Hide and Seek

The 3F immediately held a virtual meeting about the operation was completed. Each facility transferred terabytes of data to 3F, which took several days to complete. All data sent to the 3F is thoroughly examined. These data are highly classified and only high-ranking personnel have access to them. As soon as they finished the first phase of Operation COUNTER, the second phase, mission organization, began. Each facility was assigned a different task. It took about two weeks to complete the entire process.

The Reconnaissance Sector informed Xyron of their discoveries, which HEXSC reported, as the 3F's Intelligence Sector became overburdened.

"The target has been identified and has already crossed the Bionic border. A trail of unusual forest growth has been documented. This sighting was not present two weeks ago," HEXSC reported. "This tree trail appeared 6 kilometers away from Morr Empire's urban area around 2 a.m., 11 hours after the Project Reminiscence was activated from the said empire. For the past few weeks, the trail has been expanding towards the Bionic Empire's borders, eventually connecting to the forest near the Imperial Gates of Roid City, Bionic."

"Bionic? Didn't The King of Thieves destroy their electric supply 4 days ago?" Damascus inquired.

"Affirmative!" HEXSC affirmed. "A device called 'Aegis' was also reported to be stolen from the empire."

Damascus made a lot of assumptions as a result of that incident. He began to consider the possibility that The King of Thieves did it on purpose because he knows his destination is Bionic. Caleb, he reasoned, might have destroyed the one thing that could have hampered the target's journey.

"Sir, do you think that criminal is involved with this?" Damascus speculated as he tried to connect all of the events.

"That may be a possibility!" Xyron replied. "HEXSC, activate WED protocol!"

The Watchful Eye Drone protocol involved dispatching a small number of reconnaissance drones to spy on the most heinous criminal. They never attempted to apprehend him because he never committed any crimes within Stellar, which makes sense. After all, doing so would be a foolish decision on his part. Stellar is unconcerned about what happens outside of their borders, which keeps the King of Thieves at bay. But that doesn't mean they don't intend to take action against him. The battle between Stellar's vigilant eyes and the most cautious criminal has begun.

"Report! Target has been captured by a Roaming Droid and is now being confined inside the Watchtower 2 of Roid City," HEXSC informed. "Accessing security cameras! Action complete!"

With that, footage of the real-time recording of the room where the target was projected on the monitor.

"Enhancing footage quality. Action complete!" HEXSC informed.

Everyone inside the facility came to a halt when they noticed a boy sitting quietly inside the room where he was being held for investigation. When they see him, their expressions all change. Some were rendered speechless and began to feel anxious. Some people began to shake. Some people sobbed in disbelief.

Their hearts were filled with joy when they saw him and confirmed that it was indeed him, but their hearts were filled with horror when they saw his current state.

As he stood up, Xyron's eyes were wide open, nervous and angry. His eyes glared at the monitor as he uttered, "we are running out of time!"

He immediately ordered a retrieval operation, as he had no time to waste.

"HEXSC! Send a command to the Combat Search and Rescue Units to retrieve the target from Bionic. They have 72 hours to finish the mission. It is strictly forbidden to be spotted. Arsenal no. 356 will be made available to them."

Arsenal 356 is a set of equipment used for extreme stealth missions such as infiltrating highly secured locations. A unit of agents was dispatched under his command to retrieve the target and bring him to them.

After seeing his condition, Xyron looks at the monitor again and grits his teeth. He couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing.

"What happened to you after you came back?" Xyron mumbled with restless eyes. "This is not how I remember you! You look more dangerous now! I need to contain you before anything bad happens!"

Xyron glanced at the monitor again and uttered, "that monster inside you... I will stop it from returning even if it means..."

He didn't finish his sentence when the room in which the boy was confined exploded. Every eye in the building was fixed on the monitor. The cameras stopped recording after 20 seconds, but they resumed after that.

"Electromagnetic Pulse was detected!" HEXSC reported.

"It's really him!" Xyron whispered.

They had been watching him for the past two days. They even hacked Bionic's computers. They have even taken over Darryl Richard's computer and are scanning every file. This was the second time they had taken over Darryl's computer. The first time was when they deleted a file pertaining to a specific individual.

In those two days, the CSR unit has finally arrived and is ready to begin its retrieval mission. HEXSC projected each soldier's body cameras and health status during the mission.

"Alpha, Bravo, Delta are in position!" the captain informed over the radio.

As they slowly approaches the DPS building, their health status immediately went down to zero and was disconnected.

"What happened?" Xyron expressed in confusion.

"Vitals are zero. CSR unit was wiped out!" HEXSC reported.

"What do you mean wiped out? Are you saying our team was killed instantly? They're one of the most skilled units we have. How can they be eliminated instantly?"

HEXSC didn't respond. That was the first time their AI didn't have an answer.

Facepalming, Xyron shrank in his chair. This failure indicates that they are several steps behind schedule. If they can't get the target out of Bionic, it's game over for them. Xyron quickly ordered that they provide him with confirmation of their failed retrieval operation.

"HEXSC, is the data transfer complete?" Xyron inquired.

"Data transfer is at 95%....."

HEXSC abruptly glitches, shocking everyone inside the facility. HEXSC began acting strangely, and it abruptly began deleting all of their data.

"Initiating Complete Data Wipe Out!" HEXSC declared.

"What!" Xyron expressed in alarm. "HEXSC, cancel!"

