Mutant X Transcripts: Ep 303 "The Breed"
Mutant X Episode Transcripts
Episode #303 Transcript: " The Breed"
[Opening Scene: A frightened Man in a white lab coat holding a gun carefully makes his way down a darkened hallway strewn with what appears to be dead bodies. Screams and growls can be heard overhead. He pushes through a door, kicking over another man who is standing hunched over in the hallway. The man falls, lifeless, to the ground, but then opens his eyes and tries to grab The Man’s leg. The Man shoots him and flees towards a locked door.]
The Man (banging on the locked door): Open up!
A woman’s voice inside: Go away!
The Man (still banging): Please, please let me in!
A man’s voice inside: No! Go away!
The Man: Please let me in! [Giving up, The Man runs down some stairs, passing other bodies on the floor. He holds his gun on them, kicking one to make sure he’s dead. He reaches a security gate, but in his haste, he enters the security code incorrectly.] Come on! [He gets the code right on the second try, and opens the gate. He runs his card through the door’s lock and finally gets in. Relieved, he watches through the door’s small window as a group of howling people gathers around the gate, trying to get in.]
[Cut to: Sanctuary. A blaring alarm whoops overhead, and a red signal flashes on the computers: “Incoming Message - Channel E001.” One by one, they come out of their rooms holding their ears.]
Brennan: What is that?!
Shalimar: Yeah, and how fast can we kill it?
Jesse (at the computer, turns off the alarm): It was an emergency alarm. It’s coming through Adam’s private frequency.
Shalimar: What kind of emergency?
Jesse (pulls up a video link, The Man in the white coat appears on the screen): I don’t know, but I’m guessing he’s about to tell us.
The Man: Adam, you were right. We shouldn’t have gotten involved. This project’s gotten out of control.
Shalimar (to Jesse): What’s he talking about? [Jesse shakes his head in bewilderment, so Shalimar tries talking to the man on the screen instead] What project? Where are you?
Jesse: He can’t hear you. It’s a one-way distress call.
The Man: I’m sending you a video about what’s happening on the base. [The screen flips, showing the group of people at the gate, trying to get in.] It’s horrible.
Brennan: What the hell?
The Man: Adam, please, I need your help. [The video feed cuts off in a burst of static.]
Brennan: What happened?
Jesse: The transmission’s been cut at the source. We lost him. [The three look at each other, worried.]
Opening credits. “The Breed.”
[Sanctuary. Jesse’s discovered The Man’s identity, and pulled up his biography on the computer to show Brennan and Shalimar.]
Jesse: Dr. Vincent Arrigo. He was another Genomex alumni. When Genomex folded, Adam pulled some strings to get him to the army’s bioresearch division. He’s stationed at Fort Perry. It’s a military medical installation.
Shalimar: Let me guess. Gene based research?
Jesse: Ten points. His research is majorly classified. I’m talking Level 6 clearance. I can’t even see the work he’s been doing.
Lexa (getting off her cell-phone): Try germ warfare. It’s safe to assume that whatever Arrigo and his team were working on isn’t the new cold and flu remedy.
Brennan: So what’d you find?
Lexa: My contacts tell me it’s a new form of a weaponized plague. Other than that, they’re completely in the dark. The military’s blocking all communications within the base. They want us to answer that distress signal.
Brennan: Woah, woah, hang on there. Plague exterminator? Not in my job description.
Shalimar: Yeah, Brennan’s right. I mean, why aren’t they calling in Center for Disease Control?
Lexa: Because if the army asked for outside help, they admit culpability. They have to hand over whatever classified research relates. That’s never gonna happen.
Jesse: She’s right. Right now, Dr. Arrigo’s our only chance, and he’s smack dab right in the middle of ground zero.
Shalimar: Yeah, and what if he’s already dead?
Lexa: There’s only one way to find out.
[Scene: The Double Helix interior as the team flies towards Fort Perry. The Helix is cloaked in stealth mode.]
Shalimar: So what’s the plan once we land?
Brennan: Well, take the most direct route to Arrigo’s lab, do not pass go. And do not get cornered by whatever it was we saw in that video link.
Shalimar: Good strategy.
Jesse: So...you think Arrigo’s going to fix whatever it is he opened up?
Brennan: Well, if he’s the one who opened it, he’s got the best chance of dealing with it. All right, Fort Perry, dead ahead. Shal, what you got on the sensors?
Shalimar: Well, there’s a heavy military presence all over on the perimeter, and it looks like the base is circled by some sort of energy fence.
Lexa: High tech quarantine. Can we land inside the installation?
Jesse: It’s risky. As soon as we get close enough to land, it’ll probably fry out our nav systems.
Brennan: Looks like we’re going in the front door. All right, I’m taking her out of stealth. I’m guessing these military types wouldn’t look so kindly on us just appearing out of thin air.
Shalimar: Hey guys, we’re being hailed on broadband.
Voice: Unidentified craft, you’re entering restricted military airspace. Land immediately, or be considered hostile.
Brennan: Copy that. We’re coming in.
Shalimar (to Lexa): So, if any of your buddies have military pull, now would be a really good time.
Lexa: I’m on it. [She pulls out her cell phone.]
[Scene: Inside a tent on the perimeters outside of Fort Perry, Mutant X is meeting with the officer in charge of the quarantine, Major General Kline.]
Jesse: All we’re asking for is entry.
Major General Kline: You’re in no position to ask me what I had for breakfast, let alone breech my quarantine. I’ll do this one more time. Who do you work for? How’d you hear about this? And who else knows? [No one answers his questions.] All right. I want them restrained. [As the soldiers converge on Mutant X, Lexa’s cell phone rings.]
Lexa: Oh, hey, hey, hey, wait, wait. Wait up.You might want to get this. It’s for you. [She tosses him her cell-phone.]
Kline (into the cell-phone): This is Major General Kline.
Jesse (looking at Lexa, she shrugs): I’d pay big money to take a look at your Roladex.
Lexa (smiling): That’s what all the boys say.
Kline (into the phone): I understand, sir. [Turning off the phone, he comes back to Mutant X.] It seems I’m to give you cooperation.
Lexa (retrieving her phone): Good. So, what steps are being taken to reverse the infection?
Kline: Military doctors are working off site; we’re running a straight quarantine and containment op here.
Brennan: Sure we don’t need some sort of protective masks or hazmat suits?
Kline: It isn’t airborne. Transmission requires contact through broken skin, bites, scratches, so keep your distance from anyone infected.
Shalimar: You can count on that.
Kline (walking them towards the energy fence): Okay, let’s be clear on one last thing. Your connections got you an entry pass, not an exit. Once inside, you all become contagion risks. You’ll be considered quarantined, just like the rest. Understood?
Lexa: Understood. [Kline walks away.] Cheery little guy, isn’t he?
Shalimar: I don’t know if I like going in there, knowing he’s our only way out.
Lexa: Well, one of us is going to have to stay behind, then. [Everyone looks at Jesse.]
Jesse: Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Absolutely not.
Shalimar: Jess...
Jesse: Come on, we’re outnumbered in there as it is!
Brennan: Well, then, one less isn’t going to make that much difference.
Shalimar: Look, the Helix is linked to your systems in Sanctuary. You’ll be more help if you stay with it.
Jesse: Fine.
Lexa: Good! Now listen, find out about the containment measures. And find out if there’s any back door exit, in case we need it.
Jesse: Start with that fence.
Kline (Into his walkie-talkie): Kill Section 9.
Brennan: Here we go.
Shalimar: Wish us luck.
Jesse: Good luck. [When the fence goes back up, Jesse measures the voltage with a small device. Lexa, Shalimar, and Brennan walk onto the compound.]
Brennan (seeing all the dead bodies): That is not a good sign.
Lexa: How far are we from Arrigo?
Shalimar: His lab should be in the main building.
Brennan (seeing Shalimar stop): What’s up, Shal?
Shalimar: That smell. It’s like rotting infected flesh or something.
