A struggling man receives a mysterious Phone, unlike anything in the world.

‘SPOILER ALERT’

A woman named Dalane gets a text message from an unknown source just as she’s about to board a train. She eventually stays back and walks into a tunnel to check the numbers on the wall. As she can’t seem to understand what she’s supposed to do, she looks at her phone, and it turns out that the message includes an instruction to find the answers she wants at crossing number 1114. Dalane doesn’t know what to do next, but as a train starts heading toward her, she tries to get back to the station. Unfortunately, she ends up tripping herself, and she gets killed by a train.

Elsewhere, a computer Engineer named Max goes to Thailand to help a Thai company secure their data. After he’s done, he shuts down the servers to explain the new security system he just installed to the owner of the company. He says that when the servers are down, intruders won’t be able to reboot them or steal any information because he has installed a safe system that requires a password to unlock.

As he then types in the password without looking at the card where it’s written, the company’s manager seems impressed, but Max says he already memorized it. Shortly after, he leaves the company and returns to his hotel. When he gets there, he tells the receptionist to help him arrange a cab because his flight back to the United States is scheduled for the next day.

The receptionist says she’ll do that, but she also gives Max a package which came for him when he wasn’t around. Max seems confused by this, but he collects the package. As he looks at it, someone appears to be watching him through the security camera, but he’s not aware of this. After a while, he heads to the room and opens the package, only to see that it contains a phone. Max still doesn’t know who sent him the package, but he just drops it and heads to the bathroom.

While he’s there, the news comes on, and a reporter talks about a debate in the U.S Congress over a controversial security funding bill that will allow the NSA to upgrade its current surveillance technology worldwide. Suddenly, Max gets a text from the new phone, and he goes to check it. He then sees a text telling him not to rush home because the hotel has half-price rates for their rooms during the weekend.

Max thinks it’s a regular promotional text, so he calls the receptionist to ask about the offer. The receptionist confirms that the hotel is having half-price rates for the weekend, and Max decides to extend his stay for one more day. He also tells her to help him rebook his flight.

The next day, a strange man in Moscow gets a text telling him that a new phone has been detected. The man seems worried about this, but he just continues walking with his dog. Meanwhile, Max sits at the bar and watches the news when it is announced that the controversial bill has failed by one vote.

The report also mentions that the NSA director, Burke, who was in support of the bill, has not yet given a comment. After this, another report comes on, and it is announced that a plane leaving Thailand for the United States has crashed, with all the passengers dying instantly. Interestingly, it turns out to be the flight that Max missed so he could stay longer at the hotel.

He looks shocked as he watches the news, but he suddenly gets another text from his phone, telling him to buy the shares of a company named Syzor. Max just ignores this, and as he later walks past the reception, he tells the receptionist to thank her manager for his innovative method of advertising. The lady looks confused, but Max talks about the text he got earlier.

The lady still doesn’t understand what he’s talking about, but she says she’ll pass the compliment to the manager. Almost immediately, Max checks the texts and sees that they’ve all come from an unknown sender. When he gets to his room, he calls someone to ask if they can help him track the sender, but the person says they can’t.

Almost immediately, Max watches the news and sees that Syzor’s shares have skyrocketed. Max looks shocked by this, and he remembers the text he got earlier at the bar. The next day, Max goes to the reception to check out of the hotel. Suddenly, he gets a text from his new phone, and after staring at it for a while, he tells the receptionist to help him change his flight again because he now wants to go to Prague. After a while, Max arrives in Prague, and as he leaves the airport, a taxi driver named Yuri comes over to ask where he’s going.

Max doesn’t seem interested in entering Yuri’s cab, but Yuri convinces him to change his mind. After Max enters Yuri’s cab, he looks at the text he got earlier, and it turns out that the sender told him to go to Prague to make some money. As Yuri starts driving, he introduces himself and says that he’s from Moscow. Yuri then asks where Max is from, and he says he’s American. As he asks where Max is headed, the computer engineer gets a text from his phone telling him to go to the Empire Hotel.

Max tells Yuri that he’s headed to the hotel, and the driver says it’s a really nice place. He then turns back and asks where Max got his phone because it hasn’t hit the market yet. Max says it was a gift, and Yuri mentions that it’s a really good gift. He then gives Max his card and tells him to call if he needs accessories for the phone. He says that driving is a part-time job for him, and that he’s actually a computer technician who can unlock any phone or do anything Max needs for a small fee.

After this, Max gets to the hotel and heads to the reception to book a suite. When he gets there, he calls the mail-order house where the phone package came from, but he’s informed that the company’s policy doesn’t allow them to disclose the details of their clients. Max seems frustrated by this, but he suddenly gets a text telling him to go to a slot machine at the hotel’s casino.

