Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Hacker Zi ❯ Part Fifteen ( Chapter 15 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

DISCLAIMER: While Hacker Zi and its characters were created by me, some of the screen names were taken from actual people. Please DO NOT TRY TO CONTACT THEM. The story is purely fictional

“Whats happening now?”
“They're eating dinner, with that fat bastard and his wife.”
“Has he said or acted suspicious?”
“No. I don't think he knows. That bitch must not have said anything to him, do you really think he's contacted her?”
Rick leaned back in his chair. It had been six months since their computers had crashed. Losing most of the virus had thrown him into a rage. He was sure David had a hand in it. They had taken extra measures to keep whoever had hacked into their system from getting in again. He had a feeling that David's sister had helped him somehow, so she had been locked in a room, much like her brother before her. Katrina had been ordered to look after her. Letting the girl die would serve no purpose. They needed her alive. She would be the bait.
“Has she acted any different in the past few months?”
“Not since that first month. She's no longer looking depressed, but she's still being forced to visit that counselor. And even there, she's not mentioning anything about David. I think its a dead end.”
“Tighten the surveillance. We have to be missing something.”
“If I do that anymore they're going to think something is up! Besides I can't be in two places at once. The girl never leaves the house, but occasionally Marc goes on a fucking date!”
“Forget about your partner. Focus on the girl.”
With that, Rick snapped the cell phone closed. As he sat in his chair, he contemplated his next step. David and Brandon had been behind the hack that had crashed the computers, but they hadn't done it alone. And they knew that even though most of the virus would be lost, he would keep going – rebuild until the right time came. So why were they buying time? Had the two of them decided to find a way to fight the virus? Even in six months it would be impossible to build a program strong enough, not when it was just the two of them. Who else could they have brought in? Now that Annette had been locked in that room, he knew it had to have been someone else? The girl was out of the question. He had already been informed that Brandon had fired her, then told her to stay away. And that fool Ryan wouldn't have made up that much of a difference. He was an informer, and a mediocre programmer at best.

“The dinner was great Katie. Thanks for inviting us.”
“It was our pleasure. Nick, would you mind helping me with the dishes?”
Nick nodded, following Cormier's wife into the kitchen. Marc and Rob watched as the two disappeared behind the door. Then Rob turned to his ex-partner.
“Is the kid alright? Hasn't been looking herself.”
“Nick has been pretty silent over the past few months. Never leaves the house anymore, ever since her friend was in the hospital. This year hasn't been the best for her. Its hard for me to get her to talk about it.”
“You're still sending her to that shrink?!?”
“Rob....we've been over this. I'm out of options. I haven't known her that long. The first time we met, it wasn't under the best circumstances. She wouldn't talk about that then, what makes you think she'd talk to me about her problems now?”
“So you think a stranger can help her more than her brother?!?”
“There really isn't much difference there. And I've tried, I honestly have. She just won't speak to me, especially about whats been going on.”
“And you think she'd open up to the shrink?!?...Has she?”
“Whatever they talk about is confidential. You know that.”
The cold stare that his partner gave him made Marc's spine shiver. Rob had been against the idea of Nick seeing a shrink. He had tried to convince Marc to just sit her down and talk. But Marc had known that wouldn't work. Nick would have probably spoken in riddles or something, thats probably what she was doing with the shrink. However, it was a comforting feeling, having her talk to a professional. Whatever had happened six months ago, it had hurt Nick. She rarely ever spoke anymore, even her teachers had become concerned. Hopefully, talking to someone who was legally sworn to secrecy could help her more than he could.
When his sister reappeared, Marc decided to call it a night. They said their goodbyes then headed to the car. Not to his surprise, the drive home was silent, with the exception of the occasional rock song on the radio. It had been like this for months. During the first few weeks, Marc had tried his hardest to start a conversation with her. This tactic worked for a while, but eventually the silence became longer, less penetrable, until finally the talking stopped. The final blow came when a teacher from the school called him to talk about it. They had been the one to suggest a specialist, the shrink. As far as Marc could tell, however, after seeing the shrink for a few months, Nick still wasn't speaking, at least to him.
The moment they were home Nick retreated to her room. Marc had suspected she'd do this, and he made no attempt to stop her. He had failed enough times to know that this wouldn't work. Sighing, he opened his cell phone and dialed the number to his girlfriend. It was answered on the second ring.
“Hey sweety. Yeah, we just got back. You still working?.....no, she still hasn't said a thing. I know....yeah, tomorrow after she gets out of school. There's another one on Wednesday and Friday. Alright, yeah. See you tomorrow. I love you too. Bye.”

