PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal (1996–2000): Season 2, Episode 1 - Threads - full transcript

Hello, I'm Dan Aykroyd.
Welcome to a new season of PSI Factor.

Now, this year we'll be devoting our
full hour to each OSIR case file,

allowing us to extensively explore
all new chronicles of the paranormal.

Stay with us.

These stories are inspired
by the actual case files

of the Office of Scientific
Investigation and Research.

Man, some Thanksgiving.

If our local had some spine,
we wouldn't be up here tonight.

Next time they pull something like this,
I'll tell them where to go.

You'll do no such thing.

I need the overtime.



It's just about pays your sitter.

Oh, I hope she got them to bed.

Check this baby out.

What the hell is that?

That's not on the schematics.

I'll put it back.

Yeah, just work around it.

What's that?

I think it's a phone.

I know, it's a...

They're not supposed to be hooked up yet.

Okay, okay.

Wait, let me see that thing again.

Hello?



Get out of there, now !

Did you hear me ?

*** get the hell out of there !

Get the hell out of there, now !

****

From ships lost in the Bermuda Triangle to the
strange disappearance of author H.P. Lovecraft,

inexplicable vanishings stimulate
feelings of fascination and wonder.

We search for rational explanations,
finding only more questions.

As in OSIR, case file number 262-201.

Connor!

Lindsay, I'm giving you an order.
I'm giving you an order. Leave, now!

Where's Connor?
Where is he? Where is he?

Leave, now!

Where's Connor?

Where is he?

Now !

Leave, now!

Lindsay? You're having quite a nightmare.

I don't dream.

We all dream.

I just don't like the turbulence.

I've been reviewing the reports
of this Victorian building.

There's a huge chunk of the
building that's just gone.

And there's no debris.

You know, this may be a...

A great many things.

It may even be nothing at all.

Yes, sir.

Well, I'll assemble a team.
We can be there in three hours.

Axon, you should report to
your new case manager on site.

He's expecting you.

He's just recently joined the organization.

Please be so good as
to show him the ropes.

Excuse me, sir.

I thought I was case manager.

You were acting case manager.

And if I may say so,
you did an admirable job.

We have great expectations of you.

Thank you, sir.

There's still no word
on where the...

Hey, hold on.

Authorities have said they will be
issuing this statement within the hour.

Stay tuned to WPPR's morning news.

Get in.

Just now?

What happened,
you missed the flight?

I want those floors
accessed sooner, not later.

Yes, sir.

Zoom.

Real zoom.

Sir, here's the initial
environmental summary.

Thank you.

You're going to be just fine.

Keep the press away from her.

All right, come with me, please.

Anton.

Oh, when did you get here?

Dr. Hendericks !

Oh, just a moment, Peter.

Yeah, she's on her way down.

Try to make her comfortable.
Give her five milligrams of diazepam tablet.

Lindsay.

We've been waiting for you.

He's in there.

What a view !

The trick is,
like on any construction site,

wear your hard hat,
keep your tool belt slung low,

and never, ever take a step backwards.

- Peter Axson, chief science analyst.
- Matt Prager.

You're late.

Ray, have a look at this.

No scorching.

It's hanging over nothing.

The bomb, this would have
buckled upwards and back.

It'd be shrapnel moving away from
an epicenter, so it's not a bomb.

See these surfaces?

Cut, but rounded.

Metal and concrete didn't shear,
so forget structural failure.

But just for now.

What do you got?

Perimeter secure.

Local laws cooperating.

Turns out the chief of
police is my second cousin.

Oh, that's right.

You're the local boy,
home for the holidays, huh?

How's the search going?

It's a big building.

Yeah, I'm betting they fell
to a floor just below us.

Well, the elevators aren't working.

We can't access
floors 47 through 51.

That's where most of the damage is.

Building manager, Mr. Andre Brock,

says those doors were
sealed electronically

when the power went down.

They're carbonized steel fire doors.

It'll take us hours to cut through them.

Oh, yeah, by the way, Mr. Brock says
there's a super cool mainframe there.

It's a strange place for
a computer that size.

Normally,
you'd want it in the sub basement.

Lindsay, you're up.

The missing men, Jonas
Haas and Darren Bondredy,

they know their way
around construction.

Haas practically founded the union.

