Boss Level Up: Deus Ex Machina

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by Serathin

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As Del'vane appeared on the nexus log-in point he was shocked to find that the normally vacant outpost area to be filled with avatars that were just milling about and talking. It puzzled him that such a gathering had gotten here, he had normally logged into the matrix at this point in order to enter the virtual megacity and browse its data under stealth mode. The ancient ruins not only had a huge crowd of people but also merchants with shops, entertainment, and other marketplace staples normally found in the big city. It took him about twenty minutes just to get from the login point to one of the areas where a number of avatars had gathered, his HUD indicating that one of his close friends in the matrix was there.

"Thrash!" Del'vane greeted the drow, who promptly returned the greeting with a wave of his own before they waded through the crowd towards each other. "What the hell is going here?"

"Maybe if you had logged in sometime these last two weeks you would have known." Thrash replied. "Some... thing has taken over the entire data node, as soon as strange things started happening almost everyone ran into the outskirts. People had thought that it might have been some sort of strange virus, but after we were all evacuated they had brought in the heavy anti-virus squads. That was a few hours ago... they haven't returned since."

Del'vane looked back at the glistening buildings of the megacity, the millions of lines of code that made them up hidden behind the graphical renderings that made them beautiful. It was hard to believe that one of the biggest networks in the area currently laid dormant, free from people due to the fear of the unknown...

"Thrash, maybe now's the time." Del'vane whispered into the drow's ear. "That scumbag's virtual hub is going to only be minimally guarded if they were so hastily evacuated from whatever threat is going on."

"Are you insane?" Thrash hissed back lowly.

"C'mon, where's your sense of adventure?" Del'vane said as he punched the other male on the shoulder. "Besides, if we get caught by whatever this is all we'd lose is our rigs, small price compared to what lies beyond."

*************************

An hour later the armored human and drow elf walked down the deserted street that led into the network zone. They had made their way out of the ruins through a few secret tunnels that they had discovered. Once they were away from the bustle of the refugee avatars it became remarkably easy to move around. Other then an electric tingle in the air nothing about the world seemed different, other then the fact that the place was a ghost town.

"It's like the internet Apocalypse." Thrash commented.

As the two of them continued into the city they suddenly came upon a group of cloaked individuals, the black with silver-striped cloth shimmered on their bodies as they appeared to block a large, winged individual with golden skin. "An archon." Del'vane muttered as they approached the group. "That's a pretty expensive avatar build, guy might be doing the same thing we are."

"I said to tell me what you know of the others that passed through!" The archon bellowed.

"...maybe not." Thrash whispered back. "Cybersoldier... I bet he knows what's going on, but be extremely careful."

The two carefully made their way up behind the very loud avatar, hoping to stay unnoticed. Unfortunately that wasn't the case as they got a couple hundred feet from them he suddenly heard someone clear their throat to their left. They froze, then turned to see another of the cloaked figures right next to them. With the avatar so close the two could see under the darkness of the hood, the creature underneath looked human save for the unnatural electric green hue to his eyes and a pair of slightly curved teeth that poked down past his upper lip, as well as a green tattoo that covered half his face. "More people who wish to enter the city." The strange guy said.

"You two, what are you two doing here?" The archon said as he pointed at them. "You know what, nevermind, you two are coming with me. You two look like fighter avatars and I could use the extra help, especially against these bastards."

"I already told you that we won't stand in your way." The leader of the cloaked individuals said. "If you wish to receive Deus's divine judgement like the rest of those who have passed through then-" his words were cut short as the soldier picked him up and slammed him against the concrete wall. "-you are free to go into the city as you please. We just are here to provide warning."

"Crazy cultists." The archon nearly growled before he tossed the avatar aside. 'You two, with me, let's go." When Del'vane and Thrash didn't move, the cyber security officer looked back at them. "I know you weren't here for sightseeing, if you help me get the others back I won't question why you two were down here in the first place. Got it?"

