A/N: For those who aren't on the KND forums and haven't received my reply there, I was on a quick hiatus due to my sister's wedding. I am now raring to go with the impending conclusion of Year Four of Starfall and hope you all still continue to keep watching for near-daily updates! Thank you!
Year Four - Dragnet III
It was like a maze. If it wasn't for the fact that the Utility Watch was helping her maneuver around all the winding halls and corridors, she was almost sure she'd be lost forever. Everything seemed to look exactly the same each time she passed from one place to another.
And it was quiet. Like a death quiet. The heavy sounds of her boots magnetically hitting metal made her hair stand on end. Not wanting to waste oxygen, she took off her helmet and took a deep breath before coughing at what she was inhaling. Even the air felt metallic and stale.
Looking up at the intertwining pipes and circuitry, she really wondered if this was an actual ship of alien design. That was when a chill ran up her back. Someone was watching her.
Gripping her helmet hard, she slowly turned around, but found nothing. The only thing that could possibly watch her was the mounted turrets, but she had found them offline. Someone must have shut it off. She ran her Utility Watch's scan over the turrets and gained access to their online codes. It could be useful in case she ran across any of them online and in her way.
After a moment of scanning, she stared suspiciously at the powered down weapon which gave her enough incentive to take her own rifle out and continue on. She needed to stop dallying around. Patton and the others needed her. Fanny would be awfully angry if she knew that right at this moment, Rachel had been doing some sightseeing while she was risking her life drawing out the fire. The guilt in her gut empowering her conviction, she continued on with a renewed haste.
That was when the corridor decided that it was time to turn her environment against her, emitting that same red barrier that was barring her from going forward. Frowning, she turned on her Utility Watch to find another entrance, only to find that every entrance in the corridor was suddenly lit up in red light at her scan, blocking her entirely. A mild case of claustrophobia began to kick in as she took a step back. She was trapped in.
All the barriers started to flicker on and off like Christmas lights, and much to her displeasure, it was almost as if someone was teasing her. Frustrated by it all, she screamed.
"KNOCK IT OFF!"
Interestingly enough, it stopped, leaving only one passageway open to her. Without giving whoever was doing that an incentive to screw with her again, she ran past the entrance regardless of where it was leading her and ended up in a very small and compact room.
It was circular with a guardrail presented to her that held what looked like a computer console and beyond it was a circular platform that was emitting a bright light. It looked like a holographic station. Brow furrowed in slight confusion she took a step forward and was startled as a grid of golden light ran up and down the length of her body and then flickered away. In its place was the sound of an automatic female AI.
Possible candidate Numbuh 362: Age 17. Unfit for candidacy. Please report to Infinity for an immediate disembarkation.
Rachel frowned at the statement. Infinity was the enemy. It was in her mission specs. "Bite me."
Warning: teenage jargon. Please remain in the vicinity until an operative escorts you to the nearest airlock. Have a nice day.
She really needed to stop hanging around Fanny so much. However, this computer knew who she was and curiosity overwhelmed her prior mission to find the others. "Review my candidacy, please."
The hologram in front of her answered her query by emitting a girl roughly ten or eleven dressed in an orange sweater and a samurai helmet. Rachel had seen this girl before in her files.
She was looking at her KND self.
The female voice presented its findings with a neutral demeanor.
Numbuh 362 was part of a list of secondary recommended operatives for the Ascension program. Before the outbreak of the Andromeda War, only one operative from each viable planet could join the Galactic Kids Next Door. This protocol has since been modified three standard Earth years ago by the Council, as statistics indicate that we are losing the war. 362 was recommended by Earth Operative Numbuh 1.
Rachel raised her head up at that. "Was I approached for this Ascension program?"
Prior to your decommissioning, you were approached by Numbuh Infinity and offered triple agent status not unlike Numbuh 274. You declined.
"Why?"
Instead of a verbal answer, the circular platform erased Rachel's younger self and played a vid. This was the first time she had ever seen herself as Numbuh 362: walking, talking, and fully animated in her movements. This wasn't a picture that could have been easily doctored or manipulated. The absolute truth was that this was her in an artificial memory, pacing in the flickering light of the vid, her expression worrisome and conflicted. This was unlike her. It was jarring to see this. Numbuh 362 then looked up and from the shadows came a dark-skinned boy in a suit.
"Where are my operatives?" she demanded with an authority Rachel had never used before. "Where have you taken Numbuh 1?"
