HORIZON
A/N: Welcome one, Welcome all. I saw that many of you had many different interpretations on what the prologue meant, and how it was going to come about. Although some of you were closer than others, you were still far off. But don't let that stop you from guessing. I like all the possibilities you've all come up with. Hey I may even change my mind.
Disclaimer: I don't own the original story and the original characters. Buuuutttt… I do own this one. HA. HA.
CHAPTER 2: WATSON
EdWARD
"Your father sure is happy." I said smiling giddily to Bella.
Bella and her father have been spending an inordinate amount of time together over the last week. Their activities ranged widely. She would meet up with him on occasion for lunch at the diner, or make him lunch and eat at the station with him. She and Sue even had him play hooky with them and sneak off to a matinee in Port Angeles.
But Bella and Sue had to pay that back by agreeing to a single fishing lesson with Charlie. But to Bella that was a small price to pay.
But she really surprised him when she got me and Alice to arrange a party bus and get seven passes for him and a few of his closest friends and co-workers to go see the Seattle Seahawks training field to watch them practice.
Charlie had called Bella on the way back telling her about all the highlights and what an amazing time he and his group had meeting and greeting some of his favorite players and getting to know them on a human level. Billy was there as well. Charlie had used this as the 'olive branch' he was looking for to make peace. And for that I felt grateful and relived that he settled his issues outside of Bella and I.
I was able to glimpse bits and pieces every time he made a decision. And from what I saw I could tell he more or less spent the whole day in wide-eyed wonderland.
Still, nothing he, Bella and I did over that past week gave him the excitement and eagerness to prove himself, as he was given today when the federal agents finally arrived.
It really gave him and his fellow officers a sense of purpose to assist in any way on such a large case.
"I bet, like a kid in a candy store." Bella said with a grin and a full mouth as she took the last few bites to finish up her lunch of Salmon and steamed vegetables.
"Hmmm, more like a kid in the candy 'factory', at the end of the production line, sitting with his mouth open." I corrected, taking my place next to Bella.
The girls cracked up at that, and I had earned myself a kiss.
"Good I'm glad for him. This should keep him busy. Because, besides sitting down and reading together, I don't know what more I could do." She said hiding her face behind a smirk, but was unable to cover her emotions.
"Well, it sure is one hell of a distraction." Alice commented, face showing confusion as she peered off looking into the future.
'I'm getting nothing—too many unmade decisions—all strangers - too many people to watch at once.' She said to herself, but I nodded anyway.
"Yeah, tell me about it. What did you and Carlisle see?" Bella coolly inquired, but her emotions were giving away the true depths of her concern.
She was trying to act nonchalantly as possible about this situation, but our connection was letting nothing slip by. But I couldn't blame her for trying to be strong for the family, especially when everyone else here was trying their best to play the situation down as much as possible to keep her and each other from worrying too much. Because truthfully, in terms of being close to endangering the secret, this is the worst it has ever been.
"Well where to begin…" I said thinking on it for a moment. Then I just started at the beginning.
I told her after I left her this morning, Carlisle and I took to the woods and ran to Port Angeles to where their main command center is going to be for the duration of their investigation here. I then began to watch and listen in for any signs of early arrivals, but there were none. They were coming just as Alice predicted, all at once. Our wait wasn't long.
I told her that they came with a parade like pageantry, slowly driving down Main Street in a motorcade of black vehicles, and mobile command trucks. Once the lead SUV found parking, all other subsequent vehicles followed its lead and parked where they could.
I explained that after looking at the number of agents that filed out of those SUV's, and listening to the determination in their minds to find answers, that Carlisle and I had some concerns about being able to leave even after the wedding has been completed.
"But like I told Carlisle, as determined as they all are, none of them are hopeful about finding anything this far out from ground zero; and that their mental determination seems to be based on the fact they have no other choice but to do as they are told and find a clue that can hopefully lead them to another clue."
"So basically they aren't looking for anyone in particular; just crossing off areas." Esme surmised, both trying to understand herself and for Bella's benefit.
"Precisely, right now it's just a search for clues. But that doesn't mean that there still won't be inquires, and personal interviews of each and every town member, not to meant the complete grid by grid search of the forest surrounding that said town." I explained.
"We'll let them do what they need to do. We will just have to be more vigilant." Carlisle stated.
I went back to my debrief of the day's events, explaining that in only an hour after setting up the chain of command in Port Angeles, A new motorcade arrived, and without pause, drove right past PA, and headed straight towards Forks. Carlisle and I sped back here, getting ahead of the motorcade and took up positions well behind Charlie's office, perched high up overlooking the whole event.
