"You are being watched." "The government has a secret system." "A machine that spies on you every hour of every day." "I designed the machine to detect acts of terror, but it sees everything." "Violent crimes involving ordinary people." "The government considers these people irrelevant." "We don't." "Hunted by the authorities, we work in secret." "You will never find us." "But victim or perpetrator, if your number's up, we'll find you." "911, what is your emergency?" "This is subway train operator 4827." "There's been an accident." "I couldn't stop the train in time and I hit a kid." "I think he might have been pushed." "Open." "I want them held in isolation." "No contact." "Not with their lawyers, not with each other, not with anybody." "This is a matter of national security." "They're terrorists?" "Look more like investment bankers to me." "Well, warden, three of them may be." "But one of them is the most dangerous criminal I've ever pursued." "I can hold them for 72 hours without charging them and I fully intend to." "Then you have 72 hours." "This is Rikers, not Guantanamo." "You don't plan on asking them any questions?" "Don't worry, Carter." "We got DNA evidence from New Rochelle we got the blood from the burned car, and, thanks to you, fingerprints." "He's ours." "How did I know the government would be no match for you?" "It might be compromising to be found with a phone." "I'll be brief." "The matter is in hand." "We'll get you out of there." "I took too many risks." "It's my fault." "I'll handle it." "I've made preparations for a scenario like this." "In 72 hours, you will walk free." "What if another number comes up?" "Unfortunately, as I told you, they never stop coming." "I'll have to manage as best I can." "I sincerely hope our next conversation is under better circumstances." "I'll be in touch." "My name is Mr. Swift." "I'm your substitute teacher." "Ms. Benthem received a last-minute opportunity to attend an all-expenses-paid teaching seminar in Maui." "I see in Ms. Benthem's lesson plan that today we're doing" "Addition?" "That can't be right." "It's busywork." "Punishment." "We're supposed to add all the numbers from one to 100." "Math is not punishment." "You know, in the late 18th century there was a math prodigy named Carl Friedrich Gauss who was faced with the same tedious problem that you are." "He figured a way around it." "One to a hundred." "Who'd like to take a crack at working out Gauss' equation?" "Anybody?" "Mr. Phipps?" "Uh..." "I gotta be honest, Mr. Swifty, you lost me at "Friedrich," so..." "I'll give you a hint." "Fusco." "Good morning, detective." "I trust that you received my email." "And the roll call for Brooklyn Science." "I need you to tell me everything you can about Caleb Phipps." "Couple run-ins with the N.Y.P.D., typical kid stuff." " Nothing exceptional." " I'll say." "2.6 GPA and test scores that sit squarely in the midrange." "He spent my whole class doodling in his notebook." "Hey, you still there?" "Please continue." "One thing did come up." "Caleb had an older brother Ryan." "Killed two years ago in a subway accident." "Kid was drunk, slipped on the tracks and got clipped." "Sounds awful." "Any further details?" "I'll pull the incident report." "Now Caleb lives alone with his mom." "She's an administrative assistant in Kensington." "Hey, Caleb." "You going to that party Saturday?" " Uh, no, that's not my kind of thing." " Oh." "Besides, I'm heading out of town." " Taking a trip." " Hi." " Yo, what's up?" " What's up?" "Never seem to stop texting." " Feel like I'm on another planet." " Their planet's gonna be running ours." "High schools are different now." "Gang fights, drug searches, pregnancies." "This kid could be into anything." "You weren't exaggerating about the drug problem." "Kids ain't what they used to be." "Be careful in there, pal." "I won't even ask." "Probably best." "Besides, we have more urgent matters to discuss." "Our friend in Rikers." "I have the situation in hand." "I don't want you crossing some kind of line to do" "This?" "Already deleted them from the network too." "That line you're talking about?" "I crossed it a long time ago." "We have to deal with the DNA sample." "FBI keeps it in a secure lab here in New York." "I know what to do." "But I'm gonna need a couple things from you." "This is Principal Lawton reminding you that Brooklyn School of Science and Humanities closes at 5 p.m." "Thank you." "Mr. Swift." "A word, please." "It has come to my attention you tried to show Ms. Benthem's students how to get around one of her assignments?" "Well, the assignment seemed a bit remedial." " I was hoping to teach" " Teaching is Ms. Benthem's job." "Your job is to ensure that her students do the work that she prepared." "Don't sweat Lawton." "She thinks schools would run better if they just got rid of the students and teachers." "Chris Beckner, Computer Science." "Harold Swift." " Nice to meet an idealist." " Oh, no, not me." "Throw all this stuff online, I say." "Let me teach in my boxers." "Run wild, man." "I believe