CAST LIST

SYNOPSIS

In a secure Medical Institute, a nurse is introducing a new physiotherapist to Roland Blatty. The former Head of the Bureau of Weapons has been in a persistent vegetative state since his brain was infected with the Cyberax Virus over a year previously. There were three survivors of the computer virus, which made the leap to infecting human subjects: Roland was the first to be infected. His nurse tells the physio of his requirements, and warns her of the faulty vital signs monitor that occasionally needs resetting. As the physio works it becomes clear Roland is very fit for someone in his condition: and as the young woman goes to reset Roland’s vital signs monitor for the second time in so many minutes Roland’s eyes snap open. Attacking the physio Roland is soon knocking out anyone in his path and despite a security alert he is able to steal a paramedic ambulance and leave the hospital…

Ros has moved to a new home, and is rudely awoken by Ed sitting on her doorbell. He has been trying to reach her for a while: Ros thinks the phone must be off the hook. Going upstairs to help himself to coffee Ed is stunned to see Beckett upstairs, eating breakfast in a towelling robe. Thinking that Ros and Beckett have spent the night together Ed jokes about the phone being off the hook. However, Beckett is all seriousness: he has been kicked off his boat and is staying in Ros’ spare room until he can find himself a place. Ed finds it hard to believe him, as hard as Ros find it to believe the news Jan is telling her about Roland. Beckett and Ros visit the hospital and interview Roland’s physio, who is convinced Roland woke up with a purpose in mind. Beckett immediately thinks of Roland’s compatriots and wonders if they may be prone to doing the same thing. Ros is disturbed by Beckett’s cruel attitude to the three…as it becomes clear there may be a way to track the ex-Bureau Chief. Roland is wearing a low energy short range tracker (which was never activated as it wasn’t deemed necessary) As Beckett points out to Ros it may not be much but it’s a start…

Blatty has returned to the old Bureau of Weapons Technology, and in his office he tries to use the phone without success. A recorded message informs him that all Bureau files have been transferred to the Central Records Archive, and without checking anywhere else he turns and leaves. Ed and Ros meanwhile are hijacking a mobile phone transmitter in their attempts to locate Blatty By sending a signal through the Mobile phone network not only will Ros set off every mobile in the area but she will also activate Roland’s tracker. Ed teases Ros about her houseguest and suggests that Beckett’s status as "just a friend" is Ros’ real problem… Roland is at the same time using his old access privileges to gain entry into the Central Records Archive, a fact that Ed is able to pick up and confirm from Roland’s now active tracker. Roland wastes no time in disabling the Archive’s security guard as he enters…as Beckett warns Ros and Ed to be careful as it is becoming apparent that the Roland that the three of them knew before may no longer exist. Inside the Archive Roland corners and threatens a young archivist, demanding he be taken to see all the records on Cyberax… As Ros and Ed arrive Roland is long gone: the head of the Archive realises that Blatty’s security access is still active, which will allow the old Bureau chief access anywhere. Asking what Roland has taken, Ros and Ed blanch when the Archive chief states that the entire minutes of the Fulwood Committee have disappeared. This was the group set up to report on the after-effects of Cyberax, the massive machine intelligence that French criminal Jean-Daniel tried to manipulate. There is only one, hand written copy of the minutes (to prevent anyone else hacking into the files) and as the building has been sealed only minutes previously the archive Chief feels certain Roland must still be inside. But Ed spots Blatty outside the building, the file in his hand…and a desperate Ros tries to attract Roland’s attention. She does so, but as Roland turns to face her there is no life or recognition in his eyes, and he impassionately gets back into the stolen ambulance and drives away.

Alex comes face to face with two of her co-workers as she accesses the files of the other two Cyberax victims that survived. Jenna Spinks worked in the Bureau’s computing department, whilst Samantha Jones showed Alex around on her first day. Beckett suggests they take one patient each: by the time Alex arrives to see Jenna she has already upped and left the medical centre she was kept at, causing the same amount of destruction as Blatty on her departure. Beckett is with Sam who is still unconscious, but not for long. As Beckett explains to Sam’s doctor how she could wake up at any moment Sam’s eyes snap open: she viscously attacks Beckett and escapes the hospital to join a waiting Blatty and Jenna outside. Before Beckett can get to the three of them they have driven away…

