"I'm increasing resolution now." "You're about 1 km." "from the center of their substation." "Looks like they got about a dozen operatives out there." "They're splitting to the north and northeast... probably hoping to close ranks behind you." "As long as you have visual, we'll let them close." "If they think they have the drop on us, we'll have the advantage." "Movement at one o'clock." "They're changing pattern." "There's 20 more of them." "There's more of them than we thought." "Move out." " Birkoff, do you know..." " I know what I'm doing." "What's going on?" "Birkoff?" "Birkoff, I need positions." " You have to recycle the program." " Back off!" " Sir, I can do this." " Birkoff." "Surrender your post." "Now." "Birkoff, where are you?" "I need positions." "Go to the satellite uplink, now." "Copy that." "Team One, go to the north." "Daniel, you've got a flank coming in at five o'clock." "There's a smaller group at 11, but further out." "Take the group at five, then proceed to 11." "We've got them." "They're moving out." "They're retreating." "We've secured the base." "What are the orders?" "Cancel all the remaining targets." " Eliminate the physical plant." " Yes, sir." "Hillinger, thanks." "Yes, Mr. Hillinger, good work." "Birkoff." "My office, five minutes." "How did you know we had a satellite uplink established?" "I didn't set it up." "It's not likely that it happened on its own." "You have a point to make?" "This isn't a game." "Those are our people out there." "Their lives are on the line." "Then it was lucky for them that I was here." "You better go, Seymour." "You don't wanna be late for your... meeting." "Not your finest hour." "Sir, I can explain." " I think" " You think?" "The time for thinking is before things go wrong." "I'm going to assign Hillinger your post." " Sir, if I could just" " No." "I have other plans for you." " I'm sending you out." " In the field?" "That'll be all." "This man..." "Jean-Marc Rousseau runs a small but highly effective cult of terrorists." "They call themselves Soldats de la Liberte." " Their manifesto?" " Anti-government." "Anything to do with the establishment." "But his ideology's a ruse." "Jean-Marc is a political mercenary." "His services are for sale to the highest bidder." "They're practically kids." "He likes them young and vulnerable." "He employs conventional cult brainwashing techniques:" "Poor diet, fatigue, then he creates a sense of belonging." "Makes them feel like they matter." "He recruits heavily on the Internet." "In fact... his operation relies on a sophisticated computer network." "Given the quality of their intelligence, they have caused considerable damage." "Birkoff is going to be our man on the inside." "Birkoff?" "I need someone on the inside who truly knows what he's doing." "But do you think he's qualified to do fieldwork?" "Computers are their lifeline to the world." "That makes him qualified." "And if something goes wrong?" "We'll do everything in our power to make sure that that doesn't happen." "Birkoff's not ready." " He'll have to be." " And if he fails?" "It's a chance I'll have to take." "Failure rate for an operative of his status is 80%." "Well, then I suppose he'll have to beat the odds." "Operations knows I'm not ready for this, Nikita." "There's more to it than wanting somebody on the inside." "This is about something else." "He must have a reason." "Yeah, has it occurred to you that I might be his reason?" "Why?" "What do you mean?" "Abeyance." "He sends me in there, I screw up." "Any way it goes down, either they take me out... or Michael's sent in to finish" "Or Michael is sent in to finish a botched job, me included." " You really believe that?" " He knows Hillinger can do my job." "I'm nothing but a disappointment to him." "He doesn't like Hillinger." "Operations likes anyone who spins the world in his direction." "You know him." "It's not a personality contest." " Yeah, but Hillinger?" "Come on..." " Hillinger smells blood." "He'll do whatever he can to finish the job." "I can watch Hillinger." "Okay." "But, can you watch me, too?" "Operations wants me to infiltrate their circle... by hacking into their system and leaving a bridge." "Come on." "What do I know about this guy?" ""Born:" "Lyons, 1959."" "Parents?" "Blah, blah, blah..." ""Graduated the Sorbonne." "Two brothers and a sister." ""...tragedy that has been considered by most to have been a turning point." ""At 21, his young wife, Marie-Claire..." ""...was killed by soldiers during a demonstration outside the