Mr. Robot Episode 3.05 eps3.4_runtime-err0r.r00

E Corp is in chaos; Elliot is on the run; Darlene tries to help.

No Ordinary Monday

Against the backdrop of the UN vote on the annexation of the Congo scheduled for later that morning and an amped-up protest going on outside of Evil Corp's HQ, Elliot arrives at work, twitchy and unsure of where he's been for the last three days. After discovering that he's locked out of his work account, he jumps onto his cube mate Samar's computer. The bad news: earlier that morning the Dark Army tried to run Stage 2. The good news: his patch stopped them -- for now.

Before he can figure out how the Dark Army is working around his patch, HR comes stomping down the hall, flanked by security. Darlene calls a couple of times to get him to meet her outside, but he can't leave the building yet. His only chance to stop the Dark Army is to get to the 23rd floor and retrieve the HSMs (hardware security modules, yo), which, he quickly discovers, is too hard to do with security on his ass and a deactivated card key. If he can't the save building, at least he can save the people. He manages to get outside, amidst the din of angry protestors, and calls in a tip to have the records building downtown evacuated immediately, claiming there's a bomb in the building, which for all intents and purposes is true.

Runtime Error

Darlene appears beside Elliot and basically blurts out that she's working with the FBI. He's hurt and feels betrayed, even if the deal she made was for their immunity in exchange for Tyrell. Sibs are supposed to share this kind of stuff. She tells him that she watched Elliot like he asked and saw "him" sneak out of the apartment and meet up with Angela, who knew Elliot was "him." Darlene suspects Mr. Robot and Angela have been working with Tyrell. How's that for betrayal? Elliot suddenly realizes that his "runtime error" was briefly seeing Angela and Tyrell together the other night.

"There's Something Going On"

Moments later all hell breaks loose when a protestor smashes a bottle over a riot cop's head, allowing the mob to rush the lobby and wreak anarchist havoc. A few rioters force their way onto the elevator and up to Angela's floor. While keeping a low profile in her office, she gets a call from Irving, who tells her there's a package for her at the reception desk on her floor. He explains that the riot is their distraction because there's been a hiccup in the plan, a.k.a. Elliot's patch. He needs Angela to get Elliot to make a copy of the HSM on the 23rd floor. The package contains all the hardware and instructions Elliot needs, including an ID to give him special security access.

DIY

So off Angela goes in search of Elliot...or so we think. Curiously, when Elliot calls her, she dismisses his call. An overzealous security guard almost thwarts her progress to get down to the 23rd floor but realizing that most of the rioters are there to give her cover, she yells out to one of them, who is more than happy to "take care" of the guard to get Angela out from under his thumb. She quickly follows directions to the HSM Server room, locking the doors behind her, protecting her from rogue rioters not on the Dark Army's payroll, and gets to work following the instructions inside the package. While she frantically searches for a USB dongle in the adjoining CSAT room, a woman named Lydia rushes in and slams the door. After sizing up Angela, Lydia doesn't buy her cover story but a rioter scares off Lydia before she can pursue her suspicion any further.

She Got Made

Angela completes the task at hand, cloning E Corp's HSMs to a mobile HSM. Before leaving the relative safety of those rooms, she disguises herself with the fsociety mask and a hoodie of the rioter who was felled by Lydia's strategic use of pepper spray. As she waits for the elevator, eyes burning from residual pepper spray, someone who looks an awful lot like Elliot darts by in the background...

"Remember the Cause"

Once she's on the elevator, she calls Irving to report that the task has been completed but that a woman saw her in the CSAT room. Hold the phone! Why was Angela in the room instead of Elliot?, Irving wants to know. Angela claims that she couldn't find Elliot amidst the overkill of his "distraction." Besides, Irving said that he needed it done immediately so she got it done. Interesting...but was she able to follow everything on that sheet of paper? She hesitates but then yes's him.

Alrighty then. Next step: give the package to the deliveryman waiting at reception. Before she hangs up, she asks Irving if the building downtown has been evacuated and he says it's been done already. (Raise your hand if you believe him.) He just needs Angela to stay strong. After the handoff, she walks back to her office, visibly shaken. Her old friend Elliot is waiting by her door. Is there something she wants to tell him?