I.

The truth was, no one was ever supposed to find the cure. It was all a show - Ethan Duncan and his cipher, the floppy disk, everything. But there, over a thousand miles away, she stared down the scope of her microscope, watching with avid fascination as the cells mutated. She fumbled for her phone and swore softly.

DYAD was watching. DYAD was always watching.

She slipped the slide out from under the microscope and pushed it back into storage. The centrifuge hummed gently, its whirring dying down as she turned to it. She grabbed the bag on the back of her chair and slung it over a shoulder, bringing it over to the centrifuge which opened with a hiss.

Vials. Three in total which she slipped into her bag. Her heart pounded in her chest as she strode out of the lab.

"Dr Cormier!" a security guard shouted. "Stop!"

She stopped and half-turned, dread filling a knot in her throat.

"You forgot your phone," the guard said, holding out the black DYAD-issued mobile phone.

She let out a silent sigh of relief. "Thank you." She took it and walked straight through the front doors of DYAD, her boots a harsh and rapid staccato against the granite tile.

Her hand dug into her bag and she pulled out a neon green phone, speed-dialling the first number on her list. "Cosima?" she breathed through a smile. The smile trembled and then slid from her face. "Sarah - what's happened?"

II.

The silver briefcase hung heavily from her hand as she lifted it up and set it on the table, sliding it across. Her eyes darted to the fleeting bulge under the jacket of the man in front of her, alarm bells ringing in her head.

"This is it, then?" He turned the case and opened it up, checking the contents. He shut it and grabbed it by the handle.

"Oui." Her lips pressed together resolutely as she stared impassively back at the man, willing herself not to flinch.

But this was Siobhan's man - Benjamin - whom she had accused of defecting from the cause. He had every right to be as distrustful of her as she of him.

"We'll get it to her," he said with a small nod, sliding the case off the table. "Don't worry." He handed it off to a man who took it reverently.

Delphine forced herself to smile. "Okay." She watched as the case disappeared out of view, out of the empty hanger they had agreed to meet in.

Benjamin turned back to her. "Now the other part of our deal." He pulled out his gun, safety off, and pointed it at her.

III.

"Cosima." She leaned close, shaking the girl by the shoulder into wakefulness. "Hey, wake up."

Cosima groaned, her eyes fluttering open. "What?"

"Special delivery for you," Sarah said, pulling the silver suitcase closer so that Cosima could have a look. "Delphine sent us some new material."

Cosima frowned as she slowly sat up, patting the sheets for her glasses. "Shit, Sarah... I don't know if..."

"Oy oy, no talking like that," Sarah said, plucking one of the vials from the case. She loaded up a syringe of the clear, viscous fluid. "Reckon Felix would be better at this," she muttered softly.

"Or Tony," Cosima pointed out, taking the moment to scan the apartment for evidence of either of the boys.

Sarah laughed, "Yeah. They went to grab some beer to celebrate."

Cosima flinched as Sarah sunk the needle deep into her arm. "A little early for that, don't you think?"

Sarah pulled the needle out and shrugged. "Living is a good enough reason to celebrate, inn't?"

"Yeah," Cosima said with a sigh, wistful. She pulled the case closer to her and felt the indent of where the vial was nestled.

Sarah glanced up as she set about tossing the needle into Tony's sharps container. "She's fine. And thinking of you, probably."

Cosima frowned as she picked at the foam.

"Whatcha got?"

The foam piece broke free, revealing a second layer. "It's..." She dug out a USB drive and held it up. "A USB drive?"

IV.

"Seriously, Sarah," Cosima sighed. "Why the fuck would Delphine send us an encrypted USB drive?"

"Beats me," Sarah muttered, nursing her beer. "What the bloody hell is on the thing, anyway?"

"Fuck if I know," Cosima sighed, letting her hand drop on the countertop beside her laptop. "How did she even get something like this?"

"Well, she must've sent it with good reason." Sarah frowned from where she sat on the couch.

"Y'think?"

"Oy, reckon Scott would be able to decrypt it or whatever?"

"Maybe," Cosima said doubtfully, looking at the USB drive in her fingers. "I'm not sure if I'd want him to though. I mean, what if it's sensitive information?"

"What, y'think that being part of an illegal cloning trial isn't sensitive enough?"

"Fair point," Cosima muttered, resting her head on her hand. "I dunno, I'll ask, but it's not really his area of specialty."

"Well, at least it's a good place to start looking, anyway."

Cosima could do nothing but concede and picked up her phone.

V.

Sarah took a swig as she lounged on the couch. She tilted her head to look at the screen of Cosima's laptop and the mysterious USB stick that jutted out from its side.

A loud banging at the door jolted her into an upright position. "Comin'," she half-shouted, remembering to keep her voice from carrying over to where Cosima was sleeping. She pulled the screwdriver from its slot and yanked the door open.

"Uh... hey..." Scott mumbled. He shifted awkwardly on his feet and adjusted the strap of his backpack. "Cosima said..."

"Yeah, yeah, come in," Sarah said gruffly, waving him inside. "Just over there. Don't wake her 'til you know something, yeah?"

She shut the door and wandered after him, watching him with a curious eye as he set up his laptop and other paraphernalia on the coffee table. To his credit, he wasted no time in pleasantries, although he did accept a beer when offered.

"Hey Scott," Cosima sat up, squinting as she put her glasses on. "What's going on, guys?"

Sarah's gaze snapped up. "Oy oy, sleeping beauty," she grinned. "Just trying to figure out Delphine's encoded message."

"Well, not exactly," Scott interjected, bent over his screen and frowning. "Whatever encryption she used is... well I've never seen anything like it before."

Cosima frowned as she slowly eased herself out of bed to see what Scott was looking at. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's got to be a quantum level encryption algorithm." Scott said distractedly. "I mean, it's definitely far more advanced than all the other stuff I've tried."

"Oy, English, yeah?"

Scott glanced up as if surprised that Sarah was still standing there. "Well, I've tried every other encryption method possible but... the only thing left —"

"— is a private level encryption algorithm that is only available at the military level," Cosima finished. She sunk down next to Scott and tried not to think about the last time that she was decoding something on this couch. She stared dully at the screen. "God, Delphine, what did you find?"