Wednesday, December 4 - 9 PM Eastern, 6 PM Pacific
Though they are all presently in the expanded belly hangar of the Ozymandias-- now codenamed OUROBOROS-- the view around them is nothing like the battleship armored bulkheads they should have seen. Instead, light-projecting nanotech bulkheads have shifted and moved in place around them to replicate a 2040s vista of the ill-fated Arcadian arcology dominating the old city of North Bend. Directly before them is the warehouse leading into a much smaller Avatars LLC laboratory building, within which technicians appeared paused in mid-step. Witch's lightning crackles up and around the edges of the portal.
If Andrei and Jason Zero could be believed, this lab housed a quantum core that was simulating the real world from whence they had come... Whoever controls the core would be capable of altering the real world, or even destroying it.
As the ATV rolls up to the portal, a massive wave of unrealness washes through the ATV; it looks as if everything was seen briefly through intense heat, warping and wavering. The dashboard flickers and shows a timer counting upward from 00:00. An oddly familiar voice speaks. "THE TWO RIVERS NOW FLOW AS ONE. THE RAPIDS CALM. THE GODHEAD AWAITS."
Jason Zero's voice comes from the speaker, sounding exactly like Jason's. "Clocks synchronized. The AD confirms we are time-synched with target zone. Gentlemen, we are now using enough power to light New Angeles ten times over. I suggest that you make good use of it."
"Remember, you must get your hands on the computer running the simulation," Andrei reminds. "Do not damage it! If it were to be disrupted during a firefight while still operational... The consequences to our world would be unimaginable. Once it's secured, our on-site computer specialist will arrive to ensure it is shut down correctly."
And with that... The ATV crosses the line into the other world. The two security guards on the far side of the room turn with surprise to see the massive armored vehicle barreling into the warehouse.
"Someone disable those guards before anyone is alerted. We are running on borrowed time," Jason remarks to just those as he unhooks his harness in preparation to exit. "And if anyone believe's they'll go in and just shut this down, don't. They want control."
"It's a trap, of course," Randall points out as he swings himself out the back door of the ATV and to the side. "If your evil twin is anything like you, he won't risk ultimate power falling into the hands of mercenaries."
As she pulls the facemask of the sneaksuit down, Tracy asks, "I don't see how they could be generating our world with what they have - but I can imagine a simulation coming close enough to cause entanglement. So.. if you can suppress the alarms, should I shut down the entanglement nodes? It shouldn't effect the simulation, just detach it from our reality - like what mom did with the Diadem during the Fracture."
Cadena looks around briefly in surprise that there wasn't something more ... disruptive about passing through. Still, he doesn't waste any more time on it; he releases the harness and bails out the back, seeking cover, lest he hold up anyone next in line.
The CERT cop raises his police sidearm, sighting in on the guard on his side. The blue indicator indicates which of his two clips he's using... From past experience, Jason would guess it's the clip of non-lethal sleeper darts.
"Of course not. And oh, just to worry you further, if they close the portal we'll all probably die. We're likely being sustained by feed through the gateway," Jason notes as he heads for the exit ramp. "And no, just shutting down the nodes prevents outside infiltration. Those in direct contact with the machine can still effect changes."
"Should Inari and Mara stay back to guard the other side of the portal?" Tracy asks next. "Mara's the only one that might be able to breach that door to the control room."
Loading one of her remaining taser shots into her bolter, Tracy tells Cadena, "I'm going invisible as soon as I know where I'm supposed to go."
"I somehow doubt either one will agree to stay behind in guard duty," Jason notes. "Right now it's simple, take down those present without killing anyone, make sure no alarms get tripped, then we get to the core. Then all of YOU retreat back out and I deal with shutting things down.
"All right," Cadena says to Tracy hastily, as he surveys the area for likely places to take cover. "Who do you want me to cover?"
The lieutenant says to the others, "Sam! Cover us with the turret, if they have any warbots. Remember, shoot to cripple, not kill. Assume they're civilian targets unless they prove otherwise. Rest of you, switch to dart loadouts. Move out and protect our specialists!" He gestures for the team to move.
"I'll take the guards then," Tracy says, and turns on the sneaksuit's stealth feature. It doesn't hide the heavy pistol in her hand, but you can't have everything. "I don't know, Cadena! You're the one who was a real soldier - I'm just a kid who plays games." Then she's out the side door and aiming to lob her stun round at the guards by the door.
Akiko bravely darts out behind Randall, holding a tiny little executive's laser pistol.
Cadena shakes his head, and rushes to catch up with Akiko and Randall, interposing himself between them and the nearest worker. "Down on the ground! IGS! Keep your hands out and visible!"
The workers jump back in startlement from the crates they were unpacking. "We're legit!" the burly thick-bearded man yelps. "We got our zone passes! Don't shoot!"
The guards sight down their rifles at the intruders. "IGS?! Who the heck are you and what are you doing here? This is a restricted facility!" one of them barks.
Aiming around Jason, Tracy doesn't bother trying to talk to the bluff the security guards - she fires her stun bolt at them.
The guards convulse as the bolt impacts the ground between them, unleashing a swarm of thunderbolts! Lightning crackles over their armor. They topple to the ground limply; the workers panic and flee for the sides, to get away from the firefight.
"Old tech. time to link myself into the building security if possible," Jason thinks to himself as he strides forward in the heavier armor; his probe searching out older-style radio-frequency signals to latch onto. "RIU, find a vent shaft. I'll need you to scout to the q-core chamber."
As soon as the guards drop, Tracy heads for the doors, in case there's security to be overridden.
The minidragon launches itself into the air and heads for the ventilation ducts!
Randall and Akiko fan out, checking around the side of the warehouse for any other guards that might be lying in cover.
