Jack unfolded the map Finch handed him and discovered it was just an ordinary quarto map of the country.
It was crudely drawn with lines, stretching westward from New York State, scribbled on and circled, roughly following the famous Pacific Railroad. Many locations along the way were annotated with information such as train stop times.
Jack noticed that these notes were made by two people. He could recognize one as belonging to Finch, while the other was clearly written by Nathan.
"No wonder you said before that you knew the whereabouts of the servers containing the core program of the 'Machine'. It was Nathan who originally wanted to find the 'Machine', and then you completed his work?"
Jack noticed a circle marked on Salt Lake City with three arrows, extending along the line to three locations: Yucca Mountain in Nevada, Comanche Peak in Texas, and Hanford in Washington.
Finch, detaching himself from the past, nodded slightly. "Initially, I narrowed down my focus to three possible locations. Can you see the commonality?"
"They're all supposedly secret nuclear facilities."
In his previous life, Jack might not have been able to answer this question, but now, as an FBI agent, he was somewhat familiar with some of America's public "secrets.
" "Yes," Finch tapped his finger on Hanford, Washington. "Finally, I've confirmed that the servers are located near a secret reactor here. The NSA uses the reactor's facilities to power and cool the 'machine.'"
The Washington state here is not related to the federal capital, "DC," or Washington, D.C. Many people confuse the two, but Seattle, the state's largest city, is a memorable one for many movie fans.
"The only problem you face is how to enter this heavily guarded secret facility. I assume you're the only one in the world who can get the 'machine' out, correct?" Jack asked.
However, Finch gave a surprising answer. "No, even I couldn't do that. I locked myself out. The 'Machine' is designed entirely as a black box, which means it has no true 'administrator.'
Only when it comes under external attack and is unable to withstand it will it trigger its most basic self-protection mechanism, which means changing all the restrictions I've imposed on it."
Jack pondered Finch's words several times before finally realizing, "So you developed a virus targeting the 'Machine' in advance, specifically to trigger its self-protection."
Just then, a ray of sunlight filtered through the sealed windows of the old library, illuminating Finch's face and giving it a strangely dark contrast.
Half of his face was illuminated by the sunlight, but the other half, by contrast, appeared somewhat gloomy.
"Even before I discovered the 'Machine' was self-aware, I realized from the very beginning of its design that, given its purpose and functionality, sooner or later someone would want to take possession of it and use it for purposes other than counter-terrorism.
But I didn't know who, so I had to make sure they used my code when they did."
So, this had been part of his plan from the beginning. Jack's eyes changed as he looked at Finch. They say that guys with glasses look polite but are actually full of evil, and there's some truth to that.
As if he understood the teasing in someone's eyes, Finch pulled the corners of his mouth into a forced smile that resembled self-mockery. "When I realized that Nathan and I had entrusted the 'Machine' to the wrong person, the only way to protect it was to teach it to protect itself.
I've always felt deeply guilty about what happened to Mr. Reese. I don't like the term 'collateral damage' used by the authorities, but in reality, he became one of them."
"I think he's forgiven you a long time ago. The only person he's truly unable to forgive is probably himself," Jack shrugged.
Any remaining lingering grudge between Jessica and Reese had vanished the moment someone knelt down on one knee and presented her with a ring in front of a crowd of onlookers a few days ago.
"So what should we do next? Assemble a strike team, guided by the Machine, and take you to that secret facility in Hanford to rescue it?"
Jack vaguely remembered how in the original series, the baby "Machine" was defeated by the evil AI "Samaritan" due to issues with its permissions, and was nearly killed by a combination of power outages and network cable unplugging.
Ultimately, Finch managed to steal the Machine's core program in a suitcase filled with high-density memory.
In short, the baby "Machine's" core program couldn't be powered off; it had to be constantly running. A power outage would kill it, making this a very difficult task.
Jack subconsciously glanced at Finch's lame leg, wondering if he should expedite the treatment.
"I don't know. It has its own agenda. We just need to be prepared and cooperate. Until then,"
Finch said, seemingly sensing his gaze, glancing down at his gradually regaining feeling right leg, "I think I have plenty of time to recover."
As
someone had said, a certain viral program took surprisingly long to take effect. Four months had passed in the blink of an eye, and a lot had happened during that time.
Frank Reagan had successfully won the special election for mayor of New York City and ascended to the mayoral seat.
Sam Groves, now calling himself "Root," became an assistant to Special Prosecutor Burton with Anna's help.
She had identified a series of key members associated with the Intelligence Support Operations Division, including General Carl Holcomb, the current head of the NSA; Manuel Rivera, a senior advisor to the current president; and a senator named Ross Garrison.
Finally, there was a mysterious woman, Special Prosecutor Burton's boss and the true head of the Intelligence Support Operations Division, codenamed "The Controller," whose real name remains unknown.
There was also news about another thing Jack had been worried about. According to what he had heard, the NSA seemed to have a backup plan for the "machine", code-named "Samaritan".
The specific details about the "Samaritan" are currently unknown, but it is obvious that some of the above-mentioned relevant people are quite dissatisfied with the fact that the "Intelligence Support Operations Office" has never been able to truly control the "machine" and have been carrying out certain plans.
Finch finally made up his mind to undergo surgery and removed the fixator used in the spinal fusion surgery. He is now recovering well.
On the day he was discharged from the hospital, he received an unexpected surprise, of course, you can also call it a shock. Jack invited his red-haired fiancée Grace to the scene.
(End of this chapter)