1-07 A Virus Among Us

1-07 A Virus Among Us

A Virus Among Us

And I can’t forgive you Sydney, I can’t forgive myself.

Jarod

A Virus Among Us

And I can’t forgive you Sydney, I can’t forgive myself.

Jarod

Original air date: November 16, 1996

Written by: Lawrence Meyers

Directed by: Fred K. Keller

Jarod takes a job at the Infectious Disease Lab in an attempt to uncover the events surrounding the disappearance of another virologist at the facility.

Jarod’s Discoveries: Roach Motels

Jarod’s Occupations: Substitute Biology Teacher, Virologist, Bartender, Exterminator

Jarod’s Aliases: Jarod Earl, Jarod Riley

 

Behind the scenes insights and the Creator’s Take

Official Synopsis

Jarod attempts to solve the mystery behind the disappearance of a virologist.

 

At Horace Greeley High School in Portland, Oregon, Miss Parker speaks with a student, Keith, who describes Jarod as the best substitute teacher he has ever had.  He also describes Jarod’s fascination with bugs.  Miss Parker then turns her attention to a clue Jarod left behind: a petri dish and an eyedropper.  As instructed, Miss Parker adds a drop of liquid to the dish, and moments later, words form in the solution.  Miss Parker bends closer for a better look.  The words read, “You just gave yourself the flu…  Jarod.”  Miss Parker tosses the dish aside in disgust.  Meanwhile, Jarod, clad in a hazmat suit, comes to the aid of a sickly man in a low-rent apartment.  Outside the tenement, Jarod speaks with Hoffman, one of his co-workers at the Regional Infectious Disease Authority Lad in Skokie, Illinois.  They both agree that the man’s symptoms indicate he is infected with a form of tuberculosis.  Shortly thereafter, another of Jarod’s colleagues, a man named Walter Garber, berates him for violating quarantine procedures by allowing the man contact with his young son.  But Jarod counters such measures were unnecessary.  Later, Jarod rents a seedy apartment…and shows an unusual interest in its roach population.

Back at the Centre, Broots informs Sydney and a sickly Miss Parker that Mr. Raines wishes to speak with them.  Inside Sydney’s old lab, Raines tells the pair that if they fail to find Jarod, he will assign the task to someone else.

At the Infectious Disease Lab, Garber explains that it is his job to stop viral outbreaks before they spread.  He tells Jarod that, in retrospect, he did the right thing by allowing the man to be near his son.  Garber then introduces Jarod to Jeff Baytos, a decontamination and facilities specialist who is overly cautious when it comes to all-things virus and refuses to work beyond the Level Two area.  Later, Jarod visits Kay Florence and her daughter, Cindy.  He explains that it is his intention to finish the work of Kay’s husband, Jon, before he mysteriously vanished.  Kay shows Jarod a wedding band that Jon designed.  She also gives him a jacket that her husband wore into the field.  Jarod dons the jacket…and discovers it is far too small for him.  Later, inside the lab, he realizes that Jon Florence’s old hazmat suit fits him like a glove.

When Jarod returns to his apartment building, he befriends one of his neighbors, Ben Hansel, a man with an affection for playing music, but who has no discernable talent.  Jarod asks Ben for advice regarding how best to attract roaches into roach motels.  Ben recommends Crunchy Crawlers cereal, a roach favorite.

As Jarod, Garber and Hoffman work on an airborne level four virus, Jarod accidentally cuts his gloved hand on a scalpel.  Garber rushes him into a decontamination facility.  Shortly thereafter, Jarod examines his hand, only to realize the sharp object did not penetrate his skin.  Later, Jarod examines security footage of Jon Florence and Garber working in the lab.  He notices an odd edit in the videotape, and decides further research is in order.  He makes his way to the archives, where he duplicates the original footage.  Later, inside his apartment, Jarod examines the unedited tape…which shows Garber and Florence getting into a heated argument over Garber’s creation of a Level Five virus.  When Florence threatens to shut down the project, Garber deliberately yanks at the air hose on his hazmat suit, exposing Florence to the virus.  He dies shortly thereafter.  Jarod then makes his way to the morgue, where he identifies Jon Florence’s body via the unique wedding ring on his finger.

