Operation: Reality Check
A Sailor Moon/Reality Jumpers Fanfic
By Roehl Sybing
Episode 10: The NV Virus
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NewsNetLink
Subj: Trouble at the White House
By Johnathan Craw*(&tboiny#n))+@0-ford
Was it really trouble? NNL has no idea, cause nobody k86jnmbv4tfnew what was going on. Our news crew ent4fxvcd457ujmbnsered the scene at around 6:30 last night467yvbn v,jhomcv, and we found over 3retgbvm789p;.,0 government-class agents on the floor, inside AND outside the Whitefatalerror House. When everyone tried to enter the Oval Office that our President Rollins works in, he just walked out of 09r%HLNKGF$C*)9 well.
Maybe in his 658u, nm;m,/ine, because fortunately no one was dead, or so we think. A half hour later we got the chance to interview him, and he admits he wa*%^YUu&%^*&567s under some extreme pressure, aLH(*(798n4oi009543nd explains that he t7ii.lm,bvj
aetr69i,mnpp0-9
blacked out incodesigerror his office yesterday morning, and ca4569j, vbgsdf54667me to last night. erynbh78i0ul.,m.jnklhjk7h!
Personally, I don't like coincidences. Yes, I'm talking about last night's incident, the so-called "Battle in the Sky" on Saturday, and the shootin(*&nlkN83empxu)(*g the next day! What is going on here? Could it be that everything is *pom4--)n9038ehow? Keep your eyes on this 435hybfjghjkm bnis reporter is going to find out.
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A man entered Crawford's office and threw a printout of the front page on his desk, saying, "What is this crap?"
Crawford replied, "What did you do to my front page, boss!? It's ruined!"
"That's not my doing! I told you, scan your articles twice BEFORE you put it up on the Web!"
"I did, I swear! There was none of that garbled text when I published that!"
"But it was there when I looked at it, right?"
"Well...."
"Look, never mind about it. Just run an anti-virus program on your computer later, especially on that WebTool you keep on there."
"Boss, I've scanned it a million times before!"
"Then what else could've caused this trash?"
"I don't know...all I put on there the past week was that new Dangerous Plan game!"
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Staten Island Mall, 4:30 PM. The Reality Jumpers and the three Sailor Scouts decided to take a small break from the action, and so have split up among the various stores of the mall after school. After a half hour or so, they regrouped at the fountain in the center of the mall. Mike stood there holding a small plastic bag with something in it. One by one came Jackie, Serena, Kim, and then Mina. Kim and Mina were holding the most shopping bags, and they both handed their merchandise to Mike. "Hey!" he said. "I ain't holding this! I got my own stuff to carry!"
Serena replied, "Hey, how did you pay for all this?"
Kim took out her card and said, "Well, we paid this using the FRC's account! They don't even know we have these cards!"
Mina added, "Well, they'll know once they figure out we bought all this stuff! So...what did you get, Mike?"
"Well, I took a trip to the computer store and got this. It's the new Dangerous Plan game, supposed to be way cool and all. And you, Serena?"
"Umm....just a lot of comics, you know. Hey, where's Ami?"
"Beats me. Where's Chris?"
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Chris was in line at the bookstore with a few books to pay for. As he stood before a number of people waiting for the cashier, Ami just happened to walk by with a few books in her hands too.
Chris said, "Oh, hi!"
"Hi! You read too?" Ami replied as she stood behind him.
"Yeah. So, what have you got there?"
"Well, I've got Advanced Chemistry and Life Sciences."
"Cool..."
"What books are you purchasing?" Ami asked.
"Um...this one's Advanced Chemitry II and this one is More Life Sciences!! Hmm, isn't that weird?"
"Yes, I suppose so..." And at that you could almost notice Ami blushing a little.
It was Chris' turn at the counter. He put the books on the counter and gave the money to the cashier. When the books were put in a bag, Chris took it and stood aside. "C'mon Ami," he said. "Mike wants us in front of the fountain in a few minutes!"
"Well, all right." Ami replied. Just then, someone behind Ami walked around her and put his books on the counter to be paid for. Chris noticed that and said, "Hey, you cut her!"
"So what?" the man asked. "Calm down, it's only a space!" He kept on going and reached for some money in his pocket.
"It doesn't matter," Ami added. "This will only take an extra minute."
But Chris wasn't listening. At that moment, he gave a good kick to the man's leg, knocking him to the ground. The man gave no response and quickly crawled away.
"Um...sorry," Chris said. "I just HATE those kinds of people..."
Ami replied, "It's....OK...I think."
A voice from outside the store shouted, "Hey, Chris! Ami!" It was Mike along with the others. Ami paid for the books and exited the bookstore with Chris.
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They took the MagLev train back to the FRC building. On the train, Mike opened his bag to reveal a box labeled "Dangerous Plan."
