Mutant X Transcripts: Ep 108 "In the Presence of Mine Enemies"
Mutant X Episode Transcripts
Mutant X Episode #108 Transcript: “ In the Presence of Mine Enemies”
[Opening Scene: In Genomex headquarters, Mason Eckhart stands at the window of his office, gazing down at the pods below him. As soon as he turns away from the glass to sit down at his desk, Adam comes into view on the ground floor.]
Adam (whispering into his comlink): Go! [Emma, dressed in silver like a Genomex lab technician, carries a disk along the catwalk. Eyes riveted upon the new mutants in pods below her, she almost bumps into another technician standing in her path. Down on the ground floor, Jesse, dressed as a Genomex guard, works on his tiny computer screen, setting the security cameras on a loop. When he’s done, he whispers into his gloved hand.]
Jesse: Go. [Shalimar, hiding behind a wall across the room, leaps up onto the second floor balcony just outside Mason’s window. She pulls off the cover of the electronic panel on the wall, and leaps back down to the ground.]
Shalimar: Go. [Brennan, dressed in a suit and tie, passes two lab technicians on the ground floor and aims an electrical arc at the panel Shalimar’s just uncovered.]
Brennan (into his comlink): Go. [With the door’s lock thus disabled, Emma walks through the sliding door to the secure area and encounters two guards standing inside. She projects an image into their minds of blindfolds over their eyes until Shalimar and Brennan come up behind them and tap their shoulders. They turn blindly around, and Shalimar and Brennan knock each of them out with a punch. Reunited, the entire Mutant X team enters the secured area. But when Adam approaches the computer panel, an alarm goes off overhead and the doors slam shut behind them, locking them inside.]
Shalimar: What did we do wrong?
Emma: There might have been a failsafe in the security video.
Brennan: Yeah, or we got spotted by the GSA.
Jesse: You know, I still say this is a big waste of time.
Adam: Yeah? Well, the bottom line is, we’ve gotta be better prepared. [Behind him, the Genomex facility melts away to reveal that they’re actually standing in Sanctuary's dojo.] If this had been the real deal, and not just some cyber simulation, we’d be in Eckhart’s hands right now.
Opening Credits. “In the Presence of Mine Enemies”
[Soft music plays inside the empty Data Dive cybercafe as Jesse slow-dances with the cafe’s soon-to-be owner, Toni Quintana. Brennan enters, carrying a pair of pliers.]
Brennan: You know what? I must be crazy, because I thought you guys asked me to come in here and give you a hand. But clearly, I’m the only one doing any work around here. [He snaps his pliers in their faces.] Okay, you guys wanna break it up, or do you want me to come in there and pry you apart, huh?
Toni (laughing): Can’t stand to see other people happy, huh?
Jesse: Oh, have a little pity, honey, the guy’s just jealous.
Brennan: Yeah. No, I didn’t introduce the two of you so that I could sit here all night and watch you stare longingly into each other’s eyes.
Toni: Oh, it’s so sad. [She kisses Jesse. Brennan goes to work on a computer across the room.]
Brennan: You know, I’ve gotta tell ya, Ton. The idea of you giving up cyber-crime and opening up a coffee shop? A little hard to take.
Toni: Well, it’s not a coffee shop. It’s a coffee bar.
Jesse: Yeah, and who says you’re the only one who gets to clean up his act?
Brennan: Yeah, well, you didn’t know Ton back in the day.
Toni: Well, that was then. This is now. [She kisses Jesse again.]
[In Sanctuary, Shalimar is playing poker on the computer with Adam at the same time as he’s playing chess with Emma.]
Shalimar: Seven card stud. Nines wild.
Emma: King’s pawn to queen’s pawn three.
Adam (to Shalimar): I’ll bet five.
Shalimar: Call.
Adam (to Emma): My knight takes your bishop.
Emma: Damn it.
Adam (turning over his virtual cards for Shalimar): And I’ve got four aces and three wild nines.
Shalimar: What?!
Adam (to Emma): And...checkmate. Off. [The computer screen turns off. The girls stare at him in unhappy disbelief.]
Shalimar: How'd you do that?
Adam: It's another example of using your opponents' weaknesses against them.
Emma (laughing): Oh, please.
Shalimar: We've been hearing that since day one.
Adam: No, no. I'm serious. [He points at Shalimar.] In your case, your recklessness leaves you wide open. [He points at Emma.] And you, you play so cautiously I read you like a book. [He starts to walk away, smugly.]
Shalimar: Yeah, well, you know what I think? [Adam turns back to them.]
Emma and Shalimar (nodding to each other, together): He cheats.
[At The Data Dive, Brennan looks up from his work to find Toni and Jesse in one another’s arms again.]
Brennan: You know, uh, one of you love-birds wanna give me a hand here, please? [Looking up, Toni telekinetically inserts a series of plugs into the fuse box Brennan’s working on.]
Brennan: Thanks. Time to go online. [He zaps the computer system with an electrical charge to turn them on, and Proxy Blue appears on the screens, reporting new information she’s received.]
Proxy Blue: We’ve been talking the past few months about sinister men and women chasing mysterious men and women with miraculous abilities through the streets. Well, one of my regulars called in to describe what might be the ringleader in all this. A white-haired guy who seems to pop up in a lot of these stories. [Watching the broadcast in his office, Mason stares at the screen in dismay.]
Mason: Miss MacEvoy!
[Back in Sanctuary, Emma’s leaning over the chessboard when Adam walks up to her.]
Adam: You trying to figure out where you went wrong?
Emma (smiling up at him): I figured a little study of your playbook might give me a leg up next time.
Adam: Understanding your opponent's weaknesses is important for everything in life.
Emma: So what are yours?
Adam (chuckling): None of your damn business.
Emma: So, did you catch that thing about Eckhart on Proxy Blue?
Adam (coming around the table): Mm-hmm.
Emma: You think that’s gonna cause us any trouble?
Adam: I don’t see how, though it must be driving Eckhart up the wall. [Reaching down, he moves one of the chess pieces and looks at her.]
Emma: Yeah. Checkmate.
Adam (nodding): Checkmate. [He walks off. Emma sighs, shaking her head.]
[Pacing in front of the window of his office, Mason is discussing his concerns with the severely dressed and coiffed GS agent Kendra MacEvoy.]
Mason: As long as Proxy Blue was nothing more than a whining voice for the paranoid lunatic fringe, it remained nothing more than an annoyance. But to hear myself described in such detail...
Kendra: I completely understand, sir.
Mason: We all know how difficult it is to do our jobs and still remain invisible to society’s radar. Leaks are inevitable, but...this story just won’t go away.
Kendra: It’s already been picked up by one of the electronic gossip boards. And it gets worse. [She turns on the television screen embedded in Mason’s wall, where Proxy Blue is showing a video of three GS agents.]
Proxy Blue: These bruisers look like Feds, armed with some pretty exotic hardware. They show up in black vans, do their jobs, and disappear. Sometimes, innocent bystanders disappear with them. And the guy in charge? Looks something like this. [A rough sketch of Mason appears on the screen next to her. Sighing heavily, Mason sinks into his chair, takes off his glasses, and massages his forehead.] So when they come to you in the middle of the night, don’t forget you heard it here first.
Mason: Oh, dear. Well, I hold myself responsible for allowing this to reach crisis proportions. [He dons his glasses.] But unless we find a way to take over or control Proxy Blue, this...cartoon could destroy everything.
Kendra: I might be able to help you solve your problem, sir. [Mason looks up at her, hopefully.]
[Shalimar and Jesse are on Sanctuary's second floor, clearing the dining table after a Japanese take-out dinner.]
Shalimar: So when do the rest of us get to meet her?
Jesse: Soon. She’s opening The Data Dive this weekend; I guess you’ll all be invited.
Shalimar (cautiously): Brennan introduced you two?
Jesse: You know, I know where you're going with this. I know all about Toni’s past, but I also know that she left it behind her.
Shalimar: Just don't want you getting into something that could hurt you down the road.
Jesse: You know, coming from anybody else, I'd resent that. But coming from you? I love it. [He grins and kisses her cheek.]
Shalimar (touching her forehead to his): Yeah, well, I’m keeping my eye on you. [Behind them, Jesse’s computer beeps.]
Jesse (piling his dishes into Shalimar’s arms): Ooo! That’s Toni! I’ll take care of these later.
Shalimar: Yeah... [She laughs as he rushes to his computer to pull up Toni's video link.]
Toni: Hey, Jesse, what’s up?
Jesse: Everybody’s just hanging out. Brennan's reading, Shalimar's cleaning up, and Emma’s...Emma's playing chess by herself and still getting her ass kicked.
Emma (from downstairs): I heard that!
Jesse: Ha-ha. And me? I’m just having the time of my life sitting here staring at you.
Toni: Aw. You do know how to sweet-talk a girl. And speaking of staring, I just got those shots I told you about. You interested in seeing some pictures of me in some really sexy lingerie?
Jesse (grinning): Let me think about that.
Toni: Only one of the reasons I am crazy about you: You’re never at a loss for words. [She puts a disk into her disk drive.] Speaking of chess, this is what the well-dressed red queen is wearing. What do you think?
Jesse (dreamily): Sweet.
Toni: It just takes a second to download.
[Mason’s looking out of his office his window while Kendra details her area of expertise.]
Kendra: It's called social engineering, Mr. Eckhart. The process by which, with a few simple cues, one manipulates a mark.
Mason (turning): The way a con man ingratiates himself with a victim?
Kendra: Grifters have been using this technique for years. Political candidates too.
Mason: Multimillionaire plutocrat passes himself off as a good old boy.
Kendra: Regardless of what the product is, social engineering is just a matter of selling a client what they think they already want.
Mason: I propose we attack the problem in two ways. I want Proxy Blue destroyed, and I want to seamlessly replace her with our own identical version.
