Original subtitles

What in the hell was that?

Manchek, why did you drop the bomb?

Well, there must have been some kind of malfunction.

General Michelson, are your troops all right?

A little shook up, sir, but I think we'll be okay.

I'm sending patrols out to the outlying posts within minutes.

Mr. President, seismic stations are picking this up all over the world. We

to decide how we're going to respond.

Tell them the truth.

Tell him we lost the plane for some yet unknown mechanical reasons.

Agnogenic systems failure, sir.

Somehow the tactical payload went off.

Scheduled a news conference.

In a way to claim that the questions this raises are motivated by political

partisanship.

And I want to know what happened out there.

You know as well as I do that nuclear arms have numerous fail -safe systems.

That bomb did not go off accidentally.

We canceled the drop. You heard it. You're lying.

Knock it off, Stone.

Can I see the pilot's last transmission?

Now, what would destroy plastic resin compounds like that?

Certain chemical agents under certain conditions can destabilize the chemical

structure of polymers.

So could certain microorganisms.

It's mutating.

Yeah, but the plane had to be flying at least 7 ,000 feet. It's always been an

airborne pathogen, albeit of a very short lifespan.

Maybe this is a new, heartier version.

But it was miles away.

But there was a fire, remember?

And maybe this variant, either as a separate mutation or residing in a

host, insect, bird, rose on that column of smoke and made contact with the jet.

No.

No, that is too difficult to believe.

Does anyone have a better theory?

Does anyone even have a different theory?

Recon reports eight casualties at a forward observation post.

But these were not caused by the blast.

These attacks may very well be connected to the attacks on our headquarters.

Speaking off the record, it would be a lot easier for me to do my job if I knew

what we were up against.

It's some kind of virulent biological infection.

As far as we know, it may be a prelude to a much larger attack.

Give me wildfire.

The event in the diner we can explain as a lapse in quarantine.

Your smoke theory might explain how it reached that jet, but this dead army

was 50 miles away from Piedmont.

It must have adapted and formed transportation in a host, like influenza

back and forth between animal and human population.

How do I quarantine that?

You have to scorch the perimeter, drive everything living inside the area. The

rate of mutation is likely to increase post -blast. We have to be prepared for

anything. The entire area is under satellite surveillance.

If something new happens out there, anything, we'll see it.

What do you need, Stone?

Tell me what you need to kill this thing, and I'll get it.

I'm not stonewalling anyone, I assure you. I simply think it is better that

wait for the president himself to answer all of your questions.

From Manchuk.

there's a very real chance that we won't be able to contain it.

Get Air Force One ready.

I don't think you heard me.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.

Sorry to keep you waiting.

Two hours ago, one of our Air Force jets suffered a fatal systems failure and

crashed in a remote part of Utah.

In the process...

A tactical nuclear device was accidentally detonated. Mr. President,

blast near those Utah National Guardsmen and are the surrounding cities in any

immediate danger? Yes, the Guardsmen were there in the area on a training

exercise related to border security.

The area was already under strict quarantine, so they were in no way

by the blast.

Mr. President, sir, over here.

What about radioactive fallout and why were those Guardsmen deployed there to

begin with? Yes, we're taking steps to contain it.

I would like to assure the American public that their safety in no way has

compromised by this.

Bad time, Charlie.

Chuck, listen.

I got a report that Jack Nash disappeared while covering the

Utah National Guard.

So what am I, missing persons?

Come on, Charlie, contact the local authorities.

I did. They've given me the runaround, and I happen to know that that

order came out of your office.

Nash was present for that terrorist attack on guard headquarters.

What attack?

I have no idea what you're talking about.

Really?

Take a look.

Okay.

Come on, Chuck.

I haven't heard from Nash since he sent me those photos.

Now you want me to just run with this and ask my questions on camera about a

satellite going down?

teams sent in by General Mancheck to collect it are all dead.

Okay, look, I'm going to check into this Charlie and I will get back to you.

Are you alright?

No. This bomb blast has got everyone freaking.

Aunt Alice is a mess.

You know, people are saying it's just an attack by terrorists and the

government's lying about it. It's not.

How do you know that?

I just know is all.

Yeah, right.

The great know -it -all. That's you.

Lance. Lance.

The president is taking a serious pounding over this. He's announced that

traveling to Utah to personally oversee this situation.

I'm sure I understand.

And Henderson at NNT is all up in arms over Nash, who apparently showed up at

that National Guard headquarters in the desert.

I prefer not to be embarrassed by information like that.

Nash is in confinement now. I'm on my way there. Good.

I need to know how much information Nash has and who he shared it with.

I also need to feel confident that he is going to shut up.

Do you think you can handle that?

How's Manchek holding up?

I would say he's under a lot of stress right now.

