Original subtitles

These stories are inspired by the actual case files of the Office of Scientific

Investigation and Research.

Jane, where's the morning paper?

Have you seen it?

Can't start the day without making sure the rest of the world is still there.

I haven't picked it up off the front porch yet.

So thanks.

It consumed your life?

Well, call it sublimation for my real agenda.

A baby?

Jane, we've been over this again and again.

Greg's going off to university in a couple of years. Finally, there's light

at the end of the tunnel.

For you, it may be cold, but my biological clock isn't even ticking

anymore. The alarm is going off. I want to have a baby.

I think the plants in Greg are a big enough handful.

And look around you. You make Martin Stewart look like an amateur.

And I remember the time when every plant you touched died within a month.

And I remember when you never made breakfast.

Oh, my eggs! Go, go, go wake up. Greg, I'll save your omelets for you.

Don't tell me you're passing up a meal.

Come on, kiddo. No sleeping in.

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

Frank.

Greg, are you okay?

Animals are not the only carnivorous organisms in our world.

Certain plants, like the bladderwort, the venus flytrap, and the Malaysian

pitcher plant, have the ability to consume meat to stay alive.

The OSIR has been confronted with many strange occurrences in its 30-plus years

of activity.

The consolidation of plants, seeming to attack humans for sustenance, has to be

one of the most intriguing cases ever.

I canceled two lectures to come up here. Greg's in the hospital.

Shock and asphyxiation.

Covering the entire bed, you said? Like something out of a Stephen King novel.

Oh, my God.

William, what is happening to my son's room?

I don't know.

I've never seen anything like it before.

All different species, all growing out of... It's impossible.

I have to have a sample.

Get out of the room

now, Colt.

Case file number 984141, case manager Connor Doyle.

After being contacted by a member of McGill University's Biological Sciences

Department, we've arrived at the site of an apparent botanical phenomenon that

has manifested itself in the home of Jane Nicole Conacher.

Their 16-year-old son, Greg, remains under close medical observation after

being attacked by the phenomenon.

Has it been getting any worse?

No one's been back upstairs.

I haven't looked in that room since Adrian and I went in two days ago.

And the plants seem to entwine your son while he slept?

Yeah, they just came up through the floor vents.

Greg didn't have a chance.

He's a tough kid, though. He'll be fine.

What are you guys going to do about this?

We need to talk to a few other people before we go in and have a look.

Talk to whoever you want, have a look, then get rid of it.

Because scientific breakthrough or not, I want that jungle out of my house.

Theories.

I've never seen or heard of a grouping of different botanical species infesting

a local environment like that.

Do you know what the vine was that grabbed your wrist?

Typical hedera helix. Ordinary household ivy. Nothing exotic or hybrid.

But it had extraordinary strength. It cut off my circulation almost instantly.

Did you attempt any further examination after that?

Look, I'm a biology professor. I give lectures and I fight for grant money.

Your organization, on the other hand, has a reputation for dealing with the

extreme.

Could those plants have somehow come from the greenhouse?

I don't see how that's possible. Everything was just the way I left it. I

take meticulous care of my garden. I would know immediately if there was any

change in the plants.

I don't know if that's the source of the phenomenon.

Dr. Lumiere, dial 114, please. Dr. Lumiere, dial 114, please.

Hi, Greg. How you doing?

Better.

So, what happened the other night?

They attacked me.

Plants in your room?

No, I don't have any plants in my room. They must have come from somewhere else.

Why don't you just tell us what happened?

Greg, he needs to know.

At six o'clock in the morning, I felt something holding me down like a rope or

something.

And then it started choking me and holding me down with vines and it

started, I couldn't breathe.

They were still alive, like they had a mind of their own.

Case log update.

As a safety precaution, the Conacher family has agreed to vacate the premises

until the situation can be brought under control.

Mrs. Doyle, Axe and Donner, do you copy? We copy, Connor. We're heading upstairs

now.

I'm picking up increased heat signatures from the room.

From plants?

They can increase a room's temperature by building up humidity and trapping

heat from the sun, a sort of miniature greenhouse effect.

Let's see what the deal is.

A multitude of botanical species, just like they said.

Temperature's abnormally high in here, Connor.

Get a sample, guys.

We'll regroup after we examine it.

Copy that.