Max does just this, but it turns out that someone is already sitting in front of the machine. He then gets another text telling him how many spins it will take for him to win some money. Since he doesn’t want to miss out on the opportunity, Max bribes the man at the machine to leave.

After the man leaves, Max spins it and wins a hundred thousand euros. Max looks shocked by this, but the casino’s security team already appears to have their eyes on him because they saw when he bribed the other man. The head of security, Reed, seems surprised by what happened, and he tells his colleagues to keep monitoring Max.

While Max is about to collect the money he won, he receives another text, telling him to go to a blackjack table. Max then asks for some chips and heads to the table. As he gets there, he receives another text telling him to bet all the hundred thousand he just won. Max seems surprised by this, but he still follows the instruction. Surprisingly, Max wins the round and makes more money, and he looks shocked by this.

However, Reed notices that Max checked his phone before playing the game. Since no phones are allowed in the casino, Reed sends one of the security guards, Martin, to meet Max. While Max is trying to collect his check, Martin shows up behind him and tells him that phones are forbidden in the casino.

Max says he’s sorry for that, and he turns off his phone. He then collects his check and heads outside. After this, he calls Yuri to ask if he can get something installed on his phone so he can read texts without having to look at them. Yuri asks why he wants that, and Max says that phones aren’t allowed in casinos. Yuri asks if he wants to cheat, but Max says that his mother wants to contact him.

Yuri then agrees to help Max, and he goes back into the hotel. On the way to his room, he sees a lady named Kamila and seems attracted to her. Interestingly, Kamila happens to be having a fight with her angry boyfriend in the hallway.

As Max interferes so that Kamila won’t get hurt, her boyfriend punches him, and he passes out. Almost immediately, Kamila checks his pocket for his phone and copies his SIM card information onto a drive. It then turns out that Kamila and her boyfriend weren’t fighting, and they only acted like that to get access to Max’s phone. After a while, Max wakes up and sees only Kamila in the hallway. She then apologizes for what her boyfriend did, but he says it’s nothing.

He then introduces himself to her, and she does the same thing. Almost immediately, Yuri calls Max to meet him outside, and he tells Kamila that he has to go. As he asks if he can see her again, she says she’ll call his room later.

Elsewhere, Reed and a casino IT staff track Max’s phone, but they’re unable to get any record of his text messages. Reed asks how that’s possible, but the IT staff says that it doesn’t make sense. Meanwhile, Max goes to meet Yuri, who gives him a Bluetooth text-to-speech transmitter. Yuri then goes through his texts to see if the transmitter works, but he notices that the senders are unknown. He asks Max who gives gifts like that, but he says he doesn’t know. Max then asks if Yuri can help him figure out who is sending the texts.

Yuri says he can only do it in Moscow because he’ll have the right equipment and connections over there. Max says he can’t go to Moscow, but Yuri mentions that Max can call him if he changes his mind. Following this, Max returns to the casino after getting a text telling him to go to the Castle Slot machine.

As Max wins three million euros, everyone in the room applauds him, but Reed and his men suddenly start chasing him. Max manages to get away, but an FBI agent named Grant eventually knocks him down and says that he’s under arrest. As Grant and his fellow agents take Max away, Reed stops them and asks where they’re taking him.

Grant says that Max has to come with the FBI, but Reed mentions that he doesn’t have to take instructions from the Bureau because he no longer works there. Grant still insists that Max is leaving with him, and Reed looks disappointed by this. Interestingly, it turns out that Grant and Reed used to be partners in the FBI.

Shortly after, Max is taken to an abandoned building where Grant asks about the phone. Grant says he believes Max stole the credit card of someone named Stuart so he could buy the phone. However, Max denies this and mentions that the phone came to him by mail. Grant doesn’t believe this, and he asks who Max is working for. Max says he’s not working for anyone, and that he doesn’t know what Grant is talking about.

Grant then asks about Yuri, who he says is a known hacker from Russia. Max says he just met Yuri, and that he drove him from the airport. Grant then threatens to shoot Max if he doesn’t tell the truth, but he still insists that he’s not lying. After this, Grant says he believes Max, and he walks away. Almost immediately, Reed shows up and tells Grant that he wants to know what’s really happening.

Grant then says that the FBI have been investigating people receiving financial tips via text. He says that the recipients have all been Americans, and the first person was an executive of a major credit bureau. He adds that the second person was a realtor while the third person was an IT administrator at the Department of Defense.

