Something Beneath Page #4

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We got work. Buzzkill! I was five seconds away from breaking

my lifetime high score

in House of the Dead. Yeah, yeah, by pretending

the zombies are your teachers from Catholic

elementary school. Those are some

scary nuns, man. Hey, everyone

needs motivation. What are the moon suits for? We got to go

down in the sewer. The drains are plugged

worse than ever. Guests are checking out, and Symes is

having palpitations. Symes can rot in hell. Hmm. Guests are checking out

'cause the damn building's got a death curse on it. Hank! You know, any time I doubt

the existence of God, all it takes is one look

at a view like this to convince me. You mean you don't

always believe in God? Isn't that a basic

job requirement? Sorry. This is weird. What's weird? Talking to a priest

about his vocation, or talking to a priest

like he's a regular guy? [chuckles]

Both. See, my calling is about

more than belief. It's about faith, which some people define

as belief without evidence. For instance, everyone here says

there's no trace of your wolf

in the basement. But, I believe you saw

what you say you saw. You do? I do. Well, I wish somebody

else believed. I've got Symes that's

this close to firing me. I'm losing the

confidence of my staff. And with two mysterious deaths,

your delegates are suddenly remembering they have

pressing business in Beijing. It's been a very strange

last few days, hasn't it? Yeah. Come on, walk with me. So when did you decide you

wanted to be a priest? Ah, I was called to

service when I was 13. How does a 13-year-old boy

think that God is calling him? It's funny, I never wondered

about that for a minute. I always wondered

why God called me. I'm serious. So am I. It's not like wanting

to be an astronaut, or a firefighter. How do you know at 13 you're not gonna want

to get married, or have kids,

or have-- [laughing] I'm, I'm not a

Catholic priest. I'm Episcopalian. What? We get married,

we have children, and we can even hold hands

at the movie theater. Oh. So then why aren't you... Married?

Yeah. I travel a lot. I'm devoted to my mission. I just haven't found

the right gal. Oh. Or maybe I'm afraid

of commitment. So in other words,

you're a typical man. Get out before

it's too late! Whoa, wait. Who was that? Let's go find out. Come on, come on. [chain clanging] Watch it. Who needs video games? This is real-life Tomb Raider. Yeah, or Doom. I hate my job. What the hell? What? We're in a sewer, we should be in muck

and water up to our knees. It's almost dry. And that's bad?

Hell, yeah. It means there's an

obstruction all right, and it's freakin' huge. Okay. I'm gonna

go get some help. Hey, easy, cowboy. First, we find

the blockage, then once we know

what we're up against, we get some help. You can take off

your respirator. There's no toxic gas

or nothing. [explosion in distance]

What was that? [breathing] Methane gas pocket. I thought you said there

was no toxic gas down here. Methane ain't toxic,

just flammable. Terrific. [water sloshing underfoot] Reg, I'm tired. This stuff weighs a ton. Do I have to wear it? You can walk around naked

for all I care. [door creaking] [whistles] Hey! It ain't lunchtime yet. Yeah, yeah. [goo dripping] What the hell? [gasps] Reg, what is this? [banging] Did you find anything? [banging] [grunts] Reg? [heavy breathing] Reggie? [sinister laughter] [screaming] [doorknob rattling] [shrieking in distance] [screaming] [screaming] [thunderclap] [moaning in distance] Hello? [moaning] Hello? [moaning] Oh, no! [thunderclap] Hank? Hank, where are you? [gasps] Reggie! Hank! [shouting] Reggie! I'm coming! [zombies groaning] [screaming] [screaming] [whimpering] Hank! No! No! No, Hank! [screaming] [zombies groaning] Hank, what are you doing? [screaming] [zombies groaning] [screaming] How did he disappear

so fast? I don't know. What's this? It's an old shed from

when all they had up here

were summer cabins. Well, it looks like

they're still using it. Been no one up

for years. Really? Then why is there

a brand-new padlock

on the door? [thunder rolling] Hold on. Okay. I didn't know they taught

breaking and entering at Divinity school. Ha, temptation is

everywhere, my dear, you just have to know

when to use it for good. Right. Move. They didn't

teach me that. After you. It's bigger

than it looks. This place is amazing. What the hell

is all this? Don't touch it!

[scream] Don't you know a sterile

workplace when you see one? Some people, jeez! Sorry, Father. You know who I am? Father Douglas Middleton,

the crusading priest. Everyone knows you. Besides, we were

at a conference

together in Tokyo. You spoke on

renewable energy. I did soil erosion. I'm always stuck

with soil erosion. You're Walter Connelly,

the biologist. What do you want,

a gold star? Catch up. We don't have

much time. You said that already. How did you get here? And how long have

you been here? Why don't you tell me

about your misadventure

in the basement? You know about that? Can we just stipulate

that I ask and you answer? The basement--

What happened? There was a dog. Half wolf, half dog,

and I recognized it. Before that. What happened before

you saw the dog? Nothing. I was on my way

to the maintenance office. You didn't touch anything? Come into contact

with anything strange? Ah, now that you mention it, something dripped on me

from an overhead pipe, something dark and sticky. I mean it wasn't oil

exactly, or tar, but... Was this what

dripped on you? It looks like it. What is that? Now that's the same stuff that Mikaela

had smeared on her. And a guy,

Eugene Herman. Then it touched

Dutch on the leg. Dutch? Who's Dutch? You heard about

the construction worker that died here, right? That was Dutch. It was right after

that that I moved in, to answer your question. I think I drove? Did I take a bus? Maybe I jogged. Was there a ferry involved? Your wolf, Mikaela's suicide,

Eugene's asthma attack, they're all

connected to this. Ah, stand back. All right, come on. Ah, that way. And whatever you do... ...don't touch. It's moving. Of course, it's moving. It's alive. What? Ladies and gentlemen,

you are looking at a highly intelligent

sentient life form. An entirely new species. I was hoping for some

kind of an audience. Applause? Awkward. Here, look at this. [beeping] Well, that's the sewer system

under the conference center. Exactly. My theory is that the creature

has a hive mind, like bees or ants, and that when its extremities

were attacked by the sewer excavation-- Wait a minute.

No one attacked it. Yeah, but it doesn't

know that, does it? It's like if you accidentally

step on an ant colony, then all the ants will

all gather and they'll attack. Look at this thing,

it's growing. It is, indeed. Feeling attacked,

the creature regrouped. The rate of growth

is logarithmic. What are all

these dense areas? It's building dams,

a network of them,

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