1:32

when

2:00

she was a teenager. Here,

2:02

kitty kitty. As for how

2:04

the rest played out, Finch wasn't going

2:06

to get that far. She never saw

2:09

the end of a dream, or at least not

2:11

their real endings.

2:13

No. These dreams always

2:15

concluded in the same unremarkable

2:17

way. Total unrelenting

2:19

darkness. Tucked inside

2:22

a digital black hole and erased

2:24

forever, dragged into the proverbial

2:26

trash

2:27

with one easy click of a button. Finch,

2:30

you know,

2:30

she was the one doing the clicking. Standing

2:33

there in that musty warehouse bedroom,

2:36

remote control in her hand, Finch

2:38

slipped the VR headset off her eyes

2:41

and up into her freckled forehead. She

2:43

leaned over the man's bed and carefully

2:46

removed the electrodes

2:46

from his temples. Time to

2:49

read his sleeping face.

2:51

If he was lucky, he'd go on to have

2:53

an empty, uneventful slumber.

2:55

Wake up relatively refreshed

2:57

and none the wiser.

2:59

The not so lucky ones got nightmares

3:02

for God knows how long, and

3:04

no one ever came to erase those. She

3:07

thought she saw his eyelids flutter. Poor

3:10

bastard. A jumpy voice

3:12

rattled in her earpiece. Yo

3:14

girl, you taking a shit up there?

3:17

Kittens,

3:18

Finch said innocently, as she swung

3:21

her chrome briefcase into the backseat

3:23

of a matte black sedan.

3:26

Her partner, a suave and solid

3:28

man named Reza, gave her a stern

3:31

once over from behind the wheel. You keep cutting it

3:33

close like that, and it

3:35

ain't gonna end well for you or me,

3:38

he said. Starting the ignition

3:40

and beginning their bleak night crawl through

3:42

the dark and hollow streets of downtown

3:45

Los Angeles. Hey, just

3:48

because I let you drive doesn't mean you

3:50

get to big brother me, Finch joked,

3:52

not wanting to admit he was right. She

3:55

had been playing with fire

3:56

lately, peeking into people's

3:58

minds the way teens are.

3:59

teenagers snuck into R-rated movies,

4:02

staying longer and longer each

4:04

time. Finch popped a piece

4:07

of nickerat. Where we headed? The

4:10

sun would be up in a couple of hours and

4:12

they still had their quota to meet. No

4:14

less than thirteen beds a shift. Finch

4:18

always wondered who had picked that number.

4:20

Thirteen.

4:22

Probably some pencil-pushing

4:23

nepo baby who believed in soulmates

4:26

and astrology.

4:28

Mulholland,

4:29

Reza said, pointing to the dash

4:31

where the GPS computer screen that

4:33

told them

4:34

where to go displayed a map of

4:36

flashing orange dots, making

4:38

the city look like the Fourth of July.

4:41

Call came in while you were doing your hit, he

4:43

said.

4:44

Finch hated when agents called it that,

4:47

doing a hit like they were in some

4:49

bad mob movie. Though

4:51

she guessed they were a type of hired

4:54

gun.

4:55

They were dream assassins.

4:57

Military trained, special agents

5:00

belonging to a covert counter-terrorism

5:03

unit overseen by the United States

5:05

government, practicing the highly

5:07

classified art of making tiny

5:10

pieces of people's subconscious disappear.

5:13

What about the Valley guys? She said,

5:15

protesting. Finch had a hard

5:18

time believing of all the teams on

5:20

patrol tonight, they were the closest

5:22

to Mulholland. Plus, the

5:25

cannon gave her the creeps. Reza

5:27

just shrugged.

5:29

They went where the call sent them, mostly

5:31

to cramped apartments in Hollywood, dilapidated

5:35

houses around the reservoir, semi-abandoned

5:38

lofts in the art district.

5:40

Only about 12% of the US population

5:43

still had the ability to dream, and

5:45

the majority of those dreamers were right

5:47

here in Los Angeles County.

5:50

But the reality was, LA

5:52

was a few short years away from joining

5:55

the rest of the country in becoming

5:57

a completely dreamless city.

