"What do we got?" Ryan asked Sean and Alex as soon as they entered his office. He had asked the two to update him as often as possible on their investigation into the attack on Division's servers. The sooner the team had answers, the sooner they could stop the person- or persons- causing all the problems. Division had barely been able to prove to Danforth and the President that they could handle threats from Amanda and the Dirty Thirties. If they learned that internal threats would bring them down, the Seal team would return. There was no use keeping a black ops unit around that couldn't keep itself in line.
"From what we can tell, it was a two-man op. Sonya says the door was hacked off-site. Someone else planted the charge," Sean informed Ryan as soon as the door was closed and they were in complete isolation. After recovering from her shock, Sonya was quick to join Alex and Sean in the investigation into whoever planted the charge in the server room. She had already dealt with one mole trying to kill her and take down Division. She refused to let another go unstopped for so long.
"So she figured out what circuit board he was after?" Ryan asked. He didn't doubt that Sonya would be incredibly determined to discover who had planted the explosive. He had thought that Birkhoff would be equally determined considering his girlfriend had almost been hurt. But he seemed distracted with whatever Michael and Nikita were up to. Fortunately, Sonya's skills matched Birkhoff's and there was no need for another super hacker. She was more than capable of getting the team the information they needed.
"The tracker array. Sonya said it could've sat there for weeks. He was only planting the charge. It wasn't supposed to go off yet," Sean continued to share everything Sonya had found. He offered to have her tell Ryan what she had discovered herself, but she wanted to continue hacking. Sean couldn't blame her for continuously digging. With each new bit of information they learned, new questions arose. Planting an explosive to knock out the trackers made sense. But not the fact that it wasn't supposed to go off yet. Why plant a bomb you weren't going to detonate yet. What was the plan, "What were they waiting for?"
"More people to sign up," Easily, Ryan assumed. The saboteurs wouldn't make an attack unless they had the numbers to support them. There was no need to knock out the trackers unless they had something bigger and more in mind. The team wasn't looking at a simple disgruntled agent. New rogues were springing up prepared to take them down, "There is something much bigger going on here. Organized dissent. A mutiny. I was afraid something like this would happen when you told everybody about Danforth."
Alex was taken aback by what Ryan had accused her of. She didn't tell the entirety of Division the truth so that they'd start a rebellion or cause harm to anyone. She was only saving them. The truth should've set them free, not lead to more problems. Of course the team that had wanted to keep the three hundred agents in the dark would think otherwise. They still couldn't comprehend that she had done the right thing despite all the evidence. Alex fought the urge to scoff and roll her eyes at Ryan, "I did this?"
"Alex, you told three hundred trained killers the government has a gun to their head. Not all of them want to stick around to see what happens next. And what they don't know is if enough people join the mutiny, it won't even matter. It'll hit the tipping point," Ryan wasn't blaming Alex for the explosive charge or for almost hurting Sonya. However, her words definitely stirred the current dissent. There wouldn't have been a reason to rebel if the agents never knew that anything was wrong. The knowledge Alex had shared was powerful, and it didn't do all the good that she had believed it would've.
Sean had been watching Alex's every move since his conversation with Michael. He watched her reactions and listened carefully to everything she was saying. When Ryan had mentioned the dangers of many agents joining the mutiny, Alex became extremely interested in what he had to say next. She wasn't irritated anymore at being accused of the dissent. Instead, she was absorbing everything Ryan was saying. She also seemed to be planning something, but Sean couldn't figure out what. She remained drawn away from him and in her own world of questions and answers, "Tipping point?"
"One, two people make a run, we call them rogues, add them to the list. Half, even a third of our people make a break for it, that is chaos. There's only one way to cover that up," Ryan explained, trying to keep the anxiety out of his voice. The power dynamics could shift drastically and easily in Division. A few agents forming a mutiny- they were just rogues. But a whole group of people, and everything they had been working towards would be ruined. Nikita and the team of former rogues was the perfect example of that kind of chaos and power shift. Except that time, it wouldn't be the bad guys who'd be defeated.
