05x03 - The Shed

All episode transcripts for the TV show "Alias". Aired: September 2001 to May 2006*
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Sydney Bristow is an international spy recruited out of college and trained for espionage and self-defense.
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05x03 - The Shed

Post by bunniefuu »

EXT. ISTANBUL – DAY

A computer beeps as two workers in clean suits work with vials filled with a yellow substance. Two white mice are in the small room with them. They speak Turkish to one another. The clean room in which they are working is apparently in the lobby of a building.

The doorbell to the building buzzes. A WOMAN in a burqa is standing at the door.

GUARD: Can I help you?

WOMAN: I’m here to see Ramal.

GUARD: Ramal’s busy, come back later.

WOMAN: Please, his son is ill. I must speak with him.

The guard buzzes the woman in. The woman enters and walks to the guard station.

WOMAN: Thank you. Thank you.

GUARD: I need you to stop here. I’ll call for Ramal.

The guard reaches for the phone. The woman pulls out a g*n and sh**t the guard three times. She lowers the headpiece, revealing her face. She has dark brown hair. She walks toward the clean room and attaches a device to the keypad to the door of the room.

WOMAN: I’m patched in. Go for the hack.

The door opens. The woman steps inside.

WOMAN: Agaist the wall. Now.

The workers in clean suits put their hands up and back away. The woman keeps a g*n pointed at them and retrieves two vials. She picks up a third one.

WORKER: Please, be careful. That vial… the seal is already broken.

WOMAN: (backing away) That’s okay. I only need two.

She reaches the door of the clean room, tosses the unsealed vial toward the workers, and pulls on the hoses to their clean suits, disconnecting them. The vial shatters, exposing the men to the substance inside. Alarms sound. The woman leaves, pulling her headpiece back over her head. The workers shout and frantically try to get out of the room, pounding on the door. They soon collapse and die. One of the mice doesn’t look so good either.

EXT. VENICE, CA – DAY

INT. SYDNEY’S HOUSE - DAY

Sydney picks up the mail and sorts through it. She stops when she sees the Hockey Trends magazine. It is addressed to Michael Vaughn. She makes a phone call.

ROGER: Thank you for calling. For the purposes of training, this call may be monitored. My name is Roger. How may I help you?

SYDNEY: Hi… Roger. I’d like to cancel a subscription, please.

ROGER: Certainly. Can I have the name on the account, please?

SYDNEY. Michael Vaughn. V-A-U-G-H-N.

ROGER: Got it. I see it right here. May I ask why you’re canceling the subscription?

SYDNEY: (pauses) Mr. Vaughn d*ed.

ROGER: I’m sorry. I’ll take care of it right away.

SYDNEY: (softly) Yeah. (hangs up)

Sydney puts the phone down and takes a moment.

SYDNEY: (sighs) Okay.

Sydney picks up the magazine and puts it in the wastebasket. She begins to walk away, but then turns back and takes it out, gently putting the magazine into a desk drawer instead.

INT. APO – DAY

Marshall is briefing Sydney, Jack, and Thomas Grace on his latest find.

MARSHALL: When your wife tells you it’s a waste of time having a pen pal, she’s wrong. ‘Cause, um, two days ago, there was a theft in an R&D facility in Istanbul. The Turks have done a pretty good job of keeping it under wraps, but - my friend Ali forwarded me this. (pulls up video) Now take a look right there. You see that - those vials? That’s a nerve agent called Substance 33. It was developed by the Russians during the Cold w*r. Remarkable stuff. You know, in an end-of-civilization… sort of way…

SYDNEY: What makes you think they worked for Dean?

MARHSALL: Well, they don’t. As far as we can tell, they’re independent. (to Grace) Gordon Dean, he’s a –

GRACE: Former CIA. Disappeared two years ago. Infiltrated this office. Compromised one of your men. I’m up to speed, thanks.

MARSHALL: Sorry, um, new guy. I just assumed that maybe, uh… (clears throat) Anyway… (turns back to the video and points) This woman right here – that’s who I think works for Dean.

JACK: You think…? Based on what? Your pen pal?

MARSHALL: Who, Ali? No. See, this woman had help – a hacker who remotely accessed the security system using the same computer as a hack on the NSA a few months back, which we know was ordered by Dean. So, two hours ago, I traced this computer to Prague within these 5 square miles. (points out the area on a map) But, you see, if I can go to Prague, I can narrow it down to like, 2 feet. And then we can grab this hacker and get him to tell us where the Substance 33 is.

