Another Load Balancing Thought

As strain increases on a website or business application, eventually, a single server cannot support the full workload. To meet demand, organizations spread the workload over multiple servers. Called "load balancing," this practice prevents a single server from becoming overworked, which could cause it to slow down, drop requests, and even crash.

Load balancing lets you evenly distribute network traffic to prevent failure caused by overloading a particular resource. This strategy improves the performance and availability of applications, websites, databases, and other computing resources. It also helps process user requests quickly and accurately.

- From the IBM Cloud Learn website.

A Conversation with Steven

Sarah woke up a little groggy after getting home so late, and made her way to the bathroom to get ready for the day. As she was getting ready, Sarah thought about last night's meeting, it had been a bit of a surprise.

She and Chuck had taken her Porsche to that month's location that Chuck and his father had worked out. (His dad was paranoid that some nefarious group would find out about how he contacted either Chuck or Ellie, so Stephen had arranged twelve different locations that he changed based on an algorithm he created, he would then notify his children via the LA Times want ads of which one to use.) This month's location had been the Griffith Park Observatory near the bust of James Dean. It had been almost 10 pm by the time the duo had arrived. As Sarah and Chuck slowly walked toward the statue, both were practicing their skills at spycraft: looking for oddities in the environment, making note of any people around, keeping a close eye on possible ingress and egress routes. Chuck had stopped after a minute realizing what he was doing, Sarah had also stopped but only to raise a questioning well-manicured eyebrow at Chuck, who had sheepishly apologized before quickly moving to her side.

The two had seen Stephen step out from behind the statue, look directly at them and then continue down some stairs. Chuck and Sarah followed. Stephen stopped and beckoned them towards him, before grabbing Chuck in a tight hug.

"I am so glad that the Load Balancer protocol is working Son!"

"Me too Dad, me too. Though I have noticed some odd things happening since we woke up from the Reset."

"We can talk about that in a minute," Stephen turned and held out a hand to Sarah. "I am pleased to see you again Agent…" Stephen had looked a bit lost as to what to call her.

Sarah smiled at the man she had known as Dr. Orion while she was involved in Project Omaha, "Likewise sir and it is Agent Walker nowadays."

"Thanks Agent Walker. Now that the Reset has completed have either of you noticed anything odd? Or have you had any headaches or vertigo or any other physical malady?" Stephen gestured over to a table with several chairs arranged around it.

Chuck shook his head, "I haven't noticed anything and while it is very early since the Reset, I have a feeling my headaches are a thing of the past. I don't know, Sarah – have you noticed anything?" Chuck turned his eyes toward her and Sarah felt a slight tingling in her head, but figured it was just fatigue.

She turned back to Stephen and said, "I haven't noticed anything. What should we be looking for Doctor?"

Stephen looked at her and then Chuck and then back to her, "I'm sorry to say that I honestly don't know. When we started the Omaha Project there really was only one objective to get the Intersect to work – but to do that I needed two compatible agents. Agent Walker, you were the only one of the hundreds of agents that we tested that was a compatible match."

"So all of those agents who weren't a match and washed out – what happened to them, are they OK? Were you looking to only for a match for Chuck's sake? Did you just use me to save your son?" Sarah whispered.

Stephen stood up looked at her, blew out a breath, and walked to the railing.

"To answer your questions Agent Walker, yes the Agents who weren't compatible are doing well. There were no adverse effects as they never were exposed to the Intersect. And yes, I was hoping that I would find a match for Chuck, but I knew that was a long shot. To find a perfect Balancer for the Prime that Chuck had downloaded as a child was finding a needle in a field of haystacks. I had hoped that I would be able to find a few matching Load Balancers. I thought that if I could then I would know what to look for to help Chuck. But I found you Agent Walker, and you turned out to be the perfect Balancer for Chuck. If I had wanted to only use you then ask yourself why I didn't put you in contact with Chuck immediately. Why wait until now?"

Sarah heard Chuck exhale and realized that she too had been holding her breath. She looked down at her hands that were resting folded on the table. "You're right, Doctor. I'm sorry to accuse you of that, this is a lot to take."

"It is all right Agent Walker, but there are some other things that you need to know. I ask that you keep an open mind about what you're going to be told. Please."

Sarah looked up right into Stephen's eyes and saw the plea and the hope that she would accept whatever else was about to be sprung on her.

"I can only promise that I will try Doctor."

Stephen gave her a small grin, and then pulled up the left sleeve of his shirt, and typed something on what looked like a flexible keyboard.

"OK they will be right here."

