In the midst of the commotion, the three dashed towards the nearest exit on the fire escape they spotted on the way fronting the stall from the computer shop they're in.
They opened the door and saw a staircase about 3 feet high going outside the building to an alley exiting to the highway. They went out and run towards the main street.
"You two alright?" Markus asked catching his breath, coughing to clear his throat after inhaling all the smoke from the explosion inside the building. He looked back and saw the panic engulfing and the whole mall area.
"Ahh,, somehow..." Cassandra answered, still catching her breath. She looked around and heard people screaming and wailing in shock.
"I'm fine, here." Dave added "...hardly breathing tho..." he leaned down, resting his hands on his knees. "But fine."
"That's good, then we have to get going." Marks said as he walked straight going west. "Looks like we have to hurry in getting the Phantom Algorithm at my house."
"But that was around 5 Zones away from here!" Cassandra said. "We can't just fly to Zone 11 in an instant."
"We don't have any other choice but to go, Cass." Marks replied. He grasped his collar to somehow ease his breathing. "That's my only chance to end all this."
"Anyway, let's just keep going. We're not having a valid argument here." Dave patted his friend's shoulders and faced the direction they're going. "We've agreed to help him out so we've got to find a way to get there somehow."
Markus looked up and sighed. He was trying to clear his mind and read what the enemy might be thinking in their situation. "I need to stop him somehow..." he said.
"You said you need your PA but how will that change our situation?" Cassandra muttered. She went to a light post and laid her back.
"I need to.... Think the way he does." Markus replied.
The two exchanged looks before staring at the kid. They all stopped walking.
"What? I don't understand, Marky." Dave raised his hand in question, like someone reciting in class.
"I mean, I will put myself in his shoes and think what my next move will be if I were him," Markus explained.
"Ahh... And then?" Cassandra added. "How will that help?"
"... as I was saying... after all he has done, maybe the next thing he will do is to control the humans..." Markus said.
"Ne, Marky? Have you hit your head?" Dave said. He went to check his friend's head and patted him all over his body. "You aren't hurt or anything, right?"
"That would be impossible even if you explain it with all your might." Cassandra rolled her eyes.
"No, I mean." Markus faced his friends and tried to make himself clear. He walked past and through his friends, saying, "First is the school explosion, next is the mall ruckus."
The two coined their eyes on him.
"If we escalate the matter, if he wants to cause a bigger scene, that would be by controlling the people in the city." Markus stopped between his friends and threw his arms on their necks.
"But, how will he control the human brain? Is that even possible? " Cassandra asked.
"It's simple ... he can probably do that if he will gain control on a massive transmitter and give a mass number of programmed waves," Markus explained. "Given his amount of control with the building in the city, it is not impossible if he controls a tower or two."
"Programmed waves??" Cassandra exclaimed. She escaped from his arms.
"Even if it's possible, how will those waves reach the brains?" Dave asked. "I can't even start to understand how that works."
"Didn't you said it a while ago, Dave?" Markus eyes him. "Anything can happen under a clear sky. There is no buff in Internet highway with this kind of day."
"Did I just jinx stuff?" Dave slapped his own mouth and looked worried.
"Look, I don't know how he'll send those waves yet, but in the meantime, we need to get to my house and get that file." Markus turned around and started walking. "I have something in mind where to use that to defeat that bastard."
"Ahh..." the two agreed and followed Markus going west from the Mall area.
When they reached the 5 Zone Intersection, every gadget around them from people all around the area, even tablets and laptops ring their tones all at once.
Criiiing!
"Now, what the hell is happening?' Dave asked halting from all the commotion. He looked around, looking more confused. He grabbed his phone outside his pocket and stared at it, ringing ferociously.
"I don't like the feel of this." Cassandra reached her phone as well and felt the vibration.
They showed their gadgets out and confusingly stared at them. Markus felt a sour liquid on his chest and opened his laptop. He tried to analyze what was happening by connecting to the nearest Orion server.
The two just stared at their phones, waiting for Markus to say a word.
"Wait! Don't answer it, it's a trap!" Markus yelled.
But, the other people around them who heard what he said did not listen to him. Only Dave and Cassandra slowly brought down their phones and placed them on the ground.
"Hai..hai... but, wha..." Cassandra did not finish her question.
All other who answered their phones, tablets, and any other gadgets collapsed on the floor. Everyone became unconscious except the three on them who did not take the call.
