Virus
It was raining. It had been raining for a few days now. I was practicing targeting with a bow and arrow. Basic weapons have always been important in my opinion. I had built this one myself, like most of my weapons. I fired again. The third arrow struck the center target. I retrieved the arrows and tossed them in a garbage can next to the target. I sat down on the couch and opened my mini-fridge. Inside was an organized assortment of Coca Cola. I had regular, cherry, vanilla, vanilla-cherry, and a few diet versions for anyone who was interested. I took a cherry and opened it up. Thunder cracked in the distance. I took a drink. There was a knock at the door.
"It's open," I said. Starfire stepped in.
"Greetings," She said.
"Hey," I said. She sat down next to me. I turned the TV on. A Godzilla movie was on TV. "Cool, King Ghidorah."
"What is 'King Ghidorah'?" Starfire asked.
"My personal favorite Godzilla enemy," I said, "He's got three heads. See? There he is now." I pointed at the TV. King Ghidorah landed on the ground in front of Godzilla.
"That is 'Godzilla' is it not?" She asked.
"Yeah," I said, "That's him."
"He does not look as endearing as my stuffed version does," She noted. I smiled.
"Yeah, I guess not," I said. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a little "Super-deformed" Godzilla.
"It is adorable!" Starfire exclaimed. I held it out to her. She took it in her hands.
"I got it from Japan a while ago," I said, "You can have it." She hugged it close to her and smiled.
"I truly like 'Godzilla'," she said, "It is a wonderful piece of film history." King Ghidorah wrapped his middle head around Godzilla's neck. Starfire gasped. "NO! You must struggle free!" She cried at the TV. I laughed silently to myself. I had never met someone like her. Godzilla started to foam at the mouth. Just as it seemed to be all over, he blasted King Ghidorah with his atomic fire breath. Ghidorah flew back and hit the ground. He tried to get up, but Godzilla was fired his breath again and blew his middle head off. Starfire clapped. The crime alarm went off. Robin came on the screen.
"Aw, come on! We were watching something!" I said, only joking of course.
"Someone's robbing an electronics shop downtown," Robin said, "Well, we don't know what he's doing there. We have to find out before he kills someone, though."
"Be right there," I said. The screen went off. Starfire and I stood up.
"Ah well," I said, "We can always rent it."
Down at the little electronics shop, the 'person' inside was certainly not robbing the place. He wasn't really a person, as I had come to understand. He was made entirely of energy, and was basically held together by a CPU. It wasn't the criminal Overload. He was something else. Whatever or whoever he was, he was bringing each of the electronics to life.
"Titans, GO!" Robin commanded. Starfire fired a few bolts at him, but he seemed to grow slightly bigger.
"Thanks," he said, his voice sounding electronic and static. Cyborg threw a punch, but was blown back by the immense energy. Robin threw an ice disk at him, but he seemed to absorb it. I took an EMP cannon from my jacket and fired it, hoping to cause his chip to malfunction. Instead just absorbed the pulse too, and grew bigger again.
"Ah great," I said. He turned to us.
"Now that you're here," he said, and waved for the living electronics to attack. These little pieces were easy to defeat, but the numbers were incredible.
"Did he get into the goddamn warehouse?" I asked to no one. I took a shotgun and destroyed a walking TV and computer.
"This is a waste of time," Robin said, "We need to finish him! That'll stop the drones!"
"I'm on it," I said. I thought for a moment. If he was electricity, I would need to destroy his center power source. I realized that he was connected in some way to the generator in the store. If I shut it down, he would be reduced to a useless CPU. I scanned the room and found the door with the generator. I silently ran over to the door and tried to open it. It was locked. I turned to the girl at the counter. "You have a key?"
"No, the janitor does," she said.
"Ah well," I said. I slammed my fist into the door and it broke away. I saw the generator quickly took a water hose from the wall. I broke glass and took it out. To make sure there was no power left, I would have to make it short circuit. I pushed the lever forward. Water sprayed the generator and it began to emit sparks and make static noises. And then with a BANG the generator died. As I had planned, the electric creature let out a scream and died. And, as Robin had said, the drones dropped dead. I threw the fire hose down and put my hands in my pockets.
