"Everything okay down there?" "A piece of cake." "That locks it?" "Yep, centuries of Thai history, safe as Fort Knox." "Watch, uh..." "Now relax, I'm a professional." "Okay, now your servers are down because of a power surge or a grid malfunction or maybe even a bomb..." "Now, if an intruder tries to reboot the servers or access the data, you will always get..." "this screen." "Now this, is your BIOS-level password." "Without it, nothing works in this room." "Okay..." " Oh, you memorized?" " Always... just in case..." " See!" " Good!" "Good night." "Oh, when do lights come back on?" "Oh right, ah..." "You're gonna have to call an electrician." " Hi!" " Yes, Mr. Peterson?" "Hi, yes, um..." " My flight's tomorrow." " Global Skies, Flight 4400." "Departing at four." "Would you like me to arrange a taxi?" "Yes, please!" "Oh!" "And you have a package, sir!" "And welcome back to the broadcast..." "Today in the US Congress, debate continues to rage over controversial security funding bill, if passed, the measure, known as Senate Bill 2330, would authorise the NSA to upgrade its current surveillance technology worldwide..." "Hi, what kind of special rates do you have this weekend?" "We'reoffering a half price rate, sir." "Really?" "Okay, um..." "book me for one more night." "And if you would please" "Sir, are you booked for the flight for Global Skies?" "That's right, Global Skies, Flight 4400." "But leaving on Saturday instead." "No problem, Mr. Peterson!" "Enjoy your stay!" "Excellent!" "And in the US Congress today, controversial Senate Bill 2330 failed by a single vote." "NSA Director, Raymond Burke, announced the special upgrade... was not authorized by Congress... and we were getting breaking news now out of Bangkok, Thailand." "It seems Global Skies Flight 4400... has crashed on a small town outside Bangkok shortly after take off..." "All 126 passengers had been killed instantly." "No word yet as to what might have caused the crash..." "Thank your manager for his innovative advertising..." "It was a life saver, literally." "Advertising, sir?" "The text message?" "I'm not familiar with our promotional techniques sir, but I'll pass your compliments along." "No, the sender field is blank, I'm looking right at it." "Unknown sender?" "What do you mean unknown sender?" "Okay, could you put a trace on it or something?" "Why not?" "The biggest news on Wall Street today was the sky-rocketing Syzor... which by market close, hit more than triple its opening value." "If you own Syzor's shares, you're a happy investor tonight!" "Checking out!" "Did you have a nice stay with us, sir?" "Yes, thanks." "You're all set, sir." "Have a nice flight." "Is something wrong, sir?" "I think I need you to change my flight again." "Sir, do you need a ride?" "Taxi 720 to Prague Metro, only currency 20 euros." " Yeah, I don't know" " Sir," "How can you not trust this face, hmm?" "Alright, where to?" "My name is Yuri, I am from Moscow." " Where are you from?" " The United States." "Ah, American." "What hotel are you staying in?" "Ah, the Empire." "Good hotel." "Is that the GZT-650?" "I'm sorry, what?" "Your mobile, your phone, GPS should be built in the MTS." "Hasn't hit the streets yet!" "Where do you get it?" " It was a gift!" " Good gift!" "If you need accessories, ear-piece, charger..." "Let me know..." "Driving job just spare time." "I can unlock phone, anything you need..." "Small fee." " All set, sir?" " Yes." "And how would you be paying?" "You know what?" "Make that a suite." "I've already spoken with DHL, they said that the package came from your mail-order house." "That's correct, I'm not denying it, sir." "Okay, yeah, I know you're not denying that," "I'm just trying to figure out who paid for the item that you sent me." " I can't disclose it." " Why can't you disclose it?" "It's strict company policy to protect our client's privacy, sir!" "I'll call you back." "Hey, how you're doing?" "I was wondering if I could play this slot," "I'm superstitious about this number..." "Sorry, I'm keeping this one for my ... wife over there..." "I'll give you 20 euros." "Okay, okay, 40..." "You can pocket 20, and get the rest to your wife." "A hundred euros." "Okay!" "Sir!" "Better take a look at this!" "What do you got?" "This guy paid for that guy to sit on his slot, and hit us for a 100,000 euros!" "How could he know the machine would pay off?" " Send up his stats.." " We'll find him..." "Hotel guest Max Peterson, arrived today from Bangkok." " American citizen." "Born in Omaha." " Is he in our books?" "He's a ghost, nothing in our database or