Mason took a deep breath, as if finally mustering up the courage. "I don't have much time this time, but I'll definitely come back to you soon. Perhaps we can..."
The girl's eyes gleamed, "What can we do?"
"Can we be friends first?" Mason asked cautiously.
"You know, you might be the only trace of my existence in this world. I've missed so much. I know we don't even understand each other, but if possible, I hope we can at least be friends."
The girl burst into laughter. "Really? So you really didn't escape this time?"
Before Mason could reply, Jack slowly walked over after hearing the faint sound of sirens in the distance. "As I said before, your father is now working for the FBI, helping us deal with a serious and deadly crisis."
"Really?" The girl, obviously having heard the shrill sirens as well, looked doubtful.
"Of course. And because this is classified, you'll be taken to a secret location later, where you can monitor the operation."
Jack had barely finished his words when a Suburban arrived ahead of the other police cars and stopped in front of the three.
The doors opened, and inside, Emily and Dr. Reid from the BAU team waved at them with smiles. The driver was Hotchner, whom he hadn't seen in a while.
After watching his daughter leave, Mason glanced back at Jack meaningfully. The warmth on his face quickly faded, and a hint of ferocity took on a fierce look.
"Should I congratulate you on finding my weakness, young man?"
"I have no interest in exploiting weaknesses, Mr. Mason," Jack said, not wanting to elaborate. This wasn't the place to talk. He'd know everything once he reached the Joint Command Center.
Several more Suburbans screeched to a halt, and the Commissioner, his arm in a sling, angrily exited, his manner unmannerly curtsy.
"You despicable bastard! I shouldn't have listened to Rossi. Scum like you deserves to rot in a cell forever."
—
If people around the world know American cities through Hollywood movies, then Los Angeles is known for its sunny beaches and flip-flops, while New York is known for its hurried businesspeople and steaming manhole covers.
As for San Francisco, it's probably known for its clanking streetcars on steeply sloping roads.
In fact, another scenic feature of the city is also famous: fog. Located on the hilly and mountainous San Francisco Peninsula, influenced by multiple warm currents, the area is shrouded in a pervasive mist for a third of the year.
Compared to London, where coal emissions cause heavy fog, San Francisco's fog is far more benign, beneficial to health, and even a major tourist attraction.
Jack turned his gaze away from his high-powered telescope. It was already afternoon, and the fog had long since dissipated, leaving visibility quite good.
He was currently at Pier 39, part of San Francisco's famed Fisherman's Wharf, just two kilometers from Alcatraz.
The warehouse area behind him had been completely cordoned off by the FBI, with hundreds of soldiers and agents filling the thousands of square meters of warehouse.
Three large command vehicles, resembling Optimus Prime trucks, were parked in a row in the center of the warehouse, their two movable platforms deployed to reveal the large screens within.
Technicians set up various equipment in makeshift office areas on either side of the command vehicle.
"We're dealing with another weapon of mass destruction, second only to nuclear weapons in terms of its danger. If all fifteen VX missiles were detonated, they could cause millions of casualties.
Given the unique properties of this agent, even a large-scale use of incendiary bombs would have unpredictable consequences. This island is so close to the coastline, and the winds constantly blow inland, much like the sea fog."
Jack said this with a serious expression, then gestured towards Mason. Behind them, at the warehouse entrance, Team B Captain Jason Hayes, Rossi, and other FBI agents were waiting.
He led them to a sand table, a life-size 3D-printed miniature model of Alcatraz.
While small, it was a small island after all, so naturally, it couldn't have just one building. Besides the main prison complex at the center, on the highest point, there was also an old, still-functioning lighthouse on the north side of the island.
To the south of the island lies a completely abandoned factory, practically in ruins, with only a tall chimney still standing. This was once where the island's prisoners toiled daily.
As one of the world's most prestigious prisons, its terrain was exceptionally difficult to defend.
The main structure consists of reinforced concrete walls over 60 centimeters thick. Within, there are over 300 cells spread across three floors, each door secured by iron bars as thick as an arm.
The only exit is a two-ton iron gate. Beyond this, a four-meter-high wire mesh fence surrounds the sturdy concrete structure.
On the outermost layer, atop a high cliff, six towers tower above, commanding a commanding presence.
Located east of the Golden Gate Bridge and north of Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz Island is surrounded by an inland sea. While seemingly within easy reach of everything around it, the vast ocean cuts off all access.
After examining the terrain, Jack remarked that if a zombie crisis erupted in this world, as long as the zombies couldn't swim, this would be the perfect hiding place.
"I need to know everything you know." While Jack was busy, Jason Hayes and his teammates had been studying blueprints of underground pipes that were who knows how many years old.
Mason approved of the captain's plan. "Your idea is absolutely correct. As long as we understand the entire underground system of tunnels and pipes, we can reach almost anywhere on the island."
"I've noticed a sewage pipe opening here that's always below water level. Could that be our best entry point?" Jason Hayes asked, holding up the blueprints.
Mason instantly found the corresponding location on the miniature model, a look of nostalgia on his face. "Of course, that's where I escaped from,"
he said, glancing meaningfully at the director, who was also craning his neck to observe all this.
(End of Chapter)