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Part 2

Quinn had a swollen lip. His sandy brown hair was unkempt a bit and his quick green eyes were closed as he tried to will away the headache he had. The Aughts were gathered at a table in their home near the Waveplace Hall, in a secret basement that served as Naught, Nada, and David's hacking headquarters. Zilch handed Quinn an ice pack as Nil set down DaVinci's hacker 'icon' and the Apocalypse icon. Naught and Nada, as the Flip Side Felons Aztral and Surf, were at their computers, hacking, trying to get as much information on the Apocalypse as possible.

"So, what happened?" Niente asked.

"Uh . . . ," Quinn lowered the icepack so he could talk a bit better. "I was running out of the MP3 Eatery after hearing those two goons talking--"

"Rollo and Tomasi?" Nil asked.

"Yeah, I think those were their names," Quinn agreed. "They said they were working for some guy called 'Il Lupe.'"

Surf spoke up. "I checked the Metaverse d-base. There's no record of any F'Vali family called 'Lupe.' So whoever's behind this isn't Anthro."

"We don't know that," Void said. "It could be an alias."

"Got it!" Aztral said. He tapped a key on his keyboard and a vidwindow appeared. It showed two large blue-skinned sprites. One had glimmering yellow hair and glistened with sweat. The other had glowing red hair and a fierce scowl. "Rollo and Tomasi. Two sprites, goons-for-hire. They have a rap sheet as long as my arm. Assault, battery, belligerence, grand theft, petty larceny, murder, racketeering, terrorism. These guys have done it all. They come as a set. You can't hire one without the other."

"Why would that be a problem?" Quinn asked.

"Well, (a) they don't come cheap. And (b) apparently Rollo is not the brains of the pair. He's very clumsy. Tomasi does most of the thinking, but even then, he's not the brightest bulb around. They have a history of working for hate groups, particularly anti-human hate groups, such as, ta-da!--"

"The Apocalypse," Zilch said.

"But," Aztral continued, "records show that they stopped working for the Apocalypse last month. Someone else co-opted them. Their new employer is some guy calling himself 'the Wolf.'"

"Il Lupe," Quinn said. "That's what it means--the Wolf. It's Italian."

"Which leads me to my next question," Surf said. "Why David?"

"Hey, Naught," Quinn said, "run a check. Are there any records of this 'Il Lupe' guy?"

"I'm on it!"

"Zilch, Niente," Nil said, "we ought to go out and see if we can find these Rollo and Tomasi guys. Mebbe they never left the Resonate."

"Good idea," Void agreed. "Blank, Zip, you two stay here with Naught and Nada. Quinn, contact your friends in the papers. Mebbe they know something the Flip Side Felons can't get into."

"Righto," Quinn said. "I'll also go check out the races. Mebbe there's a clue we overlooked."

The four Aughts and Quinn left. Blank crossed his eyes and shook his head. "Too many 'mebbes.'"

"You should," Lean Il Lupe said. "You see this face every morning in the mirror."

"You're the chameleon protocol," DaVinci said. "The program I wrote to maintain my computer's security. It keeps shifting the trail so the Guardians can't get my loc. But I deleted that protocol, wrote a new one."

"Because it got too smart," Lean said. "It started to work too well, even keeping you out of your own files. It approached sentience, which is, as you know, illegal. And when you fought it, it fought back like--"

"--a wolf," DaVinci said. "That's why you gave yourself that name. 'Il Lupe' the Italian term for 'wolf.'"

"And 'Lean' from 'chameleon,'" the other-him said. "Come on, DaVinci, you had to realize that a protocol as smart as I was could have disguised itself. Which is, of course, exactly what I did!"

"So what did I delete?"

Lean shrugged. "Some worthless word file. After you linked to the Net, I uploaded myself and got off on my own. Then--lo and behold--I discovered that I classify as a virus! So I have been quietly building up a little empire."

"What do you want, Lean?" DaVinci asked.

"Same as any ambitious virus," Lean said. "To take over the Metaverse."

"From me, Lean. What do you want from me?"

Lean smiled. He gestured, and a chair pulled itself over to him. He sat down and leaned forward. "Your brain."

"No luck," Nil said.

"They must've left the Resonate," Void added. "What about you guys?"

"Survey says-->ennnh!<" Aztral said. "No luck."

"I called my contacts. They can't help us," Quinn said.

"What about you, Nada?" Nil asked.

