Ooh! Max!
Joshua!
How'd you get here?
Did anyone see you?
It's okay. He's a friend.
Yeah, sure. You just... threw me back there, that's all.
- You're Joshua, right? - Joshua. Right.
Original Cindy. Good to meet you.
I'm making breakfast. You hungry?
I was gonna come by and bring you some stuff.
- Time to find Father. - Father? Who's Father?
Sandman. He made us. He's gonna make Max better.
You mean your lovebug thing where you can't touch Logan?
Well, get on it, boo! I'm tired of seein' you mopin'.
This virus bitch has gotta go down so that you can get busy with your man.
Max and Logan, gettin' busy. That's the plan.
The plan is we're gonna find Father. Logan's tracking down some leads.
In the meantime, you've gotta lay low. You can't be walking around out there.
Don't mope. I'm on it.
Hey, hey, you want some more? We got more food.
Ah! Ah! Down!
Okay.
Eight dollar.
Don't take his money. Tell him to leave!
Go away. Go away right now!
Hurry up. Don't come back.
Henry, I told you no more bottle rockets.
- Chill, Pop. It wasn't me, I swear. - Don't lie to me. Now get out there and sweep.
Somebody call an ambulance. Somebody call an ambulance!
They designed her to be the perfect soldier - a human weapon.
Then she escaped.
In a future not far from now,
in a broken world, she is haunted by her past.
She cannot run; she must fight
to discover her destiny.
So then I ran a search of university records. If this guy Sandeman was the genius behind Manticore,
he'd probably have some sort of degree in genetics, or biochemistry, or something.
- Anything turn up? - Yeah, a couple of Ph.D.'s, but nothing in the sciences.
- What about the house? - Mmm. His name wasn't on it.
Mortgage was held by an offshore corporation, and the taxes were paid out of a numbered account.
Guess if you're splicing genes for a secret government agency, gotta make sure you cover your tracks.
In May of '08, bank repo'd the property after six months of non-payment,
and it's sat there empty ever since. Looks like Sandeman just disappeared.
- Maybe... retired someplace sunny. - Or he ran for his life.
I mean, hey, we're talking about Manticore. Place wasn't exactly known for job security.
Yeah, well, if he had time to pack his bags, he probably would've taken this.
The Manticore symbol. And we're sure he's one of the good guys?
Joshua's sure; that's enough for me.
- Thought maybe we could check it for prints, or DNA. - I don't know. After ten years?
Worth a shot. I mean, we got nothing on this guy. Not even a first name.
I'll call Matt Sung... see if he can get the police lab to do it.
We're gonna find him, Max. And we're gonna beat this.
I just want things to be the way they were.
You know, when we could hold hands without you keeling over on me.
- Asha. - I just got this close to getting busted at a checkpoint.
- Yeah. Listen... - They ran my papers through the computer,
and I could tell they were getting onto them being forged, 'cause they were taking forever.
- Yeah... - So I just got the hell out of there.
- That's a smart move... - All I wanted to do is go home and take a bath.
Now I gotta get my hands on a whole new fake I.D.
- I can probably help you with that... - And we gotta talk about this Manticore thing.
You know, I'm really glad your friend Max and her furry little friends got out of there, but it's really...
- Oh. Hi. - Hi.
- What I meant was... we... my group... the... - The S1W is that political organization that I was...
Yeah, yeah, government's trying to say Manticore was just a V.A. hospital you guys burned down.
Sorry... from me and all my furry little friends.
I gotta get to work. Have fun.
"All I wanna do is take a bath." All I wanna do is drown her in one.
Don't get mad. It's not her fault everything handcuffs you to freaking Manticore.
But what is up? Is someone trying to tell me something?
- Rafer?! - Lie still.
- I'm okay. - I don't know. You went down pretty hard.
- That was you? - Sorry. You came out of nowhere.
- What the hell are you doing? - Relax. I'm a paramedic.
You deliver pizzas.
That was just part-time. We spent one night together four months ago;
you think you know my life story? Now try and lie still.
