Olympus

Chapter 34

Megan had thought that she knew what a red alert looked like in Olympus, but she was wrong.

By the time she, Arthur, and Jay stepped out of the conference room, the entire building was in utter chaos. Alarms blared from everywhere, people running helter-skelter in no particular direction. The whole atmosphere was just in a state of disarray.

What the hell is going on here? Megan wondered. Is it possible that Item 13 isn't the only imminent threat the world is facing?

Arthur tapped on her shoulder just then, snapping her back to concentration. "We have to move," he said and she followed him with Jay in tow as he weaved his way expertly through the chaos to the director's office.

The office had the same chaotic air as the rest of the building, but in a more controlled manner. Dennis stood agitated in front of the giant monitor-map which was red throughout with Kei fidgeting uncontrollably beside him. Adolf took his stand in front of the computer-desk, typing away on the virtual keyboard presumably in an effort to help the situation, which obviously wasn't yielding the expected result.

"Any updates, Director?" Arthur said and Dennis turned to face him.

"Nothing good as of yet," he replied. "While we've been able to identify that Item 13 is online, we can't pinpoint its exact location."

"I don't get," Megan chimed in just then, "how were you able to identify it at all?"

Dennis seemed to remember that she was still fairly new to the operation so he calmed himself down to explain. "You see, Miss Months, every item in Olympus's storage has been tagged with a Doomsday beacon, which as the name implies, is only activated when said item is activated in a such a manner as to be classified as a doomsday.

"Now, in this case, the computer has received the signal from the beacon on Item 13, but the origin keeps changing and the AI can't keep up." He pointed her to the monitor-map to see that the red she was seeing were actually tiny dots appearing and disappearing so fast in all places that they literally coloured the display.

This can't be good in the slightest, Megan thought and a worry crease appeared on her forehead.

Thing is, if the beacon was activated, then Item 13 was ready for use somewhere in the world at that moment, but without Olympus pinpointing it in time to react and stop it, they could be looking at a very catastrophic ending to the whole mission.

But wait a second, something suddenly occurred to her. "Director, could this be a sabotage?" she asked.

"What?" He made a confused face.

"I mean, could it be that the group knows about the Doomsday beacon and they're using it to delay Olympus while they carry out their real plan?"

Dennis thought for a second, and then he closed his eyes as he sighed. "It can't be," he groaned.

"What are you talking about?" Arthur stepped into the conversation, looking from Megan to Dennis and back with a confused expression.

Megan looked to Dennis. It's time, Director, she made her face tell him.

"Alright, Miss Months." He waved her go ahead.

"The truth, Mr. Dean, is that we have reason to believe that the group behind all of this chaos- the Nameless, they call themselves- has a mole inside Olympus; and not just here but in other organisations too like Ricardo DiSanto's Os Buscadores, and his friend Samuel Jordan's weapon smuggling ring.

"With these moles, they orchestrated the theft of Item 13, attempted to kill Ricardo and Sammy, and sabotaged every one of our efforts to retrieve the weapon."

Now, Arthur groaned. "But it can't be, Miss Months. The UN's covert affairs department has always been very careful in recruiting the operatives we use, especially for this division."

"And yet, here we are." She pointed him to look at the monitor-map which every second of another location meant that the Nameless were closer to their goal.

"So, what do you propose we do?" he asked.

"The only way to get out of a rigged situation is to utilise an element that doesn't just have a full knowledge of the situation at hand but also the skills to create a new, more advantageous situation; and we have such an element at our disposal right now." She smiled. "Ricardo DiSanto."

Ricardo was washing his face in front of a mirror when Megan came in through the sliding door behind him. She stopped, expecting him to stop and turn around, but he didn't.

So, what do you do now, Meg? She asked herself.

Thing is, on her way down to the sublevel holding cell, Megan had thought up quite a number of things she would say to Ricardo when she arrived. She had prepared a fine speech on why the world needed his help, and another on what sort of professional compromise Olympus and Os Buscadores could reach should he ask. She even had a funny scenario in her head on how she would go about it should he challenge her to another dance-off to get his help.

However, looking at him then, all those things faded away, and all her mind could focus on was the look in his eyes after she had revealed her most terrible secret to him.

You don't have to care what he thinks about you, Meg, her mind said to her. You're a strong, confident, independent woman who needs no approval; and yes, you made some mistakes before, but you regret them and are working on making amends. Whoever can't accept that can go fly a kite.

But Megan cared deeply about what Ricardo thought of her; and her strength, confidence, and independence could do nothing to change that.

God, what am I going to do? She cried inside. I can't continue like this.

Just then, he turned to face her, the expression on his face neutral. "You have something for me, Miss Months?" he asked.

"Please don't be like that, Ricardo," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "I know that you're disappointed in me and what I've done, but please don't be so mad-"

"Wait, you think that I'm angry because of what you did as a child?" He looked surprised now.

"You're not?" Her expression turned confused.

"Of course not. I'm just frustrated that you never seem to be able to trust me with anything despite how much I tried. You would rather trust Olympus than me."

Megan didn't know when she began to smile and she moved forward with more confidence. "No, I hadn't told anyone my secret before I told you and the kids," she said and held his hands to show her sincerity, "I swear it."

Ricardo smiled, his face much lighter now. "So, do you trust me, Miss Months?" he asked.

"I do, Mr. DiSanto," she replied, and this time she put all of herself behind it. "I really do."

"Good," he made a cocky face and started for the door, "now let's go solve that problem I know your employer has."