Neverquest – Part 160

"You people are insane!" Natalie said, squirming in her chair, but the ropes that held her down were too tight. "I don't know anything about a virus. I don't even like video games."

Alyssa slapped her across the cheek. "Shaddup! I'll ask the questions around here."

"...Alyssa, stop doing that," Sophia said. "I'm trying to find out what she knows."

"No, no, it's cool. I think our 'good cop, bad cop' routine is starting to get to her."

"For the last time, Alyssa—this isn't a TV show."

But Alyssa ignored her. She marched around Natalie's chair, staring at the ceiling in careful deliberation, and then slammed her hands down on Natalie's shoulders. "Tell us the password, spy!"

"I don't know any password!" Natalie cried. "Just stop this! I swear, I don't know anything."

Alyssa rested her chin on Natalie's shoulder and looked up at Sophia. "...I think she's lying, boss."

"I'm not lying!"

Sophia sighed and pulled up a chair in front of Natalie. "Look, Natalie... You came here to inform us of an e-mail you received yesterday, regarding your boyfriend Adam."

"Yes..." She nodded her head. "Yes, I did. I wanted to know if he was okay."

"You didn't sound too concerned about him. You were ready to walk right out of here without speaking to him."

"Maybe I'm through speaking with him," Natalie said, but she had lost eye-contact with Sophia. She was biting down on her words and staring at the wall like it was the source of all her anger. "...All that jerk ever wanted to do was sit in his room and play those stupid computer games. He never quite found the time to talk to me."

"You're speaking of him in the past tense. Do you believe he's already dead?"

"...Like I said, I'm through with him. Our relationship died the moment he started playing that stupid game."

"There are easier ways to get rid of someone," Alyssa said. She didn't have a gun at hand, so she made one with her fingers, pressed it to Sophia's head, and pulled the imaginary trigger, smiling at the mess Sophia would make all over her shirt. "So why go through all this trouble?"

"And why involve so many people?" Sophia asked. "Natalie... Do you know how many friends I've lost because of what you've done? Marcus, Gibbers, Tony... I swear, Natalie, if anything happens to somebody else I love..."

Natalie dug her fingernails into the chair. "I told you already. I didn't kill anybody." She looked up at them. "But you'll never believe me, will you?"

"...I believe you," Alyssa said.

"But you just said—"

"You can't even get yourself out of a simple butterfly knot, so if you were trying to convince us you have the intelligence and knowhow to pull something like this off, I'd say you failed. You couldn't steal a cookie from the cookie jar without alerting the media." Alyssa yanked on the knot and it quickly came undone. "And at the expense of pointing out the obvious, you're too plain and homely to attract even the most worthless bodies of men, so I doubt you could talk the nerds that work here into doing it for you. No offense, nerds."

Natalie stared at her in total disbelief. She was so shocked, in fact, that she didn't even notice she was free from her ropes.

After pouring a cup of coffee for Sophia, Jesse came over.

"Let's run through the facts one more time, ladies," he said. "We know somebody had to make the virus."

Sophia took the cup from him and began tracing her finger around the rim. "That person would have to have motive, access to this building, and be extremely computer savvy in order to manufacture a virus that even our best engineers can't stop."

"Unless one of the engineers helped," Alyssa said, smiling at Neil like a cat smiling at a mouse.

"I didn't—" Neil started to protest.

"We know you had nothing to do with it, Neil," Sophia said. "But Marcus did. And Gibbers might have been in on it as well."

"That's right," Jesse said. "We found Gibbers shot dead."

"We found Marcus dead, too. He couldn't have been killed much later."

"Don't forget about the nerd you shot out back," Alyssa pointed out.

"Yes, thank you, Alyssa. But Pip is fine."

"Okay, let's start from the beginning," Jesse said. "You give Marcus and Gibbers an assignment and lose contact with them both. Gibbers winds up dead and we find Marcus' body the next morning, only a mile away from here, with a snake bite on his arm. Now...doesn't it seem a little suspicious that he would be killed by a snake?"

"But you looked at his arm," Sophia argued. "You said those were snake bites for sure."

"I said they weren't bullet holes. They could've been injection needles for all I know."

"You think he was drugged?"

"It might explain why he was in the woods. Maybe he was confused and disoriented."

Sophia's eyes widened. "Maybe he was trying to get back here to warn us about something."

