Painkiller Jane s01e01 Episode Script

Pilot

When I was little my dad called me his "painkiller Jane".
Whenever I got hurt, I made the pain go away.
Only I didn't just bury it.
Or push it aside I pretty much murdered it.
Afterwards, I'd go to a peaceful place in my mind.
I called it the emerald city.
Partly because it was green.
Mostly because I could only dream about what magic must be inside.
It was my way of controlling a world that was out of control.
Hello.
Report to security on floor 1-14 take the express elevator.
Control can be a dangerous illusion.
There are some things you have absolutely no control over.
Gravity being one of the big ones.
If you thought I was having a bad day then, four days earlier was even worse.
Confused? So was I.
A new designer drug had started circulating through the clubs.
Maureen and I were hoping we'd score that night.
Maureen's my partner.
As D.
E.
A.
Agents, we'd been working this case for three weeks.
If we'd done it my way, we'd made the bust two weeks ago.
Only we didn't do it my way.
We've got enough on those two guys to ask some serious questions.
No buy, no bust, Jane.
And one more day in her borrowed heels, I'd be limping permanently.
We play by the rules.
I got samples, you brought the money? Be ready.
What do you think? You said you wanted to play by the rules.
Looks like they've just been broken.
Take the ugly one.
Wait come back later D.
E.
A.
Hands up! Don't move! Usually, they like it when I do, darlin'.
You're not going anywhere, pal! D.
e.
a.
Freeze! Hands up! Hands up! Hands up! what the hell is this? Listen to me.
My name is Andre Mcbride.
I'm a government agent.
We're on the same team.
I'm sure.
I don't think you're sure of anything right now.
And a bad shooting Shut up! The man beside me is producing a hallucination.
You cannot trust what you're seeing.
You sure you can believe what you're hearing any more than what you're seeing? He's a genetic aberration.
We've all got our problems.
Right now, this is your problem.
He's doing this to gain time and confuse you.
Well he's doing a damn good job.
The man beside me is going to kill you.
He's lying.
No.
Easy.
I want you to explain this.
You first.
How did you know I was telling the truth? You're shadow moved, he didn't.
Smart.
Your turn.
What just happened in here?! Yeah, nothing on him! I got it.
They cleared you.
Still doesn't say what branch of the government you work for.
It's not supposed to.
Why'd you come after us? We saw a buy go down.
We've been working this place for three weeks.
Saw you guys hanging around.
Didn't look like your kind of crowd.
I'll take that as a compliment.
It wasn't meant as one.
What happened in there?! I'm afraid, you'll have to be content with "thank you" agent Vasco, and leave it at that.
Hey, you might've checked out with my supervising officer, but that doesn't mean you checked out with me.
The neuro's tagged and bagged, boss.
Thank you.
You ever hear of a neuro? What's a neuro? No idea.
But it's something we're not supposed to know about.
You probably figured out by now I'm not much of by-the-book kind of gal.
Which is why invited chuck in the I.
t.
Department for coffee and a bagel the next morning.
Which is why he agreed to check out Andre Mcbride and the d.
e.
a mainframe that afternoon, which is why by the time I was called in the deputy director's office Have a seat.
I could have sworn the bagel was still sitting in my stomach.
Your current investigation has been terminated by the director.
Why? She chose not to share that with me, agent Vasco.
I do know your entire service record has been red-flagged by the Pentagon.
You tried to hack our database.
I don't do well with unanswered questions.
Well, life's full of them.
What do you want? You.
Now? Up here? Your school records indicated you were suspended the four-year period.
That's a lie, it was twenty-three, actually.
Reasons included everything from fighting and swearing to feigning an epileptic seizure.
Yeah.
My bad.
Hospital records show that when they refused to let you visit your dying mother, a nurse found you holding her in the middle of the night Somehow you've been living in her room for three days.
I'm done here.
I know what makes you tick, agent Vasco.
And I know you think outside the box.
If you didn't, I wouldn't have survived.
If that's a thank-you It is.
I could use you on my team.