I will." "Yes, Detective Fusco." "You have some new information for me?" "Yeah, as a matter of fact I do." "I took a look at the report on his brother's death." " Caleb was the only witness." " He was there?" "His brother died right in front of him?" "Something's not right." "I looked at every incident report that night." "The transit cop called for a backup to dispatch and then canceled the request." "Why would a policeman rescind a request?" "That's what I'm trying to figure." "I'm waiting on the transcripts to find out." "Maybe it's time I go meet Caleb's mom and find out what his home life is like." "Interesting." "Caleb's latest national aptitude test score is exactly 50 percent." "A statistically improbable score." "Unless you try to get it." "Caleb knew the answer to every question..." " ...but he chose to fill in every other one." " I don't get it." "He tanked on purpose?" "Why would you hide the fact you're a genius?" "Why indeed." "Caleb, a word?" "I couldn't help but notice this." "No offense, Mr. Swift, but now you're going through the garbage?" "Pi." "Can any of you tell me what it means?" "I'll settle for an intelligent question here." " Yes?" " My friend has a question, Mr. Swift." ""What is any of this good for?" "And when would we ever use it?"" "Let me show you." "Pi." "The ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter." "And this is just the beginning." "It keeps on going." "Forever." "Without ever repeating." "Which means that contained within this string of decimals is every single other number." "Your birthdate, combination to your locker, your Social Security number." "It's all in there somewhere." "And if you convert these decimals into letters you would have every word that ever existed in every possible combination." "The first syllable you spoke as a baby." "The name of your latest crush." "Your entire life story from beginning to end." "Everything we ever say or do." "All of the world's infinite possibilities rest within this one simple circle." "Now, what you do with that information what it's good for that would be up to you." "N.Y.P.D., ma'am." "We're investigating a string of burglaries in the area." "Talking to residents about things they might have seen." "Mind if I come in and ask you a few questions?" "I'm running a little late." "So you, uh--?" "You live alone?" "With my son, Caleb." "We don't have a lot of room, so Caleb takes the couch." "Uh, that's work." "Just give me a sec." "So you and your son see anything suspicious?" "Any strange comings and goings, anyone who stands out?" "Nothing I can think of." "Cops come a few times a year." "It's domestic stuff mostly." "Some families have it rough, you know?" "Yeah." "I know exactly what you mean." "Thanks for your time." "Yes?" "I planted that webcam." "Met Caleb's mom." "Late for work, out the door with the shakes." "Guess she's hitting the bottle." "No wonder Caleb doesn't care about his grades." "Anything new on our two dealers?" "Diego Velasquez and Ronnie Samms." "Used to deal for a guy by the name of Lorenzo." "Type of guy you don't wanna cross." "They're working for some up-and-comer Narcotics hasn't been able to identify." " I'll tell you, that school's a real minefield." " Okay." "Gonna keep your mouth shut, right, chief?" "Yeah." "Sure." "Except to say this." "Next time you decide you wanna deal E to a kid who's clearly never bought in his life do it in the locker room." "Because this jumpy fool is a neon sign shouting, "Drugs ahoy," chief." " Aah." " That's enough." "Unless you wanna settle this in the principal's office." " Are you okay?" " I don't need your help." "Okay?" ""Hacker" used to refer to industrious coders who pushed the boundaries of modern computing." "Then that word became misappropriated by those who pushed the boundaries so far that they ended up with jail time." "Like Kevin Mitnick back in the 1980s." "He was trying to see how stuff worked." "He was looking for flaws in the system." "And he did so by breaking the law." "He proved people were the flaw." "They're paying him millions for the same thing that got him locked up in the first place." "Perhaps the most notorious hacker of them all was the one that got away." "Back when Uncle Sam was trying to maintain its iron grip on the budding Internet, or ARPANET as it was known then this hacker, this coder, hacked into the system and laid its secrets bare." "Ensuring that the Internet would become an open forum." "Plus, that hacker made his mark without ever getting busted." "True." "Whoever it was, that person's still out there." "Yeah, I'm checking on the boy genius." "Not you, the other one." "Turns out he's quite the little coder." "He's been coding a massive program." "In longhand, as he doesn't have a computer at home." "Then he writes it into a computer in the lab." "If the partial code I discovered is a snapshot of his work what he's creating could be groundbreaking." "Detective Fusco, can you do something for me?" "I need you to follow Diego and Ronnie." "Caleb had a run-in with them." "Might lead to