Surf didn't look up. "Still looking."

Quinn slapped the table. "Dammit! For all we know, this Il Lupe character is an anti-hacker activist and he's planning to turn DaVinci over to the Guardians!"

"I don't think so," Aztral said. "It'd be all over the news."

"Hey, wait a sec," Surf said. She tapped a few keys. "I think I got something. But I'm not sure. I need to check something else. Mebbe at the races."

Quinn snapped out his phone. Zilch answered: "Yo."

"Quinn. Nada needs some verification of something," he said. "You got a scanner on your bike?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, can you scan the place where David disappeared?" He looked over at Nada, who gave an 'okay' signal. "Yeah, do that."

"Sure, just a sec, hey?" Zilch said.

Nada perked up as data streamed into her computer. "That's good, thanks."

"Much obliged, Zilch," Quinn relayed. He slapped the phone shut. He went over to look at Surf's screen. "What've ya got?"

"You've heard of the Omega-class systems, right?" she said.

"The ones the government shut down because they were allegedly uninhabitable?" Quinn said. "Yeah, why?"

"They're still out there," Surf said. "And DaVinci was pulled through a portal into one." She pointed at one vidwindow. "That energy trace is identical to the kind left by a portal." She pointed at another. "This shows the systems it could have led to. Portals use energy, and the trace that remains is directly proportional to the amount of energy the portal used. Opening portals to a registered system, like Mainframe or the Resonate or the Supercomputer or any of the colony systems, requires extra energy. The closer you are to a system, however, the less you need.

"Now, since the Omegas were 'shut down,' they classify as unregistered. It takes a lot less energy to open a portal to one, if you can hack into the code that lets you do so," Surf continued. "There is no system within the distance relative to the energy trace. Only Omegas."

"Shit," Quinn commented.

"Zish," Nil added.

"Basic," Aztral said. "And the government did away with all available data on the Omegas. We don't know anything about them."

"Is there any way to get to that system where DaVinci and Il Lupe are?" Void asked.

"It'll take a bit of hardware we don't have," Surf said. "Nothing we can't afford."

"Tell me what you need," Quinn said, reaching for his wallet.

Lean laughed. "It took me some doing to find this system," he said, getting up to pace. He gestured at a window with his cane. The outside was a dark, gloomy, unforgiving place. Fault lines fractured the ground and molten rock glowed beneath. Volcanoes spewed hot ash and rock into the stormy sky. "It's a bit harsh, but not totally uninhabitable. The natives weren't that tough to subdue."

"What happened to the natives?" DaVinci asked.

Lean sighed. "Worry for subcreatures. How organic. Weak." He waved a hand and the window turned opaque. "You see, DaVinci, I cannot hack into the one system I want to. That's beyond my skill."

"What system is that?"

"Hmm, nice try," Lean said, smirking. "I'm not some James Bond villain who's going to reveal his entire plan before putting you in an elaborate death-trap that doesn't work." He gestured with his cane again, and the two large forms DaVinci had seen earlier returned. "DaVinci, meet Rollo and Tomasi." The two huge sprites brought in a sophisticated machine with a very sinister-looking helmet. "This . . . is the same device the User military used on the hackers that wrote the extinct viruses. It will cause you and I . . . to be linked. You . . . will become like me.

"We will share information. We will share ambition. We will share control. We will share talent," Lean said. "I will have access to your hacking abilities." He smiled again. "And then . . . I will succeed in hacking . . . the Teracomputer."

"Good," Quinn grunted. "I nearly threw out my back schlepping this stuff over here."

"Wimp," Niente commented.

"Shut up," Quinn said.

"So, let's get to work!" Naught said, grabbing a soldering iron and a pair of goggles.

Using the blueprints of the portal-generator found on the Net, Nada helped guide the construction. Zilch and Niente, using spare parts from their bikes, supplied the parts Quinn had been unable to find or afford. Blank and Zip sat and watched as Naught, Nil, and Void pieced it together. Quinn checked his watch, worried. "God, I hope David's okay."

"He'll be fine," Nada assured him. "He's a strong guy." She consulted her vidwindow. "Naught, weld that flange to that panel there."

"Righto!"

They were building the portal-gen into Naught and Nada's car. It was going to be set between the front seats, designed to be totally removable. Zilch soldered something, then yowled, dropping his iron and waving his hand around. "Yee-ow! Hurt, pain, ow!"

