Gretchen was happy. Everything had gone off without a hitch, and now Isabella was getting her alone time with Phineas.
The doorbell rang, interrupting her thoughts. Opening the door, Gretchen found a large manila envelope.
"What's that?" Katie asked.
"Not sure. It's addressed to Isabella so it's probably a present."
"Probably. Any idea when she and Phineas are getting back?"
"Not for a little while yet. I'm sure it can wait anyway."
Isabella was very happy. This had easily been the best birthday she'd ever had. She and Phineas had a light dinner on their walk, and now they were all relaxing in her backyard watching the sunset.
"Oh, Isabella, I almost forgot. A package came for you this evening."
"Oh, thanks." Isabella said as she took the manila envelope from Gretchen.
"I don't recognize the return address, but I don't think it's from Danville."
The envelope contained a USB flash drive, and a piece of paper. Isabella read the note aloud:
"Hello Wraith. It's been a long time. I know we haven't had much to do with each other for years, but I need your help. The details are on the flash drive. Gain access to them and you'll find out the rest. Please Wraith, I need you to do this. Lives are on the line.
Sincerely, Black Hole"
The note slipped from Isabella's limp fingers and fluttered to the ground. Isabella stared straight ahead, not moving. Gretchen was out of her chair and at Isabella's side in the blink of eye, snatching up the note and reading it herself. Everyone else passed quick confused glances amongst each other, not sure just what was going on. Phineas was the first to find his voice.
"Isabella? Who is Black Hole?"
At first, Isabella didn't even react. Eventually she seemed to regain some composure.
"I don't know. I'm not sure who this is from or what it's about."
Again, everyone glanced to each other, no one really believing what had been said.
"Perhaps we should see what the USB drive has on it?" Baljeet offered.
"Good idea." Gretchen replied, placing a hand on Isabella's shoulder. "You guys go get it set up, we'll join you in a moment.
Once everyone else had gone inside, Gretchen finally asked the question she'd been asking herself.
"Do you think it's really him?"
"I don't know. If it isn't we have a serious problem. If it is…"
"Then we have several."
"This doesn't make any sense."
Baljeet had been trying to access the files on the drive, but it wasn't working.
"It's because they're encrypted." Irving answered.
"Why would they be encrypted?" Phineas asked to no one in particular.
Isabella and Gretchen came in at that point. Isabella still looked shaken, and Gretchen had a rather creepy thousand yard stare going. Eventually the latter managed to make eye contact with Phineas.
"So what was on the drive?"
"We don't know. The files are encrypted."
"Can we decrypt them?"
"I can't." Irving said. "This is… extremely secure. But, Albert is really into this sort of stuff. Maybe he could help us."
"It's worth a shot. Do you think he'd take a look at it tonight?" Phineas asked.
"Probably. Let's head over to his apartment."
They decided it would be easiest to walk, since Albert didn't live too far away. Ginger and Baljeet walked together, although Ginger still had her headache. Isabella and Gretchen were in the rear of the group.
"Encrypted files, strange letters… it sounds like him." Gretchen said.
"I know. I just, I'm not sure if I want to admit it." Isabella replied.
"I have to ask, though. If Black Hole is still out there, does that mean Wraith is as well?"
Something very dark came into Isabella's eyes, and Gretchen couldn't help but shudder.
"Wraith is dead. Wraith died eleven years ago."
"You know that's not true, you know-"
Isabella stopped and turned to look Gretchen in the eye. Gretchen was not accustomed to fear. Even during the darkest moments of her life, she had never allowed fear control her. And that made the look that Isabella, Gretchen's oldest and closest friend, gave her all the more terrifying.
"Wraith is dead. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good."
Isabella continued on her way, leaving a very concerned Gretchen to catch up.
Meanwhile and near at hand, Perry slumped into the Flynn-Fletcher home. He didn't worry about being seen, Linda and Lawrence were out of town for the week, and Candace would be in bed. Which was good, because Perry felt like slumping down in a chair for a few hours. He had gotten no where with either Doofenshmirtz's disappearance or the mysterious reformation of L.O.V.E. M.U.F.F.I.N. than he had this afternoon and frankly, he was in very low spirits.
He was surprised to find Phineas and Ferb's room empty, but he realized that they would probably still be at Isabella's. Deciding to go see what they were up to, and to pay a visit to his friend Pinky, Perry quietly slipped into the Garcia-Shapiro home. He quickly found the entire group huddled around a computer, apparently trying to gain access to some encrypted files. Intrigued, Perry waited and watched as the group left to go consult Irving's brother Albert. Once they were gone Perry walked up and took a look at the screen. Baljeet had copied the two files from the drive to the computer, so Perry took a quick look.
"Don't bother. They're secured pretty tightly."
Perry turned to see Pinky the Chihuahua standing behind him. Although he and Pinky were two very different species, all OWCA agents were taught a shared communication system that OWCA members could communicate with.
"I was taking a look at the screen while they were working, whoever encrypted those files wanted to make sure they were safe." Pinky said.
Perry thought to himself for a moment.
"I think I'll take copies of those files back to Carl, he might know how to crack them."
"Alright, good luck."
Meanwhile and far away, the hooded man's phone buzzed in his pocket.
"Hello?"
"Good news and potentially bad news. The good news: the camera we put on the flash drive shows that Isabella did get the package. The potentially bad news: all of her friends know about too."
"That was to be expected really. It should be fine, might even be for the best if my suspicions are correct. How did she take it?"
"Isabella? Not well. I don't think she wants to remember Wraith or Black Hole."
"She's probably upset I addressed it to Wraith, but it was the only way she'd know it was really from me."
"I heard her say that Wraith is dead. Are you sure she'll help?"
"Wraith never died. Rejected, yes. Ignored for over a decade, of course. All memory of her shunned and hidden, without a doubt. But Wraith is still alive. Isabella must realize that eventually."
"I hope you're right."
"If I'm not, we won't have to worry about it for very long."