Peter, it's reacting.

Let's get that back to work.

Any results?

The liquid nitrogen killed the vine instantly. We've been running tests on

the sample all morning, but there's still nothing to explain the plant's

accelerated growth.

You know, those plants had Lindsay entangled in a second.

Something's making them aggressive.

Could be we're dealing with some sort of psychokinetic effect. Maybe a family

member? Medical team says the witnesses are normal. There's nothing unusual in

either the physical or psychological assessments of the conkers.

There's something I want you to have a look at.

I'm wondering if we could be dealing with some form of accelerated genetic

mutation.

This cutting is pretty badly damaged due to the liquid nitrogen blasted to it.

But we did find something interesting in the stem. Have a look.

Organic waste.

Residue from some sort of foreign matter.

Can you identify it? Not here. We have to send it off to the central lab for a

detailed analysis.

Put a rush on it.

Start environmentals. Full spectrum scanning.

Infrared and thermal scans online, wide on the house.

Wait a minute.

Are those readings correct?

Temperature's way up on the structure itself.

Can't get a fix on the movement. It's all over the place. What the hell's

going on in there?

Wow.

They seem to be growing exponentially so fast.

You can see their progress.

I count at least ten different species in there.

Stronger vines seem to be blazing the trail and the other plants are

consolidating their position.

They're working together.

Looks like their focus is the flooring and the walls of the bedroom.

Can we just take a sample from here? Well, I prefer one from the scene of the

attack itself.

That's where they displayed the most aggression.

All right.

Let's try to get another cutting from the bedroom.

Looks like we found the source.

Where?

We're standing on it.

Case log update, day two.

We've determined the source of the plant growth.

A concentration of botanical life has formed underneath the greenhouse and

appears to be assimilating sections of the main house itself.

These plants aren't coming from the greenhouse, but actually underneath it.

They have a new access point into the house, through the basement.

Is there any apparent reason for their sudden disappearance from the second

floor bedroom?

It's possible we could be dealing with some sort of group intelligence.

Well, we damaged the flexion of the mast the last time we were inside.

Perhaps it collectively retreated. A change in tactics.

Practical theories?

You know, I heard a xenobiologist speak at a genetics conference last year in

Melbourne. He had the entire room convinced that the Venus flytrap was of

extraterrestrial origin. I've heard the theory. Ancient meteor damage near

certain plant sites.

The evidence was pretty compelling.

Botanical life forms could be tenacious enough to survive a hard free fall from

space. The point is that there may be species of plant life out there that

have mysterious origins.

We won't know exactly what we're dealing with until we go on to... Until we get a

substantial living cutting.

Preferably with the root systems intact.

Fine. We'll re-enter the site, but with protective gear and liquid nitrogen on

hand, just in case.

This house belonged to an established Quebecois family.

We bought it after the last of their old money died out.

I thought it would be a challenge to take an older house. You haven't

experienced anything strange in the house before this?

No. No, nothing.

I mean, the real estate agent who sold us the place did happen to mention that

it was haunted.

Seriously.

The ghost of some old guy who won't rest in peace or the spirit of some rum

runner who died tragically.

It's just a sales technique. Wait a minute, wait a minute. You don't really

think... We have no answers yet.

Only the phenomenon itself.

But we never discount any information that might come our way.

Even old poltergeist stories?

Come on. Maybe it's true.

Cole, how can you know?

Because I haven't seen my TV set become a portal of hell yet, that's why.

But you have seen your son almost killed by attacking plants.

When can we come home?

I can't tell you that.

We haven't been able to identify or control the outgrowth just yet. But you

will, eventually.

Right?

It hasn't moved again, has it?

Scans indicate there's definitely something down there.

We're going down.

The sheer mass of the plants must have cut off the power coming to the house.

Yeah, it's a good idea to come in here with minimal lights. I don't think these

guys need any help growing.

Shh.

Listen.

You hear that sound?

Are we recording this?

In stereo.

All right, Lindsay, take the sample.

Easy now. You just need one little piece.

I guess they're in a better mood today.

Connor!

Freeze them! She's too close!

Aim at the base!

You okay, Lindsay?

I'll survive.

Nothing a night off and a hot bath couldn't cure.

Well, what do you think?

Peter?

Definitely.

