Anyone who frequently defuses bombs knows that any middle school student, after a few weeks of studying embedded systems, can create a bomb that explodes by cutting any wire.
Therefore, bomb disposal is never the typical film and television routine of picking one of two wires, red or blue. Instead, it involves finding a way to move the explosive to an open, safe location and detonate it.
Military and police bomb disposal differ slightly. Military bomb disposal's sole objective is to safely detonate the explosive, while police disposal is more involved.
Because they need to preserve evidence or provide clues to solve the case, police bomb disposal procedures occasionally include wire-cutting scenes similar to those depicted in film and television.
However, these are merely similarities, as manual wire cutting is always a last resort. These days, remote-controlled robots are standard equipment for any bomb disposal team.
Furthermore, wire cutting typically involves cutting the detonator itself, not the fuse or wires. This is why Clay personally packed his toolbox earlier.
The toolbox he carried contained all the tools needed to deal with the explosive vest. Besides the ones Jack had spotted earlier, it also included, but was not limited to, strong acid, a high-pressure disintegrator, and even a small can of liquid nitrogen.
Reese had worn the vest for nearly a day, so it was impossible for him to not have figured out how to remove it. But as he'd said, Kara Stanton was also an expert.
He and Mark Snow had spent a long time studying each other's devices and discovered that all the straps contained wires hidden within them, forming a simple circuit that triggered the fuses when the power was cut off.
The triggering mechanisms, such as the detonator leads, were tightly wrapped with layers of tape and C4, making it impossible to see inside. The conclusion was that without the right tools, dismantling the device was impossible.
So, after Kara Stanton started the timer, the two men made different choices.
Mark Snow wanted to try his luck at a nearby CIA safe house, hoping to find the right tools and perhaps even dismantle it in time.
But this was Manhattan's busiest district, and the countdown had only fifteen minutes left. As Jack predicted, Reese, unaware of their arrival, instinctively wanted to take Mark Snow to the rooftop.
The researcher who had escaped wasn't the only one in the lab. Besides the two Delta Force security guards silenced by Kara Stanton, other researchers had taken cover, seeing the situation was dire.
The surveillance room the two men had broken into also contained several security guards who had been knocked unconscious. With the amount of C4 they possessed, it was more than enough to destroy half a floor. Going to the rooftop was the most effective way to avoid harming innocent people.
Just as Jack and Clay were climbing the stairs, a confrontation ensued. Mark Snow ambushed Reese and fled to the backup elevator. Reese fired a shot to stop him, but it was too late.
The three briefly exchanged bomb disposal plans, and Jack radioed Jubal and the others downstairs to further evacuate the area and keep an eye out for suspicious individuals.
But don't act rashly, lest Kara Stanton or Mark Snow, armed with explosives, take matters into their own hands.
Just as the three were about to ascend to the rooftop to defuse the bomb, the security door behind them rattled again, and a breathless Finch emerged, dragging his limp leg.
"Looks like I'm not late." Though he was practically out of breath, he still managed to project his usual calm and gentlemanly demeanor.
Though deeply touched, Reese's demeanor was completely different. "Shouldn't I have predicted this? Shouldn't you have stayed away at a time like this?"
He fished a hard drive from his inside suit pocket and placed it on the ground. "Take this drive and leave quickly. Find out what's inside and stop it. Kara seems to know something about 'The Machine,' and I suspect the content she uploaded is specifically designed to counter it.
This incident is caused by my past, not you. Let's go."
Finch, ignoring his rumbling breath, bent down to pick up the hard drive and tried to follow the three men up to the rooftop.
"Actually, this whole thing started with me. I won't sit idly by and watch you get into trouble, John (Reese). I can't defuse a bomb, but I do understand the basics.
Maybe I can freeze a phone or disassemble a microcontroller."
Before he could even finish the stairs, Jack, who was at the end, interrupted the two friends' sweet nothings. "Do what you're really good at, Finch. Kara Stanton's gone, and so is Mark Snow. Help Alice locate them. That's important.
Oh, and the elevator has a backup power supply. You can use it on your way down."
With that, Jack closed the iron door to the rooftop and locked Finch in.
Although the operation and conversation lasted for the better part of a chapter (?), less than three minutes had actually passed. From the moment the three of them reached the rooftop to the moment Clay helped Reese remove the explosive vest, it also took less than three minutes.
Since the vest's straps contained live wires, all they had to do was bridge them to ensure a path, then cut the straps. Jack would handle the rest.
After securing the safety rope he'd brought up and buckling up his rappel gear, Jack, clutching the explosive
vest with a countdown of four minutes in one hand and the figure-eight ring in the other, rappelled from the roof to the ground in less than 30 seconds. A bomb squad member, already on standby in riot gear, took the vest from Jack, attached the pre-prepared detonator to it, and then, with the gait of a bear, swayed towards the massive bomb canister.
After carefully placing the explosives into the canister, another officer, also in riot gear, began frantically cranking the handle to close it.
"Two minutes!" Jack shouted, checking his watch.
"Prepare for detonation!" Almost simultaneously, someone shouted over the police radio.
Although everyone except the bomb squad officers had been herded to a safe distance and ordered to take cover, some couldn't help but peek out or reach out their phones to film the scene.
With a muffled thud, puffs of white smoke escaped from the canister's three pressure relief valves simultaneously, signaling a respite.
"So, there's another bulletproof vest that's going to explode in 1 minute, and we can't stop it, right?" Jubal walked towards Jack worriedly. He had already roughly understood what had happened through the radios that Jack and Clay carried with them.
"I'm afraid that's the case. Has the traffic at the surrounding intersections been diverted? Has the sniper team found anything?"
Jack looked around. After all, this place is located in the most prosperous area of Manhattan Island, right next to the SOHO district. Although the NYPD has tried to control traffic at several key intersections around it,
the building where the incident occurred is not a single building. It is connected to the surrounding buildings below, and there are a lot of shops around it. It can be said that it is well connected.
Since the sniper teams deployed in the surrounding area in advance and Hannah and the others have not sent back any reports, it means that there is an 80% chance that they have not found the whereabouts of Mark Snow or Kara Stanton.
This also means that an uncontrollable explosion can no longer be prevented.
(End of this chapter)