Author's Note: Essay season over. Better do something to keep the fans attention before exam season.
The most difficult thing isn't coming up with material. It's cutting it all down. The exchanges between Kim & Director, Du & Director, Kim & Wade, could have gone on forever. Would have if Palenn hadn't been on my case about keeping things fast paced. I darn near went insane trying to cut down the length and have it still make sense.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible™ or any character, location or event from that said show. Or the video game of the same name.
Ch 8: Wade
Kim burst into her home with Ron close behind.
"Moooom!"
"In here Kimmie."
Her answering voice came from the living room. Kim rushed in….
And abruptly halted. Ron ran into her.
Standing in the Possible family living room were two more Global Justice agents, easily recognisable in their dull blue uniforms, as well as Anne Possible. The three of them stood as Kim and Ron entered the room.
The younger of the two agents, appearing to be in his early twenties at most, had black hair and a serious expression fixed across his face. He accompanied a much older woman; taller, wavy brown hair, with an eye patch over her right eye. She had a far more kindly presence. Each of them was trim and well exercised.
"Miss Possible," the woman stepped forward and held out a hand, "I am Dr Betty Director of Global Justice Initiative. This is Agent William Du."
"Where's my dad?" Kim immediately demanded, not taking Director's outstretched hand.
Director looked downcast and withdrew her hand. "We would like to talk to you and your mother about events that transpired at the Middleton Space Centre less than an hour ago. Could you come in and sit down?"
She directed Kim and then Ron to the couch beside Anne Possible. Anne was very tense. She did not know what this was about and she looked to Kim for answers. Kim had none to give.
Dr Director sat down opposite them. Agent Du off to the side.
"First, we were about to fill your mother in, about your father's situation."
"I'm sorry Mrs Possible. Miss Possible. You're husband is missing. We believe he has been kidnapped."
Anne gasped and clutched Kim. Kim remained silent. She already knew. Kim looked worriedly to Ron. Ron looked worriedly to Kim.
Director continued. "The Middleton Space Centre was attacked by an unknown, organised paramilitary group. As Dr Possible was the only scientist known to have been abducted we have to assume he was the target. "
Anne's arms around Kim got a little tighter.
"Why? But he… he's in the Ukraine. How could they have taken him from the Space Centre if he's in the Ukraine?"
"I'm afraid that he wasn't. The disaster in Prypiat was linked to another high priority case we are currently working on. Circumstantial evidence suggested your husband's work in the Ukraine was sabotaged so I had him transferred in secret back to the space centre and placed him under guard. He was attempting to prove the toxic substance released in Prypiat was not his formula. In fact I was on my way to speak with your husband personally when news of the attack reached me."
"Sabotage…?" Anne mouthed the word. "Why…? Who would do such a thing?"
"We're trying to piece that together now." Her attention shifted to Kim. "Miss Possible, I understand you were present at the space centre during the attack. Is that correct?"
Anne fixed Kim with a puzzled look. Kim avoided her gaze.
"We were there to see dad." she explained, more to her mother than to Dr Director. "The paper said he…." She paused, remembering the awful headline. "It said he was back."
"I know what the media has been saying and apart from not having the full story they seem disturbingly aware of your father's movements. We're attempting to uncover their source. I promise you when this is over the world will know truth about your father's heroism. Speaking of which, Miss Possible, several eyewitnesses claim you and an unknown companion…."
Ron muttered. "Oh man."
"… saved the lives of over a dozen scientists tied up in the centre, as well as two of my agents. You have my thanks."
She winked at Ron. "Both of you."
"Kimmie…!" Anne exclaimed. Her daughter blushed in her arms, continuing to look away.
"Someone has organised all of these events; the sabotage in Prypiat, the attack on the space centre, even the concentrated smear campaign against your father. Thanks to your bravery we now have witnesses who have seen the face of this mastermind."
"Dr Drakken," Kim said. There was an undercurrent of anger in her statement. Both Dr Director and Agent Du recoiled in surprise.
