Épisode Projet "Contact" S03E12 - Mutant X Saison 3

                                     Conspiracy Theory


[Opening Scene: One cold autumn day, Shalimar and Brennan are hiking through the fields towards an airplane crash site. Three armed man in black suits and dark glasses stand guard while a couple of technicians in biohazard suits carry two silver-clad bodies from the wreckage, wrap them up, and place them into black SUVs. Crouching on nearby a hillside, a man is taking photographs of the scene.]

Shalimar: Getting anything?
Brennan (holding a signal detector): Well, Lex was right. We got the signal from the black box, but it's about 200 meters away still. You know the only thing that's funny is that this signal isn't listed in any commercial or military records.
Shalimar: Well, Lexa said whatever's in that plane is a major threat.
Brennan: Hey. How come we never get the easy ones? [She chuckles. They look up as the Photographer suddenly loses his balance and slides down the hill, attracting the gunfire of the armed guards. Brennan runs down the hill, shooting electrical arcs at the gunmen until they retreat into two black SUVs and drive off. The Photographer is trying for a few more pictures when Shalimar tackles him to the ground.]
Shalimar: Get down! [The last gunman fires a missile at the plane wreckage, causing a massive explosion. He gets into the last SUV and it drives away.]
Shalimar (to The Photographer): You mind telling us what just happened?
The Photographer: Let me tell you, you're privileged, baby. You just saw the real thing.
Brennan: What real thing?
The Photographer: Aliens! Real live sign-in-the-woods-crop-circling-saucer-jockeying-cattle-mutilating aliens. [He holds up his camera.] And I've finally got the proof. [Shalimar and Brennan look at each other in disbelief.]

Opening Credits. "Conspiracy Theory"

[Brennan, Shalimar, and The Photographer search through what's left of the crash site.]
Brennan: Well, not much left to look at.
The Photographer: There never is. That's the way they do it.
Shalimar (sarcastically): The aliens?
The Photographer: The Men In Black. The guys that were just shooting at us. I guess they didn't want to kill too many witnesses all at once.
Brennan: Witnesses to what?
The Photographer (showing them his photographs of the silver bodies): To this.
Shalimar (incredulously): And you think that's an alien?
Eddie: The government's been working with them for years.
Shalimar: The government?
Eddie: Yeah. In collusion with organized crime, the church, and the cast of Friends. But that's...that's kind of a long story. [Shalimar starts to laugh.]
Brennan: Hey, whoa, wait. Where're you going?
The Photographer: Getting the hell outta here before they come back.
Brennan: No, listen, listen.
Brennan: I had this...this dream the other night. There was all these lights in the sky and there was these.... Anyway, I walked all the way from town to be here right at this moment, and I need to know what that means.
The Photographer (grinning): Classic abduction profile. Drawn to the next visitation. I'm warning you. Once you've seen behind the veil, there's no going back.
Shalimar: I think we're ready to take that chance.
Brennan: Yeah.
The Photographer: Welcome to the conspiracy. Eddie. Eddie Boyle. You guys on foot? The car's is up here. [He walks off. Shalimar cracks up.]
Brennan: Okay, yeah, the guy seems a little nuts, but listen. Obviously, he knows something about what's going on here, and we need to figure out what that is.
Shalimar: Look, honey, he doesn't know the difference between Martians and meatloaf!
Jesse's voice (over their comlinks): Shalimar, I agree with Brennan.
Shalimar: What?! [The screen splits in two to reveal Lexa and Jesse at a computer in Sanctuary.]
Jesse: Look, we've been monitoring you guys since you got to the crash site. The very fact that that guy was there before us means that at least he's plugged into something.
Shalimar: Yeah, plugged in, maybe, but he's got a few wires loose.
Lexa: Look. Whatever's supposed to happen is going down before eight o'clock tomorrow night. Unless you've got something better to go on, just do it, okay? [She stalks off.]
Jesse: Guys, she's right. Look, we're running out of time. We gotta figure out what the fallout is gonna be from that crash. And right now the guy you just met is our best shot at doing that.
Shalimar: So you want us to stick with him? [Shalimar and Brennan approach Eddie, who is rummaging through the truck of his car.]
Eddie: Oh, good. Here. [He holds out two baseball caps.] I advise you to wear these. They're lined with tin foil. Stops them from, you know, tracking us by our thought waves.
Shalimar (sticking her cap on): Oh, yeah. This is gonna be enlightening. [Brennan laughs.]

[Lexa's sitting on the couch, working on her calculator when Jesse walks up to her.]
Jesse: I'm gonna keep at that satellite search, see if I can turn up anything on our Men In Black.
Lexa: Something tells me that won't be too fruitful.
Jesse: Well, it's all we've got.
Jesse: Look, Lexa, I know it's hard. I mean, losing your brother--
Lexa (holding up a hand): Jess, don't.
Jesse: Don't what? Lexa, I care. I--
Lexa (looking up at him): Well, then, fine. Look, just keep trying to track these guys down. I'm going to contact The Dominion and fill them in. [She walks away.]