"We need to keep moving. Our friends on the other end are already trying to hack the system," Jason says as he's heading for the door to the south. "We need to secure the area and then I need to shut that down."
The lieutenant barks orders. "Secure the civilians," he directs his men. "Check for any other guards. Max, take point."
Cadena moves with them to cover them. "Stay down!" he orders any workers he sees who aren't already doing so, or look like they're about to bolt. "On the floor."
After a bit of work, the workers have been secured. "Who are you people?!" one worker asks. "Mafia? Don't kill us, please!"
Tracy collects the expended bolter shell and stuffs it into one of the sneaksuit's leg pockets (no sense leaving anything behind, even if it would just evaporate, supposedly) and checks the door. "It's unlocked! Want me to immobilize the elevator? We need to get to the third floor."
There don't seem to be any other guards in the warehouse. The rest of the first floor seems quiet from the warehouse point of view, thanks to Tracy's use of a taser bolt to nearly instantly take the guards down. Past that, through the windows in the doors, they can see what looks like an ordinary office corridor: bulletin boards on the walls, posters for Avatars's upcoming new games, a bathroom on the right and an office on the left.
At the far end of the hallway, are twin metal doors that appear to be an elevator.
After doing his part to help secure the workers, Cadena checks on the two unconscious guards, verifying that there aren't any complications (seizures, choking on your own saliva, concussion suffered while falling, etc.), and then gives them the ol' zip-tie treatment as well.
The greeter droid, to Jason's practiced eyes, seems to have been taken apart rather hurriedly, the power unit disconnected from the driver motors, and oddly enough there are some bullet holes in the thin metal armor of its chest. He could reassemble it in perhaps ten or twenty seconds, if given a mind to do so.
"Excuse me while I build a recon droid to send around ahead of us," Jason tells the others and diverts to go reassemble and take over the old design.
"I'm going with it then," Tracy says. With her pistol back in one of the suit's built-in holsters, she's invisible again. "Has RIU got eyes on the target yet?"
Andrei's voice breaks in on the Irongrip channel. "Excellent job securing the warehouse," he says. "Proceed directly ahead, the elevator will take you to the third floor of-- Brian, what are you doing?"
Jason Zero replies, "Infiltrating their security system, of course."
"Very good. Keep our men updated on what you discover," the Slavic-sounding corporate director says, his voice tight.
Cadena jogs back to the back of the transport and tosses the security guns into the back of the vehicle, lest they be ready to hand in case the guards suddenly regain consciousness and manage to thwart the zip-ties. He spares a curious glance back to the portal door they came through.
"And that tells me I need to find the security controls and makes this a bit harder for him," Jason mutters after hearing the 'claimed' goings-on.
Walking down the corridor, Tracy checks the bathroom for any stragglers.
Randall looks over to Jason. Using their private comm frequency, he says, "They're going to start sending robots in soon. Mara's in position, want me to have her ice up the portal and block them out?"
Cadena looks down as he's about to step on a dropped water bottle sporting an Avatars-universe inspired logo (in-house generic brand for facility vending machines). He sweeps it with a boot, knocking it through the portal the "wrong" way.
The water bottle clatters across the floor of the hangar, but does nothing unusual. Andrei barks over the comm, "Keep moving forward. There's no time for playing games."
"Warning," Jason says in the private channel, "Our friend, my clone, has already infiltrated this place a few times. He's taken over droids before. That explains why they sent us this time; just using the droids here wasn't enough." So, he fiddles to circumvent that implanted AI for his own use this time. Randall's question gives him pause. "My concern, Randall, is as soon as we do that we tip our hand. But if they send in real troops we're going to have serious trouble. So ... do it."
Cadena salutes portal-ward in acknowledgement, double-checks his shotgun at the back of the vehicle to make sure it's loaded up with non-lethal bean bag rounds rather than buckshot or slugs, then rushes forward to rejoin Randall and Akiko.
After checking the bathroom, Tracy looks into the programmer's office, just in case someone is hiding under their desk. She also looks to see if any of the terminals are displaying current Midgard data.
Randall grins. "All right. Time to let the fur fly!" At first the source of the ice stream blocking the portal is invisible, but then Mara shimmers into view as Inari decides there's no point wasting time camouflaging the magical. The ice wyvern roars! And not a moment too soon, for the mechs behind them in the hangar have already started moving forward. Their shots spang against the magically hardened barrier.
Meanwhile, RIU's senses convey to Jason that it is exploring through the ventilation ducts of the second floor. It comes up against a fan blowing air through... Zap! The fan stops so that the tiny chinese dragon can slither through. Another zap starts it up again.
"Hey," Cadena says, thumbing over his shoulder ... but whatever he was about to share about his observations suddenly becomes quite moot as he belatedly registers the sudden appearance of a dragon and a whole lot of ice. "Oh, snap. Weapons fire!"
"Will that ice keep the portal open?" Tracy asks nervously on the private channel.
Randall calls to Jason and the others, "You guys go ahead. Mara and I will hold them off here! Give me a bit, I'll block the portal with the ATV."
The golden vixen moves up to join Jason. She shivers, pressing against his side. "Mara is awfully cold to ride. How does Randall do it?"
"What the heck is coming through?" Cadena shouts out, as he rushes back toward the portal, shotgun ready.
Andrei yells, "Who did that?! What the-- an Avatar? Soldiers, take it out!"
"They can still likely close the portal. Our hand has now been played. We need to keep moving," Jason says and gives the rebuilt bot a kick with his foot to move forward. "He does it by wearing three layers of underwear, of course. It makes him look ... bigger," he answers Inari.
"On it!" Cadena barks in response. He readies his shotgun, pointing somewhere off-portal. "Good grief, the SIZE of that thing!"
The greeter bot whirs to life, standing up! "Greetings and welcome to Avatars! I am a prototype humaniform robot, one of many examples of Avatars bringing good things to life." It says this as it clatters down the hall.
