Mutant X >

[Opening Scene: A new mutant safehouse located beneath a subway station. Walking down the stairs with the safehouse’s operator, Rick Bellamy, Brennan is about to meet a new couple preparing to go into the mutant underground.]

Brennan: I gotta say, it’s great to finally meet you, Rick. Getting all those new mutants into the underground has made you quite the legend.
Rick: Well, I’ve been lucky.
Brennan: What? Getting that shapeshifter past a GSA blockade in Akron, I think that took a little more than luck.
Rick (entering the safehouse): Well, hopefully we can keep these two under their radar.
Brennan (looking across the room at the couple): Yeah. What’s their story?
Rick: They seem okay. Something’s a little off, if you know what I mean.
Brennan: What about their mutancy?
Rick: Hey, Todd! [The husband zooms over to them at the speed of light.]
Brennan (shaking his hand): Oh, super speed!
Todd Wiley: Yeah.
Brennan: That's gotta come in handy.
Todd: Yeah.
Jerri Wiley (walking up beside her husband): He's a show-off.
Todd: Oh! My wife, Jerri.
Brennan (shaking her hand): Oh, hi.
Jerri (staring at his crotch): Of course, you've got plenty to show off yourself there, big guy.
Todd (rolling his eyes): She's got X-Ray vision.
Brennan (lifting her chin to redirect her eyes): Oh, hey! [Behind them, Rick collapses to the floor, convulsing.]
Rick (groaning): Brennan!
Brennan (starting towards him): Rick! [Rick loses control over his abilities, and a whirlwind explodes from his hands, flinging nearby furniture at Brennan and the Wileys. When Rick finally lies still again, Brennan warns the couple away.] Stay back! [Brennan runs to his side.] Are you okay?
Rick: Can’t stop! [The Wileys look on fearfully as a second whirlwhind issues from Rick’s hands, sending Brennan spinning across the room. When a third begins to form, Brennan electrocutes Rick into unconsciousness and calls Sanctuary over his comlink.]
Brennan: Adam, we’ve got a problem.

Opening Credits. “The Meaning of Death.”

[In the lab at Sanctuary, Adam has used the EDD to generate blue force-field rings around the sleeping Rick on the biobed. Emma watches from a safe distance outside the lab window.]
Adam: Well, that should contain his powers, even while his vital signs are weakening.
Emma: I thought you had him stabilized.
Adam: I’ve done the best I can. But I’ll be honest with you; he’s barely holding on. [He comes out to join her.]
Emma: He’s not gonna die, is he?
Adam: Don’t know. All I know for sure is he’s completely lost control of his new mutant abilities. I’m gonna run a battery of tests to help me find out what’s causing this.
Emma: Well, once you’ve got that figured out, you’ll be able to treat him, right?
Adam: Well, diagnosis is the first step.
Emma: And what if we figure out whatever he has is contagious?
Adam: Well, then he may just be the tip of the iceberg.

[In his Genomex office, Mason Eckhart stands at his window, listening to his lieutenant, Charles Marlowe, report on the illness among the new mutant population.]
Charles: The new mutant we brought in this morning? The second case in two days we’ve discovered.
Mason: And that’s the operative word, isn’t it, Mr. Marlowe?
Charles: Sir?
Mason (turning to face him): Discovered. There’s no telling how many of these loose cannons are wreaking havoc out there.
Charles: This loose cannon turned the entire city aquarium into an ice block. Killed all the fish inside.
Mason: Ichthyology has never been a particular interest of mine.
Charles: Well, along with the diver who was feeding them.
Mason (considering): What about the other one?
Charles (leaning on the desk): Her new mutant power of suggestion caused a 32 car pile-up on the trans-island highway.
Mason: Any fatalities?
Charles: Two, sir.
Mason: That’s tragic. What a credible excuse to initiate a clamp-down. What have your interrogations revealed?
Charles: Since being apprehended, they have fallen extremely ill. High fevers, deteriorating vital signs.
Mason: And you still have no idea what’s causing this?
Charles (shaking his head): No. But our medical staff are running batteries of tests and we just need more time.
Mason (sitting down): Well, you don’t have more time. Solving this problem is Priority One. I want all squads on full alert to locate and incarcerate these out-of-control mutants.
Charles: Yes, sir. [He leaves.]

