Enough was enough at the factory. Jeremie demanded to know what was going on. He ran a search on the origins of the Bridge program, and found that it had been installed by an unfamiliar IP address three hours earlier. Seeing this, Jeremie decided that someone was indeed connected to the system. He would try to make contact.

/-OPEN NOTECLIENT.lyo
(-Welcome to NoteClient. Post your note here.
Jeremie knew what to do from here.

~~~

At this point, the NoteClient showed up on my monitor. A simple box in the middle of the screen, it interfered with my editing. The words were simple: "Qui est ceci?"

Of course, as an American, I didn't speak French. I feared that I was interfering with a foreign supremacy. At this point, I quickly open up a translator, not the best in the world, but would suffice. This strange person was asking me who I was. I turned to the translator and typed up a phrase to send back: "Je pourrais vous demander la même chose. I could ask you the same question."

"Que faites-vous à mon système? What are you doing with my system?"

"J'ai fait un programme spécial pour vous aider. I made a program to help you."

"Il n'aide pas! Je ne peux pas commander mes opérations! It doesn't help! I can't control my operations!"

"J'avais peur de celui...Je le fixerai aussitôt que possible. I was afraid of that...I'll fix it ASAP."

"Séjour ici! Wait!"

And then I logged off. I now knew that it was an individual system and not a government setup. I was, to say the least, relieved. However, I needed to fix the Bridge, fast. I had bargained for too much.

~~~

"He's gone..." said Jeremie. He needed to know more, but this mysterious hacker had logged off. "He said that he would fix the problem ASAP...but I don't think we have the time..."

The four of them watched helplessly as XANA's attack force multiplied. Virtual enemies were scattered all over the map. Nothing could be done, and because of it, the storm had gotten that much worse.