6:00

It wasn't always this way, of course.

6:03

There was a time when Los Angeles was the

6:05

city where people followed their dreams

6:07

to, a final destination

6:09

of wild

6:10

hope and untold possibilities,

6:13

or so Finch had heard.

6:15

The year she was born, a gym teacher

6:17

from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, drove 1,200 miles

6:20

to Atlantic City with

6:22

a truck full

6:23

of explosives and blew up a casino,

6:26

killing 700 people.

6:28

She told police he'd been called to

6:30

action in a dream.

6:32

A month later, a retired

6:34

librarian burned an entire

6:37

block of Wall Street to the ground.

6:40

A few weeks after that, a courtroom

6:42

stenographer assassinated Cook

6:44

County's chief prosecutor with a kitchen

6:46

knife. On the same day, a college

6:49

senior brought a semi-automatic to

6:51

his graduation ceremony and

6:53

opened fire. They

6:55

too named their dreams as

6:58

the reason behind their attacks.

7:00

Cable News called them dream terrorists.

7:03

The autopsies of their brains revealed

7:05

these seemingly unconnected

7:08

strangers had all been infected

7:10

by the same untreatable virus,

7:13

origin still unknown, that was slowly

7:16

creeping its way through the collective

7:18

subconscious, poisoning the minds

7:20

of sleeping Americans with incendiary

7:23

notions and triggering otherwise

7:26

peaceful individuals to wake up

7:28

and carry out unhinged acts

7:30

of violence upon their neighbors. No

7:33

one was safe from the threat of terror. Everyone

7:35

had to sleep eventually.

7:37

The only way to stop the spread, the

7:39

government decided, was containment.

7:42

But with no way of distinguishing

7:44

a healthy

7:45

dream from an infected one before

7:47

it was too

7:49

The conclusion was, all

7:51

dreams had to go, giving agents

7:53

of the state like Finch free rain

7:56

to monitor and wipe clean

7:58

the minds of hundreds. hundreds of thousands

8:01

of dreamers in the name of

8:03

national security.

8:05

And now,

8:06

the only people left chasing dreams

8:09

were disenchanted cynics like

8:11

herself.

8:12

Finch reached out for the stereo dial

8:15

as Hey Jude came on the radio and switched

8:17

the channel. Hey, that's my

8:19

jam, RZA said.

8:21

I hate the Beatles.

8:23

Who hates the Beatles? He

8:26

could see she was in no mood and

8:28

decided to drop it. They

8:30

drove the rest of the way listening to a news

8:32

report about a radiologist with a family

8:34

of four who had disappeared

8:37

the night before from his Franklin Hills neighborhood.

8:40

It was the third missing person report

8:42

in less than a month, and the police

8:44

department thought there might be a serial

8:46

killer

8:47

on the loose.

8:48

Finch caught herself thinking about kittens.

8:50

When Finch got home, the

8:53

sun was already halfway in the sky. She's

8:55

been working night shifts for nearly a decade

8:58

and still found it beyond unsettling

9:01

to enter day under bluebird conditions.

9:04

She picked out a leftover burrito from

9:06

her half empty fridge and thought

9:08

about texting RZA a meme of a kitten

9:10

playing the harmonica she found on the internet.

9:12

But Finch didn't want to invite

9:15

another lecture.

9:16

They at first met as young agency recruits

9:18

in the same session class.

9:19

Instead of fucking, the

9:21

pair became fast friends. RZA

9:24

helped Finch study for her written exams

9:27

and Finch taught him how to take the safety

9:29

off his gun during a daunting first

9:31

target practice.

9:33

Truth be told, it was most having

9:35

someone she could lean on during those grueling

9:38

days of training, especially given

9:40

how only a third of trainees actually

9:42

lasted until graduation.

9:44

When it came time for their placements, they

9:47

both requested to be put on the dream team,

9:49

as the new recruits left to call it. It

9:52

wasn't as flashy as some of the agency's

9:54

other assignments, but Finch knew

9:56

it held the highest stakes when every

9:58

bed contained a particular potential future terrorists,

10:02

all it took was one dream to slip through

10:04

the cracks for the fate of the entire

10:06

country to hang in the balance. It

10:08

didn't hurt to that Finch preferred

10:11

to move in the shadows.