We're going to take casualties on this, and Manchek may have to be one.

But that doesn't necessarily apply to his staff, especially those who show

boldness and initiative as we tie up these loose ends.

You can rely on me.

What do you know about wormholes?

What do I look like, a physicist?

Try your best.

All I know is that speculation centers around two basic types, Lorentzian and

Euclidean. Both are, in theory, potentially traversable.

That's all you know?

So, a method of travel from one part of the universe to the other.

Yeah, and through time.

It's like a worm eating its way through an apple.

instead of around it.

Don't tell me you actually believe Manchak's story.

It's too fantastic to be a lie.

The North

Koreans have announced they're abandoning the Seoul agreement and

reopening their nuclear program because of our recent unauthorized and illegal

nuclear testing.

We'll contact Pyongyang, send them satellite photos of the crash sequence,

with our assurances of compliance. Okay, Pat?

What?

We've also had word from the UN that the General Assembly is going to pass a

measure that will ban all event mining, unless and until member countries are

satisfied with a revenue -sharing system.

There's also a rumor at the UN that the blast in Utah was staged as a deliberate

distraction from the event mining controversy.

Oh.

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how would you like to play?

Computer, Dr. Stone examining the 10th series of exposures of potential

inhibiting agents to Andromeda.

None of the major classes of antifungals or antimicrobials have the least

effect. Run all known bacteriophages.

Commencing exposure of Andromeda to multiple strains of bacteria.

We were in such a hurry we forgot to fully autopsy the test rats. We just

assumed that the coagulation in the body was the killer.

Whereas a blood clot in the brain... Would be both lethal and would explain

weird and violent behavior in some of the victims.

We started picking this up ten minutes ago. The color indicates large amounts

dead and or decaying animal matter. But a closer look reveals a massive bird die

-off just outside the blast zone.

Which is not explicable by either the detonation or the fallout.

a mutation.

I've never seen anything adapt this quickly before.

Andromeda's movement into the aviary population gives it an incredibly

mode of transport.

Chlorazine.

Knocks down anything that flies.

You have to keep it contained.

What the hell have you guys set off out there? Is that part of Project Scoop?

What is Project Scoop?

I suspect you know more about that than I do. I know you asked Lisa Stone about

it. Oh, really?

And how do you know that, Colonel Clarence? Well, she told us.

Lisa told... Yeah, I find that highly unlikely. Would you do wiretap or phone,

Colonel? Was it a legal wiretap?

I'll be asking the questions, if you're interested.

It's a military district of D .C. patch you're wearing. Who are you working for?

You are aware that you have knowingly violated a quarantine area and

on a military base? Release me immediately or I'll have my lawyer over

don't have to let you speak to a lawyer. I don't even have to acknowledge that

you are in our custody. Under the Homeland Security Act, you can be held

indefinitely as a terror threat.

I'm not some hapless Middle Eastern exchange student with an out -of -date

I'm an American citizen with a very public profile.

You screw with me, and you're going to have to answer some really unpleasant

questions. Mature is an addict with an inflated sense of self -importance who

has screwed up in a major way.

Now, I want you to tell me everything you know about Project Scoop and who

you've shared the information with.

If you guys are out to stop this plague, what are you doing packing biological

collection equipment?

Actually, you know I prefer it this way.

Prisoners' personal belongings are deemed as evidence of Salt Lake City.

That's not mine!

That's not mine!

That's not my dress!

You are the chief medical officer for the Utah Highway Patrol?

I am. What can I do for you this fine day? I need some medical information on

Sheriff Willis who shot three people.

Well, I'm sorry. I'd love to help you out, but our medical information is

confidential. This is a matter of public safety.

Well, sweetie, that may be, but... Dr. Smithson, I'm going to give you a direct

line to General George Manchek at the Pentagon, and I suggest you call him and

jerk him around, in which case you might find yourself blindfolded and taped to

a stretcher in a military stockade.

Where did you say you were calling from?

Sheriff Willis must have been exposed driving through Piedmont Sunday night.

Later, he shows up at the diner. He was diabetic, inconsistent with his insulin

use. He'd had two incidences of ketoacidosis in the last year.

Well, did the acidosis somehow delay the onset of the Andromeda infection?

Most die immediately with exposure.

Those that don't exhibit violent behavior within minutes.

Willis lasted a longer time while Tobler and the Ritter baby continued to remain

symptom -free. Why?

Well, these are the temporal lobe samples from our lab rat. Note the

amounts of Andromeda.

Coagulation starts immediately, and death usually follows some congestion in

lungs. If coagulation is inhibited, then Andromeda moves to the brain, creating

a hemorrhage, provoking violent behavior.

