"Down," Spider hissed, disrupting her train of thought as they both crashed to the ground. On hands and knees, Spider reached his arm around Fet, covering her shoulders as if the move alone could keep her from being seen. Their bodies shook with silent, heavy breaths as the watchmen rushed past.
"We need to go another way," Fet whispered harshly.
"But where?" Spider answered, still too close for comfort. "Where are we going?"
"I know a place where there might be an Irex, but you're not going to like it. Come on." Fet stood to her feet the moment the watchmen had passed. Her short skirt swished around her as she turned, catching Spider's eye. He followed along behind her, forcing himself to keep pace as she dashed away.
"YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING.” SPIDER SAID, looking up the face of the cliff.
"Aren't spiders supposed to be good at climbing?" Fet taunted, extending her arm to grab the first stone.
"It's so steep it's practically inverted." Spider's eyes were wide as Fet lifted herself off the ground.
"That's why it's perfect," Fet called over her shoulder as she scaled the rock wall. "No one ever bothers it."
"The fact that it's in the middle of nowhere might have something to do with it," Spider called to her as he forced himself to latch onto the first handhold.
Fet was out of sight a moment later, scrambling over the side to the hidden entrance. The cave was dark, lit only by the blue screens housed inside. It had its own power system, far removed from the eyes of the government. The rock facade gave way to old-time luxury; metallic walls with a ventilation system circulating air to keep the machinery at the right temperature. A lighting system was mounted to the ceiling, but Fet didn't bother turning it on.
"Back here," she called when she heard Spider enter. She glanced up just in time to see his face fall in shock.
"Once they started the Upgrade, our grandparents started collecting the older machines. Not everything was saved, but there is a massive amount of technology here from over the years."
"This is a Hydren." Spider announced gleefully, the shock and reverence clear in his voice as he eyed a machine once he had recovered for the surprise of finding what he had been told the government had destroyed long ago.
"You want some time alone with the computer or are you actually going to help?" Fet glanced at him. He brushed his hair back behind his ear and tore himself away from the system. Moving further back, he wandered through the technology. He was going in the wrong direction, but Fet didn't bother to correct him.
After a few minutes of wandering, she located the console she was looking for. She started it up. The machine silently flickered to life, adding a bright glow to the back corner of the room.
"You found it," Spider's quiet voice in her ear caused Fet to jump, nearly colliding with her conspirator's face.
"Watch it!" he yelped as he jumped back. His back ran into another console, nearly toppling it. At the last second he whirled, catching it with cat-like reflexes. Perhaps he had been hasty in choosing his handle.
Fet started relaying the previous code into the machine, adding her own code so the machine could understand the first. Removing her necklace again, she connected her device to the old operating system to help speed the process.
At the slight buzzing sound, they both looked to the device Fet had set on the table next to the console.
“Hand over control of the Irex to me,” it read.
"They want the Irex?" Fet breathed. The Irex system has a series of flaws that forced the discontinuation of the production of the system long ago, but it had one attribute; it was unhackable and could control almost any system outside of itself. The government had initially used the Irex to oversee the lesser operating systems, but had worried what would happen if it had been in the wrong hands and the government could not regain control. All subsequent systems had been built with backdoors to avoid such problems.
"You're not really going to give them the Irex, are you?"
"What choice do we have? We have to get Peep back."
"I know she's your friend, Fet, but you’re not going to give control over to these people for someone as unimportant as Peep, are you?"
Spider didn't need to know just how important Peep actually was. Afraid he would try to stop her, she knew he did need to know why she was giving it over.
"I have the backdoor," she announced as she began the code sequence to ready the transfer of power.
"What?" Spider looked genuinely shocked.
"Well, I know where to find it anyway," she added. "It will take a little time, but we can shut it down."
"There are no back doors, Fet. What are you talking about?"
"It helps to have had contact with the creator," Fet said nonchalantly, typing the last of the code. Picking up her device, she responded to the message, waiting for the transfer information.
Spider looked like his mind was being torn into a million pieces, each one following a trail of possibilities. Finally he shook his head, clearing away the shock. "First the ancient machines, now a backdoor. You surprised me, Fet....for once."
Fet's arm swung around behind her in an attempt to hit him. She hadn't missed the condescending sarcasm in his voice. He may have had her in his sights all this time, but he was still not better than her.
“Transfer complete,” the screen read before going blank.
A new screen popped up in its place and Fet watched as Peep's captor took over manipulating the machine. There was no way to prevent her from watching their every move now as code streamed across the interface.
Suddenly everything froze and Fet rose out of her chair. There it was: the next command.
“THE WHITE COATS ARE AT THE HUB. BREAK INTO The Lab while they are gone and destroy it if you want your friend back.” The screen read.
"Destroy it?" Fet asked in horror.
"How do they expect us to do that?" Spider hissed behind her, raking his hands through his hair, only the tips of his pale fingers visible around his black leather fingerless gloves as Fet turned to face him.
"Do they expect us to blow it up?" he asked.
