Sheentastic Voyage
by Gary D. Snyder
Chapter 12:
As Sheen stared goggle-eyed at the imposing personage before them Libby tried to make sense of the confusion of thoughts swirling in her mind. Ultra Lord alive? He'd been destroyed in the memory cache, hadn't he? It was true that all Sheen had found was a shattered mask, but if the mask hadn't been Ultra Lord's then where had it come from? And if it had been Ultra Lord's mask then who was this person? As near as Libby could tell his costume and mask were undamaged and he seemed to have no injuries whatsoever. Libby had seen in this computer that the people – or whatever they were – could be injured and destroyed. Was it possible that they could be healed as well?
Sheen had finally recovered enough to speak coherently. "Ultra Lord!" he cried. "Is it really you? We thought that you had been killed!"
The heroic figure merely laughed at this. "Ultra Lord always wins against evil," he proclaimed in rich bass tones. "Now, answer quickly. Are you ready to join in the Ultimate Battle against the galactic forces of darkness?"
"Yes! Yes!" Sheen answered in ecstasy. "Lead on!"
At this point Libby stepped forward and confronted Sheen. "Now, what a minute, Sheen," she said. "Maybe we should think this over."
"Think what over?" Sheen looked puzzled. "This is Ultra Lord. He can help us stop that virus thing."
Libby stole a quick look at the muscular figure who was, apparently, waiting for the two young people to reach a concensus. "Is it Ultra Lord?" She gave Sheen a searching look. "Are you sure?"
"Well, who else could it be? I mean -" Sheen spread his hands out towards the brightly garbed hero. "- just look at him!"
"I know, I know. I just don't understand how he could have survived the attack back there when everyone else in that room got blown away."
Sheen thought about it. "Well," he finally said, "maybe there were actually more there than we found and a lot of them actually got away. Or maybe Vox gave Ultra Lord a lot more power than the people back there had so he was able to survive."
"That's possible," Libby conceded. "You did tell Vox to give the game whatever it needed. But -"
"And don't forget that he saved me from that sentry and that he called us his battle buddies," Sheen concluded, sensing an opportunity to finish the debate. "If he isn't Ultra Lord, why would he do that?"
Libby was still not convinced but knew that she had no reasonable rebuttals to Sheen's arguments. Maybe I am being too suspicious, she thought. After all, who knows more about Ultra Lord than Sheen? She shelved her doubts for the moment and nodded. "All right," she said. "There's still something here that doesn't add up, but let's assume that he's Ultra Lord for the moment. Right now, we have a virus to stop."
Ultra Lord beamed. "That's the ultra-spirit!"
"I'm not talking to you," Libby snorted. "Sheen, which way do you think we should go?"
Sheen considered the four possibilities. "Well, we came from that way," he said, pointing to one corridor. He then pointed to another passage. "And Ultra Lord came from that way, so it has to be one of the other two."
"Yeah, but which one?" Libby pressed. She thought for a second or two and then pointed down one of the two remaining passages. "I'd guess that's the one that leads to the CPU."
"Why do you think that?"
Libby shook her head. "I don't think that. Like I said, it's just a guess."
"Oh, man," moaned Sheen. "Maybe we should try Rock, Paper, Scissors. Or
Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe."
"That would still be guessing," Libby pointed out. "We need to know for sure which way will get us to the CPU."
A sudden voice startled both Libby and Sheen. "That way," Ultra Lord said, pointing to the corridor Libby had not chosen.
"What?" Libby carefully studied Ultra Lord's face but could read nothing. "How do you know that?"
Ultra Lord pointed to the pile of ash in the center of the intersection. "From him," he said simply.
"All right!" Sheen crowed in triumph. "I knew it was a 'he'!"
Libby ignored Sheen's outburst and stared at Ultra Lord. "What do you mean? Were you somehow able to communicate with the sentry before you blasted him?"
"Negative, Love Monkey. In assimilating him I gained access to all that he knew." He pointed down the corridor again. "That is the way we must go. That is the direction of the evil we must conquer."
Libby looked at Sheen, who simply shrugged at her. "Sounds good to me," he said.
"I suppose. It sounds as though he's pretty sure of himself." She came to a decision. "All right. Let's take that way and see where it leads. Sheen, you and I will take the lead. Ultra Lord can follow behind us."
"Shouldn't Ultra Lord go in front?" suggested Sheen.
Libby gave her head a vigorous shake. "No. I think that if we stay in front we can keep Ultra Lord from provoking any more sentries we may meet. The last one didn't seem to get hostile until you asked the wrong question. From what I've seen Ultra Lord would blast first and ask questions later."