[At Sanctuary, Adam’s sitting on the stairs by the main computer’s holographic screen when Jesse walks up to him.]
Jesse: Brennan checked in, asked me for a progress report.
Adam: All right, anyway, tell him that he and the Wileys are to avoid using their powers. Using them accelerates the disease.
Jesse (smiling): I think he’s more concerned about how long he’s going to have to stay cooped up with them.
Adam (leading him to the computer): Well, you tell him that he’s not to leave the safehouse under any circumstances.
Shalimar (coming in): How come?
Adam: Because any new mutant who’s been exposed to this thing needs to remain quarantined.
Shalimar: But I thought you said there was a good chance Rick didn’t enter the infectious stage until after he left the safehouse.
Adam: Yeah, but until we’re certain of that, isolation is the only way to keep this thing from spreading.
Shalimar: Got any idea what we’re dealing with?
Adam: Yeah. Off. [The holographic screen shuts off.] Cladosporium. Here. [He pulls up a picture on the computer’s flat screen.] It’s a simple, common airborne spore. Completely harmless to most human beings, but in the case of a rare genetic aberration, which occurs in less than one percent of all new mutants, exposure to this spore causes uncontrolled genetic mutation, and eventually death.
Shalimar: Less than one percent? Well, not to sound heartless, but I mean, if we’re only talking less than one percent, then what’s the big deal?
Adam: It’s what happens after the exposure that’s the big deal. Once the person shows symptoms, they become highly infectious, and the disease is passed on, new mutant to new mutant.

[In the new mutant safehouse, Brennan walks over to tell the Wileys what’s going on.]
Brennan: Sorry, guys, we’ve had a little setback.
Todd (getting up in alarm): Setback?
Jerri: What kind of setback?
Brennan: Well, we’re all under quarantine.
Todd: Quarantine? Huh. For how long?
Brennan: Until they figure out what infected Rick.
Jerri (hand to her throat): Wait a minute. You mean we've been exposed to something? We could get sick?
Brennan (sitting in front of her): Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll all be fine; it’s just a precaution.
Todd: So we're only going to be delayed for a little while, right?
Jerri: I think I've got it. It starts in the throat, right?
Todd: C'mon, Jer, you never get sick. So what are we talking about here? An hour, two?
Brennan: I can't answer that. But until we do figure out what we're dealing with... [Todd starts speeds around the room.] ....Adam thinks we should STOP using our new mutant abilities. It could trigger an episode.
Todd (stopping): All right. [Todd stands still for a minute, then begins to nod at hyperspeed.]
Brennan: Todd, please!
Tod (stopping): Right.
Jerri (coughing hoarsely): It's in my throat. No doubt about it.
Brennan (head in his hands): It's going to be a long day.

