Chapter 4:Point of No Return
Jeremie entered the vacant room, and surveyed the scene before him. Everything was exactly as it had been when he left earlier. The phone was still half-hidden under the bed, and the screen still displayed the same screen saver from before. He reached down and retrieved the pink cell phone. He turned the mobile off and placed it in his pocket as he walked towards her computer. He tapped the escape key, and a password prompt quickly replaced the animation. He entered the password she had given him the week before, but the computer rejected it. Puzzled, Jeremie attempted a few more possible combinations. After twenty failed attempts, Jeremie gave up and removed the case from the system. He carefully inspected the hardware inside the case, taking careful note of any parts that he had not added when he built the system for Aelita. He removed the hard-drive so he could determine if it had been modified, but was shocked when the hard-drive that he removed was not the one he and Aelita had chosen. The drive he held in his hand was unmistakably out of place. All of the other hardware in the system was two years old, but this drive. The hard-drive was brand-new. In fact this particular model had only become available for purchase less than one month ago. He now had his proof. Aelita didn't just disappear. She was taken, and her abductors appeared to be after some information she may have had. Jeremie went over to the bed, set Mr. Puck on the shelf, and tossed the sheets off the bed. He grabbed the hard-drive and walked out of the room, leaving the computer disassembled on the floor. He closed and locked the door, moved back against the opposite wall and smashed the door open. His task completed, Jeremie sprinted towards the stairs and down to his room. When he arrived in his room he set to work. He removed the drives from the three towers of his computer and placed them in his laptop bag along with the one that he had taken from Aelita's computer, and slung the strap across his shoulder. He tossed the sheets off his bed, and exited his room, breaking the lock using the same maneuver he had performed only a few minutes before on Aelita's door. Jeremie hastened towards the secret passage in the gym, he knew what he had to do, but he was not going to enlist the others. This was not their fight. It was his, and his alone. He reached the passage and disappeared inside.
Ulrich watched Odd devour his lunch with a disgusted expression on his face. When Jeremie and Aelita didn't shown up for lunch, Odd had conned Rosa into giving him their portions. Ulrich wasn't surprised that Odd could eat that much; it was, after all, a well known fact. What disgusted him, was the speed with which Odd devoured his food. He was about to tell Odd to slow down, when Sissi beat him to it.
"Odd, could you stop stuffing your face, and act human for a change."
Odd simply ignored her and continued shoveling his food. Sissi grabbed the tray and ripped it out his grasp.
"I said to stop."
Odd simply slid the tray back in front of him and continued where he had left off.
"You do know that he always eats like that, right?" asked Yumi, as Sissi took a seat.
"Yeah, but it never hurts to try. Where are Mr. and Mrs. Einstein?"
"Actually we don't know. We haven't seem Aelita all day, and the last time we saw Jeremie he was going to check on her," Ulrich answered.
"That's different."
"Tell us about it," Odd mumbled while swallowing the last bite of food on the tray.
"Delmas! Stern! Ishiyama! Della Robbia! Principal's office. Now!"
They all turned to find Jim standing in the entrance to the cafeteria and waiting for their response.
"Huh? But, why?" asked Ulrich.
"I said 'Now'!"
The four friends followed the man out of the cafeteria towards the administration building. As they walked each of them pondered why the principal would need to see them.
Aelita was sitting at the table resting her head on her folded arms. She couldn't tell how long she had been in the room, but it felt like an eternity. Just as she could feel her self drifting asleep, she heard the door opening and heard something soft land on the table as the door closed again, and the guard locked the door. She lifted her head to glance at her interrogator, but quickly saw that the room was empty again, except for the bundle of clothes that now sat on the edge of the table. Relieved that she finally had something to wear other than her night shirt, Aelita quickly dressed herself in the prison fatigues. She didn't care for the fluorescent orange, but, she reasoned, it was better than wearing almost nothing. She folded her night shirt and then lay down on top of the table and rested her head on her arms again. As she slowly drifted to sleep, she couldn't help but wonder what Jeremie was currently doing, if he was worried, or if he was in danger.
