02x04 - Contagion

[bunniefuu]

Previously on "Mars"...

It's a girl.

It's been three
months since Joon d*ed.

What would really help is
letting me get back to work.

- Go.
- They're actively drilling.

Whose side are you on?

The side of
following orders.

IMSF is dangerously
close to becoming irrelevant.

- I'm here for you.
- I know.

A rover was taken into the
field without authorization.

She doesn't
respect your authority.

Solar flare.

It's taken out our
entire communications.

Without navigation, she could
freeze to death before we find her.

We're answering an
SOS from your commander.

There
are signs of life.

But identical to the
strain you already discovered.

A lot can happen
in 10 minutes.

♪ We're coming in too fast and ♪

♪ Everyone is burning bright ♪

♪ 182 seconds, baby ♪

♪ And heaven is
a trick of the light ♪

♪ Cold hell, my love ♪

♪ Cold hell, my love ♪

- Got another one
- It's moving pretty quick.

Roger that. -Block those two
off, go to the main one now.

Turn that one off, switch the main reciever
over there, relay those two, okay?

Hey, hey Terry, we need to keep the
slurry clear of the rig. -Roger that.

And let's get another drill string going,
just need to watch that coolant flow.

Yes, it's moving pretty quick.

Okay, I'm going to
head in for some water.

Hey, keep an eye
on the feed rate.

These cuttings are
k*lling the pump, huh.

Yes, ma'am.

Decontamination complete.

Get another
pip on the string.

Guys, raise the
downward force pipe.

Roger that.

We're moving pretty quick.
Make sure RPM is above 50.

You all right?

I think I'm
getting a cold or something.

Just give me a minute.

Okay, it seems like
you need more than a minute.

Why don't you just go
ahead and sit down?

Man, what some people will do
to get out of work these days.

You know,
you can shut up.

I do more work out here in an
hour than you do in a whole day.

How are you feeling?

Fan-fantastic.

Do I, do I still have my toes?

Yeah.

But you did have frostbite.

You were severely hypothermic.

Hmph.

What the hell
were you thinking?

I don't
regret doing what I did.

I think that's
what you're asking.

I, I needed to
get those samples.

You ignored my direct command,
which was stupid

- and dangerous.
- Those idiots were contaminating the site.

20 more minutes and
you would have been dead.

I can't put one more
person in the ground.

I can't.

Commander,
may I speak with you?

What's going on in there?

You all right?

I don't know.

Sometimes I'm fine.

Then it'll just come out
of nowhere, this thing.

I can't control.

I'm not sure why.

When it happens, it makes me feel like
I don't know what I'm doing here.

Shh.

I know what you're doing, and there's
no one that can do it any better.

But you can't deny
you're grieving.

You're still mourning Joon.

Here, come here.

I'm okay.

It'll be fine.

It's going to be fine.

Gabriella.

Hey, oh my God.

Did you just say another
woman's name in your sleep?

I wasn't asleep.

Who is Gabriella?

It's my
grandmother's name.

Your
grandmother's name?

Yeah.

How would you feel
about that for her?

Uh.

Javier, I'm only at
four months, you know.

It's your nature as a doctor to be
cautious, but the baby's going to be fine.

All signs are positive so far.

Yeah, but we've got
plenty of time to choose a name.

And I really
have to go to work.

Be late today.

- No, I can't.
- You can.

No.

Come on, we've got
plenty of time for that, too.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

I can't, I have to go.

I have to.

You're going to
wish you would have stayed.

Yup. I know.

Hurry up, we gotta
get her in the Med Bay.

Doc! Need you over here.

What have we got?

- She's not good.
- How long has she been like this?

She started coughing like
this just a couple of hours ago.

It's getting
hard to breathe.

She said she was
getting a cold or something

but there's no way
this is a cold.

Temperature,
40 degrees Celsius and rising.

Blood pressure, 90
over 60 and falling.

That's pretty sick.

What about the rest of you?

Yeah, well, I guess we're
not feeling so hot, either.

Okay, we need to close the
doors, we need to close them now.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, what
the hell's going on in there?

Something at the site
has been making them sick.

Anyone that's been down
there needs to be quarantined.

Stop the drilling.

How did you do with
the solar flare yesterday?

We were on the dark side of the
planet when it hit, so no problems here.

Yeah, we
weren't so lucky.

Easy to see why you're not in a
hurry to settle on the surface.

But
everything's okay now?

We've got an emergency
call coming in from Lukrum.

Sorry,
commander, I have to go.

Commander,
we've got a problem.

Our camp's been hit by
some kind of contagion.

