Episode Eight

Veil

Part Two

NEXT SCENE AT THE BIO LAB. ED ENTERS THE LAB AREA WITH X-RAY FILMS IN HIS HAND. HE WALKS OVER TO ATTWOOD.

Ed: Found it.
Attwood: Where?

ED PUTS THE FILM UP ON A LIGHT BOARD.

Ed: Right now it’s in her eustachian tube.
Attwood: Right now?
Ed: It’s moving. These scans are over the last four hours. It’s heading right towards her ear.
Attwood: It’s behaving like a parasite.
Ed: Only the host has died.
Attwood: It’s looking for a way out.

NEXT SCENE


AT SLOAN’S APARTMENT. SHE’S MAKING HERSELF A CUP OF TEA. HER DOOR MONITOR BUZZES. SHE WALKS OVER TO THE DISPLAY AND PRESSES A BUTTON. SHE SEES A SCRUFFY-LOOKING OLD WOMAN ON THE VIDEO SCREEN.

Sloan: Yes? Can I help you?
Woman: Uh, your friend Tom sent me.
Sloan: How do I know that--
Woman: He said to tell you, ‘But don’t stop looking, I’ll send you a check.’

SLOAN LAUGHS.

Sloan: Is Tom alright? Where is he?
Woman: Yeah, he’s fine. He uh, wants you to meet him at the Centennial Park uh, at midnight.

THE WOMAN WALKS OFF.

NEXT SCENE
RAY’S CAR TURNS THE CORNER OF SLOAN’S BLOCK AND PULLS UP IN FRONT OF SLOAN, WAITING ON THE SIDEWALK. SHE GETS IN THE CAR AND TURNS TO RAY.

Sloan: Thanks for coming.
Ray: Buckle up.

RAY TEARS OFF AND SLOAN BUCKLES HER SEATBELT. THE STAKEOUT COPS RACE AFTER THEM, RED LIGHTS FLASHING. SLOAN LOOKS BACK AT THE COPS CHASING THEM, THEN OVER AT RAY.

Sloan: So this is what being a detective’s all about, huh?
Ray: No, Sloan.

HE GESTURES TO THE OFFICERS BEHIND THEM.

Ray: That’s what’s being a detective’s about. This....this is the other side of the fence.

RAY AND SLOAN SPEED DOWN MORE STREETS WITH THE COPS CLOSE BEHIND. TIRES SQUEAL. SIRENS BLARE. RAY GETS AHEAD OF THE COPS AND KILLS HIS HEADLIGHTS. HE TURNS DOWN AN ALLEY AND THE COPS RACE PAST. HE’S LOST THEM.

Ray: (exhaling) Well.

RAY BACKS OUT OF HIS HIDING SPOT AND DRIVES DOWN THE ROAD. THEY PULL UP IN FRONT OF A PARK.

Sloan: Thanks.
Ray: You want me to wait?
Sloan: Uh, no. I don’t want to scare Tom off. And the police will be looking for you anyway.

SHE GETS OUT OF THE CAR.

NEXT SCENE
AT THE BIO LAB. ED AND ATTWOOD STAND OVER KELLY’S BODY. ED IS LOOKING THROUGH MAGNIFYING GOGGLES.

Ed: I don’t see anything.
Attwood: (handing Ed an otoscope) Here.

ED USES THE DEVICE TO LOOK INSIDE KELLY’S EAR.

Ed: Got it! Right there.

ED LOOKS BENEATH A MAGNIFYING SCOPE AT WHAT HE HAS EXTRACTED. IT IS A WIGGLING INSECT, A TICK. ED LOOKS UP AT ATTWOOD.

NEXT SCENE
AT THE PARK. SLOAN TAKES COVER IN SOME SHRUBS AS HEADLIGHTS FLASH OVER HER. THEY PASS, AND SHE WALKS OUT ONTO THE SIDEWALK. SHE CHECKS HER WATCH. A GROUP OF YOUNG MEN APPROACH HER. SLOAN LOOKS AT THEM WARILY. A MAN ALMOST RUNS INTO HER, SCARING HER. HE EXCUSES HIMSELF AND WALKS AWAY.