"You encountered the abductors?" Director asked urgently.
"You overheard his name?" Du asked with suspicion, speaking for the first time.
"Encountered?!" Ron exclaimed. "They tried to use my rear for target practice! Kim fought them off."
"You fought them?" Du repeated the assertion. "A cheerleader against a heavily armed paramilitary force?"
Anne paled. Kim cringed. She had intended to skirt past details concerning skirmish in the space centre. "We mostly ran and hid," she attempted to cut Ron off. He didn't get the message.
"Yep," Ron beamed with pride, "she beat them down so bad Drakken sent the lady with the glow-y hands."
Director's eye widened. Her voice was a whisper. "Shego? You fought Shego?"
Agent Du stood. "Not possible."
"Duh. Yes Possible, who else? Check out the scratches on her back."
Anne was quick follow Ron's advice. Her arms unwrapped from around Kim and motioned her to sit forward on the couch. Kim cringed again when at her mother's sharp gasp.
"May I?" Director leaned forward over Anne. Kim sighed and twisted to give them a better view. Her uniform was shredded and four claw marks ran across her back.
"Oh honey, what were you thinking?"
"I was thinking I had to save Ron…."
"No way," Agent Du maintained. "Shego leaves claw marks in steel. No child could stand up to her; Miss Possible would have been sliced to pieces."
Kim frowned at being called a child.
"I'm not defenceless you know. I could throw your…."
"Enough please Agent Du," Dr Director requested sternly, silencing Kim as well. The young man slowly sat down again. Kim drew in a deep breath and calmly explained.
"Her hands weren't glowing when she struck me. She was only toying I think. We only escaped because she caught her arm in the wall momentarily. Punched right through it. Then we ran. They didn't bother pursuing. They just… let us go."
"So if I understand correctly," Du summarised, "after all the steps taken to protect their identity the abductors just…," he threw his arms in the air, "let you go? After you defeated a number of them and tangled with the most dangerous fugitive alive?"
He clearly did not believe a word of it and his attitude was starting to wear on Kim.
"They didn't want us. I'm not sure they even knew who we were. Like Ron said, we were just target practice."
Ron looked to Kim. He was puzzled by her last statement. Kim looked back at him, daring him challenge her. He didn't.
Director looked warily between them. "Can you tell us anything else about this Drakken?"
"He had big glasses and a ponytail. Wore blue…."
"He said something about we will, 'hear of his work soon enough," Ron voiced. His statement concerned Director.
Kim lifted her gaze to meet Directors eye. "Who is he?"
"We ask…."
Director silenced Agent Du with a hard stare. "We don't know."
"Then tell me about Shego."
"Shego," Director reluctantly expanded on the topic, "is a fugitive from Global Justice and a very dangerous individual. As you witnessed she has superhuman abilities and great skill in the martial arts. We don't know what her, or her employers, interest is in your father's research."
"Did you track down his helicopter?"
"No. We lost our track on the helicopter in the Mt Middleton Ranges."
"Then you're looking in the wrong place."
Kim removed her hand from her mothers, got up and headed for the stairs to her room.
"Kim?" Anne called after her.
"Miss Possible, we need to take a full statement from you." Agent Du
Ron sat up.
"Will you need to take one from me?"
Du fixed him with an emotionless stare. "… No."
"What do you plan to do, Miss Possible?" Director asked after Kim
"I'm going to find my dad."
...
A pair of guards opened and closed the SUV doors for Dr Director and Agent Du. In the privacy of the vehicle Director began assembling the pieces.
"The field testing of a chemical designed to absorb radiation goes horribly wrong two weeks after a nuclear warhead is stolen from under Gemini's nose. Then, its brilliant inventor is abducted. Shego is present during all three incidents."
Agent Du contemplated these known facts. "We still have no idea about motive. No idea about the target. They could strike anywhere, anytime." Director nodded painful agreement with his assessment.
"I'm still convinced this is a WE plot," Du raised his hands when Director started to object, "a splinter faction maybe. It's their brazen style. They would know how to defeat the security systems of the Iran facility. I think we should focus our resources in that direction. We look for large scale defections or power plays in the past year."
