Location: Within the mind of Elogin...

Elogin cackled to herself as Lean twitched under her deadly mental touch. She sifted through the various memories contained within the Class-8's cortex. Somewhere within it was the information containing the coordinates for opening a portal to Omega-Cragis.

Lean, although physically paralyzed (or as far as 'physical' meant here), was very active mentally. He evaded Elogin's probing and erected mental barriers to keep her out. But Elogin knocked down his defenses and moved on regardless.

"You are resourceful, Wolf," Elogin said. "But I am better." How do you hope to contend with a virus of MY stature?

{L-l-log off.}

Insolent gnat.

Lean's mental plane rocked with the sheer force of Elogin's attack. He reeled, but still managed to cling to his will and guarded the information he held within an inch of his 'life.'

Elogin roared with anger, her sharp teeth glistening. She swung her hand and smashed the crystalline barrier she'd put up around Lean. She grabbed him by the throat, then held up her other hand, pointing two fingers at him, the claws on the end glittering. She drove the fingers forward, becoming immaterial at the last moment and piercing through Lean's skin without injuring it.

"Looks like I'll have to be more forceful," the Class-17 said.

Location: Central Sector, Resonate System

Two sprite cops reclined in their chairs as their CPU hovered near the perimeter of the Central Sector and the Principal Office. One had red skin and the other yellow skin. They slumbered a bit. It had been a slow day. Well, actually, that was not true, but nothing had affected their patrol.

Red sat bolt upright as the proximity alarm went off on the dash. He grabbed at the comm-link and spoke. "This is CPU #54, calling the hoverbike approaching on vector X-51. Please state your intentions and halt."

There was a crackle, and then a male voice came on. "This is Quinn Rentack and Niente Aught. We need assistance and protection immediately!"

Red and Yellow glanced at each other, then rolled their eyes. They personally did not like Rentack, mostly due to the things he'd written about the Resonate PD in his column in the news-sheets. Red spoke: "Why should we do that, Rentack?"

"Because some psychopath with a repeater rifle is trying to kill me!"

Yellow laughed. "You finally piss somebody off with your column, Rentack?"

A female voice broke in. "Look, bit-brains, this is serious. Put us through to Hostan!"

Red leaned back, putting his feet up on the dash. "`Fraid I can't do that, Ms. Aught. Regulation #217."

"If you two frickin' assholes don't let us by," Niente said dangerously, "you're going to find out what Megabyte felt like when he got pounded by Matrix."

Red and Yellow, though a bit intimidated by Niente's threat, were still immobile. That is, until a salvo of laser pulses flew past the hoverbike, a few skimming CPU #54.

"Holy Mother of Babbage!" Yellow swore as he toppled back in his seat. He smacked the sensor array and zoomed in on the source of the shots. A gray-skinned human with a green cross tattooed on his forehead aimed a strange-looking rifle up at them.

"Geeze! They're right!" Yellow said. "Let 'em pass!" He swung the CPU's guns around and aimed down at the rifleman.

"Attention, Rentack, you may pass!" Red hollered as he brought the car around to intercept some of the rifle shots.

The hoverbike screamed past, as CPU #54's guns tore up the pavement around the rifleman. The rifleman looked up, and the cybernetic implants protruding from his skull glinted. He raised the rifle to fire the bayonet through the fuselage, causing CPU #54 to crash into the ground.

Cato looked at it briefly, but moved on into the Central Sector. He had two targets to eliminate.

Location: Principal Office, Control Center

Police Chief Cal Hostan frowned at the holo-map of the system before looking at the two people standing next to him. "What did you say this man's name was?"

Quinn shrugged. He was in his spare hoverchair, his shotgun sitting on his lap. The PO guards were antsy about that, but Command.Com Al Mark had convinced them to stand down actions. "All I ever learned about him was that he was called Cato. I know he works for TruPharm Incorporated, an aide to Klaus Lans."

Hostan raised an eyebrow. "A personal aide turned assassin? That's unusual." He turned. "Johnson! Run a check against the published data about TruPharm's dBase. Check for anyone in their personnel files named 'Cato.'"

"Aye, sir!"

Hostan drummed his fingers on the display top. "We know he's in the Central Sector. He downed CPU #54 and is resisting attacks. What kind of armor is that guy wearing?"

