"Random!" Sparx scowled as she surveyed the woodlands about her. Trust Ace to go and mess things up by shooting the damn cat. She ignored the fact she had shot at it too. Random hadn't seen that. "Trees, trees, more trees... How hard can it be to find a cyborg..." The crack of a tree branch drew her attention. Sparx followed the sound. She found Random soon enough. He was leaning against the trunk of a thick tree with his good hand, and didn't appear to hear her approach.
"Are you alright?"
Random looked briefly startled as he looked up. His right eye was still glowing green, Sparx noticed.
"You shouldn't have followed me," he said eventually.
"Hey, you're the one who said I needed to keep you in line."
"I came out here because I'm dangerous," Random growled, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"So... nothing to do with your little pet? Not sure if you noticed, but I think someone else has been feeding it."
Random glared at her, and Sparx winced. That was her programming talking - all that taunting. It was something that just slipped out, which was fine sometimes, but it was obviously something Random did not need right now. They didn't have to follow the program anymore, if they didn't want to. But it was damned hard sometimes. "Did your evil side take over again?" she asked.
A pause. "I thought it was going to."
"See," Sparx said. "I knew you were doing okay..."
"No," Random said flatly, "I'm not. I'm... look, I thought I could do this. After you helped me at the junkyard I thought I was on top of it. And having you and Ace to talk sense into me does help. But... Sparx, every single day it's a struggle. I... I can't stop this thing from creeping into the edges of my mind. It's always there!" His eye flickered red briefly and he let out groan, hanging his head.
"Hey," Sparx stepped up to him and put her hands on his shoulders. If she didn't short-circuit this now he'd end up talking himself into letting that evil take over. She wouldn't let him. "You can do this; you're not evil. Random, listen to me... what does it want anyway?"
That drew his attention, and his right eye slowed in its flickering. "What... what do you mean?"
"If you're evil wants out, then it wants something, doesn't it? Why would it waste it's time if it didn't?"
Random put his hand to his head. "I... I don't know. Maybe it wants to hurt you... you should go..."
"Nah-uh," Sparx said firmly. "Cowards run, remember? And I'm not running. So I'm not in any danger. I know the real you doesn't want to hurt me."
"Sparx..." Random growled. He shuddered. "You don't know how hard this is."
"No, I don't. But I know it's not impossible. You wouldn't have risked staying around the Thunder Tower for so long if it was."
"The only reason I've stayed..." Random trailed off.
"Is?" Sparx pressed.
Random shuddered one last time, and his eye settled on green. "Doesn't matter. It's okay; it's gone."
Sparx took her hands off Random's shoulders, and let out a pent up breath. No matter what she told Random, the thought that he'd flip at any moment was always there. It took every ounce of her courage to stay in front of him. But hey, it seemed to be working, so there was little point in trying something else. And somehow the thought of him failing, and the pain she knew that would cause him, was something she didn't want to think about. "Are you alright?"
"Not really. But I'm not going to flip out and kill you, if that's what you mean."
"It's not," Sparx said quickly. "Is it... getting any easier?"
Random drew in a sigh and shrugged. "Not really... except when you're here..."
"What?"
"You're too stubborn for your own good, Sparx."
"Ah..." Sparx looked at the ground. "Always worked for me before."
"You remember our promise, right?" Random asked.
Sparx looked up and frowned. "Of course I do. Why do you think I came out here!? I don't want to have to send you back to the sixth dimension just because I wasn't here to talk sense into your thick head!"
Random smiled faintly. "Thanks."
"For what?"
"Somehow, I don't think you were programmed to care."
"Jeesh, you sure know how to pay a woman a compliment!" Sparx rolled her eyes. But she couldn't help thinking that maybe that was true.
"No, I meant..." Random shook his head. He looked away. "Why would you?"
