Haywire Ranger

Chapter 38: Empty

"How did that happen, anyway?" Sky asked.

"I don't know how, but after I read about you on social media tonight, things started to go crazy," Hazel replied. "Electric and digital devices malfunctioning, home automation failing, ads glitching, you name it."

"Only lightbulbs work well," Winona added.

"My parents said that it looked like back in the early and mid-20th century, from films and documentaries they had watched," Kenji said.

"Endurance sent a message shortly after the chaos had spread, claiming authorship of that mayhem," Hazel went on.

"That's why we were able to rescue you so swiftly," Luca commented. "The security system had a vulnerability we could take advantage of."

"Mrs Evergreen did nothing to stop this?" Sky asked.

"We don't know," Hazel replied. "Probably."

"She's got control over the entire city," Sky explained. "It's her life project. Her pride. She's got everything and everyone she needs here, including experts in coding. She must've tried something to stop Endurance."

"If she's tried," Charlotte said, "she's failed—for the time being."

"Either that," Sky went on, "or she just wishes to protect herself and Anti-Ageing Inc.'s headquarters, not the Hovering Hive as a whole."

"That makes more sense," Hazel concluded.

Sky grunted softly as his gaze rested on a distant spot on the horizon.

"Kovak called to tell me to flee and didn't explain why," Sky said, pacing up and down between the trees, under the cover of their thick crowns while voicing his thoughts.

"He sounded angsty, as if he was in a hurry," Hazel whispered with furrowed eyebrows, standing beside him.

"Next, I'm apprehended, Haywire gets poisoned, and I'm locked up." Sky sighed, clenching his fists. "Now this, Endurance taking the Internet and causing havoc. What's going on?"

"Someone is moving the pieces in this huge chess game," Hazel concluded, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yes," Sky replied, putting a hand in his hair, combing his long fringe backwards with annoyance. "And I'm flying blind."

"I saved Kovak's number, just in case," Hazel whispered, offering Sky her phone. "Would you like to try calling him now?"

"That man is a shitload of trouble, but it might be worth a shot."

Sky took her phone in his hands and dialled. The beeping line sound echoed in his mind. For a long moment, they remained staring at the phone in Sky's hand.

Come on. Pick it up.

"He's not picking it up," Hazel said.

"That could mean two things. Either he's not in the mood to talk to me," Sky said seriously, "or he can't talk to me." The grip on the phone tightened.

"Are you suggesting something's happened to him?" Hazel asked with worry.

"It could be," Sky grunted and gave Hazel her phone back. "I'll try again later. In the meantime, we should check whether the arena is guarded or not." He squatted beside Luca to say, "Luca, you could run a digital search first?"

"I could. But the Internet is partly broken, not to mention compromised," Luca replied. "If you want to keep things from Endurance and Mrs Evergreen, I suggest not to use it. We already risked a lot by using it to save you."

"Besides, that's a shitload of work, Sky," Charlotte added while Hazel squatted beside her. "I don't mean to be rude or anything, but in the case we do find him, your phoenix friend might attack us."