Kendra: To tell our version of the truth.
Mason: Exactly. Can you do it?
Kendra (leaning across the desk): I guarantee it.
[Jesse’s at the Data Dive's bar, fixing Toni a mug of coffee.]
Toni (leaning on the bar): You know that Red Queen outfit?
Jesse: Mm-hmm.
Toni: The one in the picture we downloaded? Well, I’m wearing the matching thong.
Jesse (bringing her the coffee): Talk about knowing my weaknesses. [Brennan walks up behind them as they’re kissing, and sticks out his tongue.]
Brennan: Bleagh. You know, I really don’t need to hear this. This better be good. [Sitting next to Toni, he steals her coffee.] Oh, hey, thanks.
Toni: Come on, Bren, don’t make such a big deal out of this.
Jesse: Yeah. Toni was just so grateful you introduced us, she wanted to find some way to pay you back.
Brennan: Do I look like the kind of guy that needs to be set up?
Jesse: Do I? I mean, you set us up.
Toni: It’s not about needing anything. It’s about wanting your friends to like your other friends.
Brennan: Okay, well, you know, I’ve gotta be honest with you. I’ve never been set up on a blind date in my entire life.
Kendra (walking in): You’re not the only one. [Wearing her hair down, flattering makeup, and a black leather outfit, Kendra looks completely different. She smiles at Brennan, shaking his hand.] That’s why I wasn’t so keen on meeting you either.
Toni: Kendra MacEvoy, this is Jesse Kilmartin and Brennan Mulwray.
Kendra: Nice to meet you.
Brennan (standing up): Nice to meet you. [He raises his eyebrows at Jesse, impressed.]
Kendra (looking around the room): Geez. When are you gonna quit playing around in cyberspace there, Toni, and get yourself a real job?
Toni: Don’t let her fool you, Bren. Kendra knows her way around a touch pad.
Brennan: Oh, is that so?
Kendra: I met Toni working at an ad agency.
Jesse: I didn’t know you were in advertising.
Brennan: Wai-wait. Let me guess. What, did you hack into the phone system?
Toni: I used their phone for a couple long-distance calls.
Kendra: Oh yeah, about 50 grand worth.
Toni: Kendra tracked me down, but instead of busting me, they made me a consultant. So I went straight by showing them how to make their system uncrackable.
Brennan: You know what? I remember that. Yeah, the minute that we heard you had a civilian gig, we thought you were gonna rat us all out.
Toni: Oh yeah, like I’m a rat.
Jesse: Hm, more like a pussy cat.
Toni: Aw. See? At least somebody understands me. [She kisses him.]
Brennan: Oh, gag. [Getting up, he takes Kendra’s arm.] Come on, let me show you around.
Kendra (looking back at Toni and Jesse): Are they always like that?
Brennan: Yeah. If I thought I could make any money, I’d sell tickets. Hey, wait a minute, you’re in advertising!
Kendra (smiling): Oh, no. I’ve used my new mutant abilities to get a much better job. [Brennan ducks just in time to avoid her arm as she aims a crushing super-strength blow at his head. Three armed GS agents run through the door to stand behind Kendra.] The girl and the computers are not to be harmed! [Jesse rolls over the bar to mass in front of Toni as a GS agent rushes over to grab her. With Brennan busy fighting a GS agent of his own, Kendra easily lifts Jesse over her head and hurls him across the room. Toni struggles ineffectually against the two GS agents who carry her out of the room, followed by Kendra.]
Jesse: Toni! [He picks himself up and races towards the door, but Brennan grabs him.]
Brennan: Hey, hey, come here, come here! Where the hell do you think you’re going?
Jesse (fighting to get away from him): They got Toni!
Brennan: Hey, hey! Listen to me! Maybe they got her, and maybe she set us up, all right? Either way, you’re not going anywhere until we figure it out, all right? Stay here! Listen to me, Jesse.
****Commercial Break****
[Back at Sanctuary, Jesse walks with Adam towards the main room.]
Jesse: Okay, so what’s the plan?
Adam: What plan?
Jesse: The plan. The plan to save Toni.
Adam: Well, right now, I don’t see that happening.
Jesse: What?!
Adam: No, there’s too many unknowns in the equation. I mean, first of all, we don’t know where she really stood.
Jesse: Where she stood? You know what, I think I’ll tell you where she stood! [He jumps in front of Adam.] She did not set us up!
Adam: What, you know that?
Jesse: Yes, I know that.
Adam: No, you don’t know that; you feel that. You said yourself that she introduced Kendra to you as her friend. And second, even if she was imprisoned against her will, how do we know that Eckhart hasn’t managed to suborn her?
Jesse: Suborn her?
Adam: Suborn, Jesse. She may be lost to us.
Emma (coming downstairs to join them): Hey, you guys! I can’t say for sure, but it looks like we might have a serious problem. [With one last look at Jesse, Adam goes to her. Shaking his head in frustration, Jesse follows them.]
[Strapped into the metal interrogation chair, Toni watches Kendra take out a subdermal governor implant device. Holding it behind her back, Kendra walks up behind Toni and roughly pushes her head down.]
Toni: Hey! [Kendra inserts the subdermal governor in her neck.] Ow! What the hell was that?
Kendra (coming around to face her): A subdermal governor. To keep you in line.
Toni: I thought you were my friend, Kendra.
Kendra (blinking innocently): I am your friend, Toni.
Toni: Friends don’t kidnap friends.
Kendra: Oh, it’s just a little social engineering.
Toni: Call it whatever you want. Pretending to be something you’re not is lying in my book.
Mason (walking in): The truth is, Miss MacEvoy saved you from making the biggest mistake of your life. Separating you from those outlaws was a favor you can never repay.
Toni: Mason Eckhart. I’ve heard all about you.
Mason: Yes, and I’ve heard all about you. Miss MacEvoy tells me you’re the best computer cracker she’s ever met.
Toni: I don’t flatter easily.
Kendra: Oh, if anyone can crack Proxy Blue, Toni can, sir.
Mason: Get her set up in the technical analysis section. If she’s as good as you say she is, I expect results and fast. [He walks out. Toni shakes her head at Kendra.]
[Standing in front of the main computer’s holographic screen, Adam shows Emma and Jesse the problem.]
Adam: It’s a file transfer protocol. A tools application that somehow got inside our system.
Jesse: How’d it get in there?
Emma: Well, it looks like someone slipped it in under a picture file.
Jesse (slowly): Toni...sent me a picture file.
Adam: Well, then I’d have to say that Toni is trying to crack us. Didn’t you say she used to be a cyber outlaw?
Jesse: Yeah, but she went straight a long time ago.
Adam: Then what’s she doing trying to get inside our computers?
Emma: Well, I thought you said that we can’t be cracked.
Adam: Well, yeah, we have molecular nanoelectronics and yes, we’re ten years ahead of the curve, but--
Jesse (interrupting him): So we’re fine, then.
Adam: If she’s half as good as you say she is, I won’t know for sure until I run a complete diagnostic. [Brushing past Jesse, he leaves the room. Emma exchanges looks with Jesse, then leaves.]
[Back at Genomex, Mason and the softer side of Kendra walk down the hallway past the mutants in stasis pods.]
Kendra: I want to apologize for blowing the chance to bring Mulwray and Kilmartin into custody.
Mason: Their presence there was a complete surprise. I’m just grateful you were able to grab Quintana. You know, I have to say, Miss MacEvoy, I find this new look of yours a nice change from...
Kendra: My former presentation?
Mason: If I were to offer an opinion, I’d suggest it’s a big improvement.
Kendra: Actually, sir, this is my real look. [He stops, surprised.] I was afraid you wouldn’t take me seriously if I showed up looking like this, so I transformed myself to convey the idea of no-nonsense seriousness.
Mason: While I had you undercover infiltrating Miss Quintana's world, you were socially engineering me?
Kendra: I guess you could say that.
Mason: I knew we'd work together beautifully. [She smiles, and he walks off.]
[Emma’s walking down the hallway towards the main room when Brennan catches up to her.]
Brennan: Emma! So, what’s going on?
Emma: Adam’s doing a complete scan of the entire system.
Brennan: And?
Emma: And he’s pretty sure everything’s gonna be okay.
Brennan: Okay.
Emma (smiling): But, you never know.
Brennan: Yeah, tell me about it. Toni had me completely convinced that she was an upstanding citizen now. When really, she was just using Jesse to get into our system.
Emma: Maybe. Maybe not.
Brennan: What’s that supposed to mean? She slipped a mapping application into the system via some hot pictures. Sounds kinda sneaky and underhanded to me.
Emma: Yeah, but if all she wanted to do was crack us, why would she go through the whole thing of you introducing her to Jesse?
Brennan (considering): Yeah, I guess you’ve got a point. She could have just sent me the email.
Emma: Yeah.
Brennan: Well, that still doesn’t let her off the hook. The fact remains, she invaded the system, period.
Emma: Yeah, but you can’t just go ahead and assume that-
Brennan (interrupting her): What, are you defending her, now? Come on, I know Toni. We’re both felons, remember?
Emma: I understand. I just wonder what this is doing to Jesse. [She walks away.]
[Shalimar enters Sanctuary's lab to find Adam’s working on the computer.]
Adam: It’s exactly what I was afraid of. Toni’s application has invaded our entire computer system.
Shalimar: Well, it’s not a huge deal, right? We do a full diagnostic, scan everything? Clean the system?
Adam: It’s already underway.
Shalimar (sitting on the desk): So why do you look like your dog just died?
Adam: Well, the application can’t crack our system, but it’ll act like a homing beacon. If the GSA gets their hands on the matching software in the coffee house, they can use satellite technology to pinpoint our exact location.
Shalimar: So they could be here in a matter of minutes.
Adam: And destroy everything we’ve created.
