Control, the hive is humming.
I repeat, the hive is humming.
Control, we have confirmed cloud formation.
I repeat, the cotton is in the gin.
Roger that. We have minimal winds and a very high ceiling. Looking good.
- And Gary, - Yeah.
can you quit with the metaphors? You're driving us crazy.
Roger that.
Mr. Price, would you describe your writings based on science...
or apocalyptic sensation?
I do think the whole science community is missing the big picture.
Apocalyptic? Well, maybe a little.
Then again, that's what sells these days, doesn't it?
Please 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.
What time is it?
6:00, why?
No reason.
Why?
I have got a date.
- But we just got here. - Plenty of time.
Remember the Cafe Barista, you should get us a couple of really nice cappuccinos?
- Charlie! - I'm just kidding.
She's an old colleague of mine.
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.
I thought about this a lot, and in all 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.
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 and the actually work?
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.
Yeah, 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! - Wooh...
It is raining.
We did it, Jo.
You should see this.
You don't see that everyday.
Guys, we have a situation...
14 miles due east from 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 to the rest-stop 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.
Yeah, that makes no sense.
Can we drop it? I'm done.
Yeah, and so is the book signing if we don't hurry, okay?
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 what it does.
Just don't blame me that we might miss the damn book signing, okay?
Hello?
Our assignment was "A Day in the Life of Charlie Price".
A day, not 10 minutes, not an hour. A day.
Did you see that? Did you see those clouds?
Those aren't normal. I'm gonna get my camera.
What're you talking about?
You didn't see it?
I 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.
What we need to focus on is why the first quarter...
didn't perform as well as the third quarter...
Excuse me one moment, ladies and gentlemen.
What is it?
Our weather sat Delta, picked up a blip on the radar...
and your project Rain Dance test..
Do you mind telling me what a "blip" is?
Yeah, uh...
It's a storm. That's what Rain Dance is supposed to do.
Rain Dance is close to 14 miles away from us.
Put Damon on the phone.
Sorry about that, ladies and gentlemen.
Yeah.
This can't be. This can't be.
Alright, let's just not jump to conclusions, Joanne.
Gary, talk to me.
I checked all the data, it makes no sense.
Radar, thermals?
Yes, of course, ULF scan, infrared,
I'm telling you, we didn't pick up on anything until after it hit.
- So what, then? - I don't know...
the computers aren't telling anything.
Something happened here. Keep looking.
Yeah, I'm looking. I'm looking!
Widen your search.
Data doesn't point to us.
Let's hope not.
You sure your okay?
I'm fine! Really, I'm fine.
They just wanna take a look at you, the the cut looks pretty bad.
- If you think I'm gonna let... - Guys, put a gag in her mouth...
she doesn't know what she's talking about.
I'll meet you there.
Joanne Dyson!
You still trying to save the world...
with one drop of water at a time or... you're 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?
Hey, uh, you two, uh... know each other?
Uh... yes. Damon, meet Charlie Price.
Oh... Yeah, I know who Charlie Price is.
I was his research assistant at the university...
before he became a famous writer.
I didn't know that.
You left science fact, for science fiction. Huh?
So, were you here for all this, Charlie?
You know me, I've always had this...
uncanny sense for being where the action is.
Oh, excuse me.
It's Frank.
Yeah, Frank, it's me.
- Frank sounds important? - He is.
What happened here, Charlie?
Oh, just this massive storm cell appeared out of thin air...
um... this guy opened up like Armageddon...
and with a blink of an eye... disappeared.
What you doing here, Jo? And so fast, I might add.
We picked the storm up on our radars, so 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, Charlie? You know we 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 plenty of time to figure out what happened.
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 here in the middle of nowhere, when this happens.
Even I can't conjure up that kinda buisness.
We've been stationed here for three years, you know that.
- Doing what? - Mostly robotics.
Robotics. Come on, Jo.
Sorry about the interruption. Damon Jarwell,
- Ah... - I'm a fan of your books,
crazy as that may be.
Well, it's fiction, Damon, it's supposed to be crazy.
Kind of like a grown woman in trench coat...
sifting through puddle of water with a test tube.
Hm. Don't tell me. Earthworm boxin'.
