"And in a heartbeat, everything and everyone we knew... was gone." "There were five of us." "The crew of the space shuttle Odyssey." "And we were the only survivors." "A mysterious being who called himself The Seeker... rescued us and sent us back in time." "And now we have five years to live over." "Five years to discover who or what destroyed the Earth." "Five years to stop it from happening again." "You're a fucking liar." "This is your fault." "You and your fucking secrets got Mom killed and you know it." "You're a fucking liar." "Your only interest in your sons is how they reflect on you." "You never cared about anybody but yourself." "You and your fucking secret got Mom killed and you know it." "Commander Taggart, we're with the FBI." "We're here to ask you a few questions." "I can't box all this up neatly for you, even though I know y'all want me to." "You want a motive about why a woman wakes up one day... takes a gun, tries to shoot somebody she never even met?" "Well, so do I." "Sir, your wife passed from heart failure on the floor of the Civic Centre." "And we found no medical information to reveal a terminal condition." "Did she ever mention to you any physical ailment or apprehension?" "That would justify why she just had nothing to lose... and go shoot somebody in the head?" " Perhaps." " My wife was strong as an ox... and we screwed like ducks right up to the day she died." "Did she have something against Senator Perry?" " She didn't even vote." " Were you having any marital difficulties?" "I buried my wife three months away from our 25th wedding anniversary." "You don't live for 25 years with somebody without having some kind of difficulties." "She was approaching middle age... she had two young sons who were cutting the apron strings." "I was hardly around." "If she was flipping out about all of that, she wasn't telling me." "Can you tell us about your relationship with Senator Perry's daughter?" " She's an excellent pilot." " No other connection?" "Nope." "Could your wife have thought differently, sir?" " No." " But isn't it true... that when Angela Perry experienced severe disorientation during a routine space walk... you were the one who talked her down?" "So what?" "I'm her CO, for Christ's sakes." " You trying to read something into that?" " I'm finding it noteworthy, sir." "Well, you take all the goddamned notes you want, but you run that one down... you won't find shit, madam." "Now, my wife was a good woman... but I ain't got one clue about why she did what she did." "If you all find one, why don't you come back here and tell me?" "Meantime, why don't we just let her rest in peace?" "Who's that?" "That was the FBI in peace and war." " What did they want?" " Blame, Son." "They want to blame somebody." "I'm gonna go down to the sub shop on Robinson." "You want anything?" "Nope." "I'm going to pack." " Where are you going?" " Out of here, man." " For how long?" " I don't know." " Are you gonna call?" " Eventually." "You know, you don't have to be so fucking cold." "Excuse me?" "I know you're checking out." "You don't have to throw it in my face." "Son, I don't have a clue as to what you're saying." "But then again, you probably don't either." " Well, you're just running away." " Am I?" " Why don't you answer the phone?" " Get it yourself." "Day 35, 7:30 a.m." "The chemical medium has remained stable for the past 36 hours." "There has been no further depletion of aluminium... ferrous sulphate, manganese and other essential micronutrients." "These findings are consistent with the ultrasonic imaging... that depicts advanced tissue scaffolding." "The pseudo bone and cranial structure are at the developmental stage... roughly commensurate with that of a juvenile human." "The specimen has completed a radical growth spurt." "It has tripled its mass in the past 24 hours." "In order to determine viability outside of the growth medium... it will soon be necessary to drain the tank." "It appears I've been spared the effort." "There's something I need to tell you." "You know, I love the way you act like we've known each other for years." " I feel that way, too." " Okay." "So what's news?" "What, I'm fired?" "No, no." "It's personal." "It's about me and Cheryl." " I broke off the engagement." " God, Troy." "I realised that if I have feelings for you or for anybody else..." " then it wasn't right with Cheryl." " No." "But it's the timing." " It's my fault." " It's not anyone's fault." " It is not supposed to happen this way." " How do you know?" "How is Cheryl taking this?" "She's angry, but she's not devastated." "She's finished with me." "She