Tom has found the best ever role playing game on the internet. It seems better than real life, although it has some strange similarities. Just who is Tom playing with ? I don't own any of the MI High characters. I'm just borrowing them. Thanks to all the reviewers.
Back at base Frank sat looking at Dan's photograph of the black four wheel drive with the blackened windows. It suddenly looked more sinister. He could see the reflection of Dan taking the photograph in the car's paintwork. Sighing, Frank set up alarms to wake him if there were any messages coming in and he headed off for a restless night.
Zoe, Aneisha and Tom got a call from Frank asking them to get into school early and meet him in the basement. Tom had set his alarm early in any case hoping that he would get a lead on the game designer. Frank briefed Zoe and Aneisha on Dan's disappearance. "HQ found some CCTV footage showing the last known position of the car," he explained. "It was heading into a small industrial estate on the outskirts of town. Tom has been trying to track down the designer of a game he found which bears remarkable similarities to your last mission. Tom have you had any replies ?" asked Frank.
Tom had been running through the huge list of responses he had received overnight. Most were either simply agreeing with him, or denying knowledge of the designer. "There's one," he said. "Listen to this ! It says 'I don't really write games. It was just for fun. I make robots. Play it if you like.'"
"That's kind of weird," said Aneisha. "You should reply. Why don't you ask if you can meet them ?"
"OK. I'll try, but they don't sound very sociable," said Tom. He typed in a reply. He put, 'OK I will. I do really like it. You're a really good game designer. I love robots too. Can I meet you ? Tom.'
"Were there any other suggestions ?" asked Aneisha, trying to scan some of the messages on Tom's email.
"No. A couple of people pointed to some other games which have the same tag against them. Whoever this person is, they've written quite a lot of stuff on the net," said Tom.
His email pinged with a new message. It was a reply to his email. Tom read it and his jaw dropped. The message read, 'Are you Tom Tupper ?' Tom looked to Frank. "What shall I say ?" he asked. "How do they know my name ?"
Frank sighed and said, "Dan."
"Oh," said Tom. "Then, they probably know everything about us don't they ?" he asked. "What shall I say ?"
Frank threw his hands in the air. "You may as well tell them the truth. We need to get Dan back," he said.
Tom quickly started typing. 'Yes, I am Tom Tupper. You must have met my friend Dan. I would like to see your robots. Can I see them please ? I didn't get to go to the factory.' He looked round at Frank, who nodded his approval. Tom sent the email.
All three of them huddled around Tom's computer, hoping and praying for a reply. They didn't have many options. After what seemed like hours, but was probably only minutes a message appeared. It read, 'Alright. You can come, but not the other two. We can play a game.' Then it gave an address. Frank quickly checked the address.
"It's an office building on that industrial estate where the car vanished," said Frank. "I'd better call in a SWAT team," he added, reaching for his mobile.
"Frank, no !" said Zoe. "We don't have any idea what's happened to Dan. This person sounds really strange. Why can't Tom go there ?" she asked, pleadingly.
"Tom would have to go on his own. It's too dangerous," said Frank. "Those robots were killers. I can't afford to lose another agent," he said.
"But we haven't lost Dan yet," said Tom. "I don't mind going. I might be able to talk this person round. We like lots of the same sort of stuff don't we ?"
Frank thought about this. "Well, alright, but I'm going to set a time limit. If you can't get through to this person, I'm sending in the SWAT team, alright ?" he said. Tom nodded. He took a deep breath. This was going to be seriously scary.
An hour later, Tom was standing outside an office building on a small industrial estate. Frank had dropped him off from an MI9 van and left. Tom was hugely nervous. The only thing that was keeping him to plan was his concern for Dan. Also he was wearing video contact lenses and a microphone. Frank and the others were going to be listening in to everything that happened. If Tom wanted help, he just had to use the code phrase, which was 'Double Jalapeno Peppers'.
The door into the building opened. There was nobody behind it, and Tom walked rather hesitantly towards it. As he stepped through the door it closed behind him. He was standing in an empty corridor. Another door ahead of him opened. "Hello !" called Tom. "Is anyone there ?" Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves he walked through the second door. The door closed again, leaving him standing at the bottom of a flight of stairs. "Up here ?" shouted Tom. There was no answer, so he climbed the stairs.
Tom wondered how long this was going to go on for. Another door was open at the top of the stairs. He walked through and gasped. The darkened room he was standing in was kitted out with every imaginable type of computer and electronic equipment. Lights flickered and flashed. Racks of equipment hummed and whirred and there were banks of screens placed around the outer edges of the room. There weren't any chairs. This was Tom's idea of heaven. "Wow !" he said.
"Do you like my lab ?" asked a voice. Tom turned round, trying to see who was speaking. Finally he made out a figure, sitting in the corner of the room. "Well, yes, it's amazing," replied Tom, truthfully. There was a humming noise as the figure glided towards him. Belatedly he realised they were sitting in an electric wheelchair. As they moved into the light, he realised that the boy in the chair was about the same age as himself and Dan. He was probably the same height as Tom, but his arms and legs were very thin and his face was very thin. "I'm Tom," said Tom, holding out his hand.
The boy in the chair lifted up his hand and put his fingers into Tom's. "I'm Nate," he said. "I make robots."
"Why ?" asked Tom.
"Because they do things for me," said Nate. "And because they're cool."
"Do you live here ?" asked Tom, curiously.
"Yes," said Nate. "Do you want to see my robots ?"
"Yes please," said Tom. Nate took his chair towards a door at the far side of the lab and it opened automatically. The lights in the corridor came on automatically and followed them as they travelled along. Finally Nate lead him through a set of double doors into a large room with a high ceiling. Tom gasped as he looked round. There were two or three large construction robots, like the kind you would see in a car factory and piles of parts and components. One of the robots was working on something, picking up pieces and welding things together. A smaller black cube robot like the cyclops robots from the KORPS factory rolled past them, carrying some pieces of metal.
"This is fantastic ! How did you get started ?" asked Tom. He was wondering how someone with Nate's condition would be able to construct all of this.
"Well, I was stronger when I was younger. I started making my own robots. Then when I couldn't do as much, I started programming the robots to make more things. Then I made robots which could help to look after me," explained Nate. "Now I don't need anyone. My robots look after me."
"Don't you get lonely ?" asked Tom.
"No. I like it like this," said Nate.
"Why did you make robots for KORPS ?" asked Tom. "They're criminals you know."
"Does it matter ?" asked Nate, sounding surprised. "They paid me to make cool stuff. I like making things."
"But they hurt people," said Tom.
"I don't know them," said Nate simply.