Eps3.4 runtime-error.r00/Summary

On 9/29, Elliot is riding the elevator up the E Corp building when a man staring at him says something in German. A screen on the wall is showing news of the UN vote on China’s annexation of the Congo. Angela notices Elliot’s phone vibrating and she points it out to him. Darlene is on the other end, claiming she couldn’t reach him over the weekend and asks to meet him outside. Elliot hangs up and tells Angela everything is fine when she asks. She invites him to lunch later.

As he walks to his cubicle, Elliot begins to question if he’s alright. He presumes he has been on auto-pilot and wonders if this is a runtime error in his routine due to corrupted memory. At his computer, his neighbor Samar remarks on the gathering of protestors outside before recounting a sex story. Elliot out loud demeans him, meant for his inner monologue. Samar’s confusion and promise of silence turns into anger and then contrition for his behavior. Elliot ignores him and sees the VP of technology pass by, concluding that he was rehearsing his proposal all weekend, until remembering that the meeting was last week.

Elliot discovers he is locked out of his account and begins to get paranoid. He uses Samar’s computer and sees that Stage 2 would’ve been executed at 6:02 am had it not been for his patch. Samar sees Bobbi from HR is gathering security, prompting Elliot to ask him to distract them while he gets away. He runs into Janet, who compliments him on his successful pitch to digitize locally, as she couldn’t find him at work last Friday. Elliot wonders about his missing time as he goes into a stairwell. Darlene calls and tells him that she had to leave Flipper with the landlord after Elliot disappeared. Before he can ask if she saw Mr. Robot, Elliot becomes trapped between two floors by a man and the security team. After overhearing that the man is just on the phone, he gets him to swipe him onto the 44th floor.

Elliot tries to remain calm and slow everything down to look bored and broken like everything else. He decides that will only get him caught so he looks for an open space to determine how Stage 2 is to be implemented. Seeing that Monday is a busy day, he poses as Henry from IT and tries to get an older, whiteout sniffing woman off her computer. She proves to be smarter than he anticipated, but points him to Fred, an obnoxious employee who Elliot aggressively kicks out. He deduces that the HSMs on the 23rd floor are the target. Seeing more security, Elliot slips into a full conference room. Attracting suspicion, he poses as Dave Kennedy and kills time with the people inside in a back and forth conversation. Once security is down the hall, he makes a run for the elevator and barely escapes their grasp.

Headed for the lobby where they are surely waiting, Elliot imagines what Mr. Robot would say. Mr. Robot tells him to walk away, citing the Vera situation. Elliot determines he should sneak back in the building and secure the HSMs. First, he needs to evacuate the recovery building. In the lobby, security escorts him out.

Outside, protesters chant that they are what democracy looks like. Elliot calls in a bomb threat to the building. Darlene meets him and as he begins to tell her his plan, she reveals that she is working with the FBI. As she explains about the whiteboard and what they’ve known for months, Elliot can’t get over her secrecy. She explains that all they want is Tyrell. He brings up her hacking him and accuses her of wearing a wire. As Darlene explains that she saw Mr. Robot with Angela, he begins to remember seeing Tyrell, concluding that Angela and Darlene have betrayed him.

At 9:16 a.m., CNN reports outside the demonstration, citing multiple reasons for the protesters. Someone throws a beer bottle at the riot squad and a wave of people rush into the building amid smoke screens. Masked rioters destroy and spray paint the lobby as a group invade the elevator and force an employee to scan them up. The UN vote is still deliberating. The group continue their path of destruction on the 41st floor, where Angela watches in the safety of her office. She calls Irving, who tells her there is a package for her at the secretary’s desk. She retrieves it and learns that she must find Elliot amidst the Dark Army distraction and have him make a backup of the HSMs. Angela gets in the elevator and denies a call from Elliot. A security guard joins her and agrees to take her to a safe room of the 23rd floor. A blackout and restarting of the elevator makes Angela drop the package, revealing an ID with Elliot’s picture. The guard becomes suspicious of her and insists she comes with him to the safe room.

On floor 23, the guard is attacked after Angela calls the attention of rioters. They chase her as she swipes into her destination. With gloves, she follows the instructions of what to do with the HSMs, kept into a room adjoining an office. Angela is forced to look for a spare USB in the office when a woman enters. They talk a little and notice each other’s IDs. A rioter breaks into the room but is maced by the woman who runs away. Angela completes the job and finds the rioter gone. She dons a nearby hoodie and discard mask to traverse the hallways. Rioters loot the unconscious security guard and pay her no mind. On the elevator, she takes off the mask and sees Frank Cody reacting to the news of China’s success, supporting Trump in the arms race of global superpowers. She calls Irving and tells him about the woman who saw her doing the job, explaining that she couldn’t find Elliot in the riot as she was almost attacked. Irving explains not all the rioters are their men. Angela gives him the name of the woman, Lydia Reilly, and asks about the evacuation. He assures her that Whiterose can make it all better and to remember the cause. Back on floor 41, she meets the Hamburger Man and they exchange packages. Angela becomes emotional as she walks back to her office, when she runs into Elliot, who asks if there’s anything she wants to tell him.