Told me Damian Cray is dangerous.
The guy who killed him was the same guy I saw in Cornwall.
He works for an organization that hires out to the highest bidder.
- [Cray] Isn't this the guy who-- - [Evelyn] Is writing a book about you.
[Cray] Says he's in a critical condition.
But not dead.
That's terrible.
We're wondering about targets, right? I think we need to look at Damian Cray.
- Why? - I think he's on SCORPIA's radar.
Charlie Roper, right? I'm a friend of Ed Pleasance.
[Charlie] How do you know Ed?
[Alex] I was with him in Cornwall when they tried to kill him.
- They? - Damian Cray.
[Charlie] I was at university with Ed. He was my friend.
He wanted to know about the game. Damian's obsessed with it.
What does it do that's worth killing for?
Can you play?
- Still looking for K7? - [Evelyn] Yes.
I've got him.
Who is this kid?
K7?
- Hello, spy boy. - Kyra.
[Cray] Some kid just trashed my pre-launch event.
He's nothing to worry about.
- [Sean] Welcome home, Mr. Cray. - Thank you, Sean.
Good night.
[young Cray] Joe?
Where are you?
You said you'd read to me.
["Bewitched theme" playing on TV]
[people speaking indistinctly on TV]
[ominous music playing]
Joe?
[screaming]
[theme music playing]
[singer]
- [Jack] So you're Kyra. - [Kyra] Yeah.
- From Point Blanc. - And other places.
- But how come you're here? - How did you find me?
Actually, you found me.
Feathered Serpent leaderboard.
When you registered as K7, it got flagged on my profile.
I saw it was you, thought you might be in trouble.
- Looks like I was right. - You're in trouble?
We got what we wanted.
The new version of Feathered Serpent 2.
The only advanced copy in the world.
- Except that Cray tried to kill me. - What? It's just a video game.
He sent Yassen to blow up Sabina's dad for writing a book about him.
He had Smoking Mirror shot for trying to tell the truth.
- And then I get close and... - Alex...
I can't prove it.
- Wait, who's Yassen? - A paid killer.
I saw him at Point Blanc. And then in Cornwall, and now here.
I think he's working for Cray.
[Tom] Look, mate, you've got to face it,
you're not gonna get anywhere near Cray again.
Maybe I don't have to.
Cray's PR guy, Charlie Roper, told me it's all about the game.
Cray's obsessed with it.
He's been driving the programmers crazy trying to get it out in time.
Whatever he's planning,
it has to happen like clockwork, down to the second.
It's time-sensitive.
And there's three days left.
So you think there's something hidden in the game?
[Alex] Yes.
Okay. Then we find it.
- [Byrne] Assassination? - We believe the president is the target.
Because of the Pentagon hack?
Those systems house more than nuclear codes, ma'am.
We think they wanted the president's schedule.
The Secret Service arrangements.
Simon Marriat, the man who called himself Smoking Mirror,
had information regarding Damian Cray on his personal computer.
And Cray is hosting a charity dinner in three days' time,
at which President Walker is the guest of honor.
So Damian Cray, the president, half a dozen billionaires,
all focused on bringing down the cartels.
- Same room, same time. - I get it.
It's a hell of a target.
Obviously, we think you should cancel the visit.
[Byrne] If we canceled every event
where the president's name came up, she'd never leave the White House.
I need more than conjecture.
Yassen Gregorovitch killed Smoking Mirror.
We think he also tried to kill a journalist who was close to Cray.
I thought SCORPIA were finished.
So did we.
What else aren't you telling me?
Let's try this.
Smoking Mirror was killed in this abandoned hangar in East London.
Someone else was there.
Now, maybe it's just me,
but I think it's the kid who showed up to Smoking Mirror's place.
The one you didn't know.
But he definitely knew you.
- I think you're misreading the situation. - [Byrne] Oh, really?
Well, let's see.
I think you have an illegal, underage asset in the field,
in the middle of an increasingly volatile operation
involving the president of the United States.
What exactly am I misreading?
[tense music playing]
Ah. Evelyn, good morning. Take a seat.
Let me get you a coffee?
- I don't drink coffee. - Of course.
The body needs 2.7 liters of water. But it doesn't need flavoring. Right?
- Right. - Mm.
I take it you wanna talk about last night.
You were upset.
Version 2 taken from our hands days before the launch. Yeah.
You could say that.
The boy claimed to be K7.
Obviously he wasn't.
Someone set that up.
Someone who knew about the event and the security.
He had help.
From whom?
Find out.
[siren wailing]
[EKG beeping]
[sighs]
Uncle Charlie! What are you doing here?
I heard about your dad.
I'm so sorry. How's he doing?
Okay. Stable.
They say he's, you know, good, considering.
I'm really sorry.
