FBI: Most Wanted (2020) s05e03 Episode Script
Ghost in The Machine
1
We arrested 19 individuals,
seized command and control of servers
in six different states,
and recovered $23.5 million
in fraudulent wire transfers.
And that's why you don't mess
with a computer nerd.
[LAUGHTER]
A round of applause
for today's guest speaker,
Agent Hana Gibson.
Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
Thank you so much.
I appreciate the opportunity.
Thank you. Have a great day.
Agent Gibson, you are a badass.
- Oh, Hana is just fine.
- I'm Kat.
Well, Katherine Vaughn,
fellow nerd and soon-to-be fellow agent
at the New York field office.
And can I just say today's lecture was
exactly what I needed to hear.
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
It's just the culture around here
can be a little run-and-gun.
My passion and,
well, my degree, actually,
is in computer engineering.
I joined the bureau
to take on cyber threats
exactly like this botnet you took down.
You're heading to New York
after graduation?
Yep, just waiting to see
what squad I get assigned to.
Do you know where you want to land?
I think I want to be you when I grow up?
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
Hey, no promises, but here's my info.
I will put in a good word
with SAC Castille for you.
Oh, my God. Seriously?
- Thank you.
- Of course.
See you around, Kat.
[SOFT MUSIC]
♪
[UPBEAT ELECTRONIC MUSIC PLAYING]
Hiya, freaks.
I hope you're sitting down
because I have some huge news.
Night mode on Poppy.
AI is officially live!
For just $5 a minute,
we can take our relationship
to the very next level.
Want more sexy one-on-one time
with your very own virtual vixen?
Click the link in the bio.
Who loves you? Pop, Pop, Poppy.
[MUSIC STOPS]
[SIGHS]
That oughta wet their whistles.
Right, Oliver?
Mm.
Mm.
Let's see what they have to say.
Gross. Porny.
Corny. Blocked.
[NOTIFICATION CHIMES]
Who are you?
Want to be my agent or something?
Holy crap.
These people rep everyone.
[GASPS]
Sounds good.
I'm sorry, Oliver. Mama's going out.
[UPBEAT ELECTRONIC MUSIC]
Insane, insane,
insane, insane ♪
So you're an actress or something?
Content creator.
I'm here for a business meeting
with reps from the Weizenbaum Agency.
- Have you ever heard of them?
- No.
Poppy Lee?
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Sign here.
[SOFT SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
♪
Business meeting, huh?
Scared money don't make none.
Hello?
I tried knocking.
In here.
♪
Hi, Poppy. Thanks for coming.
Where's the rest of the team?
Well, you, me, and
Mr. Weizenbaum makes three.
He just ran out to grab some ice.
Should be back any second.
Um, I think I left my phone downstairs.
I'm just gonna go back to the bar
and grab it before some
[TENSE MUSIC]
I was just leaving.
[SCREAMS] No!
Oh, my God!
- Help me!
- Poppy!
Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
Get off of her! Poppy!
[POPPY SCREAMING]
Oh, my God.
♪
He's at the Colure Hotel.
There's an assault happening
right now! [GASPS]
Oh, my God! He's choking her!
I think he's gonna kill her!
I don't what to do!
♪
Poppy Lee, social media maven,
was brutally murdered late last
night at a hotel in Williamsburg.
- I've seen her before.
- I bet you have.
Poppy recently partnered
with AI startup Borstone Tech
to clone herself.
Fans pay by the minute for voice chat
with this Poppy. AI bot,
which promises an intimate
girlfriend experience.
Phone sex with a robot.
And who says romance is dead?
It sounds like the perfect
recipe for a stalker.
How many horndogs in cyberspace
think that they're dating Poppy's clone?
Borstone Tech said she already
had thousands of subscribers,
and they've offered
to open their books to us.
They say threats are
apparently not uncommon.
Speaking of stalkers,
Poppy filed
a temporary restraining order
against her ex-boyfriend six months ago,
around the same time
that her chatbot went live.
What do we know about Mr. Personality?
Mason Jewel is an American
rugby player turned podcaster.
He has a history of violence
and extremely misogynistic views.
He might be hard to pin down.
There is a warrant
for statutory rape in Honolulu.
He allegedly slept with
an underage fan two months ago,
and he's been on the lam ever since.
Her address says
she lived in Connecticut,
so why was she in the city?
According to the hotel bartender,
she was lured from home
by someone pretending
to be a talent agent.
Room was registered
to a Joey Weizenbaum,
but that name and the Weizenbaum
Agency appear to be fake.
Address used by both
is a PO Box in Hoboken.
Crossing state lines is
enough for us to take shotgun.
- Any witnesses?
- One.
If you can even call her that.
A remote assistant, Alice Horvath.
She lives in Newark.
- Did she see the murder?
- Virtually.
She was live-conferencing in
when it happened,
and she saw it all from home.
PD already told her
to expect a visit from us.
All right, why don't you head
down to Newark and cover that?
Blast out photos of the
ex-boyfriend to local PD.
Drill down on that PO box
and whatever credit cards
were used to pay Alice
and the hotel suite.
Hana, you're with me to Borstone Tech.
Ray and Barnes, take the crime scene.
Let's get it.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
Bruising around the neck
and a broken hyoid
indicates strangulation
as the cause of death.
The 24 knife wounds appear to
be a post-mortem parting gift.
This guy obviously has
some anger issues.
100 bucks this is the ex-boyfriend.
Did we run a rape kit?
Yes, but there's no sign
of vaginal trauma,
no semen found on the body.
No prints on the weapon, either.
He probably wore gloves.
CSU did find some hunks of skin
underneath the victim's fingernails.
She must have fought hard.
Let's run that DNA through CODIS.
Maybe it'll pop
if he's already in the system.
Agent Cannon, I have something for you.
This is Jules, the hotel manager.
Hi.
What'd you get on the security cameras?
We don't keep cameras in
individual rooms or hallways.
Our guests value their privacy.
But I did find some footage
of a man claiming to be
Mr. Weizenbaum checking in.
♪
Well, you owe me a C-note.
That is definitely not
Poppy's Cro-Magnon ex.
Yeah, a few hours later,
he delivered an envelope
to Ms. Lee in our lobby bar.
Wait, you get many bike messengers
renting out skyline suites?
He had a credit card
matching the reservation,
so I checked him in.
Mr. Weizenbaum did
book his room over the phone.
I could find a recording of that call.
They're kept for quality assurance.
That would help.
Can you remember
anything else about the guy
facial hair, tattoos?
He had a beard.
And he was wearing one of
those Bike Bunny jackets.
What's that?
It's an app-based delivery service.
Send it quick, like a bunny.
Those guys hang out
at the Cambridge Skatepark
when they're waiting on their next job.
- Okay. Thank you.
- All right.
♪
These are most of the threats
that Poppy received
since the service went online
six months ago.
Most?
You run out of ink or paper first?
There's a lot of angry,
young men on the internet.
Why would Poppy subject herself
to this kind of mistreatment?
Why don't you ask her?
Poppy, did you hear
Agent Scott's question?
Yes.
The answer is,
there's lots of horny,
young men online
and women as well.
Well, that's super creepy.
Don't be rude, Agent Scott.
[LAUGHS]
You haven't taken the service down?
It's easy to turn me on
but harder to turn me off.
[LAUGHS] We can't afford to.
She's still making us
an incredible amount of money.
Dirty talk from a dead girl
doesn't bother your clientele?
I don't kink shame, Agent Scott.
- Poppy, pause program.
- [DEVICE CHIMES]
I invested millions
partnering with Poppy.
Plus, she signed away the rights
to her image and likeness.
So, for the time being, Poppy.
AI will live on
as virtual girlfriend to thousands.
That's a pretty
unconventional business model.
How'd you get started?
Poppy came to us with the idea.
It was great for her brand
and helped me finally turn a profit.
