Revelations of Destiny | By : Kellendros Category: Kim Possible > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 63461 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. |
The first six hours were easy on Kim—enjoyable actually. The twins still hadn’t beaten the new video-game Ann had wisely purchased for their portable systems, she, Ron, and her parents all still had plenty of fresh things to talk about, like their plans for the coming vacation and the rest of summer—with plenty of note on Ron’s good fortune—how their school year had gone, recent events in their various lives, and even current events they had an interest in. The only thing that really gave Kim trouble were occasional stray thoughts of Shego’s proposition and her suspicions over Ron’s opportunity.
The second worry was more-or-less set to rest around the time of the first major rest stop the family took; an hour at a fairly decent-looking roadside diner to stretch their legs, gas up the minivan, get some supper, and use the facilities. About fifteen minutes before they were supposed to leave, while Kim was taking a walk around the area, she finally got the call from Wade she was waiting for.
“Tell me you found something Wade— errrr… I mean, tell me you didn’t find anything— oh you know what I mean!” Kim anxiously babbled the moment the connection came through and Wade appeared on screen.
“Ahhh, yeah…” Wade took a moment to recover from the barrage before he continued. “I was able to get access to the Bueno Nacho computer systems pretty easily, but it took me a while to sift through everything in order to find some answers. The good news is that as far as I could see, the program does seem to be legitimate. However… there are a few odd things happening that might be suspicious, if you look at them with a bit of paranoia.”
“Like what?” Kim’s voice held obvious, though controlled, worry.
“Well, first of all, it looks like Bueno Nacho changed ownership about four months ago in a hostile takeover. A hostile takeover that was downplayed in the press I might add. Since then there’s been massive restructuring of their internal organization, shipping department, several hundred managerial positions, and the opening of a few dozen new locations in previously untapped markets that were pushed through as quickly as possible. Part of that restructuring has been to close out any and all altruistic donations and programs that were running at a loss—like the one Ron was in, even though he didn’t know it—and the rest of it all seems to be geared towards taking Bueno Nacho in a new family-friendly direction, complete with children’s play areas and a new line of kids’ meals with toy prizes and everything.”
“Ooooohh… Ron’s not going to like that.” Kim winced. A moment later she shook her head sharply and asked; “Ok, so a lot of things are happening, but can you give me anything more suspicious than that Wade? Like Corscan suspicious I mean?”
“Aside from the timing, which I’ll be the first to admit is likely just coincidence, everything seems to be your typical corporate restructuring after a takeover sends a company in a new direction. There’s only one thing that’s odd; the investment group that took over Bueno Nacho seems to have sprung up out of nowhere about six months ago—though, actually, that’s not the odd part, it’s just unusual; groups forming like that for hostile takeovers aren’t all that uncommon. The odd part is that the head of the group is some mystery man who’s only referred to as ‘El Presidente’ in the company communications. I have no idea who he is, and as far as I can tell, it’s going to take some doing to find out. I can confirm that none of the new people taking over upper level positions are female however, and aside from the possibility of ‘El Presidente’, none of them are African American either, so that rules out Corscan, Hui, and Damien Frost being involved—at least, directly anyway.”
Kim sighed. Why could it never be easy? At least now she knew for sure that Shego wasn’t involved—which, to her surprise, was an unexpectedly heavy weight off her shoulders.
“Ok, well… tell me what you think Wade. You’re the one that’s gone over everything and you know more about this kind of stuff than I do. Does it look strange enough that we should be worried?”
Wade made a half-hesitant, half-distressed sound and eventually responded; “I don’t know Kim. On the one hand, with all the weird stuff we’ve seen over the last few years, it could be something… but then again, with all the weird stuff we’ve seen over the last few years, what’s an eccentric, reclusive millionaire businessman? Like you say, it’s no big.”
Wade sighed, a look of focused deliberation on his face as he pondered the question intently, and Kim kept silent as she gave him time to think, impatiently waiting for his answer. Eventually, Wade looked up and spoke with a fair degree of confidence.
“If you want me to I can look into it more, but honestly, I just don’t see enough here to warrant it—especially with everything else we’re dealing with right now. I can set up some watchdog programs to alert me if anything else happens with them that seems strange, but I don’t think we should bother with anything more than that.”
“Ok, we’ll do that then. But if anything changes I want you to tell me right away, ok?”
“Will do Kim.”
“Have a good night then, and I’ll call you sometime Sunday, once I’ve recovered from the trip down to Nana’s, ok?”
