Strange Blood (2015) Movie Script
We found a body. Her throat
was slit from ear to ear.
Imagine she bled out
pretty quickly after that.
But her killer didn't stop there. He...
Well, the pictures speak for themselves.
Not very pretty anymore. I know.
What does any of this
have to do with me?
Something. Nothing.
That's what I'm here
trying to figure out.
You recognize that man?
No.
- No? Are you sure?
- Yes.
Yes, you're sure, or yes,
you recognize the man in the photo?
Am I in trouble?
Maybe I should... have a lawyer?
Right now, you and I,
we're just having a friendly conversation.
No one else is here. You tell me
you want an attorney, that's your right.
But see, you lawyer up, and...
that makes me start to think
that you got something to hide.
You got something to hide, Gemma?
So I ask again:
do you recognize this man?
- It's Henry.
- Dr. Henry Moorehouse.
Resident brain over at Baxter Pharm
for quite a few years
before they had to let him go for...
Well, it looks like
"unspecified mental health issues."
I still don't understand
what any of this has to...
Tell me about your involvement
with Moorehouse.
You two were close.
- That a question?
- See...
along with Miss Sullivan,
I've got a half a dozen bodies
laying in the morgue,
all with similar CODs that all somehow
keep connecting back to Moorehouse.
Only, when we finally track
the son of a bitch down,
someone's already gone
and burned the place to the ground.
The tech lab was able to salvage
a few hard drives found in the rubble.
But the information on those drives
poses more questions
than it does answers.
That's where you come in.
We already know you worked under him
for the last few months.
I need to know what made
Henry Moorehouse murder those people.
I'm thirsty.
We can get you some water.
Now... start from the beginning.
- You're ready?
- Give me a sec.
Okay.
Hello. I am Dr. Henry Moorehouse.
During my tenure
at Baxter Pharmaceuticals,
I was on the brink of developing
the basis for a genetic-level vaccine
that could provide the human body
with a type of blanket immunity.
- What I'm about to show you...
- So this is what, a cure for cancer?
- May... maybe. Think bigger.
- Bigger than cancer?
This is a cure for everything.
Hepatitis, rabies, influenza,
HIV, even cancer.
A universal cure that could save
millions of lives every year.
- How is that even possible?
- Baxter didn't believe me either.
"A waste of time and money,"
I believe was their exact wording.
Is that why you left?
I didn't just leave.
I took what was rightfully... mine.
Say hello to ELA.
I designed her myself.
ELA is a living incubator,
in vitro and in vivo.
She's a breeding ground for a meta-virus
with a unique genetic signature
that absorbs, replicates and re-codes
any viral load
introduced into her system.
And from the meta-virus
I can engineer a retrovirus.
- And from that...
- A universal vaccine.
Well, in theory anyway.
Is it alive?
ELA continues to mature
at an astonishing pace.
At this rate, we'll be able to begin
phase-one serum trials
a full six months ahead
of originally anticipated.
She's proving to be every bit the miracle
I had hoped and planned for.
Gemma...
I fear she doesn't quite grasp
the importance of what we're doing here
and what Baxter would do
if they ever found us out.
Still, her presence has been...
a welcome addition.
Remember, kids, don't try this at home.
Initiating phase one...
now.
Here we go. That's it.
Phosphorene levels are stable.
Pulse ox normal.
Perfect. That's my girl.
Wait. Wait. Wait. No, that's...
Oxygen levels are spiking. Shit.
Shit. We're red-lining, Henry.
- We're red-lining.
- No, no, no. She should be fine.
The serum should be working.
Hang on. Hang on.
Give me 20 cc's of atropine.
- Jesus.
- Where?
It's not working.
Henry, it's not working.
The new cultures
have been stacked and packed.
I'm gonna call it a night.
Doc?
Ladies and gentlemen,
I give you the cure for cancer.
Fucking gross.
Gemma!
We're rolling.
Why didn't you tell me?
Today is a very special day.
If my calculations are correct...
and they are...
today is going to be the turning point
in man's evolutionary journey.
So much for survival of the fittest.
This is survival of the fittest
but on a cellular level.
The... meta-virus generated
within the host body
is designed to attack weaker cell structures
and replace them with its own.
These new cells are hard-coded
to be resistant
to the introduction
of outside virus cells
or even cancerous cells
generated within the body.
So, here we go. First,
I'll be extracting 50 cc's of fluid
- from one of the lymphatic nodes...
- Henry!
Don't... Don't touch me!
- Henry, your hand.
- Don't touch me.
- Your hand.
- Don't...
Henry! Henry?
Henry. Henry, can you hear me?
Can you hear me, Henry? Henry.
Ready?
What the hell just happened?
From...
all appearances, a...
spontaneous defense mechanism
in response...
to a...
perceived threat.
Save those.
I thought you said it wasn't sentient.
It's not. Not... Not in the way that...
that you and I would perceive it.
What if you're wrong?
How's... How's that?