Only I don't know what your team does, do I? Well, that's the catch-22.
Can't tell you until you're aboard.
I'm more the kind of girl you have to take to dinner first.
The work is unlike anything you've ever done before.
And we call our own shots.
Everyone's accountable to someone.
You'd only be accountable to me.
Military.
You have that "I love the chain of command" charm about you.
Seven years with special forces.
Well, I appreciate the offer.
Whatever the hell it is.
Careful.
Even in my own shoes, I can't put one foot in front of the other.
One request, agent Vasco Since you've now decided to stay out of our business, stay out of our business.
doc Doc - Where do you want these? - Just there.
Intruders approaching from the north tunnel! Go! Riley, how many?! Two! Proximity! Fifteen meters! How'd they get through! I don't know but I think they're armed! I'll cut 'em off at the subway passage! Ten meters out! No time, we set up here! They're on us! Stand down! Put your weapon down! Don't shoot, it's me! Show! Put the gun down now! All clear.
Riley, all clear! She caught me coming in.
Nice place.
Do the decorating yourself? Hope you like it.
Now that you've violated security and know our location It's yours.
No, no, you listen to me, how can I be reassigned? Because you can.
What if I say no? I hear there's an opening at mielo's department store.
Ladies shoes.
I call the shots in my life, agent Mcbride.
Vasco! How'd you find us? This! She tagged you, boss.
Careful.
Even in my own shoes, I can't put one foot in front of the other.
Looks like I can put one foot in front of the other after all.
Gentlemen.
Hey, mo.
What the hell's going on? I heard you got booted from the agency! I wish I knew, I I have no problem taking first position.
But not this way.
I appreciate that.
And I want to go on record that I think you're getting a bad rap.
You are getting a bad rap, aren't you? Maureen With the way you do things, I always knew I'd get to say "I told you so.
" How come I'm not enjoying it.
- What you're talking about? - Don't screw around with this, Jane.
Get a good lawyer.
When the D.
E.
A.
Files drug possession charges against one of their own, it's serious.
Get a good lawyer.
Yeah, yeah, I gotta go.
Thanks for calling, mom.
We both play hardball, agent Vasco.
And we both play to win.
Even if it means screwing with someone's life?! In time, you'll be cleared of the drug charges If you join our team.
That's not much of a choice, is it? That was the idea.
Special agent Steve Ford, communications tech Riley Jensen, and you remember special agent Connor King.
The ugly one.
Joe Waterman ran operations for the subway.
Before the city shut it down.
Well most of it anyway.
Hi, I'm dr.
Seth Carpenter.
And this is agent Jane Vasco, formerly of the D.
E.
A.
, who's graciously consented to join our team.
Another woman.
She's more than qualified.
If only I knew for what.
We hunt neuros.
Neurological aberrant.
Which is what we were doing in that club the night we met.
Your partner, is she straight? Six years ago the government became aware of a genetic aberration appearing in the population.
Despite their differences, we've discovered a definable pattern in their gene code.
This aberration seems to affect the neurological center of the frontal and cerebral cortex.
What dr.
Carpenter's means in english, those with the aberration, possess a unique ability to influence others.
Like the one in the club.
The one you experienced had the ability to induce hallucinations.
But we've encountered dozens of variations.
In how many people? To date, almost 200.
Welcome to the freak show.
What causes it? Well Um You don't know.
Several possibilities genetic, environmental, chemical We're still working on trying to find the source.
The reasons the neuros use their powers is as varied as they are.
We think the aberration interferes with the brain's ability to distinguish right from wrong.
You really don't know that much, do you? We know they're a pain in the ass.
Which is why the government has gone to great lengths to keep the phenomenon secret and not panic the public.
We use intel from law enforcement, and media first to identify, then contain.
Contain? We chip 'em.
The micro chip basically short circuits "the problem.
" once it penetrates the epidermis, nano tech propulsion delivers it through the bloodstream to the brain.
Each method of transmission varies with the op.
Sometimes it's with this Sometimes it's less conspicuous So much for job orientation.
You're a smart girl, you'll learn the rest as you go.
