Strange Blood

Her throat was slit from ear to ear.

Imagine she bled out pretty quickly after that.

But her killer didn't stop there. He...

Well, the pictures speak for themselves.

Not very pretty anymore. I know.

What does any of this have to do with me?

Something. Nothing.

That's what I'm here trying to figure out.

You recognize that man?

No.

No? Are you sure?

Yes.

Yes, you're sure, or yes, you recognize the man in the photo?

Am I in trouble?

Maybe I should, um, have a lawyer?

Right now, you and I, we're just having a friendly conversation.

No one else is here.

You tell me you want an attorney, that's your right.

But see, you lawyer up, and, uh, that makes me start to think...

that you got something to hide.

You got something to hide, Gemma?

So I ask again:

do you recognize this man?

It's Henry. Dr. Henry Moorehouse.

Resident brain over at Baxter Pharm for quite a few years...

before they had to let him go for...

Well, it looks like "unspecified mental health issues."

I still don't understand what any of this has to...

Tell me about your involvement with Moorehouse.

You two were close.

That a question?

See, along with Miss Sullivan,

I've got a half a dozen bodies laying in the morgue,

all with similar CODs that all somehow keep connecting back to Moorehouse.

Only, when we finally track the son of a bitch down,

someone's already gone and burned the place to the ground.

The tech lab was able to salvage a few hard drives found in the rubble.

But the information on those drives...

poses more questions than it does answers.

That's where you come in.

We already know you worked under him for the last few months.

I need to know what made Henry Moorehouse murder those people.

I'm thirsty.

We can get you some water.

Now, start from the beginning.

You're ready? Give me a sec.

Okay.

Hello. I am Dr. Henry Moorehouse.

During my tenure at Baxter Pharmaceuticals,

I was on the brink of developing the basis for a genetic-level vaccine...

that could provide the human body with a type of blanket immunity.

- What I'm about to show you... - So this is what, a cure for cancer?

May-Maybe. Think bigger.

Bigger than cancer?

This is a cure for everything.

Hepatitis, rabies, influenza, HIV, even cancer.

A universal cure that could save millions of lives every year.

How is that even possible?

Baxter didn't believe me either.

"A waste of time and money,"

I believe was their exact wording.

Is that why you left?

I didn't just leave.

I took what was rightfully mine.

Say hello to ELA.

I designed her myself.

ELA is a living incubator, in vitro and in vivo.

She's a breeding ground for a meta-virus...

with a unique genetic signature...

that absorbs, replicates and re-codes...

any viral load introduced into her system.

And from the meta-virus I can engineer a retrovirus.

And from that... A universal vaccine.

Well, in theory anyway.

Is it alive?

ELA continues to mature at an astonishing pace.

At this rate, we'll be able to begin phase-one serum trials...

a full six months ahead of originally anticipated.

She's proving to be every bit the miracle I had hoped and planned for.

Gemma... I fear she doesn't quite grasp...

the importance of what we're doing here...

and what Baxter would do if they ever found us out.

Still, her presence has been... a welcome addition.

Remember, kids,

don't try this at home.

Initiating phase one...

now.

Here we go. That's it.

Phosphorene levels are stable.

Pulse ox normal.

Perfect. That's my girl.

Wait. Wait. Wait. No, that's...

Oxygen levels are spiking.

Shit.

Shit. We're red-lining, Henry.

We're red-lining. No, no, no. She should be fine.

The serum should be working.

Hang on. Hang on.

Give me 20 cc's of atropine.

Jesus. Where?

It's not working.

Henry, it's not working.

The new cultures have been stacked and packed.

I'm gonna call it a night.

Doc?

Ladies and gentlemen,

I give you the cure for cancer.

Oh! Fucking gross.

Gemma!

We're rolling.

Why didn't you tell me?

Today is a very special day.

If my calculations are correct...

and they are...

today is going to be the turning point in man's evolutionary journey.

So much for survival of the fittest.

This is survival of the fittest...

but on a cellular level.

The, uh, meta-virus generated within the host body...

is designed to attack weaker cell structures and replace them with its own.

These new cells are hard-coded...

to be resistant to the introduction of outside virus cells...

or even cancerous cells generated within the body.

So, here we go.

First, I'll be extracting 50 cc's of fluid...

from one of the lymphatic nodes...

Henry! Don't... Don't touch me!

Henry, your hand. Don't touch me.

Your hand. Don't...

Henry! Henry?

Henry.

Henry, can you hear me?

Can you hear me, Henry? Henry.

Ready?

What the hell just happened?

From...

all appearances,

a spontaneous defense mechanism...

in response...

to a...

perceived threat.

Sa-Save those.

I thought you said it wasn't sentient.

It's not. Not...

Not in the way that... that you and I would perceive it.

What if you're wrong?

How's... How's that?

Well, what if this is a sign from the universe...

that... we're not supposed to be fucking around with this kind of thing?

Language. I'm serious.

We're supposed to get sick...

and grow old... and die.

What happens when you take that out of the equation?

You're... You're underestimating what I'm doing here.

What-What I'm doing is much more important than that.

Is it?

You give it time. You'll see.

Recording?

It's okay.

She's dormant now.

What's up? We cure cancer yet?

Okay.

Guess not.

I just don't understand why it's not taking.

By all accounts, it should be working.

All right. Well, I'm out.

Get some sleep, okay?

I wasn't gonna hurt you, you know.

Yeah, yeah. I get it.

Do not touch.

Excuse me.

Adding an amino acid string to the base...

may help prevent the meta-virus from cannibalizing the host cells.

The only question is how to prevent the molecular burnout...

that occurs... How about adding a protein receptor?

It inhibits replication of the meta-virus, rendering it unusable.

- Yes, but if we were to... - Will you please just...

let me concentrate?

Doc?

You're gonna want to come see this!

So, what are we looking at exactly?

I'm not entirely sure.

Although ELA's cell structure was designed to mimic our own,

she has and continues to accelerate at an exponential rate.

Huh.

So?

I would be remiss in postulating any theories...

until I've had a chance to run some proper tests.

Yeah, that's it.

With any luck I should, uh, know more in the morning.

Perfect!

Let's go.

Go where? Food time. I'm starving.

Let's go.

Mmm, mmm!

Cherry pie sounds pretty good about now.

Cherry pie, a vanilla Coke...

and a big cup of coffee.

For dinner?

What's the point of being grown up...