"Nice job," Cyborg said. I knelt down and picked up the chip. And then I came to regret it immediately. It emitted a current of electricity that bolted through my body. I grunted and threw it to the other side. The bolt was so powerful that I found it difficult to stand I fell to one knee.
"You ok?" Beast Boy asked. I looked at my hand where the shock had burned away some of the skin.
"I'll be fine," I said, standing up again.
Back at the tower I inspected the burn on my hand. There was nothing outstanding about it. I had suffered many similar burns before, and this one seemed no different. I cleaned it off and decided to wait for it to heal. I left my room and went to the main room. Beast Boy and Cyborg were competing in some fighting game. Raven was reading (again). I leaned up against the counter next to Raven.
"Where are the other two?" I asked.
"Don't care," she remarked.
"Thank you," I said sarcastically. I walked over to the fridge and took a Coke from it. I cracked the tab and took a drink. Starfire walked in.
"Greetings!" she said energetically.
"And now I am ripping your head off," Beast Boy said. I peered over to where I watched a man in a strange Chinese outfit tear his opponents head off and throw it at his body, where both the head and body shattered like glass. I was reminded of my first day.
"Hey Star," I said without really looking at her.
"I would like to join you in drinking sugared carbonated water," she said. I took another Coke and set it down in front of her. She sat down next to me. Raven peered over her newspaper. I looked at her.
"You want one too?" I asked. She sighed and folded the newspaper up.
"Ok," she said depressingly. I slid a third can over to her. She cracked the tab and took a drink. That was when I felt it. A pain in the back of my head. It wasn't a sensation I felt often. It was usually when my primary or secondary processor overheated. The pain increased suddenly. I winced and felt the back of my head. "Something wrong?" Raven asked.
"Nothing, just a little headache," I said. The pain increased again and my grip increased on the can "I'll be fine," I grunted. The pain increased a third time. I slammed my fist on the table and it cracked.
"Biohazard? Are you sure you'll be ok?" Raven asked. I couldn't answer. I had never experienced such a pain.
"I—have to go," I painfully grunted. I got up and stumbled away.
Starfire and Raven exchanged glances. Beast Boy and Cyborg approached the table.
"Hey guys. What's with Biohazard?" Beast Boy asked.
"He said he had a headache," Raven said.
"That's gotta be one hell of a headache," Cyborg said, looking at the crack in the table.
"I think he was in a lot of pain," Raven said.
"Is he sick?" Beast Boy asked.
"Yeah Beast Boy, he's sick," She said sardonically, "He's a robot, genius."
"I should ensure that he is 'OK'," Starfire said. Before anyone had the chance to convince her otherwise, she left.
She leaned against the door and listened. He sounded angry and upset. Starfire walked in. He was sitting on his couch and clutching his ears.
"Biohazard, are you alright?" She asked.
"No," he grunted. He growled and clutched his head harder. Starfire ran to his aid and took his hand.
"Biohazard, you are ill," she said, " Raven can make you some tea and..."
"STARFIRE I CAN'T GET ILL!" he shouted, "IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"
"Biohazard," she was getting uneasy. She had never seen him like this. "Something has happened to you. You..." He let out a growl again and held his hands over his ears.
"Make it stop!" He practically screamed. He pounded the couch. "MAKE IT STOP!" and then suddenly he collapsed. Starfire gasped and knelt down quickly beside him.
"Biohazard! Wake up!" She cried, shaking him. He didn't move. Raven, Cyborg and Beast Boy rushed in.
"Starfire what is it?" Beast Boy asked.
"Oh no," Raven said. They ran to his aid.
"What is happening to him?" Starfire asked.
"He just went through a system short," Cyborg said, "It might have been brought on by that shock he got at the electronics shop."
"Will he be ok?" Raven asked.
"I think so," Cyborg said, "His systems are returning."
"Biohazard was suffering immense pain," Starfire said, "I was frightened for a moment."
"His systems are rebooting," Cyborg said. Biohazard fluttered back to consciousness. He sat up.
"What the hell happened?" He asked.
"You had a system short," Cyborg said, "You'll be ok now."
"Starfire, did I hurt you?" He asked.
"No, you did not," she said.
