Oh no…I got lazy…oh my gosh, I got so freaking lazy…but, I mean, come on, can you really blame me? There's thirty freakin' floors in the Khaos Corporation building and there's no way I'm going to describe them all. It's just too much, even for me. So here's the plan, I'll skip ahead, right, and maybe, if I ever get off my lazy rear to do it, I'll sketch a "layout" of what the floors have on 'em.
There, now I'm a procrastinator, a liar, and a nerd! What a great combo…
5: A Song of Storm and Chaos
"Help! I'm in a pickup truck full of psychic cannibals!" –Kuwabara, Yu Yu Hakusho
"And the Code Scanners! I mean, oh my gosh, my science fair project was so close! I was a few mechanics off!"
"I know! This place is incredible!" Tom and Kaz, along with the other teenagers, had just completed the tour of the first six floors of Khaos Corporation as well as lunch and were now laughing and talking in the Cafeteria which resembled a high-rise hotel restaurant.
"Okay everybody!" Scotty stood up on his chair, putting one foot on the table, "I've just given you a taste and our facility is huge! If you have any questions or want to see anything else today, just let me know!" And he fell back into his seat with an elegant sweep of his hand.
Kaz immediately leapt to his feet and started across the Cafeteria. Tom jogged to catch up with him, "And where are you going?"
"I want to see their Wormhole Generator." Kaz replied in a hushed voice, unable to stop the odd grin spreading across his face.
"Kaz, um, do me a favor and don't ever smile like that again. It makes me think you'd look better in a strait jacket." Tom snorted with laughter as he continued to follow his best friend over to where Scotty was sitting with two of the visiting girls.
"S-Scotty?" Kaz desperately tried to swallow his stutter as the Khaos brother flicked his turquoise eyes on him, "Um…" Kaz took a deep breath and set his jaw, "We want to see the Wormhole Generator."
Scotty blinked at them a couple of times and then frowned thoughtfully before getting to his feet. He pulled a black cell phone emblazed with the Chaotic crest on it from his pocket, still frowning, "Let me make a call, real quick." He muttered and walked to the other side of the room.
One of the girls fluttered her eyelashes at Tom and then turned to her friend and spoke in a voice she obviously thought the two boys couldn't hear, "I don't know where you're coming from, chica, but MajorTom is way cuter than KidChaor. Besides, OverWorlders are better."
Both boys' faces flushed. But for different reasons.
"You're so fickle!" The first girl's friend hissed back, "Who cares what tribe they support? KidChaor's a ton cuter than MajorTom! And he's got red hair."
Kaz hunched his shoulders, his face turning redder and redder by the second, and turned his back on the two girls. Both of them giggled and Tom felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and his ears got really hot all of a sudden.
"Yeah, well, I say it's easier to get an OverWorlder in the same bed as—."
"You're good!" Scotty bounced over joyfully, shoving his phone back into his pocket, "But you're going to need this!" He pulled a plastic wrapped card seemingly out of nowhere, "It's a pass that will let you past the guard." Seeing the looks on the two boys' faces he quickly said, "It's delicate stuff! And we don't want anyone to get hurt!"
"R-right! Thanks!" Kaz took the card from him, "Um, where do we go?"
"Take the stairs up to the eleventh floor and after you exit the stairwell go straight down to the end of the hall. Flash the pass to the guard and he'll let you through!" Scotty winked, "Easy as pie!"
"Thanks!" Kaz said again and beckoned Tom to follow him from the room, practically bouncing all the way out.
He watched it flicker…and die…flicker…and die…flicker…and die. It'd been like that for the past two days. Like a candle flame fighting to stay lit when it was at the end of its wick. His golden eyes narrowed.
Why wouldn't it stay?
The plan was perfect. Get in, cause some trouble, solve the trouble, and get out. No one would get hurt.
But it wouldn't stay!
"Why isn't it working?" He growled in a low voice, turning his cold gaze upon the small group standing in the shadows, "Why isn't it staying?"
"A theory?" Muttered one of the figures in such an icy voice that it seemed to make the very air still in fear, "Perhaps they realize what we are attempting to do. And if they do not realize it then they have probably noticed the abnormalities created by our…interference. It is possible they are attempting to solve the problem without knowing what it is they're trying to solve."
"You know," Said a cheery voice, "That somehow makes sense!"
"Shush." Hissed another voice from the shadows.
"Then what do you propose?" The golden-eyed man growled.
"Force it open." Another voice, this one medium with a tinge of an accent to it, stated, "We're not giving it full power. If we did, I have no doubt that it would remain open."
"But it's too dangerous!" A young voice cracked the air, "What if it breaks—?"
"Enough!" Snapped the man with the golden eyes, "Who cares what happens to them as long as we get what we want?" His next words came out in an eerie whisper, "Give it everything we've got."
There was a discontented murmur but no further argument was made.
