The Hedron Series Chronicles Chapter 4

Rose took time at her computer to check a few e-mails deleting those she thought were spam , interesting she thought to herself her kid brother Tony had sent her rough drafts of a manuscript he was writing. She wondered to herself why she"d agreed to be his proofreader she wasn"t really into sci-fi which is what her brother wrote and seem to have an unhealthy fascination with but for his age he had a gift for it that she couldn"t deny.(Rosetta) a.k.a Rose Marie Velazquez was twenty two yrs old stood about five feet eleven inches tall without heels with heels an intimidating six feet two was fair skinned with a few freckles,pert nose,emerald green eyes and long wavy chocolate colored hair that hung to her waist,her build was slender but curvaceous and toned she worked out at the gym four times a week. But no -one called her Rosetta her given name if they wanted to live her mother being the exception. The few co-workers who she hung out with outside of work knew her to be reserved but friendly,good natured but often serious and a extremely open minded religious being .At work however Rose generally kept her hair in a tight bun and wore very little in the way of ornamentation. It was unusual to be the senior IT while head software programmer and computer tech at any company at her age but Rose knew she"d earned it she knew as much if not more about computers than anyone she"d ever met. Rose had received the prestigious MacArthur Scholarship Award at the age of thirteen and she got all three masters in her related field by the age of nineteen and was offered her job at N.A.O.R.C. before graduating. She was a phenomenon and found herself spending more time free-lancing and turning down job offers her final yr than anything else but finally she accepted the job at the North American Oil Refineries Consolidated because they offered the best benefits ,salary and bonuses over and above anyone else her parachute alone was worth five and a half million dollars and her she made approximately a quarter of a million dollars after taxes she had a penthouse apartment on the Detroit riverfront and a house in Beverly Hills a posh suburb in Michigan. There was much for the Velazquez family to be proud of since migrating to the U.S. back in nineteen-eighty-four two yrs before Rose was born her papa and mama along with her brother Jorge who was four yrs old at the time risked much seeking a better life for themselves here in Los Esta dos Uni dos. Using the five hundred thousand "Sol De Oro" which they sparingly saved from the sale fish her father caught and rare pottery her mother made from the red clay from the banks of the River Ucayali in the small rural town of Pucallpa,Peru. Unfortunately the village is so isolated the only way to transfer goods is by river to floating harbors like La Hoyada and Puerta Italia which are quite breathtaking and a marvels of engineering akin to the floating harbor in Bristol,England. Pucallpa suffered from massive and often destructive seasonal rains that continually washed away much of the fertile silt that deposited on the banks of Ucayali making sustained farming there during the rainy season all but impossible. Adding to the re-occurring misery of the lost farming plots was the inevitability of the only road linking Pucallpa to other cities like Lima since Ucayali itself was a main tributary of the sss. The years of saving and going without in effort to leave seemed like the hardest thing Rose"s mother Juanita and her father Javier thought they would ever have to go through they were wrong . Arriving to the U.S. they found out after exchanging their money they would get only five thousand dollars back it wasn"t much but it was a start; Javier got a job working at factory making car parts and Juanita worked cleaning houses until the year Rose was born when she retired to raise her growing familia. This was made possible by Javier making enough money at the plant to pay bills and necessities that everyone needed in the home. They weren"t rich by a long shot but they were comfortable enough that when computers started getting big and handheld and portable electronics became commonplace Javier a amateur tech addict made sure he had the latest as soon as he could afford to get it and while this caused much consternation from his wife he bonded with his three year old daughter who seem to be drawn to his fascination of computers and electronics in ways he couldn"t quite understand but loved all the same. though Javier had an attraction to any and all gizmos and gadgets that flooded the marketplace to say he was proficient with their use would be quite simply put wrong he couldn"t never really figure out how to work them even with the instructions maybe he was drawn by the blinking lights or sounds some of them emitted but whatever the case he often broke them long before he could figure out what the problem was he was experiencing with them. Maybe it was because of this no one was really sure though it seemed quite obvious he amassed a large assortment a amorphous blob if you will of unused electronic equipment that one day a five year old Rose