Hague." ""Two years after the incident..." ""..." "Jean-Marc went into seclusion..." ""...before emerging as the leader of the organization Soldats de la Liberte."" "It's worth a shot." "To achieve their way of life... their infertile existence... the outside world chooses faceless, spineless bureaucrats... to do their bidding." "And by doing this... they throw all sane and proper means to the wind." "Honor." "Integrity." "The basic tenets of human dignity." "We must fight these elected leaders... with the swords that they themselves have chosen." "For the savior of human dignity must prevail... if we are to survive." "Honor." "Integrity." "Rueben says someone's accessed our system from the outside." " Has he traced it?" " He's working on it now." "You find the source, you know what needs to be done." "When do I get out of here?" "Who do you work for?" "I told you." "You told me you work in a library." "I don't believe you." "Who do you work for?" "Who's your boss?" "Who's yours?" "Why did you try accessing our system?" "I want to get out of here." "He won't change his story." "Well, maybe that's because he's telling the truth." "Come." "I think it's time we got you out of here." "Do I understand this correctly?" "You work in the Mission District library?" "At home, in your spare time... you're something of a computer enthusiast." "And breaking into our system was, um... just a form of recreation." "No harm meant." "No." "It was just to see if I could do it." "I applaud you." "You're very good." "I don't know much about these things, but I'm told that our security is excellent." "Your skills clearly exceed our excellence." "How long are you gonna keep me here?" "I'm afraid I don't exactly know the answer to that at the moment." "But I think, given that your activities were harmless... rather than malicious... that I might be able to make things more comfortable for you... while you're here." "But I'm still a prisoner." "A guest." "Let me propose something to you." "You beat my system." "That makes you better than the man who designed it." "Since you seemed so interested in getting into it... would you do me the favor of looking it over?" "Maybe make some suggestions on how we could make it more secure?" "But I think the problem is that your traps are much too basic." "You have a primitive login, and your firewalls are much too easy to get around." "I'm afraid you're getting over my head." "I'll tell you what." "I'll introduce you to Rueben." "And maybe you could give him some lessons on how to do things correctly." "Rueben." "This is Mr. Birkoff." "The man who broke your security system." "Mr. Birkoff's been generous enough to impart some of his expertise." "Why don't you give him your seat?" "Your firewalls really need a lot of work." "But if we can stagger them the right way... we can create a series of traps that's almost impossible to break." "What is it?" "It's Birkoff." "He says he's got something." "They asked me to help them with their computer security." "They've been watching me pretty closely, but I was able to got a quick look inside their system." " And?" " From what I can see... the organization is not as independent as they claim to be." "They have ties right into the heart of Red Cell." " Are you sure about this?" " As sure as I can be." "They're networked into Red Cell's computer security." "Knowing how good Red Cell's security measures are... it's unlikely that they hacked their way in." "If we can confirm time and place for my pickup..." "I can be debriefed when I get back." "Sir?" "Given this new information I'm going to revise your mission status." "I'm going to abort your pickup for the time being." "But, sir..." "No." "You're much more useful to us on the inside at the moment." "Stay with it." "Gain their confidence." "For how long?" "I'll get back to you with that information." "We raise our swords... the sword of freedom... the sword of truth." "In truth, there is unity." "In unity, there is strength." "In strength, there is power." "Strength." "Power." "Hi, Walter, have you seen Michael?" "No." "Not today, hon." "Birkoff's pickup's scheduled for tonight Shouldn't we be getting ready?" " Didn't Birkoff contact you?" " No." "They've changed his mission status, Nikita." "They're keeping him in." " When?" "Why?" " I don't know the details." "Seems he's wired the organization into Red Cell." "Operations wants him to stay indefinitely." "That's insane." "This was an information-gathering assignment." "Birkoff isn't trained in this." " He's