A/N1 Ah, explanations. Still having lighthearted fun with this one, and so with the explanations too. If you are expecting hard science I have one word for you: Chuck. If you are expecting steel-trap logic, I have three words for you: The Big Sleep.
And, yes, that was one eventful Sunday (and the wee hours of Monday). Welcome to daylight Monday.
Don't own Chuck.
Chutes and Ladders
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Frogger
Monday, April 3, a little after dawn
"So, my dad worked at a place called Wilmore Laboratories…"
"Stop, kid," Casey said, his hand in the air, cutting off Chuck's explanation. "Let's get Rhonda out here too. I get the feeling computer mumbo-jumbo's coming, and I won't be able to explain it to her. We all need to know."
Chuck nodded. Casey jogged around the truck. A minute later, Perry and Shaw trudged by, cuffed. Perry was a walking flag of surrender, lily-white and sagging. Shaw glared at Chuck as he went by. Chuck ignored him.
Casey stuffed each of them into the back of his car. He had a standard police partition between the front and rear seats. After shutting them in, Casey opened the driver's door and fiddled with the sound system. All at once, country music was blaring, the rin-tin-tin, ratta-tat-tat of a banjo. Casey shut the door and rejoined the group, although the music, muted, could still be heard. "Rhonda read 'em their Mirandas on the way. I am currently culturally enriching them. They won't hear us."
Chuck smacked at his ears, frowning. "What the hell was that, Casey?'
Rhonda sighed. "That, folks, was Casey's prized The Favorites of Hee Haw…" she paused for a second, building expectation, "...Vol. 2. Casey may be the only person on the planet who owns Vol. 2." She dropped her shoulders in defeat. "Can't get him to listen to anything remotely decent. I tried a bunch of stuff, including The Fugees, Lauryn Hill - who doesn't like The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill? No luck. Eventually, I even tried Bob Marley - I mean, really, who doesn't like Bob Marley? No luck."
Casey looked embarrassed. Rhonda stuck her left hand in the air, spreading her fingers so that her naked ring finger was isolated, and, wiggling it in the air, she started singing.
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love,
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love,
'Cause if summer is here,
I'm still waiting there…
She let the song trail off. Casey kicked at the sand, head down. Rhonda gave Chuck and Sarah a small, shrugging smirk: "See, no luck." Chuck and Sarah traded a significant look, smiling at each other and their shared thought.
Casey broke the resulting silence just after it started, sounding slightly desperate. "So, Chuck, you were saying?"
Chuck looked at Rhonda. She motioned for him to go on.
"So, my dad worked at a place called Wilmore Laboratories. I don't really remember it. We weren't allowed to visit him there, and I was little. Some kind of government-sponsored project. Ellie's told me most of this. But Dad was working on an AI program. He hoped to make it possible to transfer information stored on a computer into the human brain - but even more, he wanted it to be accessible, usable the way the person's own memories, even skills, were usable. More or less anyway.
"I snuck into his home lab one day and he had left his computer up and on. I thought the design on the screen was the logo for a video game. I punched the button and watched. I saw lots of pictures that made no sense as a collection, then it ended. Dad came in and got really upset with me. I started to cry. But when he saw that I was okay, he calmed down.
"I asked him what I had seen and he said it was the interface for his new program, the way that information got downloaded into the brain. But he said it didn't really work. They'd tried it at Wilmore, but the people who had downloaded it, the volunteers, had been unable to store the information for any length of time. It was there initially but then it vanished. Sometimes the volunteers had psychotic episodes. I wondered why it hadn't worked for me at all. He gave me a funny look and said that I was special. I still don't quite know what he meant by that…"
Sarah grabbed Chuck's hand. "I do."
He grinned at her. "Dad told me that he thought the problem he was having with the volunteers was like the problem medical doctors have with transplant patients. In order to keep them from rejecting the transplant, doctors have to use drugs - I now know they are immunosuppressive drugs, anti-rejection drugs, but that was a big word for a kid - and usually, the transplant patient is on them for a long time. The drugs keep the body from attacking the new organ as alien, an invader.
Rhonda jumped in. "Right, my aunt took them for a long time after her kidney transplant."
"Exactly. Dad said he needed something like that for the mind, something that would allow the information 'transplanted' to be accepted by the mind as its own, not as alien…He also said it was a stumper of a problem because it involved a mind/body problem - unlike, say, a kidney transplant, which is a body/body problem..."