Quinn and Niente, who stood beside him, looked at each other before Quinn answered. "The only reason Cato didn't kill me back in the Downtown District is because someone warned me. He passed along certain information about Cato before he broke off contact."

Hostan nodded. "What was this person's name?"

Quinn hesitated. "I'd rather not say. I wouldn't ordinarily trust this person, but they convinced me this time."

Hostan grunted. "All right. What do you know about Cato?"

Quinn sighed, looked at Niente again, then answered. "Cato was augmented. Someone put a Mysadt probe in his head, attached those cybernetic implants to his head and replaced his hand with a cybernetic prosthesis. There's nothing left of his original personality. Someone programmed him to kill me."

"Any idea who?" Hostan asked.

Niente groaned and rubbed her eyes. "This is gonna take a while, Cal," she mumbled.

Hostan crossed his arms. "We've got a while. Might as well start now."

Quinn and Niente looked at each other one last time before Quinn began to speak.

Location: True Force HQ

Dr. Sarah Archer scanned the readouts from Cato's implants as Lazarus disembarked from his private elevator. The lank leader of the True Force clasped his hands behind his back as his cybernetic eye glowed. "Status report, Doctor."

Dr. Archer tapped the display top. "Cato's functioning well, but his quarry is quite elusive. Mr. Rentack is under the protection of the Resonate's Police Department."

Lazarus peered at her. "And this is a problem because?"

"Individually, the RPD may be incompetent, but as a single force and under Hostan's leadership, this presents a problem. The Central Sector of the Resonate is much more well-guarded." Dr. Archer shrugged. "Cato is being detained, but not held. They simply have him in a stand off."

Lazarus snarled. "Unacceptable!" The computer terminal next to Dr. Archer began to beep and flash red lights. "What now?"

Dr. Archer consulted the readouts. "Someone is trying to hack TruPharm-Net!"

"WHAT?!" Lazarus howled. Then he pounded his fist into the console. "DAVINCI! He's found a way inside without being in Great Codex!"

"Who else would it be?" Lazarus demanded. "He's the only person who knows we exist."

"Shall I get our hackers underway blocking him?" Dr. Archer asked.

"Yes," the True Force leader said. "I have a committee meeting to get to. I trust you will have things carefully tied up?"

"Of course," Dr. Archer said, heading for the access to rest of TruPharm's sub-basements, where they housed the majority of the True Force's base of ops. She smirked to herself. The hackers she'd hired were buffoons. Sagittaria would take care of this problem.

She knew what DaVinci was after. Her files and Lazarus' files. If the Renaissance Hacker got his hands on her files, her cover would be blown and the True Force would be forced to step into the open. Lazarus didn't want that yet.

She frowned inwardly. If Elogin were not occupied with Lean, she would have the Class-17 aid her.

Location: Naught & Nada's Hacking Parlor

Surf grunted. "We got incoming! Looks like the True Force noticed us."

"Just do what I told you, Surf," DaVinci said. "Aztral and I are almost inside. Keep them off our backs for a couple more minutes, and we'll be so deep inside they won't be able to dislodge us so easily."

"That's right, boyo!" Aztral shouted as he crashed a security server. "See you on the flip side!"

"Careful, Aztral," Surf said. "If you crash too many servers, that will make our jobs harder."

"So sue me!" Aztral said. He was lost in the hacking. "Come on, you little data nuggets, where the devil are you?"

DaVinci said nothing as he closed his eyes. Codes and decryption algorithms flashed before his mind's eye as he automatically typed them in. "Let's see what there is to see..."

All three of their computers opened another vid-window. Harsh ice blue letters appeared.

> YOU HAVE VIOLATED THE SANCTITY OF OUR SYSTEMS. VACATE NOW OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES.

DaVinci smirked. Typical security message. He continued inward. The text of the message changed.

> YOU WILL NOT BE WARNED AGAIN.

"Log off, null," Aztral muttered as he speared inward. He was fast approaching the dBases where DaVinci claimed the information would be. Surf was oblivious, running block as best as she was able. The message changed a third time.

> YOU WERE WARNED, HACKERS. NOW FACE THE CONSEQUENCES.

DaVinci blinked once behind his sunglasses, which flickered with green light momentarily. His computer's display shifted with static. DaVinci frowned. "That's not good." He punched up his defense algorithms.

