Kepler sighed, shaking his head from the haze that seemed to envelope it. It was odd, looking at the graphic interface that flashed before his eyes as if it was the first time he had seen it. He had encountered similar programs in his earlier line of work, but everything from the color to the font to the layout had been completely customized by the two hackers that had trapped him. Everything was just a little bit off, and the gnomish old man found great difficulty in finding his way around. Fortunately, he was used to the process after having dealt with Windows for years and years. In fact, the challenge of finding a single file within the ocean of data seemed to pale in comparison.
“Things seem to be going well,” Mixie stood at the door of Kepler’s makeshift shack, leaning against the frame.
The elf jumped and turned his head, face red with annoyance. “Don’t do that to me!”
“I’m afraid I don’t know what it is that you mean,” Mixie feigned distress. “If you mean for me to stop coming to visit you, then I think I just might die. Oh, what a dreadful thought…”
“Heh. Your glibness doesn’t really do wonders for ya, you know?” Kepler shook his head, masking a grin. “In any case, yeah, I guess they are. I’m not really feelin’ great about the number of prisoners, though, and it’s even more annoyin’ that they never stay in the same place. Something big’s about to happen. I can feel it in the air, and it makes my skin crawl.”
“Magnus and big brother certainly do have…eclectic tastes,” Julia chimed, smiling politely from her chair in the corner. “So it’s definitely possible. If Keith really doesn’t care about the lives of anyone here, I’m afraid anything is possible.”
“That’s actually part of the reason why I came,” Mixie sighed. “I wanted to see your progress with that virus, Kepler, but I also wanted to give you a bit more…motivation.”
“…what do you mean,” Kepler frowned. “If somethin’s about to go haywire, you’d better damn well tell me right now, if you know what’s good for ya.”
“Idle threats don’t really interest me, Mr. Kepler, but your belligerence has been noted,” the AI shrugged. “Anyway, it’s about Masters Gamer and Magnus.”
“They aren’t your masters anymore,” Kepler interjected suddenly. “Remember, I still don’t trust you, and throwin’ around titles like that don’t exactly make me feel good about all this.”
“If I still had any shred of loyalty for either of them, would I really share this piece of information with you?” Mixie placed a hand on her hip and sighed.
“And would this information be, Mixie?” Yuffith inquired, sitting bolt-upright in her seat.
“Well…you see…”
*
Magnus resolved to stand and watched the events from start to finish, if only to satisfy his own curiosity as to how the little bastard had managed to sustain an interest. When they were all over, whether with a whimper or a loud bang, the older hacker scoffed. “You’ve wasted enough of my time.”
Gamer glanced behind his shoulder with an eyebrow raised. “What’s that?”
“I said you’ve wasted enough of my time,” Magnus repeated. “You’re too much of a people watcher, Keith. You have yet to interest me in this game of yours.”
“Didn’t you say before that you enjoyed the idea of playing God?” Keith shook his head and returned his attention to the monitors. “Besides, this whole thing was your idea. If you hate the idea of it so much, then stop playing. It’s that simple.”
“You ungrateful little rat!” the older man grunted. “If you had any speck of sense or intelligence, you would have realized the incredible potential of this machine. Instead, you sit here, staring at everyone else, eating with one hand and doing Lord-knows-what with the other. You really do disgust me.”
“Keep in mind whose house your precious machine is stored in,” Keith spoke calmly. “And whose wallet you’ve been relying on this entire time. If I hadn’t come along when I did, you’d still be stuck in your quaint little Laundromat, playing World of Warcraft with your pants halfway off. If I’m a disgusting person, I’m not even sure what to call you.”
Magnus curled his hand into a ball, arms shaking as he towered over Gamer, whose back was still turned from him. He imagined hitting the younger kid, cracking against his skull with his fist repeatedly, and killing him. He imagined further how good it would feel. Unfortunately, his mind was far too realistic for his liking, as his army of robots was at his command. As good as killing an annoying rat would have felt, being torn apart by machines would have felt that much worse. He forced himself to exhale, and close his eyes. “Very well. Play your game to your heart’s content.”
“You still have a role to play in this, as well,” Gamer said. “I’m just…disinterested in the prisoners. I don’t even want to deal with them anymore.”
“Yes…” Magnus sighed, content that he was able to move on. “Yes, I know. Just leave that part to me.”
“Good,” Gamer nodded. “Great, actually. I’ll continue torturing these contestants, then. I think I’ve been making things too easy for them. They seem to exude a surprising amount of patience. I’ll find a way to fix that. Feel free to do whatever you please with the rest of them, in the meantime.”
