Chapter 21: Everything_Changes.(git)

The sound of our footsteps as we ventured down the staircase, and outwards back towards the arcade itself, was like pushing the world back in motion. From the quiet tranquility of the second floor to the arcade consoles below, with the many lone game world sounds clashing with the entry of military personnel, had again become surreal.

It wasn't the casual chat between a real person and a video game character that seemed to cause a sense awe to arise in me, nor was it the visual scene of the portal's alien-like bright light shining outside the arcade's windows that cast its rays to illuminate the outside streets. Standing among it all, like I had just awakened from a deep slumber, this strange feeling that grew in me was originating from how everything had come and gone almost instantaneously.

While my journey had not happened in a short time by any means, looking back from where I was then made me realize how far I had come. How far we had come. To think just a short time ago I was racing towards the city with Cy-bug's at my back, to standing here, alive, was a bewildering emotion to say the least.

"Kailey!"

I heard my name called while I was deep in my trance of absorbing it all—the feelings, the visuals, the sounds. The real world and the game world had been together for a long time now, but only up until now did it feel natural. Only now did it feel like it was meant to be, and the promises and dreams my brother and I had visualized were finally manifesting into truth.

The feeling of Turbo's hand holding onto mine seemed to connect it all.

I looked over to the sound of my name being called, and saw Ralph and Vanellope standing in front of the Centipede and Pacman consoles, there with them, in the flesh, Zangief of Street Fighter. It took me a moment to realize that it must've been the Zangief from Litwak's, as I had not noticed one currently here in Flynn's.

Walking over with Turbo, I was silent for the moment before Ralph introduced me.

"Hey, so this is Kailey, you know… the First User!"

"Ah! I figured so. I remember seeing you back at Game Central Station a month or so ago before all this… mess happened." Zangief was attempting to keep the initial situation mild, but his attempts at hiding the seriousness of it all escaped him in the visuals of his expression. "But would you look at it all now! I knew the Users would fix things." Zangief's eyes shifted over to Turbo standing next to me, his eyebrows raising, and eyes widening as he made the shift in attention.

Vanellope and Ralph seemed to have followed Zanfief's eyes, theirs landing on Turbo as well. A sort of awkwardness engulfed the conversation then, although this was broken the second I cleared my throat.

"Um yeah… he's not a bug anymore, I promise." I smiled awkwardly, the kind of weird smile you'd give someone half-assed as you passed them in the hallway.

"I'm sorry, don't mind me," Zangief said, "but it's strange to see the big bad guy that caused all this is suddenly so… tiny?"

Vanellope burst into laughter.

"Th'so th'says the 'thsuppo'th'sed bad guy of his game to constantly get his bum kicked at arm wrestling by Chun-Li and Ryu in Tapper's every single time."

Zangief gasped. "How do you know about that?" He'd lightly put a hand on his forehead. "Root beer isn't the best for my focus, you know."

Ralph started to chuckle at this point.

"Hey guys, enough with the low jabs, all right?" I said, my fake smile shifting to a genuine one. "Maybe y'all can work it out sometime."

"Hmm, maybe so. Plenty comrades made it all right from Bad Anon. Maybe we'll reform it here in the world of Users after everything clears up." Zangief looked at Ralph, smiling. "Think of the turnout of that one!"

"Heh, yeah… I guess you're right. Turbo might fit in there… if he wants." Ralph's voice seemed to drift for a second as he must've thought about how Turbo would behave in a Bad Anon meeting. Hearing it in the conversation now, and trying to decipher Ralph's expression through his eyes and mannerisms, I was trying to visualize what exactly a 'Bad Anon' was. Hearing it I'd instantly think it was a negative thing, but if Zangief went to this thing, I suppose it wasn't a bad. He seemed like a nice guy, anyway. "But hey, hold up, you said others made it okay?" Ralph asked then, shifting his thoughts to meet Zangief's second statement.

"Yeah… plenty of them, actually. Dr. Robotnik, Bowser, Satan, Sorceress…"

My eyes narrowed in an amusing thought for a second when Zangief mentioned Satan, pronouncing Sat-een. I recalled seeing the character before, way back.

"Wait, did you see anybody else out there?" Vanellope asked the fighter, her hazel eyes glowing with a hopeful anticipation.

"Yeah… as a matter of fact I saw some of those kids from your game. Sugar Rush, right?"

"How is this possible?" Ralph said.

"I can try and explain it to you guys later." Footsteps from behind met Ralph's answer as Steven arrived with the general from the opened doorway behind Tron. I recognized the general as the same from the Goliath battle, the four stars on his helmet giving his identity away for my memory to make the recollection. "For now, I actually have some words to share with the group, if you want to tag along."

"For sure! I'm ready to see how this is all gonna play out!" Vanellope said excitedly. It seemed the mention of some of her game's residents making it out had made her chipper again.

