03x09 - Questionable Costs

Episode transcripts for the TV show "StartUp". Aired: September 2016 to November 2018.*
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"StartUp" follows an unlikely group of collaborators in Miami who band together to develop a digital currency, except this particular founding story is riddled with crime: from the fraudulently obtained funds that comprise GenCorp’s seed money to the crooked FBI agent trying to get his own money back.
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03x09 - Questionable Costs

Post by bunniefuu »

You're tryna lead, bro.

(g*n COCKS, FIRES)

RONALD: This ain't how you lead.

MARA: You need to tell
me everything you know

about the shop and who's unhappy.

- You have no idea.
- I do.

AGENT BRADLEY: A missing cache
of chemical weapons has fallen

into the wrong hands.

RONALD: We're calling
it the "Police Program."

STELLA: It'd only be
based on potential dangers.

NICK: He's not with us anymore.

He has sided with the NSA.

WES: You wanna come
after one of our own?

You wanna come after one
of the family? On a hunch?

RONALD: This thing that
you and I built together,

that's the new Ronnie.

And if you take ArakNet away from me,

well, I guess that
make me the old Ronnie.

Do you happen to have, like,

a log that shows when
people come in and out?

(SIRENS, COP CARS APPROACHING)

(CAR APPROACHING)

Dude, you undercover or something?

- What?
- Suspenders, leather sneakers, a Prius...

Yeah, look, I don't know.

- You good, though?
- Yeah. Yeah, I'm real good, actually.

- Good for you.
- Look, thanks for meeting me here.

- Yeah, I'm glad we did it this way.
- You should be.

Look, I cast some nets on
that security pic you sent.

Back-channeled with some
of my ex-government friends.

Some of them even still spooking.

- For what?
- Look, it's not good, 'kay?

Her real name's Jane Mills.

Funny part is she actually was
NSA for a bit, like, early on.

But she was so damn good,

got recruited by some black
ops division of the CIA.

Like some straight-up spy sh*t, right?

I don't know, I just got her background.

I don't know what her
end game is, but...

(SIGHS) Look, she's a rare breed, okay?

There's, like, a group of people.

It's, like, a small group,
but they're out there,

that work for our government.

But they work outside
the system, you know?

Because, sometimes,
that's what you gotta do

to get the job done, right?

- Right.
- And, I mean, you said you think

she was trying to cover her tracks?

- Yeah...
- (SNAPPING) Izzy, look at me.

That aforementioned rare breed

will do heinous sh*t
to cover their asses.

Like, I could pull stories for you,

but you would never sleep right again.

'Kay?

Just know that if you cross this
woman, that she won't hesitate.

I hope this helps.

- I gotta get out of here.
- Yeah, go ahead.

- Look, we never talked today.
- 'Course.

Don't die, okay?

(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)

(HIGH-PITCHED RINGING)

You gonna cook those?

I don't know.

(CLEARS THROAT)

(POURS COFFEE)

I'm gonna start looking
for my own place.

Tam called me.

He's not innocent.

He... he went behind our backs.

Okay, well you shoulda
discussed it with all of us.

- Because we're a team.
- No, he threatened to k*ll me. Again.

So let's not act like
he's the victim. Okay?

Nick, he was never gonna k*ll you.

Uh, I beg to differ.

He's your friend.

No, I don't have any friends.
I have you, I have ArakNet.

Well. Now, you just have ArakNet.

(DOOR SLAMS SHUT)

- (DOOR OPENS)
- GABRIEL RIVERA: Thank you. Hey.

(DOOR CLOSES)

- Good?
- Yeah.

- Try to sweat you yet?
- Nah.

No? Good. These HB guys
are a bunch r*cist pricks.

So, you call that number?

Yeah, but no one at the DOD
knows what you're talking about.

You gotta talk to Agent Drummond or
Bradley. That's who you gotta call.

First calls I made. Neither
of 'em know who you are.

What you talkin' about?

Yo, listen Ronnie, none
of that matters right now.

You're being charged with multiple
homicides. Yo, listen to me.

You will die behind bars

if we don't cut a deal
with these people right now.

- I ain't tryna hear that, man.
- Listen, the ADA, she's a reasonable gal.

I can get you a seriously
reduced sentence,

but we gotta give her
somethin' in return, bro.

My boys?

She's been buildin'
this thing up with LH7

since Jey-Jey was still around.

Listen to me, Ronnie,
you gotta take it, bro.

