Fringe (2008–2013): Season 3, Episode 6 - 6955 kHz - full transcript

ANNOUNCER:
Previously on Fringe:

PETER: Walternate said it was
a powerful piece of ancient tech.

- He's finished assembling it?
- He was missing pieces.

- This machine is dangerous.
- Which is why we need to understand it.

Our Agent Dunham,
has she made contact?

WALTER: She's on the Other Side
focused on the task at hand.

- I had a really nice time tonight.
- Me too.

NEWTON:
I don't know what your mission is.

I imagine it requires you
to gain Peter Bishop's trust.

You're in over your head.

Your emotions betray you.
You question your ability to pull this off.



And that will lead to your undoing.

WOMAN (ON PHONE):
I would like to talk to you.

(KNOCK ON DOOR)

- I lied to you.
- About what?

I don't wanna talk.

(FOGHORN BLARES)

BARRETT (OVER RADIO): Stockton Harbor.
Stockton Harbor, come in.

Requesting clearance.

MURRAY: Tide is coming in strong,
pulling a fog bank in from the east.

It's close to shore
so watch yourself and take it slow.

BARRETT: Copy that, we see it up ahead.
It looks like pea soup.

Maintain a bearing of three-five-eight.
I've hung a lantern out for you.

(MUSIC BOX MELODY
PLAYING ON RADIO)

(IN CHINESE)



Uh-huh.

DAN (IN ENGLISH):
Shen, you're seriously not coming?

Dude, when I crack this thing...

...they are gonna write books about me.

(MUSIC BOX MELODY
PLAYING ON RADIO)

(DOOR CLOSES)

(MUSIC BOX MELODY PLAYING)

Hey, Beck. You want a tea?

Love one.

Hey, Aaron, you gonna
make Mommy a tea?

(CHUCKLES)

(COMPUTER BEEPING)

- It's starting.
- Okay, I'll leave you alone.

(WOMAN SPEAKING IN GERMAN
OVER RADIO)

(STATIC NOISE ON RADIO)

(MUSIC BOX MELODY RESUMES
ON RADIO)

BARRETT (OVER RADIO): Captain Barrett
to Fort Point Light Station. Come in. Over.

(GROANS)

Fort Point, we're lost in the fog bank.
We can't see the light. Over.

Fort Point, are you there?
This is Swedish Fish. Come in.

Murray, it's Dave.
I've got no eyes out here.

DAN:
Hey, I forgot my ID.

Dude.

Shen?

(IN CHINESE)

- Becky.
- Stay away from me.

- Whoa. Wha...?
- I said stay back! Who are you?

It's me, Laird.

(BABY CRYING NEARBY)

(WHIMPERING)

Who am I?

Fringe
s3e06 6955 KHZ

Oh, wow.

This is better than room service.

(CHUCKLES)

- What did I do to get so lucky?
- Nothing.

It's just for being you.

- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

So, what's the latest catastrophe
I wanna know nothing about?

Well, uh, earthquakes, oil spills,
financial disaster.

Not really the best way
to start the day.

Here I thought there was nothing good
until the entertainment section.

- What's in the entertainment section?
- I don't know...

...but you should find out.

- I love U2.
- Figure we're overdue for a normal date.

That is just so sweet
and so kind of romantic.

Try not to sound so shocked.

Thank you.

(CELL PHONE RINGING)

Walter.

Walter, is that you?

Of course it's me. I came in this morning
and found your little project.

- What project would that be?
- You know what project.

You are continuing to work
on this infernal device...

- ...the one in the blueprints.
- Correct. I'm running diagnostics...

WALTER:
I thought I made my position clear.

I do not want my equipment...

...used for such reckless purposes.
You have no idea what it does.

You might as well be building
a nuclear bomb in my lab.

(CHUCKLES)

I don't think that's entirely fair.

Fine. If you end up
breaking the universe...

...this time it's on your head.

OLIVIA: What was that about?
- It's nothing.

Apparently, Walter doesn't want me
playing with his toys.

(CELL PHONE RINGING)

Dunham.

BROYLES (ON PHONE):
There's been an incident.

- Yes, sir.
BROYLES: I'll text you the address.

We'll meet you there.

Broyles.

Guess that means we're doing
the crossword in the car.