Well...
what if this is a sign
from the universe that...
we're not supposed to be
fucking around with this kind of thing?
- Language.
- I'm serious.
We're supposed to get sick...
and grow old... and die.
What happens when you take that
out of the equation?
You're... You're underestimating
what I'm doing here.
What I'm doing is much
more important than that.
Is it?
You give it time. You'll see.
Recording?
It's okay. She's dormant now.
What's up? We cure cancer yet?
Okay.
Guess not.
I just don't understand
why it's not taking.
By all accounts, it should be working.
All right. Well, I'm out.
Get some sleep, okay?
I wasn't gonna hurt you, you know.
Yeah, yeah. I get it.
Do not touch.
Excuse me.
Adding an amino acid string to the base
may help prevent the meta-virus
from cannibalizing the host cells.
The only question is how to prevent
the molecular burnout
- that occurs...
- How about adding a protein receptor?
It inhibits replication of the meta-virus,
rendering it unusable.
- Yes, but if we were to...
- Will you please just...
let me concentrate?
Doc?
You're gonna want to come see this!
So, what are we looking at exactly?
I'm not entirely sure.
Although ELA's cell structure
was designed to mimic our own,
she has and continues to accelerate
at an exponential rate.
So?
I would be remiss
in postulating any theories
until I've had a chance
to run some proper tests.
Yeah, that's it.
With any luck I should...
know more in the morning.
Perfect!
Let's go.
- Go where?
- Food time. I'm starving.
Let's go.
Cherry pie sounds pretty good about now.
Cherry pie, a vanilla Coke
- and a big cup of coffee.
- For dinner?
What's the point of being grown up
if you can't have dessert for dinner?
You okay?
Yeah. I'm fine. I just...
- I don't really get out much.
- Yeah, I've been there, done that.
Got the T-shirt.
During my... little stint in rehab,
I pretty much shut myself
away from the world.
Hey. You guys decide what you want?
- Yeah.
- I will have the... the burger.
How you want that?
Rare. Still mooing, if you can.
Got it. You?
- Pie...
- She'll have the burger as well.
Hey.
Yeah, okay, I'll... I'll have a burger.
How you want that?
Burn it. Give me extra fries.
You got it.
- What the hell?
- You need a proper meal.
Geez, thanks, Dad.
- So...
- So yourself.
Rehab?
Yeah.
High school was
a pretty tough time for me.
I...
It was just me and Dad, and Dad
wasn't exactly around all that much.
I was a stupid kid
doing a lot of stupid shit, and...
I got myself into a lot of trouble.
Dad caught on during the worst of it
and threw my ass into rehab
for a summer.
I cleaned up my shit,
actually started going to school,
and I've done pretty okay
for myself ever since then.
So boom!
This huge fireball explodes
right in his face.
Burns off, like, half his beard.
And by this point, we've nearly
burned down, like, the entire chem lab.
And Natalie Patterson, she nearly
blows the whole thing for us
because she can't stop laughing.
- And you guys weren't caught?
- Hell no.
You've never seen a pack
of freshmen girls run so fast.
When's the last time you changed that?
This is disgusting.
- You begging for an infection or what?
- I've... I've been busy.
Shit. Shit. What's the time?
7:30.
I gotta bail.
- It's my dad's birthday.
- Yeah. Of course.
- Are you okay for a ride home?
- I'll call a cab.
- Are you sure?
- Yeah.
Okay.
Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Doc.
Take care of that hand, okay?
Get some rest!
Good night, Gemma!
Hey, where'd your girlfriend go?
What?
Your girlfriend.
- No. She's not my girlfriend.
- Does she know that?
Fuck!
Come on. Come on. No, no, no, no.
Doc? Henry!
Where you at? Doc!
Jesus! What the hell happened here?
You look like dog shit on toast.
Henry, you're burning up.
- Come on. Let's get you to a hospital.
- I don't need a hospital.
I need to finish the formula.
It can wait. Come on.
I had a son once.
I...
married a...
truly awful girl.
I was young and... dumb
when it came to that sort of thing.
But Jacob...
he was something else.
There was this...
light in his eyes. I...
can't really explain it.
It's called...
lymphocytic choriomeningitis.
Horrible thing.
We did the best we could, but...
She blamed me for his death...
if you can imagine that.
I guess I did too.
She left me immediately after.
And...
And within a month,
I was transferred
to Baxter's Special
Biologies Division.
- ELA.
- She was just a hypothesis then.
But...
if there was...
any way...
to prevent what happened to Jacob,
it was...
up to me...
to find it.
My dad is dying.
He was a scientist, like you, once.
Well, not exactly like you.
He worked...
with nuclear fission mostly.
He was a really,
really smart guy.
I think...
I think it started...
right around the time
I got home from... rehab.
Little things at first.
He'd be... absentminded.
He started...
talking to himself... more than normal.
Then he started talking to...
people who... weren't really there.
And then the tremors came.
Parkinson's... with dementia?
