Operating Room
This is a high-tech hospital operating room, working under a special arrangement with Dantech Corporation to use the latest in cutting-edge equipment. Holographic displays give real-time updates on the patient, including cross-sections and strip-away computer-simulated views. There is only one obvious entrance to the room - down a short corridor (flanked by rolling equipment stations and spare equipment cabinets); another door just opens into an adjoining supply closet and cold-storage unit.

The operation has continued on, like a bizarre stage-play with actors determined to play their parts despite the presence of several who don't belong on stage (a bike/wyvern, a mini-dragon, a giant fox, and an assortment of civilians who haven't bothered to dress up in scrubs).

Outside, occasional noises can be heard of Nick and Jenny's exploration of the doors. Some of them, like the Dantech door, have had unpleasant surprises for those who unskillfully attempt to open them. None of them, it would seem from the snippets heard, have actually opened, despite Nick's application of brute force.

Randall frowns at the keyring in his hand. "Madre de Dios, give me your wisdom," he mutters. "If you've got any great ideas, Holly, Jason-- I don't think this is the right time and place to open a portal to the real world that we can't shut again."

The operation on Doppleganger Jason appears to have progressed at least to the point that his head is in one piece, and the seal has been removed. He lies, unconscious, on the table, while the doctors and assistants run through assorted tests to make sure there are no unintended side effects, and so forth.

"Right, several ideas. One, we use the anaesthetic gas here to knock them out when they come in. It'll require gas masks so we don't pass out. Two, I rerig RIU's holo unit to project an image of us to lead them somewhere. Options are back the way they came ... or int cold storage. Maybe I can rig it to get cold enough to freeze them solid. If you barriered it, it might hold long enough to ice them," Jason whispers, "And time is ticking. What do you think?"

"That could work," Holly agrees. "I really don't want to open a portal here. I have a spell in mind that could let me take control of Nick for awhile too."

"Silly boy, we do all of them that we can," Holly says. "If one doesn't work, the others will be backups. Set up the gas, rig the freezers, and I'll make a voodoo doll."

Randall flips the keyring up and whirls it around a finger, then holds it out to Jason. "Use this as an emergency backup if things are going south."

The hologram of Andrei vanishes, and there are no further narrative comments from the "AI voice." It looks like all the activity going on now is just the "clean-up." So far, no further staff have entered the room, and none have left since the operation has been going on.

"We'll set the gas tanks up in the freezer area, then make the holograms appear to be running into it. Holly can control Nick so he won't batter the door down once we've got them in it," Randall summarizes.

The 'pirate captain' police officer crosses a finger. "With any luck, they'll think the anesthetic gas smell is just freezer odor."

"Good idea. We won't have to drag them to the freezers then if the gas works," Holly says.

"Right, let me get to work on RIU first and reset the projector system. You two get the tanks in position and I'll work on the freezer next. Inari, if you can make the doors leading into the operating room itself look like a wall and the freezer doors like the operating room?" Jason suggests.

Randall nods. He goes to set up the gas tanks, and get some gas masks fixed up so we won't be affected by the anesthetic gas as well.

Inari ponders the request. "I could try to make this room look like it's just an antechamber, and that the cold storage looks like the true operating room, but there are so many obstacles here - there's a significant chance they'll blunder into something that shouldn't be there, or stumble into a space that shouldn't be. I would have an easier time altering your appearances to look like hospital staff...."

"Scrubs work," Holly says, and goes to get a pair from Akiko. "That way Inari can just focus on hiding herself and Mara."

"That works too," Jason says as he calls over RIU so he can go about resetting the projector system. Hopefully it don't tickle the dragon's tummy too much.

Inari frowns. "Scrubs won't hide protective armor, Akiko. But any prop helps the illusion. In any case, it's not impossible. It's just that every added bit of complexity increases the chances that the illusion will be seen through."

Akiko looks momentarily taken aback, but says nothing of it, and just nods and continues to sort through the spare scrubs.

"We'll stash the General and Sasha here for now," Randall suggests as he's lugging a gas tank over. "I'd rather not have them on Mara's back if this turns into a knock-down drag-out fight."

"If we can get the anaesthetic to go off inside the freezer it would help too, but if they don't go in it won't do much good," Holly says.

"Getting it go off in the freezer is a mater of a simple timed relay and motor," Jason explains as he works quickly. "But I only have so much time. Randall may just have to shoot the canister."

Randall grimaces. "Isn't this stuff explosive?" he says as he stands a cannister on end in the cold storage area. He pats Akiko on the shoulder on the way back and whispers to her, "Good ideas on both your parts. You make a good team."

"Right," Holly says. "If it's not the exploding kind of gas. I think I'll try to get Nick to just open the valve when they're inside first."

Randall to Jason: "How are you resisting the urge to mess up Senor Smug over there?"

"Simple, knowing that I may die in the next few minutes if I get distracted does amazing things for maintaining focus," Jason quips.

Randall thinks. "We can save the work on disguising the operating room, if you make it look like there's a portal in the freezer room, Jason. Right after our holo-selves run in."

With a bit of effort, and judicious use of dragon power and rolling carts, the anesthetic canisters are moved into position. Oxygen masks are passed around, as well as scrubs for anyone who cares to don them (even though the scrubs fail to make a persuasive disguise on their own to cover up magical armor or other such costumes). Inari focuses on imagining her illusion, but refrains from enacting it quite yet - so as not to interfere with work still in progress.

Out in the Hall of Doors, there's another explosion, and some shouts, though it quickly quiets.

"Something's going on," Randall says as he's donning a scrub over his pirate captain's coat and adjusting his mask. "They're talking about something out there."

After squeezing into a set of scrubs, Holly sets the BFG out of sight behind the operating table and starts working on her spell. "I call upon the spirit of Henson, and invoke the idols: Kermit the Frog, Howdy Doody and Charlie McCarthy.."

RIU squeals happily. The little cyber-dragon finishes running through its diagnostics, and everything comes back "green" on the display.

Mara, not one for wearing scrubs, lies in wait in the operating room. She gives the little dragon an almost wistful look, as if she were pondering what it would be like to be tiny and getting belly rubs too.

Jason is now quickly dressing in scrubs. "RIU, go invis now. I may need you to spy before we trigger the trap," he instructs the little dragon. Once he's dressed, its time to rerig the freezer to get cold enough to even make a penguin from the Antarctic shiver.