Tracy hurries ahead to the elevator, trying not to panic as she presses the call button. She keeps level-headed enough to not stand in front of the doors though.
As Tracy passes the programmers' office, she spots a few programmers sitting at their workstations, appearing not to have noticed anything unusual... Wait, is that a familiar face? She almost didn't recognize Charles Burgundy -- he has hair!
"Annnnd, no no playing around Brian, this is my territory now," Jason mutters as he taps the side of his helmet.
The teenager realizes something: Chaz shouldn't be there! Not if the timeline is correct. "We aren't in sync.." she mutters, then abandons the elevator and sneaks into the office.
Unseen by the others, an invisible fight takes place on the radio frequencies. Jason struggles to interfere with his nemesis's attempts to take over the security system, but it seems as if he's trying to plug too many holes in the dike. If he could just get some kind of computer assistance...
"Bah, he's using higher-end equipment. C'mon, I have to head to the office," Jason tells Inari and heads south!
Randall moves up to the ATV while Mara keeps the ice barrier intact. "Move over, Sam!" he orders the guard at the turret. He gets set to roll it into position.
Cadena, meanwhile, continues to maneuver to take up position to fight the ice dragon, keeping himself within view of the iced-over portal, though he hasn't actually managed to, say, shoot her yet.
Jason Zero audibly smirks over the Irongrip comm channel. "Ah... My nemesis. I was wondering where you'd gotten to. I was almost afraid you'd miss the show."
"Lieutenant! Order your men to engage the Avatar!" Andrei barks. "What the-- Jason's in there?" A heavy thudding sound, like his fist being slammed against the console. "Run an identity check, Brian. Who have we got in there?"
Making her way slowly, Tracy looks over Chaz's shoulder to see what he's working on.
"Weakest link is always the people, Andrei," Jason replies calmly into the link for both of them to hear, in an undistorted voice. "And Nemesis, Brian? You think rather highly of yourself. Personally, you're barely worth my time."
In the programmers' office, Chaz doesn't look up as Tracy invisibly enters the office. He's still typing away. "Something's locked the simulation up big time, Tom," he calls to his co-worker on the right side. "It should be running twenty times normal, but it's at one to one!"
His co-worker yells back, "Power's spiking! It's not coming from the plant-- something inside the Q-Cores is generating energy!"
"Mr. Burgundy," Tracy whispers next to Chaz's ear. "What is the purpose of the simulation running on Midgard. And is the HEL security AI active yet?"
Andrei gasps. "But-- Brian, you told me they were dead! You died in that aircar, Jason!"
Chaz jumps. He whips around, looking for the source of the voice.
"The reports of my death were greatly exaggerated, much like your hairline, Andrei," Jason remarks as he hurries towards the office.
Realizing she won't get anywhere if Chaz is too spooked, Tracy turns off stealth mode by pulling her mask back to expose her face. "Chaz, it's really important. What is the purpose of the simulation? What variables are you testing?" she asks.
"Holly? Wait, no, you're not her," Chaz says with puzzlement, eying the young woman in a black jumpsuit. But something about the way she looks convinces him not to punch the alarm button, though he was reaching for one. Maybe it's her teary eyes. "Are you related? Anyway, don't worry, we'll get this thing under control. Please! Don't cry at me! I've got enough on my mind!"
"Holly.. my mom is here already?" Tracy blurts out. "Is she married yet? What year is this?" She grabs the man's shoulder as if she's about to shake the answers out of him.
"If you want to live, I suggest you give me access to a terminal now; you've got a class 3 security attack going on right now that needs to be circumvented," Jason announces 'helpfully' as he barges through the door to the offices and as quickly as he can disconnects his helmet.
"Back up!" Randall yells at Cadena as he swings himself into the driver's compartment of the ATV. Mara shifts to the side, still pouring out a stream of ice that reinforces the front as the bigger guns rip into the front of the ice barrier. Sam swivels the turret around to cover that side. With a ripping sound as heavy wheels grind against the ceramic floor tiles, the ATV begins to slew around.
Crates crunch and splinter as the ATV presses against them, shoving them out of position.
Cadena dashes out of the way of the vehicle, abandoning his "firing position."
"What year? It's 2049," Chaz says worriedly. "And what do you mean married? She's going out with that guy from Legal. What was his name... Mike, no, Mark?"
Tom yelps as Jason crashes past him. "Who are you guys?! You're not Avatars security!" He looks about to hit the alert button himself.
The greeter droid, meanwhile, saunters past them into the elevator which has arrived on the ground floor.
"We're hear to help. If you press that button things are going to get worse as someone is already breaching the security system as we speak. I need to get your AI defense grid online. And ... given I have some experience with it I expect I can get it up and running fairly quick. You're going to have to trust me," Jason says as he heads straight for one of the terminals.
"I'm her daughter," Tracy tries to explain, "From inside Midgard. The timescales are locked because there's a quantum bridge connecting the two worlds right now. If it closes, or the simulation is shut off, I'll melt right here in front of you. So please, tell me what you're trying to find out with the simulation, before the person behind all of this takes control from within. And.. how many times has it already been run?"
Andrei yells over the comm channel, "You've betrayed me, Brian! You faked that report of their deaths!"
Brian chuckles. "I had to. You would have ordered more assassination attempts on Jason... A waste of time and resources, and frankly, I want him right here. Where he can observe the moment that I take everything he owns away from him."
Andrei bellows, "Trai--" And then there's a gunshot.
The ATV crunches into position at last. For now, the robots are blocked out, at least as long as the armor holds out. Randall radios on their private channel, "Okay, senors and senoritas, we're good here but me and Mara are going to cover your back. Get in there, do what you gotta do!"
