Numb3rs (2005–2010): Season 4, Episode 7 - Primacy - full transcript
Amita's life is put in danger when she consults on a case involving an on-line role-playing game.
♪ I'm coming up on infra-red ♪
♪ There is no running
that can hide you ♪
♪ 'Cause I can see in the dark ♪
♪ I'm coming up on infra-red ♪
♪ Forget your running,
I will find you now ♪
♪ Find you... ♪
(instrumental)
(distorted singing)
♪ So I came down to crash
and burn your beggars banquet ♪
♪ Someone call the ambulance ♪
♪ There's gonna be an accident ♪
(device ringing)
♪ I'm coming up on infra-red ♪
♪ Forget your running,
I will find you now ♪
(sirens blaring) ♪
I will find you... ♪
(garbled radio transmission)
I got a 35-year-old white male.
Pushed or jumped off the
south side of this building
90 minutes ago.
Dead on impact.
Any witnesses?
No, but they ID'd him.
He's the Assistant US
Attorney Peter Weyburn
from the Tenth
Circuit in Kansas.
Yeah, that's a long way
to come to commit suicide.
I'd say, for an
unmarried civil servant
in the tax department,
perfectly clean record.
His family, his
office has no idea
what he was doing in California.
Let's see if we can find
out why he was here,
and if anyone had any grudges...
Where's Liz? I thought
she was filling in for David.
Yeah, in-service training.
CHARLIE: Listen, I
can't talk right now.
I'll call you back.
Hi.
My publicist wants me to
do interviews, you know?
Mm-hmm.
And I told her, I said,
I can't start the book
tour till next week.
Uh, that's because
The Attraction
Equation is blowing up.
I checked. It's on the
top 100 on Amazon.
It made the top 100?
Can I leave this stuff here,
because, um, I-I don't
want to take it to my class,
and I'm running really late.
What do you mean, you don't
want your students wondering
why you bring fancy
underwear to work?
No. Thank you.
I would prefer they stay focused
on the combinatorial
matrix theory.
Um, your dad is going
to be gone tonight, right?
Mm-hmm. So we have
the house to ourselves?
I've been thinking.
Why don't you move
in with me already?
You mean, with-with
the both of you?
Well, my father won't mind.
We can work that out.
Is it something
you'd want to do?
Yeah, um, it just...
You know, Charlie, this is
not just a romantic question.
I mean, this is something
we need to talk about
when our heads are
clear, and we're calm,
and I-I'm not calm right
now, because I'm running
really, really, really, really,
really late to class. Okay.
All right. Hey. Hi.
Welcome back.
So, I'll see you at lunch?
Bye. Bye. Bye.
Bye. Hey.
Charles, you look like
someone stole your chalk.
Welcome back. Well, look,
I agreed to teach
one seminar this term.
You're moving out
of the monastery.
Yeah.
One stride at a time.
Come on.
More conscious walking?
You know, a visiting
Vietnamese monk,
he led us on a conscious walk.
It took us three hours
just to cross the garden.
Three hours?
Well, I mean, deliberating
upon each single step,
it slows the metabolism,
deepens the focus.
It's more mundanely, it helps
you sidestep dog excrement.
Ha! It's a most worthy exercise.
Sometimes I think you're
better off taking the leap.
Oh, how I've
dreaded this moment.
Okay. Here it is,
just like you left it.
Okay. Oh.
Oh. Oh, my.
I-I cannot take one more step.
Well, what's the matter?
I'm overwhelmed.
I'm literally overwhelmed.
Oh, the memories?
For five months,
I've needed nothing
that I couldn't
carry on my back.
This... this is obscene.
Who is this person that
belongs to this mess?
Uh, uh...
COLBY: Don, I got something.
What have you got?
Well, looks like a
bunch of kids stuff.
I'm guessing someone who
lives in the building put it up here.
Well, log it in
anyway, you know?
I'm within my right, according
to California Statutes...
Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Hold-hold on there.
What-what's going on?
MEGAN: This is Anthony Braxton.
He was sneaking up here
from the next building over.
Sneaking is not accurate.
I'm in pursuit of the
Primal Key. What?
BRAXTON: You
found the GPS-cache.
Do you know if
Weyburn got to it?
Wait. You know who
Weyburn is? Yes.
He's the head of our
alliance. What alliance?
The Midwestern Ax-Butchers.
Primacy.
The MMO?
It's a PVP RPG
with an integrated
ARG in its last 72 hours.
What are you talking,
like video game stuff?
Yeah, a video game.
We're competing
in an ARG endgame
for a million-dollar
prize. Ho-ho-hold on.
What? Get off of me, man!
Where's Peter?
Mr. Weyburn's dead.
What?
Wait. Is-is this real?
You mean, you mean dead,
like his physical body is...
Yeah, like in real life.
Whoa.
I've never seen an
actual dead person before.
I've, I've killed
thousands online, but...
So, you didn't like
the idea of splitting
the prize money with
him, is that it, Anthony?
What? Where were you
for the last two hours?
BRAXTON: I'm on his
team. I wouldn't do anything...
Anthony, what is
this? (device trilling)
That's just my handheld
electronic reader.
Aim it around. (trilling)
Aim it at the
bottom right corner
of that graphic
across the street.
DON: Whoa. What is this?
Alternate reality.
(indistinct conversation)
MEGAN: Charlie, I am, like,
halfway through your book,
and your stuff on relationships
is just great. Thanks.
Amita, thanks so much
for coming down. Sure.
Well, just eyeballing
it, I can tell you
that unless this guy got a
running start, he was pushed.
Who was he?
Uh, the Assistant
US District Attorney
Peter Weyburn, he's from Kansas,
and we'd really like to
rule out a suicide if possible.
Well, we'll take
a look at it. Okay.
Uh, he was here
playing some kind
of an alternate reality game.
It's called Privacy?
Primacy?
You know it?
Yeah. I play it. You do?
Yeah, since I was
an undergraduate.
What can you tell me about it?
The alternate reality
game is temporary.
It's used to promote the
MMORPG, which goes on for years.
The MMO what?
The Massively Multiplayer
Online Role Playing Game.
You know, basically,
you're a character,
and you fight in battles
and go on quests,
stuff like that.
You know, Amita, I think
you're going to be better
at decoding this
crime scene than I am.
You guys want to head up,
and I'll let them know
you're coming? Sure.
Hey, how do I not
know this about you?
Oh, 'cause we only
play a few hours a week.
Uh, who's we? We who?
Uh, me and my alliance.
So, an alliance.
Well, what-what... How...
You-you never told
me you had an alliance.
What is... what is an alliance?
Uh, just old friends, you know.
We've been playing
the video part
of Primacy for years,
since we were undergrads.
It helps us keep in touch.
How come you never asked
me to be part of your alliance?
Well, honestly, I thought
you would make fun of me.
I mean, it's kind of whimsical.
Well, I can be
extremely whimsical.
I do lots of things on a whim.
COLBY: Hey, you guys.
Hey. Hey.
I have no idea what
I'm looking at here.
She does.
What's the deal?
An alternate reality
game... ARG...
Is a treasure hunt played
out in the real world,
using actual media.
Well, give me a good
old-fashioned
foot chase any day.
Now, what is this thing?
Okay, well, this device
is an optical scanner
with software downloaded
from the game company.
You see, a lot of gamers
just use cell phone
cameras, but...
(trilling)
The numbers are a clue in.
If it were a Web site, it
would log on automatically,
letting the game mainframe
know where I'm located
and giving me points,
but it's not doing that, so
it could be GPS.
Or quite possibly a simple
hexadecimal alphabet code
that translates to "the beach."
Hmm. Maybe you should
be part of my alliance.
I'm going to start
my own alliance.
COLBY: And you just did that
in your head like that?
I wouldn't be as
fast in a foot chase.
What do we think
the shape means?
Argentina? AMITA: I'm thinking
it's the map of some zip code
area that includes a beach.
You see, alliances follow
clues online and in the real world
to locate the Primal Key.
The Primal Key?
Yeah. A hidden object.
It's the Holy Grail of the game.
It's worth a million bucks.
How many people do you think
are competing for it?
I don't know. I would
guess several thousand.
Oh, that's a lot of suspects.
Well, correct me
if I'm incorrect,
but we could develop
an evolutionary algorithm
that searches the game's history
for abnormally
aggressive activity.
Aggression's part of the game.
Killing real
people isn't, right?
Yeah, that's true.
People aggress in video
games in similar ways...
Killing monsters,
going on raids.
Yeah, see, and this
algorithm would recognize
any typical activity
and just ignore it.
It would seek out
the abnormal actions.
Uh, think of a pond.
A pond is a healthy ecosystem
where predator and
prey are in balance.
However, if an outside
predator is introduced,
well, then, the
ecosystem changes.
An evolutionary
algorithm highlights
abnormal alterations.
It discerns subtle
patterns and locates
the source of a problem.
Well, then give me an example
of abnormal aggression
within the game? I'm not sure.
Uh, players who would attack
for sport rather than points.
Griefers. Or
somebody who stays up
for days straight playing
is called a camper.
