Original subtitles

Previously on 9 -1 -1 Nashville.

What's up Nashville?

Alright, have a good time!

Who the hell is that?

This is your brother.

If y 'all were to just about to offer me that job, I'd like to take you up on

it. I got a very unhappy call from the mayor.

They're about to hit us with a major round of cuts all across city service.

You want me to call my father -in -law? I knocked your teeth out! My name is

Arielle McKenzie.

We're here because your city is rife with inefficiency and waste. Yeah,

are getting fired.

I'll call the mayor. I'll tell him to expect a wire transfer tomorrow.

You have to fire at Blue Bendings. Did you actually try to blackmail my father?

I found out your dad's been up to some pretty shady stuff.

Last flood alert.

Toxic spiel alert.

What the hell's going on?

We've been hacked.

Tornadoes?

Hold

still,

boy. I'm stuck.

It's okay.

It's okay.

It's okay.

Oh, no.

Okay, okay, get in there, Willie, Willie. Calm down, calm down. You're

me and you can't panic.

It's panic what got us into this.

Calm down, calm down, calm down.

We'll find a way out of this.

Guys, they're talking about the hack.

There was panic in the streets today as tornado sirens blared across Nashville

and citizens were bombarded with emergency alerts.

Warning of everything from earthquakes to missile strikes.

But Mayor Lowry is urging calm, saying this mishap was simply the result of a

glitch in the system.

A glitch. Here's what he had to say ahead of an emergency meeting with city

leadership. I want to assure everyone that there is nothing to fear.

I'm told that these alerts were a result of a harmless error in the emergency

alert system, which is hopefully being corrected as we reboot everything.

Glitch. That's a creative way of saying citywide hack.

So politicians see best with bad news. They spin it.

They're not the only ones. We're still completely locked out of our system.

And we've got less than three hours to the hacker's deadline.

God, I hope they just pay this ransom so we can get done with this. Yeah, you

too, but $10 million is pretty steep, and I don't think the city is exactly

eager to spend money right now. Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of.

All right, I'm going to get a protein bar before the meeting. You want

No, I'm good.

This is live. Leave a message. And I'll call you back.

Hey, honey, I just want to check and see if you're okay. I got to step into

emergency maintenance. I'm going to have to turn my phone off. But I know you're

mad at me. Just leave me a message. Tell me you got this, all right?

I love you.

Here's what we're going to do.

I'm going to call home, and they're going to come get us, okay?

I just have to get my saddle back.

Okay. Okay.

I'm going to get my phone.

Oh, ah!

You're gonna have to do this the harder way.

Okay.

Let's get you out of that and then we'll be on our way.

Turns out I also hurt my ankle.

Just means you're not going to be wearing heels for a while.

Easy, easy, easy. Calm.

Calm, calm, calm.

I just need to cut you loose from the fence.

All right, good boy.

Okay, hold on. Let me get this for you.

Easy, boy.

Easy. I don't feel so well.

Hold on.

Wait! Wait!

Stop!

Willie, stop!

Abandon her!

Hey, it's me again. Just trying you one more time before this meeting.

Edward. Good.

You're here.

Yeah. City crisis meetings for all elected officials and stakeholders.

Yeah, well, we want to make sure we hear from the president of the Chamber of

Commerce. Our business community has been threatened by this hack, so I'm

to protect its interests.

I suppose you can buy a seat at just about any table.

Yeah.

Except my own family brunch.

You know what I can afford?

Save your firehouse.

If I fire blue.

Well, my offer is still on the table. So is mine.

You forced my hand, I got an itemized list ready to go to the press with all

building code violations of the Raleigh Empire.

Yeah. Yeah, I thought about it.

And?

I don't kneel to extortion.

Neither do I.

Well, then I reckon it's a game of chicken.

I think the city's in enough turmoil right now without us adding to it. I

just for the greater good, you and I put on smiles and play nice. Well,

how do you think I got through your wedding day?

My name is Special Agent Nick Turner, FBI Cybercrime Division. I've been

with investigating the ongoing ransomware attack on the city of

We believe these may be the same folks behind the L .A. hack five years ago

during which they knocked out air traffic control and the entire power

even emptied out the L .A. zoo.

If it proves to be the same group, you get a sense of the damage that can be in

store from when that clock ticks down in under three hours.

You think they could do the same thing here?

Or worse, yeah.

And what is the FBI doing about it?

Effective immediately, we'll be setting up an investigation command center right

out here in the emergency services call center.