[Shalimar and Adam hurry down the hallway outside the lab towards the landing bay.]
Shalimar: So what’s this fire we’re investigating?
Adam: Alice Robins. She has the power to throw off thermal energy.
Shalimar: I remember. We slipped her into the underground last year.
Adam: That’s right. Sounds like she’s becoming the latest victim of this infection. Her powers are spinning completely out of control. [They fly out of Sanctuary in the Double Helix and land outside Alice’s apartment. When they emerge, Shalimar’s wearing a silver protective hazmat suit.]
Shalimar: You know, I would’ve thought in a situation like this, the police and fire departments would have been all over the place.
Adam (looking down the hallway towards Alice’s room): They would have been, but they were called off by a higher authority. Jesse told me. Better activate your hazmat suit. [Shalimar presses a button on her waist, and a clear bubble appears around her head.] Good.
Shalimar: How come you’re not wearing one?
Adam: Well, not being a new mutant, I’m immune.
Shalimar (following him to Alice’s door): So I'm the only one who gets to make a hazmat fashion statement?
Adam: That's right. But you just wait. It'll be the rage of the spring collection.
Shalimar: I’m sure.
Adam (trying the door): It’s locked; it’s hot. [He pounds on the door.] Alice? Alice? [He turns to Shalimar.] You think you can take this down?
Shalimar (reluctantly): I guess so.
Adam: Well, if you’re afraid of catching something, don’t be. The suit’ll protect you.
Shalimar: No, it’s not that. It’s, um, you know how I am around fire.
Adam (patting her arm): Shalimar, your fear of fire is perfectly natural for a feral. You and I both know that there’s only one way for you to get over it. [He points at the door.]
Shalimar: Well, you’d better stand over there, then. [Once Adam’s out of the way, she runs up the wall, flips into the air, and plants a foot on Alice’s door, knocking it down. Adam runs into the smoke-filled room, through a collection of burned furniture to reach Alice, who is lying on the couch.]
Adam (touching her neck): God, she’s burning up. I mean, literally.
Alice (waking up): Adam.
Adam: Is there anything we can do?
Alice: Too late. Just go.
Shalimar (standing behind the couch): How long till her next flare-up?
Adam: Not long. I’m afraid the next one might kill her.
Charles (coming in, followed by an armed GS agent): So. Looks like the news is out.
Adam (standing): Well now I know who called off the authorities. [When the GS agent draws his gun on Adam, Shalimar leaps into the air and kicks it out of his hand, and stands over his body.]
Shalimar (to Charles): Back off or he's dead.
Charles (walking around her): Like I give a damn.
Adam: Looks like working for Eckhart has brought out your sensitive side, huh, Marlowe?
Charles: See, now, that's not fair. I was bitter long before I took this job.
Adam: Yeah, well, we’ll deal with your psyche some other time. [He looks down at Alice.] Miss Robins here is about to reach her ignition point. There’s not a whole lot we can do.
Charles: I suppose that would mean a swift death for her.
Adam: Yeah, and for anyone else in the vicinity.
Charles (smiling at them): Don’t stay on my account. [Alice begins to convulse.]
Adam: Alice, what can I do?
Alice (waving them away): Just go, please. Just go.
Adam (running to Shalimar’s side): We’ve gotta get out of here. [Seeing that Charles hasn’t moved, Adam looks back at him.] Marlowe!
Charles (kneeling by Alice’s side): Tell me. [Giving up on Charles, Adam runs out into the parking lot with Shalimar as the building explodes behind them. A black SUV drives up, and Charles emerges from the building, to the amazement of Shalimar and Adam. Brushing soot from his jacket, he walks to the SUV and opens the door. Mason steps out of the SUV and faces Adam.]
Mason: Well, I gather you’ve met my new lieutenant.



[Standing on opposite sides of the parking lot, Adam and Mason eye one another, backed by Shalimar and Charles, respectively.]
Adam (approaching Mason): This infection that’s just killed this woman could wipe out every new mutant in a week. Now I might be able to beat it. But I don't stand a chance if I have to fight you at the same time.
Mason (approaching Adam): What are you suggesting?
Adam: A truce. To accomplish a common goal.
Shalimar: What?!
Mason: You honestly think I'd shed a tear if your freakish monstrosities were wiped out?
Adam: If the new mutants disappear, so does the GSA, Mason. Overnight, you're obsolete.
Mason: Obsolescence in the wake of total victory is a mixed blessing, but a blessing nonetheless.
Adam: Yes, but what about you? You'll lose your bete noir, your reason for living.
Mason: I'm deeply touched by your concern for my welfare, Adam.
Adam: For a man whose life is completely defined by that which he hates the most, this could be your undoing.
Mason (glancing back at Charles): Give me a moment. [He returns to the SUV to discuss the matter with Charles. Adam walks a distance away with Shalimar.]
Shalimar: So who’s the new lieutenant?
Adam (putting an arm around her shoulders): Charles Marlowe. I lost track of him since he left Genomex.
Charles (standing with Mason behind the SUV door): I think it’s a huge mistake to entrust Adam with GSA technology and secrets.
Mason: While gaining access to his genius and expertise.
Charles: Bottom line is, our priorities and his remain fundamentally opposed.
Mason: Well, under normal circumstances, you’d be absolutely correct. But right now, we find ourselves in the rare position of having our agendas intersect. At least until he discovers a remedy.
Shalimar (glancing over at the SUV): He really hates you, you know.
Adam: Eckhart’s always hated me.
Shalimar: I'm talking about Marlowe.
Adam (nodding): Hm.
Mason (coming back to face Adam): Tell me what you need. [Adam nods at him.]

