Chapter 13
The Public Image
As the morning sun rose, basking the world in its warmth, Kadic premises came alive.
Buildings around the campus shined in an early morning glow, the sun's reflection reflecting off the windows. The puddles left over from yesterday's storm were slowly receding as they evaporated into the morning air. Squirrels, which were chasing each other for food at a nearby tree, stopped as a large metal door opened suddenly.
William stepped outside of the dorm as the morning light fully engulfed the landscape. He carried in his hand a book bag. He flung the book bag around his shoulder; the contents were not meant for him, but for someone else… someone special to him.
"Hope she likes them."
William put on some of his newest clothes for the day. He wore a Black Sabbath tee with a red undershirt underneath, a pair of blue jeans that were ripped in some areas and his favorite brown boots, his belt was black and sported a NES controller on the front clasp, and a chain was attached to his belt that went around and connected to his wallet.
William looked around; only a few students and faculty had yet arrived for one of the last few days of the semester. He noted how Ms Hertz pulled up in her small and environment-friendly car, sipping on her early morning cup of coffee, carrying her bag of books and paper work in her hands as she shut the door of the car and walked up to the teachers' entrance of the school. Only a few students would show up early for breakfast and early morning classes. Others would show up early to hang out with friends.
William felt his phone vibrate; he pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the message. "Here."
William responded back; he placed his phone in his pocket and walked towards the rear entrance of the school towards where students who lived nearby would walk up for classes. He paid no attention to the other students as he walked past them, attempting to keep a low profile as he walked through the gate of the school and down the street.
A few cars down from the entrance sat a junk old pickup truck. The truck was a heap that barely ran. It was a Frankenstein's monster of different parts from different vehicles. The rear end sat a little higher then the front, the bed of the truck was a mess from all the rust, and sections of the truck were broken apart from the extensive rust. One could not guess the truck's original color due to the amount of damage and different parts combined into the truck in an attempt to keep it running. William opened the door to the truck as it made a loud grinding and squeaking noise, the doors just as rickety as the rest of the vehicle.
In the driver's seat sat a young woman who had her feet propped up on the dashboard.
"Morning, big trouble." she said as she glanced over.
"Morning, little trouble." William said as he shut the door.
The young woman reached into her pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. She jostled the pack as she pointed it towards William, who shook his head and held up his hand as he declined the offer.
"Oh… mister superhero needs to watch his public image, huh?" the girl said.
She wore a pair of black work boots, too loose for her feet; a pair of blue jeans with a large black belt looped around her waist, a large black leather jacket, adorned with various pins of bands she was a fan of. Under the shirt was her yellow Guns N' Roses t-shirt, complete with faded colors and peeling logo. Her hair were long, bushy and thick, dyed completely black; her face was pale, yet gentle. Piercings adorned her ears, face, and nose like a series of silver and black rings. Her eyes were green with black eyeliner under her eyes.
She was definitely a rocker. Or as she called it, a rock chick.
"How was work, Nadia?" William asked as he looked forward towards the road.
"Oh, it sucked." the girl said as she pulled out a cigarette and rolled down a window. "Had to deal with cleaning fish guts, as always."
"So... rough night?"
"Uh...yeah," Nadia said, lighting her cigarette. "And then that asshole Supervisor came in and was like, Nadia Pritchard, you don't belong here." She said in a mocking manner. "Yet the dumb asshole never fired me! I swear, he has an issue with every living thing."
William turned to look towards Nadia. "Why don't you go find a new job or go back to school?"
Nadia took a drag off her cig as she looked towards the front of the truck. "You know I can't… I'm a high school drop out who works to take care of her mother, because her dead beat dad ran away so long ago."
"How is your mom?" William asked.
"She's getting worse..." Nadia tapped her cigarette out the window, dropping the ashes off it. "The nursing home has been treating her well. The hardest part is... she still does not remember me... or anyone."
William slowly shook his head as he breathed in. "Alzheimer does that, I'm afraid."
"I know. It's so hard right now… I can barely afford to feed myself these days." Nadia said. "I'm about to lose my little shack of an apartment, but it doesn't matter."
William slowly turned to look at Nadia. He saw the stress on her face as she looked out the window of the truck, clearly worn out.
"It does matter. Where are you gonna live?"
Nadia shook her head as she tossed her used cigarette out the window. "I don't know, most of my friends moved on. And I can't go back to Leslie. I swore I would never date again." Nadia said as she removed her leather jacket, exposing her bare arms.
"That's not what you said when we met at the movie theater." William said. He turned and placed his left arm on the back of the seat of the truck. "I know that's your depression talking."
Nadia placed her hands on the steering wheel as she slowly lowered her head on the wheel and sighed.
"You told me you suffer from mad depression once, and I know you can't afford your meds right now. I told you, I wont let you down."
"I don't need a superhero." Nadia sighed quietly, "I shouldn't trouble you with everything I'm going through..."
"It's fine. Besides, we meet before I got back into dealing with Lyoko." William said as he glanced out the window.
