by Joy
NOTE: Demona has the really good idea of making a trailer for her story. So, I thought I'd make one for this story to give you an idea of where it's going. Keep a lookout for the new, 'Dangerous Secrets' trailer in one of the future chapters!
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Chapter Three - Cracking the Code
"I can explain," Mike began.
He was standing in front of the company CEO's desk, awkwardly trying to explain why he hadn't done his paperwork for the past two weeks. Roz had sent him straight to the office, ignoring his usual excuses; like his son eating it. Sulley may have been his best pal, but there were only so many times he could get away with it. 'What a time to run out of excuses,' he thought to himself.
Sulley sat back patiently in his chair, waiting for his friend to finish. "Go ahead," he said calmly.
"Well, ya see, it happened like this. . ." Mike continued.
Sulley interrupted. "Mike, please, just tell me the truth," he requested, smiling. "I'm not Roz."
That familiar smile eased tensions and he clasped his hands behind his back. "Okay, okay, you got me," he said. "I swear, I'd usually get started on my paperwork and then -"
He was cut off once again when Sulley's office door flung open. Caylin ran in, panting as if he had just run a marathon. Both monsters stopped to look at him. Sulley raised and eyebrow. He could tell something was up the moment the gecko-monster entered the room.
"What's wrong?" Mike asked right off the bat.
"Aren't you supposed to be at work, Caylin?" Sulley asked, glancing at his watch.
Caylin nodded hurriedly. "Yeah, I know, I know," he replied, still trying to catch his breath. "But how can I work when my Scarer's missing??" He suddenly knew he was getting ahead of himself by the looks of cluelessness on their faces.
Mike raised his hands. "Woah, woah, back it up a bit," he urged. "We don't all read minds, y'know."
Sulley leaned forward in his chair and furrowed his brow at what Caylin was saying. "Wait, slow down. You mean Randall's missing? How?"
Caylin took a deep breath. "Okay, well, it's like this. . .Randall got this really wierd call yesterday on his answering machine by some crazy maniac. I thought it was just a prank call but I should have listened because when my fluppy woke me up at midnight he was gone! You know, as in kidnapped!"
"Yeah, we understand. We're not preschoolers, Caylin," Mike answered. "So, lemme get this straight. He got a call for some random monster and now you think this guy kidnapped Lizard Boy?"
Caylin nodded.
"That's gotta be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," Mike commented, folding his arms.
"Mike, be reasonable here. You've heard of more ridiculous things. . .But why are you coming to us, Caylin? And so late in the day," Sulley asked. "It's almost closing time."
"Duh. You guys are his friends! He's in trouble and I know for a fact I can't take care of this on my own," Caylin replied. "I also know I'm not that brave of a monster, so I kinda need reinforcement. Will ya help me?"
Sulley rubbed his chin in thought and Mike glanced at him, wide-eyed. "Oh no, Sulley, you're not thinking. .?"
"Yeah, I'm thinking it," Sulley replied. "Randall saved us once before and now it's time to return the favor."
"Well, true. . .but right now? Sul, you're the CEO! You can't just walk out just because you feel like it," Mike reasoned. "You've got a company to run! What will the Board of Directors think?"
Caylin waved it off. "Forget about them, this is Ran-dall we're talking about here, hello. They can gripe all they want, but his life could be in danger!"
Sulley stood up out of his chair. "Hey, calm down guys," he said evenly. "Like I mentioned before, it's almost closing time. I'll finish up and we'll be out there in a few minutes. Mike, get your paperwork done."
"But Sul. . ." Mike began, but then he stopped, sighing. "Okay, see you outside as soon as I'm finished."
With that, he dragged himself out the door to do the one thing he hated most: his paperwork. As soon as he disappeared around the corner, Sulley straightened a stack of papers on his desk and headed out towards the Laughfloors for his last check-up of the day. Caylin followed, shutting the door behind them.
