The Absence Equation - Chapter 13
Title: The Absence Equation - Chapter 13
Group/Pairings: NewS. Pairings: Koyama/Shige, Massu/Yamapi
Rating: R
Warnings: Violence, cursing, sexual implications.
Words: 1,500
Summary: First try: "The fate of the world as they know it rests in the hands of one Kato Shigeaki. Oh shit." Possibly more coherent try (though it sounds like a lame old-school sci fi jacket blurb): The A.I. guarding cyberspace is forced to choose between eternal imprisonment and self-destruction. With the fate of the world resting in their hands, they must race against time to give her a third option before it's too late.
Prologue - Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Epilogue
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Chapter 13 - 1101
Ryo waited patiently for the men to hand him a toolbox filled with everything he’d need for the job. Well, the job they expected him to be doing, which wasn’t what he was doing at all, but of course he’d let them keep thinking that. He’d thought he’d be all nerves by this point - he’d never had a job so involved before. He usually just went from point A to point B, keeping a low profile and not running into any trouble. Well, except for that one time in Bangkok but he couldn’t think about that right now because it still worked him up.
Instead he looked interestedly into the toolbox he’d just been handed, like he was making sure everything he needed was there. He had no idea what half of this shit was. Shouldn’t Jansen have at least told him what some of it was actually for? Ah well. Ryo was good at acting. He’d just improv if he had to. Only five more minutes and he’d be in and waiting to rig up the micro-thin and nearly invisible wiring between his drive and the A.I. interface to start the upload.
Jansen had assured him that, as long as he went through the motions they’d taught him (video after video of simulation taken from some Galwell guy’s memories,) it would all be routine, and that nothing would happen until after he’d left. He’d just hope Jansen was telling the truth. Or he’d come back and haunt that son of a bitch.
~~~
Tegoshi blinked rapidly and tilted his head to rub his sweaty cheek on his sleeve. He could feel his pulse speeding along as he pushed himself to his limits keeping the system unaware of his presence and manipulation of the security aspects. His stomach kept clenching with worry. Nishikido had been let in too early. There were also more guards outside the core than anticipated and Tegoshi filled Koyama in on the details he saw through the security cams.
He could feel the sweat trickling down his face, and he really wanted to reach up and wipe under the goggles but he barely had time to blink, let alone move the goggles. His heart was in his throat. Shige was their only hope.
~~~
Shige stood to the side as the doors slid open, leaving Koyama standing squarely in front of the opening, deceptively relaxed, peaceful smile on his face. All in white, with his brassy blond hair glowing in the fluorescent lights, he looked like a fallen angel and Shige was captivated for a beat before refocusing. Koyama was greeted with silence and Shige could just imagine the shocked looks on their faces. The elevator to this level should have been cut off. Then Koyama was moving, lights glinting minutely off his finger-blades as he swung through the doors and there was a surprised grunt and a gurgle and gunshots and Shige was moving too, flechette gun out, crouched low.
Koyama was a blur of white against grey and black, all sorts of monochrome smudging across Shige’s vision, and the red that flashed out at Koyama’s fingertips was mesmerizing. Shige picked off a guy sneaking up on Koyama’s rear right, getting him in the knee and yelling, “Right, down!” and Koyama twisted and kicked out, catching the man in the head as he dropped toward the floor and he was down for the count.
They hadn’t fought together in such an open space since Koyama’s upgrade and Shige was having trouble keeping up with his movements, always moving just a little too slow to help from his defensive spot behind a chair. He looked on in shock as a man beyond the melee in front of Koyama aimed at Koyama and Shige had to pull his shot because Koyama moved justthisfast into his sight and there was a crack and Koyama jerked and then there was red spreading across the back of his white shirt, just to the left of his scapula and Shige heard himself scream even though he knew it was too high to be his heart. Shige aimed and fired, dropping the man in a single round as Koyama stumbled forward and out of his way.
