Chapter 34 Wold at the door

                                                                Chapter 34




                                                              The Wolf At The Door

It was a usual Friday afternoon. In the shopping district the sidewalks were crowded; even hot weather did not discourage people from doing shopping. Here and there, gridlocked bumper to bumper, stood taxi cabs and cars. An orchestra of car horns and revving engines filled the air.

Jeremy and Aelita stood inside the local game stop, eyeballing different games and debating on the possibility of getting some source of entertainment for the weekend. Aelita was already clutching a copy of Metroid Other M for the Wii. She loved the Metroidseries ever since she first played it with Odd. She felt that she had a lot in common with the games' main character, Samus Aran. She had not only lost her parents but also fought for the fate of others and the galaxy she lived in. She thought of herself as a tragic hero like Samus.

Jeremy held two boxes in both of his hands. He glanced at one box, then at another.

"I can't decide if I want Marvel vs. Capcom 3 or Infamous 2…"

"I would say Marvel... you still haven't beaten the first Infamous," said Aelita as she continued reading the back of the Metroid game box.

"But… I heard Megaman isn't in this game, which is completely stupid. Megaman is their best video game. Why on Earth would they not include their star player?" Outraged Jeremie put Marvel vs. Capcom back on its shelf. "That's like having a Mario game without Mario in it!"

"They got Zero. He is a Megaman character, is he not?"

As Aelita said that, Jeremy reached out for the box again. However, he stopped his hand in the middle of the distance between him and the shelf.

"It's not the same... I mean, they haven't had a Megaman game in years. They need to quit stuffing Resident Evil down our throats and focus on what they are really good at."

He withdrew his hand and embraced the box with Infamous 2. He looked like he decided to buy it, even though Infamous 1 still lay on the shelf in his dorm room, barely touched.

The pair made their way to the checkout line.

"I like Resident Evil", Aelita admitted. "But I think you're right, there is no respect for the franchise they created."

"I see you have taken another Metroid game?" Jeremy commented on Aelita's choice.

As the checkout man rang up their total to 73 Euros, he handed the clerk his credit card.

"Yes!" Aelita giggled like a true fangirl. "You gotta give Nintendo credit, they don't throw their franchise away for what's hot right now…"

"You like Samus so much, why don't you dress like her?" Jeremy joked as the clerk gave him his card back together with the bill.
"I do... it's just a pink suit instead of a blue zero one, with an addition of a small clear blue skirt," Aelita smiled.

"Well, it was you who designed it."

They stepped outside and placed the games in Jeremy's backpack.

"I actually wouldn't mind a redesign, just add a little more of my original suit to it, like a mixture of old school and new school…"

Aelita pulled out a pack of gum from her pocket. She took a piece and handed Jeremy a piece as well.

As the two teens walked towards a nearby restaurant, they failed to notice the gray van parked down the street with a man in a black dress suit and black sunglasses who was watching them.

"Targets spotted heading east on 6th Street," the man said into his cell phone.

"Once they near 7th Street, Abroun and Stroffolino will move in to make the capture," a voice replied over the phone's receiver.

Outside the van, a taxi door opened and an old man with a cigarette in his mouth stepped out. He looked over and saw a man observing the two teens he had been tracking all afternoon. He realized what he was looking at. It was a snatch and grab tactic. The men in the van were going to snatch the kids and drive off before anyone couldn't even notice what exactly was going on.

The old man's instincts of an agent were infallible.

After having dinner, Jeremy and Aelita left the restaurant and walked towards the street.

"So, did you talk to Odd?" Aelita asked.

"Yeah. He and William are going later today to talk to her and let her know everything," Jeremy said as he tried to wave down a cab.

"I think she will work out well, I mean we can let her work her way into getting comfortable with the computer... She tried to help once before."

"I remember, but you know... the main problem for all of us is that we remember the problems she used to give us, even if she has changed in the past few months," Jeremy said as a cab finally pulled up.

Jeremy opened the door for Aelita and she slid in the rear driver's side seat. Jeremy stepped in and shut the door as he told the driver where to go. It escaped his attention that the driver wore a black suit and a pair of black sunglasses.

Like a taxi driver is intended to do, he flipped on the meter and pulled away from the curb.
Meanwhile, the agent in the grey van observed the situation.

"Agent Engle and Agent Curtzman are in position," he announced through the radio.

"Tell Agent Engle to move down the alley and prepare operation Kabillion," a voice spoke through the device.
In the meantime, the cab slowly weaved out of traffic as it turned left. The two children in the back continued to talk. The driver acted as if he was way too absorbed with driving to even listen to them.

"Jeremy… That band Green Day is coming to Amines soon. How about going to their show?" Aelita asked as she wrapped her arm around his.

"Until these, uh, matters are taken care of, I don't think we should try it," Jeremy opposed.

"But… you said it yourself that we need to relax and get a grip on ourselves before we get a hold of the issue we have now." Aelita tried to convince him.

"It's true… but once we get back to school, I need to look into a few things on the computer before we can really get away from it all…"

Aelita pulled away from him.

"Oh, please… don't go back to your old ways and don't shut me out again!"

Jeremy looked at her, confused.