“Ok, have fun Kim.” Wade responded before he cut the connection.
“I’d settle for way less than fun Wade…” Kim muttered to herself as she put her Kimmunicator away. She knew what was inevitably coming…
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Despite Kim’s apprehension, the next twelve hours or so went fairly easy for her as well. It was Ron’s turn to drive next—a five-hour shift until midnight—with Kim up front in the passenger seat while her parents took the second set of seats and the twins were in the last. The twins weren’t much of a problem, as they were winding down on their way to falling asleep, and on top of that, as soon as it got dark Kim got some rest herself, drawing upon her ability to sleep anywhere at any time if she had to—as well as the assistance of a good pair of earplugs.
As midnight approached, Ron pulled off the highway and into a gas station to top up the minivan, use the bathroom, get some snacks, and to wake up Kim so they could switch seats and she could take the next driving shift; straight on ‘til morning.
After they set out again, Ron stayed awake for an hour or so, keeping Kim company and talking softly with her, but eventually, he drifted off as well, leaving Kim the only one awake in the vehicle, and giving her a peaceful six hours or so of calm night driving—or at least, relatively peaceful, as the quiet serenity also brought Shego’s proposition to the front of her thoughts, since there was nothing to keep her mind off of it. Even so, despite turning the situation over in her head numerous times with no resolution in sight, Kim still wasn’t particularly troubled; the quandary just couldn’t manage to break the calm, tranquil state she was in.
Despite it being slightly ahead of schedule, Kim pulled into a big highway miniplex of various travelers’ facilities around seven-twenty, figuring it was smarter for them to avail themselves of the location now than to drive on for who knew how long before the next rest stop came up. The family spent slightly over an hour getting up, using the surprisingly halfway acceptable bathrooms, and having what turned out to be an even more surprisingly good breakfast before they set out again.
It was on the next leg of the journey that the trials she had been dreading finally began for Kim. It was her mother’s turn to drive until they stopped for lunch, and around midmorning, the twins finished their games. This was also, coincidentally, the same time the battery for Kim’s MP3 player began running down. It didn’t take long before the twins began getting… rambunctious, with nothing to do but watch DVDs they’d already seen a dozen times or play games they’d already finished, which led to Kim’s parents coming up with ways to… entertain the pair. Ways that in moderation, might have been pleasant for Kim, but ultimately, were not. Around the fifth time “camp-town racers” rolled around she was searching for her earplugs and grateful when she found them—so she wouldn’t have to gouge out her eardrums with a spork.
When the family finally stopped for lunch, Kim found herself alone with her father for a moment, while everyone else was off stretching their legs or using the facilities, and, knowing that it was only going to get worse as the day dragged on, she couldn’t help but grumble; “Remind me again why we’re driving to Nana’s instead of flying there?”
James gave his daughter an indulgent smile, knowing full well what the source of her question was. “Now Kimmie, you were right there with us when we were discussing travel plans. You know full well that with things the way they are at airports nowadays it would have taken us nearly as long to get there by plane as by car, and it would be just as boring and tedious sitting in airport terminals and waiting in boarding lines as driving, if not more so, and I for one am certainly not in favor of spending thousands of dollars for the sole privilege of shaving half a day off our travel time and nothing more. With you and Ronald being fully licensed drivers now so we can drive straight on through instead of stopping at a motel, it makes even more sense.”
Kim sighed. “I know dad, but they’re just sooooo annoying.”
“Well, buck up Kimmie-cub, we’ve only got ten hours to go now; the time’ll just fly by, you’ll see.”
Despite her father’s reassurance, time did not just “fly by” for Kim. On the contrary, it seemed to slow down to an agonizing, molasses-like crawl as things kept getting worse, until Kim was willing to bet she’d died at some point during the trip, and was now slowly sliding into the fifth circle of hell.
The only person that wasn’t suffering from lack of restful sleep, compounded with cabin fever to some degree or other, was Kim, and as the day went on, it slowly began to show in Ron and the twins, as well as Kim’s parents to a lesser extent. The fact that instead of stopping for dinner, they pushed on in order to get to Nana’s before midnight so they wouldn’t keep her up too late, added to everyone’s irritability and sullenness. On top of that, whatever weird reason the twins had for taking it easy on Kim over the last few months was apparently forgotten, and contrary to what Kim would have thought, the long rest from their usual antics had actually reduced her tolerance for them instead of increasing it.