Lexa: Now, There’s a reason I’m glad I’m not a feral. Can you track it?
Shalimar (pointing): There! [They watch as a soldier rounds the corner towards them, being chased by a group of infected people with reddened skin.]
The Soldier: Get out of here! Run! [Brennan and Lexa hold The Infected back with an electrical arc and a burst of light. They pick up The Soldier and run.]
Brennan, Shalimar: Go, go!
[Back inside the military tent, Jesse is talking with Major General Kline.]
Jesse: You’ve got 250 thousand volts running through that fence. Where’re you getting the juice?
Kline: We’ve diverted every bit of power from the installation to the fence. Nothing’s going get through there.
Jesse: Maybe I could take a look at those schematics, just to make sure.
Kline: The fence specs are classified. Your team took a big risk, going in there on their own.
Jesse: That’s what we do.
Kline: What makes them think they can succeed where our resources have failed?
Jesse: Let’s just say we’ve got some pretty unique resources of our own.
Kline: Such as?
Jesse: That’s classified.
Kline (smiling): Just make sure you obey the quarantine orders, and you won’t have any problems.
[Meanwhile, Shalimar, Lexa, Brennan, and The Soldier run towards Arrigo’s lab, chased by The Infected. There are bodies strewn all over the ground.]
Shalimar: I don’t think there’s anyone left to roll out the Welcome Wagon!
Brennan: I hope you’re wrong! [They reach the building; Brennan tries to pick the lock with his army knife.]
Shalimar: Whatever we do, we’d better do it fast.
Lexa (seeing The Infected closing in): Okay, now would be a good time, Brennan.
Shalimar: Don’t fry it, we need that lock behind us.
Brennan: All right, just let me work here. [He shocks the lock, and the door opens.]
Lexa: Go, go, go! [She pushes them inside, then sets a van outside on fire with a laser. The van explodes, sending The Infected flying. Lexa joins Shalimar and Brennan inside the building.]
Shalimar (looking at the bodies on the floor): Just our luck. There are just as many infected inside as outside.
Brennan (handing Lexa a flashlight from a body): Great, just when I was feeling all warm and fuzzy. [He reaches into a panel in the ceiling and places a gun there.)
Shalimar: I think they’re on to us. They can probably smell people who aren’t infected. Arrigo’s lab should be around the corner. Go.
Brennan (yelling through the gate): Dr. Arrigo, let us in!
Dr. Arrigo (peering out his door window): Who are you?
Brennan: We got the message you sent.
Arrigo (opening the door a little): Adam sent you?
Brennan: Yes.
Shalimar: Guys? [The howling behind them gets louder]
Lexa: Look, just let us in! [Arrigo pushes a remote controller, and the gate opens. The four accompany Arrigo back to his lab.]
Arrigo: I didn’t know if anyone had received the message.
Brennan: All right, you wanna tell us what’s going on here?
Arrigo (closing the door): It’s pretty complicated genetic theory.
Lexa: Well, try us.
Dr. Arrigo: My field is behavioral shadowing. It's a rare phenomena where parasites actually control their hosts instead of feeding off them.
Shalimar: Like little puppet masters.
Dr. Arrigo: So far it's only been proven to occur with the lower species--spiders, rats. Our directive was to create a parasite that could influence human behavior; allow us to gain control over an entire enemy force just by infecting it.
Brennan: That's possible?
Dr. Arrigo: It's happening right now on this base. Let me show you. [He goes to his computer.] The parasite we designed secretes a neurochemical that triggers hyperaggression.
Brennan: Oh, well you just infect one of them and then sit back and watch as they infect each other?
Dr. Arrigo: We could win a war without firing a single shot. It was brilliant.
Shalimar: It’s insane. What went wrong?
Dr. Arrigo (pulling up a picture of Rachel Morton): She did. I blame myself. My assistant, Rachel, accidentally infected herself before we could conduct an antidote. [In the next room, which has a bed with restraints, The Soldier groans and falls to the floor.]
Lexa (running to his side): Hey, are you okay? [Lexa and Shalimar pull him up. He takes off his coat, and sees scratches on his left inner arm. Dr. Arrigo, putting down his gun on the side table, runs into the room and pushes The Soldier onto the bed.]
Dr. Arrigo (to Mutant X): Tie him down! Tie him down now; he’s infected! Come on, now! Move it, move it!
The Soldier: He’s right. He’s right. Do it, do it!
Dr. Arrigo: Let’s go!
The Soldier: Wait, wait. [He hands Shalimar a glass vial.] You have to help the others. Listen to me, listen to me! For all our sakes, kill me. Please, just kill me! [They all stare at him.]
*******Commercial Break********
Peter: I was on my way back from the base hospital when I was ambushed.
Brennan: Were you trying to get out?
Peter: No. A woman I was hiding with fell into diabetic shock. I volunteered to go get insulin.
Shalimar: That was a pretty ballsy move. You had to know half the installation was infected.
Brennan: Well, the least we can do is make sure you didn’t do it for nothing. [They walk out, leaving him strapped to the bed.]
Brennan (grabbing his flashlight): All right, Doc, you know where his friends are?
Dr. Arrigo: The old kitchen in the basement. Take this first aid kit. You’re gonna need it. [He hands the bag to Shalimar. Meanwhile, Peter, straining against the restraints, notices the gun on the side table.]
Dr. Arrigo (clicking the remote control to open the gate): Go ahead! [Brennan and Shalimar go through the gate; he closes the door behind them.]
Brennan: Shal.
Shalimar: Well, we can make it as far as the corner. Let’s see if we can make it all the way to the kitchen.
[In the lab, Lexa stands outside Peter’s room, watching him through the glass.]
Lexa (to Dr. Arrigo): Are you sure he’s infected?
Dr. Arrigo (letting her into Peter’s room): Take a look. [Lexa looks at a sample of Peter’s blood through a microscope. She sees a parasite swimming past.]
Lexa: Well, how many of these things are inside him?
Dr. Arrigo: At this stage? Thousands, maybe more. He only has a few hours left before he turns and their imperatives will direct his actions. I was working on a cure before the army shut down the main computer system. He can’t stay here. He’ll put us all at risk.
Lexa: Your job is to reverse the effects, correct? Well, meet your first patient.
[Cut to Jesse, who is sitting in the Helix, hacking into the US SOC database.]
Jesse: Under 10 minutes. Sometimes I am just freakin' good. All right, let's see what you've got for me... No. No. Oh, I'm gonna bookmark you for later... [He highlights “Energy Perimeter Fence” and pulls up the schematics.] Bingo.
Lexa (on her comlink): Hey Jess, what’s your status?
Jesse: Well, I’ve got some news about that fence.
Lexa: Good news?
Jesse: No. Whoever designed it knew what they were doing. They’ve got you locked up in there tight. They’ve got all the power from the whole base jacked into that fence. It’d take me all night to work out a workaround. How’s it going in there?
Lexa: Well, it turns out Arrigo was close to an experimental treatment. He had to abort because he lost the main research server. Can you hook it back up?
Jesse: Well, if the server’s down, it’s down. But I could link up your computer in the lab to mine here in the Helix and then to ours back in Sanctuary. That way we could task share during the procedures.
Lexa: Perfect.
Jesse: Okay. One network link for the lady coming up.
Lexa: Thanks.
[Shalimar and Brennan are walking through the hallways, stepping around dead bodies.]
Shalimar: I don’t know about you, but this place is creeping me out.
Brennan: I’m not arguing. [Suddenly, they jump back as a flash of electricity slashes between them.]
Woman on the steps (holding a gun): That was your only warning.
Brennan: Take it easy! We’re not infected!
Woman: Show me.
Shalimar (holding up her arms): Peter sent us. We have insulin and medical supplies.
Woman: Okay, get up here. Move!
[Lexa joins Dr. Arrigo in Peter’s room and Dr. Arrigo leaves the room to check on his computer.]
Lexa (to Peter): Sorry about the restraints. Doctor’s orders.
