Sonic Haven Ssn.1 – Ep. 16

"Over here!" Tyler shouted at the top of his lungs.

Nicole turned towards him and ran at top speed, jumping over a block on her way over to him. The clean, white, digital environment that surrounded them was vastly different from the last computer they'd been in. This one had blocks of data rising up from the ground like towers, all in close proximity to each other.

As she rounded the corner and ducked behind Tyler, the large antivirus stormed past behind them. She waited until it had moved a considerable distance away, then let the air out of her chest in relief.

"Are we ever gonna get out of here?" Nicole asked in defeat, "It's been days."

Tyler shook his head, a smirk plastered on his face.

"What?" She asked, trying to understand what he thought was funny.

"I guess you don't know, let me show you." He said as he walked over to one of the towers and placed his hand on the side of it.

A screen popped up on the side of the tower, showing the outside of the real world building this terminal was located in. Looking closely, Nicole could see several S.W.A.T. Bots surrounding the tower and moving in a loose patrol of the grounds. At least, that's what they should've been doing. Nicole stared at the screen in concentration, focusing on the S.W.A.T. Bots in particular, something was off. Then she spotted the problem, they weren't moving!

"So is this a picture of the outside or what?" She asked, gesturing towards the screen.

Tyler's smirk grew a little wider as he shook his head. "Nope, keep looking at the screen." He told her.

She turned her head back toward the screen, studying it carefully to see what he was talking about. Then, suddenly, she saw it. When she glanced back, the S.W.A.T. Bots had moved, turning toward the building and taking a step or so.

"What?" She wondered aloud.

"You're in Robotnik's main supercomputer. With the extra processing power, you're thinking incredibly fast as compared to the real world. So the real world looks like it's moving really slowly right now, but it's not. It's actually moving at normal speed." He said, before adding: "At least compared to us. It's probably only been an hour or so out there, I'm not entirely sure how the math works out as I've never actually spent more than a few minutes here."

"Wait," Nicole said, taking a step back as everything started to come together, "This is Robotnik's main supercomputer?"

"Yeah, a lot of his primary systems run through here somewhere. They're all over the place though." He replied, rubbing his chin as he tried to think of something that would be close to them that he could use as an example.

"Wow!" She said excitedly, "Think of what we could find in here! Think of the damage to Robotnik's systems we could do!"

"Yeah, don't get your hopes up too high," He said in an attempt to bring her back down to reality, "I wouldn't recommend messing with the Robian's settings anytime soon. You wouldn't want to accidentally kill somebody!"

She calmed noticeably. "Yeah, point taken."

They started to walk away as Tyler turned to her. "One more thing," He said, hoping that she would understand, "Any damage that we do will just get undone by Robotnik or his Antivirus' damaged file repair function after we leave."

"Well, maybe we could take some data with us? Like maybe the schematics for the S.W.A.T. Bots or the Robian suits?" She asked hopefully.

"Possible, but that kind of data pull will put up red flags all over Robotnik's system. If you really want to try something like that, then you'll have to take out the Antivirus that's been following us around for the last few days." He replied. "Then you'd have to book it out of the system before the other security systems kick in."

He could tell by her expression that she understood perfectly. The two of them picked up the pace as she continued to think about what he'd told her. So much potential in this place, so much she could do for her friends, so much good she could accomplish. There had to be something she could do! She ran the last thing he said through her mind again, replaying it and finding her answer.

"Then we destroy the Antivirus." She said, hitting her fist into her open palm for emphasis.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked her.

"You asked me the same question when we saw Bunnie on that camera, remember? What did I say then?" She said, not being harsh, but trying to make a point.

"Yeah, I kinda did, didn't I? Why are you so gung-ho on helping these guys?" He asked.

"I think the better question is why aren't you? These guys are my friends, I have a responsibility to help them; and, more importantly, I have a responsibility to do the right thing. Why don't you want to help?" She said, a challenging tone in her voice.

"You know what, you're right. And I'm sorry." He said, coming to a stop and dropping his head. "I've spent the last few years of my life just trying to stay out of trouble. I guess I should try to do more, but I know that if I do something drastic, Robotnik will retaliate. I don't think I'd be able to survive a full-on extermination routine. Maybe I should've tried anyway, if only because I could." His tone was very somber, almost defeated.

Nicole's face softened noticeably. She hadn't meant to hurt his feelings, but the fact that he'd been here for years and not done anything bothered her. Maybe he was right for not trying. After all, had he done something, it very likely would've ended his life as he said.

She thought about it for a while before a realization slapped her across her face: he said he'd been in here for years, but Robotnik had only been in charge for about a month. "You said years... why? It's only been a month or so that Robotnik has been in charge."

His head lifted slightly before he replied. Though when he spoke, his tone was still soft. "This is Robotnik's main supercomputer," He said, "but there are tons of them around the city. I've been all over the place trying to hide from his Antivirus programs, and I've been mostly successful. I'm not entirely sure how the time measures out when you account for the accelerated awareness that comes with living inside a super computer, but it's been a long time since Robotnik set up shop here. At least a couple of years, maybe more."

She pulled her hand to her mouth in shock. She hadn't realized that he'd been in here for so long.

"I'm sorry," She said, an empathetic expression on her face, "I didn't mean that you needed to risk your life. I just thought that if it had been me trapped in here that I would have done something. But I think you're right. I think that if you had done something to Robotnik's computer that you would have died. And you're wrong; sometimes the risks outweigh the benefits. What you've learned about Robotnik and his computer systems is invaluable information! If you had died trying to do something, I would probably be dead now. And all of the information that you have collected over the last few years would all be lost."

