"one or more of your bosses has caught 'sick' Which is not as sick as the rest of the world will be if they continue to bully my children." Coyote handed Jason two hand made paper envelopes. both with calographic writing on it. One said "classified" the other was marked "grey death"

Jason took both envelopes.

"I'm guessing whatever this Grey Death is," he said. "Your children may be apt to use it a bit more than they should if any threats to Cyber Eden occur?"

he opened the envelope marked Grey Death and found merely an electron microscope photo of a simple looking nanite. "What's this?" he said.

"A virus in the most basic sense. It makes no distinction between good and evil, living and not, person or object. All it does is turn any available matter into replications of it's design. for safety it is stored dormant in a magnetic canister suspended in a vacuum. However this canister can be launched by the rail guns Eden has recently built into orbit and from there the canister will reenter at the designated point where rentry will activate them and spread them significantly. initial symptoms will be growing sores with a metalic tint, that will not respond to conventional treatment. Eventualy the veins will turn grey and the virus will spread to the rest of the body, time from initial infection to death is anywhere from 4 - 8 hours. If exposed to higher concentrations death can come as quickly as 5 seconds. The nanites are programed to self terminate after 48 hours. which is enough to time to level a metropolitan area down to a desert of grey sand." He took his tea, chamomille, and sipped it and bit into a currant scone. "I designed it as my ultimate weapon, but I never dreamed anyone would build it. My son is worried, and I can't say in the same situation I wouldn't do the same."

He's worried? Jason thought fuck, I was already worried, now i'm doubly worried because he's worried.

"Well, that certainly is chilling news indeed. There's just one problem. Despite the fact that I've taken one corrupt general down, if there's a massive anti-Cyber Eden movement within the administration, or, god fobid, the UN, there is no way i'm in any position to take it down. And if i open this second envelope, even if i know who is behind all this i still won't be able to stop him necessarily at this time." he put the second envelope in his jacket pocket "However, I will pledge to not only disobey any orders to spy on, attack, or take any other kind of hostile action against Cyber Eden, but I will also pledge to defend Cyber Eden from any attacks if it becomes necessary. I'm not going to have the world made a barren desert because of political machinations."

he knew at some point, someone was going to protest what he just said, but as of right now, he knew where his allegiance had to lie.

My allegiance is to all of humankind, all of AI-kind, and to the Earth he thought.

"And this is why I always liked you."

(( *cue Chrono Trigger theme music* ))

(( DRAMATIC POSE... GO! ))

(OOC: ...work sucks. That is all.)

Thomas waved away the tea. He wasn't much for that kind of drink. A nice black coffee was all it took to make him happy. Well...that, and remembering the nice present he had left the assassins back at the temple.

-Some time before-

The four assassins wandered about the temple, searching for the agents that seemed to disappear into the air. They were spread out, not leaving a single thing unturned. And then, one of them came across a small rod poking up from the ground. It was one of several that circled the area. A few lights flashed on them, giving a silent beeping of light. The killer reached down to touch it...and a different light turned red. All the poles activated, spreading an EMP field throughout the area, knocking out any augmentations the assassins had.

They didn't have time to wonder why that had happened when they noticed they were unable to move their feet. As each looked down, thick vines were rapidly growing around their legs, moving up their lower bodies. If they had their augmentations, they might have escaped. But sadly, that was not the case.

The thick plants grew larger, wrapping themselves around the limbs of the assassins. Soon they were each wrapped in a giant coccoon of plants, which crushed them.

Of course, Thomas was all about the beauty in everything. Even death. Which was why the rose buds that began to dot the coccoons would come as no surprise.

This all happened in less than five minutes, leaving nothing but four beautiful rose sculptures.

-Present Time-

Thomas was no diplomat or negotiator. Hell, he couldn't care less about this Eden place. He just wanted his money.

Jason took another sip of his tea. "So," he said to Coyote, "Do you have any idea where you can hide? I doubt whoever sent the first order on you is going to let up even after you've given me what you know."

"Zounds, Holmes, what a brilliant deduction." Coyote became an overweight man in period garb. He held an ivory pipe in his hand and had a walrus like mustache. "How should we proceed, Proffessor Moriarty is sure to be on our trail, and the Hound of the Baskerville shall soon be on our heels."

(( Jason: "You tell me, this's your show now."

;) ))

~Cyber Force Ops Room~

"You still can't get a fix on 'em?" Wraith asked Tia.

Shaking her head, she answered, "No... it's like they're there, but they're not... I'll keep trying, but they don't look like they're in any danger, really..."

"I hope not..." Wraith muttered to himself. Then, without warning, he rose to his feet and stretched. "Well, since there's nothing here for me to do, I'll... uh..."

Tia turned around and glanced at him, then wordlessly nodded while blinking. The silent moment of understanding passed quickly between them, as Wraith left the room after a short nod and headed for the emergency ward.

