A Puzzle of Missing Pieces
(Sequal to Chronicles of the Elusive Angel)
Piece 1: Sleep
C/By: Kenjaje
Edited/Revised by: raVen/Tsuki Akurei
Chapter 1: Caging The Rat
Agubada
"Hurry, hit the blast-doors!" Hamsterveil shouted, throwing a fist and pointing his finger at Gantu.
"Blast-doors shutting—system lockdown engaged." He turned to the monitor which upon was displayed the many levels of the structure, and kept an up-to-date record on what areas were being destroyed by the massive tremors and corrosive waters. "The information sir, on the Augmentation project, should I rip it from the console?" Gantu asked, keeping his balance as another rattle shook through the spine of the pillar.
"Yes, there's a data-disc already in the console, put it on that—the files on that console are my only copy." Hamsterveil turned to another console and spoke into a microphone. "625, prepare the ship, I'm opening launch bay 58-733, I want the engines warmed up and ready in 5 minutes, do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Even with your horrible way of speaking," crackled 625's voice over the bad reception, "under this shaking and trembling—" Another tremor hit, "I'd almost leave without you if I knew how to fly this thing!"
"Sir!" Gantu spoke, with an undertone of worriment in his otherwise stern voice.
"What is it?" Hamsterveil snapped, fed up with the rattling and noise of corroding metal.
"Are you sure you didn't already transfer the data beforehand? There's no data on the project whatsoever and there's also no data-disc in any of the drives." Gantu motioned toward several open panels. Hamsterveil's eyes seemed to flare even more brilliantly red than they already were.
"For your sake you'd better be lying, and even if you are I should still throw you on a cold asteroid!" He shouted as he jumped atop the console and pranced to and fro to type out everything on the keyboards. Three words flashed in green across the noisy screen.
Data Not Found
Gantu's hands clasped over his head to block out the severity of Hamsterveil's scream. The rodent kicked his foot against the glass monitor and screamed again with pain. A moment later, his eardrums throbbing, Gantu pointed at the screen and caught Hamsterveil's attention to it:
"Hamsterveil, Your project is no more. Whatever data you were keeping on this computer is now in the hands of your enemies. You have betrayed me, and so I've betrayed you. If you want your precious data back, you can come and take it from me. But it won't be much use for you after Jumba's scrutinized it. I hope you try, I'll be glad to see you again. 600."
"Gantu," The rodent spoke, with a dreadfully calm voice. "We're intercepting them. Before they get back to Earth, we're going to board their ship and take them over."
"How do we even know they made it off the Station?" Gantu inquired.
"Because they always find a way!" He shouted as he jumped on Gantu's shoulder. "Now run us to the ship before I send your fat, stupid head to the other side of the galaxy!"
"624 calling Jumba…624 calling Jumba…hey are you there?"
"…. …. Is Jumba speaking. 624?"
"A tachiba!" She sighed, keeping quiet.
"624? Why is it you are contacting me from ship and not through bedroom door?"
"Sh…Lilo and Stitch are sleeping." She reached over and turned the volume dial lower, just in case he didn't comply. "Jumba, we're earthbound, ETA is about 95 minutes, but we have a problem."
"…Problem?" She was able to make out from the noise.
"Our hyperdrive is out of commission, but that's not our biggest concern. Just a few minutes ago an unidentified blip appeared. We've been in recent contact with Hamsterveil and I have reason to believe that the U-blip is him, copy?"
"Is copy. Are wanting Jumba to assist? May take time to start up ship…"
"Nagetu. It'll be easier, and I imagine better, if you contact the Grand Council. The U-blip is still E-30 minutes from our current position, but an asteroid belt his heading in from the eastern quadrant, which will reach us in E-12 minutes. If you'd like, just patch me through and I'll speak to whoever I can." When the silence broke a rather different voice came through; it wasn't automated, but it seemed very much so. It was distant, almost bored.
"This is the Grand Council, receiving authorized forwarded message from Jumba Jookiba of the planet Earth, who has been forwarded and what business is being addressed?" Angel took a second to think of what to say. "Repea—"
"This is Angel, Experiment 624 of Jumba Jookiba of Earth, forwarder of this authorized messaged. My business: a fugitive of the Grand Council has been spotted on my radar, I wish to report him."
"What fugitive would that be, Angel?" Asked the bored voice.
"Doctor Jacques van Hamsterveil, accompanied by ones Gantu and 625." An abstract fumbling came from the other end.
