"Michael went rogue... when he learned of our decision to have him canceled." "Thank "you..."" "Michael." "You want me to kill Michael?" "Is that a problem?" "No." "Vehicle's on remote." "Where the hell is he?" "Call Madeline." "Michael's on the inside." "There's only one reason he would risk coming back." " Adrian." " She's his trump card." "One man, one operative." "You've got the best technology and reasoning at your disposal... and still you can't perform." "Hello, Nikita." "It's over, Nikita." "Hello, Madeline." "I'm sorry things didn't turn out the way you planned." "I'm sure Operations must regret the decision to keep me alive." "Her beta levels are practically non-existent." "She was always calm in a crisis." "This isn't calmness." "It's oblivion." "She's conscious, but her mind's blank?" "And the transmission is a bluff staged by Michael." "My name is Adrian." "Your name is Michael." "You've told me that, but who are we?" "What are we?" "Some kind of spies?" "In a way." "And the people we sent the message to, Operations "and..."" " Madeline." " Madeline." "Operations and Madeline, they're the enemy?" "Yes." "They captured you some time ago." "They made you the subject of an experiment involving mind control." "Which destroyed my memory." "There's a powerful man who thinks you're dead." "If he knows you're alive, he'll help us." "Then let's tell him." "I've been trying." "He's tightly covered." "So it's hopeless." "I have an idea that might work." "This powerful man... is his name George?" "Nervous?" "Maybe it's just that last cup of coffee." "Well, I've come here to ease your mind." "That'll be a first." "You're aware that Michael has effectively declared war on Section?" "I'm aware there's a war... but I'm not sure who declared it." "The point is, in the past... you've assisted him on occasion... even when he was off profile and still managed to survive." "This time it will be different." " How so?" " His situation is hopeless." "He's alone and up against the entire resource base of Section One." "He will be crushed and so will anyone who attempts to help him." "There will be no exceptions." "And that puts my mind at ease, how?" "It eliminates choice." "Do nothing to help Michael... if you want to go on living." "The Gelman process is holding." " How do you know?" " She hasn't tried to contact Michael." "In the past, this would have been her first priority." "Are you continuing with the maintenance?" "Yes." "As a matter of fact she's there right now." " Michael." " Is this channel secure?" "For 15 seconds but..." "Have Birkoff issue a Y-directive at 8:00 tonight." "A Y-directive?" "Then two hours later, split Sub-channel 8 and open the tunnel." " But that's..." " Don't disappoint me." "Why are you helping me?" "Because someone else has been subjected to the same process... though more advanced." "Her name is Nikita." "You knew her once." "And do you think I can help her?" "Yes." "You can see I can't even help myself." "The slightest memory might lead to others." "I seem... to remember sleeping." "Did you dream?" "Possibly." "No, I'm really sorry." "I actually can't remember anything." "What's this all about?" "I got a lot of work to do." "Who would you rather be killed by, Operations or Michael?" "I don't have time for games." "It's no game." "Michael's been in touch?" " Yeah." " Oh, God." "He needs us." "Answer the question." "What does it matter who kills you?" "If it's the only choice you have left, it matters." "Section has all the cards." "Whatever Michael's up to, he's trying to help Nikita." "You've seen her lately?" " The Nikita we know is long gone." " That's his point." "Maybe we can help get her back." "What does he want?" "Yes?" "He's here?" "Now?" "Are you certain?" "Take him to Committee." "I'll be right there." "George is in Section." "Apparently the Y-directive came from inside Section." "Michael." "It has to be." "Why would he want George in Section?" "Could Michael be inside again?" "Security's too tight now, even for him." "What's he up to?" "He's in Section." "The tunnel will open in 60 seconds." "Are you ready?" "Yes." "Hello, George." "Paul." "Madeline." "Well, I assume there was a reason for the Y-directive." "There was a crisis." "However, it's been resolved." "Resolved?" "Just like that?" "Do you have any idea what I went through to get here?" "Not to mention mobilizing three auxiliary Sections?" "You have my most sincere apology." "Tangier mission threatened to go critical to the detriment of three other missions... so I decided