Markus woke from his sleep due to the electrocution of the stun gun and noticed that he cannot move from his seat.
"What's going on?" He muttered.
He was tightly wrapped on the chair using duct tape facing a computer set with a big monitor. He tried to shake the wrap, but he cannot get off it. He scanned the room and saw another monitor was lighted up on the opposite side of the lane, facing his unit. He took his gaze on the other lighted area in the room, the counter.
"Just as I thought, you're part of it..." he cannot believe what he's seeing but a familiar person sat on the counter touching the virtual glasses hanging on his neck. He tried to make his voice loud and said "...Louige-ni-san" but instead, a remorseful voice came out.
"I'm so sorry, Markus. I was dragged into a pinch. How I wish I can do this without dragging you with me, but....how did you know I was behind all this?" Louige tried to wash his hands off but he knows he cannot fool Markus.
"How, you ask? Because I have the access, right? I knew something's off, I just can't blurt it right away without seeing proof that is why I played along."
"Since when?" Louige asked.
"Since my last night at Orion." Markus blatantly said. "Phantom 1.0 should have eradicated the intrusion in the System but instead, it still made its way in."
Louige felt a heavy load in his chest and looked remotely at the kid.
"I could never imagine that happening because I know what my program can do. It's true I haven't found out who the real culprit is but I knew you were up to something. Thus, I made my way out of the building and tried to resolve the other issue. That code we both saw from the hacker's letter."
"I never doubted you," Louige replied with a coarse voice. "I know you can find this lair and--"
"I know you've got your own reasons. Even so, I got this, I'll finish this quick, Louige-nii-san." Markus declared.
"That's great..." the hacker said, sounding concerned. "...but, you cannot win this game, Markus. Because, this game was made for you to lose!" he laughed.
An android came near Markus and put on his headgear. The gear was the latest edition of ORION's headgears for 3D gaming, the Gaea. It has 3 ports where one will be connected to the source of electricity, the other will be connected to the computer set, and the other for special devices.
When the gear was already placed on his head, a voice gave him instructions. The gear scanned his brain to use his image in the game as an avatar. An infrared light scanned him and he saw himself as his avatar, ready to be sent inside the game.
"I never thought you will step into this means just to defeat me." He said to the hacker though he lost track of his surrounding since he's looking at the virtual world.
"I have my own reasons aside from beating you up, kid!" the hacker replied.
"You were right. I have seen many stuff, info about this farce. But, I cannot let you do your will."
"And I won't let you either." He stood on his chair to see the struggling face of his opponent, though it is half-covered by the gear. "This is where you will lose, Markus." He eyed Markus, now with a smug on his face.
"I will not let you have your way, Kirk!" Markus replied with his brows crossed.
"Hahaha!, Don't be ridiculous,, before the game had started, you're already on the losing side. Now, let's start this crap!"
Kirk hit a key on the keyboard and static was heard on every speaker of the computer units inside the cafe. A flow of electricity suddenly manifests on the cables and a few wires had sparked. A moment later, Markus felt that everyone inside the cafe, including Louige, fell from where they are to the floor except for him and Kirk.
"You can enter the battlefield now; the stage is set!" Kirk boasted and hurriedly sat on his seat and wear his headgear, laughing in excitement and he hit the "ENTER" key on his computer.
.....
"Ol' man? Can't we go faster?" Dave whined. He pushed himself on the front seat to see the road upfront and urge the driver. "You said as fast as you can, right?!"
"Can't you be silent in any way, Dave?!" Cassy pulled him back to his seat beside her. "Don't panic, you idiot!"
"We.. We're being chased by the 2 Androids riding that blue monster truck with guns on their hands shooting at us, hhhk." Dave got down as a bullet struck itself on the back shield window of the car. "How can YOU not panic, Cass?!"
"Just get down kids. They'll shoot at us more times, so just get your heads low." the driver instructed. "We need to lose them and get to Markus as fast as we can, right? And I still have to avoid the debris that might cause us delay and accident. Are you two okay back there?" he asked, desperately stirring the wheel.
"Ahh,, it seems that we're still fine," Cassandra replied, crouched on her seatbelt. "Dave's the only one throwing a ruckus."
