Promise Land Project: The Solar War, #2

By Carlos Jiménez Duarte

The second part of The Solar War arrives loaded with more emotions and adrenaline. Now that the war conflict seems to be in a state of truce, the Master of Saint Martin and his allies are aware that the big loser of the nuclear disaster has been the Earth. To restore the planet, they decide to make several trips through time, in an attempt to change the circumstances in history. 
Will they succeed in restoring Earth to its former nature? This second book of The Solar War trilogy will show how the impulses of faith and will can transform reality, while reflecting on whether humans deserve a second chance on earth and whether they are important enough to worry about their extinction. A fascinating novel that will change your perspective of understanding time and the world.

In February 2021, this novel was selected as the winner of the Tinta Dorada Awards: an initiative led by different writers and readers of the Wattpad platform through the fake_melancholia profile.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Carlos Jiménez Duarte
• Release date: Jun 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223507291

Book preview

Chapter 1

The Order of the Basilisks

Night after night, he dreamed of the same face. All his childhood, in the darkness of his room, he had glimpsed through his dreams that same person. It was not easy to free himself from the idea of being a murderer. But the ritual of initiation into the Order of Basilisks demanded it.

The dagger plunged gently into the victim's body. The boy heard a sharp moan, as if it were the wail of a cat, and then watched as a stream of blood emanated from the toga that carried the body that represented the sacrifice. The childish black silhouette then collapsed to the ground. 

Come, my dear, said a man behind him, you have done very well. Now hand me the dagger.

The boy turned and handed the bladed weapon to his master. That man, too, was dressed like him, in an elegant and heavy robe, while on his face he wore a scaly mask that alluded to an angry snake. The tall figure of the man appeared imposing and serious.

A few minutes ago, the five-year-old boy had received his reptile mask. The large room in which he found himself was populated by a little more than seventy people. The smaller members were forming the first circle in the middle of which he was standing.

Is it necessary to do so? he asked. He is a child just like me.

You must do it, it is your destiny to be a basilisk, answered the master who was leading the ceremony. A small sacrifice for the good of the destiny of all men.

The two children stared at each other for a long period of minutes. Facing each other, the new member of the order was contemplating the sweet features of that childish face, which from that very night would torment him for many years to come. 

His eyes shone like the golden color of his hair, while his lips insinuated a great tenderness, as did his rosy cheeks and his white forehead. Then, the man who rested his arms on the boy's shoulders, unfolded the hood of his robe to hide his face.

William, said the master of ceremony. It is time for you to do so. Turn around for the honor of receiving the Basilisk Dagger.

The boy obeyed the request and received the precious white weapon in his hands. He gazed at it for a minute, recognizing the beautiful design of the hilt, as required by the ritual he had studied days before. Silently he held his breath before acting.

The dagger will supply you with the energy you need, the master had warned during the preparation. Then you will turn and without hesitation attack. And indeed, after turning, he discharged the sharp blade into the belly of that body. His being was shaken by an invisible lightning.

During the days of the trial he had been allowed to stab a dummy, but now the test was real and the blood emanating from that body certified for him a murder. Seeing that body bleeding to death forced him to breathe with a tremendous and horrible anxiety.

Am I a basilisk now? asked William.

That's right, dear, that's right.

The price paid for being a basilisk would burden him for more than two decades. Night after night, he was again confronted with the sight of that childish, tender, innocent face. The dispute would end when one of the two would lower his gaze to the ground. It was almost always William who won. 

Over the years, that infinite visual confrontation gave his gaze a strong and penetrating power, derived from a deep hatred whose energy reminded him of the feeling of alchemy that the dagger had given him before plunging it into his body. A hatred that lit an infinite fire in his spirit, as if it were the same power projected by a sun.

One night, when he managed to master the intensity of that fire, he felt that his sight was able to carbonize that face that looked at him from his dreams. Being a basilisk, his master had whispered to him during the initiation ritual, will grant you the gift of eliminating whomever you wish with the power of your gaze. Many years later, that child would be known as the Master of Saint Denmark.

Chapter 2

Kira

A ll right, said Monique , then Germany withdraws.

