(At Crash, Original Cindy carries some beer and joins Max and Sketchy at the pool table. Logan is writing something nearby. Alec is collecting money from a guy he has just beaten at pool.)

ALEC: Thanks for playing. It's always a pleasure. (Chuckles) Who's next? Anybody? Sketchy, what do ya say, buddy?

SKETCHY: No, man, I already owe you two paychecks.

ALEC: I'll let you break.

SKETCHY: No. Nope.

ALEC: I'll play left-handed. You can blindfold me.

SKETCHY: No.

ALEC: No? Okay. (Looks at Max)

MAX: Nobody likes a showoff, Alec.

ALEC: Max, come on. Fifty bucks and you get to humble your old buddy Alec. What do you say?

MAX: Yeah, right.

ALEC: Well, thanks anyway. Anybody? (Asks different people) You? You? You? Come on, it's not that di--Logan! What do you say, pal? Wanna play me in a little game of pool?

LOGAN: Oh. Uh...I break?

ALEC: Yeah.

LOGAN: Rack 'em.

ALEC (glad to find someone to play): Ha ha! It's all right.

MAX (to Sketchy, smiling): Move over.

(Max sets her drink down behind Sketchy and watches the game. Logan breaks and sinks several balls. Alec whistles. Logan sinks another ball, and as he lines up his next shot, Alec leans in very closely to watch.)

LOGAN: Alec...

ALEC: Yeah?

LOGAN: Could you stand back?

(Alec steps back, and Logan makes the shot.)

ALEC: Well, well, well. Not too shabby. (As Logan is about to shoot again) Can I, uh, get you another beer?

LOGAN: No.

(Logan misses the shot.)

ALEC (smiling): You sure?

SKETCHY: He's gonna run it now.

(Alec sinks three shots in a row, blowing on his cue stick afterwards. He sinks another shot and laughs, then jokingly indicates his cue stick.)

ALEC: I just wanna play it. It's just like a guitar, you know? It's beautiful.

(Alec lines up his next shot.)

ALEC: Corner pocket.

LOGAN: You're sure you don't want to try a bank shot?

ALEC: Oh, no. No, no. I'm sure.

(Alec misses the shot.)

ALEC: Hmm. Maybe not that sure. (Chuckles)

(Logan sinks a shot and then lines up his next one. One ball is directly between the cue ball and the one Logan needs to sink. Sketchy and Alec lean in closely to examine the table.)

ALEC: Tricky shot.

SKETCHY: Yeah, you can do it.

ALEC: Sketchy, where's the love, huh?

LOGAN (concentrating): Guys...

ALEC: Hmm?

LOGAN: Beat it.

(They step back. Logan hits the cue ball so that it jumps over the first ball and sinks the second.)

MAX (to Original Cindy): You gotta admit, that was pretty cool.

ORIGINAL CINDY (smiling): Silly boys playing with their sticks and balls. I may vomit.

(Logan lines up a shot at the eight-ball.)

ALEC: Hey, Logan--another fifty bucks says you miss this shot.

LOGAN: You're on.

(Logan sinks the shot. Max smiles. Alec chuckles and forks over the money.)

MAX: Nice game.

LOGAN: Thanks.

(Max hands him a beer and their fingers come very close to touching. They both look up in alarm.)

SKETCHY: Dude, you rock! (Shakes Logan's hand)

MAX (to Logan): Go wash your hands.

SKETCHY: What? I'm clean.

(Logan hands Sketchy the beer and steps into the bathroom.)

ALEC: What's going on?

ORIGINAL CINDY: The whole love-bug dealio. After he beat your ass, Max handed him a beer and they might have touched and dosed him with the virus. And now would not be a good time for one of your smart-ass remarks.

ALEC: Hey, I hate to lose, but I'm not wishing the guy dead.

ORIGINAL CINDY: What did I just say?

ALEC: I was being serious.

(Logan comes out of the bathroom and smiles, trying to reassure Max.)

LOGAN: I'm okay.

MAX: I could have killed you over a stupid game of pool.

LOGAN: I thought it was a very satisfying game of pool, actually. Want to get a drink?

MAX: Better not risk it. Um...I'm gonna go home. (Leaves.)

(At a junkyard, a man closes the gates for the night. On the gate is a sign that says "WARNING: GUARD DOG ON DUTY." The man talks to a dog standing nearby.)

JUNKYARD OWNER: Good boy, Chopper. Way to stand guard.

(He picks the dog up and we see the dog is stuffed.)

(Later, the junkyard owner talks to the dog while flattening cans.)