So 15 people down the Eastern Seaboard
all suffered amnesia at the same time?

Around 10:45 PM.

Collective memory loss?
That's a new one for the medical books.

According to the Pentagon, victims
were all using shortwave radios.

Ham radio enthusiasts?

Maybe their brains were erased by
the magnetic winds from a solar storm.

If it hadn't happened four hours after
sundown, you might be onto something.

BROYLES: Becky Woomer. Her husband
said he left her alone for three minutes.

In that time, she forgot all details,
including her name.

DOD is concerned this could be
a test run for a potential terror attack.

The doctors don't understand it.

They can't even tell me
if she's gonna get her memory back.

Did your wife ever tell you
what it was she listened to?

Becky was a moderator in a chat room.
They listened to number stations.

- Number stations?
- I don't know much about them.

They're kind of a mystery.

Oh. A reel-to-reel.

I used to have one exactly like this.

I remember hours spent,
ripped out of my gourd...

...listening to Beatles albums
backwards for secret messages.

They weren't there.

So apparently, Becky recorded
last night's broadcast.

Whatever she heard
should be on that tape.

But listening to what they recorded
last night could cause us to forget...

...why we wanted to listen
in the first place, Einstein.

- Did he say what's on it?
- He said she spends her nights...

...listening to numbers
on random ham radio stations.

She's trying to crack some code.

- Number stations?
- You heard of them?

Number stations.
Nobody knows what they are...

...or even where they come from.

They're artificially generated voices
reading streams of random numbers...

...in a wide variety of languages.

The Department of Defense
hired us to investigate.

Other than the fact they were
first discovered 70 years ago...

...we came up with nothing. We could
never triangulate their point of origin.

This one, we picked up four years ago.

(BEEPING AND STATIC ON RECORDING)

(MAN SPEAKING IN SPANISH
ON RECORDING)

Some people think they may be
covert communications between spies...

...or drug traffickers.

Problem is, no one has been able
to find proof to support any theory...

...so they remain unexplained.

But the number broadcasts
have never caused amnesia?

Not to the best of our knowledge.

WALTER:
Perhaps Peter would like to play...

...last night's tape aloud to everyone.

Given his recent fondness
for dangerous activity.

As soon as she's up to it, I'd like to
examine the woman who lost her mind.

And I think I know a way to analyze
the tape without losing our memories.

Oh. I need something from
the Child Development Center.

- Sixth floor?
- Actually, the seventh.

Might want to escort him.
Yesterday he spent 15 minutes...

...in front of a utility closet,
thinking it was the elevator.

PETER (CHUCKLING):
Right. Be right back.

Could Astrid take a look at your research?
She might pick up something.

Of course. Olivia...

...are Peter and Walter okay?

Yeah. You know we found a piece of
the machine that Walternate is building.

- Peter's trying to figure it out.
- He should.

We need to know
what we're dealing with.

Except Walter doesn't agree.
He won't help.

He keeps setting up roadblocks
for Peter.

You know, you two go back a long way.
Maybe you could talk to him.

What, you're not having any luck?

Oh, I haven't tried.

But that's not like you.
You're usually more direct with Walter.

It's complicated between them.
I don't wanna make it worse.

(CELL PHONE RINGING)

I'll speak with Walter.

Dunham.

Yes? Where?

BROYLES:
Homeland Security traced the broadcast.

When they tried to contact the tower
employees, they didn't get a response.

TROOPER: As far as we can tell,
the break-in happened around 10:30.

Security system was state-of-the-art.
Whoever did this was a pro.

But there's something else.

(FAINT WHIRRING NEARBY)

OLIVIA:
How the hell's it doing that?

It's not floating exactly. Apparently
it's got some sort of magnetics inside.

Do you think this was the source
of last night's broadcast?

BROYLES: This is definitely wired
to output a transmission.

Hold on. I wanna see that panel.

I need the print powder.

It's impossible to do microelectronics
with gloves on.

Let's get this to Dr. Bishop.

This should keep me busy for...

...eternity.

Thank you.

Okay. That was Olivia. They're analyzing
the fingerprints they found at the tower.

And they think they found the device
used to upload last night's broadcast.

(HIGH-PITCH TONE
AND LOW VOCAL NOISE)

WALTER:
Ah.

What's that?

(MOOS)

(SHEEP BAAS)

"Property of Massive Dynamic"?

