The episode ended on a freeze-frame: Samira bursting out the emergency exit, the golden bead clutched in her fist, the red glow of the restroom sign behind her, and the hazmat figures silhouetted in the doorway.

She laughed it off. Until her rental car’s tires were slashed. Until a man in a dark sedan followed her back to her motel. Thorne went pale.

And then the restroom door flew open.

His machine, dubbed "The Midas," was a Rube Goldberg contraption of spinning centrifuges, ion-exchange resins, and something that looked suspiciously like a giant espresso maker. The idea was simple: filter, strip, burn, refine.

She almost deleted it. But the word "Gold" caught her eye. Her student loan grace period had ended six months ago, and her credit card was now a decorative plastic rectangle.

"It's the Big Phosphate people," he whispered. "Or the fertilizer cartel. You don't understand, Samira. Urine has phosphorus. Peak phosphorus is coming. Without it, crops fail. Whoever controls the phosphorus in wastewater… controls the food supply."