SYDNEY: But if we do that, we lose Dean. Once he realizes his hacker is missing, he’ll disappear as well.

MARSHALL: Right.

JACK: Okay, I want you both accompany Marshall to Prague. Follow the signal, locate Dean’s operation there - but don’t do anything to reveal yourself or to engage his men. Once we’ve done that, we’ll reassess our options.

SYDNEY: (surprised) Shouldn’t Dixon be going with me?

JACK: I’ve tasked Dixon to another assignment. Marshall will brief you on your op-tech. Let me know when you’re ready to leave.

Jack leaves. Sydney is silent and nods. She exchanges looks with Grace, but decides to follow Jack to air her displeasure, leaving Marshall and Grace behind.

SYDNEY: Dad, you’re making a mistake.

JACK: Sydney, I understand you’d be more comfortable taking Dixon with you, but that was inappropriate.

SYDNEY: This is not the time to break in a new agent.

JACK: Agent Grace has extensive field experience –

SYDNEY: And I have a history with Dixon. What is so important, Dad, that he can’t come with me on this mission?

JACK: Your sister.

SYDNEY: What about my sister?

JACK: You know that Sloane has been searching for a cure for Nadia. He may have found one. (hands Sydney a piece of paper)

SYDNEY: (reading page) “Conditional Release of Arvin Sloane”…?

JACK: Sloane cultivated a lead who will only meet with him face-to-face in Russia. I was able to convince the attorney general to let him out of prison for 72 hours. I’m sending Dixon as a security detail.

SYDNEY: When was I going to find out about this?

JACK: (hesitates) I didn’t want to raise your hopes until we knew what Sloane had.

SYDNEY: Well, in that case, I prefer to go with Marshall by myself.

JACK: Sydney –

SYDNEY: It’s not that complicated a mission.

JACK: In fact, it’s very complicated – recovering the nerve agent without tipping Dean…

Sydney still looks stubborn.

JACK: (pauses) What aren’t you telling me?

SYDNEY: I read his file.

JACK: Agent Grace’s?

A hint of defiance flashes in Sydney’s eyebrows.

JACK: You had no authority to do that.

SYDNEY: In the last three years, he has turned down half a dozen team assignment - instead, taking long-cover operations by himself. He’s a loner.

JACK: He’s a superior agent, and he’s agreed to be on this team – which is good enough for me.

MARSHALL: Um, sorry, didn’t mean to… it’s just that you said to let you know when –

GRACE: We’re ready to go.

MARSHALL: Yeah.

Sydney is still unsure about working with Thomas Grace.

ALIAS Intro

INT. PRISON – DAY

DIXON: Tell me about your contact, Alexander Dolzhenko.

SLOANE: Dolzhenko was an undersecretary in the Politburo. I had been working with him for the past decade.

DIXON: Trustworthy?

SLOANE: Reliable.

DIXON: Why is he insisting on meeting with you in person?

SLOANE: For his protection. After the Sovogda incident, we believed that the Russians k*lled all the infected. But according to Dolzhenko, they’ve kept some of them alive, and they’re pursuing treatment. Of course, the Russians deny that Sovogda ever occurred. So by passing the cure to me, Dolzhenko is risking his life.

DIXON: Suppose Dozhenko has been found out by the authorities. This could be his way of cutting a deal.

SLOANE: And you’re suggesting that I might be walking into a trap? Hmm? No. No. About the Sovogda incident, the Russians have no idea that I’m responsible.

DIXON: Then why has he agreed to meet with you at all?

SLOANE: $300,000.

DIXON: My job is to make sure in three day’s time, you return to this cell. I intend to do exactly that. When we’re in the field, you’ll follow my instructions explicitly. No questions. It’s my show.

SLOANE: Great.

EXT. PRAGUE – DAY

Sydney, Marshall, and Grace are inside a Ranger Rover parked near a coffeehouse. Marshall is working on his computer to pinpoint the location of the hacker.

GRACE: Sure you’re reading that right?

MARSHALL: Ehh…

GRACE: Seems like an unlikely place to hide an operation.

MARHSALL: It’s definitely him. I mean, the signal I’m getting is weak, but clean. The hacker’s right inside that building.

SYDNEY: Wi-Fi hotspot?

MARHSALL: Yeah. (continues working on computer) Must be using a laptop off-site. Know what? That’s okay. I got an idea.

