Chapter 31: The final problem

There was nothing anymore. It wasn't that other things didn't matter. That he could block them out. No, they just didn't exist anymore. The only thing that was there was the screen and the task set before him. That and black nothingness that was probably unconsciousness creeping in. But as long as the screen was there, the task was there, he could hold onto that like a lifeline.

Suddenly something else registered a little beside the task he had been working on. His first instinct was to block it out, like everything else. But it was a pop-up. Exactly the same as Q had used earlier. It could be important. He tore himself away from the code with great difficulty and read the message.

Hello? Is anyone there?

I need help.

Can you help me, please?

The words, meaningless to him at first, began breaking through the bubble that had encapsulated him and the task. It let in other things, like his hunger, thirst and other bodily needs that he had been suppressing. The sounds around him.

Please, help me.

He took her

He's going to kill her

I need help

Shock at the messages only dully registered but it was enough to shake him into action. Someone needed his help. A woman was going to die if he didn't help. Like a small flame being fanned by the thoughts, alertness grew into his consciousness.

He clicked the text box. Nothing. He double clicked, hoping that that would do it. It did nothing. Irritation and panic were the first emotions he had felt in a long time. He used them to stoke the flames even more. In the meantime the messages in the text box kept coming.

Is anyone there?

Please answer me?

I'm running out of time.

I need to save her.

Think, he needed to think. Think of this as just another challenge. Hack the textbox. How do you hack a textbox? Find the source code. Find the source code, Jordan. He started to look for it in the normal places. Starting with F12. It's where most browsers hid their codes. Surprisingly that worked. A screen popped up beside the textbox with the complete source code visible. It wasn't hidden or encrypted and looked fairly standard. Very easy to hack.

Oh god Help Me!

There's a timer now.

We have 5 minutes.

Please! Anyone!

He started typing as quickly as he could. The flames of urgency now raging in his chest. Within a minute he had built in a chat function in the textbox.

I'm here! What do you need? He wrote.

Oh, thank god! He got back. I need video. There's a feed coming in but I can't hack it. Please, she's going to die and I can't help her.

Jordan didn't answer, there was no time. He quickly got to work following the signal back to its source and forcing his way in. There was no time for subtlety or stealth. He literally battered down the front door. Quickly he found the feed the other was talking about and forced that open too.

The video popped up. There was a woman tied to a chair with leather straps at the wrists, ankles and forehead. She was gagged and blindfolded. A man was standing behind her, whispering in her ear. Whatever he was saying was clearly not sunshine and rainbows because the woman was obviously struggling to get away.

Oh god! Daisy! Help her please.

Tell me what you can! Jordan wrote back quickly as he punched through to the computer sending the feed. It wasn't even secured very well or directed through anything. But he didn't know where the computer was. There were several ways to find out off course. The service provider had a register. He was probably subscribed to several services. He had bought that computer somewhere. His Windows was registered. All of these would take far longer than the three minutes he had to trace. No, he had to get as much information out of the other person in the chat box and from any information on the computer. It probably wouldn't be enough to save the girl…

No, he ruthlessly squashed that thought as he found the audio feed from the disturbing images still playing on his screen. Immediately the moans of the girl filled the room along with the whispers of the man. Apparently, the microphone was of good quality as it picked out the voice clearly.

"Two minutes. He's got two minutes left to save your worthless hide. But I doubt he'll come. Stupid fucker that he is. He thought he could get away with stealing from me. No one gets away with taking what's mine. Now I get to take what is his." A knife, big, sharp and deadly flickered dangerously as it slid over her skin. Jordan could hear her scream in the gag. "You feel this? In about 90 seconds, I'm going to put this to your neck and then I'm going to cut just deeply enough that you bleed out slowly and he can watch as your life slowly flows away. As I take what was his because he took something that belonged to me."

Oh god help her please!

I can't! Jordan sent back angry that the other guy hadn't helped at all with information.

Can you make it so I can talk to him? Maybe I can make him stop?

Jordan searched in the system.

"Tik tok tik tok." The guy was almost dancing through the room now, twirling with his arms wide, a deranged smile on his face. "I know you can hear me, Fallow." Jordan filed the name for later as he continued searching. "I know you can hear me, you bloody bastard. You shouldn't have betrayed me! No one betrays me! You will pay for taking what's mine!" And he stalked back over to the girl.

There isn't a microphone! Jordan typed back furiously. How did the guy expect him to give him a connection to the victim if there wasn't even a device for him to pick sound up with?

"Time's up! I'm afraid." The psychopath with the knife said to his victim. He sounded almost apologetic as he removed the gag. "Your lovely Fallow won't come to save now. Any last words?" He said as he placed the knife on her neck.

"Please. No." She sounded so young. Jordan shook his head. As cruel as it sounded the girl was already dead to him. There was no way for him to save her so the only thing that mattered now was avenging her. So, he spent his time gathering information, starting with Fallow, because he had a connection with both the victim and the killer.

"Please, don't kill me. Please." The girl's pleas grew louder and louder. But they all fell on deaf ears. Or on perverted ears more likely. Ears that were relishing in them. Jordan didn't watch as the knife descended on the neck. He didn't listen to pleas turning to screams and then to silence. The only thing he saw was information he could use to put both these bastards away.

"You lost in the end, Fallow. I'm coming for you next. And then it will be the end of the line for you!" And with that the video link was suddenly cut and the screen went black.

And his computer rebooted itself. Jordan blinked. No. This wasn't happening. He had to avenge the girl. He had information to gather. His computer didn't just boot itself. But it had. The log in screen for the MI6-servers clearly visible. As if on auto pilot he logged back in and started recording all the information he could still remember.

Then he just sat there thinking what he could do next. He had forced his way into the other computer through the gauntlet. Now that the gauntlet was gone, he no longer had that connection. He started hacking again. Trying to find a signal that would lead him to the gauntlet again.

"Jordan!" He heard someone bark behind him. He ignored it. Suddenly his wrists were grabbed and dragged away from the key board arms coming around him and dragging him back. He fought to get back to his screen. He needed to keep working. He had to avenge the girl.

"Padawan, enough! You're done." His master hissed in his ear.

"No!" He shouted. "I need to work! I need to…" The darkness was crowding in on him again trying to overwhelm him again and drag him under. He kept fighting it. Fighting the arms that weren't moving an inch. Not listening to the traitorous words that were saying he should give up. Not until there was a sharp pinch of a needle in his arm and the fighting just became meaningless.

The darkness swallowed him up anyway.