Alt+Control Chapter 39

“So that’s what you meant when you said that you had already become one with Chronos.” I feel nauseous. A computer that has to live off of a human, like some parasite… The barrier between human and computer broken, and made into some unholy creature. I bow my head, and retch, but nothing comes out. Bile burns the back of my throat. When I stop feeling woozy, I look back up and see Lukas watching me with quiet amusement sparkling in his eyes.

“Come now, I’m not that frightening, am I?”

“How could you degrade yourself like this? Let this computer leach off of you?”

“Degrade me?” he asks, his voice dangerously low. “Chronos has not degraded me. In fact, it has made me so much more powerful. No one can ignore me now! I could take away someone’s life if I wished it to, and I could save someone from the brink of death. I am practically a god! All of this, its all a game to me, where I oversee everything. A game where everything follows my set of rules.”

Alt+Control Chapter 38

I straighten up, and nod my head to tell him to proceed. This may help me buy some time to stop Chronos, and get out of here.

“Marc and I go quite a way back. I first met him in grade 2, when I moved to the elementary school he was attending at the time. I was the first person to befriend him, and we became fast friends by the end of that year.”

“So what split you guys up? What made you…”

“Hate him? Well, even though we were as close as brothers, there was something that always created a rift between us. You see, his fellow students, the teachers, and the other student’s parents loved him… He was the perfect child. Meanwhile, I was always in the shadows even before he came. But when he arrived, I was probably pitched into an abyss where no one would ever see me. I was able to ignore it for some time, but by grade 4, I could see it wasn’t going to just stop.” His voice fades, and he lapses into another bout of staring off into space.

Alt+Control Chapter 37

“What do you want with Kaya?” asks Marc, and pulls me in closer. “Whatever you want with her, I’m not letting you have her.” He lets takes his hand off my mouth, so I’m able to talk.

“Marc, what’s going on?” The confusion and fear must’ve been evident in my voice, as he looks down at me with concerned eyes.

“I see you’ve kept this part of your life secret,” chortles Lukas. “Ah, savour that feeling Kaya. The feeling of being betrayed by someone you trusted.”

“Marc, tell me what’s going on right now. Seriously.” What’s happening? How could Marc and Lukas designed Chronos? And what the hell is wrong with Lukas?

Marc glances at me, then at Lukas, then at me again. “It’s…a long story.”

“That’s right. And I suppose we don’t have much time,” says Lukas. He snaps his fingers, and several androids step out all around us. I count 10 of them, and those are only the ones I can actually see. Shit.

Chapter 20 (N)

