Firewalls that would have been the greatest in the world were nothing but rudimentary for EOS. She slipped into the station and tore apart every security measure put in place. It was necessary; The Hood had practically done the same when taking over, so she had to reverse his actions.
Life Support was active again, sputtering into being.
Good.
Stabilization…that was going to take a bit longer.
Thunderbird Five was not her Thunderbird Five. This John—severely injured by a missile, stuck on a dying station with his family, struggling to breath. He wasn't her John.
But that didn't matter.
Her John or not her John, this world's International Rescue was in danger from someone that wanted to do them harm. And EOS had hardwired it into her very being that International Rescue was her family and no one was allowed to do them harm.
She saw the panic of the men when the connection with the kids was cut off, but she still had access to her Alan. She hadn't been pleased when Virgil had given his computer to Alan, but she had understood. The older protect the younger; it was a phrase her John had uttered often enough that she knew it.
The only connection she had with Virgil was through his bio-reader in his suit. And that indicated that he was not in good shape.
EOS didn't like that. She didn't like any of this. She was split between two worlds. One the one side, she had three brothers frantically asking her if she had any information on their missing family. On the other, she had this. She hadn't been programmed to be split in such a way; she didn't know how to do both at once. So, she cut off her own world for the moment, displaying the bio-readouts from both Alan and Virgil's suits for the ones back in their world, for some sense of comfort. The readouts may not have been good, but at least they proved that the two were alive. And she concentrated on the task Alan had put her on.
She trawled through the systems, trying to find what she needed to stabilize the ship. This Thunderbird was so different from her own.
The Hood was back on the screen, and she paused in her actions, not wanting to alert the man to her presence. And also…he had her Virgil.
"Jeff Tracy," The Hood stated, glaring into the camera. "You have been busy, haven't you? Playing with things you shouldn't and pulling alternate versions of your children into this world?" There were sounds of confusion coming from the men on the station. The Hood made a motion and his large minion, the one he called Mullion pulled Virgil into view. The Hood grasped the pilot's chin, forcing it up. "Don't you have enough children, Jeff?"
Virgil's eyes were barely open, just glints of brown. His arm was broken, an obvious break that looked so much worse now than it had before. There was blood on his face. EOS barely kept herself from frying a panel in her anger. "Turns out the children from the other world don't have any defense against psychic abilities," The Hood mused. His eyes flashed red for a moment and Virgil crumbled with a gasp. Mullion's hold and The Hood's grasp on his chin were the only things keeping him upright. "Interesting, isn't it?" Virgil's bio-readout flared red.
EOS held herself carefully. The Hood was hurting her Virgil. She tried not to play favorites amongst the brothers, but it was hard when her Virgil and her John were so close. Her John was her everything. He was her father. But her Virgil. He was the one that listened to her. He was the one that answered her many questions when John did not have time. He was the one that played her music.
He was the one that had taught her to sing.
The Hood would pay for hurting him.
"What do you want?" Jeff asked, face blank. He was good at hiding his confusion, and EOS commended him for it. It hadn't been this Jeff Tracy that had brought her boys here, after all. It had been…well, it had been a fluke.
She didn't like flukes.
She didn't like things she couldn't plan for.
"I want a lot of things, Jeff Tracy," The Hood drawled. "But mostly, I want you dead. I shouldn't have to wait much longer for that though. You should already be feeling the effects of the lack of life support."
He was so very sure of himself.
EOS was grateful that the Tracy family was smart in this world as well. Because not one of them said a thing about how the life support was still active. She poked at the files closest to her. Knowledge flooded her being and she sent a ping to her Alan.
This version of International Rescue was still hidden from the world. They'd have to let The Hood leave the Island before they could get the authorities involved.
The Hood was monologuing again. Something about how he'd get the rest of the children and he'd take Thunderbird Two and how Virgil would go with him, because he'd be incredibly useful on that front. It didn't seem to register to the megalomaniac that this Thunderbird Two was different from that Virgil's Thunderbird Two.
The connection cut, and EOS whipped into action again.
"What the heck is going on?" the redheaded one asked. He sounded frustrated. Process of elimination told her that this one was the Gordon of this world.
She found some active thrusters and used them to help stabilize the orbit. Sliding into Thunderbird Three also helped—the rocket, even down one thruster as it was, could move the station back to where it needed to be.
"I am EOS," she spoke, modulating her voice through the speakers. All the chaos from the family in the station immediately ended as they froze. "I came with the ones from the other world. At their request, I have taken over Thunderbird Five and will have it steadied in a moment's time."
"EOS," Jeff spoke up. "What are you?"
"I am the Dawn," she replied, and the John of this world twitched, just a little. He frowned, his glassy eyes sliding to one of the cameras on the deck. She waved it, nodding it up and down in a bit of a hello. This John was blond. Very blond. It was kind of funny.
"I haven't finished the coding," this John whispered.
"You will," EOS replied, because she'd found the beginnings of her code on Five's servers. Just the beginnings, an undeveloped game code that would later turn into something brilliant. She'd slipped a few processes in, ones that would allow this future EOS to recognize the Tracy Family as her Family. There was no need for this EOS to become what she had once been.
"Another world?" Scott murmured, frowning darkly. He exchanged a look with the man who had to be this world's Virgil. He was so small. "What other world?"
"Virgil and Alan were on a rescue," EOS explained, activating Three's thrusters and jerking the station into moving. There was a bit of stumbling involved for the humans, but she couldn't have made the process any smoother; the ship was too damaged. "There was a portal that activated."
She didn't bother explaining more. Thunderbird Two had just launched back on the island. Virgil's bio-reader was moving.
John lost consciousness at that moment, and the family started scrambling to get him stabilized. They didn't have bio-readers in their suits, so EOS couldn't gage his condition, but the man was still breathing, so she focused on her task.
Fifteen minutes could seem like a lifetime when you're running on panic and adrenaline. Jeff was distracted when the com display flared to life again and Alan and Alan could both be seen on the screen. "Thunderbird Five is stable," EOS stated, and she was careful to check over her own Alan. His bio-reader was reading that he was cold, and his heart was beating a little too fast, but he was overall okay.
"Told you she had it," Alan murmured, and Other-Alan gave a relieved sigh.
"Alan," Jeff said, looking between the two boys. "The Hood."
"Is heading for the Bank of London," Lady Penelope replied. It had to be Lady Penelope despite the difference in age. No one else could look that good wearing that much pink. EOS tuned out the discussion for a moment, focusing on her work on stabilizing the station. She almost had it, but Three was damaged as well, and it made the fine tuning a little difficult.
"He has my brother," her Alan stated softly, breaking the argument that was happening. "The Hood has my brother and I need to get him back."
For some reason that statement was enough to get Jeff Tracy to agree to let the children go after The Hood in Thunderbird One. The rest of them would follow in Three as soon as EOS got it back into working order, with assurance that the damaged thruster wouldn't explode upon reentry.
And then, once The Hood was taken care of, and her boys were safe and no longer in immediate danger, EOS would return her attention to her home world and work on getting everyone back to where they belonged.