"Dear Diary, it's been 2 months, 12 days, 10 hours and 30 seconds since I arrived here and so far everything is AMAZING, the supercomputer Richard handed to me operates like a BEAST, one time I was able to get inside the Deep Web and stayed there for several hours, UNDETECTED! HAH! I saw some really classified stuff like criminal informations - BORRRING, medical certificates - meh - and military projects - you know I love those - but luckily I managed to turn off the location before any hacker tries to attack me, actually they can try, Richard says the buidling is out of the grid and he's trying to let Tatiana make a cloaking field out of spare parts. Old geezer's an eccentric genius but quite a stalker. Can't believe he was the janitor at my university, I should've arrested him then and there!", there is a sigh on the background, along with low humming, presumably the numerous air-conditioners placed around the Central Command.
"Still, I'm left speechless. At first, things were a bit rough with that deal Mom made - I'm pissed at that FYI - but once that guy, Joshua Alo, came in the bookstore to order a manual for fighting techniques, I never really thought about going along with him. He's just this...normal, average, buff guy with no one else to talk to in his spare time, no hobbies to enjoy, nothing at all. And after learning about his past life and his pure anger to kill that fat lard Keith, I feel sorry for the guy...his story is a bit cliche, but sad either way. Now he's - ", suddenly a loud boom interrupted the recording, followed by incessant laughter from the outside. From what she could assume it's Tatiana, Richard and Alo doing another weapons test on Alo's abilities.
" - the - they're doing fine. As for me I still have other projects to attend to, and I have my own kind of training since it requires precision and focus, unlike the annoying thunder claps that happens from time to time. God, I'm gonna be deaf when I'm old.", just as she says that another thunder clap boomed outside forcing Johan to shriek and scolds at them from her room.
"Anyway that's it for this, uhm, audio diary? Journal? I don't know what to call it, shut the fuck up. I'll be doing this from time to time. Hopefully I'll do another one once I'm back from Tokyo. Peace out.". The recording ends with a long beep.
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INT. HEADQUARTERS - JOHAN'S ROOM - OCTOBER 1, 2019 - 8:30 AM
Much like Alo's room, Johan's area has also the white hue as the base color, although she preferrably choose her favorite color (Hint: It's in the text), she still accepts the simplicity of the room, with just a comfortable bed bigger than her and a medium square desk at the corner of the wall between the bed. Before it was empty but after the death of Keith and her agreement to be part of the group, she was given permission to grab her stuff from an apartment a bit far in the city, but luckily Alo accompanied her on the way and took care of the heavy lifting (which mostly includes her computer setup and her bags) and displayed them accordingly.
Now the walls have the posters of the English-Irish boyband One Direction, the boyband that 90% of the population of the teenage girls (and some men, anybody can have good tastes in music) listen to and some may have developed CWS, or "celebrity worship syndrome", a "mild" obssesion disorder in which it involves being overly involved with the details of a celebrity. Johan, is one of the few, however she expresses it in a rather technical way. See, being an expert programmer means she can hack properly without getting caught. She spies on normal websites, especially online stores that sells tickets to concerts and uses her knowledge to get a free ticket inside, and secretly watch as the her boys perform on the stage. Sure it's unfair but there's something about being a criminal not just from the authorities but to society as well, just feels so good.
Either way, she's proud of what she's done and she'll gladly do it again if her boys ever got the chance to perform here in America. Albeit her heart belongs to 1D, her brain belongs to the supercomputer with 6 big monitors and a butt-ton of servers, housing the robots' directives and the hologram artificial intelligence that controls it. She always dream of it along with her boyband living in paradise. Kind of creepy, but she's a smart happy-go-lucky teenage girl what can you do?
At the side of her bed and placed at the very corner of it, is her personal nightstand with 5 drawers, compared to Alo which is 3. Each drawer stores her electric components, ranging from dusty circuit boards, to USB killers, tracking bugs, recorders and other controversial gadgets nobody use. And lastly, her large closet filled with her clothes she wear most of the time like thick sweatshirts, slightly loose shorts, jogging pants, and plain t-shirts, yet there's also fashionable ones such as her dresses and slightly formal attire whether to attend meetings or merely used as a disguise for other situations. It is also very organized unlike Alo's, which is a complete mess (good thing he does the laundry).
As the sun rises, Johan sleeps soundly in her bed in a side-position, snoring gently until her sleep is interrupted by an alarm clock blasting its annoying beeping. However, Johan immediately jumps out of her bed showing her sleeping pajamas and does a karate pose, as if she is expecting an ambush but not even Dr. Stalker, a nickname for Richard, popped up to face her. She lowers her guard down in embarrassment and looks at the time. "8:30? Bloody hell, did I really slept that long?", she scratches at the back of her head, before her smartphone at the nightstand, rings.
Someone is trying to reach her. She picks up the phone only to find it's an unknown number, much to her shock. She remembered Richard's rules about keeping everything a secret, that means turning away from the world including her family. But what if they are worried about her? Nah, only her little sister and her Dad only care about her well-being, on the other hand, it could be some other hacker who's trying to reach out to her, and with bad intentions to boot. Her thumb mildly shivers as she taps the answer button and presses it against her ear.
