02x05 - The Indicator

[destinyros2005]

"The Indicator" episode #2.05

(Sydney walks to her mother's empty cell and goes inside. She looks around.)

(Flashback to earlier. A guard stands outside a boardroom. Taking place inside is the joint intelligence committee, special session. Sydney sits at a table by herself talking into the microphone with a bunch of sentators sitting across from her at the other end of the room.)

SYDNEY: Five weeks ago, Irina Derevko surrendered herself to the CIA. She claimed that she wanted to cooperate to seek restitution for the criems she committed against the United States. During the next several weeks, Irina Derevko provided meaningful intelligence to the CIA on several occasions--

SENATOR DOUGLAS: Pardon the interruption, Agent Bristow. Let's talk about last week, the incident in Madagascar.

SYDNEY: Before Derevko turned herself into the CIA, as leverage, she concealed her organization's operations manual. Last week the CIA discovered where it was hidden. When I told Derevko I was going in to retrieve the manual, she informed us that the building was safe to enter. In truth, it was a trap. Derevko had rigged it with expl*sives. Just as we were about to enter the building, an agent spotted something on the satellite imagery.

SENATOR DOUGLAS: That agent was your father.

SYDNEY: Yes. He saved my life.

(Continuing now, Sydney is still in the cell, looking around. She finds something on the window sill. It's one of her mother's earrings. She's looking at it when Jack enters.)

SYDNEY: I wanted to stand in this cell, just once. You tried to warn me about her so many times. I'm so sorry that I didn't listen to you.

JACK: Some things you need to experience for yourself. I imagine every parent wants to protect their children from that truth.

SYDNEY: I never said thank you for saving my life.

JACK: We're due for a briefing at SD-6. We should go.

(Sydney smiles and nods. She walks out with Jack following her. Outside the cell, they walk down the hallway side-by-side. Sydney links her arm through his. Jack looks at her.)

(In Vienna, a car comes to a stop at a red light. A few cars are in line ahead of him. The light turns green but the cars don't move. The guy honks, impatient. Then he honks again, getting even more impatient. Someone gets out of the car behind him, wearing a mask and holding a massive shotgun. He racks the g*n and points it at the impatient fellow. He and another masked gunman start sh**ting. The impatient guy's horn is now blaring because he's slumped over against the steering wheel, sh*t to death. The gunmen go back to their car. They drive away. As they're passing the sh*t car they throw a grenade or an expl*sive of some sort into the shattered window. The cars that were ahead of him are gone. The car blows up. Bystanders scream.)

(SD-6 briefing with Dixon, Sydney, Jack, Sloane and Marshall.)

SLOANE: Niels Hater. The so-called Austrian connection was m*rder*d yesterday morning in Viena. The bold nature of the hit, the complete disregard for civilian collateral damage, indicates the work of the triad.

DIXON: Hater was triad. They k*lled one of their own?

SLOANE: Yes, we believe so.

(Briefing with Vaughn at the self-storage building.)

VAUGHN: The triad? You never mentioned them before.

SYDNEY: It's a loose coalition of organized crime entities. They deal in mainly dr*gs and prostitution, but over the past couple of years they've made a significant foray into weapons.

VAUGHN: Okay. So why did they k*ll Hater?

SYDNEY: Because he was selling intel to SD-6.

(The SD-6 briefing, continuing.)

SLOANE: In his last communique to our source in Viena, Hater informed us that the triad was engaged in a plot to deploy and develop sixteen Next Generation weapons.

DIXON: Any idea what Next Generation refers to?

SLOANE: No, which is a major source for concern. According to the communique, testing of the weapons is ahead of schedule which means they may soon be put into the field.

SYDNEY: Do we know where these weapons are now?

JACK: Budapest. During the Cold w*r, the Russians bulit a massive b*mb shelter under the magistrate's bureau. The triad has been using that shelter as a testing facility.

(No one says anything. Sloane is thinking about something, his mind elsewhere. Jack looks at him. Sloane snaps back to attention but Jack and Sydney exchange a "Did you see that? What was that about?" look.)

SLOANE: Your mission is to gain access to that facility, identify the nature of the weapons, retrieve the specs and test data off the central server and then proceed to the R&D lab and photograph the weapons.

(Vaughn briefing.)

VAUGHN: So that SD-6 can engineer the weapons for themselves.

