203 Sense And Antisense

[Libby]

203 Sense and Antisense

[MLM-203 (5C03)]

Written by Chip Johannessen

Directed by Thomas J. Wright

Edited by James Coblentz

U.S. Air Date: October 3, 1997

[Transcribed by Libby

Edited by Brian A. Dixon ]

"Control of third world populations designated secret national policy."

National Security memo 200 (1971)

[black and white footage of a war scene is seen -- military vehicles, piles of dead

bodies, refugees, etc. Gun fire can be heard in the background.]

"U.S. Military released from liability for experiments on unwilling and unknowing

human subjects."

U.S. vs. Stanley, Supreme Court (1985)

[More black and white war footage shows people running and tanks and trucks

spewing gas along roadways.]

SEATTLE

11:23 P.M.

[Night. It's pouring with rain. A taxi is being driven down the street. An African-

American man, soaked from the rain, walks down the sidewalk. He hails the taxi but

the driver switches on the "off duty" sign.]

MAN: Cab! Cab!

[The taxi drives past. Another taxi comes down the street. The man hails this one.]

MAN: Taxi! Taxi!

[The man is standing in middle of road, hands outstretched. The taxi driver, Gerome

Knox, also an African-American, notices him in time and brakes.]

KNOX: Whoa! Whoa! No need for that.

[The man walks around and gets into the back of the car.]

KNOX: I'd have stopped for you.

[The taxi drives off.]

KNOX: Yeah, buddy. I know the game. Everyone suddenly off duty. Right? It's not

just the white cats, man. Some brothers play that too.

[The man is coughing.]

KNOX: Yeah, man, ain't nobody care about nobody no more. The color don't even

matter. Black, brown, yellow, white. Don't matter. Everyone only worries about their

own interests.

[The man is now coughing blood, spitting it up onto the plastic barrier between the

front and back seat of the cab.]

KNOX: Man! Don't bleed on my seats, man, they make me clean that up.

MAN: Trucks!

[in a hospital emergency room the man is being wheeled in on a stretcher, surrounded

by medical personnel. Knox is running to keep up with them.]

KNOX: I picked him up in my cab. He was going on about people doing stuff to him.

DOCTOR: What stuff?

KNOX: I don't know. Two guys after him. He kept saying the trucks, the trucks.

MEDIC: BP 240.

[The man is coughing up a lot of blood, convulsing on the stretcher.]

MEDIC: BP 260 over 140. This guy's gonna stroke on us, doctor.

DOCTOR: IV push and a nipride drip, nil point 4 milligram nitro patch. Anybody?

I'm open to ideas.

[The medics continue to discuss the man's condition: "20mg sub q", "working on it".

Knox looks concerned.]

[A photograph of the man is being shown at the nurse's station.]

PATTERSON: Have you admitted this man?

[A nurse looks up at two men, Wright and Patterson, one of whom is holding out the

photograph. ]

NURSE: I take it you're not immediate family.

[The men don't respond.]

NURSE: They just took him into Trauma.

[Trauma room.]

MEDIC: BP 140 over 90.

DOCTOR: (to Knox) He's going to sleep a long time. There's no need to stick around.

[Knox still looks concerned. The two men seeking the patient are walking down the

hallway. The patient's eyes open -- his pupils are widely dilated. His right iris is

reddish, possibly from hemorrhage. The beeping of the monitor increases in speed as

he reaches up to Knox and grabs his jacket lapels.]

MAN: Trucks. The trucks. They want to kill me.

[Wright and Patterson storm into the ER. A doctor tries to stop them.]

DOCTOR: Whoa! Hold up, fellas. I can't let you in here. (The men just keep on

walking.) Where's your ID? This is an emergency room!

WRIGHT: Where is he?

DOCTOR: Who?

[The stretcher is now empty and there is blood on the pillow.]

WRIGHT: All right, listen up! We're from the Center for Disease Control. This area is

under quarantine. Nobody goes in or out.

[The two men are holding up their IDs.]

WRIGHT: Complete body fluid precautions are to be exercised.

[Outside, Knox is helping the patient back into his taxi. He switches on his "off duty"

sign and drives away just as a couple and their daughter leave the hospital by a nearby

entrance. As they walk off, the little girl steps unnoticing into some blood on the

ground.]

[Fade to black]

[Main titles]

[Polaroid fade up]

"SENSE AND ANTISENSE"

[Frank's house. Interior.]

ROEDECKER: So, what type of calls are these. Are they like phone card solicitations

or are they like the "do you have Prince Albert in a can" variety or are they like a guy

breathing and, you know, treating himself?

[Roedecker is sitting on the floor, enmeshed in wiring leading down from Frank's

telephone and computer. Frank is sitting at the desk.]

FRANK: They're not calls, just hang-ups.

[Roedecker gets up and fits a plug into a gadget on Frank's desk.]

ROEDECKER: Well, I'm connecting an ECBH-79 caller identification unit to your

phone. The digital readout will reflect the phone number of the person or persons

calling you and put an end to this harassment. You owe me sixty-five bucks.

[Frank writes a check. In front of him there's a photo on the desk of Catherine and

Jordan.]

ROEDECKER: That your family?

FRANK: MmmHmm.

ROEDECKER: Your wife's a total babelicious. No wonder you're getting calls.

