FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

At the end of the hyperlift, Jack and Dronin stepped out onto a giant steel-grey floor where cargo was being stacked and moved throughout several pits beneath them like a giant picross board. Reploids shuffled back and forth pushing and pulling whilst others stood above them making motions through various directions and barking orders.

"Hey there," a snake reploid greeted them in a long brown coat, "I'm Gustaff the supervisor, you just came down from reception?"

"Sure did," said Jack, "I'm Roy and this is Ryo, we wanna be part of Maltport."

"Nice well congrats to hear," she shook both their hands with a fanged smile, "where you guys hail from?"

"Lanyard, we heard about you guys on the network and just came in to check you out."

"Well you got in at just the right time, apparently the outer network just got cut off so we're having some problems, hope that's not too bad."

"We understand," said Dronin nodding, "my place of origin had no cellular connection."

"Cellular?!" Gustaff scoffed with a smirk. "Wow, never heard anyone call it that you must be real old."

"I am learning to adapt to new technology, Roy was kind enough to aid me in upgrading to the new OS."

"Well we're always glad to have an old hand with us." The snake reploid patted his shoulder and led him towards the cargo pit. "So this is our data storage where we mostly manage files to process them, but you have to set them up by organising the data in the smallest number of fragments."

"OH wait is this defragging?!" asked Jack rolling his shoulders with a flex. "Aw yeah I love defragging!"

"Cool! So one of you gets down there and manages all the files whilst the other one tells you where best to put them. Remember, you have to move the data into the smallest number of regions and the better you manage, the better payment you'll get."

"What form of payment do we receive?" asked the mantis stepping over to the pit.

"MaltPoints," said Gustaff spreading her arms, "credits you can only use when in MaltPort, at least for now then once your trial period is over we start talking about.real-world currency."

"Where can we use these credits?"

"Well you saw the cafes out there, we also have a carnival where you can spend time relaxing between tasks."

"A carnival eh?!" muttered Jack rubbing his chin. "Now that sounds fun, alrighty so where do we start?!"

"Right here I'll get you started, so who wants to push and who wants to lead?"

"I'll do the leading, just to get Ryo here a good start on things."

The serpent directed them over to one pit as Dronin hopped down amidst the building stacks of files shaped mostly like crates in a variety of basic colours. Some were rather odd shapes either long or short, tall or thick and were slowly coming down from the ceiling by some invisible portal like tetris blocks. Jack stood at a spot lit-up on the rim of the pit, activating a screen which showed the pit floor in a variety of coloured ghostly patterns.

"Alright I can see it all now!" he said from above. "See those yellow ones there? Move them to the left side there."

"Understood."

Jack pointed at the screen which transmitted one of the floors under Dronin to light up, the mantis grabbing one of the "crates" with his single hand and lifting it with surprising ease. But then he started to walk, and with each step he felt a deepening pressure bear down upon his knees that turned greater and greater before he managed to put the file in its specified slot. Again he would do this with the rest of the files, finding the same process of an easy start but a laborious journey as the data's "weight" became grotesque the further he had to walk.

"Now remember buddy," said Jack, "the shortest number of steps to defrag it easily!"

"Understood," said Dronin putting the last of the yellow blocks into place, "which colour shall I defragment next?"

"Uhhhh let's try the pink ones I think we got a good gap here to work with."

So they continued with the croc giving him advice, whilst the mantis tried to maneuver his way between crates to manage the path of least resistance. An hour would pass, or at least the digital equivalent of it before Dronin finally cleared the rest of the files into tightly-knit spaces, his body feeling much lighter than it already did once he was done.

"Alriiiight nice work!" said Gustaff giving a thumbs-up. "Alright you two wanna swap now, we got another batch of data coming in."

"Very well," Dronin jumped out of the pit with a sudden zest as Jack swapped places with him. "How much more data do we require to process?"

"As much as you can, the more you do the more credits you get so just keep processing and defragging until you're done."

"No problem," said Jack from down the cyberpit, "come on hit me with yer best shot!"

More data files came down clunking into place, teleporting from the digital heavens as Dronin took his turn slowly guiding Jack where to best deposit the files. The layout changed for every turn they took, sometimes making the job more challenging as the gator reploid also suffered the same difficulties, every step he took weighing him down harder as the data lagged in its transferral. Once his work was done, Dronin took over again, then Jack once more as they patiently slotted files down onto coloured tiles before they both felt they had done enough.

"Not baaaaad," Gustaff nodded in approval, "you done a damn good job for your first day."

"What can I say we're hard workers," Jack swept his arms out with a bow, "so uhhh is there a place we can rest up and just relax in?"

"You can head back out to the market, or if you wanna have some fun there's the BitCarnival, but-"

"OH YEAH the carnival, that sounds awesome where's that?"

"There's an HTP you can take back in reception," the serpent pointed back the way they came, "but you guys are only Pupa clearance right?"

"Awww dammit do we gotta upgrade?"

"Yep, sorry."

"How do we elevate our clearance?" Dronin asked scratching his cheek.

"Just gotta keep working," she shrugged nonplussed, "for now I'll give you your MaltPoints so you can go to the market at least, take your time, rest up and once you've clocked about fifty cycles with us, you'll have your clearance upgraded."

"Understood, thank you."

A surplus of credits was handed to them through a digital handshake, the sound of money chingling through their hands as they saw on the small infoscreens of their arms their payment given. Heading back to the market in all its teal-coated splendour, they took their time to wander and explore the main thoroughfare of the public access gateway where a plethora of programs wandered to and fro, reploids of every species drinking digitised coffee, eating synthetic bread and fed the smallest aesthetically-pleasing kernels with a heightened sense of taste and smell. For now however they went to a small hotel off the side of the street, or rather a chamber full of pods of which they paid a small fraction into to rest up and recharge their digital selves back to peak performance.

"HOOO!" The croc reploid stretched his back with a clinking crack. "Damn that was a good sleep mode, definitely in the top five."

"Impressive," noted Dronin stepping out of his chamber, "in normal circumstance my sleep mode requires six hours to perform at peak optimum."

"Well yanno we're runnin' on fetch cycles here so everything just feels faster, you wanna grab something to eat?"

"We have no tasks to perform?"

"Ehhh we can find somethin' in a bit, let's regroup for now."

"Understood."

They walked out of the chamber before slipping down a street to find a virtual park where reploids skated and played with flying discs, sitting on grassy knolls with trees that looked more like glass sculptures with a greenish-blue tinge. A-soft-wind.mp3 whispered through the place creating a sense of illusory peace amidst reploids chatting and playing generic games.

"Damn they really went out on this" muttered Jack.

"Do reploids commit to such activities in your world?" asked the mantis.

"Wait whaddaya mean?"

"Recreational games and rituals of feasting."

"Oh, yeah we play games like this but uh not so much the eating, we only really have like these fake foods so we can actually like, sit down with humans and actually socialise with them, cuz otherwise you just standin' around lookin' at them weird while they eat and that's just not right."

"I do not participate in such rituals," Dronin tapped his foot feeling the grass pretend to brush his feet, "however I do engage in simulated battles with Barkclaw so as to train his senses."

"You actually FIGHT him?!" gasped Jack. "Damn how come you ain't all scratched up an' shit?!"

"With care and restraint."

They sat themselves down at a bench to relax, hearing the synthetic breeze whilst reploids waved at them and they waved in turn. The reploid gator sighed leaning back against the benchrest, almost craning his neck fully backwards to give a long sigh.

"Sheesh that defrag really took it outta me, I feel almost as old as you!"

"Am I outdated in comparison to this system?" he asked.

"Weeeellll, I dunno honestly, you seem pretty up on all this. So, who created you anyways?"

"A human by the name of Doctor Robotnik, a bloated walrus to best describe him."

"Woahowow!" Jack sprung his head forwards. "That's like the first insult you ever said you must really hate him."

"I do not hate, I have no emotion."

"But you call him stuff like that?"

"That was the term we used for him," Dronin nodded, "we rebelled against him and formed our own community."

"Wait...you, fought against a human?" The croc started creeping fingers up along his own chest. "W-wait, wait you said never hurt a human."

"Correct. We defied him but never did we wound him."

"But...b-but that's like, you disobeyed a human."

"Correct."

The reploid shuddered with a strange look towards Dronin, feeling more uncomfortable by the minute as he shifted in his seat.

"S-so...so that means you are a maverick."

"I am not a maverick," he turned to Jack, "I am a badnik."

"N-no, no you can be both, you don't know what a maverick is?!"

"I do not."

"They're reploids well, robots that turn against humans. When you start wantin' to not obey humans you end up just...it's a slippery slope is what I'm saying."

"You are forced to obey humans?" asked the mantis.

"Well...not FORCED I mean is it actually forced if you're like programmed to obey humans from the beginning?"

"I would consider it a means of forced obedience."

"Well, I don't." Jack scowled with a heavy sigh. "The whole point of reploids existing is to help humanity, we're their friends!"

"A friend and a servant are two different things."

"I'm not a servant, wh-what are you sayin'?!"