[The three black SUVs pull up inside a darkened government warehouse, and the gunmen step out. While two men in protective gear wheel up a stretcher for the silver-clad bodies, the person in charge, Nick Benedict, approaches one of the gunmen.]
Nick: You retrieved the cargo?
The Gunman: We did. But there was a complication. We were observed. Three people, two men and a woman.
Nick: They got their information somewhere. Find the source and close it. We cannot afford loose ends.

[Meanwhile, Eddie ushers Brennan and Shalimar into a small room packed with odd trinkets and tin-foil-lined equipment.]
Eddie: Welcome to my command center. Oh! [He hands Shalimar a pamphlet.] This is one of my many publications.
Shalimar (reading the title): Reality TV: Satanist attack on network television.
Eddie Boyle: Yeah, I know it's not fashionable to see the world as it is. I mean, you try to help people by simply pointing out that the country's controlled by aliens, and the next thing you know, they got you in a straightjacket pumped full of Thorazine.
Brennan (chuckling): Does that happen often?
Eddie: Often enough! Let me tell you something. These alien freaks actually live among us. Yeah. They can make themselves look like us, sound like us, the whole nine yards. I mean, but there are...there are differences. I mean, as far as I can tell, they live entirely on a diet of cow's blood and battery acid, and further evidence suggests that they are here to destroy humanity and to mate with as many Earth women as they can possibly get their mandibles on.
Shalimar: Really?
Eddie: Yes, sweetie, and if I were you, I'd keep my eyes open. A babe like you is definitely anal-probe bait.
Shalimar (raising her eyebrows): Okay! I think we're done here. [She turns to leave.]
Eddie: Wait a minute. Wait, wait. Listen to me. Four years ago, I was a respected journalist working over at The Daily Times and I was out in the field covering an explosion at a gene research company. [He takes down a picture from the wall.] I took this: a guy fighting with company security. I could kick myself I wasn't closer when I took it, but there's lightning coming out of his hands!
Brennan (taking the photograph): Lightning? [The picture shows Brennan shooting an electrical arc, but his face is hidden by the electricity.]
Eddie: Yeah. It's a common ET phenomenon. Yep, that photo should have won me a Pulitzer. Instead, it ruined me. Cost me my career and my...cost me my family. [He looks at photos of his children on the wall.]
Brennan: Look, there's probably something I should tell you, Eddie--
Shalimar (quickly pulling him away): 'Scuse us. Why do I get the feeling you're about to tell this guy about us?
Brennan: What would it hurt?
Shalimar: It would put us in the same box with all the other freaks he's hunting. What use is he gonna be to us then?
Brennan: Shal, that picture is of me. I kinda feel responsible for what--
Shalimar: No, uh-uh. Don't go there. We get what we need from this guy, and we get out. As soon as possible.
Brennan: Okay.

[Back at Sanctuary, Lexa's in her office, talking to her Dominion Contact by video link.]
The Contact: The confrontation at the crash site was not expected.
Lexa: Yeah, there was someone else there. A conspiracy nut named Eddie Boyle. He used to be a reporter.
The Contact: There are too many variables entering the mix. And too little time. Whatever is going to happen will take place in the next twenty-four hours. You have to stop it.
Lexa: Or not.
The Contact: What are you saying?
Lexa: I'm reassessing my future with Mutant X.
The Contact: This is not the time to enter into a negotiation, Miss Pierce.
Lexa: I came here for one reason, and that was to find my brother. And now that he's dead, our arrangement is over!
The Contact: It's not that simple. You can't just walk away. [She cuts off the connection and leaves the office.]

[Brennan and Shalimar are probing Eddie for more information.]
Brennan: Do you have any idea why those things were on that plane that went down?
Eddie: That's the mystery. The simple answer is that it's all part of the conspiracy. [He shows them a paper-littered bulletin board on the back wall.] Come here, come here. See, if you look at this, you begin to see the scope of it all. The gray alien's connected to The Illuminati, who are connected to the Masons, who are connected to the royal family. And they're all connected to this guy. [He shows them a photograph of Adam.] Adam Kane.
Shalimar (startled): Adam?
Eddie: You've heard of him?
Shalimar (glancing at Brennan): No...um...I mean, you don't think one man's behind all this, do you?
Eddie: Kane is currently off the radar, but the word is that he's still out there working in the shadows. See, he used to be connected to an outfit called Genomex, who was hooked into the GSA and of course, they're all working for the...
Brennan and Shalimar: Aliens?
Eddie: Yes! Yes, exactly.
Brennan: Hey, how'd you find out about the crash?
Eddie: Well, a buddy of mine, Leon, runs a suppressed info website. Mainlines covert information right from the inside.
Shalimar: Can we meet him?
Eddie (hesitating): Uh....okay all right. But anything you see or hear while on this mission stays strictly confidential. Capice?