Tomorrow. It was hard to forget something that had become a routine. Nick could not remember when the therapy started, and she didn't know when it would end. The therapist had said that depended on her, but she knew better. The day she would no longer have to see him again was when Marc was happy. And he would only be happy when she spoke again. So what kept her silent? Was it the betrayal she had felt, or was it the secret she kept?
After Brandon had told her to stay away, he disappeared, along with both David and Ryan. During the first four months, none of them had contacted her. Then she received an email from an unknown address one night. It instructed her to speak with Vampire. To speak to Zeke. But it had to be in person.
The following day, Zeke had explained what was going on to Nick. The email had been from Ryan. And she was being watched. He explained that Brandon had installed a bug on her computer, allowing him to keep an eye on everything she did. It was supposed to be for her protection, but Nick knew better. The bug had been installed to make sure she wouldn't meddle in whatever it was they were up to. Luckily Ryan wanted her to be kept in the loop. He had told her there were only five of them, and it would be impossible to pull off whatever they were doing without help from the outside.
Now Nick just had to wait. Wait for the weekly email that would give her updates to their progress. The email was usually half a page long. To keep Brandon from picking up on what they were doing, the two of them had designed a special code based off of Sudoku. Tonight the email was short. After quickly jotting down the numbers, Nick logged off. It was the thirteenth email. She had only mapped out the numbers to 15, so soon she would need to extend the list. Instead of decoding the message, Nick placed the notebook that held the code and the new numbers in her messenger bag and went to bed. Tomorrow would be a long day.

Zeke was waiting for her in homeroom when she arrived. Sitting next to him, she pulled out the notebook and leafed through the pages until she found the one that contained the most recent email. Together they worked to decode it, which took a little over ten minutes.
“....They're almost finished with it. Nick, that means they'll be coming back soon. We can all hang out again – you, me, Davi -”
He stopped mid-sentence when he saw the glare Nick had given him. She was still bitter about the way David had done things. Would things have turned out differently if David had came outright and told her he was leaving again? The answer was lost in time. But whats done is done. You can't change the past, just the future that lies ahead. What would their future be like?
“Right....sorry. So, when do you think Defiance is going to unleash their virus?”
Nick remained silent, but flipped to the calender in the front of the notebook. After skimming a few of the dates, she pointed to a Friday in November. Zeke glanced at the date upside-down, and then looked back up at her, a strange look appearing on his face.
“Black Friday? Why that day?”
“Shopping, materialistic values.”
“Material – well, I wouldn't put it past that sadistic bastard. I figured he'd hit Christmas. But next week....”
This time it was Nicks turn to give him a strange look. He laughed it off, then made an attempt to change the subject. These days, Nick wasn't the most sociable person. He only managed to get one sentence out of her before the first period bell rang.
Nick concentrated on her school work for the rest of the day. Now that she remained silent in class, Nick found that she finished most of her homework before the end of the day. This way, after her sessions with the therapist, she could go home and sleep, or reply to Ryan's emails.
It was strange, not having all of her friends at school though. Dylan was still out from the store incident. He had been at school on random days, but because of the frequent surgery on his knee, his parents had decided to keep him homebound. Tiffany was around, trying to avoid the masses that all wanted to rub her protruding belly, almost as if it would give them good luck. Jesse and Jacob had been absent for a few days, more than likely to be at Dylan's playing video games.