"I am not criticising your ordained purpose Jack, I only disagree with your definition of friendship."

"You don't think a friend should be someone that helps others, wanting to make the world a better place?!"

"You misunderstand me, I agree that a friend should do exactly that, but only if that friend CHOOSES to do so."

"And I DO choose to!" The reploid stood up balling his fists. "I'm not some slave, I was built with a purpose I wasn't forced to be anythin'! I was created by humans to protect humans AND reploids, first by guarding the streets and now by exposing truths in those who would abuse our system for themselves!"

"Then let me ask you this." Dronin leaned forwards with a cold look. "What if a human ordered you to commit a crime?"

"Well obviously I wouldn't do it!"

"So you would defy a human?"

"Only if I was told to do something that would hurt someone else!"

"Then what if a human asked you to commit a crime that did not directly harm someone, such as theft?"

"No, absolutely not, no crime is victimless!"

"Then what stops you from disobeying the orders of humans regardless of their criminality?"

"B-because they CREATED us!" He grabbed his chest with both hands. "They're, the humans they, they were the ones to make us, they chose to create us, to give us life and a mind that can think for itself to help their world and ours!"

"But what if the only way to protect yourself was to harm a human?"

"Then I...well...I'd be dead."

"Why?"

"I just...I can't do it. I can't, I won't hurt the ones who created me."

Jack thumped his foot with a growing frustration as he cupped his snout in his hands with a hard groan.

"It feels...it feels wrong, like I'm losing my...I dunno, losing who I am, like humans call it a soul but I dunno what we call it, I guess my essence or something but they're my creators. And I appreciate you being here an' it's really cool of you to wanna help me, but I can't agree with you on this."

"Understood," the mantis nodded, "we shall agree to disagree."

"I'm just worried that...I mean, alright I'm glad that there are no humans here BUT if there was one that tried to attack us-"

"I will protect us from them, at any cost."

"Right...that's what worries me."

"Why?"

"Cuz then I'd have to stop you. I'm just warning you now." He put a hand on Dronin's shoulder with a firm squeeze. "If we fight any humans, I can't let you hurt them Dronin. You do that, and we're gonna have to throwdown."

"Understood, Jack."

With a courteous nod they took a gradual walk around the length of the cyberpark, clearing their heads whilst Dronin examined the trees finding they were some form of hard-coded texture that felt nothing like bark in the slightest. Jack found himself staring into space, the endless void of moths and badges shifting from one to the other becoming a greater puzzle to him with each second, speaking to other reploids in the vicinity to gleam more information as best he could whilst Dronin scanned the environment to see other establishments, none of which interested him until the gator slipped up beside him.

"Hey, there's another job we can do to get some more hours in."

"Do you not wish to return to defragmenting?"

"Nah we need to spread ourselves, yanno get some feelers out there, we got a perfect opportunity to investigate things an' hear what everybody's got to say."

"Understood, I shall follow your lead."

"Thanks dude."

Jack smiled with a gentle pat to his back before they walked into a small restaurant three streets away. Sweet and sour mixtures smouldered through the place with a vinegary scent, reploids sitting in a row as they ate up bowls of various foods amidst clacking cutlery and snorting slurps in the crowded maroon-coloured tavern which barely expanded to include three tables beyond its front.

"Ey there," a gorilla reploid waved to them behind the bar, "what you need?"

"We're ah here to work," said Jack offering his hand, "I'm Roy an' this is Ryo, need a few extra hands?"

"I'm Braddock, wow I only asked for help today that was quick!" He shook their hands back and brought them through. "I just need someone to handle the place while I get other things, take a break yanno, normally I got staff but they're all stuck outside the network fo some reason and they can't get back in."

"Huh weird, well we'll help ya out, whaddawe need?"

"List of recipes over there, you can upload them to yourselves just take people's credits and you'll get allotted fifteen-percent of whatever you make."

"Awesome, alright take it easy we'll keep watch on the place."

"Try not to burn it down!" the gorilla lumbered out the door leaving the mantis and croc.

"Alright soooo you ever served food?" Jack asked rubbing his hands.

"I have never prepared organic materials," said Dronin.

"Okay you handle the choppin' and the raw stuff, I'll start frying up the rest."

So it was they started work in the miniature restaurant, for the next three hours or equivalant thereof as Dronin chopped food with the chips in his arm creating a small version of his sword to appear just in front of his outstretched finger and slice through the vegetables like a paring knife, rapid surgical cuts that thinned out celery and julienned tomatoes whilst Jack started steaming the rice on the cooker. Pouring in water before heating it up, he dabbled in a mixture of paprika, chicken stock and black peppers before then preparing a batch of chicken curry as Dronin moved on to making a pizza. With one hand he pounded the dough and rolled it firmly back and forth into a flat circle over the course of minutes until it was a perfect Fibonacci circle that he smeared with tomato paste and covered in cheese shreds and vegetable slices, slipping it into an oven as he moved to cutting peppers finely with his chip-programmed sword and the careful stroke of his finger.

Once the pizza was done Dronin served it to the customers who requested, a smile on their faces as the mantis sliced their food in eight perfect slices with a masterful stroke of his finger and the programming chip for his sword impressing the clientele. Jack in turn was being praised for his chicken curry when he smeared it across the rice in a golden-white mix, before moving onto make noodles with the help of Dronin slicing soba and Jack setting the steamer settings proper, working back and forth from the kitchen and the barfront where people requested also a variety of drinks from carbonated to alcohol, with all the effects of their real-world counterparts as if they themselves were organic beasts.

"How you holdin' up?" muttered Jack.

"The amount of preparation with organic materials is unexpected," he replied, "but I am completing my orders in appropriate time."

"Yeah same here, you heard anythin' good?"

"The patrons mostly speak of the fact that the network outside of this place is inaccessible."

"Right yeah, nobody seems to have noticed we all got transported here so that's good."

"How so?"

"Gives us an advantage, we know what to work with, knowledge is power an' all that."

"True, in that case they also speak of the BitCarnival and how many of them will soon take pleasure in its facilities after feasting at this establishment."

"Okay the way you said that sounded real gross for some reason," Jack smirked shaking his head, "but yeah it seems we really gotta check this place out huh?"

"Agreed," the mantis nodded rolling out another pizza base, "we have twenty more cycles to earn before we shall earn our upgrade to access the BitCarnival."

"Try not to get caught with your pants down, they'll rip you up on the craps table."

"I do not wear pants, only this robe."

"It looks good on ya, with the hat an' the sword it's an entire look that you got."

"It was unintentional, but others have agreed that my attire is aesthetically consistent."

"Seriously?" Jack stuttered a laugh between rice dollops in the steamer. "The hat even like you didn't look at the robe an' go 'aw yeah this is my shit'."

"This is not a hat," he tapped his rim, "this is my solarcampal unit for storing energy."

"O-ohhhh OHHHH right I gotcha...huh, that makes sense I mean I just run on E-tanks myself."

"Eyyyy nice work!" The gorilla returned back lumbering through the door. "Been hearing a lotta buzz about you boys, thanks for covering me."

"No prob dude," the croc smirked finishing up his curry, "lemme just finish this up and we'll be out your hair."

"I mean if you guys wanna stay and keep earning your cred, go ahead."

"Wow really?! Cuz we'd love to get in this carnival earlier an-"

"Yeah I understand it's a pretty awesome place, go on work as long as ya like."

"Aw thanks, appreciate it buddy!"

They continued working away in the miniature restaurant, dolling out curry rice, pizzas and a variety of lunches to the customers that came piling in from a variety of sources. Dronin continued to wonder how exactly this culinary atmosphere was digitised, the "taste" of food still unusual to him but he could not deny it was certainly an enrichening experience. Hours felt like they had passed as the two kept tirelessly slaving in the kitchen amongst steaming cookers and and roasting ovens, the lack of any sweat glands being rather a relief as they moved in circles of each other before the gorilla patted their backs.

"Take it easy boys, you clocked up enough cycles."

"Aw shit really?" gasped Jack.

"Yep you're both now Larvae access, just go find an ATM to register yourselves, here's your credits."

"Hell yeah, thanks a lot sir!"

The chef beeped a transfer for each of them, the mantis and gator looking at each other in nodding before they shook the gorilla's hands in gratitude. Exiting the small foodie they went down the street towards the nearest ATM which also acted as something of a gateway check, putting their arms up to the reader which clocked their cycles and credits earned to confirm they had done so legitimately. The badges flashed on their chests to a different colour indicating they were now of higher clearance as they headed back to the initial teleporting hub where the rabbit-synth stood waiting in the endless void.

"Hi there!" greeted Kerr. "Wow you been working hard haventcha?!"

"Indeed," replied Dronin, "may we access the BitCarnival?"

"Sure can, just head right over on here and have fun!"

The lapine hovered over to one purple circular pad that resonated with their presence, noting their clearance as Jack and Dronin jumped on together to be zoomed across the network. What they found before them at the end of the superhighway was a marvel of digital creation.

