Jackie had almost stopped the ship to process what she just saw. Matt...he couldn't be...
"What are you doing Jackie? DRIVE!" Inez ordered as she woke Jackie from her trance. She shook her head and pulled a lever; activating jet boosters and causing the drones to topple over. The ship dove over the cliff; unable to balance and hover without any ground. Then Slyder, still on the roof of the ship, pointed to a cliffhanging Matt, who held by the wire of his yo-yo that was tied around a breaking rock.
Jackie pushed another button that triggered the wings. They unfolded and expanded on each side as the ship was now able to fly. She dived over to where Matt was and leaned in close enough to Slyder could reach over and grab his hand.
"Look out!" Slyder said as the two rolled over to avoid three missile rounds from the drones above them. They continued to fire, thankfully the gang had all retreated inside the ship and dived deeper into the dark side of the canyon.
"That was too close." Matt took off his jacket and sat in chair.
"You had us scared there man, what were you thinking?" Slyder shook his head.
"Distracting them; what else?" Matt said. He sighed, "At least we're all safe."
"Safe? For one Matt-" Inez was furious. "You ran off and got chased by giant drones that nearly trampled you over, and not to mention you decide to dive into a cliff. And the nerve not to say anything to me when you-"
Matt stared at Inez, "I'm sorry."
She stopped to look at him. Jackie still piloted the ship smiling. She didn't mind if the two got into their lover quarrel; she was glad they were all safe and together. It was a close call.
"Do you know where we are?" Matt asked, setting aside his problems and focusing on the important matters. Slyder typed on a touchpad keyboard and pulled up the map of the region.
"Looks like we're going underground." Slyder trailed a tunnel on the map indicating the ship's path, "We could go through here and on the other side to who knows where."
"Well, if we find somewhere to dump this thing that'll be great. We can't leave any traces." Matt said.
"Why?" Jackie said.
"Because." Matt grimaced, "One of drones know who I am. And that means Hacker will soon pick up our trail."
/
The ship made way through the dark tunnel to a gloomy town that reminded Matt of the old-fashioned towns from the western films. The building all stuck together with one road and a clocktower. The time was 20:46 PM.
"Do you see that?" Inez said indicating the clocktower.
"Yeah, that's Earth time." Jackie said.
"I thought time was different here." Matt said. He checked the cyan watch. "The watch reads the same."
"It is." Slyder said. "Hacker is trying to mess with time by syncing it to Earth's and open a portal."
"What!?" The three of them exclaimed.
"I read about this." Slyder paced the floor, " A long time ago, before Hacker even existed, another scientist obsessed with time opened a portal between Cyberspace and Earth. More than likely, he was the first human to travel here."
"Why are you just now telling us?" Inez asked.
"Because I didn't think Hacker would be smart enough to do this! He obviously knows." Slyder ran a hand through his hair; slightly frustrated.
"That's true. He's ten times smarter than before. How could we have known?" Jackie said, placing a hand on Sly's back. The ship parked in an underpass covered with mostly moss and stone. The gang hopped out. The town was sure enough deserted; drawing the squad's suspicion of the civilian whereabouts.
"Okay." The squad huddled together to discuss what they should do now. "For now, we should probably head back. There's a lot to take in; and show."
"Quite." Inez said.
"Are we coming back tomorrow?" Jackie asked. "It's Saturday so that will leave us more time to cover more ground.
"More than likely. We should make it a routine to come here a couple times a week." Slyder said.
"That's a lot..."Matt said, "Especially with school man. It's not like middle school; we got work to do."
"That's true." Inez agreed.
"Okay okay, we'll discuss this later. Cybersquad; roll out!" Jackie adjourned the meeting as both her and Slyder teleported out of Cyberspace. Matt stared at Inez and they lingered around for a bit.
"I'm really sorry for worrying you. I didn't want you in danger." Matt apologized.
"I know. But you act so selfish sometimes." She complained.
"Only for my best friends." Matt smiled weakly at his lie. He held out his hand. Inez smiled as she didn't hesitate to take it.
"Let's go home." Inez agreed as they teleported together out.
/
Max sat on the same clock tower that read 20:57 PM; staring at the deserted town. His old friend stood along him watching the sky.
"So they still came." The man said.
"Yes. I warned them multiple times. Do you still want me to kill them, sir?" Max stood up staring at the man in the dark. He unveiled himself as a man with sickly green skin, hair done in a 1930s reporter's hairstyle with peach fuzz, yellow shark teeth, and sharp cobalt eyes with no whites.
"No." Mr. Alvin said. "Let them be. For now you just try stopping that fool Hacker."
Max flinched, "Are you saying I should help those Earthlings?"
"Not particularly, smart one." Mr. Alvin snarled, "I'm saying you should try to distract Hacker before things get really out of hand. He's only part of the problem."
Max's eyes narrowed, "If you are referring to my creator..."
"It's the truth. You can choose not to believe me; but you are to abide to my orders. He's not the man he was when he created you. For your own good." Mr. Alvin pointed. "Understand me?"
Max bowed, "Yes sir."
Max jumped down from the tower and disappeared on sight. Mr. Alvin had no affection for Max as neither did he. He only found Matt as a fond human to toy with; surprisingly with his single best android Max meeting to his expectations.
Soon enough he thought, You will accept my terms, Matthew.