Sheen reluctantly nodded. "Okay. I guess you're right about that." As Libby headed down the chosen passageway he added under his breath, "But it kind of spoils the fun."
"I heard that," Libby called from somewhere down the tunnel.
Sheen look surprised. "Man, sharp ears," he muttered.
"I heard that, too."
Ultra Lord appeared to be willing to take up the rear as Libby and Sheen marched down the corridor. Because they were once again synchronized to the system clock there seemed to be little reason to rush and it seemed prudent in any case not to rush blindly ahead and possibly blunder into more sentries. After what seemed to be a half hour Ultra Lord suddenly stopped and leaned forward, cupping a hand to his ear (or where his ear would have been had it not been covered by his mask). Aware that the footsteps behind them had stopped, Sheen and Libby halted as well and looked back at him.
"What's up?" Libby asked.
"Minions of evil," was Ultra Lord's grim reply. "Prepare for battle, Love Monkey and Store Mister."
"That's Stair Master!" objected Sheen. "I
mean, Studmeister! I hit the 'R' by mistake."
"Get
behind me," ordered Ultra Lord, who appeared not to have hear
Sheen. "I'll take them out and let you know when it's all
clear."
"Hold on," said Libby. "I think Sheen and I ought to check this out first. There's no sense fighting if we don't have to."
"The battle against evil is never over," was Ultra Lord's reply. "Good's ultimate victory can only come through uncompromising battle."
"Will you give it a rest?" Libby asked. "You sound like some video game ad. Now, just stay here and let Sheen and I check it out." With a grunt of disgust she turned and headed further down the corridor with Sheen close behind.
"I don't know, Libby," Sheen said. "I think you should have let him take out these guys. It's probably quicker and safer."
"Maybe, but I don't see the point in fighting if we don't have to. I don't understand why this Ultra Lord thinks fighting is the only option."
"But that's what Ultra Lord does," pointed out Sheen. "That's what the game he's in is all about."
"But we aren't playing that game, Sheen. We're trying to stop a virus from wrecking Jimmy's computer. Just because blasting everything in your way is how that Ultra Lord game was designed it doesn't mean we have to do it. There are better ways to settle things." Boys. thought Libby.
Girls, thought Sheen.
A few more steps brought them, not to another intersection, but to a moderately–sized chamber with a number of additional entrances and exits. Inside the room were several dozen of the now-familiar denizens of the system, all of them armed but none of them with weapons at the ready. As they entered one of the occupants stepped before them and said, "Halt! Identify!"
"Love Monkey," sighed Libby, rolling her eyes.
"Stair Master," added Sheen.
Their inquisitor considered their responses before replying, "Access denied."
"But we have to get through here!" Libby protested.
The person before them simply extended a hand, palm out, into Libby's face. "Interface with the manipulator extremity, because IPC handler operation has been suspended."
"What did he say?" asked Sheen, a puzzled look on his face.
Libby shook her head, undisguised irritation showing on her face. "I'm not sure, but I think we've just been totally dissed." She stepped forward and confronted the one who had denied them entry. "Look here," she snapped. "Maybe you think you have a good reason for shutting us out, but –"
That was as far as she got. Without warning a bright bolt flashed past her and struck one of the many people in the room, causing him (or her) to collapse inward and wither like a handle of dry leaves in a hot flame. Before anyone could react to this a familiar figure forced his way into the room and began to blast the confused assemblage with deadly and deliberate precision. When the initial shock of the attack had worn off some of those under attack began fumbling for their own weapons, but the resistance was far too little and much too late. Before Libby and Sheen could fully grasp what was happening everyone who had been in the room had been eliminated.
Ultra Lord put up his weapon and surveyed the area with cold satisfaction. "Area secured," he announced, motioning for Libby and Sheen to enter. He regarded the various exits from the chamber and pointed to one. "That way," he intoned. "The evil lies further ahead."
Sheen, once the surprise wore off, was delighted. "Oh, man, that was cool!" he cried gleefully. "Can you do that again? In slow motion, maybe?"
Libby, however, was still in shock. The sight of the charred remains in the room was all too similar to the carnage she and Sheen had encountered earlier. Ultra Lord had eliminated a perceived threat, but the threat he had so coldly eradicated was nothing more than a part of Jimmy's computer doing exactly what Jimmy had designed it to do. A chilling realization suddenly broke over her like an icy wave, leaving her numb and shaking.
Ultra Lord didn't intend to destroy the virus.
Ultra Lord was the virus.
End of Chapter 12
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