Made a bunch of my guys sick.

Looks like it
originated at our drill site.

What are the symptoms?

Coughing, fever,
difficulty breathing.

Jen's got it the worst, but I've got
six other guys going downhill fast,

including our doc.

I'm hoping you can send
me one of yours to help.

Not Amelie, no way.

We'll send Dr. Johar,
but it'll take a while.

I can get
him there quicker.

I've got a few tricks up
my sleeve with the rover.

Be careful.

I will.

I appreciate
the help, commander.

Of course.

- Communication ended.
- Someone should tell Cameron about Jen.

I know they're close.

The lab
is not open yet.

I'll go find him.

Wait. He said drill site.

Cameras, Med Bay.

Amelie, stop,
don't go in there.

What's wrong?

There's a contagion going
through the Lukrum Colony.

Everyone from the drill
site is coughing, feverish,

and experiencing
respiratory distress.

Marta was there, too.

No, but she's fine.

I mean, good vitals, no
fever, no symptoms whatsoever.

Marta, have, have you
been coughing at all?

No, why?

Lukrum's dealing with a drill-site-related
illness that's sweeping their camp.

Maybe they drilled deeper today,
and released some sort of pathogen.

Or maybe they went
too far, too fast.

If we manage to go to
Mars,

you don't want any surprises,
you don't want anything that

could end up k*lling you, that
was previously unforeseen.

The great explorers
of the 15th and 16th centuries

encountered
diseases that

they had never seen before.

Diseases don't
carry passports.

They will be
wherever humans go.

If you think about our entire history,
every time we've expanded our territory,

we've disrupted the environment, creating
new conditions where diseases can spread.

This problem is intimately tied
to our industrial activities.

It's usually the extractive
industries who are first

to try to penetrate areas
that are newly available.

They're bringing new people into these
remote areas, they're building roads and

drilling in new places, and creating
these new opportunities for microbes

to emerge and to spread.

Russia is fighting
a mysterious outbreak of disease.

Dozens of people are
hospitalized due to anthr*x.

The hottest summer
in at least 130 years is feeding

devastating wildfires.

The place where
the outbreak is occurring is called

the end of the Earth,
or the Yamal Peninsula.

An outbreak of anthr*x
in Siberia has been blamed on a heat wave

melting infected reindeer carcasses,
that were frozen in the tundra.

I think it's very
difficult and very

dangerous to be a
protester in Russia

now, especially in the Arctic.

When the government is so incredibly
supportive of the industry,

when the government
actually owns the industry,

you're essentially
protesting the government.

And we all know how
that goes in Russia.

It's not a easy thing.

This isn't some faraway problem,
this is happening all over the world.

The Zika virus is
spreading explosively.

The changing climate
conditions have affected where these

tropical diseases take root.

CDC considers climate change
a serious public concern.

Climate change may also heighten
the risk of infectious diseases.

Climate change will allow diseases
to take hold in new ways that they haven't

been able to in the past.

We're changing our
environment very, very quickly

in ways that we just
can't anticipate, and

re-activating very dangerous
infectious microbes.

So if we go and we colonize Mars, we
could be exposed to new infections,

and that's a really
dangerous spot to be in.

Cameron.
Ay dios mio.

Marta's pushing you way too hard if
she's got you working all night, buddy.

Hey. Hey!

Cameron.

Hey, hey, hey.

Comms, Medical Bay.

Dr. Durand.

Something's
wrong with Cameron.

He's got blood on his mouth, and
he's struggling to breathe.

Okay, okay.

Uh, does he have fever?

He's burning up.

What do you want me to do?

Put on a
mask and gloves.

Okay.

What else?

Clo...
Close the air lock.

What? Why?

Because what he has is
very contagious, and we can't

risk it spreading
through the colony.

What are you saying?

That you can't leave.

Javier, you have
to stay with him.

*MARS (2016)*
Season 02 Episode 04
Episode Title: "Cotagion"

The hectic task containing this
deadly virus coninues...

The clock is ticking,
and they have to get this under control.

With emerging diseases, every day
is a huge opportunity to prevent a crisis.

If you delay, then there's so many
people out there who are infected,

who are touching other people,
who are also getting infected.

It becomes impossible.

You're talking about something
that's growing exponentially.

When outbreaks happen, you
need that definitive early response,

otherwise before you know it, they
escalate and can get out of control.

When there's a lot of
people in close proximity

if one person has
an illness and it's

contagious, then potentially everyone can
get that illness before it's quarantined.

Mars is going to be more dangerous
than Earth, more difficult.

