Jack and Lennie burst into Jack's room full of excitement. Diana was waiting for them, sitting on the sofa and trying to hide the fact she'd been stuffing her face with chocolate. "We did it!" screamed Lennie. "We did it! We did it! We got clearance!"
They all jumped up and down, hugging. They weren't sure why they were quite so excited as Jack was, but his moods were often infectious.
"What happened?" asked Diana as they settled on to the couch, cuddling up to Jack as he sat between them.
"James didn't actually turn up." said Jack. "But he sent one of those cameras that zoom and fly around everywhere and monitored from his jet to London."
"Mmm." Diana concurred. "I didn't think he'd turn up. Not after the mobs in London. I thought he'd cancel the meeting outright, to be honest."
"Yeah ... but he monitored anyway. Well, they said the camera was his. The feed was one way, so who knows?"
Lennie managed to prise some chocolate from Diana's grip. "Where'd you get this? Mmmmm ... it's dark ..."
"James' office after he went for his first appointment this morning. Couldn't resist!"
Jack squeezed the girls to him a little tighter in gratitude. "He's given us a week to scrape together what we can. If it looks like there's been some proper, dirty espionage, he might give us longer."
"Just us?" asked Diana, worrying her bottom lip.
"He said we could take Button as well." Lennie replied.
"Which one was Button?"
"Button?" asked Jack.
"Yep. His real name is Ivan Jackson," Lennie informed them. "... but he's just ... he's as cute as a Button! He's also the best Researcher this side of the Universe. He could find out exactly how many hairs you lost in the last twenty-four hours if you asked him to."
Jack grinned.
"Don't." laughed Lennie, giving him a playful punch. "He'd be too polite to say no. Especially to you, Captain. Er ... are we going to tell her about the Condition?"
"What condition?" inquired Diana.
"I have to work for Torchwood." Jack said, his face momentarily grim. He made himself brighten up and looked from one girl's face to the other. "But at least I've got you two!"
They sat chatting and sharing chocolate for a while, before deciding it was time to make a start on their week of hard work. Diana led the way to the main desk so that Jack could fill out his Torchwood reapplication, that had been accepted before he'd filled it in, and was given a Torchwood uniform. It was the standard suit, though he was pleased to see he had a jacket and tie and wouldn't have to work his way up the ranks. Diana looked a bit annoyed to suddenly be his inferior.
Jack donned the clothing, seeing how it hugged his body. He saved the tie until last as he wasn't really sure what knot to tie it. This tie, unlike the others he'd seen, was not silver. It was black. He was higher up the ranks than Tanya had been. Jack asked Diana what a black tie meant.
"Security Clearance Two. You can go anywhere, basically. Except Classified Archives. Only the Archive droid can go in there. Morals and stuff."
Jack thought of the cobbled together robot. It made him shudder. He offered the tie to Lennie. "Could you do this up for me?" he asked, smiling. She obliged, tying it in a Full Windsor.
"Perfect." she admired. Diana seemed huffy, and almost cut between them.
"According to these outlines," she said, reading the list of permissions from the pitch. "I'm not on this case. It's you, Lennie and Button. I'll be checking in on progress of course, but only in personal interest."
Jack's smile faded. "You can't help?"
"Apparently not." she said sadly. "I've just been landed on a new case, so I won't have time. But you three will be fine – and you have your Magic Button."
"Let's go find him then!" said Lennie. Jack offered her an arm, and waving goodbye to Diana they wandered in the direction of the Research labs.
Button really was as cute as a button. His hair had outgrown its cut a little, and his face was still round and youthful. He even had a button nose. His big eyes were deep, dark blue like the pools you read about in poetry. Jack decided that he would very much like to press Button's magic button very soon.
"Hullow!" greeted Button, rising from his workstation in the small, cramped office that was his. HoloScreens were floating all around, and the walls were covered in scraps of paper, handwritten notes and post-its.
"Hiii. Cap'n Jack Harkness." mega-watt grinned the Captain. "And who are you?" he took the proffered hand and raised it to his lips.
