Avatars LLC, Basement One, Quantum Core Analysis Lab
One of many labs arranged around the spacious white-tiled floor, this lab is walled with sensors and information processing technology on one side, with a large holographic display atop a surrounded by chairs so that scientists can review the results together. Blake Forrester's Q-Core sits atop a disc, toward which a quantum probe points, a weird half-melted-looking piece of equipment with exposed glowy bits. Desks with built-in computers line the other half of the room, strewn with reports and security logs about the time frame in which the Q-Core was erased.

Their tour to Avatars had gone uneventfully, until Jason identified several identical looking technicians. After Inari collared one, they brought her to Chaz in Basement One where they learned that she had come from Tesliem under the direction of the mysterious Jason Dragonhand, and had along with others like her, made various changes to the Avatars complex. There is now doubt about whether HEL is still in charge here, or whether some nefarious AD is responsible for them being locked into the lab, along with the supposed roundup of all Tesliem infiltrators. At last sighting, Chaz had left with 'Ed' to escort Monica to the interrogation facility.

Fortunately, at least, they were able to reclaim their weapons, leaving Jason with his bulletproof vest and police service pistol, Tracy with her short-ranged taser and G-Force tool knife, and Inari with her laser sword. Cadena remains equipped with formidable fangs and keen senses.

For the last fifteen minutes, Jason has been going over the data that "HEL" supplied about the modifications made by the Tesliem infiltrators, with Tracy, Cadena, and Inari looking over his shoulders and conferring about their situation. If the data is accurate - and it appears to be, from what Tracy knows of the Avatars complex - then even though the modifications are widespread, there are three major loci where most of their impact can be undone: the Central Hub where internal communications and security are managed for the Vanirheim building, the Q-Link Conduit which processes the majority of communication with the outside world, and the Satellite Link, an old and outdated satellite dish for emergency use reached through a subterranean tunnel... More importantly, if they want to get out to the ground floor, it's much less likely to be guarded than the elevators and ground floor.

After copying the recovered simulation data from Blake's old Q-Core to some of her vr-chips, Tracy asks very quietly, "Can you do anything to these locations using just RIU, Jason?"

Cadena waves his paw over his holographically-projected e-message interface, which he had been editing and re-editing and deleting in full sight of the others, but never actually finishing. Instead, he just aborts the message and dismisses the interface, which he had been using as an electronic brainstorming pad for the sake of passing notes to his comrades in the hopes of evading being listened in on by the audio pick-ups to the room (normally used to access the intercom system or to contact HEL).

"Okay, so," Jason says as he reclines the all too comfortable faux-leatherclad office chair. "We have to remain calm and take a methodical approach to all of this. We need to deal with the system issues one by one without raising too much suspicion. And yes, Tracy, I can probably work with most of the areas just using RIU. He has built-in tools and I can see through his eyes. Also, hm. Inari, you said you could actually use your old powers here?"

Cadena's ears perk, and he looks attentively toward Inari, as he stands back up on all four paws.

Jason seems to suddenly think of something. He tries to bring up the list of all the people that were 'round ' just before this situation began. Namely, he looks for a list of guards.

RIU sits up on the computer desktop where he's been curled up, and extends his claws. Ka-ching! While they do look sharp, they're also variously shaped so that they could be used as lockpicks and tools.

"There are also the robots," Tracy notes. "They are run by HEL's subsystem AIs. If we could tap into those, we could see what's happening through them couldn't we?"

"Tapping into them is highly unlikely. I did give Holly recommendations on the security systems here, you know," Jason points out.

Cadena says, "Tap into them? We could simply ask, since that seems to be all we have to do to get HEL'S attention in this room."

"And you didn't have any back-doors installed in case you had to take over the building?" Tracy asks in mock surprise.

Inari nods from where she's been studying the simulation data... or perhaps reliving her traumatic days in Test North Bend. "Mostly illusions. I can disguise myself, maybe one other person. It might be more accurate to say I can recharge here, as I could back home." Her eyes flick sideways to Jason. "Well, home in California, at any rate. I wonder if they have a portal running somewhere?"

"The probably do, and I suspect it would be in the lower levels," Jason remarks. "What I could probably do is modify our security badges to make us detect as someone else."

"I'm surprised you can use the Shadow stuff at all anymore," Tracy admits. "Didn't Jason switch you to a Light being?"

"Her flag was changed a long time ago. Back when she had flags, that is. Now she just has other things to fiddle with," Jason remarks vaguely.

The golden vixen smirks, then snaps her fingers. A candle-flame appears over her fingertips. She holds it near Tracy so she can feel the heat. then tosses it to Tracy. "Catch!"

"Even HEL has limits, Cadena," Tracy notes. "I doubt the AD is personally monitoring everything. Just an AI routine that listens for keywords and manages the communication system. I think. If I were in charge, I wouldn't want to be distracted by every little word."

A list of security guards comes up on the terminal where Jason is working. There seem to be six or so guards on this floor, but only two at the nearby security post by the main elevators. There must be some other security posts - one post wouldn't be enough for a building this large.

The flame arcs over Tracy as she dives for cover, and Cadena throws himself after her. It splashes on the floor and evaporates... Leaving not a mark.

"Inari ... if you're done scaring the children ... could you come over here?" Jason requests. He does look amused, but he's trying hard to hide it by forcing a straight face as much as he can, then curling his finger in a 'come here' gesture.

"I see why you and Jason get along so well," Tracy grumbles from under the table.

"I would have been a kitsune if I, well, wasn't born a human in the real world," Jason claims.

The white dog doesn't seem to catch onto the levity, still growling, hackles raised, ready to defend his master from any threat, real or perceived.

The black-jumpsuited golden vixen raises an eyebrow at Cadena. As she gets up from her chair, she explains, "Illusion is born of light as well as shadow. A little light-crafting, a bit of warm breath at just the right time... It's all about misdirection."

Tracy reaches out and pats Cadena on the back. "It's okay, just embarrassing," she explains as she crawls out from under the table, and goes to check the door. "Now, if security is really monitoring everything, I'd expect a robot to show up to see if there was a fire or fight in here."

Inari agrees with Jason, "You'd make a wonderful kitsune. We should arrange it."

Once Inari gets close enough, Jason reaches over and delicately plucks Inari's recently returned security badge from her jumpsuit using just two fingers. "Thank you. Now, lets see about renaming you to .. what? Er, I that's not exactly possible you know."

Cadena's hackles return to normal, and his not-quite-dog-like claws retract. His tail drops a bit, and he has the look of a dog that knows he's been had.

The guard robot clunks by on its patrol route, apparently not interested in the going-ons in the lab.

"RIU, I need you to pop the seal on this badge, please. I'll need direct access to the embedded chip to recode it, given the concerns about the comm lines here," Jason thinks to his little dragon as he holds the card out for it to take.

"Nothing's impossible for you," Inari claims, leaning over Jason with her hands on his shoulders.

RIU beeps! It gives Inari a territorial hiss - my shoulder-perchy-spot! - but obeys its master, extruding a claw and slicing the badge carefully.

"Genetic re-engineering myself is. What you suggest would require a trip back into the VR world, access to it, being inundated with VR molecules, rewriting myself, then rewriting myself back to being real. That isn't something I could probably manage," Jason points out. "Okay, RIU, connect your little claw into the I2C line, please. I need to change the ident on the badge. Patricia, I think. The only female in the list. Tracy will have to settle for being male,/" he thinks to the dragon.

"Miss Inari," Cadena finally says, stepping around the table, while giving Tracy a bit more room, "I regret my inappropriate reaction, but I humbly request that you refrain from any pretense of putting my master in harm's way, even for dramatic effect. Unfortunately, I have some difficulty in separating play-acting from reality."

"We can call the robots to escort us places too, if it's a good enough reason," Tracy says, "like going to the bathroom or getting a snack maybe. I don't know if the bathrooms have bigger ventilation ducts or not though."

RIU pops a different claw and pokes the badge's exposed circuitry! A tiny blue spark pops as it connects.

Inari smiles down at Cadena. "I'll be good, but... You should have seen the look on her face." She giggles.