Listen, if I could get access
to Primacy's server,
well, then, I can
analyze patterns
and identify players
who are most likely to cross
from virtual to actual killings.
I'll get us a warrant
for the server.
Yeah, hey, what do
you think these are?
Signature trinkets.
A record of the people
who've been up here.
DON: Your fingerprints
are all over this.
So you were up
on that roof before.
Why did you lie?
You're the man.
I was quaking in my
boots, I'm ashamed to say.
What happened? You met Weyburn,
and you got in an argument,
things got physical, is that it?
And then he, what,
he fell off the roof? No.
I never met Peter in person.
Yesterday was going
to be the first time.
I, um, I only knew him online
as our alliance leader, Tycon-Z.
And when were you up there?
Yesterday.
Um, I was gathering recon
data in case I could aid
Tycon-Z in his first foray
into the LA epicenter.
Where were you this morning?
At my job.
Um, Paco's Tacos on Pico.
Yeah? Who set up the
meet, you or Weyburn?
Well, it wasn't actually set up.
He... he told me to stay away,
but I had to see him.
Tycon-Z is awesome.
And what do you mean
he told you to stay away?
We suspected Shadowhound
Brigade of cheating.
He went there to confront them.
Who? The what?
Shadowhound Brigade.
They're vicious, immoral dogs,
capable of entrapping and
destroying noble warriors
using devious and
unfair methods.
You understand we're talking
about a real person here, okay?
Who's really dead.
I know.
The game is my coping mechanism.
MEGAN: We think your company's
game is involved in Weyburn's death.
We're in the last 72 hours
before somebody
wins a million dollars,
and we can't
afford bad publicity.
So, are you sure this
Weyburn dude didn't just
slip and fall off the roof?
That'd be far preferable.
Uh, Mr. Moore... Binky.
Your name is "Binky"?
Like the pacifier.
Right, Binky.
Uh, the "Weyburn dude" works
for the Department of
Justice, so we're going
to have to investigate
his death whether it's
convenient for you or not.
Got it.
How many players on Primacy?
Worldwide, five
and a half million.
Uh, at any given moment,
we might have a couple
hundred thousand players
logged in for the
Primacy MMORPG,
the online part of the game.
And most of them don't
know about the ARG,
the alternate reality
aspect of Primacy,
which essentially works
like a scavenger hunt
in the real world,
for a money prize.
We've got 5,000 or 6,000 players
competing in that, mostly local.
Okay, I'm going to need
access to your server.
My information's protected
by privacy laws,
trade secrets...
Search warrant.
I'd like to start with the IDs
for Weyburn group as well
as the Shadowhound
Brigade, and I'm going
to need names to go with these.
COLBY: So is this trinket
your signature in
the Primacy game?
And when were you on the roof?
Yesterday afternoon,
before my grandkids
got off school.
Did you know Peter Weyburn?
(changing voices):
Never heard of him.
Can you verify your
whereabouts this morning?
I was at work till noon.
Ask my supervisor.
Is the game still on?
Me and my partner really
need this million bucks.
WOMAN: The money is incidental.
I get satisfaction
from reading signs
invisible to the rest of society.
And where were you this
morning between 8:00 and 10:00?
I'm in my office by 6:00 a.m.
every day for the opening
of the east coast market.
So, the alibis check out.
Yeah, I don't
think the killer left
his signature trinket
up on the rooftop.
What about the Weyburn alliance?
All good, including
the Braxton kid.
So Megan's trying to ID the
Shadowhound Brigade now.
Hey, so what's
going on with Liz?
Ah, I don't know.
You know how it is.
Not really, man.
I haven't had a serious
date in, like, two years.
What, two years?
LA's tough, man,
even when you're not working
undercover with the Chinese.
Hey. Pharaoh861,
one of the ten members of
the Shadowhound Brigade.
Colby, will you
call that number?
Yep. What about the others?
I've tried three of them so far
and none of them have
pictures on the profile page,
which is unusual, and none of
them are answering their phones.
See if anybody answers here.
It's such a shame
about my own office.
I can kind of understand that.
Yeah, I sense a big,
hairy "but" coming.
Ooh, pardon my terrible pun.
What do you want to
do with your life, Larry?
Seriously, you want
to take the same
three-hour walks across
the same gardens?
Hey, don't look askance.
AMITA: Admit it, Larry.
I mean, you're more
interested in the world than that.
Well, I have received
a rather tantalizing offer
to join the DZero team
searching for the Higgs boson.
Well, all right,
the God particle.
Which would be a continuation
of your spiritual seeking
as well as your quest
for unified theory.
Well, faith in science
is still faith, is it not?
Now, that's very cool, Larry.
I think you should
continue with your search
for supersymmetric particles.
Imagine smashing protons
at 99.99% of the speed of light
all to locate a single
fragment which would
move us one step
closer to unifying all physics,
explaining how the Old
One created the universe.
(sighs): What could
be more spiritual?
Not a trivial activity.
No, and neither is
conscious walking, Charles.
AMITA: Okay, the normal
behavioral parameters
for the game are set.
All right, great, let's
run this program,
see if we can't
locate any players
that are acting abnormally.
Okay, I'll be back
after my seminar.
Bye-bye.
Bye, Larry.
Okay, how is it she knows
so much about this game?
She's been playing Primacy
with an online group
of people for years.
Really?
Did you know this? Uh-uh.
(groans)
What was that
sound? What is that?
I wonder if she
might be in the midst
of one of those
online friendships,
unconsummated, but
emotionally intimate.
(phone ringing)
(groans)
Hello, Ruby.
(clears throat): I've said
that I would prefer not to.
Okay, okay, ten minutes,
but this has got to
be the only one, right?
Thank you. (cell
phone slams shut)
Morning TV interview.
I have the willpower
of a field mouse.
But within that field, you're
a very popular mouse.
No answer there, either.
All right, well, let's
go to Bulldog472.
(computer chimes) Max Barnes.
347 Trilson Street
in Culver City.
And there's no
photo of him, either.
Okay, I got him right here.
Max Barnes, age 93,
deceased November, '06.
Well, that's six
fake screen names
for the Shadowhound Brigade.
Yeah, this alliance
doesn't really exist.
Hey, this was posted
to the Primacy Web site
three hours ago.
Wolftrax says it was hacked in,
uploaded from an outside server.
The Primacy bloggers
think it's some kind of a hoax.
That it has an embedded clue
for the ARG endgame.
CHARLIE: Does it?
Not according to Binky Moore.
Binky? You know what?
I'm going to let my algorithm
search the server history
for embedded clues and patterns
and we'll see what shows up.
Where's my brother?
He had a lunch meeting.
I don't know.
I mean...
It's not really Liz.
I mean, look, she's
a great girl, right?
You know, it's just...
it's the whole thing
of keeping work
and-and our relationship
separate, I think.
You know, your mother and
I met while working together.
It's a little different in
my case, don't you think?
Well, people always fall
for each other at work.
It's where you spend
most of your time.
If your heart's not
in it, you can't stay.
That wouldn't be fair
to either one of you.
And if you feel like
ending it, then I doubt
it's because of the
job. (phone rings)
Eppes.
Uh-huh, all right.
You know what, Dad, I've
got to take this, okay, so, um...
I'll talk to you later.
Thanks for lunch.
Donnie, she works with you.
You have to straighten it out.
I know.
Primacy, the ARG,
has been underway for a month.
The vertical lines
behind me represent alliances.
The horizontal lines
are the alliances' attacks.
Two weeks ago, there
were seven alliances
running neck-in-neck
for the million-dollar prize.
And until that point, Primacy
operated like any good game,
with leaders surging and
ebbing in expected patterns.
Ten days ago, a whole
different story emerges.
Anytime an alliance
holds the lead
for more than 36 hours,
it suddenly drops out,
never recovering.
So someone forced them to quit.
Well, the players don't know
who's in the lead, so either
it's someone inside the
company or a high-end hacker.
Four of the seven
front-runners are out.
Weyburn's group dropped
away with his death,
leaving two alliances:
the Readymades
and the Shadowhound Brigade
as potential
winners of this thing.
And potential suspects.
This Shadowhound
is the phony alliance.
MEGAN: Six out
of ten are deceased.
We have four
more to account for.
And they can't all be fake.
I mean... someone's
playing these avatars.
COLBY: Yeah, and someone would
have to show up to
claim the prize money.
AMITA: I can play the game,
you know, and try to
interact with the avatars.
Yeah, you know,
and if she gets a hit,
I'll track the
Internet providers
for a location.
Great. How hard would it be
for someone who works
for Primacy to set this all up?
Well, there are
powerful firewalls
to prevent inside cheating.
Unless... unless it's
the creator himself.
DON: Where were you
yesterday morning, Mr. Moore?
Networking breakfast
at the Biltmore.
About 300 witnesses.
You sold Wolftrax to Kuma
Games 18 months ago, right?
I built Wolftrax
up from freeware
to a sale for a nice
chunk of change.
Now, I'm president in name only.
Why didn't you just walk away?
I'm not interested in money.
