Author's Note: For the true ending of the story, see chapters 28-31. To be notified of the next update, please follow and favorite, and maybe leave a review if you're feeling generous ;).
"Markowski!" Calhoun yelled as she entered the waiting area of Hero's Duty. He and Spears were eagerly talking about their day and how glad they were that it was finally behind them.
Markowski turned to Calhoun with a smile on his face just as he was met with the side of her helmet which she had swung at him faster than he could react to. Ouch! "S-sarge!" he said pleadingly as he held his hands out defensively. I somehow know exactly what this is about..
"Come with me!" Calhoun said firmly as she practically dragged him to his feet by the collar of his armor and pulled him off to the empty barracks. You've got a hell of a lot of explaining to do.
Spears cringed. I can only imagine what that's about. "Don't laugh guys, he saved our butts.." he said firmly. How would you feel?
After the door closed behind them, Calhoun yelled, "What the hell were you thinking, huh?! What were you planning on doing with that code before you found out that someone had been hijacking our game? You've got a lot of nerve, playing it off like you were being some kind of hero from the start!" Did you think I wouldn't find out?!
"S-sarge! Let me explain!" Markowski said pleadingly, "I just didn't want to be a burden to you guys anymore. Every day it's the same thing, I-I made it to what, level 18 at best before?" What kind of life is that?
"And you think that excuses it?!" Calhoun asked angrily as she gestured with her hands and paced, "Do you not realize that even one single change to our game could get it unplugged?! What is the second rule of Hero's Duty, soldier?!" Stick to the program! I know it's tough, but if that was your role you should just accept it and move on like the rest of us!
"S-stick to the program," Markowski said guiltily as he sat down on one of the hard beds, "I'm sorry, Sarge.. I had that code for months before even using it, but I just knew something wasn't right. I had to be more than just some joke character who pisses his pants at the mere sign of a Cy-bug.."
Calhoun sighed deeply and clenched her fists at her sides. "Fortunately for all of us, you were right," she said softly after a moment, "Did you fix yourself? Or did you make yourself better than you originally were?" If it weren't for what he did, Felix would be under Set's control by now. Jet wouldn't have been able to take over Sugar Rush 2 in the first place though, thankfully..
"I only put myself back to normal," Markowski said earnestly, "I don't need to be top dog.. I just wanted to be good enough to not hold you guys back.." That's all I ever wanted..
"Good man.." Calhoun said softly with another sigh as she put her palm against her forehead, "You did good, all things considered. But next time, come to me with those kinds of concerns, alright?"
"Yes ma'am," Markowski said firmly while straightening his back. I won't let you down again, Sarge..
"Now I'm going check the codes one last time to see if there are any other surprises that Set left behind," Calhoun said firmly as she walked out of the room. I doubt that's all he did in there. He had to have set something up should he get caught before putting his plans into action..
Calhoun went down a long hallway on the side of the Armory to the Shuttle Bay. Once there she took a shuttle to the town and made her way to the code room inside the church. Still a bit of time before the arcade opens.. Alright, so where do I start? Markowski went through our character files already, so I don't have to check there. 'Chan gelog' has to be 'change log'. I didn't have the heart to correct him earlier.
For about a half hour Calhoun randomly checked any file in sight, simply looking for the 'changelogs' that only seemed to appear on files changed from within the game. There has to be a better way.. What's this one? 'Help'? I could use help.. She gingerly tapped on it twice, half expecting it to be something Set left behind to mock her.
An almost cartoonish baby Cy-bug with big googly eyes popped up nearby and cheerfully said, "Hi, I am Buggy, your coding assistant. It looks like you're having trouble. Would you like help?"
Calhoun was halfway to reaching for her gun before realizing it talked. She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms then said, "Yes.." I'll take all the help I can get..
"Please specify," Buggy said cheerfully.
"Show me a list of all changes made to all files since this console was plugged in," Calhoun said firmly. If you can.
"Please specify," Buggy said cheerfully.
Calhoun scratched her head in annoyance. What the hell is wrong with this thing? I just told it what I wanted.. Should I say it differently? "What changes have been made to files since this console was plugged in?" she asked slowly and as clearly as possible.
"It looks like you're trying to find a list of changes made since this console was plugged in, would you like help?" Buggy asked cheerfully.
"Yes," Calhoun said while cocking a brow. They don't call it Buggy for nothing.. "Cy-bugs.." she uttered under her breath as she narrowed her eyes and opened the changelog for Cy-bugs that was generated near Buggy. I knew he had to have something else planned.. So he had them set to go haywire if he ever spent more than a few days outside the game..
"Undo changes to the file 'Cy-bugs'," Calhoun said hopefully. Can you do that on your own?
"It looks like you want to revert 'Cy-bugs' back to factory settings, would you like help?" Buggy asked cheerfully.
"Do it yourself," Calhoun said in an annoyed tone. I'm getting tired of this thing. I could have done it myself, probably..
"Please wait while 'Cy-bugs' is reverted to factory settings," Buggy said cheerfully.
Calhoun nodded. Okay.. Stupid little Cy-bug thing. What the hell are you anyway? Pfft.. Coding assistant..
"Congratulations, 'Cy-bugs' has been reverted to factory settings," Buggy said cheerfully.
"Deactivate program Buggy," Calhoun said tiredly after checking through the other files. Or I'll shoot. These other files were already fixed by Markowski it seems.
"Would you like to turn off Buggy, your coding assistant?" Buggy asked cheerfully.
"Yes!" Calhoun screamed. Just do it already! She blew a bit of hair out of her face.
"This has been Buggy, your coding assistant. Activate 'Help' if you require assistance," Buggy said cheerfully before disappearing.
Calhoun sighed an exasperated sigh of relief and floated out of the code room, then rejoined her men back near the entrance of their game. I swear if I have to deal with that program when doing every little thing in that room I'll scream. I doubt this will be the last time I have to go in there..
Author's Note: Thanks again to everyone who took this journey with me! Stay tuned for the next bonus chapter!
The sequel to this story, 'The Honeyglow Surge', has well over 100 chapters now if you're itching to know what happens to the gang after this. It's a story about their day to day lives, and focuses more heavily on the romantic aspect of their relationships. It's not all about romance though. There is still a plot, of course, but it's not always about a character, game or the arcade itself being in danger. They get to relax and have fun more often than not.