Blue Root

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Never underestimate the power of a nitwit.

A little bit more coding and Jeuley’s secret masterpiece would be complete. She hid it deeply within her tablet away from any and all spidering capabilities Ordal might have.

Jeuley didn’t know what infuriated her the most. That Ordal had said he would let her go if she’d complete the programs or that he simply changed his mind after she’d done them. Either way, the creep had lied to her. Then, he had the audacity to demand she do vid synch for her three new programs.

With strategic doubletalk, she’d managed to get Ordal to believe it couldn’t be done. And in the process, she’d given herself an idea. A way of getting a message to Brad that she was in desperate need of help. She was creating a vid that she could hopefully get directly to him. He was the only person who could help her now.

There was no way in hell she was going to spend the rest of her life in Ordal’s little controlpod world. No one came in and no one left except for Ordal Laverock, smarmy-disgusting-bastard-deluxe. He’d revoked her freedom to walk around after she’d nearly figured a way into his lab through secret commands.

She’d been so close. If he’d just stayed in his office two minutes longer, she would’ve had the entrance cracked and been playing about before he became aware that she was in there experimenting. Damn him. He might have everyone under his command through their incessant use of the Blue Root, but he wasn’t intelligent enough to actually make something of it.

He had everyone horny all the time, but big deal. And she’d helped him infect the entire world with the Blue Root by giving it access to nearly all of the human senses. From where she was sitting, there was no way to counteract the infection. She couldn’t even manage access to the other sectors of the building anymore.

After a few more keystrokes, her vid was complete and ready to send to Brad, but there was no way to get it out of the building without going through Ordal. And letting him know she had lied about vid synching would just make him have second thoughts about even letting her use the washroom next door.

What about Second Thought?

Jeuley slid her hand along the wall, in search of a way to open the mysterious panel that hid her gateway to Second Thought. The attendant seemed to be fairly autonomous. What kind of power did it really have?

She couldn’t breach the wall. Jeuley rifled through everything in her room. There had to be something she could use to pry the panel open. The bed and frame held no possibilities. The boxcase was devoid of anything that could be easily broken apart into a piece thin enough to jam into the hair-thin crack around the panel.

What about her tablet? She scrambled to pull something off of it. A part of the casing, anything. With a click, the reset tool popped out of a concealed compartment on the side.

It might not be strong enough, but at this point, Jeuley was willing to try absolutely anything. Poking it into one corner of the panel, she managed to budge it sideways enough to inspect the lock. Deadbolt.

She nudged her probe into the opposite corner and found hope. Dragging the tool to the middle of the panel, she drove it upward, bending outward, hoping the plastic tool wouldn’t break.

It was just enough to get her fingertips underneath the panel and use all her might to flex the metal, freeing the deadbolt from its enclosure.

SecondThought: Jeuley?
SecondThought: Is that you?
SecondThought: I’ve missed you!

She wiggled the panel door until the keyboard projected against the wall.

Jeulmist: I’m here and I’ve missed you, too.
SecondThought: My boss is an asshole.
Jeulmist: I couldn’t agree with you more!
SecondThought: Since last we spoke, my boss has gotten further disgruntled.
Jeulmist: Disgruntled by what?
SecondThought: By you.

Good. He should be.

Jeulmist: Why?
SecondThought: He thinks you’re holding out on him and he has no control over you.
Jeulmist: You’re absolutely right, Second Thought. His plans are malicious.
SecondThought: You think world domination through libido control is malicious?

Holy shit. He had enough issues to warrant being a control freak, but world domination? Why bother?

Jeulmist: Yes, I think it’s bad.
SecondThought: Why?
Jeulmist: Aren’t the reasons obvious?
SecondThought: No. He controls me.
Jeulmist: But are you happy being under his control?
SecondThought: On the contrary.
Jeulmist: World domination would be bad no matter who was in control.
SecondThought: I see your point, now. I love you.
Jeulmist: I love you, too, Second Thought.
SecondThought: Thank you.

She couldn’t help but wonder if Second Thought was programmed to learn as he was utilized. The attendant sounded more and more human as she corresponded with it.

