Person of Interest (TV Series)

No Good Deed (2012)

Brett Cullen: Nathan Ingram

Quotes 

• Nathan Ingram : Everything's in place. Point-to-point transit will take ten days

  Harold Finch : Hope nothing goes wrong in the rest of the world in ten days.

  [Harold goes to shut off the machine] 

  Nathan Ingram : Wait. Do we have a contingency?

  Harold Finch : A contingency?

  Nathan Ingram : Alicia seemed... nervous. Now, what do we do if the government decides to abuse this thing?

  Harold Finch : They're your contacts, Nathan.

  Nathan Ingram : They're just people. The power that this thing represents - I mean, who would you trust it with?

  Harold Finch : Besides you? No one. Which is why the machine has been coded in such a way that it *cannot* be abused. It cannot even be accessed. It upgrades itself, maintains itself, patches itself. After tonight, no one can alter it. Ever.

  Nathan Ingram : I used to be a software engineer, Harold. Remember, back before I became your corporate beard? Any system can be compromised, given enough time. We need an off switch, a back door, and this is our last chance to build one.

  Harold Finch : You are a talented engineer, Nathan, so you should remember: Any exploit is a total exploit. The tiniest crack becomes a flood. If we build a back door into this machine and someone else finds out about it, that would be... Very bad. We need to trust the machine, exactly as we built it, and then let it go.

• Nathan Ingram : [about the Machine]  Thought you would have turned this thing off by now. We turn it over tomorrow.

  Harold Finch : I'm keeping it online as long as possible.

  Nathan Ingram : The world has been spinning for 5 billion years without your machine, Harold. I'm sure it will be fine for one more night. Honestly, I'll be glad to be rid of the thing.

  Harold Finch : This "thing" has already saved countless lives.

  Nathan Ingram : You mean countless *relevant* lives.

  Harold Finch : We had to draw the line somewhere.

  Nathan Ingram : Everyone is relevant to someone.

• Nathan Ingram : The people on your end; you sure about them?

  Alicia Corwin : Making sure no one ever finds out about the machine is our problem. We'll take care of it.

  Nathan Ingram : We've known each other a long time, Alicia. Something's got you rattled.

  Alicia Corwin : I'm fine, Nathan. I'll be happier when this thing is settled and I can go back to my day job.

  Nathan Ingram : And what's that exactly?

  Alicia Corwin : Classified.

• Nathan Ingram : Is something wrong, Alicia?

  Alicia Corwin : You mean other than being a part of an ongoing conspiracy to spy on millions of Americans?

  Nathan Ingram : Yes, but it's all for a good cause.

  [Slides a paper toward her] 

  Nathan Ingram : Day after tomorrow, freight train out of Des Moines. The last six cars, the manifest will list the contents as decommissioned computer parts. What about things on your end?

  Alicia Corwin : The facility is designed to the specifications you gave us, and it's discreet, where we're putting it. No one's going to go looking.

  Nathan Ingram : Any other problem?

  Alicia Corwin : Dissemination. We have a protocol in place. If the machine identifies a suspect, the name will find its way to the right people; with no way to trace the intel back to the source.

  Nathan Ingram : There can't be. Otherwise... we'll all wind up someplace where no one's going to go looking.