I shall not fade into obscurity! I will prevail! I will give a double update! I want to get the Uranet Arc outta the way so that I can move onto the part of the story I really want to write. I want to finish this fic before 2009 rolls around.
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Chapter 26: Into the Depths
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'' You're looking for an information broker, are you?'' the wraithlike navi asked, eyes gleaming. '' Luckily for you, I know just the place… Heh, heh, heh.''
'' That's good…right?'' Dash said, looking very uncertain at what to expect.
Killerman was proving to be very, very suspicious. His darkly enthusiastic demeanor and overall nightmarish appearance was completely at odds with the bright, colorful, and active streets of Eden City's Internet City. The passerby were giving him a wide berth, justifiably so, out of fear and terror. At least he didn't have his scythe. That would've sent people screaming for the police.
Tyria was trying to ignore this, but that was a hard thing to do. '' So who is this broker?'' she asked.
'' You don't know?'' Killerman's toothy grin grew broader. '' They call him the Doc.''
'' The Doc.'' Dash repeated, skeptically. '' Rrrright… Who is that?''
'' He is said to be the go-to person for top-grade information.'' Kirisaki's voice said.
'' Ah, so you're here…'' Killerman murmured as a small view screen opened up in from of him, displaying his operator.
'' Yeah, we are.'' Karla's voice said similar screens appeared in front of Dash and Tyria, each displaying their respective operator.
'' Not only is he in the Uranet…'' Killerman continued as if no one had interrupted him. '' But he's in a special area, one that you little shrimps could never find!''
'' What do you mean by a secret area?!'' Terry demanded, his suspicions immediately aroused.
'' You need a password to see him.'' Killerman chuckled to himself. '' A very secret password.''
Dash felt as though something very cold had been thrown on him. '' A password?! Why didn't you tell us earlier?!''
'' Tch. You surfacers are so excitable.'' Killerman said with a trace of distain. '' If an assassin was after you, you wouldn't live very long.''
He stared down at the two smaller navis. '' Don't get your mainframes all fouled up. I know the password. Plus…'' His grin returned. '' Communication between navi and PET is not possible due to how deep you'll be. You can't contact your operators, and they can't contact you.''
'' You didn't tell us about that either!'' It was now Karla's turn to be angry. '' I bet you're leading us into a trap!''
'' Very suspicious.'' Killerman's grin broadened once more. '' Guys like you are so much fun to hunt. Don't fret yourselves silly, I have pride. I'll fulfill my job obligations to the letter, and that includes protecting you two runts.''
But you aren't getting paid. Dash frowned and crossed his arms. He did not trust this navi at all. He seemed far too eager and excited about this.
'' You still don't trust me do you?'' Killerman asked, even though he didn't seem to care either way. '' Then don't blame me when you wind up dead as a doornail.''
'' Well it's good to know that you're looking out for us.'' Tyria said sardonically.
'' Come on, let's go.''
Killerman chuckled to himself again. '' Keh heh heh. How right you are, girlie.''
It took a good forty minutes of walking for the trio to reach Killerman's designated 'entrance point.' They had trooped out beyond the limits of Internet City, to the metallic plains where industrial companies stored their cyberproducts in underground warehouses, and where heavy-duty maintenance was occasionally preformed.
'' So now what?'' Dash grumbled, holding his hand up to block out the artificial sun's glare. There was little to no shade out here, and the navis' armor absorbed heat all too well.
'' Just watch.'' his ghostly guide said.
'' Are you sure that this is the right place?'' Tyria asked. Skepticism ran off her voice, and she didn't look very confident either. '' I don't see any sort of entrance. There's nothing but desolation…''
'' Oh course you don't!'' Killerman snapped. '' Do you think that the entrance to the underground would be placed in plain sight? You pipsqueaks wouldn't last a second down there with brains like yours…'' He held out his hand, and a purple card-like object materialized.
'' What's that?''
'' You'll see soon, pipsqueak.''
The card began to glow, and binary code began to flow from it. The ribbon-like strands settled on the ground in the shape of a circle, and the ground inside it vanished, replaced by a seemingly bottomless pit.
'' This is it?'' Dash said, totally unimpressed.
'' It is.'' he guide replied. '' Only one who knows where an access point is, and only one who also has a Tally can enter.''
Tyria peered down into the abyss. '' Uh… Are you sure that this is okay?''
'' You can chicken out if you want.'' Killerman sneered. '' I can't stop you, legally. But then you won't find the Doc then, would you?''