Chuck stopped and bit his lower lip. "I tell you all this because I take it there has to be a connection between Perry and Shaw, and FARMA, and the Monroes. Matthew's program is an upgrade, a re-imagining of my dad's. That's what I finally figured out.
"You see, I found Dad's, years after his death, some on one of his old computers, some in old files. I studied it for a long time. Working on it, coming slowly to understand it, is what got me deeply interested in computers, what got me a scholarship to Stanford. Got me interested in AI, although I kept Dad's specific program to myself. I don't know the origin of Monroe's work but it shares the DNA, so to speak, of Dad's.
"Here's what I am thinking. I wonder if FARMA is working on some kind of psychoactive drug, a kind of mental 'immunosuppressant', to allow for the successful implantation, the transplant, of information? I wonder if it is FARMA, Foxworth, I guess, who is behind Perry and Shaw? I wonder if Matthew Monroe ran into the same problem Dad did? I wonder if FARMA has the programming or something like it and ran into it too?" No one spoke.
"Look, I know I am connecting dots pretty freely, and there are lots of dots, including some big ones, not connected yet - but it's a place to start. We need to see if we can find the Monroes. We know Perry and Shaw weren't working alone. Someone else was on the phone with Perry. Perry called Shaw after he ended the earlier call…"
Sarah nodded. "That's true."
Casey's jaw grew firm. "It's a start, kid. Rhonda and I'll take these clowns - oh, sorry, kid - to the station. We'll also see what we can do about the POI thing. Until we can get it changed, you need to keep your head down. Jessup would be happy to take a shot at you, you know. We'll call in what we found out here as we drive to the city. We need to know who was in that drum, and if anyone is in the others." Casey visibly shuddered.
"Be sure to keep in contact. And be careful. This is spook shit, Chuck, and that shit goes sideways fast. Call me once you find the Monroes. Also, if there is any sign of trouble, back off, and call me. I need to talk to the acting Captain, whoever that is." He turned to Rhonda but she held out her arms, palms up: she didn't know.
Casey looked back at Chuck and Sarah. "Call me, Chuck," Casey said again, insistently. "Take care of him, Sarah. And yourself. We're all having a long talk when this is over."
Chuck and Sarah both nodded. Chuck climbed in the passenger side of the Porsche and Sarah got behind the wheel. They headed back to LA.
ooOoo
Sarah turned the corner to the Monroes' street and slowed. There was a parking spot available. They were more than a block away. From where they were parked, they could not tell much of anything about the house. Nothing seemed out of place. A sedate neighborhood on a mid-Monday morning.
"Chuck!" Sarah hissed. A large panel truck, white, passed them. It went down the street, slowed in front of the Monroes' just a bit (the brake lights flashed for a second), then went on, turning right. A couple of minutes later, the same truck passed them again, slowed again, went on.
"C'mon, Chuck! If we run, we can get to the house before the truck circles around again."
They got out and sprinted down the sidewalk of the first block. Sarah angled toward the backyard of the first house on the Monroe's block. Chuck caught up and took the lead. He'd been back there before. A moment later, they were at the back of the Monroes, after climbing the fence. Chuck stood aside. Sarah knocked on the door. They were both panting.
The door opened and there stood Virginia Monroe. Chuck had only seen her in pictures and they did not do her justice. She was tall, almost as tall as Sarah, and almost as lovely. She had long, straight black hair and dark blue eyes. In person, she even looked a bit like Sarah.
"Miss Walker?" Virginia's hand slipped almost invisibly around to her back.
"Don't, Virginia. We are here to help. There is panel truck cruising outside and we have reason to think you are in danger."
Virginia stood stock-still for a second, thinking, then she grabbed Sarah's hand and pulled her inside. Chuck followed.
Virginia turned and walked to the doorway leading down to the basement. "Matthew, trouble!" She turned. "Stay here." Virginia went into the other room. She came back with Sasha holding her hand.
Virginia's manner was different with the girl beside her. Calmer and softer. "Sasha, look who came to take you for an outing, your favorite teacher, Miss Walker and…"
"Mr. Chuck!" Sasha yelled. She ran to Sarah and hugged her legs. Sarah mussed the little girl's hair with her hand. "Hey, Sasha!" Sasha grinned up at Sarah then ran and hugged Chuck's legs. "How's my mad frog, Mr. Chuck?"
