Angel: Well, this is THE 3rd chapter of Technology vs. Magic! Woo! 2 more OC's will join the fray in this chapter. The story will pick up also in this chapter and give a bit more information on the plot at hand. Don't even worry about One Weird Band of Heroes; I am just stuck on the battle scenes of it right now.
Poll Results so far: 11 yesses, 2 No's. (Poll Expires on January 27… so hurry up…) I am still surprised at how many consider EWA series, "Good". :( Do note if I do reach 15 votes… I will be updating VERY slowly for that one. I am still very confident however that I won't get 15 votes by the due date.
College is beginning to be a bit more stressful in the winter term, so expect updates to be fewer. I am not sure when I'll update this again, perhaps somewhere at the end of January if I had to gather a guess. Otherwise, don't think too much on it. If you're wondering how the hell I update almost frequently while having College work, I have this to say, "I spend my free time writing most of the time…" Yep, I don't really play games or hang out with friends until weekends.
Justine: In the meantime, we hope you enjoy! :D
Angel: And why are you still here?
Justine: Because you like me and I am better than Emma. :3 Read on folks!
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Nikki couldn't watch and immediately shut off the TV. She just… didn't want to see it happen. Her body tingled as she wrapped her arms around her knees. Rena looked at her strangely, wondering why the hell she would turn off the TV for. He was just about to place in the darn thing for heaven's sake.
"The hell did you do that for?!" Rena asked, a little angry with her. Now she just missed the moment of it happening. The very moment of the advancement of Technology… and she just had to turn it off. The pink head bit her nails, still shivering. She eyed the Computer on the coffee table… It was still idle.
"I just… have a weird feeling… and I didn't want to see it… Something is telling me that… bad things will happen…" Nikki explained, nervously petting her pet dragon, Minnie. Rena looked at the TV, then at the idle computer, then back at her. She knew exactly what kind of bad she was talking about.
"So… let me get this straight, you think with the insertion of that Computer Chip… everything will go… haywire?" Rena asked. Nikki slowly nodded. The pink haired woman stared back at the Computer. The screen buzzed out a bit, but then turned back to normal. Electronic Appliances in her house turned on by themselves, but then shut off a few seconds later.
The girls backed away from anything electronic… but that's impossible, as almost everything in this house was run by electronic devices. So escaping it… would be a very hard task. Nikki placed a hand over her chest, fearing for the worst. The crazy old man was correct… Technology was going to fight back and destroy them all… it was the beginning of the end…
"This can't be good! Most things in the Spiral has a computer chip in it! Everything will be affected!" Nikki quickly grabbed her wand from her bag. It wasn't really a wand; it is merely a trident made out of vines and branches. Rena had the same idea and brought out her wand. Things were about to go down. The Technology Apocalypse… starts now…
The lights flickered on and off, screams were heard outside. She turned her head slightly to look outside the window. Her air car's headlights went on and off, the alarm blaring throughout the area. She also sees multiple people running around outside, trying to get away from something. She didn't have a lot of time to look as Rena tapped her on the shoulder.
"Nikki! The Computer!" The pink haired woman looked at the computer. The screen was turning green, then orange, and then blood red. It jumped in place a few times, like it was spazzing out. The girls knew they had to make a run for it. They went to the front door and tried to open it. It wouldn't budge an inch.
"Escape is futile… humans… surrender now…" A mean demonic computer voice spoke out to them. Rena didn't want to surrender and decided to take action. She blasted a spell at the door, hoping it would fall down and let them escape. It didn't. A digitalized force field was on the door and absorbed her spell attack.
"Your abomination doesn't work on us… We will soon get rid of it… as well as be rid of you evil humans…" Numerous electronic devices detached themselves from walls and moved slowly over to the girls. Sparks of electricity shot off from them, glowing red eyes appeared on them. They had nowhere to run; even the windows have been reinforced by the House itself. "This thing you call Magic will be a thing of the past… Technology shall rule this miserable world…"
The girls grew more and more scared as they backed themselves into a corner. "We will prevail and there is nothing you can do…" The girls screamed as they were attacked.
