"We saw the Earth destroyed." "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." "Oh, excuse me." "I wonder if you could..." "Bay Channel officials insist that the spill was minor... and poses no hazard to local beaches." "Sarah?" "The Houston suburb of Lawndale is in shock this morning... over a domestic quarrel that ended in murder." "Marie Hovic was found dead late last night in her home... at the 7800 block of Clayton Court." "The 32-year-old mother of three died from a series of hammer blows." "Her husband has been charged with the murder... but Lawndale police can give no motive for the crime." "Kayli?" "It's that time of year again." "The Houston area Special Olympics start today at Rice University." " TJI." " What?" "Another nasty one to add to the Hammer Slammer." "Hammer Slammer?" "Do we have to use these tabloid names, Troy?" " Sorry." "Read it next." " Thanks for the lead-in time." "Organisers say there's plenty of seating." "So come on out and bring the whole family." "Back to you, Sarah." "A killing in the parking garage of a supermarket... in Pearland late last night has local police baffled." "The victim was found dead of a broken neck next to his car... and there were no witnesses." "The victim's name is..." "The victim is Dr Naran Chandra... one of the world's leading computer scientists." "Sarah?" "Sarah?" "Always somewhat reclusive..." "Dr Chandra dropped from public view in recent months." "We'll have more on this story as it comes in." "It seems inevitable, somehow." "I mean, he did kill himself months ago in the other timeline." "Well, he sure as hell didn't kill himself in this one." "Is Angela still at Ellington?" "Yeah." "She's flying again with a Russian cosmonaut." " Oh, Tatiana." " No." "This time it's a guy." " Really?" " Yeah." "I wonder how he's gonna feel with a woman on the stick." "And what's that stupid comment supposed to mean, Chuckie?" " Bloody hell." " It means she's on the stick, Kurt." "It means she's flying the plane." "What the hell you think it's supposed to mean?" "You know, Kurt, if I were you..." "I mean, we've pissed in the timeline long enough to fuck it up." "So if you're in love with the girl, why don't you just say so... marry her, enjoy a few good years before the world blows to shit... and stop running your soap opera on me!" "You know, why don't you take your editorials... and stick them where the sun don't shine, Commander?" "You know, why don't you both shut the fuck up and pay attention." "This is the e-mail I got from Naran Chandra today... and according to the servers, it was sent at 6:00 a.m. This morning." " 6:00 a." "M?" " Wait a minute." "Chandra was killed..." " last night before midnight." " Yeah." "Exactly." "Now, he could've programmed his computer to send a pre-recorded message... if he didn't override the command every couple of hours." " All right." "Let's have it." " Here we go." "Commander Taggart." "Lately, I've been seeing signs... that our friends may have caught up with me." "So just in case, I have set this up auto-send." "Lucky you." "You get a message from the grave." "I'm not very religious... but I'm still enough of a Hindu that as death approaches..." "I hope to resolve some of the unfinished business of my life." "I've created something that you may find useful." "Something that I, myself, had hoped to use... but now it's in your hands." "It's in a locker in the main bus depot, Garland and Fifth." "The key is in the right front wheel well of your car." "I slipped it in after our last meeting at Dr Mendel's." "Goodbye, Commander." "All of you." "When my time comes... it will be made easier... knowing that you will survive... to carry on the fight." "Carry on the fight?" "Shit." "We've been after these freaks for months... and we don't know on God's earth what the fuck we're fighting." "Look at that." " 5:30." " 5:30." "You know what, this could actually be a trap." " Made by Synthetics." " The thought occurred to me." "Well, then again, we don't have much of a choice, do we?" " The thought occurred to me." " Come on, darling, come on." "It's interesting to think that some of these people are not people." " Kurt, what you got on the imager?" " I don't see any Synthetics outside yet." " It's too bad we can't take that thing with us." " So, what's the plan?" "Okay." "Here's the plan." "Locker 530." "You take this key." "Neil and I are gonna go in, we're gonna create a conspicuous diversion... by going to the rows of 100, 200." "While we do that... you go to the locker." "You open up that door... you take whatever's in there out, hopefully it ain't too heavy..." " and you run like hell." " Wait a minute." "Why me?" "Because if anyone's gonna be followed, it's gonna be us..." " since we're the ones Chandra contacted." " Right." "Kurtrude... anything