"That's a good place to start Will; though I'm convinced James Possible and his RF-78 is the key. There was no apparent reason for 'Drakken' to kidnap the doctor. It was a reckless move in an otherwise flawless game. If we can understand where they fit in to all this we will have our answers."
"Will. I want you organise protection for the Possibles. Watch them like a hawk."
Agent Du was flabbergasted. "There's a rogue with a nuclear warhead to track down and you assign me a baby-sitting job?"
"There's still a chance this Drakken could target the family, if only out of spite for what interfering with his operation. I want you and your team in position to pounce if they do."
"You don't seriously believe one girl could take on Shego do you?"
"How many villainesses with glowing hands could she have been describing?" Director argued. "Even if Shego were toying Miss Possible exhibited tremendous skill and resourcefulness to survive."
A wiry smirk formed across Directors lips. "I think in future I'd like to keep my eye on Miss Possible. I wonder what she has in mind for her next move."
...
Kim threw herself onto her bed and clutched her Panderoo to her chest. The aging stuffed toy was her greatest comfort when she was blue. Now more than ever she needed its reassuring hug.
Ron followed soon over, gently opening the door and flopping down on the end of her bed.
"They're gone."
Kim didn't respond. She sat up, clutching her knees and squeezing Panderoo a little tighter.
"You didn't tell them Drakken ordered Shego to take you too. Or that he knew your name."
Kim rocked for a moment before finding the words to describe what she was thinking.
"He said, 'Can I lick my own nose?"
"Huh?"
"I said, "I can do anything," and he said, 'Can I lick my own nose?' I can't get it out of my head."
Kim lifted her gaze. Her eyes were watering. "I have to find my Dad."
Ron climbed up the bed and wrapped his arms around her. "I'll help you."
Clinging to her friend it was some time before Kim asked, "What do we do know?"
"I have a friend," Ron stated and Kim could feel him tense. She sensed this friend of Ron's was no friend at all. "They call him Wade. He owes me a favour and he may be able to help us."
...
Ron led Kim to a house in the next suburb. It was much like her own family home only with a single story and a smaller lawn and garage. The teens parked their bikes outside the gate. The evening was getting cooler. Kim had changed out of her uniform and slipped on a pink sweater.
Before entering the gate Ron stopped Kim, speaking in a very serious tone.
"He is not going to be happy that I led you here. Better let me do the talking, ok?"
Kim nodded uncertainly.
"The man likes his privacy. He does not like visitors. He does not want anyone to know he's here. You can… never… tell anyone!"
"Alright," Kim agreed.
"I'm serious."
"Alright! So how come he owes you a favour if you've never met him?"
Ron winched. "It's complicated."
He pushed open the gate and walked onto the property.
"What's complicated?" Kim persisted.
"It's… like your website. People ask you for help…, Wade asks for my help. Usually collecting mail from a post office box or mowing the lawns, delivering junk food."
"Why have I never heard of this?"
Ron hesitated. "There were more unusual requests," he simply stated. "For a start everything had to be super secret. Picking up packages from Lowerton, specialised equipment, nothing I understood. Never from the same place twice."
That caught Kim's attention in a negative way. "I'm not sure I'm comfortable with you hanging out with this person Ron."
Ron downplayed her worries. "It was always mostly harmless. Scouting a comic convention, escort his ten year old nephew to the dentist, let him borrow the family photo album, my parent's driver's licences…."
Ron stopped at the door. He did not knock. He just breathed. He seemed incredibly nervous.
"Aren't you going to knock?"
"He knows we're here. He can see us," Ron shrugged uncomfortably. "He's kinda' cautious"
Kim shifted uncomfortably at the thought. She waited as the seconds ticked by. Finally….
"I TOLD YOU RONALD. OUR BUSINESS ARRANGEMENT IS VOID SHOULD YOU EVER REVEAL YOUR CONNECTION TO ME TO ANOTHER LIVING SOUL."
