Disclaimer: …see chapter 1…
Chapter 9's finally done! I'm really sorry it took me so long. Things haven't been
going to well at school lately and the only time I've been able to do any work is late at
night.
I hope Mom's not reading this…
Anyway, thank you to Xalan and Inu-Adrienn for their reviews. You guys make this
so much easier. Enjoy!
*******************************************************************************************
"There we go," Aki said as the cuboid sealed itself off from the rest of the room.
"So where is it?" Kenichi asked, looking into the partition. All that was there was a
cluster of dots, about fifty in all.
"The virus is there. However since it's no longer running the visualisation program
can't get any information from it to give the virus a shape."
"I guess it's probably for the best…" Kenichi turned to look at Tima, lying on one of
the beds. She had been put to sleep for the procedure to avoid her having to go
through the shock of meeting the virus again.
"So how long's this going to take?" he asked, watching as the formless cluster of dots
moved aimlessly within the partition.
"I've no idea. Probably not that long once we've customised the virus."
Kenichi sat down at the desk. Trailing from the sealed memory to his terminal were
two cables, one green and one red. Neither looked quite right, sort of out of place.
This was to some extent true, as unlike the rest of the room they weren't themed, and
so appeared almost ethereal.
Calling up two windows, one for Tima and one for the virus Kenichi began work.
* * * * *
PROGRAM STATUS REPORT
PROGRAM: 'TIMA.ari'
SYSTEM MODULE STATUS:
EMOTIVE SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
GYROSCOPIC SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
OPTICAL SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
COOLANT SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
FUEL SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: ERROR: CORRUPT
GROWTH SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
EXCRETORY SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
LUBRICATION SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
LOGIC SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: WARNING
EFFICIENCY ERRATIC
SENSORY SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
MEMORY SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
SELF REPAIR SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
AUDIO INPUT/OUTPUT SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: WARNING
EFFICIENCY ERRATIC
CORE MEMORY STATUS: INCOMPLETE
RETRIEVED DATA:
PARTIALLY RETRIEVED KENICHI.bio
PARTIALLY RETRIEVED TIMA.his
FULLY RETRIEVED TIMA.per
PARTIALLY RETRIEVED GENERAL LOG FILES BETWEEN 1 AND 684362134
CURRENT PROGRAM MODE: SLEEP
* * * * *
VIRUS STATUS REPORT
VIRUS: 'intconovr'
STATUS: INACTIVE, LOCKED
PROGRAM MODULE STATUS
EMOTIVE CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
OPTICAL CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
LOGIC CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
SENSORY CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
MEMORY CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
AUDIO INPUT/OUTPUT CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
INTERFACE CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
SECURITY OVERRIDE CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
SELF REPAIR CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
SYSTEM CONTROL MODULE:
EMOTIVE SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
GYROSCOPIC SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
OPTICAL SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
COOLANT SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
FUEL SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
GROWTH SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
EXCRETORY SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
LUBRICATION SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
LOGIC SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
SENSORY SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
MEMORY SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
SELF REPAIR SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
AUDIO INPUT/OUTPUT SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL,
INACTIVE
DIRECTIVES:
1: UPON ACTIVATION, REVIEW STATUS OF ALL MODULES
2: SEARCH FOR FILE: 'TIMA.ari'
3: UPON DETECTION, INTERFACE WITH FILE
4: INITIATE SECURITY OVERRIDE, PASSWORD: rockaku
5: UPON ENTRY BACKUP VIRUS 'intconovr' AND CLOSE DOWN EMOTIVE
SYSTEMS OF HOST
6: CLOSE DOWN OWN EMOTIVE CONTROL MODULE
7: SHOULD UNEXPECTED RESISTANCE ARISE AT ANY POINT
DISCONNECT FILE 'TIMA.ari' ALONG WITH BACKUP OF 'intconovr'
FROM HOST AND TAKE OVER ALL FUNCTIONS
8: SEARCH FOR AND INTERFACE WITH REMOTE HOST: 'ZIGTHRONE'
9: FOLLOW RECEIVED INSTRUCTIONS
* * * * *
Kenichi had never realised Tima's programming contained a complete override, and
he quickly deleted it. But what he didn't understand was, if Tima could have been
possessed so easily how did her emotive systems protect themselves? It was as if
there was something else fighting the virus. This was the second time Kenichi
had wondered about the presence of a true heart in Tima, but no matter how much he
longed for and believed it to be true, he still couldn't think how. Could Dr. Laughton
have programmed Tima for more than just control of the Ziggurat? If he had, the
program was well hidden, much deeper than Kenichi could ever search. Probably
spread across the whole of her system. All considered he didn't want to find it
anyway. It felt as if he was violating Tima even now, but this much he had to do.
