"Come on." "It's working." "Come on." "No." "Oh, no, you don't." "What?" "Don't do this." "Please!" "You can't do this!" "Please!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No." "No!" "No!" "Let me out!" "Please!" " H.G. Wells?" "Yes." "Then, Jules Verne..." "Obviously, hence the name of my submarine." "Oh, uh..." "Louis Pasteur?" "He was my godfather." "He and my father were good friends." "Roosevelt?" "Both of them." "Teddy was much more fun than Frank." "And I'm guessing all the presidents in between?" "Most of them." "Hoover was a complete imbecile, and Harding, well, sadly, he couldn't stay in human form for much longer than he did." "Harding... was an abnormal?" "You don't think a normal person would choose a job that impossible?" "Don't be ridiculous." "The people that you've met, the history that you've witnessed, how do you relate to anybody?" "Dinner parties must be hell." "History is just that, Will." "It's history." "We've all experienced it." "I just have more under my belt than most people." "No, no, no, no, you were in Rheims the day the Nazis surrendered." "You were right there in the room when it happened." "Only because Eisenhower refused to be in the same room as General Jodl, and asked that I accompany General Smith to ensure that the process went smoothly." "I guess Ike didn't want to breathe the same air as the Nazi high command." "Some of them didn't even breathe air." "That'll be Henry." "Ahoy, mateys!" "It's because you're at sea." "Henry, are you certain these are the proper coordinates?" "Absolutely." "I traced the psychic signal Sally received to where you are right now, but she says that, since you left port, there's been, uh, no further communication from her people." "Did you say Sally?" "That was his idea." "It's our nickname for the Sanctuary mermaid." "She has a proper name, you know." " Which is unpronounceable." " It's a true fact." "Besides, it beats calling her something obvious, like..." "Ariel." " Marina." " Oceana." " Ursula." " If you two are finished?" "So are you guys there?" "In the middle of it, right now?" "It's not that exciting, Henry." "Come on, are you kidding me?" "Doc, you're in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle!" "People have been speculating about that part of the ocean for centuries." "Missing ships, and planes disappearing." "Come on!" "You know, he's right." "There's been reports of lost time and doors to other dimensions..." " Alien abductions?" " It's the ocean." "Seriously." "Okay." "Henry, we'll call you when we've made contact with the mer-folk." "Okay, but if you find those missing airmen from WWII" "No, no, don't, don't, don't" "You know, I got to admit, it is kind of cool you know, to be in such a legendary place." "Other than a high concentration of abnormal sea life, there's nothing particularly special about this place." "Then why do all the mer-folk choose to live here?" "Why does any species live anywhere?" "Food supply, temperate climate, safety." "So it's not, like, magnetic waves, or a time portal, or something like that?" "You've seen too many B-movies." "Hey, our whole life is a B-movie." "It's a classic, don't get me wrong, but still..." "We are significantly deeper than their usual home depth." "But she was sure she heard a psychic distress signal, right?" "She described it as a series of remotely viewed images." "Flashes of anger, violence, and then nothing at all." "That's scary." "Radio silence from your home town." "Hey, I thought the mer-folk were supposed to be a peaceful species." " They are." " Well, something's changed." "Check this out." "Some kind of massacre." "It was." "Scans are indicating no life-signs at all." "Look at this, it's like they've been torn to shreds or something." "Maybe it's a new type of species, a predator that's claimed this as its feeding ground." "Like a giant shark, or..." "a sea creature?" "Maybe a kraken?" "Kraken?" "Please, that's a complete myth." "Glad I didn't say "sharktopus. "" "I can't think of anything that would cause this sort of widespread devastation, not to these people." "Torso severed below the breastplate." "Without decomposition, it's hard to tell how long she's been dead." "You know, these aren't teeth-marks, which rules out our predator theory." "They may be a peaceful