"You think the person who shot Gibbers also drugged Marcus?" Neil asked. "That seems like a stretch. Why not shoot them both?"

"Maybe that wasn't the original intention," Sophia said. "Maybe whoever killed them intended to poison them and dump their bodies somewhere else, so the murders couldn't be traced back. But Marcus and Gibbers are both boys...and relatively strong, as far as computer programmers go... Perhaps the killer couldn't handle them both."

Jesse leaned against the arm of Sophia's chair and crossed his arms. "I don't know. When Gibbers went MIA, I remember you calling Marcus to check up on him. Maybe Marcus got to the house and saw his best friend's body lying on the floor. He got spooked, ran off into the woods, tripped over a log or a loose root, and got bitten by a snake on the way down."

"But it's too coincidental!"

"There are sure a lot of 'What if's here..." Neil said.

"Can I offer an opinion, Nancy Drew?" Alyssa asked.

Sophia blinked at her. "Do you have one?"

"I spent some time checking out your employees' files while I was in your father's office. It turns out that your friend 'Gibbers,' which is simply a ridiculous name to begin with, had a little conflict of interest going on. Did you know his father runs an already successful massive multi-player game known as 'World of Witchcraft'? Gibbers worked for the company for a few years and was suddenly 'fired,' quite coincidently, at the same time your father began the Neverquest project. Now, why would a loving and wealthy father, who donates seventy-six percent of the proceeds from his company to charity, give the pink slip to his one and only son? I should also mention that this son—henceforth referred to as 'Gibbers: valued employee'—received a Master's degree in Computer Maintenance, which was fully financed by daddy, never missed a day of work, and received high praise from everybody in the organization, including winning two promotional awards and a patent that I have copies of in my pocket if you wish to see."

Everybody stared at her.

"The answer is: he wouldn't, numbskulls," Alyssa said, casually taking a seat and putting one leg over the other. "Daddy obviously realized that Gibbers would be a better asset to the team by working for the competition, so he sent his prodigy son over here to steal your ideas. Your father, Sophia, is something short of a shrewd businessman, so he hired Gibbers in a heartbeat, not even stopping to ask why an overqualified programmer from a vastly superior company would take a cut in pay to work at some mediocre fly-by-night operation like this."

Sophia opened her mouth to say something nasty, but Alyssa wouldn't let her.

"Gibbers sabotaged your entire operation," she continued. "Once he was out of this building, with the virus properly planted in your infrastructure, he planned to hand all of your company's schematics and ideas over to his father. He would've gotten away with it too, but you did something in your meddling that he didn't expect, Sophia. You showed concern for his well-being. When Marcus showed up and caught Gibbers in the process of stealing your designs, Gibbers panicked. A fight ensued and Gibbers managed to inject a syringe into Marcus' left arm. The first blow wasn't enough to be fatal, though, so Gibbers had to retract his hand and stab Marcus again, resulting in the 'snake bite' you claim to have seen in Marcus' arm. If you had looked more closely, you would've noticed one of the wounds was punctured deeper than the other. That would be indicative of a needle—or a snake with a chipped tooth. I wasn't sure which, but I checked Gibbers' desk after the fact and found, to no great surprise, that he has a full supply of these needles. Nowhere on his medical record does it state that he has allergies or is need of any insulin shots—and I strongly doubt he is the junkie type—so the needles are most likely his weapon of choice."

"But Gibbers was shot..." Sophia started to argue.

"How very astute of you, Nancy," Alyssa said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled wad of paper. "Before I used this for a tissue, it was a copy of the gun permit issued to Marcus last month. Coincidently, the serial number matches the one on the gun that was used in the murder of Gibbers. If we wanted to be doubly sure, we could pull the latent fingerprints off the gun and see if they all come back with a positive match to Marcus, but Sophia already got her greasy little fingers all over the handle when she shot that nerd, so that's out of the question."

"Good going, Sophia," Natalie mumbled.

"...Yeah, you can go now," Sophia said.

Kelsey helped Natalie to her feet. "Come on. I'll drive you home."

Sophia waited for them to leave. Then she turned to Alyssa...but with a million different thoughts flinging through her mind, she didn't know what to say.

"Marcus tried to save your father's company," Alyssa said. "It's a shame he spent his last few hours on this planet with you blaming him for all your problems. But then again, he was a nerd, so we're all happy he is gone now."