"Send in the Seals," Sean answered darkly. A part of him wondered if he had still been alive could he have said or done anything to call off an attack from a Seal team. Without Oversight backing him, probably not. After all, there had been nothing he could've done about the Marines that had surrounded the bunker nearly a year ago. But maybe there was somebody he knew on the team- someone he could appeal to. That was if he had been alive, though. He couldn't reach out to anyone he used to know while he was still dead. He was as powerless to stop the Seals as the rest of Division.
Studying Sean and Ryan, Alex opened then closed her mouth. The men were taking things so seriously- so gravely. She had only told the truth to help those who were suffering. Everything that was happening afterwards couldn't hurt anyone; it wasn't supposed to. The agents trapped in Division were supposed to finally be free. They had waited long enough to have the lives that had been stolen from them. Alex was only helping them achieve that. She wasn't doing anything wrong, "Ryan, when I told them about Danforth, I did not intend for…"
"If we don't nip this in the bud, it could take Division down, and there won't be anything we can do about it," Interrupting Alex, Ryan warned. Whatever the intentions were, it didn't matter. A rebellion wouldn't save anyone in Division- not then. The only way they could secure their freedoms was to continue cleaning the place up and handling the many rogue elements that were still out there. Sean, Alex, and Sonya needed to find the saboteur and shut down any thoughts of mutiny immediately- before it was too late.
Not long after Sean and Alex left Ryan's office, Michael, Nikita, and Birkhoff entered. They had gone over the mission The Shop wanted them to perform, and they decided to talk to Ryan before moving forward. Though, the three's minds were already made up about what they wanted to do. Birkhoff continued to have his reservations while Nikita and Michael were all for the operation, "The Shop wants us to break into a lab in China and steal a biotech device. It's a delivery system for prions- protein-based infections that'll eventually allow us to cure everything from colds to cancer."
"Doesn't sound so bad," Ryan responded to the information Michael laid out. He had assumed that The Shop- or whatever it was that the others were calling the group that gave Kosta Bechiraj a new leg- would've wanted Michael to steal a weapon in exchange for a new hand. Heidecker had taken stolen, discarded children in exchange for Bechiraj's prosthetic. It wouldn't have been surprising if they had asked something equally horrible from Michael. Instead, The Shop seemed like they only wanted a useful tool that could help people. It was a mission the team could justify, especially with the reward that they could earn.
"Well, it's hard to say, but this thing, it actually infects you with a cure," Showing Ryan the files, Michael continued. It was difficult to understand what exactly he and Nikita would be stealing for The Shop. It could be a harmless biotech device that'd help a lot of people. Or it was some kind of fucked up weapon. Considering The Shop developed killchips, the latter seemed more likely. They couldn't discount that The Shop would harm people with whatever was stolen for them. Michael and Nikita had to be cautious as they moved forward with their operation.
"Or Ebola. Or the T-virus. Who knows? In six months, we could be fighting off zombie hordes," Birkhoff rattled off, not shying away from his mistrust of The Shop. He wanted Michael to have a better prosthetic- he really did. But The Shop couldn't be the only answer. There could be other places they could steal from to get Michael what he needed. Making deals with devils had never been their solution before. They couldn't start then. They weren't that desperate. They also weren't that stupid to trust in The Shop's tech.
Despite his sarcasm and over-exaggeration, Birkhoff made a great point. The Shop might not be interested in using the biotech device to actually cure people. They could have sinister motivations that Michael and Nikita were unwittingly playing into. More information was needed on the technology focused group. What were their motivations. What were they all about. Who ran the group. Why had no one heard of them before. Ryan needed those questions answered before he could be completely comfortable with Michael's and Nikita's mission, "Alright, what else have we found on this 'Shop'?"
"They're probably a think tank that develops tech for the U.S. military," Nikita shrugged. There wasn't a lot of information Division could accurately gather on The Shop- even with the current situation and Nikita's previous conversation with Heidecker. They could simply piece together an assumption. The advanced tech the team knew The Shop had created so far didn't seem to actually be in the military's hands, however; it was more so in black ops groups' and corrupt warlords' hands. That could've been because of Heidecker or some other corrupt practices. It was difficult to tell exactly what was going on- almost like it was designed that way.