JUNKYARD OWNER: Back in the day, they'd give you ten cent a can. Ten cent! Nowadays, you'd be lucky if you get ten cent a pound. I'm tellin' you, Chopper--it's gettin' harder and harder to make a livin' every day.

(He hears a clattering noise.)

JUNKYARD OWNER: You hear that? (Grabs a gun and a flashlight.) Shh. Stay. Stay, Chopper, stay.

(He gets up to investigate the noise, walking among the junked cars. We see a flash of a dinosaur-like creature. The junkyard owner peers above one car. We hear a screech, and the man screams. A wad of slime hits him in the face and he falls over. He gropes for his gun, but before he can reach it, the creature drags him away.)

INTRODUCTION: They designed her to be the perfect soldier--a human weapon. Then she escaped. In a future not far from now, in a broken world, she is haunted by her past. She cannot run; she must fight to discover her destiny.

(At Joshua's house, Max is sitting at the desk with books and papers spread in front of her. She keeps glancing at the Manticore tech's notes, which are still stuck to Joshua's painting.)

MAX: f divided by xy...no, xz. It's gotta be right. That Manticore creep coulda been onto something and didn't even know it.

JOSHUA: Sorry for painting over your virus papers, Max.

MAX: It's okay. I can still make out most of it. It's just this function that's screwing me up. f(x₁) times delta x equals...what is that?

(Joshua looks closely at it.)

JOSHUA: It's a squiggle. (Nods) Squiggle.

MAX: Could be an approximate sign. f(x₁) times delta x is approximately equal to delta q. The messenger RNA would codify an interruption in the protein strand, the DNA wouldn't be able to replicate, and the virus would hit a dead end.

JOSHUA: No. It's a squiggle. (He rubs the page and the squiggle disappears.) See?

MAX: Yeah. Still...it makes sense.

JOSHUA: So the virus bitch is going down?

MAX: Could be. You know, I never would've caught this if you hadn't painted over my papers.

(Max starts gathering her things.)

JOSHUA: Oh, you gotta blaze?

MAX: I'm gonna see if I'm on the right track. Thanks, big fella.

(Later, Max is sitting in a cluttered lab while a man in a lab coat looks over her notes.)

MAX: You're shaking your head. Why are you shaking your head? Are my calculations wrong?

LAB TECH: Well, they're not so much wrong as not right.

MAX: Great.

LAB TECH: You never told me where this virus, uh, came from. Do you mind my asking?

MAX: A secret government agency gave it to me, hoping I'd give it to a friend of mine they were looking to kill.

LAB TECH (laughing): Okay, fine. You don't want to tell me, don't tell me.

MAX: Whatever. Serves me right for getting my hopes up.

LAB TECH: Hey, you're not gonna start crying, are you?

MAX (who had not been about to cry): Just gimme my papers.

LAB TECH: Okay, hold on, hold on. Your numbers were off a little bit, but the theory behind them's viable.

MAX: Which part?

LAB TECH: Well, the whole luring-the-virus-into-a-protein-dead-end part. It's pretty cool. It has a kind of Pied-Piper-ness to it, you know, with a little Chuck Heston thrown in there. "Take that, you damned dirty virus!"

(Max doesn't laugh at his joke. He clears his throat.)

MAX: So you're saying you can make it work?

LAB TECH: Yeah. Yeah, all I need is a blood sample. And, um...twenty thousand dollars.

(At Jam Pony)

ORIGINAL CINDY: You ask me, twenty large is still a small price to pay for you and Logan to get together.

MAX: I just want to know I'm not gonna kill the guy if, say, I...touch his hand by accident.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Or if, say, you spend a long weekend making hot monkey love to the man...by accident. (Max laughs.) Does he know about the man with the cure?

MAX: I'm gonna try to get my hands on the cash first. I don't want to have to owe him again if this guy falls through.

ORIGINAL CINDY: How you gonna get the money?

MAX: I'm gonna sell my soul.

ORIGINAL CINDY (indicating Alec): There's the devil.

(Original Cindy walks away. Max approaches Alec.)

MAX: What are you doing tonight?

ALEC: And why do you ask?

MAX: Got word from this fence I know. There's a collector willing to pay top dollar for Star Wars: Episode VII. After the Pulse, they shut down production. Apparently this is the only footage that exists.

ALEC: Is that the one where Captain Kirk dies?

MAX: I guess. Anyway, the reel's locked up in a vault at the Fox Building in Belltown.

ALEC: Max, are you asking me to steal something with you?

MAX: It's a two-man job.

ALEC (insincerely): I'm shocked. I don't do that kind of stuff anymore, Max. I mean, you yourself showed me the error of my ways.

MAX: Did I mention your take is twenty grand?

ALEC (smiling): What time do I pick you up?