Doyle better see this. And nice work.

It's fascinating.

I guess you could say that.

Well, Central Lab confirmed the findings. The first cutting we took

revealed traces of organic waste. We now know where it came from.

A horde of microscopic parasites are infesting the stem of the second sample.

What are they?

They're a life form I've never encountered before.

They appear to be some hybrid of a parasitical insect.

They're using the plants as hosts.

Their waste seems to act as some kind of a super fertilizer, causing the plants

to grow at a phenomenal rate.

What about the underground growth?

I thought plant life required photosynthesis to sustain itself.

Well, there are rare cases of subterranean botany. Underground orcas

have been unearthed in Western Australia.

They seem to have found some symbiotic relationship with root parasites that

provide nourishment.

This seems to be a more aggressive relationship between plants and

parasites. Well, insect groups often have a collective mentality and a common

goal.

So I guess we just have to figure out what their goal is. Maybe the parasites

are trying to expand their hive. The plants are the means to do it.

All they have to do is rid the house of its current occupants.

And eventually infest the entire house.

Case log update.

After identifying the phenomenon, we're now experimenting with different methods

of remote eradication.

So far, our standard approach has come up empty.

Nothing. Sound frequency modulation, temperature fluxing, environmental

tampering. All had zero effect.

Then we do it the hard way.

Destroy the host.

Well, that's fine by me.

I'll don his research.

Takes a back seat.

Load up a compound pesticide and prep the sprayers.

It's time we did a little gardening of our own. Right.

Start spraying now.

Cocktail hour. Let's hope they're thirsty.

Jesus Christ!

Lindsay! Connor!

Peter's in trouble!

Why'd it hold still?

What is this dust?

Everyone fall back!

This place is going wild!

Here, let me help you.

Fall back!

Fall back!

Dead, everyone?

Well,

I guess that was a success.

They hated the mixture.

Really? What was our first clue?

Where the hell did you get a machete?

Graduation gift.

After last time, I wasn't taking any chances.

You okay?

Yeah.

The chemicals worked. The application's the problem.

We need to find a method of dousing them without moving in too close.

We're already too close.

Doyle, seismic sensors are showing rapid movement throughout the entire house,

and they're expanding their position.

Peter, grab as many gas canisters as you can. Lindsay, get the portable cam

generator.

Move.

Building pressure here.

Okay, we're cool. Action.

Start pumping the chemical on my mark.

All right, it's coming your way now. Here it comes.

Action. Turn it on.

All right, we seem to be working fine here.

There doesn't appear to be any leak.

It should be working by now.

There's nothing abnormal.

It's over here.

Well, they're gone.

Wide-range scans reveal no evidence of the horde under or above the ground.

We sprayed the entire house with herbicides and pesticides. No traces of

plants or parasites anywhere.

But did we kill them or just drive them off?

Continue wide-range scanning just to be sure. Right.

Oh, my God.

You said you would destroy the phenomena, not the whole house.

We regret this. We'll reimburse you for the damage. The greenhouse, is it... We

had to remove all the plants to be safe.

I'm sorry.

Well, that's the good thing about gardens, I guess.

They can always grow back.

Come on, honey.

Final case log.

After successfully eradicating the parasite infestation from the Conacher

home... We're no closer to understanding what caused the biogenic mutation in the

first place.

In the past year, no further sign of this anomaly has been recorded.

Connor Doyle, out.

Someday the scientific disciplines of biology, botany, and entomology may

discover and confirm the nature of the anomalous relationship between flora and

fauna as presented in case number 984141.

And when science can offer explanations for such anomalies, then mystery is

forced to play a lesser role in determining whether there is or is not a

side factor.

I'm Dan Aykroyd.

There, it's off.

No, it's still there.

Honey, I don't hear anything.

I do. Make it stop.

That's why there's no answer at the store.

What are you doing home so early?

The place was empty, so I closed up.

You don't look so good.

You're hot.

Daddy, make the noise stop.

The only noise around here is you, sweetheart.

She's been complaining about a bugging sound in her ears for two days now.

I mean, I'm worried that she might have an infection or something. Just call the

doctor. I gotta go.

Uh, Ernest, will you check on the baby, please?

Ernest? Mommy!

of leaves in the wind, a bird song, the voice of a loved one. Our world is

enveloped in an invisible and bountiful mantle of sound.

