04x11 - Psy-Op + Cell + Merchant + Birds

[bunniefuu]

Where... the hell am I?

_

Hello?!

I was just like you.

20 minutes ago.

Woke up here in shock, no idea where I was.

I came over, gave you a nudge.

But you were busy producing a puddle of drool.

Honestly, who am I to interrupt?

Gray.

It's an interesting choice.

It's supposed to be psychologically oppressive.

But I like gray.

So there.

I know you.

You're The Merchant.

You tried to k*ll Desi.

Who?

Listen, I'm...

I'm genuinely sorry.

I...

I-I meet a lot of people in my line of work.

So...

... if you wouldn't mind being a bit more specific.

Where the hell are we?!

I have no idea.

You're a liar!

What do you want from me?

Uh...

I want you to let go.

Please.

Clearly, you and I are in the same predicament.

It's just I'd say I'm handling it a bit better.

Eh? Without all the grabbing and shouting and toxic masculinity.

This coming from the man who m*rder*d a woman in a soccer stadium.

Was that you?

On the soccer pitch.

Oh, right.

You're that teenager from the, um... from the Falcon organization.

Fal...

Phoenix... Foundation.

You're the criminally insane weasel on the run from Codex.

I don't like that word.

What, "weasel"? "Insane".

It's a simple word stupid people use when they can't face the complexities of the human psyche.

"Sociopath"... there's another one.

It's like, "Everyone, calm down.

Stop trying to label me".

What was the last thing that you remember?

I was drinking a cup of tea, oolong, in a Shanghai cafe.

Everything went dark.

I woke up, I was being transported somewhere, then held.

I really don't know.

I just... found myself coming to here.

You?

I was in China, tracking you.

Oh, were you?

Well, serves you right, then, doesn't it?

You're bleeding, by the way.

Oh, look.

I've got one, too. Twinsies.

There's something sewn in under the skin.

Please.

Please stop poking it.

It's a planted port.

Oh, you mean there's an IV in here?

Yeah.

Yeah, that explains why we're so disoriented.

We've been drugged.

Judging by the stitches, I'd say we've been here a week.

I don't...

I don't want to be in this cell.

I really...

I really don't want to be in this cell.

Yeah, well, neither do I.

And I got a bad feeling nobody's coming for us.

Which means our only hope of getting out of here... is each other.

Got it.

Got what?

Oh, t... I told you to stop poking that.

That's just...

Try...

Trying to... make it more difficult for our captors to drug me.

Keeping hold of that, are we?

Never know. Might come in handy.

No, I kn...

I know who you are.

You're that bloke that makes things out of things, right?

You're like, "I-I got a toothbrush, I got some bubblegum, some duct tape and some earwax, and, hey, hey, presto, I just made an aeroplane".

Let go of me! I don't speak crazy!

Get him off me! Get him off me!

Get him off me! Calm down! Calm down!

I can't calm down! Just... listen to my voice, okay?

I find it irritating. Please be quiet.

My name is Angus.

What's your name?

What are you trying to do, get me to laugh myself to death?

That's terrible, that is.

What, they named you after beef?

Pretty sure it's Scottish.

My name's Clive.

It's not an alias.

Well, Clive, just... make sure to breathe deep...

Why don't you shut up and let me listen to the birds?

I like listening to the birds.

What birds?

Shh.

Listen to that. You hear that?

That's a reed parrotbill.

And the other one, the...

That's a bunting.

That's a Tibetan bunting.

I think we're still in China.

Birds migrate, but there is a way to confirm if what you're saying is true.

What are you doing?

Shh!

Oi. N-No, no, no.

Oh, that's incredible.

This pipe most likely runs throughout the entire prison.

So... if I create a seal between my ear and this hole...

No. No, it's incredibly unhygienic.

Your face is right next to that bucket of wee.

Speaking Mandarin.

I told you.

I told you, didn't I?

So we are in China.

When are they coming for you?

Who?

The Phoenix people.

Yeah, they're not coming.

Great.

So what now?

Why don't we talk about the people who did this to us?

Let's talk about Codex.

What, you think this is Codex?

How else do you explain the two of us in a cell together?

I shut down their match fixing operation.

You lost a lot of money for them.

Our common enemy is Codex.

Yeah, but I paid them back since then, didn't I?

And I've kept in their good graces.

This is not Codex.

Someone's coming.

_

Well?

I think he bought it.

Hook, line and sinker.

He's got a thing about birds.

Is that gonna be a problem?

The techs have done their research.

