A/N-Rinzler returns from accompanying CLU to find that Spike's color has been changed...by Feral.
'Do you understand what this means?'
Feral gave Rinzler a blank look.
"Um, apparently not," she said out loud. "You're going to have to explain it to me."
Feral learns to hack her disc...
Song list for this chapter: 'Popipo' by Hatsune Miku
'Romance' by Bucktick
'Truth' by Audiomachine
Rinzler heard laughing as he opened the door to the quarters he shared with Feral.
He looked up as he walked in to see Feral sitting cross-legged on the floor and apparently laughing at an excited Spike. The bit was zipping around her in random tangents, repeating 'yes, yes, yes…' over and over as a high-pitched voice sang an unfamiliar User song in a language he didn't understand.
Feral was shaking her head as she talked to the bit.
"No, I think that's enough changing it for now. Do you want to stay this color?"
The bit nestled up against her shoulder and flashed 'yes' again before flying in another circle around her.
Wait…when did Spike become orange? When Rinzler had left earlier on orders to accompany CLU the bit's color had been green; the same color as it was when Feral had been adopted by the bit.
Feral looked up at Rinzler from the floor and gave him a smile and a small wave.
Rinzler came closer and tilted his head as he gave Spike a considering look. "Orange?" he asked, his growl down to an almost inaudible rumble as he crouched on his heels next to her.
She smiled and cradled the bit in her hands when Spike settled for a moment.
"Yep. He kept rubbing up against the circuits on my suit, so I asked if he wanted me to try to change his color to match us."
Spike seems to like it, although he was having fun going back and forth between colors for a while."
Curious, but cautious, Rinzler signed to her. 'How?'
'Not really certain,' she signed back. 'I just got my disc, and asked the code to show me what section controlled circuit color. Once I knew what it felt like, I asked Spike's code where the control for his color was and suggested that it change to match.'
It was like…a strange conversation. I could feel it in my mind. It felt like I could have just told his code to change. I didn't want him to feel like he was being forced into something, though.'
'You hacked into a bit's code? They don't really have enough for it to be properly called coding, and you hacked it?' The circuits that ran the length of Rinzler's first two fingers flashed as he signed to her. 'Do you understand what this means?'
Feral gave Rinzler a blank look.
"Um, apparently not," she said out loud. "You're going to have to explain it to me."
Rinzler rose from his crouch and began pacing around the room, unaccustomedly agitated. The normally collected security program finally stopped pacing and turned to face Feral again.
'You hacked your disc, copied the coding for circuitry color, hacked a bit's code, and then transferred your coding into the bit's as if you were loading an upgrade into Spike,' he signed to her.
If you can do that to yourself and a bit, you might be able to hack other programs. You could give them upgrade codes; possibly even use some of their coding to give yourself an upgrade.'
She looked at him, confusion evident on her face as she began signing her reply.
'Okay, I understand the part about hacking other programs and giving them upgrades, but I have no idea what you mean when you talk about giving me an upgrade.'
Feral leaned back, her weight propped up on arms that she had angled behind her as she looked up at the tall, black-clad program that had once more begun pacing restlessly in front of her.
"Why do I need an upgrade?" she questioned, tilting her head to the side in unconscious imitation of him as she did so.
Rinzler stopped pacing once more and stood before her, crossing his arms over his chest.
"CLU's not going to wait much longer," he rumbled, "before he decides to put you into the games as the final combatant."
You are not as strong or as fast as most programs—your User body isn't coded for it. If you go up against a program that has fought their way to the top of the Game grid…" Rinzler's voice trailed off at that point, unwilling to finish the thought.
Feral sat up attentively, her body straight and tight with tension, the look on her face a serious one.
"If I go up against someone who has fought to the final level of the Games…what happens?" she asked.
Rinzler looked away, silent.
The feeling that she knew what he didn't want to say grew stronger in Feral. She shifted uneasily on the floor where she sat, giving in to the need to move after only a few moments more. She stood and walked a few steps away; not wanting to leave, yet unwilling to face him as she spoke again. She crossed her arms over her chest, her hands gripping her own upper arms tightly—as if she was afraid that she would have pieces of her body fly away or disappear if she didn't hold on to them.
