Mind Trace

by McCaghren, Holly

Alice straightened her shoulders and cleared her throat, trying to seem as powerful as she could. She didn't want to resort to violence. The poor guy looked like he wouldn't make much of a challenge anyway. She only had one shot to make this sound convincing.

  "Why are you still here?" she yelled, attempting to sound demanding.

  His expression immediately changed from questioning to fearful.

  "Oh, I um…they said that I needed to stay behind and… watch over the satellites. They went with the rest to help take care of the…umm…crisis."

  Alice did her best to look annoyed, shamefully taking pointers from how she'd seen Eric respond to those around him.

  "They didn't tell you? You are needed in the warehouse at once!"

  "The warehouse? Wh-h-y?"

  "There is an incoming shipment of new circuit boards for the satellite system. They need to be installed immediately upon receiving. If they have not arrived, you are to wait there until they do."

  "But…I was told to wait here. If I leave my post…who will watch the satellites?"

  Alice felt horribly guilty for what she was about to say, but she had to make this man leave, and fast.

  "Am I not fully capable of taking care of things until you return? Do you always question your superiors like this? How long have you been at this job? Four years? With no promotion? Well, it's no wonder with your attitude."

  The slender man hung his head low, defeated. She'd struck a nerve and was fully aware of it, but it still felt bad all the same.

  Does Eric ever feel like this?

  The man looked down at the floor and mumbled a quiet, "Yes, ma'am," as he awkwardly shuffled out the door.

  Finally, she was alone. She looked around for the main control terminal and spotted it in the center of the room. There was computer equipment everywhere, but it was obvious that this was the main hub.

  Above the computer was a massive display with a map of the earth and the current location of all the satellites in their orbits. There were thousands of them, each represented by a tiny point of light slowly sliding across the vast screen. Alice knew that there was an extensive network, but she was still amazed by the sheer volumes that she saw.

  There was an entire console of different gauges, buttons, and meters, but Alice paid no attention to them. She didn't need them anyway. Instead, she approached the center of the console and allowed her hand to hover above it. She sucked in her breath and concentrated harder than she ever had before.

  Before she could do anything, Alice had to locate the files that she wanted to broadcast. Luckily, she already knew the names and locations of them within the mainframe. From there, she had to open up a channel on the satellites, override all of their safety mechanisms, and link them all with a single broadcast of data. Somewhere in there she had to compile the information in such a way that it would make sense to the viewers; it wouldn't do her much good to send out a garbled stream of data to the entire world that no one would understand.

  She hoped against all hope that Garrett's virus hadn't reached the satellites, but if it had, she would have to contend with that as well. It was nothing she couldn't handle, but it would cause her delays she didn't need.

  Alice closed her eyes and opened her mind to the computer.

  Chapter 23

  "Get someone down here NOW!" Eric bellowed into his phone.

  Eric should have seen it coming, but he was distracted…distracted by what Alice had done, what he had seen her do with his own eyes.

  He saw her reach casually down, hand above the ankle bracelet, eyes closed, and then a few minutes later, the bracelet clicked open. It seemed no more difficult to her than if she had bent over to tie her shoelaces.

  He had been going down to make sure her glasses had been returned to her, and…to check on her. Eric had spent a restless night trying to get sleep, but being unable to get her out of his thoughts. If he were honest with himself, he would have acknowledged there was no real reason for him to visit. Part of him had hoped that maybe if he saw her, the proof Eric needed for his unbelievable theories would somehow just appear. He had no idea how right he was.

  Walking down the hallway, he noticed immediately that the door was open. But no alarms had gone off, and he heard no noises. Was he already too late? He ran quickly to her door.

  Alice was still there, sitting crouched on the ground and staring at her bracelet. Eric put his hand on the activator, ready to press the button. He had no idea what was happening, why she was awake, and why her door was open… but he wasn't about to let her to escape.

  Then, he hesitated and decided in that short moment to let the events play out. He could at least see what she was planning before he stopped her. She hadn't even noticed him yet, so focused as she was.

  But after he saw what she did, he could no longer think rationally. His mind was completely consumed by what he'd seen. It should have been impossible. No human being should have been able to do what she so nonchalantly just did. Disbelief overpowered logic, and he was lost in the moment.

  Somewhere during his attempt to fathom the incredible event, Alice slapped the bracelet on his wrist. At that moment, reality harshly came down on him and he stared at his wrist in complete astonishment. Then, the anger took over.

  Alice was one step ahead of him and darted out of the room before he could react…but not before she reveled in his helplessness. He almost realized too late that he could not go after her, but checked himself at the doorway. How did he keep finding himself here, at the mercy of this girl?

  He boiled in anger at the idea of being forced into this vulnerable position. His insides shook with the force of his emotion. She would pay, one way or another.

  Then, as if that wasn't enough, the intercom sounded in his ears, telling him that there was an unknown system breach. Everyone would be scrambling to their positions to try to contain the situation, making it that much more difficult to find Alice. At this point, it didn't matter to him why it happened, only that she was stopped.