[Eddie, Shalimar, and Brennan drive up to Leon's trailer in Eddie's car and get out.]
Shalimar: Your friend doesn't exactly live in the lap of luxury.
Eddie: Well, if you've gotta live under the radar, you can't be picky. [He stops cold.]
Brennan: What?
Eddie: Leon's door is open. That's not like him.
Shalimar: Something's wrong. I smell blood.
Eddie: Oh no. [Brennan opens the door; Leon's lying on the floor, shot in the head.] Oh, Leon! Leon? Oh, man. [Brennan feels for a pulse, then returns to Eddie, who's pacing outside.]
Brennan: Man, I'm sorry. Should we be calling anybody? His family? Girlfriend?
Eddie: In our world, those...that's one of the first things you give up. The only ones who will care are me and a couple other people who visited his site.
Shalimar (feral eyes flashing): Brennan. Chopper coming.
Brennan: Take cover, man. [They hide behind Leon's car as a helicopter shoots round after round into Leon's trailer, destroying everything. The helicopter heads off, and they stand up, looking around at the rubble.]
Eddie: Now do you believe me?

*******Commercial Break*******

Brennan (whispering to Shalimar): All right, just let me go talk to him real fast.
Shalimar: Yeah, good idea. Go ahead.
Brennan: All right, Eddie. You have any idea how Leon got his information? [Staring off into space, Eddie doesn't answer.] Eddie.
Eddie: It's on his computer.
Shalimar (eyeing the bullet-ridden trailer): 'Was' would be the operative word.
Eddie: No, no. Leon always had a dynamic backup. [He pulls up Leon's floorboard to reveal a safe in the floor. Opening it, he takes out a disk.] Remember, paranoia is your friend.
Shalimar: Guys, I think we have another problem. [She looks at Eddie's car, which was destroyed by the gunfire.] From here on in, we're walking.
Eddie: Not exactly. Over here. [He shows them Leon's car, covered in a tarp and camouflaged under some tree branches.] He's not gonna be needing this anymore. Let's move.

[Jesse calls Brennan from Sanctuary to check in. The screen splits in two to reveal Shalimar and Brennan back at Eddie's headquarters.]
Jesse: Brennan, did you manage to get anything at the trailer?
Brennan: Yeah, we got a backup of Leon's hard drive.
Jesse: Nice!
Brennan: No, it's not so nice. None of us can figure out a way to get into it.
Jesse: Well, maybe if one of your guys can distract Eddie, the other one can help me set up a back door to his system.
Shalimar: We'll give it a shot.
Brennan (going over to Eddie): All right, buddy, what's up? How's it going?
Eddie (studying the disk): Not so good. Leon got the crash information from his contact in a coded chat room.
Brennan (pulling him over to the conspiracy board): Why don't you take me over here and explain all this to me again? Maybe if we put our heads together, we can figure this out.
Shalimar (plugging the disk into the computer): Okay, Jess, talk me through it.
Jesse: Okay, uh...set his browser to the IP address 2905.190.190.65. It's a web trap I set up. Once his browser makes the hit, I'll have all the information I need to trace it back to make a connection.
Shalimar: Come on, Jess. You in yet?
Jesse: Just a few more seconds. There, I'm in. Okay, I've downloaded the image from his hard drive. I'll see what I can find and get back to you. [Shalimar replaces the disk and goes over to Brennan and Eddie.]
Shalimar: You guys figure anything out?
Brennan: Yeah, Eddie may have known someone who Leon was talking to.
Eddie: Yeah, this guy will convince you if nothing else does. He's the king of the conspiracy theorists.
Shalimar: Let's see if we can arrange an audience?