Latest experiment is with mechanical earthworms.
Or, uh... maybe it's drainage or maybe it just had someting to do...
with the freak storm that just tore through this town.
We want to, uh, cut out, I guess, we got a lotta work to do.
Of course, uh... I'm sure you both do.
So I take it, our dinner plans are off for tonight?
Yeah. Sorry, Charlie. Rain check?
No pun intended.
I have a TV interview tonight anyway.
Can't wait to tell 'em, about all the fun stuff the FSF is doing out here.
You know, earthworm robotics, all that kinda stuff.
Hey, what's Frank's last name? I'd love a quote.
Don't do this, Charlie.
I just can't seem to help myself.
What do you want?
I wanna know what you're doing.
That's outta the question.
Oh, come on, Damon, that'd be fun.
No, this conversation is over.
I'm no genius but, uh... you come here checking puddles...
for residual trace elements.
I bet if I did my own sampling I could find some 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 these days, are we?
Be careful. You're smacking a hornet's nest on this one.
That is a terrible analogy.
It's the truth.
Is it? People died here.
This isn't going away. I'll make sure of that.
Just... excuse us for a second.
Look, Damon. I know Charlie. He's a dog with a bone.
I'll bury him and that bone if I have to. This is our entire career.
Exactly, 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?
Where?
Another storm cell formed.
So we're storm chasers now, huh?
Get in the car!
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, uh... we missed Charlie at the book signing...
we could go to the TV station and wait from there.
Plan?
We're fine.
Well, it must've had something to do with those crazy clouds we found...
something happened here.
Yeah, it's called weather. It happens in a lotta places, I hear.
Look. Could we just go and get our failing grade over with?
Uh-huh.
There you go.
What's that for?
Uh... how about something you need on the way.
Say you gotta go? There it is.
Gee, thanks.
Are you sure this is the right place?
This is where Gary said the storms formed.
What do you expect to find?
Hopefully nothing.
You see anything?
Come on, we can't go chasing a little gust of wind and drop of rain now, can we?.
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.
What's causing these cells to form?
I'm telling you, Jo, I don't know. They... they are like ghosts...
they are coming and going with no rhyme or reason...
they're moving through areas of absolutely no frontal activity.
Maybe that's what I tell Damon they're just ghost storms.
That should go over well.
I'm sure Frank would love to hear that.
Okay, well, what do you want me to say, Jo?
Because at this point, everything is on the table.
Well, keep looking, Gary. We have to figure this out.
Okay, fine. Bye.
What's this?
Oh! Cold.
What's wrong?
This water's freezing.
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 of 'em just floating around up there.
Why doesn't that sound comforting?
What's it do?
Hold on, Charlie, this is classified information, remember?
Oh, you mean this?
- Finder's keepers. - Hey, come on...
we have more important things to do. Look...
if something's gone wrong, it's because we missed it.
We need to challenge what we think we know, with some fresh outside perspective.
Charlie is one of the most brilliant men, I've ever known.
I agree.
You're not helping. Look.
We need to think outside of the box...
and he could be a zero gravity thinker.
Him, as your gravity thinker?
Hey, why not? I'm feeling lighter already.
Fine. Whatever.
It's part of a seraph.
It's basically a self propelled, self sustaining, silver iodide generator.
Silver iodide generator?
They've been seeding clouds for 50 years that's nothing new.
Well, to seed clouds you actually need clouds.
Something that's becoming increasingly rare in our drought-plagued regions.
Joanne's technology first makes the clouds.
Then it seeds them. It's revolutionary.
But is it incendiary?
What?
This thing can be a pretty nasty weapon...
if pointed in the right direction.
Mr. Conspiracy. Well, you know what?
Not every government science project is a weapon.
Said the blind man to his deaf dog.
- What? - All I'm saying...
you can't make something out of nothing.
It's water, and the chemical reaction it creates is sound.
So please, let's just... 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'm fine, I told you it was nothing. Just shaken up a little.
Well, that's a relief.
Yeah, look, I'm gonna head out of town early.
I'm a city girl.
Would you like me to take you?
No, no, you should stay. You love this stuff anyway.
Good for a new book. No?
