"Strange Disease" is the twelfth mission of Season 4.
Another recovery mission from the Ministry. This time it's in an old public health research centre where things haven't gone to plan - again.
Cast[]
Crew[]
- Writer: Naomi Alderman
- Director: Matt Wieteska
- Sound Designer: Mark Pittam
- Series Created By: Naomi Alderman
Plot[]
Before It's Too Late[]
The Ministry's requested you meet up with The Builder and Dr Lobatse at a public health research centre. The Builder provides you with hazmat suits for your protection against one of Veronica's experiments gone wrong.
Get The Door Open[]
The lab's been locked down after a containment leak so Dr Lobatse pries open the doors. Unfortunately Veronica's researchers have been locked in with the virus, and there are several zoms ahead of you.
Go And Help Them[]
You're tasked with leading the zombiefied researchers away while the more medically experienced break into the labs. Dr Lobatse accidentally knocks The Builder unconscious when confronted with more zoms.
An Absurd Plan[]
The Builder's awake again now and helping Dr Lobatse hold the zombies behind a door. He decides to be a decoy while you and the doctor grab the research results.
Grab The Test Results[]
The Builder flirts with Dr Lobatse. With the zombies successfully distracted by a bleeding Builder, you and the doctor grab the test results.
Not Asking[]
In an effort to escape the zombies, The Builder's turned the power back on, which could be a big problem if the contaminant is still airborne - especially with his torn hazmat suit.
A Whole New Line of Enquiry[]
You and Dr Lobatse reach the airlock, alone. Suddenly you hear a banging on the door; The Builder's managed to catch up to you! The zombies close in but he makes it to the airlock in time. The research you've recovered hints at a genetic component to the S-Type zoms.
Transcript []
KEFILWE LOBATSE: And the Ministry of Recovery told you nothing?
SAM YAO: All they said was run out to the old public health research center south of Abel and wait around for your contact to show. Can you see any sign of him?
KEFILWE LOBATSE: Only chain-link fences and concrete buildings. Runner Five and I have circled the center from the outside twice. Perhaps we missed him.
SAM YAO: Mm, maybe. I don’t even know with this guy. Janine spent three weeks trying to pin him down, and still can’t figure out where he’s living. Even the New Canton Permanent Advisory Council don’t know, and he’s the Head of Security! I heard the last time Janine caught him on cams, he like, threw himself out of a window and vanished.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: [laughs] Out of a window? How extraordinary.
[gate opens]
STEVE SISSAY: It was on the ground floor, if that makes it less impressive. Open, too, which I generally prefer.
SAM YAO: Wait, where did you - ?
STEVE SISSAY: Doctor Lobatse, Runner Five, good to see you. Better follow me.
SAM YAO: Oh, I know I had cameras on that gate.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: So, you’re our Builder? This must be rather serious if you’ve come to meet us outside a medical research facility in a hazmat suit.
STEVE SISSAY: It’s not a pretty scenario, love. Contaminant got out. People trapped inside. Sealed inside, actually. Here, put on your protective suits.
[suits rustle]
KEFILWE LOBATSE: Do you know what’s been released?
STEVE SISSAY: Better ask Veronica that.
SAM YAO: Veronica?
[comms shack door opens]
VERONICA MCSHELL: Um, yeah. Hi, Sam. Five, Doctor Lobatse, thanks for handling this for me. I really appreciate it. Some lab assistants were working on an experiment for me in that facility, and now I need you to rescue them. Please, before it’s too late.
[door hisses open]
STEVE SISSAY: Good, pressure seal’s still intact, and a locked front door’s a good sign. Nice work with that pry bar, Doctor Lobatse.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: Let’s head inside.
SAM YAO: Guys, power’s out all over the building. Looks like half the cameras are down, too. Any idea what’s going on in there, Veronica?
