by BP
“NOW, UNLESS THE OTHERS GET BACK WITH THE INFORMATION ON FLYTE’S NEWEST WEAPON, WE’LL HAVE TO FLY BLIND ON THIS ONE.”
“Not necessarily.” A familiar voice cut into the conversation.
Beth and Nou turned to face the newcomer.
“Galdur!” Beth exclaimed. “How’d you get in without the Postmaster’s security-” She stopped abruptly, a pang of remorse silencing her. “I mean.. . why’re you…?” To her relief, Galdur didn’t require further explanation.
“I don’t know where your other agents are-only that Flyte hasn’t captured them, thank goodness. What I do know is that Flyte has a weapon to stop the chain-letter soldiers.”
“Huh?” Nou asked. “Why he have weapon to destroy own troops?”
“In case they turned on him. Chain-letters are notorious for mutating and turning renegade. Lucky he still trusts me with so many details-I really am surprised he hasn’t suspected me of anything yet. He’s smart enough to create armies of chain-letter soldiers…” He shook his head. “I just ought to be grateful he does. Anyway, this weapon is called a Chain Reaction Device. Hit one chain-letter soldier, and all the soldiers made from that chain go off.”
“EXCELLENT.” The Postmaster interjected, speaking for the first time since Galdur arrived. “I ASSUME YOU KNOW WHERE THIS DEVICE IS?”
Galdur nodded.
“THEN-”
The Postmaster’s monitor went dark for a moment. A shrill gut-wrenching sound palpitated through the air.
Beth turned away from the monitor, fearing the worst.
The sound cut off slowly, fading from the air even slower.
“Postmaster?” Nou asked tentatively.
The monitor flickered to life.
“Postmaster?” He repeated.
“HERE…” Came the weak, distorted reply.
“What was that?” Beth asked sharply, turning back to the monitor.
“THE VIRUS…OBVIOUSLY…ATTACKING MY META-CORE…WE’LL HAVE TO…SPEED IT UP.” The screen flickered. “NOU AND GALDUR…FIND THE CHAIN REACTION DEVICE. BETH…TAKE THE FAKER-WAKERS…GO TO FLYTE’S LAIR…USE THEIR…SENDER TRAIL…NOU AND GALDUR…I’LL DIGITZE THE DEVICE…SEND IT TO BETH…” The screen flickered violently.
“And the cure?” Beth demanded. “Do you expect me to beam over to Flyte’s lair and not look for the cure?”
“YES.”
Beth baulked. “Postmaster - you can’t be serious!”
“NO TIME…STOP FLYTE…BEFORE HE IS…TOO POWERFUL.. .. YOU MUST FIND…THE CHAIN MATRIX…PLANT THE DEVICE…”
“But there has to be enough time! Nou and Galdur will take some time to find the device-then they’ll have to get back here and you’ll send it to me…I could be looking for the cure while they do that! Heck, I could probably go there, find the cure, beam back to your processor, pick up the device directly, then get sent over to finish the job while you recuperate!”
“GALDUR…HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE…?”
“It is quite close-an hour, tops.”
“AN HOUR…TO GET THERE…?”
“Oh-no, fifteen to get there, an hour to get the device, another fifteen to get back. If all goes smoothly.”
“CUTTING IT…PRETTY CLOSE…”
“Close to what, Postmaster?” Nou asked.
“I ANTICIPATE…I HAVE TWO HOURS…OF FUNCTIONING LEFT…”
“We’ll find the cure, Postmaster!” Beth fumbled for her badge. “See? We’re the Postmaster League! Postmaster! We’re not going to quit on you that easily!” She put her badge back. “We’re going to have enough time…” She said quietly. “I’ll see to that.”
The Postmaster did not respond immediately. “IF…YOU THINK YOU CAN…BUT PROMISE ME…STOP FLYTE. IF YOU MUST CHOOSE…BETWEEN SAVING ME…AND STOPPING HIM…”
The screen flickered, nearly going dark.
“STOP HIM.”
Beth nodded numbly, blinking back an unwilling tear, “I won’t have to choose, Postmaster. It’s going to work!”
She turned to Nou and Galdur. “Someone Digitize me.”
Nou picked up a Digitizer and took careful aim.
