Bryan
Shouldn’t you be checking on Danny, Susan?
Susan
He’s a child, Bryan.
Bryan
Or should I check on him?
Bryan
Clean up another of your messes?
Just then, Susan gets a text from Danny.
Mom
I’m getting to a place where I can help you.
Danny
What does that mean? What is happening??
Mom
Please trust me, Danny.
Mom
I need you to understand that I have a grasp of the situation.
Danny
Just please get here. I’m scared.
Mom
What’s happening? Where are you?
Danny
I’m in the living room.
Danny
Now they’re all facing me.
Danny
It’s like they’re waiting for something.
Danny
I’m trying not to black out again.
Danny
But everything is getting fuzzy.
Mom
Danny — if Bryan texts you…Do NOT answer.
Danny
Yes, Mom. I hear you
Danny
I’m kind of busy here.
Danny
You know, trying NOT TO DIE.
Mom
You’re being dramatic.
Danny
Maybe when spiders pour out of YOUR face—
Danny
You can talk to me about being dramatic.
Danny
The hole on my face, it’s still growing.
Danny
I put my hand there, and my fingers poke through my cheek into my mouth.
Danny
That’s not good, right?
Danny
I’m dying, aren’t I? I’m really dying.
Mom
Please try to stay calm.
Mom
It’ll be easier for Mama to take over when you’re angry.
Danny
THE SPIDER LIVING IN MY THROAT
Danny
Way to calm me down, Mom.
Mom
I have a plan, Danny. It’s going to be okay.
Danny
I don’t know what happened.
Danny
My throat is killing me.
Danny
All the windows and doors are covered in webs.
Danny
It’s so dark in here. What time is it?
Mom
It’s only been a few minutes.
Mom
I’m still getting information.
Mom
But I’m almost there.
Mom
Don’t say that! Don’t ever say that!
Danny
They’re all staring at me.
Danny
Thousands of spiders.
Danny
I see their eyes glinting.
Danny
I’m on the floor in the living room, facing the door. Waiting for you.
Danny
But they’re all staring at me from spots on the walls and the floor.
Danny
I wanted to turn on the lights.
Danny
But they have webs everywhere, on all the lamps and over the switches.
Danny
Every time I move, their front legs pop up in the air.
Mom
It’s a warning, Danny. Stay put!
Danny
Different ones keep dropping from the ceiling, dangling around me.
Danny
I feel their legs around my hair and neck.
Mom
You have to stay awake, Danny.
Mom
They’re waiting for instructions from Mama.
Mom
They’re waiting for you to pass out.
Danny
Maybe passing out wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Mom
Yes, it would! It would be a terribly bad thing.
Danny
What does it want with me?
Mom
What do any of us want? To live.
Danny
How could you do this?
Mom
My work is important.
Mom
I’m trying to save people. Good people.
Danny
I’m a good person, Mom.
Danny
Because of what you did.
Mom
You don’t understand anything.
Mom
Once we altered the spiders, we made sure only a few could breed.
Mom
We made sure the breeders were capable of controlling the entire clutter.
Mom
She needs to maintain control.
Mom
Desperate mothers do desperate things.
Mom
We need to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Mom
My goal has always been to save people.
Danny
How could that help people?
Mom
We wanted to create a natural assassin.
Mom
Spiders that could slip into a household and take out everyone.
Mom
No obvious hostile government action. Just a spider.
Mom
Think about it, Danny!
Mom
We could have prevented wars.
Mom
We could have wiped out entire terrorist groups.
Danny
They’re lining up along the windowsill.
Danny
Backing up into corners.
Danny
Why are they doing that?
Danny
The thing in my throat — Mama.
Danny
My legs are jerking.
Mom
They’re going to hunt.
Danny
They killed Mopsie a half hour ago. I can see her body.
Danny
She’s like, flattened or something.
Mom
They drank her blood and injected her with poison that will slowly liquify her organs.
Mom
When that happens, they’ll drink that, too.
Danny
OMG. Is that how I’m going to die?
Mom
You’re not going to die!
Mom
But the spiders are growing too rapidly.
Mom
It leads to immense hunger.
Mom
It’s an unintended side effect of gene manipulation.
Mom
I’m sorry, Danny. So sorry.
Mom
This never should have happened.
Mom
They’ll wait for Mama’s approval to hunt.
Danny
Why are they waiting?
Mom
Because she’s in control.
Mom
Researchers around the world are proving that alphas are females.
Mom
Wolves, lions, bees — the best fighting machines are spearheaded by females.
Mom
Not males like everyone assumed.
Danny
So it was your idea to make the leaders female.
Mom
Yes. But also mothers.
Mom
It was my idea to harness human maternal instincts.
Mom
Nothing is stronger than the maternal instinct
Danny
Notsure about that. Whereru
Mom
You have to trust me, Danny.
Mom
I know what you’re dealing with. I know her.
Mom
Are you falling asleep?
Danny
They’re on my legs.
Mom
They’re waiting for Mama
Danny
I’m here! I’m here.
Danny
I don’t know what happened but I’m fine now.
Mom
She’s testing control.
Mom
Your control is going to fluctuate.
Danny
Still on the floor in the living room.
Danny
But they’re closer now.
Danny
Why are they all staring at me?
Danny
They’re in rows on my legs, up my chest.
Danny
I want to shake them off but I can’t.
Danny
I can type onlywithmy thumb
Mom
I think she’s surveying. Learning.
Mom
It’s another unexpected side effect.
Mom
She’s combining the cunning of a spider, the ability to quickly test and learn—
Mom
Plus the humanistic urge to communicate.
Mom
She’s learning from you.
Mom
Learning how to communicate.
Mom
The others are waiting for her direction.
Mom
Trying to get as close to her as they can.
Mom
In the wild, they’d be on her back.
Mom
They can’t do that now, since she’s in your throat.
Mom
They’re using your body as a substitute.
Danny
My throat. Cant breathe
