Chapter Six: Follow My Programming

A/N: For those of you who have played the game, this chapter will deserve an AU label, mostly because I like vampires. I also have a Lord of the Rings reference in here, credit to anyone who knows it. I don't own LotR either, but I expect you know who does. Any symbolism in this chapter is probably intentional.

- -

I aimed my sword at a few more vamps, and released a powerful blast. Beside me, Ace swung the Lance to decapitate two of them. We were fighting back to back, doing our jobs.

This is perfect, I found myself thinking. We're together, and everything's normal again.

I wondered for a second, normal compared to what?, but I lost that thought in the rush of howling vampires, and forgot all memories of other possibilities.

There was a pit on the floor, and as more vampires poured in through the doorway Ace took my arm and dragged me to it.

I would've said something along the lines of Ace, are you sure about this, but in the rush of battle there was no time.

We fell together into what seemed like a bottomless pit, darkness and depth rushing up to meet us.

Ace held me, and our descent was slowed thanks to his flying power.

I would have been afraid, but he was with me.

- -

I turned on my monitors, and surveyed the Sixth Dimension.

Ace and Sparx were blasting zombies, as programmed. Exactly as programmed. By the hour they were becoming less and less individuals, regressing to the archetypes they were designed to be, the Perfect Hero and Fiery Sidekick. Soon they would remember nothing at all about their time in the mortal world, and their experience of emotions.

I'd designed something for Kilobyte as well, but it was taking a while to have any effect. His resolution to no longer follow human programming was after all a stronger thing than the Knights' determination to continue to do right, part of their programming in the first place.

- -

Let me fall…

The tunnel went on and on, darkness and quiet and…peace, almost. I couldn't see, but I could feel his arms around me, and that was enough. Like sleeping, or dreaming—and I vaguely remembered dreams like this, clutched in his arms and falling—or in the Time Before, my first memories, suspended in womblike darkness while my world was born.

I shook my head to dispel the clinging memories, and concentrated on the moment. For that second, I had everything I wanted, and no past regrets.

We fell into light, and I blinked a few times before my eyes became accustomed to the glare.

It wasn't sunlight.

"Salamanders," Ace said. "Sparx, watch out!"

I ducked just in time, and a fireball narrowly missed my head and charred the wall behind us.

The world was bright golden fire. We were stuck in the middle of it.

We stood back to back, raising sword and lance, trying to scare off the Salamanders, huge lizardlike things with glittering scales preparing to blast more fireballs from their mouths.

At least I'm not bored.

"Ace, you have a plan…right?" I whispered. "Tell me you have a plan."

"We'll try Plan C, Sparx."

"Um…do we have a Plan C?"

"We do now. This one won't be on the fly, Sparx."

I could tell he was smiling, and I laughed at his confidence.

Let's get them.

We fired as one, scattering the creatures, then ran through the nearest exit through a tunnel of flame, red and gold flaring about us while we remained in the fire's black heart.

I felt a fireball set my hair alight, and tried to beat it out with my hand. I only managed to fan the fire.

"Sparx, watch out!" he called, and grabbed my head, smothering the flames with his gloves.

"Come on, we need to keep moving," he said, and with a burned glove took my hand.

In the corner of my eye I saw another fireball coming our way.

"Ace, get down!"

His eyes widened. I knocked him onto the ground just in time as the fireball narrowly passed over our bodies.

"Hot in here, isn't it?" he said. "Thanks."

As we ran on we reached a fork in the path, two dark passageways in the midst of flame. I looked at Ace.

"We take the right," he said, and still holding hands we kept running and dodging fireballs.

He used the Lance to clear our path—my sword was less effective in such a fiery setting—and we made it to the White Gate, two pillars of pale marble, a teleportation field thrumming between them.

Ace rested his right hand against the Gate, looking worn out. I realised that I could see his hands through his burned gloves.

"Ace, are you all right?" I asked. I could see that both our reflections in the Gate were flame-blackened and exhausted.

"I'll be fine once we power up, Sparx. Just let me catch my breath."

I reached out a hand to touch one of the lightning bolts on his uniform.

"Take some of my energy, I've got more left than you."

He gently raised his left hand to take mine and lower it.

Another handclasp, and a feeling rushed through me that might not have had anything to do with powering up, but made me feel stronger anyway. I wondered, what if my hand was bare too, what if there was nothing separating us, touching skin on skin…

"Once we get through the Gate we'll both be fine, Sparx. You did well."