Kim buried herself in reading and napping and ignoring everything that she could with the help of her earplugs, but it was still a nails-on-chalkboard nerve-wracking experience near the end of it. One that had her seriously wishing she could reach up through the roof and get her grapple gun from her suitcase, so she could shoot herself in the head with it.
Somehow, Kim endured and survived, though it was a close thing near the end, and it was not without considerable relief that she got out of the minivan the instant it came to a full stop in the parking lot of the retirement community Nana Possible lived in. Though truthfully, it wasn’t only Kim that was thankful the journey was finally over at this point.
After everyone had exited the minivan and stretched out a little, Kim, Ron, and James went to work unloading the luggage rack, while Ann did her best to keep the twins in check as the excitement of arrival boosted their previously lagging energy levels to new heights. The trio had only just gotten the tarps off when a familiar voice called out cheerfully from the not-so-dark night behind them.
“Hello everybody, I’m so glad to see that you’re all here safe and sound. I was beginning to get a little worried.”
“Nana!” Jim and Tim exclaimed in unison, breaking away from Ann and rushing over to their grandmother, who squatted down with a spry ease and opened her arms wide, sweeping them both up in a tight, loving embrace.
“And how are my two little angels doing? Did you have a good time on the trip down?” Nana Possible asked warmly.
“Yeah!” The twins said in unison, then Jim added in a not-so-hinting tone; “Though we are pretty hungry now…”
“Boys.” Ann said sternly as she approached, and Nana laughed, responding; “Now now dear, it’s all right. They are growing boys after all.” Turning her attention to Jim and Tim, she continued; “Why don’t you two go inside with your mother? There’s sandwiches and potato salad in the fridge and a pan of my lemon squares on the counter—but I want you boys to make sure you have something other than just those, all right?”
“Ok Nana,” Tim said, and Jim finished; “We will!”
As the boys ran off, Ann shouted; “Boys, no running!” and they slowed down to something approaching a fast walking speed as their return shout of “Ok!” drifted back through the night.
Smiling and shaking her head, Ann turned her attention to Nana and embraced the old woman briefly. “Hello Lynn. Sorry to keep you up so late this evening.”
“Oh that’s all right dear.” Lynn responded as she returned her daughter-in-law’s hug. “I don’t sleep as much as I used to these days anyway. Now you go run along and see to your boys while I do the same with mine, all right?”
Ann smiled and nodded, heading off after the twins, and Lynn watched her go fondly for a second before turning to James, a broad, delighted grin lighting up her face as she found him watching her with a warm smile of his own.
“My my it’s good to see you looking so well dear.” Lynn said as she hugged her son, who retuned the embrace with equal affection.
“And you’re looking great yourself mom, as always.” James responded warmly.
“Oh, dear, you always were such a flatterer.” Lynn’s amusement over her son’s remark was as equally plain as her pleasure. A moment later the two released one another from their hug and Lynn took a step back so she could shift her attention to Kim and Ron, who were standing off to the side by the minivan.
“And is that my little Kimberly Ann there?” Lynn said warmly, taking a step forward and opening her arms wide, prompting Kim to an indulgent smile and “Oh Nana.” as she stepped forward and hugged her grandmother affectionately.
A moment later Lynn half stepped back and held Kim at arm’s length, looking her over with an appraising eye.
“Ohhh my, not so little after all it seems. My my my, you’re certainly looking… healthy, Kimberly Ann. But are you sure you’ve been eating well? It’s not natural for a girl to have so little softness to her.”
“Yes Nana, I’m eating fine.” Kim responded in a tight, tolerant rote monotone. “I eat as much as Ron here does.”
“I can vouch for that Nana P.” Ron grinned as Lynn looked over to him.
“Well then we’ll just have to see while you’re down here, now won’t we?” Lynn responded to the both of them, then focused on Ron as she continued; “And I’m glad to see you too young man; you’re looking as lively as ever Ronald. I’m sure you and Kimberly Ann will enjoy the time you’ll have to catch up with one another here.”
“Hmmm? What’s that Nana P?” Honest confusion twisted Ron’s features into a mask of puzzlement at her comment.
Lynn appeared slightly confused herself, looking at the pair as she asked; “Isn’t this the first time you two have had together since Kimberly Ann got that part time job or whatever it is that’s taken up so much of her time?”
“Oh, that!” Ron looked chagrinned. “I guess, but really we’ve kept up pretty well between school, Kim’s weekends, and our travel-time on missions.”
“I see, I see.” Lynn looked at them both for a moment, and then shifted her attention to take in James as well, continuing; “Well then, let’s get you all inside. I’m sure you’re all hungry and could use a good night’s rest after your long journey.