happened upon in remote corner of the garage and she began to tinkle,and jiggle and squish and tap,screw and boggle with a few and slowly but surely a remote control here a computer mainframe there would seem to magically appear in her father"s den . Javier would often find them and place them in a utility locker in the garage thinking Rose had just been playing with them and left them sitting around forgetting to replace them back in the heap in the garage he even thought maybe she considered it a game. But Juanita cleaning the house came across Rose playing with a hand mixer Javier had bought her a couple of yrs ago she was sure she"d told Javier to throw away and being annoyed with the amount of money he seem to waste on his toys as she called them proceeded to take it away from her ."This is broken nin^a don"t play with this daddy should have thrown it away this isn"t a toy" ,when Rose smiled and said "I fixed it mommie" . Juanita deciding to humor her precocious daughter said,"Aye I"m sure you did bella" ,raising her eyebrow. "No I did fix mommie "replied Rose crossing her little arms her tiny hands covered in gear lubricant all the while tapping her miniature screwdriver against her elbow lightly beginning to form a pout with her lips. Juanita not wanting to hurt her pequin^o"s feelings decided to humor her a little longer Told her to come with her to the kitchen to try it out Rose followed eyes bright with a smile beaming from ear to ear. Juanita sighed looking down into her daughter"s eyes so full of hope and expectation she decided that when she plugged it up and it didn"t work she would simply pretend the motor was so quiet that there you couldn"t hear it , she had no intention of breaking her young nin^a"s heart pasting a smile on her face she flicked the switch and her face almost quite literally plummeted to the floor as the beaters spun around with the utility and purpose they were intended for . Juanita stared at her baby for a minute it had to be a fluke there was no way a five year old child would know how to fix this, her mind fought desperately for a rational explanation : more than likely it wasn"t broken to begin with,or this wasn"t the same blender she remembered,or ... she turned it over no this was definitely the same blender and she was positive it was broken maybe,... This was preposterous wasn"t it,"Are you sure you fixed this nin^a?" she asked Rose ."Si mama I fix everything " she replied. Head still feeling like a hot air balloon that would float away at any minute,heart beating so fast almost as if it demanded to be set free from the prison of chest,her body shaking like maracas, Juanita said simply show me. Leading her into the garage Rose took her mother over to the utility locker and opened it ,throwing her arms wide she proclaimed " See mama I fix everything !" And indeed she had ;what Javier had failed to notice was his daughter wasn"t playing with the gadgets and gizmos he"d thrown aside to be fixed at a later date she"d actually been repairing them. "Does your papa know you fixed all of these things Juanita asked ?" "I tried to surprise papa with them but he just puts in the closet", Rose sadly answered.It was then that Juanita realized no-one knew about Rose"s gift but her and this she finally came to grips with was a gift ."How do you know how to fix them ?"Juanita asked. "They tell me what"s wrong with them and how to fix them ",Rose exclaimed happily. When Rose"s father Javier came home that night Juanita sat him down to share with him the days events he sat quietly listening not quite sure what to make of it. He didn"t discount it immediately because one of the reasons he married Juanita was she was because she was extremely sensible and while being beautiful very smart, he learned never to question her if she said something was something it was .So not that surprisingly he agreed that their daughter had a gift that was something special they would have to figure out a way she could use that gift without her being taken advantage of so as they laid down to sleep both with different visions in their heads about Rose"s future;Javier dreamed of untold wealth and Juanita of protecting her bambino no matter what .As the years progressed Javier and Juanita taught Rose to keep certain truths about her abilities secret such as machines and gadgets actually talking to her because if the wrong people found out they were positive the government along with scientist would cart their little bella off to do God knows what to figure out how her ability worked . Javier soon after quit his job at the plant to open his own electronics repair shop with Rose helping him diagnose and fix any machine she came across his shop became the very renown and sought after and soon had many manufacturing companies hiring Oracle (Diagnostics and Repair of Mechanical and Robotic Electronics) or D.A.R.O.M.A.R.E Llc. Arriving often in the early morning hours Javier would arrive with his Rose who he was often asked to keep away from all the dangerous machinery they couldn"t understand why this kid was tagging along with her father until a robotics repair technician caught a glimpse of her