Most of the time...
he doesn't even know who I am.
I'm losing him...
piece by piece.
Did Moorehouse have a drinking problem?
No.
Do you?
What about after the accident?
Did he exhibit any unusual
mood swings or angry outbursts?
Anything out of the ordinary.
Everything Henry did
was out of the ordinary.
But it got worse after that, didn't it?
How bad did it get?
Gemma!
How bad did it get?
I was...
incorrect...
in my assumption of ELA's
new evolutionary step.
Fluid retrieved from the... new growth
was amniotic in nature.
Damn quills,
not a defense mechanism,
as I had hastily presumed,
rather a type of genitalia,
meant to deliver its offspring
into a secondary host body.
Me.
Baxter.
By all accounts,
I should be dying of 13 different
incurable illnesses right now.
Intelligent design dictates that anything
less than the complete form
wouldn't work at all.
It'd be so detrimental to the organ
that it wouldn't survive the process
of natural selection.
That makes you the anomaly.
"Methinks we have hugely mistaken
this matter of Life and Death.
Methinks what they call
my shadow here on earth...
is my true substance.
In fact, take my body who will.
It's not me."
Hello.
Hey, how come I'm locked out?
Gemma?
What... What time is it?
I know. I know. I'm late. It's...
It's after 10:00.
Traffic was a bitch this morning.
Late? No, you're...
You're far too early.
What are you...
Come back later. Tonight.
Come on. Let me in, Doc.
What the hell was the deal this morning?
Do a little remodeling while I was gone?
The lab was too bright.
It was too sterile.
Which is the point, no?
Science isn't meant to be constrained,
to be confined to a pristine environment.
It's an organic thing, and it needs
- to live and breathe.
- Okay.
Don't they teach you anything
at that school?
You know, I don't know what the hell
has gotten into you lately,
but here.
Picked you that up before I knew
you were gonna turn into Dr. Asshole.
Gemma?
Let go of me!
I'm sorry.
I'm an idiot.
I'm sorry.
Open your gift... jerk.
Now...
you're the perfect...
mad scientist.
- I don't know what to say.
- "Thanks" would be a good start.
Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
What's the deal?
Baxter. They're spying on me.
Surely you saw them out there.
Are you okay?
I'm fine. I'm fine.
I'm better than fine.
You don't look fine.
Will you just sit down?
- How's your hand?
- Fuck my hand!
Never mind.
Where is it?
Where is what?
The rest of the damn blood.
- I don't know what you're talking about.
- There's barely 10 pints in here.
And I specifically requested 40 pints.
They must have made a mistake
at the warehouse.
- I'll go back tomorrow and...
- And?
Are you trying to kill me?
I am trying to...
- You irresponsible child!
- ...to help you, to attempt to...
You know what? You're fucking useless.
- Where are you going?
- Fuck you, Doc.
I don't do bat-shit crazy.
Wait. Gemma?
- Gemma?
- Let go of me!
- Gemma!
- Get the fuck out of my way!
The anomalous becomes the singular,
becomes the natural.
The nature of the natural is burned down
in the fire of creation/re-creation.
The snake choking on its tail!
Only in belief of a God does man
temper his beliefs like a lowly worm.
Worm must rise... up.
What?
I need to see you.
It's 4:00 in the morning.
Please...
just come over. I'll explain everything.
I can't keep doing this, Henry.
Please.
It's important.
I wouldn't ask otherwise.
Fuck. Fine. You win.
Thank you.
Hello?
Henry?
Hello, Gemma.
Jesus! You scared the shit out of me!
You wanna tell me what's going on?
Jesus! What the fuck, Henry?
I'm sorry. That was wholly
inappropriate and stupid of me.
What's going on with you lately, anyway?
I mean, one minute you're acting
like I'm this horrible, clueless beast,
and then the next... you know.
It's been a crazy...
few days.
Apparently.
Did you bring me all the way out here
just so you could kiss me?
No.
I have a favor to ask.
Take off your pants.
Pardon?
Those.
Off.
I cannot believe
that I let you talk me into this.
Satisfied?
Sit.
Vein in my arm not good enough for you?
Henry!
No! Henry!
Do you need a minute?
Why, Detective?
Are you here to comfort me?
Do you recognize this man?
Should I?
His name was Harrison Palmer.
Spent most of his time...
chasing down cheating husbands
and insurance fraudsters.
Until Baxter Pharm put him on payroll...
to check in on Moorehouse.
So they were spying on him.
Baxter says Harry stopped
reporting in with them several weeks ago.
His girlfriend reported him missing
after he left for work one evening
and never came home.
You know anything about that?
Excuse me, ma'am.
Fuck you!
Dr. Moorehouse?
Henry?
Beautiful, isn't she?
Moorehouse.
You were right.
I do feel much better.
I should have listened to you sooner.
They're in my blood.
Blood is the key.
They're in my blood.
Blood is the key.
They say she's a curse
A kiss of death
The fall of man
And all the rest
Don't get too close
You could be next
I chose to ignore
This advice
The way she looked...