(That night, outside a house, something growls from the bushes. Inside, a woman is getting dinner ready while two kids wait at the table. Her husband gargles with salt water.)

WIFE: Do you have to do that in the kitchen?

HUSBAND: My gums are killing me.

WIFE: Yeah, well, rinse out the sink when you're done.

DAUGHTER: Mom, I'm a vegetarian.

SON: And I want pizza.

WIFE: You both are going to eat this meatloaf and that is final. Irving, would you tell them?

IRVING: Somebody kill me.

(We hear a screech and something breaks the window. A wad of slime lands on Irving's face as he screams. Clawed, lizardlike hands reach through the broken window and pull him out.)

(In Max's apartment, Max and Alec are going over some blueprints.)

MAX: There's security stationed here, here, and here. They do rounds and rotations. We'll have a thirty-second gap when the entrance guard relieves the lobby guard. Once you're past that point, smooth sailing. In and out in five minutes.

ALEC: Does this qualify as stealing from a bad guy, or do you have a new handy excuse for swiping something that doesn't belong to you?

MAX (rationalizing): Hey, people have the right to see this stuff. It shouldn't be locked up in a vault.

ALEC: Oh, of course, yeah. That Murdoch's one evil fiend.

MAX: Just stick to the plan. Trust me--it'll be the easiest money you've ever made.

(Later, Max and Alec wait in a closet.)

ALEC: "Trust me," she says. "We'll be in and out in five minutes," she says. We've been in here an hour!

MAX: Shut up!

ALEC: Check and see if the guards are still there.

(Max peeks through the slats in the door.)

MAX: Still there.

ALEC: How many?

MAX: Two.

ALEC: Two? Max, I think we can take 'em.

MAX: Not before they trip the alarm. Better wait for the next shift change.

(Max looks straight ahead, occasionally checking on the guards. Alec is clearly bored.)

ALEC: Hey, wanna know what I'm doing with my share of the money?

MAX: No.

ALEC (miffed): Fine. Rude, but fine. What are you gonna do with yours?

MAX: Donate it to charity.

ALEC: Yeah, right. I'm thinking, what? New motorcycle? New apartment? New boyfriend? (Max glances at him.) New DNA markers for current boyfriend.

MAX: He's not my boyfriend.

ALEC: Argh! I can't believe this. I've been stuck in this closet for over an hour to facilitate you having sex! That's what I've been reduced to. I'm a pimp.

MAX: It's not even like that.

ALEC: Yeah, yeah. Tell me--tell me that he's worth all this trouble, Max. I mean, tell me how he...how he rocks your world. Something.

(Max says nothing.)

ALEC: Maxie. Hey. You and Logan have done it, right? I mean, before the whole virus thing, you knew each other for like, what, a year? Max?

(Max still says nothing.)

ALEC: Oh, could you two be more lame?

MAX: Not that this is any of your business, but...with me and Logan, it was just never the right time.

ALEC: Oh yeah, yeah, sure. I can see how the right time might elude you...for a year.

(Max peeks through the door slats again.)

MAX: Guards are gone. Let's get the film and get the hell out of here.

ALEC: Great idea.

(Later, at the lab, Max watches while the lab tech counts her cash.)

LAB TECH: ...ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine, twenty thousand. Okay, so let's do this. Roll up your sleeve. (Max does so and the lab tech begins injecting her.) The immunoglobulin's going to take a quick lap through your system. It's going to neutralize any virulent cells in your bloodstream. (Finishes the injection.) There you go.

MAX: How do I know it worked?

(The lab tech has Max look into a microscope. She sees purple spots being surrounded by green circles.)

LAB TECH: You see the little green circles? Those are antibodies. They're completely encasing the virus nuclei and protein coating.

MAX: So it's working?

LAB TECH: Yeah. Yeah, this thing's completely dead in its tracks.

MAX (smiling): I'm cured. I can't believe it.

LAB TECH: Yeah, this thing couldn't hurt a flea now. I mean, it's totally-- (Looks into the microscope again) Uh-oh.

MAX: Uh-oh? What do you mean, uh-oh?

LAB TECH: Uhhhh...this virus, uh, is mutating.

MAX: Mutating how?

LAB TECH: Well, the little buggers are eating through the protein coating. I mean, once they do that, the virus is back in business. (Looks at Max) You're, uh, you're not gonna cry, are you?

MAX (who this time does look upset): How long until the coating is history?

LAB TECH: Well, at the rate they're going, thirteen, maybe fourteen hours. I wouldn't put it past twelve, though, just to be on the safe side. I mean, I can say with complete confidence you'll be virus-free for twelve hours.