Button smiled coolly. "I'm Button. No point calling me anything else. I only answer to pet names." He retrieve his hand and pulled a HoloScreen through the air towards them. It showed a status bar at 82%, and it was climbing at a none-too casual pace. "I restarted your Binary search from yesterday, Lennie. I have faster computers up here, so it's going a helluva lot quicker. I mean ... it's doing nearly a billion pages of Ancient Binary a second! – and what's more, it's already racked up a few hits."
Jack's heart leapt. "Really?"
"Yep." smiled Button. "Can't see them until the process is finished, but if you see that number there ... yep, that one ... that's how many matches it has within reasonable criteria. But remember: they may just be people who looked like our subject, not exact matches."
"Oh! This is brilliant, Button!" grinned Lennie.
"I refined the program to give us image URLs, too. So once I dig out the oldest computer I can, Len can fix it up and we'll have the websites they're from running for research."
"Way ahead of you, Button." grinned Lennie. "Already got one dug out and functioning. I'll run and fetch it."
"You're brilliant, you are." said Jack. She smiled wide, and skipped away to fetch the computer.
A semi-awkward silence fell between Jack and Button.
"How long do you think she'll be?" Jack asked, making small talk.
"Knowing Lennie, she'll probably bump into a million people she knows and start chatting about the latest advancements in cybernetic AI." smiled Button. "So ... half an hour?"
"Hmm. What to do in the mean time?" pondered Jack aloud.
Button pushed a key on the keyboard. Part of the wall came down, revealing a pull-down bed. Jack shrugged.
"Fair enough." he said, as Button grabbed his lapels and dragged him down in a hard kiss. Jack decided he liked the thirty-first century.
~*~*~*~
Lennie returned to find them getting dressed and Jack saw her roll her eyes in a 'boys will be boys' manner. The laptop she brought with her wasn't particularly old to Jack's eyes, but Button eyed it almost incredulously.
"That thing is ancient!" he exclaimed, opening it up and examining the casing and keyboard.
"Not as ancient as the stuff inside. Everything we'll need to run and convert all that information into something readable. It'll then send the stuff to Button's computer, translate it into Modern Binary and give us something solid."
As if on cue, the program searching for matches pinged its completion. Jack shot to it, straightening the tie he knew he was going to hate wearing. And tying, for that matter. How had it got so complicated? Lennie tutted and moved as if to help him, but Button got there first. If she was put out, she didn't show it.
Button clicked with his mouse, and the first of the two hundred or so hits covered the screen. It wasn't Ianto.
"Not him." said Jack.
Button smiled reassuringly, tapped the "next" arrow on the keyboard and told Jack to keep going through them that way until he found one.
One hundred and twenty-four images later, and Jack felt like screaming. There were less than a hundred hits left, and his patience was wearing thin.
No. Next. No. Next. No. Oh! – no. Next. No. Next. Yes!
There he was! Smiling at the camera! Younger than in Jack's photo, but in pretty much the same pose and same lighting. Blue eyes laughed to him, a moment caught in time so long ago, and he looked so happy. Jack called Button and Lennie over.
"This one ... this is him!" he chirruped.
"Oo." said Button appreciatively. "Yeah ... I so would ... and those eyes! I have a thing for blue eyes ... er ... drag and drop it there ... then carry on through the rest ... then I'll piece everything together once we've got what we can."
Jack found seven more pictures of Ianto Jones in the remaining matches, and his heart was thundering in his chest as he read the links to Button.
Button opened the browser on the ancient laptop and began to type in the address.
Jack held his breath.
The room plunged into darkness.
A siren wailed, and red uplighting flickered into power. Jack punched the wall in frustration. The HoloScreen had vanished and the electricity had been cut: the entire building was forced into lockdown.
Button had frozen, staring at the spot where the screen with all their hits had been. "What the ..." he breathed. Lennie touched her ear, but all she got was static. They could hear shouts and barked orders all around them. Button sidled closer to Jack.