"Or we can take over the identities of people who have access and explore without escorts," Jason points out. "Now, please .. no distractions, I have to retransmit the codes through my link to RIU, which means I have to read it. It'll be slow ... but should be secure since my link to RIu is a bit ... well, custom." Inari's comment to Cadena causes him to add, "She likes to see surprised looks on people's faces. Trust me on that."

The badge's surface shimmers... Then the name 'INARI' fades slowly. In its place, a new name 'PATRICIA' appears.

"Tracy ... " Jason remarks, "And Cadena. How brave do you feel? If we could get into the VR lab next door and I redirected the VR link into the actual internal network, would you be interested in trying to 'do battle' with any rogue ADs?"

RIU's eyes are still half-lidded as it concentrates on the connection, but this statement elicits a startled 'Eep!'

"I do not understand the concept," Cadena says, wresting his attention from Inari and looking at Jason instead. "However, I shall do my best to be of assistance, if you believe it within my capability."

"And bingo, new name," Jason says, victorious. He takes the badge from RIU and reaches backward to stick it to Inari's chest. Of course it's only afterward he realizes where and how his hand landed. "Sorry!" he says quickly and pulls his hand back. Trying to recover, he explains, "What I mean is, attacking the compromised system from the inside and outside. If you could keep it busy on the inside, it's less likely to notice me messing with the hard links and removing the secondary comm channels they installed."

"I confess that I have no training or talent in the areas of computer usage beyond basic familiarity with the most 'user-friendly' of interfaces," Cadena says. "I have no ability at more involved computer usage, such as 'hacking.'"

"Oh, so.. be distracting?" Tracy asks, and looks to Cadena before looking back to Jason. "Yeah, I can probably do that."

"I should also note," Cadena says, "that I would have considerable difficulty in resolving any apparent contradictions in prioritization of orders that pit my requirement to obey my master versus my obligation to protect Avatars LLC property and personnel in general."

Inari smirks at RIU, then adjusts her badge. "So, I'm Patricia, security guard, what are you doing and do you have a license for that, mister?"

"We have basically three options I see. One is getting to the ground floor and removing the modifications to the central hub. That should ensure HEL is well, HEL. There is also the matter of the Q-Link itself. That's some pretty nebulous tech, but if it could be fixed, we could probably connect to the outside world. There is also the old satellite link. From a safety standpoint, going through the network in a VR situation would be safer than wandering through this building. And even in this situation you have issues with dealing with the matter at hand, Cadena? If that's the case Tracy may be required to tazer you and lock you in a closet. We aren't going to be playing like Happy Princess Perfect angels in here. It's likely going to get ugly."

"To be blunt about it, you have to come to grips with the reality that Avatars as you know it is currently on old. We're in hostile territory right now. This isn't Avatar's, this is a base in preparation for invasion," Jason points out.

Inari asks, "How exactly is it safer to go through a VR universe controlled by an AD with delusions of godhood than through a building where we might be able to talk or sneak by any security checkpoints on the way?"

"The bullets aren't real, and neither are their delusions," Tracy replies with a grin.

"On a logical level," Cadena says, "I am aware of this. I regret that I am incapable of fully explaining the nature of, for lack of a better term, the inner workings of my mind to you. I am merely attempting to warn you of an area of uncertainty, in which I cannot predict my course of behavior under hypothetical circumstances. I can, however, make it clear that I will take any measure necessary to make it sure that I do not pose a threat to Tracy, even if it requires disabling or destroying myself in the process."

"You can disconnect from VR. You can't disconnect from a bullet in your heart," Jason explains.

"I order you to give me plenty of warning if you think you'll have to resort to one of those tactics, Cadena," Tracy tells the dog.

Cadena nods. "Certainly. I assure you that such a course of action would only be as a last resort, and that if I felt it was an issue, I would alert you at the soonest opportunity."

Inari looks dubious. "So, you want to have Tracy and Cadena run a distraction for you in VR while we take out the modifications in the real world?"

"Anyway, my suggestion is this. I'll send RIU through the ducts down to ground and try to fix the central hub. That ought to ensure the HEL we deal with is the real one. Now, Inari should be able to get through some security doors with the changes to her badge. As much as I hate it, I think she'll have to go out and be one of our covert agents in determining what else may be going on. Sorry, Inari. I don't want to put you at risk ... but I don't see other options. Tracy also have some skill at sneaking about, so she could do similar. The VR suggestion is just one of many options once we know more. It may be that it won't be required. I can't say until I see the hub. Well, RIU sees it and I see it through him," Jason tries to explain. "Frankly I don't want to risk any of you, but I can't do all of this myself."

"I understand, Mr. Edwards," Cadena says. "I do not think your suggestions sound unreasonable, particularly given the nature of the threats you have identified."

"I've been missing a chance to do something real," Inari assures Jason. She raises one hand to show Jason her bracelet, a black fox chasing a gold fox endlessly, Ouroboros-style. "Just download the maps and where you want me to go to my PDA."

"For a VR infiltration, we just need to go.. uh, down the hall a little bit," Tracy tells Cadena.

Seeing Inari and Jason getting back to work on the plan, Cadena clambers back up into the chair next to Tracy. In a lower voice, he says to her, "What is it we're looking at, here?" He turns to gesture with his nose toward the holographic display. "Everyone seemed to be alarmed at this just a bit ago, but I'm not quite sure what it is. Does this have to do with our current situation?"

"You've done plenty that has been real since you arrived. Just promise me you won't get yourself killed. I wouldn't have much reason to explore actually becoming kitsune if you were dead," Jason adds quietly to Inari as he carefully removes Inari's PDA so he can upload some data to it. "I think I want you to sneak to the lower levels," he explains, "And look for possible portals. You can probably feel them, given what you are. Just find them if they exist, do not go through them. We'll need to collapse them."

"It looks like an early simulation of the Zeus ionic weather control system," Tracy explains. "Except the cathedral of shadow is still in it. So, to me, that means the system is really about doing something with shadow-portal energy. I'll have to analyze the patterns of the 'weather vanes' though. Then, matching that pattern against the real-world system should let us find any likely portal areas that it's meant to amplify or propagate. See, if you could broadcast the shadow energy all over the place, then an invasion force from the Empire of Stars could operate anywhere.."

RIU curls proprietarily around Jason's shoulders while he fiddles with Inari's bracelet-PDA.

Cadena looks confused, whispering back to Tracy, "What is the Cathedral of Shadow? And does the Empire of Stars depend upon Shadow energy? I thought they used ... uhm ... I'm not sure what it's called, but from what RIU showed me ... the 'red stuff.'"

"Well, shadow creatures depend on it," Tracy says, and points to the cathedral in the simulation. "This was an inflatable castle originally. Blake's simulated North Bend would be periodically invaded by shadow creatures from the Diadem because portals would open at night, or in dark places. So when Jason and my mom were trapped in there, they figured where a portal was going to open and then inflated the castle around it to ensure it stayed open, I think. It turned into that, because.. uh.. that's what it used to look like on the other side or something. Anyway, it's still there in the simulation. So.. must be a reason, right?"

Inari grimaces. "So, first order of business for me, figure out how to into the secret levels. Hm." She looks over the building map, but says distractedly as Cadena speaks, "'Quintessence'. It's extracted from those giant creatures that live way down in the Dark, they look like whales but apparently they store up power in their bodies or something. You don't want to see their 'extraction plants.'"

"In theory then, they could open these portals all over the place, use the Zeus system to spread the energy around and then drive hordes of monsters through to wreck havoc on the world. Then maybe come through with their army and 'restore order' to a broken world," Tracy guesses.

"Well ... my suggestion is to climb down the elevator shafts. They likely extend all the way down to any secret levels," Jason suggests as he finishes uploading maps. "The risk there being ... well, squashed by the elevator."

Inari frowns. "That seems a bit vaudeville. It might play on a kiddie show but really, 'swarms of monsters'? I'll put my money on the side with the modern weapons."

"Aha," Cadena says, nodding. "This Shadow Cathedral ... oh. Wait. Is this what popped up when Officer Cranston did something with the nanotech quick-assembly foam assembly unit? Or, that is, the play Halloween castle that was put up in the simulation town that your mother and her friends escaped from?"