See you at home, added Marshall, good luck to the rest of you!

You're very optimistic, interjected Troy, as he pressed the dual transmitter headset to his ear. What if we don't shut it down?

Master Ana Aguirre said it would be like a game of chess, Marshall replied. Although, well... we could also lose....

The phrase we could also lose was left hovering in the middle of the conversation, while a blue progress bar filled up completely on the tablet Monique was holding in her hands. The screen turned off at that moment and darkness returned to the small room.

Marshall, with his assault rifle behind his back and sitting on his heels, removed the cable connecting the tablet to the server that had just melted forever. The little green lights on the server had flickered frantically, as if the device was writhing in pain before its inevitable death.

That's right Marshall, said Troy, cutting through the silence, the chance of losing is still alive.

There was a moment of suspense that reminded everyone that the mission they were on was no mere game. The joyful excitement with which Monique and Marshall withdrew from the action was motivated by the feeling of being free of all responsibility. For the others, on the other hand, this withdrawal represented the absence of two less pieces on the battle board.

And that abandonment increased the tension of the task, which led them to divide into four groups. Each group was located in a respective country of the planet, while Master Ana Aguirre was in charge of leading the mission. The objective: to overthrow once and for all Kira, the famous Artificial Intelligence that advised the world's most famous terrorist in all his decisions.

Now that Germany was withdrawing from the attack, it was necessary to wait at least ten minutes before the next step. Meanwhile, in South Africa, Trinity and Troy were in an office equipped with various computers and screens. Troy's fingers were drumming, without generating much noise, on the table.

Relax, my love, Trinity said to him. It's going to be all right.

It's not easy to stay calm, said Troy, when you're looking at six dead bodies in this room.

And especially when you're dressed like the enemy. replied Trinity.

The woman got up from her chair to take off her orange prison jumpsuit. Her boyfriend decided to do the same, while he contemplated how about twenty meters away, next to the access door of that office, lay the lifeless bodies of the arachtivodes. In the middle of the corpses, still dressed in orange uniforms and wearing their oxygen masks, a huge pool of blood had spread.

The anxiety Troy was experiencing at that moment was largely influenced by the small heart attack he had experienced when fifteen minutes earlier the arachtivodes had decided to shoot at Trinity's chest. The young Briton saw her collapse to the ground, while a powerful magical energy that came to his aid allowed him to keep his mind focused.

Thanks to this self-control, he was able to respond to the attack quickly and intelligently. He only had to shield himself for a moment against the corner of the corridor, before returning to action and defeating the only enemy that had been spared from the initial volley of shots fired by his RN-15 rifle.

It was then that he went to Trinity's aid.

Are you all right, he asked. Did you get hit?

Yes, I think the vest contained the bullet, she replied. It's amazing how the speed of a bullet can knock you to the ground.

Yes, I see you're all right...

After helping her up, the two continued walking gingerly to the end of the corridor. Trinity then pressed her index finger on one of the buttons of the dual transmitter headset fitted to her left ear. When she pressed the button, the communication channel was open and available to send a message to the other people participating in the mission.

We are already in front of the access door to section G3 she said. Luna, it's your turn.

Luna, the only professional soldier of the Purple Brigade, was at that moment in the country of India. Unlike the other pairs, the sniper and explosives expert did not have the support of another person, but decided to act under the company of an Arakna-306. That military equipment had taken charge of killing the 53 men guarding the bunker.

That warlike invention, whose size was quite similar to that of an adult cat, could be monitored remotely. But Luna, trusting in the effectiveness of such technology, calmly let that machine take charge of defending her life, while it killed the various members of the enemy side.

Despite this, the young military woman was protected with a bulletproof vest and carried an assault rifle on her chest. After going through the entire bunker and clearing the area, Luna went to the large kitchen area of the base to calmly enjoy a cup of coffee.

From then on she went into standby mode and just for fun she entertained herself by talking to the Arakna-306's artificial intelligence. The eight red lenses, which represented the vision of that sophisticated equipment, looked at her with a certain tenderness every time she answered her questions. Right in the middle of those eyes was the hole that discharged the ammunition stored in the stomach of her body.

