Épisode Le Caméléon S04E07

PROLOGUE

OLIVIA: Uh, I called in a prescription just a little while ago.

PHARMACIST: Olivia Dunham?

OLIVIA: Yes.

PHARMACIST: This is your last refill so have your doctor call in a new prescription for next time.

OLIVIA: Yeah. I was hoping I wouldn't need these anymore.

PHARMACIST: Thanks. Have a good night.

OLIVIA: Yeah.

OLIVIA: Hey.

AGENT LEE: Hey. This is bizarre.

OLIVIA: Well, I just, uh -- I was on my way home, and I only live a few blocks from here.

AGENT LEE: I didn't know that. So you're just heading home now?

OLIVIA: Well, from a walk. I had a migraine. And you know, fresh air helps. You?

AGENT LEE: Well, as far as twenty-four hour dining goes, this place is better than most. In fact, they make a pretty good cup of coffee if you want to join me.

OLIVIA: You haven't slept in how long?

AGENT LEE: Since I got here.

OLIVIA: That's a long time.

AGENT LEE: It's hard... adjusting to a new city.

OLIVIA: Yeah, I can imagine.

AGENT LEE: You remember a couple weeks ago you asked me if I was --

OLIVIA: Freaked out?

AGENT LEE: I used to believe just a few months ago that, uh, I understood the world we lived in. I mean, there were basic truths that I thought were... well...true. I used to sleep like a baby. Blissful ignorance.

OLIVIA: You know, eventually it will just become your life.

AGENT LEE: Is that what happened with you?

OLIVIA: Yeah. Uh, sort of.

JACK ZOEPHEL: Hey.

MEG ZOEPHEL: Hi, babe. Are you close?

JACK ZOEPHEL: Yeah, sorry. I'm almost there. I took the shortcut behind the theater.

MEG ZOEPHEL: Alright. You okay?

JACK ZOEPHEL: Ugh, no. I feel like I'm being followed.

MEG ZOEPHEL: What? By who?

JACK ZOEPHEL: I don't know! I don't know. I'm sure it's just my imagination.

MEG ZOEPHEL: Where are you? I'm calling the Police.

JACK ZOEPHEL: No, Meg, it's fine! I'm two blocks away from Willow. Hello? Meg?

MEG ZOEPHEL: Cops are on their way.

JACK ZOEPHEL: No, it's okay. It's okay. I'm here. I'm ho--

OFFICER GRANT: This is Grant. I need an ambulance at 1625 Willow.

DISPATCH: Ten-Four. Copy location.

OFFICER #2: Dear God, what happened to this guy? Is he alive?

OFFICER GRANT: What the hell was that?

OFFICER #2: What? What are you shooting at?

OFFICER GRANT: I don't know.

MEG ZOEPHEL: Jack!

OFFICER GRANT: Freeze! Ma'am! Ma'am, stay back.

MEG ZOEPHEL: Jack! He's my husband!

OFFICER GRANT: Ma'am stay back!

MEG ZOEPHEL: Jack! Let me go!

ACT I

PETER: You've got to love this assignment, right Tim? I mean, where else can you find baked goods, car parts, and video games all under the same roof?

AGENT TIM: Yes, sir.

PETER: Sir? I'm moving up in the world. Did Broyles tell you to call me that? Keep that level of formality. That way, you don't get attached to your prisoner.

AGENT TIM: You're not my prisoner.

PETER: So what, then you're my bodyguard?

AGENT TIM: Maybe just imagine I'm a friend.

PETER: Yeah, 'cause every thirty-two year-old man needs a friend to chaperone him while he's underwear shopping.

AGENT TIM: You know what, that reminds me, uh -- Agent Broyles told me to tell you that he has authorized you a two hundred dollar week allowance.

PETER: Two hundred dollars? Big spender. The only other thing I need is safety glasses. You see 'em?

AGENT TIM: Nope.

PETER: Here we go. Here, let me give you a hand.

AGENT TIM: I'll get it.

YOUNG SHOPPER: Thanks.

PETER: What was that about?

AGENT TIM: Nothing. Just figured I'd help.

PETER: You really think I'd hurt a kid?

AGENT TIM: I've been instructed to limit your interaction with civilians. It's not personal.

PETER: You know, I've been investigating Fringe Events for three years -- I never thought I'd become one.

AGENT TIM: Like I said, it's not personal.

BROYLES: Victim's name is Jack Zoephel. At approximately Three-thirty A.M., his wife placed a call to 9-1-1. He believed he was being followed home. His wife was on the phone with Jack when he was attacked. The police arrived less than two minutes after the call was placed. When they got here, he was already dead.