Kaz pushed the door open to the eleventh floor and stepped out into a hallway that looked like all the rest in the building; a black tile floor, white-washed walls, a pale blue ceiling with florescent lights overhead, and the walls dotted with turns into other hallways and steel doors.
The spiky haired boy tried his best to keep from running the length of the hall as he made his way towards the black metal door emblazed with the Chaotic symbol at the far end of the hall. Tom trialed behind him, muttering dark nothings under his breath.
"What're you kids doing here?" The gruff looking man in something like a police outfit only black and red asked as the two boys approached, "You lost?"
"We're up here to see the Generator." Tom replied sharply before Kaz could clear his throat enough to stop himself from squeaking.
"You two are going to see the Wormhole Generator?" The uniformed guard raised an eyebrow and Kaz nodded, holding up the card that Scotty had given him, "Well, guess you're cleared. Willy can take you guys from here."
The guard pushed the door open and ushered them inside, closing it behind them. The room was fairly large with a silver-blue tiled floor, cream walls, a row of silver cabinets along wall, numerous beeping and whirring consuls with holographic screens on another, and another large door opposite them. There was no one else in the room.
"Um…hello?" Tom said in a low voice but it still echoed slightly around the room, "Is anyone here?"
"Who's there!?" Someone poked their head over the consuls on the left wall, "Hey, how'd you kids get in here!?"
"Are you Willy?" Kaz asked skeptically as a tall woman with dark brown hair held back in a loose braid and shining green-hazel eyes shimmied out from behind the electronics.
"Yeah, who's asking?" Willy had a black, fingerless glove on her right hand, a black armband stretching from her elbow to her knuckles on her left arm, a purple flame tattoo on her right shoulder, and a blue flame tattoo on the upper part of her left arm. A dark green vest was zipped over her chest but was just short enough to show her midriff and a pink flower tattoo next to her bellybutton. A brown belt from which dangled a set of about two dozen keys and her ID was clicked over a dark green skirt under which she wore, tight, pale violet pants. Knee high dark purple boots thudded on the floor as she made her way towards them.
"K-Kaz Kalinkas." Kaz's face was bright red and he was looking anywhere but at Willy. The zipper on her vest was at least a quarter of the way down.
"Tom Majors." Tom, on the other hand, couldn't tear his eyes away, "Uh…S-Scotty said we could see the Generator."
"Did he now?" Willy seemed skeptical. She tapped the clipboard she had in her hand on the back of her neck with a sly and thoughtful smile, "Hm, well, if the brothers said yes then there's nothing I can do about it." She tossed the clipboard on the floor and motioned for the boys to follow her over to the cabinets, "But you can't go in there without proper apparel!"
Tom and Kaz shared a glance as Willy stomped up to one of the cabinets and threw it open with a bang.
"You!" She pointed to Kaz who yelped and straightened, "How tall are you and what's your favorite color?"
"Uh…um…I…I'm about f-five, six…I think…" Kaz glanced at Tom who merely shrugged, "And, um, green."
"Right then! Put this on over your clothes!" Willy threw something at him without looking, making the boy stumble back as he fumbled with the object, "Your turn!" The woman jabbed a finger at Tom who blushed crimson and stuttered out his answers.
Kaz, meanwhile, was trying to figure out what it was he was supposed to be putting on. Once he finally got the stretchy, rubber-like thing situated, he found it to be something like a hazmat suit. It was primarily dark green with a black stripe down each arm, the front and back of the legs, and down the chest and center of the back. Kaz grimaced and gingerly pulled the suit on over his tennis shoes, jeans, and T-shirt. Then he gave a startled cry as someone grabbed the zipper in the back and yanked it upwards, closing the suit up.
He spun around and saw Willy standing there with her hands on her hips and a satisfied smirk on her face. Tom was next to her flexing his fingers in his own blue and black hazmat suit with an expression of slight disgust.
"Can we go see it now?" Kaz asked in a hesitant voice. He wasn't so sure he liked Willy's extravagant, not to mention boisterous, style; she'd probably give Peyton a run for his money.
"Nope!" With a twirl that sent her braid spinning, the woman reached back into the cabinet and pulled out a heavy looking steel box. Propping it on her knee, she opened it up and pulled out an armful of silver bands before replacing the box. Then she motioned for Tom to step forward. The black-haired boy edged towards her hesitantly.
"These," Willy stated, grabbing Tom's wrists and clamping the bands around them, "Are stabilizers. If something goes haywire with the Generator," She did the same to his ankles, "These will stop you from being broken down into nothing more than space dust." She clamped one around Tom's neck and the largest one around his waist. Then she motioned for Kaz.
Kaz felt his head spinning.
He was beginning to regret this.
"Finished!" Willy said in a sing-song voice and was interrupted by a song coming from across the room on top of one of the control panels.