'' Can you stop inserting death threats into the conversation?'' Dash grumbled. '' So how do we go in? Jump?''
'' Of course.''
Dash glanced over to Tyria. '' Well, I guess this is the only way in. You ready?''
She nodded. '' I guess. The Uranet… Okay, let's go!'' With a small hup of effort, the two leapt into the pit, and were lost to sight. Killerman laughed with delight, and leapt in afterwards, the hole closing up behind him.
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'' And there they go…'' Terry said as the image displayed on his PET turned to static. He turned to face Kirisaki. The boy was sitting at a small desk in his half of the conference room, behind the security glass. The desk, which he was handcuffed to, had a wireless connection to Internet City. His PET had a gauntlet of security and blocking devices on it. Kirisaki himself still had that oddly placidic look on his face, as if he were bored of this entire enterprise.
'' Are you satisfied?'' he asked, looking up as he said this. '' I've fulfilled my end of the bargain. Our navis are now in the Uranet.''
'' And possibly a trap.'' Terry said, making no effort to hide the suspicion in his voice.
'' We can't contact them, so it would be very easy to set up an ambush.''
Karla rolled her eyes. '' As if he'd be able to coordinate something like that from jail. You're so suspicious of people, Terry.''
'' It's from experience.'' Terry crossed his arms and frowned. '' After what he tried to do to us, we have every reason to not trust him! His navi could stab us in the back, literally!''
'' That won't happen.'' Kirisaki answered, almost murmuring. '' Killerman has his pride. He'll complete any job for the client, no matter what. He can't backstab someone he's working for.''
'' Maybe so, but I still don't trust you, even if we are separated by security glass.''
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It was dark. Very dark. An overbearing, penetrating darkness. So dark, Dash couldn't see his own hand if he waved it in front of his face. He couldn't see Tyria, nor Killerman. He couldn't see the very ground he was standing on. It was all pitch black. '' Welcome…'' a silky voice said in his ear. '' To the Uranet.''
Dash gave a startled cry and leapt up in deep surprise. '' Don't do that!!'' he cried, looking around for Killerman with murder in his eye. '' That kinda thing isn't funny when you can see me but I can't see you!''
'' Oh, so you are here.'' Tyria's voice said from somewhere off to the right. '' Where are you? I can't see…''
'' Your eyesights should adjust in several minutes.'' Killerman said, still masked by the darkness. He was clearly enjoying this, perhaps too much. He was telling the truth though. After several minutes, he was able to discern the outlines of his companions, Killerman looming forebodingly nearby, and Tyria's slender figure, now off to his left. Another minute passed before he could make out the details of the surroundings. They were in a dome-shaped chamber, lined with inactive warp points. Even though the room appeared a little brighter, it was still quite dark. Why do places like this always have to be dark? Dash thought to himself.
'' So now what?'' Tyria asked their guide. '' How do we get to the Doc from here?''
'' Each of these warp points leads to a different part of the Uranet.'' Killerman began to explain. '' The person that you are looking for, the Doc, is in the Eastern Amerropian area.''
'' And you're going to lead us to him, right?''
'' Of course, girlie.'' he answered. '' But I suggest that you watch who you associate with down there.''
He led them over to one of the warp points. As the three stepped onto it, it came back online. When they stepped off of it, their surroundings had changed.
The new area was much, much larger, not to mention brighter. It resembled an Internet City. An Internet City that had fallen into decay. There was neither an artificial sun nor sky, just a black void where the sky would normally be. Bits of building code were beginning to unravel, resulting in some of the faces more closely resembling a loose mass of pixels rather than a solid object. Other buildings sported telltale signs of damage that just simply hadn't been bothered with repair. Bits and bytes of data drifted lazily in the air. Were they deleted navis? Debris? It was impossible to tell.
There weren't many visible navis, but the ones that were hanging out on the streets looked full of nothing but trouble. Some paid the trio absolutely no attention, some glared, some walked away, but nobody made any attempts to accost them, thankfully.
'' Okay, so we're here now.'' Dash say dryly. He turned to face Killerman. '' So now where do we-'' Killerman had vanished.
'' Arrrgghh! I knew that this was going to happen!'' Dash cried, stomping the ground in his anger. '' He's led us into the lion's den and left us to fend for ourselves!''
'' Now you sound like Terry!'' Tyria shot at him. '' C'mon, let's see if we can't find this Doc ourselves.''