Jarod expresses interest in some small, handmade objects d’art Ben created.  Jarod points out that, perhaps, Ben’s best avenue of artistic expression is not music, but in the creation of small sculptures.

In flashback, Young Sydney tells Young Jarod that whenever he wishes a simulation to stop, all he need do is say the code word, which is “refuge.”  Later, Jarod receives an e-mail message with “refuge” in the subject heading.  He realizes it is from Sydney.

Jarod approaches Hoffman with photos showing the existence of a Level Five virus.  He tells her it was taken off a body in the morgue.  He also tells her that Florence never had the chance to stop Garber from developing the virus.  Hoffman realizes what this means.  Later, Jarod approaches Baytos…and accuses him of being Garber’s accomplice in doctoring the security tape.  Baytos explains that Garber blamed him for the decon shower’s failure which, according to Garber, led to Florence’s death.  But Jarod assures Baytos that Garber murdered Florence.

Inside the lab, Garber panics when he believes he has been exposed to his own virus.  Jarod claims to possess the antidote, but will hand it over only if Garber admits the truth.  Terrified, Garber admits it was he who killed Florence.  With that, Jarod reveals that the syringe in his hand contains only sugar water.  Jarod then walks off.  He tells Baytos to tell Garber he wasn’t really exposed to the virus…in forty-eight hours.

Meanwhile, Miss Parker locates Jarod’s current lair.  But when she and the Sweepers enter, they find themselves stuck to the floor…Jarod’s version of a giant roach motel.  Meanwhile, Sydney meets Jarod at a bar.  Sydney asks him for his forgiveness.  But Jarod asks him to first reveal the truth about his parents.  When Sydney claims he doesn’t know what really happened, Jarod tells him he cannot forgive him.

The Chicago Philharmonic contacts Ben Hansel about his small glass sculptures.  The caller hopes to arrange a meeting between Ben and a merchandise coordinator.  Ben is overjoyed.  Later, Jarod begins his next Pretend…as a bug exterminator.

1-07 A Virus Among Us

A Virus Among Us Transcript

 

Student   Sorry about the Principal not being able to give you the tour. He’s real busy.
Miss Parker   Working up a school lunch schedule is trying work I’m sure.
Student   This is Mr Jarod’s classroom. He was like the best substitute. Kids would sit in on the class even though they weren’t enrolled. And he did the coolest experiments.
Miss Parker   I can see that.
Student   Oh, yeah. We even did a virology unit on bugs to learn their resiliency. He told us that roaches would be the only living thing after a biological holocaust. Them and some woman named Parker.
Miss Parker   Hardly sounds like High School biology.
Student   Mr Jarod like – marched to his own drum.
Miss Parker   He’s a one-man band all right.
Student   The best part is he wouldn’t grade us. It was like he was conducting his own experiments and we were collecting the data for him.
Miss Parker   You run along to homeroom now. Agh!
Note from Jarod   “To Miss P. Drop a drop in the tray for your next clue. You Just Gave Yourself the Flu – Jarod”.
     
     
     
Man   Carlos?
Man 1   Wait! Come back here! Hold it right
there!
Man 2   He’s not going to stop!
Man 1   There he is. That’s it.
Jarod   Where’s your dad?
Boy   Down the hall, last room.
Jarod   My name is Jarod. You’re going to be just fine.
     