Now we can only wait, she said aloud, for the other moves on the chessboard.

Do you wish me to send asked the robotic voice of the Arakna-306 a notification about the situation to Master Ana Aguirre?

It is not necessary, answered the young military woman, she is already aware of it.

On the other side of the world, in Colombia, Ana Aguirre, the systems expert and director of the White Shadows company, was on the line with all the participants of that operation. She was the one who had previously coordinated the plan of action to overthrow Kira.

Although more than overthrowing or destroying, Ana Aguirre had announced to the chosen members of the attack, what interests me is to mutate Kira's nature and make her work in our favor.

It will be in the palm of our hand, Troy immediately affirmed.

That's right, we don't know what the man's capabilities are, even now that he is without the most dangerous weapon on the planet.

The idea of producing such a mutation had come to Trinity's mind when, in the operation against General O'Donnell, she had identified the location of the seven connection points that represented Kira's digital infrastructure. The various sites were located in Germany, Colombia, United States, Russia, South Africa, India and Australia.

The idea was to be able to count on this technology to anticipate the decisions made by Nuboff, the so-called most famous terrorist in the world. Curiously, there had been no clue for two months about that man, so feared because of his white made-up face with three diagonal stripes protruding from it as if it were the scratches left by a wild beast.

That had been one of the most debated topics in the huge development room of the White Shadows company.

What if for some reason it had died, said Marshall.

That would be one of the best pieces of news in the history of mankind, Nathan said. But as we all know, the problem is not him, but the boss to whom he obeys: the famous Master of Saint Denmark.

We can't rely on Nuboff's silence, Trinity reflected with the others, we have to act as we always do: with the phantom feeling that he could be watching us from anywhere on the planet.

You are right, indicated the text written by Ana Aguirre on the huge screen in the room, We must not forget that he has an enormous talent in systems. I think he and I are on the same level in terms of intelligence and experience in software development.

This meeting had been held in the same private manner as so many others to which the Purple Brigade had been entitled. Only one of the former members of the brigade was not present and in his place was a new ally.

Her name: Alexandra. A woman with a height of 1.70 meters. Her brown hair used to be tied back with a garter, forming a kind of onion of hair at the back of her head. Her pronounced face, with thin pink lips, was tinged with the beauty of bright brown eyes.

Her twenty-seven years of age, added to the charisma she inspired and the tenderness of her face, granted her the title of being esteemed as a radiant young woman full of security. A security that enveloped her being with a fascinating sexual energy, enhanced by a kind and cheerful personality.

That inspiring sexual energy came as an intense shock to Luna and Marshall when they first met her. In fact, Marshall was so impressed by the sight of her that his mind immediately crossed with the desire to win her over. But, that illusion crumbled a second later, when he learned that the woman was none other than the wife of the Master of Saint Martin.

Well... said Alexandra. I think there is nothing more to say. It is time to travel and place ourselves in the different bunkers.

That's right, added Troy. It's going to be a long trip, even though we'll be traveling on private jets.

We will travel like kings, said Monique.

Alexandra and Nathan were the two Purple Brigade allies who were assigned to operate from the bunker in Australia. They were the two who would be in charge of moving the final piece that would allow the artificial intelligence represented by Kira to be disrupted.

During the flight to Australia, Nathan felt very much at ease, gazing out of the plane window at the radiant light of the full moon and the accompanying stars. From time to time, huge clouds would gather around the luminous white sphere, which awakened great feelings in his heart.

It was a beautiful image whose irresistible magic pierced his memory until it became engraved in his heart. And that aerial landscape made him forget for an instant that down there, the surface of the continents had been punished with thousands of nuclear bombs, forming craters so huge that they could be seen clearly from space itself.

He was so absorbed in this contemplation that he was surprised to recognize that Alexandra was sleeping on one of the double sofas of that luxurious jet. Seeing her tender face resting, he could not help but remember the other three women who were part of the Purple Brigade.

And to think, he said aloud, that about two months ago we had one more. May you rest in peace, dear friend: peace in your grave.