- Nah man, you gotta figure somethin' out, man.
- I already did.

- This is a s good as we're gonna do.
- Nah.

You gotta figure somethin' else out.

You don't even know how lucky you are

to have this on the table right now.

Figure that sh*t out. Figure it out.

It ain't goin' down like that.
You got to figure somethin' out.

Do your job, Gabe. Do your f*cking job.

♪ ♪

(ELEVATOR DINGS)

(DOOR BEEPS)

(INDISTINCT OFFICE CHATTER, TYPING)

- (PHONE RINGING)
- STELLA: Hey, what's up?

- Hey.
- Hey.

- What's up?
- Did you hear about Ronald?

No. What'd you mean?

Uh... yeah, he got arrested last night.

He's in jail. Tam called me.

- He's in jail right now? Serious?
- Yeah, yeah.

Uh, okay... did...

do you know what he did?

I don't know, so I guess, I guess...

nobody out there knows, either.

- No, nobody mentioned it, to me...
- Yeah. Okay, uh...

- Is he okay?
- I... let's just keep it...

on the down low right now.

I don't think anyone else
out there needs to know.

- We'll just...
- Yeah, okay.

We'll just keep it between you and me.

Okay.

Just keep me in the loop,
if you find... anything.

(QUIETLY) sh*t, Ronald.

MATEO: So he'd, what,
touch you or hug you?

Always lots of hugs. He...

There was one time when we
were all out at happy hour.

He sorta just cornered me.

- Cornered you how?
- He was trying to get me to go out to his car.

- Said he had some blow.
- MATEO: Wow...

(RADIO PLAYING OVER STEREO)

(TV REPORTER, INDISTINCT)

- 'Night, mija.
- Later, pops.

Be safe.

(REPORTER CONTINUES)

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

(ELEVATOR DINGS)

Can I help you?

(TV PLAYING, INDISTINCT CHATTER)

- I think I have the wrong room.
- That's okay.

♪ ♪

(DOOR CLOSES)

♪ ♪

(CAR APPROACHES)

♪ ♪

(ELEVATOR DINGS)

- Good morning, Earl.
- Good morning.

- (DOOR BEEPS)
- Thank you.

- Hey.
- MAN: Hey.

Hey.

(KEYPAD BEEPING)

Hey.

What's this?

That's the best news
you're ever gonna get.

ADA wants to make an example of you.

Good example.

Turn your life around, she's
gonna let you walk, bro.

But... you gotta give us the sh**t.

Ronald, no one gets a deal this good.

(SLURPING)

- God, you f*ckin' Haitians.
- GABRIEL: Whoa.

You think you can voodoo
yourself out of this?

- Can I get a second, please?
- Voodoo f*ckin' magic? Is that what you think?

Can I speak with my
client privately, okay?

- (RONALD CLEARS HIS THROAT)
- (SIGHS) Yeah, good luck with that.

Come on, Gabe.

You got your science
paper, from off the counter?

- It's in my binder.
- Okay, all right, well, give me a kiss.

All right, mwah. Have
a good day at school.

Is dad coming home tonight?

We'll just have to wait and see, baby.

We gonna go visit him?

- Not this time, no.
- Why not?

'Cause we just ain't.

(SEATBELT UNFASTENS)

Hi.

- Hi, hey.
- Hey! Uh, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you.

- No, it's okay, it's all right. Everything okay?
- Yeah! Um...

do you have a few minutes to chat?

Please, take a seat.

Feels weird being in the
principal's office as an adult.

Oh, um, sorry about the mess.

We've all been a bit out of our
minds getting ready for merit exams.

- Oh, God, I can only imagine. (CHUCKLES)
- So...

- Long time since I've had to take an exam.
- How are you doing?

- You know what? I'm good.
- Good.

- Yeah, I've been really good.
- Good to hear.

Um... look, I...

I understand that you've had
a tough couple of years...

and I admire your family. I do...

And... and you are wonderful

with the kids out there
on the soccer field.

- You know, you've done an awesome job...
- Thank you.

... with them. Getting them ready...

- You know, the kids are really enjoying it.
- They are.

- I'm enjoying myself.
- I can see it.

- As... as being their coach.
- There have been...

some concerns from the parents
after the incident up the street.

I feel awful, 'cause all of that...

that was just a huge
misunderstanding, you know?

- I get that. No, I do.
- Okay.

And that is why Principal Toma and I,

we made sure that all the
parents understood that.