Randall nods to Jason. "So, am I shooting the caps off of the cannisters, or are you rigging them?"

"Shooting is the backup, if we don't have to worry about explosions," Holly says, now holding.. an action figure? "My plan is to get Nick to actually open the valves himself."

RIU shimmers and fades. There's only the faintest of ripple effect in the air to give any clue to where he might be - and once he moves, there's just so much clutter here for a tiny nigh-invisible dragon to get lost in.

The police officer notices the General stirring. "Just rest here," he advises. "We've got two Links and their Avatars, and some soldiers they've convinced to assist them, on their way. We're going to try and set up a trap, but if it falls through, be ready for a fight."

Jason sends RIU to go near the door (but not close enough so that it opens) leading back to the hall of doors and tech to listen to their hunters. "I'll try to rig them," Jasion says curtly, "But right now I need to finish getting the freezer rigged to ice Nick and Jenny."

Randall nods to Jason. "Let's hope Holly's idea works then. Give us a heads-up if they're getting close."

Unseen, RIU weaves his way toward the operating room doors, but is very careful not to trip the motion sensors. He focuses on scanning to see what he can pick up through the door. There are no tell-tale heat signatures or other indications of anyone within view on the other side of the door. He picks up sounds, over the thrumming of the servers and other machines in the Hall of Doors, and runs through assorted filters until he can pick up a clearer sound. "-at this rate. I have to keep up my Regenerating Aura just to fight the effects of the Black Curse. Please, be more careful!" It's Jenny's voice.

"They're having problems being stable. Jenny is using some sort of regenerating power to keep them from falling apart," Jason whispers to the others.

Akiko rushes over to the general with another set of scrubs. Quietly, she explains, "These are props for an illusion, so we can blend in with these ... uhm ... magical servants. They look like real people, but they just seem to be going through the motions; they don't respond to us." She turns a worried eye over to the operating table, where the prone Doppleganger Jason lies. "They don't have 'goo' for brains, though. That much I'm sure of. That worries me."

"Hmmm, that will make it tricky to recover them later," Holly notes. "We'll have to run the upgrade on them after we have control of things again."

"Jesus, Mary, and um, lots of saints I never remember the name to," Randall mutters. "Can Jason do that anymore?"

"I would need a terminal that has access to the white to upgrade them," Jason comments. "And why does the no goo worry you, Akiko?"

"From outside he can, once we get control of the system back," Holly assures Randall.

Akiko looks to Jason. "Uhm ... Well, the one on the table has a brain, at least. That much I'm pretty sure of from what I've seen so far. And ... okay, maybe I'm making much ado about nothing."

"I probably could from the Empire terminal, you know. You were able to blow the doors with it," Jason points out.

Randall frowns at Akiko's observation. "You mean we could have two Jasons running around if we stick here long enough?"

"I would prefer having a portal ready first," Holly notes. "And security teams, psych-techs, and the lot. We still need to interrogate the White over what we've seen in here. It sure looked like an AI or group of AIs was behind your operation, Jason. We need to know which ones."

Akiko frowns. "I don't know. Really, should it even be that easy? Should it even be possible for a computer, even a really advanced one, to make a perfect replica of a human brain? If virtual people can become real ... what does that say about us? It's ... I'm sorry ... not really a good time for philosophizing, I know."

"Yes, he may have a brain, but with what in it? If they can't tap my memories, it would just be whatever public data about me they could program in," Jason remarks, "Unless ... hmm. Remember that blip about code errors? I wonder if that was the white planing to take over that body?"

"It won't be Jason, and any resemblance would be due to quantum entanglement," Holly guesses. "Who knows? Maybe Jason could control it like a second body then?"

Randall grimaces. "Or Black - which is not an improvement, since Black's job is to challenge the players."

"It'll be your call, Jason," Holly says, and pats the BFG. "We can just get rid of it when we leave."

"Well, since some of this was designed to stabilize organ transplants, I think it should be safe enough to not kill them. Who knows, it might slow down particle decay too, as heat is really just a measure of the kinetic energy in matter. The less it has, the colder. The less it has, the slower the particles are moving. Breakdown should be delayed. I ... hope," Jason explains.

Inari drags some rolling carts around, partitioning off the corner of the room furthest removed from the entry corridor and the cold storage chamber, where Sasha still lies, unconscious.

The police officer draws his gun and makes sure it's fully loaded, both standard bullets and taser bolts, then makes sure it's easy to access in his jacket and scrubs. "Just be on the lookout if Jason Two's anesthetic wears off," he advises.

Loud, crashing footsteps can be heard outside the hospital doors. That bear-thing must be coming closer to this part of the Hall, and stealth is not in its repertoire.

"Be ready to zip back when he tarts beating on the doors, RIU," Jason thinks as he stands up, "We'll need you for the projectors." Outt loud, he says, "Let me see about the canisters now." And so he goes to see if he can rig the valve.

Holly takes up a position next to the operating table, on the outside of Inari's 'wall' of carts, so she can see what's happening in the hall and also so she can grab the gun if needed.

The nurses quietly go about their business, quietly avoiding Holly without anything so clumsy as to blindly bump into her. To an outside observer, aside from her short stature, she might pass for just another one of them at a glance.

Randall takes up a position just next to the doors, able to peek through the windows. "Inari, if you can set up the illusions? I'll keep an eye out. Soon as they get into the room, I'll rush through and try to get the doors shut, Mara will back me up."

Jason pats the canister and scoots out. "RIU, back here. Almost time," he tells the little dragon. Jason takes up position like he's one of the the doctors, standing over and near to the unconscious Jason-2."

Inari nods and focuses. She fades, becoming just another piece of medical equipment over to the side. Mara similarly has been replaced by high-tech equipment that looks only vaguely draconid if one had a particularly vivid imagination (or had seen a dragon perched there just a moment ago). The rigged canisters don't turn invisible, per se, but the rigged bits are less obvious, and they look as if they're supposed to be lined up there - just another part of the setup. Jason, Akiko, Holly, Randall and the General, meanwhile, look far more convincing in their hospital scrubs - and Inari tweaks Holly's apparent size a bit - so that they blend in seamlessly with the doctors and nurses.

RIU, still nothing more than a faint shimmer, alights upon Jason's shoulder - and the depression in his scrubs is smoothed out by the illusion.