"But...how?"

"How did the one nerd overcome the other?" Alyssa asked. "I ran the simulation in my head. Marcus was Canadian and, thus, had more bulk and muscle than Gibbers. Gibbers had speed on his side, though, so he was able to get in two shots with the needle before Marcus got one shot with the gun. But that's all he needed. Then, drugged and confused, he stumbled out the door and into the woods. He knew he couldn't go to the cops because he had just shot a nerd, so he made a poor attempt to reach you guys. He failed, we found him, and Sophia shot a nerd. I believe that's the whole story."

"You know what I think, Alyssa?"

"What's that, Sophia?"

"I think you watch too much damn TV! You think people really act that way? You think this is 'CSI'? We're just a little more complicated than that, Alyssa."

But Jesse had been silent all this time.

"No..." he said slowly. "She might be onto something. I wasn't thinking about it at the time, but when I entered that house and saw Gibbers' body...there was a needle lying right next to him. And it was half empty, like he had used some it before he was killed."

Alyssa stuck her tongue out at Sophia, who was dumbstruck.

"...Fine," Sophia said at last. "Let's pretend you are right. Gibbers was a spy for World of Witchcraft, he and Marcus got into a fight, and they killed each other. Fine. But that exhausts all our leads right there."

"No, it doesn't," Jesse said. "What about Gena? She has something to do with all of this."

Neil adjusted his glasses. "Gena appears to be just a random NQ player. Gibbers probably sold her some kind of hacking device in which she could tap into the virus and command it from a remote computer."

"Apparently, we're not looking for one single person..." Sophia said. "Gena had motive to use the virus, but she didn't have access to this building. Gibbers had access and motive, but...did he have the knowhow, Neil? Could Gibbers really pull off something this big and have it go unnoticed?"

Alyssa raised her hand.

"I'd like to hear Neil's answer, Alyssa."

"Ah... Straight from the dork's mouth." Alyssa folded her hands and placed them on her knees. "Of course. If that's how you like it, Sophia."

Sophia ignored her. "Go ahead, Neil."

"Well...um..." Neil continued to fidget with his glasses. "I know all our work is the same to you, Miss Sophia, but Gibbers didn't know much about programming. He fixed problems, you see—he didn't create them."

"What about you? Could you create a virus to do what this one has done?"

"N-no. Of course not."

"Who could?"

Alyssa snorted and began thumbing through a folder in her lap.

"Nobody who works here..." Neil said. "Tony, maybe... He was the lead senior engineer. But I don't believe he would do anything to jeopardize your father's company."

"Motive... Access... And the knowhow..." Alyssa mumbled. "I don't know how you could've missed this, Sophia."

Losing her temper, Sophia suddenly lashed out, grabbed the folder from Alyssa's lap, and slammed it on the table behind them.

But that didn't stop Alyssa from speaking.

"Michelle Christine Belden. Graduated Summa Cum Laude from Kansas State with a Master's degree in Computer Programming and Design. Her thesis on 'Malware Protection and Subset Code Reconfiguration' is particularly interesting, although too wordy for my tastes." Alyssa began filing her nails with the palm of her other hand. "Graduated at the top of her class, along with our good friend, Tony, and your father, 'Russell the Muscle.' He was quite handsome back in the day, Sophia. Why didn't he marry Michelle? ...Oh, that's right. He dumped her for another woman. Your mother, nonetheless! Wow, I bet that hurt. To be rejected by the one person in this world you really love. How do you suppose that would feel, Sophia?"

Sophia was frozen in her chair.

"I bet she was in a lot of pain," Alyssa continued, lowering her voice to a whisper. "She disappeared off the face of the earth for a long time. I wonder why she resurfaced now. Don't you wonder, Sophia? What purpose could she have here, so far away from her hometown in Wyoming, where the deer and the buffalo taste good on a spit?"

"No... ...."

"Did you see the way she was dressed? She's rich now, Sophia. She's a success. Your father always knew she would be. I read it in the letters they wrote in college." She leaned forward. "What would happen if your father's company were to...oh, I don't know...suddenly collapse? He would lose everything—everything, Sophia. He invested his entire life—and yours—into this business. If it folds, so does your little Barbie mansion and all those pretty little outfits you wear. You'll feel the same way Michelle felt when your father left her cold and alone on the side of the street."