When the OSIR investigated an inexplicable audio phenomenon in

Cranbrook, Montana, their challenge was not only to trace its origins, but to

assist authorities in ridding the town of a sudden and mysterious plague of

rats.

What do we have?

A respiratory arrest.

Okay, start IV saline, oxygen, and antipyretic.

And get a viral culture. We're full down here. Well, start moving people

upstairs. ICU, cardiac, wherever there's room.

Room four.

Helen?

Where's my husband?

Hi, Randy. He's being looked after.

Look, it might sound crazy, but our house was completely overrun with rats.

There were hundreds of them in Andy's room. Did that have anything to do with

this? Let's take Andy and have him looked after. Okay.

Don't worry. He'll be fine.

Did you say hundreds of rats? I don't know how many. Exactly.

Mayor Winslow, what are you doing here? My wife got quite sick this afternoon.

How's Ernest?

Oh, we're not sure yet, Randy. Listen, how's the rest of the family?

Any signs of fever?

Um, no. I mean, she's been complaining about a buzzing sound in her ears, but I

haven't heard it myself.

Oh, listen, sweetheart, I'm going to look at you as soon as I can, okay?

Dr. Ivers, six more cases on the way.

Same symptoms.

What the hell's going on?

Case file number 213127, case manager Connor Doyle.

Having been contacted by the Disease Control Center, we will be assisting

with the investigation of an outbreak of a new strain of deadly hantavirus.

The DCC has been unable to explain the unusual sightings of large groups of

rats, as well as the mysterious intermittent buzzing sound that only

certain residents of the town seem to hear. The DCC says the hantavirus is

definitely caused by the rat disease.

How do you get the disease?

It's not technically airborne, but it can be carried on dust particles.

If you sweep up an area where the droppings are, you can inhale the virus.

I found tons of rats above the ceiling tiles.

Enough of them to do their business in that.

I see.

How do you treat hunter virus?

You can't. It's like viral pneumonia.

Prevention is pretty much the only solution.

And unfortunately, we lost several patients before the DTC was able to

isolate the cause, but the general population has been warned now.

However, until we get rid of the rats, the danger will still be out there.

What about this sound that's been mentioned?

I don't know. Several of my patients have been complaining about hearing an

intermittent buzzing sound.

I mean, it doesn't appear to be any physical explanation for it, but some of

them have the virus and others don't. Have you heard it?

No, not me personally, but it's driving people nuts.

We'd like to interview everyone who's claiming to hear the sound. I'll put a

list of names together for you.

I haven't heard the sound myself, but I know these people, Professor Doyle. I

trust them. We'll do our best to figure it out.

Deadly virus is devastating, but we can take precautions. You can explain where

it comes from.

With this crazy sound thing mixed in, people are scared.

You're not thinking straight.

I understand.

I hope your wife feels better.

You know, if Ernest had died... He's lucky.

He should be home soon.

I mean, you know, they said that it's safe to come back, but how do they know

that? The DCC's very thorough with their disinfection techniques. We checked the

house as well. It's clean.

I mean, I'm sorry, but it's not like we have any other place to go, you know?

Are you sure that she's gonna be okay? I mean, I'd like to be in there with her.

Don't worry, Mrs. Harley.

Tell me about the sound, Sally.

I hate it.

It hurts my ears.

How often can you hear it?

Once a day?

Twice a day? I hear it a lot.

Can you make a sound that sounds like what you hear?

Is that how loud it is?

It's hurting again.

I don't want to hear it anymore.

Stop! Doesn't anybody hear that? Hear what?

What I heard was not a naturally occurring sound.

Let's call all the people who claim to hear the buzzing sound our experiencers.

Psychological assessments indicate that they are being truthful.

Thank you. There is no apparent link between those who've contracted the

virus and those who claim to hear the sound.

The average age of the experiencers is 15.

Which might indicate a high-frequency sound.

The top range of hearing varies, in many cases decreasing with age.

How does that explain Peter?

I've always had a good ear. But our environmental test didn't record

anything. We weren't running the test while the sound was occurring.

Let's run full-range audio sensors 24 hours.

All right, let's start at the top.

The dots on the map indicate where the experiencers live. As you can see,

there's no pattern or concentration.

