In our previous episode...
Somehow Andrei Romanov and "Brian Montagne" had managed to harness the power of the portal within the Ozymandias. Codenaming it Ouroboros, they surrounded it with holographic displays with which they could create sufficient similarity to any location that they could create a synecdoche at will. And for Andrei, there was one particular universe he wanted to access...
That was this past version of Avatars LLC. Here, Mr. Arcadia had commissioned a simulation to fully explore the future and how he could best engineer his re-imaging of North Bend into the city of the future. But if that were true, then the universe in which Jason, Tracy, and Akiko lived was merely a simulation-- or a reality created within the metaverse, mirroring the simulation. That mirroring was a weapon that swung both ways: whomever controlled its simulation would be able to create massive changes to the universe with which it corresponded.
So Andrei launched his campaign to send soldiers into the past. Their mission would be to shut down the computers which were operating the simulation, and destroy all data contained within so that the simulation could never be recreated. But unbeknownst to him, Jason, Tracy, Cadena, Akiko, Inari, and Randall had infiltrated the mercenary expedition, and were now loose in the past, to oppose his and Brian's ends. (and who knows, even if this universe won't grow up to become her own, perhaps Tracy has changed this one's future with her warning)
Brian shot Andrei in the head, then launched his own plan. Reactivating the network of remote-controlled robots he had planted previously in a scouting expedition-- the source of previous power failures in Southern California-- he set out to take control of the past Avatars network of ADs. What seemed at first like an easily manageable scattering of intruders soon broke out into a giant swarm of spider-robots from the false floor, aiming for both the quantum cores and the server room. To make matters worse, some of the spider-robots have attacked and taken over the bodies of lab technicians and security guards, animating them!
At this moment, Jason has charged to the defense of a woman being menaced by some of the spiders, but across the room from him, several spiders are approaching quantum cores with the evident intention of boring into them. One is already drilling into the northeastern pillar, an AD named LIGHT according to the white letters on its casing.
A low power light has begun blinking on his kitsune-shaped armor's heads-up display. RIU flutters in midair to his south, looking a bit frantic. On the other side of the wall behind him, two security guards and a worried-looking technician are moving up to back him up.
Brian Montagne's image is being streamed live from monitors into Tracy and Jason's commlinks, allowing them to keep tabs on what he's doing, for what good that's worth. He is using two terminals simultaneously, one hand on each; one shows a tactical map of the Avatars lab floor, showing eight or so spiders as moving blue dots, the defenders as red dots, the other shows a view of the lab's general computer network being filled in slowly.
"You can't keep me out of their computers forever, you know," Brian Montagne gloats as he waves his hands in the air at virtual diagrams. His probes spin through Jason's conjured network architecture as they search for access to the main security systems, but once they've identified loops and shunts, he dismisses them with a flick of his fingers. "It's just a matter of time until I've completely mapped out this network of nodes."
On the south side of the room, the Lieutenant from Irongrip Security and two of his soldiers are pushing forward toward the server room, intent on buying Dr. Forester-- his younger self-- safe passage so that he can initiate the shutdown. Tracy is bringing up the rear, and Cadena has fanned out to the side.
There are three spider-robots directly ahead of them, and two cyborg technicians are further away, one apparently guarding the other one as it tries to work out combinations for the server room door. Behind one, Inari prepares to strike.
"Hold them off!" yells the lieutenant. "Don't let them get to the doc!"
"Is that sort of network hackable, Jason?" Tracy asks as she aims her bolter pistol at the nearest mechanical spider she has a clear shot at.
The Bolter pistol cracks! It's a direct hit to the head. The spider flops over three times in the air and lands in a heap of crumpled repurposed technological junk,.
"Not quickly. Generally, the carrier frequency has to be isolated, which means subtracting out the standard electrical signal, plus any noise. Once you have that, it's still a matter of locating what algorithm ... or I could just forget all that and try the carrier frequency I would use if I were him, at that age, and too arrogant for my own good. Thank God I gained a clue some years ago. Also, I'm better looking and a whole lot smarter," Jason deadpans into the comm system. "And oh look there it is. You're showing your lake of age there, Brian. I quit using such a basic pattern years ago once I determined that it had a fundamental flaw that can be easily exploited."
"If you can shut them down, or take control and let Brian think he's got control.. or whatever, let me know," Tracy says. "As soon as these guys are out of the way, I plan to grab the walking tank from the lobby and secure the portal."