Fortunately I think, I wrote this one already.
Be sure you make that interview and I'll meet up with you in LA.
Yeah, I'm not sure that I can. Something's come up.
What? It better be the bubonic plague.
Charlie, you are going to make that interview!
As much as I can't stand this place...
these 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!
Oh, boy, he's blue.
It's really bad.
He's... frozen solid.
This is silver poisoning.
He's pumped 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.
Just a minute, Joanne. If you pull the plug now,
it’s not gonna go well for the future of the program.
People are dead, Damon. We had a hand in it.
Whoa. Hang on. You know what's at stake here?
and it took me way to long, to get us this funding to begin with.
Look, I understand the ramifications, but...
I'm sorry. I'm... I'm gonna recommend full abort.
Hey, Frank.
Talk.
Well, the second storm is confirmed, and our fingerprints are all over it.
Any idea why this is happenin'?
No, not yet, but we found a downed seraph...
we're taking it back to the mobile lab, 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.
Plus I can't promise continual funding, with a mess like this.
We'll, what am I gonna tell Joanne? We're seeing more confirmed casualties.
Don't tell her anything. You don't work for her, you work for me.
Those things stay up in the air.
There's too much at risk to take them 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!
Nice little fly by night operation you got here.
It's a mobile unit, Charlie. Ever seen one?
- Sir? - Here.
- Gary... - Phil!
Yeah.
- Can you check this out? - I got it.
- Gary... - Yeah. I know who this is.
Hi.
Hello.
I have work to do.
What's eating him?
He's a little busy right now.
Not everyone's a fan.
- Ash! - Yeah.
- You okay? - Yeah. I think so.
- What does that mean? No, I'm okay.
- Is 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... must've got sucked away or something.
I can't get any service.
Great. The truck is stuck. What are we gonna do now?
I guess we try and walk to the TV station.
The truck's not gonna get us anywhere.
- Okay? - Okay.
- A hell of a day, huh? - Oh, yeah.
Ah, shoot! My camera.
What are you doing?
Hey, do you remember the last time a confirmed twister hit this area?
- About ten minutes ago? - No, before that.
- No. - How's "never"?
Do we have workups on the storms?
Uh... right here, guys.
Have we mapped them yet?
Everything's right there, Jo.
No, she means if you started to profile it.
Excuse me?
She's looking for a pattern here.
Okay, could someone please tell the... fiction writer...
not to tell me how to do my job?
The first storm hit here and then there were two more.
The whole area's unstable, they storms poping up everywhere.
There mandatory evacuation of five counties, including this one.
It looks like it's growing, but I can't make out any pattern yet.
Other than the fact that there is no pattern.
- I thought I just said that. - Uh... you did, Gary.
What're you guys, twins?
Relax, guys. We're all trying to figure this out.
Jo, These are completely unpredictable...
we're only getting signatures after they're formed,
and too late to do anything about it.
And therein lies a pattern.
Is he writing riddles now?
What is your point, Charlie?
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.
You see the consequences had consequences.
My little hero was so buried in the human equation,
he missed the bigger picture. A systemic reaction.
Well, we're still missing the point.
He's saying, we're not looking in the right place.
It took a long way to get there.
I'm a fiction writer. We, uh... tend to do that.
You see the seraphs are simply the match, the storms are the fire...
we just have to figure out where the fuel is coming from.
Well, I bet you already have an idea, don't you Charlie?
There's a very loud sonic boom, during the storm.
You, uh... heard thunder.
No, no, it wasn't thunder. It was something else,
these seraphs you say, they make the clouds and then seed them with silver iodide?
How exactly are they doing this?
These tiny wind turbines supply power to their propulsion systems...
so there's no limit to how long they can stay airborne.
Once up, each one has a memory shared moisture evaporator...
designed to condense liquid nitrogen over the upper atmosphere.
Upper atmosphere?
I thought these were in Troposphere.
They are. Right at the ceiling, just below the Tropopause.
It's useless.
The chips are fried. We're not getting anything off it.
Question! What were your temp readings during your control storms?
Normal. The storms don't affect the temps.
Oh, they don't?
There was a massive change of temperature, when the storm hit Harrisford.