"This is supposed to be a good game," he said. "I heard there were over half a million copies sold over the weekend! You know that Crawford guy on NewsNetLink? He did a review on it and gave four and a half stars!"
Kim asked, "Well, what is it about?"
"It's all about this guy who has to invade a 100-story tower overrun by a powerful enemy known only as NV."
Mina quickly recognized the reference and replied, "Um...Mike, don't you see some sort of a connection here?"
"Like what? Ohhhh, no, that's just a coincidence! What harm could a computer game do?"
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They entered their war room, noticing Riggs, Conolly, and Olivet sitting at a table, doing some work. "Hey, you bring anything back for us?" Riggs asked.
Serena replied, "Yeah, right. Unless you like comics..."
Luna noticed the number of shopping bags Kim and Mina were holding, and asked, "How did you pay for all that?"
"Well," Mina said. "Kim paid for all this using the FRC's account, right Kim?"
Olivet heard what Mina said and replied, "Ahem, Agent Swann, care for an explanation?"
"We were, uh, just kidding!" At that, Kim stared blankly at Mina.
"Oops, sorry..." Mina said quietly.
Mike came running into the room with the installation disc for his game in his hand. He jumped on Chris and said, "Pleasepleaseplease can I use your computer?"
"OK! Just get off me!"
He raced to the computer across the room and quickly inserted the disc. In ten minutes Mike was playing the game. The three agents noticed him as he shouted "Yes!" "Oh, no!" or "What the-----" at the computer. Conolly said, "Hey, we're trying to get some work done here, unlike some people!"
Having a little fun, Luna sneaked up on Mike and jumped on his head. "Getoffme, getoffme!!" he shouted. When the cat moved away, Mike looked at the montior and saw the words "GAME OVER" all over the screen. He looked at Luna, but she gave a little laugh and said, "Just checking to see if you were aware of your surroundings..."
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NewsNetLink, four in the morning. The offices were not scheduled to be open for another two hours, so it was just the security guards occupying the building. In the lobby, the main security guard turned on his laptop and linked with the NNL network just to find out what new games were installed so that he could play on his break. He decided that he search Crawford's computer to play that Dangerous Plan game everyone's been talking about.
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NewsNetLink, 6:30 AM. Crawford came in early and used his keys to open the building. On his way to the elevator, he noticed a security guard with a gun in hand. The guard had a weird glow in his eyes. Without a word, he fired a shot from his gun towards Crawford. The reporter quickly dropped his briefcase, ducked, and ran towards the guard, who was firing missed shots. Crawford used all of his power to knock the guard to the floor. Crawford noticed the guard was unconscious as the guard was covered in some sort of darkness and disappeared. The reporter took a deep breath and wondered what that was all about. Then, on the floor, he noticed a laptop turned over. On the monitor read "Dangerous Plan." The screen flashed once and displayed "NegaVerse."
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New Dorp High School, lunch. Serena and Mike sat together in the cafeteria.
"Look at this, a 41!" Serena said, holding up a test paper. "Even in New York I can't get a good grade!"
Mike replied, "And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Well, I thought everything was so easy around here."
"It WAS easy, Serena. It was open book."
Just then, two other students, Kevin and Will, sat down next to Serena and Mike.
"Hey Mike," Will said. "You hear about that new com-virus?"
"What virus?"
Kevin added, "There's this virus that totals an entire computer in twenty-four hours!"
"The same as any other virus. What's so great about THIS virus?"
"Nothing, 'cept I hear rumors that people that have these viruses in their computer are missing! I mean, gone!"
"Yeah, anyway..."
"Hey, I'm serious, man!"
Will noticed Serena's test paper and asked, "So, what school DID you get kicked out of?"
"Oh, be quiet, you...." Serena then hit Will behind the head.
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The FRC building. All seven Reality Jumpers, including Luna, walked past the security checkpoints, the elevator, and the hallway to enter the Jumpers' war room. When the door opened, they all noticed the war room was in a mess. Papers were scattered all over the place, electronic screens were shattered, sparks were flying throughout the room.
"What the ---- happened here?" Jackie said.
As the Jumpers walked inside the room, a small laser beam was shot from the opposite side of the room and hit Mina's shoulder. "Oww!" she said. "Hey! Over there!"
She pointed at someone hiding behind a fallen metal beam. The person looked up and fired another shot, this time hitting the wall. Then there was silence. Serena slowly walked up to the metal beam and said, "Guys, there's no one here!" The man had disappeared.
The Jumpers looked around the room for clues, and then Chris said, "My computer was left on!" Luna walked up to the computer. It was slightly damaged, but the monitor was still functional. "Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike," the cat asked. "Someone's been playing YOUR game!"
The monitor was flashing "Dangerous Plan" and then "NegaVerse."
