Jasjiv began walking back to his office holding a thin trail of clues in his hand that merely held the security of all of ACME headquarters, not to mention the security of his own job, up for ransom. As he passed the hallway moving left and right to dodge the other passerbys in the hallway, he couldn't help but feel alone.

Back in his office he booted up his computer and accessed a secure internet connection. Doing a basic sweep of intelligence sites he found exactly the same information as what was in the folders. "Shoulda known." Jasjiv snorted."All that egghead could really do was search the web for answers." He searched some more, when suddenly a toolbar in his window began to blink. It was an instant message.

"That's odd." Jasjiv said to himself. It was certainly peculiar to be getting IMs on a secure connection. His curiosity got the better of him though and he double-clicked the message.

DeepCover: You're looking for Player aren't you?

Jasjiv gave a pause. He had no idea who this person was, why he had ACME clearance, or even if he could be trusted. But he had no other leads, and besides, he would likely be fired anyway.

<ACME>Bollywood5_0: Yes, I so far have addresses leading to D.C.

DeepCover: They're all false. Player is actually a front, and your leads go to an apple computer belonging to a 10 year old by the name of Evan Sawyer.

<ACME>Bollywood5_0: Who am I really after?

DeepCover: I don't know his real name, but he goes by the name of "The User." He's a very talented computer hacker with access to a thousand internet hotspots around the world. I'm downloading the pattern to you right now...

<ACME>Bollywood5_0: Is there any logic behind the pattern?
DeepCover: It's only a theory, but they seem to spring up a few moments after that thief Carmen Sandiego commits a crime.

<ACME>Bollywood5_0: Carmen....is he one of her henchmen?

DeepCover: I don't know, I've just been waiting for someone from ACME to pick up on the trail. I may be good at haking, but I can't predict the next move of a master criminal.

<ACME>Bollywood5_0: I'm on it, thanks for your help. Is there any way we can keep contact?

DeepCover has logged off.

"Damn." Jasjiv slumped back in his chair. At his side the geographical pattern of The User's signals slowly slid forward from his printer. "It's a trap, I just know it." Still, his curiosity got the best of him. According to the print out the User's latest network was erected in Sudbury, Ontario. Indeed, Carmen had struck there recently, having stolen the Big Nickel. Jasjiv got back on his computer and began to charter a flight to Canada.