IS Virus: Episode 2-9 -Diagnosis-

Part 1: Idiots Confront Danger

-QUINCY MUNICIPAL AIRPORT, GADSDEN COUNTY; 21:03, FIVE DAYS TO ELECTION-

"I see...do you have an approximate current location?"

"No, but I have a definite current location. He's in Atlanta, currently living it up with the locals."

"Understood. Let's meet up in three days."

"Good deal. Ta-ta, Xingjia!"

Xingjia hung up and left her car. She then went to a couple on-duty officers, "He's in Atlanta. My contact has reason to believe he'll enter the Florida Panhandle tomorrow morning. He will have company."

"You seem really committed to this," an officer commented, "You sure you don't want to move here instead?"

"The green card process would take too long," Xingjia answered, "The renegade will have slipped through our fingers before my appointment."

"Fair enough," the officer led them into the parking garage, "You'll have two of our helicopters assisting you in surveillance. I trust you don't need any foot soldiers holding you back."

"I cannot hold back..." Xingjia growled, "Not after how he robbed me of my country..."

"That's what I like to hear!" The officers got in their cruiser, "We'll be at the Route 27 entry point. You'll be stationed at Jennings in case the renegade gets deeper. 04:30 hours sharp." And they drove off.

Leaving Xingjia to ponder what course of action she should take after the renegade has been brought down. "Shall I wear your skin as a cape? Or strip your dignity from your rotting carcass one tendon at a time? Nothing but your suffering will make right the wrongs of the people."

The car left the airport, giving time for the officers to ponder their current course of action.

"He's got company..."

"What are the chances of that asshat actually succeeding?"

"If that pilot doesn't hold back, pretty goddamn low."

"Then, we set her up to take the fall for property damage?"

"You bet," the officers radioed to their colleagues instructions on how to proceed with both the renegade's, and the outcast's demise.

-PIEDMONT PARK, FULTON COUNTY; 21:03-

Meanwhile, Sokoto was confronting Sean, "I'm here to make a deal with you."

"What?!" Sean didn't believe him, "Why in God's holy name would I say yes to whatever is in your head?!"

At which point Sokoto unleashed his wings to intimidate the others, "One: you don't have much of a choice. And two: it could potentially benefit you."

"Right..." Sean laughed, "Like a fifty-something year old man would accept a deal from an immature teenage psychopath!"

"Oh, I'm not joking. This could benefit you..." Then Sokoto's eyes visibly turned their attention to Sean's ring finger, "...in more ways than one."

Sean covered his hands, "You wouldn't."

"Watch me," Sokoto slowly floated away...

...but stopped when Sean said, "Alright, fine!"

Sokoto touched back down, "Good. Let's talk news."

-21:10-

"You're kidding..." Sean muzzled through the footage the renegade has captured of the recon missions, including the supremely vague document that speaks of a hidden provision inside the Alaska Treaty, "You're not kidding..."

"No, I ain't," Sokoto walked behind him and fondled some of the electronic stuff, "So, word is out that you're leading the fight against fake news."

"Is that the only word about me?" Sean asked.

"The only word I care about," Sokoto eyed the rest of the people here, "See, l am actually on a rescue and recon mission."

"Oh, total BS!" One of the crew yelled, "Who could possibly want you to save them?!" A giant holographic picture suddenly popped up in front of the entire lot for all to see. They saw it come from Silvia.

"Charlotte Dunois," The life size sprite spoke, "We have reason to believe she's being held in the Florida Keys. I've traced on of the captors' recent calls to just off the southern tip of Florida."

"Am I seeing things?!" Someone whispered.

"Who is she?!" Sean demanded.

"She's my sister," Sokoto said, "She's also my IS." He then walked towards Sean, "She's also also...a skeptic. Says you're a media truther."

"It's true!" Silvia yelled.

"Nut on your laisle, spork!" Sokoto snapped.

Sean chuckled, "Ok... I see what this is...you need me to unearth this gigantic conspiracy that's happening right under our noses, right?"

"Indeed."

"Oh my goodness, for something I can do from home..."

"If that's what you want, I can always recruit you wife."

"Don't you even-" Instinctively, Sean swung a light stand at the renegade, but Sokoto right over it and landed a midair roundhouse-

"UGH-" Blocked by an elbow, forearms collided with each other's, "How...did you stop my shin..."

"Brown belt..." Sean panted, "Blend of Krav Maga, jujitsu, and kenpo..." But even in his age, he could tell that Sokoto's power and reflexes alone could overpower most of his martial arts colleagues, maybe his sensei. He separated them both, long enough to catch his breath, "Alright...I'll take you over to Florida...I'll help you get everything you need..." Then, he walked over to his side, "And after that, you're on your own. Don't go north again."

