-
“This is just, just-“ Dean was going to finish his thought as he stared at the 3D holographic image of his head that was projected by his Identity Disk but he was cut off by his brother instead.
“Fascinating?” His brother asked as he stared at his own face and then what looked like a DNA chain.
“More like freaky,” Dean said as he ran his hand through his own holographic face. “How do I turn this thing off?” He tried rubbing his finger across the disk but it did nothing.
“Like this,” Sam Flynn said as he tapped his fingers over certain areas of Dean’s disk and gave it a smack. The projection disappeared
“Thanks,” Dean said as he placed his disk back on its harness. After Dean had apologized for being a dick, they rejoined with Sammy and Cas and the five of them had found a nice and simple lounge area to sit and talk. There was large and flat glass like rectangular prism that was on the floor and various news feeds played across it.
“Is Darla Simcoe really going to be all right with this set up?” Sammy asked. He was still staring at his projection, except now it had various lists of random words.
“As long as we try and keep things ordinary and stable,” Cas said. “She knows she is not home but it feels familiar to her. That is what she needs.”
“Will the others be like that?” Quorra asked. She had been wringing her hands since they sat down. “After they have been cured?”
“I can’t say for certain,” Cas said.
“I hate this,” Flynn said as he drummed his fingers against his knee. “This waiting on what to do next.”
“They are working on something,” Sam said as he tried to mimic the moves Flynn did, even the small smack. It was enough for image to disappear.
“I hate waiting too,” Dean said as he sat up. “But we can’t do anything else now.”
“You both need to be patient,” Quorra said.
“How long?” Flynn asked.
“I don’t know.” Quorra shrugged. “But a watched potty doesn’t bubble.”
Dean snickered. He couldn’t hold that in. He wasn’t sure if she was joking or not since she was a former program, but it was just funny. He wasn’t the only one to laugh. Both Sams were chuckling.
“I said it wrong?” Quorra asked as a blush formed across her cheeks.
“It’s a watched pot never boils.” Flynn was still smiling as he told her. “Don’t feel bad. You are cute when you do that.”
“Oh,” she gasped. Her blush grew in size and even her circuitry grew brighter
“Once again I miss out on the jokes,” Gabe said. He had appeared out of nowhere in true angel fashion.
“Whoa,” Sam gasped as he hiked up his feet, blinked and held up his hands.
“I thought you guys were used to this,” Gabe said and tilted his head to the side.
“Yeah, but I’m still trying to get used to you, looking like that.” Sam gestured to the chinchilla.
“Tell me about it,” Gabe said as he grabbed his tail. “I’m still getting used to looking like this.”
“What are you doing here, Gabe?” Dean asked. He didn’t want to admit the angel was right about before. He also didn’t want to apologize to him either.
“Meeting is about to start,” Gabe said. “All available fighters need to report down stairs.” He held up his fingers.
“No,” Dean said as he held up his hand. “I’m not going anywhere with you. If I have to be zapped then I want to be zapped by Cas.”
“Fine,” Gabe said and pressed his fingers against both the foreheads of Flynn and Quorra before the three of them vanished.
“I’m not sure how to feel about that,” Cas said as he stood up. “You choosing me over Gabe.”
“We like you better,” Sam said.
“Just call it a compliment,” Dean added.
Cas smiled and touched them.
-
The scenery changed and they were once again on the first floor of the building where Cas had previously cured Darla of her programming. Dean looked around for a familiar face and found Tron, still looking pissed at the situation.
“Hey,” Dean greeted him as he walked up the security program. “How do you feel?”
“Angry,” Tron answered. “And I felt useless waiting around not doing anything. That was an odd feeling for me. I remember waiting for Flynn to come and give me new instructions and I remember when I waited for Alan-one to give me a command, but I was always doing something. I’d run diagnostics, checking in on everything to make sure everything was working. I’d interrogate new programs that came in from the outside, but I always did something.”
“It’s not the same system that you left,” Dean told him, hoping to reassure his friend. “Once we put this plan in action you will feel like your usual self.”
“I hope your right. Things just don’t feel the way they used to.”
“You went from one system to our world and back to your old system in less than a week. You just need some time to adjust.”
Tron closed his eyes and nodded. Dean wished he knew what was going on with his friend. The program doesn’t feel like his usual self and Gabe said there was something off about him. He just hoped it was because his friend was being thrown through different environments. Heck when he and Sam would drive from one state to another that had a drastic change in things like temperature and elevation they feel a little under the weather. Tron was going through something similar.
Dean had wondered where Yori was and when he looked around he could see that she was standing in front of everyone. She had waved her hand around trying to get the clamor to die down so that she would have everyone’s attention and speak.
A sharp and loud whistle cut through the dying babble. Gabe had placed two fingers to his mouth and gave out the whistle. Once everything had gone silent he gave Yori a supportive nod.
