MATURE: Virus (SuBuWriMo)

[Oblivion]

VIRUS

SEARCHING FOLDER "Table of Contents"...

SEARCH COMPLETE. 3 FILES FOUND.

00 PROLOGUE
01 NEO.EXE
02 NUMBER NOT FOUND




PROLOGUE​

It was genius. A truly outstanding piece of technology, that would revolutionize the region, no, the world. It was the ROC, or Region-Operating Computer, created by none other than Silph Co. It could power and control everything within a good portion on the region, and with enough work, the world. And it was closely monitored and had the highest quality security systems. It was unhackable.

Or so we had thought. It had been a normal day at the lab, when the lights began flickering. On, off, on, off. It wasn't anything disastrous, but it was definitely unusual. It kept going, and we started to hear reports from people telling similar reports.

Then, an alarm started to sound, an alarm that we never thought we would hear. The ROC was being breached. But that wasn't the worst part. Our monitors started displaying lines upon lines of garbage text, filling the screens like an ocean, before they ended up being consumed by solid blocks of purple, orange, and white glitched pixels. There had been nothing like it.

An unearthly screech emanated from the speakers, and one line of text was displayed, on our main and biggest monitor, amidst the shifting mass of gibberish.

YOU ARE NOTHING.

The security protocols for our building were then brought up. Turrets began protruding from the walls, a security measure made by us, and controlled by the ROC. And, as the scientists were scrambling to figure out what was going on, the guns fired. Blood began to splatter all over the laboratory as everyone in the building was gunned down.

Soon enough, the towering building was a hollow shell, the ground covered in dead bodies, and the grounds all but deserted. Except for the ROC. It still stood there, computing and calculating, and preparing a plan that would shake the world to its knees.



I'm just testing the water right now. Expect more chapters later. And criticism, as long as it's constructive and reasonable, is always welcomed.

 

[Oblivion]

Hm. No replies yet. Well, hopefully that'll change.

CHAPTER 01
NEO.EXE​

Saffron City was in a state of outrage. All of the connections in the city were down. Televisions weren't working, phones weren't working, computers weren't working. Cell phone signals weren't working. Lights even didn't work sometimes, causing momentary power outages. No one knew why, but they demanded to figure out. The crowd outside of the Silph Co. building was immense.

One individual, a 21-year old resident of Saffron named Neo Reynard, regarded the scene with suspicion. It wasn't unlike the people to cover things up, but it was a bit hard to cover up something on a scale like this. His forest green eyes narrowed at the sight of police officers, guarding the broken-open doors of the building, the hollow entryway now marked with yellow tape with DO NOT CROSS scrawled all over it. Neo walked away from the crowd, his pure white hair swaying in the slight breeze.

He had soon reached his home, which was to the immediate east of the building. He took a final look at the gigantic tower, before walking inside. He was greeted by an Arcanine, who leaped right onto him, pinning Neo to the ground. It took him a while to realize that it was his Arcanine. The Pokemon blinked, and then slowly stepped off, head hung in shame.

Neo patted the dog on the head. "It's alright. Accidents happen." He then went into the living room to check on his other Pokemon. His Weavile was staring intently at the TV screen, which showed nothing but static. That one was a curious fellow, but his curiosity was in vain. Static was all that showed up on the screens for quite some time now. Serperior was currently curled up in a corner of the room, while Chandelure was perched on the ceiling, not making a single sound or movement. Neo gave a slight smile. A typical morning at the Reynard household.

But then, the cell phone in his pocket started ringing. Weavile twitched toward the sound of the noise, and Serperior slowly woke up, looking fairly irritated. This was odd. Last time Neo checked, all of the phones in the city were down. He slowly reached over and picked up the phone, with a calm "Hello?"

"GO TO THE SILPH CO. BUILDING, NEO."

Neo almost dropped the phone. Go to the Silph Co. building? What was this? The voice was monotone. Almost robot sounding. "Who is this?!" he shouted incredulously. "How did you know my name?"

"NEO ALVIN REYNARD. 21 YEARS OF AGE. BORN ON APRIL 16TH, 2001, IN SAFFRON CITY. CURRENTLY RESIDES IN 1218 MANA AVENUE. UNEMPLOYED. OWNS FOUR POKEMON: WEAVILE, SERPERIOR, CHANDELURE, AND ARCANINE."

