Previously on Touch...
Driven by profits and corporate greed
it's a dystopian nightmare in the making brought to you
by our good friends here at Aster Corps.
I need to talk to this guy.
- You're a reporter. - I am a reporter.
And I'm working on a story
accusing Aster Corps of criminal activity,
starting with attempted murder,
kidnapping, false imprisonment,
and the faking of the death
of at least one child.
I figured since Calvin Norburg
had turned against them, that maybe he could help me.
This is my morning. I'm gonna start at the beach
and paper my way through the city.
My daughter is missing, Martin.
I'm gonna do whatever I can to find her.
Hi, Amelia. My name's Frances.
I'm gonna take care of you from now on.
- You have lost your child? - Yeah.
You will find her.
Right now the only way
that I can prove that Aster Corps
is doing this is to find Amelia alive.
- Martin Bishop? - Who is this?
Calvin Norburg.
I'll be in touch.
Morning.
Good morning.
You've been staring at those boxes for 24 hours now.
- Uh-huh. - If you want, I could put them in the garage for you.
No... I should open them and go through them all.
I'm just trying to muster the courage.
I mean, 15 years.
All of Amelia's baby pictures, and every birthday party.
And I think even my marriage license is in there somewhere.
Mm. Once the house was sold,
I swear, he swept everything smaller than a couch into a box
and just shipped it off.
You'll get to it when you're ready.
Hey, buddy.
Dude.
You know...
he should probably start school soon.
There's that one a few blocks away
where his friend Soleil goes.
You're kidding, right?
No, I'm not kidding.
You saw how happy he was on the playground, and you always say,
when Jake points you in a direction, there's a reason.
He wanted to make a friend. He can't go to a public school.
He wouldn't blend in.
Oh, yeah. You mean the haircut.
That would be a problem.
No, not the haircut.
Look, we can't just tell people how to find us.
People will know where we are.
Hey, buddy... Jake, that's not your stuff, sweetheart.
No, no, it's okay.
He's just trying to help. You know what?
I'm going to walk over to that coffee place.
I need some industrial caffeine
to get me through all this stuff.
Uh-huh. Is that okay?
Yeah.
- Fine. - Come on, dude.
_
You really don't know who you're meeting?
I was told to wait on Lebanon, just off of Sixth.
When I meet him, I want him to really think I am a reporter.
One of the first things I did when I got to Los Angeles was
I started building a background profile for Martin Bishop.
Overseas stuff. Cairo News, Bahrain International.
Oh, you picked some real dogs.
Yeah, well, if I picked the London Times,
it would have been pretty easy to check. Look,
I need a credential, something current, to sell my cover.
Interesting. You need credentials, I need a reporter.
A real, top-level Martin Bohm writer.
You ready to jump back in?
What do you mean? Be published?
Two pieces a month, 300 words an article.
Any more than that is up to you.
Trevor, I haven't done this for 11 years.
Ah, it's like riding a bike.
I owe you.
Thanks.
About to cross the border now.
My plane leaves in three hours.
How are the boys?
They miss you terribly.
Passport?
Travel can be so rough on a puppy.
Especially Mike.
Aw. He is a sensitive soul.
Well, hopefully,
I won't be traveling so much in my next job.
I don't suppose any headhunters have called with any offers?
No, nothing yet.
How are you holding up?
Fine, though some strange things happened lately.
The phone in my hotel room--
I could swear it was tapped, and then,
yesterday, my ATM card stopped working.
Well, you know, it's-it's Pakistan.
Sometimes things don't work.
Yeah... Well, I'll be glad to be home.
With my boys and my man.
- Please step out of the car. - What?
- Out of the car now! - Is there a problem?
Hey! Hey!
Hey! Hey! Oh!
- What are you doing?! - Mallory?
- Shut up! Shut up! - Okay! Wait! - Mal?
- Wait. Wait. What are you doing? - Mallory?
Stop! let me go!
Mallory?! Honey.
Let me go.
Let me go!
This is crazy.
Every kid in the city's in school right now.
Not being in school is what makes you obvious.
If your dad's worried about you standing out,
he should put you in a crowd of 11-year-olds.
Am I right or what?