I gotta check for broken bones...
Next time you wanna cop a feel, hit me harder and make sure I'm out cold.
No damage. Just a scratch.
Max.
- Matt? Logan. Did you get it? - Yeah. Just arrived.
- Listen, I appreciate you doing this. - Yeah, no problem.
I'll get you the results as soon as I can. - Great.
... biochemist. Do you understand? I'm a scientist. Now I'm sure you have a great team of scientists
working at the precinct, but... - Hi.
Yes. Hello. The boy that died today in Chinatown -
I was there, and I think that I may have been exposed to something.
Sir, the coroner's still trying to figure out what happened. We'll have the report in the morning, okay?
- Well, I would like to see a copy of that report, yes? - You'll have to file a request with the M.E.'s office.
No. No... This is totally unacceptable. I don't have time...
- Sung? - Yeah?
You had a sketch artist working on something?
Yeah, rumor's flying around Chinatown about some strange guy in an overcoat.
- I'll say. - Yeah, the eyewitness says his face was bleeding.
- Could be the dead kid was exposed to something he's got. - Could be.
Let's keep this under wraps until the autopsy comes out. I don't want to start a panic.
You haven't been to Chinatown lately, have you? It's already panic.
Hey, what happened to you?
Where you been, little missy? Huh? Been paging you all morning.
Well, I lost my pager when I got hearsed on Charles Street. But I'm all right, thanks for asking.
Here. Hot run, sector nine.
- Can I borrow... - No. Don't even ask. You're not covered on company bikes,
and if you so much as break a fingernail, we both know you'll sue.
Hey, let's go! Bip bip bip! It's called Jam Pony, not Jam Clydesdale.
Hey.
Okay, you are a paramedic. So what? You showed up to try to make me
feel bad for not believing you? - No, I came by to give you this.
And to see if you wanted to have lunch. My way of making up for our, uh, little run-in.
- Listen, I'm really sorry about... - Forget about it.
How can I? I put my foot so far down my mouth, I got teeth marks on my knee.
She must hate me.
Really, forget about it. Eat something.
I'm not really hungry.
Look, um, about what happened that... night...
- I'd really rather just forget about that night. - Me too.
I was in a really weird headspace 'cause, uh, I just broke up with my girlfriend like three weeks before...
Anyway, if I came on too strong, I'm sorry, 'cause I'm not like that.
It's okay.
Came by here looking for you a couple times. No one knew where you were.
I had to deal with some family stuff. It's complicated.
- Family stuff's always complicated. - You have no idea.
Thought maybe you had a boyfriend somewhere.
That's complicated too.
Which has gotta be the understatement of the century.
Max and I danced around each other for almost a year.
Just when we finally figure out what's going on between us, this virus thing happens, and...
- We can't be together. - What do you mean? Why not?
It's hard to explain. It's like... it's too intense.
Sometimes I think maybe we're just not meant to be.
I mean, if it's right, why does it have to be so hard?
I don't know.
Logan's probably just better off without me.
I just want you to be happy.
He'd be lucky to be with you.
Anybody would be.
I should go.
- I'd better get back to work. - Yeah, me too.
You don't have I.D. Asha...
- See you around. - Okay.
This is your bus ticket, sir.
Yeah, that mutant - saw it here yesterday.
Grabbed a pigeon... bit its head off.
Looked at me like I was next.
- You know, it's worse than I thought, O.C. - What?
The mutant infestation. It's here in Chinatown as well.
Were you born dumb, or do you put in work?
Ambulance. We gotta get an ambulance.
Twenty-two. All Chinese.
- What'd the M.E. say? - If it's the same thing that killed the kid yesterday,
it's some kind of, um, pathogen. She said she's never seen anything like it.
I mean, is it... some kind of toxin, or what?
She's running some tests, trying to figure it out. Listen...
did you catch Eyes Only's hack about that place Manticore?
- Yeah, why? - Well, the government's trying to say it never existed, okay?
But the word on the street is that the place burned down and
a bunch of these genetically-engineered whatsits got out. - Well, those are just rumors.
