Shaking the Foundation

Shaking the Foundation is the 8th Episode of Red vs. Blue: Season 9.

Blue Team

 * Epsilon-Church
 * Tucker
 * Caboose
 * Sheila
 * Tex (mentioned only)

Red Team

 * Sarge
 * Grif
 * Simmons
 * Donut
 * Lopez

Plot
The episode begins with the Reds finishing their robot, Lopez. Simmons finishes him and Sarge tells them its all done and time to warm him up. Sarge asks the team who wants to activate him and no one but Simmons does. However Simmons says he would as long as Sarge doesn't want to. Sarge decides he does which disappoints Simmons. Donut asks what Lopez will do and Sarge says the usual robot stuff such as "math problems the team doesn't want to do, maintaining the vechicle, organization, and basically any task no one wants to do and isn't part of their job description." Simmons gets more depressed as Lopez's tasks are all of his usual duties. When Sarge is asked if he'll find more work for Simmons he doesn't answer saying another of Lopez's tasks is to answer awkward questions and activates him. As Sarge activates him another earthquake happens this one being the longest yet and Simmons panics. Lopez activates and speaks Spanish. Simmons points out the earthquake likely damaged his speech unit but Sarge says he ordered the Spanish model for cultural diversity and so they could grow closer as a unit and try and learn spanish together. Sarge then says it seems out of character for him and another earthquake begins. Lopez panics and Donut points out he just took another of Simmon's duties.

Over at Blue Base, Tucker begins to point out another earthquake and asks Church why hes not alarmed. Church says its because he knows none of this is real, except for Tex and himself. Caboose comes from behind a rock and begins to yell about the earthquake. Church tells him that he is 10 seconds late and Caboose says maybe he was preparing for the next earthquake. Church and Tucker begin to talk about how their world isn't real and Church tells him about the memory unit lying in a bank of a snowmound and that it is dying, causing the earthquakes. Church says he thinks he is in here to find out about Tex and that if he doesn't he'll just have to move on to the next memory unit. Tucker asks if he means after he goes on a mission with all "those Freelancer guys" implying that Church told Tucker before and Church says yes. Tucker says he still doesn't understand saying that Church has to do this over and over before the power unit dies and the rocks fall and crush them. At that time a rock falls behind him which Tucker says was good timing. Tucker says he doesn't understand but knows one way he can, which is to ask Caboose what is going on. Caboose replies they are going to eat lunch with dinosaurs. Tucker says that sums it up.

Transcript
Fade into the outside of Red Base as Simmons works on the now fully built Lopez

Simmons: There! Man, that safety switch was hard to bolt on. Probably should've gotten a bigger one.

Donut: It's not how big the switch is, Simmons. It's how you flip it!

Simmons: Donut, shut up!

Sarge: Alright, robot's all done! Time to fire it up! Let's hit the ol' power button. Who want to do the honors? Grif?

Grif: Meh.

Sarge: Well said. Donut?

Donut: Sorry. Just clear-coated my nails. I'm not chipping one of these babies!

Sarge: Alright...Simmons?

Simmons: It would be an honor, sir! Um, th-that is if you're sure you don't want to do it!

Sarge: Now that you mention it, it does sound kind of fun! I always did like pushing things.

Simmons: Oh...okay.

Donut: Hey Sarge, what's this robot gonna do for us anyway?

Sarge: Oh you know, the usual robot stuff. Math we don't wanna do...

Simmons: Right, like THAT exists.

Sarge: Menial tasks like maintaining the vehicle...

Simmons: Maintenance is crucial!

Sarge: Organization...

Simmons: Hmm...maybe I should make a list of all the robot's duties.

Sarge: And basically any task that no one wants to do or is part of anyone's official job description.

Simmons: Additional work? You mean like extra credit? No one told me there was extra credit! What is it? I'll do it!

Donut: Hey Simmons, it sounds like this robot is going to be doing all the jobs you do!

Simmons: Hahaha...yeah.

Donut: Well don't worry. I'm sure Sarge will find some other responsibilities for you! Right Sarge? Sarge?

Sarge: Huh? Oh right. One of the robot's functions is to answer awkward questions that I don't want to. Better turn him on. (Walks behind Lopez) Here we go. Let me just get this panel off, make some specific noise and drop it on the ground. (Earthquake starts) Holy guacamole!

Simmons: Ahhhh!!! Another earthquake! Everyone institute emergency plan! Hold on a second while I put on my marshal's vest! Everyone just remain calm! Whatever you do don't- (Earthquake stops)- panic.

Donut: Looks like the earthquake stopped.

Simmons: Yeah.

Donut: You're just disappointed no one got to use the emergency plan, aren't ya' Simmons?

