02x03 - Collision Point

[bunniefuu]

Mitch: A year ago, the animals started acting strangely, but no one noticed... (growling) until they began attacking, coordinating, evolving. The animals were mutating, and it was happening faster than anyone expected.

(mice squeaking)

The government came up with a plan.

PSA Narrator: Thanks to the Noah Objective, in six to ten years the world's animal population will be thriving once again.

k*lling the animals? Play God and repopulate the planet?

This is ridiculous.

Mitch: But messing with Mother Nature could be catastrophic, so a group of us are trying to save the animals. Jackson Oz and Abraham Kenyatta, animal experts. Chloe Tousignant, an Intel operative. Jamie Campbell, a reporter who's been following this story, found me, Mitch Morgan, a veterinary pathologist. Together we're going to find a cure for the animals. Time is running out.

Previously on Zoo...

Jamie!

We have to go!

Get your hands off me!

I'm taking you!

(Mitch grunts)

Soldier: Go, go!

I hate you for this.

(soft groaning)

Lucky for me that you came along.

This is where we're going.

In Caraquet.

(dog growls, Jackson grunts)

Mitch: You all right?

Jackson: It's a dog bite, it's fine.

Doesn't look too good.

I changed your medical records.

We'll keep this between the two of us.

Our little secret that what?

My blood's changing? That I'm changing?

Changing into what?

(strained panting)

I've heard this before.

Searching for an animal with a phase two mutation.

So I got a hit on his fingerprints.

Janos Kovacs.

There is something specific about Kovacs' genetic makeup that made it possible for the mutation to occur in him.

Yeah, that's what it looks like.

As the death toll in the human-animal conflict nears one million and rumors swirl that the mutation has taken on a new phase, spiritual leaders are calling for an interfaith day of prayer on behalf of those searching tirelessly for a cure.

(g*nshots, thud)

He's dead.

Do you have any idea what you've done?

What were you thinking, huh? Who are you, anyway?

You never should've brought that monster on this plane.

Huh, who is she?

That monster was our only chance at understanding the new mutation!

He already k*lled six of my guys, you wanted to wait until he k*lled somebody else?

Everybody should just calm down.

Calm down? Yeah, great idea, Abe.

I can namaste with the best of them, but you know what?

This chick just ruined our best sh*t at saving the world.

You're going to save the world?

Yeah, that's the idea.

Oh, well that's just great, that just really inspires confidence.

Okay, enough now!

Mitch, run every test you can on the body.

Well, that's going to require a whole lot of complex DNA work, and I'm not going to be able to do that unless we bring D.C. in on it.

We'll figure out a way...

Hold on, you haven't told Washington?

No, I haven't told Washington.

My team d*ed for that festering freak and you bastards are off book?

This operation is strictly need-to-know.

I don't give a steaming crap about your spy secrets, lady.

I want my ops center on the radio now.

I don't care what you want.

This plane is under my command.

And so are you.

(groans)

You sure you're okay?

Yeah, I will be.

When we get to Caraquet.

Hook up with my friends.

If we keep following the river we should be there by nightfall tomorrow.

Logan: Yeah, if we actually make it.

We're low on food and matches.

(distant snarl)

(screech)

We could use a g*n, too.

Logan: I've flown over this place a dozen times.

From up there it looks great, down here it kind of sucks.

You're a pilot?

Logan: Used to fly rich guys up here to drink beer and sh**t cute little furry things.

Then the furry things got less cute.

So how'd you get stranded?

I do mail runs for some of the smaller towns.

Plane got forced down.

I had no choice but to try and hoof it.

I didn't know it would be this cold.

You don't have anything in there that you can put on?

Not unless I want to stuff my pants with Andrew Jackson's face.

So you're lugging around money?

Yeah, it's my life's savings.

Every penny of it.

Kelly, my girlfriend, she didn't trust banks in the best of times, let alone during the animal apocalypse.

So, uh, why carry it around with you?

Why don't you just leave it at home?

We had some wolves get into our apartment in Halifax.

It was bad. I got out.

But Kelly didn't.

Everybody has a story like that these days, right?

What's yours?

Just, uh... doing time at the end of the world.

Like everybody else.

(loud grunting)

Tires.

Clever.