"Wimp," Niente commented.

"Shut up!" Zilch said, blowing on the burn.

Quinn got a glimmer of worry. "Is this legal?"

"No," Niente said. "All portal-gens have to be purchased and registered. Even then, if you own one, it has to have no power source and placed in a location where no one can access it."

"Great," Quinn mumbled.

It took a few hours, but they finally got the portal-gen complete. Zilch and Niente hoisted it into the car and secured it. Naught and Quinn hopped into the car, following by Nil and Void, who collapsed their hoverboards to make room. Zilch and Niente got on their hoverbikes, fastening their goggles. Blank and Zip bounced on the ground, upset. "We wanna come!"

"No!" Zilch said. "It's too dangerous. You stay here with Nada. I don't want you two getting into trouble." The two kids grinned. "Wait, strike that. You two always get into trouble. I don't you two getting deleted. You understand." The two little kids pouted. "Nada, you keep track of us, hey?"

"Right," the female hacker said. "The portal-gen can only hold the link to the Omegas for so long. I'll buzz you on the comm when it starts to destabilize. When it does, you've got only minutes to get out. You clear?"

"Crystal," they confirmed.

Nada turned back to her vidwindow. "I'm setting up the link now. Get to the tracks and I'll initialize it," she said.

At that, the gang all started out. It was only after they had reached the tracks and gone through the portal that Nada turned to look at her two younger siblings. But they were nowhere in sight.

Quinn blinked. "Ye gods. 'Here there be dragons.'"

"Considering the Omegas," Nil said, "there might be."

To Naught, Quinn said, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto."

Naught agreed. "I see why Project Metaverse shut this system down."

Zilch squinted at a distant mountain range. "I think I see a building." He pointed. "There, at that mountain. Looks like some kinda base, hey?"

Quinn looked. The mountain stretched far up into the dark, cloudy sky. It was covered with rock spires and sharp ravines. Energy from the storm crackled around it. Lava pooled around the base like a moat. "Wow," he commented.

"That's one megacrag," Nil said.

"Considering this place," Quinn said, "it looks more like a Negacrag." He nudged Naught. "Hey, Il Lupe must be holed up there. And where Il Lupe is--"

"--David's likely to be there," Zilch finished. "Right. Let's go, hey?"

"A portal to the Resonate just opened," Tomasi said. "A car and two hoverbikes came out. Five sprites and a human."

Lean looked to the side, pointing at the window with his cane. The window turned clear, showing three hovering vehicles headed their way. "Dammit," Lean muttered. "They can't come right up to the base, the energy fields prevent it. But they can climb to it." He turned, the window going opaque. "Release the golems! They'll slow them down!" He smirked at DaVinci, who was tied into the machine. "Long enough for us to become one."

Lean began to initialize the machine.

Nil leaned forward to look. "Zish. An energy field. We'll have to walk."

"Correction," Void chimed in, "climb."

The group landed about half-a-mile down, as the bird flies. As the man climbs, however, it was far longer. The Negacrag's natural spires and valleys made the trek into a long campaign. As they got out of the car, Naught reached into the glove compartment and pulled out several energy pistols. He tossed two each to the twins, then took two for himself. He turned to Quinn. "There's a shotgun under your seat." Quinn pulled it out, looking at it nervously.

Zilch and Niente both had a pair of guns hidden on the bikes. Quinn blinked. "Is . . . there a reason why you guys carry so many guns?"

"We're hackers, Quinn," Naught said. "Always be prepared."

Nil spoke up. "This energy field's too strong for the car, but it won't affect boards or bikes. This'll make it easier." He passed up two zipboards for Quinn and Naught. "Let's go!" He and Void tossed out their collapsed boards. They telescoped out to form the flat boards, and their owners hopped aboard.

They slowly started up the Negacrag. Quinn cradled the shotgun awkwardly in his hands. Naught hovered nearby on his zipboard. Nil and Void were at their sides while Zilch and Niente brought up the rear. Nil suddenly stopped. Everyone looked at him. "My goggles' scanner are picking up . . . lifesigns?"

"Human, sprite, what?"

"Neither," Nil said. "Anthro . . . I think. If they are, they're no anthro I've ever seen."