Cameron's infected, but he
wasn't ever at the drill site.

No, but
maybe he saw Jen.

She was with the rescue
crew that brought Marta back.

Right, but does mean it passed
through direct contact, or is it airborne?

And why didn't Marta get sick if
she was at the drill site too?

I don't know.
It doesn't make sense.

No, it doesn't.

But until we figure it out,
cut off all air circulation

and confine everyone
to their habs.

Look, I can take the lead on all this,
if you're not in the right head space.

I mean, if you're
not feeling...

Mike, do you
want to be helpful?

Notify IMSF for me.

That was great, Javier.

Now just hold it to his
skin and press the button.

The device will do
all the work, okay?

How's he doing?

Extremely elevated white blood
cell count, indicating rampant infection.

He needs to be on
an antibiotic drip.

Dr. Johar's already tried
that at Lukrum, using the

most potent meds we have,
but it's not working.

What else?
We have to help him.

Okay, I'm sending in antibiotics,
but you'll need to administer them, okay?

- Okay?
- Okay.

I'll walk you
through the process.

Good. Hurry, because
he's barely breathing anymore.

Transmission from Mars received.

Press play to listen.

Transmission
from Mars received.

Press play to listen.

Transmission.

Secretary
General Richardson.

Commander Seung asked that I inform
you of a serious situation here.

An unknown, highly contagious pathogen
is sweeping through the Lukrum Colony,

and now appears to have infected at
least one crew member at Olympus Town.

We're not sure exactly
what we're dealing

with, but we do know
that the illness that's

being caused is quite severe.

We'll keep you apprised of
the situation as it develops.

In the meantime, we're doing all we can
to keep it from spreading any further.

Transmission ended.

Decontamination complete.

I appreciate you putting
that clean room together.

Yeah, I hope it helps.

Yeah, well it'll keep us safe,
but it won't do much for them.

I'm sorry.
It's got to be hard for you.

Yeah, just standing
here watching my people dying.

Unable to do anything.
It's pretty damn hard.

He's gone.

You going to tell
me what this means?

Javier.

Are you going to tell
me what I'm being exposed to?

You need to
try and stay calm.

Please,
we're trying to...

You're trying to what?

It's hot in here.

- The air circulation is off.
- It's not that.

I have a fever. Don't I?

Comms, Med Bay.

I want the truth.

We're trying
to figure this out.

But you already know one thing:
that I have what Cameron had, right?

Right?

It's going to be okay.

We've got other
antibiotics to try.

No, we tried them
all on him, and now he's dead.

How much time do I have?

You can't
think like that, we're...

Tell me!

I don't know.

What?
How'd he get this?

We don't know, but
now Javier is infected.

Is anything
working for you?

Any different antibiotics?
Anything?

Nothing. We're using the same
meds, same protocol as you.

How many have you lost?

We've got over a dozen who are
pretty gravely ill, but no one's dead yet.

Well that's
some good news.

But Jen was the
first to be diagnosed.

How is it she's still alive?

I don't know.
But I just checked on her,

she's deteriorating
but she's hanging in there.

Why?
What are you thinking?

Jen's alive,
she's probably not patient zero.

Cameron?
Cameron is...?

We think he may have been exposed
to the pathogen first, in your lab.

That's impossible.

You don't have it.

And no one in the colony did either,
until Javier went into your lab.

Now he's infected and
we're running out of time.

The only thing new that was introduced
were your samples from the drill site.

Cameron analyzed them.

He told me, he told me he found the same
microbial forms we've been working with.

Maybe he missed something.

Maybe.

- What are you doing?
- I'm going to my lab.

You can't. Your immune
system's already been compromised.

I need to
examine those samples.

If we're right about this,
you'd be walking straight into

- the source of the infection.
- I'm the only one who knows the science.

I know it better
than anyone here.

I'll figure something out.

There's no other
way to find a cure.

I know I disobeyed you before, but,
please don't try to stop me now.

Javier,
please keep talking to me.

You have to stay awake.

My love, you're going
to get through this.

You're going to be fine.

Okay?

What? What?

Can you say it again?

Tell my daughter
that I loved her...

and I, always
loved her mother, okay?

Stop talking
like you're leaving us.

You're not. My love.

My love, we're going
to get through this.

Javier? Javier?

You're brave to do this.

I'm the only
one who should have to.

Javier?

Help me.

Get up, get up.

I have to collect
a sample from you.

You need to cough into this
jar, do you understand me?

Blood mixed with his sputum.

Is he aware?

Javi, Javi,
Javi, Javi.

His eyes are open.