It was a near freezing water where I pulled that thing out of.
What are you getting at?
Anyone have a marker? A pen?
Behind you.
The seraphs are here...
taking any 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?
Correct me if I'm wrong?
- No, you're right. - Alright.
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 like that. It is now.
The boom I heard has got to be the pauses...
that separate the layers of this atmosephere, being shredded apart,
that would account for the severe drop in temperature...
and would also account for the fact...
that you can't predict where these storms are coming from.
Well, that is absolute fiction.
We've been on this project for 3 years now...
But you can't explain why this is happening, can you?
Hm?
Any of you?
The reason you can't track these storms...
because they're not happening here.
They're starting here and forcing their way down.
I've heard enough of this.
What? Something I said?
Damon.
Look, Jo. We have a real problem on our hands...
I'm not gonna stand around here and listen to this joker concoct his next book idea.
I know. Let's just get the seraphs down, collect the data and we'll know for sure.
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?
Jo, calm down, okay? It's not our call.
Frank wants them to complete their cycle.
If we took them down now he's gonna put a plug in the whole project.
- Over my dead body. - Jo.
Jo!
Sir, I have Joanne Dyson on the line for you.
Sir?
Take a message.
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 over there...
it kinda fades and then darkens.
Oh, yeah, yeah, look at that cloud. It kinda looks like a circus cloud.
Oh, oh, and that one looks like a chihuahua riding a tricycle.
I'm serious.
No, I think the accident permanently damaged your brain.
Are you still cold?
No. Not anymore. Are you?
No.
Seems to have warmed up a bit, huh?
And that's not weird to you?
Oh, I didn't think much about it, I mean. Before I was cold and now I'm not.
Yeah, it was near freezing earlier.
I mean, normally, one would have to be in the deserts of Mongolia...
to experience a weather change that drastic...
and this one happened in what? Course of an hour or less?
Eric, it's getting cold again.
- We need to find shelter. - Yes.
- Come on. - I'm seriously scared.
It's okay, it's okay. We're gonna be fine.
I just can't believe you didn't tell me this earlier.
Okay, Jo, just breathe, alright?
That would be a little crazy right now, alright?
A little crazy. It's still my project, Damon!
Uh... well, I don't think Frank sees it that way.
Why? What did he say?
Uh...
He said that he finances, so, he owns it. You know.
He... can't... 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.
Your book, your novel, your best seller, that was my idea and you stole it.
What on God's green earth are you talking about?
Gary was working on a wonderful book, about the rising CO2 levels.
So?
- So, well, - you stole it!
You penned it off as your own.
I'm completely lost here, fellas.
Gary, are we still linked with the seraphs?
Phil?
Uh... uh... well, I... I believe so.
How about control?
Yeah. Why?
Good. Take them down.
Joanne, that is a dangerous game you're playing.
Take them down!
- We can't! - Why?
Not from here.
The kill command sit with Frank in the Department Heads strictly.
We don't have that kinda power.
That's garbage.
Well, if we can't take down them down,
then we can sure as heck change, what they're doing up there, right?
Joanne, I wish you reconsider...
because once you go down this path there's no coming back.
But we could reverse the process.
- What? - Reverse the ionization process,
they won't grab anymore moisture,
they simply be redistributing it...
- instead of processing it. - OK. We have never done that before.
We haven't had to. Will that work?
I don't know. Maybe. It would work in one of my books.
Oh! Well, there's the zero gravity thinking we've been looking for.
Or maybe it's just "zero thinking".
Or maybe it's Gary's next best seller.
Gary, can that be done?
It would've been done, if this guy hadn't stolen it!
No, Gary! Can we reverse the ionization process?
Theoretically, I'll... I'll try.
I'm gonna have to get my resume together after I do, Jo.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, that's not good.
What?
We got another cell. A bad one.
Where?
Here,
Oh, guys, the temp just crashed in the test area.
- Oh, guys... - Get the signal all down.
Then we'll have to refigure the seraphs' activity.
I don't know, Jo. I told you, I haven't done it before.
Look, hurry!
We got a twister!
Oh, man, that is coming straight for us.
It's freezing everything in its path.
