* * *
The moon cast a soft glow on the perfect looking neighborhood street. The houses were all lined up in an orderly fashion down a straight road, and even the sidewalk was immaculate, with no cracks or chips that could be seen. Large, overgrown trees dotted the landscape, creating dark leering shadows over the houses.
Johnny and Nancy walked along the sidewalk. Every third house they passed was the exact same model, leaving only three distinct types of homes in the neighborhood. Most of the houses on the street had their lights off, hinting at the lateness of the hour.
“That one is mine,” Johnny pointed to a house that looked mostly like all the others. “Looks like dad’s asleep.”
“Your father lets you stay up this late on a school night?” Nancy asked.
“I’m a spy, staying out late is part of the job description, Seventy-Seven.” He used her spy name in a mocking tone, trying to get back at her for making fun of his own.
“Besides, he usually goes to sleep early. Lots of stress at work gets him tired.”
As soon as he had said it, a light went on in the house.
“Guess he’s up; going to have to sneak in again,” said Johnny.
“What about your mom?” she asked.
Johnny looked down at the ground as they walked, suddenly getting quiet. Nancy realized that something was wrong, and thought it would be wise to give him his space.
They stopped walking and stood in front of his house. Johnny looked over at it. The house was small, as houses go, but it looked comfortable and cozy.
“My mom passed away a couple of years ago,” Johnny finally said. “When I was thirteen.”
“I’m sorry,” Nancy reached out her hand and placed it on his shoulder.
“It’s been me and my dad since then. He does what he can, but sometimes he doesn’t really know how to be a mom. Especially at dinner time,” Johnny said as he watched his house.
Nancy finally took her hand back. “Does he know what you do?”
Johnny almost laughed out loud.
“No way. If he found out I’d never be able to keep doing it. Being a spy isn’t exactly a normal thing for someone still going to school.”
Johnny turned to look at her. “Do your parents know?”
“No. Well, I don’t really know who my real parents are,” Nancy admitted.
“How can you not know who your real parents are?”
“I was adopted,” she informed him. “There’s no way they would be able to sleep at night if they knew I was out fighting crime.”
Johnny nodded in silence.
“I guess we’re a lot like each other,” Johnny thought out loud.
“In your dreams,” she informed him.
“I was trying to make you feel better. Like you could almost be in the same league as me,” Johnny shot back.
“We didn’t do that great tonight, the Super Chip got away,” Nancy said.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get it back. Besides, it’s just a little Super Chip, no big deal.”
“It is a big deal if you consider that with something that powerful, a normal computer could hack into and overrun any security network on the planet, giving the user access to funds, secrets, weapons, even nuclear weapons,” Nancy said, a worried expression coming over her face.
“Like I said, it’s no big deal,” Johnny tried to lighten the mood.
She smiled uneasily back. It was such a small thing, the Super Chip. It couldn’t outright attack anyone, or be used to physically harm anything. It was hard to believe that it presented much of a danger at all. But that only increased its deceptive threat. The Super Chip would act like a cancer, starting small and unnoticed, and slowly growing and tightening its hold until there was no way to separate it and no way to stop it. From a small nothing to a world shaking monster, the United Order would use the Chip to make all technological security obsolete. They would be in every corporation, every network, and inside every home. They wouldn’t be hacking into the system, they would be the system, and everyone else would be at their mercy.
Nancy stepped away, getting ready to leave.
“Hey, where are you going?” Johnny asked.
“Home.”
“Where do you live?” he asked.
“Just a few streets down,” she motioned with her hand.
Johnny looked down the street, at the shadows and the swaying tree branches.
“It’s late, I should walk you.”
“I walked you home today, you can walk me home next time,” she informed him.
“But it’s late, and you’re a girl, it’s not safe,” he pressed the issue.
“You mean it’s not safe around me. Are you already forgetting how I saved you back at the warehouse?” she asked.
“I would have taken care of all of them,” Johnny started.
“You would have, I’m sure of that beyond any doubt, but you didn’t have to because I was there,” Nancy stated boldly.
She reached behind and pulled out an odd looking device. It had a small handle, with three tubes extending out of it, and a large trigger just off the handle.
“That looks like a cool gadget,” Johnny stated, his eyes instantly drawn to the technological wonder in her hands.
“Being a spy isn’t about cool gadgets and names,” she said again.
“It’s half of it, or most of it anyway,” Johnny insisted, never taking his eyes off the device. “How does it work, what does it do?”
“Let me show you,” she leaned in close, very close, Johnny noticed as he felt a flutter in his stomach, and showed him the device. She then pointed it at the trees and said, “Go go gadget…” she stopped short, noticing the look on his face and burst out laughing.
“Actually, you just push this button,” she managed to say, after she got control over her laughter.
“That’s what I thought,” Johnny returned, doing his best to look and act as cool as possible after she was done laughing at him, again.
She pointed the small, hand held device at the branch of a nearby tree.
She pushed the button and a small grapnel shot out of the three tubes and attached itself to the tree trunk.
“See you at school, Johnny Breakfast.”
With a whoosh, Nancy zipped up off the ground and disappeared into the depths of the trees.
“It’s B. Fast!” Johnny called after her.