"Here you go." "One hot run delivered in Fifth and Maple in a timely and courteous fashion." " That's my rock star." " Are you kidding me?" "One package?" "That's it?" "All day?" "Quality not quantity, Max." "It's what all men tell themselves." "Helps them sleep better at night." "Greetings, y'all y'all." "Big news, my brothers." "You're lookin' at the new reporter for America's fastest-growing magazine." " The New World Weekly?" " You're not reporting on Jam Pony time." "No worries." "It's strictly freelance." "I dropped my résumé off last month, and they finally called." "Said they'd give a hungry young newshound a chance." "What'll you be doin' for 'em?" "I'll hunt down mutants and immortalise their horrible faces for tabloid posterity." " That's just great." " Yeah." "Except there are no mutants, and that rag is full of lies." "Wait till I get my first exclusive." "In the meantime, everybody, drinks on me at Crash." " This is not good." " I'm as worried about exposure as you are." "I'd believe that if you covered your bar code better." "Look, I seriously doubt White and his merry band of transgenic-hunters get their tips from New World Weekly- and it's Sketchy we're talkin' about." "What are the chances he finds a Manticore alum stupid enough to let him snap a shot?" "Hey, guys." "You were saying?" " Yeah." " Logan?" "It's Wendy White." "I've tried to reach you, but your sister said..." "I know." "I talked to her." "She said you were tracking down some leads on Ray." " Yeah." "I have nothing solid yet." " I found him." " What?" " I found Ray." " Is he with you?" " No, but I know where my husband took him." " You've gotta help me get him back." " I will." "But you have to promise me that you're not going to do anything until I get there." "I don't have to tell you how dangerous the people who took your son are." "Hurry, Logan." "I think they're onto me." " Tell me where you are." " Even the policeman I talked to..." " Wendy, where are you?" " A little town..." " Oh, my God." " Wendy?" "Wendy?" "Ouch." "You shouldn't have come here." "I want my son." "He's not your son any more." "He's one of us." "Who are you people?" " What are you doing to him?" " That is not your concern." "We've protected ourselves for thousands of years." "And you should have left well enough alone." " Please." " I loved you, Wendy." "You were chosen for me." "But you should've forgotten about him." "And you should've forgotten about me." "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." "Hey." "Only managed to score about five gallons." " That should be enough to get us there." " So you traced the call?" "She called from a town called Willoughby, which is located three hours south of here." "Why is Wendy trying to track down Ray by herself?" "I mean, she knows how psycho White and his cult pals are." "I can't tell you how many times I've tried to tell her that." "She's called more than once with what turned out to be bogus leads." " Think this might be another dead end?" " Did occur to me, until I heard someone bust in and the line went dead." " Bingo." " The address." "Yeah, here we go." " Max is sick again?" " Up all night." "I couldn't get her out of that bathroom." "I think it's cholera." " Or diphtheria." " Aw, or maybe bubonic plague." "I hear that's goin' around." "You wanna cover her shift as well, makes no never mind to me." "Happy riding'." " Is that goin' to Sector Three?" "Trade you." " Whatever." "I got a tip about a mutant livin' in the sewers over there." "Maybe I'll get lucky and snap a shot." "What do you think?" "He'll slog around, come back empty-handed, tired and smelling like garbage." "Oh, my God." " Phone number's listed to this hotel." " Which room did she call from?" " Records didn't break it down that far." " Well, let's go check it out." "Wendy had the feeling someone was onto her." "We don't wanna tip the wrong person off." "Well, that kinda makes things tough." "Watch and learn." " Morning." " Morning." "Uh, we're here with the Conner party." " Conner party?" " Hunting weekend." "Booked two rooms." "No, sorry, is it under another name?" "You know, maybe Bill's girlfriend used her name to check in." "Uh, try..." "I can't remember her name." "I only met