The carts that have been lined up carefully by the giant fox have been replaced by a wall of additional medical equipment, hiding everything in that corner of the room - including the unconscious and bound Sasha.

The operating room doors shift in hue. Shadows can be made out behind them, as the doors become less opaque.

Akiko bites her lip, and then thinks the better of it and tries very, very hard to pretend she's just as oblivious of any intrusion as any of the other "medical staff" in here.

Jason is just acting like a tech on one of the pieces of equipment near the copy of him as if nothing in the world out of the ordinary is going on.

Conditions of patients: 'Black Curse', otherwise known as progressive derezzing of bodily composition due to migration from a lower-quality simulation into a higher-quality simulation or actual reality. Eventually fatal.

"Watch, they'll decide to skip our door and we'll be stuck for another hour," Holly mutters.

The doors to the operating room fade, becoming translucent and then clear save for the frames and bang plates. Outside is a very large, fully armored (and somewhat banged up) knight, a woman clad in flowers and clinging vines, and, behind them, a huge unicorn, and a ridiculously oversized rock-and-lava bear. The floor of the Hall of Doors is covered in an array of flowers, though it seems that the unicorn's aura is at odds with that of the bear (as it seems the mere presence of the bear tends to scorch the flimsy plants quickly).

"Finally!" Jenny exclaims. "Another one we can actually see through. But is it really there, or is it just a scene?"

Randall nibbles on the tip of his stylus, trying to just keep them in peripheral vision while supposedly taking notes on the operation. He writes, "Recommended treatment: return to lower grade simulation to avoid further bodily deterioration. Upgrade procedure is recommended but pending availability of medical equipment."

The knight's expression is completely hidden behind his helm. He reaches forward to push the door. The doors resist him, and a message appears on the keypad, as well as projected onto the clear material of the door itself: "Operation in Progress. No Admittance." He tries it again. "The doors budge a bit. It feels ... real."

Jason resists the urge to look up towards the doors. Instead he keeps himself 'distracted' by watching the monitor screen of, well, himself. "I feel bad for them ... but I really have no desire to die. We don't really have much of a choice than to take them down," he thinks to himself.

Jenny looks reluctant, then steps back, nodding. "Please, don't use your blast this time. Just try to force it with your own strength. I can feel it - we're not getting any of our energy back here." She looks down worriedly, as black mists drift away from them, falling to the floor, and scattering away into nothingness. Then, she opens her eyes in surprise. "The mists! They're going under the door! It must be real!" She steps back more hastily.

The knight flexes his gauntlets, making an audible crack of knuckles (while the armor itself makes no discernible sound). "I guess we won't need Blake to step in and save us this time. We're just fine on our own, aren't we?"

Holly almost looks up at the mention of Blake, but keeps pretending to fiddle with something behind the operating table to look busy.

Jenny blushes, and looks flustered. "I ..." But before she can finish that thought, the knight slams a heavily armored fist into the door. An alarm sounds, but the door isn't made to withstand this kind of abuse, designed more to just keep out careless blunderers than to provide solid security. The clear material cracks, and the warning display is distorted. One of the doors pops off its hinge, and falls to the floor. Despite the alarm, the medical staff carries out its actions - which by now seem fairly repetitive to those persons who've been having to stay with them for all this time.

Randall takes another note. "Everything seems to be in order," he says in a dull surgeon's voice that doesn't sound much like his usual voice, catching Jason's eye. "Let's begin the procedure."

"It worked!" Jenny exclaims, but then more seriously, she says, "Be on guard! They must be in here!"

"RIU, activate the hologram of us. Have Randall peering around the door so that they see him. Be prepared to send them into the freezer the moment they can see them all run in there..." Jason mentally instructs his companion. There's a slight nod from Jason to Randall, confirming the order. "Operation underway. Survival results for the patient are unknown."

"The advancement of science," Randall says with a dry sigh. "So often requires great sacrifice." He checks off line item 'Invasive surgery authorized'.

The knight extends a hand to hold Jenny back, as he steps forward. The bear grunts impatiently, as if mortally offended that HE'S not sent in first ... but honestly, it looks as if the bear would have considerable trouble making it down the short corridor without knocking down everything along the way. (If all those creatures DO come in here, it's going to get very crowded, very quickly.)

There's a slight shimmer in the air as a hologram reproduction of the entire group appears. Mara with her charges stands near the open freezer. Jason and Holly are next to her. Randallgram, though, materializes to the side of the doors to the operating room. The illusion then moves to fake 'peeking' our through the window of the operating room doors. Jason thinks to himself, "Come on, spot the big cop head and charge in here you two..."

"This is your last chance!" the knight's voice booms. "Surrender peacefully, and Jenny will give you merciful sleep. Me ... well, I only get to work with what I've got. And what I've got hurts." He steps forward through the doors - and at that point, there just no way he could possibly miss anyone close enough to actually be peeking THROUGH the operating room doors, since that would put him in arm's reach. "HA!"

The hologram of Randall does an abrupt backpedal from the huge hand of Nick. He waves wildly towards the other holograms ... who then dart into the freezer. They draw back to the wall, Maragram in front of them and the Jasongram frantically seen fiddling wih an illusionary 'keychain', as if he's trying to 'open' the wall.

The real Jason is still just trying to look like he's working, head down and motions seemingly unconcerned. The rise in his own blood pressure, though, he feels quite readily.

Randall continues playing it straight, hand on notepad. "Nurse, I'm picking up a gamma level fluctuation." His dull surgeon's drone gets a little tighter. "Keep an eye on it and be ready with the alpha blocker, would you? We don't want our patient to go into seizure."

Jenny cries out, from her limited vantage-point, "He's got the Key the Oracle warned us about! Watch out! He's making a portal - and it's going to create an explosion!"

Nick draws his sword and charges in. "I don't want to hurt anyone - but the world is at stake! I will use lethal force if you don't stop!" The bear charges in behind him, lava veins seething. It suddenly becomes a lot warmer in here in short order.

"I hope the cold and gas work. Just go in the storage room please," Jason worries. The Jasongram starts frantically beating on the illusionary keychain, as if it weren't working, (trying to keep the lure)!