[Frank gives him an exasperated look. The phone rings. Frank hands Roedecker the

check and then picks up the phone.]

FRANK: Hello.

[He puts his hand over the phone.]

FRANK: This is it.

[Roedecker switches on the gadget.]

FRANK: You ready?

[Roedecker nods.]

FRANK: (into phone) Hello? Hello?

[The phone clicks. Frank puts the phone down. The gadget bleeps. Roedecker holds it

out for Frank to see. The readout notes, "Anonymous Caller."]

ROEDECKER: Well, obviously whoever called has blocked caller ID. The phone

company does it for a price.

[Frank snatches back the check out of Roedecker's hands.]

ROEDECKER: Whoa, whoa! All you need now is a device to undo their caller block.

[Roedecker hastily grabs a package from a nearby chair and takes off the lid. It's

another gadget, the LMU-83.]

ROEDECKER: The LMU 83 will override their override very nicely. It's a little more

James Bondian but we are living in a more Blofeldian world.

FRANK: Just hook it up, Q.

[The telephone rings again.]

ROEDECKER: I'll take care of this.

[Roedecker picks it up and holds a small gadget against the receiver's microphone. It

sends a series of piercing modem-like squawks down the line. Then he puts the phone

to his ear to listen to the caller.]

ROEDECKER: (to Frank sheepishly) Do you know a Detective Giebelhouse?

[Frank just looks at Roedecker.]

[Giebelhouse is standing in a parking lot, wriggling his finger in his ear. He's clearly

still having problems with his hearing. Frank approaches him.]

FRANK: Hi, Giebelhouse.

[The two men shake hands.]

GIEBELHOUSE: I hope the Millennium Group doesn't mind I brought you in on this.

These Disease Control guys give me the creeps.

FRANK: What exactly is this Patient Zero carrying?

GIEBELHOUSE: They're keeping tight-lipped, which of course drives my guys nuts.

Afraid if it leaks out we could start a public panic.

[They enter a building.]

U.S. CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES

SEATTLE

9:45 P.M.

FRANK: Any luck with the cab driver?

GIEBELHOUSE: Good and bad. The good luck is we got the cabby's name. Gerome

Knox. The bad luck is he didn't show up for work, and he's not in his apartment.

[Frank signs for his ID badge at the front desk, then Giebelhouse.]

GIEBELHOUSE: Worse luck, if he's hiding Zero, we now got two infected guys.

[in the briefing room a slide show presentation is being given by Dr. Pettey. There are

several police officers present, plus the two CDC men.]

DR PETTEY: The subject we're searching for has been designated Patient Zero. Two

days ago, Zero appeared at the Olympia Plasma Center suffering from delusions,

hallucinations and echopraxia. {1}

[A slide, which is partially obscured by the doctor, shows blood results.]

DR PETTEY: He wanted to sell his blood, which a routine panel showed to be

positive for many things. They turned him over to us. We found what we believe is a

hemorrhagic pathogen previously found only in the Congo, similar in structure to

Filovirus Simia. {2}

COP: Are we talking wearing the yellow space suits, here? The whole "Outbreak"

number?

DR PETTEY: We're hopeful this is limited to body fluids.

COP: Hopeful!

GIEBELHOUSE: Ginelli! Simmer down.

GINELLI: There's no way I go chasing some toxic boonge until I get a straight

answer. What's with this guy?

FRANK: Paranoid schizophrenic.

[They all look at Frank, including the two original CDC men. Frank moves forward,

looking at the photos of the ER scene.]

FRANK: One neat aspect. Even in his hurry to escape, this man took the time to fold

five pieces of surgical tape back on themselves, leaving nothing sticky exposed. I've

seen this in paranoid schizophrenics. One neat aspect in a disorganized picture.

GINELLI: So, he's a neat-freak. How does that help us find him?

FRANK: I don't think we should consider this man a fugitive running from us.

[One CDC man whispers to the other, each watching Frank.]

FRANK: If he was hiding, he wouldn't have talked to the cab driver. I think he wants

to be seen and heard and he wants to tell his story. The cab picked him up at Yesler

and Third, that's a block and a half from the Seattle Tribune.

[The next slide shows a photo of Patient Zero.]

PATIENT ZERO: (on videotape) The truth is not out there. It's in here. (points to

himself)

[A B&W video recording of Patient Zero is being shown the at reception desk of the

Seattle Tribune. The time index on the tape reads, "10/01/97 11:16:32 PM"]

RECEPTION CLERK: A guy like this starts talking crazy and I call janitorial.

SEATTLE TRIBUNE

10:58 AM

CLERK: Usually ends up with them whipping it out and taking a whiz (looks at

Giebelhouse) right about where you're standing.

[Giebelhouse looks down and edges back a bit.]

FRANK: You see this guy before last night?

CLERK: No. No, working late shift you get to know all the nutballs.

FRANK: (watching the video's time index) Eleven-eighteen. Just before Knox picks

him up in his cab.

[The two CDC guys are also there.]

CLERK: So, I tell him the Seattle Tribune doesn't want his crazy-assed story. Watch

this part. Guy goes bananas.

[The video shows the man shouting at the clerk, screaming, "Truckloads! Truckloads!

Truckloads of John Does! Vanishing!"]