Surf gave a squawk of alarm as her own algorithms were shut down with a single ping. She muttered darkly and reinitialized them, sending her own offense along the connection.

Aztral expertly evaded pings and cracked into one dBase, running the appropriate search for the data they were looking for. Surf's offensive pings were distracting the security systems.

DaVinci frowned, however, as he studied the reactions of the security systems. Moments later, he made his deductions clear. "This isn't an automated defense system. This is a hacker!"

"That's no surprise," Surf said. "I was starting to suspect that myself. That's good. A hacker implies that we're dealing with a thinking being. Thinking beings are open to flaws."

"True, but this hacker is good," DaVinci said as he sent his own offensive ping as he simultaneously started a search of a dBase. He glanced up briefly as the message window changed again.

> YOU ARE SKILLED. BUT YOU WILL NOT PREVAIL.

DaVinci scowled. "Say, Aztral, keep at the hack-work. I'm going to find out who this goddamn hacker is. You know the old saying, 'Know thy enemy.'"

"Yeah, but be careful," Aztral said as he beefed up his defenses for another crack.

DaVinci delved into the data streams, looking for the appropriate access.

Location: The Exley Residence, Great Codex System

Tomasi stepped over the downed guards and popped out the spent charges from his handcannon before slapping in fresh ones. He strode into the empty apartment. He knew the Guardians would have somebody guarding he and his brother's apartment here, so he'd been ready.

His brother. Tomasi felt a pang of remorse for his late brother. But that remorse quickly turned to anger and he strode into the main room. The Guardians hadn't bothered to confiscate their hoard yet. This was good. Tomasi would be able to use the weapons in the hoard to help in his attack on the True Force.

He grabbed a bandoleer of charges for his handcannon before grabbing a pair of twin Blaztek 2100s, which he stuck in holsters on his belt. He grabbed a vibroknife, which he stuck in his boot, then a 'toaster.' This was a slang term for a makeshift gun comprised of a trigger and handle attached to a miniature propane tank. A Zippo lighter was taped to the end. When fired, it spat out a fireball that exploded on impact. He then grabbed a backpack and stuffed it with moldable explosive matter and extra charges.

"All right, Lazarus," Tomasi said to himself as he went over to look at a picture of his brother, "you want to play hard? The gloves are off, boyo. Time to kick ass."

He pulled the picture from the frame and stuck it in his pocket. "Time to go User hunting."

Location: Elogin's Mind

The Class-17 frowned. "You're a tough one, I'll grant you that. For a Class-8, you certainly are a lot more experienced."

Lean still couldn't speak aloud, since his speech subroutines were disabled, but he thought a suitably vicious barb at her.

Elogin laughed. "Oh, come now, I'm nowhere near that bad! I'm worse." She cackled as she ran her long fingers over his head. "Let's see now, what to do? I can't quite seem to find what I need the normal way."

Lean sent, {Go stick your head up a Web Spore's rear.}

Elogin brought down the blinding pain on his mental plane again before holding her hand out before her. "All right, then, let's see what we can get here! We'll start at the beginning!"

She placed her palm on the top of his head and then stuck her claws into his head again, turning them immaterial, leaving his head uninjured. His mind, however, reeled from the onslaught as his memory cortex was forced to replay what Elogin accessed.

Location: Naught & Nada's Hacking Parlor

> YOUR SPINE WILL BE MY TOOTHPICK. YOUR EYES SHALL BE A CONVERSATION PIECE ON MY MANTLE.

"My, aren't we one with the gruesome imagery," DaVinci muttered to himself as Aztral cracked dBases and Surf ran block. He was getting close to the hacker's node within the network. "You can't hide forever, come on."

Then, as all three of them sent in an offensive ping, the last barriers between DaVinci and the hacker's node went down. Information flooded his screen as his sunglasses glinted with green light. He whooped. "Got you, you son of a bitch!"

His eyes quickly scanned the screen and his jaw dropped open. "Oh, my god. It can't be."

In that instant, a sharp, searing pain flared to life in the back of his mind. DaVinci screamed in agony and jabbed his hands to his temples, squeezing his eyes shut. He lost control of his muscles and pitched forward to strike the keyboard to his computer. Static filled his screen before he toppled sideways out of his chair.

