Spy School: The Rise of Gama

Chapter 8: Secrets Uncovered

The moment the helicopter was hit, Mrs. Sanders knew that something was wrong. She frowns as she watches the scene on the screen in front of her change to complete darkness with Ahara standing dazed in the middle. As Ahara starts moving, Mrs. Sanders begins to type new commands into the program, attempting to shut it down.

“Ahara Tsuki,” Mrs. Sanders speaks into the microphone in front of her, “stop moving. Your simulation is over, I will shut it down momentarily.” Ahara shows no signs of having heard. Instead she begins moving more frantically through the dark room. Mrs. Sanders grabs the two-way radio from her belt and speaks into it, “Carol, I need you in the control room for simulation room A immediately.

Mrs. Sanders finally gives up on trying to regain control, the glitch in the system is not something she knows how to fix. She turns her attention completely to the screen now. The scene has changed so that Ahara is sitting in a field, she is accompanied by a small girl.

“You called?” Carol walks into the room, Ty and Lyndley following silently behind her.

“Yes,” Mrs. Sanders nods toward the screen, “I have lost control of the program. It’s not responding to any of the commands I put in. I need it shut down.” She stands up to allow Carol to take the place at the control panel.

Carol frowns and walks over, taking a seat in the now open chair. She types a few commands into the keyboard before looking up at the screens for signs of change. “This is strange, it says we have full control.” She turns to look over at Ty and Lyndley, “Did either of you mess with this?”

Lyndley shakes her head, “No.”

Ty suddenly turns pale and points at the screen, her eyes wide. Everyone turns their attention to see what she’s pointing at. A man now has a hold of the little girl, a knife positioned at her neck. Ahara is pleading with him, standing helplessly a few feet away.

“Shut it down, now.” Mrs. Sanders orders, the urgency clear in her voice.

“It’s going to take a minute.” Carol responds, typing quickly. Commands and complex code dance across the screen, different words flashing out just to fade back into the endless jumble of numbers and letters.

The sound of Ahara’s scream reaches them all from down the hall. Ty hides her face in her hands while Lyndley looks down at the ground, neither wanting to acknowledge the pain that their new friend is currently in.

“Damn it, Carol. Shut it down.” Mrs. Sanders grabs the radio off her belt again, “Nurse Madison, I need you in simulation room A immediately. Code C, I repeat, code C.” She leaves the room, heading down the hall to the room where Ahara is.

Already waiting outside is a woman in her early twenties dressed in all white. Her light brown hair is pulled back and her gentle features tense with worry. “What happened?” She asks as she looks toward the door, waiting for it to open.

“She just watched her sister die.” Mrs. Sanders explains quietly. “Take care of her, I need to report this right away.” She turns and rushes back down the hall to her office.

When the door clicks unlocked, Nurse Madison pulls it open and walks in to find Ahara kneeling on the ground. Her arms are wrapped around herself tightly and tears are streaming down her face. Her brown eyes are dull and unfocused.

Nurse Madison kneels down in front of Ahara and gently places a hand on her shoulder, “It’s alright, everything is going to be okay.” She murmurs quietly, trying to console the sobbing girl. “Can you stand up? Come on, I’ll help.”

Once Ahara is on her feet, she jerks away from Nurse Madison, “Don’t touch me!” She screams. She nearly falls down again, her knees too weak to support her. “I couldn’t protect her.” She whispers, covering her face with her hands. “I c-couldn’t stop it from happening.”