Chapter 10: The Threat
Bob
He tried not to stare at the chrono on the wall, but there was nothing else to do. He'd sat on the bench for nearly a microsecond, then casually walked the hallway, staring at the pictures of previous graduations. He stopped for a long nano at his own, eyes scanning over the faces of all those who made it with him. He smiled at Cardon, his roommate, and Cache, his final project partner. They were good friends, supportive in every aspect – and tolerant of his wild idea to change the Collective's views on viral deletion.
He frowned. Those ideas were his motivation for doing so well, to do something greater than just protecting one system, but all systems. They were his springboard into a new movement at the Academy, one that would hopefully reduce the violence against Guardians and citizens. But as he looked at the faces of those mentors who helped his graduating class, one face was noticeably absent.
Dixon was the first casualty of his ambitious ideas. Dot was, in a way, the second. And now, he was the third. Depending on how Turbo saw it…
He glanced at the time again, wondering what could keep the Prime Guardian tied up for so long. It wasn't like him to be late for an appointment. Honestly, the waiting was making it worse. He'd thought he was nervous when his request for a meeting with Turbo was approved – instantaneously, which was odd in itself – but the longer he had to figure out what he wanted to say, the more he stumbled in his head.
What if Turbo said no?
What if Turbo said yes?
A rapid cadence echoed down the hall, and he realized his fingers were taping in an annoying rhythm. He stopped and took a breath. He needed to relax, or he was going to go in there and just lay all the cards down on the table, spam the consequences. A small part of him liked the idea. He could unload the burden of every secret he'd been carrying, and finally breathe.
But that thrill of freedom quickly evaporated, an option he could never go through with. Not at the risk of losing her. Not after he finally… His eyes closed as he remembered the night before. He expected to feel guilt for falling, and instead, felt peace in the memories. Because in those memories, she was safe. She was happy. She loved him and he loved her back and the rest of the system was silent and unheeded. Just picturing her there – sleeping next to him, of her own accord and not under the influence of anything but a diary – eased the anxiety in his mind. He felt at peace, knowing whatever happened, she would be there when he got back.
"Bob?"
His eyes opened and he was back outside the Prime Guardian's office. Turbo was staring at him from the open doorway, lips quirked in a sideways smile. "Welcome back to the SuperComputer," he joked.
Bob smiled and stood up. "Just catching a catnap while I waited." He accepted Turbo's handshake.
"Yeah, sorry about that. Things are heating up around the Net. I was going to call you in, but you beat me to the punch." He waved Bob into the office and closed the door.
"You were going to contact me?" he asked in confusion. "What for…?" His words trailed off as he realized they weren't alone.
"Bob, I want to introduce you to Ana, Guardian 827."
She turned in her chair and stood up, smiling gently at Bob. She was tall, almost the same height as him, with short black hair pulled back into a simple ponytail. Her blue eyes were set perfectly in the soft features of her face, her demeanor calm and friendly. But something in the intensity of her gaze made it clear she was not one to be taken lightly.
She held out her hand. "Hi, Bob. It's such an honor to finally meet you. I've been looking forward to this ever since Turbo brought me in."
He shook her hand, noting the strength in her grip. "Hello." He looked over at Turbo, and back at her. "Brought you into what?"
Turbo leaned back against his desk. "Mainframe's reformatting project."
Bob's eyes widened. "I thought you were keeping that classified." He looked at Ana. "No offense."
"It is still classified and will remain so until the project succeeds or fails. But, we have a problem." He turned and grabbed a file off his desk. "There are rumors of a SuperVirus gaining momentum in the dark parts of the Net," he handed Bob the file. "We haven't been able to locate a live trace; if the virus is smart enough, it may be jumping from place to place and setting up sleeper cells. But, we have reason to believe it is a true virus, and a powerful one."
Bob scanned the notes, frowning at the inconsistent reports and not liking the huge amounts of dying or dead strains located across the Net, leaving a trail that went nowhere.
"What are you thinking?" Ana asked.
He glanced up at her. "If this is real, it's like something shedding its skin. Trying out different strains and mutating before it even has a chance to do anything." He frowned at Turbo. "I've never heard of anything like that."
"No one has. The SuperViruses we have on file all started out low level, and powered up over time or from an unplanned event."
"Like Kilobyte, and Gigabyte," Ana offered. "Take away the power source and it reverts back to its downgraded version."
"Exactly," Turbo said. "So, if this one is mutating under its own power-"
"How do we take away its power and keep it from upgrading?" Bob answered.
"And that's why we need the reformatting program."
The pieces fell together. "If this is a new kind of Virus using its own power to upgrade, remove the strain to stop it in its tracks." Bob handed back the folder with a sigh. "It's a good idea, in theory."
"We need to make this theory a reality, or we might have a bloody war on our hands," Turbo countered.
"Well, I wish I could bring you better news about the program," Bob said as he crossed his arms. "But I haven't been able to get it to work yet. The data keeps falling out because the viral strains aren't steady. I need to find the exact frequency of the reformat upload that matches the frequency of the strain."