What?
Yes, I know.
Yeah, I know!
I should be careful next time.
Of course.
No, I don't know!
Would you just give me
a chance to think!
Would you quit acting
like you know everything!
I'm the smart one here!
You'll see.
You'll see.
Hello, Henry.
Why are you here?
I didn't know where else to go.
He's gone.
You shouldn't have come back.
Did you hear me, you asshole?
There's nothing left for me there!
Do you hear me? There's...
I'm not afraid of you.
You should be.
You're sick, Henry.
We need to get you help.
Sick? On the contrary.
I've never felt better.
Everything that I've been
working towards?
This is it.
And now...
I understand everything.
I've been cured.
Cured of what?
My mortality.
I can cure you too. Let me show you.
No. No! You don't have to do this!
Man is nothing but an ape
pretending to be God.
And now we can be gods.
You're wrong. This isn't you.
This isn't the man I fell in love with.
I love you.
I fucking love you.
I love you, Henry.
They're...
inside of me.
Eating me alive.
Help me.
Gemma?
All I want to hear
out of you right now...
is what the living fuck is going on.
- Let me out.
- Henry.
Have you ever heard...
of a Glyptapanteles?
What the fuck does this
have to do with anything...
A horrifyingly...
disingenuous wasp...
that lays its eggs...
into an unsuspecting caterpillar.
And with the help of a poly-DNA virus,
it can not only disable...
the caterpillar's immune system,
but it can control its motor skills
while its larvae feed on it.
She's...
the wasp.
- And you're?
- The caterpillar.
In order for a virus
to survive and sustain,
it must continually infect.
By ingesting large quantities
of fresh blood,
the parasites do their job
without devouring me completely.
The transfusion.
That's why you wanted my blood?
You drank my fucking blood?
You have no idea
what it's like.
The hunger.
The need to constantly feed.
I wasn't the only one, was I?
How many?
How many others were there?
It's complicated.
What happened?
What happened to them?
What the fuck did you do?
You don't understand, do you?
My body
doesn't belong to me
anymore.
I'm a prisoner inside myself.
Gemma.
Let me out.
Gemma.
Gemma.
Let... me... out.
Gemma!
Let... me... out!
Gemma?
It's okay.
What are you doing?
Everything is going to be okay.
I understand everything now.
Good morning.
I'm thirsty.
What are you doing?
I'm finding a way to save you.
There's nothing you can do.
This... What is it?
Nothing.
It doesn't exist.
You're wasting your time.
Whatever is happening to you,
there has gotta be a way to reverse it.
What good is one little girl
against the legacy of evolution?
There's no place in science
for a junkie like you.
Your daddy was right to abandon you.
I'm gonna kill you, you fucking Judas.
You hear me, bitch?
I am going
to destroy you.
Fucking bitch.
Die.
Gemma?
What is that?
It's your formula, Henry.
Impossible.
You couldn't have completed my work.
Why?
'Cause I'm just some
stupid fucking girl?
You know, you never...
actually gave me a chance
to show you what I was capable of.
But you're right.
I didn't finish your formula. You did.
This whole time...
you were looking for the "X" factor...
when it was right there in front of you.
You don't know
what you're talking about.
Your infected blood, Doc.
You're lying!
You... are lying.
Am I?
When I am free,
I'm going to rip you
from cunt to throat.
And then I'm going to drain
every last drop of you.
This is gonna hurt.
A lot.
No...
Henry?
Henry, wake... wake up.
Wake up! Wake up!
- Fuck.
- Language.
What happens next?
Are you sure about this?
When you find...
something in this world that's...
so unique,
incredible...
and beautiful,
the first thought is to cut it open...
and see how it works.
But the next thing you know...
it's just a bloody mess,
and you don't know why you had
to tamper with it in the first place.
The beauty is gone.
Never get it back.
The cure is too dangerous for us
to risk it getting out into the world.
If anyone were to find out what we had,
it'd be the end of mankind as a species.
And us?
We go on living.
Cheers.
I love you.
I... I...
I'm sorry.
Gemma.
In time...
I hope... you will come to understand...
why it had to be this way.
Despite our...
best efforts, I fear I remain... cured.
Although the parasites
have been destroyed,
my physiology has been...
irrevocably altered.
The hunger,
the...
primal need for blood remains unchanged.
For your safety...
dare I say, the safety of all mankind...
I cannot be permitted to remain
a wolf among the sheep.
That's quite the story you've got there.
I told you you wouldn't understand.
What I understand...
is that Henry Moorehouse...
is a sick fucking monster!
We're all monsters.
Henry?
He transcended that.
He really was on to something.
So Moorehouse...
destroyed all his work
and killed himself,
leaving you as a convenient
sole survivor to tell his story?
He didn't destroy everything.
Henry's blood is inside of me.
I've been cured.
Honey, come here.
Come on, baby. Finish your dinner.
We gotta hit the road.
