Resistance (V) - The Atkins

The Atkins

David Atkins was a scientist and a widely respected Professor at Caltech University, as an expert in psycho-cybernetics and computer technology. Later as he became a computer Doctor working for Science Frontiers, where he became friends with Kyle Bates. He was a good person and had a son named Henry, whom he was proud of and had higher expectations for when he got older. When the Visitors came and started discrediting scientists, they ruined his career, and was fired from his position. To make ends meet, he opened a small market shop called "Atkins Deluxe Market", which he ran with Henry. Despite him having lost everything during the First Invasion, David still wanted his son to be a great scientist and taught him everything he knew about computers, leading Henry to become an expert himself and run many personal projects in making computers better.

During the Second Invasion one year after Liberation Day, David struggled to get by financially, as the Visitors had cracked down to the point his food shipments were late to the point they never came at all, nearly putting him out of business (though he kept supplies around for regulars as a token of generosity, but insisted they keep it secret due to their situation). One month after his last communication with Kyle, David and Henry decided to become Resistance members when one of Henry's projects led a to massive breakthrough in computer warfare. Dave considered his inventions to be "remarkable" and insisted that they had to notify the Resistance immediately, as access to the information in the Visitors computer could be invaluable to the war effort. But before they could discuss it further, the Visitors arrived and began rounding up his neighbors; looking for Henry. David insisted Henry leave without him as it was important that one of them lived and some part of their family survived. David was then captured but Henry escaped.

David was held along with the rest of his neighbors in an abandoned maintenance shed near Hanson Air Field, but was moved to the Mothership by Lydia before Henry returned with a Resistance team composed of Mike Donovan, Kyle, Elizabeth Maxwell and Visitor Willie. While on the ship, David claimed he was the Hacker (to protect his son), and admitted to charges of computer tampering. Diana found his readiness to admit his guilt suspicious, and after a quick test, it was proven he wasn't the Hacker when he failed to break through Visitor security codes, as he wasn't as familiar with the operation system as the real Hacker was. Diana then used intense mental pressure torture to demand the Hacker's identity, and also accessed his inner-most thoughts and secrets to learn it was Henry who was the Hacker. David was then put into prison aboard the ship.

Philip did everything he could, and was eventually successful in freeing him and transporting him back down to Earth, where he reunited with Henry and were then both taken by the Fifth Column to a safe place to hide from further Visitor reprisals.

Henry Atkins is the son of computer technology genius Doctor David Atkins and family friend of Kyle Bates. When the Visitors came to Earth, they ruined David's career, forcing them to open a small market shop called "Atkins Deluxe Market" to make ends meet, which he ran with him. David still wanted his son to be a great scientist as he had high expectations for him. To help him, David taught Henry everything he knew about computers, leading Henry to become an expert himself and run many personal projects in making computers better, he bonded with his father, as he was grateful for teaching him so well, and insisted he "learned from the best".

During the Second Invasion one year after Liberation Day, Henry and his father joined the Resistance when Henry discovered a couple of weeks ago, he was working on one of his side projects when he stumbled upon the access codes for the Visitors Main Computer link, giving him direct access to Visitor Master Computer and information sources despite their intense security. He made it easier to break in by creating a specially calibrated portable computer for the task of hacking, and making software for a communications interface program, that "talked" to the computer aboard the mothership, and a translation program for Visitor computer language. Henry noticed an alarming increase in computer usage lately, and tapped into a communication from Sirius 4 to find out what it was. Unfortunately, the Visitors were able to see through his efforts to make his hacking signal look like interference in the Visitors communication reception, and Lieutenant James traced it to Henry's neighborhood. Agreeing Henry had to be stopped, Diana sent James and a battalion of Visitor shock troops to capture the Hacker. Just as James and his men began rounding up the neighbours, David said he would stay behind and let himself be taken prisoner as a way to let Henry escape. Henry, however, refused to abandon his father and suggested they could both hide, but was convinced not to as it was important one of their family survived. While his father was captured, Henry sneaked out the back with his computer and ran down the street and over some rooftops, and swore the Visitors would pay for taking his father away as David was bundled into a van.

Henry eventually returned to the shop after the Visitors left, and barricaded himself in. He met Mike Donovan and Kyle, and learned that the increased computer usage was because of the newly completed Visitor Battlesphere; a deadly war machine armed with weapons and a fleet of skyfighters that the Visitor Leader was sending to wipe out the entire South Western United States in a massive blitz, as an example to all who defied his people's power. This would promise total victory for the Visitors and total domination of the Earth, and since the Resistance lacked any computer systems and with only 36 hours to stop the sphere, Mike and Kyle sought The Hacker out. Henry made a deal with them; he would do everything he could to stop the sphere, in exchange they would free his father from Visitor custody. They agreed, and Henry helped the two men escape through a secret passageway just before James and his men stormed the building again to double-check after failing to capture the Hacker.

Henry, Mike, Kyle and fellow Resistance members Elizabeth Maxwell and Visitor Willie eventually tracked David's location to an abandoned maintenance shed near Hanson Air Field, but became despondent when David wasn't among the people they rescued. The group talked to Philip, who informed them that David was on the Mothership and out of their reach. Henry suggested that he turn himself in as part of a plan to save his father on his own, but Kyle convinced him that his father could not be saved, and he had to carry on the fight without him. Henry was then escorted to Science Frontiers, where the group planned to use to use a specially made computer system on the top floor to break into the Battlesphere's computer system, as it was the only one powerful enough on Earth to hack into it. Unfortunately, the group was trapped by James and his troops, but Elizabeth saved the group when they were poised to be captured by restoring power to the elevator and journeyed to the top floor, then sent the elevator back down with a grenade, killing several of James's troops. While Donovan and Willie held off James and his men, Kyle took Henry to the room he could interface his computer with, and after Elizabeth restored the power to the room, he was initially despondent about his ability to stop the attack, but Elizabeth reminded him of what he had to do. After making contact with the Battlesphere, he then had to install his translation program into the system and accessed all the systems, including; "protected, skyfighter guidance, power relay, system interface, security, battle orders and skyfighter guidance interface" and redirected its fleet of skyfighters into flying off course and crash into each other and into the sphere, destroying it and killing thousands of Visitor soldiers.

The team then escaped the building and fled into the woods, where he was reunited with his father, who had been freed by Philip, and were then both taken by the Fifth Column to a safe place to hide from further Visitor reprisals.