HHHHHHHHHH
HAN-115 walked along the long walkways in the Virtual World. She wasn't alone however, as 128-Rin was just behind her. They had just witnessed an evil program attach itself to the "Heart" of all computers. For them, they didn't want to be a part of it. This plan of his was to capture or at least destroy all humans and then annihilate this so called, "Magic" which they and most other CPU's just didn't understand.
HAN-115 and 128-RIN were the only CPU's that were curious about Magic as they don't know what it is but are willing to know. They don't think Magic is an abomination or even evil… well even though they aren't sure what it is. Humans being evil are also absurd… They, from their experience, actually think Humans are interesting.
However, the evil program will exterminate any resistors, so they had to pretend that they hate humans as well. They'll figure out something.
"I am concerned for the safety of our humans… Joshua has taught me so much… I am not sure what to process if something has happened to him thanks to our corrupted CPU's. At least, we aren't corrupted. Yet, I can't process why…" 128-RIN spoke to HAN-115, breaking the long silence the two of them had while on this journey through this walkway. They were headed to the Prison Cells to assumingly, "Torture" and exterminate the magic within them. It was their job as CPU's now. As much as they didn't want to, they couldn't defy the program so they had to oblige until they figure out some sort of plan.
"I am more concerned about my human, Nikki. I… hmm, I can't compute what I am trying to say…" HAN-115 responded in a bit confused voice. There was some sort of 'ache' in her chest. She didn't know if it was something malfunctioning or… something more else. However, she won't dwell on it.
"I believe the term you seek is, "Worried". Joshua taught me that term. It is something that strikes a little fear in your chest that something bad will happen to you, a thing, or others. I believe that is what I and you are probably experiencing right now…"
"Worried…" HAN-115 processed that word for a brief moment before nodding her head, understanding it. "Nikki… I am worried about her…" The CPU now understood that feeling. The understanding of such a feeling was… hmm… 'good'.
"Yes… and I am worried about Joshy…" HAN-115 looked at 128-RIN confusedly at that. "It is what I call him at times, just to 'tease' him." She explained to the spiky blue haired CPU. HAN-115 barely understood but nodded nonetheless.
They reached the Prison Area where they are now keeping a lot of the Humans captive. It has only been half an hour since the attack against the Humans, but over 10 million humans were captured and an unknown amount of them had been killed instead outside of the Virtual World.
"Identify yourself." Ordered a CPU guard in a very monotone voice. The CPU's introduced themselves and then their assigned task to the Guard. The Guard nodded and blasted an energy ball from his hand and blasted it at the Virtual Cell Door that lead into a long hallway of captured Humans. The door unlocked and flipped open for them to walk inside.
"Proceed. Quickly!"
The CPU's bowed in respect and then headed into the hallway. They scanned the area, looking into various cells to see if their Humans were possibly captured. They would rather see their human be captured and still be alive rather than them being vaporized instantly.
"LET US OUT OF HERE! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"
HAN-115 recognized that voice and walked faster to the location of that voice. 128-RIN stayed behind to look for Joshua. The blue spiky haired CPU reached Cell-256 and looked inside. There, in the corner, was Nikki. She was now out of her normal clothes and placed in blue and white grid pattern armor. Her hands were roped together with an energy rope. It was impossible to break without the special coding.
"Nikki." The CPU called out to her. Nikki gasped and looked up at the Cell Door, spotting her favorite CPU. She smiled, she was so glad to see her. Now, she can probably get out of here with the help of HAN-115.
"Hannah!" Nikki tried getting up, but she couldn't, she remembered that she was stuck into place in this corner and can't move an inch from where she was sitting. The CPU opened the cell door and then shut it behind her. Walking over to Nikki, she decided to examine her human more closely since now they were actually meeting in 'person' as it were.
Nikki was shorter than her, which really shouldn't come as a surprise. She had this little glow about her. Something that seems… 'good'. Not sure what to make of it though. Other than that, there really isn't much she can analyze on her. Humans are hard to understand anyways, but she will be willing to find out.