SYDNEY: Which we won't let happen.

VAUGHN: Okay. I'll confer with your father about your countermission.

SYDNEY: My father?

VAUGHN: He didn't tell you? Based on your father's instincts in the Madagascar incident, Devlin gave him operational approval.

SYDNEY: Oh.

VAUGHN: When you and I were approaching that building, ops was monitoring our process via sat radar scan. Now, at the last moment, your father switched to infrared which is how he saw the expl*sives. We don't have routine satellite coverage over Madagascar, one had to be retasked. Now the closest one was over the Indian Ocean, yet your father specifically requested the one over the South Atlantic. Which, of the two, is the only one that has infrared capabilities.

SYDNEY: He wanted to account for every possibility.

VAUGHN: Probably. Or it's posible that he already knew there'd be expl*sives at that entrance.

SYDNEY: I don't see how, he never truested my mother's motives but he... You think my father wired that entrance... to set up my mother. We were nearly k*lled!

VAUGHN: I know.

SYDNEY: If there had been interference on our comms--

VAUGHN: You have to admit it wouldn't be the first time.

SYDNEY: Meaning what?!

VAUGHN: Rusik.

SYDNEY: Rusik!

VAUGHN: Your father set up Rusik!

SYDNEY: I was a prisoner! Sloane was about to have me ex*cuted!

VAUGHN: I don't see why you're denying this possibility!

SYDNEY: I understand that your authority has been superceded by my father and maybe you feel irrelevant. But he saved our lives. Remember that! I won't wait to hear from you.

(She walks out.)

(Francie's unnamed restaurant. Music plays as Sydney walks in. She looks around at all the people talking and laughing and spots Francie and Will.)

SYDNEY: Hey!

WILL: Hey.

FRANCIE: Hi, you look fabulous!

SYDNEY: Oh, so do you. I am--I am so proud of you.

FRANCIE: Thank you.

SYDNEY: Where did you get all these people?

FRANCIE: Can you believe it? I invited a hundred people, thinking maybe seventy would show up.

WILL: You said you were worried.

FRANCIE: He tells his NA meeting.

WILL: And they're good people.

FRANCIE: I'm sure they're fantastic people but we make ninety per cent of our profits from the bar and they don't drink.

(They all giggle. Later, dance music plays. Jack walks in. Sydney is dancing with Will. She gets twirled around by him, with a big smile on her face. Jack stands near the door, looking uncomfortable. Sydney is laughing and gives Will a little hug. Over her shoulder she sees him. Francie sees Jack and waves at him. He waves back awkwardly. He motions outside to Sydney, she tells Will and walks out to join her dad. Outside, on the sidewalk, Jack waits.)

SYDNEY: Hi.

JACK: The plane leaves for Budapest in an hour. You'll meet Dixon at the airport. When you get into the triad's test facility, you'll log onto their computer. Sloane expects you to disable the firewall so that SD-6 can hack in and directly download the specs for the Next Gen weapons. Once you've accessed the computer you'll contact the CIA and give us the IP address. We'll download the specs. Here, memorize this number. This is the IP address you'll give Dixon. He'll think he's accessing the triad's computer but he'll be on a CIA server. We've set up some dummy files for him to download.

SYDNEY: Anything else?

JACK: Sydney, Washington has made a decision regarding your mother. What she did to you invalidated her agreement with the CIA. The government is pressing charges. They're going to seek the death penalty.

(At the CIA, Vaughn walks and is suddenly stopped by Craig, another agent.)

CRAIG: Hey, Daddy.

VAUGHN: Hey, Craig, what are you doing in LA?

CRAIG: Madagascar customs picked up a US national transporting expl*sives. They brought him to LA, I'm babysitting him to New York. Listen, I heard about Weiss. How's he doing?

VAUGHN: It was--it was rough but they say he's going to be okay. Which is more than I can say about the nursing staff.

CRAIG: Wait till he gets home, he's going to be insufferable.

VAUGHN: Listen, I have to--

CRAIG: Yeah, yeah, go, go. I'll be back next month. I want to play some ball.

VAUGHN: Well, you think you're ready for this?

CRAIG: That's cute, that's cute.

(They part ways. Vaughn has a lightbulb moment and catches up with Craig.)

