Faithful Followers


It's been two weeks and I haven't heard from him either!
And there's no way to contact him at all?
Deep cover was Nick's idea.  He's got to get into that core group of
insiders.  These luminologists are tighter than Roseanne's underwear.
They trust no one outside their core.  I was down there after the
Cardelli kid was fried.  Getting info was like pulling molars!
Speaking of whom, I don't have to remind you who the boy's father is.
Counselman Cardelli, the guy who signs the paycheck.
And he wants movement on this ASAP.  Got it?  Find out what Knight's
up to.
But Captain, if I go busting in there looking for Nick that
might... jeopardise the whole operation.
  -- Schanke and Cohen

People say that we worship the sun.  We don't worship the sun.  I
think they has us confused with Californians.  I mean, look at me, do I
have a tan?  No, the sun is a symbol.  It's our focus point.  We use
it to facilitate our meditation.  We are scientists, you and I.
That's right.  Scientists.  Someone comes up to you and asks you who
you are, you tell 'em.  Stand right up to them and tell them I am a
scientist and this is my laboratory, this is where we conduct our
experiments, and this is where we make our discoveries.  But you know
what the problem, is don't you?  There's all this... stuff... in here.
Old stuff.  Bad stuff.  Awful stuff.  Terrible stuff.  I am so
guilty.  I am such a bad person.  I have done things that no one can
ever forgive me for, and I sure can't forgive myself...
  -- Matthew Davidson

You stand in the company of kings, Nicholas.  At the birthplace of
antiquity, there is more than treasure here, there is knowledge.  This
is surprisingly good.  Cow's blood you say?
Yes, it travels rather well, doesn't it?  The Kush ruins are
remarkable.  You run a very orderly dig, Thomas, but I have the
impression, I'm not sure why, that you are looking for something
specific. 
And you would be right.  Nicholas, Carnarvon's discovery of
Tutankhamen's tomb pales besides what I have discovered here in
Khartoum.  
What have you found?
The Kush, as you know, date back almost three-thousand years.  At
their peak, their culture is said to have amassed an impressive store
of medical knowledge.
What does that have to do with us?
You came here at my bidding because you know, that I, like yourself,
believe that we vampires are not totally beyond redemption.  It has
taken me sixteen-hundred years to come to this belief.  Would it shock
you to learn that the Kush arrived at the same conclusion a thousand
years before my time?
But that would mean...
That they knew of vampires..
And they found a remedy.
Perhaps, Nicholas, perhaps.  There are clues.  I propose that we
search for the cure together.
  -- Thomas and Nicholas

Looks like the reduction of paperwork act kind of passed you by.
  -- Natalie to Schanke

Wasn't this Nick's case?
Don't ask.
So where is he?
We can only guess at this point.
You mean he hasn't contacted you?
Nope.
What do you mean, nope?
I mean he hasn't called.  No hablamos telephono.  As in the party you
are trying to reach has traveled outside the service area.
But, you guys had a conference called scheduled with Cohen for this
afternoon. 
You're not listening Natalie, he's completely incommunicado.
Don't you think that's a little weird?
Weird is B A U.  Business As Usual for Nick.
  -- Natalie and Schanke, Faithful Followers

Look, he probably just can't get away without blowing his cover.  It
happens.
Well, you think he'd at least be able to get a message out. I mean, he
is one of the more resourceful people that I know.  You don't think
that he's in any danger, do you?
C'mon Natalie!  I mean, its the love shack over there.  Its the
kindergarten for recently paroled inner children.  I mean, they might
stroke him to death, but they certainly won't force feed him cyanide,
if that's what you're thinking.
  -- Schanke and Natalie

It's about energy, energy we can see, energy we can feel, energy we can
measure.  The most important thing...the most important thing is that
we learn to receive.  We learn the science of receiving.  We open
ourselves up to it, we let it in, and it cleans us out!
  -- Matthew

