-
Darkness was replaced with light so bright that it hurt Alan’s eyes. He had to squint and blink for several seconds before he could fully open his eyes. He also felt disoriented and his legs felt weak. He took a step and fell against the wall and had to hold onto it for a second to brace himself and look around. He was in some odd hallway that had the floor and ceiling lit up with several square shaped lights. The walls were gray and divided into sections by thin beams of neon that glowed a bright orange-red.
A minute ago he was in the laser lab with Adrian and they were trying to get into the system so Adrian could upload Guardian. They were also talking with someone or something that claimed to be in control of ENCOM’S system. Adrian had called it Foamy.
The Laser had activated and was targeting the two of them. Alan had pushed Adrian out of the way and was struck by the beam, just like Kevin had claimed had happened to him nearly thirty years ago.
“Adrian?” Alan asked and looked around. He could not see the young programmer. There was a good possibility that Adrian hadn’t also been digitized.
What was he thinking? He was not taken by a laser beam, altered into data or something similar and brought into a computer. He had heard one too many stories from Kevin Flynn, but what else had happened? How did he end up here and where was here exactly?
Alan examined his hands and arms. He looked the same. Nothing had changed about his appearance. He was still wearing the same clothes as before. The story Kevin told him about the first time he was sent to the world of cyberspace he had his clothing instantly changed to strange white armor with light blue circuitry.
“This can’t be real,” Alan said as he reached behind his back. There was no disk there. He heard footsteps behind him and turned around. Four figures was walking to him. All four were dressed from neck to toe in black that was adorned with thick glowing red lines. They were wearing what looked like black bicycle helmets with visors covering half of their faces and carrying glowing red staffs.
“Program,” one of them spoke to him from behind the glasslike helmet. “Identify yourself.”
“My name is Alan Bradley,” Alan said as he held up his hands. He was in no condition to run.
“Turn around,” the same speaker ordered.
Alan took one good look at the glowing red end of the staff like weapon. He was not going to argue with them. He turned around.
“He has no disk,” the guard said. “Program, where is your Identity Disk?”
“I’m not a program,” Alan said. They were right. Father and son were right about this place and now he was getting to experience it and not in the way he would want to experience it. “I’m a User. I just arrived and never received one.”
“User?” The guard asked while his companions laughed. “The Users don’t come here.”
“Not any more,” another one said.
“They never did,” a third said.
“They have,” the fourth spoke up. “A long time ago.”
“Silence,” the first guard ordered. “We’ll take him to Regor. We’ll see if he is fit enough.”
“I can tell you know that I am not,” Alan said. Sure he kept fit at home with the gaming unit from their popular competitor, but it would not be enough to compete in the games that both Flynn’s have talked about.
“Move,” the guard ordered and brought the edge of the weapon against him.
The surge was enough for Alan to almost skip. “I’ll go with you, but you will see I am far to old for these games.”
“That is for Regor to decide.”
“What if I’m not fit?” Alan asked. He wasn’t certain what would happen to those who couldn’t play.
“You better hope he finds you to be strong.”
Alan swallowed as he followed the guards.
-
Janelle blinked her eyes as she sat up from where she was on the hard floor. She had to pause at that fact that she was out like that. For five years she never had blacked out. She grew weak but she never fell asleep. The dead don’t need to sleep, but they can dream. Was this a dream?
“Where am I?” Janelle asked as she looked around her.
The sky was dark and cloudy. There were strange buildings all around her. She could not remember the last time she had seen buildings that were structured like the large post modern sculptures that were often found in front of many office buildings. They also reminded her of the fantasy cities that she made with wooden blocks when she was younger. Some of the buildings looked like diamond shapes stacked on top of each other, some were dome shaped with soaring spear like points in the middle, some were pyramid shaped, others like trapezoids and others looked like the letter L. Some of the buildings were glossy and black like obsidian, others were constructed of silver or metals that had a purple or blue tint. They all were framed and illuminated with multicolored neon.
“I’m not in ENCOM, not in Vegas and certainly not in Kansas.”
She heard something and looked up and saw something large flying towards her. She wasn’t sure how to describe it. It looked like a Torii. She had seen many of those magnificent gateways to Shinto shrines in pictures from Japan and in many forms of entertainment. This particular Torii was framed in glowing red lines and it was flying straight toward her. As it got closer it reminded her of something else. It looked like one of those flying things from Space Paranoids.
