All language subtitles for Limetown.S01E01_English

- [sighs heavily]

[loud thud on door]

[man hollers eerily]

[thud]

[thud]

[man screams]

[loud continuous banging
at door]

- 6:37 a.m.,
I'm in my hotel room,

and I'm recording this
in case something happens.

There's a man, 40s, Caucasian.

He's banging his head
on my door.

[banging continues]

[lock turns]

- Lia!

Lia!

- What do you want from me?

- [yelling]
This is your warning!

[banging continues]

- [whispers] My warning?

You can't scare me.

[eerie static-filled music]

[banging door]
You can't scare me!

[water bubbles]

[throaty vocalizing]

[recording playing]
My name is Lia Haddock.

My name is Lia Haddock.

[lips buzzing, vocalizing]

My name is Lia Haddock,

and you're listening
to American Public Radio.

[pen clicking]

In 2003, the world's
top neuroscientists

and their families gathered
at a research facility

in Tennessee known as Limetown.

Their mission is still unknown.

The first time most people
heard about Limetown

was on the night
of Feber-ruary--

[babbles]

[inhales]

The first time
most people heard

about Limetown was on the night
of February 8, 2004.

A distress call went out
from inside the town.

[mysterious ambient music]

- 911.
- Hello?

Hello, can you hear me?

We need emergency services
at Limetown,

ambulances, firemen, police,
damn it, just send all--Darby,

shut it off.
Shut it off!

[rewinding squeaks]
Shut it off. Shut it off!

Shut it off. Shut it off!

- 17 minutes later,

first responders
arrived at the gates

only to be denied entrance
by a private security force.

[crowd clamoring]

- We are here at Limetown.

- A three-day standoff ensued

with loved ones desperate

and unable to make contact
with their families inside.

[helicopter whirring]

And then something
unexpected happened.

The security force stood down.

[tense music]

- Let's go.
Head out!

- Roger that.

- Bravo team, go!

[radio chatter]

- Go, go!

[radio chatter]

[bell jingles]

- Clear!

- Clear.
[radio chirps]

- Bravo two, we're clear.
- Clear.

- All clear.
- Clear.

- Clear, clear.
- Clear. We're clear.

- Clear!

- They found that every man,
woman, and child, 326 people,

had vanished without a trace.

[tense music fades]

My uncle was one of the people
living there.

I thought back to
when I was five,

the last time I saw him.

[soft ambient music]

- [chuckles]

Much better.

- How was he one
of the missing?

Can someone disappear
when they're already gone?

For weeks Limetown was
the biggest story in the world,

and then just as suddenly as
the story of Limetown landed,

it evaporated back
into the 24-hour news cycle,

overtaken by the first
legal same-sex marriage

in the United States,
the war in Afghanistan,

the war in Iraq, marriages,
scandals, weather, drugs.

The story of Limetown
fell through the cracks

of the constantly-changing
world.

In the 15 years since,

no explanations
have been uncovered

or given with any credibility.

And no citizens of Limetown
have ever been found.

[taps keyboard]

For most Limetown is a tragedy

among countless
other tragedies,

but for many like myself
it raises a question.

Without knowing
what our loved ones

had sacrificed of themselves,

how much are we willing
to sacrifice for the truth?

- You are a month over deadline
on a story

we agreed would take
four months to complete.

Can you understand
how this might make me feel?

[sighs]
I think it would really help

if you built this
through your personal story.

I'm not seeing this
in your edits.

What is this story
if it's not personal?

- This is an acknowledgement
that this happened,

that these people and their
families are not forgotten

and that after
15 years of silence,

there will be an ending
to this story.

- A 15-year-old event
with nothing new to say,

which is what I told you
when you first pitched it.

If this is not
your personal journey,

then it is purely
an historical document.

- Are you kidding me?
- You have a week.

And you're going to be working
with someone

to make sure
that we meet this goal.

- No.
- His name is Mark Green.

