Original subtitles

Dr. Sestock, right on time. Welcome, sir. I'm Dr. Wasser.

We spoke earlier.

Afternoon, doctor.

Would you like something to drink? Coffee? Water? Tea?

Uh, no, I'm fine, thank you.

Dr. Sestock, it's not my proclivity to gush, but I was 26 when you received the

Nobel Prize.

You were like a god to all the chem fellows at Yale. To all young chemists

everywhere, I imagine.

Yes, well, those were exciting times.

I am very honored.

Barbara? This way, Dr. Sestak.

Here is your receptacle.

If you wish, we have a wide variety of videos and literature.

That won't be necessary, thank you.

Thank you.

There once was a story about a man who could turn invisible.

I thought it was only a story, until it happened to me.

Okay, so here's how it works. There's this stuff called quicksilver that can

bend light.

Some scientists made it into a synthetic gland, and that's where I came in.

See, I was facing life in prison, and they were looking for a human

So, we made a deal.

They put the gland in my brain, I walked free.

The operation was a success, but that's where everything started to go wrong.

A Victorian author, John Oliver Hobbes, once said that all men are the same.

They always think that something they're going to get is better than what they

got.

Now, I think a more recent philosopher, Bobby Hobbes, said it better.

Hobbes, try not to damage Hebrews.

Oh, come on, man.

What?

This is embarrassing.

You know, I'm...

My junior high school had better AV equipment than we do. I'm glad you

our need for a budget boost.

Luckily, we've just been handed an assignment that will solve the problem.

If we can deliver. Deliver what?

Last month, the Nobel Sperm Bank was burglarized.

What's that?

Nobel Sperm?

Nobel, as in the prize.

The Nobel Sperm Bank is a non -classified government project that

creme de la creme.

So to speak, of America's scientists and professionals.

Once the Nobel laureates have donated.

Hence the name.

These spermatozoa are cryopreserved and locked in the city facility.

Up until now.

Little guys were stolen. You two are gonna bring them back home.

Can't wait to put this job on my resume.

Count the terrorism.

Sperm retrieval. Why are we getting this case a month late?

Political correctness.

The case was first assigned to the U .S. Customs Department after the Nobel

sperm were determined national assets.

Pro -life activists then pressured FBI to take the reins.

Because the sperm may now be embryos, which technically means they're people,

it became a kidnapping case.

Of course, they didn't fly with any other group, so... The FBI handed it to

And here we are.

Do you guys practice that when we're out here? Because I think they do. It's

time. It's image.

We're on the background data.

Now, you'll be dealing with very delicate elements here.

These have temperature requirements.

Think tall, Ebert.

I got it.

Very good.

You are about to embark on the most wondrous journey of all, the journey of

life. It begins with the male chromosome called the gametes.

The male gametes, called spermatozoa or sperm, are produced in the testes.

I still don't understand the government's lag time in getting this

underway. Long story.

Doc, let me get this straight.

Famous people really come in here to have their privacy respected? Yes.

No, seriously.

I mean, you really think these guys have smart genes?

There's a gene for everything. Doc, a guy comes in, wins a Nobel Prize, you

congrats, here's a cup, there's a room, go in there and, you know.

You know, you know.

The old cryovolt is in here. The old cryovolt.

The old cryovolt. The old cryovolt.

The old cryovolt.

This is wild in here, huh? Man, if these walls could talk, I think they'd say

ouch.

That's where the penetration took place.

Thanks, Doc.

Oh, man, you didn't.

Wow. Burned the hole right through the vent shaft, huh?

What is that, acid? No. No, police forensics said it was a... Stabilizing

catalyst.

That's right. How did you know that?

How did you know that?

I'm smart.

Yeah, no, it's pretty cool. It softens a metal with a chemical reaction.

There's no heat buildup at all. You just push your way right through. No heat

buildup.

Push right through.

That's right. Genius.

Thank you.

Where's this coming from?

What do you mean?

How do you know this?

Oh, I know the dude who made this. You know a dude?

That's right. Friend of yours.

Well, not exactly.

You ever hear the term honor amongst thieves?

That's a myth.

Fear amongst thieves, maybe.

Basic relationship is you stab my back, I'll stab yours.

Now, if you look at it that way, Manny Merrick is a very honorable guy.

What's up, man?

Fox.

