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Chapter 18: Unknown Ground
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A depressing mood hung over HQ, like a rain shower that simply refused to move on. One day had passed since the six rebels had visited Arman's lab. Now, there were only five, and the psyche of one of them was in pain.
They had left Lloyd in Arman's lab, bound and gagged, and Slate had shutdown the transceivers and all of the other machinery. The viruses had been deleted, and the threat of another Outbreak was gone. They had traveled back down to Ironsould and had taken Kurogane's return train back. Kurogane and Chargeman had obviously wanted to ask them what had happened, but hadn't out of respect.
Dash had been heavily sedated in case he had another attack. Vick, with help from the files he had retrieved and a few spare parts, had upgraded the scanner so that it could now track the progress of the infection. The results were not very encouraging. Most of the display was purple, indicating that Dash was perilously close to being completely taken over. Terry was obviously suffering on the inside. He had built Dash himself so long ago, and they had been through plenty of trouble together. But now, they were helpless. Currently, the rebels were trying to come up with a plan.
'' Why don't we just delete him, then activate his back up data?'' Butch suggested.
'' No,'' Terry said, slowly shaking his head. '' That won't work. The last back up I made was before we went to Densan, when Dash was still infected, so the back ups will be contaminated as well.''
Vaccines had already been ruled out, and the rebels were beginning to run out of ideas.
'' Wait.'' Terry said suddenly. '' Arman said that a navi can eradicate the venom itself, right?''
'' Yes… He did.'' Slate answered.
'' Dash's main program is still operational, but its signals are very weak.'' Vick told them. '' It looks like he's… given up…''
'' He needs me… I need to be there…'' Terry said to himself. '' Wait! I've got it! I can use the Pulse Transmission System!''
Slate raised an eyebrow. '' What do you mean?''
'' Alright, the system converts brain waves to data, correct?'' Terry began.
'' Riiight…'' Karla answered. Her arm was now in a more durable sling, and was bandaged as well.
'' So, couldn't I merge my data with his?''
'' How would that help?'' Butch asked.
'' Dash has always been there for me, and now it's my turn to be there for him.'' Terry said. '' Vick has come to the conclusion that he has given up, if I can encourage him, awaken his true self, he could find the strength to eradicate the venom himself, just like Arman said.''
'' Do you have any idea how dangerous that could be!'' Slate said hurriedly, looking surprised. '' Lloyd said that that technology was experimental! A million things could go wrong! There could be some kind of malfunction, and you could die! Or you could be stuck in the cyberworld forever! There would be nothing we could do to bring you back. You see, even though we created it, to us humans, cyberworld is still unknown ground.''
'' But… I'm willing to do anything!'' Terry cried. '' I owe Dash that much…''
Slate sighed and slumped back in his chair. '' Okay. You win. We'll try to assemble the Pulse Transmission System as quickly as we can.''
Terry gave a weak smile. '' Thank you… Akira.''
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It had been a good day for Kassandra Alva. The weather was beautiful, virus activity was finally down, and one of her more annoying suitors had finally given up. Everything was falling into place.
Currently, she was walking in the Technology Tower's Atrium. It was separate from the government offices and facilities. This place was open to the public, and while it lacked retail stores, which wasn't a bad thing, it had many well renowned, if expensive, restaurants. Sunlight poured in from a massive overhead skylight, while a large fountain was located in the Atrium's center.
'' It's not often that you come down here.'' Lunare remarked from her PET, which was clipped to Kassandra's belt at her hip.
She sat down at the edge of the fountain. '' No, but I'm feeling pretty good today. I shouldn't spend all of my free time up in my office.''
'' Besides,'' she said, unclipping her PET. '' It'll give the media something to talk about.''
'' If you say so Kassy.'' Lunare replied. Her operator could be a little… odd. Sometimes she was dead serious, but other times she could be mischievous.
The crowd continued on its way, but people slowly began to notice that Kassandra, one of the most powerful people on the planet, was right there, in plain view. Some people openly gawked, some pointed at her, and others gave her odd looks. One person was shouting to her. '' Ms. Alva! Ms. Alva!'' It was Yamoto again.
He made his way through the crowd and walked up to where she was sitting. '' I received a message from Lieutenant Dullaq just now.'' he said, getting right to business. '' I'm sure that you would like to hear it.''
