Original subtitles

Previously on The Institute...

Look, I've been thinking about what you said about

those motion cameras in the hallway, how they can

- detect your body heat. - I don't care, Nicky.

I figure if we can get into the AC closet,

maybe we can find a way to raise the temperature enough

to produce that motion white-out you were talking about.

I can't take you all the way to the fence,

but I can get you close.

Be in the laundry room by 11:30. Not a minute later.

I'm Kate, Kate the Great.

Oh. What do you do, Kate?

I run the local paper, Dennison Weekly Standard.

A journalist.

Anybody ever really, really look into the Institute?

I mean, like the Chief or inspections or anything?

Pretty sure it's federal. We don't have jurisdiction.

What exactly goes on in there, man?

Infectious disease research.

Really?

He's the new Dennison night knocker, the one I told you about.

The one who was talking to the crazy woman.

Yeah.

We should've taken him out, too.

You agreed it wasn't a problem unless she mentioned us.

Well, clearly, it's a problem.

We're a popular target for conspiracy theorists.

We've decided it best to confront them directly.

Once you're past the fence,

just head downhill right to the river.

You're gonna have to cross that river

and then walk downstream until you get to the Red Steps.

I'll come and pick you up once I'm off-shift.

I know a reporter. They're gonna tell your story.

What is this?

Show the world what goes on here.

♪ Shout, shout ♪

♪ Let it all out ♪

♪ These are the things I can do without ♪

♪ Come on ♪

♪ I'm talking to you ♪

♪ Come on ♪

♪ In violent times ♪

♪ You shouldn't have to sell your soul ♪

♪ In black and white ♪

♪ They really, really ought to know ♪

♪ Shout, shout ♪

♪ Let it all out ♪

♪ These are the things I can do without ♪

♪ Come on ♪

♪ I'm talking to you ♪

♪ Come on ♪

You're gonna have to cross that river

and then walk downstream until you get to the Red Steps.

I'll come and get you once I'm off-shift.

Oh, uh...

is there a problem?

Ms. Sigsby is not in her office.

We can't find her on any of the cameras,

but the log says she hasn't left.

Any idea where she might be?

Actually, I do.

HVAC room.

I know Maintenance is short on manpower.

Don't tell me they've pressed you into service.

When the air conditioning was on the fritz yesterday,

I figured it was just another sign

of this place being run down.

Sloppiness, carelessness.

But then, Maintenance got around to fixing it.

Turns out it wasn't sloppiness, after all.

Sabotage.

If one of our staff wanted to fuck this place,

there's a thousand ways more effective.

Who said anything about staff?

A child?

Which one?

Oh, which one do you think?

Ellis. Are you certain?

Well, he's due for the Box.

I'll just tell Tony to keep him in a couple of extra minutes.

I braced the night knocker.

And? Is he from Upstairs?

Almost certainly not.

My read, he really is just a drifter,

happened to drift here.

Mm. So...

not worth killing?

I'm not saying that.

What are you saying?

I've met guys like him in the Forces,

other places.

Once they get a hold of something,

you have to pry their jaws open to make them let go.

He won't stop.

So, we stop him.

Hey.

You've really been out there all night?

Uh, yeah. Yeah, I guess I have.

You find anything, at least?

Not sure.

I think I found the spot

where Zoe Sloane and her friends used to hang out.

Some kind of... cabin or something.

It's been torn down.

Not much of it left. It's probably Stackhouse.

He's probably lying about them the same way he lied about Annie.

That might be a leap.

Why don't you come back, tell me about it?

Yeah. Yeah, I will. I just...

I can't help but feel that I'm missing something, you know?

Something... something here is very wrong,

and nobody seems to give a shit, and I am the only one--

I give a shit.

Look, something's wrong, I get it.

Come back, I'll help you figure out what it is.

Also, I need my fucking car.

Tim?

Are you there? I've gotta get to work in like an hour.

Sorry.

I'm coming back now.

Thanks.

Okay.

Maureen.

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir. Right away.

Mr. Stackhouse needs to see you in Maintenance.

I'll hold your stuff.

He said it shouldn't take long.

Okay.

A guard says he found them in the Back Half rec yard?

I thought no one ever goes back there.

Mostly they don't.

What if one of the kids had found them?

Kids back there are hardly in finding shape.

I want to know who signed them out of Maintenance.