They continued, wary. If they were anthros, they'd not be happy to see Quinn--a human. They carefully looked around. The tension had ceased by intangible a long time ago. Then, as Naught moved over a ravine, a rocky fist grabbed the struts of his zipboard and yanked it out from under him. Naught screamed as he fell into whatever monster's clutches waited below. Quinn turned, but another rocky fist struck him in the back and sent him flying off of his own zipboard. The shotgun flew from his fingers.

Quinn, by some stroke of luck, did not strike a sharp rock. He groaned and turned over to look at the thing that had attacked. It stood eight feet tall and weighed over a ton . . . all of it rocky muscle. It had skin the consistency of solid granite, brown of color, and tridigital hands and feet. Its face was a craggy sight, with harsh glowing red eyes and a mouth full of sharp white teeth that resembled the spires that covered the Negacrag. It roared subsonically and swung a rocky fist at him.

Quinn rolled aside as the ground exploded from the blow. He scrambled to his feet as the other fist came around to smash him to the side. He struck the wall of the surprisingly shallow ravine and ricocheted off to dash toward Naught, who was being terrorized by another rock monster. The other golem had Naught's zipboard mangled in two pieces in its claws and was stomping after him. Naught paused to fire a pistol at the beast, but it did no damage.

Zilch and Niente pulled to a stop over the ravine and energy rained down on Naught's pursuer. The golem roared and turned. It appeared more annoyed than injured. It threw the two pieces of the zipboard at them. They threw their arms up to deflect the debris and the golem forgot about Naught to rip rock out of the ravine walls and throw it at the bikers.

Quinn, meanwhile, was trying to elude his golem. He searched for the shotgun. The golem roared and swung a fist at him. But then Nil and Void screamed a challenge. They streaked in, firing, and then bounced their boards off its face. It grunted, then swung its fists, like trying to dissuade mosquitoes. Quinn spotted something between some rocks and dashed for it. Naught fired on his golem, to little effect, as it threw rocks at Zilch and Niente.

"Come on, already, die!" Void shouted as he shot in the golem's face.

Quinn stopped at the object he spotted. He pushed the rocks aside, then whooped with triumph. It was the fallen shotgun! He snatched it up, cocked it, then turned to the golem. He touched the firing stud. A blue-white bolt of energy struck the golem's shoulder. The granite skin exploded, orange lava bleeding out. The monster screamed, its arm literally burning from its own blood. The lava blood flowed down to its chest, and it fell over, thrashing as Nil and Void pulled back. The lava melted through the golem's body, killing it.

Quinn whooped again, turning to Naught and the other golem. He pumped the action, stepping up to Naught and leveling the shotgun. He fired into its spine. It punctured the skin, the lava blood eating away at its legs. It also screamed as it fell to the ground, the rapidly growing pool of lava blood eating up the golem. Zilch and Niente swooped low and pulled Quinn and Naught onto their bikes as they pulled out of the ravine and headed for Il Lupe's base.

"The golems failed, sir!" Tomasi rumbled.

"Then stop them yourselves, idiot!" Lean growled. Tomasi shuffled out of the room, the door closing. Lean growled like a wolf again. "Bit-brains! But, enough of that. Back to the matter at hand."

The tingling on his scalp intensified, and DaVinci gritted his teeth. He felt dizzy, and he hazarded a glance with his eyes. His vision swam, and he seemed to be looking at both Lean and himself. He ralized that he was looking through Lean's eyes. He heard Lean's voice through Lean's ears and his own. "What a sensation . . . I can see through your eyes . . . ."

Slowly, DaVinci felt his mouth moving in synch with Lean. "We are merging . . . ."

A huge blue-skinned fist smashed Naught from the side, sending him flying into Quinn and hurling them both across the rocky ledge. A large yellow-haired sprite grinned. "Not yet!" It was Rollo, the thug Quinn had seen in the MP3 Eatery. Zilch kicked at him, but Rollo grabbed Zilch's foot and yanked him off the bike. Zilch shouted as he was tossed into the side of the Negacrag. Niente dropped off her bike onto Rollo's shoulders and tried to strangle him, but Tomasi grabbed her by her hair and swung her into her fellow racer.

Nil and Void flew in, but Tomasi swung his arms up and clubbed them off their boards. Quinn staggered up as Rollo stalked forward, popping his knuckles. Quinn put up the shotgun as Rollo reached swinging distance. Quinn scowled. "You're in my bubble."

"Your bubble?" Rollo laughed.

"Every person has three feet of personal space," Quinn said, pointing the shotgun at the viral-sprite's chest. "You're inside mine."