Shalimar (getting up): Well, since they’re not here already, I think we have to assume that Jesse was right about Toni. And she’s just an innocent victim in all this.
Adam: Yeah, with the guts not to save herself by telling the GSA about the application, at least not yet.
Shalimar: Not to say the GSA won’t find it soon enough on their own.
Adam (getting up): Yeah. We’ve got to get our hands on that software before they do.
[Returning to the Data Dive with one of her GS agents, Ledeker, Kendra gives him his orders.]
Kendra: I’ve brought you here to do a complete and thorough inventory of every piece of technology in this place. I want you to examine and catalog every machine, hard drive, software, scanner, and outport device. I want every file downloaded, checked, and double checked.
Ledeker: I’m not sure I understand, Miss MacEvoy. The GSA’s got the most advanced computer systems money can buy. Why bother with all this junk?
Kendra: Money can buy an awful lot, but it can’t buy a cracker’s instinctual grasp on cyberspace. There may be a lot of secrets buried amongst this “junk” that might save us decades of development.
Ledeker: But I could be here for days!
Kendra: And what’s your point, exactly?
[Jesse’s pacing the second floor balcony in Sanctuary when he hears his computer beeping behind him. He rushes over to accept the incoming call.]
Toni (in the computer lab at Genomex): So how come you never told me how much subdermal governors itch?
Jesse: Toni?!
Toni: Got any other girlfriends being held prisoner by the GSA?
Jesse: Why did you do this?
Toni: Oh, come on. Do you really have to ask? I’m a cracker for God’s sake.
Jesse: Adam is pissed.
Toni: So someone found the file transfer protocol, huh?
Jesse: Yep.
Toni (glancing over her shoulder): Well, I figured I’d be in and out before anybody noticed, and then I got busted by these creeps.
Jesse: What in the hell were you thinking?
Toni: Oh, Jesse, it’s like I said. You know, I’m a cracker. It’s like...it’s like Everest. You do it because it’s there.
Jesse: How did you get to a computer in Genomex?
Toni: Well, they’re having me work on a way to take over Proxy Blue. Eckhart’s so pissed off he’s having me create a facsimile to sell the GSA party line. And that’s why Kendra pretended to be my friend, so she could drag me in here to work for these creeps.
Jesse: Adam says we’ve gotta get our hands on the other end of the mapping software before they do, or else Eckhart will be able to pinpoint our location, and we’re toast.
Toni (nodding): Kendra’s over at The Data Dive, starting an inventory.
Jesse: So unless it got fried when Brennan hit the system, they’re gonna find it soon.
Toni: I’m really sorry, Jesse. Look, it’s in a red microdrive. [She hears Kendra approaching the door.] Look, I’ve gotta go. I’ve got company. [She cuts off the connection.]
Jesse: Adam!
Kendra (pacing impatiently behind Toni): You know, I don’t have to tell you the kind of pressure I’m under to deliver here.
Toni: Am I crazy, or are you trying to get me to sympathize with you?
Kendra (rolling her eyes): Well, if I thought it would work...
Toni: Forget it, Kendra. You played me like a violin, and I’m done.
Kendra: All right, you know what? Forget about me, and think about your own skin!
Toni: Yeah, I’m working as fast as I can.
Kendra: Oh, Toni. I read you like a book, and I know what you’re capable of. Think about this as a career opportunity! For both of us.
Toni (looking back at her): You really mean that, don’t you?
Kendra: Absolutely!
Toni: Well, these machines of yours are state-of-the-art, if all I wanted to do was crack supermarket product codes. Look, I need my machines, my database, my tools. What do you say you bring me over to the Data Dive?
Kendra: I’ll see what I can do. [She leaves.]
[Adam’s working at Sanctuary's lab computer when Jesse comes to tell him about Toni’s message.]
Adam: So Toni’s okay?
Jesse: Well, yeah, she seems fine, but we’ve gotta get her outta there!
Adam: Well, right now, we’ve gotta focus on retrieving the microdrive. Assuming that it’s still intact.
Jesse: Look, there’s a 50-50 chance that Brennan’s already fried it. We could be talking about a wild goose chase here for nothing.
Adam (facing him): Yeah, we could also be talking about the other 50, the scenario that he didn’t fry it, and our goose is cooked.
[Brennan and Shalimar arrive at The Data Dive that night.]
Shalimar: Emma’s afraid Jesse's not going to forgive himself for getting us into this.
Brennan (chuckling): That's such a girl thing. C'mon, guys don't walk around beating themselves up about stuff like that. He'll be over it before you know it.
Shalimar: What a load of macho crap!
Brennan: It's not macho crap. That's why girls like soap operas and guys like boxing.
Shalimar: Oh, please!
Brennan: Oh, c'mon. A soap opera takes a year to tell 15 minutes of drama, and in the ring it's over in 15 seconds.
Shalimar: I hope that's not your philosophy for everything. [He laughs. Brennan calls Sanctuary over his comlink as they stand outside the inner doors.]
Brennan: Hey, Adam. Looks like everyone went home for the night.
Shalimar: Brennan’s right. I don’t hear anybody inside.
Adam: All right, then it’s a simple matter. You go in, grab the microdrive, and get outta there. [Brennan and Shalimar grin at each other and knock the door down. They're amazed to see that the entire room has been cleared out.]
Brennan: Adam, everything’s gone.
Shalimar: The only thing left is an espresso maker.
Adam (sighing): Then they’ve taken everything over to Genomex for an inventory, and the GSA is one step closer to finding our Sanctuary.
*****Commercial Break*****
[Adam leads Brennan and Shalimar into Sanctuary's lab.]
Adam: All right, Brennan, right now there are two possibilities. Either you accidentally fried the mapping software in the first place...
Brennan: Or the GSA has it, and they don’t know they have it.
Adam: Exactly.
Shalimar: Great, so we’re right back where we started. Only now we have to break into the GSA to get the software and rescue Toni.
Brennan (smugly): Well, it’s a good thing I’ve got a little experience with breaking in.
Adam: Yeah, but after our failures with the virtual break-ins, we have to totally rethink our strategy.
Shalimar: Yeah, really. If there’s one thing we learned from that damned exercise, it’s that just barging in isn’t gonna work.
Adam: Plus, we've gotta make sure that Eckhart doesn’t know we’re after the microdrive in case we get in there and we can’t find it.
Brennan: Man, you know? I knew I shouldn’t have introduced Jesse to Toni.
[Back in the computer lab at Genomex, Kendra tosses the last of The Data Dive disks onto the table behind Toni.]
Kendra: Now that we’ve got all your stuff here, could we pick it up a little?
Toni: I just kind of figured you’d bring me to The Data Dive, instead of bringing The Data Dive here.
Kendra: Get real. I bent over backwards to make sure that all of your machines were here... [She hears Mason enter the room behind her, and her tone changes immediately.] And I expect results!
Mason (coming in): I couldn’t have put it better myself, Miss MacEvoy. The media seem to be unwilling to let this story die. Everywhere I turn, I hear about super-powered freaks pursued by brutish thugs led by a white-haired gentleman who looks like me. It’s all hitting a little too close to home.
Toni: Maybe it’s time to go public and cut your losses. [Kendra and Mason glare at her.] Or maybe not.
Kendra (turning back to Mason): We’re making serious progress here, Mr. Eckhart.
Mason: And I am quite serious. [He leans close to her ear.] I expect to see a concrete example of the new version of Proxy Blue by tomorrow at the very latest.
Kendra (closing her eyes): We’ll be ready. [He leaves.]
Toni: If you really think I’ll be ready by tomorrow, you’re dreaming.
Kendra: And if you think that you’re gonna be alive the day after tomorrow...oh, unless you give me something...your nightmare has just begun. [She stalks out. Toni suddenly notices the red microdrive lying on the table in front of her. Just as she’s about to reach out for it, Ledeker comes up and grabs a bunch of disks...not the red one.]
Ledeker: I wouldn’t waste my time watching me if I were you. [Sighing in relief, Toni turns back to her computer.]
[Putting on his coat, Adam hurries out of the lab with Jesse.]
Adam (sighing): I don’t know. Maybe while she’s Eckhart’s prisoner we should have her crack the Genomex computer system. You know, have her cause them as much aggravation as she’s caused us.
Jesse: You know, it is a thought. Eckhart’s got her working on cracking Proxy Blue’s firewall so they can create their own version. [Adam stops, thinking.]
[Inside Genomex headquarters, Emma, dressed as a lab technician, is walking down the catwalk carrying her disk.]
Emma: I just passed checkpoint five, Adam, halfway across the upper catwalk. What does the situation look like from your end?
Adam: I’m getting an all-clear reading on the lower catwalk. Security’s on yellow. Alert status, zero, with no GS agents or security officers between you and the tech lab.
Emma: I’m on my way. Jesse? I’ve got the all-clear from Adam. [Dressed as a guard on the balcony, Jesse sets up the security camera loop.]
Jesse: Take position, Emma.
Emma: We’re all ready to move on your signal.
Jesse: Go. [Adam and Emma walk through the sliding doors to the secure area; Emma psionically blinds the guards.]
Adam: Shalimar. [Shalimar comes up behind the blinded guards and punches them out. This time, Adam gets further into the secure area before the alarm goes off overhead once again and the glass doors lock him and Emma inside.]
Emma: What did we do wrong this time?
Adam (shaking his head, taking off his virtual glasses): I don’t know. [The Genomex illusion behind them fades away, revealing the dojo.] You know, any number of things: motion detectors I wasn’t aware of, hidden cameras...all I know is, we’d better come up with a better game plan or else Toni’s doomed and we’re finished.
*******Commercial Break*******
[At her computer in the Genomex lab, Toni sees that Ledeker’s attention is distracted by his work. Getting up, Toni starts to pick up the red disk from the table when Mason and Kendra walk in, forcing her to hastily drop it.]