VERONICA MCSHELL: I wasn’t there when it happened. They were conducting experiments on that zombie arm we recovered from the Viking tombs. We’ve learned a great deal from it already. The virus is a much earlier form than the zombie virus we know today! It should have all been straightforward, but there was a leak, and they initiated lockdown procedures. I haven’t heard anything from them since.
STEVE SISSAY: Figured as much. Better get your torches out. No windows in this building. Two stories up, and three stories straight down. Going to be pitch dark once we’re away from this door.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: It’s quiet, too. A building like this should have air pumps working to maintain the negative air pressure, but I can’t hear anything.
STEVE SISSAY: The lab door should have sealed when the power went. Think you’ve got a few more door pries left in you, Doctor Lobatse?
KEFILWE LOBATSE: Oh, that and more.
STEVE SISSAY: Really? I like the sound of “more”. Sam, we’re headed down the main corridor. Lab we want’s number B26, right, Veronica?
VERONICA MCSHELL: Yes. The Minister had it equipped to my specifications. Each lab self-seals. She thought it was better to keep some of the more hazardous research away from a civilian population center like Abel.
STEVE SISSAY: Looks like she was right. You see anything in our way, Sam?
SAM YAO: Sorry, yeah, night vision’s not great on these cameras. Maybe if I brighten the screen… ah, yeah. That’s what I thought. You’ve got four or five zoms in front of those doors you’re about to open.
STEVE SISSAY: [sighs] Damn.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: How did zombies get inside a sealed building?
VERONICA MCSHELL: They didn’t. The experiment involved extraction of genetic material from the zombie arm. I think the extract may have vaporized.
SAM YAO: Vaporized? Meaning airborne zombie flesh, right? So these zoms were the scientists who were doing the experiment for you?
VERONICA MCSHELL: Yes.
STEVE SISSAY: Right. Ministry doesn’t want anyone without medical experience beyond these doors. Once we get them open, Five, you’ll lead the zoms away. Find some way to get rid of them while we do the dirty work.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: Oh, you have medical experience? Do you mean that I should be calling you Doctor Builder?
STEVE SISSAY: I think you mean Doctor The Builder. I didn’t say I was in medical training. Just experience.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: [laughs] That sounds like a story.
STEVE SISSAY: Oh, believe me, love. Might tell you sometime. Do you like Aperol? I’ve got a stash back at mine.
SAM YAO: Are you two - ?
STEVE SISSAY: Right. Time to open this door. [door hisses open, zombies groan] Okay. Five, go give those zoms the grand tour, why don’t you?
SAM YAO: Nice stuff, Five. Now that you’re outside, let’s see if we can’t get rid of those zoms. Ah, yeah, look at that. Nice sealed observation room with two exits. Just lead them through one, then go out the other and lock it. Perfect.
VERONICA MCSHELL: The Ministry will send someone later to terminate them. That’s what they would have wanted. Doctor Lobatse, Mister Sissay, what have you found inside the sealed area?
KEFILWE LOBATSE: We’re not quite in yet, Veronica.
SAM YAO: You’re still busting down doors? I thought you’d be done by now.
STEVE SISSAY: Lab’s got three levels of decon showers, and airlocks between each. I hope you don’t mind I didn’t stop to freshen up, Doctor Lobatse.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: We can discuss that later.
STEVE SISSAY: [laughs] One more door and we’re through.
SAM YAO: That lab, Veronica. They’re going to be safe, right? Whatever happened is over now.
VERONICA MCSHELL: I...don’t know. It’s possible the contamination was limited! There might be survivors trapped in there. I - I pushed them hard to get these results for me. For us. They disregarded safety procedures for us. We can’t just leave them, Sam.
STEVE SISSAY: Course we can, love. That’s what these hazmat suits are for. We’re in. Doctor Lobatse, ladies.
[zombies growl]
SAM YAO: That doesn’t sound like a survivor.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: Take that! Oh! Oh my. I’m so sorry!
SAM YAO: Guys, guys, what’s going on?
KEFILWE LOBATSE: The lab is full of zombies, and I appear to have knocked Steven unconscious.