Interpol's." "Now we must keep an eye on him." " Your receipt, welcome." " Thank you!" " Cash or chips, sir?" " Chips." "Zoom him over there." "Get you anything?" "Ginger ale." "No, make that scotch, neat." "Deal it, please." "You, sir?" "It's 100,000." "Good luck." "Blackjack!" "Play that again!" "Alright, stop it there." "Zoom in." "Son of a bitch, it's his phone." "Send in Martin." "Can you hold onto these for me?" "Mobiles are forbidden in casino." "There, happy?" "Yuri!" "Hi, uh..." "This is Max Peterson, you picked me up earlier?" " Ah, Max Peterson with the GTZ-650." " Right." "I need your help." "I need to be able to read text messages" " without looking at my phone." " Why?" "Cell phones aren't allowed in the casino." "Ah, you want to cheat?" "No, no, no, no, uh..." "It's my mother." "She needs to contact me!" "Your mother?" "Okay, I look you up, 500 euros." "500?" "Hey, hey..." "I'll call Radio Shack!" "No Radio Shack in Prague." "Only Yuri." "I look you up, bye-bye!" " Kamila, where are you going?" " Home!" "Where do you think I'm going?" " Kamila, come... come back!" " Let go!" "One more drink..." " Let's get one more drink" " I said I was leaving." " I said to stay." " I said I'm going home." "Kamila!" "Hey, she said leave her alone, okay?" "Piss off!" "Hey, let her go!" " Are you okay?" " Um..." "Are you okay?" "Yeah." " Okay, well, let me help you up." " Okay." "I'm so sorry, I didn't know he was like that!" "Oh... now what's..." "It's okay!" " He's gone, right?" " Yeah, security." "I'm Kamila, by the way." " Max!" " Max, American." "Long way from home." "Yeah, I'm just stayin' here doing a little gaming." "Yeah, how you doing?" "Better now." "Okay, uh... could you excuse me, just one moment?" "Okay." "Uh... hello?" "It's Yuri." "Meet me at the parking lot." "Yes, see, now is a bad time." "I got to go downstairs for a minute, but um... maybe I can buy you a drink..." "later?" "I really should be going." "Thank you again for helping me." "Can I see you again?" "I'll call you here." "Good night!" " Where are they coming from?" " According to his cell provider..." "There's no records of his text messages." "How-How is that possible?" "Technically, it isn't!" "Hi" " Hi" " Give me your phone." " Right." " What are you doing?" " Little text to speech transmitter." "It's kickass!" "Mother, huh?" "Bet all!" "Now send her an SMS." " Very sophisticated." " Who gives gift like this?" " I'm not really sure." "Do you think you could figure out who sent those?" "Not here, only back in Moscow." "Really, why not here?" "In Moscow, if you have good connections can find out anything." "Yeah... but, uh..." "I can't go to Moscow." "You change mind, give it a thought." " Thanks, Yuri." " You forget something?" "Glad I'm doing business." "Say hi to mother!" "Castle slot, east wing." "He's back!" "Alright, where's he heading?" "East wing." "East wing?" "Maximum bet on next hall." "Shit." "Yes!" "Hold it right there." "Don't let that guy leave." "Shit." "Max Peterson?" "Special Agent Grant with the FBI." "Put your hands behind your back." "Now!" "Grant?" "What the fuck are you doing here?" "Look, I don't care what this guy did, alright!" "He ripped us off, he stays here." " He comes with us." " I'm not in the Bureau anymore..." "Alright, you don't give me orders." "I don't have to." "We're taking sunshine here." "Well, it was good to see you're still a prick!" "Nice tie." "Tell me about the phone." "Look, I didn't know what it is." "I am really sorry." "Okay, I'll get you started." "You bought it online with credit card of one Stuart Wallace." "Then you came here and you used it to rob a casino." "How am I doing so far?" "I swear to God, I don't know what you're talking about, alright." "This phone came to me in the mail!" "Who are you working with, Mr. Peterson?" "My God, nobody." "Look, I don't know what you're talking about." "I'll make it easy." "Yuri Malanin, unknown hacker from Moscow." "We have a tape of you and him exchanging equipment." "No, no, no, no, no, look, I just met him today," "He picked me up from the airport, okay." "Who's sending the messages?" "Told you." "I don't know." "Okay, I got a package..." "You know, no one knows you're here." "Who's sending the messages?" "I swear..." "You got to believe me, I don't know." "Who's sending the messages?" "Please!" "I don't know!" "No, no..." "I just..." " Goodbye, sunshine." " No." "God!" "I don't know who sent the messages, okay?" "You know what?" "I believe you." " You're still resourceful, Reed." " This is my town, remember?" "Have a seat, can we get you