Peter (shaking): Don’t be sorry. Shivering and fever’s just the first stage. It’s a whole lot worse.
Lexa: I guess you’re probably all experts on this by now, huh? [Sitting in the next room, Dr. Arrigo surreptitiously turns on his speaker so that he can hear what they’re saying.]
Peter: Yeah. Me more than most, though. My sister was the first infected.
Lexa: Rachel. His assistant?
Peter: Yeah.
Lexa: The one who accidentally infected herself in the lab?
Peter: That’s a load of crap! She was terrified of that project. No way she would have gotten close enough to infect herself.
Lexa: What are you saying, he’s lying?
Peter: I don’t know what I’m saying. I just don’t trust him.
Lexa: Well, you might have to start. He’s come up with a treatment that-
Peter: I’ll do it.
Lexa: Well, a few minutes ago, you were ready to give up. Now you’re ready to fight. That’s a good sign.
Peter: This isn’t about some cure. This is about debt. I owe my sister. Things got bad for her near the end. She tried attacking me. I had to hurt her just to get away. That's what this parasite's like. Turned my own flesh and blood into something I was afraid of. Can you imagine what that's like?
Lexa: Actually, I can. I’ll tell the doctor you’re ready. [She rejoins Dr. Arrigo in his lab, watching him warily.]
[We return to Shalimar and Brennan, following The Woman to the kitchen in the basement.]
The Woman: There’s about 20 of us left. At first we just found each other on the run, but then a few of us armed ourselves; started doing sweeps looking for other uninfected.
Brennan: Find anyone else?
The Woman: Well, no new uninfected for hours. We’re starting to think we’re the last ones.
Shalimar: How many are injured?
The Woman: A handful. Falls, mostly. Well, except for Angela.
Brennan: Who’s Angela?
The Woman: She’s the one you’re here for. [The Woman knocks on the door, and all three are let into the kitchen. The Woman nods to another woman lying on the floor.] That’s Angela over there.
Brennan (going over to the medic at Angela’s side): It’s okay. I’ve got it.
[In the Helix, Jesse’s finished setting up the computer links; Lexa and Dr. Arrigo are waiting in Peter’s room.]
Jesse: All right, Lexa, we’re ready to go here. All systems are synched. I’ll run a real-time analysis as you run the procedure.
Dr. Arrigo: I’m going to attempt to purify the patient’s blood with a first bore anti-parasitic wash. Starting initial drip now. [Peter starts to convulse.]
Jesse: Woah, Doctor! There’s something wrong.
Lexa: What is it?
Jesse: The parasites are starting to multiply, fast!
Lexa (holding Peter down): Get the sedative! [Instead, Dr. Arrigo grabs a scalpel and holds it to Peter’s neck.] I said, the sedative!
Dr. Arrigo: Killing him would be a kindness now! It’s the right thing to do!
Lexa: I am not going to ask you again. [Relenting, Dr. Arrigo injects Peter with sedative, and he relaxes.]
[Cut to Brennan in the kitchen, injecting Angela with insulin.]
Brennan: You’re gonna be as good as new. It’s gonna be okay. Feel better?
The Woman (seeing Shalimar looking around warily): What’s the matter?
Shalimar: Is there someplace you can lock yourselves?
The Woman: Why?
Shalimar: Someone here’s infected. [An infected woman suddenly launches herself at Brennan. The Woman shoots her in the back, and she falls dead. Brennan reaches down to check her pulse.]
Shalimar: Oh my God.
Brennan: What?
Shalimar (pulling down Brennan’s collar to show long scratches on his neck): Brennan. You’ve been infected.
********Commercial Break*********
[In the kitchen, five people are holding Brennan at gunpoint.]
Brennan (to Shalimar): We need to get outta here.
The Woman (holding up her gun): It’s too late. [Shalimar takes the gun from her hands, and backs toward the door, keeping Brennan behind her.]
Shalimar: Drop it! Drop it!
Brennan: Open that door! It’s already hitting me, I can feel it.
Shalimar: Let's go!
Brennan: It's not safe for you to be around me anymore.
Shalimar: I trust you.
Brennan: I don’t! [He pushes Shalimar back into the room, runs out of the room, and closes the door behind him.]
Shalimar: No! [Shalimar drops the gun, pulls two people away from the door, and flings open the door. As she charges after Brennan, the people inside the kitchen hurriedly lock the door after them.]
[Outside in the military tent, Major General Kline is on his cell-phone with his superiors.]
Kline: Is there no other way, sir?
Superior Officer: Barring new developments, no. Start readying your team to move out. It’s a tough call, Kline, but it’s the right one.
Kline: Right. [He hangs up and turns to a soldier.] Prepare to move the unit. Washington is calling in an air strike.
[In the Helix, Jesse’s waiting at the computer sorts through images of known parasites, trying to learn more about Dr. Arrigo’s bug. He sits up when the computer finds a match.]
Jesse: And we have a winner.
[Lexa stands with Dr. Arrigo over a lab table and a stack of petri dishes.]
Lexa: Okay, what are we doing here?
Dr. Arrigo: Experimenting with anti-sense agents. Different varieties are toxic to different parasites.
Lexa: Okay, is now a good time to tell you I failed chem class? [Dr. Arrigo injects a serum, and the petri dish sample boils up] Is that good?
Dr. Arrigo: No. [Lexa blasts the with a laser.] That may have been overkill.
Lexa: What happened?
Dr. Arrigo: We verified what we saw during Peter's experiments. The parasites have apparently developed some kind of protective mechanism, and hen they sense an attack, they multiply. [Lexa hastily checks her hands.] No, it's all right; you can't be that easily infected. You need broken skin. Let me get rid of this. [He starts cleaning up the mess Lexa made.]
Jesse: Hey, Lexa.
Lexa: Tell me you guys got something. We’re coming up with squat here.
Jesse: Maybe. I ran some recognition software on Arrigo’s bug. Hacked into a parasitology database. Got kind of a match.
Lexa: What do you mean, kind of?
Jesse: Well, Arrigo's bug has kind of a defining physical characteristic. It stores iron in a very peculiar manner in its body. Now the only other parasite that does that are called plasmodiums. Plasmodiums cause malaria.
Lexa: And this is exciting why?
Jesse: Because plasmodiums can be killed. Now, there are four different plasmodium groups, though, and they each have their own cure.
Lexa: Yeah, but it’s a hell of a good way to start. I’ll alert Arrigo. Jess, one more thing. I need you to hack the prelim autopsy report on Rachel Morton. It should be in the hospital database.
Jesse: That’s the first victim, right? What’s that all about?
Lexa: Look, it’s a long shot. Just humor me.
Jesse: All right.
[Shalimar’s looking for Brennan, who is hiding from her. He notices his skin’s turning red, and he takes off his comlink ring.]
Shalimar: Brennan? [She heads off the wrong way down the hallway.]
[Jesse calls Lexa back from the Helix.]
Jesse: Okay, first of all, I got the autopsy report you were looking for. I’m sending it to you now over a secured channel.
Lexa: Okay, what about the malaria issue?
Jesse: Looks promising. There's a new treatment that involves dosing the host with rotating electromagnetic fields. It causes the iron in the parasite's body to twist, rupturing them.
Lexa: So you can fry the parasites without harming the host?
Jesse: You got it, but only if it's done with the right frequency and pulse, otherwise it could be deadly. [His computer begins to beep.] Hey, hold on.
Lexa: What?
Jesse: Sensors are showing incoming planes locked into your position.
Lexa: What planes?
Jesse: I don’t know. They’re not on any registered flight plans.
Lexa: Bombers! [Cut to two planes headed toward the base, then back to a worried Lexa, who tries to locate Shalimar.] Shalimar, where are you?
Shalimar: Main floor offices. I can’t find Brennan.
Lexa: No, no, it’s too late. You need to get away from him. [Shalimar turns as she hears glass breaking. It’s Brennan, and he’s now clearly affected by the infection.]
