ice twisters
(Gary) Control, the hive is humming.
I repeat, the hive is humming.
(Gary) Control, we have confirmed cloud formation.
(Gary) I repeat,the cotton is in the gin.
(Joanne) Roger that. We have minimal winds and a very high ceiling. Looking good.
And Gary, can you quit with the metaphors? You're driving us crazy.
Roger that.
(male) Mr. Price, are your writings
based on science or apocalyptic sensation??
(Charlie) I think the whole science community is missing the big picture.
(Charlie) Apocalyptic? Well, maybe a little.
And again, that's what sells these days, doesn't it?
Remind me to write a book that more women would be interested in
something about relationships, or dogs, or both.
Can we just finish up? I'm starved.
And I'd like to get my nails done before the TV interview tonight.
I'm the one being interviewed, not you
but what time is it?
6:00, why?
No reason.
Why?
I have got a date.
We just got here.
Plenty of time. Remember the coffee barista
and her nice cappuccinos?
Charlie!
I'm kidding. She's an old colleague.
Here? I find it hard to believe.
Me too!
Mr. Price. I've read all your novels.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Well, me too.
(reader) In all of your sensationalistic writings
I've come to find that you're just as big a hypocrite as the scientific and government establishment that you seek so often to condemn.
as the scientific and government establishment
that you seek so often to condemn.
Really? How so?
Do you think the solutions offered by any of the characters
to any of the disasters in your book
are any better than what's being tried right now?
I don't know, I'm not a scientist
I'm a writer who's blessed with the luxury of dreaming of disasters.
I will leave solutions for lab rats.
But I read that you were once a lab rat yourself
that you left the scientific community. Right?
Who do I make this out to?
Hey, guys, I think it's raining.
Yes!
It is raining.
We did it, Jo.
You should see this.
(Charlie) You don't see that everyday.
(Gary) Guys, we have a situation
14 miles East of here in the town of Harrisford.
That's not good.
What's taking you so long?
Would you just relax?
I thought I told you to go at the restaurant 10 miles ago.
I didn't have to go then.
But you don't understand how women work
once we know we can't go that's exactly when we have to go.
That makes no sense.
Can we drop it? I'm done.
So is the book signing if we don't hurry.
Hurry? You've been driving like my grandma.
I'm hypermiling, okay?
Going 55 miles an hour gets me an extra 50 miles per tank of gas.
I don't care. Just don't blame me that we'll miss the book signing.
Hello?
Our assignment was A Day in the Life of Charlie Price.
A day, not 10 minutes, not an hour.
Did you see that? Did you see those clouds?
Those aren't normal. I'm gonna get the camera.
What are you talking about?
You didn't see it?
I'II tell you what I see. I see my future when I fail this class,
and it isn't good.
It's gone.
So, let's go.
(Frank) What we need to focus on is why the first quarter
didn't perform as well as the third quarter--
(Frank) Excuse me one moment, ladies and gentlemen.
What is it?
(Bill) Our weather sat detected a blip on the radar
and your Project Rain Dance--
What is a "blip"?
Yeah, uh-- [sighs]
It's a storm. That's what Rain Dance is supposed to do.
Rain Dance is close to 14 miles away from this.
[sighs] Put Damon on the phone.
Sorry about that, ladies and gentlemen. [clears throat]
Yeah.
This can't be. This can't be.
Let's just not jump to conclusions.
Gary, talk to me.
(Gary) I've checked the data, it makes no sense.
Radar, thermals?
Yes, of course, ULF scan, infrared,
we didn't pick up on anything until after it hit.
So what, then?
The computers aren't telling anything.
Keep looking.
I'm looking!
Widen your search.
Data doesn't point to us.
Let's hope not.
(Charlie) Sure your okay?
(Nora) I'm fine! Really, I'm fine.
(Charlie) They just wanna take a look at the cut.
You think I'm gonna let--
Guys, put a gag in her mouth.
(Charlie) I'll meet you there.
(Charlie) Joanne Dyson.
Are you still trying to save the world
one drop at a time or are you just thirsty?
Charlie.
So you came to my book signing after all.
How thoughtful. There were drinks inside, you know.
Yeah, I wasn't really-- Did you see what happened here?
(Damon) Hey, uh, you two know each other?
Yes. Damon, meet Charlie Price.
(Damon) Yeah, I know who Charlie Price is.
I was his research assistant at the university
before he became a famous writer.
(Damon) I didn't know that.
You left science fact for science fiction. Huh?
So why are you here?
I've always had this uncanny sense for being where the action is.
[phone rings] Oh, excuse me.
It's Frank.
Yeah, Frank, it's me.
Frank sounds important?
He is.
What happened here, Charlie?
Just this massive storm cell appeared out of thin air
then this guy opened up like Armageddon
and in the blink of an eye disappeared.
What are you doing here? And so fast.
We picked the storm up on our radars, we raced over as soon as we could.
Storm radars. Working on anything related?
No.
Pull this leg it'll play Swanee River.
What do you want me to say? You know I can't talk.
Look, Frank. We just got on the scene.
We don't know anything for sure yet, but--
Relax, Damon. Let's not jump to any half baked conclusions
there's time to figure out what happened.