Hey. You okay?

Yeah. Yeah.

I need a reset on the rat.

Who's got the rat food?

And, Riley, I need those weather effects yesterday.

Almost there.

I see you're finally connecting with someone emotionally.

Good for you.

Exactly how much money did you spend on this circus?

Well, if Codex find a way to wipe out a quarter of the Earth's population, I don't think I'm gonna care too much about my bank balance.

Is this gonna work?

I don't know.

Every time I think we've knocked them back, they seem to come back at us stronger.

We need intel. We need... we need to get ahead of them.

Because, without that, I'm running out of hope.

_

Does that hurt? No.

_

You know you don't have to try to impress me.

You already got me naked in a shower.

That's a good point.

I'm sorry The Merchant's bodyguard stabbed you in the neck before I could take her out with a tranq dart.

There's something you don't hear every day.

No.

You know, we have a few more hours of freedom before Matty begins her interrogation.

Hey, guys, sorry to interrupt.

Um, Matty wants us back at the Phoenix.

Something to do with The Merchant?

Yeah, we will, uh... we'll get dressed.

All righty.

No.

Taylor, what's going on?

You know the burner phone we pulled from The Merchant in China?

Yeah. Techs found something unexpected.

Encrypted messages sent from The Merchant to Codex.

That doesn't make any sense.

After he lost Codex all that money in Milan, they wanted him dead.

Yeah, swapping messages indicates that they've kissed and made up. That means...

The Merchant possibly knows more about Codex than we first thought.

Like the location of their new headquarters.

We're not gonna be able to decrypt those messages.

I've been working on Major Frost's phone since the NORAD att*ck. I've got nothing.

Well, then, we better start working on him.

He's out cold in the interrogation room.

Total sensory deprivation.

Taylor, you're with me.

The rest of you, I want you listening in.

Wait.

That man was tranquilized.

He has no idea who took him or where he is.

Right? So we can use that to our advantage.

Of course.

Messing with him is part of the interrogation. No.

We don't interrogate him.

We help him.

Look, The Merchant may sound like a deranged chat show host, but he's highly intelligent, manipulative... and trained by Codex.

Traditional interrogation won't work on him.

Exactly what do you have in mind?

Uh, why are we in the storage bay?

This is where we play laser tag and defuse bombs.

Right. We can put the, uh... cell block here, hallway here, a little bit of, uh, fake sunlight.

This'll be perfect.

You want to build a prison?

A prison set... for our beautiful con.

The Merchant isn't going to wake up in the Phoenix interrogation room.

He's going to wake up in a cell somewhere else.

Yes. In China.

With me as his cellmate.

Social engineering.

We gain his trust, get him to talk a little bit.

Perhaps he even gives up the, uh, location of Codex without him even realizing it.

I'll be the Phoenix agent who pursues him, and once we are trapped together, I'll become his confidant.

It should be me.

The Merchant needs to believe that his cellmate is an ally.

And Codex's master plan was designed by... my mother.

And... my aunt runs the place, so, Codex is practically the family business.

No, Mac.

You've been through a lot lately, and, um... this hits a bit close to home. Exactly.

It'll make it more convincing.

Look, I've run this con before with MI6.

I have experience.

I can handle this.

You're not strong enough.

Look, forgive me, but after everything you've been through recently, I just don't think that you have the...

Don't have the what?

The mental stability that this requires.

You're right.

I'm not sleeping, and I can't stop thinking about Codex, or the people that they want to sacrifice.

Or the people that I've lost, so...

Let me use it, please.

If The Merchant's emotional intelligence is as high as you say, then he's gonna look at me, and he's gonna see a kindred spirit.

Someone who's pushed to the edge, just trying to survive.

You'll need to look the part.

We'll suggest you two were drugged, which will account for the lost time, and provide physical evidence that'll seem too insane to fake.

When we abducted him, we found anti-anxiety medication.

Withholding that will throw him off his game.

Bozer will head up production design.

Layer the dirt on those walls. This is all about the details.

Where's my rodent guy?

We'll need the proper lighting and atmosphere.

This rig will use nanoparticles to compress what happens to sunlight as it passes through the Earth's atmosphere over six miles down into a few feet.

We'll have surveillance, but you'll be in close quarters with The Merchant, so that means no comms.

You need to establish a rapport.

Normally, I'd say use emotive mirroring, active listening, but we're short on time, so, get him to tell you his name.

All right.

_

Hello, Clive.

They messed you up pretty good, huh?

Did you find out where we are?

