Jeremiah (2002) s02e03 Episode Script

Strange Attractors

1 Previously on Jeremiah The virus is still alive inside you.
I walk out that door, and I could wipe out half the world all over again.
There is a way to get Markus and Jeremiah out of Valhalla Sector.
Sir, I've made contact with elements within Thunder Mountain.
In exchange for Markus, Erin, Jeremiah, and his father, hey're willing to give us the key o the Big Death virus.
Liberty, I'd like you o meet Jeremiah, my son.
Is there any more like you back home? So Jeremiah, Devon, and Libby.
They have to stay alive and untouched, or the world dies around them.
They're all dead.
No marks.
They don't look like they've been infected.
We still have to find out where they stashed Theo and the rest of the guys from the meeting in St.
Louis.
Meaghan! I can't go with you, Jeremiah.
I'm going to have to stay.
Why? Well, Valhalla Sector's still contaminated.
We're going to have o sterilize the entire place o make sure that the virus doesn't have a chance o get out again.
Markus is going to leave a couple of people behind o help out.
Besides, I have to make sure hat my notes and any information pertaining to Valhalla's military campaign is secured.
Hey, with a bit of luck, I'll be able to find out where your people were taken after the raid in St.
Louis.
You're welcome to stay if you like.
I can't.
I've got to get back o Thunder Mountain.
This sucks No.
No.
It's all right.
It's all right.
After what you've been through he last few days, he interrogation, he torture, seeing the Big Death up close and personal for a second time, you need to rest, recover.
So does Libby.
We need to get her away from all of this.
You're the only one she really knows and trusts.
Look, we'll get finished up here, and then I'll meet you at Thunder Mountain, allright? It's important for me to know hat you're okay.
We've waited to see each other for 15 years.
we can wait another couple of days.
All right.
I'm going to have to go.
We're sending in our first recon team o find out whether anybody escaped infection.
I'll see you in a few days, all right? I love you.
Me too, dad.
You made me damn proud in there, Jeremiah.
Damn proud.
I heard a little of You did? Yeah You've both had a long time o think about what o say to each other when and if you had the chance, but 15 years apart is still 15 years apart.
It'll take him a while o get past the point of, - "okay, we found each other.
Now what?" - Markus.
You know what, uh, "high verbal" is? Yeah.
Good.
Saves me the trouble.
Trying to say I talk too much? Because we could talk about that.
Jeremiah? Jeremiah Jeremiah? So what now? Markus was beginning o put together a new alliance with Theo and some of the other leaders.
They were captured by Valhalla Sector.
Once my dad has information on where they're being held, we go get them out.
I thought you were going o take a rest.
Compared to this week, it'd be like a vacation.
How bad can it be? Still no word from Valhalla Sector? Nothing.
Do you think something happened? No.
That place is freakin' impervious.
You can't touch 'em.
So what's going on? I don't know, but I'll find out, hat's for goddamn sure.
We're on the clock here.
You.
What're you up to? What happened o Valhalla Sector? Fuck you! Hit her again.
Fuck! Fuck you, asshole! It's been 15 years since a strange disease wiped out all of the adults and left us kids o fend for ourselves.
Now I'm moving ahead, through the past.
I can't let go I'm holding hope so tight It's hard to breathe when the whole world falls I'm gonna put the stars back back up in the sky Let them all just shine down I'm gonna try I believe we'll find The world together Through your eyes That's all I can see I believe we're looking at forever In a world where we can be free I believe Stop it! Let's get something straight.
Yes, Valhalla Sector was the enemy, and, yes, hey had to be stopped, And maybe Maybe this way was the only way.
But several thousand people died getting it done, and that's not something you celebrate.
That's something you apologize for.
God says, "It took you until now o figure that out?" Find anything? (Devon): No.
Nothing.
But at least the power's still on.
I'm going to make my way o the control center, see if I can find anything there.
Roger that.
Look, don't you have anywhere to go? No.
Why? Because you're starting to creep me out.
No, actually, you were creeping me out when I first met you.
It's just different levels of creeposity, you know? I'm supposed to be here when you need me.
I don't need you.
- Yes, you do.
- No, I don't.
Look, I'm just trying o do a job here.
There are a hundred other places I'd rather be right now.
Yeah? Well, then, go.