Really? We're
creating the future.
And people are sleepwalking.
But it is the new literacy.
Knowledge isn't
in books anymore.
It's in electronic media
and Joe Blow in Idaho
doesn't know how to access it.
But when he plays an ARG,
we're teaching him the
Dewey decimal system
of the Digital Age.
Yes, and advancing our business.
Which is why I put up the
million-dollar prize myself,
to motivate people.
Well, you certainly
did that, huh?
I knew we had a rogue alliance.
Groups in the lead
were getting intimidated.
Physically? No.
Spamming, jamming, online
raids... we had complaints.
I fully thought the game
would self-regulate.
I can't believe this is
happening to my game.
Oh, my God, that's Binky Moore!
(banging on window)
You are a god!
Slave-boy, let's go.
Can I get his autograph?
You're going to have
to adore him from afar.
The nerds love me.
I can't get anyone
from the Shadowhound
Brigade to play me.
Kali, Goddess of Destruction?
I picked it when I was 19, okay?
She's remarkably... hot.
Well, sexy avatars
get treated nicer.
Okay, this guy's not online.
Who's next?
Uh, let's see.
We've got... Spectre.
Spectre. (phone ringing)
No.
My publicist wants me to show up
early for that TV interview
so they can put
makeup all over my face.
I think you'd look
cute with eyeliner.
Yeah? Thanks.
Hey, so you going
to move in or not?
Spectre's online.
He's battling for control
of a transport station.
Let's see if we can get
a track on the IP and...
get a real-world location.
Finally, a real, live member
of the Shadowhound Brigade.
Spectre?
All right, I got him.
Yeah, Frank... Riegert.
All right, you keep him playing.
We're on our way.
(pounding on door) MEGAN:
Frank Riegert, FBI, open up!
COLBY: Let's go,
Frank, open the door.
(door bursts open)
Clear.
Oh, damn.
Megan, he's dead.
Smells like he was electrocuted.
Clear.
(fighting sounds on-screen)
Colby?
Yeah.
It's operating itself.
(grunting, blows landing)
Frank Riegert's dead.
What? His computer
is running the game without him.
(chuckling): A zombie?
No, then Riegert's not Spectre.
I mean, whoever
the real Spectre is
is controlling his computer
from somewhere else.
Are you tracing
his Internet location?
He's using dynamic
IPs; he's routing
through dozens of servers.
You know, it's sort
of like, um, like...
changing stolen
cars every few blocks.
You know, when a
car thief is in a hur...
I got it, I got it.
I stole his mojo bag.
Hold on, I have
to get out of here.
Uh...
she stole his mojo.
Okay.
Now I get to see
what he's hiding.
(tapping keys)
Is that GPS?
Yeah, 0600... 6:00 a.m.
Hey, Megan, we've
got a game clue
for another location.
(beeping)
Northgate Dam.
All right, we'll check it out.
You'll need us to figure
out clues at the location.
We can call you.
You couldn't decode
the roof clues.
You could be at
the site for hours
and not see anything.
Point taken.
COLBY: Guys, do me a
favor and stay behind me.
Yeah, stay behind him.
So, listen, with that GPS
you got there,
you've got 15 feet
of uncertainty
at every location.
All right, Amita,
you see anything
with that X-ray vision of yours?
No, but with my naked eye
I see a misaligned arrow,
which is a classic ARG clue.
It's 6:00 now. CHARLIE:
What about those rocks?
You know,
the way they're arranged...
Couldn't that be a clue?
AMITA: Oh, yeah.
Oh, there's something down here.
Wait, wait, wait, hold on.
What? Hold on, yeah.
What are you doing? Look, Charlie,
there's something else down here.
Well, be careful, okay? Okay.
It's a symbol.
Yeah, this is definitely
part of the game.
(alarm buzzing)
What is that?
Go back up the ladder!
Back! Get up quick!
Move, move, move, move!
Colby!
Colby!
Colby!
Call Don! Oh, God, oh, God!
(dialing)
Colby! We need help.
Colby's been swept away
at the Northgate Dam.
Grab my hand, Colby, come on!
Charlie, be careful!
Hang on!
(grunts)
Come on!
Charlie... Hold on!
Come on! Reach!
Come on, just reach!
I got you!
(grunting)
Just reach! (grunting)
Come on. Come on, man.
Come on.
Come on, man.
(grunts)
You all right?
You okay? Yeah.
Geez.
CHARLIE: We got to
get you to a hospital.
No, I'm okay.
Spectre tried to kill us.
Yeah.
Yeah, he did.
What's up with
you and the water?
Hey. Yeah, I'm fine.
Thanks for asking, Megan.
It was a setup.
Yeah, definitely.
I mean, that dam releases
overflow every morning.
How are you doing?
You really okay?
Yeah, I'm fine.
So Spectre set up a false clue.
Yeah, I mean, whoever
gets ahead of him
gets intimidated
or they get killed.
Now, did Spectre kill
Riegert, do we know?
We got e-mails on his computer.
They were accomplices.
They were definitely trying
to steal the million bucks,
but after Weyburn
was murdered...
Riegert got cold feet.
Yeah, Riegert wanted the money.
It was Spectre that
had other plans.
He was intending to open
some kind of a new game
called Chain Factor
with his prize money.
All right, so
Spectre and Riegert
were the only two real people
in the Shadowhound Brigade.
And now it's just
Spectre, right?
Yeah, who kills people by
faking accidents, and I don't think
this is a guy with a
previous criminal record.
I think this is his first foray.
I-I just think he's a fanatic in
the midst of a manic obsession.
If that's the case, it's
only going to intensify
as he gets closer to the prize.
All right, well, then, we
got to shut down the game.
Yeah, we do that, he's got no
reason to show up. Yeah, but...
if we leave it going, he's
going to mow down anyone
that gets in his way.
Hey, I know how
to trap this guy.
Yeah? Does it involve your
deceptive upper body strength?
That was pure adrenaline.
Listen, to win, Spectre
has to play the game, right?
We control the game,
we control Spectre.
We hack the hacker.
Shut it down and somehow
make him think it's still on?
No, we don't have
to shut it down.
Look, it's like a train yard.
Every player in this game is
a train coming into our station
and we send them all through,
but when we see Spectre's train
approaching, we sidetrack him
without affecting the
rest of the players.
How do we trick him
into thinking he's
playing the real game?
A mirror site.
Okay, it's like one of
those fake bank pages
that scammers put up
to steal personal data.
Look,
I'm gonna call the game company,
I'm gonna get them
to work with me on this,
and we're going to set
up the mirror site here.
All right, that sounds
good, go for it.
And you know... Amita
can play him online,
but, uh, no more
fieldwork for her.
COLBY: Where do you want them?
End of the daisy chain.
Translation?
That would be right there.
All right, you guys,
so just hit a bunch
of random keys,
all right, that'll make
the site look alive.
It'll make it look
like hundreds of people
are accessing it, okay?
As we lead Spectre to the
final clue for the Primal Key,
fewer people would be around.
Yeah, we can't let
him win too easily.
BRAXTON: Don't worry about that.
I'm going to get a few
shots into this guy myself.
And then we're
going to let him win.
Yeah, we will be the
swarming multitudes.
You are to fight
Spectre and then...
He wins the final
clue, taking him
to MacArthur Park
for the Primal Key.
And then we arrest him.
Okay, so everybody's
ready, right?
Here we go.
Come on...
Where is this guy?
Spectre won't
attack until we take
the lead.
Braxton, grab that ax,
chop down that wall;
there's something
behind it. All right, on it.
(ax clanging)
Good eye, oh,
Captain, my Captain.
Okay, he doesn't
want me in here.
MEGAN: That's
him, that's Spectre.
That's an ugly avatar.
Oh, he's talking to me,
in-game chat. I can voice it.
ELECTRONIC VOICE:
Kali, surprised to see you.
Were you unable
to decipher the clue
you stole from me?
I'm working on it.
I want my mojo back.
Come... and get it.
Can you trace in-game chat?
(grunting on-screen)
(weapons clanging)
All right, just let him kill
you so he can get the clue
and head over to the park.
BRAXTON: No, the fight's got
to look real. AMITA: Heal me.
Heal me, I need my arm.
I'm healing you
as fast as I can.
ELECTRONIC VOICE:
Kali, you are finished.
MEGAN: Let him win.
Easy now.
(weapons clanging)
BRAXTON: He's behind you!
(grunts)
Whoo!
You killed him. Oh, my God.
Damn it, Amita!
I'm so sorry.
It was reflexive.
I-I can't believe I did that.
All right, what now?
Well, um, I could IM
him, get him to meet me.
My suggestion:
We do nothing.
Now, losing one battle
is not going to deter him,
not if he's a zealot.
Kali is the focus
of his rage and the
obstacle to his goal.
He'll get in touch with you.
So what now, we just wait?
Can he even...
talk to you in-game
w-when his avatar's dead?
Yeah, I mean,
that's the only way
he can talk to Kali
is in-game chat.
(phone ringing)
I'm sorry, that's me.
Aah... I have to go do
that ridiculous TV interview.