He smiled at me as another fireball exploded behind us, and a blinding light filled the cave. Before I could return his expression he dragged me through the Gate, still holding my hand.

- -

For the second time, I'd been cast into the Sixth Dimension.

My prison.

Bright colours and whirling sound, a world so different from the sharp detail and clear air of the mortal world.

A mortal creation. A slave's dwelling.

Hell.

I will take my revenge on the Master Programmer. If I destroy nobody else I will destroy him.

As if in a dream, I walked through the Circus, and remained unchallenged by the minions. That, at least, had not changed.

I must find the amulet. Gain power. Return to the real world. Before I forget.

I wasn't sure where the last thought came from, and concentrated on finding any amulet pieces that I could.

The Carnival, night. I had the completed amulet. I would destroy the mortal world, destroy my mortal masters, finally achieve my goals, and prove myself as a conqueror in my own right.

I was interrupted by three, the human boy, Ace Lightning, and Lord Fear. A final and strange alliance. I'd not considered the brat sufficiently important to feature in my calculations, and had not suspected that Fear would betray me.

Ace fired a weak blow which I easily deflected—I did not realise until later that 'he' was truly Lady Illusion, another unsuspected betrayal—and then the three fired at once, their collective power achieving what one alone could not. The amulet was destroyed, the pieces scattered between the worlds, and I was blasted into the Sixth Dimension.

I'd returned, of course, and I'd extracted revenge and loyalty from the traitor, controlled the Master Programmer…

I stopped the tide of memory flowing through me, and concentrated on my quest.

The amulet. I…must…find…it…

I wasn't sure exactly what was happening to me in this dimension, my mind as foggy and imprecise as the Sixth Dimension itself, but I knew what I had to do.

I'd found one. Lord Fear had two now, and the mortal three. Two remain…

- -

In a flash of swirling colours blurring into blank space, the White Gate took us to the Blacklands, an area of darkened sun and mist, a land of the quiet of the grave.

Home to the Vampire Clans.

Ace released my hand to hold the Lance more firmly, and I noticed that his gloves had been repaired. We'd both received an upgrade as we passed through.

I knew we'd need it.

He listened, and I thought I heard a howl in the distance.

"Hear anything, Ace?"

"Not yet. If everything goes according to plan we'll pass through here without having to fight too many vamps. I could still use a powerup or two. How about you?"

"Yeah," I said. I was still feeling tired from the Salamanders, and I didn't think he was as confident as he was trying to convince me.

"Let's kick some vampire butt, Ace," I said, and was rewarded with a smile from him.

"We'll go through the Clan Moria area," he said. "There are secret tunnels under it that we can use, they should have hardly any guards."

I saw a silhouette of a vampire patroller in the distance, walking to the edge of the cliff in front of us, and signalled to Ace. We both crouched next to the Gate, huddled together, and stayed there a few minutes after the patroller had turned away, to make sure he was gone.

I followed him up the steep path leading to the clifftop, doing my best not to make a noise. He was effortlessly silent—probably something to do with the flying thing, lucky bastard.

He paused when we reached the top, and pointed to a set of stone formations in the distance that might once have been a mountain. I noticed that we'd have to get down the cliff again. The path looked even smaller and steeper this time.

"Clan Moria," he said quietly. "It used to be a silver mine I think, before the vampires took it over—" He stopped suddenly, and thought for a moment.

"Never mind," he said, looking as though he'd almost remembered something. "Nothing happened. This is where we need to go under. The secret passages start there."

He pointed to a dark spot to the left of the stone formations, and I noticed we'd have to do some serious climbing to get into the secret entrance. Unless Ace felt like carrying me and flying, and I was pretty sure he didn't have the power for that.

"Then let's get a move on, Ace," I said.

He laughed, and I was glad of that. "Right with you, Sparx."

- -

I soon found a piece—sensed it—jammed into a bar of the cage I'd once imprisoned the Programmer in.

Ironic. Deliberate on the Programmer's part?

That thought was lost as I turned to search again.

Have to find the amulet. I have to find the amulet. If I have only one thought to keep, it's that I must find the amulet…

- -

We slowly clambered down the cliff path, and ducked again to avoid the glance of the vampiric patroller.

"All right, Sparx?" Ace asked, cheerfully.

"Never better. I can match you at climbing any day. Can you move any faster?" I was trying to show bravado, and I hoped I'd succeeded.