Mina, with her hand on her shoulder, looked at the screen and then added, "I told you, Mike! Weren't you listening to me?!"
"Sorry, what were the odds?"
Suddenly, the monitor started to glow, and out of it came a flash of electricity. Everyone ducked for safety. After a few flashes, the monitor turned off. Mike looked up and shouted, "What is going on here?"
A intercom then sounded, "Jumpers, report to the command center immediately!"
"Hmm, I bet they know about all this. Let's go!"
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"MOON STAR POWER!"
"VENUS STAR POWER!"
"MERCURY STAR POWER!"
As the Jumpers rushed down the hall to the elevator, three of them transformed into the Sailor Scouts.
"Think you can be any more obvious?" Kim asked.
They reached the command center, where Hacker One and his tech staff were working in. "Guys," he said. "Word has it that you bought a new computer game? Dangerous Plan, isn't it?"
Mike replied, "Yeah, why?"
"Well, I just found out today the program was infected with a virus before it hit the stores!"
"Is...this the new virus everyone's talking about?"
"Afraid so. You must've heard, right? Some missing persons reports were filed and those reports are, I think, connected to this virus. This morning, a security guard over at NewsNetLink tapped into Crawford's computer and played the game. Two hours later, Crawford entered the offices and was attacked by the guard. The man fired a few shots and disappeared."
"Same thing happened just a few minutes ago," Luna replied.
"Hmm, someone must've broke into the room and played the game...anyway, police in New York alone have over a hundred-fifty filed reports for missing people! Seventy-eight of them involve acts of violence in all five boroughs right before the disappearances occured. And the number is steadily climbing--"
"Well," Sailor Venus said. "We think the NegaVerse is behind this."
"So do I. People who have left their computer on have the word NegaVerse flashing on their monitor. Doesn't take a genius to figure out what's going on."
"Boss," said one of Hacker's crew. "A group of people are teleporting into the lobby!"
"You know, I was gonna ask where all those missing people are right now!" He turned to the Jumpers and added, "They're all yours!"
"Yep. All three hundred of them, with more coming in!" Hacker's staff said.
The team of seven left the room and ran down the hall. "Lobby's to the next left..." Kim thought. The left opening was thirty feet ahead of them.
At that moment, a gunshot came from the hall to the left leading to the lobby. Everyone stood still as the bullet made a hole in the right wall. They saw a number of shadows on the wall, signaling that they were coming closer and closer. Another blast of fire came from the left opening, also hitting the wall.
"OK, I've got an idea," Mike said. The Jumpers backed up and armed their weapons, waiting for the enemy to appear. The first person with a weapon appeared as he walked out of the opening. He was knocked to the ground by Kim's fire gun. The man dropped his gun and disappeared. Quickly, more people ran out of the opening and fired their own weapons. Luckily they were firing in all the wrong directions. Sailor Moon took off her tiara and said,
"MOON TIARA.....MAGIC!"
The headpiece was in the air as Sailor Venus added to the attack,
"VENUS....CRESCENT BEAM....SMASH!"
The tiara and the energy beam joined together as it hit the incoming crowd. The blast affected fifty or sixty enemies as they disappeared as well.
Three or four people moved up to the front line and fired laser guns towards the Jumpers. "Oh, I almost forgot!" Mike said. He reached into his pocket and out came Jake's mirror. The laser beam were coming closer. "What was the command? WHAT WAS THE COMMAND?!? Oh, yeah..."
"MIRROR....REFLECT!"
The mirror expanded and shielded the Jumpers from injury. The energy beams reflected off the mirror and fired back towards the enemy. A considerable amount of people disappeared after being hit by the counter-attack. It didn't stop the rest, though, from continuing the attack. They were about twenty-five feet, and coming closer.
Chris said, "Ami, I got an idea..." He reached for his water cannon and aimed water at a 45 degree angle so that it reached the ceiling. A large amount of water was falling from the ceiling and Chris was still firing water towards the ceiling. Sailor Mercury quickly got the point.
"MERCURY ICE BUBBLES....FREEZE!"
The bubbles hit the water, creating a sheet of ice between the enemy and the Reality Jumpers. The sheet was so thick that you cannot see through it. The attack was stopped and silence entered the hallway; nothing tried to break through the sheet of ice. After a minute, Kim fired her gun to melt the ice. When they were able to see through, they noticed no one was there. They had all disappeared, leaving the weapons behind.
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"You'll never win," said Jake, who was still restrained to a chair. He had been kept prisoner inside the NegaVerse for almost four days. "I just saw what happened, your men got wasted!"
"On the contrary," replied Queen Beryl. "Those are just a small part of my new army, thanks to what you call a computer. Now I have thousands of slaves, all waiting for my next command! You see, I'm just preparing for what's up ahead, and in a few days I will take over your precious universe, and all the other universes yours is protecting!!"
TO BE CONTINUED....