A/N: Here's chapter seven. I first thought that the hospital scene would be in this, but it deserves a chapter of its own. I'm pretty happy with how this chapter turned out. I'm going to leave it at that and I'll see you at the next chapter. Oh and remember, Echo hates it when she is mistaken for being Irish. She's Scottish. You'll see why I brought it up. So leave some feedback and I'll catch you all later! ~Kawaii Stella.
I don't own Cyberchase.
Picking Up the Broken Glass
Kawaii Stella
Chapter Seven
The Investigation
The breakfast served at the courthouse was filling and gave Echo the energy she would need to take lead of this sewage line investigation. As soon as she was finished eating, Echo read through the information Judge Trudy had on the sewage lines.
The now abandoned sewage lines were once the pinnacle of plumbing in Sensible Flats. When the town was young they needed plumbing to serve the then much smaller main town. That was why these lines were built. However, as they grew older and the town got bigger, the sewage pipe lines had to be replaced. Thus they were replaced with newer, more efficient pipelines. The majority of the old pipes had been removed and recycled to be used in other things. The only part of the original system remaining were the piping leading to the old abandoned waste treatment plant at the base of the mountain, near the lake where Deke made his home.
According to a large piece of ragged edged paper, an old sheet of blueprints as it was, the waste treatment plant was a small building-one room-on the surface. But below the surface, there was a miniature labyrinth of rooms and pipes. No doubt it would be easy to hide and do all sorts of stuff down there.
"Echo," Sheriff Judy said, snapping Echo from her thought induced daze.
"Yes?"
"Here, take this jumpsuit and put it on. Here are some rain boots as well. There's no telling what may be down there in that sewer."
"Okay," Echo agreed then began to slip on the pale purple jumpsuit over her normal clothes. She zipped up the suit then traded her converse for the thick rubber rain boots. The boots were a tad big on Echo, but that's what happened when your feet could still fit into shoes meant for girls half your age.
Just as Echo finished dressing, the courthouse door opened and the Cybersquad entered. To Echo's surprise, the Cybersquad was none other than the three kids and cyboid that had defended their arch nemesis not so long, maybe a month, ago in court.
"Hey, Sheriff Judy; what's the problem?" The boy, whose name Echo remembered as being Matt, said as he made his way to the front of the courtroom.
"We've been having reports of suspicious people being in the old abandoned sewage lines and going into those lines is forbidden." Judy explained.
"Sewage!? Ew, ew, and triple ew!" The girl in yellow, Jackie, blanched at the thought of the filthy sewage lines.
"Is it Hacker sneaking down there?" The other girl, Inez, pondered.
Echo was glad she was remembering these kids' names.
"No, Hacker's not been around." Judy informed them. "He's not been around since the trial."
"Then who could it be?" Digit asked.
"Reports say the intruders looked like doctors in white lab coats," said the sheriff to the group. "I want you to help investigate for us. Echo will lead you in the investigation."
Echo took this as her cue to step forward and introduce herself. She shook hands with the kids and Digit and said hello before Judge Trudy came in with jumpsuits and boots for the others. With everyone now in proper attire, the investigation team set off for the waste treatment plant at the base of the mountain. The little building was run down with one broken out window which had been sloppily boarded over while the other window had been invaded by gangly vines. The vines twisted their way up the bricks and onto the tin roof.
"Boy, this place sure is creepy!" Digit gulped.
"Well, it has been abandoned for over thirty years with no one to tend to it." Echo informed him.
"Yikes! Maybe the place is haunted!" The cyboid trembled as he spoke those words.
"I don't recall restless spirits being able to carry strange boxes." Echo told Digit.
"These people were carrying boxes?" inquired Inez.
"According to reports, yes," confirmed Echo. "Well, time's a wasting. Let's catch our culprits. Let's get this door open."
To the surprise of no one really, the old door wouldn't budge. The knob on the warped panel of wood turned completely as it should, however the door would not grant entrance to anyone. Everyone pushed at the stubborn door but whatever was on the other side did not want them in. Despite her whole body aching from the masses of bruises accumulated over her muscles and bones, Echo gave a swift kick to the door as a last ditch attempt to open it.
"It's not going to budge," said Echo as she stated the obvious.
"Now what?" asked Matt.
"We go through the underground." When met with some slightly confused looks, Echo explained further. "I studied up on the blueprints to this place. There is another way in. There's a large pipe that leads into the underground plant. Not too far into that pipe there should be a hatch that goes into the building's basement. We can get in like that."
"We have to go into the sewage pipes!?" Jackie whined.
"Why'd you think we were given the rubber boots?" Matt asked her.
Echo led the way into the woods, towards their entrance. As they waded through the dense brush, Digit kept his eyes on Echo, trying to place where he'd talked to her before.
Finally they all reached the open pipe and went in.
"It's dark and wet and cramped and disgusting in here!" cried Jackie.
"It's just rain water," Echo tried to soothe. "These pipes haven't been used for decades."
"This place is still creepy though…" Inez said quietly.
"Yeah, creepy enough for Pennywise the clown to pop out and slaughter us all." Matt chimed in.
"Oh Lord!" Echo shivered as several chills ran down her spine. "I hate clowns! Especially Pennywise!"
Everybody quieted again as they continued down the pipe. The only sounds were the occasional sloshes of water and the team's echoing metallic footsteps until Digit spoke up.