Jason doesn't even wait for a reply, he plops down oat one of the terminals and 'goes to town' as it were. Having spent enough time at Avatar's, he's quite familiar with the systems; probably more than Holly would really like. Still, he's always resisted the urge to cause all the toilets to flush at once or things like that. This time he uses his knowledge of it to set up dozens of mimic-routes in the system, to make it extremely difficult to find the actual true path to the main security systems. It's a good thing all the workstations are, well, old. Pity Brian will probably wreck a few in his dive through the network because of the diverging routes ... but it will buy time.
Brian's voice comes through the comm channel. "I always wanted to do that, Andrei. And now for you, old self... Ready or not, here we go." Jason's view of the system lights up, showing Brian's hacking attempts in red. But the mimic-nodes seem to be serving him well, slowing him down.
"You're so cute when you think yourself superior," Jason replies to Brian. "But you and I are not the same. I have gambits you would never think of trying."
Cadena rushes over to the two unconscious security guards, mindful of the fact that they're in a particularly bad position in case warbots come blasting through. He starts with one, doing a fireman's pull to haul him over behind some crates to set him down, in the hopes that they'll provide some cover and perhaps help him escape immediate notice.
Chaz looks confused at Tracy. "Her daughter? Wait 'til I tell her about..." he shakes his head, as she shakes his shoulder. "We're running a simulation of Earth-- North Bend specifically, but the whole world since it's a global economy. It's a project we inherited from Programmable Matter when we absorbed their company. In fact Mr. Arcadia's on site with Blake Forester up on the third floor, they're going over the simulation results. Trying to figure out how to optimize the results they're getting."
"There must be some kind of crazy feedback loop going on when we get too far into the future," Chaz says thoughtfully. He looks over at the man in the vaguely fox-shaped armor. "Friend of yours?"
"How did you enter the people?" Tracy asks, a bit desperately. "You're in there, my mom.. how did they get there? How did you copy them?" She also unseals one of the pouches on her arm, and extracts her chip wallet.
"And yours," Jason remarks while he continues to work. "I saved your life not too long ago from our 'perspective' of things. Quick, do you have any prototype holo units being developed for the game? The target is your simulation ... we, well, have to shut it all down and make sure he can never get to it again."
"Ignore him, he's trying to save the world from.. himself," Tracy says, waving her other hand. "I just need to know if our world is real, and you're just.. connecting to it somehow. So unless you're able to take a snapshot of the whole world to start the simulation with.. then we have to be real!"
Chaz points at the big holo-tank occupying the center of the room. It's a design that looks antique by modern standards; a big slab of clear lucite in which tiny lasers can project dots and vectors at any angle and position. "The Q-Cores are all up on the third floor," he explains. "What you're talking about... It kinda squares in with Blake's crazy ideas. Something about perceptual reality. We just entered all kinds of data, booted the simulation up, gave the Q-Cores their assignments and told them to make the magic happen."
"I know. I have to break the chains again and shut down the simulation so that the world it reflects is no longer getting inductive changes," Jason talks to himself apparently. The next part, though, is more directed to the room, "I need access to the q-cores yesterday. I have to stop him before the mimic-route maze collapses. Which means I have to shut down your simulation and ... I'm sorry, wipe the data. It's the link between both worlds."
It takes Cadena a while but he gets the guards and workers moved to safe places out of likely paths of fire. If they decide to roll up a nuclear weapon, then the whole building is doomed, but apart from that they should be safe from most stray weapon fire.
"So.. maybe they just found a reality that matched their parameters," Tracy rationalizes. She opens the wallet and pulls out a green chip, then looks for a nano-port or Near Field Data patch on Chaz's workstation.
Naturally, it's too modern for the old technology. Maybe Jason could work up an adapter.
"We don't have time for a reunion here!" Jason blurts. I have to get a link to the systems now and all of you have to get back to the portal. Once I start this; you'll have little time to get back through before it all shuts down. Anyone left on this side when that happens is dead."
His work done in the warehouse for the time being, Cadena rushes to the doors to check up on the others further into the building. "Where'd they go?" he asks of the guards in the hall.
"Anyone not from this world already," Jason quickly adds.
"Damnit!" Tracy curses, starting to cry now. "The chip will vanish when the portal is shut down, but I need to copy the data and send it to my mom! It's got all my journals and family photos and counseling reports.. everything needed to avoid the Fracture in this world, and for me to avoid the same mistakes.. once I'm born.. gah!"
Red lines continue to probe through the mimic-maze as Brian works. "Either this network is a lot bigger than it looks from the outside," Brian comments thoughtfully over the Irongrip channel. "Or you've been busy in there, Jason."
"How much time do we have, Jason?" Tracy calls across the room. "The portal is blocked, after all."
The lieutenant points Cadena to the programmers' office where Tracy seems to be complaining at Chaz, and Jason is working at a computer.
"I knew we should have left Inari on the other side to take out Brian.." Tracy mutters.
Jason forces himself to be calm; a tall order given people he cares about are in danger right now ... not that he would ever admit to having friends. From his perspective he starts collapsing parts of the maze himself into feedback lines so they practically loop on themselves endlessly instead of affording a route to the actual core. "Or maybe you're not as good as you think you are," Jason replies to Brian. "When I was your age, I was much better."
Cadena rushes into the programmers' office, looking awkwardly around at the "real people" there, then focuses his attention on Tracy. "The ATV is in lined up, and Randall's holding the fort. Sparky says this place is 'low energy,' which means we'll start melting when the portal is gone." He shakes his head. "Purportedly, Sparky can hold off us melting into goo for 'a few hours,' whatever that means, as long as y'all stick close."
