1-3: Discovery
She's a bad girl, I can tell you!
(((-3-)))
"At least I can still kind of remember what the other disk had on it," Janika sighed. "But now they might be after me. I'd better keep to myself. Classes don't start until Monday, so that gives me five days to figure this out before I get caught."
She took a deep breath and opened the green disk. The information it contained was mostly about some sort of game. The characters looked a lot like Jeremy's friends, but there were two girls she didn't recognize among them. Then again, one looked exactly like his screen saver and the other might have been the fourth person they met outside. Yumi or something like that.
They all had life points and different weapons. She saw a card with the fruity guy on it and noticed he looked a bit strange. He had a tail! It would be cool if she could have a character like that.
An idea blossomed in her mind. Instead of selling this stuff online like she had in the past, maybe she could play it herself before she went any farther. It really seemed intriguing. All she had to do was take one program and alter it. Easy enough with the right tools.
(V)
Dissecting the layers of programs surrounding the cards took nearly two full days. Sissy's constant visits and banter didn't help, but Janika finally pretended to be sick with some infectious disease and got some peace at last.
Once she had reached that point, it was a simple matter of replacing certain data. Unfortunately some things couldn't be altered no matter how hard the teenager tried. Her hacking abilities only got her so far. She finally resorted to swapping major data, but even that barely altered anything. She needed an actual character, but the program wouldn't let her do anything except run a vague outline drawing. Digital pictures wouldn't stick.
"This is hopeless! I've never encountered such a bogus program!" she shouted in exasperation. It was like the dumb thing needed something else. Some kind of booster. "Wait a sec. The other disk had info on a factory where their mega-computer is stored. I wonder if that's where I need to go to finish this thing." She pondered it and decided that was the best course of action. "If I remember correctly, the factory is on the south side of town. Hmm...it shouldn't be too hard to get inside."
(V)
Ulrich yawned in Chemistry, bored out of his skull. Who wanted to learn about atoms anyway? He stared out the window, wishing there was some way he could get out of class. He noticed a familiar girl walking quickly through the courtyard carrying a laptop with a black cover. She was the one who'd been in Jeremy's room! That braid was unmistakable! She kept looking around nervously as though worried someone might see her.
Suddenly Mrs. Hertz was interrupted by a slight cough. Then another. And another. Ulrich's face was turning red and he kept hacking. Odd and Jeremy got permission to take him to the infirmary, but as soon as they left the classroom he told them what he'd seen.
"She was going directly toward the factory, Jeremy. I think she knows where it is. What if she does something to your computer?"
Jeremy shrugged. "I don't know what she wanted from my computer in the first place. I don't think X.A.N.A. has anything to do with her. He usually works faster than this and it's been nearly three days since we last saw her. She must have her own reasons for stealing my stuff."
"That doesn't mean she has good intentions," Odd pointed out.
"You're right. Let's get to the lab."
"Yoo-hoo, boys. I thought maybe Ulrich would like someone to help him to the nurse, but I guess he's fine now." Sissy stepped closer.
Ulrich's eyebrows twitched. He tried not to yell at her. "Sissy, we need to go. Someone stole something from Jeremy and we have to catch her."
"Something? What something?" She didn't sound worried. More like annoyed that she had to listen to other people's problems.
"Nothing," Jeremy said sulkily. "Just some of my computer's files, that's all."
That seemed to ring a bell. "Computer? My cousin said she liked computers when she got here three days ago, but she's sick right now."
The boys were suddenly very attentive. "Three days ago? Does she by any chance have a long, dark brown braid?" Ulrich demanded.
"Well, yeah." Her eyes narrowed. "Why do you want to know about Janika?"
"She stole from Jeremy, that's why!"
"Are you serious? Gee. Maybe she wasn't as sick as I thought."
Odd rolled his eyes. "She must be looking for the—" He stopped short as he remembered Sissy. "Let's just go find her."
They left her behind and ran for the factory. They had to catch that girl before she did anything to the lab!
Do you think they will? Not a chance!