******Commercial Break********
Lexa: Shalimar, what’s going on? [Shalimar’s walking down the hallway, searching for Brennan.]
Shalimar: I think I heard him.
Lexa: No, you can’t get close to him; he’s too strong!
Shalimar: He won’t hurt me. [Just then, Brennan attacks her. She drop kicks him, then starts running. Hiding around the bend, she contacts Lexa again.] I think he’s turned!
Lexa: I think we have it. We think we’ve found a way to treat him. Well, you know the fence?
Shalimar: Yeah, I can get to it, why?
Lexa: We need you to get Brennan to form a tesla coil and then throw him against the electric fence.
Shalimar: Are you crazy? That'll kill him!
Lexa: No, it would kill a normal person, yeah. But with Brennan, we're thinking that it will create an electromagnetic field that will rupture the parasites in his system. [Shalimar doesn’t answer.] Those things are going to kill him anyway, Shalimar. You need to get out of there before he kills you too.
Shalimar: I can’t risk it.
Lexa: You have no choice. It’s the only way to save him. [Brennan comes running, Shalimar leads him outside. They fight. She waits until he forms a tesla coil, then she kicks him up against the fence. He hangs there, suspended for a while, then falls to the ground.]
Shalimar (running to him): Hey! Hey. You okay? [She kisses him.] Lexa, it worked!
Lexa (sighing in relief): Okay, both of you get back here now, as soon as you can. We still don’t know if it works on non-mutants.
[In his tent outside the perimeter, Major General Kline is following the helicopters’ progress by radio when two soldiers bring in a very angry Jesse.]
Jesse: You ordered an air strike! Why?
Kline: The infection has spread too far.
Jesse (sarcastically): Based on what? Your profound understanding of parasitology?
Kline (signaling the guards to let him go): The infected have a raised body temperature. They show up red on thermal images. [He pulls up an image on a computer.] This is a satellite scan of the base as of 48 hours ago. This one is from an hour ago. [There are many more red dots.] Less than 50 people on that base are left uninfected.
Jesse: But they can’t get off the base. You said so yourself.
Kline: That’s an assumption. Not a certainty. How many thousands of lives are you willing to gamble on that?
Jesse: We are very close to an antidote. I promise you.
Kline: I’m sorry, son. Your friends knew the risks when they went in there.
Jesse: Give me more time. Please.
Kline: The order’s been given. They’re out of time. [Cut to the planes on their way to the base.]
*******Commercial Break**********
[In Arrigo’s lab, Lexa’s talking with Jesse, who is now back in The Helix.]
Lexa: Jesse, how much time do we have?
Jesse: You don’t have long. I’d say about 10 minutes.
Lexa: Oh, damnit!
Jesse: Look, this isn’t hopeless. Let’s think this through, okay? Now if you can establish that this works on non-mutants and figure out how to do it on large scale, then I can kill the fence, and you can get the hell out of there.
Lexa: Yeah, but that doesn’t save anybody else. We don’t have enough time to evacuate in time for the drop.
Jesse: Let me worry about the bombs. You take care of the infection; I’ll take care of Kline. Good?
Lexa: Let’s just hope this works.
[Brennan, Lexa, Shalimar, and Arrigo gather around Peter’s bed; he’s writhing against the restraints. Brennan forms a tesla coil and creates an electromagnetic field around him. Dr. Arrigo watches the results on his computer, as the parasites begin to disappear.]
Dr. Arrigo: Don’t stop! The parasites are beginning to die! It worked!
Brennan: Yeah, well don’t get too excited. There’s no way I’m going to be able to do that with all the infected that are left.
Lexa: Well, what if we find you a power source to feed from? (Into her comlink) Hey, Jess?
Jesse: I can divert the base’s power from the fence back into the installation, but Kline’s gonna be all over us the minute they realize the fence is down.
Shalimar: We have to find a way to get all the infected in one spot so we can get them all with one blast. We need bait.
Dr. Arrigo: Blood. It’s what draws them. Uninfected blood to pass the parasites on to, especially if they run out of new hosts. I have blood in the fridge.
Jesse: There’s a generator in the basement of the building you’re in. I can give you about five minutes.
Brennan: All right, we’re on our way.
Shalimar (to Lexa): Coming?
Lexa: No. Actually, there’s something I’ve got to take care of here. [She goes to Peter’s bedside.]
[Jesse walks to the circuit breaker outside the building and phases into the fence. He hangs a metal device on the breaker and leaves. Meanwhile, Shalimar and Brennan are leaving a trail of blood through the hallways of the building. The Infected come running.]
Shalimar: They’re coming. Lots of them.
[In Arrigo’s lab, Lexa pages through the autopsy results Jesse sent her. Finding what she’s looking for, she heads back into Peter’s room to face Dr. Arrigo.]
Lexa (tossing the paper onto the bed): Peter’s sister’s autopsy results.
Dr. Arrigo: How did you know?
Lexa: You said the parasite could only pass through open wounds. Well, according to these pictures, Rachel’s only wound was a needle puncture. In her back. You couldn’t even do it to her face.
Dr. Arrigo: I'm not a monster. I thought I could find a cure for her. I didn't know that it would get out.
Lexa: Rationalizations are a beautiful thing, aren't they?
Dr. Arrigo: I had no choice! This discovery could change the face of war. It would make this country invincible.
Lexa: What, by infecting people in someone else's country?
Dr. Arrigo: Just think of the lives we would be saving here.
Lexa: Why don't you think about the people you killed today? This isn't about saving lives for you. It's about going down in the history books, isn't it?
[Shalimar and Brennan are waiting by the generator.]
Shalimar: Come on, Bren. They’re on us.
Brennan: No, we need to wait. They need to all be in the room. We’ve only got one shot at this.
Jesse (back in the Helix): Brennan, I’m at the transformer controls now. I’m powering it up.
Brennan (as The Infected reach the room): Now Jess! [Jesse powers up the generator, and Brennan creates an enormous electromagnetic field.]
[Outside, General Kline learns that the power has been drained.]
General Kline: The fence is out? (Pointing) Get out there. Shoot anyone on sight.
[Meanwhile, in the lab, Lexa walks away from Dr. Arrigo, disgusted.]
Dr. Arrigo: What're you going to do?
Lexa: I should give you to those things out there and let them have their way with you. [In the basement, Brennan keeps up the force-field until he collapses. In the lab, Lexa looks up as the lights flicker, and Dr. Arrigo uses the distraction to grab his tranquilizer gun. He shoots a dart into Lexa’s throat, and she collapses.]
Dr. Arrigo (grabbing his scalpel): I have another idea. Everything would have been fine if you’d just stayed out of it. [As he reaches the scalpel towards her, he’s shot from behind. He turns to see Peter, standing in the doorway of his room, holding the gun from the side table. Arrigo drops the scalpel and falls to the ground, dead.]
Lexa (smiling): Thanks. [Peter weakly sinks to the floor.]
[Outside the building, Lexa, Peter, Brennan, and Shalimar walk slowly towards the fence. An army of soldiers faces them, holding them at gunpoint, awaiting the order to shoot.]
Kline: On my signal.
Jesse (rushing up to Kline): Hold your fire! Hold your fire! [Jesse hands Kline a computer printout of a scan of the compound which shows no red dots.]
Kline: What is this?
Jesse: You said no one got out until you had proof that the threat of contagion was over. There’s your proof.
Kline: Stand down. [The soldiers put down their guns.]
Jesse: I think you might want to call off those bombs.
Kline (into his radio): This is Major General Kline... [He walks away, still speaking. Jesse walks over to meet his teammates.]
Jesse (shaking Brennan’s hand): You all right?
Brennan: Yes.
Shalimar: Couldn’t have cut it much closer.
Jesse (to Lexa): Arrigo? [She shakes her head.]
Shalimar: Well, maybe guys like this will finally learn. Mess with Mother Nature, she messes back.
Brennan: Yeah. I’m wondering how long we’re gonna have to pay for it.
