Sorry I haven't posted for awhile, but with the school year starting, my schedule's gone all AWOL. I'll post as often as I can though. :)

10.

The Tale of a SKWAK Pad

"This scientist got your SKWAK pad?" Matt asked, surprised.

Mirror Inez nodded numbly.

"How?" Inez asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I have a pretty good idea." Mirror Inez answered. "Remember that mission we went on to stop Hacker from stealing all of the water off of Termia?"

"Yeah, I remember that." Matt answered. "That was quite a while ago, we haven't been to Termia for awhile now."

"Are you saying that you lost the SKWAK pad during that mission?" Inez inquired.

"No, the mission went fine." Mirror Inez answered. "But when Motherboard called me on my SKWAK pad about it, it was possible that the scientist in question saw it. Possibly even the portal I took as well."

"How?" Matt asked, "Where exactly were you?"

"She was at the science museum." Inez answered for her double. "I know, because that's where I was for that mission. I remember it well. It's one of the few that played out identically in both of our universes. But I didn't see any scientist around when I left there for Cyberspace."

"I saw him, but I didn't think he was in any position to see what was going on." Mirror Inez went on. "Clearly I was wrong, for the next day, the SKWAK pad went missing while I was at school. At first I thought I had merely misplaced it, but it wasn't long afterwards that the scientist popped up in Cyberspace, with my SKWAK pad in tow."

"And that got the ball rolling for the CSRW Alliance." Mirror Jackie finished, speaking for the first time in a few minutes.

"But I still don't get it." Matt admitted. "Why is this alliance so bad?"

"Because, Mattie, neither Cyberspace or the Real World was ready for it." Mirror Digit answered.

"How so?"Matt asked.

"The Real World accepted the goods it got from the trades that began when the alliance formed." Mirror Jackie explained. "But it always thought that Cyberspace was keeping technology and other goods, stuff they thought they really needed, away from them. And a wall began to form because of it. It's only now that the Real World has done anything so drastic about it."

"But it's just not the Real World that has that problem." Mirror Inez said. "Cyberspace thought the same thing about the Real World, in addition to the Real World being a kind of pest, using the alliance only for their own good and their own interests. Cyberspace believes that the Real World is only in this alliance so that they can shave a few years off their technological evolution, then leave it all behind the next chance they get. Or worse, do exactly the opposite. Stay in the alliance and reenforce their ties in the alliance until they basically rule all of known Cyberspace. The Real World's actions today will only support that theory."

"But how do you know that's really the reasons the Real World attacked the Alliance?" Matt asked.

"Because, they've been threatening to do for weeks now." Mirror Digit said. "Cyberspace just never took them seriously."

Matt and Inez glanced at each other.

"Yes, it's more serious than you thought." Mirror Inez continued. "We've known this was going to happen for over a year now. It was just a matter of when."

"And you didn't do anything to stop it?" Inez asked, bewildered.

"Oh, we've tried, but both sides refused to hear anything about it." Mirror Jackie answered. "Nobody wanted to sit down and work out the problems."

"In short, there was no avoiding it." Mirror Inez stated. "It was destined to end this way."

"You guys were lucky." Mirror Digit piped up. "Nothing like that has happened in your universe, and as a result, you've been able to avoid the terror that is about to begin here."

"And keep it that way." Mirror Inez added. "Keep the existence of Cyberspace and anything connected to it secret. For your own good."

Suddenly, a speaker in the ceiling above them clicked on. "Digit, you are needed at your station. Jackie, Mirror Matt and Inez, report to the bridge."

"We gotta go." Mirror Jackie told Mirror Inez. "I'll keep you posted."

She cut off the transmission, and then they all left for the bridge. All seemed to be in order there. Mirror Jackie, Matt, and Inez, all stopped behind Mirror Wicked's chair. Mirror Digit slipped past them and sat down at his station.

"What's going on, Wicked?" Mirror Jackie asked.

Mirror Wicked did not answer, but slowly pivoted her chair around so that she faced them now. her face was grim, and in her hand she held some kind of pistol, which she pointed right at Mirror Jackie. Two other cyborgs appeared with their own pistols, which they trained on Matt and Inez.

They were surrounded.