WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 3 of Deep Insanity: The Lost Child, "Take 03," now streaming on Funimation.
The depths of Asylum continue to unfurl and reveal a more complex world as the Sleeper Team ventures into parts unknown in the Antarctic rift of Deep Insanity: the Lost Child. Episode 3 continues to cast intrigue out in a further web of global politics, business and the world of Asylum itself.
The Asylum base, as it turns out, is more than sterilized meeting rooms and sleeping quarters. The small nook of Cliff Town is a popular spot for those who work at Asylum to let off some steam, get a drink and maybe pick up some illegal surgical materials. It's also the place to go if you want drugs made out of certain seeds found only at the bottom of Asylum. Events escalate and Daniel and Larry end up taking an unofficial elevator down into Asylum for an unsanctioned side mission.
Much as Daniel's time with Sumire was revealing for her character, so Larry is given time in the spotlight as a character with an unusual circumstance. Due to an accident, Larry is unable to feel pain, but he has also lost the ability to feel fear as well. His actions in Episode 3 reflect a team member who would have no problem dying for a cause or even simply because it's the best option to get his teammates out alive. However, it turns out Larry's still a bit of a trickster, as he gets Daniel to fight some thugs in his place and accepts a job to go grab drugs as a way to get into Asylum unsupervised. It's an interesting set of characteristics that makes Larry particularly hard to predict.
However, the biggest thing introduced in Episode 3 are the Exiles. Exiles are the people discovered at the bottom of Asylum and are currently the reason why big businesses haven't been able to stake a claim on the resources at the bottom of the rift, causing international tension. If the Exiles are refugees, then they need assistance, but if they're the native population, then this could call into question the legitimacy of the Sleeper Team and the whole expedition. Larry and Daniel encounter a young Exile in an oasis area of Asylum who seems completely unaffected by Randolph Syndrome. Exiles don't seem to have a set race or origin, so whether they truly are indigenous to Asylum or are refugees from all over the world is yet to be seen. Larry confirmed that they tend to inhabit the oases, but otherwise not much has been revealed.
The introduction of the Exiles makes Asylum all the more mysterious. The young Exile, EL-Cee, doesn't speak often, but when she does, she is fluent. This raises many questions about the Exiles: What do they eat? Do they live in societies? do they have something to do with Randolph Syndrome? And, most of all, how will they affect things going forward? For the politically minded, the Exiles could be a real hindrance indeed.
In brief snatches of the outside world, it appears Randolph Syndrome is only getting worse, meaning it's only a matter of time before there are repercussions for Asylum as well. There is also the possibility that EL-Cee is the lost child -- and she will certainly be turning up again. Deep Insanity: the Lost Child has continued to improve since its premiere and Episode 3's cliffhanger means a lot of hard decisions will have to be made.
