Episode 24
“Listen, this is completely insane,” Tyrn insisted once
more. As much as he could understand the need to stand up for something, he
also knew that there were some things you didn’t dare people to do. It was a
risky move no matter how you sliced it, and if people’s lives were on the line
that made it the kind of gamble he feared the odds would be horribly skewed
against them.
“If you don’t want to give me your permission to use the
shop’s hardware just say the word,” Lexel demanded with a stare as stern as
steel. “I can find somewhere else to do this if you’re that worried. But make
no mistake; I am going to do this. They are the ones who chose to make threats,
it was them who decided it wise to try and push me. People have tried to tell
me what I can do or what I should my whole life simply because they think I
should be their ideal of a little girl. Graystone seems to believe that they
can intimidate me by using my friend and my mother in order to force me into
giving up. Well, guess what; now it is time for them to see that I am not some
scared little girl who they can bully into submission.”
In the face of her fiery fury, Tyrn couldn’t hold onto his
argument. With a deep breath he bowed his head and rescinded his protest. If
she was going to do this no matter what then she might as well do it from his
shop. He couldn’t stop her, that much was clear but at the very least he could
support her so that she had some chance.
“I still think this whole plan is a bit crazy,” Tyrn
apologized. “That said; you know you are welcome here to use anything you need.
It may be dangerous, but if you’re going to go through with this then you might
as well use every available resource. I would hate to think I tied your hands
knowing full well you’re too stubborn for that to stop you.”
The thought made Lexel chuckle, as she turned to look for
Professor Honeywell. The slight scientist soon appeared from fumbling through a
small satchel she had sat on a bench to produce a slab of plastic. It was
barely the size of Lexel’s thumbnail she noticed when it was placed into her
waiting palm. Something so small and seemingly delicate yet it held within it
every collective piece of information regarding the professor’s precious
project.
“Thank you,” Lexel whispered with the weight she hoped the
words needed to mean just how grateful she truly was. “With this we can turn
the tables. If these guys are so determined to get Zero back or bury him then I
would wager that detailed proof is the last thing they will want to risk
leaking out.”
“How do you plan to accomplish that though,” Tyrn was the
first to ask. The old teacher’s face bore the expression of a curious child
instead of an aged instructor as he did. Lexel let a sly smile sweep across her
face before she answered the question. She had always found herself enjoying it
when a teacher had to ask for a student to explain something.
“Well,” Lexel finally began to explain with a pause for
emphasis. “It is a simple enough trick that I recently picked up. We are going
to make use of sleeping ripple point nodes scattered about. If they go looking
nothing will be waiting for them to find, but if they try to force our hand the
data will cascade out from so many sources that there is no way they can
silence them all at once. And the beautiful this is; every triggered node will
bounce the info into other nodes public or private.”
“Better punch it then,” Tyrn advised as he checked the time.
“Looks like your hour about out of time; if you’re going to do something, it
better be quick.”
“Don’t worry; a girl never misses a phone call,” Lexel joked
as she jacked herself in.
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