Probing further would just be wrong. He continued working.
* * * * *
"Well Kenichi? Have you finished?" Aki appeared on the screen over Kenichi's
work.
"Almost Aki," he said stretching, "But I'm starting to feel really hungry. I thought
you had me on a drip."
Aki laughed, "Kenichi's appetite transcends the laws of reality! But seriously, it's
just you're mind thinking it's about time to eat and not having any evidence to the
contrary. I'll make something for you."
"Thanks. By the way, have you found out what's wrong with Koh?"
"Yeah. The blast just removed a few parts of his program, nothing irreparable. While
you were working I've been replacing them."
Kenichi smiled, "That's good."
"Here you are." A sandwich and a glace of juice appeared on Kenichi's desk. They
didn't stay there long.
"Koh should be up and about in a couple of hours, as soon as I've run a few more
checks."
"I'll be done with Tima in an hour so. Once that's done, I'll come out and we'll put
her back in her body, then I'll take her out of sleep mode. I don't suppose her room's
ready yet is it?" Kenichi asked.
"Yep, well, as best it can be. The bed's a little old, and the room hardly looks like a
bedroom but home is where the heart is I guess." Aki answered happily.
"Well then, let's wake Tima up in there. I doubt she'd find waking up plugged into a
computer much fun."
"Okay." Aki disappeared from the screen and Kenichi turned back to his last job,
downloading Tima's memories from her body.
* * * * *
"Oh… my head…" trying to make his eyes focus, Kenichi reached up to put his hand
on his aching head but found the way blocked by something cold and hard. Aki
reached up and removed the neural relay.
"It's bound to hurt at first Kenichi," Aki said sympathetically, "You've had a
computer messing with your brain for several days. Now you just lie there for a while
and get used to being real again."
"Uhn… Aki? How did Tima's body react to getting her memories of when she was in
the net?" Kenichi had sent the file over for convenience's sake, as well as to test the
connections.
Aki paused in the doorway, "Strangely. When the file came over Tima's body grew a little, and
quite fast too. I suppose she was making up for lost time."
Kenichi's head was starting to feel a little better now, and he sat up. He winced as
Aki pulled the plastic tube from his arm and rapped a bandage around it. It didn't hurt
as such; it just sent a sort of numbness through Kenichi's arm making him feel a little
queasy.
"You can take that off in a couple of days. Do you want to see Tima's room?" Aki
asked.
"Haha, yeah, let's see this project of yours then." Aki took Kenichi's hand and led
him down the hall. Messy and dirty as this place was, Kenichi thought it was starting
to feel sort of homely too.
"Here we are!" Aki said pulling Kenichi round a corner.
Compared to the one they had been sharing this was nothing, however, compared to
Kenichi's room, Tima's was luxurious. The bed, unlike Kenichi's was more then just
a mattress. It had two pillows, a much thicker blanket, and an actual frame with
springs. The walls were bare metal, however Aki had done he best to distract from
this. Against one wall stood a tall wardrobe, and next to it was a dresser. Neither of
them were in particularly good condition but could still be used. Against the other
wall was a table, and above it Aki had hung a painting of a meadow she had salvaged
from the ruins.
"Aki this is amazing…" Kenichi was astounded the little robot had managed all this.
"Hehe... Thanks Kenichi." Aki said.
Kenichi walked forward laying a hand on the desk, staring up at the painting.
"Do you want to get started Kenichi?"
"Yes let's…" Kenichi turned and left the room.
* * * * *
"Okay. All of the connections are fine, Tima's mind's showing up well too…" Aki
was at the terminal again. Kenichi was busy lifting Tima's body from where it lay
among some blankets on the floor and placing it upon the throne.
"I'm ready over here too Aki. Do you want to start the download?"
"Download commenced. Give it a few minutes and we'll be ready for activation.
Kenichi?" Aki turned to look at Kenichi who had suddenly gone quiet.
Kenichi was standing looking into Tima's eyes.
"Kenichi is something the matter?"
"I've just got this strange feeling… No I'm sure it's nothing."
"Alright." Aki climbed down from the terminal and sat beside Kenichi on his bed.
They were sitting for only a minute when the terminal made a noise. Kenichi walked
over and looked at the appropriate screen.