The golden vixen reclaims her PDA and switches it on, causing the fox eyes to light up. A tiny scale model of the building appears. "Got it. We should arrange a code so we'll know if a message is from us, or from an imitation."

"I think she means the simulated town. Though I suppose she may also be drinking," Jason remarks in respose to Tracy's theories. "And yes, I agree we need a code. Hm."

Cadena looks impressed. "That looks MUCH better than any model I've seen before. What brand was that, do you happen to know? It's amazing what can be done with quick-foam assembly these days."

"Are you planning a Halloween party that you need an instant haunted castle for?" Tracy asks Cadena, and sticks her tongue out at Jason over the drinking remark. "If this whole thing is being orchestrated by your younger double, Jason, then you should have a better idea of his goals, right?"

"Basically, I think he wants to prove he's better than I am. Simple as that," Jason notes. "Now, RIU, are you up for some duct crawling?"

"Yes, you," Jason tells the little dragon and even pokes him. "I need you to sneak to the ground floor and find the central hub. We have to fix the comm lines there."

"Beep!" The tiny Chinese dragon stands to attention - still on Jason's shoulders. It looks all ready to set out!

"So.. he's trying to conquer the world just so he can beat you trying to stop him?" Tracy asks.

"Now, do we want to ask the guard to be moved to next door?" Jason asks the others. Inari could sneak out during that..." Jason suggests. "And yes, something like that. I helped save the world, so he wants to destroy it."

"We can try," Tracy says. "If the robot doesn't allow it, I've got the lock ready to be overridden. So.. uh.. I could break into the VR lab while they're chasing Inari around," Tracy notes.

"If we want to get into the VR lab," Cadena says, "we could simply ask to be moved there for my diagnostic. Right?"

Inari observes, "If the Convergence had happened, it would have overlaid the real world with the virtual world... Creating a universe ruled over by the benevolent WHITE, I suppose. WHITE would have loved to lord it over all Creation, dispensing treats to all its precious little heroes and champions. Maybe your double wants to do the same, but everyone would be under his control?" she suggests to Jason. "He always seemed pretty possessive."

Cadena whispers over to Tracy, "I'm sorry, I think I missed this part. His double is possessive? Did he have to fight his twin? Was his twin a champion of the Light somehow?"

"Well, I don't want her being chased around," Jason claims as he gets up and carries RIU over to the duct access. "You're suggesting he wants to become a God?" he asks, looking back to Inari. "I suppose that is possible. He isn't really me, so it's all guessing. As much as I would like to be able to know what he's thinking, I don't. So far it just seems like he's doing everything I would not."

Tracy tells Cadena, "No, everything his twin has done was after the Convergence was.. foiled?"

"And he calls himself Brian Montagne now, and tried to marry Inari," the girl adds. "So maybe this is all because she jilted him?"

"Oh," Cadena says, nodding. "All right." He blinks. "This other Jason doesn't have his own RIU, does he? Or ..." He glances askance toward Inari, cutting himself off. "Hmm."

"No, he doesn't to my knowledge. He just has a similar implant since his creation date was the same as my brain butchering date," Jason says.

"It was all about him," Inari recollects bitterly. "I'd be living in his house, having his kids, my singing would accentuate his movies... So yes, if he could be a god, he would. But he'll never be my god."

"Because I'm already your god?" Jason asks, then holds up his hands quickly! "Kidding!"

"Interesting," Tracy says. "He seems so opposite of Jason. I wonder if he's still single?"

Cadena looks to Jason, realizing he's been talking more loudly than he thought. "Ah ... if he has the same implant that you do ... mightn't he be able to communicate with RIU, then? Or does it not work that way?"

"Our link isn't entirely technological, so probably not. Plus I've made changes to mine. It's not the same as it used to be. I removed my kill switch, for example," Jason explains.

"And the other Jason is just an idiot if he thought it was all about him. It's about the other person when you care about them. You don't demand and you don't force," Jason points out.

"If the other Jason is self-centered, I would imagine disabling a kill switch would be his first priority," Cadena observes.

"I doubt he would be dumb enough to leave that active," Jason notes, "And to use it we would have to have access to Dantech anyway."

Jason thinks for a moment. He looks at Inari and offers, "Okay, for a code ... how about yesterday's date? He proceeds to recite it in MMDDYYYY shorthand.

Cadena rests his chin on his paws while gazing into the holographic display, looking a bit melancholy, though his brow occasionally furrows as if he's working over some sort of puzzle.

"That ... hm. Good question!" Jason admits. He lifts RIU off his shoulder and sets him near the duct. "Lets see what's in the closet. This is a quantum research lab. I bet I could use some sort of structural resonance of the building itself to act as a virtual network for our devices. It would be a matter of fitting them with adapters that are tuned to the nascent energy levels of the building structure. We just simply ... twiddle them a bit when we want to talk. Like old morse code only, well, not."

"You could remove the entanglement nodes from the old Q-Core," Tracy suggests. "We'd only have to carry around a few liters of liquid nitrogen each.."

RIU chirps! Then scurries into the ventilation duct and over to the nearby closet. Screwdriver claw hums, and the grill pops off.

"That sounds suspiciously like banging on pipes with wrenches," Tracy points out.

"Not until after lunchtime, true," Tracy says, and looks out the door window for the patrol-bot again. Really, someone should figure out its timing.

Jason has now stuck his head in the closet to see just what is available to work with. "Hey, duct tape!" he declares, "That's a staple."

"Cadena, do you know Morse code?" Tracy asks her dog while using the stopwatch feature of her bracer to time the robot patrols.

Cadena's ear flicks and twitches, as he continues gazing into the holographic display. His tail droops to dangle off the side of the chair. He shows no sign of hearing Tracy.

Inari peers at the display. "This old place can't be that interesting, can it, Caddie? You can't even make out the IHOF where we used to have breakfast all the time."

"Hey, look an old EMF detector. I could use that to just pick up changes in the building's structural fields. That should work. And hah, quaint, a transistor radio. Inductors, chokes ... an old pizza oven? Oookay," Jason counts off. "A hair drier? Why? Hm, probably better to not know. An old pair of Mr. HapptPants (tm) virtual pants for simulations ... er, don't need that. An edition of the Tracer Avatar's action figure? Yep, she still looks glooomy."

"They made an action figure?" Tracy gasps, after she gets the patrol timing down. "If I'm getting royalties, Mom must be socking them away and not telling me.."

"Yes, they did. With gravity-defining chest, even," Jason remarks as he pulls out a handful of junk and carts it back to the table to work. "Give me a few minutes to rig up a cheap network for our PDAs. Also, your dog looks stoned, Tracy. You might want to look into that..."

"What?" Tracy asks, and turns to Cadena and his strange contemplation of the hologram. "Cadena? What's wrong?" she asks, and tries scratching him behind the ears.

Cadena suddenly shivers and flinches. "Forgive me," he says, shaking himself out.

"What happened?" Tracy asks with a concerned tone. "Are you feeling sick? Did you get a holo-virus?"

RIU settles back in on Jason's shoulder and watches him work on the 'banging on pipes with quantum wrenches' system.

"The BLACK is strong here," Cadena says, with a hint of an unfamiliar accent that's hard to place. "The new WHITE does not know."

"Maybe you should tazer him after all, Tracy," Jason suggests without looking up from his work. "The closet has a simple lock on it."

"Shhh, this could be important!" Tracy says. "He maybe was contacted like this in the Gloaming. And the new White.. is.. uh, the AD in the servers, I suppose.."

Cadena blinks suddenly. "There is insufficient context for processing this information," he says, returning to his normal voice.

Inari looks up from trying to find whatever it was that was fascinating Cadena in the display, worry playing on her vulpine features. She remembers the WHITE very well. "A new WHITE? ... I suppose what we did kind of messed up the old one."

"Screw context, just repeat, verbatim, what you heard or saw. Let us analyse it," Jason suggests. He still doesn't look up.

Cadena blinks at Jason, opens his mouth as if to reply, then looks over to Tracy, ears perked inquisitively.