As Jeremie approached the end of the sewer passage he withdrew Aelita's phone along with his mobile. He removed the batter from each phone and tossed the items into his laptop bag, he withdrew his laptop and removed it's battery. He wasn't taking any unnecessary risks. The phones were easy to track, and the wifi card on his notebook might give away his position. He absolutely did not want anyone to know where he was. He climbed the ladder and sprinted into the factory. He reactivated the computer and checked the status of the "return to the past" mechanism. A window popped up stating that the RTTP was fully functional, but there were not any available return points. He had expected as much, but a small part of him had been hoping that he was wrong. Jeremie closed the window and started a search for the names "Aelita Stones", "Aelita Hopper", and "Aelita Schaeffer". While the name search was running, Jeremie open a new window and established a connection to the Department of Defense mainframe, he maneuvered through multiple firewalls and routers in search of of his query. He raised a triumphant fist in the air when the window displayed "Project Carthage." Jeremie began reading the classified document, and initiated a download of the document he needed when the name search returned with a hit on "Aelita Stones". He switched over to the result and his fears were confirmed. in front of him was a report stating that girl 'Aelita Stones' was using a fake student visa, and that there was no record of an "Aelita Stones" in the Canadian registry. He saved the window and opened the document he had previously downloaded. What he read astounded him. Franz Hopper had stated in his diary the Project Carthage was aimed at disabling enemy communications. As he read this document he began to realize that what Hopper had told them was a half truth. Yes, the first stage of the project was a system that could cripple enemy communications at will, but Franz had omitted the greatest part of the secret. Carthage would also be used to move armies across computer networks, convert raw materials into weapons, and turn an adversary's weapons against them. Now Jeremie understood why Franz had been so obsessed with destroying the Carthage project. Carthage would have eliminated all of the forces that currently stabilized the world. A war waged through the use of Carthage would have been too swift and decisive for any nation to mount any affective resistance. The name search popped up once more, and fortunately it had what Jeremie needed. On the screen was the address and location of the detention facility where Aelita was being held along with the cell block and number of her holding room. Jeremie dragged it off the side and continued his reading.
Jean-Pierre looked up from the folder on his desk as his door opened and Jim escorted four students in the room.
"Thank you for bringing them Jim."
"No problem sir,"
"Do the four of you know where Belpois and Stones are?"
"No, daddy. We were just beginning to wonder where they were ourselves," responded Sissi.
"Really. Well do you know why their rooms were broken into?" questioned Delmas.
"Wait. Their rooms were broken into?" asked Yumi.
"Yes, both of their doors where forced open and their computers were vandalized. Both Stones and Belpois are still unaccounted for." responded Jim.
"Do you know who did it?" asked Ulrich.
"No, we were wondering if you might know." replied Mr. Delmas.
"Sorry sir, but I can't think of anyone at school who disliked either of them that much," offered Odd.
"Very well. If you think of anything let us know. You may go now."
The four exited the room, and walked out to the courtyard.
"You guys don't think this could be related to the way Aelita and Jeremie having been acting lately do you?" asked Odd.
"I don't know, Odd. But whatever is going on, it's definitely not good," responded Ulrich.
SMACK! The sudden noise made Aelita jump to her feet. When her vision focused, she saw the men from her previous interrogation standing in front of her. The one that had questioned her before was holding a folder on the edge of the table, and his face displayed an amused grin.
"So I see you know some form of martial art," commented the mans partner.
She wasn't sure what he meant, but then she realized that she was in a fighting stance with her feet spread and her hands at the ready.
"Looks like a form of Pencak Silat. One of her friends must have taught her," continued the man.
Aelita relaxed, but she still wondered how they could figure all of that out just from observing her.
"Right. Well now that you're finished your nap. We have some more questions for you."
Aelita sighed and sat down in the chair. Maybe this time she might be able find out something useful.
"Where have you been hiding for the past ten years?" her interrogator started.
Aelita decided to just remain quiet.
"Alright, we'll come back to that one. What is XANA?"
Her eyes widened. How did they know about that?
"Isn't that a video game."
"Stop acting cute and answer my question."
"XANA was a multi-agent computer program that my father created to destroy Carthage."
"Good. Now we're getting somewhere, but you're still lying to me. Over a year ago, several supercomputers around the globe became infected with an unknown virus. Our researchers could not find a remedy, but they did manage to identify the virus as XANA, your father's creation. The virus didn't destroy anything, it merely took control of the systems from the operators. Several months later, one of systems went offline. When our field crew arrived on site they discovered that the computer had been sabotaged, and the virus was no longer present. Over the next few months similar events occurred at other facilities, until about a year ago. A new program swept across the web annihilating XANA and the software running on the systems. We never did find the culprits. When our programmers analyzed the code they found a mixture of Schaeffer's original code for XANA combined with new code that was created by another programmer. It seems that your father found himself an apprentice. Who is it? Was it you? Or was it your beau, Jeremie Belpois?"
"No, it was me, and I thought I told you to leave Jeremie out of this."
"I'm sorry, but I don't take orders from you. As for you friend, he should have thought about the consequences before he associated himself with a traitor and his daughter."
"My father is not a traitor; his country betrayed him first. You took my mother from me when I was five. What did you expect my father to do? Bow down and worship the ground you walked on, or fight back? He's already paid the price for his mistakes. Why are you making me pay for them as well?"
"So you still claim that your father is dead? We'll see what you say when your friend's life is on the table."
"You wouldn't."
"I already have."
The two men exited the room. Aelita didn't know how much more she could take. The two men knew how to manipulate her and she couldn't do a thing to stop them. They also seemed to enjoy tormenting her. She got out of her chair and lay down on the table once more, trying not to give in to the tears that were forming in her eyes. She mouthed, "I'm sorry, Jeremie," as she drifted into sleep once more.
