Original subtitles

My name is Thomas Vail.

Or at least it was. I'm a photographer. I had it all. A wife, Allison.

Friends, a career.

And in one moment, it was all taken away.

All because of a single photograph.

I have it. They want it.

And they will do anything to get the negative.

I'm keeping this diary as proof that these events are real.

I know they are.

They have to be.

When the people you love have betrayed you,

and you can no longer distinguish between what's real and what's not,

You begin to see the entire world in a new light.

Even the simplest objects take on a new meaning.

Hey, experience some change, man?

A pack of matches, a cigarette, a man trying to warm himself from the cold.

A single strip of film.

Thanks a lot.

God bless you, man.

Just when I began to accept the ultimate meaninglessness of Hidden Agenda,

I found new meaning in the negatives.

There was a small section of negative from the picture right before

Hidden Agenda that I hadn't seen before in any printed photograph.

The arm and shoulder of a man using a field radio.

The radio itself seemed normal, but as I continued to enlarge this section,

the frequency code stood out.

I thought you said you were an amateur.

I am an amateur, believe me.

Yeah? How'd you stumble onto this?

These numbers appeared in a photograph I took, and I had nothing better to do,

so I just thought I'd check it out. It's not a big deal.

This is a restricted frequency.

FCC keeps it clear for strategic air-to-ground communications.

I'm a novice, remember?

Reconnaissance planes, Air Force One,

generally things they don't want us to know about.

So you have any way of accessing this frequency?

Efficiency.

I told you, man, this frequency doesn't even exist.

It's a buffer zone between other secure channels,

and we could sit here for another four hours and not hear a thing.

Alpha Minor, 4,000 feet, passing Ice Station 17.

What the hell is this?

Yeah.

What the hell's that?

There's a trespass detection system built into this frequency.

They must be using some kind of satellite jamming

technology. Start pulling the plugs.

Which ones?

Only one you can find. We've got to shut this whole thing down.

There were two heritage houses in the greater DC area.

One was a furniture store, the other some kind of research company.

I decided to check out the research company first.

On the outside, it seemed like just another quiet brownstone.

I'll let him know.

Hi.

Can I help you?

I don't know. I was just walking by outside, and I saw your sign.

You're from Georgetown, right?

Why do you say that?

We get a lot of teachers and students who walk

in here wondering what kind of research we do.

And the answer is...

Enrollment demographics.

The science should actually say academic placement research.

All in all, it's pretty dry stuff.

What's your specialty?

Well, you could say behavioral disorders, disassociative states.

Sounds fascinating.

Yeah, it has its moments.

Look, would it be possible for me to use your bathroom?

I'm really not supposed to.

Okay, okay, no problem.

Well, you know, we're closing soon, so I'll just take you to the bathroom myself.

To the back, myself.

Because, you know, we have all these time locks and codes,

and they're really a pain, so... Follow me?

This is an interestingly designed building.

Yeah, it was like this when we moved in.

I think it belonged to some kind of government

agency, probably, you know, by our restaurant.

We're, uh, over here.

Thank you for walking me all the way.

Yeah, I'll, uh...

Besides the front and back doors, is there another way out of here?

Through the basement.

The basement. Wait, wait, wait, wait.

No, you can't go back in there.

We've got to get you out in the street where there's more people.

No, I can't. I can't leave. Come on, come on.

I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you.

What's your name?

Jenny, Jenny.

Okay, my name's Tom.

Tom Vale.

Listen, it's very important you try and concentrate on what I'm saying, okay?

Jenny, concentrate. Okay.

Okay.

What did you mean when you said it's not procedure?

It's really not an academic research house.

What is it?

What is Heritage House?

It's an FBI operation.

Nobody's supposed to know about it.

He worked for the FBI.

Now, what exactly do you do for the FBI?

I'm just a secretary.

Jenny, you've got to get a hold of yourself.

I want to help you, but I can't do that.

I can't do that unless you tell me what's going on.

Now, what are you supposed to do when something like this happens?

What's procedure?

We're supposed to make a phone call.

There's a... There's a bureau number that I'm

supposed to remember for special emergencies.