When I was back home, I would tie a mattress to a tree whenever I needed to sort something out.

Anyway, I just came to tell you, we're dropping you at your base in Sao Paulo in a few hours' time.

Mm.

I thought you might want to know.

Am I supposed to say thank you?

No.

I could break that French girl into a hundred pieces.

You know that, right?

Can make it so she wouldn't be pretty again for a month.

Chloe is just doing her job.

It's amazing, isn't it?

When people on her side of things "just do their job," people on my side of things die in great big chunks.

You lost people you care about.

So have we.

It's not easy.

But we're trying to stop this thing.

Set the world right.

Even if you do, those people are still gone.

That is why we can never give up.

So there are others still left to remember them.

Anyway, I'll just leave you to it.

Unless there's anything else I can do.

(panting)

Maybe one thing.

Okay.

(moans)

(indistinct chatter)

(ants chittering)

Jackson: We have to tell Mitch, Chloe.

If there is even a chance that I have the same mutation, Mitch needs to know that there's another phase two subject he can study.

Jackson...

No.

You know it's true.

If they learn about it in Washington, they will lock you in a cage.

Mitch is our friend.

He's not going to tell anyone, we can trust him.

What if someone accesses his data?

The only way to guarantee this stays secret is to not tell anyone.

Ooh, what are we not telling anyone?

Eleanor wants to talk to us.

Okay.

Eleanor: I need you to meet me in Geneva, Switzerland immediately.

They're pushing forward on the Noah Objective.

A multinational conference has been assembled here to work out logistics.

I thought we had more time.

General Andrew Davies has taken over, and his methods are aggressive.

What does that mean?

I'd rather discuss this in person.

Okay, we-we'll come as soon as we can.

What about Jamie?

Resources are scarce, Dr. Morgan, but Jamie is still at the top of my list.

As soon as there's a team available.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Okay, so we'll come straight to your hotel once we land.

No. I'll come to the plane.

Have your pilot notify my adjutant, Lieutenant Reed, when you land.

Of course.

And understand this, we need to tread lightly.

General Davies and his supporters want all alternatives to the Noah Objective shut down.

At any cost.

Well, he's gonna love us.

Just be careful.

We'll see you then. Stay safe.

Did she seem a little off to you?

Yes.

Chloe: Yes.

Something is wrong.

(coughing)

(gasping, choking)

(electricity crackles)

♪ ♪

Jamie: No, no!

Logan: What, what?

What happened?

Jamie: No, we followed the river, it should have taken us all the way to Caraquet.

You sure you're not just reading the map wrong?

No, look.

That mountain's not supposed to be there.

Oh, my God.

The river.

It moved.

(indistinct conversations)

(indistinct announcement over P.A.)

Just follow my lead.

Jackson: I'm assuming Eleanor didn't want us coming here for a reason.

Well, she never showed up at the plane, so we don't have a whole lot of options.

That's Lieutenant Reed.

Eleanor's adjutant.

(man speaking French over P.A.)

Reed: Excuse me, gentlemen.

Agent Tousignant, what are you doing here?

Looking for Eleanor.

I assumed she was still with you.

She never arrived.

I'll ask around.

Maybe someone else has seen her.

Thank you.

Reed: I'll check the other meeting.

Well, that's not good.

(sighs)

Wait here.

It's about to get worse.

That's General Davies, the man Eleanor warned us about.

Agent Tousignant.

General Davies, pleasure to meet you.

I hope you're not here to offer us another ridiculous idea for a cure.

No, we just had some loose ends to tie up with Eleanor.

Ah, yes, our patron saint of lost causes.

I'm afraid she's yet to grace us with her presence today.

Agent Tousignant, I'm gonna be straight with you... you're a talented analyst.

Too talented to be wasting your time with Frodo and Sam here.

We can use your skills here with the Noah Objective.

You cannot exterminate every animal on the planet and then repopulate it.

The entire ecosystem will crash.

You understand that, right?

The Noah Objective is the most scientifically sound option we have.

It's madness.

Extreme? Yes.

Unquestionably, but so are the circumstances.

Damn it, I knew it!

I knew I recognized you.

Chloe, Jackson, this is Dr.... Andrew Davies.

He's got a PhD from Cambridge.

I read your graduate thesis.