"Dad… who will?"

"Chuck, there are two more people that you both need to meet. I will let them explain everything when they get here."

Sarah stood and went to the railing and began to once again check for exits that she could use in case of an emergency. Chuck stood and walked toward her as he came close to her he turned to lean against the railing, also checking the various possible exits without realizing he was even doing it.

"Are you OK Sarah?"

Sarah looked at him, his expressive eyes looked embarrassed and sad and worried all at the same time. "Actually Chuck, I am. Surprisingly so, I might add."

The look in Chuck's eyes changed in an instant to something like joy and excitement.

"Of course, I am a little worried about who these others are that your father wants us to meet tonight. I mean this is a fairly secluded spot," she whispered.

Chuck nodded his head, "If my dad trusts them then I know we can as well. But if something goes wrong, we can either use the south stairwell to get down to a hiking path that is directly below the observatory, or that door there goes through to the second floor of the observatory itself and I happen to know the key code…" He grinned as he tapped his temple.

Sarah looked at him and then at the door and all of a sudden she knew the code and where the door would lead too.

"Chuck? Um… I know too… and I didn't flash – did you?"

Chuck smiled even wider, "I didn't… that was amazing."

Sarah grinned at him, "This is going to take some getting used to you know."

Chuck stood up to his full six foot three inches and looked at her. His gaze pierced her heart and she felt the odd tingle in her brain. "I know we are both going to have to figure this out."

Just then steps sounded coming down the stairs that they had used. She tensed as she heard the steps knowing one could only be made by a large man while the other was softer. The two strangers walked onto the terrace and as they entered the light, Sarah instantly recognized both of them: General Dianne Beckman and Agent John Casey of the NSA.

Stephen stood and gestured to the seats at the table, "Please Sarah, Chuck – come and sit with us. We have much to discuss and I don't want to keep you two up all night."

What happened next was at first unbelievable to Sarah. General Beckman had shown and explained that there was a group calling themselves the Ring that had started to infiltrate all levels of the nations of NATO. They apparently had various branches the two largest were Fulcrum, which handled a majority of the muscle of the organization while Volkoff Industries (or VI) was in charge of science. What had made Sarah's head spin was that the General had given proof that Sarah's boss and mentor had been a member of the Ring since before he had recruited her into the CIA. Beckman had simply slid a picture of a wasp across the table and both Sarah and Chuck had experienced the information. It had all been there, Director Graham was a traitor and a manipulative bastard.

"Agent Walker, you were sent here to recover the Intersect from someone that Agent Larkin had supposedly sent to. Graham doesn't realize that the evidence against him is in the Intersect, but he is trying to capture the Intersect to present to the Ring so that they can have VI develop it for use by Fulcrum agents. We need to work together to make sure he never realizes that we know about everything. This is what I would like to propose…"

The general had then in a very succinct way laid out her plan to capture not only Graham, but to put an end to the Ring. It would involve Chuck becoming an FBI agent, care of some brilliant hacking from Stephen, thus allowing for Chuck to act as the FBI liaison. Major Casey would act as the NSA liaison and would get a cover near to the Buy More. Agent Larkin had known about the possibility that Graham was rotten, but neither Stephen nor Beckman would say more.

"Agent Larkin has his own part to play in this, but just know he is fine and doing his job well." Beckman had said.

Casey would be in touch with Chuck and Sarah the following day to fill them in on his cover and begin the next phase – the false search for the stolen intersect, that as far as Graham knew was somewhere in the LA area.

Shortly after that, the five people had split up to go their separate ways.

As they drove back to Burbank, Chuck looked at Sarah, "Are you OK?"

She had thought for a few minutes about that question. Everything was going so fast for her. She had become a Balancer, she had found out that her boss wasn't as honorable as she had imagined. But the thought that kept niggling in her brain was that she had met Chuck. And at that thought, she turned to look at his concerned face.

"Yeah, it is a lot to take in, but surprisingly I good Chuck."

As she said that to him the tingle in her brain returned for a moment. She was going to have figure out what it meant.

First Days

Chuck arrived at the Buy More decked out in the usual apparel – white shirt, dark grey tie, black slacks, and of course his favorite pair of black Chuck Taylors. He was early for his shift, but figured (correctly so) that the Wonder Twins had left a stack of unfinished reports for him to go through, besides he wanted to be there when Sarah arrived to begin her mind-numbing, poor-paying, soul-sucking cover job. He hoped it wouldn't drive her insane, but then again he had managed to maintain his somewhat questionable sanity himself, so maybe there was hope.