Kendra: What are you doing?
Toni: Oh! I was...I was just...stretching my legs.
Mason: We seem to make Miss Quintana nervous.
Kendra: What have you got to show us, Toni?
Toni: You know, I...still need a little more time.
Mason (walking up to her, smiling): You could have a beautiful future working for us here. Or that future could be short, swift, and brutally final. It’s up to you. [They walk out. Toni looks back at the table, but Ledeker gets up, grabs the red disk, and goes back to his station.]
[In Sanctuary, Jesse and Emma walk down the dojo steps, arguing.]
Jesse: We’re still playing virtual games here while Toni is in serious trouble!
Emma: We’re all frustrated, Jesse, but that doesn’t mean we can just go in there with our eyes closed!
Jesse (yelling over her): Toni is not a hero! We have to go in there and get her out!
Emma: Yes, but like Adam says, now that we know going in all soft and sneaky without being ready to kick serious ass isn’t the answer either!
Jesse: Adam!
Adam: Hey, hey, hey! Hold on, you two. Now, what we’ve got to do is, we’ve gotta find a whole new way of thinking about how to invade Eckhart’s world. You know, Emma, like with your caution at the chess board, or Shalimar’s recklessness playing poker, what we are talking about is using the GSA's vulnerability against them. Now their greatest weakness is Eckhart's bullying assumption that might makes right, when in fact, might, in their case, means arrogance, overconfidence, and smugness. So, we’re gonna use their weakness as our secret weapon.
[In Mason’s office, Kendra is demonstrating Toni’s new version of Proxy Blue for Mason on his wall monitor.]
Kendra: This is Proxy Blue’s take on our roundup last week.
Proxy Blue: Remember when you thought justice, freedom and due process were real? The family of five that disappeared from their home last week must have learned those ideals were just illusions.
Kendra: And this is ours. [She presses a button, and the background behind Proxy Blue shifts from blue to red.]
Proxy Red: We’ve all been left in the lurch at one point or another. But those people who took off last week definitely had something to hide.
Kendra: Same story, with an entirely different spin.
Mason: I love the fact that it subtly blames the victim.
Kendra: I thought you might like that, sir.
Mason (going behind his desk): And while the original encourages skepticism, ours raises doubts about the meaning of reality itself.
Toni (leaning against the door): Just another kind of social engineering.
Mason: Nicely done, Miss MacEvoy. And we owe all this to Miss Quintana here.
Kendra: Absolutely, Mr. Eckhart. I told you she was a genius. [Toni glares at her.]
[When Adam steps out of one of Sanctuary’s rooms into the hallway, Jesse comes up to him.]
Jesse: Adam. I owe you an apology.
Adam: For what?
Jesse: Well, I’ve been acting like Toni is a victim in all this. But I have to face the fact that she’s the one who got us into all this hot water in the first place.
Adam: Right, well, and I have to say that I regret that we didn’t rescue her sooner. You know, right after she was incarcerated, dealt with the other problems later.
Jesse: Thank you.
Adam: But...you know, she owes us an apology too, for trying to crack our system.
Shalimar (sticking her head around the corner): Hey, Adam. We’ve got a really weird Proxy Blue thing over here. [Adam and Jesse follow her into the main room. Sitting at his desk at Genomex, Mason is also watching Proxy Red.]
Proxy Red: So the truth is out. And I’m not angry. I’m just hurt. The loser who called in the story on this white-haired mastermind turns out to be a hopeless dope fiend.
Kendra (watching over his shoulder): Just the right tone.
Proxy Red: Who really owns your thoughts? Your feelings? Your ideas? Reality is yours to make, so make it right. It’s always...
Kendra (talking over her): A little snide, a bit snarky, but with our spin on reality.
Mason: So, now we have our perfect replacement. When is this little genius of yours going to find the real thing so we can put an end to this problem once and for all?
Kendra: We’ll get to that eventually.
Mason: Eventually?
Kendra: I’ll have Toni work on it until we find the real Proxy Blue website. But meanwhile, we don’t have to wait. Toni’s programmed our version of Proxy Blue to function as a virus.
Proxy Blue: Who really owns your thoughts? Your feelings? Your ideas? Reality is yours to make, so make it right.
Kendra: Our version hunts down the real one, eats it, and then replaces it with itself.
Proxy Red (superimposing herself on Proxy Blue): It’s always seemed to me, the best way to get ahead is to know your opponents' weaknesses.
Kendra: So, even if they turn on the real thing, they end up getting our version of the story. And that’s how you get the masses to buy the truth as we see it. [Mason and Kendra smile at each other.]
[At Sanctuary, Shalimar, Jesse, and Adam are watching Proxy Red on the main computer’s flat screen.]
Proxy Red: It’s always seemed to me, the best way to get ahead is to know your opponents' weaknesses. And the only way to take the Red Queen is to move against Black Queen’s 10.
Adam: Now, would you play it again, please? [Shalimar replays the message.]
Proxy Red: It’s always seemed to me, the best way to get ahead is to know your opponents' weaknesses.
Shalimar: Where have I heard that before?
Proxy Red: And the only way to take the Red Queen is to move against Black Queen’s 10.
Jesse: You know, Toni calls herself my Red Queen. And Kendra was dressed in black that night.
Shalimar: Okay, but there are only eight squares across a chess board, so what does Black Queen’s 10 mean?
Adam: Black Queen’s 10, Black Queen’s 10...well, the security forces at Genomex change shifts every day at 10 o'clock. Maybe she’s trying to tell us that’s the best time to make our move.
Jesse: In other words, Toni’s using the fake Proxy Blue that she created for Eckhart to send us a message.
Shalimar: Yeah, or maybe Eckhart’s leading us all into a trap.
Adam (nodding): Well, there’s always the possibility of walking into a trap. But it’s not like we have a lot of choice in the matter. No, we're going into Genomex because whatever the danger that awaits us there, the greater danger is the risk of compromising our Sanctuary's location. And that's something we must never allow to happen.
******Commercial Break*******
[Entering Genomex headquarters, Adam calls his team over his comlink.]
Adam: Black Queen’s 10. You know what to do. [Emma, dressed as a lab technician, walks down the catwalk with her disk; Adam and Shalimar run up the back stairs; Jesse’s on the balcony in his guard’s disguise. As soon as he sees Mason turn away from the window in his office, Adam alerts Shalimar.] Go! [Shalimar leaps up onto the balcony, opens the electronic panel, and jumps back down to the ground.]
Shalimar: Go! [Brennan, in his suit and tie, enters the room and zaps the panel.]
Brennan: Go. [Upstairs, Jesse opens his mini-computer and loops the security video cameras.]
Jesse: Go.
Brennan (spotting Kendra walking down the hallway): Kendra! You know, you ran off so quickly last night, we didn’t even get a chance for a goodbye kiss. [Kendra angrily draws back her arm to hit him, but Brennan aims an electrical arc at her, throwing her body across the room.] Unfortunately, I don't think there's gonna be a second date.
[In the computer lab, Ledeker’s eyes widen when he comes upon the software pointing to Sanctuary’s location.]
Ledeker: Oh my God. Miss MacEvoy, I found something! [Shooting out of her chair, Toni tackles him to the ground to prevent him from reaching the door.]
[Adam and Emma enter the protected area. Emma blinds the guards and Shalimar punches them out. Jesse rushes into the computer lab to find Ledeker choking Toni. Jesse punches him, then throws him against an unprotected electrical panel, electrocuting him. Adam helps Toni to her feet, then waves Jesse over.]
Adam: Here, Jess. [Jesse comes over to give Toni a big bear hug.]
Toni (happily): You know how to make one hell an entrance. You got my message, huh?
Jesse: Yeah. [She kisses him.]
Adam (at the computer): Jesse!
Jesse: Yeah.
Adam: Grab the microdrive. I’m gonna send Eckhart a little message of my own.
[Back at Sanctuary, Adam and Jesse walk into the main room.]
Jesse: Well, I’ve checked out the system, and Toni has made sure that what she pulled won’t ever happen again.
Adam: Good. And now that I know how skilled she is, I’ve asked her to do security clearance for every safehouse across the country.
Jesse: You’re putting her into the underground?
Adam: Well yeah, but rather than getting her out of town permanently, we’re gonna keep her moving around, you know? To hide her in plain sight. [He grins up at the dojo.] Right?
Toni (standing with Brennan, Shalimar, and Emma on the dojo steps): Right. [She walks down to put her arms around Jesse’s neck.] So you and I can get together for some hot weekends in spas across the country.
Jesse (grinning): Hi.
Toni (giggling): Hi.
Adam (walking up the dojo stairs): Now maybe she can strike that happy balance between creative curiosity and criminal trespass. [Everyone laughs.]
[Kendra stands in Mason’s office, her head bowed under his glare.]
Mason: It speaks ill of a number two to allow an invasion of this facility under her watch.
Kendra (looking up): I completely understand, sir. But I still believe there remains a positive aspect to this whole affair.
Mason: Well, I have to admit your success with the counter version of Proxy Blue is a mitigating factor in this disaster. [He goes to his desk and turns on Proxy Blue.]
Proxy Blue: Why do the most distrustful people make the easiest dupes?
Mason (glancing at Kendra): Is this the real thing or is it ours?
Kendra: The real thing, sir.
Proxy Red: Of course, it all depends on who you distrust. I’m talking to you, Mr. Eckhart. [Startled, Mason looks at Kendra.] Instead of bumping the real Proxy Blue off the air, Adam put me to work cleaning out your system. So sit back and enjoy the show. Cause tomorrow morning, you’re going to have to start everything from scratch. [The lights in Mason’s office suddenly go out, quickly followed by all the lights in the entire building. In the complete darkness, Mason’s voice sounds.] Miss MacEvoy, take your hands off me.
