Author's Note: Howdy, hope the story has been entertaining you thus far!
I am taking this moment to announce that me, KiltedEngineer, and Thomas Ellington have made a community called "The Cul-De-Sac pack". It contains not just Ten Seconds To Love and this story, but also the stories that the other two peeps have made. (Such as Miracles and Mistletoes from the former author, and Not In Peach Creek Anymore from the latter author.) We've made a trio of it, and we're proud to collaborate on this community!
Check them out if you haven't already, and follow the community, for updates not only from me, but also the two lads I mentioned! Anyways, enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 29: Skin O' My Teeth
Meanwhile, at Cassie's residence, she was alone in her room once more; as her father had gone off to do more preparations. She was preoccupied brainstorming about the possibilities regarding her new situation. She originally had turned on the TV to distract her mind for a bit, but almost instantaneously she snapped back into her thoughts. She questioned whether or not she and the rest of the people that she met this day could stop her father in time before he carried out the absurd schemes he has in mind.
The first step, at least in her mind, was to figure out any sort of weaknesses within these ideas. The best person she could attempt to get this from is Nolan; as he is the person that her father has been informing about practically everything he has in mind. However, on the other side of the page, Cassie, thanks to discussing it with Kenji earlier in the day, is aware of the possibility of Nolan becoming suspicious. This is due to her practically having zero discussions with Nolan everyday since he and Ezekiel have accompanied both her and her father.
Eventually, Cassie reached a decision.
"Sorry Kenji, but I gotta act now. Hope you forgive me!" said Cassie in her mind, before she got up, put on some socks and shoes, and proceeded to make her way to Nolan's room.
Once she arrived, she knocked on the door three times, and footsteps are immediately heard from within. Cassie then witnesses Nolan, in his usual attire of a buttoned-up black shirt, grey pants, and white shoes.
"Hmm... it is a surprise to see you at my door. What might you require?" asked Nolan, with his left eyebrow raised slightly.
"I'm bored to death here, tell you the truth." responded Cassie, trying to sound as convincing as possible. "Father hasn't exactly been providing with much to do outside of investigating where Jane Kanker might be, so because I'm sick to death of just waiting for whatever he'll say next, I figured I'd check out what's going on in here, as he trusts you a lot with this crap it seems. If you don't want me to see, then fine I guess."
"You have an interest you say? Well then come right in!" said Nolan in an exaggerated manner; opening the door wide does he did so. This made Cassie sigh in relief, as she made her way inside, and stood near the table, taking a glance at the unknown project. In an instant, Nolan walks over to his chair, and takes a seat on it.
"This my friend, are parts for a prototype of a drone I've been developing for weeks. It almost ready to deploy soon!" stated Nolan, as he took a round-shaped steel casket next to him, and proceeded to install the part into their respective outlines within the casket.
"How does it work exactly?" asked Cassie.
"It's so simple really, this drone right here is meant to shoot out high heat laser shots, which are created from energy stored within the casket, and away the shot goes! You can also adjust the shot to your own personal liking, whether it'd be stun, harm, or the setting in including for now, test!" explained Nolan.
Cassie kept in analyzing the drone to see if she could find anything on the outside that revealed a weakness. Sadly, no such luck.
"Well, that sounds good and all, but does this thing have something that could possibly be considered a weakness, let's say? Because that is important, right?" asked Cassie, praying in her mind that she didn't just trigger every alarm inside Nolan's brain.
"Oh yes, it is very important indeed." responded Nolan, to the surprise of Cassie. "The first weakness I realized early on in my creation of this thing is that while the metal round-shaped shell will protect it, the bottom and top are susceptible to damage. If I get sufficient time, perhaps I can create a more resistant top and bottom for this thing. Another weakness I acknowledged at the start was the possibility of this thing being tricked to shoot at itself because of its reflection in the mirror, which I've already patched up, so no need to worry, ho ho! Lastly, no matter what shell this thing is in, water can and will damage it, and large quantities will only add more salt to the wounds."