Oh, Matthew, its David again, he's got a gun, he says he's going to kill
himself!
Where is he Holly?  Take me to him.
  -- Holly and Matthew

David.
I can't... Please, don't... please, don't stop me.  I don't want to
live.
Your parents came to visit you again, didn't they, David?
They want me back, they want me to give up all this.
No one can harm you as long as you're here with me, David.  You have
made your choices, and I will see that your parent's respect those
choices.
It's still the same, it's still the same as before.  Still screwed up.
Nothing is the same as before,  What was in the past, is no more in
the present.  We've rendered the past inoperative, David, we've swept
it behind us.
Nothing means anything, nothing I do, means anything.
Isn't that the voice of your father telling you that, David?  You're a
member of a new family here, David.  A family like you never had
before.  We believe in you, we share your dreams like they're our
very own.  We want you to stay with us, David.  Don't leave us.  Not
this way.  Let us make you whole again.  You can be.  You can be whole
again.
  -- Matthew and David

Oh Matthew!  Another miracle.
  -- Holly

Visualize it.  All of the energy of the sun.  All of the power of the
greater light entering your body and filling it completely and
totally.  Can you see it, David?
It's far away.
Reach for it, David, try to go to it.
I see it.  It's bright.
Let that brightness invade you, David.  Take that radiance into
yourself so that you in turn may radiate to others.  Don't resist.  Open
up.  The light is our cure.  The light is knowledge...
  -- Matthew and David

This one.  It was the first clue that I had discovered something of
huge importance to our kind.  One of the creatures of the dark world,
neither dead or alive.  And here, one of the creatures of the
underworld are drawing sustenance from the life force of the living.
Where is the indication of a cure?
Here.  One of the creatures of the underworld standing in the sun and
surviving.
This is very interesting.  And you believe that between here and
here...
Lies our salvation.  A cure.  Our quest is to unlock the words, but
how?  You spent some years at Oxford, did you not?
Yes.
Are you familiar with the work of Helen Ruskin-Slater.
Why, yes. She is the finest translater of hierglyphics in the world.
And are you not an acquaintance?
We have had some dealings in the past, yes.
What you may not be aware of is that Miss Ruskin-Slater is at Teragma,
less than a day's journey away by boat.
Yes?
I need you to convince her to come here.  You can be my letter of
introduction, as it were.  To a mortal like her, the finds here are
seemingly unimportant, but to us, Nicholas, they are the grail we have
searched centuries for.
All right, yes, I'll see if I can arrange that.
Wonderful.  Absolutely wonderful!
  --  Thomas and Nicholas

Now, who's next? Nicholas.
  -- Matthew

I don't care what's classified.  I want to know what's going on, now!
Talk to Detective Schanke, Counselor.
And you, you say you have no idea where he is?
Of course, I know where he is, but...
But?
But I have no idea how much progress he's made.  He's investigating
under cover as we speak.
He's inside the cult?
Yes, Counselor.  That was supposed to be our secret.
Look.  I know my son was murdered, and I know that bastard guru,
whatever the hell he is, Matthew, had something to do with it!
I have every confidence in Detective Knight, Counselor.
We'll hope, he at least, is doing his job.
  -- Counselor Cardelli, Cohen and Schanke

This is just a device to help us focus on our objective.  Are you
comfortable, Nicholas?
Yes.
This reminds us the sun's healing power must be channeled into all our
senses.  Especially, this least used of our receptors.  Our link with
the mystic and invisible.  The opening through which psychic energy
enters to cleanse and enrich our spirit.  Now, focus, Nicholas, and
visualize the sun's healing rays flowing through your body and soul.
Seeking out and illuminating the darkest recesses.  Filling you up with
perfect while light.  Cleansing and purifying....
  -- Matthew to Nick

Stay focused, Nicholas.  Think of yourself as being involved in a
process of incorporation...
... Take her...
... Yield to your thirst...
... Drink her, my love...
... Your spirit melding with the greater light. It's flowing into you,
finding evil and eradicating it, seeking out your sins and vaporising
them.  Let us find the truth in you.  What pains you, Nicholas, what do
you need to be rid of?
I am... I am...

