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Sunday,
14 May 2000 Max is sitting on the floor in a corner of the white room wearing hospital garb. Pierce's disembodied voice can be heard over a speaker "Good Morning, Max". Max replies "Where am I?" and stands up. Pierce says "Someplace where no one can find you". Max asks "Why am I here?" and Pierce says "That's what I want to try to find out". Max nervously wanders the empty room. He tells the voice that he has made a mistake, if he wants to know who he is he should call his parents. Pierce says he knows who he is and Max can make this easy or hard. He asks "What is the name of your home planet?" Max replies "Earth". Pierce says "All right, hard". Four men, covered from head to toe in protective garb, enter the room and grab Max. His resistance is futile. They strap him to a table using metal restraints and draw some blood. At the Crashdown, Michael, Isabel, Liz and Tess are worried about what might be happening to Max. Maria and Alex arrive. They are relieved to see Liz is safe but then Liz tells them about Max being taken by Pierce. Tess does not know where Nasedo is so Isabel says that it is up to them to rescue Max. Liz wants to go to Valenti because he has resources but Tess says so do they - their powers. Michael and Isabel tell her their powers are not advanced, that they do not use them much. Tess is confident in hers. Alex reminds Isabel about her ability to dreamwalk. Liz tells her she should do it to Max so he can tell her where he is. Max is all alone in the white room, still strapped to the table. A man in protective garb comes in. He uses a remote control to tilt the table Max is on. The man removes his head covering and Max recognises Deputy Fisher. He removes the rest of the protective outerwear, revealing an FBI type suit. He pulls out Max's X-rays, puts one on the wall, presses the tile and it lights up, exposing Max's spinal column. He says there is something strange about his X-rays because they are completely human - bone structure, organs, circulatory and pulmonary systems. He puts another slide up and says "But, these are your blood cells, completely not human. I know what you are, so now you're going to start answering my questions". He starts reeling off names of agents, dating from 1962, who were killed, their internal organs had reached a temperature of 180° F and a silver hand print was found on the chest. Max says he does not know anything about them. Pierce asks if it was one of the others. He tells Max there were four aliens that crashed in 1947. Two died and two were captured but one escaped - Nasedo. The other one they studied for three years, right there in that very room. Pierce spent his entire career studying the documents on these aliens. He shows Max the orb and says "Where's the other one and what happens when you put them together?" Max says "I don't know". Pierce uses the remote to lower the table and two men, in protective garb, come in and attach an intravenous drip to Max, who is sedated almost immediately. In Liz's bedroom, Isabel is dreamwalking with Max. She is in the white room, she is disoriented and bumping into the walls, crawling on the floor. Max is tied, spread eagle, to a wall. She calls out to Max for help. He says "I can't. They gave me something". She goes to him and says "Tell me where you are". He says he can't and she tells him to think about how they brought him there. She sees his vision of being pulled out of the back of a van, being placed face down on a gurney and wheeled past a chain link fence, into a building with a star on the floor with an eagle in the middle of it, then pass a security point which scans your hand for access. She asks him who brought him there and he envisions Deputy Fisher, then Fisher in a suit as Pierce and Isabel realises Fisher is Pierce. She breaks from the trance screaming Max's name. She is crying hysterically. Michael tries to calm her down so she can tell them what she learned. She tells them Max "is so scared", that Fisher is Pierce and "he's drugging him, hurting him". Liz asks where he is and she says she does not know but thinks she has seen it before. In UFO Museum they are looking at an exhibit of the Eagle Rock Military Base, where they took the aliens from the crash. It has been abandoned for years. Isabel says "That's where he is". Since they need to use their powers to break into the base, Tess points out that, under the circumstances, the humans would just be a liability and Maria, Liz and Alex agree to stay behind. At the military base, Michael finds an underground passage and they descend to the basement. They reach an area where further entry requires a hand scan. Isabel remembers it as something Max saw so they know he is beyond that point. Back in the white room, Max is too drugged to answer any of Pierce's questions so Pierce tells the doctors to flush out his system, he wants him completely coherent for the next phase. Sunday, 15 May 2000 At the Crashdown, Liz, Maria and Alex are trying to convince themselves that everything is going to be all right. Valenti comes in and sits down with them. He says he has been up all night, trying to figure out what happened