"Right. You shoot that thing," Rollo said, "the backlash will hit you too."

Quinn spun the shotgun in his hands so the stock smacked Rollo in the face. The viral-sprite staggered backwards several feet as Quinn regripped the shotgun and fired. The energy bolt struck Rollo, throwing him back even further. Rollo actually stood up, batting out a fire on his chest. "Not smart," he said. Tomasi stepped up beside him.

But then two diminutive forms dropped on the goons' heads. They held fairly large wooden mallets. Blank and Zip grinned as the rained blows on Rollo and Tomasi's heads. Shouts of protest issued forth from the goons' mouths.

"Bonk, bonk, bonk on the head," Blank chimed. With each 'bonk' he hit Rollo on the head.

Zip giggled. "Bonk, bonk, bonk on the head."

The little chant repeated as Rollo and Tomasi swung around, trying to dislodge the little sprites. Rollo grabbed a heavy stone club, peering up at Blank. He swung the club over his head. Blank was one step ahead of him, and he jumped to Zip's shoulders atop Tomasi's head. Rollo grinned, showing his little intelligence.

"I got them, Tomasi!" Rollo said as he swung the club up.

"No, wait--!"

>BONK!<: Tomasi fell to the ground, seeing stars. Blank and Zip were already standing on Rollo's head. Rollo peered up at them, grinning again. He licked his lips, holding the club ready. Then he swung-- >BONK!< Rollo hit the ground, out cold. Blank and Zip giggled from their vantage point atop a rock. Then they mock pouted. "I don't think they wanna play with us!" Zip said.

"I think you're right," Blank agreed.

By now, the other Aughts had recovered. Zilch glowered behind his racing goggles. Niente, Naught, and the twins had similar looks. Blank and Zip blinked and scuffed the ground with their feet. Zilch scowled. "Do you two have any idea how much trouble you're in?" "Lots?" Blank guessed.

"That doesn't do it justice," Zilch said. "But now's not the time, hey? We'll deal with you later. Stay here, and don't move, hey?" The two kids nodded dejectedly. "Come on, let's go."

The group moved into the Negacrag Base . . . .

"We will be unstoppable," Lean/DaVinci said. "We will hack the Teracomputer and destroy the World Council's ability to function. We will hack the Supercomputer and annihilate the Guardians. We will rule the world!" "David!" came a cry. The virus turned, wolf-growling, his cane coming up. A User had entered, clutching an energy shotgun. The scrawny human fired. Lean/DaVinci raised a hand. A transparent orange barrier sprung up, absorbing the blast. The virus reshaped the barrier into a ball and prepared to fire it at the User--

--and his other hand came up to catch his wrist, fouling the shot. The virus blinked, then looked at his creator. "No! Release me!"

"I cannot," came the reply from DaVinci. The hacker spasmed as Lean tried to force his creator to release his hand, but he clung fast. Lean growled like a wolf again, his eyes glowing brighter, fiercer. The machine began to overheat, sparking out of control.

A sprite--Naught, Lean gleaned from DaVinci's mind--dashed in and ran for the machine. Lean tried to aim his cane at him, but the hand that DaVinci controlled slugged him on the chin. Naught grabbed a fistful of wires from the helmet on DaVinci's head and yanked. Sparks flew as they detached, and the sudden severing from DaVinci's mind threw Lean into the wall. The virus recovered quickly, extending a hand, palm out. Naught was thrown against the wall. Quinn--the User, Lean remembered--pumped the shotgun and blasted him. Lean brought up his shield and deflected the shot.

But now Naught was freeing DaVinci. Lean felt his opportunity to hack the Teracomputer fade. "No!" he roared, his viral powers knocking Quinn down. He strode forward and plunged the tip of his cane forward and struck the hacker's chest. Electricity crackled, and DaVinci screamed with pain. Naught threaded his fingers together and gave a double-fisted club to the back of Lean's neck.

The tactic worked . . . sort of. Lean did leave DaVinci alone, but he turned to Naught now. The cane crackled and zapped the hacker-sprite as Zilch and Niente barged in, grabbing Lean and hurling him out the window. Glass shattered and littered the room. Nil and Void hovered in, helping Quinn and Naught to their feet. DaVinci pulled himself upright. Naught handed him his sunglasses, which he graciously accepted.

"Stop . . . Lean," DaVinci muttered as Nil and Void supported him.