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Randall shuffled around on the floor in the back of the monsters' van. He was thoroughly entangled in the electrical net and that made it hard to do anything. He also had no idea how long they had been travelling and where, though he suspected his kidnappers wanted it that way. The setting sun shined through the side window of the van, leaving a streak of orange light across the floor. It was only a small indication of the time of day.
His kidnappers kept quiet the whole way, making Randall wonder what exactly they wanted from him. Did they kidnap him just for one thing only? That so-called 'code' of theirs? Or was it something more. . .
The van made a sharp turn and Randall slid on the floor to the right, softly hitting the side door. He then felt the van slow to a stop and a couple of the monsters got out along with Leia. The Ranft-monster picked Randall's net up and dragged him out the door. He looked through the mesh out at the scenery, trying to decipher where he was.
All he saw was a large piece of forest out in the middle of nowhere. Trees surrounded the clearing where they were parked and there was a bit of old barbed-wire fence off to the north. But otherwise, there was no clue indicating where they had taken him.
Randall stayed silent as the Ranft-monster carried him off further into the forest with the other monsters. They climbed up an incline in the terrain to find a fairly small, high-tech-looking building. It was built with alot of sharp, sleek angles with only a single door in the front.
The kidnappers pressed a code into the keypad by the door and it slid open, revealing nothing but a large elevator. All of them stepped inside and the elevator doors slid closed. They then started slowly decending underground, soon hitting bottom with a smooth stop.
Immediately, the doors parted again to reveal a main lobby, very angular in appearance but sort of similar in composition to the lobby at Monsters Inc. There were no windows, just artificial light that they used to illuminate the place. Everything was painted in shades of black, silver, and navy, giving it a very dark atmosphere. Even the receptionist looked uninviting.
The Ranft-monster passed by the receptionist's desk. "Mission complete, Chanti," he said to her. "Tell the BGB President we'll be waiting for him in the Extraction Room."
"Will do, Hunter," she replied without looking up from the book she was reading.
They continued on down a dimly lit hallway. "Extraction Room?! What persay is that?" Randall couldn't help but ask.
"It's where you're going buddy," the short, bent-over monster replied with a kooky laugh.
"That's no concern of yours," Hunter replied calmly, not looking at him.
Randall glared at him. "No concern of mine?? NO concern of mine? You're about to take me there and try some crazy experiment or something on me! Of course it's my concern!" he exclaimed angrilly.
"Well I say it isn't," Hunter replied sternly. "Besides. . .you'll find out soon enough."
That comment was followed by a sinister chuckle, the other kidnappers joined in - all but Leia, who lagged behind the group a bit. She seemed to be doing her best to stay out of all this. A look of resentment was on her face as they brang Randall to a door, labelled 'Extraction Lab, Authorized Personel Only'. Randall gulped at reading those five words. His mind raced. He knew he had to find a way out - soon.
They opened the door and walked in. The main focus of the dimly lit room was the giant computer consule at the opposite end of the room, wires and instruments extended from it, some hanging suspended from the ceiling. Hunter dropped Randall on the steel floor in the middle of the room and typed something into the large computer keyboard. A rectangle of the floor rose up underneath Randall and the net simutaneously melted off of him.
This was his chance. Randall vanished, but just as quickly, straps bound his eight arms and legs against his body, pulling him down to lay on the table. He appeared again, shocked at how fast things were happening. He hardly even had time to think before he found himself bound again. Though he struggled, he found he could hardly budge under the tight grip of the straps against his body. These guys abviously weren't taking any chances of him escaping. . .
Hunter turned around to look at the now-helpless lizard-monster, a smile on his face. "We'll give you one last chance to tell us that code," he said. "You've got five seconds."
"Look, I really have no idea what you're getting at," Randall replied. "If I've told you once, I've told you a million times - I don't know!"
Hunter shook his head, glancing at his collegues. They had looks of eagerness on their faces as they stood by the keyboard. He looked at Randall again. "Oh that's too bad. Looks like we're gonna have to get it the hard way. . ." he said, turning his attention back to the other monsters. "We wait for Bruton to arrive then we start."
