Ethernet

Phase Eight: Part One

Phase Eight: Part One

The Ether transformed the area they were in into a dark abyss. Surrounding them were millions of numbers and foreign symbols like a vortex. Inside of each one, Kade could feel the souls of people consumed by the purgatory, drawn in by false hopes of serenity and peace and now tormented. They were building blocks for something far more sinister.

He was watching it happen. It was something spectacular and terrifying all at the same time. But his body did not perform a reaction. He felt outside of himself as the red took over everything. He was one unit with this thing now. It was not simply a virus or a code. It was a living thing surging through his veins like bacteria. Pieces of himself were connecting to the digital world. He was forming with it.

“You have to kill it. Otherwise you will never be able to come back to the real world.”

The words once given to him by a closest thing to a mentor the boy had ever met continued to echo through his brain. The Ether was growing and preparing to consume him. It needed him and if he would not cooperate it would do what it needed to in order to force him.

But it did have Zander. This was all he knew. This was all he needed to know.

“The problem with the mere mortal mind is its inability to reach out to the possibilities of that which is not simply there within their grasp. The worlds you have missed out on are astounding. You could be part of this, Kade. You could run the new world with me. You could be a king. They will no longer look down on you but fear you.”

There was only a small silence before his reply, “I will only ask you once more where my friends are.”

The Ether froze. There was suddenly a look of fear on its mutated features followed by that of almost anger. It tried to move forward, to near Kade in an attempt of intimidation but the blue waters it had once been standing in were turning purple, mixing with the red fog which seemed to be coming from Kade’s feet.

“What is this?” It asked, its voice now sounding like that of many in unison both low and angry.

“Tell me.”

The Ether tried to move again and began to freeze like a statue in its place as the waters turned into red stone and its legs and body began to as well.

“This is not possible!”

The blue symbols began to swirl rapidly. Kade held up his arm to block the winds which were now following. But no matter how hard it tried, The Ether could not budge. Red cracks began to spider web in the dark room around them as it started to crack down. The red was coming out of its eyes like a glowing blood.

“Your tricks will not work on me!”

“This is no trick, Ether.”

The unfamiliar voice caused both the Ether and Kade to turn and face a strange form which was cutting through the darkness towards them. It was not a man but an outline of one standing there, glowing in white.

“Who are you?” The Ether asked struggling in the red web it was now consumed in.

“I have been with you the whole time. Do you not recognize me?”

Kade looked down for a moment and thought back to the first time, the first real time, he had come in contact with the foreign world of the Ether.

“Unknown…”

The form turned to him and bowed. It them stood up straight again and allowed what would be its arms to fall to the side.

“Alright, enough toying around. The offer is no longer on the table. Your friends are going to die and it will start with your precious Zander. Listen to him suffer!”