"Because I know it'd kill you if you messed up and hurt someone. And I guess... I guess I know that's the reason you won't. You just can't see that. And I know it's gotta be hard but you still fight it anyway... its kinda..." Sparx trailed off, and flushed. Then she added in a rush: "Besides if you do mess up, I really don't want to send you back to the sixth dimension... then it'd just be Ace and Lady Illusion in the Thunder Tower and that would be boring, and annoying, and..." It was a funny thing, how in such a short time her feelings could change so dramatically. But she'd always been a risk taker. That was one part of her programming that she knew she would hold on to. As for most else that had governed her before, she was done with it. She drew in a breath, and again grasped Random by the shoulders. "Random?"
"Yeah?" Random was frowning at her; though he seemed a little amused by her outburst.
"Screw the programming." Sparx closed the gap between them pressed her lips against Random's, and for one brief, though somehow long, moment she felt him kiss her back.
And then he pulled away. "This isn't a good idea," he said hoarsely.
Sparx swallowed hard. She took a step back and turned around, squeezing her eyes shut tight as she did so. "Zoar damn it..."
"Maybe..." Random said. He cleared his throat. "Maybe we should just stick to keeping my evil away."
"Yeah..." Wonderful. Perhaps risk taking was a part of her programming that she should get rid of. Especially when it came to... this. Sparx turned back around, and forced a smile. "Yeah. That sounds like a plan, lugnut."
Kilobyte slammed a fist on the keyboard. The whole rig rocked under the onslaught. "Useless!" he shouted to the darkness. Now he understood why the Programmer had taken so long to manipulate the code to allow them to leave the game. Perhaps if he had known how difficult it was back then, he would have been less rough with the mortal. His lip curled upwards. Probably not.
The upgrade on Fear had worked. Mostly. Kilobyte was not one to give out gifts; it had simply been a test of his latest creation. But the sheer amount of time he had put into it had not been worth the outcome. To defeat Ace Lightning he needed something far more powerful. And he knew now that he would have to defeat Ace Lightning if he was to destroy the mortals.
"I am still limited by the programming," Kilobyte growled. He lifted the shining silver sphere he had claimed from the programmer's desk, and turned it over in the dim light. "I can only manipulate it so much to get what I desire. I could give every one of those minions an upgrade - provided I could make those upgrades work - but they would still need to be coerced or agree to follow me. I do not have the skill to manipulate the programming any deeper..." he admitted with a sigh. "I made a mistake when I destroyed the mortal."
Kilobyte stared gloomily at the sphere for a moment, his face reflected in the polished surface. Then a smile twisted his lips. "But this is the real world. We are no longer limited by the programming. There is so much that is outside the programming here. That we can now do because we are no longer within the boundaries of the game - therefore the answer does not lie within the game. The Master Programmer knew this. That's why he made me give Lightning human emotions - something that would not work within the game, but out here would weaken and fracture the enemy. So I too must find something in this world that will tip the scales in my favor. "
Kilobyte was just contemplating what this might be, when a noise from the front of the shop drew his attention. He paused, and listened for a moment. Gary had been making a racket in the alleyway on and off; it seemed cats, even at ten times their normal size, liked rooting through trashcans. But this sound was the clatter of keys, and then the slam of a door. Most definitely human. He scowled and stood quietly to his feet.
It looked like he would have to take care of this nuisance himself.
Fiona stepped into the darkened shop and turned on the lights. It was worse than she thought it would've been. Not the clutter that had been left behind, something she'd probably have to arrange to have cleared up, but the thought that this was the place where a man had died. She repressed a shudder. Her son had been here within moments of whoever had done the deed. She was at least grateful Simon had reminded her, uncharacteristically tactfully too, that they had agreed they wouldn't tell Mark she was responsible for leasing out the shop space. It would just lead to uncomfortable conversations, and they both knew Mark had had enough of those. He didn't need to be reminded what had happened here.
Fiona leaned back against a desk. "You know no one's going to show up anyway," she told herself. Who in their right minds wanted to work where a murder had taken place anyway? She glanced at her watch. No one was going to show, and no one would know if she snuck off early and went home. Fiona chewed her lip for a moment, then stood to her feet. If she left now, she'd probably get home in time to stop Simon attempting to make lunch.
