Eddie and Kim were almost finished. They solved the word skip code, which led to pigpen, binary, some Morse, a sprinkling of Playfair, and the beginning of transposition. Unfortunately, that was where the page ended.
"Good thing you have all these books on cyphers," Kim commented, sneezing.
The two were based in Eddie's living room. His family had gone on an all day outing, leaving them in peace as they tackled the code.
"Yeah, it took me a little while to dig 'em out of the attic," Eddie was positive, as usual. "You should've seen the dust bushes I dug them out of!"
"You mean dust bunnies?" Kim wondered. "No, definitely dust bushes," Eddie disagreed.
Kim sourly dropped the book she was holding. Unfortunately, this caused a cloud of dust to waft into the air.
"Oh! No, I should not have done that," Kim sped to the edge of the room, coughing.

In light of the fine particulates infecting the immediate atmosphere, the pair decided to take a break.
Kim sat at Eddie's kitchen table while he grabbed her a soda.
"Thanks," Kim clinked her can against his and drank deeply.
He grinned. "No, thank you. I wouldn't be here now if it weren't for you and the others."
Kim leaned forward tentatively. "So…can I ask you something? Was your contact male or female?"
"Seriously?"
"It's been driving me crazy."
Eddie hesitated, finishing his drink.
"Um…I'm not one hundred percent certain on that," he responded vaguely.
"Come on!" Kim exclaimed.
"The other players were anonymous." Eddie was defensive. "Even Juliana didn't always know who was who."
The blonde glared. "Seriously?! Not to kill love, but what do you know about your perfect ex?"
Her comment didn't kill love, but it did kill the vibe.
An awkward silence filled the air.
"Sorry," Kim apologized first. "That was uncalled for."
"It's okay, Kim." Eddie frowned. "Lately I've been asking myself the same question."
"Can you tell me about Juliana, then?" Kim was diplomatic.
A grin burst across his face.
"She was…incredible," Eddie confessed. "Pretty, smart, nice…any guy's dream girl."
Kim couldn't help but giggle. "You're so sweet! But how did you two talk, without Mrs. Riker knowing?"
His eyes were hazy as he recollected the past. "Her favourite snack was chocolate almonds, mostly 'cause she wasn't allowed to eat them. After her ballet class I'd slip some in her bag with a note, or write on the bottom of a soda can. We had to be careful since her mom was around."
Kim watched him carefully. "Was she your first girlfriend?"
Usually Eddie tried to pretend he was a ladies' man, but today he was serious. "No, but I was her first boyfriend. It was a whirlwind. I learned so many little things, like her favourite flower was fuchsia, she loved purple and could eat chicken and cheese quesadillas all day long. She was also fluent in four languages."
Kim was impressed. "She sounds cool."
Eddie shook himself out of dream land. "Yeah…but sometimes Juliana would act like she was being stalked. She'd constantly be looking over her shoulder, terrified."
"That was due to the puzzling, I guess?" Kim theorized as she finished her drink.
"Maybe." He shrugged as he threw his can into the recycling. "Let's go. You think the last modification will work?"

"This doesn't work!" Milton lost his temper and banged the table, then squeaked in pain. "OW! My distal phalanx!"
He hopped up and down, shaking his hand frantically.
"Relax Milton," Julie soothed. "It's a flesh wound, clotting as we speak."
The boyfriend slumped into his seat. "I know…but I feel horrible."
"Not because of the phone, right?" Julie deduced.
She deduced correctly.
"What kind of boyfriend can't protect his girl?" Milton burst out. "I'm a loser!"
She remained silent, only gently hugging him.
The phone lay on the desk, surrounded by wires and circuitry. Finer metal tools were strewn all over, and the artificial light shone intensely on their task. Two computers were connected to the phone, which had its guts taken out with precision. A mini projector was nearby, but currently being unused.
"You didn't refute it," Despondent, Milton stared at the ground. He'd been beating himself up over his inability to protect his girlfriend ever since Ella had grabbed her.
"Milton, you're one of the kindest, coolest, and most wonderful people I have ever known." Julie reassured him. "It's not your fault! You were outnumbered, and they were trained well. Even Jack and Kim couldn't fend them off for long."
The boy was still ashamed, but didn't stop her from holding him. He returned the embrace, leading to a brief, sweet moment.
Suddenly the computer beeped.
"We cracked it!" Milton ran to the keyboard, typing furiously. Julie joined him, focusing on the lines of code.
"Wow that's an impressive design," Julie whistled approvingly. "I wonder how Ella got a hold of it."
Milton nodded absently. "She doesn't seem the type, but who are we to judge?"
Julie smiled before adjusting her glasses. "An excellent point. However, this seems to be a peer to peer sharing program, one that has been wiped blank. Not exactly sinister."
He furrowed his brow. "Look at all these empty files. Call enabling, code scanners, list of contacts…"
"Wait!" Julie saw something. "Go back for a second!"
He entered a command, searching for the oddity Julie spotted.
"Right there! Within the code!" Julie's eyes glowed.
"A video link? Incredible!" His mind raced. "If we reset the parameters—"
"Then enter a new chain, we should be able to watch it," Julie began a flurry of typing on the other keyboard as he did the same.
Within a few minutes the pair gained access.
Projecting it against the wall, both of them paused, gazes fixed on the clip.

