Avatara

"All right, I think we have everyone here," Grace said.

Her flat was a bit too small to have more than half a dozen guests in the evening. Pixel, Qwerty and Byte came down for the meeting. A 'glum looking' Jazz sat on the sofa chair drinking some warmed milk that he professed would be good for his stomach. Three of Snow Globe's men were present in their usual black suits and ties. And the man himself was present, although only via video link from Tokyo.

"To get straight to the point, Knightmare-Grimm has left the country leaving Sheldrake Enterprises unguarded," she said. "That means we can enter Q-division without opposition and destroy the Avatara Kernel."

"How will you destroy it?" said Qwerty.

"I'll show you when we get there," replied Grace. She still couldn't trust these people.

"My men have surveillance outside Sheldrake Enterprises," said Snow Globe from the screen. "We have not seen any evidence of his return."

"Well, it would have been nice to have had your backup when I chased them to the airport," said Jazz.

"My men are trained not to fall prey to the errands of fools Detective Singh," said Snow Globe. "We only take the risks worth taking."

"Exactly. He's a police officer anyway, so who cares," said Byte.

"Byte!" said Pixel. Qwerty nudged Byte hard.

"What?" said Byte.

"How's that supposed to help bro?" said Qwerty.

"Ok, that's enough Escape Key," said Snow Globe. "Let's listen to Grace, and Mr Singh I'm sincerely sorry for your injuries. I will reflect on our processes. Please Grace continue."

"So we need to act now," said Grace. "Snow Globe's men can escort us through the front door just in case we are ambushed. Knightmare-Grimm may still have some men inside and we know he is working on killer robot technology.

"You'll need us too," said Qwerty.

"Sure," said Grace. "I have no idea how complicated it could get down there in terms of unravelling the code at the servers. I'll need all the help I can get."

"And what about me?" said Jazz.

"Well I think you should go home and rest," said Grace. "But on the other hand you are the only one here with both combat and computer skills."

Byte coughed. Grace felt it to be undermining but could not be sure. She readjusted herself and continued speaking to Jazz.

"You can stay on perimeter and watch in one of the vans and monitor the camera systems. We can certainly hack into those and keep them open. Would let us know what we are walking into."

"When do we get going?" said Pixel.

"I was hoping right now," said Grace.

"Wait," said Snow Globe from the screen. "I can have a convoy on its way with weapons and more of my men."

"We are not looking for a fight," said Grace.

"But you may find one," said Snow Globe. He spoke to one of his men in Japanese then he readdressed the group. "I don't like losing my men for any reason and for whatever reason neither does Knightmare-Grimm otherwise he would have come for Grace by now. However rest assured my men will do everything in their power to protect you."

Grace gulped. She hadn't thought about the possibility of losing her life.

"They will be nearby in two hours. They will meet at a warehouse three streets away from you. I'll send the address. Give two hours for the men to organise themselves appropriately. I also insist you attempt entry in the early hours of the morning as it will be more quiet and less likely to attract unwanted eyes.

Snow Globe was right. A swoop on Sheldrake is best advised against until the streets were dead quiet.

"Oh, we have a plan," said Grace. Not a great plan but it will have to do.

***

Thirty minutes later, Grace decided to go outside for some fresh air. Some time to think.

She saw Pixel on her own, at the bottom of the steps by the metal rails, facing the park with her hood up. Pixel saw Grace approach and nodded. The purple sky looked beautiful as the sun set ahead of them. Grace thought it was a good time to come out as it wasn't yet cold.

"You seem a bit quiet?" she said to Pixel.

"I only talk if there's something to say," Pixel replied.

Grace leaned against the metal rail.

"I never thought creating Avatara would lead to this; going into Sheldrake with guns. What would my mum think?"

"Yeah, what would she think about all of this?" said Pixel.

Grace felt sad. "She said the maker of Avatara must be a bad person, or something like that. So I guess she wouldn't think well of me."

They stood there for a while and a cool breeze ran past that gave Grace a slight chill.

"Life has consequences for everything," said Pixel. "I realise that now. I know I'm only fifteen but I've seen a lot."

"Don't you think Snow Globe is taking advantage of you guys? You know, shouldn't you be at school, finishing education, doing teenager stuff and not saddling yourselves with world problems?"

Pixel shrugged. She folded her arms and looked back at Grace.

"The grown ups don't care about the future anymore. Most of them are dead inside, in their dull day to day grind just going through the motions. Terroristic governments across the world still exist. The climate is changing and ecosystems are collapsing. People are dying more and more from environmental and economic collapse; and more of them are fleeing their countries to come here. And don't get me started on technological unemployment and the further transfer of power to corporations."

Grace was taken aback by Pixel comments. She really felt the passion and vitriol with which the kid spoke.

"But your parents though? What do they think?"

"My parents are dead," replied Pixel. "They died in a car accident three years ago. Snow Globe is my guardian, as they worked for him."

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Grace. Byte and Qwerty appeared from the park with their skateboards. They looked at Grace and Pixel and seemed to perceive that they were in deep conversation, so didn't interrupt and just went back up the stairs to the flat.

"It's fine," said Pixel. "I know Snow Globe isn't much of a Dad but he supports my vision. He's always thinking three steps ahead."

Grace didn't agree with the last comment. She found Snow Globe to be much like herself in many ways, looking at the world through rose-tinted glasses. She knew a fellow idealist when she saw one.

"Tell me Pixel," she said. "How did you work out that I created Avatara?"

At that point they saw someone walking their dog in avatara form, coming towards them on the pavement, taking the form of a fairy. Pixel waited for them to pass before speaking.

"I had been on your tail since 'The Piccadilly Pandemonium,'"She said. That was what the press called the day when Knightmare-Grimm caused havoc at Piccadilly Circus.

"But our investigation actually started before that when we heard on the news that some commotion happened over the Thames but it was reported as damage caused by a Hollywood film being made."

"And then?" said Grace.

"We figured both events were linked and seeing those avatara on television confirmed that the inventor and the source must live in London. The Sheldrake communications pole, is the most powerful one in the whole of Europe.

"I got myself a copy of Avatara and hacked it. I found several lines in the script that triggered a transmission pulse via the nearest mobile phone mast. I tested the avatara for myself - the first and last time I would do that- and recorded the programming log. The pulses had a signature by hacking the communication grid I found the target point was indeed the Sheldrake communications pole."

"But how did you know it was me?" said Grace.

"That was easy, you quit Sheldrake only a few days before, flagging you up as an anomaly," said Pixel. "When I finally got a hold of your CV I knew it must be you."

"It sounds so simple," said Grace.

"Yeah it does," said Pixel. "But you and I both know."

"Yeah."

"I know you made a deal with the government. That's how you got your flower shop." said Pixel. The sudden exposure made Grace feel sheepish.

"It's ok," said Pixel. "No judgment here, you were scared."

"Pixel, I-," Grace started to day.

Pixel turned to face Grace properly. "Grace, I'm so sorry I lied to you. You don't need to explain yourself to me. But I hope you can see I'm a good person and hopefully in time you will trust me."

"Thanks," said Grace. She checked her watch. "I think I'm going to go upstairs and check up on the guys. Hopefully we can get some sense of Sheldrake's surveillance systems."

"I'm coming with you," said Pixel. "They've got a lot better at protecting their systems since the Piccadilly Pandemonium. I won't be surprised if this attack turns out to be harder than we thought."

'She's right,' Grace thought. There was no way this was going to be easy.