Beeping...where are those sounds coming from? Oh the pain!! Is that my body that hurts so bad? Where--where am I?
Sam opened her eyes, but nothing was in focus. Everything was out of whack, like her brain could not process what her body was telling her. She let her concern fade as she took inventory of her senses. Taste. Ugh, she had blood in her mouth. Smell? Sweat and fear. Touch? Even worse than the nasty taste of blood, every inch of her body hurt. Sight? She already knew that one. She couldn't see, but that particular sense was making a comeback. All that was left was her hearing. She couldn't really hear anything at the moment, except for the stupid beeping. She decided to sit up.
Nausea swept over her and she had to lie back down twice before she could sit up properly without feeling sick. She looked around. She was sitting on a table in a room full of servers and six-by-six holo terminals. This was the type of room that came right out of the Vii-theaters, a place so high tech it was alien. She knew this room; well, of this room at least. This was where the central mainframe was located. This place acted as the brain of the entire city complex. Why was she here? Sam moved her attention back to the holo terminals and saw one of them alive and kicking.
Richard was standing in a glowing space, moving screen projection after screen projection around as he scanned each of them. The glow of the conductor's hands, a special glove used to interface with the holo terminals, was making him look like some sort of raver at a party. Programming codes, vid feeds, gauges, and charts of all kind swirled around him as he called out commands in a knowing and authoritative voice. He moved about, inputting and taking information at light speed through hand and voice.
Sam got to her feet and instantly felt woozy. She stumbled and was saved from a full crash only by catching the corner of a nearby desk. Once she felt right again she moved forward.
"Richard?"
Richard didn't turn around. He simply answered, "Sam."
Sam paused. He had just called her Sam. He never called her Sam. What was going on with him?
"Richard, what are you doing?"
Again he didn't turn around. "I am clearing out some very sloppy security jamming protocols and hiccup routines within the school's anti-terrorist shield program. No one is going to know what's happening unless I can cut off their communications expert; otherwise our chances of calling in the cavalry are close to zero. If I can re-route the system, the security protocols will kick in and the state police will be alerted. I need to enable at least one more interface so I can hack the system remotely again. At the moment it's keeping me and at least two other hackers out of the system. I'm fighting with them and the system. Now, Sam?"
"Uh--yes?"
"Shut up. I need to concentrate."
Sam's jaw dropped. Again. He just told her to shut up!
"You just told me to shut up."
"Yes I did. Was I unclear as to my meaning?"
"No but--but you never talk to me that way."
"And look where it's gotten me."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
He didn't answer her, and once again she was left in bafflement, at a loss as to what to say next.
Richard. What happened to you? she thought.
Something in Sam's peripheral vision caught her attention and she turned. Vid feeds from various parts of the building played on the few screens that were still active. One particularly large screen showed the Western Hall. Sam crept closer. The hall was unrecognizable. Sam inspected the image on the screen, running a keen eye over it. The hall was destroyed, mangled beyond belief and repair. How did that happen?
"That part of the Western Hall was pressurized."
Richard's voice didn't sound like it was talking to her, but to the empty space in front of him. She answered regardless. "And how do you know that?"
"Because I pressurized it." Richard finally looked at her, moving one of the screen projection boxes out of his way. "The school has a locking and pressurizing system in case of biological attacks. Using that system was the contingency in case we were spotted and attacked. It's quite difficult to maintain battle formations when you're being sucked through holes in walls. "
His gaze bored into her like it never had previously. The look scared her slightly. "So what now?"
Richard moved the screen projection back impeding her view of his face. "Now we get out and run like hell."
"Why?"
"MESA."
Boom.
The room started to shake, tossing Sam and Richard causing them to stagger.
"What was that?" Sam braced herself. "Do they have an earthquake machine or something?"
Richard steadied himself on the rails of the holo terminal. He almost laughed an ironic sort of laugh. One more thing Sam wasn't sure how to take.
"Richard, you're scaring me. They really don't have an earthquake machine, do they?" Sam asked again.
He went back to his work. "It doesn't matter. We're getting out of--Yes!"
A surge lit up the room, actually making the dome light above their heads brighter. Sam didn't know what it was, but whatever Richard just did collected around them. She could feel it on her skin. The gauges on Richard's screen projections skyrocketed upward from black to yellow, orange, and finally red. A bunch of equipment around the room sprang to life and went to work doing unknown tasks. The area buzzed with artificial life.
"Come on." Richard stepped from the terminal and picked up her bag. "Take this."
He handed it to her. She took it and then looked from him to the bag and back to him. He studied her.
She felt the corners of the box. It was still there. The cursed thing was still snuggled neatly at the bottom of her bag. Perhaps now was the time to show Richard. Maybe he could make sense of the thing and tell her...and tell her if this box was what they were looking for.
Richard picked up his tablet and still wearing the conductor gloves, he took four or five swipes at the holo terminal, pulling the information to it. Satisfied, he addressed Sam.
"It's time to go. We have the intel, power connections, and escape route set. We've got a chance now."
"We've got a chance of what?" she asked, confused.
"A chance to get out of here alive." Richard pulled up different feeds from the various cameras, all of which were suddenly working. "You see these men?"
Sam nodded.
"These men are part of a special unit from the Jade Empire. They are called Móguǐ. It means Devil. They come in as ghosts and don't leave anyone alive. Any person – man, woman, or child – who sees these men are dead, no exception."
Sam glanced half heartedly at the tablet, then jerked it out of Richard's hand and felt her heart jump into her throat. Adam was running full speed down the hallway, the Móguǐ right on his tail, light shivs at the ready.
"Richard, look!" Sam showed him the feed. "They're after him! We've got to help him!"
Richard pulled the tablet back from her. "What are you talking about, Sam?"
"The Móguǐ, they're after Adam. They're going to kill him!"
"Sam, it's too dangerous for you to--argh!"
Sam, without thinking, kicked Richard in the crotch. He buckled forward in pain.
"I'm so sorry Richard. I'm so, so, so sorry. But you aren't going to let me go and I can't let Adam die. It's been so great having you as a best friend. I couldn't have asked for a better one. I wish...I just wish that...well, you know."
Sam bent down and kissed Richard on the cheek. It was extremely cool to the touch. She ran out of the room, taking the tablet with her.