I'm familiar with your work as well, Dr. Morgan.

The study you published about mast cell tumors.

The one that was ultimately... discredited.

You had your chance to find a cure.

You failed.

Every day spent discussing how to save the animals means thousands of human lives will be lost.

So as much as I'd like to stand here debating ethics with you all day, I have a w*r to win.

That's the guy running the Noah Objective?

And now we're smack-dab in the middle of his crosshairs.

We need to find Eleanor now.

This lake isn't on the map, either.

What the hell is going on here?

It's not a lake.

It's a coal mine.

The river was diverted, and it flooded the mine.

W... who would divert an entire river?

Beavers.

Right.

They build dams.

What if they built a really big one?

One that diverted the river.

Abraham: Sorry we couldn't drop you in Sao Paulo as planned.

They should be able to get you to your base from here.

Thanks.

(car door opens and closes)

Dariela?

Circumstances aside, I'm glad we got to get to know each other.

Even if it was brief.

It was a very good brief.

After all this is over, perhaps we could con...

(chuckles)

It's impossible.

Rivers don't just move.

Yeah, well, this one did.

And it put us eight miles off course.

(shrieking nearby)

Don't move.

(low growling)

(shrieks, hissing)

Well, it's gone.

At least for now.

If you say so.

We should keep moving, though.

We don't want to be here when it comes back.

I'll say one thing about the animal apocalypse.

Makes it easier to bribe hotel employees.

Eleanor?

(whispering): No!

(indistinct chatter on TV)

(gasps) Oh!

What happened to her?

Her entire mandible is separated from her jaw.

All right, we got to call the cops.

Wait.

She wanted to tell us something.

Something she couldn't say over the phone.

She was concerned someone was listening to her.

(woman speaking French on TV)

Maybe whoever it was k*lled her.

Maybe.

Maybe not. See, those are some scorch marks.

Looks like something b*rned her from the inside out.

Radioactive material has been used in assassinations before.

You think she was assassinated?

She said it herself.

That Davies would shut down anyone standing in the way of the Noah Objective.

Yeah, but come on, that's... that's a little extreme, huh?

Mitch: If I'm gonna get any answers, I'm gonna need a sample of cerebrospinal fluid.

Check out her nervous system for any chemicals or radiation.

I'll take a look around the room.

Chloe: We need to find out what she was trying to tell us.

Sorry about this.

(gasps)

(groans)

Mitch... check this out.

(gags) A little busy here.

We got company.

Scoop up some ants. Hurry before this spinal fluid goes bad.

Now, that's a sentence you could go your whole life and never hear.

Okay, let's get our bearings.

(panting)

If we're going the right way, there should be two peaks to the west.

But we need a higher vantage point to see them.

Ow! Oh!

Are you okay?

Yeah.

Just take a minute.

I'll check it out.

Put the bag down.

(grunting)

♪ ♪

(animal growling)

(shrieks)

Easy, buddy.

(shrieking)

Jamie.

Are you okay?

Yeah.

I, uh...

I was gonna come meet you halfway, but a crazed beaver had other ideas.

"Crazed beaver"?

Yeah.

You see anything up there?

Yeah, I saw the peaks.

We're headed the right way.

Glad your foot's doing better.

(siren wailing)

(indistinct radio transmission)

Eleanor's dead.

Julie, get me on the next train out of here.

I don't care!

Just do it.

(phone beeps)

Male reporter (on TV): If you're just joining us, we're covering breaking news out of Geneva, Switzerland, where IADG's consultant, Eleanor Lewis, was found dead in her hotel room. The cause of death has not yet been released. Eleanor Lewis is survived by her 20-year-old son, a freshman at U-Chicago.

Hey.

I'm sorry.

I really am.

We, um, we need to reach out to someone else in Eleanor's department.

She didn't have a department.

It was only her and Amelia.

With them both gone, we're working alone.

Which means there's no search team being sent to look for Jamie.

Hey, Mitch, no one's giving up on Jamie, okay?

We will find a way to...

No one is gonna waste any resources looking for a redhead lost in the woods, right?

Reporter: Another development in this ongoing investigation.

Right?

And this information is coming to us live. Authorities have discovered five more unexplained deaths in Geneva, bringing the total count to 427. We're getting unconfirmed reports that each of the victims suffered strange burns.