something?" "Cappuccino?" "What are you doing here, Dave?" " We clean our own house." " This is bigger than your house, John." "Oh, you'd think I fly here and pull the strings to conduct this operation if it wasn't?" "Alright, well, and how about you clue me in?" "I'd say you own me at least that much." "Yeah, I'll take coffee, black, thank you!" "Okay, John." "We've been investigating people receiving financial tips via text in SMS." "The recipients of all have been American, other than that they seem random." "The first was an executive." "A major break at the Bureau" "Next, the realtor." "They both receive tips to buy stocks." "The stocks went up." "Now, once a person gets hooked on making easy money, we think they start receiving instructions..." "Last week, we found another..." "An IT administrator at the Department of Defense." "She made a million dollars buying stocks before her co-worker noticed her receiving unusual text messages." "And one night, she receives a message... and shuts down the firewalls to the Pentagon servers." "Who sent the messages?" "The sender fields on the text is always blank and untraceable." "Why can't you interrogate the recipients?" "I would... but they're all dead." "Now you see why the guy's so important." "You got tipped to the woman, how did you find Peterson?" "We intercepted a similar text in Bangkok," "ID'd him, showed he bought a ticket to Prague." " Hopped into a next flight." " Doesn't sound like FBI technology?" "I'm coordinating with Burke and NSA on this." "Oh, Mr. Total Information, what's up?" "Yeah, you shouldn't mix up the DOD incident." "They can trace the text if Peterson plays ball." "Can I count on your help?" " You have a good nap, sunshine?" " You alright?" "Option one:" "You can help us nail these bastards." "Option two:" "You can go to prison for fraud." " So what will it be, one or two?" " Oh gee, let me think." "Good!" "Come on, I'll give you a ride back to the hotel." "I'll hold onto this till tonight..." "You... stay confined to the hotel and act normal." "Normal?" " It's Grant for you, sir." " Coffee's cold." "Morning, Grant!" "Huh, afternoon, sir." "Right, now we got this small talk out of the way, what's our status?" " We got Peterson." " And?" "He doesn't know anything." "Whoever's playing him is doing it anonymously." " Why him, any idea?" " Not yet, sir." "When can we go live?" "We can be ready in..." "three hours, sir." "Done." "Tracking protocol in three hours, folks." " Someday, all this will be yours." " Really?" "No." "Sir." "John." "I need some answers." "I'm sorry, Mr. Mueller." "I haven't get anything for you yet." "A man walks into my casino and nothing more than a phone." "And walks out with three million euros..." "If my casino isn't invulnerable, what about my banks?" "What about my commodities operations?" "I need to know that some fool with a phone can't bring down a multi-billion dollar empire." "I will find whoever's behind this." "Not just who, John, how?" "Of course." "You like archery, John?" "I'm sorry?" "Archery." "I was quite an archer when I was young." "I was passionate about it." "Used to make my own arrows." "Do you know the secret of making an arrow that would fly to the target?" "You need strong feathers." "So I bought myself a falcon." "Call him 'Apollo,' after the god of archery." "Mindless creature, beautiful, proud..." "magnificent feathers." "Yes, and one day," "Apollo was flying on the grounds here, flying freely." "I was watching him, admiring him." "And picked up my bow and shot him... straight through the heart, died instantly." "Do you know why I did that, John?" "To remind myself... it's the seemingly harmless traces we leave behind... that later can be used to destroy us." "Feathers, John." "Feathers." "I think I understand." "Follow of the messages, John." "Bring me the sender." "Yes, sir." "Yeah?" "Hi, it's Kamila." "Wow, hi, where are you?" "So you basically protect data from hackers." "Believe me, it's not as exciting as it sounds." "Well, don't get me wrong, it's not a bad job." "I get to travel sometimes." "But, why computers?" "I don't know, they are reliable." "They always follow the programming." " What, as opposed to people?" " Well, yeah!" "I mean, when computers tell you something, it doesn't really hide what it means." "What?" "Someone's still hurting from a bad break-up." "Ah..." "beautiful otherwise." " So where are you from?" " The States." " And bounced around a lot." " And you live in Prague?" "Yeah, I studied photography at the university." "So now you're a photographer." "Not exactly." "Well, uh..." "We