AGENT LEE: I'm assuming he didn't look like this before he left for the night?

BROYLES: No.

ASTRID: Walter's gonna love this.

OLIVIA: What's with all the broken glass?

BROYLES: That uniformed officer believed he was shooting the perpetrator.

OLIVIA: So he can identify the guy?

BROYLES: Not exactly.

OLIVIA: So you shot at nothing.

OFFICER GRANT: I was just spooked, is all.

AGENT LEE: You unloaded your entire clip.

OFFICER GRANT: I don't know what to tell you. I overreacted.

AGENT LEE: I'm willing to bet that you don't want to risk telling us what happened because you're concerned about your reputation. You don't need to be. Whatever you saw, however bizarre it is, we need to know what it was.

OFFICER GRANT: I don't even know how I'm going to begin to file a report for this case.

OLIVIA: Well, we'll take care of that if you just tell us what you saw.

OFFICER GRANT: I didn't see anything, exactly. But I -- I felt something.

AGENT LEE: Like what? A ghost?

OFFICER GRANT: You said ghost, not me.

ASTRID: His neck is broken.

WALTER: Could have happened post-mortem. Cause of death could be duet to rapid...

ASTRID: Walter, I can't understand you, wha-- are you eating?

WALTER: Onion rings from Sully's. Double-dipped in beer batter. Fantastic. He could have died from a rapid spike of adrenaline associated with fear. That could be why he's white as a sheet.

ASTRID: What? Are you saying that he was scared to death? Walter, that's just an old wives tale.

WALTER: Where's your imagination? You must have been a very boring child.

ASTRID: I'm ignoring that.

OLIVIA: Did Walter have any theories?

ASTRID: Uh, a few. But until he runs some tests, he's not gonna know anything for sure.

OLIVIA: Can I ask you something? All the things that we see... like this... does it ever get to you?

ASTRID: Yes. Every day. If I wasn't seeing the agency shrink, my head would have exploded a long time ago. It's not like I can talk to family or friends. I mean... Well, who do you talk to?

OLIVIA: No one. I'm starting to think that that's weird. That's just not normal, is it?

AGENT LEE: We can rule out ghosts.

OLIVIA: What makes you say that?

AGENT LEE: Ghosts don't bleed.

NED RYERSON: Hi. How's the morning treating you?

JULIE: Pretty good, and yourself?

NED RYERSON: Not too bad. Glad the hot weather's starting to turn.

JULIE: Me too. Fall's my favorite. I love how the leaves change colors.

NED RYERSON: After you. So, do you have big plans for the weekend?

OLIVIA: There have been three bodies similar to this one found in the surrounding area over the past two weeks. And why is this the first we're hearing of it?

ASTRID: Before they ran the medical records, the police just assumed that all the victims were suffering from albinism. It's more common than people think.

OLIVIA: I guess. Any luck?

ASTRID: Well, so far, I've checked law enforcement databases, including Interpol, but it's possible that this person's DNA is not in any criminal database.

OLIVIA: What about hospitals?

ASTRID: That's my next move.

WALTER: We call them albinos, but the Kishwahili Tribe from Tanzania called them "Zeru" - which is also the word for 'ghosts'. Witch doctors from there sometimes used body parts from albinos In potions for good luck or fortune.

AGENT LEE: That's...

WALTER: Grisly?

AGENT LEE: Yeah, I'd say that.

OLIVIA: You found something?

WALTER: Yeah. There's a mucous-like substance on the body, a residue.

OLIVIA: From something in particular?

WALTER: Uh-huh. They're chromatophore cells. You find them in octopi, chameleons. Cells that have the ability to translocate pigment in the body. It's what certain creatures use to blend into their backgrounds.

ASTRID: I just got a positive I.D. on the blood sample.

OLIVIA: Do we have a name?

ASTRID: Uh-huh. Baby Boy Bryant. According to this, the blood sample we found at the crime scene belonged to a baby born on July 26, 1989, at Parkview Hospital in New York. And he died four days later -- July 30, 1989.

WALTER: Well, that's quite a quandary. Perhaps we're looking for a ghost after all.

ACT II

AGENT LEE: They started automating their records twenty years ago. Here it is. "Baby Boy Bryant.. Born 26 July, 1989."

OLIVIA: Gosh, they didn't even give him a proper name.

AGENT LEE: Infant born with an unclassified genetic variant. Over ten specialists examined him. No one could diagnose him. No medical precedent found. You okay?

OLIVIA: Yeah, I just started to get another migraine. I can do it.

AGENT LEE: I know you can, but you don't need to.

OLIVIA: Thanks.