Yeah, well, the rumor's that one of them is hiding out here in Chinatown.
Supposedly deformed. It bleeds out through his skin.
- You think there's a connection? - I don't know, but Eyes Only might.
- Can you talk to him for me? - Yeah, I'll try and get to him.
- I appreciate it. - Sure thing.
And listen... I'm sorry, Matt.
I know this is close to home. - Yeah.
- It was horrible. - Those poor people.
Said on the news that anybody that was there is supposed to get checked for infection. I'm scared.
Hey. Can I talk to you?
Five minutes and I start docking.
Even if there is some screwed-up transgenic out there...
doesn't mean he's got whatever's killing these people.
When you were at Manticore, were you aware of any experiments that involved
exposure to virulent bacteria or pathogens or... - No. And why are you jumping to conclusions?
- Because the guy's been seen in the area. - If this has something to do with me and my furry little friends,
then how come all the victims are Chinese? Manticore's always been real big on equal opportunity.
Could be that it takes prolonged exposure. If this guy was downtown,
maybe it'd be rich white people who were dying. - Ever think maybe it was something they ate?
Or they all got bit by the same mosquito? Or maybe some bug that got released from a lab?
Come on, Max! This is nothing new to Manticore.
Look what they did to you and me, for God's sake.
Just because I'm poison doesn't mean we all are. Your five minutes are up.
Hold it right there.
- I love what you've done with the place. - Laying low.
Good, 'cause it's dangerous out there. Especially these days.
Like it here. Father's books... Father's house.
Yeah. Listen, about Father...
... Logan's come up empty. He's still working on it.
He'll find Sandeman, just as soon as he's done saving the world... from us.
- Max and Logan. That's the plan. - I don't know.
I'm starting to think there is no plan, and if there is, I'm not clued in at all.
Father ever talk to you about fate? You know, like...
... whether some things just weren't meant to be?
Canine with human DNA... not meant to be. Then Joshua.
Max and Logan not meant to be... then gettin' busy.
- We'll see. - Yeah, you'll see. This virus bitch going down.
It's him.
- Hello? - If you're calling to apologize...
- I'm not, but I will, if that's what it takes. - Spit it out.
- Asha was heading home, and... - She left already?
Yeah. And she got arrested by sector cops. I need your help.
- You want me to save her. - I don't know who else I can ask.
- Try Sung. - I did. He's not answering his page.
- Smart man. - Look, Max, if they run her prints and find out who she is...
- Yeah, yeah. Where are they holding her? - Sector Four headquarters.
We'll meet you at Crash in an hour.
Look, I told you, I left my I.D. at work. I can - I can bring it in tomorrow.
Your prints came through, Ms. Barlow. We know you're with the S1W.
I don't know what you're talking about.
- I want the names and addresses of everyone in your group. - This is crazy.
This department does not take terrorist activities lightly.
- The S1W are not terrorists. - Tell me what I want to know, or this is going to get ugly.
I'm gonna kick your ass! I'm gonna kick your ass!
It's my thing. Come on.
You know a girl named Max? Dark hair, hangs out here a lot?
Yeah, hard to miss. But, uh, hasn't been in here tonight.
- I'll have a beer. - Take that one.
- You know Max? - Yeah. You?
Yup.
- Rafer. - Logan.
Right.
Listen, uh, thanks. I know you didn't have to.
It was a favor to Logan.
Besides, it wouldn't be right for you to take the rap for something you didn't do.
Um, you going in? I'm just gonna get my I.D. from Logan and go, so...
- You're waiting here for Max, right? - Yup.
- That's my cue to go. - You don't have to.
Things between me and Logan are really screwed up right now.
Yeah, but he's crazy about you.
She digs you, man. I'm just gonna back off.
Have a seat.
I don't know how things are gonna play out between us... so I'm gonna go.
I wouldn't want to mess anything up for her.
- Hey, Neal? - Yeah.
- You know Asha? - Yeah, I know Asha.
