Chapter 17 Chapter 10 Endgame (2)

"Well, what's the matter?" Hawksdanner asked in a nasty voice. "His tone of voice suggested that it was best not to give him bad news. He had been at home watching James Bond when a phone call told him something might be wrong with the girl. On an outside line, Hawkes But Le was afraid to ask what the problem was, so he went back to headquarters in person, still wearing his paint-spattered jeans and tennis shirt, without a change of clothes. He was uneasy, chewing a piece of gum in his mouth to suppress the surge of stomach acid.As he kissed his wife goodbye, she looked at him questioningly with raised eyebrows.Hawkes butler told her that there was a "little problem" with a piece of equipment and that he would be back soon.If she knew that this "little problem" could kill him at any time, I don't know what she would say.

Now, standing in front of the camera used to spy on Charlie after lights out, he couldn't help but pray again that it was over—that the little girl had been taken from him.He never expected this day when the whole thing was just an academic matter drafted in a blue wallet.But the fact is the burning cinder-block walls; the fact is the thirty-thousand-degree heat; the fact is Bradford talking about the forces that move the universe.Heck; The truth was that he was terrified.He felt as if he were sitting on top of an extremely unstable nuclear reactor. When Hawkessteiner entered the room, Nerijo, the on-duty officer, jumped up: "At about five o'clock, Karp went down to see her." He said, "She didn't even touch dinner, and she went to bed early. .”

Hawkes butler looked at the monitor.Charlie was tossing and turning on the bed. "It looked like she was having a nightmare." "A nightmare, or a series of nightmares," Neri replied coldly. "I'm calling because within an hour, the temperature in that room has risen by three degrees." "It's not very high." "But there's so much air conditioning in that room. There's no doubt she did it." Hawkes butler bit his knuckles, thinking. "I think someone should go down and wake her up." Neri finally revealed her true intention.

"That's what you called me here for?" Howksteiner yelled "'Wake up a child and give her a cup of hot milk?" "I don't want to exceed my authority." Nirelli said expressionlessly. "No," Hawkes butler had to swallow the following words.If the temperature below had risen any higher, the girl would have had to be woken, and if she had been terribly frightened in her dream, she might have attacked the first person she saw upon waking.After all, they'd been fairly successful in clearing the girl's mind of using her fire-making abilities.

"Where's Rainbird?" he asked. Neri shrugged: "As far as I know, it was in Winnipeg, Canada. For her, though, he was off work.I think she'd be suspicious if he showed up out of the blue. " The temperature display on the console in front of Nirelli showed that the temperature had risen by one degree, and after a short pause, it continued to rise by two degrees. "We must tell people to go down." Neri's voice began to tremble a little. "The temperature there is now seventy-four degrees. What if it continues to rise?" Hawksdanner tried to figure it out, but his brain seemed to freeze.He was sweating profusely now, but his mouth was as dry as a wool sock.He wants to go home, he wants to see James Bond.He doesn't want to be here.He didn't want to look at the red numbers on the glass under that little square and wait for them to suddenly change by ten degrees.Thirty degrees.The speed of going to Baidu has increased rapidly, just like that time when the cinder block wall——

Think quickly!He screamed in his heart, what do you do?how do you— "She's awake," Neri said softly. The two stared intently at the monitor.Charlie sat up, swinging her legs to the floor.Her head was bowed, her face covered by her hair was cupped in her hands.After a while, she got up and went into the bathroom.Her face was expressionless, her eyes were barely open—not quite awake, Hawksdanner thought. Neri turned on the monitor in the bathroom.The image is now crystal clear under fluorescent lighting.Hawksdanner thought she would relieve, but Charlie just stood there in the door, staring at the toilet.

"O Holy Mary, behold," murmured Neri. The water in the toilet started to steam slightly.This phenomenon lasted for more than a minute (one minute and twenty-one seconds in Nyeri's work log).Then Charlie went over to relieve her, flushed the toilet, drank two more glasses of water, and went back to bed.This time she slept more quietly.Hawkes butler glanced at the thermometer, the temperature dropped four degrees; Immediately afterwards, it dropped by one degree.It was sixty-nine degrees—only a degree above the normal temperature of the room. He and Neri stayed until late at night: "I'm going home to sleep. You're going to write this down, aren't you?"

