Chapter 21:

"What are you doing?" Ulrich demanded as he saw the name.

"Relax, it's just for show," Jonas answered calmly, "I need to get Xana's attention."

"But –" Ulrich started again, before Jeremy interrupted him.

"Jonas, I just got another message from Aelita," He announced, "I can't read it."

"Can you put it on this screen?" He requested as he turned back to the interface and, a moment later, it appeared. However, instead of the encrypted mess they had grown accustomed to seeing, it seemed to have taken on the form of a massive program.

"What is that?" Aelita asked in shock, but didn't receive an answer as Jonas just lifted his paw to place his palm against the screen again and a moment later they watched as several lines of strange code started transferring themselves into his body. "What are you doing?" She added worriedly.

"It's okay," He informed her kindly while he closed his eyes to focus on the task at hand, "It's just a fail-safe."

"What kind of fail-safe?" Jeremy insisted, but he didn't receive an answer either, as the process was now finished, allowing Jonas to calmly take his hand back and the screen to go blank as it disappeared again.

"Nothing for any of you to be concerned about," He responded calmly, leaving them all to glare at him sourly.

"You certainly say that a lot. You think there's any chance you could just –" Jeremy started to refute before something showed up on his screen and he promptly forgot what he was complaining about, "Guys, a monster just appeared outside the tower," He announced worriedly.

"Well that was fast," The older man stated impressively, as the genius on the other side of the computer went quiet for a moment in realization of which monster it was.

"It's the Scyphozoa."

"What?" Aelita asked the ceiling in concern, before Jonas laid his hand kindly on her shoulder.

"It's okay; it's not here for you."

"But –" She started again, however he didn't let her finish.

"Why don't you stay here and deactivate the tower again." He suggested, before turning to walk back toward the entrance, "We won't be needing it anymore."

"Jonas, what are you going to do?" She demanded of him sternly, causing him to look back at her with a smile as he reached the wall.

"What needs to be done," He said simply before walking through the wall again.

"Wait –" She tried, but Ulrich quickly grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back.

"We'll go with him, you stay here," He ordered leaving her to nod in understanding, before watching as her friends left the tower as well, only to get outside and find the strange jelly-fish of a monster floating about, clearly very agitated again something.

"Hello Xana," Jonas spoke up as he walked toward the creature, causing it to slowly float away as if in fear.

"You sense it, don't you?" He asked the monster calmly, all the while continually approaching without concern, even as it continued to back away, that is until he reached out to grab one of it's tentacles to stop the retreat.

"Where do you think you're going? I've waited 20 years to give you this message and, dammit, you're gonna take it, whether you like it or not," He added in a deadly voice that his friends were certainly not accustomed to hearing him use.

The creature started to admit its normal screeching sounds as it struggled to escape him, but his grip was firm and not about to give out. "Tell your boss to watch for this signal, to beware this man," He stated as his hand started to admit a strange red glow; that seemed to be inadvertently consumed by the creature's data-stealing limb; where it was ultimately transferred to its brain.

"Tell Xana, that if he does this, if he destroys that computer before that future happens – I will give him what he wants most."

"What?" Ulrich asked in shock, unable to figure out what the guy was talking about, but unfortunately his question was answered a moment later when Jonas finished his message.

"He can escape the network, and live as both digital data and real matter," He completed sternly, causing the Scyphozoa to suddenly stop its struggling and give him his full attention.

"A body all your own, Xana," Jonas added quietly as he realized he was now talking directly to the virus itself, and carefully released his captive to take a step back and hold out his arms as if offering himself up for sacrifice, "I'll give you mine."

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