"If someone was to make it to the final round…if they faced someone with your skills and my speed and strength—would that program win?" Her voice was tense as she asked the question.
"No," Rinzler answered, quietly. "It is very unlikely that they would be able to beat someone with that skill level for Games or combat."
"And without that skill level?" The question was asked in a flat, emotionless voice that the whitened knuckles of her hands gave lie to as she stood there, her gaze focused on the floor.
"I wouldn't make it, would I?" Feral said, already knowing the forthcoming answer and tired of pretending that she wasn't talking about herself.
Rinzler hung his head, the sharp point of his helmet coming close to his chest as he did so. He did not want to tell her the answer—had wanted there to be no need to ever say this—however, Feral deserved the truth.
"No," he said, lifting his head as he looked at her. His voice was gruff, the underlying distortion that made up his growl growing more audible by the moment. "No, without more—better—combat skills you would not survive."
But with a combat upgrade—"
"How am I supposed to do that?" she interrupted, her head snapping up to look at him, frustration evident on her face. "What do I do; just go up to one of the BlackGuards and say, 'hey, give me your disc. I'll try to hack your code and apply it to mine…it probably won't cause you to derezz but no guarantees on that…."
Would it be enough, even if it worked?" Feral shook her head in denial at the thought of it.
There was no way for her to get a disc from a combat-coded program without the program realizing that she was trying to hack them, at which point they would tell CLU. If she was good enough to defeat them, and maybe—just maybe—erase the memory of being hacked from their disc, then what was the point of trying to get their code?
To get coding from a program that could defeat her in combat would mean she would have to derezz them, and she didn't want to do that. Besides, any program that good would be missed—even if she could bring herself to derezz them.
"There's no way to even try it," she told Rinzler, her voice heavy. "I can't get the code to even find out if it would work. Honestly, where would I even find a program that would let me try to hack their disc at all?"
Rinzler's blank, helmeted face came up to meet her gaze.
"I would," he told her, his voice low but steady.
Feral blinked in surprise. There was no way that she could have just heard Rinzler say that.
Rinzler was the most secretive, private person—human or program—that she had ever met. She had known him for over five years—almost six years—and still had no idea what his face looked like under his helmet. And she lived with him for crying out loud. Rinzler wouldn't even derezz his helmet all the way to intake energy when she had her back turned.
Having your disc hacked—even if you allowed it, even if you wanted someone to hack it—was one of the most intimate things that could be done on the Grid; as intimate as interfacing with another program. In some ways it could be considered even more intimate, because it opened up access to memories, skills, knowledge, even your physical being—everything that made you…you. There was no way to hide or conceal something at that point if the person handling your code wanted to see it.
Uh-uh; no way that Rinzler had just said that. Nope. She was just hearing things.
"I would let you. You would need to get my combat coding anyhow, at some point. You might as well try to hack my code first."
There's less chance of CLU finding out that you can hack a disc if you are only hacking mine." Rinzler shrugged as he added, "And if you can't, well, at least you will know."
Feral stood there, still blinking at him in shock. She came back to attention, ruefully realizing with a bit of embarrassment that her mouth was hanging open. She snapped it shut quickly, hoping that Rinzler hadn't noticed her standing there doing an impression of a landed fish. Well, that was probably too much to hope for. He was the best security program on the Grid. Noticing small things was one of the reasons he was the best.
"Are you alright?" came the question.
"What? Yeah, yeah, I'm alright. Why?" she asked.
"Your mouth was hanging open."
Yep. Definitely too much to hope for. For some reason, knowing that Rinzler had noticed make her want to squirm inside.
"You need to at least try to, Feral…"
'Do you realize how big of a risk this is? What if I damage your coding, or delete part of it by accident?!'
'Life is full of risks that way…'
'That's not funny, Rinzler. If I do the wrong thing—you could derezz!'
'I didn't say it to be funny.'
"You didn't say it at all, you signed it."
Rinzler's helmet was facing her as he stared silently at her, not bothering to reply to Feral's remark.
"Creator of all…please, don't let this be a bad idea…"
"Does it really make a difference if it is? You will still need to do this."