"That's what I get paid for," Neri said flatly. Hawkes butler went home.The next day, he wrote a memorandum advising careful consideration of potential dangers in planning further experiments; in his view, these dangers had caused great unease. Charlie didn't remember much of that night.She just remembers being hot.She still vaguely remembered the dream—a feeling of freedom— (There is light ahead—the end of the forest. Wide fields where she and the daydreamer can run forever.) Mixed with fear and loss, it was his face, John's face.Maybe she's known this for a long time, maybe she's always known.

(The woods are on fire don't hurt the horses Oh please don't hurt the horses!) When she woke up the next morning, she was terrified.Confusion and sorrow inevitably turned to anger. Wednesday he'd better stay out of the way, she thought, better be.If what he's done is true, he'd better get away from me and Dad on Wednesday. Around noon, Rainbird came and wheeled him full of cleaning tools—mops, rags.Cart for sponges etc.His white coat fluttered slightly as he walked. "Hi, Charlie," he said. Charlie was reading a comic book on the sofa.Then she looked up; for a moment her face paled.Serious...discreet, and then she smiled.Yu Bird thought: This is not her usual smile.

"Hello, John." "You don't look very well this morning, Charlie. Please don't mind me saying that." "I didn't sleep well last night.'" Yeah? He knew she wasn't sleeping well. Just because she'd turned the temperature up five or six degrees while she was sleeping, that stupid Hawksdanner was frothing at the mouth. "I'm sorry to hear that."Did you dream about your dad? " "I think so." She closed the book and stood up. "I want to lie down for a while. I don't really feel like talking right now."