wants a guy who's obsessed with her." "Like I'm obsessed with you." " You make it so hard to do the right thing." " This is the right thing." "You know it." "I know you know that." "I can see it in your eyes." "Just say you'll have dinner with me." "That's all I'm asking." "I have to think about it." "Come on, Kurt, let's go!" "I hope he has something to eat." "Yeah." "I'm down to cornflakes and PowerBars." "How you doing, honey?" " How's your dad?" " Don't ask." " Hi." "Hi." "Come in." " Yeah." "Quick, quick, quick." "Okay." "All right." "Now look." "Where's your gun?" "Didn't you bring your gun?" " My gun?" " Yes." "Did you bring your gun?" " What is that?" " That?" "Well, that's a kubikiri." "It's a Japanese ceremonial sword." "It literally means "head-cutter." Right." " Literally means "head-cutter."" " Kurt, what's wrong?" "What's wrong?" "Frankly, I don't know where to start, frankly." "Why don't you start with putting down the sword?" "No, no." "That baby stays right here." "You never know." "You know, not good." " Why don't you tell us what happened?" " Right." "What happened, what happened." "Well, I never dreamt it could be functional." "Never." "I never dreamt..." "What?" "I think it's dangerous." "I think it's dangerous." " What is, Kurt?" " Oh, Christ." "Well, there's no easy way to say." "It's not easy to say..." " Well, Kurt, then spit it out, man." " Right." "I grew a Synthetic..." "That's a terrible year." "Thanks a lot." "Hey, mister, you wouldn't be headed to Denton, would you?" "You're barking around the wrong dog, sweetie." "A simple no would suffice." "Thank you." " What do you think?" " Sure, darling." "No problem." "Honey, what'd I tell you about talking to strangers?" "What?" " That's my daughter you're talking to, son." " Don't listen to him, okay?" "She's been giving me some lip, but she's still my legal responsibility... so I think you just better walk on." " Hey, wait, wait!" "He's lying!" " Take your money back." " What the hell was that for?" " Consider yourself lucky." "You're just gonna leave me stranded here." " Hey, I am talking to you!" " Well, I ain't listening." "You cost me a ride." "You can't just drive off and leave me." "Get in." "Son of a bitch." "I thought I'd seen every part of Kurt's dark side." "Silly me." " Careful with that." " I know what I'm doing." "Jesus, it's a goddamn Synth tank." "Angela, what are you doing?" "There's nothing in here." "You think he's telling the truth?" "Here, stay with me." "Aye-aye, "Chuck."" "All right, hold this." "Looks like Kurt kept a journal." "Electron-microscope analysis suggests that... the internal structure of synthetic tissue closely mimics that of organics." "I believe that the Synthetic growth medium uses human DNA as a model." "Therefore, I propose to introduce human DNA to the matrix... and monitor the reactions." "Holy shit." "He put someone's DNA into that Synth." " What would that do?" " I have no idea." "You should have told us what you were doing." " I couldn't." "I couldn't." " Okay." "Answer me this, Kurt." "Kurt?" "Don't you think there's enough pressure on us already?" "Aren't there enough Synthetics out there to fuck this up?" "Why the hell do you feel the need to add to the mix?" "Hey, don't swear, Sarah." "That doesn't become you." "Social grace is not exactly on the forefront of my fucking mind right now, Kurt." "Right, right, I suppose not." "I'm sorry." "What in God's name were you trying to accomplish?" " I never do anything in God's name, Sarah." " Yeah?" "No shit?" "No shit." "I wanted to find..." "I was searching for answers." " By creating a Synth?" " Hey, hey." "Here, here." "We are fighting..." "We're fighting an enemy that we don't understand." "Anyone with any experience in combat would tell you... that that is a first-class recipe for failure." "And the primary rule of war, "Know your enemy."" "Okay." "Why don't I believe that?" "Why do I believe you were just trying to play God?" "God, God." "You have God on your brain." "Always, always have, always will." "Yeah." "Thank God for that." "If Chuck finds out what you did, he's gonna kill you." "And now you wonder why I had to keep it a secret." "Hello?" "Angela, hey." "Oh, Jesus." "Did you find anything else?" "All right, I'll see you when you get back here." " That was Angela." " Was it?" "Yeah." "They went through your lab." "You know that thing that you made?" "It's gone." "I just wish I knew whether that was good news or bad." "That makes two of us." "Hey!" "Hey, what are you doing?" "Just get the..." "Hey." "Hey, bro." "Danny!" "Oh, shit." "I just keep wishing that I could wake up... like