Echoes of the Algorithm

The Unknown

The dark purple smoke poured out of the shattered windows high above them. Maeson grabbed Ava by the hand and pulled her into the crowded street. The evening sky was already turning a toxic shade of violent red. People ran in all directions. Cars crashed into each other as drivers panicked. The low hum of the dark magic vibrated through the concrete city sidewalks.

Ava stumbled over her own feet. She looked back at the massive glass building of Carter Industries. Tears streamed down her pale face. My father is in there, she cried out. Her voice was lost in the loud sirens blaring across the city.

Maeson stopped and turned to face her. He held both of her shoulders firmly. He is gone, Ava. I am sorry, but we cannot help him now. The dark energy took him. If we stay here, it will take us too. We need to move away right now.

Ava took a shaking breath and nodded. She wiped the wet tears from her cheeks. Where are we going? she asked.

We are going to the city hospital, Maeson said. I need to get my sister. The dark magic is spreading fast through the power grids. If the hospital loses backup power, her life support machines will shut off. She will die in minutes.

They pushed their way through the screaming crowds. They had to run the whole distance. Maeson kept a tight grip on his heavy black tool bag. His phone buzzed endlessly in his pocket. His private artificial intelligence was sending him urgent warnings. The ancient code was infecting the global network. It was shutting down the major systems one by one.

They reached the main hospital twenty minutes later. The large glass sliding doors were stuck open. The bright lights inside the lobby flickered violently. Nurses and busy doctors yelled instructions to each other. Panic filled the sterile white halls.

Maeson did not wait for anyone to help him. He knew exactly where he needed to go. He led Ava toward the emergency stairwell. They climbed up four flights of stairs. Maeson felt the heavy burn in his lungs. Ava kept right behind him. She was fast.

When they opened the door to the fourth floor, the lights went out. The whole floor fell into deep darkness. A few seconds later, the dim red emergency lights flickered on. The steady beeping of heart monitors turned into flat tones of warning.

No, Maeson whispered. He dropped to his knees right in the middle of the hallway. He unzipped his black bag and pulled out his laptop. He opened the screen and typed furiously in the dim red light.

What are you doing? Ava asked. She looked around the dark hallway.

I am overriding the hospital server, Maeson answered. His fingers flew across the dark keys. The backup generators are failing because the dark magic is infecting the central grid. I am using my system to block the infection and force the generators back on for this specific floor.

You can do that from the floor? Ava asked softly.

Maeson did not look up. I can do anything with a keyboard, he said.

He hit the final button. A loud mechanical groan echoed through the walls. A second later, the bright white overhead lights snapped back on. The heart monitors in the nearby rooms resumed their steady beeping rhythm.

Ava let out a massive sigh of relief. You did it, she said.

Maeson packed his laptop back into his bag and stood up fast. We do not have much time. The dark energy will break my firewall soon. We have to grab her and leave.

He ran down the bright hallway. He counted the room numbers out loud. Four twelve. Four fourteen. Four sixteen. He stopped in front of a closed wooden door. Room four eighteen. This was it. He pushed the heavy door open and rushed inside.

Ava followed close behind him. The room was small and cold. A large medical bed sat in the center. Countless clear tubes hung from tall metal poles. A heart monitor beeped slowly on the wall.

But the bed was empty.

The white sheets were pulled back. The pillows were gone. Maeson froze in his tracks. He stared at the empty mattress. His heart slammed against his ribs. He felt a cold sweat form on his neck. Where is she? he whispered to the empty room.

Well, this is a very interesting situation, a deep voice said from the dark corner of the room.

Maeson and Ava both quickly spun around. A tall man stepped out of the shadows. He wore a sharp black suit. He had a silver pin shaped like a hawk on his collar. He held a small phone in his right hand. The screen showed a live video feed of Maeson working in the basement server room earlier that day.

The dangerous man smiled a very cold smile. He looked right at Ava. Hello, Miss Carter. Your father left us strict instructions before the accident.

The tall mercenary slowly raised his strong left hand. He held a very heavy black gun. He pointed it directly at Maeson. You are the hacker we have been hunting, the man said. And if you want to see your sick little sister alive again, you will do exactly what I say now.