Disclaimer: Toonami is copyright Cartoon Network.
A/N: This Toonami Total Immersion Event was probably the least enjoyable (because "most disappointing" sounds pessimistic) out of the three that featured TOM and Sara. All TOM did in each part was wake up, fix a problem with the push of a single button, and plug back into the ship's systems to continue fighting the viruses. It was pretty monotonous, whether or not you played the online tie-in game, which reportedly placed you in TOM's shoes flying a little jet and blasting away at virus hordes. Thank goodness we had such a cool voice actor for the star of the show.
Bearing this in mind, I've built a lot onto the original story, hopefully pumping it all the way up to the status of "action-packed thrill ride" while not letting the action overshadow the characters too much (I may have failed at this). Shootouts, fight scenes, and explosions await our favorite Toonami host ... Well, one of our favorites. I kinda like the squat, bubble-headed TOM a little more.
EDIT: After completing Trapped in Hyperspace, I realized a number of improvements that could have been made. So, during my seven-month hiatus from writing, I submitted it to a few aesthetic changes. Nothing that would alter the overall story or its outcome, but enough to make it a slightly better read. To anyone who has read it once and doesn't wish to do so again, you won't be missing out on anything significant. This is the last time Trapped in Hyperspace will undergo such a revision.
Trapped in Hyperspace
Episode 1: Into the Light
In space, the list of manmade objects that could dwarf an L-Class Deep Space Explorer like the Absolution in size was a very short one. In no particular order, the list of giants included space stations, massive mobile facilities built for industrial enterprises, and interstellar cruise ships. TOM, the one and only crew of the Absolution, was stepping onto its bridge in anticipation of the fourth item on the list: a hyperspace aperture.
His chair was built on a track that circled the computer hub in the middle of the bridge. He stepped up to the hub, allowing the chair to slide in behind him so he could fall into it and take the weight off his metallic feet. Once Sara gave the all clear, they could get moving. As she did, her English-accented voice seemed to glide smoothly out of her sound systems and over the comfortably-lit interior.
"Hyperdrive online," she intoned. "Entering hyperspace in five ... four ... three ... two ... one."
A good distance out in front of the ship, an uneven portion of space began to shimmer like fluid. Stars and nebulas rippled behind it, as if they were nothing more than reflections on the surface of a pond that was just coming into existence. Then the agitated membrane broke up to expose a swirling, scintillating tunnel of vibrant color. The Absolution pushed in until it was completely immersed in hyperspace, and seconds later was thousands of miles along its journey.
In its wake, the aperture collapsed. Its return to normality was marked by a burst of fiery stardust and a diminishing ripple after the membrane effect had sealed up. Then the cosmos were dark and empty again, as if nothing had ever been there.
[Time to arrival: 01:02:11]
Traveling at physically impossible speeds with ribbons of light flashing outside the bridge's canopy had become a familiar theme to TOM. The kaleidoscopic rainbow made his optic visor flash with five different colors at any given second. He soon lost interest and looked at Sara's blue head, which was as usual displayed on the independent holographic screens that were projected over the hub.
"Well, I'm beat," he muttered. "How long til we get back to the Earth?"
"At least an hour," Sara replied. "Why don't we ... hang on a second."
"What's up?"
"A power shortage in the engines. Nothing major, but it could turn into a problem."
Sighing, TOM pushed himself to his feet. "Okay, I guess I'll take care of that. Looks like the day's not over yet."
"No need," Sara said. "I'll divert some power from the auxiliary station. It should be fine for the time being." She coaxed him back down. "After repairing the lighting system on an entire level of the ship and fine-tuning the reactor's conduits, you should probably rest up. You can take a look at the engines after we drop out of hyperspace. There's plenty of time."
TOM followed her advice and plopped back into his chair, his sigh a relieved one this time. "Thanks, Sara ... Do I ever tell you how great it is having you run stuff? I'd be totally depleted if I had to get crap done all by myself."
"Your gratitude is appreciated. After all, it's not as though most of your time is spent playing video games rather than working."
"Was that actual sarcasm?"
"Possibly."
"Hmm ... I'll have to watch out for that from now on." TOM leaned back with mock-wariness.
"Is there anything you want to do in the meantime?"
"Put on some low beats," TOM said. "This looks like it's gonna be a smooth ride." With his helmet-like head nested in his large hands, he crossed his feet and relaxed. He detected the nigh-indiscernible rhythm of the engines vibrating through his metallic shell and loosening up his joints. The sensation made him think of the softest subwoofers in existence playing the calmest techno music ever cranked out. His mind cleared, and the hours ahead began looking like a good opportunity to do absolutely nothing. He uttered a content sigh and muttered, "Let's chill for now. After that, we can play some Mass Effect or whatever."
Sara tilted her holographic head affectionately. "If you'd like to, I could—" But before she could finish her sentence, she was cut short by an electronic screech and a sharp cry of what sounded alarmingly like pain.