Without a word, Charlie knew what this was about, and was eager to be of assistance in any way.
The agents arrived first, drove past the frozen onlookers and set themselves up at Charlie's office. They parked and linked their mobile command trucks together. Then after another hour or so, three trucks filled with National Guard troops arrived. They setup 8 oversized tents in the forest.
The plan was simple, the agents would interview the townsfolk and the National Guard would search the woods for signs of anything suspicious or campsites that look like they were setup for an 'extended' stay. In either case, their jobs remained the same. They were to find evidence to either qualify a continued search of this area, or disqualify it as quickly as possible and move on to the next.
"Well since they haven't set out yet, I think its best that we hunt tonight and fill up as much as possible while the risk of exposure is low." Alice Suggested.
"Yes, I think that's wise" Carlisle quickly approved.
"Wise, but perhaps unnecessary, it looked to me like they brought enough men to get the job done in days, rather than weeks."
"Well that's good—I guess." Alice considered aloud, rubbing her temples in a circular motion with her two fingers. "Right now, I can't get a read on anything they do. They may all have the same mission, but it's like they are all making their own decisions. Add that to the fact that I don't know any of them…I would say we have a real problem. My ability to give us any real warning is going to be limited, if not close to nonexistent in this situation."
That caused Carlisle, Esme and Bella, to internally panic slightly. From Carlisle's and Esme's minds, I could tell that they were relying on 'both' our gifts to get us through this, and now it seems -to them- that we were half blind.
But I turned my concern to my mate. The family's calm, confident façade was fading in and out with the news and Alice's declaration, now that fear was creeping its way into all of us; she was my number one priority
"No worries love," I said kissing Bella's head to pushing calm on her. That caused the others to straighten up, and go back to the façade of trying to maintain a light atmosphere. "Alice's issues are easily fixed." I said thinking on it a bit more.
"Hmmm…Nice one!" Alice cheered, seeing my plan.
"Bella, how about you and Alice bring Charlie and the others lunch tomorrow? You can talk it up with your father, while Alice charms the higher echelon as she gets to know them little bit better."
"Will that work?" Esme queried
"Yes, they have a meeting scheduled with your dad around eleven am. We can take advantage of that, since we know where all the 'brass' is going to be. Alice can charm them like she did with Charlie. Hopefully that will be enough to eliminate a few blind spots for her." I offered.
Bella's face and emotions quickly turned from confusion and apprehension to acceptance and pride.
"Edward are you giving me a mission?" Bella started smiling widely, feigning shock
"Hmm, you up for it?" I lightly challenged with a raised eyebrow and a grin.
"Not a problem." Bella said smiling confidently, as she reached out to high five Alice across the kitchen island. "Consider it done."
"Good, that's good." Carlisle said soberly then turned to me. "But just to be on the safe side, while these agents are here, you and I or you and Esme will do regular patrols of the investigation. Because if trouble does find us, I want as much advance notice as possible."
We all nodded.
"Ok, in the meantime, I want everything that is not essential to our day to day lives, packed up and ready to go. I doubt that we will be able to actually transport anything given the dragnet around us right now—''
"We won't." Alice quickly confirmed,
"—But… let's get it all prepared for any openings anyway."
"Okay" We all said in unison again.
"I won't lie; this situation could be potentially bad for us. We have so many secrets and cover stories to protect, and about six hundred men trying to find clues to a crime we did not commit, but we're undoubtedly aware and a part of. Our only relief is that they don't know that it is us that they are looking for, and I would like to keep it that way." He said panning his eyes over us. "Historically, this is the part where I tell you all that we will continue to go about our lives normally, but I can't see how that could be right for us given the situation. So I think it's best that after Alice gets what she needs tomorrow, we stay to shadows—out of sight, and god willing, out of mind as well."
"And Bella?" Esme asked "She still needs to see her father Carlisle."
Carlisle looked to Esme then, looked to Bella who was in the process of giving Esme a small smile for her consideration.
"Bella? What do you think is best?" Carlisle asked, but in his mind hopes that she came to the 'right' decision about putting herself out there now, at a time like this.
"From what has been said I think you're right Carlisle; out sight and out of mind maybe is the best thing right now for everyone." Bella acquiesced much to Carlisle's internal relief. "Plus from what I know of Charlie, I know he will be throwing himself into the mix whenever and wherever he can; so I doubt my absence will be missed. To be honest, tomorrow may be the last time I could probably sit him down long enough to have a one on one with him before the wedding, so I guess I should count my blessing and make the most of it."