To gather any clues we can about who's behind this.

Any chance you can stop them?

Before that clock hits zero, unlikely.

All right, so we have a decision to make.

We can pay $10 million, or we can follow L .A.'s precedent and ride this out.

Mr. Mayor, I believe Captain Hart would like the floor.

Go ahead, Captain.

As Director of Emergency Management, I can only speak for the first responders,

but... Given the potential outcomes here, I think the wise course of action

would be to pay the ransom, let the FBI continue doing their work knowing that

the city is safe.

Well, if the city was planning massive layoffs before the attack, we simply do

not have the funds.

I vote no.

Well, before we decide anything, I think it would be important to hear from our

dispatch liaison.

Well, it's not pretty.

Our CAD, cyber site, everything is down. We've been knocked back to the last

century. So basically, we're blindfolded with our hands tied behind our backs.

And now we're just waiting for the sucker punch.

The sucker punch, which we're not sure will ever come.

Agent Turner, have you ever seen a bad actor go through this much trouble on a

bluff? No.

So plane crashes, nuclear meltdowns, dam breaks, these are all potential

outcomes. Given these people's apparent capabilities.

Yes. Which would be a catastrophic loss of lives.

Not to mention billions in damages.

I'm with Captain Hart.

Me too.

All things considered, I think $10 million is a pretty small price to pay.

There's always a small price when somebody else is footing the bill.

Now, Agent Turner, even if we do pay up, what's to stop these hackers from just

stuffing the money into their crypto wallets and then demanding more?

Nothing. I've seen it happen before.

Exactly. That's why I never give in to extortion.

because he just encourages people to take advantage.

Now, here's what I say.

I say we just tell him to go to hell.

I agree.

You reward criminals, they'll come back stronger.

I would like to see a show of hands.

All those in favor of paying out.

Opposed?

I appreciate all of your wisdom. Given the state of things, it is just not

feasible to meet the ransom.

Into the breach we go.

All right.

113. Just got off the phone with Cap.

The city is opting to not pay the hackers.

And the timer goes off in two hours, which means we're on high alert. And

he gets back, we're going to emergency tactical operations.

That means you can all expect to be in the field at all times.

Right. Have that ambulance fully stocked and ready to go.

Can refill the O2, but I can't get any meds until the pirates let me back into

my machine.

Just do what you can with what you have. Taylor, clean and re -stock hoses,

please and thank you. Sure thing, Ray. Okay, everybody out!

Let's go! Thank you!

What can I do?

Uh, you can... sharpen tools.

On it, LT.

Hey!

Did Dad talk to you?

Yeah, he started to. We got distracted and had to go. Why?

No reason.

So we're back in the Stone Age?

Believe it or not, there was a time we did this job before the Internet.

This is called a phone book.

It pairs nicely with those landlines being installed at your stations.

Now, when you take a call, write it down on a strip and then hand it to a runner

who's going to put it up on the map so we can coordinate and de -conflict any

overlapping calls.

And if you get a call that you believe is related to the hack, immediately

notify Agent Turner or a member of his team.

Just give us a holler and we'll come running.

There's only an hour and a half left on that clock, so lock in.

Excuse me.

Hi.

Where do you think you're going?

We don't work here, actually. I'm Arielle McKenzie. We're from Haines and

Thurston. I don't care who you are. The facility is under lockdown for the

duration of the crisis.

Lockdown? We just saw all those city bigwigs come and go.

They weren't here when the hack began.

For our investigation, we need to interview everyone who was on site at

of the breach.

Well, that doesn't work for me. We have a flight to catch. Well, you're not

going to make it.

When you entered here, you consented to all Department of Emergency Operations

protocols to remain on site.

Maintaining communication blackout in the event of confidential threats to the

public. Well, they're only confidential because you people lied to the public.

Above my pay grade.

In the meantime, Agent Hess, Cortez, rest of the team, please collect all

phones, smartwatches, and digital devices.

Ma 'am.

Fine, but when I get this back, I'm calling the ACLU. Happy to give you my

number. Tablets, too, please.

Oh, but...

Ariella likes me to take notes, so I'll... Anything connected to the

should be considered compromised, all right?

There you go. Thank you.

Hey, cadet!

You're doing it wrong.

Really? That's how it says in the manual. You don't trust the manual?

going to trust me.

Give it here.

So you were using a bench grinder.

Yeah.

That was not a question.

That was your first mistake.

Instead... Oh, let's stop.