...Bois, Bois, mon ami....
...Drink.  Drink up...

Don't be sorry Nicholas.  guilt is a useless emotion.  Its invalid in
the present.  It hinders.  Prevents you from healing.
  --  Mathew, Nick (Janette and LaCroix) 

Nick?  Nick?  What's with you?  You don't call, you don't write?
I don't hear.  Cohen's been sharpening her guillotine for both
our necks....where the hell have you been?  Geeze Nick, are you okay?
  -- Schanke to Nick

Tell all our people no new members.  Not until Vincent Cardelli's
death is solved to everyone's satisfaction.
Consider it done.
Oh, and Barton, Nicholas Corrigan.  Everything you can find.  He's
told me some very disturbing things.  Very disturbing.
  -- Matthew and David

You shouldn't have come.
Yeah, well tell that to the Counselor.  He's understandably in a snit
because junior beamed up.  He thinks we're sitting on our hands
here.  Nick's what's with you, you look real wiped!
I'm fine.
And?  What do I tell the boss?
Tell them I'm staying here.
You're staying?
And don't come back.
  -- Nick and Schanke

I don't know, he was stirring the soup.  He was indescribable.  It was
just so weird.  I mean you should have seen the way he looked at me.
How?
The thousand yard stare.  Nick Knight of the living dead.  I got the
distinct feeling that he was not happy to see me.
He was probably afraid that you would blow his cover.
Oh, come on, Natalie, I am smarter than that.  He wasn't making any
sense.  He was talking like he had a head full of marbles.
Maybe you were being watched.
I'm pretty sure that we were alone.  Natalie, I'm scared they're
getting to him.  He was like a zombie or something.
Close...
  -- Schanke and Natalie

My, my, my, look who's here.  Somebody must have died.
I came to speak to you about Nick,
Oh.  And here I thought you'd come for a little girl talk. 
  -- Janette and Natalie

Go.  You can finish tomorrow.
But it will be gone, I'll have to do it all over.
Of course you will.  That's half the fun.
  -- Janette and Tatoo artist

So. About Nick.
You've known him for some time?
Yes, that would be fair to say.
How vulnerable is he?
To love, do you mean?
Sort of.  To being loved.  Nick is undercover in a cult.  Luminology.
Ever heard of it?  They worship the sun, or the cosmic lighthouse, or
whatever.
Hmmm.  Nicolah in a cult.  Somehow the word ironic comes to mind.
We're worried about him. He's behaving strangely.  He's cut us off.
Really?  Do you think he's joined?
Brainwashed?  Maybe.
Usually it is Nicolah who does the brainwashing.  In answer to your
question, there are times when I, too, feel that I hardly know him,
and yes, he can be highly impressionable, depending on, you know, who
is doing the persuading.
And I am here to tell you that I am worried about him.  
  -- Janette and Natalie

My dear Doctor, Nicolah is a vampire.  And so, if he is running
with that pack, he is the wolf...they are poodles.
  -- Janette

Thank you.  So, I guess there is really nothing to worry about, is
there.
  -- Natalie

Good evening, Nicholas.  How are you feeling tonight?
I'm fine, thank you.
Good.  I was quite pleased with the way you responded to your first
cleansing.  Some people don't respond until after two or three
sessions.  A few don't respond at all, of course.
Well, I don't remember much.
A common side effect of the beginning.  A first cleansing is a powerful,
cathartic experience.  Dark thoughts and feelings come to the
surface.  Fantasies.  Secrets from this and past lives.
Was anyone else there, I mean, did anyone watch?
No.  As a courtesy no one is permitted to witness the first
cleansings.  I do video tape the sessions, though, but don't worry,
Nick, the tape's yours.  I'm happy you found us.  I think you're gonna
do well here.
Matthew, I'd like to help.  The others say you've got plans to
expand the facilites here, but I know you're probably strapped for
money, and I'm...I'm in a good position to help.
Well I'll admit we that we do operate at a loss, but I don't want your
life savings, or your house or your car.
If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have offered.
We'll talk about it later.
  -- Matthew and Nick