AGENT LEE: I'll get you some water. So this baby was a mystery.

OLIVIA: Says he died from complications of his genetic abnormality on the 30th of July, 1989.

AGENT LEE: Which we already knew.

OLIVIA: Thank you. Okay, Doctor Blake West and Teresa Jaffee, RN. See, I wonder if either of them are still working here.

AGENT LEE: Ms Jaffee, is this your signature on the death certificate?

TERESA JAFFEE: Yes.

OLIVIA: Can you tell us what you remember about Baby Boy Bryant?

TERESA JAFFEE: I was in the delivery room when he was born. He was so...pale. When Doctor West held him up, the lights in the O.R. burned his skin. We had to put him in a special ward with no windows and no lights. So when Doctor West told me that the baby had died, I was relieved that he wasn't suffering anymore.

OLIVIA: What is it?

TERESA JAFFEE: I've never told anyone this. As they carried him out... I thought I heard him cry. It was faint. But I thought I heard him. I assumed I had imagined it.

AGENT LEE: Do you remember where he was taken to?

TERESA JAFFEE: It was a private insurance company. Um, something like... Cilas or... Cyrpo, uh...

OLIVIA: Cyprox?

TERESA JAFFEE: Yes. That's it. Cyrpox, Incorporated. I was told they'd be handling the autopsy.

OLIVIA: Thank you so much for your help.

AGENT LEE: Okay. How'd you know Cyprox?

OLIVIA: Because they paid my mother's medical bills while she was dying of cancer. And Cyprox was a subsidiary of a larger company called Kelvin Genetics.

AGENT LEE: Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

OLIVIA: Because Kelvin Genetics became Massive Dynamic.

NINA: "Cyprox, Inc." It's been years since I heard that name.

OLIVIA: We have reason to believe that Cyprox, Inc. abducted an infant from a hospital twenty-two years ago.

NINA: I'm afraid your suspicions are true.

AGENT LEE: What can you tell us about him?

NINA: The boy had an unidentified genetic abnormality. He would have died within a matter of days. But this same genetic deformity made him suitable for some... genetic experimentation.

OLIVIA: Walter discovered specific animal cells on the body that we found.

NINA: Chromatophores. The nature of the boy's cellular abnormality allowed those cells to be implanted into his system, making him able to blend into his surroundings.

AGENT LEE: Making him a perfect spy or soldier.

NINA: Well, there were military applications, yes. Unexpectedly, the experiment also allowed this child to survive. Something about the chromatophores offset his very fragile condition.

OLIVIA: And you knew about this?

NINA: No. This was a satellite research facility, one of dozens. Neither Doctor Bell nor I had any specific knowledge of what was going on. Now, I’m not trying to justify what was done. I'm just saying that this child would have died had he not been part of that program.

OLIVIA: Maybe that would have been better.

NINA: I think I'll send the boy's files over to Walter's lab, maybe there's something in them that can help.

AGENT LEE: If you didn't know about him, how are you so familiar with all this?

NINA: There was a fire in the lab ten years ago. And we assumed that all the subjects had died in that fire. That was the first time that William and I ever learned of Eugene.

AGENT LEE: Eugene?

NINA: Well, that's what the researchers called him. ‘u-gene’. Short for "unknown genetic disorder."

OLIVIA: His entire life, he didn't have a proper name.

NINA: We assumed that he'd died. And, as you can imagine, it was impossible to prove. So... Now it seems as if we were wrong.

JULIE: Ziggy? Ziggy? Here, Kitty-kitty. Ziggy? Where are you?

ACT III

PETER: Hey.

AGENT LEE: Hey.

PETER: Come in.

AGENT LEE: Sorry it took Broyles so long to sign off on this stuff.

PETER: I was starting to get worried.

AGENT LEE: For all your help the other day, I'm surprised he didn't give you a badge.

PETER: Thank you.

AGENT LEE: That's my job.

PETER: No, no, I mean... thank you for treating me like a human being. I haven't been getting that a lot lately. I appreciate it.

AGENT LEE: So you really think it'll get you back to where you came from?

PETER: The machine was powerful enough to snap me out of my timeline. Stands to reason that it's powerful enough to snap me back in.

AGENT LEE: I suppose that makes sense.

PETER: I hope so. My best chance of getting back home.

AGENT LEE: Alt universes, different timelines. Olivia says that, eventually, all of this is going to seem run of the mill. Which, frankly, I'm having a hard time believing. It's insane how none of this phases her.

PETER: She's made quite an impression on you, huh?

AGENT LEE: I've never met anyone like her before.

PETER: Yeah, I know what you mean.