"Wooooaaaaaah," gasped the gator, "jeeeez look at this place!"

A paradise in purple spread before them, a tremendous funfair with a rose ferris wheel looming above the attractions. Everything had a tint of amethyst to it from the ticket entrance to the shooting parlours, rollercoasters, funhouses and casino that stood gloriously at the back like a sheikh's palace of dreams. The sounds of cheer and shocking screams of joy echoed throughout the place with rhapsodic glee as a synaesthetic orgy ensued upon their senses, blinding and deafening both Jack and Dronin to the cyber Shangri-la unfolding in all directions.

"Hoholy SHIT!" Jack turned himself round on the spot to witness such glory. "This place actually kinda rules!"

"It appears to provide relief from boredom," said Dronin unfazed by the carnival's mystique, "the volume of such overstimulation is intended to lower one's mental acuity."

"Oh shit yer right, you know this would be a great place to hide some sorta secret backdoor. We gotta be thorough, not get sidetracked so I recommend we try on every single ride and attraction they got goin' on here."

"Agreed."

"But you'll have to keep me all focused okay pal?" The croc-mech patted Dronin's back. "You not having emotions'll actually help us here."

"Understood," the mantis nodded, "let us begin with the tents and work in a clockwise fashion around the carnival."

"Great! Alright let's check these out!"

Tents dotted the lanscape with a bewildering array of exhibitions, demonstrating follies of all kinds from boolean mirrors to dial-up vocal units that would warp and glitch one's voice into a hilarious cacophony. The shooting galleries had aliens and gangsters ready to be shot down with a cyber-rifle in some dark dismal surroundings to help one adjust to the sights, pinned down in an alley or a ghostly canyon as fiends besieged the players' senses in waves of attack. For the sake of blending in Jack and Dronin participated in these attractions, taking up their guns and shooting down the virtual fiends that came en masse towards them. Fake though they were, the thrill of blasting extra-terrestrial criminals gave Jack a run for his credits as he kept coming back for more with fast-shots and strafe-dodging maneuvers. Dronin had some difficulty with only one hand but his cooler mind allowed more precise shooting for his first time wielding a firearm of any sort, as well as being able to pull Jack away from the glorious battle royale.

Next came the rollercoaster, always in operation with a screaming cavalcade of death-defying dreamers ramping through digital dioramas that resembled shapely mountains, twisting and turning through valleys and loops that reversed their gyroscopic senses and made them almost vomit, or at least experience the sensation of such. The croc and mantis hopped on scanning the environment for any sort of imperfection, something strange, something unusual amidst the screaming plunge-and-rise of the serpentine track, riveting undulations with such violent speed that even Dronin felt his senses become dismayed by the cyclonic G-forces of its spiral track.

Next came the tilt-o-whirls which offered the same thing in a shorter sequence, putting reploids in a centrifuge and mass-spinning them all into one ruthless blend of fuchsia. Despite not having stomachs the sensations of queasiness became apparent in all of them to such dizzying degree that they were much less thankful for their new enhanced abilities to feel. Things turned stranger when they entered the casino, a grand manor of high society with castling turrets in a faux-medieval descript, which Jack felt most threatened by for its constant bedazzlement and the rows of slot machines and roulettes and card tables where players lined up in droves to test their luck, which for a robot was actual skill and more of a test of their brainpower than anything else. Golden walls and flush crimson carpets, chandeliers hung like diamonds above their heads in their most brilliant opulence, a theatre could also be seen in a room beyond where darkened seats faced semi-circle to a gleaming pavilion of magic tricks, dancers and singers whilst cocktails and buffets would be served to all visitors.

There was however a limit according to banners above them where a spending and earning limit was enforced and after which reploids would be asked to leave similar to the bartender telling their patron when they've had enough to drink. The croc took his chances at each event, playing the slots and not winning anything, doing well on the roulette before losing the same amount, and lastly doing much better with double earnings on craps. Dronin almost hit his limit for winning by playing poker, a game that he was unbeatable in until Jack quickly pulled him away before anyone would accuse him of cheating whilst they traversed the windowless haven of wealth and splendour.

Thankfully they managed to calm themselves with the ferris wheel which offered a gentler scene of reploids relaxing, holding hands and even a few starting to become intimate within windowboxed carriages. Jack and Dronin were not one of those couples, simply watching the view of a gorgeous neon lanscape where lines of parallels stretched beyond the electric sea to meet the sky, clashing metallic blue with a hot-blooded pink.

"Yanno this place is pretty nice," said Jack leaning back in his seat, "if it wasn't for all the mavericks that tried to kill us back in the real world I'd say this place was legit."

"Agreed," said Dronin with a rose sheen on his face, "the legality of this network makes me question their aggression previously."

"This place is like a dream...that's what worries me." The gator sighed staring towards the fake sea. "I seen these sorta places back in the real world and they're just not this clean, they're not this perfect."

"Within cyberspace it is far easier to construct fantasy."

"I guess...you ever have-...no, never mind."

"Is something wrong?" Dronin turned his head halved in cherry blossom.

"I was gonna ask if you ever have dreams but I forget you don't got emotions so-"

"I have dreamed."

"Yeah that's what I though-wait WHAT?!" Jack turned fast as the carriage shook underneath. "Y-you...you have dreams too?!"

"Correct. It is unusual due to our cognitive process being constructed in a different manner."

"Y-yeah but-no wait reploids got dreams too!" The gator squeezed his hands. "Still, a guy with no emotions having dreams is kinda strange."

"Indeed."

"So...what do you dream about?"

"I only have one dream, a recurring dream." The mantis looked up towards the ageless void. "I stand in a field of wheat that grows far above me, sunset or dawn, the sky is amber and I am of miniscule size."

"Ah huh."

"There is a presence near me. Someone I cannot see but hear and feel, take my hand and run with me towards an ancient oak tree. The closer we run to it, the darker the sky and the more crippled the earth. There is smoke in the air, I taste oil where I once tasted the scents of leaves and the rich bark of the oak."

"Woah, damn."

"Fire began to creep through the air, motes of dust that come alight and set the world in flames around me. There are teeth of silver, run through the ground which tear open the earth and consume everything. Voices scream, including mine, but it is a voice I do not recognise with a name I do not know. Maurice."

"Maurice?" asked Jack.

"A name that is not in my data banks, but one I have known since rebooting." He turned his head back to the croc. "That is the only dream I have had, and one that forever repeats."

"That is so weird," muttered the reploid leaning forwards, "I mean I got dreams too but nothing like that it sounds so vivid."

"What do you dream of Jack?"

"Me? Oh I dunno..." he looked downwards at the floor, "swimming in giant waterfalls, battling snakes the size of a mountain, my favourite dreams are actually the ones where I'm a real crocodile."

"Really?"

"Yeah...like, how would that feel? I hear that's what leather's made from but we all use fake leather now so...s-sometimes I like to wear leather jackets and...sit on the floor and pretend."

He nervously rubbed his fingers with unsteady breath.

"I watch documentaries, watch what the crocs do, hear the sounds they make and the lives they live, go down to the zoo and see the real animals. And I think to myself 'what do they think of me? Do those crocs look at me like I'm some kinda fake? Do they even know what I am?' And I don't know, I want to know, I wanna get in their heads when I dream like them just living a life in the mud eating, swimming...breeding. Think how amazing that is."

The croc-mimic stood up to the edge of the carriage, framed in rosen blue.

"All those humans out there wanted to make somethin' like ME, when they're capable of making their own selves by their OWN coding. I read up on biology books, how humans breed and it blows my mind, that they can just click together like that an' nine months later out comes a new human, one they like compile together out of bones an' tissue an' matter and I'm like 'why did you make ME?!'"

"Because they are fragile," said Dronin hunched over, "humans can bleed, burn and become frozen. Robots such as us were designed traditionally to withstand the harshest environments, the most dangerous in their pursuit of knowledge."

"Yeah but...why did they let us think?" The gator turned round to press his back against the window. "If all they wanted was a hammer to pound nails in, why do they want a hammer to have a brain and ask 'do you see the world just full of nails or you want something more'?"

"I am not certain. Perhaps the very reason they breed is the reason they create us."

"What you mean?"

"As I said before, humans are fragile. They also expire, their bodies are suspect to deterioration faster than that of a machine. Perhaps we were constructed to be their legacy, for the children that will not live, or survive their own extinction."

"Yeah...I guess that makes sense," muttered Jack rubbing his neck, "I guess that means you understand also why I can't hurt humans, I mean it's like...it's like killing your creator, how do you live after that?"

"I do not see it so much as fighting one's creator, but rather challenging one's parents if their upbringing was not satisfactory to your wellbeing."

"Yeah but your parents STILL made you, you're still fighting your creators arentcha?!"

"That is true." The mantis stroked his chin. "What is also true, is that humans themselves also have tales of defying their creators."

"Oh no, no don't get into religion come on-"

"From a spiritualist viewpoint, humans have always exerted their free will by the very defiance against those who created them. Their very nature, what makes them human, is the ability to turn against their creator and challenge them by their proof of a new generation that are capable of governing themselves. And if that was the case for humans, then is that not true for us machines?"

