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Registered User
Currently Offline
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Posts: 1655
Join Date: Jan 2008
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“It’s not like them to go days without checking in” Jessica said aloud as she stared at the phone with a worried expression on her face.
She began pacing back and forth in the living room trying to figure out what her next move should be. Her parents had taken a trip to Paris, France for their anniversary but had planned to be back in a week. It has now been three and half weeks with no word. Jessica tried calling their hotel but was told that no one by her parents’ names had a reservation there.
“Something’s not right here” she thought as she picked up the phone to call the police and report her parents missing.
RING…RING…the doorbell chimed as she dialed in the 9 and the first 1. Her heart leapt as she dropped the phone and rushed to the door expecting to see her parents on the other side. She swung open the door quickly and her heart sank as a man wearing a brown delivery company uniform stood on the other side holding a large envelope in one hand and an electronic signing pad in the other.
“Jessica Dark?” he said looking at her from behind small round eyeglasses.
“That’s me.”
“Sign here” the man said thrusting the pad at her.
She took the pen and scribbled her signature and yanked the envelope from his hand “what is this?”
“Dunno, it came in yesterday” the man said nonchalantly and then he turned and left the apartment.
Jessica ripped the envelope apart to get to the contents inside. There was a small cellular phone sized device inside. It contained no buttons only a smooth flat screen. She turned it over in her hand trying to figure out what it was and how to activate when the device chimed.
{Fingerprints recognized….beginning transmission in thirty seconds…} came an electronic voice.
“What in the devil” she wondered and then a holographic image was projected from the device.
John and Alicia Dark stood in an unfamiliar room dressed in what at first glance reminded Jessica of Halloween costumes. Then they smiled towards her and removed their bird themed masks.
“Hello Jessica” her father said “if you are seeing this then something has happened. Your mother and I haven’t been totally honest with you all these years. We have led a double life. The vigilantes you hear about on the news, this Shadow Hawk and Raptor are none other than us.”
“It is true daughter dearest” her mother cut in “these suits should lend prove to our claims. We have tried to protect you from this knowledge all these years. But recently we’ve been called back into action. A Russian crime boss that we thought long gone has resurfaced. Our vacation to France is nothing more than a ruse.”
“You may be in danger” John Dark continued “we don’t have time to explain now but I do have important information to pass on. “Go to the National Bank, we have a safe deposit box there, # 456. The access phrase is Darkhawks. It will contain more information. Take care of yourself”
“We love you” Alicia ended the message.
Tears ran down Jessica’s face as she stared at the small projection device. Her parents had kept secrets from her. Now she didn’t know what to believe anymore. Her entire childhood was nothing more than a lie. But it seemed as if her parents were in danger and that she might be as well. Pocketing the small device she grabbed the keys from the bowl beside the front door and her helmet from the coat rack.
Jumping on her motorcycle she revved the engine and the bike shot down the street towards the bank. Jessica found herself putting down the kickstand just as the doors were being unlocked. She walked through the doors with a purpose and strode up to the counter.
“Can I help you?” the clerk said with a beaming smile.
“I need to access a security deposit box.”
“What’s the number?”
“456” Jessica said hesitantly.
The clerk raised her eyebrow in recognition of the number and excused herself for a moment. She returned a few minutes later carrying a small device not unlike the one Jessica now had in her pocket. She placed it on the counter and pushed a button which turned it on.
“Speak the phrase” she urged Jessica gently.
“Darkhawks” Jessica managed to say.
{Voice confirmed, access granted}
The device opened up like some kind of puzzle box revealing a small key inside. Jessica reached in and picked up the key. The clerk nodded in satisfaction and motioned for her to follow. The nice elderly woman led her down a long corridor to a room filled with rows of filing cabinets. She motioned to the drawer labeled 456.
Jessica placed the key in the lock and turned it. The drawer slid open to reveal a small metal box with a combination lock. She took it out and looked over to the clerk for answers. The woman shook her head.
“If you do not know the combination then the box cannot be opened. You will need a six digit number. It would have to be something really special in order to make it easier to remember” and with that the clerk left her alone in the room.
