Scene #7536: Reality Bytes

Owner	Pose
Forte	The Gospel Research Institute is a legitimate upstanding enterprise. Or so it seemed until 15 minutes ago. 15 minutes ago, the Institute's power draw increased fivefold, causing rolling blackouts across the rest of the city. When the city's electrical engineers tried to cut it off, they found the equipment hacked - their own controls locked out, including the emergency shutdown switches. Whatever's going on in the Gospel Institute, someone doesn't want it to be stopped. When outside help (you) arrives, the city is dark. Streetlights are off, traffic lights are off, buildings and streets are visible only via the thin moonlight. The only lit building is the Gospel Institute, which has a hastily formed local-authority presence around it, not sure what's going on but suspecting that this is the source of it. The front door is unlocked and ajar. There's nobody in the lobby, in the hallways, in the offices. It's more than just after-hours, the place seems explicitly evacuated... or abandoned. The power ratings are strongest further into the facility, in the basement labs. There's almost an aura of final bossishness here - the sort that would prompt a savvy hero to wrap up any sidequests and make sure to tag that last save point before pushing in further.
Eryl Fairfax	"The Paladins are here," Eryl says to the authorities surrounding the Gospel Research Institute. His voice carries absolute authority, cutting through the brewing panic. "I recommend you send some of your cars to drive through the streets and advise people to stay in their homes." One might think Eryl is concerned about looters, but he's more concerned about the scared civilians. Thanks to the total blackout, they have no means of knowing what is going on. "Oh, and keep your lights on as you do. Total darkness like this is scarier than people give it credit for." He goes inside, listening carefully for the sounds of chatter, of footsteps, of breathing. Nothing. It's as if all the stuff simply vanished alongside the surge. Or were taken. Eryl's neural implants push the likeliness of terrorism as the cause up by several degrees as he finds the stairs to the basement labs and descends. His arm is outstretched, index finger pointed like a gun. Footsteps echo as he descends, and his implants use the echo to paint a picture of the surroundings akin to sonar. Who or what is down here? How many?
Shinnosuke Tomari	The Grandmaster of the Paladins is joined by one Chevalier, Shinnosuke Tomari. Having pulled up in a red sports car that seems cutting edge even for the modern day, he's got a strange high-tech belt on his waist, that almost looks like it has a smiley face on the sensor, and a revolver in his hand. Other than that, he's dressed in a detective's suit and tie, tie loose. As Eryl uses his senses, Shinnosuke scans around the other rooms for hidden survivors, before joining up with Eryl to head downwards. "I've dealt with strange blackouts like this. Well, not...quite like this, but close enough. There might be something siphoning the power for itself."
Forte	The local authorities nod, and go to do that. Further in... there's destruction. Workstations, servers, and other electronic equipment that have exploded under the electrical strain... or so it seems at first. Further in, the ground morphs in places, changing from a stereotypical office tile pattern to something more... electronic looking. It's as if, here, the real world is giving way to the digital one. The architecture remains the same, but the style is being overwritten with something else. And there, at the center of the lab - the culprit. An androgynous figure who himself looks digital. He's watching a glowing floating anomaly being fed data by the equipment around it. "Interlopers - no matter. All you will accomplish is bearing witness to my triumph - the ultimate navi - a perfect warrior! And with the ultimate navi - Bass.EXE - This world's conquest will be swift!"
Eryl Fairfax	The abrupt shift in local space has Eryl pause, raising a hand to signal to Shinnosuke to stop. Stepping back, he pokes the air where the shift occurs, moving his hand and feet through it before judging it safe. "Distortion of the environment. Nothing changes save the appearance. This implies a shift up or down in dimension. Take care." He advances, and the cause is doing nothing to hide itself. A figure draining power and data both, boasting of the creation of the ultimate 'Navi.' "Well, I am always for the advancement of the informational sciences. But right now, you're taking power away from people who might need it. People in hospital relying on life support, people at home unable to see all the hazards it presents. So I'm going to have to ask you to stop immediately, and we can discuss some other way to create this Bass.exe. Okay?"
Shinnosuke Tomari	"Yes, sir." Shinnosuke responds to Eryl, taking a step forward from behind him. When it's revealed to be some sort of digital person, one with an ego, Shinnosuke isn't sure talk is going to work. But he'll give Eryl a chance, because he's the Grandmaster for a reason, and because he believes in what he's doing anyways. He lowers the gun to not be directly pointing at the opposition. "Work with us, here. Your world conquest can be done more...peacefully, right? Maybe finish up at a later date?"
