System Reboot (Sequel to System Failure)

Chapter 9

Alesa's POV
Ty and I stared at the contraption Jin had unveiled with utter and complete confusion. And we weren't the only ones. Mitch, Jerome, Ian, and Quentin were all doing the same, as were Ross and Barney who had joined us after their shift. Jin was looking at us expectantly, as if waiting for our praise of his genius for coming up with this. Jason seemed to understand exactly what this... thing, was.

"So remind me again what it does?" Ty asked after a long, long silence.

Jin gave a small sigh as if this was what he had expected deep down. "It's a scanning device. Kind of like those metal detectors they wave over you at airports, except this will scan Adam's code and give me a synopsis of it."

Ian glanced out of the windows of the Glitch base, which gave us a good view of the glow of dusk reflecting off the dozens of skyscrapers. "I know it's been a few hours since we locked him in the room, but he was pretty mad at us. I highly doubt he'll happily stand still long enough for us to scan him."

"Then you're gonna have to hold him down."

"This is the real reason why you called us, it's it?" Ross asked, giving us all a raised eyebrow and a half-grin.

"Sure, you can hold the Thingy-Mibob," Mitch said, scooping up Jin's contraption and holding it out for him. "We'll hold down our friend."

Ross took a step back, hands up. "Barney's doing it, not me."

"Whys me?!"

I rolled my eyes. "Do you want me to do it?"

Mitch instantly swivelled around so that he was holding out the Thingy-Mibob to me. "Girlfriends first."

I rolled my eyes again and took the contraption. No witty comeback sprang to mind for me to shoot back to him, which was a real shame because this was the perfect opportunity for it.

"How long will it take to scan him Jin?" Ty asked.

"Few seconds, hopefully," Jin said. "Your code - well, you guys specifically, most people don't have code - but it's like your DNA: it's the same no matter where it is in your body. So even if my doodad only picks up a small amount, it'll be enough to figure out how to reverse whatever affect the virus thing has had on him."

"Alright, let's do this now before we realise how much of a stupid idea this is," Jerome said.

"Woah woah, let's not all go in at once," Quentin said as we started moving towards the locked room Adam was being kept in. "If anything, we'll spook him and cause him to attack."

"Oh, well if we're trying to not get him to attack, then I probably shouldn't go in," Mitch said, rubbing the back of his neck a little. "I did hit him pretty hard on the head after all."

"I reckon it should be Alesa, Ty and I," Jerome said. "The rest of you can stay out of sight around the door and if he starts attacking, we'll call out."

Barney made a face like he didn't enjoy what he was about to say next. "He is a virus though. He won't recognise Ty as his best friend, he'll just sees you're Glitches and attack."

"But he might recognise us," I said, remembering how Adam always hesitated to attack me. "Besides, Jerome's right, you guys can wait around the door. It's a good idea."

Barney shrugged. He and the others took up positions on either side of the heavy sealed door. I looked through the reinforced glass of the door. Adam was at the back wall, pacing back and forth, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides, like someone who was very, very nervous.

Or like someone who was extremely angry with their imprisonment and was thinking about attacking the people who had put them there.

One or the other.