"What do you mean? I would never shut you out-"

"Really?" She broke in. "How about after I came here? When you acted like you gave up on me, although I was right there? It was awful. I don't want you to do that again..."

Aelita crossed her arms and turned away. She looked offended.

"But… Aww, Aelita, what's gotten into you? I'm sorry-" Jeremy wanted to assure her that going to the concert was in fact a wonderful idea, but a quick glance through the cab's window forced him to stop his apology.
"Wait a minute. Driver? Is this the route to Kadic Academy?" he asked as the car tried to pull down an alley, but was blocked off by a garbage truck.

"It's fine, Mr. Belpois," the driver said in a velvet, emotionless tone.

Aelita and Jeremy both froze on the back seat as they stared at the driver's reflection in the rear-view mirror. Then, Jeremy noticed the driver's I.D on the back of his seat. The I.D. read Eric Mosley, but the problem was that the man in the picture was of Indian decent, while the driver was Caucasian.

"Where is Mr. Mosley?" Jeremy asked, trying not to panic.

At first the driver didn't say a word, instead he looked in the mirror at Aelita. She stared back at the driver. Something about this man seemed off. It seemed… wrong.

"We have been looking for you for ten years, Miss Schaffer... Now we have you."

Aelita let out a silent scream. Jeremy tried to open the door, only to find there was no way to do it from the inside. Aelita did not lose eye contact with the man as she felt her whole body shake.

"YOU'RE NOT TAKING HER!" Jeremy hissed as he desperately tried to find a way out.

He tried to kick the window in as hard as he could, but it was no use. The glass was thicker than normal.
"Her? More like both of you," the agent said. "You two are after all nothing more but tools, and tools don't talk back."

Hearing this, Aelita began to scream for help at the top of her lungs. Jeremy positioned himself in front of her as she clawed and fought her way out of the car.


"No, no, NO!" this simple word of objection raced through her mind. She couldn't believe that he worst fears were coming true. Was she really about to lose everyone… just like her mother?

Suddenly, the agent stopped the car. He pulled out a pistol with a silencer on it and pointed it at Jeremy and Aelita. Aelita's voice was trapped in her throat; she glued herself to Jeremy's arm. Jeremy tried to cover Aelita with his body. There was too little time to consider whether the agent was just terrorizing them… or maybe he wanted to kill them?

Then, a gun shot rang out as the driver's window spider webbed from the shot, followed by the body of the agent falling on the steering wheel.

Aelita and Jeremy looked around as they realized what just happened. Jeremy looked out the window to see an old man holding a gun. He was pointing it right where the agent once was.

Frank stood there, realizing what he had just done. He heard the world around him fall silent as he noticed other people escaping from what had just transpired. Frank saw the young girl in the cab looking at him in fear as he realized that she looked just like... her mother.

A zip flew past Frank's face as he watched a sign hanging next to him shattered from the impact of a bullet. Then he remembered there was another agent in the van across the way. Frank turned his pistol towards the second agent and slowly walked towards him, firing the rest of his rounds. The agent in the van panicked and spread off away from the scene.

Frank turned around and ran towards the cab. As he reached it, he noticed a hissing noise coming from the agent's body.

"Dammit... Still functional," Frank cursed under his breath as he grabbed the agent's pistol.

He removed the agent's body and hopped into the cab. He flipped on the ignition. Then, he heard turmoil on the back seat. Jeremy and Aelita tried to get out.

"Stay in the car! You'll be fine!" Frank gasped as the car sped off away from the scene.

The car drove down the street. A pair of cop cars drove by, completely oblivious to the fact that the taxi cab driving was in fact the reason for their problems.

"Wait...What's going on? Who are you?" Aelita muttered.

"My name is Frank. Frank Morse. I'm with Puck," Frank explained calmly.

Aelita jumped in her seat when she heard Puck's name being mentioned.

"How do you know Puck? Unless-"

"You went to the factory and placed Puck in the computer?" asked shocked Jeremy.

"Annoying little shit, ain't he?" Frank smiled. "But yes. Puck and myself have been looking for you guys for a while."

"Who on Earth are those men in black?" Aelita wondered aloud.

"Their principals are responsible for Antea's disappearance... now they want you two because of the System."
Frank stopped the cab in front of a bar. He hopped out and ran to the other side of the cab and opened the door. Jeremy jumped out and began swinging wildly as Frank grabbed his arm.

"If I was one of them, I wouldn't have shot that guy. You have to trust me. I will get you out of this mess." Frank let go of Jeremy's arm.

Meanwhile, Aelita slowly crawled out. Jeremy helped her out, only to get a sudden hug from her as she tried to calm herself down.

"Come on," Frank hurried the kids into the bar. He walked in and noticed there was no one inside except the bartender, who was cleaning the bar.

"Sorry sir, we're closed," the bartender said.

"I just need to use your phone," Frank said as he pointed Jeremy and Aelita a table next to the bar. The kids sat down.

Aelita folded her arms around her shoulders. Jeremy tried to comprehend what he had seen. It all happened so fast. He was just spending a nice quiet afternoon with Aelita when suddenly all hell broke loose. "Is this guy right? Could he be trusted or was he working with these agents?" Jeremy wondered.