Sophia's hand brushed by the documents, one by one, looking at all of Michelle's qualifications...

"Your father still loves her, you know. The only reason he won't marry her is because he foolishly respects you and knows you don't trust Michelle. But he trusts her, Sophia...so much so that he gave her a key to this building, just in case, she...I don't know...had to get something out of here." Then a huge smirk overtook her face. "Or to put something in here."

The pages fell to the floor.

"Only one person has the motive, access, and knowhow to let a virus run loose in your servers," Alyssa said, picking up the pages for her dear friend Sophia. "And she's running the whole operation. Who feels stupid now?"

"Michelle... You bitch... ... ..."

"Dude, it reeks in here," Bob said, fanning his face.

"Well, stop blowing the stink on me!"

"I'm not! The stink is everywhere."

"No... You're everywhere!"

"That doesn't even make sense, Guy!"

"You don't even make sense!"

Oscar sat in the corner of May's stomach, watching the idiots argue back and forth. His eyes would go from one to the other and back again, each time growing wider and more bloodshot.

"I...cannot believe the levels of absurdity in the confinements of this abominable abdomen," he whispered.

"Hey, the weird guy with green hair is talking!" Bob declared. "Hi, weird guy with green hair!"

"Salutations," Oscar said. "Might I ask what brought you bumbling baboons to—"

"Are you a leprechaun?" Guy asked.

Bob slapped his forehead. "Oh, Guy. You are sooo dumb sometimes! Leprechauns are orange and have spots."

Oscar's jaw came unlatched listening to them talk.

"You can help us, right?" Guy asked.

"I'm...not sure anybody in this world can help you."

"Sophia can!"

"Excuse me?"

"Sophia will save us! When we're in trouble, Sophia will be there to rescue us. She's like our superhero!"

"But without the cape."

"Or leotards."

"But that would be cool. Her in leotards."

"And high heel boots."

Oscar yanked on his hair. "Arrrrrgh, I can't take it anymore!"

"Why?" Guy asked. "She'd save you, too."

Bob rubbed his chin, where a single strand of manly stubble was beginning to grow after thirty years. "Well, maybe if she has a thing for guys with green hair... She really just likes me and Guy."

"Totally."

"I don't care!" Oscar yelled. "I'd rather die than go anywhere with you two!"

Suddenly, Bob and Guy disappeared. All that was left was a blue light and short sizzle where their bodies used to be.

"Hey..." Oscar crawled towards the light, which quickly vanished. "I was kidding. Take me with you! Take me with yooou!"

"Oh, boys..." May whispered, puckering her lips as she crept through the trees in her garden. "Don't you want to play? Your friends are all waiting for you."

Russell and Wallace were hidden behind a stone, gasping for air.

"You should know by now that there is no golden monkey..." She ducked under a loose limb and planted one foot on a rock in front of her. "Did you honestly think I would play fair?"

"We're going to have to split up," Russell said. "She can't chase us both if we're running in opposite directions."

Wallace nodded. "I agree, sir. Let's—"

May's other foot crashed down between them. They were both taken down by the minor tremor in the earth.

"That's game over for you," she said, reaching down and seizing them both. "And lunchtime for me." But before she could plop them into her mouth, her stomach began to churn and gurgle. She felt something strange, like a rising gas building up inside of her, and immediately released her captives.

"What...?" She clutched her stomach. "Where'd your friends go? I don't feel them inside me anymore."

But when she looked down, her prey was gone. In their place was what looked like two blue fireflies, which she promptly stomped into the ground. Dust blasted out from under her feet, but she continued to trample the earth until there was a decent-sized footprint looking up at her. But there were no victims inside.

"Filthy rats!" she cursed. "I don't allow magic in my playground! Don't those idiots know the rules? How could they... ... Grrrrr..."

She stood there for a while, as still as a tree, and stared out at the empty courtyard with her arms down at her side. A single butterfly closed in on her, fluttering near her nose. Its antennas tickled her eyelashes.

"...That's the second time I've been played for a fool today," she whispered, watching the beautiful colors flash in front of her face. "This is what I get for being kind and merciful, huh? I let you have a chance to fight for your freedom and you lost. That was your fault."

The butterfly seemed to wink at her and May smashed it between her hands.