'' Like that's going to happen!'' Dash scowled as they began to walk. '' We're from the surface-''
'' Not so loud!''
''-we have no idea where to look.'' Dash continued, lowering his voice. '' And for all we know, Killerman could've brought us to the wrong place.''
Tyria rolled her eyes and tried to tune him out. Dash did have a point though. Where in the Net could the Doc be? The structures, while nowhere near as fancy or clean as an Internet City, had many narrow and winding passageways, perfect environment for a criminal: dark, confusing, and dangerous. It certainly didn't help that they were getting some visual attention from some shady looking navis.
''Psst.'' Dash hissed. '' Behind us, about fifteen feet...''
Tyria threw a subtle glance over her shoulder. '' I see. Think we can take them?''
'' I only saw about six of 'em, so maybe. Unless they've got some friends out there...'' The two exchanged looks.
'' Let's go!'' They bolted off down the street. As they did, the sounds of footfalls behind them grew louder and quicker.
'' Why now?!'' Dash grunted, peering over his shoulder as he ran. '' We didn't do anything to upset them!''
'' Maybe you're too green for them!'' Tyria shouted. '' Or maybe they think your eye color clashes with your helmet or something!''
'' Yeah right! Take that up with Terry, not me!'' he called back. '' Maybe the problem's you! Maybe they have a massive libido right now!''
'' Now that really wasn't funny Dash!'' Tyria called back, clearly angry. '' They probably think that we're just good marks or something!''
'' Then let's show them that we're not so easy then!'' Dash proceeded to fire a few buster shots over his shoulder. He heard a few shouts of surprise, but didn't think that he had actually hit anything.
The two continued to frantically run down the progressingly more narrow and crowed alleys and streets, provoking shouts and oaths from those nearly run over. They eventually ran into a dead end. They were hemmed in between two buildings and another structure that looked like a huge, twisted mess of piping and metal I-beams. Faced with no other option, Dash and Tyria were forced to start climbing it. Half way up, Tyria felt a hand wrap around her ankle. She kicked free, then lashed her boot out. She heard a cry and a crash of someone bouncing off of metal.
Dash finally hauled himself up to the top of the pile, blew a hole in the chest of a navi with a half-charged shot, then took stock of the environs. The area was much larger and expansive then he had originally thought. By his estimate, the entire city was about two and a half miles wide, bigger than most Internet Cities on the surface. All of it was a mess and gave off a creepy decrepit vibe, almost as if they had stumbled in upon a necropolis of some sort.
He was brought back to the situation at hand by spying a Punk navi trying to sneak up on him from below. Dash shoved him away, and he froze in midair, and then shattered into pixels. '' Huh? No way that push deleted him...'' The other thugs also recoiled as he was thinking to himself, and deleted. Soon, Dash and Tyria were alone a top the pile.
'' You can come down now, you pipsqueaks.'' a creepy, yet familiar voice called out.
'' Killerman!'' Tyria said crossly as the wraith materialized before her eyes, scythe in hand.
'' I told you that I was going to protect your worthless hides.'' Killerman continued.
'' But if you go wandering off again, don't blame me if you get rubbed out, as they say.''
'' You have no right to lecture us!'' Dash growled as he got back down to the ground.
'' You disappeared all of a sudden, and we-''
'' I don't know what you're talking about.'' was the answer. '' Besides, I made the job much easier for you.''
'' How so?'' Tyria asked, sceptically.
Killerman turned towards the shadows. '' Trying to make a grand entrance are you? Well hurry up and come out before we're as old as you.''
An annoyed voice drifted back out from the shadows. '' Can it, you. Why should I help two kids who lack their gray matter? Look, they clearly have no common sense, and no direction. They shouldn't have lasted five minutes in the Uranet.''
'' Uh, you're the Doc?'' Tyria squinted into the darkness, just making out a figure in there.
'' Correct, little girl.'' the shadow said. '' I guess I shouldn't bother hiding anymore.'' Sarcasm was practically oozing from every word he said. '' I just hope you weren't expecting anything grand or anything...'' He stepped out of the gloom.
He was an older type of navi, even more so than Beta. He had no facial features, just a visor where eyes should be. There was no mouth to speak of. '' Now, what do you dumb kids want with me, the Doc?''
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Author's Notes: The Doc as a minor character from EXE2 who resided in the Undersquare and helped out during Freezeman's scenario by giving you Yellow Cure in exchange for your powerups and chips (not really). He was a bit nicer than I portray him though...
On to chapter 27!