCGEE
To be honest Mr. Allen, I'm not entirely sure. I believe it was some sort of metallurgy experiment. William can spend weeks locked in his lab at work. But, he doesn't causes trouble and it produces good results, so I've simply let him be.

JOE WEST
Thanks, Dr. McGee. We'll see what we can do to get your property back.

TINA MCGEE
I'm sure you will. Thank you.

McGee exits.

BARRY ALLEN
What do you think was up with Magnus?

JOE WEST
I don't know. But my gut tells me he's not telling us everything.

BARRY ALLEN
Let's get this stuff over to S.T.A.R. Labs, see what they can find out.

CUT TO:

INT. S.T.A.R. LABS

CISCO RAMON walks backwards into the CORTEX with Barry. CAITLIN SNOW, IRIS WEST, WALLY WEST, and H.R. WELLS stand around the main console with Joe.

CISCO RAMON
I can't believe you guys! You meet Dr. Will Magnus and don't even bother to call me!

CAITLIN SNOW
Who's Will Magnus?

CISCO RAMON
Seriously? Am I the only person who still does science around here?

Cisco grabs a remote off the desk and points it at that the main screen. He hits a button, pulling up a dossier on Magnus.

CISCO RAMON
THIS is Dr. Will Magnus.

IRIS WEST
Do you just have files on hand for any random scient
ist we might encounter.

CISCO RAMON
Yes, but that's not the point. Magnus is one of the foremost minds in the field of robotics right now.

CAITLIN SNOW
Ugh. I hate robotics.

CISCO RAMON
Rude. Within the last decade Magnus has made some of the biggest advances in robotic and metallurgical technology.

WALLY WEST
Yeah, yeah, I've heard of this guy. He created a special process that makes shaping liquid metal easier than ever.

H.R. WELLS
You know, I think we had a Magnus back on my Earth. Though for the life of me, I can't remember if he made robots or fought them.

IRIS WEST
It says here that he went to juvie.

JOE WEST
Juvie? What for?

IRIS WEST
Apparently he hacked into encrypted bank accounts. He claimed that his parents were put him up to it. Judge sent him away for 6 months.

JOE WEST
Well that doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

CISCO RAMON
Okay, so maybe he's done some questionable things, but who hasn't when they're younger. Point is, the guy is like the real-life Susan Calvin. Rumor has it, Magnus was even close to the ultimate dream: AI.

CAITLIN SNOW
You mean Artificial Intelligence?

CISCO RAMON
The first of its kind.

JOE WEST
Okay, I've seen enough movies to know that ain't a good sign.

BARRY ALLEN
What would he need to create a fully functional AI?

CISCO RAMON
Well a lot of his papers focused on the raw computing process that you'd need for the AI, you'd need some kind of miniature supercomputer.

BARRY ALLEN
That's probably what the thief wanted with the Responsometer. To study it and learn how to construct an AI.

JOE WEST
Yeah, but Magnus said that the thing didn't work.

BARRY ALLEN
Cisco, is there a way that you can track the Responsometer?

CISCO RAMON
Sorry man, this is brand new tech. I don't know the first thing about it.

WALLY WEST
Alright, well what are we doing sitting around here? Let's get out there and find this... What did you call it?

CISCO RAMON
A Responsometer.

WALLY WEST
Right.

IRIS WEST
Slow down, Wally. We have no idea where this thing is.

H.R. WELLS
Considering the fact that Magnus said the device didn't work, the thief would probably try to break into Mercury Labs again to find more info on it.

JOE WEST
I agree with H.R.

H.R. WELLS
You do?

JOE WEST
Besides, I'm not so sure about Dr. Magnus. I say we scope the place out, see if the thief returns.

Everyone stands around looking at Joe.

JOE WEST
What?

IRIS WEST
Sorry, dad. It's just that, well, you're not typically the one to come up with the plan?

JOE WEST
I'm the cop here, guys.

BARRY ALLEN
Alright, Cisco, you go with Joe on stakeout. I'll be on standby. You see anything suspicious, you call me.

CISCO RAMON
I'll pack the snacks!

BARRY ALLEN
Caitlin, I need you and H.R. to examine this toxin that we found at the lab, see if you can identify what exactly it is.

CAITLIN SNOW
Can do. You think Joe is right about Magnus?

BARRY ALLEN
I don't know. He wasn't exactly the friendliest guy...

CAITLIN SNOW
Roboticists tend to be like that.

CUT TO:

EXT. MERCURY LABS - NIGHT

Joe and Cisco sit in the VAN outside of Mercury Labs. Joe looks through his binoculars while Cisco eats from a box of CHOCOS. A tablet control for Cisco's DRONE sits on the dashboard.

CISCO RAMON
My God, we've been sitting here for hours. Are stakeouts usually this boring?

JOE WEST
In my exp
erience, yes.

CISCO RAMON
What's up with you and those binoculars anyway? You know I've got my drone stationed right outside. It detects motion, heat signatures, vibrations.

JOE WEST
Well Cisco, I use binoculars 'cause I have something your robots don't: the human factor.