For a moment I watched as soldiers shifted around outside, soon coaxing in Dannen, along with Calhoun and Felix. Along with them I saw the familiar face of Rachel set itself apart from among them. It was seeing her suddenly here with us that I recalled further into what had happened again during the Goliath battle, the memory of her grandfather's death sending a shock-like feeling to spur into my brain like a thunderbolt, with it triggering an empathetic wave of sadness to wash over me. I watched her disappear further outside then, however, pulling me from my focus on noticing her and back to the group that began to gather around me. For the moment I'd suppress my memories of what had happened with her and steer my attention back to the group.

The general began to speak, saying, "Steven here has handed over the code for replicating what you call the 'Shiva Laser'. My plan is to make many of these devices and plant them all over the states."

"Dannen mentioned something of that nature," I replied. "Cy-bugs can multiply… so I'm sure there could be some still out there. If we're not careful this whole thing could start over again."

"We know that now. I have a fine team of scientists with plenty of assistants to back them up in our new endeavor," the general explained. "After these new Shiva Lasers are built, they will be maintained, catching the eye of any remaining Cy-bug viruses that may remain here in our world. I have already enacted a policy and submitted it to the proper higher ups to get the job done."

"For now though we're going to have to keep up what we can while those are being built, however," Steven added. "We could use the help of any game character with the proper programming to lure and bring remaining Cy-bugs here. I heard you were already talking about noticing other survivors from Litwak's, and I can assure you, the general has confirmed there were plenty of survivors. What we saw on the news through my hologram didn't even show enough to justify how much went into holding back the Cy-bugs due to Program efforts."

"If it wasn't for them I honest to God don't think we would have made it," the general added. "Civilians may have been scared of Programs before with Cy-bugs as their first encounter with digital entities, but things are slowly starting to change. As a matter of fact, right now Programs are at the city of origin where this all began and started humanitarian relief efforts."

"Wow." I couldn't help but let that escape me. I imagined all the game characters from Litwak's helping us… rebuilding, healing. Alone, perhaps humanity would take forever to recover, but imagining help from Programs started to take the burden away, if only a little.

"It's time to move forward and get to work," Steven said then. "Dannen and I have agreed to stay here and help maintain this laser with the general's help. It's up to the rest of you to decide what you want to do next."

"There's a lot to do, that's for sure," Calhoun responded, placing a hand on her chin. "What do you think, Fix-It?"

"I don't know, hon… but if I had to choose I'd say we head back and help with those relief efforts. I could do a lot more there than here."

"I'm going with you then," Calhoun said with a nod. "If I can find some of my men from my game, we can discuss this in detail."

"What do you think, Ralph?" Vanellope chimed in next. "Ya think we can help out here?"

"I'd say so. If they're going to lead more of those bug things back to the portal I'm the wrecker around to help them out." He smiled at his comment, perhaps a bit of pride in himself at the idea of helping.

"That settles it then, I'm sticking around here," Vanellope said. She lightly slapped his arm as a smile began to manifest on her face as well."

"Well then, if you've decided my men can take you two back towards the city to help," the general began to inform Calhoun and Felix. "It's still a mess over there, just so you know."

"Not hard to believe. We were there for a while, after all," Calhoun stated as she thought about it. "Worse I've seen. Not even a bull in a china closet could compare to that mayhem."

The general nodded then upon hearing everyone's self-assigned agreements. At this, he'd finally turn to me, his stoic stare for a moment bringing me to sit up straight. "And how about you, First User?"

Hearing that name again—the First User—made me tense up even more, especially coming from him. A series of flashbacks seemed to encase my mind, again from start to finish of everything that had collectively come together to give me that title. I remembered the people who had both supported me and hated me throughout my time being called that. What would they think of me now?

Would they accept me?

"To be honest I don't know what to do anymore, Sir." I felt a deep pit in my chest that seemed to suck all the energy out of me. It was the feeling of rejection, being hated, being despised. "I don't even know if the people even respect me."

"Who told you that?" the general wondered, bewilderment seemingly escaping his voice.

"I was there… in that place for a long time. People blamed me for a lot of things."

"They also saw what you did," the general said. "Some civilian footage got out, and they know what you've been up to."

My eyes shot up at him, his words taking a moment to register in my head what he was saying. As far as I remembered, I was alone out there when I decided to bring the Cy-bugs in.

"Oi, he isn't lying, if you need proof I got it here," Steven said, instantly brining up his Omni-Tool. He brought up a video online, showing me zoom passed the one filming at a distance, with the wall of Cy-bugs after me. He played another, this one showing me crash, and shoot at the Cy-bug, Dell, that had tried to attack me. There was even one of Turbo driving off with me in Car number 2.

"The world is watching, Kailey, but this is our chance to make things right," Dannen said. "We can get through this."

I didn't part my eyes away from Steven's Omni-Tool. The images of me and Turbo doing what we did planted me in the moment, seemingly creating a sharp contrast of what we were to the people in the beginning.

The shift would surely be one that took time, but here it was: beginning and ever changing before my eyes.

"I'll go wherever I'm needed," I finally responded to the general. "Just say the word."

"I go where she goes," Turbo stated bluntly. "I was a part of this just as much as tho'sth'se Cy-bugs, and I need to make things right."

