Original subtitles

Thanks for letting Zara work from home

while Cody and I are away.

Hey, no problem. You know, I was a, I was a Boy Scout.

First camping trip, a bear came right up to our tent.

What did you do? I-I ran.

You outran a bear? No, no, I outran

my friend Sandy.

I wanted to say, I was sorry to hear about your divorce, man.

Thanks. You know, it's, it's for the best.

Hey, Eric. Hey, kiddo.

I didn't know you were divorced.

Dad said you're mom's work husband.

Kids.

They say the darndest things.

Chip?

Zar? Yeah?

This is a quality chip.

Well, good 'cause those are the ones you brought.

Right.

Unbelievable.

What?

I think Cynthia's gonna bail.

Who's gonna eat all this food?

I know, but she always manages to ghost early

every time we have one of our little sh-shindigs.

Watch this. Five...

Four... Okay, she's coming.

Three... Stop. Shh...

Two...

Zara, I am so sorry to do this.

I got to get going. But you just got here.

I know, something came up.

Well, thanks for coming.

Well, thanks for having me.

See you Monday. See you Monday. Bye.

You're so obvious.

Hey, I have a friend I'd like you to meet.

You'll like her. We carpool together.

Hey, Bren. Hi.

This is Eric Beaumont, the one I was telling you about.

Nice to meet you.Hi. Nice to meet you as well.

I hear you're a hostage negotiator.

Yes, this is right. Um, and I hear

you, carpool with Mike.

Sometimes. So now I know who to call

when I get held up at a bank.

It looks like someone has beaten you to it.

Um, will you excuse me a moment?

Sure. Pardon me.

Eric Beaumont.

Understood.

Okay, yeah.

Should be right around here. Team, this is Kate Barrett,

Special Agent with the Bureau.

Hi.Hi.

Hi, nice to meet you. Oliver. Pleasure.

Thank you all for coming so quickly.

Three days ago, Deb and Mitch Manning

reported their 19-year-old daughter

missing from her dorm room in D.C.

She turned up yesterday across state lines,

a few miles from here.

Hikers found her at the bottom of a ravine.

She jumped off a bridge.

And survived?

It's a miracle she's alive.

Luckily, muddy ground and tree branches

broke her fall. Before she disappeared,

her parents said that her behavior had changed.

Changed how?

Became withdrawn, cut herself off from her friends.

They said she was planning on getting together

with someone she met online.

We think whoever she was talking to brought her to the bridge.

Think you're dealing with an online predator?

We think so, but we need to get her talking.

Okay, um, how can we help?

Our therapists can't crack her,

I was hoping you could Beaumont her.

Beaumont her?

Look at that, you're a verb.

You got a great rep at the Bureau.

Heard you could make anybody talk.

Yeah, well, not exactly.

I'm a negotiator, I help people get what they want.

So why don't you get me what I want and get her talking

before whoever lured her to that bridge targets another victim?

Hey, Kyla. My name is, Eric Beaumont.

I'm not a doctor, I'm not a shrink,

and I don't work for the FBI. I'm a negotiator.

Which means, among other things, I'm here to help you.

Are you able to tell me why you were at that bridge?

Did you go alone, or did someone take you there?

Why aren't you talking, Kyla?

Maybe she can't speak.

No, no,

I don't think so.

Kids with selective mutism want to speak, but can't.

Kyla's not even trying to communicate.

I think she can speak, she just doesn't want to.

I can help you get whatever it is that you want, so...

tell me.

What do you want?

I want to die.

Well, at least we know what she wants.

Maybe,

maybe she's part of a-a suicide pact.

You know, didn't live up to her end of the bargain.

Or she's part of some kind of cult.

Bet you she feels powerless. Eric, give her some autonomy.

I know this is

uncomfortable... There you go.

How about we make a deal, Kyla?

You tell me why you were on that bridge,

and I will get you what you want.

You're really gonna let me die?

Can you give us a couple minutes? Afraid not.

Hospital rules. She can't be left alone.