(Frank) The seraphs have a 48 hour cycle
the next 24 hours are vital, you know that.
You made it rain, Damon, let's not lose sight of that.
Yes, sir.
And Damon, when you do figure it out,
make sure it wasn't us. You know what I mean?
Yeah, I understand.
I'm just curious why the federal science foundation
is in the middle of nowhere, when this happens.
We've been stationed here for three years, you know that.
Doing what?
Mostly robotics.
Come on, Jo.
Sorry about the interruption. Damon Jarwell,
I'm a fan of your books, crazy as that may be.
Well, it's fiction, it's supposed to be crazy.
Like a grown woman in trench coat sifting through puddles with a test tube.
Hm. Don't tell me. Earth worms.
Your latest experiment is with mechanical earth worms.
Or maybe it's drainage or maybe it has to do
with the freak storm that just tore through this town.
I'm sorry, we got a lot of work to do.
I'm sure you both do.
So I take that our dinner plans are off for tonight?
Yes. Sorry, Charlie. Rain check?
No pun intended.
I have a TV interview tonight anyway.
I can't wait to tell about all the fun stuff the FSF is doing out here.
Earth worm robotics, all that kind of stuff.
What's Frank's last name? I'd love a quote.
Don't do this, Charlie.
I can't help myself.
What do you want?
I wanna know what you're doing.
No way.
Come on.
This conversation is over.
I'm no genius but you come here checking puddles
for residual trace elements
If I did my own sampling I bet l'd find heavy oxygen
maybe some elevated nitrogen levels
or maybe I'll just find some anti depressants.
Trying to make everybody feel good about the economy?
Be careful. You're smacking a hornet's nest on this one.
That's a terrible analogy.
It's the truth.
Is it? People died here.
This isn't going away. I'II make sure of that.
Just excuse us for a second.
Look, Damon. I know Charlie. He's a dog with a bone.
I'II bury him and that bone if I have to. This is our entire career.
Forget the science community,
the news will eat up anything he finds on his own.
The only way to control the situation is to keep him close.
So? What's the verdict?
Oh, no.
No. No. No.
Where the heck are they drawing their energy from?
(Joanne) Where?
Another storm cell formed.
So we're storm chasers now, huh?
Get in the car!
[sighs] No one's here.
Oh, I know.
They said the signing ended early.
I'm sure it did.
They said something happened. A freak storm or something.
Seriously. You're not gonna talk to me for the rest of the day?
It was your bathroom break.
What? It was your lame hyper gassy thing.
Whatever.
You're so immature.
We have plenty of bathrooms. You have to go?
Nope.
Yup.
So what now?
Well, we missed Charlie at the book signing
we could go to the TV station and wait from here.
Plan?
We're fine.
It must have been something to do with those crazy clouds we found
something happened here.
Yeah, it's called weather. It happens in a lot of places.
Look. Could we just go and get our failing grade over with?
There you go.
What's that for?
In case you need it on the way. You gotta go? There it is.
Gee, thanks.
Are you sure this is the right place?
(Joanne) This is where Gary said the storms formed.
(Charlie) What do you expect to find?
Hopefully nothing.
See anything?
(Damon) We can't go chasing a little gust of wind now.
(Joanne) Yes, we can, so we can confirm it wasn't us that caused it.
Gary, we're here, there isn't a cloud in the sky.
(Joanne) What's causing these cells to form?
I don't know. They are like ghosts
they are coming and going with no rhyme or reason
moving through areas of absolutely no frontal activity.
(Joanne) I'll tell Damon,
I'm sure Frank would love to hear about ghost storms.
What do you want me to say? Everything is on the table.
(Joanne) Keep looking, Gary. We have to figure this out.
(Gary) Okay, fine. Bye.
What's this?
(Charlie) Oh! Cold.
What's wrong?
This water's freezing.
(Joanne) Charlie, give me that.
I could make a fortune selling this online.
Just give it back.
What is this?
This is our experiment.
The culmination of years of research.
Sorry it ended this way.
It didn't end. We've got about 1,999 more still floating around.
Why doesn't that sound comforting?
What's it do?
Hold on. This is classified information.
Oh, you mean this?
Finder's keepers.
We have more important things to do.
If something's gone wrong it's because we missed it.
We need to challenge what we know with some fresh perspective.
Charlie is one of the most brilliant men I've ever known.
I agree.
You're not helping. Look.
We need to think out of the box
and he could be a zero gravity thinker.
[scoffs] Him?
Why not? I'm feeling lighter already.
Fine. Whatever.
It's part of a seraph.
It's a self propelled self sustaining silver iodide generator.
They've been seeding clouds for 50 years that's nothing new.
[scoffs] Well, to seed clouds you actually need clouds.
Something increasingly rare in drought-plagued regions.
Joanne's technology first makes the clouds.
Then it seeds them. It's revolutionary.
But is it incendiary?
What?
This can be a pretty nasty weapon
if pointed in the right direction.
[scoffs] Mr. Conspiracy. Not every government science project is a weapon.
Said the blind man to his deaf dog.
What?
You can't make something out of nothing.
It's water. A chemical reaction creates it is sounds.
Let's fan out and see if any more dropped out of their formation.
Hello.
Charlie? It's me.
Nora! You're out already.
