Alright, here's part 4 (finally). I'll be away in British Columbia for 10
days, so no updates until I get back. On the bright side, I have a 4 hour
flight out, so lots of time to write! Thanks for the updates, the more I
get the more I write!
XxXxXxXx
"Dylan, I've just lost all contact with my avatar. She was on Deck 19 coming back up here when she suddenly disappeared," Andromeda reported.
"Damn it! Where's Harper?" Dylan yelled.
"In his quarters. Wait. I'm detecting a disruption in the data stream. Repairing." There was a pause as her eyes closed and she concentrated on fixing the problem. "Someone has reprogrammed my internal sensors and tricked them into telling me Harper was in his quarters. He's currently in engineering."
"Dylan," Tyr's voice came over the comm. system. "I've just found the android lying in the corridor. She doesn't appear damaged in any way, but is unresponsive."
"Tyr, head to engineering and bring me Harper," Dylan ordered.
"You don't think he did this, do you?" Andromeda inquired.
"I really don't know. His behaviour's been all over the place and this morning I would have said yes, but after I found him unconscious he appeared to be over it."
"Dylan, I'm reading a massive power drain. The external sensors and weapons targeting systems have gone off-line. I can't find the source of the drain."
"Can anything else go wrong today?"
XxXxXxXxXx
Tyr entered engineering, intent on finding his target. "Boy! Where are you hiding? And what have you done to the ship?" No response. "Don't think you can hide from me. I can smell you."
"I take it you've come to yell at me for something as well?" Harper couldn't stop his insecurities from showing in his voice. He'd thought he'd finally found a place where he belonged, but it all seemed to be going wrong.
"Don't be ridiculous. Dylan will be doing the yelling. If I find you before you volunteer yourself, you won't like it. Something is draining power from this ship. We are all in danger, and I will not allow you to jeopardize my life any further by hiding like some animal."
With a deep sigh, Harper stepped into view and looked at Tyr. The larger man was slightly taken aback by the engineer's appearance. He'd been ignoring the little human more than normal because of his mood, and hadn't seen him in the past few days. He was pale, he'd lost weight, and there was a slight tremor in his hands. Wordlessly, Harper followed him out of engineering and up to Command, where a very impatient and pissed off Dylan waited.
"What the hell have you done to my ship? And why, once again, did you have the overwhelming urge to reprogram Andromeda's internal sensors?"
Harper looked at Dylan's face. "I didn't do anything to the ship."
"Is there any reason I should believe you?"
"Alright, who's the idiot that turned up the AG field in my quarters?! I had to crawl into the corridor!" an enraged Beka yelled as she stormed into Command. She glared at Harper.
"It wasn't me, Boss. Honest! You have to believe me! Just listen, I don't know what's going on, and I don't remember anything between leaving Winnipeg Drift and waking up on Med-deck. All I remember is interfacing with the Maru to fix the slipstream drive, then it all goes dark. I don't even know where this bruise came from!" He pulled up his sleeve to expose the contusion on his arm. Beka, who hadn't seen the bruise, was shocked into momentary silence.
"That wasn't there before," Beka whispered, started to feel a twisting in her gut. Who had hurt Harper, and how had she missed it? Something was terribly wrong, and she got the feeling it was with her, not Harper.
"See what I mean, Boss? It's like my memory's been blocked or something!"
"Well that doesn't explain what's happening to my ship!" Alarm after alarm was going off, indicating malfunctions in many systems, although none life-threatening.
"With all these malfunctions, it must be a virus or something." Harper's eyes looked inwards as he considered all the possibilities. "It's the only thing that makes sense."
"My logs indicate these malfunctions, some undetectable, all started occurring after Harper and Beka's return, and originated in engineering."
"And I found Harper unconscious in engineering for no explainable reason. He'd been interfacing too. The jack was still hooked up to the panel." Dylan also started to put things together.
"Twice Harper has interfaced, and twice he's wound up unconscious," Andromeda stated. "Is it possible your port is malfunctioning?"
"No. I take care of it. Not to mention, these things almost never have problems."
"Dylan," Andromeda cut in. "Life support on decks 20 through 31 has just failed."
"Harper, are you sure it's a virus? Andromeda hasn't been able to detect any."
"Well, seeing as technology is constantly changing, and this ship is over 300 years old, I wouldn't be surprised if there were hundreds of viruses out there she can't detect. No offense Rom-doll."
"Wait, you guys," Beka interrupted, confusion showing on her face. "So there's a virus. Where did it come from, and what about Harper's weird behaviour? You keep saying you don't remember what happened after the Maru."
"I don't. I interfaced, then it all goes dark and I found myself waking up on med-deck with everyone mad at me."
"Might I suggest you focus on the matter at hand? Two more systems have gone off-line," Tyr interrupted, visions of floating through space on a derelict ship entering his mind.
Unanimously agreeing, Harper grabbed Beka as his assistant and headed off to fix the failing life support systems. Tyr worked on diverting energy from nonessential systems to the more important ones, and Dylan went to fix the weapons system. They were extremely vulnerable and no one could say what sort of ships could be lurking out there.
