Computer. End program.

In 2014, twelve-year-olds Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser stabbed their friend Payton Leutner nineteen times in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Their motive: proving their loyalty to Slender Man, a fictional monster born on an internet creepypasta forum. In 1993, the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode ‘Ship in a Bottle’ asked what happens when a holodeck simulation becomes self-aware and Professor Moriarty walks out of the program. In the Season 1 finale of The Prime Detective, we connect those two moments and finally find the word for what we’ve been tracking all along. Credits: This episode of “The Prime Detective” was produced and hosted by Grayson Thagard. Music for “The Prime Detective” is composed by Ben Wise: https://benwise.bandcamp.com/ Website and publishing support thanks to David Moody, Producer: “Let’s Talk About Treks” The Podcast. Original artwork for “The Prime Detective” by Julie Hendrickson. Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/theprimedetective Special thanks:Izaak Brown: Trek 365Open Pike NightCrusher ConvoCaptain Goodwill: Trekkin Up NorthBattlestage TheatricaMy Figure Universe – Boosting the Signal podcast OK Boomer: What are creepypasta?