Well, good, then we'll find a phone, we'll make that call.

No, it can't be just from anywhere. It has to be from a specific place.

I'll take you there.

Brenda's my oldest friend. We're roommates at George Washington.

Well, it still doesn't mean it's safe here.

No, it's part of the procedure.

We're not supposed to go back to our own place.

We're not supposed to go to a husband, wife, or blood relative.

It has to be a place that's within the active

distance of the operation headquarters.

You're really not a college professor, are you?

I need to use the phone. It's kind of an emergency.

What isn't an emergency with you, Jen?

Sorry, hon. The phones are out in the building.

The super said the repair guy's gonna be here any minute. They'll be fixed.

If you guys want to wait, that'd be great. There's beer and juice in the fridge.

Sorry I can't be a better host, but I'm late for my date.

You just sit down and catch your breath here.

Drink this down.

So if you aren't a college professor, who are you?

I'm kind of a journalist. I'm just investigating a story.

What kind of story?

Well, the usual kind. Corruption in high places.

Conspiracy to cover up the truth.

And you think Heritage House has something to do with this?

I do now, yeah.

So what kind of work was really being done at Heritage House?

I really don't know that much.

But I had to get special clearance for the job and everything,

but I was just the secretary.

My God, I went to work for the Bureau because

I thought it'd be a way to meet cute guys.

Jenny, Jenny, just think.

There must be a reason the FBI wanted whatever

it was they were doing to be kept a secret.

You know, I thought there was some paperwork that crossed my desk once.

Some special operation they were monitoring.

What kind of operation?

Um...

I have no idea, but... But I think it was called Project Marathon.

I'm going now, Jen. It was nice to meet you.

Oh, the repair guy's on his way up to fix the phone.

If you guys can wait till he's done, that would be great.

Thanks, Brenda.

Brenda? Hey, how long ago did the phones go out?

Brenda?

I'm here to fix the phone.

Okay.

Go on, then.

Thanks.

It's right here.

Are you okay?

Let's get out of here.

Do you have anything on you they might be using to track us?

What do you mean?

Well, they got to Brenda's almost the same time we did,

which means they either knew ahead of time where

you'd be going or they're tracking you,

which means they've got a homing device planted on you.

Oh, my God.

I'm supposed to wear this at all times. Everyone in the building has one.

What?

This is some sort of homing device.

Oh, wait.

I don't understand.

They're probably monitoring everybody else in that building.

Who are they?

Well, either the FBI themselves or... What?

I don't know. I mean, some other government agency maybe,

and maybe somebody who has nothing to do with the government.

Do we get him at that phone call?

I know. Before we do, I want you to think real hard, Jenny.

Is there anything else about Operation Marathon that you can remember? Listen,

somebody just tried to kill your entire office today.

The procedure that you're supposed to follow almost got both of us killed.

I'm not asking you to completely trust me.

I'm just asking you to trust them a little less.

Well, I can't be sure about this,

but I think Marathon was monitoring another intelligence agency.

Another government agency?

No, not one of ours, but there were all these codes that couldn't be broken in.

I dated one of the analysts for a while, and he said that...

They discovered that there is this surveillance equipment that was more

sophisticated than anything anybody in the entire world was using.

Okay, let's make the call.

This is Fire Chief.

Yeah, this is Jenny Hsu.

Everyone's dead, and they just made a second attempt on my life.

I want to speak to the assistant director in charge of Heritage House.

Codename and section.

What?

Codename and section.

Oh, code, uh... Codename Firebird, section 12.

Hold the line.

I have orders to get you to a pickup area.

No, no, no.

You're not coming in there. They either play it your way or not at all.

Yeah, I don't think so. I don't trust anyone anymore.

You either put me through to the assistant director or I'm not coming in.

I said no interruptions.

All right.

Uh-huh. Patch her through.

This is Assistant Director Robman.

Can you prove that?

Who is this?

A friend. I'm a friend of Jenny's shoes right now.

Maybe I can be a friend of yours, if you help us.

Let me talk to her.

Just say hello.

This is Jenny.

Look, I want to keep this moving.

Look, I need more verification than that.

Look, you'll get your verification when you bring us in.

