Chapter 238 Seeking The Source
"I will see what I can find," I said as I started to look around, but there was nothing that looked like it would help.
"Papi?" Sofia asked.
"What is it?" I asked her.
"Maybe go back up, and find one of the computers to hack into. Now that you can make power, you should be able to find if there is another Power Focus.
I went back up to the surface and found one of the computers I could use to get into the mainframe. It would take some time, but I could at least start looking for a Power Focus while Sofia looked over what I had already found.
"Hey, have you been able to find anything?" Dawn asked me as she walked up, and I shook my head.
"No, not yet. Have you?" I asked her in return, and she shrugged.
"No, but I am not really sure what I am looking for," Dawn admitted, and I sighed.
"Yeah, me neither. Sofia is going to look over the information I have found and see if she can find anything that might help us out. In the meantime, why don't you try and get some rest? You have been working almost as hard as me," I suggested, and Dawn smiled before walking over and giving me a quick hug.
"You sure do know how to make a girl feel special," Dawn said with a laugh before turning back towards a cot that had been set up, and I watched her lay down with a smile on my face. It was good to finally have someone who understood just how hard all of this was for me instead of always pushing for more or demanding results.
Once she was comfortable, I turned back towards the computer screen in front of me, but no matter what I did, there seemed to be nothing about any kind of power Focus anywhere in their system, but then I hit a wall. It was more like a block that was preventing me from digging deeper, so I focused on the computer, and then I was pulled into it.
I opened my eyes, and I was standing in a strange three-dimensional space like I was inside of a program's coding, but besides the green lines and black space, there was only a wall in front of me. This must be the block, but what was I supposed to do now?
"Papi? Where did you go?" Sofia asked with a bit of worry in her voice.
"I am... inside the computer? I am not sure how to describe it. It is like I am standing in the middle of a bunch of code, but there is a wall in front of me," I explained, and Sofia sighed.
"That is the security barrier that was put into place to prevent anyone from getting the information they need. You are going to have to find a way around it," Sofia said, and I frowned as I looked at the wall again.
I could feel my powers trying to reach out for something, but there was nothing for them to grab onto. This space was not physical, so there had to be another way around this.
Think Daniel... think! There has to be some way to get past this, but what?
I looked at the wall again, and then I started to walk around it. There had to be some kind of way through this, but what was it? I reached out with my scanners and felt something on the other side that was different from the space I was in.
"Sofia?" I asked as an idea came to mind, and she frowned.
"What is this?" I asked plainly, and Sofia screwed up her face at me, and I looked at the digital wall set up as a representation of a security wall to keep people away from the information I was trying to get. I knew what it was, but I didn't know how it was made up.
"It is a... um... It's like a fence," Sofia said slowly as she thought about it. "A wall that is made of code that uses an algorithm to keep people out."
I frowned as I looked at the wall again. If this was just a bunch of code, then maybe I could write my own code to get around it? I didn't know how to write code, but my powers did, or... I could make something!
"I think I know what I can do, but I am not so sure how it will work here since this isn't my real body," I said.
"That is your real body, or as close as you can get in a digital sense. You are not at the computer; you are inside of it from what the scanners show," Sofia explained, and I nodded as I created a key out systeminium and then forged the Restriction System into it, but instead of restricting, it was now the Unrestricted System.
This basically turned this key I had made into the perfect skeleton key. This thing would be useful in more than one situation in the up-and-coming future.
With the key in hand, I walked up to the wall and inserted it into the space next to me. There was a bright light, and then I was on the other side of the wall.
"Papi! You did it!" Sofia exclaimed, and I nodded as I started to look through the files. It didn't take long for me to find what we were looking for.
"Bingo," I said as I pulled up a map with several locations marked on it with a red X. "These are all of their Power Focuses."
There was one extra on base, but it was on the lower level of the bunker. There were two more in China in the same location in Xinjiang, but there was also another in Russia at Kapustin Yar. I either went in blind and found the one below, or I made a couple trips around the world to pick up some things that I was going to have at some point. This would also prevent anyone else from trying to mess with one of these things. It was surprising that they even let this thing remain on Earth from what I was reading.
"No wonder the Cleaner wanted to exterminate us," I groaned as Sofia helped me pour over the rest of the information that was hidden, but the rest was something that Sofia had already figured out from tests and pulling things apart.
"Yes, to think that any of these things were to get hard enough, and they would create an extinction-level event, destroying the world. Aye, aye, do you think that we should be messing with them? Maybe we just send them off somewhere off-world?" Sofia asked, but I shook my head.
"No, this is a confirmed source of power that is used pretty frequently around the universe for space-faring races; these are just really early models that were brought to our world a long time ago for us to study. This was brought to the planet one hundred years ago, according to the records on file, but I know that this thing is over a millennia-old or more, so think of this like a building block. A super dangerous one, but I will rip over to Xinjiang and then Kapustin Yar. I have a feeling that they won't be welcoming, but I will not be talking to anyone," I explained to Sofia as I closed my eyes.
"Alright, let me know when you are back, and I will help guide you with installing it, Papi. Try not to stir up too much trouble while you are gone," Sofia said and leaned into the screen, pressing through to kiss my lips. Once she pulled back, I had a big smile as I opened my eyes outside the computer.
"Best part of my new powers is being able to kiss you anywhere in the world!" I laughed, and Sofia smiled.
"I love you, Papi," Sofia said as I turned and walked away, but not before blowing her a kiss.
"Dawn! I am going for a flight!" I called, and she waved at me with her face still on the pillow. "Are you sleeping?"
"You suggested it, and I have never done it before. It is quite relaxing. have fun and try to keep your temper. If you need me, just call; I can come to you anywhere in the world, just like you can go anywhere now," Dawn explained, and I frowned at her.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"You are connected to all the trees and plants and then are connected all over the world. You can go almost anywhere there is organic life," Dawn explained, and I had a feeling that she was right.
I tried to focus on a specific location, and I suddenly felt myself getting lighter, as though there was no gravity. Then in the blink of an eye, I found myself standing on top of a branch of a tall tree beside the Great Wall of China, looking over at the Gobi Desert in the distance.
"That is amazing," I whispered as I turned and looked back behind me to see people walking along the wall, but they couldn't see me or hear me from what I could tell. As long as there were trees here, then Dawn said that this would work anywhere on Earth, which meant other planets with life should work too! However, for now, it seems like my powers are limited to just Earth.
I turned back towards the desert and willed myself to fly over it, curious to see my surroundings. Once again, I felt the sensation of weightlessness, and in a flash, I was high above the clouds looking down upon them.
"How did he do that?" Someone muttered from below me as I took off at supersonic speeds, flying toward Xinjiang.