Watch this.

Circular motion.

Is that

a circle?

That is a circle.

That's a square.

Or more like a trapezoid.

Here, let me help you.

See?

That better? Mm -hmm.

Okay, hey, the hacking countdown is almost to zero.

Everybody's going to take a walkie just in case our digital radios go dark.

Get ready for the apocalypse.

Well, it looks like we're out of time.

Whatever happens, I'm glad I'm going through it with you guys.

Whatever happens, we got this.

We warned you.

God help us.

Skyla, I want you to know how much it means to me you came for this. Dad, I

wouldn't have met this for the world.

First mate Griffin.

Yes, sir. This is my daughter Skyla.

She flew in for my swan song.

Well, hello.

Hi.

You're really a first mate.

I'd tell you to take a break, but it looks like you were already on one.

I'll just take a lap around the deck.

Well, take your time.

He thinks he's the first mate on the love boat, not on the Capitol.

It is something, isn't it?

I'm going to miss that view.

Dad, you know, you don't have to retire.

You know, when I first started here, it took skills, years of learning how to

navigate. Then we went digital.

Computers, satellites.

All it takes is an app.

Anybody could steer this ship.

Even first mate Griffin.

You've been boarded? What the hell?

Throttle just opened. We're going way too fast and I'm not doing it.

Oh, God.

They're changing our course. For what?

They're going to crash the ship.

What's your emergency?

I'm in the Capitol steamboat. The boat has been hacked.

What's your name, ma 'am? Skyla.

I'm in the captain's bridge.

Agent Turner, it's the Capitol.

The steamboat, not the building.

A steamboat? It's the target.

Radio any vessels in the area to try to rescue them.

All right, Marine operations.

Here we go.

Marine 14, this is dispatch.

Okay, Skyla, my name is Cammie. Help is on the way.

Can you initiate a manual override of the ship? No, I don't know anything

boats. My dad is the captain, but he hit his head right when they changed

course. All right, are there any crew members there that can assist you to

regain control?

They lock the doors when they pick over. They're looking for something to break

the glass.

Okay, tell me about your dad. Is he conscious?

No.

He's still knocked out, but I am watching him, and he is breathing.

Okay, well, that's good. You said that they changed course.

Can you tell where you're headed?

It says 36 .16 degrees north and negative 86 .77 degrees west.

Stanley, latitude 36 .16 degrees north, longitude negative 86 .77 degrees

west.

Is the John Saganthala breach?

They're going to take it out.

Can we get the Coast Guard and Marine units there? They're at the dam. They'll

never make it in time.

You know what? Forget that.

I know somebody who's closer.

132, do you copy?

Yes, ma 'am. We are on district patrol. What's going on?

I need you all to respond to the Capitol steamboat.

What happened? She run aground?

No, we need you all to keep that from happening.

How are we going to do that with no boat?

I figured you might ask that.

Welcome to Barefoot Benny.

How can I help y 'all? We need a boat.

Okay. What kind?

Fast guy.

There she goes.

We'll get up as close as we can. Try and board on the starboard side.

All right, Garvin, I'm going to hand off to you.

Got to keep it as steady as you can so we can all climb aboard.

Okay, gang, get ready to board.

Astral FD, everyone remain calm, please. Stay away from the windows.

Have we been hijacked?

Yes, but not by anybody on board. Which way to the bridge?

Oh, just ahead and up there.

Do me a favor. Make sure everyone has a life jacket. Bear yourself for

collision.

Who's in charge?

Me. I'm the first mate, but the ship's not responding. The computer's disabled

all the instruments.

We'll get the ship.

We're headed for pedestrian bridge. You're telling me you can't stop this

It's steering us right for it.

Cap, ready to straight for a support structure.

Let's get the captain out of here. All right, boys, we got to get him out. Get

him outside.

How are they even doing this? I can't override the system.

Well, how about killing it all together? Can you do that? Well, yeah, but then

we lose control of everything.

And so do they.

Do it.

Navigation's dead, but I can't shut off the engine.

Without the computer, there's no way to control it.

Dispatch, I really hope you all cleared that bridge.

We're working on it.

Could he hit his head? Yes. He's not waking up.

Oh, sir, wake up.

It's not working. Gonna have to try something a little bit more painful to

him.

Ow! That's good.

Welcome back, Captain.

Say yes if you can understand me. Yes.

Can you tell us how to turn this boat to the left?

The tiller.

There's an arm in the stern compartment.

And the port anchor.