  So, he started calling everyone he could get a hold of. He had to get the bracelet off too, which Grant could help with. In the meantime, he also called in his Alpha team to start the search. Alice had to be found.

  ***

  Ten insufferable minutes passed before Eric was free of the bracelet. He had no doubt his men were rushing to his aid, but it seemed an excruciatingly long time before they arrived.

  How could I have been so foolish?

  While he was waiting, he sent men ahead to begin sorting through footage to find which way Alice went. However, Eric was cruelly informed that the entire EngineerCorp security system was malfunctioning due to the virus. It had been introduced from an off-site location and was targeted specifically at their security.

  EngineerCorp was not invulnerable to attack, but they had internal and external firewalls for protection. The scope of this attack was limited to the depth of the connection that the hacker was able to reach before the internal security took over. The hacker had used an authorized connection, enabling him to get deeper into their network before being stopped.

  It couldn't have been Alice, then. But, who was it? Did she have friends in other places with her same abilities?

  No… That is illogical. There is no one else like her.

  At any rate, I have no time to worry about who launched the attack. We must find her.

  He had teams working on the mainframe at present and Eric knew that the breach would soon be contained. Alice, on the other hand, was far more dangerous and must be dealt with immediately.

  When Grant arrived, Eric went with him to the elevator, heading to the security center on Level One. The door dinged open and Eric briskly entered, followed by Grant and a few other men. Hunkering in one corner was a frail technician, staring intently at the floor. Eric gave him a passing glance, but otherwise ignored him.

  As Grant pressed the buttons to go to the first level, Eric noticed that the warehouse button was lit. Why would anyone be going
to the warehouse at a time like this? Everyone was needed in the underground portion of the complex to contain the situation.

  He asked angrily, "Who's going to the warehouse?"

  Looking around him, most people shrugged and appeared to be as confused as he was. Then, Eric heard a small voice in the corner speak unintelligibly.

  He directed his gaze to the man in the corner. "You're going? What business do you have there?"

  The man's voice quavered as he answered, "I was instructed to pick up the new parts for the satellite system…"

  It was not possible for Eric to keep track of every aspect of his company, but this was no time for a parts run. He should be going to the security station, or staying at his post. No one informed him of any upgrades or improvements on the satellite system, either.

  "Who told you this? What is your job here?"

  "I l-l-look after the s-satellites, sir…and I don't know her name…"

  Eric froze where he stood. "HER? What did she look like? Were you the only one with the satellites?"

  The man haltingly recalled her appearance, stuttering quite frequently, but Eric already knew it was Alice. She had somehow found her way into the satellite control room and was now alone with EngineerCorp's worldwide broadcast system.

  Oh, Alice, what have you done?

  He had no idea why she was there, only that she had to be stopped, at once.

  The things she could do with that equipment…

  The thought made his complexion grow a few shades paler.

  "Reverse this elevator now! Get us down to the satellite control room, and have Alpha team meet us there immediately!"

  Grant acted instantly and overrode the elevator switch to force it to descend to the lower level. As he contacted his men, Eric could hardly make out the words he was saying. He hardly dared to breathe.

  ***

  Her head was throbbing with the effort of concentrating. Her last meal had been her lunch the day before, and Alice felt herself growing weak. She steeled herself against the hovering feeling of weariness and nausea, and focused on the task before her.

  She finished assembling the files and had prepared them to be sent. The only thing that remained to do was to override the satellite programming, so that she would be able to broadcast her message. Alice would be interrupting all of the current broadcasts, and it would require an executive override to stop that data and send her own.

  It had been a total of twelve minutes since she left her room. The security camera network was surely up again by now, but that couldn't be helped. She had to finish what she came there to do.

  Alice had not seen any trace of the virus yet. Either EngineerCorp had managed to contain the damage, or it had not gotten far enough inside the mainframe to affect the satellite network.

  While her mind had plenty of resources, it was still challenging to create the right commands and send them to the control panel. She was tired and perspiring with the effort. When she knew she could concentrate no longer, everything mercifully clicked into place. The last command was sent to the computer and all that remained was to transmit the files to the satellite.

  Almost there!

  She stopped short of sending the files as she heard someone yell angrily and felt the equivalent of a brick wall collide with her shoulder, throwing her onto the ground.

  The breath was knocked from her lungs, and she was left gasping on the floor near the side of the main control panel. The brick wall got up and stood over her, panting. She realized it was Grant, and he was pointing a tranquilizer gun at her. Eric had run straight for the controls, rapidly trying to discover what she had done.

  After a few moments, Eric stood back, amazed.

  "Alice, you have been busy! I shouldn't be surprised at your abilities, but I am surprised that you got this far. It seems we got here not a moment too soon."

  Eric gestured for Grant to fall back, although he still had his weapon aimed at her. Eric moved in front of Alice, shaking his head.

  "What I am wondering is...why did you even bother? Garrett certainly doesn't deserve the loyalty you've shown him. You could have almost escaped instead of miserably failing to save your friend…"

  "I guess you wouldn't know anything about friends, would you, Eric?" Alice replied, still trying to catch her breath.