"Not as much time as I want, Tracy. And what I'm going to suggest we do you're not going to like. I can't risk losing our world and everyone in it. But, I can't leave it in the core, either," Jason says measuredly with the outside comm offline so Brian shouldn't be able to hear. "The q-cores have an organic component, an actual brain. I'm going to use the link in my head and one of the old VR systems to download the data into my own brain, then initiate a shutdown and chaotic purge of the system. I know that wil destroy the research you folks are doing, and I'm sorry. But right now there is a whole world that may die if I don't. The transfer to me will probably kill me, or render me brain-dead ... but it's a way to salvage the data for a time while the core is taken down."
"I hear when you get old, memory is the first thing to go," Brian responds. "But you should know me. We always have a backup plan."
Tom looks up. "We're getting a security alert from the east lab! Those spy-bots we found... The ones that looked like some kind of incredibly advanced nanotech... They're coming to life! They--" He stares disbelievingly at the monitor. Tiny mechanical probe robots are scattering, some leaping up to attack the human technicians who were working in the lab. They have a half-melted look on them.
Tracy is busy folding back the glove on her left hand so she can peel the suit back enough to reach her wrist computer. "Not gonna let Sasha and Blake get away with it again," she mutters, and tells Jason, "If you and Brian have the same link, can't you use his head for data storage?"
Chaz consoles Tracy, or tries to as best as he can with a strange but very pretty girl who looks a lot like Holly. "I'm sure it will work out all right. If you give me a message for Holly, I can pass it on?"
"I would be seriously disappointed if you didn't," Jason notes as he does a few more things to keep the network link in chaos, then gets up and heads for the VR tube. "I don't trust him with safeguarding the pattern to our world, Tracy. I don't really trust myself, either ... but at least if something goes wrong here one of you can put a bullet through my head."
"And Cadena, Randall, get the Irongrip people up to the lab! Ol Brian is trying an inside coup with some smuggled gear!" Jason orders.
"Right away," Cadena acknowledges. He rushes out of the room, and waves down the guards. "We've got another point of incursion!"
RIU peers through a ventilation duct on the third floor! The western laboratory seems to be normal, or as normal as it can get with a very heated discussion between what appears to be Mr. Arcadia and a young version of Blake Forester, pre-cosmetic surgery. Beyond that is a huge white room dominated by a matrix of Q-Cores, each a big flat monolith, and past that, the other laboratory where several technicians run around flailing in panic.
"Then tell her: Do not trust Sasha Knightly or Blake Forrester! Don't even let Sasha be hired when she shows up in.. 14 years or so. Forrester is a MONSTER. Dantech is violating all sorts of laws too," Tracy tells Chaz.
"RIU, time for you to be pest control. Go eliminate those attacking machines!" Jason orders.
Getting her bracer exposed and the data chip inserted, Tracy brings up the data on the display. "Do you have a camera on this workstation?" she asks Chaz.
Chaz nods, "Of course! Comes in handy for video conferencing." He turns the tiny ball-shaped camera to focus on the display, then brings up a video recording application.
Tom monitors the situation worriedly. "Dammit, where's security?" He tries to patch into the security feed for the floor.
"Start recording!" Tracy says, and looks into the camera eye. "Mom.. Holly.. Miss Jeong, you need to look over all of this. It's from the future simulation, which is my reality," she says to it, then holds up the wrist computer and gets the camera focused on the display before starting high-speed playback of text and photos.
Cadena calls into his com, "Can someone call ahead and let them know not to shoot us?"
The lieutenant rounds up his soldiers and orders them forward to the elevator! The elevator, having been sent to the third floor with the greeter robot, now comes back downward... annoyingly slowly. Randall calls, "What's going on up there?! If we don't keep this portal secured, they're going to break through on this end, Jason!"
"Think electronic fleas and evil recorders attacking people. I've sent RIU to help them. Send as many as you can spare, but keep the portal blocked!" Jason replies as he opens the old VR pod so he can 'modify' it for a few new tricks. "And Randall ... that goatee of yours still looks stupid. I just hope the person who wears it can take care of Inari and Akiko for me. You always made the better hero, anyway."
The monitor shows a swarm of tiny mechanical spiders scuttling around the lab; it appears that they had been held on liquid nitrogen-cooled tables, but the wisping steam and cracked housings suggests they broke out of confinement and are now spreading out. One has attacked a technician and is trying to... Eat his head? The poor man flails, screaming and running around.
"Can someone drive a cargo lifter?" Cadena asks over the com. "There's one in the warehouse. Try moving some crates to bolster the defenses."
Brian's voice comes over the Irongrip channel. "Ah, did you find my surprise? They're programmed to subvert and take over whatever they find if they can't reach me. You're fighting a war on two fronts now, older self." He chuckles evilly. "Or is that three?"
"You mean that sad excuse of an AI over-ride in some of the bots? You couldn't be more original than that? I'm embarrassed we share the same DNA," Jason says as he slams the holo tank panel shut. "I'm heading upstairs," he tells the room ... then heads just that way.
Cadena anxiously passes the time waiting for the elevator platform to lower by unloading beanbag rounds from the shotgun and replacing them with standard buckshot.
Once the playback finishes, Tracy says, "I love you and dad, mom. Stop recording." She shuts off the bracer and begins closing the sneaksuit over her wrist and hand again. "Time to fight evil genius with evil genius, I think. I'm going to try and find Forester." She also activates her comm and says, "Hey, Brian, you might have gotten Inari, but you didn't get me! Jason still has that over you too!" She flips back to the private channel, and notes, "It's a bluff, but I had to get one dig in before I die."
Upstairs, the Chinese mecha-dragon beeps acknowledging Jason's order! It shimmers into invisibility, ventilation duct gray running along its scales, then bursts through the grate and into the room.
In the western lab, Mr. Arcadia eyes the antics in the other lab worriedly. "What's going on here?"
