The Overlord Protocol

by Mark Walden

  Nero stared at the impassive face of H.I.V.E.mind. Somebody had gone to a great deal of trouble to make sure that the AI would not be able to give them any details of what had happened and to ensure that Francisco would escape undetected. It was strange to think that for H.I.V.E.mind it was as if the events had never happened.

  The Contessa walked into the command centre, looking pleased.

  ‘I’ve just received word from the Shroud that was despatched to Cypher’s facility. They have found Raven and Malpense alive,’ she reported quickly.

  Nero felt a sense of overwhelming relief. At last something had gone their way.

  ‘And Cypher?’ he asked.

  ‘Gone. His base has been destroyed, but he escaped. G.L.O.V.E. surveillance systems are trying to establish his location as we speak, but the ship he was aboard has vanished.’

  ‘Vanished?’ Nero said. ‘How is that possible?’ Nothing, least of all something the size of an ocean-going vessel should have been able to evade the G.L.O.V.E. surveillance grid.

  ‘It seems that Cypher may have “borrowed” some of Professor Pike’s research,’ the Contessa replied. ‘According to Raven the ship may share the stealth capabilities of the Shroud.’

  ‘In other words it’s invisible, just a hole in the ocean,’ Nero replied, feeling frustration building again.

  ‘It would appear so, yes,’ the Contessa replied. ‘The Shroud is returning to H.I.V.E. now, but Raven fears that H.I.V.E. may be Cypher’s next target.’

  ‘Attack the island?’ the Professor snorted. ‘I’d like to see him try.’

  Nero nodded. H.I.V.E.’s external defence systems were designed to withstand an air and sea assault by national armed forces – one ship would have no chance.

  ‘I share your faith in H.I.V.E.’s defences, Professor, but if there is one thing I have learnt over the past twenty-four hours it is to never underestimate what Cypher is capable of. Place all security forces on full alert and make sure that the island’s defence grid is active.’

  If it was a fight that Cypher wanted, that was exactly what he was going to get.

  Laura and Shelby walked down the corridor towards the situation room. The school was quiet; it was still much too early for the majority of students or staff to be up and about.

  ‘I wonder what’s going on?’ Shelby said.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Laura replied, ‘but I suppose we’re about to find out.’

  The door to the situation room hissed open and the two girls walked inside. Shelby gasped as she saw who was sitting at the far end of the long conference table.

  ‘Francisco!’ Laura said as an evil grin spread across the Colonel’s face.

  Shelby turned to run back through the door but found the way obstructed by Block and Tackle, both of them pointing Sleepers straight at her. Shelby backed away from them slowly as they entered the room, Block keeping them covered while Tackle locked the door from the inside.

  ‘It’s so nice to see you both again, ladies,’ the Colonel said, ‘but this time you’re coming with me.’

  Nero scanned the reports from the security department. There were, as yet, no leads on where Francisco had gone with his two errant pupils and little progress in determining how they’d managed to get out of the detention centre without being detected. H.I.V.E.mind was performing multiple low-level sweeps of the school but so far with little success. He had an uncomfortable feeling of waiting for the inevitable.

  Nero’s office entry chime sounded and he looked up from the frustratingly vague reports that filled the monitor on his desk.

  ‘Enter,’ Nero barked impatiently, and the Contessa walked into the room. She wore a worried expression as she hurried over to Nero’s desk.

  ‘Max, I’m afraid I have some rather disturbing news,’ she said quietly.

  ‘What now?’ Nero snapped, his impatience clear.

  ‘Well, H.I.V.E.mind is continuing the security sweeps as ordered but the student headcount is wrong.’

  ‘Meaning?’ Nero asked, raising an eyebrow.

  ‘It appears that students Brand and Trinity are missing,’ the Contessa said.

  Nero slammed his fist down on his desk angrily.

  ‘What in the name of all that’s evil is going on?’ he shouted.

  ‘Well, that’s what the Professor and I have been trying to work out,’ the Contessa continued. ‘We’ve been trying to see how somebody could have got around the security system so easily, and the conclusion we’ve reached is rather disturbing.’