TOM sat up, worried without knowing why. Sara's head was jerking around as if she were in agony or struggling to shake her vision clear. She was in some kind of trouble, and whatever the nature, it was definitely more serious than a power shortage. "Sara, what's wrong?"
"I d-d-d-don't know," she said between pained grunts. The reply came out in a disturbingly synthetic way as feedback cut into her words. "V-v-virus alerts going-g-g-g off. Attemp-p-p-p-p-pting to ..." Nothing more could be heard. TOM watched in horror as the resolution of her face dissolved into chaos. In its place, the entire array of holographic screens floating above the bridge's computer hub transformed into bright red virus alerts.
TOM was just getting to his feet to deal with the problem when the entire ship was suddenly rocked by outside forces. His exclamation was drowned amidst the blaring alarms as he was knocked off his feet and thrown across the bridge.
Outside, the Deep Space Explorer began tilting and twisting within the hyperspace tunnel. It wouldn't crash into the sides of the tunnel or take damage from them, but that didn't mean it wasn't dangerously out of control.
Despite the quaking of the entire ship, TOM managed to overcome his dizziness and grapple his way back to the computer hub. Rising to his feet, he took stock of the situation: most of the ship's functions were shut down, which explained the shaking. Worst of all, Sara was completely offline.
"Oh, man, what is this?" He gripped the edge of the computer hub to read the giant red message that was flashing in his face. "This is way worse than our April Fool's Day virus problem, that's for sure."
Suddenly, the virus alert vanished from all six holographic windows. TOM, hunched over the console to keep from being thrown off, narrowed his face at the image directly in front of him. As he watched, something worse took over the screens. He pushed away and backed up as a pair of fiery yellow eyes came into focus mere inches from his visor. Doing this made him realize he could stand with only a little difficulty, but his attention right now was focused on the devilish visage that had appeared, unwelcome, on the Absolution's display.
It was a holographic avatar, and an angry-looking one at that. His body was put together from sharp, angular plates, all of them glowing with the same orange radiance as scalding hot metal. Edges stuck together awkwardly and corners jutted out like blades, especially from the shoulders and head. This, combined with his narrow face and lean body, made him look like the digital equivalent of some mythological beast from the underworld. Behind his eyes and mouth, which seemed to have been cut into his face like an agonized jack-o-lantern, yellow and white heat flared as if from the heart of a furnace.
"What in the world is—" TOM began, but the menacing character cut him off with a deep, wicked laugh that matched his appearance perfectly.
"Hyperspace is no joke," the virus barked mockingly. "Everything has to be perfect! The slightest error ... a single miscalculation ... can be deadly! Mwahahaha!"
Keeping his cool with some effort, TOM demanded, "Who are you?"
"Who am I? Who am I? That's for me to know and you to find out."
It was already clear to TOM that this guy would not be forthcoming with answers. He tried anyway. "Okay, then, what do you want? And more importantly, what have you done with Sara?"
"You've seen the last of your precious AI, fool!" the virus growled. "But you can try to get her back if you want to look pathetic. Come and get her ... if you dare! Hwahahahaha! You'll crash into the Earth long before you can save her."
Some people ... TOM thought to himself, feeling the beginnings of intense frustration boiling up inside him, not to mention resentment. He quickly got a hold on those emotions and turned them into a determined loathing, then focused it at the demonic menace in front of him. "Why are you dong this?" he said in a low voice.
"For fun!" the virus exclaimed. He was not the slightest bit daunted by TOM's determination. He even followed his statement with another psychotic laugh while his image faded from view.
"Man, this is not looking good," TOM murmured, turning away and clenching his fists. "I've gotta get Sara back online, but how?" An idea came to him fairly quickly, as they often seemed to during times of urgency. Unfortunately, it was an idea he couldn't plan through very far, at least not until he took the first step. It was also crazy. But there wasn't much else to do at the moment, and it was the only way he could get a clue as to what was going on beyond the interior of his out-of-control ship. He needed to be on the same plane of existence that this virus was operating on.
He turned to the door. "Clyde!"
At his command, one of the Absolution's last remaining camera/toolbox droid units came zooming onto the bridge. It drifted up to him, the three lenses behind its glass plate whirring and refocusing. They appeared curious.
"Here's how it's gonna go down, Clyde," TOM explained. "Unless that guy's lying through his teeth, or vent or whatever, I need to make things operational before we hit Earth and blow up about a hundred of our viewers." He gestured to the computer hub. "I'm going to jack into Sara's systems and try to take on this virus. With any luck, I can break his hold on us before we crash. And get Sara back." The eyeball-like robot bleeped as TOM knelt before the hub and extracted a link cable from his neck. A curved glass dish slid open to expose the data port he would need to access the network. "Stay here and watch me," he continued. "If you see anything strange ..."
At the pause in TOM's speech, Clyde emitted a concerned whine. "Ahh, right ... Just wake me if I'm dying or something, okay?" TOM interpreted the following series of noises as confirmation. "Great, here goes nuthin'."
He reached for the data port and plugged in. With a swirl of white, the world around him dissolved and he became immersed in another.