"Because you wrote: I wish you her! You left out the 'e'! You left with out me!" Willy frowned and walked over to the panel, scooping up a violet cell phone dotted with pink stars and a black and silver skull hanging off the antenna, "And now you're somewhere out there with a bi—!" She flicked the phone open.
"What, hon, I'm busy?" The words would have sounded annoyed if not for the teasing tones and Willy's mischievous grin, "Noooooooo…" She tilted her head and Tom and Kaz glanced at one another, "Scotty said it was okay." Willy's expression suddenly darkened, "Well then you tell him that! No, I'm not mad at you! No, I'm not!" She turned her back on the two boys, "No, I'm mad at Scotty because Scotty told me that you told him that it was okay!" She tapped her foot on the floor, "What do you mean 'there's been a new development'!?"
Tom mouthed the words "oh no" and Kaz nodded in agreement.
"But this is…but I…no, the whole thing is…" It seemed whoever was on the other end wasn't letting Willy get in a full sentence, "Tobias!" The woman shouted, "You promised and the man I married doesn't break his promises!"
Kaz felt his jaw drop and shared a shocked expression with Tom. Willy was married to Tobias Khaos!? That meant that there were six Khaos brothers…and one Khaos sister.
"Alright…" Willy's voice was soft now, "Yes, hon, I know. Okay, I will. I love you. Me too. Bye." She shut the phone and set it back down on the panel. Then she turned to face the two teenagers who quickly wiped their faces clean of expression, "Right!" Her cocky smile had returned, "You two ready? Then head on through that door!" She opened the large door opposite the one they'd entered and shoved them through, slamming it shut behind them.
"Did you…get the feeling we were unwanted?" Tom asked but got no response because Kaz was staring in front of him with his mouth hanging open.
The two boys were standing in something like a press box at a football stadium only five times the normal size and filled with screens, control panels, and people in hazmat suits rushing about. Through the huge glass panels that made up most of the walls of the box, they could see a giant circular room with a raised dais in the middle. Lining the walls were large steel rings that seemed to vibrate and sent a thin humming noise through the air. Hanging in the air by thick cables above the dais and about twenty feet above the box was a gigantic steel sphere dotted with round bumps that glowed a soft orange color. Arching over the dais itself were metal spikes that met in the middle above the dais but didn't touch. Tom and Kaz could see figures in hazmat suits running too and fro on the floor below, doing who knew what.
"Hey! You the two boys Scotty sent through here?" A muscular man with bright red curly hair that bounced when he walked strolled up to them, "Uh, Tom and Kaz?"
"Yeah…" Tom said warily; there seemed to be plenty of strange and eccentric people around Khaos Corporation, "And you are?"
"Tony, Head Engineer of the Wormhole Generator Team." Tony was dressed in a black hazmat with red stripes outlined in white and there were two silver bands around his wrists and ankles instead of one. Everything about him spoke confidence and leadership, "I hope Willy didn't give you guys a hard time."
"No, no, not at all!" Kaz said a little too quickly and when Tony raised a thick red eyebrow, the boy hurriedly blurted out, "So have you fixed the problems with the Generator yet?"
Tom slapped his forehead in exasperation.
"Who told you?" Tony hissed and Kaz shrank back, "No one outside of Khaos Corporation is supposed to—."
"Tony!" Shouted an engineer, bursting into the box with a bang, "There's something happening downstairs! We don't know what it is but it looks like the wormhole's opening up again!"
Tony used a string of words neither Tom nor Kaz had ever heard before, snatched up a headset, and barreled past his fellow engineer and down the flight of stairs to the Generator. Not knowing what else to do (and always victims of curiosity) Tom and Kaz followed.
Chaos was an understatement.
Orange and blue whips of electricity crackled through the air from the giant sphere, connecting over the dais every so often and causing a huge flare of static that made everyone's hair stand on end. Every time this happened, another ring of color was added to the already swirling mass in the center of the dais. Red, red-orange, orange, yellow-orange, golden rod, yellow, neon green, yellow-green, green, emerald, and now a slight shade of turquoise spun in an oval shape, slowly, hypnotizing, shooting out sparks of white light every now and again.
Tony swore again, eyes wide, "It's never gotten this far before…" He put a hand to the mike running off the headset, "Greg, what's the status!?"
"Off the charts, sir!" Came the return voice, audible even over the thrumming of the machine, "I've never seen anything like it! 'Tis like the whole things building up en'gry from…somewheres else!"
Another string of swear words, "Get the quantum separators back under control!" Tony shouted, going into control mode, "Shut down the main energy feed loop if you have to! Keep everyone away from the hole! Cut the power to half on the sphere implants! Sever the connection to—!"
Everything stopped.
Okay, unintentional cliff hanger, I swear! I didn't mean to cut it off like that but it was getting a little too long for my taste. But I'm going, I'm going…at the expense of 'Shadows Are Supposed to Stay Sleeping.' I'm going to be murdered in my sleep for that.
So anyway, see you at the next chapter! Please leave me a review and have a great day!