  ‘What is it?’ Nero said impatiently.

  ‘It’s H.I.V.E.mind,’ the Contessa said quietly. ‘It appears that he may have been lying to us about the security logs.’

  ‘You’re certain?’ Nero said, cold anger in his eyes.

  ‘I’m afraid so. It appears that H.I.V.E.mind’s personality was not as fully erased as we believed,’ the Contessa replied.

  Nero felt a chill run down his spine. H.I.V.E.mind couldn’t lie; at least, that was the theory. One of the main reasons that the security and logistical running of the base had been handed over to the AI was because it was supposedly incapable of deceit – totally incorruptible. The only conclusion one could possibly reach was that H.I.V.E.mind’s rebellious personality had reasserted itself somehow and that the machine had been involved in this plot from the start. Nero realised that it was time to shut it down for good.

  ‘What does the Professor suggest that we do about it?’ Nero replied quietly. He knew that H.I.V.E.mind should not be able to hear them in his private office without being specifically summoned – that had been one feature of his system about which Nero had been most insistent.

  ‘Well, first we need to switch the school’s defence systems over to full manual control; if H.I.V.E.mind is indeed working against us it would seem prudent. Especially if an attack is imminent.’

  Nero nodded and began to tap a series of commands into the keyboard in front of him. After the incident with the plant monster earlier that year Nero had ordered that all security and defence systems were capable of functioning while H.I.V.E.mind was offline. The school would not be left defenceless again.

  ‘I suggest that only you and I have command authorisation,’ the Contessa continued.

  ‘Agreed,’ Nero replied. Given the events of the past couple of days the fewer people who could control the school’s security the better.

  ‘There, that should isolate the defence and security systems. Only you and I will have command authorisation,’ Nero said with a sigh. He felt tired, he hadn’t slept in nearly forty-eight hours.

  ‘Thank you, Max. That’s all I need,’ the Contessa said quietly. There was something odd in her tone that made Nero look up from the monitor. His eyes widened in horror as he saw the pistol in her hand that was pointing straight at him. It was not a Sleeper.

  ‘You!’ Nero hissed, suddenly realising the true depth of the betrayal with which he was being confronted.

  ‘Yes, Max . . . me.’ The Contessa did not show any sign of emotion.

  Nero glanced at the console on his desk.

  ‘Don’t even think about it, Max,’ the Contessa said calmly. ‘Back away from the desk.’

  ‘Why, Maria? I trusted you,’ Nero said as the Contessa swivelled the display on the desk and glanced at it, all the while keeping the gun trained on him. She smiled slightly as she saw that Nero had made all of the changes that she needed to the security and defence systems. She pulled a slim silver device from her pocket and attached it to one of the console’s data ports.

  ‘Like I said, Max, everyone has their price.’

  ‘I expected more from you, Maria,’ Nero replied. ‘I didn’t think Cypher would be able to buy someone like you so cheaply.’

  ‘Oh, I wasn’t cheap,’ the Contessa replied with a smile. ‘When this is all over Cypher’s promised me a continent. I’m not sure which one to choose at the moment, but I’ll worry about that later.’

  ‘You can’t trust him. What do you think wi
ll happen when this is all over, when he doesn’t need you any more?’

  ‘Oh, Max, you really don’t understand, do you? The world has moved on. There’s no more room for people like you, old-school villains with their twisted sense of ethics. This is the twenty-first century, a new world, one which has no place for a relic of the past like this school, or even G.L.O.V.E. Times have changed, Max, and if you refuse to change with them you get left behind.’

  ‘How long have you been working for him?’ Nero asked softly.

  ‘Long enough,’ the Contessa replied. ‘Suffice to say that this has all been planned quite carefully.’

  ‘And Francisco?’ Nero asked, although he suspected that he now knew exactly what had happened.

