What in the name of little billy goats are you doing?
I woke up early and I couldn't go back to sleep,
so I started reading your novel.
Hold on, I'm almost finished.
Well, I, on the other hand, am nowhere near finished.
Several early scenes lack context, intentionally,
which will be made clear in the subsequent
- and, as of now, unwritten chapters. - Shh.
I'm merely just trying to retroactively manage
your expectations, is all.
I love it.
And I'm really proud of you.
I'm going to be late for work.
You know, um,
I was thinking about you yesterday
while I was getting my knives sharpened and...
Should I be alarmed here?
No, the thought which sprang to mind was decidedly not homicidal.
At any rate, this particular cutler also happens to be a key cutter.
I want to, very much, see more of you.
I guess with your job taking up so much of your time as of late,
I just figured this might make things a little bit easier.
In case it is not clear, it is a key to my apartment.
Stephanie,
I love you.
I love you, too.
So, things went well?
Well, to put it bluntly,
I'm meeting her for ice cream at 17:30 and I'm still uncertain
as to my follow-up move.
While I can recognize that what transpired
was a positive outcome, with so little frame of reference
I cannot hold or conceive of what comes next.
- Do you love her? - A strong affirmative.
And she has said that she reciprocates.
Then relax.
I'm serious. When a woman tells you that she loves you, believe her.
Stephanie, it's Eugene.
Are you there?
Stephanie!
Stephanie, it's Eugene. Are you there?
Stephanie!
It's Eugene.
Are you in there, Stephanie?
That's good, put it to bed.
Hold on.
- She says it doesn't look good. - Yeah, I got that one.
Trooper Davis has a story to tell.
He wouldn't risk getting kicked out of Commonwealth for no reason.
That's right, he didn't.
We have a statement from his doctors backing up his PTSD claim.
Come on!
I don't trust the military doctors
any more than I trust the military command.
Something happened to Tyler Davis.
Something that he blames Governor Milton for.
Something worth confronting her in public over.
And they clearly have a reason for suppressing the truth.
That's one interpretation.
The other is that Tyler Davis had a mental health crisis
and only one of those interpretations
has the facts to support it.
He spoke of thousands more like him.
What does that mean?
We should be...
We should be printing what really happened at the masquerade ball,
but instead, you want to paraphrase
what Governor Milton said in her press release.
No, Connie, I want you to paraphrase Governor Milton's press releases.
So that the next time, I don't have to.
Well, if no one's seen her and no one's talked to her,
how could she have called in sick?
I never said she did.
All I know is I was told to be here because she didn't show up.
Do you mind?
This is a private room.
Tyler Davis, does he have a lawyer?
What are the charges against him?
This is C.A. We've been asked to perform a wellness check.
Please open the door.
She's not there.
And then I'd like to make a statement immediately.
Recount the details of her last knowns on the record now,
while they're still fresh in my mind.
Sure, come down to the station.
I'll help you fill out the paperwork.
How often do you take trips like this?
Not as often as I'd like.
This probably sounds crazy, but...
I feel like I'm better out here than I am in the city.
That doesn't sound crazy at all.
A lot of my people feel that way too.
You still see this as your people and my people.
I want you to see how this place works,
because I want you to be a part of it.
I've done fairly well, all things considered.
But, let's just say, I didn't start out at the top.
Is that where you are now?
Hardly.
Governor Milton runs the city.
But I know how it runs.
Because you started out at the bottom.
I proved myself to the Milton family a long time ago.
If you're in with the right people, Carol,
the sky's the limit.
And one of the things you learn as you're climbing your way up
is that there are two types of people in any organization.
On the one hand, you've got the mercenaries.
They're in it for the money and whatever psychological itch
their position allows them to scratch.
And, on the other, you have the patriots.
True believers.
The ones who want to do good.
Now, whether they are or not might be up for debate,
but in their hearts, they're there because they believe in the organization.
Is that why I'm here?
You want to make a true believer out of me?
I read your file, you're here because you're smart.
I think you'll be able to help me deal with this asshole.