Brian, not having heard Jason's remark, continues working on his intrusion of the lab's security network. Looks like he hasn't hacked their private comms yet!
The black-bodysuited golden vixen switches her laser-sword off. She sneaks quietly up behind one of the two spider-headed technicians... Then leaps, trying to prise the spider off of him with her gloved fingers!
The technician struggles wildly in Inari's grasp! A blue dot starts blinking on Brian's display. He curses, turning some of his attention toward the borgs.
"RIU, power is critical. I really need to build a better battery. But! right now we have other useful things at hand. Link into the power lines; it's time to have a dragon-turret. Me .. I've got someone to deal with. Thinks he's clever, but he's also forgetting that I would know he needs physical access and I can see exactly how he's going for it. He wants to play God? Fine. He's about to go up against an Elder God; me. His elder that is ... er. It sounded funnier when I thought it. I hate it when something that sounds funny in your head sounds stupid when you say it," Jason grumbles as he turns and heads towards the spider that is currently chewing on one of the Q-cores. He even pops his knuckles. Symbolically speaking. Armored hands don't pop. Well, they can but it's usually bad when they do.
"Reload, reload, reload," Cadena mutters, as he hastily grabs a couple more shells from his bandolier and pops them into the breach of the sawed-off shotgun. He snaps it back closed, then rushes over to join the mayhem around Tracy and the guards escorting Blake. "Bugs everywhere! Looks like this place is overdue for a spraying." As he brings his gun to bear, he tries to stomp at one of the spiders underfoot, but to no avail.
RIU zeeps! in response to Jason. The minidragon power-dives down toward one of the floor-tiles that were shattered by the spiders on their emergence... And onto one of the exposed power lines! It bites ferociously at the hissing, snapping cable. Lightning crackles over its scales!
The nearby spider hisses as it detects an object entering its proximity! It turns its sensors toward the powered armor wearer. The other robot on the shell of LIGHT has tuned out all outside distraction. Tiny sparks fly as its mandibles grinds through the hard metal-ceramic armor of the quantum core.
The golden vixen rolls across the floor of the lab with her cyborg victim, struggling... And at last manages to get her hands free and underneath the limbs the spider is using to grab onto the technician's head! She strains to prise it free.
The spider robot emits little mechanical whines as it struggles, but her fingers prove to be stronger than its tiny motors. Tiny wires stretch between its mandibles and the technician's skin as Inari lifts... Then snap! The spider-robot jumps off the technician and rattle-hisses at the golden vixen angrily.
Brian turns his attention to the tactical display, bringing up spider-eyeviews. He starts re-prioritizing spider-targets, his teeth visibly grinding. The cyborg that was trying to brute-force the combination lock turns toward Inari, then springs toward her in an obvious attempt to immobilize her!
But even on the ground, the golden vixen's reflexes are unparalleled: she pushes off with one leg, rolling over, so the cyborg splats onto the floor. Its spider-bot head hisses with frustration!
The two spider-robots leap up to attack the guards directly in front of them! The guards yelp, trying to bring up their rifles.
It's close, but one guard manages to kick the spider away from him, and the other one struggles with his spider for a few seconds before his buddy gives him a hand, slamming it with the butt of his assault rifle.
To the north, the remaining spiders decide between targets, sending out little network queries to each other. Jason's armor systems detect incoming priority setting alerts from his nemesis, Brian, across the primitive network they've managed to establish. Two of them are bound south to attack Inari; the other one is headed for him!
Two spiders leap up to try and attack Jason! It doesn't seem likely that they could penetrate his suit's armor anywhere nearly as easily as the unprotected humans, but he doesn't like the looks of what their mandibles can do to computer casings.
Jason easily avoids the one on the left, but the one that pummels through the floor and leaps straight at him is harder to avoid! It lands straight on his helmet, giving him a good look at its drilling attachment. Sparks glint from where its claws scrabble at his head for purchase. No damage yet.
The Lieutenant yells, "Take those spiders out!" His own Bolter out, he suits words to actions.
"Nothing up my sleeve, because I'm not wearing any. However, I am wearing something that has a highly conductive exterior ... and since I expect this model will be shot after this little trip ... I don't think I'll mind a little electron scorching. Plus ... maybe I can jumpstart the battery ..." Jason remarks while he stares into the jaws of something really ugly. "Hey, Brian," he says in the comm system so Brian can hear, "Did you model these bots after your first date? I remember her all too well, all teeth and gums. Serves you right for asking out a dental assistant. Yes, I know she looked better while you were on the laughing gas..." While he's talking, he reaches down into the intrusion hole and grabs the power cable!
