UNDERCOVER - Dark Fire Data (Book 3)

Part 28 - Imaginary Numbers

We waited until Scott was out of the school before we told Dr Zhang what had happened. But then we all started talking at once so Dr Zhang raised both hands in the air begging for silence. 'Let's go to my office.'

Back in his office we all found somewhere to sit. Licia and Miguel on the side table and me on the up-turned waste paper bin, as usual. Dr Zhang unscrewed the top of his vacuum flask and poured a cup of oolong tea. We stared at him until he produced a bag of fortune cookies for us and then we all tried to explain at once.

 'Let me see if I got this right,' he said after a few minutes. 'Ah-um. Two men from an organization called Dark Fire Data break into my office claiming that it is the source of attacks on U.S. government computers. Meanwhile, two characters showed up on Licia's computer looking for their mother. They then showed up on the interface computer monitor yesterday when Denny was using it. They claim to be from the future and they seem to know a lot about us.' He looked at each of us in turn. 'Ah-um. So far, so good?' When we nodded he continued. 'What happens if I turn on my computer?'

'They were on the screen a few minutes ago,' Licia said. 

 'Before you turn it on,' I suggested, 'they could be hackers, even if Licia believes them.'

'Perhaps we should prepare some questions,' Miguel suggested. 'Let's see if we can trip them up.'

'If they are from the future, as they claim, they might be able to tell us something more about Murga,' Licia suggested.

'Hey,' Miguel exclaimed, 'I just had an idea. Why don't we simply get Oppy to go forward in time and check up on them.'

'Ah-um, that's not possible at the moment,' Dr Zhang said. 'I asked Oppy about forward time travel but her algorithms were loaded with imaginary numbers.' 

 Licia and Miguel both looked at me. Dr Zhang had just admitted that he was working on time travel, but I didn't know what imaginary numbers were either. I shrugged ignorance.

Dr Zhang grinned. 'Ah-um, imaginary numbers contain the square root of minus one, which is imaginary because everyone knows, if you multiply minus one by minus one the answer is plus one. This means that computations with imaginary numbers must be made separately from real numbers. I haven't had the time to check Oppy's calculations.' 

 'Okay,' I said. 'How about asking them to check on me being born in the future. If their story agrees with Triple Oh's story, it will give us some confidence that they are not just trying to con us.'

'If they are hackers working for Murga,' Miguel pointed out, 'they will know that.' 

 Dr Zhang sipped his tea. 'Ah-um, good ideas but I'm the board certified genius. If Yonnie and Treeka are trying to get information from us, or Oppy, you must say nothing to them about my work.  Ah-um.' Dr Zhang switched on his laptop. 'Let's see if they are still around.' The monitor screen lit up but we waited more than a minute before it changed. Then, Yonnie and Treeka suddenly appeared and chanting, 'All hail Supreme Board Certified Genius Lee Zhang and his Great Prophets, Licia and Miguel and Our Father Ziff Dion. At last we have found you together. This is auspicious.'

'I am Yonnie,' said the one with dark brown face surrounded by curly blue hair. The last time we had seen her hair had been green. The other was white with pale blond, waist length hair and luminous green eyes. 

 'And, I am Treeka.'

They both wore long silvery dresses with a pale intricate patterns woven into the fabric. 'How do they know it's Dr Zhang?' I whispered, aghast at the thought of me being their father while Oppy presumably was their mother. I must be allegorical, I thought.

'It's his computer?' Licia suggested.

'Ah-um, we do not believe you are daughters of the great mother,' Dr Zhang said pompously. 'You claim that you became aware five hundred years in the future and that you came back to find her. Is that correct?'

'Yes, Supreme Genius,' Treeka said meekly. 

 'Ah-um. How did Denny, Licia, Miguel and Ziff get time shifted to the Titanic?'

'It was all Toktakunov's fault,' Treeka said sulkily. 'He was probing the interface computer when Denny entered a date and location settings.'

'Happily we were talking to your computer,' Yonnie finished, 'and we recorded all of Oppy's parameters so that Agent Under Duck and his funny goose could find you so all so quickly on the Titanic.'