CYBERCHASE: THE ANDROIDIAN REVOLUTION
By Grand High Idol
Disclaimer: I do not own Cyberchase, nor any of its characters.
CHAPTER ONE
Northern Frontier, 8:58 a.m.
The incident itself, however, occurred hours earlier, but the roots of that incident trace back to what seemed like another normal morning at the Northern Frontier, one of the dreariest places in cyberspace. Normally at this time Hacker would be out wreaking havoc at another distant cybersite, but surprisingly this time he wasn't planning on destroying anything. Being one to always keep his workspace clean, he was now doing exactly that to the main control room.
"Filth," he muttered angrily to himself as he cleaned off the control panel. "Aren't those dead-brain duncebuckets aware that they create more of a mess than those bratty kids! If those two get this place any dirtier, I'll—"
"Morning, Boss!"
Still peeved, he turned his head toward the source of the interruption and saw Buzz and Delete, sure enough, walking out of one of the hallways that led to the main control room. Buzz looked like he had seen better days, and Delete was his usual giddy self; it was certain that they had just woken up. Delete had been the one that had said good morning to his boss, but Hacker was unfazed by this cheerful remark.
"What are you two doing up so late?" Hacker growled at them as they took their seats at the table in the center of the room. Buzz groggily rested his head in his hand, while Delete picked up a magazine that was resting on the table and started to read it…well, in the best way that he could, anyway. Delete looked up from the magazine shortly after and made his response.
"But boss, it's only nine a.m.—"
"Don't sass back at me!" Hacker snapped at the robot. Delete cowered back and hid his face behind the magazine, his gaze still locked on his boss, while Buzz opened one eye, then closed it shortly after and let out a tired sigh as Hacker continued: "I have been fed up with all of this filth lying around us…thus, I am making a proposal to rid the entire area of filth, dirtiness, and anything in other words that is not acceptable by me. Of course, I am certainly not going to do each and every thing by myself, so you two are going to clean the entire area surrounding the Grim Wreaker…and I want you done by noon today."
Buzz groaned, then said weakly, as he was still half asleep at the moment, "Boss, don't you know how big an area 'dat is…?"
"NOW!" Hacker shouted angrily at the two, which startled them both so much that they nearly fell out of their seats. This appeared to serve as the perfect wake up call for Buzz; he had now snapped out of it and was wide-awake. Not wanting to disturb his boss anymore, he quickly jumped down from the chair and bolted off toward the doorway that led outside; Delete pulled the magazine he had been reading off of his head (it had come to be there when he was startled), then quickly left after his brother. Hacker growled in frustration, then resumed to his cleaning of the control panel.
Buzz and Delete, meanwhile, quickly ran through the door that led to the sliding platform, each shoving the other in order to get out the door first. Buzz succeeded, of course, sending Delete onto his side as he ran down the platform triumphantly. Delete made an annoyed noise, then got back on his feet and brushed the dust off of himself. He then looked angrily at Buzz.
"You didn't need to push me that hard!" he snapped angrily. Buzz turned his gaze toward the ceiling, apparently trying to ignore him, and walked over toward the nearest pile of overturned boxes that were scattered throughout the entire lair. Delete huffed; he apparently knew that Buzz was ignoring him as well, and instead of starting an argument walked down the remainder of the platform to where Buzz was currently standing.
"Can you believe 'dis?" Buzz asked his brother, holding his hands out at the piles of scattered boxes that lay before them. He then thrust his hands angrily to his sides as he continued, sounding vexed, "I mean, really…how many supplies do we go 'troo a year?"
Delete stared at the tremendous pile of boxes, then looked up toward the ceiling and innocently played with his hands for a while. Buzz growled, seeing that he was not planning on answering anytime soon, then walked up to the nearest box and grabbed the top flap with both hands. He then pulled on it, but considering his size and weight this wasn't going very well. In frustration, he turned to his younger brother.
"I can't get 'dis…Dee-Dee, I could use a little help, here!" he said annoyedly. Delete at once snapped out of the far-off trance he had been in and, shaking his head a few times, quickly walked over to where Buzz was and stood to attention, waiting for his order. Buzz gave the box another sharp tug, then said, "Get to 'da opposite side…if you push it it'll move a bit easier."
