4.04: Enzo's Overwrite Delivery Service - for all your armament needs!

[a1enzo]

The Matrices' upstairs hall closet creaks slowly open, and Enzo pokes his head out. Seeing the coast to be clear, he opens it fully and emerges, looking around with mounting distress. The walls, the floor, the furniture are all patched with pulsing green light-veins.

He listens carefully. No one home. Didn't think there would be, but good. He beckons at the open doorway behind him.

Comments

[goinghost.livejournal.com]

"Whoa," Danny said quietly. "I'm guessing all that green stuff isn't normal. Glowing green stuff usually isn't."

That was his professional opinion.

[a1enzo]

Enzo shakes his head. "That's the infection." He walks down the hall a little way, glances into his bedroom. Mixed in with the fear is a more personal (and more petty) annoyance. "It's all over my stuff!"

[goinghost.livejournal.com]

"That sucks, and I say that as someone who frequently gets glowing green stuff on his stuff if it's not broken outright--" He'd gone through several computers since the start of his ghost-hunting. "--but we really need to get moving Enzo. As long as we're in your world and the door's open, we're on the clock."

[a1enzo]

"Sorry." Enzo closes the door (bedroom, not closet, that baby's staying open) and heads toward the stairs.

[goinghost.livejournal.com]

Danny reached out and gently grabbed onto Enzo's arm.

"I'm making us both go invisible for the rest of the trip," he said.

[a1enzo]

Enzo automatically looks at his arm as Danny grabs it, and his eyes widen as it fades from sight. "Awesome!"

[goinghost.livejournal.com]

Danny grinned back, until that faded, like he was the Cheshire cat.

"I know."

He started towards the hallway.

"Let's get going."

[a1enzo]

Enzo nods, remembers that Danny can't see it, and tugs the teen toward the stairs.

[fryertuck]

A voice emanates from Danny's headphones. "Yo, Danny! You read me, dude?"

[goinghost.livejournal.com]

It made Danny jump.

"Stealth mission, Tuck. Stealth mission," he hissed.

[a1enzo]

Enzo starts slightly too; he could hear that, a little.

[fryertuck]

"Right. Sorry. Just testing the equipment. Visuals check out. Nice house! Very retro."

[goinghost.livejournal.com]

Danny heard another voice a little, and it sounded like it was maybe that cyborg guy that was Ray's friend who'd helped with the digitizers.

"Listen, make sure we keep that going the whole time if you can. That way if they lose, and Mainframe's about to go up, we'll know we need to close the door to protect the bar."

Danny frowned. "We're not going to lose."

Grand Theft Icon

[goinghost.livejournal.com]

They'd managed to find Phong and Enzo was left around the corner, where he could peek without being seen. (Hopefully).

Danny was invisible as he floated towards the old (what was he anyway? A sprite? A binome? So far he had no idea how exactly these guys all classified themselves).

Re: Grand Theft Icon

[nofileext]

A sprite. A wizened old sprite, along a rather different model from those Danny's met, but still a sprite.

Phong is beaming benevolently as he directs the police binomes to return their CPUs to the garage and discusses with a couple of nearby 1s the possibility of repainting the vehicles in Daemon's colours.

Re: Grand Theft Icon

[goinghost.livejournal.com]

He floated over, silently and carefully, and grimacing in both concentration and ew, he reached a hand into the little thing that looked like a drawer in the old sprite's stomach.

Then yelped, "Ow!" in surprise and yanked his hand out and darted around the corner with Enzo, going visible to see what had happened to his hand.

It had what looked like a mousetrap clamped on it. (A null-trap.)

Crud crud crud! He probably heard that!

Re: Grand Theft Icon

[nofileext]

Phong looks up sharply, then down at his drawer.

How very peculiar.

Oh, well. One of the hazards of carrying many small items around in one's abdomen is that sometimes they will jostle into each other. Can't be helped, and he has more important matters to think about. Matters concerning the Word.

Re: Grand Theft Icon

[a1enzo]

"Are you okay?" whispers Enzo. He stares at Danny's hand. "Why'd he have that in there?"

Re: Grand Theft Icon

[goinghost.livejournal.com]

He managed to pull the stupid thing off and placed it on the ground rather than throwing it with a clatter and shook out his hand.

"Because he's an old guy? Old people collect weird stuff, like screws and bits of string."

He didn't remember a whole lot of Grandpa Fenton, since he'd died when he was still really little, but he remember jars of screws and, yes, bits of string.

And Grandpa Fenton had been something of a loony. He remembered that. But you know, it ran in the family, apparently.

Obviously.

"Okay, I'm not sticking my hand in an old dude's stomach again. Stay here. I'm going to try something else."

With that, he wheeled around the corner fully visible, and his expression changed to a big, huge, fake smile.

"Hi!"

Re: Grand Theft Icon

[nofileext]

Phong turns to the newcomer, and bobs his head in greeting; his long neck turns the nod into a full bow. "Good afternoon, my son. I do not recognize you; have you come with my Lady?"

Re: Grand Theft Icon

[goinghost.livejournal.com]

"She brought me from another system, far away. Praise be to Daemon, who is most awesome and good." He added for good measure. "And a bag of chips."

Re: Grand Theft Icon

[nofileext]

Phong smiles. Ah, young sprites, with their amusing slang. Love of the Word is the one true constant, no matter how it is expressed.

"Allow me to welcome you to Mainframe, then. I am Phong, Executive Secretary of the Principal Office here. Is there anything I can aid you with?"

Re: Grand Theft Icon

[goinghost.livejournal.com]

"Daemon, uh, gave me orders. She said she needs some of Mainframe's icons and told me to find whoever gives them out so I could take some to her. Can I have some icons to take to my lady?" he asked. "She wants to make sure there's nothing that stops her from conquering."

The moment he said it, he realized that it wasn't the right word to say. He was too used to villains that crowed about conquering, ones that tried to overpower the world by force.

This was one that deluded them all into thinking it was a wonderful thing.

He was supposed to think it was a wonderful thing--so why would he use the word "conquer"?

"I mean to say, nothing that stops her from spreading the glory that is the Word to all."

Re: Grand Theft Icon

[nofileext]

Phong begins to open his drawer automatically - anything for his Lady - but as the boy continues to speak, he stops and looks at him oddly. It is strange indeed that the child would refer to the spreading of the Word in that manner, and also that he would need icons for such a purpose. Mainframe's icons are entirely standard, except for the addition of Game sprite mode, and that surely could pose no threat.

And there is something... wrong in his tone when he speaks of the Word.

Who is this young sprite? "What is your format, may I ask?"

Re: Grand Theft Icon

[goinghost.livejournal.com]

Crap crap crap.

Okay. Okay. He knew of two. Data and Guardian. He'd heard those bandied around.

He went for the one most appropriate. "Uh...Guardian."