PANDORA'S CODE
Prologue
[A FATAL ERROR HAS OCCURRED]
Code; constantly being rewritten, constantly being remodelled.
Sentient, evolving and alive.
Before she could understand one stream of data, the language would change with a faint static almost as if it was taunting her. The symbols morphed from binary to alien hieroglyphics before sending back the error message.
Shinonono Tabane in frustration, slammed the wrench into the monitor repeatedly. Concentration was needed but it wasn't easy over the dull drumming of multiple heartbeats coming from the black core. The sound was sickening to her ears and she could feel each muscle fibre contract.
Tabane's own chest began to constrict in pain.
What had she created?
[A ##TA# E###R ##S ####RR#D]
[ERR#R]
[##ROR]
[E#RO#]
She knew already!
It was fucking up, badly.
Her observer program was overwritten, and now it was decoding her.
Tabane hastily forced a full cerebral reset. A shut down from heavy usage would cause permanent damage to her cognitive ability, but there was nothing else that she could do. It was only minutes away from taking over her brain. She closed her eyes, ready for her body to reboot.
But nothing happened.
She bit her lip before trying a secondary connection, but even that was corrupted. There was no escape now, the only way was forward. Slowly her neurone pathways collapsed, her nano-chips that she had implanted were overheating, and Tabane was sure that she could smell her own roasting flesh.
The two-way connection between man and machine could not exist, as genetically modified as she was it was still beyond her.
But, she couldn't stop.
The code realigned itself, her observer program absorbing the binary data from the sentient puzzle. Information fitted into place, errors were being overridden and smooth access was permitted.
The biggest hurdle was completed.
She had decoded the impossible.
And now all that was left was the download.
She breathed a sigh of relief, before the exhilaration of success fuelled her muscles. She had the answer that brought her closer to becoming a deity in the modern age, guarded by the most complex stream of data.
The Pandora's Code.
The very last gate, the final obstacle.
Godhood awaited the genius scientist Shinonono Tabane!
Static screeched in her ears followed by terrified humanoid screams, sounds of gruesome torture and robotic laughter. Tabane fell to one knee as she felt her own shoulder dislocate, but she had been in worse pain before. It was the next attack that almost threw her concentration, a blinding agony like someone had pressed a branding iron onto her stomach. Only the repeated lashings with her wrench retained her sanity.
It was becoming a war of attrition.
[# ##### ##### ### ########]
[#####]
Did she do it?
Tabane continued to smash the monitor into pieces, shrapnel slicing onto her face as she chuckled manically to the sound of mechanical drumming.
This was the truth!
Data entered her brain, filling her internal systems with such speed that she could not process it. A cascade of '0's and 1's' followed by an alien language. It was only when another nano-chip exploded that she realised-
-The Infinite Stratos was trying to rewrite her!
Using every ounce of willpower, she compressed what uncorrupted data she had left into her backup files. The speed of the attack left every second precious, there was no time to hesitate.
[Deletion]
And she had won.
But at the same time, she knew that she had lost something important.
Tabane did not know what, but she had deleted it.
Her laboratory was lying in ruins. All that she could hear was her hollow laughter and the faint sound of drumming. She didn't know what it was, but most likely it was a side effect from forcefully attacking the Pandora's Code. A sudden rush of adrenaline and excitement surged through her body as she assimilated everything.
"So that was the answer? Oh my god, this is the Infinite Stratos?"
…
"That's hilarious!"
Tabane jumped into the mountain of shrapnel, her arms and face spraying blood as the jagged pieces cut into her.
But she ignored the pain.
Rather she revelled in it.
"You did it Shinonono Tabane! Now you're the ruler of this world. But…
I need more data. I need more data. I need more data."
…
…
…
Something was wrong
…
…
…
"Data, data, data, data-"
…
…
…
Stop it
…
…
…
"Complete. Rerouting pathways. Moving documented files back to primary access route. Complete. Rebooting secondary rela-"
This is not me
"-pse functions. Complete. Assimilation of Data Source.
Her eyes were drawn towards a group picture taken only weeks before.
Chi-chan, Ikkun and Houki-chan.
And of course her as well on the far corner.
My beautiful subjects…
Her mouth moved on its own accord, unlike the stream of subconscious code this was a sentient being. Tabane could feel her mind slipping and she desperately tried to fight the rewrite.
Hel…
Complete
Shinonono Tabane – Bad End