American Detective: Starting as a Rookie Cop in an American TV Show

Chapter 1487 Time flies
Jack unfolded the map Finch handed him and discovered it was just a regular A4 map of the country.

The map has some rough lines drawn on it, starting from New York State and extending westward. It has been scribbled and drawn along the way, roughly following the famous Pacific Railroad. Many places along the way are also marked with notes, which are mostly information such as train stop times.

Jack noticed that the notes were made by two people; he could recognize one as belonging to Finch, and the other was clearly written by Nathan.

"No wonder you said you knew the location of those servers containing the 'machine' core program. Nathan initially wanted to find the 'machine,' and then you did his job?"

Jack noticed a circle highlighted on Salt Lake City with three arrows pointing to three different locations: Yucca Mountain in Nevada, Comanche Peak in Texas, and Hanford in Washington.

Finch pulled himself out of his memories and nodded slightly to him. "At first, I only narrowed it down to these three possible locations. Can you see what they have in common?"

"These are all locations of so-called secret nuclear facilities."

In his previous life, Jack might not have been able to answer this question, but now, as an FBI agent, he has some knowledge of some of America's open "secrets."

“Yes.” Finch tapped his finger lightly on Hanford, Washington. “I eventually confirmed that those servers were located near a secret reactor here, and the NSA used the facilities here to power and cool the ‘machines’.”

The state of Washington here is not related to the federal capital "DC," or Washington, D.C., and many people often confuse the two. However, mentioning Seattle, the state's largest city, will leave a deep impression on many movie fans.

"So the only problem you have left is how to get into this heavily guarded secret facility. I think you're the only one in the world who can bring the 'machine' out of there, right?" Jack asked.

However, Finch gave an unexpected answer: "No, even I can't do it. I've locked myself out. The 'machine' is designed entirely according to the black box model, which means that there is no 'administrator' in the real sense."

Only when it is attacked externally and cannot defend itself will its most basic self-protection mechanism be triggered, which means changing all the restrictions I imposed on it.

Jack pondered Finch's words several times before he suddenly realized, "So you developed a virus targeting the 'machine' beforehand, with the aim of triggering its self-protection."

Just then, a few rays of sunlight shone through the cracks in the sealed windows of the old library, falling on Finch's face and creating a strange contrast between his otherwise expressionless expression and his dark one.

Half of his face was illuminated by the sunlight, which made the other half appear somewhat gloomy in contrast.

“Long before I discovered that ‘machines’ have self-awareness, I realized from the very beginning of its design that, given its design purpose and function, sooner or later someone would want to possess it and use it for purposes other than counterterrorism.”

But I don't know who it will be, so I need to make sure they use my code when they do it.

So all of this was part of his plan from beginning to end. Jack's gaze towards Finch changed. It's said that guys who wear glasses look refined but are actually full of bad intentions, and there's definitely some truth to that.

Seemingly understanding the mockery in someone's eyes, Finch twitched the corners of his mouth, revealing a forced smile that resembled self-mockery. "When I realized that Nathan and I had entrusted the 'machine' to the wrong people, 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 dislike the authorities' term "collateral damage," but in reality, he became one of them. "I think he forgave you a long time ago. The only person he can't truly forgive is himself," Jack simply shrugged.

The last lingering resentment between Jessica and Reese vanished the moment someone knelt down and presented her with a ring in front of a crowd of onlookers a few days ago.

"So what should we prepare next? Organize a commando team to take you into that secret facility in Hanford, guided by the 'machine,' and help it escape?"

Jack vaguely remembered that in the original series, the "machine" baby was no match for the evil artificial intelligence "Samaritan" because of its permissions and other issues, and was almost taken away by a series of attacks that cut off the power and unplugged the network cable.

Finally, Finch took the core program of the "machine" in a suitcase containing high-density memory.

In short, the core program of the "machine" baby cannot be powered off and must always be running. If the power is cut off, it will die, which makes the task quite difficult.

Jack glanced at Finch's limp leg and wondered if he should speed up the treatment.

"I don't know, it has its own ideas. We just need to be prepared and cooperate. Until then..."

Seemingly sensing his gaze, Finch also looked down at his right leg, which was gradually regaining sensation. "Before that, I think I have plenty of time for my body to recover."
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As someone said, the virus program took an astonishingly long time to take effect; four months passed in the blink of an eye, during which a lot of things happened.

Frank Reagan won a special election for mayor of New York City and took office as mayor.

Sam Groves, who now calls himself "Root," becomes an assistant to Special Prosecutor Bolton with Anna's help.

She identified a number of key members associated with the Intelligence Support Operations Division, including the current head of the NSA, General Carl Holcomb; Manuel Rivera, a senior advisor to the current president; and a senator named Ross Garrison.

Finally, there is a mysterious woman who is also Special Prosecutor Bolton's superior and the true head of the "Intelligence Support Operations Division," codenamed "The Controller," whose real name is unknown.

Another thing Jack had been worried about also came to light: according to information he had gathered, the NSA seemed to have a backup plan for the "machine," codenamed "Samaritan."

Specific details about "Samaritan" are currently unknown, but it is clear that some of these individuals are quite dissatisfied with the "Intelligence Support Operations Division" for never truly controlling the "machine" and have been carrying out certain plans.

Finch finally decided to have surgery to remove the fixator used during his spinal fusion surgery, and he is now recovering well.

On the day he was discharged from the hospital, he received an unexpected surprise, or rather, a shock: Jack invited his red-haired fiancée Grace to the event.

(End of this chapter)