"I'm so sorry about that!" Dave replied sarcastically and eyed his friend. "But, how did you get here, Mr. Reiko? You didn't got unconscious like the rest of the city." he asked.
"Ahh. I was entering the city by the by-pass bridge when suddenly my phones rang." He turned right and went straight fast. The monster truck is still on their tail. "...I wasn't able to take it because the car in front of me lost control so I prioritized evading it." He went silent for a few seconds since the wheels skid sideways. "..when I reached the phone, the ring ended and I stopped the car. When I get out to see what's happening, all of these things confronted me." He went to the left and entered the train rails, he continued driving. "I scanned the area with the GPS in my laptop, and got these frequencies from Apollo but I cannot overwrite it from there. I need to get to ORION to forcibly stop the system or I can get help from others. But I did neither of it because I can't contact them." he took a right turn and he saw that they lost their pursuers."That's when I receive a call from Ned, on a special frequency we used to navigate things not so long ago, and told me everything. That's why I went to pick the two of you because you have something to deliver to my son, right?"
"That's why we have to hurry ol' man... Marky might be in trouble by now." Dave urged.
"Knowing him, that's not impossible." Cassandra looked far out the window and saw the changing lights in the chaotic city. The holograms that once made the city beautiful was now in ruins.
"Don't worry, I know that. That's why, I'm gonna go faster. Here I go." Reiko stepped on the gas and they drove faster towards the place where Markus is having the decisive battle.
Reiko turned on the left corner of the street and hit a water post. Their car turned three times and the wheels skid on the dark asphalt. Reiko managed to drift the car to the right avoiding the debris on the road until they hit a garbage bin and happen to stop their car on a nearby boutique with broken window glasses. All of them inside the car stumbled and lose their senses.
"Uhhhg..." they all wailed.
After a while, Dave opened the side mirror and puked while Cassandra had done her thing inside the car. Reiko shook his head to ease his dizziness and when he came to his senses, he saw the ranging car going straight to their way, guns aimed at them.
"Kids,,, hurry up and run fast! Let's get out of the car NOW!" Reiko opened the door and went outside. He immediately pulled the door on the back seat and dragged Dave and Cassandra out. "They're here..."
They ran for cover on an open Dress shop through the broken window and hide.
Reiko looked around and saw the Androids firing at them but they were people counter firing the enemies.
"Charlie?!" he exclaimed. He was surprised that the ones defending them are people from the Bureau.
"Reiko! Kids!" Charlotte shouted as she continued shooting. She ran towards them and went inside to talk to them.
"I'm glad you're all fine!" Charlotte hugged Dave and Cassandra. "I'm worried about you kids, you know." she added. "Markus has been so worried about you, too."
"We're fine, thanks to Mr. Reiko." Cassandra answered. "How did you know we were coming, aunt Charlie?"
"Ken and Brent told me what you kids are up to." Charlotte replied. She faced Reiko and said, "Thanks, for taking care of these two... I'm really grateful." with tears in her eyes.
"That's nothing, I did the right thing. But, what's the situation here? Where's Markus?" Reiko's expression changed from exhaustion to fright.
"As you can see, we're in a dire pinch, but about Marky, I don't know. He entered the café for around 30 minutes now. A few minutes ago a strong static ran through the cables and the others went knocked out. We managed to stay awake that is why we're still holding these Androids at bay that kept on adding their number since we started fighting them. I wonder how long we can still continue to fight with---..." she was stopped by the Captain as he placed his arms around Charlotte's neck.
"So you're saying You, Edson and I are not enough to beat the crap out of those stupid bastards, huh, Charlotte?" the captain said sarcastically but she thought it was just him being overly confident.
"Ahh,,...not really, But Cap. Kevin!" Charlotte said
"You know Charlie, we have been through different dire situations, maybe not like this one, but we managed to win our way out. That is why have faith in us. We can do this." Edson reloaded his magazine and aimed to fire.
She tried to reason out, after all, Charlotte is the only one capable of doing so in their team. But when she saw the flame on Kevin's eyes and the determination on Edson's, she managed to take her words back and said, "I understand, I'll be counting on you." She gave them a reassuring smile.
"Of course!" the two said in unison, went back to their post, and took aim.
She faced Reiko and the others and said, "We'll hold them here, I'll leave Markus to you guys."