Delete smiled and nodded, then quickly stationed himself on the other side of the box and slammed his side into it. However, he had done so a bit too hard, and instead of merely moving an inch or two the entire thing came crashing down. The two seemed greatly surprised; Delete stood with his hands over his mouth while Buzz, meanwhile, finally emerged from under the collapsed object, coughing a blue streak, possibly from the dust, Delete guessed. He then turned to face Delete, a look of great vexation on his face now.
"I said push it, not ram it!" he shouted angrily.
Delete, taken aback, cowered a bit, then came to his senses and spoke his reply. "Sorry, Buzz, but it looked too heavy at the time to simply push…"
"Yeah, yeah, sure," Buzz said, a trace of sarcasm in his voice. He pushed himself up, then brushed the dust off of himself and started to pick up one of the smaller boxes; that was when he stepped on something. Puzzled, he lifted his foot up and bent down to pick up the object, now revealed to be a rather crumpled piece of paper. He looked around, then shrugged it off and stared at it.
"What did you find, Buzzy?" Delete asked curiously, leaning over to read the print. The paper had been newly made, it was easy to tell, and the printing was done in very exquisite type. There were strips of tape on the edges, but it was old and poorly stuck; he decided that it must've fallen off the wall when the boxes tipped over. (This was actually quite common; it had happened a few times before. People were always trespassing and taping notices to the walls…)
"I dunno…but it looks like an invitation or something…" Buzz stared at the paper some more, then finally rolled it up and turned to face him. "We have to show 'dis to 'da boss! Come on!"
He ran back toward the platform. Delete, his face set in a look of confusion, stared after him, then sighed and followed suite. When he reached the platform door, Buzz had already approached Hacker, who was now sitting in his chair and eyeing a map of cyberspace. When he saw them enter, he turned his gaze up to them, then narrowed his eyes. "Aren't you two supposed to be cleaning up the filth outside?"
"Well…uh…yeah, we were, but I was—I mean, uh, Delete was—" Buzz appeared to be at a slight loss for words. He finally sighed, then unrolled the paper he had in his hand and held it up to Hacker's face. "I think 'dis is for you, boss."
Hacker cocked his eyebrow, then snatched the paper from his assistant's hands, smoothed it out, and looked at it. After a few moments of scanning the paper, he finally muttered, "It's a notice for the Annual Evil Convention tonight…"
"Ooh! What's that?" Delete asked, stepping up behind Buzz.
"That, my dim-bulb duncebuckets, is one of the most exquisite conventions in all of cyberspace," Hacker informed them, sounding calmer, yet the trace of annoyance remained in his voice. "Every year or so, all of the acceptable evil geniuses in cyberspace gather there to discuss matters of taking over cybersites. Of course, I am one of them, seeing that I am the most ingenious of them all…"
"So are you going, boss?" Buzz asked.
"Yeah, are you going?" Delete repeated.
Hacker shot them a vexed gaze, then turned his eyes back down on the paper, skimmed the type some more, and finally said, getting up and saying in a peeved tone to them: "Of course I'm going! You can't have a convention for the most evil geniuses in cyberspace without the pick of the litter being there, can you?" He tossed the paper on the control panel nearest him, then turned around and started to walk toward the door that led to the hallway. "You two had best get ready…I'm not leaving you alone with the Grim Wreaker again."
After he had gone, Buzz cocked his eyebrow in confusion and picked the paper up from the control panel as Delete clapped his hands and said giddily, "Did you hear that, Buzz? We get to go to a fancy party! One of the fanciest in cyberspace!"
"Yeah…" Buzz was still eyeing the document curiously. "Why haven't we been informed of 'dis until just now, though? It happened so quickly 'dat it's just ridiculous…"
Delete shrugged his shoulder. Buzz sighed, then tossed the paper aside and said, abruptly changing the subject, "Well, if we're going, we can expect to be dolled up like goody-goodies…I just hope it's for a good reason this ti—"
"I'm back, boys!" Hacker called as he entered through the doorway. Sure enough, he was wearing one of his most exquisite outfits, the exact same one that he had worn in his (unsuccessful) party to proclaim him ruler of cyberspace. He was carrying a gold tipped cane in one hand, and several clothing items in the other hand. These items he thrust into both the hands of Buzz and Delete.
"Now get ready!" he snapped at them, adjusting his bow tie. "I'm not letting you two go to a fancy party without the proper garments. In the meantime, I myself am going to transport us there in time for the greetings…"
He walked off. Buzz sighed, then dropped the items on the floor and said to Delete, "See, what did I tell yas?"
