Rina’s Mansion
[Rina, Terry has escaped from the hospital,] Ava immediately relayed the urgent information to Rina as soon as the information was intercepted from the private network.
“What happened?” Rina asked urgently, halting her current activity to focus on the unfolding situation.
[During the transfer, the guards accompanying him were attacked by an unknown woman, and she escaped with Terry,] Ava informed Rina, utilizing the rapidly updating information circulating within the private network as people were working hard to ensure the relevant individuals were kept up to date on the unfolding situation.
As Ava explained the situation, Rina’s hand instinctively moved to her neck, gently caressing it, a reminder of something happening to her. With a hint of concern in her voice, she asked, “Was it my brother or the morgans?”
[Nothing conclusive about either of them; they are still among the few suspects on my list,] Ava replied, indicating that she had no knowledge of this specific plan and that no information about it existed within the private network.
“Is there any other important information about this incident?” Rina asked, seeking further details after receiving Ava’s response.
[They are still attempting to covertly track him. As for the guards who were attacked, one is currently undergoing surgery in the operating room, while the other remains in a coma. The chokehold he was subjected to was fatal, and it is uncertain when he will regain consciousness,] Ava reported, relaying the information she had gathered from the ongoing communications within the private network.
She remained unaware of Arieh’s plan to assist Terry in his escape because the orders had been conveyed through verbal communication, and Gerald had used a burner phone that was not connected to the private network to execute the plan. Additionally, the payment for the operation had been made using one of Arieh’s slush fund accounts, which was kept separate from the private network.
“Keep me updated on any developments regarding this matter when something new appears through the network” Rina requested before attempting to return to her work. However, her concentration was abruptly interrupted as Chloe bursted into the room, indicating that whatever she was about to report was urgent enough to warrant her to disregard all formalities and decorum.
“What is it?” she asked, feigning ignorance about the reason for Chloe’s urgent interruption.
“Miss, we have received a report stating that Terry has escaped from the hospital while under escort,” Chloe promptly reported without any delay.
“What?” Rina exclaimed, feigning surprise as if she was hearing the report for the first time.
“Yes, there is quite a commotion. The security team is being mobilized across the compound, and they are dispatching personnel to search the city and apprehend him before he manages to escape further,” Chloe provided additional details about the unfolding situation.
The conversation between Chloe and Rina continued back and forth, much to the amusement of Ava, who found it entertaining to witness Rina’s act of pretending to hear the report for the first time.
…..
Seven hours later.
In a remote countryside, nestled within the rural farmlands on the outskirts of the state, a car arrived at the lone farmhouse.
“We’ve arrived. Get out,” Katrina stated, switching off the car engine and opening the door, getting out, and signaling for Terry to exit.
“I understand the need to hide, but isn’t this a bit overkill?” Terry questioned as he stepped out of the car. “There’s no one within a kilometer radius. In fact, we might even draw attention to ourselves with such a secluded location.”
“You don’t need to worry about that,” Katrina replied, inserting the key into the door of the house and entering without waiting for Terry to follow.
Realizing that further inquiries would be fruitless, Terry chose to remain silent and followed Katrina into the house.
Upon entering the house, Terry was taken aback by its modern interior, which starkly contrasted with the rustic appearance of the exterior.6
The sleek design, contemporary furnishings, and state-of-the-art appliances suggested a level of sophistication that he hadn’t anticipated.
“Now, let’s establish some ground rules,” Katrina said, turning towards Terry, who had just entered the house and closed the door, still admiring the interior.
“You are not allowed to enter that room; it’s mine and mine alone,” she said, pointing at the room she was using to sleep.
“Your room is that one. The fridge is stocked with everything you might need, and if you require anything from outside, you will have to wait until the weekend for me to go and get it for you,” she explained, outlining the arrangements for Terry.
“If I see you enter my room, bullet. If I catch you attempting to escape, bullet. And if I discover that you’ve been contacting anyone without my knowledge, what will happen?” She asked to see if Terry was listening to her.
“Bullet,” Terry responded nonchalantly, his attention still focused on exploring the interior of the house. While he acknowledged Katrina’s warnings, he didn’t feel compelled to dwell on them.