But that doesn't explain why diabetic Willis lasted for hours with Andromeda,

and an alcoholic man and a colicky baby continue to remain uninjured.

What do they have in common?

Hey, what's going on back there?

Let's move two more companies into sectors nine.

We've got a helo down just outside the quarantine area.

Survivors? Negative. We're unable to raise anybody on site.

Get a team in there right away. Yes, sir. Get me General Manchak. Sir.

I've never seen a cellular structure like that.

Take a look at the Fourier electron density scans.

It's uneven.

Well, that doesn't make any sense.

Unless this group of organisms is part of a larger group.

Right.

So is Andromeda self -sustaining like a bacterium, or is it part of a larger

unit like an organ?

Messenger theories.

What is messenger theory?

It's a theory in astrobiology that's been kicking around for years.

Space travel is long and arduous.

Instead of tapping a gold plate with pictures onto a satellite like we did

Voyager, it may be a more efficient way of sending messages in a seed -like

culture of bacterium or viruses.

You're saying Andromeda is a signal created by an intelligent species and

sent across the universe.

Or perhaps through the wormhole.

Well, I don't know about that.

But what if Andromeda is like a human stem cell?

It has the capability to change itself into many different components depending

on what it's encountering or what it's ultimately designed for.

Okay. As long as we're playing what if, maybe it's not the message, maybe it's

the messenger.

I mean, we all assume that alien life is large, singular, and complex, but what

if it was a colony?

You're missing the point.

Whether Andromeda is the newspaper or it's the delivery boy who is dropping it

off, the message is loud and clear.

Drop dead.

We've got a problem. Nash has disappeared again.

We don't have a problem, Colonel.

You have a problem. If Nash gets to his editor, he'll put two and two together.

Yeah, well, he's got no water.

I want you to find him.

I want you to make him disappear.

Yes, sir.

I miss you bad, babes. The bed's cold, and the house is two sizes too big.

Oh, you sweet thing.

How are the kids?

High to daddy's cooking.

Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures.

You know that?

Hmm.

Desperate, huh?

So... Tell me how desperate you are.

In great detail.

Do you believe in time travel?

Sure. As much as I believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Which is to

I love the idea, but I'm dubious about the reality.

But... I'm all for it. For someone like me, who's always running late, it would

be a godsend.

According to Chu, a Laurentian wormhole is theoretically traversable not only in

terms of distance, but in time.

Andromeda comes from the past?

The future?

Well, the sophistication of the technology involved in the black

argue for the future.

Why would you threaten your own path like that?

I don't know.

It would be nice, though, wouldn't it? Be able to go back, change things.

I think a linear time frame is a key part of what it means to be human.

If our really important choices could be sampled like a box of chocolates, then

our decisions would lose their meaning.

What would be at stake?

Everything good at home?

Oh, yeah.

How about you?

You got a girlfriend back home tying ribbons around oak trees?

No ball and chain for me.

Can't get a date, huh?

If you don't ask, I won't tell.

I always thought that was a stupid -ass policy.

It's ironic that the Army's extensive battery of psychological tests have

conclusively determined that the person they're most afraid of is the best

suited to make the right choice in this crisis.

So what are we looking at?

Andromeda's chemical composition.

It's weird.

It's not carbon -based.

It's sulfur -based.

Sulfur?

Damn. You're a long way from home, little bug.

you an apology.

Stanford.

I was a big girl, Jeremy.

I'm sure it wasn't the first time that a researcher and his associate became

involved. Well, it was for me.

Look, I realize that's not popular opinion, but it's the truth.

And if I really had the courage of my convictions, instead of breaking it off

with you, I would have left Lisa instead.

The truth is, I haven't ever really stopped thinking about you.

Dr. Stone, side ear. I found something.

You're like, I don't know, cloud of the bear cave or something.

Cave bear.

Daryl Hannah is so hot.

But no.

Quest for fire.

Ray Dawn Strong, very hot.

Ice man.

Cold.

I know, I know.

One million years BC.

Raquel Welch is smoking, though.

Screw you.

Another clue?

Spartan women are so hot.

We should go.

I gotta go.

the living dead.

28 days later.

Planetarium.

I mean, they're not classic zombies.

They're dead, they come back, but not classic in like the traditional sense.

Here at the molecular level, the black material is made up of octahedral beads.

Buckyballs. Exactly.

But notice the slight variation in color.

Each molecule has 60 carbon atoms, but some are bonded with potassium, while

others are bonded with rubidium, giving us this slight color variation.

And why is that?

Why, indeed.

The differences between potassium and rubidium are negligible.

Neither offers any advantage in strength or conductivity.

So the question is... Why would the designer of this material use two

elements?

It seems like an extraordinary amount of work to go to for no apparent good

reason. That's what I think.