all have our secrets, I guess so." "Oh, great!" " I got to go." " Again?" "Yeah, I am sorry." "I'm really sorry." "Can I buy you dinner later, please?" "I don't know." " I'll cook." " You cook?" "Let's do that." "Okay." "I'll see you later, okay." "We've isolated the trace." "We need three messages for a log." "What if I don't get three?" "Well then you'll wait until we're done." "You'll just keep following the instructions." "Whatever they say." "Why do you even care?" "It's not your money." "What about my three million?" " Your three million, yeah?" " Yeah." "I'll look right into that." " Grant?" " Yes, sir." "We're ready on our end." "Good." "We're live, people." "What a douche." "VIP, Blackjack, Seat 5." "Here we go." " Target just went active." " Trunk line three, negative block." "Transmit trunk bubble number four." "Active source, traced and locked!" "Localisation armed." "Person locked out." "Change, please." "Bet all." "Second text." " Sending SMS messages..." " Locked, tracking second SMS." "System is refining source coordinates." "Messages are coming from inside US territory, sir." "One more." "Bet, sir?" "7, 19, 19, 13..." "Card?" "That was your only warning." "No more interference." "Turn the phone off again, I'll kill you." "We got them!" "All logout!" " Triangulation complete." " Call them and say come in." "Refining coordinates..." "Latitude North, 42 and 29." "The messages are coming from..." "Maryland." " ...and finding final coordinates..." " North, 38 hours, 57 minutes." "Shut it down!" "All tracking systems off, now!" " Abort, I say again, abort." " Yes, sir." "The source is Echelon." "We have an abort." "Pull them off now!" "Whoa, whoa, what do you mean abort?" "Let's go, Peterson." "Hey, don't turn off the phone!" "Come on." "This is bullshit, what am I supposed to tell my boss?" "Why do I care?" "Tell him it's classified." "Classified, that's not gonna satisfy him." "Well, there goes to your job... again!" "What's going on?" "The investigation has been terminated." "This is about Echelon, isn't it?" "You always had a big mouth." "You should keep it shut." "Both of you." "What's Echelon?" "It's NSA's central computer, filters all global communication." "Whoever's sending the messages... it's using the NSA?" "Exactly." "Alright, Echelon's been compromised." "Find out what's the hell going on." "I don't show any unauthorised access." "Somebody got in, I want to know how they did it, and who it was..." "Well, I can monitor the inputs if someone's remotely manipulating, we'll see it in real time." "Do it." "It's gonna take us some time to reconfigure the" " Just do it now!" "Well?" "Echelon's a drug addict." "Can assess any security system on the planet." "I know what's Echelon capable of, I need to know who can hack into it." "Well, someone with some serious know how..." "My guess is, uh, foreign power, maybe even an insider." "What are the NSA's plans?" "We've get to keep a lid on this thing now..." "They've got the phone, so they'll try and trace the messages without Peterson." "You said there were others who'd received messages..." "Yes, but, uh... it looks like it seems random." "Nothing's random." "Track Peterson, he'll lead us to who's doing this." "Well, what makes you think that he hasn't served his purpose already?" "Because he isn't dead yet." "Sir, the NSA is not gonna tolerate an outside investigation..." " John, just keep him alive, otherwise you'll have worse than the NSA to deal with." "Who is he?" "Navy Seal, sir." "He can handle himself." " Not exactly his twin." " He'll do." "There's a line of sight which I doubt it'll be from a distance." "What about Reed and Peterson?" "Do they know?" " They'll stay quiet, sir." " Reed I trust." "Peterson I don't." "He's to scared to be a threat, I guarantee it." "We're ready here, sir." "Forgive me for asking, but are you sure you don't want to use Peterson on this?" "Grant, you have your orders." "Now follow them." "Waiting for the order on Peterson, sir." "Proceed." "Wow, this was..." "excellent and amazing." "Thank you." " Oh, let me help you..." " No, no, no." "Stay here." "You take these photographs yourself?" "Uh, yeah." "You like them?" "Yeah, yeah, they're beautiful." "That's always been my dream to live in Paris." " What's stopping you?" " Um... reality." "Isn't that what usually gets in the way of dreams?" " Ah, I can't say." " Come on, Max." "You must have something." "I guess, um..." "I guess, uh..." "All I really want is to be useful..." "And just once, you know." "Make a real difference." "You'll get your chance." "Ah, never