Assignment 13.3: Messages
Tuesday, September 2nd, 2087
Hidden W.O.M.P. bunker
"This stinks!" Linc declared for the world to hear. Not that most of the world could hear him, as the only other people who were in the containment room were Will and Eli.
It had been just over half a day since the kids had been brought to a secure holding facility. They had been given a brief rundown of what was going to happen and where they were, which amounted to, "we're somewhere outside the city, you should just sit tight." They were then sent to the holding rooms, one for the boys and one for the girls.
As they had previously been assured, the holding rooms were rather comfortable, if a bit plain. It had three sub-rooms and a bathroom, each painted the same shade of beige and lacking any wall decoration, including windows. One room had five cots, another a small kitchen, and the third a basic television that had prerecorded programs set up for viewing. If it weren't for the lack of any contact with the outside world, it might have passed for a comfortable hotel room.
"I hear you," Eli said with a sigh. He leaned back on the couch, "but what can we do? No one's talking to us or letting us know what's going on."
"You don't think they've just locked us up and are throwing away the key, do you?" Will asked as he went through a small tool drawer that was set out for small repairs, and he turned pale at the prospect.
"Probably," Linc said, crossing his arms and sinking into one of the kitchen chairs. "I mean, why lock us up in here otherwise?"
"They did say they were trying to protect us," Eli pointed out, trying to keep up the spirits of the other two. "I'm sure they've got some sort of plan in action."
"A plan that involves us having no connection to the outside?" Linc asked. He waved a dismissive hand at the television. "I mean, what good is that? Sure, it's a TV, but it's pre-programed with I Love Lucy reruns. We can't even switch it to the news to find out what's going on, or even contact the girls for that matter. Can't imagine they've got it much better than we do."
Hearing the comment, Will moved away from the drawer and studied the TV hard. He looked around at it and the region around it, and he never said a word while he examined.
The Washington brothers stayed silent as they watched him work, but after about five minutes of this odd action, curiosity got to them. "Ok, man," Eli said, "what's with the Sherlock-mode?"
"It's what you mentioned about the girls being in the same situation as us," Will replied. "It got me thinking. The DVR system here," he said, motioning to the small box underneath the television, "is the Visioncast version. You know what that means."
"Of course we do," Linc said, but his tone lacked confidence. "But, just to make sure we're all on the same page, what do you think it means?"
"Visioncast makes a point in its advertisement that all of their products, when purchased together will connect to each other," Will replied. All anxiety was now gone, and he was fully into examining the system. "If that's the case here, then we might be able to contact the girls through their system. All I'll need to do is play around with the box here, just a bit…" He immediately sprang to his feet to grab some of the tools.
"I see where you're going with this," Eli said with a smile. "At the very least, we can keep up with the girls and make sure we're on the same page."
"Precisamente!" Will exclaimed as he came back carrying a few screwdrivers and two sets of pliers. "On top of that, since Visioncast is meant to be in contact with each other, we aren't damaging the system or doing a major readjustment, just unlocking a natural function. Now if only there was a way to actually speak with the girls…"
"Don't these things come with voice recognition software?" Linc asked. "We could just work with that once we've connected up to the girl's device, and then set it up to transmit voices instead of commands. We won't be able to see them without a camera, but at least we can communicate."
"That's brilliant," Will replied. He gave a grin before pulling the system box out for easier access. He then touched a few buttons on the side, calling up the systems menu. "Linc, I'll need you to keep a watch on the TV screen to make sure I'm doing the adjustments correctly. When I'm finished, there should be a prompt to connect to the other system."
"Got it," Linc responded, jumping back on the couch for an easier view.
Setting to work, the boys began adjusting the television system to their purpose. It was going to take a while to get done properly, but it wasn't like they were going to have anywhere to go. Reaching the girls would be worth the time spent.
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El Sueño Imposible, Metro City
Bianca was at her wits end on what to do with all the loiterers at the restaurant. Ever since that blasted article had come out, there was a raised interest in seeing the place run by Talon Scolex's family. Not eat at it, just see it. Sight-seers now crammed the outside of the building, with a few of the bolder ones attempting to make it in.
To make matters worse, since Will had been taken, they were one hand short for the waiting shift. Margarita had offered to take her son's place until he could return, but her mother wouldn't hear of it.
"You're already busy enough with the clinic, mija," Bianca had replied. "Don't worry; I can handle my own restaurant for the time being." She was now somewhat starting to regret those words.
She had been busy setting out the "restrooms are for customers only" signs when someone came into the restaurant. It was a large group of teenagers, around fifteen to twenty led by a large, brutish-looking young man. Most of them stood outside while a handful, including the hulking youth, came in.
"Can I help you?" Bianca asked, though she doubted these were customers by the look of them.
"Actually, you can," the head boy replied. "Where is Billy Scolex?"