How are you, sweetheart?
I told you it was nothing. Just a bit shaken up.
That's a relief.
I'm gonna head out of town early.
I'm a city girl.
Would you like me to take you?
No, you should stay. You love this stuff.
Good for a new book. No?
I think I wrote this one already.
Make sure you make that interview and we'll meet up in LA.
I'm not sure that I can. Something's come up.
(Nora) It better be the bubonic plague. You are making that interview!
As much as I can't stand this place
the small towns are the foundation of your fan base.
Yeah, but Nora--
Charlie, promise me! I set your alarm 6:00 PM.
I promise.
Bye, Nora.
Charlie! Damon!
(Charlie) Boy, he's blue.
It's really bad.
He's frozen solid.
This is silver poisoning.
He's full of silver iodide.
Any idea how this happened?
Okay. This is enough, let's--
Let's take the seraph back to the base.
Damon get Frank on the line I'm recommending we abort the test.
If you pull the plug now it’ll be bad for the future of the program.
People are dead, Damon. We had a hand in this.
Whoa. Hang on. You don't know what's at stake here.
It took us way to long to get this funding to begin with.
I understand the ramifications but--
I'm sorry. I'II recommend full abort.
(Damon) Hey, Frank.
Talk.
The second storm is confirmed. Our fingerprints are all over it.
Any idea why this is happening?
Not yet, but we found a downed seraph
we're taking it back to the mobile lab to run diagnostics on it.
Let me know what you find out.
Uh, Frank, uh, listen.
Joanne is suggesting that we do a full abort now.
The cycle isn't complete. All the work you've done will be wasted.
I can't promise continual funding with a mess like this.
What am I gonna tell Joanne? We have confirmed casualties.
Don't tell her anything. You don't work for her, you work for me.
There's too much at risk to take those things down now.
I have to go.
Eric!
Oh, my God!
Is that a tornado?
I'm filming it.
You're gonna do what?
I'm gonna shoot it.
Hold on!
(Nora) Ah!
(Charlie) Nice little operation you got here.
(Joanne) It's a mobile unit. Ever seen one?
Sir?
(Damon) Here.
Phil!
I got it.
(Gary) Can you check this?
(Joanne) Gary--
Yeah. I know who this is. Hi.
Hello.
I have work to do.
What's eating him?
He's busy right now.
Not everyone's a fan.
Ash! You okay?
Yeah. I think so.
What does that mean? Anything broken?
No, I said I'm okay. You?
No, I'm fine. I think.
Why is it freezing?
I don't know.
What happened to the other car?
I don't know. It must've got sucked away or something.
[busy tone] I can't get any service.
Great. The truck is stuck. What are we gonna do now?
I guess we try and walk up to the TV station.
The truck's not gonna get us anywhere. Okay?
A hell of a day, huh?
(Ash) Oh, yeah.
Ah, shoot! My camera.
(Ash) What are you doing?
Hey, do you remember the last time a confirmed twister hit this area?
[laughs] Ten minutes ago?
No, before that.
No.
How's "never"?
(Joanne) Do we have workups on the storms?
(Gary) Right here, guys.
(Joanne) Have we mapped them yet?
(Gary) Everything's right there, Jo.
No, she means if you started to profile it.
Excuse me?
She's looking for a pattern here.
Okay, can someone please tell the fiction writer
not to tell me how to do my job?
First storm hit here and then there were two more.
(Phil) Area's unstable, storms pop up everywhere.
There's a mandatory evacuation of five counties, including this one.
(Gary) It looks like it's growing but I can't make out a pattern yet.
Other than the fact that there is no pattern.
He just said that.
Are you guys twins?
Relax, guys. We're all trying to figure this out.
(Gary) They're completely unpredictable
I'm only getting signals after they're formed when it's too late.
And therein lies a pattern.
Is he writing riddles now?
(Damon) What is your point?
In my latest book, my little hero
solved the CO2 emissions problem but he didn't solve global warming.
CO2 levels continued to rise.
Pockets of long buried CO2
melted out of glaciers and receding ice caps.
The consequences had consequences.
My little hero was so buried in the human equation,
he missed the bigger picture. A systemic reaction.
We're still missing the point.
We're not looking in the right place.
(Damon) It took a long way to get there.
I'm a fiction writer. I do that.
(Charlie) The seraphs are the match, the storms are the fire
we should figure out where the fuel is coming from.
I bet you already have an idea.
There's a very loud sonic boom during the storm.
You heard thunder.
Not thunder. It was something else,
these seraphs make the clouds and seed them with silver iodide?
How exactly are they doing this?
(Jo) These tiny wind turbines supply power to their propulsion systems
there's no limit to how long they can stay airborne.
Once up, each one has a moisture evaporator
designed to condense liquid nitrogen out of the upper atmosphere.
I thought these were in the Troposphere.
They are. Right at the ceiling just below the Tropopause.
(Gary) It's useless.
Chips are fried. We're not getting anything off it.
What were your temp readings during your control storms?
Normal. The storms don't affect the temps.
They don't? There was a massive change of temp when the storm hit Harrisford.
I pulled that thing out of near freezing water.
What are you getting at?
Marker? Pen?
(Joanne) Behind you.