  ‘Francisco is a weak-minded fool. That’s the problem with military men; they’re so used to taking orders that they find it almost impossible to resist when I tell them what to do. Maybe there is some shred of the Colonel somewhere inside his head that has been trying to resist doing what I’ve told him. Frankly it doesn’t matter. The same goes for the two students, Block and Tackle. They’re just doing what they’re told. You shouldn’t blame them, they really have no say in the matter. When I realised that Ms Brand had intercepted my transmission I staged the Colonel’s capture, helping to subdue him in the process and thereby putting myself above suspicion.’

  Nero may have never really understood how the Contessa’s unique ability to command others worked but he had seen enough evidence over the years to know that she was more than capable of doing what she described. He had often wondered what it would be like to have those powers working against you, and now he knew.

  ‘I take it that you were responsible for the loss of the Shroud over Cypher’s base too,’ Nero said, feeling a cold fury building inside him.

  ‘Let’s just say that the pilot’s last-minute briefing included some new instructions,’ the Contessa said with an evil smile, ‘though it appears that Malpense and Raven have nearly as many lives as Ms Leon.’

  ‘Do you know how many people have died because of what you’ve done?’ Nero asked, struggling to keep his anger in check now.

  ‘You’ll forgive me if I find it hard to take a lecture in morals from a man who runs a school for super-villains,’ the Contessa replied. ‘You’re a dinosaur, Max, the real world has no place for people like you any more.’

  ‘We shall see if Number One agrees,’ Nero snapped. ‘I think you’ll find that he takes rather a dim view of traitors.’

  ‘Oh, we shan’t have to worry about Number One for very much longer,’ the Contessa replied calmly. ‘Cypher will take care of that.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Nero asked, with rising anxiety.

  ‘You’ll see,’ the Contessa smiled.

  ‘You’re insane,’ Nero said, taking a single step towards the Contessa.

  ‘Stop right there, Max. Cypher wants you alive, and I have no particular desire to hurt you, but you know me well enough to know that I’ll kill you if I have to.’

  ‘I don’t know you,’ Nero replied. ‘I thought I did, but clearly I was mistaken.’

  ‘Clearly,’ the Contessa said with a slight smile, ‘and now you’re coming with me. We have an appointment to keep.’

  ‘I’m not going anywhere; shoot me if you have to.’ Nero suddenly wondered why she did not simply command him to do what she wanted, just as she had done with Francisco and her other unwitting slaves. He had long suspected that her powers may not work on a strong-willed victim who actively defied her and this seemed to suggest he was right.

  ‘Defiant to the last, as ever,’ the Contessa said. ‘So let me put it another way. Come with me or Brand and Trinity die, slowly and painfully.’

  Nero felt a cold knot form in his stomach. Given everything else that the Contessa appeared to have done he knew that she would not hesitate to take two more students’ lives. For now, she had the upper hand. The Contessa gestured towards the door with the barrel of her gun and Nero silently walked out ahead of her.

  Professor Pike took off his glasses and rubbed at his tired, sore eyes. The longer he stared at the lines of code that scrolled past on the monitor in front of him the more confused he got. The recording of the security feed from the detention area was gone, or at least that was what he was supposed to think. Somebody had gone to a great deal of trouble to cover their tracks but the evidence showed that whoever was responsible had not deactivated the security system, which would have attracted too much attention, but simply diverted the recordings in question to a hidden storage area. That presented two problems: first, where had they hidden the recordings and second, how had they got around the multiple layers of supposedly impregnable security that surrounded H.I.V.E.mind’s core. H.I.V.E.mind had not been lying when he had said that as far as he was concerned there were no security recordings. Whoever had done this had hacked the system in such a way that even the AI had been unaware of it. The problem was that the Professor had created the encryption protecting H.I.V.E.mind’s core himself and he knew it just wasn’t possible that a hacker, no matter how good, could have got around it.

  Suddenly something caught his eye.

  ‘H.I.V.E.mind,’ the Professor said wearily.

  ‘Yes, Professor. How may I assist you?’ the AI replied, its hovering blue wire frame face appearing in the air next to the terminal.