Speakers, subtly placed in pot plants and ordainments, boomed the voice from all sides. It was deep and menacing, modelled off the voice of James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader. The light bulb above the porch transformed into an angry eye. It dropped down on a mechanical arm to glare at Ron.
"I needed to tell her. My request is not for me, it is for her."
Momentary silence, then…, "SPEAK."
"I want you to find her father," Ron desperately interjected. "Dr…."
"… JAMES TIMOTHY POSSIBLE," the voice finished his sentence. The mechanical eye shifted its focus to Kim, looking her up and down. "YES. I RECOGNISED YOUR FRIEND."
"He was kidnapped, today, at the Middleton Space Centre. Global Justice…."
"GLOBAL JUSTICE!" the voice shouted, "LIKELY WATCHES YOU EVEN NOW YOU FOOL!" The mechanical eye turned its attention back to Ron. By sliding the shutter forward a millimetre and increasing the coloured light Wade managed to portray anger with his spy camera.
"YOU HAVE BROUGHT RUIN DOWN UPON ME!"
Kim interjected, "And just what activities would you be involved…?"
"KIMBERLY ANNE POSSIBLE. DAUGHTER OF JAMES AND ANNE, SISTER OF JAMES AND TIMOTHY. KNOWN ASSOCIATE OF RONALD DEAN STOPPABLE."
"MASTER OF MULTIPLE MARTIAL ARTS. RECENTLY MADE HIGH SCHOOL CHEERLEADER. HIRES HERSELF OUT FOR SMALL JOBS VIA WEBSITE kimpossible .com…. AND A COLLECTOR OF PLUSH CUDDLE BUDDY DOLLS. MANY OF MY STOCK PHOTOS FEATURE A CERTAIN 'PANDEROO'."
Kim was almost speechless with outraged. "You…! You have photos of me?!"
"I TAKE NOTE OF RONALD'S FRIENDS AS A SECURITY PRECAUTION. YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE COME HERE KIM POSSIBLE. YOU MAY THINK YOU ARE 'ALL THAT,' BUT IN THE REAL WORLD YOU ARE SIMPLY ANOTHER LITTLE GIRL. RUN ALONG LITTLE GIRL. I DO NOT HAVE WHAT YOU SEEK."
It had been a long day; the news, her father, Drakken and Director. Kim was in no mood to be patient with this voice she was fast coming to believe belonged to a perverted individual.
"You slimy, sick demented…."
Her words and tone alarmed Ron. He jumped in to head off an unfortunate confrontation. "No, no. She doesn't mean it. Please!" he pleaded with Wade.
"I'm leaving," Kim declared over Ron. She took a step toward the gate before adding, "And you know what's more, I'm calling the cops!"
"Whoa no! No, no, no. No cops!"
Ron leapt after her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders to physically restrain her.
Kim had to restrain herself from serious hurting him. Her combat reflexes and flayed nerves almost led her to lash out. Instead she broke his hold in a more gently fashion, trying not to injure her friend. She turned to face him.
"You don't understand KP. Wade is the 'ghost' in the global network," he put extra, extra emphasis on the word ghost. "No one is even sure if he even exists, or if he's an entire syndicate of hackers. There are people who swear he isn't even human at all, that he's an artificial intelligence.
"There are stories passed around the arcade and comic book store; that Wade was behind the Corrupted Blood Plague on WoW, Wade masterminded the cyber warfare assault against Estonia. That Betty Director, the head of Global Justice;they say Wade posted excerpts from her personal diary over the web.
"Wade can find your dad. If anyone can find your dad, Wade can find your dad."
Ron's impassioned speech touched Kim. She had her doubts. If everything Ron credited to Wade was true it was even more reason to turn him over to the authorities. The sitch worked in reverse too, if Wade's notoriety was well deserved the chances he could locate her father were even greater. There was also the question of what happened to Ron if Wade were discovered.
The front door to the house creaked open.
