It was three years back...
when Hapna, the painkiller that everybody said would free humanity from suffering,
first hit the shelves.
But for those of us in the younger generation,
it served a whole different purpose.
We started using Hapna as a substitute for drugs.
Adding it in drinks like soda provided a boost and got us a little high.
It was perfect for when you were feeling kinda down,
so everybody was using it.
The adults were scratching their heads,
wondering why kids started drinking nothing but soda all the time.
Or so I heard.
Hapna was a phenomenon.
Once you got a prescription,
the stuff was readily available everywhere.
And above all, it was super cheap.
Nobody imagined that in just three years' time
it was going to become a terror that would kill us all.
I mean, I sure didn't.
That wristband is impossible to take off.
And it's constantly tracking your location,
so there's no point in trying to run.
I see how it is.
You've assembled a team full of bad apples, eh?
I need a favor from you all.
Of course, I'm talking about finding Dr. Skinner
faster than anyone else does.
Think about it.
You can stay on the run as a fugitive, or find Skinner and earn your freedom.
Which is more appealing?
Hey!
I see your threat and raise you another.
Get this thing off my wrist now, would ya?
Um, Hersch...?
I'm not falling for the same trick twice.
If you try to remove it forcibly,
then the voltage will rise higher and higher
until it melts your hand off.
And just so you're aware,
the same thing goes if anything bad happens to me.
All right, fine.
I kinda wanted to meet this Skinner guy, anyway.
Wonderful. Now we have everyone.
Can you explain why the FDA approved a drug like this?
Like I said, it's unprecedented for a drug
to suddenly mutate into something else after three years.
Are you saying the FDA didn't see this coming?
That's not going to cut it!
Are you planning to resign?
We're here live with one of Dr. Skinner's gardeners,
who is going to shed some light on his secrets.
Was there ever a time he looked suspicious to you,
or anything like that you can remember?
Like I said earlier, lady,
I'm just a gardener who tended to his plants.
Or maybe you got the impression he was out of touch with regular people?
Well, now that you mention it...
Go on.
We had to bury a cat in the garden once.
What?! A dead cat?!
Her name was Moppet.
She was such a cutie-patootie.
Shucks!
She lived a full life, I tell ya!
So, Lisa, I know that your newest album, See You Later Alligator,
is finally coming out next month,
but it's been overshadowed by all the doomsday news.
I mean, chances are that literally no one
will listen to the album by the time it comes out!
You may be right, but then...
that means nobody's going to be watching this show, either!
After 'while crocodile!
So, what's the plan? Say that we find Skinner.
There are a bunch of ways that we can leverage it in our favor.
Leverage?
You know what I mean, like keeping the vaccine all to ourselves.
Or selling it to somebody for a ton of money.
Oh! I can see the appeal of that.
Don't even start.
Listen, this team wasn't formed for personal gain or to turn a profit.
Okay, then what for?
Well...
to save the world.
Oh yeah?
So we're basically superheroes.
That's cool. We're like the Avengers or something.
Huh?
In any case,
tracking down Skinner is all we need to think about right now.
Okay, just tell me one thing.
Is there anybody on the team that's used Hapna?
From here on out, this will be our team's base of operations.
And just so we're clear, I was against you joining our ranks.
But why?!
Because people like you who never cooperate
and just run around showboating
are nothing but a burden to the team.
Boo.
I gotta say,
isn't this place a bit too rundown
to serve as HQ for world-saving superheroes?
No, it's just a "vintage style" disguise.
For real?
So, uh...
Just hold your hand in front of it
and it'll scan your vein pattern to unlock the door.
I've already been registered?
While you were sleeping, yeah.
Deniz Skinner...
56 years old, assuming he's alive.
Born in Istanbul.
Lost both of his parents to local unrest at the age of 12.
Since then, he's remained single. No kids, no spouse.
All alone in the world, literally.
He enrolled at ETH Zurich when he was 16,
got into Cambridge graduate school at 20,
and from there he went on to make numerous outstanding accomplishments as a student.
So much so that people were already calling him
a genius who surpassed Einstein at that point.
Question!
Shouldn't we be focused on other stuff,
like his personality or whatever else can give us insight into his motives?
Good point.
Skinner was awarded the Nobel Prize three times,
but donated most of the money to charity and just lived a frugal life for himself.
Even going as far as to cede the patents on all the drugs he developed.
Whoa...
He was a passionate activist
who took part in protests advocating for peace and ending economic disparity.
And was also a strong proponent of taking tough action on climate change.
He attended global environmental summits and the United Nations General Assembly,
where he would press countries to do more.
This speech in particular was one of the most famous he gave at the UN.
I am simply here as a scientist who is stating the facts of the matter.
According to my calculations,
in exactly three years from now,
all of the ice in the North Pole will melt and be lost!
But that's only the beginning!
Unless we take action right now,
it will snowball out of control until the environment falls apart!
Surely you understand that a thriving economy
isn't going to help anyone when Earth becomes unlivable!
Despite his efforts,
the speech ended in the worst way possible
with multiple member countries of the UN withdrawing from the assembly.
Not long after that, Skinner vanished from the public eye.
If you ask me, he sounds like a pretty decent guy.
Doesn't it sound too good to be true?
Maybe he was secretly doing some evil shit.
Any eyewitness accounts of him online?
Oh, right.
Nothing too recent, but I did find some.
He was seen giving his seat to an elderly woman on the train,
and helping out a homeless person...
Also, there was this time he tried to eat his sandwich,
but then a dog got to it first.
You can't be serious.
He seems like an all-around good person.
The guy's practically a saint.
I don't get it.
Why would he go on to commit such a heinous act?
Anyway, not a single piece of information has come up on him
since his disappearance three years ago.