VAUGHN: Craig! The guy with the expl*sives, was it semtex?

CRAIG: Yeah.

VAUGHN: Vintage Russian stuff.

CRAIG: Yeah, that's right. How'd you know that?

VAUGHN: And he's here in LA.

CRAIG: Yeah, for the next two hours.

VAUGHN: I have to talk to him.

(Craig leads Vaughn to a parking garage underground. A few guards stand around.)

CRAIG: He's with me.

GUARD: Badge.

(Vaughn flips open his wallet to show the badge. The back door to a large van opens and Vaughn climbs in. He sits across from the guy who appeared in last week's episode: Jack's contact.)

VAUGHN: Manola de Souza, I'm Agent Vaughn. Has anyone offered you a drink? I'm sure I could find a soda.

(de Souza says nothing.)

VAUGHN: (nods) This is not a good time to be a t*rror1st, Manola. A couple of years ago, and you would have had some civil rights. Now we just throw you in a cell, no attorney, no due process. So who were you working for?

(de Souza says nothing.)

VAUGHN: Okay. (nods) In that case, we'll just let the pictures tell the story. Satellite photos from four days ago showing you rigging a plantation building in the jungle near Sambava. Those photos are all we need to put you away for the rest of your life. So I'm going to ask you one more time: do you want that soda?

(de Souza says nothing. Vaughn starts to leave. He gets up, but de Souza grabs at his arm.)

DE SOUZA: I was working for you, you son of a bitch. CIA.

(Vaughn sits back down.)

VAUGHN: Through what office?

DE SOUZA: My contact was Jack Bristow. You tell that bastard I'm not taking the fall on this.

(In Budapest, Sydney and Dixon are sitting in their surveillance van. Sydney's sporting a short blonde wig and glasses.)

SYDNEY: Testing 1-2-3...

DIXON: Good. Once you disable the network firewall I'll download the database while you access the viewing room and take photos of the weapons. The guards change shifts at noon. That gives you ten minutes to take place.

SYDNEY: How do I look?

DIXON: Lip gloss.

(He holds out the tube for her. Flashback to Marshall, holding the same tube in the conference room.)

MARSHALL: What I have here is an ordinary tube of lip gloss. Let's say you're at the beach and your lips are feeling a little -- "My lips are chapped!" -- or you're possibly on a date, it's the end of the night and some smooching. You want your lips to be supple. (He puts some on.) Pistachio. That's my favorite flavor. But you flip it over and it's a miniature camera with compressed air injector. Take a look and go ahead and smile 'cause you're on TV.

(All their screens show Sydney and Dixon from the camera's point of view. They smile a little. Marshall flips it over and has himself on screen, extremem close up. He looks in the camera then at the screen to see himself. Back and forth.)

MARSHALL: Uh, and uh, anyway, this, there's three cameras inside the tube. I mean, I wanted to make four but then there wouldn't be any room for the actual lip gloss. I'll make you a fresh one.

(In Budapest, Sydney takes the tube from Dixon with a smile. She gets out of the van and walks into the building. Cut to the building, where Sydney walks down the hall with an employee, an older man.)

EMPLOYEE: So you're making a family tree?

SYDNEY: It's a present for my grandparents. They're both from Budapest but they lost everything in the w*r. (takes out lip gloss)

EMPLOYEE: Well, I'm certain you'll find the documentation of their marriage and you should be able to find their registration of birth. Our records are very complete, dating back to 1895. Older than that, unfortunately, not so thorough.

(They turn a corner and Sydney points the camera up to the ceiling and sh**t it. One of the cameras gets embedded into the ceiling tile. They keep walking. From Dixon's perspective, with the camera in the ceiling, he can now see the security keypad.)

DIXON: Good work, Syd.

(The employee leads Sydney into the document room.)

EMPLOYEE: Birth records are here. Over there, documents of marriage and death. The correlation is unintended. (chuckles) Please.

(Dixon, with the help of Sydney's camera that she sh*t into the ceiling, watches as another employee punches in a code to get into another room.)

DIXON: 8-2-4...

(Back in the document room.)

EMPLOYEE: One problem. All documents are in Hungarian. How do you expect to know what they're saying?

(Sydney smiles and speaks Hungarian to him. He's impressed, and also sweet on her.)

EMPLOYEE: That's good.

SYDNEY: My grandparents taught me.

