Chapter 38: Meeting in the Research Lab

3 0 0
                                    

Jeremiah, Nic, and Tiffany are walking towards the Research Lab. Tiffany is wondering, "What the heck is going on?" Once they arrive in the big room filled to the brim with machinery including computer monitors lined up on the side of the wall, they spot Head Spikey, Tech Boy, and Tech Girl gathered around the newly built shadow energy scanner in the center.

"What's going on?" asks Tiffany confused.

"The scanner is ready to scan," declares Tech Boy.

"Please step in, Tiffany," requests Tech Girl.

"Not until someone tells me what is going on," demands Tiffany.

"We believe there is a spy in the Agency," begins Head Spikey.

"And you're prime suspect number one to Nic's great disbelief," finishes and adds Jeremiah.

"This scanner will prove if you're the spy or not," says Head Spikey.

"How?" asks Tiffany.

"Can we hurry this up and prove Tiffany isn't the spy before I get zappy?" complains Nic sparks flying in his hands.

"Ignoring Nic over there, this will scan you for any remaining shadow energy, in theory," explains Tech Boy.

"Ok. Wait, what do you mean in theory?" asks Tiffany scared.

"Um...we couldn't test it fully because we only got a pure guinea pig. We know it won't explode, but we're not sure if it detects shadow energy, either," explains Tech Boy awkwardly.

Jeremiah suddenly opens a portal as his left shoulder glows pinks and he disappears into the portal and reappears with Darkness, himself, in five seconds.

Jeremiah tosses Darkness in the machine and wise cracks, "Here's a guinea pig"

"Jeremiah, that was probably the stupidest thing you ever done since you've been here," claims Head Spikey.

"For once, I agree with him," agrees Darkness.

Tech Boy and Tech Girl activate the lock mechanism and adjust the scanner to Darkness's level of shadow energy. Then, they activate it showing that Darkness's shadow energy was off the charts. Which means, it works.

"What was all of this about?" demands to know Darkness holding on to the door.

"Yes," cheers Jeremiah doing a little fist pump.

"Test complete," says Tech Girl.

"It works," cheers Tech Boy.

The door opens and Jeremiah says, "Your services are no longer required."

He grabs Darkness and even though everyone was saying, "Wait a minute", disappears and reappears, alone in two seconds.

"That was even dumber," states Head Spikey.

"We had him and you just let him go!?" asks Tech Boy furiously.

"It would have been unsportsmanlike to capture him like that," says Jeremiah.

"We're in the middle of a war and you're thinking about sportsmanship!?" exclaims Tech Boy furiously.

"Tech Boy does have a point," claims Tech Girl.

"Agreed," chimes in everyone else.

"Just because we're in the middle of a war doesn't make an excuse for poor sportsmanship," says Jeremiah.

"Just fire the scanner, already, because I'm starting to feel zappy," threatens Nic.

"Roger," says a scared Tech Boy.

Tiffany steps into the scanner. Tech Boy and Tech Girl fire it up. Some sort of green grid forms around Tiffany's feet and rises up scanning her displaying her shadow level on the monitor on the side of the scanner. The machine finishes, powering down inside the chamber declaring Tiffany clean.

"Congratulations Tiffany. You passed," says Tech Boy relived at the fact that Nic will calm down, now.

"See. I told you Tiffany wasn't the spy," asserts Nic.

"You were right, Nic. We can officially x-out Tiffany on the maybe spy list," replies Jeremiah.

"Now, Jeremiah, let's go to my office for your mission briefing," says Head Spikey.

"That won't be necessary, Head Spikey. We have everything you need right here. Our network is connected to your screen. We can even use a virtual copy of your office," claims Tech Boy.

"Can someone translate that into English?" requests Head Spikey.

"In other words, we thought of everything," translates Tech Girl pushing Tech Boy aside.

"Ok. Then, we'll do the briefing in here. Just activate the virtual office," says Head Spikey.

Tech Boy and Tech Girl activate the virtual-reality simulator. Then, the Research Lab is enveloped in a green wireframe grid before turning into Head Spikey's office, except the part with the controls.

"First of all, I would like to congratulate Jeremiah on his promotion to field agent first class," congratulates Head Spikey.

Everyone starts clapping.

"Good job," congratulates Nic.

"Congratulations," says Tiffany.

"You deserve it," says Tech Girl.

"I saw that coming," proclaims Tech Boy.

"You're also getting a ship upgrade. Would you like to pick your partner now or later? And before I forget, Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres joined the Agency yesterday. Due to all the hassle, I forgot to give a screening of that. I'll show you that first. Then, you can tell me your answer."

The screen appears showing the Pokémon habitat with Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres occupying the Legendary Pokémon mini-habitat within.

"Whoa. I choose Articuno as my new partner."

"Good choice. Now time for the second screen."

The image on the screen changes to his new ship which was 10x more spacious than the Rustbucket ever was with an aerodynamic design consisting of a curved, sleek front lined with five windows lining it in front of the bridge, a nice thick back, and turrets underneath the back wings. Articuno and Pikachu are also there waiting on standby.

  Articuno and Pikachu are also there waiting on standby

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

The screen disappears.

"There you go. Now please name your newly upgraded ship."

"The Peace Maker."

"Nice name. I'm going to give you the rest of the day off."

"Ok. Thanks."

Tech Boy and Tech Girl deactivate the virtual-reality simulator reverting to the wireframe for a brief moment before turning back to the Research Lab. Everyone but Jeremiah, TB, and TG went to breakfast. Tech Boy and Tech Girl have something to tell him.

"We got that tablet you found translated. It says 'Time will stop, space will contract,'" says Tech Boy.

"I see. I'll go to Mt. Coronet later. It has deep ties with time and space," states Jeremiah.

"Ok. Bye."

"Bye."

Jeremiah exits the lab himself and heads to the Breakfast Café.

Agency of the 5th World (Original)Where stories live. Discover now