to play it safe." "Once a Y-directive issues, there's no way to recall it." "I know the protocol." "I designed it." "It does assume a certain minimal level of competence." "I take full responsibility." "It won't happen again." "It better not." "I'll walk you out." "Birkoff." "The signal's coming in." "It's Adrian." " A live feed." " Michael wants George to see Adrian." "Make it happen now." "By the way... did you have a chance to review the Center's latest resource proposal?" "No, not really." "I know you're tired of Section heads crying poor... but I think I have a good case." "George, it's me, Adrian." "I'm still alive." "I'll send a report over to you on Friday." "I think you'll find it sufficient." " Be quiet." " Why?" "What's wrong?" "Sir, I'm..." "I've told you never to open two channels on a single read." "We could've been penetrated." "You see what I mean?" "Some of these people are simply under qualified." "I have a proposed training budget in my office." "I've wasted enough time already." "Section One is making too many mistakes." "I couldn't agree more." "We didn't reach him, did we?" "No." "He would've opened a link by now." "Well, I hope I didn't do anything "wrong..."" "Are you all right?" "Yes." "Yes, I think so." "What was I saying?" "Hide." "We're clear." "How did they find us?" "I took precautions but they must have traced the signal." "You're lying." "You remember everything." "What are you talking about?" "You have three seconds to confirm." "My name is Adrian." "I founded Section One." "I was George's lover, and before that his superior, before I retired." "And these dead men are not Section's operatives, they're mine." "How did you know?" "The P-6s." "Section stopped using them a year ago." "That was a stupid mistake." "But then, my organization's fallen on hard times." "What's left of it, that is." "Why the deception?" "Freedom." "Nothing personal." "Just don't like partners." "Well, you have one." "What makes you think I can help Nikita?" "You recovered." "You can help her recover." "I don't know that complete recovery is possible." "The secret is resistance." "It's a question of will." "They tried to control my mind and I resisted them." "I was able to... leave whenever I needed to." "Leave?" "When I was a child my father had a beautiful garden." "I loved playing in it." "In Section, when I felt the darkness closing in..." "I sent my mind into the garden where nothing could touch it." "That's how you survived?" "Mentally... yes." "Physically... that's another matter." "Can you teach Nikita to do the same thing?" "If we can localize a similar emotion." "Something she cares deeply about." "If I do this... you'll find a way to take me to George?" "Agreed." "Good." "Then the sooner "we..."" "As you can see, resistance has its price." "What was I saying?" "The sooner we start, the better." "We'll need some way to attract their attention." "We just received a report... that the chem-plant in Saratov is under dark surveillance." "That plant produces anti-invasives." "Just what Michael and Adrian might be looking for." "Which of course, they know we know." " You think it's a trap?" " Most certainly." " So we ignore it?" " No." "I suggest we send a team." "Set a trap of our own." "Josephine." "Michael." "There's more than one Nikita." "I can't tell which is real." "Kill them all." "What?" "All but one." "Only the real Nikita is good enough to survive." "They changed you." "Something better." "You only think that because you can't remember what you were." "I remember." "I prefer this." "No needs." "No fears." "No desires." "I used to think you were like that." "But you're not, are you?" "You're weak." "You should let them make you feel stronger." "There was a time when we used to care for each other." "Well, that time is gone." "Nothing you can do to change that." "If you think otherwise, then you're the one that needs help." "Tell me more about the Gelman process." "It requires maintenance... drugs, ocular therapy." "Both, sometimes." "When maintenance stops there may be... temporary recovery, but this is followed by a relapse... and the end result is living death." "She'll be feeling the first symptoms shortly:" "Aphasia, headaches, then a rapid decline." "We have to move quickly while I'm still able to help her." "He took a calculated risk." "He succeeded." "Then it was a mistake to send Nikita." "She was the only one with a realistic chance to take him." "Remarkable." "We did everything right, yet we lost." "So it seems." "It won't take long