Tron 2.36 – Secure File Transfer

Jade walked over to the edge of the building, then paused, held her hands wide briefly and a lattice of pre-rez lines started to appear. Jet looked over at Mercury then to Jade, who caught Jet’s questioning glance and smiled back.

Within moments, Jade had completed rezzing in a small vehicle, and an open, flat shuttle appeared at ground level, large enough to take around six people

Although it had some kind of landing struts, the open vehicle appeared very similar to the ones Jet had hijacked to gain access to the F-con server during his last visit.

Jade stepped over to Section and said something quietly to him, then walked over to the Jet.

“Section will take over for a while. I have other tasks to attend to now that the sector is under control. There are logfiles to be written and archives to be maintained.”

Jet looked surprised.

“Surely there is no need to keep processing logs now, Jade. Getting out of here is what matters the most.” Jet asked.

Jade seemed a little surprised and hurt by Jet’s comment.

“Unless the log files are processed, the programs and applications will error and the system evacuation may not happen,” she said quietly, almost as if ashamed to be correcting Jet, then after a moment, added equally quietly, “My User.” Almost as an afterthought.

Jet realized he had said the wrong thing. It was easy to make mistakes that crossed cultural boundaries in this world., but he also didn’t quite know how to make it better, so he left it.

“Thankyou Jade, for your help,” he said.

Jade brightened a little, then said “My User,” once more, and walked off to speak to the Kernel.

Mercury and Ma3a came over.

“This is the user from before?” Ma3a asked.

“Yes, Ma3a. Jet released the prisoner earlier when we compromised the Datawraith stronghold.” Mercury said.

“Sounds like he didn’t get out while he could. I’d like to know why that is.” Jet said.

They boarded the shuttle and Jet looked back for Alchemist. She was standing by the transport checking something near the shells.

“Alchemist’s not coming?” Jet asked.

“She is presently tasked with protection of the shells as a priority,” Ma3a said. “Despite restoration of system control of Sector 1”

There was a slight shudder and the system platform lifted from the ground and up, almost following the line of the tanksmasher Jet’s earlier efforts had destroyed.

“The program that claims to be a user is located in the holding cells,” Section said as the manipulated the controls and the shuttle moved out towards the warehouse section of the Datawraith base where Jet had earlier gained access to the facility.

Jet wasn’t quite sure why he wanted to see Simon. Simon was another user, and one from the opposing side, the side that despite their battle here, was ultimately going to emerge victorious, since the system failure pending in the real world held dire consequences for this place.

He hoped he would know what to do when he saw Simon again. The toll of getting this far had left Jet with few plans other than escape and a strengthening desire to see the programs of this system through to safety.

There was no guarantee that Simon could help with this, but he was still a user and far more sensitive to this world than most Datawraiths that Jet had met so far. He had also helped Jet at least once without Jet asking him to – potentially saving Jet’s life. Not something Jet expected from the enemy at the moment.

Looking down over the conquered territory, Jet could see many of the system programs and ICPs going about their daily business and routine tasks below. Tanks were being aligned to the rear of the field and slowly passed through a deresolution field.

Section caught Jet watching and pre-empted his question.

“Tanks consume significant system resources,” he said. “The Kernel is bringing in outsystem programs presently and has need of every spare cycle. The Datawraith threat is now eliminated and so we are recovering asset cycles for other uses.” He said.

The transport started to descend and slowly approached the warehouse section a little further up than the one Jet had destroyed earlier, by unarchiving a large number of application segments.

ICPs swarmed around this one and a line of purple applications and programs could be seen being processed by ICPs as the were brought over to the facility from various directions.

“Processing centre,” said Section, looking below. “The claimed user Simon is inside.”

The shuttle put down and Section and Crypto got out, several ICPs coming to attention as they did so.

“You seem to have a little more authority than you did before the battle,” said Jet.

Section was quiet for a moment, then stepped back to stand closer to Jet as they walked.

“Many good programs were lost during the battle. I’m on temporarily elevated authority until the Kernel re-establishes command of all ICPs.”

“That sounds kind of important,” Jet said. “Like a field promotion?”

“Somewhat like extra duties while the Kernel is short would be a more accurate description,” Section said.

Jet smiled. He liked Section, after what they had gone through together. Section’s ICPs had all respected him enough to give up their cycles. Only Crypto, named after he outsurvived all the other ICPs, remained from Section’s original command, although unlike Section, Crypto was originally a conscript.

The small party entered the building. Inside, the general dimensions were the same as Jet’s first experience with the warehouses, but the shelves were gone, completely stripped out, and from the different colors of warehouse and other more recent additions, it appeared the System forces were responsible for the remodeling.

Blue partitions now neatly divided the open area and many of the walls were clear and transparent forcewalls.

“This way, Sir,” said Section to Jet. As they walked, ICPs came to quick attention, each recognizing whatever temporary rank or privilege level Section now had.

“Section, limit two ICPs per entry pass. Change of rule by the Kernel.” Said an ICP quietly as the Section leader passed. He stopped and turned.

“Just us through here, Sir,” loud enough for Ma3a and Mercury to hear.

“We’ll wait here,” said Mercury, as Jet took a look at her for a moment, then continued on with the Section leader.

Jet watched as they walked past rows of small cells in which datawraith applications seemed to be being interrogated by ICPs.

“Malware scanning, Sir. Checking to see if there’s any datawraith hidden code in the applications.”

Section led Jet through a small door and into what must have been the main holding cells. Inside, cells were arranged radially around a single viewing platform, with each cell visible from the one location, a panopticon style prison.

There were five levels of cells each stacked on the other like wheels around a central hub.

“How did you get this all happening so quickly?” Jet asked as he looked at some of the Datawraiths already housed in cells. Some were sitting, other pacing and even a few looked like they were ready to have a nervous breakdown.

“Templates, sir,” said Section.

All of the programs stored here were purple, but their function seemed to vary. There were several ICP lookup programs, a few original Datawraiths – clearly users that hadn’t made it out or been derezzed and uploaded and one very familiar face amongst it all.

At the back of the room, three cells high, waving his arms manically to get Jet’s attention, was Simon.