“You got it Nana P.” Ron answered cheerfully, while Kim smiled, nodded, and said; “Yep.” At the same time James said; “Thanks mom.”
It took the trio about ten minutes to unload the car and take everything inside, and it was only a half-hour or so after that that everyone had finished eating and settled in for a much-needed good night’s sleep.
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Despite Kim’s ability to sleep when needed, the rest she’d had while traveling was still ultimately less restful than sound sleep in a real bed, and as a result, despite going to bed very early for her, given the time difference, Kim slept in later than usual the next morning, getting up only a few minutes before seven. It was still early enough that she managed to get into the bathroom before everyone else though, which gave her a twisted satisfaction when the twins were baying at the door about ten minutes later. She took her time for what they put her through yesterday, and only left the bathroom once her father added his voice to the requests for her to exit as quickly as possible.
Later, at breakfast, Kim only had a glass of juice along with her daily vitamins, a banana, and a small bowl of cereal, declining everything else and prompting Lynn to pointedly comment; “That’s not a very big breakfast for you Kimberly Ann.”
“I know Nana, but I want to go do my workout before it gets too hot out there, and you shouldn’t exercise on too full a stomach. Don’t worry, I’ll be eating plenty when I get back in a few hours.”
“Oh, all right then, but remember to be careful Kimberly Ann; you don’t want to strain anything, now do you?” Lynn responded, while across from Kim, Ron looked up and said; “Cool, I’ll come with.”
“Yes Nana.” Kim responded in a resigned tone before turning to Ron and continuing with a raised eyebrow; “And you want to come work out with me?”
“And why not? Even I need to do some work from time to time to maintain my awesome bod.” Ron replied in mostly mock-smugness, grinning as he did.
Kim just rolled her eyes, getting up and heading for the sink to rinse out her bowl while she responded; “Fine, but I’m leaving as soon as I change, so be ready.”
“Sure thing KP.”
Kim went to her room and quickly changed into a heavy cotton outerwear sports bra, shorts, gym socks, and sneakers, as well as grabbing her weighted forearm and shin wraps, cell phone, Kimmunicator, and wallet, tossing them all in a small carryall before heading out with Ron. As soon as they were well on their way to the local version of Muscle Beach and out of sight of the retirement community, Kim asked Ron; “Ok, so why are you really coming along with me?”
“What? Can’t I want to get a little exercise?” Ron asked innocently, prompting Kim to raise an eyebrow while Rufus looked at him askance from his perch on Ron’s shoulder.
“Ok, ok, so maybe it has more to do with hot babes working out under the Florida sun than anything else…” Ron finally confessed, prompting a broad grin from Rufus over the reluctant admission.
“That sounds more like it.” Kim responded with a wry smile. “Well if you’re going to use me as cover for your babe-watching, you’re going to have to work for it. I don’t really need a spotter but having one doesn’t hurt, and I’ll need you to help me run strike drills too.”
“Sure thing KP.” Ron answered.
Two hours later, Ron was panting and wheezing in the hot summer sun and wishing he’d never opened his big fat mouth, while Rufus looked on from a comfortable spot on the sidelines, relaxing in a folded cardboard beach chair he’d made for himself, resting under a fancy drink umbrella—the drink itself he was also drinking out of, using a long straw made by fitting two shorter ones together.
“I can’t… can’t believe you do this… do this every day.” Ron gasped as he pulled himself upright, holding up his hands so Kim could launch another flurry of high speed attacks at them, each one precise and perfectly controlled, with barely any impact despite the two-pound weights she was wearing on each of her limbs.
“Every weekday, yup.” Kim responded, her breathing only slightly taxed and her skin covered in a sheen of sweat from the heat, as opposed to Ron’s slicked-down look—though admittedly, Ron was sweating less than most people who knew him would have expected. “You know, I could help you with a program if you wanted to start training with me Ron.”
A look approaching abject terror washed across Ron’s face, and he hastily objected; “Oh heck no! I mean… ok, so my… my legs are doing ok… and I can still hold my arms up here—barely… but… that’s about it… if I… if I did everything you did… earlier… I’d have passed out… a long time ago. So… thanks… but no thanks.”
“All right then, but anytime you want to reconsider…” Kim left the statement hanging as she finished up her final assault. Once she was done, she concluded; “Ok, that’s enough for today.”