It'll drag us to the left.

You find the tiller arm? I'll take the anchor.

But even that might not be enough.

That's okay. I got an idea that might give us a boost.

Uh, Harris, Garvin, I got a job for you guys.

I need everybody off the bridge now!

Let's go!

Let's go!

Okay, let's go! No way!

Damn, stop!

I'll grab it. Tiller arms should be back here, hooked up to some kind of

hydraulic. Right here.

Here, right?

Yep.

All right.

Everybody grab hold, and on three, we're going to push port side.

Three, two, one, go!

Come on!

Come on! Come on!

Damn it!

Everything we can is not budging. Get with it. We're about to get ahead.

Got it. Hook it in.

Oh, God.

Inspector, this is 113. We are clear of the bridge. I repeat, we are clear.

Yes!

Yes!

Yes!

That's what I'm talking about!

Let's go!

Oh, I love you guys.

You guys are amazing.

Suck on that, hacker. This is nasty.

Hey, what's happening?

He's resetting the timer. I'm raising the ransom to $15 million.

Why would he do that? He just lost.

He's sending us a message.

He's just getting started.

Maybe a little more strength.

And if it still doesn't stop bleeding, then there's an urgent care between 5th

and 7th. Hang on one second. It's 1954 7th Street.

What's the cross street?

That's all right. Can you just ask a friend?

Yeah, okay. Okay. Thank you. Good luck.

Sorry. Ms. Rowley.

Yes? A minute.

Now? We have another attack coming.

I know. In five hours.

I want you to know you have the right to have a lawyer present.

Why would I need a lawyer?

Well, before we arrived today, we found evidence suggesting that the hack was

launched when someone gained control of a root account for Nashville Emergency

Services. You mean it started here?

Easiest way to take over a system is from the inside. That's why I locked

the facility.

It was your brainchild to put this operating system in place?

CyberSight, is that correct?

Yeah, I bankrolled it with my late husband's estate. I didn't personally

the software.

No, but you still have the top administrator account, passwords.

So?

So, we're taking a hard look at anyone who could be responsible for the breach.

You mean me?

That's insane.

Would you be willing to take a polygraph to that effect?

With the clock ticking down to the next attack? Absolutely not.

I'll rephrase. If you don't, we're going to have to pull you from the floor

immediately. And trust me, you're going to want that lawyer then.

Fine, let's get this over with.

Sir, the mayor would like a word before the press conference? I'll take it.

Get her hooked up.

Yes, sir.

Hey, Yvette.

Yeah, has Blythe come back from her ride yet?

No, Willie's still not back, but she said she was going to be gone for a few

hours. Will you please ask her to call me when she gets back?

Of course, Don. Will do.

Thank you.

Hey, you spoken to your mother?

No, you haven't talked to Blue yet, because he has no idea he's about to be

off. Well, I'm hoping he won't be.

Does that mean Grandpa changed his mind about making you fire him? Don't worry

about that right now. We've got bigger fish to fry.

I need you to call your mother.

Why? Because she won't take my call and I want to make sure she's just mad at me

and it's not something else.

Why would mom be mad at you?

She's mad that I threatened to blackmail your grandfather.

You did what?

Trust me, he had it coming to him.

That's the only way I could stay blue.

Okay.

Honestly, I'm all for it.

What did grandpa do?

That's between me and him.

Hey, Mom, give me a call when you can. Dad's looking for you. Where are you

going? I'm going to go look for your mother.

Because she missed my call?

I've seen her take a call from you in the middle of the Grand Ole Opry.

She doesn't miss your calls.

What about the next attack?

You're in charge while I'm gone.

My fellow Nashvillians, earlier today, a group of cyber criminals commandeered a

steamboat and attempted to crash it with maximum casualties.

But I am proud to say they were foiled by our brave first responders,

the NFD.

And our city thanks your whole department, Chief Foster.

We're proud to serve, Mr. Mayor.

In the interest of public safety, the FBI has advised me to tell you that what

we had once thought was a simple software glitch was actually the work of

hackers. These cowards want to extort us from behind a screen.

We have a deadline four hours from now to pay a ransom. But as my dear friend

Edward Raleigh likes to say, we will not be extorted. This is Nashville.

We will meet this threat with courage and strong.

With courage and strong.

Joshua, you okay?

We will meet this threat with courage and big hearts.

9 -1 -1, what's your emergency?

The mayor just went down on live TV.

The mayor lost consciousness when he collapsed.

