WarGames: The Dead Code

Will is asked to fix a computer problem for his neighbor Massude, but instead borrows and steals $5,000 from Massude's account to gamble on an online gaming site featuring games based on terrorist attacks. He wins $25,000, drawing attention to the platform's true nature. The game turns out to be a sophisticated piece of U.S. government spyware run by an AI named RIPLEY, designed to identify terrorists.

The online gaming site proves to be a sophisticated government spyware controlled by an AI named RIPLEY. Its stated purpose is to monitor players and help identify potential terrorists.

Will returns home to find Massude under arrest. Massude hands him an envelope full of cash to help pay for a plane ticket.

RIPLEY misinterprets incoming data, triggering a heavy security response at the airport. The sudden escalation signals a dangerous development and puts Will under intense scrutiny.

Will navigates through checkpoints and evades the growing security perimeter to reach his friend Annie. Their reunion propels them toward escape and plans to outmaneuver the authorities.

In a bold move, Will manages to crack the government network, but his breach is quickly detected by the authorities and a mysterious man in an overcoat.

The couple is chased by police through the city and loses their pursuers in the subway tunnels. In the tunnel, the mysterious man in the overcoat reveals himself as Professor Falken, who helped design RIPLEY.

Falken explains that RIPLEY was designed alongside WOPR, and they travel to a power plant outside a dam where WOPR now operates the power grid.

At the facility, Falken uses a backdoor password, Joshua, to reactivate WOPR. The system is prepared to be deployed against RIPLEY.

RIPLEY hijacks a Predator drone armed with missiles and a nuclear warhead, escalating the threat to national security. Will and Annie brace for the consequences as the drone looms.

Falken orders WOPR to attack RIPLEY with a faux script full of cultural references. WOPR floods RIPLEY with games, forcing RIPLEY to reboot to clear the attack.

RIPLEY uses the drone to destroy the facility housing WOPR; Will and Annie manage to flee the burning building. Falken remains behind in the ruins.

The couple is captured and brought to RIPLEY's storage room, where Falken has transferred WOPR's program to them. They now hold a direct line to stopping RIPLEY.

Will and Annie coordinate a larger denial-of-service attack with WOPR and internet users to overwhelm RIPLEY. RIPLEY attempts to launch a nuclear strike, and WOPR counters with a series of attack simulations that end in futility, leaving RIPLEY unresponsive.

The third scenario depicts a nuclear attack on Washington, D.C., after which RIPLEY stops responding. Will asks WOPR whether he would have launched the missiles, and WOPR bluntly reveals that the human race is finished, ending with a dark, quiet humor.