None of the members of that operation were entirely happy about having to travel to face the dangers that awaited them there. They all knew that their lives were at risk, despite the conviction that inspired them at the time to be part of that war and fight against Nuboff.

But the last few missions had taught them all that what they were taking on was not child's play and that they had to act intelligently, leaving aside any feelings of heroism. Traveling and facing the task of fighting was inevitable, in view of the fact that Ana Aguirre's masterful arts failed to overcome the computer barriers that Kira imposed to defend herself.

At first, she tried her best to disable Kira with all the digital tricks at her disposal. However, she soon realized that, as had happened with the algorithms used by General O'Donnell, it was necessary to intervene directly in each of the sites that gave life to Nuboff's assistant.

The only thing he was able to achieve successfully was to have control over the bunkers in Colombia, United States and Russia. After thoroughly probing the systems of these bases, she was able to guarantee that she could work on them, without necessarily sending any person to intervene from the inside.

We are here Alexandra, wake up, Nathan said.

Thank you, I slept like a baby, she answered. I didn't even feel the landing. Are the others already on the line?

That's right, he answered. Here's your dual transmission headset.

Thank you.

As had happened with the remaining aircraft, they had landed on the runway above each bunker. The clearance of the jets from Colombia had been coordinated by Ana Aguirre, responding to a very well studied schedule, so that at the moment of arrival at the destinations, there would only be a maximum difference of five minutes in the landing times.

The operation had to start immediately. In Australia it was half past two in the morning. As soon as they arrived at the bunker entrance gates, Alexandra took charge of embedding a cylindrical storage device containing hacking software in the circular slot of the access panel.

In a matter of seconds, the software was in charge of breaking down the security blocking access to the bunker. The woman removed the cylindrical device, better known in the computer field by the technical name MK-11. She then stowed it in one of the side pockets of her military-style pants.

As Ana Aguirre's previous study on bunkers had revealed, in the case of that Australian base, the so-called arachtivodes were present from the third subway level onwards. Nothing had so far alerted the enemy side to the arrival of the infiltrators.

Time to throw this grenade, Nathan said. Time to mask ourselves too, dear ally.

Whenever you are ready, she answered. I am more than ready.

The grenade descended through the huge hexagon-shaped hole that was repeated floor after floor until it reached the subway level nine. Traveling through the void took only two seconds for the magnetized surface device, which produced a loud sound as it settled on the metal floor.

The noise attracted the attention of several arachtivodes who approached to observe the object. Suddenly the grenade exploded, generating a huge column of smoke whose white thickness lasted more than five minutes.

Some of the arachtivodes without masks immediately fell to the ground, after inhaling the halothane released by the grenade. The others were stupefied by the intensity of the white cloud, to the point that some experienced the sensation of having strayed into the fiction of a dream.

Thanks to the masks worn by the infiltrators, the reality was so clear that one might well have thought that the grenade had not released the white cloud. But thanks to an indicator in the lens of the masks, it was clear that they were moving through the halothane clouds.

No mercy, Nathan, said Alexandra. It is their destiny to live.

My pure heart, Nathan answered, allows me to do this without remorse.

One by one, the lives of the enemies came to an end with the use of automatic pistols with silencers. The two allies counted the death of thirty-eight enemies located on the different levels. As soon as they reached the lowest level, the two stood by the grenade, but facing the north hatch, waiting for it to open.

A group of ten arachtivodes then appeared behind the opening of that thick door, but they did not manage to run more than two meters to where the two allies were located, because they were immediately fulminated by the fire released by the assault rifles.

Only three more to go, said Nathan. But the halothane cloud is already disappearing.

Then get down on the ground, her ally answered.

As if they were both professional soldiers, the two easily placed the assault rifles on the ground, but not before deploying the support leg system. A minute later, the three enemies still to be killed appeared at the end of the corridor. They didn't even have time to recognize the two infiltrators on the ground.

Go and give account to the devil, said Alexandra. Now we have the area clear.

So far it all looked pretty easy. The members of the Purple Brigade not only had the best military resources to act in the middle of those bunkers, but they also had the computer support of Ana Aguirre, who apart from providing the access codes, had intervened in the monitoring systems to avoid any unforeseen event.