Okay, Mommy.
was slit from ear to ear.
Imagine she bled out
pretty quickly after that.
But her killer didn't stop there. He...
Well, the pictures speak for themselves.
Not very pretty anymore. I know.
What does any of this
have to do with me?
Something. Nothing.
That's what I'm here
trying to figure out.
You recognize that man?
No.
- No? Are you sure?
- Yes.
Yes, you're sure, or yes,
you recognize the man in the photo?
Am I in trouble?
Maybe I should... have a lawyer?
Right now, you and I,
we're just having a friendly conversation.
No one else is here. You tell me
you want an attorney, that's your right.
But see, you lawyer up, and...
that makes me start to think
that you got something to hide.
You got something to hide, Gemma?
So I ask again:
do you recognize this man?
- It's Henry.
- Dr. Henry Moorehouse.
Resident brain over at Baxter Pharm
for quite a few years
before they had to let him go for...
Well, it looks like
"unspecified mental health issues."
I still don't understand
what any of this has to...
Tell me about your involvement
with Moorehouse.
You two were close.
- That a question?
- See...
along with Miss Sullivan,
I've got a half a dozen bodies
laying in the morgue,
all with similar CODs that all somehow
keep connecting back to Moorehouse.
Only, when we finally track
the son of a bitch down,
someone's already gone
and burned the place to the ground.
The tech lab was able to salvage
a few hard drives found in the rubble.
But the information on those drives
poses more questions
than it does answers.
That's where you come in.
We already know you worked under him
for the last few months.
I need to know what made
Henry Moorehouse murder those people.
I'm thirsty.
We can get you some water.
Now... start from the beginning.
- You're ready?
- Give me a sec.
Okay.
Hello. I am Dr. Henry Moorehouse.
During my tenure
at Baxter Pharmaceuticals,
I was on the brink of developing
the basis for a genetic-level vaccine
that could provide the human body
with a type of blanket immunity.
- What I'm about to show you...
- So this is what, a cure for cancer?
- May... maybe. Think bigger.
- Bigger than cancer?
This is a cure for everything.
Hepatitis, rabies, influenza,
HIV, even cancer.
A universal cure that could save
millions of lives every year.
- How is that even possible?
- Baxter didn't believe me either.
"A waste of time and money,"
I believe was their exact wording.
Is that why you left?
I didn't just leave.
I took what was rightfully... mine.
Say hello to ELA.
I designed her myself.
ELA is a living incubator,
in vitro and in vivo.
She's a breeding ground for a meta-virus
with a unique genetic signature
that absorbs, replicates and re-codes
any viral load
introduced into her system.
And from the meta-virus
I can engineer a retrovirus.
- And from that...
- A universal vaccine.
Well, in theory anyway.
Is it alive?
ELA continues to mature
at an astonishing pace.
At this rate, we'll be able to begin
phase-one serum trials
a full six months ahead
of originally anticipated.
She's proving to be every bit the miracle
I had hoped and planned for.
Gemma...
I fear she doesn't quite grasp
the importance of what we're doing here
and what Baxter would do
if they ever found us out.
Still, her presence has been...
a welcome addition.
Remember, kids, don't try this at home.
Initiating phase one...
now.
Here we go. That's it.
Phosphorene levels are stable.
Pulse ox normal.
Perfect. That's my girl.
Wait. Wait. Wait. No, that's...
Oxygen levels are spiking. Shit.
Shit. We're red-lining, Henry.
- We're red-lining.
- No, no, no. She should be fine.
The serum should be working.
Hang on. Hang on.
Give me 20 cc's of atropine.
- Jesus.
- Where?
It's not working.
Henry, it's not working.
The new cultures
have been stacked and packed.
I'm gonna call it a night.
Doc?
Ladies and gentlemen,
I give you the cure for cancer.
Fucking gross.
Gemma!
We're rolling.
Why didn't you tell me?
Today is a very special day.
If my calculations are correct...
and they are...
today is going to be the turning point
in man's evolutionary journey.
So much for survival of the fittest.
This is survival of the fittest
but on a cellular level.
The... meta-virus generated
within the host body
is designed to attack weaker cell structures
and replace them with its own.
These new cells are hard-coded
to be resistant
to the introduction
of outside virus cells
or even cancerous cells
generated within the body.
So, here we go. First,
I'll be extracting 50 cc's of fluid
- from one of the lymphatic nodes...
- Henry!
Don't... Don't touch me!
- Henry, your hand.
- Don't touch me.
- Your hand.
- Don't...
Henry! Henry?
Henry. Henry, can you hear me?
Can you hear me, Henry? Henry.
Ready?
What the hell just happened?
From...
all appearances, a...
spontaneous defense mechanism
in response...
to a...
perceived threat.
Save those.
I thought you said it wasn't sentient.
It's not. Not... Not in the way that...
that you and I would perceive it.
What if you're wrong?
How's... How's that?