(Charlie) Okay. Your seraphs are here
taking moisture in the atmosphere
and processing it into liquid nitrogen, right,
making this area here extremely dry at first.
Even if the clouds form here
this area is nearly devoid of moisture, right?
Am I wrong?
No, you're right.
There's a sub atomic reaction happening
it's drawing moisture from the upper atmosphere
the effect of this process is creating vertical weather.
Come on, you know it doesn't work like that.
(Charlie) No, it hasn't. It is now.
The boom I heard has got to be the pauses
that separate the layers being shredded apart,
that would account for the severe drop in temperature
and unpredictability of these storms.
(Damon) We've been on this project for three years.
(Charlie) But you can't explain why this is happening. Huh?
The reason you can't track these storms
is because they're not happening here.
They're starting here and forcing their way down.
I've had enough of this.
What? Something I said?
Damon.
We have a real problem
and I'm not gonna listen to this joker concoct his next book idea.
Let's just get the seraphs down, collect the data and we'll know for sure.
(Jo) What? You did get the order, right? Frank is taking them down.
No. The seraphs aren't coming.
And you're just telling me this now?
(Damon) Calm down, it's not our call.
He wants them to complete their cycle or else he'll kill the project.
Over my dead body.
Jo!
(Assistant) Sir, I have Joanne Dyson on the line for you.
Sir?
(Frank) Take a message.
(Eric) You're telling me you don't see that?
See what? I have no idea of what you're talking about.
It's like a circle
it kind of fades and then darkens.
Oh, yeah, look at that cloud. It's like a circus cloud.
Oh, oh, and that one looks like a chihuahua riding a tricycle.
I'm serious.
No, I think the accident damaged your brain.
Are you still cold?
No. Not anymore. You?
No.
Seems to have warmed up a bit, huh?
And that's not weird to you?
I didn't think much about it. Before I was cold and now I'm not.
Yeah, it was near freezing earlier.
Normally, one would have to be in the deserts of Mongolia
to experience a weather change that drastic
and this one happened in the course of an hour. Less?
Eric, it's getting cold again.
We need to find shelter.
I'm seriously scared.
It's okay. We're gonna be fine.
I can't believe you didn't tell me this earlier.
Okay, Jo, just breathe, alright?
We're being a bit crazy now.
It's still my project, Damon!
Uh, well, I don't think Frank sees it that way.
Why? What did he say?
Uh-- [computer sound]
He said that he finances, so he owns it. You know.
He-- Well-- He can't be that dumb!
I sense we have a disparity in the chain of command around here.
This guy's powers of perception are outstanding.
I also sense that you don't like me.
You stole my idea.
I what?
You stole his idea.
(Gary) Your book, your best seller, that was my idea and you stole it.
What on God's earth are you talking about?
(Phil) Gary was working on a wonderful book on the rising CO2 levels.
So?
So, well, (both) you stole it!
You penned it off as your own.
I'm completely lost here, fellas.
(Jo) Gary, are we still linked with the seraphs?
Phil?
Uh, well, uh, I believe so.
How about control?
Yeah. Why?
(Jo) Good. Take them down.
Wait. You're playing a dangerous game.
Take them down!
(both) We can't!
Why?
The kill command sit with Frank in the Department Head,
we don't have that power.
That's garbage.
If we can't down them we can change what they're doing, right?
(Damon) Once you go down this path there's no coming back.
But we could reverse the process.
What?
Reverse the ionization, they won't grab moisture,
they'll redistribute instead of process.
We've never done it.
We haven't had to.
Will that work?
I don't know. Maybe. It would work on one of my books.
(Damon) There's the zero gravity thinking we needed.
Or maybe it's just "zero thinking."
Or maybe it's Gary's next best seller.
(Jo) Can that be done?
It would've been if he hadn't stolen it!
No, Gary! Can we reverse the ionization process?
theoretically, I'II try.
(Gary) I'll have to update my resume after I do.
Whoa, that's not good.
What?
We've got another cell. A bad one.
(Joanne) Where?
(Gary) Here,
guys, the temp just crashed in the test area.
(Jo) Get the signal down.
(Jo) Then we can change the seraphs' activity.
I don't know. I said I've never done this.
(Jo) Look, hurry.
[whistles] We got a twister!
Oh, man, that's coming straight for us.
(Jo) It's freezing everything in its path.
Everybody, in the trucks, let's go!
Guys, we need the data.
(Damon) No, leave it! Go to the truck and get out!
(Damon) Don't! Leave it! Go!
(Charlie) Damon, move!
Come on!
Wait!
(Charlie) Get out!
(Joanne) Phil!
(Phil) Ah!
Come on, let's go!
Did they make it?
I don't know. I can't see.
Come on. We'll be safe there.
Come on. Grab my hand.
(Charlie) Hug me.
Hold on tight.
Hold on.
(Frank) How long ago was this?
A half hour, sir.
You've tried making contact?
(Bill) Yes, but hard lines are out
and cell towers must be down. I'm having trouble getting through.
We've lost all visuals.
Okay, here's what I want you to do.
I wanna fly over within the next hour
if we can't find out what's going on from the ground
maybe we can from the air.
Good.
Good?
Yes.
I just don't understand. What could be causing this?
Government testing.
Come on.