"Fair enough," Sokoto held his hand out, "After I get my goods and you get your ratings, we'll go our separate ways and never cross paths again. Deal?"

"Deal."

The two shook hands, showing everyone at the park the inherent level of commitment that will be rung out of them for who knows how long. They were all on the thread thanks to that, because now they were to assist the renegade to the best of their ability, or face death.

Silvia walked up to the crewmen from behind, "Hello!" She scared them witless, but continued to speak to ease them into the situation, "I am Silvia, AKA the Silver Streamline. I will be acting as your operator until the mission is complete. I will provide whatever logistical support I can draw out from any nearby resource. If you have any questions, feel free to ask."

"Uh..." no one knew how to respond, but they knew that they had to do something. They all called their contacts and told them that they had another assignment that required the weekend.

Because as soon as everyone knew what they were in for, Silvia announced that they would leave right away. The fight was on. After a brief meeting, Sokoto and Silvia laid out the game plan, which was little more than prepare to defend yourself and wing it just get to the keys. Everyone packed into the van and drove off to Florida. They all took turns navigating through Georgia, taking care not to wander into any routes suspected of police activity. And it wasn't long before they encountered their first obstacle.

-FLORIDA WELCOME SIGN, GADSDEN COUNTY; 04:24, FOUR DAYS TO ELECTION-

"This is crazy," Sean muttered to himself, "How are we supposed to pull this off without anyone getting suspicious?"

"Just follow our lead, and we'll get through this," Sokoto spoke from behind the driver's seat.

"Your lead's blowing shit up and leaving behind a trail of evidence."

"Ok, allow me to offer a compromise," Silvia stepped in to speak, then fizzled to Sokoto's collar and yanked him to the floor, "I'll lead the way, you be quiet, and Hannity's the safety guy! Are we square?!"

"Uh, sure..." they both whispered.

"And another thing, onii! You threatened to kill his wife! WHAT IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD WHY?!"

"What? I..." he stammered, "I just needed to-"

"This is exactly what I meant when I said give a moment to someone who screwed up so badly! But he NEVER SCREWED SHIT!"

"You called him a media truther!"

"But I never called him or his family meat!"

"Uh, excuse me?" One of the crew member-

"WHAT?!"

"Um..." the cameraman pointed to a tollway with two on duty officers.

"Uh, yeah, guys, stuff him in that screwed shit..." Sean gripped the wheel tightly while everyone else worked to hide the renegade as best they could.

Near the tollway, the officers saw the vehicle coming, and quickly radioed, "Hey, we got a van coming in at a very early hour."

"What is it?" the voice answered back.

"It's a utility van, looks like..." an officer on duty noted, "A Fox News van...with a very prominent face at the wheel."

"Does that ever happen?" Xingjia muttered before commanding, "Stop them for inspection."

The officers stood in front of the tollway and held out their hands. Sean saw the signal and slowed down.

"Oh boy," he muttered, "Stick to the plan...stick to the plan..." The van crawled to a halt as the officers came round the windows. One of then shone a flashlight right at his face.

"Mind telling me why you've driven your sorry rear end all the way out here?" she demanded.

"Got a copy of a letter saying I need to be here," Sean gave her the letter.

To which the officer closely inspected, then crumpled and stomped the letter flat, "What letter?"

"That's just a copy..."

The other officer banged on the rear doors, "Everybody out!"

The crew were forced out of the van. The officer inspected every corner she could go into, even the space for the spare tire. She really didn't want to go inside to spread out all the lighting junk, due to the undeniable fingerprints on them, but something told her that she has to. Silvia was able to peek under the shades and decided to make a little outbound call. She cloaked her signal and went straight to Sean's cellphone.

"The hell?..." Sean answered-

"Where the hell are you?!" A female voice boomed, "You were supposed to be here by now!"

"Wha-" Sean stammered before he recognized that voice, "Well, sorry, but I'm being held up by the tollway police!"

"Hey!" The officer snapped, "Off your phone now!"

"Who is that?" the caller asked.

"The police..." Sean muttered.

"Let me talk to them!" the caller demanded. Sean gave the phone to the officer.

"Hello, who is this?" the officer asked.

An out came a female voice, "I'm the woman who wants to know why you're keeping one of my lapdogs in a cage!"