"I don't know, but we have to go," Fet answered, twirling her own blonde pigtail in her hands. Standing, she threw one last look at the Irex, coding scrolling across the screen.
The sun was blinding as they exited the cave. Fet scrambled down the face of the cliff. She had only made the trip several times during her life, but she would never reveal to Spider that the climb terrified her. Spider's foot slipped, forcing gravity to help him the rest of the way to the ground. Fet reached out her hand and steadied him as his feet collided with the earth, miraculously leaving him upright.
"Let's go," she announced as she took off, leaving Spider in her wake. Suddenly she felt a sharp electrical burst against her hip.
“Stop,” the screen read.
Eyes darting up, she focused ahead of her, confused, searching for an answer.
"You," she growled, turning on her heels, when she realized what had happened.
"I'm helping you, best not to leave me behind." Spider sneered, slipping his device back into his own pocket.
"If you ever..." Fet started her tirade, but he stopped her with a raised hand.
"We don't have time for your lectures, Muffet. Save the dramatic flair for your work." He walked past her at an accelerated clip, his jab about her coding flourishes stinging more than it should. Fet had always taken great pride in her work, and somehow he found a way to diminish it.
Running beyond him, she set the pace for their journey to The Lab. They were both struggling for breath when they arrived, the sun lower in the sky, but still bright. The large building had several guards posted outside, checking for clearances.
"We need to get them out of there," Fet whispered.
"We need to figure out how we're going to take down the building," Spider replied.
"I've got that covered. We just need to get rid of the guards."
Spider watched her for a mome
nt before his eyes grew wide. "You're not actually going to blow it up, are you?"
"What choice do we have?"
"How are you going to do that?" he gasped, "you don't even have materials to make a bomb."
"We're not making a bomb, Spider, we're causing an explosion."
His eyes focused on her as she pulled out her device, her fingers flying over the screen as fast as his own typically worked. He knew he could outsmart her, he had done it before, but it was entrancing to watch her work without a screen and codes between them.
"There. I found it. Now I just have to get in." She frowned as she hit a block.
Spider brought his device to life, joining in on the fun.
"Allow me." His suddenly-much-deeper voice prompted Fet to look up at his newfound chivalry.
As they worked together, breaking through each wall, their keystrokes became more frantic, as if every time they made a move, someone specifically blocked them from continuing.
"Are you getting this?" Fet whispered loudly, concerned over what entity they might be facing and how they so quickly knew her every move.
Spider didn't answer, intently typing away on his device, nearly matching Fet's every move.
"Who are we up against?" she whispered.
Fet's blonde hair fell in front of her face and she used the back of her wrist to swipe it away. Clearly the person holding Peep was not behind this blockade. Did that mean someone else knew what was happening and was trying to stop them?
"Still with me, Fet?" Spider taunted, a smug sneer creeping onto his face.
A few strokes later, she looked up, triumph written in her grin. "Nope," she said, "I'm already in."
Spider's head whipped up.
"How?" he stammered.
"I'll never tell." She arched her eyebrows, daring him to take her on. "Now, we need to move the guards."
She typed for a moment as Spider continued to stare, his eyes slowing to trace over her from head to toe, his fashion-opposite.
Fet's device started vibrating. The arrogance drained from her face as she lifted it.
"Spider, we have to move. Now!"
In his confusion, he stumbled, attempting to follow along behind her as he put his own device back into his pocket.
"What are you doing?" he yelled as he realized they were headed directly at the tall white building that loomed in front of them. Its modern, arched edges were anything but welcoming.
"We're on the clock, Spider. We have less than one minute to set off the explosion," she said as she tried to type while she ran. "There, the meltdown has started. All of the badges had already swiped out of the building when the power source went down, apparently it was all hands on deck, so there are only the guards left."
The first of the explosions filled the air, pieces of the back of the building floated to the ground. The noise pulsed around them, shocking their senses as they ran.
Fet nearly lost her footing as she realized they were about to make a mistake. Spider showed no signs of slowing.
"Wait, get down!" Fet yelled as they approached the terrifying scene. "They can't see you."
She intentionally tripped Spider, sending him crashing to the earth as she ran ahead.
"Fet, no!" he yelled, reaching to her from his place in the grass. "You can't die, no one will be able to save Peep!"
Ignoring his call, Fet ran as quickly as she could in her tall combat boots, pink skirt jostling around her as she rushed forward. She raced toward the building, feet pounding against the pavement as she hit the blacktop.
Spider couldn't hear the words she shouted to the guards as he stumbled to his feet and raced after her.
The second explosion rang out as the confused guards ran from the building, heeding whatever warning Fet had imparted on them. Debris rained down on her, like stars falling from the sky in a mass exodus of space. She rolled as she hit the ground, launching herself back to her feet and continuing on, only a slight limp as evidence of the danger she had been in.
Spider grabbed her arm as he reached her and dragged the girl away from the men who were turning for an explanation. Putting as much distance between them as possible, he only ducked when the third explosion sounded in the distance.