when you was a little kid and you had a bad dream." " I'm sorry about your friend." " It just don't make sense." "I mean, that guy..." "That weasel, he jumped Danny, he was small." "I got a 10-year-old nephew bigger than him." "I don't get how he done so much damage." "Can you tell me anything else about what he looked like?" "He was all hunched over, just stooped over, like." "And white." "And he had like veins or something spread out all over him." "Reminded me of a newborn fresh out of the womb." "And his left hand, it was like messed up." "Messed up how?" "Can you describe it?" "It was like..." "It was deformed, like a flipper or something." "The EEG and blood flow tests are all in agreement." "Patient's brain-dead." "The detective I spoke to said there were no visible marks on his body." "That's right." " They talk about the 5-HT tests?" " No." "Serum analysis indicates that the patient had abnormally low levels of 5-HT." " What?" " That's serotonin in the brain." "Serotonin." "Isn't that related to depression?" "Well, serotonin is a neurotransmitter." "It sends messages between adjacent brain cells." "Serotonin deficiency has been linked to various mental disorders... like depression, or schizophrenia, or paranoid delusions." "Does this guy have a history of mental illness?" "Not according to the family history." "Or at least, not from the records provided by his wife." " Is that her?" " She's facing a tough decision." "The condition of her husband's body makes him an ideal organ donor... but she'd have to take him off life support." "And how do you do it when your loved one's still breathing... and their skin is warm to the touch?" "Yeah." "That's a horrible place to be." "All right, so this entry is from about a month ago." "It's during its early developmental stage and you're talking about... the capacity of the Synthetic brain to comprehend its environment." "You wanna elaborate on that?" "Elaborate?" "What does it matter?" "I'm not a fucking neurologist." "It matters because I'm trying to figure out what this thing knows... what it wants, so that we can catch it." "This is your baby, Kurt." "Do you know?" "Kurt, you gotta get your shit together, man." "It wants what we all want." "To think." "Think better." "To think better." "To think better." "What does that mean?" "Kurt, for Christ's sake, pull it together." " It's true, Neil." " Kurt?" "Wait, wait." "I know what you want." "In the video library." "Rewind to..." "Rewind to July." "That's it." "July." "July 4." "July 4." "That's it." " July." " July 4." "Okay." "July 4." "Okay." "No." "I'm not seeing an entry for July 4." "Oh, that's right." "I forgot." "July 4, national holiday." "I took the day off." "There's a whole hell of a lot of riffraff on the highway." "You realise how dangerous it is to hitchhike?" "You know how bad it is for you to smoke those things?" " Am I bothering you?" " Yes." "In fact, you are." "Well, honey, you can get all the fresh air you want, walking your ass to Denton." "Hey." "Oh, baby, I bet you just got a passel of cowboys... standing in line, waiting to kiss the ground you walk on." "Only one." "And he better, seeing as I grabbed the first train out of Tucson... taking me 300 miles out of my way to San Antonio." "And now I gotta risk my life hitching all the way to Denton for him." "You going to Denton for a guy?" "We met at the Denton train station a year ago today." "I was starting my freshman year at North Texas State..." " and he was coming home." " Coming home from what?" "The Boy Scouts?" "Rotation at Randolph Air Force Base." "Air Force base." "What is he, a military boy?" " A jet pilot." " A hotshot." " Nothing sexier." " Really?" "In honour of our first anniversary of being in love... we're meeting at the train station and we're getting married." " First love?" " First and last." "Honey, those flyboys are going around the world half the time... buzzing all over hell and gone, and never see their wife and kids." "Why in God's name do you wanna throw your life away on a flyboy?" "You'd understand if you met him." "You're just one more pretty little girl who fell for one more uniformed boy... with the balls enough to throw you a smile." "You have never seen anything like him." "He's gonna be a superstar." "A superstar." "Wow." "That's when I..." "Quick, quick, it's Neil." "He's hurt." "Quick." " Oh, my God." " Wait, wait." "Neil, yeah." " Kurt, what..." " You gotta help me out, yes." "All right." "All right, start talking now." " Don't move." " What did you do to him?" "Not half of what I'm gonna do to you if you don't tell me what I need to know." "Listen