species, but they are not without resources or resolve." "They know how to fight back when provoked." "Okay, so it wasn't a feeding by another creature, it was an all-out attack." "You think it could have been humans?" "Possibly." "Considering the number of dead, it may well be genocide." "What if it was an accident?" "A military maneuver, a depth charge, or a floating mine?" "There would have been heat damage, shrapnel." "I see neither." "Excuse me." "Well, I'm just saying, for the record, Bermuda Triangle equals mystery." "Look." "There's this clear fluid I can't identify behind the cranial wall." "Perhaps analysis will give us a better idea of what's happened here." "Can you think of any reason for these people to go to war with themselves?" "No." "They rely on each other greatly for survival." "Their society's incredibly benevolent." "How many you think died?" "By my count, over a hundred." "Considering how rare they are as a species, it's catastrophic." "Alright, we are all packed up." "Hey, listen, are you sure you want to head home?" "I keep thinking there must be some evidence down here that could tell us what really happened." "We've run several sweeps of the area." "So far there's nothing else out there." "The sooner we get these samples back for a detailed analysis, the more we'll know about this event." "Alright." "Though I'm glad you're so keen to stay." "Ashley said you were dreading this trip." "Well, truthfully, trapped 10 hours in a tin can is not my idea of the most appealing mission." "Oh, but it's 10 hours trapped in a tin can with me, and all your questions." "That's true." "We should be back in San Juan inside of six hours." "I'm going to get some shut-eye before we get to port." "Alright." "Magnus?" "Hey..." " You okay?" " Will, something's wrong." "Ah, my head!" " You're bleeding." " The pressure!" "You don't feel it?" " No, I'm fine." " We have to stop." " What?" " We have to stop rising!" " Wait, what's going on?" " I have no idea!" "All I know is it's getting worse the shallower we go!" "How could you be suffering the bends?" "We have to go deeper!" "No, listen, I think you need medical attention." "Extra-cranial bleeding isn't usually a good thing, Will." "I don't think I'd survive another ascent." "We have to go back down again." " No, that could make you worse." " I know!" "But..." "What are you doing?" "Taking us back down to our original depth so we can understand this better." "Magnus, I don't think that's a good idea." "I have no choice!" "We're back at our original depth." "Normally, the shoe's on the other foot." "Well, if I had to guess, I'd say you suffered some sort of mild seizure." "Your blood pressure's through the roof." "Reaction times are sluggish." "Still, you were right about going to a lower depth." "It seems to have relieved the pain." "But only I was affected, not you." "Maybe it's your unique physiology, something about it reacts to depth pressure." "I've done hundreds of dives before." "Nothing like this has ever happened, and as you said, the atmosphere in here is regulated to near sea level." "Neither of us should feel anything as we surface." "But still, bleeding from the ear and nose, disorientation, dizziness..." "If that's not the bends, then what is it?" "Something else." "If we had a CAT scan on board, we'd know more." "I'd like to do some blood work, see how high my nitrogen levels are, rule out any infections or diseases that could have triggered this." "Give it time." "I've asked it to look for a lot of different things." "How are you feeling?" "Fine." "Are you sure?" "I'm sure." "Look, I'm sorry." "I don't mean to follow you around." "If you want to be alone while we wait," "I can hang in the back or something." "Don't be ridiculous." "If you have more questions to ask, now would be the time." "Oh, come on, now you're humoring me." "No, nothing better to do while the computer analyzes my blood." "Okay." "So I'm guessing by how quiet Ashley's been that she knows Druitt is her father." "She does." "And?" "And what?" "Well, she just found out that her dad is the actual Jack the Ripper." "That's got to put some strain on your relationship." "She's fine." "We talked." "Okay." "Case closed." "I know my daughter, Dr. Zimmerman." "She will come around, once she understands