"Just in time!" Nick roars, as he charges in, aiming for the key with his oversized blade (which glows as if it is freshly-pulled from a very, very large forge). In the confines of the room, the blade sweeps through hoses and paneling, and sparks fly. The bear's stampede sends orderlies reeling - and one of them slams hard into a wall, leaving a bloody mark, and sliding limply to the floor. The others only passively take a step or two to get out of the way, but such lack of speed costs them. Holly, Randall and Jason, fortunately, are on the far side of the operating table, but the jostling sends Doppleganger Jason sprawling, and tubes ripping out!

Now that Nick is moving, Holly holds up her voodoo doll. "Resistance is Futile, Nick Fry," she whispers to it. "You will be assimilated by the Holly. Dismiss the bear and call Jenny to come to you."

Randall tries to position the medical instruments to be between himself and the bear and continue the 'program'. "Gamma waves are spiking! Get the alpha blocker in place! We're losing him!"

Nick abruptly stops, mid-charge. With but a flick of the hand, he dismisses the flaming, rocky bear - with a hiss of steam and a belch of smoke, the bear's form crumbles into ashes.

"No!" Jenny screams. "The Oracle said not to dismiss your Avatar, no matter what! Small, you couldn't! You didn't! No!"

"Trying to stabilize patient," the real Jason shouts as he goes to the now thrown Jason-2 and crouches down beside him to try and also get out of the way. "Main IV has separated, situation critical!"

Once control is established, Holly ducks down behind the operating table with the body of replica-Jason. "Now call Jenny, say you need help," she whispers to the doll. "Get her into that compartment with you."

"Horn of Purification!" Jenny cries out, half-melodic, half-choked. The horn of her unicorn glows intently, and it lowers its head, as if ready to charge into the room.

"Frotz!" Randall whips out his gun and tries to tag Jenny with the taser bolt before she can finish the spell.

The unicorn dashes forward just enough steps to be in the narrow antechamber, to give it a better view of the operating room's interior. Then, a blinding light emits from its horn, shining into every corner of the chamber, making shadows melt away.

As the light fades, the room has visibly changed. The wall in the corner has vanished, revealing Sasha bound up behind the carts. Mara and Inari are no longer apparently medical equipment. RIU's hologram is still active at least, but it remains to be seen whether a few scrubs will be sufficient disguise to confuse the knight - for the "voodoo doll" has vanished, and along with that, apparently Holly's control over him.

Taser bolts fire away from Randall's gun, but the unicorn is supernaturally fast with its attack - and the corridor is blocked by a large, glowing, unicorn, even as flowers begin to quickly sprout up from the floor. There's hardly anything to hit but unicorn at this point, so the bolts strike true.

The unicorn whinnies and rears back as shocks jolt through it - though that's not such a great idea, since the ceiling is low. It breaks the anti-fire pipes, and fire-suppressant foam begins to spray out everywhere. (That was probably going to happen any moment now anyway, once the lava-bear tripped the fire alarms.)

"Randall, have Mara shove Nick into the freezer and barrier the door," Jason calls out.

"Or ... nevermind!" Jason adds a split second later. The hacker charges the armored knight and puts his shoulder into it, shoving the armored man the rest of the way into the freezer (He thakfully didn't have to go far)! He rolls to the side, near the controls and winces. "Yeah, that's going to leave a mark..."

Getting up from behind the operating table, Holly grabs up the BFG in one hand and sticks the other into the pocket of her scrubs. As she heads for the unicorn, she chants, "Sugar and spice and everything nice; that's what dispel is made of." She pulls out a frosted cupcake with a cherry on top. She pulls the cherry off with her teeth and lobs the cupcake at Jenny like a grenade.

PAF! Frosting and cupcake bits go flying! And suddenly black smoke begins to pour visibly from Jenny - and the unicorn, and Nick, too - spilling down onto the floor, and evaporating. The flowers more quickly wither away, evaporating into black wisps. Jenny begins wheezing, dropping to her knees. "You ... KOFF ... monster!"

"Go back through the door you came if you want to survive!" Jason yells as he rubs at his now very sore shoulder, "You might want to kill us but we don't want to kill you!"

Randall thinks fast. No, they're not going to oblige us, he decides, and fires his second taser round at Jenny. "Jason! Out of the way so Mara can frost the door!"

Holly spits out the cherry. "Call Blake to come and save you then," she notes to Jenny. "Now, can we move this horse out of our way or should I blast it?"

Jenny looks shocked - in more ways than one - as the taser bolts hit her. She opens her mouth as if to protest, as if she were expecting that something about her flimsy floral attire was actually supposed to shield her from such attacks, but the shots hit, and they adhere to skin.

The general springs forward, holding a face-mask in one hand, and a hose and tank in the other. He slams the face-mask over the unicorn's nostrils, and twists the knob. Apparently he has been conscious enough to figure out the intended purpose.

"Hey, that works too!" Holly says, smiling at the General. Not that it's visible behind the surgical mask.

With the unicorn out of the way, Inari snarls and charges, stomping the fallen equine on her way, and knocking over a cart of supplies. "This is for everything you and your friends did to Akiko!"

Randall calls to Mara and Inari, "Get 'em into the freezer! We'll gas 'em unconscious."

Inari curses, as her claws, which should have easily disemboweled the stunned Jenny, instead only manage to scratch her slightly. "Magic flower bikini armor - bah!" Nonetheless, the already-stunned Jenny falls to the ground, under the weight of Inari's charge.

"Calm down, Inari," Holly says, and points out, "They were mind-controlled by Blake."

Akiko, not to be left out, rolls a cart after Nick. "Hyaaaaa!" However, in the frenzy of the moment, it merely rebounds off of a storage cabinet, and falls over on its side. Her face flushes, but in the mayhem, maybe nobody noticed.

Randall adds, "Let's be fair, it sounds like they were tormenting Akiko for a long time."

Mara doesn't pause for Inari; she moves in and extends a forepaw. Like a cat, she bats Jenny into the freezer, toward Nick.

Jenny's stunned body flops against Nick's heavily-armored one, as she's tossed into the cold-storage chamber.

"Right, time to for these two to ... chill out!" Jason shouts as he hits the controls to activate the freezer system that he rigged to bypass safeties and drop the temperature quickly in that room. It should also trigger the anaesthetic gas if he got the rigging right.

"Rargh!" Nick cries out - probably not the best thing in the world, since he should have been holding his breath. He staggers, reflexively moving to grab Jenny. In a last act of desperation, as he begins to stumble, he holds his blade with his free hand, and focuses - the blade begins to flare more brightly, as if trying to fight off the cold....