not going to be able to stay" " Slow down, hon." "You're telling the wrong guy." "I'm on your side, remember?" "It doesn't make sense." "If there is a tie to Red Cell, then it's time to get Birkoff out and send Michael in." "He's acting like he wants this to go badly." " What do you know about this?" " About what?" "The decision to keep Birkoff inside." "Well, his mission status was changed." "That's what I know." "You had nothing to do with that?" "Moi?" "Nikita..." "Come here." "Come here." "If you had anything to do with this... and I mean anything at all... you better grow eyes in the back of your head." "You see what happens if you stagger the traps like this?" "Even if someone manages to get through the outer lines... they just get caught up in a maze and sent around in circles." "Yeha, well, you make it look pretty easy." "Yeah, well, that's the hard part." "Think I could pull you away from that thing long enough to talk to you?" "I can handle it." "You're looking happier, healthier." "I guess I'm getting used to the food." "I brought you up here because I want to apologize." "Apologize for what?" "For not trusting you." "You have to understand." "The way we live here, it's really hard to know who to trust... and who not to trust." "What we do here is really important to me." "It's everything I believe in." "And yet so many people seem to misunderstand." "They make us out to be criminals." "I truly believe they wouldn't stop at anything... to destroy us if they could." "But that's not you." "And I'm sorry for thinking it was." "Birkoff's mission has been changed." "Operations intends to keep him in there." " I know." " You know?" "What's the plan, then?" "How long does Operations intend to leave him in there?" "If he has to, years." "But that could destroy Birkoff." "Red Cell can destroy us." " If there's a chance..." " You know there's not." " People survive these things." " He's not you." "He's not." "But maybe you underestimate him." "Maybe Operations has something else in mind." "He has his pet, Hillinger, in place." "Did it occur to you that Operations might have ulterior motives, for all this?" " What is this?" " It's your new room." "A little more appropriate... in light of how much you've helped us here." " You like it?" " Yes." "Yes, it's great." " I just don't know why..." " You've done well by us." "We try to do right by our friends." "Big difference." " Thanks." " My pleasure." "How long did you work for Section?" "I don't understand." "What's Section?" "I offer my friendship, my trust." "I ask you a simple question and in return receive a simple lie." "No, I didn't." "I don't know what you're talking about." "I'm not stupid." "And I didn't get where I am by burying my head in the sand." "I assume you had your reasons for leaving Section... and whatever they are, that's your affair." "Your conscience." "But you're here with us now." "And if we're going to base our relationship on trust... don't you think that needs to go both ways?" "How long did you work for them?" "Four years." "I appreciate your honesty." "I'm glad you've come to learn who your friends really are." "You're a good man, Mr. Birkoff." "I know you're going to make a very good soldier." " Hello." " Nikita, it's me." "Birkoff, is this line secure?" "Yes, I had Walter put in a second channel." "Are you all right?" "For the time being." "But you've heard that they're leaving me in here?" " Yes." " Do you believe me now?" "I don't know." "I mean, if there really is a connection to Red Cell" "I told them there's nothing more I can do from in here." "That's not why he's doing this." "Birkoff, stay strong." "You will get through this, I promise." "I just can't think straight anymore." "They say they're my friends." " They say that you people are" " They're not your friends." "Birkoff, you know exactly who they are." "How can you be sure?" "Operations is pushing me out of the way." "They've taken me in here." "They trust me." " What if we're wrong about them?" " You can't even think that." "Then get me out." "I can't do that." "Then meet with me." "Anything." "Maybe if I could see your face, just have a chance to talk to someone..." "I don't know where I am anymore, Nikita." "Can you get out?" "I think I can slip out for about an hour." "You know the dockside bar?" "Yeah." "It's abandoned." "I know it very well." "It used to be the Red Cell substation till we cleaned it." "Tomorrow night at 8:00?" "All right." "I'll see you there." "Hey, Birkoff..." "Just stay