“Oh… thank goodness!” Ron immediately bent over, bracing himself with his hands on his knees and puffing like a steam engine. Even so, it took him less than a minute to recover enough to walk over to where Kim was drinking the last of the bottled water she’d bought. Reaching down to grab his own water, Ron leaned up against the railing and guzzled it down thirstily.
Finally realizing that the pair was finished when they saw Kim taking off her weighted wraps and putting them away, the crowd that had been watching them began to break up, with a few people applauding and others making appreciative comments. As they dispersed, two considerably good-looking young women made their way over to the pair, smiling as the taller blonde commented; “Oh wow, you were just great.” while the shorter mouse-brown brunette added; “And you look fantastic too.”
“Ahhh, thanks.” Kim smiled back, but the pair had already turned their attention to Ron.
“So are you like, her trainer or something?” the blonde asked.
Ron paused, swallowing the mouthful of water he’d just taken, and then put on a big grin, raking his hair back with left hand as he said; “Why yes, yes I am. And why might you lovely ladies be asking?”
Across from him, Kim raised her eyebrow slightly and gave Ron a clear look of “Oh really?” but neither he nor the other two noticed.
This time the brunette took the lead as she answered; “Well we’re going to be entering the West Palm Beach Miss Hardbody contest a few weeks from now, and since your friend here looks so good, we were wondering if you could give us some help as well.”
This time Ron did notice the look Kim shot him, which was a cross, unmistakable “Ron, you don’t have the first clue about training, don’t you dare…”
Ron took it in stride though, smoothly responding to the pair; “I’d be more than happy to offer my services to a pair as beautiful as the two of you, but I should let you know, I’m not really so much of a technical kind of coach so much as I’m a motivational coach. Y’know, keep things on track, focused, and the energy up? That kind of thing…”
“Oh that’s ok,” the blonde answered eagerly, “we don’t care how you do it; your results speak for themselves!”
“Well then, shall we get started? You ladies can tell me a little about yourselves over an early lunch and we’ll see what we can see…”
“Ok! Thanks a lot!” The pair bubbled in unison, and Kim rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly, bending over and collecting her carryall before dryly saying; “Well you go have fun there ‘coach’, I’m heading back.”
“Ok KP.” Ron said in a distracted tone before turning slightly and shouting to Rufus; “Come on Rufus, time to go.”
As Kim was walking away she couldn’t quite overhear the introductions, but when Rufus came up—she assumed—she didn’t miss the louder, inevitable “Oh! What is it?” and an unexpected “Ohhhh! He’s soooo cute!” from the blonde. A moment or two after that she also heard an even more unexpected “Wait a minute… Ron and Rufus? You’re not the Ron and Rufus that held that crazy party out at the old gator farm the Spring Break before last, are you?”
A few seconds later Kim heard twin high-pitched squeals of delight behind her, and she shook her head again, thinking; Luckiest. Man. Alive. But she was smiling as she did.
Kim wanted to wander around for a while and enjoy the sun, beach, and boardwalk, along with the sights—especially the scantily clad well-toned female variety—but the gnawing hole in her stomach had other ideas, so instead she was forced to head back to Chez Leisure in search of food.
Along the way, the minute or two it took to kick a purse-snatcher in the base of his skull and then wait for the beach patrol that was chasing him to catch up was her first delay, and the second came in the form of a call from Shego.
Looking all around in every direction as she pulled out her cell phone, Kim risked answering it with; “Hey Shego, what’s up?” It was only a moment later that a strange little feeling passed through her as she realized how weird her saying that so comfortably was.
“Well, I am for one…” Shego responded somewhat listlessly, giving Kim an earful of loud slurping noises a moment later. “So how’s your vacation going?”
“Pretty good. We got here ok, with no major problems aside from the usual crap I have to endure on long car trips with my family.”
“Oh really?” Shego seemed to perk up with interest. “You mean to tell me that Princess Kimmie doesn’t happily go all Van Trapp family with the rest of her clan? I can just see you all now, singing songs, playing travel games…”
Despite Shego’s teasing efforts, they didn’t particularly irritate Kim. The annoyance she felt while traveling with her family for long periods of time, from the very things Shego was talking about, wasn’t something she could deny, nor was it something she could pass up the opportunity to vent about.
“Yeah well those are all fine the first few hours, but after a day or more of having to deal with it nonstop and my brothers on top of it, I start feeling like I want to rip my hair out by the roots.”
Surprisingly, instead of twisting the knife, Shego sympathized; “Oh don’t get me started on brothers! There’s a reason I let Hego paint the Go Jet like a clown-car in return for him caving on the expense of making it supersonic, and it sure as hell wasn’t because I thought we needed to get where we were going as fast as we could for the sake of ‘the poor people in trouble’ like I told him!”