NEXT SCENE
DAYTIME, AT THE BIO LAB. IN ATTWOOD’S OFFICE. ATTWOOD POURS HIMSELF A CUP OF COFFEE AS ED ENTERS, SLAPPING A REPORT IN FRONT OF ATTWOOD.

Ed: Tested the tick’s DNA.
Attwood: One-point-six percent?
Ed: Yep. Lynch must’ve planted the tick in Kelly when she was in the cave.
Attwood: Actually, this is quite brilliant. The tick has the same DNA construction of their species. They insert it into a human being to convert our DNA structure.
Ed: Parasite doesn’t live off the host. It feeds the host.
Attwood: It’s basically gene therapy.
Ed: So, Kelly’s headaches could’ve been a reaction to whatever this tick was secreting. We gotta take this bug apart.
Attwood: No, we can’t kill it.
Ed: We have to know how it works.
Attwood: Well we won’t know if it’s dead. We have to plant it back into a living host and see what happens. Was she supposed to die, did she have a bad reaction....?
Ed: No, Kelly was one-point-three percent the last time I tested her.
Attwood: (pointedly) Was she supposed to get to one-point-six?

NEXT SCENE
AT SLOAN’S APARTMENT. SHE OPENS THE DOOR AND ENTERS. SHE FLICKS ON THE LIGHTS AND SETS HER DOOR MONITOR. SHE PLAYS BACK HER ANSWERING MACHINE MESSAGES.

Ed: (voiceover on the answering machine) Hey, it’s Ed. Where are you? I heard Ray bailed you out. Anyway Sloan, you gotta get back to the Lab. I know you got a lot of stuff to deal with, but you gotta get in here.

SLOAN TAKES OFF HER COAT AND STARTS WALKING TO HER BEDROOM, LOOKING BACK AT THE ANSWERING MACHINE AS IT PLAYS ED’S RAMBLING MESSAGE. TOM WALKS OUT FROM BEHIND A WALL. SLOAN TURNS AND STARTS WHEN SHE SEES HIM. SLOAN LOOKS AT HIM FOR A MOMENT AND HE LOOKS AT HER. SHE CLIMBS THE STEP AND THROWS HERSELF INTO HIS EMBRACE.

Sloan: You scared the hell out of me. I waited in the park--
Tom: (holding her upper arms) Sorry about that. I had to send you there to get the police away.
Sloan: Are you alright?
Tom: I’m fine. What about you?
Sloan: Worried about you. Scared.

SHE TURNS FROM HIM AND WALKS OVER TO HER DRESSER. HE EXHALES AND SITS IN A CHAIR NEAR THE FOOT OF HER BED. SLOAN TURNS BACK TO LOOK AT HIM.

Tom: Listen, uh, about the motel...

SLOAN SMILES AND BOWS HER HEAD.

Sloan: Tom....

HE LOOKS UP AT HER.

Tom: Oh, I’m talking about me leaving.

SHE AWKWARDLY GIVES A NOD OF UNDERSTANDING.

Tom: I should never have left you.
Sloan: I made you leave!

THE PHONE RINGS. SLOAN RUSHES OVER TO ANSWER IT.

Sloan: It’s probably Ed. He sounded really freaked out.

SHE PICKS IT UP.

Sloan: Hello? Lewis.

TOM’S HEAD POPS UP AT THE NAME AND HE STANDS AND WALKS OVER TO SLOAN.

Sloan: Why the hell have you done this to us?
Tom: Sloan.

TOM TURNS HER AROUND AND TAKES THE PHONE FROM HER.

Tom: Lewis.

CUT TO THE BMW. LEWIS SPEAKS ON HIS CELL PHONE.

Lewis: Tom, listen. We shall reign in the kingdom of man.

CUT BACK TO TOM, IN SLOAN’S APARTMENT. A GLAZED LOOK COMES OVER HIS EYES. SLOAN LOOKS AT HIM.

Sloan: Tom, what is it?

HE HANGS UP THE PHONE, STILL STARING STRAIGHT AHEAD.

Sloan: What did he say?

TOM STARTS TO WALK PAST SLOAN. SLOAN PUTS A HAND OUT TO STOP HIM.

Sloan: Tom? Wait a minute, where are you going?

