Zero Day: Is Proteus a Real Secret CIA Program? What Does It Do?

In the Netflix political thriller show ‘Zero Day,’ a large-scale cyberattack leads to nationwide dread as conspiracies of formidable enemies and worse emerge. In the midst of growing confusion, the government set up an unprecedented Commission—packed with the best agents and Constitutional-surpassing liberties—whose mission is to track down the people behind the attack. The reins for the controversial department are handed to George Mullen, a former beloved President. However, the situation’s adversity and pressure threaten to lead the once-retired politician down dark roads.

Consequently, George and his team find themselves navigating a convoluted web of conspiracies and half-truths. Within this entangled mess, one thread points toward an old memory of Proteus, a program with groundbreaking potential. The highly secretive program and its intervention in the protagonist’s storyline add dynamic mystery to the tale. Naturally, the program itself and the details surrounding its creation become a point of intrigue. SPOILERS AHEAD!

Proteus: The CIA’s Neurological Weapons Program

Proteus makes its introduction in George Mullen’s narrative pretty early on. Shortly after he accepts the responsibility of heading the Zero Day Commission and agrees to step back under the political microscope, George begins experiencing memory problems. His condition remains concerning, from forgotten conversations to five-year lapses in certain parts of his routine. Yet, the part of his condition that concerns him the most remains his inability to recall crucial details about the attack he believes to have received from a contact. Therefore, eventually, when he forces his memory to jog—-and grasps a name, Proteus, he assumes it must be connected to the case.

However, Proteus turns out to hold a much different significance. Initially, Director Lasch of the CIA is disturbed when he hears Goerge’s mention of Proteus. He believes this to be a disguised threat against the CIA since the name belongs to a top-secret federal program that has nothing to do with the cyberattack. Eventually, once Chief of Staff Valerie Whitesell joins George’s team, the truth about the program emerges. As it turns out, Proteus is actually a CIA-backed program that was looking into the development of neurological weaponry during George’s administration. For the same reason, the former President and his Chief of Staff had some knowledge about it.

Proteus aimed to develop a weapon that could inflict brain injury from a distance with surgical precision. This injury would ideally be so precise and undetectable that the following adverse symptoms—dizziness, hallucinations, memory loss, and more— could never be traced back to its true origin. As a result, the attacker would essentially remain undetectable. Consequently, once Valerie investigates the matter and realizes the program’s drastic danger, she realizes George could’ve been a possible victim of the same weapon. This would explain his constant neurological issues, including the traumatic flashbacks to his son’s tragic death. Although George never finds out if Proteus was ever used on him, the weapon’s potential for substantial danger to its enemy remains evident.

Proteus is Not a Real-Life CIA Program

In ‘Zero Day,’ Proteus neatly fits into the world of overwhelming political conspiracies. It adds a layer of subversive mystery to the narrative that chisels at George’s complex narrative by offering a subplot of psychological spiraling. As such, the plot device never feels quite out of place within the otherwise socio-politically grounded show. Even so, the program actually holds no definitive roots in reality. The on-screen CIA Program seems to share its name with a cyber threat malware that targets cryptocurrency. Even though this thematically fits with the central cyberattack storyline, the real-life malware has little to no resemblance with the on-screen neurological weapon.

Nonetheless, there aren’t any records of the CIA’s involvement with the development of neurological weaponry with any similarities to Proteus. However, the Havana syndrome—a disputed medical condition—may hold some resemblance to the Proteus Program. The Havana Syndrome, also known as AHIs (anomalous health incidents), is a condition that originated in 2016, in which people report inexplicable symptoms of headaches, dizziness, and hearing loss. Although researchers have yet to find the cause behind these symptoms, energy weapons are considered to be a possible source alongside psychological/social issues.

Nonetheless, many people have tried to dispute the energy weapon theory—particularly concerning microwave weapons. Their argument remains that despite decades of efforts, starting from around the Cold War, the US government has never had any confirmed success with such weaponry. Therefore, while neurological weapons similar to Proteus have been attempted to be created in real life, it has never led to a known successful program. Thus, outside of mining inspiration from these theories of attempts at microwave weaponry, it is safe to assume the on-screen Proteus program is a work of fiction.