Mrs. Cooper appeared on an interface screen with her stoic professional face. "New Torchwood Three is in Lockdown. Virus detected. Origin Unknown. Damage to Mrs. Cooper Mainframe: 0 per cent. Damage to Archive Database: 0 per cent. Damage to Contact Database: 0 per cent. Damage to Personnel Database: 0 per cent. Damage to Research and Information Retrieval Database: 0 per cent. Damage to Archive Network: 0 per cent. Damage to Contact Network: 0 per cent. Damage to Personnel Network: 0 per cent. Damage to Research and Information Retrieval Network: ninety-eight point three four per cent.
New Torchwood Three is in Lockdown. Virus detected. Origin Unknown. Damage to Mrs. Cooper Mainframe ..." continued the computer projection of Gwen in an automated loop. Button was kneading his forehead, doing his best not to cry. Jack turned to him, and noticed.
"Hey," he said, lightly grasping his shoulders. "What is it? Sshhh now. What is it?"
Button smiled weakly, his eyes glistening. "We have to start again, Jack. I mean ... all over again. Research and Information Retrieval is us. Me. Everything I've done is gone. All my programs ... the programs that Lennie sent me ... ninety-eight per cent damage. We're about four weeks behind where we started."
Jack stared. "Programs ... gone?"
Lennie stepped in. "The signature tracers that salvaged the photograph. The image/binary converter. The Modern to Ancient Binary translator. The search engine we used to match the codes. All programs written by us. Torchwood. All kept in the Re Ret Network in case the database went down. Now ... they're all gone."
Button was balling his fists. "Years have been poured into that Network! People died of old age building that Network! And now we've lost everything! There's no way we'll be up and running in time to retrieve those URLs in a week. " He let out a frustrated growl. Jack caught his shoulders again and hugged him for a couple of seconds.
"You don't need to re-write your programs just yet." purred the Captain. "Does it help I wrote down all the URLs on a trusty piece of paper?"
Button's eyes shone with relief. "You did?"
"Nothing like having a physical copy where Torchwood is concerned!" he said, crossing back to the workstation he'd been searching through photos of Ianto Jones. He produced an A4 piece of paper with all eight URLs carefully copied down. Button took it from him, examining it.
"We ... we're not crippled, then? And ... oh!" he jumped in delight as he realised. "The search engine I installed on the ancient laptop! That won't need rewriting I don't ..." he pressed a few buttons on the old silver box. "... aha! It's not connected to the main Network – it's totally untouched by the virus!"
Jack suddenly stiffened. "Do you think it was a targeted attack?"
Mrs. Cooper was still drawing out her automated message.
Button frowned. "You think ... god no! You're right ... it's too much of a coincidence!"
Lennie nodded vigorously. "Way to much of a coincidence. How would they know to take out the active programs on the Network rather than the Database if they weren't specifically trying to stop us? And the only person who'd know we take the Network measure are other Torchwood Operatives. But ... a virus? Wiping out the Network? That's years and years worth of stuff. It would have to be someone with intimate knowledge of Torchwood and of its computer systems. They'd also need quite high clearance to be able to access the raw mainframe. I'd say ranking roundabout Ties, definitely. Maybe even Black-Ties."
"Or ..." said Jack, staring at Mrs. Cooper. "The sentient technology in charge of everything."
The other two froze. "What are you saying, Jack?" asked Lennie. "The computer ... has an agenda?"
"If this is technology based on Gwen Cooper – I'm guessing using her brainwaves as a basis for thought patterns – then maybe. I mean ... she has the clearance, right? And 'intimate knowledge of Torchwood and its computer systems'. She could easily formulate a virus to damage nothing but the Research and Information Retrieval Network."
"It's a computer. It's not allowed to self-contaminate." said Lennie. "I've reviewed parts of her programming myself. Self sabotage ... it's not possible."
"If that thing is modelled on Gwen Cooper, I'm more than certain she'd have found a way."
Mrs. Cooper stared straight ahead, eyes unseeing, reeling off her message. Several hundred meters below, the real culprit stretched out his long fingers and reached for a sliver-rimmed black mug. Nothing like a fresh, hot brew while committing sabotage in one's own Institute, was there?
'How long will you look, Captain Jack Harkness?' thought the perpetrator. 'How hard will you try? How long before you realise: you're not going to think what you'll find ... is worth saving?'