Double H strode to the coffee table that was centered among her living room arrangement. She stooped down and retrieved a tablet that had been resting on the surface of the table, placed near the projector. The sisters crowded around her, eager to see what she was looking at.
The tablet’s screen had been divided into quadrants, and each one of these rectangles displayed a video feed from a different part of the school. The images were presented in black and white, but they were more than clear enough to see what was going on.
“Let’s take a gander…” Double H muttered, her eyes narrowing as she examined the tablet.
The sisters were elated that such a surveillance system existed, for it would help them locate their father now, when time was of the essence. However, they were also somewhat horrified by the elaborate means by which they and their classmates had been spied upon.
“How are you getting all this? Have you loaded the school with hidden cameras?” Sara asked.
“Yep,” Double H confirmed, without the slightest hint of shame in her voice.
Maria shook her head in disbelief. “You do realize that’s incredibly unethical, don’t you? You’ve been recording all of us without our knowledge or consent!”
Double H brushed the accusation aside with a chuckle. “Let’s not get hung up on the ethics of the matter, girls - we need to find your dad! Besides, this was all Jasper’s idea. I’m just the one who helped him achieve his ambitions.”
Maria sighed in exasperation, and Sara shook her head in disbelief, but they knew Double H was right. This wasn’t the time to debate the morality of such a surveillance system, for they had more pressing concerns.
“Hmm… nothing on these screens,” Double H said. She flicked her finger across the surface of the tablet, and the previous video feeds were replaced by four new ones. “Let’s see if we get anything on these…”
Double H continued to scan the screen, her eyes rapidly moving from side to side as she observed the video. Periodically, she would swipe the tip of her finger across the tablet, bringing a new batch of feeds into view. The quantities of cameras that were hidden throughout the school was truly staggering.
Finally, Double H struck pay dirt. “Ah-hah! I’ve found… well, I’ve found something. Not sure if that’s your dad I’m looking at, though.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sara asked.
“Let us see!” Maria demanded.
Double H obliged, and she tapped her finger against one of the quadrants. Upon doing so, it increased in size, expanding to fill the entire screen of the tablet. With the improved view, the girls could see something that was most peculiar, prompting them to gasp with alarm.
“That’s the auditorium we’re looking at, right?” Maria asked.
Sara nodded slowly. “Yeah, that’s the stage, behind the curtain. And that looks like Dad, but… but what is he doing?”
It looked as though Chief Fresco was sitting in a chair, his arms held rigidly by his sides.
“I... I don’t know. The image is a bit too grainy for me to tell for sure,” Maria said. “But something clearly isn’t right here.”
“Hang on a second,” Double H said. She reached toward the tablet, and by moving her fingers across its surface, she was able to zoom in on Chief Fresco. “That should help you see him a little better.”
“What... on... earth?” Maria whispered.
Chief Fresco wasn’t just sitting in the chair, he was bound to it. A crazy combination of duct tape and twine had been haphazardly applied to his torso and knees and shins, wrapping him so tightly that he would have no chance of breaking free.
But that wasn’t even the weirdest part of his dilemma. A makeshift eye patch, fashioned from what appeared to be aluminum foil, had been wrapped around his head. Furthermore, a broom had been placed within one of his hands, with his fingers taped tightly around its handle.
“Well... that is pretty darned peculiar. It’s like I told you,” Double H said. “I’m afraid the mecha-monkeys have gone a bit haywire.”
“And it all started when Jasper went missing, right?” Maria asked.
“That’s right,” Double H confirmed.
“Do you realize what’s happening here? They can’t function without their creator. Jasper gave them directions and purpose and order. With him being out of the picture, these crazy machines have been lost... and now they’re trying to replicate another Jasper!” Sara exclaimed.
Incredulous at the notion, Maria shook her head. “What? They’re trying to turn Dad into some kind of Jasper clone?”
“It seems to be a rather, uh... rudimentary effort,” Double H opined, as she studied the makeshift eye patch that had been crookedly wrapped around the chief’s head. “Then again, there is that whole haywire thing I’ve mentioned a couple of times. Well, then, I suppose we’ll just mosey on down to the auditorium and free your father-”
A tremendous clatter of noises interrupted Double H, and she lifted her gaze from the tablet, her eyes wide with unease and distress. There were thwacks and thwumps, and the sound of various items being smashed and shattered and broken. The source was difficult to pinpoint, but it sounded as though the noises might be coming from all sides.
Most disturbing of all, the girls heard eerie, warbling screeches that came from what sounded as though they might be mechanical vocal cords. And there was no doubt about it - those strange articulations were of a hostile nature.
“Oh, boy. That’s the noise of gremlins on the move, isn’t it?” Sara asked.
Maria turned to Double H. “What do you think they’re doing?”
“If I had to guess, I would say there’s a large scale attack under way. A veritable siege, if you will, on these very quarters!” Double H shrugged sheepishly. “Sorry about that. I’m afraid I’ve done a very poor job of hospitality, haven’t I?”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Under Siege
The Green Beans, Volume 5: The Phantom of the Auditorium Page 22