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Chapter 24
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2024-10-29 19:42:56“God, I’m so stressed right now that I can sleep till Kingdom come!” exclaims Mia as she walks in through the rented room’s front door and proceeds to raid the fridge of its goodies.
“That coming from a girl who just wowed at her entrance interview.” Andrew smiles on his way in after her. “They’d be stupid not to admit you.”
In the light of having nothing to do and more money than they can actually spend- Andrew's exorbitant allowance from his work with Alphatech- Mia suggests that they go to register in a part-time tutorial school not far from the hotel they’re lodging in so that they won’t be behind on schoolwork. Apparently, a bunch of “Pain in the ass” schoolwork is her go-to whenever she’s feeling bored, as Andrew points out.
Of course, he also points out the fact that the registration closed like a week earlier and that day is for the interview only, but after a few minutes
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Port of New York, New York City.Mia hugs the coat tighter round her body as the cold night air blows in from the sea.Try as she can, she can't quite understand why Jacob will choose to meet at the seaport of all places. Maybe he likes the sea, she think, or perhaps he's a fan of the privacy of the setting as the movies will have us believe.Or maybe he's just an egomaniac who wants to show you how much control he has of the situation, her mind supplies.Whatever Jacob's reason is, Mia lets it slide and cocentrates back on her surroundings.On paper, the government owns the port. The truth though, is that Jacob Londermann controls over ninety percent of the operation going on there, just like he does almost every other business venture around the globe. It's like the reach of the man’s tentacles has no end.Soon the entire world will have Alphatech written all over it, Mia
Tekna Chapter 26
“Who are you people?” asks Jacob, facing the men with no fear even at the sight of their big guns.“We’re Joseph Lewis’s own personal knights,” replies the man in front- Mia assumes he's the leader- with an air of importance. “Now if you don’t mind, we’ll take the girl and be on our way.”It’s obvious that Joseph’s men are at the advantage. Jacob has been so over-confident about his victory that he brought a few men with him, and even fewer weapons.“We can win this if we try, sir,” Quinn whispers over the earpiece.But Jacob knows better. “No,” he replies. “We’ll only end up dead if we do so.” This time he has to admit Joseph has gotten him and gotten him good.“Alright, you can take Tekna,” he says to the man, stepping away to give him access to Mia, “but remind your boss that this is far from over.”&ld
Tekna Chapter 27
“You’re sure about everything you just told me, Mr. Londermann?” the detective asks, checking his notepad for the second time.“I told you that my men and I came to the port for a routine check when these men suddenly showed up and began firing at us. My men had to return fire in order to protect me and that’s why all the assailants are now dead. Tell me what part of that sounded unsure, detective,” Jacob returns as he tries really hard not shout at the man standing in front of him.To be honest, Jacob has never been a fan of cops. All talk and no action are what he thought of them. Left to him, he won’t have wanted them involved at all but unfortunately, some passer-by heard the shots at the port and called the cops.Seeing them arrive long after the exchange is over and the dust settle, Jacob recounts the incident- at least, the abridged, open to the public, and uncondemning version of it- to them, just as he repeats i
Tekna Chapter 28
Newark, New Jersey.Paige Houston loves being a doctor a lot, except the part where she has to go home feeling like a deflated tire. Even now as she treads the tiled floor as soundlessly as she can in her wedges, it feels like a thousand hammers are at work in her head at each step.Please God, let today be over already so I can go home and rest, she thinks as she approaches the reception.Or to die too. Whichever floats your boat.“What does the time say, Bertha?” she asks the nurse at the front desk.“Why do you keep asking me that when you have your own wristwatch?” the nurse returns, looking up from the computer she’s working on to glare at Paige. There’s no real venom in her eyes though and the two women soon begin to laugh at one another.“I want to know whatyourtime says, Bertha,” Paige says after a while, still laughin
Tekna Chapter 29
Jacob sits at his desk fuming over the unfairness of how his victory is robbed of him; and a great victory, it will have been too. He already has Mia cornered and about to submit to him. The end of that fight is a certain in that moment.But that end doesn't come like it's supposed to, which is why Jacob decided to call on one of his greatest works to understand why.ElPasado. It's the only device that he can think of to take on the responsibility of answering the most important question of the night: howin the world has Joseph known that he will be at the port with Mia?Now, it's no brainer that Mia herself isn’t behind the leak. She doesn’t like Joseph any more than she likes Jacob. Besides, she has no obvious way of contacting him; and even if she does, Andrew will never have allowed her to do so.Which leaves only one logical possibility to consider: a mole. Someone has been betraying Jacob and feeding Joseph
