Sheentastic Voyage

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 15:

Before Sheen could fire at the advancing form of Ultra Lord, the tank just outside the door discharged another bolt of energy, striking Ultra Lord squarely in the chest. This time Ultra Lord staggered, but was not driven back and did not fall. Instead he raised his own weapon and pointed it down the passageway.

"Is it just me, or is he getting stronger?" Libby wondered as Ultra Lord took careful aim. "It's almost as though –"

Sheen was much more practical. "Duck, Libby!" he yelled, carrying her to the floor and covering her with his own body. An instant later there was an audible sizzle as raw power sliced through the air above them, followed by a wave of heat that washed over the both figures. Sheen looked up at the door to see the effects of the blast. The door was no longer there. Neither, he saw, was the tank. Taking advantage of the momentary opening he scrambled to his feet and darted through the doorway, half-dragging Libby behind him. The two barely had time to leap to the side before another blast of energy from Ultra Lord's weapon leapt after them. Sheen immediately began running across the large chamber with Libby struggling to keep up.

"Sheen, what are you doing?" she asked. "What about the tanks?"

"I think they have a more important target to worry about," Sheen replied. "I'd guess that they go after the most serious threat first and that is definitely not us."

Libby chanced a look behind her and saw that Sheen was right. Ultra Lord had emerged from the ruined doorway and the numerous tanks in the room were converging on him, firing their energy cannons as they moved in. Much to Libby's dismay the weapons seemed to have little or no effect on their quarry who was in turn picking them off with little trouble. As ineffectual as the tanks seem to be, however, they were at least keeping Ultra Lord too busy to notice them. "So where are we going?" Libby asked, turning her attention back to Sheen.

Sheen pointed. "There." Ahead of them Libby saw a dark opening, larger than any they had yet encountered, through which two more of the energy tanks were emerging. "I'd bet anything that's where Vox is and where Ultra Lord is headed. We have to find some way to keep him out of there and put him out of commission if we're going to save Vox."

Who said this kid was dumb? Libby thought. "How do we do that?"

"I'm not sure. Jimmy said he'd try to provide us with some thing to fight with. I'm hoping we can access it inside."

"So do I," answered Libby as she put on a final burst of speed to dash through the opening just behind Sheen. Sheen set his impacter cannon aside and began searching the sides of the opening for some way to shut the opening while Libby looked back into the chamber they had just left to assess the situation. After a moment she said, "Sheen?"

"What is it, Libs?"

"Does Ultra Lord have a tank?"

"What?" Sheen stopped searching for a moment to stare curiously at Libby. "No. He has the Ultra Dart, and the Ultra Cruiser, and a couple of other Ultra vehicles, but hot a tank. Why?"

"Because," Libby answered, "he does now."

"What? Let me see." Sheen moved to look out the large portal and was stunned. Just as Libby had said Ultra Lord was maneuvering around the room in a large armored weapon that could only be described as a tank. The size of the vehicle dwarfed the system tanks which swarmed around it and met their doom from the huge cannon or beneath the behemoth's titanic metal treads. "If this weren't so scary I'd say that it was pretty cool," Sheen stammered.

Suddenly Libby smacked her forehead with her open palm. She smacked herself again several more times without saying anything.

"You know, you really shouldn't do that," observed Sheen. "It might have some long-term neurological repercussions. Or so my doctor told my parents."

"I am so stupid!" Libby snapped. "How could I not see this?"

"See what?"

"Genetic process modeling. That's what the guy on the phone told you, right?"

"Yes," Sheen answered without understanding. "Does that mean something?"

"It means everything," said Libby. "It's a sort of artificial intelligence. Most programs stay pretty much the same. They'll always do the same thing the same way every time you run them. Usually a programmer has to change the code to improve a program. That's what program upgrades are all about. But some programs can change themselves and actually get better at what they do all on their own. Genetic process modeling is a way for them to do that."

"With you so far," Sheen answered. "I think."

"What happens is that the program uses the code of other programs to modify and improve itself." Libby looked helplessly around her as though searching for something. "That's why the program knew its way through the autonomic regulatory system. That's why it knew how to get here. That's why it keeps getting stronger and has a tank now. It's been assimilating everything it's been fighting against. It knows almost everything about Jimmy's computer." A thought suddenly occurred to her and she looked at Sheen in horror. "Including the access codes to get to Vox!"