The Lieutenant's pistol strikes the closer one across the main body, causing it to flip over once. It struggles to right itself! The other guard, having just used his assault rifle to save his buddy, is off balance as he tries to find his target, and the three-round burst embeds itself against the wall... But the first guard manages to drill a hole right through his target!
In the distance, footsteps sound as more guards run up... And the mech Defender starts to lumber into action!
Guards burst through the door! They sweep north around the simulation cluster, guns drawn. A technician crouches down next to the flustered woman. "There, there, Marilyn. It'll be okay! We've got you covered. Come on, let's get out of here."
Brian grits his teeth as Jason's taunt visibly gets to him.
Lightning cracks between the power line and the suit of armor as Jason reaches down. CRACK!
It's experimental but the surface power redirection array works beyond Jason's wildest dreams. His suit batteries start to recharge with satisfying speed, and at the same time, the live current fluxing over his suit lashes into the spider that was on him, sending it flying across the floor from him!
"Excuse me, Dr. Forester," Tracy says as she squeezes past the man and the guards, heading for the lab door ahead. "Need to secure that door.."
Cadena winces at the flailing spider limbs, and then finally rushes up and practically plants the sawed-off shotgun point-blank on the spider before pulling the trigger. Buckshot blows a hole through the spider-bot's shell, spraying wires and mechanical bits down onto the floor beneath it. With that out of Tracy's way, he turns to join her in the race to the door.
Over the comm line, Randall's voice comes in. "Something's going on... I'm picking up mil freq chatter out there. Otherwise, we're holding the line down here just fine."
"You see, Brian, I know everything you've ever done, because you're just a pale shadow of me. I know you don't want to be, but seriously, look at what you're doing. You stole my ship, you know, the one I rebuilt. If you wanted to be better than me, why not build your own? I think it's because secretly you know you will never be able to do more than copy me, and poorly at that," Jason remarks into the comm again. "And nothing shows how poor a copy you are than how you treated Inari."
Trying to shoot the spider off the cyborged lab worker doesn't work as well as Tracy hoped, her shot going wild. But.. she might have gotten it's attention away from Inari at least.
Deciding that a pistol isn't going to be the best choice for the situation (that is, not wanting to kill the mechanically-possessed technician), Tracy holsters her pistol so she can draw her Taser instead.
Brian grits his teeth. "You think you've got all the answers? Well, I still know a thing or two that you don't--" He is distracted by a voice coming over the loudspeakers. "By order of the Secretary of Defense, you are to stand down and transfer counter-terrorist operations over to our command. I repeat, stand down and transfer counter-terrorist operations! If you do not cease, we will be forced to enter and take control by force."
"Did I say I have all the answers? No, I just said you're worse than finding them than I am. Look around. How many people are fighting with you that you didn't have to force? Me, I have several. Randall is out defending us and has always been someone I can rely in; even though it looks like he glued a hamster to his face. Tracy ... well, okay, she's a little strange, but then compared to her mother she's heroically well adjusted. I probably have the scariest woman alive on my side, too. I don't know what you were thinking but I wouldn't want Inari mad at me. Cadena ... he's a nice guy. Yes, he could use some time in a psychiatrist's office, but he's one of the rare breed that tries to do the right thing. Then there's the matter of my allies still on that side of the portal. Figure out yet what I'm trying to point out, Brian? Where I am more capable than you'll ever be?" Jason asks in the comm.
Randall says over the intercom, "Looks like they've got those military types off their keisters! The Dantech robots are turning to engage them. We're going to have a real brouhaha. Where's the popcorn maker..."
"Is the portal secure then?" Tracy asks over the comm, the distraction causing her to miss the technician when she tries to lunge at him with her taser.
"My hamster wants feeding," Randall adds.
Brian's face is visibly strained. He glares down at the dead body of Andrei Romanov, then at the monitors, searching for the answers. "Friends are a weakness," he says. "You may not care about yourself, but what about your friends? Are you willing to accept them being lost? All I have to do is shut this portal down..."
"No time for this!" Cadena barks, as he drops the shotgun and throws himself at the spider-dominated technician, tackling him. "I'll hold him -- get on through!"