Several nanocycles of heated discussion and arguing found them finally agreeing that Feral would try to access the combat coding on Rinzler's disc, and that she would not try to upgrade herself until she had been able to copy it on his disc without causing him to have any glitches.
Feral sat cross-legged on the dark gray floor in the middle of the room.
Rinzler crouched on one knee near her. Reaching back over his shoulder, he released his discs from his disc dock and handed them over to Feral. She held them gingerly in her hands for a moment as she looked across the small space between them, an unspoken question in her eyes. Rinzler looked at her and nodded.
'Do it,' he signed.
Taking a deep breath, she blew it out and looked down at the discs in her hands. Rinzler had left them joined, and Feral could see the circuit colors—steadily glowing rings of pale blue and the same deep red-orange as the circuits on Rinzler's and her gridsuits—ringing the discs. Feral closed her eyes and let her mind sink; feeling as if she was letting herself slip into the Grid like a pool of water.
It was a strange feeling, as if she was listening to the far-off murmur of voices. The loudest of the voices seemed to be growling softly to itself. As she listened, she began to understand that it was coming from the twinned lights that were resting in her hands. The lights seemed to twine around each other like twisted ribbons.
This was Rinzler's code.
"Hello," she thought to it. "It's me."
The lights in her hands seemed to grow brighter as if in recognition and welcome.
"I have a favor to ask," she thought/whispered to the lights. "I would like to see parts of your coding. Will you show it to me?"
The ribbons of light seemed to shimmer and pulse when Feral asked the question. There was a small growling sound that made her think of what a bobcat would sound like if it had swallowed a mouthful of pebbles or gravel; and another sound—deep, slightly gruff, yet somehow as smooth and mellow as from a far-off bell. Both sounds were coming from the lights in her hands. It sounded as though the lights were discussing her request between the two of them.
A nanocycle later, the lights brightened and the sensation of something tugging at Feral—trying to bring her closer—was felt. The growl had softened, and the other sound—the bell, as she identified it in her mind—seemed somehow eager, as though it had only been waiting for her to ask.
The lights broke apart in a shower of glowing sparks, beginning to take on the shapes and form into pictures. It seemed as if every area of Rinzler's code was trying to appear for her to view at once. She realized that some of what was forming must be memory files, as the last few moments between Rinzler and her played backwards.
Feral shook her head—could she shake her head here? Wherever here was, she wondered—and spoke to the files.
"No, wait," she told the lights. "I need to see only the coding for combat and tactics. Don't show me anything but that…"
The light of the sparks dimmed for a moment, and Feral felt an odd feeling—a mingling of disappointment and relief—coming from the lights in front of her. A moment later, the lights brightened again as the sparks began to take on the shape of a miniature Rinzler. The small figure began to move, demonstrating various methods of attack and defense. Some of them Feral recognized from her training, some from watching Rinzler in the Games, and others were completely unfamiliar to her.
Watching the small figure of her partner battling invisible foes before her, Feral asked the lights a question.
"Can you make a copy of this coding section?" she asked, "The combat coding?"
The lights dimmed slightly then brightened. There was a sense of agreement coming from the light, and before she could inquire further, more sparks of light floated up to form another small figure. This one had no circuit lines on it to identify it as a specific program…as if there was no personality or consciousness in the program that it represented.
Feral quickly understood that instead of showing her that it was possible to copy the combat coding, Rinzler's base code had made a copy of the codes. Without the rest of Rinzler's coding added to it, it was no more than a skill set; it could never be used as a copy of his complete coding…the essence of what was Rinzler.
"Thank you for making the copy," she said, gratefully. "I am not going to try to add it to my code as an upgrade yet…there is something I want to try to do, first. I will add the upgrade soon, though. I promise."
The lights pulsed brighter, the sounds of growls and far-away bells somehow sounding pleased with her reply.
Feral reluctantly pulled back from the lights, away from the sense of the Grid that she felt, her mind and awareness rising like a bubble to the surface. The next moment, she drew a shallow breath and opened her eyes to find Rinzler watching her.
Rinzler had watched as Feral let out the deep breath she had just taken, and closed her eyes. She had taken his discs when he offered them to her, and now had her head tilted towards where they now rested in the hands she held before herself.