She stood on the path, two choices before her. Do the right thing and leave. Pass through the door and maybe find her father. Ron eyes silently imploring. Pleading with her.
Kim walked through the door.
The living room area was a mess. Stacked Pizza boxes lined the walls. Candy bar wrappers and junk food bags littered the floor. They formed a circular ocean around a single large reclining chair in front of a wall sized television set. On the seat sat a custom made video game controller.
("Holy Crap! Something lives here! I'll never complain about your room again… except maybe when you forget to wash your socks.")
"I APOLOGISE FOR THE MESS. VISITORS ARE AN UNUSUAL OCCURANCE. THERE IS A COUCH IN THE BACK. IF YOU REQUIRE A REFRESHMENT FELL FREE TO TAKE ANYTHING FROM THE FRIDGE. I SHALL BE WITH YOU PRESENTLY."
"I don't see a couch," Kim remarked.
Ron set Rufus down on a pizza box stack. The rodent scampered over them, destabilizing the piles and accidentally causing a collapse. Part of the couch was revealed to be buried underneath.
Exclaiming, "Little buddy!" Ron dug through the boxes, trying to recover Rufus. His furless companion popped his head out of one, half covered in melted cheese.
("Argh it's got me! Save yourself. The yellow blob will devourer all!")
Shuddering, Kim tried the kitchen. The fridge offered little more than soft drinks and fried chicken. See helped herself to a glass of water instead.
Stepping back into the living room Kim glanced at the picture frames above the fireplace. She almost choked on the water. She had to double back and examine the photos again.
"Ron, this guy has photos of your family all over the place."
Springing up from the couch with Rufus in hand, Ron took a look at the photos.
"Hey! That's Grandma! And that's when dad won Actuary of the Year."
He frowned.
"I don't remember Wade's nephew sitting at our table."
Yet still, clearly in the photo a young man sat with his family at the table. In fact he was in the majority of the Stoppable family photos spread around the room. He was young, a tweenager or close to it. Somewhere in the age group of 8 to 11. He was African American, dark skin and black hair. He also looked like his appetite for junk food matched his uncles. This kid would not be running a marathon anytime soon.
"Sure I was there Ron. How could you forget?"
The boy in the photos strode in through the archway to the hallway. He stood relaxed with one hand in his pocket, another holding a soft drink cup from a fast food eatery. Kim and Ron were startled by his sudden appearance.
"Dad was so excited. He kept looking over his speech cues and panicked when he couldn't find his keys. Mom dismissed our wardrobes and took the whole family out to purchase new clothes for big occasion. Ugh, you remember how annoying that was, don't you Ron? The way Mom made us model each outfit for her."
("I think all this junk food has seriously damaged your brain.")
"Dude, we just wore our Sunday best, Mom drove and those are my parents!"
The boy didn't react to Ron's outburst. He merely shrugged. He pitied Ron with a lopsided smile.
"They're my parents too, bro. That's my adoption certificate right on the wall right there."
Kim, Ron and Rufus, scampered to the framed document the young man was pointing to.
("Damn.")
"Wade Stoppable…," Ron read aloud. "My parents are going to kill me."
...
Wade explained his actions while the three humans cleaned up the room. After she learned Wade lived alone Kim stood firm on this point. No ten year old boy in her neighbourhood was going to live in his own squalor. The boys were given the task of clearing the living room of pizza boxes and other food wrappings. Kim insisted on changing his diet and proceeded to throw out the less healthy contents of Wade's fridge. When she was done there was not even enough food left to feed Rufus, (if she would have even touched what was there that is).
Kim walked out of the kitchen. She dragged two large, overfilled rubbish bags behind her, the contents of the fridge. "You two take these to the curb. Wade, when you're done I want to know what you're doing living on your own. Then tomorrow I will take you to the supermarket for some real food. I've already called Margaret from Meals on Wheels for a favour so that will tide us over for tonight."
Wade was incredibly annoyed about being bossed around in his own bachelor pad. Out of Kim's hearing range he cursed, "Why in God's name did I even let her in the house?"