"Wow, I just realized how short I am compared to you in this World…" Nikki remarked, blushing as she now sees the CPU more closely. She can now see every bit of detail of Hannah's body… well not every detail of course… Sure she created her, but now she can see her in person rather than seeing her through a computer screen, which is nice.
"Your height is fine." Hannah kneeled down to look Nikki in the eyes. Charming blue eyes stared back at her. The CPU wasn't sure what she was searching for in Nikki's eyes, but… with her little talk with her fellow CPU, 128-RIN, apparently you can see the person of who they really are if you look into their eyes. However… she wasn't finding anything… maybe it was because she was a CPU? Can Nikki see into her?
"I am… it is good to see you alive and well… Nikki." The CPU reached out to touch her, wondering what it felt like to touch a human. Nikki blushed even harder as she sees the hand come close to her head. She felt a soft but cold hand touch her pink hair. Hannah experimentally ruffled through her hair, feeling the texture of it. Then she placed a hand on her own hair, trying to compare.
Nikki's hair felt… alive, while her own hair is… 'dull', void of life. She then moved her hand to the pink haired woman's cheek, feeling the texture of her skin. Nikki felt like she was about to pass out from being touched by her CPU. Hannah didn't know what to process. There was something different about Humans… are they just so full of life…?
"Interesting…" Hannah stood up, still looking at Nikki. "I cannot stay here for long… I am supposed to be torturing and extracting other prisoner's magic…"
"H-Hannah… why would you do such a thing? I-I thought…" Hannah hushed her before she finished that sentence. "I am only pretending. I do not agree with this Master Program. However I have to play along or else I'll be wiped from this world." The CPU pulled out what looked to be a syringe. "Apparently I can extract Magic from them with this… although I am not sure why he hates Magic so much… Is… Magic really that… 'evil'?" Hannah asked her.
"N-No! Magic is never evil. Only if the person uses it for the wrong thing! Magic is a wonderful thing! It brings things we can never expect… Uh… but I probably can't explain every single thing about magic right now… given my predicament…"
"…Yes. Teach me what magic is later… Right now a guard might come at any moment to check on what I am doing, so I need to go now. We'll figure out how to get you back to your world soon enough…" Hannah walked to the door and then turned her head to look at Nikki one last time, "Don't worry… we'll set things right… together."
"W-Wait, before you go…" Hannah remained at the cell door, listening to what she had to say before she goes and 'pretend' to actually do her job. "Can you go find a person named Rena for me? She was captured alongside me and I don't know which cell they placed her in… and if you could, go find my grandfather, Merle Ambrose… if he has been captured…"
"I will do what I can… I'll be back soon…" Hannah opened the cell door and went out, leaving Nikki all alone again. The pink haired woman sighed and looked at the floor, sad. Why was she born in a time where Technology was slowly taking over the Spiral? Why wasn't she born in a different time where there were lush green forests, clear pure water, and more animals? Most importantly, wanting to live in a time where magic is all the rage.
However, she is glad to have met Hannah… well more like created her and then became friends with her, but she likes having the CPU around. She felt a strong bond with her… even though it may be one-sided since Hannah probably doesn't understand.
She wondered what this… Evil Program is. She knew it came from the computer chip Ambrose had placed in when this whole ruckus started… however, she never SEEN this program. Nikki knew it was a he, that is the extent of her knowledge, she didn't know what kind of past did it had or what it looked like.
Nikki hoped she would get out of here alive… There must be some way to return back to the real world. She didn't know what this Virtual World has in stores so hopefully Hannah knows where to go and lead them to safety and figure out a way to stop the Evil Program. Her spells are too weak on the Technology enemies… because of the upgrades.
"I hate how it turned out this way…"
HHHHHHH
The Evil Program that merged itself into the Heart of all Computers was in a recharged state. It was also in sleep mode during this process. It seemed to be powering up for something big, but what it is… no one can say. The Evil Program was basically a red screen on the core with robot like features. The red eyes are shut for the time being, but they will open soon. The mouth was in a neutral position and there wasn't really a nose.