Yeah.

But...

But what?

But...

but you don't want the wife of some thug

teachin' soccer to your kids.

That's what's up?

I never said that.

Yeah, you did.

(SIGHS)

f*ck it.

(SOMBER MUSIC)

(MUFFLED BEEPING ALARM)

- (BEEPING GETS LOUDER)
- STELLA: (MUFFLED) Izzy. Izzy.

Izzy.

- What?!
- I need help. The nodes are...

they're... they're going down.

There's a targeted
data wipe on each one.

I think it's a virus.

- (DRAMATIC MUSIC)
- (ALARM CONTINUES)

STELLA: Holy sh*t,
it's spreading. Rajib?

Um, it's the software update. Has to be.

STELLA: Izzy, Izzy,
anything? How many...

how many users got the update?

RAJIB: Uh, I mean, all of them.

It was timezone agnostic, so,

it's everywhere. All 104 million.

And we're just waiting for an
auto-update but, I mean, it depends.

(LOUD BEEPS)

- SAL: Wait, what happened?
- RAJIB: I don't know what that was.

Probably a Chinese provider.

just auto updated on the
same cycle, I don't know.

- What's going on?
- There's a...

there's a virus that's
just ripping through

the entire network right now.

This is just a
projection, though, right?

- No. No, that's real time.
- NICK: What?!

Yeah, we're trying
to get a handle on it.

But it's ripping through the network

and it's spreading really fast.
It's just k*lling nodes as it goes.

- Can we reconnect?
- I... I don't know.

We're trying to figure it out right now.

SAL: already looked at it. I mean,
it's clearing data in all of them.

All the user hard-drives
are getting wiped.

NICK: What... what... what
can... wha... can you fix it?

- Are you fixing it? What can you do?
- STELLA: We're trying.

This gotta be the NSA,
right? They found a way in?

RAJIB: Uh, no. It's in our own software.

- Izzy, do you have any... any ideas?
- I... I don't know.

- I'm looking.
- RAJIB: I can't find it anywhere in the update.

Um, if that's what it was,
then, uh, someone hid it

- really g*dd*mn well.
- Okay, okay just...

What can I do to help?

There's nothing that you can
do right now, okay? Just...

f*ck! Are we really down
to 70 million users?!

- STELLA: Please, relax, please!
- Is this real?!

(INDISTINCT FRENZIED CHATTER)

STELLA: Shut access
to all the back doors.

Go through every line of code, okay?

Yes, I don't... I don't care!

Yes, yes, do it now!

Wait! What if... what if
it's in the time signature?

SAL: Wait, is that a thing?

- IZZY: Yeah, that's a thing!
- NICK: What? What is it? What are you doing?

(TYPING)

- NICK: What are you doing?!
- I found it.

Found what?

The virus. Where it was
latched. If I reissue

the update in the same
form but with this disarmed,

- it'll self correct.
- Will we be able to get the users back?

No, those are gone. All
their drives are wiped.

- f*ck!
- We'll... we'll save it from k*lling more.

- Do it! Then, do it!
- Izzy?

I'm doing it, I'm doing it.

- ♪

- (ALARM CONTINUES)

(TYPING)

IZZY: There it goes.

- (ELECTRONIC CHIME)
- (ALARM STOPS)

(MUSIC FADES)

(RELIEVED CHATTER, INDISTINCT)

(EXHALES AND BREATHES HEAVILY)

(DOOR OPENS, CLOSES)

GABE: Sit down, Ronnie.

What is this, man?

Just reminding your stubborn
ass where I come from.

What'd I tell you the
first time you hired me?

I got you.

I get you.

'Cause I've been you.

- (SIGHS)
- I've been sitting in that seat

where you're sitting right now,

and made the hardest choice
any man like us would ever make.

Look at me, man. I have a family now.

Three beautiful children, a job I love.

I am the American Dream, bro.

Look at you. You wearin'
the clothes, driving the car,

talkin' the talk, walking the walk.

- You're almost there, bro.
- (CLEARS THROAT)

- But you're forgetting the most important part.
- What's that?

Letting go.

Let me ask you something.
They do the same thing for you?

Your boys. They got your
back like you got theirs?

'Cause you been loyal as
hell to them fools, my man.

I ain't see 'em around.

They ain't here.

(RAIN, THUNDER)

Is there a way for
people to see this number,

like, outside of the office?

STELLA: I mean, if somebody got a virus

onto our software update, then...

they could find out our user count.