[Eddie brings Shalimar and Brennan to a retirement home.]
Shalimar: He works out of an old age home?
A woman's voice: Get away! [Thinking someone's in trouble, Brennan and Shalimar barge into the room, to find an exasperated nurse struggling to pull a computer keyboard away from an elderly man, Silver.]
Silver: Give me this thing, will you?
Eddie (running over to intervene): Silver! Silver, Silver, hey.
Silver (releasing the keyboard): Oh, Eddie, hey. How are you doing?
Eddie: Good, good. How're you doing?
Silver: Okay. [To the nurse.] Will you excuse us? I have company. [She rolls her eyes and leaves the room in a huff.]
Eddie (grinning): I told you he was a hard ass. [To Silver.] I brought some...some friends. Do you mind if I talk to you for a minute?
Silver: It's okay. Hey, I'm sorry about Leon, you know? But he was a damn fool! That website was like an invitation for them to smoke him, you know.
Eddie: Yeah. I know.
Brennan: So, the last chat that you had with Leon, was there anything strange about it?
Silver: Not so you'd notice.
Brennan: What we need to know is how he got the information about the plane.
Silver: He said he was in direct contact with somebody who had been in Area 12.
Eddie: Of course! Of course, it's sitting right in front of my face!
Shalimar: Area 12?
Silver (frowning): Are you sure these people are searchers?
Eddie: Yes. [He explains to Shalimar and Brennan.] It's like Area 51, but on the northeast. The army has a couple of alien ships there.
Silver: The place is lousy with aliens. I've seen them myself.
Eddie: Yes!
Jesse (over Brennan's comlink): Brennan, are you there?
Brennan: Yeah. Excuse me, guys, for a second.
Silver: Yeah. [Brennan leaves, ignoring Shalimar's "don't you dare leave me in here alone with them" look. Silver turns to Shalimar with a flirtaceous tone.] So...you two together, or what? [Shalimar stares at him in disbelief.]
Brennan (outside the room): What's up, Jess? [The screen splits to show Jesse at Sanctuary's computer.]
Jesse: Okay. Turns out that the IP address the guy Leon was communicating with is government. He's gotta be high up. There's no listing as to who the address belongs to.
Brennan: So he was communicating with someone on the inside.
Jesse: Yeah, it looks that way. I'm tracking the address to the net, see if I can at least find out where Leon's source was located.
Brennan: Try Area 12.
Shalimar (coming out of the room): We have less than twelve hours to avert some kind of major disaster, and we're visiting UFO bases on the advice of some old fart in bedroom slippers.
Brennan: What's your point?
Shalimar: Look. You feel bad about Eddie losing his job and his family. Me too. But find some other way to deal with your guilt, okay? Take him out for a few beers, help him meet some chicks, but don't let him waste any more of our time.
Brennan: Shal. Jesse just traced Leon's source back to a government IP address. This is going somewhere, I believe him.
Eddie (coming out): You guys ready to go? Let's go.
Brennan (to Shalimar): Let's go.

[Jesse walks into Lexa's room to find her packing up her things.]
Jesse: Running away is not going to make things any better.
Lexa (pointedly): No? Well, I wouldn't have to put up with people getting involved in my affairs.
Jesse: Lexa, working as a mercenary before didn't make you happy, did it? And it's not gonna be any better now if you go back to it. But I know there's been times here when you've been one of us, and that has made you happy.
Lexa: This is not what I want, Jess. I don't belong here, okay?
Jesse: So where do you belong? [She doesn't have an answer. He walks out; she stares after him.]

[Ignoring the "Danger: Keep Out" sign, Shalimar, Brennan, and Eddie sneak up to a fence outside Area 12. An armed man in a black suit paces back and forth over the grounds.]
Eddie (peering through his binoculars): Oh, yeah, baby. This is the place. Hey, check it out, Area 12. This has gotta be where that plane was headed.
Brennan: There's the shooters from the plane. What do you think, Shal?
Shalimar (smiling): Nice suits. [Brennan laughs.]
Brennan: Hold it. What the hell is that? [As they watch, an opening appears in the ground, and an ice cream truck levitates up from below.]
Shalimar: Good bet whatever's in the back of that truck has nothing to do with ice cream. [The truck drives out through an opening in the fence, showing a Man In Black sitting in the passenger's seat.]

[Cut to: A "The Truth Is Out There" bumper sticker on the back of Leon's car as it sits in the middle of the road, its hood up and doors open. Eddie's sitting on the front grille, awaiting the ice cream truck's approach.]
Eddie (warning Shalimar beside him): Here he comes.
Shalimar: Yeah, I got that. [The ice cream truck stops at the roadblock, and the Man In Black gets out. As Eddie and Shalimar pretend to be a couple fighting, Brennan sneaks into the truck's rear.]
Eddie: I don't believe this. Who shops out here?
Shalimar: Hey, you know what? I realize you're allergic to maps, but would it have killed you to ask for directions?
Eddie: There's not even any retail outlet stores out here!
Shalimar: Yeah, no kidding!
The Man In Black: What's going on here?
Shalimar: Thank goodness you came by, I told you you should have checked the radiator before we left.
Eddie: What are you talking about? I checked it this weekend, it was fine.
Shalimar: Well, that's great. If it was still the weekend, then we wouldn't have a problem now, would we?
Eddie (holding his head): Grr, Donna!
The Man In Black: Just get your car off the road.
Eddie: Look, champ. This car's not going anywhere.
The Man In Black: Push it.
Shalimar (unzipping her jacket): Well, if you were gonna give us a ride back, maybe...
The Man In Black: Get your car off the road.
Eddie: Buddy, it's a 20 mile hike back into town. She's got corns. [Meanwhile, Brennan notes a silver suit hanging in the back of the ice cream truck and unzips the body bag on the floor, finding a silver-clad body inside.]
The Man In Black (showing them the gun under his jacket): I won't ask you again.
Eddie: Whoa, whoa. All right, all right, just take it easy.
Shalimar: Okay. All right, okay, all you had to do was ask.
Eddie (going around to the side of the car): Push, push, push!
Shalimar (into her comlink, pretending to push the front of the car): Now would be a good time, Brennan.
Brennan: Okay.
Eddie: Push!
Shalimar: A little help would be nice! [They get the car off the road, and the ice cream truck goes around them.]
Eddie: Yeah, thanks a lot there, Pallie.
Shalimar: Brennan! [Brennan emerges from the bushes, carrying the body bag.]
Brennan: Well, Eddie. I found your alien. [Eddie looks astounded.]