"You guys are so thick-headed," Randall commented. "What do I have to do to prove it to you that I have no idea what you're jabbering about?"
"Oh, we know for a fact that you have the code somewhere in that mind of yours," Hunter said, folding his arms. "You're not fooling us. It's just a matter of persuasion to get the information WE need out of YOU."
"Just leave him alone guys," Leia spoke up.
A round of 'ooohs' went around as they looked at her. "Whassa matta, is the wittle girlie starting to fall in. . *sniff*. . looove?" a round, ugly monster with tentacles teased. "Forget about it, Kawaii. This guy has other purposes. You can probably ask your daddy to find you a PROPER BGB boyfriend."
Leia folded her arms. "My father doesn't know anything about me. And that's that. And another thing-!"
Just then, the President of the BGB - Bruton Kilroy - came into the room and everyone quieted. He was a big, heavy-built, dark green ankylosaur-monster with a nasty glare and a spiked tail. His yellow-orange eyes looked around the room until he spotted Randall. Bruton approached the table and looked him up and down.
"He looks just like him," Bruton muttered, as if a familiar realization hit. Randall's eyes widened as he recognised the monster's voice. It was the same dark, foreboding voice he had heard on his answering machine!
Bruton turned to Hunter, his brow set. "He's gotta be the one. Set up the machine and get it running immediately," he ordered.
"Right away, sir," Hunter replied, getting to work preparing.
Bruton turned around again, looking at Randall and a malicious grin formed on his face. "I'll have my revenge on Rayford yet," he muttered to himself. "And this kid'll help me do it. . ." He looked at his incompetent employees and glared at them fiercely. "What's taking so long you idiots?! I don't have all day you know!"
The monsters quickened their pace and Hunter brang, what looked like, a metal helmet with different colored wires sticking out of it everywhere. He put it on Randall's head, much to his disapproval. He couldn't do much more than move his head around to avoid having the contraption put on his head. But eventually, Hunter had it strapped on securely and then went back to the computer consule.
Randall growled. "What is this. . .monstrosity?!" he demanded, frustrated that he couldn't figure so many things out on his own.
"The Brain Drain 3000," Hunter explained. "The latest technology for sucking information out of one's brain - whether they like it or not."
"But don't you worry your little head over it," the round monster reassured him. "It won't hurt." The small, bent-over monster laughed insanely.
"WHAT?!" Randall exclaimed in dismay, struggling in vain against his restraints.
Bruton went over to the consule and typed in the command to start the machine and a countdown appeared on the giant computer screen. 'Please Wait. . .Counting down to activation time,' popped up onto the screen. Bruton smirked and rubbed his hands together eagerly. Panicked, Randall tried one last time to break free, but it was of no avail.
"Ten. . .Nine. ." the computerized voice said.
Leia was watching from a stool near the wall, trying to decide on what to do. The monsters were too concentrated on the computer screen to notice her, so she snuck out the door into the hallway. A phone was hanging on the wall nearby, just as she had thought. She cleared her throat and picked it up, imitating the receptionist's voice.
"There is an urgent emergency near Section 12, all employees in the area are to report to office immediately," she announced. The voice being broadcasted over a speaker in the Extraction Room. "And, Mr. President, we need your assistance right now."
Bruton looked up from the screen at the overhead speaker and growled under his breath. "Program it to 'auto' and do as Chanti says," he ordered gruffly, abviously not happy about being called away on such short notice.
"Three. . .Two. . ." the computer continued.
Leia hid behind the door as they rushed out into the hallway and quickly ran inside to find Randall giving her a look of exasperation. "Leia, please," he asked, not caring what she had done to him earlier. "Shut the thing off." Just as she made it over to the plug, the computer finished, turning the BD 3000 on with a revved-up noise.
