Red vs. Blue: Out of Mind

Red vs. Blue: Out of Mind is an action-based 2006 video miniseries produced by Rooster Teeth Productions and distributed via the Xbox Live Marketplace and the Internet. Spun off from the main Red vs. Blue series, Out of Mind chronicles the adventures of the character Tex between her disappearance in season 4 and her re-appearance in season 5}}. Video footage is from Bungie Studios's first person shooter video game Halo 2.

Plot
The Out of Mind miniseries picks up in the middle of season 4, and continues on into the events of season 5. Although multiple characters of Red vs. Blue make small appearances, the series focuses on major character Tex and her pursuit after the bounty hunter Wyoming.

Part One
Following the events of Red vs. Blue 71, Wyoming has reappeared for the first time since an apocalyptic explosion propelled the Red vs. Blue characters into the future (see Episode 43). Tex, in pursuit, follows Wyoming to the back of the temple at which he appeared, where he escapes into a large doorway guarded by two soldiers. After defeating them, Tex is almost run over as Wyoming emerges from the doorway driving a jeep similar to the Reds Chupathingy. Demanding to know the location of Wyoming's boss, Tex plants a homing device on his vehicle when he begins to drive away, intending to follow him to his superior. As Wyoming drives away, a voice asks him via radio whether Tex has taken "the bait".

Part Two
In a flashback to a training facility several years before, Tex's ex-boyfriend Church — in standard-issue rookie blue armor instead of his cobalt armor from the main series — approaches Tex. He is concerned about the experiments being performed on multiple soldiers, including Tex, who has been told they each have a "unique ability". As Tex warns that Church should not even be talking to her, Wyoming appears and encourages him to leave. Church walks away and says her name, he couldn't get what he really wanted to say out so instead says, "Just be careful" in a concerned tone (loves her and cares for her). In narration, Tex reminisces about the experiments and the results: after the soldiers were given artificial intelligence (AI) to boost their combat skills, the test subjects grew progressively insane. Thus, an attempt was made to remove the AIs. Tex's AI, Omega (aka "O'Malley"), was one of the "difficult ones"; he forced Tex to escape from the facility before he could be removed from her head. Becoming aware of Tex's intent to destroy him, Omega soon learned how to transmit himself from person to person via radio signals, as he did to Caboose and Doc in Red vs. Blue season 1 and season 2 respectively. After this flashback ends, Tex observes Omega's fortress as seen in episode 73, and decides that she needs help to destroy him.

Part Three
Tex finds York, a former infiltration specialist from the same experimental facility, now reduced to breaking into a shop in a commercial district. A hologram appears and introduces itself as Delta, York's analytical AI. Explaining the situation, Tex asks York whether he will help her break into Omega's lair to destroy him and face Wyoming, mentioning a past incident involving injury to York's eye in an attempt to inspire vengeance. After querying Delta over the risks of the mission, York agrees.

Part Four
Arriving back at Omega's base, Tex and York decide to enter after days without signs of anyone inhabiting the fortress. Delta informs York of concerns over Tex's elevated vital statistics, to which York explains that she is just tense, a part of being human. While York attempts to break a holographic lock in order to access a teleporter transmitting onto the base, Delta continues, and admits confusion towards York's motive for the mission. York explains that his eye was "broken" in an attempt to defeat Tex and Omega in the first place, which Delta understands to mean York is doing this for pride. As they are talking, it is revealed to the viewer that Wyoming is on top of the base, listening to their conversation.

Part Five
As the two enter and exit the teleporter, they are abruptly thrust into a firefight; in the chaos, Wyoming's subordinates are promptly dispatched. As the two attempt to kill Wyoming, Tex's gun jams, and York is shot, falling unconscious. When Delta diagnoses the wounds as fatal, Tex tells Delta to enter her armor to avoid being shut down by York's armor — a system designed to prevent AIs falling into enemy hands. Delta refuses, wishing to stay with York. Delta then makes himself a holographic vision of Tex to distract Wyoming, as the real Tex sneaks up on him and holds him at gunpoint. As Delta reveals himself, he tells Tex he can no longer help her, bids both Tex and Wyoming good luck and fades away. Wyoming reveals that Omega has left for Blood Gulch, after Wyoming told him that Tex had returned there. As a bounty hunter, Wyoming had been given a contract to kill anyone who knew of a Red and Blue Command conspiracy. Explaining that he had purposely misled Omega to go search for Tex at Blood Gulch, Wyoming had hoped that the AI would do the work for him. He then mentions that Omega has transferred from Doc to a new host, and as Tex presses the matter, Wyoming refuses to disclose the identity. To retrieve the information, Tex threatens to beat him, remove his helmet punch the shit out of his face and scan his communication logs; however, when Wyoming decides to reveal the identity to avoid the beating, she explains "Nah, I like my way better." She attacks him as the episode ends, the closing titles stating the story will continue in Red vs. Blue season 5.

Out of Mind's plot is continued in Recovery One, with Freelancers Washington and South being hunted by someone targeting Freelancers and killing them. Delta is featured in this, and Wyoming makes a brief appearance with no lines as he leaves the fortress.

Background
According to series creator Burnie Burns, Microsoft asked Rooster Teeth to create exclusive content for the Xbox Live Marketplace, and they decided to use the opportunity to tell a new storyline tangential to that of the main series. Out of Mind episodes were initially distributed on the Marketplace service, and then on the Rooster Teeth website. Six episodes were planned and slated to be released weekly. However, Part Two of the series was released six weeks after the first. When announcing the simultaneous release of Part One on their website and Part Two on the Marketplace, Burns restated the promise that videos would be released weekly, and noted the miniseries was shortened to five installments. However, Part Three was released the following day on the Marketplace rather than a week as promised, and this remains unexplained by any official sources.

Out of Mind Part One also marked the first Rooster Teeth video to be filmed, edited and released in 720p high-definition video. Along with this came Red vs. Blue's change into being released in true widescreen\ video (as opposed to the previous pseudo-widescreen format), an idea Burns had earlier stated was impractical, as it would not create smaller video file sizes as some fans believed. The widescreen format remained for season 5.