“Greeting programs,” Yori spoke loud and clear. “It is clear that time is of the essence. We cannot stay here and allow this new Master Control to keep stealing Users from their world and turning them into weapons. We have to fight back now.”
“How is he doing that?” Another female program asked. She had blond hair styled in a page boy bob and looked like she was wearing a white leotard with a skirt, knee high boots and arm bands. “Programs, even something powerful as the Master Control Program in the stories you told can’t be strong enough to rewrite Users.”
“Yeah,” someone else in the crowd added. “Users write and rewrite programs, not the other way around.”
Yori inhaled. “I have been informed what we are dealing with is not a program, but a demon.”
The crowd grew silent for a few seconds before several programs broke out into whispers.
“Are you serious?” A tall male program with messy shoulder length hair asked. “Demon’s aren’t real. They are just stories from the User world. They use them in stories and other forms of entertainment to frighten other Users.”
“They are real,” Dean challenged him. “They are not just stories. My brother, friends and I have faced them. There are more things in our world and your world than are data processed in your programming.”
“What kind of demon are we facing?” The same girl asked before. Her curiosity was replaced by fear.
“Luduserus,” Gabe answered. “He’s been more of a laid back demon, preferred games only got power hungry since he was released onto the Net came to the main ENCOM system and decided to settle down and take over it seems.”
“He has no restrictions,” Cas added. “Out there he has to compete with other demons and face off against angels. The more powerful demons have weaker ones working for them. Luduserus was one of the weaker ones but now that he is the only demon here he can do whatever he wants.”
“Won’t other demons come in here?” Flynn asked.
“They either think it’s beneath them,” Cas answered. “Or they don’t know about it.”
“How are we going to face off against a demon?” Another program asked as he was backing away to the closest doors. “I’m not going to fight against something like that.”
“What are you?” Tron asked. His voice was low and menacing. “What kind of programs are you?”
“The ones that are not going to get derezzed,” the frightened program answered.
“Cowards,” Tron hissed. “The Users depend on us. You believe in them and you fight for them.”
“We are not all like you. We are happy to do what our Users tell us to do but none of them tell us to go fight this demon. We can’t handle their problems in our system.”
“We have to,” Sammy said. “If this thing gets control of every system through the web then who knows what will happen to all of you or us.”
“Yeah,” Dean added. “I’m not about to allow this thing to go Skynet on us. Sam and I have fought against, banish and even help destroy several of these demons.”
“We have Users on our side,” the female from before said.
“Four of them,” Flynn said. “My father fought against the Master Control Program, He, I and Q here fought against another powerful and corrupt program. I’ve never fought against a demon before, but I’m not afraid to give it go.”
“We have angels,” Quorra said. “They are also real and we have two of them here.”
There was more silence and more whispering.
“Where?” the frightened program from before asked. “Where are these angels?”
“Right here,” Gabe said as he pointed to himself and Cas. “My real name is Gabriel and this is my little brother, Castiel.”
The murmur grew louder and was accompanied by several programs laughing.
The circuitry lining the buildings grew brighter, washing everyone in multi colored glow and casting shadows around. Cas and Gabe’s shadows both formed wings that stretched out before the lights dimmed.
“They are real,” the blond program said and she folded her hands. “My User believes in them, prays to them.” She dropped to her knees along with several other programs.
“This is why I didn’t tell you guys,” Gabe said. “Please don’t bow to us. It’s me, Skip. I’m still the same guy who was helping you.” He sighed and shook his head and only looked up when Cas gave him a pat on the back
“You see?” Flynn asked as he pointed to the two. “You got Users who know how to fight demons, a couple of powerful angels and several programs that are willing to fight.”
“And one security program that fought against a demon before,” Cas said, earning a few more gasps from the crowd.
“Wait.” Dean pointed at him. “You knew there was a program that went one on one with a demon before and you didn’t tell me?”
Cas gave him that look that said the detail wasn’t important before. “That was the reason why I brought him out of the Grid.”
“Tron?” Dean said the name as the same time as Flynn and turned around to look at his program friend. “You?”
“I’ve never done battle with a demon before,” Tron said while he shook his head. “You are mistaken.”
“You were the one who threw in your disk into Voroziel’s core,” Cas explained. “Destroyed the program that he merged with and left him severely weak for six years.”
“The MCP,” Tron said his name. “He was a demon?”
“No way,” Flynn said as he shook his head. “My dad said he was originally a chess program that had a few functions added to him.”
“He started out as a chess program,” Cas said. “That much is true.” He fixated his stare on Sam Flynn. “But what you don’t know is that another employee at your father’s company made a deal with Voroziel in exchange for curing his sick toddler son.”
“What did this deal entail?” Flynn asked.
“The man was able to hack in and steal a file containing the plans and data for several games. He got the credit and the raise, used the money to buy the best medical science was able to offer and in exchange he lost his soul and helped Voroziel bond with that chess program.”