been." "Oh, you're missing out." "Everyone has to be there, at least once." "What's so special, then?" "It's hard to describe, really." "Tell me." "It's, uh, the way the streets look... and the life that people that live there." "And the rain..." "The way it sticks into your eyelashes." "Makes everything a painting." "And it's just..." " Yeah." " Is he still there?" "Yeah." "Good, keep him there." "I'm on my way." " And Kamila?" " Yeah." "Be prepared for anything." "One and a four could be, hmm..." "Fun, my ass!" " Anything?" " Nothing." "10 AM, Kaprova and Kriz" " Krizovnicka." " Come on, let's move it!" "Target's just went active." "System's refining source coordinates." "Transit trunk now, Bubble 4 is active." "Channel number seven is active." "Negative logout." "Intercept tracer active." "Negative block." " Target stream just went active." " Output data stream is backing." "Morning!" " Wow, you look beautiful." " Hmm..." " I hope you don't mind..." " No, not at all." " What are you reading?" " A little background on Echelon." "NSA's filtering computer." "Did you know that the NSA intercepts every phone call we make, every e-mail, every text?" "I guess I just assume that." "Yeah, well, that's just what exists now." "The upgrade that failed... would put a camera in every person's home." " Okay, now you just sound paranoid." " No, NSA actually admits it." "Look." "Come on." "See the upgrade would decentralise Echelon to operate in every computer on the net." "This..." "would be Echelon." "Knowing what you download, reading what you type, watching you on your webcam." "Jesus!" "Yeah, I wish of all that we do is stopping it." "Not unless you turn off every computer in the world." "A global police." "Exactly, and this only failed by one vote." "I bet that vote's back in Omaha." "What?" "I never said I was from Omaha." "So how do you know that?" "Kamila." "Look at me." "Who the hell are you working for?" "Get down!" "Stay." "Now." "Shit." "Bathroom!" " Stay down." " Okay." "He's with the girl." "They're in the back." "Are you alright?" "Get him out of here." "I'll be fine." "Come on." "Just go." "Sir?" " Give me some good news." " I'm sorry, sir." "We monitored everything, but... if someone's getting in, I honestly don't know how." "Yeah?" "I'm afraid I have some bad news, sir." "Peterson get away." "What?" "Itwasagirl, she killed two of my men." "Stupid, sons of bitches!" "Are you alright?" "I told you not to turn off the phone." "It said it was gonna kill me!" "Look, it wasn't them, alright..." "it's NSA." "Alright, so what do we do?" "Do we hide?" "Hide?" "You don't hide from these guys." "All we've got to do is figure out who's behind this and let's see if NSA will cut a deal." "How are we supposed to do that?" "That..." "That I don't know." "Yuri..." "The cabbie with the ear-piece?" "Yeah, no, I'm saying, he-he said, with my SIM, he can find out who's sending messages." "Look, I think this is a little bit out of his league." "Besides he's already skipped down." "Hopped a plane back to Moscow." "I'm gonna call." "Hey, hey, you're not calling anybody, alright?" "One call, and we're gonna pop up on the grid." "Fine, so we go to Moscow." "Just like that, being you, go to Moscow." "You got a better idea?" "Spit it out!" "I'll go myself, let me help!" "Better look, buddy, you would not be alive right now..." "I'm not gonna be alive if I don't get some answers soon." "So stop the car!" "Stop the goddamn car!" "Alright." "Where the hell do you think you're gonna go?" "They've got your phone, remember?" "I've got your SIM card information." "Kamila cloned it." "That's great." "She really went above and beyond, didn't she?" "Yeah, I'd say she did." "She risked her life protecting you." "You know a lot of woman that would do that for you?" "Forget about Kamila." "You get me to Moscow or not?" "Mueller can, but I don't know how can I convince him to do that." "What can a Russian cabbie do that the NSA can't?" "Yuri says he has equipment, he's got connections..." " That's not good enough." " Listen, back at... we brought photography modules from the Russians." "They have things that we don't have, shit that the Chinese and Israelis don't have." "I don't know how they got it with they're jacked in." "Alright, maybe so." "Well, what makes you think we could trust this guy?" "We could trust them a hell of a lot more than your buddies from NSA." "Okay, I'll get us to Moscow." "You better be right about this." "Sir?" "Official recognition got a pick." "Moscow." "This is where we're going." "Hey, uh, your seat belt's broken." "It