Chuck sighed heavily as he looked at the stack of invoices and offsite reports that was piled up on the Nerd Herd desk. Sitting down knowing that there was no way to get around them, he began to work his way through. He became so focused on the inane paperwork that he didn't notice the slight tingle in his brain until it became more insistent. When he looked up he had a feeling that he was about to see Sarah walk through the doors of the Buy More. In fact he was so sure of it, that he began counting down the time. Five… four… three… two… one…

And in that instant, a beautiful blonde walked through the front sliding doors and made eye contact with Chuck, and his world was suddenly brighter. The tingle in his brain began again, but this time it was like a soft hum and Chuck barely noticed it, as Sarah made her way towards the Nerd Herd desk and Chuck smiling at him as she did so.

"Good morning Chuck, how are you?"

Chuck's grin widened, "Morning Sarah, I am actually doing great. Did you get settled in last night OK?"

Sarah nodded, "Yeah, after dropping you off at your apartment I just went back and crashed. I can't remember the last time I was so tired. But this morning, I feel great!"

"OK, well Big Mike isn't here yet, he doesn't usually roll in until tenish. So why don't I show you around, and you can ask me any questions about what your predecessor did. Not that I think it worked well, I mean he had several folks quit out right because of some of the draconian things he baked up."

"Seriously? He must have had some major personality problems I bet," Sarah quipped as she followed Chuck towards the back of the store.

"Oh you have no idea of the pain that followed Harry Tang around like a cloud."

Sarah laughed at the imagery, and continued to tail Chuck as he showed the various Employee Only areas giving her a quick rundown of the green shirts, who to trust and who to be wary of. Sarah listened while cataloging the information away. As they continued through the bowels of the store, Sarah also noted the various exits and doors that if necessary could be used in tactical situations. Chuck led her back to the sales floor and explained that one of the few ideas that Harry had was a daily briefing with the staff before the store opened. Sarah thought about it and decided it was a good way to introduce herself and make sure that the new Assistant Manager was a very different person that Harry Tang.

Making their way back toward the Nerd Herd desk, Chuck gave up his seat to Sarah so she could fill out the various HR forms necessary to start her new "job". The morning began in earnest as employees showed up and took note of the well-dressed blonde woman sitting at the Nerd Herd desk chatting with the Head Nerd. They were even more surprised when at the daily meeting she accompanied Chuck, who then introduced her to them all as the new Assistant Manager, Sarah Walker.

What happened next would be forever remembered as the day Buy More stood still. Because Sarah charmed every single employee lucky enough to have been there, when she was done giving her vision of the near future of the Burbank Buy More, the entire staff would have given their left legs had Sarah asked it of them. There was however one exception, Lester Patil. He had tried to assert his perverted dominance early on in the meeting, but Sarah had deftly shut him down quickly and without causing the fuss that Lester had secondarily hoped for.

As the staff was dismissed and began to prepare the store for that day of business, Sarah had quietly pulled Lester to the side and ever-so politely read him the riot act, when Lester had balked and claimed he worked for Chuck, Sarah had agreed and motioned Chuck over from the Nerd Herd desk. When Chuck had arrived and was apprised of the situation, he looked at Lester and said, "I'm sorry Lester, but Miss Walker is correct, and if you want to keep your job here I would do as she has asked." Chuck then turned and left (though not before giving Sarah a quick grin and a thumbs up). Chuck knew that once Lester had been corralled, Jeff would be easy to manage, and with the two most troublesome falling into line the rest of the herd would fall into line, though if that morning's daily meeting was any indication Lester and Jeff would be quickly out-manned if they planned anything negative towards Sarah.

Time passed, Big Mike arrived and was so surprised by the change in attitude of his employees he pulled both Chuck and Sarah into his office to praise them.

"I don't know what you did Sarah, but please keep it up! I haven't seen the employees doing this well in months! And if the sales report continues to go the way just this morning's report is, then we are going to have a very good day."

"Thanks Big Mike, Chuck showed me around earlier and I finished my HR paperwork for corporate. I do have one question – how tied are you to the current layout of the store?"

Mike shrugged, "I'm not, why do you ask?"

"Well, I have some ideas about rearranging things that may help increase sales even more. Can I put them down and run them by you tomorrow?"

Mike nodded, "Of course Sarah that sounds like an interesting idea. Let's chat tomorrow."

As Sarah and Chuck left Big Mike's office, they saw Agent Casey walk into the store. He caught their eye and walked toward them.

"Hi sir, how may we help you today?" Chuck asked.