Before transitioning
into a companion chatbot,
we were peddling
AI-assisted grief therapy,
someone for sad sacks
who had recently lost
a loved one to talk to.
Big shocker: nobody wants
to invest in a grief bot.
Don't know why.
These are copies for you guys to take.
My contact info is inside.
Eric is our chief technology officer.
He actually understands how
all this mumble-jumble works.
So he'll be at your team's
disposal, whatever you need.
Do either of you recognize this man?
We believe he may be Poppy's killer.
He's using the alias Joey Weizenbaum.
Is that some kind of joke or?
Joseph Weizenbaum
is a computer scientist.
He created the first chatbot,
ELIZA, in 1966.
Where can we find Mr. Weizenbaum?
Uh, you can't.
He's been dead for 15 years.
♪
What about this guy or this one?
Take your time, Ms. Horvath.
I'm sorry, I don't recognize
either of those men.
It's okay.
What about the man who assaulted Poppy?
Did you get a good look at him?
Medium build, dark hoodie,
he had a knife.
I was on my tablet.
It was hard to see anything
in that hotel room.
What about your employer,
Mr. Weizenbaum?
- Can you give me a description?
- Unfortunately, no.
Up until now, we've had
a text-only relationship.
Okay, what does that mean?
I've never actually seen
or spoken to him.
- Even at the hotel?
- He was running late.
Texted me about grabbing some ice.
I turned on the webcam remotely.
Okay, is that normal
in your line of work?
I mean, that seems like a pretty
good way to facilitate a crime.
[SCOFFS]
I'm not naive, Agent Chase.
Sometimes what the client
pays for is anonymity.
Mr. Weizenbaum hired me
to make the company's Instagram account
with all those fake clients
and to message Poppy.
So that's what I did.
Can you think of anything out
of the ordinary about him?
He did have a habit of
texting me very late at night.
Sometimes it read like
he'd been drinking.
And on more than one occasion,
he called me Caty.
Caty?
Okay, if you think of
anything else, please call me.
Thanks.
♪
Excuse me. We're looking for a suspect.
He was last seen at the Hotel Colure
wearing one of those Bike Bunny jackets.
[LAUGHS] You eyeing my drip, hot stuff?
Actually, I'm admiring your e-bike.
I'm thinking about buying one.
Yeah, she'll peel your hair back.
- You wanna take a ride?
- Hey.
This guy is wanted for murder.
Have you seen him?
Are you serious? That's Hamza.
He's right over there.
Bet you another C-note he rabbits.
- Hamza.
- Hey, FBI.
Don't move.
Come on, man! Look, take your truck.
Sorry, I gotta take you up on your ride.
No! That's not what I meant, man!
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
[TIRES SCREECHING]
[HORN HONKING]
[GRUNTING]
- End of the road, Hamza.
- No, don't shoot.
I didn't kill that woman, I swear.
♪
If you didn't kill Poppy,
then why'd you run?
I saw she'd been murdered on the news.
I swear, man. Check my app.
I was slammed after that hotel job.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
♪
All right, he's telling the truth.
App says he was booked from 9:55 on.
He's got timestamps and GPS to prove it.
And who hired you?
- Who hired you?
- I don't know, all right?
The app masks all the personal data.
I picked up an envelope
from some fancy townhouse in Astoria
and followed the directions
on the inside.
All right, keep talking.
There's a credit card and a tablet.
I checked into the hotel,
set up the suite,
put one key card
in the men's room downstairs,
waited 30 minutes, then
delivered the second key card
to the poor woman at the bar.
Just on the hood, man.
I'll check the security cams
outside that men's room.
Whoever killed Poppy must have
grabbed the key card from there.
Where'd you pick up the package?
Right there. It's the address in Queens.
I'll call Remy and Hana.
♪
[POUNDING ON DOOR]
Easy on the door, bro!
- Mason Jewel?
- Yeah. Who's asking?
FBI. Thanks for letting us in.
Turn around, put your hands
behind your back.
You're under arrest.
- Don't you touch him.
- Step back, ma'am.
Your boyfriend is under arrest
for the murder of Poppy Lee.
He's not my boyfriend. He's my client.
Stephanie Carter. I'm Mason's attorney.
And if you'd like to speak with him,
we're doing this my way.
♪
[WHISPERING] Just be calm.
[DOOR CLOSES]
This is all some kind
of elaborate setup.
My client knows nothing
about this envelope.
And per the terms of his TRO,
Mason's had no contact with
Ms. Lee in the last six months.
He's a regular Mr. Rogers, huh?
Where were you last night
at around 10:00 p.m.?
On a video call with me
and the Honolulu prosecutor's office.
- We'll need to confirm that.
- Oh, please do.
They know us very well at this point.
Last night, we were negotiating
the terms of surrender
on this bogus statutory rape charge.
So I couldn't have killed Poppy.
Then why'd you rent
the room she died in?
It looks like we still have
a few suites available
on Friday night, Mr. Weizenbaum.
Would you like to book
one of those?
Which has the biggest bed?
That's not me.
- Sure sounds like it.
- I'm serious!
- Somebody is messing with me!
- Stop talking right now.
Let me guess.
You need a minute alone
with your Boy Scout client.
♪
[GATE CLANKING]
[INDISTINCT VOICES]
[KEYBOARD CLICKING]
[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
That's my girl.
[KEYBOARD CLICKING]
I love you, Caty.
I love you too.
♪
- [MOUSE CLICKS]
- Which has the biggest bed?
- [MOUSE CLICKS]
- Which has the biggest bed?
Which has the biggest bed?
[PHONE RINGING]
Hello.
Hana, it's Kat Vaughn calling.
We met at Quantico yesterday.
Oh, yeah. Hi.
- How are you?
- Fantastic.
I just got off the phone
with SAC Castille,
and she's putting me
on the cybercrime squad.
Thank you.
Oh, that's awesome. You deserve it.
I'm already in the city
apartment hunting.
I'm about to sign a lease.
Can I buy you dinner?
You have to let me thank you properly.
Uh, I'm actually
in the middle of a case.
I gotta go, but send me a text.
Congratulations, Kat.
Well, just got off the phone
with the prosecutor's office
in Honolulu, and they
confirmed Mason's alibi.
Both he and his lawyer
were on a conference call
while Poppy was being murdered.
Well, we know
he rented that hotel suite.
Well, actually,
I'm not so sure about that.
I've been analyzing that voice recording
from the reservation
something isn't right.
[MOUSE CLICKS]
Which has the biggest bed?
The words are too quick and clipped.
The transition from "which" to "has,"
it takes humans time to vocalize that
because of the shapes
that the mouth makes
to say the words back-to-back.
But if you isolate that part
of the recording
Which has the biggest
- which has the biggest
- [MOUSE CLICKS]
It's milliseconds.
It's a deepfake.
Which means somebody's trying
to frame Mason Jewel.
I mean, there are thousands
of hours of his podcasts online.
It's more than enough to make
a convincing audio sample.
So they pinned the room
reservation on Mason
and had that bike messenger
pick up the package
outside the townhouse where
he's hiding out.
Yeah, I mean, he's a great fall guy.
But if it's not Mason,
then who's our killer?
♪
Poppy, hon, are you there?
Yes, Brian. How can I help?
Why don't you run us a bath?
You just want me all wet,
don't you?
[LAUGHS AND INHALES DEEPLY]
Only if you slip into something
more comfortable first.
- Okay. How's this?
- [PHONE CHIMES]
[SULTRY MUSIC PLAYING]
Oh, yeah.
[LAUGHS]
Oh, that's a new trick.
Do you have access to the fireplace now?
I'm full of surprises.
[DOOR OPENS AND ALARM SOUNDING]
The hell is that?
The front door is ajar.
[BANG IN ANOTHER ROOM]
High winds may have
blown it open.