[On his return to Sanctuary, Adam is immediately beset by Emma and Jesse as he walk down the stairs.]
Emma (wearing a hazmat suit): You made a deal with the devil!
Adam: I can’t deny that, Emma.
Jesse: Look, what’ve they got that we don’t have here?
Adam (going to the main computer): Highly trained scientists, medical staff that works around the clock and unlimited funds. Rick stays here, there’s no reason to risk moving him.
Emma: But Eckhart is gonna try–
Adam: I know, I can handle Eckhart, all right? The real problem here is the speed of this infection. Now we have approximately 20 hours before the majority of new mutants are cut down. [Emma and Jesse look at each other, as the weight of the situation hits them.]

[In the safehouse, Todd paces impatiently in front of Brennan, who’s reading a book.]
Todd: Hey, buddy. I’ve been thinking. We’ve been here a couple of hours, right? If we were gonna get sick, chances are, it would’ve happened by now, follow me?
Brennan: Uh, yeah, I think I follow you.
Todd: Terrific! So in that case, I figure we might as well get the hell out of here.
Brennan (smiling up at him): No.
Todd: Come on!
Brennan: Look, until we get the word, we stay put, and that’s that. [Todd starts speeding around the room in frustration.] Hey, Speedy! Was I talking to myself, or did you NOT hear me say no using our abilities? Huh? [Todd sits back down.] Are you fast AND deaf?
Jerri (from the couch across from him): So you think we’re gonna be okay?
Brennan (returning to his book): Yeah, we’ll be fine. [He catches her staring at him.] What? [She raises her eyebrows innocently.] Oh, hey c'mon, you're not using your X-Ray vision are you?
Jerri (smiling): Oh, no. Don't be silly. [He points a warning finger at her; she tilts her head for a better view.]
Brennan (getting up): Oh, man! [Holding his book over his behind, he goes sits in a chair with his back to her.]
Jerri: Yep. Looks good from this angle too.
Brennan (swiveling around in his chair): Please!

[Jesse and Emma walk down the hallway outside the lab.]
Jesse: God, Brennan’s gotta be going nuts trapped in the safehouse with that couple.
Emma: Yeah, not knowing.
Jesse: Yeah...not knowing.
Emma: That’s the part that would drive me crazy.
Jesse: You don’t think he’s got it, do you?
Emma: I wouldn’t know, Jesse.
Jesse: Well, can’t you do one of your telempathic tune-ins, see if he’s infected?
Emma: It doesn’t work like that.
Jesse: Hm.
Emma (activating her hazmat suit): I’ve gotta check in on Rick. [She enters the lab, where Rick is groaning inside his force-field.] You’ve gotta stay in there, Rick. Just until we find a way to make you better. [Sensing his pain, Emma projects an image into his mind of a Rick floating, relaxed, in the clear blue sky to calm him.]