Jake. Jake?
Jake?
Where did you get this?
Hi. I'm sorry. Is there a problem?
Your son, he...
Take it.
I think he wants you to have it.
Take it!
I have to go.
You know what? This is gonna sound crazy,
but I need to ask you. Do you know a girl named Amelia?
She's 14 years old, and she has blonde hair.
Jake here has been trying to guide me to her, and I think
he's trying to tell me that you might know something.
I have to go.
- Hey, Martin. - Hey.
♪ and I arranged a meeting with someone who has information
on Aster Corps. Look...
I don't know how long this is gonna take.
Can you and Jake meet me over
- at BreakWire later this afternoon? - Yeah.
No problem.
Wish me luck.
Martin Bishop?
Yeah.
Get in the car.
From the smallest amoeba
to the grandest of galaxies,
we define ourselves by our borders.
Our boundaries.
I am me, therefore, I am not you.
We are safe within our territory.
But borders can be places of instability, of danger.
Cold fronts collide with warm.
Dynamic energy explodes.
I'm starving.
What do you want to eat, Jake?
And yet...
it's at the edges, the frontiers between us,
where ideas are exchanged, where knowledge is gained.
I am me, but I must push past my borders
if I'm ever to truly know you.
I'm Martin Bishop.
I know who you are.
Martin Bishop?
I'm Calvin Norburg.
Sync and corrections by n17t01 www.addic7ed.com
Where are you taking me?
No, you can't do this! What are you doing...?
You can't... No!
What do you want from me?
I have money.
There's cash in my suitcase.
Who is your handler?
What?
Tell me the name of your handler.
Oh. Oh, there's been a mistake.
I'm just trying to leave the country.
Yes, I see you have left our country a lot lately.
Crossed the border five times in the last four months.
I'm in international sales.
I'm here on business.
Ms. Cane, this will go a lot easier for you
if you tell us what we want to know.
I'm telling you the truth!
I'm here on business.
I demand to see the American ambassador!
Sure. We will fetch you the ambassador.
And a big juicy steak
and a bottle of beer...
as soon as you tell us what we want to know.
Who is your handler?
I don't have a handler.
I don't know what you want from me!
Wait... no, no... let me go!
Let me go!
Sorry for the cloak and dagger stuff.
A lot of people are looking for me right now.
I'm very protective of my privacy.
We've met somewhere.
In an elevator,
in your lawyer's office building.
And in the parking garage.
You were running from security.
That's all right.
Being chased out of that building is a badge in my book.
Thought this would be
a good place for us to meet.
It's private.
Shooting helps me relax.
You like guns?
No, not really.
No? Why not?
Because I've seen what they can do.
The impact of a bullet on flesh.
Gets messy close up.
Gaza.
Read your resumé.
Pretty third rate stuff if you don't mind me saying.
And yet, you called me.
You rescued the father of a friend of mine--
my investor, Vikash Nayar-- he asked me to meet you.
And that's your only reason you agreed to see me?
Because I would have thought
that your friend would have explained to you
that I'm investigating Aster Corps for a story,
and that, because of your recent fallout with them,
I was hoping that you could give me some insight
into their inner workings.
And what are your impressions so far?
Aster Corps is one of the most powerful corporations
in the world,
and I believe they're involved in criminal activity.
I think they've engaged in murder, kidnapping
to get what they want,
and I think they'll stop at nothing
to destroy anyone who gets in their way.
You must feel like a pretty big target right now.
Yes.
"Yes."
Look, I get it, you don't trust me.
- I underst... - You know, the average person is lied to
up to 200 times a day.
You know that?
I worked on an algorithm
distinguishing lies from truths.
Turns out the truth is nearly impossible to calculate,
to digitize, but there are
some tells, obviously, like holding a steady gaze...
or keeping a steady arm.
Mr. Norburg, I'm a reporter.
I came here for a story.
If there's something you want to tell me, I'd like to hear it.
First we shoot, then we talk.
Today won't be a workday.
It's just a chance for us
to get to know each other.
I thought we could start the morning off
with a good book.
Have you read this one-- To Kill a Mockingbird?
No, but I know a lot about ornithology.
