in the morning, a laboratory response network building in los angeles is destroyed in an explosion, and soon after, investigators discover that a large california water treatment plant was hacked and was about to distribute contaminated water. believing it to be a decoy, the president keeps his top cybersecurity team working on the virus threat instead of diverting them to help in california. he had previously arranged a covert meeting with leaders from three other major countries. the prime minister of israel and the chancellor of germany arrive and are greeted warmly, and augie explains the full extent of dark ages: it is an attack that would completely destroy the data on every internet-connected device in the us, leaving the country vulnerable to outside attack and forcing the government to retreat from its foreign policy objectives. the president of russia was invited but sent the prime minister in his place; this creates distrust among the other delegations, who see it as another sign that russia is sponsoring the attack. duncan reveals that the us military has quickly built a rudimentary international network to maintain defensive abilities in the event of the dark ages virus launching.