"I'm sorry," he said, "It's just... I've never felt such incredible pain."
"You gonna be Ok?" Beast Boy asked.
"Think so," I said.
"I shall keep him company," Starfire said, "In case something else should occur." Biohazard nodded. Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy left, very uneasy. Starfire helped Biohazard up.
"Thanks for this," he said.
"I am curious," she said, "What caused this?"
"What caused the system short?" he asked. She nodded. "I don't know. That shock I suffered might have had something to do with it. There was something about it that was different though. I could hear a continuous screeching sound."
"Biohazard," Starfire said, "I am worried about you." He smiled.
"Hey, don't," he said, "It's over now." Starfire took his hand. He smiled and immediately all of his worries were gone.
A few hours later, it became clear that something was happening to Biohazard. He was looking through some files at the kitchen counter. Raven was drinking tea again.
"What's that?" She asked.
"I'm looking to see if there was another reported case of the same thing that happened to me," I explained, "There was a strange noise I heard when I had the system short. I'm starting to think it wasn't a system short." He flipped through another file and then suddenly he dropped it and fell to the ground. Raven got up out of the chair and knelt down by him. "Oh no," she said. There was a sudden electric sound and he twitched. Cyborg walked in.
"Hey Raven. What's..." he drifted off when he saw Biohazard on the ground. He ran over and also knelt down.
"What's happening to him?" she asked anxiously.
"I have no idea," he said, "His systems are malfunctioning in a way I've never seen." Biohazard sprang awake and sat up.
"Are you ok?" Raven asked.
"I don't know," he said, "I think something happened when that thing shocked me at the electronics store."
"Your systems have been damaged," Cyborg said, "I don't know what's going on. Your systems are extremely advanced. I can't tell what it is." Biohazard touched his head gently.
"What is it?" Raven asked.
"Voices," he said, "Hundreds of them. Overlapping so extensively that I can't make them out." There was a long pause. "It's our voices." And then he suddenly let out a bizarre mechanical screech and a strange black liquid dribbled from his mouth. He stopped and looked at both Cyborg and Raven once, as if he didn't remember where he was.
"You alright?" Cyborg asked. And then he seized Cyborg by the throat. His grip was so incredible the metal casing of Cyborg's neck was crushed underneath.
"Suriv a," he mumbled. Then he threw Cyborg into the wall and kicked Raven. She was knocked unconscious immediately. "Citehtap," he said and took a gun from his jacket. Suddenly, he was hit in the back by something sharp. He pulled it out and turned around. Robin.
"What are you?" Robin growled.
"Uoy gnillet yb gnihton tcelloc dlouw I," He said. Starfire was behind him.
"I do not understand what he is saying," she said.
"It's another language or something," Robin said, "Could be a computer code." Biohazard fired the gun at Robin, but he threw his cape in front and the bullet bounced off.
"Detcepsus tsrif I naht revelc erom era uoy," Biohazard said. Beast Boy was behind him, hoping to catch a surprise attack. Biohazard turned and fired. Beast Boy ducked down behind a table.
"Biohazard, what has happened to you?" Starfire asked, sincerely hoping for an answer.
"Regnorts hcum emoceb ev'I," he said. He placed his gun back into his jacket. "Od ot krow evah I," he said, and then bolted for the window. Robin tried to throw a tracker on him but before he could Biohazard had leapt through the glass and was running across the surface of the water.
"That wasn't a computer code," Cyborg said. He slowly got to his feet. "Listen to this." He played a sound recording.
"A virus," a strange voice said. Cyborg fast forwarded a bit. "I would collect nothing by telling you," the same voice said. Cyborg fast forwarded again. "I've become much stronger," there was a pause, "I have work to do."
"He's talking in reverse," Cyborg said.
"That voice," Robin said.
"It was the thing from the electronic store," Beast Boy said.
"When Biohazard got that shock, he contracted a virus," Cyborg explained, "An assimilation virus. When Biohazard had that headache it was because something was hacking his CPU."
"What do you think he meant when he said he had work to do?" Robin asked.
"I think it's..." Cyborg began, but stopped when the lights flickered.
"Biohazard is trying to take over the central power system," Robin said. The lights went out.
