01x04 - Single Strand

Episode transcripts for the TV show, "Helix". Aired: January 2014 to April 2015.
A team of scientists are thrust into a potentially life-or-death situation in this thriller, which begins with the group being deployed to the Arctic to secretly investigate what could be a disease outbreak.
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01x04 - Single Strand

Post by bunniefuu »

Previously, on "Helix"...

That's his ex-wife? He never talks about her or his brother.

That's probably because he caught her and his brother in bed together.

I just cracked the test. I swabbed three security techs for control samples - all clear - then I ran the test on known infectees. All green, positive for infection.

Duchamp was working on a cure, something called SODRA.

How many subjects were k*lled?

Over 75%.

(roaring) (people yelling in fear)

(g*nsh*t) - I have to stay down here.

It's too dangerous.

We have to go.

Alan, I can't.

She's infected. She has the virus.

We need to seal off Level R. It's the only way to stop the contagion.

Leave them down there?

He's right. We need to seal it off.

The test doesn't work. It doesn't work!

(detonator beeping)

Alan.

Jules? You there? Jules?

(light buzzing)

Man: They shut off communications with us.

They want to starve us out of here.

Hatake and the CDC have abandoned us.

There is no treatment, no cure.

We are forced to take matters into our own hands.


The CDC hasn't abandoned us.

They'll be back as soon as they figure out what's going on and how to help us.

They are not coming back. They left us down here to die.

Only we will not go down without a fight.

On this level, there is a control node for the CO2 removal system.

We can override it.

Can't they just filter in air from outside?

It's 60 below out there, and everything past the main entrance is sealed up like a spaceship to prevent contamination.

But if we shut off the oxygen scrubbers, they run out of air upstairs in six hours max.

So do we.

Level R is much larger.

Fewer people, bigger air pocket.

Enough to outlast them if they want to...

How do you say it? "Play chicken?"

This is a terrible idea.

We need to focus on re-establishing communication This is communication.

The base is full of hazardous materials, and an even more hazardous infection.

You're endangering every single person...

Thank you for your input, Dr. Walker, but it's time, I think, you found a new place to bunk.

(breathing with respirator)

(breathing with respirator quickly)

(breathing with respirator quickly)

(silence)

Man: Do you even know if this was an accident, or was it intentional?

Daniel: I have my people investigating as we speak.

Well, that's just great. And how do we control this outbreak without communication with the outside world?

You have access to the top minds and equipment in the world here.

That sounds like you don't plan to repair the satellite dish.

It took a top-tier m*llitary contractor two months in scaffolds to put up that equipment. It doesn't just get fixed.

So how long before somebody notices we've gone dark?

We have periodic resupply drops.

Am I the only one here alarmed by this?

We have people down on Level R, including one of my own, locked up with a week's worth of supplies.

You're the one who wanted to seal that floor.

Temporarily! When I thought we could call for reinforcements.

If this is a long-term situation, we have to provide those people with some standard of care!

I barely had the manpower to stop one of those vectors from infecting half the base.

We can't risk re-opening that floor.

We are dealing with something we've never seen before.

So, we just abandon the sick and the dying?

Yes.

♪ (happy instrumental music)

Season 1, Episode 4 "Single Strand"

(sigh)

(loud knocking on door)

sh*t!

(loud knocking on door)

Dr. Jordan.

Yes.

Um, Dr. Van Eigem.

You tested me yesterday. Can I come in?

Um...

Sure. How can I help you?

I don't want to go to Level R.

You won't. You tested negative.

And you haven't gotten any false results? Any variances?

No. I designed the test myself.

Are you sure?

Yes, of course.

I mean...

Are you really sure?

Hatake's not budging. He intends to leave the infected downstairs with whatever food and supplies they can scrounge until there's a treatment.

Poor Julia.

What happened to calling in reinforcements?

With the com-link down, we're blacked out and dead to the world.

He did mention something about periodic resupply drops.

He say how periodic they are?

No.

The man's playing his own game and he isn't sharing the playbook. You know that. We're on our own.

All we have going for us is our rapid response test to the virus.

Sorry. I had to babysit a PCR assay.

Yeah, and the dog ate my homework.

