Episode 5: "The Manifesto Decoded"
TEASER
INT. BAU HEADQUARTERS – NIGHT
The team sits in a circle, exhaustion in their eyes, but a flicker of hope as Maeve, now safe, sips tea under JJ's watchful gaze. Reid pores over the files and chessboard from Diane's lair, Maeve at his side.
MAEVE:
I remember fragments. She made me recite numbers, patterns, but I tried to hide messages for you.
REID:
You did. The chess moves, the modular math, the references to NUN Z—they were all clues.
PRENTISS:
We have the manifesto, but it's still locked.
ROSSI:
Then we unlock it. Tonight.
ACT ONE
INT. BAU TECH ROOM – LATE NIGHT
Garcia and Reid sit at a bank of screens, the manifesto's encrypted files projected in front of them. Maeve sits nearby, eyes closed, trying to recall more details.
GARCIA:
The main file uses modular folding and Baconian ciphers. There are layers—each one more complex than the last.
REID:
Maeve, do you remember anything about the order or the key?
MAEVE:
She said, "Only the sum reveals the truth." And she always started with Zugzwang—forcing a move.
REID:
That's it. The Zugzwang pattern is the key.
He overlays the chessboard's Zugzwang position onto the cipher.
GARCIA:
It's working. The first layer's breaking.
ROSSI:
What's underneath?
GARCIA:
Names. Hundreds of them.
JJ:
Composite identities?
REID:
Yes. Each one a victim, erased and rewritten.
PRENTISS:
We need to cross-reference these with missing persons and unsolved trafficking cases.
GARCIA:
On it.
ACT TWO
INT. BAU BRIEFING ROOM – MORNING
The whiteboard is filled with names, timelines, and maps. Garcia pins up photos of victims, each with a string of numbers.
GARCIA:
These numbers—dates, locations, aliases—are all tied to the composite IDs.
ROSSI:
How many victims?
GARCIA:
At least two hundred.
JJ:
And these are just the ones we can identify.
PRENTISS:
What about Diane's network?
REID:
The manifesto lists handlers, safe houses, and drop points. Diane's mapped out her entire operation.
MAEVE:
She used code names—chess pieces, colors, numbers.
REID:
The queen, the knight, the rook…
PRENTISS:
Let's focus on the handlers. If we can find one, we can unravel the network.
ACT THREE
INT. SAFE HOUSE – DAY
The team raids a suburban home listed as a "rook" drop point. Inside, they find a handler—JULIAN—mid-escape. Morgan and Prentiss tackle him, cuffing him to a chair.
MORGAN:
You're not going anywhere.
JULIAN:
You don't understand. She'll kill me.
PRENTISS:
Diane Turner?
JULIAN:
She's not just one person. She's everywhere.
MORGAN:
Start talking.
JULIAN:
The manifesto—it's not just a record. It's a threat. If it's decoded, everyone on the list is expendable.
PRENTISS:
That's why Diane's running.
JULIAN:
She'll burn it all down before she lets you win.
ACT FOUR
INT. BAU TECH ROOM – EVENING
Reid and Garcia work through the next cipher layer, Maeve at their side.
REID:
Maeve, this next layer—it's modular arithmetic, but the base changes.
MAEVE:
Try prime numbers. She always said, "Primes are unpredictable."
Reid adjusts the algorithm.
GARCIA:
It's opening.
A new set of files appears: financial records, bribes, and connections to powerful officials.
JJ:
This goes all the way up.
ROSSI:
Judges, politicians, law enforcement…
PRENTISS:
We need to go public.
GARCIA:
Wait—there's more.
She clicks through to a final, locked file: "ENDGAME."
REID:
Maeve, any ideas?
MAEVE:
If Zugzwang is the start, then checkmate is the end.
Reid types "CHECKMATE." The file opens.
A video plays: Diane, sitting at a chessboard.
DIANE (on video):
If you're watching this, you've broken my code. But you haven't stopped me. The game is never truly over. There's always another move.
The video ends, replaced by a countdown timer.
GARCIA:
It's a dead man's switch. She's going to release everything—names, locations, evidence—unless we stop her in the next 24 hours.
ACT FIVE
INT. BAU WAR ROOM – NIGHT
The team strategizes, urgency in every movement.
PRENTISS:
We need to find Diane before the timer hits zero.
ROSSI:
If she releases this, it'll cause chaos.
JJ:
But it'll also expose the truth.
REID:
Maeve, is there anything Diane said about a failsafe?
MAEVE:
She always talked about the "NUN Z protocol"—the final move.
REID:
That's our lead.
GARCIA:
I'll cross-reference NUN Z with her known aliases and safe houses.
PRENTISS:
Mobilize everyone. We have one day.
TAG
INT. DIANE TURNER'S HIDEOUT – NIGHT
Diane sits before a wall of monitors, watching the BAU scramble. She smiles, calm and collected, as the countdown ticks on.
DIANE:
Let's see if you can break the cycle, Doctor Reid.
She closes her laptop, vanishing into the shadows.
END OF EPISODE 5