"OK, go ahead." He watched her go into the bedroom; when the bedroom door clicked shut, he went into the kitchen to fetch water.He didn't like the way she looked at him and that forced smile.True, she did not sleep well at night.It happens to everyone from time to time, and then you wake up the next morning angry at your wife or staring at a newspaper, yes.But... something in it disturbed him.She hadn't seen him that way in weeks.She did not come up to him this morning to greet him, nor did she look pleased to see him.Today she kept her distance, which disturbed him.Maybe it was just a hangover from last night, maybe the nightmares she had before this were just something she ate, but he was still uneasy. And something else was bothering him: Cap had come down to see her the previous evening.This has never happened to him. Rain Bird put the bucket down, soaked and wrung out the mop, and began mopping the floor slowly, one at a time.His scarred face looked calm and serene. Did you put a knife on my back, Cap?Feel like you don't need me anymore?Or maybe you're intimidated by my proposal? If that last one is true, he's completely wrong about Karp.Hawkes butler is different. He knows very little about Senate committees and subcommittees, just scratch the surface.So he could allow himself a taste of what it was like to be afraid.Cap couldn't do that.He should have known they had little solid evidence to speak of, especially when dealing with a potential blockbuster like Charlie McGee.And Karp was applying for more than just funding; it was long-term funding.Moreover, behind all this, ethnology is involved.Rainbird figured Cap might eventually find he had to get a bunch of senators out here to watch Charlie perform.Maybe they'll be allowed to bring their own children, Rainbird thought as he continued mopping.Even more exciting than the trained dolphins in Ocean Park. Cap should know he needs all the help he can get. So why did he come to see her last night?Why did he tear down his desk? Rainbird wrung the mop hard, watching the muddy sewage flow back into the bucket.He looked through the open kitchen door toward the closed door of Charlie's bedroom.She shut him out; he didn't like it. It made him very, very uneasy. On that Monday night in early October, a moderate storm blew in from the south.It brought large black clouds that flew chaotically across the full moon hanging on the horizon.The first leaves fell and dangled across the neat lawns and clearings. Wait for the tireless patrols to come and clear them the next day.Some fallen leaves fell on the goose pond with the wind) like small boats floating on the water.Autumn once again reigns supreme in Virginia. Andy was in his room watching TV; he was still recovering from a headache.The area of ​​numbness on the face has shrunk but not gone away completely.He could only hope that by Wednesday afternoon he would be ready.If things go according to his plan, he can minimize the number of times he uses his psychic powers.If Charlie had gotten his note, if she had met him in the stables that day...then she would have been his power, his weapon, his saviour.Who would dare to bargain with him when he has a deterrent equivalent to nuclear weapons? Cap was at his home in Longmont Hills.Just like the night when Rain Bird came to visit him, he was sitting on the sofa sipping brandy and listening to the soft music from the stereo.Tonight is Chopard.Across the room, his crumpled old golf bag leaned against the wall.Two reproductions of Van Gogh hang on the wall.He had brought the ball bag up from the basement; there were shelves filled with the many sports equipment he had slowly amassed over the past twelve years.For twelve years he and Georgia had lived in the house, no longer traveling the world on missions.He took the bag to the living room because, lately, he seems to be obsessed with golf.Golf, and snakes. "He brought the bag up with the intention of taking a closer look at the two irons and two putters inside, hoping that might calm his nerves. One of the irons, however, seemed to... It's kind of ridiculous (absurd, I should say), but an iron-tipped bat seemed to move. As if it wasn't a club at all, but a snake, a viper that crawled into the house... Cap threw the bag against the wall and walked away quickly.Half a glass of brandy stopped the slight trembling in his hands.By the time the glass is down, he may be able to tell himself that his hands haven't shaken at all. He stopped suddenly as he raised the glass to his lips.It's here again!it's moving... Or his eyesight? Almost certainly vertigo.There's no snake in that damn bag, just clubs he hasn't been using much lately.too busy.And he's a pretty good player.Certainly not a national champion, but at least he can keep the ball out of bounds.Unlike Parker, who always hits the diagonal ball.Karp doesn't like to hit the ball diagonally because it lands in the rough, and sometimes there's— Get yourself under control.Be sure to keep yourself in check.Are you still Capeton? His fingers began to tremble again.what happened?what happened?Sometimes he felt as if someone had told him a perfectly good reason.It's just that he... can't remember.But sometimes— (Let's say now.) He felt as if he was on the verge of breaking down.His brain was torn like a meltdown by these weird thoughts that he