Dr. Stone, system reports completion of assigned series.

We have a single positive encounter.

I was taking a shot in the dark for potential Andromeda inhibitors, but

seemed to work.

Apparently until now.

Let's see what we got.

This is X -234.

Computer, show test.

My God, it's working.

What is that?

It's an experimental bacteriophage.

Computer, retest another sample of Andromeda and display result.

Was it the first time in Anomaly?

You saw the recording.

Then Andromeda adapted to the threat?

Cy, this is a completely different sample of Andromeda.

How is that possible?

Well, you have yourself a great time in California, okay?

And you be careful.

If the pollsters are right, you're going to be in more danger than me.

And you, young lady, you be a big girl and take care of your mommy for me.

Okay. Okay? Give me a kiss.

Welcome, Mr. President. I apologize. Our accommodations are somewhat spartan.

General, I'm not here on vacation.

Bring me up to speed.

Andromeda has mutated again and is now in the bird population.

We're killing everything in the quarantined area.

The National Guard reports nine killed in action, probably related to Andromeda

infection, and the loss of one helicopter and its crew due to

failure. We've also had an event outside the quarantine zone that looks like

Andromeda. How'd it get out there? We're not sure.

We have this thing boxed in.

So now Andromeda communicates? How else do you explain it?

Contamination. It wouldn't be the first time the Great Stone has made a mistake.

I was there when he re -ran the test.

The same result. Time out. How about everybody take a breath, okay?

What have we got here?

Potentially.

An alien creature that can be broken into multiple parts, separated by space,

but somehow connected, one part still able to learn from the other.

How might that work?

Maybe some property of light, harmonics, or

radiation serves as a neural network.

It has a crystal -like structure.

Crystals vibrate. They also receive and bend light.

Maybe Andromeda created a subtle energy field, a harmonic field which links up

its disparate parts.

So we haven't just got the killer bug of all time.

We have a bug that communicates with itself over distance.

And learns from experience.

And adapts quickly.

Remember, Andromeda was initially lethal only to humans.

And we isolated it. Thought we isolated it. But by that time it had already

mutated and was jumping in and out of animal populations and spreading.

Then we made the mistake of trying to bomb it. And the third mutation, a resin

-eating variant, destroyed the airplane.

Now there's a fourth mutation affecting birds, which allows Andromeda to spread

further and faster than before.

The president has joined us here at NORTHCOM. Mr. President.

Hello, Dr. Stone. Please continue.

We are just discussing the possibility that Andromeda somehow may be capable of

communicating with its disparate parts.

There is by no means a consensus on this idea, Mr. President.

It's most concentrated in an area just to the north of the blast zone and

appears to be moving in a northwesterly direction.

That's the direction of the storm front, yes?

Yes, the same.

Andromeda is being driven by natural forces. It is completely logical.

General, what prominent features, geographic or man -made, would Andromeda

encounter next?

The Henry River.

The Henry River flows into the Colorado River.

Millions of miles of watershed connecting waterways, rivers.

including Lake Mead, which puts it within striking distance of Las Vegas.

How many flights a day out of Vegas?

Hundreds. One international flight in Andromeda's worldwide.

I'll expand the quarantine zone. Order an evacuation.

And shut down all airports in the Vegas region.

This could be our only chance to contain it.

I'm fine. I just felt bad because I forgot to ask you about your mother.

How's she doing?

Mama would.

Yeah, she's all right, I guess.

Same old, same old.

Well,

maybe you're right. Maybe you should go see her.

Take the kids.

She'd love that.

And be sure to give her my love.

What's going on, Charlene?

Nothing. Just being silly is all.

I gotta go now. I got work to do.

I love you, baby.

I love you.

Get out of there, Adrian. We gotta go.

The number one cause of death in people under 40.

Worse than heart attacks or cancer.

It's the little things, you know, the small stuff that people overlook.

It's going to kill you every time.

Don't stop scaring her, Annie.

Is that Sterno?

A little hair of the dog. It's poisonous.

And illegal.

So it's homicide.

My head hurt.

Take an aspirin next time.

Drinking Sterno will kill you.

If you're so smart, how come I'm still alive and everyone else is dead?

Now who's trying to scare me?

Don't get me wrong.

I just as soon have a big bowl of chili with a cold beer and a cigarette.

Choosers can't be beggars.

Beggars can't be choosers.

See, there's nothing wrong with your hearing. You just don't listen so good.

I have an ulcer.

Blue be red. I can't eat grapefruit.

Messes with my blood sugar.

You just don't...

All the drunk who self -medicates with sterno and aspirin have in common with a

baby. I could not make sense of it until I learned that Sheriff Willis was

diabetic and often suffered from acidosis.

And Tobler suffered acidosis from all the aspirin he was taking?

