To say that Hiccup was uncomfortable was the understatement of the century, the young man currently found himself sitting in a metal chair, a metal table stood before him completely bare, not even a mote of dust to speak of. The room itself was equally spotless, it was a bare room with dull, gray colored walls, with the linoleum floor being a darker shade; there was single door behind and to the left of him, obviously locked, to his right there was a pane of reflective glass, but he knew that it was most likely a one-way mirror. The entire room had the distinct aroma or stale air with a slight undertone of disinfectant, adding to the message that this room served a singular purpose and comfort was not it.
'I just had to mess with it didn't I' Hiccup thought to himself, "could have just turned off the computer and go to bed' he continued mentally berating himself, even though the more he thought about it, there was no way he could have ignored it. Hiccup has always had an interest in puzzles, he always considered them excellent exercises for his brain, especially since he did not really have much of an interest in physical sports. He had fond memories of helping his mom put together five-thousand-piece jigsaw puzzles when he was growing up, the act taking a disorganized mess and step by step revealing the answer ignited a spark of pride. When he saw that jumbled mess of his screen, he knew it was a puzzle that could be solved, underneath the random patterns was a methodical system that he wanted to uncover, now look were that got him.
Hiccup's line of thought was quickly interrupted by the sound of the door opening, turning around he was met by the older man in the suit who had greeted him on the runway, he had what appeared to be a tablet and a notebook under his arm. After closing the door, the man walked around the table and sat down in the other chair across from Hiccup, placing his items on the surface a little off to the slide. He laced his hands together and rested them on the table, never uttering a syllable as he looked at Hiccup with a steel gaze behind his glasses. Hiccup tried his best to not look nervous, however, it was an uphill battle as being in the presence of this man inside this room subconsciously brought up scenes from crime thrillers where the detective would interrogate their suspects in ways that, though not factual, were still effective. The man said nothing, in fact, if it was not for the subtle flaring of his nostrils and the occasional blink, he could have been mistaken for a statue and all he did was stare at Hiccup, as if he was waiting for something.
Hiccup began to wonder if this man was expecting him to say something, if so, what could it possibly be, an explanation, a confession of guilt, there was no way to read this guy. Even though the room was completely silent, he could not help but imagine an invisible clock, ticking away second by excruciating second, the thought making Hiccup even more unnerved. Eventually, after what could have been only a few seconds or an hour for all he knew, Hiccup finally decided to say something, just to break the silence.
"Um, hello." He greeted, hoping that it might get him to talk.
No such luck, the man just continued to look at him, as he did Hiccup silently scolded himself for his choice of words. After everything that has happened it should be obvious that this person was not in the mood for small talk, leading Hiccup to try a different approach.
"Look," he started. "I think I know why I'm here but let me say that I had no idea what those symbols were, I'm not a terrorist if that's what you're thinking."
Amazingly, that did warrant a reaction from the man, albeit only a slight cocking of the eyebrow, but it was something and that actually caused Hiccup to relax a little, as if he just gave an indication that he was interested in hearing Hiccup's side in the preceding events.
"Please, you have to believe me, I'm not trying to do anything illegal, I was only trying to figure out what those symbols meant." Hiccup explained.
With that, the man finally made a move, he picked up the tablet and thumbing the surface of it for a brief second, he placed gave it to Hiccup. Looking at it, Hiccup saw it was the symbols which just went on their merry way with no idea of what it has caused him.
"The United States government has some of the most secure encryptions in the world, and whatever that is," The man said pointing at the tablet in Hiccup's hands. "Managed to get through our firewalls and we can't even find out where it's coming from, so you can understand our interest in finding out what is it, sooner rather than later."
"Well, I can tell you that I was not the one who sent it." Hiccup said, putting as much conviction as he could with the hopes of conveying his innocence.
"Trust me, we know that whatever this is seems to be beyond even the best hackers that we've encountered." He explained.
"Then why am I here?" Hiccup asked now thoroughly curious as to what his involvement may be.
"Aside from trying to find out where it came from, the bigger problem we find ourselves facing is finding out exactly what it is." He explained.
"Ok, but what could you possibly need from me?" Hiccup asked, "I mean don't you guys have experts who handle this sort of thing?"
"Normally yes, we have dedicated people working around the clock but unfortunately they haven't come close to finding out the meaning of the message, until now." He stated.
He then proceeded to slide the notebook towards Hiccup which, at that point, he recognized as his own and it was currently opened. The page it was opened to show the symbols as well as Hiccup's notes on possible translations which caused Hiccup's heart to beat a little faster, as if sensing danger.
"Seems you've been busy kid." He pointed out.
