"I'm sorry," he said shortly against his teeth while his gaze went to a side. "Your purpose here... it is to find a specific archive for me."

He takes one and two steps back from me, leaving my square of personal space for no one but myself.

"I will send you information about it from the outside. That should be useful for you."

I look towards what seems to be the city of The Grid, the place I find myself in. A screen appears floating beside me, brighting in a white light with a message in it. I can imagine it's the sector where I'll be able to find this archive my user wants me to get for him... getting up from the rough territory, I stretch a little bit before walking my way towards the big buildings.

Once I reach the entrance of the city, I take a small look around - my user wasn't really able to explain or, at the very least, tell me the important things of this place. I heard a few items coming out from his mouth; stuff like games, like security, like C.L.U. I can only do so much with the extra information he provided me. I don't blame him. Not only because he's my creator, the one I owe my life to, but because he seemed to be in a hurry... I wonder why.

I find a small group of programs chatting about whatever their interest was, and I put my eye on something that'd help me: a baton that's being held next to one of the program's hip. I approach, careful but confident on my movements only to fake a bump of shoulders in which I am quick to apologize before continuing my way to the core of the city, now with the baton that I was able to take from this innocent program. Of course, I could only get away with it for a short while before I heard a shout.

"It was him! he took it!" It was obvious I did, anyway.

I sprint before putting the baton to action and deploy a bike to get me out of the situation. I wanted to be sneaky with all of this... as much as possible, that is. Either way, it should be easier to get to the place I have to go now that I have a vehicle with me. And as expected, it was. However, I do recognize the speed of such a machine was near-deadly. Or maybe it wasn't the speed, but the way I was driving it... no matter the reason, I could not be using the same vehicle again after attracting such amount of attention to myself. That's why, once I reached a spot near the building where my destination actually was, I got down of the light-cycle and turned it off. Instead of keeping it, I walked around just for a little bit until I found a lonely program, seemingly enjoying the last few drops of a blue and shiny drink. My user didn't tell me a thing about something similar.

"Hey," I started, extending the hand that was holding the baton to offer it to the other program. "Wanna take a ride?" I know it'd be something my user would say... probably.

Luckily for me, this other program accepted the gift almost immediately, and with a curiously big smile, she replied: "What? is it for me? or you just don't know how to drive?" and for some reason, that made me smirk - just a little bit. Maybe that... offended me. It's no good when you feel someone reads you that easily.

"It is for you, yes," and once I said that, she just took the baton and went away with it. I never would've guessed they liked these vehicles so much... point for Novus, then? as soon as the thought goes away, a similar bright screen like the one from earlier appeared next to me.

I looked around, finding the way back to the main building I was supposed to go to. During my short walk towards this place, something caught my attention, making me stop abruptly. A giant, yellowish screen reflected the image of someone dressed in dark, additionaly using a helmet of the same tone as well. This program had the stance of a leader... maybe he is the one in charge of all this place. Of The Grid. But that's not what I'm here for, anyway.

After dismissing the big projection, I focused on my mission once again and finally reached the door of the big building. If an archive is what I'm looking for, then this should be the storage of information my user is so interested in. I take one last look at my surroundings and not only because the lights and flashy messages of the other walls caught my attention, but because I was also trying to search for two important things: the lack of programs around the scene, and a better way to get myself inside without having to fight my way in. The first point was checked and done, now I just have to work on the second one. This is how I decided to climb up a different and not-so-tall building to make it to the taller and bigger one. It was difficult for me to go jumping from one ceiling to the other, but it was not impossible. Once I find myself where I'm interested in being in, I activate my helmet just in case I need the anonymity to go deeper inside. I opened the door and started going down, trying to find the specific room that i was looking for. Curiously enough, there seemed to be not enough programs guarding the halls of the establishment, making it easier for me to sneak my way through and, after needing to knock only one program out of the way, find what I was looking for.

The door opens before me, letting me inside the storage where I turn off my helmet once I hear the door shut itself behind me. I let out a heavy sigh.

"That's a lot of information..." I say to myself in what was almost a whisper, looking up and down through the shelves that seemed to hold the files in place. I wonder if they're as organized as I need them to be to simply find the one I need and run away to safety once more.