     
    intro
     
     
Lisa Hoffman   Weight loss, fever, night sweats, violent cough, swollen nymph nodes…
Jarod   Micro-bacteria and tuberculosis.
Lisa Hoffman   Looks like it.
Jarod   You don’t see that much any more.
Lisa Hoffman   No, but he’ll be fine once we get him admitted.
Jarod   How’s the boy?
Lisa Hoffman   Too early to tell, but much better off than you’re going to be once Garber finds out what you did with the kid.
Walter Garber   Violating quarantine procedures with these people is damn foolish.
Jarod   I realise that it was a bit unorthodox sir but TB is a level two classification and it doesn’t require an on-site quarantine.
Walter Garber   Friendly advice Dr Reilly if you don’t want to end up dead you’ll remember that every one of these situations should be treated as a level four
situation.
Lisa Hoffman   Walter, whether or not the boy was already exposed, what difference does it make? He’s protected either way.
Jarod   And the boy gets to be with his father now. I felt like he needed that.
Walter Garber   Great our new guy is Florence Nightingale.
     
     
Landlord   Hey you’ll love this place. Stove, oven in the kitchen, hot and cold running, one seventy a month plus utilities.
Jarod   One seventy?
Landlord   Ah okay, one fifty, I’ll pay the water. Come on down to the office and we’ll sign the papers.
Jarod   Does it have roaches?
Landlord   Of course not. This place is a Bohemian’s dream, not some slum. Come on into the office.
Jarod   No roaches?
Landlord   Damn it!
Jarod   What is that?
Landlord   It’s a never-ending catgut nightmare is what it is. Not to mention the worst rental decision of my life! There’s another building two blocks away from here. You might be able to find something quieter there.
Jarod   No. I’ll take this place. It’s a lot nicer than where I used to live.
     
     
Sydney   Bless you. Sounds like the flu. Cold and raining in Portland this time of year. Here, keep. It’s clean.
Miss Parker   So I took a trip without you. Don’t tell me you’re jealous.
Sydney   Confused. I thought we were working together.
Miss Parker   So did I, until I discovered your personal ads all over the country trying to contact Jarod. I don’t like secrets.
Sydney   He wasn’t answering my e-mail messages so I tried another tack, but I would have let you know if he had contacted me.
Miss Parker   I have a fever Syd but it’s not bad enough to believe that. What?
Broots   Ummm uh, he’s in the lab.
Miss Parker   Who?
Broots   Mr Raines.
Miss Parker   Mr
Raines hasn’t been in the lab in ten years.
Broots   Well uh he’s in there now and he’s looking for you two, so good luck.
Miss Parker   Mr Raines?
Raines   The Empire State Building. Who’d have thought something so beautiful could be replicated by a four-year old boy in only two hours. Jarod was brilliant the day he got here. He was brilliant the day he escaped. The question is . . . where is he?
Miss Parker   Mr Raines, Jarod has been harder to catch than we thought.
Raines   Sydney we need him.
Sydney   I know.
Raines   May I?
Miss Parker   Mr Raines I have the flu.
Raines   I’m dying.
Miss Parker   Keep it.
Raines   Bring Jarod back where he belongs or I’ll get someone who will. Are we clear?
Miss Parker   My father wants me to do it.
Raines   Unlike everyone else around here I’m not afraid of your father. I don’t have to be.
     
     
Walter Garber   Our job here at RIDA is to contain viral outbreaks before they spread. I’ve seen the worst that a virus can do and because of it By the Numbers is
usually best. In retrospect you did the right thing with Grady and his son. Listen, I was out of line.
Jarod   It’s alright.
Walter Garber   Well your credentials are impressive. A stint in Cambridge in London, MD, PHD in Virology. Where did you do your doctorate by the way?
Jarod   Horace Greely High School, Portland. Your doors are under negative air pressure to contain leaks?
Walter Garber   Well, we pioneered this technique here. I noticed in your file that you were vaccinated for anthrax and the W.E.E. series.
Jarod   I was working in the Gulf (?.) and the W.E.E. was for the Pikasky Syndrome in Johannesburg.
Walter Garber   A frightening scenario.
Jarod   Yes very. But watching somebody suffer can have an effect on you. I hope I can make a difference here.
Computer   Code Accepted.
Walter Garber   Jarod, Jeff Baytos, decontamination and facilities specialist.
Jarod   Nice to meet you.
Jeff Baytos   Ah, nixay on the handshake, hey doc?
Walter Garber   Mr Baytos tends to be overcautious.
Jeff Baytos   That’s the thing in a place like this. One wrong move like pressing the flesh and it’s off to the submarine for ten thousand years.
Jarod   You call your morgue the submarine?
Walter Garber   What did you call it at Bambridge?
Jarod   Chernobyl.
Walter Garber   Well we’re working a level three today. Offshoot strain of Red Valley Fever. You ready to battle the unseen enemy?
Jarod   Absolutely. Will you be joining us Mr Baytos?
Jeff Baytos   Level two is my limit now, man. Live long and prosper.
Walter Garber   Baytos witnessed a man die of Ebola. He’s been reluctant to go past level two ever since. Fortunately he’s the best there is when it comes to decon.
     