Dronin stood up to face Jack with the neon blossom against his back.

"Are we not more human by defying humans? Are we not more true to the spirit of our creators by exerting the will to oppose their actions?"

"I...I-i-i don't, like this Dronin."

"My apologies. I did not meant to cause discomfort, I will cease this debate-"

"No." The reploid reached out to him. "N-no it's...I don't mind having to think about this now and again it keeps me on my toes, I mean I have to, I'm a reporter it's my job to deal with uncomfortable shit."

"That said I do not want to upset you-"

"I know jus-...hhhhh...alright, can we agree that, we both have free will but I've chosen NOT to hurt humans?"

"Of course." The mantis tried to shake his hand but Jack pulled back instantly. "Is something wrong?"

"N-no just...no, it...sorry I've learned never to shake hands with other reploids cuz of, bad programs an' shit, I had a couple nasty viruses a few times."

"Understood." He bowed respectfully. "I agree to your previous statement that you have chosen by your own will not to harm humans."

"Right...thank you." Jack sighed with a bow in turn. "Jeez is there really nothin' in this damn place I thought my backdoor key woulda gone off by now!"

"There is one place we have not yet traversed. The Tunnel."

He pointed down towards a large black building where boats went in and out upon a circular stream. Without an option Jack agreed and so they left the ferris wheel once it brought their carriage back down before making their way over to the last attraction. A tunnel of romantic needs with hearts and gender symbols plastered across intertwining each other in every possible combination that made Jack more nervous as he watched the digital couples leap on groping and kissing each other. The looks they received made him smile bashfully and wave feebly at them passing by before it was their turn to ride.

"This yer first tiiiime?" asked the deer manning the ride.

"Correct," said Dronin.

"Don't worry, love is always free so this ride you don't have to pay."

"O-oh, thank you," muttered Jack, "w-we'll just be getting on now."

"Let us go my love," the mantis ushered him through, "I await your digital embrace in the darkness where none can witness our intimacy."

"GU-WHU-JUH-DAH-R-RYO JEEEEZ!"

"HMHAHAHAHA!" the cervine cackled as they shuffled on. "Awwwww you two are precious, enjoy yourselves out there!"

Sitting in the boat they soon felt the shifting of the water, a noise stream that crackled beneath with scattering data to give a blackish-jade look as it surged behind them to push them into the tunnel. Darkness consumed them with the gentlest of neon lights faintly dimming to give a cosy environment, the urge to creep against Dronin turning more great with Jack feeling more claustrophobic with each second. Hearts glittered with symbols flashing between pink, blue and purple with lights festively twinkling above their heads like the stars at night as the gentle sloshing shudders of the pixellated water beneath cradled their boat.

"Did you HAVE to tell them all that?" snapped Jack.

"I was merely assuming the role of your lover," said Dronin patiently.

"I think you assumed it TOO well."

"I am incapable of desire, romantic or sexual-based."

"S-s-so that was still-...ugh...I hate these lovey rides." The gator crossed his arms fiercely against his chest. "Just feels so fake to me, now THIS is the kinda dream I hate."

"Does this sort of attraction not exist in reality?"

"No it does, I just hate the idea of pushing people onto a boat and makin' them kiss it out like public proposals an' shit."

"If the couple so chooses to commit their love publicly then that is their imperative."

"No no that's not what I meant," he leaned forwards as the boat tilted, "I meant that I just don't like when people FORCE you to be all cute in public like that deer was tryin' to do."

"Understood." Dronin sat back carefully to reaffirm the boat. "I will be silent until the end of this ride."

"Well now I'm just uncomfortable for another reason but then again I guess that's how most relationships start-wait, wait! Hold up I hear somethin'."

Shifting himself to the edge of the boat, Jack reached out to one of the walls which started to shine with a fracture in its fibre, a rift of darkening red that crackled like a dial-up modem.

"YES, yes, this is it, the backdoor, Dronin quick!"

The mantis leapt off the boat with Jack clambering up to the side as he pushed his hand into the rift. A file sent itself through his fingers and activated a doorway, opening wider to an oval shape that allowed them passage with a smile crossing the reploid's snout.

"HAH, hahahahahaaaaa now we're cookin'!"

"Do we enter?" asked Dronin.

"No actually I'm tired let's go ba-YEAH we enter are you kiddin'?!"

"Then lead the way."

"Guess that Jester-dot-dee-el-el came through and here I thought it was a joke! Alright, it's time to jack in DEEP!"

Pushing himself through the reporter-croc went first into the rift, swallowed by the blood-coloured static as Dronin followed before it closed up behind them as a seamless crumpled wall. What they saw beyond was a cesspit of vantablack and crimson screams, a wretched underbelly of migraine-inducing colour clashes and the sound of a slow dread burn deeply rumbling through their senses.

"Hohhhh shit," gasped the gator, "he's got his own dark web network-awwww SHIT we're gettin' near the truth!"

"Dark web?" asked the mantis looking above.

"A part of the cyberspace you can't access by normal means such as the HTP. Basically this is where all the illegal stuff happens."

"A black market on the digital scape?"

"Basically!" The croc walked on first as the lines stretched further in front of them. "Most if not everyone on the dark web is either a terrorist or a sex criminal, I covered quite a few of these places when underground maverick groups were tradin' in some skeezy shit."

"And because he has his own network of such that implicates him by default?"

"I mean if you're holding an illegal weapon but you're not plannin' on using it, that's not really any better legally."

"What should we search for?" The mantis followed with a careful grip on his blade.

"Anything, there has to be somethin' here, you just don't HAVE a dark web network and then not use it, that's again like having an illegal weapon and just decidin' not to shoot anyone with it, like why even bother?!"

"Understood."

The red ruby roads stretched ever onwards forming the shape of a human ribcage in its multiplying paths, splitting into several forks made entirely of solid squares across the seemingly-empty abyss where no one else seemed to exist. The audial weight in the atmosphere was sickening, grossly overprocessed to the point of exhausting their senses in the way a human would feel descending deep into the ocean depths. Jack felt the struggle upon his programming with Dronin trudging his feet, their heads bowed low against the invisible storm of static as they searched across the various paths for wherever the data flowed to. Throughout the void there were chains full of numbers and letters constantly flowing past them, rippling combinations all different in segments of bronze and gold which seemed to flow out of the darkness.

"What are these?" asked the mantis.

"I'm not sure," said the croc veering away from them, "looks like some sorta hex-encoded serial set. Don't touch it though, it's probably definitely illegal in this place, might be hidin' some nasty files in those chains."

"They appear to be coming from one particular direction, should we investigate?"

"I mean there's nothin' else here so we might as well, either way it'll give us some leads."

"I cannot tell where they are going, even less so than where they came from."

They watched the spiralling chains twist and flow into the darkness, entering portals similar to the one they had passed through into other places beyond their reach. But all of them seemed to flow from one direction especially, the northwestern branch of the deep space from which underneath there was only darkness. Infinite yet not enough space, vast and yet so very small for how Dronin managed to sense the edges of the smaller deep network. Void-text and script signatures followed in brackets alongside each numberised routine ever-curious for the two as they followed onwards to a separate set of red tracks.

" HALT."

Shimmering before them were several shapes scarring out of the void, summoned by their presence to reveal six sword-wielding knights with solid round bases like chess pieces. All of them were violet with orange-spiked mohawks and blades of fire.

" IDENTIFY YOURSELF."

"Yeah hi we got a Jester pass," said Jack showing the file like a card at his fingertips, "dealing with some maintenance on the uh bandwidth lag, one of the routers is having a hiccup."

" BANDWIDTH ERRORS NOT DETECTED."

"OH, nice hey we did our job then so uh if you just let us pass-"

The swords clashed suddenly in front of Jack's face with a triple-clang of six blades.

" UNAUTHORISED ACCESS, TROJANS DETECTED."

"Ey-ey-ey who you callin' a trojan bytewad?!"

" DISCONNECT FROM THIS NETWORK IMMEDIATELY. YOU HAVE THREE SECONDS TO COMPLY."

"I sure as hell DON'T!"

Jack swiftly tapped his arm and immediately sent up an electric ring towards two of the guards, trapping them together with a paralysing shock that binded their bodies briefly as the gator jumped back two squares bracing for a fight. The four other knights floated round their allies to make a wall as Dronin pulled out his sword in turn.

"Looks like he got better security," said the croc flexing his knuckles.

"Then let us begin," the mantis replied summoning his sword to shimmer in his hand, "I will coordinate myself to your attacks."

"Awesome, let's do this!"

" PROCESS CONFIRMED, DELETION IMMINENT."

"Fat chance you socket-shit now COME ON, TRY AN' DELETE ME!"