Loudness is somewhat subjective, although put through a comparative audio

test, the experiencers all identified a similar amplitude and pitch.

While the virus is under control for now, the sound remains a serious public

health concern.

Audio irritation can cause severe psychological and physiological problems

over a long term.

Sometimes a short term.

The sound is back.

I don't hear anything.

Where?

The library.

We all hear that, right?

That's not the same sound I heard before.

Can you get a read on where it's coming from?

The pipe.

Yeah.

This system of tunnels spans the entire town and connects it with other towns

throughout the valley.

It's a huge underground maze left over from the old silver mines.

That is one eerie sound.

It'd make me crazy if I had to listen to it for very long.

Sound's getting closer.

Are we moving towards it or is it coming to us?

No, it's coming towards us and fast.

Is this me or is the ground moving up ahead?

Right. Hold your breath.

Case log update.

We're working with the DCC in an attempt to contain the rats, which have

apparently been using the underground tunnels to move freely throughout

Cranbrook.

Well, your tests came back negative.

You were lucky.

Try not to play with any more infected rats.

But it was so much fun the first time.

At least they weren't snakes. Here, listen to this.

We picked this up in the tunnels underneath the library.

It's been amplified and lowered in frequency by 3,000 hertz in order to

make it audible to you.

I'd say 25% of the general population has the range of hearing to pick up the

original frequency.

How long did it last?

About 15 minutes.

This is the sound the rats are migrating from.

They're being repelled by it. Where's this sound coming from?

The amplitude is relatively consistent, and normally sound tapers off the

farther away it gets from the source.

This coupled along with an analysis of the direction of the wave would normally

make it easy to pinpoint.

But not in this case?

No, of course not.

Do you remember how the tunnels distorted the sound the rats were

making?

My theory is that the sound is being carried by these highly conductive

tunnels and is resonating up into the town through the pipes.

And the sound we recorded may also be originating in the tunnels.

Those tunnels are a maze. How are we going to find the source?

Well, we'll just have to wait until the next time it starts.

After the mill closed down three years ago, this town was stuck in a downward

spiral. We were on a major comeback. Big businesses have been moving into this

valley. You could even say this area has been thriving until last week.

People are going to have to be patient.

Domestic violence is at an all-time high. People are talking about aliens

and secret government experiments.

Put this thing to rest, Professor Doyle. We're doing our best.

But do it faster, before the whole community falls apart.

Your portable audio sensor is online and amplified. I'm hearing what you're

picking up.

Our ground level sensors have pinpointed a definite source.

You want to move east to the next junction.

And then go left.

Now, you want to go right at the next junction, and it should be about 100

meters straight ahead.

No visuals yet.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

Well, it's right in front of you.

There's nothing here.

I'm picking up the waves, but I can't see the source.

You're standing right on top of it.

Or under it.

Lindsay, what's above us?

Looks like we found our man.

MRI and ultrasound tests confirm that the statue and the base are solid.

It was erected by Stegmatus Thiel in 1920.

That company no longer exists. So there's nothing in or about the statue

that could create that sound?

No.

Maybe the statue is just conducting the sound.

It's acting like a big antenna.

Or could it be that someone's aiming a directional wave at her from a distance?

Well, it's more likely something in the tunnel is creating that sound.

Something we just can't see.

Case log update.

The effect of the sound on the town appears to be getting worse.

Sally Hartley has been admitted to the hospital and is in serious condition.

She's not doing well.

Is it the virus?

No. She's in a catatonic-like state.

Any number of things could have caused it, but I'd hazard a guess it's noise

-induced stress.

Sally just doesn't want to hear the sound anymore, so she's shutting herself

down.

Is there anything that we can do for her?

Well, we have her in a sound-tempered room, but we can't possibly accommodate

everyone who's being afflicted.

We're seeing a wide number of symptoms, everything from high blood pressure to

bleeding ulcers.

Doctor.

You can see her now.

It's good to see you up and around, Mr. Hartley.

Unfortunately, we can't say the same for our daughter. You go, honey.

My wife wants to pack up and leave, but I've got a mortgage in my store, and who

the hell would buy my house with all this going on?

What are we supposed to do?

Case log update.

Sally Hartley's condition remains stable.

Our search for the source of the sound continues.

Peter!

Sorry.

