The Atticus Institute Page #4

a paper clip on the floor

inside the air lock portion

of Judith's enclosure.

Now, that environment was meticulously kept.

It was nearly sterile.

So there was no explaining

how it got there.

Anyway...

I picked it up, I stuffed it in my pocket

and didn't give it another thought.

We were at my sister's house

for my nephew's birthday.

My wife and I never had kids,

so Matthew was very dear to us.

And I remember reaching for my keys

and thinking I heard something

fall onto the ground

from my pocket.

It was the paper clip.

Burt, knock it off.

- Claire, it's Matt!

- What?!

Matthew!

Oh, my God!

Matthew? Matthew?

- Oh, my God! Sweetheart!

- He's not breathing!

He'd stuck it in a wall socket.

I could've worn any other pants that day,

but I wore those.

And that paper clip just happened

to be what he found?

Out of all the things in the world,

a balled-up receipt, a stick of bubble gum...

that's what happened to fall out

of my pocket at that moment?

Not at any point

in the five days before that?

Not... not anywhere else?

Not in... not in the hamper?

In the washing machine?

In the dryer? There?

On his birthday?

And the way the dog was barking,

it was... it was... it was like...

What happened...

was no accident.

That was it. I'd had enough.

It was 10 years until I heard

from Lawrence again.

He and his wife moved out of the country

shortly after it happened.

I was surprised he didn't leave

the institute sooner than he did.

It was a shame

what happened to his nephew.

I don't think Lawrence

ever really forgave himself.

Well, we couldn't discount the events

that happened outside the institute.

Too much happened

for it to be coincidence.

But what it did do is make us

rethink our strategy.

What are we gonna use to immobilize her?

Fentanyl.

The gas derivative of it should

knock her out in seconds.

It could also kill her.

- Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. No, no, no.

- Hey. You can't keep her in there.

- Now's not the time for compassion.

- She's a human being.

There are laws against

that sort of treatment for a reason.

Who do you think makes those laws?

- This is my lab.

- No, not anymore it's not.

I have sat back and kept quiet...

- while I've seen you...

- And you'd do well to stay quiet.

Get him outta here.

I never should've called you people.

Hold on.

You really think

you're equipped to handle this?

Your little lab here with your flash cards

and ESP machines?

See it...

but then it's gone.

Now it comes back. You can...

see that in the rest of the pictures.

For those few moments...

it wasn't in the room.

Might not even been in the building.

Do you understand what I'm telling you?

We don't control this,

it's not just us who will be at risk.

And if you do control it,

then who will be at risk?

We recognized the danger of allowing it

to remain even remotely unrestricted.

It was immensely powerful.

And rather than continually

try to explain it,

the decision was made

to attempt to harness it.

Repeat the following:

one, two, three, four, five.

Your instructions are clear.

Repeat the following:

one, two, three, four, five.

You will cooperate.

Now,

this is a map divided into a grid

consisting of five sections.

One, two, three, four, five.

I want you to listen carefully

and concentrate.

There are artillery and biological

weapons being stored

somewhere in this region.

Look at the grid

and tell me the number of where.

Tell me where they're being stored.

You will cooperate. Put it away.

Part of me...

will always feel responsible.

Because it was my idea

to notify the military.

I don't know what we would've

done otherwise. But...

I do wonder if Henry

might still be alive today if...

I had settled on a more...

reasonable solution.

Sergeant.

Do you hear me?

Ms. Winstead,

your instructions are to make

Sergeant Parella say exactly the following:

reposition all nuclear submarines

out of the Baltic Sea.

Once again,

reposition all nuclear submarines

out of the Baltic Sea.

Your instructions are clear.

- How many eyes does a fish have?

- Turn up his volume.

How many ears does a gopher have?

How many noses does a monkey have?

How many arms does a whale have?

How many hoofs does a horse have?

- How many noses does a monkey have?

- Dr. West?

- How many stripes does a zebra have?

- Dr. West.

How many eyes does a fish have?

How many ears does an elephant have?

How many stripes does a zebra have?

How many eyes does a fish have?

- How many eyes does a fish have?

- Henry.

- How many noses does a monkey have?

- Dr. West.

How many noses does a monkey have?

How many noses does a monkey have?

How many noses does a monkey have?

How many noses does a monkey have?

How many noses...

You can't control something like that.

I don't care who you are,

how many weapons you have.

All those things that went on...

you don't get to play games

with the Devil.

And if you do, you damn sure

don't get to make the rules.

That type of evil...

just thinking about it,

talking about it.

Even you people making this movie...

and the people watching it...

you're inviting

bad things into your life.

Too late for me.

All the things I've seen.

This wasn't like the books or the movies

or false accounts you hear about.

If those cases were legitimate,

I can assure you, we would've intervened.

This is real.

There was no speculative data.

There was no charlatans

looking to make a buck.

This was the only governmentally

confirmed case of possession.

Arguably the most significant thing we learned

was that it had an intelligence.

That meant that it was able to conduct

some form of cost-benefit analysis.

Our plan was to utilize

its ability to reason

as a stopgap measure to clear

a psychological pathway.

So they essentially offered it a choice

between cooperating or suffering.

But it was a false choice

because both options

caused Judith to suffer.

Their belief was that if they

could control her physical body,

chiefly her mind,

they could control

how the force manifested.

Possess the possession

is what they would say.

As if it was gonna work that way.

Clear, go again.

They pushed that poor woman

to her limits.

Judith Winstead, the person.

I felt... terrible for her.

But there was nothing

we could do to help her.

Please, stop.

Please, stop.

We were eventually able to devise

a method of governing the force.

Once we controlled her,

we could effectively control it.

Once that happened,

the nature of our involvement

changed dramatically.

It was...

shocking.

But it wasn't at the same time.

We knew something was coming.

I mean, a few nights before that, I...

found him curled up in a ball

under the bathroom sink.

Talking to himself.

Crying.

I mean, he was scared to death.

Henry was nearing the end of his rope.

After a while, he rarely even

set foot in the lab.

He would lock himself in the office

for hours at a time.

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