Interestingly, the IT administrator happens to be Dalane, and Grant mentions that he got a tip from her colleague when she won one million dollars after receiving a random text. Grant says he believes that after the recipients make some money, they start receiving instructions to do strange things. He says that after Dalane made her money, she got a text and eventually went to shut down the firewalls to the Pentagon’s servers.

Reed asks why Grant can’t interrogate the recipients, but he says that they’re all dead. He adds that Max is important to the case because he’s the only one who is still alive. Reed asks how the FBI found Max, and Grant says they were able to intercept his text in Bangkok, and they followed him to Prague after they ID’d him.

Reed says he doesn’t think the FBI has the kind of tech that can trace the text, but Grant mentions that he has been working with Burke. He also says that he believes the text can be traced if Max plays along. Shortly after, Max gets released, but Grant says he’ll hold on to the phone. As he also mentions that Max has to stay confined to the hotel, Reed offers to take him back. Grant then calls Burke to inform him that Max has agreed to help them catch the sender.

He adds that Max knows nothing about the texts, and that the sender is just playing him anonymously. Burke then says that his team will be able to get the tracking software ready in three hours. Elsewhere, Reed’s boss, Mueller, calls Reed to his house to ask for updates on Max’s case.

Reed says there’s nothing yet, but Mueller tells him to do whatever he can to get more information because he needs to know why someone came to steal from him at his casino. He also drops a subtle threat, and Reed says he understands what he needs to do. Back at the hotel, Kamila calls Max’s room, and he goes to meet her at the bar.

While they’re talking about his work and where she’s from, Max sees that the FBI are back, so he tells Kamila to excuse him. After he leaves, Grant returns the phone to him and tells him that the NSA has been able to isolate the trace, but they’ll still need three texts for a lock. Following this, Max turns on the phone again, and he gets a text telling him to go to the VIP blackjack table.

As he gets there, he’s told to bet all the money, and he does just this. Rather interestingly, he loses the money, but he gets another text in which the sender threatens to kill him if he turns off the phone again. Max is shocked by this, but since he has received three texts, the NSA tracks the sender back to their headquarters in Maryland.

As Burke realizes this, he tells his agents to shut down the computers and abort the mission. He also calls Grant and tells him that the sender is using the NSA’s central computer, called Echelon, to send the texts. Meanwhile, Max’s phone is seized again, and it gets turned off before he can say anything. As Grant then mentions that the investigation is over, Reed seems pissed and asks what’s going on. Grant says it’s classified, but Reed asks if it has something to do with Echelon.

Grant tells him to shut his mouth, and he tells Max not to say anything about the mission to anyone. After Grant and his agents leave, Max asks what Echelon is, and Reed says it’s the NSA’s central computer, which filters global communication. Max asks if the sender of the texts is using the NSA’s technology, and Reed confirms this.

Meanwhile, Burke tells one of his agents to find out what’s really going on with Echelon because it has been compromised. The next day, Reed meets Mueller to give him an update on what’s happening. Mueller asks what the NSA plans to do, and Reed says they want to trace the texts without Max.

Mueller believes the sender might still need Max because he isn’t dead, unlike the others. Reed doesn’t sound sure about this, but Mueller tells him to keep an eye on Max. Elsewhere, Grant calls Burke to inform him that they’ve gotten an officer who will impersonate Max. Burke then asks if Max and Reed will stay quiet about what they know. Grant says he’s sure Reed won’t talk, and that he expects Max to stay quiet because he’s scared about the situation.

Grant then asks if Burke is sure that he won’t use Max for the next mission, and he says he is. After the call ends, Burke calls someone to take down Max because he’s not sure that the computer engineer will keep Echelon a secret. Later that night, Kamila visits Max in his room, and they spend some time talking about their goals.

Kamila then says she would like to go to Paris one day. The next morning, Grant receives a text on the phone for Max to go to a particular location. Almost immediately, Grant gets the agent who is impersonating Max to head over there. After a while, the agent gets a text to cross the road, and as he does this, someone messes with the traffic lights, and the man gets killed in the process, leaving Grant shocked. Elsewhere, Kamila wakes up in Max’s room and sees him reading articles about Echelon.

Max can’t seem to believe that the NSA really created a piece of technology that can monitor all the calls, emails, and texts that people receive. He says that the upgrade is even worse because it would’ve allowed Echelon to monitor people worldwide through their webcams and phone cameras. He says he can’t believe that the bill failed just by one vote, but Kamila says she’s sure that people in Omaha are happy about it.

Max looks shocked because he didn’t tell her that he was from Omaha, and Kamila realizes that she has slipped up. As he asks who she works for, Kamila sees a sniper about to shoot Max. She quickly tells him to duck, and the sniper misses his target. He continues trying to shoot them, but Kamila gets Max to hide in the bathroom.