before Michael finds a way to get through to George." "We have to find him before he does." "We're using every available resource." " Give it 12 hours." " And then?" "You know as well as I do." "That's an option I'm not completely comfortable with." "Twelve hours." "Then we push the button." "Hello, Nikita." "Tell me what you want." "Nothing from you." "Everyone wants something." "Tell me what you want." "I want to go back to Section." "Why?" "'Cause it's where I belong." "No one belongs in Section." "They've taken her to places they never took me." "Maybe to places they've never taken anyone." "Can she be brought back?" "I don't know." "It's hard to say." "I've only just begun." "We've driven Operations into a corner." "He has only one move left." " To assassinate George." " Yes." "And he'll move quickly." "We have to locate George now." "I'll need to reconfigure the laptop." "I want the hookup now." "Tell Frazee it's a matter of life or death." "His." "I take it we're not making much progress." "I located some Agency uplinks we haven't been plugged into." "It's being remedied now." "We're not going to find Michael with Agency uplinks." "No, but used in tandem with our own intel, there's a reasonable..." "Madeline, we're out of time." "Eight more hours." "Please." "I'm sorry." "No." "Of all the people on the planet to target for assassination..." "George is by far the most dangerous." "Then we'll have to go about it very carefully, won't we?" "They'll target his travel schedule." "Transit security is always more vulnerable than fixed point." " When it's over, I'll bring him back here." " No." "I don't want him to see me like this." "Look... my memory is failing already." "It's really difficult to find the words." "If I'm unable to tell him the truth... you'll have no witness." "I'll handle it." "Can you track his itinerary?" "Not directly." "But there are signs, in "more..."" "Adrian?" "Adrian." "George is in danger." "We have to help him." "Yes." "His itinerary." "He'll be in Kurijca at 7:00." " How do you know?" " The situation in the Balkans." "Oversight never secures the Admin sector as tightly as it should." " You used filters?" " A z-screen." "Any back trace will point at Section Three." "Who will execute?" "An independent called the Asni Group." "I assume they have no idea we're behind the request." "Of course not." "Still, it might be prudent to see that this..." "Asni Group be destroyed once the mission is carried out." "It's already been arranged." "There's nothing more for us to do but wait." "Sir, your transport has arrived." "The scheduled layover is an hour." "I want that cut in half." "The Center wants a progress report by Friday." "Then piggyback it on a Level-H sub-channel, all right?" "Who are you?" "If you wanted me dead, I'd be dead." "So what do you want?" "You saved my life but you won't tell me who you are." "You don't want me to recognize your voice." "Join me." "What's wrong?" "The initial report was mistaken." "We had satellite confirmation." "The helicopter exploded... but George managed to survive." "He's in Vienna now, on his way back." "He'll triple security." "We'll never get to him now." "Not before Michael does, anyway." "No." "I'm sorry." "Not at all." "You were right." "It was our only move." "It just didn't work." "No point letting this go to waste." "Adrian." "George is well." "George?" "Who's George?" "A garden." "How lovely." "May I look at the flowers?" "Whenever you like." "She's to receive the best of everything." "I've taken great pains to insure that no one knows she's here." "I expect you to do the same." "This will be your monthly fee." "Yes, "monsieur."" "If there's any trouble, leave a message at the number inside." "I understand." "If you fail..." "I'll kill you." "Goodbye." "Goodbye." "I'm back." "I want Nikita put back on maintenance immediately." "Or?" "George will be put in touch with Adrian." "Without the drugs, Adrian will die." "Perhaps you underestimate her will to survive." "Are you willing to take that risk?" "You tried to inform George before and failed." "I've had more time to prepare." "This time, the message will get through." "Stalemate." "We keep Nikita alive, you keep Adrian away from George." "Plus, I return to my former status." "Do we have an agreement?" "Yes, I suppose we do." "There's been increased Red Cell activity in Ukraine during the past month." "Profile will be on your panel within the hour." "Prepare for a briefing at 7:00." "Of course." "Michael." "Welcome back to Section." "Thank you."