No, she's not alone. I'm here.

So is my team, along with three federal agents.

Two minutes, please.

I'm sure that coffee's kicking in right about now.

Two minutes.

Thanks.

What's he doing? Beaumonting her.

We don't have a lot of time, so I need you

to listen to me very carefully. In this room, right now,

there are three ways to kill yourself.

Cabinet behind me.

You shatter the glass, you can slit your wrists.

That power cord is long enough for you to hang yourself,

and there's more than enough morphine in that bag to OD.

I will take your restraints off,

if you give me the name of whoever made you do this.

Deal?

Tell him to open the door. Just trust him.

That girl is on suicide watch. She's high-risk.

I want you to know something, Kyla.

For the rest of your life, no matter what room you're in,

there will always be at least three ways to kill yourself.

Take it from me.

Life is a choice that we all have to make,

every day.

He knows what he's doing.

Nurse?

Nurse?

You're never gonna beat this.

Beat what?

Black Dolphin.

What's Black Dolphin?

Get that door open.

I failed.

What do you mean?

I failed! I failed!

I failed!

I failed! I failed!

I don't want this! DOCTOR Get out of here.

Just leave me alone!

Get her restrained. No, stop!

Hey. Hey!

What the hell was that? You don't show a suicidal girl

three ways to kill herself. You asked me

to get her talking. I got her talking.

I heard you left the Bureau 'cause you didn't like the way

we did things. Well, we have protocol

for a reason. I don't want

a dead kid on my watch. Come on, neither do I.

You... Now we have a lead. We have a lead.

You employed a highly irresponsible strategy

without clearing it.

Either we do this as a team, or we don't.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Has Kyla ever said anything

to you about something called Black Dolphin?

No. She never mentioned it.

You didn't know about the carving on her arm?

We didn't know a thing about that.

We haven't seen her much since she moved into the dorms.

Was she unhappy at school?

She was valedictorian of her high school class, but...

she was having a tough freshman year.

She wasn't making friends, her grades dropped,

she was withdrawn, but we had no idea she was so depressed.

We-we... she seemed to be getting better, recently.

We-we thought she turned a corner.

What changed?

She was talking about someone she'd met.

We figured it was a new boyfriend.

Did you ever meet him?

No, no. She was so private about that stuff.

I didn't want to pry.

I should have.

It's... it's okay.

It's not okay. How did we miss this?

It's not your fault.

It's not about blame.

Eric.

Um, would you excuse us?

Thank you.

Zara and I cross-referenced recent suicides

across the country with autopsies that describe

self-mutilation in the shape of a dolphin.

We found two victims with carvings like Kyla's.

One in Oregon, one in Iowa.

Looks like a pattern.

Zara, you're on speaker.

Guys, I just found something.

Oliver, I'm sending it to you right now.

What is that, a web portal?

"Welcome to Black Dolphin.

You are player 2,028."

Black Dolphin is a game?

It's more like an interactive challenge

that incites people to kill themselves.

If that number's correct,

there's over 2,000 potential victims.

Okay, I'm issuing an agencywide alert.

And following up with Missing Persons, see if they have

any reports describing kids with dolphin arm carvings.

Guys, there's something else. I searched online

for Black Dolphin posts and found one from today.

A kid named Liam O'Connell

posted a picture of a dolphin with the words "The End."

What time did he post it?

1008 a.m. Eastern Time. Where?

Geotagged, Cheswitt County, Maryland.

Where's that?

It's like a half hour from here.

Okay, thanks, Zar.

His social media suggests he was depressed

and bullied online by kids at school.

My guys pinged his phone.

Good thing he left it on.

Low self-esteem, social isolation, depression,

it's a trifecta

of suicidal ideation.Guys...

Yeah.

Okay, why don't you guys just stay back?

Eric... You're in my ear.

Eric? What do you got, Zara?

I've started playing Black Dolphin,

and I found people in a chat room talking about it.

There are 60 "challenges."

Okay, what kinds of challenges?

Well, they start out benign.