Yeah? Yeah.
Okay.
I will.
You're still here.
Yeah.
Funny, that.
Come on.
What? Kurdy Shut up and come on.
Kurdy, how you doing, man? I'm all right.
How 'bout yourself? Well Listen, we came in together, But we didn't really have a chance to talk.
I'm Mister Smith.
Mister Smith.
Yes.
- Your first name is Mister? - Yes.
Mister Smith.
Yes.
So if I was, like, going to introduce you to somebody, I would say this is Mr.
Mister Smith? Yeah.
What the hell kind of name is that? It's not something I talk about.
Listen, Kurdy, a lot of stuff's gone down, and I was thinking maybe you and I should sit down.
Yeah, well, right now, Me and Smith are talking.
- Right.
- We have some things, important I have some issues.
Yeah, like he name thing.
One of thousands.
Would you like to hear hem alphabetically, or in order of psychic trauma? No.
I don't want o hear them.
I'll catch you later.
No problem.
I told you you needed me.
Would you just eat? I don't need you.
There's just certain conversations I don't feel like having right now.
Okay.
No problem, I understand.
So, where you from? You mean before the death? Portland.
Portland, really? I'm from Portland.
How about that, we have something in common.
That makes us practically like homeboys.
This is the part where I just shut up and eat, right? You still there? Right here.
What've you got? I've found the CO's logsheet for communications to and from the outposts we set up around the country.
I've been checking messages from the last few weeks o see if I can find anything about Devon? Just a sec.
Okay, Houston, we've got a problem.
Did you find out where Theo and he others are being held? Yeah.
That's not the problem.
Get Markus on the line.
Quick.
So Why are we sitting under the stairs? I know why I'm sitting here.
Why you're sitting here? I have no idea.
Okay, you first.
I was five when they first found me and brought me into Valhalla Sector.
For the first month, hey said I didn't sleep, I didn't talk, I didn't dress myself, I just sat under one of the stairs all day and only came out o use the bathroom.
I don't actually remember doing it, but Why would they lie to me? Does any of this I don't know.
Does it ring a bell? No I thought I'd give it a shot, though You know, connect my inner terror o my outer terror, so I can balance them out.
You're safe here, you know.
Oh, absolutely.
I knew I was safe at home before my folks died, knew I was safe at school before hat went up into flames.
Knew I was safe at Valhalla Sector before It just seems like there's a whole lot of knowing going on, but not a whole lot of safe anywhere.
I think we're over the hump.
Over the hump Still under the stairs.
Devon, what's up? I've been going through he files, and I've found where your people are being held.
It's a small town called Milhaven.
We use it as a transit point o and from Valhalla Sector.
We have agents there that pretty much run it on our behalf.
I'm familiar with it.
So we'll just go in, get our people out.
Their standing orders are code-named "Carthage.
" Carthage was an ancient city hat was wiped out in a war with Rome.
Carthage, in this context, means that if Milhaven has no contact with Valhalla Sector for more than a week, hey're to eliminate anyone who might act as a witness against them.
No survivors.
My guess is your people have about 48 hours to live.
Kurdy? I'm sorry.
I didn't know you were Nobody packed up her stuff.
Markus asked me o take care of it.
It's just You know, hard.
I keep letting myself think hat if I leave things just as they were when she left, That she'd come back.
She's not coming back, Erin.
I know.
This was the first thing I gave her, Not that it was mine tTo give.
It was really Simon's, but I gave it to her, because I don't get it, Erin.
All my life, I've been looking for hat one person o believe in, one person to love without question.
I never thought I'd find it And then, one day Bang, there it is.
There she is, and then the universe just takes her away from me.
Why would it bring me all that way just to take it away from me again? I don't know, Kurdy.
All we can do is cherish the time we have when we have it, and treasure the memories after they're gone.
Try to do right by them.
Everything else is out of our control.
So you wanted to see me? Uh, yeah.
Markus wants to hold a strategy meeting, ASAP.
He wants you and Jeremiah there, because you two are he best team No.
No.
There is no more "us two.
" Jeremiah told me what happened.
She was followed there.
They were tracking all of us.
You can't blame him for what happened.
Look, the main thing is, we've spent too much ime together lately.
He's obsessed and I'm pissed I just need a little more time, all right? That's all.