Marshall opens up a case and fiddles with something.

MARSHALL: Okay. Got it. Here’s what we do. Pack of mints, right? (shakes tin case around) Microprocessor on the bottom of the case. It’s a relay. Get it within 5 feet of the hacker’s computer. It should allow me to clone the hard drive - might even tell us where the nerve agent is. Even better – offer him a mint. Inside each one is a tracking device. Don’t worry. He won’t die or something if he swallows it - just feel a little sick, a little nausea. If Gordon Dean has an operation here, chances are the hacker will lead us right to it.

GRACE: Got it.

Both Sydney and Grace reach for the mints, but realize they need to settle who is going to go in.

SYDNEY: (speaking Czech)

GRACE: What’s that?

SYDNEY: (smugly) That was Czech.

GRACE: I’ll fake it. It’s all sort of Germanish, right?

Grace concedes the pack of mints.

GRACE: Go for it.

Sydney takes the mints. Marshall seems to be glad that the issue was settled. Sydney walks into the coffeehouse.

SYDNEY: (comms) Okay, who am I looking for?

MARHSHALL: Far window, back to the wall.

SYDNEY: Baseball cap on backwards. Got it.

Sydney looks at the guy using the laptop and walks toward him.

SYDNEY: (Czech accent) You are American?

GUY: (confused) No.

SYDNEY: I just assumed… your hat. The Red Sox.

GUY: Oh.

SYDNEY: I like them, too. (smiles)

MARSHALL: (comms) Great, Syd. That’s perfect. I’m starting the clone now.

SYDNEY: Care for a mint? (opens case)

MARSHALL: Nice.

SYDNEY: They’re very good.

The guy takes a mint and pops it in his mouth. Sydney smiles at him.

MARSHALL: Hold on a second. Wait a minute.

GRACE: What is it?

MARSHALL: Well, I’m not the only one accessing this computer. Syd…

GUY: So you’re pregnant?

MARHSALL: (comms) Does your guy have two laptops networked together?

SYDNEY: (aloud) No.

GUY: No?

SYDNEY: A joke. Of course I am. (laughs)

MARSHALL: Syd, we have a problem. Someone beside me is piggy-backing off this computer. They’re trying to steal the bandwidth – which means the hacker doesn’t have a laptop at all, maybe a PDA or cell phone?

A young, blonde woman walks past Sydney and turns off her phone.

MARSHALL: Great, the signal just went dead.

SYDNEY: I got her. Blonde hair, brown jacket. She just left. She’s coming your way.

GRACE: There she is.

The blonde woman, Rachel Gibson, looks around her before getting into her silver Mini Cooper.

GRACE: (to Marshall) You’re going to want a seatbelt.

Rachel drives down the road in the opposite direction that the Range Rover is facing. Grace decides to do a quick 180 to catch Rachel.

MARSHALL: (buckling seatbelt) Wh- what are you doing?

GRACE: Following her.

Rachel turns right.

MARSHALL: Watch out!

The Ranger Rover nearly hits an oncoming motorcycle, which swerves out of the way.

MARSHALL: (waves to motorcycle) Sorry!

In order to catch up to Rachel, Grace takes a hard right, squealing the tires. Rachel notices the Range Rover is following her and takes a quick left into an alley.

GRACE: She made us. Hold on.

Grace takes a parallel alley. Rachel takes the Mini around a few more corners, but Grace manages to confront her in the oncoming direction. Unable to get past the Range Rover, Rachel swerves into the sidewalk and crashes. Grace steps out of the range rover and draws his g*n.

GRACE: (points g*n at Rachel) Hi there.

Rachel takes a couple of breaths before finally putting her hands up.

INT. PRAGUE HOTEL ROOM – DAY

Rachel is strapped to a chair. She struggles with the restraints.

Sydney leaves Rachel in a room by herself and closes the door.

SYDNEY: (to Marshall) Hey, did you get anything from her cell phone?

MARSHALL: No. The simm card is completely shattered. She says the phone broke when we hit her car.

SYDNEY: Well, more likely, it was a countermeasure. She smashed it when she realized you were chasing her. And if her people realize she’s gone - if there’s some protocol to check in that she misses, they’ll disappear as well.

GRACE: Maybe under the circumstance, you’d have done something different.

Sydney glares at Grace.

MARSHALL: O-kay. Um, uh, you talked to your father, right, Syd? I mean, what’s he want us to do?

