Original subtitles

They have introduced a worm into the government system.

It's looking for something. But what, exactly? We don't know!

Vadim? Saara says you have something.

A long alphanumeric.

Possibly a ciphertext.

Can we have it?

It could be really important to us. When I'm safe.

We need Vadim Trusov.

We've got an attack coming out of China at present,

and he holds the key.

The MAC address was stolen on your login.

It can't be.

Barbara Napier. I left her at the terminal.

Wait, you want me to do something for you?

Are you out of your mind? No, no, no.

These are very serious allegations you're making here, Phil,

about a senior and widely respected colleague.

I'm not making allegations.

Sorry, just too much Chinese slang.

Calvin is all over it.

Charlie. You OK?

I need to ask you a couple of questions.

Fine. Um...

How about later this morning?

I've got a team briefing first thing.

I'm afraid it needs to be now.

Of course.

What's going on?

Let's talk in private.

Sure.

REPORTER: Britain is at a standstill. All UK flights are grounded.

Banking systems are down, and the FTSE 100 has hit a new low.

KNOCKING

Come in.

Cabinet Secretary's on the phone. Thank you.

PHONE RINGS

Cabinet Secretary, how can I help you?

Trade and Immigration are still down.

It's a disaster and you pulled the plug.

Get us back online now!

HE SIGHS

Well, it's been a while since I've been in here.

Had a refurb?

So what's this about?

I'm sorry, this feels strange.

What is it?

Could you read this statement from Phil Draper, Malware?

SHE CLEARS HER THROAT

Do you remember this?

October 2022.

Yeah, it was a CCP malware attack, I remember.

What did you do at Phil's terminal?

What did I do?

Not very much, actually.

You sat there for ten minutes and didn't do much?

Sorry, should I have done something?

Charlie, what is going on?

Did you access the MAC address at Phil's terminal?

Charlie, why on earth would I do that?

You were there for ten minutes.

Someone accessed the MAC address in that time.

Was it you?

Of course it wasn't me.

Barbara, please...

...this is difficult.

SHE SIGHS

The Chinese was slang.

I couldn't translate it.

I needed someone with better demotic proficiency

so I brought another linguist down to do the job.

Who was it?

Calvin is a friend and a colleague. I...

No, I'm not going to throw him under the bus.

His family in China got into trouble.

We helped them out.

He's happy to help us.

And afterwards? What happens then?

Then we'll take care of him.

Calvin Song.

Wait here.

Joanna.

DOOR CLOSES

You need some rest.

I'll work through it.

What have we got?

Take a look.

We've analysed the worm.

It's built to evade whatever anti-malware we throw at it.

Trade and Immigration are still offline.

It's contained there for the moment, but if it breaks out...

Home Office, NCA, MOD...

And through us into the American systems.

We cannot afford to piss off the Americans again.

We need something heavy-duty.

Lieutenant Williams?

Ma'am? You remember, against ISIS?

Tar pits.

It's a virtual deception network

that mimics the systems a malware is targeting.

The worm jumps inside and then we trap it.

Well, I'm feeling better already. Let's go.

DOOR OPENS

Charlie, what the hell is going on here?

HE SIGHS You're free to go.

Right.

Thank you.

I'm sorry you had to go through all of that.

It's fine.

Does that mean that Calvin accessed the MAC address?

RADIO CHATTER

PHONE CHIMES

It's from Saara.

I gave her the new burner phone number.

Aw, you keep your girlfriend up-to-date.

She says to stay where I am.

When the trade talks in London are concluded,

they will send an embassy car from Hong Kong to meet me downstairs.

They will provide me with a diplomatic visa

and I will be taken directly to the airport.

Sounds easy-peasy.

When do these talks finish?

Um, she says it could be days.

You tell your girlfriend

she doesn't get her code unless I...

You'll get your Bitcoin.

And she's not my girlfriend.

Mm.

And be careful with this thing. Oh.

MUSIC: Miss The Girl by The Creatures

OK, so what now?

We wait for these trade talks to end.