There must be a record.

There is.

And it doesn't interest you which of our employees

is capable of this level of carelessness?

Why? So, you can fire them?

Julia, you can't complain about a staffing shortage

and then try to fire the people you do have

over every little thing.

What happened to you?

Excuse me?

There was a time you never would have tolerated

this kind of breach.

If you're unhappy with my performance,

you can suggest our employers let me go.

You hate they gave me this place.

Don't you?

Passed over for a girl you trained.

Passed over for a girl.

Our employers, in their wisdom,

decided we were best served with an administrator at the helm.

Not my place to question it.

Your jealousy's making you sloppy, Trevor.

Is there something you wanted to say, Julia?

Was it Dr. Hendricks?

I notice

you two have been spending

a great deal of time together.

Find out who dropped the fucking scissors.

I wanna talk to them.

Hi. This is Maureen Alvorson from...

yes, that's right.

Um, you remember you said if I ever wanted to talk?

Well, I got a story that makes Watergate look like a walk in the park.

Anyway, I've got your source all ready to go.

I was gonna bring him to you, but...

I'm afraid there's been a change of plans.

Yeah.

Looks like I may not make it outta here.

So, I need you to meet him yourself,

get him somewhere safe,

make sure the world hears his story.

It... then, I'll let him cover all that.

you wouldn't believe me anyway.

He's expecting to meet me at the Red Steps.

Can you get there?

Don't worry about a thing.

You're a good person, Maureen.

Thanks.

Anyone with eyes on caretaker Alvorson,

she's wanted in Maintenance.

Are you okay?

You need some help?

Hey. Wait, wait. Whoa! Whoa!

It's okay, it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you!

- Stop! Stop! Don't-- - Okay.

- Don't come any closer. - Okay.

Okay. Easy. Just take it easy.

Are you with them?

Who? Am I with who?

It's okay, kid. I'm a cop, okay? Well,

I'm sort of a cop. My name's Tim.

Who's done this to you?

- Was it one of your parents? - No!

My parents are dead.

I'm sorry to hear that.

Look, I think you're telling the truth,

but I'm not strong enough to be sure.

- Right. - God, I wish Avery were here.

Who's Avery?

Look, kid, you're pretty banged up.

We should probably get you to a doctor or hospital.

No, no. No. I don't have time for that.

I need to get to a place called the Red Steps.

Do you know it?

Why don't you have time for this?

- You're in trouble, huh? - Look, you're not listening to me.

I need to get to the Red Steps.

You... You're not going to believe me, anyway.

Why do you need to get to the Red Steps?

Do you know it, man?

Hey, what are you...

Here.

Take this. You look like you're freezing.

It's okay.

So, what's at the Red Steps?

I'm supposed to be meeting someone there.

Uh-huh.

That's assuming Stackhouse doesn't sniff her out first.

What?

What'd you just say?

They... they watch their staff all the time.

They're paranoid about leaks.

No, the name.

What name did you just say?

Stackhouse.

He's the head of security.

Okay.

Here's what's gonna happen, we are gonna hike

back up to my car. It's not far...

- No, I need-- - ...from the Red Steps.

I will have cell reception there,

and you can tell me everything on the way.

You're gonna tell me your whole story, okay?

You're never gonna believe me, you know?

You'd be surprised what I might believe.

Come on. Come on.

Someone fucking get me Maureen!

Sigsby?

I suppose that makes sense.

She made a call a few minutes ago, said she wasn't gonna make it out of here.

A call?

She thought she was talking to a journalist.

Fortunately, for our short-term survival, she called my journalist.

You're welcome, by the way.

- She was leaking. - She was doing more than that.

She told my agent she'd just helped a kid escape.

- Impossible. - Exactly.

She was delusional.

- Zeke, I need a locater check. - On who?

I already looked. They're all here.

- All of them. - What?

Just do it!

I'm telling you, I've been through all of this.

Full house.

Twenty-eight locaters in Back Half, including Gorky Park.

Three in Front Half,

one in the cafeteria, the other in their rooms.

Yeah. I need visual confirmation.

Are you serious?

First order of business, get someone in here, cut down--

- Joanne? - Go ahead.

Joanne, I need a physical head count.

- Okay. Got it. - Gorks too.

Stand by.

We're checking Front Half ourselves.

Close the door.