Aztral and Surf immediately turned to look at him as his computer automatically shut down. DaVinci spasmed on the floor for several moments then lay still. His sunglasses slipped from his nose, revealing blank eyes that saw nothing.

"David!" Surf cried, shoving aside her computer as she fell to help her friend. She looked up at Aztral. "How close are you to being finished?"

"I'm about three-quarters done," Aztral said, "but I can't finish without somebody running block!"

Surf glanced at DaVinci, then looked up. "I'll finish the work. You help David. I'm the better hacker."

Aztral was about to protest, but then he realized this wasn't the time for that argument. He slid out of his chair and knelt next to DaVinci as Surf sat at his place.

"Come on, D, wake up!" Aztral said, tapping him on the cheek. No response. "What hit him?"

Location: Level 30A, Great Codex System

DaVinci slowly came around, then glanced around. "What the deuce happened?" he muttered aloud. He'd been staring at his computer screen, reading something he'd hoped dearly was not true, then he'd gotten something like a migraine to the n-th degree.

Wait a moment. This place looked familiar. DaVinci looked more closely at the sky above him. It was entirely blocked out by the level above him. He nodded. "Great Codex. How'd I get here?"

But his attention was seized by a loud humming sound. DaVinci, intrigued, turned and went toward it. It seemed to be coming from inside one of the buildings nearby. It sounded like a power converter. The door leading into the building was closed and locked.

DaVinci shrugged and moved his hand to the keypad, but his fingers passed through it. He blinked, then tried again. Nothing. He frowned. This was definitely not normal. Puzzled, he tried pushing on the door, but his hand passed through it so quickly that he inadvertently stumbled through it.

He took the moment to assess the situation. Apparently, he was in Great Codex, but he was immaterial. That was possible for sprites, who existed within the computers, but only under certain glitchy conditions. But for humans? That was impossible.

But again his attention was diverted by the humming sound coming from the power converter on the opposite side of the room. The computer terminal next to it flashed incomprehensible information on its screen before something odd happened.

The two miniature Tesla coils atop the converter began to spark. Unconsciously, DaVinci stepped back as energy coursed between the two. Then, in a flash, a bolt of lightning shot out and struck air in the middle of the room. There was a second blinding flash, then a form DaVinci recognized all too well collapsed on the floor.

Lean Il Lupe sat up groggily. He was clad in the black clothing he typically wore as Andrew Ginole. His eyes were not glowing. He shook his head briefly, then looked around. DaVinci tensed, but Lean did not seem to see him.

"Where am I?" Lean whispered hoarsely. He coughed loudly, then climbed to his feet. He staggered for a moment, then tested the ground. He blinked. "Huh. Gravity."

"Lean!" DaVinci called. "What are you doing here?" But the virus did not respond. He looked around again, then strode over to the door, but was balked as it beeped negatively at him.

"That's going to complicate things," Lean muttered.

DaVinci was puzzled. Something was definitely wrong. First, he was in Great Codex when he should be in the Resonate. Second, he couldn't touch anything. Third, Lean was dead. That was the only explanation for the non-presence in his head. Fourth, Lean couldn't seem to see or hear him.

Lean walked back to the terminal. DaVinci stood in his way, but Lean walked through him. DaVinci blinked, then turned to look over Lean's shoulder as he checked something on the computer.

The date read 30-6-2491. Eight years ago. DaVinci searched his memory. He had gone to visit the Resonate System at the time, to track down the Flip Side Felons. But DaVinci remembered the date for a far better reason.

It was less than a week after he'd deleted his chameleon protocol from his computer. Less than a week after Lean had gone off into the world on his own. Somehow, DaVinci had been transported back in time.

The Tesla coils sparked again, striking Lean in the chest and knocking him down. DaVinci looked at him with mild interest. The virus looked a great deal like him. His eyes were a pale blue color. He tried to sit up, but was unable to. He cracked his head on the ground as he collapsed, causing himself to bleed.

Another door opened and a somewhat large sprite, green of skin, muscled his way into the room, not seeing DaVinci but looking at Lean with interest. "Just what exactly do you think you're doing here?" The tag on the man's jacket read 'Taggart.'

Lean just groaned and rolled over, trying to get up. Taggart saw the nasty wound on the back of his head, he blinked. "Aw, man! What in the Web happened to you?"

Taggart helped Lean up. "What's your name, son?"