What you get out of it is up to you.
What are we, drug dealers or smugglers?
We're smugglers.
But it's not what you think.
This place is not exactly part of the Commonwealth,
but they need us and we need them.
We use the poppies to make opium for the hospital.
Things will start looking pretty bleak there if we run out.
I make sure that doesn't happen.
But sometimes that means dealing with guys like Moto.
I told you what was going to happen.
And I asked you to manage it.
Talked 'em into processing this last batch.
Best I could do.
I told you they're going to hold the harvest hostage.
They want a raise.
They swear they'll let it rot without one.
Well...
let's see what we can do.
Hey.
We're with the Tribune.
Door number two.
Hey, I haven't seen you around.
How are you holding up?
I am functioning within to-be-expected parameters.
Yeah, no, I can see that.
So, can you let me in? I brought lasagna.
This is an empty dish.
Oh, yeah, sorry,
I didn't make lasagna.
People just always have to let you in if you're carrying food.
So,
what's up?
DR. PORTER: When the C.A. gave up the search,
I decided to investigate Stephanie's disappearance myself.
Truth be told,
as the hours ticked by, with nary a breadcrumb to be found,
I let my despair get the best of me.
That is until a chance encounter put me on the trail.
Sir.
Sir, I need to talk to you.
Please, I need to talk.
1634 Racing?
It's an apartment building in Residential One.
Three days ago you were seen at seven in the p.m.
You were seen coming down the stairs.
I don't remember this.
Wait, sir, sir. Sir, please.
Someone near and dear to me has gone missing
and you may have seen something that might help me find her.
Where was this?
Residential One.
Three days ago at, approximately, seven in the p.m.
Yeah.
Residential One, I remember that now.
I got called in to fix a clogged sink.
What?
Do you remember seeing her there?
Or anything suspicious in or around the premises that night?
No.
We done?
I sincerely apologize for having troubled you.
If there's a better time at which we could talk?
Needless to say, I greeted his story with a great deal of skepticism.
There were no city service carts on the street that night,
nor was he wearing any sort of identifying uniform
or carrying any tools.
I found it very peculiar that the one person I knew was there
the night she disappeared happened to have such a flimsy alibi.
So, I started following him.
So, like, what's this plumber's deal?
To start with, his name is Roman Calhoun.
And he is, most definitely, not a plumber.
He mostly conducts his business at night.
His base of operations...
is a building in the warehouse district
which purports to be a purveyor of plumbing services which,
on the surface, appears to be legitimate.
However, they never receive any mail.
There's lights on at odd hours when they are, ostensibly, closed.
And while people go in and out with a fair degree of regularity,
it's usually just the same four people over and over.
They usually arrive alone and depart shortly thereafter.
And frequently meeting in groups of two.
And on the one occasion they were all together,
they were also met by a fifth.
Who I also believe to be the head honcho.
The mastermind of some sort of rogue element within the government
that Stephanie somehow ran afoul of.
Rogue element, like, you think she was kidnapped
by the government or something?
Shortly after I began my search,
the man who later became known to me as co-conspirator number two,
A.K.A. Beanie Hat Man...
showed up to Stephanie's apartment with a team of movers,
collected all her belongings
and took them to an unknown location.
Then, that same day,
this was found in Stephanie's file at Union Station.
It's a work transfer request,
signed by Stephanie on the day of her disappearance.
But the man who filled in for her at the radio room that day told me
she gave no notice whatsoever.
Such orders could not be falsified or fabricated
without direct influence from within the halls of power.
She knew they were coming for her.
When she eluded them, they filed that false work transfer
to cover up her disappearance.
They took all her belongings
to recover any evidence she may have gathered.
And now silencing her is the last step
in repairing that leak.
If I'm right,
her only hope
is for me to expose them before they find her.
Good hatches this year? Yes, sir.
You catch enough that I'd actually just do it for fun.
And it's nice when your hobby is also an apocalypse skill.
Amen to that.
So, I can't give them what they want.
But maybe we can meet halfway.