So other people d*ed just like Eleanor?

It would appear so.

Well, then maybe this is bigger than General Davies.

Mitch: Or smaller.

What's that?

That is Eleanor's cerebrospinal fluid.

What are those?

Check this out.

There was an ant inside Eleanor's spine when she d*ed?

So the ants k*lled her?

Maybe.

But how?

Just send me somewhere that has flights back to my base in Sao Paulo.

The U.S. base in Sao Paulo was decommissioned.

(phone rings)

Are you kidding me?

(speaking German)

Look, I've got to get back to my commanding officer.

Just tell me where home is, and I'll send you there.

I don't want to go home. I want to go back to my unit.

You don't have parents, family?

Wherever there are people waiting for you, I can send you there.

You're not listening to me! There's nobody!

There's no place to send me! I don't have anywhere to go!

I want to speak to a U.S. m*llitary representative.

Hey, Lieutenant!

I need your help.

(indistinct chatter)

Soldier.

As you were. Where you heading?

I, uh... I was recalled stateside, sir.

Now, why do you look so upset?

You're not in any trouble.

Just don't want to miss my train.

Come here, I want to talk to you about something.

(indistinct announcement over P.A.)

Eleanor Lewis' laptop and files, where are they?

I don't know what you're talking about, sir.

Oh, I think you do, Lieutenant.

You k*lled her, didn't you?

Because she wanted to stop the Noah Objective.

I didn't k*ll Eleanor.

As far as we can tell, the animals did.

That's why the Noah Objective is so important, Lieutenant, so we can stop all this senseless loss.

Now, I won't write you up in my report, but I need to know where that laptop is.

(sighs)

I didn't take it.

Really.

I believe you.

Damn it.

(screaming in distance)

(electricity crackling)

(electricity continues crackling)

(droning)

What the hell?

Jackson: You know the, uh, social structure of ants is actually quite similar to that of humans?

Male ants, for example, will mate with attractive new female ants even if they're from an enemy colony.

(laughs)

You know, not everything is about mating, rafiki.

Mmm.

Dariela has an intriguing combination of strength and beauty.

What does it matter?

I'm never going to see her again.

Chloe: Okay.

We'll be there as soon as we can.

That was Dariela.

W... What does she want?

Mitch: Yeah, and why do we care?

Chloe: She wants to show us something, says it's important to what we're working on.

Well, so is that creature formerly known as Janos Kovacs, but that didn't stop her from putting a b*llet in his brain.

I'll go with you.

Oh, I-I don't need any help.

Abraham: That's strange.

They all seem determined to move in that one direction.

And it looks like they're being drawn to something.

But what?

I have no idea.

I could ponder that for a while, but I'd rather ponder this.

Mitch.

What?

Jamie would have wanted you to finish what we began.

Oh.

Now you're going to tell me what Jamie would've wanted?

Hmm?

After you left her out there in the middle of nowhere?

You think I wanted to?

I made a difficult call.

To save your life.

I didn't need saving. She did.

She was my friend, too.

I don't see any evidence of that.

How dare you assume that your pain is more important than ours?!

Cuts deeper than ours!

The grief of losing Jamie does not belong to you alone!

(electricity crackling)

What?

(crackling intensifies)

(siren wailing)

Where's the scientist guy? You didn't bring him?

Surprisingly, he's not a big fan of your work.

Why did you call?

Believe me, I didn't want to.

But that's the thing about having no options... it makes you call people you hope you never see again.

I know, I'm really charming.

Okay, tell us.

There's something very weird here.

The transformer's been magnetized.

All this stuff is stuck to it.

(sniffs) You smell that?

The smell is what's interesting?

Sulfur.

Chloe: From an expl*sive?

Uh... maybe.

What are you looking for?

Ants.

Ants?

That's right.

Dead ants give off a...

(sniffs) sulfur smell, so you'd think with a smell this strong that... excuse me... you know, there'd be, uh... yeah, look.

See?

Ants.

Dariela: I don't get it.

What could ants have to do with this?

I don't know, but they were all over Eleanor's hotel room.

(rumbling, electricity crackling)

Hey.

I thought you could only see an oasis in a desert.

You got a low bar for an oasis.