trouble." " Is there a history there?" " Hard to tell." "But Caleb seemed to take an outsized interest in their drug dealing." "If someone's pulling their strings, I'd like to know who." "Whoever this drug dealer is, he's careful." "Detective." "How goes phase one of your plan?" "I got the package you sent over but if I'm gonna wade into this pool, I need the right specs." "Yeah." "Sending them to you now." "Our friend in Rikers is counting on you." " Okay." " Knock them dead, detective." "They won't know what hit them." "Heh." "Rolling in my Lacky in a twisted cap" "Wow." "Tanqueray on ice in the back seat, P" " Hi." "I'd like to have" " The first one on me." "How you doing?" "Thanks, but, um, I'm looking for something a little more specific." "Detective Fusco, our young man is on the move." "Give you a ride home?" " My car's right down there." " I'd like that." "I have to admit, you kind of threw me at first." "Asking all those questions about my background, my health." "I couldn't tell whether we were flirting or filling out my medical history." "I'm a practical girl." "I like to know what I'm getting into." "So are we getting into anything tonight?" "I am." "Whoa." "I don't know what happened." "I didn't even have that much to drink." "Yeah." "Open wide, big fellow." "I've been following this drug money all night." "Diego and Ronnie handed a bag full of it to a homeless guy." "He dumped it off at a money transfer place." "The worker there wired it to another money hub across town where I hoofed over in time to see some other guy pick up the cash and drop it at a P.O. Box in Crown Heights." "Our mysterious drug lord is laundering his money." "Making it untraceable." "Yeah, well not untraceable enough." "Whoever comes in for this cash is our guy." "Where are you anyway?" "Looking at you." "Thought you were following the kid." "I am." " Here you go, sir." " Thanks." "Well, I'll be damned." "Our mystery drug lord is Caleb." "I've graded your quizzes." "Some of you have been paying attention." "Caleb, I expected better." " What'd the kid do now?" " Caleb got a message." "He's supposed to meet his supplier at 2." "We have to follow him." "Tricky bastard, keeping his identity a secret." "He's better than dealers twice his age." "I'll be sure and tell him how impressed you are with his criminal aptitude." "Beckner just broke into Caleb's account, detective." "He's copying a file named 17-6-21 onto a thumb drive." "Whatever Caleb's making, his teacher's interest in it is far from academic." "Oh, Mr. Phipps." "I'm kind of on my way somewhere." "I just wanted to return something of yours." "You dropped this yesterday." "You gotta stop going through the trash, Mr. Swift." "You know, I used to do a little coding myself." "That's an elegant string, but it occurs to me if you want to implement multi-threading you'd do better to use atomic variables." "Just a thought." "Wait, that works." "Yes, that's why I suggested it." "Uh, thanks." "I hope you have your service weapon with you, detective." "Yeah, I got you a machine gun too." "Very funny, detective." "Let's try not to lose him." "Yo, Roman." "You here?" "Oh, jeez." "Whoa." "That's what you came for, right?" "So tell me, why would a kid like you do something so stupid like dealing at a school in my neighborhood?" "That's Lorenzo, all right." "Diego and Ronnie's old boss." "What's the plan?" "Crap." "You know, before he had his little accident here Roman was telling me how you're just trying to score some bank, take a big trip." " That true?" " Yeah." "You pay back every dime you made selling to my customers I'll let you leave town intact." "Be back here tomorrow night, 8 p.m., or I'll come find you." "How do you expect me to score that kind of cash in a day?" "Relax." "All right, I'll rob a bank or something." "I like you." "You got brass." "But you don't show tomorrow night, I'll break a lot more than your legs." "Kid's got it tough." "But picking a fight with a drug dealer?" "Heh." "It's a dumb move for a genius." "Why would a young man with such potential risk it all just to get some easy drug money?" "I don't think it's about the money." "I think it's about the brother." "Dispatch transcripts from the night Ryan Phipps died." "Now, the transit cop who filed the report called for backup because Caleb initially reported that two youths got into a shoving match with Ryan pushed him onto the tracks." "But the officer canceled the backup call and filed an accident report instead." "Why would Caleb change his story?" "Maybe he knew the killers." "Maybe he was thinking about taking care of them himself." "Diego and Ronnie?" "He's manipulating those morons." "Got them running drugs for him and they don't even know it." "What's Beckner so absorbed in?" "That's Caleb's work." "Howard, it's Chris." "Can you still meet up tonight?" "I think you'll be impressed with what you see." "Great, I'll see you there." "Change of plans, detective." "Let me guess." "You need me to keep an eye on Little Einstein myself tonight." "Keep me posted." "So, Mr. Venture Capital