comes up on green there, you let us know on the cell phone." "All right?" " I don't see anyone named Kurtrude in here." " Okay, Sarah... we're gonna go in the front door." "Give us 30 seconds, you jump in the side." " Got 50 cents?" " Yeah." "You gonna pay me back?" "No." "Put it in the locker." "What do I look like, the bank?" "Yeah?" "So far so good, Commander." "Yeah, but it's still early in the day." "Guys, guys, guys, heads up." "Big green machine, main entrance." " Where?" " Heading toward you." " Which one?" "I don't see it." "Which one?" " What?" "What?" "Oh, here." "Hey." "Hey!" "The kid!" " God damn it!" " Hey!" "Taggart!" "God damn it!" "Stop the kid!" "Stop the kid!" "Stop the kid!" "Whoa, whoa." "Where you going, son?" " I got you!" " Get the disc, get the disc!" "Hurry up!" "Go, go!" "Shit!" "Go, go, go!" "You know, they're getting quite devious, our Synthetics... taking the form of human children." "Yeah." "Next time we gotta be on the lookout for nuns and orphans." "So, have you figured out what our friend Chandra left us yet?" "Well, best I can figure, it's a programme... that goes out and fingers the Internet worldwide looking for trace Al code... rewrites itself along the way, covering its tracks." " What the hell are you talking about?" " Oh, sorry." "It's like a police scanner for the Internet." "It picks up trace Sentient chatter and records it." "So what are you saying?" "We can listen in... on the sons of bitches without them knowing it?" " Yeah." "Sort of." " Well, that could sort of be useful." " They look busy today." " All day, every day." "Well, it's not necessarily Sentients talking to other Sentients." "It could be a Sentient communicating with its Synthetic." "The code would be similar." "I've been checking the whole Internet." "Let me just try this keyword function." "Whoa." "Look at that." "Number one on the Sentient hit parade today is Lawndale." "There's a suburb up by Galveston called Lawndale." "Lawndale." "There was a story about a murder there this morning." " God, why didn't I think about it?" " Think about what?" "I mean, a murder story's a murder story, but this one caught my attention..." " and I couldn't figure out why." " And now you can?" "Yeah." "Because after that murder, there were more murders... and then all hell broke loose... because that eventually turned into the Lawndale riot, remember?" "Three people killed, 30 injured... and a couple of million dollars of property damage." "All right." "So if the Sentients are talking about Lawndale..." "Then they're hooked into this riot somehow." "But how?" "Or more importantly, why?" "So, what do you think, Sarah?" "The murders caused this riot?" "No." "They just preceded it." "But the authorities claim... that the riots were due to post-traumatic stress disorder... induced by fears of terrorism and economic insecurity." "So, in other words, they didn't have a fucking clue what caused it." "Not a one." "Great." "Thought that was you." "How was your day?" " Kind of sucked, actually." " What happened?" " Usual bullshit." " Got my unemployment cheque." "How about I take you out for dinner?" "Love to, but not with the kitchen like this." "Does everything have to be such a big deal?" "Just 'cause I'm home doesn't mean I'm the maid." "Good for you, Steve." "I just did a 10-hour day and made some money." "We can't go to restaurants with you out of work." "Like a $3 hamburger is gonna make a difference." "Damn!" "Can you fix this thing?" "Everything around here is falling apart." "Nothing makes you happy, does it?" "Nothing in this shitty life together, you're right." " Oh, why don't you just leave?" " Maybe I will." "You've never been a partner to me." "You've never given me any kind of support." "You just bitch and bitch and bitch." " Go on." "Get your ass out of here." "Go." " Get away from me, Steve." " You got that ugly look on your face." " Shut up." "You miserable, frustrated, uptight, self-absorbed, full of yourself..." "Prick." " Hey, Sarah, did you see this?" " What is it?" "Another murder in Lawndale." " What?" " Mother of three, stabs her husband." "I mean, what are they putting in the water up there anyway?" "I don't know, but it's certainly worth a trip to find out." "Ordinarily, I'd agree, but my board's full, every crew's committed." "I know." "I thought of that." "That's exactly why I brought my own cameraman, Neil Taggart." " Hey." "Nice to meet you." " Nice to meet you." " Nice to meet you." " Yeah." "You, too." "I've seen you on the show." " You're really great." " Thanks." " He's got a great eye, he's fast." " I don't know." "He's non-union." "Maybe I could send Frank Melnick with him to report it." "The stringer?" "No way." "This is a major story." "I'm going." "I can't let you do that." "We're still ironing