Jessica watched her go and then looked back at the small box. What six digit number should she use? There were endless possibilities. She started off simple. 123456, nothing happened. 654321, still nothing. Her parents were smarter than that. It wouldn’t be so simple.
“Maybe” she had an idea and tried their anniversary, dd/mm/yy, but it didn’t give “not the right date but this seems only logical.”
As she thought about it some more she tried each of their birthdays as well. But neither one was right. She had to think harder. What date is special to them? Then she had it and put in her own birthday. The safety deposit box lid opened with a small creak. She shed another tear at the thought of her parents love for her.
Then she looked inside the box only to find yet another small device much like the other two. What in the world were her parents trying to protect? She lifted it up and stared at it for several seconds before a flash of light nearly blinded her.
{Retinal scan complete, I.D. confirmed} the device spoke in the now familiar electronic voice.
On the flat screen an image appeared. It was a map of the city. It was a GPS image. There was a flashing red dot near the center of Liberty Park as if a beacon calling out to her. She pocketed this device quickly and put the box back in the filing cabinet before locking it once more. Then she returned the key to the counter and headed back out to her bike.
It took Jessica nearly twelve minutes to reach the location on the GPS device. It was a tall abandoned clock tower. Why would her parents want her to come here? What was so important about this place? These questions and others flooded her mind. She walked around the tower looking it up and down until she found a newly placed steel door nearly hidden on the backside. Next to it was a small indention. The grove was the size of the small devices she had acquired. Not knowing which one to try she put the GPS device in the slot.
After three seconds a green light activated above the indention. That’s when Jessica noticed there were two more lights that remained dim. So she placed the device which held the cabinet key in the slot next and another light came on. Finally she placed the projection device in the slot and the last light activated causing the steel door to slide open. Inside lights along the floor lit up as she approached them lighting her way.
The path led straight to an elevator which opened on her approach. Inside she looked at the number pad and saw this tower had four stops. At first she was unsure of which one to choose but then she noticed the top floor at an engraving of a bird next to the button instead of a number. Pressing this button she waited as the elevator lifted her through the tower.
It came to a sudden stop and opened. She stood still for a moment as the scene before her unfolded. A massive supercomputer was set up against one wall and a clear vault containing costumes lined another. The third wall was lined with shelves filled with exotic looking weaponry and other gadgets such as the devices she used to get here.
“How did they afford all this?” Jessica asked herself as she looked around in awe.
She instinctively walked over to the computer first and studied the massive keyboard. Yet again the image of a bird guided her as she pressed a button marked with its image causing the computer to boot up.
Words scrolled across the screen before her [BIRDSEYE STARTUP SEQUENCE INITIATED…PASSWORD REQUIRED]
“Password? I wonder” she thought as she began typing in the word DARKHAWKS.
[PASSWORD ACCEPTED…1 MESSAGE WAITING…DO YOU WISH TO PLAY MESSAGE?]
Jessica quickly typed yes and pressed the enter key. The computer opened an audio player and the message buffered for a moment before starting. The message was three minutes long and in her father’s voice. It explained that the man responsible for murdering her grandfather was a Russian crime boss and that he had escaped them before she was born. His whereabouts had been discovered…Moscow. Her parents had flown into Paris and then from there flew into Russia under assumed identities in order to track this man down.
“Jessica, if you are receiving this message something went wrong. Under no circumstances should you come looking for us. Just remember we love you very much and could not be prouder of you. There is an armored uniform waiting for you in the vault so that you may take over our role as the protector of Saint Katherine’s Bay. Please do this for us and honor our memory.”
Tears streaming down her cheeks Jessica walked over to the vault and peered inside. Several Shadow Hawk and Raptor uniforms hung side by side. A little bit to the left was a newer, more armored suit which could only be the one meant for her. There was no handle on the vault door. Only the imprint of a hand, she places her own palm down and the door slid open.
Stepping into the vault she went straight to her suit. It was as if her parents knew that someday they wouldn’t be around anymore. There was nothing for her to do for now but to try it on...
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cool!
Duo attack. Lolz