Randall suddenly found that his mind was going blank and he closed his eyes. Even when he tried to bring up something to say, he couldn't open his mouth to say it, no matter how hard he tried. Thoughts were flying out of his mind like startled birds out of a bush, so he just lay helplessly on the table as all his thoughts began to fill up the giant screen. Leia quickly pulled the plug and ran over to his side, unstrapping the helmet from his head and dropping it on the ground.
"Darn it," she muttered, pressing the button to unstrap him. "Randall, are you okay?"
"Uhhh. . .Cookies? Who could eat cookies at a time like this?" he said groggily, his thoughts slowly coming back to him.
Leia sighed with relief. "At least your brain still works," she said, gently helping him sit up. "However mixed up it may be."
When Randall finally regained and reorganized his thoughts, he hopped down from the table onto all four feet. "I've gotta get out of here," he concluded immediately, as he again realized where he was. He began to head for the door.
Leia watched him for a moment, as if considering the consequenses of leaving with the 'enemy'. But her mind was well made up. All she could think of right now was how much she wanted to get out of the place. Leia wasn't about to spend another moment here. She touched Randall's shoulder and he took a quick, slightly-annoyed glance back at her.
"What?" he asked, his voice laden with hostility.
"I'm coming with you," she said. "Look, it's a long story, but you've gotta understand that the last thing I wanted to do was work here. I'm sorry I threatened you like I did last night."
Randall stared at her for a moment, as if trying to figure out if she really meant it, but he finally nodded. "Okay," he said. "But you've gotta keep up."
"Oh, believe me, after working here for a year, I think I can handle it," she replied confidently. "Now, let's just get out of here while we still have time."
Both of them headed out into the hallway, but what they didn't notice was the computer screen behind them. The auxillary power had kicked in and a distinctive code flashed in red amongst the lines of downloaded data. . .
Once they got out into the hallway, sirens began to wail and red lights flashed above them. Hunter ran out of a hallway not far from where Randall and Leia were standing, along with Bruton and the other two monsters. Immediately, they spotted the two standing only a few meters away. Leia looked over her shoulder and her eyes widened, grabbing Randall's hand and pulling him down the hall after her.
"Hey - what are you doing?" he asked, but his question was soon answered in the form of Bruton's gruff order.
"Get them!" he yelled to the monsters with him. "Stupid girl. I told her father she'd turn on us one of these days. . ."
Randall began to pick up the pace on his own once he realised they were seen and Leia relesed her grip on his hand, running alongside each other. Randall glanced at her.
"Is this the way to the main lobby?" he asked, as it occured to him they'd need to make a quick exit.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," she replied. "Or I wouldn't be dragging you this way, now would I?" She grinned at him and made a sharp turn towards the lobby entranceway.
Chanti, the receptionist, saw them run past towards the elevator and quickly dropped her book on the desk. She picked up the phone and began to speak an announcement over the loudspeakers throughout the building.
"Attention agents, the escapee is in the main lobby," she reported. "Everyone shut down energy operations - now!"
"Oh great," Leia muttered.
"What?" Randall asked.
"That means they're gonna shut down our only means of escape," she answered, just as they reached the elevator. "We'd better step on it."
Just then, Hunter and his crew emerged into the lobby, they yelled something and pointed at the two escapees. Leia hit the 'Up' button and jumped through the barely open elevator doors. They began to close and she helped Randall inside just before the doors shut again and the elevator began to move upwards. Randall breathed a sigh of relief.
"Geez, talk about close," he said, catching his breath. "Where are we? Y'know, in relation to Monstropolis?"
"We're just outside the town of Rawrly," she replied. "A good fifty miles from Monstropolis."
"Really?" he asked. "Well, that's just peachy. . ."
"Don't worry, we can probably catch the bus or something once we get out of this forest," Leia suggested. "But I'll tell you one thing. . ." She said as both stepped out of the elevator and onto the crude dirt path outside.
"What?"
"We'd better run for it."
Just then, a jeep pulled out of the back of the small, square building, turning towards them. Randall exchanged glances with her before both turned tail and ran into the denser part of the forest. . .