4.01: The Spam Hits The Fan.

[mend_and_defend]

[after this]

Bob's halfway to Dot's Diner when his synchronizer goes off. He thought he'd have time to grab a shake before things got started; apparently, he was mistaken. With an exaggerated sigh, he wheels around and heads back toward the Principal Office.

The subsphere atop the P.O. splits open as he approaches and lands. A VidWindow pwinngs

Comments

[command_dot_com]

Dot walked out of the door from her office, the dream she had hadn't helped matters any as she walked between Hack and Slash. She glanced at Phong, "You should have called me!"

[a1enzo]

"Told ya!" snipes Enzo. No one ever listens to the kid, of course.

[nofileext]

Phong protests, "You needed the rest, my child." Our dear overclocked Command.Com must not be permitted to burn herself out!

[command_dot_com]

Downtime is for people who aren't in deep spam.

"Any word from Matrix and AndrAIa?"

[renegade_enzo]

Meanwhile, deep in the 'Net, amidst the multitude of portals to systems all over, a chase ensues.

Two small, motorcycle-like ships zoom through, trailed by a number of Guardian transports. Matrix, piloting the first ship, glances over at AndrAIa at the controls of the second ship as they duck and weave past portals to avoid the Guardians.

[nofileext]

The Guardian transports might be bigger and (possibly) better armed, but they're considerably less maneuverable. While trying to follow the bikes' movements, two of the ships collide, spiraling away in trails of smoke and flame. The remaining ships--four of them, now--continue their relentless pursuit.

[renegade_enzo]

Matrix gives a quick glance back at the colliding ships as they explode, and looks back over to AndrAIa as they keep moving towards their destination.

"I'm beginning to see whatcha like about bikes!" he calls out.

[notascreensaver]

She smiles over at him, zooming in closer. "Told you!"

Nothing beats the open 'net. Just you, your bike, your lover, and guardians out for your deletion. Ah, the simple joys of life.

[mend_and_defend]

The picoseconds drag by painfully slowly. Still no sign of Matrix or AndrAIa, and the portal's internal timer has almost run out.

"We're out of time," he says to Dot through the VidWindow. "Tell Phong we'll have to generate another--"

VWOOOM! The two bikes blast through the portal at full speed. Bob barely has time to recover before four more ships--Guardian transports, by the look of them--follow in their wake, nearly running him over. The portal closes with the fourth transport halfway through, and the remnants of the ship drop and crash mere pixels away.

[notascreensaver]

AndrAIa swerves back around, to check on the guardian. "Sorry Bob! We thought we'd lost them!" She yelled, hovering close to make sure he was well and truly alright.

[mend_and_defend]

The three remaining transports, however, haven't even slowed down. And they're heading for...

"They're going for the port," Bob realizes. "They're trying to open us to the 'Net!"

[command_dot_com]

Dot wastes no time, every picosecond COUNTS. "They're only attacking Kits Sector. Concentrate your fire there." She ordered a nearby CPU.

[nofileext]

There's only one ship left now. That's fine; one ship is all that's needed for this mission.

A shot from one of the defense cannons strikes the top of the ship, and the transport crashes and skids across the pavement, smoking and shedding parts the whole way. There are only three survivors. This, too, is no cause for alarm; the mission could be completed with only one sprite, if necessary.

A gun turret drops from the bottom of the wrecked transport and deletes the approaching CPU binomes with ruthless efficiency. The three remaining Guardians, heavily armed and armored, drop out of the lower hatch and sprint for the port control tower.

There is no room for hesitation. They head straight for the main control chamber, breaking down every door and deleting every dataform that gets in their way. The failsafes are disabled and the security cameras are taken offline. Now the Guardians can complete their mission. Nothing else matters now.

[command_dot_com]

Dot watches in detached horror as the Guardians move through the Control Tower. She frowns, as they're killing any in their way right up until one Guardian chooses to shoot the surveillance camera before turning to the office staff.

"Let me see outside. Lose the static."

There on the screen, the office and it's staff saw the beam of yellow light slicing into the sky from the rim of Mainframe. It punched through their sky into the Edge of Beyond and all around the familiar noise rang out in the system.

[nofileext]

"We're online!" wails Specky.

And, with a flash and a scattering of digital shrapnel, the control tower topples to the ground.

"They have destroyed the control tower!" gasps Phong. "We have no way of re-sealing the system!"

[command_dot_com]

"That's how Daemon operates. She's locked the door open!"

It's diabolical and effiecient and it pisses her off that she didn't think of a contingency plan for this.

[mend_and_defend]

Meanwhile, several hundred pixels above Kits Sector, Matrix, AndrAIa, and Bob are preparing to face down the approaching fleet.

Well, Matrix and AndrAIa are preparing to face down the approaching fleet. Bob is too busy arguing.

"Matrix, they're Guardians. Every one of them."

[renegade_enzo]

Matrix looks over to Bob from his place on his (rather massive) motorcycle, giving the other sprite a Look that says 'Well, DUH.'

"That's what I've been saying."

[mend_and_defend]

"But--we can't delete Guardians! There must be another way."

[notascreensaver]

AndrAIa hovers over, after glancing over Matrix to make sure he's alright.

"Bob, we know how you feel about deletion, but what choice do we have?"