Xyron tried everything he could, but HEXSC kept deleting all of their data. HEXSC was hacked from that point forward. Everyone panicked as all of the monitors began to project all of their files being hacked and transferred to another location. Damascus dashed to the power supply, shutting down the facility completely in the hopes of halting the hacking.

The entire facility was shut down, and emergency power was quickly turned on.

"Doctor, what happened?" Xyron inquired.

"I believe our firewall has been compromised. Sir, we were hacked!" Damascus explained bitterly. "Even if we recover the lost data from our backup servers, the hackers have already transferred massive amounts of data from us. I'm afraid the organization behind Project Reminiscence is already aware of our plans."

"Doctor, if HEXSC is still under the virus's influence. I'll give you the order to terminate HEXSC!" Xyron said.

"Yes, Sir!"

It took them a couple of hours to finish running diagnostics, making sure that the virus is flushed out of the system. As they run HEXSC again, everyone made a sigh of relief.

"HEXSC, can you track down the source of that hacking?" Doctor Damascus inquired.

"Running tracking sequence!"

As the AI traced the source, a report came in and…

"An explosion was captured on CCTV at Hummington Street in Droid City, Bionic. According to the DPS database, four droids were destroyed on Hummington Street. According to reports, a boy destroyed them."

"Show me footage from any Reconnaissance Drone of the incident," Xyron demanded as he continued typing in his computer.

"Unable to perform your request," HEXSC replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Total active Reconnaissance Drones in Bionic: Zero!" HEXSC reported.

That made Xyron stand up in surprise. He did not expect that.

"HEXSC, report!"

"During the corruption of the system, self-destruction of Reconnaissance Drone Bionic Units were performed."

Xyron returned to his chair, upset about everything that is happening. He has no idea what will those people would do next.

"So, they have taken away our eyes of Bionic. Deploying a new unit there would be too risky," he sighed in irritation. "Leaving Bionic in that guy's hand will be our last resort. I hate to do this but I will be entrusting him of Bionic."

A few moments later, the tracking sequence ended. HEXSC failed to trace the hackers which lead to Xyron into more problems.

"HEXSC, what files can you retrieve from Bionic? Is there something we can use to find the boy?"

"99% of the files we got from Bionic were erased completely."

"What about the remaining 1%?"

"We manage to save one video file from that attack. It is a clip of the interrogation process between the boy and an officer. Do you wish to play it?" HEXSC asked.

"Yes!"

The video footage was immediately projected on the monitor. In the footage, an agent entered a room where the boy was sitting quietly. Xyron listened to the entire conversation until they got to the part where they talked about why he was in Bionic.

"Then, why are you here?" the agent asked.

"I was sent here, Sir, by people I do not know, claiming that they know me. They said that I need to go here and to three more places. They didn't tell me exactly why but I think they want me to meet certain people or maybe see something," the boy elucidated.

"Did this group of people give you some kind of a device to bring with you as you go here?"

"No, Sir! But they provided me with a map to guide me. I think it was confiscated from me and I don't know where it is now," the boy honestly replied.

"Map?" Xyron mumbled under his breath as he listened more.

"About that map, where did you get that?"

"I got that from T12 at the empire called 'Morr'."

"T12? Oh, the Table Series! But are you sure? Because the details of the map are similar to Stellar's map designs."

"They've probably used our map-making software to print that map. Those scoundrel is putting us in a bad light!" Xyron groaned. "Can anyone find this map they're referring to? Find it in Bionic's database."

A few minutes later, a report came in.

"The original copy of the map was stolen in the Evidence Facility from the Special Force Division. It was stolen during the attack at the SFD building last night," HEXSC reported.

"Attack? Were those our men?" Xyron inquired, baffled.

"Negative," HEXSC replied. "58 SFD officers were injured and 24 were reported dead. They destroyed several files inside the building and kidnapped the person of interest of the Watchtower 2 incident."

Xyron leaned back in his chair, his hand covering his face, trying to hide his rage at Bionic's contact for failing to report the incident.

"Well, it's my fault for not explaining how important information relay is to that jerk!" Xyron groaned at his stupidity. "Doctor, notify that idiot in Bionic and make him explain everything."

Xyron began to suspect that the hacking, self-destruction of the Reconnaissance Drones, sudden elimination of their entire CSR unit, massacre in the SFD, and kidnapping were all linked. His primary suspect is the organization behind Project Reminiscence.

"Those people!" he gritted his teeth as he think of the people he is suspecting. "They have done it now!"

As their plans are gradually jeopardized, Xyron is doing his best not to erupt in rage. In this situation, he must act and think quickly. This isn't a game of wits anymore. The winning team is the one with the best strategy.

"This is getting out of our control."

He doesn't want to admit it, but that is the reality of their situation. All he can do is come up with a new strategy. It took him a few minutes to come up with a new plan. He never expected to use a plan like this.

A last-resort strategy.

"Doctor, call him!"

Damascus was taken aback. He recognizes the individual Xyron is referring to. He never imagined the day would come when Xyron would summon that person.

"Are you sure sir?" Damascus clarified.

"We do not have a choice," Xyron bitterly admitted.

"As you wish!" Damascus opened his tab and chose an option to signal the other end. He was hesitant to send the signal because he was concerned that the other party would deceive them greatly. He trusts Xyron, but with this decision, that trust is eroding.

"I hope you're doing the right thing, Xyron!" he muttered under his breath as he glances at Xyron looking so distressed before pressing the button.