out the kinks in the two-anchor format." "Troy, what kinks?" "I think Sarah and I are working out just fine together." " Yeah, yeah, we are." " I did remotes like this all the time in Austin." "Always gives a little boost to the ratings." " Does this mean that much to you?" " Yes." "Okay." "Get me four minutes for the evening programme." "Kayli, you'll be flying solo." "Let's get your copy rewritten." " Nice to meet you." " Yeah." "You, too." " See you again." " Hope so." "You got a little drool here." " Hi." " Hello." "You must be Mr and Mrs Mendel." " Call me Angela, please." "This is my..." " Kurt." " I'm Kathleen Ashbury." " How do you do?" "Nice to meet you." "Kathleen." " Oh, Mr Seligson, good morning." " Nothing good about it." "When the hell are you gonna do something with this dump?" "It's an eyesore." "Matter of fact, I have my boys coming over today to do some yard work." "About time." "Nice to meet you." "I don't know what's gotten into that man lately." "But don't worry, he's not usually like that." " This way." " After you." "I have to tell you, we don't get many renters in Lawndale." " Can't imagine why." " As a matter of fact... this is the only house available for miles around." "I only know about it because this area is my speciality." "Well, I'm sure there's a really interesting reason why this one's on the market." "I hear the occupants murdered each other..." "There was a divorce." "A nice couple, never any problem, they were hoping to have children... then suddenly they were having problems." "He came home one day and she cleared out." " I mean, cleared out." " Oh, that's so sad." "I can't imagine that happening to us, can you, darling?" "No." "No, I can't, honey." "What is it you do, Mr Mendel?" " He's an accountant." " I'm a novelist, actually." "My wife's little joke." "Novelist-accountant." " Do you get it?" "I do books." " Yeah." " She's got a great sense of humour." " You're funny." "Well, let's take a look around." "Where shall we start?" "Let's start with the master bedroom because that's where we spend most of our time." " Isn't that right, darling?" " Yeah." "All right." "This way." "Okay, the hammer murder took place here." "Last night's stabbing was over here." "Now what else can you tell us about this riot?" "I can tell you how it started." "About 24 hours from now... a man looking for a gas station hits a car that was backing up out of a driveway." "Asshole!" " Look what you fucking did." " I'm sorry." "It was an accident." "One of the residents, Bruce Seligson... clobbers this guy over the head with a shovel." "I interviewed Seligson in prison in the previous timeline." "Anyway, this angry mob beats this poor guy to death, three people are killed... and the only one ever convicted of anything is Seligson." "So the two murders that are gonna happen... actually happened in the original timeline?" "So there's gotta be a connection somehow between the perpetrators." "Well, that's what I'm trying to find out... but the woman who did the knifing is in isolation... so there's no way that I can get to her." "I'm just hoping that maybe, somehow, some way... they're gonna let me in to see the Hammer Slammer." "I can't believe I just said that." "Well, your cameralsound guy is ready." "Yeah, but there's no way they're letting a camera in... without 10 forms of triplicate, five lawyers... and one judge okaying everything." "I gotta go in alone." "Okay." "Just do it." "So, what are we doing in the meantime?" "You and me, honcho, are gonna go take a look at this old man, Seligson... whatever the hell his name is, and try to stop a riot from happening." "Fun." "And maybe figure out what all this has to do with the end of the world." " I'm not what you'd call a moody person." " What do you mean by that?" "Well, they said I snapped." "But I'm usually a really level-headed guy." "Well, then, forgive my forwardness, but why did you kill your wife?" "I love my wife, Ms Forbes." "More than anything in this world." "I don't know what happened." "I don't mean to be evasive." "I just honestly don't know." "It was like..." "I just had this rage." "For, like, a month before I did it." "For no good reason." "Was there anything, anything at all that you can think of... that might have provoked you?" "The strange thing is... as soon as they locked me up in this place... all the anger went away." "It just went away." " What the hell did you just order?" " Iced hazelnut mocha." " Iced hazelnut mocha?" " Yeah." "Jesus." "Sometimes I think the world ain't worth saving." " What can I get for you today?" " I want a coffee, black, large." " Grande?" " Grande." "Habla espanol?" "No." "Parla italiano?" "I'm afraid not, no." "Then I want my coffee large, not a fucking grande." "See?" " A large black coffee coming up." " Fucking