"He has joined us to fight," Infinity calmly told her. "The Galactic Kids Next Door requires the best operatives as we fight the disease that has ravaged throughout the galaxy: adulthood."
Rachel made a face at such a silly thing. She wasn't surprised at the similar response Numbuh 362 was sporting. "Adulthood? Adulthood isn't a disease, Numbuh Infinity."
Infinity merely lowered his head to the side, giving the impression that he's heard the same response from others over and over again before. "This is something that you cannot comprehend, Numbuh 362, but I understand your confusion on the matter. You do not think adulthood is a disease because your Earth's culture celebrates it. You will understand if you let us."
Numbuh 362 watched him warily. "Is that the same spiel you told Chad? Because Numbuh 5 informed me that he was working for the Splinter Cell."
"His current predicament is… unfortunate," Infinity had the decency to show regret. "We wanted to recruit him before he turned thirteen, but we were unable to acquire the… appropriate measures in doing so. His status as a triple agent, however, is helping us keep a close eye on Father and the other adults."
The look Numbuh 362 was giving him couldn't be described. It was almost calculatingly frustrated. "You're using him."
"As you use your operatives every single day for the bettering of the Kids Next Door? Then yes, that is precisely it." Rachel's hands balled into fists, wondering why Numbuh 362 wasn't trying to pummel this snake in the face. "Numbuh 1 has recommended your file to us."
That caused both Rachel and Numbuh 362 to look up at him. "He did?" Numbuh 362 blinked, her words hesitant.
"Yes. He spoke quite highly of you," Infinity took a step forward. "He would love nothing more than to have you fight by his side."
And, much to Rachel's surprise, Numbuh 362 started to blush. "Ah… um…" Her teenage counterpart grimaced by how lovestruck she looked. "Get a hold of yourself, Mini-Me."
Infinity continued, familiar to the concept of puppy love, but completely alien to it. "We would be happy to welcome you into the GKND ranks, Numbuh 362. Your ability to lead hundreds of thousands of operatives would prove beneficial to us. You won't have to grow old and you won't be decommissioned."
So this was the moment. Ignoring her mission completely for the sole curiosity of this missing important piece of her past, Rachel stood back and awaited her past self's answer, arms folded. "Well… this is it, little me. You obviously had a thing for Nigel Uno," she muttered. "Oh god, Lizzie should have killed me." Numbuh 362 hesitated, obviously considering her options from there. Her older counterpart glanced at Infinity. "It just… it sounds too good to be true."
"It's too good to be true." Numbuh 362 said softly and then she smiled. "I think… I'll have to decline your offer." Both Rachel and Infinity stared at her.
Rachel palmed her face. "Wait, what am I so surprised for? Of course I… she… we declined." She wouldn't be here after all if she didn't.
Infinity then raised the million dollar question. "Why?"
Zeta to anyone! We've reached the hostages, but we need someone to get to the central chamber and unlock these pods! Anyone read me?
She was startled by the sound of Patton's voice. The crash of static buzzed loudly in her ear and shattered the illusion entirely. Wincing, she pressed a finger there to confirm. "Number 60? I read you." But the most she heard was constant static. The connection was extremely unstable and she wasn't even sure if even one single word got through to him. Waving away the holovid, she saved whatever was in the panel to her Utility Watch. This wasn't the time to poke through memories. She had a mission to see through to the end.
Playing with the frequency of her comm, she uttered three times. "362 on her way." Taking a final look at the now vacant platform, Rachel quickly turned on her heel and ran to the next rendezvous point.
Unbeknownst to Rachel, a camera zoomed in on her as she turned the corner.
The rest of the scientists looked to each other, wondering what call their leader would make. Only one person kept his eyes glued to 274. Chad was, after all, Jacob's first and former leader of Sector S. He hadn't known him long back in the KND. Numbuh 274 was recommended for global command after taking on and rising victoriously against a multitude of dangerous adult villains and so their time together as a team was severely limited. After he received the invitation as Global Tactical Officer, he had left their treehouse without looking back and eventually, their group scattered to different stations all over the world.
But Chad wasn't preoccupied with a past that should remain in the past. He was glaring at the console in front of him and, despite the ominous flashing of red lights and the conflicted intent in his stare down of the screen, the man had yet to break a sweat. This was his natural environment: working under extreme pressure.