Who they are?

What-what they want from us?

We're being held by China's Ministry of State Security.

The secret police.

Yeah. They think we're Western spies.

Well, you are a Western spy.

Yeah.

Well... I was.

How so?

I defected from the Phoenix.

And I've been tracking you because I need your help... making contact with Titan.

And why on earth would you want to do that?

So that I can join Codex.

He pushed it. That was too early.

No, no, no, he's good. He's gonna bite.

Listen to me. Level with me.

The Phoenix Foundation... they're really not coming for you?

Definitely not.

Well, I can't tell you how happy that makes me.

But you know, there's an easy-peasy solution to all of this, right?

You make stuff out of stuff.

That's what you do.

So anyway, hypothetically, you could get us out of this jail cell.

Uh-oh. No, it's all right.

We expected that. Stand by.

Yeah, I...

I might be able to make what we need to pick that lock, break it or something, yeah.

Listen, when the guards come back to interrogate one of us, if we distract them, I could lift a stun g*n.

If you can lift the stun g*n, I think we have all that we need to get out of here, but... then what?

Where do we go?

Very good.

Steering the conversation back to the intel.

You break us out of this prison, I'll take you to Titan personally.

We have a deal.

One, two, three.

Parrotbill.

Four, five.

Bunting.

One, two, three. Parrotbill.

What the devil is Clive playing at?

The kind of stuff you do when you're crazy banana pants?

What are we gonna do about the stun g*n?

The Merchant mentioned lifting it, but he's gonna know pretty soon if it's a fake.

Which is why it won't be.

We're gonna give a real w*apon to the Downton Abbey reject in there?

No, we're not gonna do that, because that's too dangerous.

Look, The Merchant thinks that Mac's gonna help him escape.

He won't hurt him.

It's a risk we're gonna have to take.

Right.

Time for sunset.

But it's only been a few hours in that cell since sunrise.

Yes, well, I'm throwing off his circadian rhythms, adding a lightning storm and dosing his dinner with his anti-anxiety medication.

The benzo hit should trigger feelings of tranquility, and make him trust Mac even more.

Something about you playing God is... terrifying.

Well, it is a chess match.

We have to do whatever we can to make sure that Mac is not the pawn.

I can't bear awkward silences.

Listen, why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself?

I'm just interested to know... what makes the Boy Wonder tick?

Seriously, what... ?

What are your hopes? What are your dreams?

To get you to stop talking.

Just tell me one thing.

Why do you want to meet Titan?

Why would you want to go face-to-face with the architect of Codex's doomsday plans?

She's my aunt.

Like hell she is.

You're telling the truth?

I really wish I wasn't.

So it's a family matter.

Well, what do your parents say? Do they know?

Siblings?

I see. None of those.

So... you're all alone in the world.

I wouldn't say that.

Listen, family's important, but...

Even if you don't get along.

But when they're gone, well, it's like you're-you're the last of your kind.

Literally. You're like an endangered species.

It's just you, left to wander the wilderness until you finally die and become extinct.

I want to pull Mac out of there.

It's too soon. They're building trust.

No, he's losing control of the conversation.

Give us the room.

You said you did this op at MI6.

I did.

And?

It was successful.

Until it wasn't.

I locked one of our best operational officers in with a t*rror1st in the hope of getting some intel on an upcoming att*ck.

What happened?

My officer's jugular was sliced open with a shard of broken glass.

We... we missed it.

And now we're gonna put a w*apon in The Merchant's hands.

But we managed to get enough intel to stop the att*ck.

Taylor, I know you well enough now to know.

You're worried.

Which is why I want to pull Mac out of there.

She told me about you once, you know.

'Course, I didn't know at the time that you were the famous nephew.

What do you mean?

Auntie Gwen.

Oh, uh, um, we're not close or any... Actually, she doesn't like...

Actually, she wants to k*ll me.

What did she say?

Well, as you know, she's so dedicated to saving the world from itself.

I was curious to find out why.

So I asked her.

And she told me.

She said... and I quote...

"I want my nephew to have a long and beautiful life.

And I want that for his children and for his children's children".

Me?

Me? I'm all about survival.

Is that how you got back with Codex, back in their... good graces?

Well, I mustn't lie.

I've got a certain skill set that they need, and that's reserved me a seat in the doomsday bunker, luckily.

Did you hear that?

They have a doomsday bunker.

Already on it.

Tracking all shipments from the past year of materials needed to build a fortified underground structure.

Good job, Mac.

