The Mark of Athena,Heroes of Olympus, Book 3

Percy XV


Annabeth opened the laptop.

"The other night, I was working on my laptop, when my phone rang. Daedalus had all sorts of firewalls and things that prevent hacking. I figured out how to get the computer to send me a text when someone hacks the computer. I never thought I'd need it. When I looked at history, a file had been downloaded. It confused me, but now it makes sense. Take a look." Annabeth turned the laptop to Percy, Leo, Hazel, Piper, and Jason.

"Roman Rivalry?" Piper read.

"Keep reading. It'll all make sense."

"Roman Rivalry," Piper repeated. "Looks like blue Greek fire but in some cases can be even more dangerous. Will take two or more people with the potential to argue and will make them fight until they are possibly destroyed by each other. Is very dangerous because the explosions do not make a sound and are unable to be seen. The farther one gets from the explosion, the less they are affected by it. Triggered by anger.

"At first, I wondered why on Earth someone would take this file, when there are much quicker and more destructive methods. This was the most subtle. I think when Leo first caught fire, that's when the bomb exploded. It's triggered by anger. No one was truly angry until that time."

"So... that wasn't Leo and Percy fighting, was it?" asked Jason, trying to clear things up.

"Nope. It was Gaea. I think we were all affected by it a little. Well, that is, except for Jason, but I don't know why."

"I thought they were being immature, but that's all." Jason shrugged.

"Uh, I actually wasn't that mad toward the end of it, I was kind of scared out of my mind." Leo shuddered. Percy felt bad, but he didn't want his sword broken. That crossed the line.

"Okay, do you think we can avoid it?" asked Percy.

"Um... let me see." Annabeth took the laptop again. Suddenly, the screen went blank. When it came back into focus, there was a message on the screen.

File not found

"Whoa, what just happened?" exclaimed Annabeth. She went back to History again. It was completely empty. Annabeth clicked on "documents" and quickly typed in, "Roman Rivalry."

Another error message popped up. She searched for another file. The same error message. Annabeth tried to scroll down, but there was nothing in the folder.

"I've been hacked again," she whispered. "And they've erased everything."

(Page break)

"Turn it off then back on again," suggested Leo. "That's how my mom fixed our computer."

"I've tried that, Leo," Annabeth growled.

"Check history again," said Jason. Annabeth nodded. She clicked on the history button. Only one file showed.



Nagasaki45

Annabeth's eyes widened.

"No, no, no, no, no," she whispered.

"What's 'Nagasaki25?'" wondered Percy.

"It's something that people usually do to prevent hackers when they don't need a file anymore. It's called a 'fat boy.' It deletes everything on the computer permanently. Luckily, I have it all backed up on flash drives, but they're back at camp!"

"Okay, but why is it called that... whatever?" Leo asked.

"You need to pay attention in history class. Nagasaki is where the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb in 1945. Most people didn't survive it. The code name for it was 'Fat Boy.' There's also another one called 'Hiroshima45.' Same purpose, same reason. Hackers call that a 'Little Boy.'"

"Ohh... kay?" Leo shook his head. "You've got it on flash drives?"

"Yeah, I've also got a couple files on my iPad, but not this one. I only downloaded the ones I thought Gaea might use! I only did that for convenience. I'd never even heard of this until the other night."

"So, it could cause... say... Greeks and Romans to fight? Or... demigods whose parents don't like each other?" Percy said impulsively. He wasn't trying to change the subject, but what he'd been thinking had popped out.

Annabeth's eyes widened. "I didn't think about that, but I guess."

"Why'd you sound so nervous?" asked Leo.

"Oh... no reason," Annabeth lied. She met Percy's eyes. Percy wondered if she was thinking the same thing he was thinking.

Poseidon and Athena.

"I'm hearing a lot of whispering and I'm curious," said Frank as he walked in again. He seemed to have recovered from his panic earlier, and had now sat on the couch with everyone else.

"My computer got wiped!" Annabeth said in a high pitched whisper only bats could hear.

"Um..."

"Oh, just forget it. I can't explain things when I'm freaking out. Piper, could you go get my iPad?"

"Sure." Piper ran off. In a moment, she came back carrying an iPad in a black case.

"Thanks." Annabeth opened the case and turned the iPad on. She tapped around for a moment, then waited.

"Malcolm, I need your help," Annabeth said urgently.

"What's up? Oh, did you find Percy?" said a voice coming from the iPad.

"Hi," Percy said.

"Focus! My computer..." Annabeth walked to her room.

"What was she doing?" asked Leo.

"FaceTime. I swear, she's addicted to it. She bought an iPhone just for that," Piper laughed.

"Good news, Malcom's going to try to send me those flash drives. Bad news, he doesn't know how." Annabeth looked scared. Percy understood why. Those flash drives were now all that was left of the inventor's work.

A shiver went up Percy's spine. Suddenly, there was a loud noise coming from below them.

"Annabeth. You just used the internet. This is why I don't have a cell phone." Percy ran to the window.

Below them waited the biggest sea monster Percy had ever seen.