HE PUFFS

Many people who lose their social credit...

...they must wait in their flats like prisoners for years.

What do they do?

"Use their inner resources."

That's what my mother would say.

I'm not sure I have any.

I'm sure you do.

Let me check.

Is it here?

Or how about here?

Or how about...

...here?

You're enjoying this, aren't you?

Phil!

It was nothing - family emergency.

Welcome back. Thanks.

Glad you're back. Join Max's team.

He'll update you, OK?

MAX: Everything all right?

WHISPERS: Message from Charlie -

he thinks you should go and see Barbara.

Shit. It's adaptive. What anti-malware have you tried?

DOOR OPENS

There you are.

I've been looking all over for you.

So, um...

...Calvin...

Yeah, I heard.

I'm sorry.

Are you OK?

I mean, there's just...

There's just so much to deal with.

There's...

...the damage assessment,

and with the trade talks, it's just...

It's just a mess.

Is there...

...anything that you want to...

...talk about?

No, I don't think so.

I...I wanted to, um...

What?

Oh, damn it.

I'm gonna have to go - I've got a call with the Foreign Secretary.

I'll, er... I'll see you later. OK. OK?

OK. OK.

Sorry to keep you, Foreign Minister.

Had a bit of a domestic emergency.

I think you'll find we've got a bit of national emergency.

Which is why I had to close down the systems at Trade and Immigration.

Yeah, unfortunately just as the Prime Minister

is entering the final round of talks at Admiralty.

Yeah, with the very state players that are attacking us.

If this thing gets into the NHS alone,

life support, dialysis - they'll all go dark.

People will die.

Is signing this trade deal today THAT important?

This is why I wanted to have a word with you, all right?

Just you and me.

You won't be bullied, will you? I'm starting to see that.

It's admirable.

But maybe political pragmatism will work.

The PM wants this deal.

He says he's not gonna jeopardise the future of 70 million people...

DANNY SIGHS ...just because GCHQ

can't get this thing under control. Come on.

But it's also about something more important.

His legacy.

His place in the history books.

Yeah, I know, I know.

Political pragmatism, Danny.

China is his big thing.

It has been for a long time.

When he was my junior at Trade,

he was the one who pushed through that nuclear deal.

Now, he wants nothing less

than resetting China's relationship with the West,

and you, me, even GCHQ,

we are just a means to that end.

And the worm?

I've heard it's a potentially nuclear-level threat.

Wow, I'm flattered - you're quoting me back to me.

Can you just give me something?

Are you any nearer to finding a fix?

We're working on something -

Roz Cavendish, myself, the whole team together.

OK. OK, that is good to hear.

Right, I'm gonna go back in there

and tell him that I hauled you over the coals but you're nearly there,

and that crucially, for him...

...we're not gonna rock China's boat. Yes?

Thank you.

Political pragmatism, Danny.

Now you owe me.

Have you got a question,

or are you just here to see how it's done?

How near? Near.

Good. Do you have a minute?

Guys, can we have the room, please? Yeah.

Thank you.

DANNY CLEARS HIS THROAT Marston.

What about him? We're not really that close, Danny.

Him and the Prime Minister - what's the deal there?

Like I said, we're not close.

Marston was president at the Board of Trade

when Makinde was a junior there,

then Makinde leapfrogged Marston and everyone else

and got the top job.

Richard's... pragmatic.

I always understood he was just

hitching his waggon to the greater star.

Makinde's got more of the common touch.

And you're sure there's no more to it than that?

No, but I don't think about it that much.

Like I said - not close.

And I've got a tar pit to build.

OK, thank you.

It's clear now...

...that our colleague, Calvin, has been working for a hostile power.

But this news does not make Calvin a monster.

He is a good friend and colleague.

We don't know what pressure he was under,

what threats were made.

We have to be dispassionate in our judgment,

and compassionate towards him...

...focus on ourselves...

...on our mission, on recovery...

...and don't let the corrosion spread.

QUIETLY: Thank you, team.