I've been stuck here for two hours! Where is KIM?! I couldn’t find the exit, and I’ve already been to seven dead ends. They’re probably getting impatient and think I chickened out.
Oh my God! My phone! I should call them!
I took out my phone. Low battery, what?! I charged it all night! Whatever, maybe it’s enough for me to make a call.
I dialed Kai’s number. Come on Kai!!
“WHERE ARE YOU?!” she shouted. I jumped.
“I can’t talk for long! I’m stuck in a factory. Kim left me here!! I don’t know the way out, and my battery is about to die!! HELP!”
“What factory is it?! What does it sell?”
“I only see boxes, I think they’re—“ The battery died. NO!! Now I’m stuck here. What are they going to do? What am I going to do?
What if Kim’s just pulling a prank on me because I refused to forgive Yang?
The glow came back. I never noticed when it was gone! Argh.
I’ll stop thinking about Yang. I have bigger problems! Like how the heck am I going to get out of here!
I felt faint after a while. I’ve never used any of my power for this long. I think I was losing energy.
I got a huge headache. I have to stop using this, or else I’ll black out. But I can’t see in the dark! Only Levana can do that! And maybe Kim…
I made the little ball vanish. I didn’t feel a lot better, but my headache went away.
Wait, this may have to do with what Kim was talking about. If I get rid of my fears, I can possibly see in the dark? It’s worth a try.
I imagined Barry killing Dan. I immediately screamed. I couldn’t stand seeing something like that!
This is going to be harder than I thought.
I’ll think of something I hate, and then destroy that! Maybe that will help!
What do I hate? When people are dishonest with me, and… what Yang did to me… Yang. Idiotic Yang. I hate Yang. No, I don’t. Yes, I do. No, I don’t. YES, I DO! NO, I DON’T!
I hate these inner conflicts! Do I hate him?
Forget about Yang! Don’t care about people who don’t care about you!
I’m missing the point. I need to get rid of my fears, not think about negative things.
Okay, I’ll try this again. I closed my eyes, and imagined Barry and Dan again.
I didn’t scream, but I started crying. That’s a bit of progress, and it lasted for longer.
The next time I felt heartache but didn’t cry. Then, I imagined it again, but I didn’t feel anything. Not even a bit of sadness. I felt kinda cruel. But I had to!
All this energy turned black and entered me. It hurt so badly, but I didn’t fight back. I needed dark energy. And all my energy is practically drained. And I need to get out of here!
“Hello there,” a voice echoed along the walls. I looked around. Of course I couldn’t see anything but whatever.
“Hello, who are you? Where are you? Do you have a light? Could you help me find the way out of here? I need to get out of here! Please help me!”
“I’m here, don’t you see me?”
“No, not really. It’s really dark in here!”
“If you figure out where I am, I promise I will lead you out of here,” the voice was sincere. But how much can I trust this voice of someone I don’t know? It sounded like a young man’s voice, like a teen. But it was sweet, and charming.
“Okay, keep on talking and I’ll try my best.”
“What do you want to talk about? I want to learn all about you.”Um… what? I’m not going to randomly tell a person the details of my life. But if I don’t tell him, he might get upset and leave…
“I wish I could tell you, but then I would be talking while I need to listen to you talk. So tell me about yourself, like a story or whatever,” I tried not to sound nervous, even though I was. Maybe this will fool him.
“I live with my mother and two brothers…” he started telling me all about him, but since his voice echoed along the walls it was hard. Maybe I should use some of that dark power… No, that will never work.
One try won’t do anything… I learned this spell from Levana. She would put all her energy into a ball and then blast it, but she usually faints after using it.
But it’s different; I have some of my light energy. Whatever, it’s worth a try.
I took a deep breath. I started putting all my dark energy into the ball. I couldn’t see it, but I felt it was growing. I finally felt that I put enough energy into it, so I blasted it. I heard a large bam!
The light! The light! I saw the light! I ran to the exit.
What happened to that guy anyway?
“I found the way out!! Thank you!” I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped.
“Wow, you’re even more beautiful in person,” he said. I turned around. There was the guy with the voice!
“Um, okay? Thank you. Well I have to go,” I said awkwardly.
“No, no please stay. I want to talk to you, Light,” He said in a sweet voice. HOW DOES EVERYONE KNOW MY NAME?!
“How did you know my name?”
“It does not matter how I learned of your name. What matters is that you’re safe, my darling.” This is getting really creepy…
“Uh, thanks? I really have to go! Thank you..uh what’s your name?”
“Sky, my name is Sky. Do you want me to take you where you’re going?” To be honest, I did want him to take me to my house, because I had no idea where I was.
“No thanks, could you just tell me where we are?”
“Where we are, where we are,” he smirked. “We’re in Cabana town.”
“Okay, thanks that’s not far from where I need to go.”
“I’ll take you if you want.”
“I’m fine!”
But he insisted for so long, and I didn’t want him to come…
Who is this guy anyway and what does he know about me?

--THE END—

Alt+Control Chapter 36

“It’s me.” He steps into the light, and it illuminates his face and his radiant smile. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a wider grin on Gerad’s face.

“Did you come all the way here to find me?”

“Yes. What happened to your face? It’s—it’s from the accident, isn’t it?” Gerad winces. I grab his hand and squeeze it tight. I can feel his hand trembling.

“Gerad, it isn’t your fault. I wasn’t paying attention, and it just happened. Don’t blame yourself.” Lukas’s gentle words make Gerad’s hand relax. “Who’s that hiding in the shadows?”

I wipe my face of any make-up I could so my face was recognizably young and normal. I step out. “My name is Kaya. I used to go to your school. I’m Gerad’s friend.”

“Your girlfriend, Gerad?” asks Lukas, and the left side of his face quirks up to match his permanent smirk. “She’s cute.”

Alt+Control Chapter 35

I manage to squirm myself out of Marc’s arms. I admit it was rather comfy, but I couldn’t stay like that all day. We have much more pressing matters at hand.

“Do you think it’s safe to go?” I ask Marc. “I believe that’s the right place.”

“What in the world was that?’ asks Gerad. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this.”

“It’s a technology,” explains Marc, “that the government has developed to keep out intruders. It uses a form of wave that plays with your mind. Most people experience the thing they fear the most. Many people were driven mad when the scientists tested out this device on them. We were lucky to only experience it for a short period of time.” He looks at me. “I could feel it from all the way out here.”

“But I didn’t feel anything!” exclaims Gerad. “Does that mean some people are more sensitive to it?”

“I suppose.”

Alt+Control Chapter 34

Which of course comes a lot sooner than we expect. We go through some more hallways, just impulsively deciding which way to go when we come across a crossroad. It appears we’re going in the right direction, as we come across a section accessible through only a card chip.

“So what now?” I ask Marc and Gerad. We can’t break down the door, as it looks like solid metal. I kick it, and my suspicions are confirmed as I feel no give, and my ears are met with a dull thud.

“Calm down, Kaya. Here, let’s try this,” Marc says, searching his suit’s inner pockets. He hands me a card.

“Where did you get this? And how do you know it’ll work?”

“I picked it out of one of the guard’s pockets. Thought we might’ve needed it.”