********Commercial Break********

[Eddie unzips the body bag in the truck of Leon's car, excitedly taking out his camera.]
Eddie: Whoo-hoo! I don't believe this. I've spent a lifetime trying to take a decent photo of an alien, and now I've finally got one in the flesh....or whatever it is they're made out of.
Shalimar: I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but I actually think you might be on to something here.
Eddie: Okay, all right. Okay, the first thing we're gonna do? We are gonna drive this baby right up to the front doors of The Daily Times. Rub their noses into it.
Brennan: Hey, Eddie. I've got a better idea. We're drop this off with a friend of mine. He knows about this kind of stuff.
Eddie: Woah, woah. What are you talking about, friend? What do you mean, friend? I don't understand. Before you didn't know anyone or anything. I mean, how come you're so connected all of a sudden?
Brennan: Just trust me, okay? He's a specialist, all right? If you're gonna expose these things to the world, don't you think you should at least know what it is that you're exposing.
Eddie: All right, Brennan. I'm gonna trust you. Just...don't let me down. Please.
Brennan: I won't.
Eddie (grinning): Okay. We've got an alien. Let's go. Whooo! [He gets into the car.]
Brennan (into his comlink): Jess, you getting this?
Jesse: Yeah. Bring the body down to Dr. Marcus's clinic. I'll meet you there.
Brennan: All right. Get Lexa's people to get us some IDs, all right? Um...FBI, CIA, whatever.
Jesse: All right, I'm on it.

[In Dr. Marcus's lab, Jesse, wearing a white lab coat, uses the scanner to x-ray the silver-clad body.]
Jesse: It's a good thing you didn't open the suit.
Eddie: Yeah, uh, Doc? Those guys were already dead. I don't think there's much more that could happen to them.
Jesse: Not to them. To you. See, these suits weren't designed to keep stuff out. They were designed to keep something really nasty in. It's a kind of a...reverse biohazard suit.
Brennan: Do you have any idea what it is that they're keeping in?
Jesse (smiling): Well, not aliens, if that's what you're thinking.
Eddie: What are you talking about? That thing is definitely an alien!
Jesse: The sample showed his genetic structure has been modified.
Eddie (disgusted): What, what are you talking about? Like some kind of mutant or something?
Jesse (glancing warily at Brennan): Well, whatever they did to him caused him to grow an extra organ close to his spleen, the sole purpose of which seems to be the manufacture of disease.
Shalimar: He's a disease factory?
Jesse: In a sense, yeah. And the bacteria they created are designed to travel a direct route through the lymphatic system and out through special conduits in the hand. I think that they're able to transmit the disease selectively.
Brennan: You have a handle on the bacteria?
Jesse: Oh, they're lethal. From what I can tell, they'll kill in...a minute? And the thing is, as fast as they kill, they die off, so by the time they have a chance to do an autopsy, the bacteria will be virtually undetectable. If they manage to perfect this process, there's no stopping them.
Shalimar: He's the ultimate assassin, really.
Jesse: Yeah.
Shalimar: Pick someone in a crowd and then disappear.
Eddie: What happened to this guy we brought in?
Jesse: Well, that's a good question. You see, he's designed to be immune to his own bacteria, but it didn't work. So in a sense, he and the other guy that you saw in the truck are failures.
Brennan: There was a third one.
Jesse: What?
Eddie: What?
Brennan: Yeah. Yeah, there was a third suit in the truck. Which means there's another one out there alive, ready to kill.
Shalimar: Look, is there a way to counteract the bacteria?
Jesse: Well, I'd have to bring some specialists in. It would take a couple more hours to run a more complete analysis.
Eddie: Okay, uh-uh. I don't think so. I'm sorry, but this baby's got a date with the national media. I am leaving with it.
Brennan: Let me talk to you for a sec. [He takes Eddie outside the room.]
Eddie: I've waited four years for this opportunity. And you promised! I'm not gonna let some crackpot take my shot.
Shalimar (joining them): Eddie. It's not an alien.
Eddie: Well, that doesn't mean they weren't created by aliens. You know, they send them into our midst, wipe out all resistence... And you know what? While we're at it, I want to know who you people are! Random abductees don't usually know doctors with secret genetic labs, all right? [Shalimar nods at Brennan.]
Brennan: All right, Eddie. I guess we've kept this from you long enough. We're FBI. [He flashes his fake badge.] Branch 17.
Eddie (in awe): I knew it existed. Wait, so you guys are like the real X-Files, right? Hm?
Brennan: And you're part of the team, now, man.
Eddie: Okay. Okay, great! Well, what's the deal? I mean you've gotta know something.
Brennan: Well, we don't know any more about this than you do. But we know that there's a major catastrophe that we need to stop in about three hours. You down for helping us out or what?
Eddie: What, are you kidding me? Wild horses couldn't drag me off this story.