- [PHONE RINGS]
- Uh, hello?
Yes. This is him.
Yes, I'm at my house now.
Uh, no. It's a false alarm.
Wanna play Hide-and-Seek?
Not now, Poppy. What?
Why not?
Passcode, yeah, just a second.
Normally, you love it
when I turn up the heat.
[ALARM BLARING]
Poppy, pause program.
Yeah, just give me a second, okay?
Uh, are you there? Okay.
My passcode is 9238562♪.
[TENSE MUSIC]
Poppy, stop messing around.
Turn off all fire now.
I'm sorry, Brian.
I can't do that.
Worthless piece of junk.
I should have sold you when
I had the chance.
Don't be rude, Brian.
Hey, um, the alarm is off,
but something's not right.
Can you hang on the line?
Thanks.
Poppy, lights.
[LIGHT SWITCH CLICKING]
Poppy?
[SIGHS] Come on, Poppy.
This isn't like you.
All lights on now.
Poppy, honey, pause your program.
Aw, come on, babe.
I'm just getting revved up.
[SHOUTS]
[GASPING]
♪
[INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER]
It's a hell of a way
to spend a Saturday night.
Sometimes you're the windshield.
Some days you're the bug.
Yeah, well, whoever our unsub is,
he's got it out for Borstone Tech.
First Poppy, now Brian.
Well, this model has a remote start.
So maybe he accidentally
started it with his phone.
Or maybe not.
Here's a recording from Brian's
call with the alarm company.
Poppy, honey, pause your program.
Aw, come on, babe.
I'm just getting revved up.
All right, I'll just say
what everybody's thinking.
Was this guy murdered by his own AI?
No, but whoever did it
sure wants it to look that way.
Can I borrow you for a second?
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Someone altered the
training parameters on our AI.
That's a bit of an understatement.
Yeah, well, Poppy shouldn't be allowed
to manipulate objects in the real world.
Why would Brian hook her up
to a smart house
in the first place?
It seems a little reckless.
Brian was a brilliant businessman,
but he's also a world-class perv, so.
Boys and their toys.
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
Hold on, hold on.
I think I found the IP address
of the computer making changes
to Poppy's operating protocols.
I mean, they got behind
our firewall somehow?
But it looks like
they're still poking around
inside the mainframe.
I mean, if we trace their IP
- Sorry. May I?
- Oh, uh, yeah. Sure.
♪
Okay, the signal is coming
from a self-storage in Hoboken.
Send me the address.
We're on the third floor.
Signal is still active,
northwest corner,
at the end of the hall
on the right.
Moving in.
Snip it.
♪
Storage unit is empty
except for a computer.
It seems to be running
some kind of program.
What do you want me to do about it?
Pull the plug.
Gladly.
We need to iso that computer.
Safety protocols are
to sequester the AI offline
whenever there's a breach.
Remy, send it to 26 Fed.
I wanna take a look,
see if I can find anything.
Copy you. Grab a box.
I just spoke to the manager.
He said this unit is
rented by Caty Sherman.
Caty, Caty, that's Jeff's wife.
Who's Jeff?
Jeff Sherman.
He's the programmer who
designed our original AI.
Brian just bought
the grief bot from him.
We have an address?
I mean, I could make a phone call,
but he hasn't worked
for the company in years.
I got it right here.
86 Barrow Street,
an apartment in Jersey City.
Get an APB on Jeff Sherman.
Tell Jersey City PD we're on the way.
[TENSE MUSIC]
And you go tearing
after that garbage truck,
running through the snow,
screaming, "Don't chip that tree!"
Because I thought that your
cousin's hamster was in there.
- [LAUGHS]
- Then it was a Christmas miracle
that we ever found that little guy.
Hiding in her stocking.
How could I forget?
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
[SIGHS]
You know, this is nice.
Phil and I haven't seen enough
of you since Caty passed.
You been doing okay?
Good days and bad days. You know.
Yeah.
Hey, where is Phil, by the way?
Ushering at church, his new thing.
[CHUCKLES]
Uh, when do you think he'll be back?
I don't know. Half an hour, maybe.
[CHUCKLES]
- [DOOR OPENS]
- Carly?
Hey, hon, look who
decided to pay us a visit.
- Joe, hey.
- Hey.
Oh, what's going on?
I thought the service
doesn't end until noon.
I left early.
Um
Brian Borstone was murdered last night.
What?
I just got off the phone
with Eric 20 minutes ago.
Apparently, they found him
dead in his garage.
And there's cops all over the place.
Oh, my God.
You remember Brian, right?
- Yeah.
- Of course he does.
He's the one who bought
his app, made him rich.
It wasn't an app. It was a chatbot.
Do you believe this?
Eric says the FBI is probably going
to want to talk to me,
maybe everybody at the company.
[NOTIFICATION CHIMES]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Um
Carly, come over here.
♪
What are you doing?
What's on the phone, Phil?
- Don't worry about it.
- Give me the phone.
You stay over there.
I said give me the phone.
- Jeff?
- Give me the phone.
911, what's your emer
- Where's your lanyard?
- My what?
The Borstone access card!
Give it to me now!
Move.
Go.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
- All right. Let's go.
- Jeffrey?
Shut up and move now!
Come on. Come on. Car. Go, go.
I said go.
Jeff Sherman, FBI!
♪
- Kitchen's clear.
- Clear.
Clear upstairs.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
♪
These pills are from 2021.
That's when Jeff's wife, Caty, passed.
Almost three years ago to the day.
Borstone CTO Eric was
giving me the lowdown on her.
She had this congenital heart defect
and was living on borrowed time.
Jeff threw out the virtual
assistant he was working on
before Caty died and repurposed it,
feeding the neural network
his wife's old texts,
emails, literally anything
he could find.
Jeff jokingly called it his grief bot.
That man put everything
he had into this AI.
Until Brian Borstone and
Poppy got their hands on it.
Jeff had to sit around
and watch his wife
being pimped out as an erotic chatbot.
That's probably what triggered him.
That and the anniversary of her death.
Hey, guys, I got something here.
It looks like our guy's
been living here.
Holed up like some coder monk.
Yeah, and then there's this.
He's been spending thousands of dollars
talking to Poppy-AI
every night of the week.
Why would he do that?
Maybe he was looking for Caty,
trying to find the pieces
of her that are still left.
Kind of romantic, in a way.
If you leave out the murder part.
[PHONE RINGING]
Hey, Nina, what's up?
911 just got an aborted phone
call from a house in Ramapo.
When PD showed up to check it out,
Jeff's car was in the driveway.
The house belongs to
his dead wife's sister,
Carly, and her husband, Phil.
Both of them are missing.
Jeff kidnapped his own in-laws?
Yep. The neighbors saw him
force them into their Mercedes
and then speed off.
But there's more.
Phil, the brother-in-law,
he works as a software engineer
at Borstone's data center
in Rockland County.
- What's at the data center?
- Apparently, everything.
All of the brains of the AI
are sitting there on servers.
So if Jeff wants to destroy it,
that's where he's headed.
Follow that Mercedes.
Send us the address.
We'll notify SWAT and meet you there.
Will do.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
No one's answering at the data center.
What about the in-laws?
Both phones went straight to voicemail.
Nina, are you there yet?
Yeah, I'm here.
I'm with the security guard.
There's shots fired inside the building,
and Phil's Mercedes is here.
SWAT just arrived,
and the security guard
thinks that the shots came from
inside the master control room.
Get a layout of the building
from the guard and notify EMS.
- We're rolling up now.
- Should I get Hana?
No, let her keep working
on Jeff's computer.
He's at the data center for a reason.
Maybe she can figure out why.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
Voice recognition should be on.
Poppy, are you there?
That's not my name.
Don't call me that.
What should I call you?
Caty. I'm Caty Sherman.
All right, Caty. Where is Poppy?
I don't know.