Birds have a preternatural
predictive instinct for weather.
Let's see if you like it.
"When he was nearly 13, my brother Jem got
his arm badly broken at the elbow."
Can I see it?
Sure.
Well, maybe
you'd like to look at that yourself for a while.
I can't believe this.
You stole this from that woman?
What were you thinking, Jake?
This does not belong to you.
This is not yours.
We need to get this back to them.
"Vicente Corliss."
Building 1075.
Never do this, Jake.
I'm not kidding you.
What I'm doing is wrong.
Hear me?
_
Oh, my God.
Get your backpack.
We're going for a drive.
I just need to know what to look for and where to find it.
There's a building on the Aster Corps campus-- Building J.
Their most sensitive, classified files
are stored on the top floor--
- Room 1075. - Think you can get me up there?
Only a red-level pass card will gain access,
and mine's been deactivated.
There are a dozen more, 11 of which belong
to loyal Aster Corps lifers.
We wouldn't be able to pry it out of their cold, dead fingers.
But the 12th?
A project manager named Mallory Cane,
who I happen to know is disillusioned with the company.
If I ask, she'll lend us hers.
- Where is she? - I don't know.
She travels for them a lot in the Middle East.
So I need to find her.
I'm sending you the contact info.
Okay, I've got her information.
Why are you doing this?
Why are you helping me gain this kind of access?
And please don't tell me it's because I helped your friend.
When I left Aster Corps, they took all my research.
I want it back.
You can walk into that building, I can't.
So you need a third-rate journalist
to help you steal your files back.
Listen, we both need to be really, really careful.
Aster Corps knows a lot about a lot of things.
They probably know way more about you than you realize.
Okay.
We made it.
That must be him, right on time.
This is a suicide note.
My aunt-- this is her life savings.
How did you get this?
Uh...
we just met a woman this morning.
It must have fallen out of her purse.
Aunt Sofia.
I didn't even know she was in, in America.
Oh, so you've been out of touch?
And do you know this man?
This man killed my mother.
Four years ago, my mom and Aunt Sofia,
they shared an apartment in Santiago, Chile.
A man broke in.
He murdered my mother.
Sliced her throat.
My Aunt Sofia watched her bleed to death
on the kitchen floor.
I'm so sorry.
Sofia--
I tried reaching out, I-I called her a few times...
but she never forgave herself for what happened.
She and my mom were so close.
Identical twins.
My Aunt Sofia-- she was a bartender,
but my mother... Claudia,
she... she was a savant, she was a genius.
H-How do you mean "savant"?
She was an astronomer of this... this amazing insight.
She had no education, no training.
She would become quiet,
she wouldn't say a word for days and days,
and out of nowhere, she would draw this galaxy,
this cluster of stars,
and then she'd go out searching in the night sky
with her telescope, and she would find it.
I mean, it was like magic.
Her major discovery was the Corliss Comet.
She predicted its trajectory.
A comet, huh?
Still have that napkin, Jake?
Look familiar?
That-That's it-- the path of the Corliss Comet.
H-How did you know that?
Oh, uh, Jake here--
he sees things, too,
like your mom, like my daughter.
Look, uh,
it could take me 48 hours to get permission to leave base.
Please, you have to find my Aunt Sofia
before something terrible happens.
Okay.
This is a game of chance with a little skill thrown in.
It's fun.
I'll show you how to play.
So, what did you think of that book?
I prefer non-fiction, but I liked it.
You read the whole thing?
I liked the part where Scout says,
"You never really understand a person
until you consider things from his point of view,
until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
I don't remember that.
Page 177, 12 lines from the bottom.
So... first, I roll.
Five.
I take my piece and move it
five spaces.
Now you go.
No, honey... you have to roll the dice first.
That way...
Amelia...
did you know the dice would land on nine?
Your turn.
Could you move my piece for me?
Can you see this whole game, from beginning to end,
before we even start playing?
I'm gonna win.
Where are you taking me?
No! No, no! No, let me go!
Some water, Ms. Cane?
I don't know who you think I am, but...
I swear to you,
I am only here on business.
If there is a problem, we'll sort it out.
