Volume Two
Chapter Four: Codebreakers in the Dark
The city's underbelly was alive with static and secrets. As the coalition regrouped in their safe room, tension hung thick in the air. Cabot's flash drive had revealed the truth, but now the team was hunted, the system closing in from all sides.
INT. SECRET COALITION SAFE ROOM – NIGHT
Olivia, Cabot, McCall, and Voight pored over the files. The survivors, exhausted but resolute, watched as the laptop screen flickered—data corrupted, files vanishing before their eyes.
CABOT (panicked):
"They're wiping it remotely! We're losing everything!"
Suddenly, the laptop's screen glitched. A new window popped up, displaying a cartoon scorpion and a message:
ON-SCREEN MESSAGE:
"Don't panic. We've got you. – S."
Before anyone could react, the door buzzed. Olivia drew her weapon, but the security camera feed showed a familiar face—Paige Dineen, flanked by a nervous but determined Walter O'Brien and the rest of Team Scorpion: Happy Quinn, Sylvester Dodd, and Toby Curtis.
PAIGE (through intercom):
"Olivia Benson? We're here to help. Let us in before your files are toast."
INT. SAFE ROOM – CONTINUOUS
The door opened. Team Scorpion swept in, laptops and gear in tow. Walter immediately plugged into the compromised laptop, fingers flying.
WALTER:
"They're running a recursive wipe and a quantum encryption overlay. Give me sixty seconds."
HAPPY (setting up a portable jammer):
"I'll block their remote access, but it won't last long."
SYLVESTER (anxiously):
"What if they've already deleted the core files?"
TOBY (grinning):
"Then Walter will just have to outthink the world's most paranoid spooks. No pressure, buddy."
Cabot watched, stunned, as the Scorpion team worked in perfect, rapid-fire sync. Within moments, Walter's screen filled with cascading code.
WALTER:
"Got it. I'm isolating the corrupted sectors and rebuilding the lost data. Whoever's behind this is good, but not Scorpion good."
OLIVIA (impressed):
"How did you even find us?"
PAIGE:
"We intercepted a burst transmission from your safe house. The encryption was… unique. We've seen something like it before, in a Pentagon black project."
CABOT:
"Project Toonify?"
Walter nodded. "And something even deeper—this masking tech, it's not just digital. It's rewriting biometric and psychological profiles. They're erasing people from every system, everywhere."
HAPPY:
"We built a device that can spot the masking signature in real time. If we get close enough, we can unmask anyone they've replaced."
VOIGHT:
"Then we take the fight to them."
MCCALL:
"We have the proof, we have the tech, and now we have the team. Time to go on offense."
SYLVESTER (gulping):
"Just… let's not get shot, okay?"
TOBY:
"Relax, Sly. We're with the best. And besides, how often do you get to help save the world with Olivia Benson?"
The coalition—now bolstered by Team Scorpion—prepared to move. Outside, the city's shadows seemed to retreat, just a little, as a new hope sparked.
CABOT (smiling for the first time):
"They'll never see us coming."
As the team slipped into the night, the Voice echoed in Cabot's mind—no longer just a warning, but a promise:
VOICE (soft, resolute):
"You're not alone anymore."
End of Chapter Four