Hey. We're all feeling the pressure, all right?

But we need to stay on point here.

A lot of people in for a lot of suffering if we don't step it up.

Doreen, what's your progress on the source?

Strong possibility of zoonotic transfer.

Only question is, was it a monkey to human, or the other way around?

I need more than that.

Sarah?

I'm picking up Walker's analysis of the NARVIK-a and B samples.

I have the DNA sequencers going 24/7, and I'm running multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplifications for all known virulence factors.

Good. The sooner we have a viable treatment option, the sooner we get Julia back. Just remember that.

I'm gonna check on my brother.

(device beeping)

(groaning in pain)

I'm afraid the morphine isn't helping.

I know the symptoms, Dr. Duchamp. He's dying.

We need to start the SODRA immediately.

The SODRA treatment has never been tested on humans beings. Not once.

That doesn't mean it won't work. It's a universal antiviral.

I wish we had time for testing, but we don't.

If it were your brother, wouldn't you try everything you could?

k*lling a human being with an untested treatment, it's unconscionable.

(breathing rapidly)

It's up to next of kin to give informed consent when the patient has left no clear directives, even in the case of a highly- experimental treatment.

I consent.

Major Balleseros.

Heard about your satellite dish.

Hell of a thing.

Are you out of your mind?

(He sighs happily.)

I like to think I'm bringing a little sanity to the proceedings.

Keeping the word from getting out on this sh*t-show is one of my imperatives.

I also have imperatives.

I've been waiting to hear what yours might be since I got here, you know, before the CDC or one of your wingnut scientists shares it with the rest of the world.

My work here is protected, even from you.

Not anymore.

You made a virus that does everything other than what you advertised.

You don't have the intellectual capacity to evaluate my work.

You want things to get easier?

Produce the results you promised our employers.

System voice: Environmental alert.

What's going on?

Atmosphere sensor alert.

Environmental alert.

CO2 levels are rising.

Someone's shut off the oxygen scrubbers.

Is that bad?

Only if you like breathing.

The control node is 30 meters from the old thermogenics lab.

It was engineered with analog override switches for the oxygen scrubbers.

System malfunction?

They used a hardwired code.

My guess is they want to force us down to Level R.

It's a blackmail play to get us to negotiate.

How much time?

Six hours before CO2 levels hit the redline.

In two hours we can expect to start suffering headaches, nausea, vomiting...

All right. Let's get some weapons, and go negotiate.

They'll have an ambush ready. We'd be taken hostage.

Speak for yourself.

What do we do?

We do nothing.

I will handle this personally.

Like you've handled everything else?

(door opening and closing)

I'll take a security team downstairs.

No security team; just you and me.

You're going?

It took many years to build this base.

I won't sit by while someone tries to destroy it.

Open up.

Just get it over with. Am I infected?

Headache is a very general symptom.

It's not as if you're hallucinating or experiencing labile emotions and uncontrollable anger.

Not yet.

Test says you're clear.

What about this?

It's possible that it's a psychosomatic response to stress.

This is not in my head! Don't you get that?

You need to calm down.

That's easy for you to say.

You're not the one with a deadly disease.

Don't let them send me down there.

Please? If I go down there, I'll never come back up.

(Van Eigem crying)

Hey. We're not just sending people down there to die.

I'm sorry.

That's what you think.

You don't know Hatake.

And you don't know Dr. Farragut.

He's not gonna let anything happen to us.

I hope I can trust you, Sarah.

Man: Breathe. Breathe, Peter.

(Peter groaning in pain)

(rapid breathing)

It's OK.

(device beeping)

Peter, it'll be OK. It'll be OK.

Something wrong with the dose regulator?

Is there anything I can tell you to make you stop?

(beep) No.

Breathe. Breathe.

(sigh)

We out of air yet?

I'm still breathing.

Did you get any results from that sample I gave you?

You want answers, I want answers. See how that works?

There's no reason I shouldn't be telling Alan what's what.

You want me to keep working on your little pet project?

Give me a reason.

Maybe you haven't noticed, but there are people that don't want what's inside this base getting out.

Ugh. I haven't had nearly enough sleep, coffee, or cigarettes to deal with any more of this Fox Mulder crap from you.