“Dillinger.” Flynn shook his head. “Edward Junior talked about how lucky he’s still alive since he had problems.” He took a deep breath. “He could of asked my father for help, he would have given the money to save a baby.”
“Voroziel liked to eat human souls,” Cas continued. “Since the merging he was able to feast on programs and take on their strength, skills and abilities. Your father was extremely brave to jump in.”
“Flynn jumping in was able to throw it off,” Tron said. “The MC—Voroziel was distracted long enough for me to throw my disk into his core.”
“Ramiel was there with him,” Cas said. “He held him, kept him safe in case Voroziel would snap out of it and try to consume him. My brother was able to send Kevin Flynn back home.”
“Where was your brother when my father was trapped in his Grid?” Sam Flynn asked. “Where was he when he felt like he was forced to reintegrate with Clu and died? Where was he?” He barely acknowledged Quorra who reached out to take his hand.
“It’s difficult for us to arrive,” Cas said. “We had to use the laser if we have a vessel and we were preparing for a war.”
“Demons and angels skirmishing across the globe,” Dean said as he stood in place between them. “There was a war and we were the tools, my brother and I were their tools. We were trying to prevent an apocalypse.” He closed his eyes. He had to be careful in choosing his next words. “If they could I’m certain one of them, Ramiel perhaps, would have been there for your father. Sammy and I lost our father a few years ago.”
“Ramiel did love the digital world,” Cas said.
“Always did like him,” Gabe said with a smile on his face. “Always so inquisitive and amused by the humans.”
“What happened to Voroziel?” Tron asked. “You said he was weakened for six years, what happened after those six years?”
“He tried to resurface,” Gabe explained. “Tried to eat more souls and he was blown away by John Winchester.”
“Dad took care of him,” Sammy said.
“That’s why we were here in 88,” Dean said. He relaxed his shoulders. “So back to the plan.”
“The plan is that we free the Users that are still there,” Yori said as Lia walked up to her. “Lia has the schematics of the Game Grid. The information will be uploaded into all vehicles both land and air.”
Dean perked up at the sound of land vehicles. If that means he could get through the port without flying then he would be all for it.
“After we free the Users we will have one group return to the port,” Lia said. “They will take them here where it’s safe. The rest of us will continue on to fight this demon.”
“What about the Users who are under his power?” Tron asked. “How are we going to know which ones are actual Users.”
“Cas can look them in the eyes,” Gabe volunteered. “He’ll tell us which ones are the Users.” He turned to look at his fellow angel. “But that is all you are doing. I will put them under.”
“Why?” Cas asked.
“Radiate too much of your stuff and he will know where you are.”
“And we don’t want to broadcast that we got a powerful angel with us,” Dean said. “Not until the end.”
“What if Luduserus has certain sigil in enochian?” Sammy asked.
“He doesn’t want to keep me out,” Cas said as he shook his head. “He is still angry about his prior imprisonment. I assisted Jophiel, if Luduserus can’t have him then he will take it out on me.”
“So keep it down,” Gabe said as he gestured his fingers to dial it down.
“I will not do anything drastic,” Cas said. “I have also gathered enough human essence to shield myself. I will loan you some, Gabriel.”
“Where did you get that?” Gabe asked.
“I’ll tell you later.”
“Then it’s settled,” Tron said. “When do we leave?”
“Now,” Yori said. “It is time to choose which method of transportation you wish to use.”
“Wheels,” Dean said. “Using wheels.”
“I have a surprise for you,” Sam said as he led Dean and Tron to Lia “We are ready.”
“I’m very ready,” Dean started. “To apologize. I was a jerk earlier and I took it out on you.”
A faint smile formed across Lia’s face. “You were enraged with what the demon had done. I felt angry with myself for not knowing either.” She held up a large baton. “It is complete.”
“What is complete?” Dean asked as Sam accepted the baton.
“You’ll see,” Sam said before he nodded at the programs. “Do you want to ride with us?”
“Will all five of us fit?” Yori asked.
“Sure,” Sam said and turned around. “Cas? You need a ride?”
“I’ll be flying,” Cas answered. “Not on my own wings of course.”
“Then it’s settled,” Sam said as he held up his baton.
“What’s settled?” Dean asked as he followed his brother outside of the building. “What’s going on? What is this thing?”
Sam said nothing until they reached the street. “Ready?”
“Yeah I’m ready,” Dean answered.
Sam activated the baton. Several glowing lines shot from the baton forming the frame of a car. There was no denying that shape. Dean knew what kind of car was before the black panels filled it.
“It looks like your car,” Tron said when the light car was fully formed
“How?” Dean asked as he pointed at the black Chevy Impala that was illuminate with blue neon.
“I asked Lia to help me make it,” Sam said proudly. “I know it’s not good as the real thing.”
“Yeah. If I ever catch you trying to pimp up my baby with a bunch of blue glowing shit I’d kick your ass.” He smiled. “But for here she’s perfect. Thank you both.”
-