Forte	"You think to ask me to delay - in my moment of triumph - to-" The anomaly pulses. More power is drawn in - building crescendo towards some fortissimo of energy and power. Elsewhere in the lab, some equipment explodes. "Hah - It matters not - it is done! In any moment the ultimate navi will-" The anomaly pulses again and then catastrophically explodes, a wave of energy traveling outwards - sending the enemy leader flying, being closest to it, and causing the odd digital atmosphere to revert back to normal almost immediately. For Eryl and Shinnosuke, it's like standing too close to a blast furnace going off, uncomfortable but not dangerous, but the Gospel Leader looks... not great, as he goes flying by and lands limply in a pile of mangled servers and office furniture. The anomaly, after pulsing outwards, collapses in on itself - and takes a humanoid shape, the energy coalescing and forming into something vaguely robotic. "I... am Bass.EXE." "Get- destroy th- ugh..." the leader tries to say, and fails, slumping back over. "I am a computer security, virus elimination, and penetration testing specialist navi, created to serve SciLab by Dr. Pavel Cosak. It's nice to meet you," says the figure, brightly, and in a way that seems... out of character for an ultimate navi superweapon, doesn't it?
Eryl Fairfax	The equipment begins exploding. Eryl moves immediately to put himself between it and Shinnosuke. The light and heat washes over him, his cloak and jacket billowing as he closes his eyes. In the meantime, his brain is turning over what that figure said. Or rather, how they said it. Stammering. They weren't expecting this. The plan has fallen apart. The anomaly takes shape. Eryl regards it warily for a moment, looking at the perpetrator as they try to give an order. But it doesn't reply. Either it has it's own will, or own agenda. But either way, it's introducing itself. And to ignore an introduction is terrible manners. "Good to meet you Bass.exe. Eryl Fairfax, Grandmaster of the Paladins." He extends a hand to the Navi. "Welcome to existence. "
Shinnosuke Tomari	As the equipment begins exploding, Shinnosuke is moving to grab something from his bandolier, but Eryl shields him. It feels wrong, but...he IS the Grandmaster. Shinnosuke feels heat, but not as much, and is unscuffed in the results. As Bass.EXE comes to fruition, Shinnosuke salutes. "Detective Shinnosuke Tomari, Chevalier of the Paladins. Are you alright? This was...violent, after all."
Forte	"I'm... fine? I should do a systems check to make sure," the figure says, as it reaches towards Eryl's hand, to shake it- - and then abruptly yanks the hand back, alarmed. "Sorry, sirs - it looks like I have a little bit of a systems infection, let me just take care of it..." "... Starting system scan and cleanup..." The navi glows softly. "And... complete! Infection levels at two percent - no, wait, that should be zero, starting another cleanup..." He starts to look alarmed. "Cleanup complete, 584 sectors cleaned, infection at four percent - four percent, it's going up, I don't-" He doubles over, and drops to the ground, using three points of contact to steady himself while he clutches at his chest. "I don't- how, the getability.bat program is saying it absorbed some viral material - system should have - kept it in check, should have-" He winces - yanking his hand away from his chest, examining it. It's started glowing claws. He stares at it, with eyes that steadily start glowing red, then looks up at Shinnosuke and Eryl. "Help," he says, his arm seeming to move on its own as it slashes out at them!
Eryl Fairfax	Eryl takes his hand back as Bass flinches. "A systems infection? But you're newly created aren't you?" Immediately, his implants draw the line, and Eryl turns to glower at the admin on the floor. "What have you done to him? Tell me right now and I'll guarantee a lighter sentence for co-operating?" Bass isn't looking so good. Eryl kneels down next to him and places a hand on his shoulder. "You'll be okay Bass. Focus on my words. If the infection is increasing even in spite of your checks, it's either being continually downloaded from somewhere, your system scan is compromised, or it's hiding somewhere you don't check. Which is-" The hand is infected. The claw lashes out as Eryl throws himself out of its way. But it still slices through his chest, cutting through his tie and shirt leaving both in ribbons. Immediately, the Grandmaster zeroes in on the corrupted hand. Grabbing it mid-slash, he pulls, bringing Bass off-balance before ducking and turning his hips to pivot the Navi around their wrist so they crash to the floor. Immediately, Eryl kneels on their elbow and grips their infected hand tightly to try and control it. "Fight it Bass! Where is the infection coming from, and how can I limit it's spread?!"