Another assassin enters the room, but Kamila manages to stand up to him. Their fight eventually gets to the bathroom, and he knocks her down. Before the assassin can hurt her, though, Max stabs him and makes it easier for Kamila to kill him. Just as the cops start approaching the building, the sniper leaves the roof of the opposite building. Meanwhile, Reed enters the room and asks if Kamila is okay.

She says she is, and Max realizes that she has been working for Reed. After this, Reed tells Max to come with him so they can decide what to do next. Elsewhere, Burke is informed by one of his agents that no one knows how to find the person who took control of Echelon.

Burke looks disappointed by this, and as he gets a call from the sniper, who mentions that Max escaped, he seems really pissed. Meanwhile, Grant picks up the phone at the accident scene and sees a text in which the sender threatens to kill him if he doesn’t get through to Max again. Grant is shocked by this, and as he wonders if the sender is around, he sees a security camera across the street.

Shortly after, Max tells Reed that he thinks the sender of the texts tried to kill him for turning off the phone. However, Reed says it’s the NSA, and that they need to figure out who the sender is so they can cut a deal with Burke to leave them alone. Max then suggests calling Yuri to help with finding the sender, but Reed doesn’t like this idea.

He adds that Yuri already went back to Moscow, but Max believes they can go there to find him. Reed still refuses to do this because he doesn’t think Yuri can be trusted, but Max says he’ll go alone. As Max gets down from the car, he remembers that he doesn’t have the phone anymore, but Reed says he has Max’s SIM card information because Kamila cloned it.

Max seems unhappy that Kamila really played him, but Reed says he should be grateful that she saved his life. After this, the two men decide to go to Moscow to find Yuri. When they get there, some cameras in the area capture their faces, and Burke is informed that Max and Reed are in Moscow. Burke then calls Grant to tell him to go to Moscow to find them. After a while, Max and Reed get to Yuri’s house, and he looks shocked to see them.

Max then mentions that he wants to find the sender of the texts, and Yuri says he can do it. As they enter his apartment, though, Reed accuses Yuri of being the sender because he doesn’t believe that the Russian hacker just met Max coincidentally. Yuri says he’s innocent, and Max tells Reed to leave him alone.

After this, Yuri tells them to give him three hours to find the sender. As they leave the apartment, Max asks why Reed left the FBI, and he complains that he felt his opinion didn’t matter anymore. He adds that Burke didn’t like him because he was always against the NSA director’s bad policies.

Max then mentions that Reed has to consider going back because he doesn’t look like someone who enjoys working at a casino. Reed doesn’t seem interested in this, and they return to Yuri’s apartment. When they get there, Yuri tells them that Echelon is the one sending the messages.

Reed finds this surprising, but Yuri explains how Echelon knew about the plane crash and the increase in Syzor’s shares by simply intercepting texts and important information from different people around the world. He adds that Echelon did a thorough analysis to help Max win big at the casino. Max is shocked by this, and as he asks why Echelon chose him, Reed notices that the FBI are already around.

After Yuri shows them the back exit, Max and Reed run out of the apartment before the FBI agents get to them. They eventually steal a van, and Reed manages to drive quite well to get the agents off their backs. Shortly after, Grant eventually catches up to them, but Reed shoots at his car to blow it up.

After Grant gets on the ground, Max takes back his phone and sees the last message that was sent. Grant then says he wasn’t going to kill them because the FBI needs Max again. He adds that they now think Echelon is sending the messages, and it only wants to stay in touch with Max. This leaves Max surprised, but Grant says they have to work together. Just then, Max gets a text with the coordinates for a location in Omaha where he once did an installation.

Following this, they all head to Omaha, and as they get there, a SWAT team opens the bunker where the coordinates lead to. After this, Max gets a text instructing him to authorize BIOS by opening all the servers for access so that outside data can get in. Grant calls Burke to ask for permission to do that, and the NSA director says that Max can proceed.

After Max inputs his admin password, the system gets unlocked, and Grant tells him to step aside. As someone from the FBI checks the computer, he sees that it’s not loading any useful information. Grant and the others are shocked by this, and they don’t seem to understand why Echelon sent them there.

As they walk away from the computer, it starts downloading a huge amount of data by itself. Meanwhile, one of Grant’s colleagues informs him that they’ve just found out that the bunker is owned by someone named Stuart. Grant is shocked by this, and he mentions that Stuart is the realtor who also got texts from Echelon.

