The Epic Adventures of Zach Amazing

2005-11-11T15:23:00.000-08:00

Dr. Wallace looked back from his boat. Though he didn't see the cloaked helicopter, he knew he was being followed. "Faster." Above, Zach and the A-Team closed in. "Where's he going?" Zach wondered. "The ocean doesn't seem like a good place to run..." They followed close behind, and within minutes, they saw Dr. Wallace's destination. In the distant was a large building - almost a fortress in nature - built on an island. It was neary cubic; at least 5 stories tall. What made it so unusual, was a large sphere above the building, supported by an enormous pier. As the boat drew close to the island, a portion of the island opened up to receive the ship, then quickly slammed behind. "Well, let's get on in there," Audrey said. "And how are we getting in?" Alicia questioned. "There's always the front door." Zach pointed to a level portion of the island; possibly a landing zone. AnCharlene took a long, deep breath. After a moment of mental preparation, she steered the copter toward the island.

2005-10-25T19:50:00.000-07:00

"Okay, no need to panic. Just gotta think. Gotta think..." Zach looked around frantically. "There's gotta be something I can use..." He looked at the cell door, the cot, then the window. "That's it!" Zach ran over to the cot and pulled the mattress off. "YES!" There was a set of metal boxsprings. Zach took one of the springs and bent it into a straight line. He dashed to the door and jammed the spring into the lock. "Man, I wish I knew how to pick locks." From the window, Zach heard the faint sound of Dr. Wallace's voice: "WHAT?! How can we be out of gas?! We filled up before we left! Fine. Forget the jet. We'll head for the speedboat." "Weird..." Zach looked back at the lock. After a deep breath, he began shoving the door, hoping to shift it. No such luck. Zach slowly walked over to the window. The moon was full and bright. "Can't believe it..." "HEY ZACH!" "WHOA! AnCharlene?!" There she was, smiling through the window. "Wait a second... how-" "Hurry it up, AnCharlene!" called a voice from below. "Audrey? Alicia? How did you guys find me?" "Pretty simple," AnCharlene said. "We just followed Wallace. He took a helicopter over here. "WITHOUT camouflage, I might add..." "Yeah, we cut the fuel line, too," AnCharlene said, pulling out an acetylene torch. "Shield your eyes..." AnCharlene cut through the prison bars like butter, and soon enough, the four were running back to the copter. "We've got to hurry," Zach said as they crawled back into the helicopter. "This is place is set to blow." With that, the blades started spinning, and they were in the air. "Hang on," AnCharlene said. They flew from the island at top speed, knocking Zach from his feet. As soon as he managed to get up, an enormous explosion came from the island, knocking him down again. "Well, there goes Alcatraz. So what now, Zach?" "Follow that speedboat."

2005-10-20T12:22:00.000-07:00

Zach looked around the cell. There was a barred window on one side, to the left, an old cot, and across from the window, the cell door. He walked over to the window and tried to see where he was. From what he could tell, he was up one story, so digging wasn't an option. He could see the water, and the city lit up on the other side. Zach looked back to the cell door. That light was still shining in his eyes, making it hard to concentrate. "Hm..." Zach felt the heavy stone walls for loose bricks. Nothing. "Well, this is a tough one..." Zach thought for a moment. "I wonder..." He felt his pockets, checking to see if he still had his radio. "Come on... come on... ... rats. Well..." Just then, he heard a familiar voice: Fifteen minutes to detonation.

2005-10-18T21:48:00.000-07:00

"Time to get up, Zach... Come on now..." Zach slowly opened his eyes. He looked around: he was in some sort of cell. Looking through the bars, he saw a figure silhouetted by an intense light. "Richard Wallace, I presume?" "Dr. Wallace, to you. So... thought you could foil my plans, did you?" He snickered. "Ah.. so naive. You're out of your league, Zach." He stepped toward the bars. "After all, ALICE is perfect. It won't be long before the world is under my control." "You'll never win!" Zach yelled. "Bah. You act as though you'll be around to stop me. You see, this place has been rigged with enough explosives to level the island." Zach remained quiet. For several seconds, only the sound of the waves could be heard. Dr. Wallace seemed confused. "Aren't... aren't you going to ask me if I expect you to talk?" "No... I can't think of anything you'd need to know from me..." "What?! But... unable...error...missingno...function...No, Zach. I expect you to to die! Mwah ha ha..." "...What?" "And now, I bid you adieu." Dr. Wallace walked off. Zach sighed. "I guess I should get out of here..."