His fever is so high, it may
already have damaged his brain.

Don't get
ahead of yourself.

I have to figure out
how this thing is different

from the only other
microbe we've found.

Oh God!

It looks identical.

I can see how Cameron
thought it was the same.

It reacts to temperature
in a different way.

This thing likes heat.

There's no
heat at the drill site.

I'm guessing long ago, there
was a hydrothermal spring there.

This microbe mutated to survive in that
environment, and when the spring dried up,

it went into hibernation.

Bringing it into the
warmth of our lab woke it up.

We've been, we've been checking for
oxygen in here, but not temperature.

At least not high temperature.

When Cameron inhaled it into his lungs,
the heat and moisture of his body

caused it to bloom.

- Like an algae bloom.
- Exactly.

As it grows, it's producing a toxin, an
organic toxin, like, like a micro system.

Okay, so it's
destroying lung tissue.

How do we stop it?

I'm not sure.

But why aren't the antibiotics
working, if it's an organic compound?

I don't know.
I'm trying everything, but.

Marta, don't
rush, be thorough.

If you're at a dead-end,
start from the beginning.

This is a
primitive, simple microbe.

What allows this
mutation to survive in humans?

What allows this
mutation to survive in humans?

What allows it?

The cell wall.

Disrupt the cell
wall, and it dies.

Our advanced antibiotics
are too complex.

We need something, something basic,
something as simple as this microbe.

Penicillin.

Yes.
The most primitive antibiotic.

The first.

What's wrong?
What's wrong?

We don't have any.

Penicillin is barely
used in the West anymore.

What about the East?

Not only is penicillin widely
prescribed in China,

most of the world's supply is
actually manufactured there.

We'll need a capsule dropped immediately,
otherwise our death toll will rise.

So with your permission,
I'd like to call on

our friends at the space station
for their help in this emergency.

Transmission ended.

You can't allow
her to make that request.

The Chinese broadcast 24/7 from
their space station to the public.

If she communicates with them in
any way about this contagion,

the entire world will know.

That can't possibly
be your first concern.

Look, an
accident is one thing.

But a plague is another.

If this gets out, stocks will plummet, and
the colonization of Mars will be over,

before it begins.

And if it gets out that we
didn't ask for help, and dozens die?

The point is,
it wouldn't get out.

Neither of our organizations broadcasts
publicly, at least not without complete control

of the feed.

Any of the families affected
by this, they've all

pre-signed non-disclosure
agreements.

Obviously they'll
be well-compensated.

You might be willing to
stand by and watch people die.

I'm not.

Secretary General.

I would suggest you not bring your personal
history with Martian tragedies into this

decision-making process.

I intend to explore a
diplomatic back-channel

solution with the
Chinese, here on Earth.

I'm going to ask them to
disrupt their live streaming.

But they won't.

It pays for half
of their operation.

Which will force me into a
fairly defensive position.

If after all your best diplomatic efforts,
word of this illness does get out,

I'll make absolutely sure that everyone
understands exactly where it originated.

And as we're both aware, it's
not with Lukrum Industries.

Communication ended.

Disease is intimately
linked with commerce.

There's a huge economic cost when
these outbreaks spread like wildfire.

The virus and fears
about it could disrupt local economies.

The cost to the global economy
of SARS was $40 billion.

Consumer behavior changed
dramatically due to fear.

A lot of governments feel like
it's in their economic interest to keep

these things quiet.

You don't want to admit that you've
got a problem, and so naturally,

that's what
everyone tries to do.

They stuff down outbreaks until
it's impossible to ignore.

Many of the nomadic
people who herd reindeer have been infected

with deadly bacterial disease.

At least 72 people are under
observation in the hospital.

These Arctic people called the Nenets are
affected most by suddenly coming across and

being exposed to
this old anthr*x virus.

And this is their backyard.

When the anthr*x outbreak occurred,
the government wants to suppress

any bad news that
comes from that area.

The expectations of the
amount of oil and natural gas

in the Arctic regions
are astronomical.

Putin wants Russia to have control of that
territory, both for the power that that

territory gives him and for the oil
and natural resources that are in it.

Russia is using the
oil and gas industry

to lay down the
infrastructure for a

future Arctic civilization.

In the grand scheme
of Russian Arctic

development, a few people
dying of anthr*x is

probably small
potatoes to them.

Disease could sweep
through a Mars colony,

and I can imagine a
scenario where people

would lie, cheat, and
steal in order to make

sure that their mission
was successful,

even if that costs a
lot of human lives.

You're not to contact the space station
until I've reached an agreement with the

Chinese government.