“Koyama!” he yelled, but Koyama was already back on his feet and lashing out, slicing tendons on hands holding guns, breaking fingers with quick, crushing grips, the adrenaline from being shot sharpening his movements until Shige could barely keep up at all. He just kept his eyes peeled for any openings and took his shots when he got them.
When the last man hit the floor, Koyama slid to his knees and slumped forward and Shige was on his feet and at his side, his jacket already in his hands and he pressed it against the wound.
“Koyama,” he whispered.
Koyama just shook his head without opening his eyes and Shige noticed the dark red on Koyama’s thigh, seeping from between his fingers. Koyama slid his other hand up and over his shoulder, covering Shige’s. “Go,” he said hoarsely. “I’ll be fine.”
Shige bit his lip but slid his hand out from under Koyama’s and stood. “Tegoshi, open her up,” he muttered.
The door unlocked, green light flashing as it opened and Shige stepped in to see the courier from Chicago, blank look on his face for a moment before his brow wrinkled and his mouth opened. Shige didn’t wait to hear what he had to say, raising his gun and pointing it at the man.
“Did you finish the upload?”
Nishikido looked to the side and Shige strode up to him.
“Did you finish?” he asked harshly, bringing his free hand up to Ryo’s head and searching for his jack.
Nishikido smirked. “I always finish when I’m jacking.”
Shige grunted, finding the thin wire and yanking it out harshly. “Down on the floor,” he said, glancing at his watch. 12:05. They’d taken longer than he’d expected. “How long ago did it finish?”
Nishikido was silent on his knees.
“Don’t play dumb!” Shige shouted. “Your job is done. Do you even know what you were paid to do?” He grabbed Nishikido by the collar.
“One minute.”
“Fuck.” He had about four minutes before the virus completed its cycle and began corrupting the system. Once that started it would all be over in five minutes. He quickly shoved Nishikido onto his face and cuffed his right hand to his left ankle. “Stay there.”
Nishikido snorted. “Because I can really get far like this.”
But Shige barely even heard him, too busy pulling out his laptop and hooking it directly into the mainframe, powering up his laptop and transferring the anti-virus, tapping his fingers impatiently. A window popped up: Execute? His hand hovered over the enter key, his eyes scanning the code automatically but stopping… something… A female voice was reciting something around him and he realized it had been going on since he came in… a story of some sort but he needed to focus.
“Tegoshi? What is this? What did you do to the code?”
“Just hit it Shige, there’s no time.”
He tried to make sense of the code, read the chunks and translated in his brain. It wasn’t adding up. But he was out of time. Did he trust Tegoshi or didn’t he?
He hit enter.
Tegoshi whispered the words in his ear just before they popped up on the screen: “Rapunzel, Rapunzel! Let down your hair.”
He furrowed his brow, reading the coding as it scrolled through, executing, mind reeling.
“Tegoshi? What did you do?” he asked, horror creeping into his voice. “You’ve opened up the mainframe to outside interaction! With a suicidal A.I., it won’t last more than an hour after someone figures it out.”
Tegoshi was silent a moment. “Life’s not worth living if there’s nothing to die for.”
“It’s not living, Tegoshi. Oh my god.”
“She’ll work harder to protect what she has because she has too much to lose now.”
Shige bit his lip. “I… it’s not a person, Tegoshi. Whatever psychological spin you’re putting on this does not apply to artificial beings. They’re too unpredicatable. What this A.I. is guarding is what you’re willing to die for, what you almost died for, and you’re just asking me to let it go as is!”
“She only wanted destruction because she was cut off from everything. Wouldn’t you want to die too? Always watching, never able to touch? Always working and never rewarded? I’ve given her everything. Could you give up the world if you had it? Really had it?”
“… I can still fix this.”
“You would just be starting the cycle again. She’ll find another way. This is the only way to keep it safe.”
Shige reached up to grip his hair hard. Now or never. Did he trust Tegoshi?
He did.
“All right, Rapunzel. Wait for your prince.” He unhooked his laptop, calmly wrapping up the cords and tucking them into the bag. He took a deep breath and stepped away.