Section felt the need to point out the obvious, although it was hard to miss Simon amongst the Datawraiths here. Several were already looking on towards him as if they would like to use their blasters if they were still armed.

“I see him section. How do we talk to him.” Jet asked.

Section looked up to the central viewing position, saw a small panel beneath it, walked over and started entering data.

A set of rails started to rez in at the base of the cube while something that looked like a rod extended from the panopticon monitoring station.

The bar continued to move out as a bracket appeared to rez in around the outside of the cube, allowing it to be attached to. Once connected, the rod retracted, withdrawing Simon’s from the other, lowering it to the ground level, then spinning it sideways to face an opening in the wall.

It then pushed the cell into this opening and detached before the rod retracted.

*Through this way, sir,” said Section, then continued through the circular cell area into a cell beyond.

As they walked through, Simon was already pushing up as close to the forcewall as he could without injuring himself.

“Section, take down the wall and let him out.” Jet said.

“Sir? Is that wise?” Section asked cautiously.

“He won’t hurt anyone,” Jet said.

Section moved to a panel on the wall of this otherwise bare cubic room and tapped it twice. The forcewall fell and Simon almost stumbled through.

“Jet, I’ve been telling them I knew you since they took me,” Simon said.

“Why didn’t you leave earlier?” Jet said. “I dropped you back here some time ago.”

Simon seemed agitated by having to answer more than the question.

“They debriefed me for hours after I made it back by myself, how I escaped, what you were doing. All of that.”

“Then they made the last of us wait while they removed as much material as they could before shutdown. Seems a bunch of dumb code is worth more than us.”

Section bristled at the mention of “dumb code” but Simon didn’t seem to notice.

“Then,” Simon said, pointing to Section, “This guy came through the transfer port just as we were getting ready to leave and takes out the security team and I end up here, waiting for a system shutdown to remove chunks of my sanity before I rematerialize into the real world.”

Jet looked over at his helper.

“Another ICP, Sir,” said Section. “He said that it looked like they were attempting to shut the out of band connection as they were leaving.”

Jet looked over at Simon harshly.

“You were trying to lock us in?” he asked.

“No,” said Simon, then slowly, “Well, yes, I was shutting down the port,” he started, flinching when Jet gave him a hard stare.

“But I left you a backdoor.” Simon added quickly.

Jet raised a questioning eyebrow.

“There’s a basic protocol connection even when the port is shut down. I left something there I thought you would recognize.” Simon said.

Jet looked over at Section.

“It did appear as though someone had tampered with the protocol layer,” Section said.

“There, see?” Simon said.

Jet wasn’t sure how much of this to believe. Better to work with what he had, he decided.

“Section, can you process a request to release prisoner Simon to me?” he asked.

“He can come with you now, if you authorize it, Sir. If you say he’s a component of your party, that’s sufficient for me,” Section said.

Simon looked at Jet with pleading eyes.

“You can come with us,” Jet said.

The Section leader nodded at this, then tapped a button on the panel. “Releasing prisoner Simon to custody of Jet.” He said, then a voice came through.

“Releasing resources,” and the door behind them opened. As Simon stepped past the demarcation point of the forcewall, it rezzed back in behind him as if cutting him off from returning to his cube.

“Thankyou, Jet,” Simon said. “Is that green program still around?”

“Jade, Yes. I suggest you don’t piss her off. And watch your comments about code.” Jet warned. Jade would lay off Simon if Jet asked her to, but presently Jet wasn’t sure if he trusted Simon and programs seemed to have their own standards by which they judged people. It wasn’t something he wanted to interfere with.

Simon followed closely behind Jet as he walked, looking around nervously at the facility around him, as if he might end up re-celled at the slightest provocation.

“Thankyou for coming to get me, Jet,” Simon said. “I really don’t want to end up being derezzed. Causes bad results in the outside world.”

“What I really want is for you to show me what’s going on with the out of band connection. I figure you know something about it, and we’re evacuating this system to yours.” Jet said, realizing now why he had wanted to speak to Simon.

“I already left you a way out,” said Simon. “Password’s ‘JET’.”

“Yeah, so you said, but we’re about to start evacuating this system. I want to know what’s going to happen when programs start streaming through the link between out networks. What’s your agency going to do about that.”

Simon slowed and raised his finger to his lip then looked up.

“If it happened like that in the beginning, then I think we wouldn’t have spent so much time capturing programs. They normally don’t go that willingly.” He said.

Jet turned, grabbing Simon at the comment and dragged him up close.

“You mean to say this was your plan all along? Destroy the system and force the programs to cross over into yours?”

Jet found himself almost yelling. Simon put both hands up in supplication as he tried to avoid Jet’s anger.

“No, No, No, nothing like that. It’s a great strategy, I mean, but assuming it was planned would be giving far to much credibility to the idiots who planned this whole invasion.”

Jet pulled back. Simon’s use of the word “invasion” made sense and reminded Jet Simon was a lot more perceptive than most people. He really did seem like a fellow geek stuck in here, although unlike Jet, hadn’t picked up as many skills.

“Sorry, I’m just still a little touchy about what’s going on in here.” Jet said, turning and walking through further.

Simon straightened his armor that Jet had displaced a little and continued after him.

“I can’t imagine that it’s such a good thing. I mean, they were going to kill you aren’t they,” he said.

“Why though. Why try to kill us?” Jet asked.

Simon caught up so he wasn’t talking to Jet’s back, getting in beside him and trying to walk sideways, to keep facing Jet as he did so.

“I don’t think they are trying to kill you. They just want to get rid of this place and probably just see you as an inconvenient issue. It’s not like they have to do more than just not transfer your base code to get rid of you. I don’t even want to know what that’s like.” Simon said.

“I’m still not sure on why what they are doing means getting rid of this place.” Jet said.

“This place? Probably it represents a threat to whatever they are doing. After all, if they can come here and do this, so can other people. Sure, it’s not practical, but if they can do it, anyone can right?” Simon said, almost shuffling now.

The comment stopped Jet and he turned.

