I'm sorry, everyone, for how long this chapter took! I had a major computer crash and have been too busy trying to set it up again to try and re-write the next chapters, but now that I'm in business again, the words shall fly!
*** *** ***
Forte's eye twitched in denial as he stared at the empty corridor that he had seen Momoko in just a minute prior. Gone, almost in the blink of an eye! Black motes of crackling void zipped around him, his aura sensing his frustration and seeking to strike something, anything. Forte, in his perfectly rotten mood, grapped up some of the power and prepared to chuck it against the simple patterned wall.
#Forte, you jerk!#
Forte nearly slipped onto the ground in surprise. Unmistakably, that was Momoko's voice...and not in a happy mood, either. He looked around, trying to figure out where it came from. The void power suddenly became weak and unstable, sputtering out forgotten.
#Why'd you hurt her! She didn't do anything!#
"Again!" Forte whirled around, searching for the voice. "Momoko! Are you there?!"
#Can't...can't you tell it's me?#
"What....what's going on? Momoko, come on out!"
Only silence answered Forte, whose anger rapidly became laced with depression. "Dammit...Now I'm hearing voices in my head!"
At the far end of the hall, a young User appeared, looking down the hall. "Hey there!" He called. "Are you alright?"
"Buzz off!" Forte snapped out of habit, ignoring the odd feeling of Deja-Vu forming in the back of his mind. Forte spun around, and began stomping down the corridor.
With that, Forte's body broke up, his own Exit program breaking a hold in the server's programming big enough for Forte alone to move through. This time, the trip through the shadowy space between servers took only a fraction of the time it had taken with Momoko, a few precious seconds which Forte used to decide on his plan.
Marduk was alive. His viruses had caused Forte to lose Momoko, his actions had wrecked Forte's life, and his mere existence drove Forte mad.
Somehow, Forte decided, he was going to make sure that Marduk never disturbed him again.
Seconds later, the pastel world of Server travel vanished, replaced with a dark, harshly mettalic world of sharp edges and cruel thoughts. It was the Undernet, a special server created long ago for a now-forgotten purpose, now a safe haven for bank hackers, black market sellers, and illegal operators. Just the kind of scum, Forte knew, Marduk prefered working with.
Because of his once-long standing relationship with Marduk, Forte knew a great deal about the Undernet. It was maintained by a group of Users called the Founders - five expert human programmers out to make a living by providing the uncontented with whatever rare good or service their customers could afford. The Undernet itself was extremely isolated, accessable from only a few places on the net and specially sealed off to prevent any government investigations. Even without the restrictions, most people considered even conversation about the Undernet taboo. Forte, of course, knew ways around the restrictions and couldn't care less about some stupid human fear, but to most of the world, the Undernet was an untouchable citadel.
Dropping down to his feet, Forte looked around. Amid the neo-gothic gloom of the server, several Users and thier Guardian Navis walked around, generally minding thier own business as they travelled around. No one had noticed him yet.
'Well, I'll just have to change that, won't I?' Forte grinned, easing control over some of his inate protections. The sheer number of programs Forte was built with had several interesting side effects, other than giving Forte an Net-sized ego. With so many programs working in close quarters, merely letting them run normally could damage the surrounding area and act like a sun-strong lighthouse to nearby Navis. Forte normally blanketed the effects from occuring to avoid being a utter beacon for trouble, but this time, attention was just what Forte wanted. In the undernet, intimidation was a stronger weapon than viruses, anyday.
The initial shockwave sent the nearby Users tumbling to the ground, screaming curses and yelling in surprise. The Navis, much less succeptible to losing thier balance, dropped to thier knees out of reflex and turned to face Forte, thier weapons out and firing before they had conciously identified the target. Forte just stood there and crossed his arms, not appearing concerned in the least. Thier weapons did nothing to Forte except obscure his vision with the smoke from plasma igniting uselessly against his shield.
Slowly, the wind around Forte died down, the initial pressure difference between Forte's energy and the surroundings level once again. This gave a chance for the remaining Users to stand up and nearly scream.
"You idiots! Do you WANT to get deleted?! Hold your fire!" One of the Users yelled. "That's FORTE!"
As if a switch connecting them all had been flipped, the stream of fire-power stopped, letting the smoke drift away from Forte, whom looked bored.