That's what all this is supposed to be about, isn't it?

But was a telephone repairman supposed to pave the way?

Yes.

I don't know anything about a telephone repairman.

Well, he came for us at the first pickup spot.

He's dead.

A lot of people are dead.

Your people, right?

You're the one responsible for them.

That's right. Well, then you bring us in by yourself.

We're not gonna trust anyone else. That's not procedure.

Well, procedure seems to be getting a lot of people killed.

Okay, there's a paper rack on the southwest corner of 5th and G Street.

Take a paper from the bottom of the rack.

Come alone.

For all we know, one of your people could have sent the phone man.

Seven o'clock tomorrow morning.

Wait a minute.

Bob, it's going into a garage on 21st Street.

I'm unarmed. He's in the car.

Give me your coat. Put your hands on the trunk of the car.

All right.

Tell me your name, and then very slowly, show me your ID.

I am Assistant Director Stanley Robman.

Who am I talking to?

Tom Vale.

Take your jacket off.

Now pull up your shirt.

Look, I'll do whatever you say,

but you should know I am not wearing a wire or any kind of homing device.

Why should I believe you?

Because it's the truth.

The truth is whatever people like you say it is.

People were killed yesterday at Heritage House.

There's no mention of it in the entire paper.

Because we are trying to keep a lid on it until we know what the hell is going on.

So tell me about Project Marathon.

I can't do that.

It's privileged information.

Is that what you're going to tell the families of those dead agents?

Listen, I just need to know enough to make me believe that you're real.

The clock is ticking, Robman.

You want to drive over to the Washington Post,

give them the address to Heritage House? We can do that.

Marathon is about mind-control experiments.

Does that mean anything to you?

As a matter of fact, it does.

Who's conducting those experiments? We don't know.

That's the reason for the secrecy.

That's the reason Heritage House was set up in the first place.

Now, it is your turn to answer questions.

You're not getting what I know that easy.

We've lost our tail on Rodman.

What about picking up on the FBI's own surveillance?

We tried that.

Even his own people aren't following him, which is extremely unusual.

Maybe not so unusual.

Rodman probably thinks he's got a traitor in his ranks.

So what do we do now?

We do absolutely nothing.

They'll be coming to us soon enough.

How did you wind up at Heritage House?

I intercepted a radio message on a restricted frequency.

All it did was mention Heritage House. I had no idea what was going to happen there.

Now, I need you to tell me everything you know about them.

Other than what we've been able to stumble onto, not very much.

Please, please put the gun down.

They seem to be some kind of private security operation.

With what seems to be unlimited funding and access

to the most sophisticated intelligence equipment,

and as far as we can tell, no ties to any government agency.

What about foreign governments?

The end of the Cold War changed all that.

Nobody has the resources these people have. How come nobody knows about them?

Why hasn't their existence been made public?

Are you serious?

You know what the public's reaction would be with Congress?

There's a super secret intelligence agency out there that no government

agency can penetrate that may in fact be screwing with our lives.

Do you realize what kind of panic, what kind of paranoia that would cause?

I know that by keeping it a secret, you're allowing them to flourish.

First things first, I need to debrief both of you

on what happened yesterday at Heritage House.

You in particular have more information about

these people than anyone we've encountered.

What do you want?

Everything you've got about them.

Proof that what you just told me is true.

I can show you the proof,

but you'll have to agree to come to one of our safe houses.

How safe is safe?

After what happened yesterday, I can't make any guarantees.

And neither can anyone else.

It's a videotape of one of their experiments.

I think it was taken with hidden cameras.

Aces over tens.

Oh, man, we've got to be cheating.

You guys are too cheap to cheat.

That must be the pizza guy. They always get lost coming out here.

Another camera picks him up in the hallway. The voice was enhanced by them.

Hello?

Hi, Paul.

Just thought I'd see how you are doing on such a rainy day.

Just thought I'd see how you are doing on such a rainy day.

Hey, while you're up there, grab me another beer, will you? Hey, me too.

He sits there for another ten minutes.

Then when he comes out of whatever state he's in,

he puts the gun in his mouth and...