I've got some things I need to work through, and I don't want him around while I'm doing it.
I don't think that would be good for either one of us.
I know you're hurting The same way I know hat sooner or later, he pain will go away, but your friends will always be here, and that's Jeremiah, and that's me, and that's everybody else here.
Tell Markus I'll be there, but I'll be there on my own.
We are so screwed.
Face facts, Theo.
We're on our own.
No one's coming to get us.
For all his big talk, Markus is all air.
Yeah.
The way I hear it, Markus got caught his own self.
He's supposed to be up iIn a sweet little place in Valhalla Sector, Spilling his heart out about us, Selling us out o save his own neck.
Even if they got Markus, no way he'd sell us out.
He's that kind of noble hat just drives you nuts, and if his ass was any tighter, every time he smiled, you'd hear something unpleasant happening down south, if you know what I'm saying.
No, if anybody's going o get us out of here, It's Markus.
All I'm saying is whatever's coming, We've got to look out for ourselves.
Now, these guys have made us a reasonable offer.
Right.
Now, one way or another, there's going to be a new country.
The only question is, who's going to run it? I say we tell 'em whatever they want to hear, whether we mean it or not, just so we can get the hell out of here.
Excuse me, because theo can be wrong sometimes.
Not often, but sometimes.
About 30 seconds ago, weren't you just complaining about Markus selling us out, and now you want to do the same hing to save your own ass.
Anybody else see a contradiction here, Or am I just nuts? Just nuts covers it from where I sit.
You know why you're here? No, why am I here? Because your mama's medical plan didn't cover abortions.
And since there won't be any new orders coming from Valhalla Sector anytime soon, at least not from anybody hey'd recognize.
We have less than 48 hours before they decide o get rid of the evidence.
- Meaning Theo and the rest.
- Exactly.
So what's the problem? We get in, we hit 'em, we get out.
First, in taking down Valhalla Sector, we mounted the largest assault we've ever attempted.
It's going to take a while to put he pieces back together again.
Second, we don't know what the situation is on the ground in Milhaven.
We don't know where they're being held, how many guards there are, who's holding them.
We don't know anything.
So? Never stopped us before.
We need to stall, and we need information, and there's a way to do both.
When we came back from Valhalla Sector, we grabbed a couple of their helicopters, 'cause ours were in pretty bad shape.
They've got all he right transponders, markings, everything.
We can use them o send someone in on the pretext that they're from Valhalla Sector, Get the information we need and buy us some time.
When you say "someone," I assume you mean me and Kurdy.
Uh, I I need Kurdy on another part of the mission.
We'll pair you up with somebody else It won't do you any good.
Well, I mean These people aren't soldiers, but they're not exactly stupid either.
By now, they're going to be wound up tighter than a drum, and anyone who goes in there and doesn't know exactly what they're doing is going to get in a lot of trouble.
What do you suggest? Well I've been to Milhaven a few times, picking up bio-samples and other supplies.
We're not best pals, but at least they'll recognize me.
I don't think it's a very good idea.
Neither do i.
In fact, I think it's a terrible idea.
It's the stupidest idea in the history of really stupid ideas, but I think it's the only one hat'll work.
I don't like it either, but she's got a point.
Thank you.
I mean, I've been there before, I know the area, I can pretty much ake care of myself, right? So if you know the area, and you can pretty much ake care of yourself, what do you need me to do? Clean up? Davis, you there? Yeah, what's up? Helicopter coming in.
It's about freaking time.
Hey, good to see you.
It's Liberty, right? Right, It's Liberty Kaufman.
This is Je Jerry.
He's from Valhalla Sector's division of Military Intelligence.
Just stopping by o see the operation.
going to report back.
Oh, well, it's good to see you guys.
Hadn't heard anything in a couple days.
Started to get worried.
It's a communications problem.
The com system uses a bounce-back from the old slipstream satellites, and sometimes the solar flares can get pretty bad, enough to knock the system out of commission for a few days to a week.
So what's he good word? Well, there's another election coming up, and they say that he air filtration system is going to stop smelling like boiled cabbages, but I think Oh.
Sorry.
Get rid of that, okay? What did he do? Worst thing you can do in Milhaven Lied to me.
Are you sure yYou want me in charge of this thing, Markus? Positive.
You handled the attack on Valhalla Sector, and you can handle this.