...but it's not enough. As Jason throws the controls, and makes some last minute adjustments to compensate, Nick stumbles, and falls to the floor. Blue tracer-beams scan Jenny's and Nick's forms, measuring temperature variations, assessing composition - and then the room's interior is obscured as the focused deep-freeze takes effect.

"Chill out? Honestly," Holly says, shaking her head. "Oh.. fudge. We forgot to ask them about that whole 'Oracle says the portal will explode' thing."

Randall shakes his head. "Not exactly how I expected this to go off. Okay, timer's running." He checks the time on his PDA as he reloads the taser bolts. He fishes out the last clip and rams it home, which leaves just one solitary taser dart at the bottom of the pocket. Ten minutes 'til they're completely fried.

RIU checks the controls, and looks back to Jason with a happy whisker-flick. Status: Process completed. Subjects stable.

"They just didn't realize we already used the detonation part," Jason remarks and gives Holly a look. "You're one to talk cupcake. I'm going to start calling you Strawberry Shortcake from now on after that maneuver!" He pats the little dragon on the shoulder, then says, "Hey, Randall? Can you have Mara drag the unicorn back into the simulation hallway? If we just leave her, she'll melt and ... well, I can understand the attachment that grows."

Inari looks miffed, as she trots back in, but then looks vaguely satisfied as she looks into the cold storage window. "I say you bring them out. Then, one well-placed kick."

"Jason, Holly - we need to either upgrade 'em and break whatever hold the White and Blake have on them, or throw 'em back where they came from," Randall says. "I'll recon outside and see if there're any regular guards."

"Inari!" Akiko cries out, from where she's administering first-aid to one of the fallen orderlies. "How dare--" She cuts herself off, returning to her work.

"It was a lemon cupcake, I think," Holly notes. "Take this then, Randall," she says, and hands over the BFG.

"I don't know if I can upgrade them," Jason admits. To Inari and Akiko he says, "Don't be too hard on Inari; her anger comes from how you were treated. It's understandable. Just ... try to remember they were mind controlled too. Puppets."

The general looks thoughtful. "I'll be surprised if there are any guards. It seems heroes never bring help unless we have our own army...." He then returns to checking the unicorn. "Curious. It hasn't vanished yet." He checks. "It's breathing ... but ... eck." He pulls away his hand. A bit of skin has come off from the unicorn, blackening, and peeling away. "It's deteriorating."

"We need a way out of here, then we can rescue them," Holly points out. "Don't play with the unicorn, Randall."

"It's dying. Out here they can't disappear and reappear. I just," he looks to RIU on his shoulder, seeming to decide something. "I'm going to find one of the terminals out there and try to save them. "Someone please get the unicorn back into the simulated corridor.

Randall shakes his head, pressing the BFG back into Holly's hand. "I'm going to check it out, make sure the coast's clear."

"Hurry, Randall, there isn't much time and I need to get to a terminal," Jason says.

Akiko starts to fireman-pull the unconscious orderlies out of the main throughway. "Could I get some help here?" she asks to one of the doctors still going through his routine - but to no avail. He is obliviously standing, as if waiting for a cue that isn't coming. She shakes her head, and continues to move the wounded 'pseudo-people' out of the way, and tends to obvious wounds.

"Right then, if Mara can't move her, I'll.. try to conjure up a forklift or something," Holly says.

Jason goes to help Akiko until Randall gives him the all clear to go to a terminal.

"Inari, give me backup here please," Randall adds as he goes out into the Room of Doors, to check that no one's going to shoot at them, backtracking to the demolished door that led to the Empire base.

The general follows Randall, with piece of pipe as a makeshift weapon at the ready. He scans warily - but there is no sign of any entourage - just quite a bit of destruction, as it appears that no expense was spared on trying to force doorways open, even the iced-in doorway back to the armory, and the obviously booby-trapped ones.

The wyvern clicks her fangs together, shaking her head and looking a touch embarrassed. Being asked to carry other Avatars around seems to her a little undignified for at least one of them. However, she complies, extending her talons out and lifting the unicorn up at key points so her weight won't drag on the floor. Carefully, she squeezes through the door after the recon party and brings the unicorn through.

In the Hall of Doors, the imperial-styled blast doors are visible, amidst a pile of debris. Those doors will not be closing again, it would seem. The view through them, however, is hazy and indistinct, behind a flickering, rippling curtain of black noise. There must still be a link, but there is no longer a flow of black mist coming through it.

Inari prowls about, sniffing the air, but it seems that her stealthy attempts are no longer awarded by gratuitous "stealth-invisibility" here. "I find no sign of others," she reports, after padding back from a far corner of the irregularly-shaped Hall.

Eyeing the punch-card driven Imperial terminal, Holly doubts it will be able to do what Jason wants. "Must be something more appropriate around here. Plenty of terminals.."

"Coast's clear, go for it, Jason," Randall says by the demolished Empire door. "Over here, Mara! Just lay her down over the line. And be ready with a little frost in the right places."

The air is noticeably colder here, more like a meat locker than a server room, and ice from Mara's shattered barriers is still scattered here and there on the floor, amidst slowly growing puddles.

Jason pats Akiko's shoulder and tells her, "Will you be okay here? I'm going to try and save them and Amaranth. I just ... I know how I would feel if I lost RIU."

Akiko nods. "Thank you. I ... I guess I just don't feel so angry about them. Not like I used to. But Inari...." She shakes her head. "I just hope this will all be over soon - and for the better."

"Just remember, Jason; if you upgrade them as they are now, that's what they'll be," Holly warns. "We don't know if they'll be stuck with the memories and personalities that've been imposed on them."

The ice wyvern trundles over to Randall, silent but an aura of frost trails behind her and her eyes glint narrowly as she keeps an eye on the unicorn. As she stretches it out on the far side of the door, she might be for all the world going 'Try something, I'll freeze you solid and give you a kick.'

"So do I," Jason says as he stands and heads back out into the main room and down towards the terminals. "I intend to try and restore their ages before I do anything. Age is just an attribute as they are now, after all. And quit being jealous that I didn't make you taller and younger before you were upgraded. Just point me to a system similar to what you would have at Avatar's. One of these has to be somewhat close."