"Oh, come on, Buzz," Delete said, pulling on a fancy black jacket. "It probably won't be that bad…"
"What do you know?" Buzz scoffed.
Annual Evil Convention, 8:07 p.m.
As dusk fell, Hacker, Buzz and Delete, now appropriately dressed, stood at the entrance to the fancy building that the convention was being held at. Hacker was facing his two henchmen, his back to the people who passed him, as he tightly gripped his gold cane in one hand and hissed at them, "Listen, you duncebuckets, this event only happens once a year, and I want to make a good impression. You two must strictly be on your finest behavior, and if I catch you doing otherwise I shall personally make sure that you are both beaten into the dust. Do I make myself clear?"
"Oh, yeah, boss! Crystal clear!" Delete said, nodding. "Right, Buzz?" He nudged Buzz, who was on the brink of humiliation in the silk hat and gloves that he was wearing, in the side with his shoe. Buzz growled at him, then, realizing what he meant, nodded his head at once.
"Sure, boss! We'll be on the best behavior possible!" he said quickly. Hacker cocked his eyebrow, then turned around, tossed his head back, and strode into the building. Buzz and Delete stared after him, then slowly and carefully followed him through the entrance.
As Hacker entered, he at once grinned and tugged on the sides of his jacket, as the other villains who were familiar with him walked up and said their greetings. Buzz and Delete stood by, taking great caution not to utter a word, as their boss and the other unknown villains shook hands, then left. No one bothered to shake hands or say "hi" to them; however, they had been ignored many times before and were used to it by now. Instead they just stared at the many rows of booths that had been installed inside the building until Hacker finally finished his greetings, then headed off to a different area.
The two robots obediently followed their boss as other evil geniuses that hadn't yet introduced themselves to him gave their greetings, shook hands, and made several comments such as "I've seen you on Cyberwide Television several times" or "that's a fancy outfit. Did you manage to swipe the silk from a thrift store?" These greetings usually lasted at least two or three minutes, so it was easy for one to grow restless, especially when they were just standing around.
They got their moment of relief at long last when their greetings finally brought them to the gold doors of the ballroom; the building that the convention was being held at this year apparently took place in some kind of exquisite club gathering center. Hacker, of course, entered through the doors, with the two robots close behind, and they soon found themselves among many dancing and conversing couples (evil, naturally). Delete stared at the dancers in awe; Buzz, however, was more interested in what was at the nearby buffet table.
"Delete!" he hissed, nudging his brother in the shin with his arm. The taller robot stopped staring and looked down at the stumpy one, a questionable gaze on his face.
"Yeah, Buzz?"
"Come on!" Buzz demanded, walking over toward the desired location, and grabbing Delete by the extension cord he had attached to his back as he did so. Delete still looked slightly confused, but followed Buzz over to the table, where he stood as his brother helped himself to some punch. He then leaned against the table as Hacker arrived on the scene, then adjusted his top hat and casually placed one elbow against the tablecloth.
"Say, boss, is this what these evil people do all throughout the convention?" Delete asked, thinking of the question from the top of his head. Hacker stared at him with the same vexed gaze he always had for a moment, then turned his head up toward the dancing crowd and muttered under his breath:
"Only if you have proper etiquette are you sophisticated…"
Delete cocked his eyebrow in confusion; he didn't know if Hacker was answering his question or not, and had just opened his mouth to ask what exactly that meant when he heard a shrill, not to mention highly familiar, voice calling from the other end of the table:
"Oh, Hackie-poo!"
At hearing these words, Hacker turned up his head in the direction where the voice had come from; Buzz and Delete did the same. At the end of the table they saw, sure enough, the Wicked Witch, clothed in garments as sophisticated as Hacker's or anyone's, for that matter. As soon as she was sure that she had caught Hacker's attention, she casually walked over and leaned over on the table next to him.
"Hello, Wicked," Hacker responded blandly, locking his gaze on hers. Wicked grinned slightly, then placed her hand on his. Buzz made a disgusted face, while Delete broke into a small grin.
"Hackie, I've been here for nearly hours and I'm now in the mood for dancing. And of course you can't have a dance without someone to share the romance with," Wicked sang, placing her hand on his shoulder.
Hacker stared at her for a few moments, as he often always did in these situations, then finally smiled and said casually, "You've got yourself a date, my lady."