Lean blinked blearily, trying to focus on his surroundings, but he mumbled, "Cha...me...leon?"

"Lean, you say?" Taggart asked. "Come on, let's get you to a doctor."

DaVinci was about to follow when suddenly his surroundings shifted. He was in a doctor's office. Lean lay on a bed while a F'Val doctor scanned him. "He's suffered some sort of trauma," the doctor said, "but I can't tell much. There are trace amounts of energy around the wound."

"Might have been a stunwand," Taggart said. "How's he going to be?"

"He'll be fine," the doctor said. "Just give him some time to let him get his wits about him."

DaVinci watched, intrigued, but then he heard a feminine voice speak, seemingly from everywhere at once.

Oh, this isn't what I need. Let's move forward a bit, shall we?

The scene shifted again. A group of humans surrounded Lean, clutching blunt objects and other instruments of pain. He looked around, panicked, still leaning on a cane from the hospital. Taggart was unconscious on the ground. DaVinci watched as one of the human men moved in.

Lean growled low and bestial. He grabbed the chain the man swung at him and flicked his wrist, pulling it from his fist. He whipped it above his head before striking the man high in the forehead. The man staggered back. Lean tossed aside the chain and dropped low into a crouch, hands out in a defensive posture.

The other men growled their annoyance and moved in. DaVinci's eyes widened as he recognized the lank man with the hawk-like nose. "Lazarus?" It was the True Force leader, but his right eye was still intact, and his scowl wasn't as deep as it had been when he'd last seen him. So, DaVinci reasoned, it wasn't exactly Lazarus. It was Klaus Lans.

"Get the blasted construct!" Lans snarled, hefting a heavy pipe.

The other men lunged. Lean ducked under the first attack and brought a hand up viciously. His fingernails raked across the man's face, laying it open. He grabbed the crowbar in the man's hand and swung it into the head of the next man that attacked. Both went down as Lean tossed aside the crowbar and grabbed up his cane, slashing another man with his nails as he clobbered the next on the head with the cane.

Lans reeled back with surprise. "It fights like a demon!"

"Forget demon!" the man next to him said. "It's as vicious as a virus!"

Lean blinked as he stood up from his latest victim and looked toward them. "Yes..." Lean whispered. "That's it." His pale blue eyes started to glow as he tightened his grip on his cane. "I know what I am." His voice took on a mysterious resonance.

"You're dead is what you are!" Lans' compatriot roared as he lunged in. Lean raised his cane and stuck the tip forward. It struck the man's chest, and electricity crackled. The man howled with pain and fell to the ground.

"Animal!" Lans snarled as he hefted his pipe up to strike. He charged.

Lean spun to face him and reversed the cane so the hook slashed up across Lans' face. There was a brief splash of blood as Lans gave a bloodcurdling scream, dropping his pipe. Lean laughed.

"You...you fight like a wolf," Lans moaned as he held his hands over his injured eye. "You are a demon!"

"Your compatriot had it more accurate," Lean said. He laughed again, slowly hovering above the ground. "I'm not a sprite...not exactly. I'm a virus!"

"Demon!" Lans insisted. "You are Legion! Demon!"

Lean scoffed and left the bleeding man there as he strode away. But he paused momentarily. "Wolf. I like that." He licked his lips, thinking. "Il Lupe. Yes. Lean Il Lupe. Has a nice ring to it."

DaVinci watched the sprite-turned-virus stride off. He was beginning to understand what was going on. Somehow, he was witnessing Lean's memories, which someone...presumably that female voice he'd heard...was accessing. He had to figure out a way back to reality. He didn't want to spend any more time inside Lean's head than he needed to.

No, no, no, the woman's voice said. This still isn't what I need. DaVinci frowned. There was something familiar about that voice.

The scene shifted again. Lean was standing before the power converter again. Now Rollo and Tomasi were with him. Taggart was being held against the wall by Rollo. Lean examined the console.

"What are you doing?" Taggart asked.

"I can no longer stay here," Lean said. "I must find someplace to hide from Lans and his goon squads." He looked flustered. "No place is safe! Where can I hide?!"

"Look, just let me go to the police, and I can have Lans arrested!" Taggart said.

"Shut up," Rollo grunted. Tomasi stood guard next to the outer door.

Lean turned back to look at Taggart. "Sorry, Tag, but Lans has money. He'll just buy his way out, and then he'll be more determined than ever to have me eliminated."