"Yes, that would be my suggestion as well." Carlisle gently stated.
BELLA
-Two days later-
"We haven't done that in a while." Edward said smiling at me serenely as he stared at me lovingly.
I hummed contently in reply, staring back at him just as lovingly. "That's because we haven't needed to since you made love to me for the first time, lover. I almost forgot how wonderful and giving the act was."
"Giving...that's a good word for it. Suites your selfless nature." He said stroking my cheeks softly, "Thank you love. I needed that."
"I know" I whisperingly replied, stroking his back. "And I still have more to give if you need."
"I know," he said just as softly, then proceeded to slowly move in and pecked me on the lips, initiating round two.
Two sessions later, we were under our electric blanket, licking and comforting one another.
The things Edward and Esme found out on their patrol must have been troubling for him, but after our love making, it was almost forgotten, and the part that hung on the fringes of my memory, I wasn't going to bring up before he was ready to speak about it.
Now, he was relaxed. A far cry from the self-flagellating version of himself he was a few hours ago when he and Esme returned, and I intended on keeping him that way for as long as possible.
All I felt then was his crushing guilt and regret, and all I heard was blame being cast on himself for yet again making another decision that endangered the people he loved.
The family was slightly confused by his tantrum, but personally I needed no clues to know that he was speaking about our wedding, and how much of an inconvenience it was now that the investigation was well under way. It was an opinion I shared with him again and again in private after we found out about the impending investigation, but one that he seems to have taken upon himself to take full responsibility for; and I wasn't going to allow that.
Our nuptials may be an anchor to the family, giving the situation, but it was something we both agreed upon. And not only that, after a thorough discussions with Alice, we 'know' that and any plans to cancel it and leave, like we should've weeks ago, will now be under suspicion.
So not bothering with the debriefing when he and Esme came back, I rose from my seat, unable to sit idly by as he belittled himself, and quickly grabbed Edward by the wrist and walked us upstairs without another word to the family. Edward was hurting, and he was my priority. The meeting could wait.
The summer rains were coming down heavily now. The fat drops were pelting our large window, drowning out almost all other sound but the winds itself; and personally I loved it.
Laying there like that, listening to all that was going on outside as Edward slowly licking up and down my neck, causing my eyes to slowly roll in my head as my mind equates all the sensations I was feeling at the moment.
Laying on our sides facing one another, he pressed my naked body tightly to his own; reminding me of something I already felt I knew. And that was; the world could be in chaos, but as long as I had him, I would be happy.
The clock read 9:46 pm, and I mentally noted to myself that I would have Edward ready to talk to his family about his frustration by eleven, then I went back to being selfish.
"That felt…wonderful. But being with you always does." Edward complimented, earning himself a long soft deep kiss.
"…Mmm, I know what you mean. It all just seemed to… vanish." I whispered softly.
"Hmm, to you maybe, I'm doing everything I can to block out some to the 'extracurricular activities going on around the house right now."
I couldn't help my eyes brows shooting up to my hairline, and the snort that followed. "Really?!" was all I could say before I broke out into a fit of giggles. "Awe, I wish I could kiss it and make it better"
But he saw right through that lie.
"Not funny love." He said lightly, smiling and pecking me on the nose. "If I was alone, I would have thrown myself into the rain looonnnggg ago"
"I bet" I said chuckling at his discomfort some more. "And if I wasn't still prone to sickness, I would join you."
"Mmm, now that's something to look forward to." He whispered with newfound excitement. "This rain is heavy, but it's nothing compared to how we get during lighting storms."
"What happens then?" I asked clearly excitedly with genuine curiosity.
"Hmm you'll see." He said deliberately playing coy. "But let me warn you now, I don't think even your shield could withstand the pounding it will get then, so I really hope you'll be fully changed when it happens."
I was rubbing my thighs together after hearing that.
"…Wow…that's ah…that really sounds like something to look forward to alright." I said slightly panting, overlooking Edward's accomplished grin.
'Smug ass'
"So what is everyone else doing?" I asked giving him a smug grin of my own, as his fell like it was in a high gravity environment.
But from his playful emotions, and my mischievous one, he knew I did that on purpose.
"Such a bad girl," He growled cheekily. "What am I to do with you?"
"Well last I checked, bad girls, *kiss* get punished." I saucily replied.
"Mmm, that they do!" He said sexily, right before a flood of mischief entered him, and his infamous grin took up residence on his face.
