I1: This Job Sucks

[Nick Varkan]

Of course I get put on this team.

Nick, decked out like a pest control worker, grumbled to himself as he entered the apartment building experiencing the leech invasion.

[Narrator]

Just outside, Thames Water has a section of street torn up and they're working on the sewage pipes. Inside, life seems to be going on more or less as normal. In fact, the residents seem a bit surprised to see him inside.

"Is there something wrong?" A woman checking her mail down at the communal mailboxes asks. "We've not been running our tap since it happened."

[Will Stanton]

"Tell her it's a routine follow-up, to make sure there aren't any more irregularities," Will said, into Nick's convenient ear-comm.

[Nick Varkan]

"Just a routine follow-up ma'am. To make sure none of the little buggers are still hanging around."

[Narrator]

"Alright, I suppose I could show you upstairs," she nods, heading up the stairway.

[Nick Varkan]

"Thanks," he said, following.

"Did you get any of them yourself?"

[Narrator]

"What? Heavens no. They're leeches. I threw drain cleaner at them and ran the other way."

[Nick Varkan]

"A solid plan," he chuckled, nodding..

[Nash Riley]

Nash, who was also dressed as a pest control worker, was supposedly looking around outside for any signs of leeches. While he was actually doing this, he was also trying to figure out just what sort of repairs are going on in the sewer.

[Narrator]

"It's better since the Thames lads were out, but they're still working on the sewage outside," she says, reaching her door and unlocking it to let him in.

Outside the crew seems to mostly be doing what they're supposed to. They're cleaning out blockage from sections of pipe, and verifying nothing's there to backwash again.

[Nick Varkan]

"Nice place you've got here," Nick said as he followed her in.

[Narrator]

"Be it ever so humble," she says as she leads him into the bathroom. It's more or less a normal flat, but here particularly there is an acrid smell from the chemicals she used to clean.

[Nick Varkan]

He fought the urge to scrunch his face at the smell as he took in the bathroom.

"Did they show up anywhere else in the flat?"

[Narrator]

"Just the drains. They didn't get too far, I think."

[Nick Varkan]

"I shouldn't be long then," he nodded.

[Narrator]

"Alright, let me know if you need anything!" She says, stepping out of the bathroom.

[Nick Varkan]

And so Nick went to work opening up the drains to take a look.

[Narrator]

At first glance, the drain pipes just look to have average wear and tear. They're by no means new, but still holding together.

However as Nick shines a flashlight up one, there almost seems to be a trail, like a groove cut into the inside where something crawled.

The metal isn't nearly soft enough to allow that.

[Nash Riley]

Nash starts to walk around the building looking for any outside water faucets to check.

[Narrator]

Nash finds a faucet for a garden hose, which seems to be in working order.

[Nick Varkan]

"That's unusual alright," he said, more to Will than himself.

Nick took a cell photo of the groove and sent it to Will. He then took out a chemical scanning device and ran it over the groove.

[Narrator]

Something corrosive. Long since washed away, but not a natural chemical. Traces of it linger in the deeper part of the grooves and, as Nick looks them over, there almost seems to be a repeating pattern in the grooves.

[Nick Varkan]

Nick glanced back to be sure the woman was out of immediate earshot before risking talking to Will openly.

"Yeah... pretty sure leeches don't dissolve plumbing," he said quietly.

[Narrator]

It's hard to quite get a good view of it because it's on the inside of the pipe, but the whorls in each groove definitely seem to repeat. They look almost purposeful. Carved.

[Will Stanton]

"Well, that's not good," Will whispered through the comlink.

[Nash Riley]

Nash radios Nick. "I haven't noticed anything outside, need me to come in and take a look?"

[Nick Varkan]

Nick frowned as he teek-felt the grooves.

"Scratch that. I think they chewed their way along. So... definitely an X-Files situation here."

Nash radios Nick. "I haven't noticed anything outside, need me to come in and take a look?"

"Not much more to see from in here. We... might need to check the sewer..."

[Nash Riley]

"Guess we will have to come back later with equipment for that after the workers clear out."