her once." "God, it's embarrassing." " Maybe if I take a look it'll jog my memory." " It's OK, we've a couple of vacancies." "Oh, great." "Well, then, we'll take a room." "OK, well, then just fill that out." " I hate it when it's on the tip of your tongue..." " Yeah, I know the feeling." " Why don't you go ahead and take a look?" " Ah, thanks." "I appreciate it." "I don't see anything." "Do you?" "Well, pretty quiet week." "Yeah, it's mostly a weekend place." "Folks hunting, like yourselves." "So nobody, all week?" "That's, uh... that's what it says." " Here you go." " Yeah, you're in 203." "Back stairs." "Thanks." "Have a nice stay." "I said "watch and learn", not "tip the guy off"." "I was just trying to make sure." "Think he's one of White's fellow travellers?" "Familiars?" "Maybe." "Reception in this town is terrible." "But there we go - it's ringing." " Hear anything?" " Not yet." "New strike plate." "Fresh coat of paint." "A new phone jack." "Someone went out of their way to make it look like nothin' happened." "Ten bucks for a soda?" "Honour-bar prices." "They'll gouge you any way they can." "No honour in a broken world." "Oh, look what I found." " Best place to keep film till you develop it." " Think it's Wendy's?" " Let's find out." "Nice work." " I watch, I learn, I steal sodas." "Freeze!" "What the hell are you doin' here?" "There it is!" "Subject is headed for daylight." "Damn it." "All units, form a perimeter above ground." "Go!" "Go!" "Freeze!" "There he is!" " Get these people outta here." " All right, let's move it back." "All right, let's go." "Move back." "There's nothin' to see here." "Throw a sheet over its ugly head." "Get it to HQ ASAP." "Just takes a few minutes and the photos, they come out right there." "Great." "Thanks." "Good afternoon." "You folks staying' at the hotel?" " Yeah." " Yeah, I heard we had visitors." "Welcome." "Just passing through." "Well, you enjoy your stay." " What's that?" " Dunno." "School uniforms." "Could be a prep school nearby." "Place looks pretty posh." "Must be exclusive." "That's Ray." "White must have stashed him here." "You folks have a kid up at Brookridge?" " No." " Yeah." "We just happened to drive by, and we happened to see it, and we thought that it looked like the kind of place that we might send our kid someday." " If we could afford it." " Right." "Just happened to see it?" "Cos it's not near the road, so you gotta pull right up into the gate." "Right, well, I took a wrong turn." " I gave him bad directions." " She had the map." " Anyway, thanks." " Yeah." "Take care." "Bye." "Hey!" "Forgot one." "Thank you." "Keep walking." "Act natural." "We're just passing through." "I get the feeling this isn't your average boarding school for rich kids with disciplinary problems." "Think it's the cult's version of Manticore?" "If so, Willoughby's cult central, and we don't know who's involved - sheriff, hotel clerk..." " Let's get Wendy and Ray and get outta here." " Works for me." "It was probably designed to be a worker-drone - good for hauling equipment, digging foxholes, that kind of thing." " Does it talk?" " Talk." "I can talk." "Good." "Then you'll understand what I'm about to say." "Give it a last meal." "We don't wanna seem inhospitable." "Ship it out in tomorrow's transport." "The boys at forensics can take it apart at their leisure." "Yes, sir." "On another matter, sir, we may have a situation." "The team came across a kid in the sewers, before the damn thing broke for the street." "He had a camera." "He may have gotten off a couple of shots." "Terrific." "White." "Yes, sir." "Of course, but can it wait till tomorrow?" "I've got a family situation." "Very good, sir." "I'll be there." "That was the director." "He wants to meet to talk about today's little snafu." "I do not want to have to tell him that on top of everything else, we have a kid runnin' around with photographs." "We do have a lead." "One of the men remembers that he was wearing a backpack with a company logo." "Find him." "Find out what he knows." "Get rid of the film." " Yes, sir." " And if he knows too much, get rid of him." "Tsk." "Damn it." "I was supposed to have seen my kid today." "Be lucky if I get out of town before rush