Foxy.

It's good to see you too, man.

How did you get past the security systems?

You mean the cameras, the motion sensors? And it's nice. Silent alarm.

Just outsmart them.

Yeah, you're all clear.

So.

Manny Merrick, huh?

The Einstein of thieves.

Darien Fox.

Eternal wannabe.

You still scaling high -rises like an amateur chimp?

I pretty much walk in the front door now.

How about you? You still using a destabilizing compound to crack states?

Be nice.

Look, Manny, evidently the stuff you stole is worth a hell of a lot more to

government than whatever you're going to get for it on the black market.

Where's the white stuff?

The sperm.

I don't know what you're talking about.

Maybe this will jog your memory. Okay, okay.

All right, stop it.

Stop it!

I can't believe it.

Darian, we're friends. We were lifting buddies, remember?

It's funny, the only thing I seem to remember you lifting were my

off some freeways.

And then planting them at the scene of a job you pulled.

That provided me with some quality time to really think about our friendship.

It was about 15 months, actually.

Smots, huh?

Here you go. One more time. Okay! Guy named Gallison commissioned the job.

Dr. Gallison. He's a university professor.

I did the job for scale with the understanding I had to share in the

Nice. What profits?

It's going to turn people into geniuses.

This is a waiver of consent. It says that I, Jamie Monger, take full legal

responsibility for the purposes of this experiment. It's pretty standard stuff,

but you should look it over.

This is going to make me smart, right?

But you still have to study if you want to learn.

But it should take you a mere fraction of the time now.

Where do I sign?

You go to college, folks?

Yeah, a couple years.

Kicked out?

Dropped out.

After your brother.

Third Ph .D. above average has a tendency to lose its luster.

You hit the streets after that, stealing hubcaps and whatnot?

Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven. At least, that was kind of the

idea.

How about you? Where did you go to school?

School of Life, my friend. Theater of War.

You didn't even graduate high school? Hey, I was accepted at West Point, there

you go again. West Point, huh? That's right.

I turned them down.

Told them I wanted to see some action first. Right. Amen, brother. Be all that

you can be. I know you're tough.

Here we go.

You know, according to Menzo, I'm a genius.

It's Menzo.

Whatever.

You're telling me you belong to Menzo. Well, not officially.

But in your heart where it really counts. I mean, I took that online test,

kicked its freaking butt. Really? And you didn't join because... Because...

confusing. Whatever.

You're busy. You know what? Screw Menzo.

It's Menzo. Whatever.

Elitist. Intelligence is experience. It's about effort. Okay?

Thomas Edison said genius is 1 % inspiration, 99 % perspiration.

You got to be able to prove it.

Jealousy is a very ugly emotion, my average friend.

Above average. Thank you very much. Hey, I smell sweet as a honeysuckle rose

there, Penelope.

All right, just relax.

Mrs. Howell, I think you got like an Oedipus thing going or something.

Excuse me, you've got the wrong room. Oh, no, no, it's cool. We're good.

the bad guy, right?

We're federal apes.

Well, I guess that's a big yes. Where are you going?

Look, will you sit your butt down?

Sit it down!

Hey, hey, you need a hand here, ma 'am? This is kind of taking a while.

That's a nice... That's... That's bad.

Crap, that looks bad.

You don't need to threaten me. Damn right I don't. Hey, Hobbsy.

Check out the officials. Really grilling them. Why don't we start from the

beginning? Is he resisting?

No. Not really. It's not complicated.

If our species is to stop progressing, natural selection must be replaced with

artificial selection. I don't care about your philosophy.

I just want to know if you used up everything you stole.

I used four samples to create the retrovirus. The rest is locked in a

my lab.

Excuse me, would you explain this retrovirus to me so I'll know exactly

charge you with?

I'll put it in layman's terms so you're able to grasp it. Gee, would you?

The male reproductive cell carries the DNA of the man who produced it, his

entire genetic identity, height, color, diseases.

Intelligence.

I extract that very gene, attach it to a viral vector, and inject it into the

subject's bloodstream.

The retrovirus spreads the gene, grafting it to the chromosomes on

brain cells. When those cells reproduce, a genius is born.

I gotta tell you, you know, sometimes I really wish I spoke mad scientist, you

know?

And then, genius is born.

How many subjects did you test?

Four. Two male, two female.

