by BP
âThis where Chain Reaction Device is?â Nou asked skeptically.
âNot RIGHT here, but yes, here.â Galdur explained. They stood at the mouth of a large cave. âDeep inside this cave lies to key to defeating Flyteâs army.â
âIs dark in cave?â
âNo, Flyte likes things well lit. Ironically.â
The trip to the cave had been relatively short, but very intense. They both knew that a lot depended on their success.
âNou not like leaving Postmaster by self!â
Galdur shook his head. âNor do I, but we donât have much choice. If we donât get that Chain Reaction Device, the Postmaster canât send it to Beth. ThenâŠâ He trailed off.
âThen Flyte wins.â Nou finished, unusually grim.
âThen Flyte wins.â Galdur repeated, nodding. âWell, we better get going.â The pair headed into the cave, Galdur leading. âFlyte will have extensive measures taken to ensure the Device is safe.â He explained. âThe specifics of those defenses he hasnât told me-or anyone for that matter. I do know there arenât any security cameras, which worries me almost more than not knowing what to expect.â
âNo cameras?â Nou repeated. âWhy no-â
Galdur stopped walking abruptly, nearly getting run into by Nou. âThatâs why.â Galdur responded, pointing ahead.
Nou peered out from behind Galdur.
The passage broke off into at least a dozen paths, each one winding in a different direction. âWhy pay for cameras to monitor the place when any intruder would get hopelessly lost?â He sighed. âThisâŠis going to be difficult.â
Nou took a few steps forward, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. âWe go this way!â He declared, pointing to a craggy eerie looking path.
âWhy that way?â
âNou just have feelingâŠâ
âI hope itâs right. Weâre working on borrowed time.â
The pair headed into the path. Galdur had to stoop to fit; the passage seemed the perfect size for Nou.
âSo. What dimensional hole like?â
âOh, I donât know. I never see much of the actual hole. Mostly just the base.â
âWhat it look like?â
âClean, industrialâŠefficient. For all his short-comings, I will give that to Flyte: heâs efficient.â
The pair came to another crossroads. Galdur motioned for Nou to choose their route.
After they had been on the new path for a minute or two, Nou spoke. âWhat else Flyte like?â
Galdur frowned. âHeâs secretive and ruthless, and you canât always tell if heâs being serious or sarcastic.â
âKeep going.â
âWhy do you want to know so much?â
âFlyte our enemy. Nou want know as much as can. And Nouâs friend in big trouble and Nou trying not to panic.â
Galdur smiled slightly. âFlyte is also intelligent. Brutishly so. He can read people like they were open booksâŠâ
âThat why Galdur so nervous about Flyte?â
âYeahâŠâ
âYou thinkâŠhe find Postmaster because of you?â
Galdur looked over at Nou, surprised. âWhat? Yes, butâŠhow did you figure that out?â
Nou shrugged. âNou just having lucky day.â
Galdur shook his head. âYes, it worries me. But if he has me under tracking, heâd put two and two together and figure out what side I was really on. But how else could he know where to find the base?â
âCould have had Nou or Beth or anyone followed! Not Galdurâs fault. Canât second guess own side. Give Flyte an advantage..
â.. you know, Nou, youâre right. Sorry Iâve been so morose about it.â
âGaldur not apologize! Galdur have understandable problem. Oh! Nou have question for Galdur.â
âShoot.â
âHow Postmaster lose signal when you go in dimensional hole, but Flyte no lose signal?â
âDimensional radiation. Flyte built the com specifically to function under dimensional radiation, so he can keep the signal. The Postmaster is, in most senses, conventional equipment, and thus unable to keep the signal when dimensional radiation enters the equation. And that meansâŠwell, Flyte could be monitoring my signal as we speak. He could know what weâre up to.â
âNo use making place scarier! If dimensional radiation such big problem, how Postmaster send Beth to Flyteâs computer?â
âThe internet still functions in a dimensional hole, it just has a few extra catches. Think about it. Try to get broadband in a place that exists in a tear in the fabric of reality. Itâll be pretty wonked out. The Postmaster was only able to send Beth into Flyteâs computer because he used the return-trail of the fake-wakers. Even under optimal conditions, Iâm afraid thatâs all heâd be able to do.. ButâŠprovided Flyte doesnât catch on, the Postmaster will be able to continue using that pathway into Flyteâs computer. Hypothetically, he himself could follow the trail andâŠwell, I donât know. Take care of business.â
âHypothetically.â
Galdur nodded. âItâs really quite ingenious. Set up shop in a dimensional hole, and no one can touch you. Unless you strike first. Perfect way to build your forces until resistance is impossible, and thenâŠwe canât let that happen.â
âAnd we wonât! Nou and Galdur find device, kick serious butt!â
Galdur chuckled. âIndeed we shall, Nou.â
Nou stopped walking.