I smirk at him. “Sounds like you’ve broken in to places like these before. Do you have a criminal life you’ve been keeping secret from us?”

He winks. “Maybe…” He leans against the wall in obvious exhaustion.

Alt+Control Chapter 33

The two of them step inside, and the door slides shut. With a heart-stopping jolt, the elevators began to drop at an alarming speed. My stomach jumps and my eardrums pop as the elevator accelerates.

I’m about to press the emergency halt button because I think that the elevator’s broken when the elevator comes to a sudden stop. The door slides open again with a quiet ding to steel plated and barren hallway.

I stick out my cane again and step out of the hallway. There’s no one else in the hallway, and our footsteps echo along the metal. We turn the corner, and see a worker in a white uniform walking down the hall before us.

“Hey, you!” somebody barks, and I nearly jump out of my skin before I realize that it’s Marc. The worker turns around, and at the immediate sight of us, the worker stiffens.

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I'm doing an extremely blatant advertising of the blog of probably our biggest supporter G!
please check it out at http://woodysmoody.blogspot.ca/
his stories are really quite amazing (he's even awesome enough to make me the character Karla Simone) so go visit him!
I'm thinking of doing a joint novel with him someday... would you guys be interested?

and...that's all. have a good day!

-K

Alt+Control Chapter 32

At 17:30, I’m standing in front of what is 16 Grange Street. I was expecting a very discreet looking building, as it houses such a secret facility, but boy was I wrong. I don’t think there could’ve been a more conspicuous building.

The famous architect Darius Comber, according to the plaque, supposedly designed it out front, who is famous for showy buildings. 16 Grange Street was no exception.

The wall facing out onto Grange Street was entirely glass, and the inside was composed of several spiraling staircases, different floors and levels at strange angles, and brightly patterned walls and ceilings. The colours ranging from chartreuse to mahogany to indigo, and patterns from plaid to checkers to stripes all clashed against one another.

The outside of the building was composed of several irregular geometric solids, all built haphazardly on top of each other, jutting out to all sides. Each shape was made of a different material, such as what looks like plated steel to antique bricks.

It truly looks like someone just decided to build the biggest eyesore on the block.

updates on K's Novel

you may have noticed that I've been M.I.A for awhile (at least when it comes to my normal rate) so I apologize. I've been writing here and there, but nothing's been coming out that well.
so I'll give you, my precious readers, some plot updates to try to make up for my absence.

firstly, the main characters are finally going to break into the facility. I know, you're probably saying, "About time!" and I apologize. my style of writing is like Victorian serials, where I just write one section at a time without thinking about the next part.
so most likely, they'll use the "go in disguise and sneak in" technique, while probably still having to knock out some people to use them.... sounds typical of me, eh?
and I'll have an interesting and complex plot twist happening within the next few chapters, so stay tuned for that ;)
so that's it for now! please check in and read N's chapters while you wait.

-K

Chapter 19 (N)

“Your phone is ringing,” pointed out Kim. I took it out of my pocket. My eyes hurt from the brightness. Who would be calling me? Probably Kai.
“Yang is calling,” said the phone screen.
Yang? Why the heck is he calling?! Should I ignore it? But what if it’s something important? Darn it, there I go again. I sighed.
“What do you want?” I said a little harsher than intended.
“Oh hello, I’m fine too.”
“What do you want?” I repeated in the same tone.
“Why are you mad at me?” A lot of things raced through my mind.
“What do you want?”

Alt+Control Chapter 31

Did I hear that right? I shake my head in confusion. “Pretend I’m blind? What is that going to do?”

“It allows you to observe without suspicion. No one is going to be worried about a blind person since they can’t see their surroundings or anything possibly suspicious.”

“What the heck would a blind person be doing there?”

“You can be some sort of wealthy…sponsor. Wanting to talk to some of the workers, and find out where your money is going.”

“Then what about you two? How are you going to get through?” I ask. I can understand my costume, but I’m not going to get in alone.

“We’ll be government officials, sent in by Mr. Bronson,” says Marc nonchalantly.

Alt+Control Chapter 30

“Kaya? Kaya!” shouts a voice, and I snap into attention. I see Mr. Cassano’s face in front of mine. Oh right. I’m at school, in math class. Wonderful.

“Are you alright?” asks Mr. Cassano. “You’ve been out of it the entire class!”

“I’m ok. Just…tired.” It’s true. I couldn’t sleep well last night. I kept on having nightmares about what could go wrong during our break-in.

“Very well then. Levi, what is the next step?”

I try to focus on the lesson, but my mind keeps wandering. I mean, when will we ever use linear and quadratic equations? Everything right now just seems so… so pointless compared to what I’m facing right now.

After learning the truth, I realize what it means to carry that burden around. I can’t allow anyone else to know, in case they get involved and hurt. I can’t unburden my worries to Marc or Gerad, in case they think I’m incapable. And the worse thing is that I can’t ignore it, because I’m the only the one who knows, and the only one who can stop it.