And the others have your trust.
That means a lot.
You'll get on the road as soon as possible.
When Jeremiah calls in with the details, we'll relay the information o you en route.
By the time you get there, you should be ready to go.
I just don't want anybody to think hat I'm grabbing for authority, that's all.
I mean, I'm not a leader, I'm just a guy.
All the best leaders are.
You'd better go.
You have to pick your immediate support team.
They've got to be good at what they do, Kurdy, but more importantly, hey've got to be loyal to you, so choose well.
This is where it starts, Erin.
We're applying force o the outside world To shape it the way we want it to be, In order to protect it from all the other people who want to use force o shape the world.
It has to be done.
We just need to be sure we're right.
And for my next trick, I'll walk on water, heal the lame, and turn wine into water.
That's water into wine.
Ah, tomato, tomahto.
Look, I've got o do this thing, and Markus says I should pick lieutenants who I can trust to be loyal.
Make no mistake, I do think you are a little nutty But the truth is, you have saved my hide twice, and that's a big thing, So I owe you a chance to Are you listening o me? Are you okay? Yeah, I'm okay.
it's just What? It's just Most of the time, when God talks to me, here's no tone in the voice.
it's not a male voice, it's not a female voice.
It's not happy, it's not sad, it doesn't even speak in an english accent, which really messed me up for a while.
It's not one thing or another.
yt just sort of is, you know? But just now Just now There was sadness, grief, weariness And under all of it Anger.
Real anger.
The kind of anger that makes you throw yourself on the ground and cover your face and apologize for everything you've done in your entire life.
God says, "Look to the east and despair.
" That's it? Yeah, I guess you kind of had to be there.
Man, come on, we've got work to do.
So the trucks pull up with, like, 200 prisoners, and I say to the guy, "What the hell are we supposed o do with all these people?" "I mean, still building up.
Look at this place.
" And he says, "They don't have he facilities" "over at Valhalla Sector o house that many people.
" Neither do we.
It's not his problem.
He's got orders from military intelligence.
You know, there's a contradiction in terms if I ever heard one.
"military intelligence.
" Oh, no offense there.
None taken.
Anyway, we find this place about half a mile south of here, we take it over, we break 'em up into small groups so they fit better, and that's pretty much it.
I'll tell you the truth.
I am going to be so glad when you guys take 'em off our hands.
They are a real pain in the ass.
There's this one in particular, Theo I swear I would rather pluck my eyes out and spread them on toast han spend 10 minutes in a room with that woman.
Isn't that the one we're supposed to talk to? Yeah.
Right.
Is there any chance we could talk to her? No, no way.
We were given strict instructions no one's allowed in the holding area without written authorization from general Waverly, so But we could see her privately.
You could bring her to us.
Theo? In private with You're either really brave or really stupid.
Or both.
Sure, what the hell.
I guess it's okay, you know? I'll bring her by in the morning, hen you guys can get some sleep.
You're going to need it.
You know, the more I see of people like that, he more I think hat maybe daniel's right.
Daniel? Don't go off on me.
I know you people from Valhalla Sector don't much care for Daniel or what he has to say, but you know, sometimes I think he's got some pretty good ideas.
I really love what you've done here.
I see you finally got he power working again.
Just a few places, though.
Here, the town hall, all my lieutenants have power.
See, we use it as sort of his inducement.
You work with us, we work with you.
Everybody else? I think it was socrates who said Fuck 'em.
All right, we're locked and loaded.
We leave in 15 minutes.
It's the carrot or the stick.
Oh, the carrot would be great.
Good choice, my man.
Can I ask you a question? What got you started on this whole "God talks to me" stuff in the first place? The first time I heard God speak it's kind of hard to know exactly what happened, because I was kind of dead at the time.
I'd just given up, okay? I mean, I It'd been a rough life, and it wasn't getting any easier, and I just decided enough's enough, So I stood in the middle of this bridge, and I said, "I'm tired, and I'm done now," and I jumped.
The reason I chose that way was because I can't swim for shit, and I wanted to make sure I got the job done right, you know? I remember I was afraid o open my mouth, but finally, I forced it open and let the water into my lungs.
The next thing I knew, I was sinking, and it was quiet, muffled, Peaceful.
It was like I was going to sleep.
