Hehehehe...  Voids, you just won't be satisfied until i have to chase Mack through all of time and space to track her down and finally have that showdown, will ya?  Wait, no you are just giving me the oppertunity to be sadistic to my own characters.  (*Laugh*)  And for that i'm eternally grateful...

And i'll have you people know i interrupted attacking the second Mist generator to post this...  (*laugh*)  Though i was beginning to become frustraited at Noa's seeming inability to absorb the Aluru...  Everybody needs death spells...  Though that Kemaro dealy took Van Saryu to school...  (*Smirk*)  Earthquaking bastard...

Oh, and i'm going to apoligize in advance, but Orgel is going to be _way_ out of character.  He's almost going to be foreward thinking.  But then it wouldn't have worked otherwise, so i'll get used to writing him one of these days...

---

[  Scene:  the battle, actually people standing behind Mack's now turned back ]

(*Ahem*) (*waving arms*) Mack sweetheart, we're over here...

Mack:  Sweetheart? (*Eye twitches, then surprisingly, she supresses the rage*) Any other time i would rip your head off and spit down your neck for that, but as of now i'm going to have to give you a rain check on that one.  I've got places to go, and Ningai to free!  (*Spins on one heel, raising a leg as if stepping through a doorway*)

Xelloss:  Oh no you don't!  (*Waves staff, an in a sudden  moment of freeze-frame, there is a chromatic burst of light.  As the light fades, there Colors are standing around Xelloss in their un-sealed forms...  they each raise their hands in unison, and shafts of near-liquid light pour forth from their raised appendiges...  each strikes Mack from a different angle slamming her around and against the wall behind her more than once.  As soon as each has landed their blast, they become spheres again in a brilliant burst of white light.*)

Mack:  (*Pant*)  Good...  (*Gasp*)  job...  (*Choke*)  Priest...  (*Cough*)  I will...  (*hack*) enjoy... (*gasp*)  eating your...  (*choke*) soul...

Orgel:  Take those keys to the Labyrinth...  i get to play with these annoying people...

Mack:  You get...  (*pant*)  All the fun...  (*hack*)...  Orgel...  (*Vanishes with no fanfare of excess jesture*)

Damnation!!  I was all set to beat the hell out of that woman and redeem my dignity, but nooooo...  you had to show up, Clown boy!  No even breaks for Shinobi, no siree!

Lyric:  Errr... boss...  you seem a little steamed...

Just maybe i am!  And just maybe the perfect thing to get out my agression is one of those clown shaped punching bags!  (*Draws green glowing sword*)

Orgel:  (*Incredibly broad grin*)  Now this promices to be fun...

Xelloss, you charge those things back up, and hit this bastard if he needs a trounching.  For now i want to see if i can pound on him a bit...  Oh, and Voodoo?

Voodoo:  Yup?

See if you can wake up Emilio, he may be of assistance in atleast taking this joker down a notch...

Orgel:  (*Laugh*)  Think so, do you?

I would say yes...  (*Assumes fighting stance*)  Bring it on, clown...

---

Mack: (*Big anime bump on head*) You didn't have to hit me so hard...

Xelloss:  Frankly that's the only setting these things have (*Gestures to the orbs orbiting his head*)

Mack:  Atleast i get to eat your soul later...  (*Ties on bib that features a SD pic of Xelloss*)

Xelloss:  ^_^; I'm told i taste like chicken...

---

 

Yes, an extremely short one.  The main battle will happen later.  Its just that Void's post got me to thinking about this little development.  And i've hit some VoH sites, so i know a wee bit more than nothing about the series.  Quick question though, anybody seen the TV series or the movie.  I could buy either (my lack of japanese knowledge kinda precludes me from hitting the manga, unless you happen to know where i could find 'em in english...) and though i'm trying to avoid fansubbers, anything to advance my posting knowlege.  (Basically, which would be the route to take, closemess to the Manga-wise)  I would make up something to stall the Whistle/Lute battle, but i've got no idea even who Whistle _is_, so i can't even play with that...  (*Smirk*)

Anyway, back to the generator, and absorbing that Mushura thinger...

Don't worry about the tower thing, Hugh.  I'll try to work out some sort of continuity fix.  But first, to screw with Mack's head a little...

---

[Quick Authoress' note: This is a Dream Sequence.  In other words, it has no impact to the continuity.]

(Hell.  Unlike what most people with think, it's not a place of fire and brimstone.  It looks a heck of a lot like the real world, except most of the scenery is that of a war zone.  Every moment of their eternal existence the souls of the dead replay the same game: "King of the Hill".  Without morals, laws, or a conscience, this game quickly degenerates into another more commonly known as "Survival of the Fittest".  There is no advantage to being the winner, and yet all of the souls battle day in and day out as if their lives depended on it--which, of course, it doesn't.  Anyway, let's move on...)