Well, here we are.
Mis Ruskin-Slater, we are humbled in your presence.  When Nicholas
wired me that you'd agreed to visit our site, I could not have been
more honored.
I must admit I wouldn't have come, if Nicholas had not used his very
persuasive charms to convince me.
Well do sit down, please.
I'm not here on vacation, Mr. Monroe.  It was mentioned of your discovery
of some Kush artifacts.
Yes.  Are you familiar with their hierglyphics?
Enough to know they're very complex.  The Kush assimilated many
languages and cultures.  It will be a very difficult task.
A challenge only the best may rise to.
You're not alone in your persuasiveness, Nicholas.
Our faith in you is not unfounded, is it, Helen?
I am quite able to resist blatant appeals to my vanity, Nicholas, but
I cannot resist a challenge.  show me the glphs!
Nicholas, the servants have gone to bed, would you be so kind as to
get a cup of tea for our guest?
Of course
  -- Thomas, Helen and Nicholas

Sorry I scared you.
Oh, no, its all right.  So, how was it?
Interesting.
Don't you feel great!
Well, I have to say for the first time in quite a while,
I feel better.
  -- Nick and Holly

Isn't Matthew wonderful?  He has made such a difference in my life, I 
can't tell you.  If you'd seen me two months ago, I was nuts.  This
close to losing it.  The pressure, you know the streess my marraige
was falling apart, my mother, my father, the kids...
You have children?
Uh-huh, two baby girls.
Oh, that's great!  Where are they?
I don't know.
  -- Holly and Nick

Hey, Schank!
This is getting sweeter by the minute.  Vincent Cardelli, the body
electric, had a trust fund worth thousands.  Inheritance from his
mother's side.  Guess who the beneficiary is?
Matthew Davidson.
You forgot to phrase your answer in the form of a question.
Uh, who is Matthew Davidson?
You're a winner!  On to the next round.
And I've got something for you.  Vincent Cardelli's toxicology report,
hot off the laboratory presses.  Everything's on the up and up, right?
One little thing jumps out,though, now you see that?  Trace elements of
something called tri-tetranovazine, a rather powerful psycho-tropic
drug. Now, its not commonly proscribed because it's very habit forming.
And I've neer seen it in an alkaloid-base compound like this one
before.
Well, it's possible the kid was on medication.  I mean, he did have a
history of emotional problems, as did Anthony Demaine, Edward Gelss, and
Holly Barber.  These are some of the the people I interviewed the night
of Vincent's death.  The place is a a regular bug house.  I mean all
of them have major psychiatric files, which, of course, I'm not
allowed to see, so I can't tell if any of them are homicidal.
Well, it doesn't surprise me.  I mean, Davidson made his name by treating
supposedly untreatable people.
Well, maybe this will surprise you.  I checked all of these people out,
and all of them are, relatively speaking, filthy rich.  They're all
insiders, members of the core group.  Nick's probably the only poor
slob in the whole bunch.
So, if Nick really did go over to the other side, we'd know.
If there was any unusual activity in his bank account, which I'm
checking out as we spreckinse here.  I got a call in to Cohen.
Oh, come on, you don't think Nick would give that guy any money do you?
...No.
   -- Natalie and Schanke

