ReGenesis s04e13 Episode Script
The Truth
Hello, David.
Hello, Bob.
- What are you doing here? - Nice to see you too, Nina.
Still pregnant, eh? - We need to get going.
- Hang on a sec.
You're not the easiest people to find.
You look tired, David.
Bob, let's take a walk.
We really have to get going, David.
- Bob? - No! It's okay.
I won't be long.
Human cloning is illegal.
- So is abortion.
- You know what you're doing is wrong.
Both morally and ethically.
I'm coming to terms with it.
You ever read a little book called Frankenstein? Nina and I, we're not giving up on this.
When our boy grows up, he'll have within him the power to spreading gifts - throughout the world - You've already got Johnny Appleseed knocking up the entire planet.
- You're talking about my son.
- At least come back with me, okay? Come back to the lab.
I have to go, David.
Bob, I am not gonna let you do this.
Yes you are! I know when I go, it won't be the normal tick of the clock.
It won't be the obligatory flash of my life before me.
But the whole spectacle of amino acids, proteins, DNA codes dancing in my brain.
Were we better off then? Or was it just that we didn't know as much as we do now? So what was it like when we knew nothing? When we didn't wonder? And we didn't engage? I guess that's death.
And it's been chasing me for a long time.
Dr.
Sandstrà m? Dr.
Sandstrà m.
On November 8th, at the Vistapoint Medical Facility in Independence, Missouri.
Attended to by a Dr.
Stephen Clements, now deceased, and an unknown nurse.
Is that correct? Cynthia Wilson.
That was the name of the nurse.
Thank you, Dr.
And can you tell me why Independence, Missouri? I guess that's where they were at the time.
And it had nothing to do with the passing of Amendment 2 by the people of Missouri in November 2006 unwittingly legalizing human cloning? I suppose this is where you want me to go on record and say that Robert is a clone.
For the record would you say that he was a healthy baby? First time I met him, - he was just getting over the flu.
- I see and when was that? During the pandemic of 2010.
And at that time, did you feel that the Melnikov clone was a threat? Human being - Robert is a human being.
- I see, I see.
And, when you first met him, at two years old, did you still think that he should be destroyed? I wouldn't be here defending the lives of 3.
2 million people if I did.
And in hindsight, do you regret that decision? No.
Even though close to one billion people died directly because of the Melnikov clone? Now hang on second.
People died because they got sick.
Their immune systems broke down, their organs failed, they died.
Same way they've been doing it since the first ding dong of time.
But why did they get sick, Dr.
Sandstrà m? That is what the scientists watching this inquiery are gonna want to know.
Why did they get sick and what are we going to do about it? And that's what we are going to determine today.
ReGenesis Team NorBAC Anyone, Bbsiocnarf, Dapitch666 Linwelin, Michvanilly Transcript Version NoTag 1.
0 At this point, I'd like to call Robert Melnikov.
Say again? Bob died of a cerebral hemorrhage back in 2024.
Call Robert Melnikov Junior.
Robert.
Hello, David.
I am so sorry about all this.
Me too.
Would you please state your full name? Robert Crick Melnikov Junior.
Would you characterize yourself as an entrepreneur? I suppose that's fair.
And, for the record your parents were? Dr.
Robert Melnikov.
My mother was Dr.
Nina Corba Melnikov.
But that's not really true is it? What's not true? You said your mother was Nina Corba Melnikov.
Yes, she was.
She gave birth to me on November 8th, 2008.
But you're a clone.
Thanks for taking such an interest in our son.
Where do you go from here? What are your plans for the future? We just want to raise Robert to be a good person.
Are you aware of the circumstances that brought about your conception? Do you mean do I understand the science of genetic engineering? I mean, do you understand why you were genetically engineered? Yes.
My mother, - along with Mr.
Olivier Roth - Who committed suicide in 2008.
wanted to ensure a generation of empathetic human beings.
In 2008, he implanted your father's stem cells in 176 rising politicians.
Yes, but that failed.
No shit After that, your mother and father disappeared from the public eye.
My mother was afraid of David.
She knew that he wouldn't give up.
Your parents managed to stay in hiding for some time, largely due to the help of Carlton Riddlemeyer, is that correct? Yes.
Carlton Riddlemeyer retired from the position of Under Secretary for Science and Technology in 2009 after a failed Senate bid.
What can you tell us about Carlton Riddlemeyer? Honestly, not much.
I never really knew him.
Both my mother and Mr.
Riddlemeyer died in the 2010 pandemic.
And your father? He was fine.
He took me to Toronto.
I was home schooled and kept pretty much out of the spotlight.
My father was very protective of me, until he passed when I was 17.
And when you were 18, what did you do? Mr.
Riddlemeyer along with Mr.
Roth had established a trust that I had access to when I was 18.
You founded the Robert Melnikov Fertility Center with that money, which recently the press has referred to as "ground zero".
That's correct.
Robert Melnikov Junior, was born into this world with a gift.
A gift for mankind.
The gift of empathy.
Now, the Robert Melnikov Junior Fertility Center can offer an evolutionary breakthrough: the awakening of your Jacobson's organ.
Simply put, this gland located here, at the base of the nasal cavity can help us understand one another.
Empathy is the gift of knowledge, understanding and compassion.
That infomercial ran in 178 countries in 45 languages including Estonian Your fertility center was entirely devoted to the sales and distribution of your sperm to hundreds and thousands of women throughout the world.
It's well known that my DNA is, well at least was, the most desirable.
And you took advantage of that.
I believed I had a product that people wanted.
You distributed your semen for financial reward and nothing more.
Well yes no.
I mean it was business, but I wanted to carry out my parents' desire to make the world a better place.
Did you run extensive tests on your sperm? Enough to know that I had a high count.
On your DNA? Enough to know that I was an identical clone of my father.
And did you check for retro-virus activation? You don't understand I didn't know at that time So you had no idea what you were spreading out in the world.
I believed that I was spreading a gift of empathy to families who wanted children And how long did you continue to sell this "gift" after it was considered "ground zero" for the pandemics that were sweeping the world? I stopped immediately.
And isn't it true that a World Science and Technology Court order was issued demanding that you appear here? Yes.
Mr.
Melnikov.
We are talking about close to a billion people who died because of what you released into this world.
He was two years old when all of this happened.