He is a hire from Chicago
who I think can help.

- I don't need a babysitter.
- Lia.

- Hi, I'm--I'm Mark.

- ---- you, Mark.

- Um, nice to meet you.

Hey, listen, I know that
you don't wanna work with me,

but honestly, I think--

- What do you know
about Limetown?

- Well, I don't--I don't think
they're all dead.

Actually, I prefer
that TV movie,

"Signals"' theory
about Dr. Finlayson

contacting
alien life forms and--

- Okay, stop.

Know more than me by tomorrow.

- Understood.

You--Oh, okay.
Bye.

[indistinct chatter]

[mysterious ambient music]

[crow cawing]

- You want me to help with it?

- If you don't mind.
- ...spaceship.

- No, no.

No, no, you can look right
through, look...

[music continues]

- [humming softly]

[car approaching]

- Hey, Benji.
- Hey. Back for more, are you?

- Yes, sir. Lia?
- Terry Hilkins?

- Oh, oh, you're early.

- I've been waiting for this
for a long time.

- Well, shall we? Come on.
- Thank you.

What was it like being
the only journalist

at the opening ceremony?

- Well, it felt
like immersive theater,

like everyone there was
an actor playing a trick on me.

[indistinct chatter]

[band playing joyful music]

[laughter]
- He's so fun.

- Ladies and gentlemen,

help me give a warm welcome
to Dr. Oskar Totem.

[cheers and applause]

[recorder clicks]

[mic feedback]

- Dreams...

dreams speak to us.

Sometimes a dream
can speak to a common people,

unifying them
in a common cause.

We can't explain it
to those who don't hear it.

We just feel it.

This...

this is a dream!

[cheers and applause]

And in my dream,
I have heard the future!

- I always thought he sounded

more like a preacher
than a scientist.

- Yeah, he was a preacher,
I guess,

just of who knows what?

- You ever just think about
Oskar and what his dream was?

- Oh, only every day, yeah.

- I want to see
the execution site.

- They found Dr. Totem
right here.

- You think he was a good man?

- I don't know,

but no man deserves that,
if that's what you're asking.

You know, I read
that the Roman justice system

had all kinds of tools
at its disposal, you know?

You could stone somebody
to death

or throw them off a cliff,
but crucifixion, I mean,

something like this was only
used to send a message.

Awful, awful way to die.

- Mm. It was supposed to be.

- Well...

as soon as this facility

could be chained up
and locked away, it was.

[crow caws]

- What do you think
they were doing in here?

- I have no idea.
No one does, but you know that.

The only reason
it wasn't torn down

was to give
the illusion of hope.

- Are you scared of Limetown?

Hm?

- [chuckles]

Well, yeah. Yeah, of course.

It's--it's like a graveyard
with no bodies.

[eerie music building]

[chain rattles]

[door creaking]

[floor creaks]

- So we are looking at
some scratches on the floor.

[loud scraping]

A commission report said

some people
blockaded their doors.

Why do you think
they would do that?

- I don't know.

Oh, you probably
shouldn't touch anything.

- It's just crazy
how normal this looks.

- These were just people,
you know?

It was just a place.

- They were just people?

So you don't believe
that they're alive anymore?

- I--I don't. I--

- Can we see the caves?

[wind howls]

- [chuckles]
No, the caves are off-limits.

- I won't tell if you won't.

- Um, I--I really don't want
to get into that.

They had to seal them off
a few years back,

and they're--they're very, um,
strict about that, so.

- Do you think it
was the caves?

- I don't know.

- Oh, come on, Terry.
You were the only journalist

allowed in there
on opening day.

I mean, you are literally
the closest thing

that the world
has to an eyewitness.

What happened?

- There's only one thing
that I am confident in.

- What is that?

- Closure is a process.

And for those
who lost someone here,

that process never began,
and it likely never will.

You of all people
should know that.

