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Chapter 15: The Virus Man Again
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It took about two hours to reach the rocky area that Hideki had pointed out. At first, the climb hadn't been very difficult. They had first trekked through the forest. The only obstacles there had been fallen tree trunks, as the forest floor wasn't overgrown with weeds or thorns. Later, the terrain became more treacherous and steeper. Mostly everyone had suffered scrapes or cuts during this phase of the ascent.
Slate took out his PET and studied a set of coordinates on it. '' According to this, we're practically standing on top of the signal source.''
Butch stomped on the ground. '' That kid said that there was a lab around here. Since I don't see any buildings, it must be underground.''
'' Darn…'' Karla sighed, sitting down on a rock. '' We should've asked him how to get in.''
Butch frowned. '' Well, there should be an entrance somewhere.''
Lloyd meanwhile, had been carefully studying the ground. Then he stopped, and began to brush aside gravel and rocks with his feet. '' What are you doing?'' Terry asked. He noticed a look on Lloyd's face somewhere between determination and coldness.
Lloyd ignored him and continued to brush away gravel. Then he bent down and grabbed a hold of something and began to pull. With a creak, he pulled open a metal hatch, revealing a tunnel leading down into the mountain. Along one side was a set of rungs, so that a person could climb up or down.
'' If it's underground, then there would have to be an access route somewhere.'' Lloyd explained. His voice was serious this time, completely lacking the carefree tone he usually held.
Slate walked over to the portal and peered down it. '' Since we don't know what's down there,'' he began. '' If anyone wants to back out now, I won't say anything.''
'' Who's gonna do that?'' Terry asked. '' We've all come this far, so we'll all see this to its end.''
'' Very well.'' Slate said. '' Let's go.''
They entered the hatch, one by one, and found themselves in a dimly lit chamber. To one side there was a hallway.
Terry looked around, then suddenly leapt back in alarm. '' Yikes!'' he shouted. '' There's a Candle Devil in here!''
'' Stop being an idiot, it's just a painting!'' Karla said, scowling at him.
'' It is?'' Terry asked. He backed up and saw that it was indeed a painting.
'' Try to be more quiet…'' Slate sighed.
'' Sorry…''
They walked down the hallway until it ran into another, perpendicular to the first. There was a large door there, and upon closer inspection, a thrumming noise could be heard.
'' I wonder what's making that noise.'' Vick said as they got closer. '' It sounds like there's some pretty heavy machinery operating in there.''
On the other side was a circular room. A large domelike device was in the center of the room, and there were various servers and other devices on one side of the room. On the other side was a staircase that ended about eight feet off the ground at a door set into the wall.
'' What are all of these machines for?'' Terry wondered. '' I've never seen any of them before.''
'' Who are you!''
The door at the top of the stairs had opened and a white haired old man in a lab coat had emerged.
'' Are you Arman-hakase?'' Slate shouted up.
'' Yes, I am.'' the man answered. '' But who are you, and how did you get here!''
'' I am Iwasaki Akira.'' Slate answered. '' Behind me is Terrence, Karla, Butch, Vick, and Lloyd. We're rebels.''
'' Rebels?'' Arman said, sounding confused. '' Why would you bother to visit me?''
'' Because we know what you're up to!'' Karla shouted up to him. '' You're sending evolved viruses around the country!''
Arman bowed his head. '' If there's one thing I pride myself on, it's my honesty. Yes miss, I am. How did you know?''
'' Because a bunch of evolved metools ended up at our HQ.'' Butch answered. '' We simply tracked them back here.''
The old man swore. '' Dammit, that was a mistake! I wasn't trying to send them there!'' He descended the staircase and moved closer to the rebels.
'' I've been transmitting them from a communications array here to a television satellite, to various other transceivers until they reach their destination.'' he explained.
'' We figured that out.'' Terry said. '' How did you evolve them?''
Arman sighed. '' Years ago I became a virus researcher for T-Corp. They built this lab out here for me to use so that if there ever was an accident, the viruses would not be able to escape onto the big Net. Recently, I discovered a way to evolve them. Now, viruses evolve naturally over time, but I discovered how to do it artificially: simply feed them a large number of bug pieces.''
