(I don't own the Hardy Boys or Italy)
The Hardy Boys
Mind Games
Chapter 8
"Fenton, my contact is here."
"Sam, who..."
Fenton's heart almost dropped when a short, balding man with a little gray hair, gray eyes, and a gray suit and glasses stepped into the room. He was the Gray Man... A high-up member of a top-secret crime fighting organization called the Network. On top of everything else going on at the moment, this was something Fenton most definitely didn't need. He knew right away, by Gray's mere presence, that he wasn't here to bring good news.
"I'm sorry to intrude, Fenton, but I have some news about Heartless. I guarantee you won't like what you hear."
The man had been here too seconds and already Fenton knew he was right. His heartbeat sped up in his chest.
"How did you know to find me here?" Fenton asked.
He and his sons had had their differences with the Network agent, agreeing and disagreeing on different views of justice. However, they recently called a truce to their bickering, agreeing to work together in the fight against Heartless. Fenton also had a new-found respect for the man after he helped save the lives of his sons and their friends' in the Bayport warehouse bombing caused by Heartless.
"I called him to inform about the boys being kidnapped," Sam spoke up. "Thought he could help us since he was already in Italy trying to find out all he could on Heartless."
"Who are you?" Aldo asked, eying the Gray Man with extreme caution.
"You can call me Gray. Unfortunately, all I am allowed to tell you is that I'm here to help you and stop Heartless." Gray turned to Fenton, handing him a thick folder containing numerous files.
"I take it Heartless has been very busy," Fenton said dryly. When he opened up the folder, staring at him was a picture of a man, and he immediately started reading his profile. The man was in his late sixties with short grey hair, of average height, and wearing a white coat. Fenton immediately recognized him.
"This is Dr. Marsalis, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"Why is he important?" Fenton asked. "What do you know about the heavy Heartless activity in Siena?"
He saw a flicker of hesitation in the Gray Man's face, but the man said nothing.
"Gray, just spit it out. We don't have time for this. Our boys' lives are at stake here."
Gray let out a deep breath before saying, "We found out Dr. Marsalis is actually a neuroscientist. He and a team of researchers have figured out how to control and monitor the activities of mice by implanting microchips in their brains..."
"What does this have to do with our missing boys?!" Laura interrupted.
"Do you know where the boys are?" Aldo asked anxiously.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Prito, but I do not. However, Mrs. Hardy, I'm afraid it has a lot to with your boys." Gray nodded at Fenton. "If you look through the file, you will find photos of three teenage boys."
Fenton started flipping through the file until he came across the first picture of a teenage boy named Matteo Benedetto. The boy was around the same age as Frank, Joe, and Tony. Fenton's face paled at the sight of the boy's bruised and battered face and body, and his stomach tightened as he was hit by a wave of worry.
"Oh God, no!" Laura, Aldo, and Sam all gasped in shock as they looked over Fenton's shoulder at the picture in his hand.
"Matteo's body was found just three days ago in an alley behind Santos eatery here in Florence Italy." Gray paused for a moment, noticing the stunned faces around him. "From what we were told, the boy worked as a waiter of the eatery."
He let them all absorb the information before continuing.
"The other two boys are Jase Bradley, age sixteen, and Bryce Cooper, age seventeen, who were reported missing by their parents in New York. That is the information Italian authorities were able to track down. They can't get anyone to come forward with information because of Heartless. Sei Duro has practically taken over the city as well as Siena. People are too scared of losing their lives."
"What happened to these boys?" Laura demanded.
"It says here that Matteo died of an Aneurysm." Fenton said, reading the file. "A weakening in a blood-vessel wall that swells, bursts, and bleeds into the brain, leading to a stroke."
He gave the Gray Man a questionable look. "The other two boys died the same way." Red flags started going up in his head. "This is too much of coincidence. How are they connected to Sei Duro?"
"All three boys are recruits. They all have the Heartless insignia carved onto their backs."
Fenton, Sam, Aldo, and Laura all looked at him expectantly, so Gray continued on.
"You see, Dr. Marsalis needed money, and lots of it, to fund his project. He ended up selling it to Sei Duro, who decided to take it a step further. Instead of using mice, we believe he is now using Heartless recruits as human guinea-pigs. They're hacking the human brain. Basically, what they're doing is planting a microchip about the size of a strand of hair into the optical nerve of the eye; it draws neuroimpulses from the brain that embodies the experiences, smells, sights, and voice of the implanted person. Think of it like someone hacking into your computer."
A cold chill down ran Fenton's spin at the analogy as he let Gray's words sink in.
"Once transferred and stored in a computer, these neuroimpulses can be projected back to the person's brain via the microchip to be re-experienced. It sends electromagnetic messages encoded as signals to the nervous system, affecting the target's performance. The person can be induced to see hallucinations and to hear voices in their head.
"With today's super technology, connecting our brain functions via microchips to computers poses the gravest threat to humanity. The latest supercomputers are powerful enough to monitor the whole world's population. Every thought, reaction, hearing, and visual observation causes a certain neurological potential, spikes, and then creates patterns in the brain and its electromagnetic fields, which can now be decoded into thoughts, pictures, and voices. Electromagnetic stimulation can therefore change a person's brainwaves and affect muscular activity, causing painful muscular cramps experienced as torture."
"So... with this microchip..." Sam said slowly, thinking out-loud. "A soldier can be programmed to forget things they saw on the battlefield. Prisoners can be programmed to forget about abuse or, worse, reprogrammed to commit treason; in other words, a real-life Manchurian Candidate. A person can be convinced to do things that they believe are unethical, such as committing murder?"
Fenton cut in, saying, "Basically, what you're implying is that Sei Duro can make a person do whatever he wants... using this microchip?"
The Gray Man nodded solemnly. "Yes. Your boys could become Sei Duro's next candidates."
"What?!"
Everyone in the room seemed to freeze, completely horror-struck.
"Tony... My Tony," Aldo's voice quivered, tears dancing in the corners of his eyes. Sam placed a comforting hand on the man's shoulder, trying hard to stay calm himself and at the same time cursing Heartless.
"No! My babies… Frank... Joe!" Laura cried. Fenton put his arms around her, trying to comfort her but doing little.
"Damn you, Sei Duro!" Fenton thought as he imagined Frank, Joe, and Tony in the hands of Heartless, being used as in some sort of science experiment like lab rats. He felt anger building up inside of him, impossible to control. He could see the mask of anger on Sam's face, too, and he knew exactly what his friend was thinking. They were both vowing to make sure that Heartless paid if anything at all happened to those three boys.
"Fenton, you guys just go!" Laura said, pulling herself away from husband. "Aldo and I will stay here in case Angela and the baby come back, but you have to go now!"
"What?" Fenton started to ask, but Laura interrupted him.
"You, Gray, and Sam go to Siena and find the boys!"
"Yes, please Fenton, find our boys before it's too late," Aldo added, his voice heavy with emotion. "We'll take care of things here."
Fenton knew they were right. He gave Laura a quick hug, assuring her that the boys were alright. "We will find the boys, Laura... and put Heartless away for good."
What do you think of my story so far? Should I continue?
(I have some questions about Siena Italy? PM me please. If anyone is interested in me helping I am kind of stuck.)
review thank you!