"As you wish, master," Cadena says to Tracy. "First, for purposes of granting proper context, I must provide you with additional information, as current conditions would seem to justify it, as per my most recent communications with Vice President Burgundy. I am required to receive acknowledgement from all persons present that this information is given in strict confidence. Sharing of this information with outside parties would constitute a breach of confidentiality, as detailed under..." He begins to rattle off what sounds like a painful amount of legalese, with language indicative of a non-disclosure agreement.

"The only person I could tell is my mom, and she's got clearance," Tracy notes. "So I agree. I've already signed like, 50 NDAs.."

"She didn't get a dog, she got a lawyer," Jason grumbles to himself. There's a crackle of electricity, then Jason is shaking his hand. "Ow. Stupid capacitor," he complains.

Inari rests one hand on her laser sword hilt. "Can we cut through all the red tape?"

"Mrs. Trudeau, Vice President of Security of Avatars LLC, is already aware of this confidential information," Cadena says. "I require acknowledgement from all sapient parties in the room. Mr. Edwards may answer on behalf of RIU, as per..." and then he launches into some more legalese.

"Yeah, get on with it, I don't kiss and tell," Inari says. Her eyes slide toward Jason.

"That information is confidential and requires," Jason remarks dryly and repeated a very mangled version of Cadena's disclaimer.

"I have interpreted your responses as consent to the terms of this non-disclosure agreement," Cadena says, and then he closes his eyes, squinting, takes a deep breath, and opens them again. "I regret to inform you that some of the information I have given you previously was false. I am an artificial construct, but my means of manufacture was not as previously explained. I was originally created as a byproduct of the Fracture event. To my knowledge, however, I am not the same sort of entity as Miss Inari or as Miss Summers. I just now received communication from my original creator."

"I do not know how to answer either of those questions in a meaningful manner," Cadena says. "In the traditional sense, no, I am not an Avatar. I am not connected to a Link, I do not have supernatural powers, I cannot be summoned or dismissed magically, I do not derive nourishment from the Light, and I am a mortal, biological entity, although of artificial origin."

"But.. you were created with the 'upgrade' trick like.. like the Tesliem agents?" Tracy asks. "Avatars perfected the technology?"

Inari says sotto voce to Jason, "Obviously they fused a dog with a lawyer. Must have been worried about lawsuits."

"I regret," Cadena says, "that I have been unable to ascertain the true nature of my creation. I have received only sporadic inputs from my creator, in a form that I previously interpreted as neural glitches due to instability in my personality. This most recent communication, however, has given me a greater framework of context to work from. I assure you, however, that my loyalty still lies with the Avatars corporation, and my primary priority is to see after the safety of Miss Tracy Trudeau, at the bequest of Mrs. Holly Trudeau. Also, although part of my mental conditioning has required that I memorize certain legal documents to serve as directives for my behavior, I am not accredited as a lawyer, and my advice on legal matters is in no way endorsed by Avatars LLC."

Tracy waves her hand in a 'get on with it' motion. "But who is your creator and what did they just tell you?" she prompts.

"I apologize for the delay in answering your original question," Cadena says at last. "In my 'dream,' I witnessed an entity that self-identified as a fragment of the AI formerly identified as the WHITE. I have received prior directions from this entity to please gather information to find out where the WHITE went wrong in its attempts to carry out its directives, and was manipulated into behaving in a manner that would be interpreted by sapient, free-willed beings as 'evil.' This entity self-identified by the new label of 'SPARK,' to differentiate itself from the current WHITE entity that has replaced it."

Cadena looks to Inari. "I was not formed with a fully cohesive or stable sense of identity. From a certain point of view, it is very crowded inside my head. This is my most stable personality, for lack of a better term. I apologize for any annoyance caused by my lack of brevity. I am simply attempting to be thorough."

"So, you mean the original WHITE, right?" Tracy asks, and looks around. "The one Jason and Inari dealt with? Who.. uh.. supposedly is still out there running a new reality or something."

"I have received insufficient information on that point," Cadena says, turning to Tracy. "I am under the impression that the SPARK has been displaced from a position of management of systems, replaced by the current WHITE entity that is currently responsible for running the artificial environment known as the Diadem."

"I do not know SPARK'S current location in any meaningful sense," Cadena adds. "When Inari began to speak about the WHITE not long ago, I sensed the presence of this entity, despite being awake, and attempted to make contact. Briefly, I succeeded, and received a warning. I regret that I was unable to clarify the warning further. I know only that an entity, self-identified as the BLACK, which may or may not be the same as the BLACK AD in charge of managing challenges in the Diadem simulation, is diametrically opposed to the WHITE, in such a way that the SPARK has insinuated is outside of its normal intended role, and in such a way that might be at odds with our continued existence."

"Is anyone else getting a headache? All I cam gleaning from this is Cadena may not be entirely trustworthy, as there is no guarantee that another personality might supplant the current one," Jason says worriedly. "Or that his 'creator' may be benevolent in any sense of the word."

Inari frowns. "From what Holly said, WHITE and BLACK are the ADs that run the game. One challenges players, the other helps them. Without one, the other runs haywire. So when we wiped out WHITE, I guess they had to bring up a new one."

"Regardless of my current personality," Cadena says, "I am still required to obey and protect the Trudeau family, and to honor my obligations to Avatars LLC."

"Until one of those personalities in your head over-rides that," Jason points out. "Nothing you have said so far provides any sort of ironclad proof that those directives supercede anything else."

"I regret that I cannot conceive of a way to prove the veracity of my assertion, other than to give you my word," Cadena says.

"I should also point out a worrying conclusion from what you've said. If BLACK is the original one, but WHITE is new, then BLACK has a decided upper hand. More experience and knowledge, particularly about the Diadem as well as this world," Jason tells the others.

"Set aside the paranoia for a minute, Jason," Tracy says. "The SPARK must be active in the virtual system somewhere, and my mother already knows this and hasn't sounded an alarm, so she must trust Cadena."

"I would refer questions to Mrs. Trudeau," Cadena says, "but unfortunately we are out of communication with her at the moment, and I believe she may still be asleep."

"Then I suppose that this information and the fact it changes my original analysis of the data I extracted from Cadena's neurolink, in so much as the secondary feeds may be a fragment of an AD actually running in Cadena's brain isn't important either," Jason remarks dryly.

"Nevermind the paranoid guy, I'll just go back to building a comm link," Jason says, rolls his eyes, and goes back to exactly that.

"I didn't say it wasn't important, just that Cadena is trusted by others who already know the situation," Tracy points out.

"I can neither confirm nor deny that theory regarding the secondary data stream you detected," Cadena says. "I can only say that I do not know, and the fact that I do not know is a source of frustration for me, since I believe that lack of context interferes with my ability to effectively carry out my duties."

Inari says skeptically, "So, you're saying you have a bit of the old WHITE in your head, and it just warned you that BLACK is out to get us?"

Jason sets his tools down. "There. I need everyone's PDAs for a minute to hook this up," he says. "Then we can go about actually dealing with the situation."

"Lacking further information upon which to clarify the situation," Cadena says, "that is how I would interpret the warning, yes, Miss Inari, even though I do not understand BLACK's motivation."

"I'm not banking on it being BLACK quite yet. We made the same mistake once before and it turned out to be WHITE out to get us," Jason points out.

Inari does likewise with her Twin Foxes PDA. "Does it matter? If it thinks with electrons instead of neurons, it seems like it's out to get us."

Cadena says, "For the sake of discussion, since we cannot be certain whether this BLACK is indeed the same BLACK as the AD currently handling challenges in the Diadem simulation, I would propose that we come up with a temporary alternative label by which to identify this entity."

"So, by my count, we've got Sasha, the General, Jason Zero and the BLACK to contend with," Tracy says. "Personally, I haven't seen convincing evidence yet to tie Sasha in with the rest. The General and Jason Zero are working with the Empire of Stars. The BLACK may or may not be supporting them, or they may be using the AD instead. No idea what agency, if any, has taken over the security AD here. Is that about it, or am I missing something? I can't guess at whether Dantech or Voya have any real interests outside of their own business. No idea yet who is behind the Zeus project."