Well...
what if this is a sign
from the universe that...
we're not supposed to be
fucking around with this kind of thing?
- Language.
- I'm serious.
We're supposed to get sick...
and grow old... and die.
What happens when you take that
out of the equation?
You're... You're underestimating
what I'm doing here.
What I'm doing is much
more important than that.
Is it?
You give it time. You'll see.
Recording?
It's okay. She's dormant now.
What's up? We cure cancer yet?
Okay.
Guess not.
I just don't understand
why it's not taking.
By all accounts, it should be working.
All right. Well, I'm out.
Get some sleep, okay?
I wasn't gonna hurt you, you know.
Yeah, yeah. I get it.
Do not touch.
Excuse me.
Adding an amino acid string to the base
may help prevent the meta-virus
from cannibalizing the host cells.
The only question is how to prevent
the molecular burnout
- that occurs...
- How about adding a protein receptor?
It inhibits replication of the meta-virus,
rendering it unusable.
- Yes, but if we were to...
- Will you please just...
let me concentrate?
Doc?
You're gonna want to come see this!
So, what are we looking at exactly?
I'm not entirely sure.
Although ELA's cell structure
was designed to mimic our own,
she has and continues to accelerate
at an exponential rate.
So?
I would be remiss
in postulating any theories
until I've had a chance
to run some proper tests.
Yeah, that's it.
With any luck I should...
know more in the morning.
Perfect!
Let's go.
- Go where?
- Food time. I'm starving.
Let's go.
Cherry pie sounds pretty good about now.
Cherry pie, a vanilla Coke
- and a big cup of coffee.
- For dinner?
What's the point of being grown up
if you can't have dessert for dinner?
You okay?
Yeah. I'm fine. I just...
- I don't really get out much.
- Yeah, I've been there, done that.
Got the T-shirt.
During my... little stint in rehab,
I pretty much shut myself
away from the world.
Hey. You guys decide what you want?
- Yeah.
- I will have the... the burger.
How you want that?
Rare. Still mooing, if you can.
Got it. You?
- Pie...
- She'll have the burger as well.
Hey.
Yeah, okay, I'll... I'll have a burger.
How you want that?
Burn it. Give me extra fries.
You got it.
- What the hell?
- You need a proper meal.
Geez, thanks, Dad.
- So...
- So yourself.
Rehab?
Yeah.
High school was
a pretty tough time for me.
I...
It was just me and Dad, and Dad
wasn't exactly around all that much.
I was a stupid kid
doing a lot of stupid shit, and...
I got myself into a lot of trouble.
Dad caught on during the worst of it
and threw my ass into rehab
for a summer.
I cleaned up my shit,
actually started going to school,
and I've done pretty okay
for myself ever since then.
So boom!
This huge fireball explodes
right in his face.
Burns off, like, half his beard.
And by this point, we've nearly
burned down, like, the entire chem lab.
And Natalie Patterson, she nearly
blows the whole thing for us
because she can't stop laughing.
- And you guys weren't caught?
- Hell no.
You've never seen a pack
of freshmen girls run so fast.
When's the last time you changed that?
This is disgusting.
- You begging for an infection or what?
- I've... I've been busy.
Shit. Shit. What's the time?
7:30.
I gotta bail.
- It's my dad's birthday.
- Yeah. Of course.
- Are you okay for a ride home?
- I'll call a cab.
- Are you sure?
- Yeah.
Okay.
Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Doc.
Take care of that hand, okay?
Get some rest!
Good night, Gemma!
Hey, where'd your girlfriend go?
What?
Your girlfriend.
- No. She's not my girlfriend.
- Does she know that?
Fuck!
Come on. Come on. No, no, no, no.
Doc? Henry!
Where you at? Doc!
Jesus! What the hell happened here?
You look like dog shit on toast.
Henry, you're burning up.
- Come on. Let's get you to a hospital.
- I don't need a hospital.
I need to finish the formula.
It can wait. Come on.
I had a son once.
I...
married a...
truly awful girl.
I was young and... dumb
when it came to that sort of thing.
But Jacob...
he was something else.
There was this...
light in his eyes. I...
can't really explain it.
It's called...
lymphocytic choriomeningitis.
Horrible thing.
We did the best we could, but...
She blamed me for his death...
if you can imagine that.
I guess I did too.
She left me immediately after.
And...
And within a month,
I was transferred
to Baxter's Special
Biologies Division.
- ELA.
- She was just a hypothesis then.
But...
if there was...
any way...
to prevent what happened to Jacob,
it was...
up to me...
to find it.
My dad is dying.
He was a scientist, like you, once.
Well, not exactly like you.
He worked...
with nuclear fission mostly.
He was a really,
really smart guy.
I think...
I think it started...
right around the time
I got home from... rehab.
Little things at first.
He'd be... absentminded.
He started...
talking to himself... more than normal.
Then he started talking to...
people who... weren't really there.
And then the tremors came.
Parkinson's... with dementia?
Most of the time...
he doesn't even know who I am.