Doreen.

If you tell another living soul what I'm about to say, I end up in a hurt locker. (She scoffs.)

You mean as opposed to this paradise?

I'm with a special investigative section in the Pentagon.

I was sent as part of an internal inquiry for a black-bag research operation.

Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?

Don't make me regret this.

OK.

So, your superiors... think the virus is a w*apon?

Weapons get rid of the enemy; this thing seems to make them even more dangerous.

What we have is a hidden base conducting secret research outside of the reach of any government.

No one knows the bigger picture.

And you think you do?

I heard these germ docs over at Fort Detrick talking about using viruses to move DNA around.

Gene delivery vehicles?

Yeah, that was it.

What if this virus is acting like a freight train pulling some weird-ass DNA behind it?

Maybe... you're not as dumb as you look.

I'll run the virus through the gene sequencer.

Try to remember that we are running out of air.

(crash nearby)

(man growling)

(man roaring)

(man roaring)

(man roaring in pain)

(panting)

You can take the gas mask off. The virus isn't airborne.

Are you experiencing any symptoms?

Nausea, fever, black mucus discharge?

I promise... I'm not like him.

If I start going crazy, you have my permission to b*at me to death with that stick that you suck in the door.

Just right now, I'd like to thank my rescuer.

Please.

I'm keeping my gloves on.

Fair enough.

What's your name?

Jaye.

Just Jaye?

I'm an MD, PhD, blah, blah, blah.

Got an alphabet soup after my name if that makes any difference.

It doesn't.

I'm Julia. Julia Walker...

I know who you are.

You're that CDC chick.

I kinda like the sound of that.

I hate to be a crappy houseguest, but you got anything to eat or drink around here?

Look around.

You just got the grand tour. You like it?

All in all, I'd rather be in Montana.

Hatake stashed MRE lockers in strategic locations.

You know, in case the sh*t ever hit the fan.

Oh, I'd say this qualifies.

Yeah.

(small laugh) Yeah.

Two hours, 36 minutes, the first two infusions of the SODRA antiviral have been administered under the modified Duchamp protocols.

Patient marginally stabilizing.

Is this how you want to go out?

The kid who had the balls to go through Dad's pockets when he was passed out?

The kid who talked me down from a 50/50 to a 70/30 split and made it seem like he was doing me a favor?

I would not have survived if you hadn't been there.

What that man...

What that man did to us...

I owe you this.

And you owe me...

For that night.
System voice: Environmental alert.

(warning alarm)

Environmental alert.

(Von Eigem sighs.)

Von Eigem: My head hurts.

Do you have anything stronger?

I've given you the highest dosage of NSAID... NSAIDs I can.

I'm not worried about hurting my liver.

Did you recheck your rapid response tests?

I did.

There's nothing wrong with it.

You said you'd step up the care packages.

It's not enough to Skype with me a couple times a week.

Excuse me?

The silences...

The pauses.

Why don't you just tell me her name and get it over with?

There's tons of guys on this ice hole who'd love to be with me.

Who are you talking to?

My ex-boyfriend if he doesn't step up his game.

Did you hear me? 'Cause I'm not gonna wait around for you to figure it out.

Don't go.

You're hallucinating, which means that our test doesn't work.

I need to tell Alan.

Please. You can't tell anyone.

I can't keep you here. You're sick.

I'm not the only one.

How long have you known about your tumor?

I don't have a tumor.

Please. I'm an oncologist.

Slurring speech, tremors, prescription vial of gabapentin.

I haven't told anyone.

Doctor-patient privilege goes both ways.

It'll be our secret.

(light pop music playing)

How long does this usually take?

As long as it takes.

You can't rush these things. This is the real deal.

Building blocks of life and all that.

It's hard to be patient listening to your crappy music.

(computer beep)

Please tell me that means something.

Oh, yes.

Say hello to my little friend.

An RNA map of the virus should show us what's under the hood.

Weird.

I've never seen this combination before.

Meaning?

Meaning someone designed this virus, and it sure as sh*t wasn't Mother Nature.

We're looking at the hand of man here.

Proteins specifically designed to bind the virus to specific cells, so it can deliver its genetic message.

