***
Chapter 9
Cry to the angels
***
Carrot walked through the door, sighing. In frustration, she backfisted a
vidwindow, sending it shattering into the wall.
"I was thinking...."
Andraia looked up at Carrot. Outside, it was pitch black. Sometime
earlier, the world had morphed into a halfway point between the other
world and the normal system.
"Why bother leading the virus into the game?"
"What do you mean?"
"At this point, a lost game would crash the system. There's almost
nothing left in the core. If a game came down, it would be attracted
straight to the P.O.. I say forget the quick nullification and let
the virus delete in her own wreckage."
Andraia sighed and looked down at Enzo, who was out cold on the couch,
shivering in his sleep. Frisket slept next to him, protectively. "I don't
care anymore. I just want out of here."
"It's settled then." Carrot sighed and looked out the window. "I'm the
last live sprite from this system. I just checked the system stats.
Anybody who was out there is dead. I don't know what happened to James.
Only four PIDs left, and we're it."
Andraia felt a chill run up her back. This was insane. Nobody? Not even
the goofy police officer who had been fighting with his car when she met
him?
There was nothing else she could do. She cried.
Carrot sat down and put her arms around her. For a child to be put into a
situation like this.............
The world morphed completely. Andraia put Glitch on her belt, as the
interference kept the keytool from being much use.
Frisket whined, noticing the change. Andraia found that the air felt
thinner. It was getting harder and harder to breathe.
Andraia gathered Enzo into her arms. He slept away, unknowing of what was
going on around him.
His image faded in front of her. He flickered in and out of being like a
ghost. Carrot shook her head.
"Great. The enviornment's shutting down. The core doesn't have enough
energy to support us anymore. He's already low on energy, so he's gonna
start feeling it first."
Andraia gasped in alarm, holding Enzo close to her.
"Please hold on, Enzo. I'll get you out of here."
He didn't answer. The flickering steadily grew worse. Carrot flopped down
into the remains of her desk chair. At this moment, giving up seemed to
be the easiest option. But she couldn't give up. Not without being
answered.
"WHY?!" She screamed to the sky. "WHY!?!" Then she cried.
A long, uncomfortable silence followed, broken only by her sobs.
A sound reached her ears. Different from the sounds of the monsters. It
was much stronger. And...............familiar.
She stopped crying and concentrated on the sound.
"What?" Carrot asked.
"I can hear something. An energy buildup."
***WARNING! INCOMING GAME!***
Carrot jumped from her chair and looked out the window. The game was
directly above them.
"Talk about timing," Carrot said.
Andraia felt a sudden surge of hope as the violet energy surrounded them.
The air was clean, easy to breathe, and full of energy................so
full. The air in the system had been so empty, that she'd almost forgotten
what game energy had felt like.
Before doing anything else, she laid Enzo down against a tree. They were
in what looked like a forest. She changed his icon to game sprite mode.
"Frisket, stay with him."
The dog stood next to him, fire in his eyes.
"Okay Carrot? I need you to reboot then I need your Icon."
"Why?"
"This is the only way to survive the game."
They both rebooted at the same time. Carrot cautiously handed over her
icon, watching Andraia's face for anything suspicious. No response, but an
innocent face of a child.
Carrot's icon was handed back to her in a new triangular shape.
"You can go back to system sprite mode by clicking it once. Don't do that
until I tell you."
"Got it."
***
"I have paved the way for you, my lady."
"You have done well, but you are a terrible decorator."
"I am sorry, It is part of my code."
"All is forgiven. This is our last infection as separate viruses. I must
prepare for my upgrade. Then I can leave with the game. And Claudia?"
"Yes?"
"You shouldn't have bothered trying to trick that girl with that dream
sequence. You are a terrible actress."
Claudia stormed off muttering........
***
"There's the user."
Andraia and Carrot were watching the user from behind a tree. He was a
knight on a horse.
"Remember, lead him to the sunstone, but don't touch it. He has to win."
"Got it."
***
The monsters gathered, one at a time in front of the client. She touched
each on the head, and they dissolved into the air. Each time this
happened, the client virus glowed a little.
"Now for the finish," the client said as Claudia moved towards her.
The viruses moved together as if they were mirror images. Until they
walked right into each other. But instead of bumping heads, they merged.
A green glow lit up the entire system as brightly as daylight, but only
for a moment.
"Now is the time," said the resulting virus, as she flew towards the game
cube.
Upon touching it, she glowed momentarily, and then dissolved in the same
manner the monsters had. A spot on the cube glowed. That was it.
***GAME OVER! USER WINS!***
Nothing was left but a hollow shell of crumbling buildings. Even the nulls
had been absorbed by the virus. The crash was quick. If it made a sound,
nobody was there to hear it.