"Aki something's happening," Aki was at his side a moment later.
"Download incomplete, retrying?" she called up Tima's Module status.
"Could not interface with system?!" Kenichi shouted in disbelief.
"Kenichi we have to hurry. Tima's body isn't designed to hold a link like that open
for very long," Aki's voice was filled with suppressed fear. Once the file had been
sent from the terminal, it couldn't go back.
"Why now!?" Kenichi began typing furiously, exploring Tima's body trying to find
the blockage.
"I can't find anything wrong!" Kenichi was panicking.
"What about the emotive systems? They're a real mess most of the time. What if
something were stopping the connection from there?" Aki suggested.
"I hope you're right Aki…" Kenichi was searching again.
"It's there! That virus is attacking Tima again!" Kenichi yelled as the file name
'intconovr' appeared on the screen.
"How could it be? We spent days catching it!"
"I don't know…" Kenichi was once again chasing the virus around Tima's systems,
"How much longer?"
"Five minutes." Aki said reading another screen.
"This isn't going to work. I can't re-encrypt every system with so little time!"
Kenichi was already starting to do this anyway.
"Can't you just cut the virus off? Last time you chased it but surely if you could just
trap it somehow…"
"That's it Aki!" Kenichi began to type instructions. If he could seal the exit ports to
Tima's emotive systems he could trap it and destroy it by shutting them down. He
was going to make it.
"The virus is sending instructions to Tima's emotive and sensory modules. It's starting
them up!" Aki said in surprise.
"So that's what she's doing…" Kenichi was still typing, "The virus knows I'm going
to destroy it so she's trying to kill Tima by putting her mind into shock…"
"What do we do?"
"There's nothing we can do." Kenichi said gritting his teeth, "I hope she'll be
okay…"
"Twenty seconds…" Aki read.
"There I'm done. But I wasn't fast enough to interrupt the virus' commands…"
Kenichi sat back and watched as the download exploded into life, completing just
moments before the link collapsed.
"I'm starting up Tima's audio interface and logic systems Kenichi, you have to calm
her down." Aki said. Tima's mind was thrashing around in it's disconnected half-
sleep.
Tima's mouth opened suddenly releasing the last part of a yell. Kenichi immediately
grabbed her hand, "Tima it's alright! I'm here!"
"Ke-Kenichi? What's going on? I can't see! I can't move!"
"It's okay Tima. I'm right here…" Kenichi said softly.
"Kenichi? Kenichi help!"
It wasn't working. Tima just couldn't calm down. Kenichi gathered up Tima's limp
body in his arms and held her against him, "Come on Tima hush. Everything's going
to be fine… Aki turn on the gyros."
"Yes Kenichi," instantly Tima began pushing and thrashing against Kenichi.
"Come on Tima quiet! You have to calm down," Kenichi was struggling to maintain
his hug.
Aki broke in suddenly, "I can't bring her fuel systems online like this! The throne can
only support her a little longer!"
"Her eyes, do we have enough power?" Kenichi asked. If they couldn't get Tima
back to sleep, her body would loose power and die.
"No we don't! If you can't calm her in the next minute, I'll have to force Tima into
sleep mode," both Kenichi and Aki new the possible repercussions. If improperly
shutdown Tima's systems might be corrupted.
Kenichi pulled Tima tight against himself, "Tima you have to trust me! You're safe
here! I told you I'd keep you safe! Come on everything's okay, I'm here."
At these words Tima stopped struggling and yelling and almost relaxed, "Kenichi…"
she whispered.
"Aki is that enough?" Kenichi asked balancing Tima against his chest.
"Just. I'm shutting her down now. We can wake her up as soon as everything's
working correctly."
Kenichi relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief as Tima collapsed against him. It had been close.
"How do you think the virus got in?" he asked.
"Well… when we were making sure to get rid of it, I don't think we ever checked the
throne. If the throne was where the virus came from in the first lace then…" Aki
stood facing Kenichi, looking over the back of his chair.
"I guess so." Kenichi muttered.
"Get some sleep, we'll finish in the morning." Aki climbed down and left the room.
Kenichi walked over to Tima, "I'm sorry Tima… I should have been more careful. If
I had just scanned the throne…" Kenichi sighed. It was useless to think about it now.
He climbed into his bed and quickly fell asleep.
*****************************************************************************************
Thanks again to all those who read. Once more reviews are very, very welcome!
Chapter 10 shouldn't be too long coming.