why I kept the truth from her." "You see?" "You did it." "Right there." "You invite questions, and then when you don't like where they lead, you just walk away." "That's hardly fair." "You just called me "Dr. Zimmerman" and left the room." "I'm frustrated." "Why?" "Because we can't surface?" "Because I can't relate to Ashley." "Well, she's 23." "No species on earth can relate to people that age." "Spare me the platitudes." "You've no idea what it's been like." "Which is why I ask the questions that I do." "Why?" "Because you see me as some sort of curiosity?" "Some perverse form of entertainment for you to enjoy?" "No, not at all." "It's because I've never had this before" "A challenge, a mentor that I could really believe in." "You know, Magnus, working at the Sanctuary is more than just a job to me." "It's..." "What?" "It's the only family I've ever had." "When you've been alive for as long as I have you learn not to get too close to people." "I've buried a lot of friends, colleagues, lovers." "More than you can imagine." "You asked me earlier how I could relate to people..." "Well..." "Dinner parties are hell." "Is that your way of saying that I'm boring?" "Far from it." "In fact, you're the first protégé I've had in decades who's shown any real promise." "You're doing brilliantly, Will, and I should say it more often." "Really?" "I know that if anything should happen to me, you'll be there to continue my work." "Come on, Magnus, it's way too early to start" "You are ready, you just don't know it yet." "Magnus..." "Oh, dammit!" "Listen, we've got to get you to a hospital." "No!" "We don't have the proper medical supplies aboard to deal with" " Just go deeper!" " We can't." "Just do it!" "Okay, you got to tell me what to do." "Navigation, minus 30 feet." "Navigation." "You mean this command here?" "Joystick, 20 degrees starboard." "Cool?" "Negative for nitrogen narcosis." "No toxins found." "No sign of meningitis, your T-cell count is good..." "Which leaves us squarely in the dark as to my condition, except that it's getting worse." "Don't worry." "It's just the hull adjusting to the new depth." "Perfectly normal." "How deep can the Nautilus go?" "Deeper." "It's built for mid-range submersion, not deep-sea exploration." "Crush-depth is 2,400 feet, and we are sitting at... just below 1,600 right now." "What about our oxygen?" "Day and a half." "Okay, so..." "As long as we stay low and conserve our air, we should have time to figure this out." "Maybe we're looking in the wrong place." "What do you mean?" "Well, we asked the computer to screen your blood for signs of the bends, infections that cause swelling in the brain, indicators of specific diseases." "What if this is an element we haven't seen before?" "Something new to cross the blood-brain barrier?" "A parasite of some kind?" "Yeah." "You mentioned an unidentified fluid in the cranial wall of that mermaid." "I'm changing the parameters of the analysis." "What's it going to look for?" "Any elements in my system that can't be identified." "I'm including cerebrospinal fluid in the search." "Dear God!" "What the hell is that?" "A microscopic parasite in the pyramidal tract of my brain stem." " It's multiplying." " At an alarming rate." "It's taking over." "I hate being right." "I don't like the sound of that." "The limbic system is all but destroyed." "The brain's logic center has been degraded" " beyond recognition." " Any idea how it got passed to you?" "We wore protective clothing the whole time." "Actually, yes." "Near-invisible perforations in the gloves" "I used during the first examination." "Our new life-form has aggressive abilities, even at the microscopic level." "Your gloves were intact, and your blood work came back clean, so I'm guessing as long as we don't exchange bodily fluids, you shouldn't get infected." "Okay." "Listen, do you want anything, while you work?" "A snack?" "Some music?" "Lower depth?" "Magnus?" "I'm fine." "Any idea why it chose to attack the brain as opposed to the other organs?" "I mean, aren't there more nutrients in say, the stomach lining?" "Perhaps it feeds on adrenaline, cranial fluid." "Whatever it is, we're dealing with something entirely new here." "Well, if that's true, we know what happened to the mer-folk." "The limbic