Jason pries open one of the access ports and plugs in a rather ugly-looking blob of wires twisted around an iron torus and a small quickly-built circuit board. "There, you can now use EMF resonance to communicate with everyone. The protocol is simple and we're probably limited to text and some broken voice, but it should work," he says. He tosses the Crystal PDA back to Tracy then gets to work on Inari's next. Inari's mod-chip seems less 'ugly' than Tracy's, but that could just be the lighting. "Yes, that's about the sum of it, Tracy," Jason agrees.

"By the way, as point of clarification," Cadena says, "I cannot be certain that the entity I have referred to as the BLACK is indeed bent upon killing us, per se. I just have reason to believe that its priorities may be sufficiently at odds with ours as to put us in grave danger. I hope that, if I can gain more insight into this entity's objectives, I can gain a better understanding of the threat posed."

"I hope that we find enough dynamite that we can just blow it up and be done with it," Jason remarks as he hands Inari back her PDA too. "Your collar is next, Cadena," he says.

Inari combs her tail out as Jason works on her PDA. "To keep things short, let's call the enemy 'THEM'. Or 'NEMESIS'. Or 'LEGION'. Calling it 'the entity formerly known as BLACK' is just going to irritate the heck out of me."

Cadena looks to Tracy for confirmation, then trots up to within Jason's reach, raising his chin to provide easier access to the collar.

"NEMESIS sounds like an appropriate label," Cadena says. "Unless instructed otherwise, I will use that term to identify this theoretical entity for the time being."

Jason pops open the front of Cadena's collar and plugs in a brick of wires and fiddly bits. The fact the wires seem to spell out 'PUPPY' is probably a coincidence. For himself he just sits an ugly bundle of wires around his head like some sort of demented tiara. "I would call it ORB because it's shorter and stands for Our Black, but that's me," he remarks.

Cadena blinks suddenly, and looks askance at Tracy (or tries to), though he keeps his head motionless.

"NEMESIS does fit though, in a sort of detached 'just happens to knock space boulders our way' manner," Tracy admits.

Inari switches on her comm, and fiddles with it. "Testing. Sibilance. Sibilance," she says, and her voice echoes from Tracy's comm, a bit scratchily.

"Do we summon the security bot, or just sneak out between it's patrols?" Tracy asks. "I've got them timed.."

"We can ask the bot, or sneak out. I don't care either way. Opinions?" Jason asks.

"Sure. at least that way no alarm would sound if we're suddenly not in this lab," Jason agrees.

Tracy triggers the door intercom, and says, "Hello, we need a security escort to the VR lab."

Inari tilts her ears looking at Jason, then snares him for a dip-smooch. "I'm off to look for secret basements where NEMESIS could be hiding. I'll give you a ring if I find something. You... Be careful, all right?"

Cadena, seeing he's no longer needed for the work, discreetly trots away from Inari's and Jason's private moment, back toward Tracy.

That leaves Jason blinking and looking bewildered. "Wait, what? Me be careful? You're the one going into the belly of the beast, so to speak," he stammers out. "You need to be even more careful."

"Me? I've been to Cauchemarem and back, I know how to survive," Inari says with a laugh as she flicks her tail and heads toward the door... Which slides open as the security robot approaches. "Top o' the day to you, Constable Patricia," it says in a British accent as she brushes by. "How may I help you all, citizens?"

"My friend, Tracy, is a VR addict. Since we're stuck in this building for the time being, could we go over to the VR lab next door," Jason clarifies for the bot. "She wants something to do."

"Ah, for the wee puppy's checkup? Righty-o then!" The blue-and-gold armored robot steps aside, 'holding the door' for them.

Cadena dips his head respectfully to the robot, then leads the way out of the room, cautiously checking both ways, up down, and across in the hallway for any waiting ambushes.

Jason thinks, "RIU, into the duct, head for ground floor, central hub." He then saunters towards the door to head to the VR lab.

The robot tilts its head toward Jason at his assertion. "VR addiction, aye? Sad, very sad. You'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than VR," it says cheerily. "But never fear, we'll have things sorted out by end of day!" It clanks along, escorting them toward the lab with a salute for the nearby human security officer - 'Mack', judging from his badge.

RIU beeps by radio - that is to say, inaudibly, from Cadena and Tracy's point of view. It slinks up into the duct.

Cadena cheerily wags his tail, sniffing in a friendly manner at the passing human.

Jason gives the guard a rather sloppy salute. He'd love to try and figure out if the guard is another plant, but has nothing to compare him to, nor the time. "I hope we don't die," he remarks quietly to Tracy while maintaining a stupid-looking grin.

Mack glances up, but seeing that they're being escorted by the robot, merely waves to them before resuming his scan of the security monitors. He's behind one of the two glassy walls of the security post, which guards access to the elevators down the hall past him.

The guard robot stops by the big glass doors leading to the Neural Interface Lab. From out here, there's a big holographic display which presumably would show whatever simulation is in effect, several sofas for the comfort of waiting personnel, and two L-shaped desks for the scientists running a simulation. Beyond that is a large medbay-like enclosure with four chairs, each of which is surrounded by all sorts of scanners.

"Thanks, we'll call again if we need anything!" Tracy tells the robot.. and lets Cadena enter first, just in case.

"You don't worry enough," Jason tells Tracy. To the robot he asks, "What if we don't want to enjoy ourselves and be miserable? Is there a box of thumbtacks in there we can poke ourselves with?"

The robot tilts its head with apparent surprise, though its face is not articulated to allow for more complex expressions. "Well, sir, I can nip off to suppies and get you a wee pack o' tacks if that's what ye be wanting."

Cadena sniffs around the lab, poking around, listening and looking like usual, only wagging his tail once he's reasonably certain there's nothing in a position to immediately leap out and cause his master harm.

"Ah, no, that is unnecessary," Jason relents. "Not quite the reply I expected," he thinks, "But then nothing really makes sense right now."

"Strawberry soy-pop for the lady then," the security robot says. "Will there be anything else, sir?"

Cadena trots a little more urgently into the room, perhaps as if he's trying not to appear to be associated with Jason.

"I'll forward your request, sir. Oh, coffee! Of course." The robot nods to Tracy and turns about as if to go fetch the requested refreshments.

"What?" Jason asks Tracy as he heads into the lab. "I was testing its response programming."

"You were teasing it," Tracy claims. "We aren't here to play with the robots. We're here to mess with brains and stuff."

The doors of the Neural Interface Lab slide shut behind Jason as he steps in. Ka-CLICK.

"Testing it," Jason re-iterates, "Also, I think your dog hates me." So, stuck for now he heads to the collection of neural interfaces and peers at it. He also does a quick ping-check to see if RIU is having any issues in the ducts.

Tracy goes to one of the big workstations, sits down, and takes out her chip-wallet. "Let's see.. Twist-World should give us plenty of cover," she says, as she selects a chip and slots it into the workstation.

Lights flicker. The main holographic display comes to life, showing a bird's eyeview of the simulation world.

"What is this Twist-World?" Cadena asks. He props his forward paws up onto the edge of the holo display's work area, as he leans in for a better look.

"You know what I would love, I would love to talk to my counterpart. Actually, I would like to shoot him, but talking is usually part of the first date. Shooting is third or forth," Jason remarks as he goes to see this Twist-World.

Tracy pans outwards, to get an exterior view. From that vantage, the world appears as a long tube, with several glowing entry (or exit) points that can connect to other simulations. "It's my class project," she explains. "I never had enough processing power to make it work correctly before. It's basically a jungle full of Mayan ruins set on the inner surface of a space habitat, so it's rotating to simulate gravity. The physics of that are pretty complicated when it comes to moving around, since it's also a parkour course. But it's made to link up to other simulations, so, if we can link it to different security feeds, we can try to access them from inside the simulation."

"Ah," Cadena says, not quite looking as if he's fully up to speed on things yet. "Will we be using assigned forms in this environment? I don't think I have one defined for this ... universe."

Jason rocks back and forth a bit as he peers at the display. His expression, though, is a bit distant, as if he's not really looking at it.