"I shouldn't have to pay for the mistakes of others." She dusted her hands and peeled the butterfly off her skin. "I will find you. If I have to go to the ends of the world, I will find you—especially the ones I ate fair and square. Your destiny in my stomach has already been decided. This will be the very last time that somebody ever mocks Duchess May."

"Bob! Hey, Bob, wake up!"

"Huh? What's going on?"

"We're alive!" Guy jumped out of his chair. "We made it out of the belly of the beast and we don't even smell bad!"

"What? How could this have happened?"

"I...I don't know. Maybe an angel is watching over us."

Sophia pushed past them. "I pulled the plugs, you idiots."

Bob and Guy first looked at each other and then dropped to their knees and began kissing Sophia's feet.

Sophia smashed her foot into Guy's jaw and then grabbed Bob by the throat, digging her nails into his flesh, and forced him back into his chair.

"Have a seat, Bob," she said. Then she threw her heel into Bob's chest, causing the chair to flip over.

"Sophia!" Russell removed his game helmet and ran over to his daughter. "What's the meaning of this?"

"I need to have a word with Michelle."

"But we were just about to take care of Duchess May. You should've seen us! It was glorious."

"Shut up, dad."

Sophia walked over to Michelle, who was slowly coming around, and ripped the game helmet from her head.

"Wake up, Michelle," she said, slapping the side of Michelle's face.

"Sophia!" Russell yelled. "Stop that."

Michelle tried to open her eyes, blinking a couple of times to get used to the fluorescent lights. "Sophia...?"

"I should kill you right now."

Russell came up from behind, seizing Sophia's wrist. "What are you talking about?"

"She put the virus into your game! She was jealous, dad. She wanted to get back at you for choosing mom over her."

Michelle's eyes suddenly opened very wide. "What...? No, I never—"

"Shut up, Michelle," Sophia snapped. "Do you know how many people have died because of you!?"

Michelle just stared at her, dumbfounded.

"These are some high accusations," Russell said. "Sophia, what makes you think Michelle had anything to do with this atrocity?"

"I have all the proof I need right here." Sophia shoved a folder of papers into her father's arms. "Michelle...you bitch. You played us all. Do you think this is a game? Do you think you're going to get away with this?"

Michelle shook her head. "Sophia, I didn't..."

Sophia reached into shirt, pulled out the gun, and held the barrel to Michelle's forehead. "You didn't what? WHAT, Michelle!?"

Michelle swallowed hard. Tiny beads of sweat trickled down her brow and stained her black shirt.

"...Russell," she whispered. "Get your daughter away from me..."

Russell was silent for a moment. He looked at her, studying the lines on her face, and then turned to Sophia.

"Give me the gun," he said, holding out his hand.

But Sophia only pressed the barrel harder into Michelle's skin. "I can't believe I almost started to trust you."

"Sophia..." Michelle closed her eyes and her knees began to tremble. "I would never do anything to hurt you or your father..."

"But you'd hurt other people!?"

"I love your father..."

"Enough of this!" Russell said. "Sophia, put that gun away. Somebody...somebody stop her." He scanned the faces in the room, for everybody had made a circle around them. He knew Wallace wouldn't touch Sophia. "Jesse, do something!"

"...I'm sorry, sir," Jesse said. "I think Sophia is right."

"Mack? Jeff? Roy?"

They all shook their heads.

"...Neil? Surely you care about this company."

"I do," Neil said. "But something's not right. How did Michelle get here so quickly if she lives on the other side of the country?"

"Maybe she was already here!" Russell yelled.

"...How would you know that?" Sophia whispered. She stared into Michelle's eyes and her finger began to tighten around the trigger.

"We've...been seeing each other for a while," Russell confessed. "I was just waiting for the right time to tell you, Sophia. She's going to move back in with us."

"Like hell she is."

"Sophia!"

Michelle slid back in her chair, feeling the cold metal on her forehead pushing her down.

"You'll never be half of the woman my mother was," Sophia said, pinning Michelle's leg down with her knee. "You've lied to us and deceived us for the last time. Why don't you tell my father why you're really here?"

"I'm here to help you get rid of this virus," Michelle said. "You know that, Sophia."

"Or maybe you put the virus into our servers so you could play 'hero' and my father would love you."

"Your father already loves me."

"...Wrong answer, whore."

Michelle saw Sophia's finger pull back on the trigger and she screamed.

"OKAY!" she cried. "Okay, okay. Just stop. Just...don't, please..."