It had been an uncomfortable feeling, putting his discs into Feral's hands. In a very real way, by doing so Rinzler had just put his life into her hands. The last person to have full access to his discs had been CLU. His mind flinched away from the thought of the results of that occurrence.
He trusted Feral not to try to reprogram him; however, he could only hope that being his friend would cause her to hold back—to not pry into his personal files.
Rinzler had barely processed the thought when he felt something; a light…touch…for lack of a better description, and an unheard voice greeting him. An odd sense of standing next to something warm and comforting while at the same time having the potential to be incredibly dangerous and overwhelming, flowed over him. It was something he had not encountered before, and yet a sense of familiarity identified it somehow as being Feral.
It was an odd experience. Rinzler could clearly see Feral—her legs crossed before her—sitting in front of him. And at the same time, he could feel her. It felt as though he was carrying on an unseen conversation with no words. The sensation of almost being in two places simultaneously was both comfortable and disconcerting.
He also had the feeling of being glad to see her, happy that she was able to interact with him on this much deeper level. The feeling swept over him and out in a wave towards Feral.
Rinzler could sense her wanting to see his coding, of her asking if he would show it to her. This caused the sensation of conflict of rise within him, as his oldest, most basic programming wanted to offer up everything that he was to her…a User; and yet, he didn't want Feral to see what he had become with CLU's programming—the changes between the program he once had been, and the program he now was. The knowledge that she had to see his code for what they were attempting to work, and the fact that Feral had not pushed or tried to force his code to show, but instead was waiting for Rinzler to decide if he would show it to her made his decision.
He could feel his coding opening up, beginning to reveal itself to her. The various files in his coding eagerly offered themselves up to her, wanting to be seen and recognized. Before the realization that he was opening and assembling his memory files had time to make Rinzler regret doing so, her felt something unexpected.
Users were always curious, according to Flynn. Rinzler had wondered at times if that was accurate, or if it was only accurate when applied to Flynn.
Then Feral had entered the system, and she had proven to be just as curious as Flynn...even more so, at times.
When his files all began opening before her and Rinzler felt his memories begin to replay, he expected that Feral would take the opportunity to learn more about him. She had often asked, but he would not answer most of her questions that were regarding him.
However, when his memories began to replay, instead of feeling her watching them, a sense of a gently restraining hand stopped him. While there was still the feeling that she was curious, Feral was now requesting that all of his files other that those relating to combat and tactics coding remain closed and hidden.
Rinzler felt an overwhelming sense of relief mingled with some disappointment at the new request. The relief he understood. Rinzler did not want her to see all of his coding, to open up his past in that fashion. And yet, on some level, he must have wanted her to know. It confused him; and he did his best to push both feelings aside and concentrate on opening and showing Feral his combat coding. A few moments later, the question of whether or not he could make a copy of his coding came to him.
Instead of merely answering, he quickly cut/copied the file. It now only needed to be transferred to another program to upgrade their combat functions.
He somehow knew that she was grateful for his help, and for copying his coding. Rinzler could also feel that she did not want to use it as an upgrade, yet.
Rinzler could feel her pulling away from him somehow, as though she was leaving. Less than a picocycle later his code closed down access and availability. He watched as in front of him, Feral raised her head and opened her eyes.
"Run a systems check," she told him. "Scan for any glitches or new errors."
Rinzler nodded slowly, scanning his code as he did so. "There are no errors or glitches," he said. "Are you going to upgrade your code now?"
Her eyes seemed to search his face, scanning the blank visor of his helmet as if this time she would be able to see his eyes through it.
"Can this work both ways?" Feral asked. "Can I transfer portions of my code to you as well?"
Rinzler drew back just a little in surprise. "I believe so," he told her. "There should be no compatibility issues. Why would you want to do so?"
"There's something I want to do before upgrading," Feral said. "I don't want it to cause problems if it doesn't work. If we have exchanged code—whether it is your code to mine, or my code to yours—I don't want to risk you being injured or damaged if something goes wrong."
"Feral," Rinzler said suspiciously, "what are you planning?"
A/N-Keep an eye out, the next chapter will be up much sooner than the last one. And remember, you can type a comment or review in the little box at the bottom of the page.
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