Nadia sat up and looked out the window, "Have you told your friends about me?"
William shook his head.
"With everything they are going though, I don't think I want to trouble them. Besides... they would ask so many questions about us dating and you being two years older then me."
He opened his bag and pulled out two breakfast sandwiches, one of which he handed to Nadia.
"Don't worry, these are not from the school cafeteria."
Nadia smiled.
"I promise to pay you back." she said as she took one of the sandwiches. "I haven't told anyone about us either, because… well, I don't have any close friends, sadly. Except for you."
William smiled and winked at Nadia as he pulled out a few more sandwiches for her.
"So... that storm last night..." Nadia said as she unwrapped the sandwich, smelling the egg and sausage. "Was that a… Lico situation?"
William chuckled as he opened his sandwich up. "It's Lyoko, and... yes."
They both fell silent while enjoying their meal together.
"How was your friend's birthday yesterday?" Nadia asked after having eaten more than a half of her sandwich; it was tasty and she was really hungry.
"It was good. Thanks for helping me pick out a gift for her."
"Ah, no worries." Nadia said as she finished her sandwich, rolled the wrapper up and tossed it into the back of the truck. "Is it true that she has pink hair?"
William smirked and nodded.
"And she doesn't dye her hair? She has natural pink hair?"
"Shocking, I know." William said with a smile.
"God, I would love to have a hair color like that, instead of this... raggedy black!"
"Why? I like your hair." William complimented.
Nadia shot William a glance, realizing he was hitting on her. "My hair sucks."
"Nah, it doesn't," William said as he pulled his phone out. "Well... I gotta get going."
"Thank you so much for the food." Nadia said as she picked up the other sandwiches. "I'm gonna go home and get a shower, and sleep."
"When are you off next?" William asked.
"I don't get days off, why?"
"I was gonna see if you wanted to go on a date?"
Nadia paused and looked towards William. "You sure you want to date me? I mean... I'm a mess."
"Then... let's go to a date to give you a moment to relax." William said in defense.
Nadia glanced down at the floorboard of the truck as she mulled the question over.
"OK. I get a day off in two weeks, we will go then." Nadia said as she turned to fully face the steering wheel.
William opened the door with a loud squeak and rattle. "Text me when you get up, OK?"
"Hang on, get back here." Nadia said as she placed her hand on the keys to the truck.
William sat back inside the truck in confusion.
Nadia reached out and wrapped her arms around William and placed her chin on his shoulder.
"Thanks for everything." She whispered.
William smiled as he placed his hands around her shoulders and held her as well.
She let go after a long minute; they kept staring at each other for a few other minutes.
"I gotta go." William said as he stepped out of the truck.
"I'll text you when I'm up." Nadia said as she started her truck with a loud grinding noise.
William shut the door; Nadia drove off. The junky truck rattled as it rolled down the road and stopped at a stop sign. The truck suddenly backfired loudly as it turned to take a left.
William flung the book bag over his shoulder and turned to walk back to the main gate of the school. He looked around a few times carefully, trying to see if anyone he knew had noticed him or spotted him with the girl in the truck.
He was concerned about the fact he had met Nadia on a local dating app, and also that she was 19 and he was 17. Plus, with all the fighting with Lyoko, he had become somewhat a celebrity, and when you become a celebrity, it garners attention. Which was something Nadia didn't want since she tried awfully hard to keep her head down and take care of her mother.
William walked up through the gate as a few of the early morning students began to arrive for one of the final days of the semester. Only a few more till the summer break. On those days William would usually fly home to America to see his parents, however after a long phone call, he had decided to stay in France with the others to try to finish Xervix once and for all.
"Hey, William!" a voice said from across the street, catching the boy's attention.
William turned left and right as he looked for the source, only to spot the one person who he feared might have caught him.
Yumi crossed the street as she tried to catch up with William. That day, she wore a pair of black blue jeans and black boots as she usually did, together with a black midriff shirt which was sleeveless and a pair of separate sleeves over her arms. Also dangling next to her belt was a small Godzilla figurine connected to a chain, harking back to her past with her family.
"Good morning," Yumi said as she caugh up with him.
"Oh." William said, still in a bit of confusion. "Morning."
"Who was that you were talking to in the truck?" Yumi asked.
"Uh…" William said as he stuttered. "Just a friend."
"Oh yeah?" Yumi asked as they walked through the gate into the school grounds. "She drove past me, she seemed like she was smiling. I don't think I've ever seen her before."
William tilted his head as he smiled a little. "Was she smiling? Did I make her feel better?"
"It's complicated." William finally said, realizing that he could not keep his little secret to him anymore.
Yumi turned her head to look at William as she listened to him. "How so?"
William stopped as he watched Yumi walk a few more feet forward, stopping to turn and look at him.
"Is she... a... -" Yumi asked slowly until William cut her off.
"Does it ever get awkward?" William asked.
Yumi looked at William in confusion.
"Um, I mean, like with you and Ulrich?"
Yumi turned and took a small defensive stance.
