Establishing shots of D.C. flash by. Inside the grim, gray, blocky Federal Reserve, the usual tedium is shattered by dramatic music and a computer monitor that reveals a "secure transfer in progress." The Federal Reserve is being hacked into and robbed! For $2 million! The guards at the screen are flummoxed. Another suit stammers, "H-how? This is a secure system!" Because hackers are smart and can house you, dude. The four cyber-thugs have never met IRL, or "in real life" to you non-nerds reading along at home. They're going to rendezvous in Berlin, Germany. Leader of the Pack is amazed that the geek brigade would risk a meeting so soon after the robbery. Jake's mouth parts a little bit when she says she plans to send someone undercover to infiltrate the ring. They have all the background info on Hacker -- he got a PhD at fifteen, went to work for a software company, Banatech, then quit six months in after he accused them of stealing his ideas. He's been underground ever since. And probably more bitter, isolated, and paranoid to boot. Leader of the Pack is all, make a list of who is available to go over to Berlin, and Jake is all, "Uhhh...if ever an assignment screamed Agent Foley..." Leader of the Pack doesn't think so. "Agents train for years to do this kind of thing." Jake disagrees. "They aren't drug dealers, they aren't terrorists! They're nerds! They're nerds gone wild! These are my people." God, that's brilliant. It's the same reason I got so excited over a Turbonegro sticker, or why Keckler is obsessed with this show: Finding your people is rare. When it happens, you have to run toward it quickly. The question is, will Jake be lured away to run with the geeks that live outside of the law? We shall see.
The Man peppers Jake with spy technique and tips; don't dig for info, let it come to him, and if they start asking questions, walk away. Jake takes a wad of Euros and is all, "These are COOL!" Jake? Sorry, he's still paying attention. He knows where his safe houses are, and his cell phone that operates as a streaming video camera is for sending back images of the other hackers. And no weapons. Jake will be alone and unarmed. His only defense is knowing Hacker inside out. He has twelve hours to absorb every jot of information and "become him." Jake looks rightfully intimidated.









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