strong." "Congratulations." "Thanks." "It means a lot to me." " It's good to see you." " How are you doing?" "You all right?" "I had a little trouble getting out." "You want to tell me what's happening?" "Do you think they have any water back there?" "Maybe." "My mouth's so dry." "So, you all right?" "They got some stuff back here." "Do you want something to drink, or something?" "No." "Why don't you just tell me what's going on?" "You acted in violation of Section Protocol." "He said there was a problem." "He thought he'd become a security risk." "He was afraid to contact you." "So you took matters into your own hands?" "I did what I thought was best for Section." "I thought I could keep his mission on track." "We'll talk about that later." "In the meantime, it's fairly obvious that his mission has failed." "He's gone over." "How do you want to handle it?" "The Soldats de la Liberte needs to be taken out of play." " What about Birkoff?" " Birkoff's become a liability." "Bring Jean-Marc in for debriefing." "We'll proceed tonight." " You can't do this." "Birkoff couldn't " " He's gone over, Nikita." "Do you see any other way that we can deal with this?" "I see that you set him up for this." "You knew he was in over his head." "You knew he couldn't handle it." "So then you put him up there... and when he fails, you send Michael after him." "We have an operative who's turned." "I see no further need to discuss it." "I heard what happened." "You're very brave." "My God, you're shaking." "Well done." "Nikita got away." "I didn't really want her." "Then why did you have me set her up?" "This was about loyalty." "A test?" "Four of your soldiers were killed." "Sometimes a little blood has to be spilled in order to establish trust." "We are all very proud of you, Birkoff." " Michael, are you really gonna do this?" " I have no choice." "It's Birkoff." "I know." "Stay where you are!" "Hold it!" "Michael!" "Please don't do this." "Just listen to me." "I can explain everything." "Please don't do this!" "It's not how it looks." "Michael, listen to me." "I know you all think I went over... but that is what I wanted you to think." "Madeline's waiting." "You have two minutes to explain." "It was the only way out." "I knew if Operations thought I'd gone over to the other side... that he'd send you in there, that I'd be too much of a risk." "I knew that you'd have to come get me." "Michael, I'm telling the truth." "It was all a ruse." "You have to believe me." "It was the only way I could get out." "If I hadn't done this, he'd have left me inside." " You were just being clever." " I was doing what I had to do." " Including setting me up." " Why do you think I picked that bar?" "You told me yourself that you knew it well." "Don't you remember telling me about that trapdoor behind the bar when you guys came back from the mission?" "I knew you had a way to get out." "I knew you could look after yourself." "I had to get you to convince Operations that I'd crossed over... and hopefully not get you hurt." "Take me to my post." "I will prove it to you." "I have to do it." "They asked me to redesign their security system." "I did." "While I was doing it..." "I created a straight connection from their system right into ours." "There's everything." "Communiqués from Red Cell, their sources of money and arms... a list of potential targets, all of it." "And you never, not even for a moment... aligned your sympathies with theirs?" "Look, what's changed here?" "Nikita's alive." "I got out." "We have access to their entire computer database." "Do you really think that's a convenient coincidence?" " You violated your orders." " How?" "By meeting with Nikita?" "All right, that's true." "But my orders were to go inside and stay there." "I did that." "While I was there, I did what I could." "In the end, you gave the order to take me out, sir." "There is months of information here that we wouldn't have otherwise." "That should be worth something." "I want a complete report." "Yes, sir." " Sir, if you could tell me just..." " Not now." "You took a very big risk." "I'm sorry I had to do what I did... but it worked out." "I'm out." "You were like my son." "I trusted you." "It seems you are good at getting people to do that." "Let's go." "You know I would never do anything to hurt you." "I couldn't help it." "It's over, Hillinger." "You lost." "No, Seymour." "It's not over until I say it's over." "I need you to run the sim." "Do you remember what I told you?" "What?" "Your threat?" "Oh, no." "I haven't forgotten."