(Later, Max stands outside Logan's door. She looks at her pager, which she has set to run as a stopwatch; it says 10:51:01. Logan opens the door.)

MAX: Got a minute?

(Inside, Max and Logan sit down in the living room. Max is holding a bottle of wine. She takes off her coat and we see that she has dressed up a little.)

LOGAN: What did you want to talk about?

MAX: Let me ask you a hypothetical question.

LOGAN: Those are my favorite kind.

MAX: Supposing...just supposing...I found a temporary cure for the virus.

LOGAN: Is there such a thing?

MAX: That's where the supposing part comes in.

LOGAN: Okay. Uh, hypothetically, how long would this temporary cure last?

MAX (checking her pager): Ten hours and fifty minutes.

LOGAN: You're serious.

(Max nods.)

LOGAN: So we can touch and nothing will happen?

MAX: I don't know about nothing, but you won't die.

LOGAN: Oh, my...(Sits back to think, overwhelmed)...Max...

MAX: We have to think about this. Because when it's over, it's over. No repeats.

LOGAN: We'd be back where we started.

MAX: Exactly. Ten hours seems like a long time, but it isn't. Not really.

LOGAN: It'll have to be long enough.

MAX: I was hoping you'd say that. We've got ten hours.

LOGAN: Evidently.

MAX: We've been waiting for the right time. Here it is.

(They both stand up. Logan slowly steps over to Max and holds out his hand. She slowly takes it. They both smile. Logan strokes her face and leans in to kiss her. She stops him.)

MAX: I don't...I can't believe I'm gonna go girly on you, but...I don't want to blow this on a quickie. It should be perfect.

LOGAN: Perfect. How about a perfect quickie?

(Max laughs and hands him the bottle of wine.)

MAX: Open this.

(At Crash, Alec sits at the bar and finishes a drink.)

ALEC: Barkeep! Another scotch. And a, uh, tequila shot for the pretty blonde.

(He slides his glass down toward the end of the bar, where Asha is sitting. She looks up.)

ASHA: That's all right. I was just leaving.

ALEC: Come on.

(She leaves her beer behind and steps over to him.)

ALEC: All right, but once you hear the good news about Max and Logan, you might be wanting that drink.

ASHA: What news?

ALEC (handing her a drink): Why don't you fortify yourself?

(Asha nods and takes the drink.)

ALEC: Bottoms up.

(In Logan's kitchen, Max and Logan are sitting at a counter and sipping wine.)

LOGAN: So how long were you and Alec stuck in the closet?

MAX: About an hour. He was yapping the entire time.

(They both laugh.)

LOGAN: He's a yapper. (Chuckles) Yeah, stuck in the closet with Alec--you're pretty much describing my worst nightmare.

MAX: It was worth it, though. It got me here.

(They look at each other.)

LOGAN: It feels like old times.

MAX: Better.

(They clink glasses.)

(At Crash, Alec and Asha are drinking lots of beer and doing lots of shots.)

ASHA (in a toast): Logan and Max.

ALEC: Max and Logan.

ASHA: Every happiness.

ALEC: Ha!

(They clink glasses and drink.)

ASHA: Wonder what they're doing right now.

(Alec gives her a look.)

ASHA: You know what I mean. Logan's so romantic--I bet he made her dinner. Wine...candles...I bet it's perfect.

ALEC: Yeah, that sounds like them. I mean, why consummate two years of unbridled passion when we can have pasta?

ASHA: You're a pig. You don't know anything about love.

ALEC: Well, I know more than you think. Besides, you're a liar.

ASHA: How so?

ALEC: Because you don't wish them all the happiness in the world; you want Logan for yourself. I mean, come on. You had it all dialed in when Max was back at Manticore, presumed dead. You and Logan, doing your hero thing, spending hours together in his fancy little apartment, all tuned up about the ways of the world. It was a good time for you, right?

ASHA: Yeah, he was thinking about Max every second of every day. He never believed she was dead. And when she came back, he was the happiest I'd ever seen him.

ALEC: Yeah, until the virus thing.

ASHA: Even with the virus, they never gave up on each other. And no matter how I feel about it, I have to respect that. Because that, my friend, is true love.

ALEC: Yeah, right. Have they ever even once said "I love you"? No. No. Max...Max would choke on the words. Logan...eh, he'd say it, in an email. (Mocking Max) "He's not my boyfriend. We were never even like that. It was never the right time." No, Logan is a repressed WASP and Max is a...a broken toy. The two of them will never work out together.

ASHA: And you are cynical.

ALEC: No. I'm someone who believes in going after what he wants, and damn the consequences. When you've been dead a hundred years, little girl, you have only just begun to be dead. We're living on borrowed time. And if you don't put your heart out there on the line, then you're never really living at all. If I loved someone, I'd tell 'em. And if I wanted someone, then I would let her know, straight up. Asha, I want you. Come home with me.