Closing Credits.
Mutant X Episode #108 Transcript: “ In the Presence of Mine Enemies”
[Opening Scene: In Genomex headquarters, Mason Eckhart stands at the window of his office, gazing down at the pods below him. As soon as he turns away from the glass to sit down at his desk, Adam comes into view on the ground floor.]
Adam (whispering into his comlink): Go! [Emma, dressed in silver like a Genomex lab technician, carries a disk along the catwalk. Eyes riveted upon the new mutants in pods below her, she almost bumps into another technician standing in her path. Down on the ground floor, Jesse, dressed as a Genomex guard, works on his tiny computer screen, setting the security cameras on a loop. When he’s done, he whispers into his gloved hand.]
Jesse: Go. [Shalimar, hiding behind a wall across the room, leaps up onto the second floor balcony just outside Mason’s window. She pulls off the cover of the electronic panel on the wall, and leaps back down to the ground.]
Shalimar: Go. [Brennan, dressed in a suit and tie, passes two lab technicians on the ground floor and aims an electrical arc at the panel Shalimar’s just uncovered.]
Brennan (into his comlink): Go. [With the door’s lock thus disabled, Emma walks through the sliding door to the secure area and encounters two guards standing inside. She projects an image into their minds of blindfolds over their eyes until Shalimar and Brennan come up behind them and tap their shoulders. They turn blindly around, and Shalimar and Brennan knock each of them out with a punch. Reunited, the entire Mutant X team enters the secured area. But when Adam approaches the computer panel, an alarm goes off overhead and the doors slam shut behind them, locking them inside.]
Shalimar: What did we do wrong?
Emma: There might have been a failsafe in the security video.
Brennan: Yeah, or we got spotted by the GSA.
Jesse: You know, I still say this is a big waste of time.
Adam: Yeah? Well, the bottom line is, we’ve gotta be better prepared. [Behind him, the Genomex facility melts away to reveal that they’re actually standing in Sanctuary's dojo.] If this had been the real deal, and not just some cyber simulation, we’d be in Eckhart’s hands right now.
Opening Credits. “In the Presence of Mine Enemies”
[Soft music plays inside the empty Data Dive cybercafe as Jesse slow-dances with the cafe’s soon-to-be owner, Toni Quintana. Brennan enters, carrying a pair of pliers.]
Brennan: You know what? I must be crazy, because I thought you guys asked me to come in here and give you a hand. But clearly, I’m the only one doing any work around here. [He snaps his pliers in their faces.] Okay, you guys wanna break it up, or do you want me to come in there and pry you apart, huh?
Toni (laughing): Can’t stand to see other people happy, huh?
Jesse: Oh, have a little pity, honey, the guy’s just jealous.
Brennan: Yeah. No, I didn’t introduce the two of you so that I could sit here all night and watch you stare longingly into each other’s eyes.
Toni: Oh, it’s so sad. [She kisses Jesse. Brennan goes to work on a computer across the room.]
Brennan: You know, I’ve gotta tell ya, Ton. The idea of you giving up cyber-crime and opening up a coffee shop? A little hard to take.
Toni: Well, it’s not a coffee shop. It’s a coffee bar.
Jesse: Yeah, and who says you’re the only one who gets to clean up his act?
Brennan: Yeah, well, you didn’t know Ton back in the day.
Toni: Well, that was then. This is now. [She kisses Jesse again.]
[In Sanctuary, Shalimar is playing poker on the computer with Adam at the same time as he’s playing chess with Emma.]
Shalimar: Seven card stud. Nines wild.
Emma: King’s pawn to queen’s pawn three.
Adam (to Shalimar): I’ll bet five.
Shalimar: Call.
Adam (to Emma): My knight takes your bishop.
Emma: Damn it.
Adam (turning over his virtual cards for Shalimar): And I’ve got four aces and three wild nines.
Shalimar: What?!
Adam (to Emma): And...checkmate. Off. [The computer screen turns off. The girls stare at him in unhappy disbelief.]
Shalimar: How'd you do that?
Adam: It's another example of using your opponents' weaknesses against them.
Emma (laughing): Oh, please.
Shalimar: We've been hearing that since day one.
Adam: No, no. I'm serious. [He points at Shalimar.] In your case, your recklessness leaves you wide open. [He points at Emma.] And you, you play so cautiously I read you like a book. [He starts to walk away, smugly.]
Shalimar: Yeah, well, you know what I think? [Adam turns back to them.]
Emma and Shalimar (nodding to each other, together): He cheats.
[At The Data Dive, Brennan looks up from his work to find Toni and Jesse in one another’s arms again.]
Brennan: You know, uh, one of you love-birds wanna give me a hand here, please? [Looking up, Toni telekinetically inserts a series of plugs into the fuse box Brennan’s working on.]
Brennan: Thanks. Time to go online. [He zaps the computer system with an electrical charge to turn them on, and Proxy Blue appears on the screens, reporting new information she’s received.]
Proxy Blue: We’ve been talking the past few months about sinister men and women chasing mysterious men and women with miraculous abilities through the streets. Well, one of my regulars called in to describe what might be the ringleader in all this. A white-haired guy who seems to pop up in a lot of these stories. [Watching the broadcast in his office, Mason stares at the screen in dismay.]
Mason: Miss MacEvoy!
[Back in Sanctuary, Emma’s leaning over the chessboard when Adam walks up to her.]
Adam: You trying to figure out where you went wrong?
Emma (smiling up at him): I figured a little study of your playbook might give me a leg up next time.
Adam: Understanding your opponent's weaknesses is important for everything in life.
Emma: So what are yours?
Adam (chuckling): None of your damn business.
Emma: So, did you catch that thing about Eckhart on Proxy Blue?
Adam (coming around the table): Mm-hmm.
Emma: You think that’s gonna cause us any trouble?
Adam: I don’t see how, though it must be driving Eckhart up the wall. [Reaching down, he moves one of the chess pieces and looks at her.]
Emma: Yeah. Checkmate.
Adam (nodding): Checkmate. [He walks off. Emma sighs, shaking her head.]
[Pacing in front of the window of his office, Mason is discussing his concerns with the severely dressed and coiffed GS agent Kendra MacEvoy.]
Mason: As long as Proxy Blue was nothing more than a whining voice for the paranoid lunatic fringe, it remained nothing more than an annoyance. But to hear myself described in such detail...
Kendra: I completely understand, sir.
Mason: We all know how difficult it is to do our jobs and still remain invisible to society’s radar. Leaks are inevitable, but...this story just won’t go away.
Kendra: It’s already been picked up by one of the electronic gossip boards. And it gets worse. [She turns on the television screen embedded in Mason’s wall, where Proxy Blue is showing a video of three GS agents.]
Proxy Blue: These bruisers look like Feds, armed with some pretty exotic hardware. They show up in black vans, do their jobs, and disappear. Sometimes, innocent bystanders disappear with them. And the guy in charge? Looks something like this. [A rough sketch of Mason appears on the screen next to her. Sighing heavily, Mason sinks into his chair, takes off his glasses, and massages his forehead.] So when they come to you in the middle of the night, don’t forget you heard it here first.
Mason: Oh, dear. Well, I hold myself responsible for allowing this to reach crisis proportions. [He dons his glasses.] But unless we find a way to take over or control Proxy Blue, this...cartoon could destroy everything.
Kendra: I might be able to help you solve your problem, sir. [Mason looks up at her, hopefully.]
[Shalimar and Jesse are on Sanctuary's second floor, clearing the dining table after a Japanese take-out dinner.]
Shalimar: So when do the rest of us get to meet her?
Jesse: Soon. She’s opening The Data Dive this weekend; I guess you’ll all be invited.
Shalimar (cautiously): Brennan introduced you two?
Jesse: You know, I know where you're going with this. I know all about Toni’s past, but I also know that she left it behind her.
Shalimar: Just don't want you getting into something that could hurt you down the road.
Jesse: You know, coming from anybody else, I'd resent that. But coming from you? I love it. [He grins and kisses her cheek.]
Shalimar (touching her forehead to his): Yeah, well, I’m keeping my eye on you. [Behind them, Jesse’s computer beeps.]
Jesse (piling his dishes into Shalimar’s arms): Ooo! That’s Toni! I’ll take care of these later.
Shalimar: Yeah... [She laughs as he rushes to his computer to pull up Toni's video link.]
Toni: Hey, Jesse, what’s up?
Jesse: Everybody’s just hanging out. Brennan's reading, Shalimar's cleaning up, and Emma’s...Emma's playing chess by herself and still getting her ass kicked.
Emma (from downstairs): I heard that!
Jesse: Ha-ha. And me? I’m just having the time of my life sitting here staring at you.
Toni: Aw. You do know how to sweet-talk a girl. And speaking of staring, I just got those shots I told you about. You interested in seeing some pictures of me in some really sexy lingerie?
Jesse (grinning): Let me think about that.
Toni: Only one of the reasons I am crazy about you: You’re never at a loss for words. [She puts a disk into her disk drive.] Speaking of chess, this is what the well-dressed red queen is wearing. What do you think?
Jesse (dreamily): Sweet.
Toni: It just takes a second to download.
[Mason’s looking out of his office his window while Kendra details her area of expertise.]
Kendra: It's called social engineering, Mr. Eckhart. The process by which, with a few simple cues, one manipulates a mark.
Mason (turning): The way a con man ingratiates himself with a victim?
Kendra: Grifters have been using this technique for years. Political candidates too.
Mason: Multimillionaire plutocrat passes himself off as a good old boy.
Kendra: Regardless of what the product is, social engineering is just a matter of selling a client what they think they already want.
Mason: I propose we attack the problem in two ways. I want Proxy Blue destroyed, and I want to seamlessly replace her with our own identical version.
Kendra: To tell our version of the truth.