[In the air above the compound, the two bomber planes turn away.]
Closing Credits.
Episode #303 Transcript: " The Breed"
[Opening Scene: A frightened Man in a white lab coat holding a gun carefully makes his way down a darkened hallway strewn with what appears to be dead bodies. Screams and growls can be heard overhead. He pushes through a door, kicking over another man who is standing hunched over in the hallway. The man falls, lifeless, to the ground, but then opens his eyes and tries to grab The Man’s leg. The Man shoots him and flees towards a locked door.]
The Man (banging on the locked door): Open up!
A woman’s voice inside: Go away!
The Man (still banging): Please, please let me in!
A man’s voice inside: No! Go away!
The Man: Please let me in! [Giving up, The Man runs down some stairs, passing other bodies on the floor. He holds his gun on them, kicking one to make sure he’s dead. He reaches a security gate, but in his haste, he enters the security code incorrectly.] Come on! [He gets the code right on the second try, and opens the gate. He runs his card through the door’s lock and finally gets in. Relieved, he watches through the door’s small window as a group of howling people gathers around the gate, trying to get in.]
[Cut to: Sanctuary. A blaring alarm whoops overhead, and a red signal flashes on the computers: “Incoming Message - Channel E001.” One by one, they come out of their rooms holding their ears.]
Brennan: What is that?!
Shalimar: Yeah, and how fast can we kill it?
Jesse (at the computer, turns off the alarm): It was an emergency alarm. It’s coming through Adam’s private frequency.
Shalimar: What kind of emergency?
Jesse (pulls up a video link, The Man in the white coat appears on the screen): I don’t know, but I’m guessing he’s about to tell us.
The Man: Adam, you were right. We shouldn’t have gotten involved. This project’s gotten out of control.
Shalimar (to Jesse): What’s he talking about? [Jesse shakes his head in bewilderment, so Shalimar tries talking to the man on the screen instead] What project? Where are you?
Jesse: He can’t hear you. It’s a one-way distress call.
The Man: I’m sending you a video about what’s happening on the base. [The screen flips, showing the group of people at the gate, trying to get in.] It’s horrible.
Brennan: What the hell?
The Man: Adam, please, I need your help. [The video feed cuts off in a burst of static.]
Brennan: What happened?
Jesse: The transmission’s been cut at the source. We lost him. [The three look at each other, worried.]
Opening credits. “The Breed.”
[Sanctuary. Jesse’s discovered The Man’s identity, and pulled up his biography on the computer to show Brennan and Shalimar.]
Jesse: Dr. Vincent Arrigo. He was another Genomex alumni. When Genomex folded, Adam pulled some strings to get him to the army’s bioresearch division. He’s stationed at Fort Perry. It’s a military medical installation.
Shalimar: Let me guess. Gene based research?
Jesse: Ten points. His research is majorly classified. I’m talking Level 6 clearance. I can’t even see the work he’s been doing.
Lexa (getting off her cell-phone): Try germ warfare. It’s safe to assume that whatever Arrigo and his team were working on isn’t the new cold and flu remedy.
Brennan: So what’d you find?
Lexa: My contacts tell me it’s a new form of a weaponized plague. Other than that, they’re completely in the dark. The military’s blocking all communications within the base. They want us to answer that distress signal.
Brennan: Woah, woah, hang on there. Plague exterminator? Not in my job description.
Shalimar: Yeah, Brennan’s right. I mean, why aren’t they calling in Center for Disease Control?
Lexa: Because if the army asked for outside help, they admit culpability. They have to hand over whatever classified research relates. That’s never gonna happen.
Jesse: She’s right. Right now, Dr. Arrigo’s our only chance, and he’s smack dab right in the middle of ground zero.
Shalimar: Yeah, and what if he’s already dead?
Lexa: There’s only one way to find out.
[Scene: The Double Helix interior as the team flies towards Fort Perry. The Helix is cloaked in stealth mode.]
Shalimar: So what’s the plan once we land?
Brennan: Well, take the most direct route to Arrigo’s lab, do not pass go. And do not get cornered by whatever it was we saw in that video link.
Shalimar: Good strategy.
Jesse: So...you think Arrigo’s going to fix whatever it is he opened up?
Brennan: Well, if he’s the one who opened it, he’s got the best chance of dealing with it. All right, Fort Perry, dead ahead. Shal, what you got on the sensors?
Shalimar: Well, there’s a heavy military presence all over on the perimeter, and it looks like the base is circled by some sort of energy fence.
Lexa: High tech quarantine. Can we land inside the installation?
Jesse: It’s risky. As soon as we get close enough to land, it’ll probably fry out our nav systems.
Brennan: Looks like we’re going in the front door. All right, I’m taking her out of stealth. I’m guessing these military types wouldn’t look so kindly on us just appearing out of thin air.
Shalimar: Hey guys, we’re being hailed on broadband.
Voice: Unidentified craft, you’re entering restricted military airspace. Land immediately, or be considered hostile.
Brennan: Copy that. We’re coming in.
Shalimar (to Lexa): So, if any of your buddies have military pull, now would be a really good time.
Lexa: I’m on it. [She pulls out her cell phone.]
[Scene: Inside a tent on the perimeters outside of Fort Perry, Mutant X is meeting with the officer in charge of the quarantine, Major General Kline.]
Jesse: All we’re asking for is entry.
Major General Kline: You’re in no position to ask me what I had for breakfast, let alone breech my quarantine. I’ll do this one more time. Who do you work for? How’d you hear about this? And who else knows? [No one answers his questions.] All right. I want them restrained. [As the soldiers converge on Mutant X, Lexa’s cell phone rings.]
Lexa: Oh, hey, hey, hey, wait, wait. Wait up.You might want to get this. It’s for you. [She tosses him her cell-phone.]
Kline (into the cell-phone): This is Major General Kline.
Jesse (looking at Lexa, she shrugs): I’d pay big money to take a look at your Roladex.
Lexa (smiling): That’s what all the boys say.
Kline (into the phone): I understand, sir. [Turning off the phone, he comes back to Mutant X.] It seems I’m to give you cooperation.
Lexa (retrieving her phone): Good. So, what steps are being taken to reverse the infection?
Kline: Military doctors are working off site; we’re running a straight quarantine and containment op here.
Brennan: Sure we don’t need some sort of protective masks or hazmat suits?
Kline: It isn’t airborne. Transmission requires contact through broken skin, bites, scratches, so keep your distance from anyone infected.
Shalimar: You can count on that.
Kline (walking them towards the energy fence): Okay, let’s be clear on one last thing. Your connections got you an entry pass, not an exit. Once inside, you all become contagion risks. You’ll be considered quarantined, just like the rest. Understood?
Lexa: Understood. [Kline walks away.] Cheery little guy, isn’t he?
Shalimar: I don’t know if I like going in there, knowing he’s our only way out.
Lexa: Well, one of us is going to have to stay behind, then. [Everyone looks at Jesse.]
Jesse: Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Absolutely not.
Shalimar: Jess...
Jesse: Come on, we’re outnumbered in there as it is!
Brennan: Well, then, one less isn’t going to make that much difference.
Shalimar: Look, the Helix is linked to your systems in Sanctuary. You’ll be more help if you stay with it.
Jesse: Fine.
Lexa: Good! Now listen, find out about the containment measures. And find out if there’s any back door exit, in case we need it.
Jesse: Start with that fence.
Kline (Into his walkie-talkie): Kill Section 9.
Brennan: Here we go.
Shalimar: Wish us luck.
Jesse: Good luck. [When the fence goes back up, Jesse measures the voltage with a small device. Lexa, Shalimar, and Brennan walk onto the compound.]
Brennan (seeing all the dead bodies): That is not a good sign.
Lexa: How far are we from Arrigo?
Shalimar: His lab should be in the main building.
Brennan (seeing Shalimar stop): What’s up, Shal?
Shalimar: That smell. It’s like rotting infected flesh or something.
Lexa: Now, There’s a reason I’m glad I’m not a feral. Can you track it?
