IS Virus Episode 8: Contagion

Part 1: Getting Bode on Soki

Ten days since the disaster at Lake Haruna, the entire country is still on high alert. The national task force has been dispatched throughout Gunma, Shibuya, and Kyoto to track down clues to the renegade's whereabouts. Hysteria ran rampant. Too rampant for Sokoto's liking because now, he can sense everyone's aura-

"*BLECH*...ugh...I swear, I got drunk on air last night..." he threw up for the sixteenth time, "This has gotta be ExS-Overload-*BLECH*" He kept hacking for five minutes until he could stabilize himself.

"Ok..." he wiped his mouth, "Back to the hunt..."

And tailing behind him was a very disgusted Laura Bodewig, the one person whose aura he can't detect, and also the person who watched the renegade hack all those loads since his re-entry into the city. The only reason she hasn't gotten in close enough to apprehend him was that she has noticed a pattern. Whenever an opportune moment to capture him appears, so does a completely unintended/unexpected coincidence that allows him to escape unscathed. Whether it was being pinned to death against a corner, or surrounded by IS pilots on all sides, there's always an external influence to bail him out. So, she figured she would spy on him, and wait until he is within a 20-mile radius of nothing to make her move. Or try to, as they are both hidden in alleyways, and neither of them will allow themselves to be seen.

"Man..." Sokoto grunted, "What I'll give just to get some headphones or something..." Just then, he noticed an aura that isn't fear or crazy. He looked back and saw a red Prius zoom past traffic. He staggered and limped towards the street. Laura noticed him, and immediately darted off towards the car.

"Make sure the Union project is up and running before I get there," the woman said, "And I want a full report on the Silverio Gospel as well." She parked the car by a meter and went inside to grab a beverage. Five minutes later, she came out with a giant cup of coffee. She drove off on her way to work and got back on her conversation.

"Well, don't let me catch anyone associating with him again!" she shouted as she tapped her ears and disconnected. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel and swerved past heavy traffic, "Ugh, I have to do everything around here."

"Maybe I can relieve you of some of that pressure," Sokoto suddenly popped up from the backseat.

"EEK! THE RENE-" she was cut off with a punch to the throat and a forehead slam on the dashboard. Sokoto moved her to the passenger seat and took over the wheel. The car sensed the missing hands and went into auto-pilot.

"Thank god she wears headphones," Sokoto said as he undressed and donned her clothes and hairdo.

Throughout the entire trip, he couldn't see Laura, disguised as a biker girl, trailing three cars behind him, see him trying to stuff a dead body in the trunk.

"Geez!" Sokoto screamed as he kept kicking, "How much does this woman eat?!" Finally, he kicked her through and shut the seat door. He sighed as he returned to the driver's seat and saw the tower fast approaching.

"Ok," he said, "That's Shibuya Tech. How do I get in, though?" He rummaged through the ice box until he found an ID - "REBECCA TALBOT, SECURITY LEVEL 8, HEAD OF DEVELOPMENT"

"Crap..." he muttered. He'd have to scour the entire 50-story building, especially the high security areas, just to find a 6-foot robot suit. He didn't have time to think of a game plan. The car was fast approaching the entrance gates. He got back into his seat, did his hair, and punched his lungs to hack all the loogies out of him to match his voice...and attitude...to Talbot's. The car finally slowed.

A security guard stepped out of the box and faced the driver seat. "Ma'am, I need to see your ID," she demanded.

The window slowly rolled down, and a hand popped out holding the ID.

"Is there a problem?" the guard asked as the window fully came down.

"'Is there a problem?' Really?" Rebecca complained, "I'm late for the project, I got some slack-ass men who can't even type up a simple billboard, we're behind on the Silverio Gospel, and here you are asking me if there's a problem!"

"Relax, kid," the guard reassured, "Just asking." She ran the ID through the scanner, and the barriers came down. She returned the ID to Rebecca, "Here. Don't do anything explosive, you hear me?"

"I know, I know!" Rebecca swiped the ID from her hands and drove into the garage. She maneuvered past the multitude of cars, driving to the top, focusing all her concentration on not ramming into anything. When she finally made it to the top, she parked and slammed her head on the wheel.

"Ugh, how do they do it?!" Oh, yeah. That wasn't Rebecca, "It's hard enough to wear all this...tight clothing, but the car?! Really?! Why do we need cars?! She drove five minutes at snail speed!" She-HE...he...grabbed the ID and everything else and got out quick.

