Disclaimer: I do not own Babylon 5 and I am not making any money by writing about it.
Title: How Video Games Cause Violence
Author: Madelin Breaker
Pairings: Lennier/Vir friendship
Season: After they break away from Earth
Rating: K
Status: Complete
Archive: Sure, just let me know—also, at my website www. Tekcities. Com / thegeekyone
Feedback: Please
Author's note: Special thanks to aristgd for beta reading this piece!
Summary: Vir and Lennier enjoy the hottest new video game while Zack pays the price. Written for the Babylon 5 friendship ficathon for scifimimi.
"You are late."
"Londo kept going on and on about G'kar and then I had to go back to my quarters…" Vir trails off, realizing that he's babbling needlessly.
Lennier indicates he should sit down.
"Right—right"
"I have set up the game in your absence."
"Please, tell me we won't have to play against those two Drazi again."
Lennier casts him a nefarious look. "They have somehow found themselves blocked from the game."
"Good."
"Hey, Chief!" Zack greets Garibaldi as he enters the security station.
"Hey—so anything entertaining happen while I was eating lunch?"
"I've been tracking a weird computer blip."
"We've been getting those ever since we broke off from Earth." Garibaldi sits down. "We don't have enough staff for maintenance."
"I know—this one, though, happens every Thursday at the same time."
"Could be someone sending a report out." He sounds slightly concerned now.
"I'm going to go check it out. I have it traced to a terminal in Down Below."
"Be careful and let me know what you find."
"Sure, Chief." He calls back—half way out the door already.
"Die—Die—Die!"
"You're breaking my concentration."
"Sorry, I got a little carried away."
Vir leaps up as the last enemy ship on the screen explodes. "We got them. We got them. We got them!"
"Yes, I would have to agree." Lennier concurs, a mischievous grin appearing on his face.
Vir sits back down. "We're getting good at this."
"Yes, we should move up to the next level of players soon."
He sighs. "And we won't be so good anymore."
"The earthers have a saying…"
"Yes, yes, practice makes perfect. They say that a lot."
"You should be going. Delenn will return shortly and I am certain she well not approve of this activity."
"Same time next week?"
Lennier responds by bowing in the traditional Minbari manner, which Vir awkwardly returns and makes his exit.
"Terminal 45-1a," Zack repeats to himself as he makes his way through a particularly dark section of Down Below, "Here we are."
He frowns. The terminal is completely smashed and the inner workings long gone.
"There's no way this terminal is causing the computer blip." He shakes his head. "Nothing in this place ever makes sense."
He turns on his heels and just manages to avoid the pipe headed for his face.
"Chief, I need back up in Sector 45." He manages to get out in between side-stepping the man that is very intent upon making him unconscious.
Zack cautiously opens his eyes—the harsh lighting of Med Lab a piecing glare.
"Welcome back to the land of the living." Garibaldi greets him sincerely relieved.
"Huh? What happened?"
"Red."
"That would explain the pipe…" Zack concludes, wincing at the pain.
"He disappeared again."
"Great, I get attacked by the phantom of all criminals and I still haven't tracked down the computer glitch."
"I guess I'll call the Ghostbusters."
"Ha Ha—very funny." He tries to sit up, but lays back down holding his head.
"Hey, take it easy. The Doc's gonna keep you here overnight."
"Great"
"Think of it as a vacation."
"I can think of better ways to earn leave."
"Meanwhile, I'll be doing some ghost busting. Red has been having a little too much fun on my watch."
"I brought Flarn puffs."
"Flarn puffs?" Lennier looks seriously insulted.
"Aren't they a Minbari tradition?"
"Flarn is a Minbari tradition. Flarn puffs are part of human commercialism."
"Oh--I still think they're good."
"I will have to introduce you to real Flarn."
"If you say so…" He accepts a controller from Lennier—not commenting when Lennier begins to munch on the Flarn puffs.
"Shall we begin a new level today?"
"Why not?" Vir shrugs. He doesn't care as long as he can take his frustration out on the virtual ships.
"Level four—we will receive better ships."
"Good"
"There is a rumor of a Vorlon player on this level."
"Huh—that's an interesting rumor."
"I've got it!" Zack jumps up from his chair.
"What?" Garibaldi grumbles, having spilt his drink on one of the consoles.
"The computer blip"
"Oh." He responds, mopping the fluid up with a napkin—not nearly as excited.
"It's been routed from Down Below and into Grey Sector—I've got them this time."
Zack's out the door before Garibaldi can suggest he take backup.
"Good morning, Zack." Franklin begins. "It's good so see you awake again."
"Huh? What happened?"
"You ingested some pretty strong hallucinogens. You're lucky those Tarcalian nuns stumbled upon you when they did."
"Wha?"
Franklin chuckles. "Take it easy. You've had a number of drugs pumped through your system in the past twenty-four hours. Things are going to be a little groggy for awhile."
"Okay." Zack collapses back on the bed and falls back asleep.
"What is this?" Vir asks, smelling the piece of food.
"An apple slice—Delenn has insisted upon trying human food."
"Are they good?" Vir's previous experience with human food has usually led to gastric discomfort.
"They are all right."
"Do you think we'll find the Vorlon today?"
"I am beginning to have doubts about that rumor."
"It does seem odd that a Vorlon would be playing an intra-galactic videogame."
"Yes, it does."
"Try not to get blown up by that little ship from Tal Tek 7 this time."
"I will endeavor to do so." He shoots Vir a disapproving glare.
Zack is ready this time. He refuses to spend another three days in Med Lab over what could possibly turn out to be a real honest to goodness computer glitch.
The tracer he had Carmichael place on the terminal in Grey Sector begins to send telemetry at exactly the same time as the glitch has been occurring for the last several weeks.
The tracer carefully piggy backs its way onto the signal and soon Zack is watching as it jumps from terminal to terminal across the station.
He's shocked when the original source is located. He suspects for a moment that this is another clever trick, but he has to check it out anyway.
He calls Garibaldi away from his lunch break because he isn't going in without backup this time. On a hunch he has Ambassador Delenn paged and as he suspects she isn't in her quarters.
He isn't sure whether to laugh or to cry when they finally barge into the living area.
Vir looks as though he has been caught stealing the Emperor's best liquor—his hands flailing and he is shouting, "I didn't do it—I didn't do it!"
Delenn has snuck passed him and has begun to scold Lennier for such a shameful activity.
The din in the room reaches a peak where Zack knows he's going to have a headache for the rest of the day no matter what painkiller he takes.
"Enough!" The room instantly quiets except for Vir's whimpering. "You two—let's go."
"Is that really necessary?" Delenn asks.
Any other time he would have confiscated the controllers and blocked the uplink—the only harm the game did was bog down the communication lines—but he has been knocked unconscious, drugged, and his boss is still laughing behind him. The two of them could sweat it out in lock-up for awhile. "Yes!" He would explain the rest to Delenn later.
Before he leaves, Zack pulls the uplink crystal form the terminal and it explodes in his hand—yeah—they could sweat for a very long time.
The End