(no subject)

[onceaniso]

It^'s b_een a_w^hile^. Th_{e pain} h^as_n't _sto^pped, it ^ha_sn't _been s^pread. _It'_{s b}e^en ^far t_oo l_ong.

Th^at l^{ast sy}s_tem.^.. s^ta_tion m^{ay h}a_ve b_een s_pared f^ull _infe^ction^, bu_{t th}at wⁱll _{not h}^appen _agaⁱn. ^{My p}ain w_ill b_ring ^everyt^hing _to it^{s k}ne_es^! Th_{e in}fec^tion wi_ll s^pread_. Wh^at ha^ppen_{s no}w w_ill n^ot c^hange _things^.

T_he ^end i_{s co}m^ing.

Comments

[preamble]

[ffffffffuuuuuu-]

No it is not.

[Oh look, it's that Monitor who kept messing with your plans. 'Sup, Abraxas?]

[onceaniso]

Moⁿⁱtor.

[You. You should be dead.]

[preamble]

[So are you, so it looks like nobody's getting what they want here.]

Jalen. System immune to infection. Will not be able to affect Users here. ...Thought derezzed.

[Damn, you're stubborn, dude.]

[onceaniso]

[He's got special boss powers. What can he say.]

^Jalen is d_ead. I _was no_{t de}re^zzed the ^first t_ime_{, y}ou co^uld not _{do i}t the s^econd.

[Incapable little Monitor. Can't even give him death.]

T^hey wi^ll b_{e inf}ected.

[One way or another.]

[lifes_short_pop]

[Oh...yellow-green, viral...Fuck!]

[This guy's not Thorne. Different strain. Bad news anyway.]

[Keep cool, defensive stance, make sure any civilian Programs are clearing the area.]

What are you?

[onceaniso]

T_he eⁿd of _the _Gr^id.

[lifes_short_pop]

[Heard that before. Called himself "Master User." Died in a lot of pain and regret when he sobered up in those final moments.]

Sorry. My job is to protect the systems from viral attack. I won't let you harm innocent Programs.

[A little more confidence than he actually feels, but considering Ma3a did digitize him for that very reason and it actually worked...]

[onceaniso]

[A painful death is fine by him, his life is pain after all. This all really just makes him laugh.]

T_he Moⁿⁱtor ^crea_ted to _def_eat me, c^ouldn^'t_. Y_{ou w}ill s^hare _his fa^te.

[lifes_short_pop]

[Steady...steady...no fast moves. But...Yeah, this is gonna suck.]

I've fought viruses before.

[Viruses, Intrusion Countermeasure Programs, Game Bots, Resource Hogs, digitized Users. Digitized, badly corrupted Users...]

Who did this to you?

[onceaniso]

Y^{ou s}ho^uld a_ccept y_our fa^te. You caⁿⁿot c_haⁿge the _inevi^table.

[lifes_short_pop]

I don't believe in "inevitable." There has to be a cure. Some way to fight what's poisoned you. If it can be made, it can be unmade.

[onceaniso]

T^here is _{no c}ure_. Th_is i^{s wh}a^t all _ISOs w^ere m^eant _to b_e. You caⁿⁿot st_op t^his.

[lifes_short_pop]

Isos?

[He's been around the Encom system, F-Con's server, a virtual server, routers, home PCs, archaic mainframes, and even the open Internet. None of your kind there.]

[Yeah, Uncle Kevin's got a lot of explaining to do if their paths ever cross]

[onceaniso]

_Imper_fect. An in^fection ^on the s_ystem_.

[Or that could be CLU's upgrade on him talking. But hey who cares, isn't infection great.]

[lifes_short_pop]

[Considering how the Z-lots and Thorne were ranting about the perfection of their corruption, about how powerful they were, about inevitable surrender to the "Master User" (who was just as corrupted and batshit nuts as the Programs he infected)...]

[And considering most viral code no longer has the intelligence to hold a conversation more substantial than shouting slogans and throwing infection bombs? Color him skeptical.]

Viral code never thinks of itself as imperfection. Usually the opposite. Who's your source? Got a User?

[recompiling]

No.

[Really Abraxas, did you expect anything else from Anon?]

[onceaniso]

[Oh Anon, it's been such a long time since he's seen you.]

^{I co}uld a_lway_s in^fect y_ou _again ⁱⁿstea^d.

[recompiling]

[Anon had almost thought you were gone again, Abraxas he missed you.]

You will not.

[onceaniso]

[You should know better than to think he's ever gone. He missed you too. Do you miss the pain? And chin scritches? He'll fix that don't worry.]

Us^ers f_irs_t?

[Well he won't argue that. There's more than one way to cause pain.]

[recompiling]

[He should but he always thinks that anyway. Or hopes. The chin scritches were nice but the pain not so much. Can't he have one without the other?]

Not them either, virus.

[Yeah, he knows how you do things. Turning his best friend ever into a virus. B|]

[onceaniso]

[Foolish Monitor. I'm sure we can work something out.]

^You c_ann_ot st^{op m}e.

[recompiling]

[Hey, hope is just how he rolls. Don't be hatin'. So long as the working out doesn't end with getting infected.]

Have before. Will again.

[onceaniso]

[He's always hating, Anon. You should know that by now. We'll see. You did like it when it happened.]

^And yo_{u wi}ll fa_il a^gain^.

[recompiling]

[Well yes. But still. Only because you made him. He is so not doing that again.]

I will not. You will end long before me. Swear it.

[onceaniso]

[But nothing. Think of all the good times that could be had here, Anon.]

C^augh_t y_ou ^once_.

[recompiling]

[But everything you mean. They aren't good times though, they're painful times, Abraxas.]

Just once, Virus.

[moon_flicker]

You're in pain? Why?

[onceaniso]

I^t's m_y pu_rpose. ^Pain^. S_pre_ad. _Infe^ct. D^estroy.

[moon_flicker]

Is that really what you want? If you destroy everything, there won't be anything left to destroy.

[onceaniso]

M_y pur^pose is ^cle_ar. T_{he e}nd wi^ll c_ome^, j^ust em_brace _it.

[moon_flicker]

When that happens, you'll die, too.

[onceaniso]

I _welc^ome d^eath^.

[amplifying]

[ Yeesh. ]

...Infection? Who are you?

[onceaniso]

Ab^raxa_s. Yo^ur _end. _Embr_ace it^.

[amplifying]

Abraxas...

[ oh yeah. he's heard stories about you!
kind of. ]

Why? Who do you think you're bluffing?

[onceaniso]

I^t's my p_urpo_se.

_Blu^ffing^? A_fraid, pr^ogra_m?

[amplifying]

No. I'm not. What you tried didn't work before, and it won't work now.

Hello me, meet the REAL me...

[evolving_unaware]

[This is a nightmare.

It has to be. After all, he's fine now. He's fixed. They'd caught it, stopped it from going any further.

So how can he be staring himself his worst nightmare in the face again?]

[voiceless_anon]

[Oh. Another one.]

I've heard that before. Strangely enough, it never happened.