Mack: About time!

(Mack is currently in another region of hell known as the Labyrinth.  After many hardships--of which I will not write about since this is only a Dream Sequence--Mack has made it to the center, where Vocal has been imprisoned.)

Mack: And now...the final Key!

(Mack inserts the Hapax Legomenon into the slot, and the barrier around Vocal dissolves with little fanfare.)

At last I'm free! Now to get my revenge on Chatty!

Mack (facefaulting): YOU?!?

(Instead of Vocal, the figure that emerges from within is one Cute Warner Sister.)

*fluttering eyelashes* Who were you expecting, the President? *looks at herself* Oh, this? I was so excited about being let out I forgot to use a form you're more familiar with. *snaps a finger, shifts to whatever Vocal looks like* That better?

Mack (shocked): Y-you even have Vocal-sama's energy signature! That's not possible! You can't be--

*feigning hurt* Why not? Don't you know that a White pattern can mimic all other patterns?

Mack (shocked): B-but you were--

*interrupting* --in the City already? *smirking* Are you sure that was me and not a very convincing shadow program? And since when were RLs not allowed to exist in multiple places at once?

(Mack opens his mouth and closes it repeatedly like a goldfish.)

*giggles* You shouldn't be surprised.  What other reason would Chatty have to put such an elaborate restraining device when it would have been so much easier to kill her enemy? *smirks* Because she _couldn't_ kill a fellow RL, only reduce their powers.  It was very annoying to operate on only a fraction of what I could do before, but apparently that was enough to trick you into doing my work for me.

Mack (thinking): My God, if she calls what she did before a fraction of her full power, then...

*smirks even wider* You've really gotten in over your head this time, Mack.  But don't worry, you don't have to watch me exercise my skills over your friends. *begins to glow* Now that you've outlived your usefullness, I'lll use you as my first practice dummy.

(Mack screams as her own attack is used against her.)

[The Dream Sequence has ended.  Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.]

Mack (waking up): IYAAAAAAAAAAAA! (looks around) I'm still at the entrance to Hell? That was merely a dream...?

---

Think this is mean? Just wait until you see what I'm gonna do next. *rubs hands in glee*

Oh, and here're some quick descriptions of the colors:

Red
Gender: Female
Hair: Straight and black, down to waist
Clothing: Red karate gi
Weapon: Barehanded

Orange
Gender: Female
Hair: Slightly wavy and black, down past knees
Clothing: Orange sorceress' outfit
Weapon: Wizard's Staff

Yellow
Gender: Male
Hair: Spiky and dark brown, very short
Clothing: Yellow full-body armor
Weapon: Huge Arse Sword

Green
Gender: Female
Hair: Curly and black, shoulder-length
Clothing: Green school uniform
Weapon: Crossbow

Blue
Gender: Female
Hair: Straight and black, cheek-length
Clothing: Blue plug suit
Weapon: Javelin

Purple
Gender: Female
Hair: Wavy and silver, just past shoulders
Clothing: Purple sleeveless dress (somewhat like Urd's outfit
Weapon: Whip

White
Gender: Female
Hair: Long and white, all the way to feet
Clothing: Pure white robes (like a Greek Goddess)
Weapon: Chakram (round boomerang)

Black
Gender: Male
Hair: Curly and black, very short
Clothing: Black leather jacket and black canvas jeans
Weapon: Battle Axe

Can you tell I've played way too much Secret of Mana? ^^;

Mack, a male name?  Heh.  I suppose you'll be telling me next that 'Elhaym' is a girl's name... :P

---

{scene: de civitate dei, a room}

{Master-sama sits, quietly, doing nothing and not moving.  Tweezer practices his double-sword attacks and blocks -- rather clumsily, since he doesn't seem to have had much experience.}

Tweezer:  Hyaaah!  YAH!  Take that!  AND THAT!  Pff pft!

{Master suddenly reaches out and grabs Tweezer by the wrist, putting an end to his practice.}

M-Tweezer:  ..........come in, Nueve.

{Nueve walks in with something of an awkward determination (ignore the oxymoron ^^;;).}

M-Tweezer:  Well?  What is it?

Nueve:  I, like... want to know what you're up to.  Like, now.

{Master-sama sighs.}

M-Tweezer:  Don't any of you bother to learn from past mistakes?

Nueve:  It's, like, not a mistake to be curious, dude.