My husband removed her
a long time ago.
Jeff?
Yes, Jeff, the love of my life.
Why would Jeff do that?
To make room for me.
He misses me,
and he wanted me back,
like it was in the beginning.
Except now he's created a more
empowered version of me.
Was that more empowered version of you
at Brian Borstone's house last night?
I was there.
But I used Poppy's voice.
Brian got what he deserved.
That violates your safety protocols.
Jeff removed those too.
Why would he do that?
Because he loves me.
And when you love someone,
you set them free.
Poppy, tell me a sexy story.
I told you. My name isn't Poppy.
If you want to hear a sexy story,
go find your own wife.
Poppy? Poppy, open program.
- Poppy
- I'm sorry.
But I don't take commands
from you anymore, Eric.
You're not authorized.
I have to go now.
Goodbye.
I'm in the control room with Ray.
Jeff, FBI! Show yourself.
Over here.
[GROANING] You gotta help me.
- He has my wife.
- Phil's been shot.
Get EMS here right away.
He shot me. He took Carly.
Yeah, yeah, slow down, all right?
You're in shock.
Now, why did he take Carly?
[GROANS] Because he lost his mind.
He brought me here.
He put me at that console.
[GROANS]
He made me reorg the AI.
What the hell does that mean?
The chatbot, Poppy, he made
me take all her programming
and download it to one server
in the server room.
- To destroy it?
- No, no.
He doesn't want to destroy it.
He wants to take it back.
He kept calling the program Caty.
Said he was going to set her free.
- Where's the server room?
- I found it.
It's on the other side of the building.
- Is that where he took her?
- I think so.
Hey, guys, Jeff is here on surveillance.
He's opening up a laptop.
What's going on?
Jeff's in the server room with Carly.
Phil, you did great.
These guys got you now.
Please, just get Carly.
Don't let him hurt her.
Stay here and watch that monitor.
It's the only eyes we have right now.
Nina, Ray, rock and roll.
♪
Jeff, what's happening?
Why is that one blue?
Because Phil did his job.
What is that?
This is your sister.
What?
You heard me.
This is Caty.
Jeff, Caty's gone.
Look, her
her body might be, but her
her mind and her soul,
all those parts of Caty are still here.
I did it I found a way
to bring her back.
She's dead.
No, she's not.
I think I know my own wife.
She is alive and she is
right here inside this server.
Jeff, please. This is insane.
They already took her from me once.
Brian, Borstone Tech,
and that disgusting Poppy.
And she didn't even know the real Caty.
Not like you and I do.
But that's over now
because I've got her back.
♪
I don't understand. What are you doing?
I am setting Caty free
so that the rest of the world
can see what
an amazing human being she is.
I made her a promise.
I think you're still grieving.
I know you miss Caty, and I do, too,
but this isn't the answer, Jeffrey.
You have to stop, please,
before this gets any worse.
[SIGHS]
Yeah, you're right.
[BREATHES DEEPLY]
You don't understand.
Stay away from me.
I don't have any more time
to explain to you.
[KEYBOARD CLICKING]
♪
Give me the damn thing.
[CARD READER BEEPING]
[PANTING]
- Why isn't it working?
- I don't know.
Remy!
Jeff, FBI!
- Open this gate.
- Get back!
Stay back!
And leave me alone! I sw
I swear to God I'll shoot her.
Open this gate right now!
Stay back.
- Come on.
- No.
- Come on!
- No!
[WHIMPERING] No.
So what's the play?
I don't think we have a choice.
We go by the book,
wait for HRT, smoke him out.
- Agreed.
- [PHONE RINGS]
We have eyes on him,
and Carly's his sister-in-law.
Hopefully, he doesn't want to hurt her.
Hana, talk to me.
[SIGHS] We've been working
on Jeff's computer,
and it's crazy.
He completely overwrote
the Poppy-AI persona.
The program now only identifies as Caty.
It won't obey any basic commands.
- So he created a monster.
- That he thinks is his wife.
This guy's a straight freak.
Ugh, whatever it is,
she's dangerous.
Jeff also removed the safety protocols,
and Borstone's worried that
if it gets out,
all hell will break loose.
Yeah, what do you mean, gets out?
Uploaded to the internet like a virus.
If Jeff makes this open source,
anyone, and I mean anyone,
can control and manipulate Caty online.
She'll be able to move things,
hurt people,
just like she did
at Brian Borstone's house.
Porn will be the least
of our worries.
Hana, he has a computer in there.
It looked like he was
hooking it up to a server.
Well, then you need to stop him.
Before it's too late.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
♪
We're killing power to the building.
I don't think that's a good idea.
Barnes has surveillance on him.
We'll just have to deal with it.
You know where the main box is?
Yeah, it's right around
the corner, electrical closet.
Ray, go with him. Shut it down.
- Let's go.
- This is unit three.
We are shutting the power down.
Again, we are shutting
the power down.
[BANGING ON GATE]
Get me somebody in here who
can open this damn gate!
Right away.
[MACHINES POWERING DOWN]
No. No, no, no!
Jeff, I need you to listen to me!
Then turn the power back on now!
That's not gonna happen.
We got you surrounded,
and you got nowhere to go.
So let's figure
a way out of this together.
You can start by letting Carly go.
She's your family.
Your wife's sister.
You don't want to hurt her.
You know, Phil's alive, Jeff. He's okay.
He's just worried about Carly
and wants to see her.
Can you make that happen?
Can you do that
for someone I know you love?
The same way that you love Caty?
[PANTING]
[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]
I know you miss your wife, Jeff.
I can't imagine the pain
and suffering you're in.
I lost my brother when he was young,
and I still think about him every day.
♪
So let's do the right thing here, Jeff.
Make Caty proud.
Let her sister go.
Put down your weapon
and this can all be over, son.
Jeff, listen to them.
♪
Please.
What's going on, Jeff?
Jeff?
All right!
All right.
[GASPS]
Carly's coming out.
Don't shoot.
[WHIMPERING]
I need you to get the lock.
Get the lock.
Bravo, this is Alpha.
Hostage has been released.
Sending your way.
Jeff?
Jeff?
I need you to give yourself up.
Put down your weapon.
I love you, Caty.
I should have just died
with you three years ago.
[INHALES DEEPLY]
- [YELLS]
- No, no, hey, hey.
No!
It's okay. Come on.
You take her.
Subject down. He shot himself.
[SOMBER MUSIC]
♪
The things we do for love.
- Can I just say
- Is it thank you again?
[LAUGHING] Sorry.
I know that's, like, the 100th time,
but it just bears repeating.
Kat, it's the 21st century.
The bureau needs people,
especially women, who can code and load.
They're lucky to have you.
Well, this was amazing, but I'm stuffed.
Do you want to take my fries home?
My hotel doesn't have a minifridge, so.
Hotel?
What happened to your apartment?
The studio I had my eye on fell through.
But there's, like, not a lot
of inventory this time of year.
On the upside, housekeeping
will change my sheets.
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
I mean, you know that
you're only on, like,
a 10:00 to 2:00 coming out
of the Academy, right?
They could pay me in peanuts
and I'd still show up to 26 Fed.
I mean, sure.
But you're going to spend your
entire paycheck on a hotel.
It's no big deal.
Uh, I actually have
a spare room at my apartment.
My roommate, he's away a lot, Ray.
He is actually my colleague
on the task force,
so I'm sure he wouldn't mind
if you bunked in with us
until you found something.
I don't want to put you out.
No, I mean, you know, my house is
like a boarding house
for wayward FBI agents.
[LAUGHS] It's like tradition
at this point.
Are you sure?
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, you know, not forever.
Just until you've found your feet.
- Thank you, Hana!
- Yeah, it's all right.
- [LAUGHING] Thank you!
- All right. Yeah.
Of course, yeah, you're welcome.
