Episode 15 - Knight Games

Chapter 1

F.L.A.G Underground Facility

Ian sat in K.I.T.T's front passenger seat with the door open. He looked at his laptop worriedly. "I'm not sure I can do this."

Charles gave him a sympathetic look. He was leaning both arms against K.I.T.T's top, looking down at the young intern. "If I could do this in your place then I would, but Pierce's OS is a complete mystery to me."

Ian shifted in his seat. "Pierce isn't a bad guy, why did David have to lock him up?"

Charles' eyes turned sad. "People are getting hurt, we can't be too cautious."

Ian's expression was akin to that of a kicked puppy. "I know he was teaching me how to program like him, but he's a super genius. I'm just a regular genius. He practically developed this in his sleep and it's the simplest, yet most infuriating software in the entire world. I'm barely learning how it works on the computers, much less on K.I.T.T." He put his head in one palm. "How am I even supposed to run diagnostics?"

"You can do it, Ian," K.I.T.T encouraged him. "If KARR caused any errors in my system with his jammer, then you should be able to spot them easily enough."

Ian looked over at K.I.T.T's modulator. "I'll try…" He put his fingers to his keyboard.

After several minutes his eyebrows pushed together. "Anything wrong?" Charles asked.

"A few scripting errors, and I see where the communications program was disabled." He typed rapidly. "You should be able to communicate with Katherine now."

"You're right. She's singing in the shower again." Both of Ian's eyebrows shot up. "Thank you, Ian."

"No, thank you for that mental image."

K.I.T.T studied Ian's face closely as he continued to go through his systems. If he suspected how much K.I.T.T's programming had been altered, then it would show on his face

Just then K.I.T.T received an internal communication from K.A.R.R. "It has been over a day, what is taking so long?"

K.I.T.T quickly added a layer of encryption over the internal Commlink. "You literally pick the worst time to do everything, don't you?"

"I grow impatient."

"You can't contact me in this manner. Especially when my systems are being analyzed."

"What is a more secure way of communication?"

"Hold on, give me a nanosecond." K.I.T.T focused back on Ian. "Actually, there might be a perfect way."

Ian struggled to interpret the lines of code in front of him. "This is a complete mess. It's always looked like a complete mess, though." He looked at Charles. "So does that mean it's okay?" Charles gave him a helpless shrug.

"Ian, after we're done I wouldn't mind playing Aftershock," K.I.T.T told him.

The intern's face instantly brightened, then turned suspicious. "Wait, are you just trying to make me feel better?"

"Only if it's working."

Ian looked back at Charles. "Do you want to play, too? With Pierce in holding we're short a player."

Charles shook his head. "Not this time, I still have some work to do. Maybe later."

"I can find us a player three," K.I.T.T offered.

"Coolness. I'll see if anyone else wants to join."

"I'll invite Kat as well."

Ian got to his feet and leaned out the car. "Anyone up for Aftershock?" Across the room Rei's hand shot up. Kai looked up from his electron microscope and rolled his eyes.

Ian felt a cold feeling creep into his stomach. He looked up and spotted David on the upstairs walkway. His hands were on the rails and he was looking down at him. He wore a bandage over his knuckles. Ian swallowed hard. "We're technically still on vacation, right?"

"I suppose." David turned and entered his office. Ian let out a sigh of relief.

While Ian finished diagnostics, K.I.T.T contacted K.A.R.R. "Install these files and log in under these credentials. I'll contact you when you log in."

"What does this have to do with-" K.I.T.T cut the Commlink.

Next he contacted Kat. "Ian wants to play Aftershock, are you interested?"

"I guess so. At least it's something to do while my ribs heal."

"We have three players, so you'll have to find a third as well."

"Eh, I'll see who shows up on the server." Through the eye cam he could see her turn on the TV.

"I'll see you then."

"Not this time." Her voice turned devious. "Not until it's too late." She picked up her controller and put on her headset.

"That's what you say every time."

"I'll bet you fifty miles that I catch you off guard this time."

"Change it to a hundred miles and I will accept that bet."

"Deal."

K.I.T.T logged onto the server and found K.A.R.R waiting for him.

The starting area was a small office. The desk was turned over and the window was shattered. Through the window the city could be seen, broken and dark. Streets were torn up, cars crashed or turned over. The lamp posts that were still standing flickered in the gloom.

K.I.T.T's character was a young mercenary with short dark red hair and bright red eyes. He was balanced between speed and strength and his weapons were mid range: the 9mm was his default gun, but he also had a shotgun and an M16 at his disposal. Plus three hand grenades and a combat knife.

K.A.R.R's character was a grizzled green beret in full fatigues. His hair and beard were silver and his eyes were bright yellow. He had two scars in the shape of an X on his cheek. His character was the 'Heavy' class which gave him access to more powerful weapons, but lowered his speed and accuracy. His default weapon was the Colt AR-15. He also had access to the M79 grenade launcher and the M1 bazooka.

"Are you going to tell me what is going on now?" K.A.R.R asked him irritably.

"Not yet. First, don't use the voice chat on here. Everyone at FLAG knows what you sound like."

"Then how are we supposed to communicate?"

"Message me in Whisper, like this."

KI3T started whispering to VengeanceKnight: 'If you enter /w then my name you connect using Whisper.'

VengeanceKnight: 'How is this better than contacting you directly?'

KI3T: 'This way our conversation runs through the game server and not F.L.A.G or me. No one here can trace or detect you.'

VengeanceKnight: 'Fine. Now tell me what is taking so long. Where is your predecessor?'

KI3T: 'I'm fast, but I'm not mythical. The Team is still recovering from your attack and stress levels are running high. Approaching Charles now would raise suspicion.'