And tripped. "OW! Dammit...Madoka doesn't wear high heels..." He quickly re-steadied himself and walked into work. He can't stay there long, however. He has to get in, survey the area, find out where they're keeping the Silver Gospel, convince them to let him come back that same night, and get out.

All without getting caught by Laura, who parked two spots behind him. She removed her helmet and eyed her ID. "Security Level 5, huh?" she said, "Well, I don't know what you're planning, but soon, everyone will find out." She walked in-

"Oof! Excuse me!"

"Wait, what is-"

"This way. Follow me."

"Hey, get off!"

"Just connect the transistor to the top of the core reactor-"

-and immediately lost whoever she was looking for.

Meanwhile, Sokoto (now disguised as Rebecca) made his way into a bathroom and scanned through the tablet and spiral.

"A WHOLE LOTTA F*** THIS!" he vehemently whispered.

If he's learned anything about going on the run, it's that whichever character he decides to go as, he has to be 100% invested in that character. Any knowledge he's supposed to know about that character, including what that character knows, is essential. The only problem is, MISS TALBOT KNOWS WAY TOO MUCH! She is well-endowed in the sciences, something that Sokoto cannot grasp for the life of him! And Miss Talbot is the head of Development at Shibuya Technologies, meaning that what's in Sokoto's hand was only the teeny-tiny tip of a galaxy-sized iceberg of knowledge that he has less than a minute to delve himself into.

"How am I supposed to figure this out...EVER?!" he hissed, "These smart people and their weird hand-drawn pagan symbols and...weird...wordy language-"

"Hey, Becca!" someone yelled, "What's taking so long?!"

"Uh," Sokoto stammered, "Gimme a few seconds!"

"We don't have a few seconds!" she responded, "You're the new Head of Development now! Get out here and show yourself!"

At that instant, Sokoto slammed the door open, "Well, excuse me for not knowing what the hell I'm getting myself into!"

"I was just about to show you," she said.

"Fine. Show me," Sokoto(Rebecca) demanded, "without banging your fist onto every wall you see."

"Well, then," the woman said, "This way."

She led him down a giant corridor, with windows peering into every single meeting room, staring back at her with a weird look. All he did was smile and wave back. She bumped into her guide, who showed her ID to the guard and was allowed entrance into the main lab.

"So, is this your first time here?" the guard said to him.

"Yeah," he responded, "I just got transferred, that's all. They want me to get started on dismantling and rebuilding the Silverio Gospel." Then, he flipped through his tablet, "but what the heck is all this?! This isn't at all what it was originally!" (It's not. They want to revamp it, asswipe.)

"Well, don't let me get in your way," the guard said as she took the ID and scanned it, allowing the door to open. She gave it back to him as he stepped through.

"What th-" was all he could say. The lab itself was a technological marvel. LED touchscreens, projectors, manipulated 3d holograms, scientists and engineers speaking scientific gibberish, the works! They were actually building things, changing things, creating blueprints, anything you can think of! It was a living, breathing warehouse of life.

But he didn't have time to take in the beauty, because someone shoved him over.

"Oh, sorry!" that person said.

Sokoto(Rebecca) looked back, then immediately looked ahead. He curled his folder to his chest and ducked and ran. He dodged everyone that was in his way, trying not to trip over the wires and metal parts. Once he made it to his station, he slammed everything on the table and sighed.

"What's wrong with you, Rebecca?" a worker asked, "You look exhausted."

Sokoto(Rebecca) snapped his head at the very tall woman and said, "I am exhausted. I just got dumped with a crap-load of info that I have to dissect in, what? Three days?"

The worker took his spiral and skimmed through the notes and diagrams, "Yeah...this is a lot of stuff," she commented.

"I wonder if I'm gonna have any help..." Sokoto(Rebecca) said, rubbing his head without messing up his disguised hair.

"Why the headphones?" she asked, noting that he had his ears covered the whole time.

"I need them to concentrate now more than ever," Sokoto(Rebecca) sheepishly answered, because he couldn't tell them that the ear-covers block his aura sense.

"Well, luckily, you're gonna be working with the Gospel team," the worker explained, "We have partners from Israel, America, and Germany to work together and revamp the Gospel."

Sokoto(Rebecca) took her hand and said with eerily curious eyes, "Where? Is? My? Saving grace?"