  ‘Please display all records of access to your core via this terminal,’ the Professor commanded. Moments later a list of dates and time scrolled past. At first there didn’t appear to be anything unusual, but then one particular entry leapt out at him.

  ‘H.I.V.E.mind, please confirm entry number 4376,’ the Professor said, feeling a growing sense of unease.

  ‘Entry 4376,’ H.I.V.E.mind responded. ‘Access to central core granted to Professor William Pike.’

  The Professor may have given his students and fellow staff the appearance of being slightly absent-minded but he knew for a fact that he had not accessed the core at the time listed.

  ‘Show activity log for that session, please, H.I.V.E.mind,’ the Professor said quickly.

  The screen filled with more entries and the Professor picked through the data. Someone had logged into H.I.V.E.mind’s core using his personal login and set up a hidden archive deep within the hidden layers of H.I.V.E.mind’s base operating system. The question was who. The Professor quickly found the archive, now that he knew where to look, and found dozens of files. He soon came across encryption routines, secret transmission codes, and most importantly, a long list of archived security feeds. He scanned the list of recordings and one in particular caught his eye. It was the recording from the camera mounted high on the wall of that very room at the precise time that the hidden archive was set up. He quickly pulled up the file and played it. Now he would find out who was responsible for all of this.

  ‘That’s impossible,’ the Professor whispered as he watched the recording. Sat there at the terminal on the screen was the last person on earth he’d expected to see.

  Himself.

  He struggled to make sense of what he was seeing. He knew with certainty that he had not been using the terminal at the time in question, let alone setting up a hidden archive within the core. He could not deny the evidence of his own eyes, though – there he was, busily working away at the terminal, creating an artificial blind spot in the security system. He looked through the list of hidden security recordings and spotted another leading up to the time of this baffling entry.

  ‘H.I.V.E.mind, please run backwards through all surveillance recordings within this archive leading up to the time of my access,’ the Professor said quickly.

  The feed changed to show the Professor walking backwards away from the entrance to H.I.V.E.mind’s central hub and then back along several corridors.

  ‘Freeze it there,’ the Professor shouted as another figure entered the picture. ‘Playback.’

  There was no audio but the Professor did not need it. He watched as the Contessa leant
in close to him and whispered something into his ear.

  ‘Oh my God,’ the Professor said, and ran from the room.

  Nero walked down the corridor a few paces ahead of the Contessa. She no longer had the gun pointed at him; it would only attract unwelcome attention, and she knew that she would not need it as long as she had Laura and Shelby to use as bargaining chips. If there was one weakness from which Nero suffered it was the fact that he would never do anything willingly to jeopardise the lives of his students.

  Suddenly a security patrol came round the corner ahead of them. They were clearly still searching for Francisco, judging by the grim no-nonsense expressions on the guards’ faces.

  ‘Say nothing,’ the Contessa whispered as the patrol approached. ‘You know what will happen if you do.’

  As the patrol drew closer the squad leader nodded courteously to Nero, who returned the gesture silently. Nero noticed that the guards were carrying assault rifles as well as the standard-issue Sleepers. Security Chief Lewis was obviously taking no chances, a wise precaution where Francisco was concerned. Of course what the Chief did not know was that Francisco was really nothing more than an unwitting pawn in this scheme and that the real culprit behind the recent chaos at H.I.V.E. was altogether more dangerous.

  The patrol passed by, a couple of the men throwing nervous glances in the direction of Nero and the Contessa as they marched by, but no more than that. The patrol was twenty metres behind them when the squad leader’s radio squawked.

  ‘Go ahead,’ he said quickly.

  The squad leader gestured for the squad to stop as he listened intently to his ear-piece. Slowly his face went pale and he looked back down the corridor at the rapidly retreating figures of Nero and the Contessa.

  ‘You’re certain?’ the squad leader said, swallowing nervously. The way in which he then winced suggested that whoever was on the other end of the line was not only certain but noisily so. He gave his team a quick series of hand gestures that instructed them to spread out across the corridor and take cover as best they could.