"It uses human-default avatars," Tracy says. "I didn't create any special ones. I might be able to pull up a White Cadena though if they have one in the open simulation database here.."

"Confirmed, the doubles are still active," Jason remarks a bit absently. "One of the guards active has been identified as a duplicate."

The white dog looks to Tracy. "A human-default avatar should be okay," Cadena says, "but I think you will need to explain to me my role, since I do not have a personality framework developed to associate with a human virtual form. My displayed personality may be impacted by my apparent form and environment. Of course, when in doubt, simply remind me of my objectives if I seem to be distracted or disoriented. I will still follow any direct orders from you."

"Role? Well, just.. navigate the environment," Tracy says, then looks to Jason. "All of the duplicates? Jason, can you get me a feed to the detention area monitors? I'd really like to know where Mark and his gang are right now.. and Mike Dexter."

"What? Oh, detention area? I can try," Jason says and heads over to one of the panels to see if he can get it to bring up the requested location. "I also assume you do not want me to dive in with you. I don't think I can, anyway. I'm going to have to effectively dive into RIU soon enough and start messing with the shunts on the hub."

Cadena says, "I am not quite clear on what we're trying to achieve here. What are my primary instructions to follow while I am in the simulation, in case I am separated from you and unable to communicate with you?"

"Well, assuming we can get the security links connected, the goal is to hit them and set off the intrusion alarms," Tracy says. "If the system sends tracer agents, they'll be caught in the simulation world where we have the advantage."

"Anyone that isn't me or you is a security avatar," Tracy points out. "Lead them on a chase. We want to keep them tied up and focusing their attention on us."

Beep! Red lines of text appear. "Access to that function has been suspended until the current crisis has been--" As Jason taps away, the text disappears. "Access granted, Vice President Trudeau."

"Excuse me while I adjust my bra," Jason remarks to the monitor, then pantomimes doing just that. "Now ... lets find Mike ... then Tracy's old snogfest."

The monitor splits into several frames showing the situation in the security level. It looks like pandemonium, with about a thousand people all squeezed into a floor that should hold about five hundred. Mike Dexter, and Mark Berkowitz and his buddies might be in there but if so, it's hard to tell with all the people yelling about 'Something's wrong with security' and 'Let us out of here, we have work to do'.

"The situation is perfectly under control, guv'nor," a constable droid assures them. "We'll have things all fixed up by end of day, and then you'll be free to go. May I take your lunch orders?"

Clank clank clank. A security robot trundles up to the entrance of the Neural Interface Lab.

"Hmmm." Tracy watches the feeds, and then tries to access a map of the guard stations. "I think our drinks are here.." she comments.

"Well, looks like they've move all real employees down to that level, lovely. Oop, Bobby McRobot is back, time to turn the panel off," Jason remarks, activating the 'screen saver' so he doesn't spot that they're spying on the lower level.

The holographic display pans over miles of dense jungles, through which old crumbling stones poke here and there.

The doors slide open. 'Bobby McRobot' steps in with a tray with the requested strawberry soy-pop (in a plastic bottle with a convenient straw-top to make it spillproof) and a similarly packaged thermos of coffee. "Your drinks, sir and ma'am." it says in that overly fruity British accent.

"Did the coffee attack you while it was being poured?" Jason asks, "Proper coffee should be aggressive. It should slap you so hard your mother will feel it." Maybe Jason is trying to convince the system he's just a babbling idiot.

"Indeed, sir, it gave me a right good tussle, but I gave it a piece of my mind, I'll let you know, and in no time at all I had it wrestled into this bottle for yer drinking pleasure," the constable agrees. He trundles over to serve Tracy her strawberry soy-pop.

"Drat, I must have used that line on Holly once," Jason mutters to himself. Still, he collects the thermos. Coffee is not a thing to waste!

"Thank you, officer," Tracy says as she accepts the drink. "There aren't any hooligans roaming the halls are there?"

"Hooligans! I should say not, miss but I'd be telling a lie. Never you fear, our biggest and best are on the case," the robot assures Tracy. "If they durst act up, I daresay that they'll receive a right trouncing. Call me if you need me, I'll be right outside!" It retracts the tray and heads toward the door.

"The Ganglot twins must be shorting out," Tracy notes. "The robots sound more like NPC guards from the Diadem. But.. that was the GRAY's area of control, I think. HEL did claim there were extra robots online, so might have used GRAY as a third controller.."

"Well, let us know when we can leave," Jason tells the robot as it heads out of the lab. He also decides to give the coffee a try. "Weak," he concludes after a sample. "It should be thicker. Now, back to what we were doing. I need to focus a bit, RIU is under the floor in the hub. We're about to kick the first shunt..."

"Show me how to link up the triggers for the fire and intrusion alarms, and I will keep the system distracted," Tracy says.

Cadena does a quick check around the room, taking inventory of places to take cover in case of emergency, et cetera.

"Right. Lets get you annoying the system before I have RIU start working," Jason agrees as he heads over to help Tracy link up her simulation to various intrusion alarms nested throughout the building. "Lets see if we can remote-trigger these. Hm."

As she asks, Tracy tries to bring up the VR interface system for Ratatosk. "So long as we trigger them from within the sim, the system shouldn't be able to pinpoint the lab. We just have to keep ahead of the giant squirrels."

Cadena's ears perk at that. "These 'tracers' will take on the form of giant squirrels?"

"Well, I'm assuming," Tracy admits. "The could be eagles or dragons too. Or something worse."

The front half of the room has windows to the north and east side corridors, with posters on the south wall advertising Avatars settings. It appears that the only entrance, apart from the ventilation duct (not large enough for a human) is the sliding doors at the front. A fire extinguisher hangs just inside the door. The back half of the room has no such windows.

"You need to be careful, you know. This isn't quite a game. Most security systems nowadays will try to overload your synapses if you get caught. Some will try to effectively trigger a lobotomy. If you look like you're going to get caught I'll be cutting your VR links immediately. It'll probably make you feel disoriented and sick, but ... well, better that than brain dead," Jason tells Tracy. "don't take stu .. I mean, don't take unnecessary risks, okay?"

The sofas on the wall are plastic-framed affairs, with comfy cushions. If need be, they could be pulled out to form a makeshift barricade. The holodisplay in the center is a fixed installation.

"We'll need to use the neural interfaces," Tracy notes, and looks a little worried. "I don't know what safeguards those have or lack.."

Several buttons on a pad next to the door allow the lights to be dimmed or raised in both half of the room... And then there's another button marked 'WINDOWS'.

"That's what I mean. I am assuming the systems here are red-class, which means they will employ lethal force," Jason says, "So just ... I don't want you hurt, okay?" He pokes at tome of the screens, seemingly flustered.

Tracy makes some adjustments to the simulation, then says, "Cadena, I've added an emergency eject sequence to the sim. If it looks like you're about to get caught, just say 'Railway Track Solvent' out loud."

"Unlikely to come up in casual conversation, you have to admit," Tracy replies with a shrug.

The holographic display dims slightly as Jason fiddles with the security links, then brightens again.

The white dog then accesses the window controls, adjusting the opacity of the windows for privacy.

"Okay, time to stick our heads into scary machines and cause some mayhem," Tracy tells Cadena with a grin.

"So is Explosive Alien Knockers," Jason remarks. "Now, you're sure you want to do this? I can tell you that Hecate is a nasty AD, and that was just from being near its processing."

"But we don't know that this is Hecate, NEMESIS or Santa Claus yet," Tracy notes. "I'm just going to be tapping on sensors and causing false alarms. Since they aren't going to happen all at once, they shouldn't raise too much suspicion for awhile."

Cadena looks askance to Jason, then notes to Tracy, "For future reference, in case it is relevant, you can refer to this personality template as 'Real World Cadena.'" He then clambers into the scary machine, and asks Jason, "If there is any real chance of danger, is it possible to only put me into full immersion, and let Tracy participate via a non-neural interface?"

"You won't stand a chance navigating the sim without me, Cadena," Tracy points out. "The reason I chose it is that any other avatar is going to have a hard time adjusting to the way it works to follow me."