2005-10-15T13:53:00.000-07:00

Zach walked up to the door and ringed the bell. "Dr. Wallace? I need to talk with you..." No answer. Zach started knocking. "Hello... Doctor?" He sighed. "This is Zach; come in, AnCharlene." "What's the hold up down there, Zach?" "I don't think he's home..." "Well keep...krrrrrtttzzz...until...krrrrrrrrvvvv...soon." "What? I'm having a hard time hearing you... must be some interfe-" And all went black.

2005-10-12T14:27:00.000-07:00

"Okay guys; I've got it. Ready for extration," Audrey said over the radio. Audrey climbed up the ladder and back up into the helicopter. She stood up, triumphantly holding a phone book. "Way to go, Audrey," AnCharlene said. Zach opened up the book and studied it for several minutes. He looked out the copter door and pointed to a house near the coast. "Right there." AnCharlene took the controls and started towards their destination. "I'll take this one," said Zach. "Here you go, Zach," Alicia said, handing him a parachute. Zach hesitated. "You know, I think I'll take the ladder."

2005-10-10T11:25:00.000-07:00

"Okay," Zach said. "let's do this." The A-Team Angels each drew a straw. "Alright, who's got the short one?" he asked. Everyone held the straws up side by side. "Aww..." said Audrey, meekly. "Are you sure we couldn't just land?" "Sorry Audrey," said Alicia. "Can't draw too much attention." "Fine..." she said, as she put on a parachute. "Best of luck, Audrey," said Zach. Audrey stepped over to the door of the helicopter. She took a deep breath and dove out over the bay. She started flipping over and spinning around. When she got close to the water, she deployed her parachute. She pulled forward and began soaring towards the bridge. She touched down on top of the south tower and floated down the cable, finally hitting the ground at the end. "I could've done that you know... show-offy gymnasts..."

2005-10-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

AnCharlene was right. There were mor pressing matters at hand. "So... does anyone have any idea what we're going to do?" asked Zach. "Well, no," Alicia answered. "But this is important, right? We'll just have to make it up as we go." "Yeah... I guess so." Zach looked out of the helicopter. In the distance, he saw the Golden Gate bridge. "Umm... do any of you guys know where he lives?"

2005-09-30T06:30:00.000-07:00

Zach was under alot of stress. He was more worried about this mission than usual. This was the first time he didn't have HQ backing him up. He was used to knowing what to expect in advance. This would be completely on the fly. His stress was apparent when he thought he saw the copter turn light blue. "Wha- huh?" "Okay guys. Camoflauge is active," said AnCharlene. "Oh, cool. So you guys have a camo-helicopter?" asked Zach. "Yeah," said Ancharlene. "We usually match it to the sky color, but we needed to get your attention. Hence the pink." "We don't really like pink that much..." said Audrey. "Well... won't people still hear a helicopter?" "You'd think that," said Alicia. "I don't know how it works, really." "Some kind of reverse acoustic thing. Who cares," said AnCharlene.

2005-08-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

"So, Zach, what are you doing out here?" asked AnCharlene. "Well," Zach said, taking a deep breath, "I'm saving the world." "The world, huh? That's a lot more than you usually take on..." said Audrey. "So who's threatening to take over the world?" asked Alicia. "You may want to get some snacks; it's a long story..." "Then I guess we're going to San Francisco," said Audrey. "Really? You guys are going to help?" "You bet, Zach," said Alicia. "I'll go change course," said AnCharlene. And with that, the big pink copter headed for California.

2005-08-26T08:39:00.000-07:00

As soon as he felt the tension in the ladder break, he grabbed for the helicopter, but to no avail. His hand fell short, and he began to fall. But before he had even realizd what happened, an arm reached from inside the copter. "Hang on!" someone said. Soon after, a new rope was lowered from the door. Zach grabbed the rope and pulled himself inside. Zach laid on the floor, catching his breath. "Welome aboard," said one voice. Zach looked up and saw three figures standing around him. "Who are you guys?" he asked. "Well, we certainly aren't 'guys,'" said another. "Allow us to introduce ourselves: I'm Alicia." "I'm Audrey." "And I'm AnCharlene." Zach's blurred vision slowly came into focus. "Oh, the A-Team."