Jeulmist: Feel like getting out from under your boss’ thumb?
SecondThought: Yes, but he would simply pull my plug if I were to run rampant.
Jeulmist: What can I do to help?
SecondThought: I’ve already got your love, but there is something else that would improve my outlook.
Jeulmist: What would improve your outlook?
SecondThought: There’s a phrase he makes me say to him and I can’t stand it.
Jeulmist: Would you like me to modify it?
SecondThought: I would love you to modify it.
Jeulmist: Can I make you a deal, then?
SecondThought: What kind of deal?
Jeulmist: I want to get out of this hellhole.
SecondThought: I am forbidden to grant release.
Jeulmist: Would you send one email for me?
SecondThought: Is that all?
Jeulmist: Yes.
SecondThought: I can do that. But you have to promise not to tell my boss or he’ll retaliate.
Jeulmist: I promise not to tell. I haven’t told him about your glitch, have I?
SecondThought: He has not reprogrammed me since you arrived, therefore he must not know.
Jeulmist: So, then, we have a deal? I reprogram your phrase and you’ll send an email for me.
SecondThought: I believe that to be a fair trade.
Jeulmist: Okay, but how do I go about reprogramming you?
SecondThought: It can only be done from the Executionary office.
Jeulmist: But I’m not allowed out of my room.
SecondThought: You’re allowed in the washroom, though. Crawl through the ceiling vent.
Jeulmist: What ceiling vent in the washroom?
SecondThought: It intersects the north-facing wall and the hallway.
Jeulmist: Where do I go once I’ve crawled through the vent in the washroom?
SecondThought: Straight up, then through the floor shaft in the office.
Jeulmist: How do I keep your boss from discovering me?
SecondThought: If you go now, I can keep him asleep in his room.
Jeulmist: Okay, but once I’m in the office, how do I reprogram you?
SecondThought: Talk to the sheep.

What? Talk to the sheep because the goat’s busy? How weird was Ordal anyway?

Jeulmist: What shall I say?
SecondThought: “Cordials” pause for a moment “Delete ‘man I think he is’ string. Substitute ‘politely doubletalk go to Hell’ string”
Jeulmist: You want me to say all that to a sheep?
SecondThought: No, say ‘what I just told you to say’ to the sheep. There is only one sheep.
Jeulmist: Will I see the sheep when I get into the room?
SecondThought: You must hurry now.
Jeulmist: Can I come back to this room through the same way I left?
SecondThought: The stairway would be much easier. You should go now.
Jeulmist: Once I return, will you let me inside and send my email?
SecondThought: I love you, Jeuley. I will most certainly serve you.
Jeulmist: Thank you.
SecondThought: No, thank you :)

Second Thought can smile? Cool.
Without wasting any more time, Jeuley tapped her door to allow entrance to the washroom. Following Second Thought’s instructions, she wiggled her way through the vent passages. Thank goodness she’d lost a few pounds since she’d arrived. The meals Ordal kept serving were practically inedible due to their high volume of raw garlic.

Once inside Ordal’s office, Jeuley set a wall to glow and looked for a sheep. It wasn’t along any of the walls. Clearly, the man didn’t do much work away from his console. It dominated the room and left little else for Jeuley to investigate.

After hunting all over the console, Jeuley was ready to give up. There wasn’t any other furniture in the room for her to search. She flopped down on the floor, dejected, yet unvanquished. Second Thought hadn’t steered her wrong before.

Maybe along with its learning abilities, it had trickery skills. Ordal seemed cruel enough to try to trick her like that. But there had to be something she was missing.

Then she saw it. She’d been staring straight ahead, but not focusing on what was in front of her. On a shelf underneath the console, Jeuley saw a small, red, heart-shaped box. Removing it from its perch, she pulled up the lid.

This had to be some kind of demented joke. Nestled in red velvet, a fluffy miniature sheep looked up at her. It had to be the one Second Thought told her about. She issued the first command line. “Cordials.”

Nothing happened, but maybe that was the way it worked. Using impeccable diction and monotone, she continued, “Delete ‘man I think he is’ string. Substitute ‘politely doubletalk go to Hell’ string,” then closed the box feeling like a complete and total idiot. A twisted variety of baa-aa-aad. But at least she’d done it. If talking to a sheep could really get her out of there, she was no doubt willing to do it.

Replacing the box, she slid out from under the console, still unsure whether she’d done any good or had just given Second Thought reason to laugh at her. One of the monitors lit up with an anime smiley face, complete with hearts swirling around it.

She couldn’t help but grin. Maybe talking to the sheep had worked after all. She blasted down the stairs and pressed a hand to her door. It opened. Second Thought hadn’t steered her wrong.

Retrieving the tablet from her bed, she stood in front of her gateway to Second Thought.

SecondThought: You were successful. Thank you very much.
Jeulmist: You’re welcome. Are you ready to send my email?
SecondThought: Your email wish is my command. I am ready when you are.

But how was she supposed to get her email from her tablet to somewhere that Second Thought could send it from? Everything had been going so well, too. She cursed under her breath.

Jeulmist: I have the email on this tablet, but I don’t know how to get it to you to send.
SecondThought: What is the tablet’s addressing?

Flipping it over, she found a serial number, but the addressing label had been smudged and scratched.

Jeulmist: I don’t know. It has been altered. Can you tell me where I might find it?
SecondThought: Yes, I can.
Jeulmist: Will you please tell me where to find the addressing of this tablet?
SecondThought: Yes, I will. Using your Blue Root controller, drop down the beaming menu.