(He smiles, all suave. He leaves.)

DIXON: All right, Syd, you're clear.

(She walks down the hall to the security keypad.)

DIXON: Combination is 8-2-4-0-2.

(Sydney punches it in and is cleared. She goes inside, turns a corner, tries a door but it's locked. She takes out a lockpicking stick from the pocket of her jacket. She goes inside to the computer network room.)

SYDNEY: Stand by, Dixon, I'm going radio silent.

DIXON: Okay, Syd, stand by.

(Sydney touches her necklace and clicks it on.)

SYDNEY: Mountaineer, in position. Come in, boot camp.

(Back in LA, Jack and Vaughn are listening with their headsets.)

JACK: Copy that, Mountaineer.

(Sydney folds out a keyboard and clips it in to their computer wall.)

SYDNEY: Stand by for IP address, boot camp. (types) Boot camp, IP address is 199.181.134.104. I have opened port 47.

(Jack, back in LA, logs in using the information.)

JACK: Good work, Mountaineer. Go ahed, give the dummy IP to Dixon. See you at home.

(Vaughn gives Jack the stink-eye.)

SYDNEY: Copy that. (clicks to Dixon) Dixon, I've disconnected the firewall. The IP address is 259.10.3.179.

DIXON: Good work, Syd. Now go get some pictures of the weapons and we're out of here. The viewing room is around the corner, to the left. The door is marked (speaks Hungarian).

SYDNEY: Copy that.

DIXON: You're clear to exit.

(Sydney looks and then hides behind a partition out in the hallway. She sh**t another the ceiling so Dixon can check for her.)

DIXON: Okay... go.

(She runs, tries the door, but it's locked. She's about to pick it.)

DIXON: Sydney, you've got company. Two guards coming on your left.

(Sydney hides behind a partition until someone comes out and opens the door she was just trying to pick. The open door hides her from the view of the guards. Once they keep walking, Sydney ducks inside the room and goes in. She looks around and takes out her camera. A whistle blows from down below but with the help of the glass window in the viewing room, Sydney can see a makeshift classroom is set up with little children, maybe six-years-old, assembling a g*n with blindfolds on.)

SLOANE: (voice over) Sixteen Next Generation weapons...

(Sydney starts taking pictures of the kids assembling the w*apon. She takes pictures of the grey-haired instructor, walking down the aisles, observing the kids. Suddenly, he blows his whistle -- time's up. The kids point the g*ns to the ceiling and click the trigger.)

(Dr. Kerr, Vaughn and Sydney walk through the CIA together.)

KERR: We had no idea that the sixteen Next Generation weapons would turn out to be children.

SYDNEY: They were being trained as sleeper agents?

KERR: That appears to be the case. See, the best spies have certain traits -- proficiency with numbers, three dimensional thinking, creative problem solving -- these abilities are all in evidence as early as five years old. This is footage that we downloaded from the triad computer.

(Footage of the kids in the classroom, assembling weapons.)

VAUGHN: Every first grader in the European union takes a standardized test. A few years ago, the triad acquired the company doing the testing and added a series of questions designed to locate children with these traits. This year, twenty-eight children were indicated. Their parents were sent letters inviting them to participate in a month-long achievement program. Sixteen accepted.

KERR: Six-year-olds acquire knowledge at an incredible rate, so the basic skills of marksmanship, linguistics, visual, verbal cue recognition, it can all be taught in a matter of weeks.

(The gray-haired instructor is on the screen, monitoring the kids.)

SYDNEY: Who's he?

VAUGHN: We're still working on that.

SYDNEY: So what happens to these kids at the end of the month?

VAUGHN: Triad sends them home with the intent that when they're grown they will contact these kids and send them out to the field.

KERR: There was a rumour that the KGB began developing a smiliar program back in the '80s, but we never confirmed it.

SYDNEY: Before these kids are sent home, their memories are reset?

KERR: Yeah. That's right. They remember nothing except that it was extremely satisfying.

(The screen zooms in on a child assembling a g*n puzzle.)

(In Sloane's office, Jack sits in front of the desk. Sloane takes a drink. He pulls out a Xeroxed sheet of paper from a file folder and slides it across to Jack.)

SLOANE: Someone forged my wife's name in the registry at her favorite bed and breakfast... weeks after her death. My concern is that it's intended to be a message.