Tekna Chapter 30
The last thing Andrew expects to see when he opens his eyes is him shirtless with a bandaged side and a strange woman about to inject him with whatever is in her syringe, but that’s exactly what he finds.Injection, it suddenly springs up in his mind and he reflexively kicks the woman in the stomach, winding her and she goes down on a knee; he proceeding to pin her hands behind her back as he assumes a very strong chokehold.“Who are you?!” he screams into her ear. “What have you done to Mia?!”Just then, Mia walks in on the event. “Andrew, let her go!” she shouts, unceremoniously dropping the grocery bags in her hands and running towards them.Though Andrew hears her shout, he doesn’t respond. As it turns out, the adrenaline coursing through his body has taken charge and he isn’t quite fully oriented yet. The woman in his hold begins to wheeze with her lips turning blue and face red- she&rsqu
Tekna Chapter 31
“I’m still not in support of this mad plan of yours to go up against these people,” says Andrew for the gazillionth time as he and Mia sits down in Paige’s study to plan their next move- actually, Andrew is the one doing the sitting, Mia just paces up and down till his head begins to spin from watching her do it.“I already told you that my mind's made up,” she replies, finally sitting down on the table in front of him to rest her own spinning head from pacing about the same axis too much, “but you can leave if you want to. I’m already indebted to you for the rest of my life because of the protection you’ve given me all these days, it’s not necessary for the both of us to put our lives in danger together.”“No. No way, Gates,” Andrew returns, shaking his head vehemently in a show of his disagreement. “I only said that I’m not in support of your plan, not that I’ll leave you
Tekna Chapter 32
Manhattan, New York City.“Are you ready for this?” Andrew asks as he helps Mia out of the limousine they rented specifically for the party, courtesy of their good friend, Dr. Paige Houston.“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she mutters in response, failing to hide a grimace.Thing is, in Mia’s euphoria of inviting herself to what is most definitely the party of the year, and the immense preparation Paige has gone through to make her fit in as best as possible too, she has totally forgotten about her inability to effectively mix with people; but looking at the crowd of elegant, stock up, and well-dressed people flocking into the Manhattan Science and Technology museum serving as the event centre now, it comes flooding back and she isn’t so sure she can get through the party anymore.Be strong, Mia,she tells herself and tries desperately to get her erratically beating heart under
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Tekna EPILOGUE
5 years laterParis, France. The lights in the condominium automatically switches on as Mia walks in through the front door. She shrugs off her snow-covered coat and places it on the hangar next to the door, removing her boots to walk barefooted across the brown fur rug to the kitchen cabinet just as the heater automatically comes on too. “Please, be careful not to get snow on my rug,” she says to Andrew who walks into the apartment after her. “It’s new and I’ll love to keep it that way”. “Gee, so protective.” He rolls his eyes exaggeratedly but complies anyway as he carefully removes his coat and places it on the hangar next to Mia’s. “I have to say that party was great,” Andrew says, depositing himself on the couch. “At least, it was until those two guys began dishing me more French than I could handle.” “Which was why you had me as your designated translator beforehand,” replies Mia wit
Tekna Chapter 44
“You, my dear, aren’t just aTekna. You’retheTekna."The words ring in Mia's head like some alien language. It feels as if her mind can't make a decision on how best to react and so it doesn't- she just stares ahead with a numb expression on her face.Joseph means every word he's just said. Of that, Mia has no doubt; and the intense look in his eyes even then supports it, but not wanting to let herself be upended, she puts on her best mocking smile.“Wow, Joseph!" she says. "That sounds an awful lot like admiration.”“That’s because it is,” he returns.Before Mia can fully vibe the situation though, Joseph suddenly pulls out a gun and points it squarely in her face. “I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep you with me, Mia," he says, "even if you have to be in a cryogenic coffin for that to happen.”Mia's expression takes on that vi
Tekna Chapter 43
Mia wobbles three steps forward before finally giving up and collapses against the wall. She watches her blood stain the wall as she slides uncontrollably to the ground.There's no need to sugarcoat this, I'm a failure, she thinks to herself as she pants helpslessly on the ground. It doesn't take a genius to see that she has failed in her mission to subdue Joseph, and as a result, she’s going to lose her life and Andrew’s too; if he isn’t dead already, that is.Well, guess it’s divine justice that I should die all alone and with a hole the size of the Mississippi in my side too, she laughs at the image in her mind. Irony be that she caused her own death and perhaps a billion others too- it’s a no brainer that Joseph will find a way to remotely control her mind to launch the missiles like he wants.To be honest, she knows from the start she may actually have been alright had she not been so insistent on her freedom.