Sophia released her finger. "Start talking."

Panting, Michelle brought a trembling hand up to her face and brushed back the many strands of hair that were clinging to her sweat. Her fingertips made short, steady grazes across her skin. Straightening her body, she looked around the room, feeling all the cold eyes staring her down, and turned at last to Russell, who was the most surprised of all.

"...I made your game a success," she whispered. "You wanted something fantastic. Remember? You told me once. You told me you wanted something that this world had never seen before...and I gave it to you."

"By putting a virus into our systems!?" he exclaimed.

"No. By making the world the way it should be. When this game reaches the open market, every person on this planet will realize what we could accomplish if women were in charge." She smiled up at him. "Don't you see, darling? We've created a wonderful place here."

Russell's mouth hung open.

"I didn't want to use you, of course. I really do love you. Someday, when your anger subsides, I hope you will ask for my hand in marriage and Sophia will finally accept me into your family. For now, though, this is all I can give you. I do hope you understand."

"...You... Tony... The three of us grew up together..." Russell clenched his fists around Michelle's shoulders and lifted her off the chair. "He lost his life because of you! So many good people lost their lives because of you allowed something dangerous to run wild in our servers! All because of some insane neo-feminism idea!?"

"No."

"No!?"

"I had nothing to do with the virus. Quite honestly, I want it gone as much as you. It's interfering with my plans."

He released her. "What plans?"

"I simply want the world to be the way I envisioned it," she said calmly. "It's something we all want."

"You crazy broad... I don't believe you."

"Your suspicion is well-founded, but you must acknowledge the fact that I have spent the extent of my time here doing everything I can to stop that virus in its tracks. I gain nothing by watching it wreck havoc."

"I don't believe you either," Sophia said. "None of us do."

"After what I've just confessed, I don't expect you to. I can't imagine how guilty I must look right now."

"Just tell us the password so we can end all of this."

Michelle shook her head. "...I'm sorry, Sophia. I can't."

"What do you mean? Why can't you!?"

"Because you'll enter it into the computer."

"Of course I'll—"

"You don't know what it'll do."

"Yes, I do!" Sophia snapped. "It'll destroy that virus once and for all."

"No," Michelle said, sternly but politely. "No, Sophia. You don't know that."

"What are you talking about?"

"Some new information has come to light and I no longer deem it safe to eliminate the virus by—"

"Some new information, my ass! Stop stalling."

"...Excuse me, Sophia. I respect you tremendously, but I am talking and it would be wise for you to listen."

Sophia began grinding her teeth together. "I swear, Michelle, I will end you right now if you don't give up that password! Tell us!"

Touching a hand to her chest, Michelle quietly cleared her throat and stood up. "Well... I think I've made it quite clear that I am not the one in need of restraint here. If somebody would kindly remove this young lady from my presence so that I may speak freely..."

"She's lying!" Sophia screamed, lunging forward. "She's a lying whore! Don't believe a word she says! She killed Tony! She let Marcus and Gibbers die!" She clawed Michelle's shirt and then went for her eyes. "Their blood is on your hands, Michelle! You killed them! You killed them all, you horrendous bitch!"

The room was in panic for a moment, but Jesse was finally able to pin down Sophia's arms and pull her back. She fought back, though, and the two of them crashed through a table before he was finally able to hold her down.

Alyssa looked over at them and mouthed a big 'Wow.'

"...Excuse her..." Michelle said, adjusting her shirt back to its normal position. "I had no choice. She was becoming hostile."

"Understandably so," Russell said. "...You better have a good explanation for your actions today."

"I do. You see, after learning that Gena and her friend had managed to gain the trust of Queen Isabella, I decided to investigate the castle for possible clues that would lead me to the source of the virus. I waited until the fight in the alley—when Isabella, Gena, and the others were all preoccupied—and quietly slipped away. I had taken advantage of my short time in the castle and its courtroom to study the layout of the land and was able to infiltrate the premises, using my mind-control powers when necessary, and came across a strange creature in the dungeon who seemed to know an awful lot about the virus. His name....was Narsis."

"Was he working with Gena?"

"Well, he claimed that he helped Gena obtain the virus, but was later double-crossed when Gena gave him to Isabella as a pet and a sign of good will."

"Does he know the password to unlock the virus?"

"Yes."

"Then more importantly, Michelle," Russell said, taking her hands. "Do you know the password? Did he tell you?"