AGENT LEE: You were together, weren't you? You and Olivia. Uh, back where you came from.

PETER: Yeah, we are.

AGENT LEE: Uh, I’m -- I’m sorry. I didn't mean to-- no, no, no.

PETER: It's okay. The Olivia you're talking about... that's not my Olivia.

AGENT LEE: This is Agent Lee. I'll be right there. I need to go. Walter has something to show us.

PETER: No problem. See you later.

WALTER: Oh, good, you're here. I want to show you something.

AGENT LEE: Is that an octopus?

WALTER: Charming, isn't she? Brilliant, creative creatures. You know, they actually do build gardens. And colored rocks and plants and shells, and even garbage. They arrange them around their caves. And they're like chameleons.

ASTRID: Hey, why did we just get a bill for $818... you know I’m gonna be the one to take the blame for this.

WALTER: Tell Agent Broyles that... science has no price tag!

ASTRID: I'm sure he'll be very pleased to hear that. Uh, Nina sent over some files for you.

OLIVIA: Thank you.

WALTER: Eugene. Fascinating story.

OLIVIA: Walter, do you think that Eugene Is trying to make himself visible? That he's killing people in order to steal their pigment?

AGENT LEE: Is that even possible?

WALTER: It's possible, of course. Leprechauns are possible. That would explain the mucous on the victim's body. I didn't understand what it was, but it must be acting as some kind of conductor. And that's how Eugene's chromatophores are absorbing the victim's pigment. To overcome what's been done to him would require a considerable amount of pigment.

OLIVIA: Walter, you're saying that if I’m right --

WALTER: Yes. I'm afraid you'll be finding a lot more victims.

( )

WALTER: Everyone, come quickly! I have two pieces of news. First, he's dying.

OLIVIA: Who's dying, Walter?

WALTER: Our suspect. The Chameleon Man. I've spent the last few hours recreating what we believe our young man is doing to himself, and, assuming you're right, Olivia, and he's trying to re-pigmentize himself, then... is that a word, 're-pigmentize'?

OLIVIA: Well, go on, Walter. What is he trying to do to himself?

WALTER: Well, the condition he was born with was killing him. If he is now attempting to reverse what was done to him, to make himself normal... or what was normal to him... then he is, in fact, committing suicide.

ASTRID: So you're saying he's poisoning himself?

WALTER: In a sense, yes. His body's reverting to the deadly condition that he came into the world with. Although... he may not be aware of it.

OLIVIA: Well, how long until he dies?

WALTER: Oh, don't worry. John here will be fine.

AGENT LEE: Uh, I don't think Olivia meant the mouse.

WALTER: The human? Well, I can't say. I suppose it depends on how successful he is.

OLIVIA: Okay, well, that doesn't change anything. We still have to find him.

AGENT LEE: Well, how do we find something we can't see?

WALTER: That was the second thing I had to tell you. Ultraviolet light. Come on, Yoko, where are you?

AGENT LEE: She's been there the whole time?

ASTRID: That was Broyles. They found another body.

DOORMAN: I was just starting my shift when I saw the body. I didn't know what it was at first, all pale and white. It took me a while to see it was Mister Ryerson.

AGENT LEE: Are the surveillance cameras functional?

DOORMAN: Yeah, just installed a few weeks ago. There's been some break-ins recently.

OLIVIA: And you say that nobody left the building? There's an emergency alarm on the back door, and you were at the front door the whole time? You never walked away, not even to go to the bathroom?

DOORMAN: No, and I watched the security footage again, just to make certain.

OLIVIA: This is going to sound odd. Even though you didn't see anyone, did any of the exterior doors open on their own?

DOORMAN: What are you looking for?

CANINE HANDLER: Lieutenant Broyles, the dog has got the scent!

OLIVIA: Where does that door lead?

DOORMAN: To the upper levels!

OLIVIA: Are there any building exits on the floors?

DOORMAN: No!

OLIVIA: Sir, he could still be up there.

BROYLES: Lock this place down. I need every available unit to the Elmwood Apartments.

ACT IV

AGENT SPENCER: Lieutenant Broyles... last floor's evacuating.

BROYLES: Have they been instructed to leave their doors open?

AGENT SPENCER: Mm-hmm.

BROYLES: Okay, shut it down. Everything but the elevators.

AGENT SPENCER: Shut down as planned. Over.

OTHER AGENT: Code Four.

FBI AGENT: My men are ready.

OLIVIA: Okay. You take your team down and clear the parking garage and the basement. I'm gonna take one dog team up to the highest floor, work our way down. You start here. We'll meet in the middle.