"Write the word dolphin all over your body,"

"watch a disturbing video," but then, they get invasive.

Sleep deprivation and self-harm.

And challenge number 60?

Suicide.

Liam?

I-I know about Black Dolphin, Liam.

Don't come any closer!

I'll do it.

I'm not trying to stop you,

I just want to know who's-who's behind it.

Who-who's making you do this?

You reached level 60, right?

Is this the prize for reaching level 60?

You get to, you get to kill yourself?

He's determined to die.

Whatever Black Dolphin is, he wants to finish it.

Why fire?

I got to pick.

What do you mean, you got to pick?

He let me choose.

Who did? He's a genius.

Okay.

Why do you like him?

He just makes me feel special.

Sounds like whoever's

behind Black Dolphin is grooming

vulnerable people, and building trust through these exercises.

It's an abuse tactic called trauma bonding.

Why does he make you feel special?

He said I got to ask him a question when I hit level 60.

Not everyone gets to.

Yeah? Well, that is special.

What question did you ask him?

I asked him what his name is.

If Liam knows his name, it'll be

in his messages. Get his phone.

What's his name, Liam?

Get off me!

Nice work.

Eric.

Keep an eye on him. We cracked his phone.

Yeah. We found a name in his message history.

Julian Schulz. German national, and we traced

all of Julian's messages to a single laptop in Munich.

He's our best chance at stopping this.

His actions qualify as a cyberterrorism threat.

So I've expedited an extradition request

on charges of reckless endangerment.

Not murder? Not without forensic evidence.

Of course.

Okay, do... do you have a warrant?

It's on its way as we speak. All right.

German police are bringing him in.

Hey!

Stop! Liam.

Hey! Hey!

Liam, stop! Liam, stop! Stop!

Medic.

Come on!

Challenge number two.

I am yours.

All eyes on the screen.

German police coming online now.

Ten seconds to entry.

If he's working off a single laptop,

it contains the identities of all the Black Dolphin players.

Tactical, we need him alive and we need that laptop.

Suspect down.

Julian is a math prodigy with an extremely, extremely high IQ.

And a PhD in computer programming.

Personal life? ZARA Only child

estranged from his parents,

no serious relationships in the past five years.

What kind of person creates this...?

Game.

That's a cute name for what this is. He's taking control.

Yeah, but why?

I found a lot of failed projects

and rejected patent applications.

The guy never broke through professionally.

Good news. Julian's on an inbound flight.

Did you get the names of any other players?

That's the bad news.

When he shut the laptop, he activated its encryption.

Soon as it gets here, my techs will be working on it, but...

So we have no idea how many players just completed level 60

and are on the verge of killing themselves? Well, at least

with Julian in custody, none of them can advance.

And how is Julian? He's not cooperating

and we need that password.

You think you can get him talking?

When does he land?

Sweetie, you scared me.

I can't sleep.

Baby, I'm coming.

It's okay. Come on.

Guys.

Julian's being brought in now.

Zara.

I just got a new message from Black Dolphin.

How? Julian's in custody.

I don't know. But the game is still in play.

And whoever's doing this...

knows my real name.

Black Dolphin is still in play.

Julian must have accomplices who are working on his behalf.

But all of his communications originated

from his apartment and as far as we know,

he lived alone.

You used an avatar.

If they know your real name,

someone must be hacking into your social media accounts.

Zara, you stopped playing Black Dolphin

when we got Julian in custody, so...

how did you know you got a new message?

I checked the Black Dolphin portal.

Why?

I don't know. I know, it's weird, but I guess...

I was curious.

It's not weird, it's human nature.

Julian's tapped into a primal risk/reward dynamic.

Higher the risk, higher the reward.

It's why people play Candy Crush,

buy lotto tickets.

He's specifically grooming people with suicidal thoughts.

You know, that's what makes the game so lethal.

If we don't get that password soon,

more people are going to die.

So no pressure then.

Julian, my name is Eric Beaumont.

I'm a negotiator.

Very nice to meet you, Mr. Beaumont, but do tell me...

