'When I first thought of NetCity, I knew that I needed a way to destroy NetCity if anything drastic happened. Because all the files were on different computers, I had to install a weapon which would blast all of NetCity into oblivion. It was called the Elixir Cannon. It would destroy the entire data system, making it uninhabitable. Fortunately, NetCity became perfect and the Elixir Cannon fell into disuse. It was still manned, but never used.' Elixir told them.
'Until today.' Megaman added.
'Yes, but today was a mistake. It was never supposed to happen. As far as I can tell, someone fired it manually. I've been able to attain the name of the navi, but it worries me even more.'
'Why?' Roll asked.
'Because, my dear lady, the navi in there is the navi of a very good, but also very deceased, friend and colleague of mine known as Harold. He died about a month ago, after he found that his navi had been stealing from NetBanks. He had an argument with his navi, Glitch.EXE, and he died in a car crash a day later. Horrible stuff. Apparently, Glitch has taken control of the Elixir Cannon and fired it upon NetCity. We cut the city's generators, but I fear that may not be enough.'
'What do you mean?' Protoman asked.
'Glitch has his ways. Currently, he has a connection with an unknown source which gives him unrestricted power. At his current rate, this means he'll gain enough power to fire the cannon again in roughly 4 hours. Our firewalls can't take another blast. If he fires it, the net goes down.' Elixir told them. There was a stunned silence.
'Whoa.' Axl said.
'So what can we do?' Glyde asked.
'Well, there is one thing. The gate into NetCity is still operational, so getting in isn't a problem. Once you're in though, NetCity's climate is unpredictable, so you may feel disoriented. What you must do, however, is dangerous.' Elixir paused for breath. He waved his hand at what had been a wall, but was now a holographic screen. 'This is the Zodiac program. It is a central administration program which is used in dire emergencies, like this one. It works like this:' The screen flickered, and now showed NetCity from above. Highlighted, however, was a circle inside NetCity itself. 'This is the Zodiac machine. It is used to wipe NetCity of everything. Basically, it fires a gigantic erase program into the atmosphere, and everything inside NetCity that has an outward-bound connection-navis and so forth-will be cut off. This is extremely deadly to anything it touches. Anything hit by it will be fatally corrupted. This mission is dangerous, but several of our special operations teams are already inside the city, so help is at hand.' Elixir looked around. 'Any questions?' Axl raised a hand.
'Just two. Why does Glitch want NetCity taken down, and why isn't anyone doing anything to stop him at the moment?' Elixir stared at him. He mouthed some words to himself before answering.
'Question one can be answered later. But the second one I can do now. We can't do anything because there is very little inward-bound connection. It's slower than a telephone cable in there. Roughly 15k. It's fast in there, and it's fast out here, but the space between is slow. We have to use very primitive ways to contact each other. We can't transfer anything bigger than a message, either. But we can get you inside. All we have to do is send you into NetCity as a program. Once we install you, you can move around freely. Don't worry. It'll all be fine.
Author's note: This is all very complicated, I know. Basically, for those who cannot understand plots, imagine jacking in like in The Matrix. They will be reconstructed inside NetCity, but their bodies will still be here. Also, their conscience will be transferred. There. Simplified. Happy now?
'Until today.' Megaman added.
'Yes, but today was a mistake. It was never supposed to happen. As far as I can tell, someone fired it manually. I've been able to attain the name of the navi, but it worries me even more.'
'Why?' Roll asked.
'Because, my dear lady, the navi in there is the navi of a very good, but also very deceased, friend and colleague of mine known as Harold. He died about a month ago, after he found that his navi had been stealing from NetBanks. He had an argument with his navi, Glitch.EXE, and he died in a car crash a day later. Horrible stuff. Apparently, Glitch has taken control of the Elixir Cannon and fired it upon NetCity. We cut the city's generators, but I fear that may not be enough.'
'What do you mean?' Protoman asked.
'Glitch has his ways. Currently, he has a connection with an unknown source which gives him unrestricted power. At his current rate, this means he'll gain enough power to fire the cannon again in roughly 4 hours. Our firewalls can't take another blast. If he fires it, the net goes down.' Elixir told them. There was a stunned silence.
'Whoa.' Axl said.
'So what can we do?' Glyde asked.
'Well, there is one thing. The gate into NetCity is still operational, so getting in isn't a problem. Once you're in though, NetCity's climate is unpredictable, so you may feel disoriented. What you must do, however, is dangerous.' Elixir paused for breath. He waved his hand at what had been a wall, but was now a holographic screen. 'This is the Zodiac program. It is a central administration program which is used in dire emergencies, like this one. It works like this:' The screen flickered, and now showed NetCity from above. Highlighted, however, was a circle inside NetCity itself. 'This is the Zodiac machine. It is used to wipe NetCity of everything. Basically, it fires a gigantic erase program into the atmosphere, and everything inside NetCity that has an outward-bound connection-navis and so forth-will be cut off. This is extremely deadly to anything it touches. Anything hit by it will be fatally corrupted. This mission is dangerous, but several of our special operations teams are already inside the city, so help is at hand.' Elixir looked around. 'Any questions?' Axl raised a hand.
'Just two. Why does Glitch want NetCity taken down, and why isn't anyone doing anything to stop him at the moment?' Elixir stared at him. He mouthed some words to himself before answering.
'Question one can be answered later. But the second one I can do now. We can't do anything because there is very little inward-bound connection. It's slower than a telephone cable in there. Roughly 15k. It's fast in there, and it's fast out here, but the space between is slow. We have to use very primitive ways to contact each other. We can't transfer anything bigger than a message, either. But we can get you inside. All we have to do is send you into NetCity as a program. Once we install you, you can move around freely. Don't worry. It'll all be fine.
Author's note: This is all very complicated, I know. Basically, for those who cannot understand plots, imagine jacking in like in The Matrix. They will be reconstructed inside NetCity, but their bodies will still be here. Also, their conscience will be transferred. There. Simplified. Happy now?