He looked at Aelita. She was still shaking from the sudden turn of events that had happened. Her eyes showed exactly what she was feeling. She was afraid; she felt helpless and powerless in this predicament. This wasn't something she could fight like Xana or Xervix. These were people, flesh and blood people. If what Frank said was true, they were the same people her father feared, and the same ones who took her mother.

Frank dialed a number on the bar telephone. He learned off the number through Puck and his hacking of the AT&T phone network. Frank gasped for breath; he reached behind the counter and grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels Whiskey. The line began to buzz a little as he hoped it was in fact the right number.

"Come on! Answer, dammit!"


Travis glanced around the outside of the factory. The sun was incredibly bright today, causing the bugs to scramble madly around in the air. Travis noted the entrance to the building looked as if it had been recently cleaned; there was indication that some activity had been going on inside here.

"Hey, I found something!" George shouted.

Travis glanced over to see his partner standing over a manhole cover. George removed the heavy piece of cast iron.

Jessica came closer and glanced down. Below, in the shaft, stood three pairs of skate boards, a pair of scooters and a small stand holding them up.

"So they use the sewer system to travel, huh?" she suggested.

Travis joined them and took a look as well.

"They must have an entrance somewhere in the school's area, and then they use the sewer system to come down here to the factory. And this really isn't a sewer system, it's more like a drainage run off for the rain water and all."

Jessica and Travis backed off as George covered back up the manhole. Then, Travis's phone suddenly rang. He reached into his pocket and saw that the number was not registered on his address book. Travis hesitated for a few seconds whether he should answer it or not.

"Is that your phone?" asked Jessica.

"Yeah, but it's an unregistered number."

He glanced over at George, who was looking around the side of the bridge.

"Telemarketers. They always do that crap," George commented.

Reluctantly, Travis hit ACCEPT on the phone and held it up to his ear. On the other end he could hear panting and heavy breathing as if someone just ran a marathon.

"Hello, agent Travis Dalesman..." Travis introduced himself.

"Glad to see you took my advice," a voice over the phone replied.

"Frank?" Travis recognized the voice. It gathered the attention of George and Jessica.

"Yeah, it's me. Listen, I don't have a lot of time, Mal-Tech is after Jeremy and Aelita. I have them, but you need to meet me at the downtown bus station in one hour. You have to get these kids out of trouble or else everything is lost. Everything, do you understand?"

"Are you in trouble, Frank?"

"There is no time... Meet me there and get these kids to the System... I'm sure one of you may have an idea where it is."

Travis stuttered something like „But wait-", however, before he could ask another question, Frank hung up. Travis tried to call him back but there was no answer.

"What did Frank mean by trouble? Was Mal-Tech really after those kids?"Travis wondered.

"Was that Frank Morse?" Jessica's voice interrupted Travis's train of thought.

"Yeah. We gotta go... I'll explain on the way." Travis rushed to their black Mustang.

Jessica and George followed him. Soon after, they sped off towards the city.


Frank hung up the phone. He heard it ring almost as soon as he got off the phone. He walked over to find Jeremy standing in front of him. The boy looked him straight in the eye with his fists closed and biting his lower lip. He had a stern look on his face, a look as if he was prepared to fight Frank.

"Okay... tell me who you are and what is going on!" Jeremy demanded.

"I'm only here to help. I'm not with Mal-Tech or anyone else for that matter, I'm here to make up for..." Frank repeated what he said before.

A sudden sound silenced him. The door opened and in walked a dressly sharp man in a black suit. He was quite short, with reddish brown hair and a smug look on his face. He glanced around the bar and noticed that apart from the three people standing in front of him, the bar was empty.

"Why hello, Frank," the man greeted him.

Frank felt a swell of both anger and rage build up in him. In front of him was the bastard responsible for all the issues he had suffered for the past few years. The monster that caused him such horrible nightmares and responsible for a death of someone he loved...

"...Chris," Frank drawled. He wanted to hit the redhead right in the face so badly for what he did to him in the past.

Chris noticed Aelita and Jeremy were right next to Frank. He waved at the two kids when the door opened again and a group of men stepped inside. Chris walked over to Frank, who was already standing rather defensive by the bar. Chris smiled insolently at the old man as the other four men gathered around Jeremy and Aelita. Aelita huddled next to Jeremy in fear and the boy wrapped his arms around her.
Chris landed over the counter towards Frank.

"I understand you have apparently been trying to help, Frank..."

Frank stood behind the bar with a poker face. He realized it all made prefect sense, since Chris was the agent who captured Antea. It was natural that Chris appeared, this time to secure the children... and Frank led him right to them. He knew he screwed up big time... again.

"Well, you definitely helped. Just like the last time... Now, why don't you leave us to do our work?"

Suddenly, a fifth man appeared inside the bar and walked into view. Jeremy's eyes grew large as he suddenly recognized the man who had stepped into the bar. It was the agent from earlier, the very agent Frank Morse shot, only this agent should have been dead. Instead, he looked as if nothing had happened. There was no sign of a wound or blood. He looked as if he was a 100% new person.

"How are you doing, agent Urk?" Chris asked with an insolent joy that made Frank grimace as if in pain.