Epilogue
Group/Pairings: NewS. Pairings: Koyama/Shige, Massu/Yamapi
Rating: R
Warnings: Violence, cursing, sexual implications.
Words: 1,500
Summary: First try: "The fate of the world as they know it rests in the hands of one Kato Shigeaki. Oh shit." Possibly more coherent try (though it sounds like a lame old-school sci fi jacket blurb): The A.I. guarding cyberspace is forced to choose between eternal imprisonment and self-destruction. With the fate of the world resting in their hands, they must race against time to give her a third option before it's too late.
Prologue - Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Epilogue
---
Chapter 13 - 1101
Ryo waited patiently for the men to hand him a toolbox filled with everything he’d need for the job. Well, the job they expected him to be doing, which wasn’t what he was doing at all, but of course he’d let them keep thinking that. He’d thought he’d be all nerves by this point - he’d never had a job so involved before. He usually just went from point A to point B, keeping a low profile and not running into any trouble. Well, except for that one time in Bangkok but he couldn’t think about that right now because it still worked him up.
Instead he looked interestedly into the toolbox he’d just been handed, like he was making sure everything he needed was there. He had no idea what half of this shit was. Shouldn’t Jansen have at least told him what some of it was actually for? Ah well. Ryo was good at acting. He’d just improv if he had to. Only five more minutes and he’d be in and waiting to rig up the micro-thin and nearly invisible wiring between his drive and the A.I. interface to start the upload.
Jansen had assured him that, as long as he went through the motions they’d taught him (video after video of simulation taken from some Galwell guy’s memories,) it would all be routine, and that nothing would happen until after he’d left. He’d just hope Jansen was telling the truth. Or he’d come back and haunt that son of a bitch.
~~~
Tegoshi blinked rapidly and tilted his head to rub his sweaty cheek on his sleeve. He could feel his pulse speeding along as he pushed himself to his limits keeping the system unaware of his presence and manipulation of the security aspects. His stomach kept clenching with worry. Nishikido had been let in too early. There were also more guards outside the core than anticipated and Tegoshi filled Koyama in on the details he saw through the security cams.
He could feel the sweat trickling down his face, and he really wanted to reach up and wipe under the goggles but he barely had time to blink, let alone move the goggles. His heart was in his throat. Shige was their only hope.
~~~
Shige stood to the side as the doors slid open, leaving Koyama standing squarely in front of the opening, deceptively relaxed, peaceful smile on his face. All in white, with his brassy blond hair glowing in the fluorescent lights, he looked like a fallen angel and Shige was captivated for a beat before refocusing. Koyama was greeted with silence and Shige could just imagine the shocked looks on their faces. The elevator to this level should have been cut off. Then Koyama was moving, lights glinting minutely off his finger-blades as he swung through the doors and there was a surprised grunt and a gurgle and gunshots and Shige was moving too, flechette gun out, crouched low.
Koyama was a blur of white against grey and black, all sorts of monochrome smudging across Shige’s vision, and the red that flashed out at Koyama’s fingertips was mesmerizing. Shige picked off a guy sneaking up on Koyama’s rear right, getting him in the knee and yelling, “Right, down!” and Koyama twisted and kicked out, catching the man in the head as he dropped toward the floor and he was down for the count.
They hadn’t fought together in such an open space since Koyama’s upgrade and Shige was having trouble keeping up with his movements, always moving just a little too slow to help from his defensive spot behind a chair. He looked on in shock as a man beyond the melee in front of Koyama aimed at Koyama and Shige had to pull his shot because Koyama moved justthisfast into his sight and there was a crack and Koyama jerked and then there was red spreading across the back of his white shirt, just to the left of his scapula and Shige heard himself scream even though he knew it was too high to be his heart. Shige aimed and fired, dropping the man in a single round as Koyama stumbled forward and out of his way.