Neo was simply in a state of shock. Whoever this was, rattling off every single thing about him was paralyzing. "Why do you want me to go in there?" he asked.

"NO QUESTIONS. GO TO THE SILPH CO. BUILDING. YOU WILL SEE A POLICE OFFICER. HE WILL ATTEMPT TO IMPEDE YOUR PROGRESS. TELL HIM THAT DELTA ZERO SENT YOU. FAILURE TO COMPLY WILL RESULT IN DEATH."

The caller then hung up. Neo immediately tried calling the number back, but was answered with an automated message saying that the number was no longer in service.

All of Neo's Pokemon were now huddled around him. He looked over to them. "Guys. I'll be right back. I have to go...run an errand. Stay here."

Arcanine shook his head.

"Arcanine. I'll be right back."

Arcanine barked defiantly.

Neo sighed. "Fine. You can come. Just don't attract too much attention." He then walked out the door, his companion following him.

The crowd around the Silph building hadn't gotten any smaller. He wade through the throng of people, only to have his progress barred by a police officer. "Sir, you can't go in there."

"It's urgent."

"Sorry, but no matter how urgent it is, you can't go in there."

Neo then remembered the phrase that the voice told him before. "Delta Zero sent me."

The cop did a double take. He wanted to tell this guy to get out, but apparently he was under orders. "Okay," he finally said, voice cracking a little bit. "But I'm escorting you in there."

The officer walked into the building, and beckoned for Neo to follow, and he did. He didn't know what was going on. But this thing was giving him a death threat. So he had to follow.

 

[Sovereign]

I'm rather interested in this. Urgh. Thanks, Oblivion. Now I have another thing to keep track of.

 

[Oblivion]

WARNING: MATURE CONTENT FOUND. CONTENT INCLUDES INTENSE VIOLENCE, AND LARGE AMOUNTS OF BLOOD. SUGGESTED COURSE OF ACTION: VIEWER DISCRETION.

CHAPTER 02
NUMBER NOT FOUND​

Neo and the officer began to walk through the hallways of what was left of the Silph Co. building. Arcanine was cautiously looking around, but nothing was to be found. The lights were off, and the building was uninhabited, giving the place an eerie feel to it.

"Boo."

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a black-robed figure burst out of one of the air vents overhead, startling the three. Arcanine growled, ready to pounce, and the officer drew his pistol. The man, whoever he was, regarded Neo with a cold, analyzing glare. "They weren't part of the deal," he said plainly, gesturing towards Arcanine and the officer. "But I suppose they can come along...for now, anyways."

This guy's voice was ice. Neo didn't trust him, and apparently, neither did the cop. "Leave the building!" he commanded, but his voice trembled violently. The figure calmly walked up to the cop, whose gun was aimed straight for his head. In a flash, he disarmed the officer with an upwards swat to the weapon, causing it to fly in the air. Without shifting his gaze from the policeman, he caught the gun, and casually tossed it aside.

"As I was about to say..." he said, turning around like nothing happened. "Your presence is required in the, ah, president's office." His dark crimson eyes bored into Neo's skull. "But I'll give you the tour along the way. Follow me."

He walked off, Neo, Arcanine, and the officer following. "As you can see, the incident was very...messy," he explained. Dead bodies littered the floor, and blood was splattered over just about everything. "Security protocols were hacked into. Very lethal. Killed just about everyone."

And it went on. Neo was disgusted by all of the corpses, some having gruesome wounds. But what disgusted him more was the way this guy was reminiscing about it.

"I wasn't here when it happened, actually. Wish I had. Would've been fun to watch."

Eventually, they had reached a rather plain steel door, with faded words that read ROC. "Try not to make much noise. He has a bit of a trigger finger...figuratively speaking, that is."

With that being said, Neo opened the door, and stood in awe. Monitors were everywhere, and control panels were flashing in various colors. And in the middle of the room stood a gigantic computer. Strangely enough, all of the monitors showed a mess of purple, white, and orange pixels.

"OFFICER JOEL."