"Pretty good, sir, thank you," the somehow resurrected agent replied and joined the men who were encircling Jeremy and Aelita.

"Hi... We have unfinished business now, don't we, tools?" he spoke to the teens.

Frank glanced back and forth towards the kids and the agents next to them. Chris leaned on the counter and motioned for him to come closer.

"The kids are important. And it's a very bad idea for them to be out in the open without any form of help now, is it?" Chris whispered. Then he turned to the agents and clapped his hands.

"OK gentlemen, tag 'em and bag 'em," he ordered.

Two of the agents grabbed the kids and another pulled out two syringes with a green liquid in it. The other two pulled out a pair of black bags as Aelita and Jeremy struggled.

Frank gritted his teeth as he watched what was going on. He could see Aelita's face as clear as the sun, the same fear he saw before.

"So, Frank. How is that wife of yours? What was her name again?" Chris asked smugly.

Suddenly a blast came out from behind the wooden bar table, striking one of the agents holding the black bags. The agent grunted in pain as he grabbed his knee and fell to the ground. The remaining agents turned around and noticed Frank holding a shotgun, pointing it straight at Chris's head.

"Raven. Her name was Raven. And you were the one who killed her!"

"Then I did her a favor." Despite Frank's sudden outburst, Chris did not lose any bit of self-confidence.
Frank motioned for Jeremy and Aelita to come to him. The kids shook loose the grasp that the other agents had and ran over to him. Jeremy pulled Aelita behind him as Frank held his double barrel shot gun straight at the agents.

Chris burst out laughing.

"Frank, please. I have thirty-two other agents in the city and several others on standby. I have a small army. And all you have is that shotgun with one round left in the chamber, agent Urk's pistol and that small
pathetic revolver with 3 rounds left in it... As a former agent, you should count your chances!"

He pointed at Jeremy and Aelita, who were trembling in an embrace behind Frank's back.

"Those instruments… those children… are Mal-Tech's property. We have been looking for them ever since the end of the Cold War. And now that we know their identity, we will in fact obtain them and then we will send you, Frank, to meet your dear wife! How sad it is... An old man like you, still trying to fix something beyond your control!" Chris chortled like a mad man.

"I assure you, there are others like me... Others who will stand to stop you and others like you," Frank hissed. "This is just the beginning of the resistance.. And they won't let you get away with any of this or the stuff you pulled so long ago!"

Frank began to slowly back himself and the children towards the door. Jeremy opened the door and led Aelita out as Frank slowly walked out behind them. Frank quickly grabbed a board and propped it up against the door. No sooner than he did so, a volley of gun shots pelted through the door. One bullet struck the shotgun, denting the barrel. Frank tossed it and pulled out his six shooter, and ran after Jeremy and Aelita.

The pair ran onto the sidewalk as Frank followed after them. They ran out into the street as a wave of cars blared their horns and squealed their tires to avoid the youngsters. Jeremy tried to lead Aelita across the street when he heard the loud horn of a large semi coming straight at them. The semi squealed its brakes as it attempted to stop, but it was no use, it kept coming.

Jeremy realized what he had done and tried to shove Aelita out of the way. He knew it was too late for him, but he had to at least save her.

To his surprise, Aelita suddenly wrapped her arms around him. Jeremy glanced at her face to see her eyes glow white. Aelita leapt into the air with Jeremy in tow. She jumped so high she cleared right over the semi. Her feet hit the metal top of the semi's trailer as she jumped again, leaving a small indentation where her feet had leapt off from. Aelita then landed on the pavement of the hot road as a blue SUV narrowly passed her.

Jeremy gasped as he realized what they had done; Aelita had just hurdled over a semi. She didn't jump out of the way or off to the side; she jumped OVER the truck!

Aelita suddenly dashed off to her left with her arms still wrapped around Jeremy as they passed one more car and made it to onto the sidewalk on the other side of the street.

Aelita released Jeremy as her eyes faded back to normal. The kids ducked behind a backalley as Jeremy tried to catch his breath.

"What was that?" he asked in amazement.

Aelita looked up at him.

"I… don't know. It felt like an instinct... wow. What caused that?" Aelita wondered.

As Jeremy tried to catch his breath, he noticed a colorful glow coming from underneath Aelita's shirt.

"Is that the shard from the computer we found last night?" he pointed at the light on Aelita's chest.

"Yeah, I made it into a necklace this morning," Aelita said as she pulled it out from underneath her shirt. It continued to glow vibrantly until it finally dimmed and went back to looking like a normal crystal shard.

"That happened before, remember? On the playground during soccer, before you passed out in the shower," Jeremy noticed.

"Then how come I'm not fainting again?"

No sooner than Aelita asked that question, Frank appeared behind her, breathing heavily. Aelita spun around and faced him. In a fever, Jeremy grabbed a trash can lid and hit Frank with it. Frank reeled a little from the hit as Jeremy prepared for a second blow. This time, Frank stopped it by grabbing the lid and tossing it aside. Jeremy came closer and attempted to punch Frank in the chest, but the elderly agent grabbed Jeremy's arm and dexterously put his arms behind him, blocking his any movement.

"Hey, calm down, kid! If you haven't realized yet, I'm no threat to you!"