And Bondredy is a fourth
generation Mohawk Iron Walker.

He grew up in high places.

Who's speaking with the families?

I'm taking care of that.

Good.

Dr. Hendricks.

How's Miss Heller doing?

I'm keeping her away from the reporters.

She suffered damage to both of
her retinas at a terrible fright.

She was hiding for hours.

From what or whom inquiring
minds ought to know.

She can't say.

And those pesky environmentals ?

Well, there's no seismic activity
that could explain this.

We're still looking into it.

But you're moving things along.

Yeah.

You know,
this looks to me like apportation.

You mean people beaming around,
like on Star Trek?

Well, I was thinking that the
missing material had to go somewhere.

Material ?

These are two men that are missing.

I'm going to get down to them.

We'll improvise.

I want a better look.
Let's get some more lights up here.

So you're down...

Damn it !

Axon!

Axon!

Axon!

Should we pull him up?

Nah, let him go.

Axson, talk to me! Are you okay?
Stay on the main shaft!

That seems clear enough.

Did you hear that?
Did you guys hear that?

Could be anything.

Okay, I'm coming down to something here.

Wow.

I'm two stories down looking
into another air shaft.

It goes on forever,
but I don't see anybody.

Hey, that's interesting.

What?

It looks like it's fiber optics.

I've never seen this configuration before.

Why would there be in an air shaft?

I'll go take a look.

Where did they go?

Towards the mainframe.

We just have a close...

Peter!

Peter!

Peter!

Peter, can you hear me?

Pull!

Pull!

Pull!

Pull !

Come on!

Come on! Pull!

Pull!

One more ! Come on!

Just give us a minute here, all right?

Thanks.

Yeah.

Catch your breath, okay?

You okay?

Yeah.

Okay.

*** your resign.

I've read your file.

I'm seriously underwhelmed.

Consistent single-mindedness to
the point of being headstrong.

I'm paraphrasing, but you get the idea.

Moves like this will not impress me.

You're too valuable an asset to see splattered
at the bottom of that shaft, you understand?

Yeah.

You're wrlcome.
Get yourself cleaned up.

Thanks, Anton.
This was definitely not my day.

What? No bright lights to capture the
heroics of Peter Axon, boy adventurer?

Oh, come on.

Nothing matters except the case.

That is why we're here.

Wrong, Peter.

If you want to kill yourself, do it on ur own time,
but don't take any more of us down with you.

I was not responsible
for Connor's death.

That's right.
You were not responsible.

Lindsay, why don't you check on Mr. Brock?

This won't take any time.

You believe me, right, Anton?

I did everything I could.

It's not what I believe.

It's what Lindsay believes.

Is Frankie gonna be OK?

I hope so.

Any luck in getting
those doors unlocked?

Yeah, well, I've got some calls sent
in firsthand over the tenant.

They set up this access protocol.
That's what they called it.

But they'll get back to me with the codes
for those locked floors any time now.

Thanks, Andre.

You know, I used to manage an
apartment block from Uncle Frank.

Summer job.

No kidding.

I hated it.

If I didn't have masters for
everything, I totally panicked.

Yeah, well, look, this could
take longer than we hope.

You hungry?

Sure.

How about a pizza?

Yeah, well,
the phones aren't operative yet.

It's more security.

Firsthand over one of their
own communication system.

Why don't you give them another call?

It's after office hours.

It's worth a try.

Hey, you can put me on.

Maybe the OSIR carries some weight.

I'll get the codes.

Andre, those missing men,
they may be unconscious, injured.

There's no answer.

I'll work my way around counterclockwise.
You check over there.

Okay.

Anybody home?

We are not alone.

Prager.

Yeah ?

I've got a situation here.
I'm gonna go check it out.

*** watch your back.

Well that burns !

Just wait a few minutes

You know, if there's no improvement
will increase the dosage.

Oh, thank you.

The voice on the phone...

Yes.

Was definitely a man.

Frantic.

He kept saying get out of there,
get out of there.

I left him there.

Us.

And...

****

I...

I felt something was wrong.

And I heard the warning.

And I just left him there.

Do you know where they are now?

You'll never find them,
that's for sure.

I ran and I saw...

My God, what was there with me?

Damn !

Wait a minute.

Yes.

That's what I saw.

Over here.