"What the..." Dave said.
"...hell happened, ne, Marky? Cassandra continued.
The two stared at each other blankly as the whole city was engulfed with silence.
"It was the trap! I found some malicious software around the hot spot trying to get through my system and it appears to be dangerous. Apparently, I don't know what will really happen but I know it was a bad omen." Markus explained
"Then, what happened to all of these people? ... only us..." Cassandra said with her hands shaking.
"...us... remained" Markus continued "I know. But I don't know why."
"... ne, what are we going to do now, Marky?" Dave said, trembling from the shock of seeing everyone collectively collapsed in front of them.
They exchanged looks and a sudden chain of events occurred.
Because of the people being unconscious due to the synchronic calls from an unknown server, accidents are inevitable.
A trailer truck suddenly went out of the lane and banged on the nearest building setting the whole place on fire. A huge oil tank was approaching from the west went off course and stumbled on the van blocking the whole 8 lanes. Because of that, small cars and motorcycles crashed into it. Oil was spilling from the tank. A chopper that flies above the city for a supply delivery crashed at the top of a 4 story building, setting it on fire.
"We need to get far from here,, everything will explode!" Markus pointed at the oil spilling from the truck and make their way out from the busy street.
They ran atop on most bodies that lie on the ground, unconscious. Cassandra was saying "Sorry" for everybody she had stepped on just to make their way out from the street. Dave and Markus were running heavily trying to find the safest route they can place themselves in and hide.
"I wonder if the others will be safe in this situation." Cassandra stopped running, catching her breath.
"They'll be fine as of the moment, but I don't know later or what will that wave bring to everyone. But unless we defeat the hacker, we cannot save everyone from this." Markus said
"How did he even do that?" Cassandra asked, "I mean the Hacker, does he have something to send those signals and interfere with everyone's gadgets?"
"It's clear that he got hold of a very important and powerful satellite, a tower perhaps. If my hunch was right, he got accessed on the Apollo tower that sends 60% of the signal around the city area."
"The Apollo?! But that's insane!" Cassy exclaimed. "That tower at Zone 17, south from here was a very well-guarded tower of Orion, right? There is no possibility of it being high jacked."
"I know. But I found some unusual waves passing on that network as I opened my computer when the ring started. It's a unique wave that was sent to the brain via call and will make the brain stop working because of the stimulus that took over the usual ones. That will lead to a sudden stop of the body's activities. And that will only happen if you send that from the Apollo tower, the largest satellite in the ground made by ORION for the city's security and connection stuff." Markus said.
"Ja,, How did he even get to lay his hands on Apollo?" Dave asked
"I don't know." Markus sounded desperate.
"What should we do now?!? How can we make it stop? How can we..." Cassandra grabbed Markus' hem.
"Calm down, Cassy....!"
"This is bad...If that is the only option we have." Dave gave off a huge sigh. "Let's run to Markus' house and get that Phantom."
They started running again and took the next left turn towards the next street. Every people they came to pass by were unconscious. Some were on the ground, others were on the edge of where they were sitting before the call happened. Others, too, were caught in accidents both on the road and inside the buildings. Truly, havoc had purged the whole city just because of a single call that sent a unique wave blocking the brain's activity.
"We need to have some data regarding what happened a while ago..." Markus said
"But, how can we do that? I mean, because of that call, we cannot reach any other sites to ask for help, right?" Dave exclaimed.
"Ahh... you're quite right there, Dave. We don't know how far this purge had reached. I still cannot contact ORION because all the sites were down." Markus explained. "I wonder if it's just blocking the whole city's connection..."
"Like a dome, a barrier that covers the whole city?" Dave said.
"I'm afraid that's it. It might be like that protective barrier we got from Orion but the irony is, we got trapped inside it and we can't ask for help outside." Markus explained.
"But that's impossible, right? I mean, this is Aurum we're talking about? They can't just do something in the city where ORION is." Dave complained.
"I'm afraid that's the case, Dave. Now, what do we do?" Cassandra said as she slowly losing hope after seeing the whole mess around the city. "We can't ask for help, right?!"
"It's fine, Cassy. We can find a way out. Trust me." Markus reached his hand on Cassandra's shoulder as they stopped running to catch their breath.
Just as they took their breather, a sudden static hit their phones that caused them to vibrate again.
"Did you feel that?" Dave asked.
"Ahh,, something's coming again." Markus said.
And the wind started to blow cold.