CISCO RAMON
Ah yes, the perfect mind of a human.

JOE WEST
You laugh. But while your machines can detect a lot of stuff, they can't analyze it. Can't think about it. Can't react.

Cisco's tablet beeps. The drone detected something.

CISCO RAMON
You were saying?

JOE WEST
Yeah, yeah.

Cisco pulls up an video feed of what appears to be a thief dressed in night clothes sneaking onto the Mercury Labs property. The camera then goes out.

CISCO RAMON
What? No!

JOE WEST
Call Barry.

Joe gets out of the van and runs towards the door. Upon reaching it, he finds it locked. YELLOW LIGHTNING flies past Joe, passing through the door with ease. THE FLASH slows to a halt inside Mercury Labs. He looks around and sees the figure nowhere. He looks over to an elevator, and sees the floor number is stopped at 52. Barry runs up the stairs to floor 52, running into Dr. Magnus's Lab.

In Magnus's lab are six colored items that weren't there before: a BLACK REFRIGERATOR, a BLUE CHAIR, a RED THERMOMETER, a GOLD FILING CABINET, a WHITE LAMP, and a GRAY WASTEBASKET.

Barry sees the figure emerge from Magnus's office with a bag over his shoulder. The figure is revealed to be Will Magnus, dressed in an Army fatigue jacket and wearing goggles.

BARRY ALLEN
(vibrating)
Dr. Magnus?

WILL MAGNUS
Flash? What are you doing here?

BARRY ALLEN
I got reports about another break in happening at Mercury Labs.

WILL MAGNUS
Well, as you can see there's no break-in, just me getting some stuff out of my office.

The wastebasket hops towards the filing cabinet. Barry turns to look at it.

TIN
Doc looks n-nervous. W-Who is this red guy?

GOLD
I don't know. But don't do anything yet.

Barry looks at the vats from earlier. He walks towards them and sees they're empty.

BARRY ALLEN
What were you doing with those vats?

WILL MAGNUS
Oh, just some metallurgical experiments. I'd be happy to show you some of the research, if you'd like. Tomorrow.

BARRY ALLEN
Alright. I'll let you get back to your work.

As Barry turns around, he accidentally knocks over the wastebasket.

TIN
Ow!

Barry freezes.

BARRY ALLEN
What was that?

WILL MAGNUS
What was what?

BARRY ALLEN
That noise. I thought I heard it from the... wastebasket?

Out of fear, the wastebasket transforms into TIN.

GOLD
Shoot! Our covers blown. Take him down Mercury!

BARRY ALLEN
Who said th--

The red jar suddenly liquifies itself and begins to wrap around Barry's legs. The torso of MERCURY emerges.

MERCURY
You messed with the wrong robots, human!

BARRY ALLEN
What the?

WILL MAGNUS
Mercury, no!

The filing cabinet transforms into GOLD.

GOLD
Ha! Not so tough now, are you?

Barry begins to vibrate his body, repelling Mercury off. He runs to the middle of the lab.

WILL MAGNUS
Gold, stop!

BARRY ALLEN
Magnus, what is going on here?

The chair and refrigerator emerge as IRON and LEAD. Both start running at Barry.

IRON
I've got him!

LEAD
I've, uh, got him.

Barry speeds out of the way, causing the two robots to crash into each other. He rests next to the white lamp, which turns into PLATINUM.

PLATINUM
Well hi there.

Platinum punches Barry across the room. Barry sits up, clutching his ribs.

P
LATINUM
Don't worry, Will. We'll take care of this guy.

Platinum walks over to Barry, the rest of the METAL MEN falling behind her. Each turns their hand into a weapon, raising it to attack Barry.

WILL MAGNUS
METAL MEN, STAND DOWN! ALL OF YOU! THAT'S AN ORDER!

The Metal Men all stop and look at Magnus. Slowly, their hands return to their normal shape. Magnus walks over to Barry and helps him to his feet.

WILL MAGNUS
Well, Mr. Allen. You wanted to see what I was working on? Allow me to present my greatest creations: The Metal Men!

CUT TO:

INT. S.T.A.R. LABS - CORTEX

Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, Joe, Iris, Wally and H.R. stand on one side of the room, behind the main console. Magnus and the Metal Men stand on the other side. The sight of the Metal Men causes a different reaction amongst the group. Barry and Wally are curious, Cisco is excited, Caitlin is uncomfortable, and Joe and Iris are suspicious. H.R. just stands there with his usual goofy smile.

WILL MAGNUS
Alright, so I'm sure you all have a lot of questions.

JOE WEST
That's an understatement.

WILL MAGNUS
But first, please, allow me to introduce you to... the Metal Men! First off, let me introduce Gold.

Gold steps forward, slicking back his "hair".

GOLD
Thanks, Doc. Hello, ladies and gentlemen, I know it is a pleasure to meet me. I'm Gold, rarest and most valuable mineral on Earth. My atomic number is 79. And now that I've given you mine, I would love to get yours.
He points to Caitlin, who gives him the patented "Caitlin Snow Death Glare".

WILL MAGNUS
Alright, Gold, that will do. This is Iron.