"He glares at me every day. FWA - Frog With Attitude."
Chuck stooped down to talk with Sasha, telling her about where the frog was in his office. Sarah spoke in hushed whispers to Virginia. Matthew came bounding up the stairs. He was a little taller than Chuck, maybe even lankier. He stopped when he saw Chuck and Sarah.
"What's going on?"
Virginia pulled Matthew toward her and began to talk to him. After a moment, he bent down beside Sasha.
"Sasha, why don't you go with Mr. Chuck and Miss Walker? They're going to take you for a ride. We will catch up with you later."
The little girl nodded. "Okay, Daddy. See you soon." Chuck noticed that Matthew had a thumb drive in his hand.
"Is that it?" Chuck asked.
Matthew gave him a blank look.
"The AI program. My name is Chuck - Chuck Bartowski."
Matthew's eyes widened. He turned to his wife; Virginia had gone to peek out the front window and just come back.
"The truck went around again. Something's brewing. They didn't see you two?" Her voice was flat, economical.
Both Chuck and Sarah shook their heads. "Good, take Sasha and keep her safe, please. We will deal with the...trouble." Virginia gave Sarah a gentle push. "Take her, go. I trust you, Miss Walker. I have no idea how you two got mixed up in this, but my little girl's a good judge of character, like her dad." Virginia smiled at Matthew, who was tying Sasha's tiny pink Chuck Taylors.
"Have fun, little one," Matthew whispered to Sasha as he stood up. He handed Chuck the thumb drive while looking at Virginia. She gave a quick, almost imperceptible nod. "Keep this safe too, Bartowski. But stomp on it before you let anyone take it. Now, go. I will unlock the fence from inside."
Chuck picked up Sasha. He was pretty sure that behind him he heard Virginia tell Matthew to get his tranq gun.
A moment later, Chuck had Sasha in his arms and he was fast-walking through the backyard and through the gate in the fence. Sarah, ahead of him, scanned the neighborhood, the street. She motioned for them to run. "Hey, Sasha," Chuck said, breaking into a lope, "hang on tight." He sped into a run at that point. He felt Sasha's arms tighten around his neck.
Sasha giggled into Chuck's cheek. "Wooosh! We're going fast, Mr. Chuck!"
They got to the car and got inside before the panel truck came around again.
"Damn," Sarah said, then, noticing Sasha's wide eyes, "Um, darn! No child seat."
Chuck put Sasha in the Porsche's small backseat and clicked the seat belt around her. "Well, I guess we will have to break the law. The Large Mart next to the Buy More Isn't far. Go there and I can run inside and get a car seat."
Sarah started the car. "Hey, Miss Walker, this sure is a nice car…" Sasha offered.
"Thanks, cutie."
"Are we leaving because of the bad men?"
Sarah maneuvered the Porsche out of the parking spot and turned left at the intersection. Still no panel truck.
"What bad men, Sasha?"
"The ones who wear glasses that see the wrong way."
"What?" Sarah asked.
"She means mirrored, Sarah. When did you see the bad men, Sasha?"
"This morning. Before Mommy and Daddy got up. I saw them walk by the house."
Chuck reached back and patted Sasha's cheek, pink from the run in Chuck's arm. "Don't worry, the bad men aren't going to bother you."
"Mommy tells me not to talk about them, but we left our other house because of the bad men."
Sasha seemed satisfied. She sat back in the seat.
"What did Matthew give you, Chuck?"
"I think it's the program. If I were him, I'd have wiped the machine in the basement. This," Chuck unfisted the thumb drive, "this would be the only copy. He knew my dad, Sarah, or knew of him. He reacted to 'Bartowski'."
Sarah squeezed Chuck's hand. "What do we do after we get the car seat?"
"Hide, at least until we hear something from somebody. I need to call Casey. After we get the car seat, head to Morgan's putt-putt course. I'd been planning to take you there…"
"Still showing your best girl a good time?"
"You know me…"
"You're a good guy, Mr. Chuck!" Sasha enthused.
"That makes it unanimous, Chuck," Sarah said as she checked the rearview mirror.
A couple of minutes later, they pulled into the Buy More parking lot. Chuck quickly got out and went inside the Large Mart. He found a car seat, got in the shortest line, waiting to pay for it. The bored woman running the register looked at the car seat. "Hey, Mister. Don't you want one in the box?"