Okay, okay, okay,
okay, okay, okay.

Easy, friend, easy !

Oh, don't.
I'll cooperate real good.

It's Axon's mystery guest.

What's your name?

Denny. Denny Marlin.

Who the hell are you?

See the burns?

You cops?

Maybe.

- You gonna beat me?
- That depends.

Well, of course not.

Because we all have to work together.

Against them.

The pod people.
The bureaucrats.

The republicans.

We're looking for two men.

They're gone.

What?

You wait here.

What is it?

Maybe nothing.

Or maybe that the entire building's
about to slide off its foundations.

Uh, clear out anyone
that doesn't need a beer.

Andre?

We've gotta get... going.

GONE FOR PIZZA

I found Denny's home base
in the parking garage.

It's pretty rank.

This is what he wore to keep warm.

That's what Miss Heller saw.

Sorry I'm late.

I'd be careful with
that if I were you.

Why's that?

Lice.

Denny was otherwise perfectly healthy.

The flash burns on his hands and
face are healing very nicely.

But it's interesting, both
Frankie and Denny's retinal burns

are consistent with receiving a
blast of high intensity light,

as if you were looking
into a solar eclipse.

So what did Denny see?

Oh, he saw plenty.

And the light that you saw, Denny,

can you tell me anything more about it?

Yeah.

The light

came into the building.

It looked like ropes.

Real bright.

It hurt the look at it.

The light, it came up and over.

Up and over.

The event was directional.

See, I believe this to be the
energy of an apportation experiment.

Here we go again.
You're heading into sci-fi.

Absolutely.
And I'm talking right now.

Look, an average human being is comprised
of 10 to the 28th power of atoms.

Now, that amount of
information is astounding.

To teleport that amount of information,

you'd need the energy contained
in 1,000 megaton hydrogen bombs.

Not to mention the means to
focus that energy and information

into a tight, coherent beam.

Now, where do the fiber optics tie in?

Don't know yet.

Come on, come on.
It could be anything.

What about some sort of psychokinetic
manifestation from Frankie?

Frankie shows no such ability.

OK, let's really go off the deep end here.

What about some sort of space time rift?

No, no, no.
You got to understand.

This was an experiment,
a controlled experiment.

There was a telephone warning.

The event had to be planned.

Up and over, that's...

Up and over, up and over.

See, I'd really like to know
who's doing the experimenting.

DigiKnight.
That's the tenant.

The service decks that Denny described
resemble a DigiKnight project

that we stumbled across in Montana.

Now, I'll have to do some more checking,

but I'm guessing that first hand
over is a wholly owned subsidiary.

They're a Fortune 500 company with
huge financial and technical resources.

If anyone can compress that
kind of info, it's DigiKnight.

Why didn't you tell me this before?

That's what round tables are for.

Axon, run some computer models.

See if the angle of the cut in the
building is consistent with your theory.

Maybe we can trace the
source of your "beam".

Getting stuffy in here anyway.

Lindsay, let's grab some air.

You're a real type A.

And you're not?

You're my senior data analyst, right?

My hunter and gatherer of information.

So I want you to keep
working with the witnesses

and on the background checks.

Nice digging on DigiKnight, by the way.

But don't ever show up
your fellow team members

like you did with Axon back there.

OK, talk to me about the phone.

Well,
the phone was dead when we arrived.

But?

But no electronic signal goes
unrecorded or unrewarded.

The phone must have been
active during the event.

It was.

The baby bell thinks that
someone hacked into the system.

The call came from a business,
the Libre Champagne in Halifax.

I'm sending a Bravo team.

I'd be more comfortable if
you looked into it personally.

I'd be much more productive here.

Well, maybe, but I want my best
people on the hottest leads.

Oh, and take Axon with you.

You might come across something that
calls for a hard science whiz.

Besides, he'll be good company.

Your flight booked yet?

Uh, no, actually it isn't.

I think I should stay here and
continue my research on site.

You won't argue about where to
stack the chairs on the Titanic.

Be my guest.

Is it that bad?

Yeah.

Please leave your readouts.

I'll use them to track
the source of your beam.

If there was a beam.

Oh, and let Donner tag along to Halifax.

He may come across something
that calls for a people person.

Besides, she'll be good company.

Prager. Clearance code Zebra Charlie 6345.