     
Mrs Florence   It’s nice to have visitors. Our friends don’t know what to think or say so they just stay away. Did you meet John in South Africa?
Jarod   No But I heard a lot about him. We were both working at separate strike teams in the Mutaba village.
Mrs Florence   He loved that job. He was the first to arrive and the last to leave. He’d stay in places where there was no hope, no chance to make a difference.
Jarod   Holding the hand of a dying man to let him know he’s not alone? That’s making a difference. I’m working with Walter Garber now. I’m trying to finish
the work your husband started.
Mrs Florence   You’re lucky to be working under Walter. Jon thought the world of him. That’s them at the WA Banquet. Hey, you’re supposed to be napping.
Cindy   I thought I heard Daddy.
Mrs Florence   It’s not Daddy. It’s just a friend.
Jarod   Hi. My name’s Jarod.
Cindy   Hi.
Mrs Florence   Go lie down now Honey. This has been especially hard on her. He vanished right before her birthday. How do I explain that to Cindy? How do I explain any of it? I, I know he’s not coming back, I, I’ve accepted that, I have. I just wish I knew where to go from here. How to go from here. Is he dead? Is he alive?
Jarod   It’s a very beautiful ring.
Mrs Florence   Jon designed our wedding bands. I know it’s corny but he wanted them to be the only two alike in the world. Here, John wore this when he went into
the field for work. He never got sick wearing it. I’d like you to have it.
Jarod   I couldn’t possibly accept that.
Mrs Florence   He would have wanted somebody who cared as much as he did to have it.
Jarod   Thank you.
Mrs Florence   You’re welcome.
     
     
Jarod   Fits like a glove.
     
     
Jarod   Excuse me, I was wondering if you might help me.
Assistant   Ah sure. What’s the problem?
Jarod   It says here that this is a motel for roaches?
Assistant   Yeah. It’s like ah the Hotel California for our little six legged friends, you know.
Jarod   Hotel California?
Assistant   Yeah, like they can check out any time they like but they can never leave.
Jarod   Oh. Oh. Like a trap.
Assistant   Yeah, something like that.
Jarod   Oh that’s perfect. I’ll take one hundred.
Assistant   Right on.
     
     
Tenant   I’m gonna wrap that thing around your neck if you don’t shut up!
Jarod   Come and get it.
Tenant   You’re a dead man Hansell!
Jarod   Come and get it.
     
