The Factory's Secret

Madd kept running to escape. She didn't even know if she was followed by anyone, but she wasn't going to take the risk. She got to the school to find Caro and Luna explaining something to Mike, Jo and Lena.

"Madd! Where were you? We looked all over the place for you." Caro said.

"I was taking a walk in the town. But then I saw the second supercomputer's building. I entered in pure curiosity." Madd was still taking her breath from the long run she had made.

"Was there anything important we need to know?" Caro questioned.

"Well yes, someone works in there. I have a picture of him and a code that was on his computer. You might want to analyze it." Madd proposed.

She passed the paper over to Caro, who had a million questions in her eyes. She showed the paper to Luna.

"We were just telling them that the line we found was composed by power from different nuisances in the network. X.A.R.A. is fourth. The first one is BUP-53TY and the second one was AJ-102. The 'code' you think you found is not a code. It's a program. The third powering program is what you found. HX-005. We need to work with this man if he is building scanners. He can't fight HX alone. Let's offer him our help. But we can do that tomorrow." Caro explained.

"Please let me sleep now." Jo said.

They all closed their dorms, except for Mike, who went home under a cloudy night.

***

Caro woke her friends up and they waited for Mike for a couple minutes before going. School was starting tomorrow, but the students were going to use their last day at the maximum. They started walking out the school in direction of the laboratory. Madd was nervous. She didn't want him to recognize her. Caro, Lena and Mike walked in alone this time, the rest of the group walking nonchalantly near the building.

"Okay. Remember we are not here to hide. Don't be nervous." Lena said.

"I'm ready." Mike said.

They activated the trap entrance and it descended them to the laboratory. It was empty. They knew it because they heard the guy hide.

"Let's just look around then. Maybe we can find something. Or someone." Caro said with lower voice.

"Take the scanners Mike and I will go see the supercomputer." Lena suggested.

Caro walked in alone. She inspected the scanners' composition and their circuits. They were the same as in the factory. Lena and Mike were on their own side, but they weren't finding anything better than Madd did the last time she broke in. Caro's phone rang.

"Hello?" She answered.

"It's me! Hide somewhere he's coming in. I took better pictures again." Madd's stressed voice said.

"Okay thanks." Caro murmured.

"What is it?" Lena and Mike came in.

"We have to hide someone's coming." Caro said in a low voice.

They found an old janitor closet behind the scanners and hid in there. They heard the footsteps of a man coming.

"I know you're here! Get out!" He said entering the laboratory.

Lena took the door's handle, but Caro stopped her.

"Wait! He might be pretending." Caro said calmly.

Lena stopped her movement. The guy just stayed there in the middle room for a couple seconds, then he sat at his computer.

"I have a plan. I'll create a giant energy shield in the door of the scanner room, then we can communicate safely." Caro proposed.

"Okay. Let's go, we're with you." Mike agreed.

Caro put her plan to execution. She opened the door of the janitor's room. She shielded the door. The man turned his head. He ran to the door wondering what was happening.

"Who are you." Caro asked.

"I'll return the question." He said.

The man looked like the typical crazy scientist from every movie. His hair were goofy, even with his young age in the forties.

"We are fighting against programs just like you. We're here in peace." Lena said.

"Which one are you fighting?" He asked.

"X.A.R.A.'s our enemy." Caro said.

"X.A.R.A. is dangerous. In a couple of weeks, we will produce more energy than BUP-53TY. Where is the base of it?" He asked.

"It's in the factory in the river. It's very close to here." Lena said.

"Really? I went there three or four days ago and there was nothing." He said.

Caro stopped here energy shielding.

"How did you produce that energy field?" He asked.

"Long story, but I still don't know. Are you still building scanners?" Caro asked.

"Yes. It's been two years now. It's complicated." He confirmed.

"I see. I have one question though..." Lena started.

"Yes?"

"Do you know who Craig and Diana are?"