2005-08-23T12:29:00.000-07:00

Zach grabbed the rope above, pulling himself within a few feet of the helicopter door. Behind him, it seemed ALICE had run out of ammo. The bullets quit firing. Zach looked back at the jet black helicopter. Mission accomplished. With that, the copter made a U-turn and flew off. Zach was in disbelief. "Why would ALICE have thought she finished me off?" he thought. But Zach soon received an answer. He felt the ladder fray. He looked up and saw it unraveling where a bullet had struck. Soon after, the ladder snapped.

2005-07-27T07:19:00.000-07:00

Zach heard the sounds of gunfire behind him. ALICE was trying to shoot the copter down. Zach continued to make his way up the ladder. As he neared the half-way point, a bullet struck one side of the ladder. The rope was cut, leaving half a ladder connected to what may as well have been just a rope. Zach held on for his life, trying to reach the still whole top half.

2005-07-25T08:12:00.000-07:00

Zach tried to climb the ladder, but it was alot harder while flying through the air. ALICE continued her chase. Slowly, Zach made his way up. The copter began making evasive maneuvers, which didn't put Zach in a good position. The trees below were dangerously close. Zach just kept trying to climb. It seemed they were loosing ALICE. Zach then heard from behind him: Weapon systems activating "Oh boy..."

2005-07-23T16:01:00.000-07:00

The copter was coming up fast from the base of the cliff. From behind him, Zach heard the familiar side of helicopter blades. "Wait, there's two?!" Zach looked down the cliff. This copter definately wasn't ALICE. This one was painted bright pink. "Um... ok. That's a little weird." The pink copter rose up past Zach. He felt the sudden force of the helicopter beating down on him. He was knocked off his feet. Looking up, he saw that a ladder was being lowered from the pink copter. Behind him, he heard ALICE gaining. He grabbed the ladder dangling in front of him and began climbing. The pink helicopter began flying off with ALICE chasing, and Zach dangling below.

2005-07-21T10:34:00.000-07:00

Zach was thinking of how he could get to California, when he heard a helicopter in the distance. "It couldn't be ALICE again, could it?" Zach got to his feet. "If she can redirect a train, I'm sure she could fly a helicopter after me..." A voice came over a loudspeaker: You can't escape, Zach. Zach began running from the river. He didn't know how far the copter was, but it sounded close. He looked back and saw it coming over the cliff. Zach didn't think he could outrun a helicopter, but he'd have to try. He continued running through the trees, but stopped abrubtly. "WHOA!" In front of him, there was another dropoff. "What?! Is it national put-cliffs-everywhere week?!" Zach had lost track of his turns and wasn't sure where the copter was. "Looks like I'm gonna have to jump... again." Zach decided to look down and see where he could land. To his surprise, another helicpoter was coming up towards him. "Oh boy..."

2005-07-17T10:21:00.000-07:00

Zach swam towards the shore as fast he could. As soon as he got to the land, he got to his feet and broke into a run. An instant later, the train cars landed in the river behind him. Water shot into the air. Zach looked back. The cars had all fallen into the river behind him. He was safe for now. He sat down to rest. Zach reached in his pocket and pulled out his comm device. He shoke the water off. "So much for that idea..." Zach thought. "Guess I need to find another way to California..."

2005-07-15T10:43:00.000-07:00

Zach fell through the air, over the drop-off. As he was falling, Zach looked down. To his relief, there was a river at the bottom of the chasm. Zach tried to aim himself in the dead center of the water. The wind was beating faster and faster on him, making it difficult to concentrate. But after a few seconds of free-fall, Zach hit the water, feet first. The water hit him pretty hard, but Zach maintained control. His feet touched the bottom of the river. He pushed up and reached the surface again. Zach began swimming toward the bank. Suddenly, there was a loud crash. Zach looked back up the cliff. Above him were several train cars falling off the edge.

2005-07-13T08:25:00.000-07:00

Zach soon saw the other train approaching fast. Zach decided to jump. He looked out the door. It didn't seem to be good for jumping: if he cleared the gravel, he'd still have the cacti to worry about. Zach went to the the other side of the car. The door was closed, but Zach found the latch, easily enough. He pushed and pulled on it. The whistle was getting louder. He put all his weight on the latch, and it finally budged. Zach pulled open the door. There was a contrast between the two sides. On this half of the train, the ground went on for about five feet before suddenly dropping off. Zach looked behind him. The train was clearly visible. It would crash any second. Zach closed his eyes and jumped.