"Yes, you could. We've all known that from the beginning; we came anyway. You also lose in that scenario, I might add," Jason remarks into the comm. "And have you forgotten that I was the one who created the permanent bridge? The one you're now trying to exploit? I did it with nothing more than my wits and a really old piece of tech; do you think I couldn't do it again? Then what would you have? Only proof that no matter what, I'm always better than you. You can't beat me head on, and by closing the portal all you do is admit to me and the world you couldn't take me head on."
"Raaaarrrrrrgh!" Cadena roars as he grapples the technician, bull-rushing him back toward the other robo-spider.
"Cadena!" Tracy calls out. "No biting!"
The spider-bot in the way looks up with a startled mechanical clicking-- unfortunately, it has no mammalian eyes to get large. It just barely manages to skitter out of the way of the dog and his cyborg friend!
Brian slams his hands against the terminal. "It's not going to end like this! It can't!"
The spiders, lacking further input from their master, follow their autonomous programming. Two spiders scuttle down toward where Inari has rolled onto her feet, crouched and snarling at them, and the third spider near her looks between both her and the dog-soldier that has smashed a cyborg nearly against the wall.
Spiders scurry over the two anthropomorphs, but their wild flailing of limbs are unsuccessful in snaring either! Inari laughs. "Silly things, do you really think you had a chance against me?"
The spider Jason's suit electrocuted continues to flail on its back feebly. The other one leaps toward him again, heedless of his electrical defenses!
"You're not a God, and neither am I," Jason points out into the comm. "I had the chance, and I turned it down. Know why? Because it wouldn't give me what I wanted. Funny, really. Absolute power isn't so absolute. What I wanted ... excuse me, one of your toys is trying to chew on my butt."
ZOT It lands straight on his visor! But it doesn't even manage to scratch the glass before being flung straight back by the high-voltage current.
Dr. Forrester peers out from behind the guards protecting him. "Is it clear yet? We need to get to the server room before ..." He shudders at the spiders. "Any more of these show up."
"RIU, come over here. I need a bit of pest control. Show these bots what you can do, eh? When they're in range, fry em." Jason asks the little dragon over the comm. Meanwhile, he heads towards the drilling spider so he can snap the antenna off with his hands. "I've never once had the desire to fondle a spider's bum," he mutters.
"Almost, Dr. Forester," Tracy calls back into the core room.
RIU flits over, still shedding stray electricity, then winds up and zaps the threshing spider! ZAP! It crackles and becomes still.
The golden vixen rolls back to her feet and flicks her laser-sword back on. She slashes at the encrouching spiders!
SSSH! The Naginata Blade hums as she melts through one of them. The other spider hisses and chitters unhappily!
"Wow, Mister Spider, you have this horrible growth sticking out of your backside. Here, let me get that," Jason remarks rather dryly as he grabs hold of the legs-turned-antenna and pulls. They separate from the spider's carapace with an electrical crackle. "There, now doesn't that feel better?"
"Dammit!" Brian curses as a blue dot winks out on his map.
The south set of guards push through the door into the side room forming a defensive wall for Dr. Foreester. Up north, Jason catches sight of the other two guards aiming their rifles at the remaining spider behind him.
Dr. Forester pauses behind Tracy, looking around the side room hesitantly. It looks like there are still (shudder) spiders left alive in there!
Tracy looks at all the guards, and figures they'll be enough to dissuade Inari from killing Forester after he's done his job. "Are you okay after that tackle, Cadena?" she asks her former pet.
Bullets spak across the false floor, ripping up chunks of absorbent microfiber coating... But enough of them find a mark that the spider emits a puff of black smoke and ceases its struggles!
"Still ... working ... on ... it!" Cadena growls while wrestling with the technician and his spider-head parasite. "Holding ... them ... off!"
The Defender droid enters the room, despite the scientist yelling, "Keep that thing out of here! It's not cleared for clean room use!" It sweeps the area with red-glowing visors, looking for targets.
Max escorts the worried-looking woman out of the room. "C'mon, let's go! We'll be safe, security's on the job," he says, pointing at the Defender that just went by.
The golden vixen draws her blade back to a ready position, striking a pose-- it must be her Hollywood holoshow training-- then slashes at the other spider nearby!
KRRZT! The spider literally melts beneath the heat of her laser sword.