All right, so what's the plan
if Spectre makes contact?
We set up a meeting.
No.
No more meeting her
in the real world, please.
AMITA: No.
No, no, not me... Kali.
Yeah, he doesn't know
what she looks like in person.
It could be me.
Right, I mean, it could be me.
Well, I'm just saying,
it could. I'd be honored
if you'd consider
joining our alliance,
or at the very least, giving
me your e-mail address.
Anthony, you've
been really helpful.
I'll be back as
soon as possible.
Okay, I'm going to
get you a ride home.
Bye, Anthony, thanks.
Bye, Charlie, have fun.
I'll be watching.
You didn't have to do this.
I-I really appreciate it.
Charlie, this is a treat for me.
Besides I can't help
it, I'm proud of you.
Well, you know, getting
up all early and all.
It's just, you're always
there for me and Don.
I should buy one of those
plastic "World's Best Dad" statues.
(chuckles)
You're buttering me up.
Well, I'd like to
broach a certain topic.
Go ahead.
I would like Amita
to move in with us.
You getting married?
(laughs) Nah, I'm just kidding.
I'm just kidding.
I know how things go these days.
Yeah, sure, she should move in.
Besides I've been thinking
about those condos.
Really, I mean, it's
a good time to buy.
The prices are coming down. Yeah,
but you wouldn't have to move out.
Not yet.
Well, what does Amita say?
We're in discussions.
Oh, that's, uh, that's good.
Uh, that's great.
What if he doesn't make contact?
Well, should Kali
send him a message?
Oh, he expected to win,
now he has to rethink his plan.
He's got no other play
but to be in touch with Kali.
Well, we've got no
other play here if he's not.
(phone ringing)
Oh, it's me.
Must be Charlie.
Hello?
MAN: I want the key.
Spectre.
How did you get my phone number?
I know who you are... Amita.
I need a trace on a cell phone.
Why should I talk to you?
I mean, I know where
the Primal Key is.
I have a proposal.
Believe me, you'll
come out better.
Maybe, maybe not.
Regardless, I'm not talking
about this on the phone.
You at your computer?
Why?
Triple click on your avatar.
H-How did you do that?
I want the key.
Okay, um...
Meet me at MacArthur
Park at... at 7:00 a.m.
What-what do you look like?
(line disconnects)
He knows everything about me.
Well, not everything.
He seems to think
you're a regular player.
What if he's just
setting me up? Amita,
we can pull this
off without you.
What if you don't get him?
He knows my address,
he knows my social
security number.
I mean, I think Spectre
will only show if I go.
We'd have undercover
agents, and snipers,
and you'd wear a two-way
earpiece so we could talk.
What if he knows I'm
working with you, and he just...
You'd have a bulletproof vest.
LARRY: A bulletproof v...
You know, I really think
we should consider
the alternatives here.
With the sting, we made
her Spectre's only rival.
She's our best chance, Larry.
But is she not
allowed to decline?
I'll do it.
I think we need
to talk to Charles.
No. Let him finish
his interview in peace.
And this whole
thing will be over
before he even hears about it.
With us this morning
is Dr. Charles
Eppes from CalSci.
He's written the first math
book you're gonna want to read,
The Attraction Equation.
Can you tell us how to find a
mate using math, Dr. Eppes?
Oh, well, you can
call me Charlie.
You don't have to...
Oh, I've developed
a new kind of math.
It's, um, sort of a calculus
of human relationships.
It's based in decision theory.
And it can help...
it can help people
choose a better partner
by mathematically predicting
which couplings have the
best chance at success.
Can you tell me why I
keep picking the wrong guy?
Oh, uh... well,
you might need to,
uh, put a little logic
into your romantic
equations, I guess.
Oh, maybe you can
help me with that.
Are you spoken for, Charlie?
I am. I am.
I'm dating a very
beautiful woman.
And I hope she's
watching right now.
Because she really is an
incredible inspiration to me.
Okay, Amita, there's a lamppost,
if you can see, right
up ahead on your right.
I want you to just
casually stop there.
Don't look at the cameras.
Megan?
Clear in all directions.
Colby?
Nothing
suspicious, Don.
(phone ringing)
Okay, go ahead and
answer the phone.
We got you on your Bluetooth.
Get a trace going.
(on radio): Take it
easy. Just answer it.
SPECTRE (on phone):
Go through the tunnel.
No, meet me by the water.
Feisty, and as pretty
as your pictures.
I like the way
those jeans fit you.
Okay, great,
so you can see me.
And I see you're not moving.
Okay, who's got a visual?
Anyone got a visual for me?
Negative.
All right, north side
of the park, guys.
DON: Everyone take it easy.
Amita, I want
you to turn around.
And just... just head
right into that tunnel.
(applause)
Hey. Hey.
Thanks for coming down, man.
All right, that went
pretty well, I thought.
Yeah, Charlie... I
screwed up a little bit,
Charlie... but
she-she was very nice.
We-we need to talk
to you. What's up?
It's about Amita.
Is she all right?
What's going on?
She's, um, she's
fine, she's with Don.
Um... Look, she's
gone to meet Spectre.
Where is she right now?
We can't interfere, it
would be too dangerous.
Where is she right now, Larry?
SPECTRE: I have a proposal
that will change your life.
Let's hear it.
I need a partner to
realize a vision unparalleled
in contemporary gaming.
A paradigm shift.
Now go toward that building
at the back of the park.
DON: All right,
listen up, everybody.
It's the old Community
Center at the northeast corner.
SPECTRE: We had a chance with
Primacy, but binko-assbite cashed in.
You work at Wolftrax Games...
Not anymore.
You're a smart girl;
read the signs from here.
Oh, come on, just talk to me.
Great reward
requires great risk.
Kali faces fear,
how about Amita?
DON: All right, Amita, don't go
in that building
until I tell you, now.
All right, sweetheart. Do not go
into that building
until I tell you.
Megan, you're in the front.
Colby, you stay with her.
SPECTRE: Consider an
emergent game economy
built around an abstract
combinatorial system,
played across worldwide
media, embedded virally
into Web sites, TV,
text messages, billboards,
even radio, beyond the
control of corporations...
Yeah, but for what purpose?
Step through the door.
Chain Factor. What
does that mean?
(line disconnects)
What's up with the trace?
(beeping)
He's inside the building.
Guys, he's inside
the building, all right?
He's inside the building.
Colby, you stay with her.
You got it, Don.
Megan?
We're in the building, Don.
DON: Amita, go ahead.
Don't worry. Don't worry.
Just go ahead in.
Colby, stay right with her.
All right, I'm going.
(echoing): Ready to make a deal?
What's Chain Factor?
The game I'll launch
with the million dollars.
But I have
the Primal Key location.
Want to join my alliance?
I get it.
You're playing with emergence,
where the game takes
on a life of its own.
Right?
Yeah,
it's all real life
and death now.
(man grunting, Amita screaming)
Freeze!
Let her go!
You gotta let her go.
Let her go!
You cheated!
Get down on your knees!
Hey!
Oh, God.
You okay? You all right?
Okay. I got you.
I got you. I got you.
Let me see. You okay?
Oh, my God.
Hey! What are you thinking?
I know, I know, I'm sorry.
Huh? How could you...
I'm sorry. It wasn't
his fault, okay.
It was my decision.
You all right?
I'm fine.
Come here.
I'm okay.
So Gary Meyers
worked at Wolftrax?
Yeah.
He was fired a few months ago.
You know, I actually
liked his ideas
about an emergent game economy.
Are you serious?
His obsession with control
is the opposite of emergence.
Emergence requires
allowing natural
and unexpected
changes to... to emerge.
So.
You know, uh,
speaking of emergence.
How are we gonna let
our little economy emerge
to the next phase,
Dr. Eppes? Ah.
I've been thinking about that.
I've been giving
it some thought.
And I thought I could sell
the house back to my Dad,
and we could just
get our own place.
Or, uh, we can get an apartment,
and you keep the
house as an investment,
and Alan could stay put.
Or option three,
my favorite option,
is my Dad buys the condo,
he's been talking about forever,
and we live in the
house together.
(sighs)
I mean, we could all three
live in the house together.
Though...
Let's just take the advice
of that popular new
author Charlie Eppes
in his sizzling, scorching hot
new book...
and apply game
theory to our problem.
Hmm.
Think of the possibilities,
assign values, then prioritize.
Hi. Hey.
How's it going? Oh, uh... Hi.
Uh, Larry's donating
all his books to
the library. Are you?
Well, that means you've
reentered your office,
I guess.
AMITA: You know, Larry,
you don't have have
to carry them by hand.
The library will
come pick them up.
Actually, I do.
I'm taking my office apart,
object by object,
releasing all attachments
to my former self.
So you're going through each
and every book to say good-bye?
It's true. ALAN:
By the way, Larry,
you do realize that by
emptying your office,
you're simply, uh,
making it possible
to collect more things.
Well, if the cycle repeats,
perhaps I'll start collecting
with consciousness.
Okay.
Well, I think I see
a condo in my future.
Not necessarily.
No, we have a plan.
