Tonight, CTU Los Angeles declared an emergency status. All leaves were canceled, and off-duty personnel were recalled. With an overwhelming volume of data to process, everyone was divided into four teams to sift through the thousands of collected files.
Time ticked by. No one slept the entire night.
The simplest approach was image comparison. Since criminals rarely remain at the scene after an attack, CTU's first step was to identify people who had left the premiere early.
There were seven such individuals.
CTU then cross-checked surveillance footage of those who had entered the premiere. Among the seven, two stood out: both had entered with backpacks but left empty-handed. One was the Asian male Owen had seen. The other was a white male, possibly of Eastern European descent—uncertain, since he had worn dark wraparound sunglasses the entire time.
That alone was highly suspicious. After all, the premiere had been held at night, indoors, in a mall—who wears sunglasses in a place like that?
These two were quickly classified as prime suspects—especially the white male. His backpack was identical to the one that housed the unexploded bomb.
Of course, CTU didn't let the other five off the hook either. Once their identities were verified, tactical teams broke down their doors that night and hauled them out of bed for repeated interrogation.
After questioning, the five were preliminarily cleared.
Polygraphs showed normal reactions. Interrogation experts found no anomalies. All five had legitimate jobs and reasonable explanations for their early departures. One was even found in a shady motel in the red-light district.
CTU reviewed nearly all video footage but still failed to obtain a clear, front-facing image of the two suspects. Clearly, the attackers had planned meticulously and executed excellent counter-surveillance measures.
At this point, Owen's initial suspicion of the Asian male was nearly confirmed.
Then came a development from the bomb squad.
Chloe and Owen were summoned by Tony to the upstairs office—formerly Jack Bauer's, now Tony's.
"This is Steve Owen, head of the field team. He's just returned from specialized training. You probably haven't met. And this is Nathan Schofield from the bomb squad," Tony introduced.
The bomb squad had been formed while Owen was away with the SEALs, so the two had never crossed paths.
Owen and Nathan nodded to each other in greeting. Tony continued, "Alright, tell us what you've found on the bomb."
Nathan adjusted his glasses. "The device used in this attack was built with TATP—triacetone triperoxide, also known as 'Mother of Satan.' It's a new type of explosive. You might not be familiar with it, but it was used in last year's London train station bombing. Same with the Istanbul airport attack."
Tony, Chloe, and Owen exchanged glances. This was the first time they had encountered it. Historically, terrorist bombs tended to fall into two categories.
The more capable groups used military-grade explosives—TNT, RDX, that kind of stuff—but those were tightly controlled and hard to acquire.
More commonly, terrorists used civilian-grade explosives—construction materials like nitroglycerin, various ammonium nitrate blends, homemade ANFO, or emulsified explosives.
And the sources were just as varied—some stolen, others homemade, or acquired through the black market.
"What are its characteristics?" Tony asked.
Nathan pushed up his glasses. "What makes TATP a 'new' explosive is that it's fundamentally different from traditional ones. It's a highly sensitive compound.
Traditional explosives rapidly combust and decompose in a short time, producing heat and gas to cause an explosion. TATP doesn't work that way. It doesn't produce any flames. In fact, it only needs a tiny bit of energy to trigger a blast, and the process isn't oxidation—it's decomposition.
When TATP molecules break down, they release acetone, breaking apart the bonded oxygen atoms into O₂ and O₃. The energy released from this can trigger adjacent molecules to react, sustaining a chain reaction.
Each molecule of TATP produces four gas molecules. That's what makes it explosive. In under a second, just a few hundred grams of TATP can release hundreds or thousands of liters of gas."
Nathan spoke with such technical enthusiasm that when he finally looked up and saw the confused looks on all three faces, he paused. "Ah, sorry—professional habit. Okay, let me put it this way: you all know about car airbags, right?"
At last, something familiar. All three nodded quickly.
"Airbags are filled with small amounts of azide compounds. One of them—sodium azide—is a derivative of TATP. When it decomposes, it generates nitrogen gas, with very little heat. Because it's relatively safe, it's been widely used in automotive safety systems.
Now imagine the TATP used in an airbag—just one portion. Then imagine hundreds of those portions packed together. That's the level of energy we're dealing with in these bombs."
With the airbag analogy, the group finally understood. But Owen still had a question. He raised his hand, "You said TATP was used in the Istanbul airport bombing. But how did they get it past airport security?"
It was unrelated to tonight's case—he was just genuinely curious. Train stations like London's often lacked security checks, but airports? Airports had full security protocols, metal detectors, scanners, even bomb-sniffing dogs. How did TATP get through?
"Bingo," Nathan said, pointing at him. "That's exactly it. Because TATP operates differently than standard explosives, it's virtually undetectable by current airport security systems."
That answer stunned them.
A bomb that couldn't be detected by airport security?
Tony immediately realized he'd need to file a report to Jack. Security systems worldwide would need upgrades—if they couldn't detect TATP, the consequences would be catastrophic.
"But," Tony said, "you mentioned that TATP is a very sensitive explosive. How did the terrorists manage to carry it around without it going off?"
Nathan snapped his fingers. "That's exactly why I'm here—because of the dud bomb we found. TATP is extremely sensitive—it can be triggered by heat, friction, even a slight bump. But our attackers were experts. They used a specific type of stabilizer to reduce its sensitivity, making it safe enough to transport in a backpack."
"What's interesting," he added, "is that the dud bomb seems intentional. It didn't explode because the stabilizer concentration was five hundred percent above the standard threshold. On top of that, the detonator was defective."
The group looked at each other in surprise. Chloe hesitantly asked, "Are you saying… that the bomb didn't go off because the bomb maker wanted it that way?"
"Yes," Nathan nodded. "That's what I suspect. Whoever built that bomb knew exactly what they were doing. From chemical ratios to installation and triggering mechanisms, they were clearly an expert. Someone that skilled doesn't make rookie mistakes like overloading stabilizers or wiring a faulty detonator."
The three exchanged another glance. This detail was huge—it might be the key to the case.
"What's the name of the stabilizer?" Owen asked.
"Benmethyl dimethylamine."
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