It's not theft if you own the company.

I've found a way to listen to the tape
of the numbers broadcast...

...without losing what faculties
I have left.

How'd you manage that?

The key is analog demodulation.

(CHUCKLES)

I knew my Jimi Hendrix wah-wah pedal
would come in handy. Take a look.

This is the sound of the transmission...

(WOMAN SPEAKING IN GERMAN
ON RECORDING)

...modified so it's safe, of course.

But if we demodulate...

PETER: So there are two signals?
WALTER: Precisely.

The top wave is the numbers.

The bottom wave,
which I have suppressed, is a pulse.

And I believe that
this is responsible for the amnesia.

Someone found a way to attach
this pulse to the numbers broadcast.

That explains
why nobody's been affected...

...by listening to number stations before.
They're not causing the problem.

So we still don't know
where the numbers come from.

But I suspect that the device
that Agent Dunham found...

...is the source of the pulse.

Okay, but who would do this?
And why give these people amnesia?

Because they cracked the code.

Or they came damn close to figuring out
what number stations are.

- Somebody wants to keep that a secret.
WALTER: Well done.

You sounded very Sherlock Holmes
just then...

...which makes you Watson, dear.

Walter.

Is this the sound board I was using
to run diagnostics on the weapon?

I was using it
to down-convert the signal.

Really?

I was focused on solving
the case at hand.

I'm not concerned with preserving
your wretched experiment.

Now, if you don't mind,
I have some thinking to do.

This has gotta stop.

Walter.

I asked you not to work on that device
in my lab.

They're working on it on the Other Side.
We need to understand what it does.

What's to understand?
You're playing with fire.

Stop being so bullheaded
and put a stop to this.

Walter.

When I touched that device on the
Other Side, it came alive in my hands.

Like it responded directly to me.

How can you expect me
to ignore that?

I just talked to Olivia. They pulled
a picture of our suspect from his prints.

She's taking it to the Woomer house
to show the husband.

And Becky was released from
the hospital. She's back home now.

Oh.

OLIVIA: His name is Joseph Feller.
Earlier we picked up his prints...

...from a radio tower
just outside Boston.

His last known address
was Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

That was in 1997. But since then,
he's been off the map.

I've never seen him before in my life.

Do you mind if we poke around?
Some things here could be useful to us.

Maybe check out her computer,
address book?

Of course.

Read this and then do what it says.

"Stand up. Then sit down."

Wonderful. Thank you.

Earlier I told you the names
of three things.

- Cat, horse, cotton candy.
- Very good.

It's beautiful.

I don't remember doing this. I suppose
I was knitting it for the baby.

I don't recognize him.

I don't recognize
that man who is out there.

I look at the pictures everywhere...

...and I see myself in them...

...but I don't know them.

The human brain is a miracle...

...a most resilient organ.

The storage unit for everything
you have ever known...

...or seen or felt. It's
all still in there...

...whether or not
you're conscious of that.

This is a list of everybody Becky
talked to about the number stations.

- You recognize anyone?
- Ed Markam?

Bookstore owner, purveyor of rare
manuscripts, your favorite ladies' man.

- Oh, right. Ha, ha. How could I forget?
- I'm gonna give him a call.

See if maybe he has
some idea about this.

Walter? Are you all right?

I know what it's like. What this woman's
going through, I lived it.

To not recognize your life, it's awful.

I'm sorry, Walter.

Don't be. Let's just focus on
putting a stop to this...

...before more people get hurt.

(WHIRRING)

(THUNDER CRASHES
AND PASSENGERS SHRIEK)

Baltimore Center, this is Landau 287.
Request to divert to Richmond, over.

OPERATOR (OVER RADIO):
Roger, Landau 287. Weather is...

...level five thunderstor...

...you'll have to...

(RADIO STATIC)

Baltimore Center, say again,
you're breaking up.

(PASSENGERS YELL)

WOMAN:
Oh, no!

We had you on...
...four eighty-two...

(MUSIC BOX MELODY PLAYING)

(MAN SPEAKING IN RUSSIAN
OVER RADIO)

(SCREAMING)

NEWSMAN (ON TV):
The small twin-engine plane went down...

...just outside of Owings Mills...

NTSB just released a statement.
It looks like the plane's radio...