“I mean to do so, and have already made preparations,” the older hacker smirked. “I’ll go do it now, in fact.”
“You do that.”
*
“Magnus brought the Terrasque back out, and that’s…not particularly good,” Mixie continued.
“Oh boy,” Kepler shook his head with a haggard expression on his face.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand,” Yuffith frowned. “What is the Terrasque?”
“It’s meant to be invincible,” the AI explained. “A large beast with astounding strength, speed, and size. Nothing would be able to destroy it.”
“So this is meant to be an execution…” Yuffith surmised with a heavy sigh.
“However…” Mixie continued. “In order for it to be that powerful, it’s been tied into the program itself. Much like how we are tied into our physical bodies. That plays into our advantage.”
“Ohoho, I see where you’re headin’,” Kepler chuckled. “If I find the virus and infect the Terrasque program with it…”
“…it will spread?” Julia finished the train of thought, and was answered with two nods.
“And that’s our best shot out of this place,” Stone mused. “However, it’s entirely possible that the shock could kill us in the real word…”
“It is worth the risk,” Julia crossed her arms. Her eyebrows burrowed as she thought more about it, however. “But Mixie, wouldn’t that mean…?”
“Yes, that would likely mean the end of my existence,” Mixie replied with a blank expression. “But it would fulfill my programming, and that’s what matters the most to me. As long as I’ve served my purpose, I can’t feel bad about the life that I’ve lived.”
“Honorable,” Kepler was obviously uncomfortable with the subject, and he immediately moved on. “So once I get the virus, how are we going to go about spreading it?”
“Well…the monster has an HP bar,” the AI explained. “Although it has an ungodly amount of health, it can be taken down. Bugging a few weapons with the virus should make it easier to spread it. It might not be enough to actually defeat it, but if the virus does its job, it shouldn’t be too long before our desired result happens.”
“And if it doesn’t?” Yuffith asked.
“Then you all die horrible deaths,” Mixie answered simply. “All the more reason to succeed, right? So, if you have the virus ready to go, spawn as many weapons as you can, and do it quickly. Doesn’t really matter what they are. Master Magnus should be here at any minute.”
“Things seem to be going well,” Mixie stood at the door of Kepler’s makeshift shack, leaning against the frame.
The elf jumped and turned his head, face red with annoyance. “Don’t do that to me!”
“I’m afraid I don’t know what it is that you mean,” Mixie feigned distress. “If you mean for me to stop coming to visit you, then I think I just might die. Oh, what a dreadful thought…”
“Heh. Your glibness doesn’t really do wonders for ya, you know?” Kepler shook his head, masking a grin. “In any case, yeah, I guess they are. I’m not really feelin’ great about the number of prisoners, though, and it’s even more annoyin’ that they never stay in the same place. Something big’s about to happen. I can feel it in the air, and it makes my skin crawl.”
“Magnus and big brother certainly do have…eclectic tastes,” Julia chimed, smiling politely from her chair in the corner. “So it’s definitely possible. If Keith really doesn’t care about the lives of anyone here, I’m afraid anything is possible.”
“That’s actually part of the reason why I came,” Mixie sighed. “I wanted to see your progress with that virus, Kepler, but I also wanted to give you a bit more…motivation.”
“…what do you mean,” Kepler frowned. “If somethin’s about to go haywire, you’d better damn well tell me right now, if you know what’s good for ya.”
“Idle threats don’t really interest me, Mr. Kepler, but your belligerence has been noted,” the AI shrugged. “Anyway, it’s about Masters Gamer and Magnus.”
“They aren’t your masters anymore,” Kepler interjected suddenly. “Remember, I still don’t trust you, and throwin’ around titles like that don’t exactly make me feel good about all this.”
“If I still had any shred of loyalty for either of them, would I really share this piece of information with you?” Mixie placed a hand on her hip and sighed.
“And would this information be, Mixie?” Yuffith inquired, sitting bolt-upright in her seat.
“Well…you see…”
*
Magnus resolved to stand and watched the events from start to finish, if only to satisfy his own curiosity as to how the little bastard had managed to sustain an interest. When they were all over, whether with a whimper or a loud bang, the older hacker scoffed. “You’ve wasted enough of my time.”
Gamer glanced behind his shoulder with an eyebrow raised. “What’s that?”
“I said you’ve wasted enough of my time,” Magnus repeated. “You’re too much of a people watcher, Keith. You have yet to interest me in this game of yours.”