"Damn. You got quite a bit of stuff going on to fix don't ya?" stated Cassie, with a small smug expression on her face, as she took out her phone.
"That I do. But should it all go well, the boss will be anything but unimpressed! Haha!" responded Nolan, laughing a bit as he did so.
Little does he know however, that Cassie is currently sending a message to the crew that read, "News. Found out about a drone thing Nolan is building. Can shoot dangerous lasers to either harm or stun whoever it is. Weakness are it's top and bottom parts, and most importantly, water."
Once she hit send, she directs her attention back to Nolan, who was currently working on readjusting the part within the drone's shell.
"So, are there any other drones, or is this guy the only one of its kind?" asked Cassie.
"Of this kind? Yes, but it's not the only drone I have made, as there's another one that I must admit, isn't quite as armored up as this one, but that's because it's a tracking drone." responded Nolan.
"Tracking you say? Of what kind?" said Cassie.
"Locations! That was much simpler to embed into its system than people, as I learned myself, finding a specific person is just too complicated. I tried to see if it would detect Jane Kanker, but the system was registering too many people in similar appearance to her. So, it's a chance of either landing on Jane Kanker, or on someone who looks similar, but isn't. Nothing I tried worked to negate this issue." explained Nolan.
"Wow, that'd be funny if we went several thousand miles to find someone who only faintly resembled Jane. Heh." said Cassie, chuckling a bit, as she took out her phone once more to text the crew another batch of new information.
"Indeed it would be. But I'd prefer to live, as I'd rather not be in the situation that Jane seems to be with him, where he wishes to do unspeakable things! I think he needs a sandwich, hehehe..." said Nolan.
Meanwhile, Cassie texted the crew again, with this text reading, "Another update. He's made another drone that is meant to find directions to a location that he can make it search for. The good news is this drone is MUCH weaker than the other one I mentioned, so we got that going for us!"
After she sent the text, she notices Nolan getting up from his chair, and going over to a large, rectangle-shaped blue container, and pulling out a arm-sized contraption from it, and bringing it back to the table.
"What's that thing?" asked Cassie.
"Strength enhancer. Should I be in the position where I myself can't rely on technology, this shall be a very good backup! Only problem is that it's very easy to break outside of when someone is wearing it, but nevertheless, it will make any force made from whoever wears it be multiplied by around ten times, based on the results I've retrieved from several tests with it." explained Nolan.
Cassie couldn't help but point out the irony in that statement, saying, "Buddy, you realize that the arm is technology too!? So your statement doesn't even make sense, and is incredibly ironic."
"Oh please!" said Nolan, giving Cassie a small smug expression. "When in a situation like this, I doubt you'd care about being ironic, or whatever other babble you want to spit out!"
"Sure thing buddy." responded Cassie, laughing slightly.
Cassie, as expected, texted the crew regarding the arm, writing, "Yet another update. There's an arm I saw that apparently makes the strength of whoever wears it get boosted by a LOT... but the thing iseasy to break, as Nolan directly told me, so get it off of whoever wears it, and destroy it. Simple."
Once Cassie sent the third text, Nolan proceeded to ask her, "Make sure the boss, or should I say your father, doesn't find out about this, but I had to quit the search for whoever you encountered, as the amount of results I found were simply too similar looking people. I had to quit it, otherwise it would've been a major waste of time."
"Alright, don't worry, I won't tell him. But you're gonna need to find another way to find them, right?" responded Cassie, crossing her arms.
"Indeed." said Nolan. "That's where I actually require your assistance."
Cassie's eyes widened at that statement. With a hint of reluctance, she responded with, "Yeah...?"
"If you can get some image of the exact people that you encountered, and get me the name of someone they know, I'll be able to fabricate a number under their friend's name, and bait them into a location nearby for the boss to confront them! At that point, they shall be at his mercy, and be forced to spill where Jane's at!" said Nolan, snickering a bit.