I'm losing him...
piece by piece.
Did Moorehouse have a drinking problem?
No.
Do you?
What about after the accident?
Did he exhibit any unusual
mood swings or angry outbursts?
Anything out of the ordinary.
Everything Henry did
was out of the ordinary.
But it got worse after that, didn't it?
How bad did it get?
Gemma!
How bad did it get?
I was...
incorrect...
in my assumption of ELA's
new evolutionary step.
Fluid retrieved from the... new growth
was amniotic in nature.
Damn quills,
not a defense mechanism,
as I had hastily presumed,
rather a type of genitalia,
meant to deliver its offspring
into a secondary host body.
Me.
Baxter.
By all accounts,
I should be dying of 13 different
incurable illnesses right now.
Intelligent design dictates that anything
less than the complete form
wouldn't work at all.
It'd be so detrimental to the organ
that it wouldn't survive the process
of natural selection.
That makes you the anomaly.
"Methinks we have hugely mistaken
this matter of Life and Death.
Methinks what they call
my shadow here on earth...
is my true substance.
In fact, take my body who will.
It's not me."
Hello.
Hey, how come I'm locked out?
Gemma?
What... What time is it?
I know. I know. I'm late. It's...
It's after 10:00.
Traffic was a bitch this morning.
Late? No, you're...
You're far too early.
What are you...
Come back later. Tonight.
Come on. Let me in, Doc.
What the hell was the deal this morning?
Do a little remodeling while I was gone?
The lab was too bright.
It was too sterile.
Which is the point, no?
Science isn't meant to be constrained,
to be confined to a pristine environment.
It's an organic thing, and it needs
- to live and breathe.
- Okay.
Don't they teach you anything
at that school?
You know, I don't know what the hell
has gotten into you lately,
but here.
Picked you that up before I knew
you were gonna turn into Dr. Asshole.
Gemma?
Let go of me!
I'm sorry.
I'm an idiot.
I'm sorry.
Open your gift... jerk.
Now...
you're the perfect...
mad scientist.
- I don't know what to say.
- "Thanks" would be a good start.
Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
What's the deal?
Baxter. They're spying on me.
Surely you saw them out there.
Are you okay?
I'm fine. I'm fine.
I'm better than fine.
You don't look fine.
Will you just sit down?
- How's your hand?
- Fuck my hand!
Never mind.
Where is it?
Where is what?
The rest of the damn blood.
- I don't know what you're talking about.
- There's barely 10 pints in here.
And I specifically requested 40 pints.
They must have made a mistake
at the warehouse.
- I'll go back tomorrow and...
- And?
Are you trying to kill me?
I am trying to...
- You irresponsible child!
- ...to help you, to attempt to...
You know what? You're fucking useless.
- Where are you going?
- Fuck you, Doc.
I don't do bat-shit crazy.
Wait. Gemma?
- Gemma?
- Let go of me!
- Gemma!
- Get the fuck out of my way!
The anomalous becomes the singular,
becomes the natural.
The nature of the natural is burned down
in the fire of creation/re-creation.
The snake choking on its tail!
Only in belief of a God does man
temper his beliefs like a lowly worm.
Worm must rise... up.
What?
I need to see you.
It's 4:00 in the morning.
Please...
just come over. I'll explain everything.
I can't keep doing this, Henry.
Please.
It's important.
I wouldn't ask otherwise.
Fuck. Fine. You win.
Thank you.
Hello?
Henry?
Hello, Gemma.
Jesus! You scared the shit out of me!
You wanna tell me what's going on?
Jesus! What the fuck, Henry?
I'm sorry. That was wholly
inappropriate and stupid of me.
What's going on with you lately, anyway?
I mean, one minute you're acting
like I'm this horrible, clueless beast,
and then the next... you know.
It's been a crazy...
few days.
Apparently.
Did you bring me all the way out here
just so you could kiss me?
No.
I have a favor to ask.
Take off your pants.
Pardon?
Those.
Off.
I cannot believe
that I let you talk me into this.
Satisfied?
Sit.
Vein in my arm not good enough for you?
Henry!
No! Henry!
Do you need a minute?
Why, Detective?
Are you here to comfort me?
Do you recognize this man?
Should I?
His name was Harrison Palmer.
Spent most of his time...
chasing down cheating husbands
and insurance fraudsters.
Until Baxter Pharm put him on payroll...
to check in on Moorehouse.
So they were spying on him.
Baxter says Harry stopped
reporting in with them several weeks ago.
His girlfriend reported him missing
after he left for work one evening
and never came home.
You know anything about that?
Excuse me, ma'am.
Fuck you!
Dr. Moorehouse?
Henry?
Beautiful, isn't she?
Moorehouse.
You were right.
I do feel much better.
I should have listened to you sooner.
They're in my blood.
Blood is the key.
They're in my blood.
Blood is the key.
They say she's a curse
A kiss of death
The fall of man
And all the rest
Don't get too close
You could be next
I chose to ignore
This advice
The way she looked...