- I'll give it to her. - Great. Thanks.
See ya.
Good night.
I saw him and called the police right away.
They're here.
I'm Detective Sung.
You the one who called the police?
It's here. My son, he rented. I was asleep. I had no idea.
I keep telling him not to rent to strangers.
The creature, his room is over there.
OK... you stay here... and stay back.
Help! Help!
Hey, what are you doing here? I told you I'd call you.
- He's clean. - Clean?
- Not a trace of the pathogen found in the others. - Let me take a look at that.
What is that?
Looks like a tattoo.
Why do I get the feeling you guys aren't telling me something here?
- What's going on? - You killed an innocent man. That's what's going on.
- It looked like he was hurting the kid. - We know, Matt.
Something killed all those people, okay? I... - Lab tests came back this morning.
It's not an infectious agent. They were exposed to the pathogen directly.
- Where'd it come from? - Don't know. I can tell you this -
Mother Nature didn't cook this thing up. The pathogen's genetically engineered.
Well, if the pathogen's man-made, then either it escaped from a lab,
or somebody's exposing people to it on purpose.
No, don't worry. I got my hands on a copy of the M.E.'s report. They're chasing their tails...
Well, I'm ready when you are. All I need is a test subject...
I'll be expecting you.
He was downstairs people.
Didn't turn out so good.
Spends his whole life in the basement in case Manticore needs to cut him up for spare parts,
finally gets out in the world, and they shoot him dead like he's some kind of animal!
See, this is why I'm always on you - because it's not safe out there.
People get real scared... when things are different.
Yeah, but what I forgot to tell you is when they get scared...
they can get really mean. I'm sorry.
There's a rumor going around the black market about a new kind of bioweapon,
capable of distinguishing between population groups. It's a nasty little trick
no one's ever been able to pull off before. - Yeah, maybe some kind of anti-Asian hate group.
Maybe. Maybe what's happening is some kind of field test.
- Why do you say that? - Well, first off, no one's claimed responsibility,
but second, look at the way this thing's playing out.
Starting with a single victim, then a handful in a narrowly targeted area...
Well, I'm not sure what's worse - that somebody's out to kill me and mine,
or that they're using us as... as guinea pigs.
- You got anything else for me? - Well, I'm working on some leads, but it's slow going.
Internet's been crashing all day.
- Do what you can. - Talk to you later.
- Hello? - Hey. I just wanted to, uh...
call, and... never got a chance to... thank you for springing Asha.
- No big deal. - And because... you were right.
I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. Whatever it was that killed those people
had nothing to do with transgenics.
Guess our thing's just got me a little spun, you know?
Yeah, me too.
- Is that me or you? - I think it's me. Hold on.
- Logan? - Hello?
- Max. - Hi.
- I'm at Crash. Why don't you come over? - Hey.
- Come over. I'm at Crash. - I don't think so.
- Not tonight. - You sure?
- Well, I'll be here if you change your mind. - Yeah. I'm on the other line.
- I have someone on the other line. - All right.
- Okay. See ya. - Hey.
- Hi.
- So... - Anyway, I... just wanted to say...
sorry. About... everything.
Yeah. Me too.
- Good night. - Good night.
- Hey, Max. - Hey.
What delays?
I told you three steps were going to be involved, did I not?
Step one: Target the pathogen to a single individual,
expose him to it via airborne dispersal, make sure he's the only one it affects.
Went off without a hitch, did it not?
Uh, excuse me - could you not put that there, please?
That is a very expensive piece of equipment.
Thank you.
Step two: Target the pathogen to a specific race of people.
The Chinese at the bus stop.
I used, uh, gene expression on the base pair for the epicanthic fold-you know, the, uh, the eyelid.
Worked perfectly. No one died but them, yes?
Your technology is very impressive. But let's move on to step three.
I'm ready. See, it was - it was easy with the Chinese.
I had specific gene sequences that I could target.
But the kids you're targeting...
... Wow, that was tough. See, because, uh,
they're just a little bit of everything, aren't they? In the end...