SYDNEY: I’m going to talk to her again, see if I can get her to give up Substance 33 while there’s still time. Can you rig a voice stress analyzer?

MARSHALL: Yeah. Uh, sure. Just give me ten minutes.

EXT. OMSK – NIGHT

Sloane and Dixon are waiting next to their car for Dolzhenko.

SLOANE: Dolzhenko is typically a few minutes late.

DIXON: Half an hour is more than a few minutes –

Sloane’s cell phone rings. Sloane answers the call on his earpiece.

DIXON: Here we go. (uses his earpiece to listen in on the call)

SLOANE: Alexander.

DOLZHENKO: You deviated from my instructions. I told you to come alone.

SLOANE: He’s backup. He’s only here for my safety.

DOZHENKO: Do you have the money?

Dixon opens the back door of the car and takes out a briefcase with the money and opens it on the trunk of the car.

SLOANE: It’s all here, Alexander - $300,000.

DOLZHENKO: Our last job, where we parted company – be there by 8, alone this time.

Dixon shakes his head.

SLOANE: I can’t do that, Alexander.

DOLZHENKO: Then the deal’s off, and you lose your daughter’s cure.

SLOANE: Marcus…

DIXON: (sighs) No. (closes the briefcase)

SLOANE: If you’re concerned that this is a trick, an escape, you have my daughter. She’s all the insurance you need.

DIXON: Could be a trap. Russian police could be waiting for you –

SLOANE: It doesn’t matter to me. I have to see this through. What if it were your daughter, Marcus?

Dixon hands the briefcase to Sloane.

DIXON: Call me when you’re ready to be picked up. (turns off earpiece)

Dixon starts the car and drives away.
INT. PRAGUE HOTEL ROOM – DAY

Rachel is wearing monitors on her fingers as Sydney questions her.

SYDNEY: Three days ago, you hacked into a security system that facilitated the theft of a chemical w*apon, Substance 33. (pointedly waits for an answer)

RACHEL: I want to contact the American Embassy. I’m a U.S. citizen, I have rights.

SYDNEY: You committed an act of terrorism. You forfeited your rights.

RACHEL: Honestly, I - I have no idea what you’re talking about.

Thomas Grace interrupts with a knock on the door.

GRACE: Hey. Rachel Gibson, traveling on a student visa issued two weeks ago. So what are you studying?

RACHEL: (pauses) Architecture. The Gothic influence.

GRACE: Well, that’s fascinating.

RACHEL: (matter-of-factly) It is.

Rachel rubs her restraints against her wristwatch, making a clicking sound. Grace notices and lunges toward her.

RACHEL: What are you -

GRACE struggles with her as he tries to grab her watch.

RACHEL: Get off of me! Let go of me! No! Don’t – let go!

GRACE: What is this?

RACHEL: Whoever you people are, you’re making a big mistake.

MARSHALL: (to Grace) Can I see that?

RACHEL: Pretty soon, there will be a ton of U.S. agents swarming this place looking for me.

SYDNEY: U.S. agents…?

RACHEL: (boldly) That’s right.

MARSHALL: It’s an ELT – Emergency Location Transmitter. She was trying to send a distress signal.

GRACE: Do we need to worry?

MARSHALL: No, looks like it’s still intact. The signal didn’t go out.

Rachel’s face falls.

SYDNEY: You’re scared? You should be. No one’s coming to rescue you.

RACHEL: I’m an operative for the U.S. Government, so unless you want to start a w*r with the CIA, I would suggest –

SYDNEY: Here’s your next problem, Rachel, we’re CIA.

RACHEL: Well, then this must be some… big misunderstanding. If you’re CIA, we’re on the same side.

SYDNEY: (to Grace) Call Langley. Verify her story.

Grace nods.

RACHEL: You can’t. We’re off-book. Black ops. Langley won’t verify us.

SYDNEY: That’s convenient.

RACHEL: Well, that’s the truth!

SYDNEY: I’ve had enough.

MARSHALL: Syd –

INT. APO – DAY

Jack is on the phone with Marshall.

MARSHALL: The stress analysis indicates she’s telling the truth.

JACK: That may be, but the more likely scenario is that she’s practicing a form of self-hypnosis to convince herself that what she’s saying is true.

MARSHALL: Well, I triple-checked my readings and filtered them against every known method of duping. She believes what she’s saying.