“How can anyone else get an out of band connection into a secure government installation?” Jet asked, wondering at the comment.

“Other agencies could, I suppose. I guess it’s even possible an external threat could, but don’t underestimate the value of power.” Simon said.

Jet thought about it for a moment, suddenly started to realize what was going on, but the thought was only sitting at the edge of his mind like a picture not quite in focus. He was sure he glimpsed it momentarily though.

They walked through another opening and Mercury and Ma3a were waiting.

“Hello Simon,” said Mercury, almost cordially.

Simon nodded in her direction.

“This program looks rather scripted for a user. Are you sure he’s really a user, Jet?” Ma3a asked.

“Yeah, now more than ever. Program’s can’t fake user to a user. At least I don’t think they can.” Jet said.

Section stepped closer to Jet.

“What would you like us to do now, Sir?” he asked.

Jet thought for a moment, then answered. “The out of band connection terminal. Time for us to take a look at what it really is,” said Jet.

“Good choice,” said Simon. “Then I can go home.”

Jet turned on him.

“Simon, there’s some things going on here that are bigger than both of us. I want your word that you’re not going to try to leave before I know more about what’s going on.”

Simon’s face changed. “The system’s going to crash, Jet.”

“Yes, but not yet, and I need some more time here still.” Jet said.

Simon seemed annoyed, was about to ask something and then didn’t. Jet picked it up.

“You were about to ask how do I know you’ll keep your word, right?” Jet asked.

Simon’s face took on a questioning look that pre-empted the next question as well. “I guess it’s something about us geeks. We all stick together right. Even when we’re facing something bigger than we understand. Because there’s nobody else who understands us and we know what that can lead to.”

Simon started to get a more thoughtful look, then wiped it away with clear effort. “I guess it is kind of like that, but more I just helped you because I got a strange feeling I might need your help someday.”

“That’s the bond.” Said Jet.

Simon smiled a little.

“Crypto, Take Simon over to the transport and show him how it works. I’ve just a few things to conclude here and we’ll head to the terminal.” Jet said.

Crypto stepped up to Simon.

“Hello Simon, I’m Crypto. Glad to have you on the Kernel’s side,” then sweeping his hand towards the exit, “right this way, Sir.”

Simon seemed surprised and impressed with the courtesy and followed Crypto out.

“Should we trust him,” said Ma3a as Simon moved outside.

Mercury looked at Jet, echoing the same concern.

“No,” said Jet. “But don’t show it. He’s scared of being derezzed and I think he knows more than he’s letting on. If he tries to run, don’t hesitate to derez him, but for the moment, he trusts us enough to help him and he’s helping us at the moment. Let’s keep it that way if we can.”

Section, Ma3a and Mercury all nodded.

“OK, let’s get out of here.”

They all walked outside to catch up with Crypto and Simon.

A lot was going on in the terminal around Manny after the plane touched down. Most of the passengers walked straight to the baggage carousel to collect their luggage.

Manny didn’t have any checked in items, so he walked straight for the exit and started looking around.

Further up Manny could see a taxi rank, but there were police there, talking to the drivers, which made him nervous. He turned and walked quietly in the other direction, making sure not to look around or lost, trying to look as if he had a purpose.

After a few dozen steps, Manny couldn’t resist the need to know if the police had seen or were following him. Did they even know who he was?

Manny turned and wished he hadn’t. Although more than fifty yards away, the police officer was looking straight in his direction and walking briskly.

Manny felt himself jump and started walking faster. A loud sound, like a car hitting the sidewalk sounded behind him and Manny ran, terrified now that whoever had his family was after him.

The cold air here ripped into his lungs as he ran, holding his bag over his shoulder with one hand as he swung the other to keep his balance.

There was an alleyway up ahead, and a group of people getting off a tour bus before it. It looked like a chance to escape, one way or another. The people loading and unloading their luggage could be anyone, and Manny hoped he blended in.

Running past the group, he slowed, realized the alley was little more than a break in the architecture, turned, and ran behind the bus, sitting on the bumper, trying to catch his breath. He could feel his heart pounding like a drum in his chest, not just audible, but each beat echoing through his ribcage.

After a minute, with no police officer coming around the back of the bus, he stood up, checked carefully, and started to walk away towards what he thought might be a bus terminal.

It was cold and Manny wished he had something warmer to wear. Manny had just neared a crossing when a finger tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

He expected to see a police officer, but instead an unfamiliar balding man in a huge coat looked down at him. As Manny stared, he bent his knees and brought his face to Manny’s level.

“Manny Gurimin?” he asked.

Manny shook his head.

“I’m a friend of your father’s friends,” the man said.

That was all it took. The stress of losing his family, running on little more than just written instructions and leaving the country had all taken their toll.

Manny started very quietly to cry.

Simon sat at the edge of the transport as they flew over the base.

“This place has changed a lot,” he said. Jet glanced over the side and looked also, noticing large numbers of ICPs moving around. System tanks still rolled around and the system ICPs were building something large at the edge of the base.

“It didn’t take the system long to recover this system,” Jet said.

“No. It wouldn’t have. Most of the Datawraiths have left the system already.” Simon answered.

“Just how many Datawraiths are there?” Jet asked.

“Several thousand,” said Simon, “But as I said, most of those would have gone long ago.”

Jet did the numbers in his head. He had faced dozens at most the last time. Several thousand would have tipped the scales against him. No wonder this system had gone down.

Back then, F-Con had planned on using the technology to hack into other systems. Somehow Jet didn’t think that was all to the Datawraith’s current efforts.

The transport descended slowly, spiraling in like a leaf falling. Below, at the edge of Sector one, a beam rose vertically up, the path of the transport corkscrewing around it.

The craft touched down just at the base of a long row of steps leading to the transit building that housed the beam terminal.

“Didn’t this beam used to be vertical?” Jet asked.

Simon lookup up seeing where the beam terminated into grid-like clouds that floated overhead and beyond.

“High bandwidth connection was opened,” said Simon. “Different termination points. We’ve been running on limited, but as the battle was winding up, we opened this new connection to handle the throughput.”