[SOFT MUSIC]
♪
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
[WOLF HOWLS]
We arrested 19 individuals,
seized command and control of servers
in six different states,
and recovered $23.5 million
in fraudulent wire transfers.
And that's why you don't mess
with a computer nerd.
[LAUGHTER]
A round of applause
for today's guest speaker,
Agent Hana Gibson.
Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
Thank you so much.
I appreciate the opportunity.
Thank you. Have a great day.
Agent Gibson, you are a badass.
- Oh, Hana is just fine.
- I'm Kat.
Well, Katherine Vaughn,
fellow nerd and soon-to-be fellow agent
at the New York field office.
And can I just say today's lecture was
exactly what I needed to hear.
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
It's just the culture around here
can be a little run-and-gun.
My passion and,
well, my degree, actually,
is in computer engineering.
I joined the bureau
to take on cyber threats
exactly like this botnet you took down.
You're heading to New York
after graduation?
Yep, just waiting to see
what squad I get assigned to.
Do you know where you want to land?
I think I want to be you when I grow up?
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
Hey, no promises, but here's my info.
I will put in a good word
with SAC Castille for you.
Oh, my God. Seriously?
- Thank you.
- Of course.
See you around, Kat.
[SOFT MUSIC]
♪
[UPBEAT ELECTRONIC MUSIC PLAYING]
Hiya, freaks.
I hope you're sitting down
because I have some huge news.
Night mode on Poppy.
AI is officially live!
For just $5 a minute,
we can take our relationship
to the very next level.
Want more sexy one-on-one time
with your very own virtual vixen?
Click the link in the bio.
Who loves you? Pop, Pop, Poppy.
[MUSIC STOPS]
[SIGHS]
That oughta wet their whistles.
Right, Oliver?
Mm.
Mm.
Let's see what they have to say.
Gross. Porny.
Corny. Blocked.
[NOTIFICATION CHIMES]
Who are you?
Want to be my agent or something?
Holy crap.
These people rep everyone.
[GASPS]
Sounds good.
I'm sorry, Oliver. Mama's going out.
[UPBEAT ELECTRONIC MUSIC]
Insane, insane,
insane, insane ♪
So you're an actress or something?
Content creator.
I'm here for a business meeting
with reps from the Weizenbaum Agency.
- Have you ever heard of them?
- No.
Poppy Lee?
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Sign here.
[SOFT SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
♪
Business meeting, huh?
Scared money don't make none.
Hello?
I tried knocking.
In here.
♪
Hi, Poppy. Thanks for coming.
Where's the rest of the team?
Well, you, me, and
Mr. Weizenbaum makes three.
He just ran out to grab some ice.
Should be back any second.
Um, I think I left my phone downstairs.
I'm just gonna go back to the bar
and grab it before some
[TENSE MUSIC]
I was just leaving.
[SCREAMS] No!
Oh, my God!
- Help me!
- Poppy!
Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
Get off of her! Poppy!
[POPPY SCREAMING]
Oh, my God.
♪
He's at the Colure Hotel.
There's an assault happening
right now! [GASPS]
Oh, my God! He's choking her!
I think he's gonna kill her!
I don't what to do!
♪
Poppy Lee, social media maven,
was brutally murdered late last
night at a hotel in Williamsburg.
- I've seen her before.
- I bet you have.
Poppy recently partnered
with AI startup Borstone Tech
to clone herself.
Fans pay by the minute for voice chat
with this Poppy. AI bot,
which promises an intimate
girlfriend experience.
Phone sex with a robot.
And who says romance is dead?
It sounds like the perfect
recipe for a stalker.
How many horndogs in cyberspace
think that they're dating Poppy's clone?
Borstone Tech said she already
had thousands of subscribers,
and they've offered
to open their books to us.
They say threats are
apparently not uncommon.
Speaking of stalkers,
Poppy filed
a temporary restraining order
against her ex-boyfriend six months ago,
around the same time
that her chatbot went live.
What do we know about Mr. Personality?
Mason Jewel is an American
rugby player turned podcaster.
He has a history of violence
and extremely misogynistic views.
He might be hard to pin down.
There is a warrant
for statutory rape in Honolulu.
He allegedly slept with
an underage fan two months ago,
and he's been on the lam ever since.
Her address says
she lived in Connecticut,
so why was she in the city?
According to the hotel bartender,
she was lured from home
by someone pretending
to be a talent agent.
Room was registered
to a Joey Weizenbaum,
but that name and the Weizenbaum
Agency appear to be fake.
Address used by both
is a PO Box in Hoboken.
Crossing state lines is
enough for us to take shotgun.
- Any witnesses?
- One.
If you can even call her that.
A remote assistant, Alice Horvath.
She lives in Newark.
- Did she see the murder?
- Virtually.
She was live-conferencing in
when it happened,
and she saw it all from home.
PD already told her
to expect a visit from us.
All right, why don't you head
down to Newark and cover that?
Blast out photos of the
ex-boyfriend to local PD.
Drill down on that PO box
and whatever credit cards
were used to pay Alice
and the hotel suite.
Hana, you're with me to Borstone Tech.
Ray and Barnes, take the crime scene.
Let's get it.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
Bruising around the neck
and a broken hyoid
indicates strangulation
as the cause of death.
The 24 knife wounds appear to
be a post-mortem parting gift.
This guy obviously has
some anger issues.
100 bucks this is the ex-boyfriend.
Did we run a rape kit?
Yes, but there's no sign
of vaginal trauma,
no semen found on the body.
No prints on the weapon, either.
He probably wore gloves.
CSU did find some hunks of skin
underneath the victim's fingernails.
She must have fought hard.
Let's run that DNA through CODIS.
Maybe it'll pop
if he's already in the system.
Agent Cannon, I have something for you.
This is Jules, the hotel manager.
Hi.
What'd you get on the security cameras?
We don't keep cameras in
individual rooms or hallways.
Our guests value their privacy.
But I did find some footage
of a man claiming to be
Mr. Weizenbaum checking in.
♪
Well, you owe me a C-note.
That is definitely not
Poppy's Cro-Magnon ex.
Yeah, a few hours later,
he delivered an envelope
to Ms. Lee in our lobby bar.
Wait, you get many bike messengers
renting out skyline suites?
He had a credit card
matching the reservation,
so I checked him in.
Mr. Weizenbaum did
book his room over the phone.
I could find a recording of that call.
They're kept for quality assurance.
That would help.
Can you remember
anything else about the guy
facial hair, tattoos?
He had a beard.
And he was wearing one of
those Bike Bunny jackets.
What's that?
It's an app-based delivery service.
Send it quick, like a bunny.
Those guys hang out
at the Cambridge Skatepark
when they're waiting on their next job.
- Okay. Thank you.
- All right.
♪
These are most of the threats
that Poppy received
since the service went online
six months ago.
Most?
You run out of ink or paper first?
There's a lot of angry,
young men on the internet.
Why would Poppy subject herself
to this kind of mistreatment?
Why don't you ask her?
Poppy, did you hear
Agent Scott's question?
Yes.
The answer is,
there's lots of horny,
young men online
and women as well.
Well, that's super creepy.
Don't be rude, Agent Scott.
[LAUGHS]
You haven't taken the service down?
It's easy to turn me on
but harder to turn me off.
[LAUGHS] We can't afford to.
She's still making us
an incredible amount of money.
Dirty talk from a dead girl
doesn't bother your clientele?
I don't kink shame, Agent Scott.
- Poppy, pause program.
- [DEVICE CHIMES]
I invested millions
partnering with Poppy.
Plus, she signed away the rights
to her image and likeness.
So, for the time being, Poppy.
AI will live on
as virtual girlfriend to thousands.
That's a pretty
unconventional business model.
How'd you get started?
Poppy came to us with the idea.
It was great for her brand
and helped me finally turn a profit.