What's the message? Can you tell what they designed it to do?

No.

But I can find out.

(typing)

(typing) (computer beeps)

(medical device beeping)

(ventilator breathing)

Hey, Sarah.

How is he?

At least he has bottled oxygen, unlike the rest of us.

You OK? You feeling the CO2 yet?

No.

I, um...

I was... going over the rapid response test.

I was... I was rechecking them.

And, um...

Peter: Alan.

Peter?

Peter, can you see me?

Of course I can see you.

Who's the pretty one?

Sarah... Sarah, this... This is my brother Peter.

Sarah, you had something you wanted to tell me about the rapid response test?

It doesn't work.

What do you mean it doesn't work?

I was archiving the results, and I found a flaw in the cell line cycling protocol.

We can't trust any of the results.

Are there any infected on this floor?

No. No one's reported in, but we can't trust that everyone downstairs is a positive.

I'm really sorry I let you down.

And Walker.

No...

I made a mistake. There's no excuse.

Right now you get to fix it.

Have you isolated the flaw?

I'm working on it.

All right, work faster. Then find Hatake and tell him we need to implement a base-wide retesting protocol, then open Level R, all right?

The sooner this gets done, the sooner we can get those people out of there.

Right.

Security's checking in.

People are reporting headaches, fatigue, which are early signs of CO2 poisoning.

We need to get down to Level R and handle this.

What am I looking at?

System voice: Access granted.

I don't know quite how to say this, but...

Things have gone downhill since you were infected.

No sh*t?

Peter.

I know you're weak, but I have so many questions...

About your work here, about this... this place.

Seventy-thirty? You're not taking any of the risk.

What?

OK, all right, 60-40, final offer. You never know what's gonna come out of the old man's pockets.

Sixty-forty is just fine with me, buddy.

OK.

You go hide. I'll find you when it's done.

I will stay right here with you, if that's OK.

It's dangerous.

I know. It's OK.

It's OK.

Fleming's Commander Jamaica rum.

That was the old man's poison.

You'd think a mean scumbag like him would be a bourbon drunk.

You ever try that stuff?

He's dead.

Been gone a long time. He can't...

Hurt us anymore.

Something about being trapped in this place...

I see that bastard around every corner.

Snake eyes.

(pounding on door) Hey! Let us in!

Not so loud, Jaye.

Man: Shut the hell up! You're gonna attract the vectors!

Then open the door.

We don't have any room.

Bullshit. Let us in.

Please!

Shh!

Do you hear that?

Let us in!

Shut up. Come on.

(growling nearby)

How is he?

Well, he won't talk about much of anything but our childhood.

Delirium?

Uh, no.

I mean, he's in and out of it, but, uh, I don't know, it's hard to say. He just...

He's stuck back there. Are these the viral load comparisons?

They were declining after the SODRA infusions took hold, but now...

This looks like the virus is coming back - with a vengeance.

You knew we were taking a chance.

I'm sorry.

But it was working.

I mean, maybe we could... we could be more aggressive.

We've already given him a larger dose than any of my studies.

Any more could trigger a cascade of antiviral toxicity.

There's nothing we can do.

How long does he have?

If you've got anything to say to him...

Take this time and make the most of it.

Peter, we need to talk about...

The treatment we're trying is...

Aw, hell, I know that tone.

Highly experimental.

Every time Mom turn a turn, you've have that sad-sack look on your face.

How bad?

Aw, Jesus, don't sugar-coat it.

I'm sorry.

I have to ask some questions.

There are things going on here that we can't explain.

And you think I can?

Some of it may have to do with your research.

Well, you were the genius in the family, and you couldn't figure out that I've been doing sh*t work up here?

What do you mean?

I thought Hatake recruited me to do next-gen stuff.

This was gonna be my ticket to the show.

Just tell me about the virus.

Hatake had me doing animal necropsies for the other docs.

I was never the Alpha.

The only part of my life Hatake seemed interested in was...

Julia.

How did he know about her?

He's got ears everywhere.

I mean, he was the one around here who ever wanted to talk.

(Peter coughing)

I drove you away. I owed you better.

No, you know I'm right.

I could have been there, but I didn't... I didn't want to owe you anymore not for dad, not for anyone.