Chapter 9's finally done! I'm really sorry it took me so long. Things haven't been
going to well at school lately and the only time I've been able to do any work is late at
night.
I hope Mom's not reading this…
Anyway, thank you to Xalan and Inu-Adrienn for their reviews. You guys make this
so much easier. Enjoy!
*******************************************************************************************
"There we go," Aki said as the cuboid sealed itself off from the rest of the room.
"So where is it?" Kenichi asked, looking into the partition. All that was there was a
cluster of dots, about fifty in all.
"The virus is there. However since it's no longer running the visualisation program
can't get any information from it to give the virus a shape."
"I guess it's probably for the best…" Kenichi turned to look at Tima, lying on one of
the beds. She had been put to sleep for the procedure to avoid her having to go
through the shock of meeting the virus again.
"So how long's this going to take?" he asked, watching as the formless cluster of dots
moved aimlessly within the partition.
"I've no idea. Probably not that long once we've customised the virus."
Kenichi sat down at the desk. Trailing from the sealed memory to his terminal were
two cables, one green and one red. Neither looked quite right, sort of out of place.
This was to some extent true, as unlike the rest of the room they weren't themed, and
so appeared almost ethereal.
Calling up two windows, one for Tima and one for the virus Kenichi began work.
* * * * *
PROGRAM STATUS REPORT
PROGRAM: 'TIMA.ari'
SYSTEM MODULE STATUS:
EMOTIVE SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
GYROSCOPIC SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
OPTICAL SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
COOLANT SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
FUEL SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: ERROR: CORRUPT
GROWTH SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
EXCRETORY SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
LUBRICATION SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
LOGIC SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: WARNING
EFFICIENCY ERRATIC
SENSORY SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
MEMORY SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
SELF REPAIR SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
AUDIO INPUT/OUTPUT SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: WARNING
EFFICIENCY ERRATIC
CORE MEMORY STATUS: INCOMPLETE
RETRIEVED DATA:
PARTIALLY RETRIEVED KENICHI.bio
PARTIALLY RETRIEVED TIMA.his
FULLY RETRIEVED TIMA.per
PARTIALLY RETRIEVED GENERAL LOG FILES BETWEEN 1 AND 684362134
CURRENT PROGRAM MODE: SLEEP
* * * * *
VIRUS STATUS REPORT
VIRUS: 'intconovr'
STATUS: INACTIVE, LOCKED
PROGRAM MODULE STATUS
EMOTIVE CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
OPTICAL CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
LOGIC CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
SENSORY CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
MEMORY CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
AUDIO INPUT/OUTPUT CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
INTERFACE CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
SECURITY OVERRIDE CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
SELF REPAIR CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL
SYSTEM CONTROL MODULE:
EMOTIVE SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
GYROSCOPIC SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
OPTICAL SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
COOLANT SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
FUEL SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
GROWTH SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
EXCRETORY SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
LUBRICATION SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
LOGIC SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
SENSORY SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
MEMORY SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
SELF REPAIR SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL, INACTIVE
AUDIO INPUT/OUTPUT SYSTEMS CONTROL MODULE: NOMINAL,
INACTIVE
DIRECTIVES:
1: UPON ACTIVATION, REVIEW STATUS OF ALL MODULES
2: SEARCH FOR FILE: 'TIMA.ari'
3: UPON DETECTION, INTERFACE WITH FILE
4: INITIATE SECURITY OVERRIDE, PASSWORD: rockaku
5: UPON ENTRY BACKUP VIRUS 'intconovr' AND CLOSE DOWN EMOTIVE
SYSTEMS OF HOST
6: CLOSE DOWN OWN EMOTIVE CONTROL MODULE
7: SHOULD UNEXPECTED RESISTANCE ARISE AT ANY POINT
DISCONNECT FILE 'TIMA.ari' ALONG WITH BACKUP OF 'intconovr'
FROM HOST AND TAKE OVER ALL FUNCTIONS
8: SEARCH FOR AND INTERFACE WITH REMOTE HOST: 'ZIGTHRONE'
9: FOLLOW RECEIVED INSTRUCTIONS
* * * * *
Kenichi had never realised Tima's programming contained a complete override, and
he quickly deleted it. But what he didn't understand was, if Tima could have been
possessed so easily how did her emotive systems protect themselves? It was as if
there was something else fighting the virus. This was the second time Kenichi
had wondered about the presence of a true heart in Tima, but no matter how much he
longed for and believed it to be true, he still couldn't think how. Could Dr. Laughton
have programmed Tima for more than just control of the Ziggurat? If he had, the
program was well hidden, much deeper than Kenichi could ever search. Probably
spread across the whole of her system. All considered he didn't want to find it
anyway. It felt as if he was violating Tima even now, but this much he had to do.