I'm just trying to stay positive.

(panting)

Hey, it's a stove.

We should get some firewood before the storm hits.

No, you need to stay off that foot.

I'm fine, I can do it.

I'll go.

Just sit.

Rest.

(soft grunt)

You see a lantern in here?

(sighs)

(cell phone rings)

What a minute, hold on, I got Abe here. Yeah?

Have you heard about the explosions?

Jackson: Yeah, we just saw one of them.

There's dead ants everywhere.

They're generating electricity.

What are you talking about?

The ants we collected. They can generate electricity, that's how they're k*lling people.

Hold on, you're saying ants are electrocuting people?

Mitch: Yup, that's what happened to Eleanor.

Enough of these ants together could generate a powerful enough charge to...

To blow up a transformer.

Dariela: First people, now transformers... what's next?

Ants move in a straight line.

Where were the other explosions?

Mitch: Power station. Near PARC Trembley, next one was just over the border in, um, Les... Pu...

Pugin...

Pugins.

Les Pugins.

Abraham: We've mapped all the deaths caused by the ants, including Eleanor.

They all fall along the same line.

(electricity crackling)

W...

What if all the ants in Geneva were heading to the same place?

Mitch: The Large Particle Accelerator.

It runs underground, it's the largest machine in the world.

It collides subatomic particles.

Helps us understand the laws of nature.

(inhales deeply) The incidents all seem to be heading in a straight line right for it.

But why?

Mitch: I don't know. Certain kinds of ants are drawn to electrical systems, and these ants have the phase two mutation.

If you think they're gonna att*ck the accelerator, we should evacuate people.

It won't help.

If all these ants make it to the accelerator and generate a strong enough charge, they could create a runaway fusion reaction.

Which would k*ll every living thing within a thousand-mile radius.

Logan: Jamie!

(gasps)

Don't do this!

(grunting)

Damn it.

I'm trying to help you.

Okay?

You looked through my bag.

Yeah, and I saw pictures of me.

What the hell is going on?

What do you want from me?

Nothing.

It was never about you.

It was about the leopard.

What?

What, were you gonna steal it?

Auction it off, sell it on the black market?

I don't know, okay?

I was a pilot.

Some guys hired me to fly 'em up here.

Please, it's freezing out here.

If you're a pilot, where's your plane?

It's in pieces. It was a float plane.

By the time I got back to where we docked it, the animals had torn it apart.

And I grabbed my cash and I just bolted.

Where are the guys that hired you?

I don't know.

Look, they took off when the animals att*cked your house.

Why's a pilot carrying a g*n?

Have you noticed what's going on out here?

You can't walk 30 feet without some creature attacking you.

That's what the g*n's for.

That's it.

And call me nuts, Jamie, but I would think me having a g*n would be a good thing to you.

I mean, unless you're gonna defend yourself with your one good foot.

Can we please go back to the cabin?

Yeah, sure.

When you give me the g*n.

Really?

Yeah, really.

(indistinct conversations in French)

Do you realize how crazy this sounds?

Yes, I do.

We hear this all the time.

Female scientist: But if the ants are being drawn here, the highest concentration of energy is the collision point.

Collision point? That doesn't sound ominous at all.

What the hell is she even doing here?

This place must have a way of dispersing all that energy, right?

Abraham: Maybe we can use the accelerator's own system to dissipate the ants' energy.

Female scientist: Oh, that may work.

But diverting that much power will require manual override.

Where's the override?

That way. It's a wall console in between the fourth and fifth stations.

Get to the override. I'll evacuate them.

I'll go with them.

Great, maybe you can find something else to sh**t.

(alarm blaring)

Dariela: Are you saying the ants are smart enough to know that they can cause this... what's it called?

Runaway fusion reaction, and no, they're not that self-aware, it's more like a biological imperative.

Whoa.

(ants chittering)

Mitch: There, just... back up, don't let them anywhere near you.

(grunts)

(ants squeak and trill)

Did you see that?

Yeah, I did.

Chloe: Where are the others?

They just passed station four.

Abraham (softly): Oh, my God.

Jackson.

The ants are right behind you.

Don't let them get near you. You have to hurry!

I know, we just saw a river of them.

I'll let you know when we're there.

Hold tight.

