Aquatium's Awakening Part 1 - Click here
Harpal still on the phone with the stranger.
"Who is this?"
"This is... your chance to learn the truth" the unknown female responded
"Everyone keeps talking about the truth, what the hell you mean"
"We can't discuss this on the phone, if you want to know more, leave at 9pm tonight, go to the Sheps Bar, look for a lady in a black high collar coat, ask her what the weather is like outside, she will respond with, its raining code"
"Raining code?"
The unknown woman hangs up the phone, the phone goes dead.
"Hello, hello, why don't people explain things more to me"
Harpal looks around for the spare battery and puts one in, this time it boots up with a battery as it was meant to.
His concerns were growing about his friends, was Kyle arrested, for knowing whatever he did.
"Jason" he said to himself
"I have to find out what happened to him"
Harpal rings Jason's number, his parents answer
"Hi can I talk to Jason please"
"Is that Harpal" Jason's Mum says
"Yes"
"He's not well at the moment, call back later"
"... Ok..."
Jason's mum hangs up the phone.
"Ok that was weird, why did she answer his phone, she never answers his phone"
It could mean only 1 thing, Jason wasn't there, was he missing too, this was something Harpal will have to find out. The connection seemed to be getting made with every step.
It was just past 7pm, in 2 hours time was when he could leave to meet whoever was on the phone. His mind was again filled with both intrigue and anxiety, but things we starting to become clear to him. The biggest mystery was "what was not real", who were those men. Harpal came to the conclusion that the government was hiding something, from the rest of us, and whatever it was his friends had found out, and now they were trying to cover it up, both his friends were now missing/arrested, or at least he believed that about Jason too now. Maybe this person on the phone was a journalist...maybe they were onto it too, and now they needed his help. There was only one thing he could do to find out more information; he decided to go to Kyle's house and also Jason's, find out what they had come across, he didn't live to far so this wasn't going to be a long journey, but he would need at least 30 minutes to get to Sheps Bar from there.
Walking down the dark, lightly lit streets seemed a lot more daunting than it used to be. There was an uncertainly in the air, Harpal could feel it, everything he was learning was confusing him and causing a doubt he could not pin point exactly.
As he approached the house where his friend lived, he had the feeling he was being followed. Outside the house was a Police car.
"well Kyle's missing, what else would his parents do" Harpal said to himself
Harpal had a choice to make, if he went up to the door, he knows he will be asked since they probably know he wasn't at school today either and that Kyle would normally take the bus with him. However they were bound to come to him eventually, he had to get to Kyle's room, and find out what was being looked at that got both of his friends into something.
Harpal knocked at the door, Kyle's dad answered the door
"Oh it's you Harpal, you haven't seen Kyle today have you?"
Harpal wanted to tell the truth, but something had him holding back, he didn't feel safe talking about what really happened, and that visit from that man in the suit told him to not talk about it, maybe it was best to not say anything at the moment, who knows the Police might be involved in it, so a cover was best.
"Today, no, I didn't go to school today, had to visit my grandparents, I didn't see Kyle at all, Infact I came over to speak to him, he had some of my homework I needed"
"Well Kyle isn't here at the moment, come back tomorrow"
"um.. sir... I really need this homework, I have to be in class early, It wont take long at all, I can email it over to myself"
"Ok, well you should know Kyle's gone missing, so we have the Police over, so now is not a good time, come back tomorrow"
The door closes on Harpal.
"I need to get onto those computers, check his email"
Harpal makes his way to the back of the house, you could easily climb onto the ground floor roof of the extended kitchen to get close enough to get to Kyle's room, it was something he did quite often when he forgot or lost his keys, Harpal was doing the same thing to get to the computer.
Harpal watched carefully through the kitchen window, making sure he isn't seen, this wasn't something he would normally do, but something inside him wanted to find out what was going on, why were his friends missing, what was the truth. He was ironically stepping ever closes to a deeper truth than he could imagine.
As always the window to his room was open, it was one of those side opening windows so getting access into the room was not going to be difficult. Harpal slowly climbs up being as quite as possibly, he certainly didn't want to alert Kyle's parents or the police offer in the house what he was doing, it was after all... trespassing. He made his way up, he was now in the room.
"I need to search, to find what they were after, first emails"
Harpal went onto Kyle's PC and began to open his email software.
"That man in the suit called me Aquatium, it's my computer alias, and this must be connected somehow"
Harpal searches through the emails and finds nothing relevant. He begins to wonder if what he needed was on Jason's computer. He then realised the IRC channels they had been using as a group, which might give some kind of clue.
Harpal runs the IRC program, it had a small level encryption to start it, but it was something they all used for it, easily bypassed when you know how. The data files were always stored in a secure area, they kept them to monitor and record actions and results. He goes through the files and looks for the latest logs. The last recorded log with another user was something that caught Harpal's eye immediately, it read:-
Submeros: Yes, we are the reds of this world.
Manicolt: I've heard a few people say that
Submeros: You must be careful what you believe
Manicolt: I don't know what to believe anymore
Submeros: You must be careful, these channels might be monitored
Manicolt: Careful of what?
Submeros: You seek a truth, a truth that they don't want you to know, and some will do anything to make sure you do not know it
Manicolt: I'm ready for the truth
Submeros: You already know the truth, but you must choose whether you believe it or not
Manicolt: Well I....
// Session logging terminated
Manicolt was Kyle and it was almost like he disconnected mid sentence by someone, and this was just from the previous night. They were onto something and that must be why the events have unfolded as they have. Harpal wanted to investigate further, he found a locked folder section which he promptly bypassed again. It was like Kyle had a small log of what he was thinking..
