Interphase (20 page)

For ages beyond counting the Siathrak had guarded Analath against the darkness that lay beyond the teachings. They had failed Siath. At this fatal battle, their order had come to its end.

No, not the end. Totarakh had escaped destruction; the High Priest lived on, the embodiment of Siath's will. Slowly his despair turned into rage. It was Siath who had been unfaithful to his servants. His reward to those who had carried his words was a fiery grave.

Totarakh looked about, finally trying to decipher where his wanderings had led him. His belly ached with hunger, and his throat was parched. By his senses, it had been at least a day since the destruction of the Holy City, if not two. He heard the trickle of a stream and ran toward it. Falling to his knees, he drank noisily. His senses calmed, and a faint presence began to intrude on his thoughts. He could not put a name to the feeling, but it beckoned him, a sense of wrongness in the fabric of the world.

Anger against Siath filled Totarakh's mind and drove him onward. The presence grew stronger, and he knew that Siath had heard his challenge and responded. His lips curled into a snarl as he raced toward the mysterious beacon, his aged limbs propelling him forward with deadly purpose. Again time slipped away, but now a terrible force guided his path.

Enraged though Totarakh was, he was old, even by the counting of the Anrath. With a cry of pain, he fell to the ground, his legs aching from use. He felt the world spin around him and shook his head to regain his senses.

A glint of light drew Totarakh out of his stupor. As it had when he was a young man, fleeing capture for his thieving ways, a gateway had appeared before him, shimmering yet dark. Siath had answered his challenge and opened a path to his realm. Clenching his teeth, Totarakh hauled himself to his feet and stepped through. There would be a reckoning.

***

David logged into the office the following Monday morning with his nerves on edge. Several times over the last week he had visited the grove in Analath and found no sign of Analara. For a few days he had managed to distract himself with some progress in his Crash Storm research, but as the weekend passed he began to fear that something had happened. He recalled that a rash of animal attacks had led to the closing of Ilinar's gates, and he hoped that she was safely behind them.

The anxiety was taking its toll. David tried to tell himself that if something were truly wrong, Rupu would have sought him out. Still, he couldn't help but worry.

David was just settling into his work routine when the imager abruptly shut down, and BOB-27 floated into the office. It appeared agitated, bobbing up and down on its hover pads.

"Greetings: employee #5057, David Harris," it said in what David assumed was supposed to be a cheerful manner.

Oh no, what have I done now?

"Observation: you have made an oversight in your previous work reports."

Just what I need, another mistake.

"Query: you have designed a system for detecting and warning of Crash Storm disturbances. Is this not correct?"

David scratched his head. How had BOB learned about his program? "It's something I've been working on for the past couple of weeks. From home," he added hastily. "How did you find out about it, BOB? And how is this an oversight?"

BOB-27 turned to a separate computer terminal and interfaced with it. David's imager shifted into a three dimensional wire frame grid. A bar of light passed through the grid at regular intervals, periodically returning a faint pulse. Exactly the way he'd designed it.

"This… this is my Storm warning system," David said. "How are you running this?"

"Response: it has already been deployed into V-Net. Your program has averted several hazardous encounters in populated network regions since its inception into the system."

David's eyes opened wide. "VERA knows about my program? And she's
using
it?"

"Message: on behalf of VERA, you are to receive a commendation from VERAsign for your efforts in creating such a valuable program."

"I… wow." David wasn't entirely sure what to feel. A mixture of surprise, gratitude and relief collided within him. "Thank you, BOB. Very nice of you. And VERA, I guess."

"Warning: I must once again remind you that 'BOB' is not my designation. It is Building Oversight Bot, serial number zero two—"

"All right, all right." David grinned. He could be magnanimous for the time being. "I'll try to remember."

David opened his mouth to say something further, but was cut off by a sudden alarm. It was a different tone than the assembly line warnings, and it immediately brought beads of sweat to his face. As politely as he could, he stepped in front of BOB-27 to reach the imager displaying the Storm tracking system.