(door closes)

(panting)

Hey, we're at the collision point.

(loud rattling, clanging)

Time to find this override.

We're at the fourth station, it's got to be over there.

Chloe: You need to look for a red door.

Mitch: We don't throw that override, the accelerator won't be able to absorb the ants' energy.

No one said it would be locked.

Yo, lab rat.

Found something to sh**t.

Dariela: Hurry up!

They're closing in!

Come on.

Can you do this?

Just throw it.

(electricity crackling)

(ants chittering)

Holy crap.

Jackson?

Charge it up.

(grunting)

Hurry!

All right, there's gonna be a shockwave.

(electricity charging up)

Jackson: Get ready.

(all grunt, groan)

(electricity winds down)

You guys okay?

Did we win?

(coughs, gags)

Dariela.

(panting): I think I might've swallowed one of those bastards.

(continues coughing, gagging)

Easy.

I know.

Somebody's got to look at your foot, though.

Oh, wow.

That's not good.

Mitch: Hurry up.

I don't have much time.

I can feel the damn thing.

You're gonna be all right.

Mitch: Okay.

Put those on her temples.

And that... is the current (reader buzzes) that the ant is generating.

Should I be worried that you guys know how to build an electric chair?

Right now you should be grateful.

(grunts)

Mitch: We are gonna fry this little sucker.

Blow its fuse before...

Before it can blow mine. I got it.

You sure this will work?

Uh... yeah, sort of.

Are you ready?

(reader squeals, then stops)

Do it.

Clear!

(electricity buzzes loudly)

No.

No, I can't do that.

You have to.

(electricity buzzes, Dariela groans)

(electricity winds down, then stops)

(reader squeals, then buzzes)

(buzzing intensifies)

Yeah, he's still in there.

Got to go again.

Clear!

(electricity buzzes loudly)

So I guess this means you trust me.

I'm working on it.

Wait!

My foot's numb, so it's not gonna hurt, right?

Wrong.

Your-your... your girlfriend.

The one you said was k*lled by wolves.

Kelly.

Was she even real?

(screams)

(electricity winds down)

(Dariela groans lightly)

Mitch: Okay, put 'em up.

(reader squeals)

Guys, I think we're pissing it off.

It's charging up.

(buzzing intensifies)

Try again! It could k*ll you.

Not if the ant kills me first.

(Dariela panting)

Do it!

Clear!

(electricity buzzes loudly)

(electricity winds down, then stops)

Okay.

Put 'em on, put 'em on.

Abraham: Dariela.

Dariela.

Dariela!

We're good.

(reader clicks off)

The ant's dead.

But she's got no pulse.

Okay, get her... Get her on the floor.

Dariela!

Okay.

Okay, okay, okay.

Got to clear the airway.

I got this!

Come on, come on.

(grunting)

(gasps)

(coughing, groans)

(Dariela panting)

Did it work?

(chuckles)

Good news is yes.

And the bad news is?

You might have a dead ant floating around inside you somewhere.

(exhales)

It's okay.

We're happy to drop you wherever you want.

Unless you'd consider staying.

Listen, I know we have our differences, but I think we can use someone like you.

Because I sh**t stuff for a living?

Among other qualities.

I want to get back to my unit.

m*llitary is what I know, it's home to me.

But after everything I've seen...

With all the animals...

Not just the animals.

At the train station, I saw a U.S. general m*rder one of his own men.

A U.S. general?

Yeah, before you guys got there.

Was it this man?

Yeah, that's him.

He thought the soldier had stolen files from...

Eleanor something.

Whatever they were, he wanted them back badly.

Chloe would k*ll me for this, but, uh... there's something I should tell you.

Yeah.

There is.

Here.

I've got a link in one of her deleted files.

You think it's what Eleanor wanted to talk to you about?

Could be.

What is this thing?

Some sort of demonstration.

This is how many animals they expect to eliminate with the Noah Objective.

What are those white dots?

Those are human casualties.

Oh, my God.

(computer alert beeping)

See?

Someone's accessing the TX-14 server.

Over two million people will die if the Noah Objective goes forward.

And Davies knows it.

So General Davies knows his big animal solution will also k*ll millions of people.

What the hell are we gonna do?

We're gonna stop him.

Shut it down now.