CLERK: (looks around him) Lot of personnel for a lunatic. What, he kill some rich

guy?

WRIGHT: If he shows up again...

[He hands the clerk a card. Frank takes it from the clerk.]

FRANK: He won't.

[He turns aside and speaks to Giebelhouse.]

FRANK: He'll go elsewhere. He'll go to some place open to hearing what he has to

say.

[On the video Zero is shouting, "Tuskegee! They denied it. Apologized, then

denied."]

AFRO SENTINEL

12:15 PM

PATIENT ZERO: (shouting) MKUltra, COINTELPRO, DOE, ACTG!

KNOX: (to an editor) Hey, write it down, man, write this down.

PATIENT ZERO: He don't have to write it down. It's everyone! It's Everywhere!

EDITOR: Hold the phone. Now, who the hell are you?

[Patient Zero, at window, doesn't answer.]

EDITOR: (to Knox) Okay, who the hell are you?

KNOX: (to Patient Zero) Hey man, tell him about the trucks.

EDITOR: He told me about the trucks.

KNOX: Hey, man, you're supposed to be a reporter, brother. I'm telling you,

someone's oppressing this man!

EDITOR: You know how many times a week I hear that, brother? And from

everyone. Asians say it's black people. Black people say it's white people. White

people say it's extraterrestrials.

KNOX: No, man. I saw two guys after him, at the hospital.

EDITOR: Two guys at a hospital ain't proof of a damn thing.

[Patient Zero is still at the window, checking through the blinds nervously.]

EDITOR: He could be a criminal for all I know, or you know.

KNOX: Him? Man, they're the criminals! Hey, look, look, look. I know it's hard to

follow -- but this man is coming from a poetic place. Hear me, man, listen, man.

Thirty years ago people said the US government was using black men as an

experiment to die of syphilis was just another whacked-out conspiracy theory like,

like, aliens or something...

PATIENT ZERO: (to reporter) Tuskegee! Tuskegee! Tuskegee! {3}

EDITOR: Tuskegee is over, man. The President has apologized.

KNOX: This man needs an apology. If he lives to hear it.

[There is the sound of squealing tires outside. Patient Zero cries "No!" and hides in

the corner.]

KNOX: Do you hear me, man?

[The editor gets up and goes to the window.]

KNOX: You just gonna ignore me?

[Through the blinds, the editor sees Knox's yellow cab. Frank and Giebelhouse are

examining the car There are voices from outside: "OK, let's do it." As Knox also

looks through the blinds, there are cops moving towards the building.]

KNOX: They're coming.

EDITOR: Hey! (takes out some keys and gives them to Knox) Down the hall, black

door on the left. Take the blue Impala.

[Knox grabs Patient Zero.]

KNOX: Come on! Hey, move it, pal.

EDITOR: (shouting after them) And the story's ours!

[Knox and Patient Zero run down a corridor.]

KNOX: This way! Come on, come on!

[They reach an outside door and Knox fumbles with the keys.]

PATIENT ZERO: He's with them! Get out of the way! Get out of the way! Yeah!

[Patient Zero launches himself at the door and breaks the glass panel.]

[The police enter through the front entrance. The editor has come out into the

reception area.]

EDITOR: Hold it. This is a place of business. You are now standing in the public part

of that place. Now the rest of this building is private and off-limits to you without a

search warrant.

[A police officer walks by him, slapping a document into his hand.]

COP: How's this?

[The rest of the police officers file past.]

[in an alleyway out back Frank and Giebelhouse approach the door through which

Knox and Patient Zero exited.]

FRANK: (calling out) We're here to help you.

[Giebelhouse checks a garbage bin.]

FRANK: I want to help you.

GIEBELHOUSE: Nothing.

[As Frank looks around, a bloody hand reaches out and grasps his shoulder. Frank

shakes it off and holds up his hands.]

GIEBELHOUSE: Easy does it, guy.

[Frank checks out Patient Zero's dilated pupils.]

GIEBELHOUSE: Easy does it.

[The exit door opens and the CDC guys, Knox, and others exit. Zero is drooling

blood.]

EDITOR: Either one of you ever planning to mention you got the damn plague?

[inside Frank's house, in the bedroom, he takes off his watch and ring. The music of

Bobby Darin's "Gyp the Cat" is playing.]

{MUSIC: "Where those bayous wind and them gators swim, sometime late last night

when the moon was dim someone left this life much against his will, and while Gyp

the Cat was alibi-in' you know his clothes were dryin'. Down on Bourbon Street

where the tourists roam, some big financier travelin' far from home lost his fancy

watch..."}

[There's a free-standing mirror. Frank goes past it and we hear the sound of water

running in the shower. The focus stays on the mirror, showing the bed. Frank comes

back in and sits on the bed and takes off his shoes. He catches his reflection in the

mirror, stands up and goes over to have a closer look. There's blood on the skin of his

neck and his undershirt.]

U.S. CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES

SEATTLE 8:12 PM

[Frank drives up in his jeep. He is carrying his shirt in a plastic bag. He walks towards

the building. Through the glass doors he can see that now the reception area is empty,

devoid of any and all furnishings. He opens the door and stands in the empty area. On

the walls are the outlines of the letters of the US CFID where the logos have been

removed. He goes into the briefing room and switches on the lights. Again, the room

is completely empty. The building has been abandoned and there is no longer any

trace of the former CDC offices.]