JACK: You have enemies, Arvin. Clearly, one of them is trying to leverage your grief.

(He slides the paper back to Sloane.)

SLOANE: It's not my grief. It's my guilt. Cancer didn't k*ll Emily, Jack. Emily's doctor told us that her cancer was in remission. That very day the Alliance told me that I was being considered for partner, but that there was a problem. Somehow, Emily had learned that... well, she learned about my association with SD-6. She didn't know the truth, in fact, she assumed the lie. That we're a branch of the CIA. Despite that, the Alliance decided to make my promotion contingent on Emily's death. My choice was an easy one. I wasn't about to k*ll my wife. Emily was not a bargaining chip. Then I talked to her doctor and I was persuaded that despite the temporary remission, that Emily's lymphoma would return and that it would slowly and painfully k*ll her. She had already suffered so much, Jack. The thought of her succumbing to this merciless illness or being k*lled by the Alliance... So, I dissolved sodium morphate in a glass of red wine. The wine put her to sleep, the sodium morphate then caused a heart att*ck. She didn't suffer.

JACK: I will find out who's doing this.

(He gets to leave.)

SLOANE: Jack?

(He stops and turns.)

SLOANE: See who else was being considered for partnership. I was given a seat at that table. That means someone else was not.

(In a park on a sunny afternoon, Sydney and Will have a picnic lunch on a park bench. Sydney eats a carrot stick.)

WILL: I have this new friend on my work detail, Tommy Marijuana. We call him that because there's Tommy Marijuana and there's Tommy Crystal Meth. Tommy Marijuana thinks that we're always the person that we were in the sixth grade.

SYDNEY: Sixth grade was an awkward phase for me.

WILL: Oh, come on. You, awkward?

SYDNEY: Yeah. Big teeth and little eyes. And I always was a foot taller than everyone else so I sort of hunched over.

WILL: I wish I could have seen that. When I was in sixth grade, I was sort of anonymous. You know, you had the smart kid, and the funny kid, and the good athlete. And I was just Will.

(They both smile and look down.)

SYDNEY: They're putting my mom on trial. They're going to ask for the death penalty. And the only way I'm able to deal with this is to tell myself that that woman was never really my mother. The irony is since she's been back, my father and I are closer than we've ever been.

(Will smiles. Sydney's pager beeps.)

SYDNEY: It's Vaughn. I have to go.

(Will rubs her shoulder and they start packing up their food.)

(CIA. Vaughn walks by an agent who's sitting down at his computer.)

AGENT: Hey, Vaughn, the guy with the semtex -- de Souza -- are we supposed to be looking into that?

VAUGHN: Excuse me?

AGENT: I was just wondering, is that our case or were you pursuing it independently?

VAUGHN: I don't know what you're talking about.

(The agent grabs a sheet of paper from his tray and shows Vaughn.)

AGENT: Daily situation report says the guy was here on a transfer order. You're listed as visiting him.

(Vaughn looks up just in time to see Jack get the report handed to him.)

AGENT: Vaughn?

(Jack looks at Vaughn. He knows that he knows and they both know that Sydney doesn't know. Just then, Sydney walks in.)

VAUGHN: No, it's not our case.

(Sydney walks towards Vaughn but Jack walks up to her.)

JACK: Hello, Sydney.

SYDNEY: Dad, hi.

JACK: Agent Vaughn contacted you?

SYDNEY: Yeah. Have we identified the man from Budapest with the children?

VAUGHN: Yes. Valerie Kholokov.

SYDNEY: It's Kholokov?

VAUGHN: You've heard of him?

SYDNEY: Yeah, he used to run KGB's psych ops division. Mind control experiments, psychoactive dr*gs. I thought he was dead.

VAUGHN: Well, so did we. But apparently, after the KGB dissolved he went over to the triad. A facial recognition scanner at the airport in Buenos Aires indentified him yesteday.

SYDNEY: What's he doing in Buenos Aires?

JACK: He has a house there. The project in Budapest is complete. A team is raiding that facility as we speak.

VAUGHN: The children have all returned home and we have surveillance teams monitoring each of them. If the triad ever makes contact, we'll intercede.

SYDNEY: We'll need to grab Kholokov, see how many other kids he's done this to. Who they are, where they are.