Yeah, that's what I
was afraid of. Hmm.
You could move in with
me, but I don't live anywhere.
♪ There is no running
that can hide you ♪
♪ 'Cause I can see in the dark ♪
♪ I'm coming up on infra-red ♪
♪ Forget your running,
I will find you now ♪
♪ Find you... ♪
(instrumental)
(distorted singing)
♪ So I came down to crash
and burn your beggars banquet ♪
♪ Someone call the ambulance ♪
♪ There's gonna be an accident ♪
(device ringing)
♪ I'm coming up on infra-red ♪
♪ Forget your running,
I will find you now ♪
(sirens blaring) ♪
I will find you... ♪
(garbled radio transmission)
I got a 35-year-old white male.
Pushed or jumped off the
south side of this building
90 minutes ago.
Dead on impact.
Any witnesses?
No, but they ID'd him.
He's the Assistant US
Attorney Peter Weyburn
from the Tenth
Circuit in Kansas.
Yeah, that's a long way
to come to commit suicide.
I'd say, for an
unmarried civil servant
in the tax department,
perfectly clean record.
His family, his
office has no idea
what he was doing in California.
Let's see if we can find
out why he was here,
and if anyone had any grudges...
Where's Liz? I thought
she was filling in for David.
Yeah, in-service training.
CHARLIE: Listen, I
can't talk right now.
I'll call you back.
Hi.
My publicist wants me to
do interviews, you know?
Mm-hmm.
And I told her, I said,
I can't start the book
tour till next week.
Uh, that's because
The Attraction
Equation is blowing up.
I checked. It's on the
top 100 on Amazon.
It made the top 100?
Can I leave this stuff here,
because, um, I-I don't
want to take it to my class,
and I'm running really late.
What do you mean, you don't
want your students wondering
why you bring fancy
underwear to work?
No. Thank you.
I would prefer they stay focused
on the combinatorial
matrix theory.
Um, your dad is going
to be gone tonight, right?
Mm-hmm. So we have
the house to ourselves?
I've been thinking.
Why don't you move
in with me already?
You mean, with-with
the both of you?
Well, my father won't mind.
We can work that out.
Is it something
you'd want to do?
Yeah, um, it just...
You know, Charlie, this is
not just a romantic question.
I mean, this is something
we need to talk about
when our heads are
clear, and we're calm,
and I-I'm not calm right
now, because I'm running
really, really, really, really,
really late to class. Okay.
All right. Hey. Hi.
Welcome back.
So, I'll see you at lunch?
Bye. Bye. Bye.
Bye. Hey.
Charles, you look like
someone stole your chalk.
Welcome back. Well, look,
I agreed to teach
one seminar this term.
You're moving out
of the monastery.
Yeah.
One stride at a time.
Come on.
More conscious walking?
You know, a visiting
Vietnamese monk,
he led us on a conscious walk.
It took us three hours
just to cross the garden.
Three hours?
Well, I mean, deliberating
upon each single step,
it slows the metabolism,
deepens the focus.
It's more mundanely, it helps
you sidestep dog excrement.
Ha! It's a most worthy exercise.
Sometimes I think you're
better off taking the leap.
Oh, how I've
dreaded this moment.
Okay. Here it is,
just like you left it.
Okay. Oh.
Oh. Oh, my.
I-I cannot take one more step.
Well, what's the matter?
I'm overwhelmed.
I'm literally overwhelmed.
Oh, the memories?
For five months,
I've needed nothing
that I couldn't
carry on my back.
This... this is obscene.
Who is this person that
belongs to this mess?
Uh, uh...
COLBY: Don, I got something.
What have you got?
Well, looks like a
bunch of kids stuff.
I'm guessing someone who
lives in the building put it up here.
Well, log it in
anyway, you know?
I'm within my right, according
to California Statutes...
Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Hold-hold on there.
What-what's going on?
MEGAN: This is Anthony Braxton.
He was sneaking up here
from the next building over.
Sneaking is not accurate.
I'm in pursuit of the
Primal Key. What?
BRAXTON: You
found the GPS-cache.
Do you know if
Weyburn got to it?
Wait. You know who
Weyburn is? Yes.
He's the head of our
alliance. What alliance?
The Midwestern Ax-Butchers.
Primacy.
The MMO?
It's a PVP RPG
with an integrated
ARG in its last 72 hours.
What are you talking,
like video game stuff?
Yeah, a video game.
We're competing
in an ARG endgame
for a million-dollar
prize. Ho-ho-hold on.
What? Get off of me, man!
Where's Peter?
Mr. Weyburn's dead.
What?
Wait. Is-is this real?
You mean, you mean dead,
like his physical body is...
Yeah, like in real life.
Whoa.
I've never seen an
actual dead person before.
I've, I've killed
thousands online, but...
So, you didn't like
the idea of splitting
the prize money with
him, is that it, Anthony?
What? Where were you
for the last two hours?
BRAXTON: I'm on his
team. I wouldn't do anything...
Anthony, what is
this? (device trilling)
That's just my handheld
electronic reader.
Aim it around. (trilling)
Aim it at the
bottom right corner
of that graphic
across the street.
DON: Whoa. What is this?
Alternate reality.
(indistinct conversation)
MEGAN: Charlie, I am, like,
halfway through your book,
and your stuff on relationships
is just great. Thanks.
Amita, thanks so much
for coming down. Sure.
Well, just eyeballing
it, I can tell you
that unless this guy got a
running start, he was pushed.
Who was he?
Uh, the Assistant
US District Attorney
Peter Weyburn, he's from Kansas,
and we'd really like to
rule out a suicide if possible.
Well, we'll take
a look at it. Okay.
Uh, he was here
playing some kind
of an alternate reality game.
It's called Privacy?
Primacy?
You know it?
Yeah. I play it. You do?
Yeah, since I was
an undergraduate.
What can you tell me about it?
The alternate reality
game is temporary.
It's used to promote the
MMORPG, which goes on for years.
The MMO what?
The Massively Multiplayer
Online Role Playing Game.
You know, basically,
you're a character,
and you fight in battles
and go on quests,
stuff like that.
You know, Amita, I think
you're going to be better
at decoding this
crime scene than I am.
You guys want to head up,
and I'll let them know
you're coming? Sure.
Hey, how do I not
know this about you?
Oh, 'cause we only
play a few hours a week.
Uh, who's we? We who?
Uh, me and my alliance.
So, an alliance.
Well, what-what... How...
You-you never told
me you had an alliance.
What is... what is an alliance?
Uh, just old friends, you know.
We've been playing
the video part
of Primacy for years,
since we were undergrads.
It helps us keep in touch.
How come you never asked
me to be part of your alliance?
Well, honestly, I thought
you would make fun of me.
I mean, it's kind of whimsical.
Well, I can be
extremely whimsical.
I do lots of things on a whim.
COLBY: Hey, you guys.
Hey. Hey.
I have no idea what
I'm looking at here.
She does.
What's the deal?
An alternate reality
game... ARG...
Is a treasure hunt played
out in the real world,
using actual media.
Well, give me a good
old-fashioned
foot chase any day.
Now, what is this thing?
Okay, well, this device
is an optical scanner
with software downloaded
from the game company.
You see, a lot of gamers
just use cell phone
cameras, but...
(trilling)
The numbers are a clue in.
If it were a Web site, it
would log on automatically,
letting the game mainframe
know where I'm located
and giving me points,
but it's not doing that, so
it could be GPS.
Or quite possibly a simple
hexadecimal alphabet code
that translates to "the beach."
Hmm. Maybe you should
be part of my alliance.
I'm going to start
my own alliance.
COLBY: And you just did that
in your head like that?
I wouldn't be as
fast in a foot chase.
What do we think
the shape means?
Argentina? AMITA: I'm thinking
it's the map of some zip code
area that includes a beach.
You see, alliances follow
clues online and in the real world
to locate the Primal Key.
The Primal Key?
Yeah. A hidden object.
It's the Holy Grail of the game.
It's worth a million bucks.
How many people do you think
are competing for it?
I don't know. I would
guess several thousand.
Oh, that's a lot of suspects.
Well, correct me
if I'm incorrect,
but we could develop
an evolutionary algorithm
that searches the game's history
for abnormally
aggressive activity.
Aggression's part of the game.
Killing real
people isn't, right?
Yeah, that's true.
People aggress in video
games in similar ways...
Killing monsters,
going on raids.
Yeah, see, and this
algorithm would recognize
any typical activity
and just ignore it.
It would seek out
the abnormal actions.
Uh, think of a pond.
A pond is a healthy ecosystem
where predator and
prey are in balance.
However, if an outside
predator is introduced,
well, then, the
ecosystem changes.
An evolutionary
algorithm highlights
abnormal alterations.
It discerns subtle
patterns and locates
the source of a problem.
Well, then give me an example
of abnormal aggression
within the game? I'm not sure.
Uh, players who would attack
for sport rather than points.
Griefers. Or
somebody who stays up
for days straight playing
is called a camper.
Listen, if I could get access
to Primacy's server,
well, then, I can
analyze patterns
and identify players
who are most likely to cross
from virtual to actual killings.