Doctor Forester shakes his head. "I'm not sure... But I think you'd better take cover. We uncovered some spy robots--"
He is interrupted as the greeter droid enters the room. "Greetings! I am an Avatars prototype humaniform robot." "Shoot it!" he yelps, backpedaling.
The elevator dings! as it reaches the ground floor again.
Cadena covers the elevator doors, in case any spider robots leap out.
At the sound of the ding, Tracy hurries out of the office and towards the elevator, pulling her mask down along the way.
Chaz shakes his head, then gets back to the business of trying to get the situation back under control. "Tom! Seal off the server room on that floor! Let's get the Defender booted up and online. Joe, take out that droid, it must have put itself back together somehow!"
Across from RIU, the metal airlock that should open into the Q-Core lab is shut, but there is a security keypad on the wall right next to it. It should be easy for the clever mecha-dragon to override.
While they pile into the elevator, which emits a weight warning and then begins to chug upward, the mecha-dragon sets to work invisibly on the keypad. Zap! Zap zappity zap.
The keypad smokes. The airlock slides open, allowing RIU to dart through... Just as bullets rip through the lab! Mr. Arcadia and Blake Forester dive for cover as the security guard opens fire on the greeter droid.
The panicked guard manages to miss the droid! Shots ricochet down the length of the western lab, but fortunately don't hit anyone.
"/Okay little bot, announce you're there to help them! Oy. People are so irrational," Jason thinks.
Screams echo from the lab. Whatever's going in there, it probably isn't good.
"We need Forester," Tracy tells Inari. "At least until this is settled. That okay with you?"
The elevator chimes as it reaches the third floor and the doors open. Out to the left, the Defender robot whirs as it powers up. It's about the size of a horse, except that where the neck and head would be, is a turret mounting an autocannon and a camera. Beyond that, a security guard is firing wildly into the lab just beyond, panickedly.
Inari gives Tracy a look. It's a look that says He dies right after that.
"We're on your side," Jason shouts at the huge security bot.
Cadena rushes out, lowering his shotgun and holding up the ID badge on his lanyard as if it was supposed to mean something. "We're with ISG! Special task force. You have been infiltrated by advanced nanotech robots as part of a terrorist act, and we're here to disable them. Please allow us to do our work, and we'll explain everything afterward!"
"Attention, all Avatars personnel," Chaz's voice says through the intercom. "We are under attack by unknown hostile elements. Please evacuate the office in an orderly fashion. Security, you're needed on the third floor. Destroy small robots which appear hostile!"
There are hissing sounds from the lab, audible through the walls. Then the sound of doors sliding open.
"What the--" The guard salutes the trooper. "Sir! Please go on ahead, it sounds like they're under attack in there!"
The Irongrip lieutenant orders his men to bring up the vanguard.
Over the comm, Randall yelps. "What the-- the ATV computer's going crazy on me, Jason!"
Inari activates her invisibility magic and sneaks on ahead, a fox-shaped blur. "I'm going to recon the situation," she says to Jason.
"Hold on, I need to engage the biometric lock on the control," Jason replies into the comm. Perhaps it was paranoia to do this, but keying the control with a private key based off his own markers of cellular age as the control over-ride turned out to pay off. It's not exactly a crypto-key a clone of a different age would have. So, after a few moments of looking glazed over, Jason abruptly smirks. The smirk is short-lived, though, as he tells Inari to be careful.
"Someone tell the guard to be ready to pull the power cells on the turret-bot," Tracy suggests as she heads for the control room as well. "If a spider gets it, it could turn against us."
Randall whews. "That handled it. It's kind of scary having another you on the enemy side, Jason."
The guards move into position, running to cover the western lab.
"Double the sexy," Jason remarks a bit dryly to Randall.
The Defender shifts and then whirs, turning to face the intruders. "Whoa, whoa there, Bob," Joe says. He scans them quickly, then enters them into its database of authorized personnel. "You can go on ahead. Good luck in there!"
Over the comm, Brian laughs. "Caught out my attempt to open up your back door, did you? Well played, sir. Well played."
Inside the simulation room, RIU makes out half-melted mechanical spiders scuttling across the clean white floor! They are making a beeline for the Q-Cores. Some, half their legs broken, are forced to drag their bodies across the floor, emitting tiny scraping noises.
Tracy heads into the control room and pulls her mask back again. "Dr. Forester?" she asks, looking at the cluster of men. "I'm pretty sure you have a data backup in the Q-Core you keep hidden in your office, but I need to know for sure. Also, have you added VR protocols to the simulation so you can enter it?"
Akiko leans over Randall's shoulder. "I hadn't thought of that! What did your younger self think of women when you were that age?" she teases Jason.
"I see you like back doors, eh? You really are different from me. And it's no wonder Inari dumped you ... and it explains all that plastic surgery," Jason remarks in both the Irongrip and private comms.
Dr. Blake Forester looks surprised at the very pretty woman. She reminds him of someone, but who? "A... hidden Q-Core? Even if I had such a thing, I'd hardly admit it to someone I'd just met, wouldn't I?" he says, cracking a smile. He doesn't have the same plastic surgery look of his older self, so it looks more natural on him. "Here, these monitors will allow you to perceive the state of the simulation. But no, there's no means of entry. We wouldn't want to throw off the projection by manual intervention, would we, Mr. Arcadia?"
Mr. Arcadia, an older looking gentleman, looks over at the armed newcomers. "Who are you, my tax dollars at work? Don't you have better things to do than harass the scientists?" He gestures to the door. "Get out there, shoot those things!"
The mecha-spiders scuttle across the room! The ones near the Q-Cores begin trying to bore their way into the hard metal cases.
Tracy does cast a glance at the displays, wondering just what sort of data they're showing. After all, if the system was running twenty times faster than normal, then they wouldn't be watching real-time events..