VAUGHN: There's a team prepping now.

SYDNEY: Good. I want to go with them.

JACK: No. Sending you to Buenos Aires would be an unnecessary risk. Kholokov has a private security detail, external and internal alarm systems--

SYDNEY: Dad, when I signed up with SD-6, I wanted to join. When I found out the truth, I mean--these kids... I know what it's like to be used. I'm going to Buenos Aires.

VAUGHN: Team leaves in twelve hours.

SYDNEY: Okay. Anything else?

(Vaughn looks at Jack with a cocky look on his face.)

JACK: That's all.

SYDNEY: I'm going to pack.

(She leaves.)

VAUGHN: I saw de Souza. He told me that you hired him to rig those expl*sives.

JACK: Irina Derevko would eagerly destroy all of our lives.

VAUGHN: I'm not a big fan, either. It still doesn't justify what you did.

JACK: You do good work, Agent Vaughn. But your consistent shortcoming -- you should know this -- is your naive sense of morality. Evil must be eliminated by whatever means necessary.

VAUGHN: I don't think Sydney would agree with that.

JACK: Sydney will never know about what I've done.

VAUGHN: You betrayed her trust. I won't. Now, she should hear it from you, but if you don't tell her, I promise you, I will.

(Vaughn walks away.)

(Opera plays as Sloane takes a shower. He steps out and wraps a towel around his waist while standing in front of the mirror. Sloane sees something. He whips around and sees a glass of red wine sitting on the counter behind him. He opens the bathroom door and four or five screens on his wall all show static. He dials the phone.)

VOICE: Yes, sir?

SLOANE: Why is my security system disabled?

VOICE: It was disengaged on site, sir, ten minutes ago. I'll put the system back online, sir. Sir? Is everything okay?

(Sloane looks at all the surveillance screens. Just sees himself.)

(Buenos Aires. At the compound of Kholokov, Sydney and various other agents prep in the trees. Sydney sh**t one of the guards and he falls to the ground.)

SYDNEY: I'm going in. The guard's been sedated.

AGENT: Copy that, Mountaineer.

(Sydney takes out her infrared binoculars to see if there's any more. She goes around the bushes, gets closer to the building. She takes out a folding platform from her knapsack and hits a button on it. She stands on the platform and is vaulted onto the top of the building. She sh**t a guard with a tranq. Sydney looks around and lenas over the railing to see Kholokov swimming in his pool down below. He gets out of the pool and goes inside.)

SYDNEY: I make four guards in the courtyard, Kholokov just went inside. Get into position, I'm heading to the juncture box.

(Sydney reaches the box.)

SYDNEY: You take the guards, I got Kholokov. On my signal, and that's in 3... 2... 1. Go!

(She takes out the power. The agents and the guards exchange fire back and forth while Sydney slips inside Kholokov's house. It's dark, so she can barely see. She hears someone running and turns around to see Kholokov running behind her. She tackles him, he kicks her. Sydney and Kholokov both stand up, but Kholokov is brandishing a stun g*n in one hand. He hits her with it once and speaks Russian menacingly. He takes another dive at her but Sydney ducks and throws him in a nearby fountain/pool. He flops around with the stun g*n in the water. Sydney pants as the agents come in.)

AGENT: You good?

SYDNEY: Yes. It's him, it's Kholokov.

AGENT: Nice job.

(They escort him out. Sydney spots a sample g*n puzzle sitting on a table nearby. Sydney looks at the disassembled pieces. In seconds, she puts it all together.)

(Back in Los Angeles, Sydney is in Dr. Kerr's office.)

KERR: You want me to hypnotize you?

SYDNEY: I want you to take me back to whenever it was when I first saw the puzzle.

KERR: But you say you don't remember ever seeing that puzzle.

SYDNEY: I must have.

KERR: Agent Bristow, I've seen your profile. Your spatial intelligence is stellar. It's no surprise that you can solve the puzzle.

SYDNEY: But I wasn't solving it. When I was standing there, staring at the puzzle, it was like I remembered where every piece belonged. There wasn't any thought involved. You said the KGB developed a similar project, it's possible that my mother new the techniques and maybe she--

KERR: Agent Bristow... if you are looking to uncover a trauma then I need to warn you. Hypnotic regression can trigger severe nightmares, flashbacks, acute depression--

SYDNEY: Understand to do what I do, maintain my cover at SD-6, I compartmentalize a lot. But the idea that I might have been programmed to be a spy, I can't tuck that away. I need to know what happened to me.