to me." "It's your Synthetic." "It's attacked someone else down at the dock." "The victim's in the hospital in a coma, suffering from massive serotonin depletion." "That might not be much of a loss for a fucking longshoreman." "Honey, that's what happened to you." "Your Synthetic sucked out your serotonin." " Say that three times fast." " Kurt, come on." "You know what low serotonin levels can do." "Oh, yeah, I know what it means." "It means my mind is stalled by the side of the road, waiting for a tow truck." "Maybe I'll let my little sidekick do my thinking for me." "Do you know what that means?" "It means that you're busted." " That's what it means." " We're registering as warm-blooded, Kurt." "So whatever you're seeing is a symptom of the serotonin depletion." "Yeah, but, well, we're gonna see three dead Synths... if you don't take me to your better halves." "That's Sarah, Neil, and Angela." "That's the human ones, that is." "We are human, Kurt." "It's us!" "Where the fuck are my friends?" "Or the next one goes through his head." " All right, watch this Synthetic..." " Kurt!" "Wait, no!" "Okay." " You're right." "We are Synthetic." " Angela!" "He knows, and we're not gonna change his mind." "I can take you to your friends." "And we don't wanna hurt you or them." "So what do you want?" "What do you want?" "We want that Synthetic you created." "How do I know you're not lying about my friends?" "How do I know they're not already dead?" "Do you wanna call them?" " Call them?" " You can speak to them." " On the phone?" " Yeah." "All right." "Yeah, so, what's the number?" "2-3-1... 2-3..." " Neil." " No!" " Neil!" " No!" " It's just a flesh wound." " That was really stupid." "You could have killed yourself, or him, or us." "Yeah?" "Well, he's not waving a gun around in your face anymore, now is he?" " Well, we can't afford to take stupid risks." " Hey, it was my call, Angela." "No, it wasn't." "Could you stop trying to be my commander?" " I outrank you." " This isn't the Air Force." "Go, go." "Bravo, bravo, bravo." "I applaud the performance, but I'm not buying it." " Buying what?" " The simulated internal conflict." "Nice touch, but it won't convince me that you're anything but poorly-made simulacra." "And anyway, the real Angela is about five pounds thinner." "5-HTP." " 5-HTP, what's that?" " Yeah." "X-fiends use it after raves." "It increases serotonin levels." "It's very safe." "You can get it at any drugstore." "Now listen, you grew a Synthetic, but something went wrong in the process... and you've created some kind of mutant Synth that seems to feed off serotonin." "It attacked you, and that attack has left you delusional." "Yeah." "No, Kurt, listen." "It's killing people, so we have to stop it." "Oh, God!" "So why didn't it kill me?" "Well, maybe it was smaller and it didn't need as much serotonin." " Maybe it hadn't perfected its method yet." " Okay." "Open up." "We're gonna stop this little paranoid delusional..." " Aggressive, anti-social..." " Homicidal." " All right." " Nasty little bugger." "Hey, open your goddamn mouth." "Swallow it." "Oh, that's it." "Sarah and Angela and Neil are smarter than you think." " They have training." " Oh, really?" "Yeah, professional combat training." " Is that counting my 5th grade karate class?" " And my Tae Bo seminar?" "Yeah." "They have professional training." "Professional combat training." "Here you go." " I will do it, Kurt." " Oh, God." "You're not a Synthetic." "You are a ball-buster." "You are..." "Drink." " Hey, what're you doing..." "I got you!" " No way!" "You missed me by a mile!" " Did not!" " Did so!" "Got you that time." " Another attack at the docks?" " Teenage boy." "He's critical." "Call his parents." "They might agree to go on camera." "Wait a minute." "What happened to him?" "No word." "But you have to do it today." "If this story goes national, next thing you know..." "Connie Chung is sending fruit baskets." "We don't stand a chance anyway." "Listen, I just need to know one thing, Chad, okay?" "Is this the same MO as that longshoreman?" "They're saying maybe." "Are you gonna make the call?" "Yeah." "Fine." "So, you're on top of that dock story?" "Yeah." "I'm calling the parents right now." "Did you think about dinner?" " Yes." " And?" "And... we should take this slow." "Life is uncertain." "You could be swept off your feet by another man." " Then we'd have missed our chance." " It'll be worth the wait." "Saturday night, 8:00." " Yeah." "I'll pencil that in." " Good, good." "I spoke to the doctor." "The latest victim is alive, but in a deep coma." "The Synth seems to concentrate its hunt