"What do you mean?" Yumi asked as a group of students walked past her. "Awkward as when Ulrich and Odd have their little competitions like a burping contest? Awkward as in when you find your boyfriend playing Super Smash Bros with your brother? Or... how awkward?"
"Fine. I meant the age difference." William said.
"Okay… well, at first… kinda, I'm 5 months older than him." Yumi said as she glanced towards the air. "How old is she?"
"Almost 20." William said as he looked at his feet. He glanced down for a second until he heard the sound of Yumi's backpack dropping to the ground.
He looked up to see Yumi's reaction. Yumi had one eye wide and in shock with an eyebrow raised, her mouth was jarred to the left as she tried to process what she just heard.
"Um… but William, you are 17."
"I know."
"And she is twenty?" Yumi said in shock.
"Yeah. Almost. Nineteen actually." William said.
"Will… She's a little old for you, isn't she?"
William picked up Yumi's bag and handed it to her. "I know, I know."
Yumi took the bag as she relaxed a bit, waiting to hear William's answer.
"I don't even know if we're gonna date. She has a bad situation going on." William explained. "She works to take care of her mom and she kinda got out of a really really bad relationship."
"How bad?" Yumi asked.
William placed his hands in his pockets as he tried to figure out what to relate it to. "Remember when Aelita played that Life Is Strange game?" William said as he slowly started walking forward. Yumi nodded as she walked along side him.
"Like that."
"Oh… ouch." Yumi said as she walked next to William. "She's not… Leading you on, is she?"
William turned to look at Yumi, confusion raced across his face as he pondered what Yumi meant.
"We just did reveal our existence to the world in the term of being superheroes." Yumi said as she lead William up to the vending machines where the gang would normally meet before going for breakfast. "We basically became celebrities, whether we liked it or not." Yumi said as she placed her book bag on the concrete wall that housed the potted plants. "Some people we meet might be creeps or searching for money and fame..."
William nodded as he pulled out his wallet and approached the coffee vending machine. "You want a coffee?"
"Sure." Yumi said as she pulled out her wallet and grabbed a pair of bills from the billfold. "Decaf."
"To get back to your question." William said as he hit a button on the machine. "I know we would have a lot of issues with all this. But Nadia is different. I met her before we returned to Lyoko."
Yumi folded her arms and crossed her legs as she listened. "Was it after me and Ulrich started dating?"
William grabbed Yumi's coffee and handed it to her, the steam rose off the small cup as she gripped the cup and took it from William.
"About a few months after." William said. "I had already gotten over you guys. But..."
Yumi looked up at William as she listened.
"It just seemed like… after Xana's death, I was blacklisted." William said as he sipped his coffee. "I would say hi and all, but it felt like you guys would… avoid me."
"You know I'm sorry about that." Yumi said remorsefully.
"I do. And I forgive you guys for it." William said as he pulled his phone out. "I get it… Even though Xana died, we failed and we felt horrible about it."
Yumi sighed as she looked down at her coffee and breathed heavily. "Aelita's father's sacrifice."
William glanced down as well as he also remembered how bad those days were.
"But anyways..." William said, trying to change the subject to lighten the mood. "Then, Nadia came along and helped me see the brighter side of life after all that."
"I'm glad to see you are meeting someone." Yumi said with a hint of concern in her voice. "I just hope things go well for you and that whatever happens, you don't get hurt."
"Thanks." William said as he sat next to her. "Soooo.… Where's Ulrich?"
Yumi shook her head as she sipped her coffee. "He couldn't sleep last night. And since he didn't want to wake me, he went back to the dorms and texted me."
William turned to look at Yumi.
"Oh?" William said as he tilted his head in an awkward, humorous manner. "Usually after a long battle on Lyoko, first thing I want to do is just fall asleep."
"Oh man, I was wiped!" Yumi said as she stood up and walked a little. "I almost fell asleep in the shower."
William chuckled a little as he took a sip of his coffee. "I think we have all been there before."
Yumi pulled out her cellphone and texted Ulrich that she was here. "Try and see where they are at." Yumi added as she placed her phone next to her, waiting for her boyfriend to text back.
"I mean it was a late night last night." William added. "They might still be asleep."
"Oh man." Yumi added as she stretched. "I would love to just go back home and lay back down."
"Thank God for coffee, right?" William added as he raised his coffee cup up and toasted.
Yumi smiled and raised her coffee cup in response. "So, are you hoping to date Nadia?"
William paused for a minute as he finished the rest of his coffee and tossed the coffee cup in the trash can.
"It would be nice." William said. "But I don't want to rush it or anything. With everything going on with her and things she has just gotten over, it wouldn't be smart to just jump into a relationship."
Yumi glanced up at William and smiled. "You've grown up."
William turned to look at Yumi. "What do you mean?"
Yumi shrugged her arms as she looked up at William. "Just in how you act and how you look at things. I mean you're not rushing and into things and jumping to conclusions."
"Hey, I'm not the only one." William said with a smile. "I think we have all grown up in the past few months."