[Inside an Area 12 building, The Gunman watches two guards beat up a scientist. Nick Benedict joins them.]
The Gunman: We found out who leaked the information about the crash.
Nick: Dr. Harrow. I'm surprised. Weren't we generous enough?
Dr. Harrow: Money had nothing to do with it. I heard how you planned to use them.
Nick: Killing our country's enemies. It's a noble cause.
Dr. Harrow: My issue with you deciding who the enemies are.
Nick: Yeah. Now you're one of those enemies. [The lone surviving Assassin comes up to them, removing his gloves. He touches Dr. Harrow's hand.]
Dr. Harrow (his skin turning red): No!
Nick: Thank you, Doctor. Your death will not be in vain. [The guards allow Dr. Harrow's body to drop to the ground. Benedict walks away with The Gunman.] Unless those people who stole the other subjects are idiots, they will have analyzed it by now.
The Gunman: All lines of communication are being monitored.
Nick: Well, find them. What's important now is the next phase of the operation. We have a schedule to stick to. [The Assassin walks up.] Let's hope you are as effective as the good doctor intended.

[Lexa walks down a back street alleyway to meet her Dominion Contact sitting in his car.]
The Contact: I didn't know if you'd come.
Lexa: You have information?
The Contact: Jesse Kilmartin's analysis of the body they found confirms he was one of the subjects in a secret military project called Contact. Its purpose was to create a subspecies bred for assassination. It was discontinued over a year ago.
Lexa: Seems pretty healthy for a discontinued project. Do you have any idea who's running this?
The Contact: Before termination, it had been led by Dr. Robert Harrow. Unfortunately, he was found dead on a downtown street thirty minutes ago. Intel suggests he was killed by one of the Project Contact assassins.
Lexa: Do you know of anyone else connected?
The Contact: There is no record of the project continuing under any government sanction, but we're looking into anyone who might have known about it at the time.
Lexa: You didn't call me down here for information you could have given me over the phone.
The Contact: I need to know your answer about leaving Mutant X.
Lexa: I haven't decided yet.
The Contact: Decide. My Council is worried that if you're not working with us, you may be working against us. You're powerful, Lexa. But there are people with power even you should be afraid of. You must choose which side you're working for.
Lexa: Well. You'll be the first to know.

[Eddie and Brennan are sitting in his command center. Eddie's going over the conspiracy board.]
Eddie (groaning): It's not making any sense yet. I mean, these guys creating killers, I get. I just don't see how it fits into the whole conspiracy web.
Brennan: Hey, Eddie. Don't you ever miss it?
Eddie: What?
Brennan: Living a normal life, like other people?
Eddie: Other people are blind, Brennan.
Brennan: So you don't ever think that you should give this up? Conspiracies, aliens?
Eddie: You mean, close my eyes to the truth?
Brennan: No, no. Just...I don't know, not see so much of it. Why do you feel so responsible for figuring everything out for other people?
Eddie: Brennan! This is what I do, okay?
Brennan: Yeah, don't you think you've given up enough? [He points to the pictures of Eddie's children.] Maybe too much?
Eddie: Oh, don't you think I know that? I know people think I'm nuts, but I am a good journalist, okay?
Brennan (thinking): So, all of this started when you took the picture of that guy with lightning coming out of his hands.
Eddie: Yeah.
Brennan: What if somebody told you what that was all about? Would you be able to let it go then?
Eddie: There's no letting go! Okay? Let me tell you something, that story could be my ticket back. If I ever get my hands on that freak, I'll have him in every paper from here to Beijing. Do you know something?
Brennan: No. Just wondering.
Shalimar (coming in): I just got an update from Lexa. She said those things we found were from something called Project Contact.
Eddie (sitting at his computer): Project Contact. Project Contact...okay, I got it. Military, deep cover. It was shut down after pressure from the senator from the state state, a guy named Danny Richards. He's currently running a commission on policing the abuse of genetic military research.
Brennan: Sounds like a natural enemy of whoever created Project Contact.
Shalimar: He also sounds like someone who could tell us who that was.

[In Senator Daniel Richard's Washington office, the senator's reading a report with coffee in hand. He speaks to his secretary.]
Daniel Richards: Jenny, get me Senator Kline. [She nods and heads off. A page leaves a folder on his desk.] Thank you. [As he picks it up, he sees someone sitting behind him.] I didn't see you come in.
Benedict: I wanted to be a little early for the briefing. Daniel, I feel obliged to warn you about the position you're taking in this report tonight. You know, there have been threats.
Richards: I appreciate your concern, Nick. But I'm not going to allow genetic weapons research to continue. It's ending here and now. I truly believe this is one of the most important issues in the country.
Benedict: Oh, I agree. In fact, I think it's fair to say that it's a matter of life and death.