It's not your fault.
I didn't even know you were in London.
I'm just in town for a few days. Work.
Look.
- Can I ask you something? - Sure.
I met this boy who said that he was a friend of your dad's.
Alex.
Yeah.
Alex.
So you do know him?
Look.
You should know...
Alex...
he believes all this crazy stuff.
Maybe it's not as crazy as you think.
We need to talk to Alex.
I thought you didn't want him anywhere near us.
That's exactly what I want.
But he seems to have different ideas, so he needs to be made aware.
Well, you recruited him...
you tell him.
There is nothing here.
- What do you mean? - It's a game.
It's great, but it's just a game.
- [Alex] It can't be. - [Kyra] I'm telling you it is.
I'm not wrong.
Whatever he's planning, it's in there.
What's in there is tunnels, monsters, Aztecs.
It's all very immersive. But that is all.
So let's check the game code. Find out what's hiding--
I've tried. It's locked.
But you can unlock it.
Can we talk?
- We are talking. - Somewhere else.
[Kyra] You know, I'm ahead now. By one.
[Alex] One what?
[Kyra] You saved my life once.
I saved yours twice.
You're keeping score?
Mm-hmm. And I'm ahead by one.
I'll remember that.
Someone killed my parents.
It was made to look like an accident, but...
Kyra, I didn't know.
I hated them a lot of the time.
But, you know, they were my parents.
I'm sorry.
Yeah, same.
So this man, Yassen...
Is he coming after us?
If Cray works out who we are...
yeah.
Okay.
Then you need me.
Because of the game.
And I need you, to find out who killed my parents.
Do we have a deal?
- You kept it. - [Alex] Of course, I kept it.
We don't need to have a deal to help each other.
We just help each other.
Okay.
[phone line ringing]
We have a new factor.
Something...
unanticipated.
Alex Rider is involved.
He's made the connection to the game.
- So how do we get to the game code? - I can crack the anti-piracy encryption,
but there is gigabytes of data on here.
On a laptop, it'll take days.
I need 20, maybe 30 machines to network in parallel.
So got any computers?
School. Computer lab got done up last term, it's all brand new.
- I don't do school. - That's actually not a bad idea.
[Kyra] The only school I've ever been to is Point Blanc.
You remember how that worked out, right?
I don't like people. I don't like institutions.
And I'm not going to another school.
What if it was empty?
Why would it be empty?
You're the hacker. You decide.
Jack. Can I just borrow you a moment?
Of course.
There's a position coming up. A permanent position.
I see.
I know you've been balancing some domestic issues with your work life.
If in due course we were to offer you the position...
- would you want to accept? - Yes.
No second thoughts, hesitations? Of a personal nature, or any other?
Not at all. This is what I wanna do.
Good.
That's all I needed to know.
Obviously, we'll be considering Dan for the position as well.
There's only room for one.
So...
this is your time to impress us.
- [Kyra] Ready? - [Alex] Is this gonna work?
Of course, it's going to work.
[dramatic music playing]
- You killed us, too. - Killed the whole postcode.
It's gonna look weird if it's just one school, you know?
["Sleepwalking" playing]
Mm.
[singer]
Oh.
[Tom grunts]
Come on.
Don't say a word.
[singer]
Off you go, then.
[singer]
Who wants to break into a school anyway?
[singer]
[Tom] You know what? How are the computers gonna work
when there's no electricity?
Mm. Magic pixies?
I isolated the local substation.
We can turn the school on and off whenever we want.
Don't worry, it's not like I've never done this before.
[Tom] Four!
Four in Social Studies, Alex! Can you believe that?
Ain't surprising.
Let's do this.
[suspenseful music playing]
[computers turning on]
Okay. Like I said, anti-piracy encryption. First we have to break this.
When will everyone else get their electricity back?
When I say so.
"All your bases are belong to us."
We're past the encryption. This is the game code.
- So, what are we looking for? - Anything unusual.
I've networked all these computers to run an automated scan program
that will analyze the code, line by line.
-It may take a while. -[Alex] Hmm.
So, what do you do for fun around here?
There is no fun around here.
Come on. I'll show you around.
[door opens]
[door closes]
[Jack] Dan...
did Matovu have the conversation with you?
A conversation about what?
The one about the job.
The position?
And how there's only one of it.
And two of us.
And how I therefore need to impress.
That would be the conversation, yeah.
- How bad do you want this? - More than you.
Game on.
That's a shame, you know?
Well, I kind of prefer just being...
you know, not rivals.
Work's work.
One of us is gonna get the job.
It's not personal.
Okay. Cool.
Film Club. Japanese Club?
Wildlife Club.
- That's a lot of clubs. - Hmm.
Are you in these?
No.
Never really been a club kind of person.