Firm Partner..." "Junior partner." "Long way from the corner office." "Still have to watch my step." " Pick my projects carefully." " I get it." "But when you see this" "Well, then let's just see it, Chris, so I can get back to my wife and kids." "What the hell was that?" "The Library of Congress." "What?" "Two-hundred and thirty-five terabytes on one thumb drive?" "The Internet's choking on streaming video." "They're gonna need a new compression algorithm to continue growing and I've got it." "All I need is an investment from a firm like yours to help get it off the ground." "So here's the thing, Chris." "I remember your code from back in college." "You were a medium talent at best." "There is no way that that Chris Beckner designed something this extraordinary." "Unlike our old friends, I didn't peak in college." "So no one else knows about this project?" "Programmers, developers, no other entanglements?" "I can guarantee it." "Well, let's hope so." "Because I would hate for anyone to come between you and what I believe is going to be a very large check." "Finally tracked down that transit cop." "The one who was first on the scene when Caleb's brother died." "Left a message for him to come to the 8th after his shift." " Speaking of which, where's the kid?" " Moving money." "Large amounts." " Getting the cash to pay off Lorenzo?" " No, he's set up a trust." "He's pouring all his money into it." "Maybe he's thinking about taking that trip he talks about." "Beckner just texted Caleb." "He wants to meet at 8 tonight." "The same time he's supposed to meet Lorenzo." "He can't be in two places at once." "Unless I'm right and this kid's got a plan time's running out on two fronts." "Maybe skipping town's the best thing for him." "We can focus on getting your pal out of lockup." "Mr. Reese can take care of himself." "And right now, he's in very capable hands." "Detective Carter?" "Time is ticking away fast for our friend in Rikers." "Don't worry." "I know what to do." "Here you go." "Mm, I'm sorry, honey." "I'll be better tomorrow." "I promise." "Yeah." "Everything's gonna be better tomorrow, Ma." "Detective Fusco." "I just wanna remind you that I need your help tonight." "Caleb has two appointments, and we have no idea which one he intends to keep." "I'll be there." "You wanted to speak with me?" "Yeah." "Have a seat, Officer Murphy." "Like I said, I'm, uh, working a cold case." "Commuter got pushed." "Looking for related cases and this popped up." "Ryan Phipps." " Says here you were first on the scene?" " Yeah, that's right." "Kid was six months shy of his 18th birthday." "Coming home with his little brother, Caleb." "Ryan was horsing around, drinking a little bit." " Slipped on the tracks and got clipped." " Yeah, I remember." "It was a rough one." "Because it was a kid?" "Or because you didn't report the whole story?" "I know about the kids who pushed Ryan on the tracks." "I'm no detective, detective." "I'm just a lowly transit cop." "I've seen a lot of things in my time and I made a lot of decisions I regret." " This is not one of those times." " You may regret it when Caleb becomes a killer." "What are you talking about?" "You think revenge is gonna make Caleb feel better about seeing his brother die?" " You're a long ways off, detective." " Then give me some directions." "You know, I did to the kid what you're doing to me right now." "When I asked him for descriptions of the other kids he kept changing it up." "There were no other kids." "No." "Just two brothers drinking, bored waiting for a train to go home." "So they dare each other to, uh, cross the tracks." "You know, how many times you can cross back and forth before a train comes." "Well, Ryan doesn't wanna lose to his little brother." "One kid makes it, the other kid doesn't." "I don't know who got the better deal." "So I told him I'd leave all that out of the report." "Write it up as an accident and for him to keep it to himself." "Doesn't matter what he had to tell his mom or the cops or God himself." "Nothing was gonna bring his brother back." "What can I tell you?" "Some things you can't fix." "Hey, I just talked to Murphy." "Brother's death was an accident, but it sounds like Caleb blames himself." "Well, that's a problem because I lost Caleb." "He got on a bus and it left before I could catch up." "You kidding me?" "Of the many things I am equipped to do, pursuit would not be chief among them." "Our only option is to wait for Caleb at the two places he's likeliest to turn up." "I'll stake out Beckner at the school." "You keep an eye out for our aggrieved drug dealer." "Get everyone and hunt that kid down." "Our boy's a no-show, and Lorenzo wants his head." "You worry about the kid, I'll take care of Lorenzo." "He's not here either, detective." "I may be too late." " Swift, what are you doing here?" " I was gonna ask you the same." "I left some papers" "Stop." "I saw you break into Caleb's account and copy his files." "Is that what you're willing to stoop to?" "Stealing work and passing it off as your own?" "I am not gonna