SHE MOVES TO INTERCEPT HIM AND HE PLACES HIS HAND ON HER FACE AND PUSHES HER AWAY, HARD. SHE LANDS IN A HEAP ON THE FLOOR WITH A GRUNT AS TOM STRIDES NONCHALANTLY TO THE DOOR. SLOAN LOOKS UP, WATCHING HIM LEAVE WITH A PUZZLED LOOK ON HER FACE.



CUT TO THE SIDEWALK OUTSIDE SLOAN’S APARTMENT. (THERE’S THE FLORIST SHOP!) TOM EMERGES FROM THE APARTMENT ENTRANCE AND COOLLY WALKS OVER TO LEWIS’S BEEMER. TOM BENDS DOWN AND LOOKS INTO THE VEHICLE. LEWIS NODS AT HIM AND TOM GETS IN THE CAR. THEY DRIVE OFF. (BOO-HISS! THEY’RE NOT BUCKLED UP!)

THE CAMERA PANS OVER TO THE COPS ON STAKEOUT. THEY’RE SLUMPED IN THEIR SEATS, DEAD.

NEXT SCENE
AT THE BIO LAB, DAYTIME. IN ATTWOOD’S OFFICE. ATTWOOD SITS AT THE DESK AND SLOAN AND ED SIT OPPOSITE HIM.

Ed: Look, I hate to be the one that has to say it--
Sloan: (dejectedly) Then don’t.
Ed: Sloan, I understand why you wanted to trust Tom as much as you did, but come on. This new species, they’re making it pretty clear, they’re not interested in co-existence.
Attwood: I have to take Ed’s position on this one, Sloan. Not only for your safety, but for the good of everyone involved.
Sloan: Something happened to Tom. He didn’t....

SLOAN LOOKS OVER AT ED.

Sloan: ....He wasn’t acting right.
Ed: Because he finally snapped, Sloan. Back to what he was. What he is.
Sloan: I don’t believe that. I saw the look on his face. Lewis said something to him, something to trigger a response.
Ed: Such as?
Sloan: (angrily) I don’t know! Maybe Lewis planted a code in his subconscious. Some sort of reset switch.
Attwood: Well, that would be consistent with the so-called ‘training’ or ‘programming’ that Tom alleges Lewis put him through to make him a killer.
Ed: Yeah, that’s because he’s back to what he was. A killer.
Sloan: He could’ve killed me on the spot and he didn’t.
Attwood: Which only means that maybe we have some time to prepare before he does try to kill you. And probably the rest of us.

SLOAN LOOKS STRICKEN AT THE THOUGHT OF THIS.



NEXT SCENE
A BRIGHT WHITE ROOM. NO WALLS CAN BE DISCERNED, JUST WHITE. WE SEE A BLACK CASE BEING OPENED, A SYRINGE AND VIAL INSIDE.







CUT TO TOM, SEATED IN A CHAIR, STARING FORWARD, UNSEEING. (HE LOOKS DAMN GOOD. BLACK LONG SLEEVE T-SHIRT. PANTS ARE ONLY SO-SO THOUGH. BLACK. TOO BAGGY.) LEWIS STANDS NEXT TO HIM. HE HAS JUST GIVEN TOM AN INJECTION FROM THE SYRINGE HE HOLDS. TOM DROPS HIS EYES SHUT. (WOW, THIS IS A GREAT TOM SCENE. THE CAMERA PANS AROUND TOM, AND WE GET TO SEE HIS TASTY HAIRCUT FROM ALL ANGLES. BOY, THAT HAIR SURE IS SHINY!)

NEXT SCENE
AT THE BIO LAB. ED IS SITTING AT HIS DESK. HE PICKS UP A PETRIE DISH AND STARES AT THE INSECT INSIDE. SLOAN STANDS NEXT TO HIM.

Ed: Attwood wants to insert the tick into one of the monkeys. And see what happens.
Sloan: (coldly) Probably die just like Kelly.

ED LOOKS AWAY AND SLOAN QUICKLY TURNS, PALING.

Sloan: I’m sorry.

SHE LOOKS AT HIM, AND HE LOOKS UP AT HER.

Sloan: I know you became close. She was lucky to have you around in the end.

ATTWOOD APPEARS IN THE DOORWAY.