     
Ben   I’ve paid my rent – you can’t evict me.
Jarod   Uh, Sir, my name is Jarod. I’m your neighbour, I just wanted to tell you that I’m very intrigued by your music.
Ben   I’m not falling for that!
Jarod   I would very much like to meet you and I would like to ask you a question.
Ben   Are you here to give me the boot?
Jarod   I wasn’t planning on it sir, but you’re more than welcome to mine.
Ben   It’s nice to have a friendly audience for a change. Ben Hansell’s the name.
Jarod   Ben, I need your help.
Ben   And I need yours. Do you play?
Jarod   I’ve conducted a symphony here and there.
Ben   Well then what do you think of
this?
Tenant   Shut up!
Ben   Cultural worm!
Tenant 1   You Suck!
Jarod   That’s very interesting. Hayden’s Cello Concerto in C Major I believe.
Ben   I rewrote it for trumpet. I’m working on an arrangement for glockenspiel. An artist must stretch you know.
Jarod   Yes. How long have you been a musician?
Ben   Fifteen odd years.
Jarod   That’s a long time.
Ben   But it will be all worth it when the Philharmonic calls. I sent them a tape about a week ago. You had a question?
Jarod   Yes. I’m trying to attract roaches and this doesn’t seem to work. Do you have any?
Ben   Roaches? I can’t get rid of them. I spilled a box of Crunchy Crawlers cereal behind the fridge once. Every night they come out hunting.
Jarod   Crunchy Crawlers?
Ben   They’re grotesquely delicious. I was wondering about my interpretation of the first movement, is it a tad subtle?
Jarod   Subtly is a virtue in any form.
Ben   A neighbour who is a scholar of the arts. Thank you Jarod. You can yell at me through the walls any time.
Jarod   And thank you for the tip.
     
     
Sydney   You will do very nicely here.
     
     
Jarod   In seconds the virus invades the host cell. With a level four virus the results are devastating. In the Mutaba village outbreak subjects begin coughing only four hours after exposure. Internal bleeding commences at hour twelve, and by hour thirty-six the subject completely bleeds out. Gentlemen you can ignore the flight attendant if she tries to teach you how to fasten your Seatbelt, but with the Mutabo virus and other level fours… the kill rate is
ninety percent.
Walter Garber   And might I add an airborne virus, coupled with a pin prick in your glove or a faulty seal sends you into the slammer and from there it’s an express
straight to the submarine. Lights. Thank you for the safety review Doctor Riley.
     
     
Lisa Hoffman   You misled them back there. You and Jon Florence did develop a vaccine for the Karangi virus.
Walter Garber   We got lucky on that, but with Ebola and Mutaba… ah we have to keep ’em on it.
Jarod   Sorry about Dr Florence. You must miss him.
Walter Garber   Very much.
Jarod   From what I understand Dr Florence was a family man, hardly the type to just up and leave.
Lisa Hoffman   He was a good man.
Walter Garber   Of all people you two should know that awful things crawl beneath the healthiest of exteriors. John confided in me that things at home weren’t…optimal. He never went into specifics but he certainly enjoyed working the extra hours here rather than being at home.
     
     
Walter Garber   This is an airborne level four virus, let’s be on our toes.
Jarod   Commencing Phase Two dissection.
Lisa Hoffman   We’re at 72 hours after expiration by Mutaba strain B-3247.
Jarod   Walter?
Walter Garber   Good God! Decon!
Lisa Hoffman   Come on, let’s move it! Go!
Walter Garber   Okay let’s remain calm!
Jarod   Proceed with Decon shower.
Lisa Hoffman   Coming through.
Walter Garber   Stay calm, you’ll be fine.
Computer   Code Denied
Lisa Hoffman   Damn, it isn’t working.
Walter Garber   Here let me. (He pushes her aside and enters a different set of numbers.
Computer   Code Accepted
Lisa Hoffman   Get the glove off.
Walter Garber   Inoculate. Hurry up.
Jarod   No skin breaks. The blood must have been from the sample.
Walter Garber   Well done everybody. Everything by the numbers. We’ll review the security tape tomorrow. You handled that simulation as if it were completely real Jarod.
Jarod   Well I’ve had a lot of practice Sir.
Lisa Hoffman   Who changed the Slammer access code?
Walter Garber   Lisa Hoffman the fewer people that have the code the fewer people that are at risk. I don’t want anybody near the slammer unless they have to be.
Lisa Hoffman   It’s your funeral.
Walter Garber   No, it’s his.
Jarod   Is Walter the only one who has the access code to the Slammer?
Lisa Hoffman   And the submarine.
     