"Have you had any success?" Ana asked.
"Only with lab samples, contained and dying. The strains need to be almost frozen in their energy to allow the program to replicate the data without the strain, then destroy the strain and leave the clean data intact. Because the virals energy levels are constantly fluctuating between infections, I haven't been able to pin down a frequency long enough to apply it. And if the frequencies don't match, the viral strain automatically recognizes the threat, attacks it, and destroys the program."
Ana turned to Turbo with a smile. "That's better news than we expected."
Bob frowned. "How is that good news again?"
Turbo chuckled. "Ana specializes in data analysis. Her graduation project focused on the theory of reformatting data down at the nano level. This could increase resistance of malware viruses in data sprites, or-"
"Reformat viral strains," Bob said with appreciation. Ana smiled at the praise, her lilac cheeks turning the slightest pink.
"It's just a theory, and most of it came out of your work. A lot of things just needed to be updated to the current, uh, times…" she trailed off as she realized how that sounded.
Bob laughed. "That's okay, it's not like I'm the oldest sprite in the room."
"Getting back on topic," the Prime Guardian cleared his throat, "considering the current threat and the urgency to have every means to fight it, I'm assigning Ana to assist you with getting the project online. Since this is still classified, officially she's going as a mentee before being assigned a permanent system. I expect her to report immediately so you both can get to work."
It caught Bob by surprise, and it must have shown. "Something wrong, Bob?" the Prime Guardian asked.
"No," Bob shook his head, "that was just… sudden."
"We have no time to waste. Unofficial sightings are coming in every second, and citizens are starting to get nervous." His phone rang and he pardoned himself to answer it.
"I hope you're okay with this." Ana tucked a bang behind her ear. "I wasn't trying to jump your project or anything, I promise. I'm just going to try to figure out the data issues. I'm not trying to take it away."
Bob shook his head. "I wasn't even worried about that. Like I said, it was just a surprise."
"Yeah, Turbo was surprised when you wanted to meet him. It was perfect timing." Her head tilted to the side. "Is everything okay in Mainframe?"
Bob kept his face neutral. "Yeah, just two viruses and your average stream of games. Nothing special."
"What about that power surge with Gigabyte? Did you ever figure out what that was?"
"Not yet," he said slowly.
She seemed to pick up his hesitation and put up her hands. "I'm not trying to pry. Turbo said there was a possible Web breach, but since there's been no activity since, we thought it was a false alarm. He's just been filling me in on everything going on."
Calm down, dipswitch. She's on your side. Bob relaxed. "No, that's good. You need to be informed. Sorry, I'm just used to working alone."
She nodded. "I get it. I'm a loner, myself. Data analysis isn't exactly glamorous in this line of work." She ran her fingers through her ponytail. "I know you don't know me yet, but I promise, you can trust me. We'll make this project work."
As he watched her, he found himself hoping she was right. If they got the project online, not only could they have a chance at stopping a possible SuperVirus, but Bob might be able to request the termination of his format with little hassle. It just meant waiting longer to get what he wanted.
Then again, there was the increased risk of getting caught. Ana said he could trust her, but he didn't know that yet. Especially not with something as serious as Dot.
He swallowed as he thought of her. She was waiting for him to come back with news about the Collective's decision. He had no idea how she'd react to coming back with another Guardian. But maybe, just maybe, he could turn over Mainframe to Ana when everything was said and done. He'd have to see how she performed under pressure, but already he had a good feeling about her. There was a vibe about her, an energy she kept tightly under control. He suspected she was a force to be reckoned with in the heat of the moment.
Turbo hung up the phone. "I need to meet with the Council to discuss reconnaissance in the dark Net, to see if we can get a confirmed visual on this threat. Are you good to go?"
Ana nodded and Bob said, "I have no objections."
Turbo nodded then paused. "I almost forgot. What was it you wanted to see me about?"
Bob glanced at Ana then shook his head. "It was nothing important. Just career options, after the project is complete."
Turbo smiled. "Is this about that promotion?"
"Promotion?" Ana clapped her hands in excitement. "I didn't hear about that!"
Bob ducked his head under the sudden attention. "In a way, yes. But the project needs to come first, especially if this thing out there is real."
"Bob, if you get the project up and running, you get the pick of whatever assignment you want next." He pointed at Ana. "And you get runner up."
"Deal!" She turned to Bob. "When do we leave?"
Bob shrugged. "Whenever you're ready."
"I'll grab my bag and meet you at the portal room. Sir." She gave him a sharp salute and quickly departed with the Prime Guardian's permission.
"Is everything ok, Bob?"
He looked at Turbo in surprise. The older sprite didn't miss a thing. "Yeah. This wasn't how I planned the discussion going."
"I know, and I'm sorry to drop it on you. But there's no one else I trust more to give us a leg up on this Virus. And we need to move quickly, because I'm afraid this thing might spread like wildfire when it catches."
"We won't let you down." He understood, duty first. It was as good of an outcome as he was going to get. Now he just had to get Dot on board…