As usual, Marc was waiting for her when school let out. Her appointment was almost directly after school. They had just enough time to stop by a fast food place and order something to eat. She usually ate her meal while with the counselor, so Marc would order something for him as well.
Nick had grown used to the elevator ride up to the fifth floor of the building, where Doctor Darren Nutter's office was located. She was even used to talking to the guy, who now considered the two of them friends. It had taken a few visits for Nick to start speaking. The first three were filled with an awkward silence. It was during these visits that the doctor decided to use new tactics. He began playing music in the office, and now the two of them played video games while talking about life.
Today he was ready for her, the Gamecube was already set up, and the game, X-Men Legends, was on. They just needed to pick their characters for the game to begin. Nick took a seat in the gaming chair next to the doctors, handing him a container of chinese food, then chose her character.
“You must be good at playing with one hand. This'll probably be a bit difficult for me, I don't play video games that often, but my son just loves them. I borrowed this thing from him. Iceman looks like a cool character, so I'll play as him....any reason why you chose Wolverine?”
“.....”
“Wolverine was used and experimented on by a secret organization. Do you feel used?”
“.....you seem to know a lot about the characters for not playing the games.”
“Comic books are a mans best friend. If you don't mind me asking, how were you used?”
“.....not used.....betrayed.”
“Want to talk about it?”
Nick glared at him. Of course she didn't want to talk about it. She didn't want to talk at all. And thats the reason Marc had sent her here in the first place.
“.....would you mind talking about it with me? Legally, I won't be able to say anything to your brother.”
The doctor-client privileges. It was true, anything that was said in this room could not be spoken of the moment either of them left this room. So far, this had been the only time the doctor had come straight-forward with a question like this. By next week, everything would be over, so why not share her pain?
“.....David Bell.”
“Davi- the boy who committed suicide last year? What a mess that was. The kids at your school took it pretty hard...did you not go to one of the counselors on that day? I don't remember seeing you there.”
“....I didn't go. I had friends to comfort me.”
“Are these friends the reason you refuse to talk with anyone?”
“Yes and no. I almost lost another friend....because of David.”
This remark was perplexing to him. Instead of coming outright and asking his patient about it, he waited. It usually took a while for them to come out and say what was going on. Rushing things risked causing the patient to clam up and keep their secret.
“....his suicide was a fake. David's still alive.....he left me a note....and even contacted me.”
“Was he trying to get away from something....or someone.”
“.....his home life was never really that great. I guess his drunken father could be the perfect scapegoat. The truth....is on this.”
The doctor watched as Nick opened her messenger bag and removed a small disk. After placing it on the Gamecube, she stood and headed for the door. The doctors eyes moved from the disk to his patient, who had paused momentarily in the doorway. He waved goodbye to her as she shut the door as she exited. Their session wasn't quite over, but he was satisfied with her progress and didn't stop her from leaving.
Darren waited a few minutes after she had left to even approach the disk. He finally got the nerve to see what was on it, and brought it over to his desk. He hesitated for a moment, rotating the small circular piece of plastic between his thumb and index finger, then popped it into his disk drive and opened it.

Jesse stood and stretched his arms. He had been playing Super Smash Bro's Melee all night long with Zack, Jacob, and Dylan, who were far from stopping now. The three of them were hardcore gamers, whenever they bought a new game, they would sit around for days at a time trying to beat it. Sometimes they'd skip out on meals and show up late for class to finish a game. Jesse on the other hand, could only sit and play for so long. The jock in him yearned to run outside and get some fresh air. Tonight may have been a new record for him.
“Can I go to sleep now?”
“Hell no! We just started!”
“Yeah, like nine hours ago.”
“If you stop now, you won't be able to join in later.”
“Thats fine. I'm going to take a nap downstairs. Wake me in a few hours, alright?”
“Sure thing.”
The three of them continued with their game as Jesse made his way toward the door. None of them bothered to give a second glance as he left the room and went down the steps. They were too wrapped up in their game.
As tired as he was, Jesse found that he still could not get to sleep. It had been like this ever since he found out about Tiffany. Everyone seemed to look at him now as if he had been the one that got her pregnant. His parents had even asked him about it when the news reached them. That was when he had told them he had not been dating Tiffany for a few months. Zeke had been his witness.
And ever since it got out, Nick seemed more distant. She would no longer speak to him, or anyone else for that matter. The thought that he was the reason she remained silent bothered him. It was always in the back of his mind, like a dark secret. It were as if she had lost another friend.
Or could her silence be a result of fear? Fear of losing another friend? It had been almost a year since David passed away. And a few months ago, Dylan was shot in a robbery. He barely made it out alive. Had this somehow shaken her a bit. It seemed beyond reason. Nick was never sad, or at least she rarely let it show. Could this have been too much for her? Is that why she was in therapy?
After tossing around on the couch for a good half hour, Jesse gave up on sleeping. There were too many thoughts going through his mind that it made it impossible to drift off to sleep. Instead, he found his way back upstairs, in soft glow of the rising sun offering him guidance around the furniture.
When he entered the room, Dylan looked over at him from the bed. Zack and Jacob were seated in front of the computer, and didn't acknowledge that he had returned. Taking a seat by Dylan, Jesse decided to ask.
“What are you guys doing?”
“Hacking into Nick's computer.”
“What?!? Why!?!”
Jesse knew that the three of them liked to hack into computers and mess around with settings, leave files containing vulgar messages, and explore. He also knew that hacking into Nicks computer would be difficult, and the consequences were great. Like Zeke, Nick was sensitive about her laptop. By messing with her laptop, you were messing with her, and she took great offense to it.
“Somethings wrong with her. Don't pretend you didn't notice it.”
“I'm not saying I didn't! But why? She'll be pissed if she finds out!”
“Even so, if she's in some kind of trouble, its only natural for us to help. We'll do this with, or without you. Either way, you'll go down with us when the time comes.”
“....Alright, I'm in.”
“That's more like it.”
There was no turning back at this point, they knew this. The actions they now took endangered the friendship they had shared with Nick, but some things just couldn't be left alone. They had learned this the hard way when David had died. The three of them had noticed a strangeness to his activities, most of which they ignored. It was impossible to change the past, only the unwritten future.
Surprisingly, the security on Nick's laptop was fairly weak. It were as if she wanted someone to hack into it. And everything was there, the documents open and waiting for them to read. The first was a note, addressed to Marc, and anyone else who happened to see it. As they finished reading the note, something began to rise in the pit of their stomachs. What the hell was going on?!? How could they have been so blind.