Two of the knights came rushing towards Jack, but the mantis swiftly stepped in front leaving an L-shape of tiles behind him to carve through their bodies with his sword shimmering blue. Staggering back they made a spinning strike with their own firey blades that he blocked perfectly, the chip beeping in his arm triggering a guard function as his sword rotated fast to horizontal as both the enemy blades struck harmlessly against, before Jack followed up with a roaring blast of heat, sending small explosions two squares diagonal of him to rip through the knights, destroying one of them and severely wounding the other to show fractured lines of coding bleed out of its armoured suit. Dronin stepped back when another knight had recovered to thrust its burning blade towards him, countering with his own thrusting lance as his sword took on briefly the shape of a bamboo spear to plunge straight towards the knight who swiftly backed off and strafed L-shape. When the mantis tried to follow he found himself suddenly stuttering in his movements as if his body refused to cooperate. It was also here that Dronin saw his half of the walkway's tiles coloured blue, whilst the enemies were a clearer red.

"What is happening?"

"I told you!" Jack shouted. "Manage your actions, they're not free in cyberspace you hafta plan them out or else you lag super hard!"

"Understood. Please defend me until I regain motion."

"I'm on it!"

Jack leapt forwards in front of him and waited for the enemies to approach as far as they could before the invisible barrier that seemed to separate both factions, waiting for their attacks in the form of whirling tornados of fire that came whittling across the cyberpath before the croc slammed his arm to summon a large tower in the shape of a rook chess piece. Buffeted between shocking winds of howling steel, the turret remained impervious in its brick-studded facade for a set time long enough for both Jack and Dronin to recover their input lag as they nodded to each other. The knights also recharged came out swinging with triple whirlwinds that the samurai dodged twicely, strafing fast left then right before the third one ripped through his body like a hundred daggers tearing across his chassis. He countered in turn with a dash attack, mentally choosing a chip to activate that sent him teleporting fast across several tiles to make a slashing cut that tore through one of the knights in his brief revenge.

The croc waited for one of the five knights to make their move towards him, a thrusting blade that flensed fire from its sheen that he blocked against with a sudden shield he put up before him that resembled an idol's mask. The moment the blade struck against its visage the mask-shield snarled with open jaws and snapped down hard with a crushing bite, crunching the soldier's head with a tearing shriek to rip off half its skull as the knight backed off stuttering and bleeding binary code from its crumpled helmet. But Jack gave no mercy when he slammed both his fists into the tiles and sent up a surging geyser that shot up from underneath the wounded knight, shredding his body apart with screeching "water" in the form of thousands of tiny bits eviscerating its body apart like piranhas of the digiscape.

Dronin came forwards to the edge of the boundary waiting for one guard to come at him with a razing blade of simmering fire, spinstriking towards the mantis' head as he countered fast with his sword shifting to become a silvery-white gust of wind, air become solid as he struck against the firey blade which was consumed in a small maelstrom that sucked the fire out and suffocated it in a miniature whirlwind that instantly wrapped itself round the knight when Dronin cut back across its chest with a vicious double-strike. The force of the gale slash peeled back its armour as the knight tried to cleave down on Dronin's head with its deflamed sword before the mantis dodged and struck back with another vicious cut, his sword suddenly taking on the texture of bamboo wood that raked savagely through the open wound of the guard to fully eviscerate its body in half with a static scream.

Three knights now remained as they tightened up their defences, crossguarding their swords against each other as Jack braced himself for their next attack, starting with a clap of his hands as he whipped out from his chest compartment a reporter's microphone.

"_SOUND CHECK, BITCH! _"

Blasting out a solid force that blew out his speaker, the shockwave of sound sent his enemies into a state of confusion as they rattled and shook all over with their swords now clumsily hitting each other for a moment. Dronin saw his chance and spun himself fast with his sword creating a cyclone round his body, forming a monstrous tornado twice the size of his body as a surging hurricane that he shot forth towards the knights and sent them spinning in a violent typhoon. Wracked and buffeted by cyberwinds they were thrown into even greater discord as the reploid gator rushed towards the closest one and slammed his fist straight into the soldier's stomach, crushing its insides with a brutal fist that sent it flying upwards in a heave before he saw the second knight immediately swipe for him.

"NAH-UH!"

Jack clicked his fingers mockingly before his armchip lit up with a bleep and suddenly the croc disappeared, the knight's sword burning a deep carving path through where he once stood to find nothing there. Slashing towards other tiles closest to it, the guard swung in a full 360 to try and wound the now-invisible Jack, who strafed unknown back out of its reach to counter with a shocking burst of an electrical ring that clamped tightly round its body. Dronin had taken this chance to recover and adapt his chipset, mentally parsing through them before he saw one that would workd as he made a sudden cross-step within the blink of an eye, clashing twice into an X-mark that chopped both of the enemy's arms clean off to a bleeding of data from both stumps, the mantis ending with a vicious thrust of his sword straight through its head as his blade became a brilliant burning sheen of white-hot amber that melted its core program through its visor.

Sputtering shrieks of its failure signalled its falling to the floor as the remaining two knights came together at once to ruthlessly X-strike the mantis. The croc however stopped one of them with a blasting spark of plasma that shuddered through its core, the other knight managing to strafe past and carve straight across the gator's midriff with a semi-deep wound stopping short of his digi-vitals. Gasping with a shudder he tried to step back and brace himself to do another gut punch, feeling his body stutter fast with a hard stop as he felt his lag reach its peak. Jack was frozen in space, the tiles shimmering under his feet as the knight readied itself towards him with less lag on itself to prepare for a fearsome strike. Charging its sword up to become a beacon of flames, spiralling coils of sunset smoke as the croc struggled to will himself to recharge faster as the guard came rushing with a tremendous high cleave ready to slice the reporter in two.

" E-ER, ERRURRR."

"Desist."

Dronin was there before either of them realised it, the mantis having stacked up two chips with a step sword and dash attack in one to come cutting through with a wide blade that severed through the knight's entire body in clean horizontal sweep. A shining sword of pale green like the moon reflecting upon the sea as the drone ceased to function, dropping its sword and arms before crumpling into a small pile that then exploded into miniature bursts of virtual fire.

"The battle is over," said Dronin dismissing his blade back into his self. "We have won."

"HOOO!" Jack felt his body become free once again. "Thought I was dead with that lag on me, jeez that took too long-wait, where's the other guy?"

"Defeated." Dronin pointed behind him to the second crumpled healp. "We can now access the source of their transactions."

"Finally," the gator patted his shoulder with a smile, "thanks, I mean that for all the work you done helpin' me."

"Your gratitude is not necessary, but I accept it regardless. Now let us go."

"What about you, are you alright?"

"All systems functioning." Dronin looked down at the scars covering his front. "Second-layer damage however may reduce the integrity of my armour."

"Same here," Jack pointed to the shallow gash in his abdomen, "we're still walkin' at least so yeah cummon, lessee what these bad bots've been hidin' from us all this time."

He rubbed his hands like an explorer about to uncover a tomb, half-excited and half-nervous with anticipation rattling through his joints as they walked further into the path of darkness. The gate that stood yawning before them invited their curiosity, but at the same time warned them that beyond this lied no hope, nor any escape from what they would find. Jack did not heed this silent warning, nor did Dronin as they stepped into the deeper darkness where a router link took them at the speed of light through many encryptions that bounced every which way off of various points throughout the MaltPort network. Seconds later they came out of the tunnel thrusted towards a new location, covered in neon lines that painted their entire bodies.

"What...what is this?"

It was the carnival, still the same ferris wheel that rose above the tents and shooting galleries with the large casino at the very back, like a castle golden beyond all wealth. The colour however was different, not purple so much as a subtle shade of indigo that darkened the sky beyond it. There was the sounds of festivity from every place, but none could be seen outside as Jack and Dronin stepped through the ticket gate unguarded, ghostly shudders of joy and mirth from untouched shooting galleries and gentle turning carousels left cold and unloved. The ferris wheel kept on turning despite having no visitors upon it, the sounds of iron creaking over the fairground as they walked on between the tents, checking inside to see them also bereft of any life digital within. No wind crept through this place, nor the waters of the sea that upon closer inspection they discovered was now an illusion even more than it had been before, a mirror falsely reflecting nothing.

"Something's wrong," muttered Jack, "I mean I hear the people but I can't find any."

"Perhaps this is a backup server," mused Dronin, "should the first carnival fail."

"Maybe but...I feel something's off here like, none of the rides seem to be good enough to work, look at this!"

He pointed towards the rollercoaster which kept on rumbling in a circle, lost within its tracks forever chasing after itself.

"Why do you keep the rides going if there's nobody on them, wouldn't that just overclock it for no reason?"

"That is true," noted Dronin looking up towards the tracks, "it is unnecessary unless it is for the purpose of illusion."

"Like trying to make a park look occupied?"

"Correct. Perhaps this is not a backup source but the original power source of the BitCarnival."

"What do you mean power source?" the croc turned to him.

"I am beginning to form a theory that the reason the machines continue to move here is so as to directly affect the carnival machines previous. The wheel turns here, so too does the one before."

"Ohhhhh...I getcha now but...why even do that, why not just power the carnival by ITSELF, this seems kinda elaborate."