Except this wasn't a KND mission where the worst you'd get out of it was gum in your hair. This time lives were at stake. Jacob cleared his throat after a minute, hoping to get their leader to do something. Anything. "Sir. We don't have much time." Either they saved one, or lose them both. Chad needed to make a move now for their mission to succeed.
A million thoughts were running quickly through Chad's mind, attempting to find a reasonable scenario he had done and conquered during these kinds of missions. Unfortunately, most of these tactics either dealt with commanding from the sidelines back when he was Supreme Leader, or when he worked solo where the only casualty would be himself. But this… this was people who were going to be influenced by his decision. His decision would be their consequence.
Anxiety taking over as the alarm grew louder, Jacob slammed his palm next to the console, trying to get Chad's attention. It marginally worked. "Sir! You have to pick one now!"
Chad grit his teeth and shoved himself away from the console in response. "I want those pods unlocked now. And you've got two minutes to data-mine the information before Infinity wipes it remotely. Don't waste time and head to the shuttle." When they looked at him with something akin to confusion and fear, he snapped. "What are you waiting for?! Get moving!"
"YES SIR!" A choir of scientists saluted before they immediately began preparations. Realizing that Chad moved to the back to suit up with a small cache of weaponry he hadn't known they brought with them, he started to follow Chad out of the chamber. "You're going after them," Jacob concluded.
Chad declined to elaborate further. "Go back and deal with your team, 275."
"Where you're going is suicidal. You know that Number 777's team is either pinned by heavy fire or dead. Go the opposite direction and we both know you'll be in the kill zone." Whether Jacob was implying pragmatism was Chad's usual style or not, the man didn't care to ask. His former teammate kept following him as he began hooking up his fire suppression kit to his belt. Jacob frowned as Chad expertly checked and locked in his flash grenades and armed his assault rifle for immediate combat. "Number 274, did you not hear me? You know you'll end up in the kill zone-"
"Don't worry about me. Worry about the others. I'm expenda-"
You are NOT!
Chad paused in mid-step. It was so sudden that Jacob stopped and looked on in confusion at the thoughtful expression his leader was giving the floor.
You are just as valuable as anyone else, Dickson! Especially me. If something happens to you, who's going to protect me?
He shook his head and allowed himself a self-deprecating frown. Rachel. Looking back up, he continued on. "You underestimate me, Number 275. I was the greatest operative back in the KND. A couple of turrets isn't going to stop me."
"But sir-" He took a step back when Chad rounded on him, his features stern.
"Failing one mission for the success of the other is unacceptable under my command, Jacob," And, for the first time, Jacob saw a glimmer of the former Numbuh 274: calm, approachable, and above all else, exuding a confidence that was inspiring. "If the odds are against you, then you slide out the ace in the hole." Kicking open the service hatch, he started to climb down the ladder to the hangar deck.
He'll be damned if he'd let Infinity screw him over again. Losing everyone on this mission wasn't an option. One life was well worth the cost.
A green light flashed in Mushi's pod as Kuki pressed herself against the glass to check on her. Mildly gaping, the Asian teen watched as every pod turned from a menacing red to a cool green. Patton turned around at the sound of mechanics whirring and saw that the pods were disengaging. With great relief, Abby and Kenny immediately began to work on the console.
"Pods can be extracted now," Kenny ran his fingers against the holographic keyboard, testing any security locks left over with his Utility Watch. They waited until Abby considered the contents inside each one to be stable enough to start the process.
She took a deep breath from inside her helmet before giving Patton a thumbs up. "So long as we don't compromise the structure of the pods, they can survive being transported even in the vacuum of space."
"Good, because we're going to need that," Patton said, closing an emergency comm to their shuttle. "209 said the tunnels have been shutdown due to a security breach. We might have to space these out of airlock the old fashioned way."
Kuki stared incredulously at them and wrung her hands in worry. "Is that safe?" Her words caused Wally to round on Patton, his Australian accent at full force as the girl's fear egged his anger on. "Oi! Yer supposed to be like uber agents or something! Yer just gonna space them?! Do better!"
"Tell you what, sport, you come up with something better and we'll make you leader, got it?" Patton growled and ran a slashing motion against his throat which was an obvious threat for him to shut up. "I want these pods lined up single file. We're moving them down the corridor and into the nearest airlock. Once the shuttle is at our coordinates, we're forming a chain out in space to guide them. Numbuh 5, I want you to reach the shuttle first. Then the… what's your name again?"
"Kuki."
Patton nodded. "Then I want Kuki spaced. Lock hands to form a chain. Then 30c, then the Aussie-"
"-I have a name, y'know!"