She reached out and put her right hand on his left shoulder. She took a deep breath, then she spoke. "I'm glad that you're still alive to help me, so let's just forget what either of us should have or shouldn't have done and work on the here and now. Agreed?"

He smiled and shook his head. "Yeah, let's do that."

She moved her hand from his shoulder back to her side, then she asked: "So what do we do?"

He straightened, then said: "I think I might have an idea, but first I need to show you something."

He walked over to an empty space, raised his hand, and closed his eyes. At first, nothing happened. He held the pose for a moment, and took a breath as a column of data rose to touch his hand. Nicole was speechless.

"How did you...?" She let her sentence hang in the air.

"You can create data and manipulate it, all you have to do is will it into existence." He replied in a cool tone.

"Really? That will definitely be useful!" She replied.

"Yeah, you bet it can. But only if you know how to use it properly. You think you can do it?" He asked her, a strong note of confidence now in his voice.

"Absolutely!" She replied, echoing his tone.

"Alright then, let's kick some Antivirus butt!" He exclaimed.

Pixel rounded the corner in a hurry, a hulking figure coming around behind him. He hurdled over a low block and continued to charge ahead as the Antivirus behind him loomed ever closer. He yelled out ahead of him: "It's coming!"

"Gotcha." Nicole yelled back standing behind a block of data.

"I really hope you're ready," Tyler called out, "this thing is gaining on me!"

"Trust me! Just run!" She yelled as he came within sight of her.

Tyler ducked his head and ran as fast as he could, booking it for the safety of the tall stacks of data ahead of him. As he crossed in front of Nicole, she created a block of data right beside herself, then cut the data, letting it fall down on top of the Antivirus. It wasn't going to stop the Antivirus for long as it was only data, but it was enough. Tyler came to a sliding halt not far from her, then ran back to help her.

The two of them stood in front of the Antivirus as it started to collect itself from the fall it had taken. They then started removing pieces of the Antivirus, one chunk at a time, deconstructing the program until there was nothing left of it. Finally, all of the pieces seemed to disintegrate in front of them, truly removing the program from the system. They'd successfully taken down the Antivirus.

Nicole gasped in surprise at what they'd just done. She then grabbed hold of Tyler's shoulder and started bouncing up and down gleefully and shouting in joy.

"We did it!" She exclaimed. She let go of Tyler's shoulder, then she continued: "We did it, we did it, we did it." Dancing as she repeated the mantra in a low, rhythmic fashion.

"Yeah, we did it. Now we need to take care of whatever it is we need to do before Robotnik discovers what happened." He reminded her, curbing her enthusiasm.

"Oh come on, don't be so glum. What are you, a pessimist?" Nicole asked teasingly, bumping his shoulder.

Tyler rubbed his shoulder in mock-hurt as he replied. "Nope, but I am a realist. So what do you want to do?"

"I have an idea. First, let's take a look at what Sonic is doing and see if he needs our help." She said.

"Good idea, let's see." He replied as he brought up the displays of the various security cameras around Robotnik's base.

The two of them both scanned the screens as they looked for Sonic and the others. Nicole pointed at one of the screens as she spoke, "There, Sonic is surrounded by S.W.A.T. Bots!"

"And over here the rest of your friends seem to be surrounded by S.W.A.T. Bots as well." Tyler responded.

"I'll take care of Sonic, you take care of the rest of them." She said commandingly.

Tyler nodded and they went to work. She started flashing the lights in the corridor above the S.W.A.T. Bots, distracting them and allowing Sonic the window he needed to get passed them. Meanwhile, Tyler opened the garbage chute in the wall, allowing the Freedom Fighters to retreat back down the chute they'd climbed up.

"OK, Sonic is clear for now." Nicole said over her shoulder.

"Ditto over here." Tyler replied. "We're not in the clear yet, we need to help them get Bunnie out."

"Yeah, I know. And thank you for doing this." She said, a softer tone in her voice.

"For what?" He asked.

"For helping me help them. You know as well as I do that once Robotnik figures out what we've done that he'll come down on us with full force. If that happens and the others haven't figured out a way to get us out of here, then we're both dead. So, thanks." She said in a rather serious tone.

"No problem. At least I'll have done something before I kick the bucket. Well, you know, other than curing NIDS." He said in an unimpressed tone.

"You what?" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, I dug into my own coding and removed the damaged parts of my code. In doing so, I should have gotten rid of the virus. The problem is that the scientist who put us in here is dead, and with him died the hopes of us getting back out." He explained calmly.

"Still, that's pretty cool. Do you think you could fix me?" She asked.

He looked a little shocked. "Why? It's not like we're ever getting out of here?" He asked curiously.

"Because you don't know that. If we ever do get the chance to go back to reality, I would like to know that I've been cured of NIDS. If you don't mind that is..." She said in a more positive tone.

"Sure," He said, closing his eyes for a second. He opened them a moment later, a smile on his face. "There you go."

"That's it?" She asked. "No elaborate procedure involving hours of digging through code?"

"Nope. it was difficult for me, but I'd already isolated the lines of code connected to the virus, so removing it from you was pretty easy." He said in an overly humble tone.

Nicole ran across the short distance between the two of them and embraced Tyler in a surprise hug. He took a step back in shock as she latched onto him, not realizing what he'd just done for her fully. She quickly let go, trying to express her thanks without making it awkward between them.

"Thank you," she said as she stepped back over to the camera displays she'd just left, "That means a lot to me."

"Obviously." He said chuckling.

The two of them then proceeded to settle in for the long haul as they would try to help Sonic and the others rescue Bunnie and get out of Robotnik's tower. They could only hope that they would leave with them.