Shalimar (pointing): There! [They watch as a soldier rounds the corner towards them, being chased by a group of infected people with reddened skin.]
The Soldier: Get out of here! Run! [Brennan and Lexa hold The Infected back with an electrical arc and a burst of light. They pick up The Soldier and run.]
Brennan, Shalimar: Go, go!
[Back inside the military tent, Jesse is talking with Major General Kline.]
Jesse: You’ve got 250 thousand volts running through that fence. Where’re you getting the juice?
Kline: We’ve diverted every bit of power from the installation to the fence. Nothing’s going get through there.
Jesse: Maybe I could take a look at those schematics, just to make sure.
Kline: The fence specs are classified. Your team took a big risk, going in there on their own.
Jesse: That’s what we do.
Kline: What makes them think they can succeed where our resources have failed?
Jesse: Let’s just say we’ve got some pretty unique resources of our own.
Kline: Such as?
Jesse: That’s classified.
Kline (smiling): Just make sure you obey the quarantine orders, and you won’t have any problems.
[Meanwhile, Shalimar, Lexa, Brennan, and The Soldier run towards Arrigo’s lab, chased by The Infected. There are bodies strewn all over the ground.]
Shalimar: I don’t think there’s anyone left to roll out the Welcome Wagon!
Brennan: I hope you’re wrong! [They reach the building; Brennan tries to pick the lock with his army knife.]
Shalimar: Whatever we do, we’d better do it fast.
Lexa (seeing The Infected closing in): Okay, now would be a good time, Brennan.
Shalimar: Don’t fry it, we need that lock behind us.
Brennan: All right, just let me work here. [He shocks the lock, and the door opens.]
Lexa: Go, go, go! [She pushes them inside, then sets a van outside on fire with a laser. The van explodes, sending The Infected flying. Lexa joins Shalimar and Brennan inside the building.]
Shalimar (looking at the bodies on the floor): Just our luck. There are just as many infected inside as outside.
Brennan (handing Lexa a flashlight from a body): Great, just when I was feeling all warm and fuzzy. [He reaches into a panel in the ceiling and places a gun there.)
Shalimar: I think they’re on to us. They can probably smell people who aren’t infected. Arrigo’s lab should be around the corner. Go.
Brennan (yelling through the gate): Dr. Arrigo, let us in!
Dr. Arrigo (peering out his door window): Who are you?
Brennan: We got the message you sent.
Arrigo (opening the door a little): Adam sent you?
Brennan: Yes.
Shalimar: Guys? [The howling behind them gets louder]
Lexa: Look, just let us in! [Arrigo pushes a remote controller, and the gate opens. The four accompany Arrigo back to his lab.]
Arrigo: I didn’t know if anyone had received the message.
Brennan: All right, you wanna tell us what’s going on here?
Arrigo (closing the door): It’s pretty complicated genetic theory.
Lexa: Well, try us.
Dr. Arrigo: My field is behavioral shadowing. It's a rare phenomena where parasites actually control their hosts instead of feeding off them.
Shalimar: Like little puppet masters.
Dr. Arrigo: So far it's only been proven to occur with the lower species--spiders, rats. Our directive was to create a parasite that could influence human behavior; allow us to gain control over an entire enemy force just by infecting it.
Brennan: That's possible?
Dr. Arrigo: It's happening right now on this base. Let me show you. [He goes to his computer.] The parasite we designed secretes a neurochemical that triggers hyperaggression.
Brennan: Oh, well you just infect one of them and then sit back and watch as they infect each other?
Dr. Arrigo: We could win a war without firing a single shot. It was brilliant.
Shalimar: It’s insane. What went wrong?
Dr. Arrigo (pulling up a picture of Rachel Morton): She did. I blame myself. My assistant, Rachel, accidentally infected herself before we could conduct an antidote. [In the next room, which has a bed with restraints, The Soldier groans and falls to the floor.]
Lexa (running to his side): Hey, are you okay? [Lexa and Shalimar pull him up. He takes off his coat, and sees scratches on his left inner arm. Dr. Arrigo, putting down his gun on the side table, runs into the room and pushes The Soldier onto the bed.]
Dr. Arrigo (to Mutant X): Tie him down! Tie him down now; he’s infected! Come on, now! Move it, move it!
The Soldier: He’s right. He’s right. Do it, do it!
Dr. Arrigo: Let’s go!
The Soldier: Wait, wait. [He hands Shalimar a glass vial.] You have to help the others. Listen to me, listen to me! For all our sakes, kill me. Please, just kill me! [They all stare at him.]
*******Commercial Break********
Peter: I was on my way back from the base hospital when I was ambushed.
Brennan: Were you trying to get out?
Peter: No. A woman I was hiding with fell into diabetic shock. I volunteered to go get insulin.
Shalimar: That was a pretty ballsy move. You had to know half the installation was infected.
Brennan: Well, the least we can do is make sure you didn’t do it for nothing. [They walk out, leaving him strapped to the bed.]
Brennan (grabbing his flashlight): All right, Doc, you know where his friends are?
Dr. Arrigo: The old kitchen in the basement. Take this first aid kit. You’re gonna need it. [He hands the bag to Shalimar. Meanwhile, Peter, straining against the restraints, notices the gun on the side table.]
Dr. Arrigo (clicking the remote control to open the gate): Go ahead! [Brennan and Shalimar go through the gate; he closes the door behind them.]
Brennan: Shal.
Shalimar: Well, we can make it as far as the corner. Let’s see if we can make it all the way to the kitchen.
[In the lab, Lexa stands outside Peter’s room, watching him through the glass.]
Lexa (to Dr. Arrigo): Are you sure he’s infected?
Dr. Arrigo (letting her into Peter’s room): Take a look. [Lexa looks at a sample of Peter’s blood through a microscope. She sees a parasite swimming past.]
Lexa: Well, how many of these things are inside him?
Dr. Arrigo: At this stage? Thousands, maybe more. He only has a few hours left before he turns and their imperatives will direct his actions. I was working on a cure before the army shut down the main computer system. He can’t stay here. He’ll put us all at risk.
Lexa: Your job is to reverse the effects, correct? Well, meet your first patient.
[Cut to Jesse, who is sitting in the Helix, hacking into the US SOC database.]
Jesse: Under 10 minutes. Sometimes I am just freakin' good. All right, let's see what you've got for me... No. No. Oh, I'm gonna bookmark you for later... [He highlights “Energy Perimeter Fence” and pulls up the schematics.] Bingo.
Lexa (on her comlink): Hey Jess, what’s your status?
Jesse: Well, I’ve got some news about that fence.
Lexa: Good news?
Jesse: No. Whoever designed it knew what they were doing. They’ve got you locked up in there tight. They’ve got all the power from the whole base jacked into that fence. It’d take me all night to work out a workaround. How’s it going in there?
Lexa: Well, it turns out Arrigo was close to an experimental treatment. He had to abort because he lost the main research server. Can you hook it back up?
Jesse: Well, if the server’s down, it’s down. But I could link up your computer in the lab to mine here in the Helix and then to ours back in Sanctuary. That way we could task share during the procedures.
Lexa: Perfect.
Jesse: Okay. One network link for the lady coming up.
Lexa: Thanks.
[Shalimar and Brennan are walking through the hallways, stepping around dead bodies.]
Shalimar: I don’t know about you, but this place is creeping me out.
Brennan: I’m not arguing. [Suddenly, they jump back as a flash of electricity slashes between them.]
Woman on the steps (holding a gun): That was your only warning.
Brennan: Take it easy! We’re not infected!
Woman: Show me.
Shalimar (holding up her arms): Peter sent us. We have insulin and medical supplies.
Woman: Okay, get up here. Move!
[Lexa joins Dr. Arrigo in Peter’s room and Dr. Arrigo leaves the room to check on his computer.]
Lexa (to Peter): Sorry about the restraints. Doctor’s orders.
Peter (shaking): Don’t be sorry. Shivering and fever’s just the first stage. It’s a whole lot worse.