"Just like Ulrich said the other night." Yumi said as she finished her coffee.
"What did he say?"
Yumi tossed her coffee cup towards the trash bin, only for it to bounce off the side of the trash can and land on the ground. Yumi grunted as she stood up and walked over, picking up the cup and tossing it in the trash.
"He said we don't act like friends anymore..." Yumi said as she heard her phone go off, reaching for it and looking up at William.
"He said we are family."
Boulogne-Billancourt
The black Mustang pulled into the parking garage of Boulogne Residence hotel. The car drove to the very back of the garage in order not to attract attention. The Mustang backed into a parking lane and came to a halt as the engine finally shut off. The driver's side door opened.
George stepped out, a small Glock 17 in his hand, tucked close to his pant leg as he walked over to the passenger side of the car and opened the door. He stepped back as the passenger stepped out with his hands to his side. He understood what was going on, yet was unsure why.
"Is this how you Yanks greet other members of the intelligence community?" David Richardson asked as he calmly looked at George.
"I need to know exactly what is going on." George said as he glanced around, looking for any intruders in sight.
The situation was quite awkward; Richardson realized the agents who were waiting for him in France were obviously unaware of the arrival of what his superiors called a VIP who was to be escorted with him. Richardson knew that the Americans were not going to be happy with the arrival of a new person, let alone someone they weren't aware of.
"Alright, look. Only after I got to the airport last night, my superior and two individuals told me I would be escorting a second person who would be detrimental to the case." Richardson spoke softly.
"I was originally only told I would be joining you by myself."
George looked back at the backseat of the Mustang, where sat Jessica and Travis, with Laura in between them; both agents pointed their pistols at the girl.
"And she's that person?" George asked. Richardson confirmed by a nod. "Who is she?"
"She claims she's associated with the so-called Earth Defense Force." Richardson said as he leaned on the car.
"Get off my baby!" George demanded; Richardson immediately stood up. "What the hell is this Earth Defense Force?"
Richardson shook his head. "I've never heard of it." He stepped away from the car, not once looking away from George. "It sounds like a comic book or anime title to me."
"Has anyone at MI6 ever spoke or heard of it?"
"No." David admitted. "Has anyone in the U.S. Intelligence spoke about it?"
George shook his head the same way. They finally found some common ground.
"She seems American. What was she doing in London?"
"I have no idea." Richardson said as he stood in front of George. "The men who escorted her were from MI5, a couple of SAS individuals."
Ensuring once again that the garage was still empty, George pulled out his phone and unlocked it.
"We had no idea she was arriving this early." he said.
"I figured the way you were acting that no one informed you in advance." Richardson asked as he stepped forward. "Your head of office didn't inform either of you over what happened?"
George shook his head. "We got word of an operative being swapped out for someone from a different agency. But that news reached us this morning."
"Which is why you think I was compromised." David said.
George nodded as he glanced down at his phone.
"I gave you the code word, right?" Richardson asked as he looked at the occupants of the car.
"Yeah, you were good. Her, however, I don't know, which is why we don't know if you were compromised or not."
The British man looked towards George as he watched him thumb through his phone. "Are you calling your home office?"
George nodded as he glanced around the garage once again, one hand on his pistol and the other with his phone as he listened to the other end of the line.
"This is Special Agent Knight calling." George said as he glanced up at Richardson, "Code name is Xanadu."
George immediately hung up the phone as he looked towards the car to check if his colleagues were alright. Suddenly, George felt his phone vibrate as he looked down to see the caller ID was labeled, Ray Lytle's Italian and Mexican restaurant.
"Hello?"
Richardson watched as George looked at the ground, then back towards him. George nodded at Richardson slowly as he holstered his pistol… finally.
Meanwhile, inside the car, Travis and Jessica looked on and watched George and Richardson as Laura sat in between, seemingly unbothered by a pair of pistols pointed at her.
"Does this kind of thing happen in the C.I.A. And F.B.I?" Laura asked.
"When we might be compromised… yes." Jessica said as she kept her eye on the girl.
"I told my superiors I should have waited till you were informed of the situation." Laura said.
Travis looked down at Laura and then shot back towards George and David. "What do you mean?"
"They wanted me to join this task force right away, and I was just settled down at home to." Laura said as she looked towards Travis.
Travis watched as George spoke on the phone and glanced between the car and Richardson; no doubt George was speaking to the head of the F.B.I, in an attempt to sort this situation out.
"What is Earth Defense Force?" Travis asked, still watching George.
"The E.D.F.? It's classified, but one of you did come across a report about us." Laura said as she turned to look at Jessica.
"Who? Me?" Jessica asked, confused.
"The code word that you gave the Garage Kids that sent them to Area 51." Laura said with a smile. "It was given to certain levels of the world's governments in case they ever came into contact with anyone who ever worked for Project Carthage or Project Vorseas..." Laura cut herself off as she thought of the issue that she faced in the investigation. "Or..."
"Or?" Travis echoed Laura.
Laura paused as she remembered the information she had received from her superiors, and how haunting it was. "Or someone who was a product of both projects."