Governments want to control the weather.
This looks more like out of control.
China does it all the time.
Russia accused China of stealing their rain.
They almost went to war over it.
Wait, China and Russia at war?
Now you're starting to sound like Charlie Price.
Hey, maybe we ought to burn this tape
so the U.S. doesn't end up going to war with Canada, huh?
It's possible.
No! What's possible is us failing this class.
What if we change the assignment?
We get to the TV station, we cut the footage,
we get together a piece, it always happens on the news,
you're covering one story, something else happens, boom. No?
Well, that's the best idea you've had all day.
Are you being facetious?
No, it's actually a really good idea.
I know, right?
Sir, the plane will be over the target area in over two hours.
What about FSF? Have you been able to reestablish contact?
No. The storms are growing
and they've wreaked havoc on local communications.
And the seraphs?
18 hours and counting.
That's good.
Where'd they go? You think they're okay?
I don't know.
They got the signal off the seraphs in time?
I don't think so.
Me neither.
I swear, if I ever get hold of Frank--
Ha! Government and scientists don't make good bed fellows.
Don't go there, Charlie.
Do you think it's easy?
I didn't say that.
You think this is bad?
You wanna take a snapshot of the Sudan right now?
Of Darfur? Ethiopia?
Hundreds of thousands of people are dying.
And we're close.
I understand the world's problems.
So what are you doing about it then?
What happened to you, Charlie?
You were one of the most promising scientists I ever knew.
You could've done great things and now you write fiction.
Yeah, that's right.
I got tired of wasting time.
Sitting around for funding
for worthwhile solutions to real problems.
Well, that's a part of it.
I also got sick of kowtowing the Government whims
under the name of science.
Thanks. I'd rather try and do whatever good I can
than waste my brain writing dime novel sci fi
waiting for my next movie deal. Who's that helping?
Book stores? Movie studios? Me?
Good for you.
Let's try to stay on the same team here.
You never were a team player, were you?
What happened to the hugging?
We were hugging. I felt the warmth.
I'm just trying to stay alive.
(Damon) Hey.
Are you alright?
(Damon) Yeah. How about you two?
Where's Phil?
Get in.
Anything?
No.
(Jo) So how are we gonna fix this?
(Charlie) Gary?
(Gary) We only need a broadband connection.
You guys see what I see?
I'm not hungry.
(Damon) No, Gary. He means the WiFi.
Oh, uh, yeah, it's probably worth a shot.
(Damon) Hello?
Hello!
There's nobody here.
They're in the storm cellar with Auntie Em.
Enough with that.
(Jo) Remember the mandatory evacuation?
Sorry, bad habit, I think.
I didn't realize you were thinking at all.
What are you doing?
(Gary) Well, hospitality's a little slow here, Jo,
can you get that table, Damon?
Phones are still out.
[sighs] If phones are out, how are we getting online?
WiFi runs to the cable modems, they're underground.
(Gary) Will someone try the lights?
Power's out.
For Pete's sake! It's a motel,
there's gotta be a generator here somewhere.
(Gary) Bottom line, no power, no modem.
No modem, no connection.
Let's let the cyber geeks get online, we’ll go find the generator.
Or maybe the hot tub.
Got the disks?
Yeah.
Come on.
(Jo) I'm sure there are some keys back--
Or you can do that.
A generator.
You can't write it better than this.
[Damon mumbles] "Cyber geeks. "
He called us cyber geeks?
Or maybe you can.
What do you mean?
We're out of gas.
We have gas in the SUV. We can siphon some out.
Yes we do.
(Eric) Where's everybody?
(Ash) They're evacuated and with their families.
News? News doesn't sleep. They don't close.
This is not New York. This is small town USA.
Don't knock small towns. Your first jobs are gonna be in places like this.
I wonder if they scrapped the interview with Price altogether.
Probably. [sighs] Alright, where to now?
Where to? I'd cut this footage and write this story.
They're not going to.
So let's find a way back to the university.
We're breaking a story. Time's of the essence here.
I get it but this place is closed.
Yeah, but how closed?
You're not talking about breaking in, are you?
It's not breaking in. We were invited.
Eric, it's closed.
There's no sign. I'd say the doors are mistakenly locked.
Breaking and entering will not look good on our resumes.
You kidding? It's Reporter 101!
Breaking in and not getting caught is our job.
That's how it's done in this field.
Look at this. Huh?
If you want something the universe conspires with you.
I wanted a pony as a kid
but I never got it.
You help me break this story? I'II get you two ponies.
And the Lord said.
Let there be light.
I sure hope this works.
It's got to.
(Gary) Okay, I have the up link. It's weak but it's there.
(Damon) Will the signal get through?
It should.
(Jo) Gary, pull up the Doppler for me.
(Gary) Oh!
Oh, great. It's getting awfully close to Portland.
How much longer?
Uh, I don't think they're responding.
What are you doing?
It's my attempt to email a punch in the face.
How did that feel?
I'II feel better when this is over.
This is Frank, Where's that plane?
I need some kind of visual. We're flying blind here!
It's like we're shut out.
Frank.
Keep trying.
(Jo) We're losing power.
We can't be. The generator's full.
(Gary) Signal's fluctuating.
We need more power!