Okay, everybody, in the trucks. Let's go. Come on. Let's go!
I got it, guys, we need the data.
No, leave it! Jump in the truck and let's get outta here, come on!
- Don't! Leave it! Go! - Damon, move!
Come on!
Wait!
Get out!
Phil!
Ah!
Come on, let's go!
- Did they make it? - I don't know. I can't see.
Come on. Come on. We'll be safe in there.
Come on. Grab my hand.
Hug me.
Hold on tight.
Hold on.
How long ago was this?
A half hour, sir.
You tried making contact?
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? - Mh-hm.
I just don't understand. I mean, what could be causing this?
Government testing.
- Come on. - I'm serious.
Governments been trying to control the weather for years.
No, this doesn't look like control...
- this looks more like out of control. - I said trying.
Oh hell, China does it all the time.
You know that last year, 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, it's not possible! What's possible is us failing this class.
Well, what if we change the assignment?
When we get to the TV station, we take the footage,
cut together a piece, you see it all the time on the news,
you're covering one story, something else happens, boom. No?
Well Eric, that's, uh... the best idea you've had all day.
Are you being facetious?
No... no, it's... 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 to 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, my dear.
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?
Darfur? Ethiopia?
Hundreds of thousands of people are dying.
And we're close, Charlie.
I understand the world's problems, Joanne.
So what are you doing about it then?
What happened to you, Charlie? You were...
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. Well, 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?
Well, good for you, Charlie Price.
Hey, let's just try to stay on the same team here.
Well, you never were really a team player at all, were you?
What happened to the hugging?
We were hugging. I felt the warmth.
Well, I was just trying to stay alive.
- Hey. - Are you alright?
Yeah. How about you two?
Where's Phil?
Get in.
Anything?
No.
So, how're we gonna fix this?
Gary?
We only need a broadband connection.
You guys see what I see?
I'm not hungry.
No, Gary. He means the Wi-Fi.
Oh, um... yeah, it's probably worth a shot.
Hello?
Hello!
There's nobody here.
May be down the storm cellar with Auntie Em.
Enough with that, Charlie.
Remember the mandatory evacuation?
Sorry... bad habit, I think.
I didn't realize you were thinking at all.
What're you doing?
Well, hospitality's a little slow here, Jo.
- Can you get that table, Damon? - Yeah.
Phones are still out.
If phones are out, how we getting online?
Wi-Fi runs with the cable modems, they're underground.
Damon, give the writer a price.
Can someone try the lights?
Power's out.
Oh, for Pete's sake! Come on, it's a motel,
there's gotta be a generator here somewhere.
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.
You got the disks?
Yeah.
Come on.
I'm sure there's some keys down here...
Or you can do that.
A generator.
Charlie can't write it better than this.
"Cyber geeks".
What?
He called us cyber geeks?
- Or maybe you can. - What do you mean?
We're outta gas.
We have gas in the SUV. We can siphon some out.
Yes, we do.
Where is everybody?
I take it, they're evacuated, and they must with their families.
News? News doesn't sleep. They're never closed.
We're not in New York, Eric.
- This is small town USA. - Don't knock the small town.
Our first job's gonna be in a place like this.
I wonder if they just scrapped the interview with Price altogether.
Probably.
Alright, so where to now?
Where to? I'll take this footage and cut it togather and write this story.
- They're not going to. - Okay.
So let's find a way back to the university.
We're talking about breaking a story. Time's of the essence here. Come on.
Yeah, I get it, but this place is closed.
Yeah, but how closed?
Eric, you're not talking about breaking in, are you?
It's not breaking in. We were invited.
Eric, it's closed.
I don't see a sign. I'd say the doors were mistakenly locked.
Breaking and entering is not gonna look good on our resumes.
You kidding? It's Reporter 101!
Breaking and entering and not getting caught...
is the corner stone of our industry.
That's how it's done in this field.
Look at this. Huh?
If you want something bad enough, the universe conspires with you to get it.
I wanted a pony as a kid...
- but I never got one. - Yeah?
You help me break this story,
what you'll get is two ponies.
And the Lord said.
Let there be light.
I sure hope this works.
It's got to.