********Commercial Break**********

[In Sanctuary, Lexa and Jesse bring Shalimar and Brennan up to speed via comlink.]
Jesse: Brennan, we've got more background on Senator Richards.
Brennan: All right, what'd you find out?
Lexa: Well, he's a real crusader. He shut down Project Contact and ten other genetic based weapons research projects.
Jesse: There were a lot of people siphoning money from those projects, Brennan. The word is he's got more enemies than friends right now.
Brennan: Wonder how far these enemies are willing to go.
Lexa: That's a good question. He's scheduled to deliver a report on the commission he chaired later tonight.
Brennan: Yeah, let me guess, at 8:00.
Jesse (coming up to the computer): Bingo. Now look, inside sources say he's announcing a total freeze on gene-based weapons. He's also commencing an investigation into suspected genetic crimes committed by military companies.
Brennan: Yeah. So his murder is a disaster.
Shalimar: We have to warn him.
Jesse: No. No, no, no, look. We don't have any proof, okay? We don't know who's behind it, and we can't even tell him who we really are.
Brennan: Jess, if we don't, then he's a dead man, all right? If he's the one who shut down Project Contact, then maybe he'd be able to fill in some blanks for us. All right, Lex, you think The Dominion can give him a heads up?
Lexa: Let's just assume we're on our own on this one.
Shalimar: Do you know where Richards is delivering the report?
Jesse (giving Lexa a perplexed look): Uh...the Federal building on Fairmont.
Brennan: If something is going to happen to Richards, then we're gonna need all hands on deck. Think you guys can make it there in an hour?
Jesse: We're on the move. [He starts to run towards the exit.]
Lexa (not moving): I'm not coming with you.
Jesse: What? [He comes back to her, throwing up his hands.] What?
Lexa: We're different, Jess. You know, when I was a kid, the only thing I ever thought about was taking care of my brother. Everything I did for Eckhart, Adam, the Dominion, was all about saving Leo, and I screwed it up.
Jesse: No.
Lexa: I didn't save anything.
Jesse: You did what you could do.
Lexa: Yeah, and I failed. You don't need me! I mean, the last person who counted on me ended up dead.
Jesse: Is that what this is about? Are you worried about us?
Lexa: No, I don't know how I feel. I just know I need to get away and figure things out.
Jesse: Look, when I first came here I was messed up too. The last thing I thought I wanted was to join a bunch of freaks in a cave. But, Lexa, once I was in, I found something that I could never find on the outside. For the first time in my life I fit in. You're a part of that now.
Lexa: You need to go.
Jesse: All right. [He leaves, reluctantly.]

[Senator Richards is working at his desk when Brennan, Shalimar, and Eddie walk in.]
Richards: Excuse me, how did you get in here?
Shalimar: Senator, we need to talk to you.
Richards: That door was locked!
Brennan: It was. [Richards touches a button under his desk.] That security bar won't work either. Senator, you need to listen to us. This is very important.
Richards: What do you want?
Shalimar: About a year ago, you pulled funding on a government research project called Project Contact.
Richards: The details of that research were never public knowledge.
Eddie: Well, before too long, the consequences of your actions are gonna be felt up close and personal.
Richards: What are you talking about?
Brennan: Someone secretly continued funding on that project. They were successful in creating one of the touch killers.
Richards: How do you know this?
Brennan: That's a long story. What's important here is that your life is in danger.
Richards: I'm not going to put off my report!
Shalimar: That's not what we're asking. We just want to be added to your security detail.
Brennan: You know what that project was about. The killer could be anyone in that room.
Richards: Who could have done this?
Eddie: Oh, that's where it gets interesting. See, the way we figure it, it's Adam Kane working with the new world order and the Masons-
Shalimar (trying to stop him): Eddie!
Eddie: And of course they're all working for the aliens!
Richards (standing up): I want you out of here.
Brennan: Senator. Senator, listen. What we're telling you is the truth. If you don't believe us, then check with your own sources.
Richards (dialing the phone): Security, there's been a break into the committee room. Tell Mr. Benedict to get down here. [The three quickly leave the room.]
Eddie: I think that went well.
Shalimar: What is wrong with you?
Eddie: What are you talking about? The plan was to warn him, right? Yes or no?
Shalimar (to Brennan): Are you gonna tell him, or am I?
Brennan: Eddie, come here. Come here.
Eddie: What are you talking...? Tell me what?
Brennan: I'm really sorry, man, but we're gonna have to ask you to take a step back on this one.
Eddie: What do you mean, as in go away?
Brennan: Someone's going to make a move on Richards. We need to know that there are no wild cards.
Eddie: So now I'm a wild card? Come on, Brennan! We said we were gonna work on this together, right? Brennan!
Brennan: Come on, Eddie.
Eddie: I knew I shouldn't have trusted you. [He walks away. As Eddie's standing idly in the hallway, a security guard pushes past Eddie to get into a room.]
The Security Guard: Excuse me. [Eddie does a double take when he recognizes Nick Benedict through the window. He watches Nick take the Security Guard into the next room.]
The Security Guard: Sir, what's going on? [Nick closes the door. The Assassin, who was waiting behind the door, touches The Security Guard's face with the bacteria. The Security Guard drops to the floor, gasping as his skin turns red. The Assassin puts on The Security Guard's badge and nods to Benedict, who opens the door. Eddie watches as the two walk out of the room.]