Jason flicks off the external comm, going back to the private channel. "Listen up. Brian may cut the portal, and if that happens, we're all dead. So I'm going to have to countermeasure; which means accessing this core myself by puppetting this spider. I need to locate ol' ATLAS again. RIU, watch my back while I get this set up," Jason instructs, "Then I'm going to need you too. Now, how does it go? The neural connection goes to the ... stupid invertebrates; no spine to hack. Gotta dig while it digs..." And so, he starts ever so delicately prodding around in the gnawing spider's innards.
"Woo-hoo!" Cadena cries as soon as he realizes the molten spider bits showering his armor are what's left of one of the enemies. "That's showin' 'em, ma'am!"
Brian swears as more blue dots wink out. "Frotz it!"
The minidragon wings in circles around Jason's head! It's on the job.
The spider head continues drilling into the case even as Jason begins his study. It is nothing if not mechanically dedicated.
"Great, he invented mechanical crabs," Jason mutters.
Tracy is also a bit alarmed by the appearance of the security mech. "No, no! Bad robot," she calls to it. "I need you down at the loading dock," she says as she approaches it - remembering the desk guard added her and the others to its recognition system.
"I wonder if I can keep this robot and use it to torment Tracy later," Jason mutters as he patches into the remaining fiber links so that he can hook it into his own comm-system. One Q-Core terminal, coming up.
The security robot turns and scrutinizes Tracy.
"Need ... a bludgeon ... got to hit this varmint." Cadena casts around while trying to keep the squirming controlled parasite/technician combo under control, trying to see if there's something in reach that he can use. The only thing he sees immediately is still mobile. "Somebody stomp that robo-bug and hand it to me? I'd be much obliged."
The two guards at the north end of the lab push past Jason, sweeping their weapons around to cover the long hall of cubicles. "Clear here!" one yells.
Trying to sound like her mother - which she has practiced in the past, just because - Tracy tells the robot, "This area is not rated for your weapons systems. You must proceed to the elevator and go down to the loading dock, where you are to provide backup for the forces securing the loading door against incursion."
The other guards look at the ongoing scuffle between Cadena, the cyborg-technician he is wrestling, and the spider that is wriggling around. Clearly shooting into the melee has a high chance of friendly fire! "Hold still," one yells, slinging his rifle around his back. "I'm going to grab on!" The other guard stands back, prepared to cover him if the spider goes for his face.
The guard latches onto the cyborg-technician, trading places with Cadena to free him up!
The security bot pauses. "USER... HOLLY TRUDEAU... IDENTIFIED. CONFIRMED. NEW DEFENSE LOCATION SET." It turns and begins to clank back out, over the trampled remains of the greeter droid.
"Your controller on site will identify himself as Officer Randall Cranston," Tracy continues to instruct the robot, calling after it. "Due to compromised network activity, you must disable your wierless communications system until told otherwise verbally!"
Brian grits his teeth. "No, no, this is still okay, I can salvage this. I just have to work from the other end..." He brings the lab's security network up and checks on his probes, redirecting them.
The remaining free spider mech leaps at Cadena!
Over the private comm channel, Tracy says, "Randall, backup is coming down the elevator. Introduce yourself as soon as you see it and it will hopefully follow your orders."
"Understood!" responds Randall's voice.
The cyborg struggles in the other guard's grip! "Do something!" the guard yells. "It's all I can do to restrain this zorker!"
Two more blue dots wink out on the tactical map, leaving it dotless.
"Awwwright," Cadena says, catching his breath for a moment. He reaches over and GRABS the squirming robot-spider. "Time to ... BEAT THEM WITH THEIR OWN KIND!" And then he does just that, allowing the guard to move out of the way in time as he uses Spider-bot #1 to bludgeon Spider-bot #2 until it stops squirming, and stops puppeteering the poor technician underneath.
The guard whews as the technician-cyborg ceases his struggle. He lets the technician slump to the ground, scrambling to his feet.
"Are we clear up here?" Tracy asks. "If so, I'm following the robot and maybe go through and be a pain in the ass to Brian."
Brian's face changes as he taps far enough into the security system to find... The security robot has gone off the network, and as such, without a spiderbot or two to directly hack into it, he's got no more pieces on the board. "Well, then. If I can't win... That doesn't mean you can't lose, older self." He smirks. "Does that count as suicide?" The simulation video feed shows him reaching down off the edge of the screen.
"Mr. Forester?" Cadena asks. "I think we've got it clear for now. We need to keep moving."
"I'm already prepared to die. Are you?" Jason counters calmly into the comm. "RIU, net dive. We're going into the core."