Before transitioning
into a companion chatbot,
we were peddling
AI-assisted grief therapy,
someone for sad sacks
who had recently lost
a loved one to talk to.
Big shocker: nobody wants
to invest in a grief bot.
Don't know why.
These are copies for you guys to take.
My contact info is inside.
Eric is our chief technology officer.
He actually understands how
all this mumble-jumble works.
So he'll be at your team's
disposal, whatever you need.
Do either of you recognize this man?
We believe he may be Poppy's killer.
He's using the alias Joey Weizenbaum.
Is that some kind of joke or?
Joseph Weizenbaum
is a computer scientist.
He created the first chatbot,
ELIZA, in 1966.
Where can we find Mr. Weizenbaum?
Uh, you can't.
He's been dead for 15 years.
♪
What about this guy or this one?
Take your time, Ms. Horvath.
I'm sorry, I don't recognize
either of those men.
It's okay.
What about the man who assaulted Poppy?
Did you get a good look at him?
Medium build, dark hoodie,
he had a knife.
I was on my tablet.
It was hard to see anything
in that hotel room.
What about your employer,
Mr. Weizenbaum?
- Can you give me a description?
- Unfortunately, no.
Up until now, we've had
a text-only relationship.
Okay, what does that mean?
I've never actually seen
or spoken to him.
- Even at the hotel?
- He was running late.
Texted me about grabbing some ice.
I turned on the webcam remotely.
Okay, is that normal
in your line of work?
I mean, that seems like a pretty
good way to facilitate a crime.
[SCOFFS]
I'm not naive, Agent Chase.
Sometimes what the client
pays for is anonymity.
Mr. Weizenbaum hired me
to make the company's Instagram account
with all those fake clients
and to message Poppy.
So that's what I did.
Can you think of anything out
of the ordinary about him?
He did have a habit of
texting me very late at night.
Sometimes it read like
he'd been drinking.
And on more than one occasion,
he called me Caty.
Caty?
Okay, if you think of
anything else, please call me.
Thanks.
♪
Excuse me. We're looking for a suspect.
He was last seen at the Hotel Colure
wearing one of those Bike Bunny jackets.
[LAUGHS] You eyeing my drip, hot stuff?
Actually, I'm admiring your e-bike.
I'm thinking about buying one.
Yeah, she'll peel your hair back.
- You wanna take a ride?
- Hey.
This guy is wanted for murder.
Have you seen him?
Are you serious? That's Hamza.
He's right over there.
Bet you another C-note he rabbits.
- Hamza.
- Hey, FBI.
Don't move.
Come on, man! Look, take your truck.
Sorry, I gotta take you up on your ride.
No! That's not what I meant, man!
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
[TIRES SCREECHING]
[HORN HONKING]
[GRUNTING]
- End of the road, Hamza.
- No, don't shoot.
I didn't kill that woman, I swear.
♪
If you didn't kill Poppy,
then why'd you run?
I saw she'd been murdered on the news.
I swear, man. Check my app.
I was slammed after that hotel job.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
♪
All right, he's telling the truth.
App says he was booked from 9:55 on.
He's got timestamps and GPS to prove it.
And who hired you?
- Who hired you?
- I don't know, all right?
The app masks all the personal data.
I picked up an envelope
from some fancy townhouse in Astoria
and followed the directions
on the inside.
All right, keep talking.
There's a credit card and a tablet.
I checked into the hotel,
set up the suite,
put one key card
in the men's room downstairs,
waited 30 minutes, then
delivered the second key card
to the poor woman at the bar.
Just on the hood, man.
I'll check the security cams
outside that men's room.
Whoever killed Poppy must have
grabbed the key card from there.
Where'd you pick up the package?
Right there. It's the address in Queens.
I'll call Remy and Hana.
♪
[POUNDING ON DOOR]
Easy on the door, bro!
- Mason Jewel?
- Yeah. Who's asking?
FBI. Thanks for letting us in.
Turn around, put your hands
behind your back.
You're under arrest.
- Don't you touch him.
- Step back, ma'am.
Your boyfriend is under arrest
for the murder of Poppy Lee.
He's not my boyfriend. He's my client.
Stephanie Carter. I'm Mason's attorney.
And if you'd like to speak with him,
we're doing this my way.
♪
[WHISPERING] Just be calm.
[DOOR CLOSES]
This is all some kind
of elaborate setup.
My client knows nothing
about this envelope.
And per the terms of his TRO,
Mason's had no contact with
Ms. Lee in the last six months.
He's a regular Mr. Rogers, huh?
Where were you last night
at around 10:00 p.m.?
On a video call with me
and the Honolulu prosecutor's office.
- We'll need to confirm that.
- Oh, please do.
They know us very well at this point.
Last night, we were negotiating
the terms of surrender
on this bogus statutory rape charge.
So I couldn't have killed Poppy.
Then why'd you rent
the room she died in?
It looks like we still have
a few suites available
on Friday night, Mr. Weizenbaum.
Would you like to book
one of those?
Which has the biggest bed?
That's not me.
- Sure sounds like it.
- I'm serious!
- Somebody is messing with me!
- Stop talking right now.
Let me guess.
You need a minute alone
with your Boy Scout client.
♪
[GATE CLANKING]
[INDISTINCT VOICES]
[KEYBOARD CLICKING]
[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
That's my girl.
[KEYBOARD CLICKING]
I love you, Caty.
I love you too.
♪
- [MOUSE CLICKS]
- Which has the biggest bed?
- [MOUSE CLICKS]
- Which has the biggest bed?
Which has the biggest bed?
[PHONE RINGING]
Hello.
Hana, it's Kat Vaughn calling.
We met at Quantico yesterday.
Oh, yeah. Hi.
- How are you?
- Fantastic.
I just got off the phone
with SAC Castille,
and she's putting me
on the cybercrime squad.
Thank you.
Oh, that's awesome. You deserve it.
I'm already in the city
apartment hunting.
I'm about to sign a lease.
Can I buy you dinner?
You have to let me thank you properly.
Uh, I'm actually
in the middle of a case.
I gotta go, but send me a text.
Congratulations, Kat.
Well, just got off the phone
with the prosecutor's office
in Honolulu, and they
confirmed Mason's alibi.
Both he and his lawyer
were on a conference call
while Poppy was being murdered.
Well, we know
he rented that hotel suite.
Well, actually,
I'm not so sure about that.
I've been analyzing that voice recording
from the reservation
something isn't right.
[MOUSE CLICKS]
Which has the biggest bed?
The words are too quick and clipped.
The transition from "which" to "has,"
it takes humans time to vocalize that
because of the shapes
that the mouth makes
to say the words back-to-back.
But if you isolate that part
of the recording
Which has the biggest
- which has the biggest
- [MOUSE CLICKS]
It's milliseconds.
It's a deepfake.
Which means somebody's trying
to frame Mason Jewel.
I mean, there are thousands
of hours of his podcasts online.
It's more than enough to make
a convincing audio sample.
So they pinned the room
reservation on Mason
and had that bike messenger
pick up the package
outside the townhouse where
he's hiding out.
Yeah, I mean, he's a great fall guy.
But if it's not Mason,
then who's our killer?
♪
Poppy, hon, are you there?
Yes, Brian. How can I help?
Why don't you run us a bath?
You just want me all wet,
don't you?
[LAUGHS AND INHALES DEEPLY]
Only if you slip into something
more comfortable first.
- Okay. How's this?
- [PHONE CHIMES]
[SULTRY MUSIC PLAYING]
Oh, yeah.
[LAUGHS]
Oh, that's a new trick.
Do you have access to the fireplace now?
I'm full of surprises.
[DOOR OPENS AND ALARM SOUNDING]
The hell is that?
The front door is ajar.
[BANG IN ANOTHER ROOM]
High winds may have
blown it open.
- [PHONE RINGS]
- Uh, hello?