"Ahh!" Reiko said confidently "You can count on me!".
"Bring my son back safe." She said and Reiko nodded without a hint of doubt.
The three went outside the shop and entered the alley going to the Sunny. But before he went on with the kids in front he stopped for a second and said, "Stay safe, I'll take care of our son." with a smile.
......
They ran fast to the alley and went straight to the café. They entered the half-opened door and saw the dim room lit by few monitors and the static that frequently appear on the cables on the ceilings.
"Ahh, so dark... damn,,, I can't see a thing...." Dave mumbled.
"Shhh... silence, Dave," Cassandra whispered.
They slowly took a step forward gawking on the corners of the café.
"Watch your back, kids..." Reiko said.
They walked further inside towards the monitors that were lit in the middle of the café when suddenly, Dave had stepped on something lying on the floor.
"Wha---" he was about to shout when Cassandra brought her palm on Dave's mouth to shut him up. "Shh!!" Cassandra gestured placing her pointer finger on her lips "Shut up, Dave!"
"Ouch.." said the voice coming from the thing Dave had stepped on.
"What is this,, who is this person?" Dave asked kneeling to see who it was.
Reiko's eyes adjusted on the dim light and took a good look at the person lying on the floor.
"Louige-kun??" he said "What happened here? What happened to you?" Reiko took his hand and made him sit but he crawled out in pain. "What happened?" he added.
Reiko felt something hot on Louige's back. He checked what he just touched and he saw Louige's crimson blood on his hands.
"What's this? Louige, hang in there!" Reiko held him tighter on his arms but Louige grasp his sleeve and hardly said,
"This is nothing, go get Markus, sir. He needs your help badly." He whispered with all his strength left.
"But..." Reiko tried to argue. He wanted to help his adopted son. Seeing Louige bathe in blood and on the brink of death, he wanted to run outside and ask for help. But then he realized, Louige wanted him to do the more important thing. He needed to save his own son.
"Go Sir, Markus needs you now, this is what you wanted for the longest time, right?" Louige coughed blood and grasped his breath. "I'm not gonna die with a bullet on my back. Go save YOUR Son, dad."
"I already know where Marky is!" Cassandra exclaimed after getting close to the units.
Reiko looked into Louige's eyes and said, "I'll get you back. Stay here and stay alive." He placed him on the side near the wall and went off to save his son. "I'm coming now, Markus. Hang in there!"
They went straight to the center of the café on plain sight. In a blink of an eye, 2 Androids showed and pointed their guns at them. They evaded the bullets by hiding under the computer units but they're still in danger. The Androids blocked their way to get near Markus.
"What should we do?" Dave asked.
"We have to separate." Cassandra said.
"Ahh, I agree. We need someone to get their attention and the others will get to Markus and hand him the Phantom Algorithm." Reiko added.
"I agree. Ja---" Dave mumbled
"I will destruct their attention." Reiko exclaimed
"No, ol' man. We will destruct their attention. It will be difficult to have 2 against 1, you know." Cassandra explained
"Yeah!" Dave said in surprise. "Yeah?" but it turned into confusion after a while.
"But, it's too dangerous." Reiko said, "...and I promised to Charlotte that I will protect the two of you."
"You don't really hold responsibility for us, Mr. Reiko. We understand the situation. Your son needs you more than we do. Besides, when it comes to computer stuff, we only know the basics." Cassandra prepared her gear and grasp her weapon "...and, I guess they're out of bullets...so... we will be fine. Markus needs you more than us."
"That's it. So, just leave it to us, Mr. Reiko. You can pay us with cakes later." Dave said with a wink.
"Dave...." Cassandra shook her head out of disappointment, but her smirk turned into a smile. She thought of how blessed she has been for having friends like Dave and Markus. Even in dire situations like what she was in right now, she was glad she was able to be of some help.
"Thanks a lot Dave, Cassandra, I owe you one." Reiko patted their heads "...rest assured, I will treat you with all the cakes you want after all these ends. It's a promise."
"Ja, take this with you, ol' man." Dave handed him the flash drive containing the Phantom Algorithm. "Then, let's start this rumble!" Dave shouted and charged at the Androids searching for them under the computer shelves while Reiko ran towards his son.