The task I was given to accomplish is actually easier than I expected it to be. Get in, take the file, and get out. Even a kid could do it ... What is that anyway?

A third message popped up beside me, and I turned my head to look at it and be able to read what it said this time.

The soldiers'? that is everything but specific. It may mean my user wants me to get a file that contains The Grid's soldiers' information... reminds me of the big screen with the powerful-looking program I saw on my way here. Maybe he has something to do with this as well. Better keep searching before anyone comes in. And so, I keep searching... and searching... and searching. There is no archive that shows such a big amount of information like the one that my user is looking for, reason why I take two pieces and analize them at the same time - maybe one has something the other one doesn't, or maybe the other one has even more important information than the first one and so on. I click my tongue as I don't seem to be able to finish checking on all archives at once... of course, it won't be a simple task now due to the poor specification of my user...

I keep occupying my eyes in the text and images from the screens of the archives I read and see, trying to find something of major importance. Until I seem to find something.

There is a fight; the approximate number of five soldiers that run after one special program with a white suit. The point of view of the image is confusing due to all the movement, but I am able to understand the scene despite this - the description of other functions collide one with another as the imagery barely shows a glimpse of a yellow circuit. There he is again. The video suddenly stops with a crash and a pained groan. I gasp shortly, eyebrows furrowing. This has to say something by itself, right? I held the piece with my left hand while I tried to find anything that could provide more information about such an interesting event with the hand I have free, when all of a sudden, the motion of the door opening on my left side makes me stop on my tracks to turn and see who was at the door. A program. One of ... short height. My mind can't stop thinking about what to do in this situation; I was caught, I can either delete the program from existence or apologize all the way down to my knees. I looked the other side without really turning my head, catching a glimpse of what seemed to be a window. Or escape. Without getting to ponder more about it, I let go of the less informative archive and took the identity disk from my back, activating it as well as the helmet just before rushing to the glass window and crash against it, breaking a backdoor for me to escape the problem that was originating above. As I'm falling, I pierce the disk against the wall as a form to slow down the fall and don't go flat against the floor when I get to land.

When my feet finally reach the safety the floor provides, I'm left with a quickened breath and a dangerous situation I accidentally put myself in. I can't believe this. I save the disk on my back where it belongs but keep the helmet on, giving a quick glance around before deciding it'd be best to make myself look smaller for now... maybe just walk through the alleys. I am not certain about what that program that spotted me on the archive storage is able to do. No matter if that was just a little bit ago, I can sense the eyes of the soldiers on my back, watching my every move. I have to get back to my user, somehow. Someway. I need to.

I am not able to recognize my surroundings. The structures here are equally interesting as the last ones, but they lack the amount of light the others had. These also seemed to have fewer screens and promotional projections... maybe these alleys aren't as important to the head of The Grid. Doesn't matter. I shake the thought away and focus on my task once again... or, well, the last part of it. As I try to turn to a different section of the street, I hear some talking behind my back - the voices sound desperate. Anxious, even. I slightly turn my head while I hide the stolen file by pressing it against my chest, spotting two of what seemed to be guards... soldiers? Sentinels. Maybe that little program has alerted them to take me and give what I took back. That is not going to happen. I take advantage of them not noticing me yet and rush away from the new danger, escaping to what seemed to be a more isolated area of the sector. Soon enough, I hear them grow alert because of my quick and noisy steps against the cold floor...

How will I get out of this one if fighting is not an option? I'm afraid they'll chase me to the end, or even worse; call for backup. The resolve of the last option could end with me falling on a trap they set with other of their kind...

I have to think of something.

I look around, see if I can spot anything that could help me before the sentinels get any closer to me. For my luck, I see some... thing hanging from one of the structures, seemingly helping enough for me to climb up before they walk past this corridor. I climb it up, but they seem to notice something is off, as I can hear quick steps coming my way. And it's not easy to climb up with only one hand free. How frustrating. I go up the fastest I can until I finally jump up, laying on the ceiling not because of tiredness, but to lower the chances of the security curiously looking up.

"It's got to be from here, come on!"

I wait a little while... then a bit longer...

...