couldn't get rid of. (Are you still Capeton?" Cap flung his glass into the fireplace.With a sudden loud noise, an uncontrollable sob rushed out of his choked throat.Then he struggled across the room (with a drunken stagger), grabbed the handle of the ball bag (something seemed to be wobbling in there again, listen--a little...), and shook it off. to the shoulders. He also walked towards the basement with strong perseverance, with large beads of sweat hanging on his forehead, and fear and determination intertwined on his ugly face. There are only golf clubs in them, and there are only golf clubs in them.He sang it over and over in his heart.Every time he took a step, he was prepared for a long, brown thing to swim out of his pouch, with small black eyes shining, and white teeth dripping with poisonous sweat, and inject death from the back of his neck. Back in the living room he felt much better.Apart from the annoying headache, he felt that he could think about some problems in an orderly manner again, which was basically fine. He is drunk. In the morning, he felt better again, but it was only temporary. On that blustery Monday night, Rain Bird had been gathering intelligence, disturbing intelligence.First he found Neri; Neri had been on duty last night when Cap went to see Charlie. "I want to see the tape," Rainbird said. Neri didn't protest. He took Rainbird to a hut with a projector, handed him Sunday's tape, and left.He was glad to get Rainbird off like this, and wished he wouldn't come back for anything.The little girl was scary enough, but the monstrously ugly Rainbird seemed even worse. Each videotape is three hours long and has a serial number on it.Rain Bird found the disc with Karp and watched it four times.He sat there staring at the screen, motionless, only occasionally rewinding the tape to the point where Cap says goodbye to Charlie: "I've got to go. But I'll see you again, Charlie, don't worry," Much of the tape was unnerving to Rainbird. He didn't like the way Cap looked.He looked much older; several times when he was talking to Charlie, he seemed to forget what he was going to say, looking old and confused. I think I should be able to arrange everything by Wednesday, yes, it must be Wednesday. Why on earth did he say that? In Rainbird's mind, giving the kid that much hope was the best way to expose their experiment to the world.Why on earth is he doing this?The most obvious explanation is that Cap is playing his own little game—seduction in Ita's best way. But Rain Bird didn't believe it.Cap doesn't look like a seductress. He looked downright stupid.Like the line about Charlie's father playing golf.It was a completely nonsensical statement that had no connection to the context of their conversation.For a moment, Rain Bird wondered if this could be some kind of secret signal, but it was obviously unlikely.Cap knew that everything that happened in Charlie's room was being monitored and videotaped, and could be checked almost at any time.He could have found a much better way to talk about golf?This sentence hangs there in the middle of nowhere, which is incomprehensible and confusing. And there's one last thing. Rain Bird rewinded the video tape over and over again, and Garp stopped, sniffed, and almost forgot.Then he handed her something, she looked at it curiously, and then put it in the pocket of her nightgown, Rain Bird's hand rested on the console and kept rewinding the video tape.Cap said oh, almost forgot six times and gave her that thing six times.At first, Rainbird thought it might be a piece of chewing gum.Later, when he used freeze frame and zoom, he believed it was probably a note. Cap, what the fuck are you doing? Rain Bird sat at his computer for the rest of that night and into the early hours of Tuesday.He called up everything he knew about Charlie McGee, hoping to find a pattern.But nothing.Overstrained eyes gave him headaches. He stood up and was about to turn off the power, when a sudden thought entered his mind, all of this has nothing to do with Charlie, the fat one should be the one who caused the trouble.Drug addicted fool - her father. Pinchert.Pinchert had been Andy McGee's doctor in charge, and last week Pinchert committed suicide in a way more horrific than Rainbird could have imagined.Obviously mentally disturbed.Let's consider this a trivial matter.Then there's Cap taking Andy to the funeral—a bit odd if you stop and think about it, but not earth-shattering. Then Cap started to be weird—talking about golf, passing notes. But this is ridiculous.He has lost his special abilities. Rain Bird stood still, his hand on the switch.The computer screen glowed gray-green, the color of newly dug emeralds. Who said he lost his special abilities?Is it Pinchert? Rain Bird suddenly realized that there was another strange thing.Pinchet had given up on Andy's experiments and had decided to send him to the Isle of Muil.If Andy can't do anything to prove the power of Destiny Six, then there's no need to keep him here... And it was safer to separate him from Charlie.very good.But Pincher suddenly changed his mind and decided to do another set of experiments. Then Pinchert decided to clean out the garbage disposal...while it was running. Rain Bird sat down in front of the computer again.He thought for a while, and typed out on the plane: hello computer Inquiry