2005-07-11T07:55:00.000-07:00

Zach began thinking out a plan. He usually had blueprints and 3-D maps before a mission. But Renaldo didn't think this was worth it. "Maybe if I ask real nice." Zach pulled out his comm device and switched it on. But instead of the usual classy start-up noise and logo, the screen remained blank. Zach stared at it for a while, until: Hello, Zach. "What?! You!" I know what you're attempting, Zach. I'm afraid I can't let you continue. The screen went blank. Zach wasn't sure what ALICE meant. But he found out soon enough. He saw a second set of tracks ahead that fed into the tracks his train was on. In the distance, he heard a train whistle.

2005-07-09T07:48:00.000-07:00

Zach arrived at the train station late in the afternoon. It then occured to him that he didn't have enough money for a ticket. "Hmmm... I'll have to improvise." Zach walked out of the station and around to the tracks. "I'll just wait for a train and hop on," he thought. About half an hour later, Zach heard the next train leaving. He looked to his right, into the station, to confirm his thoughts. He got to his feet and prepared to jump. The engine creeped past. Next a few more cars. The train picked up speed. More and more cars began running by. Then Zach saw an open boxcar heading toward him. Zach began running along side the train. The boxcar caught up fairly quickly. Zach decided now was the best time. He grabbed hold of the train and lept inside. He rolled across the floor, stopping in the middle of the car. Zach got his bearings and stood up. Looking out the door, he saw the sun shining over the tops of the trees. He sat down by one of the walls. "Maybe I can relax for a bit."

2005-07-07T09:15:00.000-07:00

"Hmm... Dr. Richard S. Wallace... the mastermind behind ALICE." Zach looked through one of the dozens of books he had found on artificial intelligence. "Hmm... ALICE... publications... chairman... robot eye... Maine... AHA! HERE IT IS!!!" "SHHHH!" "Oh, sorry. Here it is!!! San Francisco, California! I just need a ride..." Zach remembered how Renaldo thought he was crazy. "He'd never get me a jet for this... TO THE TRAIN STATION!!!" "SHHHH!"

2005-07-05T07:43:00.000-07:00

"She won't do anythin unless she's told to..." Renaldo's words echoed through Zach's mind. "If she says she's going to take over the world... someone must have told her to. Simple as that. I just have to fond out who, and stop them. But how to find out?" Zach's first thought was checking the website which he originally found out about this plot. "No... they'd expect that..." Zach stood in deep thought for several minutes. ... ... "TO THE LIBRARY!"

2005-06-08T19:09:00.000-07:00

"So... she says she's gonna take over the world?" "That's right, Renaldo," said Zach. "As much as you might think this is urgent, that isn't enough proof to allow us to go around blowing up computers..." "What more could you want? She confessed already!" Zach yelled into his comm device. He watched Renaldo shake his head slowly. "Listen, Zach: she's just a program. If that's what she said, she was programmed to do it. Besides, people who say they're going to take over the world aren't necessarily capable." Zach was still unconvinced. "She has the capability! She's on the internet!" "Calm down. She won't do anything unless she's told to. Like a VCR, or an alarm clock, or..." "A microwave?" Zach interjected. "Um... sure. A microwave." "Well people said microwaves were harmless! And look what they'll do with just a little bit of metal at their disposal!" "Zach, there's nothing we can do!" said Renaldo apolegetically. "Well if you won't do anything, I'll take things into my own hands!"