Sydney nods and looks over at Grace.

GRACE: What?

SYDNEY: Marshall, you and my father said the same thing – that Rachel believes what she’s saying. She believes she works for the CIA.

MARSHALL: Yeah, I think so. That’s right.

SYDNEY: (sighs) I need to talk to her.

Sydney goes into the other room to speak with Rachel.

SYDNEY: I want to tell you a story. Just… stop me if I get something wrong. You were approached in college, someplace public, in the quad or walking to class. A man asked you if you wanted to serve your country. When he told you it was for the CIA, you just – you couldn’t believe it. But you took the tests, and they were easy for you. It made you feel good about yourself. You probably started work at a false front, some phantom company that had you doing entry-level analysis. Maybe you wondered why you were never sent to Langley. Maybe you wondered why you weren’t being trained with other recruits. Then you got promoted. You met the director of your division, Gordon Dean. He offered you a position on his team. Dean took you under his wing. He convinced you that - you were so important, you just had to be out there, helping him save the world. How am I doing?

RACHEL: You read my file.

SYDNEY: No, I didn’t. Thirteen years, ago, the same thing happened to me. Only I had been lied to. What I was told was the CIA was, in reality, a criminal organization. I think you’ve been told the same lie. I know that you don’t believe me, Rachel. You think this is another interrogation tactic. It’s not. I think I can prove it.

RACHEL: You can prove it – that I work for a criminal organization…

SYDNEY: Your transmitter – where does the signal get received?

RACHEL: CIA Headquarters. Langley.

SYDNEY: You’re sure of that…?

RACHEL: I designed it myself.

SYDNEY: I’d like you to build a trace program, one that piggybacks onto the signal your watch sends out. If I’m right, it won’t go to Langley.

Rachel works on the computer and finishes the program.

RACHEL: Okay. It’s ready.

SYDNEY: Let’s do it.

MARSHALL: Okay. I’m going to send out a test signal. Whoever receives this will just assume you’re checking the system, okay? Here we go, and…

Marshall opens up the watch and presses a button. The watch glows a red color.

MARSHALL: … Testing.

The computer tracking the signal showings the signal originating from Prague traveling over to Langley.

MARSHALL: Yep. Went to Langley. (sighs)

Sydney looks at Rachel, who looks relieved. Suddenly, the computer beeps. The distress signal is being re-routed elsewhere.

MARSHALL: Wait a minute. No, it isn’t. That ping was just a ghost signal. It was meant to throw us off. It’s not going to Langely at all. Where’d it go? (follows tracing program) Prague. Vlasska Street.

SYDNEY: (to Rachel) What’s on Vlasska Street?

RACHEL: (pauses) Our office. It’s temporary so that Dean can oversee the transfer of Substance 33.

SYDNEY: Wait. Gordon Dean is in Prague?

RACHEL: Yeah. He’s right around the corner.

EXT. PRAGUE HOTEL BALCONY – DAY

Rachel looks out over Prague as she considers the truth she just learned.

JACK: (on phone) How’s she doing?

GRACE: About how you’d expect. She was told Substance 33 was developed by a t*rror1st cell and was being transferred to U.N. weapons inspectors.

JACK: Most likely, it’s being sold to the highest bidder. Does she know when the exchange is to be made?

GRACE: Tonight, but she says she doesn’t know where. She said it’s all classified, and all classified intel is stored on Dean’s own dedicated server.

JACK: What else? How much does she know about his operation?

GRACE: Dean calls it “The Shed.” She was recruited two years ago. Computer specialist. She’s willing to give us everything – mission history, suppliers, contacts… the works.

JACK: Without more background, it’s too risky to move on Dean. He could destroy his data before we have time to secure it. Marshall, can we access that server?

MARSHALL: Well, according to Rachel, Dean uses an encryption key that changes daily. But if I could get inside, I could cr*ck the key and maybe download the entire hard drive.

JACK: Obviously, that’s too dangerous. What about the girl?

GRACE: (shakes head) She’s not a field agent. And her whole world is coming apart right now.

JACK: I don’t see another option. We have to recover Substance 33 before it trades hands.

Sydney goes out to the balcony to speak with Rachel.

RACHEL: What is it?

SYDNEY: We need some help.

Inside, Marshall explains the plan to Rachel.

MARSHALL: All you have to do is copy the encryption key and then bring it back to me, okay? Shouldn’t take me more than a couple of minutes to cr*ck the code. Then - go back inside, all right? You think maybe you can open a remote access port to Dean’s server?