down at the harbour front." "Maybe we should go after it there." "Yeah, since we're all professionally trained in combat." "Well, you got a better idea?" "All right." "So how would we find it down there?" "The docks are huge." "The same way fishermen chum for sharks." " Okay." " You wanna elaborate?" "I think your little antidote has had some results." "So you're normal and we're not Synthetic?" "Yes, you're not Synthetic, and no, I don't think I'll ever be normal." "Well, how about this?" "Since we're not Synthetic and we are ourselves... and we are the only people on the planet you can trust..." " you can just tell us." " Fair enough." "This thing needs serotonin." "Which is the difficulty, since it's only found in the human brain." "No, not necessarily." "That thing you gave me..." "Those pills you gave me, the 5-HTP... they're actually a form of synthetic serotonin." "So what do we do with it?" "Maybe we could liquefy it and then cover somebody with it and use him as bait." " Who do you have in mind?" " Well, yours truly, of course." "Why you?" "Because thanks to me, one person is brain-dead and the other one is not far off." "Wanna cut me loose now?" "You told your folks yet about this rendezvous with your superstar?" "Nope." "You're not gonna tell them about your big plan?" "Yeah." "As soon as it's legal." "I'll wager your folks don't approve of this hotshot." "Now, you wanna start off a marriage like that?" " They just got a bug up their ass." " Both of them?" "Well, my dad." "Oh, honey, you're looking down 50 miles of bad road with your folks." "How do you know so much, anyhow?" "Do I remotely resemble someone to you who has never been through this horseshit?" "Look, I know you're older than me, but if you call this horseshit... you can just let me out right here." "So what's the bug up your dad's ass?" "I don't know." "I'm too young, he's too whatever." " Wild." " Not exactly." "Well, I mean, he does fly jets... which sort of scares my dad, and me." "He's just..." "He has his own way about things." "So your dad is a little bit threatened by flyboy's big head." "I suppose so." "Or maybe your dad just doesn't want nobody sniffing around his little princess." "Yeah." "That's a bit right, old man." "So other than the usual "young love" goodies... what's your flyboy do to make you so happy?" "He treats me like I'm his queen." "So he's got you on a pedestal." "Or maybe it's vice versa." "Maybe you got him on one." "A man'll let you down, you know." " Not all men." " Yeah." "Most of them." "Flawed creatures, men." "Selfish, stupid, and they're petty and they're pig-headed." "Well, then you're talking about women, too." "You're talking about everyone." "We're all flawed creatures." "Am I supposed to sit on my butt at home listening to my father..." ""Do nothing, because humanity is flawed"... and I might step in some crap?" "Look, I'm on my way, mister." "I'm on my way to a train station to meet the man I love... and I'm gonna marry him now." "You saying I shouldn't do that?" "No." "I'm not." "All right." "5-HTP." "Don't leave home without it." "Oh, God." "I never thought I'd be human bait for my own brain-sucking Synthetic creation." "You volunteered." "Man, it's guilt." "And it gets me in trouble every time." "Well, here goes nothing." "Wish me luck." "Bye." "See you." "Well, we sure have lots of people to choose from." " They're all human." " Human." "Human." "So tell me something, Kurt." "How did you figure out how to make a Synthetic?" "Well, it was trial and error." "I used pieces of Tessa, remember?" "And body parts from our little friends at the campfire." "And I hate to admit it, good old Chuckie, when he was a Synthetic, that is." "You tried to grow a Synthetic Chuck?" "Terrifying thought, isn't it?" "Anyway, what I discovered is that Synthetic tissue is self-replicating." "Find the correct growth medium, it does the work for you." "Sentients are all..." "At least, this particular Sentient... seemed to have mastered nanotechnology... putting it a comfortable 50 years ahead of us." " Well, we got one." "Three o'clock." " He's coming towards you, to the right." " Too many people." " No, wait, wait, wait." " No, he's turning away." " Is he on to us?" "No." "He's going into a warehouse." " Okay, we're going after him." "Hang tight." " Yeah." "Don't move!" "Don't you move!" "Put your hands up and keep them up!" "Don't move." " Angela." " What?" "Look at his hand." " Shit." " Maybe he finished forming." "How can we know?" "Where's Kurt?" "Kurt?" "Are you okay?" "Kurt." "Kurt, are you there?" "Kurt, where are you?" "Answer me." " Yes." " We're coming