I'II check the genny.
Wait! I have a link.
(Gary) It's weak but it's there.
What about the seraphs?
(Gary) They're holding their pattern. They're not responding.
(Joanne) We have to override them, keep trying.
(Pilot) Something's wrong with the pressure.
(Pilot) We lost an engine.
(Pilot) We're going down.
(Pilot) Mayday! Mayday!
(Male voice over phone) We lost contact with the recon plane.
[shouts] Where's our eye in the sky?
Like I said, can't write it any better than this.
The tank's cracked. Even I can't fix it.
We're running out of time. The seraphs weren't responding.
Damon, are you saying Frank locked us out?
That's where my money is.
But the connection was weak,
the signal could have been jumbled in the transmission
maybe coming from another source
and the seraphs just ignored it.
So they're artificially intelligent?
No, I'm saying I need a solid signal
I need some satellite up link that isn't land based.
What if Frank did lock us out?
Then it's useless.
No. Of course it's not!
(Gary) Even if he did, I can hack it.
He can't keep me out. [chuckles]
We can't even get a phone line to work.
We're far away, where will we get a satellite feed?
Thank you, Nora.
Who?
How about a TV station?
Yeah, that would work. Where?
I'II show you. I'm supposed to be there in an hour.
(Eric) Oh, this is terrific stuff.
Oh, this footage is priceless!
How's the piece coming?
Here. How's this sound?
"What was supposed to be a day following the controversial author
"Charlie Price, quickly turned into a harrowed
"real life struggle for survival
"as the very disasters that his latest novel fictionalizes
materialized in a small town with fatal consequences."
That's not bad.
Yeah?
It needs some finesse.
Like what?
"Materializes" and "fictionalizes" are right next to each other.
Yeah, it's kind of a mouthful.
"Fatal consequence" sounds like a sort of soup.
A what?
You know what I mean.
Eric, we'd better not get in trouble for this.
Relax, we're done already.
No one's going to jail for editing.
Worst thing they'll do is charge us a rental fee.
Oh, my Gosh.
(Damon) Look at that.
(Charlie) It must have been right in it's path.
Hello!
Can anybody hear me?
(Charlie) Can anybody hear me?
(Charlie) Watch yourselves, guys.
Hello!
Can anyone hear me?
Nora.
Nora!
Joanne.
Joanne!
How did this get so out of control?
We're supposed to be saving lives.
No one wanted this.
How could we know this would possibly happen?
Because it's our job to know!
I mean, how could we be so stupid?
And you let Frank take us over.
You handed him this!
You let him hijack my research!
Well, no one else would fund it.
And that's the price we paid.
Well, take a good look because this is our handy work.
We're murderers!
Where's Frank? Probably in his office reading sports pages.
(Damon) Joanne!
Don't touch me!
I'm sorry, Charlie.
I don't know what to say.
You don't have to say anything.
She shouldn't have been out here.
This is all my fault.
Don't do that.
Why not? It's true.
I should have been with her at the hospital
instead of hanging around here pretending I'm still in the game.
You can't control these things.
What? The weather?
I'm sorry, Jo. That was wrong.
No, you were right.
When you start these things
you never expect something like this to happen.
[sniffs] But I knew who I was getting into bed with.
And I thought I could handle the politics and the bureaucracy
but I guess I'm not strong enough.
Damon may act like he can but,
(Jo) deep down I don't think he can stomach it either.
And Gary's--
(Jo) Gary's just a boy genius in a big world.
No.
Here we go again.
Gary! Damon! Get in the car now!
Hurry!
Come on, let's go!
(Charlie) Come on! The twister's coming! Let's go!
Sir, we're not sure yet what happened to the plane,
Intel is reporting vertical weather.
Yes, sir, vertical weather.
We're not sure but it's definitely not the seraphs.
Yes, sir.
How long before the seraphs complete?
39 hours.
I think we have all the proof we need. Time to pull the plug.
Uh, sir, there's a problem with that.
What's that?
They aren't responding to any commands.
I don't care.
Shoot them out of the sky.
I don't need these storms hitting a populated area.
These things are all over the place.
My God!
[whispers] We're not sure where these storms are coming from
(Eric) Okay, look at me for a minute.
Alright.
Okay. Feel pretty good about it?
Yup! Yeah, I think so. Let's do it.
Okay.
(Eric) Oh, crap. We got company. Hide!
(Ash) Hide? I thought you said no one goes to jail for this!
Maybe. It's just the breaking and entering part I'm a little iffy on.
I'm not hiding.
Look at the truck it says FSF,
that's Federal Special Forces.
(Damon) It looks closed.
The news is never closed.
[knocks] Hello? Anybody in there?
Would you hide? Hey!
Special Forces? Really.
Look at the truck.
(Jo) I don't think anyone's here.
See?
Where's the station manager?
Uh, not here.
Who's in charge?
So who are you?
Eric.
Hey, you're Charlie Price! Ash, it's Charlie Price.
(Gary) Yeah, yeah, it's Charlie Price.
(Jo) Hi. Wait a minute. Who are you again?
(Ash) We're from the university. We're supposed to be doing an interview with him
but there's some crazy weather going on outside, we were stranded--
Did you guys see what's going on?
So neither of you two work here?
