This is a slightly longer chapter to tide you over until I have time to write again. Classes and many other things have taken up most of my time. This summer this story has gotten 2 or 3 updates while my MoA hasn't had any. If you are a MoA follower I'm deeply sorry. Also an important anniversary has come to pass, my first year on ! And accordingly I was thinking about changing my username... what do you think? I might put a poll on my profile sometime soon. Let's see what else?... Hunger Games DVD anyone? ;) epic. The Last Guardian? epic. And the Olympics? Did anyone else see the U.S. diver Katie Bell? I'm a total Potterhead so the Olympics being in London and having a diver with that name can't be a coincidence. I'm convinced that Harry and Hermione are married and came to the Olympics to cheer Katie on. Anyone else? :D Whose excited for Shatterproof? Enough of my ramblings for now...
Chapter 7
Third Person POV:
Error.
Virus Detected.
Error.
Cameras Offline.
Error.
Connection Failed.
Error.
Security Check Failed.
Error.
System Sweep Failed.
Error. Error. Error. Error. Error.
Loading…
Connection Complete.
Cameras Online.
Security Check: Neutral.
Restarting System…
"And we're back."
…
"Sinead, what in Gideon's name was that?"
"That was the entire mainframe being rebooted." Fiske glared at the Ekat through the screen.
"And why was it necessary?"
"I'm still trying to figure that out," Sinead turned her attention to another monitor, "but it looks like some kind of a bug…" she paused before slowly turning back around and whispering, "a home-based bug." Fiske's eyes widened in understanding.
"Get everyone in the CCC now, I'll check her room."
…
Beep beep beeeeep.
"Mmmm," A small arm flopped out from a pile of ninja covered sheets to land on a tablet on top of a bedside table.
"Dan…Dan… Dan!... Daniel Arthur Cahill, wake up!
"Wadda wan Sineaaad?"
"Get up and bring everyone up to the CCC now- for Gideon's sake Dan, get up!"
"Five minutes…" Dan closed his eyes and pulled the covers over his head.
"Your ninja suit is on fire."
"AHHHH!" Dan literally jumped out of bed, eyes wide open- looking wildly around the room. "Sinead!" He whirled to look at her- only to be met with a blank screen.
…
Dan walked down the third floor corridor in his ninja suit grumbling the whole way. Not that he was actually surprised, telling him that any of his prized possessions were; on fire, being stolen, or any other number of things- was Amy and Sinead's preferred way of waking him up for school. Honestly, you would think the nerds would have at least tried to wake him up the normal way first. What really made him mad though, was that he fell for it. Every time. Even Fiske thought it was funny. Well, it was time someone else was laughed at.
Smiling evilly he checked each of the doors to see if Sinead had unlocked them for him. She had. Hmm, now this could be fun. Quickly, but quietly, he opened each of the suite's occupied bedroom doors only pausing to snicker at Ian's pink dollar sign boxers- before standing in the hallway again. Trying to hold in his laughter, he took a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs, "WAKE UP! I FOUND A CLUE!" Immediately, three doors were opened and their inhabitants spilled out- wide awake.
"Where?"
"What is it?"
"How'd you figure it out?"
"What are you waiting for, let's go!"
"The peasant found it?" The only answer the aforementioned 'peasant' gave was to roll around on the ground clutching his side.
"Y-Y-You actually fell for that! Ha!" The sight of Dan in his ninja suit was enough to jog most of the former clue hunter's memories.
"You shouldn't have done that Dan-o." Hamilton said stepping closer to the shaking form of Dan.
"For once I actually agree with Dolt, you interrupted my beauty sleep." Dan managed to stop laughing for a moment and look thoughtfully up at the youngest Kabra.
"You're right; you need all the beauty sleep you can get."
"Oooooohhhhh," the rest of the onlookers chorused- their anger briefly forgotten.
"Run, dude, run." Leave it to a Holt to state the obvious.
"All powerful ninja lords don't take orders," he said getting up- without taking his eyes off of Natalie. "I'm leaving because I want to."
"It's quite alright Daniel, I need to mix up a special poison for you- none of the ones I have with me are lethal enough. But I suggest you tell us whatever was important enough to wake us up at 12:15 in the morning before I find one that makes you wishit was lethal."
"Um, thanks? And what was it… oh yeah! Sinead wants us all in the CCC now, something about an emergency?" Dan shrugged. "It's probably just one of Fiske's drills."
…
No. It's amazing how a simple shake of the head can bring your world crashing down. Fiske didn't need to say anything, Amy was gone. Yes, Sinead's logical mind had already concluded that she wasn't- but this was final confirmation. Out of the corner of her eye she could make out Dan on the security monitors- leading the rest of the Cahills to the CCC. Dan. She purposefully hadn't told him anything when she woke him up- when there had been hope.
"Anything?"
