Second Chances: Impulse

Chapter 35

Jesse couldn't believe her eyes as she finally walked into her mom's hidden lab after all the time she'd spent searching for it. At long last, she had a real lead to finding her mother.

"Okay, this place has seen better days." Wally said as he kicked up dust as he sped around.

"Well, this lab has been abandoned since my mom disappeared." Jesse pointed out.

"True, but still, this place is pretty cutting edge for a secret lab built underneath your family home." Kira said as she looked around, but her regular and cybernetic eyes bugged out at all this tech as her cybernetic eye scanned all the tech.

"Can you make any sense of what some of this stuff is?" Jesse asked her.

"Working on it and I'm also trying to crack into the datacore, though I might need you to disable the firewalls before I can do that without risking frying the data." Kira said.

"I'll see what I can do." Jesse agreed as she walked over to the computers, only to find that the power core was relatively depleted.

"Wally, I think this place needs a little jumpstart. Think you can help?" Jesse asked her boyfriend, since all the computers seemed pretty dead, like activating those security systems had used up the last bit of power this lab had.

"On it." Wally said as he moved to the computers and generated a small spark of lightning, just enough to bring all the computers back to life.

"Thank you. Now that power's been restored, let's see what we can find." Jesse said as she went up to what looked like the main computer and booted it up.

"What are we dealing with?" Kira asked.

"It looks like this computer system uses an upgraded version of the security program my mom and I used for McCulloch's database." Jesse said.

"That makes sense. That's the most advanced encryption I've ever come across so far, since it's basically a game of computer whack a mole. Every time you get past one firewall, another instantly shoots up." Kira said and Jesse nodded.

"Yep, but now that code is constantly rewriting itself with every new firewall that's put up, basically meaning that whoever hacks in has to start all over. It might even be faster than your computing power Kira." Jesse said.

"Then we need to figure out what password your mom would've put to protect these files, since I'm scanning the encryption now and it's a time trigger, if the wrong password is entered, we have 60 seconds to enter the right one or else the system basically commits suicide." Kira said.

"Man, mom was really paranoid about people stealing her research." Jesse said.

"It's my life's work, of course I was paranoid about it." a familiar voice said and Jesse's heart lifted when she saw her mother appear in the reflective surface of one of the turned off monitors.

"Mom." Jesse said.

"Sorry I haven't been able to communicate with you again sooner, but you've clearly been busy." Eva said.

"Yeah, enough talk though, it's been months, why haven't you spoken to me again till now?" Jesse demanded.

"Because believe it or not, it's not easy to establish a connection between universes with less than ideal resources to work with. It takes time and energy to generate a connection and the one I've established is unstable at best. I don't know how long it'll last." Eva said and Jesse noticed how flickery the image was.

"Right, we'll talk more when I get you back here. Can you tell me how to access your files, since we can't risk frying all the data." Jesse said.

"I'll give you a hint. My password is the most important thing in the world to me, though it is a number." Eva said and it only took Jesse about a minute to guess as she typed a nine character number in and it gave them access.

"Wow, what did you put in?" Kira asked.

"My social security number and sure enough, that unlocked the system." Jesse said and Kira grinned.

"Accessing the files now." Kira said as she took over.

"Look for a file called Project R-CEM. It's a device that could theoretically release me from the mirrorverse according to my calculations, but I was sent here before I could start building it." Eva said.

"Accessing now." Kira said as she located the file and accessed the file.

"Wow, this is some pretty complex stuff, but I think it adds up. The only issue is that while I can handle the actual assembly, transdimensional science isn't exactly my strong suit." Kira said

"Don't worry, I know someone who does specialize in that kind of thing. Don't ask." Wally said, thinking that Cisco would love to crack at this.

"That's good. Because while the R-CEM is a good first step, I'll admit this isn't my area of expertise either. But what I do know is that you'll need one of my old creations to help build it. The prismatic refractor." Eva said.

"I remember that one. You called it your crown jewel, a gateway to limitless possibilities, since it converts light into all kinds of energy." Jesse said.

"It's the only power source strong enough to energize the R-CEM." Eva said, as the connection started to flicker.

"Mom, hang in there, we're even closer to bringing you home now than we were before." Jesse said, thinking that there was a lot she'd need to discuss with her mom when she came home.

"I can't wait. I'll try to make contact again soon my little Jesse Quick." Eva said as the connection finally cut out.

"Did you get what you need?" Jesse asked.

"Everything." Kira confirmed.

"We'll turn this lab into a part of our base of operations and I'll reach out to my friend in Central City to see if he can help us with this." Wally said and Jesse nodded, since even though Wally was the leader of this team, she was in charge of this particular operation.

"Tell me whatever you need to to build that machine and I'll make sure you get it, no matter what the price is." Jesse said to Kira.

"Copy that. But first we should track down that prismatic refractor your mom mentioned." Kira said and Jesse nodded.

"Okay people, let's get to work." Wally said as the team got down to business.