[Fade to black]

[Polaroid fade up]

[Fade in on Frank's shirt in the plastic bag as Giebelhouse carries it through an office

area at the headquarters for the Seattle Police Department.]

SEATTLE PUBLIC SAFETY BUILDING

7:12 AM

GIEBELHOUSE: Frank. They've tested the stain on your shirt.

FRANK: What did they find?

GIEBELHOUSE: Nothing. No virus. It's clean as a kicker's uniform. You sure it

wasn't your blood?

FRANK: No. Definitely his. What about the Centers for Disease Control?

GIEBELHOUSE: They had no idea who I was talking about. The Plasma Center?

Doesn't have any knowledge of this either.

FRANK: Then who was after him?

GIEBELHOUSE: Frank. The guy was nuts. Conspiracy this, conspiracy that.

FRANK: We went to his office. I worked for them. That wasn't his delusion. And

now that office is gone. (pause) We were used, Giebs. He knew that.

GIEBELHOUSE: How could he know that?

FRANK: I was the only person beside Knox who said I wanted to help him. He

wanted to help me, so he wanted me to know that they were lying about the virus.

That's why he gave me the blood sample. And I gave him up, too. I don't know who or

why.

[Frank returns home to find his telephone ringing. He picks it up.]

FRANK: Hello.

ROEDECKER: (on phone) Mr. Black? It's Roedecker, Brian Roedecker. Is the LMU

83 functional?

[The readout shows, "Anonymous Caller."]

FRANK: Anonymous.

ROEDECKER: (on phone) Hmm. Activate the switch on the side of the LMU

83.

[Frank does so and a red light shows. The readout shows, "555-0169 Brian

Roedecker."]

FRANK: Got it, got it, got it. Thank you, Roedecker.

[Frank puts the phone down. He then switches on his computer and sits down at the

desk.]

FRANK: Soylent Green is people.

[As Frank sits back we see the living area, with toys and books clearly belonging to

Jordan piled on a coffee table. The computer monitor now shows the regular

Millennium Group startup screen, "Welcome Frank. There are 819 days remaining."

Frank watches again the video recording from the Seattle Tribune. Patient Zero is

shouting: "Oppression! FBI! CIA! COINTELPRO!" Frank stops the video and writes

a note: FBI, CIA, COINTELPRO. He starts the video to listen to the next part of the

tape, then stops it and writes down: JOHN DOE.]

[Later: Frank has been making further notes from the security video as he listens to

Zero scream: TRUCKLOADS, SRI, MKULTRA (crossed through), NSA, DHT. He

writes down: AC-DC, SENSE ANTISENSE. He rewinds the tape and crosses out AC-

DC and writes AC-TC.]

[The phone rings. The readout shows anonymous caller so Frank switches on the

LMU 83. The display still shows anonymous caller. Frank picks up the phone.]

FRANK: Who is this? Who the hell is this?

[The caller hangs up. Frank replaces the handset and sits back, frustrated. Then he

notices something being pushed through his letter slot in the front door. He runs over

and picks up an envelope and then checks through the blinds. There's no-one to be

seen outside. He opens the envelope. It's a check made payable to him for ten

thousand dollars on which is typed, "Please consider your services rendered."]

[Later, Peter Watts examines the check.]

WATTS: Why didn't you tell me you took this job?

FRANK: I wasn't currently on a case with the Group.

WATTS: We're always on call.

FRANK: I'm only officially a consultant with Millennium. I'm trying to feed my

family, Pete. The situation with Catherine has created new responsibilities. I've got

two of everything. Two sets of toys, two rentals and a house.

WATTS: We work together, Frank. You should have come to us.

FRANK: It didn't seem like a situation the Group would be interested in. An infected

transient, essentially a missing person. It appeared to have no deeper meaning.

WATTS: Well, you're right we would have passed on it, but now it does have a

deeper meaning, and not just the obvious conspiracy. They used you and Giebelhouse.

Believing that when you realized the consequences of their actions you would walk

away. That's why I'm working on making you more than officially a consultant,

because you, and I, the group, we don't walk away.

FRANK: This isn't even about money, now. I'm responsible for this man.

WATTS: We'll take the case.

[Frank throws the case file across the desk. Watts picks it up.]

WATTS: I'll send this over to our photo lab. (he points to the photo) Look here, it

appears to have been retouched.

[They're examining photograph of Patient Zero.]

FRANK: They're hiding something, a tattoo, dog tags.

[Watts looks at Frank's notes.]

WATTS: Antisense.

FRANK: A re-occurring trope.

WATTS: In microbiology, antisense is one side of the double helix. It's half our DNA.

The other side is called sense.

FRANK: Our genetic matter. It is in us. That's what he keeps saying.

WATTS: Although, how he came up with it, I don't know.

[Watts now sees Frank's note: AC-TC.]

WATTS: Adenine, cytosine, thiamine. Here. (he alters the second C to a G) Guanine.

The four nucleotides of DNA.

[Outside a taxi office Knox and others are leaving at the end of their shift.]

KNOX: All right, I'll catch up with you guys at the hole tonight.

