Present Day - Wednesday Afternoon, 2 PM
The Vale Tech headquarters building looks like a fortress under attack.
Black SUVs circle the perimeter while snipers position themselves on surrounding rooftops. The afternoon sun glints off the glass facade, but the windows that should show busy employees at work are dark and empty.
Aria sits in the passenger seat of an unmarked FBI van three blocks away, watching her life's work being held hostage by international criminals.
"Thermal imaging shows approximately fifty people inside," Agent Kim reports from the driver's seat. "Forty-seven hostages, three captors that we can identify."
"Only three people are controlling an entire building?"
"These aren't amateurs, Dr. Vale. Katarina Volkov's team has military training and access to weapons that
