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Quatrain 92, Century 8. "The mighty shall be laid low, impaled on the fine honed sword of truth. A voice of justice is stilled, as nightmares take earthly form."
Judge Carlton Levy was a respected district court judge for 23 years, a true voice of justice before sudden insanity laid him low. Levy had been a regular visitor to the Paranoid Times website, claiming to have information about the aliens who've infiltrated this planet. Was the judge really mentally ill, or did his nightmares simply "take the earthly form" of the Gua?
Time to go undercover to protect one of our own.
Posing as Lukas Johnson, Associate Director of Human Resources down at the court I went to see Carlton's wife. Didn't even need the false I.D., she wasn't interested in talking to me until I mentioned aliens. Told her I wanted to help her husband, that I believed he spoke the truth.
Eddie didn't believe that Levy had snapped, felt responsible for one of his readers who'd put his neck on the line for us. Now the Judge was in a high security mental hospital named "Shady Crest." Place was locked down, even to Carlton's wife - no one was getting near Levy for at least 30 days.
Except Eddie.
Jordan resisted, said this was a field operation, too risky and difficult for Eddie to handle. It pissed Eddie off. Eddie said the Judge was a believer - we didn't have a choice.
To get himself noticed by the Docs at Shady Crest, Eddie tried to take over a post office "run by aliens." It worked. Inside he met the Chief shrink of the facility - Dr. Zahn and his nasty staff of orderlies. They held Eddie down and drugged him.
Then it was time for group. In the common room Eddie met Mary, a blonde nympho, and Lorenzo, a smarmy little guy who thought everyone was an alien. He also found Levy staring blankly out a window as if no one were home. When Eddie pushed the Judge to talk Levy went ballistic - attacking Eddie and trying to choke him to death. That's when Eddie met Orderly Coogin, who wasn't pleased that Eddie had upset the Judge. Coogin wasn't a nice guy. Strike one.
That night, Mary crawled into bed with Eddie - said she didn't think he was an alien but that she did think he was cute. Wasn't easy, but Eddie gave Mary the boot - sent her on her way. He also lifted Coogin's pass key from the blonde - headed out to do some investigating of his own.
Once free, Eddie called Jordan and I, wanted to upload some files but he got cut off. Eddie claims a hand reached out of the computer screen and started choking him to death. Sounded like a hallucination - sounded like the work of the Gua.
Jordan wanted to move in, felt Eddie needed back up. Eddie believed he could pull this off on his own, we had to give him the chance. Checked out some of the files Eddie uploaded. A couple of the names sounded familiar - and they were all influential. Worth checking out.
Inside, Zahn was drugging Eddie again. Told him if Eddie were to get well, they really needed to create a "partnership." Eddie would have to want Zahn's help. But who was the Doc really? Eddie's bet was Gua.
Back at the trailer, Jordan and I had discovered all of the influential names in the patient files Eddie had uploaded had gone crazy right before they were about to reveal some information - usually of the top-secret kind. And they all had something to do with a "Project Blacklight." I'd never heard of it, but was betting the Docs at Shady Crest had.
Eddie was trying to get through to Levy again. Told the Judge he understood why he was afraid, how when they talked about the aliens, certain "visions" took over. Levy indicated that Eddie was right, but couldn't say a word - he was scared. Eddie told the Judge he had a way to get them out, Carlton should meet him in the bunk room later.
Judge wasn't gonna make it. Eddie found him hanged. Another Gua victim.
Coogin and Co. found Eddie with the Judge's lifeless body so Eddie beat-it outta there. Had another hallucination, this one worse than the rest. Found a room full of unmoving patients - who then taunted him incessantly. Telling Eddie he was crazy for real. It pretty much broke my buddy. I hated waiting on the side-lines. Was ready to go in.
Jordan and I busted into the Judge's office - searching for anything about "Project Black Light." Had a near miss with a clerk. Jordan distracted him and I found an unmarked cell phone. Hit redial - guess who answered?
Someone who knew about the Gua. Someone who wanted me to "come in" to talk about the aliens.
It was a trap. No doubt. But whoever was out there was gunning for believers. And no way was I gonna let that happen.
Eddie'd be on his own for a little while longer.
I had an alien to catch.
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First Wave (1998) - 3x07 - Asylum