10:12

Her and Reza had been partners ever since.

10:16

Finch put away her phone and played

10:18

a couple rounds of darts. Then she masturbated

10:20

to a low quality lesbian threesome

10:23

and passed away.

10:24

The nightmare started as soon as she shut

10:26

her eyes and left it all made. Unlike

10:29

the kittens, there was no button

10:32

Finch could press to make the images disappear.

10:34

There was no escape from the horror. But

10:37

as in the dreams, Finch never saw

10:39

how the nightmare ended. Her

10:41

screams always woke her before she

10:43

reached the final act. The

10:45

following night Finch and Reza were called

10:48

to a sprawling bungalow by the beach.

10:50

Finch let herself in the front door with her master

10:53

key.

10:53

Legal breaking and entering, the

10:56

agency made a point of noting during training

10:58

and followed the dream sensor on her wristwatch

11:01

to an upstairs bedroom. Sound

11:03

asleep under a violet comforter was a

11:06

girl, no more than eight years old.

11:08

She had wavy golden hair and

11:11

her eyelashes blew in the breeze of the open

11:13

window.

11:14

Fuck,

11:15

Finch whispered to her sins. She

11:17

hated children's dreams.

11:19

They were all velvet and butterflies

11:21

and things Finch never experienced

11:23

as a child herself.

11:25

So yeah,

11:26

guess she was resentful. The sad

11:28

truth was Finch had no

11:30

memories of her childhood before the age

11:32

of nine. All she knew

11:35

was she had been told her

11:37

parents had died shortly after her ninth

11:39

birthday, a tragic accident

11:42

of which she was lucky to survive.

11:44

Having no other family to speak of, she

11:47

was sent to a home for orphaned girls

11:49

where she was beaten and bruised.

11:52

That she remembered all too clearly

11:54

until

11:55

the accountant

11:56

had found her and taken her in

11:59

the timer on since

11:59

Finch's wrist began its countdown, marking 30

12:03

seconds until go time.

12:05

Finch had to move fast.

12:07

There was only a small window where a dream,

12:10

or episode, as the agency preferred

12:12

to call them, could be caught and

12:14

eliminated.

12:16

The dreamer had to be halfway through Rem, not

12:18

a minute sooner, not a second

12:21

later.

12:22

Timing in this job was everything.

12:25

Finch popped her chrome briefcase open on

12:27

the carpet and began pulling out her kit.

12:30

Headset, remote, electrode. A

12:33

car alarm sounded off outside, echoing

12:36

through the room like an orchestra. Finch

12:39

froze in place. A statue

12:41

crouched at the foot of the bed. Shit.

12:45

She held her breath and waited. If

12:47

a dreamer woke before the job was done,

12:50

procedure was to wait until they fell back

12:52

into Rem, which could take hours.

12:55

The girl was still asleep.

12:57

Finch exited, composing

12:59

herself.

13:00

She checked her watch.

13:01

Six seconds. Now five.

13:05

Finch stuck the electrodes onto the girl's forehead,

13:08

lowered her headset over her eyes, and

13:11

settled in for the show.

13:13

The girl's dream started like the others.

13:16

Colors first, blues and

13:18

bluey-glues, then sounds.

13:21

Raindrops on a gravel roof,

13:23

a jump rope-snacking schoolyard pavement.

13:26

It wasn't until Finch smelled that syrupy

13:29

sweetness and tasted the burnt

13:32

smoke that she realized

13:34

this dream wasn't like the others at

13:36

all.

13:37

How was she able to feel those warm

13:39

Santa Ana winds washing over her?

13:42

Was this a glitch?

13:44

It was like she had somehow crossed

13:46

an invisible line from mere observer

13:49

to active participant and

13:51

it felt odd.

13:53

It felt wrong. When

13:56

the woman with the rainbow hair showed up, Finch

13:59

knew she should get out of the way.

