(X-F: Sorry this took a while! I have been busy between going back to college and running Alice's new blog on Tumblr. I hope you enjoy this epic chapter! And don't forget to drop a review on your way out! ^_^)
Jeremie's POV:
"Okay, Aelita? Can you delete the external data cache?" I said into the earpiece that was connected to the hub. "Okay….and…done! I also deleted the our firewall. Another firewall bites the dust!" Aelita said from the screen with a smile on her face. "Heh, funny… has Odd been teaching you bad jokes again?" I rolled my eyes at the screen. "Maybe… Okay, all that is left is the Virtual Private Network." Aelita joked. "Alright, it's set to destruct in five minutes, and then there will be no connection to the government servers. No way to trace everything to us." I smiled as I relaxed in the supercomputer's chair. I began to look over the names of the prisoners. "Alright, there are two people in that prison with the first name Alice…" I spoke into the earpiece. "Well, let's start with this one… Alice Kabia." The pinkette asked from the screen. "Hmm… seems she killed her boss slash husband over a trading card game. Wow! Now that is a sour loser!" I joked as I clicked the keys on the keyboard. "Jeremie, I don't think it is her. According to this note in her file, she is not allowed anywhere near a computer since the card game was an online version." Aelita pointed out the note I just saw out of the corner of my eye. "Yeah, your right. So that leaves an Alice Hopper." I looked at the other file as I erased the other Alice's file from the screen.
BZZZ! BANG! Creeeeeaaaakk….. The lab door opened. "You know, you missed a great breakfast! Rosa made her famous poached eggs in beet juice. Hope you don't mind I took your portion!" Odd asked as he entered the lab, with Ulrich and Yumi. Ulrich rolled his eyes as he asked, "Did you find anything?" "Yeah, an Alice Hopper." I told them as they joined me by the computer hub. "Who is she?" Yumi asked. "That is what we are going to find out. I was just about to open her file." I told them as I inputted into the controls the open command.
"Hmm…It seems she is in for 2 life sentences for killing her family." I said as I looked over the file. "MU…Murder! She is a killer!" Yumi stuttered a bit. "Who did she take out?" Ulrich asked with an eyebrow raised. "Well, according to this it was her father and brother. A Franz Hopper and a Doodle Hopper." I said as I continued to read. "Jeremie, there is a video file here; the note suggested that it is the murder." Aelita said from the screen. "She recorded the murder? Why would she do that?" Yumi asked as I pulled up the video. "Ready for a horror flick?" Odd joked as I hit the play button.
It was dark outside; you could barely make out the trees in a forest area. The sounds of crickets came out of the speakers as a bright light illuminated a big oak tree.
"Hey! That tree looks like the one in the park!" Ulrich interjected. "Huh? Your right! Look! There is the entrance to the sewers!" I added, pointing at the bottom of the screen. "Wha-what is that on the tree?" Yumi's voice shook a bit as we refocused onto the video.
Tied around the tree, were two figures. Their eyes and mouths were covered so all you could see is their hair. An older man with grey hair was bound next to a boy with platinum blonde hair. A sudden flash of sliver streaked across their faces, a swift movement across the screen preceded the thud sound of two heads hitting the blood began to fly out of the top of the newly de-headed bodies onto a girl standing there with a machete in her hand. Bathed in blood, the girl turned to the camera and picked it up. Focusing in on her face she spoke directly into the camera, "At last! I am free! Free to do what I want, when I want! This is Alice Hopper, and I just killed my family in cold blood." The camera lingered onto an evil grin that stretched on her face before the recording stopped.