to get you." "Now this can't be a coincidence, can it, my friend?" "Now this can't be a..." "Now this can't be a..." "Now this can't be a coincidence." "Oh, shit." "Where did I come from?" "Who is my creator?" "You're looking right at him." "You're organic." "Yes, I know you're confused." "You have a lot of questions... and I can answer them when I'm in a safe place." "Kurt, where are you?" "We got the wrong Synthetic." "My friends, they know about you." "They're after you." "They know all about you." "Then maybe they can answer my questions, my friend." "Kurt!" "Kurt, we're in the warehouse." "Where are you?" "Kurt!" " Hey." " Hey." " We thought we lost you." " No." "Yeah, we got sidetracked by the wrong Synthetic." " Did you see anything?" " No, nothing." "Hey, are you all right?" "I'm suddenly dizzy, tired." "All right, buddy, then let's get you back, huh?" "Are you sure you're okay?" "Maybe it's a residual high leftover..." " from all that 5-HTP." " Any chance it'll last?" "A well-adjusted Kurt Mendel, that might be a little hard to take." "Well, I think our plan was a bust." "Well, maybe the Synthetic left the docks to go hunt for more prey." "Maybe it wasn't hunting." "What else would it have been doing?" "Trying to find its place in the world, how it came to be." "That's almost poetic." "Sooner or later, it's gonna get hungry." "Hello!" "Help!" "So why the serotonin?" "Maybe it needs serotonin to maintain its cognitive functions." "Oh, Neil, could you get me some aspirin?" "I'm not feeling too well." "Sure." "Why don't you sit down and rest for a little bit?" "I'll get some water." "35 cents?" "Fucking machine!" "Hey, Kurt, I've been meaning to ask you something." "Here you go." "In one of your diary entries you mention that..." "How synthetic tissue seems to mimic human DNA, and that you were... going to introduce real human DNA into the growth matrix." " Yes?" " Well, whose DNA did you use?" "Hey!" "Hey, asshole!" "Kurt?" "Whose DNA did you use, Kurt?" "Mine, of course." "Kurt, let me see your left hand." "You mean this one." "Hey!" "Hey, hey!" "What are you waiting for?" "Shoot him!" "Shit!" "Goodbye, "Kurt."" "How do I look?" "Do I look okay?" "You look smashing." "Makes me wish that I was getting married today." "Thanks, old man." "Paige!" "Don't you mean Mrs Chuck Taggart?" "And what am I gonna do without you now, baby?" "What am I gonna do without you now?" " Hello?" " But I thought... that you were a decent person and I thought that we could be friends." "But whatever it is that you think you're doing is low, Sarah." " He told me you were okay with this." " He would never say that." "We're in love." "This is not a cheap affair." "We planned a life together." " What do you want me to do?" " I want you to leave him alone... and I want you to give us a chance, if it's not too much to ask." "No." "No, it's not." "Due to a low-grade depression... my psychiatrist attributed to serotonin deprivation..." "I've been prescribed happy pills." "It's not just because of the serotonin deficiency." "Because of me, a stevedore is brain-dead, and there's that kid, Zack." "Chuck would have loved the irony." "A scientist's comeuppance, brought down by his own hubris." "So where's your doppelganger?" "It's all gone." "Destroyed by fire." " And we should just believe you." " Yes." "You're the one who speaks so eloquently about the subject of trust, darling." "Let's just hope it doesn't find a way to come back from the dead." " Well, did you or did you not burn it?" " Yes." "Yes." "God." "But you never know." "Nature, Synthetic or not... can always surprise you by its tenacity." "New species often resist dying out." "How?" "By rising from the ashes?" "What, now we have a Lazarus on our hands?" "I'll say a prayer that we don't." " Bye." " See you." " Bye." " Bye." " Hello." " Hi." "Hi." "I'm looking for Zack Ambrose." "You know, that teenage boy who's in a coma." "Yes." "Hey, Zack." "God, you're so young." "Listen to me, Zack." "You need to try to get better." "I know you can, because I did." "And I'm sure you have a great family who loves you." "You know, the world we live in rarely lives up to its potential... but I know what it's like when the world isn't around, and believe me... from that perspective, things start looking a hell of a lot better." "Who are you?" "Oh, hi." "I'm Kurt Mendel." "I'm a substitute teacher at Zack's school." "I heard about what happened." "I thought I had to come by." "Are you Zack's mother?" "Yeah." "It's very nice to meet you." "Is there anything I can do?" "Do you know how to pray, Mr. Mendel?" "Yes." "As a matter of fact, I do."