The Nerd's Alter Ego

Ch 30: Showtime

(unedited)

Nicky's pov

"Wow."

The place his hideout was was just a simple house from the outside. Inside, it was dark and gloomy and, obviously, had people fully armed. Travis took me to an empty room, which looked like his bedroom. But I couldn't see any belongings of his to make sure it was his. He himself left me in the room to go do something. 

I checked my watch. If I did my calculations, then the squad should be reaching my phone around now. So I sent my normal phone a text with my Phoenix one.

First of all, I apologized to Alex. 

Then I gave everyone the instructions. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't bother seeing the beads on the ground if I didn't tell them. Maybe they would've figured it out sooner or later, but that would be a waste of time. Just to be safe, Amy needed to be in good hands. If Uncle Carter came over, things would spice up, since he's probably Travis's ultimate target. And my squad is amazing, but the people out side looked scary as well, and they were fully armed, so they should be in gear as well.

I put my phone away, when Travis came in. But he didn't come in completely, just a peek. "You want something to eat?"

Does he seriously think I'm going to except food from him after killing my parents? Ah, but he doesn't know that I know the truth. "Nah, I just had lunch at home." That wasn't a complete lie though. I was saving space in my for my lovely strawberries (who doesn't like strawberries?), but I did eat one slice of bread to keep my hunger controlled.

"You sure?"

"Positive."

He shrugged and closed the door, as I picked up my phone. Him asking me about food gave me an idea. I'm pretty sure that someone in that group would've given the idea of splitting up to save time. It's probably going to be Alex. That's just how everyone's minds works. Seriously, those guys are too predictable. 

Travis came in with a tray of two fast food sandwiches, two drinks and two packets of fries. "I know you said you didn't want to eat, but you know, just in case." He came and sat down on the chair by the computer table. 

Computer.

"Hey, can I work on my homework? I still have school tomorrow." This trick worked on Alex, so I hoped it would work on him too.

He laughed, "Well, I don't really mind, but seriously? You're worried about homework at a time like this?"

Just look at him, laughing as if he's not even guilty for killing my parents. "Well, yeah. I don't know how long I'll be stuck here. I need to get it done for tomorrow. I have it first period as well."

"Well, what do you have to do?"

"I have to research the Phoenix, and write an essay about it." I wanted to know if he knows about me.

"Phoenix? Like the mythological creature?"

Maybe he doesn't know. I faked a chuckle, "No, I'm talking about the hacker. That person is the country's most famous hacker."

"Well, I just came here two weeks ago, so I don't know." He looked thoughtful, "Hacker, huh? We could use a hacker. Do you know where I can find this 'Phoenix'?"

Yeah, as if I would ever join forces with you. "No idea, no one even knows who it really is." Except for her closest family and friends. 

"Well, it's probably a guy who's in his thirties, sitting behind a computer in a dark room."

My laugh this time was real. I loved it when people made that assumption. Then when they find out the truth, their faces are hilarious. "Yeah, that's probably it. But actually, I don't have to research the hacker himself. I have to research what he's done yet. You know, all the places he's gone around saving through electronics."

He rolled his eyes, "Saved, huh? I would love to have him on my group and then suddenly he goes crazy and corrupt."

Yeah, good luck with that.

I opened my laptop and made sure to keep it in a position that he wouldn't see what I was doing. I did open a tab to research on myself in a different name, just in case I need to switch to it if he comes closer.

I hacked into his house's system and was not surprised at all to see it was full of security. There were cameras, alarms, lasers, everything. Just to make things easier for my friends, I decided to break into those and shut them off. But I decided to wait for a bit. I checked the time.

Ry, Becky, and Alex have probably already reached the house. But they're most like going to stay a bit further away until the rest of them catch up to them with the gears. Zac would probably go home instead of going to a shop, because we already have that stuff in the kitchen, so it shouldn't take long because our house isn't that far away. Rick, Mary, and Ash might take a while because UnderKover was a bit further away. And they also had to bring Uncle Carter with them.

Well, I'm just assuming these are the teams, but knowing Zac and how he's in charge, this is probably the set up he'd have decided on. 

I already hacked into the systems, just to make it easier for later. I put that away, and brought out my sticky notes (never leave home without them), and pretended to take notes off of my 'research' when I was actually writing down instructions. Thanks to my photographic memory, I knew exactly where everything was from Travis's tour of the house. I wrote down the instructions on what I wanted my team mates to do and hid it in my pocket.

"You know what, I'm bored now. I don't feel like doing homework anymore."

He chuckled, "Happens to everyone. So what do you want to do now?"

I pretended to think, "Well, how about I just go around the house and look things more in detail? I didn't get the chance to do so earlier since you were going too fast."

"Sure, okay. I'm still hungry, so I'm staying here."

That's actually better. "That's okay, take your time." And please do not join me, I think I'll be fine without you.

Once I left the room, I realized that I actually felt relieved. And to be honest, I surprised myself by keeping my cool. Looking at Travis still reminded me of that night, but I had to keep it together for the sake of pretending that I didn't have any memories of that night. 

I shook my head, scattering my thoughts. Focus on the here and now. I went around and secretly put the sticky notes in their position. I don't think Travis is gonna leave the room anytime soon, so I won't be able to use my phone. I hoped that the squad will get the messages on the sticky notes before someone from Travis's bunch notices them. I don't think anyone will. I hid all of them in the same place; the cabinet at the top next to the entrance. That is a place where only Alex will be able to find them. 

Sometimes it pays to be a quiet nerd.

I went back to the room and told Travis how amazing everything was (even though I already saw it before). Then I continued my 'research homework'. I checked my watch, unless something happened in between, then the squad should be entering the house right about...now.

I looked at the cameras and sure enough, the door opened, my brother entering first.

I grinned. Showtime.