pretentious, commercial bullshit." "You can't even order a coffee anymore... without somebody trying to be the queen of France." "Yeah." "Careful." "He didn't brain her with any gardening tools." "You sure that's the right guy?" " Maybe." " Damn it, I said a latte, not cappuccino." " Here we go." " You always order a cappuccino." " Well, today I didn't!" " Whoa." "Easy, man." "Hey!" "Get the fuck out of here before I call the cops!" "Go ahead." "Let's go." "Well, it's been nice talking to you and you've been very helpful." "Are you sure you don't need a couple of sleeping bags?" "An air mattress?" "Oh, no." "Our furniture's on the way." "Besides, we have each other, don't we, darling?" "Uh-huh." "So, now... that's my home phone." "Call if you need anything." " Perfect." " Fine." " Thank you." "Bye." " Or just come over." "Wow." "Yeah." " Thank you." "Bye." " Bye." "See you later." "Thank God." "For one horrible moment, I saw myself at a Tupperware party." "Well, did you at least learn anything about the new neighbours?" "Are you kidding?" "More than one human being would want to know." "I know who's fighting with whom, who's getting a divorce... and what children are monsters." "What about you?" "Everywhere you look, someone's in open conflict." "This whole bloody neighbourhood's a powder keg." " All I need is a match." " Oh, by the way, darling, what's for dinner?" " Up yours." " We had that last night." "So how long have you worked with Sarah?" "A couple of years." "Why?" "Has she always been so, you know, in and out?" "What do you mean?" "Well, I've only been here a couple of weeks... but it seems like she's always rushing off somewhere." "I mean, she says she's following stories... but I haven't seen many of them on the air." "Yeah." "There's something going on with her." "It's really only been the last six months or so." "She and her husband are having problems... and there's a custody situation going on." "Okay." " Yeah, that could explain a lot." " Yeah." "Or maybe there's something more going on." "I don't know." "But, yeah, Sarah isn't here a lot." "Now, what about Troy, does he keep track of all these comings and goings?" "Yeah." "Troy's got his head so far up her ass... he can't keep track of his own dick." "What?" "Forget that I said that." "Okay." " After you, darling." " Thank you, darling." "So, Chuck says he, Neil, and Sarah... are experiencing this random aggression all over town." "Where are we meeting them?" " Did you hear that?" " I sure did." "Leave me alone!" "Hey, hey!" "That's enough!" "That's enough!" "That's enough!" "She's trying to kill me!" "Ungrateful little bitch!" "Call 911!" "Now!" "You all right?" "Kurt?" "You'll be fine." "You got a nasty bump." "I'll need to see you again tomorrow to make sure there are no after-effects." "Just try and take it easy for a day or so." "Easier said than done, but thank you, Doctor." "Hey, that's a good look on you." "Oh, try not to overwhelm me with your empathy and compassion." "Thank you." " Hello, darling." " We won't, if you won't." " Thanks, honey." " Before you go..." "I'll need to know what happened." "Well, this daughter was beating up her mother... and we tried to stop it and he got caught in the middle." "Domestic altercation." "I'm beginning to think I should have a rubber stamp of that made." "Have there been a lot of these injuries lately?" "In the past six weeks, it's about all I've seen." "Any injuries angry people can inflict on each other with the tools at hand." "Blunt instrument trauma, lacerations, punctures..." "Doctor, we have three patients screaming for treatment." "In case you forgot." "Everyone's on edge." "Even our staff." "Thank you." "Bye." " The whole town's gone schizo." " Yeah." "A blinding glimpse of the obvious." "I try." "Let me get this straight." "You interviewed the Hammer Slammer..." " Hovic." " You interviewed Hovic... but you don't have any footage for the 5:00?" "The camera broke down." "I'll get it tomorrow." "Don't bother." "Channel 8's got him on their 11:00." " He'll be old news tomorrow." " Listen, I gotta go." "I'm gonna call you tomorrow." "Bye." " Are you okay?" " I'm fine." "Thanks for asking." " Have any leads?" " No." "Nothing." "We're just jerking ourselves around... unless we can figure what's cooking these people off." "Well, if it's affecting dozens or hundreds of people... it can't be Synthetics going door-to-door like Jehovah's Witnesses, that's for sure." "Maybe it's coming through the mail, like anthrax." "No." "If it were, the police and the CDC would be all over this place." "Maybe it's some kind of computer hypnotism... like the Sentients did with those kids in Deer Park." "Yeah, but there were no computers in that house... where that woman's daughter tried to kill her." "Well, you know, it