at the carnival. He knows he saw two Maxes, that one of them is in the hands of Pierce and he is hoping "it isn't the one that we all care about. Liz, tell me, let me help". There are tears welling up in her eyes but she replies "We don't know anymore than you do, Sheriff". He tells them Max is going to need more help then any of them can give him. When he leaves, Liz says she will never forgive herself if something happens to Max that she could have prevented by getting Valenti's help. Maria suggests they give them to 4pm to get back before doing anything. It is now 11:23. Max is being tortured - being held down while injected, being immersed and held down in a tub of ice water, hooked up to electrodes and being shocked - he is resisting and screaming in pain through it all. Isabel, Michael and Tess see two men in protective garb pulling a gurney with a body on it under a sheet. They follow them to the morgue to investigate. It is 4:06pm and Liz says she is not waiting and goes to talk to Valenti. When the men leave, they go into the morgue. They approach the gurney with trepidation, afraid they will find Max under the sheet. Michael finally works up the courage to remove the sheet. It is the agent Nasedo killed the day before They are relieved it is not Max but then see the silver hand print and know that Nasedo has struck again. An agent walks in and says "What are you doing here?" Michael tries to use his powers to repel the agent but they are not under control so doors fly open and things go flying around the room. The agent, who is unaffected, raises his hand and sends an energy surge at Michael which lifts him off his feet and slams him into one of the open doors. Tess says "It's you" and the agent shapeshifts into Ed Harding. He approaches Michael, who gets up and says "I've been looking for you for a long time". Nasedo replies "Not as long as I've been looking for you". He tells them they are not equipped to handle this situation and he needs to get them out before they get killed. He shapeshifts back into the agent and leads them out of the morgue. Liz entering Valenti's office. She tells him he is right, they do need his help, that Deputy Fisher is Pierce and he has Max. He asks how she knows and she says she can't tell him and asks him to trust her. She tells him Max is in a lot of trouble but she knows where he is. Nasedo and Tess have been checking out their escape route. Nasedo says "The most important part of the plan is timing. Set your watches, 5:47. He hands Michael the escape route and tells him to scan it into his brain. Annoyed that Michael can't, he says "All right, you have two minutes to memorise it". He says he needs help to get through the security door. He can't handle the lock because it is made of depleted uranium, a metal composed of heavy atoms, which can't be manipulated. The FBI have been studying them for 50 years and are aware of their limitations. They added an x-ray to the fingerprint scan because they know his bone structure is not human. He says "I can change my appearance but not what's on the inside. Your bone structure, on the other hand, is 100% human". Michael, disappointed, says "So you're different from me?" He tells them, since there are no women in the unit, Michael will go with him. Michael says he is unable to change his fingerprints and Nasedo says "Yes you can, you just don't know you can". He also needs Isabel and Tess's help. Max is on the floor of the white room. He wakes up, senses he is not alone and charges after Pierce, grabbing him by the lapels of his suit. Pierce smiles, shakes his head and says "Don't even try to use your abilities, Max. The serum we injected you with - very effective in suppressing neurotransmitters in your cerebral cortex". He tells him they discovered from the other alien that most of his powers came from there. Max's energy is spent and he releases his hold on Pierce. Pierce gently sits him down in a chair and says "That's not your real weakness though, is it? It's not that you're part alien, it's that you're part human". He hits the remote button and metal restraints hold down Max's arms. Pierce places a virtual reality scanner on Max and shows him pictures of his loved ones as he talks about his feelings. When he shows him a picture of Liz, lying dead and bleeding, Max freaks out, screaming "No!" over and over. Pierce tries to calm him down, telling him it's not real. "I just wanted to show you what can happen, what will happen". Max says "You're evil". Pierce says "I'm risking my life to save my country, my planet, from being colonised by alien life, by you". He wants Max to tell him where the other orb is. Max does not answer so he says he has 10 seconds to tell him where the orb is or which of his friends he wants him to kill first. He starts a countdown on the scanner and says "Maybe we'll start with Liz", showing the picture again. Max screams "OK, stop it. Stop!" Pierce removes the scanner and Max, emotionally spent and close to tears, says "I'll tell you where it is, just don't hurt Liz". Surprised, Pierce says "You do have feelings…just like us…whatever you are, you better tell me the truth, for Liz's sake". Nasedo brings Michael back to the