The sound of a door creaking open shut down any thoughts of a quick escape. Fiona automatically put on her best smile, and turned towards the front door. There was nobody there.
"I don't like unexpected visitors," said a voice behind her.
Fiona gasped and spun around. The back room of the shop was open, and a tall figure stood there, still concealed within the darkness of the doorway. She took a step back and bumped against the desk. "You're, you're not supposed to be here..." she stuttered. "This shop is for lease, not... I'll call the police."
"I recognise you," said the tall man. "A recently departed... friend of mine used to keep a close eye on your son."
For the briefest of moments, the flood of fear that had kept her frozen leaked away at the mention of Mark. "Wait... what do you have to do with my son?!" Fiona felt a keyboard under her hand on the desk behind her. She snatched it up and brandished it in front of her. "You stay away from him!"
The man chuckled. Something whipped across the room and slapped the keyboard out of her hand.
Fiona looked down to see what looked like a purple tentacle wrapped around her wrist. "What..." she began. She tugged, but she may as well have been stuck in solid stone. She looked up towards the man, just in time to see another of the tentacles whip out of the darkness. It flew towards her face, and then she saw nothing but black.
Mark sat on Chuck's front steps, waiting for his father to come to pick him up. The thought of trying to explain the events of the day would normally fill Mark with trepidation, but somehow he found himself calmer than he expected. He supposed it was because he knew trying to explain away Chuck's trashed car would be a lot easier than explaining your presence at a murder scene.
Chuck, on the other hand, had completely begun to panic when he'd realised he'd have to tell his parents about the car. So Mark had come with him when the car had been towed, and then when his parents had come to pick him up from the repairers. Mark had tried to call his dad then, wanting to avoid driving home whilst Chuck probably got chewed out for destroying the family vehicle, but he hadn't gotten an answer. It was only after he had arrived at Chuck's house and tried again that his father had picked up.
Mark supposed he could have walked home anyway, but after what had happened at the computer shack he wanted to let his parents know that he was okay, even if it had meant owning up to Chuck's car. If they found out about it second hand from Chuck's parents, he'd probably be in a whole lot more trouble. But his father had hardly reacted like he expected, instead of a lecture he'd told Mark he was out and would come and pick him up. Mark was under no illusion that a lecture wouldn't be forthcoming though. His father hadn't said much, but he'd sounded flustered; he was probably in for it as soon as he got in the car.
But his father was taking forever, and Mark was almost ready to walk home when the car finally pulled up. The boy let out a sigh and headed to the vehicle. He opened the door and jumped in, expecting to immediately have to explain himself. But Simon wasn't even looking at him. He was tapping on his phone's keypad, frowning as he did so.
"Stupid tiny keys..." he muttered.
Mark slammed the door shut, and only then did Simon seem to notice his son was in the car.
He let out a sigh and tossed the phone up onto the dash. "What have you been up to now, Mark?"
Mark groaned and rolled his eyes. "Nothing, I... we just got a bit carried away and ran off the road..."
"... but you're alright?"
Mark shrugged. "Yeah."
Simon said nothing, but put the car into gear and pulled off from the curb.
Mark swallowed. Perhaps he'd miscalculated when he'd thought it would be easy to convince his parents this wasn't a big deal. His father barely seemed to be paying him attention; he must be really mad. "Look, dad. We weren't doing anything wrong. Chuck hasn't had his license that long and I... maybe he went a bit fast. We just lost control and went off the road..." Of course, it wasn't the truth. At least his father hadn't seen the state of the vehicle afterwards, or he might very well question that story.
Instead, Simon had picked up the phone again and was glancing at the screen in between keeping his eyes on the road. It made Mark nervous; his father wasn't all that attentive to the road at the best of times.
Simon cursed under his breath when he didn't see whatever it was he was looking for, and threw the phone back up on the dashboard.
