Ch.5: Ghosts of Memory
"It's about time" continued the computer, not noticing the stunned looks on the Cybersquaud's faces " this place hasn't been dusted in ages! Look at me! I got cobwebs and dust bunnies up to my circuits! Would it kill you people to clean up once in a while? Now hurry up and get scrubbing! I'm dying to see my beautiful sheen again,"
"Uh, actually Mr. Computer" said Jackie, nervously speaking up for the Cybersquad " Even though I agree with you that this place is dirty, we didn't come to clean you,"
"Then why are you here?" asked the computer, his man image twisting on the screen " only the founders of the Cybrary are allowed in this room,"
"You mean Ms. Fileshare?" asked Inez.
"Who?" said the computer " No, I mean the ones who created me to hold the history of Cyberspace B.M, before Motherboard,"
"But I thought Motherboard has always existed," said Shari.
"Hmph!" said the computer " That's what they want you to believe. In truth, Motherboard was created to hide the sins of the past. To try and make amends for a horrible crime,"
"What crime was that?" asked Digit.
"Not telling!" said the computer "Only the founders are allowed to know that. Now, if you're not going to clean me, leave me be. There's nothing I can help you with,"
"Actually there is" said Slider " Inez, bring up the picture on your Squackpad. We've been looking for info about a creature we think framed our friend Matt, but haven't found anything in the books. Can you tell us about him?"
Inez brought up Matt's description on her Squackpad and showed the picture to the computer, whose cyber eyes peered closely.
The eyes then widened once they had gotten a good look, and the man's image on screen seemed to back away in fear.
"Sorry, can't help you," said the computer.
"Why not?" said Jackie " It's not like he's part of this horrible crime you're avoiding to tell us,"
"Well he is" said the computer, glaring at Jackie " He's a lost. They used to live on that cybersite surrounded by blue crystals, but the horrible crime happened, and now they look like that,"
"Wait a minute" said Inez " When Rich Action Knocks? That's where they used to live?"
"The site wasn't called When Rich Action Knocks way back then" said the computer " It was one of the main cyber storage sites called Jewel Blossom. Their responsibilities were to eat and store deleted or lost data that Cyberspace deemed unnecessary,"
"then when did it become a place for aristocrats?" asked Digit.
"I've already let to much slip" said the computer " I can't tell you anymore,"
"Really?" said Shari, suddenly getting an idea " Not even for a cleaning spell? I'm a sorceress in training you know? I can make all your dust problems disappear,"
"You would really do that?" asked the computer, excited.
"Only if you tell us the truth about this horrible crime," said Shari.
"Oh alright" said the computer " It's a rotten deal, but I'll do anything for a good cleaning,"
And with that said, the grumpy computer began his tale.
Back when Cyberspace was just beginning to form, everything seemed to be at harmony with the cybersites. Information poured in throughout the clouds, containing data that fed and grew into what we know today.
However, some of the information also proved to be untrue, and had to be deleted in order to maintain perfect balance. The ones in charge for consuming and storage of deleted data were the citizens of Jewel Blossom, who would later be called the Lost.
Over the centuries, millions of deleted bits soared through Jewel Blossom's cliffs, feeding the hungry souls that lived on its surface. Nothing could possibly ruin their lives, until a new piece of data arrived threatening the whole of Cyberspace.
This new data bit was entitled Evil, and it had a powerful influence on Cyberspace. Lies, murder, assault, violence, these words never existed in Cyberspace before Evil arrived, but now it had taken over in force, threatening the Good.
All of Cyberspace suffered, and people of Jewel Blossom weren't excluded. Taken over by a greedy group of heartless souls, the citizens of Jewel Blossom were forced to dig mines in order to extract their cyberite, making their cruel slave masters rich beyond belief.
Seeking a way to stop all of this chaos, and end the suffering of Cyberspace, the most brilliant minds gathered together with a plan to delete evil from existence. There, they began the primary programming for Motherboard, and the design of the ET Virus, short for Evil Termination.
The virus was completed first, and was given extra strength by a powerful sorceress who was good friends to the people who lived on Jewel Blossom. She too, wished for the suffering to stop.
When the virus was launched, it seemed to be a complete success. Evil vanished from every trace corner of Cyberspace! It's data lost to the winds forever! And that, was exactly the problem.
Since the data was now lost, the slaves on Jewel Blossom who had been starving for data since their first days of hard labor found the Evil data and consumed it.
They were forever transformed into dark, sinister shade-like beasts with a grind for violence and a lust for blood. They turned harshly against their captors, and the sorceress who had helped the scientists create the ET Virus was shocked. She couldn't allow this to go on.
Using up all her magical power, the sorceress cast a spell to seal away the Lost, and erased nearly everyone's minds that this tragedy had even occurred. The two scientists who were left to remember what horror their virus had caused, spent the rest of their lives building for amends.
They launched Motherboard who restored peace and balance to all of Cyberspace, and then the Cybrary to lock away the history of what they had done. For they could never forget the tragedy that came along with winning peace.
"That's so sad," said Inez, after the computer finished telling his tale.
"Yeah" said Jackie, solemnly " who knew something so bad had happened in all of Cyberspace,"
"Wait a minute" said Slider to the computer " you said that all of the Lost were sealed away, but what about the one that Matt saw?"
"Yeah " said Digit " and how come he's the only one who can see it?"
"Those questions I can't answer" said the computer " you'll have to find out on your own. Try looking at the site where the sorceress was born; Cybraya. Now can you hurry it up with the cleaning spell, my circuits are starting to itch."
With a wave of her wand and a whisper of words, Shari made the dust disappear like it had never occurred. The computer breathed a huge sigh of relief and delivered his first cheerful goodbye as the Cybersquad walked out the now open door.
"How are we supposed to find Cybraya?" said Jackie " We don't even know where that is!"
"We probably should have asked" said Inez "but figuring out the mystery of the Lost will just have to wait until we find Matt. If only we had a way to track where Hacker had taken him,"
"Wait a minute" said Digit, his brain suddenly sparking an idea, as he dug into his chest compartment " I can't believe I forgot about this! I grabbed this doohickey from the Wreaker the last time we went to the Northern Frontier. It's a homing device to track the Wreaker if it ever gets lost,"
"And you wait 'till now to tell us!" said Jackie.
"Good work Didge" said Inez, taking the homing device " let's go save Matt!"
With that said the Cybersquad hopped aboard the Cybercoop and activated the device they hoped would lead them to Matt. The time had come for action.
"Hacker, we're coming for you!"