The Secret War (Jack Blank Adventure) (31 page)

A mighty roar rose up from Varagog Village, loud enough to be heard across the rooftops of Cognito. It was the kind of noise that made Jack think of pitchfork-wielding mobs getting ready to chase down the Frankenstein monster. “That’s not good,” Midknight said.

“Remember!” Jonas Smart called out. “
No one
can resist
a Rüstov infection. Only one person was ever thought to have succeeded in this—Jack Blank. After tonight it is plain to see he did no such thing. His treasonous act of covering up this virus has revealed him for what he truly is—a Rüstov sleeper agent. If you have any doubts left about that, allow me to dispel them by sharing with you his second, dark, dark secret, straight from the mouth of the Rogue Secreteer.”

Jack closed his eyes and braced himself.
Here it comes
, he thought. Smart was about to reveal the truth about him and Revile. In a few seconds it would all be over. His fall from grace would be complete. Jack knew that spelled doom for both him and the Mechas. No one would listen to what he had to say about the virus after this.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Jack Blank is no ordinary Rüstov agent,” Smart said. “He is quite literally the greatest threat the Imagine Nation will ever face. Today he is merely Jack Blank, but tomorrow, unless we stop him, this boy is destined to become …
lorem ipsum dolor
.”

Jack opened his eyes and looked up at the screen in shock.
Destined to become what?

On the screen Smart paused, looking to be every bit as confused as Jack. Unsure, he tried to go on.
“Sit … amet?”
he said tentatively.
“Consectetur adipisicing elit?!!”

Smart realized what was happening and turned to look behind him, enraged. That was when Jack noticed that Lorem Ipsum was standing right next to Smart. She had been there the whole time.
“Sed do eiusmod tempor!!!”
Smart yelled at her. He looked back and forth between her and the camera, furious, embarrassed, and helpless.
“Incididunt ut labore! Et dolore!!!”
he railed.
“MAGNA ALIQUA!”

Jack couldn’t believe his eyes—and ears. Smart couldn’t talk! Lorem Ipsum had touched him right before he’d been going to reveal the big secret. He was saved!

Jack felt like he’d just dodged a bullet that had been fired at him from point-blank range.

Lorem laughed as Smart ranted and raved, speaking nothing but unintelligible gibberish. “That’s what they all say,” she snickered, gloating. She pulled her hair out of her face and looked into the camera. “Jack, if you’re out there listening, I’m sorry about before. Like I said, I had my own plans.” Smart grabbed Lorem Ipsum and shook
her, but the ever-nimble girl twisted free, laughing as she squirmed out of his grasp. “I know my father,” she said. “I knew the only thing that would drive him crazier than not being able to find out the truth about you would be finding it out and not being able to tell anyone.”

She grinned as Smart lunged at her in a pathetic last-ditch attempt to do something. Anything. She dodged him, and he knocked into the camera. It rolled back into a wide shot that revealed Jonas Smart on his knees, defeated. “That’s for locking me up in prison,
Daddy
,” Lorem said to him. She turned back to the camera and stuck her face close up in front of the lens. “Your secret’s safe with me, Jack.” She gave a mocking, see-you-later kind of salute, and added, “This is Lorem Ipsum from High-town, signing off. Good night and good luck, Empire City.” Another explosion rang out in Machina. “Something tells me you’re gonna need it.”

Lorem reached toward the camera and turned it off. Screens all across Empire City turned to static. Jack still couldn’t believe it. He wasn’t dead yet. There was still time. He had to put it to good use before it was too late. He had just been given a second chance. A last chance.
He couldn’t afford to waste it. It was time to stop the virus and prove which side he was on, once and for all.

“The SmarterNet,” Jack said, taking charge. “That’s what’s accelerating the virus. It’s spreading across Machina now, but it’s going to go global. We have to shut it down.”

“We?” Noteworthy sneered. “There is no
we
,” he said, brandishing his energy glave. “I should kill you where you stand, you filthy interloper.”

Jack didn’t back down an inch. He was feeling confident, like something had just shifted and he was now riding a wave of good luck.

“Noteworthy, you step to me with that thing and you’re gonna regret it. I’ll use my powers to blow up every machine in this building before I let you stop me from doing what I have to do. I’ve got nothing left to lose. I don’t even care anymore.” It was a bluff, but it made Noteworthy think twice. Long enough for Midknight to step in.