- This is Lia Haddock
with Haddock News,

here with my uncle,
Emile Haddock.

Uncle Emile,
why do you call me Apple?

- Oh, I--I don't know.
- Yes, you do.

- I do? No, I don't.
I don't know.

I don't--I don't remember.

[thunder rumbles softly]

[sighs]

- Hey.
- Hey.

- How was your trip?

[key clacks]

- Uh, medium green tea, please.

- Sweetened?

[keyboard clacking]

- Lia?

- Terry Hilkins?
- Oh, oh, you're early.

[door opens]

- Hey.
- Hey.

- How was your trip?

[soft shuffling]

[soft bang]
[both breathing heavily]

[kissing continues]

- Mm. Mm.
[laughing]

Wait. Do you want a drink
or something?

- [whispers] Stop talking.
Stop talking.

- Stop trying to hide
your birthmark.

You know I love it.

Stop trying
to hide your birthmark.

You know I love it.

[both breathing heavily]

Stop trying to hide
your birthmark.

You know I love--

your birthmark.

You know I love it.

[sirens wailing]

[phone unlocks]

[line trilling]

- [sighs]

- Lia, it's 10:00 at night.

This is the fifth time
this week.

If this is about Limetown--

- Ron, I--I want to talk about
something else, I promise,

and it's--honestly,

it's not really something
that I like to discuss.

- What?

- Okay, so about
five years ago,

before I left for APR,

I was working at
"The Kansas City Star,"

and I was covering
this Jane Doe death scene.

[tense ambient music]

And her fingers had been
sanded down to the bone.

On her legs and torso,
these random slabs of skin

had been removed,
probably to, you know,

hide any identifying birthmarks
or tattoos.

Her teeth had been ripped out.

Those were never found, but you
never would have known it

because a 12-gauge shotgun had
removed the front of her head.

I guess the part that I just
could never wrap my head around

was that
this was--this was a suicide.

I mean, she--she did this
to herself,

and I don't know why,
I know it's not rational...

but I just always thought that
this was connected to Limetown.

After all this time,
I--now,

now I feel
like I--I understand her.

Like, I understand
the impulse, you know?

You just wanna...

[exhales softly]

just erase yourself.

- Lia.

- Before ever--[sighs] anyone
ever even understands why.

- When do you want to meet?

- Okay.

How did it feel
when you realized

that everyone from Limetown
had disappeared?

[tense string music]

- Sir, we have something.

- Jesus.

It's Totem.

Those are
from scoliosis surgery.

Oskar Totem had it
when he was a teenager.

- This entire complex is now
a crime scene.

Sadia, work the stake
with forensics.

Put mass fatality on standby.

Dyer, prints and shoe molds
of everyone who's walked in

and out of those gates.
Sterling.

- Yes, sir?

- Sterling, there are
326 people here.

Find them.

We dusted for prints,
combed over surfaces for hairs.

We know there was
a large population there

on February 8th,

and on February 11th
it was like nobody ever was.

[floor creaks]

[hinge squeaks, creaking]

[radio chatter]

[eerie static-filled music]

[water drops plopping]

So every home, every facility,
every business

has a direct connection
to this cave system,

part of
some geothermal initiative

they were taking advantage of
for a tax break.

The problem is that this system

connects to one of the largest
cave networks in the country,

80 miles in all directions.

Now, obviously we're not
through it all yet,

but there are
no local disturbances.

- What does that mean?

- It means that that's not
where anyone went,

but it doesn't mean
that we shouldn't keep looking

for whatever it is we're--
- Sir?

We need you.
- Well, can it wait?

[radio chatter]

- What am--what am I
looking at?

- We were waiting
on the mass fatality squad

to move forward...

found a fresh plot of topsoil.

- ----.

Open it up.

[flies buzzing]

- They're pigs, sir.

- Do you think that that was
some kind of animal sacrifice

or some kind of experiment?

- Add it to the long list
of things I can't explain.