You're asking him to answer to questions he knows nothing about! I assume that you're referring to the flu pandemic of 2010.
Well that's the theory that's on the table, isn't it? You may step down, Mr.
Melnikov.
You are very angry with me.
This is very personal to you.
Your emotions are overpowering.
You may step down.
I'm going to call Mayko Binghampton.
You did well, Robert.
Would you please tell me your name? Mayko Tran Binghampton.
Can I ask you your age? Did you ask anyone else their age? When were you born? April 2nd, 1980.
- So that would make you - Older than you.
So why is it that you appear to be a woman in her late twenties? I contracted TTLV Strain 451 during the outbreak of 2023.
I had extensive scaring, hair loss, internal organ damage So I take it that the way you appear today is due to extensive surgery.
Yes.
Artificial skin replacements, hair.
I had a new liver, spleen and left lung regenerated through my skin stem cells and I had my leg replaced when limb replacement surgery became available, I guess that was a bit of a vanity thing.
So you believe in the science of science.
Yes I do.
No regrets? None.
No concerns about any of your surgeries? No.
Why should I have concerns? They're all standard procedure today.
Yes, but at the time, some of what you had done was considered highly experimental.
I am a scientist.
I believe in science.
Experiments, research, that is how we learn, it's how we get it right.
So, do you think that science, as we see it today, is a responsible discipline? Yes.
Even though, according to the most recent research, it took the scientific community that the flu pandemic of 2010 was directly responsible for the DNA mutation of the Melnikov clone? I'm sorry, I wouldn't know.
I didn't read the research.
Well then as a scientist, perhaps you can tell me why it took NorBAC so long to become involved in the flu pandemic of 2010.
Well we were a little bit disorganized back then.
We had a lot going on - Where the hell have you been? - Around.
- David, I've been looking for you - Take that stupid mask off! Do you even know how bad it's getting out there? I got a pretty good idea.
I got your message, I came back.
What do you got for me? Riddlemeyer quit last week.
- Why? - I don't know.
Other interests.
Now we've got this new guy, Krutchmeyer somebody, who's an idiot.
He doesn't know a Petri dish from a sequencer.
Assuming NorBAC is all over this flu.
No.
We're all over the place, David.
We're getting nowhere.
Have you read the latest numbers? I've been on a mountain talking to yaks for the last two months, Mayko.
The next time you need to take a break, could you go somewhere with internet? How bad is it? We're dealing with a massive pandemic.
We've got simultaneous explosions of infections in Berlin, Brussels, Paris and London.
- You sure it's the same virus? - Identical.
And it seems to be uncontainable.
It's slipping out of quarantines, popping up in places it shouldn't be: clinics, hospitals.
Nobody have has any idea why So far it's up to 22 countries.
- Still no patient zero? - Not even close to any containment.
Oh my God! Where did you come from? Just got in last night.
Hello my friend.
Oh, man I thought I was never gonna see you again.
- Hello David.
- Jesus! Did you pull this off? You just gotta know who to lean on.
I started PCRs on the strain to check for genetic drift.
I pulled the latest data for you.
I started to put your office back together.
Say something, David.
The world's waiting to shit on us.
Let's get to work.
No, I'm curious.
Why was this particular virus so hard to contain? Because we weren't looking in the right places.
Are you suggesting incompetence? Absolutely not.
Then why weren't you looking in all the right places? - You wanted a virologist named Enuka? - Okimba.
You find her? - Flying in today via the military.
- Great.
What about Jill? She last worked at Scripps in La Jolla, quit a year ago and is MIA.
How you doing? Moved back in, trying to get up to speed.
- I've got so much to catch up on.
- I mean How you doing, Wes? Great.
The stem cell therapy on the liver took.
The HCV is eradicated and we're really close on the HIV, so A walking testimonial to science, hey? I missed it around here.
I'm sorry about Rachel.
Welcome back.
Thank you.
NorBAC wasn't the only lab - working on the virus at this time.
- God, no.
I think every lab in the world was testing, treating, doing whatever they could.
Then why don't we focus on what you do know? What was NorBAC doing? I got the latest from Europe.
Patients in hospitals have doubled overnight.
Homeland Security has issued a statement suggesting terrorism.
And it's shown up in South Africa, so that's 6 countries on that continent.
But we still get conflicting ID reports.
Wait a minute, I thought it was confirmed that it was the same strain.
We think we are but other labs working on this strain aren't so sure.
Okay, I trust us, so let's operate on the assumption that we're dealing with the same strain universally.
What else? We're looking at high mortality rates in 11 centers.
And this was just 72 h into the initial reports of the outbreak.
And the numbers doubled again after that night.
So what took so long to shut down the airports, contain the borders, shut down the schools? This was 2010.
A flu epidemic hit generally every year and most people, the elderly, were advised to get flu shots but just like going to the moon, - it became commonplace.
- But this was not just a "commonplace" flu! No it wasn't.
The pandemic's been noticed in What was it in North and South America, - Africa, Asia and Europe.
- Nothing in the Middle East? Is that why Homeland is thinking terrorism? The outbreaks were simultaneous.
They don't think that's a coincidence.
What about Australia? Got a border shut down in place.
They sealed up every entry point - after the first alert was posted.
- Civil aviation in North America will be shut down at 10:30 tonight.
Anything else? in retaliation attacks.
Fucking TV! They don't even know it's terrorism.
- They're throwing gasoline on the fire.
- How would you like me to spin this? I don't know, Wes.
Tell them - Just make something positive up.
- There's half a million people dying.
It's gonna take some work.
Look, let's focus on what we know we can deal with.
Enuka, where are we at with the identification? We're not 100% sure yet.
But the sequence analysis suggests a variant of a couple of different flu strains.
These results are from flu kits.
Why haven't they done a complete sequence to ID the strain? - The flu kits are fast - They're non-specific.
There's like an error rate of 60%, that's with trained personnel doing them.
Yes, that's what I'm saying.
Since so many lab techs are sick, - that's all the hospitals have to use.
- Sick lab techs? All the outbreaks, attacks, whatever, they were first noticed in hospitals and clinics.
Okay Okay.
So we got lab techs.
We got hospitals.
We got clinics.
What else? The first sick aren't patients or doctors, they're what they call windowless workers: cleaning staff, lab scientists, audiology - Basement workers essentially.