[Knox looks carefully around, dons his dark glasses and gets into his cab. He adjusts

the rearview mirror and yells in surprise when he sees there's someone sitting in the

back seat.]

FRANK: Nice cab. Brand new.

KNOX: They took mine in for repairs.

FRANK: You'll never see it again.

KNOX: Look, I'm off duty.

FRANK: I'm not.

KNOX: I already talked to your friends.

FRANK: My friends don't lie to me. My friends tell me the truth. He trusted you. He

must have told you who was after him.

KNOX: That's easy, look in the mirror. Yeah, they used you, now you know how I

feel every day.

[Frank sighs.]

KNOX: Tell me, man, am I infected?

FRANK: There was no virus in his body.

KNOX: That's what he said. So, he was telling the truth.

FRANK: You tell me.

KNOX: Trucks! Trucks! He kept saying the trucks was after him or something. I don't

know. Talked about John Does. He kept saying we're all fantasy, we're all John Does.

FRANK: Here's my phone number. If you think of anything, you give me a call, all

right?

KNOX: So where are you going?

FRANK: To meet John Doe.

[inside a morgue a body has been labeled "John Doe 10/03/97 #97-3510."]

PATHOLOGIST: We get a lot. Couple of hundred a year.

SEATTLE MORGUE

3:37 PM

PATHOLOGIST: Street bums, transients, mostly. Usually someone comes Forward,

family member, whatever. Most don't stay John Does for long.

[Frank lifts the sheet to uncover the man's face. He looks closely at the eyes and finds

dilated pupils.]

FRANK: The eye -- dilated iris. Just like Patient Zero.

WATTS: Could they be using these people for some experiment, then slipping them

through the morgue when they're done?

FRANK: Using the system to go undetected because no-one cares. (to pathologist)

May we sit in on your autopsy, Dr. Clark.

PATHOLOGIST: Gentlemen, we don't autopsy unless something looks to be out of

the ordinary. Dilated eye usually indicates organic brain damage. Well, brain-

damaged street people, that's kind of our definition.

[Frank sees another trolley with a body on being wheeled in.]

FRANK: I would like blood samples on this man and any other John Does that come

through here with a dilated eye.

PATHOLOGIST: What do you expect to find?

[He covers the face of the dead man.]

FRANK: Nothing.

[On the streets two police officers have drawn their guns on a wild man with long hair

wielding a metal bar. Barrel fires burn in the background.]

COP #1: Ok, drop it, put it down.

[The man is waving the bar around wildly.]

COP #1: Sir, I need you to put the bar down.

MAN: I don't want to hurt you!

COP #1: Sir, I need you to relax. Put the bar down.

[The two cops are edging towards him, one talking, the other pointing his gun with its

laser targeting sight.]

COP #1: Just put it down and nobody'll get hurt. Put it down.

MAN: I can't put it down! I don't know how!

COP #1: I can see you're upset. I want to help. Put the bar down. Nobody's gonna hurt

you.

[The man starts to let the bar drop slowly.]

COP #1: Good. You're making a wise call.

[suddenly the man lunges out with the bar and strikes the cop across the head. The

other cop fires a taser. The man drops to the ground, groaning as electricity shoots

through him. The first cop starts to get up, then yells.]

COP #2: He's got something!

[He pulls out his gun and fires. He creeps forward and pulls out from the man's hand a

small stick. The man is lying still. His eyes are open and his pupils are dilated.]

[Fade to black]

[Polaroid fade up]

[An ambulance and further cop cars have arrived at the crime scene. A red jeep draws

up and is stopped by a detective.]

10:07 PM

DETECTIVE: Crime scene. Move out of here.

FRANK: I'm Frank Black.

DETECTIVE: And I'm Joe Yellow. Go on, out.

FRANK: Detective Giebelhouse told us he would meet us here.

DETECTIVE: Even if that was a real name, he ain't here. This is an Internal Affairs

investigation.

WATTS: Who's in charge here?

DETECTIVE: Lieutenant Wobenlottnee.

WATTS: Can we talk with him?

DETECTIVE: Leave it here.

[He moves away and Frank and Watts start to get out of the jeep.]

FRANK: What was it?

WATTS: (mumbling) Wobenlottnee or something.

[The three of them walk away from the car. The detective goes over to another car

and talks with the occupants, the two CDC men. Their car drives off. Watts goes over

to another detective.]

WATTS: Lieutenant? Uh... Wobenlottnee?

[As Watts distracts the lieutenant Frank goes inside the ambulance. The body is lying

on a stretcher, two bullet wounds in his chest. The radio relays a call to another

vehicle as Frank checks the man's eyes and dilated pupils. He looks around the

ambulance, then pulls out a small roll of bandage and a surgical glove. Putting on the

glove, he then presses the end of the bandage roll against one bullet-hole, taking a

sample of blood, then repeats with the other end of the roll against the other bullet-

hole. He pulls off the surgical glove over the bandage roll. The sound alerts the

medical technician sitting in the front seat.]

TECHNICIAN: Who's there, man?

DRIVER: No idea.

[Frank hides as the technician looks back. Frank spots a tag on the stretcher:

"Authorization D.O.E." The driver and technician go back to talking. Frank pulls off

the tag and exits the ambulance. He walks back to his car and whistles to Watts, who

comes over.]