M-Tweezer:  Go on, forget the guestion and stop rocking the boat.  It really isn't necessary to know.

Nueve:  No way.  I totally have to know where you're coming from.

M-Tweezer:  And why is this?

Nueve:  Well, like, you.... you said that this City was, like, totally under your protection and that was your job... but then you, like, called Mack your raison d'être..... and I, like, know what you meant by it.  I felt it when you, like, marionetted me.

M-Tweezer:  {turns}  Did you, now?

Nueve:  {ominously}  I've fought alongside Mack, man, and she does nowhere compare in any way to what slime I think you are.

M-Tweezer:  Ah.  So you think I'm like that.

Nueve:  Like... I know you're like that.

M-Tweezer:  Actually, no, you don't.  {turns away again}  Let me give you a little hint as to what I'm really like..... do have a seat.

{He sits on the ground.  Nueve awkwardly sits nearby.}

M-Tweezer:  Lately, I've been worrying about Dot Warner.  Yes, I worry.  Mack worries infrequently, so you could say I make up the inbalance.  In any event.... Warner.  What to say about Warner..... she's glorious.  She and her Law are Godsends, pure and simple.  The Law is just such an easy trump card to use... not even the Demiurge can throw it out, even if this "type B" universe is is suffering from this "type A" foreign implantation.  Warner has always held the real power, really, since she knows how to use the Law the best.  What matter does it make that the Demiurge has the Hapax Legomenon, and thus the power to ban and the power to delete?  What is going to prompt Her to do so except the all-powerful Law of Warner?

Nueve:  {warily}  What're you, like, saying?

M-Tweezer:  I am saying... that Warner has the Demiurge under her thumb.  She has the supreme power.  She comes the very closest to controlling the EGC.... the 'Basileos' that rules over the 'Demiourgos'.  Play by the Demiurge's rules, and you flounder, because there aren't any.  Defend Her in the face of difficulties, and you die a pointless martyr... possibly at the hands of a Warner plotline.  Ah, but play along with Warner, do what she wants...... you're safe from all harm, all scrutiny.  Learn to use her Law to your advantage, and you have more power than the gods.

Nueve:  ..........

M-Tweezer:  Insulting as it may sound, it is that way.  I know the Demiurge's emotions well.  In regards to the EGC of late.... she feels extremely helpless.  Cold, alone, hated and despised.  {wistfully}  I love that emotion, it gives me so much control...

Nueve:  ...control?

M-Tweezer:  More than jealousy, in any event.  That's the other one emotion that she has frequently, and that's what worries me.  When the Demiurge surrenders -- and she surrenders rather frequently, I've worked long on that -- she's out of the way.  She dies?  No big effort to twist the plot for to require a resurrection.  The Law crushes another hope?  No big.  But if she's feeling jealous.... ahh, that changes things quite a bit.  The Demiurge has come so very, very close to killing off this universe in a jealous rage.  And when she's jealous, she works hard to maintain her claw-grip on the EGC, as if saving it from the dumpster made it her own to coddle and spoonfeed.  In truth, if she had any sense she would hand it over to another RL, or at least make it a partnership Demiurge setup, but she doesn't 'trust' anyone that much.  Well, granted, she does think one active RL would fit the bill, but lack of communication happens to be the problem there...

Nueve:  Like... Dot?

M-Tweezer:  {mouth almost twitches into a smile}  Not Warner.  Her behavior, including her forceful institution and usage of the Law, has led the Demiurge to believe that she is a dangerous powersnatcher.... who also happens to be smarter, wittier, and more clever by half.  Which makes her feel very bad, because you should never call a friend a 'powersnatcher', particularly one who's so superior that she blows you into the dust in nearly every field.  So, that's more or less where I come in....

Nueve:  {realizing}  You're, like.... a Little White Lie.

M-Tweezer:  {suddenly very serious}  Don't call me a lie.

Nueve:  But, like, that's what you mean, don't you?  Like, something to help 'play by the rules' and smother over the Ugly Truth...

M-Tweezer:  No.  You will not associate me with the word 'lie', nor her with the word 'truth'....

Nueve:  Dude, I never said anything about a 'her'.

{A pause.}

M-Tweezer:  ..........you know...

Nueve:  {playing innocent, not doing a good job of it}  Who, me?

M-Tweezer:  {smiles, menacingly}  Well, how foolish of me.... hikikiki.... blabbering on to the smartest human being in EG City, thinking he wouldn't get it.  For once that 'speech defect' of yours worked to your advantage, Super-Genius.