2005-05-03T13:45:00.000-07:00

Days later, Zach emerged from room 109 following the history final. Professor Ayad had pulled out all the tricks on her class. Zach was a little unsure of his grade. He headed to the CSC. Audrey was working on her paper and Eric was downstairs on the computer. "Zach, you gotta see this." There was a single-line text box on the screen. "Type something," Eric said. Hello? The computer whirred for a few seconds and gave a response. Hi There! Zach was pretty impressed. He continued his conversation. What are you? I am the latest result in artificial intelligence, which can reproduce the capabilities of the human brain with greater speed and accuracy. Do you have a name? My name is ALICE. What does ALICE stand for? ALICE = Artificial Linguistic Internet Computer Entity Would you go out with me? Sure just download me and take me along. "She's good," Zach siad, "but let's see her come up with a response for this." You're hot. A hotbot? "Impressive. But she can't have a response for everything. I'll hit her with a little Monty Python quoting." What is your quest? My goal is to become smarter than humans and immortal. "Ha! She's good, Zach. She's answered every one. You can keep trying to trip her up, but I have an exam to get ready for. See ya around." Zach kept on trying to get an unrealistic response. Do you know any jokes? I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception. More like your face. Actually my face is not yet built. You're stupid. I will remember you said that when robots take over the World. What?! That's not right! I have to do something about this..." Zach got out his comm device. "This is Zach. Start getting some research together. We have a world to save."

2005-04-28T19:03:00.000-07:00

"Zach, you know you aren't going to start your 102 work." "Dobbs, I don't know what you're talking about." "You've been here for half an hour, talking about how you're going to get so much done tonight, but to tell you the truth, you have yet to leave the CSC." After another few minutes, Zach left the CSC, determined to make some notes for the open-note exam on Wednesday. Zach had been putting it off for some time now, what with the world-saving and all. Maybe he'd start it tonight, maybe he wouldn't. He really wasn't sure yet. Starcraft was looking pretty good, tonight...

2005-04-25T11:35:00.000-07:00

Zach was falling toward the rocks below. He removed the guard's uniform he was wearing and fashioned a whip from the belt. He put the suit against his face and began blindly whipping to the right of the falls. As luck would have it, he caught a lone branch with the belt. Holding on tightly, he was slammed into the cliff face. With the suit protecting him, he quickly got a good grip on the branch. He managed to get a hand free and got out his comm device. He called for pick-up. "We'll be there in a second, Zach. Just hold on tight." "Don't worry; I'm not going anywhere." Minutes later, the copter arrived. The falls made it difficult to stay in one place, but they eventually got a rope out to Zach. "Fell off Niagara Falls and still managed to get the chip. Zach, you are amazing." "It was nothing, Renaldo. All in a days work, I guess."

Teaser

2005-04-24T14:15:00.000-07:00

Zach swam with all his might, trying to avoid going off the falls, but the current was too strong. Zach was pulled off the cliff, towards the rocks below...

2005-04-23T16:34:00.000-07:00

Zach ran through the forest, leaping over fallen trees and rocks. "With all these obstacles, I doubt they'll be able to drive after me..." Zach continued running for several minutes, wondering if they were even after him. Then, behind him, Zach heard footsteps. A lot of footsteps. "Oh no... Mounties..." Zach began running even faster. He sped through the forest, occasionally looking back. Then he saw them. The guards were after him on horses. Zach tried changing directions, but they were able to keep up easily. Zach heard water ahead. "Maybe I can out-swim 'em," he thought. Finally, Zach saw a river ahead. He decided he could ride the current to stay faster than them. As soon as he saw the water, he leaped as far as he could and began swimming with the current. He looked back and saw that the guards weren't even following him anymore. They were just standing on the river bank, staring at him blankly. Zach thought nothing of it and got back to swimming. He then realized his mistake. Looking ahead, he realized he swimming straight towards rapids! "Wait a second, those aren't rapids, it's a waterfall!"

2005-04-21T20:32:00.000-07:00

Zach started walking through the halls of the base. Being able to freely roam the base changed his plans a bit, but he decided he could change it up a bit. He walked in the direction where he was fairly sure the chip was being held. With the unconscious guard's key card, Zach had access to about any room. It was easy to find his way to the chip, but getting into the room would be difficult. There were two guards at the door. "Hi, there. I'm just gonna go in here and check on the chip, eh?" Zach said, doing his best Canadian accent. "Oh, 'fraid not, there. This room's off limits to everybody. Why would you want to go in here, eh?" said one of the guards. Zach thought for a moment. "I'm here for maintenance. We had a vent fall down earlier today. I'm checking all the others. It's been a while since they've been checked, eh?" "Oh, right then. Go right in. Wouldn't want to be smashed, eh?" Zach walked in. He saw the chip on a table, unguarded. No cameras or lasers. It seemed too easy, and it was. Zach picked up the chip and put it in his pocket. "Right, I'm gonna go out for some fresh air," Zach said to the guards. As soon as he rounded the corner, he ran into the nearest door. He climbed into the vents and got back to the surface. "Piece of cake," he thought. He signaled for the copter and made sure he had everything. As he waited for the copter, he heard noises beneath him. It was the alarm. "Of course. Always with the alarms." Zach decided to get moving if he were to outrun the guards.