Tekna Chapter 42
“Is this the part where you kill me?” Andrew passes a look around Jacob’s men as they lead him down a deserted corridor. It’s thirty minutes after his rescue- if it can even be called that- and so far, the only interaction they’ve had with him is to cuff him and say, “Move.”He looks to Jacob. “You know, I don’t get it,” he says. “Why are you so scared of Mia?”“Of course not, Andrew. What ridiculous story is this?” he returns, scoffing. “I’m not afraid of Mia. She’s just a child.”“And yet, here you are.” Andrew shoots him a mocking smile. “Come on Jacob, you’ve crossed every boundary known to humanity in order to get her in your custody. Is that how much she haunts your nightmares?”“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jacob’s voice takes on a threatening tone as he grabs Andrew by
Tekna Chapter 41
Mia’s gaze shifts from the footage of Andrew in his flooded cell to the world map of deathly red dots. A conflicted expression rests on her face. Do I want to save the world? She asks herself. Of course, she wants to. She won't have gone through all the trouble to resist Joseph if she doesn't want to. So now, the real question is, does she want to save the world at Andrew's expense? In all honesty, Andrew has become more than a friend to Mia in the past month; thinking otherwise is just self-denial. He has risked his life for her time and time again, and all without asking anything in return than she should remain safe. She owes him a lot. But can I let the world be destroyed just to save his life? She asks this time, sighing again as the conflict in her soul comes once more to the forefront. The truth, Mia knows that she will definitely lose Andrew if she goes along with Joseph's plan even if it is to save his life. No one wants to
Tekna Chapter 40
Jacob looks down at the endless ocean as the chopper flies past and marvels. No wonder Joseph decided to establish himself here, he thinks to himself, smiling. Truth be told, Jacob isn't that big a fan of waters, but this one feels different. Looking out, he can see that Joseph's choice of the Atlantic ocean is more than just for security. The sight of it actually fills one with an aura of power. Anyone will give anything to remain in the presence of that aura. But ocean thoughts aside, Jacob concentrates himself back on the simple reason why he's made the trip all the way to Joseph: he has Mia and he needs to get her back. Actually, it’s a plan that he has envisioned for a while. In fact, it’s the particular reason why he warned Joseph of Mia’s coming to begin with. Get Joseph to stop Mia and then take her away from him. He smiles to himself. Brilliant, just brilliant. “We’re approaching the building, sir,” the pilot’s voic
Tekna Chapter 39
A few days before Mia's arrival, Joseph is in his office doing his regular overseeing work when his office phone suddenly rings. A frown crosses his face as he takes a glance at the caller ID and sees no name or number on display, which isn't supposed to be possible.Thing is, all of Joseph's phones are tagged with a caller identification app that can hack into any signal- even military- and get him an identity, but the fact that it seems not to be able to work for this particular incoming call can only mean one thing: trouble.“Who's this?" he says cautiously into the phone.“Jacob Londermann,” comes the reply from the other side, “and I’m calling to help you, old friend.”“You!” Joseph grits his teeth so hard it's a miracle he doesn't lose one or two teeth. His heart gets torn between the feeling of anger at Jacob and excitement to hear his voice again after sixteen long years.However, a second lat
Tekna Chapter 38
Thing is, Mia has been able to find out beforehand that Joseph mounted motion sensors in the water. If they get too close to his base, they will run into the sensors perimeter and trigger them. With a little bit of Tekna magic though, Mia has equipped the ship with a software that can easily detect the sensors and thus, avoid them, which it just does. “Ladies first.” Andrew makes an exaggerated gentlemanly posture with a wide grin on his face as he points Mia below deck. “Enough with the drama already, Cameron,” she returns, deliberately brushing against him when she moves. Surprisingly, Mia realises that she sort of enjoyed the contact. In fact, for the past few days, she has been "sort of" enjoying various contacts with Andrew; and has been fostering cases for them too to be honest. Not healthy, Mia, she warns herself. Andrew should be the last person she wants to "enjoy." He's still the same guy that caused you trouble in high
Tekna Chapter 37
Somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Mia stares into the horizon as the cold ocean breeze whips across her face; a gentle reminder that winter isn’t far behind. It has taken a long time, and quite a lot effort, but she can finally say she has beaten Jacob fair and square; and now, she's ready to move on to her next target: Joseph Lewis. Finding Joseph hasn't been a walk in the park for Mia. The man is thickly hidden behind firewalls, shell companies, and general digital footprint animousity; and even with her Tekna ability out to play, following him ithrough all those veils still isn't easy. Fortunately, Jacob's data coin's information proves handy as despite the fact that the coin itself is a bait, and later destroyed, Mia is still able to make use of it- its source code, to be precise- to log on to and communicate with the other data coins in Alphatech; and by extension, use the company's servers and satellites to foster