******Commercial Break*********

[Reporters gather in the press room before Richard's speech. Jesse, sitting in a row towards the back, stands when he sees Shalimar and Brennan enter the room. They cross to him.]
Shalimar: Where's Lexa?
Jesse: She couldn't make it.
Shalimar: What?
Jesse: Long story. Brennan, it's gonna be tough to keep our eyes everywhere at once, huh?
Brennan: Yeah. Look, the Senator's their target, so anyone who gets to close to him is our guy.
Jesse: Looks like his own security's got him pretty covered.
Shalimar: Yeah, well, I don't think normal security's gonna be much help here.
Brennan: Look, you guys take the west side over here. I'm gonna cover the north.
Eddie (sneaking in): Brennan! Brennan, this is getting weird.
Brennan: What are you doing? I told you, you've gotta let us handle this.
Eddie: No, no, no, no! I saw this guy--
Brennan: Eddie. Get this through your head. This is not about Elvis or the Masons or aliens. There is a very important person in danger here.
Eddie: I know that! That's what I'm trying to tell you!
Brennan: Shhhh!
Eddie: There's somebody on the Senator's team that's one of them.
Brennan: One of who?
Eddie: Them! A guy named Benedict. He's one of the head honchos on Project Contact.
Brennan: Eddie...
Eddie: He's connected to about ten groups that I've been tracking! Look, I've got the proof, Brennan. You've gotta trust me.
Shalimar (coming up to Brennan): The Senator's about to arrive. Get him out of here.
Eddie: Brennan?
Brennan: I'm sorry, Eddie. You've got to go.
Eddie: Hey, you know what? Fine. I'm on my own anyway, like always. [He heads off towards the Senator's office.]
Brennan: Damn it. [He goes after him.]

[In the Senator's office, Nick stands by The Senator as he prepares to meet the press.]
Richards: Tomorrow morning, every paper in the country will carry the results report.
Benedict: I'm sure they will. Agent, could you escort the Senator to the conference, please? [The Assassin approaches Richards. Eddie barges into the room.]
Eddie: Senator! Benedict is part of Project Contact. He's trying to stop you!
Nick: He's crazy. Senator, go with this-
Eddie (running in front of The Assassin): No! [The Assassin grabs Eddie by the neck, passing the bacteria on to him. Eddie yells and collapses on the floor. The Assassin starts towards Richards again.]
Brennan (entering the office): Hey! [He sends an electrical charge at The Assassin, knocking him behind a desk, then runs to Eddie's side. Jesse and Shalimar rush into the office as Nick is trying to escape.]
Senator Richards (finally figuring out what's going on): It's Benedict! Stop him! [Jesse drops Nick with one punch. The Assassin starts to leap over the desk towards Brennan, who's too busy attending to Eddie to notice.]
Shalimar: Brennan! [Just as Brennan looks up, Lexa comes through the office doors, sending a laser at The Assassin. He falls to the floor, finally dead.]
Lexa: Sorry I'm late. [Jesse grins at her.]
Eddie (as his face turns red): Brennan. I've been searching for the truth for so long. I guess I'm gonna go without ever knowing.
Brennan: No, Eddie, look at me. There are aliens. We've been here all along. [He holds up a tesla coil in front of Eddie's eyes.] We're your friends. [Eddie smiles. Then his eyes roll up and he dies.]

[The next morning, back at Sanctuary, Brennan comes down the stairs to join Jesse in the main room.]
Jesse (handing him a paper): Hey! Read the news today?
Brennan: Why? Anything interesting? [The headline reads, "Genetic horror exposed: Local reporter sacrificed life to expose genetic horror." Underneath is a picture of Eddie.]
Jesse: Well, it's a whole article on Eddie and how he managed to expose Project Contact and Benedict. They make him out to be quite a hero. [Lexa and Shalimar walk in.]
Brennan: He was.
Lexa: Any idea how they got the story?
Shalimar (hugging Brennan's arm): Oh, I'm sure a guy like Eddie has a friend or two somewhere. [She smiles at Lexa.]
Brennan: Well, whoever did it, they did the right thing. He deserved it. He actually deserved a lot more than that. [Putting his arm around Shalimar.] Right?
Shalimar: Yeah. [They walk off together, leaving Jesse and Lexa alone.]
Jesse: It was a good thing you showed up back there.
Lexa: Yeah, well you know how I hate to miss a party.
Jesse: So you gonna be staying around?
Lexa: I don't know. Just don't rent out my room yet, okay?
Jesse (smiling): Yeah. [She walks back to her room.]