He had no intentions of attempting to escape, contacting anyone, or snooping around her room. His lack of curiosity about her personal space allowed him to dismiss her threats as mere background noise.
“Okay, good. Now follow me,” Katrina said, motioning for Terry to join her. She approached a section of the wall and pressed on it, causing it to slide aside, revealing a hidden door behind it.
After entering the password into the keypad on the door, she unlocked it and swung it open, revealing a set of stairs that descended into the basement.
Terry remained silent and followed her closely, his curiosity piqued as he wondered what awaited him in the basement.
“Wow,” Terry couldn’t contain his amazement as he took in the sight of the basement. It resembled a spy lair from movies, with an array of guns neatly arranged and several screens displaying live footage from the security cameras throughout the area.
“There are cameras installed within a 5-kilometer radius of the house constantly monitoring the surroundings, ready to alert us if anyone enters the vicinity of the compound,” Katrina explained.
“The password is 69420,” Katrina instructed Terry, emphasizing the importance of remembering it.
“If someone visits while I’m not here, you can use this place to hide. The door is reinforced and can withstand a large TNT explosion without being breached. However, if that fails, there is a tunnel leading five hundred meters into the farm, which will provide you an escape route.” She said pointing towards another metallic door in the basement, indicating the entrance to the tunnel.
“It appears that you are incredibly well-prepared,” Terry remarked, his admiration evident.
The basement’s arsenal of guns and weapons alone seemed sufficient to arm a small army, capable of equipping more than twenty individuals.
However, what truly amazed him was the escape door leading to a tunnel. It offered a means to flee the house and emerge five hundred meters away, providing a significant head start to anyone being pursued. The level of planning and resources invested in this hideout left Terry in awe.
…..
White house.
“The preparations for your visit to Bagram Airfield are in their final stages, Mr. President,” the official informed.
“Good. How is the situation in Crimea with Russia’s attempted annexation?” Obama asked, diverting the conversation from the topic of his supposed surprise visit to Bagram Airfield to the ongoing developments in Crimea.
“The Ukrainian army has been unsuccessful in their attempts to retake the region since last February,” John O. Brennan, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), answered the President’s question. “Based on the information received from our informants on the ground, it appears that Russia is currently planning a referendum to strengthen their claim over the region.”
“Is there any possibility of acquiring additional information that we can leverage at the United Nations’ upcoming meeting to exert pressure on Russia regarding the Crimea situation?” Obama inquired after listening to the response from the CIA director.
“At the moment, our informants do not have the necessary access to provide us with additional information regarding their future plans,” the director replied.
“Didn’t we acquire that program from the individual who sued us over the FISA order? Ah, what was his name again? Ah… Aron” Obama asked, recollecting the moment when Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel had informed him about the program’s potential usefulness and the significant impact it could have in dealing with their adversaries.
Hagel, who was also present at the meeting, updated the president on the progress of the program, stating, “The team assigned to work on the program encountered a significant obstacle when they attempted to understand its intricacies before making any modifications.”
“I recall that we have had possession of it for over six months. So, what seems to be the problem? Our technical teams are not subpar compared to global standards, are they?” Obama inquired, expressing his curiosity regarding the cause of the delay.
“Prior to receiving the program from GAIA TECHNOLOGIES, they informed us that a significant portion of the program was developed using machine learning. Consequently, even they do not fully comprehend the intricacies of the program. We suspect that our teams are encountering difficulties with the section written by the machine, as it had repeatedly learned to identify vulnerabilities and rewrote the code by itself,” Hegel explained.
“Why don’t we simply insist on obtaining the training data from GAIA TECHNOLOGIES? After all, we already compelled them to surrender the source code,” Obama proposed. “If we can secure the data they used to train the program, it could potentially offer us invaluable insights. There’s no harm in “requesting” this additional information.”
“We did, Mr. President, but they informed us that the training data had been deleted by Aron. Apparently, he had encountered storage issues during his development phase and had to make space for the completed program by deleting the training data. It seems he didn’t have the resources to purchase additional storage,” Hagel replied, feeling somewhat embarrassed by the explanation.
“Are you kidding me?” Obama asked, clearly taken aback by the absurd justification provided for the absence of the training data.