Back at the Bureau, Alex tells Ed that Ros and Beckett are living together: the news is apparently all over the Department’s e-mail… However there are far more serious issues at hand, as the team explain to a stunned Alex that Blatty and his colleagues are far more dangerous than they first appear. All have been infected with a virus from a super-intelligence which managed to jump from computers to humans: it is clear that the virus has left something special in their minds, and that whatever it is may well be thinking of trying to reactivate Cyberax itself. Jan admits she was an advisor to the Fulwood committee, and that it’s brief was to find the best way of dealing with the virus. Both Ed and Ros think the only option should have been destruction, but it quickly becomes apparent that the original programming for Cyberax itself was anything but destroyed. Ros is incensed that Cyberax could be allowed to survive, but Jan argues that it was a necessary step in the event of another such virus being created…the parts of the one could be used to combat another. Cyberax, it transpires, has been split into four parts. Jan takes the team to where the second disc is stored, and explains that the locations of two of the other parts plus the one she is showing them are detailed in the Fulwood report. The fourth part of the disk is in the personal care of the Lord Fulwood himself: Alex wonders if Roland and his accomplices are capable of getting the four parts and recreating the program. Beckett knows it’s more than a possibility: with all of the virus sufferers wearing transmitters it is time it is time to start tracking. As Ros leaves Jan with the second part of Cyberax, she turns and gives her a look that quite literally could kill…

Blatty, Jenna and Sam are planning their next move in a deserted factory unit. Each one of them will go after a part of the disk: whoever survives is charged with gaining the fourth disk from Lord Fulwood and then with the responsibility of releasing the reborn Cyberax onto the Internet. Sam asks Blatty what will happen to them after Cyberax’s rebirth: he simply replies that there is no afterwards for the three of them. The sound of an approaching off-roader sends the threesome on their way, but not before the hand-written notes on the location of the four discs is burnt. Beckett and his team arrive and split into two: Ros and Beckett find all three of the renegades discarded trackers and the remains of the Fulwood Committee’s file, Ed and Alex are too busy talking about Ros and Beckett to notice Blatty and his colleagues sneaking away behind them. Inside the building Ros is attempting the impossible: to pull an image from the charred remains of the file itself. She is successful, and sends Beckett to check on the security of Disc One. The commander in charge of protecting the disc dismisses Beckett’s claims that his security will be inadequate for the task, and reels off his impressive list of protective measures. However, Beckett is not convinced: as a cup of coffee the commander uses to demonstrate his security features around the disc area begins to vibrate the Bureau Chief begins to wonder if he’s experiencing a minor earthquake. The reality is even more unbelievable as Blatty crashes through two and a half-foot thick wall in a massive earth moving truck, gets out and simply picks up the disc. Beckett is stunned at Roland’s audacity…and at the fact that on his way out of the unit he has reduced his off-roader to a compact. Roland places Disc One into a specially adapted computer…and the first part of Cyberax is in place.

At the Bureau Jan’s attempts top contact Lord Fulwood are proving fruitless. Ros is amazed that all the instructions available from the peer on the location of the fourth disc are in a hand written letter, where he states the disc "is hidden in plain sight" Jan is concerned that the Disc Two, in the Bureau vault, is not secure. Ros however is confident…and when Jenna comes to take the disk away she discovers that it is a fake. Jan uses the real disc to lure Jenna into a trap, and with a little help from Ros and a cannister of gas the ex-Bureau employee is soon locked up in a toughened glass cage. Ros tries to communicate with her, but when asked her name all Jenna can say is that she is "a child of Cyberax" Ros pleads with Jan to destroy the disk, but Jan maintains the disks are the only link to the possibility of true artificial intelligence. Ros paints a frighteningly bleak picture of the world if Cyberax manages to get a second chance at life, a chance Ros refuses to give it…and with which Jan finally agrees. The pair are about to destroy Disc Two when Jenna breaks free of her prison and snatches the disk from their hands…the building is secured and as Ros tracks down her quarry she has no hesitation in throwing herself from the nearest window. Lying close to death on the pavement outside the building the last act of Jenna Spinks is to hand Disc Two of Cyberax to a waiting Roland Blatty…who adds the data to his computer with Disc One.