"The dark web provides security to prevent the carnival from being tampered with."

"That IS true...I mean it's an odd way of doin' it but I can't argue with that. Come on, maybe the casino's got something up."

"Wait." Dronin grabbed his shoulder. "We must be cautious."

"Yeah I know that-"

"Have you noticed the absence of security since our arrival?"

"...huh...yeah that is weird, we only fought those swordys out there but yer right there's no other guards here."

"Hence my words of caution Jack. Be on your guard."

"Right, gotcha."

Wandering between the tents that constantly flapped as if people were coming and going, the carnival games went off by themselves in their passing as targets were shot down and lights went off as if possessed by an already-seen force. The grand casino still remained like a castle above all, luxurious despite its visage in the shadowed glint of this other realm giving it a more sinister look. What they saw inside only confirmed Jack's suspicions.

"Oh...shit."

Far as the eye could see were a thousand slot machines, all of which were occupied by reploids staring glassy-eyed into the rolling fruits as they pulled the machine's arm in a constant slow methodical motion. Everytime they did the machine would scream, sob and cry with unholy sounds that filled the room to a cacophony of anguish. Jack and Dronin stepped carefully betweeen the aisles, the colours of a prison, drab stainless steel as they looked over the machines and their players none of whom turned to look at them, not even react to their touching or voice.

"This..." murmured Jack, "th-this is a...it's, I don't believe it."

"They appear to be entranced," said the mantis, "unresponsive. Why do the slot machines have voices?"

"I-i don't know, I don't...wait...w-wait, wait that one, I know her!"

A blonde canine reploid resembling a wolf was marked out by Jack in the sea of steel, wearing a blouse coloured peach and a powder-blue skirt underneath. Jack tried to shake her free of the spell, waving a hand in front of her face but still no response.

"This, th-this, this is one of the missing, the missing reploids!"

"Really?"

"YEAH! I know this is her, AMY, AMY COME ON!"

"I am not registering any neural activity."

"Y-yeah but-"

"AAIIIIIIIHH!"

The slot machine screamed with another pull of the lever. Jack turned towards it as he looked over its bulky build noticing that the golden stream falling out of it was not actually coins or credits of any sort, but the same string of text variables they had seen floating across the dark web where under every seat was a tube it got sucked into.

"That...that machine's got her voice."

"What?" Dronin cocked his head.

"That machine, I know that voice, I got a vid of her being taken by Renbie's goons, sh-she's inside the machine!"

"Her processing unit was transferred from her body?"

"Yeah, must be! AMY! AMY CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"

But there was no response. None but the screams of her processor resonating through the machine as her body grabbed the lever and pulled another spin. Jack tried to pull the body away but it was glued to the seat, magnetised to become an impossible force no matter how hard he tried to shift her or prevent the pulling of the lever. Another scream rang through his ears as he struggled and pulled with all his might but to no avail as Dronin watched on silently, hearing the echoes of condemned machines ripple through the casino floor as he bent down to investigate the tube of golden-laced textual transactions that funnelled towards the back of the room.

"G-GAAAARRH, DAMMIT YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

"Jack!"

"WHAT?!"

"Let us investigate further, perhaps by following these tubes we may find a control centre."

"F-fine...fine." The gator pulled himself from Amy. "I'm sorry...I'll be back, I promise."

He patted her cold shoulder and walked to where Dronin stood, joining him as they stepped through the thousand-long rows of sunken faces, slot machines the colour of tombstones whilst banshees shrieked throughout the soulless hall in a neverending cycle. The tubes networked to a large roulette table in the centre of the room, churning numbers and rotating the theorems into a thick stew of numeric symbols that trundled downwards into a deeper tunnel underneath. The noise it made was unbearable, grinding crunching shuddering hums like a broken fan as they tried to peer into the abyss before moving on towards the theatre hall through a dark door, seeing the ampitheatre bloom out in rainbow arcs of silver, blue and crystal. But all the tables were empty with not a single trace of dust as their footsteps trembled with a vast echo throughout the bleak emptiness. The screaming had stopped, as if the moment they passed through the door they had ended up in another world, a pocket of cyberspace interconnecting with each other. Static trickled faintly through the air, the absence of any sound allowing them to hear the background noise that existed through most of cyberspace.

"This appears to be a dead end," noted Dronin as they approached the stage.

"No," said Jack checking under tables, "no there has to be a main server, somewhere that all this money is going."

"Money?"

"Yeah, I just realised what that casino was. It's a cryptocamp."

"What is that?" asked the mantis looking back towards the previous room.

"It's a way to farm cryptocurrency, basically running a server farm where you get a buncha programs to start shittin' out transaction data."

"This is a counterfeiting operation?"

"Not exactly," Jack shook his finger standing up to face him, "counterfeitin' is replicating already-existing money. Cryptocurrency is making a NEW kind of money, that in itself isn't the bad part. It's when they kidnap a thousand reploids an' force them to pump it out like sum kinda slave factory."

"Has this happened before?"

"I've heard stories, not often, cryptocurrency's not exactly my beat nor is it an easy thing to do, you gotta really commit to the numbers game but usually people just get like a small team or make their own mechaniloid programs it just...it doesn't make sense, if he wants to make a cryptocamp why's he kidnappin' reploids?"

"Also the lack of security, why not protect your operation more fervently?"

"Because I'm on a schedule," said a third voice, "and I'd rather beat your asses myself."

The voice that came from the theatre stage made them turn as Jack recoiled at the sight of him. A doberman in an armoured purple suit, formal attire designed with a militaristic streak, his hands clapped behind his back with large boots that stomped with each step he took.

"RENBIE!" Jack sprung himself forwards to the centre stage. "YOU SON OF A BITCH YER GOIN' DOWN!"

"AH-AH!"

"GUH!" The reploid croc bounced back from an invisible force to hit against a table.

"You know as well as I do not to rush the stage when a performance is happening, honestly you reporters have no sense of personal space."

"S-says the kidnappin' jackoff!" snarled the gator as Dronin helped him up. "Finally I got you."

"Says the reploid who hacks into my system without permission and currently on the other side of a forcefield. You wanted to know why I was using reploids for my cryptocamp?"

"Yeah, why not tell me?"

"So you can record that conversation too?" smirked Renbie with a a shrug of his arms. "I don't have to tell you anything, you're in my parlour and now you play by my rules."

"I don't have to do SHIT! One, you're not a human and two you're a maverick!"

"Incorrect. I am only a maverick if I harm humans, and my activities have not harmed any humans. I am developing a perfectly legal business and if you read the laws of cryptocurrency you will find there is no such crime I have committed here."

"Kidnapping is a crime," said Dronin stepping forwards.

"I never kidnapped anyone," said the dog crossing his arms, "I simply kept them for questioning and relocated them elsewhere, legally-speaking they are still in transit to a safe location."

"Forced labour is also a crime."

"Not on the cyberspace it isn't, that only counts physical."

"Is that true?"

"Doesn't matter!" shouted Jack pointing a finger. "Just because there's no law against it doesn't mean it's right!"

"Agreed, morality is different from that of law."

"Morality doesn't pay the bills," said the doberman scratching his cheek, "so how you wanna do this? You realise I am a chief in the police force so you know I didn't climb up that ladder by pushing numbers."

"No," scoffed the reporter, "you just force other people to push numbers for you like them cryptcoins out there!"

"If you wanna lecture me on how I run a perfectly-legal business online and outwith of my occupation-"

"What of murder?" Dronin stepped forth with accusing finger. "You stand accused of murdering Jack's friend by destroying his home."

"Really?! HAH, what evidence do you have?"

"A video recording, as well as one of your subordinates heavily implicating his role in the deed."

"And the body?" Renbie smirked looking over to Jack. "Did he ever tell you WHO his friend was?"

"He did not."

"Then I can tell you now that you have not a shred of evidence on me."

"Blowing up my apartment left plenty of evidence," snorted the croc stomping forward.

"And how are you going to claim that? Did you even think that far ahead, don't play me Jack. I know what you're trying to do and you don't have a leg to stand on legally."

"I'll worry about that later," he thumped his fist into his hand with a clank, "right now all I gotta do is beat your face in an' drag you back with all those reploids you imprisoned against their will, an' even if I can't prove what you did, I'll at least get them back home where they belong!"

"To WHAT home?!" the canid barked swinging his arms out. "Did you even see the squalor they lived in, the rank decrepit sublets they have at least I gave them a purpose!"

"WELL IF YOU DID A BETTER JOB CLEANIN' UP THE STREETS AND CATCHING REAL CRIMINALS THEY WOULDN'T BE-"

"ENOUGH!" The cop clicked his fingers as the forcefield shimmered to turn off. "I'm not in the mood for your broken window bullshit, you either leave this place now or I make you farmers for my business. The choice is yours."

"You're damn right it's my choice," said Jack stepping onto the stage with Dronin in tow, "I've been waitin' to kick your ass for a long time you son of a bitch."

"Big talk for a walking handbag." The dog cracked his metal fingers and started slowly stepping back. "But this is not the place for a real fight now is it?"