The two gulped and nodded before they ran after him, heading into the digital city proper. While they were here illegally there was something comforting about having the archon there with them, especially with the foreboding that the cloaked figures had given them. The only thing they wondered about was how they were going to access the data note without the matrix security officer noticing. They tried to steer the archon in the right direction but the imposing avatar had a mind of his own on where to go. It looked like they would have to find some way to sneak off, but as they tried to secretly formulate a plot a sudden arc of green electricity crossed their path.

As they looked around for the cause of it a shadow crossed overhead, the entire area suddenly awash with the flicker of green flames and electricity. It lit up the dark streets and the three watched as a creature shrouded in darkness flew over to the lightning rod of a particularly tall building and perched there. They saw something snake-like slither down and attach to the side of the building, which illuminated the tail in green light that flared up the appendage. As the light continued to travel up the huge body it traced paths like circuitry up the armored body of the winged creature. It was a form that Thrash recognized, though it was slightly more fearsome then before.

"A draconic sabre-wolf..." he said, which caused the other two to look at the drow. "I heard a rumor about these creatures, they were calling them 'technomancers', the most powerful one was a hybrid."

"The drow is well-informed." The towering creature said in a deep, booming voice that seemed to resonate inside of them. "Though I have evolved beyond such rudimentary powers, now I control the matrix and all those inside of it. Some have even taken to worship me, calling me 'Deus Ex Machina'. I must say I'm rather fond of the title, though you can call me Serathin."

"Hey, that's what the cloaked guy said." Del'vane said. "The one with the green lion tattoo on his face."

"Lion tattoo?" The archon said before his face twisted into a grimace as he looked back the smirking creature. "That was Carbine, he was my best agent and you reprogrammed him into one of your cultists?!"

"Mmmm, what an abrasive attitude." Serathin replied as he held out his hand, green light emanating from it that twisted itself into lines of code. "I'd ask if you'd like to join me but I have the feeling you're going to refuse."

"You're damn right!" The archon shouted as a grenade launcher materialized in his hands. Both Del'vane and Thrash ducked to the side of the alley as the digital weapon fired. They watched as the powerful program streaked towards the self-proclaimed god with the express intent to decompile and destroy the code that made up the powerful avatar. All three were perplexed as the projectile suddenly disappeared into the fabric of the matrix several feet before it hit its mark.

The archon quickly recovered from the loss and prepped for another shot, only to have the large gun shatter into data fragments in his hands. A green circle suddenly appeared around the archon and he let out a loud cry as his avatar began to disintegrate before their very eyes. It started with his wings, the avatar fell to his knees as the metallic feathers turned black and shriveled away. Then, before either of the other two could do anything, he exploded in gold and black dust. They continued to stare dumbstruck at the void where the complex avatar was before they slowly turned back up to the technomancer.

"Well then, now that we've erased his acrid personality from this realm we have to decide what to do with you two." Serathin continued before he stared straight at the drow. "Ah Thrash, I like you, you remind me a lot of myself. You've stolen from a lot of people, many who've trusted and cared about you. Either I can punish you for your discretion towards trespassing in my land or you can choose to serve me in the net and I can grant you a small parcel of my power. What do you say?"

"I say... hell yeah..." Thrash replied with little hesitation, which prompted his friend to look at him in question. "What? Did you see what he did? That avatar was top of the line military spec and he just wiped it from the face of the matrix. I'd rather be on the winning side."

Del'vane heard Serathin say something but he was more focused on the drow as a green circle suddenly appeared around him as well. At first he was worried that he was about to see his friend destroyed, but instead of evaporation his avatar was surrounded by an electric green mist. The cloud of data seemed to be absorbed into the avatar's code, the drow's eyes began to glow with a green hue as he floated slightly in the air. The last thing Del'vane saw was the elf male's incisor's grow out into a pair of saberteeth before the last of the fog coalesced into a black and silver-striped cloak that covered his form.

"Well?" Del'vane suddenly heard, his head turning to see the sabre-wolf's face mere inches away from his face. "What's your choice?"

***************************************

A follow-up to my previous post, this is what happens when a technomancer gains control of a node of the internet/matrix.

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