- Wait a minute What? Holy shit.
What is it? This looks a hell of a lot like Like Spanish flu.
How can you know that? Just take a look at the protein signatures.
It might be a variant, but that is the fucking Spanish flu.
I'd recognize that as well as I'd recognize my own hand writing.
Mike? David Sandstrà m.
I need to get my hands on one of those microarray chips we were working on.
I know it's not complete.
Listen It'll be faster and more accurate than anything we've got.
And we need answers now.
Where did this chip come from? How did you design the chip to be able to sequence the Spanish flu so effectively? Well, I was helping develop the chip with some researchers from McGill University in Montreal.
Spanish flu is one of my passions.
Illegally? What? You were designing the chip without government approval.
We At the time, we didn't have Big Brother telling us what we could or could not do.
We could research, we could experiment without the permission of some arbitrary board of overseers.
I take it you were opposed to the Singapore Accord of 2032.
I don't like anybody telling me what I'm allowed to learn about, or wonder at, think.
Do you think if that Accord were in place when you were researching a way to help Bob Melnikov Senior repair his eyesight, that we would be in the situation as we're in today? What do you think is more important: knowledge or imagination? I don't think that that question has any place in this inquiry.
No, just answer the question.
Maybe I can help you out.
Well, I guess I guess I would say knowledge.
That's why you're a lawyer.
No offense.
Scientists use knowledge.
But when you have to break new ground, you have to use your imagination.
You have to speculate, theorize, hypothesize.
Sometimes you can fantasize for inspiration.
And in your wildest imaginings, did you anticipate the death of close to a billion people because of the Melnikov clone? In my wildest imaginings, all I saw were tears of joy in the eyes of my dearest friend as he regained his sight.
Let's get back to the microchip.
Please, continue.
Look, the sequencing chip may have been illegal by today's standards, but at the time, it was really quite revolutionary.
We were in the middle of a crisis.
So I went back to work with every tool I had available to me.
OK, what do we got? Here it is.
Spanish flu.
I don't know whether to celebrate or to fall on my knees and pray.
Wait a second, how is that possible? How can you have simultaneous outbreaks of flu strains with exactly the same genetic code? It's impossible.
Viruses evolve, they mutate.
Yeah Well that's not natural.
Maybe Homeland does have something with this terrorism theory.
Get it out there, let them know what we're up against.
Jill Langston designed a vaccine for the Spanish Flu in 2005.
But not one single government felt the need to stockpile it.
And if we did have stockpiles, do you feel the pandemic would have been stopped in its tracks? Things wouldn't have gotten as bad as it got.
Dr.
Binghampton? I agree.
Then why did the WHO, the CDC and 60 major drug companies all disagree with you? Because it hadn't been around for decades.
- Supply and demand.
- Nobody stockpiled vaccines because nobody thought you could make a buck off it! So once you discovered it was the Spanish Flu, what did you do? Our mandate was to identify where the outbreak occurred.
Was it terrorism or something else? While the Spanish Flu ravages the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa, with daily death tolls now estimated into the hundreds of thousands the one safe haven on the globe continues to be Australia.
Today the emergency coalition government announced that it turned away 5 refugee ships that had entered its territorial waters.
The government also passed legislation - First outbreak in Finland.
- Hospital? Hospital.
Patient zero is a microbiologist.
- Testing for the flu, he gets it.
- But from whom? No one had it.
It's a classic flu transmission.
Somebody's sick with something, they're weak, they get the flu, and they die.
Then the health care workers get sick everybody thinks they're patient zero.
But microbiologists, if anybody, would take precaution, David.
Must be an incredibly contagious strain.
No, we're missing something.
The scientific community had been warning the world that we were destined for a major pandemic.
While everyone was out renting "An Inconvenient Truth", nobody was listening to us.
Well, maybe you just didn't speak loudly enough.
You didn't know David Sandstrà m back then.
I don't give a shit about the pig farmers, alright?! The virus could be zoonotic! That means it could pass between animals and humans, alright? So all the pigs along the Canadian-US border have to be destroyed.
Fuck that shit! Do it now! Hello? Wes! Fuck! What's up? Could you please call someone in Washington and tell them to stop shipping pigs, and cattle, and chickens and I don't know, fucking elephants across the border.
They could be carriers! Fine.
Someone would like to speak to you.
I don't have time right now.
Where's Mayko with those charts? - You're gonna want to talk to him.
- I said I don't have Hey.
Oh my God.
This is my son, David.
Robert Crick Melnikov Junior.
Robert, this is David.
Hi.
He knows he's He's been told he's not supposed to touch anyone.
Germs.
- Hey.
- Hey, Mayko.
- Hi, how are you? - Good.
This is, this is Robert Jr.
Robert, this is Mayko.
I want to help.
I want my job back.
How does Nina feel about you coming back? We buried her 11 days ago.
I've been testing myself and Robert Jr.
And we're not contagious.
Did you hear about Carlton Riddlemeyer? I did.
David.
It's in Australia.
Six people who work together.
- In a hospital? Where'd they work? - Some sort of a warehouse.
Medical Arts Surgical Supplies.
- Hospital supply house.
Shit.
- What? What are they supplying? Catheters? Sheets? Flu kits? Shit.
I'll look into it.
And that was that.
So, we were finally able to focus in the right place.
The flu pandemic of 2010 that killed 189 million men, women and children was started by a manufacturing error.
They distributed Flu test kits to 2,500 labs around the world.
- Contaminated kits? - Apparently, somebody accidentally put in a live virus instead of an attenuated one.
Accidentally or on purpose.
You got a manufacturer? ValTest.
FBI is speaking to them right now.
Okay, ValTest.
It says here they're the biggest manufacturer of flu viruses in the world.
Great.
Okay, we've ID-ed it.
We have a source.
Let's see if we can figure out how to contain this fucking thing.
Welcome back everyone.
The death toll would have tripled if we hadn't caught that mistake.
I'm talking about the damage done to the Melnikov clone.
Why don't you just call her.
Get her up on the stand.
You're dismissed, Dr.
Binghampton.
Thank you.
I would like to call Dr.
Lilith Sandstrà m.
Don't worry.
I'll be fine.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
- Hey, Daddy.
- Hi.
State your name.