"Hello?", her voice cracked for a moment there. She's hearing some sort of heavy-duty machinery on the background that is irritating to hear.
"Well well, if it isn't my little scamp.", a deep yet gentle voice speaks in response. His accent is British like hers but tougher, similar to a poor industrial worker in the Victorian Era. Johan's eyes went wide in a second, and a gleam plastered on her face, because that voice is -
- "NO FREAKING WAY! DAD?!", her scream was definitely loud and quickly looks around, then back on the phone, "How are you calling me?", she whispers with glee this time.
"Terrestar-Thuraya satellite phone, cost me a lot of money to get this one, and a lot of burns to sold these things together. You should really try making one sometime.", he chuckles afterwards.
Johan smiles at thought of those names. The TerreStar Corporation was a Reston, Virginia-based company that operated integrated satellite and terrestrial telecommunications systems. The company declared bankruptcy in 2010 and is now owned by Dish Network. They brought these kinds of service during the 2000's, when most small-scale cities have little to no internet connection. Meanwhile, Thuraya is a United Arab Emirates-based regional mobile-satellite service (MSS) provider. The company operates two geosynchronous satellites and provides telecommunications coverage in more than 161 countries in Europe, the Middle East, North, Central and East Africa, Asia and Australia. Thuraya’s L-band network delivers voice and data services. Thuraya, is the mobile satellite services subsidiary of Yahsat, a global satellite operator based in the United Arab Emirates, fully owned by Mubadala Investment Company. That information made her wish she could've worked there to make a difference.
Johan laughs with him, missing her father after her mother divorced him due to minimum wage and replaced by a wealthy man who is a CEO of a billion dollar company. Since then, she spent her time alone and despised her mother for separating with him. It's one of the reasons why she will never go back to London. "So, how's work?", she assumes her father's job might've taken a toll on his health.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
"Meh, same old, same old. BUT I got a good amount of dosh today. I managed to buy myself a good meal thanks to Delilah.", she suddenly feels hollow inside her heart, feeling a sharp pain like a knife has plunged straight through her. She wants to bring her father in the Headquarters but she's not sure if Richard will accept him, surely a man of his skills will be very useful. However, she's gonna have to hide her emotions for now and ask Richard when the time is right.
"Ughh, you're still in her place?! That place is a bloody junkyard! If I were you, I would've pack myself out of there!", she exclaims in her room.
"Yeah, but she says she's kicking the business up a notch, met some suits the other night. Everything is going to be easy now that we have more space to work on.", then a piece of metal falls down hard, followed by a long hiss, "And less occupational hazards."
"Huh? Didn't take her for a business type. Last I saw Delilah, she was selling opium and got arrested, fucking twat.", she rolls her eyes after she said it.
"Yeah, though it's not normal for me for to agree with her, you can't just leave an opportunity hanging.", Johan replies with "mhhm" with her head nodding. "And what about you? What're you doing in America? And...in the Appalachian Mountains, no less.", Johan stops for a moment, thinking how did he know where she is. If he finds about her location, then it could cause massive complications.
"Uhh, how did you - ", she presses the phone between her shoulder and her cheek while looking around her stuff where the bug is starting with her nightstand.
"I placed a tracker on your glasses, sorry about that.", he confesses.
Johan takes off her eyeglasses and look around, only to fund a microscopic tracker inside the right screw. She panicked a bit, knowing her dad might discover the hidden base, but notices there are no cameras attached to it, breathing a sigh of relief. "Oh it's okay, I'm just doing some coding here. Don't worry, I have friends here, there's LOTS of us.", she lies to him.
Frankly, she's been here for a few months and although she's having the time of her life with her supercomputer, she is still skeptical to Alo and Richard, except for Tatiana, who has been just the most uninterested person ever.
"Alright. But if there's anything you need, I'm here. Savvy?", she can imagine him smile behind the phone.
"Hehe, savvy. See ya around, dad.". She ends the call with a smile on her face. She stands up and stretches her body, her eyes look out on the window, seeing the beautiful landscape of the mountains, away from all the stress of the world. However her smile shifts into a sad frown, remembering the past as she lets out a long sigh. If only her life was like this before it all broke down.
Suddenly, her doors open with a hiss. She turns her head around to see Alo dressed in a black tank top showing off his broad muscles, thick light brown khaki shorts and thick black-and-white walking slippers that sticks to the clean, slippery floor. He plants both of his hands at the door frames, peering his head through her room. "Oh hey, you're up earl - ".
" - Richard wants us downstairs now.", immediately leaves her room, running down the newly constructed stairs made by the ComBots, as Alo goes down, he is greeted by carpenter bots painting the stairs chrome and the rails grey, giving it a slightly darker color to see where they are stepping. Alo merely rushes down, ignoring them like any other inanimate object, alive or not.