They get a raise, but they earn it.
Incentives. Produce more,
make more.
Best I can do.
See what you need to see?
More than enough.
Then this is the part where you ask me the questions they sent you.
It's been a month since former trooper Tyler Davis
has been in the hospital under armed guard.
What is he being charged with?
That's not one of the questions.
Does it have anything to do with the fact
that the woman he took hostage
was your sister?
I was wondering when you were gonna figure that out.
For the record,
the answer is my sister don't have a goddamn thing to do with it.
He was loyal,
recommended for early promotion
by you.
And he wound up feeling like
the military was being manipulated by the politicians.
If I was you,
I would be really interested
in who I was risking my life for.
And if I were you,
I might wonder why am I here digging for answers
that we both know will never see the light of day.
Hey, Eugene.
It's really cool, you know.
You doing so much for her.
Strike that.
Reverse that.
I'm merely trying to repay what I owe.
I made a promise to myself in those early days,
back when we thought this would all blow over in a few weeks,
that if I live through this
I pursue my dream of becoming a science fiction author.
I have jokingly related that story to Stephanie over the radio.
And she told me,
"you can't wait till after you've lived through it,
"because ready or not,
"right now is all we've got."
She gave me the courage to do something I've always wanted to do.
And when someone can do that for you, well...
words like love seem insufficient.
Hmm.
Shit.
Let's go.
You want to break into his apartment?
Yeah.
I don't want to get in trouble, Eugene.
I got a little job, I got a little bed.
I might get a little cat.
- This is so bad. - It's Tuesday 10-miles ironclad.
He'll be gone for 90 minutes.
Please, Princess,
he's the key to cracking this whole thing wide open,
I just know it.
I'm sorry we can't stay for the fish fry.
Next time, my friend.
Yeah.
Well, what do you think?
He's robbing them.
I talked to one of the lieutenants.
He's pocketing the money that you give them for raises
and beating them to keep quiet about it.
He went too far the other night and that's why they're on strike.
They'll get their money back.
And the raise I just promised them.
What about Moto?
Well,
I'm not going to go fishing with him anymore, that's for sure.
Take him into custody, now.
Hey! What the hell? Get your hands off of me.
Hornsby!
You mother puss bucket!
Hey, Eugene,
what's this guy do when it rains on his 10-mile run?
Well, given our recent lack of precipitation,
I've not yet gathered that data.
Well, you have now. He's here.
We have to get out of here.
Count off his range.
- What? - His range.
50, 40, 30 feet.
I'm not good at that.
Just tell me how much time I have.
Dude, I am telling you how much time you have, and you have no time.
They're in here somewhere. I saw them go up a ladder outside.
They can't have gotten that far.
Hey, there they are! That's them.
General Mercer, how can I help you?
Where is the patient who was in M-33 and the soldiers that were with him?
There's no one in M-33.
I realize that.
I want to know what happened to the man who was in there.
He can't be moved without my authorization.
I'm sorry but apparently he can.
I'm truly sorry that I manipulated you into
accompanying me on this lamebrain misadventure.
I fully intend to make known
that you had no role in planning my scheme.
And no witting part in its execution.
Hey, I just got back in town.
What the hell, you two?
Roman Calhoun is exactly who he says he is.
He's a plumber at Ruby's.
They've been a little lazy with the paperwork,
but they do have a contract with the city.
And according to this invoice,
Mr. Calhoun was sent to Stephanie's building
on the night you saw him there to fix a sink in a work area.
But what about the kidnap kit we found in his closet?
Those weapons are illegal.
For you. He's a full citizen, he has a license.
A lot of us have go-bags.
Even people who've been here for years.
I told Calhoun your story, told him about Stephanie.
Explained everything you've been through,
the mental anguish that it's caused you.
And he has agreed to not press charges.
But you have to leave him alone.
Oh, here, sign that.
It states you were emotionally distraught
and in a paranoid state
following the disappearance of your girlfriend.
Look, I'm sorry this didn't lead where you thought it would.