"I don't think that's what he's trying to do," Cyborg said. Suddenly something broke out from the walls and started attacking the Titans.
"What are these things?" Beast Boy cried.
"Wires," Cyborg said, "He's doing what the electric thing was doing."
"We have to stop him," Robin said. Raven was struggling to consciousness. Beast Boy craned his head around to her.
"You guys go, I'll catch up," he said, kneeling down by Raven. Robin nodded and they made a bolt for the window. The wires suddenly lashed forward and wove themselves into a steel net, blocking the Titans escape. Cyborg held up his sonic cannon.
"I got it," he said. He fired and the wires were melted away. The titans quickly ran through the netting and then through the window.
Raven fluttered back to consciousness. She sat up.
"What the hell just happened?" She asked, not sure that anyone was there.
"I don't know," Beast Boy said, "I don't get any of that tech stuff. I think they said something about a virus and he was talking backwards or something."
"A virus?" Raven said, "Where are the others?"
"They went to go stop Biohazard," Beast Boy said.
"From what?"
"Uh..." Beast boy droned for a moment. A wire whipped down and attacked them. Beast Boy let out a little scream and ducked behind Raven.
"Azarath metrion ZINTHOS!" She cried, crossing her arms and waving them to the sides. The wire was torn into pieces instantly.
"Right," Beast Boy said, moving from behind Raven.
The other titans had already reached Biohazard. He had both fists jammed into 2 computers on either side of him. He had taken control of every piece of electronic equipment in New York.
"etal oot elttil a er'uoy," He said. Cyborg activated his cannon.
"Biohazard, fight it," Cyborg whispered to himself.
"EID!" Biohazard cried, and several pieces of equipment began to attack. A swarm of wires wrapped themselves around Cyborg. He tried to struggle free, but more wires engulfed him.
"Biohazard! Let him go!" A voice said. Raven and Beast Boy had arrived. "Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!" The wires exploded.
"Dlihc, evom roop," Biohazard growled. He nudged his head at her and a sharp wire whipped down to strike her. Cyborg bolted in the way and grabbed the wire. He tore it off the wall and tied it in a knot.
"We have to destroy the source," Robin said.
"NO!" Starfire said, "He may be our enemy now but he is still our friend inside!"
"Starfire..." Robin began. Suddenly another sharp wire shot down and sliced through Robin. The wire erupted through his stomach. The wire whipped forward and slammed him against the wall twice and finally threw him off into a metal plate. Robin was down.
"Evom tengelletninu," he said. Cyborg raised his cannon.
"Sorry Biohazard," he said.
"Wait," Starfire said softly. She took something from her pocket. The super-deformed Godzilla Biohazard had given her earlier. The creature saw it and suddenly began to roar and howl like a hurt animal. He writhed and fell to his knees, falling free of the computers. And then he began to vomit up a strange black substance. The material began to crawl away. It was alive. Biohazard collapsed to the ground as the living fluid tried to escape. Cyborg turned his cannon it and fired, eradicating the mysterious liquid. Biohazard tried to stand, but was unable. Starfire ran to his aid.
"Thank you," he said.
"I understand after such an experience it must be difficult to stand," She said.
"No," he said, "For that. For not giving up on me." Cyborg ran over and got on his other side, slinging Biohazard's arm over his shoulder and helping him up. "Is Robin ok?" he asked. Robin was already standing again. Raven had healed him.
"I'll be fine," he said. Biohazard nodded.
At the tower, I had become temporarily weak, so I wouldn't be going anywhere for a while. The others didn't mind. I think they were all just relieved that I was going to be Ok.
"I am curious," Starfire said, "What is it like to have an assimilating virus?"
"Everything's dark. You can't feel the movements or anything, but you can hear everything," I explained, "Like a prison." Raven gave me a soda. "Thanks. Cyborg, you killed the virus, right?"
"Yeah," he said.
"Good riddance," Raven said.
"Good work guys," I said, "Now go, don't worry about me."
Inside the power plant, a few repairmen were working on the computers and fixing the wires inside the walls. Behind them, though, a single viral probe crawled out from the hole in the ground. It opened its mouth-hatch and another one crawled out. The two probes did the same thing again. And again. And again. And again...