Mind Games (5 page)

It wasn't hard to spot. Over in the corner, an enormous blinking neon sign read, ‘MindLab. Tomorrow's gaming today.'

Zac headed over.

MindLab had set up rows of computers so everyone at the convention could try their games and equipment.

A thrill rushed through Zac. Every kid at every computer at the MindLab display was wearing a high-tech metal helmet! They were testing the MindLab 3000 console. The hackers must be very close now.

But where? Zac needed to hang back for a while and watch. But it was already 8.01am. Less than an hour until the firewall was breached!

The MindLab display was the most popular stand by far. Kid after kid stepped up to try out the new mind-controlled console. That made sense.
Who wouldn't
want to try out something so awesome?

All the same, Zac couldn't help thinking how rich a company like MindLab must be.
But to keep the money rolling in,
thought Zac,
they need to keep kids addicted to their
games.

Computer games were definitely fun, but there was also something a little bit creepy about the way they sucked you in.

Suddenly, Zac noticed something strange.When a kid made a very high score, a man in a black suit and dark sunglasses would appear from nowhere. The man would whisper something in the kid's ear and the two of them would disappear through a door.

As Zac watched, it happened at least three times.

Where were the men taking the games champs? And what were they whispering?

Zac dug out his trusty SpyPad. He switched it on and stuck in a pair of headphones. The SpyPad had a high-powered multi-directional microphone feature. Zac could hear almost anything, even the softest whisper, from about 50 metres away.

Sneaking closer to the MindLab display, Zac pointed his SpyPad at one of the men in black suits. The man leant down towards a kid on one of the computers.

‘Hey, you're pretty good at that game,' the man said. The kid hardly looked up.

‘My name's Mr Tait,' said the man, sticking out his hand. ‘How'd you like a job with MindLab? We're hiring champion gamers for an interesting project we're working on. We pay good money.'

That got the kid's attention. He nodded, stood up and walked off with Mr Tait.

Zac followed along behind, as close as he dared. Mr Tait and the kid disappeared through a door that said, ‘Private'.

Zac crouched down behind a pot plant and listened closely. The SpyPad's microphone was so powerful, Zac could hear everything the man said, even through a closed door.

‘MindLab is so much more than a gaming company,' Mr Tait was saying. ‘The technology we invent for games, we also use for much bigger things. Like satellites.'

Satellites! Zac's face flushed with excitement. He was about to crack this case, he could feel it.

‘At the moment, we're trying to discover how a particularly powerful satellite called WorldEye works,' Mr Tait said. ‘Since you're so good with the MindLab 3000, we thought you'd be able to help. We use the same controls for our WorldEye project, you see.'

So the kid on the other side of the door would be joining a group of kids recruited by MindLab to hack into WorldEye using the MindLab 3000. The hackers Zac followed in the karaoke bar were too!

The plan was ingenious. Develop top-level hacking technology and disguise it as an ordinary games console. Then, recruit the best gamers and pay them lots of money for their silence.

No-one would ever suspect kids would be the brains behind a plot as big as hacking into WorldEye.

Just then, the kid on the other side of the door asked Mr Tait a question.

‘I thought that satellite belonged to someone else,' the kid said. Zac held his breath.
What would Mr Tait say to that?

There was a long silence. Then Zac heard the faintest sound. Even with the powerful SpyPad microphone, it was almost too quiet to hear. It was a cross between a sob and a whimper of pain. Zac's blood ran cold.

Zac heard Mr Tait's cruel voice. ‘When you work for MindLab, you don't ever ask questions. Now you know why.'

Pins and needles prickled Zac's legs. He was going to cramp up if he didn't move soon. He shifted a millimetre to his left. But it was enough. A voice called out.

‘Over there! Behind the pot plant!'

Oh no! One of the kids from the karaoke bar had spotted Zac.

Before he could run, Zac was surrounded. Zac recognised the man from the front entrance, the one who'd forced him to enter the games comp. He saw all the kids from the karaoke bar. As well as those kids, there were a whole lot of goons he hadn't met yet.