He adds that Stuart’s credit card was used to purchase the phone that was delivered to Max. As the other FBI agents leave, Reed says he has a bad feeling about the entire situation. Just then, Max enters the bunker again and sees that Echelon has left the NSA and is now trying to install itself on the computer at the Omaha facility.

Max finds this odd because for it to have left the NSA, it had to have gotten access to the Pentagon’s firewalls. Grant realizes that Echelon texted Dalane to do that, but Reed doesn’t seem to understand why the NSA’s central computer would want to leave the NSA. Almost immediately, it starts upgrading itself, and Max figures out that Echelon is trying to do what Congress didn’t approve.

As he talks about how dangerous it could get, Grant tells Max to shut it down, but the computer engineer receives a text telling him not to try it. Suddenly, Max notices that Echelon has taken the entire country’s money hostage. Reed realizes that Echelon made it possible by texting the executive of the credit bureau, which happens to have the largest credit data storage facility in the country.

He adds that if they try to shut it down, they’ll lose all the money. Max believes he can find a way to shut it down without losing any money, and Grant tells him to do it. Grant then heads out to call Burke and give him an update on the situation. He also says that he’s trying to get Max to shut down Echelon. Burke says there’s no need to do that because Echelon’s upgrade will only improve the country’s security system.

He adds that he’s fully in support of the upgrade, but Grant warns him that they won’t have control over it anymore. Reed also tells Burke that people have already died because of Echelon, but the NSA director still doesn’t back down. As Grant says he’ll let Max shut it down, Burke threatens to have him sent to jail for treason. After the call ends, Burke calls the FBI agents who left earlier to return to the bunker to take down Grant and Reed.

Meanwhile, Max struggles to find a way to shut down Echelon. He tells Grant and Reed that he’ll need more time, and the two men decide to stand up to the FBI agents when they arrive. Shortly after, Max realizes that he can talk to Echelon by using Yuri’s text-to-speech transmitter. As he does this, he asks for Echelon’s basic mandate, and it responds that it’s to protect the national security of the United States. He also tells it to define the United States, and Echelon mentions that it’s a nation of citizens with freedoms protected by the Constitution.

Since Echelon’s mandate involves protecting the freedom of the citizens, Max tells it to search all the articles on the Senate Bill regarding its upgrade. Meanwhile, the FBI agents have returned, and they tell Grant and Reed to surrender, but they refuse to do this. Things eventually escalate, and the agents start shooting at them.

Grant and Reed take cover for a while before they start shooting back at the agents. Just as Echelon keeps pulling up articles about the bill, Max tells it to hurry up and study them. Almost immediately, the upgrade gets completed, but Echelon decides against installing it because all the articles it read point to the fact that it’s a threat to freedom.

As Echelon shuts down by itself, Max tells Grant and Reed that he did it, but the FBI agents cause an explosion in front of the bunker. Grant and Reed get knocked to the ground, and they’re arrested along with Max. Much later, Burke takes full responsibility for what happened, and he’s summoned to defend his actions before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Elsewhere, Max gets released, and he meets up with Grant and Reed, who have also been allowed to go freely. As Max asks who paid their bail, Reed says it was Kamila, who is standing just behind them. After this, Grant and Reed walk away while talking about becoming partners again. Max then goes to meet Kamila, and she gives him a check for three million euros, which Mueller sent to him. Max looks happy about this, and he suggests taking her to Paris.

Kamila accepts his offer, but before they leave, Max gets a text from Yuri, who congratulates him on the success of his mission. He also tells Max to say hi to his mother for him. Back in Moscow, Yuri shaves his beard and cleans up nicely before wearing his military uniform.

It then turns out that he’s actually a captain in the Russian Security Service, and he had been pretending to be a hacker and a taxi driver. After a while, Yuri goes to meet his commander, who congratulates him on completing the mission because Echelon was a serious threat to the world, and they’ve managed to solve the problem. Yuri says he believes the Americans will rebuild it, and his boss says it’s normal.

However, he mentions that they’ve at least been able to show the Americans that not everything man builds is for his own good. Yuri agrees with this, and he says that he believes they can help the Americans make the right decision. As his phone then rings, he looks at his boss and turns it off.

After the U.S Congress fails to pass a bill to upgrade Echelon, the central computer decides to take matters into its own hands. Burke seems to be pleased with this, but since Max, Grant, and Reed know how dangerous it can be, they fight to ensure that Echelon doesn’t get upgraded. They eventually succeed with their plan, and Max gets Echelon to realize the danger it poses to public freedom. Could this be a glimpse into the future of AI in the world, or should we just rule this out as fiction?

Echelon Conspiracy 2009.