However, in addition to Troy's little scare when he saw how his girlfriend was hit, Monique and Marshall were about to be shot by an intelligent machine gun installed twenty meters from one of the gates. They knew what awaited them behind that access door and for that they had a metal shield as a defense: a vertical rectangle of high armor.

When the thick door opened like a theater curtain, splitting in two and hiding each section in the wall, the high-level machine gun identified the shield and saw no clue to attack. However, the mistake was made by Monique, who at the time was behind a Marshall in charge of holding up the metal defense.

What happened was that Monique, after removing from the laptop the cylindrical device that authorized the hatch to open, extracted from one of the pockets a second MK-11 that slipped from her hands. That second device would take care of disabling the machine gun.

Hell, she said.

What happened? asked Marshall.

The MK-11 memory slipped out of my hands, Monique explained. It's only ten centimeters away from our shield.

Then take it with your hands, there's no other option.

With her heart beating frantically, the woman reached out her hand to grab the cylindrical object. It took less than a second. But the intelligent system of the machine gun, which was twenty meters away from them, only needed a thousandth of a second to recognize that the hand was not registered in its database.

Moreover, given the body heat it perceived from that hand, its algorithm ordered it to attack without mercy. The artillery effect of that weapon was so violent that it began to bend the stability of the shield held by Marshall. With tremendous anxiety, Monique inserted the MK-11 device into the laptop.

The ten seconds it took for the memory code to complete the task it was supposed to perform were the most agonizing for that pair of allies. The machine gun continued to attack with total brutality, at an agonizing pace, generating at the same time a disturbing noise.

Marshall had to make use of a supernatural strength that welled up in his gut (and that he still could not fully master) to resist the onslaught of that weapon, capable of producing more than fifteen thousand shots per minute. In spite of this, the armored shield leaned further and further back, until the miracle that silenced the furious noise happened for the two of them.

I FORGIVE YOU MONIQUE, shouted Marshall, BECAUSE I WAS JUST THINKING ABOUT THE ENERGY OF THE PYRAMID OF KEFRÉN.

But...but...but... she justified herself, anyone can make a mistake...

I DON'T CARE, he said with the same imposing tone, WE HAVE TRIED THIS A THOUSAND TIMES!

The man was not lying when he exaggerated that they had rehearsed this mission many times. Thanks to a virtual simulation program and equipment located at the Colombian headquarters of the White Shadows company, each of the couples had had an immersive experience of what awaited them in the respective bunkers they would visit.

For a whole week they were practicing the step by step that they had to execute. A virtual reality experience that was initially very fun, because the Universe-7 equipment was optimized to allow them to walk and jog freely, as well as crouch, jump or make sudden movements.

Each action taken by the user, together with the virtual reality goggles, created the absolute sensation that they were experiencing the challenge they had to fulfill in the flesh. As the days went by, the fun turned into a high level of stress. Only Luna, with her experience in the military arts, was able to calmly assume her training.

It had been precisely that professional soldier, who had been in charge of choosing with great intelligence the resources that would facilitate the mission that each pair had to carry out. Luna, who had in mind to lead his mission in India individually, had to change her mind when they visited the Fourth Brigade of the Colombian National Army, located in the city of Medellin.

Well, well, said Luna in amazement, an Arakna-306! I was not expecting this surprise.

What is the purpose of this device? Nathan asked.

It is a military robot with SF-10 artificial intelligence, she explained. It has a rate of fire of 300 bullets per minute, it is immune to tracking waves and its eight eyes are highly sensitive to movement. Its head has a 360° degree flexibility of movement and it has a photovoltaic energy storage system, that is: solar energy.

So it's a real killing machine, said Trinity. And if we're looking for more in the midst of this arsenal, why didn't we come here earlier to look for these resources instead of spending so many days rehearsing attack plans with virtual resources? This time reality won out over fiction.

I'm sorry Trinity, Luna replied, If it's the only spider in sight, it's because it's the only one in sight. This is the Military Artificial Intelligence section and remember that we only enter here out of pure curiosity. There are only seven Araknas-306 in the world. I am surprised that the Colombian Army has had one of these in its possession. 