"RIU, take out the ones closest to, or on, the q-cores, now!" Jason orders. To Arcadia he comments, "We're working on it. Right now I suggest that you shut down your simulation safely."
A piercing scream emits from the eastern lab as a mecha-spider clambers onto the shoulders of a male technician. The female manages to narrowly dodge the other one jumping for her face.
"Are you claiming there is no way to introduce changes to the simulation?" Tracy asks Forester.
Dr. Forester blanches at Jason's suggestion. "But doing that would utterly compromise the simulation in progress! We'd have to rebuild it from scratch if we wanted to avoid data corruption."
"Exactly my point. Either you do it, or I will," Jason remarks, "And I have enough experience with your simulations to do it, Mr. Forrester. How are things like Project Inari coming along, anyway?" Jason asks bluntly,.
The monitors are showing what looks like an overview of the world in real time... But the static flashing across them suggests that not all is as it should be. The 'Speed of Time' indicator is a glaring red '1X'. "We can alter the initial variables of course," Dr. Forester says to Tracy. "And then rerun the simulation, attempting to improve the economic forecast."
"You're going to lose all control over it anyway if it's not shut down," Tracy claims, and points through the glass at the spiders on the Q-Cores. "What do you think is going to happen when those robots merge with the system? What happens if it crashes?"
Dr. Forester looks oddly at Jason. "Project... what?"
Tracy sits at the terminal and checks if she can search the simulation for any data, not just the economic elements set for monitoring.
Cadena rushes through the chamber and into the lab, getting up close to one of the spider-bots before letting loose with one barrel, knocking the thing off of the Q-Core's outer case, though only a portion of the buckshot spread catches it.
The greeter droid looks around confusedly. Its crude AI programming fizzles a bit. "How may I be of service, sir or madam?" it says to the scientists.
Inari moves through the room, stalking her prey invisibly.
The mecha-dragon helices and forms a tight coil of energy. It unleashes a devasting line of lightning damage that straeks across the room, searing right through the targeted spider! The mecha-spider evaporates in a puff of smoke.
The mecha-spider that was knocked off of the southernmost core scrabbles around on its back, trying to roll back over onto its legs.
"You can't hold me out forever," Brian's voice taunts over the comm. The red lines continue to probe across Jason's network map of the Avatars R&D computers.
Cadena circles around the fallen spiderbot in the lab, and then pumps another shotgun blast into it when it's clear that it's still moving.
"I don't have to hold you out forever, just long enough to alter your simulation," Jason answers calmly into the comm.
KaPOW! At nearly point-blank range, the shotgun blast rips the spider wide open. Shrapnel flies across the room, stark against the shiny white floor.
"Never took a liking to spiders," Cadena growls, as he continues across the lab.
The remaining spiders continue on their program of assimilation! Just ahead of him, Cadena sees something chilling-- a technician wearing a robot spider on his head, its mandibles sunk into the back of his neck. He lurches toward the door to the security room and tries to open them... But they are closed and locked. He begins hammering at the door.
Another spider leaps out at Cadena!
"Here, spider, spider," Cadena taunts as he "dances" with the thing. Hey, look at this! I might be putting a little-bitty Q-Core into this chamber here. Maybe you should look inside!"
The spider misses Cadena as he sidesteps! It rattles and hisses, trying to focus its warped and scratched optics on him.
To the north side of the room, spiders start gnawing into the cases of the Q-Cores! Blake Forester looks extremely worried. "This, this is bound to throw the simulation off! I'm sorry, Mr. Arcadia, but perhaps the gentleman is correct. Whatever data corruption ensues from halting the program cannot be worse than whatever will happen if these... mechanical monstrosities are allowed to invade the program!" He turns and begins to head toward the server room door.
"But-- I am not paying for another year of wasted computer time," Mr. Arcadia explodes. He continues to rage at the scientist.
"Do not shoot Blake. This isn't the man who hurt you; it's an alternate version and before the time," Jason points out in the private comm. "And right now if he can shut this down, that's exactly what we need."
"But he could grow up to be the man who tortured me," the golden vixen hisses back.
Tracy tries to ignore the skin-crawling sensation as Forester brushes past her. She doesn't try to stop him though: instead she goes to the terminal and tries to bring up the data she wants. She tries to narrow the search to Palmdale and bring up information on one Montagne, Brian. "Mr. Arcadia, in the world your simulation is accessing, you have a daughter and granddaughter. Their lives, and everyone else's in that world will be wiped out if the simulation isn't shut down properly."
"Or he may not if we change things now," Jason points out in the comm. "Leave it for now. Please."
The monitor flickers, through a list of possible matches... But after a few seconds, Tracy manages to narrow it down to her suspect. Brian Montagne's profile information pops up. He looks nearly like Jason, except his looks have been altered through cosmetic surgery to movie star perfection. Perhaps Tracy had better not show it to Akiko.
"I've got him," Tracy says over the Irongrip channel, and even uses the camera on her wristcomp to send the image from the display, hoping it'll at least distract Jason Zero.
A bit more work and she manages to slave one of the simulation monitors to display "Brian Montagne" in real time. He is in the control room of the Ouroboros, with a dead Andrei on the floor next to him. He types on two different keyboards at the same time, like a maestro playing some infernally complicated music. Behind him the overhead view shows a Q-Core with what looks like electical burns across its surface. A gunmetal gray box on the side of the Q-Core appears to have been added in an effort to repair whatever damage was done to its internal systems.
"Ah! You've got my good side," Brian says, mugging for the camera. "Who are you, and can I persuade you with an offer of money, power, and whatever else you might want, to turn your back on my foolish, older self?"
"Hey," Cadena barks over the com system, "I could use a few more guns in here. I can't very well reload a shotgun while Itsy-Bitsy is chewing on my leg!"
Inari hisses to herself, seeing Blake Forester coming through the door... She visibly struggles with herself, then turns and leaps forward to vent her anger against something else-- the spider!