Mason: Exactly. Can you do it?
Kendra (leaning across the desk): I guarantee it.
[Jesse’s at the Data Dive's bar, fixing Toni a mug of coffee.]
Toni (leaning on the bar): You know that Red Queen outfit?
Jesse: Mm-hmm.
Toni: The one in the picture we downloaded? Well, I’m wearing the matching thong.
Jesse (bringing her the coffee): Talk about knowing my weaknesses. [Brennan walks up behind them as they’re kissing, and sticks out his tongue.]
Brennan: Bleagh. You know, I really don’t need to hear this. This better be good. [Sitting next to Toni, he steals her coffee.] Oh, hey, thanks.
Toni: Come on, Bren, don’t make such a big deal out of this.
Jesse: Yeah. Toni was just so grateful you introduced us, she wanted to find some way to pay you back.
Brennan: Do I look like the kind of guy that needs to be set up?
Jesse: Do I? I mean, you set us up.
Toni: It’s not about needing anything. It’s about wanting your friends to like your other friends.
Brennan: Okay, well, you know, I’ve gotta be honest with you. I’ve never been set up on a blind date in my entire life.
Kendra (walking in): You’re not the only one. [Wearing her hair down, flattering makeup, and a black leather outfit, Kendra looks completely different. She smiles at Brennan, shaking his hand.] That’s why I wasn’t so keen on meeting you either.
Toni: Kendra MacEvoy, this is Jesse Kilmartin and Brennan Mulwray.
Kendra: Nice to meet you.
Brennan (standing up): Nice to meet you. [He raises his eyebrows at Jesse, impressed.]
Kendra (looking around the room): Geez. When are you gonna quit playing around in cyberspace there, Toni, and get yourself a real job?
Toni: Don’t let her fool you, Bren. Kendra knows her way around a touch pad.
Brennan: Oh, is that so?
Kendra: I met Toni working at an ad agency.
Jesse: I didn’t know you were in advertising.
Brennan: Wai-wait. Let me guess. What, did you hack into the phone system?
Toni: I used their phone for a couple long-distance calls.
Kendra: Oh yeah, about 50 grand worth.
Toni: Kendra tracked me down, but instead of busting me, they made me a consultant. So I went straight by showing them how to make their system uncrackable.
Brennan: You know what? I remember that. Yeah, the minute that we heard you had a civilian gig, we thought you were gonna rat us all out.
Toni: Oh yeah, like I’m a rat.
Jesse: Hm, more like a pussy cat.
Toni: Aw. See? At least somebody understands me. [She kisses him.]
Brennan: Oh, gag. [Getting up, he takes Kendra’s arm.] Come on, let me show you around.
Kendra (looking back at Toni and Jesse): Are they always like that?
Brennan: Yeah. If I thought I could make any money, I’d sell tickets. Hey, wait a minute, you’re in advertising!
Kendra (smiling): Oh, no. I’ve used my new mutant abilities to get a much better job. [Brennan ducks just in time to avoid her arm as she aims a crushing super-strength blow at his head. Three armed GS agents run through the door to stand behind Kendra.] The girl and the computers are not to be harmed! [Jesse rolls over the bar to mass in front of Toni as a GS agent rushes over to grab her. With Brennan busy fighting a GS agent of his own, Kendra easily lifts Jesse over her head and hurls him across the room. Toni struggles ineffectually against the two GS agents who carry her out of the room, followed by Kendra.]
Jesse: Toni! [He picks himself up and races towards the door, but Brennan grabs him.]
Brennan: Hey, hey, come here, come here! Where the hell do you think you’re going?
Jesse (fighting to get away from him): They got Toni!
Brennan: Hey, hey! Listen to me! Maybe they got her, and maybe she set us up, all right? Either way, you’re not going anywhere until we figure it out, all right? Stay here! Listen to me, Jesse.
****Commercial Break****
[Back at Sanctuary, Jesse walks with Adam towards the main room.]
Jesse: Okay, so what’s the plan?
Adam: What plan?
Jesse: The plan. The plan to save Toni.
Adam: Well, right now, I don’t see that happening.
Jesse: What?!
Adam: No, there’s too many unknowns in the equation. I mean, first of all, we don’t know where she really stood.
Jesse: Where she stood? You know what, I think I’ll tell you where she stood! [He jumps in front of Adam.] She did not set us up!
Adam: What, you know that?
Jesse: Yes, I know that.
Adam: No, you don’t know that; you feel that. You said yourself that she introduced Kendra to you as her friend. And second, even if she was imprisoned against her will, how do we know that Eckhart hasn’t managed to suborn her?
Jesse: Suborn her?
Adam: Suborn, Jesse. She may be lost to us.
Emma (coming downstairs to join them): Hey, you guys! I can’t say for sure, but it looks like we might have a serious problem. [With one last look at Jesse, Adam goes to her. Shaking his head in frustration, Jesse follows them.]
[Strapped into the metal interrogation chair, Toni watches Kendra take out a subdermal governor implant device. Holding it behind her back, Kendra walks up behind Toni and roughly pushes her head down.]
Toni: Hey! [Kendra inserts the subdermal governor in her neck.] Ow! What the hell was that?
Kendra (coming around to face her): A subdermal governor. To keep you in line.
Toni: I thought you were my friend, Kendra.
Kendra (blinking innocently): I am your friend, Toni.
Toni: Friends don’t kidnap friends.
Kendra: Oh, it’s just a little social engineering.
Toni: Call it whatever you want. Pretending to be something you’re not is lying in my book.
Mason (walking in): The truth is, Miss MacEvoy saved you from making the biggest mistake of your life. Separating you from those outlaws was a favor you can never repay.
Toni: Mason Eckhart. I’ve heard all about you.
Mason: Yes, and I’ve heard all about you. Miss MacEvoy tells me you’re the best computer cracker she’s ever met.
Toni: I don’t flatter easily.
Kendra: Oh, if anyone can crack Proxy Blue, Toni can, sir.
Mason: Get her set up in the technical analysis section. If she’s as good as you say she is, I expect results and fast. [He walks out. Toni shakes her head at Kendra.]
[Standing in front of the main computer’s holographic screen, Adam shows Emma and Jesse the problem.]
Adam: It’s a file transfer protocol. A tools application that somehow got inside our system.
Jesse: How’d it get in there?
Emma: Well, it looks like someone slipped it in under a picture file.
Jesse (slowly): Toni...sent me a picture file.
Adam: Well, then I’d have to say that Toni is trying to crack us. Didn’t you say she used to be a cyber outlaw?
Jesse: Yeah, but she went straight a long time ago.
Adam: Then what’s she doing trying to get inside our computers?
Emma: Well, I thought you said that we can’t be cracked.
Adam: Well, yeah, we have molecular nanoelectronics and yes, we’re ten years ahead of the curve, but--
Jesse (interrupting him): So we’re fine, then.
Adam: If she’s half as good as you say she is, I won’t know for sure until I run a complete diagnostic. [Brushing past Jesse, he leaves the room. Emma exchanges looks with Jesse, then leaves.]
[Back at Genomex, Mason and the softer side of Kendra walk down the hallway past the mutants in stasis pods.]
Kendra: I want to apologize for blowing the chance to bring Mulwray and Kilmartin into custody.
Mason: Their presence there was a complete surprise. I’m just grateful you were able to grab Quintana. You know, I have to say, Miss MacEvoy, I find this new look of yours a nice change from...
Kendra: My former presentation?
Mason: If I were to offer an opinion, I’d suggest it’s a big improvement.
Kendra: Actually, sir, this is my real look. [He stops, surprised.] I was afraid you wouldn’t take me seriously if I showed up looking like this, so I transformed myself to convey the idea of no-nonsense seriousness.
Mason: While I had you undercover infiltrating Miss Quintana's world, you were socially engineering me?
Kendra: I guess you could say that.
Mason: I knew we'd work together beautifully. [She smiles, and he walks off.]
[Emma’s walking down the hallway towards the main room when Brennan catches up to her.]
Brennan: Emma! So, what’s going on?
Emma: Adam’s doing a complete scan of the entire system.
Brennan: And?
Emma: And he’s pretty sure everything’s gonna be okay.
Brennan: Okay.
Emma (smiling): But, you never know.
Brennan: Yeah, tell me about it. Toni had me completely convinced that she was an upstanding citizen now. When really, she was just using Jesse to get into our system.
Emma: Maybe. Maybe not.
Brennan: What’s that supposed to mean? She slipped a mapping application into the system via some hot pictures. Sounds kinda sneaky and underhanded to me.
Emma: Yeah, but if all she wanted to do was crack us, why would she go through the whole thing of you introducing her to Jesse?
Brennan (considering): Yeah, I guess you’ve got a point. She could have just sent me the email.
Emma: Yeah.
Brennan: Well, that still doesn’t let her off the hook. The fact remains, she invaded the system, period.
Emma: Yeah, but you can’t just go ahead and assume that-
Brennan (interrupting her): What, are you defending her, now? Come on, I know Toni. We’re both felons, remember?
Emma: I understand. I just wonder what this is doing to Jesse. [She walks away.]
[Shalimar enters Sanctuary's lab to find Adam’s working on the computer.]
Adam: It’s exactly what I was afraid of. Toni’s application has invaded our entire computer system.
Shalimar: Well, it’s not a huge deal, right? We do a full diagnostic, scan everything? Clean the system?
Adam: It’s already underway.
Shalimar (sitting on the desk): So why do you look like your dog just died?
Adam: Well, the application can’t crack our system, but it’ll act like a homing beacon. If the GSA gets their hands on the matching software in the coffee house, they can use satellite technology to pinpoint our exact location.
Shalimar: So they could be here in a matter of minutes.
Adam: And destroy everything we’ve created.