"Right, don't try to fix the system," Tomasi said. "That takes patience and money. Neither of which we have."

"I'm sorry to drag you into this, Tag," Lean said, "but Lans is after you too."

"Don't worry about me," Taggart said. "I've dealt with racist bastards like Lans before."

"I don't want you to get hurt," Lean said.

Taggart shook his head. "I won't. Trust me. I've survived attacks before. This is just another racist blowing off steam."

The virus turned to look back at the sprite. Then he nodded. "Very well then. Rollo, let him go." Reluctantly, the sprite-for-hire did so. Taggart straightened his shirt front. Lean stepped away from the console to place his hands on Taggart's shoulders. "Take care, Tag. After we're gone, you can go."

Taggart nodded. "See you around, Lean."

Lean smirked, then shook his head. "No, you won't." He dropped his hands and stepped back to the console, his hands searching the keyboard. Rollo watched the virus for a while before going over to the door and standing guard with his brother.

"Huh. Lean did have some friends," DaVinci said to himself.

Tomasi spoke up. "Say, Wolf, what're you doin' anyway?"

"Looking for an appropriate place to open a portal." The virus tapped buttons. "Great Codex isn't safe."

The two Exleys nodded, eyeing Taggart a moment before returning to their work. Lean continued his work. The female voice spoke again. Yes. Yes. This is what I'm looking for! The coordinates of Omega-Cragis!

Now DaVinci recognized the voice. "Archer!" the hacker said, looking up beyond the ceiling. "What the hell are you doing to Lean?"

Keep going, Lean. Keep searching. Find those coordinates. The voice had some odd resonance to it. DaVinci frowned. It sounded familiar. Then Sagittaria and I can proceed with our plans.

That snapped DaVinci back to the information he'd read on his computer screen. It had been information on the infamous hacker Sagittaria. But more than that, it had been notes on Sagittaria, written in the first person, and dated very recently. Furthermore, the user-information included in the file had the location where the notes had been made and who had made them: Dr. Sarah Archer, TruPharm Inc. HQ.

The way this woman was speaking, distinctly similar to Dr. Archer but with that strange resonance, and referring to Sagittaria--Dr. Archer--as a separate person lead DaVinci to a frightening conclusion.

The voice belonged to a virus. A virus written by Sagittaria. And since this virus was manipulating Lean's mind in this way, that meant something else. This virus was a Class-17.

Location: Naught & Nada's Hacking Parlor

"How's it coming, Aztral?" Surf asked as she evaded another offensive ping on her computer.

"He's not responding to anything," Aztral said. "He's still breathing, though. That's a good sign."

"It's not a good sign if he stays a vegetable," Surf replied.

"I know," Aztral admitted. "How close are you?"

"I think I'm approaching something big," Surf said. "The hacker blocking us is getting desperate. I can't keep evading them. We need DaVinci."

Aztral looked from the screen to the comatose hacker on the ground. "I don't think he's waking up any time soon."

Location: Principal Office, Resonate System

"Let me get this straight," Hostan said. "You're saying that Klaus Lans, the CEO of TruPharm Incorporated, calls himself 'Lazarus' and is the leader of a religious hate group opposed to non-humans?"

Nods from Quinn and Niente.

"And that he's already tried to kill your friend David Gabbiani for befriending sprites like Ms. Aught here."

More nods.

"But because you and your friends helped rescue him, now Lans has had a woman named Dr. Sarah Archer turn a man named Cato into that cybernetic assassin that my men are fighting outside."

Vigorous nodding.

Hostan looked over at Johnson. "Report."

"I did find a record of a man named Julius Cato at TruPharm," Johnson replied. "Information about his job, however, is classified."

"What about this Sarah Archer?" Hostan asked.

"Cured my ass," Quinn said. "She's utterly crazy!"

Hostan nodded. "I have my doubts about her stability after reading this. I don't trust anybody with a history of mental illness."

Quinn sighed a bit. "So, what are we going to do about Cato? He's been dosed with permacover. It'll take days to injure him any."

"Yes," the Resonate Police Chief said. "That does complicate things. It means we can't dose him with sedatives either. Any darts won't puncture his skin."

"What about knockout gas?" Niente suggested.