“It can’t possibly see me.” That is if it was a robot or it was some odd form of aircraft being flown by people. She stared down at the floor and was greeted by an image she hadn’t seen in years, her reflection. She looked the same she had when her body was pulled out of the water and several doctors tried without success to resuscitate her. She was still dressed in her purple gown with the plunging neckline. Her dark red hair was halfway undone from the updo and she looked like she was dripping wet.
Her image was erased by the glowing white beam of light that covered her. She looked up to see the Torii like craft as it lowered itself until it was only a few feet above her. The middle bar lowered itself until it was nearly level with her. There were several people dressed in black armor framed by glowing red lines.
“Uh hi,” Janelle said. “You can see me?”
“We can see you,” one of the men in black said. “Now identify yourself, Program.”
“What?” She couldn’t feel, or breath, smell, sleep, or taste, but she could see and hear, but she wasn’t certain if she was hearing right. “What did you call me?”
“Get aboard,” the same soldier spoke to her. “Get on the Recognizer.” He tried to grab her wrist but his hand went through her.
“Still non corporal,” Janelle said. “I think that might mean I can still fly on my own so if you don’t mind.” She took a step back away from them.
“Come back here.” The order was given as the glowing end of the staff passed through.
“No,” Janelle gasped. “Not here. I can’t be here.” She jumped back a few more feet and ran as fast as she could. She went from running to floating and from floating to flying. “Five years I spend between the living and the hereafter and they send me here? Don’t I get a fair trial in front of Saint Peter first?”
She continued to fly through the underworld, ghosting through buildings and did not stop until she saw four more guards lead a familiar face to an odd dome like building.
“Alan?” Janelle asked. “Mr. Bradley?” He was one of the last people she expected to be sent to this place and the last time she remembered he was still alive.
She froze. The last thing she actually remembered was that green-blue laser beam going through her and striking Alan in the chest. They both were trying to save Adrian who was the intended target, but why did the laser go off? She remembered both men were talking with something and Alan had called it a Master Control Program and her beloved Adrian called it Foamy. Did that beam send them to another world?
She didn’t like what they were doing to Alan, but she had no idea where they were leading him to and at this time it would be best to simply follow without being seen.
-
Alan knew he looked like a baby gaping at everything, but he couldn’t help himself. Everything was beautiful, amazing and frightening. A part of him wanted to flee and run, another knew that was not possible and the third part of his brain had been reverted to the mind of a distracted cat with how shiny everything was.
“In here, Program,” the guard said as he tried to push Alan inside the building.”
“How many times do I have to tell you,” Alan said as he avoided being struck by the staff again. “I am not a Program. I’m a human, a User.”
“Some of us have delusions of grandeur it seems,” a tall form came sauntering up to them. His armor was different. There were distinct angular shoulder pads. He also was without a helmet. He had high and sharp cheekbones and a scar over his left eyebrow. His black hair was slicked back and tied into a ponytail that was held with flat red beads and hung over his left shoulder.
“Let me guess,” Alan said as he studied the newcomer’s face. “You must be Regor.” He could not recognize his face. Kevin had told him that the Programs in the system resembled their creators. This program was created by someone he did not know. When he got out, if he got out, he was going to have to look at everyone’s personal profiles to see if the man worked at ENCOM.
“That is correct,” the Program said. “What do is your designation, User wannabe?”
“Alan.”
“Very well, Alan,” Regor said as he stared him up and down. “You do not seem to be too spry, but you do seem to have plenty of fight in you.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying you are to be suited up for the games.”
“I’m not a young man anymore. I can’t compete in athletics.”
“This should be interesting then,” Regor said with his mouth set in a smirk. “Take him away.”
“Let him go.” A feminine and somewhat familiar voice shouted.
Several of the guardsmen danced around and tried to shock at something but to no success as a young woman walked through them.
“Mr. Bradley,” the woman said as she approached him and Alan felt his heart stop. She looked and sounded exactly like Janelle Harper.
“Janelle?” Alan asked. How could this be possible? Janelle never showed any interest in programming, unless this was something like a personal website that had taken sentient form.
“Stop this program,” Regor demanded.
“Why do you keep calling me that?” Janelle asked. “Let him go.”
“Janelle, get out of here,” Alan said. He could not believe he was addressing this form as her.
“Not without you.” Her eyes widened when she was struck by one of the staffs. “Ouch!” She jumped to the side. “That hurt. That actually hurt. I felt that.”
“They are going to hurt you much more than that,” Alan said. “Run.”
Janelle ran, no it was more like she flew away and through more guards. “I’ll come back for you.”
“She didn’t have an Identity Disk on her,” one of the guards said.
“Two of them without disks,” Regor said. His face twisted up into a snarl and grabbed Alan by the chin. “Who is she?”
