The following takes place between 9:00 pm and 10:00 pm (Pacific time). All events occur in real time.
7:00 am (somewhere in Russia)
Jack Bauer is being restrained by two Russian prison guards just outside a prison cell. Gregor Stolnavich, whose uncle Anatol Stolnavich, was killed in "24: Live Another Day," is delivering a brutal beating to Jack Bauer, mostly body blows but a few shots to the head. After years of captivity and abuse, Bauer is in no shape to defend himself even if he weren't being held by the guards.
Another man emerges from behind Stolnavich. He's about twenty years older than Stolnavich, so around his 50s. "Gregor," he says in Russian, "enough with this nonsense. We have more important things to do than engage in petty revenge."
Stolnavich turns to look respectfully at the man. "Yes?"
"The American drone," the man says. "We need your attention."
Bauer's eyes are swollen from the recent beating, but his left eye looks up briefly at the mention of "American drone." [note: I could be wrong, but I seem to recall that Jack understands a little Russian.]
Stolnavich punches Bauer in the face again. "Very well, Mr. Bauer, it seems I have some work to attend to. But don't worry, I won't forget about you."
The guards throw Bauer back into the cell and lock the door.
12:10 am (Arlington, VA)
Atomic Aviation, based in Arlington, Virginia, is the corporation that manufactures the downed U.S. surveillance drone that the Russians are trying to hack into to reverse engineer the American technology.
Inside one building on the Atomic Aviation campus, a shadowy figure shines a flashlight on a touchscreen next to a closed door. The figure types a six digit code into the number pad on the touchscreen, and the door unlocks. The figure slips inside quickly. Inside the room are several banks of computer equipment (not unlike what CTU used to have), and a table with a computer screen, keyboard, and mouse. The figure sits at the computer and logs in.
9:20 pm (Los Angeles)
Still driving toward LAX - traffic has gotten much worse in L.A. from the original "24" days, so there's no getting from any one point to any other point in 10 minutes - Chloe O'Brian is talking about what she has endured in the past four years, still trying to get over the deaths of her husband Morris and her son Prescott (not to mention the terribly conflicted feelings involving Adrian Cross, who was killed in London). She has been wracked with guilt over having gotten captured by the Russians in London and then being used as a bargaining chip to get Jack Bauer to trade himself for her freedom.
"Did you go back to being an anarchistic hacker?" Kate asks.
"No." Chloe was so disillusioned after London that she basically withdrew from society altogether. But about a year ago, her guilt over Bauer became so overwhelming that she worked on tracking down his status and location, and then laying the groundwork for rescuing him.
12:35 (Arlington, VA)
Back in the computer room in Atomic Aviation, the figure working at the computer in the dark gets a cellphone call.
"I'm working on it," the figure hisses into the phone.
"We are paying you a considerable of money for the access codes you promised, Mr. Stewart," says the voice on the other end of the line in Russian-accented English.
"Yeah, I know that. But I can't just download the codes. They change every hour based on a firewalled algorithm. I need to unlock the algorithm to be able to generate the codes for you, and I have to do it in a way that doesn't lead back to me, so I have to be careful in how I do it."
The door opens with a click. Stewart turns the computer screen off and darts to the side. A night security guard pops his head in. "Hello?" he says tentatively.
The guard notices the lights from the cellphone on the table. He draws his gun and sweeps his flashlight across the room, just in time to see the muzzle flash from a silenced gun. [Note: Yes, I know that in real life, silencers don't reduce the sound to a soft "pfft," but this is what Hollywood expects.]
9:45 pm (Los Angeles)
Kate does not want to talk about the past four years. Instead, she asks Chloe who else she has in mind to help with the rescue operation. "You mentioned ex-CTU personnel, but I don't think we can count on any of them," she says, "not the way Bauer left things before resurfacing in London four years ago."
"Tony Almeida is ex-CTU, but trust me, he left CTU on even worse terms," Chloe says.
"Tony Almeida? Isn't he a traitor?"
Chloe summarizes Tony's complicated history: from trusted CTU subordinate [seasons 1-2] to head of the Los Angeles office until he was fired for helping terrorist Stephen Saunders in an effort to protect his wife Michelle Dessler [season 3] to surprise rescuer of Jack in a time of need [season 4] to assumed death at the hands of Christopher Henderson [season 5] to reemerging as a mercenary who ultimately tried to get revenge for Michelle's death, even at the expense of Jack's life (a plot that failed) [season 7].
"He was sentenced to life, but he managed to escape from a maximum security prison. He must have had some help." [short feature "Solitary" on the "Live Another Day" blu-ray discs] "The last I heard, he's gone back to being a mercenary."
"What makes you think he'll help? It sounds like he blames Bauer for not letting him get his revenge," Kate says.
Chloe pauses. "I'm not sure he will. But I think I can talk to him."
"I hope he'll listen," Kate says.
7:58 am (somewhere in Russia)
Stolnavich is in an office overlooking the lab where Russian techs are working on the downed U.S. surveillance drone. He makes a call on his cellphone.
[split screen with Stolnavich and Stewart, still in the Atomic Aviation computer room]
Stolvanich growls, "Do you have the access codes?"
"I'm close to getting it," Stewart says.
"Excellent. When can I expect to receive them?"
Stewart smiles. "Well, there's been a complication. I had to kill a security guard, which ups my potential exposure."
"Exposure? That is not my concern."
"Oh, but it is. Because my concern is your concern. I'm going to need additional compensation," Stewart says. "I think twenty million dollars should be enough to enable me to disappear into a new life."
"That is outrageous!" Stolnavich shouts.
"Should I just stop what I'm doing and just get the hell out of here right now?"
Long pause.
"Very well, you will get what you demand."
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