The Mole

 The Mole VIDEO

THE STATION CLOCK

Episodes 10 · 11 · 12

"The Mole"

Three silhouettes walking. One stops. Looks at her phone.

"One of them called  Herr."

"Can you guess who?"

Ram notices first.

Helen has fallen behind.

Three steps. Five. Ten.

"Helen. Come on."

"One second."

But it's not one second.

She's looking at her phone.

Ram stops.

Lets Tor keep walking.

Approaches Helen slowly.

"Who are you texting?"

Helen looks up.

"Nobody."

"Helen."

"I said nobody."

Ram gently takes her phone.

Screen lit.

An unnamed number.

Last message sent four minutes ago.

"They have the USB. They're going to contact the press."

The world stops.

"You've been working for him from the start," Ram says. Cold voice.

Helen doesn't deny it.

"He had me threatened. Like Tor. Like everyone."

"Then why the USB? Why the evidence?"

Silence.

"Because I got tired," Helen whispers. "Tired of being scared."

Tor comes back. Sees the scene.

"What's happening?"

Ram doesn't answer.

Stares at Helen.

Long. Very long.

"You have two options," he finally says.

"Which ones?"

"You stick with  Herr. Or you finish what your sister started."

Helen. Red eyes. Jaw clenched.

Total silence. Just breathing.

Helen looks at the phone in Ram's hand.

Takes it.

Throws it to the ground.

Stomps on it.

"Let's go," she says. And walks ahead.

" Herr read Helen's last message. He smiled. Because he had a plan too. And he'd been preparing it for twelve years."

" Herr"

Luxurious office.  Herr with his back turned. Looking at the city.

"Twelve years in power."

"Never lost."

"Until tonight."

 Herr is a calm man.

That's what's dangerous.

He doesn't shout. Doesn't threaten.

He just... acts.

Calls his assistant.

"Close all access to central precinct."

"Reason?"

"Internal security."

Hangs up.

Calls someone else.

"Where are they now?"

"Moving toward the north side of the city."

"Good. Let them reach the journalist."

"Wait... let them?"

"If we stop them now we're news. If we let them reach her... we control the story."

 Herr turns. First time we see his face.

Calm. Almost kind.

"I have someone inside the newsroom."

Smiles.

"We've been preparing this for twelve years for when the moment came."

Meanwhile.

Ram, Tor, and Helen arrive at an old building.

Fourth floor. Light on.

They go up.

Knock on the door.

A woman opens. Forty years old. Tired eyes. Alert.

"You guys?" she asks.

"It's us," Ram says.

"Come in. Quick."

Her name is Vera. Journalist. Been out of the country two years because of this.

"Did you bring the USB?"

"And a printed copy," Tor says.

 Val takes it. Plugs it into the computer.

Nadia's video starts playing.

 Val doesn't blink.

When it ends she closes her eyes.

"Enough," she says. "It's enough."

"How long to publish?" Ram asks.

"Thirty minutes."

"We have less."

 Val opens her eyes.

"How much less?"

Footsteps in the stairwell. Many. Fast.

"That," Ram says.

"There were six. Armed. And the only way out was the door they'd come up through.  Val looked at her computer. Twenty-eight minutes left. Ram looked at the window. Fourth floor."

"11:00"

The station clock. The hands. Moving again.

"Everything started when the clock stopped."

"Everything ends when it starts working again."

Ram barricades the door with a chair.

Banging on the other side.

"Vera. Publish now. Whatever you have."

"Missing data. Without complete data it's their word against ours."

"Publish. Now."

 Val hesitates two seconds.

Publishes.

Progress bar. Slow. Very slow.

The door gives a little.

Tor pushes against it.

Helen looks for escape through the window.

"There's a ledge," she says. "Narrow but..."

"Go," Ram says.

"Me first?"

"Go."

Helen goes out.

Tor goes out.

Ram looks at Vera's computer.

Bar at 60%.

"You go too," he tells Vera.

"I'm not leaving until it finishes."

"Vera..."

"No. I'm. Leaving."

The door explodes inward.

Two men enter.

Ram confronts them.

Quick cuts. Struggle. Broken chair. Shattered mirror.

Falls to the floor.

A man puts his knee on Ram's chest.

Ram turns his head.

Vera's screen.

100%.

Published.

Smiles.

The man looks at him, confused.

"What are you smiling about?"

Ram doesn't answer.

Because at that moment the man's phone vibrates.

And the other's.

And the ones in the stairwell.

All at once.

Notifications. Newspapers. TV. Social media.

"SCANDAL: Commissioner  Herr implicated in 12-year criminal network."

The men look at each other.

Release Ram.

Run out.

Silence.

Ram sits on the floor.

 Val closes the computer.

"It's done," she says.

Ram nods.

Gets up slowly.

Goes out to the ledge.

Tor and Helen are there. Cold. Night.

The three looking at the city.

"Is it over?" Helen asks.

"For  Herr, yes."

Pause.

"For us?"

Ram looks at the sky.

"That depends on what happens tomorrow."

The city. Lights turning on. Notifications exploding on thousands of screens.

Crescendo. Slow. Powerful.

Cut to the station.

Empty. Silent.

The platform where it all began.

The station clock.

The hands.

Moving.

11:00 sharp.

" Herr was arrested that night. His trial lasted eight months. Ram didn't testify as a witness. Nobody knew why. Tor got her daughter back. Helen disappeared three days after the arrest. Nobody saw her again. And the station clock... has been working since then. Without stopping. Until the night the new detective arrived."

"The new detective arrived on a rainy night. Her name was  Morgan. She had a photo in her pocket. A photo of Ram. And on the back, handwritten, an address. And one single question: 'Do you know where Helen really is?'"

...