He released Jeremy, who swayed a little. Regaining his balance, he stood next to Aelita.

"Who are you?" asked Aelita.

"My name is Frank Morse", Frank repeated calmly. "I'm a former CIA agent, who was also in charge of protecting your parents and you when you were born."

Aelita's eyes widened.

"You- you were the one who protected me and my family?"

"I tried... but I failed. Now, I'd like to make amends for my failure. I tried to find you and help you. I went to your house in Colorado and found the first computer your father created. There, I found his prototype A.I. Delta, or as you called it, Mister Puck. We have tracked you guys down because we both knew that eventually Mal-Tech would come for you. They came for your mother and they would come for you as well... We had to find you, to put you on the right path."

"Wait. Are these feds with you?" Jeremy asked. He recalled Puck telling something about the American agents.

"No, but we need to get you to them. They can take you to the System, and once you get a hold of it, you will be unstoppable," Frank said as he looked at Aelita.

"Aelita… All the different things you have been feeling, any high tend senses, the rise in agility, that little stunt you just did on the street…. All of it is just a small taste of what you will be able to do with the System. And if Mal-Tech gets their hands on it, they will use it to bring the world under their control. They will use you as a weapon of mass destruction."

Aelita blinked with disbelief.

"What? Why me?"

"Only the Avatar can use the System's power. It's genetic. Your mother had the power and once you where born, that power was passed to you."

Aelita looked at Frank with her mouth open. She remembered hearing the same thing before, from her father, when she was unconscious in the factory…

"But.. Why do they need me?" Jeremy asked.

"Firstly, you know more about Waldo's work then any of his assistants ever had known. And secondly, you are the Obsever. You protect the Avatar and allow her to do what she does. You give her strength and guidance. You became the Observer when you both fell for each other. The System won't function without both of you."

Frank motioned for Jeremy and Aelita to follow him. They were a little hesitant at first, but after a few seconds of staring into each other's eyes, they agreed. Frank led them down the hot, bustling streets of Amines. In the crowd they felt much safer.

"Where are we going now?" Jeremy asked.

"The downtown bus station. The feds will help you from there. You have to trust them. They can lead you to the System. But you will need to move fast, Xervix and his forces are already heading towards America where it's located."

"Why is it in America? I mean, what facility can house something like that?"

"Where most dreams are hidden," Frank replied.

"Area 51?" Aelita suggested hesitantly.

"Ah, yes. The place where it all began. Where Waldo developed the idea and the equipment vital for materialization. Where his original scanner prototypes are housed," Frank explained.

"Was that back during the Vorseas project?" Jeremy grew curious.

"No… Project Carthage," Frank said.

"Great. How are we supposed to get to Area 51?"

That was when Frank noticed a black suburban, which pulled up all of a sudden in the distance. The doors of the suburban flew open and five men in black jumped out in almost a unison order. More agents. Frank saw them looking around and separate in the crowd.

Frank cursed under his breath and searched for any possible way off the streets. He glanced up and noticed a ladder leading up to the rough top of one of the buildings. Frank motioned for Jeremy and Aelita to climb up. Jeremy went up first and Aelita went up second with Frank coming up towards the end. They made it up to the top of the ladder and onto the roof of the four story building. Frank drew his pistol and led the way.

Suddenly, a gun shot rang out; the bullet grazed Frank's arm as he flipped on his side to return fire at the source of the bullet. The agent who fired the bullet ducked behind a chimney as Frank stood back up. The agent turned around from his cover, only to find Frank missing. Suddenly, a hard thud hit the agent in the back. Frank holstered his six shooter and picked up the agent's pistol.

He turned to see a glare from a scope coming from the rough over. A silent bullet fired from the sniper, hitting the brick chimney right behind Frank. Frank ducked down; he fired at the sniper as he ran towards the other edge of the roof.

Jeremy and Aelita were already there. Aelita glanced around and noticed a glass window on the floor of the ceiling. She kicked open the glass of the window as she took Jeremy's hand and leapt into the entrance.
Aelita landed on the table below her with a loud thud, causing the table to shift. She flipped over onto the floor as Jeremy landed on the same table. Finally Frank landed on it, causing it to break and land on its broken legs.

Frank hopped up and peeked outside the door to see if the coast was clear. He slowly popped open the door as he took point and led Aelita and Jeremy out. Frank looked around and saw the silhouette of two men coming up the stairs.

Jeremy waved at Frank and Aelita, gathering their attention. He pointed at the door next to him, which led into a hallway of apartment buildings. Frank kept his gun pointed down the hallway as Jeremy slowly opened the door and let Aelita inside. Frank shortly followed as they walked down the silent hallway.

The corridor was mostly full of apartment entrances. A fine mess of garbage and trash filled the hallway, waiting for their usual pickup, which happened to be a little late this time of the year. A red glow from many of the dull lights filled the hallway as some flies buzzed and danced around their faint glow.

The trio slowly walked down the hallway. Frank knocked on a door down near the end of the hallway; there was no response. He knocked on a second door, with no result.