They've already cleared Calvin's desk, Barbara.

VIDEO CALL RINGS

We'll connect these virtual nodes to the infected network.

The nodes replicate the pattern of the worm's first few moves.

The worm thinks it's entering a real server.

It jumps inside.

And then it loops?

Exactly. It's trapped.

And we can also have a good look at it then.

Excellent work.

HE SIGHS

And you need to access these files why?

I'm concerned that there's something underpinning

the Government's lack of support

for our response to the worm attack

and I think it dates back to the China nuclear energy deal

a few years ago.

Marston and the Department of Trade

were given a clean bill of health at the inquiry.

Makinde was Marston's junior Trade Minister at the time,

but he was never investigated individually -

the whole focus was on Marston.

I searched the National Security holdings

and I found these recordings, sealed.

MI5 saw fit to bug the negotiations,

extracts from which were redacted and sealed

on the day Makinde became Prime Minister.

Look, firstly, you know material is redacted for all sorts of reasons -

an off joke about President Xi or some such.

Well, then why are they in our holdings, sealed, then?

Because, I imagine, we did some translation,

interpretation or security work on them.

It was before my time.

But I can't...

Danny, I know relations between you, indeed, us,

and the Government are strained...

...but you have no proof

the Prime Minister is in any way influenced by China.

Open them yourself, then.

Listen to them.

Tell me there's nothing in them.

If I were to open these files, it would doubtless be flagged.

I mean, it could be seen to be a declaration of war.

We do security and technology, never politics.

That is our line in the sand, is that clear?

Yes. Of course.

DOOR CLOSES

HE SIGHS

Are we nearly there? Minutes away.

We're installing the tar pit into all the gov.uk startup services.

The tar pit launches when we reboot the servers.

It generates virtual IP addresses.

The worm thinks they're real IPs and propagates from one to the next.

It's like a hall of mirrors.

All that decoy data you added - beautiful script.

You worked in the field, right?

GCO, tour of Afghan, Kandahar.

This is very touching, but we need to go live ASAP.

We're ready, boss. All integrated.

OK, Max, call heads of IT at Trade and Immigration,

tell them we're putting them back online.

Oh, and you might wanna let Number 10 know as well,

and the Foreign Secretary.

Courtesy.

Roz, when you're ready.

Here we go.

It's found our fake host.

We've got it. It's trapped.

Yes!

Let's get Trade and Immigration back online.

Great work, everyone.

Maybe you should come with me.

Your friend's gonna get me a visa?

I could ask.

Give up my whole life?

Maybe I like my home and my city,

my family and my friends.

Everyone always thinks Chinese people

are the way our government wants us to be -

no individuality, hardworking, obedient.

Try being Russian.

When I was younger...

...all I wanted was to run away from my family.

I blamed them for being obedient.

But now...

Now I see it's because they loved me.

They wanted to protect me.

And I'd be scared to leave them behind.

The MSS are already watching.

Blind obedience is all they want.

I can't live like that.

PHONE CHIMES

Ah!

Ugh... SIREN WAILS

INDISTINCT SHOUTING

Fuck.

RADIO CHATTER

Move, Russki!

They told me to wait where I was. So they can pick up your body?

Only an idiot would trust the English.

Hey. What?

Cage. In. What?!

Now. What are you doing?

Ordering a parcel delivery. Go!

RATTLING

APP CHIMES

Tell your friends we need their help now,

not after some piss-assed talks with CCP.

All right, all right, the worm has officially been contained.

Government systems are back up and running.

Roz, Saara, Phil... COMPUTER CHIMES

...Lieutenant Williams in particular, excellent work.

Enjoy the moment.

But containment is not a victory.

We still need to know what it's after...

...OK?

Danny. Yeah?

It's Vadim, on Discord.

The safehouse where he's been hiding has been raided.

They're trapped in the building.

We have to get him out.

MI6?

Well, we'd need the Foreign Secretary's permission.

And he'd need the PM's sign-off.

And he's not going to do anything to put his trade deal at risk.