Three hours later, life support, weapons, and external sensors had been repaired, but that didn't stop other systems from going off-line, or just malfunctioning. Steam would be vented into the halls, the water faucets would go on and off, and the lights only worked when they wanted to.
Harper and Beka walked side by side as they headed back up to Command where Dylan wanted a full briefing on what was happening. The engineer had run a diagnostic, but came up empty handed. He really didn't want to have to say that to Dylan.
"Beka, it sounds like I owe you an apology. I don't know what for, but I should. Could you tell me what I'm apologizing for?"
Beka couldn't help but smile. Harper was back. "Lets just say you got mouthier than a Nightsider on Flash, Sparky and chocolate." Beka didn't think Harper needed the details. He had too much to think about at the moment.
"That bad, huh?"
"And more." She slung an arm around his shoulders.
"Ya know, I was thinking. None of this makes much sense. If it's a virus, where did it come from, and what set it off? While we were on the drift I had, uh, relations with this babe who had this, how should I put it. Fascination with my port?"
"Ew, Harper. Too much information." Beka made a face at him and immediately removed her arm.
"What if she infected my port? Yeah, a tiny electrical discharge is hardly noticeable if other, things, are going on," Harper blushed.
Beka laughed out loud. Harper could be paranoid, sure. But this? At his look she incredulously exclaimed, "You're serious?"
"Yeah. Interfacing could be it's trigger. When I interfaced with the Maru it activated, which could have caused my mood change and memory blackout, I mean the port does directly access my brain, so who's to say a program couldn't be introduced that would influence it? And then when I interfaced with Andromeda it left me and entered the ship. Yes! Who's the genius?" Harper couldn't wait to tell Dylan now.
"So how are you going to fix it?"
"Well, I'm going to have to interface."
XxXxXxXxXx
"You're kidding, right?" Dylan exclaimed, shocked. "Interfacing has caused this problem, and if you will recall, caused this virus to basically control your body. Who knows what will happen next?"
Harper shrugged. He did have a point. "Well, unless you want Rommie to sit in the machine shop and collect dust until I can find a way around the virus, or for Trance to sit locked in Obs deck, then no, I don't have to interface."
"Can't you forget your sarcasm for one minute, boy? Dylan's right. What if you further damage the ship," Tyr added.
"I think I can help with that. I'll meet Harper inside the matrix and at any sign of trouble I will eject him from it."
"Gee, thanks," Harper sarcastically added. That was just a polite way of saying she'd electrocute him.
"Harper, are you up to this?" Dylan critically looked at Harper. It was amazing he was still on his feet. Almost a week of not eating properly or sleeping was taking it's toll. Not to mention the emotional strain of all this.
"I can handle it, Boss."
XxXxXxXx
"Dylan, I've just lost all contact with my avatar. She was on Deck 19 coming back up here when she suddenly disappeared," Andromeda reported.
"Damn it! Where's Harper?" Dylan yelled.
"In his quarters. Wait. I'm detecting a disruption in the data stream. Repairing." There was a pause as her eyes closed and she concentrated on fixing the problem. "Someone has reprogrammed my internal sensors and tricked them into telling me Harper was in his quarters. He's currently in engineering."
"Dylan," Tyr's voice came over the comm. system. "I've just found the android lying in the corridor. She doesn't appear damaged in any way, but is unresponsive."
"Tyr, head to engineering and bring me Harper," Dylan ordered.
"You don't think he did this, do you?" Andromeda inquired.
"I really don't know. His behaviour's been all over the place and this morning I would have said yes, but after I found him unconscious he appeared to be over it."
"Dylan, I'm reading a massive power drain. The external sensors and weapons targeting systems have gone off-line. I can't find the source of the drain."
"Can anything else go wrong today?"
XxXxXxXxXx
Tyr entered engineering, intent on finding his target. "Boy! Where are you hiding? And what have you done to the ship?" No response. "Don't think you can hide from me. I can smell you."
"I take it you've come to yell at me for something as well?" Harper couldn't stop his insecurities from showing in his voice. He'd thought he'd finally found a place where he belonged, but it all seemed to be going wrong.
"Don't be ridiculous. Dylan will be doing the yelling. If I find you before you volunteer yourself, you won't like it. Something is draining power from this ship. We are all in danger, and I will not allow you to jeopardize my life any further by hiding like some animal."
With a deep sigh, Harper stepped into view and looked at Tyr. The larger man was slightly taken aback by the engineer's appearance. He'd been ignoring the little human more than normal because of his mood, and hadn't seen him in the past few days. He was pale, he'd lost weight, and there was a slight tremor in his hands. Wordlessly, Harper followed him out of engineering and up to Command, where a very impatient and pissed off Dylan waited.
"What the hell have you done to my ship? And why, once again, did you have the overwhelming urge to reprogram Andromeda's internal sensors?"
Harper looked at Dylan's face. "I didn't do anything to the ship."
"Is there any reason I should believe you?"
"Alright, who's the idiot that turned up the AG field in my quarters?! I had to crawl into the corridor!" an enraged Beka yelled as she stormed into Command. She glared at Harper.