Lilith Sandstrà m Bersherac.
- And your occupation? - I'm a Paleovirologist.
What you would call a Genetic Historian.
And can you tell us why you are here today? Three months ago, my research lab began collecting data on the Melnikov lineage.
We still need to do the clinical research.
This is some very compelling stuff.
It's a start.
No, I I think you pretty much nailed it.
Shit.
- I still have a lot of work to do.
- Of course you do.
You need to publish this.
You really think so? Yeah.
Dad, if we confirm the Melnikov lineage is the source This could be a witch hunt.
We're not gonna let that happen.
And could you summarize the Retrovirus Analysis of Robert Melnikov? You have to understand this is preliminary data we're still reviewing.
But convincing enough for you to feel necessary to publish.
Now could you please explain what you discovered three months ago.
When Robert Melnikov was infected during the influenza pandemic of 2010, retroviruses in his body were reactivated.
I'm sorry, could you explain what an endogenous retrovirus is? More or less, a parasite fossilized in our DNA for millions of years.
It's in all our cells, including cells critical for our reproduction: sperm, egg.
Every patient zero from every outbreak is a confirmed Melnikov test tube baby.
What about Robert? Is he contagious? Is he one of these viral factories? Astoundingly, no.
It appears he's immune to whatever activates them in his lineage.
It still makes him the direct genetic link to this whole new generation of retroviruses.
Okay, we've gotta fix it.
We need to evaluate some kind of quarantine protocol.
How old is he? The oldest of the Melnikov test tube babies.
William Bergman? He's 17 next month.
And the youngest? I don't know.
Thousands will be born next year.
Here's what we're gonna do.
We're gonna do the best that we can to make these people as comfortable as we can.
Put all your wrote data on the internet, make it accessible to anybody.
We're gonna put together the best virologists we can find.
We're gonna be damn sure that we don't end up in some inquisition room where they make use seem like a bunch of bungling buffoons.
Let me put this all together.
Nina Corba and Olivier Roth were successful in cloning a human fetus in 2008.
Human cloning was, at that time, illegal.
That was a long time ago.
That clone's DNA was altered after infection with a virulent flu strain.
- Which no one could have anticipated.
- that eventually opened the door to a multitude of viruses that have laid dormant in the human species for millions of years.
The altered DNA was spread when it was used as special "empathy" sperm for the in vitro fertilization of 3.
2 million women.
Now, we can directly link the CTLV virus of 2022 that killed 13 million people, to the descendents of the Melnikov experiment.
The Cambium cell epidemic, from 2025 to 2027, took 22 million lives.
- It too came from - Alright stop it.
Robert Melnikov Jr.
The HIV-4 strain outbreak of 2034, six million dead.
I said: Stop it! We faced those pandemics and we dealt with them, we learnt from them.
At what cost? We are not here to dispute the facts.
The question is: What is to be done - with the children? - Dr.
Sandstrà m.
This inquiry was called after a classified document, written in conjunction with the Consortium of the Unified Nations, questioned whether the current direction of the scientific community is aggressive enough.
That's just fucking bullshit! There are over 150 labs all around the world currently picking apart those retroviruses, finding out how they reproduce in the human body, how they stay alive! Well isn't that just a waste of time and money? You have to know how something lives before you can understand how it will die.
And in the three months since you began this work, how close are you to a solution? It could be right around the corner or it could be halfway to heaven.
But we learn something new everyday.
And do you agree that everyday there are still these these viral factories walking amongst us.
Quarantining under the age of 18 is challenging, yes.
But I have met some of these kids.
They are empathic.
And they know where's at stake.
No, we haven't got them all contained, we need more money, more facilities.
And so far, 4 trillion euros - has been spent on this program.
- And by the time this is over, we'll probably need another 4 trillion.
The Consortium has recommended an alternative approach.
The Consortium are a bunch of bureaucrats who should stick to political science, not biological.
The Consortium is recommending a humane eradication program of the Melnikov lineage.
That's insane.
They recommend that the program take effect immediately, and that the remains be properly incinerated for the protection of the general population.
Hope Those human beings, they've contracted a condition not of their own doing and you are willing to turn your backs on them rather than allow us the chance to find a solution.
No, the recommendation is meant to save the lives of 7 billion people living on this planet.
And you think You think they'll be safe if the Melnikov lineage is wiped out? Why risk a definitive solution for the hope of a cure? Because that's how we'll endure! By solving our problems, not running away.
Because by learning how to stop the Melnikov viruses, we may just learn how to stop the last virus.
The "last virus"? Someday, a virus could evolve to be so perfectly efficient that it will destroy every living thing on this planet.
The end.
The end of our species.
The end of everything.
And it's going to happen.
No matter how many corpses you throw in the fire.
No matter whether you're prepared or not.
Science makes mistakes.
But science is a journey.
The road is long and with every step, we learn a little bit more.
So, you want us to just put our trust in science.
I want you to believe in it.
I want you to ask yourself: Have we gone far enough? And if you find that the answer is "yes", fine.
You stop.
But don't ask me to stop.
I can't see the end of the road.
And if you just let me keep going, as far as I can, I promise, I will prove to you that there is nothing to be afraid of.
That it's just shadows.
That 3.
2 million people do not have to die because of fear and ignorance.
And that what has happened here today need never happen again.
Thank you, Dr.
Sandstrà m.
You think he's dead? I dunno.
He's dead.
Holy shit.
I've never seen a dead guy.
Me neither.
What do we do? Did you see that? You okay, Mister? You're bleeding.
Bob? Where are we going? Merci pour vos encouragements durant ces deux dernières saisons.
Merci aux sous-titreurs qui ont travaillé sur la série Les survivants : Anyone, Bbsiocnarf, Dapitch666, Enelea, Linwelin, Michvanilly.
Les anciens NorBACiens : Et Hop, Icefre@k, MiKL, Spanish Flu, Teuteu.
Nos dépanneurs : NikoMagnus, Golgi, Goufrach, Lovechange.
Nos prédécesseurs : Kubilai, Lama, Lemonhead, Teuteu.
pour les transcripts des 4 saisons, à Sub-way, Seriessub et Forom pour la diffusion des sous-titres, à la Badabing Team, aux Lok et à la team PSG66 pour l'hébergement.
à bientôt pour de nouvelles aventures.