He mentioned anything about chest pain and feeling lightheaded before he went

down? No, but you should know he has a pacemaker. We share a cardiologist.

Mr. Mayor, wake up, please. Come on, can you hear me?

Back up.

Give him some room. Have some respect.

We'll take over from here, sir.

How's he doing? He is breathing, but his heart is just racing, and he won't wake

up. All right, say, let's get him on the life pack and run a line. I'll also

grab some salt. On it. Hey, Granddad. Oh, hey.

You okay? Uh, yeah. It was a hell of a thing. Yeah.

Ah. Welcome back, Mr. Mayor.

Well, what happened?

He collapsed.

Say, how are his numbers?

He's tacky, 287 and writhing.

What's going on?

The pacemaker should be regulating his heart rate, not speeding it up.

Pushing six makes him adenosine.

I told you to back up.

Man down.

We need a medic. All right. Create a path.

What is going on?

There's no need to panic, okay? Well, something's going on. People just don't

keel over for no reason.

What is happening?

Right, he's yours.

Yeah, I got him.

He's bradycardic.

All right, rest the shallow. He's shutting down on me.

Mine, too.

What are her symptoms, Blue?

Sweating, heart's racing.

His breath smells sweet, too. I think he's in diabetic shock.

That's a very quick read.

I know a thing or two about it. He's got an insulin pump.

Looks like it's malfunctioning. An insulin pump.

That's it. Rip it out of him.

Rip it out? Yes, and hit him with glucagon. Here.

Rye, check your guy for medical devices.

Yeah,

there's like a hard, round device in his abdomen.

Based on his symptoms, I'm betting it's a pain pump.

They're using it to overdose him. The locks don't snap.

Who's they?

You know some we don't, Doc? I think this is an attack.

Somebody hacked their implants.

You're okay, sir. You're okay.

I got you. Up, up, up. Right.

Anybody else with a medical device, please come forward.

I have an insulin pump, too. Turn it off now.

I have a Kegel port.

Pacemaker. Same as his.

Deep brain stimulator for Parkinson's. Can't shut it off.

All right.

Let's have all of you sit closer to us right here.

Okay, he's going back into V -tach. He's crashing.

Son of a bitch. He's going to stop.

Right. Taylor, swap his shoulder.

What's the plan, Doc?

They're using his pacemaker as a weapon.

We need to disconnect it from the heart.

You cut the deep, you'll hit the main attack, you'll leave, and you will kill

AR -5 TV.

It's a risk.

You're okay, Mr. Mayor.

We got you.

My God.

Who are these people?

Did you bottom up like I have? Yeah.

Brad and Marta are going to search along the river and try and test the hills,

but before they do... You and I will take the property line.

Mike, fly the drone and tell everyone to stay on Channel 3.

Okay, but Dawn, Blythe goes out for rides longer than this all the time. We

usually don't send out search parties.

You think it's over, Kel?

You know she hates being fussed over.

Imagine what she'll say if she comes riding back into the stables and

that we sent out every hand.

I don't think that's going to happen.

Willie!

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

He's bleeding.

No.

That's not his blood.

Anybody recognize this barbed wire?

It's from around Kingdom Ranch.

Show me where.

She's all hooked up, sir. Yeah, she's been all hooked up for the last two

Your baseliner?

Yes, sir.

Is this some kind of power play?

Put me on ice while the doom clock ticks down to the next attack? The next

attack already happened.

What?

But maybe you knew that already.

No, I didn't. That doesn't make any sense. We still have three hours left.

Let's begin.

Did you know that Mayor Lowry had a pacemaker?

No, why?

What about Comptroller Atkins and the police commissioner? Are you aware that

they have medical devices?

No.

Wait, are you saying that somebody hacked their medical devices?

All three of them? Are they okay?

You know, I think this will work better if I ask the questions.

Thanks.

Have you ever shared your administrator password with anyone?

No, not a soul.

You haven't left it around the office?

No. Maybe at the house with a made -to -find boyfriend.

Happens all the time.

I clean my own home, and I haven't been on a date since my late husband passed,

so you can rule out boyfriend.

I am not a careless person, Agent Turner. I didn't have anything to do

this.

Tell him if I'm lying.

She's telling the truth, sir.

Thank you.

Now tell me what the hell happened to that press conference?

Light!

Where are you?

Hey, look there.

Light!

Those willies? These his reins?

Must have gotten caught.

They probably bucked her.

Don, there's blood here.