[Meanwhile, in a large gymnasium-turned-makeshift hospital, technicians and nurses rush busily back and forth around the beds of dozens of new mutant patients. Charles makes his way through the crowded room towards Adam, who is standing at the head of one of the beds.]
Charles: Adam! I’m your liason.
Adam (moving to another bed): I don’t recall having a liason looking over my shoulder as part of the deal.
Charles: Not my call.
Adam: All right, so what is your mandate, Mr. Marlowe?
Charles: Report your progress to Mr. Eckhart.
Adam (shaking his head): Just the thought of working with him again...
Charles: Ah, stop kidding yourself, Adam. You two are joined at the hip.
Adam (moving to the next bed): That's an ugly thought.
Charles (leaning over the sleeping woman in the bed): You need Eckhart as much as Eckhart needs you.
Adam: Well, I thought I left all that behind.
Charles (touching her face): Well, the past has this funny way of sneaking up on you, doesn’t it, Adam?
Adam (removing Charles’s hand): Yes, and rearing its ugly head.
Charles (still hovering over the woman): It’s a tough thing to escape.
Adam (moving to the next bed): So, what, you’re his eyes and ears around here, Mr. Marlowe?
Charles: Yes. As well as making sure that GSA technology is not used for detrimental purposes.
Adam (moving to the next bed): Detrimental to what? The imprisonment and murder of new mutants?
Charles (following him): Hey! I just work here.
Adam: Yeah. And that doesn’t give you pangs of guilt?
Charles: No. It’s a free marketplace, Adam. My services are available to the highest bidder, which, by the way, if you want to make a bid that beats out Genomex....
Adam (going to his lab table): What, so, so you’re a mercenary now?
Charles: Yes, I am. And you’d better get used to me being on this side of the fence. [Adam leans over a computer, trying to retrieve some data.] Besides, my retinal scan is the only way to get access to that computer.
Adam: Limited access, I’m sure.
Charles: Of course.
Adam (nodding): Yeah.
Charles: Of course. [He walks back out to the ward, past Shalimar on her way in.]
Shalimar: So how are you and sunshine getting along?
Adam: Well, after he left Genomex, he must have suffered a major psychological trauma.
Shalimar (sitting next to him): Or maybe he’s just a creep.
Adam: No, no. People don’t have such a change in personality for no reason. You know, his anger’s gotta have a source.
Shalimar: Think he’s having a hard time dealing with his new mutant ability?
Adam: Well, that’s definitely part of it, yeah.
Shalimar: Didn’t turn the rest of us into creeps.
Adam: Well, none of you had to deal with his invulnerability.
Shalimar (watching Charles walk through the ward): Are you kidding me? I would love to have his power of invulnerability.
Adam: No, listen, I’ve been thinking about this now. All human behavior, and animal behavior for that matter, is predicated on one simple notion: survival, right?
Shalimar: Yeah.
Adam: Yeah, so what happens when survival isn't an issue, when that motivation’s taken away?
Shalimar (thinking): I guess there's no telling how someone would react.
Adam: Exactly. Unpredictability. Which makes Marlowe more dangerous than Eckhart. [In the ward, Charles leans over one of the patients as she gasps and flatlines.]
Charles (taking her head in his hands): Tell me. Tell me!
Nurse: She’s going into shock. Bring the oxygen! BP falling.[A technician rushes over with an oxygen mask, but Charles pushes him away.]
Charles: No!
Adam (running over): Hey! [Charles steps back, allowing the nurses to perform CPR.] What was that all about? [He pushes Charles.] What was that all about, I asked you a question!
Charles: I got no answers for you.
Adam: All right, then you are banned from this ward!
Charles: You are a guest here!
Adam: You get outta here!
Charles: This is not your turf. You remember that, Adam. [He walks out. Shalimar watches from the lab as the woman dies. Adam pulls a sheet over her face and rests his head on his arm in despair.]

[In Sanctuary’s lab, Emma’s at the computer, trying to stabilize Rick as he convulses within the force-field.]
Emma: Come on, Rick! Just hang in there! Come on, Rick! [Taking down the force-field, Emma rushes to his side to start doing chest compressions. A whirlwind erupts from his hand, throwing her back against the wall. Emma’s knocked unconscious by the blow, and her hazmat suit’s protective bubble is deactivated. Watching from outside, Jesse phases into the room and kneels by her side.]
Jesse: Emma! Emma, are you okay?
Emma (waking up): Why did you do that, Jesse?
Jesse: You were in trouble.
Emma (sitting up): Well, now we’ve both been exposed.



[As Brennan and Jerri sleep on the couches in the darkened safehouse, Todd sneaks up the stairs and tries to find the right password to get the computer to open the door. After he’s entered four incorrect ones at hyperspeed, an alarm goes off, waking Brennan and Jerri. Brennan runs to the foot of the stairs to see what’s going on.]
Brennan (seeing Todd at the computer): Oh, man. You don’t give up, do you?
Todd (coming back downstairs): What you don’t understand is, I need to get outta here. And now.
Jerri (from her couch): What’s your rush, Todd? We’ve got noplace to go.
Todd: I’m not in a rush, Jerri, okay? I just want out. Excuse me. [He heads towards the stairs again, but Brennan grabs his arm, kicking him in the leg and picking his pocket.]
Brennan (holding up his wallet): Sorry about that. But I don’t think you’re gonna get very far without this.
Jerri (getting up): What the hell is that in there?


Merci à FirstMutant