On Jason's suit, green lights show up next to a Network Intrusion monitor. The spider-bot has completed drilling, and its nanotech infiltration systems are now detecting and bonding to the circuitry on the inside of the quantum core.
Randall's voice says over the private comm line, "Something's going on. He's moving his corpsec bots down the hangar of the Ozzy. Clearing space or something. Do you want me to break the ATV out of the ice and get ready to pull us out?"
RIU rars! It flutters down to land on Jason's shoulder.
"What's the phrase? Through the looking glass?" Jason mutters. "I suspect he's about to try to blow the ship, or collapse the portal. If he can't win, he plans to kill us. You should all probably withdraw," he says into the comm.
"Randal, Akiko.. I think Brian's going to try to close the portal or something!" Tracy yelps into the comm. "If you can get through, now might be your last chance!"
"Inari, Tracy, Cadena, you should all withdraw too," Jason adds.
"I'll prepare our getaway then," Randall responds. "C'mon, Mara! Now I'm regretting that we made this stuff so thick." His ice wyvern makes a forlorn foghorn noise that's clearly audible over the comm.
Inari says quietly, "I'll stay with you, Jason. Someone's got to watch your back." She nods to Cadena and the guards. "You, move out. Dr. Forester..." Something glints in her eye. "Get in there. Shut those systems down."
Whether she's taking Jason's advice or has her own plans, Tracy runs for the elevator.
Dr. Forester blanches at the tone of her voice. He hurries to the keypad and fumbles with the combination. It takes him three tries before the doors hiss open to reveal a mostly red-lit server room.
The lieutenant stands guard with his two escorts. "We'll keep the doc covered," he reports.
Inari tilts her head toward Tracy. "Shouldn't you keep an eye on her, Cadena?"
Cyberspace swims up around Jason's senses with a feeling like plunging into warm water. His powered armor suit appears here too; it contains a version of Kimon's hacking suite. RIU appears larger than life, a giant rideable Chinese dragon with golden scales that rises up between his legs to carry him forward. Ahead is the nearest of the eleven nodes that make up the prototype simulation. It appears here as an enormous winged angel made of light, shielded by literally thousands of panels of security lockouts... But the angel is asleep, almost childlike
Cadena nods to Inari. "Looks like you've got this under control, ma'am. Just holler if you need anything." He rushes out, reporting over the comm system, "Heading your way, Miss Trudeau." He scoops up the discarded shotgun on the way.
"Get along little draggy," Jason tells the oversized version of RIU, "We've got some work to do in here; we've got to find a route back to ATLAS; and something tells me the network has one. We need to access amd identify the normal patterns here, and look for any that are, well, out of place. Aliens. sort of like we are. Kind of. Meh, it's hard to describe someone from parallel realities. So ... lets go give that 'God' a wet willie."
Giant RIU roars as it lunges forward! It carries Jason on an overflight of the node. Something seems odd about this cyberspace. The air is thick with something he can't describe as other than magic. He feels as if he stared far enough into the distance, he wouldn't see other networks, he would see other universes.//
Dr. Forester lunges for the chair and ensconces himself. He begins typing away at the simulation terminal, bringing up the maintenance systems and diagnostics. Hundreds of systems show yellow or red. The lieutenant and his guards keep an eagle eye out for intruders.
"Focus. Don't get overtaken by the immenseness. Just need to find access to our world, somehow," Jason thinks as he hands on for the ride! This might have been a bad idea, but what a way to go.
Inari looks over at the other guards at the far end of the hall. "Cover Jason!" she yells, then goes to supervise Forester.
"Inari, don't kill him, please?" Tracy says into the comm as she hurries. "If you don't, I promise I will do everything I can to keep Brian alive until you get to him, okay?"
"Kill him? Not if he doesn't... misbehave," the golden kitsune says with a snarl.
In the control room, Cadena rushes through, pausing just long enough to shout, "We've got at least two casualties in there -- severe head trauma, damage to nervous system ... more than I can hope to patch up with first aid." He pauses as he recognizes a familiar face -- not one that the other Cadena knew in person, that is, but from recordings. "Mr. Arcadia," he says. He salutes. "It's an honor."
Mr. Arcadia, standing up from where he had been crouched by the terminal, brushes himself off with dignity. "Do I know you, sir?" he says to the dog.