La Team NorBAC
Hello, Bob.
- What are you doing here? - Nice to see you too, Nina.
Still pregnant, eh? - We need to get going.
- Hang on a sec.
You're not the easiest people to find.
You look tired, David.
Bob, let's take a walk.
We really have to get going, David.
- Bob? - No! It's okay.
I won't be long.
Human cloning is illegal.
- So is abortion.
- You know what you're doing is wrong.
Both morally and ethically.
I'm coming to terms with it.
You ever read a little book called Frankenstein? Nina and I, we're not giving up on this.
When our boy grows up, he'll have within him the power to spreading gifts - throughout the world - You've already got Johnny Appleseed knocking up the entire planet.
- You're talking about my son.
- At least come back with me, okay? Come back to the lab.
I have to go, David.
Bob, I am not gonna let you do this.
Yes you are! I know when I go, it won't be the normal tick of the clock.
It won't be the obligatory flash of my life before me.
But the whole spectacle of amino acids, proteins, DNA codes dancing in my brain.
Were we better off then? Or was it just that we didn't know as much as we do now? So what was it like when we knew nothing? When we didn't wonder? And we didn't engage? I guess that's death.
And it's been chasing me for a long time.
Dr.
Sandstrà m? Dr.
Sandstrà m.
On November 8th, at the Vistapoint Medical Facility in Independence, Missouri.
Attended to by a Dr.
Stephen Clements, now deceased, and an unknown nurse.
Is that correct? Cynthia Wilson.
That was the name of the nurse.
Thank you, Dr.
And can you tell me why Independence, Missouri? I guess that's where they were at the time.
And it had nothing to do with the passing of Amendment 2 by the people of Missouri in November 2006 unwittingly legalizing human cloning? I suppose this is where you want me to go on record and say that Robert is a clone.
For the record would you say that he was a healthy baby? First time I met him, - he was just getting over the flu.
- I see and when was that? During the pandemic of 2010.
And at that time, did you feel that the Melnikov clone was a threat? Human being - Robert is a human being.
- I see, I see.
And, when you first met him, at two years old, did you still think that he should be destroyed? I wouldn't be here defending the lives of 3.
2 million people if I did.
And in hindsight, do you regret that decision? No.
Even though close to one billion people died directly because of the Melnikov clone? Now hang on second.
People died because they got sick.
Their immune systems broke down, their organs failed, they died.
Same way they've been doing it since the first ding dong of time.
But why did they get sick, Dr.
Sandstrà m? That is what the scientists watching this inquiery are gonna want to know.
Why did they get sick and what are we going to do about it? And that's what we are going to determine today.
ReGenesis Team NorBAC Anyone, Bbsiocnarf, Dapitch666 Linwelin, Michvanilly Transcript Version NoTag 1.
0 At this point, I'd like to call Robert Melnikov.
Say again? Bob died of a cerebral hemorrhage back in 2024.
Call Robert Melnikov Junior.
Robert.
Hello, David.
I am so sorry about all this.
Me too.
Would you please state your full name? Robert Crick Melnikov Junior.
Would you characterize yourself as an entrepreneur? I suppose that's fair.
And, for the record your parents were? Dr.
Robert Melnikov.
My mother was Dr.
Nina Corba Melnikov.
But that's not really true is it? What's not true? You said your mother was Nina Corba Melnikov.
Yes, she was.
She gave birth to me on November 8th, 2008.
But you're a clone.
Thanks for taking such an interest in our son.
Where do you go from here? What are your plans for the future? We just want to raise Robert to be a good person.
Are you aware of the circumstances that brought about your conception? Do you mean do I understand the science of genetic engineering? I mean, do you understand why you were genetically engineered? Yes.
My mother, - along with Mr.
Olivier Roth - Who committed suicide in 2008.
wanted to ensure a generation of empathetic human beings.
In 2008, he implanted your father's stem cells in 176 rising politicians.
Yes, but that failed.
No shit After that, your mother and father disappeared from the public eye.
My mother was afraid of David.
She knew that he wouldn't give up.
Your parents managed to stay in hiding for some time, largely due to the help of Carlton Riddlemeyer, is that correct? Yes.
Carlton Riddlemeyer retired from the position of Under Secretary for Science and Technology in 2009 after a failed Senate bid.
What can you tell us about Carlton Riddlemeyer? Honestly, not much.
I never really knew him.
Both my mother and Mr.
Riddlemeyer died in the 2010 pandemic.
And your father? He was fine.
He took me to Toronto.
I was home schooled and kept pretty much out of the spotlight.
My father was very protective of me, until he passed when I was 17.
And when you were 18, what did you do? Mr.
Riddlemeyer along with Mr.
Roth had established a trust that I had access to when I was 18.
You founded the Robert Melnikov Fertility Center with that money, which recently the press has referred to as "ground zero".
That's correct.
Robert Melnikov Junior, was born into this world with a gift.
A gift for mankind.
The gift of empathy.
Now, the Robert Melnikov Junior Fertility Center can offer an evolutionary breakthrough: the awakening of your Jacobson's organ.
Simply put, this gland located here, at the base of the nasal cavity can help us understand one another.
Empathy is the gift of knowledge, understanding and compassion.
That infomercial ran in 178 countries in 45 languages including Estonian Your fertility center was entirely devoted to the sales and distribution of your sperm to hundreds and thousands of women throughout the world.
It's well known that my DNA is, well at least was, the most desirable.
And you took advantage of that.
I believed I had a product that people wanted.
You distributed your semen for financial reward and nothing more.
Well yes no.
I mean it was business, but I wanted to carry out my parents' desire to make the world a better place.
Did you run extensive tests on your sperm? Enough to know that I had a high count.
On your DNA? Enough to know that I was an identical clone of my father.
And did you check for retro-virus activation? You don't understand I didn't know at that time So you had no idea what you were spreading out in the world.
I believed that I was spreading a gift of empathy to families who wanted children And how long did you continue to sell this "gift" after it was considered "ground zero" for the pandemics that were sweeping the world? I stopped immediately.
And isn't it true that a World Science and Technology Court order was issued demanding that you appear here? Yes.
Mr.
Melnikov.
We are talking about close to a billion people who died because of what you released into this world.
He was two years old when all of this happened.