Travis stared at Laura as he pieced it together. "You mean Aelita?"
"Yes, Aelita. Problem is, she was not the only thing to come from the projects."
Travis looked up at Jessica as his eyes locked with hers in concern.
"Those projects opened Pandora's box." Laura said as she glanced back and forth between Jessica and Travis, her blonde locks dangling over her eyes. "And there is no way to shut it."
Travis stared at Laura in confusion. "You mean, there were more people affected?"
Laura smiled as she looked towards Travis and back to Jessica. "That's why I'm here to investigate."
Travis suddenly caught movement from his right side, outside the car. Travis looked around in confusion as he looked out the window. Travis turned to see David smiling at him, bent down and looking in the window. Travis rolled the window down as David smiled at him.
"Hi boss," David said. "Guess I'm cleared."
Travis glanced back towards George, who was holstering his pistol.
"What about her?" Jessica asked as she looked down at Laura.
"I guess she is cleared too." Richardson said as he stepped back.
Travis sighed with relief as he turned to look at Laura. "Make a move… make any kind of hostile movement..."
"Oh, I know, boss!" Laura rolled her eyes.
Travis glanced up at Jessica and shot her a glance, indicating to Jessica to keep an eye on Laura. Jessica nodded.
Travis opened the door and pushed the seat of the Mustang forward as he stepped out of the car, holstering his side arm as he did.
"Sorry about the issues." Richardson said as he pulled out a cigar.
"It's a weird situation." Travis admitted as Jessica and Laura joined them next to the Mustang.
George put his phone away as he approached the group.
"Weird is an understatement." George said as he placed the cell phone in his pocket. "Apparently, the United Nations appointed this group that I've honestly never heard of to join the investigation."
"The Earth Defense Force?" Jessica asked.
"Yeah. Has any of you ever heard of it?" George asked as he glanced back at the young lady.
"Seeing as how I'm part of this investigation now, I should probably tell you a few things, and only a few things." Laura said as she moved the bangs out of her face and pulled her bag out of the car. "Everything that I'm about to talk about is classified, beyond everything." Laura smiled as she held her bag in front of her. "All I can tell you is that the Earth Defense Force is a secret organization." Laura said as she looked toward the other agents. "We were established back shortly after World War Two."
Travis looked down at the young lady in confusion. "You're an agent of this organization?"
Laura nodded with a smile.
Jessica marveled at the girl in confusion. "How old are you?"
"Seventeen."
All four agents turned to look at Laura in shock and confusion.
"But you're an agent of this organization?" Jessica echoed Travis's question.
"Yes I am. I was recruited early." Laura said with pride as she placed her things on the hood of the car.
"Hey!" George said in concern as he heard the girl's items land on the Mustang's precious body. How dared she! But it was too late.
"Are you still in high school?" Travis asked.
"I graduated within a year, and college just recently."
Richardson took a puff off his cigar. "Impressive. A little Einstein, huh?"
"Not really." Laura said as she opened up her bag and pulled out a small handheld device. "Unlike me, Einstein was terrible at math."
Laura's device looked like a combination of a cellphone and telescoping lens on a camera.
"I was assigned to this case to investigate the Schaeffer family and the Supercomputer." Laura said as she pressed a button on the side of the device.
The device hummed as a light rose up out of the lens and stretched out, revealing information on Waldo and Anthea Schaeffer.
"What the hell is that?" George asked in confusion.
"It's called a Micro-Projector." Laura said. "It's like an iPhone, but way more capable."
"I've never heard of that before." Jessica said as she stared at the device.
"It's standard issue for all E.D.F. operatives."
Laura then pushed a second button as red light projected out and like the blue light, stretched out to create a holographic keyboard, which hovered right in front of the girl, as she used her free hand to type and control the device.
"See...Waldo was once a member of the E.D.F." Laura said as she pulled up a picture of Waldo and Anthea posing in front of a large cylindrical machine. "He was recruited in the early 80's and stationed at Area 51."
"Are they Aelita's mother and father?" Richardson asked. George nodded.
"The machine behind them is the prototype computer from Area 51 he built originally, which was also one of the first computers to use nano-machines to create what we called Nano Suits."
George realized instantly. "That's how the kids were able to use the machine in Nevada and get the Nano Suits."
"That's absolutely right." Laura said as she turned to look at George.
"Is that Aelita's mother?" Jessica asked.
"Before Aelita's birth." Laura said as glanced back over at Jessica.
"They look so much alike," Jessica said as she glanced at the holographic image. Even with a blue hue from the projection, Anthea's pink hair was still quite vibrant and noticeable.
Laura nodded as she scrolled down from the image. "Waldo joined up after Project Vorseas and Project Carthage. He informed the E.D.F about the dangers surrounding these projects and the company that handled them."
"Mal-Tech?" Travis asked.
"Correct. And whatever it was, Waldo vanished from the E.D.F and into the U.S. Government's protection program right before he could give a full report on exactly what Mal-Tech was trying to accomplish."
