-Chapter Two-
Murray walked over to Theora's desk. He had been given specific orders by Cheviot to cover the Zik Zall mall's grand opening. What was on Theora's screen did not look like a shopping mall or any information about it or the shops inside.
"What are you two looking at?" he asked. "You're supposed to be getting ready to cover the mall opening."
"We've got something more important to deal with, Murray," Edison told him. "There's something going on. Something involving high-level weapons."
"It can wait," Murray said, firmly. "Zik Zak is this network's major sponsor. If they're not happy, we could lose our contract with them. That would lose us billions of credits."
"We're talking about the RS40-G, Murray," Edison pointed out. "The laser bazooka."
"Why would anyone want one of those?" Murray asked. "That's military grade stuff. Look, just do this opening quickly. Then you can find out about the gun."
"There are lives at stake here, Murray," Edison pointed out.
"Network 23 is at stake," Murray argued.
"Bryce is one of them," Theora added.
"How is he involved?" Murray asked. This put a different spin on the matter. Bryce was only sixteen after all. And rather naive in regards to worldly affairs, even if he was a genius with technology. If he had been brainwashed…
"I don't know," Edison said. "I only know that he contacted us about ten minutes ago and wanted to know about the RS40-G."
"Could you see where he was?" Murray asked.
"It was audio only," Theora told him. "And the signal was odd. Like it wasn't coming from a standard vu-phone."
"Old wall phone system?" Murray asked.
"I don't think so. The signal pattern suggested it was moving. Must've been something Bryce was working on before he left."
"Either that or something one of his counterparts from another network was working on," Edison suggested. He looked at their expressions. "You think we're the only network that hires from ACS? I'm sure Network 66 has their own little genius as well."
"So you these people, whoever they are, are looking for some kind of think tank?" Murray inquired.
"Most likely," Edison said "But why would a think tank need a weapon? And why something as powerful as that?"
"The reason for the gun is obvious," Janie said as she joined them. "They want to protect themselves. The White Brigade is not the only terrorist organization in the world. There have been others in the past, and there will be more in the future. If Bryce is involved in something military, those organizations are going to make targeting his group a high priority. It's easier to destroy a small group of inventors than it is to destroy a large stockpile of their inventions."
"Bryce would never invent a weapon," Theora pointed out, fiercely.
"Maybe he already has," Murray suggested.
"What are you talking about?" Edison demanded.
"Well, you remember Blipverts? How they made some people explode if they were completely inactive?"
"If they're able to turn our TV sets into weapons…" Theora whispered in horror.
"Nobody would be safe," Edison finished. "But it can't be done, can it? The Blipvert Effect is too random to be used as a weapon. You can't aim it at a specific target."
"Thank God for that," Murray said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I'm going to contact Cheviot. I just hope we can work something out. If we lose the Network's backing, there's no way we can help Bryce."