Jet got out of the transporter and Simon followed, flanked by Ma3a and Mercury with Section surrounding him at the back. Crypto finished shutting down the transport panel, then stepped in as Section exited.

As they walked up the stairs, Simon seemed happier. “I was wondering if I would see this place again,” he said. “Glad to see it while I’m still rezzed.”

“So why is it that you’re so much more terrified of deresolution than the Datawraiths.” Jet asked.

“Because my core data is located on this network. Datawraiths can remain logged into the local echelon system, but low-level operatives like me who need to experience the complete world to work need to transfer over in entirety.” Simon said.

“So you wouldn’t make it back if derezzed?” Jet queried.

“Well, yes, they do keep my suspended information on the main system, but the quantum connection to this place is very strong. If I did drop out unexpectedly, the quantum disruption causes very nasty stuff to happen. If I was lucky, I’d just get very minor levels of brain damage,” said Simon.

“Ahh, and we don’t have that advantage,” Jet said.

“No, your suspension information – the components that comprise your physical body – are located on this network. If you lose that, there’s no way to reassemble your components at the receiving end.” Simon said, then looked at Jet.

“Just how much do you not know about this network?” Simon then asked.

“There’s a few items I still need to be aware of,” Jet said. “I’m a fast learner.”

“Yeah, I’d believe that.” Simon said.

At the top of the stairs, guarding ICPs eyed Simon off with suspicion, so Section stepped around and nodded, the two guards stepping aside then to let them through.

Simon seemed to know where he was going inside the building. The main core contained a lot of archives and a smaller transport sitting to the side, of an unknown design, filled with the spheres such as Simon had been creating when they first captured him.

Jet wondered how much information had been transferred out through this connection.

On many levels, the Datawraith infiltration of the network would have been one the the best commercial hack’s that Jet could imagine. An external company burrowing in to deeply to another company’s network that it could take complete control of the system.

Of course, F-Con did have legitimate access once, so much of the equipment they would have needed would have been present and the protocols had already been established from the failed merger.

And then, once Encom was shut, they might have reconnected themselves. By that time, they no longer needed assistance with items such as protocols. Even for the laser array, which was about as proprietary as technology gets.

Simon walked into the control room, the guard ICPs still acting nervously as a purple program walked back through the area, even though Section was there to wave him through at each location.

Simon walked to a small panel and waited for Jet to approach.

“What’s that,” said Jet, nodding to the panel. It was small, with a dial sitting in the middle.

“Out of band access for suspended data,” said Simon, almost proudly. “It has a back door for you, but that looks like it might have been removed by the ICPs.

“Without it, you can’t go home.” Said Simon.

Jet looked at the knob, then lowered his hand onto it. Code slowly trickled into Jet’s mind and he felt the function reveal itself to him.

The code was part of an optical switch to link the fiber from Sector 1 through to the out of band connection.

“Why do you need to link the fiber directly?” Jet asked.

Simon’s face opened with surprise. “How did you?” he started. Jet didn’t think it wide to mention his code reading ability at present.

“I have some decent access to information through this system also,” Jet interrupted.

“Right, well, then, you know why you need this?” Simon said.

“No,” said Jet. “I just know what it does.”

Simon’s face took on some smugness once more. “Ahh, well, you, my friend, aren’t just data. The quantum information that makes you, you, is encoded in the fiber loop memory of this system, as would be your friend you’re trying to help.”

Jet nodded. This was something he already knew.

“However the protocols are electronic data only. The out of band connection to this system only presently connects directly into the code storage loop. It lets us get data in and out of the system.”

Jet nodded again. This was something he didn’t know, but it made sense.

“You, my friend, exist on a different loop. As do I, in the same loop.” Simon said.

Jet looked at Simon quizzically.

“Anyway, the loop that we’re on affects our level of ability to interact with this world. We can still come into it remotely if we’re on a different loop, but our interaction is rather hazy – as if we’re a phantom.

“It’s like running remote desktop. It looks and feels the same, for most of it, but somehow we’re just not quite there.” Simon qualified.

“And so the Datawraiths appear as they do?” Jet made an intuitive leap.

“Yes,” Simon exclaimed, glad Jet was understanding at least as much as he did, which also let Jet know he just reached the limit of Simon’s knowledge.

Jet nodded. “So what if we transfer to the other system through the data connection?”

Simon’s face screwed up a little.

“Then, we only exist as a phantom in the other place, but it’s worse for us, because our code data is here. What happens to us if our suspended photons are dropped and scattered when the system fails do you think?”

Jet understood Simon’s fear at being digitally erased through deresolution now. He faced the same threat as Jet, even if he hadn’t admitted it.

“Then we die, right?” Jet made the final intuitive leap.

“Or worse. Suspended between worlds that aren’t even real to begin with. What if we can’t even die? There are worse things than death you know.

“I was derezzed in this world once while my data was here. It felt like I was suspended between worlds for a long time, before they re-uploaded the data that was spat out into the system once more.

“Everything kind of resyncs once more, but the time inbetween really sucks.” Simon said then shuddered in a way that lent credibility to his story.

“But unless I’m fully in this world, I can’t do my job,” said Simon.

“How about you tell me what that is,” Jet asked.

Simon looked for a moment like he might hold back, then a look of resignation came over his face. He had already revealed his Achilles heel to Jet and now needed Jet as much as Jet needed him. That was something Jet could understand.

“I collect data, just as I told you before. They need the data in our network. I don’t know why, but there’s something about this world. I think agency scientists have been trying to replicate it for the past year, but they just can’t.

“Life only forms in this world. It’s the wild. Our digital world looks almost the same, but it’s like a zoo. Sterile and without growth.

“Something about the quantum specifics of this world allow programs to take on the life-force of their creators and exist like we do in the real world.

“So I come here and collect this data so we can use it as seed material – building blocks for doing what we do.

“Most of it is unstable, but at times we get something working and pass it back to the programmers. They do their stuff in another place I can’t get to.

“But it all starts here,” Simon made a sweeping gesture towards a viewing window. “Everything we have starts here, so we archive it up and bring it back.”

“Like a big game hunter?” Jet said.