WATTS: Did you get a sample?

FRANK: Yeah.

[He hands Watts the surgical glove.]

WATTS: Another John Doe out of control?

FRANK: He's not a John Doe. Look at the tag. D.O.E. Abbreviation. It stands for

something.

WATTS: Dead On Examination?

FRANK: D.O.E. The Department of Energy.

[Watts chuckles.]

WATTS: Whoa, easy, Frank. Another leap like that and you'll connect all this to why

Oswald wasn't in the Book Depository.

FRANK: The D.O.E. started as the atomic energy commission, built the atomic bomb,

did radiation experiments on humans. Tests on vulnerable groups, prisoners, mentally

retarded.

WATTS: They have historically developed unconventional weapons.

FRANK: You know what they've gotten into now.

WATTS: The Human Genome Project.

[Later, Frank is watching a presentation on a web page which shows a computer

animation of a spiraling double helix.]

VOICE: The human genome project is a vast undertaking of the scientific community

expected to produce a blueprint of the functional and evolutionary history of the

human species.

[The screen changes to show chromosomes.]

VOICE: The goal of this international 15 year coordinated effort is to discover all of

the fifty thousand human genes and render them accessible for further biological

study.

[Frank switches off the video and picks up a photograph of Patient Zero.]

FRANK: Further biological study.

[The telephone rings. Frank picks it up.]

FRANK: Yeah.

KNOX: I found another one.

DOWNTOWN SEATTLE

12:25 PM

[in a seedy, between abandoned buildings, Frank is standing by a fire.]

KNOX: This guy is kind of worshipped down here. I'd heard about him on the streets

even before Zero. Had always written him off, though, as just another casualty, then I

finally heard him. (points his finger at Frank) Now you should, too.

[He gestures to Frank.]

KNOX: Come here.

[inside one of the abandoned buildings there are people sitting on the floor.]

FRANK: After you.

KNOX: It's just down here.

[Frank starts walking but Knox remains where he is. The place is pretty derelict.

Fires have been lit in various places. The place is fairly dark with graffiti on some of

the walls. The people look to be homeless. There's an air of hopelessness. As Frank

continues a man, Lacuna, steps out of the shadows and growls at him. Frank backs

away and then steps aside. The man is still growling, then starts yelling and holding

his head as if in pain.]

LACUNA: (loudly) Nowhere on planet earth are people free of the trucks. They

traveled across Rwanda dirt roads. They ride on Kuwaiti highways. They move

through these city streets!

[There are traffic noises outside. Lacuna speaks to Frank.]

LACUNA: (quietly) Can you hear them? Can you hear them? Do you hear them? The

trucks don't care.

[A truck is seen driving down the road outside the building.]

LACUNA: (loudly) They don't care if they're a fire truck or a dump truck. They don't

know if they are a cargo truck or a tow truck. They don't know, but (quietly, to Frank)

we know. We know. Huh? We know what we are, we know what we do. (loudly) But

nature, that bitch is full of trucks. (to a woman) At the minute of birth, a spotted hyena

will attack and kill its twin. That won't make the evening news, no. Male mallard

ducks will attack and gang-rape females until they drown but there will be no trial on

Court TV. No. White female squirrels will attack and kill every baby in another

female's nest and Larry King will not analyze the handwriting. No. But nature, that

bitch has given us conscience so we must be made to do wrong. Without us knowing,

they must make trucks out of all of us.

[Outside, the truck is getting closer. Inside are the two CDC men. One is loading a

handgun and fixing on a silencer.]

LACUNA: They have the map, the map, they can make us go down any street they

want to. Streets that we would never even dream of going down. They flip a switch,

we go east. They flip another switch, we go north. (to Frank, quietly) And we never

know we have been flipped, let alone know how.

[The truck drives off. One of the CDC men is left standing there, looking at the

building outside of which there are only two vehicles, the cab and Frank's jeep. The

man puts on a dark baseball cap and pulls his collar up around his neck.]

[inside the building, Frank is going down some stairs followed by Knox.]

KNOX: Man, I got a rush listening to him. That man speaks the truth.

FRANK: Gerome, listen to me now. He may speak the truth but it comes from a place

of insanity. He's gone insane.

KNOX: No, man, he is the only one who understands, right. I mean, they flipped the

switch on him but he fought through. I mean, don't you get it? A truck has no

conscience, it just does what the driver wants it to do.

FRANK: (sarcastic) Oh, now I get it.

[Frank walks on and out of the building. Knox follows him.]

KNOX: He can help us, Mr. Black.

FRANK: People only believe the sane. Maybe they shouldn't but they do. The only

way to help him, or Patient Zero, or anyone, is to find out who is doing this and stop

them. He's too far gone to tell us anything.

KNOX: Maybe you're not crazy enough to listen. (He goes off but returns.) You just a

truck, Mr. Black.

[Knox gets into his cab, muttering, "A truck". He drives off. Frank is thoughtful for a

moment, then suspicious. He runs his hand around the back of his jeep, then carefully

opens the driver's door and looks inside. He stands up, still looking suspicious.]

[Out of steam on the street a figure is seen holding out one hand. Knox stops his cab

and winds down the passenger window.]

KNOX: Can't help you unless you're going downtown.

MAN: Downtown, then.