You're asking him to answer to questions he knows nothing about! I assume that you're referring to the flu pandemic of 2010.
Well that's the theory that's on the table, isn't it? You may step down, Mr.
Melnikov.
You are very angry with me.
This is very personal to you.
Your emotions are overpowering.
You may step down.
I'm going to call Mayko Binghampton.
You did well, Robert.
Would you please tell me your name? Mayko Tran Binghampton.
Can I ask you your age? Did you ask anyone else their age? When were you born? April 2nd, 1980.
- So that would make you - Older than you.
So why is it that you appear to be a woman in her late twenties? I contracted TTLV Strain 451 during the outbreak of 2023.
I had extensive scaring, hair loss, internal organ damage So I take it that the way you appear today is due to extensive surgery.
Yes.
Artificial skin replacements, hair.
I had a new liver, spleen and left lung regenerated through my skin stem cells and I had my leg replaced when limb replacement surgery became available, I guess that was a bit of a vanity thing.
So you believe in the science of science.
Yes I do.
No regrets? None.
No concerns about any of your surgeries? No.
Why should I have concerns? They're all standard procedure today.
Yes, but at the time, some of what you had done was considered highly experimental.
I am a scientist.
I believe in science.
Experiments, research, that is how we learn, it's how we get it right.
So, do you think that science, as we see it today, is a responsible discipline? Yes.
Even though, according to the most recent research, it took the scientific community that the flu pandemic of 2010 was directly responsible for the DNA mutation of the Melnikov clone? I'm sorry, I wouldn't know.
I didn't read the research.
Well then as a scientist, perhaps you can tell me why it took NorBAC so long to become involved in the flu pandemic of 2010.
Well we were a little bit disorganized back then.
We had a lot going on - Where the hell have you been? - Around.
- David, I've been looking for you - Take that stupid mask off! Do you even know how bad it's getting out there? I got a pretty good idea.
I got your message, I came back.
What do you got for me? Riddlemeyer quit last week.
- Why? - I don't know.
Other interests.
Now we've got this new guy, Krutchmeyer somebody, who's an idiot.
He doesn't know a Petri dish from a sequencer.
Assuming NorBAC is all over this flu.
No.
We're all over the place, David.
We're getting nowhere.
Have you read the latest numbers? I've been on a mountain talking to yaks for the last two months, Mayko.
The next time you need to take a break, could you go somewhere with internet? How bad is it? We're dealing with a massive pandemic.
We've got simultaneous explosions of infections in Berlin, Brussels, Paris and London.
- You sure it's the same virus? - Identical.
And it seems to be uncontainable.
It's slipping out of quarantines, popping up in places it shouldn't be: clinics, hospitals.
Nobody have has any idea why So far it's up to 22 countries.
- Still no patient zero? - Not even close to any containment.
Oh my God! Where did you come from? Just got in last night.
Hello my friend.
Oh, man I thought I was never gonna see you again.
- Hello David.
- Jesus! Did you pull this off? You just gotta know who to lean on.
I started PCRs on the strain to check for genetic drift.
I pulled the latest data for you.
I started to put your office back together.
Say something, David.
The world's waiting to shit on us.
Let's get to work.
No, I'm curious.
Why was this particular virus so hard to contain? Because we weren't looking in the right places.
Are you suggesting incompetence? Absolutely not.
Then why weren't you looking in all the right places? - You wanted a virologist named Enuka? - Okimba.
You find her? - Flying in today via the military.
- Great.
What about Jill? She last worked at Scripps in La Jolla, quit a year ago and is MIA.
How you doing? Moved back in, trying to get up to speed.
- I've got so much to catch up on.
- I mean How you doing, Wes? Great.
The stem cell therapy on the liver took.
The HCV is eradicated and we're really close on the HIV, so A walking testimonial to science, hey? I missed it around here.
I'm sorry about Rachel.
Welcome back.
Thank you.
NorBAC wasn't the only lab - working on the virus at this time.
- God, no.
I think every lab in the world was testing, treating, doing whatever they could.
Then why don't we focus on what you do know? What was NorBAC doing? I got the latest from Europe.
Patients in hospitals have doubled overnight.
Homeland Security has issued a statement suggesting terrorism.
And it's shown up in South Africa, so that's 6 countries on that continent.
But we still get conflicting ID reports.
Wait a minute, I thought it was confirmed that it was the same strain.
We think we are but other labs working on this strain aren't so sure.
Okay, I trust us, so let's operate on the assumption that we're dealing with the same strain universally.
What else? We're looking at high mortality rates in 11 centers.
And this was just 72 h into the initial reports of the outbreak.
And the numbers doubled again after that night.
So what took so long to shut down the airports, contain the borders, shut down the schools? This was 2010.
A flu epidemic hit generally every year and most people, the elderly, were advised to get flu shots but just like going to the moon, - it became commonplace.
- But this was not just a "commonplace" flu! No it wasn't.
The pandemic's been noticed in What was it in North and South America, - Africa, Asia and Europe.
- Nothing in the Middle East? Is that why Homeland is thinking terrorism? The outbreaks were simultaneous.
They don't think that's a coincidence.
What about Australia? Got a border shut down in place.
They sealed up every entry point - after the first alert was posted.
- Civil aviation in North America will be shut down at 10:30 tonight.
Anything else? in retaliation attacks.
Fucking TV! They don't even know it's terrorism.
- They're throwing gasoline on the fire.
- How would you like me to spin this? I don't know, Wes.
Tell them - Just make something positive up.
- There's half a million people dying.
It's gonna take some work.
Look, let's focus on what we know we can deal with.
Enuka, where are we at with the identification? We're not 100% sure yet.
But the sequence analysis suggests a variant of a couple of different flu strains.
These results are from flu kits.
Why haven't they done a complete sequence to ID the strain? - The flu kits are fast - They're non-specific.
There's like an error rate of 60%, that's with trained personnel doing them.
Yes, that's what I'm saying.
Since so many lab techs are sick, - that's all the hospitals have to use.
- Sick lab techs? All the outbreaks, attacks, whatever, they were first noticed in hospitals and clinics.
Okay Okay.
So we got lab techs.
We got hospitals.
We got clinics.
What else? The first sick aren't patients or doctors, they're what they call windowless workers: cleaning staff, lab scientists, audiology - Basement workers essentially.