Lexa: I guess you’re probably all experts on this by now, huh? [Sitting in the next room, Dr. Arrigo surreptitiously turns on his speaker so that he can hear what they’re saying.]
Peter: Yeah. Me more than most, though. My sister was the first infected.
Lexa: Rachel. His assistant?
Peter: Yeah.
Lexa: The one who accidentally infected herself in the lab?
Peter: That’s a load of crap! She was terrified of that project. No way she would have gotten close enough to infect herself.
Lexa: What are you saying, he’s lying?
Peter: I don’t know what I’m saying. I just don’t trust him.
Lexa: Well, you might have to start. He’s come up with a treatment that-
Peter: I’ll do it.
Lexa: Well, a few minutes ago, you were ready to give up. Now you’re ready to fight. That’s a good sign.
Peter: This isn’t about some cure. This is about debt. I owe my sister. Things got bad for her near the end. She tried attacking me. I had to hurt her just to get away. That's what this parasite's like. Turned my own flesh and blood into something I was afraid of. Can you imagine what that's like?
Lexa: Actually, I can. I’ll tell the doctor you’re ready. [She rejoins Dr. Arrigo in his lab, watching him warily.]
[We return to Shalimar and Brennan, following The Woman to the kitchen in the basement.]
The Woman: There’s about 20 of us left. At first we just found each other on the run, but then a few of us armed ourselves; started doing sweeps looking for other uninfected.
Brennan: Find anyone else?
The Woman: Well, no new uninfected for hours. We’re starting to think we’re the last ones.
Shalimar: How many are injured?
The Woman: A handful. Falls, mostly. Well, except for Angela.
Brennan: Who’s Angela?
The Woman: She’s the one you’re here for. [The Woman knocks on the door, and all three are let into the kitchen. The Woman nods to another woman lying on the floor.] That’s Angela over there.
Brennan (going over to the medic at Angela’s side): It’s okay. I’ve got it.
[In the Helix, Jesse’s finished setting up the computer links; Lexa and Dr. Arrigo are waiting in Peter’s room.]
Jesse: All right, Lexa, we’re ready to go here. All systems are synched. I’ll run a real-time analysis as you run the procedure.
Dr. Arrigo: I’m going to attempt to purify the patient’s blood with a first bore anti-parasitic wash. Starting initial drip now. [Peter starts to convulse.]
Jesse: Woah, Doctor! There’s something wrong.
Lexa: What is it?
Jesse: The parasites are starting to multiply, fast!
Lexa (holding Peter down): Get the sedative! [Instead, Dr. Arrigo grabs a scalpel and holds it to Peter’s neck.] I said, the sedative!
Dr. Arrigo: Killing him would be a kindness now! It’s the right thing to do!
Lexa: I am not going to ask you again. [Relenting, Dr. Arrigo injects Peter with sedative, and he relaxes.]
[Cut to Brennan in the kitchen, injecting Angela with insulin.]
Brennan: You’re gonna be as good as new. It’s gonna be okay. Feel better?
The Woman (seeing Shalimar looking around warily): What’s the matter?
Shalimar: Is there someplace you can lock yourselves?
The Woman: Why?
Shalimar: Someone here’s infected. [An infected woman suddenly launches herself at Brennan. The Woman shoots her in the back, and she falls dead. Brennan reaches down to check her pulse.]
Shalimar: Oh my God.
Brennan: What?
Shalimar (pulling down Brennan’s collar to show long scratches on his neck): Brennan. You’ve been infected.
********Commercial Break*********
[In the kitchen, five people are holding Brennan at gunpoint.]
Brennan (to Shalimar): We need to get outta here.
The Woman (holding up her gun): It’s too late. [Shalimar takes the gun from her hands, and backs toward the door, keeping Brennan behind her.]
Shalimar: Drop it! Drop it!
Brennan: Open that door! It’s already hitting me, I can feel it.
Shalimar: Let's go!
Brennan: It's not safe for you to be around me anymore.
Shalimar: I trust you.
Brennan: I don’t! [He pushes Shalimar back into the room, runs out of the room, and closes the door behind him.]
Shalimar: No! [Shalimar drops the gun, pulls two people away from the door, and flings open the door. As she charges after Brennan, the people inside the kitchen hurriedly lock the door after them.]
[Outside in the military tent, Major General Kline is on his cell-phone with his superiors.]
Kline: Is there no other way, sir?
Superior Officer: Barring new developments, no. Start readying your team to move out. It’s a tough call, Kline, but it’s the right one.
Kline: Right. [He hangs up and turns to a soldier.] Prepare to move the unit. Washington is calling in an air strike.
[In the Helix, Jesse’s waiting at the computer sorts through images of known parasites, trying to learn more about Dr. Arrigo’s bug. He sits up when the computer finds a match.]
Jesse: And we have a winner.
[Lexa stands with Dr. Arrigo over a lab table and a stack of petri dishes.]
Lexa: Okay, what are we doing here?
Dr. Arrigo: Experimenting with anti-sense agents. Different varieties are toxic to different parasites.
Lexa: Okay, is now a good time to tell you I failed chem class? [Dr. Arrigo injects a serum, and the petri dish sample boils up] Is that good?
Dr. Arrigo: No. [Lexa blasts the with a laser.] That may have been overkill.
Lexa: What happened?
Dr. Arrigo: We verified what we saw during Peter's experiments. The parasites have apparently developed some kind of protective mechanism, and hen they sense an attack, they multiply. [Lexa hastily checks her hands.] No, it's all right; you can't be that easily infected. You need broken skin. Let me get rid of this. [He starts cleaning up the mess Lexa made.]
Jesse: Hey, Lexa.
Lexa: Tell me you guys got something. We’re coming up with squat here.
Jesse: Maybe. I ran some recognition software on Arrigo’s bug. Hacked into a parasitology database. Got kind of a match.
Lexa: What do you mean, kind of?
Jesse: Well, Arrigo's bug has kind of a defining physical characteristic. It stores iron in a very peculiar manner in its body. Now the only other parasite that does that are called plasmodiums. Plasmodiums cause malaria.
Lexa: And this is exciting why?
Jesse: Because plasmodiums can be killed. Now, there are four different plasmodium groups, though, and they each have their own cure.
Lexa: Yeah, but it’s a hell of a good way to start. I’ll alert Arrigo. Jess, one more thing. I need you to hack the prelim autopsy report on Rachel Morton. It should be in the hospital database.
Jesse: That’s the first victim, right? What’s that all about?
Lexa: Look, it’s a long shot. Just humor me.
Jesse: All right.
[Shalimar’s looking for Brennan, who is hiding from her. He notices his skin’s turning red, and he takes off his comlink ring.]
Shalimar: Brennan? [She heads off the wrong way down the hallway.]
[Jesse calls Lexa back from the Helix.]
Jesse: Okay, first of all, I got the autopsy report you were looking for. I’m sending it to you now over a secured channel.
Lexa: Okay, what about the malaria issue?
Jesse: Looks promising. There's a new treatment that involves dosing the host with rotating electromagnetic fields. It causes the iron in the parasite's body to twist, rupturing them.
Lexa: So you can fry the parasites without harming the host?
Jesse: You got it, but only if it's done with the right frequency and pulse, otherwise it could be deadly. [His computer begins to beep.] Hey, hold on.
Lexa: What?
Jesse: Sensors are showing incoming planes locked into your position.
Lexa: What planes?
Jesse: I don’t know. They’re not on any registered flight plans.
Lexa: Bombers! [Cut to two planes headed toward the base, then back to a worried Lexa, who tries to locate Shalimar.] Shalimar, where are you?
Shalimar: Main floor offices. I can’t find Brennan.
Lexa: No, no, it’s too late. You need to get away from him. [Shalimar turns as she hears glass breaking. It’s Brennan, and he’s now clearly affected by the infection.]
******Commercial Break********
Lexa: Shalimar, what’s going on? [Shalimar’s walking down the hallway, searching for Brennan.]