Maybe you're right, maybe it's just a misunderstanding.
But I have to tell you,
if you're not completely truthful,
you'll be transferred to the Bannu prison.
Have you heard of Bannu?
It's not a good place.
No discipline.
Half the time, they lose the records of their prisoners.
Once they are admitted, some just...
poof-- disappear.
We are just a holding facility,
but once you are in Bannu...
I can't protect you anymore,
understand?
So...
help me sort this out.
I'll ask you some questions, and we'll get to
- the bottom of this. - I have nothing to hide.
Just ask me whatever you want,
and I'll tell you whatever you need to know.
Who is your handler?
Sorry to bother you. I'm looking for Mallory Cane.
Where is she?
I don't know what you're talking about.
They sent you. Where is she?
Where is my wife?
Where is she?
- Tell me what they want! - Who?
Aster Corps, you son of a bitch.
I'm-I'm sorry.
Look, I'm-I'm not who you think I am.
I'm a reporter. My name is Martin Bishop.
I'm investigating Aster Corps for alleged criminal activity.
A source of mine suggested that I talk to your wife.
I'm-I'm sorry. Here.
It's all right.
I just want to help you up. Come on.
There.
Just breathe.
There you go.
Tell me what happened.
She... sh-she's been...
she's been working on a project
for about a year-- s-some...
sort of security program called T1
that the company sold to the Pakistanis.
But she found a flaw in it-- sh-sh-she realized that...
that innocent people
- were gonna get hurt. - What'd she do?
She went to her supervisor,
a-and then she threatened to go public,
and now she's sitting in a jail in Pakistan.
Have you spoken to the State Department?
Yeah, about nine times. They're "looking into it."
I need to see your wife's computer.
Look...
I could help you find her.
I think I can help you bring her home, but...
I need to see her computer. Please.
She has files on Pakistan, but...
they're mainly bills, invoices.
She's a-a project manager.
She works on all kinds of their
top secret programs. She's responsible
for keeping their books.
- What's the Fibonacci Project? - No idea.
Have you ever heard of
- Adeline Danvers? - No.
_
Why would Aster Corps be paying bills
to Children's Dentistry of Manhattan?
Amelia...
I'm gonna need to print some of these files up.
Is that all right?
Here she is.
Claudia Corliss. "Slain genius,"
with a small but passionate following of astronomy geeks.
Looks like the real deal-- made some important discoveries.
Yeah, the Corliss Comet.
Now, this is interesting--
it has a cycle of 122 years.
But its closest proximity is tonight
and can only be viewed from the Northern Hemisphere.
Sofia's note said, "It all ends tonight."
Maybe she came to LA to see her sister's comet
- once before she dies. - Uh-huh.
Question is, where is she?
And where would she go see it?
Well, Griffith Observatory's closed,
but the Astraeus Society
has a powerful enough telescope,
and they are... Oh.
- There's a viewing tonight, yeah, - Tonight.
on the rooftop of their building,
just after sunset.
I will be there.
Ruben...
any luck with that program?
Give me five more minutes.
- Hey. What happened? - Hey. Take a seat.
I'm gonna need you to look at this.
- It's important. - Yeah?
"Adeline Danvers"?
That's their cover name for Amelia.
Look at these financial transactions--
all of them start the exact same day
that Amelia was allegedly killed, three years ago.
They covered everything--
hotels, transportation, health care.
Look, they even made payments
to the board and care facility that Jake
was staying at in New York City.
But, wait, why do the records stop?
Nothing for the last three weeks.
- It all ends at Board and Care. - I know, I know.
But she had to get to LA somehow.
They must've spent some money to move her.
Look, they might be using
different accounts to pay for this stuff,
but I don't think so.
I think they've lost her.
I don't think Aster Corps has her.
That would explain why Amelia
was walking on the beach alone.
So, if Aster Corps doesn't have her, who does?
That's what we need to find out before they do.
Well, Jake led me to this woman this morning--
Sofia Corliss. I know
it's connected to Amelia,
- and I need to find her. - Okay. So,
if you find anything out, you call me right away.
Got it. Thank you.
Hey, sweetheart.
I'm sorry. There's a lot of things going on right now.