"So right now Carlisle is grinding into our mother heavily as Esme compliments him over and over on his length and girth. And Alice is on the window sill in her room looking out on the rain, gently massaging her 'button', as she and Jasper try having phone sex for the first time-"
I screamed so loud and so fast I momentarily forgot that is was me.
"Oh my GOD! Edward! You...you jackass! Why the hell did you tell me that?!" I yelled as he roared in laughter in my face.
"Well now you know how it feels love. Not so funny is it?" He said through his chuckles, ignoring me as I smacked his chest again and again.
I laid there as he chuckled at my dumbfounded expression. I stared wide eyed into the distance, positioned in his arms, still mind blown at the images that were now flooding it.
"Do you feel sufficiently punished now my beautiful bad girl?" He surveyed still chuckling, as he kissed my face, pecking me here and there.
I nodded automatically. "I really do. Ugh! I can't get the images out of my head." I said bringing my hands up to cover my ears as I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Yeah it's a real mood killer." He said with dry humor, causing me to snort.
"That's an understatement. Aaaahhh, and it's still playing in my head. Ugh! Jesus, how can you stand it?"
"Well you were a good distraction, till you brought it up."
"Of course, it's my fault I'm suffering," I mockingly huff, earning a chuckle from him. "Fine, I will never make fun of your 'curse' again. Okay? Just please, can you do or say something to take my mind off of it?"
"Okay…" He said, then looked at me with consideration. "Then how about you tell me what you know about Watson?"
That did it.
I had felt his emotions turn serious before his question, but I never expected him to hit me a riddle?
"What? Who is Watson?" I asked genuinely lost to what he was trying to get at.
"The proper phrasing love, would be, 'what is Watson'." Edward corrected. I nodded minutely, prodding him along. "And the response to that would be a cognitive database that is one short step of artificial intelligence."
Seeing my slight surprise, but feeling my confusion he went on.
"To the public sector, Watson is the new 'thing' in medicine. It's a diagnostic tool used to help doctors prevent misdiagnosis and hospitals from costly lawsuits. It a database made up of information containing every known case of every disease or injury and the causes behind them. And with that machine, all a doctor has to do is input his findings and Watson will deliver to him or her 'its' diagnosis and treatment plan, literally taking the guess work out of medicine."
"Wow, that's amazing. Something like this really exists?" I said truly amazed at this wonder.
"Yes, I…I foolishly thought it was amazing as well when I first heard about it and brought it to Carlisle. But he didn't share my enthusiasm about what this new technology promises to be. He didn't like the idea of a computer taking over such a crucial part of the treatment process. Because to him a doctor is a title to be earned by individuals who were willing to take the time to understand the profession and all its intricacies till they know it backwards and forwards. And something like this will only open the door to halfhearted individuals looking for the title and a bigger paycheck. But like always, I didn't listen, and only considered my views. I forged ahead anyway and invested a large amount of our company funds into the development of Watson. And now it looks like our ridiculous increase in year over year profits wasn't the only return we would get back from that investment."
It hit me then…
"You…when you came back, you weren't talking about the wedding were you?" I felt a pinch of melancholy for being so wrong about something that concerned Edward.
He shook his head minutely, then kissed my lips sweetly feeling my hurt, doing his best to kiss it away. It worked.
"No love"
"But I still don't get it. Why did that make you so upset? How is any of what's going on here connected to that?"
"Because today I found out what the 'private-sectors' are doing with it. I…I didn't think it through, I was so stupid. I had no idea it could come back on us like this. I only let myself see what they were showing. I didn't even bother to consider all the applications of this. I didn't-"
"Edward…stop, just stop it." I said sitting up quickly taking his face in my hands. "You're ranting and just berating yourself. It's not helping. Just… pause for a second and 'talk' to me. Help me understand, I want to help if I can."
"Okay…but first." Was all he said, before he got up and threw me a shirt. "If we're going to talk seriously, then you're gonna have to put those away." He said trying to be humorous.
I gave him a small smirk for the attempt, but my thoughts were still on the puzzle that was placed in front of me.
We got dressed quickly, me in a v-neck white shirt and light grey jeans and him in faded black jeans only.
'So much for trying to keep things serious'I thought watching his 'V' hungrily as I followed it towards his uncut man-scape.
I was about to hop back into our bed, but he nodded towards the black couch by the window.
Taking one of the spare electric blankets and plugging it into the wall, He sat first, sitting the length of the couch with one leg stretched out as he held both arms out holding up the Electric blanket, gesturing for me to sit on his lap.
I quickly obliged him.
He felt that he had lost some of his previous heat, but the blanket was warming up and would soon stop that.
