Cutter grapples with Claudia’s disappearance. No one believes his theory that the present has been altered, resulting in her vanishing. In fact, they think he has gone crazy.

A new second-in-command has taken Claudia’s place: the oily Oliver Leek. The team also has a new headquarters: a hi-tech operations base called the Anomaly Research Center, or ARC.

After a report of a creature incursion at the shopping mall, the team arm themselves with tranquilizer guns. While the others investigate the anomaly behind the bowling alley, Connor heads for the confectionary—only to find a hungry raptor lurking among the sweets and soft drinks.

During their battle in the mall, Cutter notices a mysterious electronic interference affecting all the radios and suspects a connection to the anomalies. The team can now build a detector tuned to the same wavelength to locate new anomalies.

Despite a narrow escape, Cutter remains adamant that they capture the beasts and return them to their proper time and place—alive. The race is on to capture the raptors before the anomaly closes.