Shinnosuke Tomari	Normally, you get a long transformation sequence. Not this time. As Bass.EXE is initially friendly, and then investigating a virus, and then comes lashing out, Tomari wasn't expecting that. He thought they may have solved this peacefully. The claws scratch him, sending him flying back like a ragdoll, a pained grunt. In all the confusion, he transforms OFF-SCREEN like a cheater, red and black suit with tire across the shoulder diagonally downwards. Type-Speed. Kamen Rider Drive moves to throw a rapid flurry of punches at Bass.EXE, avoiding anything that looks like it'd destroy him, but trying to disable the Net.Navi so they can help him. He's not like a Roidmude... Despite being a lot like a Roidmude.
Forte	"I don't - he was made from scans of the original Bass.EXE, there shouldn't have been anything added that wasn't in the, the original-" the gospel leader coughs out, his digital form sputtering. There's a real person in there, it looks like, using the ridiculous long-haired form like some sort of digital power armor. "Original? What? I don't understand, do you mean I'm a copy- a-" Bass's voice breaks up into a growl, and he howls as Eryl throws him to the floor, and then Drive-nee-Shinnosuke delivers a rapid-fire series of punches. He's fighting - not against them, seeming to welcome their blows and attempts to disable, but against the infection. "The- the infection, it's in my core, the executable file, I'm trying to-" He cuts out again - he's changing again, becoming more bestial, his facial features becoming more and more beastial - and craggy, like he's breaking out with the historically worst case of a disfiguring skin condition crossed with a topographical world map. "Stop - me-" And then he breathes fire - a large gout of some nasty-looking black flame that fills up the room!
Eryl Fairfax	A copy, made from the original blueprints. That implies the design was compromised from the beginning. That doesn't bode well. Nor does Bass' choked words. The infection is coming from his executable, the very core of his being. There's not a lot Eryl can do about that. Black flames issue from Bass' shifting maw, and the Grandmaster appears to catch a faceful of it. But he had leaned back and turned his body, flicking up his cloak to intercept the flames. His hands shoot out, reaching through the fire, the metal heating as his hands clamp around Bass' mouth and neck, snuffing the fire out as he picks him up and starts running. Bass gets speared through the glass of a window looking out into the halls with Eryl landing on top of him. Immediately he rolls, wrapping his arms around Bass' neck and lifting him on top of Eryl's body. "Shinnosuke! Now!"
Shinnosuke Tomari	Fire burns out, as it turns out this is just a copy of some sort. Horrible...just horrible. Shinnosuke is burned hot by the flame, sent spiralling out as his armor briefly chars, using his speed to not get incinerated. "Can't fight here, right?" He nods to Eryl, a pained grunt. "I've got this!" He dashes over with super speed, and leaps up into the air, into a double-footed kick. He's trying to both knock him off Eryl and push him further away from anything sensitive, and also possibly finish him. But it's not a true finisher. It doesn't have the catchy jingle. Bass.EXE is crying out in pain, and Kamen Rider Drive can't bring himself to execute him like he does a Roidmude. Why is this any different?
Forte	And Bass.EXE goes flying, kicked out through the window, going out further from the central lab into another part of the conveniently evacuated facility. What lands is... changed. More monstrous. No longer bipedal. The infection is steadily changing Bass, bit by bit - and at this point, he can't stay upright, looking almost werewolf-like with how he's slumped over. The good news: The group's now fighting in the company auditorium, with Bass having landed on the stage and the pair of paladins finding an entrance into the audience seating. There's nothing important to break here. The bad news - Bass is beyond talking, at this point - he lets out a pained roar, and then leaps and slams both claw-hands down onto the stage, causing a massive shockwave to ripple out at his opponents/saviors!
Eryl Fairfax	The force of Shinnosuke's rider kick sends Eryl flying along with Bass, his grip slipping as he tumbles. Quickly, he rights himself, now standing in the lab's auditorium. Bass stands upon the stage like the twisted reveal of their most recent breakthrough. He roars, beyond words, and slams the ground, throwing up a massive shockwave. Eryl stands firm, his heavy body only sliding back a few inches as he protects his core from the chairs being thrown around. Shinnosuke advises him over the radio; he's on his last legs, but has enough in the tank for one last big hit. "I'll hold him down. Make it count." The Grandmaster grabs one of those folding chairs mid-flight and hurls it at Bass, hoping that this artificial lifeform has the same instincts to raise their arms to protect the head. In that opening, he rushes in, ducking low and putting his whole body behind a massive uppercut. With his new muzzle, Bass presents a perfect target for letting all of Eryl's knuckles make contact and send his whole head snapping up. A flurry of punches to the chest follows, pressuring the Navi and sending him stumbling back. In that moment, Eryl steps forward, getting his leg behind Bass' to send him tripping onto his back again. And once again, Eryl descends on him. But no headlock this time. Instead, two blades leap from his forearms and are driven through the corrupted Bass' thighs to pin him to the floor. "NOW!" Eryl orders over his shoulder!