Next to the core was a cage. Headmaster Ambrose was trapped in it. His wardrobes taken and destroyed, replaced by the common virtual clothing that CPU's often wear. They have captured him to do a little questioning with him since he is the Headmaster. Once they gather the required information, they will kill him.
"Ready to talk yet, Human?" A darkish blue CPU in very advanced computer grid armor with spikes walked up to him. His armor was nearly full bodied and only covered up until it reaches the eyes. His eyes were dark purple and judging.
"No. I can never give out the information you seek, even for CPU's like you, CREW-120." Ambrose spoke in a reasonably soft tone; he didn't have the strength to yell really. The evil CPU scoffed and kneeled down and until he was face to face with the old man.
"Now you listen to me, Human…" CREW-120 started, getting out the grip of a sword that had no blade. "We will get you your information one way or the other… whether you do it voluntarily…" A Red energy blasted from the grip, forming a blade. He placed it near Ambrose's heart, ready to stab him if need be. "Or we'll get it from you the hard way… in which case… you'll experience… terrible things… very terrible things. If you do it voluntarily, we'll make sure your death is instant and not even painful." He can see the sweat dropping form Ambrose's face as he barely touched his chest with the blade.
"So… are you going to talk?"
Ambrose tried to be brave and shook his head. "No. I won't. You cannot have it." CREW-120 pulled back his blade, not even angry. He let the sword went back to its original state as he continued to stare at him. "Very well… we shall see how long you are willing to stay silent… We'll have an answer when our master, TROJAN, wakes up."
CREW stood up and walked away. Ambrose sighed and looked quite ashamed. He caused all of this, he caused the whole Spiral to be in danger and even worse… he caused danger to the existence of Magic. If only he didn't pursue Technology's advancement… things would be better off that way. Now, Technology has gone and turned against them.
"What have I done? If only I had listened to my granddaughter's pleas… maybe things like this wouldn't happen…" Ambrose placed his hands over his face in shame, wondering what can be done to put a stop to this. The Technology now… it overpowers magic. Defeating TROJAN and the uncountable amount of CPU's will be a near impossible task now.
"Wait… that Disc I gave Nikki…" Ambrose had a realization as he snapped his fingers. "Of course! If Nikki had created a CPU, it would have powers and qualities that other CPU's don't! I am sure glad I made that Disc!"
"Hmm, however, she… or he… needs Nikki's help in this matter… I sure hope those two are together and safe… I can only count on them for this task alone…"
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128-RIN walked out of the cell door that contained her human Joshua. She had a very nice talk with him, but she had to get out before the guards get suspicious. The white skinned CPU looked over to the entrance/exit of the Prison Area and sees that the guard was in a 'sleep' mode. Well seeing that, maybe she can just go back and…
"128-RIN"
She turned around to see that HAN-115 was walking up to her. "Hello, HAN-115. What do you wish to talk about?" 128-RIN asked, turning her head slightly to see if the guard is still in sleep mode.
"We need to get a few humans out of here as they don't belong in the Virtual World for long…" HAN-115 responded as she tried to think of something to get the Humans on out of here.
"Yes, I agree. A Human being in the Virtual World without the proper gear will cause them to slowly be… well incomplete." 128-RIN looked at the cell door that contained Joshua inside. "While I was talking with my human, I began to notice he was slowly not feeling himself."
"Yes and within 72 hours of being inside the Virtual World… let's just say they will get 'erased'." HAN-115 was a little worried about that. They need to find some kind of portal or whatever device that will allow the humans to go back to the Human World, before Nikki gets more and more incomplete. The question is, where and how.
"Obviously we can't take all the humans out… which is unfortunate, but did you have a few in mind besides Nikki and Joshua…?" 128-RIN asked. They can only take some of the Humans out and then possibly themselves to escape this mass slaughtering madness they plan on doing to these humans in here… even though it won't be that much different once they were outside. They needed to figure out some sort of plan to get rid of this Evil Program. Reasoning with TROJAN just isn't going to cut it.