"And then I'll send each pod over from the airlock." Patton continued, ignoring the fuming teenage boy. "One at a time, we guide them to the shuttle. It's the best we can do."
Kenny nodded but he quirked an eyebrow up through his visor. "What about Number 362?" Abby awkwardly turned away at the frustrated expression appearing on Patton's face. Her disappearance was distracting him from doing his duty. Seems like even after all of these years and the loss of memories, things still hadn't changed.
"She's an operative," Patton finally responded, though his words were grave. "She'll either find her way to the rendezvous point or find the others. But right now, these pods are our priority, understand?" Kenny nodded and then moved back to the panel for the disengaging process.
Focusing on the current mission kept Patton's mind off his two best friends and whatever fate had in store for them.
"Trying to save everyone, are you?" Infinity taunted gently. "We both know there was only one person capable of such a feat."
Chad's way up to the hangar was a service elevator that was currently inoperable due to an emergency power fluctuation. Infinity had taken the opportunity of Chad's current predicament to show himself again as a hologram, but he wasn't alone.
Alongside him was a static hologram of Nigel Uno.
He lowered his weapon, dismissively looked at Uno's flickering profile and then turned away to hack into the elevator panel to get it running. If Infinity thought it'd be easy to use his mind games in order to distract him, he was going to be sorely disappointed. Focused on his current options, if he couldn't get the power back on he was just going to have to scale the shaft to get there. Nothing was going to stop him from reaching the hangar except for death.
Uno had looked much more older before Chad ignored the image, but not that much. Why he wasn't still a child despite the Ascension program was beyond Chad's understanding at the moment. And, quite frankly, he wasn't exactly free to care. Maybe this was just another ploy by Infinity to catch him off-guard. "Is this the best you can do, Infinity? Scare me with a picture of Uno?" He simply spat out and started to tear off the panel. Looking at this person, even as a hologram though, was dauntingly aggravating. "I'm busy. Bother someone else."
Despite everything, Numbuh 1 was still a hero in everyone's eyes. Even her's. No matter how hard Chad tried, he could never measure up. He was never able to reach what should have been his.
"Would you rather I bother Numbuh 362?" That caused Chad to freeze up at the statement. He quickly turned and took a threatening step forward towards Infinity.
"What did you do to her?" She was supposed to be with Number 60 and her team. That was the only saving grace to this entire mission. So long as she was safe, he could work with this. This new distraction, however, was probably what Infinity wanted all along.
Infinity placed his hands behind his back. "I didn't do anything. Numbuh 1, however, has seem to have taken it upon himself to remotely hack into this station's security feed once he heard that three of his former Sector V teammates were in the vicinity. But we both know who he's really paying attention to." His sunglasses seemed to glint with intimidation. "It's a love that just won't die, won't it Numbuh 274?"
Chad glared at Infinity before turning away again, now even more determined than ever to reach his destination. Infinity continued on conversationally. "He's quite angry, you know, the last time I talked to him. He wanted you to protect her, not take advantage of her memory-less state and steal her away." That caused Chad's back to stiffen. Whether it was from guilt or how personal the subject was, Infinity did not know. He only cared because he now knew Chad's undoing. It had always been her.
"He wonders how pathetic you are. If Numbuh 362 had her memory back, he had said, she would hate you. She would hate and despise you for taking advantage of her. Stealing her first kiss, her first embrace, everything that was supposed to be Numbuh 1's alone. Her goodness and innocence tainted by the touch of a traitor." Chad's grip on the wires began tightening enough to turn his fingers white. Then, he started to undoubtedly shake with rage.
Despite it all, he managed to get the elevator going again and he turned, seeing Numbuh 1's expressionless face before looking back at Infinity. "Is that all?" he asked the dark-skinned boy with barely a measure of control left. "Is that the best you could do?" The words had hit him like a ton of bricks, but he'd be damned if he'd show Infinity any incentive that he was winning.
"I have a few parting words for you, Numbuh 274," Infinity simply said. "Even if you survive this, you have lost. You will lose everything."
"And I'll prove you wrong again," Chad countered. "I'm going to save the distraction team and everyone's going to leave here alive. You hear me?"
Both Nigel and Infinity's holograms had flickered out of existence, but the boy's words continued before it faded away. "You will lose everything."