It's a diabolical scheme, really. They're creating perfect assassins,

impossible to trace because of the people themselves.

They don't even know they're assassins.

Why kill all those people at Heritage House now?

Well, we can only assume it's because we're getting close.

There's this house in the country we have under surveillance.

We think that's where these videotapes came from.

We were gonna raid it last night,

but the massacre at Heritage House forced us to postpone all that.

When are you going out there again?

Tonight. Take me with you.

Okay. Why not? Well, for one thing, it is an extreme

violation of protocol. Oh, screw protocol.

You think the people you're up against pay any attention to protocol? Come on.

And for another, you are too valuable to risk in a field operation.

I want the same things that you want.

I can give you more than you ever dreamed of.

I'll give you names and places and dates.

All right, Vale, you can come along.

But you stick to me, like glue.

Fine.

Yeah, thanks. I know these people.

Okay, I'll just be a little while.

All right?

Tom?

I never thanked you for saving my life.

Hey, hey.

Likewise.

I never would have made it through this without you.

Let's go.

This looks familiar. This is where they shot the

video. All right, listen up. This is Robman.

I want a full forensics team out here immediately. That's blood, fiber, DNA,

the works. I also want the perimeter sealed off with additional security.

Nobody gets in here without my approval.

Sir? Yes?

There's something in the basement you should see.

Looks like this is where they process the video.

No, this isn't video.

This is state-of-the-art photographic equipment.

There's an enlarger... digitized imager.

This is what they used to alter the photo.

Alter the photo?

What do you mean, like the picture of Oswald smiling in

his backyard with a rifle he used to shoot Kennedy?

Yeah, that's exactly what I mean.

I get the feeling you suddenly know something I don't know.

This whole thing started with a photograph. It's called Hidden Agenda.

Can I see it? No, I can show you a print.

A print?

What about the original negative? No, I don't have it.

Why do I get the feeling you're not telling me the truth? Look,

I can show you a print that I made from the original.

I just can't show you the negative itself.

All right, well, that print will have to do.

They're getting closer.

I think it's time we made a phone call.

See these palm trees to the side of the gallows here? Yeah.

They were digitally added after the original photograph was shot.

You know, I've seen altered photos before.

I've looked at this particular photo a thousand times.

Unless you were using the same kind of equipment we're using right now,

there's no way you could have known.

Look at these shadows back here.

I've enlarged this 80%, and even the smallest background

shadow matches up with the rest of the elements.

Exactly how much of this photo's been altered? It's gonna take hours to tell that.

I'll have to do several generations of blow-ups and

then scan every line of shadow in each generation.

Let me know when you're done.

Thanks, man. Sure.

I've been trying to quit these things for 15 years.

Every time I think I get it licked, something like this comes up.

There's trouble with this business. Something always comes up.

All right.

I pretty much laid my cards on the table.

I've got a videotape of mind control experiments.

I've got an empty house where these experiments or tests or whatever

the hell they were are supposed to have taken place.

And now I have this photograph, hidden agenda, where you claim it all started.

That's where it all started for me.

Well, why don't you tell me about it? Why don't you tell me the whole story?

Because you may never have a more captive audience.

Okay.

These people are the same ones that killed your agents.

Want the negative.

And basically, they've taken my life away from me trying to get it.

And in the process, they've forced me to question everything

and everyone that I ever thought was real.

What about the photo itself? Where was it taken?

Well, I thought I'd taken it in South America, but about a month ago,

a defector from the security organization, as you call them,

gave me directions to a place about five miles from the Capitol building,

just a wooded bluff on the other side of the Potomac, and...

The same Gallows was standing in the middle of a clearing there.

And except for the people and the palm trees,

it was the exact same place where I thought that I'd taken the picture.

So you weren't surprised when our technician said the photo had been altered? No,

it just confirmed what I'd been suspecting for some time,

and I tried to blow the photo up myself,

but obviously I don't have the equipment that you do.

This site where you took the photo, can you take me there?

Yeah.

Yes?

Sir, Agent Stafford in photo analysis found something.

Look at this area here.

Long sleeves were digitally added to this man's shirt.