     
    Security Tape
Walter Garber   Ah Jon, how’s my goddaughter?
Jon Florence   About to turn six but she thinks she’s sixteen. I hope you can make it to her party.
Walter Garber   I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I proceeded with the autopsy on the monkey. Look at the liver.
Jon Florence   Mush. The virus has mutated.
Walter Garber   We’ll finish this first thing Monday.
     
     
Sydney   Forgive me father for I have sinned. It has been… Oh my God… thirty-three years since my last confession. I have betrayed a friend.
Priest   Then you must seek his forgiveness.
Sydney   He has shut me out.
Priest   You’re troubled by something else. Will you pray to the Lord for forgiveness?
Sydney   Not even He can forgive me for what I have done.
     
     
    Security Footage
Walter Garber   Look at the liver.
Jon Florence   The virus has mutated.
Walter Garber   Hmm mm.
Jon Florence   It’s like the Karangi virus but worse. This is a level 5 virus. What the Hell have you done? You made Ebola look like the flu!
Walter Garber   I’ve been working on the genetics…
Jon Florence   No you’ve been playing God! We’ve got to shut down this project now. I’m destroying it.
Walter Garber   You can’t.
Jon Florence   Yes I can.
Walter Garber   I won’t let you.
Jon Florence   Let go of my air hose!
Walter Garber   I won’t let you.
Jon Florence   Let go of my air hose! Let Go of my air hose! Let go of my air hose! My god Walter – you’ve killed me.
Walter Garber   Quick, into the decon shower. The lab is full of the virus. Stay calm, don’t panic.
Jon Florence   Pressure failure.
Walter Garber   Get into the slammer. I’ll meet you there.
     
     
Jarod   Hello Jon, I was afraid I’d find you here.
     
     
Tenant   Hansell you are driving me nuts! Shut up!!
Jarod   Interesting interpretation.
Tenant 1   You suck!
Ben   You’re a polite neighbour Jarod but I fear that the cultural dwarfs are right. I’m terrible.
Jarod   It takes a long time to master music Ben.
Ben   A lifetime would not be long enough for me. My music kills plant life. I’m Salieri for Mozart Jarod. I curse God for bestowing me with
mediocre ability.
Jarod   What are these?
Ben   Trifles. Pointless exercises.
Jarod   Did you make these?
Ben   Yes.
Jarod   Ben these are exquisite.
Ben   Your compliment is appreciated Jarod, but art it is not.
Jarod   Art is many things. Some choose a brush, some a bow, some a pen, and some choose glass.
Ben   What do you mean?
Jarod   Maybe the way you create is through these pieces rather than… that. You said it yourself Ben, sometimes an artist needs to
stretch.
     
     
    Flashback
Young Jarod   Sydney I’m scared, I can’t do this!
Sydney   You have to Jarod.
Young Jarod   There’s smoke. People are screaming! Sydney they’re burning! Burning! Make them stop! Make the burning stop!
Sydney   Jarod.
Young Jarod   Make it stop! No go away and leave me alone!
Sydney   It’s all right Jarod! It’s all right. It’s all over Jarod. Alright.
Young Jarod   I want my Daddy.
Sydney   The code word makes it stop Jarod. You didn’t use the code word we came up with.
Young Jarod   I said I want my Dad.
Sydney   Let me. Jarod. Remember, when you’re doing the simulation and you become frightened and want to stop say “refuge”. Alright?
     
     
Jarod typing   Sydney to find refuge go to…
     
     
Sydney   He contacted me. No secrets.
Miss Parker   What? Sudden change of heart?
Sydney   Lately I’ve been seeing things from another angle and maybe it’s best if you get him.
     
