(radio beeping)
- [Officer] Did you know or recognize this person?
- [Witness] No I didn't.
- [Officer] Could you tell me how his physical condition
appeared to you at this point?
- While it was fairly dark,
but I could see that he was doubled over
and he was propping himself up against one of the cars.
I thought he was ill or maybe injured.
So that's what it looked like.
- [Officer] And did he see you
or respond to you in any way?
- No, he didn't.
- [Officer] Was there anybody else with him?
I didn't see anyone, no.
- [Officer] Did you make any attempt to speak to him?
- Yes, but he didn't reply
so I went over to see if I could help,
which is when he began to have a sort of convulsion.
A seizure I think.
- [Officer] What did you do then?
- Well, I didn't really know what to do for him
so I just thought that the best thing to do
is to call for an ambulance,
but I couldn't get a signal.
So I decided to get to the nearest landline instead.
- [Officer] Okay.
(Witness clears throat) I just need to clarify,
you mentioned in your preliminary statement
that you saw an unusual deterioration
in Mr. Russell's condition
in addition to the seizure he was experiencing.
Could you tell me at what point this occurred, please?
- It was just after that.
As I was leaving to get help,
to get to a phone I mean,
it just as I reached the elevator,
I looked back at him.
- [Officer] Okay.
Could you describe again what it was you saw?
(witness sighs) (monster screaming)
(spooky background music)
- [Male Committee Inquiry] I understand that
it was only a few hours after this incident
that an additional two bodies were found.
That would be in the areas of the 14th.
- Yes, two different locations.
Both displayed evidence of the same extreme physical trauma
that Mr. Russell had experienced.
I should point out
that the subsequent post-mortem examinations
determined that each victim did belong
to the same particularly rare blood group.
This couldn't have been the exclusive cause of death,
but as we later found out,
it was certainly relevant.
(monster screaming)
There was some initial speculation,
that a new virulent form of rabies
might have been responsible,
which could have caused the accelerated metabolic collapse,
but it was highly unlikely to have caused
the gross distortion of the skeletal structure.
In any case, there was no evidence of its presence
in any of the PCR tests.
In fact, there was no presence of any toxins, contagion
or infectious agents at all.
(radio distorting)
- Proceeding to the night of the 16th.
Significant into regards.
- Yes.
At 8:17 p.m., a call was made to the emergency services
from a residential address in Canary Wharf.
The caller gave a brief description
of her husband's symptoms before being unexpectedly cut off.
When paramedics finally gained entry to the apartment,
25 minutes later, they found two bodies
identified as a Mr. and Mrs. Holiday.
The pathologist's report concluded
that Mrs. Holiday had suffered
a depressed fracture of the skull
and multiple fractures to the C3 and C4 vertebra.
In short, her husband's physical deterioration
had become so uncontrollable
(monster screaming)
that she had been killed
as she attempted to assist him.
- It would seem that the joint committee
recognized the potential threat that you advised them of
and responded accordingly.
- Fortunately, yes.
The emergency measures were in place
before the next occurrence,
which took place a little over 36 hours later.
(ambulance sirens)
(police car sirens)
(Helicopter flying)
(radio distorting) (ambulance sirens)
(Helicopter flying)
(police car sirens)
(Helicopter flying)
(police car sirens)
(soldiers running)
(police car sirens)
(man talking on the radio)
(police car banging)
(glass breaks)
(monster growls)
(gun shots)
(man talking on the radio)
(monster growling)
- [Woman On Radio] Hello
(background noise drowns out other sounds).
(monster panting)
(man talking on the radio)
- Was it determined why the
physical deformities advanced so aggressively
in this instant?
- Not conclusively,
but subsequent cellular examination of the deceased
did result in a partial breakthrough.
Cytology research at Roslyn
identified part of the biological process
that we now know to be responsible.
By this stage,
research efforts were focused on
what role DNA might have during these episodes.
And quite quickly,
the Roslyn team determined
that certain long redundant gene sequences
were becoming activated.
It's never been clear
as to what the functional purpose may have been in the past,
but one theory is that they once played an important role
in the evolutionary process.
This may also explain the range
of somewhat primitive physical characteristics
we've seen in each of these cases.
- And the incident in the Crickson Finance building.
- Yes.
On the evening of the 19th.
Following a board meeting that had finished at 7:25 p.m.
An account executive
and one of his assistants
had elected to work on into the evening.
At approximately 8:35 p.m.,
just over an hour later,
the PA made her way down to the second floor
to have a set of papers signed off
by a member of the auditing team.
Now this was Mr. Martin Wiseman.
(elevator beeps)
(elevator door opens)
(stack of papers slams)
(papers flipping)
(suspenseful music)
(water flushing)
(phone ringing)
(phone dialing)
(Woman panting and running)
(telephone ringing)
(monster screaming)
(telephone ringing)
(spooky music)
(heart beating)
At 8:54 p.m., Mr. Wiseman was found deceased
in the fourth floor lobby area.
But most importantly,
physical evidence found in Mr Wiseman's office.
It was confirmation
that he regularly purchased pharmaceutical products
from an unregulated online retailer.
The discovery of similar products
found in the possession of the other victims
led to the conclusion
that they too had made purchases
from the very same website.
Forensic analysis of this evidence revealed
that it contained a highly unstable synthesized property
that was chemically similar to hormone
that is naturally found
in the process of DNA construction and repair.
It is this similarity that had prevented earlier detection
during the pathology examinations.
In short,
the prolonged usage of this unstable chemical
combined with an unusual blood group,
eventually culminated
in activating the catastrophic biological process
that caused their deaths.
- As you will already know,
the website in question has already been shut down
and steps have been taken to bring those responsible
to account for the inequity of what has happened here.
I have briefed the minister thus far
and he is satisfied that a major public health crisis
has been averted.
He asked that I should thank you and your team
for the work done.
- If I might say one last thing?
Continued diligence in this matter is critical.
We know from past experience
that even the most aggressive public health warnings
are frequently ineffective.
With unlicensed pharmaceutical retailers
becoming more and more prevalent,
it is entirely possible
that we will face further emergencies
of this type in the future.
- Thank you, Dr. Ackerman,
we will take your concerns under advisement.
(spooky music)
(heart beating)
(spooky music)
(heart beating)
(spooky music)
(heart beating)
(spooky music)