As Nick entered the elevator, a noise emitted from her phone, informing her that she had received a text message. It was from Zeke.

Neo just emailed me. Rick is holding David's sister hostage. He wants the program they've been working on. But Virgil isn't letting him or David give it to him. He's emailed it to you....can you make the exchange? If we don't do this, he'll kill Annette for sure.

Nick was stuck. There was no way she could ignore this, not when a life was at stake. Brandon had told her to stay away, and David had already pushed her out of his life. Had he done the same with his sister?
Before replying to the text message, Nick looked around once she was on the street. There was an internet cafe just a block away. She could check her email there and download the program to a disk. Then she could go to the arranged meeting place.
She retrieved the program ten minutes later. While she waited for it to save, Nick wondered what Marc was thinking right now. By now he had probably returned home. If he ventured up to her room, he would soon figure everything out, for the most part.
A few months ago, Nick had uncovered three more hidden files on the ipod. Two of them were word documents that contained in-depth details about Defiance, its members, and what they planned to do. David must have added them the last time he had saw her, while Ryan had taken her to the hospital. The third was a short video taken with a camera phone. It was an apology of sorts. These files were now open on her old laptop, ready for anyone who bothered to enter her room and glance at the screen. It wasn't much, but in the right hands it was hard evidence, enough to put someone behind bars for a long time on conspiracy alone.
Nick only had to wait a few more minutes for Zeke's next text message, which held the location of where the scheduled meeting was to take place. It wasn't far from the cafe she was at now. It was another internet cafe, a Starbucks. She could get there within ten minutes by walking.
Rick, the girl, and two other members of Defiance were already in the cafe. They were sitting in booth located in the far corner of the cafe, facing the doorway. Rick and Annette were seated on one side, while the other two were seated at a table behind them. The other side of the table was obviously reserved for Nick and Zeke. When she approached the table, Rick glanced at her through the corner of his eye.
“So, you're the infamous Nick. Or, do you prefer the name Zi?”
He was patronizing her. She had picked up on the snide tone in his voice, but chose to ignore it. Her silence apparently bothered him greatly.
“.....Sit.”
Her mind told her to obey, but her body wouldn't allow it. She couldn't budge, whether it was out of fear or anticipation. Watch enough movies and you can usually tell how things will turn out. Life was funny like that.
“I'll ask again, sit.”
The sound of a hammer clicking back forced her body to comply with the request. She sat facing Rick, diagonal to David's sister, who appeared to be pretty shaken up. Nick paid no mind to her though, her eyes were locked with Ricks.
“Do you like stories Zi? You seem to be the listening type, so I'll share a story with you. When I was a kid, my father was killed by a man who was compelled by greed. Because of this man, I was forced to raise my two younger siblings alone. This experience taught me something. Humans are disgusting creatures. We shed blood to live wealthy. And thats when this idea dawned on me. Rid the world of its fucking materialism. And what better place to start, than the materialistic capitol of the world, the United States.”
“....”
“My follows, Defiance, they share my feelings. They've given up their materialistic ways. David was the one exception. Tell me, do you like being treated as if you were a possession? Do you enjoy being used?”
“....whats your point?”
“David could never give up his old life, he was fixated on it. He didn't want to give you up. So he left you clues, hints that he was in fact alive. Ironic though....now that he's abandoned you for your protection, you're in more danger now than you ever were.”
The bell on the door rang as Zeke entered the cafe. Nick broke her gaze with Rick long enough to see her friend approach the table. But instead of sitting next to her, he stood beside Rick. As Nick looked up into his face, she couldn't help but notice his menacing stare. She then lowered her head in defeat.
“....this whole time....you were the one sending those emails...”
“You put your trust in people too easily Nick. You never once questioned my loyalty, even when I told you about the deal with Rick.”