- Wait a minute What? Holy shit.
What is it? This looks a hell of a lot like Like Spanish flu.
How can you know that? Just take a look at the protein signatures.
It might be a variant, but that is the fucking Spanish flu.
I'd recognize that as well as I'd recognize my own hand writing.
Mike? David Sandstrà m.
I need to get my hands on one of those microarray chips we were working on.
I know it's not complete.
Listen It'll be faster and more accurate than anything we've got.
And we need answers now.
Where did this chip come from? How did you design the chip to be able to sequence the Spanish flu so effectively? Well, I was helping develop the chip with some researchers from McGill University in Montreal.
Spanish flu is one of my passions.
Illegally? What? You were designing the chip without government approval.
We At the time, we didn't have Big Brother telling us what we could or could not do.
We could research, we could experiment without the permission of some arbitrary board of overseers.
I take it you were opposed to the Singapore Accord of 2032.
I don't like anybody telling me what I'm allowed to learn about, or wonder at, think.
Do you think if that Accord were in place when you were researching a way to help Bob Melnikov Senior repair his eyesight, that we would be in the situation as we're in today? What do you think is more important: knowledge or imagination? I don't think that that question has any place in this inquiry.
No, just answer the question.
Maybe I can help you out.
Well, I guess I guess I would say knowledge.
That's why you're a lawyer.
No offense.
Scientists use knowledge.
But when you have to break new ground, you have to use your imagination.
You have to speculate, theorize, hypothesize.
Sometimes you can fantasize for inspiration.
And in your wildest imaginings, did you anticipate the death of close to a billion people because of the Melnikov clone? In my wildest imaginings, all I saw were tears of joy in the eyes of my dearest friend as he regained his sight.
Let's get back to the microchip.
Please, continue.
Look, the sequencing chip may have been illegal by today's standards, but at the time, it was really quite revolutionary.
We were in the middle of a crisis.
So I went back to work with every tool I had available to me.
OK, what do we got? Here it is.
Spanish flu.
I don't know whether to celebrate or to fall on my knees and pray.
Wait a second, how is that possible? How can you have simultaneous outbreaks of flu strains with exactly the same genetic code? It's impossible.
Viruses evolve, they mutate.
Yeah Well that's not natural.
Maybe Homeland does have something with this terrorism theory.
Get it out there, let them know what we're up against.
Jill Langston designed a vaccine for the Spanish Flu in 2005.
But not one single government felt the need to stockpile it.
And if we did have stockpiles, do you feel the pandemic would have been stopped in its tracks? Things wouldn't have gotten as bad as it got.
Dr.
Binghampton? I agree.
Then why did the WHO, the CDC and 60 major drug companies all disagree with you? Because it hadn't been around for decades.
- Supply and demand.
- Nobody stockpiled vaccines because nobody thought you could make a buck off it! So once you discovered it was the Spanish Flu, what did you do? Our mandate was to identify where the outbreak occurred.
Was it terrorism or something else? While the Spanish Flu ravages the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa, with daily death tolls now estimated into the hundreds of thousands the one safe haven on the globe continues to be Australia.
Today the emergency coalition government announced that it turned away 5 refugee ships that had entered its territorial waters.
The government also passed legislation - First outbreak in Finland.
- Hospital? Hospital.
Patient zero is a microbiologist.
- Testing for the flu, he gets it.
- But from whom? No one had it.
It's a classic flu transmission.
Somebody's sick with something, they're weak, they get the flu, and they die.
Then the health care workers get sick everybody thinks they're patient zero.
But microbiologists, if anybody, would take precaution, David.
Must be an incredibly contagious strain.
No, we're missing something.
The scientific community had been warning the world that we were destined for a major pandemic.
While everyone was out renting "An Inconvenient Truth", nobody was listening to us.
Well, maybe you just didn't speak loudly enough.
You didn't know David Sandstrà m back then.
I don't give a shit about the pig farmers, alright?! The virus could be zoonotic! That means it could pass between animals and humans, alright? So all the pigs along the Canadian-US border have to be destroyed.
Fuck that shit! Do it now! Hello? Wes! Fuck! What's up? Could you please call someone in Washington and tell them to stop shipping pigs, and cattle, and chickens and I don't know, fucking elephants across the border.
They could be carriers! Fine.
Someone would like to speak to you.
I don't have time right now.
Where's Mayko with those charts? - You're gonna want to talk to him.
- I said I don't have Hey.
Oh my God.
This is my son, David.
Robert Crick Melnikov Junior.
Robert, this is David.
Hi.
He knows he's He's been told he's not supposed to touch anyone.
Germs.
- Hey.
- Hey, Mayko.
- Hi, how are you? - Good.
This is, this is Robert Jr.
Robert, this is Mayko.
I want to help.
I want my job back.
How does Nina feel about you coming back? We buried her 11 days ago.
I've been testing myself and Robert Jr.
And we're not contagious.
Did you hear about Carlton Riddlemeyer? I did.
David.
It's in Australia.
Six people who work together.
- In a hospital? Where'd they work? - Some sort of a warehouse.
Medical Arts Surgical Supplies.
- Hospital supply house.
Shit.
- What? What are they supplying? Catheters? Sheets? Flu kits? Shit.
I'll look into it.
And that was that.
So, we were finally able to focus in the right place.
The flu pandemic of 2010 that killed 189 million men, women and children was started by a manufacturing error.
They distributed Flu test kits to 2,500 labs around the world.
- Contaminated kits? - Apparently, somebody accidentally put in a live virus instead of an attenuated one.
Accidentally or on purpose.
You got a manufacturer? ValTest.
FBI is speaking to them right now.
Okay, ValTest.
It says here they're the biggest manufacturer of flu viruses in the world.
Great.
Okay, we've ID-ed it.
We have a source.
Let's see if we can figure out how to contain this fucking thing.
Welcome back everyone.
The death toll would have tripled if we hadn't caught that mistake.
I'm talking about the damage done to the Melnikov clone.
Why don't you just call her.
Get her up on the stand.
You're dismissed, Dr.
Binghampton.
Thank you.
I would like to call Dr.
Lilith Sandstrà m.
Don't worry.
I'll be fine.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
- Hey, Daddy.
- Hi.
State your name.
Lilith Sandstrà m Bersherac.