Iron steps forward and flexes his "muscles".

IRON
I'm the most abundant metal on Earth, the strongest in this room, and, most importantly, the most stable. I'm pretty much the complete package. Someone need a pounding? You call Iron.

WILL MAGNUS
This here is Lead.

Lead lumbers forward.

LEAD
Uh, hi, I'm Lead. I'm very dense. ... And, uh, that's all I got.

MERCURY
(scoffs)
Dense is right.

WILL MAGNUS
The loudmouth there is--

Mercury moves in liquid form around the cortex.

MERCURY
The name's Mercury, meatbags. I'm the only metal that liquifies at room temperature making me the fastest bot in here. And quite frankly...

Mercury gets in Barry's face.

MERCURY
I don't appreciate that there's some other red guy zipping around claiming to be the fastest.

Barry smirks at this remark.

MERCURY
A wise guy, eh? You wanna go right now, human? Come on, let's race, me and you, right here, right now!

WILL MAGNUS
Cool down, Mercury.

Mercury sneers and returns to the line.

WILL MAGNUS
The short one hiding back there is Tin.

Tin steps out from behind Lead.

TIN
H-Hi. I'm T-T-Tin. I d-don't really do m-much. I c-can help make g-glass, I guess. Usually I just t-turn into a wastebasket.

Platinum steps out an puts a hand on Tin's shoulder.

PLATINUM
Now Tin, you know you're a valued part of this team. Each of the Metal Men brings something to the table.

TIN
Th-Thanks, Platinum.

PLATINUM
I'm Platinum, btw. I was the first creation of Will's "Metal Men" project. And not to brag or anything, but he has such good taste in minerals.

Platinum throws her arms around Will. Mercury rolls his eyes.

CISCO RAMON
(whispering to Caitlin)
Is it just me, or is that robot flirting with Magnus?

Caitlin nods her head in agreement. Magnus pulls Platinum off of him.

WILL MAGNUS
Uh, yes, thank you Platinum, that's enough. Platinum is also the leader of the Metal Men.

GOLD
Now wait just a second, Doc. I thought I was gonna be leader.

PLATINUM
Oh, like you did such a goo
d job leading us earlier? You didn't even get involved in the fight!

GOLD
I was dictating battle tactics.

IRON
Tactics? You just said "Mercury, get him!"

MERCURY
Yeah, I did the work trapping him while you just stood there and posed for the camera.

GOLD
You wanna go, thermometer boy?

MERCURY
Bring it, Goldie!

Platinum quickly turns her hands into blades, pointing one at Gold and Mercury each. Upon seeing this, Tin forms into a small ball to hide.

PLATINUM
You two better sit down right this second or I swear to Asimov, I will--

WILL MAGNUS
ENOUGH! ALL OF YOU!

Magnus takes of his goggles and rubs the side of his head, eyes closed.

WILL MAGNUS
Mr. Allen, do you have another room my team could go while we talk? Preferably a place where they won't destroy anything of value should they lose their temper again?

BARRY ALLEN
Wally, would you and H.R. take the Metal Men down to the Speed Lab? Keep an eye on them?

WALLY WEST
You got it. Come on, guys.

Wally and H.R. exit the room, the Metal Men following. Mercury moves ahead of them.

WILL MAGNUS
Alright, then. Where do we start?

With the exception of Barry, everybody answers at once.

CISCO RAMON
How did you do it?

CAITLIN SNOW
WHY would you do it?

JOE WEST
Why didn't you tell us about the other six Responsometers?

IRIS WEST
Why are they like that?

WILL MAGNUS
...This. This right here. This is why I hate human beings.

CISCO RAMON
Doc. Doc! Uh, is it cool if I call you Doc?

WILL MAGNUS
It absolutely is not.

CISCO RAMON
Sorry, Dr. Magnus. But do you realize what you've done? You've created an Artificial Intelligence! The very first of its kind! I mean... How does the scientific community not know about this?

WILL MAGNUS
Because the Metal Men are a very closely guarded secret. One that I do not want ANYONE to know about.

JOE WEST
Why didn't you tell us about the other six Responsometers back at the crime scene?

WILL MAGNUS
Because they're not supposed to exist. And I had the situation perfectly under control. Until you showed up, Flash, and spooked the Metal Men.

IRIS WEST
Hey, don't put this on Barry. It was your killer robots that attacked him.

WILL MAGNUS
First off, Ms. West, the Metal Men are not killers. Secondly, the only reason they attacked him in the first place was because they thought he was a threat to me.

JOE WEST
A threat to you?

WILL MAGNUS
Yes, I know, they jumped the gun a little, but you have to understand. I'm their creator. They care about me. And I care about them.

CAITLIN SNOW
But they're just machines.

WILL MAGNUS
No, Dr. Snow. They're not.

Awkward silence.

BARRY ALLEN
How did you create the Metal Men, Dr. Magnus?

WILL MAGNUS
Well, the Responsometer serves as the processing unit--

BARRY ALLEN
No, I mean... How were they born?

WILL MAGNUS
Oh. Well that... That's quite the story.