Telekinesis? That's like...

that's like the power to move shit with your mind?

I told you you wouldn't believe me.

Yeah, you get that from inside my head?

Well, I don't need to if it's on your face.

But you can read my mind?

Sort of. I'm not very good at it.

Mm-hmm.

I can't get real words, really. Just feelings.

I know how it sounds.

You think I'm having some sort of break with reality

or maybe the beginnings of schizophrenia.

Don't worry, it's what I'd think.

I didn't say that. I know Stackhouse is real.

The rest of it is a little weird.

What is that?

It's a flash drive.

I know it's a flash drive. What's on it?

No idea. Maureen gave it to me "in case."

You wouldn't happen to have a laptop on you, would you?

Maureen, she's the housekeeper, orderly, whatever you said?

- Yeah. - You meet her and then what?

She takes me to talk to a reporter...

who'll probably think I'm as crazy as you do.

I didn't say that.

Subject Benson, confirmed.

Joanne for Sigsby.

Go for Sigsby.

We're full up back here. Visual confirmation on 28 out of 28.

One to go.

Zeke, where exactly is the locater on subject Ellis?

What do you mean, ma'am?

I'm showing him directly in front of you. Range less than two meters.

Come here. I wanna take a look at your ear.

Uh, that can wait. I mean, we should really keep moving.

The wound is wide open.

Last thing you need's it getting infected.

Who knows what's in that river.

You've got signal? Come on. Look up my name.

- Luke Ellis, Minneapolis. - Yes. I will, I will.

I'm really sorry, Luke.

Minneapolis PD says that you're a person of interest.

Of course I am.

God. These fucking people.

What? So, person of interest, what?

So, you're supposed to detain me now, hmm?

- Chief Ashworth. - Chief? Yeah, it's Tim.

I've got an emergency here. I got a kid who said... Chief?

- Fuck. - What happened?

The call must've dropped.

Signal's gone.

It's weird 'cause we've got line-of-sight here.

- It's them. - What?

It's them. They know I'm gone.

We gotta warn Maureen.

- Tim! How far to the Red Steps? - You don't really expect me

to take you down there just the two of us.

- We need to go-- - Fine, I'll go myself!

Will you wait, please? I believe you, okay?

I believe your story.

All I wanna do is help you.

So, if you... if you can read minds,

look in mine and you'll see I'm telling you the truth.

You don't really believe me,

not about all of it, but...

you do want to help.

That's fair.

Then, the best thing you can do for me right now

is just help me find Maureen.

'Kay, if I'm making it all up, there'll be no one out there anyway.

Hmm?

Fine. Ear first.

Hurry up, man.

She's got a load in her drawers.

I'm guessing she goes up the chimney?

As opposed to what? A proper burial?

Where do we keep her till then?

The Security Office.

And not a word of this to anyone.

'Course not, ma'am.

You gonna call him?

You know there's not a world in which this falls on only one of us.

First escape in 70 years.

Understood. Plenty of blame to spread around.

And the second I pick up that phone,

we're both going up in the chimney with Maureen.

Of course, there's a chance,

if we bring the boy back quickly enough,

we never have to make the call.

If we bring him back alive.

My asset has orders not to damage him more than necessary.

- Can she handle that? - A 14-year-old boy?

I'd think so.

I'm about to take a team to back her up.

I'll do it.

Julia, this is a field operation.

It hasn't been that long.

And I need you here anyway

to hold down the fort in case the kids have some...

other thing planned.

Just remember, you said it yourself,

there's no version of this

where only one of us goes down.

And I know whose head'll come off first

and roll the farthest.

Hey, hang back a sec.

I'm gonna go scope it out.

If anything happens, you make your way to Dennison

and you talk to Chief John Ashworth.

He will help you, okay?

You got me?

Yeah, okay.

Stay there.

Fuck this.

Maureen?

Holy shit.

Kate the Great.

Hey! It's you.

It's me.

What are you doing out here?

You said, "Maureen," right?

You're here looking for Maureen?

Well, she sent me.

So, I guess that means you've seen the boy.

What boy?

I just told you, Maureen sent me here to meet a boy.

She said that she just helped him escape from the place she works,

wants me to help him blow the whistle.

On the... sasquatch breeding?

To be honest, I...

thought she'd lost it completely,

that I'd come out here and not find shit.