Kim laughed even as she mentally shuddered over the thought of traveling with four brothers instead just the pair she had now. Before she could say anything however, Shego continued; “Anyway, I wish I could say I called just to see how you were doing, but I didn’t. I don’t know about your techno-dork, but my overpaid ones sent me an update today, and it isn’t good. Not only haven’t they been able to find any information on your girlfriend and her associates yet, but the data store I brought them had nothing on it either—”
“What?” Kim’s shocked exclamation cut Shego off as well as drew the attention of various passersby, but Kim ignored the looks as she continued in a lower but no less intent tone; “How is that possible? I don’t know that much about computers, but from what Wade told me the only way you can alter a data store is to go where it is and do it yourself. Or, you know, hook some techno-thingie up to it so someone else can do it for you. There’s no way she could have taken out every data store in the world…” Kim paused, then hesitantly asked; “Could she?”
“I don’t know, but it had my nerd herd seriously tweaked and spouting off reams of compu-babble that I tuned out a minute or two after they started. I threw some more money at them and ordered a full-scale deep data search, which is going to take a long time according to them, but at least they seem to be really motivated now. As for the other… I’m not even going to consider that until I send the data store off to Neon Spyder and see what he thinks about it first.”
Kim wasn’t sure, but she thought she detected the same sense of unease she was feeling in the tone of Shego’s final words, and she agreed completely. The idea that Corscan could have hundreds of secure data storage facilities penetrated and tampered with virtually overnight was too disturbing to contemplate until they absolutely had to. There was no way she could have that kind of power… could she?
“Ok then, I’m going to contact Wade and see what he’s found. Do you want me to call you back after?”
“Nahhh… don’t bother unless he found something important my guys didn’t. Speaking of which, how ‘bout those hard drives? Anything on them, or were they a bust?”
Kim sighed. “Sorry Shego. Wade said they were erased with a magnetic field of some kind before new information was put back on them, so he couldn’t get anything else off them.”
“Meh… I figured as much.” Shego sighed. After a few moments of silence she continued; “Well I guess that’s it then. Unless, of course… you might… have an answer to my question now?”
Despite the current situation, Kim couldn’t help the curling smile that tugged at the left side of her mouth over the veiled eagerness in Shego’s hesitant tone.
“Not yet Shego.” Kim said softly. “I thought about it some on the way down, but I still can’t say I’m really sure what I think about it yet, let alone whether or not I want to do it… Sorry.”
“Well, better that than the other.” Shego said cheerfully. “I’ll catch you sometime in the next few days then Princess. Bye!”
“Bye Shego.” Kim responded just before Shego hung up. A few moments later she’d put away her cell phone and switched over to her Kimmunicator, hitting the direct line to Wade as soon as she had it out.
When Wade came on screen, Kim quickly took note of his haggard state; it was hard to miss. The young boy’s eyes were bleary and bloodshot, his hair was mussed, and his face carried a generally frazzled air about it.
“Did I wake you up?” Kim asked, concerned.
“No, I just haven’t been sleeping well for the last few days.” Wade’s voice was a bit harsh and strained.
“And this wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with that data store I got you, would it?” This time Kim’s question was more stern than anything else.
“Sorry Kim, but I couldn’t help it.” Wade ruefully rubbed the back of his neck for a few seconds, looking down as he did. “I started work on the data store Friday night, right after supper, and you wouldn’t believe what I found! Or rather, what I didn’t find…” Wade paused for a moment to make sure Kim was listening, then continued; “The original information I found on Corscan and the company, the information that vanished from all the sources I found it on the first time round, it wasn’t on the data store either!”
“But I thought you said that wasn’t possible unless you tampered with the information at the site itself. You don’t think Corscan could have done that, do you?”
“I don’t know about that Kim, and although it’s never been done before, with everything we’ve seen from the mad scientists you’ve fought over the years, you can’t really rule out some kind of remote manipulation being possible either, but in this instance, that’s not the case.”
“What do you mean?” Kim asked intently.
“I found miniscule traces of code-patterns in the altered data that suggest a program was used to accomplish the changes on site—but I’m talking the computer equivalent of microscopic here Kim! The only reason I noticed it at all was that I refused to let it go until I’d checked every last byte trying to figure out how it happened.”
“But… doesn’t that just prove Corscan had the ability to tamper with all those data stores somehow?” Kim’s tone was anxious and confused.