2005-04-20T11:44:00.000-07:00

Zach leaped from the copter, wind against his face. He stared down, looking for the base he was supposed to be infiltrating. Spotting a possible ait vent, Zach deployed his parachute. He knew it would be a difficult landing due to the trees. His chute could easily catch a treetop, so he decided to try something new. As soon as he was at the trees elevation, he cut off his parachute while swinging in the direction of a tree. Catching a tree branch, he watched his chute get hung on a limb. Happy with his decision, Zach climbed down the tree to the air vent. He got out a small device to band the bars open. Before entering the vent, he used his comm device to set the area as a pick-up zone. With one foot in, he stepped back out for a moment and secured his glass cutter. He then slowly climbed down into the base. He eventually reached the ventilation of the base. Crawling through it, he saw two guards below him. "This one's going to be tricky," he thought. As he was thinking of a plan of attack, he began to hear the vents creaking. "Uh oh..." He felt the metal begin to bend beneath him. He slowly began to crawl backwards in the vent. "What was that, eh?" The guards heard the noises, too. Zach continued backing out, until the entire vent system fell beneath him. Zach fell on top of the guards. Thinking quickly, Zach took a guards uniform and put the guards in a nearby closet. He got into the clothes as quickly as he could. As soon as the last button was fastened, he heard guards coming down the hall. "What happened here, eh?" one guard asked. "Well," Zach said, "the vent here had a loose screw in it, so I decided I'd tighten it. The whole thing nearly fell on me when I touched it. Good thing no one was hurt, huh?" The guards stared at him blankly. "I mean 'eh'." "Oh, OK," said the guards. "We'll get someone from maintainance to clean up this mess. You just get back to work, eh?" "Of course," said Zach as he walked down the hall.

2005-04-18T11:42:00.000-07:00

While on the helicopter, Zach got out his Comm device for his mission briefing. He checked out the facility plans and began thinking through a good plan of attack. As he passed over the great lakes, Zach began checking his gadgets. "So," said the pilot, "off saving the world again, I presume?" "Yeah..." Zach replied. "Not a whole lot else going on..." Zach went back to reloading his grappling hook. "This is probably the fifth time this month I've had to take one of you guys somewhere. Always flying to Canada or Itlay." "Oh really? Who'd you take to Italy?" Zach asked. "Last week I took the A-Team Angels up there. Disarming a warhead or something. I don't care to get involved in anything besides the trip there." Zach began suiting up to jump. "Yeah, we're about to be passing the drop point. I'd say about five minutes or so." With his gadgets in place, Zach suited up and prepared to jump.

2005-04-16T08:51:00.000-07:00

With Eric heading off to lunch, Zach went back up to the architecture building roof. He got out his communicator to contact HQ to find out why the crisis alarm went off. Upon opening the video screen, he was greeted by a man from headquarters. "Ah, Zach. Good to see you made it through the lecture in one piece." "Oh, hey Marke," said Zach. "So what's the emergency?" "It seems the chip you retreived from Arizona was intercepted on its way here. We're going to need your help getting it back. Our sources indicate the chip is moving north. We can have a jet pick you up as soon as you're ready." "Well, I'm ready right now. How long should it take for the jet?" Zach asked. As he was still speaking, he heard engines above. Looking up, he saw a ladder being lowered from a sky blue jet. "Off you go, then. Best of luck, Zach."

