EDIT: Don't own em, unless somebody wants to give em for my b-day!

December 3, 1999

17:50

"Heeeeeeiiiiiiiiiyyyyaaahhh!"

Nineteen-year-old Zack Darren cringed in pain as he was thrown yet again across the training mat. He flopped over on the mat with a prolonged groan. He gingerly opened his eyes, and found himself flat on his back, looking up at the vaulted ceiling of the gym. As he slowly sat up, his opponent walked over to him with a wide grin on her handsome face. The vibrant red-head stooped down and ran her fingers through Zack's longish dirty blonde hair, tousling it even more.

"Nice try, Little Bro! Next time, remember to duck when you come back around," she smiled at him semi-apologetically.

The girl, Ivy, 22, was not only Zack's older sister, his sparring partner today, but was his long-time co-worker at ACME Detective Agency as well. They were both Junior Detectives at the Agency, and though Ivy was finally being promoted, leaving Zack with another Junior partner to work with on missions, they still worked together as much as possible.

"Thanks for the warnin', Sis," he replied ruefully, and rubbed the back of his neck gently. "You coulda let me know what was comin'! Geez!"

Ivy smirked down at him before giving him her hand to help him get up. "Now what would be the fun in that, huh?"

Zack grabbed her hand roughly and she pulled him up. "Thanks," he said, turning toward the locker rooms, ready to call it a day. "I'm gonna hit the showers, Sis. I've had enough for today. Tatiana and I will meet you later for dinner," he started trudging off in the direction of lockers, showers, and freedom from Ivy's well known over-training in the gym.

"Umm, okay? Are you all right Zack? You wanna meet again tomorrow morning for training?" Ivy wrinkled her brow in Zack's direction, unsure of what she should do next. He did not usually give up so easily, and she wondered what was different today.

Zack grunted a reply until he realized that he was about to be stuck training on another Saturday morning. "Uhh, sorry, Ivy. I already told Josha that I would meet him tomorrow afternoon for Krav Maga. My day is pretty much booked tomorrow as it is. Maybe some other time," he shrugged regretfully, and turned back around and headed into the locker rooms, but not before tossing a "See ya Sis!" back over his shoulder.

"Boys! Humph. Whatever," she dismissed his 'busyness' as simple laziness. After all, what could be more important than his spending quality time with his big sis, despite the fact that he was gonna get his butt kicked? "Oh, well," she thought, "I'll just have to get Tatiana in here tomorrow. She can take as well as dish it out! Boys. Good grief!"

December 5, 1999

13:35

"Mercedes. Black. Newer edition, presumed '97 version. The driver, white male, aged mid-twenties, was seen dropping off a certain package near the crime scene, and then he left in the opposite direction in which he came, headed west toward Frisco Bridge," the Chief paused for dramatic effect, but Zack whispered to his new partner Tatiana that he was sure it was for loss of breath. She smiled at him momentarily, and then continued taking notes on this new case being assigned to their group.

"We had the 'package' run through the lab, and the boys in genetics said it was close to our girl's DNA, however, it was also belonging to a male . . .sooooo, unless Carmen had a sex change, we have found a male relative of hers. Now here is where I want you to pay attention cadets," the Chief turned his head in all directions, looking each member of the reconnaissance team in the eyes, each in turn before going on. "The contents of the package are not only what is going to finally blow this or rather these cases wide open," he said, referring to the dozens upon dozens of grand larceny cases involving or suspectedly orchestrated by Carmen Sandiego, "No, the real kicker is going to be the look on Carmen's face in the courtroom when her own SON testifies against her!" The Chief glanced around the room at the flabbergasted looks on the faces of his best squad. It was the response he was hoping to illicit. "Maybe now someone will have the incentive to find this guy and get him in for questioning," he thought to himself. "It was easy enough with the henchmen . . . but Carmen's own son? Who knows how hard this is going to be? I sure hope they are up to the job."

15:20

Ivy's mouth was still hinged open at this news a few hours after the Chief broke it to them. She, her partner and "boyfriend" Josha, Zack, and Zack's partner Tatiana were all gathered in their small basement-level corner conference room, discussing ways to go about finding this guy, or at least finding out more about him. They were going through the contents of the package, searching for some kind of clue that would lead them yet again to Carmen Sandiego.

"This seems to be nothing more than a calling card from Carmen," Josha was in the process of saying when Ivy finally tuned back in. "She is trying to 'up the stakes' as it were, and using her own son to lure us into another one of her cat-and-mouse games. However, I do not know in which way we are to go from here."

Ivy reached for the packet, arranging the contents methodically, and listened to the others in the group respond to Josha's comment.

"I agree with Josha," Tatiana replied quietly, her Russian inflections barely observable over her exaggerated American pronunciations. "But, it is not like Carmen to let one of her men get caught purposely, she continued, "I understand that this man was obviously not apprehended, and it would have been simple to capture him, had we been on our toes in the surveillance division. But what was the point of using him rather than anyone else other than to get our attention? I think we are looking at this from the wrong perspective."

"What does a keycard, a bobby-pin, three white pebbles, and a TR963 optic lens with projection binocular scope have in common?" Ivy thought to herself. She kept arranging them in peculiar orders, drawing curious looks from the others ever once in a while, but kept examining each article until things began to fall into place in her mind, all while listening to the others ponder about the logical connections between each article in the package and the specific implications of the usage of each.

"What about the keycard?" Zack suddenly said, looking intently at the item Ivy held in her hand. "It clearly goes to something," he peered closer at the writing on the face of the card, and being the language wiz that he was, blurted out, "But what is that kind of card used for in Southwest Thailand?"

The entire group looked around at each other a moment before shouting simultaneously, "BANKS!" and laughing together at the break they just made. Josha and Zack both jumped away from the table, ready to go take the keycard to the computer lab to decipher the cryptogram within the barcode. Tatiana reluctantly rose from her chair, and headed off to the language department where she would have the face of the keycard translated. Ivy smiled to herself at their enthusiasm. She wished she shared it. As she leaned back in her chair, watching them all file down the corridor towards their respective destinations, she sighed audibly, realizing that something just didn't sit right with her on this case. Carmen was never this obvious on anything she did. Especially when it came to her son, which was apparent in the fact that they hadn't found out about him until now. This just didn't feel like Carmen.