Suddenly, a loud noise suddenly came from the stairwell door a few inches away from them. Jeremy quickly grabbed a full trash can and wedged it up against the door. Aelita grabbed a full box of glass and slid it behind the can. The door suddenly shook hard as a force behind it attempted to open it. Frank kicked opened the door to an apartment, startling Jeremy and Aelita. Frank leaned over and pointed his gun towards the doorway as Jeremy led Aelita inside the room.

"Sorry. Excuse us!" Jeremy said as they walked into the apartment.

Jeremy noticed the apartment's occupant sitting in the corner of the living room. He was a small old man, drinking his tea. His skin was wrinkled and shriveled. Short white stubs popped out of his mostly bald scalp as a pair of think glasses hung over his nose.

The old man didn't say a word but continued drinking his tea. Frank entered the apartment and shut the door, locking the deadbolt at the same time. Frank turned to see the kids staring at the old man. Frank motioned for them to follow him as he opened the window leading out to the fire escape.

As the trio climbed down the ladder, the door to the apartment slammed open as two agents entered, pointing guns around and aiming at the old man, who continued to drink his tea as he stared off into space.
One agent noticed the opened window. He ran over in time to catch a glimpse of a pink haired person leaving the fire escape.

"They went out the window!" shouted the agent. He and his companion left the room.

"Come in!" the old man said as the door shut.

Frank jumped down the fire escape as Aelita looked around for any possible signs of the agents. There was none.

"How far are we from meeting those feds?" asked Jeremy, who was also trying to spot any suspicious signs.

"At least half a mile. Let's enter the mall through the maintenance side," Frank suggested.

They ran near the building's wall.

Suddenly, a man came out of nowhere and grabbed Aelita by the hand. Aelita looked up and saw that the man who had a hold of her was one of the men in black. She slapped the agent in the face with her free hand; at the same time Jeremy tackled the man in the side. The agent released his grip on Aelita and slammed his fist into Jeremy's back, dropping the blonde haired boy to the ground.
Frank attempted to close line the agent, instead the agent high kicked Frank in the chin. Frank fell onto his back, dropping his pistol to the ground. The agent kicked him square in the chest, knocking the air out of him.
Jeremy jumped up and kicked the agent in the shin. The man in black reeled a little from the blow, but retaliated with a swift punch to Jeremy's side. He then grabbed Jeremy by the neck and held him up into the air with incredible strength.

Jeremy tried to pry himself loose from the agent. The agent's grasp on his neck tightened by the minute. Jeremy coughed as the agent continued to stare blankly at him. Jeremy saw the whole world go dark as he felt himself slipping out of consciousness.

"STOP!" cried Aelita.

Jeremy was released to the ground. He coughed and wheezed from the choke while grabbing his neck. The agent looked at Aelita, who was holding the pistol Frank dropped. Jeremy slowly stood up next to Frank. He could not believe in what his eyes were locked on.

Frank held his hand out, trying to calm down the troubled teen as Aelita's hands shakingly balanced the pistol.

"You are not taking me… or Jeremy!" Aelita shouted.

"Aelita... you don't want this-"

"Yes I do!" Aelita replied to Jeremy as she pointed the pistol square at the agent's head. "You've been haunting me for three years. My father is dead because of you... I lost everything because of you... But now, there is one thing I have left to learn..."

Where- is- my- mother!" Aelita demanded.

The agent merely stood there, looking at her smugly.

"WHERE IS SHE!"

"Chernobyl, Ukraine. Where you will go soon," the agent said. "It will be like a family reunion."

Aelita's eyes widened at the news she heard. No sooner the agent reached for the gun she held. Aelita shuttered a little causing the gun to go off, striking the agent in the face. She backed off, dropping the gun as she realized what she had done. But to her surprise, the agent just stood there with his face down.

Jeremy's face turned pale white from fear, not with what he had just saw transpire... but what he was witnessing now.

The agent raised his head to reveal the bullet hole. Inside, there was no blood and bone, but wires and metal. An orange eye peered back at Aelita, glowing brightly like a car headlight. Sparks sizzled from inside the agent's eye socket as the eye focused on Aelita.

That was when Jeremy and Aelita both realized that the agent was… a robot.

The agent grabbed Aelita's throat as it raised her into the air. Jeremy jumped onto his arm, attempting to free his friend. No sooner than he did so, a ring of gun shots struck the agent in the head, blowing a large hole into the robot, causing it to short out and release Aelita.

The machine dropped to the ground as Aelita chocked and gasped in her attempt to regain her breath.

"They're robots? They're all robots?" Jeremy stuttered as he helped Aelita up.

"Most of them are... the one I was talking to was human," Frank explained.

Jeremy touched the now shut down robot's face. He looked up at Frank in disbelief.

"This kind of technology... it's…"
"It does exist. There is a lot about the world you kids don't know about," Frank said.

Aelita observed as he dragged the robot to the back of a dumpster.

"Did my father help make this?"

Frank nodded as Aelita coughed a little.

"We gotta go," Jeremy rushed them.

The three moved down the sidewalk till they came to a bus stop. Jeremy noticed the bus was getting ready to leave when he stuck his hand inside the bus's door. Jeremy and Aelita boarded the bus and showed their bus pass. Frank dropped some change in the change machine and walked towards the back near the kids.