“Well, yes, but not the way you mean Kim.” Wade shook his head. “The patterns don’t make any sense if someone was actually on site changing the data, and I can’t see how any kind of remote alteration would have caused them either. What they do suggest is that some kind of complex, highly advanced program did it. A program that was already in the data and somehow managed to change it despite being in a secure, read-only system, which isn’t totally impossible, but for all intents and purposes is practically impossible with everything I know about computer code and the way data stores work.”
Wade shook his head again and then sighed, looking down at his keyboard. A moment later he looked up with a determined expression on his face.
“There’s no other choice Kim; I’m just going to have to figure out a way to examine the Summer Springs data store in person. I need to check the actual machines this was all done on to be sure of my findings, as well as seeing if I can discover any additional information or clues on them.”
“Are you sure about that Wade?”
“Yeah, there’s no other way.”
“Well, I’ll see what I can do then. I must know someone who can arrange it…” Kim trailed off, considering, but Wade quickly spoke up; “No, don’t bother. I’ll see to this one on my own.”
Kim’s brow furrowed slightly. “Why do you want to do it on your own Wade?”
“Well, for one thing, because there’s no need for you to waste one or more of your favors on this when I can get it done through my own contacts and influence—don’t forget Kim, in the field of computer programming I pull serious weight all on my own.” Wade grinned for a few moments, but then his expression sobered and grew serious. “But mainly, I want to do this on my own because this is what I do Kim. Computers and coding are my thing—the one thing I’m best at—and I need to find out how this was done just because it was done, and I need to know how. Do you understand Kim?”
“Yeah, actually I do Wade.” Kim smiled. “Ok then, I’ll let you handle this one on your own. Any idea how long it’ll take?”
Wade shook his head. “No idea Kim, sorry. If everything goes well, I might be able to get in sometime this week, if I’m lucky. After that, it depends on what I find there. I hope to have something for you by the time you get back from your vacation, but I can’t promise anything. In the meantime I’ll keep working on all the other lines of investigation I’ve got going. Maybe if we’re lucky something will turn up from one of those.”
“All right, I’ll leave it to you then. And thanks Wade, I really appreciate all the work you’re doing on this.”
“No problem Kim; glad I can help.” Wade gave Kim a grin before he cut his connection with her.
Kim put her Kimmunicator away and started making her way back to Chez Leisure again. As she went, she considered calling Shego back, but ultimately decided that what Wade had told her didn’t qualify as important enough to bother. Plus she wasn’t entirely sure what the woman would do with the information either. She wouldn’t put it past Shego to go steal every piece of equipment from Summer Springs or some other data storage facility, like Drakken’s thieves had done with the Middleton Space Center’s mainframe, just so she could have it all examined by the people she was employing.
Kim got back to Nana’s about ten minutes later, and had the rest of her leftover breakfast before showering and changing into something a little more comfortable. After that, she lounged around in the sun and managed to put everything out of her head and relax—really, fully relax that is—for the first time in over a week. It didn’t last though, as about an hour later everyone but Ron returned for lunch, which she ate enough of to finally make Nana smile contentedly—though only because Lynn took note of the breakfast leftovers Kim had eaten earlier as well.
After lunch, Kim’s parents took the twins in tow, intending to spend the rest of the afternoon taking them to a variety of educational sites in the area, in order to balance out the fact that they were planning on spending all of tomorrow at an amusement park in the morning and a water park in the afternoon, before coming back for a big beach barbecue and then watching the Fourth of July fireworks display.
Surprisingly, Kim found herself coming along for the trip, mostly because Nana was going as well, and she wanted to spend some time with her, but also because she was in a strangely comfortable mood and just felt like spending time doing something enjoyable with her family.
The afternoon passed smoothly and pleasantly, with the group returning for a late supper in good spirits. While everyone was off settling down from the excursion and Kim was in the kitchen helping Lynn get supper ready—mostly by peeling and cutting and chopping and fetching; Nana Possible was well aware of Kim’s considerable deficiencies when it came to any kind of real cooking—the old woman took the opportunity to talk to Kim while they were alone.
“Will you be going with your brothers to the amusement parks tomorrow Kimberly Ann?”
“Ahhh, yeah, no. Ten hours waiting in lines, watching the tweebs go crazy and complaining and everything else just to go on a few rides? Noooot what I consider fun Nana, sorry.” Kim smiled.