Then I heard this voice say, "Not yet".
"Not yet.
" "There's work to be done.
" And I got mad, And I said, "Screw you," Because I knew who it was.
When you're that close to death, you know what that voice is.
I said, "Screw you".
"You ran out on us.
" "You let pain and death into the world," "and now look at us, look at what we've become," "what you let happen.
" The voice said, "I know.
I know.
" "I've been away too long, but I'm back now.
" "My voice will be heard.
" "You'll be my voice.
" Anyway, he next thing I knew, I was awake on the shore.
There were people around saying they saw a wave Wash me up and just leave me there.
Scared the hell out of them.
They thought you were dead? No.
So what's so scary about seeing a wave wash somebody on shore? It was a lake.
So did he say anything else to you hat first day? Yeah, just two words.
I got the impression hey were real important.
I don't know I still haven't been able to figure out what they mean, or what they have to do with anything else.
Let me guess.
"Jesus saves.
" I got it, "Happy birthday.
" All right, Smith.
What were the two words God said to you that first day? "Fractal theory.
" What the hell is fractal theory? How the hell am I supposed to know? I'm just God's sock puppet, okay? He shoves his hand up my ass and words come out he other end.
Who knew math was involved? We've got o roust 'em up.
Davis says the guys from Valhalla want to see one of 'em.
Which one? Theo.
Shouldn't I be watching he front or something? You know, so we'll know when they bring her in? Not necessary.
Believe me, you will know.
I've just got to finish this before they get back.
God darn it, you assholes! Let me guess, hat must be Theo.
That's Theo.
Well, this is Theo.
What the f We finally get to meet face to face.
Yeah Good.
Well, that's good.
So tell the truth, Am I everything you ever dreamed of and more? Actually, a little less, but I'm prepared o make you a deal.
See, we still don't know exactly how many people escaped from the little party we crashed in St.
Louis.
Oh, you don't know? Well, you got 200 of us here, so you do the math.
I'm not going to help you.
Our facilities to your liking? That dump? Are you out of your mind? Who the hell thought sticking us in a school gym was a good idea, huh? Do I look like a basketball player to you? Some little gym shorts, some sneakers, you might surprise everybody.
Point is, Theo, it's a big world out there.
Now, it can either be a really bad place, or it can be a really good place, and that depends on you.
On whether or not you want to work with us.
Now, if you cooperate with these gentlemen over here, I can put in a good word for you.
If not, there is nothing hat I can do for you.
There is something you could do for me.
What? You can kiss my ass.
You like my part of the show? Oh, yes well.
You see? The woman's trouble.
I can't wait for you guys o take these jerks off our hands.
Now, this area here You sure you're all right with the walking? You took quite a shot o the self-esteem.
I know, it's all right.
Like I was saying, his area here separates our part of town from the rest.
Now, here we've got water, power from a generator just down the street The others don't like it too much, but whoever has the power makes the rules, right? Right.
Here's why we have to control the food supply.
See, you give people too much, and they just demand more.
The best way to keep 'em in line is to ration stuff out in ways hat suits our needs.
Keep 'em barefoot, off balance, just hungry enough o do what they're told.
It's the only way to run a place like Milhaven, Jer.
It's the only way.
Come here.
Hey.
Hi.
How's it going? We're all set.
What you got? They're being held in a school gym about a half a mile south of here.
They may have been separated into different rooms.
- How many? - About 200.
We got word to them, told them to get ready to move as soon as you do.
All right.
You'd better get back before they start missing you.
Hey, Liberty How's Jeremiah holding up? He's okay.
A little dented in a few places, but otherwise he's fine.
Should I tell him hat you asked about him? No, just wondering.
Keep your head down, we're going in.
Take this.
Here.
You will need it when they come.
I won't touch it.
Libby What're you looking at? Nothing.
Just waiting.
For what? Santa.
'Cause it's christmas, baby.
Move, move! Davis Shit! What's wrong? One of the guys we trade with just got in.
He says Valhalla Sector fell hree days ago.
What? What happened? He doesn't know for sure.
All he does know is everybody's dead.
But if it fell hree days ago We've been tricked.
Dammit.
Tell the others.
Get some of our guys up here, double up on the prisoners.
Where is he? Where is he? Hey! Come on.
Well, hello, boys.
