london ♔ stand across the wire

[spellfile]

Technologic [fool remix] - Daftpunk

WHO ||  Lila, Astrid, Faye, Topher, Zero, One, GLaDOS
WHAT || Lila and Zero go to confront the technomage One, with a little help from their friends...
WHERE || Downtown London, CalTech building
WHEN || Late March, 2015 [backdated]
HOW || Actionspam

It's been a couple of months since the hacker who goes by the moniker "One" assisted in the attack on the Knights' castle, with the inside assistance of the Artificial Intelligence-turned-human GLaDOS.  Zero has good reason to believe, however, that One hasn't left - that he's waiting for him to come face him, and that the stage he's set for the showdown is the CalTech building in the city, whose employees are off for the week.  Realizing it's likely a trap, Zero's stacked his chips on setting a counter-trap - uploading a virus designed by himself and Topher Brink into the now-cyborg Faye Chamberlain's brain, assuming that he is going to try to hack into her and turn her against them.  

They arrive at the building as the sun is going down, staring up at the building that has a light show of digital streams coursing down the front of it, drawing a snort from Zero.  

"Theatrical jackass."

Comments

[bittersweeter]

I don't mind that risk. [ for the record. also she shoots a text to astrid asking for text once they're outside. ♥ ]

[goodbyecaroline]

[ topher doesn't have an easy time diving into the chaos of their dual programming, but he eventually figures it out, if only because the 'programs' are so similar to actual brain patterning in a way he's all too familiar with - they are both, after all, stored personalities at the core, almost more than artificial intelligence. what he realizes, however, is that one is managing to keep glados at bay by replicating his own code repeatedly, and is already looking for ways to branch out, to make copies of himself, to improve his OWN coding in a way that's almost terrifying. it's not very difficult, therefore, for topher to hit those final keystrokes - ousting her once and for all, as she lets out one final fading cry: ]

You'll regret this... all of youuuu...

[ finally, the robot slumps, before the eye flickers yellow once more, and one's voice rings out: ] ... You helped me. [ he sounds a bit bemused by the turn of events, baffled but curious ]

[pathology]

[MEANWHILE ... astrid makes it out with no trouble and texts lila to let her know they're ok when she has a moment. it's fine. everything is cool yo.]

[bittersweeter]

It wasn't for you, fuck face. [ well, that's sweet, lillian. ]

[spellfiles]

[ zero makes his way over now, beside lila and topher, staring up at the robot with an expression half of trepidation, half of awe ] It worked. That sonuvabitch really made it work.

[andblockbuster]

[Topher slams his hands on the edge of the keyboard careful not to actually hit any keys, an expression of immense shock and barely contained pleasure on his face.] I just used neural data coding for good.

1/2

[goodbyecaroline]

zero.

i knew you'd never have the guts to kill me.

[spellfile]

[ zero's face goes hard at that, the compassion leaking out, replaced by contempt ] Not killing somebody in cold blood isn't a weakness, old man. It's called having a shred of humanity.

[ he steps forward, glancing between them all ] She's gone. At least, we can hope. But he's another problem. [ his eyes drop to the floor, the full weight of something sinking onto his shoulders visibly ] He was already dangerous enough before. But like this - fully digitized, one with the cyberworld?

There's no end to the damage he could do.

[bittersweeter]

So we made it worse. [ a beat. ] Again. We traded one psychopath for another and gave him more power. Great.

[spellfile]

Not yet. I put up techno wards to keep him from the net, but they won't hold forever.

We've got a little time. The way I see it, we've got two choices.

[andblockbuster]

[Topher's glee deflates significantly.] ...Which are?

[bittersweeter]

Hopefully one of the options is I get to shoot him.

[reallywicked]

[Faye doubles back just to peek from the safety of the hallway (or wherever they scooted off to) at the rest of the group. Things have been quiet for a second, so she's just making sure the right people are still alive.]

Are we good? I'm not walking bait still, am I?

1/2

[goodbyecaroline]

[ welp. they are all staring pretty pensively and solemnly at the glados body, which is ... weaving around but talking in one's voice. so there's that. ]

Is that what you want, Zero? After all this time, you realized that the only way you can be the best is if you put me down once and for all?

[spellfiles]

[ zero looks significantly pained by those words, turning away abruptly, and running a hand through his mess of hair as he paces a few steps. ] That's not what this is about, and you know it.

[ he glances half back, the next words clearly directed at the knights ] Deleting him is one option. Otherwise...



Otherwise, there is one other way. Prolonged stand-by. He'd be essentially deactivated, cold storage. It's as good as a life sentence.

[bittersweeter]

Put him to sleep, Zero. [ naturally that's lila's choice. lila can be merciful, but only for zero. ]

[andblockbuster]

That seems like a really bad idea, but... He's not my ex- ...person.

[he holds up his hands.] So I'm Switzerlanding out of this one.

[pathology]

[astrid peers her head back into all this drama bc she too would like to participate in this telltale game group vote]

Remember the last time we decided to be merciful? Remember how well that went? That's why we're in this mess now. If we leave him alive, even in cold storage, what do you think the chances are it's going to come back to bite us in the ass later?

[spellfiles]

I can encrypt the storage disk with locks nobody could break, digitally and magically. Don't forget I invented this field. We did. With him out of the picture, nobody's going to be able to reach him without me letting 'em.

[reallywicked]

We aren't an execution squad. Killing him now wouldn't be for self defense. It would be consequences for crimes we can assume he would make later.

Besides, I get the impression it might be a bigger punishment to be trapped inside his own lonely, digital hell.

[bittersweeter]

[ lila already decided on zero's version of nap time but she can't help pointing out: ] He's had plenty of crimes already that would more than warrant a death sentence. There were children on the Eye when he tried to shove it into the Thames.

[ not to mention people actually died after he helped glados take down the castle defenses. it wouldn't be self-defense, sure, but this fuckstick isn't exactly innocent and lila's got something like three years of bitterness pent up because of him, okay. ]

[spellfiles]

[ he hesitates a moment, before lila's words seem to shake a further admission out of him, coupled with something faye said ] I don't have to make it nice for him.

[bittersweeter]

Okay, great, we're agreed, do it.

[spellfile]

[ he hesitates for another long moment, before moving towards the bank of computers ] Fine.

Let's end this once and for all. [ his fingers themselves start glowing with energy as he starts across the keys, dancing lines of energy combining with his own well honed skills as he builds the cage that will indefinitely hold the essence of the man he once loved. irving begins to offer protests, but they are quickly muddled into incomprehensible strings of audible static, the 'eye' of glados' form switching from red to yellow before slowly fading out into darkness. ]

[bittersweeter]

[ once it all goes dark, lila slips forward and reaches out to put her hand on his arm. quietly, so no one else can hear, she murmurs: ] We'll figure it out.

[ for zero's sake, because fuck one. ]