Lynn smiled herself, responding; “Well, I understand how little brothers can be trying for a girl your age Kimberly Ann, but I can’t help enjoying them; they’re just so lively and such curious and bright young boys.” After a few moments seemingly lost in thought, Lynn sobered slightly and continued; “I’m going to be going with them for the morning, but I’m afraid that water parks aren’t the sort of place for an old lady like myself. Would you like to spend the afternoon with me? I thought we could have a nice lunch and talk, maybe do a little sparring later on? I’ve been looking forward to seeing how much you’ve improved since last summer.”
Kim pondered for several moments, then, with just the slightest hesitation, answered; “Ummm, yeah, sure, I’d love to do that Nana; it’ll be fun. Just you and me for the afternoon.”
“Then it’s a date.” Lynn smiled warmly, and Kim smiled back.
Kim finished up helping Lynn about a half-hour before the supper she was cooking would be done, and they spent a while talking casually while Lynn tended to the cooking process. Ten minutes later Ron blew in as if unerringly sensing the coming meal Lynn was preparing.
“Hey hey, what smells so good Nana P?” Ron’s tone was cheery and bright.
“That’s my special spaghetti sauce and meatballs Ronald, along with buttermilk biscuits in the oven. I hope you’re hungry.”
“Sure am Nana P, sure am.” Ron grinned and sat down at the table, near Kim.
“Seems like you’re in a real good mood there Casanova. Things went well with Bambi and Thumper did they?” Kim’s tone and wry smile held only a hint of teasing mockery in it.
“Hey, how did you know one of them was named Bambi? The other one’s Trixie though, not Thumper…” Kim only had time to think; Oh god… before Ron continued; “And I must say that it is indeed going quite well with them.”
“Oh really?” Kim’s grin twisted deeper at Ron’s own pleased—if slightly goofy—grin. “Well, good for you lover-boy.”
Before either teen could say anything more, the musical chirp of Kim’s Kimmunicator interrupted them.
“What’s the sitch Wade?” Kim asked as soon as she pulled the device out and hit receive.
“Trouble Kim. I just got word that an experimental construction exo-frame has been stolen from the Endine Technologies Labs in Seattle. The incident reports indicate that it was Señor Senior Senior’s doing, and that he’s most likely on his way to use it to break Junior out of prison, given that the helicopters he was using were on an exact vector for it before the authorities lost track of them.”
“Aaaahhhh…” Kim’s aggravation was crystal-clear in her disgusted growl. “This would happen while we’re halfway across the country, and on vacation too!” Kim sighed. “Can you find us a way there in time Wade?”
“It wasn’t easy, but already done Kim—though if Senior’s helicopters weren’t moving relatively slowly because of the difficulties in transporting the exo-frame, there’d have been no way to get you there in time.”
“Ok then, we’re on it Wade. Send the pickup information to my Kimmunicator and we’ll be there as soon as we get ready.” Kim disconnected from Wade and turned to Ron. “Come on, let’s go.”
“But… what about supper? I mean… Nana P’s special spaghetti and everything…” Ron whined mournfully.
“It’ll still be here when we get back, now let’s go Ron.” Kim responded in her no-nonsense voice.
“Oh, I wouldn’t want the two of you to go hungry dears; I’ll make you something for your trip. You know you shouldn’t skip meals Kimberly Ann…” Lynn chided, and Ron perked up a little even as Kim threw a “Yes Nana; thanks Nana.” over her shoulder as she rushed off to change. A moment later Ron quickly left the kitchen to do the same.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kim and Ron got back around one-thirty, mainly because they actually had to wait for Señor Senior Senior to reach the prison and attack it. The exo-frame had been difficult to take down, but in the end Kim managed to pull it off, with a little technical assistance from Wade. Despite his defeat, the cagey old billionaire managed to escape at the last moment, which irritated Kim to no end; it had taken the whole return trip for Ron to finally calm her down.
After silently slipping inside, the two teens found a note letting them know Nana had made up plates of spaghetti for them and put them in the oven to keep them warm, and the hungry pair thankfully—and very quietly, so as not to wake anyone up—enjoyed a late supper. As soon as they finished eating, the pair went straight to bed. Ron because he knew he had to get up reasonably early in order to meet the girls he was “coaching” for their next training session, and Kim because she was actually a little tired from all the day’s activity.
As she drifted off to sleep, Kim wondered what tomorrow would bring. Despite her advanced age, last summer Nana Possible had been a better fighter than Kim. Strangely enough, in spite of all the progress she’d made, Kim still couldn’t shake the certainly that at best, she was only going to hold her own against Nana…
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