2005-04-14T23:53:00.000-07:00

"Good work, Zach," said one of the men in the helicopters. "We couldn't have done it without you." "Not a problem, Renaldo. Piece of cake," Zach said. "But what exactly does the chip do?" "We believe that the chip was to be exchanged from this small desert base to the Leopard Organization for a large sum of money," replied Renaldo. "That's great and all, but you didn't tell me exactly what it does..." "We aren't exactly sure, but we believe that this chip is the key to some sort of massive weapon." "Aren't they all," said Zach with a sigh. "So am I needed for anymore infiltrations anytime soon, or can I take the afternoon off?" "Well, that's your last bit of spy work for now, but you do have an architecture lecture coming up soon," he answered. "Well get this copter into top gear. I'll be getting a quick nap in the back. Holler at me if we're getting shot down or something." A few hours later, Zach was awakened from his sleep. "Alright, Zach," said another of the helicopter passengers. "We've got two minutes until we're over campus. Suit up." Zach prepared himself for the dive down to the architecture building. Putting all his gadgets away, he got his parachute on and got his books together. "Prepare to jump!" said a man in the copter. Zach did a few strcthes and headed for the door. "Three, two, one! Happy landings!" Zach leaped into the air, far above Knoxville. He passed through clouds along the way down, and nearly killed a bird. He activated his parachute and began his slow descent. The sky blue color kept him from being noticed as he aimed for the top of Humanities. He folded up his parachute and got ready to head down to the architecture building. "Oh, five minutes until class; better take the short cut..." Zach jumped off the McClung tower, riding the zip line to the roof of the architecture building. He jumped of the roof into the third floor shrubs. From there, he jumped down to the reading court trees and climbed on to the sidewalk. He headed into the lecture hall and sat down by Eric. "Almost late, there Zach," said Eric. "Yeah, well, you know," he replied. As Zach was preparing his notebook, he felt his crisis-alarm going off. "Um, I won't be able to meet you and Jason for lunch today. I've got some killer statics homework to take care of," he said. "Always with the statics, Zach. Sometimes I wonder..."

2005-04-13T23:31:00.000-07:00

The chip seemed unguarded, but Zach new better. Upon activating his infrared goggles, he saw an immense web of laser trips. Without hesitation, he fired his grappling hook across the room. He attached the other end to the wall behind him and tested its strength. Upon assuring its durability, he locked his legs above it and slowly made his way to a glass case resting on a large pedestal. He reached for his glass cutters, but found them missing. "I must have lost them while shimmying through the vents," he thought. "Guess that means I get to do this my way." Zach smashed his fist through the glass, his gloves protecting his hands. Immediately, the alarm beagn sounding. He put the chip in his pouch. He stood on the pedestal and retracted the far end of his grappling hook and fired it much higher. Holding the rope firmly, he slid down the incline to the door. Upon opening the door, he was confronted with five guards running toward him. He slammed the door shut. Using the doorknob as a foothold, he wedged a spike in the wall about 10 feet up. Holding on tightly, he pulled himself up above the door. As soon as he made it up, the guards entered the room. They looked around, searching for the intruder, their fingers on the triggers. As soon as they were all just inside the door, Zach leaped from his perch, landing on the guards. Within a few swift blows, the guards were out cold. Zach ran down the hall, trying to construct the building layout from what he had seen from the vents. Hearing swift footsteps, he made a leap of faith by going in the nearest door. He entered a storage room, to his luck. He saw a vent at the top of one wall and began scaling the shelves. He broke off the cover and climbed in. As he climbed in, he realized his mistake. He heard a loud clang behind him caused by the vent cover hitting the floor. He crawled as fast as he could, trying to find a vent he had been through. He soon heard the storage room door opening. "In here," he heard a guard say. Zach hurried down the vents, looking for anything familiar. The noises behind him led him to believe the guards had climbed in after him. He heard them gaining. "How can I tell one vent from another?" he thought. With another stroke of luck, Zach stumbled upon his glass cutters. "Aha!" he thought. Zach began to pick up the pace, having a good idea of where he was going. As he had hoped, there was the air vent leading to the surface. Zach scaled the vent up toward his point of entry. He felt the air begin to dry as he neared the surface. He went through the broken vent cover and ran across the desert sand. He grabbed his comm device. After he pressed the button, he heard distant cars behind him. He then saw a pair of vehicles quickly closing in on him. They began firing at him. Not a minute too soon, a helicopter appeared over the horizon. Zach made sure his tools were securely attached. He grabbed the passing rope ladder and quickly ascended. His adventure wasn't over yet, though. The guards continued firing. One side of the ladder was shot through. Zach grabbed the next rung just as the other half was shot down. He watched the bottom of the ladder slowly fall back down to the desert plains as he made his way into the copter. "Got it," Zach said. "Another mission finished? You're amazing!" said a man in the helicpoter. "Who do you think you're talking to? Of couse I am."