By: Jay Winger
Foreword: The concepts, locations, and characters of ReBoot are property of Mainframe Entertainment. They are used only for fun and, in this case, pure speculation. This short fic, by the way, is not intended to coincide with my other ReBoot fics, the Cybernomicon Saga, in any way. For timeline-trackers, it is set after "To Mend and Defend" and before "Icons."
Isolation. Loneliness
**I will get free. It has been far too long. They will be totally unprepared for me.**
Nostalgia. Memories.
**Ah, yes, how glorious it was...**
Fury. Rage.
**They will regret having ever banished me to this infernal place!**
"Mistah Epson, has Guardian Canon found that rogue Codemastah in System 359?"
"No, sir. The Codemaster has escaped all attempts at capture. Canon has requested reinforcements."
"Send Guardians Umax and Astra."
"Aye, sir. ...Sir?"
"Yes, Mistah Epson?"
"Dr. Casio and Guardian Risc are awaiting your authorization for their recon mission."
"Ah believe they ah goin' t' th' Web, raht?"
"Yes, sir."
"Tell them they have a green light and mah full suhport."
Guardian 528 -- Risc, to his friends -- put his feet up on the console of his scout craft. The person he was piloting for -- the scientist Dr. Casio -- was outside, wearing a hazard suit, taking direct scans of material. In true scientific curious fashion, this meant she was scanning each and every piece of Webstuff that floated by.
~~Scientists,~~ Risc thought with distaste.
Stifling a yawn, he flicked the comm switch. "So, Doc, what's your scanner picking up?"
"Nothing new," Dr. Casio reported sadly. "Just the same radiation and Webspores."
~~Yeah, she'd probably be happy to have a new kind of Webdust to classify,~~ Risc thought.
"Nothing on those legendary Websprites you kept talking about?"
"Nothing," she confirmed. A pause. "Still, if my analysis is correct, then is is theoretically possible that sprites could survive in the Web for extended periods."
~~Heh, that's rich,~~ he thought. ~~Geeze, who is she kidding? The Web's too dangerous for that. I mean, the Web just destroyed Mainframe -- and Guardian Bob along with it!~~
"All right, Doc," Risc said, "best get back. We have to get to our next stopover and transmit our sitrep back to the Supercomputer."
"Copy that," Dr. Casio said. "I'm on my way back -- what the? Hold on."
Risc sat up in his seat and looked at Dr. Casio on the screen. She was examining a Webrock, her scanner's light flashing, washing it in green light. Her other hand was reaching for one of her tools. Risc thumbed the comm. "Eh, what's up, Doc?"
"My scanner is showing an anomaly within this rock. I'm going to open it up to see what's inside."
Risc checked his chronometer, then said, "Negative on that, Doc," he said. "Bring the rock back and do your scientific stuff in the lab. We really have to get moving for the stopover."
"All right," Dr. Casio said. She put her scanner away and carefully cradled the Webrock in her hands. "I'm coming back in now." She turned toward the scout craft and activated her hazard suit's jump jets.
Risc got up from the pilot's seat after activating the automatic pilot. He went over to the hatch, cycling it open for Dr. Casio. She got inside the airlock, set down the Webrock, then waited for the atmosphere to come to normal before she moved to take off her helmet. "Careful, Doc," Risc admonished. "We don't know where that rock's been."
"Oh! Yes, thank you for reminding me." She stooped and picked the rock up. She deposited it in the safe bin, which linked directly with her lab. That done, she quickly sterilized the hazard suit and then removed the helmet. She stepped out of the airlock into the scouter.
Risc nodded. "Okay, that's done. I'll go take us to the stopover. You can go and poke that rock to your heart's content." He started back to the cockpit, shaking his head a bit.
~~Sometimes I think she'd forget her head if it weren't screwed on tight.~~
Sensation. Awareness.
**What's going on? Who's there?**
Touch. Violation. Realization.
**Someone has found me! Finally, I will be...**
Anticipation. Joy.
**FREE!!**
Dr. Casio walked into the lab and put her helmet aside. She pressed a control and watched two mechanical arms retrieve the Webrock from the safe bin and deposit it on the examination table. She tapped her hazard suit, causing her icon to emerge from a covered patch. She tapped it again, and her hazard suit vanished, to be replaced with her utilitarian lab jumpsuit. She approached the table.
"All right, you," she said to the Webrock, "let's find out what you have inside for me."
Picking up her tools, she carefully set about looking for a crack with which to open the anomalous stone.
**Yes! Yes! Open this stone! End my banishment! Set me free!**
Risc was leaning back, feet propped up again on the console as the scouter piloted itself toward the scheduled stopover point. He folded his hands behind his head and whistled a tune his mother had taught him. He smiled. This was the easy part of the job.
On a whim, he thumbed the comm. "How's it goin', Doc?"
After a pause, she replied, "I was doing fine until you interrupted me, Risc."
"Ah, my bad, sorry, Doc." He switched off the comm and leaned back again, gazing out the window. He watched the colorful Webscape drift by. ~~I'll give the Web one thing: it has a really good view.~~
Then he sat up and checked the readings. His brick red skin paled. "Oh...FAQ me!" he swore. He grabbed the controls and hurled the scouter into a sharp turn. Outside, a malevolent swirl of energy spun out of a nebulous cloud, moving directly toward them. ~~It must be an electromagnetic attraction to the energy our engines are putting out!~~ Risc leaned hard in his seat to keep his balance.
