When the crew of Serenity arrives on the heavily populated, industrialized Alliance core world of 'Ariel', where Inara is to undergo an annual physical examination for her clean companion medical record, Simon realizes it is the perfect opportunity to sneak River into an Alliance medical facility and find out what they did to her. In return for the crew's help in getting them in to the facility, Simon helps Mal, Zoe and Jayne organize an operation to steal valuable medical supplies. But Jayne has other ideas when he learns about the reward for Simon and River and contacts the local authorities, leading to another appearance of the two, sinister-looking, 'blue-gloved agents'.