content Andrew McGee/14112 Keyword further experimentation/sent to Moy Queryer No. 4 After a while, the computer displays: hello rain bird Query Results Andrew McGee 14112 No further confirmation Tested/approved by "Stalin"/planned to go to Moyi time October 9th 15th When / Approved by "Stalin" / Andrew Air Force Base to Karami Air Force Base land complete Rain Bird glanced at his watch.October 9th is Wednesday.Andy is leaving Moyi tomorrow afternoon for Hawaii.Who said this?Approved by Stalin.That was Cap himself.But this was the first time Rain Bird had heard of it. His fingers began to tap rapidly on the keyboard again: Query Content Probability Andrew McGee 14112 / Mind Control cross query herman pinchert He had to stop and look for Pincher in the battered password book he had brought. unique password. 14409 Queryer No. 4 The computer screen is blank for a long time.Rain Bird really doubts It was his own program that got it wrong, and maybe he would get nothing. Then, the screen displays: Query Results Andrew McGee 141/ Mind control 35% cross query herman pinchert complete Thirty-five percent? How is this possible? Well, Rainbird thought, let's take out Pinchet and see what we get. He typed: Query Content Probability Andrew McGee 14112／Mind Control Queryer No. 4 At this time, the computer gave a reply in less than fifteen seconds: Query Results Andrew McGee 14112／Mind Control 2% complete Rain Bird leaned back in his chair and closed his good eye.He felt a pleasurable sense of victory amidst the headaches.What he asked later was the most important question, but that's the price one pays for being wrong about one's intuition.Nothing is known about such erroneous computers, even though they are programmed to say "hello" and "goodbye". "Sorry". "Too bad" and "fuck". The computer believes that Andy no longer has much mind control.And when you add Pinchert, the percentage jumps to mid-air. He then typed: Why is the query content crossed with Herman Pinchert 14409 When queried, Andrew McGee's 14112 mind control chance changed from 2% goes up to 35%. The computer answers: Query Results Suicide/probability score for Herman Pinchert 14409 Analysis suggests Andrew McGee may have contributed to his suicide/mind control complete Ah, the largest in the Western Hemisphere.State-of-the-art computer systems await here if you ask the right questions. What if I put my doubts about Karp as real?While thinking about it, Rain Bird decided to give it a try.He took out his password book and found Karp's number. He typed: Filed by Capton Hollinster 16040 / with Andrew Mack Kat 14112 attended the funeral of Herman Pinchert 14409 The computer shows that the filing is complete. Rain Bird then typed: Filed Cappton Hollinster 16040 / Recently exhibited signs of mental stress Filed in Capeton, Hollinster 16040 / Most recently in Charlene Breach of rules in front of McGee Filed. "You bitch/Rainbird said, 'Let's see. ’ His fingers returned to the Type on the keyboard: Query Content Probability Andrew McGee 14112/Mind Control force Cross-query Herman Pinchert 14409/Capton Holling ster 16040 Queryer No. 4 Rain Bird sat in a chair and stared at the screen, waiting for the two percent drop.percentage Fifteen isn't too satisfying either.but-- This time the computer displays: Query Results Andrew McGee 14112／Mind Control 90% / cross-query Herrenmann Pinchert 14409 / cross-query Kapton · Hollinster 16040 complete It's ninety percent now.It was indeed a gamble. John Rainbird had two more things to gamble on: first, that what Cap handed the girl was indeed a note from his father, and second, that the note contained their escape plan. "You bloody bastard," murmured John Rainbird admiringly. He leaned over to the computer again and typed: 600 goodbye computer 600 604 goodbye rain bird 604 Rain Bird pushed away the keyboard and giggled. Rainbird went back to the house where he lived and fell asleep without taking off his clothes.It was Tuesday noon when he awoke.He hung up on Cap and said he wasn't going to work in the afternoon—he had a bad cold (probably the flu) and didn't want to risk passing it on to Charlie. "Hope this doesn't keep you from going to San Diego tomorrow," Cap said cheerfully. "Santiago?" "I have three top-secret files here," Garp said, "I need you as my courier. Your plane leaves at Andrews Airport at seven tomorrow morning. " Rain Bird turned his mind quickly.That's Andy McGee again.McGee heard about him Rainbird.He must have heard.He must have told Charlie in the note, and some crazy escape plan he was planning.That's why the little girl acted so strangely yesterday.On the way to or back from Herman Pinchet's funeral, Andy must have manipulated Cap's mind to make him what he was.As planned; McGee was leaving Andrews Field tomorrow afternoon; and now Cap told him—Rain Bird—to leave tomorrow morning.McGee was using Karp to get rid of him first.he-- "Rain Bird? Are you listening?" "I'm listening," he said. "Can you send someone else? I've got a fever." "I trust you the most," Garp replied. "It's a matter of urgency. We don't want... the snake in the grass... to know about it." "Did you mean 'snake'?" Rainbird asked. "Yes! It's a snake!" Cap literally screamed. McGee had done it to him, and something catastrophic was going on inside Capeton Hollinstedt.Rainbird suddenly had a feeling—no, an