"Hang on, how do you plan to contact them? You need their number in order for this idea to work." asked Cassie.
"That's easy! Because every time a phone is used, it's camera is often than not used by it's main user! This shall take a couple hours to do, but the main thing you must know is that I'll trace down the phone that has seen the person you bring in very often, and a bit of magic, and voila!" responded Nolan, with a cheesy grin, making Cassie groan.
"Alright, that's all dandy or whatever, but what if my father fails? He has great strength yes, but that won't convince them to just tell." asked Cassie, raising an eyebrow at that statement.
"I believe he'll have a backup plan. Oh! Maybe he'll attempt to bribe them, that always works in the favor of the person who is bribing, hahaha!" stated Nolan, laughing up a storm, while Cassie slapped her forehead in annoyance.
"If you say so." said Cassie, rolling her eyes. "Is there anything else that you've made that is near completion, or past a prototype phase?"
Nolan puts his palm beneath his chin, thinking of other projects that have reached near completion. He got up from his chair and took a look inside the box. His eyes darted to the left, to a X-shaped gadget, which had a black circle on the middle of it, meant to emit light. He took it out of the box, and brought it with him back to the desk.
Nolan then placed it onto the desk, and said, "This will be the thing that levels the residence of Jane Kanker. When we find it of course."
Cassie felt as though a bell kept ringing inside her brain the moment she heard that sentence. Immediately, she understood that something had to be done.
"Right... mind if I see this for a moment? It'll just be a second." responded Cassie, trying to sound as calm as possible.
"Go right on ahead! I must check something else in the meanwhile anyways!" said Nolan, moving his chair to his desktop.
Cassie quickly took a hold of the device, and analyzed it to see how it could possibly be deactivated. She only found a panel at the bottom, that seemed to be for a large battery. Taking note of this, she took a picture of the panel, along with the top of the device. However, something that she couldn't help but wonder was the purpose of the light emitter at the top.
"Hey, what's this black circle thingus at the top for? And while I'm at it, how does this thing plan to explode? It seems quite naked with nothing that looks like it'll make it explode." asked Cassie, attempting to sound more curious in her voice.
"That will emit a light indicating the status of the bomb. Green equals armed, and red means unarmed. As for how it shall explode, a large amount of energy will be contained within the panel, and kaboom! Easy enough to understand?" responded Nolan, chuckling a small bit.
"Yeah... easy." said Cassie.
Cassie then placed the device back on the table, and began making her way back to her room. She told Nolan goodbye, with Nolan telling her to come again another time. Of course, Cassie would return another day, but not for the reasons that Nolan might be thinking. Regardless, she ran up back to her room to contact Kenji.
Once Cassie opened the door, she finds that her father is still absent, which works to her advantage. Before she contacted Kenji, she took a quick glances outside her window to see if her father was near arrival. Sure enough, no sign of him nearby. Seeing as the coast is clear, Cassie brings up Kenji's contact info, and hits call.
After a couple seconds, Kenji answered the phone call.
"Yes Cassie?" asked Kenji.
"Kenji! I have some big news! Did you check the message I sent?" responded Cassie.
"I have yes. It is clear that there is much more that meets the eye regarding this investigation... we must see to it personally, and with haste might I add. But nevermind that, what else do you have to inform me about?" stated Kenji.
"First of all, I just found out the device that they plan to use to level the place that Jane lives at. It's a device that appears to be powered by a battery of enormous size, but I'm not sure if that's how it explodes." explained Cassie.
"Did Nolan ever reveal how it's meant to explode?" asked Kenji.
"Ah... no. His description regarding this device was unhelpful regarding that part of it. He just told me that a green light will emit once it's ready to explode, and that a bunch of energy will be contained inside a panel to make it explode. That's it." said Cassie, emitting a small sigh. "But, I'll see tomorrow if maybe he will explain it better, or most importantly, how to stop it."