13:59

the hell out,

14:01

but the woman's thick eyeliner and

14:03

pierced eyebrows only drew

14:06

Finch further in. When

14:08

the woman started to speak, Finch

14:10

was hooked. Pardon

14:12

me, but he didn't quite catch

14:14

that. Finch could not make

14:17

out a goddamn word.

14:19

The woman spoke some more, and

14:20

then looked at Finch searchingly like

14:23

she was waiting for some sort of response.

14:26

Ask that again? I

14:28

couldn't hear you. Finch

14:30

was reaching the point of no return.

14:33

It was time to bring the blackness,

14:35

but surely she could stay a couple more

14:37

seconds. She wanted, no, needed

14:40

to

14:41

hear this woman's question. Wait,

14:45

just say that one more time. And

14:47

just like that, the woman and

14:50

her rainbow hair

14:51

were gone. The

14:53

dream was over. For

14:55

the first time in her career,

14:58

Finch had failed to click

15:00

the button.

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Evergreen. You look like you saw a fucking ghost

16:18

in

16:24

there.

16:27

Reza

16:30

said jokingly as Finch sat

16:32

down beside him. Not so

16:34

innocently this time. This

16:36

time,

16:37

she felt like she might puke.

16:40

I'll fix that, Finch said quietly.

16:43

Listen, I'm sorry for busting your balls

16:45

before. That was my bad. No,

16:48

she said more forcefully. Like I really

16:51

fucked up. Finch turned to him

16:53

and Reza could see on her face she wasn't

16:55

playing. Oh, he

16:58

said, connecting the dots. Fuck.

17:01

He wasn't about to mansplain the consequences

17:03

of missing a dream to her. They

17:06

both knew. If a dream was

17:08

allowed to play to completion, it got

17:10

lost in the back of

17:11

the dreamer's subconscious, lodged

17:14

somewhere deep in limbo, totally

17:16

unretrievable,

17:18

undetectable. Even

17:20

if the dreamer didn't remember the contents of

17:22

the dream when they awoke, they'd never

17:24

have it.

17:25

And two, three, five years down

17:27

the line, who was to say it wouldn't

17:30

all come rushing back?

17:31

A seed planted for a future potentially

17:34

cataclysmic harvest.

17:37

I'm gonna get Alaska'd, Finch

17:39

said, the graveness of the situation

17:42

suddenly backhanding her into the face.

17:45

The last time an agent failed to erase

17:47

a dream, the agency relocated

17:50

him to a small town in Alaska and

17:52

no one ever saw or heard from him

17:55

again. There were rumors he didn't

17:57

even work for the agency anymore.

19:59

already waiting for her in the boardroom.

20:02

The head of the department, a tall

20:04

and nondescript man who went by

20:06

Sim, spoke first.

20:08

Thanks for coming in, he said. Rogers,

20:11

as associate, poured three glasses of water

20:13

for the table, as Finch took a seat

20:16

across from them. Reza was

20:18

there, too, eyes conspicuously

20:20

down and avoiding her gaze. A

20:23

first for him, she thought. What's

20:26

this about? Cinch asked, though

20:28

she already knew the answer. Judging

20:31

by Reza's schoolboy demeanor, this

20:33

could be about only one thing.

20:36

The girl.

20:37

Sim said dryly, it's come

20:40

to our attention that in the early morning

20:42

hours of September 23rd, you

20:44

failed

20:44

to excise an episode belonging

20:47

to, he looked down and checked

20:49

his notes,

20:49

Dreamer x two four

20:52

t t y. Reza

20:54

clearly wrapped with guilt

20:55

blurted out. I'm sorry, Finch. I had

20:58

to tell them they already knew. Since

21:00

straighten your back.

21:02

Yes, that's right. Finch

21:04

said nodding.

21:05

No point in lying now. I

21:07

missed the window.

21:09

I see, Sim said. And

21:11

did you watch it? He asked, an

21:14

accusation spitting from his lips.

21:17

Watch it. The episode.

21:20

Did you watch it? Rogers

21:22

repeated more harshly.