"We're just performing a routine inspection," the officer assured, "We're almost finished with-"

"Routine?! Give me a break! You only did that since the coming of the Gen5 models!"

"Ma'am, we're going to have to bring you in for-"

"For, what? Being a man?! I have documentation of you arresting people crossing state borders for no reason other than false accusations, all made by women in uniform! I have documentation of you confiscating cameras and mics even though I SENT THOSE GUYS OUT THERE TO COVER THE PROTESTS! You wanna arrest him? Go ahead. But know this. If he is arrested, I will take legal action against you. Not the police department. You. And any of your border patrol friends you got with you."

The officer was stunned. She could not believe that a woman was going to vouch for someone like him. She didn't have a choice now, and the van was combed through very thoroughly. She certainly did not want to have a giant media conglomerate on her trail, much less this giant media conglomerate, especially when the person who sent him was...oh boy.

She gave Sean back the phone. "You can go in now," she growled. All the crew members went inside the van. Sean went back in the driver's seat and sighed. As soon as the van drove off, the officer radioed back to Xingjia.

"What happened?"

"We were forced to let him go," the officer said, "but there's something hidden in that pile of junk right behind the driver's seat. They're coming off routes 27 and 111."

"I suspect they're not the only ones. I've gotten no word of Chifuyu or the Schwarzer Hase at any airport."

"Understood," the officer hung up.

"What'd she say?" her partner asked.

"We may have unwanted company..."

Back in the van, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Especially Sokoto, who had to struggle his way out of the junk and the feet, "Whew...I didn't think that would go..."

"Me neither..." Sean said, "You have your IS friend to thank for that."

"Huh?" Sokoto swerved back to Silvia, "How'd you get his number?"

"Tee-hee!" Silvia chirped.

"Ok," one of the crew members said, "We got in. Now what?"

"Yeah, what are we supposed to do inside a giant white van with the world's biggest bluest logo?" Sean griped.

"Well..." Sokoto thought, "We could always have on the fly interviews and make an entire show outta that..."

"Uh, I'm not exactly known for that," Sean said, "That's someone else's specialty..."

"But what about a special episode?" a crew member mused, and everyone gave that a long thought.

"Maybe..." Sean said until he looked at the dashboard, "Dammit, we need gas."

"Uh-oh..." someone said.

"Anywhere that's nigh-abandoned?" Sokoto asked, closing his eyes to sense any places with only a few people.

"Huh..." Sean kept an eye out until he saw a gas station with only one car, "I think that's a good spot..." He pulled the van by a gas pump and inspected the store, "Ok, there's a man and a woman inside. Everybody get a bathroom break in, because once we leave we're not stopping for anything."

"Whew, looks like a sausage party's about to go down!" Silvia elicited a groan from everyone in the van.

"Please stay here, Sil..."

Sokoto walked out and stretched his legs. He then looked around for a bit, and quickly recognized this station as one of the worst spots to stop at. During his last visit a couple years ago, there was a massive show of force to penalize university football teams due to inherent gender discrimination. This gas station had a massive demonstration to ward off anyone want to visit Florida. Sokoto tried to step in and reason with them that the real fight was inside the schools, not here near the border. They shot back that he doesn't understand, and he asked them to help him understand. They responded by beating the ever loving crap out of him, without seeing the very few cellphones that recorded the whole beatdown. Since then, gender relations have deteriorated, thanks to a bunch of older women assaulting a little boy, and justifying it. No one has ever made mention of that incident.

"You're staring into oblivion, kid," Sean noted, "Anything you wanna tell me about this place?"

"Yeah..." Sokoto scratched his head, "I was involved in one of the protests here..."

"How?"

"I got every bone broke."

"No, way...you?! You're the person who was sent to the hospital?!"

"Yeah..."

"Huh..." Sean didn't believe him, "Well, let's see if anybody recognizes you. Go in there and ask for a full tank."

Until now, when Sokoto put on his disguise and walked into the store. He went up to the register, "$50 for number 3."

That was all he needed to say for one woman to recognize that voice. "What the hell are you doing here..."

"Just visiting a friend in Daytona..."

"Don't lie to me!" the woman threw a can of beer at him, which was caught, "Because of you, almost all of my friends got arrested!"

"Because of the massive beatdown a bunch of women gave a little boy..."

"A little boy?! You ain't got no right to understand this!"

"Is that what you told the police?" he asked, "Nothing's going to happen if you just keep everything to yourself."

"Except for the fact that there is now a resolution on the table to reconsider Title IX for sports scholarships, you dumb cunt," she said.

"Well, what did you expect?"

"For you to stay out of my way!"