Yeah, they co host the news. Try the phones.
They're dead.
Sorry. We already tried.
Satellite feed's up and running.
Working on it.
(Damon) Let's track the storms on the Doppler.
(Charlie) What are you doing here?
We were late to your book signing
so we tried to get you here. We got this crazy footage.
Like something outta your books.
You taped it?
Yeah, we were going to put a piece together.
Where would that tape be?
Right there.
(Damon) Thanks.
That's my tape.
Not any more.
(Ash) You can't do that! Who are you?
(Charlie) She's right.
Reestablished contact.
Give him back that tape. So order them down.
I said we had contact, not that we were in control,
we're still locked out.
(Charlie) How long do we have?
I'd say only a few hours.
A few hours before what?
Nothing.
You testing some kind of crazy weather program?
Can you get those things down?
Back off. I'm trying.
We don't have time. What's on the tape?
I'm right.
What's on your mind?
Can we get Frank? We must recover control.
How do you plan to do that?
Don't know. I'm writing this as we go.
(Frank) Thank God you're alive, we've been trying to reestablished contact.
We're not all alive. People are dead. Phil is dead.
(Damon) If our calculations are correct in about two hours
massive storms are gonna hit Portland and Seattle and a lot more can die.
Yes, we know.
You know?
When we lost contact we tried to abort but we couldn't.
So what are you doing about it, Frank?
Relax, Jo. We have ordnance on the way to take the down now,
I understand that you've been through hell and back
but we have no choice but to terminate the project in its entirety.
I'm sorry, Jo, Damon.
I know how hard you've worked,
we'll talk about this when it's over.
Damn him.
It's all over now.
He's hiding something.
This is Frank. Project Rain Dance is a success.
We're terminating the storm sequence.
Yeah?
Yeah, it's done.
They're down. Seraphs are gone.
(Eric) What's a seraph?
You okay?
That's a stupid question.
I was close, Charlie.
I know.
But I feel like I'm back at square one.
So much time wasted.
It wasn't wasted.
You made great strides. You advanced the field.
They're gonna do great things, Joanne.
But I should've know better, right?
Not necessarily.
As bad as this is,
no matter what you think of me,
the reality is progress doesn't fund itself.
No, it doesn't, does it?
Question is, is this progress?
Whoa, what do you mean?
Frank didn't lock you out as a precaution or as a safety measure
he wanted to see how powerful these storms would get.
They used you.
They hijacked your research and they used both of you.
What?
It's not breaking up.
(Joanne) What do you mean?
(Gary) It's actually getting worse.
(Gary) It's headed straight for Portland.
(Joanne) How can it be getting worse?
The match is gone but the fire is still lit.
The reaction's perpetuating itself.
(Damon) That's outrageous. The seraphs are down.
(Charlie) And if it doesn't?
(Jo) What are you talking about?
The eye of Jupiter.
(Gary) Brace yourself. He's cracking another can of zero gravity.
I don't care what you think. This storm won't dissipate.
(Charlie) The eye of Jupiter's lasted 300 years,
it draws it's power source much like the ones you've created,
if I'm wrong, this storm dies out.
if I'm right, we could've stopped something that's gaining the momentum
to kill thousands, maybe millions of people.
But we took down the seraphs.
(Gary) I hate to add to the sense of panic here,
but these storms are rapidly gaining in size.
What do you mean they're not stopping?
The seraphs are down, right?
Somehow the storms are still gaining momentum. This isn't over.
It's Frank again.
(Frank) The cells have gotten worse.
How is this possible?
(Jo) We're trying to figure that out.
I'm offering help. I just need to know what that is.
Would've been nice a few hours ago.
Hey, uh, Frank, Eric here.
(Eric) In the critically acclaimed book lonos-fear,
these mercenaries take over H.A.R.T.
and they shoot holes in ozones. Cool.
(Eric) Maybe you could drown these storms like that?
Wow, Eric, that's real sweet,
I'm sure Mr. Price thanks you but it would be best if you didn't speak.
Actually, the kid's right.
Who the heck is talking?
They picked up a few people along the way. It's Charlie Price.
The author?
(Charlie) No, the tin man.
Theoretically, that's what we should do,
heat up the upper atmosphere
expand the upper air masses to a point where we could
cut off the power source completely.
This dude is crazy.
Is that possible, Joanne?
Theoretically.
(Eric) Yeah, the H.A.R.T facility is real.
Hey, it's really far away.
(Joanne) It's in Alaska.
The university has a high altitude array.
(Eric) It's a smaller facility but it's similar to H.A.R.T.
I just need to know if something like that would work.
Well, would it?
(Charlie) H.A.R.T could open up the ozone
but we need a heating element
like reflective satellites
to concentrate the sun's energy where we need it.
(Frank) It would take me weeks to free up those satellites.
You don't want to do it because you don't want your fingerprints all over it.
I'm offering all the help I can give!
But you want it, you take it now.
Or what?
I can get this done a lot sooner.
What do you think you have me around for?
Frank, I need access code for the satellites. We'd only borrow them for a bit.
Do you know where this facility is?
30 miles from here,
just outside Beaverton.
I'II get you those access codes but I need assurances.
Well you're not getting any.
