Chapter 1
[edited by PN]
*** Some 7 years later ***
The music has started, the party is already under way, but the one person who Alex is waiting for has yet to show up.
It is not like her to be late, if anything, she should have been here an hour ago. Alex thought, walking back and forth in his study, also used as his ready room. His caretakers had come time and again to remind him about the party. It is not like he does not know it, but where is Luna; she should have been here by now. Another set of knocks on the door and Alex knows that he has to go without her.
Finally stepping out of his room, Alex is ushered toward the ballroom in a hurry.
At the main table where Luna should have been sitting, a girl, almost a stranger to Alex, has taken the seat. Alex stops halfway across the room. "Where is Luna's seat?" Alex is not happy.
"Well, she could not make it."
"To her own pre-inauguration?" Alex looked at his caretakers with a straight face, "What are you hiding from me?"
"The fact that she is dead and will not be in the office with you." The girl answered for the caretakers while making her way over to where Alex is, "I, Valda, will take her place instead."
Valda, Alex let that name sink in. That's right , this Valda had the third highest IQ in the world, the same age as he, and is eligible for the place of the first lady if Luna is could not take her place.
Alex is fighting hard not to lose control of his temper, being able to stay calm under any circumstance is part of his genetic design, but right now he want to tear that girls face into pieces. He fought the desire by tighten his hands into fists. His knuckles turn white while his hands shake at his side. "I will be in my study..." is all he manages to squeeze out before storming off.
****
In Alex's study:
Alex is typing away on his portable computer, which is designed to be lightweight and powerful. He has personally optimized it to suit his purposes. The news flashed on to the screen after he had cracked the blockade to the active investigation database; one that he is not supposed to see. But nothing can really stop him if he wants to get through; and his caretakers know that. The only reason he has not broken through is just to stay on friendly terms with the officials. Now, he is angry, and nothing is going to get in his way, not even the officials.
The screen is covered with the investigation updates:
[...the security system was hacked, therefore the police did not receive any signal of the break in. Two caretakers were found dead outside the basement door where the girl possibly hid...]
A knock on the door is answered with some quick keystroke on the keyboard and a click locking the door with a code that only Alex knows. (The a few good things that come from living in a fully automated world.) "Go away!" Alex shouts at the people outside.
"Alex! Please, this is your pre-.."
"Mine? Then why is she there? That Valda!"
"She showed up just now.. She is here to help."
"Help? The investigation unit has not even finished collecting evidence; with Luna's body nowhere to be found. She shows up in our pre-inauguration telling me Luna is dead and she will take her place!!" Alex shouted, "sounds more like a set-up to me."
"...." The caretaker was silent. Yes, that is right, everything just going too fast and too coordinated to be accidental. "Alex, you know you are not supposed to look into the investigation unit database."
"If you can tell me where Luna is. I will close the connection right now."
"....." the takers are silence.
Alex read on:
[..The door was broken down by what looks like mechanical arms. Blood found inside the basement, but no body was found. There is also another door in the basement where an encrypted lock was broken. The keypad is covered in bloody fingerprints of a young child possibly belonging to Luna. The door opens to an empty room with nothing inside...]
Nothing .. Alex closes his portable. Luna is missing, mechanical arms, Valda show up in Luna's place just in time, the investigation is still going on, and no announcement has been made public ... This is not an accident .
A blinking light and clicking sound from the door lock warns Alex, that someone is attempting to overwrite his commands. Alex turns to his desktop, which is also one of his handy work. With some quick commands, the screen flickered to the surveillance camera mounted inside the hall pointing toward his door. The small-framed girl, Valda, is trying to overwrite the lock. Alex snorts at the screen and added some extra commands to the locks. He is not going to the party until he has found out the truth one way or another.
He takes his portable, and goes into the inner room, which he has used as a temporary bedroom form time to time. It is not lavish, but it does have everything he needs right now. Throwing his suit on the chair, he changes to a much lighter and comfortable set of clothes. Then he put some items in a small bag along with his portable computer. Now he is ready to do some investigating of his own.