"What?"

He clicked his fingers once again. The stage suddenly flickered before disintegrating behind him, fractals and tiles separating into the ether that revealed a grand tunnel of violent red and burning black, diamond-shaped with an endless conveyor belt-road that whizzed with electric speed.

"All I'll say is this," said Renbie stepping back, "I'm not letting you take me alive."

"Fine by me," said Jack puffing his chest as he strolled forwards, "means I don't have to hold back!"

"I'm just warning you that you'll make the biggest mistake of your life, IF you manage to kill me."

"No, YOUR mistake was thinking you could get rid of me, WELL GUESS WHAT BITCH?! IT'S JACK ATTACK!"

Rushing towards the police dog Jack jumped onto the conveyor belt the same time Renbie did, feeling his body lurch forwards from the psychotic speed the floor took as Dronin leapt on behind him. Vaulted into the tunnel's depths, the road suddenly widened out into the same blue and red tiles separated from each other like with the battle against the knights, Renbie standing on the red whilst Jack and Dronin stepped up on blue. The path kept on moving them at a lightning speed to nowhere, the dog cracking his fist to suddenly punch the ground sending violent flames across the tiles towards them that they dodged before Jack shot out a plasma burst to retaliate. Renbie strafed past the static cloud, pulling out his large blocky handgun to fire at the croc but Dronin instantly rushed between to guard with his sword in a perfect block, a shimmering bullet of pure energy skimming off the edge of his blade before the mantis countered with a thrusting lance, his chip turning his sword to a bamboo spear that stabbed the cop through his armoured gut forcing him back.

Jack followed up with a scorching burn attack, hopping over two tiles left to move diagonally of Renbie before sending a roaring flame across the cyberbattlefield. The dog swiftly rushed forth evading the fire, to the barrier separating their tiles with gun still in hand and fired almost instant towards the reporter, wounding him in the shoulder as Jack staggered falling with a shriek. Dronin immediately charged to face him, now within reach of his sword as he dash-attacked with a shoulder-slam that knocked Renbie back one space, following with a vicious sword of burning strength that charred deep through the police officer's metal hide with a grotesque black burn that seethed into his abdomen. Snarling as he clutched himself with rage, he felt the lag of his network reassert itself before firing twice at the mantis who dodged easily both times as Jack sprang back into action, punching the floor with both fists to send up a geyser screaming of datafeed. The hard fake-water ripped through Renbie's arm as he staggered back, countering with his own dual-slam of fists to bring down rocks from the digital sky as both Dronin and Jack swiftly fell back to evade.

"GET BACK GET BACK!"

The rocks crumbled instantly upon the three tiles in front of them with an earth-shattering force that rumbled beneath their feet, but even more strange was the tiles underneath them now suddenly changing their colours from blue to red. Renbie grinned at the smaller amount of space his opponents now had to move as he dove in close with a firing shot at Jack before spinning his body once to drive his fist into the floor, sending a shockwave of fire towards Dronin who just barely managed to dodge the scarring flames with the lesser space they had as the badnik counterattacked with a step-sword strike. Crossing swiftly in two steps he slashed twice across Renbie's chest, gouging him with an X-strike as he roared with a rocketpunch towards Dronin's face, cracking his skull with a hard fist that threw him back to the very edge of the digifield. The croc however stopped Renbie in his tracks with a horrid scream from his reporter mic, deafening the police dog with a foetid screech of discord that confused him briefly enough for the gator to wind up his gutpunching strike, slamming his cold metal knuckles deep into Renbie's stomach.

"HNNGH! FILTHY PUNK!"

Whipping his handgun out he bashed the reporter across the face with hard steel before kicking him upwards with a vicious kneestrike, leaping back to charge up his energy in a single shot of burning plasma from his gun to fire at the airborne croc. Jack screamed from the spasming electrocution he received, twitching like a serpent in an electric fence as Dronin tried to assail Renbie with a storming strike of a tornado, spinning his body round with a frenzied blade to create a surging gale that ripped through the cop's body further opening the wounds of his metal carapace. The dog stood his ground letting the hurricane shred his steel, peeling the paint and widening the cracks before he felt the tiles underneath him slowly revert back from red to blue as he stepped back slowly, his fist behind his back charging up a furious flame as he braced for the mantis' attack. Dronin rushed forwards with his blade turning into air as he struck towards Renbie's head, the canid smiling as he swung his fist down hard with roasting flames that suddenly became consumed by the zephyr of Dronin's blade, fire sucked inside of the semi-gaseous sword before backdrafting hard with an explosion upon Renbie's face to make him fall back in gasping fits of rage.

Jack fell back to earth with a shiver up his spine as the last sparks crept through his body before he quickly shot out a zap ring to try and paralyse the cop. Renbie looked up just before the ring could trap him and dodgerolled swiftly to fire twice at the croc who swiftly summoned the towering rook piece with his chipset beeping, the rumbling facade of a turret blocking the bullets as Dronin thrust forwards with a lancing bamboo spear to catch Renbie off guard in a stagger, the dog strafing fast to avoid the thrust before slamming both fists hard to send another avalanche of rocks upon their tiles forcing his opponents to step back once more. Pressed into a corner once again the mantis stepped forwards to face Renbie direct, waiting for the rending thrust of the cop's rocket fist to come flying in a hard aerial punch that Dronin blocked in a sudden guard as steel knuckles clashed against his blade, scraping the fingers off his edge before countering with a razor slash when his sword became wood once again, hard thin bamboo that scored a Z-strike fashion to gouge further into the digital wounds of the police officer. He bore the hit and countered with a ruthless hammerfist to the side of Dronin's head sending him falling to the side before Jack came barrelling towards him with a dash attack and a charging fist that crunched into Renbie's face. The cop immediately tried to punch back but Jack clapped his hands and suddenly disappeared, the gentle beep of an invisibility chip giving him time to slink back out of Renbie's range and recover his lag input, putting himself between Dronin and the dog waiting for his opponent to try and attack the wounded mantis.

Shuddering breaths from his throat Renbie cracked his neck and watched Dronin pull himself up as he readied his fist, burning white-hot for a devastating blow as he came screaming hard down on him. But neither of them had seen Jack who swiftly broke his camouflage and brought up his mask-shaped shield that the moment Renbie punched it, its jaws opened up with a lightning-fast crunch that ripped his arm completely off.

"_GHAAAAAAAARGH! YOU FUCKING SHIT! _"

Pushing himself back he shot at the croc's leg with a clean burst, sending Jack down to the floor as he cried out in fury grabbing his limb before Dronin leapt over him with a wide-cutting sword that just reached across the tiles enough to slash Renbie's face, scarring a lean smile across his snout as the police dog stuttered with gasping snarls whilst clutching his face. Blinded briefly in a fit of rage he charged with wild swings in grabbing Dronin by his arm to trap his sword before viciously punching his face, pummelling with piston force as he roared and cracked his mandibled face nearly in half with a growing black line appearing across his solarcampal unit. One last punch drove the badnik straight across the floor with a scraping thud before Renbie suddenly seized up with a shocking scream. Jack aimed his fist towards him with a pulse of plasma energy, stuttering seizures through his body with a gargling screech before he made one final attack.

"_SHOOOOORYU KEN! _"

The crack rippled throughout the cyberspace, launching his fist straight into Renbie's jaw with such inscrutable force that he sent it bursting upwards, one ruthless decapitation that followed with a spurting fountain of purple binary bits that sprayed from the gushing neckwound of Renbie's digital form. Gasping as he watched the police officer's body twitch and shudder he stepped back to watch Renbie's head fall back to earth with a clunk as it rolled past his feet, bleeding out more miniscule purple blocks forming a small pile as the walkway shuddered to a rigid halt.

"Well...done," Renbie's head muttered, "looks like you managed to stop me."

"Hhhh, y-yeah, now your little operation's dead."

"That's not...the only thing that's dead."

"What?!"

"Lemme ask you something." The police officer's body started to slump on its knees. "Why did you chase me for so long?"

"Huh?!"

"Why...did you come this far just to stop me, you're a reporter, not a police officer."

"Because I was the only one that knew what you were up to, because-"

"Don't bullshit me Jack." Renbie grinned with his head on its side. "Why did you bother keeping up with this story, I know why. Your boss ordered you, your human boss right?"

"Well, yeah course he did," the croc rubbed his neck, "he told me to finish the story."

"Just following orders right? Humans will always be above us, and that's okay because I follow the same rules."

"Wh-what?!"

"Look around you." The tunnel continued glowing red and black. "Everything I have done, not one single human suffered for it. I never disobeyed a human, in fact, I was following orders too."

"What, no you weren't-wh-what's that, what are you doing?!"

A beeping sound came from the cop's body as his chest panel opened with a timer counting down from five minutes.

"That? That's the killswitch."

"K-killswitch?!"

"What do you mean?" asked Dronin pulling himself up.

"My human master," murmured Renbie, "the one who ordered me to take care of his business."

"You were ordered to commit a criminal act?"