"Fix the camera!" A girl's voice laughed. "All you can see is the sky!"
The cameraman (or woman) hastily adjusted the angle, but ended up dropping the camera straight to the ground.
"Whoa!" Julie blinked.
"Vertigo alert," Milton covered his eyes.
"Be careful," the other girl scolded. "This is expensive!"
The device panned up to reveal a cricket court on a beautiful patch of grass.
"In a world, where a dying sport is no longer relevant, can two teens revive it?" The girl imitated a narrator's deep timbre.
"Of course, not original cricket," a dark haired girl winked. "But the EXTREME VERSION!"
She threw and swung the cricket bat high, the ball seemed to vanish into the air.
"How many runs?!" The camera girl exclaimed.
The girl ran back and forth at lightning speed, when suddenly the ball flew back and hit the wicket, barely skimming past the runner.
"Oh my goodness, are you okay?" The VJ girl ran to her friend while still clutching the camera.
"It missed me by a hair!" The other girl's voice shook. "And look!"
The force of the orb had caused the wicket to break into pieces.
"Two paced…but not the ordinary kind," The VJ girl picked at it slowly. "It has to be her," The dark haired girl faced the camera. "That's Juliana!" Milton realized.
"We're not going to let some stalker ruin our lives, got it?" The VJ girl was adamant. "Get a grip!"
Abruptly the video feed cut off and was replaced by static.
Before either of them could react, however, a different feed appeared.
Ella stared darkly at the camera, causing both of them to flinch.
"Enjoy the show?" She scoffed. "Do yourselves a favour and stay out of this. I'd hate for things to get messy."
A phone rang in the background, and Ella picked up the call. She glanced at it briefly before glaring at the screen. "Let's not complicate this," Ella scorned. "I'm not the person you should be looking at. After all, how much do you really know about Juliana?"
She reached forward and turned off the device, ending the video.

Jack caught Don's fist before it reached him. "You probably shouldn't have done that," he warned.
Don ripped his hand away. "Get the brat. Jerry, do you wanna get pummelled too, or find the girl?"
He was uncertain. "Uh…well…"
His friend gave him a slight nod.
"Uh sure, let's go find the girl, it's not like Jack is going to get maimed or anything."
A resounding bang echoed as one of Don's friends ripped a rusted pipe from the wall.
Jerry shrugged. "Naw, he's got this. Let's talk, Don."
The two teens left for a small, dark room, while Jack faced down Don's friends.
"Okay," Don opened a laptop in the dim light, running programs. "Who's the girl?"
Jerry was entranced the blinking lights. Tall mainframes surrounded a tiny desk, where Don's laptop was. It was hot, and the machines whirred busily. "Uh…what?"
"What's her name?" Don snapped his fingers in front of the other's face.
"Uh, actually there's more than one," Jerry laughed nervously.
The other guy rolled his eyes. "Dude! I just need a name!"
"Try Juliana Riker first then," Jerry checked a small piece of paper. "After her, Ella Wong."
Don guffawed. "You are looking for trouble, Martinez, but I'll do my best."
However, as he began his search, the lights flickered ominously.
"What the…?" Don began frantically typing. A chill filled the atmosphere as beeps and other sounds suddenly emerged, keening frantically like alarms.
"Dude!" Jerry's eyes were about to pop out of his head.
"I'm not doing this!" Don was panicking. "What's going on?!"
Juliana Riker's face popped onscreen. "Stop looking for me," she said. The clip looped, the speed increasing. "Stop looking for me. Stop looking for me."
The mainframes began to spit sparks. The lights blew out, causing them to duck under the desk.
Smoke filled the air as she spoke a final sentence. "Stop looking for me. I know where to find you." Cackling, her face disappeared.
"She spiked my system!" Don was terrified. "It'll take ages to repair all this stuff, that monster!"
Jerry already stood and was dragging Don from the area. "Thanks man, but I gotta jet!"