"It wasn't me, Boss. Honest! You have to believe me! Just listen, I don't know what's going on, and I don't remember anything between leaving Winnipeg Drift and waking up on Med-deck. All I remember is interfacing with the Maru to fix the slipstream drive, then it all goes dark. I don't even know where this bruise came from!" He pulled up his sleeve to expose the contusion on his arm. Beka, who hadn't seen the bruise, was shocked into momentary silence.
"That wasn't there before," Beka whispered, started to feel a twisting in her gut. Who had hurt Harper, and how had she missed it? Something was terribly wrong, and she got the feeling it was with her, not Harper.
"See what I mean, Boss? It's like my memory's been blocked or something!"
"Well that doesn't explain what's happening to my ship!" Alarm after alarm was going off, indicating malfunctions in many systems, although none life-threatening.
"With all these malfunctions, it must be a virus or something." Harper's eyes looked inwards as he considered all the possibilities. "It's the only thing that makes sense."
"My logs indicate these malfunctions, some undetectable, all started occurring after Harper and Beka's return, and originated in engineering."
"And I found Harper unconscious in engineering for no explainable reason. He'd been interfacing too. The jack was still hooked up to the panel." Dylan also started to put things together.
"Twice Harper has interfaced, and twice he's wound up unconscious," Andromeda stated. "Is it possible your port is malfunctioning?"
"No. I take care of it. Not to mention, these things almost never have problems."
"Dylan," Andromeda cut in. "Life support on decks 20 through 31 has just failed."
"Harper, are you sure it's a virus? Andromeda hasn't been able to detect any."
"Well, seeing as technology is constantly changing, and this ship is over 300 years old, I wouldn't be surprised if there were hundreds of viruses out there she can't detect. No offense Rom-doll."
"Wait, you guys," Beka interrupted, confusion showing on her face. "So there's a virus. Where did it come from, and what about Harper's weird behaviour? You keep saying you don't remember what happened after the Maru."
"I don't. I interfaced, then it all goes dark and I found myself waking up on med-deck with everyone mad at me."
"Might I suggest you focus on the matter at hand? Two more systems have gone off-line," Tyr interrupted, visions of floating through space on a derelict ship entering his mind.
Unanimously agreeing, Harper grabbed Beka as his assistant and headed off to fix the failing life support systems. Tyr worked on diverting energy from nonessential systems to the more important ones, and Dylan went to fix the weapons system. They were extremely vulnerable and no one could say what sort of ships could be lurking out there.
Three hours later, life support, weapons, and external sensors had been repaired, but that didn't stop other systems from going off-line, or just malfunctioning. Steam would be vented into the halls, the water faucets would go on and off, and the lights only worked when they wanted to.
Harper and Beka walked side by side as they headed back up to Command where Dylan wanted a full briefing on what was happening. The engineer had run a diagnostic, but came up empty handed. He really didn't want to have to say that to Dylan.
"Beka, it sounds like I owe you an apology. I don't know what for, but I should. Could you tell me what I'm apologizing for?"
Beka couldn't help but smile. Harper was back. "Lets just say you got mouthier than a Nightsider on Flash, Sparky and chocolate." Beka didn't think Harper needed the details. He had too much to think about at the moment.
"That bad, huh?"
"And more." She slung an arm around his shoulders.
"Ya know, I was thinking. None of this makes much sense. If it's a virus, where did it come from, and what set it off? While we were on the drift I had, uh, relations with this babe who had this, how should I put it. Fascination with my port?"
"Ew, Harper. Too much information." Beka made a face at him and immediately removed her arm.
"What if she infected my port? Yeah, a tiny electrical discharge is hardly noticeable if other, things, are going on," Harper blushed.
Beka laughed out loud. Harper could be paranoid, sure. But this? At his look she incredulously exclaimed, "You're serious?"
"Yeah. Interfacing could be it's trigger. When I interfaced with the Maru it activated, which could have caused my mood change and memory blackout, I mean the port does directly access my brain, so who's to say a program couldn't be introduced that would influence it? And then when I interfaced with Andromeda it left me and entered the ship. Yes! Who's the genius?" Harper couldn't wait to tell Dylan now.
"So how are you going to fix it?"
"Well, I'm going to have to interface."
XxXxXxXxXx
"You're kidding, right?" Dylan exclaimed, shocked. "Interfacing has caused this problem, and if you will recall, caused this virus to basically control your body. Who knows what will happen next?"
Harper shrugged. He did have a point. "Well, unless you want Rommie to sit in the machine shop and collect dust until I can find a way around the virus, or for Trance to sit locked in Obs deck, then no, I don't have to interface."
"Can't you forget your sarcasm for one minute, boy? Dylan's right. What if you further damage the ship," Tyr added.
"I think I can help with that. I'll meet Harper inside the matrix and at any sign of trouble I will eject him from it."
"Gee, thanks," Harper sarcastically added. That was just a polite way of saying she'd electrocute him.
"Harper, are you up to this?" Dylan critically looked at Harper. It was amazing he was still on his feet. Almost a week of not eating properly or sleeping was taking it's toll. Not to mention the emotional strain of all this.
"I can handle it, Boss."