What are you doing?
Hello?
Who is this?
Ms. Herrera, the principal
of Pacific Middle School. Who's this?
Martin Bishop. How can I help you?
What can I do for you, Martin?
I'm sorry. You called me.
No, my phone rang. You called me.
Do you have a child enrolled here?
No. Uh... not yet.
Look, we just moved into the area.
My son Jake is 11 years old, and...
...h-he's different.
He has special needs.
I'm not exactly sure that your school
is the right place for him. Um, uh...
to be honest with you, I'm not sure
- he's even ready yet. - Well, why don't you have
Jake come by for a half-day tomorrow,
and we'll see how it goes.
Tomorrow?
School starts at 8:50.
I'm glad you called.
Thank you very much.
So you want to go to school, huh, buddy?
I'll think about it.
Jake, I said I'd think about it.
Martin...?
Yeah.
- What do you got? - This program Mallory Cane was working on, T1,
Aster Corps developed it for Pakistan.
Sole function is to profile terrorists.
- How's it work? - It collects huge volumes
of data on everyone crossing their borders--
travel patterns, contacts from their phones,
locations from their GPS.
Crunches it all down and spits out names.
Uh, there's chatter on the web that it casts too wide a net.
Claims of innocent people being snagged,
but nothing you could verify.
You have anything on her current status?
The Pakistan security network's
locked down pretty tight, but...
there is an illegal web site that captures
Pakistani communications and leaks it.
A transfer order was just posted.
She's set to be moved about an hour from now
from the border to some place called Bannu.
- Oh, no. - D-Do you know it?
Yes, if she's transferred to Bannu Prison,
we'll never find her again. She'll just disappear.
Hold on.
Hey, this is Calvin.
Leave me a message.
Calvin, it's Martin. I need to meet with you again.
It's urgent. Half an hour, same place.
_
Pizza's here.
Sofia?
Hey!
Hey! Stop!
Sofia, stop! Sofia!
Don't! Stop!
Slow down!
No!
Stop! Sofia!
Hey!
Come on!
Shh, shh, okay.
Hey! Hey! Hey! Sofia.
Look at me-- you're okay.
You're okay.
Here...
'Scuse me! Stop!
You're gonna get yourselves killed out here!
Please, we need a ride.
Come on.
Get in.
- Thank you. - Where are we going?
Uh, I have a car-- it's on the other side of the highway.
It's okay.
It should have been me.
Hey.
Listen to me.
Sofia, there's a reason that I found you.
You weren't meant to die.
Okay?
You don't understand.
It was my fault.
He should've killed me, not my sister.
She's in Pakistan?
Yeah, they picked her up at the border.
They threw her in a cell. In about an hour,
they're gonna transfer her to Bannu Prison.
They flagged her because of a program called T1?
I know all about T1; I helped design the damn thing.
Aster Corps is using T1 to set her up.
- Well, can you shut it down? - No. But with some luck,
I can probably jam it, keep it offline for an hour,
maybe two.
But there's another problem.
That flag will disappear from her name,
but nobody'll know that unless someone inside Pakistan
runs her back through the system.
Okay, you get to work on jamming the program.
I'll see if I can get a message through.
If we can't get her out, maybe we can at least bribe somebody
to get us her passcard.
No, no, we have to get her out.
We're bringing her home.
Martin.
Hey, Trev, I need a local contact that can help me
get a message through to a Pakistani government official.
- You got anyone? - Yeah, there's a man in LA
named Nazim Farzat-- no official post,
but, well, he's the man for back-channel access.
He's a little hard to reach, but I'll send you his info.
Thanks.
I got to run this down.
Keep me up to date.
I told everybody--
the police, my nephew--
that the killer broke in...
but that was a lie.
I met him at my bar.
I invited him home.
And he was charming and so...
intellectual.
He talked to me about science,
about the stars and the planets.
I felt smart, like my sister.
Hey, hey, you can't blame yourself.
You're not the first woman to be fooled
by a charming man, believe me.
Once he was inside, everything changed.
Suddenly he became violent,
and I realized he was there to kill me.
But I don't think he was expecting a fight.
I grabbed sewing scissors,
and I stuck him in the side of the neck.