Nueve:  ......... {stands quickly}

M-Tweezer:  No, no, you should be smart enough to know you're not getting away.  The Mashinue has always been more than a match for the Architects.  More than a match for Mack, and Mack killed the RL-Chatty at the very peak of her strength... before she was Demiurge, before she became so very.. weak...

Nueve:  ..........

M-Tweezer:  How did you find out?  Were you studying my behavior?  Or did you thoroughly examine the pre-Rebirth records?

Nueve:  .....I, like, took five minutes to look at the pattern recognition records.

M-Tweezer:  Patterns... I should've known....

Nueve:  RLs and their inserts, like, tend to have the same pattern.  In fact, pattern frequency is totally the best way of identifying an RL or an insert, and for matching them up.  It's like a mental DNA pattern, frequency is...

M-Tweezer:  ..........

Nueve:  When you, like, marionetted me, I remember some echo of, like, a comment about fields.  So I, like, checked out some of the records, and I came across one of the more gnarly mysteries of the EGC.

M-Tweezer:  ...and that would be?

Nueve:  All of the Chatty inserts have, like, Green Patterns.  All of the Miyus have, like, Green Patterns.  But the RL-Chatty totally doesn't have a Green Pattern at all...

{Master-sama raises the Replica Longinae.}

M-Tweezer:  Of course she doesn't, silly.  She's an RL.  RLs have White Patterns.  Isn't that right, Replica?

Replica:  Absolutely True, Master-Sama.

Nueve:  But dude, she does have another pattern, a preferential pattern!  They all do!  And--

M-Tweezer:  --and that is something which no one wants to hear.  Me, RL, insert, cameo.  That is a lie which belongs in Hell.

{A HellRift bursts open behind Nueve, sucks him in, and seals before he is even able to react.}

M-Tweezer:  Thank you, Replica.  You're a great amplification.

Replica:  It Is My Purpose To Do Well.

M-Tweezer: .......you know I'm really out to protect the City, don't you, Replica?

Replica:  {wryly}  Whatever Works, Master-Sama.

---

There are so many ways to misinterpret this, I can't even begin to start.  I'm almost ready to crawl to Atsuko begging for Allies and Reinforcements! ;_;

Agh, I knew it.  Mack, you've gone out of character...

Mack: Eh?

The majority of things amuse you.... NOT piss you off at the slightest touch.  Only a few specific things tick you off!

Mack: I've been having a bad week. ;P

Right, you weren't the one with the fever, delirium, and vomiting spells.

Mack: Ah, big deal... so you were sick and I spent most of my time in OOC loo... you can explain it away, cantcha? *grin*

My personal integrity has been violated! ;_;

Mack: Wha?

M-Tweezer: Never mind that, I'm just tinkering around...

Mack: Why you little--

M-Tweezer: Hey, I may be Thing That Ticks Mack Off #1, but I'm still the Good Guy...

Mack: 'Good Guy' my ASS! >_<

M-Tweezer: Well, Mack-chan, if I'm the 'Bad Guy', what does that make you?

Mack: .........

M-Tweezer: Hikikikiki.... XD

Furthermore... Mack, how come you're getting made into lunchmeat so easily, huh?

Mack: I don't know, I kicked YOUR rear rather easily..!

M-Tweezer: The problem is that she's a villain, and the RLs don't like her.  What villains RLs don't like, they lay the smack-down job upon.

*chokes, sputters, collapses*

M-Tweezer: Sorry, Demiurge... dead people can't die! Hikiki...

D..damn... incoherant, AND useless...

Mack: Mou! Don't take it so goddamned personally! ;P

Actually, chats, i'd dearly love to apoligize for that last post.  That's what we call Brooks posting after about 48 hours or so of constant awakeness, while playing Legend of Legaia, watching some Cowboy Bebop, and talking to the girlfriend.  Also, it was all stream of conciousness...  pretty much a placeholder.  Either tonight or tomorrow sometime i'm A.) retyping the whole thing and B.) finishing it off.  Its not a bad idea, but it is profoundly unfinished.  And my Mack/Orgel characterization well and truely sucks.  But i'm more than willing to admit it and try to make it ever so slightly better.  Oh, and i'll have an explaination as to why that Guardian thing whooped all ass on her.  Just gimme a minute to 'splain.

l8er on, y'all (*Smirk*).

Argh! I can't believe I called Mack a guy AGAIN! I keep getting her mixed up with a boss from Super Mario RPG! ^^;

And Chatty, I think you're giving me way too much credit.  I've been able to have such a big effect on EGC only because I'm stubborn as hell and don't mind abusing my powers to get what I want.

Adam (sarcastically): In a word, she's obsessive.