“Lions and tigers and bears,” said Simon.

“And you?” Jet asked.

“I’m just a game hunter, lost, trying to get back to camp. Bwana Jones lost in this electronic jungle.”

Jet nodded.

“Seriously, I just want to go home too. While they transferred out the data, they can’t move my suspended info.

“I used to think I was important, but now I realize I’m just another expendable tech.

“I begged them, to let me put my code through and operate remotely, but Datawraiths can’t use all of the equipment. Stuff like your LOL? Nice, but they just can’t use it.”

“And you can?” asked Jet.

“Probably. I think so,” said Simon. “Not that I want to find out,” he added quickly.

Pieces started to fall into place once more in Jet’s mind. Fcon has a far bigger plan that Jet had imagined and now he understood the importance of Gibbs’ creation. Gibbs had achieved something no-one else had been able to repeat. He had created a world.

“So what do we need to do to evacuate a user?” Jet asked.

“Do you want to evacuate programs as well?” Simon asked.

“With the user? Yes.” Jet answered.

“Well, if you transfer the program to user space, then you can direct port them to the Fcon servers at echelon, but you can only transfer a few programs that way. It’s kind of wasteful too – since they’re going to take up the same bandwidth as a user.” Simon reasoned.

“How many programs?” Jet asked.

“Based on the handover documentation, maybe a dozen – absolute limit.” Said Simon.

Jet found himself smiling.

“What do we expect to find at the other end?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I usually port directly into this network, but I guess you’re going to find a lot of Datawraiths, at a guess.” Said Simon, then added.

“Of course, you just want to get out and I don’t think you’re going to have any chance of escaping, but at least you won’t go down with this network.”

Jet still found himself smiling. He was so close to the exit now he could almost feel himself walking into the transfer port.

Jet turned to Mercury who was just coming in with Crypto.

“Merc, I need you to collect Alchemist and bring her to the transfer port. Your user is going home - or at least heading out of this network,” Jet said.

Mercury smiled. Although she never mentioned her user a lot, Jet knew she was concerned about what might happen if her user perished while still inside the computer.

Simon walked out into the opening and checked the beam area. So far, it was clean and available to insert programs. After satisfying himself, he walked back into the control room and reached for the panel before an ICP flicked out it’s staff and hit him on the wrist, knocking his hand clear in a shower of sparks.

Section looked to Jet, who nodded, then walked over between Simon and the ICP.

“He’s authorized,” said Section.

The ICP guarding the panel nodded once and stepped back.

Simon gingerly reached out again, then found more strength as he started to make adjustments.

“This always looks cool,” said Simon, then twisted a knob. The back of the terminal started to reshape and fold and new components rezzed in. Finally, a beam receiver rezzed in before a beam shot out towards the terminal Jet knew led to Sector 2.

A roar of pure energy filled Jet’s ears as the beam, the diameter of a recognizer, linked the two locations. The floor of the terminal raised itself up, lifting the second beam and revealed a third beam going down to a platform made of concentric rings.

“That’s the junction between the old and new networks,” yelled Simon pointing. “Anything that steps into the reference beam down there will be identified by the system and transferred. Just stepping onto that platform activates the flag.

Simon stepped out of the doorway of the control room and Jet nodded to Ma3a, who threw an arm out in front of him stopping him from going any further.

“Now it’s active, you don’t leave until I do,” said Jet.

Simon looked briefly worried, then spoke to Jet.

“If I go through first, I can alert the others that programs are to follow and to not shut the beam down.” He said.

“If you go through first, you can probably shut the beam down too,” said Jet.

Simon looked half hurt and half chagrined. “You really don’t trust me still?” Simon asked.

“Trust, sure, but not take chances.” Jet said.

Simon sniffed visibly, annoyed at the delay. Jet understood his frustration.

“Hey, I’ll make sure you get out of here,” Jet said, then added quietly. “And I do consider you a friend in here, for what it’s worth.”

Simon brightened a little.

“Yeah, well, I have helped you out.” Simon said, then added, “You’re not going to mention what I told you to anyone?”

“Of course not,” said Jet.

Simon frowned, seemingly regardless of Jet’s answer. “Well, you still need to activate the transfer itself. Walking into the beam only activates the buffer.”

Through an open viewing screen, Jet watched as the shell carrier was rumbling over in their direction.

Simon looked out past Jet’s shoulder.

“That’s your friend? The one you’re trying to get out?” Simon asked.

“That’s her,” said Jet. “She’s just an innocent person who needed some medical help.”

Simon caught Jet’s comment. “You’re doing surgery in the beam?”

Jet looked down into his face, surprised at how quickly he guessed what might have been happening.

“Trying to, but something went wrong during the process,” Jet said.

“Quantum errors?” Simon guessed.

“You know something about that?” Jet asked.

“No,” said Simon, “But I have heard the big boss talking about it. She seems to know a lot more about the digitization than anyone else. And she mentioned stuff coming back with bits missing once.”

“She talked to you about it?” Jet asked.

“Does threatening that I might come back without a brain count as talking?” Simon said.

Jet couldn’t help but smile and a small chuckle escaped his throat as the shell carrier moved out of sight as it approached the building.

“I guess not.” Jet said. “Let’s make sure Alchemist can get the carrier up here.”

Jet walked out into the receiving room at the transfer port and waited for the carrier to climb the stairs, which it did remarkably well, and park in the entrance to the port.

“My data, User::Melanie isn’t ready to transfer out,” Alchemist said as the stepped to the side of the transport and dropped. Mercury was sitting at the rear of the transport. She swung her legs over the edge and dropped down to the ground.

“Alchemist won’t transfer the user out until the error correction is complete.” Mercury said.

Jet looked over to Ma3a who was standing to one side.

“How much more correction?” Jet asked.

“Current estimate is twelve hundred and three cycles.” Ma3a said.

“Damn it,” said Jet. “I don’t think we have that much time. Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?”

“You haven’t queried,” said Ma3a.

Jet reminded himself he was still dealing with programs. No matter how smart they were, they still had a culture that originated with their original application and purpose. Only answering when requested, polled or queried was pretty much the norm around here.