[He gets into the back of the cab. It's the CDC man in the baseball cap. Knox drives

off.]

[Fade to black]

[Polaroid fade up]

[A document labeled "Chromosome 4 Ideogram" lists genetic markers.]

WATTS: This came from the blood sample you got the other night. We followed the

antisense lead, focused on the genetic material. These genes are thought to control

higher cortical functions.

[Watts and Frank are in Frank's house. Watts is showing Frank various documents

including two the size and color of an x-ray but showing chromosomes.]

WATTS: Here. Here's Patient Zero, this is the street guy shot by the cop. They're both

insane.

PETER: Nobody would argue that.

WATTS: But they're insane in exactly the same way.

[Frank looks puzzled.]

WATTS: Look. Gene sites, identical to the two men. Exactly the same. Base pair for

base pair. Unless you're going to buy an 18 billion to 1 shot, there's no way that could

happen naturally. It's not like finding a gene for hair color. They're splicing multiple

genes to control complex behavior.

[Frank turns to his computer. It briefly shows a photo of Jordan then switches to the

Genome web page Frank was looking at earlier.]

FRANK: The Human Genome Project. The biggest science event since the moon

shot.

WATTS: Public records indicate they're not that far along. Technically the program's

unclassified. But in a way it does feel like a top-secret project. The work's divided

among five thousand separate facilities, each analyzing a tiny strand of DNA, a small

piece of the puzzle. The big picture is controlled from above.

FRANK: What if, during the research, one rogue facility pieced together something

about a strain of genes for their own purposes?

WATTS: There's no way the Department of Energy would be aware.

FRANK: No.

WATTS: Untraceable genetic experiments and untraceable human subjects. Not a lot

to go to.

FRANK: The other John Does.

[At the morgue Watts and Frank are searching through the body storage lockers.]

WATTS: All of them are gone. Twenty John Does out the door. If we missed

something, it's gone.

[A Pathologist is watching them.]

FRANK: What has happened to the coroner who was here before, a Mr. Clark?

PATHOLOGIST: Maybe he's on vacation, I think. No, they fired him or something.

He's gone.

[Frank sees a body on which is written, "John Doe 10/04/97 #97-3553".]

WATTS: More evidence missing. They're cleaning up. What about our blood

samples?

PATHOLOGIST: What blood samples?

[Frank has pulled the sheet back from the body's face. It's Gerome Knox. He checks

his eyes, then turns his head and sees a bullet wound.]

FRANK: (emotionally) His name is not John Doe. Gerome Knox. That's his name.

Gerome Knox.

SEATTLE PUBLIC SAFETY BUILDING

11:15 AM

[Frank stands before a map showing pins joined by tape.]

FRANK: These are all the facilities involved in the human genome project.

GIEBELHOUSE: And you think one of these has this Patient Zero?

FRANK: Yes, one of them.

[Watts is also there. Roedecker quickly enters the room.]

GIEBELHOUSE: Closed session here.

ROEDECKER: Check the guest list, dumpy.

FRANK: (to Roedecker) Did you get it?

ROEDECKER: I downloaded everything on every facility within two hundred miles.

[He goes over to a computer with a zip disk which he puts into the drive.]

ROEDECKER: It started out as a buttload, but I did what you asked.

[The monitor shows a map very similar to the one Frank was examining.]

ROEDECKER: Eliminate any site that was an obvious PR job, high school science

classes, women's colleges, Four-H clubs. Requires some military connection and a

stand-alone facility.

[The monitor had shown a vast number of connected dots but these are gradually

reduced to four.]

WATTS: Down to four and counting.

FRANK: What about trucks? They use them to recruit their John Does.

ROEDECKER: (using a search) I've got company cars.

WATTS: Try subsidiaries, joint ventures.

ROEDECKER: Well, hang on.

FRANK: A vehicle that could move unnoticed among the homeless.

[The search shows: "Mobile soup kitchen."]

FRANK: There!

[He grabs and clicks the mouse. The monitor focuses in on one facility: "5C03,

William Kramer MD, Ph.D Genetic Engineering, numerous military degrees,

R.O.T.C."]

FRANK: A mobile soup kitchen. They donated trucks.

ROEDECKER: 5C03? Project contact is a Doctor William Kramer MD, PhD in

Genetic Engineering, ROTC. Got his degrees on the GI Bill. (to Frank) I tell you, it's

"The Omega Man" all over again.

FRANK: There it is.

GIEBELHOUSE: I'm supposed to go to a judge and get a search warrant 'cause this

place has soup trucks?

FRANK: No, you're supposed to go to a judge to get a search warrant because we

turned Patient Zero over to these guys. We're responsible.

WATTS: You'll get it because nobody here is going to walk away.

"PROJECT 5C03" BUILDING

2:24 PM

[Armed police are taking up positions outside the building. Giebelhouse is standing

near the front door. A voice on radio asks "... awaiting further instructions." The

SWAT leader responds, "Yeah," then says, "Do it. Go!" to another cop who uses a

very large crowbar to force open the door. The rest of the force quickly enter,

followed by Giebelhouse, Frank and Watts.]

GIEBELHOUSE: Check every room! No-one leaves! (to Watts) If he's not here, I'm a

dead man.

[Frank shows a photograph of Patient Zero to the receptionist.]

