The Planet Express crew discovers that Farnsworth's parents moved to the Near-Death Star, in which inhabitants are connected to pods that keep the their minds entertained in a virtual reality simulation.
Farnsworth tells Leela and Amy that when he was growing up, his parents never played with him or paid attention to his scientific discoveries.
For his sake, they first moved to the farm; he would suffer night terrors and would only be calmed when his parents read to him from science books.
Ned and Velma ask to be taken back to the Near-Death Star to escape the pain of their physical bodies, and Fry promises to visit.
Once they are reconnected, Farnsworth reprograms their simulation to present the country farm in its prime and revert them to a younger age.