21:24

What?

21:25

No, no, of course not.

21:28

This time Finch lied. She wasn't

21:30

about to get written up for two things.

21:33

You know, agents are prohibited from watching

21:36

episodes past colors. Rogers

21:38

pushed. I was distracted.

21:40

That's all. She said so convincingly,

21:43

she almost believed her own words. A

21:45

stupid mistake. I haven't been sleeping

21:48

well. It won't happen again. No,

21:51

it won't. Roger said his

21:53

tone is serious as a heart attack. I'm

21:56

sure we don't need to remind you of

21:58

the grave implications. a stupid

22:01

mistake like this can have on national

22:03

security.

22:05

No, sir, you don't,

22:06

Finch said. She doubted the

22:08

girl was a future terrorist in waiting,

22:11

but protocol

22:11

was protocol. Am

22:13

I fired?

22:15

Finch asked, fearing the answer.

22:18

You should be, Sim said, after

22:20

a pause. But the fact

22:22

is, you're one of our best agents.

22:25

It would be a shame to see you squander

22:27

such potential.

22:29

After this a warning,

22:31

Finch let out a fat sigh of relief.

22:35

Thank you, sir.

22:36

Boy, had she dodged a bullet,

22:39

then it occurred to her. What

22:41

about the girl?

22:43

What about her, Sim said.

22:46

What will happen to her?

22:48

Rogers replied.

22:50

The girl is no longer your concern.

22:52

Finch nodded, understanding she

22:54

was being dismissed. She stood

22:56

to leave. And Finch,

22:59

Sim said,

23:00

she turned back to the serious men in their

23:02

waters. Take a couple of days

23:05

at home

23:05

and get some sleep.

23:07

If only she could. Finch

23:11

had barely made it through her apartment door

23:13

when she got the text from Reza.

23:15

Four words,

23:17

grandma loved her cocaine. Her

23:19

stomach dropped. Four years

23:21

ago, the two of them went to grab an after

23:23

work beer at a local dive when

23:26

they accidentally crashed the funeral

23:28

reception for Miranda Smalls. A

23:30

spunky socialite known for her throwing

23:33

ravished sex parties at her home in the

23:35

hills well into her 80s. One

23:38

of the cousins had mistaken Finch for a

23:40

long lost grandchild and asked

23:42

her to say a few words. Before

23:45

she knew it, Finch was standing on

23:47

a tabletop waving a bottle

23:49

of top shelf bourbon and making

23:51

a toast to a room full of grieving

23:53

drunks.

23:55

Grandma loved her cocaine,

23:58

is all she could think to say.

24:00

The trunks went wild. It

24:03

had been her and Reza's little inside

24:05

joke ever since.

24:06

It was also their code phrase

24:09

for when shit seriously hit the fan.

24:11

It was her cue to

24:13

run. Finch

24:15

peeked out her front window and watched

24:17

as two men, one tall and one short,

24:19

both wearing dark masks, packing

24:22

obvious heat, stepped out a matte

24:24

black sedan. The vehicle wasn't

24:26

the same make

24:27

or year as her and Reza's squad

24:29

car,

24:29

but she knew what she was looking at. Two

24:32

government operatives

24:33

coming to closer. Fucking

24:36

Sim.

24:37

So that's what he meant by sleep. She

24:40

should have guessed they

24:41

wouldn't believe her bullshit excuse and

24:43

now they wanted to make an example out of her.

24:46

Well, the agency would have to be fucking

24:49

stupid if they thought she was going to Alaska

24:51

without a fight. And was

24:53

they weren't stupid, which meant she

24:56

was likely scheduled to meet a much darker

24:58

fate. Finch figured she

25:00

had about 90 seconds until her door

25:03

came bashing down. She

25:05

grabbed a ziplock bag containing her passports

25:07

and IDs from its hiding place behind

25:09

the dartboard and hastily stuffed

25:11

it inside her backpack along with

25:14

a pistol and her car keys.

25:16

Wasting no time, she reached behind

25:18

the fridge and pulled out a dead, dust-covered

25:21

rat.