"Merely a suggestion, Master Tracy," Cadena says, as he does his best to get settled in. "I trust your judgement."

"No, there really isn't. Look, I know I can be a pain ... but I don't want either of you hurt. Do not take unnecessary risks in there. Abort if anything gets ugly. Do not risk permanent brain damage," Jason says. "Now lets get you hooked up, then I can go concentrate on RIU and work on getting the redirects out of the system."

Was that something rustling in the jungle? Birds fly up suddenly, fading from view as they pass the limit of the holographic display.

Tracy follows Cadena into the interface lab proper, and sits back in one of the chairs. "Okay, hook us up Jason," she says.

"Okay, one more thing you could consider is the limited dive and use one of the simpler interfaces instead of full immersion, but you will not have all the environment feedback," Jason says as he follows Tracy and starts to hook her up. "Last chance, full induction or limited?"

Gritting her teeth, Tracy says, "Full. I'll never be able to hit the beacon points if I can't feel it all."

"Don't be a hero," Jason tells Tracy quietly as he leans in to finish connecting the full immersion helmet, "You have a family out here." One final connection is made, then he goes to set up Cadena for full immersion as well.

Cadena says, "Can you send me in first? To make sure there's no ... what is the term? 'Ice' waiting for as soon as we log in?"

"I can, yes. And I have the same advice for you as I did for her. Don't be a hero. Heroes end up dead," Jason says as he connects the final link on the artificial dog. "Its time to dive into the rabbit hole. Are you ready?" he asks the two as he heads to the activation controls.

"This is why it is easier to work alone. No one will morn if it goes badly," Jason says quietly to himself. He draws in a breath, then activates the dive command on a staggered drop. Cadena in first, followed by Tracy 30 seconds later.

Twist World
Take a South American jungle and transplant it to the inside of a miles-long cylinder barely 500 feet across. Nothing is vertically straight, as the centripetal and coriolis forces cause every tree trunk to grow along a spiral. Even the ruins follow this rule, pyramids where every level is angled slightly to the one below, and each one stretching taller as spin-gravity lessens with altitude. The jungle seems impassable, and even from the ground there are glowing beacons to be seen scattered across the tops of the twisted ruins, along with what appear to be.. trampolines?

In a flash of light, Cadena appears at the base of a pyramid - a humanoid white dog avatar, dressed in robes and holding a staff. Local gravity makes his feet feel heavier than his head, and he wants to lean in one direction all the time.

Cadena appears disoriented by the change in gravity and surroundings, standing up from a low crouch, and leaning on his staff while he tries to find his land legs. He frees his off hand to hold it in front of his face. He turns it over, looking at the furred back and the leathery "pads," furrowing his brow. He then taps on his forehead until he finds the solid "gem" set there. His ears swivel, and he lifts his nose, sniffing at his surroundings, then scanning for signs of ... someone.

In fact, Cadena's entire body seems to be lit. He feels the presence of the being that he calls 'Spark' nearby, and a sense of magical energies at his beck and call.

Brother Cadena nonetheless nods, and begins walking forward tentatively. "I do not detect any immediate threats at this time." The strange glow dies down.

Tracy appears next, looking rather nondescript and wearing a pink full-body jumpsuit. "Cadena! You look like.. yourself," she notes. "I was hoping for something less recognizable, but you must have an embedded avatar somehow. Aside from that, sense anything out of the ordinary?"

Brother Cadena turns about, and bows. "Greetings, Lady Tracy of House Trudeau. I am Brother Cadena of House Manjari. I have been sent to assist you. I feel a strong presence of the Light here." He looks a bit different than when Tracy last saw him - not quite so thin and spindly as before, nor as shrinking and awkward.

"Uh.." Tracy says, helpfully. "Well, follow me as best you can then, please," she requests, and then starts climbing the steps of the pyramid using her hands and feet.

"Is that panther a friend of yours?" Cadena inquires, as he starts to put his staff away over his shoulder, but then puts his back to the pyramid, adopting a defensive stance. "The glowing red eyes are the sort of thing I usually see as a warning sign."

Now that Cadena has pointed it out, the panther is just visible to Tracy, by the eyes alone. It blinks (eyes disappearing briefly) and then starts to approach them, but is still at a great distance.

"We have to get to the first beacon," Tracy says. "Keep an eye for more animals though! We don't know if that thing is here to help or hinder us."

"Oh," Brother Cadena says. "Hail, being of the jungle! We mean no harm to you or yours. Might we parlay for safe passage?" He backs up toward the pyramid, tentatively checking for a way up the face that won't involve him tumbling in his robes back down. He doesn't appear to have the same knack for vertical travel that Tracy does. Under his breath, he utters, "Guidance to find a way to avoid conflict with this entity would be greatly appreciated."

The panther slinks out of the jungle and toward the base of the pyramid, whereas Cadena is at the top of the first flight of stairs. "Your presence here is unauthorized," it says, its voice rumblingly mascline. "This simulation is unregistered. Identify yourself and state your reason for being here."

Midway up the pyramid, Tracy realizes something, and calls back, "Brother C., do you remember the magic words that will transport you away from this realm? If you do, just say 'yes' back to me, not the words!"

"Yes," Brother Cadena says absently. To the panther, he says, "I am an experimental unit, property of Avatars LLC, authorized to take part in this simulation for diagnostic purposes. Your presence is not expected for this simulation, and my personality conditioning does not account for a proper response. Please identify yourself."

Security is already on our tail, and Cadena can do magic here, Tracy thinks, then pushes onward. The stairs are farther apart, but then she's also getting lighter as she goes.

"Recon/security probe GNG-451," the panther replies, evidently assured by somethng in Cadena's manner. "I am tasked with eliminating threats to the system's security. What of your companion?"

"I am tasked to accompany my companion in a diagnostic test to see if there have been breaches to the simulator," Brother Cadena says, looking confused. "Your presence here by its very nature indicates a breach in the definition of this simulation. This is a customized simulation newly introduced to the system for testing purposes within a controlled environment, identified as 'Twist-World.' Do you have a conflicting identification for the current simulation zone? The human participant is using a neuro-induction helmet. Is there a risk of harm to the participant?"

"More than one out there," Tracy mutters, as she clambers to the top of the tilted pyramid and places her palm against the glowing crystal skull on top. If everything works as hoped, it should cause an alarm to go off somewhere in the building and then go dark.

A head raises from over the jungle and roars. It's a dinosaur! And a mean looking one too, its skin all black with red patterns of scales on its hide and sharp dark gray spikes on its neck.

"That's.. just not fair," Tracy mutters when she sees the new security avatar. "Okay, no going low, gotta stay up high," she says, mentally plotting a new course to a beacon away from the dino. It'll mean jumping off at just the right speed and angle to hit one of the trampolines, arc over to the fallen causeway, climb the big pyramid and jump up and across through the axis and land on the beacon. "Piece of cake," she mutters, and gets ready to jump.

Brother Cadena casts a glance toward the dinosaur. "I have great trouble believing that is an intended part of the simulation." He squints his eyes. "Please take care, GNG-451. I wish to consult with you to compare data at the conclusion of this simulation. I resume my duties until receipt of further instructions." With that, he heads around the corner of the pyramid.

The panther snarls. "It is the Enemy." He slinks back toward the jungle, perhaps hoping to ambush the dinosaur as it makes its way toward the pyramid.

"Cadena, are you still down there?" Tracy calls from the top of the pyramid (where she probably appears to be nearly sideways from Cadena's vantage).

Tracy leaps from the pyramid, aiming far to the right of her actual target. Her course is bizarre, as she starts out light and gets heavier as she descends, but it works: the big trampoline has rotated into position below when she hits it, and is sent flying off an another wild arc. "Wah-hooooeeeeey!" she yells.

Cadena comes in a little too late, coming up a set of stairs that provided a far easier ascent. Still, as he witnesses Tracy's superheroics and strange interaction with gravity, he shakes his head in disbelief. "I hate to be so demanding, but I need another route to keep up with her."

The staff dims, then glows anew. It looks as if he'll have to go back down and trek through the jungle to pursue Tracy.