Need I ask if this process of yours is safe?

It's extremely dangerous.

Gene splicing is supposed to occur in a fertilized egg, not an adult. Actually,

we should track down those people he infected right away.

Well, you know that kid he was with, we had to let him go.

No. Well, he hadn't done anything wrong.

That's not good.

Claire, I think I got a little infected.

Wait a minute, I thought it was just the flesh one.

From the glass shard from the test tube with the retrovirus, I got a little

exposed here.

No, better you than Dorian.

What?

Yep, I've examined Galison's brilliant little virus. If you'd been infected

instead of Hobbes, you'd be dead already.

Get in the chair.

Ooh, I love it when you take charge.

Um, why would I die if I was infected and he wouldn't?

Oh, come on, why else?

Quick silver gland.

Ah, enough of that little bastard.

Yep. The quicksilver gland uses more nerve cells.

Right. New gene would reappropriate the nerve cells for other functions.

Communication between the central nervous system and other parts of the

would shut down.

Don't worry, kid. I'll watch your back any day.

We're partners, right? It's my job.

I think the gene might already be reproducing cells.

Unlikely. Now, Hans, you are sounding smarter.

Oh, I'm smart.

You don't think I'm smart? I'm smart.

No, you mean smart like me.

Oh, you feel a little threatened there, Keepee?

You'd have to act your age first.

I want you two to accompany Dr.

Galison back to his lab.

Make sure he shows you where the sperm is, along with all the project files.

got it. Let's hit it, Brady.

When I get back, I'll balance your budget fee.

What's going on here?

We may have a problem.

All right, check it. Come on. Kate traveled 135 miles in four fewer hours

it took Christine to travel 945 miles. If Kate's speed was three times that of

Christine, what was the speed of Christine?

Distance of Kate over 12 minus Christine's distance over 4.

Man, this is cool.

Come on, this is good stuff.

All right, all right. A man has to get a fox, a chicken, and a sack of corn to

cross a river. He has a rowboat. He can only carry him and one other thing.

If the fox and the chicken are left together, the fox will eat the chicken.

the chicken and the corn are left together, the chicken will eat the corn.

How's the man to do it?

Come on. Man brings the chicken over, leaves the chicken, comes back, gets the

fox, leaves the fox, takes the chicken, leaves the chicken, takes the corn,

brings the fox to the corn, comes back, gets the chicken, brings it home. Bing,

bang, boom. Happy?

Yes! I'm the king. No, no.

You are the king of the smarty pants, my friend.

Do you feel an increased grasp of spatial relations?

Just shut up. Just shut up, man.

All right. All right. How about this one?

There's only one other word that you can make out of the word insatiable. What

is it?

Banalities, which is what these questions are.

Doesn't matter how smart you are if you can't think for yourself.

I beg your pardon?

You do as you're told.

Both of you.

You should see the bigger picture.

Realize that you're slamming the door on discovery.

Why don't you do me a favor and cut the crap, Doc?

Okay, you're by do -re -me, not science.

Troy, you were said to sell intelligence on the black market, am I right? Try to

dumb rich people. That's it.

Progress. Hey, didn't I tell you to shut up?

Melanie? Hello, Doctor.

Oh.

I'm thinking maybe she's one of the test subjects.

What are you doing here?

I came here to say goodbye.

To thank you.

To tell you I'm grateful.

Grateful?

For helping me.

Helping me to see so much.

What do you see, Melanie?

More than they'll allow us to.

Hey, look, Melanie, we're here to help you.

You can't even begin to comprehend what's wrong with me.

Or is it what's right?

I was engrafted with the gene.

Now, I can't really articulate it, but I think I know what you're trying to say

here.

You haven't begun to see.

See.

You will.

And I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

So was Nobel.

That's why he created the Peace Prize, because he was sorry.

Sorry for all the lives lost due to his supreme accomplishment.

Knowledge is power.

No!

A brooding German guy named Schopenhauer said that with increased intelligence

comes an increased capacity for pain. So, I guess if ignorance is bliss, then

enlightenment is pure hell.

Hey. Hi. Hi. I've been trying to call you since yesterday.

Oh, well. After my album died, this gave us the rest of the day off.

Wasn't that nice?

Yeah. You made the report.

What report?

So, one of Garrison's test subjects actually set off the explosives.