morgue. He tells Michael that humans are weak and wasteful, that their brains are incredible machines they have not even begun to learn to use. Michael and the others were engineered to use their brains to full capacity and that is where their powers come from, everything they can do is human, they were just programmed to be several thousand years ahead of the rest of mankind. He holds up the hand of the dead agent, placing his index finger next to the dead man's and says "You can do it Michael, the only thing stopping you is yourself". Michael takes the hand and places his index finger next to the dead man's and concentrates on them. Nothing happens and Nasedo says "Try again". Isabel, who will dreamwalk with Max, to give him the plan, asks Tess what she is going to do. Suddenly, an agent appears, grabs Tess, throws her over his shoulder and carries her off, while Tess is screaming. Isabel jumps up to give chase when Tess, behind her, says "It's OK, I made you think something was happening right in front of you when it really wasn't". Tess says Isabel needs to get Max to clear the room and she will use the mind trick to distract Pierce so Michael and Nasedo can get Max out. Michael is trying so hard a light explodes. He says "Damn it, I can't do this!" Nasedo says he can and Michael screams back that he is not helping. Nasedo asks if he is going to let Max die. Michael grabs Nasedo and says "I am doing my best!" Nasedo says it is not his best. Michael tells him to give him a pointer. Nasedo says it is in his programming. Michael says he didn't get the manual. "All this time I've been alone. Where the hell have you been? Why did you let this happen to us, to me?" Nasedo replies "Emotions are a weakness, Michael. Focus" They hear footsteps approaching. Nasedo says he will have to kill the agent if Michael can't do it. Michael tries again, the pressure is mounting. Suddenly, his fingerprint changes. He says "I did it!" Agent Matheson walks in and Nasedo places his hand on his chest and kills him. Michael screams "No!" and asks why he killed him. Nasedo intends to take his identity and he can't afford to have two of himself out there. Michael wants to know how he can kill so easily. Nasedo does not answer. Michael says "You don't care, do you?" Nasedo says "Michael, if you want to survive, if you want to get back home, you have to be willing to fight for that". Michael says "You're not who I thought you'd be". Nasedo replies "Neither are you" and waves his hand, changing Michael's clothes into an FBI suit. He hands Michael a comb, says "It's show time" then shapeshifts into Matheson. They exit the morgue. Pierce comes into the white room with both orbs and tells Max to make them work. Max says "I don't know how" and Pierce has a surgical table brought in. He shows him the scalpels and says "I can take you apart, piece by piece, and make sure you stay conscious enough to feel every second of it". Max is very distressed and says "I can't tell you what I don't know" repeatedly. Pierce says "Bring in the surgeons". Nasedo and Michael reach the scanner and Michael opens the door. Max is on the surgical table. Pierce points to the surgeon with the knife and says "This man will hurt you". He points to another with a hypodermic needle and says "This man will help you. Tell me what I need to know and he will take the pain away". Max says "Who's inhuman now?" Pierce says to the surgeon "Open him up". Isabel begins her dreamwalk. She tells Max that Michael and Nasedo are on their way. He tells her that Pierce wants him to show him how the orbs work. Isabel says "Tell him anything" and to get Pierce alone in the room. The surgeon cuts into Max's chest and he screams out "Stop!" He tells Pierce he will show him how they work but only him, so Pierce tells everyone to leave. Isabel tells Tess about the orbs. She says she does not know how they work and Isabel says she has to think of something. Max is holding the orbs. Shaking, he tells Pierce it takes time. Impatient, Pierce is about to call back the surgeons when he sees the orbs glow. Michael and Nasedo are watching through the mirrored wall and notice Pierce's rapt attention. They break through the mirror and grab Max. Nasedo tells Michael to follow the escape route, he has something to take care of. Michael reluctantly leaves with Max. Tess breaks the connection and Pierce is brought back to reality. He asks "Where's the prisoner?" In the morgue, two agents discover Agent Matheson's body and run towards the white room. Nasedo is about to touch Pierce when one of the agents calls out "Sir, stay back he's not Matheson". Pierce jumps out of the way and the agents shoot Nasedo, who goes down. Pierce tells them to lock down the security doors and they all run out. Michael opens the door but the lock down starts to close it again. Valenti comes and holds the door open so Michael can get Max through. Pierce arrives, gun drawn. Valenti shoots him and Pierce goes down. Valenti and Michael help Max out. Pierce gets up as the door shuts completely. He puts his bloody hand on the scanner but the lock down overrides it. He puts his hands on the glass door, smearing it with blood, and watches them escape. |