hour." "What's up?" "You look like you ran all the way from Sector Three." " And you smell like it, too." " You will not believe what I just saw." "A mutant." "A real, live miscreation of science." "And I got the photographic proof." "Well, why don't you take a load off and tell us all about it?" "OK." "So, I'm trawling' the area, lookin' for the mutant." "I come across this military action." "They had the fiend trapped in an alley." "You should have seen him, dude." "You're gonna see it as soon as I get the film developed." "Here." "You wouldn't want that falling' into the wrong hands." "I'm gonna take this to the paper right after lunch." "Poor little white boy." "He was excited about that story, too." "Had to be done." "Thanks." "I did it for Max." "But you're welcome." "What were you thinking?" "Chasing a Manticore escapee into broad daylight?" "He posed a danger to the public, sir." "If you couldn't make the capture under wraps, you should've let it go." "Not flush it into the street, where everybody could see it." " Perhaps I shoulda waited until it ate a child." " You are out of line, Agent White." "With respect, what's out of line is the way this entire operation is being handled." " We're understaffed and underfunded." " Your funding is off the books." "We can't risk diverting any more without raising eyebrows." "Well, I thought that my job was to capture transgenics, not to cover somebody's ass." "If it got out that billions of tax dollars were diverted to a secret government programme to build transgenic soldiers - well, that would be bad enough." "But if it got out that millions more were being diverted to catch the damned things because they got away, it would be a disaster." "Damn it, Ames, it could bring down the Committee itself." "Bottom line" " I don't care what you do with these transgenics." "Catch 'em, kill 'em, let 'em skulk around in the sewer to their heart's content." "You just keep them off the nightly news." "Yeah?" "Hi, Ray." "How's my big man?" "Well, I can't, you know." "You know that parents aren't allowed to be there until it's finished." "But, but... don't worry." "It's gonna be just fine." "You just do like you practised, right?" "And I'll see you soon." "I love you too." "OK." "Bye." " Ready?" " Watch and learn." " If you're not out in an hour, I'm comin' in." " Damn right you are." " Can I help you?" " I must've taken a wrong turn somewhere." "I'm looking for, uh, County Road 4." "Sure thing." "Go back the way you came." "Make a left at the drive." "About six or seven miles, you'll hit a light." " Make another left." " Left." " And it's your first right." " Maybe I should write this down." "Have you got a pen?" " Not on me." "Let me get one." " Uh, that's all right." "I think I can remember." "Thanks." "Adara mo'ke tali." "Konos rehu jek." "Polna menos kori, konos rehu jek." " Kariff mo'ss." " Miis'ru ehu." " Kariff daah." " Miis'ru koss." "Kandara koss ke tali." "Koss ke kali tahari." "Kon'ta ress." "Kariff mo'ss, miis'ru eh'nu." "Kariff daah, miis'ru koss." "Miis'toka ben tahari." "Filus par'ri ben'ta koss." "Mis'rah hek." "Mis'ra kahi, fe'nos tol." "Fe'nos tol." "Kiu'sa pol," "Tu'ri kom'sa." "Konos rehu jek." "Adara mo'ke tali." "Konos rehu jek." "Kan'dara mo'ss re'kali." " Mo'ss re'kali, ken'da hiif!" " Mo'ss re'kali, ken'da hiif." "Damn it." "Just passin' through, huh?" "Yeah, I'll be there soon." " How's Ray?" " It's too soon to tell." "But the symptoms have come fast." "I see." "We had an incident involving one of the transgenics." " What?" " She tried to stop the ceremony and take Ray." " 452." " We have her." "She was cut with the kariff." "It should take effect on her soon." "I'll be there in an hour." "Fe'nos tol." "Fe'nos tol." " Does it hurt?" " Yeah." "Except I want my money back." "I asked for the heart with the dagger through it." "Why did you come here?" "Did she send you, the mother?" "If you're trying to protect her, don't bother." "It's too late for that." "What are you doing with Ray?" " What is necessary." " Could you be more specific?" "Cos I left my copy of Wacky Cult Rituals for Dummies at home." "Ray is proving himself." "Oh, really?" "Well, I'd like to see you prove yourself." "I have." "We all