won't fasten." " Why you need fasten?" " 'Cause it's the law." "You do that, police stop us." "They think something wrong." "Welcome to Moscow." " Yes, sir?" " They're in Moscow." "Is that a B or a 6?" "Oh, Max GTZ-650?" "You come to Moscow after all." "Who this man?" " He's cool." " Don't look cool." "What do you want?" "Answers." "It's my SIM info." "It's been you all along, hasn't it?" " Reed..." " Shut up!" "Oh, you just happened to pick Max up at the airport, know all about his phone and then offer to help him?" "I don't send messages, I swear." "Prove it!" "You bring SIM all this way to let me find out who sent the messages." "Reed, listen to me." "We've got to trust somebody." "Just give me three hours." "You try to run, and I will hunt you down." "Come on." "You're awfully quiet." "It's just strange being here." "This was Cold War Central when I started at the Bureau." "You were in the FBI with Grant?" "Did you like it?" " Yeah, I did." " So why'd you leave?" "I had a big mouth." "Patriot Act was awfully narrow." "I was pushing straight to safeguard." "It was Burke and NSA that wanted fast track approval." "They didn't appreciate having somebody on the inside peeking in." "So you're forced out." "Oh, he had Grant take care of that." "I mean, that's it?" "You just left?" "What good is freedom of speech if we can't use it?" "You just can't leave." " Why not?" " Reed." "Don't strike me as the kind of guy who's happy guarding people's money in a Prague casino." "Hey look." "I'm taking care of myself." "And what are you doing here?" "Getting paid to find out who's doing this." "And you don't care who is it or why?" "Not even a little." "I just think you feel sorry for yourself." "Let's just get back, okay?" " Did you figure it out?" " Yeah." " Alright, so who sent the messages?" " You won't like answer." "This is entire input/output stream for all messages sent to SIM." "Box is empty." "Nobody use Echelon to send messages." "Echelon sent them itself." "Wait, you got to be kidding me." "That's your explanation?" "What are you saying-- that it's alive?" "No, just following its programming." "That's your explanation?" "I knew you wouldn't believe me." "Yeah, you're damn right I don't believe you!" "You tell me if you figure this." "This list is all Echelon intercept calls containing SIM information and name Max Peterson." "First, I sub-search for information relating to Flight 4400." "Night before you used the phone," "Echelon intercepts that fuel analysis at the Airport and test results indicate fuel viscosity exceeds maximum, but fuel provider reports normal." "Echelon knew Flight 4400 would crash." "Yes, with probability of 94.67%." "Not buying it." " No?" " No!" "Okay, it gets better." "Day of crash, Echelon intercepts SMS." "Sender was Chairman of Board of Turkim Corporation." "Recipient was Li Lin Chao, Director of Syzor." "Message by him reads:" ""Congratulations, our board has ratified your bid."" "So Echelon intercepts an SMS for a little insider's trading." "Precisely!" "Big deal." "Anyone with access to Echelon could have done that." "Maybe so but only computer could have known that tip from Prague casino and high pay slots could pay off in one night." " And the Blackjack tables?" " Simple card counting." "It's just watch the table, and calculated probability of blackjack or dealer going bust." "No human can count that fast." "Echelon can access any security camera in the world." "Nobody used Echelon to send messages." "Echelon sent them itself." " So, if Max has phone, it has Max." " But why me?" "What's so special about me?" "Shit!" "Alright, how do we get out of here?" "This stairwell." "Hurry!" "Stairwell!" "No!" " FBI crash course?" " Brooklyn childhood." "Fuck this." "Look for a map." "It's in Cyrillic." " Left or right?" " Uh, I don't" " Left or right?" "Left or right?" " Left." " I meant right." " Great!" "Shit." "Hold on." " Reed, let's talk." " Alright, Grant, I'll start." "Jackasses, I wasn't trying to kill you." "Grab his other gun, it's on his ankle." " I can prove it." " Easy." "Shit, alright." "On your feet, Grant." "Let's go, move it!" "Come on!" "I see you, I want Max." "We need you." "It will only deal with you." "Not even Burke can touch you now." "Yeah?" "Yeah, funny way of showing it." "Until it resumes contact, we're stuck on..." "Whoa, what do you mean, it?" "We believe that Echelon maybe sending the messages itself." "Will you help us, Peterson?" "Will you help us?" " Can I trust you?" " Of course, you can trust me." "I said, "Can I trust you?"" "Whoa, Max, what are you doing?" "Can