25:22

She cut into its taxidermy belly

25:24

with her Swiss Army knife and retrieved

25:26

a roll of cash and a burner phone. A

25:29

little storage hack she picked up watching

25:31

old Cold War documentaries.

25:33

As she took a last look around her apartment,

25:36

Finch wondered who the agency had sent to

25:38

do the deed. If she'd recognize them

25:40

from training or from many of those rowdy

25:43

holiday parties over the years.

25:45

She sure as hell wasn't sticking around to

25:47

find out. Finch tossed

25:49

her phone in the toilet, ran the shower

25:51

on hot, and hopped through the

25:53

bathroom window out of sight.

25:57

Finch drove her barracuda east with

25:59

a speedometer.

25:59

her kissing 90 and the

26:02

stereo

26:02

turned all the way off. Her

26:04

head was exploding with enough what

26:07

the heavenly fucks to last a lifetime.

26:10

She wasn't about to turn on public radio

26:12

and add to the chaos. Now

26:14

she had to focus on the road ahead. She

26:17

had to focus on staying alive.

26:19

Finch figured she'd lay low in Vegas

26:22

for a few days until she worked out her

26:24

next move. Is this really

26:26

how it's all going to end at the

26:28

goddamn Bellagio? Her

26:31

thoughts drifted to the accountant, unable

26:34

to quiet the accusatory voices

26:36

telling her she'd thoroughly disappointed

26:38

him. He was after all,

26:40

the one who had taught her everything she knew.

26:43

After the paperwork went through with the orphanage,

26:46

Finch lived with the accountant until the age

26:49

of 18, at which point he

26:51

felt she was ready to be inducted into

26:53

the family business.

26:55

She was as shocked as anyone to learn

26:57

that the bumbling potato shaped man who

26:59

had so selflessly taken her in as

27:02

his own was not actually

27:04

an accountant at all, but a top

27:06

level special agent for the United States

27:08

government.

27:09

She had always pictured special agents

27:12

to be more James Bond than Mike

27:14

Brady. That would teach her to believe

27:17

anything she saw on TV.

27:19

Appearances aside, the accountant

27:21

quickly became Finch's closest confidant

27:24

her hero. He saw a fire

27:26

deep within her that no one up until that

27:29

point had ever seen or cared to

27:31

notice.

27:32

He saw strength for the other kids

27:34

saw weakness

27:35

potential where the nuns just

27:37

saw trouble. Embrace

27:40

your superpower kid. He would tell her

27:42

whenever her chest was so tight, she couldn't

27:44

speak. She wouldn't be the agent

27:46

she was today. If not for him, she

27:50

shut her to think what he would say to her now

27:52

a coward on the run. Then it

27:55

was Sims words running through

27:57

her brain. The girl is

27:59

no longer here. your concern. Funny,

28:02

she thought, because from where

28:04

she was sitting, the girl was the whole

28:06

reason she was in this godforsaken mess.

28:09

But still,

28:10

a voice itched at her.

28:13

Don't do it Finch. She's

28:15

not your problem. They'll

28:17

probably just take her in for questioning.

28:19

It's not like they're gonna.

28:22

She made a Ui and headed back towards

28:25

LA. Fucking conscience.

28:34

After five minutes of knocking, Finch

28:36

was about to call it. She'd given

28:38

it a good college try. No

28:40

one could blame her for walking away. Of course,

28:43

she could always use her master key to let herself

28:46

inside. Before she had a

28:48

chance to do either,

28:49

the door to the sprawling bungalow

28:51

swung open. Who are

28:53

you? The girl asked more flatly.

28:56

She was wearing heart shaped sunglasses

28:58

with a zip up hoodie adorned with peace signs.

29:01

Hi, Finch said

29:03

awkwardly. She hated talking to kids.

29:06

She never knew what tenor to make her voice

29:08

and usually ended up sounding like a depressed

29:11

robot. What's your

29:13

name, little girl?

29:15

Mia.

29:16

She said it like it should be obvious.

29:19

Is your mom home, Mia?

29:21

My mom's dead, Mia said in

29:23

that deadpan way kids who've had to grow

29:26

up too fast do.