'' Alright, but why are you sending them to attack to government?''
Arman frowned and lost the 'kindly old man' appearance. '' Because the government is a shadow of its former self! I've kept in touch, and ever since those… those kids came to power the quality of rule has plummeted! They've put down an iron fist, and even the rest of the government does not have a hundred percent confidence in them! They need to fall!''
Slate smiled to himself. '' While that is true and your cause is just, you're going about this the wrong way. What you are doing is terrorism. We, real rebels, do not stoop to such tactics. We go about our missions in a way that undermines the system, weakening it until it plummets.''
His smile faded. '' You are walking a dangerous road, Arman-hakase. The more powerful viruses get, the tougher they are to control. I assume that that device is what supposedly controls them.''
'' Yes.'' Arman said, gesturing towards the domelike device. '' That is my virus controller.''
'' Also,'' Terry added. '' If the viruses escape and start multiplying, it'll be like the Outbreak all over again, only worse.'' He remembered Saito Hikari, the boy whose life had been drastically changed by the Outbreak. '' And we can't have that.''
'' Oh yes!'' Karla remembered. '' A boy named Hideki told us that you're doing something to navis up here!''
'' Oh that?'' Arman said dismissively. '' He must've seen some of my old lab reports. A while ago, I discovered that when Dreamviruses evolve, they gain a special power. They lose their aura, but they grow to a prodigious size, and gain the ability to inject 'venom' into other programs. Mainly, net navis.''
Everything became clear. Terry remembered when he, Butch and Karla had broken into the ruins of Scilab to find information on Saito. During their stay, they had triggered the security and the navis had been forced to battle an evolved Dreamvirus. Dash had received a cut during the battle, so that must've been the cause of his infection.
'' The venom integrates itself with the navi's programming.'' Arman continued. '' Eventually it takes over completely, transforming the navi into a virus-navi hybrid.''
'' Is, is there any way to cure it?'' Terry asked, stunned.
Arman shrugged. '' At first, a simple vaccine does the trick, but eventually that won't work. The navi could fight back and delete it itself, but normal scans can't pick up the venom, so they rarely know that they are infected until it is too late.''
Slate gritted his teeth. '' Hakase, shutdown your virus controller and your other machinery now. Your little experiment cannot continue!''
'' Or what?'' Arman asked, calling his bluff.
'' Or we'll do it ourselves.'' Slate answered. '' This is for your good as well as everyone else's.''
'' NO!'' Arman shouted. '' I will NOT allow you to do so!''
'' You're hardly in any position to argue.'' Slate said coolly. '' If you don't want to get hurt, go to your office and stay there!''
Arman scoffed. '' You wouldn't hurt an old man!''
'' Try me.''
Seeing that Slate was not playing games, Arman realized that he had no choice and stalked up the stairs to his office.
After he had left, Slate turned to everyone. '' Plug in. Lloyd, go keep an eye on Arman-hakase. You can operate Ryn from there.''
'' I'll go see if I can find anything on the venom.'' Vick said. '' Good luck with the viruses.'' He ducked out of the room.
Lloyd plugged in Ryn, then headed to the office. Inside was a desk with a taken apart computer on top of it. Next to it on the floor was a toolbox containing wrenches, screwdrivers, and a sledgehammer. Behind was a filing cabinet. Arman was at his desk, a look of sadness and anger on his face. When he saw Lloyd enter, he looked up. '' What do you want?... Wait… IT'S YOU! How did you, why are you!''
Lloyd smirked. '' Hello doctor. You thought you could get away, didn't you?''
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I am so evil with my cliffhangers. Don't worry though, you'll find out who Lloyd is in the next chapter.
The concept of viruses evolving through bug pieces was taken from EXE3, where you could feed the viruses in the virus feeder bug pieces to power up battlechips that featured the viruses. Feeding a Spikey a bug piece would power up the Spikey battlechip etc.
If you need a fresher on the evolved Dreamvirus, read chapter 6 of The Link Between the Past and Present.
See ya.