Probing further would just be wrong. He continued working.
* * * * *
"Well Kenichi? Have you finished?" Aki appeared on the screen over Kenichi's
work.
"Almost Aki," he said stretching, "But I'm starting to feel really hungry. I thought
you had me on a drip."
Aki laughed, "Kenichi's appetite transcends the laws of reality! But seriously, it's
just you're mind thinking it's about time to eat and not having any evidence to the
contrary. I'll make something for you."
"Thanks. By the way, have you found out what's wrong with Koh?"
"Yeah. The blast just removed a few parts of his program, nothing irreparable. While
you were working I've been replacing them."
Kenichi smiled, "That's good."
"Here you are." A sandwich and a glace of juice appeared on Kenichi's desk. They
didn't stay there long.
"Koh should be up and about in a couple of hours, as soon as I've run a few more
checks."
"I'll be done with Tima in an hour so. Once that's done, I'll come out and we'll put
her back in her body, then I'll take her out of sleep mode. I don't suppose her room's
ready yet is it?" Kenichi asked.
"Yep, well, as best it can be. The bed's a little old, and the room hardly looks like a
bedroom but home is where the heart is I guess." Aki answered happily.
"Well then, let's wake Tima up in there. I doubt she'd find waking up plugged into a
computer much fun."
"Okay." Aki disappeared from the screen and Kenichi turned back to his last job,
downloading Tima's memories from her body.
* * * * *
"Oh… my head…" trying to make his eyes focus, Kenichi reached up to put his hand
on his aching head but found the way blocked by something cold and hard. Aki
reached up and removed the neural relay.
"It's bound to hurt at first Kenichi," Aki said sympathetically, "You've had a
computer messing with your brain for several days. Now you just lie there for a while
and get used to being real again."
"Uhn… Aki? How did Tima's body react to getting her memories of when she was in
the net?" Kenichi had sent the file over for convenience's sake, as well as to test the
connections.
Aki paused in the doorway, "Strangely. When the file came over Tima's body grew a little, and
quite fast too. I suppose she was making up for lost time."
Kenichi's head was starting to feel a little better now, and he sat up. He winced as
Aki pulled the plastic tube from his arm and rapped a bandage around it. It didn't hurt
as such; it just sent a sort of numbness through Kenichi's arm making him feel a little
queasy.
"You can take that off in a couple of days. Do you want to see Tima's room?" Aki
asked.
"Haha, yeah, let's see this project of yours then." Aki took Kenichi's hand and led
him down the hall. Messy and dirty as this place was, Kenichi thought it was starting
to feel sort of homely too.
"Here we are!" Aki said pulling Kenichi round a corner.
Compared to the one they had been sharing this was nothing, however, compared to
Kenichi's room, Tima's was luxurious. The bed, unlike Kenichi's was more then just
a mattress. It had two pillows, a much thicker blanket, and an actual frame with
springs. The walls were bare metal, however Aki had done he best to distract from
this. Against one wall stood a tall wardrobe, and next to it was a dresser. Neither of
them were in particularly good condition but could still be used. Against the other
wall was a table, and above it Aki had hung a painting of a meadow she had salvaged
from the ruins.
"Aki this is amazing…" Kenichi was astounded the little robot had managed all this.
"Hehe... Thanks Kenichi." Aki said.
Kenichi walked forward laying a hand on the desk, staring up at the painting.
"Do you want to get started Kenichi?"
"Yes let's…" Kenichi turned and left the room.
* * * * *
"Okay. All of the connections are fine, Tima's mind's showing up well too…" Aki
was at the terminal again. Kenichi was busy lifting Tima's body from where it lay
among some blankets on the floor and placing it upon the throne.
"I'm ready over here too Aki. Do you want to start the download?"
"Download commenced. Give it a few minutes and we'll be ready for activation.
Kenichi?" Aki turned to look at Kenichi who had suddenly gone quiet.
Kenichi was standing looking into Tima's eyes.
"Kenichi is something the matter?"
"I've just got this strange feeling… No I'm sure it's nothing."
"Alright." Aki climbed down from the terminal and sat beside Kenichi on his bed.