Simmons: Sorta...

Donut: Aww...there, there. Don't feel bad! No one's read it anyway!

Simmons: Oh...That's a relief.

Lopez activates

Lopez: Hola. Me llamo Lopez. Gracias por la activacion de mi.

Donut: Ooh-hoo, robot's on!

Lopez: ¿Cómo estás?

Simmons: Uhh, is he speaking Spanish?

Donut: Sounds like it.

Simmons: Maybe the quake messed something up when you activated him, Sarge. Could be a polarity issue...

Sarge: Actually, I ordered the Espanol speech unit on purpose!

Simmons: You did?

Sarge: Yeah! I thought if we had a little multiculturalism around here, we could all learn Spanish together! Get closer as a unit!

Donut: Speaking of getting our units closer...

Simmons: Not now, Donut! Seems inconvenient, Sarge.

Sarge: Yeah it does. Don't know what the hell I was thinking! Seems really out of character for me.

Another earthquake starts

Lopez: ¡Alarma! ¡Alarma! Terremoto!

Donut: Hey look, Simmons! He's already doing your job!

Simmons: Great.

Donut: Want me to get your vest?

Cut to the outside of Blue Base as the eathquake ends

Tucker: Whoa, there's another quake!

Church: Yep.

Tucker: You don't seem too worried.

Church: No I'm not, 'cause I know all of this isn't real.

Tucker: Not real? You mean not real like your fake girlfriend?

Church: No,no,no...my girlfriend is real! It's the world that's fake. Well, everything in it.

Caboose runs over to Church and Tucker

Caboose: EARTHQUAKE!

Church: That was ten seconds ago...man, we really need to get your reflexes checked.

Caboose: Maybe I was just early for the next one! Now you'll be ready when it happens.

Church: Oh shut up.

Caboose: Meteor.

Tucker: So everything in the world is fake, except your girlfriend.

Church: Right.

Tucker: Who's in the world.

Church: Yes.

Tucker: Where everything is fake.

Church: Correct.

Caboose: Well I am following all of this as well as I follow everything else.

Church: You see, all this...see...okay...we're just inside a memory unit. Which is sitting in a snowbank somewhere in the world...the real world.

Tucker: A snowbank?

Church: Right, and that memory unit is dying, so we're feeling all these, like, you know...little quakes and stuff.

Tucker: If we're on a snowbank, why isn't it cold?

Church: I don't know! It-it-it doesn't work like that, it's...like being inside of a snow globe.

Tucker: Yeah, but a snow globe has snow in it.

Caboose: I thought it was a globe made of snow!

Church: Ugh, you're not getting it! Okay, try to think of it as, like, a...it's like a diorama.

Caboose: Ah yes...a cafeteria for dinosaurs.

Church: Shut up, Caboose.

Caboose: Typhoon.

Tucker: So this memory snowbank thing...it's just sitting there and we're inside it, doing all this stuff. Why?

Church: I don't know, I guess it's so that I can, you know, figure out about Tex and...what I'm supposed to do. And if I can't figure it out, well then I just need to...move on to the next memory unit, I guess.

Tucker: Right, and that's by finding those Freelancer guys you talked about before.

Church: Exactly.

Tucker: And going on some big adventure with them and finding the snow memory!

Church: Memory unit.

Tucker: Whatever. And then going into it?

Church: Yes.

Tucker: Even though we're already inside it.

Church: And so on, and so forth.

Tucker: And so on, and so on, until what happens?

Church: I don't know! If I knew that I could stop already!

Tucker: And we have to do all that, before the memory unit laying in the snow dies, and we're all crushed by falling rocks. (A giant rock conveniently falls down behind Tucker) Good timing.

Church: Yeah it was.

Caboose: Well if only there had been some type of warning system in place...

Tucker: Okay, I think it all makes sense now.

Church: Uh, good! I'm glad.

Tucker: Dude, that was a fucking joke. I have no clue what's up!

Church: I don't know, it doesn't seem that hard to me, man.

Tucker: I know one way to check. Hey Caboose, explain what's going on. Recap for us!

Caboose: We are going to eat lunch with dinosaurs.

Tucker: Yep. Perfect sense.

Caboose: I'm going to eat a giant egg!

Trivia

 * Caboose's late reaction to the Earthquake may be a reference to Season 4 where Caboose believes that Crunchbite is speaking to him telapathicly, however Church explains Caboose is just so dumb he processes things several seconds behind everything else so he hears things after they have happened.
 * Simmons commenting on getting a bigger safety switch for Lopez is a reference to Church complaining how small the original Lopez's switch was.
 * Before activation Lopez's head is at an angle that players can't get with Halo: Reach player models.