The worker pointed to a much safer path to a crowded table. Once he made eye contact with his supposed partners, he instantly felt a chill. He cautiously walked over to the table and set his stuff down, "Ok, so what's our first step?"

Everyone laughed. "Really?" the older scientist said, "You waltz in this field late for work, and that's the first thing you ask?"

"Hey," Sokoto(Rebecca) snapped back, "I'm here, ain't I?"

"You think you're gonna take charge of us, kid?" a woman glared, "What makes you think you can order us around, pipsquea-" Right when she was about to jam her finger into his chest, he yanked it towards his armpit and toppled her. He caught her forehead and made her blood chill with just his voice,

"Because I got classified info right here. I got the blue prints. I got the smarts. Hell, I've even used a couple is IS units myself. I got all the kinks wired into my brain. I've dissected and reassembled those Ignition Boosters, Plasma Shields, cores, pure energy circuits. I made a left arm I can use to punch you into the afterlife. You squawk on my tardiness. You make fun of my stature. You drag me into an international mess. You threaten my career on the first day. Tell me why I shouldn't tear your badge in half. RIGHT. FRIGGIN'. NOW."

He was bluffing, but they couldn't tell he was bluffing, because they only knew about "Rebecca Talbot" from her credentials. They came in with a plan to humiliate her and take credit for themselves. They never expected her to come in with a safe lock. They thought about ganging up on her after that exchange, but they saw her(HIM!) reach for a pen hidden in her blouse.

"I am very welcome to work with all of you to revamp the Silver Gospel," Sokoto(Rebecca) declared, "but step one foot into a scandal, and I'll be standing by your bed every night!"

"Easy, kid," the woman who was still in Sokoto(Rebecca)'s grasp tried to calm her down, "We were just joking. All in fair games, is all."

"Prove it!" Sokoto(Rebecca) demanded, "What is our first step?"

The collaborating scientists quickly skimmed their tablets until someone spoke up, "It's just a preliminary blueprint! We have to design schematics for the final draft!"

"That's all?" Sokoto(Rebecca) released his grip on his captive and turned her around to face him, "Split this table in half. Your team works with engineers to design a new model. Make sure the components are a quarter of the original Gospel's weight. My team will salvage any working parts and remove anything damaged." He then quickly pointed to three other women, "You, and you! With me, now!" He grabbed his folder and made way for the assembly area, while the other three had no choice but to follow. The others just stood there, flabbergasted.

"What did she drink?" someone asked.

"I have no idea," someone answered, "Probably renegade piss?"

"Ugh, don't even start with that!" someone grabbed their tools and went to another station.

"What the hell's gotten up your ass?" a builder asked while walking down with Sokoto(Rebecca).

Sokoto(Rebecca) thought for a second, how would she respond? Then, he thought about the hatred he came across when he ventured through the city and simply said, "The male fail, that's what. And I'd like to get it out of my ass as soon as possible."

"*SNICKER* Did you just-" she tried to contain her laughter, but lost it when Sokoto(Rebecca) realized what he just said.

"Will you two knock it off?!" the third woman said, "Do you even have any idea what we're looking for, Rebecca?"

"Of course!" Sokoto(Rebecca) said while rummaging through the notes on his tablet, "Not sure we'll find it though because these components are all considered prehistoric now. It'll be hard to jack up its performance without giving off some after effe-" He bumped into something, and then she bumped into him, and then she bumped into her. They all looked up.

There it was, the Silverio Gospel. Standing to attention, fully powered down. Wings damaged, wires running through the body, armor pieces removed. Its arms were hung at shoulder height, and its torso was held up by a ground connector. It almost looked like it was a fallen angel reduced to a mere prisoner of an eternal war.

Just outside the room, Laura was walking down a hall with two scientists when they happened upon a window that allowed them to view the Silver Gospel.

"So, this is the second phase of Project Evolution?" Laura asked.

"Yes, ma'am," the scientist responded, "We have a joint team working on the initial schematics of the Gospel's remodeling."

"Needs more than a remodel," Laura commented before spotting the blonde man-woman she was tailing, "Who's that?"

"That's Rebecca Talbot," a woman said, "She's come from Florida, USA to lend us a helping hand."

"I see," Laura said as she eyed the renegade intensely. She saw him rub his hands across the Gospel's shinguard.

"Aw, man..." Sokoto(Rebecca) softly said, "what did they do to you...?"