She could climb anything, I remembered, and decided I wanted to forget.

"Nearly there," he said quietly, gesturing towards the final stretch of cliff we'd have to climb.

He went first, and gave me a hand to help me up.

It wasn't as hard as I'd expected to find hand- and footholds, and soon I was easily scrabbling along behind him.

- -

"So, Ace and Sparx are gone, Random's gone totally psycho, and Fear's got all the amulet pieces we know about except for yours," Chuck said. "Not good, dude!"

"Funny, that was what Pete said when I told him," Mark said. "Only he didn't say 'dude'."

Kat walked in. "How are things?"

"Not good," Mark said.

"You still have your piece of the amulet," she said. "Maybe you could bring them back."

"I can't until I find another piece of the amulet," Mark told her, fingering the string around his neck.

"You could maybe take it apart and put it together again. How many do you have again?"

"Three."

"Great! You can take it apart and see if rejoining the bits would help you…"

Chuck shook his head. "Not going to happen, it's not in the rulebook," he said. "We could try Random…"

His friends both shook their heads.

"He's too dangerous," Mark said. "Too unpredictable."

"Well then." Kat stepped forward.

Mark noticed that she was suddenly standing very close to him, and felt a little uncomfortable.

"Time to try my idea," she said, and grabbed Mark's amulet.

"Kat, wait, what are you doing?" Chuck asked.

Another girl burst in the door.

"Mark, that's not me!" Kat cried.

"Lady Illusion!" Mark exclaimed, but it was too late.

She morphed into her true shape, still holding Mark's amulet.

"Let go of him!" Kat all but screamed the words.

"Once I have his piece of the amulet, I will." In one swift movement, Lady Illusion ripped the string from Mark's neck.

He raised a hand to his neck, and brought it down dripping with blood.

"Thanks, kid," Lady Illusion said, and disappeared with Mark's amulet.

"Mark! Are you all right?"

Kat—the real Kat—rushed over to him.

"I'll be fine. I'm not sure about the world though…"

The three friends looked at each other in dismay, and Chuck placed one arm around each of his friends.

- -

"Freeze." I barely heard Ace's soft whisper, but I stopped immediately.

Below us were three Moria Clansmen, patrolling just below where we were climbing.

Don't look up. Wait a second, I probably shouldn't look down either…

The section I gripped was loose and on the point of crumbling, and I hoped it'd hold.

I heard the vampires' footsteps fading, and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

A few pebbles detached themselves from my grasp and went cascading down the cliff.

The sound they made was horribly loud in the deathly silence, and I desperately hoped we hadn't been heard.

The footsteps stopped.

Please don't look up please don't look up…

I felt a sudden pain in my shoulder, and I looked behind me to see a dart decorated with the Moria symbol unexpectedly sprouting from my skin.

From below, there was a yell, alerting other Clansmen to the intruders.

"Sparx! Hurry!" Ace called, and he scrambled to the top of the cliff, no longer caring about how many rocks he dislodged. I saw a dart hit him in the back, and another one pierced my sleeve. I climbed as quickly as I could, trying to avoid the darts, so I could reach the top and use my sword.

I felt more than saw another dart racing towards my head, and looked just in time to see it rushing towards my eyeball.

I knew I wouldn't have time to dodge.

The next thing I saw was blue fire, and the dart dissolved in mid-air. Several more blasts from Ace's lance whistled past me, and in a few more seconds I was at the top of the cliff and adding my swordflame to his blasts.

It was exhilarating, to fire on the vampires below. Our combined forces easily destroyed them. I looked at Ace and smiled.

Back in the game again. Let's kick some villain butt!

He returned my smile, but then I realised that he'd been hit by two more of the darts, one in his leg and another in his back.

He reached for the one in his leg, and pulled it out.

"Could be poisoned, Sparx," he said. "We need to find a powerup. You weren't hit?"

"Once," I said, and yanked out the dart in my shoulder, making sure not to cry out. I saw three gaping wounds appear in his body as he removed all his darts.

"Ace, you—"

"I'll be fine. This way."

- -

I was…near the House of Illusion, I believed, surrounded by crystal glass twisted into irregular shapes.

Smoke and mirrors. The deceptive traitor.

I wasn't sure quite what my mind was referring to, and abandoned the twitch of memory to concentrate on the possibility of finding another piece of the amulet.