system..." "Includes the hippocampus and amygdala." "Controls for fear, emotion, rage." "If something was negatively impacting their behavioral centers, then" "They tore each other apart." "Then that's why there was no evidence of any other species or humans in the area." "Magnus, how long do you think-?" "I don't know." "It could be hours or days before it affects me, but it will affect me." "So we surface, it kills you." "We stay down here, you potentially turn into a killer." "Unless we run out of air first." "I, for one, don't like any of those scenarios." "Have you found anything that might work?" "I don't have any anti-parasitic drugs, per se, but a massive cocktail of antiviral and antibiotic solutions may help." "Are you sure you want to mix drinks like this?" "At worst, they'll make me very ill." "At best, they'll make my body a rather inhospitable host." "It may take a few doses and some time before we feel its" "No." "Magnus?" " Deeper." " No." " Ah!" " Take us deeper." "We're almost at maximum depth." "Hey." "Hey!" "Okay, okay." "We'll go deeper." "I want to apologize." "I would never have deliberately infected you." "I just..." "I needed to convince you." "Was it the pain?" "Or just because you lost control?" "It was the pain, I promise you." "You are the most measured, rational person that I've ever met, and now I'm seeing heightened emotions, rage, threatening actions." "This is all behavior driven by the limbic system." "None of this is in your nature." "You don't trust me anymore." " Should I?" " I'm still me, Will." "Yeah, but for how long?" "For as long as I can keep it at bay." "I just don't understand why it's reacting this way." "I mean, if we go too deep, the sub will implode, and you'll die, and the parasite will lose you as a host." "I don't think it's a rational, thinking life-form, Will." "It likely invades a host, lives in it for as long as it can, and then moves on." "I doubt it's as intelligent as a virus or a virulent bacterial strain." "So, what do we do?" "For the moment, we try to stop it from affecting me as best we can." "At least until I can find a way to have it reject me as a host." "Which means we go deeper still." "It seems to be the only thing that's keeping you pain-free." "And rational." "How deep can this thing actually go beyond 2,400 feet?" "I don't know." "I've never taken her past maximum depth." "But we can adjust the nitrogen, CO2, and oxygen levels to accommodate for the increasing pressure, right?" "Yes, but that will only last for so long." "Then we'll take it slow." "Can't we just drug you?" "Knock you out, and make the ascent?" "Every sedative I've tried, the parasite counteracts." "Now, assuming that it's taken root in my primal neurologic centers, the damage it would do as we surfaced would likely leave me brain dead." "I hate when it does that." "We've not passed the safety threshold yet." "Will, there's another scenario we need to discuss." "Magnus." "Just listen to me, please." "In the event that you believe that my judgment is no longer sound, or that your life is in direct peril, I am depending on you to take care of things in a decisive manner." "It's not going to come to that." "This parasite caused an intelligent, peaceful species to tear itself apart." "I can only assume that it will do the same to me." "I'm counting on you to do the proper thing if the situation requires it." "Magnus, you can't expect me to" "Dammit, Will!" "I have lived longer than any human has a right to." "In the end, all I can hope is to choose how it ends." "Being taken over by an undersea parasite is not on the list." "And what is?" "Just be creative, if the time comes." "Do I have your word?" "I'm going to see if we have any more medical supplies in storage." "Magnus!" "What's going on?" "Ballast and drive systems aren't responding!" "We're at 2,450 and falling!" "That's past max depth!" "I know!" "I've lost navigation control!" "I can't stop our descent!" "I thought we were going to take it slow." "The ballast systems must've been destroyed by the increased pressure!" "We'll have to reset the system manually!" " How do we do that?" " In the aft!" "Oh!" "Close the valve, there!" " Where?" " There!" "Come on!" " I need a tool kit!" " Okay!" "Do you think you can you fix it?" "I don't