Bianca winced at the question. "My grandson is not here at the moment. Now, if you are not here to order something, than I suggest that you-"
"I wasn't asking if he was here," the boy replied. "I said, where is Billy? We have some…business to conduct with him."
It didn't take much for Bianca to realize these weren't ordinary sight-seers. Without hesitation, she reached under her podium and pressed the silent alarm.
Outwardly, however, she showed no fear. "Where he has gone is of no concern to you, young man."
The boy gave a cruel smirk. "You don't seem to understand, granny. We're going to get that information, one way or another. Now, you can just tell me now, or," and here he shifted his hand into a drill and cut down on the podium, "we can do this the fun way."
When he pulled out the drill, everyone in the restaurant responded, customer and curious tourist alike. Immediately, everyone who was in the restaurant attempted to hurry out, but they were stopped by the hulking youth's companions. They blocked off the front entryway, threatening to shoot anyone who attempted to get out by that path. Those who had come in with the boy moved to the back as well, threatening any of the staff who tried to escape or let others escape by the back entrance. Everyone was going to be in this for the long haul.
Once a modicum of tyrannical order had been restored, the boy, Drillbit, turned back to Bianca. "Now, I'm going to ask nicely one more time. Where. Is. Billy?"
"Get out," Bianca replied through gritted teeth.
For a moment, there was a quiet as no one moved. Then, with a quick motion, Drillbit grabbed her and tossed her across the room. She hit the far wall hard and crumpled to the ground.
"Alright, guys," Drillbit called out to the other M.A.D. agents. "You know Talon's orders. Tear this place up until you find Billy."
In that moment, chaos broke loose. The M.A.D. agents went to work with a fierce energy, turning over tables and ripping through the building. At the same time, the trapped customers decided they had no desire to be in the same building as these maniacs and decided to make a break for it. A number of them were successful, but most were recaptured. Six of them were injured in the attempted flight, and after that, the rest were forced to bunker down.
While the search was going on, Drillbit's communicator went off. "Yeah?" he asked when he answered it.
"Bad news," Syreen said. "Looks like Penny's crew here are a no show."
"Same at this dump," After-Shock commented when he came into the discussion.
"Talon's wimp brother's missing, too," Drillbit replied. He gave a snicker. "Who woulda thought we'd actually scare them into hiding?"
"Talon's shifting over to plan B," Syreen stated. "Drillbit, we'll need you to join us over here as soon as you can. After-Shock, you and Joltwave know what to do."
"Got it," After-Shock said as he hung up.
"Meet you there," Drillbit replied.
When he had hung up, the M.A.D. cyber turned to his troops. "Alright, guys, Talon's calling us back to that nerd school. We'd better hurry before the cops get here. There were comments to the affirmative, and the group moved out, leaving the destroyed restaurant in their wake.
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Hidden W.O.M.P. bunker
Penny had hardly said two words since they had arrived at the bunker, and her friends were starting to worry. Ever since they were put in the comfortable bunker room that mirrored the one the boys were in, she had fallen silent, apparently focusing her energy into some unknown task. She moved around the room, stopping at areas of that had higher concentrations of tech and focusing in one them. She'd then sit there for a few moments in silence before moving on to the next stop. The only other sign she had was to occasionally turn and say something to Brain, who had been faithfully following his girl at every turn.
The other girls were concerned about what she might be doing, but initially tried to keep quiet and allow her to do her work. Eventually, however, they couldn't take the suspense anymore.
"Penny, are you alright?" Kayla eventually asked, calling over from the sofa.
When she had said this, Penny turned to look at her friend. She had been at the TV again, and she paused to answer the question. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
"You've been moving around like a zombie for fifteen minutes," Bridgette replied. "Mind letting us in on what you're doing?"
"I'm looking over these devices to see if there's any connection I could exploit," Penny stated, running her hand over the control box for the television. "If I can hook up to a device that has access to the internet using DElPHI, then I could keep tabs on what's happening outside this place."
"Then maybe we could also contact our families!" Kayla exclaimed. "That's great thinking, Penn."
"Too bad it's for nothing," Penny replied with a sigh. She put her hand down and rolled over to where the others were sitting. "None of these devices have internet access. The closest thing would be the TV, and that's limited to a very small area inside the bunker. There's nothing DElPHI can do."
"Well, at least you tried," Rheeci said, placing her hand on Penny's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. "And besides, it's not all lost. We'll find some way out of here."
As they were speaking, a voice came in through the TV's speakers. "Hello?" someone who sounded like Will asked. "Can you girls here me?"
"Will?" Kayla asked, approaching the device. "Is that you?"
"In the flesh! Err, voice, I guess," he replied. "We figured out the TV boxes were connected to each other and decided to see if we couldn't contact you."
"Great idea," Penny complimented. "Where are you guys right now?"