Jason's probes dart around the security panels, snagging stray packets of data. He sees... A hazy view of the Earth, centered around the city of this world's future, his home. North Bend. This part of the simulation network must center around vision, each entity's ability to see others.
RIU, circling around, appears to have caught the scent of something to the distance.
"I ... observed some of the data from the simulation, Mr. Arcadia," Cadena says, trying to be both truthful and sane-sounding. "If that thing is accurate, it predicts a terrorist attack, and the release of a bio-weapon called Robespierre's Revenge, which will genetically alter your daughter Penny, among so many other victims. It will doom your granddaughter to a short life. If this is real, it has to be stopped before it can come to fruition."
"What-- terrorists?!" Mr. Arcadia frowns. "I... What can I do?"
"Interesting," Jason says as he looks through each packet, looking for links back to his actual reality. This stalls, though, when RIU seems to find something. "What's up?" he asks the disturbingly large dragon. "Ah, INFINITY? Hm, that seems more expansive, yes. We's go around there. We just have to rig a data hop over LIGHT. Lets see..."
Tracy waits besides the hulking turret-on-legs robot at the elevator, mostly watching the tiny video feed into Brian's bunker to try and figure out what he's up to while she can.
Cadena reaches up and grabs at his altered collar. "I am not a computer expert. I need the assistance of a technician to get the requisite data. I don't know how accurate it is; the simulation has some imperfections, but there might be some truth to the predicted scenarios. I'll have to leave that to your experts to sort out." He slings his shotgun. "Can someone help me with this?"
As Jason soars over LIGHT and attempts to access the dataflow to INFINITY, its security panels swing outward, detecting his intrusion... But RIU manages to glide gracefully between their arcs. They disappear into the gateway, and whoosh! into the next node.
The concerned-looking scientist nearby, an elderly gentleman dressed in the standard lab coat, peers at the collar. "Amazing! This is... Where did you get this? It appears to pack the features of a full maxed out system into the space of a simple hand-held computer. And it's been fitted for a pet even! Er. No offense." He takes the collar and starts poking at it.
INFINITY shows up as another angel, but this one is suspended between two vortexes, one glowing brightly, the other darker than even night itself, standing out clearly against the ambient greyness of cyberspace. Its eyes are open but looking into the distance. Another array of security panels swarms around it.
"Ah ... best I can explain it is, it's an unstable prototype," Cadena warns. "And I don't know how long it's going to last before it melts down. Focus on anything labeled ... 'shrine' or 'Margaret Arcadia.' She's ... she's the theoretical granddaughter of Mr. Arcadia in the future world of the simulation. Just grab what you can. It should explain itself."
The scientist nods. "Understood, mister." He pokes at it... And gets 'Unauthorized user! Access denied.' He looks at Cadena for assistance.
The elevator chimes! Its doors open.
"Cadena," Tracy says into the comm-link. "Just do a video playback into one of their cameras. I'm taking the robot down to help with the portal, follow when you can."
"If I were evil and unscrupulous, I could try to take over everything ... instead of trying to lock it down and make sure we can get home," Jason remarks to the little dragon. "Come on, we have to access infinity. Hopefully it won't take forever."
Cadena sighs. "It's from ... a song from an obscure band." He makes sure the comm-link isn't broadcasting, then recites in monotone the chorus line from Faerie-Punk's song, "Proud to be a Manic Pixie Type," with as much seriousness as he can muster.
Brian's face comes up at last. "All right, that's Andrei's little safeguards disabled. Now all I have to do is shut down this portal... The robots were built to survive a little bit rot. I don't think you will." He starts typing on another terminal.
The collar clicks and brings up a series of colorful menus! The scientist looks excited at first, then frustrated as he struggles with the 'dog-friendly UI'.
"BACKUP?!" yells Inari over the private comm. "No. You will not back the data up. Just get going on the shutdown sequence, Forester, or I'll..."
Cadena tries to give directions to the technician, but his skills as a back-seat computer operator are ... lacking. "Rrrrgh! No, no, no. It's ... don't you just have a COPY feature somewhere?"
Downstairs, it sounds like Mara and Randall are attacking the ice with great vigor, trying to clear out enough along the edges so that the ATV can be pushed to the side.
"Jason? Did you hear that?" Tracy calls into the comm, not really expecting Jason to be in any state to answer. Switching channels to the common one Brian is using, she says, "Please don't do that, Brian."