We're not doing a damn thing until you give Joanne back her program.
What?
(Charlie) We all know you hijacked the research.
(Charlie) You locked us out, we could've stop this.
We have proof.
How long before the full brunt of those storms
reaches the major cities?
Uh, about an hour.
He's right.
It's what we're looking at.
What are my assurances?
None. But you don't have a choice, do you?
If you did you would have taken it already.
(Frank) Alright, I'll give you what you want. Just stop those things.
Well, we've got some storms to stop.
When this is over I want Frank's head.
I'II help you but we have bigger problems right now.
Uh, FYI, hello?
(Gary) You're heading for the heart of the storms.
I love a challenge.
You love suicide runs? That's what you're dealing with.
Here, kid.
You know how to work the TV equipment?
(Jo) Send out a storm warning. Get the footage out, contact every station.
Tell people to stay inside. Take shelter.
(Charlie) Let's set the sky on fire!
(Eric) Let's go.
(Ash) This is KJRX. We've been hit by a massive storm cell.
Several twisters tore through town raising buildings
leaving many dead. It looks to be headed your way. You need to issue warnings.
Come on, Frank. Give me those codes.
Here we go.
Did I ever tell you you're a beautiful woman?
What?
Now's a good time for a confession.
Come on, Frank! Give me the codes.
Yes!
Give me that print out.
Hey, are these the access codes?
Yup.
Can I make a copy of these?
(Gary) Nope.
Come on. Come on.
Damn it!
They're all around us.
What do we do? We gotta stop.
(Charlie) Better buckle up. We're going through it.
We can't do that!
We need to shoot through at the right angle.
It'll shoot us through like a slingshot.
Are you crazy?
Are you just figuring that out?
That's not gonna work.
For my book I researched some physics.
It's called the moment of inertia. I just need the right speed.
Hang on!
Oh, no.
(Ash) What's going on?
They're not gonna make it.
(Charlie) We're gonna make it!
(Damon) Oh, my God, we're gonna die.
Beautiful.
Let's play.
Move! Get the inside, now!
You gotta be kidding me!
Come on. Hurry up. Take cover!
Damon!
No!
Damon!
Joanne!
Damon!
(Charlie) There's nothing we can do.
AII we can do is stop this from happening.
Are you all okay?
Unfortunately, not all of us.
Is this facility operational?
Yes.
Alright. We don't have much time.
I knew you were coming.
I'm just not sure what you need.
These are cyclonic storms drawing their power from the upper atmosphere.
We need to punch a hole in the ozone
to use our satellites to reach the Mesosphere
so we can extinguish these storms and save millions of lives.
(Charlie) Are you getting the picture?
Control room is this way.
(Eric) What's wrong?
I don't think these are the right codes.
How can they not be?
Well if I knew that!
Try your cases.
My what?
It could be case sensitive.
It happens to me all the time.
Why don't you just go back to your little corner there--
Take a hike!
Wow. I'm in.
(Charlie) How long to power up the array?
Not long. What's your plan?
Open a wedge up in the ozone.
(Lady) Okay. Powering up.
I hope Gary got the codes.
(Charlie) You can't write it--
Please don't say that stupid line!
Nothing good happens when you say that.
(Ash) You have to hurry, we're getting reports of massive storms over the cities.
(Gary) And one of them's over H.A.R.T.
Well, no one's gonna be waiting on me.
You did it?
Yeah.
Yeah?
Dude.
Good stuff.
Gary did it.
We've 3 minutes until the satellites are in place.
(Lady) We'll be at full power by then.
Let's just hope the storm doesn't freeze the array.
They're in control of the satellites.
It's all on them now.
The storms?
Critical mass.
Lord help us.
What is that?
(Lady) We just went to generator power.
Not another generator. Is it enough to power the array?
(Lady) It should be.
(Security) No!
(Charlie) We're out of time!
(Lady) Power's coming back,
we're at 75 percent.
(Lady) We're at 85 percent!
Come on, guys, fire it now!
Come on!
(Lady) 95 percent! Almost there!
It's now or never.
Fire it!
(Gary) Guys, something's happening.
(Ash) What's going on?
The facility wasn't built for this!
Is it working?
The beam is getting cold.
Yes!
(Jo) They fired the satellite but is it working?
Is it working?
Uh, I don't know.
They're dying out.
Oh, they hit it.
(Eric) Yes!
(Gary) Yes, they did it.
(Ash) Yes!
I can't believe it.
Huh? Yes! They did it!
(Eric) Yes!
Sir, I think it worked.
I think they did it.
(Charlie) Here they are.
So it was you. I told you it was Charlie.
So? What's with all the hush rush stuff?
Why are we meeting so secretively?
Your assignment was A Day in the Life of Charlie Price.
Yeah, it was.
What do you say we do something better?
Yeah. What's on your mind?
You ready for this?
I think so. As ready as I'm ever gonna be.
After this I'II have to go back to being your research assistant.
I should be so lucky.
Set up the camera.
Alright.
It's supposed to rain today?
No, Charlie. You can't write it any better than this.
Hey, I didn't say it.
Sir, we have a problem.
Why do I care about this?
Because copies were sent to the Senate investigation committee.
What?
(Assistant) Sir, there are a couple of federal agents here to see you.