The computer console, for its part ... doesn't look particularly user-friendly. It's a punch-card machine, after all. It should be a wonder, at least, that commands of any complexity can be fed to it through punch-cards - but there's nothing resembling a graphic user interface, or a menu of options to choose from.

"Jealous?" Holly asks, as she starts searching. "I want them to remember who they are."

"So do I. Remember that Sasha remembered, though, and rejected it in the end. She likes what she became," Jason points out as he crouches down before the odd Imperial terminal for now. "I can't believe anyone ever used this thing."

The unicorn, shoved through the shimmering black curtain of the imperial-style doorway, appears to have stabilized on the other side. Although it still has a few bits of blackened skin clinging to it, it takes on a more healthy-looking luster, and flowers begin sprouting up from the metal grills it lies upon. And, of particular importance, it no longer has black clouds wafting up from its body.

The floor rumbles. The dark curtain becomes more opaque. The lighting flickers momentarily - and then the shaking subsides.

Inari's ears twitch, as she looks about. "It's ... where is it? Where are you? What? No. No, that's just not fair."

Jason looks up from trying to make sense of the terminal. "Er, what was that?" he asks. He then cringes and shouts, "Something powerful is Coming! RIU can feel it!"

"It's probably Blake," Holly mutters. "No time to check and see if the key-ring is still cursed!"

Randall nods to Mara and hurries to find the others. "Let's get Jenny and Nick out of the cold storage and shove them in there, then get out of here. We don't have much time."

"I remember this feeling," Inari says, eyes widening. "Just whenever I thought I'd figured it out. Just whenever Akiko managed to find their weak spots. Just when they'd just finished doing something stupid, overextended themselves, backed themselves into a corner, even practically scrambled over each other to get away - heroics forgotten. Then - forget how well executed the plan, how carefully we considered every contingency, even if we banded together for a common cause...."

Akiko rushes out of the operating room. "Inari!" she cries out. She looks with horror to Holly. "We've got to run. I don't know where ... but we've got to!"

The ground rumbles again. There's a sound of breaking glass, and sparking electronics, as some of the more archaic machines fail to hold up to the stresses.

"Our only way out is through the Armory and trying to open a portal," Holly points out.

"Are there any other open doors?" Jason shouts as he looks about in a panic. He pulls out the keyring and fingers it. "Do you want me to try and open a gate to the real world now?"

Warm air blasts through the chamber from ... somewhere, perhaps at the far end of the Hall of Doors, through the maze of servers, workstations, and bizarre contraptions.

"This place is falling apart," Holly notes. "Blake will come and get Jenny and Nick, and then deal with us. Best not to be here."

Randall amends. "Let's skip defrosting Nick and Jenny, much as I hate to. We need to change the rules." He glances around the line of doors. "Jason, is there any chance you can open a door into cyberspace? That realm where you faced that giant?"

"I have no idea!" Jason admits, "What would be the purpose?" He then looks to the keyring and flat asks it, "Can you open a gate to cyberspace itself?"

The general rushes to Randall. "Do we need to get anything from here, before we go?" He holds up a laser-scalpel, though it looks like a woefully inadequate makeshift weapon to use against the likes of whatever the White might throw against them next.

Randall shakes his head. "This place is just about the doors far as I can tell. Jason managed to break the curse on his key-ring. Now it can be used to open one portal to anywhere. The catch is, where do we go?"

"Grab Sasha, unless we want to leave her for Blake to pick up," Holly suggests. "I vote for a portal back to the Avatar's basement, while we still have the armory set up for it. And I'll armor up Jason first, in case it really is going to explode."

The key-ring looks cracked and fragile, though there's a faint glow from within the cracks - so perhaps some magical energy still remains.

"In the real world the system cannot continue to thwart us in our fight," Jason says as he looks worriedly at the ring. "There are no more doors here we can use, so the only way out... I cannot tell what it can do ... but I really want to get out of a system where White can fight with us. Grab Jenny, I'll try to open a gate into the basement of the Avatar's building."

"Just in case," Holly says, and intones, "Code Warriors need Firewalls! Armor of St. Norton!"

The police officer activates Mara's hoverjet warmup sequence. "You guys, go with Jason and Holly! If you see any terminals that might connect to White directly, tell him about it!"

Holly pulls out an archaic CD-Rom disc on a gold chain. "Put this around your neck, Jason."

"You really need to lay off the drugs, Holly," Jason mutters as he takes the necklace and puts it on. The hacker, for all the world looking terrified, holds out the ring. He thinks of the image he saw through a squirrel-eye view, the basement of Avatar's. "Ring, open a gate to Avatar's basement, the building where all this began. The beginning of Light for this Universe ... and now perhaps the end."

In short order, Randall has Sasha strapped back on the back of his bike. She grunts when she's thrown on, and makes some mumbling protests, but she doesn't seem to have entirely come to from whatever odd side-effect there was from that heavy dose of magical serum that was pumped into her to spare her from death earlier in the armory.

Akiko, meanwhile, rolls out of the operating room with an overloaded gurney. "Are you sure this is at all a sensible idea?" the general calls out, as he herds along some clueless-looking doctors. "These aren't real people!"

Randall locks in the 'prisoner restraint' belts. As they exit the hospital, he makes sure to open the door for the cold storage room, so the anesthetic gas can get vented, then starts hightailing it with Mara for the armory.

Holly warns, "We'd better all take cover, just in case," before putting the bulk of the Imperial terminal between herself and Jason.

Inari bounds along, with some more bodies strapped to her back. "Someone talk some sense into her! No, wait, that would take time."

As Jason brings the key ring to the featureless wall ... the wall ripples - a strange rippling that seems to look more like a shuffling of tiny particles in deliberate sequence, rather than the rippling of water - and the key sinks into the steel paneling. There is, it seems, a keyhole after all.

Randall halts Akiko. "Let me show you something before you try to bring them out into the real world." He holds up his wrist PDA and shows the gun-camera video of what happened to Penny Arcadia.

"True. But they don't belong in the real world either. They've been programmed to carry out the medical operation," Randall insists.

"Clock is ticking, we need to goooooooooo!" Jason calls out as he checks that RIU is securely on his shoulders. The hacker then turns the key.

"Those are duplicates of real people too," Holly points out. "Never mind! No time now.."

"Let's concentrate on getting through safely, and stop the biggest threat first," Randall says. "Hopefully Blake will stop to take care of Jenny and Nick, but we've got to get moving first so he isn't distracted by us."

