Rise of the Heroes Read Free Page A

Web site we were on before.”
    The movie trailers had been replaced by a completely different set of icons and text, all of it unfamiliar.
    â€œSo? You’d still better turn it off,” warned Lorna.
    Toby waved his hand to silence her. “Hold on, Lorn. Take a look. This is weird.”
    Lorna and Emily crowded next to the boys. A bold banner filled the top of the screen: “HERO.COM.”
    â€œThis another of your stupid comic-book sites?” Emily asked.
    Pete pointed to the screen, leaving a new spot where his finger had been. “Look at the Web address.”
    â€œGeekybrother.com, by any chance?” said Lorna smugly.
    The address bar on the screen was devoid of the usual “http:” or “www” prefixes and instead was replaced by a series of strange characters. “What kind of site is Hero.com?” asked Lorna.
    â€œOne that’s not on the Internet,” said Toby ominously, as another flash of lightning and a thunder roll indicated the storm was retreating. But the rain outside still drummed heavily.
    Underneath the banner, a series of four icons stood out. Toby passed the pointer over each; it changed to a hand, indicating the icons were separate links to click on. But other than the enigmatic title, there was not another word in English … or any other language for that matter.
    â€œClick on something,” urged Pete.
    â€œOkay. The first symbol, I guess,” said Toby, motioning toward a swirling whirlpool. He clicked and moments later the Web page changed to another series of icons. These looked more familiar: a stickmanlike figure in various poses: flexing muscles, lines coming from its eyes, stretched horizontally, shimmering, bloated …. There were so many that Toby had to scroll down the page to see them all.
    â€œThis is stupid,” said Emily. “It’s just another boring, nerdy Web site.”
    With a faint pop, a smaller window appeared on the screen. Paragraphs of text wavered between dozens of languages before finally solidifying into English.
    â€œI can’t read that. What’s it say?” said Pete, taking off his glasses and rubbing the dirty lenses vigorously on his shirt.
    Toby read aloud, “Welcome to Hero.com. As new visitors you have a free two-day trial download. Maximum of one download per person. Be sure to check out the mission board and don’t forget to fight on for justice!”
    Silence filled the room as they each took in the words.
    â€œJunk,” said Lorna. “I’ve heard about these things. They ask you to download what turns out to be a virus onto your computer then they take all your bank information.”
    â€œIt’s called phishing,” said Pete.
    Emily glanced at him. “You would know that, wouldn’t you?”
    â€œI know a lot of stuff,” he snapped back defensively.
    â€œSo what’s the harm? I don’t have a bank account,” said Toby.
    â€œDuh! Our parents do! It’s all a big scam to get money!”
    Toby looked thoughtfully at the screen. “Maybe they’re just games. And the first two days are free?”
    â€œYou’re an idiot,” said Lorna.
    Toby’s cursor circled the screen, the pointer falling on the icon of the stickman crouching on all fours. “We’ve got a virus checker. What’s the worst that could happen?”
    His finger clicked the button.
    The screen seemed to ripple. Toby could have sworn the very material of the LCD screen bulged toward him like a funnel, whipping out to tap him gently on the forehead, all in a split second.
    Lorna gaped at her brother, not quite believing her eyes. But the expressions that Pete and Emily wore confirmed that something bizarre had just happened.
    â€œNow that was a strange … optical illusion. You okay, Tobe?” asked Pete.
    Toby nodded. The room seemed to revolve unsteadily around him as though he’d been spinning on the spot.