know!" "Magnus!" "What happened?" "We've stopped." "Engine room has been flooded." "Same with lower cargo area." "Oxygen supply has been damaged." "We're down to 50%." "The CO2 scrubbers are working at full capacity." "How much is left?" "Less than three hours." "What about our engines?" "They're unresponsive." "Remote system must have been damaged when the engine room flooded." "Where are we?" "On a shelf above the Puerto Rican trench." "It must have stopped our descent." "That's lucky." "Very." "It's okay." "It's okay." "We're fine." "It's okay." "What's going on?" "I think you know." "Don't you feel it?" "Feel what?" "Liar!" "You bloody liar!" "Okay." "Okay, I can feel it." "It's incredible, isn't it?" "It's like sunshine." "It's like a drug." "Magnus, listen to me." ""You're not yourself, Helen." "That thing's got control of you." "I can help you, Helen. "" "I know what you're trying to do." "You're trying to profile me, aren't you?" "Like a common criminal." "Well, here's a little secret for your box" "I'm not so common." "No." "No, you're not." "I've figured you out, young William." "You think you need to cure me of this." "Truth is, you're the one who needs saving, from a life of mediocrity, shame!" "I've saved you once, I can do it again." "You did this." "You flooded the ballasts." " You made us lose control." " You gave me no choice!" "I know you want to kill me, and don't tell me it's because I asked you to, because that's not what friends do to each other!" "Okay." " I wanted to kill you." " Ha!" "Okay, I wanted to kill you, but now I see that's not such a good idea." "Why?" "Because you're the only one who can control this sub." "There's no sense in both of us dying." "You see?" "You see how good it feels when you talk sensibly?" "Still..." "I think I should kill you now." "I don't think you mean that." "Really?" "You want me to feel it." " The sunshine?" " Yes." "The drug?" "Well, then, we..." "We have to go deeper." "We have to go deeper so that we both can feel it together." "So much deeper." "We can't stay here." "You're right." "We have to go someplace else." "Yeah." "Good boy." "Stay." "Ah." "Very clever." "Best protégé ever." "I was just coming to find you anyway." "I can't repair the ballast control unless we open up a panel." "I kind of need your help." "Unless you think you can get to that gun first." "After you!" "Water's lovely." "It's freezing!" "I can't stay out here" "Look at me!" "I need you to pull these bars back so I can access the control panel." " Do it!" " Okay." "Okay." "Almost there." "It's too cold, I can't" "Pull harder, dammit!" "That should do it." "Yes, we have control now." "We're good?" "You're not." "Not too creative." "Don't miss." "Well?" "What are you waiting for?" "Do it!" "Fight it, Magnus." "Fight it!" "The parasite doesn't care whether you live or die!" "It'll just move on to another host and do it all again!" "Shoot me, you coward." "Shoot me!" "Give me a reason not to!" "You weak, pathetic little bastard!" "Do you think this is what I wanted?" "This life?" "I have suffered for so long, totally alone, and, honestly, Will..." "No one lives forever." "Oh, well." "Time we were on our way." "Come on." "That's more like it." "Come on." "No." "Oh, no, you don't." "What?" "Don't do this!" "Please!" "You can't do this!" "Please!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No." "No!" "No!" "Let me out!" "Please!" "Magnus?" "You're going to be okay, alright?" "Come on, come on..." "Stay with me, Magnus!" "Oh, come on." "Magnus?" "Stay with me!" "Oh, come on!" "Magnus!" "Don't do this." "Thank you, Will." "That'll be quite enough." "Well done." "You alright?" "Me?" "What about you?" "Feeling much more myself." "Thank you." "I can't believe I did what I did." "You had to." "We both know it would never have left me while I was still alive." "As deaths go, it was... very creative." "Magnus, never, ever ask me to kill you again." "It was an impossible decision." "You did the right thing, Will." "You know, I know you've been alive a long time, but maybe you need to accept that there's a reason for that." "Your work isn't done." "My work will never be done, which means that you have to accept the fact that one day, you may have to carry on without me." "Fine." "Just not today." "No." "Not today."