Shalimar (getting up): Well, since they’re not here already, I think we have to assume that Jesse was right about Toni. And she’s just an innocent victim in all this.
Adam: Yeah, with the guts not to save herself by telling the GSA about the application, at least not yet.
Shalimar: Not to say the GSA won’t find it soon enough on their own.
Adam (getting up): Yeah. We’ve got to get our hands on that software before they do.
[Returning to the Data Dive with one of her GS agents, Ledeker, Kendra gives him his orders.]
Kendra: I’ve brought you here to do a complete and thorough inventory of every piece of technology in this place. I want you to examine and catalog every machine, hard drive, software, scanner, and outport device. I want every file downloaded, checked, and double checked.
Ledeker: I’m not sure I understand, Miss MacEvoy. The GSA’s got the most advanced computer systems money can buy. Why bother with all this junk?
Kendra: Money can buy an awful lot, but it can’t buy a cracker’s instinctual grasp on cyberspace. There may be a lot of secrets buried amongst this “junk” that might save us decades of development.
Ledeker: But I could be here for days!
Kendra: And what’s your point, exactly?
[Jesse’s pacing the second floor balcony in Sanctuary when he hears his computer beeping behind him. He rushes over to accept the incoming call.]
Toni (in the computer lab at Genomex): So how come you never told me how much subdermal governors itch?
Jesse: Toni?!
Toni: Got any other girlfriends being held prisoner by the GSA?
Jesse: Why did you do this?
Toni: Oh, come on. Do you really have to ask? I’m a cracker for God’s sake.
Jesse: Adam is pissed.
Toni: So someone found the file transfer protocol, huh?
Jesse: Yep.
Toni (glancing over her shoulder): Well, I figured I’d be in and out before anybody noticed, and then I got busted by these creeps.
Jesse: What in the hell were you thinking?
Toni: Oh, Jesse, it’s like I said. You know, I’m a cracker. It’s like...it’s like Everest. You do it because it’s there.
Jesse: How did you get to a computer in Genomex?
Toni: Well, they’re having me work on a way to take over Proxy Blue. Eckhart’s so pissed off he’s having me create a facsimile to sell the GSA party line. And that’s why Kendra pretended to be my friend, so she could drag me in here to work for these creeps.
Jesse: Adam says we’ve gotta get our hands on the other end of the mapping software before they do, or else Eckhart will be able to pinpoint our location, and we’re toast.
Toni (nodding): Kendra’s over at The Data Dive, starting an inventory.
Jesse: So unless it got fried when Brennan hit the system, they’re gonna find it soon.
Toni: I’m really sorry, Jesse. Look, it’s in a red microdrive. [She hears Kendra approaching the door.] Look, I’ve gotta go. I’ve got company. [She cuts off the connection.]
Jesse: Adam!
Kendra (pacing impatiently behind Toni): You know, I don’t have to tell you the kind of pressure I’m under to deliver here.
Toni: Am I crazy, or are you trying to get me to sympathize with you?
Kendra (rolling her eyes): Well, if I thought it would work...
Toni: Forget it, Kendra. You played me like a violin, and I’m done.
Kendra: All right, you know what? Forget about me, and think about your own skin!
Toni: Yeah, I’m working as fast as I can.
Kendra: Oh, Toni. I read you like a book, and I know what you’re capable of. Think about this as a career opportunity! For both of us.
Toni (looking back at her): You really mean that, don’t you?
Kendra: Absolutely!
Toni: Well, these machines of yours are state-of-the-art, if all I wanted to do was crack supermarket product codes. Look, I need my machines, my database, my tools. What do you say you bring me over to the Data Dive?
Kendra: I’ll see what I can do. [She leaves.]
[Adam’s working at Sanctuary's lab computer when Jesse comes to tell him about Toni’s message.]
Adam: So Toni’s okay?
Jesse: Well, yeah, she seems fine, but we’ve gotta get her outta there!
Adam: Well, right now, we’ve gotta focus on retrieving the microdrive. Assuming that it’s still intact.
Jesse: Look, there’s a 50-50 chance that Brennan’s already fried it. We could be talking about a wild goose chase here for nothing.
Adam (facing him): Yeah, we could also be talking about the other 50, the scenario that he didn’t fry it, and our goose is cooked.
[Brennan and Shalimar arrive at The Data Dive that night.]
Shalimar: Emma’s afraid Jesse's not going to forgive himself for getting us into this.
Brennan (chuckling): That's such a girl thing. C'mon, guys don't walk around beating themselves up about stuff like that. He'll be over it before you know it.
Shalimar: What a load of macho crap!
Brennan: It's not macho crap. That's why girls like soap operas and guys like boxing.
Shalimar: Oh, please!
Brennan: Oh, c'mon. A soap opera takes a year to tell 15 minutes of drama, and in the ring it's over in 15 seconds.
Shalimar: I hope that's not your philosophy for everything. [He laughs. Brennan calls Sanctuary over his comlink as they stand outside the inner doors.]
Brennan: Hey, Adam. Looks like everyone went home for the night.
Shalimar: Brennan’s right. I don’t hear anybody inside.
Adam: All right, then it’s a simple matter. You go in, grab the microdrive, and get outta there. [Brennan and Shalimar grin at each other and knock the door down. They're amazed to see that the entire room has been cleared out.]
Brennan: Adam, everything’s gone.
Shalimar: The only thing left is an espresso maker.
Adam (sighing): Then they’ve taken everything over to Genomex for an inventory, and the GSA is one step closer to finding our Sanctuary.
*****Commercial Break*****
[Adam leads Brennan and Shalimar into Sanctuary's lab.]
Adam: All right, Brennan, right now there are two possibilities. Either you accidentally fried the mapping software in the first place...
Brennan: Or the GSA has it, and they don’t know they have it.
Adam: Exactly.
Shalimar: Great, so we’re right back where we started. Only now we have to break into the GSA to get the software and rescue Toni.
Brennan (smugly): Well, it’s a good thing I’ve got a little experience with breaking in.
Adam: Yeah, but after our failures with the virtual break-ins, we have to totally rethink our strategy.
Shalimar: Yeah, really. If there’s one thing we learned from that damned exercise, it’s that just barging in isn’t gonna work.
Adam: Plus, we've gotta make sure that Eckhart doesn’t know we’re after the microdrive in case we get in there and we can’t find it.
Brennan: Man, you know? I knew I shouldn’t have introduced Jesse to Toni.
[Back in the computer lab at Genomex, Kendra tosses the last of The Data Dive disks onto the table behind Toni.]
Kendra: Now that we’ve got all your stuff here, could we pick it up a little?
Toni: I just kind of figured you’d bring me to The Data Dive, instead of bringing The Data Dive here.
Kendra: Get real. I bent over backwards to make sure that all of your machines were here... [She hears Mason enter the room behind her, and her tone changes immediately.] And I expect results!
Mason (coming in): I couldn’t have put it better myself, Miss MacEvoy. The media seem to be unwilling to let this story die. Everywhere I turn, I hear about super-powered freaks pursued by brutish thugs led by a white-haired gentleman who looks like me. It’s all hitting a little too close to home.
Toni: Maybe it’s time to go public and cut your losses. [Kendra and Mason glare at her.] Or maybe not.
Kendra (turning back to Mason): We’re making serious progress here, Mr. Eckhart.
Mason: And I am quite serious. [He leans close to her ear.] I expect to see a concrete example of the new version of Proxy Blue by tomorrow at the very latest.
Kendra (closing her eyes): We’ll be ready. [He leaves.]
Toni: If you really think I’ll be ready by tomorrow, you’re dreaming.
Kendra: And if you think that you’re gonna be alive the day after tomorrow...oh, unless you give me something...your nightmare has just begun. [She stalks out. Toni suddenly notices the red microdrive lying on the table in front of her. Just as she’s about to reach out for it, Ledeker comes up and grabs a bunch of disks...not the red one.]
Ledeker: I wouldn’t waste my time watching me if I were you. [Sighing in relief, Toni turns back to her computer.]
[Putting on his coat, Adam hurries out of the lab with Jesse.]
Adam (sighing): I don’t know. Maybe while she’s Eckhart’s prisoner we should have her crack the Genomex computer system. You know, have her cause them as much aggravation as she’s caused us.
Jesse: You know, it is a thought. Eckhart’s got her working on cracking Proxy Blue’s firewall so they can create their own version. [Adam stops, thinking.]
[Inside Genomex headquarters, Emma, dressed as a lab technician, is walking down the catwalk carrying her disk.]
Emma: I just passed checkpoint five, Adam, halfway across the upper catwalk. What does the situation look like from your end?
Adam: I’m getting an all-clear reading on the lower catwalk. Security’s on yellow. Alert status, zero, with no GS agents or security officers between you and the tech lab.
Emma: I’m on my way. Jesse? I’ve got the all-clear from Adam. [Dressed as a guard on the balcony, Jesse sets up the security camera loop.]
Jesse: Take position, Emma.
Emma: We’re all ready to move on your signal.
Jesse: Go. [Adam and Emma walk through the sliding doors to the secure area; Emma psionically blinds the guards.]
Adam: Shalimar. [Shalimar comes up behind the blinded guards and punches them out. This time, Adam gets further into the secure area before the alarm goes off overhead once again and the glass doors lock him and Emma inside.]
Emma: What did we do wrong this time?
Adam (shaking his head, taking off his virtual glasses): I don’t know. [The Genomex illusion behind them fades away, revealing the dojo.] You know, any number of things: motion detectors I wasn’t aware of, hidden cameras...all I know is, we’d better come up with a better game plan or else Toni’s doomed and we’re finished.
*******Commercial Break*******
[At her computer in the Genomex lab, Toni sees that Ledeker’s attention is distracted by his work. Getting up, Toni starts to pick up the red disk from the table when Mason and Kendra walk in, forcing her to hastily drop it.]