Very generous.  Thank you.
   -- Matthew, as Nick gives him a check

You think he what?
Well, he's, uh, he's, uh, well, we're a little concerned, is a good
word. 
And I'm a little, let see, ticked off, is a good word.  We sent him in
there to find a murder, not religion!
Well, it's not exactly a religion, Captain.  It's more like a
psycho-analytic, psychiatric... it's a meditative, sort of an
illuminating... its a crock is what it is.  And I cannot believe that
Nick has actually fallen for it!
Well, how well do you know your partner?
How well do I know...  How well does anybody know... Nick and I go back
a long ways, Captain, we are like (Schanke shows his fingers crossed)
we are like... (now his fingers are wide) we're like... (hands
slightly apart)  We're like this (hands wide) and that's why I have to
look at the bank accounts.  See if he's opened up the purse strings to
this Matthew Davidson guy.
All right.  He's going by Nicholas Corrigan, right?
Right.
... Captain, uh, why don't you have them run a check on Nicholas
Knight, too.  Just to be sure.
  -- Cohen and Schanke

Hi. 
Hi.  I'm uh, I'm looking for... actually I'm interested in finding out
more about your... uh, organization.
Oh, well, gee, you should try one of Matthew's books.  It's a great
way to start... 
Look!  You don't understand!  I can't handle my life anymore.  I feel
like I'm losing my mind and I need help, NOW!!!
I feel for you, honestly, but I'm afraid...
Oh, my gosh, are you okay?
No.
Oh, come in then.  Please, let us try to help you.
Holly, Holly, I don't know about this.
What is wrong with you?  Can't you see she needs us, that she selected
us?
Yeah, But Holly, no...  We were told...  Matthew said no new... dammit!
  -- Natalie, David and Holly

Here are the bank records you wanted, all up to date.
Thanks, Captain.
Listen, if Nick has a problem, I'm not going to let this play out much
longer.  If you think its warranted, we go in after him tommorow.  Your
call.
  -- Cohen and Schanke

You son of a....
 -- Schanke, on seeing Nick's bank account

Whatever it is, don't worry.  It'll be fine.  What did you say your
name was? 
Uh, Natalie.
 -- Holly and Natalie

What have you done?
He appears to have won our little wager.  Well done, Thomas.  You see,
Nicholas, my very old friend, Thomas, wagered me that he would be able
to persuade you to deliver this most intelligent woman to him, simply
by telling you what you so desperately wanted to hear. ... There may
be a cure.  Well, there isn't one, of course.  When will you learn,
Nicolas this quest of yours is a hopeless one?  That it will only
cause you and others misery?  Normally, I hate to lose, but the look
of utter foolishness on your face, now, makes it almost worthwhile.
  --  Nicholas and Lacroix

Sometimes, I get urges, terrible, violent, urges.  I want to hurt
people, my kids.  And I'm really afraid that one day I might actually
do something.  I couldn't bear that.  But you see, if I killed myself,
then I couldn't hurt anyone, could I?  Can you help me? I am losing my
mind!
Believe me, I know how hard it gets.  But you've come to the right
place, we'll help you.  We're scientists of the heart, here.  Well,
Matthew likes to call them our laboratories.  Wait until you meet
him.  He's wonderful. 
  -- Natalie and Holly

Yeah?
Turn on your monitor.  What did I tell you?
That Holly chit just won't listen to reason.
Well, then, use something else besides reason.  I'm holding you
personally responsible.  Take care of it, Barton.
  -- David and Matthew

You'll be fine.  You'll see.  I'll guarantee you'll feel better by
morning.  I'll see if I can find Matthew.  He'll help you.  Oh, and
you can bunk in with me, if you have no place else to go.
  -- Holly

Oh, my God...
  -- Natalie

Nick...Natalie.  Either one will do.
  -- Schanke, answering the phone

Schank, listen, its me.  I'm inside the Luminolgoy building.  I saw
Nick, but he didn't even acknowledge me.  I think there's something
really wrong.
Man, I knew I should have gone with you!
No, no, listen I'll be okay, besides, two basket cases showing up at
their door would be a tad strange, don't you think?
Listen, I'm on my way, lay low, don't do anything until I get there.
No, no, no, I have to find Nick first, Schanke and then... Schank?
Rats.
  -- Natalie and Schanke