Mm -hmm. But it's not like the baby was knocking back handfuls of

acetylsalicylic acid.

No, but Tobler said she was always crying. She was colicky.

If Sylvie breathed rapidly long enough, carbon dioxide would build up in her

system and she would become acidotic.

So you're saying they survived Andromeda because they have the same level of

stomach acid.

That's brilliant.

Mr. Henderson, I am very sorry to inform you that while Jack Nash was being

evacuated from guard headquarters, a helicopter sent separate mechanical

and went down.

Jack's dead?

Afraid so, sir. I'm having a hard time locating the next of kin. Does Mr. Nash

have family or friends?

Where are you calling from?

I'm going to have to ask you again, sir. Did Jack Nash have family or friends?

What's your name? Where are you calling from?

Not today.

Dinner? Most definitely not, sir!

I don't know how this works exactly, but... I'm sorry.

I'll do better.

I'll be nice to people.

Please save my ass.

Amen.

Okay.

I'll never do drugs again.

Ever. I swear. No drugs, no booze, no cigarettes.

No drugs, no police. How about that?

I take it back.

I take it back.

Okay.

We've got a vulnerability.

Andromeda can only exist within a very narrow range of acidity and alkalinity.

It pretty much falls within the parameters of human tolerance, 7 .5 to 7

anything we hit Andromeda with, which is acidic or basic enough to kill it,

might also be lethal to humans.

And to make matters worse, if our test results are correct, whatever we attack

with, Andromeda will eventually adjust.

We'd have to hit every bit of the infection virtually simultaneously to

its adaptation.

And disrupt its communicative abilities at the same time.

You know, if you set out to deliberately exterminate mankind, you couldn't do

better than Andromeda.

Hello?

Get back!

I mean it! Okay.

What do you want?

Well, first of all, I want a glass of water the size of a Chevy.

But then I really need to make a phone call. Do you have a cell phone?

What happened to you?

My name's Jack Nash.

I'm a reporter with NNT. You probably know my face.

I just watched Colbert.

Right. South Park sometime.

Look, there was a helicopter crash. I'm the only survivor. I have some important

information I need to deliver, and I really, really need to make a phone call

and get some help with a tire.

Honestly, isn't that getting a little heavy?

How long before this Santa Ana condition reaches the infected area? And then how

long after that until it gets to Los Angeles?

At the rate that it's moving, it'll be at the edge of the quarantine zone in 24

hours, which puts it about 200 miles from Los Angeles.

Should we evacuate L .A.? Evacuate to where, Red?

Can you imagine what it would be like if we actually asked the entire Los

Angeles basin to leave?

Mr. President, we have a developing situation in the mid -Atlantic.

An extremely radical environmental group, Ocean Saviors, has mounted an

assault against our bent mining platform.

This came on their website moments ago.

The Navy has two frigates and a submarine in the vicinity as a team of

SEALs.

Let's see what they want first.

Enough people have died today.

Besides, if we don't stop Andromeda, it's not going to much matter anyway,

it?

That thing that Bill was saying about disrupting Andromeda's communicative

abilities, it got me thinking about messenger theory again.

The idea that Andromeda might be a good link from the future.

You think it's leaving the body accidental, not intentional?

No, no, I agree that Andromeda was designed to kill humans.

Now, I realize this is highly speculative, but maybe the message, if

one, is in the casing.

Maybe it is the casing.

Now, each molecule of the black material is cemented by one of two bonding

agents, potassium or rubidium.

They serve no structural purpose and alternate in a seemingly random manner.

Why go to such trouble?

Is it random? Two agents?

Why not three or four?

Because it's binary.

It's a binary code.

Each sequence is approximately 200 molecules long.

But if you look, there's a pattern within the larger pattern.

Eight.

Patterns of eight.

In a typical binary computer code, each eight -bit sequence would stand for a

letter.

Computer, treat molecular sequence as binary code and search for key.

Why would our enemies send us a message?

Well, maybe they didn't.

Maybe somebody else did.

Okay, I know this is going to sound fantastic, but let's say that Manchek

lying about the wormhole, and in fact, it was the source of Andromeda.

Wormholes, as we understand them, are theoretical connections between distance

and time, right?

What if Andromeda was sent to us by our future?

Okay, I think somebody's been working too hard and drinking way too much

Why send something back that could destroy your own past?

It would be a move of absolute desperation.

A wake -up call, a cry for help. They couldn't beat Andromeda. And we can?

Come on, future technology must be superior to ours. All right, maybe it's

about technology.

Maybe they lack something that we have.

That we still have.

Something to do with pH.

Resources.

Natural resources.

Something we used up or destroyed. Some fossil fuels or some species of plants

or animal life in the rainforest.