Suddenly, Sean walked in and tapped Sokoto's shoulder, "What's taking so long? I'm already itching to-"

"No..." the woman recognized him from his TV show. Not his original show, he appeared on another network to break the story on incoming gender issues, before the Gen2 models came out. She switched parties because of him. And yet, here she was, witnessing a conversation between her most hated and one of her most well-liked, "It can't be..."

"Uh, do I know you?" Sean asked.

"No...you can't be with this...this...you're not taking him anywhere, are you?!"

"Taking him to Daytona," Sean quickly came up with an excuse, "He's a friend of my brother who's about to be checked out of the hospital today."

"No...no, you're not..." the woman muttered, "You...are leaving him to the hounds...and you're gonna walk away from him...no matter what!"

Sean groaned and stepped in front of the renegade, then crossed his arms, "Is that betrayal I sense in you?"

"No! Do you even know what he's done?!"

"And what price he's had to pay, nearly every bone longer than 5 inches broken. Yes, I know. I'm well aware."

"Then...then, why?!"

"You did hear me talk about how equality isn't exactly equal, right?"

She did remember. His monologues about a two-tiered justice system, the occasional gender inequality conversations...he knew what happened here. And based on what he heard a few seconds ago...

"And let me guess," Sean threw out a bluff, "You're going back to the Democrats right? Now that you know I'm associated with him, you're no longer a conservative, right?"

"Uh...uh..." Caught in an inescapable trap. There was nothing she could say that he can't counter, especially when he's known politics for way longer than she's been around.

"*SIGH* I was only joking; I didn't know that's actually gonna happen..." And he's officially had it, "Come on, little man. Let's get outta here before she starts haggling."

"Uh...ok..." Sokoto left, "Everyone, time to go!"

The rest of the crew followed him out and left. The woman just stood alone behind the register, deepening her anger at the fact (?) that she had been betrayed. She dialed a special number on her cellphone, "You were right. Men are a joke. I saw Hannity with that filthy little slime-ball. The just left the station."

"Understood," Xingjia said, "I wil intercept him before noon. Thank you for your contribution."

"Any time," the woman hung up, then slammed her phone on the table, "You'll pay for turning him over...I'll see to it." Then, she used her free time to tap into every social media account she had to warn Florida about the coming of the traitor.

Back in the van, everyone was reeling from that last interaction.

"How many of us think we'll get caught?" A crew member said.

"I think so," Silvia said, "which means we'll need to take an alternate route. Preferably one that isn't littered with police hiding spots."

"That's every road ever!" Sokoto said, "We gotta figure out where the police would be coming from, first!"

"How the hell did that woman recognize you, anyway?!" Sean asked, "I thought you had contacts on!"

"Can we not talk about this since we're all about to die?" Sokoto shouted.

"Hey, easy! We're gonna get through this!" Silvia calmed everyone down, "Let me pull up my radar and guide us outta here." She went back into the bracelet and pulled up a map of current police cars active. "Right!" The van made a brisk turn out of the highway and into a rural neighborhood. "Left!" A hard turn, and it just kept going. Silvia gave out directions to steer the van away from trouble, inching them ever closer to the entry point. Thankfully, the van didn't get caught and wander into areas being watched over by the authorities.

Unthankfully, it costed them a lot of stamina. They somehow wound up in a park.

-OLD BAINBRIDGE COUNTY PARK, LEON COUNTY; 09:36-

"Ugh...my head..." Sokoto crawled under the van.

"Is he always like this?" A cameraman asked.

"I guess so..." Sean muttered before kicking Sokoto's posterior, which elicited a response via another. This time, Sean was able to block it completely, "Would you stop doing that?!" He pushed his leg away and threw Sokoto against a trash can, "What are we even doing here?! Don't you have to go down to the Keys or whatever you have to do?!"

"I know, I know!" Sokoto said, "But just let me give my legs a chance to flex! They've been stiff since this morning..."

"Am I crazy? I gotta be going crazy. I can't take this..." Sean walked away in disbelief, ignoring all the weird looks he was attracting and going over to a water fountain to douse himself, trying to clear his head of all the double-slaps the renegade's personality changes have given him.

"You ok?"

"WHOA-GEEZ!" Sean was startled by Silvia's sudden appearance, "Oh, god, you..."

"Just wanted to check in, since you seem so...uncertain, I guess?"

"Yeah, you're right about that," Sean walked over and sat down on a bench, "Getting caught up with the renegade is one thing, but...when the renegade's an all-powerful pipsqueak..."