"Are you all done yet?" Forte asked.
The group nodded. Forte snickered at their suddenly well coordinated movements.
"Where is Marduk?"
Blank looks stared back at Forte, whom sighed. No one had any idea? Blast it all!
"Where are the Founders, then...?"
"In a meeting at the Square!" Several of the Navis spoke up,
"I'm gone." Forte turned away from the group, in the air again and moving at top speed. After all, he wouldn't want to be late in crashing the party.
"Crossphase! Warn the Founders!" One of the users demanded of his Navi, fire in his eyes. Several other of the net-traveling pairs nodded thier consent, as several high-priority messages streamed through the net, heading Forte off to his destination. The rest of the group simply ran, logging out of the Net to protect thier files. After all, with Forte on the loose, who could blame them?
***
Forte arrived at the UnderSquare only a few minutes later to find it nearly abandoned. Not a soul was in sight of Forte or the massive steel statue that towered over the square. Silently, he cursed himself for not deleting the Navi group when he had the chance. The Founders had probably already cleared out the place.
"Jerks." Forte grumbled out loud.
"I'd watch your mouth, Outcast." Forte turned to face one of the Founders, Aegis, warping in from the outside.
Forte smiled. "I'm surprised. I didn't expect any of you to still be here."
"Don't be cocky. The rest of Five and I would never abandon our operations here, even if a lunatic like your self marched in. I should have you deleted just for disturbing us here again."
"Then why don't you?" Forte smirked. "Doesn't the entire undernet have enough power to take down one lowly Navi?"
"The entire undernet might very well be able to." Aegis replied. "But you know as well as I that the Five does not have control over the cowards that deal here. We are informants and goods suppliers, not rulers of an country."
"Well, then, this shouldn't be a problem for you. After all, I'm not here as an invader. I need information."
"Really?" Aegis raised an eyebrow. "What kind of information?"
"I want to know where Marduk is. I've seen his viruses at work once again, new ones."
"Hunting down your old boss, eh?" Aegis laughed. "I've got some stuff on him. Of cource, you're going to pay for the information. Pretty handsomely, I might add. Us Five have already lost a lot of money because of you being here today."
"I have no need for the money I've aquired in my travels." Forte replied. "And I hold the data for more Battle Chips than most libraries. Name your price."
"I want the data on your Void Aura." Aegis replied. "All of it."
Forte's eyes grew as big as saucerplates at the demand. "Not happening, Flounder. As if I'm stupid enough to release that kind of data to anyone. "
"Heh heh...true enough...If I knew how your aura worked, you'd probably end up dead. But then again, I did say you'd have to pay handsomely for it, now didn't I? And what could be more handsome than the very program letting you live?" Aegis drew up a big grin. "Of course...there is one other option..."
"And what would that one be?" Forte grumped. "Slavery for life?"
"Hardly. It'll be a straight info-for-info deal." Aegis said. "You see, I'm kinda curious about this server we are using to run the Undernet. None of us actually know where the Server's real-world location is. In fact, you could say that not a single one of us Five even really control the Server."
"What?!" Forte stared at the man. "Why are you telling me this?"
"The Undernet goes on a long ways, Forte. I tried exploring the depths of it myself and nearly lost my computer to the viruses that inhabit the lower levels. Viruses I've never even hear of before, mysteriously appearing near the base of the Server my allies and I claim to control? Surely that strikes even you as being somewhat odd."
"Hmmph."
"I'll get you your information, Forte, if you agree to find out what's really down there. I don't care what you take along the way - I know about your Get Ability program, feel free to absorb whatever the hell you like. Delete whatever's spawning all of those viruses if you want - I don't really care. But when the time comes that our customers start getting curious about what's down there, I want to be able to give them answers....or at least a plausable lie. Got that?"
"So you want me figure out the source or those viruses? I can do that. No mindless drone, regardless of how many or how strong, is going to ever beat me."
"You had better not fail, Forte. My allies are expecting an explanation of our conversation here - and you can be sure that I am not the only one with suspisions of our home's purpose. I want the answers, and I want them alone. I'm putting a lot of my own money into proving a false deal I've made with you. Understand?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll do it. So, what do you know about Marduk?"
"Marduk's after you. He wants you dead - badly."