Jessica placed her thumb on her chin as she stared at the small blue projection image. "Was this before or after he built the different supercomputers throughout the world?"
"That would have sadly been before." Laura said as she pulled up a list of shipping receipts and properties that Waldo had purchased. "We believe the computer here in Boulogne-Billancourt was the primary one. But we don't know how many more computers or properties he owned before he disappeared." Laura said as she pulled up a new image. "But there is one possible way to find out."
The new image revealed three gentlemen posing in front of a device the size of a big cabinet, all of them bearded and wearing glasses. One of them was for sure Waldo, the other two were unknown the the agents. One of them had short black hair, a pair of glasses and a small scruffy mustache; he looked highly professional.
The third gentleman had reddish blonde, curly hair with a receding hairline. A few wrinkles went across his brow; he was dressed more like a businessman and less like a scientist. He was shorter than the other two men and was a little pudgy compared to Waldo and the second gentleman in the picture.
"Before he disappeared, Waldo created a computer for the Earth Defense Force known as Smilodon. It's a machine we use to communicate and store information to this day." Laura said as she enlarged the photo. "In fact, this device I am holding is part of the Smilodon Mega Computer."
"And then, after that... he left?" Travis asked.
Laura nodded. "Another thing besides what I told you in the car about the possible other experiments created during the projects were these computers."
"So is that your Smilodon computer in the photo?" Travis asked.
"No... this is a supercomputer that Waldo built in the basement of his old house in Colorado." Laura said as she zoomed in on the photo of the two men.
"Who are these other men?" George asked. "Waldo's assistants?"
"Yes. One of them was identified as a member of the now defunct Green Phoenix terrorist organization." Laura revealed.
"Is that the one that tried to shut down the world's infrastructure during the Y2K situation?"
"Exactly the one." Laura turned to look at Travis, attempting to make sure that all 4 agents were paying attention to the debrief. "Green Phoenix believed that whoever possesses the greatest technology, they would control the world. And this guy's name is Tyron Lowell, he managed to escape custody after Green Phoenix was shut down."
"So, he is a mad scientist, huh?" Richardson asked.
Laura nodded as she swiped left on her small terminal and pulled up a more recent photo. "One who is currently employed by Mal-Tech."
Jessica placed her finger on her chin as she looked at the photo of Tyron; there was something about the man in the photo that actually did in fact seem maniacal and manipulative.
"What does this guy have to do with Waldo Schaeffer?" Travis asked.
Laura flipped back through and pulled up the same image that showed Waldo, Tyron and the third unknown man.
"We believe Tyron may have not only had a part in developing the supercomputers, but that he may have had a hand in the disappearance of Aelita Schaeffer's family."
Travis glanced over at George as a slow realization crept over their face. "Was Tyron the one who sent Mal-Tech after Aelita's family?!"
Laura looked up and nodded. "Frank Morse, who was assigned by the U.S. Government, was compromised when Tyron learned of who he was protecting. Tyron then informed Emilio Estrada, the Head of Mal-Tech Industries, who also wanted Aelita Schaeffer and the Supercomputer."
"So he is the one who told Mal-Tech where Anthea Schaeffer was staying?"
"In short, Tyron Lowell is behind many people's pain and deaths." Laura said.
"I remember this man now." Richardson said as he took a step back as he realized a very important detail from his early years, back when he was a member of the S.A.S. in the late 2000's. A situation that occurred after the Y2K crisis. "Years ago there was a situation in which several GPS decryptors that were owned by the United Kingdom were recovered."
The others looked up towards the tall English man in confusion.
"Operation: Red Carpet was an operation to try and stop a group who were secretly hacking satellites and positioning them while using the GPS decoders to access them at the time."
"Wait, how would you do that?" Jessica asked.
"If a satellite had a GPS tracking system, the hackers could use the GPS decoder to break into the satellite's positioning systems and then use a backdoor program to access the satellite's onboard computer." Laura said as she looked over at Jessica. "Basically, such vulnerability could be exploited to take over control of a satellite."
Jessica glanced over in confusion and shock as she realized that from what Laura had said, she may have dealt with it before. "Can they do that to modern satellites?"
"Sadly, yes." Laura said as she lowered her hand which held the small computer. "Big companies and governments haven't changed their protocols for satellites in a very long time."
Jessica shook her head as she realized what that meant. It meant to her it could happen again.
"The intel we had was that a man named Tyron Lowell acquired one of these decryptors right before the main tactical unit I was assigned to could secure the rest." Richardson said as he glanced over at Laura. "But since those days we haven't seen any other satellites suffer from any type of security breach."
Jessica suddenly stood back as a realization came into her mind. "Wait a minute, hackers hack satellites almost yearly. The longest was 9 minutes back in 2008."
Laura nodded.
"So why would hacking a satellite be of benefit to this guy if they are hacked almost every day?" Travis asked.
"Because that is apparently what Project Carthage was about. The idea of hacking the world's satellites and not only disrupting communications, but completely taking control of them."