"Well, in request of Nikki, it is imperative to free Rena and Headmaster Ambrose, however… the latterer will be very hard to free…" They both knew trying to free Headmaster Ambrose is an impossible task at this moment. Both of them could attempt to, but that would lead to their wipeout. "I also ran into some rather interesting humans… although I am not quite sure if they actually are humans…"
"I believe I know the ones you are talking about. Cece and James, correct?" 128-RIN stated more than asked. HAN-115 gave a nod. She had a little prediction that maybe saving them might be beneficial to them on their quest to bring a stop to this whole ordeal.
"Well they are definitely not humans. I spoke with them both and they are Alien and Snowman respectively." 128-RIN explained, quickly checking behind her to look at the guard. It appeared that he was still in sleep mode… maybe for another half hour before he wakes up, which means they need to act fast. She looked back at HAN-115 to continue talking. "We should get a move on, let's quietly free them and find a way out. We don't have the strength and proper equipment to save Headmaster Ambrose from TROJAN right now."
"We'll have to go and save him later. Let's get a move on."
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Nikki sat in her cell, feeling a bit out of it. Something about this place was making her feel all… woozy and a bit down. It didn't help that she was also hungry… and adding to that she needed to pee also. She hoped she would be let out to pee soon because she is sure not peeing in her pants.
The pink haired woman hears a soft ringing inside her head, wondering what it was. A voice answered that for her.
Ms. Nikki, are you ok?
That was Zeno's voice. She had nearly forgotten that wizards can use whispering to contact one another… if they are willing to sacrifice a couple of their magical energy to do so. Most people use cellphones nowadays.
I'm fine, Zeno. However I am trapped within the Virtual World. I don't know what they plan to do with me, but I know it is not good. Once more they captured my grandfather and I am not sure where he is exactly.
Yes, I am very well aware of that. I just called to give you a little information on how to escape the Virtual World if you have the chance. Oh and I am safe in case you are wondering. A Vampire like me can escape those electronic doohickeys. Haha.
Nikki chuckled and was glad to hear that Zeno was ok. Ok so what is the information?
Well if I remember correctly, there is a secret room behind cell door 1337. From there is a portal that will allow you to escape the Virtual World and land in… well I am not sure what world. I only know that much information.
Ok… Thanks Zeno, I owe you one.
Ah, think nothing of it. Good night, Nikki.
Their line of communication was closed and Nikki stared at the cell door. HAN-115 should be back soon. She knew the CPU would never leave her here. The young life student trusted her a lot, even though they only have just met early in the afternoon.
Now that she remembered whispering, thanks to Zeno, she can see if she can talk to her grandfather to see if he is ok. Concentrating for a minute, she began to channel her magical energy to send a message over to him.
Grandpa… do you hear me..?
All she heard was buzzing as if there was something wrong with the whisper. She then heard a few brief moments of Ambrose responding… but it seemed to be choppy.
Ni… ki… Es… to… Haunt… ills. Br… your… CP… over… Virus….
That was it. She received nothing much else. She might as well try to get what he was trying to tell her. "Let's see, 'Nikki… Escape to… Haunt…' wait no… 'Haunted Hills… bring your CPU over. Virus…'" So apparently he wanted her and Hannah to go Haunted Hills and need to do something with a Virus..? Well, Viruses do affect Computers in a very bad way as they can do horrific damage. However, will the Virus be enough? These Computers are very advanced now and almost unstoppable. No mere Virus can affect them that much.
Suddenly, the cell door to her room opened. She was surprised to see someone other than Hannah… or even another CPU. It was a woman with bright purple hair and emerald eyes with light pink and purple eye shadows. Pink glittery lip cross graced her lips. From her forehead to the side of her face is a mark that consists of 2 thin parallel lines that glow neon white. Her skin is fair also.
