The following takes place between 9:00 A.M. and 10:00 A.M.
Tom Baker rushed through the streets of Hong Kong, blood dripping from his forehead, his clothes torn. He stopped at a dark alley, leaned against a garbage dumpster and dialed a number on his cell phone.
---
"CTU, Buchanan," the Director of CTU Los Angeles answered.
"It's in California!" Baker panted. "Bill, the Cordelia Virus is in California!"
Buchanan tried to comprehend the situation, in the process almost forgetting that he was still on the phone. "Tom?"
Silence. "Are you there, Tom?"
Baker sat on the ground, examining the blood that had just started coming from his nose. "Bill...Tell my wife that I love her."
With that, he put his gun to his head.
Buchanan heard a single gunshot. He closed his eyes, trying to hold in his tears.
---
Jack put on his jacket as Natalie slept innocently in their bed. He bent down and kissed her on the cheek sweetly. Her eyes began to open slowly.
"Jack..." Natalie whispered. "Are you leaving for work already?"
"Go back to sleep, baby," Jack replied. "I'll call you in a few hours. I love you, Natalie."
"I love you more..." Natalie sighed.
Jack turned to leave, but was stunned when Natalie jumped up from the bed and kissed him passionately.
"Don't forget all about me over there at CTU." Natalie massaged his shoulders.
"It's impossible to forget that smile..." Jack winked at Natalie as he left the apartment.
---
Brad Hammond sat in the middle of a dark, damp room tied to a chair. He hadn't eaten in days and he was covered in his own blood.
He looked up as the door to the room opened, and a small light shone through.
"Are we ready to try again, Mr. Hammond?" The voice of his torturer permeated through his mind, causing him to shiver.
"Please..." Hammond cried. "I don't know, I swear..."
"You and I both know that you're not a very good liar. Tell me what I want to know, or we'll have to go through the process again."
All at once, Hammond felt the areas of pain induced on him from the last torture. His captor pulled out his knife, stained with blood, and brought it to Brad's ear.
Hammond looked up to the man, tears falling from his eyes. "Please..."
The torturer brought the blade down, causing Hammond to scream in agony.
---
Kim sat at her CTU workstation, looking at a picture of Chase Edmonds, her fiancé, when Buchanan's voice echoed through the main floor from his office balcony.
"We have just received word from Agent Baker in Hong Kong that the Cordelia Virus is indeed in California."
Many of the analysts gasped. Kim's head rose as she remembered the tragedies of the last Cordelia Virus outbreak. She remembered how Chase received his prosthetic arm.
"Los Angeles cannot risk another outbreak," Buchanan continued. "If we can locate the virus in time, we may be able to prevent infection."
Chloe O'Brian stood up immediately. "Do we have any leads?" She inquired.
"Only one. Baker was undercover in a Chinese drug ring at the time of his death. You all might recognize the leader of the group, Hitako Sunabi."
A black-and-white photo of Sunabi flashed onto all of the computer screens.
"The CIA has uncovered some useful information already. As it turns out, Sunabi's private jet landed at Norton Airfield on Thursday. A team is heading over there now to inspect the plane. Also, one of Sunabi's men is serving a thirty-year sentence at Warwood Prison. I'm sending Jack Bauer to interrogate him."
Kim flinched at the mention of her father and sighed. This was going to be a long day.
---
David Palmer stood under a tent, waiting to walk his daughter Nicole down the aisle. Today was her wedding day.
A tear rolled down his face as he remembered cradling her in his arms as a child. This was the proudest day of his life.
"Hey," a voice behind him said.
Palmer spun around to see his son Keith smiling back at him. "Keith! Nicole told me that you wouldn't be able to make it, that you were still off fighting in the Middle East."
"I took a little time off. I wouldn't miss this for the world, Dad."
Palmer grinned and embraced his son. He then noticed Nicole approaching the tent, wearing a beautiful white gown.
"Nicole...You look beautiful."
"Thanks, Dad," She laughed. "Are you ready to do this?"
Palmer nodded and grasped his daughter's hand. They began to walk down the aisle, the guests staring at them in marvel.
---
Hitako Sunabi walked into the back room of the nightclub accompanied by two bodyguards. A familiar man in a suit was seated by a table, waiting.
"Mr. Sunabi," The man greeted.
"Let's get down to business, shall we?" Sunabi rested the briefcase on the table and opened it. Inside was a lone vial of a mysterious substance.
"The Cordelia Virus..."
"There's much more where this came from." Sunabi snapped the briefcase shut. "What's your offer?"
"Three-hundred million," The suited man instantly replied.
Sunabi laughed and picked up the suitcase. "The Cordelia Virus is one of the most lethal weapons on Earth. What you have just proposed is not an offer, but a joke."
The man did not move, but continued to stare at the briefcase. "Four-hundred."
A sinister smirk appeared on Sunabi's face. "You have yourself an offer, Mr. Drazen."
Andre Drazen stood up and shook Sunabi's hand.
---
Secretary of Defense James Heller sat in his limosine, waiting to arrive at his office. He pulled out a picture of his family and stared at it lovingly.
The limo driver quickly paid the toll and began to cross the Golden Gate Bridge.
Suddenly, a black car rammed into the limosine. Heller was propelled to the other side of the limo, dropping the picture onto the floor.
"What the hell is going on?" Heller shouted to the limo driver. "Raoul!"
