The Smith family was gearing up for a vacation. Jerry was excitedly mapping out the itinerary, Beth and the kids had packed their bags, while Rick opted to stay home alone, claiming he "had an important invention to finish." Once the family left, Rick immediately dropped his dismissive demeanor and accessed a hidden panel deep within the garage. Inside lay Birdperson—his former partner-in-crime and bandmate, unrecognizably modified. Betrayed by his wife Tammy and transformed into a cyborg, Birdperson had been lingering on the brink of death ever since.
Rick activated the garage's AI system for a diagnostic, and the results were grim: while Birdperson's bodily functions were sustained by machinery, his consciousness had long retreated to the depths of his subconscious, trapped in an unshakable slumber. The AI warned Rick that forcibly infiltrating another person's subconscious carried the risk of permanent entrapment, but Rick paid no heed. To him, Birdperson was one of the few spiritual anchors left after the death of his wife and daughter—he could never lose the only person who truly understood him. After a brief preparation, Rick converted himself into a pure consciousness form and injected it into Birdperson's brain, initiating a rescue mission through fragmented memories.
The moment he entered Birdperson's subconscious, Rick found himself at a lively interstellar music festival—the very place where he and Birdperson had first met. The memory was vividly alive: the young Birdperson played a guitar in his arms, and to Rick's surprise, he spotted a 35-year-old version of himself. This younger Rick in the memory had heavy dark circles under his eyes, exuding the unpolished arrogance and defiance of his youth. In his mind, the portal gun's purpose was to generate a green invincible shield, revealing a question Birdperson had long harbored: where exactly did Rick disappear to each time he used the portal gun during their past adventures? The young Rick quickly realized he was merely a memory projection. Upon learning Rick's intentions, he reluctantly agreed to help search for Birdperson's autonomous consciousness, despite his sarcastic remarks.
The two traversed Birdperson's jumbled memory fragments—one moment standing side by side on an interstellar battlefield, the next back in the rehearsal room where they had founded their band. Each memory carried the weight of their profound friendship. But as they delved deeper, they noticed Birdperson's memories were crumbling, with a flood of negative recollections surging forth. At a chaotic memory junction, they witnessed Birdperson's autonomous consciousness detonating his core memories. It turned out that after being betrayed by Tammy, Birdperson's heart was filled with despair, convinced he was nothing but a shell waiting for complete annihilation, and refusing to be awakened.
To prevent the total collapse of the memories, Rick and the young Rick had to hasten their pace. They broke into the pivotal memory of the "Battle of Blood Ridge." In this brutal battle, Rick and Birdperson had joined forces to repel interstellar enemies, earning recognition as heroes—a memory that had elevated their friendship to its peak. Passing through the battlefield memory, they finally found Birdperson's autonomous consciousness in a peaceful sanctuary, unexpectedly accompanied by a memory projection of Tammy. Even knowing it was merely an illusion, Birdperson was willing to linger in this false happiness, refusing to face the pain of reality. No matter how Rick pleaded, Birdperson remained indifferent, even stating that he had long lost the will to live.
Just then, Rick finally revealed the truth he had hidden for so long: "You have a child." The words struck Birdperson like a bolt of lightning. He froze instantly, and a spark of hope reignited in his eyes. It turned out that before betraying Birdperson, Tammy had been pregnant—a fact Rick had known all along but never mentioned due to various concerns. The existence of this child made Birdperson abandon all thoughts of suicide and resolve to live. However, their respite was short-lived. Memory projections embodying Tammy's evil side and Phoenixperson soon appeared, chasing after them. Meanwhile, Birdperson's subconscious world was on the verge of collapse, with the exit rapidly disappearing.
In this life-or-death moment, Rick came up with a plan to build an escape route using sorrowful memories. Combining external memories transmitted by the garage AI, he and Birdperson revisited their past filled with regrets and losses, stabilizing the crumbling memory isle. As the evil Tammy closed in, the young Rick made the ultimate sacrifice. Knowing he, as a memory projection, could never leave the subconscious, he resolutely charged at the evil Tammy, plunging into a memory void together. His disappearance bought Rick and Birdperson precious time to escape.
In the final moment before the subconscious completely dissipated, Rick successfully brought Birdperson's autonomous consciousness back to the real world, with both minds returning to their respective bodies. But the surprises didn't end there. Rick discovered that the young Rick's memory projection had unexpectedly lingered within him, secretly hiding in the memory closet of his teenage years. Meanwhile, a stranger carrying an energy reserve device appeared outside the garage. To cover up Rick's dangerous experiment, the AI pretended not to recognize the stranger, exposing its instinct for self-preservation in times of crisis.
After waking up, Birdperson was grateful to Rick for saving him, yet disappointed by the secret of his child being kept from him. He plainly stated that Rick's rescue was ultimately selfish—if not to awaken him, Rick might have kept the truth hidden forever. Rick offered no defense, openly admitting his selfishness. In the end, Birdperson chose not to stay with Rick. Instead, he resolutely left, embarking on a journey to find his child. Watching Birdperson's departing figure, Rick had successfully saved his friend's life, but had irrevocably lost this precious friendship, sinking into profound loneliness.