Hostan looked at her. "I underestimated you, Ms. Aught. I had you pegged for an ignorant racer. My apologies. Roberts! Have the eastern battery arm one of its cannons with a canister of domamine gas."

"Aye, sir!" the man ran off to obey.

"I'll contact the Guardians," Hostan said. "I'll have them go pick up Dr. Archer for questioning."

Location: Lean's Mental Flashback

DaVinci racked his mind for a way out. A Class-17 virus was manipulating Lean Il Lupe's mind to find the coordinates of Omega-Cragis for some nefarious purpose. When the Class-17 did this, the shock was so great it pulled him into Lean's mind. DaVinci had a sick feeling that once the Class-17 was done with Lean, she'd delete him. DaVinci didn't want to know what would happen to him then.

Lean was still at the console, searching for a safe location to portal to. DaVinci was immaterial. He couldn't affect the outcome of this at all. He needed to slow it down enough for the Class-17 to stop what it was doing, thus freeing up the link between his mind and Lean's so he could escape.

DaVinci thought back to the time a little more than a year ago when Lean had kidnapped him. Lean had tried to merge with him so he could hack the Teracomputer and conquer the Metaverse. He might have succeeded if not for Quinn and the others. But Lean might have bested them if DaVinci had not forced his control.

~~Maybe the same could work here,~~ DaVinci thought.

DaVinci closed his eyes and concentrated as hard as he could. He thought of static, C-SPAN, the World Council, road construction, red tape, bureaucrats. Anything and everything that slowed or stopped things he thought about to block the Class-17's search.

At first, it seemed a futile effort. The scene before him continued out. But then, slowly at first, it seemed like the whole scene was hit by patches of green static--not unlike the lines that periodically flicked across the lenses of his sunglasses. Lean, Taggart, Rollo, and Tomasi all ground to a stop.

What? What is this? the Class-17 said. Lean! How are you doing this?!

There was a blinding flash, then searing pain. DaVinci bit back a scream, but tried to maintain his concentration. If anything, it caused the scene to break up. There was a low rumble from the Class-17, then another blinding flash. DaVinci yelped with the pain and staggered back, falling through the wall.

He got up and walked back through the wall to see Lean's shape growing more indistinct. The Class-17's voice howled. DaVinci braced himself for another blast. The scene lit up like a supernova, then something else happened.

The room and the Great Codex around him went dark. The Class-17 screamed with frustration and DaVinci felt like a bungee cord grabbed him backwards, pulling him out of Lean's mind.

"D! Come on, DaVinci, you gotta wake up!"

DaVinci turned toward the sound and let the unseen force pull him back to himself.

Location: Naught & Nada's Hacking Parlor

Aztral shouted again. "D! Come on, DaVinci, you gotta wake up!"

Surf wiped sweat from her brow. "Jeezus, I must be near something important. The hacker's pulling out all stops. I don't think I can maintain this much longer."

Aztral looked up with alarm, then shook DaVinci's body. "D! Wake up!"

The hacker blinked and looked at Aztral. "You don't have to shout, Naught. I'm right here."

"David! Thank God!" Aztral said. "What happened?"

"No time," DaVinci said, sitting up. He got to his feet and pushed Surf away from the computer. He sat down, closed his eyes for a moment, then his fingers flew across the keyboard. He scowled. "All right, Archer, you want to play rough? Let's see what you got."

He tapped his faux icon, automatically setting up a link between his computer and Surf's. He tapped a key, and a dozen offensive pings lashed out to strike the other hacker's server.

"Did he say 'Archer'?" Surf asked Aztral.

"I think so," the other said.

"David, did you say--?"

"No time," DaVinci repeated. He snapped his fingers at Aztral. "Get on your computer and find those files!! I've got her distracted."

Location: Sagittaria's Hacking Parlor

"Aargh! Impossible!" Sagittaria screamed at her computer. "What the hell happened?" One moment she'd been fending off DaVinci and the Flip Side Felons, barely hanging on, then something happened. Only one person remained, trying to get in.

She'd been just about to crash the other hacker when offensive pings had been coming in like bullets. Now there were two people trying to get into TruPharm-Net. She couldn't take care of both the attacker and the scourge looking for the files by herself, not with someone like DaVinci opposing her.