I'll get us a warrant
for the server.
Yeah, hey, what do
you think these are?
Signature trinkets.
A record of the people
who've been up here.
DON: Your fingerprints
are all over this.
So you were up
on that roof before.
Why did you lie?
You're the man.
I was quaking in my
boots, I'm ashamed to say.
What happened? You met Weyburn,
and you got in an argument,
things got physical, is that it?
And then he, what,
he fell off the roof? No.
I never met Peter in person.
Yesterday was going
to be the first time.
I, um, I only knew him online
as our alliance leader, Tycon-Z.
And when were you up there?
Yesterday.
Um, I was gathering recon
data in case I could aid
Tycon-Z in his first foray
into the LA epicenter.
Where were you this morning?
At my job.
Um, Paco's Tacos on Pico.
Yeah? Who set up the
meet, you or Weyburn?
Well, it wasn't actually set up.
He... he told me to stay away,
but I had to see him.
Tycon-Z is awesome.
And what do you mean
he told you to stay away?
We suspected Shadowhound
Brigade of cheating.
He went there to confront them.
Who? The what?
Shadowhound Brigade.
They're vicious, immoral dogs,
capable of entrapping and
destroying noble warriors
using devious and
unfair methods.
You understand we're talking
about a real person here, okay?
Who's really dead.
I know.
The game is my coping mechanism.
MEGAN: We think your company's
game is involved in Weyburn's death.
We're in the last 72 hours
before somebody
wins a million dollars,
and we can't
afford bad publicity.
So, are you sure this
Weyburn dude didn't just
slip and fall off the roof?
That'd be far preferable.
Uh, Mr. Moore... Binky.
Your name is "Binky"?
Like the pacifier.
Right, Binky.
Uh, the "Weyburn dude" works
for the Department of
Justice, so we're going
to have to investigate
his death whether it's
convenient for you or not.
Got it.
How many players on Primacy?
Worldwide, five
and a half million.
Uh, at any given moment,
we might have a couple
hundred thousand players
logged in for the
Primacy MMORPG,
the online part of the game.
And most of them don't
know about the ARG,
the alternate reality
aspect of Primacy,
which essentially works
like a scavenger hunt
in the real world,
for a money prize.
We've got 5,000 or 6,000 players
competing in that, mostly local.
Okay, I'm going to need
access to your server.
My information's protected
by privacy laws,
trade secrets...
Search warrant.
I'd like to start with the IDs
for Weyburn group as well
as the Shadowhound
Brigade, and I'm going
to need names to go with these.
COLBY: So is this trinket
your signature in
the Primacy game?
And when were you on the roof?
Yesterday afternoon,
before my grandkids
got off school.
Did you know Peter Weyburn?
(changing voices):
Never heard of him.
Can you verify your
whereabouts this morning?
I was at work till noon.
Ask my supervisor.
Is the game still on?
Me and my partner really
need this million bucks.
WOMAN: The money is incidental.
I get satisfaction
from reading signs
invisible to the rest of society.
And where were you this
morning between 8:00 and 10:00?
I'm in my office by 6:00 a.m.
every day for the opening
of the east coast market.
So, the alibis check out.
Yeah, I don't
think the killer left
his signature trinket
up on the rooftop.
What about the Weyburn alliance?
All good, including
the Braxton kid.
So Megan's trying to ID the
Shadowhound Brigade now.
Hey, so what's
going on with Liz?
Ah, I don't know.
You know how it is.
Not really, man.
I haven't had a serious
date in, like, two years.
What, two years?
LA's tough, man,
even when you're not working
undercover with the Chinese.
Hey. Pharaoh861,
one of the ten members of
the Shadowhound Brigade.
Colby, will you
call that number?
Yep. What about the others?
I've tried three of them so far
and none of them have
pictures on the profile page,
which is unusual, and none of
them are answering their phones.
See if anybody answers here.
It's such a shame
about my own office.
I can kind of understand that.
Yeah, I sense a big,
hairy "but" coming.
Ooh, pardon my terrible pun.
What do you want to
do with your life, Larry?
Seriously, you want
to take the same
three-hour walks across
the same gardens?
Hey, don't look askance.
AMITA: Admit it, Larry.
I mean, you're more
interested in the world than that.
Well, I have received
a rather tantalizing offer
to join the DZero team
searching for the Higgs boson.
Well, all right,
the God particle.
Which would be a continuation
of your spiritual seeking
as well as your quest
for unified theory.
Well, faith in science
is still faith, is it not?
Now, that's very cool, Larry.
I think you should
continue with your search
for supersymmetric particles.
Imagine smashing protons
at 99.99% of the speed of light
all to locate a single
fragment which would
move us one step
closer to unifying all physics,
explaining how the Old
One created the universe.
(sighs): What could
be more spiritual?
Not a trivial activity.
No, and neither is
conscious walking, Charles.
AMITA: Okay, the normal
behavioral parameters
for the game are set.
All right, great, let's
run this program,
see if we can't
locate any players
that are acting abnormally.
Okay, I'll be back
after my seminar.
Bye-bye.
Bye, Larry.
Okay, how is it she knows
so much about this game?
She's been playing Primacy
with an online group
of people for years.
Really?
Did you know this? Uh-uh.
(groans)
What was that
sound? What is that?
I wonder if she
might be in the midst
of one of those
online friendships,
unconsummated, but
emotionally intimate.
(phone ringing)
(groans)
Hello, Ruby.
(clears throat): I've said
that I would prefer not to.
Okay, okay, ten minutes,
but this has got to
be the only one, right?
Thank you. (cell
phone slams shut)
Morning TV interview.
I have the willpower
of a field mouse.
But within that field, you're
a very popular mouse.
No answer there, either.
All right, well, let's
go to Bulldog472.
(computer chimes) Max Barnes.
347 Trilson Street
in Culver City.
And there's no
photo of him, either.
Okay, I got him right here.
Max Barnes, age 93,
deceased November, '06.
Well, that's six
fake screen names
for the Shadowhound Brigade.
Yeah, this alliance
doesn't really exist.
Hey, this was posted
to the Primacy Web site
three hours ago.
Wolftrax says it was hacked in,
uploaded from an outside server.
The Primacy bloggers
think it's some kind of a hoax.
That it has an embedded clue
for the ARG endgame.
CHARLIE: Does it?
Not according to Binky Moore.
Binky? You know what?
I'm going to let my algorithm
search the server history
for embedded clues and patterns
and we'll see what shows up.
Where's my brother?
He had a lunch meeting.
I don't know.
I mean...
It's not really Liz.
I mean, look, she's
a great girl, right?
You know, it's just...
it's the whole thing
of keeping work
and-and our relationship
separate, I think.
You know, your mother and
I met while working together.
It's a little different in
my case, don't you think?
Well, people always fall
for each other at work.
It's where you spend
most of your time.
If your heart's not
in it, you can't stay.
That wouldn't be fair
to either one of you.
And if you feel like
ending it, then I doubt
it's because of the
job. (phone rings)
Eppes.
Uh-huh, all right.
You know what, Dad, I've
got to take this, okay, so, um...
I'll talk to you later.
Thanks for lunch.
Donnie, she works with you.
You have to straighten it out.
I know.
Primacy, the ARG,
has been underway for a month.
The vertical lines
behind me represent alliances.
The horizontal lines
are the alliances' attacks.
Two weeks ago, there
were seven alliances
running neck-in-neck
for the million-dollar prize.
And until that point, Primacy
operated like any good game,
with leaders surging and
ebbing in expected patterns.
Ten days ago, a whole
different story emerges.
Anytime an alliance
holds the lead
for more than 36 hours,
it suddenly drops out,
never recovering.
So someone forced them to quit.
Well, the players don't know
who's in the lead, so either
it's someone inside the
company or a high-end hacker.
Four of the seven
front-runners are out.
Weyburn's group dropped
away with his death,
leaving two alliances:
the Readymades
and the Shadowhound Brigade
as potential
winners of this thing.
And potential suspects.
This Shadowhound
is the phony alliance.
MEGAN: Six out
of ten are deceased.
We have four
more to account for.
And they can't all be fake.
I mean... someone's
playing these avatars.
COLBY: Yeah, and someone would
have to show up to
claim the prize money.
AMITA: I can play the game,
you know, and try to
interact with the avatars.
Yeah, you know,
and if she gets a hit,
I'll track the
Internet providers
for a location.
Great. How hard would it be
for someone who works
for Primacy to set this all up?
Well, there are
powerful firewalls
to prevent inside cheating.
Unless... unless it's
the creator himself.
DON: Where were you
yesterday morning, Mr. Moore?
Networking breakfast
at the Biltmore.
About 300 witnesses.
You sold Wolftrax to Kuma
Games 18 months ago, right?
I built Wolftrax
up from freeware
to a sale for a nice
chunk of change.
Now, I'm president in name only.
Why didn't you just walk away?
I'm not interested in money.
Really? We're
creating the future.
And people are sleepwalking.
But it is the new literacy.
Knowledge isn't
in books anymore.