"Putting this tech into U.S. hands wouldn't be the worst thing," Quietly, Ryan mused. If he was being honest, the more time he spent in Division, the less he actually trusted his own government. He fought to maintain his belief in the system, or at least a hope that things would improve. But after groups like Oversight and people like Danforth (and countless others) he was losing any positive feeling he had for the United States. Maybe they shouldn't have the tech The Shop wanted. Then again, that technology in their enemies' hands would be far worse. It felt as though there was no clear win- except for the fact that Michael would receive a new hand.
"Well, one thing you have to realize, Fletch, is that if we do this, it's a four-man op. We will need personnel," Nikita threw a wrench into Ryan's ideas. Michael was determined to go through with his plan to take a better prosthetic from The Shop. What Ryan agreed to wasn't exactly of consequence. Yet he did have to know that the mission to secure Michael his hand would require at least four people. And with Alex and Sean hunting a saboteur, the team couldn't contain it to just themselves. They needed Division agents.
Ryan considered going on the mission for a moment; he could definitely help Michael and Nikita secure a better prosthetic. However, it'd be better if he didn't leave Division. There was too much going on in the bunker- too much dissent and mistrust. If he as their leader suddenly left for a personal mission and not one that'd finally shut down Division, the dissent would only grow. Division resources couldn't be utilized to perform a mission that had nothing to do with their reason for staying open. Personal missions had to stay just that, "Guys, nobody's going to want to hear about a side mission, not now. It would have to be volunteer-only."
"I've got two guys I can get on board already," Besides himself and Nikita, Michael could think of a handful of other people who would help him on the mission. Alex, Sean, and Ryan were too busy with finding who had planted the charge, so that removed a few options. Fortunately, the team weren't the only people in Division Michael could rely on. He hadn't been in the bunker long, but he had made a few friendships as he ran missions and helped other agents train. He had also done favors for a couple of guys that he could call upon then. The operation wouldn't make things worse for Division- agents wouldn't be used or abused.
"Owen might be down as well," Nikita added. Owen and Michael had never had the best friendship- Nikita wasn't even certain that she could call them friends at times. But the two could work together whenever it was needed. They would also do whatever was necessary to help each other- once talked to by Nikita. She was certain she could convince Owen to help in that situation. He'd do anything to make his friends happy. He'd also do any mission that'd let him leave the bunker and knock some heads in.
"Owen's out. He's keeping tabs on Danforth, just as a precaution," Ryan shook his head at the suggestion. It had actually been Owen's suggestion to follow Danforth. He had been concerned that the black box might not have been enough to keep him quiet. Division should keep an eye on him for a while to ensure he didn't plan on stabbing them in the back again. Ryan couldn't argue with that apprehension. With all their internal and external threats, it was reassuring to know that at least one danger was being watched carefully. It was one less thing to worry about- at least for a while.
Birkhoff glanced between Ryan and Michael and Nikita. He knew it was completely pointless to convince Michael and Nikita to change their minds. Even if all the negatives were placed in front of them, they wouldn't change course. Pretty much the only person on the team who could have sense talked into him was Ryan. Though, the longer he ran Division, the less that seemed to be true. He was seriously thinking about letting Michael and Nikita go on their mission despite all the reasons to say 'no'. Birkhoff couldn't fathom it. Why was no one taking The Shop as seriously as he was, "Are you actually considering this?"
"Nothing says we have to do what The Shop wants. We get it. We control it," Michael instantly argued. Just because he, Nikita, and a few others were going to steal the biotech didn't mean that they were going to automatically hand it to The Shop. His plans to just take what he wanted was still possible. Once he had the device, he could make all the demands. The Shop wouldn't have all the power in that situation. With a new hand on the line, Michael was going to ensure that he still had a say in what happened.
"Alright. Small footprint. Volunteers only. Other than that, I see no reason not to move ahead," Nodding, Ryan gave Michael and Nikita the go ahead. He was certain that they would've gone on the mission without his consent; they had already investigated Bellfar Systems without saying anything. However, he could give them permission to go outside the team for help. If they called on favors and didn't make too much noise, it should be alright. There was nothing to fear with The Shop just yet. And Michael could soon have what he needed. No problems should arise on that front, which meant the focus could remain on the mutiny that could wipe them all out.