I trust you?" "Quit fucking around, man," "You can trust me." "You know what?" "I believe you, sunshine!" "Give me that gun, damn thing." "That was loud." "What does it say?" "Alright, what the hell does that mean?" "It's a zip code, it's just a first installation I did." "In Omaha." "Sir, the NSA has uploaded the information on the Omaha facility." "Are we set up?" "Yes, we are coordinating with local SWAT." "Good." "The facility is a converted hanger modified by a start-up planning increased bandwidth." "That ring a bell?" "I remember it was a strange building to house servers in." "They apparently started-up for special clients." "The company who sold it auctioned it before they even opened it." "The place hasn't been entered since time of sale." "We're still trying to locate the original owner." " What'd you do there?" " Same thing I always do." "Installed BIOS level fail safe circuitries." "BIOS what?" " Password protection!" " I'm impressed." "Always thought you were a little stupid." "You mean stupid like, build a computer that knows absolutely everything?" "And lose control of it?" "Special Agent Grant, FBI." "Are we ready?" "Just about, sir." " All clear!" " We'll take over from here." " Activate the grid." " Yes, sir." "Okay, now what?" "Authorize BIOS?" "You know how to do that?" "Yeah." "Sir, we got the next text message:" "Authorize BIOS." "Hang on." "What the hell is 'Authorize BIOS'?" "It opens the servers for access so outside data can get in." "Why would they want that?" "I don't know, but it will allow us to see what's on the servers." "Are you sure you're not opening up a Pandora's box of viruses?" "No, sir." "They can prevent any existing files and drivers from getting in." "Grant..." " Do it." " Yes, sir." "Turn it on." "Yeah." "Yeah, try not to fuck it up, Max." "So far so good!" "Okay." "Alright, I'll use my admin password." "Are you ready?" "Do it." "Step back, Peterson." "What do we have?" " Nothing, sir." " No, check again." "I'm positive." "Command structure for boot up isn't firmware, and the drives were formatted, but..." "I don't see any data." "Dry hole, people." "Everybody out!" "Sir?" "I'm seeing an outbreak of copy routines." "A massive outflow." "I got it." "We finally tracked down the guy that owns this place." "Oh great, get him on the line." "That's gonna be difficult, he's dead." "What?" "Yeah, Stuart Wallace." "Get your men out of here, we'll catch up." "Alright, you got it." "Let's go!" " Who's Stuart Wallace?" " He's a realtor." "His credit card bought your phone." "One of the other recipients." "I had a bad feeling about this." "Hey, Max!" "Echelon's moving in." "What's going on?" " Where's it going?" " Looks like..." "Nebraska." " Do a goddamn reboot." " We can't." "What?" "It's no longer here, sir." "Echelon is gone." "Are you trying to tell me our multi-million dollar program just got up and left?" "On its own?" "What the hell are you looking at?" "Alright, so that's why he picked you." "It wanted it to move, and you were the only one with the key." "Yeah, but to get out past NSA firewalls, it would have needed" " Someone at the Pentagon." " Right." "Okay, why does it even need to leave NSA at all?" "What could it possibly do here that it couldn't do there?" " Well, there's your answer." " What is it?" "Sir, come take a look at this." " Now what?" " It's... upgrading itself." "The upgrade?" "Congress wouldn't allow it, so it's giving it to itself." "And it couldn't do that in NSA, could it?" "No, this is a temporary house." "Long enough to make a bridge into every computer on the net." "I mean..." " It would be unstoppable." " Shut it down." " Don't try it." " What's that?" "Looks like..." "financial records." "Oh, my God!" "It's taking the entire country's money hostage." "Of course..." "Fourth recipient worked at Accudata, right?" "The largest credit data storage facility in the country." "Makes sense." "So if we turn it off, I'll blow this place... we'll lose everything?" "No, no, no." "Hold on." "If I could get around our security fail-safe, somehow..." "I might be able to stop the upgrade without losing the money." " Get to it." " Alright." "Alright, Max, come on!" "Exactly, you know it." "Okay, I'll see you Thursday." "You too, sir." "And thank you, Mr. President." " Ah, it's Grant for you, sir." " The coffee is cold." "Grant?" "Sir, it's got us by the balls, we're trying to find a safe way to shut it down." "Shut it down?" "Why the hell would I do that?" "Shit!" "Listen to me." "Last week, one liberal senator switches our vote at the last minute and moth balls