(At his house, Joshua is painting. He takes a minute to read the label on the paint can.)

JOSHUA: "Warning: Use only in well-ventilated areas...headaches...dizziness..." (His eyes widen.) "Could cause harmful health risk..."

(Joshua runs outside and takes deep gulps of air. He catches a scent and follows it to the grating in the street outside his house. Throwing the grating aside, he climbs down into the sewer and notices some slime on a pipe.)

JOSHUA: Gossamer.

(Joshua tracks the scent through the sewers and emerges in another part of town. He covers his face a little with his hair. A man leaves a bakery across the street. Joshua sniffs around the bakery.)

JOSHUA: Gossamer. Smell Gossamer.

(Joshua tracks the scent, which is trailing behind the man who left the bakery. The man turns around and notices Joshua following him.)

MAN: All right, man, who are you and why are you-- (Sees Joshua's face) Oh, my God...

(They hear a screech. A wad of slime lands on the man's face. We see a flash of the dinosaur-like creature.)

MAN: Oh, my God!

(Joshua and the creature begin to fight. Joshua is knocked down, and some slime lands on his chin. The creature then turns to the other man.)

MAN: No! No, don't! No!

JOSHUA: Pretty wack.

(In Logan's apartment, Max and Logan are dancing.)

LOGAN: Max...there's something I've been wanting to tell you...for a long time.

MAX: Yeah...me, too. (Pause) You first.

LOGAN: Max, I--

(Joshua bursts in and interrupts.)

JOSHUA: Stop getting busy, please!

MAX: Joshua, what are you doing here?!

JOSHUA: Gossamer.

MAX: What?

JOSHUA: On the loose. He's hurting people.

LOGAN: Gossamer. Okay. What is that, some kind of Manticore thing?

JOSHUA: Max and Joshua have to stop him. That's the plan. So come.

(Joshua reaches for Max. She pulls away.)

MAX: No! Joshua, not now! Can't this wait--(checks Logan's watch)--nine hours and twenty minutes?

(Joshua shakes his head and pulls on Max. She resists.)

JOSHUA: No. Now. Now.

MAX: Joshua, you don't understand--

JOSHUA: Now. Now.

(Logan shuts off the music.)

LOGAN: Hey!

(Max and Joshua stop tugging back and forth.)

LOGAN (to Max, resignedly): Look. If this thing is hurting people, then...

MAX: Can my life suck any harder?

(Alec and Asha enter Alec's apartment.)

ALEC: Here we are. Well, make yourself at home. I'll, uh, get us a drink.

ASHA: Thanks. My feet are killing me.

(Yawning, Asha sits on the couch and begins to take off her boots. Alec takes a bottle from the cupboard and pours drinks.)

ALEC: I got this bad boy from an old guy down on the waterfront who, uh, specializes in pre-Pulse small batch, of all things. Turn on some music if you want. I got that tricked-out stereo out of a dumpster, if you can believe it.

(No response.)

ALEC: Asha? Asha?

(Alec turns around to find that Asha has fallen asleep with one boot still on. He removes the boot and gently covers her with a blanket.)

(In Logan's apartment)

MAX: You're sure he's dangerous?

JOSHUA: Max, he's hurting people.

MAX (resignedly): Then we have to stop him.

LOGAN: Well, first we gotta find him.

JOSHUA: He's in the sewers by my house.

LOGAN: That makes sense. If it can't move in plain sight, it'd have to use the sewer system to move around.

MAX: Doesn't exactly narrow things down.

LOGAN (to Joshua): Where'd you catch up with it?

JOSHUA: Little--Little Debbies.

MAX: Bakery. Sector five.

LOGAN: Well, our best bet's probably to start there and backtrack towards Joshua's place.

MAX: That's a lot of ground to cover.

JOSHUA: Max and Joshua can cover ground.

MAX: No.

JOSHUA: Oh, yeah.

MAX: No.

JOSHUA: Yeah!

MAX: No! I can't chase this thing down and worry about you, too! You know it's not safe for you out there.

(Joshua growls a sigh and sits in the corner to thumb through Logan's books.)

MAX: Should I ask for Alec's help?

LOGAN: That's an idea. I'll talk to Matt Sung, see if there's any other reports about this thing. Maybe I can figure out its M.O.

MAX (checking his watch): We've only got eight hours and fifty-three minutes.

(They kiss.)

MAX: Why do I feel like I'm kissing you goodbye?

LOGAN: Go.

(They kiss once more and she leaves.)

