Rinzler had been repairing his lightcycle in the protection of an alcove deep in the Outlands when he was violently ripped from the code of the Grid. It felt like he was being torn apart line by line at such a high speed that pieces of him would be lost, yet his render remained intact despite the burning pain. The sensation had felt almost familiar in a horrifying sense, though Rinzler could not place exactly why and he wasn’t given a chance to contemplate it much further. They had to shift their focus to not be forced into a harsh reboot as their render was forcefully shoved line by line through a code wall and into a compact space. There were no floors or walls to be seen to tell Rinzler exactly how large this place was, but their scans told them it was smaller than the expanse of the Outlands they had just been standing in.
Despite the visible lack of any ground the security program was still able to stand in the dark void and quickly activated his discs in preparation of any threats. Scan after scan yielded no threats despite the extremely high reading from his threat assessment and even more concerning a complete lack of information at all. Whatever or likely, whoever had put Rinzler in here was dangerous enough to render them blind to his environment. Something that puts the enforcer on edge. He was used to always having some form of feedback by tracking the signals of programs around him or simply the ambient hum of the Grid’s code under his feet. The complete lack of even a firewall denying Rinzler access was disorienting and frustrating all at once.
Suddenly, he was taken off his feet again, ripped up into the air, and slammed through another code wall. This one was even smaller and this time Rinzler couldn’t find a way to get their feet under them again. The enforcer was left drifting in the compact space, discs up and ready as they sent out futile scans and pings in a looping cycle, trying to find some semblance of stability to anchor onto.
As soon as fCon's spy gave them the heads up that Sam Flynn was up to something, Edward Dillinger ordered Project Datawraith's first mission... to hack into Encom's server, and steal whatever they could get their hands on in order to figure out what Encom was planning.
Of course, Edward had left the actual figuring out up to Ed. It was well past midnight when the hackers finally returned from their mission, and Ed marched down to the laser lab for digitization.
Ed hated digitization. Hated his essence compressed onto a weird, triangular shaped "disc", and all the horrific ways digitization could go wrong. And while at this point he knew the program behind the laser could successfully digitize a complex life form, Ed didn't trust xem. He knew the code at xir core. It was the same code that he had witnessed once as a small child but had nightmares about until he was in high school.
And now it bore his face and voice.
His only boon was that xe usually left him alone once to complete whatever tasks he was ordered once he was difitized, silently returning to xir own.
"MCP Two Point Zero Dash B, activate the laser," he called. He emptied his pockets into a bin on his desk, then stepped into the targeting area.
"Laser is activated," his voice replied through a speaker.
"Apperature is clear. All parameters are normal."
Ed took a deep breath to calm himself. He's done this before, he went through the checks. Surely it would be fine...
The world flashed white, then went dark.
An instant and an eternity later, Ed blinked in the strange neon world that was fCon's server. His doppelganger stood before him in a white suit reminiscent of eighteenth century French military costume, complete with a bicorn hat and glowing red circuits.
"No corruption detected," Thanatos declared. "Proceed."
Ed nodded, relieved, and turned in the direction he knew the hackers were told to deposit their loot.
Thanatos pressed a button, shutting down the laser, then fell into step.
"Don't you have other things to do?" Ed asked.
"User Dillinger Two, we do not know what was brought to the server. It may be hostile. I requested backup from Dex, however at present all security units are unavailable. Therefore I will act as your backup while you are here."
Great... The last thing Ed needed was his doppelganger following him round when he was already anxious.
Ed continued walking, his jaw set in an attempt not to scowl at the program. As much as the program's appearance unsettled him and he didn't trust xem, he was glad that he wouldn't have to face whatever had been brought from Encom alone.
He stepped into a room, and the door closed behind them. Ed reluctantly tapped on a panel, and a red forcefield barrier activated in front of the automatic sliding door.
In the center of the room was a black box of compressed space. Ed hesitantly took a step toward the box.
Ed froze, turning back to the program in confusion.
Xe unclipped a baton from xir shoulder and split it in half. It expanded into a long, spear-like weapon with a glowing curved blade at one end. Thanatos spun it with a flourish, moving into a defensive position next to the user. "Proceed."
Reluctantly, Ed input the key, unlocking the compressed space, and slowly the black box lowered into the ground, like a time lapse of ice melting, revealing the program that had been trapped within.
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