29:27

Oh,

29:28

Finch said, even more accurately.

29:33

Is your dad home? Please

29:36

don't be dead. Please don't be dead. Dad.

29:40

And then Finch was eye to eye with

29:42

Darius Maron, the impossibly

29:45

handsome Hollywood it man, best

29:48

known for his luxury car commercials and

29:50

salacious DMS.

29:52

What's this about? He said

29:55

his voice was butter on a freshly

29:57

toasted bagel.

29:59

Starstruck stumbled

30:02

over her words.

30:05

For a second, she forgot what had brought her

30:07

to his door in the first place, the

30:10

only thought running through her mind now

30:12

being that he must use one hell

30:15

of a moisturizer, dariest

30:17

side, partially flattered

30:19

but mostly annoyed. If

30:22

you're paparazzi, you know you

30:24

can't be here while the lawsuit is ongoing.

30:28

No, I'm, jeez, you're

30:30

really fucking this up.

30:32

Your daughter is in danger, Cinch

30:34

said more assertively. I can't

30:36

tell you any of the specifics because it's

30:39

classified, as if that mattered

30:41

now, she thought, but you two need

30:43

to come with me.

30:45

Darius took a moment to study this woman

30:48

in his doorway, all too familiar

30:50

with the art of the celebrity scam. Yeah,

30:54

I don't think so, he said, closing the

30:56

door. Cinch blocked it with her

30:58

hand.

30:59

Hey, what the hell, lady? He

31:01

said, are you not hearing me? Bad

31:04

people are coming for me.

31:07

If we don't leave in the next ten minutes, you're

31:09

probably never going to see her again.

31:12

Is that what you want?

31:14

No,

31:15

what I want is to enjoy my

31:18

goddamn coffee without some

31:20

stalker showing up at my door, Darius

31:23

said, colder, his patience

31:25

running low. Now

31:28

if you don't fuck off in the next ten

31:30

seconds, it's going to be my people

31:32

coming for you, in court,

31:35

got it? He slammed the door

31:37

in her face.

31:38

But Finch didn't fuck off, she

31:40

couldn't. Bop, goddamn conscience

31:43

again. She stayed outside

31:45

the house, sitting pretty in her car, knowing

31:48

it was only a matter of time before

31:51

they had visitors.

31:52

Stalker, huh.

31:55

You wish you were my tightrope,

31:57

Finch muttered to herself as she scanned

31:59

the road.

32:00

Ten minutes later, that matte

32:02

black sedan rolled in like clockwork,

32:05

quietly parking

32:06

several driveways down the street. Anna

32:09

jurors finched thought as she twisted

32:12

a sinlesser onto her pistol. She

32:14

waited for the masked men to sneak their

32:16

way over the fence and through the bungalows

32:19

backyard before walking over to the sedan

32:22

and

32:22

shooting all four tires flat.

32:25

Bang, bang, bitches. When

32:28

she entered the house, the tall one had Darius

32:30

tied up and gagged. The shorter

32:33

one was draping a bag over Mia's head, getting

32:35

her ready for transport, Finch assumed.

32:38

They would want to interrogate her before they

32:40

killed her.

32:42

So this is what five million

32:44

dollars gets you by the beach, Finch

32:46

said, taking in the architecture.

32:48

The masked men slowly turned their heads to

32:51

find Finch, aiming her gun

32:53

right in their faces.

32:54

The tall one reached for his holster.

32:57

I wouldn't, she said, and he moved

32:59

his hand back.

33:01

We're just here for the girl, the tall one

33:03

said. We don't want any trouble. Oh,

33:06

is that why you two showed up at my place?

33:09

Something tells me you weren't doing a mental

33:11

health check.

33:13

The short one piped up.

33:15

We're following orders, Finch. Same

33:17

as you. Oh, yeah? Let's

33:19

see if you can follow these, Finch said, waving

33:22

her gun.

33:23

Throw your weapons.

33:24

The masked men did as she instructed, and

33:27

threw their guns at Finch's feet.