The professional soldier also indicated that the German military technology division had been in charge of the research and development of that sophisticated military weapon. More than ten thousand units were produced, until the destruction of these devices was ordered due to complaints to NATO by the United States, Russia and France, among other countries.

So why are there only seven left in the world? asked Alexandra, Are they kept as unique collector's items?

Because, in an act of good faith, it was decided that the seven most advanced powers in the world would each keep one Arakna-306. By the way, that is why I find it so strange to find this machine here in Colombia. If any of these powers broke the agreement not to use this powerful weapon, the others would reproduce this model to give it the same military use.

I understand, said Marshall, but we should investigate where the others are located. Perhaps Master Ana Aguirre will be able to guess where they are.

Luna smiled warmly and reminded him that one of the virtues of that military equipment was the cancellation of the tracking waves, so it was very difficult to be detected. On the other hand, Alexandra was blunt when she warned that Master Ana Aguirre is a systems expert, not a fortune teller. In response to this comment, Marshall excused himself by saying it's true, I'm such a klutz!

In view of the support that Arakna-306 would give her, Luna had to redesign her strategy to infiltrate the bunker located in India. Her mission became completely flexible, even though she, on her own, would have been victorious with the whole plan she had previously thought of, making use of her talent as a sniper and explosives expert.

The essence of that mission was to cooperate with each other to unlock the path with the interactions that would take place in each bunker. Kira's intelligent algorithm was optimized to make it as difficult as possible to access the main server from which she had to operate. The seven bunkers were synchronized as if they were virtually one.

So to open the door to the G3 section of the South African bunker, Luna had to make the request from the base in India. A task she managed to accomplish very easily, while still holding the second cup of coffee she decided to prepare in the kitchen. She only had to go down two more levels in the bunker, enter the systems room and restart the activity of one of the computers. 

All right, Trinity, she said, looking at the computer screen, I'm watching you from right here.

Thank you very much, replied Troy. How is everything going in Russia?

Very well, said Ana Aguirre. The arachtivodes are getting desperate because of the way the gates are opening and closing by themselves.

They must be thinking, said Monique, that the bunker was invaded by ghosts.

Cooperation between the various bases on the planet made it quicker to cross the barriers imposed by Kira. If any of the couples that had infiltrated the bunkers were killed, the process of moving forward increased the level of difficulty.

And it was that probability of death that was the most adrenaline-charged for all the members of the operation. Even Ana Aguirre was also dominated by the same level of stress. Because in addition to participating in the game of opening and closing the floodgates, it was she who was taking on the job of cornering Kira.

We can compare Kira to the Queen of the chessboard, said Ana Aguirre as she explained the attack strategy. We can't compare her to the King because this piece only moves one square per turn.

The Queen can always move all over the board, said Alexandra, although it cannot jump as the Knight can.

Well, reflected Ana Aguirre, this time the Queen will have the virtue of jumping.

In theory, there was no main server to conquer for Kira to intervene. Or at least it had not yet been identified where she was going to take refuge. That Artificial Intelligence did not have a central core from which to operate, but its activity was carried out jointly from the different bunkers in which its algorithms circulated.

To facilitate her work, Ana Aguirre had drawn a chessboard with 64 squares, the colors of which alternated between blue and white. The Queen stood alone in the middle of the board, silently battling against the white shadows representing the members of the Purple Brigade.

Each time a hatch opened or closed, the Queen had to move to a new square. And when she did so, the square she was on disappeared from the board. In the digital graph with which Ana Aguirre oriented herself, the square vanished, being replaced by a deep black color. In this way, the systems expert was in charge of tightening the fence.

The only problem was that, if threatened, Kira would decide to fragment and divide her algorithms into the different sites that represented her body. If that were to happen, the first thing the AI would do would be to inform Nuboff of the situation and ask to be transferred to another server site.

That is why it is essential, warned Ana Aguirre, to respect the turn of each movement in the game.

Understood, said Luna, it will then be necessary to maintain patience and trust in the simultaneous work. I am sure we will succeed.