The investigation went on
for almost 200 days.

We issued 6,000 grand jury
subpoenas.

There 13 congressional hearings
all before

the official commission.

I retired not long after that.

- How do you move 326 people
without anyone noticing?

- I don't know.

- It had to be
the caves, right?

- Lia, have you ever heard
of "The Library of Babel?"

- No.
- "The Library of Babel"

is this old book
about this universal library,

every book and every answer
ever sought by the species.

The only problem is,
all the good stuff

is drowned out by shelves
and shelves of nonsense.

You understand?

In other words,
the answers might be there,

but that doesn't mean you won't
go crazy looking for them.

Of course I feel insane.

We know something
happened there,

but there's not a damn thing
we can do to prove it,

so we just have to be insane
and keep acting like we're not,

and that's that.

- Hey, Gina.

Uh, yeah,
I just got the interview,

and, um, I uploaded it.

- Was he helpful?
- Yes,

he was--he was very good.

- But he didn't give you
what you needed?

- Yeah, this is the last thing.

We'll just, you know, do what
we can with what we have.

- You can't think of this
as a failure.

No one else could have done
what you did.

- Okay, thanks.
See you tomorrow.

[soft ambient music]

- This is Lia Haddock
with Haddock News,

here with my uncle,
Emile Haddock.

Uncle Emile,
why do you call me Apple?

- Oh, I--I don't know.
- Yes, you do.

- I do?

No, I don't--I don't know.
I don't--

- No, you know. You just said.

- I did?
- Yes.

- What did I say?

- You said it was because
I was the apple of your eye.

- Oh, you're right.
That is why I call you Apple.

That's right, sorry.

Okay, sign off.

- [whispers] Oh, yeah.

[normal voice]
This has been Lia Haddock

with Haddock News.

[shuts laptop]

- How does it matter?
How does it connect?

What is the bigger theme?

Continuing...work.

What makes the Limetown
tragedy unique,

what makes it worth discussion
--worth a continuing discussion

in spite of...

complete lack of context.

[scribbling stops]

What makes
the Limetown tragedy unique,

what makes it worth
a continuing discussion

in spite of the collective
moving on

is the complete
lack of context.

- Lia, I--I didn't mean
to--

I said hi.
You didn't hear me.

What--what are you doing here
so early?

I--have you been
here all night?

- You did a good job putting
the family section together.

It's a little over
the top for me,

but, you know,
people like that.

- I'm glad you like it.

- I said other people like it.

I think you need to get out
of the way of your own tape.

- Uh-huh.

[cell phone vibrating]

Uh...

- It's Terry Hilkins.

- Should we record it?

- Yeah.
- Yeah?

- Hello?

- [panting] Lia--oh, Christ.

Sorry.
My heart's racing.

- Okay, okay, Terry. Slow down.
What's going on?

- Lia, it's a survivor, and
she wants to speak with you.

She's--she's verified.
I--I saw her in Limetown.

I--I know it's her.

- Merge the calls.

Merge the calls then.

- Gina, you gotta get in here.

Okay.

[tense ambient music]

- Hello?

- [distorted voice]
Is this Lia Haddock?

- Yes.

- How soon can we meet?

- Um, who--who am
I speaking with?

- [sternly]
How soon can we meet?

- Uh, whenever you want to.

- I will only talk to you.

That's the only way
this will work.

- Okay.

Uh, how can I get
in touch with you?

- You'll hear from me.

[line disconnects]

- [laughs]

Historical document, my ass.

[dramatic string music]

- This is the first account
of Limetown

from someone
who actually lived there.

- Hello?
- I can only speak

within a very specific
set of parameters.

- It's about who she is,
what she did, where she's been.

- And to give you
the information

I can give and no more.

- Her story
is Limetown's story.

- If you follow
these instructions,

I will direct you
to the next survivor.

[tense music]

- There are more survivors?
- Of course.