"Echo?" Digit called.
"Hm? What is it?" Echo kept on with her eyes forward, looking for the hatch.
"You were there when we had to defend Hacker, right?"
"Yeah, I was working that day."
"I know I saw you there but I keep feeling I met you before that."
"You did. You pulled my drawing out of that tree. Oh, it's been some time ago."
"That's it! I knew I had met you before."
"Yep…. Ah, here it is!" Echo found the hatch and pulled it open. When the hatch opened, a small ladder slid down. Echo made sure everyone else made it up alright before climbing up herself.
Past the hatch door was the concrete basement of the waste treatment plant. Immediately voices were heard. Echo looked at the Cybersquad and pressed a finger to her lips, a well understood signal to remain silent. Carefully they peeked around a corner and saw six men, all wearing pure white lab coats. From what was seen, each of the six men wore the same black pants, shoes, and red trimmed black shirts beneath their lab coats. This was a clear indicator that they all worked in the same organization. Echo pulled the kids back away from the corner.
"We have to get them out of here." Echo said seriously. "No matter where they go, they'll end up in the same place when they run; they'll go into one pipe that splits into two pipes that will merge again into one pipe as it exits out onto land."
"Awesome! So, what do we do?" Matt asked.
"I need all of you to hurry out the way we came in and head to the pipe on the opposite side of the plant. That way you can round these guys up as I flush them all out."
"One problem," Inez fretted. "How will you know when we're ready?"
"Good point," Echo conceded.
"We all have our Squakpads, so why don't we use them?" Matt suggested.
"Great idea Matt! One of use could stay at the entrance of this pipe while the rest of us go to the other side. Then once we're ready, we'll radio back then send out some sort of signal to tell you everybody's in position." Jackie was quite proud of her elaboration of Matt's suggestion.
"Brilliant thinking you guys!" Echo complimented.
It was then decided that Inez would stay at the entrance of the pipe and blow a whistle once Digit, Matt and Jackie were on the other side. The Cybersquad hastily made their way down the hatch and out the pipe, leaving Echo to decide how she was going to get these guys out of the basement and into the pipelines.
Echo instinctively reached to her right thigh and a pout formed on her lips when her hand didn't find what it was searching for.
"I wish I had my Artemis," Echo muttered to herself.
Echo quickly surveyed her surroundings. Leaning against the wall behind her was a five and a half foot metal rod. That would do the trick. Then the whistle was blown. Showtime. Echo rolled her stiff shoulders before making her move.
"Hey!" Echo yelled at four of the men, startling them. "Being down here is strictly forbidden. I have been authorized by the authorities of Sensible Flats to use any force necessary to remove you from this location."
"Oh, look guys," one researcher ridiculed. "This little runt thinks she can force us to leave. What can you do? Summon a leprechaun and do a jig?"
Echo's fist clenched around the solid metal rod. A malicious grin grew across her face.
"Really? You doubt my words? Do you really want to see just what I am capable of doing to you?" Echo's voice had grown dark, her eyes crazed. To enforce her point she slapped the tip of the rod into the concrete wall. The force of the blow caused the concrete to crack.
The smug grins which had once possessed the faces of the researchers were gone, vanished into thin air. Their complexions were pallid, worse than that of a corpse. Against their intentions, the researchers began to tremble. Echo began to twirl the staff. Not wanting to see what Echo could, or would do next, the four researchers ran. A fifth researcher walked out of a different room, only to be dragged away by his colleagues.
As the five researchers ran straight into the pipe leading to the awaiting Cybersquad, Echo saw her reflection in the men's terrified expressions.
The metal rod clanked as it hit the floor. Echo's eyes darkened and the malicious grin turned into a grimace. She refused to be that monster again. Echo would not succumb to her former self.
Five researchers had fled the waste treatment plant. That meant one researcher still remained. There were still a few rooms left unsearched. Echo thoroughly searched each room, and as she was in the next to last room, she heard fleeting footsteps. Echo followed the sounds of the footsteps until a starched white lab coat came into view. The last researcher revealed at last.
"Where do you think you're going?"
The researcher spun around surprised to see Echo just two feet behind him. The researcher's arms were overfilled with test tubes and Petri dishes he was trying to smuggle out. Three Petri dishes fell to the ground and shattered, releasing an almost microscopic amount of translucent gas. Gas that Echo breathed in.
Echo began to cough, attempting to rid her respiratory system of the foreign gases. The researcher took this chance to flee, running into the sewage pipe, straight for the Cybersquad. With her job done, Echo exited the sewage system. She, along with the Cybersquad, went back to the courthouse to retrieve their shoes and turn over their six suspects. By the time they reached the courthouse Echo wasn't feeling so well, and by the time she returned to the orphanage steps, she felt downright awful.
Echo made her way to her room but was stopped short by Ledge again.
"Hey sweetheart, where have you been today?"
"None of your business, Ledge. Now let me by."
Ledge did not budge which irritated Echo. She shoved him out her the way which earned her a backhand across the face. It wasn't until after she had received her slap to the face that Echo was allowed into her room.
That night Echo did not eat much. She felt too ill to eat. In the middle of the night Echo woke in a cold sweat, her whole body aching worse that any beating she'd received here. She stumbled her way into her bathroom and fell to her knees in front of the toilet. Just in time for her to vomit up a fountain of blood.
What Echo had breathed in down in the sewer had been very, very bad.