"It went rouge," someone said, "and the Representative Candidates were forced to shoot it down."

"Rouge..." Sokoto(Rebecca) repeated before blurting out, "So, it grew a conscience?!"

"Most likely," the woman rubbed his head, burning out the ridiculousness of her statement, "Its AI might be too advanced for us to decipher."

"Leave the core alone," Sokoto(Rebecca) said, "We'll start with its battle systems and work our way through its armaments."

"Right," the woman said as she went back to prep the station for a complete recovery-analysis assignment. Sokoto(Rebecca) reached his hand up to grab one of the Gospel's fingers.

"Don't worry," he whispered, "I'll get you out of there. I promise." And with that, he went back to "work."

Laura narrowed her eyes in confusion. She could make out every word he said. Why did he say that? There's no reason for him to say that. ISs are just machines, aren't they? What was going on inside the renegade's head? It's nothing like the news reports said; even though he's only seen it for a few minutes, he genuinely cared for this IS!

She closed her eyes and let out a huge breath. "Ok," she turned back to the scientists, "I am ready to help in any way I can."

"Great," one of them responded, "Follow me, and we'll get you set up."

During lunch break, Sokoto(Rebecca) slumped on her table.

"Awwwwwww...how does she do it...?" he whined as he reminisced on his four hours of hell. He thought they were just taking it apart. But, nope! He found out that they were making brand new parts, and decided to just shove him and his team the job of remaking the parts that didn't work. It was only thanks to those headphones that he was able to drown out the auras and focus completely on his "work!" He kept flipping back to his tablet and spiral for help, but he could not make out the scribbles and numbers and just trashed the spiral altogether! The tablet was helpful because it showed where the wires and conductors were connected, but he chose to wing it because half of the diagrams were incomplete. He had too much fun experimenting with new pathways, so much fun that his team ended up restoring the state of the Silver Gospel within the first hour. And it was only thanks to the help of his two teammates that he was able to understand any of the scientific jargon that spewed out of their mouths. With that newfound help, and his recovered spiral now stained with erase marks, within two hours they were able to increase energy output and reduce waste by more than what they planned!

That, coupled with Sokoto(Rebecca)'s no-nonsense go-getter attitude, caught the attention of everyone in the room, and by lunch time, Project Evolution was halfway through Phase 2, an entire day ahead of schedule.

But, as usual, Sokoto(Rebecca) was incapacitated.

"Need...energy..." he mumbled, when a very familiar face plopped two trays in front of him.

"Why don't you try this?" Laura handed him a cup of coffee, hoping to sober him up so she can get some info out of him.

"Eh..." Sokoto(Rebecca) threw his hand on the cup and dragged it into his mouth. Then, he gulped down the entire 20-oz cup!

Laura couldn't believe what she's seeing, "Uh..."

Is the renegade really all that dangerous? For all she knows-

"WOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOO!" There is a thing more dangerous than malicious intent after all!

Sokoto(Rebecca) zipped out of the room, ran two laps around the maintenance area, five laps around the break room, and back to his seat.

"Holy macadamia breaker breaker forty niner!" he shouted, "Whatever's in this thing, it's working wonders!" he bobbed his head in and out of the cup and to Laura's lap and back to th-

"Hey! Settle down!" Laura grabbed his head and slammed it to the table, trying to restrain him. All that did was make the rest of his body wag like a tail.

"What? What's your problem?" he screamed, "I'm fine! I got the buzz! I can keep going!"

Laura grabbed a spring roll in desperation and stuffed it in his mouth, "It won't work without food!" She grabbed his jaw and made him slowly chew and then swallow, "Hah...are you okay now?"

"What?" he said, "What's okay?"

"Well, I was just saying," Laura pointed to her second tray of food, "That you won't be able to maintain the buzz if you don-"

"Oh, that's why you got two trays!" Sokoto(Rebecca) cut her off, "Well, don't mind if I do!" and chowed down.

"Wait, that's-" she watched him devour an entire tray of spring rolls, and then go back for another cup of coffee, and two trays worth of southern oriental classics, "Uhhhhh..."

He noticed her frightened look, "What? I need the energy! All that brain power can do a number on you if you're not prepared!"

"Ok, but that's not a good-" she tried to stop him from stuffing himself.

"And I sure as hell wasn't prepared!" he muffled through a full mouth, "I'mma need the whole night just to comprehend this nonsense! Whatever nonsense you call nonsense..."