Okay, I have the up link. It's weak but it's there.
Will the signal get through?
It should.
Gary, pull up the Doppler for me.
Oh-oh!
Well, this gets better by the minute. It's getting awfully close to Portland.
Gary, how much longer?
Uh... I don't think they're responding.
What're you doing?
It's my attempt to make an email punch him in the face.
How'd that feel?
I feel better when this is over.
This is Frank, Where's that plane?
I need some kind of visual. We're flying blind here!
I'm telling you. It's like we're shut out.
- Frank. - Just keep trying.
We're losing power.
We can't be. The generator's full.
- Signal's fluctuating. - We need more power!
- Try a hammer. Not good.
- I'll check the genny. - Wait, wait, wait!
I have a link.
It's weak but it's there.
What about the seraphs?
They're still holding their pattern, but they're not responding.
They just aren't responding!
We have to override them, keep trying.
Something is wrong with the pressure.
We just lost an engine.
We're going down.
Mayday! Mayday!
We lost contact with the recon plane.
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.
Is that what you're telling me, Damon, that Frank locked us out?
That's where my money is.
Well, it's a possibility, that the connection was weak,
then the signal could've been jumbled from the transmission...
maybe coming from another source and the seraphs just... well, ignored it.
So now these things are... artificially intelligent?
No, that's not what I'm saying, I'm saying I need a solid signal...
I need some sort of satellite up link that isn't land based.
What about Frank, what if he did lock us out?
- Then it's useless. - No.
Of course it's not!
And even if he did, I can get in there, I can hack it.
He can't keep me out.
Good thinking.
Look, we can't even get a phone line to work, we're in the middle of nowhere.
Where do you suggest we find a satellite feed?
- Thank you, Nora. - Who?
How about a TV station?
Yeah, that would work. Where?
I'll show you. I'm supposed to be there in an hour.
Oh, this is terrific stuff.
Oh, this footage is priceless!
How's the piece coming?
Here. How does 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, though.
Like what?
Oh, um, "materializes and fictionalizes" right next to each other,
- says quite a little. - Yeah, it's to of a mouthful.
And then, uh, "fatal consequence" kinda sounds like a sore soup.
A what?
You know what it means... I'm a pampel.
- Eric? - Hm...
We'd better not get in trouble for this.
Relax, we're done already.
No one's going to jail for editing.
The worst thing they'll do is charge us a rental fee.
Oh, my Gosh.
Look at that.
It must've been right in it's path.
Hello!
Can anybody hear me?
Can anyone hear me?
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! And where's Frank?
Probably in some office somewhere reading sports pages.
- Joanna. 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 and 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're right.
When you start these things...
you never expect something like this to happen.
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...
deep down I don't think he can stomach it either.
And Gary's...
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!
Come on, the twister's coming! Let's go! Let's go!
Sir, we're not sure yet what happened to the plane,
right now that's what Intel is... calling it 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. - Okay.
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 outta the sky.
I don't need these storms hitting a populated area.
These things are all over the place.
Whoa.
My God!
We're not sure where these storms all are coming from...
Put up a
Okay, look at me for a minute.
Alright.
- Okay. Feel pretty good about it? - Yup! Yeah, I think so. Let's do it.
Okay.
Oh, crap. We got company. Hide!
Hide? I thought you said no one goes to jail for this!
Yeah, with this...
maybe. It's just... the breaking and entering part, I'm a little iffy on, okay?
- I'm not hiding. - Is it?... look...
look at the truck it says FSF,
that's Federal Special Forces. Are you doubting me?
- It looks closed. - The news is never closed.
Hello? Anybody in there?
Would you hide? Hey!
Special Forces? Really.
Look at the truck.
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.
Yeah, yeah, it's Charlie Price.
Hi. Wait a minute. Who are you again?
We're from the... university.
We're supposed to be doing an interview with him...
but... there's some crazy weather going on outside,
it took our car, we were stranded...
Any of you guys see what's going on?
So, neither of you two work here?
Yeah, they co-host the nightly news. Try the phones.
Oh, don't bother, they're dead.
- Sorry. - We already tried.
Uh... satellite feed's up and running.
Working on it.
Gary, put the Doppler and start tracking the storms.