“.....this entire time.....why?”
“Revenge. I wasn't hurt after we drifted apart. But when David stole you from me.....thats when I met Rick. At first he wanted David to join us....Having the student of the Great Virgil on your side was an invaluable asset. It was only afterwards that we realized David was one of them....a materialistic demon who couldn't bear to part with his possessions. You.”
“You're sick. You need help.”
“Thats funny, coming from you.”
Rick looked down at his watch, and then over towards the doorway before resting his eyes upon Nick again.
“He should be here any minute now.”
“....what the hell's going on?”
“We told you, an exchange....of sorts. To save everyone the boring details, we're just going to wait for lover- oh, here he is now.”
Both Nick and Annettee couldn't help but look up as the bell on the door sounded. Seconds later David was standing beside Nick, facing both Zeke and Rick. The anger was clearly visible on his face.
“Now, we can begin.”
“What the fuck do you want.....I told you to leave them out of this.”
“Funny, Virgil told YOU to leave them out of this before you even joined us, but you dragged your fucking sister and girlfriend along for the ride anyways.”
“Dane, if you would be so kind...”
Gunshots echoed throughout the room, followed by screams of terror. Everyone in the cafe had looked back to where the sound had come from. When Dane aimed the gun at the customers, ordering them to get out, none were willing to risk staying.
“Now that thats settled....lets get down to business.”
“We have no business. Let them go, your fight's with me, they have nothing to do with this.”
“Bullshit! Your darling sister here was a member of Defiance. She helped us make that virus, and as for Nick, you let her know you were still alive. You let her know about us. Not to mention, her fucking brother's a cop.”
David was cornered like a rat. In the distance, sirens could be heard. Someone must have called the cops. It was only a matter of time before Rick was stopped. But could he stall that long?
“As I was saying....we've agreed to let two of you walk out of here alive. It would be a shame to kill the three of you when only one is guilty.”
The sirens were closer now. David could see the flashing lights in the distance. Soon this whole mess would be over...and he knew exactly what had to be done.
“Then let them go. You said it yourself, I can't let go of materialism.”
It seemed as though Rick was considering this thought. He remained silent for quite some time, almost as if he had entered a trance or a daze. The ever approaching sirens were the only thing that brought him back to the present.
After a moment, he stood, and with the help of his gun, motioned for both Annettee and Nick to exit the booth. He ordered the two of them to start walking toward the doorway, while at the same time telling Zeke and Dane to keep a close eye on David. The barrel of the gun was aimed at the backs of the girls, who slowly edged toward the doorway.
The police cars were now visible across the street. They had made a barricade with their cars in order to keep civilians away from the gunfire. The police officers remained huddled behind the safety of the police car doors, guns aimed at the cafe in front of them. They were all on edge....something they couldn't afford. It only took one stray bullet...one mistake to end an innocent life.
Halfway to the doorway, Rick stopped. He watched as his two hostages pushed the doors open and stepped outside. No one moved, not even the nervous police force. Then Rick spoke.
“.....Materialism must die.”

Two shots were fired from inside the cafe. The shattering glass sounded like rain, falling on the earth. A third shot was fired from across the street, the target unknown. As the teenage girl hit the ground, a dozen police officers swarmed into the cafe. The suspects had vanished, but traces of blood could be found on the floor. A bullet fired by an unknown cop had found its mark, wounding one of them. From the amount of blood found, it was assumed that the suspect could not live very long without seeking medical attention, so officers were sent to every hospital within a thirty-mile radius.
One of the teenage girls, a blond with grey eyes, was placed in one of the police cruisers, a therapist was trying to evaluate her. The one that had been shot, a girl with black hair and blue eyes, was rushed to a hospital via ambulance. The girls vitals dropped dramatically en route, attempts at resuscitation failed. She was pronounced dead on arrival.