The class of W52 listened to what Sam had to say. Philomela nodded, Il-Seong counted the things Sam listed on his fingers, while Ilea watched the blond boy intently. All of them took a slight step back when he spat at the ground, varying levels of disgust on the faces around the three. Yuliya kept her eyes on the crowd before them in case anything happened, but she also paid attention too. Now that she thought about it, there was a strong possibility that information could have been the target here. Information on supervillains, information on equipment, and the school . . . how was the school connected to Blackwater? If they wanted information on the school, a better place to start would have been Crux Labs considering the partnership the two entities have.
Crux Labs did develop technology for both facilities though.
Yuliya waited to hear more, but just as quickly as the theory came, Sam started to quiet down and shut everyone out once he realized the amount of attention on him. She stepped a little closer, laying one hand on his shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze.
"A good analysis," she said.
"Strong possibility the criminals who broke into Blackwater were after that and had something to do with this." Watching Yuliya, Philomela nodded.
"I doubt it," said Ilea. She shrugged. "It just seems . . .
out there." Ilea raised her hands, gesturing from one side to the next. "Okay, they're same day incidents but a prison and then a school dormitory?"
"You'd be surprised at how things connect."
"Still doesn't make sense to me." Ilea shook her head. "It doesn't add up."
There was a loud thump and what sounded like concrete breaking in half. The students murmured, looking in the direction of the sound to find their principal, Bernard Yuristheenis, straightening up from a small crater at the bottom of his feet. He jogged towards the crowd, raising one hand high in the air.
"I need to speak with all Senior RAs, any Top Ten, and all school staff present!" he called.
"I'll be back," said Yuliya, leaving her class to join Bernard. A bunch of other members of the crowd gravitated towards the principal, including Eduardo, briefly making eye contact with Class W52, a dark glare on his features. Both Ilea and Philomela blinked, the darker-skinned girl slightly stepping between him and her classmates.
"Yeesh," she muttered. "Salty much?" Ilea nodded.
"Oh! I totally just remembered this now, but did you guys now our principal is a descendant of the Great Hercules?" said Il-Seong, a bright twinkle in his eye.
"A descendant huh?" ilea responded.
"Wait, the myth was real?" asked Philomela, raising an eyebrow, and looking to Sam as well.
"No you will no—" Shen was about to grab the young boy before he could get away, but the blond was just
faster. Shen grit his teeth; if these two were HSSI students, he'll find him later.
The other party, the one who was left behind, started crying again. The tail moved, showing small spots of blood. Shen sighed. Yuliya should have taken this; maybe she would have an easier time handling a . . . delicate situation.
Shen headed for the paramedics and told them to back up in front of the restaurant entrance. He returned back to Cora and crouched next to the girl. "We'll have to get you some medical attention because of that." He pointed at the wounds on her tail. "If this needs to be kept a secret, we can do that. Just let me know." Gingerly, he picked her up in his arms and carried her to the entrance where the paramedics were waiting with the back of their truck facing them. Securing her on the stretcher, the paramedics lifted her into the truck and Shen followed right after.
"You'll need to let them know how they can help you," he told her as the paramedics stared in awe at her tail.
One of them looked up. "Do you feel significant pain anywhere?" she asked. She placed her hands on the tail where the feet were supposed to be. "Can you feel me squeezing you here? And does it hurt?"
Savino followed the blue-haired girl until they found the supposed office. The door was closed, looking like every door in the building with the exception of a small sign that read "Janitor's office" to the right of it.
"No, not until I'm finished here," he repeated more sternly this time. Resting against a mostly metallic body was uncomfortable for the taller girl, but she'll have to hold out for just a little while longer. These two were involved in this and he can't risk losing the witnesses and apprehenders of this breach.
Savino opened the door. A cramped space with just enough room for the three of them. A typical office space meant for a janitor, complete with a shelf of cleaning supplies and a rack for the tools needed for the occupation. And in the center of it all was a computer.
He gently lowered Mayra into the chair, sitting her upright so she didn't fall over. "We'll get you some medical help soon," he said then turned to the computer. It looked normal; nothing out of the ordinary. His eyes honed in on the equipment, letting Tania see it for herself. Tania sent a small transmission that could only be heard by him:
"Scan for any backup data."
Holding out his arm, a small section of the skin flipped open with a few cords neatly tucked in. He pulled out a USB cord and plugged it into the computer's tower and ran a system scan. Going through the various systems of the computer, he found a log that recorded an external drive had been plugged into the computer in the last twenty-three minutes. Delving further in showed him a few kilobytes of data had been left over since that external drive was last used. The file name did not give much except for one letter
: G. Just as he was about to look into that file, a red warning sign flashed before his eyes and on the computer screen. The screen went black then binary code flitted across the screen. Numbers quickly turned into letters, changing from white to red and centering themselves on the screen:
NO AUTHORIZATION
The letters disappeared and sparks burst from the computer. Savino twitched, a surge of electricity flowing into him from the computer. He wrenched his USB cord out of the computer and nearly collapsed on the floor. Using the wall for support, Savino straightened himself as best as he could, clutching his head. On his left eye, the vibrant green circuit board design of his irises had now been replaced by black, including the sclera. A red exclamation point flashed in his eyeball.
"That is s-some security program f-f-f-or sure," he said. He touched his finger to his temple. "T-T-Tania. I am f-f-fine. I-I-I-I think my program been . . . g-g-garbled a little, but n-n-n-nothing you can't fix, right?" His good eye twitched and he flinched, as if the person he was talking to was in the same room, yelling at him. "Right. Right, right, right. Y-y-y-yep. Bye."
Savino blinked a few times. He once again approached Mayra, his steps wobbly and his left leg dragged across the floor. "Okay then." He sighed then turned to Will. "Let's h-h-h-head out, but you're gon-n-n-n-na need to help me with your friend here. Parts of my body isn't f-f-f-functioning at the moment."