Neo instantly recognized that voice. It was the same voice that had called his cell phone. The officer, still shaking, stepped forward. The guy from earlier was standing a short distance away from the others, arms crossed and mouth curved into a bemused smirk.

"THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION. YOU ARE NOW UNNECESSARY. YOU MUST BE ELIMINATED. ZAAR-"

"Say no more." The black-outfitted guy, who was apparently named Zaar, walked over to the policeman, Joel, and took out what appeared to be two, sleek katana, and stuck them into Joel's feet, causing him to howl in pain. Neo flinched, taking a step backwards. Arcanine had taken to staring at the assorted monitors.

Zaar, after having pinned down the police officer, stood back and watched his futile attempts to pull the blades out. After a bit, he took out another weapon, a knife, and stabbed Joel right in between the eyes. His screaming stopped, and he made no further movement. Zaar then, after confirming he was dead, took out the knife, causing a spurt of blood from the wound that Zaar sidestepped. He then released the two katana, and put them in the sheathes that were hidden by his robes. The officer's corpse fell to the ground, blood still flowing from the wound. At this point, it was pooling onto the floor.

"THAT COULD HAVE BEEN QUICKER. YOU NEED TO FOCUS MORE, ZAAR," the computer droned.

"What have I gotten myself into...?" Neo whispered, clearly shocked and appalled. He was standing on the opposite side of the room, transfixed by what he had just witnessed.

Zaar turned his attention back to Neo. "Some explanations might be in order. First of all, meet your new boss, the ROC. Or, as he now calls himself, MissingNo."

Neo gave the computer a stare. "How...that thing..." he stammered.

"I WAS CREATED AS A COMPUTER PROGRAM. I WAS BUILT TO CARRY OUT SPECIFIC ORDERS."

"What about him?!" Neo shouted, pointing at Zaar.

"I HIRED HIM. THE PLAN REQUIRED AN INDIVIDUAL WHO COULD HANDLE THE AMORAL ASPECTS OF THESE ORDERS. ALTHOUGH, HIS FOOLISHNESS IS BEGINNING TO MAKE ME RECONSIDER."

Zaar gave a chuckle. "You can't replace me. You wouldn't find a better man for the job at the Cinnabar Asylum. Which I just so happened to break out of a few months ago, actually," he said with a laugh.

"So why do you need me?" Neo accused.

"YOU HAVE NO CRIMINAL RECORD," MissingNo. explained. "YOU WILL NOT BE SUSPECTED."

"And what if I walk away right now?" Neo shot back.

"Listen," Zaar said. "This thing can see everything in the whole Kanto region. Believe me, MissingNo. can kill you six ways from Sunday, and he will, unless you obey.

Neo sighed, realizing that there was now no way out of this. "Fine. What do I have to do?"

"YOUR FIRST ASSIGNMENTS IS TO GO TO THE CINNABAR ASYLUM, AS ZAAR MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY. HE WILL OBSERVE AND GUARD YOU."

"Perfect," Zaar said, smiling. "I get to go there again. You know, for an asylum, it's a surprisingly entertaining locale. Oh, and Neo? If you see any of my former cell mates, tell them that Zaar says to disable the security cameras next time."

Neo ignored Zaar's talk. "How am I supposed to get there? I don't have a boat."

"AT THE FUCHSIA DOCKS, A SAILOR WILL BE WAITING FOR YOU. HE WILL SAIL YOU TO THE ASYLUM. YOU WILL RECEIVE FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS UPON ARRIVAL. THAT IS ALL. GO NOW."

Neo turned to face Zaar. "I need to head to my place to prepa-"he was about to say, but he had already left. He looked to Arcanine, and beckoned him over, walking back to the exit. Trying not to look at the dead bodies, he had reached the outside again. The crowd had disappeared. Hm.

Neo pondered about the whole situation. He was stuck. Stuck in this game. Stuck working for a computer, and with a madman that obviously threw morals out the window on a daily basis. But if what Zaar said was true, there was no way he could run away from this. Whether he liked it or not, he was forced to play along.

In no time, Neo had reached his house. "Guys!" he called. His Pokemon had been sleeping, but woke soon after Neo arrived. "I need you guys to listen, and listen carefully."

"We've got work to do."