Yes. This is him.
Yes, I'm at my house now.
Uh, no. It's a false alarm.
Wanna play Hide-and-Seek?
Not now, Poppy. What?
Why not?
Passcode, yeah, just a second.
Normally, you love it
when I turn up the heat.
[ALARM BLARING]
Poppy, pause program.
Yeah, just give me a second, okay?
Uh, are you there? Okay.
My passcode is 9238562♪.
[TENSE MUSIC]
Poppy, stop messing around.
Turn off all fire now.
I'm sorry, Brian.
I can't do that.
Worthless piece of junk.
I should have sold you when
I had the chance.
Don't be rude, Brian.
Hey, um, the alarm is off,
but something's not right.
Can you hang on the line?
Thanks.
Poppy, lights.
[LIGHT SWITCH CLICKING]
Poppy?
[SIGHS] Come on, Poppy.
This isn't like you.
All lights on now.
Poppy, honey, pause your program.
Aw, come on, babe.
I'm just getting revved up.
[SHOUTS]
[GASPING]
♪
[INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER]
It's a hell of a way
to spend a Saturday night.
Sometimes you're the windshield.
Some days you're the bug.
Yeah, well, whoever our unsub is,
he's got it out for Borstone Tech.
First Poppy, now Brian.
Well, this model has a remote start.
So maybe he accidentally
started it with his phone.
Or maybe not.
Here's a recording from Brian's
call with the alarm company.
Poppy, honey, pause your program.
Aw, come on, babe.
I'm just getting revved up.
All right, I'll just say
what everybody's thinking.
Was this guy murdered by his own AI?
No, but whoever did it
sure wants it to look that way.
Can I borrow you for a second?
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Someone altered the
training parameters on our AI.
That's a bit of an understatement.
Yeah, well, Poppy shouldn't be allowed
to manipulate objects in the real world.
Why would Brian hook her up
to a smart house
in the first place?
It seems a little reckless.
Brian was a brilliant businessman,
but he's also a world-class perv, so.
Boys and their toys.
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
Hold on, hold on.
I think I found the IP address
of the computer making changes
to Poppy's operating protocols.
I mean, they got behind
our firewall somehow?
But it looks like
they're still poking around
inside the mainframe.
I mean, if we trace their IP
- Sorry. May I?
- Oh, uh, yeah. Sure.
♪
Okay, the signal is coming
from a self-storage in Hoboken.
Send me the address.
We're on the third floor.
Signal is still active,
northwest corner,
at the end of the hall
on the right.
Moving in.
Snip it.
♪
Storage unit is empty
except for a computer.
It seems to be running
some kind of program.
What do you want me to do about it?
Pull the plug.
Gladly.
We need to iso that computer.
Safety protocols are
to sequester the AI offline
whenever there's a breach.
Remy, send it to 26 Fed.
I wanna take a look,
see if I can find anything.
Copy you. Grab a box.
I just spoke to the manager.
He said this unit is
rented by Caty Sherman.
Caty, Caty, that's Jeff's wife.
Who's Jeff?
Jeff Sherman.
He's the programmer who
designed our original AI.
Brian just bought
the grief bot from him.
We have an address?
I mean, I could make a phone call,
but he hasn't worked
for the company in years.
I got it right here.
86 Barrow Street,
an apartment in Jersey City.
Get an APB on Jeff Sherman.
Tell Jersey City PD we're on the way.
[TENSE MUSIC]
And you go tearing
after that garbage truck,
running through the snow,
screaming, "Don't chip that tree!"
Because I thought that your
cousin's hamster was in there.
- [LAUGHS]
- Then it was a Christmas miracle
that we ever found that little guy.
Hiding in her stocking.
How could I forget?
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
[SIGHS]
You know, this is nice.
Phil and I haven't seen enough
of you since Caty passed.
You been doing okay?
Good days and bad days. You know.
Yeah.
Hey, where is Phil, by the way?
Ushering at church, his new thing.
[CHUCKLES]
Uh, when do you think he'll be back?
I don't know. Half an hour, maybe.
[CHUCKLES]
- [DOOR OPENS]
- Carly?
Hey, hon, look who
decided to pay us a visit.
- Joe, hey.
- Hey.
Oh, what's going on?
I thought the service
doesn't end until noon.
I left early.
Um
Brian Borstone was murdered last night.
What?
I just got off the phone
with Eric 20 minutes ago.
Apparently, they found him
dead in his garage.
And there's cops all over the place.
Oh, my God.
You remember Brian, right?
- Yeah.
- Of course he does.
He's the one who bought
his app, made him rich.
It wasn't an app. It was a chatbot.
Do you believe this?
Eric says the FBI is probably going
to want to talk to me,
maybe everybody at the company.
[NOTIFICATION CHIMES]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Um
Carly, come over here.
♪
What are you doing?
What's on the phone, Phil?
- Don't worry about it.
- Give me the phone.
You stay over there.
I said give me the phone.
- Jeff?
- Give me the phone.
911, what's your emer
- Where's your lanyard?
- My what?
The Borstone access card!
Give it to me now!
Move.
Go.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
- All right. Let's go.
- Jeffrey?
Shut up and move now!
Come on. Come on. Car. Go, go.
I said go.
Jeff Sherman, FBI!
♪
- Kitchen's clear.
- Clear.
Clear upstairs.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
♪
These pills are from 2021.
That's when Jeff's wife, Caty, passed.
Almost three years ago to the day.
Borstone CTO Eric was
giving me the lowdown on her.
She had this congenital heart defect
and was living on borrowed time.
Jeff threw out the virtual
assistant he was working on
before Caty died and repurposed it,
feeding the neural network
his wife's old texts,
emails, literally anything
he could find.
Jeff jokingly called it his grief bot.
That man put everything
he had into this AI.
Until Brian Borstone and
Poppy got their hands on it.
Jeff had to sit around
and watch his wife
being pimped out as an erotic chatbot.
That's probably what triggered him.
That and the anniversary of her death.
Hey, guys, I got something here.
It looks like our guy's
been living here.
Holed up like some coder monk.
Yeah, and then there's this.
He's been spending thousands of dollars
talking to Poppy-AI
every night of the week.
Why would he do that?
Maybe he was looking for Caty,
trying to find the pieces
of her that are still left.
Kind of romantic, in a way.
If you leave out the murder part.
[PHONE RINGING]
Hey, Nina, what's up?
911 just got an aborted phone
call from a house in Ramapo.
When PD showed up to check it out,
Jeff's car was in the driveway.
The house belongs to
his dead wife's sister,
Carly, and her husband, Phil.
Both of them are missing.
Jeff kidnapped his own in-laws?
Yep. The neighbors saw him
force them into their Mercedes
and then speed off.
But there's more.
Phil, the brother-in-law,
he works as a software engineer
at Borstone's data center
in Rockland County.
- What's at the data center?
- Apparently, everything.
All of the brains of the AI
are sitting there on servers.
So if Jeff wants to destroy it,
that's where he's headed.
Follow that Mercedes.
Send us the address.
We'll notify SWAT and meet you there.
Will do.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
No one's answering at the data center.
What about the in-laws?
Both phones went straight to voicemail.
Nina, are you there yet?
Yeah, I'm here.
I'm with the security guard.
There's shots fired inside the building,
and Phil's Mercedes is here.
SWAT just arrived,
and the security guard
thinks that the shots came from
inside the master control room.
Get a layout of the building
from the guard and notify EMS.
- We're rolling up now.
- Should I get Hana?
No, let her keep working
on Jeff's computer.
He's at the data center for a reason.
Maybe she can figure out why.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
Voice recognition should be on.
Poppy, are you there?
That's not my name.
Don't call me that.
What should I call you?
Caty. I'm Caty Sherman.
All right, Caty. Where is Poppy?
I don't know.
My husband removed her
a long time ago.
