The Net Page #6

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We're both loners.

We're both isolated.

We're both really untrusting.

We're both looking

for the same clarity.

You've come to mean

a great deal to me.

You mean sh*t to me.

Look...

I have to admit an arrogance

in my perceptions of you.

I've come to visit a friend of mine.

An old piano teacher friend

of mine.

You leave my mother alone.

It seems I have no choice.

She's being moved by Dr. Champion.

The late Dr. Champion.

Sh*t!

Driver, this is the Highway Patrol.

Reduce speed.

Pull over to the side of the highway

and turn off your engine.

There it is.

There she is! Police!

Stop!

My name is Angela Bennett.

Freeze! Police!

My name's Angela Bennett.

Get down! Get down!

Get your hands around the back.

"You have the right to remain silent.

If you give up that right...

anything you say can be used

against you in a court of law.

You have the right to an attorney and

to have him present during questioning."

Look, I wanna help you.

I've been appointed to help you,

but everything you say is so farfetched.

They've changed your name,

your friend's medical records because-

Just think about it.

Our whole world

is sitting there on a computer.

It's in the computer.

Everything.

Your DMV records,

your Social Security...

your credit cards,

your medical history.

It's all right there.

Everyone is stored.

And there's this little

electronic shadow on each of us...

just begging for somebody

to screw with.

They've done it to me,

and they're gonna do it to you.

Look, Miss Marx.

I'm not Ruth Marx.

They invented her.

They put her on your computer

with my thumbprint.

I hate to tell you this, but the

California Criminal Justice computers...

all of them, have been protected

by the Gatekeeper security programs...

for the last six months...

so nothing that you're describing

could possibly happen.

Oh, my God.

It's the program then.

It's... The Gatekeeper program,

it has a flaw.

If they changed my identity and it has

a flaw, then the Praetorians know this.

- That solves it.

- Yeah. Think about it.

You want to tell me again

how you ended up in a stolen car?

Okay, listen to me.

It's like a Trojan horse,

this thing.

The Praetorians hack into computers,

and they cause this chaos.

LAX. Wall Street.

The Department of Water and Power

in Atlanta.

They do this so

the people buy this program.

They buy this program,

and they get a false sense of security.

Only to find out that they've

unwittingly allowed the Praetorians...

free and exclusive access

to the system.

Imagine what they can do with

this power. They can do anything.

This is absolutely fascinating,

Ms. Marx.

Please, my name is Bennett.

Write it down if you want.

It's Bennett.

B-E-N-N-E-T-T.

Bennett.

I have no reason

to make any of this up.

As your court-appointed attorney...

I'm obligated to do what you wish...

so I will call you "Cleopatra,

Queen of the Nile" if you want.

But take some advice.

If you go before the judge

with this craziness...

I guarantee you will be found

incompetent to stand trial...

and they will hold you indefinitely.

Hi. This is her daughter.

Hi, Mom.

It's me.

How're you doing?

You doing okay?

How's that new nurse treating...

Is she...

It's Angela.

Mom.

It's Angela.

Mom, listen.

I need you to do something for me.

There's a lady here

that I need for you...

She's gonna get on the phone.

I need you to tell her that I'm me.

'Cause she doesn't believe me.

Can you tell her that?

Mom?

Mom, don't. No.

Are you there?

I just want you to know

that I love you and...

Lady?

What?

- Would somebody answer the damn phone?

- Here she is.

Who's come to get me.

Can you just... I just...

Special Agent Ben Phillips, FBl.

I'm Alan's triend.

It's a terrible thing

what happened to him.

I'm so glad that you're here.

Two seconds after

Alan told me your story...

the Computer Crimes Division

hit the bricks chasing this down...

beating every bush from here

to eternity trying to find you.

Sorry it ended up

being a place like this.

Me too.

Let's get outta here,

get you someplace safe.

We've got a field office

about 40 minutes from here.

Then what do we do?

Then I'm going fishing.

A shark named Jack Devlin.

- Ring any bells?

- Yeah.

He's their one-man dirty-duty squad.

Smart, efficient, lethal.

Moral conscience of a chain saw.

Scary son of a b*tch as he is,

the guys behind the keyboards are worse.

The Praetorians.

Our first good lead.

We've been chasing them for years.

Look, we have to move A. S. A. P. so

start sketching me a quick background.

All right?

Like for instance...

how the hell did you access

their system in the first place?

I didn't. A programmer at Cathedral

sent the disk to me.

Goddamn disk. That's what

kick-started all this, huh?

Angie. Tell me.

Did you make a copy of the disk

before it was ruined in Mexico?

Damn!

The disk is only hope we have

of catching these bastards.

Did you talk to anyone?

Give copies of the disk to anyone?

You guys are amazing sons of b*tches.

- Excuse me?

- Amazing. Amazing, amazing.

How'd you know it was ruined?

I only told Devlin it was ruined.

How'd you know it was ruined?

What's your name? You're not with

the FBl. It doesn't even matter.

Since I touched that disk, I've been

running from one nightmare to the next.

I'm tired. I am out of it.

I'm so out of it.

What are you doing?

Get off the gas!

Let go! You're gonna kill us both!

Let go!

My seat belt!

After what appeared to be playful

but costly computer tampering...

an incident today

has taken a darker turn.

We go live to Dermot Conley

in Chicago with that report.

Police were called in as the recent

comedy of computer errors turned ugly...

when six Chicago banks were forced

to shut their doors...

due to computer tampering bringing

the city's economic life to a halt.

It's a desperate situation.

City services will be conducted through

the one bank unaffected by the glitches.

That bank, National Fidelity,

sources say...

was protected by Gregg Systems'

aptly named Gatekeeper program.

- Reporting live, Dermot Conley.

- Thank you, Dermot.

In related news, Jeff Gregg,

billionaire founder of Gregg Systems...

was in Washington

for today's announcement...

by newly appointed Undersecretary

of Defense Calvin Shoemaker...

that the Pentagon will be outfitting

the entire federal government...

with Gregg's touted

Gatekeeper program.

Remember, in this day and age,

information is sacred, is power.

And society must protect that

from terrorists.

Ironically, today's announcement

came two weeks to the day...

of the recent suicide of Shoemaker's

predecessor Michael Bergstrom...

a vocal opponent

of the Gatekeeper program.

In local news, a spectacular car crash

leaves one unidentified man dead.

We go live to Lynn Blades

at the scene of the crash.

Thank you. I am just yards away

from where the body was found...

with a gangland-style gunshot wound

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