...was tuned into the same frequency
of the second broadcast.

Precisely what I was worried about.
A second attack.

Now not only do we have 20 new
amnesiacs, but six people died.

Damn it!

Why can't I get a current?

- Maybe you reversed the poles.
- No.

It just doesn't make sense.

Everything that I know about
the physics of electricity...

...says that this device
shouldn't work at all.

Walter, I know that you're angry
right now, and I get it.

I cannot make heads or tails
of this code. It's immense.

It's not even just one code.

The numbers are a code, the time
between the numbers is a code...

(CELL PHONE RINGS)

Yes, sir?

Okay, I will make sure that he gets it.

That was Agent Broyles.
There was another radio-tower break-in.

It was unmanned,
so nobody was hurt.

But they found another cube,
the one that must've downed the aircraft.

- They're sending it over now.
- Wonderful.

Another cube
I can't make any sense of.

Well...

...maybe this will do us some good?

(CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING)

Hmm.

(CHUCKLES)

All right.

Let's get back to work.

MARKHAM:
Number stations? It was a hobby.

I banged my head on that wall
for five years, then gave up.

Stamp collecting,
now, there's a hobby with dividends.

All the people who listened
to the last two number broadcasts...

...have had their memories wiped.

- We're trying to identify who's behind it.
- Are you serious?

Whatever they figured out
about the numbers...

...somebody made sure they forgot it.

So whatever you know about
what they mean would really help us.

Okay. I'll help you, but you
have to promise me I'll be safe.

Sure, done. Just tell us
what you know about the stations.

First of all, they're as old as dirt.

When Marconi invented the radio,
first thing he heard was the numbers.

They were floating around in space,
waiting for someone to listen.

Marconi picked up a transmission
before humans invented...

- ...the technology to send one?
- Creepy, right?

OLIVIA: The First People.
MARKHAM: By Seamus Wiles. 1897.

There was only one edition.
You're holding one of the last copies.

- This'll tell us what the numbers mean?
- No. Where they came from.

Or one theory at least.

By "first people,"
are we talking about Adam and Eve?

Before dinosaurs, before all of it,
there were the First People.

The first humans to evolve
on this planet.

- If you don't know anything, say that.
- I'm serious.

Look, just read the book,
it's all in there.

- How much for it?
- I don't want money. I want protection.

What if someone comes to erase
my memories?

(CHUCKLES)

I should be so lucky.

Thanks, Markham.

Fantastic.

Now I have bookends.

NINA:
Definitely a conversation piece.

Nina. If I'd known you were coming,
I'd have baked a cake.

- Ha.
- He means that. Literally.

Next time I'll call. Hello, Astrid.

Walter, I need to speak with you.

I forgot how serious
this campus has become.

I remember my time here
quite differently.

We did have fun, didn't we?

(NINA CHUCKLES)

I don't know what happened
to this generation.

I have a prescription.

So do I.

WALTER:
Look at all these students.

When did they become so afraid?

We had the courage to think against
the grain of what we were told.

We let our curiosity be our guide.

So why stop Peter from following his?

What Peter's doing is different.

He is bent on pursuing something...

...despite the grave risks
it poses to his well-being.

You can't create a vaccine...

- ...without working with the virus.
- No.

But I have experienced
what this kind of hubris can do.

NINA:
Yet you didn't heed anyone's warning.

I begged you to stop, but you insisted
on finding a way to cross over.

Peter wouldn't be here now
if you hadn't.

- If he continues to investigate...
- He will continue...

...whether you like it or not.

Then he will play right into
Walternate's hands.

- What do you mean?
- If only one world can survive...

...then it stands to reason
that Walternate will use Peter...

...to ensure that
it's his world that does.

He's already built as much
of the machine as he can.

He gave the blueprints to Peter
and asked him to complete it.

Even though...

...this could kill him.

NINA: I remember, Walter, but who says
this is the only outcome?

It's a drawing, not destiny.

Even if you're right about Walternate's
plan, you don't know if he'll succeed.

And given the stakes, won't Peter
need your guidance more than ever?

Walter, one of the things I have most
admired about you is your optimism.

Don't become a fatalist now.

So according to this, something
happened, some sort of cataclysm...

...that so decimated the First People,
they were just wiped out of history.