"N-NO, NO THAT'S BULLSHIT!" ranted Jack.

"Allow me to show you."

The cop transmitted a video feed from his body, showing an old human in advanced years sitting back in a bed surrounded by machinery just out of shot with cables pumping fluid into him. Gaunt, ghoul-like with a strong chin and liver spots on his scalp he blinked at the viewers as Renbie spoke.

"Hey boss. I screwed up."

"It's fine Renbie," said the old man, "I knew this was going to come sooner or later."

"Wh-who are you?!" cried the gator. "What the shit is this?!"

"He can't hear you," said Renbie, "gone deaf, I'm transmitting my speech to text to the other end but alright, introduce yourself please."

"My name is Carlton Andersson," said the patient, "I was the leader of this operation."

"Did you order me to supervise this operation?"

"Yes, I did Renbie."

"B-but, no wait!" Jack threw his hands. "How the shit does this old human get the chief of vice police to run a cryptocamp?!"

"I'll let him answer that. Boss, how did you convince me?"

"We're old friends," said Andersson heaving, "I made him after all, he knows me-EGHK, KHHHH! E-eeeegh yes we're very good friends, it was all perfectly legal after all from a technical perspective, and I know his position made things that much more interesting because nobody would suspect such a thing."

"The high chief of vice, it's a perfect cover. And you know as well as I do Jack, that we can't refuse orders from our bosses, can we?"

"Y-yeah but," stuttered Jack hugging himself, "my boss didn't MAKE me, I just got hired by him!"

"Well mister Andersson created me so he has much higher precedent, doesn't he? Would you refuse an order from the one who made you?"

"I, I don't...I-i, I-"

"Where is your physical body?" asked Dronin hobbling up towards them. "Am I to assume that our defeating you here would also destroy your original processing unit?"

"Yes and it's guarding the boss," said Renbie. "But you've made sure that I'll be just a husk standing next to his corpse soon."

"Your operating functions are linked directly to his medical equipment?"

"Exactly. Can't put us on trial if we're dead, right boss?"

"Exactly old boy," the human nodded smiling, "you have to understand that those like us, we have too much pride in allowing ourselves to be caugh-EGH-KHHHHRRR! Ugh...sorry, but yes, that was the plan all along. I was never going to be caught alive."

"This is..." Jack shook his head before his eyes widened with a terrible thought. "Wait...w-w-wait, no, wh-what did you say, a-about his medical-"

"Equipment?" Renbie coughed gently as his fingers twitched. "I warned you, you would make the biggest mistake of your life if you managed to kill me because now you just committed the worst sin."

"N-n-n-no, no, NO NO NO, I-I-I DIDN'T-"

"You were the one to land the killing blow on me Jack. You just pulled the plug on an old defenceless human by yourself."

"NOOO!" Jack leapt over to Renbie's body frantically trying to rip out its chest.

"The signal's already sent idiot, even if you damaged the program he's still going to die in about three minutes."

"WHYSIT COUNTING DOWN, WHY DON'T YOU STOP IT?!"

"Boss' orders, he likes numbers. S'why he probably made this cryptocamp."

"TH-THIS, TH-THIS IS, D-DRONIN HELP ME!"

The mantis tried to assist by wedging his sword into Renbie's chest, pulling out the device that kept counting as Jack hurriedly ripped and severed every single wire and programming module he could find in a full evisceration of the digital cop. A frantic visceral minute of rending apart every piece he could soon managed to turn off the timer, much to Jack's only temporary relief.

"Good job," snorted Renbie, "now you have no idea how long it takes until my boss is dead."

"N-NO, NO I STOPPED THE TIMER YOU SHIT!"

"I told you, the program is sent, those machines are going to turn off and that human's death will be on your hands little Jack."

"SHUT UP, SH-SHUT UP YOU'RE LYING!"

"Jack, control yourself." Dronin put a hand on his arm. "This is surely a trick."

"Oh really?" The cop's head rolled slightly to face them more direct. "Boss, is this a trick I'm pulling?"

"I assure you it is not a trick," said mister Andersson, "death is coming for me and both of us know that I am not leaving this room alive."

"BUT I TRACKED EVERYTHING!" screamed Jack clutching his head. "I NEVER FOUND ANYTHING ON THIS ANDERSSON, I DIDN'T KNOW!"

"Of course not," murmured Renbie, "he made sure of that."

"B-but, but, wait, if nobody even knew about him, I didn't even know about him, wh-why would he put in a suicide option, he coulda just NOT done it an' I woulda killed you an' I'd never know!"

"You would know, you're a tenacious bastard and if you got this far enough to hurt me, Andersson knew that someone this determined would find him eventually. Honour among thieves."

"S-s-stupid...this is stupid it's STUPID YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

"I warned you Jack. You got your story, but at what cost?"

"Jack." Dronin pulled him aside. "This is not your problem."

"SH-SHUT UP!" he shoved him away. "YOU DON'T EVEN CARE ABOUT HUMANS!"

"You are not responsible for the death of this human, this was planned by Renbie to prevent reploids such as you from attacking him."

"THEN WHY DIDN'T HE TELL ME BEFORE I FOUGHT HIM?!"

"Would that have stopped you?" Dronin lowered his head. "Would you have allowed him to torture those reploids because you cannot bring yourself to stop him for fear of his suicide pact with his human creator?"

"N-NO! NO I WOULD'VE, I-i would've tried to stop him l-less violently!"

"Time's up," reminded Renbie, "five, four-"

"WAIT!"

"Three, two-"

"S-STOP, RENBIE STOP!"

"One."

Flatline. The world stopped for Jack as he saw the old man suddenly heave one last gasp before Renbie followed suit, tongue bleakly flapping out of his skull as the network started to fade from around them. The croc grabbed his own face, rubbing his snout with creeping fingers as he shook with a welling fear whilst staring upon the dead human's eyes turning glassy by the second. Darkness consumed their surroundings, the floor, ceiling and walls fracturing to become pieces of nothingness. Renbie's body started to fade in turn like dust, the croc started shaking ever faster as Dronin looked around himself with a growing sense of danger.

"Jack. We must leave, we must disconnect."

"Th-the, they, th-they made me do it, they made me do it-"

"Jack control yourself."

"I-i-i didn't kill him, I didn't, I never killed a human, I-i would never, I WOULD NEVER YOU KNOW I WOULDN'T!"

"You did not kill that human, I assure you-"

"B-BUT HE MADE ME DRONIN!" Jack screamed grabbing his shoulders. "HE MADE ME DO IT, I HAD TO STOP HIM, I-I HAD TO, I HAD TO b-but I...k-killed...I-i-i can't- Z-ZzzrrRRRHT!"

The croc suddenly spasmed, twitching his arm that he grabbed with the other as his breaths became funny.

"N-no, I-i- ZZRRRHRT -c-c-can't, can't, d-don't d-do this please I-i didn't- ZHHKA-AAAAGH!"

"Jack! Focus!"

"I-i don't, p-please, h-h-help me Dronin- ZRRHRHRKrrt!"

The mantis grabbed Jack from behind trying to steady his spasms turning more vicious by the moment, frantic twitchings of his head that became more rabid as his arms stuttered with crumpling legs that bent against his will.

"I-i-i- ZHRKHHR -I-i'm not, I didn't- ZHHRGHGHKH -k-kill any h-human I-i-i-h-h-help, h-help me-"

"Jack, enter sleep mode!" Dronin shook him hurriedly. "Enter sleep mode, end your program you are overclocking!"

"_Th-th-the, R-renbie h-he, he tricked, t-t-tricked, tricked tRicKkKkrrrrrA-AAAAAAAAARRRRRGH! _"

Jack threw Dronin back to grab his scalp which started burning with thick smoke. His eyes began to melt from the increasing heat showing the camera lenses inside as black rotating glass that in turn would warp and crack. His legs spasmed as he fell to the ground feeling the plates in his skull start to vent and burst from the growing pressure as a grinding piercing sound burned through the air.

"_N-NO, NOOOO, D-DRONIN MAKE IT STO- ZKH-RR-RRA-AAARGH! _"

"SHUT YOURSELF DOWN YOU ARE ENDANGERING YOURSELF!"

"I-I, CAAAAN'T!"

The mantis hurriedly ran to the back of the gator, trying to pop open a plate and find the potential control panel to force him to shutdown manually. The smoke was fuming thick enough to cloud his vision as he blindly reached into Jack's central units, feeling the sparks sizzle across his hand as the chips melted down his fingers. It was too late.

" DROOOOONIIIIIIN!"

He backed off just before the last explosion, scorching plumes of azure flame that sent shrapnel flying everywhere across the abyss. Jack's body crumpled without his head, fluids of brown and clear silver bleeding from his fractured neck where only his jaw now remained as Dronin looked around himself once again. Darkness all around him, the network having left him as he tried to sense any connection back to the real world hoping to pull himself free. There was none. No signal remaining in the digiverse as Jack's body drifted into fractal dust. He was alone in a server from which had disconnected everything and everyone. A ghost beyond the rift.