RACHEL: Yeah, from my workstation. Dean’s server has about a terabyte of data. I mean, that’s going to take you, what, an hour at 20 gigs a minute?

MARSHALL: Don’t worry. I can hop RAM while the data’s being transferred. I mean, unless they know where to look, it can’t be detected.

RACHEL: The encryption key is pretty massive. I mean, I don’t think I have anything big enough to copy it to.

MARSHALL: That’s okay. Got a little present for you. Okay? Just a little something I picked up – looks like a normal credit card, right? But you look closely – actually holds 240 Gigs of memory. Yeah. And it’s a working credit card. Just go shopping with it because it’s already at its limit. My wife – crazy with the clothes, Mitchell…

RACHEL: It’s clever.

MARSHALL: Yeah. I wanna tell you that I’ve been admiring you, too. Not, you know, in anything kind of creepy, weird, just - totally professionally. I mean, your hack on the NSA? Genius. Too bad it was being used for evil. Though, been there myself.

RACHEL: (quietly) Thanks.

MARSHALL: Hey, listen. You’re gonna be okay. All right? I have been through stuff way scarier. I’m still here.

EXT. RUSSIA – NIGHT

Sloane emerges from a doorway as a silver Audi pulls up. The door opens. ALEXANDER DOLZHENKO steps out of the car.

SLOANE: Alexander.

DOLZHENKO: Old friend.

The two men embrace.

SLOANE: So I did ask you asked. It’s just you and me.

DOLZHENKO: I’m sorry for my precautions. I’m sure you understand.

SLOANE: Of course.

DOLZHENKO: I’m eager to get this over as well.

SLOANE: (hands over the briefcase of money) You can count it.

DOLZHENKO: No. Please. (smiles) We’re friends. I trust you.

Dolzhenko places the briefcase in the backseat of his car.

SLOANE: So you have the cure.

DOLZHENKO: As I told you, it’s still experimental. But, uh, yes. So far the patients have made a full recovery.

SLOANE: Good.

DOLZHENKO: Come. It’s right here.

Dolzhenko unlocks the trunk of his car. Sloane lifts the trunk open to look inside. There doesn’t seem to be anything useful in the truck. A g*n cocks. Dolzhenko points a g*n at Sloane.

SLOANE: Alexander, please.

DOLZHENKO: No. Begging will not help you.

SLOANE: Whoever wants me dead… let me reason with them. I’ll pay them.

DOLZHENKO: “Whoever.” But Arvin - it’s me who wants you dead.

SLOANE: Sasha, why are you doing this? I’ve never done anything to you.

DOLZHENKO: Oh, yes. Yes, you have. I had a daughter in Sovogda myself. Because what you released, I didn’t even have a chance to bury my own child. I lied to you. Besides your daughter, there are no other survivors. No experiments, no cure.

Sloane is devastated.

DOLZHENKO: Yeah! It’s worse than dying, isn’t it? Knowing there’s nothing you can do to save your own child. Turn around.

SLOANE: No.

DOLZHENKO: (shaking) Turn around!

SLOANE: No. If you’re going to sh**t me, I’m not going to make it easy for you. I know your pain, Sasha. k*lling me won’t heal it. You’re not a k*ller. Don’t become one now. Don’t make this your daughter’s legacy.

Dolzhenko puts the g*n down, with tears in eyes. Sloane closes his eyes, relieved. Dolzhenko gets in his car and drives away.

EXT. PRAGUE – DAY

Sydney is doing some last minute preparations to help Rachel with her mission in a van outside of The Shed’s office.

SYDNEY: I’ll be able to hear anything you say, even if it’s barely a whisper. If anything goes wrong, if you even sense that you are in jeopardy, we’ll pull you out. We’ll call off the mission.

RACHEL: (nods) Okay.

SYDNEY: Okay. That’s the easy part. The hard part… you have to walk back into that office and look everyone in the eye – your co-workers, Gordon Dean. You can’t let them see that you know the truth. When you’ve copied the encryption key, let me know. We’ll brush pass in the lobby like we said.

RACHEL: Okay. (pauses) How many of them know? How many of them are in on it?