"Who? Il Lupe?" Naught asked.

"Yes," the hacker replied. "Don't let him get away." Nil and Void helped him to the door.

"We'll get him and the kids to the car," Nil said.

"You guys help Zilch and Niente," Void added.

Quinn and Naught wasted no time. Zilch and Niente were already outside, scanning the cliff. Quinn pumped the shotgun and climbed out the window. Naught followed, drawing his pistol. They joined the bikers at the edge of the cliff. Lean Il Lupe was nowhere in sight. "Where is he?" Quinn asked.

"Dunno," Zilch said. "He just . . . disappeared."

The air shimmered out over the cliff. The virus appeared, arms out, cane extended. His eyes glowed brightly and he growled like the wolf he was named for. The growl turned into a full-fledged howl as he dove in, energy crackling in his fist. He plowed into Zilch, striking him with the energy in his fist. The biker flew back, striking the Negacrag's wall and leaving an indentation. Niente grabbed Lean's cane and tried to use it as a lever to throw the virus, but he was too quick. The cane crackled with energy, and Niente screamed as it coursed through her. She flew back and landed against the wall of the base.

Quinn, at point-blank range, fired the shotgun, heedless of the backlash. The energy buckled the armor Lean wore, and the backlash was minimal. The virus flew away now, but he stopped in midair, doubled over. Quinn pumped the action, aiming again, wondering if he'd done fatal damage. But Lean looked right at him, his eyes glowing with fury, and wolf-like teeth starting to appear in his mouth as he snarled at Quinn. The virus suddenly lunged forward, striking Quinn beneath the ribcage with the shaft of his cane and slamming him through the wall and into the base again.

Naught fired at the base of Lean's spine, but the armor did not buckle as much as when Quinn had hit him. It did, however, have an effect similar to the double-fisted club he used earlier. Lean stopped, dropping Quinn and turning to the hacker-sprite. "You . . . must have some sort of death wish," the virus said. He held his hand out and pointed the tip of his cane at it. Energy crackled in his hand and he swirled the tip of the cane around, making the energy ball larger. Then he reared back, as though to throw it.

Zilch came out of nowhere and drove a heavy booted foot into the buckle in Lean's armor. The virus doubled over again, the energy ball dissipating in a bright flash of light. Zilch followed the kick with a fierce uppercut, then roundhouse kicked him. Quinn, who was recovering on the floor, rolled out of the way as the virus fell to the floor. Naught fired at the virus, but his shield was back up, and nothing hit him. Niente joined her brothers, ready to fire as well, but Lean Il Lupe was back on his feet, and looked remarkably pissed off.

"It feels like wasps are stinging me all over," DaVinci replied painfully. "My head feels like it got hit by an express train. Where am I?"

"You're in an Omega-class system," Void said. He looked around at the bleak and volcanic wasteland. "Call it Omega-Cragis."

"Whatever," DaVinci muttered. "We gotta get outta here."

"I totally agree, but we can't leave without the others," Nil said.

At that moment, the comm rang on Nil's belt. The twin pulled it and slipped it open. "Nil."

"It's Nada! Listen, the link is starting to degrade! You have to get back here NOW!"

"Uh, Naught and the others are kinda busy right now," Nil said.

"I don't care! If you don't get back here in maybe five minutes, you are never going to get back!"

"Roger-roger!" Nil quipped as he slapped it shut. "Zish! We got five minutes to get home, or we're stuck here with that Il Lupe guy, Rollo and Tomasi, and those weird golem things."

"Zish!!" Void said. "You saw that guy! He took a shotgun blast on the chin! How do you delete a guy like that in five minutes?!"

Suddenly, they both looked at the car. Then they looked at each other. Nil hopped in the driver's seat. He mopped his brow. "Naught, forgive me."

He stepped on the gas as Void leapt into the backseat along with Blank and Zip. The car streaked upwards, heedless of the energy field crackling around it.

"Mebbe they don't," Quinn said as he snatched up his shotgun and aimed it at Lean's back. "But I do!" He fired.

Lean's mistake had been concentrating his shield in front. His back was unprotected, and the blast ripped his armor apart. The virus was hurled forward by the concussion of the blow, hurling over the edge of the cliff, writhing in pain. He screamed, almost howling, as energy crackled out from his hands and eyes. Quinn allowed himself a small smirk of triumph. Perhaps he'd dealt a fatal blow.

