Chapter Text
INT. MIDDLE-CLASS SUBURBAN HOME
[HEDRICK CHAPMAN enters, slamming the door behind him, obviously frustrated. MELISSA CHAPMAN looks at him, concerned.]
MELISSA: Hey, Dad, are you okay?
HEDRICK: Not now, Melissa. I've got important work I need to do.
MELISSA: Is it for the Sharing again? What are they making you do this time?
HEDRICK: That's not your business.
MELISSA: All I know is that you always come back from those meetings looking stressed or angry or even scared. And then you hole up in the basement for hours after. I feel like I never see you anymore.
HEDRICK: Don't talk about things you can't possibly understand, you stupid child!
[MELISSA reels as if slapped. FLUFFER MCKITTY enters, meowing.]
HEDRICK: And make that cat shut up!
[HEDRICK hurls a TV remote at FLUFFER MCKITTY. He misses. MELISSA, shocked, picks up the cat and flees to her room.]
INT. CRAFT BREWERY/PUB
SOPHIE: So you believe your father has become entangled in a cult?
MELISSA: He's changed. Ever since he joined the Sharing, I don't know…it's like he's a different person. And not in a good way.
NATE: How do you know the Sharing is responsible for the difference in his personality? There are a lot of things that can affect a person. New medications, major life changes, head injuries…
SOPHIE: …Alcohol…
[NATE gives SOPHIE a meaningful look.]
SOPHIE: What? It's just an example.
MELISSA: I've seen some of what goes on in their meetings. I don't know what it is about the Sharing, but it just feels creepy. And I've done reports about cults in school. It checks all the boxes.
NATE: You realize that even if we bring down the Sharing, deprogramming someone from a cult is a difficult process. It can take years, if it even works at all.
MELISSA: I know it might not be possible to get my dad back like he used to be.
[MELISSA chokes up.]
MELISSA: But…even if he really doesn't love me anymore…the Sharing recruits new people every day. They're destroying families, Mr. Ford. I just don't want anyone else to have to…I'm sorry, I…
SOPHIE: It's okay. We'll take the case.
NATE: We will?
[SOPHIE gives NATE a pointed look.]
NATE: I mean, of course we will.
INT. LEVERAGE HQ
[ALEC HARDISON clicks a remote. TV screens on the wall show images and news articles about the Sharing.]
HARDISON: The Sharing. Nonprofit organization, founded by Lore David Altman, supposedly to foster community and belonging. They host cookouts, sports, charity fundraisers…think Boy Scouts, but for the whole family. Very wholesome…on the surface.
ELIOT: Get to the point, Hardison.
HARDISON: I am getting there, okay? You gotta be patient. Now, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, the Sharing has great PR. But if you have the incredible tech savvy to hack into their books—which I do—it turns out there's some real shady stuff going on.
[HARDISON clicks the remote again.]
HARDISON: Now, as you can see here, these expenses just don't make sense.
NATE: Okay, so they're laundering money, maybe some embezzlement.
HARDISON: It's not just that, Nate, these are the kinds of numbers you would expect to see from someone working on a major construction project. These guys are going full Gus Fring. We're talking some kind of massive underground complex.
PARKER: Ooh! Is it for nefarious purposes? I bet it's for nefarious purposes!
ELIOT: Could be a front for weapons manufacturing. Maybe human trafficking. Hard to say.
HARDISON: Yeah, and here's where it gets weird. The cybersecurity on this project is off the charts. And I mean off the charts. The software they're using is like nothing I've ever seen. They make the Pentagon's systems look like a kid's toy.
SOPHIE: Why would they have access to that kind of tech?
HARDISON: I don't know. But if we want to get in, we're going to have to do it the old-fashioned way.
PARKER: Yes!
NATE: Okay. If we're going to break this operation open, we need to know what we're getting into. That means we need to get on the inside. When's their next event?
HARDISON: Looks like they're planning a bonfire at the beach.
NATE: Perfect. Let's go steal a beach.
[Roll title sequence.]