  Eric paused for a moment, as if considering. Then, he laughed. It was a cold, harsh noise that echoed in the room.

  He gestured around her. "You can see for yourself where your 'friends' get you. Surely you understand why someone in my position can't afford to take those risks."

  Alice tried to seem calm and composed, while everything inside her was panicking.

  How did Eric get here so soon? It's as if he knew I was going to be here. I have to find a way out.

  She was trying to desperately think of something as she looked up to notice the outline of several men filing into the room. Each one was armed and appeared to be more than capable of handling any challenge she offered. The outcome looked unfavorable for Alice. She hadn't even finished the last step to transmit the information to the satellites…

  Waves of defeat and shame threatened to take over. Would she never be free of this man and the evil he represented?

  She was sitting on the ground, with her arms awkwardly propping her up from behind. Alice couldn't even find a way to get out of that position to do anything useful. Someone would surely shoot her long before she could act.

  She moved her hand slightly to ease the cramp she was beginning to feel. Her hand brushed against something, and she felt a small buzz inside her head.

  Can it be?

  Had she landed so strategically that she was practically on top of the data line going to the main control?

  She didn't waste any time questioning her fortune, minutely adjusting her right hand until it was just over the wire. No one had seemed to notice what she was doing, as the focus of the room was mainly on Eric.

  He had taken out his phone and was calling the rest of the satellite team back so that they could repair the damage she had done. Alice took the opportunity for all it was worth.

  She didn't close her eyes, for fear that someone would catch on, but instead just stared ahead, eyes unfocused, while her mind worked harder and faster than it ever had before. Eric hadn't done anything to halt her progress when he checked on the console before, so she sent the final command.

  After that, it seemed like everything moved in slow motion. There was a rapid beeping from the console, and a message appeared stating, "TRANSMISSION SENT."

  Eric's jaw dropped, and Alice saw the dawn of understanding appear in his eyes as the phone slipped from his hand and clattered to the ground. He turned immediately to stare at her, and saw where her hand was.

  He screamed for his men to remove her from the wires. At the same time, he lunged for the console trying everything he could to stop the transmission.

  It was too late. He was completely and utterly helpless, watching as his once untouchable empire suddenly started to unravel. Immeasurable rage and fury flared in his eyes. He roared as he watched what was being seen on billions of screens across the world.

  Sorry, Eric.

  It was every piece of information that exonerated Garrett from his so-called "crimes," all the while showing who was truly responsible for his downfall. It wasn't much, and it wasn't even a dent in the crimes that had been committed under Eric's reign…but it was enough for people to start to see the truth about EngineerCorp, and to understand that the giant corporation was not as benevolent as it seemed.

  It definitely made sure of one thing. Eric could never touch Garrett again. If any harm whatsoever befell him, the suspicion would fall immediately to EngineerCorp.

  Alice had been ripped from the wires and was being held by two men in the center of the room. As she looked around at the chaos ensuing, she thought dispassionately that there was no way she would be able to make a clean exit now, or any exit for that matter.

 
Alice did her best to stay alert, but she was exhausted. Her mind was drained from her exertions and her body was weak from hunger. The men holding her might as well have been made of steel. She could hardly move on her own, much less maneuver out of their grip.

  The air in the room was thick with tension. Eric's eyes were alert and taking everything in around him, trying to formulate the best plan for damage control. Though his expression was unreadable, it was evident that he never expected something like this to happen.

  Eric started barking orders to the remaining men in the room, dispatching them to various places to try to minimize his losses. When he was done, all that remained in the room were the two men holding Alice, along with Grant and Eric.

  Slowly and malevolently, Eric turned his gaze on her. His voice shook with anger as he informed her of the horrible position in which she now found herself.

  He didn't get very far when another voice sounded in the room. It was high-strung, anxious, and oddly familiar.

  Alice turned her head to the speaker and saw…Garrett? No.

  It was Gabriel. It had to be. And he was holding a gun, pointed at Eric.

  Where did he come from? And I thought one crazy man was bad. What on earth is going on here?

  Gabriel spoke first, his hysteria apparent in his voice.

  "You thought you could just get rid of me, did you? Well, you were wrong!"

  Alice was still confused, but part of her question was answered. Eric had apparently decided to do away with him. She guessed that Gabriel had somehow escaped his guard during the chaos from his brother's virus. How he had gotten a gun and found his way there, she would never know. Gabriel was not without his resources, apparently.

  "Gabriel, what are you doing? Put the gun down, now," Eric commanded fiercely, but Alice could see the unmistakable twinge of fear in his eyes.

  Gabriel seemed as if he had completely gone over the edge. His eyes were bloodshot and she noticed that his hands were shaking violently. Sweat had broken out across his forehead, and he was out of breath.

  Alice found her own heart pounding in anticipation. Eric had never been this close to his own mortality before and he was doing his best to keep his emotions in check. Grant seemed torn about what to do. His tranquilizer gun was useless against Gabriel's weapon. Even if he fired it, Gabriel would have more than enough time to shoot Eric before it took effect.