"He did."

"Then it's over! We can put an end to this."

"I'm...not so sure that's the best course of action under these circumstances."

"What?" Russell looked perplexed. "Why not?"

"Well, when I first came across Narsis, I took him for a madman. He was ranting and raving and talking to himself in the corner of his cell. When I told him I was looking for the password to his virus, he started hopping up and down and screaming at me. He talked about the virus like it was a real thing, like it wanted something..."

"He sounds crazy."

"He was. But he told me the password. He said it was a burden to him, that some 'creature' had been tearing apart his mind layer by layer to find it... And that only I could keep it safe. He said that the creature would stop at nothing to get its name. It longs for it." Michelle paused for a moment. "...Normally, I wouldn't be concerned, but a lot of strange things have happened here lately and I feel there to be some truth in his ramblings, however scarce."

"So what do you suggest?"

"To be safe, I propose we log back into Neverquest and talk to Narsis. Maybe we can get him to calm down. I know he had more to say, but...your daughter pulled the plug before he could finish."

"Pardon me...but is that wise?" Wallace interrupted. "Bob and Guy barely escaped from that place with their lives, and I'm sure the rest of you had your own difficulties as well. We also have to keep in mind that there are still children trapped in there. If your former calculations are correct, they don't have much longer before they begin to lose their sanity like Narsis."

"It's true that there are some risks to going back in, but I think they outweigh the possibilities of what could happen if we don't hear Narsis out."

"I agree," Russell said. "We can't afford to take unnecessary risks with so much at stake. ...But this shouldn't just be our decision. This affects every person in this room, so let's put it up to a vote."

"Fair enough." Michelle scanned the room. "There are twelve of us here and we already have two votes for hearing Narsis out. I'm curious what the rest of you have to say."

"I think you can go to hell, Michelle!" Sophia yelled from the other side of the room, where Jesse had failed in trying to calm her down. "Whatever she's trying to talk you guys into, it's a trap. Don't believe her! She'll play anybody to get what she wants."

"...Well, we all know where Sophia stands on this issue."

"And you can count me in right beside her," Jesse said, combing back Sophia's hair. "Frankly, Michelle, I don't trust you."

"Me too," Wallace said, turning his head directly into the stare he got from Russell. "I'm sorry, sir, but I love your daughter too much to watch her suffer anymore. My biggest concern is for her and those kids in the game. We have to get rid of this virus—now."

"So that's three for entering the password now," Michelle said, somewhat nervously. "Anybody else?"

"...You always seem to know what you're talking about, Michelle," Roy said. "And you're always right. It's amazing. I don't know how you do it, but I'm siding with you on this one."

"Aye," Mack said. "You kept us safe in the game. For that, we owe you."

"Well, you did step on me..." Jeff said slowly. Then he gave two big thumbs-up and leaned back. "But you're hot and I love you anyway! Count me in."

"Uh....thanks." Michelle raised an eyebrow. "So that's five for going back in. How—"

"Back in!?" Bob exclaimed. "No, no, no, no! I'm never going back in there! There are women in there!"

"Hold me, Bob!" Guy cried.

They embraced, much to the disgust of the greater portion of the room.

"So you two are siding with Sophia?" Michelle sighed.

"If her side is staying here—then, yes!"

"Yes, yes!" the other agreed.

"Well..." Michelle said. "Good going, Sophia. You've managed to convince half of the people in the room to join you. We're now at an even fifty-fifty split."

"Neil still has to vote," Sophia said. "Come on, Neil! Do what's right."

Neil gulped and looked up from his chair. "Um... Well... I, uh..."

Alyssa rolled her eyes and sat on Neil's lap, crossing her legs. "This is boring. When's it my turn to vote?"

"You don't get a vote!" Sophia snapped. "You don't even belong here."

"Now, that's not nice. You gave the uninteresting, tertiary characters the chance to vote."

"Hey, I resent that!" Jeff said. "I'm as worthwhile as the rest of you."

Alyssa drummed her finger against her chin. "Hmm, let's see... I vote... ... ...against Sophia! Just because I hate her." Then she smiled sweetly and batted her eyelashes at Russell. "But I'm sure you'll accept that, handsome."

"No!" Sophia said. "That's not fair, dad. She shouldn't be allowed to vote!"

