Defending the Frontier

Chapter 8: The Problem

(A/N: This book gets deep into some of the science that I love. Just an FYI.)

I was in the control room woth Sarah. I had a great idea. I was going to hook her arm up to the system, and see if there was possibly anything Bish missed. And I knew for a fact that I was a better coder than Bish, and I've proved it on multiple occasions.

I sighed. "Alright Sarah. You might feel a little jolt or something, but that's it."

She nodded, still squeezing my hand as I inserted the cord into the port on her arm, and she jumped a bit. I smiled, and rubbed her hand. "See? That didn't hurt too bad, did it?"

She shook her head. "No, but I do feel a bit dizzy... Is that normal?"

I sighed and nodded as I turned to the computers in front of me. "Yes. The reason you are feeling a bit light headed is most likely because some of the electromagnetic activity that occurs in your brain that keeps your body moving and alive is being directed to your right arm so your mind can keep up with whatever tweaks I might make, as your arm is programmed to have all changes in the coding and such take effect immediately. You get that."

She sighed. "... I think so. You know I don't know that much about this type of science, Michael."

I smirked a bit at that. "Yes, Sarah. I am well aware of that. Now, let me see what we have going on here," I said, opening different command prompts and such, seeing if I could see if anything was out of the ordinary.

At first, I didn't see anything, and I double and triple checked, and still nothing. I knew that this could not be right. There had to be some reason that the IMC was able to tap into her like that... I then checked the types of connections it was compatible with, and wireless was nowhere on the list. I then had a totally different idea. I went broader, and checked the actual source code. That's where the problem was. I immediately recognized the coding for what it was. It was basically how the IMC codes their Spectres, modified a bit for Sarah's situation.

I grit my teeth. "Great..."

Sarah looked at me, concerned. "Huh? What's wrong Michael?"

"... I found our problem..."

"What is it?"

"... This isn't the original arm that the Militia gave you, or any of the replacements. This one... Every single aspect of it... The whole thing was manufactured by the IMC."

She grit her teeth. "... Can you just reprogram it from the bottom up, then?"

I sighed and nodded. "I'm afraid that's the only thing that I can do Sarah. And to do such, you... You are going to have to forfeit your arm to me for about... Maybe a week or so."

She sighed, but then smiled. "Michael, you know I'm willing to do whatever it takes. Even if you need my arm for a month, go right ahead."

I nodded, and closed everything out so I could remove the cord, and did so. "Alright. I'm going to have to remove your arm... But I have no idea what the hell I'm doing..."

Sarah smirked a bit. "It's easy. Ask Bish or something. Or figure it out on your own."

I nodded, and I got it off in less than five minutes, and I saw exactly what I wanted to. The stub I've seen on only a few occasions, those being the times she got a new arm. "Alright. You should probably go and get some rest."

She nodded, and did so.

===

I stayed in the control room, and plugged her arm back in, and brought up a command prompt and entered the command to wipe everything off of her arm. I hit enter, and a dialogue box popped up, and it said:

Warning! By clicking 'Yes' everything will be deleted from the storage device, and there's no way to recover the information deleted. Are you sure you want to proceed?

Yes
Cancel

Without hesitation, I clicked yes, and waited a moment for everything to clear. While I was waiting for it to finish, Bish entered the room, and sat next to me. "Sarah told me you figured out what the problem was. I really never would've thought about checking that out. Also, there's something I want to tell you."

I then started to re-code what I needed to, and spoke while doing so. "Yes? What is it?"

"I have some information on this... Vice Admiral Stone. Also, I'd like to tell you about something I've invented called The Harvester. What do you want to hear first?"

"Information on this so-called Harvester, please."

"Of course. So The Harvester is a new method I've come up with to deplete IMC forces, but it's completely theoretical," he said before explaining.

(A/N: Basically the same as it is in the game itself.)

I nodded once he was done. "Sounds like it would work," I said as I finished coding the basics. All I had left was coding in movements and such, which is going to take the bulk of my time. If I'm lucky, I'll be done with coding the part that allows her to bend at her shoulder and elbow by the end of the day. "What do we know about Vice Admiral Stone?"

Bish sighed. "As you said you saw when you connected with Sarah, Vice Admiral Stone is indeed a female Vice Admiral. Her full name is Vice Admiral Lauren Amity Stone. She comes from... She's from Sinnoh..."

"Alright. Husmar or Oscana?"

Bish grit his teeth. "Oscana..."

I finished the part I was doing, and quickly saved, but continued. "... Don't tell me... She's also from Snowpoint, isn't she."

Bish nodded. "Unfortunately so, Michael, and... It just gets worse from there."

I shook my head. "I don't care. Continue. Please."

"Alright. Upon digging deeper, I was able to find out.... Lauren and Sarah.... They were actually very close friends when they were younger. I... I need to ask your permission to do something."

I sighed. "What is it?"

"I need to interrogate Sarah and ask her some questions about Lauren. And no, she won't be held accountable for anything, unless we have suspicion that she directly helped Vice Admiral Stone rise to her current position, which we doubt is the case."

I nodded, a tear rolling down my cheek. I knew there was something Bish wasn't telling me as he knew I already knew the fact. When I heard Stone, I thought nothing of it. But then when he told me her full name, that's when I knew it. Lauren Amity Stone... There was only one person I knew with that name. My older sister, who was married to a man by the name of Max Stone, who I knew was heavily involved with the IMC. "... Do as you must."

Bish nodded, and left the room.