'' What is it?''
'' Well, apparently there was a 'dirty, bloodshot, and belligerent' man claiming that he was Lloyd Alva, demanding that they let him into headquarters. He was sent away.''
Kassandra tried to suppress her laughter. '' Why didn't he use his PET?''
'' Well,'' Yamoto began. '' he said that they had removed the battery.''
'' I can't believe that those rebels were too much for him!'' Kassandra said, laughing. '' Well, at least they solved the virus problem.''
'' What are we going to do?'' Yamoto asked.
'' Oh, I'll just let him come back on his own. It'll humble him.''
'' If you say so ma'am.'' Yamoto said. '' If you would please excuse me, I must return to my work. Good day.''
'' Are you sure that was the right thing to do?'' Lunare asked after he had left.
'' Lloyd is too comfortable in his power.'' Kassandra answered. '' This will be a lesson in humility. After all, isn't it the duty of siblings to look after each other?''
Lunare sighed. '' I think you just want to have a laugh at his expense…''
'' Not so.'' Kassandra said, smiling. '' Come on. We should get going.''
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It took a week to assemble the Transmission System. It looked like a large metal chair. There was a cap with wiring connected to it above the seat, and a slot for a PET in one of the armrests, but they weren't going to be using Terry's PET. The machine was linked to a computer that Dash, still sedated, was inside. This device was a monster when it came to power consumption, as when the rebels had initially activated it, HQ's lights had dimmed quite a bit. It had been difficult putting it together, even though there had been practically a novel on how the machine worked. The instructions, while invaluable, were often very confusing due to their complexity. But they had managed to complete it in the end.
'' Are you sure about this?'' Butch asked. The only other sound was of rain pattering against windows.
'' Yes. I am.'' Terry said resolutely. He walked up to the chair and pulled himself up into it. '' Kinda big…''
'' You do understand, don't you, that once you're in the cyberworld that we can't help you in anyway.'' Vick cautioned. '' You'll be on your own.''
'' I know.'' Terry said, pulling the cap onto his head. '' But this is the only way I can save Dash.''
Vick sighed. '' Okay, I'm activating it. In about a minute or so, you'll be gone.''
Butch stepped forward. '' I hope you know what you're going kid. For your own sake.''
Vick made a small adjustment on the control panel. '' All I can say is… Good luck.''
Karla, who looked the most anxious out of the four, said: '' Please… Be safe Terry. I wish that I could say more… but… Just come back in one piece… I… I –''
Slate cut her off. '' Jya na.'' was all he said.
'' Thanks everyone.'' Terry said, starting to fell nervous himself.
Then everything went black.
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When consciousness returned, Terry found himself looking not at the interior of HQ, but the circuitry and expanse of the computer the system had been hooked up to.
He looked down at his hands, which looked normal enough. His feet were there too, as were his clothes. He silently thanked whoever had designed the Pulse Transmission System for that, as it would not have been pleasant if the others, who were undoubtably looking at him through the computer's moniter, had seen him completely naked.
'' This is so weird.'' he said to himself.
'' It's even weirder out here.'' a familiar voice said.
Terry turned and saw a viewscreen displaying the realworld. His friends were clustered near the moniter, looking at him. '' Hey everyone!'' Terry said, waving. '' It worked! I'm in the cyberworld!''
'' That's what I don't understand.'' Butch said, frowning. '' That it actually worked.''
'' This is sooo bizarre.'' Karla said. '' Your body is here, yet we're talking to you from the computer…''
'' By the way, how exactly do you plan on transferring yourself?'' Vick asked.
'' In the cyberworld, I'm no longer a human.'' Terry explained. '' Just a simple program. Transferring myself should be second nature to me now.''
He saw Dash and walked over to him. Dash was lying face up on the floor of the cyberworld, and he appeared to be asleep. Terry bent down to him, a look of pity in his eyes. '' Don't worry.'' he said. '' I'm going to help you.''
He reached down and placed his hand on Dash's navi symbol. I hope that this works. he thought to himself.
For the second time in several minutes, everything went black.
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Remember the Pulse Transmission System they found in chapter 7? That wasn't a loose end.
One more chapter left.