Galdur looked around, frowning. âA dead end?â
âNot possible! Nou positive something here.â
âBut thereâs no where to go.â
âThere ALWAYS somewhere to go.â Nou walked up to a section of stone wall, staring at it intently. âThis not possible! Nou know there something here!â Out of frustration, Nou kicked the wall.. âWaah! Galdur, help!â Nouâs foot appeared to be stuck in the wall.
Galdur frowned. âHang on a secâŠâ He reached forward, touching the wall. His finger sunk in several inches. He grinned. âNou, youâve done it! This is a gateway! You found the entrance to a dimensional hole!â
âThey always this big?â
âOh, no, sometimes theyâre very small-you can imagine the energy required to open them up big enough to gain entrance to. The ones in space are really different. Some of them are so small you wouldnât see it if you were right on top of it. Some of âem have even been mistaken for black holes. And then there are dimensional tunnelsâŠâ Galdur shook his head. âIâm rambling. Letâs go, Iâll tell you as we travel.â
âGo? Through wall?â
âYep.â With that, Galdur stepped through the stone wall.
Nouâs eyes went wide. He shook his head, trying to clear it, and followed Galdur. âSo. We in hole or tunnel?â
âTunnel. Itâs brilliant. Any intruder would have wandered aimlessly, getting hopelessly lost, while none of those tunnels even led to the goal!â He looked down at Nou curiously. âAnd thatâs gotten me wonderingâŠNou, how did you know to which way to go?â
Nou shrugged. âFelt right.â
âDid you notice anything? Any out-of-the-ordinary feelings?â
âWellâŠwhen Galdur mention it, maybe was one. LikeâŠstatic âlectricity.â
âAnd this intensified the closer we got to the dimensional tunnel, right?â
âYup.â
Galdur grinned. âNou, I think you can sense dimensional radiation.â
Nou started. âWhat? Oh! So Nou like one of thoseâŠâ He squinted, trying to recall the word. In the end, he was forced to attempting to mimic a Geiger counter.
Galdur chuckled. âYeah, like a Geiger counter.â
âIs radiation bad for us?â
âNope. Perfectly harmless to organic material.â
âAh.â It was then that Nou began to fully take in his surroundings. âOh, wow! Is weirdâŠâ
Galdur nodded. âThis answer your question about what a dimensional hole looks like?â
Nou nodded vigorously.
The dimensional tunnel was an odd color, seeming at any one moment to be any color in the spectrum. It fluctuated between giving off light and taking it in, turning Nouâs and Galdurâs shadows into bizarre flickering creatures.
âBut Flyteâs hole canât look like this! ThisâŠpretty.â
Galdur nodded thoughtfully. âIt isnât quite like thisâŠitâsâŠtenser. It feels like something is in the air, in every fiber of the place. Like something is exerting immense pressure. You know those days when you wake up and just have a really bad feeling? And that feeling you get when it gets dark really fast, and you know itâs only because a cloud passed over the sun or somethingâŠbut it never gets light again? Am I making any sense?â
Nou nodded. âNou get it.â
âGoodâŠah! There. That has to be the exit.â Galdur pointed to a section of the dimensional tunnel.
Nou squinted at it, trying to make out what Galdur was seeing. At length, he made out a thin, black, shapeless outline. âHow we get out? Same way as in?â
âPretty much. Try to keep your feet. Going between dimensions can make some people a bit dizzy.â
âGot it.â
They reached the outline shortly after.
Galdur smiled. âBottoms up!â He stepped through the outline, followed closely by Nou.
Nou looked around the new surroundings. âGaldur?â
âHâm?â
âWhere are we?â
âI donât know.â
âWell that great.â
--
âSo. Where in the memory banks would a cure to the virus be?â
âPretty deep. Important stuff is kept deep in the banks. Itâs a precaution against intrusion attempts.â Defcon grinned. âSo technically, you ARE a virus now.â
Beth rolled her eyes.. âWhy are you so set on tagging me a virus?â
ââCause ya are one!â
âOh, whatever. So where in the deep memory banks?â
âIt varies by the system. Once we get into the memory banks, we should be able to find out based on the information tags.â Beth sighed.
