22. Chapter 22
One of the company's employees came running in through the manager's office door. He looked nervous, and he had several documents in his hands.
"What is it Wayne?" the manager asked.
"Here, see for yourself sir," Wayne said frantically as he handed the manager the thick stack of documents.
Each of the document were actually faxes from different several other companies in Tremorton and from other major cities around the world. Every one of them contained basically the same message. They all said that the same mysterious data was not only in this company's computer system, but also in most of the computer systems around the world.
"How did this happen? How did it end up in that many computers?" The manager asked surprised.
"No one knows sir. Nobody can figure it out. By the way, did you notice the pattern?" Wayne asked.
After sorting through the documents for a minute, he finally realized what the connection was.
"This is bad. This is very bad. That's it; as much as I hate to do it, we need to contact her as soon as possible," the manager said.
Brad, Sheldon, and Tuck were all at Ms. Wakeman's house preparing to tell her that they think Jenny might be considering the unthinkable. It was especially difficult since they had to tell Tuck first. Now they have to tell Ms. Wakeman.
Ms. Wakeman knew something was terribly wrong just from the expressions on the three boy's faces. Before they had a chance to explain anything, Ms. Wakeman's cell phone rang.
"Hold on just a moment boy's," Ms. Wakeman said as she accepted the call.
The phone's speaker was loud enough for everyone in the room to hear the entire conversation.
"This is the Wakeman residence," Ms. Wakeman said.
"Yes, this is Officer Cole. I'm calling about your daughter," Officer Cole said nervously.
"Did something happen to her?" Ms. Wakeman asked with a very concerned tone.
"She's fine physically, but emotionally…¦well…I don't think she's doing so well," Officer Cole explained.
"Please, tell me exactly what happened," Ms. Wakeman said.
"Before I explain, did she come home yet? I know she could've gotten there by now as fast as she was moving. I tried to call a few minutes ago, but there was a lot of interference," Officer Cole explained.
"No, she didn't come home yet," Ms. Wakeman said growing even more nervous.
"I was afraid of that. She went ahead of us to try to put out as much of the fire as she could before we arrived with the fire trucks. When we got there, we found out that she was able to set up a perimeter with some water to keep the fire from spreading. When we noticed that Jennifer was standing in one spot close to the flames staring directly into them, we became really concerned. When we saw her from her front, we realized she was crying. When we told her that she wouldn't have to fear the flames anymore when we put them out, she said something completely unexpected," Officer Cole explained.
"Please tell me, what did she say?" Ms. Wakeman asked impatiently.
"Well, it was actually a question that she asked. She asked us 'If it's something to be afraid of, it has no place in this world…does it?" Officer Cole explained.
"Oh no, I really don't like where this is going. Did she say anything else?" Ms. Wakeman asked.
"Yes. We couldn't think of an answer for her, so then she raised her voice and asked "I'm right, aren't I?" I tried to say something to her, but she cut me off and yelled "They fear the fire, so they want it put out. They fear it, so they want it to just…disappear." We're positive she was comparing herself to the fire. I don't think I need to explain to you what we fear this might lead to, do I?" Officer Cole explained.
"Either XJ9 is thinking of running away, or…even worse," Ms. Wakeman guessed as she realized what the boys came over to talk to her about by looking at their faces.
"We're completely tied up with trying to put this fire out, so I'm really sorry that we can't help you right now. I sincerely hope that you can contact Jennifer and sort this mess out before something serious happens. Again, I'm really sorry that we can't help right now. I gotta go," Officer Cole said.
"Okay then, I'll talk to you later. Bye bye," Ms. Wakeman said before ending the call.
Ms. Wakeman spent the next few moments speechless and trembling violently.
She finally looked up at the boys and asked "So, when exactly did you start suspecting that Jenny was considering this?"
"If anyone's to blame here, it's me. I'm the one who kept insisting that we not tell you about his sooner. We didn't want you to worry so much. To tell you the truth, I was the first person to suspect it. I could recognize signs of it from when I was ready to commit suicide a few years ago. It didn't seem that serious at first, and I never would've guessed that she would've progressed to this point so quickly. We didn't tell Tuck about it until we got home from school. Now that we waited so long to say something, we might be too late to do anything about it," Sheldon explained as his voice started trembling more and more.
"Are you two positive everything he said is true?" Ms. Wakeman asked loudly.
"All of it is true," Brad confirmed.
"Yeah," Tuck added.
"Did Jenny ever tell you guys about her nightmare?" asked someone from across the room.
They all looked to see XJ4 standing at the doorway to the kitchen with a sad expression on her face.
"Oh, it's you XJ4. You heard our conversation, didn't you?" Sheldon asked.
XJ4 nodded her head, and then Sheldon said "Well yes actually. I was just about to say something about that before you walked in. Basically, she had a nightmare where an atom bomb destroyed the city with her in it. I know she can't self-terminate directly, but she can put herself in impossible to escape situations," Sheldon explained.