And the answer is?

Okay, if I'm sending a message back to some lab -coded geek in the past, I'd

keep it simple. I'd use the basic American computer code for documents in

Roman alphabet.

ASCII.

Computer approach pattern is ASCII code and translate.

Hell is bacillus infernus.

Bacterium from hell.

What's that number?

I did some work on this one.

It's an extremely rare member of the Archaea genus. It's found only one place

the planet, at the bottom of the sea, nearly three kilometers deep, next to

thermal vents.

The bacterium thrives under the most extreme conditions imaginable, including

very acidic pH.

It practices chemosynthesis to survive. In fact, its main food source...

is the sulfur -based effluent from the vents themselves.

The chemical composition of Andromeda is based on sulfur.

I bet Infernus looks at Andromeda the same way a pit bull would look at a big,

juicy steak.

The plan to mine those vents with their mineral deposit is going to be very

destructive. It's kind of underwater strip mining.

Maybe that's why they needed to send a message from the future. The bacteria no

longer exist there because we destroyed it.

We've set plenty of precedent for this kind of weapon. We spray both mosquitoes

and gypsy moths with lethal bacteria.

What about Andromeda's ability to mutate?

That's the beauty of this line of attack.

Andromeda can't change its basic atomic composition, which is sulfur -based.

You can run, but you can't hide. All right. Does this bacterium have any

effect on humans?

Nothing we can find. So we spray Infernus in the air, in the water,

Andromeda is, and the bacteria consume it. Hold on now. We're getting ahead of

ourselves. It makes really good theoretical sense, but we have to test

Oh, this is horseshit. I gotta go chuck on this, sir. I mean, just too

fantastic.

All right, Dr. Stone, look, I'm finding all this a little difficult to accept.

Andromeda is a biological assault, possibly a precursor to an invasion, but

the future?

And it was sent to us by them for our help because of this bacterium?

Mr. President, I...

They sent it back, safely contained within the black material we found.

They could not have anticipated its interception by the scoop satellite or

subsequent release in Piedmont.

This is purely speculative. There's nothing real here, sir. How do you

the binary code, then? Coincidence?

It's a redundancy system.

Standard operating procedure in aeronautics. Everything NASA builds is

way. They coded the solution to Andromeda within the molecular structure

container. If you analyze all the data and the only explanation that works is

the improbable, then the improbable must be true.

What is that, Confucius? Okay, gentlemen, gentlemen.

Sherlock Holmes.

Dr. Stone, this string of numbers that came with the message and the nonsense

that followed it, what do you make of that?

The computer hasn't been able to make any sense of the number 739528, but it's

continuing to work at it.

I know that's not very helpful, sir.

Well, you don't do well in my line of work unless you're willing to roll the

dice once or twice.

Well, if they want my head, they can have it later. What do you need, Dr.

Samples of the bacterium, sir.

We need to test its lethality on Andromeda.

The lab I worked with at UCLA still has samples.

I'll have it sent out to Wildfire right away.

I'll also have our biological dispersal equipment standing by at the minute you

give the word.

And Dr. Stone, if this doesn't work, what's your plan B?

There is no other plan, Mr. President. This is it.

All we can do now is work like hell to get operational and hope that Andromeda

doesn't pull yet another adaptation out of the bag.

Bacterium is the solution?

He seems to think so. That's not what I asked you.

That's my answer.

I need something done. What?

Find out where Dr. Bartman's family is.

Mr.

Bartman, can you come with me, please?

You and I need to have a conversation about your wife.

We lost contact with one of our units near the Henry River half hour ago.

Predator overflight reveals no survivors.

I think we have to assume that quarantine has been breached.

Send the ground patrols in that area and increase overflights. Keep me posted as

you make progress.

I can cut short your wife's trail the minute you give the word.

We can have her on a plane and out of danger in under an hour.

What about all the other wives and daughters in Los Angeles, Pat?

What are you going to do for them?

Well, I just thought... Come on, leave me alone.

Go on, get out of here!

Okay, we're introducing a very modest amount of Infernus to Andromeda.

Look at it go.

Yes.

2 .3 seconds.

So we have a weapon.

How much of this bug do we need to grow to make a difference?

Welcome to the nursery.

Biological breeder, Bethel.

State of the art.

Let's crank them up.

Andromeda is now definitely in the watershed of the Henry River and it's

downstream.

Color blooms there.

Massive aquatic die -offs.

Evacuate the entire Lake Palladium.

Yes, sir.

It worked.

The bacterium worked.

Excellent work, Dr. Stone.

We've started production and should have usable quantities within 10 hours.

10 hours is cutting in close.

How so?

Andromeda has developed another mutation that attacks aquatic life and has

gotten into the watershed of the Colorado River.