- And your occupation? - I'm a Paleovirologist.
What you would call a Genetic Historian.
And can you tell us why you are here today? Three months ago, my research lab began collecting data on the Melnikov lineage.
We still need to do the clinical research.
This is some very compelling stuff.
It's a start.
No, I I think you pretty much nailed it.
Shit.
- I still have a lot of work to do.
- Of course you do.
You need to publish this.
You really think so? Yeah.
Dad, if we confirm the Melnikov lineage is the source This could be a witch hunt.
We're not gonna let that happen.
And could you summarize the Retrovirus Analysis of Robert Melnikov? You have to understand this is preliminary data we're still reviewing.
But convincing enough for you to feel necessary to publish.
Now could you please explain what you discovered three months ago.
When Robert Melnikov was infected during the influenza pandemic of 2010, retroviruses in his body were reactivated.
I'm sorry, could you explain what an endogenous retrovirus is? More or less, a parasite fossilized in our DNA for millions of years.
It's in all our cells, including cells critical for our reproduction: sperm, egg.
Every patient zero from every outbreak is a confirmed Melnikov test tube baby.
What about Robert? Is he contagious? Is he one of these viral factories? Astoundingly, no.
It appears he's immune to whatever activates them in his lineage.
It still makes him the direct genetic link to this whole new generation of retroviruses.
Okay, we've gotta fix it.
We need to evaluate some kind of quarantine protocol.
How old is he? The oldest of the Melnikov test tube babies.
William Bergman? He's 17 next month.
And the youngest? I don't know.
Thousands will be born next year.
Here's what we're gonna do.
We're gonna do the best that we can to make these people as comfortable as we can.
Put all your wrote data on the internet, make it accessible to anybody.
We're gonna put together the best virologists we can find.
We're gonna be damn sure that we don't end up in some inquisition room where they make use seem like a bunch of bungling buffoons.
Let me put this all together.
Nina Corba and Olivier Roth were successful in cloning a human fetus in 2008.
Human cloning was, at that time, illegal.
That was a long time ago.
That clone's DNA was altered after infection with a virulent flu strain.
- Which no one could have anticipated.
- that eventually opened the door to a multitude of viruses that have laid dormant in the human species for millions of years.
The altered DNA was spread when it was used as special "empathy" sperm for the in vitro fertilization of 3.
2 million women.
Now, we can directly link the CTLV virus of 2022 that killed 13 million people, to the descendents of the Melnikov experiment.
The Cambium cell epidemic, from 2025 to 2027, took 22 million lives.
- It too came from - Alright stop it.
Robert Melnikov Jr.
The HIV-4 strain outbreak of 2034, six million dead.
I said: Stop it! We faced those pandemics and we dealt with them, we learnt from them.
At what cost? We are not here to dispute the facts.
The question is: What is to be done - with the children? - Dr.
Sandstrà m.
This inquiry was called after a classified document, written in conjunction with the Consortium of the Unified Nations, questioned whether the current direction of the scientific community is aggressive enough.
That's just fucking bullshit! There are over 150 labs all around the world currently picking apart those retroviruses, finding out how they reproduce in the human body, how they stay alive! Well isn't that just a waste of time and money? You have to know how something lives before you can understand how it will die.
And in the three months since you began this work, how close are you to a solution? It could be right around the corner or it could be halfway to heaven.
But we learn something new everyday.
And do you agree that everyday there are still these these viral factories walking amongst us.
Quarantining under the age of 18 is challenging, yes.
But I have met some of these kids.
They are empathic.
And they know where's at stake.
No, we haven't got them all contained, we need more money, more facilities.
And so far, 4 trillion euros - has been spent on this program.
- And by the time this is over, we'll probably need another 4 trillion.
The Consortium has recommended an alternative approach.
The Consortium are a bunch of bureaucrats who should stick to political science, not biological.
The Consortium is recommending a humane eradication program of the Melnikov lineage.
That's insane.
They recommend that the program take effect immediately, and that the remains be properly incinerated for the protection of the general population.
Hope Those human beings, they've contracted a condition not of their own doing and you are willing to turn your backs on them rather than allow us the chance to find a solution.
No, the recommendation is meant to save the lives of 7 billion people living on this planet.
And you think You think they'll be safe if the Melnikov lineage is wiped out? Why risk a definitive solution for the hope of a cure? Because that's how we'll endure! By solving our problems, not running away.
Because by learning how to stop the Melnikov viruses, we may just learn how to stop the last virus.
The "last virus"? Someday, a virus could evolve to be so perfectly efficient that it will destroy every living thing on this planet.
The end.
The end of our species.
The end of everything.
And it's going to happen.
No matter how many corpses you throw in the fire.
No matter whether you're prepared or not.
Science makes mistakes.
But science is a journey.
The road is long and with every step, we learn a little bit more.
So, you want us to just put our trust in science.
I want you to believe in it.
I want you to ask yourself: Have we gone far enough? And if you find that the answer is "yes", fine.
You stop.
But don't ask me to stop.
I can't see the end of the road.
And if you just let me keep going, as far as I can, I promise, I will prove to you that there is nothing to be afraid of.
That it's just shadows.
That 3.
2 million people do not have to die because of fear and ignorance.
And that what has happened here today need never happen again.
Thank you, Dr.
Sandstrà m.
You think he's dead? I dunno.
He's dead.
Holy shit.
I've never seen a dead guy.
Me neither.
What do we do? Did you see that? You okay, Mister? You're bleeding.
Bob? Where are we going? Merci pour vos encouragements durant ces deux dernières saisons.
Merci aux sous-titreurs qui ont travaillé sur la série Les survivants : Anyone, Bbsiocnarf, Dapitch666, Enelea, Linwelin, Michvanilly.
Les anciens NorBACiens : Et Hop, Icefre@k, MiKL, Spanish Flu, Teuteu.
Nos dépanneurs : NikoMagnus, Golgi, Goufrach, Lovechange.
Nos prédécesseurs : Kubilai, Lama, Lemonhead, Teuteu.
pour les transcripts des 4 saisons, à Sub-way, Seriessub et Forom pour la diffusion des sous-titres, à la Badabing Team, aux Lok et à la team PSG66 pour l'hébergement.
à bientôt pour de nouvelles aventures.
La Team NorBAC