"What happens now?" Aelita asked when they finally sat down. They all were exhausted because of their runaway from the agents.

Frank made them come closer and lowered his voice.

"Your father did help Mal-Tech a little. But when he discovered what they were intending to do, he left with your mother. He soon calculated what they exactly were preparing. They were planning something much worse than what Xana would have done with the help of a much more dangerous A.I."

"Xervix?" Jeremy asked.

"Even worse. A creature that has been working on the side in the shadows for years. But the others have been keeping it quiet."

The bus shook a little as it prepared to move.

"What others?"

Frank did not answer. Instead, he reached into his breast pocket and removed a small USB drive. He held out the silver drive in his hands towards Aelita.

"Do not open or look at this until after you have the System and defeated Xervix. Do you understand?"

Aelita shook her head in agreement and took the USB drive from Frank's hand. Then Frank reached into his pocket again and pulled out a silver flask. He took a swig from it as the bus came to a halt.

"Next stop you two get off. The feds will be waiting for you. Remember, they're your friends," Frank instructed them.

"Thank you for saving us from the agents. But… why are you doing this? Why are you helping us?" Jeremy still could not understand Frank's devotion to their cause over the course of the day.

"For redemption," Frank answered shortly.

Jeremy and Aelita starred at the old man in confusion.

"I had to do this... the reason I know a lot about you and your family, Aelita... The reason I knew where to find you... and the reason I am trying to save you is to make up for what I did years ago," Frank said as he took another long swig from his flask.

"What did you do?" Jeremy asked.

Frank looked at Aelita with his bloodshot, tired eyes.

"I was the one who kidnapped your mother."

There was a long silence as Aelita's eyes grew even larger. Jeremy removed his glasses as he stared down at Frank.

"They had my wife and told me if I didn't turn in you and your mother, they would kill her. I tried to protect your mother... I really did. When we loaded up your mother, and when you tried to chase after the car, I watched the whole time... crying. I then realized what I had done. It haunted me for years. When Waldo confronted me about it, I promised him that I would set you on the right path to make sure that whatever bad happens, you can overcome it. That is why I am here."

Both teens were rendered speechless.

Aelita stared at man who was helping them and wondered. He was responsible for her loss of her mother. Because of him, she was haunted by those constant nightmares she had endured all these years, the dreams of her mother's disappearance, of the wolves chasing her down a dark cold forest…

It was her who decided to break the silence.


"Did you tell them where we were here in France?" she asked firmly.

"No, they found that out themselves. I'm not sure how… probably through an agent they positioned here. Who that agent is, I have no idea."

The bus stopped and Frank stood up.

" What I did to you was a terrible thing. It's because of those events that for me a day never goes by without wishing I had chosen death back then. I didn't want this, nor did I ask for this." Frank's eyes filled with tears as he turned to leave.

"I don't expect you to forgive... I just want you to know that I'm sorry."

Frank Morse pushed the button on the bus's door and it opened. He walked out of the vehicle.
Tears streamed down Aelita's face as she looked out the window. Frank turned around towards Aelita and Jeremy. They could see him taking another sip from his flask before the doors closed and the bus started to leave of the stop.

"That poor man…" Aelita whispered as she sobbed a little.

"He suffered from this as much as you did," Jeremy whispered back.

The bus began to pull forward. Aelita realized this might have been the last time she would see Frank. He was trying so hard to help her and protect her from the same fate as her mother. He deserved forgiveness. Aelita jumped out of her seat and ran to the back of the bus. She lowered the window and stuck her head out of it.

"I forgive you," Aelita shouted as the bus pulled away. She would never know if he heard her through the roar of the engines, but she felt relieved to let these words out of her.

The bus slowly went down to the final stop. Jeremy looked over at Aelita, who was coming back to her seat, and saw tears in her eyes.
When she sat down beside him, Jeremy wrapped his arm around her. Aelita looked up at the boy.

"Will I be OK? Will we be OK?"

Aelita couldn't hide her emotions anymore. Tears began to abundantly flow down her face as she buried her face in Jeremy's chest. She closed her eyes as she sobbed silently. She leaned on Jeremy's shoulder and hugged him even tighter.

Jeremy wrapped his arms around her as he comforted her.

"We will, Aelita, as long as we're together. You heard Frank. Together we're unstoppable."
Hearing that, Aelita wiped the tears and smiled lightly.

"You know, I'm so lucky I met you. I wouldn't want to be with any other person in this situation but you," she whispered.

Jeremy held her as he closed his eyes and whispered the lyrics to a song that Aelita always said was their song.

"Even if I say. It will be alright. Still I hear you say, you want to end your life. Now and again we try, to just stay alive. Maybe we'll turn it around cause it's not to late. It's never too late…" He softly hummed the rest of the melody in her ear.

Aelita leaned herself comfortably against him.

"I love you Jeremy."

"I love you too Aelita," Jeremy muttered.

The bus came to a stop. Three agents in a black Mustang were looking at the vehicle.
Travis stood in front of the Mustang, and George and Jessica were standing at the rear of it. Travis held a small piece of paper in his hand, watching for any possible sign of Frank and his two small escorts he was bringing with him.