They were sitting for only a minute when the terminal made a noise. Kenichi walked
over and looked at the appropriate screen.
"Aki something's happening," Aki was at his side a moment later.
"Download incomplete, retrying?" she called up Tima's Module status.
"Could not interface with system?!" Kenichi shouted in disbelief.
"Kenichi we have to hurry. Tima's body isn't designed to hold a link like that open
for very long," Aki's voice was filled with suppressed fear. Once the file had been
sent from the terminal, it couldn't go back.
"Why now!?" Kenichi began typing furiously, exploring Tima's body trying to find
the blockage.
"I can't find anything wrong!" Kenichi was panicking.
"What about the emotive systems? They're a real mess most of the time. What if
something were stopping the connection from there?" Aki suggested.
"I hope you're right Aki…" Kenichi was searching again.
"It's there! That virus is attacking Tima again!" Kenichi yelled as the file name
'intconovr' appeared on the screen.
"How could it be? We spent days catching it!"
"I don't know…" Kenichi was once again chasing the virus around Tima's systems,
"How much longer?"
"Five minutes." Aki said reading another screen.
"This isn't going to work. I can't re-encrypt every system with so little time!"
Kenichi was already starting to do this anyway.
"Can't you just cut the virus off? Last time you chased it but surely if you could just
trap it somehow…"
"That's it Aki!" Kenichi began to type instructions. If he could seal the exit ports to
Tima's emotive systems he could trap it and destroy it by shutting them down. He
was going to make it.
"The virus is sending instructions to Tima's emotive and sensory modules. It's starting
them up!" Aki said in surprise.
"So that's what she's doing…" Kenichi was still typing, "The virus knows I'm going
to destroy it so she's trying to kill Tima by putting her mind into shock…"
"What do we do?"
"There's nothing we can do." Kenichi said gritting his teeth, "I hope she'll be
okay…"
"Twenty seconds…" Aki read.
"There I'm done. But I wasn't fast enough to interrupt the virus' commands…"
Kenichi sat back and watched as the download exploded into life, completing just
moments before the link collapsed.
"I'm starting up Tima's audio interface and logic systems Kenichi, you have to calm
her down." Aki said. Tima's mind was thrashing around in it's disconnected half-
sleep.
Tima's mouth opened suddenly releasing the last part of a yell. Kenichi immediately
grabbed her hand, "Tima it's alright! I'm here!"
"Ke-Kenichi? What's going on? I can't see! I can't move!"
"It's okay Tima. I'm right here…" Kenichi said softly.
"Kenichi? Kenichi help!"
It wasn't working. Tima just couldn't calm down. Kenichi gathered up Tima's limp
body in his arms and held her against him, "Come on Tima hush. Everything's going
to be fine… Aki turn on the gyros."
"Yes Kenichi," instantly Tima began pushing and thrashing against Kenichi.
"Come on Tima quiet! You have to calm down," Kenichi was struggling to maintain
his hug.
Aki broke in suddenly, "I can't bring her fuel systems online like this! The throne can
only support her a little longer!"
"Her eyes, do we have enough power?" Kenichi asked. If they couldn't get Tima
back to sleep, her body would loose power and die.
"No we don't! If you can't calm her in the next minute, I'll have to force Tima into
sleep mode," both Kenichi and Aki new the possible repercussions. If improperly
shutdown Tima's systems might be corrupted.
Kenichi pulled Tima tight against himself, "Tima you have to trust me! You're safe
here! I told you I'd keep you safe! Come on everything's okay, I'm here."
At these words Tima stopped struggling and yelling and almost relaxed, "Kenichi…"
she whispered.
"Aki is that enough?" Kenichi asked balancing Tima against his chest.
"Just. I'm shutting her down now. We can wake her up as soon as everything's
working correctly."
Kenichi relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief as Tima collapsed against him. It had been close.
"How do you think the virus got in?" he asked.
"Well… when we were making sure to get rid of it, I don't think we ever checked the
throne. If the throne was where the virus came from in the first lace then…" Aki
stood facing Kenichi, looking over the back of his chair.
"I guess so." Kenichi muttered.
"Get some sleep, we'll finish in the morning." Aki climbed down and left the room.
Kenichi walked over to Tima, "I'm sorry Tima… I should have been more careful. If
I had just scanned the throne…" Kenichi sighed. It was useless to think about it now.
He climbed into his bed and quickly fell asleep.
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Thanks again to all those who read. Once more reviews are very, very welcome!
Chapter 10 shouldn't be too long coming.