"So her conscious was giving her ideas on just how to do it," Ms. Wakeman said.
XJ4 rolled up in front of Ms. Wakeman and said "I'm…really sorry…I didn't say anything sooner. I know how much she means to you."
Ms. Wakeman hugged XJ4 and said "Don't you ever think that way XJ4. All of you are just as important to me as XJ9. We can't focus on that right now though, we need to find out what she's really trying to do. So, will you help me in any way you can?" Ms. Wakeman asked.
"Yes, I will," XJ4 said.
"All right then, first, I need you to go wake up all of your sisters. I don't know how serious this is going to become, or if I'll need you all to do anything at all right now, but I need all of you to be ready just in case. It's time they know everything that's been happening," Ms. Wakeman said.
XJ4 nodded and said "I understand. I'll let them all know right now."
XJ4 turned around and headed for the basement as quickly as she could. Ms. Wakeman headed for the computer room and the others followed behind her.
When Ms. Wakeman tried to contact Jenny, she got no response. She then input a code to force Jenny's communicator to activate.
"I know you can hear me XJ9, answer me," Ms. Wakeman yelled.
Jenny still refused to respond.
"The boys and Officer Cole told me everything XJ9. It's no longer a secret. I know that you are torn up on the inside right now, and I also know you are planning something drastic; otherwise you would've come home. What are you planning on doing?" Ms. Wakeman asked.
"Jenny, please come home," Tuck yelled.
One by one the other XJs made their way into the computer room as quickly as possible. XJ8 was carrying XJ1 in her hands.
"XJ9, I hope that you are not planning on doing what we think you are," XJ8 said in her usual deep robotic monotone voice.
"Whatever I'm planning on doing, I'm making sure none of you can follow me. I've already removed both tracking devices and the remote control receiver so you can't force my body to fly back home. Say what you want to, but I officially just don't give a shit anymore. Don't bother trying to convince me to come home either, it won't do you any good," Jenny said before she pulled the communicator out of her body, crushed it in her hand, and dropped it into the woods under her.
The only thing Ms. Wakeman's computer was receiving now was static. Ms. Wakeman pushed the off button on the communicator. Complete silence followed for a moment before XJ1 starting crying. Most of the others felt like crying, but held it in.
"Dammit. Why does she have to be this way? She's the most efficient of all of the XJs, but she's also the most irrational. Oh, I'm afraid it's going to be very difficult, if not impossible to find her now. If only I had been more strict, and kept the device I once used to track her energy signature. I destroyed it because she insisted on having her freedom. I swear, she just makes me so angry sometimes," Ms. Wakeman said.
"Actually, I have a way to find her," Sheldon said.
"How?" Ms. Wakeman asked.
"I have my own device for tracking energy signatures, Jenny's most specifically," Sheldon said nervously.
Since everyone knew of Sheldon's obsession of Jenny, they all gave him a glare, even XJ1.
"You would, wouldn't you? So just where is this device?" XJ5 asked.
"Well, I guess there's no getting around it anymore. It's inside Silver Shell," Sheldon said.
"Let me get this straight, you built Silver Shell?" XJ7 asked.
Sheldon blushed and said "Yeah, I guess I did."
"I remember now, you did build him. I just forgot all about it," Tuck explained.
"Well, that's one of life's mysteries solved. Well, what are you waiting for? Use it to find her," Ms. Wakeman said.
"There's one small problem. I only designed it for short range tracking, about 10 miles to exact. Plus, it has a few bugs," Sheldon explained.
"Well then, I guess I have no other choice. It'll take too long to build a new one from scratch. Our best option is for you to bring it over here so I can fix those bugs and boost the range. We don't have a lot of time to think of other options," Ms. Wakeman said.
"All right then. I'll be back as soon as possible. I'll bring the blueprint for the device as well," Sheldon said as he ran out of the house.
"A hopeless romantic, that one," XJ6 commented.
"Actually, I have to disagree with you on that one, XJ6," Brad said.
"Huh?" everyone else who was able to talk said in unison.
"I'll let Shel tell you about it when he's ready. Let's just say that after I heard what he told me, I've actually slowly started becoming a supporter of his love of Jenny," Brad said.
"Love? Don't you mean crazy obsession?" XJ6 asked.
"No, not obsession, love," Brad said.
"You okay XJ8?" Tuck asked.
Everybody focused their attention on XJ8 who was staring out the window.
"It is getting dark," XJ8 said.
"What's so special about that?" Ms. Wakeman asked.
"There is a bitter heaviness in the air, and it does not seem Jenny related. Sisters, if you calm yourselves and focus, you ought to be able to sense it too," XJ8 explained.
The other XJs tried their best to calm down and focus.
After a few moments, XJ4 said "Strange, my sensors are picking up something unusual, but it's faint. You're right, it doesn't seem Jenny related."
The other XJs couldn't detect anything out of the ordinary. One by one, they made it known.
"Whatever it is, it couldn't be that important." Brad said.
"It just seems like a bad omen," XJ8 said.