~Private Quarters~

Devin just got out of the shower, to find Shahdee knelt over the bed in prayer. He watched her silently for a moment, and then when she seemed to be done, he went over to her. "I didn't know you prayed..."

She looked up at him, slightly startled, then smiled. "I don't..."

"I guess in this case you can make an exception, huh?" he asked, sitting on the bed next to her.

She got up on the bed too, and nudged close to him. With a nod, she told him, "I hope she'll make it..."

"She will," Devin answered with hesitation. "She's been through worse. I mean, this's fucking Scrya we're talking about."

Shahdee gave a little giggle to that. "Yeah..."

Devin smiled as she did, and took her chin gently in his hand. "That's my 'Dee."

He gave her a little kiss then and released, although she let herself fall into his arms. He held her for a little while, giving her a reassuring hug, but silence didn't suit him at the moment. "...So... you ready for bed?"

"Mmm..." she hummed indecisively. "Maybe... I am getting tired..."

"Then let's go to bed," he mused, kissing her hair.

She smiled again, and let him lay her down.

OOC: Ok, we get it, you're bored! lol. i promise, good things are coming this way...soon.

BIC:"Well," Jason said "if they're going to pursue you up and down the entire Cyber World, the safest bet would be to take you off the network...by which i mean download you into a computer that's not conncected to the net in any way, and you'll just have to live like that for a while."

he paused. "Something tells me you're not going to be very keen on that idea though."

(( Actually, I'm suffering from an acute case of Busy Fucking Mexican. x.X That post was an OHSHITINEEDTOPOSTSOMETHINGZOMG filler... :sweatdrop ))

(( BUT I WILL FIND SOME WAY TO DO SOMETHING IMPORTANT.

...Later. ))

"I don't like it, but we'll discuss the particulars alone, just you and me. I have a few conditions."

OOC: I'm exercising some GM power (esp. since batgirl is away in Israel for a bit) in order to get this plot moving. Don't worry, i have a plan.

BIC:

Jason was not too surprised by Coyote's request to speak to him alone. After all, he was with three rookies (one of which was an independent contractor), and his wife, which sadly enough Coyote knew her more as an opponent than an ally.

he let out a small sigh. "Ok."

he looked at the other 4. "You all need to log out, right now."

They all showed varying degrees of protest, but he held up his hand. "Right now it's important we protect him, and if he's not comfortable talking to people he doesn't know...or doesn't trust, then i have to abide by it. I'm sorry but this is the way it has to be."

Kaitlin nodded a bit. "He's right. Besides, Jason can take care of himself if anything goes wrong." she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek "I'll see you soon, dear." and with that she logged out.

The other three logged out as well.

Jason turned back to Coyote. "Do we need to go anywhere more private or will this do?"

The flash was blinding. it took several moments for Jason's eyes to adjust to the blinding light. A loud cracking sound nearly deafened him with the white ness.

" This is a compiling server for cyber space" Coyote pointed up as little pixels seemd to shift and move forming cyber reality above. "You could say we stepped into a shadow out of time. I'm willing to bet this is like the place you want to stick me."

Jason took a couple seconds to adjust before he answered Coyote's question.

"Yes, I did technically want to stick you somewhere like this, except it'd be off the network entirely. But again, i'm not forcing you to do anything. It was just an idea, and probably not a good one. Hiding AIs isn't exactly a specialty of mine."

"I'll need a few exits. a foolish rabit only has one hole, a smart one has dozens."

"True. Well, I can get that set up for you no problem. Any other conditions you need met?"

"something to do. you know I have a short attention sp... oooh shiny."

(( Stick him in a game console with a built-in dev kit... that way he can play an assortment of thousands of games, and when he's done with them, program his own! :D Candy for geeks, it is. ))

And in Miami, the boat finally docked.

Uneventful was its registering, and uneventful was its unloading, as the drug cartel's minions adeptly went about bribing customs and hiding the cargo from sight. A seamlessly perfect transaction for all involved.

But the First Order boss couldn't care much less. All that mattered to him was the fact that he and his companion had made American soil, and they were about to take the next step in their schemes. But first, he had to begin dispatching orders. While walking he activated a short-range burst transmitter embedded in his head, connecting with Thashiya. "Meet me at the following coordinates, and bring the rest of our cell. Gather them Konachi's on Third and Wesson."

She nodded, which hardly mattered since he didn't look.

"Our next target is Senator Mitchell. I have all the information we need on him."

He looked off towards the city then and paused, feeling a bit of hunger in his stomach. "But first... I have business to attend to. Now go."

She nodded again, but before she could leave him a kid hanging around the docks looked up from his work at a boat and spotted them. "Damn, what are two, Kiss tour rejects?" he laughed, referring to their dress.

The boss looked over at him with a glare that could cut stone, but just as suddenly he smirked and retorted, "Yeah, something like that."

And without a glance he stepped hard on a loose board, flinging a loose block up towards the kid. Although he didn't look back, Thashiya watched as the kid was knocked cold by the block and fell flat over in the boat.

OOC: New Chapter