I'm due to speak with their
representatives momentarily.

I don't anticipate problems given their
cooperation in our terraforming efforts.

I'll have an
answer for you soon.

Hopefully within a few hours.

Transmission ended.

No, Javier
doesn't have hours.

You have to do something,
and you have to do it now.

I understand you're upset, but
the entire mission is at stake here.

One man...

One man? One man!

Do you not know or do you not

care that he will die without it?

Stop!

Comms, connect me
to Commander Chen.

Infection is not...

Infections are going to happen.

But epidemics are political.

They are not a purely
scientific problem.

It's a real conflict of
interest governments have.

On one hand, they want
to protect public health.

On the other hand,
you know, they don't want

to suffer this huge blow
to their economies.

Look at what happened
with SARS, for example.

The Chinese Communist
authorities are now paying a price

for their failure to acknowledge
the SARS virus, the disease

remains shrouded in in secrecy.

SARS broke out, the Chinese
government was very secretive about it.

In the beginning, they didn't want
to let WHO officials come see it.

We are putting in measures
to prevent the spread.

Because it was too disruptive
to trade, so they kept it a secret.

And then it went out on airplanes, and
infected so many other countries.

It remains the thr*at that a
traveler could be the next case.

This kind of conflict of interest
ultimately is going to spell the difference

between whether a few
people get sick from a

new pathogen, or a lot
of people get sick.

Your health could
be at risk because of climate change.

The flu outbreak
that has been spreading so fast.

The
temperatures are rising and

so are worries about
the Zika virus.

Everything that we've looked at
with this virus seems to be a bit

scarier than we
initially thought.

There is no
vaccine and no medicine to treat it.

Outbreaks
are borderless.

When governments are
hiding an outbreak from

you in any way, that's
where you're in danger,

that's when the, the
virus is actually winning.

And so I understand why people go
rogue and work out of the system,

because ultimately there
are so many times in

which, if you just waited
for everybody else

to act, you would just be sitting
there watching people die.

Hurry,
every second counts.

Is he breathing?

- Yes.
- Is he taking it in?

I can't tell.

Marta, you have
to squeeze the inhaler!

I am.

I think he's getting it.

He's getting it.

We've done
everything we can.

Yeah.

So we have
to be patient now.

With a twenty minute
delay between transmissions,

she obviously felt
it couldn't wait.

You have no
control over your people.

She did
the right thing.

She defied your order.

No images were released.

There was a request for medical
aid, the suggestion of an illness.

That's all.

Words don't make an
impression like pictures do.

And thanks to Hana, we have one
death to explain, not dozens,

as would have been the
case in Lukrum Colony.

I hope you're right.

Communication ended.

Yes,
Mars has pathogens.

But so does Earth,

where explorers have
faced malaria, cholera,

and many other diseases.

But they didn't stop.
They fought back.

And some d*ed.
But mostly, they endured.

And if they hadn't, we
wouldn't be here now.

And that's exactly what our brave
pioneers on Mars are doing.

Facing the unknown,

overcoming
its dangers and,

yes, sometimes
making mistakes.

But the truth is, they
are role models for us all.

I uh, I didn't
mean for this to happen.

I came here to find life.

To study life.

But, but not at
the expense of it.

I'm sorry.

Thanks.
For all you've done.

Happy to help.

And you have some serious building
skills. I don't know how to thank you.

You don't have to.

Alright, how about I
make you an offer, then?

Why don't you come
here and work with us?

Put your skills to real use.
Lukrum's got big plans.

We could use someone like you.

I appreciate the offer,
but I'm needed back at my colony.

- Alright, thanks.
- You got it, buddy.

You don't
have to stay all night.

I'm feeling better.

You have two to take care of, and
you must be pretty tired yourself.

I'm not
going anywhere.

Besides, I have
something to tell you.

What?

I love
the name Gabriella.

To defying
direct orders.

Not funny.

But you did it for all the right reasons,
which took a hell of a lot of guts.

I'm sure I'll pay
a price for it somehow.

Thanks for pulling
hazard duty at Lukrum.

In a weird
way, it was my pleasure.

It wasn't easy
letting you go, you know.

Especially when we
thought it was ground zero.

Were you
scared for me?

I was.

I really was.

Robert, we can't.

Secretary General, normally
I wouldn't reach out like this,

but the situation
here demands it.

It's my observation, as second in command,
that Commander Seung is suffering from

depression relating to
the death of her sister.

She's distracted,
in a weakened capacity,

and as a result, has
made grave errors.

It's my opinion that this
colony requires new leadership.

Transmission ended.