Don't negotiators typically work to free hostages?

Typically, yes. Yeah.

Pardon my ignorance, but I'm not sure what I'm doing here.

I have not taken anyone hostage.

Well, your laptop contains the names

of young people playing Black Dolphin.

You have taken them hostage.

Virtually.

That's a very creative interpretation.

So how about you give me access to your laptop?

We call it a day.

That laptop's my private property,

so giving it up without cause would be infringement

of my constitutional rights.

You're not in Germany anymore. That doesn't matter.

You know, I'd be happy to bring in

a lawyer if you'd like to consult about your rights.

That's very kind, thank you, but no need.

I have not done anything wrong.

He's a high achiever who doesn't like to take blame.

Definitely a perfectionist.

Use it.

Black Dolphin is...

it's a sophisticated game.

Is it? I mean, it's a lot of work.

Must've taken years to perfect.

Worthwhile pursuits often do.

And yet you're in here, so...

I guess the game's not so perfect.

The game continues.

And this makes you angry, yeah?

How do you know that if you didn't create it?

I assumed. Who are you working with?

Who's running Black Dolphin now?

Julian, you're very good

at what you do. Thank you.

You know, your programming, coding...

but I'm also very good at what I do.

And I just made you admit more than you ever intended.

This is only our first conversation.

Black Dolphin may be perfect, but you're not.

You are the weak link, Julian, and sooner or later,

something's gonna slip out.

He's smiling.

Concealing something; He doesn't want to let you know

that he's rattled, but he's rattled.

Like I said, I'm a negotiator.

This is a negotiation,

so how about you tell me what it is you want.

Because if you give me access to your computer,

maybe I can get it for you.

What do I want?

What do I want? That's a very good question.

I think I have to, um,

just think about the answer for a second.

In the meantime, I'm quite hungry after my long flight.

Could you bring me a hamburger, please?

Okay.

How about a trade?

I'll get you a burger for the names

of all the Black Dolphin players at level 60.

I'll give you one. Sam Rigaud.

So, we couldn't find anyone that fit the criteria

in the U.S., but the Quebec police

did track somebody down. Sam Rigaud?

26 years old, posted a pic of a dolphin

on social media with the word "Goodbye."

Where in Quebec? Laval.

Tell him one of my team members is nearby in Montreal.

All right, come on.

We don't want to be late again.

Okay, wait, wait, wait. Backpack, backpack, backpack.

Here we go.

And your hair...

I love you. Have a great day.

- Good luck on your... - tests.

What is this?

Why did you do that?

Because you did, Mama.

One second, okay?

Hey, you. Hello. Hello.

I'm gonna borrow some of your wipey wipeys... here.

Let's wipe this off, okay? Okay.

I don't want you ever to do this again. Okay.

Hang on.

Okay, this is Mommy's work. Keep wiping, okay?

Be right back. Eric.

Zara, we got the name of a Black Dolphin player.

Sam Rigaud.

He is in Laval and he just reached level 60.

Okay, I'm on my way.

Amy, you're gonna miss your bus.

Here. Give me that.

Have a great day.Yeah.

I'll be here when you get home, okay? Okay.

Bye. Bye.

Max. Max, Max, Max... okay.

Hey, Brenda. Hi, it's Zara.

Could you come over and watch Max for a couple of hours?

You got anything, Ollie?

Yeah, I dug up some more info on Julian.

For his doctoral thesis,

he tried to write a computer program

that would beat the Turing test.

It would make people think they were talking

to humans, not machines.

Never succeeded.

Guys.

Julian wants to talk.

Here comes his ask.

Where's my burger?

It's on its way, is that all right?

Yes, um...

I'm curious. Who gave you my name?

Was it Christina?

Jeremy? OLIVER Let him know he's right.

This guy wants you to know how smart he is.

Liam? It was Liam.

You're a smart guy, Julian.

Brilliant, in fact.

So, um...

why are you wasting your potential on a stupid game?

Wasting my potential?

I think...

