Adventures in Parodyverse - Outlaws of the New Law Part 6

    Yuki Shiro paced the broadcasting center of the prison still wearing the Bluetooth that gave her command of the transmission station.  The broadcast center was cool, almost over air conditioned, because most of the people there worked up a sweat.  Yuki wasn’t sweating as much as she was anxious to get this over with.

    Anna sat perfectly still in a comfortable executive chair that had been immobilized to prevent the wires which attached her to the main computer from disconnecting.  She was speaking to the Virtual Reality lab downstairs, designing a convincing broadcast of an execution.  

    There were so many details, so many variables, everything from the angle of the sun at the time of the broadcast in fifteen minutes, to wind, and weather, to nuances of prisoners’ behavior and who is likely to be frightened, or brave, or make a stand.  Any detail out of place, and The Moderator might realize there’s something wrong.

    Chiaki summarized it well ten minutes ago.  The Moderator, being a seriously depraved man, would want to savor the execution.  He wouldn’t watch it while eating popcorn or reading a book.  He would be glued to the television, wishing he was close enough to touch it.

    “But what if he decides to attend it personally?”  Liu Xi asked.

    The only thing preventing that, Chiaki explained, was the possibility of the remains of the Lair Legion attending.  “As powerful as he seems to be,”  she explained, “He is still a coward.  He is still afraid they may unseat him on the eve of his victory.”

    “The virtual reality program is complete,”  Anna announced calmly as she disconnected herself from the high-bandwidth wired connection.

    “Maybe you should stay connected, though,”  Liu Xi attempted.  “In case we have to change something at the last minute.”

    “I only needed the higher bandwidth to aid processing the models,”  Anna explained.  “My abstract brain can do that at very high speed.  Now that the models are in place, the motion can be controlled from a device as simple as a cell phone.”

    Yuki was clenching her teeth by then.  She shook her head at what Anna and Chiaki were suggesting.  “This isn’t right,”  she said.  “There’s something missing.  Something is going to go wrong.”

    “We can’t cover every possible contingency,”  Chiaki pointed out.

    “Why not?”  Yuki asked almost angrily.  “The Hooded Hood can.  Are you saying we’re not as smart as he is?”  Her frown disappeared and she glanced at Lara.  “You seem to know the way the ol’ Hood thinks.”

    Lara frowned and looked away.  She didn’t like being put on the spot like that.  “Well...we took over the whole prison.  The guards are in cells and the former prisoners are wandering the halls freely--”

    “I agree,”  Anna piped up, interrupting Lara, in support of Yuki’s theory.  “I have discovered that this entire building can detonate on the commands of one of three people.  LOL INTERNET, Search Engineer, or The Moderator.”

    “We locked up two of them,”  Yuki noted happily.  “But we can’t underestimate LOL INTERNET, even in a concrete cell.”  She bit her lip and stopped pacing.  “Lara, Liu Xi, how many people can you pull out of here all at once if you really concentrate?”

    Lara and Liu Xi both looked at each other.  Lara spoke first.  “I don’t know.  I haven’t tried more than maybe...two?”

    “I moved an entire building,”  Liu Xi replied.  “I don’t know if I can move people out of a building though.”

    “Why don’t we move the bombs instead?”  Chiaki suggested calmly.  “We can do that immediately.  It’s not a contingency.”

    “I have already located all of the explosive joints in the building,”  Anna contributed.  “Unfortunately they are part of the structure.  They will have to be replaced with an alternate support mechanism to avoid collapse.”

    “Liu Xi.”  Yuki finally settled on someone to deal with the problem.  “You can replace elements.  Go with Anna, find the explosives, and turn them into something strong and less deadly.  Anna--”  Yuki tapped the Bluetooth.  “Stay in contact in case something goes wrong.”

    She faced Lara then.  “I want you to practice moving things you can’t see.  You’re the only one with the power to move a lot of people at once.  We might have to rely on you to do just that.”

    “I...don’t know if I can--”  Lara started.

    “Lara,”  Yuki interrupted her.  She saw a look in the blonde’s face like she expected to be scolded.  “Look, quite honestly we probably can’t save everyone if this plan goes to hell.  Try to get as many as you can, okay?  And remember Liu Xi will back you up.”  

    Lara nodded quickly, but didn’t reply.

    Yuki turned serious and lowered her voice to a whisper.  “I didn’t want to scare the others, but I know you can handle the truth.  It’s quite likely we’re piloting the Titanic, Lara, and we’re going to hit that iceberg any minute now.  And there aren’t enough lifeboats by far.”

---

    “How are we going to remove all of these bombs in a half hour?”  Liu Xi protested as she followed Anna on a meandering path through the large open basement.

    The basement was an enormous level accessible only from one staircase.  It contained support posts for the building and a pit designed to trap water bypassed from the foundation and remove it.  There was a single pump on that level, and very few other utilities aside from lighting from scarce, scattered bare bulbs.

    Some of those support posts had ominous metal structures drilled into coves in the center of them, with tiny trigger wires crawling to a box next to the staircase.