“I WILL.. . REPROGRAM…THE FAKE-WAKERS…YOUR STORY…THEY HAVE TAKEN YOU…PRISONER…UNDERSTOOD?”
Beth nodded. “Got it.”
Nou fired several blasts at her.
Beth shivered. Her skin crawled with pin-pricks, and an icy cold slushed over her.
She blinked, aware of the sudden scene change. “Holy crap…” She muttered. “So this is what it’s like…” A vivid blue stretched into the distance in all directions.
Streams of silver and violet wove through the air, throwing off small sparks as they moved to their final destinations
“Beth…” The Postmaster began. His voice sounded different when she was inside the computer. It seemed more natural, more…human. “You understand…what you must do?”
“Yeah…”
“You must be…ready to receive…the Device…and when you do…use it. No matter the consequences.”
Beth frowned. “Postmaster…?”
“It is…entirely possible…that there is no cure…and if there is one…Flyte will not make it easy…I wouldn’t be surprised…if destroying the soldiers…destroys the cure.”
“But how…?”
“Flyte is smart…there is more to his plan…than eliminating me. The cure will have…a snare to it…count on it…”
Beth shook her head “I’m getting that cure, Postmaster.”
“Step…carefully.”
The fake-wakers appeared next to her.
“Do what you must…but remember…the mission. He won’t be beaten…easily. Do…whatever it takes.”
“…I will. But Postmaster-I just realized something. Are you going to be alright? By yourself…?”
“I will be fine.”
Beth frowned, not comforted by The Postmaster’s answer.
A glittering beam of bluish energy appeared in front of her.
“Complete the mission…the fake-wakers…will be sent…a slightly different…location…maintain illusion…can’t let…Flyte catch on…”
Beth nodded.
She and the fake-wakers stepped forward, and were enveloped by the data stream.
“Godspeed…” The Postmaster said quietly as they shot toward Flyte’s computer.
“Postmaster?” Nou began. “It work out! You see. Beth find cure and we get her Device! You get better and Flyte get busted! Be good in the end!”
“FOR ALL OUR SAKES…I HOPE YOU’RE RIGHT.”
--
Beth looked around her new surroundings. In the distance, she could see tall angular shapes, like buildings. Everything was black or an eye-melting blue or red. The fake-wakers were indeed gone, but Beth didn’t allow herself the feeling of security. She was deep in enemy territory, and it was entirely possible that Flyte was already aware of her presence.
She stole off toward the shapes in the distance, hoping to find some cover in them.
A shrill wailing cut through the air.
Beth shot a glance in the wail’s direction.
A dozen or more angular figures ghosted after her, their bodies throwing off sparks of light and bits of data.
Beth ran faster, straining to reach the shapes.
“Halt, intruder.” The beings’ voices were harsh mechanical monotones. They spoke in unison, causing an eerie echo in the netscape.
Beth heard a soft electronic beep and felt a searing pain between her shoulder blades. She stumbled, but forced herself to continue running.
The pain spread, tearing through her as though there were a ravenous fiery bug on her back, eating away at her flesh.
Another electronic beep sounded. This time the pain ate away at her from her right leg. Her pace was slowed to a swift limp.
“Halt, intruder.” They repeated.
A final blast hit her other leg.
She stumbled again, this time falling to the ground.
Brilliant spots of color exploded in front of her eyes. Her limbs felt like jelly. The pain from the unknown weapon seemed to intensify as she lay helpless on the ground.
The beings surrounded her, one floating in front of her. The netscape swam in front of her eyes as she strained to get a clear image on her assailants.
They were a ferocious neon purple. Their bodies were made entirely of reflective polygons. Dimly she thought, “That explains why they were so dang shiny…” Each assailant held out one spike-like arm. Brilliant beams of purple shot out, wrapping themselves around her.
“Intruder apprehended. Reporting to Virus Deleting Center.”
Beth’s vision faltered, swimming in and out of focus.. Finally, she succumbed to the relentless exhaustion that swept over her.
“Hey-wake up. Yeah, nice and slowly…take it easy.”
Beth opened her eyes, sitting up slowly.
Sitting cross-legged in front of her was a young man, clad entirely in brilliant blue. He smiled. “Yeah, that’s how to do it.” He held out a hand. “The name’s Defcon.” Beth took his hand, shaking it.
“Beth.”
Defcon frowned. “Beth? What kind of virus name is Beth?”