Black Dolphin has proven to be a success.

That's what you're after?

Well, no one likes failure.

Do they?

Failure's a waste,

and the purpose of Black Dolphin is to rid the world of waste.

Liam had a weak psyche.

It's only for the best that he's dead.

Survival of the fittest,

right? That is right, yes.

But the fittest aren't supposed to fail,

are they, Julian?

It bothers you that Kyla didn't die.

It bothers you that you didn't finish

your doctoral thesis, doesn't it?

You accuse me of failing.

Well, you failed, too, Mr. Beaumont.

Liam killed himself.

And you couldn't save him.

And he won't be the only one you lose.

At last. Thank you.

You couldn't take these off while I eat, could you?

Thank you.

That's very kind.

I... haven't had one of these in, um,

I don't know for how long.

It's delicious.

You see, um, I worked on Black Dolphin

for many years, and I never knew how to make the game addictive.

But you know how I got my breakthrough?

When I realized that,

I needed to make my players feel... happiness.

Happiness?

Tell me about that.

Well, there are four chemicals

in the brain that activate happiness.

Dopamine is one of them, and I believe you are feeling it

right now, aren't you, Mr. Beaumont?

You want something from me.

Gives you a thrill.

Okay, what are the others?

Well, oxytocin

and, serotonin

and endorphins.

These four neurochemicals are the key to Black Dolphin.

How so?

Well, um, playing the game...

playing the game releases these chemicals in the brain

and makes players feel happy.

And feeling happiness wants them to continue with the game.

Can I get you some water?

I'm good, thank you.

Yes, but, um, I'm not the only one to exploit these chemicals.

I mean, casinos do it,

the porn industry does,

fast food restaurants. They do it, too.

His breath is getting short and he's starting to sweat.

You were right about my-my thesis, by the way.

I wanted to create a truly intelligent machine,

and I failed.

But with Black Dolphin, I developed an algorithm

that mimics cognitive function without my intervention.

There are no accomplices. Black Dolphin is automated.

Julian must be using sophisticated bots

to customize the user experience

by data mining the player's social media feeds.

So let me get this straight. All your other projects failed,

but this one worked. You-you wanted to be

good at something.

That is all that anyone wants, isn't it?

Be good at something.

Eric.

Something's wrong.

See, I get to know certain players.

I allow them to ask questions

when they reach the end of the game.

But the game, the game is absolutely perfect.

The only thing that could ruin it is me,

as you pointed out.

Medic! Medic!

Hey, hey, hey!

Tell me the password. Come on.

He's having an allergic reaction.

What's happening? He's choking.

Clear the area.

Okay, move, move, move. Yeah, yeah...

Starting compressions.

Come on, come on. Come on!

He's not waking up.

Geez...

We pulled Julian's medical records from Germany.

Turns out he had a severe wheat allergy.

Death by burger. That's a new one.

He knew he was gonna die when he ordered it.

He killed himself to protect the game.

That dude's fear of failure ran deep.

It's not over yet.

We just need Julian's password.

I don't think he's gonna

give that to us now.

Okay, any luck with the laptop?

Well, they're running decryption software,

but that could take months.

Why can't they just shut the game down?

Well, he's using a peer-to-peer decentralized network

controlled by that laptop.

What does that even... any of these peers we can talk to?

I think there might be someone I can talk to.

I'll be on my cell phone.

Zara.

Eric. Okay, Sam was last seen

at the warehouse where he works. I'm here now, but he's not.

He's disabled the GPS on his phone

and he's turned it off.

Did he post anything on social media

before he turned his phone off? Nothing.

But traffic cameras showed him heading

due north by foot.

Okay, is there anything in that direction? Yeah.

The Duvernay forest.

That's a lot of ground to cover. I'm on my way, but Eric,

Sam still has to send one more selfie.

He'll have to turn his phone back on to do that.

We'll ping the exact location when he does, okay?

After he sends the picture, he'll get to ask a question.

When he gets that answer...

He'll kill himself. Understood.

We need to shut this game down before that happens.

