Double Agent

Chapter 3: Allie

Allie stayed home that day.

"It is too hard," her mother had snapped over their brief video chat, "to have a daughter that first randomly chooses to go over to somebody else's house without a thought or approval from me, but then, out of the blue, makes a reckless decision to sneak to school AFTER the school hours!"

They had made a plan, which Allie wasn't particularly happy with. She was basically on house arrest until she'd located the computer using her own computer.

Allie sighed, and started coding. She, surprisingly, wanted to get back to school. It was just plain BORING being stuck in the house, typing for hours and hours and--

It was 1:30.

Still typing.

It was 3:15.

Still typing.

It was 5:45.

Still typing.

And then it was midnight, with Allie still--

*****

Allie stood in the school computer lab, her gaze, focused on the last computer.

This was it. Her mission would be completed, and the UA dismantled.

Forever. Completely. She wouldn't let the ASO down.

She typed in the final commands onto the keyboard and--

The screen flashed bright white, then changed to a scene so shocking, Allie would never forget it.

A video of Mr. Wells, a flailing chicken on his head.

He shouted, "It was YOU, wasn't it? YOU stole my oatmeal!"

And suddenly, the room exploded with chickens.

Chickens were everywhere!

*****

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Allie screamed as she woke up at her desk. She got up, checking the entire room for chickens before confirming that it had just been a dream. Her mind was so focused on the chicken part of the dream that it took her a while to process the rest of the dream, like the last computer.

The last computer!

Perhaps her dreams weren't completely random, and actually made sense!

She checked the time. It was 5:30, well before school started. So if she hacked into the security camera for the computer lab, she might be able to see anything special about the last computer...

COMPUTER LAB, TULIPTON ACADEMY, she typed in, and managed to get past the various firewalls keeping the security cameras private.

She crossed her fingers, hoping that her deductions gave her something good...

Theo?

Sure enough, Theo Willows was coding on the last computer. He inserted a USB key, then discreetly slipped out the door. She gasped, the realization setting in.

The UA is onto me.

The smart, quick spy organization was obviously keeping tabs on all the students, so she'd have to be more careful about this.

But did it have to be Theo who was sent to take her down? Allie knew that everyone at Tulipton Academy probably hated Air people anyway, but Theo had been sent by the UA to imprison her.

But then what about Jessica, his twin sister? If he was a spy, it really wasn't likely that she didn't know.

So they both had to be taken care of.

A little while later, Allie phoned her mother, saying that she'd successfully found the computer.

"Really?" her mother mused. "And school hasn't even started yet. You must have been working ALL NIGHT! You can go to school today, then."

Allie desperately wanted to tell her mother that five and a half of those night hours were spent dreaming about crazy teachers and chickens, but that was pointless. She had to get to school, because today was the day that she'd deal with Theo, and possibly Jessica.

Allie turned in a few homework assignments for almost every teacher she had. The work Underground was so much more grueling and hard. This made Allie a bit homesick. She wished that she could have an easier assignment, but this was really important to her mother, and she wasn't the type of person to give up.

She decided to sit with Reina at lunch, but when she got to the lunch table, Reina was gesturing for Allie to sit between her and Theo. Allie scooted farther away from him on the bench, and Theo frowned. But he didn't look at all suspicious, just a little bit upset. That made Allie upset, too, since she was already extremely guilty about having to capture Theo, or lock him away somewhere far off.

Noticing Allie's miserable mood, Reina's cheerful smile also dissipated. Then, in turn, Jessica sighed, and rested her head on the table.

It was a gloomy lunch.

*****

Allie waited until all of the other students and teachers had left to make her move by hiding in one of the janitor closets. Theo was in the computer lab, yet again on the last computer. It was exactly as she'd suspected, unfortunately. A big part of her had been hoping that Theo had gone home with the other pupils, but no such luck.

She'd have to carry through with the plan.

He's bad, she had to keep reminding herself. HE wouldn't care if YOU were in this situation. She walked slowly towards the control room, tiptoeing extremely carefully. She hoped that the janitors weren't still around...

After what felt like an eternity, Allie reached the control room, and slowly but surely cut a wire. She watched as all of the lights went off abruptly, and she could see the computer lab's devices turn off as well. Confused, Theo began running towards the control room.

Allie hid behind the door, her hoodie covering her face. As soon as he was in and examining the wire, she slammed the door shut with a loud crash. She grabbed the key that she had pickpocketed from one of the janitors, and voila! She locked the door, and Theo was trapped.

Even though there weren't any windows in the control room, Allie kept her hood over her face. She couldn't see very well, but if someone was still at the school...

She raced through the halls as fast as she could until she'd successfully gotten to the computer lab. The USB key was still in the computer, and she quickly ejected it. Allie could still hear Theo's shouts and banging on the door as he screamed for someone--anyone--to let him out.

She was lost in thought as she sprinted to her--that is, Maggie White's--house. Somehow, she got there in less than fifteen minutes, but it was probably because everything inside Allie wanted to get away from that place.

She contacted her mom.

"Amazing!" Melanie marvelled as Allie plugged in the USB to her own computer. It showed various sequences in binary code, and also private files from some of the best spies. There were even classified documents on the ASO! But when her mother asked to see more, she admitted that was it.

"Hmm," said her mother. "This must be only half of what we need. Did you notice that no pictures were on this USB? The photos and videos must be stored on a separate drive."

Allie's shoulders sagged. She'd been hoping to go home; relax; and just be done with this painstaking work. This alone had been the hardest thing she'd ever done... and there was more?

"You can do this, Allie," her mother said gently when she noticed the sad smile on Allie's face. Then she ended the video call, but Allie didn't even realize that it was over until a few minutes later. She went to bed, and her mother's words echoed around in her head.

You can do this.

And for once, she actually believed it.