"Hey. Best babysitter in the neighbourhood," Ron commented with pride.
"Shut up! This is your fault."
"Wade," Kim called out, "tonight I want you to pick up your clothes and do some washing!"
"Arrgh…."
...
Wade stared suspiciously at a French fried sized carrot stick. Finally he rolled his eyes and bit it in half. "The orphanage didn't foster my interest in computing. They were still using Microsoft! So I decided to strike out on my own. Unfortunately I wasn't as prepared for the real world as I thought."
"My first attempt at independence ended when I was caught using a… 'borrowed' credit card and a homemade decoder to steal money from an ATM. Second time I was recognised from the lost child photos while staying at a YMCA. Time after that, the apartment next to the one I was renting happen to be raided. The police suspected it was being used as a methanphetomine lab. When they knocked on my door…, well I guess an eight year old renting an apartment was an even greater surprise."
"I realised if I was going to live independently I needed a proper game plan; money, a new identity, and… a family."
"Ron's family?" Kim questioned.
"The Stoppables came into the picture much later, after I had chosen Middleton as my destination. I needed a local family, stable with a child or children of their own, my age or older. A loving, tight knit family the adoption agency would be comfortable handing me over too. Not high profile. And it had to be people others would believe would adopt a child in need. The Stoppables fit my search parameters perfectly."
Wade smiled wistfully. "In a way you should be proud I choose you Ron. Your family is… you're very lucky."
Ron did not know what to say. He looked to Kim for a hint, though settled on a quiet, "Thanks dude." He reached out and squeezed the ten year olds shoulder.
"Yeah, well…," Wade trailed off.
"How did you pull it off?" Kim asked.
"Oh? Umm…, well it took nearly a year for me to set everything up, saving up money working at a computing store after school. Creating multiple new identities for myself online, including I might add the social worker assigned to Wade Stoppable."
Maybe his game was up, but Wade still enjoyed elaborating on his own cunning and genius. It had been a very long time since he had been able to show off in person. He performed a mini bow.
("Well he's pleased with himself"), Rufus commented. Ron had washed the cheesy blob off her and now allowed her to take her pick of vegetables from his plate.
"Actually I choose one who was on the verge of retirement. She already had a record so it would be even more convincing. Just had to keep filing those reports. Not that there weren't some hairy moments like a home visit by another social worker."
Wade climbed to his feet and clapped his hands. "Voila."
"Hwoa!" Ron yelped. In the centre of the living room his parents appeared in a burst of light.
"Holograms!" Kim exclaimed.
"Yep," Wade confirmed. He claimed again and the figures of light disappeared.
...
Wade allowed Kim and Ron into his darkened master bedroom/computer room. It was the only room he had kept meticulously clean. He had more screens in this one room than Kim or Ron did in their entire households. The server itself took up a quarter of the room.
"Wow! That's what I'm talking about KP! The Wade! The legend! Blackmailing mega-corporations, confounding the FBI. No one is safe from the ghost in the network."
"Ron," Wade chided, "most of the rumours about me are completely untrue."
"Untrue like a fox! Huh? Huh?" He lifted his hand for a high five.
"No Ron. Untrue like untrue. I've spent most of the past year doing college computer sciences via correspondence and performing consultancy work on net security for some major corporations, under a false identity of course."
Ron's excitement level dropped. "So you didn't attack Estonia?"
("Put your arm down boy.") Rufus advised, referring to Ron's still hanging five.
Wade booted up his system. "I did my best to defend the Estonia. Sadly I'm no match for millions of remotely controlled computers flooding the country with spam. The attack was too well planned; it was trying to hold back Hurricane Katrina. All I could do was spike a couple of the perpetrators and offer my services as a consultant to Estonia's new E-military."
"And Dr Directors diary?" Kim queried, just a little curious.
"Well…." The blue glow of computer screen revealed Wades smirk.