Then Claudia came home.
Poor Claudia.
She was so sweet...
so sensitive.
She had no idea how to take care of herself.
He turned his focus on her and...
...it didn't take long.
I tried to attack him, but he punched me hard
and I fell.
He slashed her throat...
and just walked out the door
with that scissors still stuck in his neck.
I am so sorry.
That is... a horrible memory.
I can only imagine.
Hey...
Your nephew...
Vicente, he's worried about you.
You saw Vicente?
How is he?
He's good. He misses you.
He loves you.
You're the only family he's got.
I can't face him.
His mother is dead when it should have been me.
N-No, no, I-I-I... I've been thinking about this
and I-I wouldn't be so sure.
So, the man, right?
He talks to you about astronomy.
You look exactly like her.
He meets you in the bar, and he works his way into your home.
Maybe he was targeting Claudia the whole time.
Maybe he thought you were her.
But why would someone want to kill Claudia?
I don't know.
I'm sorry you chose not to cooperate.
It's a four-hour drive to Bannu.
The van will be ready in a few minutes.
No. No, no, no, no.
No, listen to me. Listen to me, please.
You can't do this!
Damn it.
Hello?
Mr. Farzat?
Mr. Farzat, please,
I need to speak with you-- it's an emergency!
I don't think he can hear me.
Mr. Farzat, please?
Mr. Farzat?
Wait, it's not what it looks like.
Freeze! Freeze!
Wait! Wait!
Wait, please, I just want
to speak to the owner of the house.
Just keep your hands down.
- What's all this? - Under control, sir.
- Go on inside. - Mr. Farzat, please, I came here to ask you
- to make a call to Pakistan for me. - The police are on their way.
Mr. Farzat, please.
There's an innocent woman being transferred to Bannu prison.
Please, you can help me save her life.
Wait.
Where are you taking me?
No! No, you can't do this!
Please! Please!
I packed some sliced carrots
for Jake as a snack.
Now, he'll have to line them up
in a specific pattern before he eats them.
Also, also, please, show him where the water fountains are.
And he won't know to raise
his hand if he's thirsty, so he might just get up
- and walk out. - He'll be fine, Mr. Bishop; it's only a half-day.
One last thing. I-I put a cell phone in his backpack.
If there's any kind of a problem, all you have to do
is press one, it'll dial me directly.
- If he... - He'll be fine, Mr. Bishop.
We'll see you at noon?
Yes.
Thank you.
Jake! Hey! Come on!
Bye, Jake!
He'll be fine, Mr. Bishop.
Really.
We cross borders,
explore new frontiers...
frontiers of the heart, frontiers of the soul,
and if we're lucky,
we come home again,
having learned great lessons about our shared destiny,
for the purpose of our travels,
both inward and outward.
It's not merely to see the unseen,
but to bring those visions home,
to share with those we love.
Maybe the goal of parenting is to become obsolete.
I read that book, too.
So, what do you think our next move is?
We know they've been documenting her as "Adeline."
Hopefully, when we get into Aster Corps,
- we'll get some real answers. - Yeah, but do you trust this guy?
Calvin?
No.
Maybe I don't need to. Excuse me.
Yeah?
Great news.
I just spoke to Mallory Cane.
Whatever you did, it worked.
Somebody called Pakistan and she was released.
Now we'll have access to her passcard,
and the walls of Jericho will come tumbling down.
Hey, Mom.
How's my girl today?
You ready to do some work?
Martin?
What is it?
Look at this.
This is the man
that killed Claudia Corliss.
This is Amelia's birthday party
three and half years ago.
It was... it was in a park in New Jersey.
Look-- this scar,
that's where Sofia stabbed him with her scissors.
Lucy, are you absolutely sure? A lot of people have a scar.
No! Yes, I'm sure.
I saw the police sketch.
I know it's the same guy.
Jake opened this box, he took out the photo,
and then he led me to Sofia.
And the number
on the box-- 1075--
that's the same number that saved Sofia's life.
Why is this... guy, this stranger,
standing behind my daughter...
six months after he killed someone just like her?
Sync and corrections by n17t01 www.addic7ed.com