could be anything." "It could be food, it could be water." "Or power lines." "Now that you mention it, they do sound kind of loud." " Well, it's worth looking into, I guess." " Let's go." "Got a three-minute hole to fill in the A block." "What do you mean?" "What fell out?" "Sarah's package from Lawndale." "I'm sorry to say it, but I was half-expecting this." "So, I wrote up some copy that I cobbled together from wire reports... and from a phone interview... that I did with the sister of the steak-knife slasher." "Really?" " This is good." " It gets better." "I got her to e-mail me a wedding picture of her sister, the slasher... and the soon-to-be-slashed husband." "We could use that for graphics." " This is good, kid." " Thanks." " Kathleen Ashbury rented the Draper place." " Yeah, I met them." "Some mystery couple." "He's foreign." "Hey, you know anything about that couple renting the Draper house?" "Just that they've got no furniture." "All they've got in there is some kind of electronics gear." " I don't like the sound of that." " Oh, you know what else?" "They put themselves in the middle of that catfight... between Bitty Welsh and her daughter." "I heard two people attacked Bitty Welsh." "Neil, catch." "Hey, nice toss." "Please, could we please be discrete?" " Willie Mays you ain't." " Yeah." " Hey, the control room's over here." " Yes." " Good job, Sherlock." " Shut up, Watson." "Sorry." "Don't touch anything." "The power levels look high." "Does the city of Lawndale actually need this much power?" "Who the hell knows?" "Maybe they're anticipating a heavy usage this time of year... or maybe one of the other stations on the grid is down for repairs... and this one's taking up the slack." "Who the hell knows?" "A Synthetic could have penetrated the utility system... and bumped up the gain for its own reasons." "Okay, guys." "What exactly are we doing here?" "Well, we're looking for something, but I'm beginning to think..." " it ain't here, whatever it is." " Great." "Then we're wasting our time." " Oh, will you stop complaining?" " We've hit dead end after dead end." " Excuse me if I'm not jumping up and down." " Perish the thought." "Boys, you're both pretty." "Yeah, we're beginning to act like the locals, for Christ's sake." "You know, whatever is affecting them is affecting us, too." "You're damn right." "It's affecting our thoughts, our feelings, our emotions." "Kurtrude... it might be having a physical effect, too." "Ain't it about time for that follow-up exam with that doctor... regarding your massive head wound?" " No, not until tomorrow." " Really?" " I thought you were having headaches." " No." "How about now?" "Still no sign of concussion." "You're probably experiencing... some localised pain from the initial trauma." "It seemed like rather fresh trauma, actually." "Have you noticed any physical side effects to any of these cases?" "You mean something that might point to a common cause?" "No." "Nothing." "That was the first thing I looked for." "Let's go outside." "Did they all eat the same food, live in the same area?" "No." "They're all over the map." "All racial types... ages, every different kind of diet imaginable." "Except, I've been doing some follow-up on the patients... and I did note one weird little after-effect." "As soon as I put a patient on an IV, he or she calmed down..." " and stayed calmed down." " Well, what was in the IV?" "Saline." "In case you hadn't noticed, it's hot and humid." "Right." "Thank you, Doctor." "Thanks very much." "Take care." "Bye." "Is the saline somehow counteracting whatever's making people violent?" "I don't know." "Or is it because the patients... are on a saline IV that they're not getting something else?" " So, this is just ordinary tap water?" " Yeah." "I took it from the local hospital." "That's hard to believe." "That compound doesn't belong in tap water." "It's a slight anomaly." "It's a fluoride cousin, hexafluoride." "Some communities have big fluoride additives... but I've never seen this exact mixture before." "Not exactly a Page 1 story." ""Fluoride in water supply." "Film at 11:00."" "No, it's not." "This is kind of a tame sample for you." "What's the deal?" "Just tell me what hexafluoride does." "I don't know." "Maybe it makes your teeth white." "Whiter." "Whitest." "White teeth." "Good God." "Call 911." "So, if it's not the water itself... maybe it's water in combination with another factor." "Maybe we should try and mix it with something else." " Maybe you should try and heat it up." " Dude, it's water." "You can only heat it so much before it turns into steam." "Right, right." "So how about electricity, electric current?" " Let's try it." " Fine." "Yo, hit the light." "Whoa." "Now that's not normal." "No, it's not." "Maybe electricity is acting as a