“What-virus? I’m not a virus! Do I look like a virus…?”
Defcon nodded. “And a pretty sophisticated one, too.” He waved a hand in the air, as if he were picking up a piece of paper.
An opaque mirror-like sheen appeared in the air. Beth peered into her reflection, seeing herself for the first time in the digital world. Her hair, usually a honeyish brown, was now a vivid scarlet. Even her skin had a pale red tint to it.
She looked over at Defcon. His own mop of hair was the same bright blue as his clothes, and his skin was slightly blue. It gave him an oddly hypothermic appearance.
Beth looked down at her clothes, to find that they were dominated by intricate scarlet armor.
Defcon possessed no such armor. He waved his hand again, the mirror dissipating. “So. What’s your story?” Defcon asked.
Beth looked at him warily. “Where are we?”
Defcon smiled slightly. “Well, I see I’ll get no where fast with you. We’re in the Virus Deleting Center.” He leaned back against a wall of the small black cell. “I spend who knows how long in here, and then I here there’s going to be another prisoner-and a girl too! Not very often you see female viruses!”
Beth darted a venomous look at him.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it-you’re not a virus. Anyway, I was pretty excited about finally having a cellmate. Then when they dropped you in here-well, I couldn’t help but be a bit fascinated. Armor isn’t too common amongst the netities anymore.”
Beth cocked her head.
Defcon frowned. “Huh. Maybe you aren’t a virus. Netities: Internet entities.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Everyone knows what netity stands for…just where are you from?”
Beth smiled dryly. “And I should tell you because…?”
Defcon sighed..
“Oh, okay, I get it. You don’t trust me-can’t say a blame you. After all…I am a wanted virus…” He chuckled. “Maybe you’ll be a bit more open if I tell you my story? Well, I’ve had no one to talk to for ages anyway…” He sat up, looking intently at Beth. “Now, I was built fairly recently ago. My job was simple-I’m a data-snatcher. Now, I hacked into the Pentagon-”
“You what!?” Beth exclaimed.
Defcon smiled triumphantly. “Hey, got ya talking now! I was just acting under orders-and I didn’t get anything…got caught before I could get anything done. I was sentenced to be deleted…but I escaped! Been on the run ever since…well, at least until I stumbled on this place. The net’s all wonked-out here. I decided to take a look around. Got caught peeking at the data banks. Been stashed here, expecting to finally get the death sentence that was passed on me back at the Pentagon.” He leaned back against the wall. “So. Any chance of you telling me your story? Since you aren’t a virus…and don’t know what netity means…well, you’ve gotta be interesting.”
Beth hesitated, scrutinizing Defcon for some sign of treachery.
“Well? Not like I’m going anywhere.”
Beth sighed. “Fine. Like I said, I’m not a virus. I’m a human.”
Defcon grinned. “Now that’s interesting! I’ve heard of Digitizing devices-thought they were a bunch of scrap. But that means-h’m, your default energy is a Red-Red? Impressive. I always thought of humans as Greys.”
Beth frowned. “What’s with the colors?”
Defcon shook his head.. “Ah, that’s right, you don’t know squat about the digital world. Now, you know how different programs are more powerful than others, right?” Beth nodded. “Well, that power is correspondent with a color scheme. Greys are the most basic. Anything can delete a Grey. Then you have Blues, Greens, Reds, Oranges, Purples, Whites, Silvers, and Golds. Golds are the strongest of the strong-the big guns. Got the basic scheme?” Beth nodded. “In each color level, there are sub-levels. Like Blue-Grey, Blue-Blue, Blue-Green, Blue-Red, Blue-Orange, etc.” He sighed. “I used to be a Blue-Red. When those stupid AV’s jumped me, I lost two sub-levels! That’s how they get ya! Fire energy leaches, and while you’re lying on the ground too jetlagged to do anything but drool and moan, they grab you and dump ya here..” He started suddenly. “Oh, but I’ve been rambling.. Go on, finish your story.”
Beth rolled her eyes. “So, I’m a human. The Postmaster sent me-”
“THE P-POSTMASTER!?” Defcon exclaimed, sitting bolt upright. “Y-you work for the Postmaster?”