"She is right, that is some cold blooded killing there…"Yumi said after a few minutes of stunned silence. "Putting a hand to his chin in deep thought, Ulrich pointed out, "But if the message she sent us was right, then she didn't do it, XANA did." "Wait! I thought I saw something! Go back to the section she is looking into the camera, then pause it when I tell you to. Odd asked. "Okay…Rewind!" I said as I pulled up that section of the video. "…I'm free to do…" "Stop!" Odd cried out as I tapped the pause button. "There, her eyes! Is that what I think it is?" Odd asked as he pointed to the screen. WE all leaned into the screen as we all saw the same thing. Instead of pupils, her eyes were replaced by the eye of XANA. "How is that possible? I thought that XANA can't control people!" Yumi practically screamed what we were all thinking. "Your right, as far as we know, XANA doesn't have that power. At least, I hope not…" I replied back to my friends. As my last comment sunk into everyone's minds I racked my brain to figure out how did he do it. "Could XANA have made the video using computer generated images?" Aelita ask what my mind was thinking. "It's possible…" I muttered mainly to myself as I hit replay on the video. When the machete flashed on the screen I noticed something in the reflection. "Yeah, he did CGI this! Look here, when the blade flashes before the de-heading, look at what is reflected on the blade." I pointed at the screen. It was Yumi who spotted it, "Your right! That looks like a scene from a b-rated film over in Japan, 'When Teddies Attack!' I should have a copy of it at home." "Well, that explains the video, but what about the bodies? Can't have a murder without them." Ulrich asked with an eyebrow raised. "Knowing XANA, they could be just some ultra-realistic machines." I said as I re-examined the bodies from the video. "Well, judging by that blood flow, I think they are indeed machines." I pointed out to my friends. "Well, that is definitely a machine. That kind of blood flow is only possible in movies. I mean… According to a documentary I saw about horror movies, bodies don't spray blood like that from a de-heading. The blood flows out, not sprayed into the air like that." Odd said very matter-of-factly way. "Huh? You actually watched a documentary and learn something? Who are you, and what did you do with the real Odd Della Robbia." Ulrich Joked as we all giggled a bit. "Very funny…"Odd retorted with a sour look on his face. I cleared my throat as Ulrich and Yumi were practically on the floor laughing. As they finally stop, I told them my theory, "Well, you are right Odd. According to the law of physics, that kind of spray is impossible. So, the video is a fake. But then, how did XANA frame her?" "It looks like the answer is here in her file. IT said the police followed their policy of families first, and they ask her where she was the night of the murder. She said that she had no idea; the whole night was one big black hole. So they search her room and found a clean machete and the video file on her computer. There were no fingerprints or blood on the blade, it was cleaned with bleach. "Aelita inputted from the screen. "But, if she was innocent, they should have looked elsewhere for the killer then?" Yumi asked. "Yeah, but she had no alibi because of the mild amnesia. So, she had no choice in the matter. Her lawyer was able to throw out a…. YIEKS! The death penalty! So instead, they gave her two life sentences for the deaths." I explained to the others from Alice's file. "So wait! She agreed to be in jail for the rest of her life?" Odd asked with a shocked look on his face. "Well, according to this, because she agreed to the life sentence, there was no trial. It is also noted here that Franz was not her real father; she was an orphan he adopted. She would of went to a foster home as Franz had no other living relatives." Aelita told the others the sad ending to Alice's tale. "But then, what happen to the real Franz and Doodle Hopper?" Ulrich asked while scratching the back of his head. "Well, my guess is if XANA faked their deaths, then they could have been…" I stopped, wishing I did not had to vocalize what my head was thinking. "Been what, Jeremie?" Yumi asked. "Either killed by a XANA attack or permanent virtualization. Those are the only ways I can think of how they are not here." I finished my thoughts to the group. "Wow, I guess she really is against XANA. HE sure gave her a hard time." Ulrich asked with a look of worry in his eyes for the girl. "Poor Alice Hopper…" Odd whispered with a tear going down his face.
(The truth has finally come to light. But how will Alice help our warriors from jail? Will XANA remember his old foe and Attack her? Find out next time I update! )
(Hey people of Tumblr! You can now talk with Alice anytime on her blog, .com Come and join the fun!)