But we need that ciphertext. It's the key we've been looking for.

Now, we can't afford to wait for MI6.

We've got to get him out ourselves.

If you're not comfortable with that, I understand.

Williams, I'll need you in the comms room with me.

Saara, of course. Max, you're watch officer.

Yeah, go.

OK, where are we at?

Assembling the picture on the ground.

Yeah, make contact, Saara. We need visuals.

Here we go.

Saara? Vadim, this is Danny Patrick.

I'm with Lieutenant Colonel Roz Cavendish.

Now, we're gonna get you out of there... Uh-huh.

...but we need that ciphertext.

How about he gives it to you in person, Mister,

when you get him to England?

Like I said, we'll get you out.

Over to you, Saara.

Vadim? Yeah?

What do we do, Saara?

We're tracking you through the phone -

do not switch off.

There's a fire escape door on the ground floor.

There's an alley.

I've texted a friend, a delivery driver -

is it clear for him?

Checking. WILLIAMS: I'm in the CCTV.

Alleyway is clear.

OK, we've got you, Vadim.

If we can see Vadim and Hai, so can the MSS.

They'll be here soon.

We'll introduce a frequency shift.

We overload the building's power system

by pumping in a dirty signal -

knocks out the cameras and lighting.

Police.

CRASHING

Roz here.

When we pull the lights, keep still, wait for them to pass,

then run for your lives, head to the harbour.

OK, frequency really climbing now.

Can it go faster?

WHISPERS: Come on, come on, come on.

DANNY: They're right on top of them.

Nearly there.

Right, here we go.

All right, it's happening.

Good, CCTV's offline.

Come on, Vadim.

Come on.

LOUD CRASHING

Go, go, go, go, go, go!

VADIM PANTS

Run, Vadim.

VADIM GRUNTS

What's happened?

We don't know, Saara.

Shit! End the surge.

We've done what we can.

Has this been actioned?

Yep, that's been done.

Well... Barbara?

Charlie.

I've got some bad news.

I wanted to tell you before the rest of the department found out,

but... it's Calvin.

He's been found dead.

What?

In his cell, hanged.

Hanged?

PHONE LINE RINGS

BUSY TONE

Fuck!

PHONE LINE RINGS

VOICEMAIL: Your call cannot be taken at the moment.

Please leave a message after the tone.

Nicky...

Fuck!

Danny. Barbara had it sent up.

Danny, come and see this.

Do you need a minute?

Er, no, I'm absolutely fine.

They're alive, but Hai's got a problem.

Well done on getting yourself out of that building.

Where are you now? Hai's friend, the delivery driver,

took us here in the back of his truck

and gave us this phone, but we can't stay here forever.

Don't worry, we'll get you out.

And if they can get Vadim out, they can get you out too, Hai.

Hai, what's the problem.

She texted her sister...

It doesn't matter - we got out.

We can't sit around talking about our problems.

You need to get Vadim out of China, Mister.

Tell us when you can.

What?

What are you looking at?

It's not your fault your parents have been arrested.

Hai, the CCP are vindictive...

...like Putin.

But I am the cause of this for my family.

No, no, THEY are - the CCP, not you.

You heard him - he's going to get both of us out of here.

Maybe if they have me, they will let them go free?

We both know it doesn't work like that.

Back in the car.

What the fuck, Mum? Back in - now.

It's, um...

Change of plans - you're spending the weekend at your granny's.

No, I've got a date. Elliot, car - now!

This is not an exercise.

Go. Go!

It smashed through our defences, yours could be vulnerable too, but...

...whatever it's looking for, it's connected to the ciphertext.

I've known you for 15 years, Michaela.

I've never asked you for a favour like this.

I wouldn't waste your time.

Dan, if this asset is as hot as you say,

I still don't get why you don't extract him yourselves.

Well, neither do I, but I intend to look into it.

In the meantime, the clock is ticking.

I'll run it by General Perez.

HE SIGHS

HE SLAPS THE DESK

SHE SOBS

Subtitles by Red Bee Media