"Feh... Tell me something I don't know."
"He's been hiring people to track you down - sometimes tricking officials into it with the excuse that you're a threat to the Net Society, other times hiring those whom you've crossed in the past. Why he's going through so much effort to hire people to hunt you despite their obvious inferiority, I don't know. He of all people should know what you're capable of."
"I haven't seen too many idiots after me recently. There's the usual few, but not any more that usual. Are you sure he has people after me?"
"Yes. Maybe they simply can't find you, can't keep up with you, I don't know. Heck, they might simply be watching you, waiting for some sort of weak spot to come up."
Forte jerked like he had been hit by a bolt of lightning. Momoko. Marduk's spies had been watching him and Momoko. The virus attack hadn't been against the server and it's people...it had been against him. Against his new-found weak point.
Momoko.
"D-damn it...That's has to be it." Forte seethed. "They were looking for my weak spot."
"Were looking?" Aegis asked. "You mean, they found it already? Good going, hot shot."
"Shut up!" Forte barked. "I'm not sure yet. Where is Marduk now?"
"You think I know that? Yeah right. The guy's been an paranoid freak ever sense he re-appeared. Nobody knows where he is except himself."
"The deal was for his location!"
"I don't have that information." Aegis replied. "If I had it, I'd give it to you."
"Why you...."
"A deal is still a deal. I will start searching for Marduk's actual location, and I will report that to you once I find it. Does that work for you?"
"Fine." Forte glowered. "I also want you to look through recent hospital records of the country of Japan. I want information about a girl named Momoko. The more unusual the medical case, the more likely that it's the one."
Aegis cocked an eyebrow. "Alright, I suppose I can do that. Free of charge, 'cause I couldn't hold up my end of the bargain right away. What do you want first...the girl or Marduk?"
"The girl."
"Gotcha. Well, it's been a pleasure dealing with you. When I find anything, I'll let you know. In the meantime, I suggest you start holding up your end of the bargain."
"Fine. Just get me the info."
Aegis smiled as he began walking away. "You're different. You're still the jerk I remember, but you've changed. For the better, I might add."
"You're surprisingly generous for a human yourself." Forte remarked as the man walked away.
"We're not all *completely* perverse." Aegis said, before vanishing.
***
*** *** ***
Forte's eye twitched in denial as he stared at the empty corridor that he had seen Momoko in just a minute prior. Gone, almost in the blink of an eye! Black motes of crackling void zipped around him, his aura sensing his frustration and seeking to strike something, anything. Forte, in his perfectly rotten mood, grapped up some of the power and prepared to chuck it against the simple patterned wall.
#Forte, you jerk!#
Forte nearly slipped onto the ground in surprise. Unmistakably, that was Momoko's voice...and not in a happy mood, either. He looked around, trying to figure out where it came from. The void power suddenly became weak and unstable, sputtering out forgotten.
#Why'd you hurt her! She didn't do anything!#
"Again!" Forte whirled around, searching for the voice. "Momoko! Are you there?!"
#Can't...can't you tell it's me?#
"What....what's going on? Momoko, come on out!"
Only silence answered Forte, whose anger rapidly became laced with depression. "Dammit...Now I'm hearing voices in my head!"
At the far end of the hall, a young User appeared, looking down the hall. "Hey there!" He called. "Are you alright?"
"Buzz off!" Forte snapped out of habit, ignoring the odd feeling of Deja-Vu forming in the back of his mind. Forte spun around, and began stomping down the corridor.
With that, Forte's body broke up, his own Exit program breaking a hold in the server's programming big enough for Forte alone to move through. This time, the trip through the shadowy space between servers took only a fraction of the time it had taken with Momoko, a few precious seconds which Forte used to decide on his plan.
Marduk was alive. His viruses had caused Forte to lose Momoko, his actions had wrecked Forte's life, and his mere existence drove Forte mad.
Somehow, Forte decided, he was going to make sure that Marduk never disturbed him again.
Seconds later, the pastel world of Server travel vanished, replaced with a dark, harshly mettalic world of sharp edges and cruel thoughts. It was the Undernet, a special server created long ago for a now-forgotten purpose, now a safe haven for bank hackers, black market sellers, and illegal operators. Just the kind of scum, Forte knew, Marduk prefered working with.