Ed: (to Attwood) You ready?
Attwood: Already done.
Ed: What do you mean? The tick’s right here.
Attwood: I synthesized the tick’s secretions. I injected one of our monkeys directly.
Ed: Yeah, but that won’t tell us--
Attwood: We don’t have time to wait for the tick to work. The dose I injected into James is highly concentrated. What the tick did to Kelly in weeks should happen in days. Maybe sooner.

ED LOOK OVER AT THE MONKEYS IN THE CAGE OUTSIDE HIS OFFICE. THEY ARE ALL AGITATED, CLIMBING UP THE SIDES.

NEXT SCENE
IN THE WHITE ROOM. TOM STILL SITS ON A CHAIR IN THE THE MIDDLE OF THE ROOM. (BOY HE LOOKS GOOD, DID I MENTION?) HE STARES STRAIGHT FORWARD. LEWIS WALKS PAST HIM, CIRCLING HIM.

Lewis: It’s good to have you back, Tom.
Tom: It’s good to be back.
Lewis: Do you think you’re ready to go back to work?
Tom: Yes. What do I do?

SUDDENLY IT’S JANE DANIELS IN FRONT OF TOM, NOT LEWIS.

Jane: What you were trained to do.
Tom: I don’t remember, Mother.
Jane: I know. It’s been a long time. There are things you need to take care of.

THE CAMERA SPINS AROUND TOM AGAIN.

Tom: You’ll help me?

SLOAN STANDS BEHIND TOM’S SHOULDER NOW, WEARING THE SAME OUTFIT SHE WORE WHEN LEWIS CAPTURED HER.

Sloan: Of course I will.

THE CAMERA PANS AROUND TOM AGAIN AND HE CLOSES HIS EYES.

NEXT SCENE
AT THE BIO LAB. SLOAN AND ED STAND AT A COUNTER. SLOAN HOLDS JAMES THE MONKEY AS ED SWABS ITS LITTLE MONKEY ARM WITH A PIECE OF COTTON.

Ed: Come on, James. I know this sucks, but it’s in the name of science.
Sloan: You would’ve been a really good doctor, do you know that?
Ed: I’m starting to think I should’ve stayed with it.
Sloan: What do you mean?

ED STICKS A NEEDLE INTO JAMES'S ARM AND THE MONKEY SCREECHES.

Ed: I mean, is this what the future holds for us? It’s biological warfare and we’re on the front lines. And a lot of people are going to die.
Sloan: Not if we do our job.

NEXT SCENE
LATER AT THE BIO LAB. ED AND SLOAN SIT IN ED’S OFFICE, EATING CHINESE TAKEOUT. LIGHTNING FLASHES OUTSIDE THE WINDOW AND WE HEAR THUNDER.

Ed: Why are you so sure that Tom won’t try to hurt you or the rest of us?
Sloan: I know him.
Ed: Come on, how can you really know him, Sloan? I mean, come one, will you be honest with yourself? He is not human and he never will be. There’s no way you can know what’s going on inside of him.
Sloan: We’ve become close enough for me to be sure.
Ed: Exactly how close?
Sloan: (angrily) Whatever you’re thinking didn’t happen.

SLOAN RISES FROM HER CHAIR AND WALKS OVER TO WHERE THE CHINESE FOOD BOXES SIT ON A FILE CABINET.

Ed: Is it going to?

SLOAN TURNS TO LOOK AT ED, THEN LOOKS DOWN AT HER PLATE.

Ed: So you’re not sure.

SLOAN FIDGETS WITH THE CHINESE FOOD.

Ed: What happened with you two when you were in hiding in that motel?
Sloan: Nothing.
Ed: But it almost did.

SLOAN EXHALES AND TURNS TO ED.

Sloan: We kissed. It was stress! We were locked up, scared.
Ed: You can not go there, Sloan. I mean, we don’t know how they’re trying to attack us. We just discovered the tick. Who knows what an innocent kiss could mean?

SLOAN LOOKS AT ED, PENSIVE. ED’S PAGER BEEPS AND HE CHECKS IT.

Ed: It’s James's DNA test.

LIGHTNING FLASHES AND THUNDER ROLLS AS THE SCIENTISTS LEAVE THE OFFICE.

Part Three


Part One

---

Return to Main Transcript Page