Antitrust 2: The Return of NURV

[Curt-Man]

"oh, okay, well then i'll be off, better get started on it."

John got up with his jacket in hand.

[Writer]

"We'll call you in a couple of days," Danni promised John. Then, she got up and took up her crutches. "Looking forward to getting rid of these," she muttered, glaring at David for no reason.

 

Despite her broken leg, Danni insisted on driving, "because I know where the Grants live and you don't."

 

There was little to no conversation as they drove and, about an hour later, they turned into what seemed like a country road, but ended up being a driveway. At length, they came to a gate and Danni stopped the car.

 

"Play the game, say the name," a voice called out through a speaker embedded in the left gatepost. Danni shook her head and sighed.

 

"No game I play, no name I say," she answered.

 

"How on earth do you plan on getting in, then?" the voice called again. Danni laughed.

 

"I'll break your gate down if you don't let me in, Kelli!" she exclaimed. The girl now identified as Kelli laughed and the gate began to open.

 

"Welcome back, Danni," Kelli said before the gate was fully open. "The computer recognizes your voice. It's going crazy over your friend in the passenger seat, though."

 

"Tell it to buzz off," Danni retorted. Kelli laughed and the gate was opened entirely.

 

"It'll be good to see you again," Kelli said. Danni drove through the gate.

 

"Easy enough, right?" she said. "Just think of the nightmare it would be if a person tried to get in without being known!"

 

They were met at the door by Milo and Lisa. Milo hugged them both and Lisa seemed glad to see Danni. She leaned forward and whispered in Danni's ear.

 

"Are you sure this place is safe?" she asked. "The two girls who own this place seem slightly batty!"

 

"They're fine!" Danni said, laughing. "True, they may be a little odd, but they're better once you've known them a little while."

 

"David," Milo said. "I think it's time you met the newest members of our little group. They know everything that's been going on with NURV now."

 

Two young women descended a set of stairs nearby. The leading girl was clearly younger, being only about seventeen. The other was closer to twenty-one. Both had blonde hair and blue eyes.

 

"Hello, David," the first said. "I'm Kelli Grant."

 

"And I'm Elizabeth Grant," the second said. "But you'd best call me Lizza. It's odd enough to be remembered and not too hard to say."

 

"Welcome to our home," Kelli said.

[jokemaster]

"Pleased to meet you both. "

[Writer]

"Of course," Lizza said, turning away and seeming to loose interest in him as quickly as the interest had come. She walked into another room and her sister followed, motioning for the others to follow.

 

"You want to break into Gary's house and take his computer before he knows it's gone," Lizza said. A young man approached them and embraced Danni. Lizza continued as though nothing had happened. "And this is the man who will be going in."

 

Meanwhile, Danni and Ryan Richardson were having a little reunion, completely ignoring what was going on.

 

"Glad to see you got here safely," she told him. Ryan laughed quietly.

 

"You're the one who was in danger," he retorted. "I had it easy getting here, but the girls had fun with me before letting me in."

 

Danni's smile faded. "Fun?" Ryan hurried to reassure her that they had done him no harm and that the fun was all spoken. They suddenly realized that they'd been left behind and hurried to catch up to the group.

 

"David," she said, "this is my little brother, Ryan."

 

"She insists on calling me little," Ryan laughed. He was at least six inches taller than his sister. Danni jabbed at his arm with a playful fist.

 

"Ryan," she went on, "This is David Stern."

 

"The boyfriend you never brought home," Ryan joked, just to see his sister blush and look away. She muttered an apology under her breath and Ryan stuck out his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, David."

[jokemaster]

"Nice to finallymeet you. AN dlearn of a reputation I didn't know about, now I'm only missing high-roller, and financial genius."

[Writer]

"And how exactly does that translate into English?" Ryan asked with a laugh. Danni rolled her eyes and caught up with the rest of the group, leaving the two men alone for a moment. Ryan looked around as if making sure nobody could hear him.

 

"She likes you," he said in a hushed voice. "It's rare for her to write home without mentioning something you did or something you worked on together."

 

"Sharing dark secrets, are you?" Kelli said. She had come back to urge them to catch up with the rest of the group. "Forget about them for now. You're missing the tour!"

[jokemaster]

"The feeling's mutual" Said David quietly to Ryan so no one heard. "But we computer nerds aren't known for our romantic achievements."

[Writer]

Ryan chuckled and nodded. "I know. But you have to start somewhere."

 

Danni slowed her pace to walk with them.