"Some apartment room that looks like a sitcom from the 1990's," Linc replied. "They haven't really had anything to do with us since they put us here."
"Same over here," Kayla stated. She chewed her lip a bit before continuing. "When do you think they're going to come get us."
"Hopefully when this who business blows over," Eli replied.
"So in other words, never," Bridgette said with a groan. She leaned back so she was lying on the couch. "Just super."
"Hey, don't give us up for lost just yet," Penny replied. "We'll figure something out." She was more doubtful internally than she wanted to give away, but for the sake of her friends, she put on a smile. "You guys will see."
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P.S. 246, Metro City
Joltwave and After-Shock were horribly, horribly bored. They had not set foot in an ordinary school for ages, and the twins soon got a sharp reminder for why they preferred the education offered by M.A.D. as they waited in the public high school to trap two of their enemies.
Like at Riverside, the two agents had snuck into the school disguised as students, along with a good two dozen teen M.A.D. grunts. All they had to do was wait for Bridgette and Kayla to show themselves, then they could get to work.
However, the two girls never showed themselves. It appeared that no one knew where they were, either, so the M.A.D. troops had been caught in a limbo, waiting for their prey to appear.
After what felt like an eternity, After-Shock felt his communicator up. Getting up as quietly as he could, he snuck out of the classroom and answered the call.
"Bad news," Syreen said. "Looks like Penny's crew here are a no show."
"Same at this dump," After-Shock commented, staring in disgust at the school building around him.
"Talon's wimp brother's missing, too," Drillbit replied. "Who woulda thought we'd actually scare them into hiding?"
"Talon's shifting over to plan B," Syreen stated. "Drillbit, we'll need you to join us over here as soon as you can. After-Shock, you and Joltwave know what to do."
"Got it," After-Shock said as he hung up.
He didn't return to the class, instead heading out to find his sister, who was waiting in a separate room. When he found it, he gave her the signal, and she gave a smirk as she got up to join him. "So, shall we begin?" she asked.
He gave a nod. "Ladies first."
Finding an electrical outlet, Joltwave reached out and began drawing the energy out into herself. There wasn't a visible effect at first, but soon the amount she was taking started to overtax the system. Within a few minutes, the lights started to flicker and struggle with the sudden loss, and after a few more, the school was blacked out.
It wasn't long before people started responding to the blackout. Audible sounds of groans and complaining broke out among the individuals left in the dark, which soon gave way to terrified screams. In near every room, the hidden M.A.D. agents revealed themselves, wielding weaponry to keep the captives at bay.
"The cops should be here soon. You ready to have some fun?" After Shock asked, turning to his sister.
She gave a wide grin in response. "Oh, yeah."
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Riverside Prep
Gadget and Heather arrived at the school within a half hour of seeing the television report. They had received a blue ball, but already having a clue of what they were doing, Heather had been quick to state that they were already on it before hanging up. There wasn't any time for small talk.
When they pulled up outside the school, the car was immediately approached by the police detective, a stocky Native American man in his late forties. "Inspector Gadget, Agent Connelly, good to see you here," the chief stated. "We're going to need your help."
"We came as soon as we found out," Gadget replied. "Now, Detective Tsosie, what exactly is going on in there?"
"It looks like M.A.D. infiltrated and took out the school," Tsosie replied. "It has been confirmed that Talon Scolex is inside, and was the one to trigger the invasion."
"No surprise there," Heather stated. "Has he made any demands yet, or is this just some aggression thing?"
"We think we're looking at the latte," the detective replied. "They haven't made any demands yet, but there have been attacks that happened."
"I see," Gadget replied. A hand popped out of his hat as he thought. "Hmm, this isn't like M.A.D. Claw's a lunatic, but a pragmatic one. He doesn't do something for no purpose."
The hand retracted back into the hat after a moment. "Fidget, you can understand animals, right?"
The twins had been standing nearby, working on a small computer to try to hack into the school's systems. "Uh, Brain, at the very least," Fidget replied, looking up from his work for a moment. "Why?"
"The animals on the inside might have a better idea about what's going on here," Gadget answered. "If you could get one of them to explain what's happening, then we might be able to design some response."
Digit got of look of disbelief in his face, and even Fidget looked rather awkward. "Uh, Inspector, that's not really how it works," Fidget said. "I can understand what they mean, but like I said, Brain's the only animal I can understand with any amount of clarity. All the rest are vague or fuzzy."
"Ah, I see," Gadget said with a frown. "Well, that is disappointing. We're right back to root one then."
At the moment, the machine the Gadgetinis had been working started to spark and shudder, startling the twin robots back. "Inspector, something's happening!" Digit called out.
Sure enough, as soon as the twin robots backed away from the device, the screen came to life. "Well, it looks like our little excursion hasn't gone unnoticed," Talon commented, his voice preceding his image by a few seconds.