But then you show up, asking for Maureen.

Hey!

Maureen sent me! I'm a reporter.

She wants me to tell your story. Did she tell you that?

She did, actually.

She's telling the truth.

I'm Kate.

Maureen never told me your name.

Luke.

Luke. Pleased to meet you.

Okay, first order of business,

we gotta get you somewhere safe.

Now, you're hiding something.

You're shielding.

What?

You were telling the truth... before.

About Maureen?

Something's changed.

Okay, someone's gonna need to catch me up here.

The kid says he's able to--

Your, uh...

your phone works out here?

Yeah.

Stackhouse. She knows Stackhouse! She's one of them!

Jeez, kid.

Where's the fire?

Relax.

It's okay. Just...

Whoa. Easy, easy.

Nothing personal. Wrong place, wrong time.

Oh...

Fuck.

Well, I guess they got Maureen.

But why only send one to intercept me?

What was that thing with the, uh... the tree?

That was you?

- Huh? - Yes.

Right. All right, we gotta go. Let's move.

We should look for a big city.

With an FBI office and... and a TV station.

Luke, somebody died.

Okay?

We gotta go to the police, we gotta find Chief Ashworth.

Except that woman shot at you!

Yeah, Kate.

Clearly the Institute's

got agents embedded into the local population.

So, don't you think the Chief...

- The Chief is not dirty. - Okay, and I bet

you would've said the same about Kate the Great

- before she tried to kill you. - I met her one time.

The Chief, I know. He's solid.

Look into my mind if you don't believe me

Looking in your mind doesn't tell me whether it's true.

It just tells me if you believe it.

Mm-hmm.

So, the Chief? You're sure we can trust him?

- You're ready to die on that hill? - We can trust him.

Sure hope you're right.

Otherwise...

we both die on that hill.

They found the asset's vehicle.

It's back in the woods on the north side.

- Any sign of her? - Not so far.

Stackhouse.

Yeah. Turns out your reporter wasn't up to it after all.

Doctor. A word.

Uh, yeah, a word... a word about...

Ms. Sigsby.

Ms. Sigsby. Uh, Jesus!

I, you know, I... this...

How 'bout this?

The two of you can have each other.

- Just leave me out of it. - You're babbling.

You know we have two kids left in Front Half?

Two! You have any idea what happens when we run out?

No more conveyor belt, no more replacing conductors.

Every keyhole brings us one step closer to the end.

These are long-view problems.

Yeah, not... not too long.

The rate we've been going through keyholes,

I guess it depends how you define "long".

It's why the first thing in every lab report

is to define your terms.

At the moment, I'd call a long-view problem

anything that doesn't relate to us surviving the day.

Why wouldn't we survive the day?

Your lady friend is out there right now,

trying to make herself the hero of this mess,

so she can hang it around our necks.

Not mine! I'm not... due respect,

I'm not in charge of security.

Do you really think the Committee will put this down to a security failure?

After Harry Cross...

and the twins?

You've seen how they operate.

They'll decide this place has a culture of mismanagement.

Means either you replace the head coach

or her assistants.

She wouldn't--

Of course she would.

So would you. So would I.

When it comes down to it,

there's no limit to what you'll do to survive.

So, what do you propose?

When the time comes,

you back whatever story I tell.

We present ourselves as the fix

for Sigsby's culture.

Yeah.

Right the ship.

And if we're in charge, there'll be no one to snitch

to Upstairs about us trying to develop a PC--

Long-view problems, Doctor.

Short-term, yes.

For now, let's just try to see tomorrow.

Well, that's exactly my predicament, Chief.

Mr. Hollister, I'm a little busy policing a whole town--

Chief!

Chief, this boy needs help.

Sit down.

What happened to him?

Who is he?

Luke Ellis, Chief John Ashworth.

Tim, this boy needs some real medical help.

I know, but first, you need to hear what he's got to say.

I'll get the doc.

That'd be great, Norbert.

Thanks, Mr. Hollister. Here.

Someone's gonna need to start filling me in.

The kid's got a flash drive.

Says it'll help back up his story.

What is his story?

You're better off, uh, looking at the flash drive first.

It'll save time.

Why? What's on it?

I don't know.

Chief, please.

Trust me.

It's okay.

So?

Some kind of video.

I have eyes on the boy.

Well, I guess we better watch it.