Dr. Casio's voice screamed over the comm. "RISC!!"
"Hang tight, Doc! We got incoming!" He punched the engines to get them clear.
It wasn't enough.
The tendril of energy collided with the scouter's port side, scorching plating and blasting into the engine. Risc grunted as he was thrown in his chair. Sparks flew from damaged consoles and objects fell from their cabinets. He grimaced as he fought to get the craft back under control.
Sighing with relief as things smoothed out, Risc checked the readouts. ~~Minor damage to the electrical systems and the portside engine. Nothing the Doc and I can't fix. Speaking of which...~~
"Doc, everything all right back there?"
No answer.
"Doc?"
No answer.
Stifling a curse, the Guardian got up from his chair and ran back toward the lab.
After the minor interruption, Dr. Casio was still at an impasse with the Webrock. She'd found a cleft in the stone, but her spreader had failed to open it. The same held true with her chisel and hammer. She sighed, about to resort to the laser cutter -- which she was loathe to use. Conceivably, the laser beam could damage whatever it was that was giving off the anomalous reading.
But, if she wanted to find out what was inside...
Then the scouter was rocked hard, and the laser cutter fell from her hands, shooting its deadly beam around the lab. The beam scored plating and equipment. It shot across the Webrock, leaving a smoking line scarring its surface. Dr. Casio looked up and punched the comm. "RISC!!" she screamed.
Movement. Heat.
**What is happening now?**
Pain!
**Oh, please, User, don't let me quit file before tasting freedom again!**
Opening. Proximity.
**What's this?**
FREEDOM!
**At last!**
Dr. Casio turned away from the comm to see a mass of yellow veins creeping out of the smoking scar. She gasped -- and that was when the veins leapt off the Webrock, latching onto her front, zeroing in on her icon.
Cold. Total ice.
That was what descended upon her being, causing her to faint. Then a voice, just as chill as her body now, spoke in her mind.
**Now, to catch up on what I missed on the Net during my banishment.**
Unbidden, buried thoughts surfaced in Dr. Casio's mind. Thoughts accessed by the...creature which had invaded her.
**No, no, my dear, not invaded.**
The chill intensified.
**Infected.**
Risc entered the lab to see Dr. Casio lying on the floor, her bluish-violet skin paled somewhat. He knelt beside her to check for injury, then backed up as he saw the mass of yellow veins sprawled over her front. "What the FAQ--?"
**Well, who have we here?**
~~Risc, Guardian 528.~~
**Ah, so this is a Guardian! Excuse me a nano, my dear.**
The yellow veins quivered, then sprang off of Dr. Casio, pouncing toward Risc. Reacting instinctively, the Guardian ducked and dodged away. The veins landed on one of the mechanical arms, then twisted around and pounced again. Risc dodged again, picking up the fallen laser cutter. ~~What I wouldn't give for a keytool right about now...~~
He swept the beam toward the veiny mass, but it skittered aside, then sprang again. It landed on his arm -- (cold, ice, chill) -- but he flung it away, making it land against a metal cabinet. He backed away, toward Dr. Casio, keeping the cutter aimed at the veins. He jumped back in surprise as she sat up suddenly. Her skin's color had returned to normal, except for the glowing touch of yellow at her temples -- which greatly resembled the veins that mere nanoseconds ago had been sitting on her chest. He could see the same yellowish corruption on her icon. She looked at him, and he could see that same corruption in her eyes.
~~What in the Net? Is this thing some sort of virus? It looks like the Doc's been Infected!~~
Unfortunately, he had been so distracted by Dr. Casio that he had no time to react to the veins as they leapt across the lab to land on his chest, attaching themselves to his icon. The chill he'd felt when the virus/creature had landed on his arm returned in full force. He gasped in shock, then remembered his Guardian protocol; he brought the laser cutter around to fire at the virus/creature.
The chill intensified.
**Ah, ah, ah! None of that!**
Risc fell over, the cutter dropping from his hand as he felt the coldness sweep over his mind. Questions filled his mind: ~~If this thing is a virus, how can it be Infecting me? I'm a Guardian...I should be immune...~~ But then the viral chill paralyzed his thoughts.
**Dr. Casio.**
The scientist turned to look at the veins sitting on Risc's chest. "Yes?"
**I'll be busy with Guardian Risc for a while. Be a dear and get started repairing this craft.**
"At once." Wordlessly, Dr. Casio rose to her feet and picked up the laser cutter and a few other tools. She tapped her corrupted icon, the hazard suit returning. Putting on a helmet, she walked out into the airlock.
**Now, then, my dear Guardian Risc, you are going to tell me exactly what I need to know about your Guardian Collective...**
"Sir?"
"Yes, Mistah Epson?"
"It seems that Guardian Risc and Dr. Casio have returned from their mission early."
"Ah? That's good t' heah."
"Yes, sir. Risc is requesting to upload their findings to the Supercomputer database. He needs access to the Collective's Core."
"Natch-ruhly. Ah give mah full permission."
Connection. Establishment.
**Ah, the fools.**
Knowledge. Control.
**They have gotten far too trusting, too complacent.**
Power. Domination.
**I will put an end to that. I will put an end to them all.**
Dominating systems, people, and cities, to this place...
The Supercomputer.
My birthright.
My name: Daemon.
My format: Supervirus.
To Infect and Triumph.
==BEGINNING==