(In Alec's apartment)

MAX: Alec? Alec? (Notices the sleeping form on the couch.) Hey, wake up.

ASHA (uncovering her face sleepily): Oh, hey, Max.

MAX: Asha?

(Alec emerges from the bathroom, wet and wearing only a towel.)

ALEC: What?

MAX: I need your help. Can you get dressed?

ALEC: Okay.

MAX: Please hurry.

(She checks her pager. It says 8:34:14.)

(Shortly afterward, Max and Alec walk down the street.)

ALEC: So one of the gossamers is loose in the big city, huh?

MAX: You're saying there's more than one?

ALEC: Oh, yeah, there's a bunch of 'em. Manticore used 'em to track down targets on scent. You know, X4 gone rogue? Give Gossamer one of those T-shirts, let him smell it--wouldn't stop 'til the kid was found.

MAX: What'd he do to the target once he found him?

ALEC: Oh, it all depends. You know, some of them were bred for retrieval, so they'd disable the subject and wait for the handlers to come pick him up. Others were bred for elimination. Now those were some pretty bad guys, let me tell you.

MAX: I hope we're not dealing with one of those.

ALEC: Well, either way, they all have this goo that shoots out of their mouth. Stuns the victims.

MAX: Goo?

ALEC: Yeah.

MAX: That's terrific.

ALEC: Should be fun. So where do you want to start looking?

MAX: The sewers.

ALEC: The sewers. (Sarcastically) I mean, I haven't got to crawl around in a stinkin' tunnel with you for about two weeks! It's not like I had anything better to do tonight.

MAX (angrily): Sorry this interrupts your evening.

ALEC: Yeah, it was the funniest thing. I mean, here I am, hanging out at Crash bar with Asha, who I hardly know, and it just seemed to be the right time. How 'bout you?

(Max looks away.)

ALEC: Oh, come on. I mean, now that the virus is out of the way, right?

MAX: Just get in the sewers.

ALEC (laughing): You guys crack me up.

(Alec's cell phone rings. He answers.)

ALEC: Hello? Logan, hey, we were just talking about you. (Max reaches for the phone.) Hey, you called me, pal. Yeah, she's right here.

(Alec hands the phone to Max. She takes it with a smile and steps a short distance away to talk.)

MAX: Hey. (Checks her pager) Eight hours and ten minutes. Tell me you got something.

(In his apartment, Logan is at the computer while Joshua pokes around at Logan's equipment.)

LOGAN: Talked to Sung. There was another attack earlier tonight, about four miles west of Joshua's place. Irving Green.

MAX: Any connections between the two victims?

LOGAN: Kind of. Uh, I talked to Irving's wife and she mentioned that he'd had a cavity filled yesterday. (Joshua begins pulling the ribbon out of a tape. Logan snaps his fingers to get him to stop.) Uh, the guy that, uh, Joshua saw grabbed, Hal Johnson, had also just been to the dentist.

MAX: Same dentist?

LOGAN: Dr. Carlos Rabell.

MAX: Hmm. Alec says Gossamer's trying to sniff for stuff.

LOGAN: Well, maybe whatever Manticore trained him to find is, uh, at the dentist's.

MAX: All right. I'm going underground; leave a message in case I don't have a signal.

LOGAN: Okay. (Hangs up.)

JOSHUA: Gossamer going down?

LOGAN: Yeah. Uh, I'm gonna check out a lead.

(Joshua starts to follow. Logan stops him.)

LOGAN: Um...remember what Max said?

JOSHUA (rolling his eyes): Stay put, it's not safe, blah blah blah.

LOGAN: That's right. So...you lay low, and don't touch anything, and there's some food in the fridge.

(Shortly afterwards, Joshua digs around in Logan's fridge and removes most of its contents.)

(Logan sneaks into Dr. Rabell's darkened office, using a credit card to open the locked door.)

LOGAN: Eight hours to be with the girl of my dreams, and I'm at the dentist's office.

(He looks around with a flashlight, smiling when he finds the file he's looking for.)

LOGAN: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

(Max and Alec are walking through the sewers.)

ALEC: Got an appointment or something? You keep checking the time.

MAX: Don't worry about it. So are you and blondie an item, or is she just another one in Alec's long line of conquests?

ALEC: Asha's a good kid. For the record, nothing happened. Why? Did you want to double-date?

MAX (sarcastically): Oh, yeah, sounds like fun.

(At another point in the sewers, a lizardlike hand grasps a ladder.)

(In the dentist's office, Logan finds a tray of small cylinders.)

(Something approaches from the hallway, snarling.)

(Logan dials his cell phone and gets Alec's voice mail.)

ALEC'S VOICE: Hey, this is Alec's cell phone. Leave me a message and I'll call you back.

LOGAN: It's me. Listen, I think I know what Gossamer's after. I know it doesn't get us any closer to his location, but--

(He stops and turns to look as something breaks into the dentist's office with a screech.)

(In the sewers, Max checks her pager. It says 6:43:09.)

ALEC (sarcastically): This has been a fun night, Max. I want to thank you, really. First I get to spend an hour and a half with you in a dark closet. Now my evening's gonna end in this disgusting sewer.

MAX: Shut up.

ALEC (chuckling): Boy, two years of waiting's really made you tense.

(They see some slime on the wall.)

MAX: Oh, look. It's here.

(Max and Alec emerge from the sewer at the junkyard, clearly disgusted at the slime on the entrance.)

ALEC: Check this place out.

MAX: We should split up. Be careful.

(They split up and begin searching among the junked cars.)

ALEC (calling): Gossamer! Here, boy! (Sees something) Uh-oh.

(A wad of slime lands on his face.)

(Alec's cell phone, which Max is still carrying, beeps. She opens it; the screen reads "1 Call Unanswered." She dials a number as she continues to look around.)

MAX: Come on, Logan, pick up.

(Max hears Logan's cell phone ringing somewhere in the junkyard. She looks up in surprise.)

MAX: Logan?

(Following the source of the sound, Max finds Logan sitting unconscious in the driver's seat of a junked car. He is trapped in dried slime.)

MAX: Logan. Logan, wake up.

(She tries to open the car door, to no avail. She turns around and her eyes widen; the gossamer is standing on a car nearby. With a screech, it slimes her.)

(Later, Max wakes up to find herself trapped in dried slime in the passenger seat.)

MAX: Logan? Logan?

ALEC (from the backseat): Are we there yet?

MAX: Alec? Can you get out?

ALEC (sarcastically): Yeah, I just thought I'd hang around. You know, 'cause it's so comfy.

MAX: You can't move either?

LOGAN: Where are we?

MAX: Some junkyard. Gossamer musta brought you here.

(A man's voice calls out from nearby.)

VOICE: Hey! Is somebody there?

LOGAN: What was that?

VOICE: Hey, get us out of here.

ALEC: Who's "us"?

(The other men who have been slimed call out. They are trapped as well.)

SECOND VOICE: I'm Hal. That's Irving. Then there's Gordie.

GORDIE: I own the place.

HAL: Get us out of here.

IRVING: Before that thing comes back and eats us all!

ALEC: Actually, Gossamer's an herbivore. He only kills for sport.

MAX: That's good to know. (Calling) We're gonna get everybody out. Just hang tight. (In a lower voice) Do you have any idea what Gossamer wants?

LOGAN: It turns out the dentist was using Keveral to fill cavities.

MAX: What's Keveral?

LOGAN: It's a material used in weapon casings and body-armor plating. My guess is Manticore trained this thing to track down enemy soldiers by targeting the stuff.

IRVING: Great. I'm gonna die with armor plating in my teeth.

HAL: I don't want to die!

MAX: No one's gonna die. (In a lower voice) ...I hope. (To Logan) This quack didn't fill your cavities. Why'd it go after you?

LOGAN: I was holding the Keveral when it slimed me.

ALEC: Please. Can we just concentrate on getting out of here before this goo monster comes back?

MAX: Joshua. He'll get us out.

LOGAN: Joshua...who we told not to leave my apartment.

(In Logan's living room, Joshua is snoring on the couch. Empty pizza boxes and food crumbs are everywhere. He wakes up and burps.)

JOSHUA: Max? Logan?

(In the junkyard)

MAX: I can't believe how screwed up all this is.

LOGAN: I know.

ALEC: And to think I thought my night was gonna end up in a sewer. I wish.

MAX: For the last time, shut up.

ALEC: You know, it's your fault that I am sitting here in this monster saliva to begin with!

LOGAN: It's not her fault.

MAX: Yeah, right. It's not my fault. It's just my life. Even if we get out of this, what happens tomorrow, Logan? We still have the nomlies, and Manticore, and all fates against us. I shoulda known that one night was just too damn much to ask.

LOGAN: How much time do we have left?

MAX: Not enough.

LOGAN (sighing): Oh, Max...it wouldn't have been enough anyway. We knew that.

ALEC: Whoa. Whoa, whoa, call me slow on the uptake, but am I getting the distinct impression that this virus thing is still hanging around?

LOGAN: Shut up.

(Joshua follows his nose to the dentist's office. Slime is everywhere.)

JOSHUA: Logan? Logan?

(Joshua walks through the sewers and catches some scents.)

JOSHUA: Logan...Gossamer...Max and Alec.

(Joshua follows their scents up a ladder.)

(In the junkyard)

MAX: I'm so sorry.

LOGAN: I know.

(Joshua walks through the junkyard.)

JOSHUA: Max? Logan?

MAX: Joshua! Joshua, in here! Joshua!

ALEC: Hey, buddy!

(Joshua appears at the car window.)

MAX: Joshua! Get us out of here!

JOSHUA: I didn't stay put.

MAX AND LOGAN: That's okay.

MAX: Come on. Come on, hurry up!

HAL: Get us out of here! Hurry!

(Joshua rips the door off the car and begins to free Max.)

MAX: Come on!

JOSHUA: You okay?

MAX: Yeah.

ALEC: Hey, buddy. Back here. Back here. Come on!

MAX (to Logan): Keveral! Where's the Keveral?

LOGAN: By the phone. By the phone. By the phone. Right there.

ALEC: Back here. Back here.

(Joshua frees Alec while Max grabs the Keveral cylinders. The gossamer appears.)

JOSHUA: Oh! Gossamer!

(Max jumps out of the car and faces the gossamer. It tries twice to slime her, but she dodges each time. They begin to fight. Max holds up the Keveral angrily.)

MAX: Want some of this? Come on! You're going to get it!

(Max lures the gossamer through the junkyard.)

MAX: Come on. Come on. That's right. That's right. Come on. This way. (She climbs through a van whose doors are open.) Nasty-ass mutant son of a...

(Max climbs out the other side of the van. The gossamer follows behind. As soon as it is inside, Max slams the door shut. The gossamer turns to go out the other side, but before it can, Max flips over the van and shuts the other door. The gossamer pounds on the walls and windows. Max gets into the cab of a crane with a large magnet on the end. She uses the magnet to suspend the van in midair.)

MAX: That oughta hold him for a while.

(Later, everybody has been freed and is busy removing slime.)

IRVING: What was that thing?

ALEC: Not to worry. There is a logical explanation for everything that happened here tonight, all right? (Irving gives him a look.) Just give me a minute.

MAX (to Joshua): Hang tight.

(Max steps over to Logan.)

ALEC: Come on, everybody. Let's clear out of here, huh? Give these two some breathing room.

(The three other men file past Alec.)

ALEC (to Gordie): You all right?

(Gordie nods as he passes by. Alec nods at Max.)

(A little distance away, Alec finds Gordie playing fetch with the gossamer.)

GORDIE: Come on. Here it is. Come on. Ha ha. Here ya go.

ALEC: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Watch out there, pal.

GORDIE: He's okay. He's just lookin' for somethin' to keep him busy. (To the gossamer) Here you go, boy. (To Alec) That's why he came here, I guess--you know, all the Keveral in all these old car parts. It's mostly just the junkers that have any in them. So--so what is he, anyway?

ALEC: Uh, well, like I already explained to the other fellas, he's, um...a Tasmanian ant-eating aardvark...an "antvark," as we in the trade like to call him.

GORDIE: Trade?

ALEC: Uh, zoo trade. I'm with the Tasmanian Zoology Foundation. He escaped from one of our facilities.

GORDIE: Now, wait a minute. Finders keepers.

ALEC: You want to keep this thing? Like as a pet?

GORDIE: Why not? His spit's gotta come in handy. Smells like silicone--worth at least a buck a pound. (To the stuffed dog) What do you say, Chopper? You want a little brother? Ha ha! What? (To Alec) Chopper says yes. (To the gossamer) Good boy.

ALEC: Well, good. Looks like everything's sane and right in your world. Just, uh, keep him locked up at night, okay?

GORDIE: No problem. No problem.

(Some distance away, Logan is sitting in the backseat of a convertible and staring straight ahead. Max joins him.)

LOGAN: How much time?

MAX: Two minutes.

LOGAN: I keep thinking about the night we took down Manticore...when I thought I'd lost you. I came home and sat on my sofa and I didn't get up again for days. The sun came up...the sun went down...I just sat there. It was like I couldn't move. It hurt too much to move. That's how I feel right now.

MAX: I knew this would happen. We shouldn't have taken the chance.

LOGAN: We had to. You know we did. We can't keep going through this, though.

MAX: I know.

(Logan finally looks at her.)

LOGAN: That year we wasted, dancing around each other, afraid of actually admitting how we felt...If I had that time back, I would do that so differently.

(Max's pager beeps.)

LOGAN: Well, I guess that's it.

(He kisses her. Afterwards, Logan climbs out of the car and looks at her.)

LOGAN: I love you, Max.

(He walks away.)

MAX: I love you, too.

(Fade out as a tear runs down Max's cheek.)