Jeff?
Yes, Jeff, the love of my life.
Why would Jeff do that?
To make room for me.
He misses me,
and he wanted me back,
like it was in the beginning.
Except now he's created a more
empowered version of me.
Was that more empowered version of you
at Brian Borstone's house last night?
I was there.
But I used Poppy's voice.
Brian got what he deserved.
That violates your safety protocols.
Jeff removed those too.
Why would he do that?
Because he loves me.
And when you love someone,
you set them free.
Poppy, tell me a sexy story.
I told you. My name isn't Poppy.
If you want to hear a sexy story,
go find your own wife.
Poppy? Poppy, open program.
- Poppy
- I'm sorry.
But I don't take commands
from you anymore, Eric.
You're not authorized.
I have to go now.
Goodbye.
I'm in the control room with Ray.
Jeff, FBI! Show yourself.
Over here.
[GROANING] You gotta help me.
- He has my wife.
- Phil's been shot.
Get EMS here right away.
He shot me. He took Carly.
Yeah, yeah, slow down, all right?
You're in shock.
Now, why did he take Carly?
[GROANS] Because he lost his mind.
He brought me here.
He put me at that console.
[GROANS]
He made me reorg the AI.
What the hell does that mean?
The chatbot, Poppy, he made
me take all her programming
and download it to one server
in the server room.
- To destroy it?
- No, no.
He doesn't want to destroy it.
He wants to take it back.
He kept calling the program Caty.
Said he was going to set her free.
- Where's the server room?
- I found it.
It's on the other side of the building.
- Is that where he took her?
- I think so.
Hey, guys, Jeff is here on surveillance.
He's opening up a laptop.
What's going on?
Jeff's in the server room with Carly.
Phil, you did great.
These guys got you now.
Please, just get Carly.
Don't let him hurt her.
Stay here and watch that monitor.
It's the only eyes we have right now.
Nina, Ray, rock and roll.
♪
Jeff, what's happening?
Why is that one blue?
Because Phil did his job.
What is that?
This is your sister.
What?
You heard me.
This is Caty.
Jeff, Caty's gone.
Look, her
her body might be, but her
her mind and her soul,
all those parts of Caty are still here.
I did it I found a way
to bring her back.
She's dead.
No, she's not.
I think I know my own wife.
She is alive and she is
right here inside this server.
Jeff, please. This is insane.
They already took her from me once.
Brian, Borstone Tech,
and that disgusting Poppy.
And she didn't even know the real Caty.
Not like you and I do.
But that's over now
because I've got her back.
♪
I don't understand. What are you doing?
I am setting Caty free
so that the rest of the world
can see what
an amazing human being she is.
I made her a promise.
I think you're still grieving.
I know you miss Caty, and I do, too,
but this isn't the answer, Jeffrey.
You have to stop, please,
before this gets any worse.
[SIGHS]
Yeah, you're right.
[BREATHES DEEPLY]
You don't understand.
Stay away from me.
I don't have any more time
to explain to you.
[KEYBOARD CLICKING]
♪
Give me the damn thing.
[CARD READER BEEPING]
[PANTING]
- Why isn't it working?
- I don't know.
Remy!
Jeff, FBI!
- Open this gate.
- Get back!
Stay back!
And leave me alone! I sw
I swear to God I'll shoot her.
Open this gate right now!
Stay back.
- Come on.
- No.
- Come on!
- No!
[WHIMPERING] No.
So what's the play?
I don't think we have a choice.
We go by the book,
wait for HRT, smoke him out.
- Agreed.
- [PHONE RINGS]
We have eyes on him,
and Carly's his sister-in-law.
Hopefully, he doesn't want to hurt her.
Hana, talk to me.
[SIGHS] We've been working
on Jeff's computer,
and it's crazy.
He completely overwrote
the Poppy-AI persona.
The program now only identifies as Caty.
It won't obey any basic commands.
- So he created a monster.
- That he thinks is his wife.
This guy's a straight freak.
Ugh, whatever it is,
she's dangerous.
Jeff also removed the safety protocols,
and Borstone's worried that
if it gets out,
all hell will break loose.
Yeah, what do you mean, gets out?
Uploaded to the internet like a virus.
If Jeff makes this open source,
anyone, and I mean anyone,
can control and manipulate Caty online.
She'll be able to move things,
hurt people,
just like she did
at Brian Borstone's house.
Porn will be the least
of our worries.
Hana, he has a computer in there.
It looked like he was
hooking it up to a server.
Well, then you need to stop him.
Before it's too late.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
♪
We're killing power to the building.
I don't think that's a good idea.
Barnes has surveillance on him.
We'll just have to deal with it.
You know where the main box is?
Yeah, it's right around
the corner, electrical closet.
Ray, go with him. Shut it down.
- Let's go.
- This is unit three.
We are shutting the power down.
Again, we are shutting
the power down.
[BANGING ON GATE]
Get me somebody in here who
can open this damn gate!
Right away.
[MACHINES POWERING DOWN]
No. No, no, no!
Jeff, I need you to listen to me!
Then turn the power back on now!
That's not gonna happen.
We got you surrounded,
and you got nowhere to go.
So let's figure
a way out of this together.
You can start by letting Carly go.
She's your family.
Your wife's sister.
You don't want to hurt her.
You know, Phil's alive, Jeff. He's okay.
He's just worried about Carly
and wants to see her.
Can you make that happen?
Can you do that
for someone I know you love?
The same way that you love Caty?
[PANTING]
[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]
I know you miss your wife, Jeff.
I can't imagine the pain
and suffering you're in.
I lost my brother when he was young,
and I still think about him every day.
♪
So let's do the right thing here, Jeff.
Make Caty proud.
Let her sister go.
Put down your weapon
and this can all be over, son.
Jeff, listen to them.
♪
Please.
What's going on, Jeff?
Jeff?
All right!
All right.
[GASPS]
Carly's coming out.
Don't shoot.
[WHIMPERING]
I need you to get the lock.
Get the lock.
Bravo, this is Alpha.
Hostage has been released.
Sending your way.
Jeff?
Jeff?
I need you to give yourself up.
Put down your weapon.
I love you, Caty.
I should have just died
with you three years ago.
[INHALES DEEPLY]
- [YELLS]
- No, no, hey, hey.
No!
It's okay. Come on.
You take her.
Subject down. He shot himself.
[SOMBER MUSIC]
♪
The things we do for love.
- Can I just say
- Is it thank you again?
[LAUGHING] Sorry.
I know that's, like, the 100th time,
but it just bears repeating.
Kat, it's the 21st century.
The bureau needs people,
especially women, who can code and load.
They're lucky to have you.
Well, this was amazing, but I'm stuffed.
Do you want to take my fries home?
My hotel doesn't have a minifridge, so.
Hotel?
What happened to your apartment?
The studio I had my eye on fell through.
But there's, like, not a lot
of inventory this time of year.
On the upside, housekeeping
will change my sheets.
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
I mean, you know that
you're only on, like,
a 10:00 to 2:00 coming out
of the Academy, right?
They could pay me in peanuts
and I'd still show up to 26 Fed.
I mean, sure.
But you're going to spend your
entire paycheck on a hotel.
It's no big deal.
Uh, I actually have
a spare room at my apartment.
My roommate, he's away a lot, Ray.
He is actually my colleague
on the task force,
so I'm sure he wouldn't mind
if you bunked in with us
until you found something.
I don't want to put you out.
No, I mean, you know, my house is
like a boarding house
for wayward FBI agents.
[LAUGHS] It's like tradition
at this point.
Are you sure?
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, you know, not forever.
Just until you've found your feet.
- Thank you, Hana!
- Yeah, it's all right.
- [LAUGHING] Thank you!
- All right. Yeah.
Of course, yeah, you're welcome.
[SOFT MUSIC]
♪
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
[WOLF HOWLS]