"Query: what does this sound signify?"

"A Crash Storm is forming," David replied tightly. "The system is trying to get a fix on—oh
hell
!"

The alarm had accelerated from a slow pulsing tone to a steady whine, which was quickly drowned out by a peal of thunder ripping through the space above them.

"It's forming directly on us! We have to lock down the facility."

"Observation: there is no time, David Harris. The program indicates that the Crash Storm will be functional in less than sixty seconds."

"Then tell the other employees to log out of V-Net immediately!" David racked his brain for a course of action. There was one thing he could try.

BOB-27 did not hesitate, turning to the office terminal and activating a general evacuation alarm. From his workstation, David linked with his home system, desperately trying to ignore the thunder drumming through his ribcage.

How do these damn Storms keep finding me?

David accessed his research files and copied an algorithm into the imager. He activated the arms outside, watching as the new energy signature suffused the beam generators. Through the window he could hear the roar of the unearthly wind. Once the Storm struck, his code should diffuse the worst of its energy, he hoped.

"BOB, get out of here. If a bolt strikes you, you're dead."

BOB-27 swiveled away from the terminal and simulated a headshake. "Negative: I am a part of the VERAsign Offices module. I am incapable of leaving."

The first bolt ripped through a nearby window, shattering an office chair with terrible force. Small sparks of electricity seemed to creep from the strike toward the hovering drone. David knew that his supervisor would act like a lightning rod for the Storm.

He shut his eyes and bit down on his bottom lip. "Do I have your permission to do something really, really stupid?"

"Confusion: what—"

Another blade of lightning speared through the office ceiling, opening the room to the digital sky. David ran forward and wrapped his arms around the small drone. Pulling the floating program out of the air, he hunkered down beside the terminal.

Through the driving fury, David forced his eyes open. The clouds roiled overhead, screaming at him in wordless rage. A tone indicated the new energy configuration for the imager was complete, and his program activated. Outside, the massive control arms pivoted, pointing their energy generators at the sky. Wide blue beams fired upwards and lit the entire area with a brilliant light. The clouds quieted, almost dissipating as his algorithm counteracted the Storm's code, but soon darkness began to grow above.

At a massive crack of thunder, David stared up into a Storm system that was now twice its original size. Lightning lashed out as if angered by the assault. A searing line of pain sliced along his hip, another strike barely missing his head. Through the pain he could imagine a voice in the clouds laughing at his feeble attempts to stop the destruction.

The Crash Storm rolled through the module, blasting its way farther into V-Net. The office was a charred, warped mess. David released BOB-27 and lay on his uninjured side, alternating each breath between a groan and a curse.

"Directive: I must begin repairs on the module," BOB-27 told him, floating away. It paused near the exit. "David Harris… BOB thanks you."

David stared in amazement, barely managing a nod before the drone moved out of sight.

Wincing as he rose, David looked out at the path of destruction. He clenched his jaw and opened a tell-channel, hoping the system was still operational. =Clyde, I know you're on. I need help right now.=

For a second silence was the only reply, then he heard a muffled curse. =Wow, Harris, you really know how to break a guy's concentration.=

=Bill me later. Listen, there's a major Crash Storm moving through V-Net. I need you to track it and tell me where it's going.=

=Are you fused? You can't track Crash Storms.=

=You can now. Do a search through general network functions.= David took a step forward, testing his weight on his left hip. Sharp pain lanced up his leg, but he managed to keep his balance. He could find a first aid station later. =Do you see it yet?=

=Whoa, that's kinda cool. Your handiwork?=

=Flattery later, just tell me where the Storm is.=

Clyde thought a few unsavory words but filtered them out of the channel before David could discern what they were. =All right, I see it. It looks like it's heading for the Titans' arena. I think they're doing some sort of training camp.=

The bottom dropped out of David's stomach. =Thomas is a member of the Titans, he'll be at the arena.=

=Since when do you make friends with jocks?=

=Quiet, I need to think!= David's gaze traveled around the broken module and landed on the remains of the imager. =Okay. I need you to pull a file from my home system. Then you're going to meet me at the arena.=

=I'm what?= Clyde scoffed.

