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Chapter Fourteen
Goom hastily explained the bare basics of the situation to Ax, whispering the information in hopes that his whisper might be translated into a PM instead of a post. He felt a little silly, but it was a precaution he needed to take.
He carefully avoided mentioning Richard by name, phrasing everything as though it were only a theory that one of his friends had been taken, rather than the fact that he knew it to be. He had to be careful. It might be plausible that he had merely guessed whatever was taking the RAFians to be a hacked outerworlder, after all. But if he proved himself to know exactly who it was, then the false Richard would know that the game was up. And who knew what kind of destruction the imposter would reap with nothing left to lose?
Ax curiously followed Goom outside of the Animorphs Board, only to halt, utterly stunned by what he found there. The Andalite marveled up at the rest of RAF, completely taken aback by the existence of an entire alternate world just outside of his own. The Boards towered over the two of them as they made their way towards the edge of the forum.
<What is this place?> Ax wondered as they walked along. <How can there be an entire universe coexisting so close to my own?>
"Uh, it's a long story. And I have a feeling most of it would be pretty disheartening from your perspective," Goom said vaguely. "Probably best if you don't know everything."
<I would rather know, than remain ignorant of a disheartening truth,> Ax replied staunchly.
But Goom shook his head silently, refusing to say more. How was he supposed to tell Ax that he was nothing more than a character in a fictional book series?
<So, how is it that you speak English?> Ax wondered after a while, finally giving up and changing the subject.
"Another long story," Goom sighed. "Technically, well, I'm actually from here."
<What?> Ax wondered. <But you do not resemble any other earth species. Your proportions are very different. I have never seen another earth species with a head as relatively large as yours.>
"Hey," Goom said, mildly offended. "My head isn't
that large."
<I apologize if I have misspoken,> Ax said. <But, where are you from? How did your species remain hidden from humans?>
"
Another long story," Goom said mysteriously. "Suffice it to say, even for someone like you, it would be a pretty unbelievable tale."
Ax was quickly becoming frustrated by Goom's evasive answers, but he managed to keep his patience. He knew that if he wanted his own secrets kept, he would need to respect those of the goomba.
The two of them had reached their destination. As they passed from the bright light of the forum into the comparatively dreary concrete room, Goom sighed with relief when he saw that the false Richard was nowhere in sight. He nodded towards a humble office computer sitting off to the side, where Ax quickly got to work. To offset suspicion, Goom had told him to track the actions of dozens of users, refusing to give him any sign that one in particular was more important than the others.
Goom marveled appreciatively as Ax's many fingers expertly tapped the keys, effortlessly writing the programs he would need to penetrate any security he encountered, and others to hide his own presence on the system. Ax quickly brought up several user's logs, and Goom quietly studied Richard's in particular. As the Andalite kept working, more and more details popped up on each of the accounts. The false Richard seemed to have made contact with some other website, but its address was still hidden. Goom heard Ax grumble in thought-speak frustration as he collided with what seemed to be an impassable stumbling block.
<This 'Richard' figure, he seems to be accessing another site on a heavily encrypted connection,> Ax said to Goom in private thought-speak that Goom desperately hoped 'Richard' would not be able to access. <He has to be the one you're looking for. But, I cannot crack the connection. All I can tell for certain is that he sent some kind of informational file, and during that transaction, the other site very briefly made contact with this 'RAF.' A different transaction of some kind occurred during that contact, but it occurred during such a short, nearly instantaneous, interval that I cannot even tell what was sent or received. And I cannot break into the other site. I do not have any clue as to its identity.> His thought-speak sounded frustrated, unused as he was to being foiled by earth-based security systems.
Goom nodded thoughtfully. "Thank you, that should be enough," he said, choosing his words carefully, since he couldn't thought-speak privately like Ax could, and so feared that he might be 'overheard.' "I am in your debt. Seriously, if you ever need a favor in return, come find me."
They left the data room, and Goom led Ax back to his home within the Animorphs Board, where they silently parted ways. Having just discovered that his entire world was only a smaller world inside of a mysterious larger one, Ax had a lot to think about.
And so did Goom. So, whatever was going on, it was apparently much bigger than just Richard. Whatever website he was interacting with, they had to be quite advanced if they could block Ax. Who could have that kind of technology? Granted, Goom realized, that Ax was only a fictional character here within RAF. His technological prowess would of course be hampered by the fact that he was a mere creation of human minds. Still, his abilities should have still been enough to get past at least most low-level security systems that would have guarded typical run-of-the-mill websites. So, who would have been blocking him?
And, what information was being exchanged? The informational file that 'Richard' had sent, which Ax had alluded to . . . was that some kind of data on user accounts, which would have allowed them to be stolen or deleted? Or was the interaction between the two sites something deeper? A completion of the teleport that had begun with the malfunction, perhaps? Were Estelore, Noelle, and Aquilai back in the real world, after all?
Goom knew one thing, though. He couldn't stand by and do nothing while the false Richard kidnapped the RAFians one by one. An idea was forming in his head, an idea to track down the missing RAFians. But it would take a whole lot of secrecy up until the last possible moment, and then it would require absolutely flawless split-second timing. They would only get one shot.
Goom headed towards the Social Board. It didn't take long for him to track down Estrid, who was pacing wearily in her profile. She looked like she wanted very much to sleep, but there was just too much on her mind, and even though it was late, her jumpy Andalite instincts were still keeping her frustratingly alert.
She spotted Goom, and trotted forward to greet him. She could easily tell that the goomba looked uneasy about something.
<What's wrong?> Estrid asked.
"Shh," Goom said, before he realized how paranoid that sounded. "Um, I mean, I think we need to schedule a RAF meeting for tomorrow. Aquilai is . . . gone."
<Aquilai's gone?> Estrid echoed anxiously, rubbing her head. <Oh, man. How many of us are going to disappear before this ends?>
"I don't know," Goom said.
<Wait, why do we need to have an entire meeting, though?> Estrid wondered. <Couldn't I just announce that he disappeared?>
"No, it has to be a meeting. There are other things I want to talk about," Goom said quickly. "Things we didn't get a chance to get around to during today's meeting. We were sort of interrupted in the middle of proceedings, after all."
Estrid nodded. <Alright, fair enough. When?>
"Oh, let's say around three in the afternoon, central time," Goom said. "That's probably the best we can do in terms of not messing with the European and Australian sleep schedules too much. They're all jet-lagged enough as it is." And, Goom thought silently, that was the time of day that Richard would normally be online. They would need him to be at the meeting, too.
<Okay, then,> Estrid agreed, as Goom walked out of her profile.
Now, Goom thought, he had to find somebody with the reflexes needed to pull off the next part of the plan. But who?
By an incredibly fortunate stroke of luck, at that very moment, a shiny aluminum android caught Goom's eye as he walked past, on his way to his own profile thread down the hall.
"Lumy!" Goom greeted. "How've you been? By the way, I have a small favor to ask of you . . . "