AGENT LEE: Okay. You guys come with me. We'll take the north stairwell.

OLIVIA: This is taking too long. Let's split up. Go. I'll take this floor.

FBI AGENT: Let's make sure he copies it.

CANINE HANDLER: We've got a scent.

FBI AGENT: Right there, right there. Yeah. Just a couple more.

OLIVIA: Uhh!

AGENT SPENCER Olivia, do you read?

OLIVIA: Uhh!

AGENT SPENCER: False lead. It's just a shirt.

AGENT LEE: Olivia, can you read me? Olivia? Come in!

OLIVIA: Help me, please.

EUGENE BRYANT: You understand right now how important it is to be seen. Your life depends on it. Me seeing you right now.

OLIVIA: Okay, just wait. Listen, you're dying. Whatever it is that you're doing to yourself, it's killing you. Just -- please let us -- let us try and heal you.

EUGENE BRYANT: I don't think you're here to help me heal. Not after what I’ve done. If you're here to help me, it's because I have value to the military, And they don't want the long-lost Experiment 69545 to self-destruct! Not when they found him again.

OLIVIA: We have nothing to do with the military. I am just here to stop the killing.

EUGENE BRYANT: All my life... I've been watching them live theirs. Watching them... fall in love. To be looked upon by the right person... to connect... and to see in their eyes kindness. Happiness. And... recognition. That's when you exist.

AGENT LEE: Liv! Please respond! Are you okay?

OLIVIA: There is a scientist who I work with for the FBI. He works out of a Harvard lab. Now, if anyone can hope to undo what they've done to you --

EUGENE BRYANT: I lived my life in a lab! I am not going back!

OLIVIA: If you treat yourself again, even once, it could kill you.

AGENT LEE: Olivia! Where are you? Olivia! She's in here!

OLIVIA: He's got my gun.

OLIVIA: Spencer, come in.

AGENT SPENCER: Agent Broyles. We've got nothing.

OLIVIA: And the dogs have been through every floor twice. He's gone.

BROYLES: Let's get these people into their homes.

FBI AGENT: Let 'em in!

AGENT SPENCER: Sir.

BROYLES: Go ahead.

AGENT SPENCER: You're gonna want to see this. There's a sub-basement where all the pipes run. It's designed as a service bay.

OLIVIA: This is his home.

AGENT LEE: These items must belong to all the residents.

OLIVIA: Like he kept a small token from each person's life. He was watching them.

AGENT LEE: Looks like you were right. He was trying to cure himself.

OLIVIA: This isn't about curing himself. This is about being seen.

JULIE: I thought you weren't coming today. I see you every day. I - I thought you might have caught the cold that's been going around.

EUGENE BRYANT: No.

JULIE: Well, that's good, then. It's too beautiful a day to be sick.

EUGENE BRYANT: The most beautiful. My name is Eugene.

JULIE: I'm Julie.

ACT V

OLIVIA: I thought you should know that we found Eugene Bryant's body. So it's over.

NINA: Well, thank you. You could have called to tell me.

OLIVIA: All he wanted was to be like... everyone else. But how could he? He'd never be like anyone else. Not after what they did to him.

NINA: So you're thinking about what was done to you.

OLIVIA: You know, even with my colleagues, I'm different. Things that should bother me... do you think that it's possible the Cortexiphan Trials stunted my emotions?

NINA: Oh, Olive, you can't let what happened to you as a child define you. And no -- the answer to your question is you are perfectly normal. At least as normal as any of us is normal. Life is an experiment. You have to find out where you belong, find your own place in this world.

OLIVIA: But shouldn't I know where that is by now?

NINA: Not necessarily. I mean, before you and your sister came to live with me, my life was work. And I didn't think that I could find the time or the room for you girls in my life. Now, I can't imagine what my life would have been like if I hadn't taken that risk. Now, when the time is right, you'll know.

PETER: Hey.

AGENT LEE: Hey. What's this?

PETER: I got you something. Just trust me. I'm going to get going. Broyles is letting me use the lab.

PETER: Hey.

OLIVIA: Hey. Is that our paperwork?

AGENT LEE: Yep... just finished.

OLIVIA: Thank you. Guess we can put this case on the list of things that makes it hard for you to sleep.

AGENT LEE: That list is getting longer.

OLIVIA: Well, maybe if you find yourself, uh, at the diner tonight, say, around Three A.M., I might, uh, I might see you there.

AGENT LEE: I'll see you then. Maybe.

FIRST INTRUDER: Clear. Should we move her to the bed?

BLAKE WEST: No need. She's not gonna remember the last two hours, anyway. When she wakes up, she's gonna have one hell of a headache.