You move to a new town after your father accepts a promotion at his company. You soon find out that the small town is riddled with secrets, chaos, and intriguing characters. There is one boy in particular, Jughead Jones, you can't seem to get off yo...
You landed in a narrow tunnel, seeing a source of light up ahead. You both clicked off your flashlights as you approached, walking slowly and soundlessly. You arrived at the small chamber which contained a metal desk with a desktop computer upon it. There was a large metal door leading out of the room that was electronically locked, a fingerprint reader to the left of it. A few work safety warnings lined the walls. It is unlawful to enter this area without permission of the Installation Manager.While on this installation all personal and the property under their control are subject to search.
Jughead went to the desk and tried to open the two drawers, there were both locked. "Wait." You rummaged in your bag, pulling out a lockpick and handing it to him.
"Where'd you get this?" His eyebrow arched.
"Some hardware store awhile ago. Looks like it will finally be put to use."
He began working the locks while you scanned some more of the signs, certain parts jumping out at you. Follow all protocols. Use extreme caution. Trespassing or failure to comply with Installation Procedures – Deadly Force is Authorized.
"Got it." You jumped at his voice. This place was already weirding you out. You went over to the drawer and watched as he stacked various manuals on the desk. You flipped through them, most of them guides for various pieces of equipment or processes you had no familiarity of. You continued to peruse through in hopes of anything useful while he took the lockpick to the bottom drawer.
"Should I try turning on the computer?"
"Yeah, let's try."
The home screen appeared just as the second drawer slid open. Pyron Corporation- Engineering the Perfect Future. In the middle of the screen was a username and password box, required to continue any further. The text at the bottom of the screen read.
SECURITY WARNING: Anything viewed beyond this screen is covered by the Pyron Corporation Security Agreement and any second party viewing by unauthorized personal will be punished under said companies Treason and Terrorism Director. (Article 9, Paragraph 16, Section B.)
You let out a small gasp. He shot up with a mess of paperwork in his arms. "What is it?"
"Look at this." You waited for him to read through it. "Treason and Terrorism. What the hell are they doing here?"
He shook his head. "I found this business card."
Pyron Corp.
Hikaru Enomoto
Division Chief -Nanotechnologies and Biomedical Engineering.
You took the card from him, flipping it over. The back was blank. "A business card with no contact information..."
"The packet they gave your father didn't mention anything pertaining to nano or biotechnologies?"
"No, I definitely would have noticed that. I thought the experimental aviation and pharmaceuticals part was strange enough for a company known to manufacture such run-of-the-mill things."
"Look these over. I am going to try to get in." He leaned over the computer.
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"What? There is no way we'll be able to figure out a matching username and password. What if a failed attempt sets off a security alarm?"
"Just let me try." You bit the side of your mouth, while sorting through the jumble of papers. They were mostly basic invoices for food delivery and other rudimentary office supplies. Any substantial information was not going to be left in this room. You came across a set of papers joined by a paperclip. External Security Log was typed at the top. There were pages of names dating back months.
"Maybe we should go." Jughead whispered.
"What happened?"
"I got locked out, and I..."
You both looked up, fear on your faces as you saw the cerulean light near the door turn vivid red. He grabbed your arm, and you ran full force back into the tunnel, aiming for the ladder. You never even stopped to get your flashlights out, shear adrenaline seeming to guide the way. You scurried up the ladder, Jughead right beneath you. As soon as he stepped out, you slammed the wooden door closed and began running down the slope and into the dense woods.
Jughead suggested heading right to the pumpkin patch seeking to blend in with the crowd. You stuffed the documents you were still holding onto into the bottom of your bag and steered Jughead towards a drink stand.
"May I have two maple ciders?" You paid for the drinks while Jughead kept an eye behind you.
"Here."
"Thank you." He said taking one of the cups.
"This way." He grabbed the back of your arm and led you towards a group of boys sitting around an empty firepit. He sat on the curved concrete bench, you taking a seat beside him.
"Dilton Doiley. Strange seeing you and your scouts at the Blossom Pumpkin Patch."
"Pumpkins make for good target practice." Doiley shrugged. They exchanged a few more snarky comments before the scouts went back to speaking amid themselves. Jughead and you sat quietly, to a passerby it would have seemed like a group of friends just enjoying a classic autumn pastime.
"Jughead?" A recognizable voice called. You turned and saw Archie standing a few feet away in his letterman jacket.
"Arch?" Jughead did a one-eighty on the bench, springing off the other side. "What are you doing here?"
"I just got done helping Cheryl with the maple tapping ceremony. What about you guys?" His eyes seem to narrow when he looked your way.
"Just enjoying this all-American pumpkin patch. Hey if you are on your way out, you wouldn't mind giving us a ride?"
"Yeah sure."
"I'll just walk." You interjected. "I don't live far." You added so that you wouldn't seem rude.
"No." Jughead looked at you with a slight frown. "Come on."
"Yeah, it's no trouble at all." Archie piped in, an artificial smile on his face.
The ride in Arche's truck was uncomfortable. Jughead sat in the middle but unfortunately he didn't work as an impediment to awkward conversation. It seemed Archie was trying to figure out why were hanging out and exactly how often. Jughead gave him a rather curt answer, but it just got him more rivetted.
"Wait so you knew he was homeless?"
"Well yeah... I did." He glared at you before reverting his eyes to the road.