Chapter 9
Cry to the angels
***
Carrot walked through the door, sighing. In frustration, she backfisted a
vidwindow, sending it shattering into the wall.
"I was thinking...."
Andraia looked up at Carrot. Outside, it was pitch black. Sometime
earlier, the world had morphed into a halfway point between the other
world and the normal system.
"Why bother leading the virus into the game?"
"What do you mean?"
"At this point, a lost game would crash the system. There's almost
nothing left in the core. If a game came down, it would be attracted
straight to the P.O.. I say forget the quick nullification and let
the virus delete in her own wreckage."
Andraia sighed and looked down at Enzo, who was out cold on the couch,
shivering in his sleep. Frisket slept next to him, protectively. "I don't
care anymore. I just want out of here."
"It's settled then." Carrot sighed and looked out the window. "I'm the
last live sprite from this system. I just checked the system stats.
Anybody who was out there is dead. I don't know what happened to James.
Only four PIDs left, and we're it."
Andraia felt a chill run up her back. This was insane. Nobody? Not even
the goofy police officer who had been fighting with his car when she met
him?
There was nothing else she could do. She cried.
Carrot sat down and put her arms around her. For a child to be put into a
situation like this.............
The world morphed completely. Andraia put Glitch on her belt, as the
interference kept the keytool from being much use.
Frisket whined, noticing the change. Andraia found that the air felt
thinner. It was getting harder and harder to breathe.
Andraia gathered Enzo into her arms. He slept away, unknowing of what was
going on around him.
His image faded in front of her. He flickered in and out of being like a
ghost. Carrot shook her head.
"Great. The enviornment's shutting down. The core doesn't have enough
energy to support us anymore. He's already low on energy, so he's gonna
start feeling it first."
Andraia gasped in alarm, holding Enzo close to her.
"Please hold on, Enzo. I'll get you out of here."
He didn't answer. The flickering steadily grew worse. Carrot flopped down
into the remains of her desk chair. At this moment, giving up seemed to
be the easiest option. But she couldn't give up. Not without being
answered.
"WHY?!" She screamed to the sky. "WHY!?!" Then she cried.
A long, uncomfortable silence followed, broken only by her sobs.
A sound reached her ears. Different from the sounds of the monsters. It
was much stronger. And...............familiar.
She stopped crying and concentrated on the sound.
"What?" Carrot asked.
"I can hear something. An energy buildup."
***WARNING! INCOMING GAME!***
Carrot jumped from her chair and looked out the window. The game was
directly above them.
"Talk about timing," Carrot said.
Andraia felt a sudden surge of hope as the violet energy surrounded them.
The air was clean, easy to breathe, and full of energy................so
full. The air in the system had been so empty, that she'd almost forgotten
what game energy had felt like.
Before doing anything else, she laid Enzo down against a tree. They were
in what looked like a forest. She changed his icon to game sprite mode.
"Frisket, stay with him."
The dog stood next to him, fire in his eyes.
"Okay Carrot? I need you to reboot then I need your Icon."
"Why?"
"This is the only way to survive the game."
They both rebooted at the same time. Carrot cautiously handed over her
icon, watching Andraia's face for anything suspicious. No response, but an
innocent face of a child.
Carrot's icon was handed back to her in a new triangular shape.
"You can go back to system sprite mode by clicking it once. Don't do that
until I tell you."
"Got it."
***
"I have paved the way for you, my lady."
"You have done well, but you are a terrible decorator."
"I am sorry, It is part of my code."
"All is forgiven. This is our last infection as separate viruses. I must
prepare for my upgrade. Then I can leave with the game. And Claudia?"
"Yes?"
"You shouldn't have bothered trying to trick that girl with that dream
sequence. You are a terrible actress."
Claudia stormed off muttering........
***
"There's the user."
Andraia and Carrot were watching the user from behind a tree. He was a
knight on a horse.
"Remember, lead him to the sunstone, but don't touch it. He has to win."
"Got it."
***
The monsters gathered, one at a time in front of the client. She touched
each on the head, and they dissolved into the air. Each time this
happened, the client virus glowed a little.
"Now for the finish," the client said as Claudia moved towards her.
The viruses moved together as if they were mirror images. Until they
walked right into each other. But instead of bumping heads, they merged.
A green glow lit up the entire system as brightly as daylight, but only
for a moment.
"Now is the time," said the resulting virus, as she flew towards the game
cube.
Upon touching it, she glowed momentarily, and then dissolved in the same
manner the monsters had. A spot on the cube glowed. That was it.
***GAME OVER! USER WINS!***
Nothing was left but a hollow shell of crumbling buildings. Even the nulls
had been absorbed by the virus. The crash was quick. If it made a sound,
nobody was there to hear it.