When he collapsed into the tall grass, his devices tumbled from his pocket.
"Thanks," Fet breathed when she stopped gasping. Her hand stretched the length of her leg to her ankle, checking for injuries.
"Have you lost your mind?" he yelled. "You could have died!"
"And if I hadn't, they would have!" she shrieked back, suddenly angry.
She reached for his device, picking it up off the ground to hand to him.
“I’ll get it.” Spider said quickly, reaching for it.
“Wait.” Fet’s brow knitted together. Something felt off. “You used this. How could you use this? Your device went down when I killed the power.”
Matching her face, he looked at her. “I…. I don’t know.”
“But…”
“We don’t have time to figure it out, Fet. We have to get away from The Lab.” Pieces of the building floated between them, catching in Fet’s pigtail. Spider used his hand to brush away a piece of ash caught in his long eyelash.
“Over there!” a voice shouted—a guard looking for the young girl who had appeared out of nowhere as the explosion took place.
“We have to go,” Spider whispered harshly.
“Not yet. We’re not done here.”
“But The Lab has been destroyed,” he insisted, pulling at her arm.
“Not yet.” Fet rose, allowing the guards to run beyond them before she doubled back. “I left one room standing. It’s the backdoor into Irex.”
“What?” Spider followed along behind her.
“It’s how we take it back. The man who created it… He left a way into it that not even the government knows about. You need to wait here,” she replied.
“Not a chance.” Spider refused to back down.
The building was in shambles, walls standing at odd angles, pieces still falling off. Fet raced into the debris, careful to avoid the hot metal from the machinery. On the far side stood a confusing array of partial walls and hanging lights.
“There’s a guard,” Spider pointed out.
“Then take care of him,” Fet hissed, pushing him toward the man as she disappeared around the wall.
The system had been partially damaged but enough remained that she could hack it. Fingers flying across the keyboard, she set to work establishing the break in the code needed to take back the Irex when the time came. Her head jerked up as a scream came from behind the wall, but she couldn’t stop. Something very bad was happening, but she didn’t know if Spider had caused it or experienced it.
The final stroke allowed her access. It was done.
Rounding the corner she found Spider leaning against the wall, waiting, face grim.
“What did you do?” her voice was low and terrifying as she realized where she stood in this little game.
“What did you do?” he challenged. Everything about him was so dark that he looked like a different person.
She couldn’t trust him. She never should have to begin with. He was a hacker…he had destroyed her job once before. He had no remorse and no reason to help her.
His leather-bound hand dragged through his hair as he watched her, eyes narrow.
“Did you hurt that guard?” she demanded.
“No, I scared him off though.” His gaze was icy. “What did you do, Muffet?”
“I enacted a program that lets me gain control over Irex,” she responded.
“What program?”
“It’s called the Way, and that’s all you need to know.”
He looked at her as if he loathed every bit of her. Sneering at the girl, he held her gaze, his shoulders rolling back as if he wanted to be anywhere but near her.
Suddenly, Spider’s eyes softened just enough to be visible and he leaned toward her again, frightening her. J
ust as suddenly, his posture stiffened once more, reclaiming his icy distance.
“You need to tell me what’s going on…” his voice was cut off as a small series of pops made Fet lunge forward.
“The last detonation is going to go off, move!” she charged at him, pulling him away before the last burst.
A sharp pulse moved through her hip as another mission came through.
“Return to the Hub.” The words scrolled across her screen when she retrieved it. She realized she still didn’t have an explanation for Spider’s device suddenly working again. Nothing could be trusted.
“What could they possibly need us there for?” Spider asked. No one answered as they continued to run.
THE MOON WASHED THE WORLD IN A white light as they approached the center of town. Sneaking past the Legends building, hidden in plain sight, Fet realized she had never contacted T with information. She couldn’t afford to now.
The Hub was still chaotic as the Coats were setting up their new home in the center of the town, having seen evidence of the explosion at their home base. Guards filled the area, keeping people back, weapons poised for use.
Faces in the growing crowd appeared. Fet caught BB’s eye and shook her head to warn him off. Glancing quickly toward Spider, she hoped she had sufficiently warned the others. BB pulled back, drifting into the masses as the others slowly followed.
“We have to deal with the Irex, don’t we?” Spider asked. A curt nod was the only response she gave him.
“Use Way to disable it from here,” he said as she started forward, grabbing at her arm.
“Can’t. Need the wires.” Pushing past him, she forced her way into the crowd, refusing to tell him her plan. People jostled against her, knocking her off balance.
The air crackled, revealing a tense standoff between the people surrounding the building looking for answers and the watchmen guarding it. They held a barrier, attempting to block the people from getting too close. A man demanded answers, only to be pushed back.
A guard yelled, imploring everyone to stay away while the Coats worked. Tired of waiting for hours, the people jostled against one another, ready to take the men on. They had never experienced trouble with their technology like this before. Nothing had ever been shut down for so long. The disruption in the life they knew caused them to become caustic.
Along Came a Spider Page 2