the greatest surveillance tool ever created." "Now we are just 10 minutes away from realising the greatest security advance in my lifetime..." "And you want to shut it down?" "Sir, if we do this, we won't have security." "It will." "Look, I'll be lying if I said I thought this was how it was gonna go down, but the bottom line is... the President wants this." "I want this." "And the country will be safer with this." "So end of story!" "Let me try talking to him." " Burke, this is Reed." " Reed." "I'm sorry you got caught in the crossfire on this one." "Yeah, I'm sure you are." "Have you thought of the consequences?" "This thing had killed four people already." "Which was unfortunate." "but Spencer assures me it's malfunctioning... because it hasn't been permitted to follow its original programming." "Giving it the upgrade will cure that." "Once it's installed, you have no control over it." "We are at war, Reed." "If the computer acts unilaterally on occasion, that's a small price to pay." "Anyway we programmed it, it's on our side." "Don't bet on that." "Damn it." "Peterson thinks he can shut it down without losing any of the money, and I'm going to let him." "You're forgetting yourself, mister." "You do not have the authority." "But I do!" "Sorry, sir." "I have to go get strong on this." "Say that again, Grant." "And this time, choose your words very carefully." "Yes, sir." "I'm authorising Peterson to shut it down." "If you so might just touch one key on that computer, so help me God," "I'll you hauled up for treason and watch your ass hang in the public square." "You understand me?" "Do you?" "We'll see who hangs who." "So how long you figure we have till they come back?" "SWAT's local, Burke won't want any witnesses." "But my men, my former men, a few minutes." "What kind of artillery you got in this rig here?" "Welcome back, baby." "Fletcher." "Are you sure, sir?" "Alright!" "How are you doing, Max?" "Any progress?" "Ah, not yet!" "Hell, take your sweet time, huh?" " Can you hear me?" " Yes." "I've ordered to take this building by force if necessary." " I need you to stand down." " I can't do that." "So what is your basic demand mean?" "To protect the National Security of the United States." "National Security?" "Sir, I need you to throw down your weapons." "Sorry, I can't do that." "Define the United States." "In nation of citizens with freedoms, protected by the Constitution." "Okay, so..." "Per your mandate, you must defend the freedom of the United States citizens?" "Yes." "Damn it, Grant, don't make me do this." "And any threat to that freedom, must be eliminated?" "Yes!" "Search all articles for Senate Bill 2330." "This is your last chance." "Now, come on, come on." "Hurry up!" "Hurry." "Come on, come on, come on." "What's taking it so long?" "Let's go, Max!" "We can't hold them all that!" "Come on." "Hurry!" "Hold on!" "Come on, get it already!" "Come on." "More, more!" "Echelon is a threat to freedom." "I did it." "Shutting down." " Oh, shit!" " I did it!" "Don't move!" "Get 'em out of here." "No, Mr. President." "Echelon is completely offline until we can figure out a way to solve the malfunction..." "Of course not!" "Yes, sir, I understand you can." "Yes, sir." "It is entirely my responsibility." "Goodbye, Mr. President." " Your car is waiting, sir." " What's first?" "The Senate Intelligence Oversight Committee." "You know the three most important words in politics?" "No, sir." "Don't get caught." "Alright, let's go, Peterson." "Here he is." "So they are not pressing charges?" "Yeah, you know." "I really don't think they want the public to hear about this one." "Ah, do me a favor." "Keep your mouth shut this time, please!" "And..." "who paid our bail?" "Ah, nobody special." "Just someone who took a bullet for you." "Hi." "So what do you think?" "You gonna come back?" "I don't know." "Maybe." "If I can get my old office back." "Oh..." "what old office?" "That old office I had at the corner with the view?" "Oh, you mean my office?" " Well, thanks for getting us out." " Not me, Mueller." "He's a hard man to say no to, especially when he wants to keep the story out of the front page." "He set you all this way just to tell me that?" "And give you this." "He said you deserved it." "I don't know what to say!" "Just say you'll stay out of casinos." "Fair enough." " So when are you headed back?" " Tonight." "I'm gonna need a detour." "Where?" "Paris." "Well, the cheques in euros." "I figure what's as good as place as any to cash in?" "That a yes?" "Is it..." "Yuri." "Who's Yuri?" "Further Edits by LeapinLar"