He then noticed the bullethole in his driver's head. "My God..."
The black car rammed the limosine once more, causing it to tumble off the bridge and into the water below.
The driver of the black car exited his vehicle and stood at the edge of the bridge, watching the limosine slowly sink into the water. It was Jonathan.
---
Jack walked into one of Warwood Prison's holding cells, where CTU Agent Ed Miller was talking to a guard.
"Hey, Jack. Buchanan sent you over here?" Miller greeted, turning his attention away from the guard.
"Where's Chien?" Jack ignored the question.
"In the next room. I spent the last ten minutes with him, his lips are sealed."
"Not for long." Jack walked through the door, where a disgrunted prisoner was waiting, restrained to a chair.
"I already told your friend that I know nothing about Sunabi's whereabouts," Chien muttered.
"Well, now you're going to tell me." Jack pulled over a chair and sat next to Chien.
"You seem pretty confident." Chien sat back in his seat.
"Yeah, that's usually my attitude during these types of things. Here's why." He suddenly rose from his chair and jammed a syringe into Chien's neck.
"Argh!" Chien yelled. "What the hell was that?"
"It's called Beroglide. It's a very rare drug that, when injected properly into a man's veins, can kill him within fifteen minutes. Until then, it will create the feeling of drowning very, very slowly. Personally, I'd hope for death."
Chien began to gasp for air as the effects of Beroglide overcame him. "I want to speak to a lawyer! You have no right to do this!"
"This can all stop if you tell me what you know," Jack said, approaching the door. "Hitako Sunabi is our only chance at stopping the deaths of millions of United States citizens. Believe it or not, there are things worse than Beroglide."
With that, he shut the door, leaving Chien to writhe in his chair.
---
A van marked with the CIA label pulled up at Norton Airfield. Five agents in full gear jumped out and rushed towards Sunabi's plane, sitting stationary at the end of the runway.
One of the agents rushed to the airplane's front entrance and picked the lock on the door. He twisted the handle and entered the plane. Suddenly, he heard a loud beeping noise and caught a glimpse of the bomb he had just triggered.
The entire plane exploded, propelling the van backwards and incinerating the agents.
---
Edward Porter sat at his desk, his arms folded, staring patiently at the telephone in front of him. He flinched as it began to ring, and eagerly answered it.
"Hello?" He said into the phone.
"It's me," Andre Drazen replied, causing Porter to slightly cringe. "I've made a small business. If four-hundred million suddenly disappears from my account, don't be alarmed."
"Andre, four-hundred million?" Porter reacted. "These days, you're wasting money like it grows on trees! You won't have any left soon, and you know it as well as I do..."
"Calm down, Edward," Andre snapped. "This money is not going to waste, I assure you. It is merely an investment."
"I think it's time you start giving me answers. What exactly are you investing into here?"
After a moment of silence, Porter heard his employer's voice again. "Can I trust you?"
"Of course, Andre."
Andre sighed. "The Cordelia Virus."
Porter's eyes widened, and the phone nearly slipped from his hands. "I...I have to go."
"Edward!" Andre shouted into the phone. "You've been a great friend to me these past few years, but if you tell a single soul about this, I'll kill you with my bare hands. Do I make myself clear?"
Porter buried his head in his hands and tears began pouring down his face.
"I said, do I make myself clear?"
The accountant straightened up, and opened his mouth to reply. "Crystal."
Andre hung up, leaving Porter to stare at a picture of his wife and children, enclosed in a frame on his desk.
---
Jack stepped back into the holding cell, where Chien was shaking and sweating profusely.
"Are you ready to tell me what I need to know?" Jack asked.
"I have rights..." Chien cried.
"Wake up and smell the coffee. There's a deadly virus outside of these walls that has the potential to wipe out a massive amount of innocent people. You have no rights anymore. Not while I'm standing in front of you."
"Guard!" Chien choked. "Guard, help!" His chair tipped over and his mouth began to foam.
"You're the only person who can stop this!" Jack yelled at him. "Only you!"
Miller and the prison guard rushed into the room. "Jack, what the hell are you doing?"
"Ed, get out of here!" Jack ordered.
The guard rushed over to Chien, only to have Jack whisk out his gun and point it directly at his head. "Leave...now."
The guard stared at Jack, terrified, and then followed Miller out of the room. Jack turned his attention back to Chien.
---
Curtis Manning, Deputy Director of CTU, knocked on the door to Bill Buchanan's office.
"Come in," Buchanan muttered, and Curtis stepped inside.
"Bill, we just received a phone call from Division. A package was left in the front of the building about fifteen minutes ago. Inside was Brad Hammond's head, severed from his body."
Buchanan's mouth opened wide in shock. He was speechless.
"There was a small note enclosed in the package as well. A threat from Hitako Sunabi."
Buchanan took a deep breath. "Curtis, get President Keeler on the line. He needs to be made aware of the situation at hand."
Curtis nodded and rushed out of the room, leaving Buchanan to think.
---
Miller and the guard waited patiently outside of the holding cell. They nervously turned their heads as Jack emerged from the room.
"What...what happened?" Miller stuttered.
"He gave us the information we wanted. Let's get out of here."
Jack and Miller left the room together as the guard watched.
The guard got up from his seat, sighed, and opened the door to the holding cell.
He stared in horror at Chien's unmoving body lying on the floor in the middle of the room.
9:58...
9:59...
10:00