"F-forwarded message approved and authorized to highest priority, n-now forwarding to Grand Council immediately, please wait one moment!" Angel had predicted the rise in the voice on the other end, and so had already turned the volume down a great deal. Four minutes passed before a new voice crackled on. It was the assertive, calm, and rather drolly unmistakable voice of the Grand Council Woman.
"This is the Grand Council. I understand that you are one of Jumba's creations, and you have information regarding the location of the fugitive Jacques van Hamsterveil?"
"Yes." Angel replied, her once before calm voice now broken; her inner worry, once suppressed, was now relieved.
"We are receiving your coordinates now; will you give us an estimate of the location of the fugitive's ship, Angel?" For some reason, the way this voice said Angel seemed much more friendly and personal.
"Estimated 24 minutes behind our current location; however, in an estimated six minutes, there is an asteroid belt coming from the eastern quadrant, which will, without a doubt, come between our location and the fugitive's ship."
"You're coordinates have been confirmed, our fleet was on their way as of thirty seconds ago. Your trip back to Earth should be a safe one. Are you alone on the ship?" Angel hesitated, but decided to let the Council Woman be aware.
"Nagetu, both Lilo and Stitch are on the ship with me. We have escaped from the planet Agubada, whereon the fugitive's base of operations lies…or what's left of it. Do I need to fill out some type of documentation on this? I'm not very fond of those…" Though she said this as a joke, the Grand Council Woman had no laughter.
"If you are uncomfortable reporting this information, send it through Jumba. It's required of him to send periodical reports anyway and there's never anything useful in them but experiments-captured lists." Angel's ears twitched. "However, the safety of your two passengers now takes my priority." Angel's ears twitched again.
"Now I know why I wasn't made for the military…" Angel thought, "Who cares about us? We're fine. Take care of Hamsterveil before he takes care of us should be the priority if you're looking for safety."
"We will be providing to you an escort to Earth; please keep in contact and send us information on your flight plan to sector—" Angel cut the transmission. She leaned back in the seat. She stared into the deep recesses of space, Earth in view. She grew drowsy, and as her eyes lost focus of the darkness, she recalled the moment of Stitch in the doorway. Lilo's voice, muffled, said in her ear,
"Move!"
Hamsterveil stared idly out the window of his cell. The blood had already rushed to his head from the extreme measures they took to hold him captive. The guard passed for what must have been the thousandth time, but he stopped counting after the third. His diabolical mind was more concerned about other things.
"…Suddenly all the experiments are against me. First that traitorous 600 takes my precious creation from me and now 624 has turned me back into the hands of this scum of a Grand Council! What is it with the 600-series that I failed on? They were all programmed to follow my orders by default unless I should be absent of their presence. Were it not for that little girl and that also-traitorous 626, I would be in control!"
"Light's out Hamsterwheel." One of the guards said in his coarse voice; immediately the lights overhead were muted.
"And I almost had that 626 under my control," he whispered, "But somehow the Augmentation Colonies failed and short-circuited. Also, the colony inside 599 seemed to die out as well. Perhaps there was not enough carbon in their structure. But the colonies in 625 and 624 still remain functional, despite their lack of engineering…" His ears flared, and his expression turned grim.
"624…that traitor. She was the first to go against me, even though she was the one who helped me make the first Kino. And yet she betrayed me as well…in fact, she's the very reason why I'm stuck inside this rotten, stinking, confined prison cell again!"
"Hey! Keep it down in there!" The guard from before tapped his gun against the glass, "Sheesh. You evil geniuses are all alike, always ranting. Go to sleep if you know what's good for you." With that, the guard left.
"I will not sleep until I find some way to get back at that experiment." He growled, muttering his override. His temper was so subtle from thinking that he didn't even hear the automated voice mispronounce his name. "There must be some way…to get rid of that 624…" He peeled through his mind, thinking for moment after moment, until finally an idea came to him.
"Of course! 624 has a fully-functioning colony within her! It's beating through her bloodstream as I speak; it's covering every cell in her body from neuron to erythrocyte. It's the perfect way…and 626, that little girl, and not even my arch-nemesis Jumba Jookiba, can do anything to stop it. 600, I know for a fact, did not make it off the planet, and thus far there has been no discussion between Jumba and the Grand Council woman about the project under even the tightest frequencies, which means she did not get to hand it over in time…it's the perfect way…"
Immediately his hands went to work on the keyboard, typing in various syntaxes and characters and prompts and codes. After a good three hours of this, which to him seemed more like three minutes, he processed the command to an uncharted frequency, which only the colony inside Angel could access.