It's in electronic media
and Joe Blow in Idaho
doesn't know how to access it.
But when he plays an ARG,
we're teaching him the
Dewey decimal system
of the Digital Age.
Yes, and advancing our business.
Which is why I put up the
million-dollar prize myself,
to motivate people.
Well, you certainly
did that, huh?
I knew we had a rogue alliance.
Groups in the lead
were getting intimidated.
Physically? No.
Spamming, jamming, online
raids... we had complaints.
I fully thought the game
would self-regulate.
I can't believe this is
happening to my game.
Oh, my God, that's Binky Moore!
(banging on window)
You are a god!
Slave-boy, let's go.
Can I get his autograph?
You're going to have
to adore him from afar.
The nerds love me.
I can't get anyone
from the Shadowhound
Brigade to play me.
Kali, Goddess of Destruction?
I picked it when I was 19, okay?
She's remarkably... hot.
Well, sexy avatars
get treated nicer.
Okay, this guy's not online.
Who's next?
Uh, let's see.
We've got... Spectre.
Spectre. (phone ringing)
No.
My publicist wants me to show up
early for that TV interview
so they can put
makeup all over my face.
I think you'd look
cute with eyeliner.
Yeah? Thanks.
Hey, so you going
to move in or not?
Spectre's online.
He's battling for control
of a transport station.
Let's see if we can get
a track on the IP and...
get a real-world location.
Finally, a real, live member
of the Shadowhound Brigade.
Spectre?
All right, I got him.
Yeah, Frank... Riegert.
All right, you keep him playing.
We're on our way.
(pounding on door) MEGAN:
Frank Riegert, FBI, open up!
COLBY: Let's go,
Frank, open the door.
(door bursts open)
Clear.
Oh, damn.
Megan, he's dead.
Smells like he was electrocuted.
Clear.
(fighting sounds on-screen)
Colby?
Yeah.
It's operating itself.
(grunting, blows landing)
Frank Riegert's dead.
What? His computer
is running the game without him.
(chuckling): A zombie?
No, then Riegert's not Spectre.
I mean, whoever
the real Spectre is
is controlling his computer
from somewhere else.
Are you tracing
his Internet location?
He's using dynamic
IPs; he's routing
through dozens of servers.
You know, it's sort
of like, um, like...
changing stolen
cars every few blocks.
You know, when a
car thief is in a hur...
I got it, I got it.
I stole his mojo bag.
Hold on, I have
to get out of here.
Uh...
she stole his mojo.
Okay.
Now I get to see
what he's hiding.
(tapping keys)
Is that GPS?
Yeah, 0600... 6:00 a.m.
Hey, Megan, we've
got a game clue
for another location.
(beeping)
Northgate Dam.
All right, we'll check it out.
You'll need us to figure
out clues at the location.
We can call you.
You couldn't decode
the roof clues.
You could be at
the site for hours
and not see anything.
Point taken.
COLBY: Guys, do me a
favor and stay behind me.
Yeah, stay behind him.
So, listen, with that GPS
you got there,
you've got 15 feet
of uncertainty
at every location.
All right, Amita,
you see anything
with that X-ray vision of yours?
No, but with my naked eye
I see a misaligned arrow,
which is a classic ARG clue.
It's 6:00 now. CHARLIE:
What about those rocks?
You know,
the way they're arranged...
Couldn't that be a clue?
AMITA: Oh, yeah.
Oh, there's something down here.
Wait, wait, wait, hold on.
What? Hold on, yeah.
What are you doing? Look, Charlie,
there's something else down here.
Well, be careful, okay? Okay.
It's a symbol.
Yeah, this is definitely
part of the game.
(alarm buzzing)
What is that?
Go back up the ladder!
Back! Get up quick!
Move, move, move, move!
Colby!
Colby!
Colby!
Call Don! Oh, God, oh, God!
(dialing)
Colby! We need help.
Colby's been swept away
at the Northgate Dam.
Grab my hand, Colby, come on!
Charlie, be careful!
Hang on!
(grunts)
Come on!
Charlie... Hold on!
Come on! Reach!
Come on, just reach!
I got you!
(grunting)
Just reach! (grunting)
Come on. Come on, man.
Come on.
Come on, man.
(grunts)
You all right?
You okay? Yeah.
Geez.
CHARLIE: We got to
get you to a hospital.
No, I'm okay.
Spectre tried to kill us.
Yeah.
Yeah, he did.
What's up with
you and the water?
Hey. Yeah, I'm fine.
Thanks for asking, Megan.
It was a setup.
Yeah, definitely.
I mean, that dam releases
overflow every morning.
How are you doing?
You really okay?
Yeah, I'm fine.
So Spectre set up a false clue.
Yeah, I mean, whoever
gets ahead of him
gets intimidated
or they get killed.
Now, did Spectre kill
Riegert, do we know?
We got e-mails on his computer.
They were accomplices.
They were definitely trying
to steal the million bucks,
but after Weyburn
was murdered...
Riegert got cold feet.
Yeah, Riegert wanted the money.
It was Spectre that
had other plans.
He was intending to open
some kind of a new game
called Chain Factor
with his prize money.
All right, so
Spectre and Riegert
were the only two real people
in the Shadowhound Brigade.
And now it's just
Spectre, right?
Yeah, who kills people by
faking accidents, and I don't think
this is a guy with a
previous criminal record.
I think this is his first foray.
I-I just think he's a fanatic in
the midst of a manic obsession.
If that's the case, it's
only going to intensify
as he gets closer to the prize.
All right, well, then, we
got to shut down the game.
Yeah, we do that, he's got no
reason to show up. Yeah, but...
if we leave it going, he's
going to mow down anyone
that gets in his way.
Hey, I know how
to trap this guy.
Yeah? Does it involve your
deceptive upper body strength?
That was pure adrenaline.
Listen, to win, Spectre
has to play the game, right?
We control the game,
we control Spectre.
We hack the hacker.
Shut it down and somehow
make him think it's still on?
No, we don't have
to shut it down.
Look, it's like a train yard.
Every player in this game is
a train coming into our station
and we send them all through,
but when we see Spectre's train
approaching, we sidetrack him
without affecting the
rest of the players.
How do we trick him
into thinking he's
playing the real game?
A mirror site.
Okay, it's like one of
those fake bank pages
that scammers put up
to steal personal data.
Look,
I'm gonna call the game company,
I'm gonna get them
to work with me on this,
and we're going to set
up the mirror site here.
All right, that sounds
good, go for it.
And you know... Amita
can play him online,
but, uh, no more
fieldwork for her.
COLBY: Where do you want them?
End of the daisy chain.
Translation?
That would be right there.
All right, you guys,
so just hit a bunch
of random keys,
all right, that'll make
the site look alive.
It'll make it look
like hundreds of people
are accessing it, okay?
As we lead Spectre to the
final clue for the Primal Key,
fewer people would be around.
Yeah, we can't let
him win too easily.
BRAXTON: Don't worry about that.
I'm going to get a few
shots into this guy myself.
And then we're
going to let him win.
Yeah, we will be the
swarming multitudes.
You are to fight
Spectre and then...
He wins the final
clue, taking him
to MacArthur Park
for the Primal Key.
And then we arrest him.
Okay, so everybody's
ready, right?
Here we go.
Come on...
Where is this guy?
Spectre won't
attack until we take
the lead.
Braxton, grab that ax,
chop down that wall;
there's something
behind it. All right, on it.
(ax clanging)
Good eye, oh,
Captain, my Captain.
Okay, he doesn't
want me in here.
MEGAN: That's
him, that's Spectre.
That's an ugly avatar.
Oh, he's talking to me,
in-game chat. I can voice it.
ELECTRONIC VOICE:
Kali, surprised to see you.
Were you unable
to decipher the clue
you stole from me?
I'm working on it.
I want my mojo back.
Come... and get it.
Can you trace in-game chat?
(grunting on-screen)
(weapons clanging)
All right, just let him kill
you so he can get the clue
and head over to the park.
BRAXTON: No, the fight's got
to look real. AMITA: Heal me.
Heal me, I need my arm.
I'm healing you
as fast as I can.
ELECTRONIC VOICE:
Kali, you are finished.
MEGAN: Let him win.
Easy now.
(weapons clanging)
BRAXTON: He's behind you!
(grunts)
Whoo!
You killed him. Oh, my God.
Damn it, Amita!
I'm so sorry.
It was reflexive.
I-I can't believe I did that.
All right, what now?
Well, um, I could IM
him, get him to meet me.
My suggestion:
We do nothing.
Now, losing one battle
is not going to deter him,
not if he's a zealot.
Kali is the focus
of his rage and the
obstacle to his goal.
He'll get in touch with you.
So what now, we just wait?
Can he even...
talk to you in-game
w-when his avatar's dead?
Yeah, I mean,
that's the only way
he can talk to Kali
is in-game chat.
(phone ringing)
I'm sorry, that's me.
Aah... I have to go do
that ridiculous TV interview.
All right, so what's the plan
if Spectre makes contact?
We set up a meeting.
No.
No more meeting her
in the real world, please.