"I'm sorry, sir," Cadena says, turning to Mr. Arcadia and averting his eyes from the painful sight of the technician struggling with the collar interface, "but I might be faster than this file transfer. The simulation predicted an event on Christmas...." He tries to summarize the critical dates and places, boiling it down to the simplest details of where and what and - to the best of his knowledge - how.
"Have you reconsidered my offers of power, fame, and fortune then, Miss Trudeau?" asks Brian Montagne. A new window opens on his screen showing a face, half wireframe, half human, scarred across one side. ATLAS.
"They don't seem to have done you much good," Tracy points out. "I'm willing to discuss it in person though.."
While Cadena boils down the summary of Arcadia's daughter and granddaughter, the scientist pokes at the collar, triggering voice search mode by accident. It begins a search of local memory and then displays photographs and video records following Cadena's recollection. The scientist snaps his fingers. "Of course! It's not meant to be operated by hand but by voice."
RIU probes the defenses around the quantum core, diving in and between the panels! It says something about system security when it's big enough you can fly around inside it. The panels rotate, twisting around as they sense the wind of its passing.
"Well..." Cadena doesn't try to explain the caveats to the technician. Whatever works best for him, will just have to do. "What's the ETA on that?" He looks for a progress bar on the copying, trying to discern whether it's seconds or minutes, weighing whether it's time to just abandon the collar and run if he is to have any hope of catching up with Tracy.
"I don't know how much time we have, we've got to access it, then find a route back," Jason tells the little dragon. "Brian will sooner or later cut the portal."
One of the panels lights up red. It must have detected his trail!
Brian smirks. "In person, eh? No, I don't think so. If you want to defect to my side, now's an excellent time, otherwise... ATLAS!"
Swallowing her pride as she holds the elvator, Tracy tells Brian over the open-channel, "There's a video of me on the cloudnet, if you haven't found it already." Maybe it'll distract him for half-a-minute at least.
The AD turns its attention toward Brian. "THE ONE WHO WOULD BECOME GOD."
Cadena sighs as he gets a glance at the progress. "All right. I'll have to leave it with you. Good luck." With that, he dashes on toward the door, in the general direction of the lift.
"Atlas?" Tracy asks, then spots Cadena coming out of the lab room. She waves for him to hurry up.
Cadena makes a mad dash to cover the remaining distance, running to the lift, then pausing to catch his breath. He nods. "Sorry ... family ... business," he gasps.
Finally, Tracy presses the button for level 1. "Since I'm my mother at the moment, I really can't comment," she tells Cadena.
"Okay, orderly shutdown is in progress," Inari reports. "According to Forester, it requires three minutes. We need to get out of here before then, gentlemen." She eyes the doctor, who looks visibly nervous at her laser sword. "You can live for now. But don't ever think about stuffing someone inside one of your abominable little simulations. Because if you do, I will pop back out and I will come looking for you."
"But why would I ever..." The scientist quails before her look. Inari stalks over toward Jason, and the Lieutenant motions to his guards.
It's obscured by his visor, but Cadena gives Tracy a horrified look, as if he's missed some critical detail about the nature of the tangled-togetherness of this reality and his own.
The elevator chimes and begins to descend. Over the intercom, Randall motions. "Sam, get that cargo lifter, we'll shove this ice block out of the way!"
Inari slinks up next to Jason as he looks into a cyberspace that she can't see. She lays her hand on his shoulder. "Come on, cowboy," she says, even though she's not sure that he can hear her when he's deep into his hacking fugue. "I'm with you. Show that colossal mountain of a jerk what a failure he really is."
"I'm going to try and sneak through while cloaked if I can," Tracy warns Cadena. "Brian yelled something about Atlas, the AD we met in the Gloaming.. I think Jason is getting us an emergency exit. Just can't be sure.."
"I really hope Inari goes through the portal too, but I have this feeling she's sitting beside me. This is a risk, but probably the only way I'll get to Atlas given I don't have access to any of this back in my universe. If I fail, I die. It's all in now. I never thought I'd be going against myself," Jason mutters, eyes narrowing. "Attack pattern signature clone, random number, side, and direction..." he sends to his systems ... and abruptly dozens or relicas of himself and RIU start popping up all over the virtual landscape. Even ones small enough to fit in a jacket pocket! They all go skittering off in every imaginable direction, including bouncing off the security shields! Once the shields start to reorient, Jason bolts for the opening. "Into the infinite, to find the God of the Gateways. Nothing like looking for the finite in the infinite. I must be mad."