“Innocent,” Alan said. “Leave her alone.” He closed his eyes when Regor’s grip grew stronger.
“I want an answer. Who is that program?”
“She is not a program. She’s also a User.” At least she was when she was still alive.
“How was she able to move like that?”
“You will have to ask her.” He didn’t even know how Janelle was able to move like that. It was almost as if she was a ghost, but ghosts were not real, but how else was he able to see and communicate with Janelle, not to mention a few hours ago the thought a world in the computer was also not real.
Regor balled up his hand into a fist, but did not strike out at Alan. “Suit him up, but do not put him in any competition until I give the command.”
The guards grabbed onto Alan’s hands and brought him inside. How did Sam say they suited him up in the past? He said hey used some young cyber vamps to strip him off his clothes.
“I’m not sure if I’m ready for them,” Alan said.
“Them who?” One of the guards asked.
“The girls,” Alan said as he was pushed against the wall.
“What girls?” The guard pressed his finger against the wall, apparently typing in a special code.
The wall behind him lit up with various colors as his clothing became illuminated. He felt the threads melt away from his body and leave behind something clinging to his skin. It felt like leather but it also felt light and soft. He also felt his glasses melt away into nothing. When the light faded he saw that he was covered in black leather like material.
“I need my glasses,” Alan said as he looked up at his captors. Those that were close to him he could see clearly but the further away they were they more bleary they appeared.
“You won’t need those,” one guard said as he was typing something into a clear glass table.
“His armor is odd,” one of the other guards said.
“Just put it on him
The guards approached him with pieces of armor that glowed with a soft blue light. Alan watched as they attached the armor to his arms, legs, chest, and abdomen. He was spun around when they fit more on his back. They even put on black gloves on his hands that seemed to highlight the bones on his thumb, index and middle fingers in bright blue light.
“Here’s your disk,” one of the guards said as they placed something against his back.
Alan sucked in his breath as he felt a surge go through his body. He barely heard what that one was telling him about the disk. He did hear it snap into place followed by a few beeps. His vision was filled with a blue-white light for a few seconds. He blinked his eyes once the light had faded and could not believe what he saw. Everything was clear, even things that were far away.
“Proceed this way to the holding cells for the games of the other guards said.
“Games,” Alan repeated. He knew in order to survive he was going to have to win.
-
Regor stormed up the steps to his master’s quarters. He did not care how disrespectful he was going to appear. He was lied to. His master had told them a new rogue program had been brought to their new section of the grid, just one and now there was two of them and the second one had abilities that had never seen in a program before.
Inhaling deeply Regor knocked on the door and waited for his master to acknowledge him before he stormed inside.
“Master with all due respect I wish you had told me you have brought two of them,” Regor said.
“Are you forgetting your manners?” His master asked. He had asked those who served him to call him Master but he had a name. He was given the name of Osiris. He chose not to wear any armor and instead wore a long black coat trimmed in gold over sleek black clothes.
“I’m sorry,” Regor said as he dropped to one knee.
“That is better,” Osiris said. He was good looking for a male program. Even Regor had to agree. Osiris had dark hair styled short and parted in a way that had most of his bangs hanging over his right eye. His eyebrows formed an almost square like frame over blue eyes. His nose was pert and he had full lips. “What is it you came to see me about?”
“You told me you brought a new program,” Regor said. “There were two.”
“Two?” Osiris asked as he arched a brow.
“There were two of them, A male and a female. They did not have any Identity Disk’s on either them and the male insisted that they were both Users.”
“Ah, yes.” Osiris smiled. That’s because they are.”
“They are Users?” Regor could not believe what he was hearing. “You brought in Users?”
“I thought I only brought in one, although I did detect another energy source but that one was weaker, just barely there.” He rubbed his chin. “Where are they?”
“The male has been suited up for the games. The female has escaped.”
“Escaped?” Osiris asked. “The female has to be the second one, the weaker source. “How was she able to get away?”
“She was hard to contain. She is intangible. We try to grab her and our hands and our weapons pass through her, only when she was distracted were we able to injure her. The male told her to run and she flew away.”
“She flew away?”
“Correct,” Regor said with a nod.
“Fascinating creature. Find a way to capture her. Have both her and the male fight in the games.”
“I have told you she is quite hard to catch and the male seems to be older than the usual game warriors.”
“Older?” Osiris raised an eyebrow.
“That is correct.”
“We brought the wrong one in. Have the sentries prepare the portal beam again and as for the girl, I know you can lure her out, learn her weakness. Make her come to you.”
“I will not disappoint you, master.”
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