(A/N: I've noticed I haven't done this disclaimer thing yet, so I'll do it: Although I wish I did, I do not own Phineas and Ferb or any character in the show. I'll try to update faster-enjoy!)
"Agent P?" the wristwatch stirred Perry from his slumber. Today had been particularly tiring, and Perry had returned and went to bed as soon as Isabella came.
Sleepily, he glanced at his wristwatch.
"Agent P?" the voice came again.
Perry hit the "Talk" button on his wristwatch. Technically, there shouldn't be one, but since Perry had always been a bit of a rebel he had one installed. His performance was always five-star, so nobody really cared.
"You must make your way to your lair now. There is something really, really bad going on tonight." Major Monogram's tone startled Perry. In all his years at the OWCA he had never heard Major Monogram sound so serious.
Perry stood up on his hind legs and immediately felt dizzy. Slowly regaining his bearings he looked around the boys' room. That's when he saw the problem.
Where are they?
Suddenly he was awake, all his senses straining to catch the slightest sign of the boys. A sound from downstairs. Phineas' cherry voice. Ferb's one-in-a-million hair.
Nothing.
Ignoring Monogram's order to go straight to his lair, he rushed downstairs. He ran through the living room. The dining room. The kitchen.
Nothing.
Real panic seized him now. Where could they be?
Monogram's voice came again, this time more urgent. "Agent P! Turn on the-"
Perry hit the 'Disconnect' button before he realized what he'd done. He fumbled with the wristwatch, all the while cursing himself for panicking like he did.
Finally, he found the 'Talk' button and pushed it.
Major Monogram! Where are you?
Nothing came back. Major Monogram was busy talking to at least five other agents.
Turn on the TV?
Perry didn't have opposable thumbs, or any thumbs for that matter, so he just used his whole paw to slap the red button on the TV.
The TV came on, tuned to the news channel.
The newscaster was reading from a sheet of paper. The ticker tape at the bottom said BREAKING NEWS.
"...a spate of kidnappings have hit the Tri-State area as six children have been taken almost simultaneously from their houses, around sunset tonight. The kidnapper has called us to make his demands known to the families of those involved..."
Perry immediately felt cold. They've been kidnapped? He barely realized the kidnapper was already talking on the screen.
"...half a million dollars in unmarked bills, each. I want you to go to the place, which I will give directions to. Bring the money. There you will find more directions to the drop-off point. I want it in forty-eight hours. If not..."
Perry switched off the TV. He had heard enough to know whom he was dealing with.
Little could he know that the kidnapper he heard was not Hazelton.
The first step to finding a kidnapper was to locate him, and for that police often try to track down cell phones that the kidnapper uses to make his demands. One slip on the kidnapper's part and it could be over.
For Perry, however, it was much simpler.
Unbeknownst to the boys, they had been implanted with trackers that automatically sent position updates every six hours. The updates could not be more frequent, as they would arouse suspicion if anyone try to track down the signal.
Perry checked the time. 11:48 P.M. The next update was due in twelve minutes, also known to Perry as an eternity.
There was one added obstacle to overcome.
The database to which the position updates of Phineas and Ferb were sent to was top-secret. Some rogue agents had misused the signals in the past, selling the locations to potential kidnappers, as most of the OWCA-appointed owners led an active lifestyle and kidnappers found it hard to find them.
So when their owners were out jogging or anything like that, the agents relayed the location to the kidnappers. Whereas if they were kidnapped at home the agents were obliged to protect them, in this case they could get away scot-free by claiming ignorance.
Perry was under no illusions as to what he had to do.
He would have to hack into the OWCA mainframe.
Midnight.
For Phineas and Ferb, the hour meant nothing. All they cared about was putting as much distance between themselves and their captors.
And all the while Phineas was thinking.
My dream is real? Its happened before?
If so, when?
The corridors they were in became less grandiose and more utilitarian. Phineas struggled to keep pace with the other two. After all, he'd just survived a mock drowning. Speaking of which...
Does she like me?
Perry had to decide.
Should I hack or not?
He was well aware that if he was caught, then his OWCA career was over. There were plenty of people-or agents, for that matter, jealous of his success that wouldn't miss the chance to bring him down.
Even if all he sought was the location of his kidnapped owners, those same people were going to fabricate evidence to kick him out.
But he had an obligation to life itself.
He slipped into his lair and logged on to his computer. He clicked the icon to connect to the OWCA mainframe. The screen dinged.
ENTER PASSWORD:
Perry plugged a drive into his computer and ran a hacking program. The program opened another window, which gave a visual representation, or V-R of how it was doing. The OWCA mainframe was represented by five concentric circles, each circle representing a layer of defense. The program was an arrow trying to burst the defenses.
The program abruptly terminated. The V-R closed.
Good. That normally means we're in.
He looked at the screen.
ENTER PASSWORD:
Perry didn't panic. He had four more programs to run.
He tried a slightly stronger program.
The result was the same. Okay, let's kick it up a notch.
He tried another, stronger program. The V-R ran.
Come on...
The program stopped. The screen defiantly showed ENTER PASSWORD:
Perry slumped into his chair.
The two remaining programs had no effect either.
This is going to be a long night.
He had no idea.
How to access the mainframe?
This is really frustrating! It should be as easy as googling something...
Googling something...
He sat bolt upright.
How do search engines work so fast?
Even before he asked the question to himself, he knew the answer.
They get others to do the work for them!
Spiders-programs that read through hundreds of web pages every day and archive the information for future use-saved search engines time by having multiple spiders working at once.
So why don't I get the other agents' computers to...
He ran the hacking program, but this time the target was Pinky's computer.
Ding!
ACCESS GRANTED.
Now Agent E's computer...
ACCESS GRANTED.
Soon Perry had all the agents' computers at his command.
He ran his best hacking program on all of the computers, directing this massive attack on the OWCA mainframe.
The V-R of the OWCA mainframe and its defenses appeared again.
One of the concentric rings disappeared. One of the security measures had been penetrated. Four more to go.
Two minutes later, another of the rings disappeared.
Then another.
Two more to would surely be stronger then the first three. Perry waited nervously as the forth ring thinned, a sign that the defenses were weakening.
The forth ring disappeared entirely. Only one line left.
The last ring was thinning...then it disappeared entirely. Perry's apprehension vanished with it.
We're in!
He searched the database for the update on his owner's position.
When he saw it, his apprehension returned.
They were in the one place which Perry absolutely did not want them to be in.