have." "Yippee." "So, after you pass the sacred snake blood test, whaddaya get?" "A lollipop?" "You shouldn't have interfered." "Sorry I spoiled the party." "You will be sorry." "Soon enough." "We're closed." "Come back tomorrow!" "Special Agent Otto Gottlieb, NSA." " I'd like to ask you a few questions." " Sorry, didn't realise that, uh..." "I mean, you know, I never expected, uh..." "Whatever." "Reagan Ronald, proud American, at your service, sir." " You run this place?" " Yes, as best I can, sir." "We're lookin' for one of your messengers." "Male, long hair, ratty clothes." "Tragically, you've just described every young man in my employ." " He had a camera." " Calvin Simon Theodore, AKA Sketchy." "Six foot, roughly 180 pounds, smells vaguely of rotten fruit." " What'd he do?" " That's classified." " Got it." " Tell us where we can find him." "Crash, 1313 Euclid." "It's a bar." "He and his fellow reprobates go there after work to drink themselves into stupors." "Glad I could help." "I just don't..." "I don't get it." " Well, maybe you left the lens cap on." " Or loaded the film in backwards." "Or maybe I'm just a loser that can't do anything right." "That's what my editor thinks." "These things happen, Sketch." " It just wasn't meant to be, that's all." " I mean, come on." "Do you really think you saw a mutant?" "You know how these tabloid things work." "Slap a weather balloon on the cover and it's the aliens." "A shot of a guy in a Hallowe'en mask and say that there's monsters on the loose." "Sketch, they make this stuff up." "Yeah, I guess you're right." "It's just I really wanted to believe it, man." "You know?" "My life's not that interesting, Alec." " I'm a bike messenger." " We're all bike messengers." "Yeah, but with you and Max and OC, it's not all you are." "If the mutant stories were true, then life would be more interesting, and as a reporter bringing that story to the world, then I would be more interesting." "But I am what I am - a bike messenger." " It's not true, Sketchy." " Well, it feels true." "All right, thanks, you guys." "I'll go home now and puke." "Tell me again how that had to be done." "Had to be done." "Calvin Theodore, you're coming with us." " I've got a permit for the gun." "It's in my car." " Look, I don't care about the permit." "I'm interested in what you were doin' up at the school." "This is about the boy, isn't it?" "The boy in the picture." "What did you think you were gonna do?" "Take him?" " You got it all wrong." " Do I?" "Look, I make it my business to take care of that school and everybody in it." "I'm gonna ask you one more time." "What were you doin' up there?" " What are you lookin' at, you little freak?" " You." " How do you feel?" " What do you care?" "It should have started by now." " It's started with Ray." " What's started?" "Is he OK?" "If he's one of us, he'll live." "If he's sick, you should get a doctor." "If he's not meant to survive, no one can help him." "It's gettin' hot in here." "Can you turn down the heat?" " It's begun." " What's begun?" "That's why I'm here - to watch." "Watch what?" "Watch you die." "I said I was sorry about the shoes." " What were you doing down in that sewer?" " I was on assignment." "I work for a newspaper." "You had a camera." "I want that film." " The pictures didn't come out." " You expect me to believe that?" "What can I say, man?" "I screwed up." "I'm bummed about it too." "It woulda made great copy." "What would have?" "What did you see?" "Some loser in a Hallowe'en mask." "I don't know." "What paper do you work for?" " New World Weekly." " It's a tabloid." "Yeah, a picture of a weather balloon and the aliens are coming." "And if a kid pulls a hold-up in a Hallowe'en mask..." "Mutants are on the loose." "I'd have had a cover if I hadn't messed up the film." "Look, dude, I'll totally score you a new pair of shoes." "All right?" "Whaddaya think?" "He doesn't know anything." "Let him go." "There's something goin' on at that school." "Something dangerous." " What are you talkin' about?" " Haven't you ever noticed anything strange?" "What?" "Are you involved in a custody dispute over that kid?" "You're a cop." "It's your job to notice things." "You haven't noticed anything