We sat, facing the windows and watched the heaving rain, and I imagine them feebly trying their best to break through.
I laid my head back, and closed my eyes slightly as he nuzzled his nose against my neck and hair, breathing me in.
He never missed a moment to show me just how cherished I really was.
I loved him all the more, and he knew it.
But after a few moments, he soon calmed his feeling and was determined once again. So I knew he was ready to start.
"Bella, imagine for a second, two police officers interviewing two men about the same topic but at different ends of town. Now imagine that instead of placing that story on paper, they are instead typing it and adding it into a database, but not just any database, a cognitive, almost artificially intelligent database. Now imagine if one man, let's call him Tom, says something that doesn't match what the other man, let's call him Richard, says. That database will immediately know and it will be flagged for further questioning. And will keep getting flagged till it has been satisfactorily answered or system has enough false information, to 'assume guilt' and tells the officer's to arrest one of the two men or both."
My eyes went wide.
"Are you telling me that they are using that computer out there? Right now?"
He just nodded slowly. "Yes, it came today. It seems like they spent the whole first day just interviewing and searching the woods, and now thanks to the weather, they have spent the entire day inputting data and going where the computer sends them to ask 'follow-up' questions. Long story short, they are not joking around with this. They want answers and they are going to any lengths to get the right ones fast."
"But why do you feel responsible?" I asked gently
"Because before IBM took it, and became the principal investor, it was us, or namely me. It would have been brought to the world by Pacific Northwest Trust if we didn't 'allow' IBM to just take the lion share in order to keep the secret and our family company out of history." He said, and I still felt the last bit of resentment over that fact.
"We were first to the table, first to recognize the concept and initial ideas behind it. And it was our money that I used to bring that concept to a level that ended up garnering the attention of companies like IBM, Oracle, and Microsoft. This system would not have existed if it were not for the decisions I made. But it was only meant to save lives, not this. I never even imagined the cross applications of something like this. I never would have…"
"Stop, you're doing it again. Stop berating yourself" I gently warned. "Focus, you have done nothing wrong Edward. So far, all I can see is your intentions to do good, like always. But I have a feeling there is more to it than what you've explained so far, so why don't you tell me why you feel this could be so damaging to us."
"Well, hear it all then give me your opinion." He said still directing his blame and guilt inward. I just shook my head.
"Fine, let's use another 'hypothetical' shall we?" He was being almost rudely sarcastic, but like always he was directing it at himself. "Let's say during the course of an investigation of a certain topic or 'name' keeps coming up, and let's say for argument sake it's our name. Let's say that through the course of this investigation our infamy has caused our names to appear far too many times inside of that database, so many times in fact, that we could no longer be ignored, despite our clean record. And that system having seen this, has flagged us for investigation. An investigation that we don't want, but are now going to be forced to endure, thanks to yours truly."
I caught on quickly, "Wait, are you saying that we actually have been flagged?"
"Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying. Our entire family became suspect number one today. Soon it will only be a matter of time before they come here with their questions."
I sat up and quickly reminded myself what Esme once told me. Panic solves nothing and helps no one. So taking a breath I mentally took a step back and widen my view of this whole situation. I was quiet for a long while, while I put the pieces I had in its proper place.
"Okay, okay, I see why you were upset, but what I don't see is why you chose to blame yourself. Because the way I see it, the way anyone would see it is if it wasn't you then it would've been someone else. Like you said, the initial concept was ingenious and it would have surely caught the eye of another investor. Right?" I asked wanting him to acknowledge that truth.
"Hmph, I guess you're right. But since it was-"
"It's not your fault! You invested in a med-i-cal device;" -I exaggerated the word- "It's not your fault if someone else turned it into a weapon. If you had invested in a steel company instead, would you blame yourself if others took that metal and bent it and twisted it into a gun? No, of course not. You would've have recognized that you had your own motives, and they had theirs. So quit it." I warned with finality, and immediately I felt his guilt and self-hatred diminish, right before he broke out into his famous grin, as he shook his head and stared at me with pride.
"Oh no you don't, don't smile at me," I told him tartly, "Jesus, I almost wanted to smack your stubborn head like Rosalie does to Emmett. Stuff like this shouldn't be some great revelation Edward. You could really be obtuse sometimes, you know that?" I firmly chided, but finished with a light hearted smirk.
"I know, I'll try to do better, promise" Looking properly contrite.
"That's all I ask." I said giving him a peck. "But as for this situation, I think I get what you're saying but we were always expecting to be questioned right? So what really changed?"