Jarod   Doctor Hoffman. Do you have a
minute?
Lisa Hoffman   What’s up?
Jarod   What do you make of this?
Lisa Hoffman   Hmm? Vivification of organs, through the skin pores, loss of hair…..looks like an advanced version of Mutaba.
Jarod   That’s what I thought until I found this.
Lisa Hoffman   I’ve never seen this before. Did you cross check it?
Jarod   Against every sample on record.
Lisa Hoffman   There’s over three thousand on record.
Jarod   Well it did get a little tedious after the first 800.
Lisa Hoffman   My God Jarod, this is worse than any level four I’ve ever seen.
Jarod   It’s a level five.
Lisa Hoffman   There’s a level five here?
Jarod   It’s a sample off a body in the
submarine.
Lisa Hoffman   Wait, how did you get in the submarine? Only Gar… Garber has the code.
Jarod   Is all research here sanctioned by a governing body? Which project isn’t?
Lisa Hoffman   It’s only hearsay but I trust the source. Garber was working on something secret, I don’t know what.
Jarod   What else did Jon Florence tell you?
Lisa Hoffman   How did you know Jon was the source?
Jarod   Besides Garber he was the only person that knew everything that was going on here. What else did he tell you?
Lisa Hoffman   That Garber was working on some radical mutations of a level five. He said it started out good, but it got corrupted. John said God would never forgive him if he let this project continue.
Jarod   Well unfortunately for Jon Florence he never had the chance to stop it.
Lisa Hoffman   Oh my God.
     
     
    Security Tape
Walter Garber   We’ll finish this first thing Monday.
     
     
Jarod   I’m guessing between the knob, the mouthpiece and the city water you’re drinking there’s enough germs to kill a cockroach.
Jeff Baytos   Dr Riley, hi. Yeah, you’re probably right. I deal with the germs I can but something tells me I wouldn’t lastlong living in a plastic bubble.
Jarod   Even one equipped with a decon shower? It was an excellent performance
Jeff.
Jeff Baytos   Look I don’t know what you mean.
Jarod   Are you going to make me enhance
the image
so that I can see your face?
Jeff Baytos   Do you know what it’s like not
being able to sleep?
Jarod   You’d be surprised.
Jeff Baytos   I watched a man beg for his life. He begged to see his wife and kids again and I, I… I didn’t help him.
Jarod   I know Jon Florence got infected, I know his body’s in the submarine and I know that you helped Garber doctor this tape but what I can’t figure out is why?
Jeff Baytos   Because it was my fault that’s why. I was working late like Jon and Dr Garber. I saw Jon coming into the slammer and he – he looked so frightened. The decon shower lost pressure and it is my job to make sure that it doesn’t. That is my job Dr Reilly. And then Garber went ballistic and he blamed me for Jon’s contamination. I have never seen a virus do what it did to him, or so quickly.
Jarod   And that’s why you won’t go past level two any more.
Jeff Baytos   Jon, he begged me to get his wife and kids and, and Garber… Garber told me to keep it quiet, he told me that the authorities would have to be called and they would shut down the facility and more lives would be lost because of my error.
Jarod   Jon Florence did not die because of you or the decon shower. He died because Walter Garber murdered him.
     
     
Jarod   Hello, Butcher Bob? I would like to order a dozen pig livers please. Yes. A dozen.
     
     
Jarod   Say cheese.
     
     
Jarod   Good morning class. Today’s lesson takes us into the fascinating world of… cockroaches.
     
     
Jarod   Walter.
Walter Garber   Yes.
Jarod   It’s Jarod. I’ve made a very interesting discovery that I think you should check out.
Walter Garber   Well what have you got?
Jarod   Well it’s still too early to be sure, but I think I found a vaccine for Mutaba.
Walter Garber   I’ll meet you in the lab in an hour Jarod.
Jarod   Perfect.
     