"Hi, yes, my name is John Casey and I am looking to set up some security at my new store that I just opened up across the parking lot. Could one of you help me with that?"

"Sure, I can. Sarah, why don't you join us and I can show you some of the security equipment that Buy More offers. Sorry Mr. Casey, today is Sarah's first day here – would you mind if she tagged along?"

"Not at all, lead the way."

The trio talked a bit about the offerings the Buy More had – though all three knew that the NSA would be installing the security at Casey's new business. He was very tight-lipped about what the business was going to be, but Chuck couldn't miss the glimmer in Casey's eyes as he thought about the business.

As the day continued on, Sarah continued to settle into her new cover job. She realized that this was one of the first cover jobs she had that didn't force her to use her looks. As she walked over to the Customer Service desk at the front of the store, she looked across the parking lot and saw the boarded up store front that was to be Casey's cover and next door was a Wienerlicious, she shuddered grateful that she hadn't been forced to use that restaurant as a cover.

Right before the end of her shift, she meandered over to the Nerd Herd desk, where Chuck was still ensconced with paperwork. As she neared the desk, the tingling in her brain began again. She had noticed that it seemed to grow more insistent the closer she got to Chuck, she had also begun to notice that throughout the day she had sensed where Chuck was in the store as he moved about. Again, she determined to figure it out but chalked it up to something to do with the Intersect.

"Chuck?"

Chuck's curly head looked up and he smiled at her, causing the tingling to get stronger as well as a fluttering in her belly that she had never experienced before.

"Hi Sarah, how was your first day, you're off the clock in a little bit aren't you?"

"Yeah, yeah I am. It has been good actually, there are some things that I am thinking about changing but before I left I had a question for you: are we still on for tonight's dinner?"

Chuck's grin again widened, something that seemed to happen while he was near to her, and it made her brain and belly flutter even more wildly.

"Yeah, we are! I want to introduce you to the best Mexican restaurant I know of. I am just about finished with this stack of paperwork that someone left for me. Thanks Lester!"

A snide voice arose from the back of the store, "You're welcome Chuckster!"

Chuck shook his head, and asked, "So when should I pick you up?"

Sarah smiled at him, "Um, no offense Chuck, but I don't want to drive around in the Nerd Herder, would it be all right if I picked you up at seven?"

Chuck laughed, "Ha! So the truth comes out! You wound me Sarah, you wound me to the core! Disparaging the noble Herder! Oh the shame! Oh the horror!" By this time Chuck had thrown one arm over his eyes and one hand was clutching his chest as he acted as the damsel in distress, the next second though he had stood and putting his hands on the desk leaned over and in a stage whisper said, "OK, you have a fair point. You win, your Porsche is much better, so seven sounds perfect!"

Staring into his brown eyes and looking at the grin plastered on his face, Sarah once more felt something odd tingle in her brain and belly, "Good, see you then. Maybe after dinner we can get you some acting lessons, cause it appears that you need them… badly!" She grinned at him as she sauntered away, Chuck unable to stop staring at her as she did.

Keeping Graham in the Dark

When Sarah finally finished her shift, she waved goodbye to some of the folks after having bid farewell to Chuck and Big Mike (who surprised her with the praise he had heaped upon her, Sarah felt like he wanted to make sure she was going to come back the following day). As she got in her car, she pulled the encrypted sat phone, quickly sent a text, and then dialed her boss.

"Agent Walker, I hope that you have news."

"I do, sir. The lead to Agent Larkin ended in a dead end. The former roommate he sent the file to is named Charles Bartowski and he is currently a special agent with the FBI. When I reached out to him he told me he hadn't heard from Larkin since their college days."

"Did you verify?"

"Of course, sir." Sarah had to be careful to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

"What did you find?"

"I checked Bartowski's various computers, both at home and at the office. There was no evidence of the Intersect file on either of them."

"OK. Do you have any other leads?"

"Yes, sir. I believe that whoever Larkin sent is somewhere in the greater LA area. I am working on some leads."

"Anything concrete though?"

"No."

"Damn. I am going to pull you off of the mis…"

"Sir?" Sarah was calm on the surface, but given Graham's statement she was panicking on the inside. If she left now… an image of Chuck came unbidden to her mind and with it the now familiar tingles – if she was sent on another mission Sarah knew that Chuck would be in trouble again.

"Sorry Agent Walker, I need to take this call. Someone from the NSA has news. I will call you back."

With that the line went dead, and Sarah knew that General Beckman had called Director Graham to begin her part of the ruse. Sarah just hoped that it would work the way that they had planned the previous night.