And as Chad finally reached the appropriate deck, the implications of Infinity's words had stopped him if not for a moment. Realizing those words, he found himself within a fork in the road. Two seconds too late did he understand why Infinity showed him an image of Uno.
Infinity wasn't implying about the state of the mission.
You will lose everything.
When she reached the central chamber, the scientists were already packed up and ready to go. She frowned when she didn't see Chad among their ranks. "Where's Number 274? Wasn't he your squad leader?" A few nodded, but it was Jacob who stepped forward to elaborate.
"Did you not hear the comm alert? It was a trap. Infinity forced us to pick between saving the hangar or saving the kidnapped children. 274 had to make a decision." Rachel paled at the young man's words, but urged him to elaborate with a serious gesture to continue. "He's headed to the hangar now to try and save 777's group from fire and possibly open and free 100's distraction team. I told him it was suicide-"
Rachel abruptly turned to the scientist working the comm. "Is Zeta team successfully transporting the pods to the shuttle?" Her words were clipped and urgent which prompted the scientist to check the vid feed.
"Yes ma'am. It looks like they're transporting now."
She nodded. "I want the comm's cleared, 73. The pathway I went through is clear for your immediate transport, but I want constant updates on Zeta team's status until they've securely gotten all of the pods on the shuttle. Can you do that?" A bit stunned by how authoritative the recently new operative was handing out orders to them, they hesitated for a moment before chanting 'ma'am' and getting to work.
It was almost like it was deja vu for Jacob. Not too long ago, Chad had put on his tactical gear and now Rachel was moving forward to pick up the engineering kit, sliding the Neutralization styled weaponry on her person as she began preparations to leave the deck. "You're going to get killed like him if you follow." Jacob had an inkling that Chad had some kind of soft spot for her, but to what extent, he was unsure of. When Chad had become their squad leader for this infiltration, he was very private about anything else except the mission.
"I'm going after the distraction team," she corrected him curtly, but he knew better by the softness in her eyes. Maybe she too was rather private regarding personal matters. "I was going to rendezvous with 777's team anyways. 274 could use the backup."
But her heart was beating fast and a slight shiver was running up her arms and neck. He was always doing stupid things at the risk of getting himself killed. She missed the clasp of securing her kit a few times before she took a deeper breath and clicked it on. This wasn't the time to panic.
She had thought the voice that called out to her was 275's, but it wasn't.
"Rachel."
There it was again. That shiver up her spine. Rachel paused, slightly shaking as she turned. The corridors began to flicker around in red again like last time and Jacob was nowhere to be found. No, this time she didn't recognize the young man in front of her. He was wearing a very alien-like uniform but he was undoubtedly human. The flicker of barriers continued and now she found the culprit who was leading her around like a hamster caught in a maze. "Why are you following me around?" She demanded, finally finding a face for this aggravating game.
Meanwhile, Chad remained at a crossroads knowing what Infinity had planned all along. Uno was after Rachel and if he didn't… he fished out his Utility Watch and found her homing beacon not far away from the central chamber on the map. He could go back and take her with him but it would be at the risk of losing more people by wasting time. If he stopped now he could lose the rest of the distraction team. But if he kept going, Uno could… Chad could lose her to his better adversary. It was possible.
You will lose everything.
This was Infinity's real plan all along. This was retribution for turning back on the cause and now he was at risk of losing something intrinsically important to him. It was a test of selfishness. Which was the greatest thing to lose? He didn't want the deaths of so many people weighing on his soul. But was it worth it at the cost of losing something important to him?
She was the reason he was here. She was his redemption.
With a pained snarl, he continued his hasty trek after the distraction team, leaving Rachel's fate at the hands of Uno. Regardless of his allegiance, Uno had always been the better man for her. This was fate telling him he would always be second best: to the cause and to her.
Villains never got the girl. And he was an idiot for believing that this would last.
He could hear shouting and firing in the next corridor and, for the first time in his life, he was going to commit a selfless act that didn't need cajoling or an ulterior motive to achieve. His comm beeped at last now that he was close by to the firefight.
This is 777! Can anybody hear us?! We're pinned and a lot of my operatives are down! The door to the hangar is locked shut and we can't get in! Is someone out there?! What's the status of the Zeta team?! Please can anyone hear us?!
Chad installed a pipe bomb to the door and ran for cover, rifle at the ready. "This is Number 274 reporting," He said through the comm, hearing a breathless sigh of relief from her. Someone had finally responded to her hails. "Hang tight guys. I'm going in!"
This was his redemption.