What're you doing here?
Well, we were late to your book signing...
so we decided to try to catch you here. Um... we got this crazy footage, Mr Price.
Yeah, like something outta one your books.
Footage? You mean you taped it?
Yeah, we were just getting ready to put a piece together.
Uh, where would that tape be?
- That's it right there. - Oh, great. Thanks.
- Gee, that's my tape. - Not any more.
Hey, you can't do that! Who are you guys?
She's right, you know. You can't do that.
Reestablished contact.
Give him back that tape. So, order them down.
I told you I've got contact, I didn't say we're in control,
we're still locked out.
What about the storms? How long do we have?
Uh... from the looks of it, I'd say only a few hours.
- A few hours before what? - Nothing.
You guys testing some kind of crazy weather program?
Gary, can you get those things down?
- Back off. I'm trying. - We don't have time.
- What do you have on the tape? - I'm right. Right?
What's on your mind, Charlie?
Can we get this Frank on the line?
It's time to take back control of the situation.
How do you plan on doing that?
I don't know. I'm writing this as we go.
Thank God you're alive, we've been trying to reestablished contact.
We're not all alive, Frank. People are dead. Phil is dead.
And Frank, 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're you doing about it, Frank?
Relax, Jo. We have ordnance on the way to take them out now,
I understand that you've been through hell and back...
but we have no choice, we have 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.
Well, 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.
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.
You're gonna do great things, Joanne.
But I should've know better, right?
Not necessarily.
Even as bad as this is, Charlie...
no matter what you think of me,
the reality is progress doesn't fund itself.
No, it doesn't, does it?
The 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 something,
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.
- What do you mean? - how can that be?
It's actually getting worse.
It's headed straight for Portland.
How can it be getting worse?
The match is gone but the fire's still lit.
The reaction's perpetuating itself.
That's outrageous. The seraphs are down, the storms are gonna burn themselfs out.
- And if it doesn't? - How could it be not.
What're you talking about, Charley? What do you mean, if it doesn't?
- The eye of Jupiter. - What?
Brace yourselfs, people. I think the writer is cracking another can of zero gravity.
I don't care what you think. This storm won't dissipate.
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, Charlie.
Oh, guys, 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.
The cells have gotten worse.
How is this possible?
We're trying to figure that out right now.
I'm offering help I can give. I just need to know what that is.
Would've been nice a few hours ago.
Uh... hello Frank... Eric here.
You know, in the, uh... critically acclaimed book "Ionos-Fear".
The, uh... the mercenaries take over H.A.R.T...
and they shoot holes in ozones. Cool?
Um... maybe you could drown these storms like that?
Wow, Eric, that's a real sweetener.
I'm sure Mr. Price thanks you for reading, 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, Frank.
The author?
No, Tin-man.
But 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 just keeps getting crazier by the second.
Is that possible, Joanne?
Theoretically.
Yeah, I mean, the H.A.R.T facility is real.
Hey, it's really far away.
It's in Alaska.
Well, actually, the university has a high altitude array.
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, Joanne? Charlie? Hm?
H.A.R.T could, uh... open up the ozone...
but we need a heating element, like, uh... reflective satellites...
to concentrate the sun's energy where we need it.
That would take me weeks...
just to cut through the red tape, to free up those satellites.
What you actually mean, Frank,
you don't wanna do it, because you don't want your fingerprints all over it.
Look, I'm offering all the help I can give!
But you want it, you take it now.
- Or what? - Guys, I can get this done a lot sooner.
What do you think you have me around for?
Look, Frank, all I need is an access code to the satellite...
and then we only be borrowing it for a bit.
Do you know where this facility is?
About 30 miles from here,
just outside Beaverton.
Gary, I'll get you those access codes, but I need assurances.
Well you're not getting any.
We're not doing a damn thing, 'till you give Joanne back her program.
What?
We all know what you did, Frank. You hijacked the research.
You locked us out, and we couldn't 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've taken it already.
Alright, allrigh, alright, I'll give you what you want. Just stop those things.
Well, we got some storms to stop.
When this is over I want Frank's head.
I'll help you get it, but we have bigger problems right now.