This is what I found underneath on the original. It's a sequence of numbers.

Looks to be similar to the numbers used in the concentration camps by the Nazis.

I'd have to run more tests to be absolutely certain. What does this mean to you?

Come on, Robin, don't back out on me now. What does it mean?

It means that the man may or may not have been in a concentration camp.

That's impossible. Listen, I may be confused about where the picture was taken.

I'm not going to forget what I saw.

That's all.

The men who were hung that day weren't even alive during World War II.

Nobody is questioning what you saw, Bale.

We agree the picture has been doctored, right?

Right? We agree the picture's been doctored.

We agree the photo has been doctored. We don't agree on anything else. Dale.

You're holding something back from me.

Try to verify those numbers. Talk to me, Rob.

I'll talk to you in the car.

I need you to take me to the site where this photo was taken. Excuse me, sir. What?

We're having a problem with Jenny's shoe.

You can speak freely, Stiles.

She's starting to freak out.

She says the only person she trusts is a... Well, call in a doctor.

Tell her to give her Haldol if he has to.

What the hell is going on? Listen to me, Vale.

The debriefing and ultimate care of Jenny Hsu is none of your business.

Well, I'm making it my business. I want to take her with us.

That is totally out of the question. Well, then break out the Haldol for me, too.

I'm not taking you anywhere.

I think we're getting close to Highway 23. There's

a turnoff up here on the right, about a mile.

Rodman.

Well, if you're certain about that, you better notify the director immediately.

No, that's the way it has to be. From now on, everything is on the record. Got it?

You want to tell me what that phone call just confirmed? I can't.

Listen, I thought we had a deal.

I thought we were going to share what we knew equally. Tom,

there are some things that if you knew about

them would endanger your life even more.

You know more about them than you're telling me. That was the deal.

Just take me to the gallows.

After that, I'll tell you the rest.

Bye.

You know, I think it'd just probably be better if you stayed with the car.

We're just gonna be gone a couple minutes. Jenny,

there's a 9mm in the glove compartment of the car.

I'm sure you won't need it.

Let's go. Okay.

You're expecting trouble, aren't you? No.

No, it's just it's been a while since I worked in

the field. I want to be prepared, that's all.

It's just up ahead.

This is the place.

Is this the place? This is it.

Hudson, this is Robman. Match the GPS coordinates off my car.

We're about 150 yards northwest of there. I want a full forensics team out here.

Also, I want NSA authorization to use satellite photographs

of this area over the last three years. Got it?

Roger, sir. Right away.

All right, good.

Let's go back to the car.

Who was the man with the numbers on his wrist? I can't tell you that.

Who was he?

His name is Matthew Balkin.

He's a United States senator.

He disappeared mysteriously about nine months ago. What's his connection to me?

There may not be a connection.

Balkan was in the concentration camp when he was 10 years old.

The numbers on his arm were the only reason we were able

to trace his identity so quickly off that picture.

He wasn't in the picture, Robman. I was there.

I'll never forget the faces of those men. They're etched permanently in my mind.

At one time, you thought the location was permanently etched on your mind.

You thought the picture was taken in South America.

These people can do whatever they want, Tom.

They can even mess with your memory.

All right, look, I, uh... If there is something I can give you, it's in my car.

It'll tell you everything I know, but after that I won't be able to help you.

You understand?

It's in the trunk.

Just thought I'd see how you are doing on such a rainy day.

On such a rainy day. On such a rainy day. On such a rainy day.

On such a rainy day.

On such a rainy day.

Get her in the car. You all right? Yeah.

Bullet went right through me.

Hurts like hell.

I'll take care of her, Tom. She's my responsibility.

She's a victim of one of their experiments. She's not one of them.

There's a black-handled screwdriver in the trunk of the car. Get it.

What? Get it!

Unscrew the bottom of the handle.

There's a safety deposit box at the National Bank in Silver Springs.

Everything I know about them, everything I know about Senator Balkan is in that box.

There's also something about you in that, Tom.

About me? Yes, it's in the box. Read it. I'll get the hell out of here.

Go, get the hell out of here!

Don't you realize I can't even trust my own people?

May God help you, Tom.