***
Chapter 5
I watch you slip away....
***
"FRISKET!"
The dog whined happily and smothered her with doggie drool.
"Frisket, cut it out, now's not the time........." she said while
laughing. Gee, it felt strange to laugh in such a situation. "Have you
seen Enzo?"
The dog looked at her for a moment, before hanging his head. He then
looked at her with that sad puppy face, and gave a soft whine.
"It's okay Frisket. We'll find him. I'm so glad you're here. Have you seen
a piano?"
The dog just looked at her like she'd grown another head.
"You don't understand me, do you?"
The dog whined.
"That's okay. Let's see where these other doors go."
Doors directly across from the courtyard doors led to another entryway.
Andraia could hear that high pitched whine. Softly at first, but growing.
She readied her sword as Glitch went dark again. Frisket growled.
But nothing was there. Even infared vision turned up nothing. The whine
was there, but no footsteps. What she did hear were mouselike squeaks.
"I wish I had a flashlight.............." she said.
The sound slowly dissappeared.
This would definitely complicate things if the sounds weren't always
linked to something bent on attacking her. Best to be on guard, no matter
what.
There was nothing else in the entryway, and she knew she had to stay here,
so they went back to the hallway.
Upon opening another door, she found herself in another hallway, near a
flight of stairs. Sounds and small monsters surrounded her.
And it was dark. So dark...........
Before she could even lash out, Frisket was upon them. Not wanting to hurt
the dog, she turned the other way, where more of the monsters were
approaching. They were quickly destroyed.
The light came back on. Frisket trotted back over toward her, and stood
close in a protective manner, growling. The sounds of the monsters had
dissappeared. Completely.
Thank goodness there was nothing else in the hall. More doors. A
staircase. What to do?
Another door led to the hallway she had started at. Others led to
bathrooms. While in the bathroom, she could swear that she heard the sound
of crying coming from the next room, but upon entering, she found nothing.
Frisket whined. She left the bathroom, confused.
Other doors, leading to classrooms, were locked, so she tried the stairs.
The hallway she found was almost identical. There were more stairs leading
upward, but she tried the hall first.
Frisket growled. Andraia couldn't hear any more of the monsters' sounds
close by, but she felt a chill run down her spine. Something was up.
The classrooms and even the bathrooms were locked. Only one door was open,
and it led to another hallway.
Windows allowed a view of the courtyard. There were two classroom doors,
and one door to another hallway.
And what did she find behind the first door she opened?
A piano.
Okay, a piano. Now what?
On the chalkboard, another note?
"Sometimes the promise is more comfort than the fulfillment of it."
A promise and a piano? Now what?
Wait a sec. Something.............
***
*Flashback*
***
Her first second in Mainframe had been more exciting than anything she'd
ever known in her life. In her programming was the desire to learn everything
she could, and this entire new world she had never seen before was like a
potent drug. Surges of endorphins flowed through her body as she took in every
new sight and sound of what, to her, was a huge city.
It took milliseconds before they could calm her down enough to take her
back to the diner. In the basement of the restaurant was a huge apartment,
a living room with big soft armchairs, a kitchen with all kinds of
gadgets, a terminal in which hundreds of works of fiction were stored, an
entertainment center with a TV.........
A shelf with small boxes stacked inside. While Dot went around trying to
set up a guest room, she studied a box. When she opened it, inside was a
shiny disc, that shimmered with all the colors of a rainbow.
She ran up to Enzo to show him. He smirked.
"That's a CD."
"What is it for?"
He took the disc from her, and walked up to the TV. Pressing a button on
one of the black boxes under it, a drawer slid open. He put the disc
inside, and the drawer shut.
She stood in awe as the sound surrounded her. Hundreds of sounds,
mathmatically patterned and placed in space and time formed a beautiful
assault on her sense of sound.
Surprised and awed by it, she stepped backward and leaned on what she
thought was a table. The music was interrupted by more notes interjected
strangely into the math. She turned around to find a keyboard. She pressed
a button, and heard a note similar to one of the notes coming from the CD.
She tried another...........and another...........
Dot returned to find her brother standing slackjawed as Andraia played the
piano along with the music, perfectly matching each note.
Later on, Andraia looked at the CD. Near track one, it had the label "The
Promise".
***
*End Flashback*
***
Andraia turned to the piano. Staring at it for a moment. A flashlight sat
on top of it. That wasn't there before. A warm feeling rushed through
her, the same feeling she had when Enzo smiled.
"Frisket? I have the strangest feeling that Enzo is trying to help me find
him. I don't know how, but I think he is."
The dog whined in confusion. Andraia walked up to the piano, and began to
play.
She lost herself in the music, playing every note by memory. Happy
memories running through her mind, and happy hopes for the future. She
would find Enzo, and they would survive. She'd get out of this dead system
and go back to the games. She'd take him to a system where he'd get
better. And maybe someday, they would go home.
But as she finished the last note, the monster sounds came back, louder
than ever, as if they were surrounding her. She felt suddenly cold, very
cold. Frisket growled, but instead of his usual angry growl, it was a
frightened one. And once again, the keytool fizzed out.
She grabbed the flashlight and opened the hallway door, to find the walls
of the hallway decaying in front of her. Pieces of missing wall were
replaced by chain link fence, which was covered in some type of rotting,
organic, animal matter. The floor had been replaced by a metal grate.
Pumping veins ran through pieces of the wall. Pipes were everywhere. And
the entire scene was colored in the reddish brown of dried blood.
She did the only thing she could think of. She SCREAMED.