catalyst to the hexafluoride." "There is some strange shit going on here." "Possibly some weird kind of enzyme." "Enzyme?" "So what would this enzyme do... if ingested by a human being for several days?" "I have no idea." "It could be anything." "If you told me this makes people sprout feathers and fly..." " I couldn't even rule that out." " Well, that's helpful." "Looks like this whole place is automated." "It's pretty cool." "Angela, we're in." "Let us know if you see anything." "What are we looking for here?" "The power lines are revved up." "Somewhere in this water distribution plant someone's adding a protein which... combined to electricity, is creating a nasty enzyme... which makes people even nastier." "Well, like you said, the whole damn thing is automated... so there's gotta be a terminal around here somewhere." "Okay, hold it." "You folks better have a good reason for being down here." "I'm Sarah Forbes from KNBS News." "This is my cameraman, Neil." "This is my scientific and engineering consultant..." " Commander Taggart and Dr Mendel." " Commander Taggart." "We heard about some strange goings-on here in Lawndale... and we were just wondering if it had something to do with the water supply." "Or some sort of contamination." "I know we kind of overstepped boundaries by breaking in like this... but you know, the city takes a while to respond to requests, so..." " Taggart." "You're the astronaut." " Guilty as charged." "Let me rephrase that." " Contamination, you say?" " Yeah, that's right." "Maybe you can help us?" "I mean, it's obvious you work here, right?" "Yeah." "I'm the back-up system, in case the automated system breaks down." "So, you'd know if there was anything out of the ordinary... anything unusual going on, right?" "Look, we need your help, see?" "This is a..." "This is a public water system." "It's contaminated." "We need some help here." "I've been working at this plant for the last 10 years." "The last two or three months I've been getting lost." "It's just like the pipes are moving when I'm not even looking." "Walls will open up when they weren't there the day before." "That the kind of thing you're looking for?" "Yeah." "That's exactly what we're talking about." "Can you take us to it?" "This way." "Sounds like LDU-7 all over again." "Yeah, we never did find our Synthetic." "We didn't find it 'cause the whole damn building was one." "It disappeared." "What if our friend there is a Synthetic as well... and he's leading us to the slaughter." " We go down fighting." " Speak for yourself." " This is crazy." "We're breaking and entering." " The hell we are." "We've got a key and permission from the landlady." "Besides, this could be an emergency." "Nothing." "Nobody's living here." " We were right." " Well, look at this." "Computer stuff, communications gear." " What's it for?" " We've got lots of high-tech facilities... up the road." "If you were a terrorist, wouldn't you be interested?" "Terrorists?" "Didn't Kathleen Ashbury check them out?" "Ashbury." "She'd have Saddam Hussein over for cookies and milk... if she thought she could sell him a house." " We have to call the police." " Those idiots?" "Get the Texas Rangers." " No, this is a job for the FBI." " Texas Rangers." "I'm telling you, the FBI." "Over here is where the water comes from the San Jacinto Water District." "This is where the water comes to the various water towers... redistribution plants, all of that." "I show up for work two weeks ago... and I swear that pipe wasn't there the day before." "Now, nothing happens around here without me knowing about it." " So impossible, right?" " Maybe not." " See that pipe over there?" " Yeah." "I don't recognise it." "Now in July, I like to take my family to the hill country for a couple of weeks." "Maybe someone else oversaw the installation while I was gone... but there's no paperwork." "Nobody I spoke to knows anything about this... and I can't get in there, and every time I look at them they look different." "Is there a computer station around here?" "In for a penny, in for a pound." "Over here." "Up there?" "We gotta figure out which one of these pipes... is dumping the mean pills into the water system." "Yeah." "Give me about a week." "We've gotta find a way to stop these enzymes from getting in." " Why don't we just stop them going out?" " No." "I don't see Ed letting us shut off the water to his whole bloody town." "Well, who the hell says he has to know?" "Can you shut down the whole damn water delivery system?" "I could try." "Yeah, but can you stop Ed from fixing it once we're gone?" "I got a nasty little virus I keep in a deleted file on my e-mail programme." "I download that, it should fuck things up good for a couple of hours." " Well, do it." "And let's go stop a riot." " Yeah." "Oh, Christ." "Shouldn't