VERONICA MCSHELL: Runner Five, please get rid of your zombie chasers and go and help them, now!
SAM YAO: Alright. Zoms trapped in observation room, check.
VERONICA MCSHELL: Doctor Lobatse, are you still – is everything okay?
KEFILWE LOBATSE: Oh, I am fine. But Steven, how’s your head?
STEVE SISSAY: Ugh. I’ll survive, love. It’s not the first time a woman’s slugged me in the temple with a crowbar.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: I was aiming for the zombie!
STEVE SISSAY: Yeah, that’s what they all say. Lab’s full of zoms. Looks like there’s no survivors.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: It is taking quite a lot of effort to keep the rest of them inside.
STEVE SISSAY: I already said I can hold the door shut fine on my own. You should get clear of here. Find Five.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: Even if your pupils were dilating correctly, that would be a very silly plan. We will simply have to release the door once you’re certain you’re steady on your feet, and then run as fast as we can. I may not look it, but I’m really quite a steady runner.
STEVE SISSAY: Oh, believe me, darling. You look it.
VERONICA MCSHELL: So, you haven’t looked in the lab at all? You won’t be able to go in there?
SAM YAO: The lab’s full of zoms, Ronnie. And maybe whatever turned them into zoms, too.
VERONICA MCSHELL: The contaminant will have dissipated by now. And my research! The genetic data! They should have generated some results before they...before they died. If we don’t retrieve them, the data will be lost for good, and then they really will have died for nothing.
STEVE SISSAY: Alright, here’s what we’re going to do. Five, get back as fast as you can. Once you’re here, I’ll lead the zoms out of the building while you both get the data. Zoms will go after me because I’m the one who’s bleeding, quite impressively if I do say so myself.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: No, that is an absurd plan!
STEVE SISSAY: Best kind, love. Hurry it up, Five.
STEVE SISSAY: How’s it coming, Five?
SAM YAO: I’ve got you both on cams. Nearly there.
STEVE SISSAY: While we wait, I think I was going to ask you about a drink, Lobatse.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: Steven.
STEVE SISSAY: Meal then?
KEFILWE LOBATSE: Steven!
STEVE SISSAY: I do a passable tom kha gai if I do say so myself.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: I don’t make dates with men who have concussion.
STEVE SISSAY: You’re tremendous with a pry bar, Lobatse. You’ve got a real swing on you.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: There you are at last, Five!
STEVE SISSAY: Alright, you know what you’re doing. As soon as we let the door go, you stand aside. I belt off down the corridor pursued by zoms. And you nip in and nab Ronnie’s data. Got it?
KEFILWE LOBATSE: I hate this plan, Steven.
SAM YAO: Yeah, I second that.
STEVE SISSAY: It’ll be fine. I’ll double back, be right behind you. Back me up here, Ronnie.
VERONICA MCSHELL: I think – I’m sorry, but I think you have to try it. It’s – the cure, if we find it, is for everyone. This research is for everyone.
STEVE SISSAY: Alright, then. Ready in five, four, three, two, one!
[door bursts open, zombies growl, footsteps]
KEFILWE LOBATSE: Well, they have all followed him, as he anticipated. The idiotic man.
SAM YAO: But some of them might change their minds. Quick, guys, in there, pick up anything that looks like test results, and then get out of the building as fast as you can. Go!
SAM YAO: Doctor Lobatse, Five? I see you on cams. You’re almost out of the building.
VERONICA MCSHELL: And did you get the data?
KEFILWE LOBATSE: Yes, and it really does look fascinating. You certainly were right to send us back, Veronica. If I’m reading this correctly -
SAM YAO: Less reading, more running! I’m picking up six, no, seven zoms coming out of that room behind you. [alarm blares] What the hell’s that?
STEVE SISSAY: Sorry, love. That was me. I couldn’t shake these zoms and I can’t have them following Five and the doc all the way home. I pulled the fire alarm. It’s restarted the building’s electricity and ventilation fans.