What?
Yes, I know.
Yeah, I know!
I should be careful next time.
Of course.
No, I don't know!
Would you just give me
a chance to think!
Would you quit acting
like you know everything!
I'm the smart one here!
You'll see.
You'll see.
Hello, Henry.
Why are you here?
I didn't know where else to go.
He's gone.
You shouldn't have come back.
Did you hear me, you asshole?
There's nothing left for me there!
Do you hear me? There's...
I'm not afraid of you.
You should be.
You're sick, Henry.
We need to get you help.
Sick? On the contrary.
I've never felt better.
Everything that I've been
working towards?
This is it.
And now...
I understand everything.
I've been cured.
Cured of what?
My mortality.
I can cure you too. Let me show you.
No. No! You don't have to do this!
Man is nothing but an ape
pretending to be God.
And now we can be gods.
You're wrong. This isn't you.
This isn't the man I fell in love with.
I love you.
I fucking love you.
I love you, Henry.
They're...
inside of me.
Eating me alive.
Help me.
Gemma?
All I want to hear
out of you right now...
is what the living fuck is going on.
- Let me out.
- Henry.
Have you ever heard...
of a Glyptapanteles?
What the fuck does this
have to do with anything...
A horrifyingly...
disingenuous wasp...
that lays its eggs...
into an unsuspecting caterpillar.
And with the help of a poly-DNA virus,
it can not only disable...
the caterpillar's immune system,
but it can control its motor skills
while its larvae feed on it.
She's...
the wasp.
- And you're?
- The caterpillar.
In order for a virus
to survive and sustain,
it must continually infect.
By ingesting large quantities
of fresh blood,
the parasites do their job
without devouring me completely.
The transfusion.
That's why you wanted my blood?
You drank my fucking blood?
You have no idea
what it's like.
The hunger.
The need to constantly feed.
I wasn't the only one, was I?
How many?
How many others were there?
It's complicated.
What happened?
What happened to them?
What the fuck did you do?
You don't understand, do you?
My body
doesn't belong to me
anymore.
I'm a prisoner inside myself.
Gemma.
Let me out.
Gemma.
Gemma.
Let... me... out.
Gemma!
Let... me... out!
Gemma?
It's okay.
What are you doing?
Everything is going to be okay.
I understand everything now.
Good morning.
I'm thirsty.
What are you doing?
I'm finding a way to save you.
There's nothing you can do.
This... What is it?
Nothing.
It doesn't exist.
You're wasting your time.
Whatever is happening to you,
there has gotta be a way to reverse it.
What good is one little girl
against the legacy of evolution?
There's no place in science
for a junkie like you.
Your daddy was right to abandon you.
I'm gonna kill you, you fucking Judas.
You hear me, bitch?
I am going
to destroy you.
Fucking bitch.
Die.
Gemma?
What is that?
It's your formula, Henry.
Impossible.
You couldn't have completed my work.
Why?
'Cause I'm just some
stupid fucking girl?
You know, you never...
actually gave me a chance
to show you what I was capable of.
But you're right.
I didn't finish your formula. You did.
This whole time...
you were looking for the "X" factor...
when it was right there in front of you.
You don't know
what you're talking about.
Your infected blood, Doc.
You're lying!
You... are lying.
Am I?
When I am free,
I'm going to rip you
from cunt to throat.
And then I'm going to drain
every last drop of you.
This is gonna hurt.
A lot.
No...
Henry?
Henry, wake... wake up.
Wake up! Wake up!
- Fuck.
- Language.
What happens next?
Are you sure about this?
When you find...
something in this world that's...
so unique,
incredible...
and beautiful,
the first thought is to cut it open...
and see how it works.
But the next thing you know...
it's just a bloody mess,
and you don't know why you had
to tamper with it in the first place.
The beauty is gone.
Never get it back.
The cure is too dangerous for us
to risk it getting out into the world.
If anyone were to find out what we had,
it'd be the end of mankind as a species.
And us?
We go on living.
Cheers.
I love you.
I... I...
I'm sorry.
Gemma.
In time...
I hope... you will come to understand...
why it had to be this way.
Despite our...
best efforts, I fear I remain... cured.
Although the parasites
have been destroyed,
my physiology has been...
irrevocably altered.
The hunger,
the...
primal need for blood remains unchanged.
For your safety...
dare I say, the safety of all mankind...
I cannot be permitted to remain
a wolf among the sheep.
That's quite the story you've got there.
I told you you wouldn't understand.
What I understand...
is that Henry Moorehouse...
is a sick fucking monster!
We're all monsters.
Henry?
He transcended that.
He really was on to something.
So Moorehouse...
destroyed all his work
and killed himself,
leaving you as a convenient
sole survivor to tell his story?
He didn't destroy everything.
Henry's blood is inside of me.
I've been cured.
Honey, come here.
Come on, baby. Finish your dinner.
We gotta hit the road.
Okay, Mommy.