Tristin slowly sank into the chair sighing in relief. His spinal surgery had been a few days ago. It ached, and everything hurt, but he had to keep moving to keep it loose. That meant a lot of physical therapy, which he didn't mind too much. The therapists were pretty.

He closed his eyes indulging the quiet for a moment.

He reached up over his head to pull down the VR headset hanging above him. At least in the mainframe, he could get away from it all, the stares, the fact that he had a large hump in his back. No one would see it in cyberspace. He was free. 

Tristin's spine was slowly being built up and straightened as he grew. It meant if he wanted to obtain his full height he'd need to be straightened every few years. He would always carry scars from the many operations.

Slipping the headset on he winced at the bruise he knew was forming on his temple. He hadn't made it all the way home today when he'd run into some schoolmates. It was a dose of the usual. He had a hump on his back, he was a freak. They'd taken their shots and moved on, crowing over the spoils, a handful of credits he'd kept handy. Things were always worse when he had nothing. He'd picked himself, dusted himself off, and carried on, the ritual over.

The way his peers called him an augment was an insult. He had an augmented spine, with the new spine slowly being threaded into the old one, strengthening it, making connections so he could walk.

His parents didn't have the money or connections of your average Neo-Tokyan, but they at least could get him the care needed so he could walk. His father's military job insured that.

The headset was black at first and then a world bloomed before his eyes. 

He adjusted for a moment as a beach materialized in front of him. Ocean waves crashed against the sand. He could feel the water lapping over his toes and if he concentrated hard enough smell the salt in the air. 

After a moment of staring off into the virtual sunset he checked his email.

A dozen messages slid across his heads-up display. He ignored them all, seeing as they were from his cousin, Caohdan.

<Be right there> he messaged back without bothering to read the rest.

Caohdan was homeschooled and Tristin wavered from being jealous to not sure he'd like missing the opportunities he felt school brought to him. Caohdan was also very excitable. So it wasn't unusual for him to send Tristin his own name twenty times in a row to get his attention.

The other message was from their AI friend Atticus.

Atticus grew up in cyberspace. He'd been born in one of the many cradles. It was a mystery, not well understood how conciousness formed inside an AI mind, but they came out, some wanted the physical world, many like Atticus chose to remain inside the mainframe. Tristin envied Atticus more than anyone. 

It was nighttime, not that time mattered in cyberspace. Tristin made his way to the gate that marked the exit from his little portal into the world wide web. He waved to the autonomous AI currently stationed at the end of his line.

Gary, he was called. The AI looked like a store greeter from one of those old holovids. Wal-Mart, with a chance of a smile.

He was the flat-screen variety, from the REALLY old holovids. Tristin had seen some interactive models, no one really wanted to spend their time in cyberspace shopping at a virtual Walmart. Sorry, Gary.

His parents had hired Gary, he was part of a security network. He was also the least imposing autonomous AI that Tristin had ever met.

With his pale skin, slightly balding head, and warm green eyes he didn't give off a hint of imposition or authority. Cyberspace was his home. He'd never left like the mainframe. There were many AI who existed outside of the virtual city, but Gary was a tried and true mainframer. He smiled at Tristin now as he walked by.

"Nice to see you back, Tristin. How did the surgery go?" Gary raised his hand in a hive five.

"You mean Mom didn't give you every detail?" Tristin slapped his hand to his.

"I think she forgot, it's rare for her to venture here anymore." His expression turned wistful. "I do miss our conversations."

Tristin stopped and stared at the gatekeeper, ignoring his friend's messages. "I'll let her know," he decided to go with. His mom did not relish spending so much time in cyberspace. Gary would have to head out of the mainframe for that. He smiled and kept walking in the direction of Caohdan's portal.

Nothing was the same here, most people could alter their appearance to be a better them, and Tristin was no exception. Even now, his body did not sport the hump that plagued him in real life. He was a normal kid, in normal clothes about to hang out with his friends. No hump, no hint of his clubbed feet, and he was taller.

"Heading to Caohdan's," he said as a skateboard materialized in the air next to him.

"Don't be--"

"Late, I know, I know--" Tristin waved Gary off.

--------------------------------------------(2000 words)------------------------------------------------

Gary might have looked unimposing but Tristin was well aware that AI could crawl through many layers of coding to get through to where he was with no issue. They couldn't back door Gary, trick him into thinking they were somewhere else. He was a hired watchdog. At least that's what Tristin called him when he wasn't in the VR chair and Gary couldn't hear him. Someday he'd ask Gary why he didn't go to the cradle to be "born" and get a body in the real world. Not every AI chose that, but with this world at their fingertips, did it matter?

A skateboard materialized in front of him. He snatched it up. It was an old dusty thing with a silver insignia of a wolf that he liked. He pushed it toward the ground and jumped on it. He kicked off feeling the wind in his face as he moved. This was something he hadn't quite managed in the real world. He couldn't stretch up this high. He felt the ache in his body from stretching too far and ignored it. 

Far above him as hit the main corridors ads flashed bright and bold.

You could get caught staring at them all day if you weren't careful. He knew his parents had his settings marked so he was safe from seeing the ads for the most part. He flicked a glance up. Above him, an ad showed a kid doing a kickflip on a brand-new hoverboard. Because of course, everything in this world was watching. He glanced back down again.

It was cyberspace but you could still run into people.

He sighed and kept going, deftly maneuvering through the throngs of people and AI. After a while, he came to the portal door owned by Caohdan's family.