     
Walter Garber   What have you got? Where’d you get the sample?
Jarod   From this liver.
Walter Garber   My God man it’s an airborne virus!
Jarod   Walter, your air hose.
Walter Garber   Sound the alarm! Help me! Help me! There’s a pressure failure the decon line.
Jarod   You’d better get into the slammer sir.
Walter Garber   Where is everybody? Where are the doctors?
Jarod   There’s nobody here Sir, I sent them all home.
Walter Garber   Jarod, you’ve killed me!
Jarod   Oh relax Walter. I told you I made a little discovery. It’s a derivative cross between your Karangi virus and the Red Valley strain. An antivirus, it shuts your virus down.
Walter Garber   Give it to me please.
Jarod   I can’t.
Walter Garber   Jarod please, help me!
Jarod   Like you helped Jon Florence? By exposing him to a level five without any cure?
Walter Garber   Who the Hell are you?
Jarod   Well I sure as hell am not Florence Nightingale, but then again… neither are you. How long Walter? How long before Jon Florence started to show symptoms? How long before the internal bleeding started? How long before his brain tissue started to leak into his ears? How long before his internal organs started to liquefy? How long Walter?
Walter Garber   Give me that syringe.
Jarod   Why? Jon Florence never had this option, why should you?
Walter Garber   Jarod it was an accident.
Jarod   He knew he was going to die and I bet the last thing he wanted to do was just to see his family one more time, to say goodbye to his wife and to his child. But you couldn’t give him that peace could you Walter? Because then the truth would come out about how you were trying to play God with all these viral experiments. You took down Florence’s life and you ruined his family’s as well.
That is no accident.
Walter Garber   Alright, I did it, I admit it, I killed him! The research was very valuable. Please, give me the vaccine.
Jarod   Alright Walter, but I will warn you: It’s only sugar water.
Walter Garber   Sugar water?
Jarod   I don’t know how to make a vaccine. You see, I’m not really a virologist. The truth is, this place gives me the creeps.
Walter Garber   What?
Jarod   You can check out any time you like but you can never leave.
Walter Garber   No! Don’t! Don’t leave me! Jarod! Jarod! Come back here! Jarod! Help! Help!
Jeff Baytos   Aren’t you going to tell him you didn’t really infect him?
Jarod   Nah. Why don’t you do it? In forty-eight hours, after the police get this.
     
     
Sam   What is that smell?
Miss Parker   I can’t smell. Go left. You take that room.
     
     
    Jarod on the computer
Jarod   Good morning class. Today’s lesson takes us into the fascinating world of cockroaches.
     
Sam   Nothing. He’s gone.
Miss Parker   But not forgotten.
     
Jarod   This is a bug motel. When the hormones off a roach’s body, which is the wet stuff you just walked through, combines with the sticky stuff inside of the box, which you are standing in, it forms a bond which is stronger than epoxy. Welcome to the world’s largest bug motel.
Sam   I’m stuck.
     
     
Jarod   Chivas on the rocks. One ice cube. Clever way of contacting me Sydney. No one at the Centre would have ever known what this meant.
Sydney   I had to see you face to face.
Jarod   Did Miss Parker take the bait?
Sydney   Presumably. I have to ask you for something.
Jarod   You’re in no position to ask me for anything.
Sydney   Not even your forgiveness?
Jarod   What?
Sydney   For keeping you in the Centre, for the lies all these years. Did you send me this?
Jarod   No I did not.
Sydney   Parker did, with your name on it.
Jarod   What is
it?
Sydney   Reminders. Issues I must take up with myself, God, and with you.
Jarod   It’s too late.
Sydney   I come to you with an olive branch.
Jarod   All right. You want my forgiveness? Then tell me what happened to my Mom and Dad.
Sydney   I can’t. I don’t know the truth.
Jarod   Then you and the Centre will never get me back. And I can’t forgive you Sydney, I can’t forgive myself.
     
     
Ben   Ben Hansell.
Phone   Mr Hansell this is the Chicago Philharmonic. We received the extraordinary glass sculpture you made and we’d like to set up a time for you to meet with our merchandise coordinator…
     
     
Mrs Florence   Thank you, for everything. Where will you go now?
Jarod   I’m starting a new job.
     
     
Jarod   You’ve got roaches?

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