Hiccup was at a lost for words, he looked between the notebook and the agent, trying to get his brain to organize some kind of explanation or at least a response that did not incriminate him any more than he most likely was. However, the agent, seeing Hiccup's expression, actually allowed a small smile to appear on his face which made Hiccup even more paranoid.
"Relax kid," he said raising one of his hands in a calming gesture. "You're not in trouble, at least for the time being, the reason I wanted to speak with you was because I wanted to see if you were interested in helping us solve this little problem of ours?"
For what was probably the third time in the span of few minutes, this man stunned Hiccup, was he really offering Hiccup the chance to help the U.S. Government figure out a problem that even they were having a hard time solving. This did not seem real, and it took every ounce of restraint on Hiccup's part not to slap himself, but he knew that the man across from him and the offer he just extended was completely genuine.
"You," Hiccup gestured to him with a nod of his head, "want me to help you guys decode this message?"
"Couldn't have said it any better myself, so what do you say kid?" He asked.
Hiccup tried to find the right words to convey, however, his mind was still going well over a million miles an hour so the only thing that came out of his mouth, without any consideration of the implications was a simple… "Sure."
"Excellent, we'll get you sorted out here in no time but first, I don't believe we've formally introduced ourselves." He said extending a hand, "Agent Benjamin Philips."
"Hiccup Haddock." He said as he shook hands with Philips.
As this was going on, things were a scramble back at the Haddock residence, Stoick was currently pacing around his living room talking on his phone with an obvious air of impatience filling the room.
"Alright, is there anything that you can tell me?" He demanded to the person on the other end.
While Stoick and Valka were still recoiling from what happened to their son, they managed to get back to some state of routine, but they never let it stop them from trying to find out what happened, why it happened and more importantly, where was Hiccup. Then, as if by design, the two got a voicemail from Hiccup, he sounded distressed and even though it was only a few seconds long, Hiccup was able to tell them that he was being watched by soldiers in a military aircraft but had no idea where he was going before the message ended with what sounded like a door being forced open. That message ignited something in the two of them, even that faint clue was enough to tell them that Hiccup was in trouble, and they needed to find a way to get to him.
The two of them were able to take an extended leave of absence from their respective jobs and spent most of their time tracking whatever leads they can, luckily, they had some contacts that they could look to. However, even with the resources available, the two were finding it to be very difficult to track their son, seems like whatever is going on with their son, the powers at be seemed very keen in covering their tracks.
"How can you not know, you're in air traffic control," Stoick said with evident frustration as the other talker kept going, "I don't care if it's considered classified, you honestly can't tell me which direction it was going!?"
After listening for a few more seconds, Stoick decided to end his line of questioning and hung up the phone. Pinching the bridge of his nose he took a deep breath to keep his temper under control, when he managed to get it to a reasonable level, he heard taking coming from the kitchen. Heading in he found his wife sitting at the table talking on the phone. As she was doing so, Stoick noticed dejected-looking Toothless laying his head on Valka's lap as she absently petted him, ever since Hiccup was taken, the poor pooch was pretty much inconsolable. He would lie around the house, only moving to eat and do his business.
"Alright…thanks for trying anyway…talk to you later." She said hanging up the phone, after which she slumped back in her chair in a sigh.
"No luck?" He asked knowing full well the answer.
"I spoke with the head of the K9 Unit, she owes me a favor for helping them train their police dogs." Valka explained, "I asked her if there were any records when Hiccup was arrested, but she couldn't find any, furthermore the officers involved were sworn to secrecy, apparently it was labelled as classified."
"That's exactly what my contact at air traffic control said, apparently whatever's going on, someone is keeping it hush hush." Stoick said.
Valka sighed again as she leaned forward, covering her eyes with one have while the other was preoccupied with Toothless. Stoick hated seeing his wife like this, he knew that she would not give up until they found their son, she was normally the sweetest woman in the world, however, mess with her child and she'll go full one mama bear in an instant. Walking over to her, he placed a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to look at him, Stoick could see the bags under her eyes from lack of sleep, granted, his eyes probably did not look any better.
"Don't worry Val, we'll find him, I won't rest until our son is home." He said and felt a pang of relief as he saw her manage a faint smile at his conviction.
They both looked down when they heard a soft growing sound and saw Toothless looking up at them with a look of determination, apparently, Valka was not the only one Stoick was inspiring, with a smile, the large man scratched Toothless on the back.
"You got that right boy, we'll find him, we just need to keep trying." He explained.
At that moment, the front door burst open, and Gobber came rushing in as fast as his prosthetic would allow him to, he made a beeline for the kitchen causing the two to look at him with both surprise and interest.
"I think I got a lead on Hiccup." He said approaching the table while waving a notepad in his hand.
The declaration immediately caused the two to perk up more than a double shot of espresso every could. "Are you serious Gobber?" Stoick asked, unable to keep the hope out of his voice.
