John Patrick Mason

Living… in prison, usually. He was incarcerated on Alcatraz Island in 1962 and escaped in 1963. He was then recaptured and sent to San Quentin, from which he escaped in February, 1976. After he was caught again, he’s been held at Wolfburg since.

Profession… convict. But right now, the former S.A.S. (British military) captain has been released to help the F.B.I. fight terrorism. A dozen United States Marines – a terrorist rogue force – have aimed 15 poison gas rockets at San Francisco from the abandoned prison on Alcatraz. That’s enough poison gas to kill every man, woman and child in the city. Since Mason is the only one ever to escape Alcatraz prison, he’s also the only person who can navigate the tunnels beneath it. Thus they need Mason to get to the terrorists. He’s accompanying the F.B.I.’s top chemical weapons specialist, a “lab rat” named Dr. Stanley Goodspeed.

Interests… leisure, though he finds little of it. Before he entered prison, he read voraciously, and shot a pretty fair round of golf. Even now, he loves nothing more than a good joke – though he finds less and less opportunities to laugh nowadays.

Relationship Status… single, due to his captivity. He officially has no time left for women, and seeing Godspeed’s situation has made him even more sure of that. Godspeed’s gotten a Catholic girl pregnant, and now she’s demanding marriage. (At least, that’s Mason’s interpretation.) It’s strange for Mason to be so invested in someone else’s personal life.

Challenge… saving San Francisco. The disillusioned former Brigadier General Frank Hummel is holding 81 civilian hostages on Alcatraz Island. He's a deranged Marine with something to prove and he is ready and willing to kill with 15 guided rockets armed with V.X. poison. Mason has been promised a pardon if he somehow survives this dangerous mission, though Mason has (good) reason to think the F.B.I. Director will go back on that word. So Mason may instead choose to give Goodspeed the slip at some point, whether or not the rockets have been defused.

Personality… hard-boiled and all-business, yet gruffly charming. Mason in his 60s and he’s been in jail half his life. He won’t be intimidated by a terrorist, even if he is a decorated military man like Hummel. Mason can quote Oscar Wilde one minute and punch you in the face the next. He doesn’t suffer fools gladly. At first he comes off as fairly angry and bitter, but he may well have justification for feeling that way.