intuitive certainty—that if he disobeyed Cap and kept arguing with him, Cap would break down... just like Pinchet did. Does he want to do it? After consideration, he decided to give up. "Okay," he said, "I'll be there. Seven in the morning. How many pills do I have to take? You're a bastard, Cap. " "I can prove my love for you without hesitation," Karp joked. But the joke was blunt and hollow.He sounded relieved. "Yes, I believe." "Maybe you can play golf while you're there." "I don't play—" Golf?He also mentioned golf and snakes to Charlie. It looked like those two things were part of the damage McGee had done to Cap's brain. "Okay, maybe I'll play," he said. "At six-thirty to Andrews Field," Cap said. "Find a man named Dick Folsom. He's Colonel Partridge's assistant." "Okay." Rainbird replied, although he had no intention of going to the airport tomorrow at all, "bye, Cap." He hung up the phone and sat back on the bed.He put on his old desert boots and began to plot. hello computer Query content John Rainbird 14222 / Andrews AFB to santiago Inquirer No. 9 Karp Query Results John Rainbird 14222／Andrews Air Force Base／ To San Diego/Wednesday at 7:00 am complete Rain Bird thought while reading: Computers are really children.He just typed in Garp's new password (Karp would be stunned if he knew it), and to the computer, he was Karp, and he started whistling out of tune. The Tower was sleepily going about its daily business. Archive Top Secret Documents please enter password Password 19180 Computer returns password: 19180 is ready to file top secret documents After a short pause, Rain Bird knocked: Filed for John Rainbird 14222 / Andrews AFB to the Holy Land Diego/Cancelled Inquirer No. 9/19180 archived Rain Bird then told the computer to notify Victor Partridge and his assistant, Richard Folson, of the trip cancellation.These new instructions would be sent by cable to Andrews Field at midnight, and the plane would take off without Rain Bird as a passenger.No one will ever know," including Karp. 600 goodbye computer 600 604 Goodbye Karp 604 Rain Bird pushed the keyboard away.Of course, it is entirely possible to stop their escape plan tonight.But there is nothing to do.How convincing.The computer can testify for him to a certain extent, but what does the probability calculated by the computer show?It's best to stop things after they've already started, when it's all obvious.And also more interesting. The whole thing is interesting.While they had been keeping an eye on the girl, the man had regained his ability to treat psychic powers—perhaps he had successfully concealed it.It's possible that he'd thrown all those drugs away, and now he's controlling Cap, which means he's almost running the whole institution—the same institution that had him imprisoned in the first place.It's just ridiculous.Rain Bird has long realized that the ending of a contest is often ridiculous. He didn't know McGee's exact plan, but he could guess.Yes, they'd go to Andrews Airport; except that Charlie would go with them, and Cap could get her out of Ita without much trouble—maybe he was the only one in the world who could do that.They will go to Andrews, but not to Hawaii.Andy probably planned that they would disappear in the capital, Washington.Maybe they'll get off the plane in Durban, and Andy will ask Cap to call a shuttle.If so, they'd disappear into the small town of Sentown—only to reappear a few days later in (Chicago Tribune's horrifying headlines. He also had fleeting thoughts of not interfering with them.That would be interesting too.If so, he guessed Cap would end up in a madhouse, yelling at golf clubs and snakes in the grass until he killed himself.And what about Ita?Imagine putting a jar of sour glycerin under an ant frog.Within five months, Rainbird speculated, Ita would have ceased to exist within five months of the news of the "miserable fate of the McGee family" in the press.Rainbird never felt compelled to pledge allegiance to Ita.He is a solo traveler. Crippled fighter of fate, red-skinned angel of death.And everything here is as light as a feather to him.At this moment, his allegiance was not to Ita. It was Charlie. The two of them have a pact.In those last moments, he'd be looking into the depths of her eyes, and she'd be looking into his... maybe they'd come out of their shells together in the flames.Killing her might save the world from some unimaginable doom; but it never occurred to him.Chi didn't think he owed allegiance to the world. On the contrary, it was the world and Ita that had driven him away from his closed desert society, which might have been his redemption... But Charlie, Charlie! The two of them had been embracing the death waltz since that long night of blackout.What he had suspected after killing Varys that morning in Washington had now become an irresistible determination: the girl was his.But through love, not destruction, because there is no difference between the two. He is willing to accept death.In many ways, he was willing to die.And dying by her hands, dying in her flames, would be his remorse before God... maybe it would be God's forgiveness for him. Once she's with her father, she'll be a loaded gun... no, a flamethrower. He will watch her, he will reunite their father and daughter.then what?Does anyone know? But wouldn't it be a disappointment to know?