I lashed out with a tentacle, and smashed a crystal to reveal the amulet piece hidden inside.

I should destroy this place in memory of betrayal. Yet I also remember a competent minion, brave and strong, I released her to save her, maybe the one possible ally I have left…

I let the memories go as I joined the two pieces of the amulet together.

There was power there, and I felt refreshed somehow. My mind was clear again, and my memory files were blank.

I have found the two remaining pieces of the amulet. I have no purpose left for myself now. There is only the Program, and the Master Programmer, I thought.

- -

He smiled at me, but he was leaning against a wall and looked weakened. We'd spent several hours roaming the caves. A few unlucky vampires had encountered us, but we'd dealt with them as quickly as we could. The real killer was the energy drain, it had been a long time since we'd been able to truly recharge ourselves, and I was pretty sure those darts had been poisoned. Ace was starting to flicker, and I was worried about him.

"Nearly there, Sparx," he said. "Once we leave the Water Gate we're out of vamp territory and safe."

The Water Gate stood on the other side of the cavern, four hollow, transparent pillars forming a square, and we could both hear the water running through it. It was a bright blue-green, and the gravity-defying liquid inside swirled in gentle patterns as it flowed through the structure. It was the only way out. Beyond it I saw a path running through a forest, and I even thought I could see a little sunlight coming through.

"All we have to do is walk out that Gate, and the vampires won't be able to follow us. They can't cross running water. We made it, Sparx."

I heard a small sound, a bump as a pebble hit the ground, and I automatically looked up to the roof to see a few more rocks falling down.

"Ace, I don't like this…" I began.

On the other side of the cavern, there was a dash of bright yellowish light—somehow a sickly, wrong colour—and a group of Moria-clan vamps burst through the rock.

Their leader carried the sword that had sliced the stone in two, a vampire lord's witchblade, and the others also possessed dangerous-looking blades.

Above us, another group of Clansmen cascaded down from the roof. This group held deadly-looking bows, all pointed in our direction.

"Uh-oh," I muttered.

The vampire lord smiled cruelly.

"Welcome, Lightning Knights. I hope you weren't so foolish as to think we'd let you go without a proper…reception."

He gestured at the bowmen, and they started to fire.

Ace lifted me into the air, and flying faster than I'd ever had to before, we somehow managed to avoid most of the rain of arrows.

I aimed my sword carefully—every shot has to count, I can't waste power—and scattered the bowmen in an aerial attack.

The vampire lord raised his witchblade, and shot a single blow at Ace. We both fell, and I saw the vampires advancing on us.

Ace was definitely flickering now, and I knew he couldn't take much more battering.

I cut a path around us with the Sword of Jacob, driving the nearest vamps back and even destroying a few of them.

Ace, I can buy you some time at least…

The vampire lord stepped into the battle, and swung the witchblade at me.

I was trying to stop three vampire swordsmen to my left at once, and I couldn't move to dodge the blow.

Ace stepped in front of me, and I saw a gaping wound appear across his face.

The witchblade struck again, and this time I saw his armour part under the blow.

He raised the Lightning Lance, and parried the next blow, though the force of it drove him to the wall. He was bleeding from several places, in no condition to fight, and with dismay I saw his lance disappear.

I have to help him.

I dispatched the vampires around me as best as I could, and brought my own sword up to meet the witchblade and protect Ace.

"Want a fight, Dracula?" I said. "Then take this!"

I swung at him, using my signature stroke—a fast move in the shape of a S, difficult for my opponents to block—and he countered just in time.

"Single combat, Knight?" he laughed. "Never let it be said that a vampire lord was afraid to take on a mere sidekick. Leave both of them!" he said to his minions.

We exchanged a flurry of blows, and I desperately tried to counter his lunges while attempting my own strikes. His blade flared that ghastly yellow colour as it met mine, which was glowing a bright red. Each time our swords made contact, a shower of sparks exploded into the air, and any vampires near us had to dodge.

"Lose this fight, Knight, and you'll both die," he hissed as we were drawn into a corps a corps, glaring at me over our crossed blades. "And, believe me, I'll make sure you do."

I had a really amusing idea how I was going to finish this battle.

The vampire lord was heavier than me, and as I gave him my most menacing stare he gradually forced me backwards. I held my blade steady against his and continued to stand my ground.

Surprise him. What doesn't he expect me to do?

"Not bad, girl…for one only a few steps away from a mortal."