“Didn’t you say before that you enjoyed the idea of playing God?” Keith shook his head and returned his attention to the monitors. “Besides, this whole thing was your idea. If you hate the idea of it so much, then stop playing. It’s that simple.”
“You ungrateful little rat!” the older man grunted. “If you had any speck of sense or intelligence, you would have realized the incredible potential of this machine. Instead, you sit here, staring at everyone else, eating with one hand and doing Lord-knows-what with the other. You really do disgust me.”
“Keep in mind whose house your precious machine is stored in,” Keith spoke calmly. “And whose wallet you’ve been relying on this entire time. If I hadn’t come along when I did, you’d still be stuck in your quaint little Laundromat, playing World of Warcraft with your pants halfway off. If I’m a disgusting person, I’m not even sure what to call you.”
Magnus curled his hand into a ball, arms shaking as he towered over Gamer, whose back was still turned from him. He imagined hitting the younger kid, cracking against his skull with his fist repeatedly, and killing him. He imagined further how good it would feel. Unfortunately, his mind was far too realistic for his liking, as his army of robots was at his command. As good as killing an annoying rat would have felt, being torn apart by machines would have felt that much worse. He forced himself to exhale, and close his eyes. “Very well. Play your game to your heart’s content.”
“You still have a role to play in this, as well,” Gamer said. “I’m just…disinterested in the prisoners. I don’t even want to deal with them anymore.”
“Yes…” Magnus sighed, content that he was able to move on. “Yes, I know. Just leave that part to me.”
“Good,” Gamer nodded. “Great, actually. I’ll continue torturing these contestants, then. I think I’ve been making things too easy for them. They seem to exude a surprising amount of patience. I’ll find a way to fix that. Feel free to do whatever you please with the rest of them, in the meantime.”
“I mean to do so, and have already made preparations,” the older hacker smirked. “I’ll go do it now, in fact.”
“You do that.”
*
“Magnus brought the Terrasque back out, and that’s…not particularly good,” Mixie continued.
“Oh boy,” Kepler shook his head with a haggard expression on his face.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand,” Yuffith frowned. “What is the Terrasque?”
“It’s meant to be invincible,” the AI explained. “A large beast with astounding strength, speed, and size. Nothing would be able to destroy it.”
“So this is meant to be an execution…” Yuffith surmised with a heavy sigh.
“However…” Mixie continued. “In order for it to be that powerful, it’s been tied into the program itself. Much like how we are tied into our physical bodies. That plays into our advantage.”
“Ohoho, I see where you’re headin’,” Kepler chuckled. “If I find the virus and infect the Terrasque program with it…”
“…it will spread?” Julia finished the train of thought, and was answered with two nods.
“And that’s our best shot out of this place,” Stone mused. “However, it’s entirely possible that the shock could kill us in the real word…”
“It is worth the risk,” Julia crossed her arms. Her eyebrows burrowed as she thought more about it, however. “But Mixie, wouldn’t that mean…?”
“Yes, that would likely mean the end of my existence,” Mixie replied with a blank expression. “But it would fulfill my programming, and that’s what matters the most to me. As long as I’ve served my purpose, I can’t feel bad about the life that I’ve lived.”
“Honorable,” Kepler was obviously uncomfortable with the subject, and he immediately moved on. “So once I get the virus, how are we going to go about spreading it?”
“Well…the monster has an HP bar,” the AI explained. “Although it has an ungodly amount of health, it can be taken down. Bugging a few weapons with the virus should make it easier to spread it. It might not be enough to actually defeat it, but if the virus does its job, it shouldn’t be too long before our desired result happens.”
“And if it doesn’t?” Yuffith asked.
“Then you all die horrible deaths,” Mixie answered simply. “All the more reason to succeed, right? So, if you have the virus ready to go, spawn as many weapons as you can, and do it quickly. Doesn’t really matter what they are. Master Magnus should be here at any minute.”
Quote:I was going to go on, but I'm about to pass out, it would seem.
So here's the deal:
1.) This is the last writing part for you guys, so try to enjoy it. I'll wrap up the story in a large post at the end.
2.) The virus will basically fuck everything up, and random things will start happening. That could mean anything from graphical glitches to random people showing up to...pretty much anything. I'll leave the extent of the craziness up to you guys and your imaginations. It should be noted that these changes should be gradual. In other words, the changes should be subtle at first, so save your really crazy shit, should you have an idea, for the end.
3.) This round will be a week long, ending Friday 16 at 11:59 EST.
4.) The death rule no longer applies. Although I'll be disappointed if you don't post, I won't hold it against you if you don't. Just try to have fun. The post limit no longer applies, either.