Shinnosuke Tomari	The thrashing scuffs into Kamen Rider Drive. He's on his last legs. But he has enough for a true rider kick. Bass.EXE is gone. He's bestial. It's infected his entire body. If he can't take him out now, then he might hurt someone, so the only option... "Let's take you for a spin." It's not as cheery as it usually is. An ignition on the belt is switched. A button on the bracer is pressed. The red toy car is shifted once. Full Throttle! Drive dashes forward, and then jumps into the air again. His right leg starts to glow red, as energy and heat vents up inside it. He moves to land straight into the pinned Bass.EXE's chest, and hopefully his core is there, able to be destroyed and cleansed of the infection.
Forte	Bass.exe roars as he's knocked down and pinned down. He thrashes about on the stage - unable to get away as Kamen Rider Drive charges up, leaps, and drops down onto him. When Drive's foot impacts, everything goes still for a quarter of a moment, as if reality itself is processing the hit and has lagged out... ... and then the center of his chest explodes, the core shattering into pieces, causing the whole navi/virus's body to ripple from the force of it. "Th- thank..." the navi/beast manages to get out, before its eyes go red again - core or no core, the virus is trying one last time to lash out, to wreak havoc and vengeance - breaking free of Eryl's grip and simply slashing again and again and again with murderous intent!
Shinnosuke Tomari	The core is destroyed. That's a success. Drive sighs in relief, and then...the virus lashes out for the final blow, claws smashing into the Kamen Rider. He goes hurtling backwards, and this time, he debelts, the human Shinnosuke Tomari left slamming into a couple of auditorium seats. He tries to points a finger at the virus, and then slumps, alive and conscious but unable to do much of anything at all.
Eryl Fairfax	The Rider Kick goes clean through, and for a moment, it seems like the virus has been bludgeoned into submission, the core exploding with the force of it. But it lingers, holding Bass together as it goes into a frenzy. Eryl is knocked back, and looks upon the enraged swiping. It's desperate, and desperation makes it predictable. Original Face has seen this sequence before, in the lab. The Grandmaster steps in and begins juking the swipes by the barest of margins. His index fingers are raised, and in between each swipe, he reaches out and jabs the Navi where the shattered core is. And each time, a tiny slug erupts from his fingertip and lances clean through Bass. "Will. You. Please. Stop?!" Eryl shouts, punctuating each word with another jab and shot, before ending it with a fierce elbow into the chest cavity. This one is followed by a massive slug erupting from said elbow and splintering inside Bass.
Forte	What remains howls in agony - it doesn't have the capacity to dodge at this point, the relentless series of jabs and shots tearing it apart, bit by bit, till there's not much of the digital beast left- - and then, some bit of sense coming through the blind rage, it turns and runs - heading towards the back of the auditorium and the digital projector in the back, a sort of digital interface opening up. It's trying to retreat - presumably off towards the wider internet. Eryl has enough time for one, and only one, shot.
Eryl Fairfax	Bass is retreating. And normally, Eryl would not shoot someone who no longer wants to fight in the back. A de-escalation is always preferred. But Bass is corrupted. If that virus is allowed to escape into the wider web, who knows what will result? If killing one turned innocent could save thousands, millions... "I'm sorry Bass." The Grandmaster raises his leg until his thigh is parallel to the ground. His knee points to the back of the fleeing Navi. And then the pant leg explodes as a massive grenade is ejected, launched at velocities that make the air hiss. The impact alone is bad enough. The explosion that follows as the grenade detonates is merely icing.
Forte	The shot hits true. What remains of it, of him - navi or beast, Bass or Gospel or something else - goes down into a heap that doesn't move. There's stillness. Silence. The power flickers briefly - outside, the authorities have managed to get control of the grid once again, and the city slowly starts to resume its function. But in here, at least, it's all over. AND THEN THE AUDITORIUM'S MAIN DOORS BURST OPEN. "Alright - Lan Hikari and Hub, on the scene, ready to save the day!" It's some elementary school kid, wielding a bulky cell phone. "Bad guys, watch out, because we're here to bust some viral ass! Make them quiver in their boots! Just need to find them first! Oh yeah! Gonna save the world again!"