The key turns, and this time the "ripples" spread out from the keyhole in angling patterns. The key ring dissolves, melting out of Jason's hand, and melding into the wall. For a moment, it looks as if there's no way out - the keyhole is gone! - but then the wall panels merge together and extrude - forming a familiar outline of a reinforced imperial-style blast door.

A blast of hot air rushes down the Hall. The floor trembles. More circuitry explodes. Panels fall from the ceiling ... or, rather, they fall UP from the ceiling, as sections tear away to reveal rippling blackness beyond.

The extrusion process finishes, as the wall section in front of Jason shifts to colors and textures, even formulating into paint - some of which flecks off after what seems like further consideration. As the finishing touch, a turnwheel emerges from the wall, along with a dull red-glowing light-valve.

Jason, in a near panic by this point, starts trying to open the door. He grips the wheel and tries to give it one heck of a spin.

"I am the Chosen of the WHITE!" a booming voice cries out, a mixture of human pomposity and lion's roar. "I am the Last Champion of this World! You shall not prevail!"

"Black, if you're out there," Randall mutters as they close in on Jason. "I think he needs a bit of come-uppance, don't you? And we could use a bit of cover so we can get out of here."

The turn-wheel is surprisingly well-greased for its appearance. It turns, and the multi-layered door opens, with a wheeze of warm - no, wait, it's just slightly less cold air. It's really hard to tell, what with the hot and cold air being blasted about here and there, and the air in general being sucked off into rippling blackness.

"I shall destroy this place of abomination!" the voice roars. Only now that the ceiling has been torn away, and the shimmering black curtains pushed up to form a dome, is there room for the titanic form of the transformed Blake to stride through the destruction. It appears as if he has been merged with his winged lion - now he looks like something out of ancient Babylon of myth, perhaps - a leonine sort of centaur, winged at the lower body, with a man's face and flowing mane.

The door rolls open. Beyond, there is the hum of ... more servers. Alarms scream.

"You might want to help Jenny and Nick," Randall yells up at him. "The White would not abandon its friends in need, would it? They're eleven doors back that way." He motions for the rest to get in, and gets ready to hold the fort.

"I think we should make a hasty retreat now," Holly notes, aiming her gun up at the titan.

There's a long series of curses strung together and Jason spinspinspins that wheel and finally gets it open. "We have an exit, come on go through!" Jason yells at the others. "Go! Go! Go!"

"Curse you!" Blake-Regus cries out. He wades through the servers, stomping through them, as he makes his way to the branch that encompasses the simulated Operating Room. "JENNY!" he roars.

"I'll hold this side, Randall," Holly yells. "Your weapons work in both worlds, and I can't say the same for mine. Plus, it's bigger."

Randall sotto voce, "Or was it twelve? Counting is hard when you're racing danger." He nods to Holly. "Mara, come through with her. Make sure the rest get through."

Akiko charges through, gurney and all. She squeaks with alarm, as there's a ramp immediately on the other side. There's a crashing sound as she smashes into a workstation.

"Can we all quit being a go first group?" Jason calls out, exasperated. "I'll go! Maybe I can get control of the system on the other side!" Jason takes a few steps back, then runs towards the open door and jumps through, following Akiko.

Randall draws his gun and badge and steps through. Please, let us have a signal...

Randall's PDA flickers as a signal is picked up (despite heavy interference). "Transmission received. Verifying position...."

Suddenly, a video feed blips up on Randall's wrist-mounted unit. "Officer Cranston! We're through! We've got a live feed! We have your position! Code verified - enacting Skynet - and sending in medevac to your position!"

Inari bounds through, and the general roughly shoves his entourage as well, giving the last hesitant doctor a good boot in the pants through the doorway, before diving in after him.

"Hark, the herald angels sing, 'Welcome back to blessed reality,'" comes Randall's voice distantly from the other side of the portal.

Mara enters the portal delicately, making sure that her passenger doesn't get scraped off against the door. She winds through sinuously and flicks her tailtip clear.

"JENNY!" Blake-Regus can be heard to cry out in the rapidly-deteriorating Hall of Doors, as pieces of flooring are torn free and flung into the rippling void, and the lighting fails - only to be supplemented by the occasional explosion of sparks.

Randall says to Jason quietly as they meet up on the other side, "You do realize you have a new problem, with the people Akiko went to rescue?"

Jason gives Randall a really funny look. "What are ... oh dear God, tell me she didn't rescue the me from the operating room?" he asks as he covers his eyes with his hand.

"And a bunch of doctors programmed to keep you under sedation and monitor your vital signs," Randall says. "Let's hope they don't get the two of you mixed up."

Through the doorway, it appears that the adventurers have landed themselves into a heavily-fortified chamber, somewhere deep underground by the looks of it. Red lights flash and alarms sound. It's all kept to a nice, chilly temperature, for all the mega-servers. There doesn't appear to be anyone presently on staff.

Akiko protests, "How could I leave you behind? I mean ... the other you? I mean, not you you ... but it's still you! Kind of." She flushes furiously.

Once everyone is through, Holly aims her gun back through the portal - just in case. "I don't know if this thing still works."

The oversized weapon's indicators are still alight. While it might be nothing more than a very large and impressive electronic toy, at least it hasn't blown up or begun to evaporate from the transition.

Jason runs his hand down his face. "I'm not even sure I would call it 'kind of'" Jason admits, "And we better hope White doesn't try to use that implant to give itself a body. He tries not to think about it ... so he goes and attempts to at least close the metal door he opened, even if it won't vanish. Or at least he starts to. "Holly, can I close this or do you want to shoot?"

RIU loops himself around the wheel again, leaving a blue trail of energy from his wings as he gives it an extra push. The doors rumble shut in sequence, and then the door hisses with a seal. Then, there's a shuddering behind the door. It's hard to tell, over the sounds of the alarms, but all the crashing and destruction seems to have gone away.

Jason then picks up the little dragon and places him back on his shoulders as if he's worried the little fellow might vanish at any moment. "Holly, where are we?" he asks the woman.

"I think we're in the Well of Urd," Holly says. "That is, this is the other side of the door that we saw open to a portal via the squirrel."

"Right, so time for me to dismantle it," Jason says as he pops his fingers. "I wish I had some thermite."