Beth nodded, smiling slightly at Defcon’s terrified reaction
“He scares the BYTES outta me!” Defcon finished with a shudder. “That guy is one of the Meta-Masters…like the Master Control…” Defcon shuddered again. He looked over at Beth. “Hey, you okay?”
“Huh?” Beth looked up. “Yeah. I’m just having a TRON moment. So.. . there are others like the Postmaster?”
“Ha! Like is the key word…the Master Control is an absolute tyrant…he’s terrifying…and there’s the Task Manager…she’s got enough computing power to fry your pixels just by looking at you…the Taskbar and Control Panel…the Motherboard…” He shuddered again. “And then some netities say that there’s another Meta-Master…one more powerful than all the others…and bent on corrupting the entire internet! Like this place…just look how black it is!”
Beth started. “Wait-what kind of power does this Meta-Master have?”
“You mean what would he have if he existed-I hope…! From what I’ve heard…he can distort the very fabric of the netscape…and possibly your world too!”
Beth frowned, a foreboding memory echoing into focus. “WE HAVE TO DISCOVER THE CATLYST OF THESE EVENTS-OR FAR WORSE THINGS THAN GIANT SPIDERS AND LIVING WOOD CARVINGS COULD COME TO LIFE.”
“Defcon…well, tell me one thing first. Why are you afraid of the Postmaster?”
“Huh? Oh…it’s just that…well, you know, I’m probably not on his good lists, and he’s powerful enough to delete me by looking in my general direction.”
“But he’s the good guy!”
“Technically all Meta-Masters are good guys…if you believe what the old netities say about them.”
“What?”
“Great-I’m never going to hear all your story-I’m just creating too many questions! Oh well…anyway, the Meta-Masters were the first netities to be created-guess the humans needed some super powerful programs to monitor the netscape. Some say that the Meta-Masters created the power scheme that keeps the netscape from collapsing. But when I hear about the stuff the Master Control and Task Manager do…I just can’t believe that they worked for the greater good of the netities!”
“Uh-huh…so…would you side with the Postmaster if you came to the choice?”
“HUH? W-work with the Postmaster?” Defcon shivered.
“Defcon-the Postmaster is dying. That’s why I’m here-part of it, anyway. I’m here to stop an army of chain-letter soldiers from wreaking havoc on the world-your world as well, probably, and…if I can, to save the Postmaster’s life.” Defcon sunk back against the wall.
“What…? A Meta-Master…dying…?”
“Yeah. Flyte’s behind it.”
“Flyte? The system admin…yeah, I know who you’re talking about. But how could he…?”
“We aren’t sure…some kind of virus that attacked the Postmaster’s meta-core.”
“What!? But-that’s not possible…! Sheesh, I’d like to meet that virus…attacking a meta-core…” He shook his head. “Crazy times we live in. Crazy times.”
Beth studied Defcon for a few moments. “Defcon, I’ve a favor to ask.”
“H’m?”
“Defcon, will you help me save the Postmaster? And stop Flyte?”
Defcon sat up quickly. “Hey, wait a sec-I don’t even now the guy-”
“Defcon! You don’t know me either, but you seem plenty willing to help me.”
“Wait-that’s different, that’s not fair!”
“I might be able to snag you a full pardon if you help. But if you don’t help, I might not be able to achieve my mission-then the Postmaster will die and Flyte will succeed! Both our worlds will be ravaged by his soldiers, and the decay of the fabric of reality will continue. Help me! Please…!”
Defcon fidgeted nervously. “Fine.” He said at length. “But I expect you to have a plan! If we end up just winging it-”
At that moment, a panel in the cell opened. Two AV’s entered the cell, holding out their spike arms.
“Didn’t anyone ever teach you pointing was rude?” Beth said mischievously, standing up and motioning for Defcon to follow suit.
He stood warily.
“No need to shoot. We’ll come quietly.”
“This is your plan?!” Defcon hissed.
“Follow my lead!” Beth whispered back.. She walked forward, flanked by an AV.
Defcon left the cell, looking nervously at his Anti-Virus escort. They were led by the AV’s through a network of black cells, similar to the ones they had been imprisoned in.
“Psst!” Defcon hissed.
Beth looked over at him.
“Look, I’ve done the math. A Red-Red and a Blue-Blue against two Purple-Purple’s-well, it just isn’t going to work! Even with your armor giving us a . 3 energy boost, I’m only a . 2. You’re a 2. 4, so total that only gives us 2. 9 against a 9. 2-even if we took them individually, their power advantage would be too great-”
“What the heck are you talking about?”