repairing a robotic arm in a five minute span on her own ,he realized this kid could quite possibly be a genius . Jason Prescott could hardly believe it ,how did this little girl posses the capability to diagnosis and repair complex robotic machines such as these? Was she a genius ? Whatever it was going on she didn"t need to be schlepping around with her father she needed to be in advanced course studies teaching or in a lab doing research and development with some of the premier software programmers in the country no possibly the world! He could hardly contain his excitement this was he was almost sure unprecedented in his field to make a discovery of such a young talent since well ever. The next question would be how Jason capitalize from this and turn this girls" talent into his meal ticket to something better than a mediocre existence of graveyard shifts,stale coffee and meager pay?As he pondered what to do Jason realized blackmail would be the surest and quickest was to achieve the means to the proposed end of luxury and peerical acclaim. Yes blackmail would be the answer if the young girls" father didn"t agree to allow Jason to become her mentor he would very simply expose the fraud of a world renown company like Daromare being the result of a twelve year old prodigy instead of the thirty eight year old man who claimed it was his unique skill and abilities that shot Daromare to the center of the technological universe rapidly within the last few years .It would call into question the validity and reputation of the company around the world ,the legalities of the fraud alone in what Javier Valaqueza had done would lead him to financial ruin within a matter of months .Jason was positive he "d agree he"d have no choice if he didn"t want to lose everything. Quickly making his way over to Javier before he left he proceeded to exhale a little cough to catch his attention.When Javier turned around he noticed the somewhat slight,ashen faced young man with lank blond hair dressed in black trouser,white shirt ,black tie, white lab coat ( you know the standard geeky ,creepy scientist garb that"s all the rage in books, movies etc.yes he was a walking cliche only a bit on the youthful side as if given the right opportunity he could transform into the complete opposite ),gold wire-rimmed glasses and more or less beady black eyes smiling at him while discreetly glancing over at Rose. "Is this your daughter ?" "she"s adorable! he added gushingly. "Why yes it is this is my little Bella Rose, replied Javier admiringly. "Well I wanted to give you a call on you later to have you look at some computers the companies are interesting in installing a prototype system "network" and wanted to see if you"d look over some of the initial programming codes . "Sure no problem I"ll give you the address drop by around six this evening my wife makes a wonderful arroz con pollo I"m sure you"d love it . "Sure that"s chicken and rice right",Jason asked "Correctomundo" see you later Javier replied as he packed up the last of their tools and equipment before leaving. "Hasta luego amigo "Y tu tambien" . As Jason looked out the windows at the car pulling out of the circular drive his thoughts flitted through his head on how to bend tonight"s evening meal to his will he"d pull it off there was no way he could fail. His dreams would be made into reality tonight. At exactly six o" clock the doorbell rang and Juanita briskly marched to the front door , as she pulled the door open she gave herself a moment to give a cursory examination of Mr. Prescott and wondered who this young gentleman was that her husband would invite over for dinner having just met him earlier that day he looked absolutely ordinary ."Welcome Mr. Prescott", she greeted him . "Call me Jason please Mrs.Valaqueza" "Javier s" in the Den ,I hope your hungry I prepared a small Peruvian feast ,"Juanita laughingly joked. There was a well lived in homey feeling along with the aromas of food made out of love that pervaded the senses of Jason as he made his way to the den. Elaborate tapestries woven with deep rich colors hung along the hallway most utilizing scenes of rural Peruvian life in mauve,aquamarine and lavender hues.Jason paused as he took time in which to notice one in particular of a young girl seated by the shoreline pulling in a net loaded with fish which seem to leap every which way trying in vain to free themselves from the net. The tapestry"s background consisting of a few mauve fishing vessels riding lazily on the aquamarine colored waves while sea birds circled and wafted on breezes in a late pink and lavender veined sunset filled skyline ,it was beautiful Jason mused.Curiously shaped clay earthenware pots were interspersed between the wall hangings filled with ferns of indiscriminate origin and other plants and small trees Jason knew had to be indigenous to Peru how in the world they were thriving so harmoniously in Michigan was in itself unusual to say the least . But it was time to get down to business and as Jason entered into the den he waved a motion to Javier to remain seated and cleared his throat and began to outline his proposal to Javier in great