Travis's eyes widened as he realized what it meant. "That means they would control information… Bank accounts, power grids..."
"And military defense systems." Richardson added.
"And that's where the GPS decryptor comes into play, it would allow to not only hack one satellite but possibly all of them at once." Laura said.
George wiped his forehead as he felt the results of the heat finally get to him; and also the idea behind what Laura had said. If that was to happen, if someone could in fact hack any satellite at will, then the world would come to a grinding halt as a result of the collapse of communications infrastructure. And it would send the planet back to the pre-industrial age temporarily.
Yet how would the world recover? Could the compromised satellites be reinstated, or would they need to be replaced by new ones? Either way, that would take months, maybe even years. And by the time the satellites were replaced, how much damage would be inflicted?
"Okay. What is Project Vorseas, then?" Travis asked.
Laura pulled out her Mini-Projector and pulled up another file, which showed various projects and files based upon unknown objects and items.
"That is the second wave." Laura said as she pulled up a video.
The video showed a man walking into an empty hangar. Inside sat a large old car, rusted and broken down; the car that had been pulled from a junk yard. To the left of the man who entered the hanger sat a table with a large silver case. The man opened the case to reveal a large, long object.
The object looked similar to a rifle, however there were various different parts to it. Instead of a rounded barrel there was a triangular barrel, which was short and flat on the bottom. A silver strip ran underneath the barrel of the rifle, ridged with various slits. The magazine to the rifle came down like a normal ammunition magazine, however the back of the magazine towards the receiver was connected to the underside of the stock, making it one large piece. On the rear of the bump stock towards the right side of the weapon sat a singular tube filled with a clear, glowing fluid. The tube was about the size of a small laboratory vial and was connected to the bump stock by a bracket and a pair of hoses connected to the inside of the stock.
The man walked over and looked into the camera. He reached into the case and gripped the weapon; the weapon suddenly buzzed on as a pair of lights turned on along the side, a blue light pulsated to life on the sides just above the magazine well.
The man touched a button on the side of the weapon as a small compartment on the magazine opened. He placed a small strip of what appeared to be orbs the size of a quarter into the magazine and closed it. The man then took the weapon and walked over to a small red tape that sat on the floor, The man took the weapon and pulled back the charging handle on the weapon. The man planted his feet and took aim, bringing it up to his shoulder as he aimed down the site of the rifle. After a few seconds, the barrel of the weapon snapped upwards as a clear white partial beam fired from the rifle and struck the car on its side.
The car was tossed by the impact of the weapon's beam, flipped through the air and landed on its side with a loud bang.
The camera then panned back to the man who lowered the weapon and looked towards the camera, the feed from the camera shut off suddenly, ending the feed.
The 4 other agents slowly looked up and panned around each other in confusion. Their faces all made the same remark, confusion and fear.
"What was that?" Travis asked.
"Project Vorseas." Laura said as she scrolled over to the next video. "A large project that supposedly still exists today."
"What kind of project?" Jessica asked in confusion.
"It uses the advancements in technology and biology." Laura said. "A project that acted more like a think tank from multiple organizations from around the world, such as particle weapons, robotics, new energy sources and biological threats, which the Earth Defense Force actively investigates."
"Wait. What?" George asked. "Biological threats? Like oil spills or nuclear waste?"
"No, Special Agent Knight." Laura said as she prepared the second video.
"Um, call me George."
Laura nodded as she pulled up a second video. "By the way, these videos are confidential."
Next video showed a label on the front of the screen which read,
E.D.F. Case file #19034.
Name: Natasha Kurlenko.
Classification Designation interview 1.
A young, blonde woman was sitting in an office and speaking to a person who sat next to her. The office was large and lavish; she appeared to be a CEO of a business of some type. Sitting behind her was a wall covered in certificates and photos. A large desk sat behind her as well as a decanter with several small glasses and a small ice canister next to it.
The young woman was dressed in a blue dress, with long blonde hair tied up into a ponytail, a white dress shirt underneath the blue jacket. She was very thin with blue eyes and ruby red lipstick. She looked more like a model than anything else.
Sitting across from the woman was an elderly individual in a black suit, with grey hair and mustache, his wrinkly old face however didn't show a dark intention of malice, but instead it showed a warm and friendly face.
"So, when did this fever hit you?" one person said, speaking in Russian; subtitled translation appeared under the video.
"It started when I was about 15." the woman said. "So roughly 3 years ago."
"And when did these abilities appear?" The man asked.
"Roughly 4 months after the fever. The local police chief gave me the information to someone in the Kremlin who got me in contact with you." the woman said as she sat back in her chair. "I kept quiet about it for so long until the fire."
The man sat forward in his chair. He held up a file and looked at the young lady. "The fire, where eyewitnesses claim that you pulled 3 people and a firefighter from the room that was about to collapse and pulled them to safety?"
The young woman nodded.
"How did you do it?" the man asked.
"I could sense them nearby, like I know you're right here in this room. When I saw the roof was about to collapse I was able to… 'use' my power to pull them out and slowly rest them on the ground as the roof to the building collapsed." Natasha said.