Yeah, we do.

Kyla, when you got to level 60,

did you get to ask the administrator a question?

Yeah.

What did you ask?

I asked him what makes him happy.

And what did he say?

He just wrote, "Dose."

"Dose"? Dose. D-O-S-E.

I figured he meant

another dose of Black Dolphin.

Dose?

I don't know. That's what she said.

Another hit of the game?

I think it's an acronym. For what?

Dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, endorphins.

Sorry, can we commandeer this?

He mentioned them while I was questioning him.

All right, all right, all right, dose.

D-O-S-E.

No, it didn't work.

Julian called them the key to Black Dolphin.

Okay, what's the molecular name for dopamine?

D.A.

Okay, try it.

Nothing.

Oxytocin? O.X.Y.

Serotonin?

That's a tricky one.

5-HT.Yeah. Endorphins?

"ENDO." E-N-D-O. It worked.

We're in.

Okay, he sent the selfie.

Can you ping it?

Send the coordinates to Zara.

We need to shut down Black Dolphin

before he sends his final question to Julian. No pressure.

Zara, you're right on top of him.

Eric, I found him.

Sam? Sam.

My name is Zara. Just go away, please.

You don't have to do this, Sam. Yes, I do.

You don't understand. Actually, Sam,

I do.

I know why you're doing this. Look.

I've been playing, too.

What level? Not as far as you.

You're at level 60, right? ERIC Shut it down, Oliver.

Yeah, it's harder than it looks, Eric.

I have to find the source code and activate the kill switch.

I know that you're in pain

and feeling lonely,

and maybe you felt less lonely

when you were playing Black Dolphin.

Maybe you felt like you made a friend,

but the person you think

you were talking to is a computer program, Sam.

That's not true.

Kill switch activated.

Black Dolphin, you're dead.

Crap.

What?

We're too late.

Zara, we've shut it down,

but the bot sent Sam his final message.

What was Sam's question? "What's next?" Answer

"Immortality, Sam."

The question you asked, it was, "What's next?"

Am I right?

How did... how did you know that?

Same way I know the answer you got.

"Immortality, Sam."

I told you,

it's a computer program, it's not a real person.

I bet it even told you that you were special

because you got to ask

a question at level 60, right?

Yeah.

The game says that to every player.

Do you know why it's called Black Dolphin, Sam?

Because dolphins are the only animals

that seem to attempt suicide.

Yeah, they strand themselves

in shallow water when they're sick or injured

because they're in pain and no one else can help.

But you're not alone, Sam.

I know it feels like you're in a tunnel with no way out,

but... it will get better.

How do you... how do you... how do you know?

Because your family is on their way and they love you, Sam.

They want to listen.

They're on your side.

So am I. But I need you

to be on your side, too.

So take the rope off your neck and give me your hand.

It's gonna be okay.

Black Dolphin is neutralized.

Okay, guys, great job.

We've got a full list of the players

and we're contacting the families now.

I just got off with Zara. Sam Rigaud is in safe hands.

Good.

Thank you... for everything.

Glad we could help.

Your methods are definitely unorthodox,

but I think I like unorthodox.

You're back!

Daddy! Hey!

Hey, come here. How's my big boy? I missed you.

How are you? Have you been good for your mother? AMY Yes.

- I hope so. - You been having fun? AMY Yeah.

Honey, why did you color this?

Because it's pretty. Come on.

Hi, baby. Hey, baby.

Hi, baby.

Hey.

You okay?

Yes. I just missed you guys.

I don't think I can take my work home anymore.

We're gonna have to figure something out.

Right? Right?

Julian's dead.

Black Dolphin's shut down.

So why do I feel like he's still out there?

Because as long as the Internet exists,

there'll always be online predators and vulnerable people.

You know, the only thing that can fight isolation

is real connection.

Hey, how would you guys, feel about coming to dinner

at my place sometime?

Sure, sounds good. I'm in.

Good. Don't get too excited. I might bail early.

Captioning sponsored by CBS.

Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org