David's nostrils flared. =Clyde, I don't have time to argue about this. That Crash Storm is at least twice as strong as any we've seen before. This thing is strong enough to
physically
kill someone. I can't stop it by myself, I need you there!=

Clyde sighed down the channel. =You're serious about staring this thing down?=

=It's partly code-based, and it's inside the system. Come on, wonder boy, show me how good you really are.=

=All right. But you try to turn me into a hero, and I'll kick your ass.=

***

Clyde sliced a gate open into the exterior of the Titans' arena module with his full arsenal equipped and ready. Thunder resonated in his bones, and he saw the black mass of the Crash Storm looming above, ready to strike the facility with full fury. =Harris, I'm inside. Where are you?=

=Southeast entrance,= David responded. =Hurry, this thing will be on top of us in seconds!=

Light flashed just behind Clyde. He whipped around and saw a wide crater smoking only a few feet away from where he stood. "Damn!" Hoisting his rocket-launcher on his shoulder, he ran toward the rendezvous point.

Clyde found David waiting for him, decked out as a space marine. "Think that suit will offer any protection?"

"Not really," David said. "A word of warning: getting hit by Crash Storm lightning
really
hurts. I don't think even your code shield is powerful enough to block it." He pointed to the horizon with his rifle. "Here it comes."

A sound like a hammer hitting steel rang out, and the ground shook. Clyde turned and saw the Storm racing over the virtual horizon, a billow of black clouds spitting lightning. Hefting his weapon, he launched a pair of resonance-decoder probes straight into the clouds. They burst in green flashes. He activated his wrist-computer and watched the holo-screen fill with lines of gibberish. Slowly the random images were replaced by readable text. "We're in business! The data's getting filtered by your code."

"Can you decipher it?" David shouted over the roar of the thunder.

"Just give me a sec—" A flash lit the sky over their heads, followed by a deafening peal. David pushed Clyde off his feet and dove away as huge blackened chunks of the arena wall came hurtling down where they had been standing. The formless lumps hit the ground and started to move. Over a dozen fragments sprouted clawed arms and distended jaws. Skin shimmered over them, stretching like rubber between knots of rocklike muscle. The creatures lifted themselves upright on tentacled legs and oriented on the two humans.

"Oh hell, the Storm can animate lifeless matter now." David raised his rifle over Clyde's shoulder and fired a volley into the group of monsters. Half of them exploded in a shower of black goo. The others crept forward, slow at first, but faster as they grew accustomed to their bodies. David fired again as lightning rained down, blasting the floor and walls and spawning new groups of twisted creatures.

"We have to move!" David hauled Clyde to his feet and shoved him toward one of the arena entrances.

"What the hell are these things, Harris?" Clyde lifted his launcher, coding in new ammunition as he backpedaled.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I knew that Crash Storm lightning could mutate existing V-Net agents, but I've never seen it create them from inanimate code pieces!"

Something heavy landed on Clyde's shoulder. He stumbled and heard something snarl beside his ear. Claws dug into his shoulder. With a growl he turned and slammed his fist into what passed for the creature's face. Grunting in pain, it fell to the ground.

"Get inside. Hurry," David shouted.

Still firing, the pair made it through the side entrance and slammed the security door shut behind them. The sounds of scrabbling and growling faded as they stepped away from the door. Clyde glared at his wrist computer. His decoders were still transmitting raw data, and David's interface was deciphering it as fast as it could, but even then it wasn't much to go on. "Damn, this stuff is a mess. Who wrote this crap?"

"Can you find a way to control it?"

"Are you serious? I can't even understand it!" Clyde rerouted the data feed to a secure server and loaded a different application. His expression hardened. "Understanding isn't necessary in order to stop it. Just get me into the practice arena."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to set a trap for it."