The truth of the world is now clear to me, these Redpills are awake, they know the truth. Me and Jason came across a conversation which we were not meant to hear, or maybe we were? However we now know about the lies that are being told. We will make others aware of this, they need to know.
The Redpills? Harpal thought to himself. Harpal was getting more concerned about where this was leading; he logged onto the IRC channels as himself and sent a message to the user Submeros.
About 15 minutes passed, throughout that time Harpal heard the police offer leave and Kyle's parents were still downstairs, he had to leave shortly if he was to get to Shep's bar on time. Submeros replied, but it was almost like he knew everything.
Submeros: Yes, we are aware that your friends are... missing. Don't worry we will see you shortly at the location that was given to you. These channels are monitored now, do not respond.
Next thing he knew the connection just dropped, again just like it had been disconnected. Moments later there was a knock on the front door. Kyles room was at the top of the stairs and could just about see down to the front door, Harpal creeped slowly to take a look as Kyle's father opened the door. Almost like they had known it was the agents in the dark suits, Harpal knew not to stand around, they must have been monitoring the activity from the PC, he quickly got out the window and ran.
Harpal was still running for what seemed like a long time, he didn't want to suddenly go missing if those men in the suits got him. He was making his was to Shep's bar. Something inside him was telling him that it was a trap and he shouldn't turn up but then something else inside him wanted to know exactly what the hell was going on.
He looked across the street, Shep's bar directly ahead. His heart was beating from all the running, though it seemed to beat even faster from the nervousness of what he was about to face, the unknown. Harpal walked into the bar and looked around; it was quite busy but at the same time felt very quite. He looked around to see if this lady in a black high collar coat, at first he couldn't see anyone matching that description but then he saw her. Harpal was still hesitant on approaching her, if that was her in the first place; they didn't know what he looked like... did they?
As Harpal walked up to the lady he just felt like a million eyes were watching him, that feeling when no one is looking at you, but you just know they are. She glanced up from the corner table she was sitting at.
"Hello, can I help you?" she said in a soft voice
"um...just was wondering if you know what the weather is like outside", Harpal replied, feeling a bit stupid saying it since they were right next to a window
"I believe its raining code Aquaitum"
Harpal felt uneasy when that name was used, because it was almost like a secret identity, how could she know that name, but at least it confirmed she was that person on the phone. He felt slighty at ease from this and began to ask his own questions.
"What am I doing here, how did you call me on my phone, just what is going on. My friends are missing and these guys in suits show up and then you, its all ...."
The lady interrupted him immediately
"The agents? Where did you see them?"
"Well they were following my friend, who I think they kidnapped and then one turns up at my apartment and again at Kyle's house"
"They have moved quicker than we thought, quick lets get out of here, they might still be watching you"
Before Harpal could speak the lady grabbed his arms and they were running through to the back of the bar, past the kitchen and out the back. He could see the lady speaking to someone on her cellphone, just that moment a dark coloured car came driving up the back of the street.
"We have to move now, get in"
Without really thinking about it Harpal jumps into the car, and they drive off. Both himself and the lady in the back with him look behind them, almost as if they expected to see men in suits but it was clear.
In the car we now had Harpal with the lady in the back and another person driving. Harpal looks over at the lady, about to ask another question when she speaks.
"That's Liantec and I'm Submeros, and you are Aquatium"
"How do you know that name.. what's going on I'm not being told the truth"
"Your friends are missing; at least that's how we can phrase it. You and your friends were always looking into the stories on the internet about people with special abilities and almost any strange cases of phenomenon you could find, whether you choose to believe it or not, you always thought something is not right with this world, and you will learn the real truth soon enough"
"I..." Harpal was about to speak but Submeros continued
"Your friends did not get lucky in the conversations they came across in the IRC channels they made their way into, its how we can test individuals if they are ready for the truth, if they need to know the truth, if they will accept it."
"I still don't understand..."
"Your dreaming a false reality, the world you see around you is nothing more than an illusion"
Harpal was staring blankly at Submeros but he knew exactly what she meant. He goes back to the many conversations he had with his friends about how things might really be, of course it was all a joke, but the reality of it seemed to make sense. Submeros continued to speak.
"I will go into further details but first you must make a choice, you can either continue with us now and the truth will be revealed or you can go back to sleep and when you wake up, everything happened tonight will be forgotten. You will continue to ... exist as you are."
There is a silent pause as Harpal gazes at both Liantec and Submeros, he takes a look outside the streets, the dark alleyways, the dim lit street lights, and he gives a short sigh
"So much is happening around me, so much that doesn't make sense on one side, but almost makes perfect sense on the other. I want to know the truth.. I need to know the truth"
"Take this redpill, we have a destination to get to"
Just as Harpal takes the redpill he thinks back to the term his friend used in his log, redpills, this was what they were, people who choose the truth they speak of. Just as he takes the pill he looks outside and sees the same vehicle the men in the suits were using before and he promptly tells Submeros.
"That's the vehicle those guys that took my friend were in"
"*CENSORED*, Agents"
Submeros turns to Liantec amd gives a worried stare, she looks over at Harpal.
The Agents vehicle speeds up and is heading straight towards their car. Submeros picks up her cellphone and makes a call.
"We got Agents on us, I don't know if were going to lose them... ...Yes Sir"
She hangs up, and reaches for a gun that was hidden behind her, and loads it up. She looks over at Harpal
"This is just the beginning of the truth"