Eryl Fairfax	Eryl regards the broken heap with a still expression on his face. In his head, Original Face catalgoues Bass' face - his true face, not the twisted, bestial one it became - into the archive of the many dead the Grandmaster has seen. Specifically, into the subfolder of those Eryl had killed himself. And then some plucky kid bursts in and starts shouting. Remarkably, Eryl is immediately all smiles to the young man. "Sorry, but the Paladins beat you to it. We already dealt with the bad guys." We being himself, and the unconscious Shinnosuke, whom Eryl picks up into a fireman's carry. "Though, you could do me a favor? Go back out there and ask that the authorities cordon off this here auditorium? Also that I, the Grandmaster of the Paladins, recommend they send down any net or Navi specialists to examine that." He gestures at the heap that was one Bass.exe. "It's filled with some kind of virus, so obvious net quarantine procedures should be followed." Upon sending Lan on his way, Eryl goes and retrieves the Gospel admin if they happen to still be there. He carries them and Shinnosuke out, leaving the former with the authorities for processing.
Shinnosuke Tomari	Shinnosuke has no complaint, because he's halfway conscious and is being fireman carried. His belt, and Mr. Belt inside it, quietly catalogue the scene to explain to him later. For now...all's well that ends... No, actually, that ended pretty poorly.
Forte	Things wrap up fairly quickly. The local authorities for this sort of crime - SciLab - already have diplomatic channels to the Paladins from previous activities, so there's no introductions or explanations that need to be made. Eryl and Shinnosuke are brought to a command tent that was set up on the perimeter. Shinnosuke gets a bed, a medic, and if he wants it a strong coffee. (Eryl gets whatever the heck he wants, as far as drinks) The debriefing is done primarily by one Dr. Yuichiro Hikari, a serious but kindly man who radiates dad energy, with a white-haired kid in the background who introduces himself as Chaud but doesn't say much. (He radiates intense Lawful Neutral energy.) "There is one thing I want to confirm," says Dr. Hikari, pulling out his own bulky cell phone, and bringing up a picture. "The infected navi that you fought..." There's a nearly identical picture on the phone. "This is the original that got copied, if what he was saying was true." "And this one is of... particular criminal interest. And might be of use if we were to try to revive and repair the copied navi."
Eryl Fairfax	Eryl takes the coffee. It's not very good, but he's had to run on worse. He's a bit of a sorry sight there, bleeding from the chest in front of this dad and this rival character, but he's alert and focussed enough to look at the scientist's phone. He sucks on his cheek as he considers Hikari's words. "His value as an asset is secondary to his right to existence," he says immediately. "He was apparently overtaken by viral material absorbed by his getability.exe. If you can purge him and remove that virus, do so. But he has a right to live. He is not to be held accountable for whatever crimes his original did. Am I clear?"
Forte	Eryl can virtually see the social points gained and lost with that statement with the dad and the rival, with no surprise as to who thinks what. "We'll keep him in a stasis chamber till we can figure things out about him - not least how to fix him," says Dr. Hikari. "But he'll get a fresh slate." "The original, however - has enough crimes to lose his right to existence several times over," says the kid. "If I started listing his crimes we would literally be here all night, but terrorism, digital homicide, interfering with and intimidating investigators, and grand theft are among them," he says. "SciLab has been tracking him - post-unification, he went off the grid and assumed a new name - Forte, and fell in with the Watch, but locally and originally he's known as Bass.EXE - or The Shadow of the Undernet. And..." Chaud glances over his shoulder, as if looking off towards wherever Bass's body happened to be now. "If the 'perfect copy' turned out to be virally infected from the moment the copy was made, that may answer some questions as well as open up others. I think it's safe to assume the original - 'Forte' - might be in danger of losing control to a viral infection and lashing out at everyone around him at any moment, as well."
Eryl Fairfax	Eryl doesn't mind much that a little edgelord doesn't think much of him. One more on the pile really. "I see. Forte.exe... I'll mention this in my report, and make sure other Paladins are aware. Though it is curious. I believe that Forte is somewhat lucid, whereas Bass was corrupting from the moment of creation. There's some key difference here. You'll have to interrogate the perpetrator. They insisted that they were working from Bass' blueprints. So either they did something wrong, or there is something different about Forte. Something that, for the moment, keeps him sane."