So how did Seamus Wiles know
about them?

Ha, ha. Yeah, exactly.

They were apparently
very technologically advanced.

- They discovered the Vacuum.
- The vacuum cleaner?

(CHUCKLES)

No. The Vacuum as in "the source
of all creation and destruction."

Interesting.

This book is useless.
There's nothing here.

What were the numbers
on the first broadcast?

- Why?
- If you believe the book...

...the First People measured time in
months with different numbers of days.

- Humor me. What were the numbers?
- Uh...

Twelve.

Thirty-four. Seventeen.

Nine. Fifteen.

- And, uh, eight, 42, 40, yeah.
- Eight, 42, 40.

The numbers of the first broadcast
correspond with the numbers here.

They match the numbers
of this calendar.

I never thought I'd say this,
but I think Markham's right.

Somehow these number stations
are connected to the First People.

What the hell does that mean?

WALTER: It's fascinating. Remarkable.
Read more.

You don't actually believe this?
An ancient people...

...who evolved before the dinosaurs
just vanished without a trace?

It's absurd.

Why should we be so arrogant
as to assume that...

...we're the first Homo sapiens
to walk the Earth?

History is full of extinction events.

- Climate change, meteorites, Atlantis...
- Atlantis?

- Peter, help me out here.
- I don't know what I believe yet.

Their calendar corresponds with
the numbers of the first broadcast.

That can't be a coincidence.

"They were a people
of technological prowess..."

...who made the ultimate discovery:

a mechanism known to them
as 'the Vacuum.'

"Containing at once both the power
to create and to destroy."

The Vacuum. What a wonderful name.
And it verifies some of my theories.

What theories?
Create and destroy what?

Well, everything.

Many religions speak of such a power.

And science. The big bang,
and its counterpart, the big crunch.

The universe expanding and contracting
and expanding.

An endless cycle
of creation and destruction.

Okay, let's run with that. Let's say these
First People did create this mechanism.

And then somehow
translated it into a code.

And now someone is wiping peoples'
memories to keep the code a secret?

It's not so surprising.
It's the key to the universe.

It's a secret worth protecting.

Hey. Sorry I'm late.

I thought these might cheer you up.

WALTER:
Oh.

Oh. Malasadas! Oh, wonderful.

(OLIVIA CHUCKLES)

- Anything new in the book?
- The numbers hold the answers.

But beyond that, nothing tangible.

PETER:
Wait a minute.

Hey, Walter.
Come here, take a look at this.

This transistor is newer
than the rest of them.

Somebody must've replaced it.

It's Polish, and it's military grade.

A couple places are licensed to sell
parts like that. They're all regulated.

Which means you have to give
a verified address to buy one.

I'm gonna make some phone calls.

- May I borrow that?
- Mm-hm.

I feel a bowel movement coming on.

Walter.

Can you tell Peter I'll be back?

I'm gonna let Broyles
know where we're at.

Mm-hm.

WALTER:
Avocado, cucumber and cheese.

In 1974 the CIA asked me to develop
the best sandwich for clarity of thought.

There's too much information here.

Of course, the chips are just because
I like foods that crunch.

There has to be a pattern here.

Every code relies on a pattern.
I just need to see it.

But you can't. That's your problem.

- Thanks for the vote of confidence.
- Oh, no, no, no.

No, I simply meant that
to break the code...

...you'd have to think like they did.

And they lived millions and millions
of years ago.

I mean, for one thing,
look at their concept of time.

Nine days in a month.

If you're not going to eat
those chips, may I?

What? What happened?

Here. Read me this calendar.
How many days are in each month?

- Why?
- Humor me.

The first two have 12 and 34.

Then 17, nine, 15.

What are you thinking?

That maybe what we're missing
is a cipher matrix.

Our decoder ring.

Okay, what are the next months?

Eight, 42, 40, 27...

OLIVIA:
We got a problem.

The secretary said we weren't
supposed to meet.

He's on the Other Side.
He can't foresee every event.

You replaced a transistor
in one of the boxes? Polish.

They found it.
They're tracking the sale as we speak.

- Who are these people?
- You were sloppy.

- You jeopardized the mission.
- I upload another pulse tomorrow.

You've done enough.

We've got their attention.
No need to hurt more innocent people.

What do they say on this side?
"All's fair in love and war"?