Matthew, it's good to see you again.

Looking fit. How are things?

The site's become unstable.

I pulled most of the support
team away and out of danger.

Have you located the missing man?

No.

Well, people do disappear every day.

But not buildings.

Frank...

What is it?

You know, I'm uncomfortable
working with a team I didn't pick.

The reason you were brought
in was to make the team work.

Yeah, but this is a bigger
favor than I thought.

How are Donnor and Axon ?

Fine. They're en route to Halifax.

Halifax?

We're tracing that warning call. Why?

Nothing.

I once had a maid and
aunt who lived in Halifax.

Conner!

Lindsay, I'm giving you an order.

I'm giving you an order.

Leave.

Now.

Lindsay!

Come and take this quarter.

What is it?

Something I left behind.

Make sure Conner's alright!

What about Conner and Peter ?

They're still in there!

Where's Conner?

Where's Conner?

Leave !
Now !

Leave !
Now !

Wish I could sleep in coach.

We're almost there.

Case file update. The victorine
structure continues to deteriorate.

Using Axon's calculations,
we've traced the source of the beam.

No word yet from Axon and
Donner in Halifax. Prager out.

Something heavy was anchored here,
about the size of a tractor trailer.

And if Axon's beam started here,
what goes up?

This is the end of the beams arc.

Looks like he tangled
with the wrong guy.

My cousin says Haas was involved
in a nasty union election.

But how do they move a
chunk of an office building

through town without
attracting attention?

Hidden under their sweaters?

This is a big city.

Reach out and touch something.

Dear Lord!

This is Darren Vonderdie,
a portion of him at any rate.

His fingerprints matched
his army records.

How'd this happen? Heat?
Radiation of some kind? What?

Well, look.
You see, the fleshy bits aren't charred.

The autopsies reveal that both men
died of drowning, but not in water.

Soil, rubble, concrete,
steel shavings in their lungs.

They were buried alive.

Take a look at this.

Inside, it appears to be organic matter.

If I didn't know better, I'd swear that
this was human tissue, cartilage, bone.

Is that possible?

No, of course not, but there it is.

What's that shiny spot?

Let me see.

I've seen devices like
this at plane crashes.

Black box?

No, they're usually orange.

Always clashes, don't you think?

I wonder what this sucker
was meant to record.

NASA.

Is this it?

Yeah, this is the place.

Hello?

Miss Donner, now that you've found me,
why don't you and your friend come on in?

Let's go.

Is this a good idea?

I hope so.

Would you care to join me?
Or perhaps some tea?

Please.

So, Mr. Kelly,

you got us here.

You know, the trick with tea
is to really let it steep.

Who are you?

You mean,
how would I describe myself?

Oh, I'm a man of many spare parts.

A little like a used auto dealership.

And I know that I have the eyes of a tired
Irish setter and the smile of a big baby.

But inside myself, I have a kind of lion that
devours news, I eat information, and I'm angry.

I'm very, very angry.

Milk or sugar?

Both, thank you.

This is a beautiful piece.

I thought Dr. Hendricks
was a collector.

We really came a long way
for tea and biscuits, pal.

I understand.

How did you know to warn
the people in the building?

Bits of information.

Form a pattern like this moccasin,
and they tell the story.

Like the Victorine.

DigiKnight purchased a
mothballed space shuttle.

They did it to salvage
their black boxes.

Obscure patents were licensed.

And then I noticed a sharp
rise in DigiKnight stock.

And don't forget those
close Senate hearings.

Coincidences? Maybe, maybe not.

But they form a pattern telling
the story of the Victorine.

And unfortunately, my call was too late.

But DigiKnight's only the tenant.
They may be as much a victim.

The tenant? They designed that
building to their own specifications.

It's a wild goose chase to
take us off the real issues.

It's too easy.

Oh, no, this was too easy, sir.
You're finding me.

I wanted us to meet.

I hear good things.

What'd you found out there ?

Oh, I don't know.

Donner's crossing the I's and dotting the T's,
but as far as I can tell, we've been schnookered.

Waste of time?

Yeah. First crop duster
out of here, I'm on it.

Who was it?

Oh, I don't know. Some local yokel
by the name of Mike Kelly tried to...

Did you say Mike Kelly?

Yeah.