âSounds time consuming.â
âNot really.â Defcon said brightly. âFollow me. Iâll show ya how we viruses roll.â He headed into the memory banks, tugging Beth along by the wrist. The memory banks were a huge black labyrinth, stretching into the sky like ominous monoliths.
Beth shuddered as they entered the labyrinth. âDid you feel that?â
âYeahâŠitâs been happening in a lot of places. The immense pressureâŠthe feeling you get in the pit of your stomach just by being in a placeâŠâ
âIs it connected with the corrupted netscape?â
âProbablyâŠwell, no sense in thinking about that now. We have a cure to find.â He stopped, studying a section of wall. He ran his fingers over it, frowning thoughtfully. âWell, we wonât find it here. I suggest we headâŠthat way.â He took a right turn, running his fingers along the wall as he went.
âWhyâŠ?â Beth began.
âData tags. Anyone can read âem, you just need to be in contact with the system for it to work. They basically just float on the surface, help the bank librarians organize data.â
âUh-huh. So theyâre like keywords?â
âGuess you could say that.â Defcon turned left. âTrouble is, only the really big systems have data tags. With a normal sized one, there isnât enough info to worry about tagging it.â He smiled. âSo I guess weâre lucky Flyte has such a big memory bank.â
Beth shook her head. âBut we donât have enough time to just wander through here!â
âWeâll have to make time. Donât even think about trying going through the walls again. Without your armor, youâd get totally trashed.â
âYou donât even know if I was thinking about doing that...â
He smiled mischievously. âWe may not have known each other for very long, but ANYONE could have figured out you were thinking about it.â
âWhateverâŠâ
âSo, umâŠyou really think the Postmaster will give me a full pardon?â
âIf you help save his life? Well, yeah. Heâs really not that bad, you know.â
âSays youâŠâ
Beth shook her head. âIf you wonât listen to reason, I wonât try to get it through your blue head.â
âHey, slam on my energy level not necessary! Sheesh, you say youâre not a virus but you sure as heck act like one.â
âAh, go short circuit yourself.â
âSee? Thatâs very virus-y!â
âHow close are we?â
âWhat? Oh, uhâŠhmmmâŠâ Defcon paused, frowning thoughtfully. âAh. This way.â He made a right turn. âWe should be pretty deep in the banks by now. In fact, we should be coming out into the bank core right aboutâŠoh.â He stopped abruptly.
Beth moved to his side, studying the large chamber, on whose threshold they now stood.
âSo I assume the huge swarm of guards was unanticipated.â
âPretty much.â Defcon said bleakly.
The room was long, and lined with data shelves. At the very end, a small white cylinder sat atop a pedestal. At least a hundred AVâs patrolled the room, their bodies throwing off a menacing purple glow.
He leaned against a wall and sighed. âWell, weâre done. Thereâs no way we could ever get through all them. I mean, this is hopeless.â
Beth frowned. âYou canât be serious. After all you just did, youâre going to give up now?â
âHey, technically, all we did was bust out of jail and get landed here. You never said Iâd be fighting a whole platoon of those guys.â
âSo you ARE just going to give up.â
âYep. Itâs worked pretty well for me so far.â He straightened, turning away from the room. âIâm sorry. I really am. ButâŠheck, I donât want to die. Itâs that simple.â
Beth scowled at Defcon, clenching her fists. âYou disgusting little coward.â
âYeah, but Iâll be alive.â
âI thought you were on my side! Is that really all it takes to break you? You see a challenge and you bail out.â
âHey, Iâm not denying any of that.â He sighed, shaking his head. âYou donât have to do this, you know. You donât have to jump into that deathtrap.â
âOh, and I suppose you want me to just run off like you? Fat chance, fat head.â Beth shoved past Defcon roughly, standing at the edge of the room. âHave a nice life, coward.â She spat, without turning to face him âI really thought youâd come through, Defcon. I donât care if I get so shredded in there that I can only hold myself together long enough to get back to base. I have a mission to complete.â With that, she took a deep breath and darted into the chamber.
--
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