Mariachi Bands, Margaritas, and a Bomb… Oh My!

Later Sarah arrived at Chuck's apartment that he shared with his sister Ellie and her boyfriend Devon. For some unknown reason Sarah was nervous. It was an unusual feeling because she had already met both Ellie and Devon, but it still was odd to feel the feeling that her nerves were wrangling her subconscious up to a level that she would not, should not be feeling for this kind of scenario. As Sarah entered the small courtyard in the middle of the complex she stopped so she could gather her thoughts and calm herself down a notch.

As she stood by the fountain, she took several deep breaths and focused. It was then that she felt the tingle in her brain again. It felt like it was moving back and forth, and as Sarah continued to focus on it she felt a clammy nervousness that wasn't coming from her. She looked up and saw a window on the first floor, the blinds were drawn and with the lights on she could see someone pacing. Sarah's breath caught as she watched as the shadow paced back and forth… in time with the tingling in her brain. Her eyes widen and she shook her head at the impossibility of the situation. Deciding it was just her mind playing tricks on her, she went to the door and just as she was about to knock, the door swung open and she was immediately pulled into a giant hug.

"Oh Sarah! I am so glad to see you again! I almost didn't believe Chuck when he said that he was going on a date, and when he told me it was you I was really not believing him! And now you're here and that means he wasn't making it up to get me off his back. I am soo glad to see you again! Wait… I already said that, I'm sorry. Please come in, come in."

Ellie pulled Sarah's hands into the apartment, and just as she did, Sarah could feel the tingle smooth out as Chuck came quickly down the hall.

"Ellie, hey I think we are going to go. I wouldn't want you to start interrogating my date before we even have an actual date." Then he turned his eyes to look at Sarah, "Sorry Sarah, Ellie can be a little exuberant at times, shall we go before her head explodes with excitement?"

Ellie looked a little disappointed, but quickly put a smile on her face and shooed Chuck and Sarah towards the door. "You're right Chuck, go. You two have fun, I need to get ready for my night shift. Love you little brother! Bye Sarah, I hope that I will get to see you again!"

Finally making it back to the car, Sarah smiled at Chuck.

"Hey Chuck, since I don't know where we're going, do you want to drive?"

Chuck's face went blank and his mouth dropped open, "Are you, um… are you serious?"

"Ha, nope! I'll drive, and you navigate!"

Chuck grinned at her, "Good one Sarah. Will there ever come a time that I will be able to drive this work of art?"

"Hmmm, maybe… but you will have to grovel and be in my good graces for a long while before that happens."

Chuck grinned at her, "Deal then!"

As Sarah drove to the restaurant, she listened to Chuck's directions and his statements about various places in Burbank. The fluttering in her stomach had returned when he had looked at her back at his apartment and the feeling was so pleasant to Sarah that she had been surprised and began to hope that it wouldn't leave. She listened to him ramble on about the city that he had called home for most of his life.

When they got to the restaurant, the conversation continued as though they had known each other for their entire lives, and in a way they had. It was a feeling of comfort that Sarah had never felt before, and it was one that she never wanted to be without if she could help it.

During a lull in the conversation as they were eating, Sarah blurted out, "I like you Chuck."

The smile on Chuck's face looked like it would split his face in two it was so wide and open and kind. Sarah once again felt that tingle in her head.

As Chuck looked at her he glanced up at the television that was airing a local news report. Just as it switched stories, he stopped and looked at her.

"Sarah, we need to go. We need to go now."

Sarah was concerned at the urgency she heard in his voice, "What is it Chuck?"

As she finished the question, the tingle in her brain settled down and she saw the face of a US General, a doctor who was selling military secrets to North Korea, a Serbian demolitions expert who had turned mercenary, the blue print of a bomb, and a hotel conference room in LA. And with all of the information she knew why Chuck was so urgent, the general was going to die if they didn't get to the LA hotel quickly.

She looked at Chuck, he smiled at her, "It worked didn't it?"

"Yeah, and we need to go. You pay the check and I'll grab the car."

They both knew they had to hurry, they had a General to save from a traitorous doctor and a Serbian bomber.

Author's Note

Sorry that I ended this chapter on a cliff like that, I promise that Chapter 7 will not be too far behind this one. I just realized that this chapter was getting long, so I thought it was a good place to break.

I am curious if any of my amazing readers will figure out what Casey will be doing as a cover job?

I hope you are enjoying this story, and I am sorry it is taking so long between chapters. I hope that you find the wait worth it.