“Koyama!” he yelled, but Koyama was already back on his feet and lashing out, slicing tendons on hands holding guns, breaking fingers with quick, crushing grips, the adrenaline from being shot sharpening his movements until Shige could barely keep up at all. He just kept his eyes peeled for any openings and took his shots when he got them.
When the last man hit the floor, Koyama slid to his knees and slumped forward and Shige was on his feet and at his side, his jacket already in his hands and he pressed it against the wound.
“Koyama,” he whispered.
Koyama just shook his head without opening his eyes and Shige noticed the dark red on Koyama’s thigh, seeping from between his fingers. Koyama slid his other hand up and over his shoulder, covering Shige’s. “Go,” he said hoarsely. “I’ll be fine.”
Shige bit his lip but slid his hand out from under Koyama’s and stood. “Tegoshi, open her up,” he muttered.
The door unlocked, green light flashing as it opened and Shige stepped in to see the courier from Chicago, blank look on his face for a moment before his brow wrinkled and his mouth opened. Shige didn’t wait to hear what he had to say, raising his gun and pointing it at the man.
“Did you finish the upload?”
Nishikido looked to the side and Shige strode up to him.
“Did you finish?” he asked harshly, bringing his free hand up to Ryo’s head and searching for his jack.
Nishikido smirked. “I always finish when I’m jacking.”
Shige grunted, finding the thin wire and yanking it out harshly. “Down on the floor,” he said, glancing at his watch. 12:05. They’d taken longer than he’d expected. “How long ago did it finish?”
Nishikido was silent on his knees.
“Don’t play dumb!” Shige shouted. “Your job is done. Do you even know what you were paid to do?” He grabbed Nishikido by the collar.
“One minute.”
“Fuck.” He had about four minutes before the virus completed its cycle and began corrupting the system. Once that started it would all be over in five minutes. He quickly shoved Nishikido onto his face and cuffed his right hand to his left ankle. “Stay there.”
Nishikido snorted. “Because I can really get far like this.”
But Shige barely even heard him, too busy pulling out his laptop and hooking it directly into the mainframe, powering up his laptop and transferring the anti-virus, tapping his fingers impatiently. A window popped up: Execute? His hand hovered over the enter key, his eyes scanning the code automatically but stopping… something… A female voice was reciting something around him and he realized it had been going on since he came in… a story of some sort but he needed to focus.
“Tegoshi? What is this? What did you do to the code?”
“Just hit it Shige, there’s no time.”
He tried to make sense of the code, read the chunks and translated in his brain. It wasn’t adding up. But he was out of time. Did he trust Tegoshi or didn’t he?
He hit enter.
Tegoshi whispered the words in his ear just before they popped up on the screen: “Rapunzel, Rapunzel! Let down your hair.”
He furrowed his brow, reading the coding as it scrolled through, executing, mind reeling.
“Tegoshi? What did you do?” he asked, horror creeping into his voice. “You’ve opened up the mainframe to outside interaction! With a suicidal A.I., it won’t last more than an hour after someone figures it out.”
Tegoshi was silent a moment. “Life’s not worth living if there’s nothing to die for.”
“It’s not living, Tegoshi. Oh my god.”
“She’ll work harder to protect what she has because she has too much to lose now.”
Shige bit his lip. “I… it’s not a person, Tegoshi. Whatever psychological spin you’re putting on this does not apply to artificial beings. They’re too unpredicatable. What this A.I. is guarding is what you’re willing to die for, what you almost died for, and you’re just asking me to let it go as is!”
“She only wanted destruction because she was cut off from everything. Wouldn’t you want to die too? Always watching, never able to touch? Always working and never rewarded? I’ve given her everything. Could you give up the world if you had it? Really had it?”
“… I can still fix this.”
“You would just be starting the cycle again. She’ll find another way. This is the only way to keep it safe.”
Shige reached up to grip his hair hard. Now or never. Did he trust Tegoshi?
He did.
“All right, Rapunzel. Wait for your prince.” He unhooked his laptop, calmly wrapping up the cords and tucking them into the bag. He took a deep breath and stepped away.
Epilogue