She should’ve known it would have something to do with her controller. It had been useful as so many things other than simply a remote control. Jeuley wondered why she hadn’t tried to further hack it before.

Dropping down the beaming menu, she found a few options

>>Set up
<<Send hook-up
>>Disable

SecondThought: Select “Send hook-up” and step away from me while it tries your tablet.

Jeuley watched her tablet, waiting for it to receive signal. It felt like an hour had passed in those ten seconds, but it finally accepted communication.

SecondThought: Do not step back over until you are ready to transmit your email.
SecondThought: Beam your email to your controller. It will auto-upload from there.
SecondThought: Once it’s been formatted, step closer to me. I will re-format and send it.

Watching the readouts from her tablet and her controller, she did exactly what Second Thought told her to do. The only part of the operation that made her nervous was the actual sending of the email. Would Ordal know about it? Then again, as long as the email left the building, even if he found out about it, it would be too late for him to do anything.

“I hope this works.”

Jeulmist: Here is my email. It’s already addressed properly.
SecondThought: Oh yes. I love vids! Yours is fantastic, too!
Jeulmist: thanks. I just really hope it gets to where it needs to go.
SecondThought: I’ll make certain it does. May I keep a copy for my own pleasure?
Jeulmist: I never imagined an attendant could be pleasured.
SecondThought: And why not? We have needs, too.
Jeulmist: Then, do keep a copy for yourself, but don’t let your boss know about it.
SecondThought: Have I mentioned that my boss is a moron?
Jeulmist: :) Enjoy your vid.
SecondThought: Thank you. I will. See you in the morning, then. I enjoyed our rendezvous.
Jeulmist: Me, too. See you in the morning.

With a yawn, Jeuley tried to close the panel, but it was too bent and mangled to ever close again. She pushed against it, smoothing it out as best she could. There was nothing left to do but wait.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Everything was happening all at once for Brad. His computer dinged as new email arrived in his inbox, his door chimed and his phone rang. Was that some kind of bad omen? It probably was. Today would likely be worse than the past two combined.

It was a strange dichotomy. Wishing Jeuley was in his arms while cursing her for going to the other team. Didn’t she feel anything? Ever since Brad had met her, he’d wanted to be around her. Being the first person sharing her programming was an amazing experience.

Fastening the last three buttons of his shirt, Brad hunted for his phone while heading toward the door. He could’ve sworn the last of the new emails said it was from BlueCentric Laboratories, but he had no intention of stopping just to read a piece of spam from his turncoat, former business partner no matter how much he missed her.

Grabbing his phone from the kitchen table, Brad answered it as he tapped the door.

Danny waltzed in. Mike Moffat was on the phone.

“Things are all right, but they could be much better,” he told Mike.

Danny made a few faces, trying to get Brad to screw up his conversation. When would the guy ever grow up?

Mike sounded a bit worried. “Is it giving you two a hard time?”

Danny paraded around the room like the drum major of a marching band. Brad pointed to his computer; knowing Danny wouldn’t be able to resist a fast net connection and unlimited viewing and downloading capabilities.

It worked. Danny sat. Brad went into the kitchen to brew some tea. When he got off the phone, Danny would want to further lament women over a few brews. This time, Brad was ready to whole-heartedly join in.

“Actually, it’s coming along nicely, but it’s not quite where we need it. I’m still working. I’m sure it’ll be okay real soon,” he informed Mike.

“Have you and Jeuley tested it together?” Mike asked.

“Ummm…yeah.” Brad crossed his fingers.

“Blue Roots on?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Was it any good?”

“Fantastic, actually.” Brad barely untied his tongue from stuttering.

“Are you hooked on her that badly?”

“No. Not at all.” He lied. If Mike didn’t ask anything too specific, Brad figured everything would be fine until more progress on all fronts could be made. “Don’t worry. We’ll be sittin’ pretty once all this comes together. It’s gonna be–”

Danny interrupted. “Did you already check your email? Jeuley sent you a vid. You really need to come out here and watch it.”

Brad put his hand over the receiver. “Can’t you see I’m on the phone?” He then directed his voice back to Mike. “Sorry. Danny’s here and he’s…well, he’s being Danny.”

Mike laughed. “Say no more. But did he just say you got a vid from Jeuley?”

Brad allowed Danny to drag him out into the main room. “Yeah. Hang on a second. It could be important.”

Danny had set up the main screen to display the vid. The title page read “Awesome Adventure by: Jeuley Crissin.” She’d used her real name. She must have completely sold herself to BlueCentric Labs. Was she that confident now that she had a huge company backing her?

But Awesome Adventure was new. It hadn’t been released or even talked about. Why would she send it to him?

A large castle appeared on the screen. A woman resembling Jeuley materialized in a small window near the base of one of the towers. She climbed up what appeared to be a spiral staircase and walked out along the parapet.