Do you think there's any
way to spin this? Or...

MARA: You don't spin something
like this. You just get ahead of it.

(DOOR OPENS AGGRESSIVELY)

(DOOR SLAMS CLOSED)

Well...

there goes Saginaw.

- What happened?
- I don't know.

Izzy?

It was a virus.

Yeah. We're trying to figure
out where it came from right now.

Make sure it's not just
dormant somewhere still.

Yeah, but... how did you fix it?

Realized it was married to the update.

How did you know that?

It was pretty obvious, Nick. We
issued the update this morning.

- The update that you were working on?
- That I was working...

that we were all working on.

So, then, the virus must have
come from somewhere in this room.

- STELLA: What're you saying?
- I'm talking to her.

You think I did this?

Been gone for a year.
Nobody's heard from ya.

Show up out of the blue. I don't know.

You don't know? Why would I do this?

- Do you know that?
- Because, you're you.

- f*ck you! I don't need to take this from you!
- Yes, you do, actually.

I'm your boss now.
That's how this works.

WES: Barely.


Barely.

Maybe Ronald's not the one who
should be leaving this company.

Even though the poor bastard's
sittin' behind bars right now,

which, by the way...

that was low.

You're not very good at this.

At any of this.

You lose all my money.

You make promises you can't keep.

Turn on your own family, for no reason.

And now, this... this...

whatever, is it Izzy? Is it Stella?

Is it this f*cking guy?
Is it that f*cking guy?

And then, you just lose 60 million
users in the blink of an eye.

Because you're trying to commandeer
this company for yourself.

'Cause your the "big man."

You're the big man with all
the big ideas, aren't ya?

Which would really be impressive

if you actually knew what
the f*ck you were doing.

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

Well, look around, kid.

'Cause I think everybody here knows
exactly what I'm talkin' about.

And I think, if we took a vote,

you'd be hard pressed to find
one for yourself. That is...

when we get around to figuring out
who should be leaving this company.

(DOOR OPENS, SLAMS SHUT)

(RAIN, THUNDER)

- STROUD: Headlights!
- SAL: What?

- You need to turn off your headlights.
- Oh...

Were you followed?

- I was?
- No, I'm asking, "Were you followed?"

No... no, I don't think so, no.

Does anyone else know
about you at ArakNet?

- No, I don't think so.
- You don't think so, or you're certain?

I'm certain.

Nobody knows, okay? Look, I promise.

- Are you wearing a wire?
- What?!

Sal, are you wearing...

I'm not wearing... look,
look. I'm not wearing a f...

I'm not wearing a wire, okay? Trust me.

My partner says that some of the
nodes are still live on the network.

The system that I...

added to Izzy's thing...

- ... the node k*ller.
- What happened?

It was working fine. It
was doing great, actually.

But Izzy, she stepped in.
I don't know what she did.

I didn't see what she
did. I... I swear to God,

I don't know, but...

I know she did something.
She someway, somehow re-installed something

in the update in real time and...

she... she took it off.

How much is left?

I don't know. Like, less than half.

We're still at, like, 40 million.

- Look, I'm sorry, okay?
- No, it's okay.

- I'm sorry.
- (g*nsh*t)

♪ ♪

(PHONE LINE RINGING)

WES: (VOICEMAIL) Hey,
uh, you know what to do.

(PHONE LINE RINGING)

MARA: (VOICEMAIL) Hi, you've
reached Mara Chandler...

(SIGHS, SNIFFS)

(PHONE LINE RINGING)...
WES: (VOICEMAIL) Hey, uh, you know what to do.

- (PHONE LINE RINGING)
- WES: (VOICEMAIL) Hey, uh...

God! f*ck!

f*ck... sh*t... sh*t...

Okay, okay, you got it, you
got it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

(GOLFER INSTRUCTING ON TV)

(KNOCKING AT DOOR)

(TV CONTINUES)

(POUNDING AT DOOR)

(DOOR CLOSES)

WES: There ya go.

You can't vote me out.

I am ArakNet. It wouldn't
exist without me, so...

(SIGHS, SNIFFS)

You know, I think it
might be a good thing...

you gettin' voted out,
might be good for you.

Because I'll tell ya, man,
the way this is headed...

Hell's gonna have to make
some new vacancies, son.

Says the man who k*lled my dad.

Hired somebody. It's different.

No.

- Not different.
- Your dad was a pig.