Yeah. No one did.

See? Look, I've been reading Gallatin's files.

She's a straight -A student.

Internships, extracurricular activities.

She's very ambitious.

I should have seen her yesterday.

She's very wacko.

If you were a caveman who suddenly understood television, you might react

same way.

Say what?

An adult's neural pathways are set, right? New genes open up new pathways.

brains aren't meant to function on all cylinders at once.

Well, you said something about a caveman. What was that? Yes, it's like a

caveman who can suddenly understand television, but he can't explain it to

anybody because you'd also have to explain what electricity, electronics,

economy, acting, not to mention the whole notion of culture and

Can you stop, please? You're making my head up again.

I see.

I mean, who knows what Melanie understood, but she couldn't explain.

Who knows what Hobbes is going to know?

Where is he?

I think he's upstairs with the boss, ma 'am. Look, is there any way to stop this

thing or reverse it or anything like that?

Yes. I mean, there has to be a solution. There has to be some sort of enzyme

that can block off the gene. I've been looking for an answer, and I just can't

seem to find one.

I'm not smart enough.

Yeah, you are.

Refrigerator's in there, boys. Pack it.

Don't drop it. A lot of effort went into those canisters.

After yesterday's disaster, it seems we still have three loose ends in the form

of Dr.

Collison's other test subjects.

Now, four loose ends, you're forgetting about Bobby.

Right. He was infected.

Where is he?

Wait. He's not with you?

No.

I thought he was with you.

What are you...

What's going on?

This is interesting.

What?

When you didn't show up for work, we didn't know where you were at. Obviously

you did. You wouldn't be here.

You didn't answer your phone, Hans.

Where are we going?

Yeah, never mind. He's here now.

Oh, good. You're here.

Where's Hobbs?

Hobbs, where the hell were you?

In a place you'd never understand.

Well, you were there too long.

Now you're late.

Make it up.

All right, so what's the word?

Linda Keller, Scott Selfon, and Jamie Monger have not responded to any of the

calls we've made.

Those are the student lab rats, right?

Right. Track them down, bring them in.

Maybe they want to be left alone.

Excuse me?

They've committed no crime. They should be left alone.

Hobbs, they may pose a threat to society or to themselves. It's for their own

good.

I disagree.

Don't worry, you're not going along.

You're to report to the Keeper.

For my own good?

For an examination.

I have better things to do with my time.

Hey, Ebertz, you got the files on those kids, right? I was thinking maybe we

could take a look. That was not a request.

Well, this is a refusal.

No.

Guys, guys, guys, come on. I mean, look, let's just calm down here, okay? We're

on the same team, you know what I'm saying?

You have no real power.

What? You're a bureaucrat. Your power trickles down through the system. You're

paper pusher, a desk jockey, a toothless tiger.

Hobbs, one more word out of you and you're out of this organization.

Here's two.

I quit.

Oh, Bobby.

I was... Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. What the hell just happened, huh?

Can't you just quit?

You know what your problem is, Fox?

You're defined by your limitations.

Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours.

I wish you could just hear yourself right now.

I always knew I was too intelligent for government work. I did nothing but a cog

in a machine.

Well, the pay's a joke.

But now I'm warm.

Yeah, yeah, a guy who's finally as smart as his ego always hoped.

Smarter. Will you just stop, okay? You're not thinking clearly here, okay?

I'm thinking very clearly, folks.

For the first time, I could see that I've sabotaged my career and my personal

life for insecurities I may have had about my abilities.

But I see past that now.

You know, lots of things you're forgetting here is they're not your

Were you born with a quicksilver gland?

It's a gift, Fox.

It's a beautiful gift.

And I have this gift now.

Yeah.

Yeah, well, I'd like to be free of my gift, friend.

Okay.

All right, look, look, look. Will you listen to me?

Listen to me, okay? The Keeper is working on a way to reverse his life. I

how to reverse it, Fox.

I don't want to reverse it.

I understand things now.

Things that you'll never, ever, ever understand.

No one ever respected me here.

Really.

No one ever really cared about me here.

I don't know.

Hey.

Call campus security now.

Must have sought each other out.

They dead?

No.

Chemotonic.

So they lost their minds.

Well, it's more likely they found them and it was more than they could handle.

What we're most likely seeing here, severe autism brought on by synaptic

overload.

