- Warrant Officer Rami Ahmadi: Colonel Turnbull wanted you to know that there's been an incident at the War fighting Laboratory. During a routine weapons test this morning, a system malfunctioned. Two Marines are dead.
- Captain John 'Abe' Abraham: I'm sorry to hear that, but isn't that a job for NCIS?
- Warrant Officer Rami Ahmadi: Brigadier General Stern, the War fighting Lab commander, has requested an independent JA inquiry to run concurrently with the NCIS investigation. An informal review to determine whether there's blame to be assigned.
- Captain John 'Abe' Abraham: The general's looking to cover his ass.
- Warrant Officer Rami Ahmadi: Colonel Turnbull is grateful that you and Lieutenant Li volunteered to conduct said investigation.
- Captain John 'Abe' Abraham: I absolutely do not volunteer.
- Warrant Officer Rami Ahmadi: She'd like your report ASAP.
- Major Trey Ferry: Hey, Maya.
- Captain Maya Dobbins: Major Ferry.
- Major Trey Ferry: Major. Awfully formal.
- Captain Maya Dobbins: You are my boss now.
- Major Trey Ferry: Hasn't stopped you from ducking my calls.
- Captain Maya Dobbins: We were supposed to have lunch.
- Major Trey Ferry: Now I'm really starting to think that you're ducking me. I know that you wanted Senior Defense Counsel, Maya. You probably deserved it, but it went to me, so we got to make it work.
- Captain Maya Dobbins: I've been acting like a brat. I'm sorry.
- Major Trey Ferry: I've been there. It hurts.
- Major Trey Ferry: Lieutenant Meszaros wanted the test to go wrong. He didn't want anybody to die.
- Captain John 'Abe' Abraham: Do tell.
- Major Trey Ferry: Lot of these guys who work AI, they think everything is moving way too fast. There's no regulation, and sooner or later one of these programs is going to make a call that gets a lot more than two people killed. Meszaros wanted to stage a smaller incident to get people to pay attention. He was trying to prevent people from dying.
- Captain John 'Abe' Abraham: So two Marines lost their lives because your client wanted to alert the world to the dangers of killer computer programs?
- Colonel Glenn Turnbull: Every Marine in Afghanistan is some mother's son or daughter. How can I single out my kid for special treatment? If I stall, and Richard Barnwright slips out of our sights, what do I say to the parents of those Marines that he kills?
- Asa Turnbull: This is what people do, Glenn. They keep their kids safe.
- Colonel Glenn Turnbull: I am a colonel in the U.S. Marines. I can't do what people do. If this uniform doesn't mean something now, when does it ever mean anything?
- Asa Turnbull: If you go through with this, and our son dies... I don't know how you live with yourself.
- Captain John 'Abe' Abraham: What is it with you and kids?
- Lieutenant Harper Li: They don't like me.
- Captain John 'Abe' Abraham: So your strategy is to reject them before they can reject you?
- Lieutenant Harper Li: I mean, who doesn't get along with kids? It makes me feel like there's something wrong with me.
- Colonel Glenn Turnbull: What would you do? Maya?
- Captain Maya Dobbins: Ma'am?
- Colonel Glenn Turnbull: If you were in my position, if you had my options... what would you do?
- Captain Maya Dobbins: I think you know what I would do. I think that must be why you chose me for this in the first place.
- Colonel Glenn Turnbull: I wanted you to show me that you could make an impossible decision.
- Captain Maya Dobbins: I wish there was an easier way on this, ma'am. I am so sorry.
- Captain John 'Abe' Abraham: So Meszaros wanted to give his work to the Russians for free?
- Major Trey Ferry: Not just the Russians. He actually wanted everyone to have it. He did it as an act of conscience. It's a theory of deterrence that goes back to the Cold War. If everyone has access to a breakthrough, no one has the advantage, no one fights.