"Alright, I'm no angel. I had to do deals with some especially unsavoury characters to get my hands on most of this equipment. I like to know what politicians and major-companies are up to, I've made a few grand insider-trading and I have earned a reputation for underhanded stunts, though my targets have generally deserved it."
"I just bet they did," Kim challenged his justification. "Just like 'malicious' Ron here deserved to be pulled into your scam and have his family hijacked."
She managed emulate her own mothers scolding tone. (Who would have thought that would one day come in handy?) Wade simmered under her gaze until she finally asked, "... so what was in the diary?"
"I posted a few private opinions on world leaders, a schoolgirl crush on a home town, smooth talking Sheriff. Big mistake though; that woman is relentless. She's the reason I keep such a low profile, on and offline."
He chuckled at the memory a while before growing serious, guilty even. "I stopped reading when I reached the earlier entries…. Her best friend. Her husband and daughter…. It grew too personal. I purged it from my system."
Kim knew to let the matter drop. Curiosity aside, if was painful enough that Wade let it drop then maybe it was best kept private. After all, she would die if anyone ever read….
"Have you read my diary?"
"What happened to her family and best friend?" Ron asked, confused.
"Let's move on," Wade suggested, swivelling on his computer chair to face the computer screen, and not Kim. His fingers typed furiously. Window after window opened on numerous screens around the room. "If we want to find Dr Drakken we need collaborating information. Once we build up a larger picture on the events surrounding your father's abduction we might be able to find a clue. Dr Director had never heard of Drakken so I doubt he exists in GJ's criminal database. They were familiar the second assailant, Shego, so I can start my search there."
Wade had a mouse, though he did not bother using it. Instead he simply pointed with his finger and dragged. Window after window was banished from the primary screen, only to be replaced by more and more once Wade began typing again.
"We also need to know everything we can about your father's RF-78 project. Its purpose, potential military uses, those involved in production. Personally, I also want to know who leaked your father's movements to the media. It may be important, it may not be."
Wade swilled his chair back around to face Kim and Ron.
"Anything else I should look into?"
Kim thought back over her confrontation with Dr Drakken. "He knew my name."
"Not surprising, I knew your name. Drakken has probably had your family under surveillance for months now, even years."
"He also let us go. He tried to capture me, and then let us go."
Wade shrugged. "He may have wanted you as leverage to use against your father, than figured it wasn't worth the hassle. Super villains like to leave witnesses to their crimes; over wise another one might take the credit. I know it's messed up."
"It wasn't like that." Kim argued strongly. "This was different."
"It just feels different because it was you and not someone else."
Ron offered a search parameter. "How about…, freaky assassin women had glowing hands!"
"Yeah. We could use that."
"They were looking into a related case," Kim voiced.
Wade and Ron waited while she thought back.
"When Mom said Dad was in the Ukraine, Director said she had Dad moved to the Space Centre. He was working on a case related to what happened in the Ukraine."
"I'm on it," and Wade resumed typing like a madman. It was wonder his keyboard could take it. Even Clark Kent could not have matched his WPM count (words per minute).
"I have to be honest with you. It may be days, even months before I find a lead. I may never find anything."
"I understand," Kim replied solemnly.
Wades chair shot out from the desk. He had pushed himself toward a work desk in the corner. Under a work light and magnifying equipment was a device. It looked like an early game boy with its large screen, buttons and relatively thick casing.
He picked it up and passed it to Kim, along with an instruction booklet. "Take this. I can contact you anywhere with this and you can contact me. I know it looks a little clunky but trust me, this baby beats any cell phone hands down."
"What is it?"
"How about… the Kimmunicator?"
Kim smirked at the name. "Please and thank you."
Ron perked up. He enjoyed presents. "Do I get one?"
"That was your one," Wade scolded. "Teach you to lead your 'mother' to my command centre."
He added silently to Kim, "You may notice most of the instructions are simple coloured pictures."
Outside, on the doorstep to Wade's home, Kim looked up at the porch light bulb.
"When this is all over… you and me are going to have a serious talk young man."
"WON'T I LOOK FORWARD TO THAT?"