Ed and Alex have arrived at the storage location for Disc Three: the Government Data Backup Centre. Alex can’t believe the third disc is stored in a building run by a contractor who got the job for the lowest bid. Inside it’s clear that the centre has no concept of security whatsoever. Unable to gain anything from their questioning Ed is in agreement with Alex that the disc is far from safe: despite the claims from the centre’s chief that everyone knows everyone else it has been a relatively simple task for Sam to insinuate herself inside. It is also a very easy task for her to take Disc Three, the act of which sets off an alarm and an evacuation of the building…just the kind of think Ed and Alex need to steal the disk for themselves. However, when it becomes clear that not only has Sam beaten them to it but is about to send the data to Roland down a modem, swift action is called for. Alex sends Ed to cut the power while she prepares to attack Sam. However, as Sam slams her fist through a desk Alex feels that perhaps her heroism was a little too enthusiastic. As Ed tries to cut the power Alex makes an entry through a wall to join him: she is shaken but otherwise intact. Which is more than can be said for Sam: her job complete and Disc Three of Cyberax loaded she has returned to her vegetative state. Beckett arrives at the backup centre and spots Blatty: approaching the Paramedic Ambulance serving as Blatty’s base Beckett has a gun held to his head, and Blatty informs him that he is the key to obtaining the final disc in the sequence… Roland contacts Ros at the Bureau, and he tells her to take her radio away from prying ears: however Jan sees Ros’ reaction to the message and sets a trace of her own on the signal. As Roland sets out his demands to Ros, Jan is also listening in: she has two hours to find the fourth disc and to then exchange the disc for Beckett’s life. Playing on Ros’ by now obvious love for Beckett, Blatty knows Ros will try to locate the disc without interference from anyone. As Ros sprints off to locate Disc Four, Jan is not far behind.

Arriving at Lord Fulwood’s Estate, Ros is met by the sound of gunfire. Seeing a middle-aged gentlemen with a rifle on the other side of the lake outside Fulwood’s home, Ros shouts for attention… and a young boy appears from behind the older man. This is now the current Lord Fulwood, his father having died earlier that year after an illness. The young Lord tells Ros that once his father knew he was ill he cut all ties to the outside world. Ros asks him to look at his father’s letter, and whether anything within it might help locate the disc. All the young man can tell Ros is that his father is buried on the grounds of the estate…which gives Ros an idea. Beckett meanwhile is desperately trying to prevent Roland from uploading Disc Four of the Cyberax disc. Realising Roland is using a combat field computer Beckett knows as soon as Cyberax is complete the programme will upload to the global network of Military satellites, causing an instant infection… Ros has ventured deep into the Fulwood crypt and discovers the final resting-place of the 8^th Lord. Looking around she searches for something hidden in plain sight…and she finds it. The disk is acting as a halo for a saint in the chapel of the crypt, and as Ros triumphantly retrieves it, it is Jan who presses the double barrels of a shotgun in her back. Jan won’t allow Ros’ nightmare prediction to come true, but Ros now can think of nothing but Beckett’s life for the disc.

Beckett hears Ros’ affirmation that she doesn’t want to him as she steps out, ready to give up disc. As she throws the disc like a frisbee, Jan throws her the shotgun and without hesitation she shoots Roland in the chest. Beckett is safe, and as Ros helps him up he realises for the first time that she loves him as much as he loves her. As the two share a tender moment Jan goes to remove final disc from Blatty…who is very much alive, as he shoots Jan and threatens the pair that if either of them move he will shoot the other. Feeding Disc Four of the Cyberax virus into his field computer the machine completes the program and prepares to uplink…and then hit a communications problem. Beckett surmises that the lead on the roof of the crypt is blocking his signal. Blatty desperately tries to drag the computer to the top of the crypt, but shot and weak it is an easy task for Beckett to shoot the computer to pieces. His task unfinished Roland has no more need for consciousness and simply fades away…The paramedics take a comatose Roland and an injured Jan away, as Beckett and Ros finally admit their true feelings and share a first loving kiss.

A picture of the Bureau staff with bravery awards lies on Ros’ table as she prepares her home for guests and a celebratory meal. Beckett is on his way to Ros’ with Jan, Alex and Ed, who are in the middle of another of what are becoming regular arguments. Ros hears the familiar buzz of her entryphone and Beckett announcing his arrival: opening the front door she turns to greet her guests and gets a shock. As the remainder of the Bureau staff arrive to find Ros’ door wide open they suspect nothing; only when they arrive upstairs and find Ros’ home in tatters do they suspect something is wrong. Beckett picks up the award photo from the remains of Ros’ glass table and sees that she has literally been ripped from the group…