We've been working this case for some time.
Someone is dealing substandard medications on the black market.
Sounds like D.
E.
A.
Territory.
It was.
Now, it's ours.
We're convinced there's a neuro behind the operation.
The drugs in question are made and manufactured by vono tek.
The emerald city.
It's hard to believe that the company would even manufacture sub-standard product? They don't.
But about one-tenth of one percent of every run fails quality control.
Contamination.
A snag in the manufacturing process.
Expired ingredients that didn't get scanned properly.
Even that small percentage amounts to millions of drugs.
Any batch that fails to pass qc is locked away and slated for destruction.
In this case, someone's making an end run and getting them out, onto the street.
Obviously, the medications look like the real deal.
But any unscrupulous pharmacy, someone trying to cut corners There have already been a dozen deaths traced directly to vono tek.
Why are you convinced there's a neuro behind this? We lost one of our agents to a "neuro".
Shannon Perry was a member of our team.
I put her inside vono tek.
Her first day on the job she left the building and calmly stepped in front of a moving truck.
Women don't last very long around here.
Is it the sexual harassment or a size deficiency? Shannon's psych record was spotless.
Someone made her do it.
How'd they break her cover? We don't know.
She was following Randall Hyde.
Vono tek's head of security.
In order to have free access to vono tek's vaults, the neuro would have to control Hyde.
Unless he is the neuro.
He's clean.
We've taken tissue samples.
The neuro obviously had to get close enough to control shannon.
How close is close? Proximity.
It varies but in order to control a subject, a neuro would have to be nearby.
So we need to go back in.
Yes.
But not solo.
I want you and Jane inside.
You can play tag with Hyde and watch each other's back.
We move quickly here, Vasco, get used to it.
I hacked human resources.
Most are working tomorrow.
Impressive.
You have no idea.
All I can say is be careful what you wish for.
The thing about dreams is they can turn into nightmares faster than you can click your high heels.
Report to security on floor 1-14.
Take the express elevator.
Boss, they've cleared security, they're in position.
Blue one's Hyde, Jane's on him.
He's on the express elevator to the lobby, looks like he's leaving the building.
Entering the express elevator now.
You said "the lobby", right? Yeah.
Hyde wasn't on it.
Had to be on it.
There's no where else to get off.
He has to be still in the building.
Hyde must be jamming his security tag.
Wherever he went, he obviously doesn't want anyone watching.
Or the neuro doesn't.
Yeah.
I can beat it.
The only question is how long is it going to take.
Got it.
I'm into their climate control system.
Monitoring Hyde's movement through his heat signature.
I did that by Riley, where is he? I don't know where he's been but I know where he is now.
Just landed on the 46th floor.
Thank you.
Steve! What are you doing?! It's me, Jane! Knew she wouldn't make it.
Stop crying.
Mom's dead.
There's nothing you can do about it.
When they put her in the ground, say goodbye and let her go.
Don't ever let them see you cry again.
Don't ever let them see you cry again He'll kill you.
We all have our problems.
The neuros tagged and bagged, boss.
This work is like any other work you've done before.
I call the shots in my life, agent Mcbride.
Your entire service record has been red-flagged What the hell is going on? We hunt neuros Dozen deaths, directly to He's on the express elevator.
No freakin' way! Boss, you better take a look at this.
Why am I not dead? Another "you don't know"? You're alive.
That's the only thing that's important right now.
Easy, easy, easy.
.
Listen, I want you to stay here, we'll monitor your vitals, we'll do more testing.
The neuro was controlling him.
Logical conclusion.
I'm more interested in illogical ones.
Agent Vasco survived a forty-six story fall.
There are freak accidents, there are freak survivals.
Hundreds have been documented.
Plane crashes, suicide attempts, construction workers.
All lived.
Now what aren't you telling me.
Lacerations.
Contusions.
Internal organ damage.
She doesn't have any.
Not even a scratch.
But she No, nothing in her blood work, tissue samples or brain scan indicate anything related to what we're dealing with.