"You can sense people..?" the man asked.
Natasha nodded.
"Can you show me how this works?" the man asked.
The young woman smiled as she leaned forward. "Would you like a drink?"
The man nodded.
The young woman's eyes suddenly rolled behind her head as she froze still.
"What's going on?" Jessica asked as she watched.
"Just watch." Laura said with a smile. She truly loved it when people were shown the wonders she had been introduced to.
In the video, the woman continued to remain motionless. However, there was movement still.
The decanter on the table behind her suddenly lifted up as the lid came off it. The decanter hovered for a few seconds as one of the glasses next to it lifted up as well and was slowly drifting over towards it. The large glass alcohol bottle slowly tilted as the brown liquid poured into the glass. After a few quick pours, the decanter lifted back up and stopped pouring, sitting back down on the table as the glass slowly drifted over to the gentleman.
The man reached out and grasped the glass as he looked towards the lady with amazement. The gentleman held the glass up and smiled, raising the drink into the air as he took a swig.
The young woman started moving again as her eyes changed back to normal, smiling as she sat back into her seat. After that the video cut off.
Travis slowly stepped back as he looked in confusion, attempting to process what he just saw.
"What was that?" Travis asked again as his mind processed what he just had seen. "What was that?!" he demanded once more.
"That, Special Agent Dalesman, was the biological factor I mentioned." Laura said, glancing around at the others.
Richardson sat up as he relit his cigar. He took a quick puff from it as he glanced around. "What the hell did I get assigned to?"
Jessica took a step back and turned around. Her face was pale as she questioned exactly what had happened and what she had seen. "What?" Jessica said as she paused and tried to catch her breath. "What was that?"
"A biological threat or a Neo as we call them." Laura said.
Travis slowly back up as the shock of the video he saw slowly set in. He slowly backed up and leaned up against the black Mustang as his skin felt cold.
"What does this have to do with Aelita and the Supercomputer?" George asked as he walked up to Laura.
"Her father was not only part of Project Vorseas but also a member of the E.D.F." Laura said as she placed the device back in her pocket.
"But according to the kids, Waldo is dead!" George said as he raised his voice a little in frustration. "Waldo died protecting his daughter. Was he one of these... Neos?"
"No, he wasn't." Laura said as she held her hand out and tried to calm George down. "I'm not here to hurt, I'm here to help."
Travis slowly sat up as he looked at Laura.
"OK, why are you here?" Travis said as he approached Laura. "Why did this organization send you?"
Laura looked at Travis as she calculated what to say. She slowly panned around and saw the expression of the other agents. She could tell right away she placed to much information into the agent's hands, and she feared she might have overloaded them with information regarding the current situation. Enough to press them with fear.
Laura breathed deeply through her nose as she decided on what she should say.
"I'm here because of two things. For one, I need to identify the second individual in the photo who helped Waldo build the Super Computers like the one Aelita and the Lyoko Warriors use."
"Lyoko Warriors?" Richard asked.
Travis looked at Richardson and waved his hand, signaling him to be quiet for a minute.
"And the second is how to stop this AI that is called Xervix from becoming a larger threat to the world."
Jessica recomposed herself as she walked up to Laura in a non intimidating way. "Do you have a name of this second assistant?"
Laura smiled as she turned to look at Jessica.
"I do." Laura said as she pulled out a vanilla file from her bag and opened it. She pulled out a picture of the individual as well as their name, age and location. "Surprisingly, he always stayed close and kept an eye on the area… And he has been absolutely quiet all through the whole situation."
Travis walked over and looked at the picture of the individual Laura spoke about. His jaw suddenly dropped as he realized who the individual was in the photo. "This is him?" Travis asked.
"Yes." Laura said as she panned the photo around for the other agents to see. "He remained quiet just in case Mal-Tech came looking for Aelita and the computer."
George suddenly placed his hand over his mouth as he realized who it was. His breath was taken back as the biggest key to the whole case was just revealed. The one who may have not only been a whistle blower… But the one who seemed to know everything about the case.
"Oh. My. God!"
_
Hello everyone...i hope everyone is doing good in these crazy times...MY GOD I knew this election would be a mess but its not as bad as I thought it would be.
Here is chapter 13. Nothing like Black Rifle, Ray Lytles morning disaster podcast and Joe Rogan Podcast to get the thought juices going.
So with this chapter I wanted to give William a little more development and progression. So I introduced Nadia who is a 100 percent different person then Aelita, Yumi and Sissi and thought it would be good to see a legitamet tomboy/rock girl who suffers from real life issues and just happens to know a Super Hero like William.
Now as for Laura I had to give her a reason for her introduction...yes I saw Evolution...(Would of been better animated) and I will be using some elements...but improving on them from what the show made. And also to give everyone a update on the Waldo Schaffer side of the story...Wait till you see the overall ending.
Chapter 14 commences...now. Working on it will try to get it out for the end of the month...To everyone out their stay safe and stay positive...Besides.
Your stronger After all.