Later that evening, after Logan had left, Max sat down on her chair in front of the PC. She worked for a local newspaper group known as the 'Streets of Seattle' under a different name. Max sighed. It was very difficult for her sometimes, when articles were printed on the first page under someone else's title. When she had first joined the paper six years ago, her late father had suggested it because of the 'fame' that was attached to her last name, Guevara. 'Knowing people nowadays,' he had said, 'they'll think that you bought you're way into the paper, and you pay someone to write your articles.' Then he had put his hand on her shoulder, and whispered to her; 'but I will always know, and will always be proud of you...' That was two days before he past away; he was caught in a car accident...Max could still remember how hard the next two months were for her after she was left with no parents to help her through it. Her mother had died shortly after her birth from lung cancer; Max had only shared two years with her, now she was on her own. She was old enough to look after herself, but what hit her hard was her mother was never there to see her grow up, and that was her father wasn't there to read her first story.
But he was right about the fame thing, the Guevara name came with stories of the huge amounts of money her father made and how he allegedly had relations with a government official to get to the position of importance he did in his lifetime. Her father used to laugh at the stories sometimes, just to put a front on for Max. But she knew the articles hit him hard inside, one reason why she joined the paper, just so that someday, she could set the record straight. She knew how the rumours started, he was a good friend with one of the Senators of Seattle, and somehow the papers got hold of that and blew it out of proportion. Max always resented how something so superficial became so...deep and involved. But the papers gave the people what they wanted: scandal.
Max shook off those thoughts, and began to plough through the archived compiled before the Crash. It lead up to the Crash itself, then the entries became few and far between. Max clearly remembered the day of the Crash, when the one of the US satellites malfunctioned, and sent erratic computer signals to the Pentagon, causing cataclysmic results. Thousands of files were corrupted, but it didn't stop there. The problem was transferred through the Internet to any computer with a connection, all over the globe. It affected anything with a computer, including nuclear power stations, telephone companies...the list went on. After the world started to manage the problems, governments all over the globe began to ask questions, but there was no evidence to point an accusing finger anywhere. It couldn't of happened by accident, but nothing was left to prove this. That was five years ago.
Max sorted back through the files, to an article she remembered coming across when she first skimmed through the records. The computers at the present time were slow to sort and retrieve the articles from the papers archives, but it was still impressive that the Internet survived the onslaught of the Crash. It was funny that the Internet that was intended as a self-healing mechanism for the US, and it ended up destroying most of the world's online services.
While that was taking it's time, Max leaned back in her chair, and put her hands behind her head. She wondered what was going through Logan's mind at the moment, actually, she thought, I wonder what he is thinking most of time. Max stared at the screen until her eyes watered. She blinked rapidly, got up and walked to the window. It was dark outside, but the storm of earlier was gone, leaving the sky clear. The scene reminded Max of how she and Logan met, and she found her mind wondering back to that moment.
Max recalled the weather that night, for some reason. She was sleeping in her room on the top floor, and a large storm was building up outside. It had been raining hard for the past three hours, there had been little visible lighting outside, but thunder crashed about every few minutes, shaking the house. Max had been awake for the duration of the storm, she had curled herself up in her bed, and tried to sleep through it. The thunder continued to ring around the empty house, so Max got up and walked to the bathroom. It was slightly quieter there, but as Max washed her face, she heard a different noise, that of a scratching coming from downstairs. She walked into her living room, and Max quickly checked out the fireplace. It wasn't unusual for birds to get caught in the chimneystack and fall down through the various ducts that went off from the main tube. Nothing was there, an a strange hush seemed to of fallen all over the house. Max pulled back the thick curtain, and looked out to the front of the house. The storm had died down quickly, the winds had picked up and blown it out. The sky was clear again; small stars had just begun to peek out from behind the thin layer of clouds. It was calm all around, like the sky before the eye of a storm hits. Max lent heavily against the sill, but in a flurry of movement someone came up from behind and grabbed her hard by the face...Max wiggled about and tried to elbow her opponent in the chest but the attacker was strong, and in a flash they had thrown Max down onto her back, and she felt a foot pressed against her throat. The attacker was a man, young, in his late 20's she guessed. He had dusty brown hair; unfortunately his features were in shadow, so Max could not guess the rest of his face. When he spoke his voice was strong and firm, but had a touch of another emotion in it.