"We knew it was you," Gadget replied, stepping to the forefront. "If you and all your men come out now with your hands up, we'll go easy on you."
Hearing the statement, Talon gave a snort. "That's a bit insensitive of you, Gadget," the boy replied sarcastically. "You know there are ladies here, too."
"Cut with the snark, kid," Heather said, coming up to join Gadget as she spoke. "What do you want here?"
"Really, agent," Talon said, shaking his head in response. "I mean, I'd expect Inspector Clueless over there to not understand what's going on, but I really thought you'd have a better handle on things. Since you can't guess, though, I'll give a hint: who usually is here that I might want to make contact with."
There was a moment's pause, and a look of horror came into Gadget's face. "Penny," he said in a hushed voice.
"Ding, ding, ding!" Talon replied, moving his hand as if ringing a bell. "It appears we have a winner! Huh, guess you've got a bit more of a clue than I supposed."
"What do you want with Miss Penny?" Digit asked, leaning in to glower at the screen.
"Simple," Talon replied. "I like our little tête-à-têtes, and when that magazine revealed where she went to school, why, how could I just ignore that?"
"If you hurt a-!" Gadget started, but he was cut off.
"Oh, chill out, old man," Talon replied. "I couldn't do anything to her now if I wanted. She's not here, as I'm sure you very well know. She's probably stashed away somewhere until this magazine business blows over, isn't she?"
Gadget was fuming, and might have attack the screen at that moment, but Heather caught him by his arm. "We don't have time for this nonsense," she scowled at the screen. "Just tell us what you want?"
"But I thought I had made it clear," Talon commented. He clicked his tongue and shook his head in disapproval. "You all are so thick, aren't you? What I want is for little Miss Penny and her disciples to come out here, in one hour's time."
"She will not be allowed anywhere near here!" Gadget bellowed.
"Oh, I see," Talon stated. He sighed and gave a shrug. "Alright, guys, bring her here."
Several M.A.D. agents came up, dragging one of the younger students behind them. The girl was weep and struggling to get away, but she couldn't escape.
Turning to Gadget, who had frozen in shock, Talon gave a shrug. "We'll just have to amuse ourselves, then. Starting with this one." He unsheathed a long blade and made his way over to the helpless captive.
Before he could strike, Heather called out. "Wait!" she cried.
Talon paused and then turned around. "Yes?"
"You said we have an hour to respond," she replied, trying to keep a level tone. "An hour hasn't passed yet."
"True," Talon replied, giving a shrug and a hand motion for the captive to be taken away. "I did say that, and I'm more interested in Penny anyways. But no longer; I am not a patient man." With that, the screen flickered off.
"An hour?" Gadget stated somewhat at a loss. "What can we do in an hour? We can't, won't hand Penny over, but we've got to figure something out."
"Well come up with something," Heather said, reaching over and patting his should. I hope, she couldn't help but add internally.
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Gadget Household
Metro City Suburb
In the small neighborhood that housed the Gadget clan house, it was almost as if nothing was going on in the city at all. While many of the inhabitants were glued to their televisions and radios to find out what would happen with the attacks, others wandered around going about their daily businesses.
The only house that was completely quiet was the Gadget house itself, though no one had any questions as to why. It was common knowledge over who the owner of the house was, and that he was often off on important police work happened.
However, since it was owned by the closest thing that the neighborhood would ever see to a celebrity, it wasn't uncommon for people to stop and get a good look around the house. As such, no one took notice of the young man who appeared to be staking the place out.
Wildfire was thankful for this lucky streak. As he wandered around the property, no one paid any attention to him, assuming he was just curious about the celebrity house. He did everything he could to appear that way, and when no one was looking, he jumped the fence into the backyard.
Once there, he got close, he shed the jacket, revealing the mechanization and fuel tubes of his flamethrowers. With a quick move, he lashed out, spreading flames all across the yard. As soon as they were licking the wooden fence, he turned to the house,
Aiming right at the back door, he shot a wave of flame, heating the glass in an instant. It exploded into a thousand shards, but because of his shields the cyber was not concerned about that.
As soon as the door was open, he stepped inside. Looking around the comfortable little dwelling, he opened a slot in his wrist, and small black balls started to pour into his hand. He scattered them here and there, traveling all through the house on his mission.
By the time he finished, he grabbed Gadget's training jacket and pulled it on to make his escape. Outside, people had already gathered around the blazing backyard, murmuring to themselves about the fire department and what they could do.
Wildfire gave a grin, and pressed down on his thumb. As he did so, he activated the black balls: hundreds of little lucidi-soli bombs. They ignited, causing a brief explosion followed by an implosion that pulled everything in a five-foot radius into itself. All the damage took its toll, and the house crumbled, leaving a pile of crushed debris where it once stood.
To be continued…