“The color levels and sublevels have exact energy levels-like a Gold-Gold is a 7. 9. I’m saying we don’t have a chance against them!”
“And when did I say we’d be fighting them?”
“Huh?”
They weren’t given any more time to talk, as the AV’s shoved them into a large room.
Defcon frowned. “Oh, sparks.”
“What is it?”
“They aren’t going to delete us yet.”
Beth looked around the room warily. The AV’s had left them alone. The only other inhabitants of the room were tall, nightmarish statues, the same jet black as the walls.
“What are they going to do?”
Defcon swallowed nervously. “Interrogate us.”
All at once, the statues flowed to life, peeling themselves from the walls with sickening sucking and cracking sounds.
“Just how does an interrogation usually go?” Beth asked cautiously, eyeing the statues.
“Not well for the victims. And especially not with these guys…they brought out the heavy artillery. These are Daemons…they usually just run in the background. Keep things orderly…but I guess we deserve special treatment.”
A smile twitched on the edge of Beth’s lips. “I’m going to tell you part 1 of my plan.”
“It better be good-we don’t exactly have a ton of time till our memory banks get sweeped.”
Beth studied the room carefully, locating a small blinking consol. “Back in my world, some Fake-Wakers-guess you’d call them Spamheads or something-attacked the Postmaster base. They sorta zoned through the walls…and I was thinking, since they weren’t of my world and could go intangible, and I’m not of your world, maybe I could-”
“No! Don’t even try it! Even if it was possible, you’d get stuck in the matrix-then you’d be absorbed!”
Beth grinned wickedly. “We won’t know until I try.” She grabbed Defcon’s wrist and bolted forward, tugging him along roughly.
“This is insane!” He exclaimed.
“Yeah, tell me something I don’t know!”
Beth focused all her energy on the space beyond the walls.
The Daemons lashed out at the pair, somehow missing them.
“Hang tight!” Beth exclaimed, charging through the wall where the consol sat. As she hit the wall, a rush of pin pricks surged over her. For a blinding moment, her mind fused with the data matrix. “Got it!” She thought.
In a painful blast, they fell through the wall.
Red and blue explosions flashed across Beth’s vision. She sat up slowly. Her body ached, feeling like it had been stretched too far in every direction.
Defcon had landed several feet to her right. He let out a loud moan and rolled onto his back. “You are INSANE.” He stated, opening his eyes and looking around.
He bolted upright. “Hey, this isn’t the Virus Deleting Center. Where the…?” He stood up, turning in a circle as he surveyed the netscape. He laughed. “You nutcase!” He turned to Beth. “How’d you do that?”
“Do what?” Beth said groggily.
Defcon frowned. “Oh, wow, you look terrible.” He pulled a small canister out of a pocket. “Here, take some.” He tossed the can to her.
Beth studied it briefly and opened it. Small white spheres filled it about half way.
“Energy nibs.” He explained. “They give you rations of ‘em at the VDC. Y’know: prison food. I saved most of mine, hoping I could bust out before they decided to off me. You look like you need ‘em more, though.”
Beth took one of the spheres out of the can and tasted it tentatively. It burst as it hit her tongue, filling her mouth with a glowing warmth. She swallowed, feeling the warmth spread through her body. It soothed the aching slightly.
“Go on, have some more.” Defcon sat down next to her. “Your armor’s gone now.” He said nonchalantly.
Beth nodded, eating another nib. “You do know we should have been blasted to bits going through that wall, right?”
He studied her carefully. “Your armor probably took the brunt of the force, which is why we could get through okay. But I still can’t figure out why we came out…well, not on the other side of the same wall!”
“Didn’t you notice what we jumped through?” Beth asked, after munching another energy nib. “We went through a consol, from what I can figure, a type of data portal. When we hit the wall, I sorta mind-melded with the data matrix. I only meant to find where the cure was, but I guess the matrix…took us there.”
Defcon looked around. He smiled. “Well, by spark, it is the memory banks!” He stood up. “Feel good enough to go on?” He asked.
Beth nodded, handing back the canister of energy nibs. “I take this means you’re in?”
“Sure, what the heck. Let’s kick some scrap.”
--
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