"Then we've got to change them," Sheen said, glancing outside. "But first we have to shut this door. He's almost through all the defenses and I don't see any more coming to meet him."

Libby joined Sheen in frantically searching for some mechanism to seal the darkened chamber they were in. "But how? I don't see anything here to do that."

"Neither do I," admitted Sheen. He sighed. "I wish we were outside. Then all we'd have to do is say, 'Vox! Seal access to the Central Processor!'"

"Sealing access to Central Processor," a familiar voice answered. To Libby and Sheen's astonishment a barrier materialized in the opening before them, sealing the chamber and leaving them in pitch blackness.

"Uh…Vox? Lights?" Sheen heard Libby say. There was no response.

"Vox! Lights!" Sheen ordered. To his delight the chamber grew lighter, the light appearing to come from the walls themselves. "I guess that Jimmy only gave me direct access to Vox today," he commented. As it became bright enough for Sheen to see clearly he saw that the room they were in was quite large and perfectly circular. A sharp intake of air from Libby drew his attention to the center of the room. Sheen had often seen the sun shining through icicles hanging from the eaves of his house in winter, and he recalled the vibrant colors that had danced within them. The visions of those memories paled at the sight of the pillar of living light that reached from the floor of the room to its ceiling far overhead. As they watched it brilliant flashes of emerald, sapphire, ruby, and topaz streamed from deep within to arc like jets of rainbow fire to the walls about them.

"It's beautiful," Libby whispered. "Is that…is that Vox?"

Sheen's voice was equally hushed. "I don't know," he replied. Suddenly a crash like thunder echoed through the chamber and the barrier behind them shook, shaking both of them out of the trance. "But I do know we have to do something or we're all toast. Vox! Reset access codes!"

"Access codes reset," Vox replied as radiant hues swirled within the column.

"How did you know to do that?" Libby asked, both impressed and curious.

Sheen shrugged. "I saw it on a show once. There were these aliens who had taken over a ship and the captain –"

"Save it, save it," Libby interrupted. "You can give me the details later. Right now we have to find something to fight with. But there's nothing here." She looked around at the smooth, featureless walls. "Nothing at all." The barrier shuddered again from a massive impact from outside and she shivered.

Sheen considered it. "Vox is here," he pointed out.

"That's true." Libby thought about it. "If there would be anyplace in this computer where we could access Jimmy's files, then this would be the place. So how do we do it?"

"Leave that to me," Sheen preened. "Vox! Access Jimmy's files!" Instantly thousands of images began flashing on and across the chamber walls, far too quickly for either Sheen or Libby to see or recognize.

Annoyed, Libby called, "Slow it down, Sheen!"

"Uh, right," Sheen responded, considerable deflated. "Vox! Access files at a much slower speed."

"Specify rate of data recall," Vox instructed.

Sheen looked at Libby and shrugged. "I guess one a second would be good," he said.

"Data access of one file per second will take approximately two thousand seven hundred thirty-four years, eight months –"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Sheen called out. "Now what?" he asked Libby.

"Ask Vox to access files that would help us fight the Ultra Lord program."

"Good idea. Okay, Vox. Access files on weapons and stuff that will help us fight the Ultra Lord program." Another thunderous impact shook the barrier and Sheen added very quickly, "The one that's about to break through your barrier into this chamber and annihilate us. That program."

"Accessing," Vox replied. "Recalling data."

As various images began appearing on the walls Sheen and Libby walked in opposite directions along the walls, studying the images as carefully as the brief display time allowed them. Libby shook her head. "I don't recognize any of these things," she called out to Sheen.

"I'll know it when I see it," Sheen shouted back confidently. "I remember that Jimmy –" He broke off and cried out excitedly, "Vox! Freeze that image! I need one of those!"

Libby headed towards Sheen to see what he had found when an explosion shook the chamber and knocked her off her feet. Fragments of debris sprayed into the room from the direction of the barrier, and clouds of dust, grit, and smoke billowed into the chamber. Libby squinted through the haze trying to see what she knew all too well was there. It advanced like a juggernaut towards the glowing pillar, heedless of the rubble pulverized beneath its massive treads or of Libby as she crawled towards Sheen's forgotten impacter cannon lying not far away. The cannon swiveled with awful finality towards its last target.

"Victory," was Ultra Lord's only word as he prepared to fire.

End of Chapter 15

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