"Are you kidding me? I couldn't get there if I tried!"

Jeremie bowed his head in frustration.

"I know that, Yumi," he replied. "But you have to try. We need you here."

"Jeremie," said Yumi, becoming aggrivated, "when you have a storm that cancels out wireless receptions for miles, that is not the time to waltz off to your favorite factory. You're lucky you caught me on my instant messenger. Besides, I'm babysitting Hiroki tonight."

"Just find a way, Yumi," replied Jeremie. He then pulled down the audio conversation and went back to searching the database for clues to the scanner access file's disappearance.

"Hey Einstein," said Odd, walking up to Jeremie's seat. "how did you talk to Yumi when all these wireless deals are jammed?"

"Cable modem," said Jeremie, not bothering to look away from his work.

~~~

Agony is the keyword here. Am I losing it? I hope not. I really don't. I don't want to become insane, but am I making too much of a big deal of this? I don't know. And I don't want to.

/-CHECK all FILES for text SCANNER
(-None found.
/-REBOOT REGISTRY
(REBOOTing... 

I can't work like this. I could give up and let this entity slip by...or I can stay and worry my mind into submission. I don't want this...

~~~

A sharp electronic ring was emitted from Ulrich's pocket. It was his cell phone going off on him, now of all times.

"Huh? How can someone call me? The wireless is dead, right?"

Nobody listened to Ulrich; everyone was focused in on Jeremie's work. Ulrich reluctantly pressed the small green button on the phone to pick up. A faint and unpleasant noise could be heard, much like a snake's hiss echoing through a narrow hall. Among this cacophony was another sound, this one like a mouse's squeak. However, this sound was buried among the hiss and Ulrich could only recognize parts of it, but these parts were rather unnerving.

"Ulrich---sto--rain is--camera-us---tree--blood and---field--help!"

The signal was cut off from there. Apparently, the transmission was close enough to Ulrich to not be cut off by the storm for a decent amount of time. Ulrich sprinted to the elevator without a word and pressed the red button that he was too familiar with. It seemed as if nobody had noticed at all.

~~~

"Yumi, why isn't my Mario Kart working? I wanna play wireless online!" shouted the young boy.

"Ugh, Hiroki," she replied, annoyed. "just play against the computer or something. You can't do online in this storm."

"I hate this storm!" bellowed Hiroki, who was by now tinkering with Yumi's last nerve. Beyond the nuisance of her brother, Yumi desperately wanted to be able to help Jeremie and the team with their dilemma. Obviously, the storm made it next to impossible.

There's gotta be a way, she thought, staring out the drenched window into the abyss of chaos outside. Just like Jeremie said.