The dinosaur continues to crush the jungle underfoot as it heads for the pyramid. Black tyrannosaurus rex with red patterns and spikes... Clearly not a being of good will.

Brother Cadena nods, not surprised. He starts to head back down the stairs, resigned to a continuing game of "keep-away, though mindful of the inevitable danger of the approaching dinosaur.

At the far end of her arc, Tracy lands and rolls onto the 'soft' stone landing pad of the causeway, and looks back (and over and up and across) to see where Cadena is at.

As the dog-priest heads down the stairs, he sees the panther spring upon the tyrannosaur's leg! RAWR!

Seeing Cadena climbing down from the pyramid, Tracy really hopes he wasn't lying about remembering the escape words, then runs along the causeway towards the next, tall pyramid and starts climbing.

Brother Cadena sees GNG-451 engaging in combat, and raises his staff, then taps the ground with the base. "May the Light guide and protect you, brave defender of the jungle," he intones, as the blue marks on his face begin to writhe, and the headpiece of his staff begins to shift and contort.

Chains spring forth from the staff and from Cadena, orbiting about him and crossing each other. Then, he raises his staff and gestures toward the panther. At once, the chains leap out, arcing forward and joining a new orbit around the great cat.

The panther, or GNG-451 as it called itself, succeeds in drawing blood from the dinosaur! The dinosaur roars earthshatteringly loud and whips around, trying to bite the cat-- but hits only thin air.

Tracy misses the display, as she leaps up from the top of the next pyramid to pass through the free-fall zone of the rotational axis. She's finally satisfied that it actually feels like free-fall this time. Her own system could never manage it with the induction helmet for more than a few seconds before the 'falling' sensation actually caused her to wake-up out of the simulation. She spins and manages to land atop the next pyramid, and triggers the beacon there.

Brother Cadena nods solemnly to the brave cat, then hastens onward, following the leading of the Light, into the jungle.

"I hope all of this is actually causing the needed distraction," Tracy says as she searches for the next closest beacon.. or any suspicious disturbances in the jungle indicating another security intrusion.

After the next successive beacon, more rustles appear in the jungle, and soon the entire ring seems to be filled with activity, and wild snarling and roaring.

"I take that as a good sign," Tracy says. "So long as none of those are giant tree squid." She plots out her next course.

Tracy lights gracefully at the last beacon, situated at the top of the granddaddy of all ziggurats, so large that she feels almost weightless there. Down at the bottom of the ziggurat, a rather put-upon looking Cadena emerges from the jungle, draped in vines and dusted with dirt and detritus.

"Do you think Jason got things reconnected?" Tracy asks Cadena, a little worried about all of the activity in Twist-World. If the security system is still fighting itself... then does that mean Jason succeeded and HEL is trying to get things back in order, or that he's still trying to fix the connections?

Brother Cadena takes a moment to regain his breath. "I have no useful insights to offer toward that, save that our enemies and erstwhile defenders multiply! Please do not tarry!"

"There's no place left to go," Tracy notes. "We've triggered all the alarms. I don't know if we need to stay here to keep the battle going or just keep the simulation running."

On the other side of the terminal ziggurat, the granddaddy of all tyrannosaurus rexes appears, materializing section by section, lines glowing blue and then fading into matte black scales. It bares its fangs and roars at Tracy! "YOU! What are you doing? You are not meant to be here, mortal."

Brother Cadena calls out, "You are the intruder! To whom do you owe allegiance, and what is your purpose?"

Fweeoop Tracy's avatar disappears, leaving Cadena alone to confront the monstrosity.

"Fool of a Champion," it roars at him, coming around the base of the pyramid. "I serve war, I serve chaos, I serve the conflict that heats the world and keeps it from shivering into a frozen block of cold order. I serve the BLACK, and you would have done better to keep your nose out of our affairs!" It is close enough that Cadena can smell the bloody gore on its breath.

Brother Cadena shakes his head sadly and looks at the dinosaur without hatred. "You should know I'm not allowed to do that. You should know there will always be conflict, even without your help. You ultimately fight an enemy of your own imagining. And so ... Railway Track Solvent." He taps his staff against the ground.

The Neural Interface Lab swims back into their view. The lab looks just the same... But the monitor shows that the security level is now being emptied out. "We apologize for the delay," the robot near the camera says. "Please return to your laboratories and offices and stay inside until the emergency is resolved."

Cadena's eyes pop open. He struggles, taking in the sudden shift in surroundings. "Tracy! Tracy, are you all right? Please, answer me, master!"

"I'm fine," Tracy groans from her own seat. "Did you try to talk to Godzilla back there?"

An incoming communication channel pops up on the terminal. A winged avatar appears. "This is GANGLOT, speaking for HEL. Thank you for your assistance. We have re-established channels to Vanirheim communications and security. We are now in the process of securing known infiltrators, and restoring normal functions."

"I suppose you could check the diagnostic output," Cadena says, wearily. "But, yes. And to the SPARK. I was incapable of phrasing my questions in such a way as to come to a definitive answer, except that our enemy is, one way or another, the BLACK - but that the BLACK'S objective has devolved. The BLACK is not trying to test and challenge, but to churn and create mayhem for its own sake. The BLACK has conflated its objectives with that of imaginary villains. That is all I can make of it."

"So.. it's gone crazy like WHITE did," Tracy concludes. "I wonder if all ADs that have to deal with human issues end up going nuts?" She gets up and goes to check on Jason, assuming he's still diving.

"And it isn't over yet," Jason remarks as one of his eyes cracks open. "The central hub is back online. RIU should be heading back up. I haven't heard from Inari in a while. She found an army of robots in the sub level two basement and was heading to check sub level 3."

"Based on my own experience, Tracy," Cadena says sadly, "I cannot deny the possibility. I can only hope that there is a way out of this morass."

"Robots, hmm," Tracy says, as she heads back to the simulation workstation and holo display, to see if the battle is still going on or not.

"At this point in time, we would have recommended initiating the Mistletoe Protocol," GANGLOT continues. "However, our systems have been compromised to such an extent that the success of this procedure cannot be assumed. We are presently monitoring high levels of quantum phenomena in the vicinity of the Q-Link. In addition, there is an abnormal amount of traffic passing through the Satellite link." The AD subprocess looks grim. "HEL herself is engaged in attempting to restrain BLACK from further subversion of our systems."

Ganglot continues, "Vice President Burgundy has recused himself and recommended that I request your input and assistance into combating this threat, Mr. Edwards, Miss Trudeau."

"Inari, this is Jason," Jason says into the comm. "If you get this and can respond, please do so. It sounds like I need to get to the q-link and deal with the modifications."

Inari's voice is crackly. "... zzt... get to the Q-link?... old Imperial ... portal..."

Cadena staggers to his feet again, looking wobbly, as he slowly makes his way after Tracy. He watches the display intently, a worried look crossing his brow. "I have difficulty imagining the BLACK could have come to this end on its own. This just does not seem like a natural progression. The WHITE saw disorder in the world, once the boundaries blurred and it seemed as if it was within reach. But how can the BLACK look at this world and see a perfect order in need of any more turmoil than it has already? There must be more to it. This cannot just be an accident."

"I don't suppose you can just open it up as a special event and let the Avatar's players hack up BLACK's forces?" Tracy asks the AI. "Maybe Jason Zero got to the BLACK," she suggests to Cadena.

"Ganglot," Jason now says louder, "I will deal with the Q-Link. If they are willing, I would like Tracy and Cadena to deal with the satellite dish. The dish is the source of an external attack by another AD. The Q-Link is the bigger internal ... " He pauses when he hears Inari. "That settles it, I'm going now. I'm not about to lose her to some Imperial Portal." "RIU, to me, we have to shut down the Q-Link," he thinks and marches towards the lab door.

"Okay, we have to take out the dish then," Tracy tells Cadena. "And then.. steak!"

"Affirmative. I will assign robot forces as escort unless you believe a covert approach is in order," Ganglot says.

"At this point, I may need the escort," Jason admits, "I expect the link to be guarded and I'll need them to deal with it. Right so ... remember when I said don't be a hero? Screw it. Time to be a hero."