"Turbo, that wasn't you," I stated.

"It was a part of me," Turbo replied sternly, "and it always will be. I can't deny what I've done any longer, but I can make things right…" he paused for a moment as he looked at me, giving me a grin and a thumbs up as a wink escaped his left eye. "One game at a time."

For a moment I visualized what he actually looked like; this image of him as his true self, the grey racer with the red and white racing suit, with his glowing eyes and teeth and all, winking and smiling at me, caused me to have to blink a few times to pull myself back to reality. As I came to, King Candy took his place again, though I knew better now.

"I'm glad, Turbo," I said with a relieved sigh.

Rachel stood across the street from Flynn's, hidden behind the large military vehicles and partially detached from the sounds of all the commotion at the building. Standing there like a statue, stern and seemingly cold, it would be hard to miss how her dark brown eyes glistened against the bright light of the ivory portal. She was like a still picture among a moving world. I could only imagine what she must be feeling, and imagined I certainly did.

I felt the painful memories of her granddad carry upon my back like a weight the closer I drew near her, having left the group after our discussion to go find her, knowing she was here. I felt the anger she must had felt, and currently still felt—the anger of losing someone so close to you. While Aaron had not been my grandfather, he still had broken me out of one of my hardest moments, and remembering his death was like seeing the drifting memory of an old friend.

"Rachel," I spoke up softly. I had arrived right in front of her, looking at her face and glistening dark eyes like facing a powerful wall prepared to crumble.

"Hey, First User," she said softly, her voice harsh, but with a raspiness I could only describe as a means to keep herself steady.

"It's been… quite a day, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, it has."

I paused for a long time, it seemed. I didn't know what to say to her let alone how or when to say anything. We had gone through so much, at one point you could say even having been enemies. But now, with everything that happened, seeing her point of view explained to me many times before, I faced her now seeing her as an equal.

"I'm quitting the force," she said suddenly, shattering the silence that had lingered between us.

"But why?" I asked. I found my eyes had grown wide from her sudden declaration. It sounded so certain, as if she had been thinking about it for a long time.

"It's complicated…" she huffed, rolling her shoulders around uncomfortably before she stationed herself straight up again to continue with her prior solid stance. "The world is too broken. You can't trust anybody anymore, not even the people who say they'll protect you."

"You can trust me, if that means anything," I replied.

Rachel chuckled, shaking her head in an almost disbelieving manner, said, "You're out of this world, you know that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Let's say the world can use more people like you. Like those nerds you hang out with… like those Programs over there."

I turned my head around momentarily to take a look again at the scene just behind us. From underneath the portal, the lights above cast down onto the building, highlighting the many characters and humans walking about, talking, planning, hoping.

"There are more people like that though," I replied as I turned back around to face Rachel. "Maybe they just haven't realized it for themselves yet."

"Maybe." Rachel shrugged. "So what's next for you, First User?"

"I guess I'm going where I'm needed," I said. "There's a lot to pick up now."

"You said it, Sherlock." Rachel chuckled again. "Sometimes I wonder how it can all be put back together again."

Her words instantly reminded me of something Turbo had said to me. Looking at her, and remembering what we had gone through, I felt as if I was looking into a mirror that reflected even myself. All of humanity seemed to remind me of our brokenness through her at that moment. But with her subtle smile despite her ever so mild, tear filled eyes, I also saw what could be.

"Your granddad would be proud of you," I said. "He'd be proud of everything."

Her smile grew more intense as the wrinkles on her forehead seemed to intensify through her shifting emotions. A soft sigh escaped her then through her nose, her gaze slipping around the scene behind me before she returned her attention to me. "I think he'd be proud of me too," Rachel acknowledged. "And he would damned be proud of you, too."

Laughing lightly myself then, I remembered Aaron's little quirks: the old man's abrasiveness and outburst, even his betrayals, but also his perseverance, and his hope in me that he would find at the end. Yes, his words, joining me in my lowest moment, was exactly what I had needed to go on. The man who hated video games ironically helped create a world with them in it—Programs and all.

"Whenever things calm down, I want to give him the proper goodbye that he deserved," Rachel said. "I'm just sorry that we can't do it now."

"There will be time." I lifted my hand upward as if to console her, but I stopped myself, hesitating as if trying to avoid making her crumble. She kept up her sharpness and stability so well in her stance, and even in the utterances of our conversation, but I still felt I had to be careful. "I'll be there when you do it."

Rachel's eyes began to pool with tears as she began to squint in an attempt to contain herself. Even as her mouth formed into a grimace, and she began to cry, I stood back for a moment to allow her to finally crumble.

Seeing her break again was like an echo. All the sadness she unleashed reminded him of what had happened, but with it I felt a sense of urgency to do; to try and act and make things better. I finally reached my hand out and attempted to touch her shoulder, the act of her sinking at my gesture of kindness giving me the proof I needed that she needed a friend now more than ever.

"The world is too hard to bear alone," I said. "Don't forget that I'm here for you. We all are. Whenever you're ready for him, I'll be there."