You were wrong about Calhoun and you need to accept that.
Because if you don't,
I'm not gonna be able to help.
DR. PORTER: I should've known.
The conspiracy goes deeper than I initially thought...
Dude! None of this is happening. Stephanie broke up with you.
What?
That's utterly absurd.
Look, I've been thinking it, but, you know,
what if you were right about this Calhoun guy?
But the dude is a plumber, Euge.
You've got... You've got Stephanie's work transfer order.
Moving guys, literally, came and took her furniture.
Maybe it's not that complicated.
But the first bit of advice you gave me was
when a woman tells you she loves you, believe her.
Yeah, well, when a woman quits her job
and moves away without telling you,
maybe you should believe that too.
The day my dad had enough...
my man just split.
And I thought that it was because I smoked his cigarettes.
And I never saw him again.
So,
who knows, maybe that was it.
I mean, you can think you know someone
and then
find out you never even met them.
Yeah, this sucks, man.
But it happens all the time.
I can appreciate how you might reach that conclusion.
However,
I am privy to one piece of data that you are not.
I know how it felt.
Okay.
Well, it was just a theory.
Hey!
I told you I heard something.
I'll handle it.
You played me.
I knew.
Once you corroborated Calhoun's bogus alibi,
I was certain you were involved with covering up Stephanie's disappearance.
But now I realize the depth of my self-delusion,
because Occam's razor should have led me to this conclusion
before a well-placed kick to the belly ever did.
There was never any Stephanie.
Who is she?
She an undercover agent?
A con artist that owes you a favor?
Well, she was very convincing.
You used her
to pull at my heartstrings and to trick me into telling you
everything you wanted to know about our communities.
Well, it worked.
She led me to the train yard,
where we were captured by you!
You thought I was an easy mark.
The most trusted of the police with you.
You split off my friends one at a time thinking I'd break, but I didn't break.
Then she led me to the radio room where we were captured again.
Oh, you certainly got your money's worth there.
I actually fell for that one twice!
She's the one that told me I could trust you.
And I did.
She even read my book.
So that she can get any helpful autobiographical information
that might serve your needs!
But now that you've gotten everything you wanted,
what, no need to continue the ruse?
Is that it?
But you didn't see this twist.
I'm gonna make absolutely certain that everybody knows
exactly who and what you are.
Okay.
And who or what is that, exactly?
The villain?
The boogeyman?
Or, the best goddamn thing that ever happened to you?
You're right, Eugene,
I did lie to you.
Just like you and your friends lied through your teeth
to get inside these walls.
No.
But who's keeping score, right?
So, I did what I had to do to get you here and you know what?
You should be thanking me for it.
It's not my fault you people are too stupid to know
a good thing when it landed in your laps.
You're just admitting it?
I fell in love and everything I know about her is a fiction.
Look, we tried to rip the Band-Aid off when we saw it was getting serious.
And I did everything I could to get you to stop looking for her,
but you wouldn't.
And here we are.
At least it can stop now, right?
It wasn't gonna get better for your people, Eugene.
They were about to starve.
And now you're here and your community is getting fixed.
And you've got everything from concerts to cancer surgery.
And, literally, the only thing we've ever asked of you all in return
is to be productive members of society here,
for as long as you choose to stay.
So, tell them whatever you want.
The statement you signed to get out of jail
says you were suffering from paranoia
as a result of nervous strain.
Remember?
I mean,
look at you, Eugene.
This has obviously taken a toll.
Am I sorry your heart got broken?
Absolutely.
And I'm sure your friends will be very sad to hear about it, too.
But in the balance of things,
I still think it worked out in everyone's favor.
And they probably will too.
Oh.
By the way,
Stephanie's real name is Shira.
And she hates Iron Maiden.
But she genuinely enjoyed your book.
You should stick with it.
Eugene,
are you all right?
Eugene, I need to talk to you.
Tater Bug.
This is Blue Weevil to Tater Bug. Please come back.
Who are you?
It's me.
I'm the one you were talking to on the radio.