Chapter 5
I watch you slip away....
***
"FRISKET!"
The dog whined happily and smothered her with doggie drool.
"Frisket, cut it out, now's not the time........." she said while
laughing. Gee, it felt strange to laugh in such a situation. "Have you
seen Enzo?"
The dog looked at her for a moment, before hanging his head. He then
looked at her with that sad puppy face, and gave a soft whine.
"It's okay Frisket. We'll find him. I'm so glad you're here. Have you seen
a piano?"
The dog just looked at her like she'd grown another head.
"You don't understand me, do you?"
The dog whined.
"That's okay. Let's see where these other doors go."
Doors directly across from the courtyard doors led to another entryway.
Andraia could hear that high pitched whine. Softly at first, but growing.
She readied her sword as Glitch went dark again. Frisket growled.
But nothing was there. Even infared vision turned up nothing. The whine
was there, but no footsteps. What she did hear were mouselike squeaks.
"I wish I had a flashlight.............." she said.
The sound slowly dissappeared.
This would definitely complicate things if the sounds weren't always
linked to something bent on attacking her. Best to be on guard, no matter
what.
There was nothing else in the entryway, and she knew she had to stay here,
so they went back to the hallway.
Upon opening another door, she found herself in another hallway, near a
flight of stairs. Sounds and small monsters surrounded her.
And it was dark. So dark...........
Before she could even lash out, Frisket was upon them. Not wanting to hurt
the dog, she turned the other way, where more of the monsters were
approaching. They were quickly destroyed.
The light came back on. Frisket trotted back over toward her, and stood
close in a protective manner, growling. The sounds of the monsters had
dissappeared. Completely.
Thank goodness there was nothing else in the hall. More doors. A
staircase. What to do?
Another door led to the hallway she had started at. Others led to
bathrooms. While in the bathroom, she could swear that she heard the sound
of crying coming from the next room, but upon entering, she found nothing.
Frisket whined. She left the bathroom, confused.
Other doors, leading to classrooms, were locked, so she tried the stairs.
The hallway she found was almost identical. There were more stairs leading
upward, but she tried the hall first.
Frisket growled. Andraia couldn't hear any more of the monsters' sounds
close by, but she felt a chill run down her spine. Something was up.
The classrooms and even the bathrooms were locked. Only one door was open,
and it led to another hallway.
Windows allowed a view of the courtyard. There were two classroom doors,
and one door to another hallway.
And what did she find behind the first door she opened?
A piano.
Okay, a piano. Now what?
On the chalkboard, another note?
"Sometimes the promise is more comfort than the fulfillment of it."
A promise and a piano? Now what?
Wait a sec. Something.............
***
*Flashback*
***
Her first second in Mainframe had been more exciting than anything she'd
ever known in her life. In her programming was the desire to learn everything
she could, and this entire new world she had never seen before was like a
potent drug. Surges of endorphins flowed through her body as she took in every
new sight and sound of what, to her, was a huge city.
It took milliseconds before they could calm her down enough to take her
back to the diner. In the basement of the restaurant was a huge apartment,
a living room with big soft armchairs, a kitchen with all kinds of
gadgets, a terminal in which hundreds of works of fiction were stored, an
entertainment center with a TV.........
A shelf with small boxes stacked inside. While Dot went around trying to
set up a guest room, she studied a box. When she opened it, inside was a
shiny disc, that shimmered with all the colors of a rainbow.
She ran up to Enzo to show him. He smirked.
"That's a CD."
"What is it for?"
He took the disc from her, and walked up to the TV. Pressing a button on
one of the black boxes under it, a drawer slid open. He put the disc
inside, and the drawer shut.
She stood in awe as the sound surrounded her. Hundreds of sounds,
mathmatically patterned and placed in space and time formed a beautiful
assault on her sense of sound.
Surprised and awed by it, she stepped backward and leaned on what she
thought was a table. The music was interrupted by more notes interjected
strangely into the math. She turned around to find a keyboard. She pressed
a button, and heard a note similar to one of the notes coming from the CD.
She tried another...........and another...........
Dot returned to find her brother standing slackjawed as Andraia played the
piano along with the music, perfectly matching each note.
Later on, Andraia looked at the CD. Near track one, it had the label "The
Promise".
***
*End Flashback*
***
Andraia turned to the piano. Staring at it for a moment. A flashlight sat
on top of it. That wasn't there before. A warm feeling rushed through
her, the same feeling she had when Enzo smiled.
"Frisket? I have the strangest feeling that Enzo is trying to help me find
him. I don't know how, but I think he is."
The dog whined in confusion. Andraia walked up to the piano, and began to
play.
She lost herself in the music, playing every note by memory. Happy
memories running through her mind, and happy hopes for the future. She
would find Enzo, and they would survive. She'd get out of this dead system
and go back to the games. She'd take him to a system where he'd get
better. And maybe someday, they would go home.
But as she finished the last note, the monster sounds came back, louder
than ever, as if they were surrounding her. She felt suddenly cold, very
cold. Frisket growled, but instead of his usual angry growl, it was a
frightened one. And once again, the keytool fizzed out.
She grabbed the flashlight and opened the hallway door, to find the walls
of the hallway decaying in front of her. Pieces of missing wall were
replaced by chain link fence, which was covered in some type of rotting,
organic, animal matter. The floor had been replaced by a metal grate.
Pumping veins ran through pieces of the wall. Pipes were everywhere. And
the entire scene was colored in the reddish brown of dried blood.
She did the only thing she could think of. She SCREAMED.