It's better than that other... sound i know you'd probably prefer kenny g what

are you working on these are the rat sightings in chronological order

as you can see they're moving across the town from east to west now the blue dot

is the strongest sound that we can find my problem is this if this is the sound

that is repelling the rats why are they moving across the city instead of

outwards from the center away from the south Well, what are you saying, that

the rats aren't being repelled by the sound?

I don't think so.

See, the rats are coming from the east, and that's where we'll find whatever it

is that's repelling them, the eastern end of the tunnel system. What are they

running from?

Another sound.

What do you mean?

Do you remember the sound we heard in the tunnel underneath the monument?

That was interference.

Basically, two sound waves collide and interfere with each other in such a way

that they alter the frequency.

In this case, the frequency was lowered while the amplitude increased.

Well, why wasn't our equipment picking up that higher frequency wave?

It was being overpowered by the combined wave.

And the higher frequency wave is coming down those tunnels from the east.

There and there.

Let's go see what's down those tunnels.

Nothing's showing up on the sensors yet.

Wait.

There it is.

It's registering.

22,000 hertz.

No, I'm picking up a different wave. 60,000 hertz.

It's extremely high, isn't it?

Very few living things could hear it. Rats are one of them.

You're reaching the end of the tunnel.

See that?

Yeah.

You ever seen anything like it?

No.

Is this generating the sound?

The high frequency wave is definitely coming from this device.

And yes, it's currently operational.

Lindsay, what's on the other side of this door?

It's an access tunnel to the surface.

Unit 2 is reporting another device at the end of the B tunnel.

Hey.

The sound under the monument just stopped. What happened?

Kate, log update.

We're meeting with the VP of Public Affairs for Diginite, a large computer

company which was courted successfully by Mayor Winslow to locate their new

microchip production plant in the Cranbrook Valley.

We had no idea.

The frequency they emit is not supposed to be heard by humans, just rats.

Our analysis of the equipment revealed that the devices were operating slightly

out of phase.

When the frequencies met at the convergence of the tunnel, they combined

to form a new frequency.

An unforeseeable accident.

The rats were significantly affecting production.

I mean, do you have any idea how sensitive microchip production is?

I mean, we either dealt with the rats or we would have been forced to move the

plant. I know that the town wouldn't have wanted that.

I doubt they wanted a deadly disease forced on them either. You drove the

rats into the town. And we've agreed to assist those affected by this

unfortunate situation. In exchange for complete confidentiality. Well, we're

not assuming responsibility here. We're chipping in.

I guess we're done then.

Dijon, I thank you for the work that you've done here, gentlemen.

Sounds like a fax transmission.

Or a computer modem.

This is the sound that was being radiated up into town by the monument.

The combined frequency of the two rodent repelling devices.

It's been amplified and slowed down over a thousand times.

DigiKnight denies that it's a transmission of any kind.

What's our lab say?

It's a digitally ordered sequence.

A message.

What's it say?

We don't know. It's a pretty complex code.

So it's possible that Digenite said they were using the device to repel the rat

as a cover-up for a secret high-tech transmission?

Well, that makes sense, considering the odds of the frequency occurring

naturally or even by accident.

So who were they sending a message to?

All we know is that given the length of the transmission and the density of the

encoding, the total message is enormous.

How enormous?

Well, in written form, it wouldn't fit into the Library of Congress.

Final case log.

Sally Hartley and the rest of the town have recovered.

We're closing the investigation for now.

We can't proceed any further until we have proof that Digenite was involved in

something more sophisticated than high-tech rodent repelling.

But we'll be watching Cranbrook and listening closely.

Ultra-high-frequency sound.

Unobtrusive and effective.

A modern solution to the age-old problem, rats.

And yet, because of the unanticipated interaction of the employed frequencies,

the townspeople were subjected to a terrifying and deadly situation.

These events are a vivid warning of what can happen when technology is employed

without proper forethought. For SciFactor, I'm Dan Aykroyd.

We are well into our first season of SciFactor, and I want to thank you for

watching. Our viewership is continuing to grow, and we welcome our new

audience. And we hope that you will stay with us as we present more stories

inspired by the investigations of the Office of Scientific Investigation and

Research, the world's foremost private agency for the analysis and

understanding of logic-defying phenomena.