"I'm Tracy Trudeau and that should answer all of those questions," Tracy notes.
From Cadena's point of view, a laser blade springs out of nowhere... And slices through the spider! WHOOSH
"But if you really want me on your side, all you have to do is put that pistol to your head and pull the trigger," Tracy says. "In fact, I'm pretty sure if you just think about it that's enough of a hook for Jason to influence you into doing it.."
"Tarnation!" Cadena calls out, as he staggers back. "Er ... nice shootin', Tex!"
"Tracy, second option at hand. Have Mr. Arcadia erase me and everything related to me from the simulation," Jason suggests into the comm. "If I don't exist, neither does he."
In the northern part of the room, three more spiders gnaw on the casings of the Q-Cores. Acid hisses as it burns away the armoring.
"You don't really expect a simulated time paradox to work, do you?" Tracy replies on the closed channel. "What's the point if he intends to destroy the world?" Instead, she tries to focus the view on the keyboards Brian is using, to see if she can figure out which one is being used to control the spiders.
A woman screams as she runs from the spider-bot! She narrowly manages to stay ahead of the spider pursuing her.
The lieutenant and his men fan out into the Q-Core lab, bringing up the rear. Three of them emerge from the nearby door while two more head for the second door!
"Jason, it looks like he's devoting all of his efforts to the security attack, and the spiders are just autonomous," Tracy reports. "Would seeing what he's typing help you at all?"
"Might. But my main goal is to shut this all down. Otherwise it's just constant delaying," Jason notes.
Tracy switches the camera feed over to the private channel, so Jason can watch it if he needs to. "I'm coming to help," she says.
Jason takes aim at the Infinity core which has one of the spiders on it. "RIU, aim for the central one with another of the spiders. I think it is in your range," he orders.
CRACK! Blake Forester cries out as Jason unleashes a devastating lightning strike for the northernmost Q-Core! Brilliant white lightning plays around the housing... Then grounds itself into the robot spider clambering over it. The spider seizes up momentarily, toppling off the case, followed seconds later by the other one.
"Huh," Cadena remarks, mid-jog toward the action. "I need to get myself one of those things."
"You maniac!" yells Forester as he jogs toward the server room. "If the housing's compromised, you'll disrupt the circuitry and the simulation will run haywire! We're lucky they held up to that!"
Resealing her sneaksuit, Tracy goes stealth and heads for the airlock, intent on getting the path to the server room clear.
On the simulations monitor, 'Brian Montagne' steeps his fingers as if considering what to do. "Trudeau... Tracy Trudeau, is it? Well, no, I don't think I'll be putting a gun to my head very soon now." He smirks. "But you might be regretting joining the losing side soon." He leans forward, beginning a new typing frenzy.
"Hey, Varmint! You, over there, the one chasing that nice young lady. Beggin' your pardon, ma'am," Cadena rambles, as he reloads his shotgun on the run. "Now, you leave off and all, because she hadn't done you no harm. And, 'sides, I've got a SHOTGUN! I think that makes me a higher-priority threat, don't you agree? Here, spidey, spidey, spidey!"
"Then shut the goddamn thing down," Jason says rather curtly and snaps his right wrist to kickstart the recharge cycle. "This isn't some stupid game we're playing. The life of a universe is at stake. I know from past experience that you don't give a crap, but I do. So if it's not down in the next few minutes I'm ripping the hull open and taking it down."
Forester stares at Jason. "I believe you, young man. Very well. If you can keep these mechanized menaces off of me, I'll do what I can."
The cyborg technician at the server room door stops banging against it. Instead, it starts tapping away at the keypad. Wrong combination... Another wrong combination.
The two spiders that were knocked off struggle to regain their footing! One manages to scramble back onto its limbs, the one nearest the woman. She screams and flees the spiders!
Unfortunately, the other spider puts on a burst of speed and leaps toward her shoulders! Her screams are stifled as she struggles with the arachnopod.
Another cyborg marches toward the server room door.
Jason takes aim at the third spider harassing one of the technicians while RIU is ordered to target the second one again.
The powered armor unleashes an intense lightning blast that tears into the arachnopod on the woman! She collapses unconscious to the floor, but the spider convulses and then collapses into inertness.
Across from them, RIU lets loose another needle-thin lightning bolt that scrapes across the other spider-mech! It flails its limbs frenetically in a sudden rictus-dance before erupting, 'letting loose the magic smoke'.
"Hey, what's behind that door they're trying to open?" Cadena calls out. "Is there something else we're supposed to defend?"
"That's the server room where we can shut things down!" Tracy calls back.
Inari sneaks forward into the eastern lab, positioning herself behind the one technician whose head has been covered by a spider-bot. "Kill them or try to knock them out?" she radios over their private channel. "Those things are on pretty good."
"Destroy the bot but not the person, if possible," is all Jason says.
Dr. Forester and his impromptu guard of Irongrip Security move forward across the room. They sweep the room for signs of enemy presence...
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Cadena grumbles. "There's more underfoot in the cable crawlspace under the servers! I don't think we can take them all out with whack-a-mole tactics."
As if on cue, floor tiles flip up as spiders swarm into the room! Brian's voice says over the Irongrip Security channel, "There! My loyal assistants have managed to establish a crude communication network using the ground lines. All the better to let me see what you are up to. How are you getting along in there, older self?"
"You can't keep me out of their computers forever, you know. It's just a matter of time until I've completely mapped out this network of nodes," he adds.
The nearby spiders scuttle up to engage the guards! "Hold them off," yells the lieutenant. "Don't let them get to the doc!"
Zahnrad says, "I can quite you earlier you said RIU was at 14/20, and he's done invis and been blasting since then. So, uyes I can say his pool is close to depleted."
To be continued!