Old Clive is giving up valuable intel, and he doesn't even realize it.

A doomsday bunker?

How long do we have to get into that thing?

Time-out.

Why?

Why now? Why-why do you... want to join Codex now?

My whole life, I've been a Boy Scout.

Trying to make my... saintly dead mom proud.

But now that I know the truth about her and both of my parents are dead...

... I feel... free.

Free to choose the path of science and reason.

And the whole...

"Codex planning on k*lling billions of people"?

Your friends.

Phoenix.

Your girlfriend.

What, that doesn't bother you?

Sometimes, to do what's right, you have to sacrifice the things you love.

Is that part of the act?

Well, let's hope so.

Enough with the sharing.

Let's set this breakout in motion, hmm?

Uh, just...

_

_

Thing is, I haven't learned Mandarin since the last time you were in here, so I've got no idea what you're talking about.

Thanks.

I take it you guys ran with the whole prison breakout thing, came up with a plan? Yeah.

Bozer's waiting in the lab to brief you.

Mac, mate, are you okay?

Yeah, I'm fine.

Ready for a few more cuts and bruises.

Well, well, well.

You seem to be rather good at withstanding t*rture.

So do you.

Mm. Mm-hmm.

Anyhoo, got you a little gift, didn't I?

Yeah.

Saw it in the window and I thought of you.

Oh, bloody hell.

It works. Shocking.

All right. This time.

Oh! Watch out, watch out.

It is sensitive.

Well, this is a charged moment, isn't it?

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

You're no fun at all.

Maybe you could explain to me how destroying our only w*apon is gonna get us out of here.

Gas cartridge plus needle...

... equals lock pick g*n.

A w*apon is no use to us if we can't get out of here.

Yeah, but a lock pick isn't gonna help us take out the guards, is it?

No reason we can't have both.

Now, most projectile stun g*ns, they have a direct contact backup feature in case the cartridges have been deployed.

And you're arming me.

Is that wise?

You're an opportunist who wants to capitalize on bringing me to Titan.

I think it makes sense.

Let's just call it trust, shall we?

Pretty impressive skills, by the way.

Gonna need those as we cross into Zavkhan.

He just dropped the name of a remote province in Mongolia.

I can cross-reference that with fallout shelter material shipments and construction activity.

Could give us a solid location on Codex.

Sir, there's a line in the transcript from earlier that voice recognition logged as inaudible... I'm busy right now.

I checked the video, just to cover our bases, and I found this.

One, two, three, parrotbill...

... four, five... bunting.

Cut the lines!

The Internet! The satellite!

Cut the connection! Seal us off now!

What is it? What? What? The Merchant is onto us.

I don't know by how much, but he at least suspects that he's been in a simulation.

The intel he sent us is a trap.

Okay, okay. Just take a breath.

Phoenix's network is protected by a sandboxed API, VPN, IDS.

We should be o... What?

Oh, this is never good. What is it?

Someone got through and pinged us.

The Merchant sucked us into this whole stun g*n thing to get our focus away from the real risk, the fake intel.

Looks like someone b*at our network.

My money's on Codex.

He used us to send them an SOS.

"Zavkhan" and "bunker" are trigger words.

Anyone searching for those words on the Internet will send an alarm to Codex.

Anyone who sees the network will know it's us.

He's too valuable of an asset to them.

They're not gonna give him up.

But if they have our location... Codex is coming.

Ten minutes ago, someone searched keywords, triggering a distress beacon in Los Angeles.

We believe it to be an asset of ours known simply as "The Merchant".

We believe that he's being held by the Phoenix Foundation.

Now, Titan wants him alive, by any means necessary.

Are we clear?

Yes, ma'am.

Load up.

I want to tell you something in all honesty, which is a rare commodity;

I mean, it's an undervalued trait in today's society.

Can't you just say something without a preamble?

Well, I can, but I discovered years ago the pretty words make my personality more palatable.

Strange as it may sound, I actually have high hopes for you.

More than that, I have faith in you.

You will be free.

I think you're gonna make a great leader.

And I think you're gonna save an awful lot of people.

At least I hope so.

For both our sakes.

All right, so... chance.

Wait for 'em to go by again, then we take 'em by surprise. Okay.

What are you doing?

It's over. Bravo. Truly.

Truly. Miss you already. What are you doing?

This isn't part of the plan. He was about to give up...

No, he made us hours ago.

The info he gave you was a trap to send an SOS to Codex. They're coming.

All right, do we have a black site ready?

We need to transport The Merchant out of here.