I can't believe it !
What's he looking like?

What?

I said what's he looking like?

Matt, I can't... I'm losing the
cell here, Matt. I can't hear you.

Peter has his own concerns.

No, he doesn't. He's angry.

But it's misplaced.

I heard about the death
of your friend Doyle.

It was tragic,
never should have happened.

But there was nothing any of
you could have done about it.

So please go forward, Miss Donner.

Don't go back.

Not until I find out
what happened to him.

Foot soldiers like Doyle
are expendable to them.

He was not expendable.

He was nothing except to you,
and his family, and his friends.

Remember the enlisted
men at Ground Zero

in the Nevada A-bomb tests.

The military-industrial complex,

they cannot resist having
some human component

to their unholy experiments,
like the Victorine.

You're an alcoholic,
aren't you, Mr. Kelly?

Well...

I don't like the scientific ring to that, so
if anyone asks you, just tell them I'm a drunk.

I keep having this dream.

We're back there with Connor.

We're almost at the loading dock
and he orders me out and I go.

It shouldn't have happened.

You really think you could
have made a difference?

That you wouldn't have died yourself?

Maybe.

- You got one healthy ego.
- Well you made it out.

Why did you leave him behind?

Lindsay, you cannot hold me
responsible for Connor's death.

But there must have been some way...

Some way to save him.

He was dying.

And he knew it.

You'd understand if you could
have looked in his eyes.

He ordered me to leave him behind.

So we just follow orders?

Is that it?

We're scientists, not soldiers.

From now on I leave no one behind.

It's too late.

Are we okay?

I don't know.

I don't know.

There you go.

Thanks.

Couldn't raise Prager or the rest
of the team, even by satellite link.

Could be sunspots.

What do you think
DigiKnight was trying to do?

Convert solid matter to digital
information and win the Nobel Prize?

Or create the ultimate weapons delivery system,
just reassemble the bomb where you want it.

Too bad the building got in the way.

Especially if they went to
all the trouble to design it.

That's it.

See?

The building was the experiment.

Okay, let's just walk through this.

You're DigiKnight,
and you're projecting a kitten.

Let's say a black box to record the event.

Yeah, well, whatever.

The building was meant
to act like a lens

to focus the massive amount
of information in your beam.

And the mainframe on the floors
below act as your guidance system.

The fiber optics link the information
contained in the beam to the computer.

Yeah, and instead of acting like a lens,

the building acts like a prism.

And the beam bends,
tossing off in the wrong direction.

Taking with it a chunk of the
Victorine and the electricians.

Talk about being in the wrong
place at the wrong time.

Wait, what if Kelly is right?

What if Frankie and Denny and the others
were only meant to witness the event?

Nah, I don't think so.

They weren't given goggles to
protect themselves from the light.

I know who was left
behind as a witness.

The one person who had the code
to let the electricians in,

and the only person on site
whose eyes were not damaged,

who was prepared for the experiment.

We have to tell Matt.

Yes.

Ray.

I lost him.

Prager...

We got a problem.

Ray? Where are you? We're not...

Mr. Brock?

Mr. Brock?

Andre, open up!

Andre, open up!

Okay.

Just stay calm.

Look, I didn't know
anything was gonna happen.

I know.

Here's a few extra bucks,
they said.

Look after things.
Let these guys in late at night.

We're just gonna run some tests,
you know?

Nothing to worry about. It was...

It was just a few extra bucks!

Why don't you come
inside and we'll talk ?

No, I... I don't know.

Andre !

Case manager's log,
final entry.

After three days, the molecular structure
of the Victorian building stabilized.

Local news reports are
blaming substandard design,

corrupt subcontractors,
and a union dispute for the incident.

They've been briefed well.

Donner is following up with witnesses

and on the DigiKnight angle,
but I'm not expecting anything there.

Luckily, no essential
OSIR people were injured.

Thanks a lot.

There's still some loose
ends we're trying to tie up.

Prager out.

Hmm...

That's interesting.

Within the year, the Victorine building
was fully repaired and occupied.

Controlled molecular disassembly
and reassembly of matter

has been widely exploited
by science fiction writers.

But as we have seen, undertaking
actual experiments of this nature

without strict ethical guidelines could
lead to tragic consequences.

For Psi Factor, I'm Dan Aykroyd.

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