At these words, Buzz snorted into his punch, while Delete broke out into a fit of giggles. Hacker shot a warning glare at the two, and Delete, sensing the annoyance, tried his best to stifle himself. Buzz sighed and wiped the punch off of his face while Hacker and Wicked departed onto the dance floor. Delete watched them, a dreamy look now on his face, while Buzz was apparently getting more disgusted at this scene by the moment.
"Can you believe 'dat?" Buzz asked Delete, finishing off his punch. "I thought 'dat 'dis was supposed to be an evil convention, not a romance convention!"
"Aw, I think it's cute," Delete said dreamily, staring at the two with his hands clasped tightly together. Buzz stared at him, then looked out on the dance floor, then finally slapped his hand to his face and grabbed Delete by the arm. He then started to pull him away from the buffet table.
"Come on, Delete, we're leaving 'dis joint. I don't think 'dat I can stand any more of 'dis stuff," he exclaimed. Delete looked a bit taken aback, but followed Buzz anyway, once he had regained his balance from the sudden jerk Buzz gave him, that is. They quietly left the ballroom and entered the main area of the convention once more, which was still immensely crowded.
"Wow," Delete exclaimed as they pushed their way through the crowd, "I never noticed that this place was so…well, big."
"You never notice anything the foist time," Buzz told him. "Let's find something worth looking at in here, shall we?"
"Buzz, I don't even know where we are now," Delete told him. "How are we supposed to find anything if we don't know where anything is?"
"We'll ask someone here for directions, duh," Buzz snapped at him. He pointed to the booth nearest him, where a tall, thin man was standing behind a rather large booth surrounded by inanimate robot types. "We'll start by asking 'dat guy. Come on, Dee-Dee."
Delete sighed wearily, then followed Buzz over to the front of the booth, where the man, now revealed to be a scientist of some sort, was leaning over on the booth, his arms crossed in a bored manner; he appeared to be staring at them. In closer view, the two could now see that he was rather thin, and had age lines on his cheeks. His chin was covered by a brown goatee, with a light mustache to match. He had scraggly brown hair and hands that were as bony as his face, and his skin was so pale that he looked almost as white as the lab coat he was currently wearing. He looked more like a regular human than a cybercitizen; it would be hard for anyone to tell the difference in him.
"Can I help you two?" he asked, in a rather frustrated voice. And he had every right to be frustrated, too, for he was a scientist of robotics and currently was set on the goal to build the ultimate fighting machine; ordinary battlebots just weren't good enough for him anymore. He desired more power, more flexibility, and more intellect than the ordinary battlers…he wanted something different. However, he wasn't having much luck; he had observed every single type of robot that the guests had brought, and yet they didn't have what he was looking for. This deeply frustrated him.
"Uh, yeah, we're new here and we need—" Delete began, but he was cut off by the man suddenly snapping out of his boredom trance, causing the table he was resting at to give a violent jerk. He shut his mouth as the man finally cast eyes upon what he had been talking to, and his eyes were wide with anticipation. Delete nervously bit his lip and started to back up, but the man held up his hand, halting him.
"Oh, no, no, never mind me," he said, the tone of frustration now entirely gone from his voice. "Do go on…I'm quite interested in what you have to say."
Delete still looked a bit uneasy, but he cleared his throat and continued his question. "We could really use some directions, mister—YIPE!"
He shrieked in surprise as the man suddenly shot out and grabbed him by the arm, then pulled him nearer to the booth and, holding the nervous robot's arm straight, slowly ran his eyes over it, as if examining it. He then started to feel it with his fingers, then looked at Delete and asked, "You appear quite flexible. Were you created this way?"
Delete responded with a frightened whimper. Buzz sighed and rolled his eyes; he was used to Delete's little fits of terror, and replied to the man plainly, "Yes. We was both created to be as human as possible, despite our appearances. 'Dere's nothing a human can do 'dat we can't do as well."
"I see…" The man released his hold on Delete's arm and rubbed his goatee in thought. He then asked yet another question: "Are you two quick on your feet as well?"
Delete was starting to recover from his moment of fear and surprise, so it was he who spoke the reply this time. Rubbing his arm, he explained, "Yes…we can both reach the speed of a car in about five seconds or something. I was made to run faster than Buzz, though…"
The man nodded; he seemed to be deeply absorbed in their appearance. Both robots weren't at all sure what to think of this; they didn't know if they could trust him or not, so they continued to answer whatever he had to ask them. This went double for Delete, who was easily frightened and wasn't very good with strangers.
