The Alien Agenda (#Wattys2018)

[Chapter 14: Totally Spies]

It had been a few days since Lin became the latest addition to our team. As absurd as it may have seemed, Lin had agreed to help us with the resources she had. I was truly grateful and felt extremely lucky to have Lin by my side. Not only was she a comforting presence, but with her father being an experienced covert operations agent, it was as if the stars themselves had showered me with luck.

Lin had invited Axel and me over to her place that day. Lin's bungalow was located at the fringe of Burlington City, hence perched at the outskirts, her house had an amazing lake view. The pristine, modern, white structure was not unfamiliar to me. I had come over to Lin's place countless of times. Nevertheless, her father and butler made it clear that as a friend, I could only wander around certain perimeters of the house. I had never truly ventured into the rather confidential places in it, which was why, today felt all the more exciting.

Lin stated that if they were to get any information on Area 51, they would have to use her father's equipment. Therefore, she brought us over to her basement- or more like secret lair- to carry out our necessary findings. Lin had apparently confirmed that her butler, Robert, would be busy for the day, hence providing us with just enough time to sneak into the basement and complete our work.

The elevator doors slid open, revealing a wide area, with crisp white tiles all over the floor and walls. Strips of white light lined the walls, illuminating the room. The first area we were in had huge computer screens fixed to the walls that came with large control panels. The screens were black, but as soon as we entered, they blinked to life, displaying a sleek logo.

Beyond that was an area with long rows of metallic shelves that were fixed to the walls and were filled with various kinds of gadgets and devices. At the centre of the gadgets area, were a number of pedestals that were covered with glass domes and securely locked with state-of- the-art security systems. Within each dome, was a weapon, they seemed to be rather dangerous ones at that.

We could not help but browse through some of the devices. Lin explained the functions of some as well.

"That one paralyzes your victim I think. I remember my father telling me that its effects last for hours. That one- Axel, don't touch that!" Lin exclaimed. Axel was about to touch a long cone-shaped device that was placed on one of the shelves.

"That's a bomb," Lin warned. Axel nodded, backing away.

Deciding that it would be safer to bring us as far away as possible from the gadgets, we returned to the large computers. Lin keyed in the passcode and started up the satellite imagery display as wells as a few other programmes alongside it. Keying in the coordinates of Area 51, the satellite imagery zoomed into the vast desserts of Nevada. Whilst the satellite was providing a high definition image, Lin tapped into the other programme.

Various green computer codes began filling the second screen. I did not know how computer programming worked, hence I just stared as Lin typed something down rapidly, the strips of codes scrolling down quickly.

"You're trying to hack into their systems? That would be a challenge," Axel muttered.

Lin furrowed her brows. "This is an automated hackings system, it should be easier," Lin said.

She kept going at it till the screen suddenly shifted to a blueprint layout of Area 51.

"I got through it, but there are still two more firewalls," she said, zooming into the image.

The layout of the base showed that there were numerous underground tunnels leading into various floors and chambers in the base. The tunnel network was vast and confusing. Lin typed something of the keyboard and red dots appeared on various points on the blueprint layout. The tunnel networks specifically had a large number of red dots.

"These are the security points. As soon as you reach one of them, not only will you encounter security guards, but have to pass a series of biometric scans," Lin explained.

I stared at the numerous dots on the screen. It was impossible. The security was simply too tight. I sighed in frustration. I asked Lin to pinpoint the possible location of their otherworldly prisoners. We skimmed through various chambers and labs, but none were possible matches. It was even more frustrating because there were a few area that were inaccessible as we did not breach the last two firewalls. Lin persistently allowed the hacking system to do its work.

After about an hour, Lin was just about to give up when the screen suddenly blinked off and a second later blinked back on. Lin and I glanced at each other in alarm. Were we caught?

"Guys, look," Axel said, suddenly speaking after an hour of being perpetually silent.

We both glanced at the screen. The blueprint layout suddenly became more complicated, and numerous tunnels suddenly made their appearance. Lin typed furiously on the keyboard.

"I can't believe it! The last two firewalls have been hacked! But I swear it was not me!" Lin exclaimed, partially surprised but partially confused.

"If you didn't hack through them, who did?" I asked.

Lin shrugged," I have no idea... I can't detect another person on this software plane, but... whoever it is, they're helping us. Breaching the last two firewalls has enabled us to access a few other tunnels and chambers... And I think I just found the place we are looking for," Lin said, as she zoomed in on the image.

"It's a laboratory, specially designed for extraterrestrial biological experiments. And there is a tunnel leading directly to it! But it gets even crazier... There is only one security point in the tunnel and it is an electronic scanner. Totally hackable!" Lin exclaimed, surprising me by the second.

"This seems... too good to be true..." I murmured, sceptical.

Lin nodded," Just in case... I'm going to send a remotely controlled autonomous scanner to check the area out," she said.

I agreed to her plan. I was still so overwhelmed by the fact that it was even possible to find out information like this on our own. Then there was this strange nervousness and suspicion bubbling within me.

Who helped us hack into the system?

_______________________________________________________________

Lin keyed in the password to the Special gadgets vault. Lined up on the shelves were various series of devices. She walked to the shelf that had rover like devices and gently took a device labelled AS34 out of its place. As quietly as possible she brought it to her bedroom, but as she stepped through the door her eyes widened.

"Robert!" She yelped in surprise to see, her old butler standing in her room with a tray of food in his hands.

"Young Mistress, may I ask what exactly you are doing with that ?" He said in an indifferent tone. Lin remained silent. 

"As well as why you and your friends entered the basement?" he continued. Every single wording taunting.

"Y-You... saw that?" Lin whispered slowly. Robert only nodded in response. 

"Robert, please, please, please don't tell dad!" She said pleadingly. He sighed and shook his head.

"You are not allowed to do anything related to Mr. Nakamori's covert operations. When, your father isn't at home, I am in charge of your safety. And so, I will not allow you to do anything dangerous... Infiltrating a U.S. Air Force Base... What were you thinking?" Robert said in a stern tone.

"You heard that too?" She said in a small voice. He nodded again, his eyes narrowed.

"But Robert, this is an extremely important situation! I-I have to!" Lin cried.

"Young Mistress, I will not allow you to go and that's final," he said, and stepped out of the room.

Lin grunted angrily and folded her arms. She stared at the little robot on the floor. She slumped on her bed and contemplated. She did not want to let Laila down, Axel as well.

What should she do? Sit still, or sneak out of the house through the secret underground platform and fake an order to SW Agency branch 113 to send an Autonomous Scanner to Area 51 and collect information.

The choice was pretty obvious, she thought, as she smirked mischievously to herself.