Because of his once-long standing relationship with Marduk, Forte knew a great deal about the Undernet. It was maintained by a group of Users called the Founders - five expert human programmers out to make a living by providing the uncontented with whatever rare good or service their customers could afford. The Undernet itself was extremely isolated, accessable from only a few places on the net and specially sealed off to prevent any government investigations. Even without the restrictions, most people considered even conversation about the Undernet taboo. Forte, of course, knew ways around the restrictions and couldn't care less about some stupid human fear, but to most of the world, the Undernet was an untouchable citadel.
Dropping down to his feet, Forte looked around. Amid the neo-gothic gloom of the server, several Users and thier Guardian Navis walked around, generally minding thier own business as they travelled around. No one had noticed him yet.
'Well, I'll just have to change that, won't I?' Forte grinned, easing control over some of his inate protections. The sheer number of programs Forte was built with had several interesting side effects, other than giving Forte an Net-sized ego. With so many programs working in close quarters, merely letting them run normally could damage the surrounding area and act like a sun-strong lighthouse to nearby Navis. Forte normally blanketed the effects from occuring to avoid being a utter beacon for trouble, but this time, attention was just what Forte wanted. In the undernet, intimidation was a stronger weapon than viruses, anyday.
The initial shockwave sent the nearby Users tumbling to the ground, screaming curses and yelling in surprise. The Navis, much less succeptible to losing thier balance, dropped to thier knees out of reflex and turned to face Forte, thier weapons out and firing before they had conciously identified the target. Forte just stood there and crossed his arms, not appearing concerned in the least. Thier weapons did nothing to Forte except obscure his vision with the smoke from plasma igniting uselessly against his shield.
Slowly, the wind around Forte died down, the initial pressure difference between Forte's energy and the surroundings level once again. This gave a chance for the remaining Users to stand up and nearly scream.
"You idiots! Do you WANT to get deleted?! Hold your fire!" One of the Users yelled. "That's FORTE!"
As if a switch connecting them all had been flipped, the stream of fire-power stopped, letting the smoke drift away from Forte, whom looked bored.
"Are you all done yet?" Forte asked.
The group nodded. Forte snickered at their suddenly well coordinated movements.
"Where is Marduk?"
Blank looks stared back at Forte, whom sighed. No one had any idea? Blast it all!
"Where are the Founders, then...?"
"In a meeting at the Square!" Several of the Navis spoke up,
"I'm gone." Forte turned away from the group, in the air again and moving at top speed. After all, he wouldn't want to be late in crashing the party.
"Crossphase! Warn the Founders!" One of the users demanded of his Navi, fire in his eyes. Several other of the net-traveling pairs nodded thier consent, as several high-priority messages streamed through the net, heading Forte off to his destination. The rest of the group simply ran, logging out of the Net to protect thier files. After all, with Forte on the loose, who could blame them?
***
Forte arrived at the UnderSquare only a few minutes later to find it nearly abandoned. Not a soul was in sight of Forte or the massive steel statue that towered over the square. Silently, he cursed himself for not deleting the Navi group when he had the chance. The Founders had probably already cleared out the place.
"Jerks." Forte grumbled out loud.
"I'd watch your mouth, Outcast." Forte turned to face one of the Founders, Aegis, warping in from the outside.
Forte smiled. "I'm surprised. I didn't expect any of you to still be here."
"Don't be cocky. The rest of Five and I would never abandon our operations here, even if a lunatic like your self marched in. I should have you deleted just for disturbing us here again."
"Then why don't you?" Forte smirked. "Doesn't the entire undernet have enough power to take down one lowly Navi?"
"The entire undernet might very well be able to." Aegis replied. "But you know as well as I that the Five does not have control over the cowards that deal here. We are informants and goods suppliers, not rulers of an country."
"Well, then, this shouldn't be a problem for you. After all, I'm not here as an invader. I need information."
"Really?" Aegis raised an eyebrow. "What kind of information?"
"I want to know where Marduk is. I've seen his viruses at work once again, new ones."
"Hunting down your old boss, eh?" Aegis laughed. "I've got some stuff on him. Of cource, you're going to pay for the information. Pretty handsomely, I might add. Us Five have already lost a lot of money because of you being here today."