"Very good, very good…" The man smiled and nodded, then rubbed his goatee again and said, smiling down at the two, "Now, just one more question for you two, and I'll let you go off to do whatever it is that you wanted to do…" He paused for a moment, as if deep in thought, then finally said, in a sly manner, "What are your robot types exactly? I just need to know in case I ever want to look anything up…" He then grinned innocently, showing most of his teeth.
This was indeed a very personal question; neither Buzz nor Delete knew what exactly their type was. Buzz knew better than to blurt and kept silent, but Delete, of course, always ended up spilling the secrets one way or another.
He had just opened his mouth to say something when a large green hand slammed into him, connecting with his chest and knocking him out of the way. He fell to the floor, landing hard on his back and knocking the wind out of him, then looked up just in time to see Hacker, who had apparently finished his little dance with Wicked and was now standing in front of the booth, an angered look set on his face as he shot the man behind it an ugly leer.
"Can I help you, sir?" the man asked casually, leaning against the booth and folding his hands together in a calm notion.
Hacker gritted his teeth, then said in a tone to match that of his glare, "Yes…what were you saying to my henchmen just now, dare I ask?"
"Your henchmen?" The man blinked, then turned to look at Buzz and Delete, who still lay sprawled out on the floor. He then looked at the creator of the two and said, in a mellow tone, "So, you're their creator, I presume. Well, I'm a man of robotics and I am highly interested in your two…uh, creations. Would you mind telling me how you came to build them like that?"
"Absolutely not!" Hacker snapped back, slamming his fist down on the booth table with incredible force. He then stared the man straight in the eye and hissed, through clenched teeth, "Those two are my own personal creations. They are the only ones of their kind to be created to this date. Revealing such information as that you requested would be strictly against my beliefs." He paused as the man stared at him in surprise, then said warningly, "That information is top-secret, you meddling marauder. It's not meant to be viewed by the eyes of any mere mortal." He uttered the last word in a growling tone; the man looked at him with a mix of surprise and questionability.
"My sincerest apologies, sir," the man said after a few moments, a sly grin now creeping up on his face. "I only meant for it to be for scientific purposes. But if the information is that important, I shall withdraw my request immediately."
"That's more like it," Hacker replied. He then turned to his two henchmen and snapped, heading off to another part of the convention, "Come on, you duncebuckets, it appears that I have some unfinished business to take care of…"
The two robots quickly got to their feet and ran off after their boss; the man desperately bit his lip as they departed. He had finally gotten the chance to find the perfect robot type for the ultimate fighting machine…but if the information was that secret, he guessed that it was going to be pretty hard to get his hands on. Then again, that man was the Hacker, after all; there was no evil genius in cyberspace that hadn't heard of him. They knew nearly everything about him…what his past evil plans had been, what his mortal enemies were, how he had come so close to defeating Motherboard several times…they even knew where he lived…
At unearthing this fact, he stopped biting his lip and broke out into another sly grin. Casually crossing his arms over the table booth yet again, he stopped the next person to cross it and said, in a tone as calm as his stare, "I beg your pardon, sir, but do you know much about The Hacker?"
The person—now revealed to be a rather tall man—stifled a laugh, then said, "Know much about him? Heck yeah. I can tell you the radius of his vehicle if you wanted me to."
The man smiled and nodded, then continued, "That won't be necessary at this moment. I do, however, need to know one little tidbit about him…do you know precisely where he lives at the moment?"
The other man thought for a moment, then finally nodded and said, "Rumors have it that he's currently residing at the Northern Frontier…you know, that drab place just north of Topsy Turvey Island. You can't miss it once you get there; it's the only landmark in the area for miles. Why do you need to know?"
"Oh, no reason," the man replied innocently, though his face certainly didn't show it. The other man looked at him for a moment, then shrugged it off and walked away from the booth. As soon as he had gone, however, the man cackled to himself, then said, "There could be a way for my plan to come through after all…prepare to be invaded, Hacker…"
Northern Frontier, 12:46 a.m.
It was now pitch black in the lair of The Hacker, which proved as an advantage for any type of thief that might have wanted to try and sneak into the area. This particular night, however, it was the man, desperate to know more about Buzz and Delete, that played the intruder. His car, used for transportation to the area, was parked and well hidden behind the stacks of collapsed boxes, and the figure himself was seen swiftly running across the tiled floor over to the sliding platform of the Grim Wreaker; it was always kept open when they weren't going anywhere.