We could have our own club.
Orphans Club.
Hmm, Survivors Club.
I'll make badges.
What do you know about Yassen?
[pensive music playing]
Not much.
But he knew me.
In the hangar, he knew my name.
And at Point Blanc, he recognized me.
How is that possible?
I don't know.
But ever since I first saw him,
I can't get him out of my head.
I have a bad feeling inside...
that it's him.
We got company.
- How did they find you? - You have your phone?
- Yeah. - That's how they found him.
It's fine.
You guys will be okay without me for a bit?
Yeah, that'll be...
fun.
[ominous music playing]
- What are you doing here? - Blunt wants to see you.
Yeah, and why is that?
I'm sure he'll tell you himself.
[ominous music playing]
What's this?
Belt, jacket, shoes, watch.
Contents of your pockets on the conveyor belt, please.
This way.
Hello, Alex.
- You're not staying? - No. I have a meeting.
- [Alex] Yeah. Makes two of us. - [Jones] Coffee sometime.
Yeah. Sounds good.
- Look after yourself. - Nobody else does.
Why don't you sit down?
How are you, Alex?
Why would you care? I'm not an agent, remember?
Because, despite everything, I have a responsibility for you.
Like you had a responsibility for my uncle.
What happened to your uncle was unfortunate.
I wouldn't want the same thing to happen to you.
Who killed him?
Was it Yassen Gregorovitch?
Tell me about Yassen.
There's not much to tell.
You said he worked for an international organization.
Which one?
KGB?
Microsoft? Amazon?
They call themselves SCORPIA.
We don't yet know exactly how they're involved in the current operation,
but what we do know is that Gregorovitch is active in this country.
As you told us.
And for that, I owe you an apology.
An apology?
And what would you like in return?
What I want is for you to stay out of this.
I want you to go back to school. I want you to forget us.
And let us look after Damian Cray.
Look after him?
Protect him.
Protect him?
Damian Cray was the one who ordered the hit on Smoking Mirror.
Damian Cray tried to kill Ed Pleasance. It's the other way around.
We need protection against Damian Cray.
Alex, SCORPIA are targeting the president of the United States.
Then they're doing that because Damian Cray wants them to.
It doesn't add up.
Cray and the president are friends.
His campaign contributions got her elected.
They're fighting the war on drugs together.
- Why would he wish her harm? - I don't know exactly.
But it's more than that.
Something about his game.
- Where's your evidence? - I was working on it.
I'm sorry, but you're wrong.
You've stumbled into a small corner of a very much bigger picture.
And while I appreciate that you are trying to help us,
in fact, you are putting lives at risk.
That's not true.
Five people shot dead in the hackerspace.
Smoking Mirror.
I know, Gregorovitch killed him. You flushed him into the open, though.
I'm sorry, Alex,
but there is blood on your hands.
The only person who is putting this operation at risk is you.
You're wrong about Cray.
I'll be watching you, Alex.
Put a foot out of line, I will know.
Don't make me your enemy.
Too late.
I've just had a call.
The deputy director of the CIA wants to meet.
Why?
They believe that I might be in danger.
You might think that was funny if you had a sense of humor.
No.
I don't think I would.
What's the matter?
You know you asked me to keep an eye on that journalist?
Ed Pleasance.
- Don't tell me he's woken up. - No.
But I just found out where he was getting his information.
And I think it was the same person who gave our fake K7 his security pass.
[ominous music playing]
So you went to the weird school with Alex.
Yeah.
- Did they, like, make a clone of you too? - Yeah.
Two of you.
It's weird.
Yeah.
Very weird.
I've been his best mate since I was 5.
St. Jude's Primary School.
He was stood on his own in the corner,
these two big lads ran over, you know, real hard cases.
And you went over and beat them up.
No. He didn't need me, he just...
He just stood up to them like he always does.
It was epic.
I just went over afterwards and had a laugh with him about it.
That was it.
Friends for life.
So, uh...
- You haven't met Sabina yet, have you? - No.
- Who's she? - Alex really likes her.
She's, uh, you know, obviously very smart,
and quite athletic.
She's actually really nice, too.
A good surfer, actually.
This would be in Cornwall. On holiday.
Yep.
Her father is the journalist.
- Okay. I get it. - What?
I get it.
You're his friend. She's his girlfriend. All the vacancies are filled.
[cell phone beeps]
What's that?
Scan complete.
Let's go.
Attack?
[Jones] The evidence we have is not conclusive yet.
But we have reason to be concerned for your security.
My security's excellent.
Mr. Palmer is the best in the business.
I'm sure he is.
[Cray chuckles]
You're not asking me to cancel the dinner, are you?
The president's only in London for one day.
This is my one chance to shine a spotlight
on what is arguably the greatest humanitarian crisis
in the world right now.