 

"You're not paying attention," she accused. "What are you talking about?"

 

"Oh, nothing," Ryan said carelessly. He sped up and paid attention to the tour they were getting. Danni stayed at David's side.

 

"What was that all about?" she asked.

[jokemaster]

David shrugged "Guy stuff."

[Writer]

Danni rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You boys," she retorted playfully. "Always have to have your secrets."

 

She laughed and rejoined the tour. It was almost over.

[jokemaster]

"Well, at least now I won't have my ever-present fear of rejection stopping me. C'mon, let's keep up" He rejoined the tour also.

[Writer]

Danni gave David a funny look as he rejoined the tour, muttering something about rejection. Then, her full attention went back to Lizza and Kelli.

 

By the time the tour was over, all who went on it were satisfied that this house was the place to be. The gate refused to allow anyone to enter unless their voice and face were recognized by the owners. The fence around the property shocked anyone not authorized to touch it.

 

Motion sensors surrounded the place thickly. Cameras were everywhere. Booby traps were unavoidable... unless you were welcome. If welcomed, none of the dangers of the Grant home would afflict you.

[jokemaster]

"So do I have to ask someone for permission to go to the bathroom at night? I don't want to sit down on the toilet and have it blow up below me."

[Writer]

Kelli and Lizza both laughed. Their laughter was contagious enough to send the rest of the group into laughter as well.

 

"Don't worry," Kelli said, still giggling. "While we've been touring the house, a little program created by Danni has been digging deep into your past. It is satisfied that you are not a threat."

 

"You've seen the whole house now," Lizza added. "You should be able to find your way to one of the restrooms... should the need strike you in the dark... let's just say you'll not have a hard time getting there then either."

[jokemaster]

"Wait, ALL of my past?" He looked around, acting embarassed. "Even high school? Cause there's a couple things I'm kinda embarassed about...."

[Writer]

"Don't worry," Danni laughed. "I've never been interested in invading privacy. My program simply searches through your past. If it finds anything it thinks may be suspicious, it brings that to the screen for a person to look at. Like if somebody had a 'how to' for bombs saved on their computer, my program would find it and bring it up."

 

"Needless to say," Lizza continued, "anything of that sort on your computer was quickly identified as a joke."

 

"You always were a joker, David," Milo laughed. "Bombs? What's this about, how to builid a bomb in your kitchen?"

 

"It's clearly a joke," Lizza repeated. "We did a computer simulation of the instructions. It won't work."

 

"I'm curious, though," Kelli said. "Did you write it or did somebody send it to you?"

[jokemaster]

"Someone sent it to me, along with the zombie survival guide and turn your house into a casino in 4 easy steps."

[Writer]

"The casino also aroused the suspicions of the program," Kelli said. "The zombie thing was obviously overlooked. We haven't seen it."

 

"It was probably pretty stupid anyway," Danni laughed. She then excused herself to make a phone call. When she was alone, she called John.

 

"How's the writing coming?" she asked.

[Curt-Man]

"oh h-hey danni, they writing? its uh, its coming along, just started it uh, how are you?" John said nervously

[Writer]

"Safe and sound," Danni answered. "Listen, if you finish writing this, your job at NURV may not be safe. You might want to come stay with us... we can make sure nothing happens to you."

 

She looked over at Lizza for assurance. Lizza nodded. Their goal was to get him feeling scared so he'd come to them. If he was really working for Gary, they'd know quickly. Danni's program was already searching the world for information. If he was working with Gary, they could keep an eye on him. If not, he'd make a wonderful addition to the team.

 

"We're in a very safe place and we'll come to get you if you feel it's necessary," Danni went on. "What do you think?"

[Curt-Man]

"n-not safe? w-what do you mean? i don't want to be put in danger or anything like that" at hearing this John got very scared, he was never one to take life threatening things calmly.

[Writer]

"Arrange a place to meet," Danni said. "Somewhere between there and Montana. We'll meet you and bring you here. Then, we'll tell you the whole story."

[Curt-Man]

"u-u-umm h-how about (insert random building here)?" John said now very panicked, and a little excited, he was finally doing something that contradicts his character.

[Writer]

"That's closer to us than to you," Danni said. "We'll meet you there. Don't look for us. We'll find you."

[Curt-Man]

John hung up not knowing what to think, he was so scared and confused. he hated the thought, but he went over to his closet, opened it and took out a hunting knife there, he strapped it to his leg and pulled his pants over it. he felt very weird having a weapon on him, but he took all precautions, then got in his car and went to the meeting place.