But then Lean spun around to face them, the energy crackling around him dissipating, his eyes glowing almost too bright to look out. He looked pissed. He raised his hands and called forth another large ball of energy, then pointed both hands forward to blast them--

--and Naught's car came flying up and smashed clean into Lean from behind. The virus' blast went wide, knocking the bottoms off a few spires higher up the Negacrag, and sending the virus himself into a cluster of smaller spires further down. Lean did not get back up. Nil stood up on the seat and whistled with his pinkies. "Come on! We've gotta go now!"

Nil slid back into the backseat beside his twin as Blank and Zip slipped under the cover for the trunk. Naught vaulted into the driver's seat as Quinn joined the twins. Niente and Zilch tapped their icons, and their bikes immediately responded and came around to them. They climbed aboard. Without another word, all three vehicles streaked back toward the portal to the Resonate.

Quinn snapped out his comm. "Nada! We're coming! You've gotta keep the link up for another minute!"

"No promises! There's interference!" the female hacker-sprite responded.

Quinn slapped it shut and put it on his belt. "Go, go, go!" he shouted. "She says she can't keep it open!"

Naught gritted his teeth and pressed his foot as hard as he could on the accelerator. The bikes were already ahead of them. Let's face it: Zilch and Niente were the Resonate's fastest racers, of course they would be ahead. Naught gunned the engine for all it was worth. The portal, the fluctuations of which were visible now, was directly ahead. The two hoverbikes disappeared through it. The hovercar was about to follow when it stopped dead in the air.

When the car's occupants turned to see what stopped them, they saw Lean Il Lupe standing there. His armor was shattered, the gauntlets on his wrists badly dented, and some glowing blue blood oozed from a cut on his forehead. His eyes glowed with vengeful anger. His cane was hooked in the rear fender of the car. "Going somewhere?" the virus asked, Jack Webb-ish.

Quinn raised the shotgun to fire at him, but Lean smacked the barrel with one hand, and it flew out of his grip and landed somewhere in the front seat. Naught didn't dare let go of the wheel or the accelerator. And DaVinci didn't seem to be in any condition to fight. Nil and Void were trying to pull their pistols off their belts when something else happened.

The shotgun thrust past Quinn's head and fired. The sound of the blast nearly deafened him. The bolt struck Lean in the head and knocked him backwards, sending him plummeting to the ground. The cane detached and fell after its master. Naught gunned the motor and the car dove through the portal.

The car flew out into the Resonate Tracks and out over the city as they looked back to see the portal collapse with a bright flash. Naught hit the brakes and then sighed with relief. Quinn looked back in front to see DaVinci holding the shotgun, wavering, his sunglasses flickering with green light-static. Then he slumped in his seat.

"You wrote a virus?" Nada asked, appalled.

"I didn't write a virus," David corrected. "I wrote a security protocol for my computer, a semi-intelligent one that could adapt to threats. Unfortunately, I made it too smart, and it got out of control. I thought I deleted it, but I was wrong. It escaped and got classified by someone else as a virus."

"And this virus--Lean Il Lupe," Quinn said, "it wanted to use you to hack the Teracomputer?"

"It wanted to merge with me, to become one. You know, like the military did to all those hackers back during the colonization? When the hacker's mind is manipulated enough, the hacker and virus start thinking as one being. Then, what you do to one, you do to the other. So the military shot all the hackers once they'd played with their heads, and killed the viruses from a distance." David shuddered. "To think, something like that could have happened if you guys had been one minute later in saving me."

"We have to tell the Guardians about this, hey?" Zilch said. "A virus, running around loose? They have to know!"

"And what am I gonna tell them, Zilch?" David asked. "That a virus that I am responsible for creating is plotting to destroy the Supercomputer?"

"Yeah," Zilch replied.

"Bro," Naught said, "it's a capital offense to write a virus, intentional or no. If David goes to them to tell them this, he'll be executed."

"Basic," the biker muttered.

"Okay, then," Nil piped up. "So we just hope this problem goes away? Mebbe that last shot killed him."

"It didn't," the hacker-human replied. "I'd know. I'm not totally connected to him, but I have this sort of sixth sense about him now. If he were dead, I'd know about it."

The Aughts, David, and Quinn all looked out the window of the Aughts' apartment and at the horizon. Suddenly, the Resonate, often hailed across the Metaverse as one of the safest systems to live in, didn't seem so safe any more.

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