Spiderlings - Episode 3
by V. Gardner
What do you mean they’re moving?
They’re going to the windows in the living room.
Building webs across them.
They’re lined up around the front door.
How are you going to get into the house?
I don’t know, Danny.
But don’t let anyone in, okay? No one.
Is anyone supposed to be here?
I’m trying to take care of that.
I’ve been trying to reach the plumber.
He was supposed to come by today.
Just don’t open the door!
I’m trying to wipe away the webs from the window. I can’t.
Spider web strands are strong, stronger than steel.
These webs are even stronger.
Hurry!
I am, Danny.
I just need to make sure no one is following me.
I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.
I have a plan. Please trust me.
Hurry.
My arms keep twitching, Mom.
My handsarnet’ workkk
I’m hurrying.
tiredmom
It’s Mama.
She’s testing the strength of her web.
mybody
Yes, your nervous system. She’s testing her strength.
tired
Try to fight it, Danny. The more you rest, the stronger she gets.
Fight it!
I’ll be there as soon as I can.
I love you so much.
Hurry
Danny’s Mom, Susan, texts her co-worker Bryan.
Bryan, I’m having some personal issues.
Had to leave.
I’ll check in when I can.
Personal issues?
On today of all days?
Damn it, Susan!
Corporate is going to be here in two hours.
I was counting on you to help me come up with a plan.
Why the hell would you leave?
It’s Danny.
I can’t get into it now, but he isn’t well.
Can’t Alex watch Danny?
You know Alex. He’s useless in a crisis.
Besides, Danny wants his mom.
This meeting is career changing, Susan.
You need to deal with family issues off the clock.
Not possible. Gotta go.
Know what is possible today?
All of our research going up in smoke.
Get in here!
Danny is sick. He needs me.
I know you were hoping for some Hail Mary to save our project.
But we both know it’s already been decided.
Project Arachnid is over.
No! We can fight.
This is why I wanted Tomas to be my only research partner.
He didn’t give up at every obstacle.
I’ve done more for our project than anyone!
More than Tomas?
That’s not fair.
You know the personal risk I took in these experiments.
Project Arachnid never would’ve happened without me.
Without my research.
Let’s not forget what else of yours.
Yes, my DNA.
Which you spliced into the spider cell lines without consulting anyone.
Which was a major breakthrough!
And then, the moment the project became complicated, you snitched like a little girl.
I had to tell Corporate! Tomas died!
You make everything too personal.
Personal? Of course it’s personal.
It’s my DNA!
That’s on you.
It was enough of an ethical violation to use any human material.
Using my own was the only way I could do this and still sleep at night.
And it worked, didn’t it?
Too well!
You know we lost control when Mama took over that orangutan.
It was wrong of us, Bryan.
Yes, but we could’ve manipulated the sequence further instead of giving up.
If we had cut back on the parasite element…
We could have moved forward without involving Corporate and you know it.
Think about what we could’ve learned.
If we had just let the experiment unfold.
The test subject killed Tomas!
The spiderlings poured from the orangutan’s neck and swarmed him.
It was too fast for us to do anything to save him!
Yes, he was gone in under three minutes. Incredible!
Incredible? You’re sick.
You know I’m right.
Losing Tomas was painful but think if you had just waited.
What would they have done next?
We’ll never know.
They would’ve killed people, Bryan.
They would’ve killed and kept on killing.
You knew how to stop them.
I had a THEORY. An untested theory!
That’s not how science works!
We don’t unleash mutants.
We don’t watch a human life being taken from us and not put on the brakes!
Tomas barely felt a thing.
It’s not like anyone missed him.
So what, we have a different researcher on the floor.
You’re evil.
No. I’m not evil. I’m a scientist.
A scientist who could’ve saved the world.
We could’ve done it.
Created an organic weapon that completely eliminated terrorism.
Wiped it out.
I know the dream. It didn’t work.
Yeah, because of you.
You’re lucky we weren’t arrested, Bryan.
Be grateful for that.
Studies show that every house in America has spiders.
They can’t be fully exterminated from anyone’s home.
We were on the brink of the ultimate weapon.
It’s over.
It’s better this way.
We can move forward. In different directions.
Move forward?
In two hours, Corporate will destroy the evidence and the research.
We’ll be back to square one.
YOU’LL be back to square one. I have a photographic memory.
Good luck, Bryan
I’ve got to go, Susan.
Some of us have work to do.
I have to catalog all of the spiders before Corporate firehoses them all.
I have to make sure they’re all accounted for.
Of course they’re all there.
I’m meticulous about tracking them. You know that.
Yeah, but you’ve been a bit distracted lately.
What with Danny calling all of the time.
And fighting with your husband.
And last week, when you had to deal with that plumber.
That was for 10 minutes!
The upstairs bathroom was leaking and I had to get someone to address it quickly.
You know why it took longer than it should have.
The jerk kept calling me little lady and asking to speak with my husband.
Please just cover for me.
I don’t have time for this!
Danny needs me!
You seem awfully calm, Susan, all things considered.
So help me God, Bryan.
If you did anything—
Whatever. Better get to Danny.
Help him get over his little bug.
What did you say?
What do you mean “little bug?”
Like I said, I’ve got to go count the spiders.
Especially the breeders.
Who knows what could happen if one escaped.
What did you do, Bryan?
Tell me, Susan. Have they molted yet?
WHAT DID YOU DO?
App