FRANK: Excuse me, we believe this man is in danger. Have you seen him here?

[The receptionist offers Frank a blank face and doesn't respond.]

[Police, Giebelhouse and Watts come back out into the reception area.]

WATTS: We blew it.

GIEBELHOUSE: Don't even think that.

[some officers usher in the two CDC men.]

COP: We caught them heading out the back.

GIEBELHOUSE: What about Zero?

COP: Just these guys.

WRIGHT: You don't know what you're doing.

WATTS: What is this place? NSA? CIA? MYLAB?

WRIGHT: This is a private biomedical research facility conducting important

research.

GIEBELHOUSE: Yeah, I heard. Wrap 'em up.

[A man comes out of a nearby office, guarded by a police officer.]

MAN: What are you people doing?

[it's Patient Zero, but clearly in complete control of his senses.]

PATIENT ZERO: This is a serious violation of our rights.

GIEBELHOUSE: We had reason to believe you were being held here against your

will.

PATIENT ZERO: Well, maybe some weekends, but only because I work here.

FRANK: We have you on videotape at the Seattle Tribune, ranting, delusional. We

know what this place is. What happened to you? Did they infect you by accident?

Were you experimenting on yourself? How can you keep doing this when you know,

you know.

PATIENT ZERO: I'm delusional? Did you just hear yourself?

[He walks back to his office. The door bears his name, Dr. William Kramer.]

PATIENT ZERO: (to the police) Get out of my way.

WRIGHT: Okay, party's over. (to Giebelhouse) If you people aren't out of here in

thirty seconds, we'll issue warrants for your arrest.

[Frank has followed Patient Zero/Dr. Kramer.]

FRANK: The system runs on John Does. That's what you said. Count 'em. How many

are there? How many.

[They've stopped outside Patient Zero/Dr. Kramer's door. Patient Zero opens the door

and stands there, looking at Frank. Frank looks around the walls of the office at the

diplomas and photographs, including one of Kramer with a group of military men.

He's wearing dog tags. The photograph has written on it, "Kigali, Rwanda, 1994."

{4}]

FRANK: (accusatorily) What were you doing in Rwanda?

[Kramer looks down evasively, takes his glasses off, then slowly closes the door

leaving Frank outside.]

[Frank exits the building as police cars drive off. Peter also exits. They stand there

together.]

FRANK: Peter, Rwanda, 1994. Thousands of people get up one morning, grab a

machete, and kill the person next to them. There's a frenzy of blood-letting like the

world's never seen. He was a research chemist, what was he doing there?

WATTS: In Bosnia, neighbors sent neighbors away for ethnic cleansing. In this

country, 12-year-olds shoot each other in the streets. The world's a violent place. It's

in all of us, if the switch gets flipped. But you know that.

[Watts walks away. Frank stands there as yellow trucks roll by.]

[That night, at Frank's house, he sits before his desk. The monitor shows "I love

Daddy," his Jordan screensaver. He picks up the check for $10,000 and tears it up. He

looks tired. The phone rings. The gadget shows it's an anonymous caller. Frank

switches on the LMU 83. The readout still shows anonymous caller. Frank sits back

and lets the phone continue to ring.]

[Fade to white.]

"Human Genome Project accelerated for completion by the turn of the millennium."

U.S. Department of Energy (1990)

[Fade to black.]

[The credit fades in from black... ]

{1} echopraxia, or echopraxis [Gr /praxis/ doing] in mental illness, the imitation of

postures or movements of those around.

{2} Filoviruses include Ebola.

{3} https://hsc.virginia.edu/hs-library/historical/apology/

{4} https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/co...les/1070265.stm

Starring

Lance Henriksen (Frank Black)

Megan Gallagher (Catherine Black)

Also Starring

Terry O'Quinn (Peter Watts)

Stephen James Lang (Det. Bob Giebelhouse)

Guest Starring

Ricky Harris (Gerome Knox)

Allan Zinyk (Roedecker)

Badja Djola (Lacuna)

And

Clarence Williams III (Zero/Kramer)

Featuring

Brian Jensen (Wright)

Chris Nelson Norris (Patterson)

Peter Bryant (Editor)

Forbes Angus (Dr. Pettey)

Michael Vairo (Officer Ginelli)

Uncredited

[Alan Costar] (Bum)

[George Gordon] (ER Doctor)

[Darwin Haine] (John Doe Bum)

[Adam Harrington] (Uniformed Cop)

[Andrew McIlroy] (Coroner Clark)

[Colin Vint] (Coroner Lewis)

Music by Mark Snow

Editor: James Coblentz

Production Designer: Mark Freeborn

Director of Photography: Robert McLachlan

Executive Story Editor: Michael R. Perry

Associate Producer: Julie Herlocker

Associate Producer: Jon-Michael Preece

Consulting Producer: Chip Johannessen

Consulting Producer: Darin Morgan

Co-Producer: Robert Moresco

Co-Producer: Paul Rabwin

Producer: Thomas J. Wright

Co-Executive Producer: Ken Horton

Co-Executive Producer: John Peter Kousakis

Written by Glen Morgan & James Wong

Directed by Thomas J. Wright

Executive Producers: James Wong & Glen Morgan

Executive Producer: Chris Carter