"Scream, and I break your neck"
But he was right about the fame thing, the Guevara name came with stories of the huge amounts of money her father made and how he allegedly had relations with a government official to get to the position of importance he did in his lifetime. Her father used to laugh at the stories sometimes, just to put a front on for Max. But she knew the articles hit him hard inside, one reason why she joined the paper, just so that someday, she could set the record straight. She knew how the rumours started, he was a good friend with one of the Senators of Seattle, and somehow the papers got hold of that and blew it out of proportion. Max always resented how something so superficial became so...deep and involved. But the papers gave the people what they wanted: scandal.
Max shook off those thoughts, and began to plough through the archived compiled before the Crash. It lead up to the Crash itself, then the entries became few and far between. Max clearly remembered the day of the Crash, when the one of the US satellites malfunctioned, and sent erratic computer signals to the Pentagon, causing cataclysmic results. Thousands of files were corrupted, but it didn't stop there. The problem was transferred through the Internet to any computer with a connection, all over the globe. It affected anything with a computer, including nuclear power stations, telephone companies...the list went on. After the world started to manage the problems, governments all over the globe began to ask questions, but there was no evidence to point an accusing finger anywhere. It couldn't of happened by accident, but nothing was left to prove this. That was five years ago.
Max sorted back through the files, to an article she remembered coming across when she first skimmed through the records. The computers at the present time were slow to sort and retrieve the articles from the papers archives, but it was still impressive that the Internet survived the onslaught of the Crash. It was funny that the Internet that was intended as a self-healing mechanism for the US, and it ended up destroying most of the world's online services.
While that was taking it's time, Max leaned back in her chair, and put her hands behind her head. She wondered what was going through Logan's mind at the moment, actually, she thought, I wonder what he is thinking most of time. Max stared at the screen until her eyes watered. She blinked rapidly, got up and walked to the window. It was dark outside, but the storm of earlier was gone, leaving the sky clear. The scene reminded Max of how she and Logan met, and she found her mind wondering back to that moment.
Max recalled the weather that night, for some reason. She was sleeping in her room on the top floor, and a large storm was building up outside. It had been raining hard for the past three hours, there had been little visible lighting outside, but thunder crashed about every few minutes, shaking the house. Max had been awake for the duration of the storm, she had curled herself up in her bed, and tried to sleep through it. The thunder continued to ring around the empty house, so Max got up and walked to the bathroom. It was slightly quieter there, but as Max washed her face, she heard a different noise, that of a scratching coming from downstairs. She walked into her living room, and Max quickly checked out the fireplace. It wasn't unusual for birds to get caught in the chimneystack and fall down through the various ducts that went off from the main tube. Nothing was there, an a strange hush seemed to of fallen all over the house. Max pulled back the thick curtain, and looked out to the front of the house. The storm had died down quickly, the winds had picked up and blown it out. The sky was clear again; small stars had just begun to peek out from behind the thin layer of clouds. It was calm all around, like the sky before the eye of a storm hits. Max lent heavily against the sill, but in a flurry of movement someone came up from behind and grabbed her hard by the face...Max wiggled about and tried to elbow her opponent in the chest but the attacker was strong, and in a flash they had thrown Max down onto her back, and she felt a foot pressed against her throat. The attacker was a man, young, in his late 20's she guessed. He had dusty brown hair; unfortunately his features were in shadow, so Max could not guess the rest of his face. When he spoke his voice was strong and firm, but had a touch of another emotion in it.
"Scream, and I break your neck"