At the rate it's moving, it should be in Lake Powell within 10, 11 hours.

And the storm?

It continues to pick up speed. Let me know the minute you're ready.

Sam, the kid's all right?

Did you get to your mom's?

Something came up.

There's somebody who wants to talk to you, Charlene, and I want you to listen

him, baby, okay?

Computer, assemble the team in the conference room.

Hey, you okay?

We have all come to accept the possibility that it was a mutation of

that brought down that jet.

But there's something that's always bothered me.

The jet had been recalled, its mission aborted, and then Andromeda attacked.

I think we might be underestimating Andromeda.

Yes, we've discussed its phenomenal rate of mutation. We've...

We've considered the possibility that it can communicate among its physically

separated parts.

But what if it knowingly crashed the jet in order to set off the onboard nuclear

device and accelerate its own growth?

You're saying it thinks?

I'm saying we have to consider the possibility and act accordingly.

We could dose it now.

We probably have enough bacteria to hit the hotspots.

No, I don't want to risk missing some portion of Andromeda, enabling it to

regroup. When we strike, it has to be devastating.

And to be safe, I think we need to destroy every last sample of Andromeda

lab right now.

You think Andromeda knows or could know what we're trying to do here?

I don't think we can take that chance.

Check the breeder vessels.

Do you think the bacterium will work?

What?

Do you think the bacterium will work?

What else have we got?

I mean, they were damn clever, Andromeda's creators. It's a brilliantly

construct.

But we're...

We're a resilient species.

Think of the imagination those scientists had to figure out what they

send for it in the past.

You know what's truly ironic is that what may end up saving mankind, the

pinnacle of creation, is this very simple, primitive bacterium from the

the bottom of the ocean.

A creature that we were prepared to obliterate without a moment's thought.

There's a profound lesson in humility there, I think.

Not usually your strong suit.

I'm working on it.

Yeah.

Jeremy, come to the conference room. It's urgent.

What is it?

It's not numbers or letters. It's an image.

Design of some kind.

That's why it took so long to process.

What is that?

I've never seen anything like it.

It's not scientific.

Religious, maybe?

That weather system is picking up speed, sir.

If this doesn't work, Andromeda will hit Los Angeles in less than five hours.

Also, our strike teams are in position near the mining platform, waiting for

your word to go in, sir.

Is there anything you'd like me to do?

You religious man, Chuck?

Sir? I don't mean every four years.

I mean, do you have faith?

Well, then you can pray.

Yeah, it's real pretty, but mind if I try your cell phone again?

Don't you ever just relax?

No.

I don't, really. I should.

Go ahead, but the reception's not going to be any better than it was last night.

Oh, mine looks changing. I can feel it.

I see two people, one male, one female.

Jack?

What's going on out there?

It's not us, me.

They're shooting at me.

Jeremy, we have got a lot of product down here, and it's all screaming feed

Urgent message for Dr. Stone.

Go for Dr. Stone.

Dr. Stone, we should already be low, so your facility within minutes. We're

going to be ready.

Good to go.

That storefront's closing in fast. We've got less than an hour.

Out. What?

Rock. Did you carry any oil?

No, maybe. I don't know. Why were they shooting at us? Because I know things.

Well, they think I do. That's why I need to make that call.

You did a great job, doctor.

You and your whole team.

You know when this is over, I'm going to raise it up.

Not that you have any reason to believe me, but for what it's worth, I'm

preaching to the good bird.

Although if it doesn't work, what you and I think isn't going to make a damn

of difference.

Too much oil. We have to dump this thing.

Do you have a weapon in here? A gun? A knife? A slingshot?

No. Check the glove box.

Can opener?

Great. I'll buy him a beer.

What's happening?

What the

hell is that?

Computer,

give me this sample vault.

What's happening?

Darlene, we're on our way.

Si, what is it? Is it Andromeda? No, it's a ground -ball seizure. The fail

panel is ruined. I can't check that in the self -destruct sequence from here.

Where's the next closest control panel? One level up.

But you can't use the elevators. Every level is sealed off.

How do I get up there? You can't. That's the point.

Hold him steady.

Hold him steady. Hold him steady. Computer, show all the mechanical

into the central maintenance shaft.

Break in and climb up. That's a brilliant idea.

I'll check on Barton.

I need you to talk to me. Talk to me. I can't help you.

I don't know.

There's a sample in one of the containment boxes. Why didn't you

them?

They've got Sam and my kids.

They wanted to save a sample.

And then the seal started to disintegrate and the alarm went off.

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry.

All right. Take it easy. Hold on.

How are you feeling?

Well, General, if that nuclear device explodes, then none of what you and your

team are doing right now will matter.

Trauma will be spread over a huge area, and we will never be able to contain it.

