"First, we flood the air with the scent of tklapi (fruit leather) to confuse the biometric sniffer dogs. Second, Gela's bell-device vibrates the quantum random-number generators into a predictable sequence — a prayer pattern, he calls it. Third, during the midnight toast to the 'health of our enemies,' Nino replaces the security feed not with a loop, but with a continuous shot from a 1987 Georgian film, 'Repentance' — so beautiful that guards watch it twice before noticing the vault is empty."

In the winding, cobblestone streets of Old Tbilisi, where sulfur baths steam under ancient balconies, a man named Dato (the Georgian "Danny Ocean") sits across from Rati (his "Rusty"). They speak not in rapid-fire English, but in Qartulad — Georgian — with its rolling consonants and ancient script.

Rezo discovers the theft mid-ceremony. He storms toward Dato. But Dato raises his glass.