Then something clicked. When DaVinci had first been apprehended by the True Force, he'd been at his old apartment. She frowned. DaVinci had been hacking TruPharm-Net then. DaVinci wasn't in Great Codex. That meant he had links to his computer in the Resonate somewhere in this system.

ELOGIN! Sagittaria sent.

There was a long pause before the Class-17 appeared. "WHAT is it? I was trying to revive Lean. He passed out. I can't hack his mind while he's unconscious."

"DaVinci's hacking TruPharm-Net!" Sagittaria said. "He'll find out about us if we don't stop him!"

Immediately Elogin was alert. "You want me to crash his links?"

"Yes! Go to his apartment here! Destroy it!"

Elogin vanished without a word as Sagittaria pounded her keyboard, desperately trying to block DaVinci's attack.

Elogin sailed over the Great Codex, zeroing in on DaVinci's old apartment. She scowled viciously, her sharp teeth glistening. She put her long-fingered hands in front of her and smashed into the apartment like a missile. Masonry and debris exploded out. Elogin spun in a circle, energy pouring out of her hands and setting the place on fire.

Elogin turned in midair and hovered out of the building. She faced the building and held out a hand. The fire pulled itself off the walls and concentrated in her palm. In a moment, she held a fireball the size of her head. Winding up like a Big League pitcher, Elogin hurled it back into the hole in the building.

The explosion whammed out like a hammer. The two floors on either side of the apartment were damaged as well. Elogin wrapped herself in invisibility, then scowled.

"Carrie was an amateur."

Location: Naught & Nada's Hacking Parlor

"Crashed!" DaVinci said as his screen flashed CONNECTION LOST. He turned to Aztral. "Did you--?"

"Yup," Aztral said, holding up a thick disk. "All of Archer's and Lazarus' files. I didn't have time to find what we needed, so I just copied all of it."

"Good boy," Surf said, plucking it from his fingers. "We can search it later."

Aztral shut down his computer and tapped his icon to revert back to regular Naught. "David, what was that you were saying about Archer?"

DaVinci closed his computer and replaced his icon on his pocket. He turned to them. "Just before I passed out, I found out who the hacker was that was blocking us."

"Who?" Nada asked as she twirled the disk in her fingers. "Dr. Archer?"

David hesitated. "Sort of. Dr. Sarah Archer is Sagittaria."

Naught gawked. "The Hate Crasher? The one who crashed a million servers in a single day?"

"That's her," David said. "She faked her death. Furthermore, I think she wrote a virus."

Both of the Flip Side Felons stared at him. "She what?" Nada asked.

"I said I think Sagittaria, or Archer, or whatever, wrote a virus. A Class Seventeen."

The temperature in the room dropped several degrees. Naught sat down heavily. "Please, please, please tell me you're kidding."

David shook his head. "A Class Seventeen."

Nada looked at the disk in her hand and set it on the table. "Dear Merciful Heavens."

Naught grimaced. "We have the worst luck with viruses."

Location: Central Sector, Resonate System

Cato looked around at the swarm of CPUs surrounding him. He was pounded rom all sides by guns, but he stared at them with no emotion. He raised the Gunclaw and fired a few pulses at them.

/Cato to Commander. Request assistance,/ Cato sent over his implant's frequency.

No answer came.

A short distance away, one of the cannons of the PO's eastern battery pivoted to aim at Cato. A short little Khatran loaded a canister into the barrel. "Fire in the hole!" the gunner shouted.

The canister fired out and landed at Cato's feet. He glanced at it before it exploded, releasing a cloud of greenish gas. Cato blinked, then his eyes rolled back and he fell asleep.

"Quickly, men!" Hostan radioed from the PO. "Restrain him and put him in the holding cell!"

Within the Principal Office, Hostan turned to Roberts. "Are the electromagnets in place around the cell?"

"Aye, sir," Roberts reported.

"Excellent," Hostan said. He faced Quinn and Niente. "There we go. With those electromagnets in place, Cato can't send any signals to whoever sent him, Archer, Lans, or no. It will also disable his cybernetic hand. The force field will counter his strength. You should be safe for now. But regardless, next time call us if you need help."

Quinn nodded. "Thank you, Cal."

"You're welcome," Hostan said. "Kincaid, show Mr. Rentack and Ms. Aught to the exit. Get somebody to escort them home."

Quinn skimmed out of the Control Center on his hoverchair, Niente right behind him.