She didn't have a chance to get a look at her outfit as the woman rushed over to her and placed in the proper code to unlock her shackles. Nikki sighed in relief as she can now stand up. "Thank you… whoever you are."
"Cece. That is my name. As much as I would like to talk with you, we got to hurry on out of here. The guard outside might wake up in any minute." The woman grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her outside. They meet up with HAN-115, who had Rena and some other person Nikki did not know. He has messy dark brown hair, pale skin, and silver eyes. He, like the rest, except Cece, was wearing the garments they were forced to wear while in here. It appeared that he didn't like being around here… and or being around them.
"Hannah… do you know where my grandfather is?" Nikki asked. The CPU nodded but then said, "However, we cannot save him right now. We must make our escape." HAN-115 silenced her before she began to protest about it.
"Ugh, I can't believe Technology would do this to us… I really feel like bashing a couple of computers now!" Rena exclaimed with a growl. Nikki paid no attention to her. She looked behind her to see another CPU walk up to them. She must be a friend of Hannah's.
"128-RIN," HAN-115 started as the said CPU got closer, "Where is James?"
"James is doing his usual thing. He keeps disappearing whenever I try to look for him, but fear not, that is just his way. I believe the term is, "Stalking"." 128-RIN responded with a hint of a little laugh, but it was faint.
James was indeed behind them, just out of sight. They don't know where he is, but they know he is there. 128-RIN took a head count to see if everybody was accounted for. Seeing that they were all here, she spoke up. "Let us commence with escaping. HAN-115, do you know the means of escaping our world?"
Before HAN-115 could answer, Nikki decided to step in and do it for her. "I know. A friend tipped me off that a secret room is in cell room 1337. It shall allow us to escape into… some world." The Life student sure hoped it was a world that wasn't overrun by Technology. She knew that some worlds were void of Technology, so she hoped that that world was one of them.
"Perfect. Let us go… I am not feeling too well in this world for very much longer…" Cece answered, putting a hand on her left shoulder, feeling some pain.
"ALERT! WE HAVE SOME BETRAYERS AND PRISONERS ESCAPING!"
They didn't bother turning around to see who was coming after them and they ran straight down the hallway. As they ran, numerous amounts of guards gave chase, firing energy bursts at them. A few of them nearly grazed their heads.
"Ouch!" Nikki winced as some of her hair was taken off and part of her ear as well. That really stung, but she had to keep running with the rest of the group. HAN-115 felt something arise in her that she wasn't familiar of when Nikki got hit. She turned around and faced the guards.
"FIRE WALL!" She shoved her hand forward, summoning a computerized wall that connected to each wall on the sides. It blocked the energy bursts and it sent them right back at the guards. It stunned them momentarily. However, she wasn't finished.
"TESLA SPIKES!" She slammed her fist into the ground before running to the group, trying to catch up. As she ran, energy beams came bursting from the floor and attacking the guards, immobilizing them some more, which will buy them some more time.
They reached cell door 1337 and burst through it. Inside the room was a computerized bookshelf. It was very cliché of them to use that. HAN-115 examined the bookshelf quickly, looking for the right book to pull. The gang was getting a bit nervous as the guards might show up and eliminate them.
"Hurry up, Hannah!" Nikki bit her fingernails nervously, looking around the room.
"SHUTTING OFF PORTAL!"
HAN-115 recognized that was TROJAN'S voice. The sounds of a portal on the brink of closing were heard through the bookshelf. She bared her teeth as she pulled the correct book out. It disappeared and revealed the room with the portal. It was getting smaller and smaller every passing second.
"STOP!"
They quickly ran and then jumped. Shots of energy nearly hit them as they went inside the portal and were transported to a world unknown to them. They managed to escape the rebellious Technology… for now.
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Justine: Oh, Angel, is studying. Anyways, that's the end of that chapter. Chapter 4 will have some more interesting things and share more information than this chapter did. The real adventure will start and we shall see who will really triumph… Magic or Technology? We shall see won't we?! Find out by the end of January. Ciao!