[4-14] The Town

[Hiro Protagonist]

(Before Christa's post)

The three Primes and Trent the Secondary rode roughshod in the bed of the pickup. The ancient machine's shocks were subpar, every pothole and bump making the bed rise up and down. Hiro gave the kid a curt head nod, but he seemed distant and afraid, staring at the ruined buildings as they passed down roads and abandoned streets.

The mechanical looking fellow was wholly new to the hacker, so he performed his usual ritual of a quick scan, the Prime displaying some odd readings. "That's odd....so, hey. I'm Hiro, Hiro Protagonist. You, uh...you don't look too good."

Colonel looked back at him impassively. "I am Colonel. Vice Dean of Security for the Institute. And what do you mean by that?" The mechanical looking man had a strikingly lifelike visage, even if his skin and limbs were plating and pistons. But he had biological structure underneath, too. Or at least that's what it looked like, Hiro's scans revealing something flowing inside his body.

"I mean, like, you're pretty banged up, and you look like you're running really hot. Are you a cyborg, or a robot or something?". Hiro asked curiously. There was nothing like a functional android in his home universe. Most robots were simple industrial ones, arms affixed to rotating platforms. True artificial intelligence had yet to even be discovered. The closest approximation was personality profiles, meant to mimic the appearance and thought processes of a real person.

The robot gave him another impassive stare. "I am Colonel.EXE, what is known as a NetNavi in my world. A computer program, in layman's terms. Upon being brought to the Omniverse, I was given a physical body, formed of mechanical parts and software driven processes." He strained visibly to sit up straighter. "And no, I am not fully functional. Something on this island is causing me to overheat and interfering with normal operations."

Hiro's jaw had literally dropped, although he closed it quickly with a soft -clik- of his teeth snapping together. This was unbelievable, and incredibly cool. "So...uh. I'm actually a pretty darn good hacker. Mind if I take a look at your circuits, find out what's messing with you? You're, uh....you're kind of exactly what I've been looking for here. I've been trying to think of a way to get my programs into a physical medium for a variety of purposes."

Colonel was silent for a few blocks, as if thinking it over, while Hiro waited with the anticipation of a kid waiting to try out a new toy. Finally, he spoke again. "Yes. You may take a look." His tone didn't....change, per se. But it was loaded with much more weight somehow. "However....if you attempt any sort of malicious activity in regards to my software, my countermeasures will respond with lethal force. Is that understood?" Colonel extended an arm and a small panel popped open with a rudimentary interface and several ports, one of which fit the extendable USB connected to Hiro's wristcomp.

Lowering his goggles, he nodded at the robot and plugged his wristcomp in. "Absolutely crystal....now let's see here...."

(During Christa and Red's posts)

They had shuddered to a stop a couple minutes ago, and a bunch of people got out and started shouting at each other, but Hiro was far too engrossed in the intricate inner workings of the program-turned-machine. Colonel's physical data would provide him a wealth of blueprints to study and modify when he got back to Coruscant. A gunshot rang out and pinged the glass, the hacker briefly looking up, then dismissing it and returning to his work. Colonel was splitting his attention between the kerfuffle and Hiro, still not entirely trusting of the cyber samurai's altruistic bent. "Ah ha...here we go. You have a virus. A Chernobyl virus."

"Explain, please."

Hiro tapped the air and a floating, spiky orb the size of a canteloupe materialized in the air. "It's a type of code that will insert itself into critical operating pathways, taking up variable space and generally fucking with command executions. It's also been playing havoc with your cooling system. I've quarantined it for now, and you should be fine for a while, but you're going to need to purge and reset your BIOS before it's completely gone." He dismissed the holographic representation with another wave in the air and unplugged his cord from Colonel's arm. "Feel better?"

Colonel nodded and looked back over the side of the pickup bed. "It seems that we are moving once more. Good timing." Hiro nodded back and reclined against the sidewell, making sure all the data he gathered was saved and backed up. Although...shit. Would he rematerialize with the same stuff he died in? Or would he have to resummon his gear and therefore lose all that precious inspirational data? Shit.

The thought of having to try and remember all the intricacies of program-to-physical-form translating soured his mood a bit as they trundled down the streets once more, the hacker grimacing toto himself. He -had- to get off this island alive. And just as he thought that, the pickup bed buckled severely.

And in jumped fucking Okor.

--------------------------

"Three.....thiry nine....annnd....forty two."

-click-

Hiro opened the briefcase like a christmas present. He'd carried this thing across the entire island, brained a few zombies with it, and now he was finally going to get to see what was inside. And what was inside was purple, silky, folded....oh no.

Hiro turned his head around and knocked on the back of the passenger seat window. "Karl! Hey,  Karl!!! " 

The producer stuck his face up to the window and blinked nonchalantly as Hiro brandished the open briefcase, elegantly folded clothing and assorted accoutrements nestled inside. "Are you fucking kidding me? I humped this entire thing across the island for your dry cleaning? "

Karl chuckled and opened the window wider. "I was wondering where they would have put that. Anyway, look under the pants. That's what's really important anyways. Now would you mind passing me the suitcase? These things I'm wearing are a month old and covered in who-knows-what." Hiro dug around in the open box and withdrew a small, brass key along with a small box locked with a combination. Karl winked at him and reached for the suitcase, which Hiro wordlessly passed to him. A blank, disappointed look crossed the hacker's face as he stared at the key and the box. "That's the ticket. Keep those safe, Chocolate Thunder. Those two little items are our way off this island."

Behind him, Hiro heard a nasty, wet coughing sound. Turning and fearing a ghoul attack, the samurai was dismayed to see that it was Okor....and he was.. laughing?

"Bravo, oh intrepid adventurer. Your reward is clothing.....hhaaaghhk, haaagghk...haaagghkkk."

Hiro didn't bother dignifying that with a response.