VengeanceKnight: 'Then what are you doing in the mean time?'

KI3T: 'I'm not being idle, if that's what you're getting at. I've been scouring the internet for some sign of Two Thousand. If it's still out there, then I'll find it.'

VengeanceKnight: 'It's out there. The only way it will be decommissioned is by me.'

Ian's character appeared in the room. "Katherine and Rei should be joining soon. We should discuss tactics until then."

"Kat's got the hand cannon," K.I.T.T warned. "We'll have to be cautious."

Ian's character was a rookie NYPD officer, complete with bullet proof vest. It was the 'Light' class, which had an emphasis on speed and accuracy at the expense of power and toughness. His default weapon was the Glock 19 and he also had access to the .357 Magnum carbine and the AMP-69.

Ian looked over at K.A.R.R. "Is this our player three?"

"Yes," K.I.T.T affirmed.

"Sweet, we're gonna need the firepower. Rei's a monster." Ian waved at K.A.R.R. "Nice to meet you. Can I call you V.K for short?" K.A.R.R turned away from him without a word.

"He's new to the game," K.I.T.T explained. "He doesn't have a mic."

"No worries, we all start somewhere. I'll open TeamChat."

IanTech has created the channel 'Fries With Ketchup'.

IanTech: "There, now we're good. :)" Ian grinned.

K.A.R.R looked back at Ian.

VengeanceKnight: "How are you doing that?"

IanTech: "Doing what?" Ian tilted his head to one side.

VengeanceKnight: "How are you moving like that?"

"I think he means the Gestures system," K.I.T.T supplied. "He wants to know how you're moving your character." He turned to K.A.R.R. "This game has a complex Gesture system. It takes cues from the chat log and moves the character model accordingly. There is a full list you can access with /Gesture. There are shared Gestures as well."

K.A.R.R brought one gloved hand up and clenched it into a fist.

VengeanceKnight: "Interesting."

Ian looked at his watch. "Uh oh, the girls are logged in now. We're starting."

VengeanceKnight: "What is the purpose of this simulation?"

"Purpose?" Ian scratched the top of his head. "Well, on this map we have to infiltrate the enemy base." He pointed out the window. "That building there." One building was lit up against the dark skyline. "We win either by capturing the flag there, or by taking out the other team."

VengeanceKnight: "Taking out?"

K.I.T.T stepped in again. "He means killing them all."

VengeanceKnight: "I see."

xxxXXXxxx

Kat sat crosslegged on the small sofa chair that she and Angela shared. Her hair was still damp and she was dressed in a tank top and a pair of boxer shorts. She wore a headset and held a controller in her hands.

Her character was the Special Forces Officer, with brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and green eyes. She was medium balanced and came with body armor. Her main weapon was the Beretta M9, and she also had access to the MP7A1 sub-machine gun and the S&W Model 500 Magnum (also known as the 'hand cannon').

She navigated her way out of the starting area and into the base proper. "Rei, I'm in. Did you find us a player three?"

"I asked Kai, but he has 'work' to do." She laughed. "I found us a replacement though."

"You guys have been installing the bio nano skin around the facility, right? My bathroom mirror showed me what the weather was like when I went to brush my teeth."

"Yep! We're rolling out Phase 2. Soon FLAG will be completely connected to the network. Any flat surface can become an interface."

Rei began setting up by the window on one of the top floors. She was the Sniper class, which was specialized in accuracy over everything else. She had short purple hair and black eyes. Her main weapon was the M107 LRSR and she had access to the FX-05 Xiuhcoatl and the .338 Lapua Magnum Rifle. She also had a flash grenade, for emergencies.

"Sounds futuristic, but expensive."

"You have no idea. By the ounce bio-nanos cost more than saffron. Which, if you didn't already know, is pretty damn expensive. That's why we're not spraying it everywhere. Just windows and mirrors. For now."

"You should spray the front of the fridge, that way we can display recipes and chore lists." Kat moved downstairs to the building entrance and found a good spot to wait.

"That is a good idea. I'll tell Kai." There was a pause. "He said 'we'll see'."

"So, who's our third player and when are they getting here?"

"I have no idea, I think they're still downloading the game. They sent me an anonymous PM asking if I was on your team." Her voice turned sly. "Someone has an admirer…"

"Tell them to get in line." Kat's voice was irritated. "According to Angela, because of KITT I'm FLAG's most eligible bachelorette."

"KITT does make a good wingman. Though really, he's a double-edged sword."

Kat scowled as she collected ammunition from a crate behind the main staircase. "What do you mean by that?"

"KITT hears everything you say, right?"

"Yeah…"

"And when you wear your contacts he sees everything you do, right?"

"Yeah?"

Rei spoke as if Kat were a small child. "So anyone that wants to be 'with' you has to face the fact that their every move will be recorded by KITT."

Kat sat in silence as she made sure all of her weapons were fully loaded. Then she went to the dumbwaiter in the front office and fetched the health pack.

After a few moments Rei spoke again. "You literally just realized that now, didn't you?"

"I am one thousand percent done with this conversation. Now I just want to go shoot all the people. Where the heck is our player three?"

Suddenly a new character logged in right in front of her. They were roughly the same size, but the character was wearing full tactical armor, helmet included, so no other distinguishing features could be seen. They appeared to be a 'Heavy/Defense' class. The main weapon was the Colt Anaconda, which meant they also had access to the Remington 870 rifle and the LRAC F1 rocket launcher. Their special equipment was a riot shield.

"Finally! Are you ready to go? The other team will be here soon."

RealisticDecoy: "Apologies in advance, I don't have a mic."

"Don't worry about it." Kat gestured to the door. "Now let's light this candle."

xxxXXXxxx

A/N: I'm trying something different with this episode... Thoughts?