That does it.

I spat in his face, and his head jerked in surprise. I used the opportunity to slam my knee into his groin, and he took a step back in pain.

I didn't waste the distraction, and aimed the point of my blade for his heart.

A sword's as good as a stake.

My aim was true.

As he died he screamed, a horrible wailing sound filling the air, a deafening echo in the underground cavern. The witchblade glowed, and both the blade and its master disappeared in an explosion of yellow light.

The minions were momentarily shocked at the death of their master, and while they were still blinded by the light I grabbed Ace's hand and helped him to the Gate.

We're both low on power. If we can just make it to the Gate…

My last sight of Moria was the left-hand pillar of the Water Gate, and a barbed arrow whistling over my head as we both fell through.

- -

I relaxed in my chair and smiled. Only my monitors saw me, but that was enough for the time being.

I was in total control of the Sixth Dimension. Ace and Sparx were now all but completely dominated by their programming, and Kilobyte had found me two pieces of the amulet. The three of them would prove useful to me later. True, my new program had heavily quarantined the Sixth Dimension, and it would take a tremendous amount of power on this side of the portal for me to summon anything, but I was happy with the success of my programming. And my foes could not take refuge in the Sixth Dimension any more, a definite advantage.

Nevertheless, in my own dimension I was not without my little problems. Somehow over the course of events, I'd lost control of Lord Fear—probably Kilobyte's fault, when he held me prisoner in the Sixth Dimension—and I'd never had control over Random Virus. Even so, I had certain strong suspicions about the direction the future would take. I knew that some crisis would happen, and probably soon, and then the Master Programmer would become the true Master. Of everything.

I could wait, for a while.

- -

We had an arm draped around each other, walking away from the Clan Moria holdings as quickly as we could.

Outside the Moria grounds were wild forestlands, and there was actually genuine sunlight. It was peaceful, surprisingly so.

I briefly wondered, why do I have no memories of peaceful times in the Sixth Dimension, why are the battles and Ace all I know or care about, but the thought slipped away from me as I turned to Ace and listened to his words.

"Thanks, Sparx. You saved me." He spoke slowly, and I could tell the effort cost him something.

"No problem," I said, giving him a half-smile. "Let's get going before something else finds us."

Neither of us spoke again until we were well away from that place, and we finally relaxed when we spotted a small hut next to a running stream.

The place looked deserted, and had a few useful bonuses hidden inside.

We powered up as best we could, and I was relieved that the many wounds on his body, from the darts and the fight, closed up quickly, meaning that they hadn't been as serious as I'd feared. I felt normal again, and thought that the powerup must have healed the darts' poison as well.

"Remind me to never get in the way of a vampire-lord's witchblade again," he said, and grinned at me.

I returned the smile. "I never got around to thanking you for that, did I?" I said.

"You saved me, so we'll call it even. It's too bad we didn't have—what's happened to the Flash, anyway?" he asked.

He looked slightly puzzled, as though he was trying to remember something from a dream.

"It'll be in another level," I said. "It'll come back."

"Fair enough."

He studied me for a long moment, and I self-consciously brushed my hair to the side.

"What's wrong? Have I got dirt on my nose?"

"On your cheek, and I think it's vampire blood. Let me."

He reached across, and ran a hand over my face. There was a faint spark where we made contact, our complementary charges sparking a small lightning bolt between us.

"It's gone now," he said, but it took him some time to lower his hand.

"Sparx. I never realised before…you've always been there for me. I can't think why I've never seen it before."

He paused, and looked into the distance as if trying to remember something.

A few flashes crossed my memory, something about a green hand resting in his glove while all I could do was look on in torment, but they disappeared from my mind as soon as they appeared.

"I remember something…" he began. "But it's…probably nothing."

"Probably," I agreed, and realised that our faces were very close together. All I could see was my reflection, in his eyes.

I took the opportunity to lean forward, and our lips met.

It's perfect. Just like it was always programmed to be.

This thought, too, disappeared as I concentrated on nothing but the embrace we were gradually sinking into. It feels a bit like the pit we fell down before, dark tunnelling taking me away from a different world, my memories melting away as quickly as everything else, and yet there's light, I can tell, fire and air and blazing sun, and I'm with Ace so everything's going to work out…

A/N: Feedback of any sort is, as always, very much appreciated. Flash and Hyperpsychomaniac, thank you very much for your reviews of the previous chapter.