"Well I guess that is my fault. Maybe I wasn't clear enough" He said evenly, but I felt the mischief behind his words.
I turned on him and squinted my eyes; I knew he figured out how much I disliked it when he blamed himself.
"Keep joking like that and you're gonna be the first of your kind with a purple nurple." I said fiercely trying to hide the humor in my emotions as I gripped his nipple between my thumb and index finger.
He threw his head back in laughter, and I fell in love with him all over again.
Nothing made me happier than a happy Edward.
Soon I was peppered in kisses, and I playfully tried to bat them away trying to be serious,
"Stay focused, this is the serious couch re-mem-ber? If you wanted that kind of attention we should've stayed on the bed." I said trying to be stern, but failing.
"All right, your loss."
"Uh huh, well last time I checked, I was mated to you, so if my math is right, half of that loss is yours."
His chuckle burst from his lips as if he was incapable of stopping it.
"Nice one." He said after giving me my prize that came in the form of a long moaning kiss against my lips.
"I know, but we should really get back to the matter on hand. You were telling me something about our 'impending doom'. So go on then, make dumb human understand." I mocked once more in my best caveman voice, causing him to grin widely and shake his head.
"You are far from dumb, but as per your request and previous inquiry; yes, questions were something we expected, but that system was not. And that changes everything." He tried to stress at the end.
"Edward, ultimately it's all just information based off of rumors; rumors that you've all planted and planned on them finding out anyway. You and Alice should be able to handle that right? You both could easily navigate the rest of us through it can't you?" I asked still confused as to how anything really changed.
"If it was just rumors, yes. But my concern is what's going to happen when they start asking questions that dives deeply into our personal history. We could be in real trouble then." He said not bothering to hide his concern, and I wasn't bothering to hide my confusion, so I knew he wasn't done.
"Bella as you know we have made sure that nobody knows much about us. We have only 'given' out as much information as needed to seem normal. The only personal information we let deliberately slip or planted was our personal relationships and some financial ones. And if this was a 'normal' man to man investigation, we could answer questions while Alice and I looked into the future or minds to see if we were off the hook. But that system doesn't only reference and double-check the rumors around town, it's tied into a larger government network. It fact checks against all available government and non-government information as well, bypassing the need for warrants. It basically acts on its own. Finds evidence, then asks for permission to use it against you later. Meaning, if we say we've been to a place, it is automatically going try and match dates, times, as well as go the extra mile and run a facial recognition from the security cameras at both airports, making sure we went and arrived when and where we said we would go. But that's not all, if we said we had met, worked with or spoken to specific individual, such as a professional colleague in Carlisle's case or teacher in our case, then the system would notate that and give instructions to follow-up 'in person', as well as tell the agents the questions 'it' needs answered; and it would do all that in a matter of minutes. The in-person interviews and responses will take time, but with so many false documents, none of our responses would be verifiable. Things will quickly go from difficult to impossible for us."
My gasp came even as a surprise to me, when I realized why Edward was nervous.
"Good, I think you're getting it now." He said, causing me to nod blankly. "We tell fantastic lies, but none of them would serve us now. And as for the truth, Jasper already pointed out our cover was never meant to be prodded into so deeply. Bella, our background history is at most three tiers deep. It only gives a 'verbal' history of where we've 'said' we've been, and what we've said we've done there; and where we were before that. But if anyone tries to investigate beyond the paperwork, and actually goes to these places or even try to speak to anyone we we're 'suppose' to have met while we were there, then…" He said pausing to shake his head as he let me fill in the blanks for myself. My eyes went wide with realization. "…Bella we are in real jeopardy of being asked question we can't answer, and the truth is out of the question. And if we leave now, it would be the same as admitting guilt."
The pace of my breathing increased the more he went on… I was so lost in thought that I didn't even notice he had stopped speaking to look me over with concern.
"So we can't lie, and can't tell the truth. We can't leave, and we shouldn't stay…" I whisper almost to myself.
'We're trapped'
"Oh fuck" I breathily got out as my paced breathing increased. "Edward, you have to tell everyone, they need too…"
"Ssssshh, shh, shh, they know love, they know. They heard it all. Alice has informed Jasper. Rose and Emmett were brought in to listen to her report on speaker phone."
"Rose has already suggested that we leave now. Her reasoning is that we have left places before when suspicion was becoming too much, and this is no different."
"What?-But that will…"
"… Make us look even more suspicious?" He finished for me "I know love. But from her perspective, we are better off 'looking' suspicious, than actually being caught for what we really are."