(A tech expert enters Sloane's office and looks around hesitantly. Sloane is watching surveillance video.)

TECH: Uh, excuse me, sir, I analyzed the wine. Is this a good time?

(Sloane doesn't say anything. He walks to his desk and sits down.)

TECH: There's no fingerprints on the glass. The wine is a '99 Hadley Cabernet Franc, unremarkable vintage. What is remarkable is what I extracted from inside the wine. I was so surprised I redid the test but I'm certain. It's VTX, a calcium-based anitdote. Extremely scarce.

SLOANE: Antidote to what?

TECH: Uh, mainly heart att*ck inducing toxins. Kertotic acid, um, sodium morphate. VTX simulates death, it slows the lungs, nearly stops the heart, which is how it prevents the poisons from causing cardiac arrest. And then the VTX is, uh, is metabolized. The, uh, body, it returns to normal.

SLOANE: So if someone who was poisoned by sodium morphate were given VTX they would appear to die.

TECH: Yes, sir. Well, assuming they had no other heart conditions, in eight to twelve hours, then they would be just fine.

(Kerr's office. Sydney sits in a chair with electrodes on her head. Kerr sits nearby.)

KERR: I'm going to count back from three. When I get to one, I want you to tell me where you are. 3... 2... 1.

(Sydney opens her eyes. We are taken inside her mind and see what she's seeing. Present Sydney climbs the stairs of a house and sees Little Sydney - age six - coloring in her book on her bed.)

SYDNEY: It's me... in my room. When I was little.

(Sydney watches herself, standing in the doorway. In the office, a tear rolls down her cheek.)

KERR: Tell me if you see anything that resembles the puzzle we're looking for.

(Little Sydney goes down some stairs and stops.)

JACK: (off screen) I'm taking care of Christmas... that'll be soon. Christmas is all set...

(Little Sydney hears. Present Sydney, in the dream, sees a copy of that puzzle sitting on a desk.)

SYDNEY: Yes. I see it.

KERR: Nothing can happen to you now, Sydney. You're safe.

(Sydney cries in her chair, whimpering a little.)

KERR: Sydney, I want you to listen to me. Just breathe. Breathe. Focus on the puzzle. Focus on the puzzle.

(Little Sydney is putting the puzzle together.)

KERR: Good, Sydney. Very good.

(Little Sydney now has a g*n in her hand and loads it.)

KERR: Look around you, tell me who else is in the room.

(Little Sydney looks up. An arm comes around her and takes the g*n from her.)

YOUNGER JACK: Good work, Sydney.

(Sydney wakes up, gasping. She wipes at her tear streaked face.)

(Outside at a meeting point, Sydney stands in the rain. Jack's car pulls up.)

JACK: Sydney, get in!

(She doesn't move. Jack gets out of his car and approaches.)

JACK: What is it?

SYDNEY: I have this memory when I was six years old. My mother had just d*ed in a car accident. I felt so scared. You were never home, so who was going to take care of me? Then I overheard you talking. You were in your study on the phone. You were talking about Christmas, about me. You were taking care of my Christmas presents. Suddenly, I-I felt so safe. You were taking care of me. That memory's a lie. You weren't talking about that at all.

JACK: Sydney.

SYDNEY: I've seen the footage. Mom's briefing with her KGB handler. She was sent here for one specific purpose, to steal information from you about a project you were developing for the CIA. An operation to train children to be American spies. Project Christmas. Ever since Mom came back, you were afraid she'd figure out what you did to me. You weren't trying to protect me from her, you were trying to protect your secret. So the first opportunity you had, you set her up... in Madagascar.

JACK: Sydney, understand something--

SYDNEY: No, Dad, you understand something. You took away my choices in life. You programmed me to be a spy. I will never forgive you for this.

(Sydney walks away in the rain, by herself.)

(Wet and soggy, with mascara running down her face, Sydney walks into the CIA joint offices. She stops. Vaughn is sitting in a chair in front of a computer, and idly looks around. He sees her and immediately gets up. They walk to each other. He hugs her. Sydney starts to sob on his shoulder. Vaughn keeps hugging her as she cries.)