    “We’ll have longer than a half hour,”  Anna pointed out.  “We can continue removing them while the broadcast is in progress.”

    “What if The Moderator notices something before then?”

    Anna looked behind her for a moment, but continued walking.  “In that unlikely case, the remote triggering system has already been disabled.”

    Liu Xi looked behind her at a burned metallic box dangling at the opposite end, next to the stairway.  “Is that why you ripped a circuit box off the wall?”

    “Yes.”  Anna replied plainly.

    “Then why do we need to remove each of the explosives?”

    Anna finally stopped and turned around.  “Because it only takes one of his brainwashed minions to suicide trigger one bomb, and the rest blow in a chain reaction.”  She pointed across the basement.  “We cannot get close to most of them, because they are above the sump pit.  However, most are visible from this point.  Can you--”

    “Replace them from here?”  Liu Xi asked.  She smiled.  “Yes, I can sense the nitrates from here.  But I’m not certain of my range.  I’ll try to replace all I can with metal, and we can move if I miss some.”

    “Very well,”  Anna agreed.

    “Anna...I wish I could tell someone what happened to me in Virtual Reality.”  Liu Xi said as she reached out and tried to change as many nitrates to steel as she could reach.

    “There is no need,”  Anna said.  “I have a record of all the memories we were all given.”

    “Why did you do that?”  Liu Xi asked as the two moved on to reach some more support columns.

    Anna glanced at her again.  They were walking side by side this time.  “Some of those memories were emotionally painful,”  she said.  “Especially yours.  Mine were fairly benign, so I am the reference to whether any of you are acting on them and becoming irrational.”

    “Oh.”  Liu Xi whispered.  She remembered the little black book in her pocket.

    “It’s quite ironic,”  Anna mused, “That in VR you reacted so extremely...but out here you are so accepting of our situation.  Yuki and Chiaki seem to be feeling most of the strain.”

    Liu Xi shrugged, and then lied.  “I guess I’ve already had the worst, so now I’m calm.”

    Silence from Anna made Liu Xi feel bad.  Anna was fairly innocent, and easy to lie to sometimes.  So easy, that it felt criminal to do so.  She reached out and stopped the android with a tap on the shoulder.  “It’s because of this.”  She handed the small black book to Anna.

    Anna’s vision was able to read the impossibly small print without a magnifying glass.  She furrowed her brow.  “Do you truly understand the implications of this?”  she asked.

    “Yes.”  Liu Xi replied sadly as she began walking again, only this time her eyes were pointed more toward her feet than ahead.  “I understand completely.  But it’s better the universe is eaten than enslaved by The Moderator, yes?  Maybe then it can start over again.”

    “I agree,”  Anna said plainly.  There was a moment or two of silence before she amended that.  “Though...if you hold the power to bring about the destruction of the universe...wouldn’t it be fair if your friends knew at least?”

    “I guess you have a point.”  Liu Xi sighed.  Having that book was becoming so complicated, she was beginning to wish she could destroy it.  Unfortunately it couldn’t be destroyed, only hidden.  “Is that all of the explosives?”  Liu Xi asked.

    “Yes, I believe so,”  Anna replied calmly.

    “Good.”  Liu Xi responded, sounding out of breath.  “I’m exhausted.”  With that, her eyes shut, and Anna caught her as she collapsed.

    “I knew you’d be down here,”  a familiar voice said loudly.

    Anna switched quickly to infrared.  She immediately switched back when she was blinded by an infrared pulse sent from a cell phone.  That’s how she knew who it was.  

    “Zelnitz,”  she greeted him coldly.  “If you’ve come to interfere with us--”  She warmed the lasers in her eyes so they would glow threateningly in the near darkness.

    “No, no!”  LOL INTERNET waved his hands frantically.  He quickly pleaded his case.  “Anna, you never told the others about the secret military laser satellite aimed at this facility, did you?  You never told them because it miraculously became disabled somehow.”

    “Are you taking credit for disabling the satellite?”  Anna tilted her head slightly.  Her concentration didn’t compromise her support of Liu Xi, keeping her from falling to the floor.  “You aren’t attempting to have me restore your mobile phone signal, are you?”

    “If I wanted that,”  he scoffed, “I would have already done it and called The Moderator’s private phone to tell him what’s up.”

    Anna paused for a minute, staring down the computer hacker as her lasers shut down.  Perhaps he overcame his brainwashing as well, and was looking for a chance.  At the same time, he could be a serious thorn in their sides if he was lying.  “Very well,”  she said.  “You will accompany me to the broadcast center...and when we arrive, you will do whatever Yuki asks.”

    “Or she’ll hurt me?”  LOL INTERNET guessed.

    The android glanced at him coldly, her eyes reflecting something odd for an android - anger.  She gingerly yet firmly took the cell phone from LOL INTERNET’s hand, effectively disarming him.  “Or I will vaporize you myself.”

TO BE CONTINUED?

-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2008 by Jason Froikin, and may not be 

--    reprinted without permission.  

-- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow

--  Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin

--  Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin