Ripped By mstoll
Once there was a man who lived forever.
He fell in love with a peasant girl.
They were married.
But her heart belonged to another.
He gave her his title.
She gave him a bastard.
Look! It's the cuckold!
Cuckold! Cuckold!
The pain was unbearable.
He vowed never to feel such pain again.
Never again.
He made a promise to himself on that terrible night.
A promise he has kept for over 400 years.
And this is the immortal who can stop Ilaria? This murderer?
Don't be obtuse. I have full faith in Michael's talent.
He's been working on a project with implications
greater than even he realizes.
What he's done, heh, is remarkable.
- Genius, even. - What's the project?
A world where only one field yields a crop,
while the rest lie barren.
- Infertility? - That's right.
Michael has perfected it.
Grafted it into apples.
One dose. No side effects.
Simple, elegant, guaranteed results.
And the best part, it only affects mortal men.
So no one else can father children except for him.
And any other immortal man.
With that technology, Ilaria could control the spread of mortal population.
Without resorting to genocide, yes.
It would solve their human problem once and for all.
Where do I find this Michael?
On an island on the far end of the New World.
Then that's where I need to go.
Search parties have been looking all night.
So far, they've only found four of the infected.
The others are being hidden somewhere on the grounds.
Have you seen my budding knife?
- No. - I keep it in the second drawer.
And it's not there.
- Maybe you put it in a different drawer. - I would never do that.
You know how you get when you're working.
I need to have things kept in their proper places.
Agnes always...
The lab needs to be kept organized.
- I will have Landry prepare an inventory. - No, no, no.
Not Landry, you.
Without Agnes or Anne, I need you on top of things.
Of course, Michael.
Do you want the search teams to keep looking?
Well, why wouldn't they?
I told you, the sick are being kept hidden from us.
The healthy are getting scared.
- People are talking about leaving. - Who?
People.
Gather everyone in the dining hall. I'm gonna make an announcement.
Who's there?
It's Anne, Dr. Farragut.
Anne?
What are you doing here?
I was framed for something I didn't do.
Framed? By who?
I don't know.
But it won't be long before Michael realizes his mistake.
He doesn't seem like the type who makes mistakes.
This is just a detour from my path.
Yeah.
Nothing like a road trip through Ratville to build character.
Michael needs me.
When the time is right...
he'll come.
You look like 10 miles of bad road. Wanna tell me where you were all night?
I had a wonderful night myself. The room-to-room search was a bust.
Turns out Olivia and her merry crew
are better at stashing the sick than we expected.
Eighty-three Mycotics, and we only found four.
Looks like the sedative is wearing off.
This place is about to be turned upside down.
Have you seen Sarah? I figured she was with you.
No. I checked her room.
She wasn't there. I thought I'd check the lab next.
I'll come with you.
They were in here. Come on.
Where are our families?
- Friends. - Please. Where are the sick?
Friends. Friends, please.
- Where are the others? - Please. Please.
We tried to isolate the sick, and we failed.
But we must do what we can to protect the uninfected, which is all of you.
I think the doctors from the CDC would agree...
that this dining hall is currently the safest place in the Abbey.
Good.
So we are all going to stay in this room.
And no one will leave until this is over.
Some of us have family out there.
All of us have family out there, Malcolm.
- The healthy will be redirected back here. - And the sick? What about them?
We just leave them out there to die?
Yes.
Unless we all want to die along with them.
It is in times of unimaginable loss
that adherence to our own true path is most vital!
We can't do that!
We trusted you!
Place guards at every entrance. Lock it down now.
Sarah.
You said you checked her room?
Alan, hey. You okay?
I think I know where she is.
There's a room...
in one of the outbuildings.
I almost made it there once, but I was ambushed before I could find proof.
- Proof of what? - I came to this island for a reason.
And I believe it's buried in this Abbey.
Yes. We've been here before.
Haven't we? Heh.
Blights.
Plagues. Drought.
Parasites. There's so many ways to devastate an orchard.
We built this place up from nothing.
Persevered through...
unimaginable hardships.
But when a disease attacks the roots...
changes are necessary.
Astrid, do you remember when the Spanish found us?
Your sacrifice was...
heroic.
And your daughter, sweet Annabel.
You nurtured the seeds of a generation.
Alice.
Without you, there'd be no fellowship.
The old ways needed to be discarded so your new ideas could come to fruition.
Pruning a plant makes it grow.
Thinning a crop makes it strong.
Who are you talking to?
Amy.
Do you have something to say to me?
Brother Malcolm.
The one who attacked you.
Landry had him taken down to a contemplation cell.
No, no, I don't want that. I don't want him to be locked away.
- Let him stay with the others. - But he transgressed.
- You're not concerned? - Quite the contrary.
Vigorous dissent is sometimes healthy.
But you always say how one bad apple...
Now I'm saying something different.
- Is there a problem with that? - Of course not.
- But why...? - Shh. Shh.
Do you see these women?
Your sisters.
Each and every one of them
dedicated their lives to this fellowship.
They did everything that was asked of them,
without question, without complaint.
They lived happily...
in the service...
of my will.
No matter the demand.
No matter the sacrifice.
That proud mantle is being passed to you.
Are you ready to receive it, Amy?
Are you?
Ah!
Dr. Farragut? Are you asleep?
Call me Peter.
I wanted to apologize on behalf of our fellowship for the way things turned out.
You came here to help us, and I'm afraid we've been
less than forthcoming.
"Less than forthcoming"?
- Are you out of your goddamn mind? - I just thought...
Michael dumped a barrel of rats on my head.
In what world do you think I would ever accept an apology from you?
- Please don't yell at me. - I have been locked in a pit.
- Please don't. - Tortured. Starved half to death...
Stop yelling at me!
Do you have any idea how hard it is to be the sensible one all the time?
I try to do what's right for our people,
and this is how I'm thanked.
I know exactly how you feel.
- How could you? - Let's just say I face similar...
challenges in my line of work.
Try working with your family.
- I have. - It's the worst.
The absolute pits.
Anne?
Are you down here?
Amy.
What's wrong? Is Michael coming?
No.
I don't know what to do. How about throwing a rope?
- Tell me. - I think Michael's going crazy.
He was talking to the portraits on the wall.
- What was he saying? - Uh...
Something about the crop. It didn't make any sense.
He doesn't always make sense, but it's your job to protect him now.
To bow to his will. Do you understand?
You sound exactly like him.
Maybe we could talk about this up top.
Gotta be a rope somewhere.
I'm not leaving until Michael releases me.
- Are you kidding me? - Amy, listen to me.
You will go to him and you will offer yourself.
No. I don't have to listen to you and I don't have to listen to him.
Amy, just throw down a goddamn rope.
Or him either.
Amy!
I am so sorry for this.
Oh, my God. You scared me.
Where are your parents?
Our dad got sick.
- Then he hurt our mom. - Where's your dad now?
Lizzie? Luke? Hey, where are you guys?
- That's him. - Hey, kids, come on out.
We're gonna play a little game.
It's gonna be okay.
It's okay.
Lizzie? Luke?
Come on, guys.
I know you're in there.
You're gonna be in so much trouble unless you come out right now!
Open the goddamn door!
Open the door!
He's gone. You guys stay right here, and I'll be back.
No, don't leave us.
- I have to go and find help. - Take us with you.
- I can't. It's not safe. - Please. Don't leave us.
Stay close to me. If you hear anything scary, you run as fast as you can, okay?
Okay. Come on.
How long does the psychosis last?
Who knows? They're all dead within two days anyway.
It's not a very efficient pathogen.
Seems to be doing a fair job kicking our ass.
An infectious disease doesn't want to kill.
It wants to pass on its DNA.
This one kills too quickly. Doesn't give itself a chance to spread.
I took cellular biology. You got a hypothesis to go along with that?
Yeah. I think it had help.
The human kind.
This is as far as I got last time.
I thought one of these would work.
Stand back.
Huh?
What the hell is this place?
Sarah was...
on this table. She was...
They were...
performing some kind of procedure.
Who? What did they do to her?
There was so much...
blood. I... I... I...
- I don't remember. - What the hell are we doing here?
What are you not telling me?
Ilaria...
are working on something big, an alternative to Narvik.
You're telling me Ilaria is responsible for Narvik?
And more.
And it's not the pathogen you're chasing.
That's unreliable. It's faulty. It kills too quickly.
- That's insane. - Sarah...
Sarah's part of it. Must be why they took her.
Bullshit!
Your eyes.
- What? - Nystagmus.
A residual tremor. You're sure you don't remember anything from last night?
Just flashes.
I've seen this before.
Those kids who attacked me, they had the same eye movements
and no memory of it. I think they were drugged.
Could have been an...
anticholinergic.
Like scopolamine.
- Okay. - Combined with morphine,
it creates a somnambulant state, uh, like sleepwalking.
We need to find Sarah.
We'll split up, cover more ground that way.
- You sure that's a good idea? - No.
But I'm all out of good ideas.
When you fight like this, does she ever come back? Try to make it right?
- Amy is... - No, no.
Don't tell me. She's following her damn path.
I know you mock us.
But this fellowship has thrived for nearly 400 years.
Michael knows what he's doing.
I'm the one who's failed.
You gave your life to him.
Look what he's done to you.
If this is my final journey...
I have no one to blame but myself.
Everyone you have ever known is in grave danger,
not to mention my team.
Someone needs to talk to Michael...
make him see reason.
Why would he listen to me?
Because you're the sensible one.
Sarah?
You in here?
I miss my mommy.
Luke, Luke, Luke. It's okay. It's okay.
No, when he gets scared, you have to tell him a story.
That's what our mom does.
I mean did.
Um... Okay.
Six months ago, I was in the Congo...
No, you have to say, "Once upon a time."
Okay.
Once upon a time, six months ago,
I was in the Congo treating children a little older than you.
There I met this little boy named Arthur,
and he was a very brave boy.
He used to have a blanket that he would tie around his shoulders like a cape.
I asked him one day, I said, "Why do you tie a blanket around your shoulders?"
And he said, "Because I'm Superman, and Superman can fly.
And he'll never get sick because he can fly away from any disease."
Did Arthur get better?
Yeah, he did.
He got better.
Gosh, I sure did miss you guys.
Run.
Hey, kids.
Have you found a new mommy already?
Guys, run. Now.
Sarah. You okay?
Yeah. What did you give him?
Nothing. I didn't have a chance to inject him.
Rapid fungal overgrowth.
It must be the final stage of the disease.
And only 36 hours after the memorial.
- It kills faster than we thought. - We need to assess the mortality rate.
Figure out why the boy, Soren, went into remission.
Maybe something with a prepubescent immune system.
Alan.
He's their father.
Kids, you okay?
Why don't you come with us? We'll go to the dining hall.
They're gathering people. You'll be safe.
Alan. I have to go to the infirmary.
They have an ultrasound machine there.
Michael.
We need to talk.
I'm a grown woman, and I should be able to make my own choices.
- Follow your own path, of course. - I don't want to be just another portrait.
Your fierce individuality has always been a source of great pride to me, Amy.
Let's cut the bullshit.
Very well.
You want to speak candidly?
The floor is yours.
I know what you are.
You're not a god.
You're a freak of nature.
And just because you had Anne and Agnes fooled,
doesn't mean you get to steal my life too.
My path does not lead to your side or your bed.
May I be candid as well?
I know what you are too.
A chip off the old block.
And I know what you had Landry do with the tainted honey.
I don't know what you're talking about...
Shh. To quote my sweet daughter, "Let's cut the bullshit."
If it was me, why put Anne in the pit?
Oh, Anne is a sheep.
Like so many of the others, she was born to follow.
But you, you my dear,
are a genuine Machiavellian prodigy.
Think I wasn't aware of the adolescent fumblings between you and Landry?
He's not man enough for you, of course.
But then again, none of them are. I made sure of that.
This crop is rotten.
It needs to be plowed under.
And tonight, we shall finish what you and your lover started.
Thinning is a necessary pan to what we do.
- "Thinning"? - Monkshood and opium poppy.
A four-to-one ratio.
Muscles are paralyzed, breathing stops.
And death comes as a quick release.
You're going to kill them?
They're at the end of their path. I have no choice.
I'm thinking of a pure community this time.
No outsiders, just family.
I... I don't understand.
After the first purge, your sister Annabel bore me 17 children.
Alice gave me 22 after the second one.
Oh, my dear, your life is about to be filled with glorious purpose.
My sweet girl, you're going to be the mother to a whole new generation.
No.
- I won't do it. - Oh, of course you will.
With or without your teeth.
No!
No, please. Let me go.
- No, let go. Let me go. - Shh.
No!
Let me out. Let me out, Michael.
Tempered glass, won't break.
I wouldn't move around too much, Amy.
Even the slightest contact with some of those plants can be extremely dangerous.
Oh, Amy.
I admire your fire,
your refusal to give in.
But eventually you'll understand,
just like the others.
Of all my daughters...
you've always been my favorite.
This machine must be 40 years old. The CPU could be shot.
It seems to be working just fine.
But Sarah, still the fetus would be very small.
You couldn't have been more than a few days pregnant when you were...
You were made immortal.
The baby shouldn't arrest development until the fetal stages.
We should be able to see something.
Do you remember anything from last night? Anything at all?
I was in the lab, and then I was attacked.
It must have been a Mycotic. And the next thing I know, I was in...
I was in that horrible room. And there was blood everywhere.
There's nothing here.
There's no baby.
Sarah.
I don't think that was any Mycotic attack last night.
- What? - I lost time.
Just like you.
I think I was... I was drugged with scopolamine so I would forget.
To make you forget what?
I've been remembering bits and pieces all day.
But I think I was the one who attacked you in the lab.
- It was you? - If it was,
I swear I had no idea what was happening.
You attacked me? You took it? You took the baby?
Sarah, I swear on my life I didn't know what was happening.
Do you really hate immortals that much?
No.
Is that it? Do I disgust you? Did this baby disgust you?
- No, that's insane. - No. Admit it.
This is what you wanted all along. You never wanted this baby in the first place.
- That's not true. - Get out, Alan.
- I don't want to look at you. - Please.
Get out.
Kyle. Let me out, please.
- Michael's gone crazy. - Stop the presses.
He's about to do something terrible. You have to believe me.
Actually, I don't.
See, that's the beauty of me standing here and you being locked in there.
Look, you want to find Dr. Jordan, right?
- I can tell you where she is. - What do you know?
Let me out and I'll tell you.
Tell me and I'll think about letting you out.
Well, you know what? I like you better under glass.
What? No, Kyle!
Please.
Okay.
You ready to try again? Get back on my shoulder.
Peter, is that you?
Oh, Kyle. Thank God.
How did you two end up down there?
There should be a rope somewhere.
- Copy that. - We need a sit-rep. What's happening?
What isn't happening?
There was another outbreak, 83 infected.
Ah, Jesus.
Quarantine was breached. Most are on the loose.
- And the uninfected? - Michael confined them to the dining hall.
Have you seen Michael? Is he all right?
He was in the botany lab arguing with Amy.
Brewing up some kind of foul-smelling plant stew. Got it.
Great. Throw it down.
All right. Look out.
What kind of plant stew?
I don't know. Long stems, big purple flowers.
Monkshood. Also known as aconitum.
That's a deadly paralytic. Why would he...?
Hey.
It's a Thinning.
A what?
It was before my time, but I heard the stories from my great-grandmother.
When she was a young girl, a decision was made to thin the fellowship.
To wipe the slate clean and start over.
Start over how?
She's talking about Jonestown.
Solar Temple.
Heaven's Gate.
Mass suicide.
They're all gonna kill themselves.
Friends.
Wonderful news. Wonderful news.
The good doctors from the CDC have developed a serum
to combat the illness which has been plaguing our fellowship.
They're administering it right now to the sick outside.
And they've even provided us with an oral vaccine,
so that we might not become infected either.
Glorious, glorious news.
I want you to take your men.
I need you outside on the perimeter.
- When do we get the cure? - Now is not the time to ask me questions.
Is it safe?
I thought you might ask me that.
See?
Totally painless.
This way. Come on.
Parents, administer to your children.
Men, aid our women before helping yourself.
To the elderly, please offer them assistance.
More than enough to go around.
Ripped By mstoll