"Letters and the ring." Sinead's eyes flashed up to Fiske's. Amy had left the ring? This was not good…
Fiske nodded like he knew what she was thinking. "She left one for you," He shuffled the pile of envelopes and withdrew one with her name on it. "Best wait till everyone's here." Sinead gripped the letter tightly- concentrating on Amy's small, neat writing. The two lapsed into silence, each thinking of the same person.
"Helloooo? Sinead?" Dan appeared around the wall of monitors, quickly followed by the rest of the rumpled looking Cahills.
"Hello, everyone. Go ahead take a seat." There was some shuffling as Dan sat as far away from Natalie as possible. Once everyone was seated Fiske gestured toward Sinead and she wearily stood up and walked to a monitor.
"Last night at 11:46 the Cahill Mainframe received a virus. This virus completely shut down all messages, video calls, communications, several security systems, and alerts- and everything else to a somewhat lesser extent. It also sent a loop to at least twenty cameras. At 12:01 this morning we received this message; 'Dear Cahills, Transaction complete. Expect your package within 5-6 business days. No refunds or exchanges. Thank you for choosing us. Enjoy. V1' immediately after it was read, the message disappeared I found the computer completely locked. After a few attempts it restarted." Sinead glanced at Fiske and he took over seamlessly.
"This in turn, set off several alarms. After checking with Sinead, where she informed me that it was home-based, it was abundantly clear why it was needed." Fiske silently passed out envelopes to the intended recipients. "I'm assuming these will clear anything else up quite nicely."
~oOo~
Dear Everyone,
Watch out for each other. The Vespers are counting on us being divided, just like the clue hunt. As much as I would have liked letters to all of you, it simply wasn't possible. On to other matters though, the first thing you should do is fix the security. Obviously there are a few holes (sorry Sinead!). Next, get anyone of use (from the Cahills, preferably) to the CCC. Don't confuse want with need- only people we know for sure are on our side (Ned and Ted come to mind). When Nellie gets back, attend to any pressing medical needs but as soon as possible see if she remembers anything. The smallest of details could be important. If my plan works though, we should be set. Still, get as many people on the Cahill Network working on possible locations for Vesper hideouts (I don't have to tell you to be discreet about it). One last very important thing, keep the ring safe. Do this to the best of your ability but DO NOT put it on. I only have a few vague ideas on what it does, but none of them are good. I will be back, but whatever you do, do not follow me. United we will stand, but divided we will fall.
Amy
~oOo~
Dear Dan,
I'm sorry, I couldn't leave Nellie with…them. She's part of our family, and I refuse to let them take another member of our family. Nellie would do the same thing for us. I know you would do it for her too- but don't. No matter what happens, stay safe. I have no intention of not coming back. I could never leave you. I promised to take care of you a long time ago, and I don't plan on breaking that promise- ever. Stay strong like a ninja,
Amy
~oOo~
Dear Fiske,
I know. I know you told everyone to keep me in the dark. I know that you planned it so I wouldn't be left alone. I know that the 'medicine' you gave me was sleeping pills. I know you thought it was for my own good. You thought wrong. I had to save Nellie, but that doesn't mean that I'm not coming back. And when I do, we're going to have a nice long talk. Take care of Dan, be his parent while I'm gone. With Faith and Love,
Amy
~oOo~
Dear Sinead,
Please don't hate me. I did what I had to d
o and I'd do it again. You'd do the same thing if it were Ned or Ted. Just trust me, and don't hate me. I bet you've already broken through my bug- I know it wasn't very strong. I have no doubt that it didn't take you more than a minute. You are the smartest person I know. Don't give up hope; sisters don't give up on each other. Forever,
Amy
P.S. Keep an 'eye' on Dan.
Sooooo... what did you think? Can anyone guess at the little 'secret message' Amy put in her letters? Special thanks to KTRose12 for letting me use the line where Dan wakes up everybody! It is completely and totally hers!
Person- Thanks! Deagan is definitely an option for this story ;)
Candyloversunite- Love the username! Thanks for all the couple options, and your unbiased opinion ;)
UniversalForce13- Sorry about not 'consulting' with you for this chapter! I will need your input soon though if you are still willing!
athena grl- yeah Amy is a little more 'hard core' but I think that it is a plausible personality trait that she could've aquired because of the clue hunt.
shiningwaves-hahaha did you catch them? I don't think that this cahpter's ending is classified as a cliffhanger... so maybe you did! And nice try ;)
Guest- Awww, thanks!
fieryjunior35- Thank you!
Reginaa2111- I prefer the term criminal mastermind :D
Michelle01142000- I already answered most of yours ;)
~*IMPORTANT*~Okay so I had a comment on my MoA that accused me of only writing for reviews. I would just like to say that that is NOT the case. I write for myself and to an extent all of you. If I only wrote for reviews then my stories would suck even more. Sure I may say that if I get X amount of reviews I'll update sooner, but that isn't the same thing as saying I'm only going to update if I get X amount of reviews. I really enjoy reviews and encourage you to write them, not only for me but other authors as well, but don't make the mistake of thinking I only write for reviews.