detail and after a couple hours time as he"d suspected Javier agreed to his plan when he saw there was indeed no way out of it. when Juanita came in to announce that she would be serving the ceviche momentarily Jason and Javier asked her to remain with them and the nefarious plans of Jason"s blackmail were then revealed to her Juanita sat quietly and through the conversation she realized as well as Javier that Jason had no idea the real extent of Rose"s abilities his plan was simple he would video document and archive Rose diagnosing broken machines and robotics and then fixing them and he would send portions of these to various institutions while holding press conferences and seminars . Amazingly these things began to take place and with Jason"s tutelage and forced mentor-ship Rose found herself in the middle of a whirlwind of activities and spotlights before she could even make sense of it all . Luckily she had been studying numerous textbooks ,software and programming hardware she was constantly updated on the newest and fastest processors,(cpu"s)how to prevent crashes and how to minimize and retrieve data from a head crash, or how to even repair damaged "platters"She was also the first to figure out how to double,triple and quad multiple shafts of tracks on triad based platters while maintaining the integrity of the individual core logic within the parameters set by dual operating twin cylinders mounted within a HDD. So it came to no great surprise that by the age of thirteen Rose had received the McArthur Scholarship Award or (Genius Award) as noted by members of Mensa she was well on her way and Unbeknown to Rose the leading chair of the McArthur Award Committee was none other than Jason"s Uncle Mr . William Dudley Prescott the III who had his own plans for his nephews young protege . William D Prescott the III was a upcoming young V.P of Acquisitions for N.A.O.R.C. and he had plans of branching N.A.O.R.C. into global -positional-satellites and paramilitary applications in order to ensure the most profitable regions for oil or other potential natural resources could be defended by any and all attempts by private or governmental controlled agendas. This is where little Rose fit into his plans she would one day build and maintain the systems he now envisioned so he would take care of her schooling and family and when she was old enough she would work for him.. yes sadly Rose didn"t realize any of this to her the Prescott and Valaqueza families had always been friends and uncle Will had been a part of her life for as far back as she could remember it was just the natural progression of events in her life that she would some day work here at N.A.O.R.C. Rose stretched out her legs the system was working perfectly there was little to do here today . Hitting the intercom button on her phone she let her secretary know to forward all calls to her phone and let those supervisors who might need her approval for tech modifications and tweaks that she would be out for the rest of the day. Sliding her heels on she grabbed her self- modified blue tooth along with her modified and upgraded "scarab" (her version of the widely popular blackberries and i-phones so popular now ) and headed to her lab at O.R.A.C.L.E a software ,engineering firm she started on her own. located in downtown Detroit behind of all places a strip club whose name Pandora"s Box was brightly illuminating the alleyway with lurid pink fluorescent waves. Rose mentally told her alarm systems to stand down as she entered she brought the outside systems back on line and proceeded down the metal spiral staircase to her workshop summoning the lights on and activating her computers to initiate "P.B." mode there was some data from one of the satellite feeds on a remote Alaskan acquisition deal that had been "Black-outed "from regional data from that area from the N.A.O.R.C. database networks what they didn"t realize was when she built the systems she"d built in a hidden source code that piggybacked " P.B " on the server the networks used but circumvented the BIOS of "MOTHR"(Main operating Transmission-control-protocol Home -directory Root while still allowing access to all parameters of operation . A shrill beeping in her ear let her know the download and retrieval was complete and as she turned to view the footage and magnified it Rose felt her heart seize up and disbelief flood her being. She couldn"t be seeing what she was seeing it wasn"t possible no one would do that to another living human being she felt tears began to pour down her cheeks as the senseless slaughter took place on the screen. She had to tell someone uncle Will,the authorities but wait why wasn"t this footage already released to the police or the U.N. why had it been erased ? You had to go priority access in order to have the power to delete this from the database and only the Board had that kind of power..and with immeasurable pain and sadness Rose came to the shocking conclusion her uncle already knew and if she couldn"t tell him who could she tell she lowered her head to her arms and sobbed uncontrollably her life as she knew it was over what was she going to do know...