Rusted Development

You are being watched.

The government has a secret system,

a machine that spies on you every hour of every day.

I designed The Machine to detect acts of terror

but it sees everything,

violent crimes involving ordinary people.

The government considers these people irrelevant, we don't.

Hunted by the authorities, we work in secret.

You'll never find us,

but victim or perpetrator, if your number is up, we'll find you.

Everything is in place. Good. Let's begin.

He does that. The man likes his privacy.

You can't blame a girl for trying.

Yeah. It's for you.

- Good morning, Miss Shaw. - Morning.

- Beautiful day for a walk. I suppose.

When you finish yours, could you join us back at the library?

We have another number.

- Det. Carter, right? - Officer, actually.

- Alonzo Quinn. - Cal's godfather. Of course.

I remember you from the funeral. Your eulogy was beautiful.

It wasn't hard to find good things to say about Cal.

Chief was keeping me apprised of his case.

Says they're looking at a couple of Carl Elias' men as the shooters.

- Yeah, heard that, too. - You think otherwise?

Not sure, but I think there's more to it than that.

Oh.

- My shift is about to start, so... - Don't let me hold you up.

- It's nice seeing you again, Officer. - You too. Take care.

It's me.

I think we might still have a problem with Officer Carter.

Hey, what's up?

- Looking for news on Cal's case. - I haven't heard any.

- What about in the database? - Carter...

Look, I'd check it myself but you know they pulled my access.

Yeah, and they'll pull mine, too,

if they catch me poking around a case I'm not assigned to.

- Come on, it's important. - Okay.

- When it clears out a little. - Thanks, Fusco.

I've got our number, Finch. What do you know about this guy?

Wayne Kruger, 43, married, internet entrepreneur,

and founder of a company called Lifetrace.

And what's their business?

They market themselves as a "people search" service,

where their users can look up old friends or relatives,

anyone they've fallen out of touch with.

Sounds harmless enough.

There is, however, more to it than that.

Always is.

Kruger's business isn't really about reconnecting people.

It's about collecting and selling their information.

- He's a data broker. - What kind of data?

Anything you would ever wanna know about a person.

Where they live, work, shop, eat,

how much they earn, how they vote and more.

Then he turns around and sells the information to businesses,

individuals, even the government.

- Is that legal? - Technically.

Data brokers get their information from public records.

But also from the ways people reveal themselves online

- whether they're aware of it or not. - Sounds a little like your machine.

A principle difference would be

that the machine never reveals any of its information,

beyond a social security number.

So you're not a fan of Kruger's.

People like him are one of the reasons I made sure

The Machine was an impenetrable black box.

Kruger just entered his building. He's in Shaw's hands now.

I hope sending her in there was a good decision.

You doubt her ability to be discreet?

I doubt her ability to keep from shooting someone.

I'm in, Finch.

Kruger has got some kind of big-shot meeting.

Gentlemen, we're thrilled that you're considering us.

We know that Riverton is a huge retailer

and that you've got your pick of potential data partners.

Well, we've done our homework

or rather Peter has done our homework

and he says you're one of the companies we should consider.

I've looked at all the information you provided,

including the company profile, growth rate, consumer analytic statistics,

- and data points per target. - Congratulations.

Go ahead.

Any problems with your cover, Ms. Shaw?

Not unless someone asks me to type.

- A baby rattle? - Yeah.

I apologize if I spoiled the surprise.

No, it's all right,

it's just my wife and I haven't told anybody outside the immediate family.

How did you know?

- Your wine consumption. - Excuse me?

It's dropped from two bottles a week

to almost nothing in the past three months,

and your milk, yogurt and cheese consumption has tripled.

The grocery store where you shop.

You're members of their customer loyalty program.

We created that.

And I thought they just sent out coupons.

No. Programs like that are just scratching the surface

of what we can do.

What we're really working towards here at Lifetrace is the future.

A future where every person's needs will be met

because we have all the information necessary

to meet those needs.

Eating habits to predict diseases.

Compatibility factors to eliminate loneliness.

And the way we do that is by getting to know someone

from the major events of their lives

right down to the tiniest detail of their everyday routine.

Learning everything about a person

allows us to help them improve their life.

Sounds appealing, but can I ask,

have you run into any issues with respect to privacy concerns?

Nothing significant.

There are always a few who take issue with what we do

but these days, people know, you can't fight the technology.

And let's be honest, those crying the loudest about privacy

are probably the ones trying to hide something.

- That's why... Barry? - Oh, yeah.

That's why I put my own profile up on our site.

Anyone can look me up and see, I've got nothing to hide.

We'll need to work out a proposal to present to our board.

How would tomorrow morning work for you?

Sounds great.

Whatever is going on with this guy, it sure isn't hurting his business.

I think it's time to look a little more closely at Mr. Kruger.

People who say they have nothing to hide almost always do.

- Nothing comes up on his record. - Well, thank you for checking.

I understand you're back on the day shift.

Yeah, but I'm giving up something.

- What's that? - My patience.

- Good morning. - We'll see.

Before we roll, I just wanna say

I'm really looking forward to working together and...

Uh, Laskey, one, I didn't wanna be an FTO

but it beats being a vampire.

Number two,

when I tell you to do something, just do it, no questions.

And number three, don't touch my radio, got it?

- Yes, ma'am. - Carter. Just Carter.

How is it I got stuck being the office monkey?

I thought you liked being in the middle of the action, Shaw.

I think I'd see more action in a tollbooth.

- Ah! I was just emptying the trash. - No problem.

- I'll come back. - Okay.

Tell the board we're meeting tomorrow.

Sure thing, Mr. Kruger.

Quite a stunt you pulled with the baby rattle.

Well, I'd have told you about it

but, uh, you'd have tried to talk me out of it.

You're right.

- We need this deal. - Well, we just got it.

Come on, Barry. This changes everything.

This puts us on the map.

- What is it, Haley? - It's about the party tonight.

I tried to put the restaurant deposit on your credit card,

- but it was declined. - What? Why?

I don't know, the bank wouldn't tell me, I'm sorry.

I'll handle it.

You know, sometimes, I wish I had an assistant

whose qualifications extended beyond having a great ass.

I sure hope this guy is a perpetrator.

Wanna go to a party, Shaw?

Only if you promise to wear something pretty.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER, SOFT JAZZ PLAYS)

Thanks. You.

First, I wanna say it's great of all of you to make it tonight,

especially my wife Deedee.

Mr. Reese, how is the Krugers' party?

Delightful.

Have you learned anything?

Just that Kruger's got a lot of friends,

appears to be happily married...

...and Shaw likes truffled quail eggs.

You can't expect me to shoot somebody on an empty stomach.

I'd prefer you didn't shoot anyone at all.

What about you, Finch? Dig anything up?

Yes. Kruger has gone to great lengths

to suppress any bad publicity about Lifetrace.

Negative blog posts, news articles,

even a class action lawsuit buried in non-disclosure agreements,

all scrubbed from the internet.

Sweetheart, I love you. This is for you.

Aw...

I've got nothing to hide. I've got nothing to hide.

I've got nothing to hide.

Turn it off.

Turn it off now! Turn it off!

This somebody's idea of a joke?

Deedee, honey, I have no idea...

Mr. Reese?

Yeah, someone just turned Kruger's anniversary video into a sex tape.

Oh, my.

Sweetie, listen, I...

What are you all looking at?

Go home. The party is over. Party is over!

Just when things were getting interesting.

I know, first his credit cards, now this.

Someone is messing with Kruger, Finch.

Well, The Machine wouldn't send us his number