Don't do that.

You were the one who stuck up for me. You were the one running ...interference with the old man.

It was never like that. I envied you.

That's why I wasn't there.

From the moment she showed up...

That's why the two of you ended up together.

That night...

It wasn't just that night.

It was before.

Every once in a while, when we'd travel to some conference.

Even after you ended things, we knew we...

We couldn't stop seeing each other.

That's why I came up here.

I couldn't stay away.

I went as far as I could.

I'm so sorry.

(flatline tone)

He's crashing!

Dr. Hatake?

Gabapentin. Gabapentin, come on, come on!

Duchamp: Three hours after completion of SODRA protocol, patient experienced cardiac arrest congruent with overwhelming viremic sepsis, this time with concomitant catastrophic decrease in brainwave activity.

Patient has been fitted with a defib vest, is now intubated
and on artificial respiration in a vegetative state.

It's unlikely that the patient will regain consciousness or be able to maintain his own life without the ventilator.

Ah!

Ah! (groaning in pain)

I can feel their hands on me, dragging me away. Please make them stop.

Shh, close your eyes, close your eyes. Doctor's orders.

(groaning in pain)

Everything's gonna be fine.

I'm not gonna let them take you, I promise.

(gasp)

I knew I could trust you to protect me from them.

Did I tell you, or did I tell you? There's enough food here for weeks.

Do you know what this means?

Cheese bread three meals a day?

Good thing you know your way around this base.

Looks like I'm not the only one.

What is it?

It's my initials.

Julia Lynn Walker.

Hell of a coincidence.

No, it isn't. It can't be.

Can't be what?

It's my writing.

The way I wrote my name and...

The flower evening primrose.

It was my favorite when I was a girl. It grows in Montana.

I have notebooks full of them.

I did this.

I've been here before.

System voice: Environmental alert.

Environmental alert.


Gentlemen.

We need to have a talk.

Put down the weapons. They won't be necessary.

Forgive us if we don't agree.

Depriving this base of oxygen is m*rder.

What about locking us up with barely any supplies and no treatment?

It is only a temporary quarantine.

(coughing)

Maybe you should stay down here with us.

Then we'll see your definition of "temporary."

You are right.

I'm not standing in your shoes.

I had to make a hard choice.

You're playing with our lives.

I'm not.

Your lives are worth no less than mine.

You're lying.

Why else would I come down here with only one man?

You could k*ll us both.

If we fight... we die.

Together...

We survive.

We have your word?

My word of honor.

(system starting up)

Thank you.

(three g*nshots)

They were about to give up.

Why did you...

Why?

They gave up...

But they did not surrender.

They were willing to k*ll us. Maybe not today.

They would not have stopped.

We could have just locked them up.

You sh*t an unarmed woman less than 36 hours ago.

To protect you.

I just returned the favor.

Dispose of the bodies and go back upstairs.

You're not coming?

I have something to take care of.

Dr. Walker? Why take the risk?

I need you upstairs.

As far as I can see, the genetic message inside the virus is a massive splice job - real cutting edge - from animal and human species.

And here's where it gets interesting.

How is that interesting?

Because it's completely unknown.

Ran it against every genetic sequence known to man.

This is a completely unidentified single strand.

Why would anyone want to put that inside of us?

I don't have a clue, but it scares the crap out of me.

There's some trait that they want us to manifest, and this disease is a way to force it in.

The people who designed this virus want to change us from the inside out.

I mean, I may not be perfect, but... I like what I am.

I like you too, Doreen.

Well, we're not infected yet.

We'll take this to Alan, get to the bottom of it, stop whoever's doing this, before they cause any real damage.

Hey, what's wrong? (Doreen chuckles.)

This was your idea to begin with. You were right.

I know.

(Doreen typing)

Ah!

Sorry, Doreen. I'm so sorry.

♪ Doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo ♪
♪ Doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo ♪
♪ Doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo ♪
♪ Doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo ♪
♪ Doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo ♪
♪ Doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo doo doo doo doo ♪
♪ Doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo ♪
♪ Doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo ♪
♪ Doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo ♪
♪ Doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo ♪

(rats squeaking)
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