So what is she dealing with? Where do you think you're going? I am so over this, you have no idea.
I am going home.
You're Supposed to be dead! That's okay.
The agency told me you fell off a building.
Drunks fall off buildings.
I was pushed.
I need a drink.
Jane, you shouldn't have left the hospital.
I didn't.
I left the morgue.
You know how I hate the cold.
What the hell is going on? I don't know.
I just fell forty stories and now I'm looking for a glass I should've washed a week ago! Forty? No, no, they said it was four.
Four is a Possibility? This is about neuros, isn't it? Neuros, you just stay out of this.
I know you had that dork from I.
t.
Running checks on that guy from the club, Andre Mcbride.
I got onto his computer and I ran a check on his check.
Why did you do that for? Because covering your ass is a habit.
Are you okay? You have no idea what you just got yourself into, no idea.
Mcbride recruited Maureen the same say he did me, I tried talking myself into believing she had it coming.
And it involved caring too much.
Covering my ass.
The truth is, I would have done the same for her, only I wouldn't have been so damned dramatic about it.
Keep your distance, Maureen.
You said these neuros need to be in close proximity to the subject in order to exert control, is there anyway to find out who would have been close enough to both shannon and Steve? Been there, done that.
No one who was within range of shannon when she died was above the tenth floor of the building when Steve went through the window.
Then how the hell does a neuro influence people when they're not within range? Remote control? The comm-sets! Riley? I suppose transmission through the airwave counts as proximity.
It'd be a first, though.
Everyone uses that communication system.
It could be anybody.
But not everyone is cleared to talk directly to another employee.
Who would have clear and open access to the comm system? It's got to be Hyde's assistant! She runs the central switchboard.
Crap! What? She just comm'd Maureen.
How could she make it so quick? She can monitor the entire operation from her desk.
- Can you intercept the transmission? - I'm trying to get in now! I can't intercept but I can get in.
Only it won't be a secure connection.
Do it.
Do it.
We're in.
Your name is Maureen bowers.
You were recruited by a government agency to hunt neurological aberrants.
The thoughts you're having They're not your own.
Someone's trying to get you to kill yourself! Your name is Maureen bowers.
You were a D.
E.
A.
Agent Mo, it's me.
You're being controlled! Dammit, mo! For once in your life listen to me! If you don't stop this second, mo who is going to be there to watch my back? She's alive.
Boss, Hyde's assistant is leaving the building.
Riley, stay on her.
Let's move.
Approaching her Now.
She didn't go there to turn herself in.
Neuros control people.
When you're being followed, who better to control than people with guns.
I say we go in anyway.
We badge the badges, when the cop pulls his piece, we blow him away, chip the bitch, let the feds straighten it out later.
Sounds like something you came up with in prison, Connor.
Did you say prison? There were extenuating circumstances.
There always are.
Ma'am, you can't be back here! They'll be here soon.
Get down! There are all kinds of decisions in life.
Some more difficult than others.
For the sake of the team, I knew the one I was about to make was one I couldn't avoid.
For the record, I knew something else, it was going to hurt like hell.
Connor, get back through the water here! Hurry it up, Connor! Let's go! What the hell did you think you were doing? Thinking outside the box? For future reference, agent Vasco, I give the orders around here.
We're both alive, aren't we? You shouldn't be! Listen to me, whatever the hell is going on with me, I really need to know what it is, okay? I'll find answers, Jane.
You have my word.
When my mother died, it hurt.
It hurt a lot.
And something in me had changed.
I realized that pain was going to be my friend.
That it would sustain me.
And make me stronger.
I just never realized how much stronger "stronger" would be.
And how changed I would actually become.
I don't know what happened to me.
Or what it means.
No one does yet.
For right now, I'm just trying to stay focused on the job taking one day at a time, putting one foot on the other.
Boss, I know where Hyde went on the express elevator floor 1-13 only there is no floor 1-13.
How he accessed it? No idea.
For what reason, don't know.
But I will.
No, you won't.
The mandate is to identify and contain neurological aberrants, whatever happens after that, it's not our problem.

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