Jeremie could not believe what he had just read. The paper he had found explained how to reconfigure the scanners to convert raw materials into fully functional equipment, and Jeremie didn't hesitate to test this new found knowledge. He opened a new window and began entering the code for what the document had described as an "antimatter powered directed energy weapon". When he thought about it, the sketch resembled the typical plasma rifle featured in most science-fiction films. What he liked most about the weapon is that the rifle had a non-lethal setting which would only render it's victim unconscious. Now that he had the code completed he just needed to find some scrap he could use for the process. Jeremie slid out of the chair and went to cannibalize some of the old machinery in factory. After a few minutes the boy set his finds in the center scanner and executed the program. What he found when the scanner opened was more than he had bargained for. There lay two rifles, two hand guns, and eight extra power packs. Maybe he stood a small chance after all. He removed the finished items from the scanner, and returned to the console. He figured that if he could make the appropriate modifications to the program, he might be able to manufacture some of the other equipment that he desperately needed.
Yumi had met Ulrich and Odd in the boy's room. At dinner they had decided to meet and discuss what they should do about their current situation.
"We should run an RTTP," offered Odd.
"Odd, we don't even know if that will help. Besides, we would have to turn the supercomputer back on, before we could attempt that," retorted Yumi.
"What if the supercomputer is already on?" questioned Ulrich.
"Jeremie would have noticed when he checked the factory for Aelita," noted Yumi, "We should probably check tomorrow after classes though, just in case."
"Fine, but what if the supercomputer isn't involved. What are we going to do then?" asked Odd.
"I don't think there's anything we could do, Odd," answered Ulrich.
"Alright, well I'll see you all tomorrow. My parents are probably not going to like me being late."
"Good luck, Yumi."
"Thanks, Ulrich."
A manhole cover in the woods slid open, and a man emerged in to the dark morning. Mathis surveyed the area and then broke into a sprint toward the dormitories. He noted that he was ahead of schedule this time, mostly thanks to his previous mission. He reached the dorms with no incidents and navigated his way to the boy's room, but when he exited the stairwell his level of alarm jumped. The door to his target's room was marked off with security tape. Mathis returned to the stairwell and proceeded towards the room of his previous victim. When he saw the security tape on her door as well, he decided that he had overstayed his welcome, and fled the scene. He couldn't understand what happened. He didn't leave any trace last time. Something else must have happened. He decided that for now the boy would have to wait. They could always pick him up later.
"Aelita would be impressed," Jeremie thought as he surveyed his accomplishment. In a little over fourteen hours, he had created two energy rifles, two energy pistols, sixteen power packs, 8 flash-bangs, two suits of full tactical body armer, two climbing kits, two backpacks, two light sleeping bags, one tent, a tactical PDA, two personal EM shields, four air-burst EMP bombs with a launcher, and two militarized overboards. Jeremie began dividing up the equipment and packing it into the two bags. He packed all of Aelita's equipment into one of the packs. When he had finished, he strapped her bag of equipment onto her overboard. He then put on his body armor, stuck his personal shield in his vest pocket, tucked the pistol into it's holster, and slung the rifle across his shoulder. He packed the rest of his equipment and moved his bag and the overboards into the elevator. He returned to the computer, and saved all his findings, he also verified Aelita's holding information. He definitely didn't want to infiltrate the wrong the base. Satisfied that the information was as accurate as possible he powered off the console. On his way to the elevator he grabbed everything that he had brought with him and dumped it next to the gear. He took the elevator down to power off the computer, but this time he didn't hesitate. He knew that if he left it on, the others would get involved and he didn't want that. He unceremoniously threw the lever down, and the tower sank into the floor, it's task completed. As he was riding the elevator up, Jeremie slung his laptop case over his shoulder like the rifle and put is pack on. He activated the two overboards, and set Aelita's board to follow his. When the door opened, Jeremie took off into the early dawn. It took him a few falls, collision, and near misses, but he finally adjusted to flying hi overboard. Jeremie located the path to the hermitage and veered towards his destination. Jeremie stepped off his board and ran up to Aelita's room. He opened her closet and deposited his laptop bag inside. He moved some of the stuff in the closet on top of the satchel, and when he was satisfied that the bag was not visible, he turned and left the neglected house. He moved the boards into the sewers and began the journey towards the holding facility. He pulled the PDA out of his pocket and pulled up a map of the sewer network. He quickly located a spot where he could pass the day, and launch his assault at night. He returned the PDA to his pocket and accelerated towards his destination. After five minutes of riding, he spotted the entrance to the abandoned bomb shelter less then one hundred meters a head. He slowed to stop in front of the shelter, withdrew his pistol, and shot the lock off. He slid the door back and guided the two boards in, shutting the door behind him. Tomorrow at 2:00 AM he would attack, but for now he needed to rest.