be accused of plagiarism by some substitute teacher." "Besides, why would I copy work off of a C student?" "Because Caleb is anything but average." "And you know it." "That's why you took his work to your friend." "Caleb approached me a few months ago about this project he was working on." "I was skeptical, but when I saw his code, I couldn't believe my eyes." " So I decided to help him." " By cutting him out." "No." "All he wanted was some money up front for this trip." " He said he didn't even want credit." " Why would you agree to that?" "I didn't." "Read it for yourself." "Caleb gets all the credit." "It was just easier for me to pitch the idea to them myself, get some capital and then reveal the true brain behind it." "He offered me half if I put the other half in a trust that he set up for his mom." "But I'm giving him the whole thing." "All the money from 17-6-21." "17-6-21?" "It's the name he gave the program." "Said it was some kind of dedication." "Look, I am telling you, six months from now Caleb is going to be the richest 18-year-old in the country." "No." "No, he won't." "Dispatch, Officer Murphy, regarding the subway fatality." "10-80 on the backup request." " 10-5, officer." "Cancel backup request?" " Affirmative." "This seat taken?" "What are you doing here?" "You're so smart, Caleb, ask me something you don't know." "The thing about being reckless taking chances is that you make a lot of mistakes, cause a lot of grief." "You're gonna start lecturing me on mistakes?" "How I need to live and learn, move on?" "That's really inspiring, Mr. Swift." "I'd stand up on my desk and clap for you, but..." "No." "Your mistakes, like mine, are part of who you are now." "You can't move on from that." "Believe me, I've made a sizable number." "But sometimes your mistakes can surprise you." "My biggest mistake, for instance brought me here at exactly this moment when you might need some help." "Seventeen years, 6 months, and 21 days into your life." "The age at which your brother died." "The age you've chosen to end your life too." "17-6-21." "So you see, maybe you and I are connected." "Two reckless people." "Yeah, then what's the use?" "We're just gonna keep breaking things over and over." "Why not save everyone the grief?" "The thing about the world is that it doesn't have any extra pieces." "It's like pi." "It contains everything." "You remove a single piece, no circle." "Your recklessness, your mistakes are the reason why when they say you can't change the world you won't listen." "The world is better off with both of us in it, Caleb." "Rather than the alternative." "You sure about that?" "Yes." "And your mom is better off with you in it." "If you think money can replace you you haven't seen the whole equation." "Take it from someone who thought that leaving would make it easier on everyone and then learned otherwise." "Say it to me again." "Slowly." "According to the lab results, none of the DNA from these four men matches any of the DNA in our database." "They're clean, sir." "All four of them." "I want those samples sent to Quantico, reviewed through CODIS and inspected for tampering." "They got to it." "I don't know how, but those bastards got to it." "Go." "One more thing." "Get me Carter." "You really ought to be more careful with your code." "Thanks." "I grew up during the Cold War." "When computer networks were just a gleam in the eye of the Department of Defense." "Things seemed more black and white then." "ARPANET was the new frontier." "Till a kid with a homemade computer turned the whole thing inside out." "All I'm saying is it's a new era now and things are about to get really weird." "So you should keep your code close to your vest." "And pick your friends wisely." "Pi?" "The first 3000 digits." "My number's in there somewhere." "You're smart, you'll figure it out." "Wait." "Uh, the hacker the one who got away." "How'd you know he did that with a homemade computer?" "I've read all that research." "No one's ever mentioned that." "I must have heard it somewhere." "Detective Carter, has our friend in Rikers been released?" "Almost." "I'm gonna meet him now." "Your DNA wasn't a match for whoever they're looking for." "I'm gonna be processing you out momentarily." "Let's go, line them up." "Stop right there." "These men have all been classified as unlawful combatants by the AUMF." "Until we can establish they're not a threat to national security, they're not going anywhere." "Put them back." "Just the person I wanted to see." "What is going on?" "I thought the evidence cleared these guys." "The DNA, the fingerprints, it's all too neat." "I've been burned trying to bring this man to justice." "There's only person that I know I can trust anymore, you." "You've been chasing him from the beginning." "We've got one shot left at him, detective." "If he walks out, we're never gonna see him." "I know you were a senior interrogator in Iraq." "Time to put those military skills to use." "I want you to interrogate these men." "Find out who they are, what they know." "Start with him."