I thought on that, and I knew she was right. Of course she was, even I had suggested the same thing myself when I first heard about the Seattle investigation making its way to forks. But when I thought about it then, I considered it a 'temporary' measure. But with this new system, I knew it was no longer a matter of 'out-living' the ones looking to persecute us, because now, we were battling with something that was seemingly as immortal as my family was. Our enemy was information itself.
I didn't need Edward to connect the dots; my imagination was doing a bang up job. I knew if we ran and turned ourselves into full-blown suspects, that within a week, our 'faces' will be on every TV, newspaper, and telephone pole, effectively bringing an end to our lives in the regular world.
"It…It won't work…but…what other choices are there?" I asked meekly.
Staring out the window I suddenly felt like the storm outside seems a lot more peaceful than the one on this side of the glass.
Edward immediately flooded me with his love, but his fears, concern, and anxiety filed in behind it, causing my heart to race even more. He couldn't properly mix the emotions that he wanted, and that was just another testament of how dire this situation was. Because he couldn't control what was already controlling us.
"It's not really a choice, but Emmett and Jasper went to work on something that might help things if we decide to stay and chance it."
I felt a spark of hope, but I immediately restrained it. It was too early for that.
"What is it?"
"Something Em hopes to keep our toes out the fire. Emmett and Jasper are in Emmett's computer room. Their using his air gap systems and is now writing some additional code to the original sweep program that Emmett had in place for the family already. But instead of just tracking and deleting any press, comments, emails, or photos that mention us off any social media sight, he is trying to write something that tracks requests of our alias's and corrupts the actual images or sound bite as its being downloaded, using every possible search word or 'tag' for our names."
"What? How?...Is that…is that even possible?"
"Yes, very possible. But only if you make arrangements with the broker ahead of time."
Looking at and feeling my confusion, Edward continued without prompt.
"Satellites love" He said pointing to the sky "They are the brokers of the internet. Hardware ran and manipulated by coded software, just like the ones Emmett is planning on using."
"Can he really do that? Won't he get caught?"
"Not if he does it right. Plus he is using an Air gap computer to do all his writing. It's a stand-alone non-networked computer. It has no wireless broadband signal capabilities or LAN ports to be infiltrated from; making it completely untraceable and un-hackable from the outside. Leaving him free and clear."
"Are you for real? Something like that exists?"
"Yes, it's as real as you and me. It's the only computer system the high security Government agency around the world use, as well as the only computers used inside of power plants. It's stand-alone built for and within small networks of servers that aren't connected to anything but one another. There's nothing but air between these and other networks - hence the term "air gap" - and transferring data between them is done the old-fashioned way: moving disks and flash drives back and forth by hand, via "sneaker net." Edward said sounding more and more impressive as he went along, but none of it was getting me anywhere.
"Okay…so you're saying he won't get caught, right?" I asked looking for clarification
"Right…"He sounded out
"But can he really hack a satellite?" I asked skeptically
"Why not, regular people do it every day. Bella, every time you send an email, download information, even change from one webpage to the next, your sending commands up to a satellite where it is processed and then returns your request in the form of the 'change' you requested or website that you wanted to visit. It all just happens so fast that we sometimes forget all the steps involved." He explained causing me pause then nod as I came to the realization for myself.
"I guess…I didn't think of it like that."
"Nobody really does, trust me. But doing what he is attempting is not without its difficulty. Satellites are networked to a point, but act as a mirror for information with one another so that we can have access to the web twenty four hours a day. But past that, they are also stand-alone systems. Meaning you can't hack them from the ground and outside of their own network. Simply put, the thing that controls the internet has no internet access itself.
"A security measure to prevent someone like Emmett from infiltrating and moving Satellites from their path. Meaning, you – a civilian, won't be able to cause them to crash to the earth without having to go to their command location. But that is not what we are looking for. You may not be able to do that without breaking in to some high security government area, but you can manipulate the information they send and receive, if you know how."
"And Emmett and Jasper do?"
"Yes, Em does, and Jasper will back him up. You see love; all information goes up as instructions or 'packets'. If you request a download, your request becomes packet filled with commands to a satellite, for one specific thing, like a…barcode for a very 'specific' request. The satellite then finds the location of that barcode, quickly uploads it once that information is found, then sends that information to you in the form you requested it. And in there, between the research and retrieval of your request, is where Emmett's program kicks in. His program is for the satellites 'information transferring program' themselves, not the information being requested. He is going to program in an 'if and then' scenario into them letting them know what to do when a 'certain scenario's' takes place. And in this situation, the rules are as follows, "If" Cullen, McCarthy, Hale, Whitlock, Swan or any other past or future aliases or names get requested, "Then" add blur, twist, bend, saturate, noise, to image and sound or delete. Meaning, any images or sounds will be pre-edited with blurs, bends, high saturations, noise or come back so corrupted it can't be read or seen at all, hopefully making it impossible for any investigators to reach any viable conclusion beyond what we tell them."