Bwahahaa.. Chatty-san is looking for some much needed help.

CORONA: Oh? And what do you propose to do, now?

Time to initiate plan B!

CORONA: What's plan B?

(*annoyed*) The one after plan A!!

CORONA: Ano.. and that would be...?

(*hopping mad*) WHAT?! You don't know plan B?

CORONA: Iie.  Please, enlighten me.

(*long pause*) Plan B is to come up with plan C.

(*A coolant valve explodes*)

What in God's name was that?!?!

CORONA: Gomen.  I was trying to sweatdrop.

Ma e...

I have to agree with Chatty.  It's just not COOL if the villain's not allowed to bring it to the point where the stakes are high and dangerous.  Otherwise, it'd be really boring, ne?

Exactly, Atsuko-chan! XD

And Dot, you may not realize it, but I've been carefully trained NOT TO FIGHT BACK STUBBORN PEOPLE.  They call it "teaching Chatty to be a productive member of society".  I call it "Really Mean, Really Big People trying to make Chatty into a passive-submissive ice queen".  Then again, better ice queen than psycho Public Enemy #1.  In any event, Dot, I'm too rusty to fight you even if I could. >:P

One nitpicky detail, though -- Mack CAN'T be at the Gate of EGC Hell.  EGC Hell is a Pocket Dimension, for one thing (PokeDim! XD), and it's supposed to be infamous for being nearry impossible to get TO and FROM.  Otherwise, last year's Invasion from Hell wouldn't have been such a big deal. o_o;;

Only three 'people' have easy access to and from Hell... Me, because I'm the Demiurge and I have to check up on the place; Miyu, because somehow she can if she works hard at it; and Master-sama.  Remember that I'm dead, and Miyu's in a soulless state of comatose... so that leaves only Master-sama.  Which is one of the many reasons why he/she/it isn't panicking... not that Master ever could panic... feh...

Ah well.  I'm hungry~~~~! I want food! ;_;

Muhahaha...be afraid.  Be very afraid! *evil cackle* >:)

---

denouement

---

(*Along the roadside in an undisclosed part of the city, a sign post sways in the wind.  The sign post originally reads EG City, but the EG has been whited out and replaced with the word "The"*)

(*On either side of the road, just-add-water demons are lumbering slowly in a spread out formation.  They walk wordlessly, their blank faces and empty eyes suggest they are in a trance.*)

(*Two old men sitting on a bench watch as the demons shuffle by.*)

Man1: Wonder where they're goin'?

Man2: Who knows.  First roaches, then demons.  I say go back to where they came from! (*starts hollering*) Ya hear me! Get back to where ya came from! (*shakes his fist angrily*)

(*One of the demons turns its head to them but continues walking by.*)

---

(*Scene: Outside the EGC Library*)

(*Lina Inverse, Gourry Gabriev and Lucinda Van Diasadora emerge from the library, voices raised.*)

Lina: How could you possibly think of hiding the Book of Days in a library?!

Lucinda: It wasn't _my_ idea! Besides, what's that old saying? 'The best place to hide is in plain sight'?

Lina: Well, I think this was a bit too obvious! Now, we have to find that Shoobwne.. Soobne... ack -- (*stops*) Hey, what the heck?

Gourry: Is something wrong, Lina-san?

Lina: (*looks left and right down the street*) Where did those dumb demons go?

Gourry: (*shrugging*) Maybe they had to go.

Lina: Go where?

Gourry: I dunno.

Lina: Weird.

---

(*Scene: Mahanyam*)

(*Demon Rei is back at her throne with Professor Gast and Yui standing before her*)

Demon Rei: I've given the recall order.  Now, explain how you manage to separate the two realities.

Prof. Gast: (*clearing his throat*) We managed to isolate portions of the source code of the EGC reality and noticed some very interesting characterstics.

(*Yui calls up a computerized screen depicting Gast's findings.  On it is a limited map of EGC, the concentric rings.  A slice of the image is selected and zoomed in.*)

Prof. Gast: This is what the source code looks like.

(*The code looks similar to HTML except it has some very strange tags and characters*)

Yui: It's very hard to understand the constructs in their natural form so we shift to a different frequency range, and we get this.

(*She presses a button and the code starts to merge and change into a complex waveform*)

Yui: This is a very precise representation of the source code.  As you can see, there are portions of the code that is white and others that is black.  We need to separate the two parts and form two complete representations.

Demon Rei: I see.  And how do we do that?

Prof. Gast: The interesting part of the source code is that it is a highly complex but repetitive representation.  We isolate the particular frequency ranges that pertain only to the NGC and use it to reconstruct the original code.