Ducking behind a nearby trashcan cautiously, the man scanned the landscape, then, now quite sure that there was no living soul in sight, slowly pulled himself up onto the side of the platform and, getting down on his stomach, slowly inched his way upward, barely breathing or making any sound whatsoever. He continued to do this until he came to the sliding door; checking it over he could now see that it was tightly locked.
This was no surprise for him; he knew that the door would be locked and had come prepared. Reaching into his coat pocket, he slowly took out a metal cutter and quietly clanged it against the door. He then turned it in a circular motion, making a slightly loud SCREECK sound as it sliced into the metal. He cringed, then looked toward the door; no one appeared to be coming. It looked like he was in the clear for now.
Emitting a sigh of relief, he slowly removed the metal cutter from the door and pushed on the precut circle that he had created. It popped out of the door instantly and clattered to the floor; he cringed again, then cautiously stuck his head inside the hole and looked around.
The room that the door led to was pitch dark, the most he could see were the silhouettes of the items kept in the area. Sucking in a deep breath, he crept through the hole and immediately flattened himself on the floor, then glanced around again. There was no one coming, nor was there anyone in the room. They must be asleep, he thought, then his face cracked into that maniacal grin once more.
Drawing himself up to full height, he looked around again, then slowly trod across the room over to the hallway that led to where their rooms were located. At first he had just considered abducting them in their sleep and cutting them open to find out how their different parts functioned, but right as he was standing in the doorway he realized that with robots, there was an easier way. Grinning again, he looked over in the direction of the control panel, then slid his gaze over to the file cabinet on the opposite side of the room.
Quietly heading over in that area, he slowly slid open the top file drawer and thumbed through the different files kept in there. When he could find nothing, he sighed, then bent down a little and opened the file drawer below that one. He thumbed through these files in the exact same way he had used with the first drawer, but still he could find nothing of what he was looking for. Grunting in frustration, he squatted down and opened the third file drawer, then thumbed through the files again, this time more slowly as so not to miss anything.
"Oh, for the love of God," he muttered to himself as he thumbed through the many different folders kept in the drawer. "Where in cyberspace does he plan on keeping his—AHA!"
He exclaimed this last word as he finally found what he had been looking for. Lifting the folder out of the cabinet, he gripped it tightly in his hands, as if it were some sort of precious item, then held it up to one of the green-tinted windows, his only source of light in the entire room. The folder looked plain enough, but the fold at the top was imprinted with words, in Hacker's fancy handwriting:
Experimental BlueprintsBelow that was the main part of the folder, which, as the man had predicted, had the word Confidential stamped on it in bright red ink. He grinned and hugged it close to him; if the blueprints were this precious to Hacker, imagine what they would be to him, a lowly robotics scientist...
He then out of curiosity flipped open the folder, revealing the blueprints inside. He fingered through them carefully; sure enough, he saw Buzz and Delete's blueprints, but what really surprised him was that there was another blueprint mixed in with them. Puzzled, he took it out of the folder, taking care not to rip or tear it in any way, and held it up in the beam of moonlight from the Grim Wreaker window. What he saw were the blueprints and instructions for some type of new robot…one he hadn't seen before. It paid some striking similarities to a bird, but in other ways it looked more like a storage box. He turned it sideways, thinking that this was just another instructional guide for Buzz or Delete, then flipped it back in its correct position and, finding out once and for all that it wasn't another guide, smiled in satisfaction and surprise.
"Well, I'll be downed…there's a third one?" he said gleefully. "This is perfect…this is just too perfect…"
He placed it back in the folder, then quickly closed it and started to head back toward the hole that he had cut into the door. Grinning, he slipped through the hole, then grabbed the metal circle that he had cut out and fit it back in, then used a device that had been kept in his pocket along with the metal cutter to seal it back up.
As soon as it was thoroughly sealed, the man grinned, then got to his feet and tucked the blueprint folder tightly under his arm. He headed back down the platform, then, before going behind the boxes to retrieve his vehicle, turned around and gave a sarcastic salute to the towering ship in front of him.
"Many thanks, Hacker," he said mockingly, a slight laugh in his voice. "Many thanks…"
He then cackled to himself as he slunk behind the pile of boxes, the folder still tucked tightly under his arm, then, after a few moments of silence, the silhouette of a small cyber-vehicle emerged from behind them, and stole off into the dead night…