"Will that work?" I asked still highly skeptical that something of this magnitude can actually be pulled off.
"It will if they are successful, but it won't be easy. This will take time, even for the two of them. As a matter of fact, while Emmett and Jazz write up the code; Rose, Kate, and Irina have just been instructed by Alice to make their way into the nearest city to buy laptops and then rush to the nearest television broadcast site."
Things were moving that fast already? I thought, and for some reason that made me even more nervous.
"What? Why?" I asked unable to block my shock.
"Satellite dishes love. TV stations have some of the largest broadcast dishes earth side. And compared to military installation, they have the least amount of security around them. My guess is there are probably only four or five guards guarding them at a time, with easily dodge-able cameras overlooking everything. From Alice's visions, Em will be looking to them to increase his signal strength for his transmission. He needs its higher 'signal frequency' to carry his code. Which means, that location is ideal for temporary occupation while Emmett uses them to send his pirate signal and instructional code when he is ready."
"And the guards?"
"Will be knocked out by Kate mostly. There is no need to hurt them more than that love, and when Jasper gets there, he will probably put them into a dream state while the others work."
"How much time will they need?"
"Writing the lines of code itself will take the longest. I…I really don't have an estimation on how long that part will take, but, the actual upload can be done in minutes."
The panic that was subsiding was back in full force.
"But…all that could take days then. Jesus…won't they be here tomorrow?" I asked Edward through fresh panic.
"Most likely yes,"
"But then…that would mean?"
All he did was nod at my realization that our families efforts may be in vain.
I turned and laid my back against his chest and my head on his shoulder as I stared up at the ceiling, letting his tight hold on me comfort me as much as possible while I desperately try and figure a way out of this situation for us.
Scanning the ceiling and my mind, a thought occurred to me, granting me a moment of reprieve from the onset of panic I was feeling.
"Wait! Wait one second. Don't we have rights? Can they really do that? What about our privacy? Do we even have to answer anything at all? Do we even have let them in?" But as soon as the words left my mouth I knew I was pulling at straws.
He shook his head. "Acts of terrorism and the patriot act have caused most government agencies to turn a blind eye to almost all privacy laws in the name of homeland security." He explained patiently. "And as for everything else, that would just incriminate us further."
"Well what can we do?" I asked feeling like the walls were closing in.
"You mean other than run away, and wait for humanity to do something so incredibly stupid that it sends itself back to the Stone Age?"
'Huh? What?'
And right there I realized he had done the impossible. The tiny snort came out of nowhere and I found that I was smiling at his sarcastic humor he somehow found in the face of the situation.
"Really Edward? Jokes? You've been hanging out with Emmett way too long." I lightly chastised, as a little bit found its way between all my fear and angst.
"Well if that is what you think, then how about when we go into hiding, you and me find our own cave?"
I was giggling at the thought despite myself.
I sat up then, turned and placed my hand on the side of his face.
"I seriously love you, you know that?" I told him pushing all my gratitude and love I could find in me then, his way, before cementing my statement with a chaste but passionate kiss.
"I most certainly do." He said staring intently back at me, as we both took a step back from the edge.
His head suddenly jerked to the left then smirked.
"Come love, Carlisle wants to have a family mee-"
"Edward?" I whispered, when he paused.
His face and emotions went into shock, quickly changing to fury as his eyes suddenly blackened.
"FUCKING IDIOTS!" Alice & Edward both roared.
[END CHAPTER]
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Oh oh, what now kiddies? Stay tuned!
[Sorry for the Mature language, but I needed it then]
A/N: Yes, Watson is REAL. NO, Edward didn't really invest in Watson in the real world. And yes you can google it if you want.
Yes Air gap computers are real, their civilian term is stand-alone network computers. They don't allow 'internet' or any external communications. All data transfers are done the old fashion way.
But if you don't think there is militaristic applications to a system like Watson then you're just kidding yourself.
The first time I saw Watson on a commercial I immediately was impressed, then I realized 'oh crap' this could be bad. Watson is a program and most programs can be rewritten for other purposes, and it is very plausible that government agencies could adapt this for their investigation's. Especially one of this magnitude.