Uh... FYI, hello?
If you guys are actually driving to the university...
you're gonna be headding for the heart of the storms.
I love a challenge.
Do you love suicide runs? Because that's what you're dealing with.
Here, kid.
You two know how to work the TV equipment?
- Yes. - Send out a storm warning.
Get the footage out. Contact as many stations as you can.
Tell people to stay inside. Take shelter.
Alright. Let's set the sky on fire!
Ash, come on. Let's go.
This is KJRX. We've been hit by a massive storm cell.
Several twisters tore through town, raising buildings and 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, Joanne?
What?
I think now's a good'a time as any, 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?
Nope.
Come on. Come on.
- Damn it! - They're all around us.
- What do we do? We gotta stop. - Better buckle up.
- We're going through it. - You're crazy. We can't do that!
We just need to shoot through at the right angle.
It'll shoot us through like a slingshot.
Are you crazy?
You're just figuring that out?
- That's not gonna work. - Yes, it will. Read more.
For my book Monstera, I researched some physics.
It's called the moment of inertia. I just need the right speed.
Hang on!
Oh, no.
Hey. What's going on?
They're not gonna make it.
We're gonna make it!
Oh, my God, we're gonna die.
Come on, beautiful.
Let's us play.
Move! Get inside, now!
You gotta be kidding me!
Come on. Hurry up. Take cover!
- Damon! - No!
- Damon! Damon! - Joanne, let's go inside.
- Joanne! - Damon!
Joanne! No!
- Damon! - No!
Let me go! Damon!
There's nothing we can do.
All 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. We better hurry.
I knew you were coming.
- I'm just not sure what you need. - A stormed version.
What you see are cyclonic storms drawing their power from the upper atmosphere.
We need to use this facility to punch a momentary hole in the ozone...
so we can use our satellites to reach the Mesosphere...
so we can extinguish the storms and save millions of lives.
You're getting the picture?
The control room is this way.
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? - The cases.
It could be case sensitive. Try your cases.
It happens to me all the time.
Okay, you know what? Why don't you just go back to your little corner there...
- Look, look, look, I'm just trying to help. - Take a hike!
Wow. I'm in.
How long to power up the array?
Not long. What's your plan?
Need to wedge open the ozone.
Okay. We're powering up.
I hope Gary got the codes.
- I'm telling, Jo, you can't write it any... - Please don't say that stupid line!
Nothing good happens when you say that.
You'll have to hurry, Gary, we're getting reports of massive storms over the cities.
And one of them's over H.A.R.T.
Well, no one's gonna be waiting on me.
Oh, you did it?
- Oh, yeah. - Yeah?
Dude. Good, good stuff.
Gary did it.
We have 3 minutes until the satellites are in place.
Good, we'll be at full power by then.
Let's just hope the storm doesn't freeze the array.
They have control of the satellites.
It's all on them now.
The storms?
Critical mass.
Lord help us.
What is that?
That I was afraid of. We just went to generator power.
Not another generator. Is it enough to power the array?
It should be.
No! No!
We're out of time!
Power is coming back.
We're at 75 percent right now.
We're at 85 percent!
Come on, guys, fire it now! Come on, now!
Come on!
We're at 95 percent! Almost there!
It's now or never.
Fire it!
Guys, something's happening.
Gary, what's going on?
The facility wasn't built for this!
Is it working?
The beam is getting cold.
Yes!
They fired the satellite, but is it working?
Is it working?
Uh... is... I don't know.
They're dying out.
Oh... they hit it.
Yes! Yes.
- Yes!... Yes! - They finely did it.
I can't believe it.
Guys... Huh?
- Look! They did it! - Yes!
Yes, they did!
Sir, I think it worked.
I think they did it.
- Here they are. - So, it was you.
I told you it was Charlie.
So? What's with all the hush-hush stuff?
Why we meeting so secretively?
You said your assignment was A Day in the Life of Charlie Price.
Yeah, it was.
What do you say we do something better?
Yeah, absolutely. What's on your mind?
You ready for this?
I guess so. As ready as I'm ever gonna be.
You know after this, I'm gonna have to go back 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?
Sir, there're a couple of Federal Agents here to see you.