Johan blinks her eyes in succession, wondering what does Richard need at this time of day. She heads downstairs and greets the waving carpenter bots on her way down to the living room. Despite they're just creations, Johan respects all sorts of life for sentience is a very sensitive topic, and though hundreds of sci-fi movies have already portrayed it over the years, they all share the same moral: Don't ever mess with artificial intelligence. And these ComBots and other creations from Richard are no exception, all she did was smile and wave.
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INT. LIVING ROOM
Amidst the undergoing construction, the living remains clean for the past several weeks. The couch is polished like it was ready to be sold. The dishes are neatly organized and rinsed well thanks to Alo and Johan who volunteered to maintain the headquarters since they started making themselves home, that and they have nowhere else to go besides here. And due to Richard's transfiguration to an aritificial intelligence, he accessed the code of the entire ComBot product line, and made some changes to some units into workers, cleaners, and other general purposes.
He replaced the standard shock batons with carpenter hammers, screwdrivers, and dusters while their blast cannons are replaced by robotic hands, although it could've been something more awesome than a human limb, grabbing is very important (because . . . you can use it . . . and uhm . . . some other uses for a hand.)
Other than that, everything's well, except today, Richard paces back and forth behind the couch, biting the nail of his thumb anxiously while Tatiana is playing Mobile Legends on her phone, slaying enemy players left and right like it's a daily routine. Out of her vision, is the television, playing the today's news which is currently about the preparations for the Victoria's Secret fashion show.
Eventually, Johan and Alo arrive from upstairs to see Richard still pacing before his eyes met theirs. He stops pacing and goes up to them, quite relieved. "Oh thank God, you're here. I - I - I didn't thought of this sooner. We don't have that much time!".
"Why? What's going on?", Johan tilts her head.
Richard quickly turns to her, "One of our supposed recruits Cassandra Lopez is in danger by the police. I know we have plans for Tokyo but for now we need to travel to Barcelona before - ", his sentence is cut short by the international news intro.
An anchorman wearing a light brown and red nectktie, with blue eyes and a neat haircut, mainly every broadcaster ever. "And now for the International News. Things are getting hectic in Barcelona, as the Cuerpo Nacional de Policía continues to search for the missing victims last seen from the fortune telling shop currently owned by Cassandra Lopez, who is also regarded as a suspected individual by the CNP. There have been multiple eye-witnesses concerning Ms. Lopez behavior for the past several weeks but right now there has been an incident in her shop after several CNP units have been dispatched to retrieve Ms. Lopez for interrogation of the missing customers. One of the units' body camera was able to record the entire footage, but for censorship's sake we can only do a short amount, here it is."
The video suddenly changes to a first-person view outside what's supposed to be Cassandra's shop, a small decrepit building that sandwiched by two large apartment complexes. In front of the camera are several officers, armed with Heckler & Koch UMP45s and MP5s, with the fortune telling shop behind them. The captain tells the group to form a line and carefully enter the shop. As soon as the group approaches the staircase leading to the closed front door, with the captain falling behind to observe his men, a massive explosion erupts from the shop's interior, knocking back the entire force out of the radius.
But just as the camera points to the sky, the officer probably got blown away hard, another massive explosion can be heard, this time the sound of fire cackling and wooden debris followed by people screaming and panicking as the firetruck and EMS sirens can be heard from afar.
The disturbing noises alone made Tatiana avert her eyes from the game, and her fingers froze solid. Richard and Johan felt chills down their spines, with the latter's skin gone to pale. Alo, on the other hand, curls his fists into a ball, yet remaining composed throughout the footage, but couldn't help feeling loss again. If she was alive, she would've been the calm and rational type of person. If by the perp that got away from killing Cassandra, then he would happily beat him and electrocute him to his heart's content.
The footage then cuts back to the anchorman, with a solemn expression, "Unforntunately, 10 residents and 7 officers were dead on the scene, investigators eventually found Ms. Lopez's body in a charred state, but it will have to be further examined by forensics later on. Director-General Francisco Piqueras will soon make a statement about this terrible incident. In other news - ", Richard presses the Mute button and places the remote on the table, then sighs as he stands there with his head hang low.
"Richard - ", Johan tries to comfort Richard, but she doesn't have the guts to speak about what she witnessed.
" - We could've saved them. Damn it! It's all my - ".
" - NOPE, STOP IT! It is CLEARLY not your fault. We never saw this coming, YOU never saw this coming. If you have, you would've told us by now!", she madly points her finger at the TV, then lets out a labored sigh, letting her arms drop stagnantly.
It is Alo's turn to speak, "There's nothing we can do about it now, Richie. It is not too late to get to the others. - ". Richard raises his hand a bit to Alo, cutting him again.
" - No, someone definitely knows about her. And I'm not talking about the police.", he pause for a moment, "I need to look into something. For now you two best get on with your training. We need to get King out of there as soon as possible.", Richard disappears into pixels, followed by Alo who goes to the kitchen to make some breakfast for the three of them.
However, Johan shifts from being saddened by her death, to skepticism. What does he mean by someone? And does that someone knows about her and Alo too?