System Reboot (Sequel to System Failure)

Chapter 7

Alesa's POV
"Are you sure he didn't say anything about this 'plan'?"

"Yes Jason, for the fiftieth time, he didn't say anything about the plan! Only that attacking the Glitch mainframe was the start of it and that the 'final stage' is coming soon."

Jason puffed out a breath and sat back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling for a few seconds before flicking his gaze to Ty. "And you're sure it was Bodil?"

"Does anyone else have a fashion sense bad enough to wear an orange tie and orange socks with a black suit?" Ty asked.

"Yup, sounds like Bodil," Jerome said.

Jin was sitting with his arms on his knees, watching the gathered group as Ty and I had explained our encounter with the virus the night before. Most of the Glitches had come. He had been silent for the entire time until now. "So basically, we've got at least two viruses on the run through the city, most likely working to bring down the mainframe from the outside, and there's some huge nefarious plan that they're working on that will destroy us if we don't know what it is and might destroy us even if we do what it is. Am I right?"

I nodded a little. "Yeah, that... sounds about right."

"So what are we going to do about it?" one of the glitches asked. She was a transfer from another city, with long black hair and tall boots, and her cloak was a lavender purple with a black stripe. "This virus attack isn't just going to damage your city, it's going to damage all of the others as well. We need to stop it here."

"I'll contact some of the Glitch bases in the neighbouring cities, see if they know anything about this," Jason said, glancing over his shoulder at his computer.

"If we could get a virus to talk about this plan, that'd be brilliant," Ian muttered. "Have we ever tried to capture a virus before? How hard could it be? Theoretically speaking?"

I glanced at Ty at the exact moment that he glanced at me, thinking the exact same thing. "Adam," I said.

"What about him, did you see him?" Mitch asked.

"No, look, we can solve two problems at once!" I explained quickly. "If we can find Adam, then we can find a way to change him back and he can tell us about the virus' plan! And maybe he'll know how to stop them."

"We might not find Adam again," Ross warned. "Cyberspace is a big place after all."

"But he is probably our best chance at the moment," Jason said, nodding to me. "Let's keep an eye out for him. Worst comes to worst, he slips away and we're back to square one and we'll just have to find a different virus. In the meantime, I'll see what the other Glitch bases know."

With our most recent problem more or less sorted for the moment, we headed out to work, which for Ty and I meant heading to the south part of the city to some minor businesses with a few leaks in their firewalls, as it were. There wasn't a lot to handle, but it seemed that some of the other teams weren't so lucky as Jason texted us shortly before lunch.

'Ross and Barney need help, MumboJumbo Toys, be quick'

Without a second to waste, Ty and I raced down the city streets, heading for the well-known toys franchise that took up a good section of the city block it was on. The automatic front doors slid open and no one glanced our way as we moved to the back of the shop, where a manager pointed us in the direction of the mainframe and we jumped into the digital world.

"Oh good, you're here!" Ross's voice said as soon as the coded walls and floors solidified around us. His cloak was slashed down the back but he seemed alright. "I was hoping someone would show up."