"I have no need for the money I've aquired in my travels." Forte replied. "And I hold the data for more Battle Chips than most libraries. Name your price."
"I want the data on your Void Aura." Aegis replied. "All of it."
Forte's eyes grew as big as saucerplates at the demand. "Not happening, Flounder. As if I'm stupid enough to release that kind of data to anyone. "
"Heh heh...true enough...If I knew how your aura worked, you'd probably end up dead. But then again, I did say you'd have to pay handsomely for it, now didn't I? And what could be more handsome than the very program letting you live?" Aegis drew up a big grin. "Of course...there is one other option..."
"And what would that one be?" Forte grumped. "Slavery for life?"
"Hardly. It'll be a straight info-for-info deal." Aegis said. "You see, I'm kinda curious about this server we are using to run the Undernet. None of us actually know where the Server's real-world location is. In fact, you could say that not a single one of us Five even really control the Server."
"What?!" Forte stared at the man. "Why are you telling me this?"
"The Undernet goes on a long ways, Forte. I tried exploring the depths of it myself and nearly lost my computer to the viruses that inhabit the lower levels. Viruses I've never even hear of before, mysteriously appearing near the base of the Server my allies and I claim to control? Surely that strikes even you as being somewhat odd."
"Hmmph."
"I'll get you your information, Forte, if you agree to find out what's really down there. I don't care what you take along the way - I know about your Get Ability program, feel free to absorb whatever the hell you like. Delete whatever's spawning all of those viruses if you want - I don't really care. But when the time comes that our customers start getting curious about what's down there, I want to be able to give them answers....or at least a plausable lie. Got that?"
"So you want me figure out the source or those viruses? I can do that. No mindless drone, regardless of how many or how strong, is going to ever beat me."
"You had better not fail, Forte. My allies are expecting an explanation of our conversation here - and you can be sure that I am not the only one with suspisions of our home's purpose. I want the answers, and I want them alone. I'm putting a lot of my own money into proving a false deal I've made with you. Understand?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll do it. So, what do you know about Marduk?"
"Marduk's after you. He wants you dead - badly."
"Feh... Tell me something I don't know."
"He's been hiring people to track you down - sometimes tricking officials into it with the excuse that you're a threat to the Net Society, other times hiring those whom you've crossed in the past. Why he's going through so much effort to hire people to hunt you despite their obvious inferiority, I don't know. He of all people should know what you're capable of."
"I haven't seen too many idiots after me recently. There's the usual few, but not any more that usual. Are you sure he has people after me?"
"Yes. Maybe they simply can't find you, can't keep up with you, I don't know. Heck, they might simply be watching you, waiting for some sort of weak spot to come up."
Forte jerked like he had been hit by a bolt of lightning. Momoko. Marduk's spies had been watching him and Momoko. The virus attack hadn't been against the server and it's people...it had been against him. Against his new-found weak point.
Momoko.
"D-damn it...That's has to be it." Forte seethed. "They were looking for my weak spot."
"Were looking?" Aegis asked. "You mean, they found it already? Good going, hot shot."
"Shut up!" Forte barked. "I'm not sure yet. Where is Marduk now?"
"You think I know that? Yeah right. The guy's been an paranoid freak ever sense he re-appeared. Nobody knows where he is except himself."
"The deal was for his location!"
"I don't have that information." Aegis replied. "If I had it, I'd give it to you."
"Why you...."
"A deal is still a deal. I will start searching for Marduk's actual location, and I will report that to you once I find it. Does that work for you?"
"Fine." Forte glowered. "I also want you to look through recent hospital records of the country of Japan. I want information about a girl named Momoko. The more unusual the medical case, the more likely that it's the one."
Aegis cocked an eyebrow. "Alright, I suppose I can do that. Free of charge, 'cause I couldn't hold up my end of the bargain right away. What do you want first...the girl or Marduk?"
"The girl."
"Gotcha. Well, it's been a pleasure dealing with you. When I find anything, I'll let you know. In the meantime, I suggest you start holding up your end of the bargain."
"Fine. Just get me the info."
Aegis smiled as he began walking away. "You're different. You're still the jerk I remember, but you've changed. For the better, I might add."
"You're surprisingly generous for a human yourself." Forte remarked as the man walked away.
"We're not all *completely* perverse." Aegis said, before vanishing.
***
