The Annihilation Code

Chapter Twenty-Two ✰ Chase Huxley ✰

"See? There's nothing here!" Marisa said.

"We've still got two more rooms to check."

She rolled her eyes so hard; I think she caught sight of her brain. "Fine, but make it quick."

The second room contained nothing but a series of beige file cabinets.

We promptly moved on to the third door. I tugged on the handle, but it refused to budge. "It's locked."

"Can we go now?"

"Nope." I used every ounce of my strength to rip the door off its hinges. I tossed the crumpled remains of the metal door aside. Thank you, cybernetic enhancements!

Marisa let out an exasperated sigh. "I guess we're adding property damage to our list of charges."

"Don't worry, I have spectacular lawyers. They've gotten me out of tons of sticky situations."

"I don't have lawyers!"

"I'll lend them to you."

The third room was pitch black except for the faint glowing blue light from a large computer screen. We hesitantly tiptoed towards the computer. As I scanned the room, I noticed a tiny red blinking light in the top corner of the room. I zoomed in with my cybernetic vision, to try to identify the light's source. It was a security camera! I hid my face from the camera's lens, then crushed the device with my cybernetic fist. I released my grip and the debris clinked to the ground. I smirked. "Not today, Bionic Corp."

Marisa approached the computer and examined it. "This is one of the fastest and most expensive computers on the market. This model can store over one hundred sixty terabytes of data. This is the same type of computer Bionic Corp used to use when I was in the army."

"Do spas typically have computers like this?"

Marisa shook her head. "No, they do not."

"So, Atlas was right to suspect something suspicious was going on here?"

"I guess so." Marisa sat down in the leather office chair and tried to access the computer. A notification popped up on the screen, demanding we enter the password. 

"Do you think you can hack in?"

"I can try. This is a newer model than I'm used to working with." She cracked her knuckles and got to work. Her acrylic nails made a clicking sound as she tapped on the keyboard.

"Are you okay with being out of the house this long? I know it's anxiety-inducing for you."

She kept her focus glued to the screen. "Nope, I'm not even remotely okay, but I have to keep going. Hacking is a good distraction."

I admired her tenacity. "Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?"

"Yeah. Can you face the wall or something? I can have people staring at me while I hack.

"Yeah, I can do that." I pressed my forehead against the wall and stared at the chipped paint. I'm already bored. I counted every cobweb in the room several times, then slumped down in the corner. I wonder what Atlas is up to. I hope he's found something more interesting than this. He hasn't contacted me through our cerebral link, which probably means there is nothing to report.

"I'm in!" She threw up her arms triumphantly and leaned back in her chair. "Their firewall is pretty tough, so we don't have a lot of time."

"Great job!" I moved next to her so I could have a better view of the screen. "What are we looking at?"

Marisa studied the screen. "It looks like a database." She skimmed the files. "What would you like me to look for?"

"Search for the Annihilation Code!" I suggested.

Marisa typed the words into the search bar.

０RESULTS FOUND

"Dammit! I was hoping it was here. Atlas is going to be devastated."

"Don't lose hope yet. Bionic Corp wouldn't leave the Annihilation Code lying around, listed under its own name. They'd most likely encrypt it somehow."

I nodded. "Good thinking." I wouldn't have thought of that. "Where should we begin searching?"

"I have no idea." She confessed. "We may have to go through every individual file to find it."

"Fun," I said in a monotone.

Marisa clicked on one of the files to open it.

Cyborg: 1052652512 Call sign: Abyss
Cyborg: 2391419201514 Call sign: Ace
Cyborg: 2652 Call sign: Adrenaline
Cyborg: 139121 Call sign: Aftermath
Cyborg: 54231184 Call sign: Alchemist
Cyborg: 38114412518 Call sign: Alpha
Cyborg: 5221 Call sign: Alpine
Cyborg: 41149 Call sign: Altitude
Cyborg: 1122524 Call sign: Ambush
Cyborg 101145: Call sign: Ambrosia
Cyborg: 114208151425 Call sign: Anaconda
Cyborg: 21715 Call sign: Angler
Cyborg: 815182119 Call sign: Anubis
Cyborg: 10211291 Call sign: Arachne
Cyborg: 18525331 Call sign: Artemis
Cyborg: 71857151825 Call sign: Apparition
Cyborg: 75145 Call sign: Astro
Cyborg: 41131514 Call sign: Avenger
Cyborg: 1491 Call sign: Avalanche

Marisa let out a quiet gasp. "It's a record of every cyborg soldier that's ever worked for Bionics Corp!"

"Can you scroll downward? I'll tell you when to stop."

She nodded and began scrolling. She paused when we reached Cyborg: 3118121519 Call sign: Curseword.

I shook my head, and she kept scrolling. That's not who I'm looking for. We continued to skim through the list for what felt like an eternity. All the names and numbers were beginning to blur together. "Stop!" I shouted.

Marisa froze.

Cyborg: 451291 Call sign: Nightshade
Cyborg: 149381512119 Call sign: Nocturnal
Cyborg: 1259121 Call sign: Nyx
Cyborg 11120189141 Call sign: Oblivion

I pointed to Oblivion's folder. "That one."

"What are you looking to find in there?"

"I don't know, maybe they've got a weakness we can exploit or maybe a family member we could threaten."

"Chase!" Marisa scolded.

"What? Oblivion isn't afraid to play dirty; why shouldn't we do the same?"

Marisa hesitantly clicked on the file.

Oblivion
Duty: Assassin
Name: Katrina Madden

Holy freaking fudgeballs! She was playing us the whole time? That can't be right, can it? It doesn't add up! Either way, I need to warn Atlas. I activated our cerebral link and reached out to him. "Atlas, are you there?"

"Yes, I'm here. What's going on? Did you find anything downstairs?"

I let out a long sigh of relief. He was safe. For now, anyway. I let out an anxious sound that resembled a chortle.

"Um, okay."

"Oblivion is in the building."

"Where?"

"She's with you right now. Atlas, Katrina is Oblivion."

I felt a cold metal fist close around my neck, cutting off my air supply. "What do you think you're doing here?"