If they were in our shoes,
they would do exactly what we're doing.

(CELL PHONE RINGS)

Dunham.

BROYLES:
We've got an address on the suspect.

Joseph Feller.
989 Nelson Street, Medford.

- We're en route with backup.
- Okay. I'm on my way.

- They're coming.
GEMINI: Where should I go?

You have any information
on my next mission?

Yeah. I do.

Olivia's already here.

(GUNSHOTS)

WOMAN 1: Oh, no!
MAN 1: Did you see that?

WOMAN 2:
I saw the whole thing.

WOMAN 3: What happened?
MAN 2: He jumped.

It's a shape-shifter.

Olivia. Thank God you're all right.
What happened?

- He came at me. I had no choice.
- But you're all right?

Yeah, I'm all right, but I...
He was coming out as I got here and...

- But you're all right?
- Uh-huh.

WALTER: Any breakthroughs?
ASTRID: I don't know.

I thought that maybe
if I added up all the numbers...

Well, keep at it.

Oh, and I wouldn't go
in the bathroom, dear.

Huh.

Whoa, whoa, hold on.
I need to look at that body.

You got a pair of gloves on you?

BROYLES: What is it?
- It makes sense...

...why Walter couldn't figure out the tech
that emitted the pulse.

It came from the Other Side.

Which suggests Walternate
knows what the numbers mean.

He must be the one
protecting the code.

What?

Data storage unit. Guess we're not
gonna get anything out of that. It's toast.

(CELL PHONE RINGS)

- Dunham.
- I think I cracked the code.

I know what number stations are.

It's a coordinate system.

These numbers indicate locations.
Latitude and longitude.

35 degrees and 40 minutes south
by 58 degrees and 40 minutes west.

That's just outside
Buenos Aires, Argentina.

All of these numbers indicate
specific locations on the globe.

Ethiopia, Spain, China.

So, what's there?
At the end of the points?

So far as I can tell? Nothing special.

A farmhouse, a public swimming pool,
random stuff like that.

We're not looking for
a man-made structure.

If this message is
millions of years old...

...then we're likely talking about
something buried beneath the earth.

How many locations?

I haven't finished plugging in
all the numbers, but so far, 22.

And what's the closest one?

PETER:
What'd I miss?

Oh, uh, thank you. Nothing yet. They just
pulled up an old buried football, so...

I had to go back. I forgot to say skim.

(CHUCKLES)

You walked there twice?
You didn't have to do that.

I had a motive. It's the little things
that make me irresistible.

What if he's right?

- Walter.
- Right about what?

I've been thinking, Peter.

Your father's concerned about
building Walternate's device.

What if it does mean the destruction
of one universe or the other?

We don't know that yet.

That's not really my point.

If you knew that only one
of our worlds could survive...

...and if it was up to you and you alone
to defend your side...

...you'd have no choice, right?

I mean, you would have to do
what you had to do...

...no matter the cost,
to protect our world.

There are billions of innocent people
over there.

Just like here.
People with jobs, families, lives.

I gotta believe there's another way.

And whatever my part
in all of this is...

...I gotta believe there's another way.

There's always hope, right?

FOREMAN:
We got something!

Oh, my.

(CELL PHONE RINGS)

Dunham.

I just identified the last coordinates.
Milton, Massachusetts.

The house where the first piece
of Walternate's machine was buried.

Do you think it's possible that these
locations are all part of the machine?

That Walternate's device is the Vacuum
described in The First People book?

Uh, yes.

I think they're one and the same.

Astrid finished the code.

There are 37 more locations.

In that case,
it seems we have work to do.

We'll have to recover the pieces,
assemble it and figure out how it works.

Creation and destruction. I suppose
we'll have to hope for the former.

- Dunham.
- Agent Dunham, this is Brandon Fayette.

OLIVIA: Oh, Brandon, hey. Uh,
I'M on my way. I should be about an hour.

Actually, that's why I'm calling.

The secretary has decided
to postpone today's procedure.

- So when do you want me to come in?
ALT BRANDON: It may not be necessary.

We'll let you know.

Okay. Bye.

PETER:
You have to get out of here.

You know why they canceled
the last test, don't you?

Whatever they needed from you,
they have it now.

It's not safe for you
here anymore, Olivia.

You have to go home.