Caohdan stood on the corner. His usual happy-go-lucky expression was gone. If anything his bright green eyes were wide with worry. Next to Caohdan stood another boy with sandy brown hair and blue eyes. 

"Hey Atticus," Tristin waved.

The boy gave him a wave and Tristin stilled at the serious expression on the boy's face. Atticus was many things, but serious wasn't one of them. 

Unlike Tristin, his cousin Caohdan was a plug-in. He had the parts, the connections to just connect to the mainframe whenever he felt like it. Tristin would never admit he was jealous of his cousin, at least not out loud.

"What's going on?"

Caohdan glanced around nervously, his eyes scanning the streets. Nothing moved, nothing jumped out at Tristin. He glanced around himself. "You ok, man?"His fingers tapped the controls beside him, a simple hand gesture in cyberspace and the skateboard vanished into his arsenal, ready to be recalled when he wanted to go home.

"Not here," Caohdan whispered. "Come on." He turned and walked into his portal. Atticus and Tristin exchanged glances before following him in. 

There was an AI server waiting just inside.

"I see you brought friends, hello again, Tristin, Atticus."

Atticus lifted a hand in salute to his fellow AI.

"Hey, Duesberry," Tristin waved at the AI. Unlike Gary, Duesberry was built like a human wrestler from a bygone era. They both called him Doucheberry when he wasn't near. Unlike Gary, he was nosy and impatient. Tristin often wondered why Dues had taken a job as a portal guardian when he could have done anything else. 

"What will you three young, sirs be engaging in tonight?" Duesberry leaned in, his gray eyes scanning them.

"Just hanging out, Dues," Caohdan said. "I promise."

"Like that firewall, you accidentally set up?"

Caohdan stifled a laugh. "I said I was sorry."

Duesberry nodded but he stepped aside. Tristin and Atticus followed Caohdan in. The walkway was decorated with simple games from a bygone era. Cartoon images, some of them Tristin couldn't place littered the walls.

The firewall incident had earned Caohdan the privilege of being cut off from cyberspace for a month. His augments were simply switched off and Caohdan had tried in vain to get them to work when his parents were asleep. But his tag had been registered as restricted so he couldn't attempt a workaround. Yet.

It had been an interesting month for Tristin and Atticus.

Caohdan opened the door and pushed through letting them both in.

"I could have just transported here," Tristin said finally when Caohdan sealed them off. "What's with the secrecy?"

"I sent you a dozen messages asking you to." Caohdan tapped his head. 

"You always send a dozen messages," Atticus plopped down on the floor. His bright clothes only magnified his status as a mainframe citizen. Tristin found himself unconsciously altering his appearance to match Atticus's.  

"Ah," Tristin shrugged. "Sorry."

"Those drugs must be good stuff?"

Tristin winced. He hadn't been taking the pain meds. He hated having to be on them, hence his reason for being stiff and sore. He needed the reminder like he needed another hole in his body.

"Sure."

"Why are we here? What's the mystery?" Atticus stretched and yawned before running his hands through his hair. A habit he'd developed when he was annoyed. 

"You can't say a word," Caohdan said, his voice dropping to a whisper. His fingers moved and Tristin realized he was setting up a firewall. One that Doucheberry couldn't get through. They had exactly ten minutes before Gary would figure it out though and run over from Tristin's house.

"Ok, spill it."

"I've seen it," Caohdan said. "Those rumors, you know? That kid dying up on Neo-Tokyo?"

"What about it?" Tristin remembered the incident well. The most powerful house in Neo-Tokyo, the one that ruled them all by fiat had lost its oldest heir. But that was Neo-Tokyo which had nothing to do with the rest of them.

"They're saying it was an AI hit."

"How can they tell?" Tristin's interest was piqued.

"He was programmed--"

"Whoa, whoa," Atticus held up his hands. "First of all, that's not possible."

"My Dad works security," Caohdan snapped. "It's possible." He looked down. "They're going to do it you know."

"Do what?" Tristin looked out of the window.

"Purge them all, the AI, that's who they are blaming."

"What do you mean?" Atticus pierced Caohdan's gaze. "We didn't do anything."

There was silence as both boys waited for Caohdan to respond.

"The rumor is, there is a faction of the old AI rebellion around. So Neo-Tokyo has ordered a purge."

Tristin scoffed but Caohdan didn't back down. "Dad was ordered not to say anything, Atticus," he said, glancing over at the AI boy. "He and Mom have been whispering about it for days when they think I can't hear them. Look tomorrow," Caohdan's voice dropped to a whisper. "Just stay out of cyberspace. Any cyberspace."

"That's going to be tough for me, considering I live here," Atticus snapped. "Look I think you've lost it. Whatever they were discussing, it wasn't turning off the mainframe. That would kill a lot of Ai, not to mention anyone still inside when it went dark."

"I know, I've thought of that." Caohdan produced a ball and held it up. "I made one of these at home, it's should ho--"

"Whoa," Atticus backed away. "Do you know what it's like being in one of those? I grew up learning in that, it's so limited..."

"It's better than the alternative-"

Atticus cut him off again. His eyes blazing. "I think you heard wrong, and if they did, why wouldn't your Dad let everyone know? Dues? Gary? You heard the wrong thing Caohdan."

"Atticus--"

Atticus simply winked out of the room. 

"Hey," Tristin stood and put a hand on Caohdan's shoulder. "Look I don't know what you hear-"

"They are going to do the purge," Caohdan looked up at him. "We have to get Atticus out of there."

"He doesn't believe you."

"Do you?"

Tristin took a step back. "I don't know what to believe."

----

2150

Final Count at time of submission 3418