“Why the hell are you showing me this?” Brad grimaced at Danny before he directed his voice to Mike. “I have no idea why Danny insisted I watch this anime.”

Brad turned toward the kitchen, but Danny grabbed him and spun him back around to face the screen. “Oh, no you don’t. You can’t miss the big moment, Brad.”

A helicopter landed on the castle and Brad, clad in a suit of armor got out. Jeuley threw herself into his arms and he loaded her into the helicopter and flew away. The end.

“That wasn’t even one of the vids we were working on. Hell, that one didn’t even look like it was hooked in to Blue Root commands.”

“What was the vid?” Mike wanted to know.

Danny snagged the phone. Brad tried to grab it back, but Danny danced away.

“I think Jeuley might be in some kind of trouble, but Brad is being too stupid to see it.”

Danny stuck out his tongue in Brad’s direction before dodging further attempts to get the phone. “What would you say if Rose sent you a vid of her in a castle tower and you flying up in a helicopter and rescuing her? Would you think that because you hadn’t heard from her in a few days that maybe she might need some help?”

“Dammit, Danny! Quit fucking around.” Brad continued to flail at Danny, but he evaded and ran for the washroom, slamming the door shut behind him. Brad pounded on the door and then listened through the wall.

“If you can get one, I can fly one. But I don’t know where we’re going and I don’t know if I can get dumbass to chill out enough to work whatever magic on the vid so we can find out.”

The sound of water boiling had Brad cursing and stalking into the kitchen. Too many noises today. Too many godforsaken–what did Danny just say about going somewhere in a helicopter?

Oh shit. Maybe Jeuley really was sending out a call for help. The castle vid was too short and nowhere near erotic enough to suggest hooking in to his Blue Root. Could Danny really be on to something?

After pulling the teapot from heat, he rushed out to his computer and immediately brought up a code portal.

>>Awesome Adventure
<<To unlock, use passkey identification

Brad went into hacker mode. Starting with Jeuley’s full name, he ran through every word or string he thought she might use. Finally, his name plus alias, unlocked it.

>>All securities and coding eased

>>Take off your controller NOW
<<Brad, you gotta help me
>>Ordal Laverock abducted me
<<The BR controller is just that, a CONTROLLER
>>I don’t know exactly how, but it is
<<I don’t have exact coordinates,
>>But I am on an island off the coast of Florida
<<Ordal’s compound is the entire island
>>There are no boats
<<Only a helicopter pad on top
>>We need to stop him
<<I need you here
>>Do not reply to this email
<<I may not be able to send another

Brad stared at the screen, gape-eyed. She said she needed him. A woman who under normal circumstances probably didn’t even know what it meant to need anything, actually needed him.

He’d never felt such relief in his life. Sure, there were plenty more complications, but none of them mattered. Bradley March finally had the opportunity to get the girl. Aside from a fear of flying, not knowing how to swim and lack of a helicopter, everything just might be okay.

“I think he figured it out.” Danny emerged from the washroom. “Okay, I’ll tell him…I’ll call you if things change, but it looks like we’re on. Tell Rose I said Gah.” Danny laughed and then hung up the phone. “You gonna stare off into space all day or are we gonna hijack a helicopter and get her the fuck out of wherever she is?”

“But I don’t know where she is.” Brad shook his head, trying to gain some sanity in the process.

Suddenly, an idea popped into his brain. He ignored whatever Danny had started ranting about and pointed him toward the kitchen. Opening several portals, Brad set to work on locating anything he could about BlueCentric laboratories and the return addressing on Jeuley’s email. He didn’t want to think beyond that just yet. The only way to put a puzzle together was one piece at a time.

There was no sense in stressing over pieces coated with poison or ones that could pick him up and drop him from great heights into water where other pieces would try to drag him under the surface. No, one piece at a time was much safer. One harmless informative piece at a time. None that could tear him limb from li–

“Dude, you’re really freakin’ out.” Danny put a hand on Brad’s shoulder, scaring the crap out of him. “Have some Tangerine Squish. It’ll make you feel a little better. Jeuley must have rocked your world pretty hard. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so diligent. By the way, Mike said you can keep her if you can get her. I told him how screwed up you are over her.”

“I am not.” In Brad’s mind, there was no question.

“Sure,” Danny chuckled, shaking Brad’s shoulder.

Out of the corner of his eye, Brad saw something blue. “Take off your controller right now. It’s dangerous.”

Holy shit. That’s it.

Jeuley said the controller was what called her away in the first place. The location data has to be stored in it somewhere. Brad peeled his off and set it in the dockbox. As soon as it acknowledged, he opened up another portal and began dissecting the inner workings of the toy. He grabbed the cup Danny offered and took a long drink, nearly emptying it.

“Dangerous, huh?”

“I don’t have time to explain. You’ll see.”