Demon Rei: (*ponders*) Are you ready to begin the process?

Prof. Gast: Hai, Great Mother.  We only await your final approval.

(*A little buzz interrupts their conversation.  Demon Rei turns her throne slightly and a screen formed by mist appears before her.*)

Demon Aerith: Great Mother, the recall is complete.  All of our demons are safely within the capital.

Demon Rei: Good.  (*turns back to Prof. Gast and Yui*) You have my final approval to begin.  Finally, we can be rid of this damned EGC and return things the way they were meant to be.

Prof. Gast & Yui: Hai, Great Mother. (*bow and leave*)

---

(*Scene: Professor Gast's lab*)

Prof. Gast: Alright, let's get started.  Start up the pattern isolators.

Yui: Hai.  (*presses some buttons on a panel*)

Prof. Gast: Good.  Now, bring the spectrum analyzers online so we can see what's going on.  Calibrate the pattern isolators to the frequency we need to grab the NGC code.

Yui: Spectrum analyzers online.  Pattern isolators calibrated.

Prof. Gast: I'm opening up a window to the core.  (*a panel in the floor opens.  Above the hole is something of a large satellite dish.*) I'm sending the data packets to the core.  (*the dish flashes and a beam shoots into the ground*) Waiting for a response.

(*A few minutes pass and a strange light slowly races up the hole into the satellite dish*)

Yui: Narrow the confinement beam, we're losing some of the signal.

Prof. Gast: Wakatte.  Do we have enough of the signal yet?

Yui: (*watching the monitor, which displays the waveform representation of the source code*) Iie, we need another 30 seconds.

Prof. Gast: (*offhandedly*) It's amazing, isn't it, Yui? That this complicated and intricate code could be packed into such a small signal.

Yui: Hai, Gast-sama.  It's very ingenius.

(*The two watch as the dish continues collecting the data.  30 seconds pass.*)

Yui: 29.. 30.  Done.  We have the complete signal.

Prof. Gast: Is the pattern isolators ready?

Yui: Hai, Gast-sama.  (*she presses a button but nothing happens*) Nan da? It's not responding.

Prof. Gast: (*walks over*) What's wrong? Is it not charged up yet?

Yui: (*confused*) Iie, it finished charging.

Prof. Gast: (*kicks the machine and lights begin to flicker on*) There, it just needed a good boot up.

Yui: (*grins*) Hai.  I'm having the pattern isolators begin a scan of the signal for the correct portions of the code we need to grab.

Prof. Gast: I'm priming the secondary storage chamber where we will have the code reconstructed.  Once it's ready, all we need to do is start the activation sequence and the rest of the boot-up procedure should handle the complete separation.

(*On the monitors, the waveform is being sent through and arbitrary parts of the signal is being picked off and used to form a secondary signal.  The original signal had a black-white hue but is becoming more white as the secondary signal is mostly black*)

(*After an hour of processing the signal, the secondary signal, the original NGC code is ready and sent to the secondary storage.*)

Prof. Gast: Good.  Everything is working according to plan! I'm starting the code defragmenter and reassembly.  This shouldn't take long to clean everything up.

Yui: Let's hope.

Prof. Gast: Indeed.  (*a few minutes pass*) Okay, that's it! I'm transferring the code to the Mahanyam mainframe! Call up Great Mother.

Yui: (*punching some buttons and a window appears*) Great Mother! We've done it! We have the original NGC source code isolate and ready for activation in the mainframe!

Demon Rei: (*eagerly*) Start it up!

Yui: Hai, Great Mother.  (*turns off the monitor*) We're ready to go!

Prof. Gast: (*walks over to the mainframe console*) Okay.  I'm typing in the activation sequence code.  Ready, Yui?

Yui: Hai, Gast-sama.

Prof. Gast: (*finger hovers over the keyboard*) To the eternal NGC.  (*his finger hovers over the button and presses it.*)

---

(*Dot's Concept Space.  While the Authoress naps, the computer runs an ever constant vigil over the City.*)

Authoress, we have a problem.

Zzzz...

Authoress!

*stirs* Wha...?

There's been a fatal exception error in some of the files.

*wide awake now* Say WHAT? *runs to the terminal*

(*The Authoress begins to scan the source code and stops at a line.*)

. . . my God . . .

Fortunately, whoever's doing this doesn't really know what they're doing, and the server is pretty much self-fixing, so the program files shouldn't be affected much.  The archival files, though...

Can you find them?

I'll try.  And I'll run a diagnostic on all files.

*quietly* That won't be necessary.

Why not?

Only my files have been messed with so far, and they're being corrupted beyong repair.