He was gonna turn state's evidence.
He was gonna sink all of us.

He was my dad. You k*lled him.

You hated his guts.

He was my dad.

You woulda done the same
thing. You know you would've.

That's why you stuck with me.

- Really?
- The only reason I didn't do this a year ago

was because of what we were
building together, you know that.

So, I swallowed it.

I shoved it all down for
ArakNet. I ate sh*t for you.

You wanted a 100 million users?

- I gave you 100 million users.
- For a minute, yeah.

I k*lled myself for you.

You think I'm gonna let you
take it all away from me?

All right, okay, all right.

Now, I'm just worried
about a bad accident, okay?

- Get on your knees.
- Hey...

- ... my knees are killin' me.
- Get on the f*cking floor!

That b*llet goes in from
up here, from down there.

I'll tell you the truth, I'd rather
you k*ll me than get down there,

so, what're we gonna do, son?

- (MOVES CHAIR)
- Get in the chair.

Sit in the chair!

Man...

I'm so sorry for what I did to you.

- Shut up.
- You tried to be like me, and it poisoned you.

This isn't about ArakNet.

This isn't even about your old man.

This's about you and me, isn't it?

You are a checkbook.

So, you think by putting a b*llet in me,

it's gonna make you feel better?

Go ahead.

But, when you wake up tomorrow,
you ain't gonna be Jeff Bezos.

You're just gonna be a m*rder*r.

I mean, look, you're
angry, and you're hurt.

You're... you're all
over the place, man.

- And, I mean, I'm the daddy you never had.
- f*ck you, shut up.

- I mean, your old man...
- f*ck you!

... twisted inside, you're lost, son.

- You want to know how I know? Because I f*ckin' know.
- f*ck you.

I was hungry.

And then, I was rich...
and I got a girl...

and I lost her.

And I said to myself, "From here on out,

it's just gonna be you,
man. It's just gonna be you."

But you know what? Life
doesn't work that way, man.

We love, and we fear, and
we cry, and... we chase.

We're just human, man.
We need each other.

But I chased. I chased, and I chased...

One day, I just woke
up. I don't know, you...

the people you always
needed, you still do, but...

they don't need you anymore.

Maybe they need your money.

They don't need you.

"You're just a checkbook."

Look, man...

You want to put a b*llet in me?

'Cause of some daddy issues
or whatever, go ahead.

Because, I gotta tell
you somethin'. Recently...

I've been thinking a lot
about doing it for ya. So...

♪ ♪

(LOUD EXHALE)

(RAIN POURING, THUNDER RUMBLING)

(ELEVATOR DINGS)

(DOOR OPENS, CLOSES)

(PAGES TURNING)

My man.

GABE: You made the right decision, bro.

(DOOR OPENS, CLOSES)

(SNIFFLES)

♪ ♪

MPD OFFICER: (MUFFLED) Get on
the ground! Get on the ground!

- (SIRENS)
- (OFFICERS SHOUTING)

- (DOOR OPENS, CLOSES)
- (KEYS JINGLE)

- Isabel.
- Hey.

- Izzy. You see the news?
- What?

If you're just joining us,

we're still trying to sort through

the information. There's
so much coming in.

But what you're seeing,

what you're looking at right now,

a rather disturbing image,

that is Pershing Square
in Downtown Los Angeles.

And there have been reports

that a large expl*si*n has
occurred just moments ago.

We're having trouble getting
information because, as you can imagine,

it's hard for our reporters
to get to the scene.

But, it appears there was
some sort of chemical w*apon.

We're hearing people are
struggling to breathe,

emergency rooms are already filling up.

We can only assume, at this point,
this was an act of terrorism,

though, no one has come forward
yet to claim responsibility, but...

I... I'm just... I'm struggling here

because of how shocking this is to see.

Watching this play out in real time.

We're already hearing reports that there

are casualties in the hundreds.
Likely more as this unfolds.

Again, it's very difficult
for our news teams or even

emergency workers to
get close to the scene,

because the nature of this expl*si*n,

it seems to be some
sort of chemical gas.

A nerve toxin, that's making it
difficult for people to breathe.

And, there are reports of
people suffering severe burns.

Some people becoming violently ill,

and others having seizures.

This is just really awful.

I've never seen anything
quite like this before.

Again, if you're just joining us,

there has been some
sort of chemical w*apon

that has been detonated in the
heart of Downtown Los Angeles,

right near Pershing Square.
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