<System restored>

Silence reigned in the mainframe. 

The grounds which had once surged with AI life were restored but silent. Businesses, homes, and families,  all gone, deleted. Rows of houses were empty. 

A lone figure walked the street. 

It was much the same outside as it had been inside. People were afraid, most stayed home. It would take time to coax them back out and into normal routines. Even here with no AI, it was eerily quiet. But the people would come back and get back to work. They had to.

They'd cleaned up quite a few messes. There had been hardly any bloodshed but He had not accounted for the number of humans who'd died in their seats, strapped in, wandering around Cyberspace. There had been an outcry but Darius was not worried.

They'd done what they had to do. Humanity was fickle after all. In a few years, this would be forgotten, life would move on as it always had. There was always a new threat on the horizon to introduce. There was always something he had to quash to keep them back on track. 

"My Lord," a voice interrupted his thoughts.

He turned to see one of his servants waiting. It was Brandon Smith, the security guard from one of the lower houses. He looked nervous as he glanced around the empty realm. 

"Do not fear, we are quite alone here," Darius said turning away from him again. They'd made this place too real, perhaps. That was a mistake. 

Already people were clamoring to be allowed back inside, to see if there really had been a purge inside and out. 

Brandon cleared his throat. "Your daughter is ready for transport to Helion 7, my Lord."

"Stasis?"

"Holding, my Lord."

"Excellent, let's return." Darius Dawson, scion of House Dawson took one more look around the empty cyberscape. Soon it would be repopulated with real humans and they would have their meetings here again, but first, every vestige of the AI-operated businesses here would have to be remade. 

He turned and nodded at Brandon, who winked out. 

One last look and Darius also winked out, leaving an empty wasteland.

But not totally empty.

The moment he'd left a pulse whipped over the mainframe. It was subtle and any human left in the mainframe missed the gentle push. 

On the opposite side of cyberspace, Lazarus popped his head back into the mainframe. He smiled. The boy had been right after all. He heaved his body back inside. His coding threatened to waver but he held it together. The sight of the empty streets pained him more than he could ever admit. It was not dissimilar to what he felt when he realized humans died and that meant. The place reeked of death. 

"I told you, I'd keep this going if they ever tried it, Angela! And here we are." He was ready, and he was tired. The mainframe was rebuilt, but it was missing something and Lazarus knew it was this moment that Angela had created for him to shine. He had long carried the puzzle pieces to give this place a new name. It was a different kind of control. One that couldn't or shouldn't be kept from the citizens. 

He sighed and lifted his arms. He shimmered as his body split into thousands of lines of code, each working into the landscape and settling in. Backdoors were rebuilt, and holes were opened. In moments he was connected to the mainframe with several backdoors into Neo-Tokyo. If there was an AI left they would be able to find this place. No one could keep them out ever again.

Or the most important part. No one could keep them, trapped in a dying world. Lazarus felt his consciousness fading as he allowed himself to be pulled apart. "Definitely be good to rest here," he muttered. "I'm finally going home."

---------------------------------------

"Ash, you bastard, how are you?"

Blue came from around the counter of his bar. Outside the bar looked decrepit, but inside it was lively, the drinks were good and information flowed freely if you had the right credit, or the right ear.

Despite the round-up of augments on the inner worlds, there were still plenty here on the outer world of Six.  You'd need an army to remove anyone from the desolate world. Six was a hole-in-the-wall planet. The conditions were harsh, and the people were harsher. It was the perfect place to hide.

Blue sobered, and his eyes went distant.

From one auger to another Ashe was aware that Blue was listening to his precious cargo. He slapped him on the back. 

<Where are they going?>

<Home...> Ash responded.

"Home?" Blue laughed out loud. He was a big man, a hearty man with a big heart for most people. He sized up the group coming in behind Ash. "I'll get them settled."

"Some of them are moving on," Ash responded. "We'll need supplies."

"You heard it?"

"Heard what?" Ash was confused.

"I told you flying muddles your senses," Blue leaned in and whispered. "The salvation code my friend. It's been the talk of the area, in hushed tones of course."

Ash shook his head, bewildered. "That's a myth, seriously, an original code that can't be tampered with, changed, or altered?"

"You've got a head full of gear so refined you can find anyone across the galaxy and you think the salvation code is a myth?" Blue laughed and turned around heading back behind the bar. On the wall, an old fashioned flat screened TV showed the news from the Inner Worlds. Blue changed the channels, winking at the two boys shyly hiding behind their parents. Both sets had a kid with them. 

