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7:00 AM; Tuesday

Beijing China

An American in a bar in far away China, treating himself to vodka with iced tea isn’t really an unusual sight, neither is the awkward smile that adorned his face. What’s weird is that this middle aged man is about to purposely commit a crime just so he could be thrown into jail.

John Baxter, isn’t a bit freaked about the action he was about to take. His orders were clear, ‘get in, take him out, and get out’. Life for John was really simple, evil is to be stamped out, in its entirety. Life to him was black and white, you are either a friend or a foe, no middle ground, no sitting on the fence and if he happens to perceive you as a foe, may the lord save your soul. That’s probably what made him the best at the game, he’s been with the foundation since the beginning of time and you still can’t outdo him.

Grin grin! He peeped at the caller and it was as expected, it was his handler

‘So what now’ he buzzed into the phone, with a dull baritone voice indicating he knew very well who the caller was.

‘Well, it’s close to you and its now’ a lady voice crept from the phone speakers.

‘Okay then, text me the address and some pictures’

.....

The police have just pulled in a drunk driver in Changping district, Beijing, China. John was pretty sure a crime in this area was going to land him in the Qincheng maximum prisons.

‘That’s one step closer to my target’ he said, his voice coming out almost as a chuckle, and it was obvious he enjoyed his job.

Qincheng prison is what you describe as a tooth's nail. Entry was very easy, but exit, nearly impossible. The original jail houses where prisoners are include four three-story brick buildings with sloped roof. The area in front of each building is fenced with brick wall for prisoners to exercise, forming its own independent yard. Each exercise yard is divided into two sections evenly by a wall in the middle, on top of which guard patrolled constantly and would watch both sections. Each building is equipped with electrical devices to ensure no climbing of any type of fence. Each floor of the building is divided into many halls, on one side of the hall, there is a wall, opposite to the wall is where the cells are located, each individually locked with a padlock. There are at least 10 cells in each hall.

The area of each cell is around 20 square meters. The wooden door of each cell is sandwiched between two iron plates, and there are two peepholes: one at the level of the toilet, while the other is above it. Around a foot from the ground, there is a rectangular window for delivering meals. The only furniture inside each cell is a bed that was around a foot from the ground and when a prisoner needs to write a confession or other materials, a desk similar to those in elementary schools would be provided. However, there would never be any chairs and prisoners must sit on the bed to write. For safety and security reasons, every sharp edge inside the cell has been changed to smooth/round shape.

'How the hell I'm I supposed to kill an inmate here and escape before dawn' he thought

'Hey, go to cell seven' he heard an ugly voice say

John lifted his chin, trying to ascertain which of the five men in front of him owns that ugly voice. Turns out it was the ugliest of them all. John couldn't help but smile.

'Something funny?'

John couldn't hold the laugh in, the accent, the tone and the bad English, but none could class the look on the man's face on a humor scale.

Angered at the mockery, the jailer, who would later be known to Baxter as Lee Wong, charged forward, waving his baton furiously.

John's hands were still cuffed, he dodged but couldn't dodge well, more so, dodging meant more beating.

'God knows why y'all Chinese got a nasty temper' he fumed.

He was escorted by another guard to his cell. Forty minutes in a Chinese prison, for assaulting a police man and he was already on the watch list of the prison guards.

Recognizing the Chinese's hacker was easier than he had thought, the dude spots a yellow hair. Baxter's handler had described falcon as one of the best hackers in the world, he was reported to have hacked the North Korean militia when he was just eight.

'Falcon is bipolar and he's not on medication so, interacting with him isn't going to be anywhere near normal' she dished out the facts in her usual demeanor. John, used to be irked by that demeanor, now, it trills him.

'Okay' John had replied her and was about to storm out when she pulled him back.

'Be careful John, Falcon has this uncanny ability to smell danger at a mile'

'Thanks' with that ticklish smile.

The clangs off metals rented the air and jolted John back to the present. Here he was, in a Chinese prison, about to assassinate a paranoid and notorious hacker with nothing but an office pen. A pen he managed to get by irritating the prison guards earlier.

The clangs won't stop. John faced the young man in front of him, apparently, his cell mate.

'Hello!'

'You speak English?'

The guy nodded in the affirmative.

'What's the clang for?'

'You want the short answer or the long answer' his accent all over his statement.

'Well, at this point, I'll settle for any'

'They call themselves the Wu jin clan, some sort of brotherhood. Rumor has it they are even planning something. Something grand.’

'Like what?'

'Like a breakout' his voice turned into a whisper.

'Oh! That’s huge!'

'Tell me man, what's your story?' the Asian queried

'Don't bother, you won't understand my story, by the way, who is that sturdy man seated, the one with beard' taking care not to point" Baxter asked.

'He heads the Wu Jin clan; they've got real connection around here'

'I thought as much, or how the hell did they get metals to clang in a prison!' both finished with a laugh.

"I'm John Baxter" the agent said stretching his hand.

A warden came just then, he came straight to Baxter and led him out. He led him a few tricky corners until they were right in front of an agent he recognised. From the Foundation for sure, you could tell from his badge which he flaunted spontaneously.

"I've been sent to bring you back" That was all he said but it was enough to convince Baxter that a new war has come.

..............