There's just no trace of him anywhere, it seems.
So what, he's been cooped up
in some hideout by himself this whole time?
Maybe he's already dead.
Or he could be wearing some kind of disguise.
He might have undergone surgery to look like a totally different person.
Excuse me...
I think I've found a lead on him.
Like I said, you gotta quit it with the reckless driving!
Sorry, officer...
A company that sells survival shelters?
Yes.
I found a record of Dr. Skinner buying a shelter from them eight years ago.
Makes sense.
You could definitely spend a number of years in a nuke bunker
without seeing anyone at all.
The only problem is that company isn't currently reachable by phone or email.
Axel and Chris will go check out the shelter.
Doug and Leland, you two pay a visit to the company's offices.
Eleina, can you access
as many surveillance cameras around the world as you can,
and then run facial recognition for Dr. Skinner against the footage?
Sure thing.
If he changed his appearance somehow, this won't work...
but it's worth a try.
So hey, you were doing time in the slammer, right?
Yeah...
Sort of.
What'd you do? How many years did you get?
Let's see...
I think it was 888 years.
Get the hell out of here, you psycho killer!
Huh?
I'm not driving with freakin' Leatherface sitting next to me!
Hold up!
That's not the kind of sentence you get for just killing one person!
Let me explain!
How many people did you murder?
Listen, did you know that they double your time
whenever you try to break out?
And?
My original sentence was three years, but I kept breaking out over and over,
then before I knew it, it was some ridiculous number.
Seriously?
Why would you try to escape so many times?
Let's just say...
it's a hobby of mine.
Oh, jeez.
What kind of sense does that make?!
I noticed you've got a wristband too, Mr. Doug.
Which must mean that Hersch has something on you, right?
You wanna know?
Yeah, I guess.
Keep in mind that curiosity killed the cat.
Did you really do something that bad...?
I'm only messing with you.
In my case, I got roped into this for just a minor infraction.
Minor infraction, huh?
What about you, Leland?
My story is honestly nothing crazy.
Just small time thefts and such...
Yeah, that's minor-league stuff.
But take it from me, Eleina is definitely not minor-league.
Huh? For real?
From what I've heard, she's an infamous hacker
who's committed a whole mountain of crimes.
Wow...
But she seems so quiet and modest...
In reality, she might be the biggest wildcard on the team.
Are we really in the right place?
Yes, this should be it...
"B12." This is the place.
I get the feeling there's not a soul around.
Let's check it out.
Power generator must be running.
This place just looks abandoned to me.
Hello? Amigo? Nihao?
Is anybody here?
Looks like these were working until recently.
Who's that?!
Is this Skinner...?
Or not?
Could be plastic surgery or something.
Hey, pal, are you alive?
Careful now. Drop your gun, nice and slow.
Sorry...
Nothing personal, boys, you know how business goes.
Now where is he?
Who?
Just spill the beans, and I won't have to put you through the wringer.
Hold on.
We don't know where he is, either.
Go ahead and play dumb.
I know how to make you more cooperative.
I'll let you pick.
Nose or ear? What's it gonna be?
What the?
Oh crap!
Ding-dong! You've got a visitor!
All right! I wanna see Kobayashi! Get out here, Kobayashi!
"Kobayashi"...?
Chert! (Shit!)
These guys are Russian!
You can tell?
And it sounds like we've got Chicanos over there.
Is it just me, or are you actually enjoying this?!
Oops. Is it that obvious?
What's that?
A good luck charm.
This little angel here is always keeping me safe.
Huh?!
As long as I have this on me,
I'm invincible.
No way!
My god...
he's totally out of his mind.
I know you're here, Kobayashi!
And I ain't leaving until you pay back everything you owe us!
Wait, what are you talking about?
You're not here for Skinner?
Hey, who the hell are you?!
I'm a debt collector!
Yeah, well, same here!
What the hell is going on?
Dude!
We're supposed to be after Skinner!
Oh, that's right!
Freeze!
FBI! Drop your weapons!
DEA! Drop your weapons!
Lazarus! Drop your weapons!
Huh?
What's Lazarus?
Never heard of it.
We're superheroes!
Oh gosh...
I... I'm so sorry!
Listen, I wasn't running away!
I was gonna pay you back! I swear on my life!
Please don't kill me!
Have mercy! I beg you!
Hold up...
You're not Skinner, are you?
Huh?
DNA test complete!
This guy is definitely not Skinner.
What? So that bastard Kobayashi hasn't paid you fellas back, either?
Nope. He hasn't paid for anything,
including the concrete that we delivered last month.
It doesn't get worse than that.
Right? The guy is a straight up asshole.
Hey, kid, sorry about the mixup.
I thought you worked for him.
Ah, no worries.
You guys are looking for Kobayashi, too, yeah?
So it was a different guy?
Yup.
He was just hiding in a shelter that he built for his client.
The place was a freakin' circus.
The FBI and a bunch of other random guys came outta nowhere.
All right.
Well, it seems
this mission is going to be harder than any of us thought.
Hell yeah, 'atta boy!
I'm just kidding, you guys! Some other time.
Looking back, my entire life was nothing but a big gamble.
All I've ever wanted was to find the one lucky break
that would let me strike it rich.
But it never crossed my mind that...
I'd end up at rock bottom like this.
Which is why I took Hapna so I could just hurry up and get it all over with.
Except it turns out this stuff doesn't actually kill you that quickly.
Wait...
Is that a sign?
Is it telling me to live a little longer?
Yeah! I should give it another shot!
Aw, crap.
I totally forgot that we're all going to die in thirty days, anyway.
I've found him!
It's Dr. Skinner!
Where?!
It's definitely Dr. Skinner, but, um...
there's about 100 thousand of him.
What on Earth...?