“Let’s everybody calm down,” Midknight said. “Clarkston, you know better than to take anything Smart says at face value. Jack’s big secret—whatever it is—isn’t the
spyware virus. He told me all about that two nights ago in Gravenmurk Glen.”

“You knew about this?” Noteworthy asked, flabbergasted. “How could you keep something like that from—”

“My question is, what was Smart going to say before Lorem put a stop to it?” Midknight asked Jack, ignoring Noteworthy.

“Never mind that,” Jack said. “We don’t have time for me to catch you guys up on every last thing. We have to find the Inner Circle and tell them what’s going on. We’re the only ones who really know.”

“Some of us know more than others,” Noteworthy replied. “We’re not going anywhere until you tell us what Smart was going to say.”

“It’s got nothing to do with this!” Jack said. “The Rüstov are about to get their hooks into every single machine in the world if we don’t stop them.”

“Thanks to you,” Noteworthy said.

“And thanks to Smart,” Jack shot back. “No one else knows that, though. Think about it, Circleman … unless you want Jonas Smart to be the big hero here, you’ve got to act fast. Right now you’ve got thousands
of Rüstov-controlled Mechas rioting next to your borough. How long until that violence spills over that wall that Virtua built? As far as your people are concerned, the only person who was going to do anything to protect Hightown is Jonas Smart. He just got sidelined by Lorem Ipsum. You better pick up the ball and run with it, or come next election, you’re going to find yourself out of a job.”

Noteworthy seemed to be trying his best to find a reason to disagree with Jack, but it was hard to argue with his logic. Jack knew the Circleman would see things his way. Appealing to Noteworthy’s good nature and sense of duty was a waste of time, but appealing to his self-interest and ambition? That was a surefire lock.

“Midknight, I need to get to Hightown,” Noteworthy said. “Now.”

Midknight stifled a bitter laugh and brought down the
Knightwing
’s entrance ramp. “Get in. Both of you,” he said. “Incidentally, I think you’ve got quite a future in politics, Jack.”

“This conversation isn’t over, boy,” Noteworthy said on his way into the
Knightwing
. “Not by a long shot.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” Jack said. He climbed on board and closed the ramp behind him.

Midknight took his ship over the rioting borough of Machina on the way to Hightown. Jack, Midknight, and Noteworthy looked out in horror as waves of infected Mechas ran wild in the streets, smashing their home to bits. They were pulling down street signs and knocking down monuments. They were jamming steel girders into roadside data ports and starting electrical fires. Uninfected Mechas were running for their lives. They reached up at the
Knightwing
, calling out and waving their arms, desperate to be saved.

“We have to help them,” Jack said, looking down at the trapped Mechas.

“No,” Noteworthy told Midknight. “Keep going. They’ll just take us down with them.”

Midknight frowned. “He’s right, Jack,” the old hero said. “There’s too many of them. We’re no good to anyone if we’re dead. We need a plan here.”

Then, without any warning, every light in Machina went out all at once. A great whirring noise followed, like the sound of ten thousand power generators winding
down simultaneously. Jack watched every Mecha on the street drop to the ground like they were puppets whose strings had been cut. The entire mechanized borough was suddenly as quiet as the grave, which for some unfortunate Mechas, it already was.

“What’s going on?” Jack asked.

“You’re asking me?” Noteworthy scoffed.

“Let’s ask them,” Midknight said, pointing up at the Hightown-Machina border, where Stendeval could be seen floating in the air next to Virtua. As Midknight brought his ship closer, an orange-white flash lit up the sky, and the rest of the Inner Circle appeared. They floated gently down to the ground surrounded by Stendeval’s red energy particles. Midknight brought the
Knightwing
in across from them, setting it down on a plaza right next to the newly erected Machina-Hightown wall. A crowd of Hightowners was forming nearby.

“Midknight. Clarkston,” Stendeval said as they exited the ship. “Please join us. We’re going to need you both if we’ve any hope of stopping this madness before it spreads any farther. Jack, I’m glad to find you safe and in good hands.”

“Be glad he’s not in mine,” Hovarth said. “You should know I’m very disappointed in you, boy. This disaster is your fault!”

“Not just mine,” Jack said. “Jonas Smart has to share the blame in this too.”

“What are you talking about?” Virtua asked.