Mark frowned. "Dad, are you alright?"
Simon now had his attention back on the road; he stared straight ahead. "Mark... you did tell the truth about what happened at that computer place, right?"
Mark felt his stomach rise to his throat. "What... what does that have to do with anything, dad? Chuck and me, we just had an accident... it had nothing to do with that..."
"Answer the question, son."
"Yes; I told the truth!" It came easier than Mark would have liked. Why did his father have to bring this up?! "Look, if you're mad about Chuck's car..."
"No."
Mark couldn't get his head around what was going on. Had his father figured out what was happening with Ace Lightning? "Then..." he asked tentatively, "why do you want to know?"
Simon was quiet for a moment. They had just driven into their street. He pulled up into their driveway, and turned off the engine before he finally replied. "Your mother isn't home yet."
Mark wasn't sure what that had to do with anything. "Wait, she was working, wasn't she?"
"She was supposed to come home for lunch." Simon drew in a breath. "It's nearly tea time..."
"Maybe... she could just be working late..."
"I've tried calling her. I've checked outside the computer shack and her car's there, but no sign of her. And I've called the police..."
Mark didn't hear the rest of his father's sentence. At the mention of the computer shack he was sure, for a moment, his heart stopped. And then he exploded: "What?! The computer shack!? But you and mum... you told me she was going to some shut down ice cream shop, not..." He paused, as the truth hit him. "You lied to me..."
"Yes, we lied to you, Mark!" his father snapped back, at a volume matching his son's. "You nearly witnessed a murder there; that would upset anyone. After everything you had to go through with the police, we knew you didn't like talking about it, and..."
"Dad! How could you guys lie to me?!"
"Because you're our son! We're supposed to protect you; that's our job!"
"No!" Mark could feel his heart thumping. "No, I mean... she shouldn't have gone! If you'd told me, I'd have... I'd have..."
The sound of his phone ringing interrupted him. In lieu of thinking up a way to finish that sentence, a way that didn't involve mentioning Ace Lightning, Mark snatched out the phone and looked at the screen. "It's... it's mum..." he stuttered, as the caller ID flashed back at him.
Simon stared at him for a moment, and then slumped back in his car seat. He let out a breath, and covered his face with one hand. "Thank, God..."
Mark was not anywhere near as relieved. Not now he knew where his mother had really gone. Still, he answered the phone hopefully. "... mum?"
"Guess again." The voice that answered was deep and cold, and sent shivers up Mark's spine.
"Kilobyte..."
"Good boy," Kilobyte purred back.
Mark swallowed, and answered as strongly as he could. "What do you want?"
Kilobyte chuckled. "All mortals cannot be this stupid, surely? I have your mother's phone, boy. And I have your mother. As to what I want... come back into town. I will contact you again and tell you where to find me. But you must come alone. None of your lightning knight pals, and no other mortals. Come by yourself."
"I can do that," Mark said, glancing quickly at his father.
Simon was staring at him. He looked nowhere near as relaxed as he had but moments ago.
"Good," said Kilobyte. "Do all this, and your mother will not be harmed. Ignore my instructions, and..."
Mark felt himself flush. "If you do anything to hurt her..."
"That's up to you, mortal."
"Okay, okay," Mark winced. "Don't do anything, I'll be there, I'll..."
The phone was snatched from his grasp. Simon put it to his ear and barked into it with a vehemence that surprised Mark. "Who is this?!"
Mark could hear Kilobyte's chuckle faintly across the car, and then the line went dead.
"Hello!?" Simon said into the phone again. He took it from his ear and stared at it for a moment. His hand shook.
Mark suddenly realised that the first obstacle he faced would not be Kilobyte. "Dad..." he said, his voice wavering. "I... I can explain..."
Simon swallowed hard, and put the phone on the dash. "Son," he said; his voice nowhere near as steady as when he'd taken the phone. "What have you got yourself involved in?"