Kendra: What are you doing?
Toni: Oh! I was...I was just...stretching my legs.
Mason: We seem to make Miss Quintana nervous.
Kendra: What have you got to show us, Toni?
Toni: You know, I...still need a little more time.
Mason (walking up to her, smiling): You could have a beautiful future working for us here. Or that future could be short, swift, and brutally final. It’s up to you. [They walk out. Toni looks back at the table, but Ledeker gets up, grabs the red disk, and goes back to his station.]
[In Sanctuary, Jesse and Emma walk down the dojo steps, arguing.]
Jesse: We’re still playing virtual games here while Toni is in serious trouble!
Emma: We’re all frustrated, Jesse, but that doesn’t mean we can just go in there with our eyes closed!
Jesse (yelling over her): Toni is not a hero! We have to go in there and get her out!
Emma: Yes, but like Adam says, now that we know going in all soft and sneaky without being ready to kick serious ass isn’t the answer either!
Jesse: Adam!
Adam: Hey, hey, hey! Hold on, you two. Now, what we’ve got to do is, we’ve gotta find a whole new way of thinking about how to invade Eckhart’s world. You know, Emma, like with your caution at the chess board, or Shalimar’s recklessness playing poker, what we are talking about is using the GSA's vulnerability against them. Now their greatest weakness is Eckhart's bullying assumption that might makes right, when in fact, might, in their case, means arrogance, overconfidence, and smugness. So, we’re gonna use their weakness as our secret weapon.
[In Mason’s office, Kendra is demonstrating Toni’s new version of Proxy Blue for Mason on his wall monitor.]
Kendra: This is Proxy Blue’s take on our roundup last week.
Proxy Blue: Remember when you thought justice, freedom and due process were real? The family of five that disappeared from their home last week must have learned those ideals were just illusions.
Kendra: And this is ours. [She presses a button, and the background behind Proxy Blue shifts from blue to red.]
Proxy Red: We’ve all been left in the lurch at one point or another. But those people who took off last week definitely had something to hide.
Kendra: Same story, with an entirely different spin.
Mason: I love the fact that it subtly blames the victim.
Kendra: I thought you might like that, sir.
Mason (going behind his desk): And while the original encourages skepticism, ours raises doubts about the meaning of reality itself.
Toni (leaning against the door): Just another kind of social engineering.
Mason: Nicely done, Miss MacEvoy. And we owe all this to Miss Quintana here.
Kendra: Absolutely, Mr. Eckhart. I told you she was a genius. [Toni glares at her.]
[When Adam steps out of one of Sanctuary’s rooms into the hallway, Jesse comes up to him.]
Jesse: Adam. I owe you an apology.
Adam: For what?
Jesse: Well, I’ve been acting like Toni is a victim in all this. But I have to face the fact that she’s the one who got us into all this hot water in the first place.
Adam: Right, well, and I have to say that I regret that we didn’t rescue her sooner. You know, right after she was incarcerated, dealt with the other problems later.
Jesse: Thank you.
Adam: But...you know, she owes us an apology too, for trying to crack our system.
Shalimar (sticking her head around the corner): Hey, Adam. We’ve got a really weird Proxy Blue thing over here. [Adam and Jesse follow her into the main room. Sitting at his desk at Genomex, Mason is also watching Proxy Red.]
Proxy Red: So the truth is out. And I’m not angry. I’m just hurt. The loser who called in the story on this white-haired mastermind turns out to be a hopeless dope fiend.
Kendra (watching over his shoulder): Just the right tone.
Proxy Red: Who really owns your thoughts? Your feelings? Your ideas? Reality is yours to make, so make it right. It’s always...
Kendra (talking over her): A little snide, a bit snarky, but with our spin on reality.
Mason: So, now we have our perfect replacement. When is this little genius of yours going to find the real thing so we can put an end to this problem once and for all?
Kendra: We’ll get to that eventually.
Mason: Eventually?
Kendra: I’ll have Toni work on it until we find the real Proxy Blue website. But meanwhile, we don’t have to wait. Toni’s programmed our version of Proxy Blue to function as a virus.
Proxy Blue: Who really owns your thoughts? Your feelings? Your ideas? Reality is yours to make, so make it right.
Kendra: Our version hunts down the real one, eats it, and then replaces it with itself.
Proxy Red (superimposing herself on Proxy Blue): It’s always seemed to me, the best way to get ahead is to know your opponents' weaknesses.
Kendra: So, even if they turn on the real thing, they end up getting our version of the story. And that’s how you get the masses to buy the truth as we see it. [Mason and Kendra smile at each other.]
[At Sanctuary, Shalimar, Jesse, and Adam are watching Proxy Red on the main computer’s flat screen.]
Proxy Red: It’s always seemed to me, the best way to get ahead is to know your opponents' weaknesses. And the only way to take the Red Queen is to move against Black Queen’s 10.
Adam: Now, would you play it again, please? [Shalimar replays the message.]
Proxy Red: It’s always seemed to me, the best way to get ahead is to know your opponents' weaknesses.
Shalimar: Where have I heard that before?
Proxy Red: And the only way to take the Red Queen is to move against Black Queen’s 10.
Jesse: You know, Toni calls herself my Red Queen. And Kendra was dressed in black that night.
Shalimar: Okay, but there are only eight squares across a chess board, so what does Black Queen’s 10 mean?
Adam: Black Queen’s 10, Black Queen’s 10...well, the security forces at Genomex change shifts every day at 10 o'clock. Maybe she’s trying to tell us that’s the best time to make our move.
Jesse: In other words, Toni’s using the fake Proxy Blue that she created for Eckhart to send us a message.
Shalimar: Yeah, or maybe Eckhart’s leading us all into a trap.
Adam (nodding): Well, there’s always the possibility of walking into a trap. But it’s not like we have a lot of choice in the matter. No, we're going into Genomex because whatever the danger that awaits us there, the greater danger is the risk of compromising our Sanctuary's location. And that's something we must never allow to happen.
******Commercial Break*******
[Entering Genomex headquarters, Adam calls his team over his comlink.]
Adam: Black Queen’s 10. You know what to do. [Emma, dressed as a lab technician, walks down the catwalk with her disk; Adam and Shalimar run up the back stairs; Jesse’s on the balcony in his guard’s disguise. As soon as he sees Mason turn away from the window in his office, Adam alerts Shalimar.] Go! [Shalimar leaps up onto the balcony, opens the electronic panel, and jumps back down to the ground.]
Shalimar: Go! [Brennan, in his suit and tie, enters the room and zaps the panel.]
Brennan: Go. [Upstairs, Jesse opens his mini-computer and loops the security video cameras.]
Jesse: Go.
Brennan (spotting Kendra walking down the hallway): Kendra! You know, you ran off so quickly last night, we didn’t even get a chance for a goodbye kiss. [Kendra angrily draws back her arm to hit him, but Brennan aims an electrical arc at her, throwing her body across the room.] Unfortunately, I don't think there's gonna be a second date.
[In the computer lab, Ledeker’s eyes widen when he comes upon the software pointing to Sanctuary’s location.]
Ledeker: Oh my God. Miss MacEvoy, I found something! [Shooting out of her chair, Toni tackles him to the ground to prevent him from reaching the door.]
[Adam and Emma enter the protected area. Emma blinds the guards and Shalimar punches them out. Jesse rushes into the computer lab to find Ledeker choking Toni. Jesse punches him, then throws him against an unprotected electrical panel, electrocuting him. Adam helps Toni to her feet, then waves Jesse over.]
Adam: Here, Jess. [Jesse comes over to give Toni a big bear hug.]
Toni (happily): You know how to make one hell an entrance. You got my message, huh?
Jesse: Yeah. [She kisses him.]
Adam (at the computer): Jesse!
Jesse: Yeah.
Adam: Grab the microdrive. I’m gonna send Eckhart a little message of my own.
[Back at Sanctuary, Adam and Jesse walk into the main room.]
Jesse: Well, I’ve checked out the system, and Toni has made sure that what she pulled won’t ever happen again.
Adam: Good. And now that I know how skilled she is, I’ve asked her to do security clearance for every safehouse across the country.
Jesse: You’re putting her into the underground?
Adam: Well yeah, but rather than getting her out of town permanently, we’re gonna keep her moving around, you know? To hide her in plain sight. [He grins up at the dojo.] Right?
Toni (standing with Brennan, Shalimar, and Emma on the dojo steps): Right. [She walks down to put her arms around Jesse’s neck.] So you and I can get together for some hot weekends in spas across the country.
Jesse (grinning): Hi.
Toni (giggling): Hi.
Adam (walking up the dojo stairs): Now maybe she can strike that happy balance between creative curiosity and criminal trespass. [Everyone laughs.]
[Kendra stands in Mason’s office, her head bowed under his glare.]
Mason: It speaks ill of a number two to allow an invasion of this facility under her watch.
Kendra (looking up): I completely understand, sir. But I still believe there remains a positive aspect to this whole affair.
Mason: Well, I have to admit your success with the counter version of Proxy Blue is a mitigating factor in this disaster. [He goes to his desk and turns on Proxy Blue.]
Proxy Blue: Why do the most distrustful people make the easiest dupes?
Mason (glancing at Kendra): Is this the real thing or is it ours?
Kendra: The real thing, sir.
Proxy Red: Of course, it all depends on who you distrust. I’m talking to you, Mr. Eckhart. [Startled, Mason looks at Kendra.] Instead of bumping the real Proxy Blue off the air, Adam put me to work cleaning out your system. So sit back and enjoy the show. Cause tomorrow morning, you’re going to have to start everything from scratch. [The lights in Mason’s office suddenly go out, quickly followed by all the lights in the entire building. In the complete darkness, Mason’s voice sounds.] Miss MacEvoy, take your hands off me.
Closing Credits.