Yeah, we're working on it, but we need a solid extraction plan in case we run into Codex on the way.

Backup. Why can't we call for backup?

No. Codex has infiltrated every level of the government everywhere.

We'd be calling in reinforcements for them, not us. We're on our own.

Oh, hello, Desiree. Lovely to see you again.

Don't you talk to her. She's lovely.

I can see why you're so devoted. Oh!

Where's the Codex bunker?

Tell me, or I swear to God... Calm down!

Get off me.

You are letting him get to you. Calm down!

I don't care. Get off me.

Put him over there.

Put chucklehead here in the w*r room, with guards.

Chucklehead? Really?

You two. Ow!

Make sure you lock this building down while we come up with a plan.

I'm good.

I'm not.

I'm sorry.

It's been a rough couple of days.

I'm not allowed to lose my cool every once in a while?

Oh, you can. Just doesn't mean it's not hard to watch.

It's a part of an act.

"Sacrifice the things you love".

That's a con for The Merchant.

Well, I believed you.

I am losing my grip on which version of you is real.

The one who loves you is real.

You can't just...

We're in the middle...

You love me?

Well, cut it out.

Ow.

I'm sorry.

Let's rendezvous in the tech room after we lock the rest of this place down.

Hopefully, Matty has a transport plan for The Merchant.

Okay.

Look at him, he's just sitting in the w*r room, staring at us.

I don't want to see his stupid face any longer than I have to.

We've got a black site in Tujunga that will hold for the night.

All right, people, this is going to be Convoy Security 101.

Motion on the roof.

They're here.

I recognize her.

Last time we met, she was pointing a shotgun at me.

Looks like they're gonna work their way down from the roof.

All right, everyone, take positions.

Find The Merchant.

I'll take her.

You have no idea how badly I wanted to punch somebody today.

On your left! Move, move!

Get down!

Cover me! Covering you!

Move around the corner!

Grenade! Go, go, go!

Get down!

Let's go! Go!

Shame.

What's this?

Titan wants you to call her.

Right.

Hel-Hello?

You're welcome.

Oh, thank you.

Thank-thank you so, so much. Thank you.

What'd you tell them?

Oh, I didn't tell them anything.

Well, I didn't tell them anything they didn't know already.

And-and obviously, anything I did say to hedge my loyalty to Codex, well, th-that was an act. But you know that.

Good.

Listen, I-I know that we've had our differences in the past.

I just wanted to thank you for seeing your way clear to, um...

I think she rang off.

Phew.

Why aren't we moving?

No.

No, no, no.

Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

You see, our Phoenix TAC team... the finest in the world, might I add... stopped your real saviors long before they ever hit the ground.

All the fighting, the g*nf*re.

All right, team. All clear.

Yes, well, good old Boze here, he staged that for your benefit using fake rounds and blood squibs.

But why?

Why?

That's why.

The number he gave us links to a modem on a protected network.

Could it lead to the location of Codex's new headquarters?

It's buried under a few layers, so it'll take some time.

But I'll find 'em.

Checkmate.

Give it a rest, Riley.

We got The Merchant, the intel and a handful of Codex operatives.

Take the night off.

Oh, this isn't about Codex.

I'm doing something way more stressful.

Apartment hunting.

You're moving?

You don't like my old room at Mac's?

Look, I know that place is haunted, but that stupid priest was supposed to take care of it.

No, I...

I just want to give Mac and Desi the space they deserve.

That's all.

Is that what you're telling yourself?

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

Don't make me say it.

I won't.

But...

I'm here if you want to talk.

Good night, Riley.

Earlier... what you said about me being free and saving everyone, what did you mean?

Look, I'm knackered.

Come and see me tomorrow.

Nobody's coming for you, Clive.

Ever.

You know, you're just as trapped as I am.

You just don't realize it.

By your loyalties.

You think that there's only Phoenix and Codex.

But there isn't.

And what else is there?

You.

Let's forget our little chess match for a minute, shall we?

And let's pretend that I do actually care about the billions of innocent souls on this planet.

Well, they're gonna need someone that doesn't take sides.

Someone who makes the hard choices.

I really believed that person was you.

But you're not ready.

Is that so?

Well, you know that story I told you about your aunt?

Yeah, I made that up.

And the reason you fell for it... is you wanted to believe it so badly.

And it moved you, and that's why you're weak.

You're pretty soft yourself.

When I fed you that lie about wanting to join Codex, you lapped it up.

Of course.

You were lying.

Sure.

I was just like you.