Leave The Monster Alone

"You think Rika disappeared voluntarily? And what if she did? Are we going to drag her back to the new base?" the thing was, Mark had no opinion about that so he did not worry about those details. 

In the end, Rika did not have a choice in this matter as her seat of honour was secured even before she had originated in this game. For the future of this game, her presence at the same central base was necessary.

The first place they checked was Rika's lab but it looked to be untouched. Almost too perfect to be anything but a ploy to get them off her tracks. Things were placed here in a neat manner but they were not where they were supposed to be and that was a big mistake on the kidnapper's part.

This one small flaw made Mark more than aware that Rika had not been the one to set this place up. This was not how things were done here and the job was sloppy at best.

"Nothing of value here. They did take some vials from the final samples though. I can see come of them missing" well, that solved one mystery at least. With or without Rika, those vials were a mine of information about this world.

Maybe someone wanted to steal it or maybe someone did not want this information to get out. Everyone knew that it was a battle of the vialed individuals now and a base's strength would depend on how many individuals they had.

Especially the originals who carried a good fraction of vial's potential. Everyone else would be a diluted version of their strength. So far only Luna had taken the vial so there were still 4 left to use.

Maybe 3 now after this fiasco.

"I'll try to track her signal down. I have been trying for a few minutes now but there was no result. But this lab should have a satellite tracking system with Rika's device data recorded into it so it will be easier to find her" bless Rika and her paranoid mind which created a back-up of every kind of situation she could find.

Mark booted up the system and was greeted by a big red text box asking for 'PASSWORD'. When had Rika decided she needed a password? Was this not biometric coded to only let certain individuals bypass the security and last time Mark checked he was one of those.

When had that changed and without telling him even? He was not that out of the loop was he? 

"Alan, any idea what it could be?" not that Mark himself had no idea what the likely password set by Rika could be but it was better if they actually managed to find the right one right away so that they could be done with it all.

"Let me see. A password? I guess I can give it a few tries" Mark allowed Alan to have a go but the other proved to be unsuccessful. Mark himself was aware that if the other was not able to open it then neither can he.

So that only left Rika who could open it. His brain analysed the situation as hopeless but it was still thinking around the problem to find a solution. If he had been able to feel it he might have felt the sting as well.

But his mind was preoccupied trying to find a solution.

"Great, we get so far and then nothing. What should we do now?" Alan was the first one to realise how futile his attempts were. And he also had to quit while he was behind since more attempts meant more risk of making mistakes.

There was also the likelihood that there were only a limited number of attempts left on this system because Rika was a paranoid person by nature. She would likely even have a backup made for this very moment and this gave Mark some ideas.

"Should I try to delete everything, including the password and data to make it work? It would be a huge risk to take" Mark asked the kid who looked a little spooked at the thought. He was likely remembering what Rika would do if she found out they had deleted all her data.

His mind did lament on having to lose so much data but its cost was not heavier than Rika's life and the female was someone more valuable right now.

They would die but if they did not open this then Rika would die.

"Is there no way to hack this? It would be so much easier if we have the professor with s right now since he was good at that kind of thing" Alan grumbled and Mark jolted in his seat.

Now he remembered, that professor was still a viable option to ask for help and could help them out. Mark even had the means to contact him so he should. This was an acceptable plan for his current circumstances and so Mark shall take this risk.

_____________________

Professor, we need your help urgently. We need to break into a computer that is password protected and it is a little over our paygrade. Think you can help us out?

_____________________

Alan was the one who send the message in the end. Since the younger was better equipped to handle these matters, Mark let him handle the social aspect. Also wasn't the young interested in the computer field.

Mark was someone who did not know a lot about coding and those things so it was likely he would not be able to help Alan much if he tried.

_____________________

Sure I can help but I cannot help you out without seeing what you are dealing with. Do you think you can somehow share that screen with me?

_____________________

Could they? Actually, Mark was not sure how to do so but Alan was much more vigilant about those things. he opened the side drawer and there was a tablet present. Alan opened it with expert hands.

Mark had forgotten that those things existed as well since he was overly reliant on his system. Ever since he had gotten his system, he had not had a need to go back to the basic means but that was a flaw as well.

One his brain decided they needed to rectify as well if his system did not provide this option. He should have checked and the fault was his in this case by any means.

_____________________

Send me your coordinates or something and I'll try to connect a video feed to you. It should not be that difficult to set up at all.

_____________________

Alan pressed some keys here and there and the next thing they knew, the professor was on the screen. It was not really a clear feed but it was enough to make out what was on the other side. The room looked as if it had significantly expanded since they had last been there.

The small room that could barely the five of them had been expanded to house more than 40 people who were working at different stations. That looked more like a workstation than anything Mark had seen before and he was glad someone like the professor got this treatment.

"Hello Mark, Alan and Kuro, it's been a while. Can you hear me clearly? I can see your side and the screen as well. How is everything at your end? Where is Rika right now? I was told that there was an inter-base council today but you seem to be really free right now" So the news had not yet spread which was good and equally bad.

"Things have gotten complicated in recent times and I can't reveal too much right now. But we really do need your help with getting into this system right now. there might be critical information there we could use" the other looked thoughtful when he saw the screen but it soon snapped into focus.

"Of course I will help and I expect I will be privy to this information as well? The people under me could really make use of important information you know" well that was an interesting sentence for the other to utter.

It might seem really innocent at first but there was a feeling of intention there to gain more for themselves. Also, since Mark did not know the scope of information inside he could promise them full access.

Professor had learned how to play the negotiation game and it was clear it was because he had been handed authority of his group. It had been both good as well as bad or him in Marks opinion. 

And if the other knew how to play this game then so did Mark. And he felt as if between the two of them Mark was the more experienced one in this field. After all, he had handled more than one base's negotiation at a time.

"I'm sure our base leader would pass this information on to your base leader when the time comes. Now please help us out"