"You better believe it, after you told me about the message, I made a call, you remember my friend Mulch?" He asked.
"The one in the Air Force?" Stoick asked.
"Yeah, that one," Gobber confirmed. "I told him what was going on and he did a little diggin'." Gobber explained.
"What did he find?" Valka asked.
"Well, from what he told me, they're keepin' it off the books, however, he was able to get me some info which I have right here." He said putting the notepad on the table.
Stoick and Valka looked at the notepad, the letters were a little sloppy but legible, indicating that that it was written in a hurry and the message stated, Valet 0129- heading Southwest, either Nevada or California.
"What does this mean Gobber?" Stoick asked.
"Valet 0129 was the callsign of the plane that Hiccup most likely was on, he was able get a quick peek at the travel logs and saw that it was the only plane that left the airport within a few hours of Hiccup being taken." Gobber explained.
"This is incredible Gobber." Valka said, trying to keep the tears out of her eyes as she hugged the woodshop teacher.
"Don't worry about it Val, I care about that boy almost as much as you do and I want to help anyway I can." Gobber said.
"Well, I can definitely say that this is very helpful Gobber." Stoick said clapping him on the shoulder. "What about the other part of the message?"
"Unfortunately, he was only able to get that much info before there was a risk of being found out, he knows the plane is heading southwest and those states are the most likely destinations, but he wasn't sure." He explained. "He told me he would keep his eyes peeled and that I should call him in a few days."
"Either way it's the best lead with got," Stoick said as he left the kitchen and heading upstairs.
After a few minutes he came back with a duffle bag with some clothing already packed into it a little haphazardly.
"Stoick, what are you doing?" Gobber asked.
"What does it look like, I'm going to get my son back." Stoick said.
Gobber was surprised how quickly it took his friend to get into action but was not going to try and stop him, "In that case I'm going with ya." He stated.
"Good to hear because I was going to ask you to come, I need whatever information Mulch can find as soon as possible." Stoick explained.
The next few minutes were a whirlwind of activity as Stoick grabbed whatever he thought he would need before he and Gobber entered the garage and made a beeline for Stoick's SUV. In Stoick's mind the plan was simple, stop by Gobber's so he could grab whatever he needed and move on from there, hoping that they will have a clearer destination by the time they got there. As he was loading the car, he saw Valka walking out with he own duffle bag and a determined look in her eyes.
"Val, what are you doing?" Stoick asked even though he already knew the answer.
"I'm coming with you two." She said, stating it as a stone-cold fact.
"No Val," Stoick said in what would most likely be a vain attempt to convince his wife. "This could be dangerous, and I don't want you…" He started but was stopped when Valka held up a finger.
"Don't even think about it Stoick, I'm going to get my son back and that's the end of it." She said in a tone that left no room for argument.
A miniscule part of Stoick wanted to try to convince Valka that it may be dangerous, however, he knew all too well that she was not going to stand by when their son could very well be in danger and if he was being honest with himself, he would not have it any other way.
"Alright, hop in." He said with a faint smile which earned him one in return from Valka as she got into the passenger seat.
Meanwhile, as Gobber was thinking what he might need to bring, he felt something nudging his leg, looking down he saw Toothless looking up at him expectantly.
"Let me guess, you want to come to?" He asked.
Toothless responded by with a bark of affirmation, Gobber looked across the car to Stoick who just gave him a shrug which caused Gobber to roll his eyes before opening the rear driver's side door.
"Hop in you furball." He said as Toothless jumped in with Gobber following.
With everyone, plus one dog, loaded in, Stoick started the car, pulled out of the driveway took off down the street on what would hopefully be a successful rescue mission. As this was going on, a few houses down the street at the Hofferson residence, a certain blonde girl was currently doing some homework in her room. As Astrid typed away on her laptop, she could not help but think about what had happened to Hiccup. Ever since he was taken by that S.W.A.T. team, there were a lot of speculation and rumors spreading around school. Some of those rumors included rather farfetched hypotheses that was arrested for crimes like money laundering, attempting to hack into the U.S. Reserve to running a site on the dark web where he sold people exotic animal meat.
Astrid did not believe any of them but nevertheless could stop herself from wondering what had happened to Hiccup. Aside from one date, she really did not know a lot about him, however, he seemed like a very nice guy so the idea that he was doing something illicit was very hard to believe but she could not come up with many alternatives. As she was pondering this, her screen began to flicker, it was minor at first, but then it quickly started distorting more erratically until it went completely black.
"What the hell?" She said to herself.
Before she could anything else, however, her screen came back to life but not with here assignments, instead all she saw were scrolling symbols in a language that she did not recognize.
Hey all, I am really sorry for not updating, but now, I…am…back!