Of course Jack has no idea what Juanita's talking about. Y.T. wonders just how they're going to explain it to him, because stuff like this is probably way out of his league. But to Juanita it's almost as natural as breathing, so Y.T. will probably have to act as the translator here.
"Please excuse my ignorance," Jack says, "But what is this revolution you speak of? And how will that" – he nods at the disk in Juanita's hand – "make a weapon?"
Juanita smiles. "Which question do you want me to answer first?"
Jack considers for a moment. "My first question. It will perhaps help me to understand the answer to the second."
"Well," Juanita begins, folding her hands on the table, "The revolution is a fairly recent development, but it has roots in something much older. When Aku was in the process of taking over the world, he tried to stamp out certain media – art, literature, religious texts, historical records – that he perceived as a threat to his authority. He wasn't able to destroy all of these things, though, because there were always people who took it upon themselves to preserve those sources of knowledge. They kept the stories, the myths, and the history, so that they would never be completely forgotten. Usually these pieces of knowledge were passed down in families, or secret societies, from one generation to the next.
"These people weren't organized into one cohesive group, at least not for the first few centuries of Aku's rule. They were, after all, scattered all around the world, and any networks of communication that they between each didn't extend very far. But as time went on and technology improved, the keepers of knowledge were able to communicate more easily with one another, and they started forming a sort of underground network, sharing the forbidden knowledge amongst themselves. Now that network includes thousands of people all over the world. I'm one of those people – you'll get to meet some of the others later on.
"Aside from guarding these relics of the old world, however, there wasn't much else we could do. Open rebellion against Aku was pretty much out of the question, for obvious reasons. A sort of passive resistance was the only possible way to fight back at all. But that changed a little more than a year ago." Here Juanita pauses and shoots a significant look at Jack.
It takes him a moment, but he gets it. "You mean…when I arrived here?" Juanita nods.
"Before you came, most people didn't even know that a world without Aku was possible – those who did had no hope of making the world that way again. But now we do, so we're starting to do more than just keep old memories alive. Which is what this is about," she says, holding up the CD so that it flashes in the light. "And that's the beginning of the answer to your second…"
At that moment Y.T.'s cellphone rings, startling Jack and causing Juanita some small amount of irritation. "Sorry," Y.T. tells them as she stands up. "Be right back." She takes the cellphone off her belt as she walks out of the conference room.
Once she has shut the door behind her she presses the phone's "talk" button, cutting it off in mid-ring, and lifts it to her ear. "Y.T. here."
"It's Hiro. I got your message – what's this thing that I just have to see?"
Y.T. smiles to herself. "It's a surprise. You have to come over here and see it for yourself." She can hear Hiro sighing exasperatedly on the other end of the line.
"Look, Y.T., I'm not in the mood for…"
"It's a nice surprise," Y.T. assures him, wondering what the look on his face will be when he finds out just what it is. "In the conference room at the club. Trust me, you won't regret it."
There is a pause. "Okay. If you say so. I'll be there in a few minutes."
"'Kay. Seeya." Y.T. presses the talk button again to end the call, puts the phone on her belt and goes back to the conference room.
Hiro's going to be in for a big surprise…
~***~
"…but a robot's mind is still a computer. It runs various strings of information and instructions according to what it gets from its input," Juanita explains. So far, Jack is able to follow what she is saying, which is better than he expected. "It's just that said input can come through sight, hearing and other senses similar to those of humans or the like."
At this point, Y.T. opens the door and walks back in. "That was Hiro. He says he'll be here in a few minutes." Hiro? The name suggests that he is one of Jack's people. And perhaps he was responsible for decorating the room in this way. Jack finds himself feeling a lot more comfortable with this situation than he did before.
But he becomes uneasy again when Y.T. sits down on his side of the table, instead of in her original place – not right next to him, but one space away, at the spot nearer to the table's foot. The way she looks at him makes him very nervous, even though her attitude is not hostile. The problem, he decides, is that he has only some small idea of what her intent actually is, and that small idea is enough to make him feel somewhat embarrassed.
Fortunately, Juanita distracts him by continuing with her explanation. "Since the sets of instructions they can follow are very complex and flexible as these things go, these robots can to a certain degree emulate living things – animals, at the very least, and some of them are pretty good at emulating humans. But for all that, they're computers, and they think like computers, in a set of programs written in a certain language. And that, really, is what the disc is for – it contains information on the language that the robots use to think."
Now Jack understands why it is so important. "And you can use such knowledge to your advantage?"
"That's the idea, yes."
Jack nods. He is getting some idea of how this might work. "How do you intend to do that?"
"She intends to mess it up," Y.T. answers. Jack turns to look at her. The girl is leaning her elbow in the table. "If she and Hiro know the code that makes the robots work, they can find a way to make the robots not work. See?" And with that, the last piece of the puzzle falls into place.
"Now I understand why one would be willing to die for it," Jack says.
"I just hope they didn't figure out exactly what he stole." Juanita puts the disc on the table and pushes it away from her. "If they do, what we're planning might not work. We've been preparing for months, and at this stage it's too late to abort."
"Zero hour is in less than a week," Y.T. adds. "Juanita and Hiro have to use the info on that disc to make a computer virus – a machine disease – and broadcast it at a certain time in order to shut down all of the robots."
"Then all of the others who are in on the plan will go into action – destroying the facilities where the robots are built and maintained, cutting off government-controlled communications devices, and a number of other things. A revolution on a truly massive scale," Juanita concludes.
Something about this bothers Jack. "But Aku will surely retaliate against such an attack!"
Juanita closes her eyes. "We know," she says softly. "We know the risks we're taking, but we all agreed to do it. People are going to die, but if the plan is successful they won't die in vain." She opens her eyes again, and now they are burning with something intense. "You're a great fighter, we all know, but even you can't do this alone. With Aku's armies crippled you – and we – will have a better chance at getting rid of him. But if we want it to happen, we have to make sacrifices."
It is a truly selfless and courageous sentiment, and Jack feels overwhelmed by it. He folds his hands on the table in front of him, looks down at them. "Thank you," he says softly, though even he isn't quite sure why he felt the need to say it. He lifts his head again. "As you are doing this to help me, I feel that it is my duty to help you, in any way possible."
"All right!" Y.T. exclaims triumphantly. "Now we can really kick Aku's…"
She is interrupted when the door opens again. "All right, I'm here – what is it you wanted me to…" The newcomer and Jack catch sight of each other. "Whoa."
Jack is just as dumbstruck as this new arrival. He's not quite sure what to make of him. The man is tall, lean, dressed in close-cut black clothes, with his dark hair in a topknot like Jack's. His eyes and facial features bespeak an Asian ancestry, but the deep tan color of his complexion indicates that there is some African blood in him as well.
But the strangest thing about him is that he is equipped with a dai-sho, a set of samurai swords – the katana in a scabbard on his back, and the shorter wakizashi in his belt. Everything starts to feel surreal again, as it did when Jack first stepped into this room.
He finally recovers himself enough to remember his manners, stands up and bows. The other man snaps out of it and bows back. When he straightens up, Jack can see that he is smiling.
"I am honored to meet you, Jack," he says, in a tone that is miles away from the one he was speaking in when he opened the door. "My name is Hiroaki Protagonist – you can call me Hiro."