[Player can only have certain number of item]
Alex opened up a ventilation hatch that was hidden behind a small bookshelf. He crawls in and commands his AI helper to move the bookshelf where it was. When he gets to a junction where he has a little more room to maneuver, he opens his portable. He checks on Valda, who is still working on the locks, then he switches to his AI helper in the inner room; the AI has very carefully placed the books back where they belong. It looks as if it was never disturbed. Alex wants to leave the AI alone, but it knows where he had gone, and that might cost him the little time he has gained. .. sorry ... Alex gave the AI a command to go back to where it always stands and erased it memory for the day. It will wake up thinking the new day had just begun; with some missing hours...
Satisfied, Alex obtained a map of the layout of his crystal, only then did he realize that the layout does not cover the basements, in fact he did not even know he had a basement. All the map shows is the corridor that leads to it. He looked for a way out but it impossible to get away without crack the security system, which is time-consuming and risky; not to mention all the people moving around in the halls. The proportion of the basement suggested that it is a large place, and there are pipes and electricity cables running in and out of it, suggesting some kind of machinery inside. If that is the case, there should be some kind of exits that workers use to get in and out of that place, because the doorway in the corridor has not been used for years.
Having decided on where to go, Alex now proceeds to check on the whereabouts of all the people in the complex. Like he thought, most people are occupied in the hall where the party is, and as for his care takers and Valda.. hmm, she is doing a good job .. he thinks, seeing that Valda is on the last lock he has put in. well, have fun lady .. With a set of commands, a new and very complicated lock that he had designed but never used, is now in place; and just in time too. Valda is now pouting outside the empty room.
Alex picked up again, and heads for the basement, if all goes well, he should be able to sneak out and get to Luna's place without too much interference.
[ Dungeon section: crystal Unit 001,
Gale: make it to the basement door without being detected.]
.. grrr, why does it have to be this complicated ... Alex kicked the metal door. Yes, he is at the door to the basement, but it is not the electronic locks that he is used to, instead a hunk of metal rusted to the core that would not budge. He looks around for anything he can use. The place looks very out of place from the rest of complex. The hallway seems to have no electronic equipment, the pipes are running along the ceiling, and rusting metal have left their mark on the what used to be white walls. A red canister marked as fire extinguisher, and a red fire axe in a glass door are on one side of the wall. .. Well, time for drastic measures .. Alex breaks the glass with the fire extinguisher and picked up the fire axe. It is somewhat rusted, but it works like a charm on the old door lock.
[Axe is the first weapon for Alex]
Alex opens the door in a hurry; he has lost plenty of time over this door. But, as soon as the door opens a loud siren sounds. .. I knew it .. Alex cursed his bad luck, but he has to move, fast. Inside is a maze of corridors and stairs, and Alex heads for the lower level, hoping there he can put enough distance between him and the people who are on to him now.
[Maze of corridors and stairs]
With some twist and turns, he is now at the bottom of a three story high space. He sees a door in the corner, and went in. The door is not locked, and gives way easily. Alex closes the door and hangs the fire extinguisher on the doorknob, hoping to slow down the people who are now just coming in through the first door.
Another set of hallways leads to some broken doors with no exits, Alex is getting worried. Just as he makes another turn, he almost slams onto a door that was set a short distance for the turn. This door was locked with electronic lock, an old fashioned one. Alex works on it and cracks the code easily. The door locks behind him as Alex rushes inside. Upon seeing the inside, Alex starts to wonder if he had made a mistake coming into this place. The room is a maze of walls. Strange holes on the wall remind Alex of old style security systems that used light to detect motion. All Alex can do now is to try and disarm the sensors.
[game: maze of walls]
After some stop and go through the maze, he makes to the end where yet another door blocks the way. The only good thing about this maze is that it can keep those people far behind him.
[Maze area, booby traps, small dust balls and spiders!?.. O.o;;]
After passing through at least eight rooms like this, Alex makes it to an abandoned control room. The place seems to be an old test station or monitoring station. All of the equipment is down, the layout map on the far wall shows an exit to the far side of the complex. But with the equipment down, all the doors toward that direction are inaccessible.
[Timed puzzle solving, need to lock and unlock doors in a certain order.]
[Once cleared, cut scene]
Alex has now made it to the exit, and is trying to crack the code to unlock it. But as he types away on his portable, running footsteps are approaching fast. Alex can almost make out the scream and shouts coming from those people ... something about not opening the door... right as if I am going to waste all this time just to stop now..
The door opened with a light click, and Alex goes in just before the men make it through the last door.
[End to chapter 1: white light greed Alex as he faded into the light]
[ Recap promise to Luna. ]