The American Side Page #4

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Special Agent Barry,

I work with DARPA.

Who's she?

They track the best ideas

and the brightest minds

behind them.

I can see

why you came to me.

[footsteps]

My goodness, somebody

turned this place upside down.

The Serbs were here.

[Charlie]

Sounded Russian.

Tesla was a Serb.

Did they take anything?

Yeah. I had a Picasso

hanging right there.

-Who's a Serb?

-Come here.

[Barry]

I don't need you

to explain it.

I want to know if you've

ever seen anything like it.

Why would I?

Because Tom Soberin's lungs

were full of Niagara

90 minutes after he met you.

What the hell is going on?

Have you ever heard

of Nicola Tesla?

Yeah, about 48 hours ago.

He invented something right?

-Yeah, the 20th century.

-[thumping]

[Barry]

Your car.

[tires screeching]

[Barry]

I will tell as much as I can,

as fast as I can.

Tesla kept an notebook

of theoretical inventions

locked in his safe

at New Yorker Hotel.

That notebook contained

everything from a free energy

system to so called death ray.

Within an hour of his death,

the United States government

seized everything

in that room.

But somebody else

got there first

and the notebook was gone.

Six months ago there was

a black market auction

in Stockholm

for a disintegrating page torn

from a decades-old notebook.

Half a design

for an unknown invention.

Nicole Meeker

was the last person

to have it.

We think she smuggled it out

and we know she came to you.

I don't have it.

She never gave me anything.

She could've planted it

in your office, your car,

anything.

She's never

set foot in either.

There are less than

a dozen minds

that our government sees fit

to keep tabs on,

for their safety and ours.

Nicole Meeker is one of them

and it is my job

to bring her in.

Hey, I won't stop you.

[Barry]

Take a right up here.

Where do the Serbs fit in?

That notebook

is like the holy grail

for Serbian nationals.

They will track the globe

for any sign of it.

Half a design

and nobody even knows

what the hell it's for?

Imagine introducing

an automobile

with an unlimited energy supply.

Or a system to irrigate

the deserts of Africa.

Tesla thought it possible

for people

to transmit themselves.

Do you hear what I'm saying?

Transmit themselves.

Just because he thought it,

doesn't make it so.

When people were getting

around on horseback,

he envisioned

a wireless device

so small you could

keep it in your pocket.

It would let you check

the news or the stock market

or talk to anyone

anywhere in the world.

Here, all the way to the top.

Television,

satellite technology,

computers,

everything we take

for granted...

-Tesla?

-Yes, yes, Tesla. All of it.

How come I never heard

of him before Tuesday?

The politics of science.

Whatever it is, I'd rather

we have it than anybody else.

Chase killed Soberin

over this?

He's got a buyer,

we want them both.

We know when

but not where.

He can't sell

what he doesn't have.

But he expects

to get his design back

one way or another.

I'm offering you

a way out.

Bring Nicole in

and we can protect you both.

This is where you tell me,

my country needs me, right?

Tomorrow, Silo City,

foot of Ohio Street.

Should we expect you?

You had me at death ray.

[sighs]

[choir singing]

Get your things.

-What's happened?

-I had some visitors.

Just like me and Soberin?

I might've had

different guys.

They fixed my sink.

Visitors were followed

by the FBI.

And the FBI was followed

by some dark suits.

So you're

handing me over?

To give them the design.

And what will

they do with it?

When a scientist

advances a theory,

they open it up to the world,

people make with it

whatever they want.

I can't protect you.

I don't need a protector.

I need an ally.

Is this it?

Half of it.

You know what it is yet?

A kind of amplifier

for energy.

I'm not sure how

it's meant to be used.

You think Soberin knew?

I don't see

how he could.

I've never seen

anything like it.

[Charlie clicking lighter]

Belonged

to a friend.

Then you better

hold on to it.

Michael.

You can do this one now.

And bring the original.

I burned it.

[dramatic music playing]

?

[engine stops]

[faint buzzing]

-Run!

-What?

[firing]

[dramatic music playing]

[panting]

[footsteps approaching]

?

[gun firing]

?

[grunting]

[Charlie]

You son of a b*tch!

[gun fires]

Nikki!

?

Well, I'd say we're even.

What have I gotten

myself into here?

That's a hell of a question

he's asking.

Those suits back there

didn't mind killing

a federal agent.

Didn't mind killing me,

but not you. Why not?

Someone was killed?

Well, you must

understand by now.

[Charlie]

No, I don't understand.

I don't understand any of it.

I don't understand you!

You think they're pissed now.

Wait till they found out

you burned the thing?

Look, you want my help,

you better start sharing

some goddamn information.

Any more surprises,

now's the time.

Your FBI agent

pushed this into my hand.

What do you know

about DARPA?

Defense Advanced Research

Projects Agency.

I'm a physics professor.

You a bit

of a science buff?

DARPA tried to recruit me

off the Carnegie Campus.

Well, la di dah.

Barry was working for them

or so she claimed.

If Tesla's involved,

they're never far behind.

Tesla?

Oh, come on.

I lecture on Tesla.

The war of the currents.

He beat out Edison.

He built a power station

at Niagara that

electrified Buffalo.

But most of his ideas

were suppressed.

It's all politics.

Same reason

I didn't get tenure.

The ideas that got support

were the ones that

could be weaponized.

That's why he stopped labeling

his diagrams and started

splitting them in half.

Splitting them in half?

He knew

someone would exploit them.

Yeah. They're called

the Department of Defense.

He even hid parts of design.

-What do you mean hid?

-Hid wherever he worked.

His lab in Colorado,

the tower he built

on Long Island.

Both destroyed. Coincidence?

[laughs] I think not.

What about the power station

in Niagara?

Collapsed with

10,000 cubic feet

of rushing water

blocking the access tunnels.

Look, Tesla, didn't just

cut designs in half,

he disguised how

the designs went together.

Look, just like these

nautical charts.

That looks right, right?

But this, see, doesn't go

directly next to that.

She's good.

Tesla was also one of the first

to warn against

the dangers of smoking.

What does this

look like to you?

Reminds me of a Tin Man.

Like from the Wizard of Oz?

No, Tin Man

from the Sound of Music.

What does it mean?

Something Soberin said.

We've been sitting here

too long.

[radio playing, indistinct]

[polka music playing]

[speaking in foreign language]

Lots of prohibition.

Polonia got into

witness protection.

You know where

the devil can't go,

he sends a woman.

She doesn't trust me either.

It's just a Polish proverb.

Well, she said it

in English.

I never said

I didn't trust you.

That's good.

'Cause I don't

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