- Cyril. - In the end, I targeted their immunological surveillance cells...
Cyril! Action is character. Show me some. I showed you, didn't I?
- Yes. - I paid you half, up front.
I gave you everything that you asked for. Now it's time for you to show me.
This is your test subject.
No problem. We could do it right now, if you'd like.
No. I want to do it in the field. I want to know for sure.
Well, you're the boss. How does, uh... tomorrow sound?
Now assuming that everything goes according to plan, how soon can you ramp up production on the pathogen?
Well, I can manufacture enough to blanket the entire western seaboard by Friday.
How you disperse it is, of course, up to you.
You see, these are good for small areas,
but they are very expensive and very hard to get a hold of.
- We'll use helicopters. - Well, that sounds like a plan.
By the weekend, there won't be a transgenic left alive from here to San Diego.
Good.
Maybe I'll play a round of golf on Sunday.
Matt? I think I may have a lead.
Said in the police reports that both times, when the boy died and at the bus station,
people said they thought they heard fireworks.
- Yeah, so? It's Chinatown. - No, listen.
There's a type of bioagent dispersion cartridge.
It's fired from a handheld launcher.
Triggered by an altimeter. - Okay.
According to my source, a buyer recently shelled out for three of 'em,
twenty grand a piece. Took delivery last week.
- Tell me you got an address. - Have I ever let you down?
All right.
- Three steps are going to be involved. - Why am I not surprised?
Step one: We take the test subject into the target area, where we release him.
Step two: We use this to disperse the pathogen.
There's enough here to kill any transgenic within a two-mile radius,
which should be more than enough to cover, uh, Sector Four.
- What if he escapes the kill zone? - No. That - that will be impossible.
Only takes a minute for the plume to hit ground level,
and it takes another four minutes for it to dissipate.
There's no way on earth he can make it out alive. - All right.
Step three:
We track him and retrieve the body. - I have a correction to step three.
You track him and retrieve the body. I'm staying away from here until this thing is done.
What if you messed up - got a couple of base pairs wrong?
For all we know, we could end up with a sector full of dead people.
- You don't trust me? - Make a believer out of me, Cyril.
You'll get the rest of your money. You have a nice day now.
Come on.
TARGET ZONE - APPROX. 2 miles Detonation To Ground Contact: 1 minute
Hot Time: 4 minutes Test Subject - BARCODE X5-692
Matt.
What is it?
Max, it's me. We got a problem.
You're free to go.
You can run, but you can't hide.
What the hell are the cops doing here?
Son of a bitch. Drive.
Units three and four, move into position.
They've got an X5 they're gonna test the pathogen on.
Eyewitness said he busted out of a van on Mercer. Took off down 11th.
- I gotta get him out of there. - There's no time. In about a minute it'll hit ground level.
Whole sector'll be toxic for another four minutes after that.
- I'm going in. - Max...
Jam Pony messenger. Coming through.
- Max! - Hold up. Sector passes only.
Hey! No, wait!
Lady, I have no idea who you are, but you just cost me five million dollars.
Thanks for letting him stay the night. He's had a rough couple of days.
Logan's gonna help me get him over the border tomorrow.
Killing us all. That was the plan.
Still is. We just got lucky this time.
See you first thing in the morning. - Hey.
You lay low, little fella.
You too, big fella.
Convinced Sung to let me hang onto everything we found at the guy's lab.
Didn't want whoever hired him to get their hands on it again.
- He's a good guy, Sung. - Yeah, he is. And he's got a lot of questions.
I'm not sure what I'm gonna tell him.
As little as possible is usually a good idea.
I'll do my best.
Did I mention I was sorry for jumping to conclusions?
Yeah.
- Anything turn up on Sandeman's cane? - Nothing but traces of rodentia calcium.
The rats tried to eat it.
- Another dead end. - Yup.
- Listen, about the other night at Crash... - Didn't know you were gonna be there.
Same with me.
I... just... needed to get out.
I know the feeling.
So...
Anyway...
- Rafer. - Asha.