George and Jessica both kept their hands hidden in their pockets, each of them grasping their .45 caliber pistols. They didn't know what to expect from the situation, they only knew that the past few weeks had ushered in a slew of events that had literally seemed like something out of fiction. First there were the agents in California who tried to kill them, then the audio log Waldo Schaffer left. Now there was this bird like creature on the loose in Amines and, what was the most shocking of it all, the possibility that a young girl who should be in her mid-twenties was alive, in school and actually fourteen.

The bus door opened as a slew of passengers stepped off. Then out went a blonde teen, followed by a pink haired girl, whose face was wet from tears. The two teens walked a few feet and spotted the feds. Both stared at them, wondering if they should take Frank's advice or run.

Travis stared right at Aelita. It was mind boggling. She looked just like on the photo that was in Waldo's diary.

"It's... impossible. She should be twenty-six or so…" George whispered to Jessica.

"It can't be real..." shocked Jessica replied as she removed a pair of sunglasses from her face.

Travis slowly walked up to the two teens. The pair flinched a little, not knowing what to expect from the approaching man.

Travis held up the photo of Aelita and her father and compared the photo with the girl who stood right in front of him. There was no doubt about it. It was the same person.

"Miss Schaffer?" confused Travis asked.

"Yes?" Aelita asked, slightly backing off into Jeremy's direction.

"I'm agent Travis Dalesman. FBI. We have a few questions for you... "

"Like?" inquired Jeremy.

"How can we  help," Travis reached out his hand.

Aelita looked towards Jeremy with both confusion and worry. Jeremy looked back at Travis and starred at him straight into the eye.

"We only have a few questions. Then you can go about your ways." Travis said.

Aelita slowly lifted her hand up. She hesitantly paused for only a moment then placed her hand in Travis's hand. Travis slowly closed his hand around hers as he smiled warmly at the shook teens.

"My name is Aelita Schaffer," Aelita said slowly. "I am the daughter of Waldo Schaffer. Also known as Franz Hopper."
______________________________________________________________________________________
Frank slowly walked down the sidewalk near the local bus station. He glanced around the area, noticing that there was not a single soul in the area. The entire bus stop was quiet; almost too quiet for the middle of the afternoon.

Frank slowly walked into the bus station's doors. There were no buses docked around the station and no worker was in sight, even though the sign on the door said OPEN.

He slowly walked down the hall of the bus station. As he walked, he saw one person come inside; the man wore a black suit with bright red hair. He also carried a pistol with a silencer attached to the barrel.

It was Agent Chris.

Both men stared at each other for a few moments as they sized each other up, trying to read each other's thoughts and possible tricks they may attempt to use.

"Where are the kids?" Chris asked.

"Let them go... You'll never find them now," Frank replied.

"It's inevitable that we will find them... you can't protect them forever!"

"I won't... but there will be others. The whole world will rally against them and usher in a new age for humanity. One that will shy away from the age of fear you wish to in stow."

"You think it will work?" Chris smirked. "Look at all humanity has done. War, extinction of species, global warming, terrorism. And let's not forget my favorite. A weapon that humanly kills thousands... Nuclear weapons."

"Humanity is a small scared child," Frank retorted. "They only need to be steered in the right direction, away from the darkness."

"Humanity is a society too sick to survive another decade!" mocked Chris. "We are nothing more but slimy insects scouring about the ground, devouring everything and spawning more and more sick freaks. And for what? To live in this germ infested world?"

"Humanity will save itself. There is always hope."

"There is NO hope. Soon, Earth shall become the largest mass tomb in the history of the universe. Even God has forsaken us, if there is one."

"God does exist and he created people like the children to stop and defeat people like you who shied away from him," said Frank with conviction.

Chris raised his hand in a theatrical gesture.

"There is no hope... not for those instruments and not for this world. We will shape it in OUR image!"
"And then everything you said would happen, WILL happen. And you and Estrada will be at the center of it!" Frank said sternly.

"Not under our watch."

"It will be the holocaust all over again."

"We will preserve this planet."

"You will doom us to the same fate as the dinosaurs and it's the truth."

"FUCK THE TRUTH!" Chris shouted. His voice echoed in the empty hall of the station.

Frank just stood there, staring at Chris as he pointed the pistol at him.

"All right then... I'm done. I did what I promised and atoned for my signs. Now there is nothing left for me... but to walk away," Frank said as he removed the pistol from his jacket, dropping it to the floor and kicking it off to the side as he turned around.

"Good luck, kids."

Chris pulled back the hammer of his pistol.

Frank looked up at the ceiling and started to recite something like a prayer.

"You gotta go far to save all that you love, if you give what you got you will make it through. You kids are like the sun shining bright on the world today. You can't stand alone, but be there when you call. Stand real tall."
Chris took aim at the back of Frank's head.

Tears streamed down Frank's face.

"You kids are... Stronger after all..." he said hoarsely.

Then, a bullet flew from the barrel of Chris's pistol. The empty shell casing landed on the floor, echoing in the quiet blue hallway, followed by the thud of a body on the floor. Frank fell to the ground.
Chris lowered his pistol and approached to the body of the old man. As he walked over he noticed something off with Frank.

He was smiling... in death.