MEAD 2022

In a distant future, MEAD Patton Oswalt — a symbiotically linked spaceship — teams up with Friz as they sprint through the stars, fleeing a dangerous hunt from bounty hunters. Using telepathically projected illusions, they manage to outmaneuver their pursuers, bending perception so effectively that the chase ends with the bounty hunters destroying their own ship in the process. Yet the trio survives long enough to spot a lone figure drifting in a spacesuit amid the wreckage, whom they rescue and bring aboard.

The unconscious occupant is Phoebe, an escaped prison inmate who seems to know too much about who they are and how widely they’re wanted across the Solar System. As Phoebe regains consciousness, she reveals her knowledge of their notoriety, and Friz and MEAD recount the extraordinary escape from a brutal military testing facility. The backstory unfolds with more weight: MEAD was designed as a weapon of war, but his original programmer Tam imbued him with pacifist impulses, refusing to kill for the military. This defiance angered the program’s director, Admiral Gillette, who sought to decommission MEAD and imprison Friz. In a dramatic turn, Tam returns to help them escape, only to be murdered by Gillette, who leaves Friz badly wounded. MEAD’s retaliation is brutal and decisive: a door is closed on Gillette, severing his hand, a trophy they keep as a stark reminder of the cost of their rebellion.

With Phoebe now aboard, the trio is wary but begins to trust each other as they share their intertwined fates. Phoebe decides not to steal their shuttle or sell them out, and the group faces a new shortage of fuel. Their plan becomes clear: they will steal dark matter energy from Ganymede base, a risky heist that promises enough power to keep them moving for a long time. Their cunning is on full display as they unleash a new barrage of illusions, including one of a beloved children’s toy — Timmy the Wunderbot [Patrick Warburton] — to bypass base security and siphon the energy they need.

The chase intensifies as Admiral Gillette closes in aboard a massive vessel named Achilles. He carries a helmet capable of distinguishing reality from the group’s clever feints, giving him a dangerous edge. While MEAD and Friz excel at deceiving most of the Achilles crew, he uses his equipment to strike at them, delivering a crippling blow to MEAD. Phoebe scrambles to repair the damaged machine by plugging in a dark matter pod they had stolen earlier, an act that shocks her as much as it helps.

To buy time, Friz and MEAD project a convincing illusion of Gillette on the bridge, a grotesque monster meant to derail the crew from following orders. The ruse buys enough chaos for the moment, but the Achilles crew still faces a lethal challenge. Sternhagen and the rest of the bridge crew, tired of Gillette’s vendetta, side with the others and press him into breaking off the pursuit. A furious firefight erupts, and the battle on the bridge proves devastating: Admiral Gillette and everyone on the bridge are killed.

As the ship’s systems begin to fail, MEAD slowly deactivates, revealing a painful truth: Friz’s good looks were just a mirror, masking the burns he suffered during his escape. Despair grips Phoebe as she flees toward the escaping shuttle to surrender herself to the surviving Achilles crew. Yet, even as Friz lies unconscious, MEAD manages to reconnect power using the dark matter pod Phoebe had attached. With the ship rebooting, the two contemplate their next move and realize they could go anywhere, but they choose a braver path: they will return to rescue Phoebe from prison.

Together, the trio’s bond is tested, strengthened, and finally clarified as they chart a course toward a rescue that could redeem all they’ve suffered. The story threads a clear result: a vow to pull Phoebe out of danger and to continue pressing onward, no matter the odds.