Ch 3
"So how can I break you out of this tube when it clearly says I'm not supposed to?" Matrix shouted as he ran across the broken city to the very center of it.
"As a disaster repair plan sprite, I gauge the intensity of disasters and calculate the best and most efficient plans to repair them." DRP shouted back as a few walls crumbled due to the reverberation of their voices. Matrix dodged falling debris.
"So?"
"So…my plan requires me to leave the tube since you are not authorized to access system information. I conclude that the probability of another person coming into this system with or without the authorization to access the system's information is less than slim. Excuse the forwardness but I have to use you, my plan needs you to help me. And you need me to help you as well."
"Don't worry, I'm up for it. I have to find a way to get back to my old time, and AndrAIa, or else… I'll have nothing to live for. I'm counting on you DRP, problem is, how will we do it?"
"Well, all communication I get is through my program, which enables me to receive incoming information that is relayed through the internet and web."
"That means there's still connections to other systems!" Matrix gasped, "That must mean the ports to the net are still working!… right?"
DRP frowned, "Yes but they are in bad shape. Days of decay will take it's toll, and components that have not kept up with upgrades, decay. While other systems have upgraded their components and machinery, Mainframe has been physically offline for 120 days and has not upgraded."
"But I thought you just said that we were receiving transmissions from other systems."
"That is part of the information you don't have access to."
"Oh, so we may have some sort of secret channels that transmit information in and out of the system without the need for ports?"
"I run wireless." DRP smirked. "But I'm afraid that's all I can tell you. While I can upgrade myself, I can't upgrade the rest of the system, unforutnatly." DRP's body swished with the liquid as Matrix hauled himself over a ledge and came to a stop at the bridge that went across the long valley to the Principal Office. He looked at the too-familiar bridge that had become old and dull and looked as if it would crumble beneath his heavy feet.
"This looks pretty unstable." Matrix said looking it over, "Maybe if I had a way of testing it, or, wait, do you have a way of testing it?" Matrix set the tube down, liquid sloshing inside.
"Let me check." DRP's face blanked as she went through her recently updated information about the system. "The bridge has been constructed well, it was last used 120 days ago, and it's rate of decay is less than that of the temporary buildings we've been past, probably because it's part of the PO, and PO's require a lot of construction calculations and support because…well..because they are PO's of course." DRP looked at the bridge, "I think it's good for one trip across."
"Just one! What if we need to go the other way?"
"I'm good at using the facts that I have stored, I'm afraid I'm not equipped to calculate on a supposition."
Matrix frowned, "You mean guess? Yeah… well… no one is 100 percent good at guessing, so, well…" Matrix hesitated, "If you think this is the plan… then let's do it!" Matrix picked up the tube and started across the bridge. His walk turned into a jog and by the time he realized that the bridge was crumbling behind him, his jog turned into a sprint. "Oh shit!" he yelled.
"Better hurry guardian! The bridge is disintegrating behind you, fast!"
"I know!" Matrix sped up as much as he could and when he was ¾ way across the bridge, he hauled DRP across the rest of it and he jumped just as his feet were about to slip down into bridge dust. He landed just on the other side only a digit-length away from the edge. He fell forward and breathed his adrenaline away.
DRP's tube layed on its side, while still rolling to a stop. Matrix got up and walked towards it and put a foot out to conclude its spin. "Damn that was not fun…and being in time-lock for 200 days doesn't help my stamina either." Matrix picked up the tube and towed it over his shoulder and he continued walking to the PO meeting room.
As they arrived in the meeting room, Matrix set the tube down and studied the remains of it. The room was not in as bad of shape as the other places he had seen. The air was a little clearer and the dust was not piled as high.
"I rememeber this room… this is where Phong brought us in to talk to us about stuff." He kicked a broken chair leg, "I would talk to Bob about being a guardian when I was young, talk to Dot about commands and protocols, and to Phong about whatever weird thing he had on his mind about lecturing me about" he chuckled, "Even when I came back from game-hopping he would lecture me." Matrix did a slow 360 in place and nodded. "I guess ya really never lose those memories …"
DRP nodded, "I am programmed to rememeber everything, but they are nothing like your memories. All my memories come from files and…," she hesitated "…observation." Her hands came up and rested on the interior of her tube, "never interactively." Just then her face became saddened. "The only flaw I have is that I was made to be a sprite that ran this program, and not just a program." She sighed into the liquid of her tube, a few bubbles swirled up. Matrix looked at her gentle reaction and frowned.
"So where's the keytool? I think it's sick that they locked you in there! Who thought of such a ridiculous idea!" Matrix fumed and stomped around the room, filling the air with small wisps of dust and debris.
"Far right corner from where you are, it's energy is very faint." DRP replied. Matrix walked to where DRP specified and looked down, scanning the floor for anything relavent.
"I don't see anything, there's nothing on the floor over here but dust!" But then Matrix's eye traveled to a leg of a tall display table. He followed the leg up to where a platform lay and on that platform was a dust-covered glass enclosure. He picked it up and gently blew away the dust and wiped away the rest of it with his massive hand. "It's…it's the keytool!" Matrix exclaimed softly, "why would this be here?.. Is it…on display?" Matrix turned the container over and over again where the keytool seemed to float in the center of it.
"It is…" DRP closed her eyes again and reopened them, "Guardian 618's keytool. He was a 5th class ranking guardian who resided in Mainframe for a time period of 23 days and in that time period he did many things to help the system. He first…" Matrix tapped on her glass.
"I get it, he was famous and they wanted to commemorate his victories and rememeber him yadda yadda, whatever." Matrix threw the container down and it shattered into tiny pieces on the floor that clinked and clattered loudly. He picked up the keytool and rubbed it against his chest to clean it off and then he looked at it closely. His eyes met with a blinking censor on the top of the tool. The censor suddenly let out a laser that quickly flashed into Matrix's eyes. Matrix jumped and blinked several times and his brows furrowed when he saw what appeared on the keytool's screen.
GUARDIAN 596-Enzo Matrix: ACCESSING DATABASE…..
….
KEYTOOL NAME: Cray
LAST KEYTOOL ENTRY: 23.4.084.2
LAST KEYTOOL USE: 23.4.083.1
used by
GUARDIAN 618-Psion
Warning energy low
The keytool blinked several times. Matrix turned to DRP, "It's low on energy, what do we do?"
"Plug it into the base of my container, I have several plugs that may fit its input." A cove slid open in the base of the tube while she talked and displayed an array of different types of cords and plugs. Matrix leaned down to choose one. "I guess I'm doing this on a simple trial and error basis…" But a plug extended past the other ones as he spoke.
"No, it's this one, use it." DRP said and watched Matrix take the end of the cord and plug it into the keytool. Matrix set it down as it took in energy, "How long is this going to take?" He asked.
"A nano or so…" DRP replied.
Matrix nodded, "Ok, because I think we really need to talk about our next plan of action when we get you out of there."…
To Be Continued...