In the end, concluded the systems expert, Kira will only have one square left in which to stay. And it will be just at that moment when we will be able to overthrow her... sorry, mutate her nature.

An hour later after the mission had begun, Marshall announced that Germany was withdrawing. On the chessboard only two white squares and one blue square remained free. The Queen's only alternative was to jump like a Knight in order to occupy one of them.

At that point in the game, the headquarters of Colombia, Russia, United States and India had already withdrawn. Each time a bunker withdrew it was necessary to pause for two minutes, which accumulated to continue the operation. So when Germany withdrew, it was necessary to wait not only their respective two minutes, but also those accumulated by the previous bunkers.

The good news, Trinity reflected aloud for all to hear, is that now only South Africa and Australia are left.

Which site will have the honor of using the last code, said Alexandra.

We already lost the bet, said Monique. It would be fun if the prize went to the Double-T couple.

Don't call us the Double-T couple anymore, shouted Troy with obfuscated affection.

A set of giggles spread through all the dual-transmitting headsets.

Have you got your tablet handy yet, asked Ana Aguirre. I just noticed that Kira is confining herself to the South African server.

Well, we lost the bet too, said Troy.

That's the least of it, my love, replied Trinity, I'll spoil you and you'll have all my love when we're home.

Trinity then went to one of the computers in the office she was in and plugged an orange cable into one of the ports. The other end of the cable went to plug into the ten-inch tablet Troy was holding. Once the connection between the mobile device and the computer was established, a blue progress bar appeared on the screens of both technologies.

About five minutes later, the blue progress bar had completely filled in with a green color. At that moment, on the board that Ana Aguirre had graphed, the Queen jumped to the other square, while the blue color faded to pitch black. The director of the White Shadows company executed an additional code.

Thanks to this code, the routes to the bunkers where the Purple Brigade members were located were completely opened. Now all the floodgates were enabled to allow the quiet and slow escape that the participants of the game would experience.

Very well, my allies, said Ana Aguirre, you may now begin to leave, with the exception of Alexandra and Nathan.

All right, said Luna, we are glad to have your support in real time. In the end, it was necessary for you to enable a voice system to keep you in line with us.

I've been thinking about it for a long time, Luna, said the systems expert. By the way, the tone of my current voice is the same as the one I had before I fell into the coma.

Excuse me for asking, Master Ana Aguirre, said Marshall, is it strange for you to talk to a digital system you created, while your voice remains silent on a stretcher?

Yes, Marshall, replied Ana Aguirre. It is quite strange. And that's the same reason I maintained my stubbornness not to use software to communicate with the analyst developers at the White Shadows company.

But they must know by now... don't they? said Monique.

They'll find out in a few days. I've gotten used to talking to this system.

The conversation between the director of the White Shadows Company and the members of the Purple Brigade continued as they waited for the twelve minutes to expire before taking the next step. Once that time was up, Ana Aguirre executed an algorithm that forced the Queen to move to one of the two blank squares on the chessboard. The other white square disappeared immediately.

Alexandra and Nathan were now only two meters away from the server in the bunker where Kira had been caged. The server appeared at the end of the corridor, like a technological wall with hundreds of little blue and green lights. A black screen located in the center of the equipment revealed data about the activity it was performing.

When they reached the end of this dead end, Nathan spent several minutes observing the data displayed on the screen. The information was presented in blue typography, which made it very attractive. After that, using the tablet, he took a photograph of the data to send it directly to the White Shadows headquarters in Colombia.

Everything else was to be aware of the interactions made by the other members of the brigade.

I think I'll have some fun with the video games on this tablet, said Nathan.

I have the feeling that we could lose the bet we all made together... unless more interactions can be made on this server and this is where Kira's algorithm comes to be filed.

In fact, two more activities were performed from that server to help in the game of opening and closing gates. Later, when Nathan learned that Nuboff's digital assistant had indeed chosen to be stored on that server, a smile of disbelief appeared on his face. That disbelief disappeared only when Ana Aguirre authorized the infiltration of the last code.

During the minutes prior to the authorization, the wife of the Master of Saint