Jet looked at the shells. “We’ll have to transmit the paged memory buffer then.”

Simon was staring at the shape of the shells, seemingly made from so many hexagonal pieces.

“Is that really paged memory?” he asked.

“Why?” Jet questioned.

“Because you can’t transmit paged memory. I take it that it’s quantum shielded?” Simon said.

Jet looked at Ma3a, then Alchemist, neither of whom answered, then back at Simon.

“I expect so, it’s to shield Melanie from Mercury.” Jet said.

Simon looked at Mercury. “So you’re the user’s program.”

Mercury narrowed her gaze at Simon. For a program who continuously fought on the side of users, she seemed to have an issue with being compared to them.

“You could process it that way,” Mercury said.

Simon turned to Jet. “Your friend will have to come out before you can transfer her.”

“Of the shells?” Jet said.

“You’ll need to terminate program Mercury before you transfer.” He added.

“Not going to happen, Simon. How do we get Melanie to the FCon network without terminating Mercury.”

Simon looked at the other programs.

“Jet, they’re only programs. Your friend is real – from our world.”

“Another way,” Jet warned.

“Alright, have you ever removed your friend from the shell?” Simon asked.

“To talk to her, yes.” Jet said.

“How do you do that?” Simon asked. “With her programs around?”

“Mercury shifts to paged memory and Melanie pages back out,” Jet answered.

Simon nodded, as if not realizing.

“OK, then you need to do that.” Simon said.

Jet looked over at Mercury. She nodded once, then moved back onto the transport, walked to the shell and activated the portal into the alternate shell, looking back to Jet before she stepped in.

“I’ll be waiting here for you when you come back out,” Jet said, worried that there was not enough time at the moment.

“I know you will,” said Mercury, then she smiled and merged with the shimmering face of the shell until she disappeared into it.

Alchemist rezzed in a panel beside the other shell, and the surface rippled, then after a short period, a white program looking almost exactly as Mercury had stepped out, and nearly stepped directly off the transport, except she stumbled and Jet stepped in to catch her hands and steady them, before they sat down, then dropped from the side of the transport.

“Jet,” said Melanie, focusing her eyes as she stood straight.

“Time to leave this system,” Jet said.

Melanie smiled. “I’m not really sure what to expect,” she said. “Am I cured?”

Jet winced. “Cured, yes. But still not ready to return to the real world yet.”

Melanie didn’t seem to look concerned, something Jet hadn’t expected. He wasn’t sure how she would take news of her continued stay in this world.

“I’ve been busy,” she simply said.

“Busy?” Jet asked.

“Customising my environment inside the paged memory construct,” Melanie said.

“You’ve learned to program in there?” Jet asked, surprised that she had.

“It’s a little different from the real world,” Melanie said. “The gratification is more immediate and it’s a lot more controllable.”

Jet smiled. “I’m sorry, but you can’t take the shell contents with you. This system is close to shutting down and we need to leave soon to move to another system where hopefully we can get back to the real world.”

“I’m in no hurry now,” said Melanie. “Although it is nice to have company. I was hoping you would come and see me, what I’ve done.”

Melanie looked around, noticing the bright beam that pulsed into the centre of the room. “What is this place?”

“Exit port, Sector 1, Encom EN511,” said Section, then the program looked at Jet, wondering if he shouldn’t have answered.

Melanie took a few steps to gain a different perspective. “This place is more interesting than the other two,” she said.

Ma3a floated in. “Quantum stability is sufficient to support all operations, Jet.”

“What does that mean, Ma3a?” Jet asked.

Melanie surprised him by answering. “It means that I’m starting to get my senses back. It’s like I’ve awoken from a dream and I understand what is going on around me now. The pieces are falling back into place.”

“That’s good,” said Jet. “But right now, this place is under threat, and my first concern is getting you out of here.”

Melanie looked to the beam, guessing it was the way out. “So I can stay in this world until I leave?”

“Yes, at least at the moment. We’re sending you to the next network now. There will be programs there, possibly hostile.” Jet started.

“We’re not all hostile,” said Simon, looking at her from the side.

“Who is the purple one,” Melanie asked.

“That’s Simon. He’s a user from the other team. At the moment, we have a common problem and he’s working with us.” Jet answered.

Melanie stepped over to Simon and held out her hand. Simon looked quite unsure taking it before Melanie shook and released it.

“Hi, I’m pretty new here,” she said.

“I’m, well, what Jet said,” said Simon.

Melanie smiled at him. “So are you taking me back?”

“Sure,” Simon said, then looking over at Jet, “At least I hope so.”

“Once she’s safe,” said Jet.

“If you send me on the same reference beam, I can make sure she’s safe,” Simon added.

Simon looked to Section, who immediately guessed and grabbed Simon by the shoulder.

“Come on, program, user, whatever. You’re coming with me for a moment.”

Section dragged a slightly reluctant Simon back towards the control room.

Melanie looked puzzled and stepped back to Jet.

“What is it that I don’t understand yet?” she asked. Jet was impressed with her perceptiveness now. She had been far less able to understand what was going on around her when she came out of the shell last time.

“Simon’s with a government agency, tied to Fcon, that’s been out to kill us,” said Jet. “I’m not really sure how far I can trust him.”

Melanie frowned a little. “You might have told me earlier.”

“Things have been a little challenging in here,” Jet said. “I didn’t think to.”

“So what’s going to happen?” Melanie asked. “Will they kill us as soon as we move into their environment?”

“I don’t think so, or at least, I hope not,” Jet answered, then explained in detail.

“We’ve only just taken back control of this network. The original laser that got us here is gone, or at least shut down, and my father either arrested or on the run.

“Things are rather bad all over. We’ve been fighting to make our way to this location for quite a few days, and we’ve only just managed to get to this point.”

“Few days?” asked Melanie, surprised.

“Few hours real time,” Jet corrected. “Maybe a half day or so.”

“Time seems to pass at a different rate in here,” said Melanie, still finding something to surprise her each direction she looked in. “Will I be going back into isolation?”