Listen, if you had been exposed to a lethal strain, you'd be dead by now.

Are you symptomatic at all?

I'm breathing rapidly. Maybe that's what's keeping it at bay.

Get me the hell out of here!

Charlene, you have to calm down, okay?

I promise we'll get you out of there, but you need to listen to Jeremy.

Forget about me. I'll be fine.

Don't shut it off.

Go.

You had a seizure. Have you had them before?

The lights.

That's bad.

The lights set it off. We have a breach of containment.

Charlene is trapped in the sample vault.

We have to fix the contamination.

You have to rest.

We fix it, or we'll die.

Get out of there. Run.

Follow up progress on the monitor. Help us get to the next level.

Ten minutes have counted.

Jeremy, you okay?

It's not wild among heights.

Don't look down.

Bear straight ahead.

You can make it. Give me your hand.

Just reach out.

Give me your hand.

Yeah, we're both gonna fall.

Just do it. Give me your hand. We need you.

Angela, I have the key.

It won't do you any good. The system will only recognize clean subprint.

I don't know where I'm going.

Angela, you copy me?

Move six feet up and three feet to your right.

There's a, what looks to be a barge, heating -cooling conduit that might

I see it!

You work from the wildfire facility?

Nothing, sir. The self -destruct sequence is still activated.

Jeremy, are you okay?

Which way?

The panel is behind you.

Fifteen feet.

above you now.

You know, God would be kidding me.

That's sick.

Machine.

Charlie, it's Nash. Listen, somebody brought bio -collecting equipment to the

National Guard headquarters.

I think they're trying to sample the contagion.

Looked for a D .C. colonel named Ferris.

He's the link.

He also tried to kill me.

Twice.

And, uh... That's it.

Well, it's been that kind of day.

You okay?

Yeah.

Didn't think sobriety was going to be this painful.

Sorry about your car.

Are you kidding?

That was amazing, what you did.

Today, America mourns the loss of two citizens who made the ultimate sacrifice

for their country.

Dr. William Keene, U .S. Army, and Dr. Tsai Chu, a brilliant scientist who

immigrated to this country in a much -celebrated case some ten years ago.

Standing to President Scott's right is Dr.

Jeremy Stone, who headed Wildfire, and his five teammates, Dr.

Angela Noyce and Dr.

Sean... God, he looks terrible.

Hero of the day.

He did good, okay? I mean, yeah, he's not perfect, but he deserves credit for

what he did.

Seems

a

little dramatic, don't you think?

Every bit of data confirms the same observation.

The Andromeda infection is dead. Nothing survived here, so...

Extraordinary achievements are a real, a real victory.

You think that's how our part in all this is going to be remembered?

As heroes?

I think we might have made some mistakes, but we came through in the

mistakes? The desire to assign blame in Project Scoop will be mitigated, as it

always is, by the fear of public embarrassment.

Highest level of government.

We didn't just screw up, Colonel.

We very nearly lost everything.

And not just once.

Several times.

Why did you blackmail Dr. Barton to try and salvage a sample of Andromeda?

I don't... I have no idea what you're talking about.

Well, maybe I should get on the phone to Chuck Beder over at the NSA and ask him

where that sample is.

I know.

What you sons of bitches did.

There needn't be any losers in this scenario, General.

Aside from the American people?

Your kind of honor is a bit outdated, sir.

I'm not going to fall on my sword for you or anybody else.

No.

I didn't think so.

What?

Jesus, what the hell are you doing not with me here?

Thank

you,

Lord, for the honor and the privilege we have had to know these two

extraordinary... I had no idea about Project Scoop.

Or any black bag operations connected with it that may or may not have been

running.

Well, you may not have known, but there were those in your administration that

did.

It might be a good idea to tell the American people really what happened.

And permanently shut down the vent mining project.

I don't know what you think you have.

But I don't see it that way.

Well, if you'll excuse me, Mr. President, I have an interview to do.

I'm very sorry for your loss. He was a brave man.

Yes.

Our technology and our science saved us in the end, yes, but it was our arrogant

misuse of both that got us into this trouble in the first place.

Science is and always has been about the search for the truth, and that search

can really only take place in the full light of day.

I think one of the lessons learned here is that just because...

We have acquired a technological or scientific capability doesn't mean we

rush out to use it.

Would vent mining prove to be incredibly lucrative?

Maybe.

But considering what's just happened, I think the question needs to be asked.

Would it be worth it?

Would you care to speculate about the original source of the virus? And if

Andromeda was a biological weapon, how do you think its creators would respond

to what you've done?

I have no idea.

We would seem to have been successful in the short run, but...

It's probably fair to say, whoever it is, we've gotten their attention.

What happens next is anybody's guess.