Viktor (Part 2 of 5)

[dannydiez]

Malicious code can erase programs like me. Us programs all run different code—some code is productive, some is malicious. Whoever wrote Viktor's code had some intent of . . .

"Charlotte? Are you feeling unhealthy?" Viktor said as he poked at the grid pattern on the side of my head.

"No, I'm fine. I just need to take a break for a while. Then, we can focus on your next step of rehabilitation: reprogramming." I wanted to give him the truth. His script was written to inflict damage. "You up for it?"

"Yes. Do what you must to restore function."

"Right, then. Here we go."

I opened the command prompt and began where I left off in examining Viktor's code.

"Charlotte, may I ask a question? Why are we here?"

This wasn't the type of question I would expect from him. "Why we're here, hm . . . if someone asked me why I'm here, it's because I want to be. I make choices based on my own logic."

"That is ambiguous."

"You asked an ambiguous question, Viktor." I couldn't help but chuckle a bit at his dry statements, statements which were made with an almost childlike unawareness of the irony they conveyed.

"Why are you doing . . . this?"

He was bound to ask this sooner or later. All recycled programs ask me why I pull them out, why I restart them. Why I would even bother with a scrap piece of programming discarded by the network.

"I'm collecting," I said. "For a project. Hopefully, this project will give everyone a home. Everything must be put in its place—or at least everything is in my ideal network."

"How very profound," Viktor said. "I wish to be a part of that network."

As he said this, I saw the end of his script. Viktor was set to shut down. Soon. I could extend his code . . . if I knew the language. Sadly, AX is not in my library of knowledge.

"I'm sorry to say this, Viktor, but that may not be possible. I'm afraid your hardware has ran your script nearly to its end. No amount of reprogramming can be done to extend it, or at least not in any coding language I am familiar with."

Viktor gazed forward. "There is one way. I have a certain plugin which is capable of moving my script into you. If you choose to use it, I believe it can help you achieve your goals."

Viktor's program shell began glowing. The heat was too strong for me to intervene.

"Wait! Viktor!"

"Thank you, Charlotte. Your intentions . . . they gave me faith in something more than this. My wish is for you to keep spreading that."

As his final words echoed, a single chip of compressed data sparkled in front of me.

"This . . ."

Before I could take the chip, a tentacle with a serpent's head lashed out and snatched it from me.

Mirage.exe's cold, mechanical voice spoke directly into my speaker from behind. "Well, well, Charlotte. Quite a monumental discovery you have made here."