Jet shook his head. “I don’t think so. Ma3a still has a little work to complete to get your physical body ready for return to the real world, possibly she’ll even be complete by the time you get to where we’re going.”

“And then?” Melanie asked.

“Then we’ll find out what F-Con’s been up to this whole time and given the treatment we received, I don’t expect those behind fed-Encom and F-con are going to be particularly helpful, but at least you’ll be alive in the real world.”

Melanie’s smile faded a little.

“I’m not sure I like that idea. I’ve been a prisoner to my own body for so long, this place is paradise, even if it’s a little lonely. Going back into the real world doesn’t sound like it’s going to be an improvement.”

She took one long look around.

“I think I prefer this place.”

Jet was stunned by the comment. Melanie had barely been here a few subjective hours and she already wanted to stay. He wondered how bad things must have been before now that she didn’t want to return to those to brought her here.

“Were things really that bad back in the real world?” Jet asked.

Melanie looked away. “For a long time, no, but then things started to get bad and after a while, the constant pain erases all the good memories and thinking about things that happened long ago is like watching a TV show about things that happened to someone else a long time ago.”

“I can’t imagine what that’s like?” Jet said, then realized she had probably heard nothing but comments like that for many years. “But I can understand the attraction to staying in this world. It can be beautiful at times, although it’s not really made for users.”

“Sir,” came Section’s voice. “I’ve just received notice that the first of the evacuation transports in enroute to this section. We may need to reconfigure the beams before it arrives.”

The comment brought Jet back to his immediate objectives. He didn’t want to send Melanie out into the unknown, but equally, her life was at further risk just by staying here.

While she or Jet waited for the beam, the programs were no longer able to escape this world before it’s destruction either.

Jet felt the pressure mount to make a decision.

“Simon, get over here,” he called out. Crypto led Simon back to where Jet was standing.

“Get ready, you’re going out now,” Jet said. “Section, Find out what you need to know about operating the beams from Simon now.”

“Sir,” said Section, then stepped over to Simon.

Jet turned back to Melanie.

“Melanie, I can’t promise I’m not sending you to something worse than this. I can’t even promise you’re going to survive this, but you need to leave now or you may not make it out.”

Melanie smiled again, as if the danger didn’t matter.

“Jet, even if the only time I’ve had is since I moved into this world, it’s better than what I had. I wish I had a chance to get to know you better, other than just through your father’s stories. If we both make it out, let’s become friends. There’s still so much I want to ask you about.”

“Sure, that sounds great.” Jet said. He wanted to keep warning her. Keep telling her they were going to be arrested as soon as they left this world, even if they could leave this world. Jet was anxious about what would happen once they lost their only territory to those who wanted to take everything from them.

“Got it Sir,” said Section, then walked away from Simon.

“It’s not difficult Jet. Just turn the activation key through ninety degrees. That’s all.” Simon said to Jet, as if Jet had asked the question.

Jet looked at the other programs for a moment. “I want a moment to speak to Simon. Privately. Trusted.”

The programs around Jet and Simon immediately backed away. Ma3a gently took Melanie by the elbow and steered her away. “This way, Ma’am.”

Jet looked directly at Simon.

“I want you to get Melanie out of here.” He said.

“Sure, Jet, whatev,” Simon started, but Jet interjected.

“No, Simon, I mean it. I want you out there looking after her. Ma3a still needs to run some correction code on her, but once that’s complete, you’re leaving with her. Not before, not after.

“She gets back in the real world, I want you there beside her, making sure everyone knows she’s just an innocent bystander in all this.

“I want you there making sure she gets access to a lawyer and anything else she needs to get the hell out of this mess.

“Do you really understand what I’m asking you?”

Simon waited a moment before answering as if he wasn’t sure what to say.

“Jet, I can’t promise what you ask. It’s out of my hands.” Simon said.

“Yeah, maybe, but if you can’t make things happen, then I want you to influence things.” Jet said.

“Jet, I couldn’t even convince my own team to evacuate me. And they know I could die in here. What chance do you think I have of convincing them to spare someone else if push comes to shove?”

Jet considered the statement and wondered if he had really thought Simon would, or could, say anything else. Would he even have believed him if he had?

“Look, if there’s anything I can do, I will do it. If there’s a way to get your user friend out of the system, I’ll do it. If I can get them out of Echelon, I’ll do that too, as long as it doesn’t mean I’m going to be arrested for treason or anything.” Simon offered.

Jet too it at face value. Simon hadn’t told him everything when they first met, and certainly, it was obvious that he knew more than he admitted, but he had been open with Jet and had provided him information. That’s wasn’t the sort of thing he expected from someone who was being deceptive.

It would have been preferable to spend more time with Simon, and determine if he was as straight as his conversation suggested.

However the only other option was to leave with Melanie now. Then face people who he knew had tried to kill him, them both in fact, and considered him a threat.

It also meant leaving Mercury here – something Jet didn’t want to do again.

There were few options and Jet had to decide now.

“Alright, do that, OK?” he said, then nodded to Section.

“Section, I want you to prepare to transport two users.” Jet said, then thinking about it, ”And two programs.”

Ma3a floated over to Jet, leaving Melanie near the beam alone.

“That means you wish me to accompany the user through to the other network?” she said quietly.

“Yeah, take care of her Ma3a,” Jet said.

Ma3a nodded once.

“Do you need anything?” Jet asked.

“I’m a little apprehensive about what we’ll encounter,” said Ma3a.

“Me too, but at least you have the best chance with Alchemist of keeping her safe and you need to complete the correction of her codebase before she leaves, otherwise don’t let her leave.”

“I’m still processing that,” said Ma3a. “I will continue until code acceptance level equates to minimum levels set by Alan 1.”

Ma3a moved over to the transfer port.

Alchemist stepped up to Jet as well as she detoured on her way to the port.

“Take care of Mercury,” she said.

Jet was surprised. “I didn’t think sibling connections in the real world had any parallel in this?”

Alchemist looked strangely at him, not understanding Jet’s comment.

“I didn’t realize there was any bond between you two,” he simplified.

Alchemist smiled.