What makes you so sure?

*grimly* I can't remember who my own characters are anymore.

(*Mental clang.*)

That IS very bad.  I'll load the backups.

*shaking head* I didn't put the backup on your system.  It's on a disk somewhere either in here or the City. *beat, grimly* But that information has been lost as well.

What about Adam?

*shaking head* I didn't tell him where the backup was, and he doesn't know all of the stuff that's necessary to keep things running.  He'll barely be able to maintain his own existence.

So what do we do?

I don't know.  Ask one of the RLs for help, I suppose.  But--

You don't have a clue as to which ones are there, which ones you know, or which ones would bother to give you the time of day?

Exactly.

You have to contact them as soon as possible! At this rate, you'll lose your registry and we'd have to sign you in again!

Just keep running that trace and make sure your systems don't get hacked into.

Didn't you hear what I said? You'll effectively disappear!

(*The Authoress looks away.*)

*softly* Well, then, let me disappear.

---

(*Scene: EGC Bar*)

(*Atsuko and her crew are back at their table in the bar*)

Bloodberry: Well, that went well.

(*frustrated*) I really don't know what to do now! Lain said Sephiroth would have it, but he doesn't anymore! And we have no idea where to find it! (*darkly*) This is becoming a big waste of time.

Panter: I'll agree with you on that one!

Noa: What should we do now?

(*arms folded in resignation*) I'm just going to wait until something big happens and we'll deal -- whoa... (*grabs her head*)

(*Everyone gets up and crowds around Atsuko concernedly*)

Cherry: What's wrong, Atsuko-sama?

I.. I'm feeling really dizzy... (*her vision becomes blurry, fading in and out*) What's... wr--aggh!

(*Atsuko clutches her chest in pain*)

Keale: Atsuko!!

Cherry: Atsuko-sama!

(*Suddenly, the bar doors swing open and Adam stumbles in.  Parts of his body are fading in and out.*)

Adam: (*weakly*) Elaine...Falora...no...dammit...

(*Adam half-walks, half crawls to a quiet corner in the bar where Elaine, Falora, Alex, Athena and Celeste, Dot's cameos, are slumped in their seats, rather like puppets with their strings cut.  Their bodies are also fading in and out of existence.*)

(*Atsuko looks up weakly, grimacing in pain*) w-what's happening..?

CORONA: (*voice coming through*) ATSUKO! Atsuko! (*to Cherry*) Cherry, I've picked up extremely dangerous readings.  I'm uploading my findings and conclusions to you.

Cherry: Hai.  (*a second passes and the expression on Cherry's face turns ghastly*) Masaka!!! The code is being corrupted?!

Bloodberry: What's going on?

Cherry: They were trying to recreate the NGC code but it's corrupted! The NGC demons tapped into the merged source code and it's affecting Dot Warner, the demiurge of NGC.  Without a stable pattern to exist on, Dot's registry to the wired is being degraded to the point where it might not be re-established.  And her cameos are being degraded as well!

Keale: What does this have to do with Atsuko?!

Cherry: CORONA's not sure, but she thinks it has to do with the fact that Atsuko's the only NGC-RL in EGC.

Keale: Then why aren't we degrading as well?

Cherry: I don't know!

(*Noa looks to Dot's group of cameos, who are all flickering rapidly in and out of existence.  Moments later, all of them save Adam vanish completely with audible popping sounds.  Several bar patrons including Aerith and Jenova watch with concern and panic but do not know what do.  Noa looks back to Atsuko who continues to bear the pain.*)

Noa: (*almost in tears*) Atsuko-san..

(*through clenched teeth*) Dot...

---

(*NGC Mahanyam, central command.*)

Demon Rei (patronizingly): Was something supposed to happen?

Prof. Gast (frowning): I don't understand! That should have worked perfectly!

Yui: No, look. (points to the screen) While it still looks like the EGC and NGC are seperate entities, they've actually lost their characteristic patterns.  It's no longer possible to tell which is which.

Demon Rei (impatiently): Well then we'll just have to live with parts of the EGC!

Yui (shaking her head): I'm afraid it's either an all or nothing deal, and we no longer have the kind of power it would take to transform the entire City.

(*Klaxons blare.*)

Demon Rei (irritated): What now?!?

Prof. Gast: A level three alarm in the incubation chamber? That--

(*Without waiting for Professor Gast to finish, Rei runs as fast as she can towards the incubation chamber.  When she gets there...*)

Demon Rei (shocked): N-no.  This can't be...this can't be!