“It’s the SmarterNet,” Jack said. “Smart built it to connect every machine in the world because he wanted a new spy network. That’s what’s spreading the virus so fast. Smart’s machine sped this thing out of control.”

“Is this true?” Hovarth asked Midknight and Noteworthy.

Midknight motioned with his hands. “We can’t say for sure, but it makes sense,” he replied.

“I’m afraid this information comes too late,” Virtua told Jack. “The method of infection no longer matters. My people are already being taken over by the Rüstov. The virus is spreading too fast for us to deal with the infected individually.”

“What happened to the lights?” Midknight asked. “Did the virus shut down Machina?”

“No, that was me,” Virtua replied. “This morning,
based on Jack’s work on the virus, I created a software update that all Mechas were required to download and install. It’s a tracking program that scans all systems for computer code similar to what you provided me with. As soon as more than twenty-five percent of Mechas register that code, glitches, or any other aberrant behavior, a full-scale shutdown and reboot gets triggered. This affects every Mecha in Empire City, including me, so play close attention. Projo can broadcast my image only another few minutes before I shut down too. This is not a solution. I have only bought us time.”

“Time for what?” asked Chi. “What do you want us to do?”

“The reboot is only temporary,” Virtua replied. “We have ninety minutes at best. Hopefully it will be enough time for you to secure my borough and every Mecha in it so that we are not a danger to ourselves or others.”

“Secure every inch of Machina?” Noteworthy said. “You’re talking about tens of thousands of Mechas. What if we can’t do it in time?”

Virtua turned to Stendeval. “Do you have enough reserve energy for an EMP?” she asked him.

Stendeval locked eyes with Virtua. He knew full well what she was asking. So did Jack. So did everybody. Stendeval nodded solemnly.

“Good,” Virtua said. “If I or my people still pose a threat when we reactivate, you will use it. On all of us.”

“NO!” Jack shouted. “Virtua, you don’t have to do that! I have a cure-code ready! I have it in a beta test right now.”

“It’s too late for that, Jack,” Virtua said. “We can’t rely on experimental cures.”

“And we’re certainly not going to take your word that it
is
a cure!” Hovarth said.

Jack was about to defend himself against Hovarth’s accusations, but Virtua cut him off before he even started. “We don’t have time to argue. We have to prepare for the worst.”

Midknight spoke up. “Virtua, you can’t expect us to let you—”

“We will
not
be used as tools in the enemy’s plan,” Virtua interrupted. “Not again. If this is where the Mechas of Empire City meet our end, we will meet it without fear and we will keep our honor. If this is our fate, then so be
it. All will know of our sacrifice, and none will be able to question our allegiance after tonight.”

It was clear that it was no use arguing with Virtua. Hovarth put his hand on his heart and bowed his head to her. “I commend your selfless dedication, Lady Virtua,” he said. “Your decision reflects a very Varagog way of thinking.” Jack figured that was probably the highest praise that Hovarth knew how to give. Hovarth turned to Stendeval and the rest of the Inner Circle. “Before I was transported from my home, a crowd was forming outside Castle Varren, waiting for their king to lead them into Machina. Into battle. I’ll lead them there still,” Hovarth said. “We’ll put their energy to good use and enlist their aid to secure the borough.”

“Thank you, Hovarth,” Virtua said. “I wonder if Circleman Noteworthy will be able to say the same about the crowd gathering on the Hightown side of this wall.”

Virtua waved a hand at the growing mass of angry, scared Hightowners across the plaza. All eyes turned to Noteworthy. It was highly unlikely that he commanded the same degree of respect among his constituents that
Hovarth did among his subjects. “I can—I can try,” Noteworthy stammered.

“This kind of work needs level heads, Clarkston,” Midknight said. “If you can’t control your people, and I’m not sure that you can, we’ve got to keep them out of Machina.”

“That’s going to divide our efforts,” Jack said. “It will slow us down.”

“We have no choice,” Chi said. “We can ill afford to trade one unruly mob for another. The goal here is to quell the riot. My ninjas will guard the Hightown-Machina border, but it will take time for them to get here.”

“I can help with that,” Midknight told Chi. “You can use the bottom half of my ship as a transport. And I can help you lock down Machina,” he told Hovarth. “I’ll take the top half and round up every hero I can find, starting with Blue and Ricochet. They’ve been looking for me all day anyway. We’ll get this done, Virtua. We’ve done the impossible before—with less time than ninety minutes, too.”