“She is a formidable warrior and has earned my respect. I would not want to see you take her for granted.” Alchemist said, then walked off to the beam without another word.

As a group, the four then stepped into the beam. As they rezzed out and up, the reference beam carrying them to the junction between beams, Section turned the dial in the control room.

A spherical shape, not unlike the shell, rezzed into the beam space and once complete began to accelerate upwards.

“Good luck, Melanie. I’ll follow you soon enough,” Jet said, to no one in particular, then turned to wait for Mercury.

As Jet turned, he saw a deresolution frame appear around the shells , and they began to deresolve.

Alarmed, Jet ran to the transport and waited as the frame kept him back, then Mercury slowly rezzed into place as if printed in three passes, stepping forward as the last of the shell disappeared.

“Mercury,” said Jet, concerned for her safety still.

The blue program in Jet’s life cocked her head to one side, then stepped down from the now empty transport that had brought the shells from the Terminus to this final location. Stepping off it, the shell of the tank program also began the deresolution process.

“My user has left?” Mercury asked, although seemed to know it was the case as she was not experiencing any quantum disruption.

“Yes, to the Echelon servers that F-con removed from Encom.” Jet said, although doubted that Mercury would understand the additional information that was relevant to another world she was not familiar with.

Mercury nodded. “What do you wish of me next?” she asked.

Jet looked at her for a moment, then smiled, stepped in and pulled her into him. She frowned lightly, but did not resist him.

“I know what I’d like to do,” Jet said, feeling her frustration at the moment. “But I think the Kernel want every additional program assisting in the evacuation.”

Jet felt an uneasy feeling in his stomach having already let Simon go with Melanie. He wasn’t sure he had met his obligation to his father and his friends in having let her go with someone else, but things had gone bad already and perhaps giving her over to the enemy was the best thing he could have done. More so if the enemy at least gave an indication of helping.

At least, they wouldn’t be so eager to stop Jet that they ended up derezzing her now.

Of course, there was always the chance that Simon would find a way to shut down the beam while Jet was still stuck in this world.

That thought left the least comfort with Jet.

But there was no other way Jet could see to get Melanie back and out. She needed to leave the system before Mercury could enter the Echelon network, and Simon needed to help complete that.

With any luck, Simon would also send some form of acknowledgement that it was clear to leave also.

Mercury walked from the building slowly. Jet started to follow, but noticed Section and Crypto were remaining behind.

“You programs coming?” Jet asked.

Crypto shook his head. “No sir, We’re going to be needed to reset the communications protocols to handle the incoming transports”

Jet nodded. “Well, see you around, programs,” then followed Mercury.

He caught her just as she reached the transport shuttle that brought them here. “So do we have some time for catching up?”

Mercury smiled.

“Perhaps, but the Kernel can use us to assist with rerouting communications protocols for the transports.

“Jet, You’re a user. This system actually needs you now. Don’t let the fact it’s turned it’s back on the users lately turn you from those who need your help.”

Jet frowned, stepping into the transport. “Any suggestions?”

He stepped forward as he did so, wrapping his arms around Mercury as she stood at the console that controlled the craft. She smiled as he held her tightly instead of sitting or standing at the rear.

“I think we need to speak to the Kernel,” Mercury offered, then activated the craft which rose at an angle on it’s way back, Mercury’s handling seeming to feel as smooth as an autopilot.

Jet held her the entire trip back to the now damaged tanksmasher tower, enjoying the brief time next to her before more pressing matters took his attention elsewhere.

In many ways, it was frustrating – he could do little now except wait until it was safe for Mercury to exit and leave with her. He had hoped to spend this time with her alone.

Now he was with her alone, but it was only briefly.

Inside or outside of the computer, love didn’t seem to go the way Jet wanted it to.

“It feels strange in here now,” said Mercury.

“How’s that Merc?” Jet asked.

“My user really has gone. I can feel she’s no longer here,” Mercury said.

“What does it feel like?”

“Like something is missing from me, except I can’t put my finger o what it is. It’s like an undocumented opcode or a subroutine parameter that’s not passed and takes on a default value.” Mercury tried to explain. “Does that make any sense?”

“Like when you’re not here?” Jet offered.

Mercury twisted in the driving position to give Jet a puzzled look.

“Like I feel when you’re not here,” he said.

“Is that how you feel?” Mercury asked.

“Something like that,” said Jet. “Like something’s missing.”

“I don’t feel like that at all,” said Mercury, now looking forward.

“How do you feel?” Jet asked, worried now at what her answer might be.

“When you’re not here?” Mercury asked.

“Yes,” Jet said. He felt a shiver travel her body.

“Like I’m just a shell running an application, looking on as something happens around me that I can’t control.”

Mercury didn’t look back at Jet as she spoke, her voice even and controlled.

Jet felt her tremble a little. He pulled her closer and felt her melt into his arms as she tried to contort her body around his touch.

“I’m sorry I left you Merc. I really wish I’d stayed when the server was crashing.”

“You would have been derezzed,” Mercury said. “That’s something I couldn’t go on processing, knowing.”

“So you ran?” Jet asked.

“I couldn’t leave the way you did, Jet. Programs cannot pass into the user’s world, but a user can’t reboot. For all the power user’s have, it seems so limited if you can’t protect yourselves.”

“I’m glad you made it out of the server, ”Jet said. “And I’m sorry I took so long to come back.”

“Is it right? For a program to want a user?” Mercury quietly asked the distance before her.

“Is it right, for a user to want a program so badly he would give up being a user to be with her?” Jet asked in return.

Mercury twisted a flat dial on the panel in front of her and the transport shifted into autopilot. She twisted in Jet’s arms until she faced him, her face buried in Jet’s neck, then she looked up into his face, the strength that Jet always knew to be so strong in Mercury fading away as the insecurities of love played themselves out in a world so far removed from his.

“I love you, Merc,” said Jet, then bent down and kissed her fully on the mouth as she pressed her frame back into him, held in place between Jet and the transport control column.

Slowly, far above the ground that had so recently been a battlefield, the transport came to a stop, and Mercury shared her code with Jet once again.

Next Chapter – Non Maskable Interrupt.