A pure heart fueled by an unwavering spirit. Of all the types of enemies to come across, why that type? That would mean that your enemy truly doesn't know any better, that nobody bothered to teach him about the decencies of human life...or the detriments, depending on your point of view. Laura saw straight through his charade. He really does feel something for the Gospel. And yet she cannot let it slide, simply because of what he did to get this far.

She breathed and said, "If you want, I can arrange for you to spend the night here."

"Really?" Sokoto(Rebecca) stared with eyes wide open, and mouth dripping with coffee and carrots, "You can?"

"Yes," she leaned in and held up her ID, "I may only have Level 5 clearance, but I do have the authority to make special requests."

He forced his latest bite down with a giant gulp of coffee and sighed, "Good. It'll give me time to comprehend what the hell's in this thing and why they want it so bad." He tapped his tablet and projected a model of the core of the Silverio Gospel, one third of it dissected into minerals, metals, and different types of photon energies, "They keep talking about the core, but I can't even decipher a snippet of what's in it..."

"Hahh...what am I doing...?" Laura threw her guard out and explained to him what she knows about the core, which wasn't much, but it gave him a solid foundation of how to carry on the last four hours of work time and make sure he didn't fold himself over.

An hour after lunch, Sokoto(Rebecca)'s team had the parts revamped and installed. Laura was given permission to work with the building team and had them install and reconfigure the Gospel to make it competitive with the 6th generation. It was to be marketed as the forerunner in Pure Energy Efficiency (Sokoto(Rebecca) was still on coffee buzz shut up). The scientists who worked with Sokoto(Rebecca) were forced to recognize his brilliance. And by day's end, Project Evolution had completed Phase Two, two days ahead of schedule.

"Oh, man! Do I feel good!" Sokoto(Rebecca) stretched, "I didn't think that my butt would feel that much!"

"Well, good for you," his teammate said, "Now we can finally rest up and start getting some respect around here."

"Not for me," he responded, "I'm taking the night to finalize some schematics." He stuffed his tablet in his bag before realizing something. He went over to the computer and sent a file to the company-wide network.

"Um, why'd you give every single department the data on the Gospel?" she questioned.

"In case something went wrong and the renegade went ape-s*** and smashed the place," he said, "This way, everyone will get the reminder to save everything."

"Ooh, smart thinking!" the worker complemented.

"I know," he said as he left the lab and went to the exit. He removed his headphones and scratched his ears, "Finally! I can get some rest...and crap up for tonight. I didn't crap out all that crap load of crap for cr-" As soon as he touched the exit door, he sensed harsh auras outside. They were malice...mischievousness...did they discover the dead body? Couldn't be, because they would've emitted fear and confusion. He put his headphones on halfway and kept tapping them, trying to discern their identities. He felt that same chill from when he first laid eyes on his teammates. Everything was made clear. There was a scandal to discredit Rebecca Talbot because she made some miracle in the tech world, and the Japanese would not have an outsider upstage them.

He grinned an evil grin-

"What are you doing?" Laura jump scared him with her voice, "Why are you just standing there?"

He was shocked for a second. Mostly because of the sudden sneak attack, but also because he couldn't sense her aura for some reason, "WHAT IS WITH YOU?!"

"I asked you first," Laura leaned back on the wall and watched Sokoto(Rebecca) bring his ear against the door.

"It's just that I can feel something evil coming from the outside," he whispered, "I just know someone's trying to dice me up because of my brains."

"Come now," Laura strutted towards the door, "Surely you can't be this frightened of a few co-" As soon as she opened the door, she was met by a slap across the cheek. She immediately retaliated and beat the ever living crap out of the would-be killers.

"Ok, ok, you've made your point!" Sokoto(Rebecca) grabber her and pulled her away, "Can you not for just a minute?!"

"LET ME AT 'EM! LET ME AT 'EM" Laura shrieked, "I'LL GIVE THEM A TASTE OF WHAT I'LL DO TO THE RENEGADE'S SCRAWNY-" She stopped. It was the people Sokoto(Rebecca) worked with. Why would they be out here?

"Why don't you go home and rest for the night?" Laura said.

"Ok," Sokoto(Rebecca) pipped, "Please don't kill anyone..." He got in his car and rolled away, trying to think of how to break the Silver Gospel out of its cold prison. He tried to formulate a plan to get in, pretend to get to work, incapacitate anyone who's alive, and...

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