"Please prioritize the vital information ahead of anything else. I must also mention, the projects you sent images of, are they in the stage of possibly being set into action by its creator?" said Kenji.
"Only one of them, and that's the arm, as that thing seems less complex than everything else. But the thing is, Nolan planning on using that as a last resort, should his fancy tech things fail him. I think you and your friends know what to do, right? It's incredibly fragile looking too!" stated Cassie, laughing a bit.
"This shall work to our advantage. I am currently not with my friends, but tomorrow, we shall rendezvous at the same location that we've conducting our discussions. I shall mention this information, along with everything else included in your messages." responded Kenji.
"That's good." said Cassie, "But Kenji, there's something you must know, because... I don't think Ill be able to hold this off forever."
Kenji couldn't help but feel a massive weight being placed on his brain by that statement. He questioned at a machine gun's pace what Cassie meant by this.
"What do you mean? Do not be afraid to share your feelings with me." said Kenji.
"Look, Nolan is suggesting that I get an image of one of you, and the name of someone you guys know. What he plans to do is make up a phone number that is of your friend, and bait you all into a location where you'll meet my father." explained Cassie, with a hint of worry in her voice.
"This greatly complicates things... hmm... I shall provide you with an image of myself, and you can use whoever you want from the group. However, when you plan to execute this plan, please warn us ahead of time." responded Kenji.
"Wait, are you sure you can handle this? Because my dad is undoubtedly going to be aggressive, so please watch out, I don't want you to get hurt. Or any of your friends." asked Cassie.
"I won't respond with the egotistical statement that I do, but I shall mention instead that I shall get both myself and my friends prepared for this." stated Kenji.
"Okay... whatever you do, ensure that you stay alive, promise?" said Cassie.
"Yes, you have my word." responded Kenji, who was surprised at her concern. "But I must ask, based on your tone of voice, have you any idea what your father shall attempt to do once we encounter him?"
"Either he'll attempt to bribe you and your friends to reveal Jane's location, or he'll force it out of you. Sorry if that scares you a bit, but it's just how he operates. Prepare more than you have to even, I just want you to be okay." explained Cassie.
"I shall keep this in mind. Thank you Cassie, you've been of great help." said Kenji.
"Don't worry, I'm here to stop this shit from going any further, because if he'd been on a normal level in regards to his plans, I wouldn't be doing this. By the way, thanks for being there to listen... I know it was quite the turn of events, all of this stuff." responded Cassie.
"It always helps to have an open mindset, as my sensei taught me and Chris. Nevertheless, we shall talk more soon. Please take care." stated Kenji.
"You too. Bye." said Cassie in a relaxed tone, as she hang up the call.
Once the call was finished, Cassie walked on over to her bed, and laid down on top of it. Her mind was preoccupied with many things; but the main thing was would Kenji and his friends be safe? Something Cassie kept in mind was that the crew would be better prepared to handle this situation than your average joe, but the unpredictable nature of Cassie's father will come into play much more than they realize.
Cassie got up from the bed, and sat on the end of it, with her notebook in hand. She then proceeded to write onto a blank page.
"Well damn... it's coming down hard on them soon. But there's gotta be something else I can do! I already told Kenji about father's nature, but what else will he use? Shit... must find another way soon." wrote Cassie, as she transitioned to a different topic.
"But also, oh my god, Nolan is impossible to deal with. Toss that aside for a second, because I think we have something more important to think about... which is, what the hell else will that lunatic have planned in terms of gadgets? Gah! There's too many questions, yet so little answers, and every time we answer one, it leads to another question! I hate this, I hate father for making us do this!" wrote Cassie in pure frustration, before she took a deep breath before continuing to write.
"Okay... let's relax, but seriously, I'll be amazed if I can forgive... what am I even saying to myself? I'll never forgive him for this, and if he manages to do all this crap... I can't imagine what I'll do. But I must stop him... no matter what." wrote Cassie.