unusual?" "Maybe." "Then hear me out." "There's something in the blood." "I'm so thirsty." "I need water." " It won't do any good." " I'm gonna die anyway." "Please." "Miis'toka." "Ben tahari." "Filis par'ri, ben'ta koss." "I didn't know you would be here." "I'm honoured." " How is he?" " He's weak." "I'd be surprised if he survives." "I am sorry, Ames." "But we all have our destiny." "Ray..." "He's my only son." "This is how it's always been for us." "You said you had some business with 452." "I'll call you if there's any change." "Please." "Stop!" "I said "stop"." "You were just pretending to be sick." " Want me to put you down?" " It depends." "If you hold me up here long enough, will your head explode?" " You can't win." " Really?" "Not even if I do this?" "Made you look." "Sweet dreams, bitch." "Not another step." "Put him down." "You wanna shoot me through your own son?" "Put him down." "Drop your gun." "Keep your hands where I can see 'em." "Max, hurry!" "Get in, Sheriff." "Get in!" "Well, I expect the long arm of the law is giving you a sound and deserved thrashing." " You tipped those goons I was at Crash?" " That I did." "Whatever they suspected you of, I'm certain you were guilty." "Hot run, Ninth and Grand." " Hey, pal, you OK?" " Yeah." "The weirdest thing happened last night." "Some government suits grabbed me up." " Wanted to know what I saw." " What did you tell 'em?" "That I saw some dude in a Hallowe'en mask." "Then they let me go." " Good man." " But then I started thinkin'." " Thinking?" " What do you mean, thinking?" "If they were that spun about what I mighta seen, then maybe I saw somethin'." " Yeah, a guy in a mask." " Use your head, dude." "Like they need to cover up the existence of guys in costumes." "I don't think so." "They nabbed me because they've got something to hide." "The truth is out there, people." "The mutants exist, and I'm gonna prove it." " Well, that didn't go as well as I'd hoped." " No, it did not." "Course, the important question is, who gets to tell Max?" "She was exposed." "She not only survived, she didn't even show symptoms." "How is that possible?" "Sandeman." "His work at Manticore must have progressed further than we'd thought." "We need to find out if the others are immune as well." "I'll deal with the other transgenics, and I'll deal with 452." " But I have to find out what happened to Ray." " Ames..." " It's possible he survived." " Possible, but doubtful." "I need to know." " I have to be sure." " You do whatever you have to do." "You just find out what the hell is going on." "This could jeopardise everything we've worked towards." " It's a shame we have to leave this place." " Can't be helped." "We'll find somewhere else." "Samuel." "No worries." "This isn't gonna hurt." "But with any luck it'll kill ya." "That was Sam Carr at the hospital." "Ray's blood work came back." "He'll be fine." "Doc have any idea what they exposed him to?" "Some kind of pathogen or viral agent he's never seen before." "Those snakes must be carriers, hosts for whatever bug it is." "Well, whatever it is, kid's immune system kicked in with the right antibodies." "That nutcase priestess bitch said that he had to prove himself." "Like this was some kind of test to see if he'd survive." "If he didn't, he wasn't one of them." "You were exposed." "You didn't get sick." "Guess that makes me an honorary member." "Congratulations." "Think if I concentrated I could make stuff fly around the room?" "I wouldn't count on it." "My guess would be that the kid that went all poltergeist on you was part of some kind of special breeding line." "Makes you wonder what other tricks they have up their sleeves." "Poor kid." "Mom's gone." "Dad's a freak." "Not exactly the storybook ending we were hoping for." "At least we got him away from those people." "That's what Wendy wanted." "I talked to her sister, by the way." "She's on her way down." "Made arrangements to get her and Ray on a plane, as far away from White as I can." " Hey, Ray." "How you feelin'?" " OK." "Did I pass?" "Am I strong?" " You did fine." " What do you need to be strong for, Ray?" " For the Coming." " The Coming?" "What's that?" "Nobody ever told me it." "Except it's bad if you're not one of us."