Oh! Yeah, you'd better run.
Any problems? These guys are spread out all over the place.
It's going to be inch-by-inch for a while.
Come on.
Any more reports of fighting? No, not since dawn.
And the guys in charge? No sign of 'em.
Kurdy's tracking 'em down, although I wouldn't hold out much hope, Even with he extra help.
Once people saw what was going on around here, hey split the party pretty fast.
Sounds like hey've had it pretty rough here for a while, which is a shame, because from what I can tell, Valhalla Sector managed to rebuild a lot of he infrastructure here.
Yeah, they just, you know, didn't share the wealth, kept it all to themselves.
Mm-hmm.
What do you mean, mm-hmm? We said we were going to move into the outside world.
Make a statement.
This town would be a good place o start turning hings around.
Take what the outside world had exploited, give it direction, purpose.
Continue the rebuilding, but not just the favored few and powerful.
Besides, this was a transit point for Valhalla Sector, which means a lot people will be coming through all the time.
It'd be a good hub for us.
I agree.
Just have to find he right people to run it, - do the job right.
- Yeah.
Which brings me o you.
You've always talked about all those years on the road you spent dreaming about what it'd be like o have a home, a real home, in a town like this.
Be stable for a while.
I'd like to put you in charge of putting this place back together.
You've done us a lot of good on the road, Jeremiah, but this is potentially a lot more important.
I don't know about being You know, down in one spot.
You know, it's It's hard sometimes, but I like being able o move around.
That's my point.
You've been out there, scraping by just like them.
You'll have their respect a lot faster han if we send somebody from the Mountain.
And I've been thinking about asking Libby to stick around, too.
She knows the town, hey know her, and she knows you.
When are you thinking of pulling the trigger? Not for a while.
We have to clear out some of the problems here before we can bring somebody in to actually run the place.
Figure on another few weeks.
Well, I'll give it a shot.
You think this is a good idea? All my ideas are good ideas.
Markus, your modesty knows no end.
Thank you.
That's 'cause it knows no beginning, either.
I can live with that.
How's it going? Okay.
You're new here, right? Yeah, I just got in.
I'm a friend of Kurdy's, actually.
Great guy.
Yeah, yeah, he is.
So, where're you from originally? Me? New Orleans.
New Orleans? No kidding? Me too.
How about that? We have something in common.
Guess that makes us practically homeboys, doesn't it? Yo.
Heard you were looking for me.
Kurdy.
Yeah, come on in.
Any news on the Milhaven guys? The main guys? Nothing.
I think they got clear.
We're still tracking down some of the lower-level guys.
Well, hopefully it won't be a problem now that they've lost heir power base.
You heard about Jeremiah? Yeah, and I think once that place is ready, he'll do well over there.
Good.
Anyway, that's all.
I appreciate the update.
Let me ask you a question.
Sure.
What is fractal theory? Uh Fractal theory is a part of chaos theory.
It describes a series of identical geometric patterns nested one inside the other o infinity.
Here, let's, um, let's Check it out.
And this gives us chaos theory, which says that he presence of chaos may actually produce order and patterns, like this, on a much larger scale.
Chaos may actually be necessary for order to develop, and not just order, but beauty.
What are those wo dark areas? Every fractal has a moment of transition where it can grow one way or the other, depending on which strange attractor it's drawn to.
Strange attractor A set of points Such that all trajectories nearby are drawn to it.
Okay, well, I know what it does, but what is it, Markus? No one knows.
They can see the effect it has on what's around it, but science actually hasn't figured out what it is.
Some people think it's the final proof of the existence of God, because, like God, we can see the effect as it repeats the pattern infinitely throughout time, creating beauty and order out of chaos, but to define what it is Not possible.
But there's always one strange attractor in the bunch, huh? No, actually.
Oddly enough, here are usually two, and everything hat happens around them is defined by that division.
The greater the chaos, he greater the beauty hat comes out of it.
Assuming that everything follows he right strange attractor, because that's what shapes the world around it.
Hey.
I saw your fire.
It's cold.
I didn't get a chance o grab my coat.
All right if I join you? Thanks.
So, which way you heading? East.
There's somebody I want to see.
You? East.
I want to see this Daniel with my own eyes.
New world coming.
I want to be part of it.
original source: peritta synced and corrected: quinnell
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