Vanellope's Bug Problem
Chapter Four

"So, let me get this straight." Calhoun took a sip from her drink. "You're telling me that that psycho racer actually went up to you asking for a way into your game's code room?"

Vanellope nodded. "His story did seem wobbly for the most part, but all my guards and servants (except Wynchel and Duncan) were in my castle, so I was really left to my own devices with Turbutt."

Ralph leaned on the table. "He admitted to being in your game because his game was unplugged, and he still managed to get past you?"

"I was planning to lock him up in the Fungeon until I could figure out what I was supposed to do with him, or at the very least have one of my guards go and find someone to decide on a course of action, as soon as I got to the castle."

Felix jumped on the table. "How about we go back to Sugar Rush to continue this?"

Calhoun thought that was reasonable. "Yeah, we're gonna have to go there at some point tonight to diagnose Vanellope's bug problem."

Vanellope looked to Calhoun. "What bug problem?"

Ralph sighed and walked over to Darth Vader. "Can I borrow that for just a sec, Vader?"

He held out Vader's light saber and turned it on, holding it in place.

Within seconds, Vanellope started zombie-walking toward the light saber with a mesmerized look in his eyes.

Ralph turned off the light saber when Vanellope was right in front of him and returned it to Darth Vader.

Calhoun took note. "Yeah, we better get to Sugar Rush ASAP."

"Names?"

"Wreck-It Ralph."

"Vanellope von Schweetz."

"Fix-It Felix Jr."

"Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun."

"And where are you coming from?"

"Tappers."

"Did you bring any root beer with you?"

"Nope."

"Negatory."

"And where are you headed?"

"Sugar Rush."

"Reason for travel?"

"Finish an assessment of the effects of the Cy-Bug invasion on Sugar Rush."

"Anything to declare?"

"I hate you."

"Your glow is beautiful."

"Nothing."

"You're still a lousy Surge Protector."

"30 times and counting. Proceed."

As the group headed into the game, Vanellope look to Calhoun. "So, what's the plan, Sarge?"

Calhoun led the group into the gingerbread train to the game. "Well, the first thing we need to do is figure out if there's any trace of Cy-Bug still in your code."

Ralph took a seat in the last car with Felix. "So, how are we going to do that?"

Calhoun started explaining as the train headed down the tunnel. "Our first task will be to figure out what Vanellope's normal state of mind is. Since it's most likely that Turbo's hacking has skewed with the racers' memories even now, since they spent almost all their lives worshiping a false idol, the most we'd likely get from them is whether or not any of them were eaten by Cy-Bugs."

Felix could see why that was important. "Yeah, you would know first hand the effects of being eaten by a Cy-bug and how it would influence your mind."

"Right. So, Vanellope would've had comparable changes while she was a Cy-Bug, and because her restoration was the result of the entire game resetting and her code being reintegrated into the game, as opposed to being killed by a beacon or what have you and subsequently regenerating, as happens with me in my game, there might still be traces of Cy-Bug in her programming at this moment. But we won't know for sure if that's the case until we run some experiments."

"What kind of experiments?" Vanellope asked.

The train reached the bottom of the Rainbow Bridge, and the passengers disembarked. "I already have a list of changes that I go through when I get eaten by a Cy-Bug, and I was going to go through them one by one to see if any of them apply to you."

As they walked by the finish line, the group heard the sounds of go-karts approaching.

Vanellope smiled as her fellow racers drew near. "Yeah, nothing like a quick stretch around the track."

Calhoun took to the sidelines with the others. "Don't forget what I told you to ask about."

"Right." She hopped in her go-kart, which was parked nearby under watch of Sour Bill, and joined in the karts speeding by.

As Vanellope disappeared from view, Felix looked to Calhoun. "So, what are signs of Cy-Bug data in someone's code?"

"There are symptoms that being a Cy-Bug causes in one's code. Granted, these are only how I change when a Cy-Bug gets me, and so far, there's only ever been one case of a Cy-Bug escaping from my game, so this may or may not be a complete list, and nobody knows the full implications of a non-Hero's Duty character having some trace of Cy-Bug in their code. But the more symptoms they have, the greater the danger."

Ralph nodded. "So, what are the symptoms?"