Francis Shaw

**Francis Shaw**, also known as **Cisco**, is a member of the Dark Army and Darlene Alderson's boyfriend.

He was portrayed by Michael Drayer.

## Background

Cisco was born on March 12, 1986. In a deleted scene, he explains his story to Elliot Alderson on the night of August 6, 2015. He grew up in Shanghai until he was 10, giving him a "sort of" knowledge of Chinese. He was alienated for being white, but the Dark Army embraced him because he could code. Upon coming to the city he met Darlene. Elliot tells him they met at Darlene's birthday party two years ago, but Cisco doesn't remember as Elliot didn't stay long.

By 2015, he was employed at a public library. He was dating and living with Darlene Alderson, but when he proposed to her sometime in March, she left him. He lives in Brooklyn.

His hacker name, "Cisco", is probably a reference to Cisco#Products\_and\_services the networking equipment brand of the same name.

## 2015

### Season 1

Cisco serves as fsociety's link to the Dark Army. Through him, Darlene assures her group that the Dark Army will attack E-Corp's data facilities in China in conjunction with their attack on Steel Mountain.

Following the February 2015 DDOS attack on E-Corp, Cisco is tasked with penetrating the Allsafe Cybersecurity network. Cisco sets up a bait scheme, offering a "free mixtape" loaded with malware; after two weeks, he finally hands one off to Ollie Parker, gaining access to his email, bank accounts, and webcam. (“eps1.1\_ones-and-zer0es.mpeg”)

Cisco attempts to blackmail Ollie into infecting AllSafe's network. Instead, Ollie comes clean to Angela Moss, who realizes her and her father's bank accounts are compromised. Using Ollie's ID and computer, Angela uploads the package to Allsafe's network, opening a backdoor for the Dark Army.

On March 29, fsociety deviates from schedule and proceeds with their attack on Steel Mountain. Hoping to relay an update to the Dark Army, Darlene and Trenton search for Cisco, who explains that the Dark Army does not share fsociety's revolutionary agenda. (“eps1.3\_da3m0ns.mp4”)

On March 31, the Dark Army bans Darlene from their IRC room. Furious, Darlene confronts Cisco at the New York Public Library; after some prodding, Cisco explains that Dark Army was out before fsociety even arrived at Steel Mountain, and urges her to let the mission go. (“eps1.4\_3xpl0its.wmv”)

While Elliot searches for an alternate plan of attack, Mr. Robot confers with Darlene, reaffirming their need to make face-to-face contact with Whiterose. Darlene spoofs Cisco's IP address and logs in to the Dark Army IRC to request a meeting. When he finds out, Cisco is outraged, declaring that their relationship is over - but the meeting is on. Cisco approaches Ollie and tells him to do him a favor. (“eps1.6\_v1ew-s0urce.flv”) At work while Allsafe is being hacked, Ollie asks Elliot to take corrupted drives to a store at a certain address. Once Elliot investigates Ollie and finds out about the infected CD, he goes to the store and meets Whiterose. (“eps1.7\_wh1ter0se.m4v”)

### Season 2

In June, Cisco arranges a meeting with Darlene at a bar. He is worried about her being followed. He lets her know that the FBI found the arcade and assures her that the Dark Army did not kill Leslie Romero. Cisco wants to know what Elliot thinks, but Darlene didn't tell him about Romero because of his fragile state. Cisco tries to console his ex-girlfriend, but she wants him to let her be upset.

The two have sex in the bathroom. Cisco says Romero was investigating the FBI and Operation Berenstain. Dark Army is nervous, thinking someone may have flipped. Darlene says no one talked. She wants to leave the city, but Cisco lets her know that if anyone in fsociety leaves, it makes them look guilty. (“eps2.2\_init1.asec”)

In early July, Cisco is brought a femtocell device by the Dark Army to assist in fsociety's hack of the FBI. Xun, a Chinese henchman, stabs Cisco's finger with a needle and breaks off the needle. Cisco has his finger fixed at the hospital and brings the device to the smart house of Susan Jacobs, the new base for fsociety. Angela stares at him, recognizing him as the man who gave Ollie the CD, but she says nothing. (“eps2.4\_m4ster\_s1ave.aes”)

On July 4, Cisco is with Trenton, Mobley, and Darlene at the base when they hack Project Berenstain. fsociety leaks the FBI conference call to the public. When Mobley expresses that he is done, Cisco warns him that the Dark Army will kill him if the FBI gets him. At this moment, Susan Jacobs returns home. The group tie her up and hack her emails for leverage. Darlene kills her with a stun gun, potentially knowing she had a pacemaker. Darlene and Cisco bring her body in a luggage bag to the animal shelter to cremate her.

In the early morning, Cisco brings her back to his place to rest. When she wakes up, Cisco is in the shower. Darlene discovers suspicious communications on his computer with the Dark Army featuring pictures of a sleeping Darlene and something called "Stage 2". When he comes out of the bathroom, she destroys his laptop with a bat before striking him and leaving. (“eps2.6\_succ3ss0r.p12”)

On August 6th, Elliot is released from prison and taken back to Cisco's place by Darlene. They want to investigate the Dark Army. Over the last three weeks, Cisco has been trying to convince her that the pictures were just to show them that she is safe and he doesn't know anything about the femtocell or Stage 2. Together, they hack Xun's phone to access the microphone and set up a meeting. Elliot and Cisco go to the library to meet Xun and ask about Stage 2. In a deleted scene, they wait outside to make sure they aren't being followed. Cisco asks about the mythical Whiterose, who he believes is a male, and asks about fsociety's origins, getting silence in response. He then tells Elliot about his origins in Shanghai. At the library, they get simply an angry response from Xun and return to the apartment while Darlene is back at the apartment to monitor Xun's conversations.

At night, Darlene realizes that she may have left a video tape at the smart house, an outtake while making the fsociety/Berenstain video. Cisco chastises her for using VHS but volunteers to go back and look for it. He finds it, but also finds an fsociety militant, Vincent Campbell, dying on the couch. (“eps2.7\_init5.fve”)

Cisco takes Vincent back to the apartment. Darlene wants to keep him there, but Cisco wants her to face facts that they are in over their heads and they need to take him to a hospital. They take him to Mt. Sinai. In the waiting room, Darlene tells how Elliot is the leader and she is just in his shadow. She somewhat fondly recalls an incident from her childhood when she was kidnapped for a night, but disappointed when the police rescued her. When told by a nurse that they have an hour to wait before they can see Vincent, Darlene and Cisco find a nearby restaurant.

Meanwhile, an FBI sketch has been released on the news of Cisco, made from Ollie's description and that of a neighbor of Susan Jacobs. FBI agent Dominique DiPierro searches his apartment and goes to the hospital when the nurse calls it in. Dom deduces that Cisco didn't run by seeing the news in the lobby and is nearby, planning on returning to see Vincent. Dom finds him and Darlene at a diner and confronts them. At that moment, Dark Army gunmen open fire through the window. Cisco is killed while Dom wounds one gunman, who commits suicide, as the other rides away on a motor cycle, chased by police. (“eps2.8\_h1dden\_pr0cess.axx”)

Darlene is taken into FBI custody, wearing a blood stained jacket. She is upset that the love of her life has been killed. (“eps2.9\_pyth0n\_pt2.p7z”)