Reboot: A New Guardian (ON HOLD)

Driving Me Crazy

"That's correct Louis," Jessica smiled, typing a few commands into her sleek black laptop with hot pink stripes. "Here's the last question. Whoever can get this question will double their points."

On the smart board, a long algebra equation stood out in white on the black screen. This seemed rather simple, I thought to myself as I quickly scribbled down the solution.

A few seconds later, my hand pressed against the buzzer first out of all of us. Jackie looked me in the eyes, her icy blue eyes staring straight into mine with expectancy. "Do you know the answer, Parker?"

I hesitated. "Is it 6.5 to the third power plus 9x to the fourth y to the fifth minus 54?"

A couple of sighs and groans were passed around the math classroom. "Sorry Parker," our human questionnaire apologized. "But it was 6.5 to the third power plus 9x to the fourth y to the fifth minus 53."

My hand covered my face as I sank back into my seat, disappointed in myself for not solving such an easy equation. This was precisely why I'm the second-in-command of this operation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How could I only answer 3 out of 26 questions first, and correct? I thought to myself as I carefully placed my competition notebook in my little row of books in the back of my locker.

It was after the competition and I was placed 12th out of 13 (Reese may be intellectually inclined but her reflexes weren't the best. Still...) which caused everyone from the team to give me concerned glances. A couple of them even asked me if I was taking some drugs for a medical condition or if someone died.

Yes, that's how serious my "downfall" was. Especially as the second-in-command. And we were extensive thinkers; a few of us were even in the sleuthing/detective club, which meant they live for conspiracy theories. I wonder if anyone in that club is investigating the Bionic Blade.

"Hey mate," a familiar voice greeted behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder and smiled. Standing behind me was the head detective of the sleuthing club, Ace Cardinal. He had pure black hair, icy blue eyes like his sister, and his signature red velvet fedora. "Hi Ace," I replied, quickly closing my locker before I faced him. "How are you?"

"I'm quite excited today. Mostly because of the new case I am very eager to introduce my fellow theorists this afternoon. But you'll have to find out more on my sister's blog, if she can find out what we're doing." I smiled. The Cardinal siblings always had a thing for gossip and secrets. While one liked to discuss with friends in person about his unsolved mysteries, the other preferred to chat with her acquaintances all around the world about hers. Which meant they loved keeping secrets just as much as searching for secrets - that is until their discoveries are published. "But that isn't what I came here to talk about. Got a few minutes to spare?"

I snuck a gaze at my "notebook" in my arm and discreetly tapped the white boxed-info part of the front cover (A/N: Sorry for my poor description skills). The time was 15:04, and no dark code symbols popped up in the corner, so I guessed they others didn't need me at the moment. "Yeah, I have some time to kill," I replied, looking back at Ace.

He led me over to one of the wooden benches in a not-so populated area in the heart of the school. We both took off our backpacks and set them down at our feet before sitting down. The raven-head tilted his head as he faced me, visibly concerned.

"Look mate. I, among others, noticed your slight change of behavior during today's competition. On behalf of the team, your mistakes worry us greatly, especially with you as second-in-command."

"I know, I know!" I exclaimed, my hands flying over my head without me looking up. "It's just that I've been distracted by trying to find out who the Bionic Blade is. I've already come up with a bunch of suspects-"

I was then cut off by Ace. "Suspects? Of Bionic Blade?" He breathed.

I nodded, lifting head up slightly. "Yeah, I've got a few leads on who she might be."

"Leads? As in more than one lead?"

I nodded again, slower than last time. Where is he going with this? one side of my brain thought. This is what you get for introducing a new case to the king of conspiracies, the other side replied.

Said king of conspiracies reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a pitch black business card with bright blood red cursive. He handed it to me and yanked my head a little closer to whisper, "You know what to do." He then stood up, slinging his backpack over his shoulder, and headed out of the heart of the school down Hallway C.

As soon as he was out of sight, I looked back down at the card that was placed in my hand.

Wanna be a 🕺 🕵️‍♂️?
🍄 - mush 10001 / 🌚 - 🍟
@ 0000 0100 p.m.
Passcode? Y.K.W.T.D.
Prove your skills🕴

Cracking codes like this? Simply elementary...

Wait. His new case is about Bionic Blade. All of the evidence I held were mostly assumptions or related to the Guardians. I couldn't tell anyone such classified pieces of information. Even though nobody knew who the Guardians were - not from Cyber Guardians that is - we couldn't allow anyone to know to find the control center within school and how the four of us could travel into cyberspace. Think of how innocent bystanders could jeopardize our missions and possibly let the Sourcerer finish whatever plan he has.

On the other hand, I could get closer to finding out if the mysterious hero is really Jane. There's a probability she isn't Bionic Blade, but I still wish to know her identity, therefore finding out Giga's identity. We needed her help, even after those upgrade that V.E.R.A. promised.

But I wasn't sure if a petty yet professional club was the answer to finding out who she was.

Buzz! Buzz!

I immediately opened up my 'notebook' and swiped the screen to the right. The dark code alert appeared on the pearly white background, along with a message from Vector.

Googz,

The upgrade is done. Just in time too; suspicious activity at Virusylum. Get your butt down to Room 0 now!

Vector

Looks like I didn't have a choice but not to go to the meeting that day.

While standing up, I gathered all my stuff and shoved the card in the inside pocket of my notebook cover. Then, I speed-walked down the halls to the stairwell leaving to Room 0. I mentally prayed that she was available for round 2 with Megabyte and Hexadecimal.