"No," Chuck replied, willing the woman to hurry. "This is fine."
The woman gave a slow shrug of perfect existential indifference - truly she could not have cared less. She rang Chuck up, depressing each register button as if it were her last earthly deed, and he jammed the money in her when she finally gave him the total. He didn't wait for change.
He took the car seat out to the Porsche. Sarah had moved Sasha up into the driver's seat with her. Sasha was playing with the turn signal lever. Chuck got in, twisted around, and secured the seat in place. Sarah put Sasha in it and buckled her up.
Chuck shook his head, gripped by incredulity. "Suddenly, this seems an odd errand, given last night and this morning, Sarah."
She huffed good-naturedly. "Safety first, Chuck. Point me in the way of the putt-putt course."
"Putt-putt? I love putt-putt!" Sasha cried, excitedly. She had missed the earlier mention. "Yay! Putt-putt!"
ooOoo
Chuck called Casey as they made their way to the miniature golf course. After a few rings, Casey answered, his voice hushed. "Hey, Chuck. There's a manhunt on for you. They found a gun outside Larkin's. The murder weapon. Your prints are on it."
"Shit? How?"
"Don't know. One bit of good news, I guess. Legal skank has stabilized."
"Jeez, Case, ease up on her. Can't you wait to call her that until she's on her feet."
"She's hardly ever on her feet, Bartowski, even when she isn't in critical condition. Hence, legal skank."
Chuck gave up. "Look, we went to the Monroes…" He told Casey the story, about having Sasha, about the Monroes. He left out the thumb drive.
"Well, that explains that."
"What, Casey?"
"Black-and-whites just got dispatched. Multiple shots fired in a neighborhood. What's their address?"
Chuck told him.
"Yelp. There are gunshot victims. A panel truck fled the scene, chased by another car or cars. Where are you now?"
"Almost at Morgan's."
"Well, shit. Is Alex's truck there?"
"We're just arriving now...Yeah, it's here."
"You sure you weren't followed, kid?"
"Yes."
"No offense, but what does Sarah say?"
Chuck asked her, off-phone. "She says we weren't followed," Chuck noted, back on-phone.
"Okay. I'll be there as soon as I can. I'll find out about the Monroes. I may have to take you into custody, Chuck. I told 'em it was a mistake, but I can't get anyone to listen so far."
"I understand. Thanks, Casey." Chuck ended the call.
ooOoo
Sarah had heard it all, even Casey's part of the conversation. She gave Chuck's hand a quick squeeze, then she liberated Sasha from the car seat. As she turned back to the front and handed the little girl to Chuck, she was struck by the sight of the car seat in the back seat of the Porsche. She would never have thought the sight would seem so...natural. She felt a surge of something, subterranean but strong, and it intensified as she looked at Chuck, who was making faces, entertaining Sasha, while he told her about a video game, a frog dodging traffic.
ooOoo
Sarah watched as Chuck got out of the car with Sasha. He put her down and she walked alongside him, her pink Chuck's taking two or three steps for each of his black Chuck's one. Sarah followed them as they made their way to the open window of the putt-putt building. Morgan was seated there. He broke into a huge grin when he saw them coming.
The course was empty. From behind her, Sarah heard Alex. "Sarah, Chuck!"
They stopped. Alex was out of her truck and walking to them. She was looking down at Sasha, who had taken Chuck's hand in one of hers and Sarah's in the other.
"And who is this raven-haired beauty?"
Sasha giggled. "Birds have feathers, not hair, silly. And my name is Sasha."
"Well, aren't you the smart one?" Alex giggled and looked up at Sarah from her bent-kneed posture next to Sasha.
"We're...babysitting."
"Practice, eh?" Sarah then knew what the bone-deep feeling was she had in the car.
"Uh...Not exactly. Sasha is one of my students. We are watching her until her parents can join us."
Alex stood up. "Well, let's see if she's hungry, then she can play some golf. It's lunchtime."
"I'm hungry!" Sasha informed Alex.
Chuck touched Sarah's arm. "I'm going to go inside. Probably better if I am not so visible. On this course, I'm like a human lighthouse."
"We'll join you. Alex, can you bring extra? Chuck and I haven't eaten since...in a while. Is it Monday?"
Alex laughed. "All day, as they say."
A/N2 Action well underway. Partial explanations offered. Tune in next time for Chapter 22, "Neo Turf Masters". Fore!