Shalimar: I think I heard him.
Lexa: No, you can’t get close to him; he’s too strong!
Shalimar: He won’t hurt me. [Just then, Brennan attacks her. She drop kicks him, then starts running. Hiding around the bend, she contacts Lexa again.] I think he’s turned!
Lexa: I think we have it. We think we’ve found a way to treat him. Well, you know the fence?
Shalimar: Yeah, I can get to it, why?
Lexa: We need you to get Brennan to form a tesla coil and then throw him against the electric fence.
Shalimar: Are you crazy? That'll kill him!
Lexa: No, it would kill a normal person, yeah. But with Brennan, we're thinking that it will create an electromagnetic field that will rupture the parasites in his system. [Shalimar doesn’t answer.] Those things are going to kill him anyway, Shalimar. You need to get out of there before he kills you too.
Shalimar: I can’t risk it.
Lexa: You have no choice. It’s the only way to save him. [Brennan comes running, Shalimar leads him outside. They fight. She waits until he forms a tesla coil, then she kicks him up against the fence. He hangs there, suspended for a while, then falls to the ground.]
Shalimar (running to him): Hey! Hey. You okay? [She kisses him.] Lexa, it worked!
Lexa (sighing in relief): Okay, both of you get back here now, as soon as you can. We still don’t know if it works on non-mutants.
[In his tent outside the perimeter, Major General Kline is following the helicopters’ progress by radio when two soldiers bring in a very angry Jesse.]
Jesse: You ordered an air strike! Why?
Kline: The infection has spread too far.
Jesse (sarcastically): Based on what? Your profound understanding of parasitology?
Kline (signaling the guards to let him go): The infected have a raised body temperature. They show up red on thermal images. [He pulls up an image on a computer.] This is a satellite scan of the base as of 48 hours ago. This one is from an hour ago. [There are many more red dots.] Less than 50 people on that base are left uninfected.
Jesse: But they can’t get off the base. You said so yourself.
Kline: That’s an assumption. Not a certainty. How many thousands of lives are you willing to gamble on that?
Jesse: We are very close to an antidote. I promise you.
Kline: I’m sorry, son. Your friends knew the risks when they went in there.
Jesse: Give me more time. Please.
Kline: The order’s been given. They’re out of time. [Cut to the planes on their way to the base.]
*******Commercial Break**********
[In Arrigo’s lab, Lexa’s talking with Jesse, who is now back in The Helix.]
Lexa: Jesse, how much time do we have?
Jesse: You don’t have long. I’d say about 10 minutes.
Lexa: Oh, damnit!
Jesse: Look, this isn’t hopeless. Let’s think this through, okay? Now if you can establish that this works on non-mutants and figure out how to do it on large scale, then I can kill the fence, and you can get the hell out of there.
Lexa: Yeah, but that doesn’t save anybody else. We don’t have enough time to evacuate in time for the drop.
Jesse: Let me worry about the bombs. You take care of the infection; I’ll take care of Kline. Good?
Lexa: Let’s just hope this works.
[Brennan, Lexa, Shalimar, and Arrigo gather around Peter’s bed; he’s writhing against the restraints. Brennan forms a tesla coil and creates an electromagnetic field around him. Dr. Arrigo watches the results on his computer, as the parasites begin to disappear.]
Dr. Arrigo: Don’t stop! The parasites are beginning to die! It worked!
Brennan: Yeah, well don’t get too excited. There’s no way I’m going to be able to do that with all the infected that are left.
Lexa: Well, what if we find you a power source to feed from? (Into her comlink) Hey, Jess?
Jesse: I can divert the base’s power from the fence back into the installation, but Kline’s gonna be all over us the minute they realize the fence is down.
Shalimar: We have to find a way to get all the infected in one spot so we can get them all with one blast. We need bait.
Dr. Arrigo: Blood. It’s what draws them. Uninfected blood to pass the parasites on to, especially if they run out of new hosts. I have blood in the fridge.
Jesse: There’s a generator in the basement of the building you’re in. I can give you about five minutes.
Brennan: All right, we’re on our way.
Shalimar (to Lexa): Coming?
Lexa: No. Actually, there’s something I’ve got to take care of here. [She goes to Peter’s bedside.]
[Jesse walks to the circuit breaker outside the building and phases into the fence. He hangs a metal device on the breaker and leaves. Meanwhile, Shalimar and Brennan are leaving a trail of blood through the hallways of the building. The Infected come running.]
Shalimar: They’re coming. Lots of them.
[In Arrigo’s lab, Lexa pages through the autopsy results Jesse sent her. Finding what she’s looking for, she heads back into Peter’s room to face Dr. Arrigo.]
Lexa (tossing the paper onto the bed): Peter’s sister’s autopsy results.
Dr. Arrigo: How did you know?
Lexa: You said the parasite could only pass through open wounds. Well, according to these pictures, Rachel’s only wound was a needle puncture. In her back. You couldn’t even do it to her face.
Dr. Arrigo: I'm not a monster. I thought I could find a cure for her. I didn't know that it would get out.
Lexa: Rationalizations are a beautiful thing, aren't they?
Dr. Arrigo: I had no choice! This discovery could change the face of war. It would make this country invincible.
Lexa: What, by infecting people in someone else's country?
Dr. Arrigo: Just think of the lives we would be saving here.
Lexa: Why don't you think about the people you killed today? This isn't about saving lives for you. It's about going down in the history books, isn't it?
[Shalimar and Brennan are waiting by the generator.]
Shalimar: Come on, Bren. They’re on us.
Brennan: No, we need to wait. They need to all be in the room. We’ve only got one shot at this.
Jesse (back in the Helix): Brennan, I’m at the transformer controls now. I’m powering it up.
Brennan (as The Infected reach the room): Now Jess! [Jesse powers up the generator, and Brennan creates an enormous electromagnetic field.]
[Outside, General Kline learns that the power has been drained.]
General Kline: The fence is out? (Pointing) Get out there. Shoot anyone on sight.
[Meanwhile, in the lab, Lexa walks away from Dr. Arrigo, disgusted.]
Dr. Arrigo: What're you going to do?
Lexa: I should give you to those things out there and let them have their way with you. [In the basement, Brennan keeps up the force-field until he collapses. In the lab, Lexa looks up as the lights flicker, and Dr. Arrigo uses the distraction to grab his tranquilizer gun. He shoots a dart into Lexa’s throat, and she collapses.]
Dr. Arrigo (grabbing his scalpel): I have another idea. Everything would have been fine if you’d just stayed out of it. [As he reaches the scalpel towards her, he’s shot from behind. He turns to see Peter, standing in the doorway of his room, holding the gun from the side table. Arrigo drops the scalpel and falls to the ground, dead.]
Lexa (smiling): Thanks. [Peter weakly sinks to the floor.]
[Outside the building, Lexa, Peter, Brennan, and Shalimar walk slowly towards the fence. An army of soldiers faces them, holding them at gunpoint, awaiting the order to shoot.]
Kline: On my signal.
Jesse (rushing up to Kline): Hold your fire! Hold your fire! [Jesse hands Kline a computer printout of a scan of the compound which shows no red dots.]
Kline: What is this?
Jesse: You said no one got out until you had proof that the threat of contagion was over. There’s your proof.
Kline: Stand down. [The soldiers put down their guns.]
Jesse: I think you might want to call off those bombs.
Kline (into his radio): This is Major General Kline... [He walks away, still speaking. Jesse walks over to meet his teammates.]
Jesse (shaking Brennan’s hand): You all right?
Brennan: Yes.
Shalimar: Couldn’t have cut it much closer.
Jesse (to Lexa): Arrigo? [She shakes her head.]
Shalimar: Well, maybe guys like this will finally learn. Mess with Mother Nature, she messes back.
Brennan: Yeah. I’m wondering how long we’re gonna have to pay for it.
[In the air above the compound, the two bomber planes turn away.]
Closing Credits.