Randall brings his wrist PDA up. "Glad you guys are on the case. We're in what looks like the megaserver room. I've got Holly Trudeau and Jason Edwards with me, and one of the missing persons, Sasha Knightley. She's been brainwashed and will need to be restrained and interrogated for her part in the conspiracy. The rogue AI appears to be White, one of the Avatars LLC AIs. Unknown whether other AIs have been contaminated. Guillotine protocol has been invoked, all communication links here should have been shut down, but no telling if White has alternate communications." He looks over at Holly. "Can you raise Hel?"

Randall reaches up and pats Mara's shoulder. "Mara seems to be of the same opinion, Inari."

Holly goes to one of the terminals, and sees if she can get access. "Hel might have a non-local link to whatever is running down here, if we're lucky," she says.

The police officer nods to Akiko. "Don't worry, I didn't forget about you and Inari, but you were a victim in this case."

At the security terminal, Holly's codes are accepted. The status indicates that, yes, this has been cut off - even from Hel (as that AI is kept in a separate subsystem, just in case). However, a localized mini-process (a mini-Hel, if you will) provides Holly with what local access she is privileged to, though without the full benefit of the intelligence of an advanced AI.

"Okay, we're still isolated," Holly reports. "I've got limited access to this system.. whatever it is." She tries to get some information on what's been running down here.

Randall's PDA shows a display of the position of the incoming team. It appears that there have already been several units on site.

Randall goes to check on Jason Zero's medical status, since the last time he saw him, the hospital patient had been thrown around rather severely.

"Welcome to the other world," Jason tells the General as he passes to go examine some of the systems himself.

Akiko is applying first aid to "Jason #2," fretting over him. Inari sighs, and patiently waits to be relieved of her "passengers."

The police officer whispers up to Inari, "The fact that we now have two Jasons around worries me immensely."

"It's an old style blast door!" comes the audio over Randall's connection. A video feed shows a door just like the one that the robot squirrel saw earlier - though with considerably less interference.

"Stand back, guys," Randall warns. Seeing Jason Zero, or Jason Two, however one wants to think of it, is in good hands, he offloads Inari so she can take cover. To the PDA: "Stand by, I'll see if Holly can open it."

As Jason signs on, the welcome message is a bit ... peculiar. "Welcome to Avatars LLC General Access. WE ARE NOT DONE WITH YOU YET."

"Er," Jason says, "Holly ... is it normal for one of your terminals to say: WE ARE NOT DONE WITH YOU YET?" He sits down at that terminal and pops his fingers, telling it, "Soon I'll be done with you though."

"Trying turning the wheel," Holly suggests to Randall. "If the hall of doors is done collapsing, then that portal should be gone too." In reply to Jason, she just stares blankly. "Uh.. on second thought, maybe she just open that door a crack to see what's on the other side."

"Give me a hand here!" can be heard over the PDA, along with several oomphs. "It's moving!"

The door starts to roll, though it seems as if, somehow, it's not quite so perfectly greased as it was scant moments ago.

"Hold up a bit, we've got a short woman with a gun about as big as she is covering the door, and she's kind of twitchy from her experience," Randall says to the PDA.

Jason taps in a query to the terminal. Just a question rally that ought to give a syntax error. He asks it, "What do you mean by that?"

"Stop stop stop!" shouts one of the team, and they immediately halt. "Clear from the door! What's that, Officer Cranston?"

"Okay, go ahead. Holly, stand back, just in case," Randall says. "We've had some bad experience with doors opening by themselves lately."

Holly moves to one side, where she can still cover the door without being directly in front of it.

"?SYNTAX NOT RECOGNIZED. (OUR CHAMPION LEADS THE ARMY OF LIGHT TO YOU.)" the terminal cryptically responds. Seriously, this interface is old-school. No graphic interface, or anything.

"Why? We are not evil, you are. Calling yourself the army of light is a joke," Jason taps in. "Uhm, folks, there's an Army of Light incoming ... supposedly."

With some effort, they get going again. The doors open ... and on the other side is a SWAT team in ballistic armor, with an armored fast-response medic team behind them, holding back at the elevator. "Does anyone require immediate stasis? We have stasis pods at the surface," the lead shouts.

The police officer uploads the report on synecdoches for the officers' benefits. "Any place that looks sufficiently like the virtual world's vulnerable to portal attack," he says, taking cover himself and making sure everyone else is back behind a server from the door. "Plus if White has rigged a comm link through a portal, it could be anywhere."

"How many pods do you have?" Holly asks, putting down the BFG and turning to get a count of how many potential zombies Akiko brought through.

The other officer (Wynan, by his name badge), nods, and checks his notes. "We've got a med team here, just like you said - wait. Incoming." He switches his PDA feed. "There's action up topside." A video feed shows an explosion.

"Put him in stasis," Randall says, pointing to Jason Zero. "He's got a brain chip, unknown function."

Jason runs his hands through his hair. "Holly, where is the quantum core? Where have to put a stop to this and that means we have to activate a counter wave. Real people are going to die soon. This is going to get ugly," he says grimly. The irony of the situation isn't lost on Jason, here we are calling ourselves the 'good guys' and we're about to take on the Army of Light.

"Please tell me you have the National Guard surrounding this building?" Holly asks the SWAT officer. "The core is.. not in the basement, but we can shut down all of this stuff," she replies to Jason. "Just don't destroy the memory - we may need it for evidence. Then we need to shut down the building's cryogenics systems. Without that, the Bose-Einstein Condensate nodes will start to evaporate and brake the entanglement links within the core."

Randall nods. "Wyman, let's get these civilians out of here and put somewhere safe. They're from the virtual world, probably programmed but there's no guarantee they won't turn violent. We'll need a strike team for the shutdown operation."

"Without the entanglement nodes, all non-local processes will lose their anchors," Holly mutters. "The Diadem will cut loose from our reality. Maybe. Hopefully."

"Right. Randall, get your coworkers to get me as many different tools as they can collect. I don't know what I'll need to shut down and dismantle everything here, but better safe than sorry," Jason says as he sits back. "Lets just pray for one thing ... that the Army of Light isn't composed of all the game players transformed. Otherwise ... things will have gone from bad to worse."

Randall adds, "Everyone - make sure you have EMF detectors! If it pins the needle, White's opening a portal in the vicinity. In fact, we'd better clear everyone out of here. Go, go, go!"