we have some equipment or something?" "Yeah." "It's too bad I left my riot gear in the Mustang." "A squad of Marines is more like it." "We're not going out there with these bloody lunatics, are we?" "Hell, yes." "Unless you got a better way to stop a riot from in here." "Neil, give me the camera." "Now is the time to have your granddad's handgun." "You're right." "It is." " Hey!" "That's them!" " Hey!" " Who the fuck are you people?" " Why is that shit in the house?" " I don't know why that shit's in the house." " Who the fuck are you?" " I'm Sarah Forbes with the KNBS." " Oh, yeah?" " And who the hell are you, Peter Jennings?" " No." "I'm better looking." "Hey, hey!" " Calm down." " Watch it." "Who the hell are you people?" "Hey, get out!" "There's the car!" "Asshole!" " Look what you fucking did." " I'm sorry." "It was an accident." " Hang on, hang on." " You're not on the goddamn freeway." " I'm sorry." "I didn't see you." " Hang on." "He didn't mean nothing." "Listen, he didn't mean anything by this, so just back off a second." "Are you all right?" " Oh, shit." " Get off of him!" "Get away!" "Kill him!" "Fire." "The house is on fire." "My house." "My house!" "Do something!" "Hose it!" "All right, all right!" "I'm getting a hose out here!" "At 23 Maple Court." " I thought you turned off the water." " There's still some left in the pipes." "Hope there's enough to put it out." "It's a great cigar, you know." "Excuse me." "Kayli, change in plans." " You're not doing the lead-in tonight." " Then who the hell will?" "We got a hot roll from Lawndale." "Everybody, we are leading with the feed from Lawndale, all right?" " When are we on?" " We're on now." " Okay, let's go." " And in five, four, three..." "Good evening, Houston." "This is KNBS News at 5:00." "I'm Sarah Forbes reporting to you live... from the ordinarily quiet community of Lawndale... where just a half-hour ago this suburban neighbourhood exploded... into a mystifying violence that came extremely close... to being fatal." "Well, it's obvious that that Sentient behind what happened in Lawndale... is obviously the same one that constructed LDU-7." "So, this was just an outgrowth of its studies in human aggression..." " it was conducting in the prison?" " And a damn successful one, too..." "I'm sorry to say, in spite of the fact we stopped a riot from going berserk." "Well, credit where credit is due." "Setting the house on fire... was a stroke of genius." "Whatever inspired you to do this?" "You did." "And you and you and all of us." "Other than the common denominator of all of us stuck in a space ship... five years from now when the world blew to shit... you think we'd be sitting here together in this dump?" " Oh." " Oh, what?" " Finally, you refer to this place as a dump." " Figure of speech." "It's a figure of speech." "Oh, yeah, that's right." "You actually like that crappy chilli." "Yes." "And a particular waitress, perhaps." "Hey, hey, hey." "Mind your own damn business, snotnose, and you two dorks underscore my point." "I mean, you think we'd be sitting here grunting at each other... much less breaking bread, if we didn't have a common goal?" "Not only no, but hell, no." "I just did something to keep those people's minds off themselves... bring them all together, so to speak." "At least until the cops came." "So the enzyme that the Sentient was testing on Lawndale..." " it actually increased rage?" " Looks that way." "Can you imagine if he used it on a larger population?" "It wouldn't just be neighbour against neighbour." "It'd be country against country." "Yeah." "Countries with weapons of mass destruction." "In a simple, elegant way of eliminating millions of unwanted human beings." "You know what?" "Suddenly I'm not so hungry anymore." "Too bad this isn't closed caption." "He's singing that the soul shall not be shattered by any weapon... nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water... nor withered by the wind." "Second book of the Bhagavad-Gita." "Check it out, it's pretty cool." "Naran Chandra worked not far from here... at the university." "He would often come here when he was working out a problem... or just when he needed some calm, some quiet." "He asked that some of his ashes be scattered here in this place... where he knew some peace, however briefly." "Have you noticed something that's rather sad?" "We're more than half the entire funeral party." " Yeah." "Except for those over there." " Where?" "11:00, by the tree." "$5 says they turn up green on Kurt's thermal imager." "Yeah." "Checking to see if they really killed him." "If they can get to Chandra, they can get to any of us." "Well... as a wise man I knew..." "I believe he was from Texas, once said, "Don't take it too seriously." ""Nobody gets out of life alive.""