"Well, that's the thing..." Silvia said, "He's never had any real parents to show him how to act. Everything he does, he's learned from traveling the world."

"Ok...I've heard some richness before, but that is the wildest tale I've ever heard..."

"Well, how would it explain...that?" Silvia pointed to Sokoto slithering his way through a playground, slides and sides.

"Oh, good lord..."

"Yep, he is currently the world's most powerful happy-go-lucky dolt."

Sean just stared at the renegade for 30 seconds before sighing, "Yep, I've definitely lost it..." He casually walked over to the renegade, who was attracting a lot of negative attention for his little stunt. As soon as he got within reach however, he caught a stick that was about to thrash his neck, "Ok, will you stop it for one second?!" He pulled the renegade off.

"Whaaaaaat?! I was just enjoying myself!"

"Do you have any idea how much attention you're getting?!"

"Well, these women were trying to kick me out, so I just wiggled their-"

"That's not the goddamn point! Aren't you worried about police getting on your tail?!"

"Not really. I can always just fly past them."

"And the snipers and military people?" Sean turned to the presence of Army Reserve troops near the park entrance, "You know they're out for your blood, don't you? And they have friends with them?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Ok, here's what I'm trying to say," He knelt down with Sokoto, "You have an IS. We don't. I know you'll go after my family if I don't cooperate with you, but what happens if I die on your watch, huh? What then?"

Sokoto never had to think about that until now, "Well...huh...I've only been around other pilots and combat-capable people..."

"Kind of a different experience when you're literally the only one powerful enough to defend your lackeys, huh?"

"Did not plan for this...no, sirree..." Sokoto walked over to the van and sat.

Sean just threw his hands up in disbelief, "I do believe I am destined to die..."

While Silvia was going through everyone's gear, "Ok, I think we can work this into a large scale transmitter device..."

"Wouldn't that require us to stay behind in the mainland?" Someone said.

"No...we can get as far as the Boot Key if we just want the signal to go through. For the best connection between the mainland and onii-chan, we'll have to settle at the Lower Matecumbe Key."

"That's far and deep!" A writer said, "How are we supposed to drive all the way there in two and a half days?! Without getting caught, no less!"

"We'll just have to press our luck. Shake off any pursuers and nab a signal amp and some antennae..."

"You're joking, right...It took a month to get that van ready. How do we get it in two days?"

"Leave that to me. I'll test connections of whatever we nab..."

"What?" A cameraman said, "What's the matter?"

"Red blue purple..." Silvia muttered, right before shouting, "EVERYONE IN THE VAN!"

"What?" Sean turned his head towards a sudden soft siren sound, "Uh-oh..."

Sokoto felt an aural rash on his entire backside, and he immediately deployed.

"Uh...ok..." Sean muttered, "What are you doing..."

"In the van now!" Sokoto stepped forward, "I'm gonna get the cops away from you!"

"How are you planning on doing that?!" Sean ran back to the van and revved it up, "In case you haven't noticed, there's more than police out there!"

"I know! Just whatever way I blast, you guys go the other way!" Sokoto flew out to the entrance and blasted a huge laser southward.

"What the-is he crazy?!" Sean screamed as he and the crew scrambled to get out of the park.

"Not really!" Silvia said as she guided the van out, "He did the same thing with Phantom Task! All the attention's on him, as well as a huge chunk of authorities!"

"Well, what do we do?!" a crewmember demanded.

"Head left!" Sivlia screamed.

The van swerved through the narrow entry way, right behind Sokoto's intensified laser. Sokoto made sure to blast off every single thing that could hit the van until it was clear for it to leave the city, then turned to face the horde. He sighed as he saw the pilots that would inevitably become the butt of all his jokes, "You guys must really seem to like me."

"Shut your damn mouth!" one of those women screamed, "You will not squander over those poor women any longer!"

"What earrings did you plug up your ears to not hear about the compound raids?..."

"We didn't," another voice crawled through the air.

"Oh, I called it..." Sokoto got excited once he was able to confirm that floating aura above him.

"Long time no see, renegade," Xingjia growled.

"Not long enough," Sokoto got into his fighting stance and immediately triggered the Emergency Override.

"Oh, no. No no no no, you are not doing that here!" Xingjia demanded while everyone else prepped their weapons for battle.

"Why not? You're obviously not going after Hannity," EMERGENCY OVERRIDE. CONVERTING EXCESS EXCITEMENT INTO WING ENERGY, "Either you have little helpers, or you're really...really dumb," MAX FOUR MINUTES FIFTY-FIVE SECONDS.