S05E06 - Fieldwork

"Fieldwork" is the sixth episode of Season 5 of We Can Fix Pawbert.

Synopsis

A night raid on a former Lynxley depot in Hyenahurst captures six operatives and fifty device crates, while a simultaneous demonstration attack in Tundratown is stopped fifteen minutes early—the first time ZSI actively counters an attack rather than simply reacting.

Plot

At two in the morning, Shaw works the overnight shift in the CCC, watching the device tracking board update in real time—for every station cleared, new compromised ones appear. Studying the property data from the previous episode's captured recruiter, she identifies a pattern in the Hyenahurst district: a cluster of properties near Sahara Square control stations, all acquired through shell companies, all showing recent power spikes. One address stands out—3018 Dry River Road, a former Lynxley maintenance depot with tripled power consumption in the past month and at least four different vehicles visiting at regular intervals. She brings the discovery to Costa, who recognizes it as their first real break in weeks and orders a morning briefing with Luther.

The briefing room fills with the operation's key players. Luther presents the tactical plan: a coordinated night breach of the Hyenahurst depot. Nick and Judy will join Luther on the primary entry team, while newly introduced Captain Hoggbottom and her Razorbacks take the loading dock, and the Zebros—Officers Zebraxton and Zebrowski—seal the east side. Pawbert will coordinate from the CCC, providing real-time Lynxley context. He confirms the address from the corporate archives and reveals a critical detail: the depot should contain a concealed sub-basement, a hidden storage area not on any official building plans, standard for Lynxley facilities of that era. The operation will stay off normal ZPD channels to prevent Roskova from learning about it—a precaution that troubles Nick but is necessary.

That afternoon at the mansion, Pawbert researches the Hyenahurst depot while Luther brings him tea. Pawbert explains that the depot was part of a secondary backup network for the weather walls—maintained but officially closed for forty years. He shares his worry about the operation and about Luther going into a building full of armed operatives. The exchange ends with Pawbert asking Luther to come back, and Luther answering with their anchor word.

The raid launches at 2200. Pawbert guides the team from his analyst station in the CCC, calling out thermal signatures and directing Luther to the sub-basement access point on the east wall. The breach is violent—four operatives on the main floor open fire immediately. Luther, Nick, and Judy push through the center while Hoggbottom's Razorbacks storm the loading dock. Officer Truffler takes a graze to the shoulder but keeps fighting. The Zebros seal the exits. One operative tries to reach a panel on the east wall but Luther shoots him down and, using Pawbert's directions, locates the manual override for the hidden floor hatch. In the sub-basement, Luther, Nick, and Judy find a full staging operation: dozens of identical device crates, and a sophisticated encrypted communications relay built to Lynxley emergency broadcast specifications. Two more operatives guard the space and are neutralized in a brief firefight. Judy discovers shipping manifests signed with the call sign "Iceberg Actual"—proof that Icener is not just funding the operation but directly commanding it.

Before the team can fully process the warehouse haul, Costa interrupts: a Tundratown weather wall station is destabilizing, with temperature fluctuations threatening ice road failures across the northern district. O'Brian traces the control signal through multiple relays to a transmission point in the Canal District—an old fishery building with the height profile needed for line-of-sight LoRa transmission. Pawbert confirms that Lynxley-spec systems require elevated positioning. Luther splits his force, leaving Shaw to secure the warehouse with incoming ZSI backup, and races to the Canal District with Nick, Judy, the Razorbacks, and the Zebros. Hoggbottom's team breaches the ground floor, where Truffler takes his second hit of the night without slowing. Luther, Nick, and Judy fight their way to the rooftop, where two operatives are actively controlling the Tundratown attack through portable transmission equipment. Nick shoulder-checks a musk ox away from the console before he can destroy it; Luther shoots the operative's legs; Judy cuffs him. O'Brian accesses the equipment remotely and kills the attack. The Tundratown station returns to normal—fifteen minutes before the attackers would have shut it down themselves.

Back at the CCC, the night's haul is assessed. Six operatives captured between the two sites, fifty device crates seized, the staging area's communications relay secured for analysis, and the Canal District rooftop transmission hub captured intact. O'Brian reports that the relay is communicating with a vessel and she is working to crack the full encryption. Bauer is ordered to deploy CTU at every compromised station starting at 0600. Costa acknowledges that after weeks of reactive defense, they got ahead of the enemy for the first time. Walking to the elevator afterward, Judy voices what they all feel: tonight was different—they were winning, not just reacting. Luther cautions that it was one battle, not the war.

At the mansion in the early hours, Luther decompresses in the kitchen while Pawbert joins him in flannel pajamas. Luther credits Pawbert's sub-basement intelligence with saving twenty minutes of searching. Pawbert deflects—he sat at a desk reading old files—but Luther insists it was a direct operational impact. For the first time since the crisis began, Pawbert feels they might actually stop what is coming. Luther tells him they will, because they have something the enemy does not: each other. In the tag, Roskova stands on a Tundratown rooftop as her lieutenant reports the losses. She orders the installation schedule accelerated and tells him to prepare for Icener's arrival—it is time the operation's leader saw what they have built.

Key Moments

• Shaw discovers the Hyenahurst depot through power consumption analysis and vehicle traffic patterns during an overnight CCC shift
• Pawbert reveals the existence of a concealed sub-basement from Lynxley building protocols, not on any official plans
• Luther briefs a joint ZSI-ZPD team including the newly introduced Razorbacks and Zebros for a coordinated night raid
• Pawbert and Luther share a quiet moment at the mansion before the operation, ending with their anchor exchange
• The Hyenahurst raid captures four operatives on the main floor and two more in the sub-basement, with Truffler taking a graze
• The sub-basement yields fifty device crates and a Lynxley-spec communications relay
• Judy discovers "Iceberg Actual" documents proving Icener is directly commanding the operation
• A simultaneous Tundratown demonstration attack forces Luther to split his team mid-operation
• O'Brian traces the control signal to a Canal District fishery rooftop
• The rooftop assault stops the Tundratown attack fifteen minutes early—the first active counter of a weather wall demonstration
• O'Brian begins cracking the captured relay encryption, detecting vessel communications
• Roskova orders the timeline accelerated and Icener's arrival prepared

Key Lines

Characters Introduced

Locations

• ZSI Headquarters - Crisis Coordination Center, Director's Office, Briefing Room, Analysis Wing
• Pawthorne Mansion - Living room, kitchen
• Hyenahurst - 3018 Dry River Road (former Lynxley maintenance depot with concealed sub-basement)
• Canal District - Industrial waterfront; old fishery building rooftop (transmission point)
• Tundratown - Compromised weather wall station (remote; shown on CCC displays)

Items

• Fifty device crates - Weather wall devices stored in the Hyenahurst sub-basement; seized by ZSI
• Communications relay - Lynxley emergency broadcast specs (LoRa protocol, 915 MHz, spread-spectrum frequency hopping); captured from sub-basement
• "Iceberg Actual" documents - Shipping manifests, routing documents, and scheduling logs signed with Icener's call sign; proves direct command
• Rooftop transmission equipment - Portable antenna and screens used to control the Tundratown demonstration; captured intact from Canal District fishery
• Flannel pajamas - Luther bought for Pawbert; worn during the late-night kitchen scene

Notes

• The first active counter of a weather wall demonstration marks a turning point from reactive defense to proactive opposition.
• The CCC condition escalates from YELLOW to ORANGE in this episode. Device tracking shows 14 found, 11 removed, with new detections continuing to rise.
• Pawbert's role as CCC consultant proves its value when his sub-basement knowledge and LoRa positioning insight directly impact both operations.