I think you should go now, Miss.  Matthew's not going to like it when
he finds out why you're here.  It would be really be best if you left.
Oh, no, please, I need your help.  I really need to be here.
You can't stay here...
  -- David and Natalie

Are you looking for something, Mr. Corrigan, or should I say,
Detective? 
  -- Matthew

You're not here for help.  You're a spy...
Poison.  He's poisoning everything, just like Vincent Cardelli, trying
to tear Matthew down!
Holly, wait a minute!
He's poison.
  -- David, Holly and Natalie

You won't find anything illegal, especially if you're investigating
the death of Vincent Cardelli.  We had nothing to do with it.
I'd say that administering drugs without consent is illegal enough.
Whatever are you talking about?
The patch, whatever's on it.  Something to goose the religious
experience I suppose.
Well, you'd have to prove that in a court of law, and you won't be able
to.
  -- Matthew and Nick

Schank, I called the paramedics.
Where's Nick, what the hell happened here?
Not exactly sure myself, but there is a girl named Holly running
around with a loaded 38 and she is not very happy right now.
  -- Natalie and Schanke

Holly, what's troubling you?  We can talk this out.
I didn't believe Vincent when he told me.  I wanted to believe you,
Matthew.  
There's no need to stop believing, don't listen to anyone or anything
but your own heart.
I thought... I thought he was just trying to tear you down.  I thought
he was trying to ruin you, to ruin us.  
Holly, what are you talking about?
Everybody believed in you, Matthew, we trusted you.  We gave you all
our money.  I loved you, Matthew. 
  -- Matthew and Holly

Holly, listen to me, its all right, Holly.  Tell me what happened.
I killed him.  I killed Vincent Cardelli.  I had to.  I had to protect
Matthew.  I owe Matthew everything.
No you don't.  No, Holly, he stole from you.  Your money, your love, your
ability to control your life.  Its not your fault, Holly.  I know it
isn't.  He saw you'd do anything to find hope and direction.  That's
when it happens.  That's when we're weak enough to be deceived.
  -- Nick

That was nice work.
Sure was.
  -- Matthew and Schanke

So what's the prognosis, Doctor?
Well, he'll live.
  -- Schanke and Natalie (about Nick)

No residual effects from those disk things?
I don't think so.
Well...I guess I'm history.
Schanke, what is it?
Well, what about that bank account Nick.  I mean the 1.2 million? 
That was dummied up right?
Yeah, that was courtesy of a friendly bank manager.  Couldn't have
Matthew Davidson thinking I was a bad investment, could I?  So...I
just had the bank transfer some of the money from my savings account
into my checking account.  Pretty simple, huh?
Yeah, right.  Well don't go getting weird on me again because it's
bad on my nerves.
  -- Schanke and Nick

See you.
Good night, Schanke
  -- Schanke and Nick

A good thing he didn't get a look at the blood pressure gauge! 
I would have love to have seen you wriggle your way out of that one.
  -- Natalie

You took a big chance coming looking for me.
Well, what could I say, uou buried yourself in your part.  Who knew.
When were you onto the drug?  
Oh, right from the first session, I could smell it on the disk.
But, it was an odorless compound.
Well, to you, maybe.  The effect was fairly subtle on me.  Matthew
used it to guarantee everyone a transcendental experience.  Even if it
only made them feel queasy.
  -- Nick and Natalie

It's beyond me how people get sucked in by cults.  No one ever seems
to learn, not until its too late. 
No, you can learn from them, even if its only a very simple truth.
Oh yeah, like anyone who promises you that you can have everything
that you want, probably wants everything that you have.
And that once you've given them everything, you are nothing.
You did good work detective.  No one can take that away from you...
  -- Natalie and Nick