AMITA: No.
No, no, not me... Kali.
Yeah, he doesn't know
what she looks like in person.
It could be me.
Right, I mean, it could be me.
Well, I'm just saying,
it could. I'd be honored
if you'd consider
joining our alliance,
or at the very least, giving
me your e-mail address.
Anthony, you've
been really helpful.
I'll be back as
soon as possible.
Okay, I'm going to
get you a ride home.
Bye, Anthony, thanks.
Bye, Charlie, have fun.
I'll be watching.
You didn't have to do this.
I-I really appreciate it.
Charlie, this is a treat for me.
Besides I can't help
it, I'm proud of you.
Well, you know, getting
up all early and all.
It's just, you're always
there for me and Don.
I should buy one of those
plastic "World's Best Dad" statues.
(chuckles)
You're buttering me up.
Well, I'd like to
broach a certain topic.
Go ahead.
I would like Amita
to move in with us.
You getting married?
(laughs) Nah, I'm just kidding.
I'm just kidding.
I know how things go these days.
Yeah, sure, she should move in.
Besides I've been thinking
about those condos.
Really, I mean, it's
a good time to buy.
The prices are coming down. Yeah,
but you wouldn't have to move out.
Not yet.
Well, what does Amita say?
We're in discussions.
Oh, that's, uh, that's good.
Uh, that's great.
What if he doesn't make contact?
Well, should Kali
send him a message?
Oh, he expected to win,
now he has to rethink his plan.
He's got no other play
but to be in touch with Kali.
Well, we've got no
other play here if he's not.
(phone ringing)
Oh, it's me.
Must be Charlie.
Hello?
MAN: I want the key.
Spectre.
How did you get my phone number?
I know who you are... Amita.
I need a trace on a cell phone.
Why should I talk to you?
I mean, I know where
the Primal Key is.
I have a proposal.
Believe me, you'll
come out better.
Maybe, maybe not.
Regardless, I'm not talking
about this on the phone.
You at your computer?
Why?
Triple click on your avatar.
H-How did you do that?
I want the key.
Okay, um...
Meet me at MacArthur
Park at... at 7:00 a.m.
What-what do you look like?
(line disconnects)
He knows everything about me.
Well, not everything.
He seems to think
you're a regular player.
What if he's just
setting me up? Amita,
we can pull this
off without you.
What if you don't get him?
He knows my address,
he knows my social
security number.
I mean, I think Spectre
will only show if I go.
We'd have undercover
agents, and snipers,
and you'd wear a two-way
earpiece so we could talk.
What if he knows I'm
working with you, and he just...
You'd have a bulletproof vest.
LARRY: A bulletproof v...
You know, I really think
we should consider
the alternatives here.
With the sting, we made
her Spectre's only rival.
She's our best chance, Larry.
But is she not
allowed to decline?
I'll do it.
I think we need
to talk to Charles.
No. Let him finish
his interview in peace.
And this whole
thing will be over
before he even hears about it.
With us this morning
is Dr. Charles
Eppes from CalSci.
He's written the first math
book you're gonna want to read,
The Attraction Equation.
Can you tell us how to find a
mate using math, Dr. Eppes?
Oh, well, you can
call me Charlie.
You don't have to...
Oh, I've developed
a new kind of math.
It's, um, sort of a calculus
of human relationships.
It's based in decision theory.
And it can help...
it can help people
choose a better partner
by mathematically predicting
which couplings have the
best chance at success.
Can you tell me why I
keep picking the wrong guy?
Oh, uh... well,
you might need to,
uh, put a little logic
into your romantic
equations, I guess.
Oh, maybe you can
help me with that.
Are you spoken for, Charlie?
I am. I am.
I'm dating a very
beautiful woman.
And I hope she's
watching right now.
Because she really is an
incredible inspiration to me.
Okay, Amita, there's a lamppost,
if you can see, right
up ahead on your right.
I want you to just
casually stop there.
Don't look at the cameras.
Megan?
Clear in all directions.
Colby?
Nothing
suspicious, Don.
(phone ringing)
Okay, go ahead and
answer the phone.
We got you on your Bluetooth.
Get a trace going.
(on radio): Take it
easy. Just answer it.
SPECTRE (on phone):
Go through the tunnel.
No, meet me by the water.
Feisty, and as pretty
as your pictures.
I like the way
those jeans fit you.
Okay, great,
so you can see me.
And I see you're not moving.
Okay, who's got a visual?
Anyone got a visual for me?
Negative.
All right, north side
of the park, guys.
DON: Everyone take it easy.
Amita, I want
you to turn around.
And just... just head
right into that tunnel.
(applause)
Hey. Hey.
Thanks for coming down, man.
All right, that went
pretty well, I thought.
Yeah, Charlie... I
screwed up a little bit,
Charlie... but
she-she was very nice.
We-we need to talk
to you. What's up?
It's about Amita.
Is she all right?
What's going on?
She's, um, she's
fine, she's with Don.
Um... Look, she's
gone to meet Spectre.
Where is she right now?
We can't interfere, it
would be too dangerous.
Where is she right now, Larry?
SPECTRE: I have a proposal
that will change your life.
Let's hear it.
I need a partner to
realize a vision unparalleled
in contemporary gaming.
A paradigm shift.
Now go toward that building
at the back of the park.
DON: All right,
listen up, everybody.
It's the old Community
Center at the northeast corner.
SPECTRE: We had a chance with
Primacy, but binko-assbite cashed in.
You work at Wolftrax Games...
Not anymore.
You're a smart girl;
read the signs from here.
Oh, come on, just talk to me.
Great reward
requires great risk.
Kali faces fear,
how about Amita?
DON: All right, Amita, don't go
in that building
until I tell you, now.
All right, sweetheart. Do not go
into that building
until I tell you.
Megan, you're in the front.
Colby, you stay with her.
SPECTRE: Consider an
emergent game economy
built around an abstract
combinatorial system,
played across worldwide
media, embedded virally
into Web sites, TV,
text messages, billboards,
even radio, beyond the
control of corporations...
Yeah, but for what purpose?
Step through the door.
Chain Factor. What
does that mean?
(line disconnects)
What's up with the trace?
(beeping)
He's inside the building.
Guys, he's inside
the building, all right?
He's inside the building.
Colby, you stay with her.
You got it, Don.
Megan?
We're in the building, Don.
DON: Amita, go ahead.
Don't worry. Don't worry.
Just go ahead in.
Colby, stay right with her.
All right, I'm going.
(echoing): Ready to make a deal?
What's Chain Factor?
The game I'll launch
with the million dollars.
But I have
the Primal Key location.
Want to join my alliance?
I get it.
You're playing with emergence,
where the game takes
on a life of its own.
Right?
Yeah,
it's all real life
and death now.
(man grunting, Amita screaming)
Freeze!
Let her go!
You gotta let her go.
Let her go!
You cheated!
Get down on your knees!
Hey!
Oh, God.
You okay? You all right?
Okay. I got you.
I got you. I got you.
Let me see. You okay?
Oh, my God.
Hey! What are you thinking?
I know, I know, I'm sorry.
Huh? How could you...
I'm sorry. It wasn't
his fault, okay.
It was my decision.
You all right?
I'm fine.
Come here.
I'm okay.
So Gary Meyers
worked at Wolftrax?
Yeah.
He was fired a few months ago.
You know, I actually
liked his ideas
about an emergent game economy.
Are you serious?
His obsession with control
is the opposite of emergence.
Emergence requires
allowing natural
and unexpected
changes to... to emerge.
So.
You know, uh,
speaking of emergence.
How are we gonna let
our little economy emerge
to the next phase,
Dr. Eppes? Ah.
I've been thinking about that.
I've been giving
it some thought.
And I thought I could sell
the house back to my Dad,
and we could just
get our own place.
Or, uh, we can get an apartment,
and you keep the
house as an investment,
and Alan could stay put.
Or option three,
my favorite option,
is my Dad buys the condo,
he's been talking about forever,
and we live in the
house together.
(sighs)
I mean, we could all three
live in the house together.
Though...
Let's just take the advice
of that popular new
author Charlie Eppes
in his sizzling, scorching hot
new book...
and apply game
theory to our problem.
Hmm.
Think of the possibilities,
assign values, then prioritize.
Hi. Hey.
How's it going? Oh, uh... Hi.
Uh, Larry's donating
all his books to
the library. Are you?
Well, that means you've
reentered your office,
I guess.
AMITA: You know, Larry,
you don't have have
to carry them by hand.
The library will
come pick them up.
Actually, I do.
I'm taking my office apart,
object by object,
releasing all attachments
to my former self.
So you're going through each
and every book to say good-bye?
It's true. ALAN:
By the way, Larry,
you do realize that by
emptying your office,
you're simply, uh,
making it possible
to collect more things.
Well, if the cycle repeats,
perhaps I'll start collecting
with consciousness.
Okay.
Well, I think I see
a condo in my future.
Not necessarily.
No, we have a plan.
Yeah, that's what I
was afraid of. Hmm.
You could move in with
me, but I don't live anywhere.