Why do you think they're naked?

Who knows? Maybe they reached some kind of epiphany.

We'll never know now. They're gone.

The only ones that were smart enough to stop this thing.

The only one left to save Hobbs is Hobbs. And from what I can see, he's not

going to do that.

Oh, he's going to do it.

I do not want to be disturbed!

You will leave here now.

I will be left alone.

No, Brad, I can't do that.

I'm beyond good.

I'm beyond evil.

I deal in truth now. Truth only.

And that doesn't leave much room for you!

Of my life.

Now. Now.

All

you

have to do is ask.

Fox, exactly what are you planning to do?

Whatever it takes.

You know, I found with the straitjacket, if you just roll your shoulders a

little bit, you actually get a little slack.

Just an option.

It's there if you want it or not.

So, Hobbs, I'm going to have to ask you to tell me how to stop

the effects of the retrovirus.

Since I'm not going to do that, I suggest we conserve our energy and you

go now.

Let you go.

No.

Then you could waste your energy while I conserve mine.

You know that the other four test subjects are gone, right?

The tone in your voice implies that they're dead.

They are far from dead, Fox.

You don't care if that happens to you.

I don't expect you to understand.

Why can't you? I mean, go ahead. Why can't you? All right, shoot.

Go ahead.

There's a core difference between us.

Biological determinism versus biological potential.

Oh, actually, you are going to have to.

Clarify that. It's the difference between a man who will sacrifice

propagate himself and a being who will sacrifice himself to what is larger than

self. You are a man.

I am a Superman.

You're Superman.

I'm the Invisible Man.

Why don't we just get...

Wonder when we could really party, you know what I'm saying?

It isn't working.

No, no, no, no. It is. They're talking.

You can't even begin to fathom the concepts and ideas that are dancing on

horizons of my mind.

Yes.

That's... That's what I'm trying to say here, Hobbs. I mean... What is the point

of knowing the answer if you can't tell anyone? You know what I mean?

What's the use of being God if all your buds are human?

Friendship is an illusion, Fox.

A cultural expression of the pack mentality for survival.

What's wrong with survival?

It's just another illusion.

The weak survive, the strong evolve.

I was dead.

Now I'm alive.

Yeah?

You ready to die again?

We both know that can't harm me now, folks.

Yeah. We both know it'll kill me, right?

So, it's pretty simple here.

Save me.

You're going to have to tell me how to stop it.

Fox.

Fox.

What the hell is he doing?

I will not do that.

Yeah, you will.

Yes, you will. You would die for me, Bobby.

See, that's what I know.

It's not because it's your job or your code.

Because I'm your friend.

You think that's illusion, then you're just plain ignorant.

You're making a big mistake.

So you don't know everything, Bobby.

In fact, I'm pretty sure there's... There's one thing about me you don't

No! Don't! There's nothing we can do.

It's an intramolecular lysis enzyme.

Molar ratio 3 to 1, linoleic acid and glucoside.

Reaction temperature 200 degrees.

It'll block the genome.

The new nerve cells will atrophy and die.

I can't believe you did that, partner.

How long have I been asleep?

Long.

If Tom has three times as many apples as Susan, and Susan has one -fourth as

many as Joe, who's got four, how many does Mary have if she has two more than

Tom?

Um, okay.

Uh, Tom's got the...

What was the chick's name?

What's her name?

Welcome back, Bobby.

Oh, thanks, Chief. Yeah.

So, listen, Bobby, I'm going to need to see you later on for some tests, okay?

Just make sure you're fully vaccinated. I'll play a nice game of doctor with you

any time there, Keepy.

Well, I'd say he passed.

Brilliantly. You look good today. It's a nice dress. I like those boots, you see

that?

How you doing?

You alright?

Yeah, yeah, I'm good.

Yeah, she was able to block the gene before it hit any of my cells.

How about you? You remember anything?

Yeah.

Really? Yeah.

I just... I don't understand it, you know?

Everything that I knew is just forever right on the tip of my tongue.

Yeah, well, you know, that's probably where you should live.

Why don't you get some rest, all right?

There's an old saying that every man's a genius until he opens his mouth.

Hey, Fox!

Yeah, well, I decided to save Hobbs the trouble.

Listen, man, I just want to say, you know,

But you know what you did back there? Do it again.

Kind of the same thing here, my friend.