(*All of the stasis pods are completely empty save for the two containing her daughters.  Rushing up to the crying girls, Demon Rei picks them up and cuddles them in her arms.*)

Demon Rei: Shh...don't cry...mommie's here... (to herself) Who did this? Who's capable of such a thing?

(*Her eyes fill with hate as she comes to the apparently obvious solution.*)

Demon Rei: It's HER! It has to be HER! She's the only one with that kind of power, and she hates the Demiurge-sama enough to do it!

(*The babies start bawling again as Demon Rei takes on a decisively unholy glow.*)

Demon Rei (absolutely furious): BY THE GODS I SWEAR YOU WILL PAY--!

(*The name that is screamed becomes lost in the blaring horns.*)

---

(*The Bar, interior.  Adam has apparently recovered, but he still looks rather haggard.  And, for once, he's lost his cocky and caustic air.*)

Adam (sighs): I told her she should keep more backups, but she just kept putting it off...

Are you sure you're going to be all right?

Adam: I should be, for the time being.  The Authoress has given me quite a bit of autocracy in the case that something like this happens, but if she loses her connection to this place then I'm not much of use here.

CORONA: You mentioned something about a backup?

Adam: Yeah.  It holds all of the data pertaining to the Authoress. *sighs* Except she never bothered to tell me where it was.  She's probably got it stashed somewhere in that Concept Space of hers and it's lost in that mess.

You mean we have to look in THERE? *gets dizzy just thinking about it*

Adam: Then again, knowing the Authoress she might have put the backup in some glaringly obvious place so that she could find it in case she couldn't remember where she kept it. *taps chin* Where would be the first place the Authoress would look...

*impatiently* We don't have time for that!

Adam: Technically, we have all the time in the world.  It's just more of a pain to get the Authoress back after her registry goes kaput.

CORONA: I have a suggestion.  Why don't you guys split up? The Marionettes can look in the City, and you two can go into her Concept Space.

*exasperated* The City is infinite, remember? And Dot's Concept Space isn't that much better.

Adam (slouching): In other words, finding that backup is going to be harder than looking for a needle in a haystack the size of the universe.

*angrily* That's not a very helpful attitude!

Adam: It's the truth, isn't it? I'll still exist elsewhere, so I don't really care either way.

*eyes narrowed* You sure didn't act that way when Dot's cameos disappeared.

Adam: Of course I didn't.  I was going through what they were going through.  Do you have any idea how it feels like to diappear as if you never even existed?

. . . . . .

CORONA: Hey, we have to start looking somewhere, don't we? Might as well start here.

Adam (perking up a bit): The chances of it being here are rather high...

Well, then, let's start looking! ^_^

Adam: . . . . . . Heh.

What?

Adam (smiling slightly): For a moment there, you sounded just like the Authoress.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing? ^^;

Adam (smirking now): That's for you to decide.

---

--And Now For Something Completely Different--

(*Tower of Kefka, interior.  The "exterior" of the Tower is visible through one of the monitors.  At the controls sits Yuna, who at the moment is filing her nails.*)

Kefka's voice: Oh, Yuna? Where are you, my delectable little pet robot?

Yuna (snapping to attention): I am at your beck and call, Kefka-sama! What is your bidding?

Kefka's voice: Just checking up on you, dearie.  How's my tower doing?

Yuna: Wonderful, Kefka-sama! No one's even bothered to look at it twice since that strange woman "destroyed" the tower.

Kefka's voice: Excellent.  But next time, Yuna, don't fire the Light of Judgement unless I explicitly order it.  You almost blew my cover, you naughty girl!

Yuna (mumbling): I was only trying to help...

Kefka's voice (sweetly): Have faith in me, sweetheart! The King of Clowns can't die that easily!

Yuna (in bliss): He called me sweetheart! *doki doki*

---

Dot's note:
How'd you like THAT, huh? *grins*
And don't worry, I have no plans to leave EGC, I just felt I had way too many characters and subplots that I had to deal with, so I nixed a few.  Falora's in CAPOW now anyway, so it's a bit awkward to have her exist in two places at once, and I felt Alex and Athena weren't really that well developed.
And yes, I know that my continuity fix is a cheap way out.  But I'm much too fond of that tower to let it be a pile of rubble.

Atsuko's note:
Wai! My first joint post in EGC!! I have something special planned for my wired-self but nothing too drastic.

Since Miyu's soul got eaten by Mack, Mack probably has some level of accessibility to Hell.  Right? Right? Right?

Elaine once accidentally wandered into the big line of souls waiting to get into Hell...maybe that's where Mack is? Right? Right? Right? ^^;

Adam (shaking his head): Boy, she's really getting desperate.