The P.U.L.L || #Wattys2017

Chapter 25: Meeting M

Joshua, Rick, and Emma closed their eyes as they braced for the explosion. The red lights around them began to blink faster and faster as they countdown slowly approaches zero.

...1...

Suddenly, the red lights disappeared and the countdown didn't reach zero. The three of them didn't know why it stopped but they were quite relieved that they aren't dead yet. The door on the wall began to slowly open as white smoke came out from the opening door. 

Phew, I thought we're going to die just now! Joshua thought as he heaved a sigh of relief. For a moment there, I thought the whole hallway is really going to self destruct.

"That was really close, Joshua!" Rick exclaimed. "What did you even put on that electronic lock?"

""Three-five-zero-seven. That's the code I punched in." Joshua replied. "I thought it wasn't going to work but the counting stopped." He sighed.

"Let's not waste our time." Emma seriously said to both of them. "We should look for clues now that we already opened this door."

Joshua approached the door and slowly opened it so could get in. Just as he had expected, the whole room was surprisingly cold. It's like entering a refrigerator room. The three of them shivered as the coldness crept to them. 

The room was filled with stacks of papers and a prototype of the P.U.L.L lay in the corner. The room was lighted with a single light bulb but it was enough sine the room was unexpectedly small. A few computers were scattered all around the room probably for programming the P.U.L.L.

One thought entered Joshua's mind as he toured the small room. If this is where the P.U.L.L was programmed, then the mastermind might have used it to tweak with the P.U.L.L. before using it. He said to himself.

"Emma, I found something interesting." Rick called out to her, holding something that looks like a small notebook.

"What is that?!" Emma asked. "Is it, by any chance, a diary?"

"I'm thinking the same thing, but it looks like an electronic one with a password." Rick answered.

Rick opened the notebook, revealing a small tablet inside.

"Can you unlock it, Rick?" Joshua asked him as he looked at the small tablet.

"Here." Rick handed it to Joshua. "I can't unlock it since it needs a password or something like that. I'm betting that you can unlock it." Rick smiled.

"Okay. Now we're moving." Emma commented. "Joshua, I'll be focusing on that prototype of the P.U.L.L."

"Oh, okay. I'll try unlocking this tablet. Rick, is it okay if you handle the stacks of papers? I think we would find a lot from those papers." Joshua told him.

"You got it! But if I doze off, can you wake me up?" Rick jokingly said.

"Sure thing!" Joshua replied.

As soon as they had divided their jobs, Joshua, Rick and Emma set to work. Rick sat on a corner of the room and began skimming through the stacks of papers. Meanwhile, Emma began disassembling the prototype.

Click!

Joshua easily unlocked the tablet by using his unlocker. Just as he had expected, the tablet really was a diary of Mr. Quiller. Without wasting any time, Joshua began reading the diary.

I'm invading someone's privacy. But I don't have any choice. Joshua said to himself.

"Um...everyone, I found something!" Rick nervously said as he showed us a section of a newspaper.

Quiller Corporation, the number one corporation in the world, has invented the machine of the future, they call it the P.U.L.L.! After a few experiments and test runs, they were able to perfect it. With this invention, you could freely control the weather around you. Mr. Quiller said in his recent interview that. "The P.U.L.L. was invented mainly for the people out there who works all day under the sun. Whatever your job is, the P.U.L.L. can help you in any way. We have also programmed the P.U.L.L. in a way to help lighten up your work. From writing reports to doing manual labor, the P.U.L.L. can do more than just freely control the weather, although that's the main reason for its existence." No...

"That's it?" Joshua asked Rick.

"Well, it was torn from a newspaper so, I think that's it." Rick responded. "But I read from one of the papers before that someone tried to tweak with the P.U.L.L. and ended up getting fired. Apparently, that guy was able to drift from the law of Physics, making the P.U.L.L. capable of controlling time dimensions, and the scariest of all, it was able to create a time-loop!"

"What?! Where did you read that?!" Emma exclaimed.

"Let me see, it was...um...right here." Rick showed them.

Joshua and Emma looked at the report paper that Rick handed them. Both of them stared in disbelief as they read it.

"Really?! Then that person is a genius." Emma commented.

"An evil kind of genius." Joshua added as he continued reading the article. "It says here that he tried to take over the entire nation by using those stuff and he was stopped when Mr. Quiller destroyed the power source. It had taken them lots of years to build that power source but ended up destroying it as their last resort to stop him."

"Yup! And when all these were over, the guy was fired and pretty soon, the Quiller Corporation suddenly closed and Mr. and Mrs. Quiller suspiciously went missing." Rick added.

"Then, whoever that guy is, he must be connected to the mastermind." 

"No, he must be the mastermind himself!" Emma exclaimed.

"But we can't be so sure. And why is it that these reports didn't even mention his name, not even once?" Joshua wondered.

"We just have to look for more information." Emma replied. "Joshua, after you're done checking that diary, can you check the computers? I still need to examine the prototype here."

"Sure."

Joshua began reading the diary once again. To his surprise, the tablet suddenly  shut down. 

Self-destruct in 3 seconds...3...2...

Out of impulse, Joshua immediately threw it outside the door. red lights began blinking rapidly from the tablet.

...2...1...0...

"Joshua, what happened?!" Emma exclaimed.

"I don't know, It just shut down and it began blinking like that!" Joshua anxiously said.

Blink...blink...

To their amazement, all the computers suddenly turned on.

"Oh, it seems like you found me out!" Someone exclaimed from the computer. "Well, I guess I have no choice but to blow this place up! Hahaha!"

"Are you, the mastermind?!" Joshua said to the person being shown in the computer screen.

"Oh, were are my manners." The guy smirked. "You probably don't know me, but I know everything about you, Joshua Russel, Rick Borja, and Emma Tratzky...oh! And not to mention your parents and the Quiller family. I know all of you! But now that you found me out, I guess this is good-bye! Hahaha!"

Joshua, Rick, and Emma stared at the computer screen.

At last.

They had finally met the mastermind.

"I forgot to tell you, now that you're all here in this room, it is time for me blow you up!" The mastermind grinned. "I scared you many times already with the countdown and all that awhile ago. But this time, this is real. Bye then!"

The computers suddenly shut down. The three of them stared at it, expecting something else to be shown.

The computers began to activate once again.

Five minutes to self-destruct. The computer screen began to blink the countdown.