33:29

She loved a pair of zip ties at their turnips.

33:32

Hands behind your backs. Come on, quickly.

33:35

I don't have all day. The men began

33:37

to zip tie their own wrists, and suddenly,

33:40

the short one pulled a knife in his back waistband

33:42

and hurled it at Finch, slicing

33:45

her right bicep as she dropped her gun in

33:47

pain. Ow, motherfucker! Finch

33:49

hardly got her curse words out before

33:51

the men were lunging themselves at her, throwing

33:54

punches at high kicks, of which

33:56

Finch gladly returned to tables.

33:59

the shower body blows until

34:02

a round has kicked to the stomach, mop

34:05

it bitch onto her back. Give it

34:07

up. You lost, the short one said. Famous

34:10

last words, Finch said, launching

34:12

back onto her feet and grabbing a golden

34:15

statue from a nearby shelf of

34:17

rather impressive awards. Sorry,

34:19

Oscar. In two

34:21

quick games, Finch spun around

34:23

and swung Darius's Academy Award

34:26

into the short man's jaw, sending

34:28

him flying backwards, then

34:30

turned and smoked the tall one in both knee

34:32

caps, taking him tumbling down.

34:35

Finch swept her gun off the ground and re-pointed

34:38

it at

34:38

her crippled opponents. Seriously,

34:41

why do men always have to do everything

34:43

the hard way?

34:45

After Darius was untied and Mia

34:47

delivered safely back into her father's arms,

34:50

Finch and her gun escorted the masked

34:52

men back to their car.

34:55

Get in, she said, popping the trunk.

34:58

You've got to be fucking kidding, the

35:00

tall one said.

35:01

I've got jokes all right,

35:03

but this isn't one of them, Finch replied.

35:05

Get the fuck in.

35:07

They folded themselves into the trunk like

35:09

resentful acrobats. They'll

35:11

send someone else,

35:12

the shorter one warned, a threat

35:14

gurgling in his throat. They

35:16

can try, Finch replied calmly.

35:19

She put her hand on the trunk.

35:21

Hope you're not afraid of the dark.

35:23

The last words they heard before

35:26

she locked

35:26

them inside. They'd

35:28

been driving for 30 minutes and still

35:30

hadn't made it out of Malibu.

35:33

Finch scanned her mirrors every few seconds

35:35

for any sign of a tale. Let

35:37

me get this straight, Darius said,

35:40

running his hands through his hair and

35:42

repeating back what Finch had just spent

35:44

the last half

35:45

hour explaining.

35:46

Mia had a dream that should have been

35:49

erased by a... What did you

35:51

call it? A dream assassin?

35:53

Now government agents are after

35:55

her because the idiot who was supposed

35:58

to erase the dream messed with her. and

36:00

didn't do their job properly pretty

36:03

much since said

36:05

omitting the fine print

36:07

that seen the idiots who had

36:09

and sack messed up well

36:12

can't you do it now there is cried

36:14

out

36:15

erase the dream from her memories or

36:17

whatever so

36:18

we can go home

36:20

it's too late for that since said

36:22

and that's not how it works she added

36:25

did tell me how it fucking works

36:28

that's classified yeah

36:30

he grumbled bitterly

36:32

to you at least tell me where we're going

36:35

part

36:35

of her wanted to

36:36

sell c owed him at least bad but

36:39

as today totter anything it

36:42

was that trust was a rare commodity

36:44

around these parts

36:46

sorry he

37:00

didn't signal of assassins dream is narrated

37:02

by erica louis written by

37:04

cats and yet directed

37:06

by lawrence and executive produced

37:09

by rob hurting sandra yearling

37:11

in sin in see who

37:13

producers lawrence an alley ceremony

37:16

and tom original score

37:18

and compositions and a derringer said audio

37:21

engineering and editing by sarah my script

37:24

supervisor

37:26

and next

37:29

this podcast was recorded under a sag

37:31

aftra collective bargaining agreement he

37:33

didn't signal is it you could

37:36

soon recruiting copyright twenty twenty three

37:38

by media

37:45

hey guys heather ashley here host

37:47

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