Now I know why she didn't answer.

What?

She went that direction on a bad leg.

How can you tell? She's dragging a tread.

What? It wasn't even a trail.

This is Roxy.

It's Cammie. You have a second?

Yeah. You got me on speaker with Taylor. Hey.

Y 'all responded to that attack at the mayor's office, right?

Yeah.

What a mess.

I have a question that might sound strange.

Shoot. I was wondering if you could tell me about the folks on scene with

medical implants.

They're all in the hospital, but they're all going to make it.

Actually, I meant the people who didn't get hacked.

I spoke to the dispatcher who took the call. He said that you separated out

everyone from the group who had a medical implant.

As a precaution, yeah.

Can you remember the people from the group who weren't affected?

Who weren't? We don't usually take notes on who we don't treat.

It's important.

Oh, Fire Chief Foster had the pacemaker, and then Vice Mayor Johnson.

Councilwoman Perkins.

And there was one other at the head. There was another one.

By any chance, was it Councilman Garcia?

Yeah, Councilman Garcia.

That was the other.

How'd you know?

We might have a bigger problem than we realized.

How we doing, honey?

How we doing, huh?

Much better. Here, let me sit you down. Yeah.

Gently, gently.

Place.

Send a pin. Tell them we are. Tell them to send the paramedics.

He's at the base. Just sent y 'all a pin.

We found her. We need EMS out here right now.

Hold that tight. Right there.

Her pulse is ready.

We need to give her some fluids.

Hold that high.

Squeeze that.

Is it working?

No.

She's lost too much blood. We're losing her.

What do we do?

We give her more.

We don't have any blood in the kit.

It's not coming out of the kit.

I'm O negative.

Universal donor.

You're going to do it here?

No.

We're going to do it here.

I could ask you the same thing.

I think y 'all are going to need to take me to the hospital.

That's the plan.

She's up.

Hey, sweetie.

Hi, Don.

Daddy. Hey, you're blind.

Y 'all are together.

Am I hallucinating?

No, no, it's real.

Your husband called me right after he found you. Yeah, your dad came straight

away. He even grabbed you a change of clothes.

Oh, so did y 'all make peace?

Well, sort of a ceasefire.

And we both agree that we love you more than we hate each other.

Oh, that's...

That's the strangest compliment that I've ever gotten.

Mom!

You're up. Yeah.

How are you feeling?

No pain right now. It's probably the drugs.

It is definitely the drugs.

Grandpa,

I didn't expect to see you here.

Well,

I didn't expect your mother to get thrown off a horse either, you know.

Last time that happened, you were, what, 15?

Yeah,

that's a good memory.

How's Willie doing? Oh, that's vintage blind.

Just asking about the horse's health rather than her own. Willie's just fine.

Not even a scratch.

What spooked him?

Um, there were a bunch of text alerts.

And then the tornado siren set him off.

What was that about?

The city's been hacked.

And it's still ongoing.

Next attack is supposed to be in an hour. Then what are you all doing here?

Didn't want you waking up in a hospital, though.

Well, I'm up now.

Go.

Sure. Yeah.

Go save the city.

Let's go.

Is stuff okay?

Yeah. Love you. Be safe. Yeah.

Looks like somebody's getting stir -crazy.

Lady wants out.

Oof, don't we all.

Hold that thought. Hold that thought.

I'm going to go use the restroom. Can you all cover for me?

Valentine's nature calls 9 -1 -1 -2.

What are you doing?

I need to talk to you, but it might sound crazy.

Um, okay.

Not as crazy as where you're saying it.

Sorry about that.

I think I know why the hacker jumped the gun before the clock ran down on the

next attack.

Okay, let's hear it.

Okay. Mayor Rowley, Comptroller Atkins, and the police commissioner, what do

they all have in common?

Enough with the drumroll. Rowley, we're in the men's room.

They all voted against paying the ransom in the crisis meeting today. But the

vice mayor, the chief, and Councilman Garcia, they all have implants too, but

they voted to pay. Do you think they just got lucky?

Huh.

So you're saying this is some master plan to clear a path to a payday? That's

exactly what I'm saying.

The only question is how the hacker knew which way everyone voted.

Because they witnessed it.

You agree?

It's like I said, the easiest way to take over our system is from the inside.

So do you know who it is?

Not yet, but now we know they're still here.

Okay, we're getting our ducks in a row, but we can't make a move until we know

for sure.

And until then, I need you to keep your head down, your eyes open, and watch

your back.