SYDNEY: It’s impossible to say. In my case, it was half a dozen out of fifty agents. (pauses) Have you ever seen this man? (shows Rachel a picture of Michael Vaughn)

RACHEL: Yeah. Dean said he was a CIA agent who turned, and he’s… in custody outside Los Alamos. (realizes when she sees Sydney’s reaction) …That was a lie, too.

SYDNEY: His name is Michael Vaughn. He was a U.S. agent. But he was good man. Rachel, look at me. The reason I’m telling you this is because right now, you are our best chance at seeing Gordon Dean pay for what he’s done. He used you, Rachel. He used you to m*rder U.S. agents. (pauses) I believe in you.

Rachel nods. She gets out of the van and goes to the office. As she steps out of the elevator and into the office, she takes in her surroundings, looking over each of her co-workers. She heads to her workstation when she is interrupted.

PEYTON: Hey.

RACHEL: Peyton. Hey.

PEYTON, a woman with long, dark brown hair, walks up to Rachel, smiling. Peyton is the woman who stole the vials of Substance 33 in Istanbul earlier.

PEYTON: I thought you weren’t due in until tonight.

RACHEL: Yeah, I have some reports to clean up.

PEYTON: (senses something) You okay?

RACHEL: Rough weekend.

PEYTON: Well, if you wanna take a nap on the couch, I can hide you.

RACHEL: Thanks. I’m good, though. I’m gonna get to work.

PEYTON: Okay. Oh - don’t let Dean see you, or he’ll make you translate surveillance footage.

RACHEL: Yeah, you’re right.

Rachel walks over to her workstation and logs into her computer. A co-worker passes behind her desk and greets her.

CO-WORKER: Rachel.

Rachel nods to the co-worker as he goes past. She pulls out the credit card from Marshall, plugs it into a USB port on her keyboard, and begins to copy the encryption key. Meanwhile, Sydney is working on the computer as she, Marshall, and Grace wait for Rachel to finish copying the encryption key.

MARSHALL: (sighs) How long has it been?

SYDNEY: Since the last time you asked, 30 seconds. Look, she’s been in there 10 minutes.

MARSHALL: I’m sure she’s fine.

Rachel is still copying the encryption key when Gordon Dean comes by her desk. She quickly slides one of the disks off a stack on her desk to cover up the credit card USB drive.

DEAN: Rachel.

RACHEL: Hey.

DEAN: I don’t know whether to thank you or curse you.

Rachel doesn’t look like she understands what Dean is talking about.

DEAN: The book you recommended - Devil in the White City... I’m addicted. Truly! I was up all night reading. I never would have thought I’d be so, uh, fascinated by a serial k*ller. Somehow I find myself even... (chuckles) sympathetic.

RACHEL: Yeah, I guess.

DEAN: So, listen. Intel suggests that Iran is trying to buy a nuclear core from the French. But we’ll be in Paris next week. I need a prep report by the end of the day.

RACHEL: Okay. I’ll get right on it.

DEAN: Thank you. (leaves)

Rachel takes the credit card USB drive out and gets into the elevator.

RACHEL: (comms) I’ve got it. I’m on the way down.

SYDNEY: Great. I’m coming to meet you. We’ll brush pass just outside the door to your building.

PEYTON: Hey, hold the elevator. (steps into the elevator) You going for coffee?

RACHEL: Yeah. Last time I’m going to see the sun for a few hours.

PEYTON: Perfect. I’m dying for a smoke.

SYDNEY: (comms) Rachel, listen to me. We can still do this. We’ll do the pass right under her nose. Just follow my instructions. I’ll talk you through it.

Inside the van, Grace puts on his jacket.

SYDNEY: What are you doing?

GRACE: I’m going with you.

SYDNEY: No, you’re not.

GRACE: Yes, I am. If Gordon Dean can recognize you on sight, so can any of his agents. How do you say, “You’re welcome” in Czech?

Rachel and Peyton walk down the street.

RACHEL: I thought you quit.

PEYTON: I did… in the U.S. But here, everyone smokes. It’s a social necessity.

Grace positions himself behind Rachel and Peyton. Sydney, wearing sunglasses, plans her move across the street.

SYDNEY: Rachel, have the credit card ready in your left hand. I’m ten seconds away. Palm the credit card down by your side. Don’t look at me.

Rachel and Peyton stop so that Peyton can light her cigarette. Grace goes up to Peyton and offers her a light for her cigarette. When Peyton is distracted, Sydney walks by Rachel and takes the credit card. Rachel continues staring in the direction where Sydney went, away from Peyton and Grace.