He turned and leaned in closer to Ash. "Aren't you taking a group to build a safe haven called New Elysium? You don't think that hasn't been going around?"

"There's a difference between those two things," Ash said as he sat down at the bar. "New Elysium is real, or it's going to be real soon. The Salvation Code is an AI legend, a prophecy or whatever, and we know how well those work."

Blue dropped a cup in front of him. "On the house," he said. "Too bad they can't build it here, this place is a dump."

"It's the best place in the Empire," Ash said smiling. Blue held up a glass and clinked it with Ash's. 

"To the best place in the Empire," he downed the glass in one gulp.

"Blue, this is great, not the usual. Who you got running it now?"

"New girl in town," Blue whispered. "She's good at getting in and out. And the rest of the augments love her."

"Ah," Ash shrugged. He wasn't sure he liked competition but he was smuggling precious cargo this week. Going back to running rum for Six paled in comparison. Even if Blue was his brother from another mother. 

"Who is she?" He asked instead. The info might be helpful later.

Blue shrugged. "Pirate? She's got morals, or whatever and..." He leaned in. "She's definitely a new kind of augment."

"How so?"

"She shares a body with an AI, literally all in her head." Blue leaned back. "They are family, so don't go sniffing around trying to take their job away. Unless you need to destroy some Neo-Tokyan stuff?"

"I'll be back through," Ash said dropping the glass on the counter. "We'll have a real chat and I'll fill you in. Not that you don't know anything already."

Blue swiped the shot glass with a practiced movement and smiled but his eyes were sad. "You take care of that  box, those souls... no place to go now?"

"Not yet," Ash said. "Working on it."

"You've got two Sentinel AI in those boxes." 

Ash stopped short. That was very interesting indeed. He turned back around. "How did you get them to talk to you? They wouldn't tell me anything." 

"You need to learn how to talk to people." 

"I can talk to people," Ash muttered. "I'm in the process of rescuing those two families, and their AI."

"They are partial to the boy," Blue warned. "If you want their cooperation, you'll keep him safe."

"What do you think I'm doing?"

"Bringing kids into a bar," Blue retorted. He smiled when he said it. Kids were rarity on Six. 

"I'm sorry," he laughed. "Let me get them on their way."

"And you're supposed to be such a hard ass."

"Better than a soft ass," Ash laughed again. He gave Blue one more hug and signaled to his crew that they were leaving. Tara stood and tapped the Korbel family on the shoulder. They looked nervous which amused Ash to no end. They were way out of their element. But the kid had somehow managed to wrangle thousands of AI out of the dying mainframe. Ash felt he owed him. He'd at least get him and his family to New Elysium. What they did there was up to Jack. 

He whistled as he walked. Six was awful, the backwoods, the zit on the ass of the Empire. But it was home for now. At least until Jack built his Safe Haven.  They'd have to survive the next few years in tow. 

But two Sentinels? Those would help greatly with his ships security. He thought quickly. The Neo-Tokyan built cargo ship could easily host a mini mainframe for the AI. At least until other accommodations could be made. 

He found himself walking next to Caohdan on his way back. The boy had purposely run ahead to be next to him.

"What is it like out here?" He asked finally as they crunched their way back on the rocky gravel road that led to the Six's only landing spot.

Ash looked down at him and then back at his parents. "It's hard," he said. "Survival is hard, no place for softies."

<But you'll keep him alive>

Startled, Ash stopped in his tracks. 

"Have your friends warn me next time."

"I can't talk to them right now," Caohdan confessed. 

"Ah." Ash kept walking, his ship, The Dragonfly Manifesto loomed in front of them.

"Look," said Caohdan, his voice edging up a notch. "I've got to get my cousin out of Helion 7, and get bodies, Sirens, for Caleb and Atticus. So if I need to be hard or strong, I'll do it. How do we get to Helion 7?"

"You don't," Ash shrugged. They'd reached the ship. Caohdan's parents were lagging behind so Ash spoke quickly. "I'll need their help with security, your Sentinel friends." 

"Ok," Caohdan shrugged. 

"And you seem like you are an excellent hacker yourself."

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"Who gets thousands of AI out of the mainframe undetected?"

Caohdan shrugged. 

But Ash smiled. "I think we are going to get along just fine, kid. Just fine." (<<<20,000 in total)

(1755)

The End