There was no escaping this one!

‘I know someone very keen to meet you,' said the man from the front entrance in his creepy voice. He grabbed Zac roughly by the arm. ‘The head of MindLab, Jimmy Shady.'

CHAPTER
NINE

Zac looked around for help. Surely there'd be security guards at the Games Convention? Surely they wouldn't just let a whole lot of goons march him away in broad daylight?

But then Zac remembered. MindLab was sponsoring the Games Convention. If there were security guards, they worked for MindLab. They'd be no help at all.

Zac needed a plan. But at the rate the goons were dragging him through the hall, there wasn't much time to come up with one. He'd have to think something up on the spot!

‘This way,' said the man from the front entrance, yanking Zac towards a glass office overlooking the entire convention centre.

Magically, the door slid aside. There at a desk was a very short, very ugly man. His thin hair was scraped back against his skull with shiny hair gel. His skin was clammy and pocked like a toad's.

The ugly man stood up and nodded politely. It was like he and Zac were about to sit down to a friendly game of chess.

‘Before I kill you,' said the ugly man, ‘let me introduce myself.'

Zac knew that a spy must never show fear. Even when his stomach was flip-flopping wildly.

‘I'm Jimmy Shady,' said the man.‘Take a seat. I'll tell you all about my operation.'

When he was a kid, Jimmy Shady would've been the last one picked for the footy team. The one who never got invited to anyone's birthday party. The one who ate his lunch all by himself.

Now, Zac could tell Jimmy Shady felt important at last. And he couldn't wait to tell Zac exactly how powerful he really was. In fact, Jimmy Shady was so thrilled with himself, his eyes misted over. He didn't even notice Zac switching on his iPod. That suited Zac just fine.

‘Being a GIB spy, you've no doubt worked out I'm recruiting games whizzes to help me hack into your precious World-Eye satellite.'

Zac nodded. ‘Why would you want to hack into WorldEye? You're head of a games company, not an international spy,' Zac said. The more Jimmy Shady told him, the better.

‘Once I control WorldEye, I'll be able to spy on stupid kids like all the ones out there. I'll be able to find out what they like and don't like. That way, I'll get them all hooked on even more of my super-addictive games!'

‘How close are you to controlling WorldEye?' asked Zac.

‘One line of computer code away.'

Jimmy Shady consulted his notes. ‘We know the second-last line is H=//t+13, but we haven't cracked the last line yet. The kids I've recruited today are doing tests right now.'

Zac said nothing.

‘Untold riches will be mine! And the funniest part is, I'm using the kids themselves to get even more kids hooked on my games!' Jimmy Shady laughed an evil laugh.

It was all Zac needed to hear. As casually as he could, Zac stretched his arms up. Just the way he'd planned it, something rolled down his sleeve and into his hand.

A stink bomb.

Zac always kept one up his sleeve, just in case. It wasn't anything clever or high-tech. But as Zac was learning, sometimes the old-fashioned gadgets are the best.

With all his might, Zac chucked the stink bomb at the wall.

It exploded.

Instantly the room filled with gas.

Jimmy Shady coughed and spluttered. So did his goons. The gas smelt worse than 10,000 dog farts!

Zac sprang to his feet. Before anyone knew what was happening, he'd raced out the door.

He'd managed to secretly record Jimmy Shady admitting his evil plan on the mini-video camera in his iPod. Zac had all the evidence he needed to arrest Jimmy and stop the hackers cracking the final line of computer code.

But how, in a room crawling with Mind-Lab goons, could one 12-year-old arrest the head of MindLab?

CHAPTER
TEN

Zac tore through the Games Convention towards the main stage.

With all those monitors and equipment on the stage, the next part of his plan would be easy. As quick as lightning, Zac plugged his iPod into the ‘Video In' jack on the giant screen.

Zac hit play. Suddenly, Jimmy Shady's voice boomed through the Bladesville Town Hall. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up. Zac was broadcasting Jimmy Shady's confession for the entire convention to hear.