VERONICA MCSHELL: Oh no. The ventilation fans!
SAM YAO: Veronica?
VERONICA MCSHELL: There might still be – the contaminant vaporized, and the fans will have pulled it out of the labs you’re in. They’re designed to do that, and then stop. But now they’ll be spewing it back out into the atmosphere.
STEVE SISSAY: You mean, in this building right now, the zombie virus might be airborne?
VERONICA MCSHELL: It should be okay. It’ll last a few hours at most, and you have contamination suits.
STEVE SISSAY: Yeah. I just checked mine. It’s got a good old rip in it from where Lobatse took a swing at me. You’re near the exit, right, Doc?
KEFILWE LOBATSE: We’re nearly out. Where are you?
STEVE SISSAY: I ran deeper in. Basement levels.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: We must go back for Steven.
STEVE SISSAY: What, so you can hit me with another crowbar? No. You keep running, love. Five’ll see you safe. If you feel that bad, you can get me a drink when we’re done. I’m not asking, Doctor. Go!
SAM YAO: Guys, we can’t have all of you getting infected. Run!
SAM YAO: Okay, Five, Lobatse, you’re at the final airlock. Go inside, allow it to fill with air from the outside, and then leave.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: Any sign of Steven?
SAM YAO: Doctor Lobatse, Runner Five, we’ve got orders in this kind of situation. If the virus is airborne, even for a few hours, we can’t risk that getting out, we just can’t.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: Sam!
VERONICA MCSHELL: Listen to him, please.
SAM YAO: We’ve got to seal the building.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: Damn that man.
STEVE SISSAY: Does this mean the drink’s off the table?
KEFILWE LOBATSE: Steven? Where are you?
STEVE SISSAY: Just the other side of this door. [knocks on door] Tell you what, running while holding your hazmat suit closed is no fun.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: Oh, thank God! Runner Five and I are exiting the airlock. Now, open the door, Steven!
SAM YAO: Be quick! There are quite a lot of zoms running towards you really quite quickly, Builder.
STEVE SISSAY: Bloody hell. This is like waiting for a lift. Come on! Open, open!
KEFILWE LOBATSE: Come on, Steven!
SAM YAO: Get in there!
STEVE SISSAY: Yeah, yeah. Go and find another tinned meal, deadheads. I’m in. Safe.
VERONICA MCSHELL: Thank you! All of you. I’m very sorry you had to go through that. And my research assistants, they…
KEFILWE LOBATSE: Their deaths were very tragic, Veronica, but perhaps not entirely in vain. The data you gathered – you were looking for genetic syndromes?
VERONICA MCSHELL: Yes, I’ve been working on a theory. A genetic component to memory retention post-turning. It doesn’t matter.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: Well, before they became a zombie, this Viking person suffered from Roudette’s syndrome.
VERONICA MCSHELL: Roudette’s? But that’s – oh. Oh, yes, I see!
SAM YAO: You see what?
VERONICA MCSHELL: Roudette’s is a very rare genetic disorder, but there are some communities where it’s extremely prevalent, little pockets of it.
KEFILWE LOBATSE: If this Viking zombie came from such a community in Britain, we would still be able to work out where. It’s rare enough that individual bloodlines are known.
VERONICA MCSHELL: Which means - I was hoping to find out why this zombie is different, but with this information, we can locate the actual events of the Edda of the Wakened Warriors. This opens up a while new line of inquiry. If we can find out where the events of the saga took place, we might learn whether the Vikings really did have a cure!
Codex[]
Supplies[]
The following supplies can be found in this mission.
(List may be incomplete.)
9mm Ammo
Bandages
Baseball Bat
Batteries
Book
Bottled Water
Cooking oil
Cricket bat
Dress
DVD
Mobile Phone
Overcoat
Paint
Pencil
Pot plant
Power Cable
Radio
Sewing Kit
Shirt
Shorts
Sports Bra
Teddy bear
Tinned Food
Tool Box
Trousers
Umbrella
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