PEYTON: (smiling, taking a good look at Grace) Thank you.

GRACE: You’re welcome.

Grace leaves. Peyton turns back to Rachel, who still looks distracted.

PEYTON: See? Social necessity. If I didn’t smoke, that never would have happened. But I suppose he’s not your type anyway, is he?

RACHEL: ...No.

Grace returns to the van.

GRACE: Remind me to ask her what that means – “not her type.”

Sydney gives him a questioning look.

GRACE: (to Marshall) How’s it going?

MARSHALL: Um, good. What kind of idiots don’t double-encrypt their firewalls? I could do this stuff in my sleep. Okay… we’re in. Let Rachel know.

SYDNEY: (comms) Rachel, Marshall’s decoded the key. You can open the access ports now.

Rachel and Peyton are just getting back into the office.

PEYTON: That’s what I love about our friendship – no competition.

RACHEL: Yeah.

PEYTON: You sure you’re okay?

RACHEL: Of course. It’s nothing a little caffeine won’t fix.

Peyton doesn’t seem convinced, but lets it go.

PEYTON: (smiles) Okay. (leaves)

Rachel goes back to her workstation and opens the access ports.

MARSHALL: Got it. She’s in.

SYDNEY: Rachel, good job. We’re in. This shouldn’t take too long.

Gordon Dean walks into his office. Peyton is waiting for him inside.

DEAN: Peyton. What is it?

PEYTON: I think we may have a problem.

DEAN: What kind of problem?

PEYTON: Rachel Gibson.

Gordon Dean checks Rachel’s computer activity log.

DEAN: I don’t know. She hasn’t done anything unusual from her terminal.

Dean checks her computer’s RAM usage. It’s excessively high.

DEAN: (laughs) She’s brilliant.

PEYTON: What? (leans forward to see his screen)

DEAN: She’s hopping RAM. She’s trying to stay undetected. (checks his computer) She’s copying everything on my server!

In the van, Marshall goes through files that they have finished downloading.

MARSHALL: One sec here. Substance 33. Shipping tonight. Budapest. Shipping container 1147. Great. I’ll let Mr. Bristow know.

Gordon Dean and Peyton discuss what needs to be done.

DEAN: She’s compromised everything.

PEYTON: I can eliminate her. She trusts me.

DEAN: No, it’s too late for that. Execute Plan B. (hands Peyton a key card)

PEYTON: Are you sure that’s necessary?

DEAN: Just do it quickly. I’ll meet you in the parking garage.

Peyton puts a key card into a machine and flips a row of switches, initiating a countdown.

MARSHALL: (getting back into the van) Okay, I spoke to Director Bristow. He contacted the Hungarian authorities. Once again, these bad guys picked the wrong dude to mess with. (checks the download progress on his computer) Huh. What’s that?

GRACE: What?

MARSHALL: There’s some RF interference. Should be able to compensate for it.

Just then, there’s a whirring noise in the office and all the computers turn off. Two black cars screech out of the building’s parking garage.

GRACE: Contact Rachel. See how she’s doing.

SYDNEY: (comms) Rachel, it’s me. Do you copy? Rachel? Rachel, if you can’t talk, cough.

MARSHALL: Oh, hell. The server’s down.

SYDNEY: Rachel, listen to me -

MARSHALL: It’s no use. They set off an EMP. They fried the electronics.

Immediately, Grace gets out of the van and races to the building. Rachel and her co-workers are unsure of what to do. The countdown is at 55 seconds.

RACHEL: (trying the comms) Are you there? Can anybody hear me?

When there is no answer, Rachel decides to leave. 19 seconds are left on the countdown. She tries the elevator, but it’s not working. Grace reaches the building, pulls the fire alarm on the first floor, and runs to the stairwell. 11 seconds. Hearing the alarms, Rachel goes toward the stairwell. 7 seconds. The b*mb counts down and explodes, destroying the entire 10th floor and shaking the entire building.

Upon hearing the expl*si*n, Sydney rushes out of the van.

MARSHALL: Syd. Syd, no.

Grace, who was knocked down during the blast, continues up the stairs to the 10th floor and finds the destruction. He hears a groan and finds Rachel under some debris in the stairwell. When he sits her up, Rachel begins coughing. Sydney reaches the 10th floor and finds them.

GRACE: She’s okay. She’s gonna be okay.

Rachel weakly looks up at her rescuers.
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