- Narcotics. - [Cray] Yes.
And for the first time,
I'm bringing together the leader of the free world
along with more money and decision-making power
than has ever been seen before.
Which is exactly why your dinner is such an attractive target.
A target for who exactly, Ms. Byrne?
Are we talking about the cartels?
We're still looking into that.
Mr. Cray, would you consider delaying your event?
Hosting your charity dinner in, say, a month or two?
My brother died in this house.
I was 9 years old.
[ominous music playing]
I was looking for him.
I had no idea that he was experimenting with drugs.
[screaming]
He was 17 years old.
And he was everything to me.
This charity dinner is in his memory.
And I am warning you, I will not move it one hour,
not one second.
Do I make myself clear?
[Kyra] Main data tree, subroutines...
Why is this all nested?
- This is not good. - What's not good?
- Please tell me you've got something. - I can't access the core programming.
Big chunks of code are--
It's like it's been locked away. It's redacted.
- What kind of code? - I don't know because I can't get to it.
But what is there is weird.
I think you were right. I think the game's not a game.
I think it's supposed to do something totally different.
Something network based.
- But it's there? - Yeah. Problem is getting to it.
Simply not enough processing power.
Looks like we're gonna need a bigger computer.
No. You don't understand.
We're way beyond hashed and salted here.
Even with the biggest computer on the planet,
brute-forcing this would take too long.
- How long? - Maybe...
six trillion times the lifetime of the universe.
Sorry.
The only way to unlock this is to go back to the original server,
and that's at CrayStar in Amsterdam.
- We can't. - [Tom] Why not?
Looks like school's gonna be out for a while.
It's not that. I saw Blunt.
He doesn't want me to get involved.
- He made himself very clear. - [Kyra] Why?
[Alex] I don't know.
- But he's watching me. - [Tom] So you're just gonna give up?
[Alex] Don't have a choice. They didn't believe a word I said.
- They think... - Good.
...Cray's the victim.
- Keep an eye on him. - [Alex] They're working with him.
- [Tom] So, what? That's it? - Seems he got the message.
Let me know if anything else comes out.
[Alex] Maybe Blunt's right.
[Smithers] Alex thinks we should be looking at Cray as an operator.
Not a target.
[Alex] If we got some proof from the game...
Yes?
You don't think he might be right? He has been right in the past.
[Alex] I don't know. I'm done with this.
[marker squeaking over computer]
Maybe I'm wrong about Cray.
I'm going home.
I'll see you guys when school starts up again, okay?
[Cray] Is the plane on standby, Charlie?
It's two days until the launch.
I wanna oversee the final stages in person.
[Charlie] Yep, I've cleared your schedule for tomorrow
and the programming team is expecting you in Amsterdam.
I want you to come with me.
But I have the press.
And these new security arrangements, the embassy to liaise with--
Sean will oversee the security. That's his job.
You're coming with us.
I thought you wanted me here.
Right now, I want you by my side.
I wanna keep you close, Charlie.
[ominous music playing]
Here. Alex said he'd given up.
He said he had no chance and that was the end of it.
- That doesn't sound like Alex. - Exactly.
While he was speaking, I heard something.
It sounded like a sort of squeaking.
Squeaking?
- [Alex] I don't know. But he's watching. - [Tom] So you're just gonna give up?
- Don't have a choice. - [marker squeaking]
They didn't believe a word I said.
They think Cray's the victim. They're working with him.
THEY'RE LISTENING.
LISTENING.
Now, that's Alex.
So, what? That's it?
Maybe Blunt's right.
It's none of my business anyway. None of it.
If we got some proof from the game,
that might have made a difference, but...
I don't know. I'm done with this.
Maybe I'm wrong about Cray.
I'm going home.
I'll see you guys when school starts up again, okay?
Sure.
Who's Juliet?
["Disinfect" playing]
[singer]
[yelling] Alex, I got your message. Can you turn that down?
I'm going away for a couple of days.
Kyra's gonna keep the power off at school.
Keep it shut down, so that no one will miss me.
Away where?
I don't wanna tell you.
If I tell you, I have to make you part of it.
I didn't wanna just disappear.
This is Damian Cray, isn't it?
The department still don't believe me.
But Ed, Yassen, Smoking Mirror, Cray...
It's all connected.
No matter what Blunt says, I can't just sit back and let it happen.
Be safe.
[suspenseful music playing]
[tracker beeping]
- Target's on the move. - Where's he going?
Heading east.
He's stopped on Euston Road.
- Sir... - [Blunt] What's happening?
I don't understand.
[dramatic music playing]
[woman over PA] Welcome to Eurostar.
The 1813 service to Amsterdam will be departing from Platform 11.
[menacing electronic music playing]