"Weren't you the one who forced her into this place against her own will?" Michelle asked. "I'm sorry, Sophia, but we can't exclude her. She's a member of this team and deserves a vote, just like everybody else."

Alyssa stuck her tongue out at Sophia.

Sophia could only glare at her for so long. Soon her eyes—and everybody else's—were on Neil.

"Neil, please..." Sophia said. "For Tony's sake, don't let this virus hurt anybody else. We have a chance to end this. Please..."

Neil adjusted his glasses and began to nod. "Tony...taught me everything I know about computers. He always said that the best solution to any problem was not to make a mistake to begin with. If you do something right the first time, you don't have to go back to correct it." He took a deep breath and tried to ignore the slender blonde squatting on him like a chair. "I...have a lot of respect for you, Sophia. Not many girls will even acknowledge my existence, but you always come to work with a smile on your face and say 'Good morning' to me. That means a lot to me. That's why...it's really hard for me to say...that we need to hear Narsis out before we do anything rash. I'm sorry. I want this virus gone as much as you, Sophia, but I—"

"Save it," Sophia muttered, looking away. "You've doomed every last person in that game. All of you."

"...Then it's settled," Michelle said quietly. "Let's get back to—"

Suddenly, Alyssa put her hands behind her head and leaned onto Neil's face. "Hmmm... Actually, I've changed my mind. I vote for Sophia."

"What?" Michelle froze. "Why...why would you do such a thing?"

"Just to see the expression on your face. ...It was priceless, by the way." She laughed. Then, after stretching her arms in the general direction of Neil's face, she sat up. "Also, I decided that all the cool people voted for Sophia."

"Did you hear that, Bob?" Guy asked. "She thinks we're cool!"

Bob cheered. "Yay! We're cool."

"Cool like ice, baby!"

"Shut up, maggots," Alyssa said, and they obeyed.

From the other side of the room, Sophia gawked at her, speechless, and tried to think of something to say. But what could she say?

"Well...all that does is put us back at fifty-fifty," Michelle said. "I have no choice but to pull rank. Seeing as how Russell is—"

"Actually," Alyssa corrected her, "that puts us at seven votes on the cool people's side and...five votes on the loser's side." She made an 'L' with her forefinger and thumb and presented it to Michelle. "That would be your side."

"Okay, obviously you're not very good at counting because six people voted for us to go back into Neverquest to speak with Narsis and...why are you making rude hand gestures like that?"

"Oh, this?" Alyssa asked. She turned to her hand, which was flapping like a garbage can lid. "This is Handy, my hand puppet. Handy thinks you're very boring. Handy would rather be picking my nose than listening to the sounds that come out of your mouth."

"Excuse you!" Michelle raised her chin, looking somewhat arrogantly down on Alyssa. "Nobody else on my side has agreed to change his vote."

"He has," Alyssa said, touching Neil's nose.

Neil looked at her finger cross-eyed. "Um, no... I mean what I said before..."

"Did you?" Alyssa asked, facing Neil and wrapping her thighs around his legs. "Because you still seem unsure to me..."

"N-no... I mean, yes! Yes, I know we have to...be safe about this. I..." Neil's glasses began to fog up and he loosened his collar. "You're, um...breathing too close..."

Alyssa pushed Neil's fingers away and started undoing the collar for him. "You spoke to me once about your manhood... You said you're the last gentleman on this planet." Neil's shirt fell to the floor. "I wonder if that's true."

"Uh..." Neil looked down. "How did you take my shirt off without sliding it through my arms?"

"I can do some amazing things...when I try..."

Neil swallowed what felt like a horse, but the bulge wasn't in his throat.

"I don't believe in the good in people..." Alyssa whispered. "We all have our secret desires." She touched behind his ears, hooked her fingertips around them, and pulled herself closer. "You're not a man, Neil. You're an animal. You want me...and you can't resist me. Your instincts won't let you."

"Enough of this," Michelle said. "Alyssa, get off Neil so he can log us back into Neverquest. We're wasting valuable—"

"When are you going to grow up, Neil?" Alyssa asked. "Or are you always going to be a little boy, obeying the mommy figure in your life?" She smirked. "I wonder how many more people are going to have to die before you grow some weight in your pants and start taking matters into your own hands."

"W-what do you mean?" Neil asked. "My mom's not even here..."

"For all intents and purposes, she's your mom!" Alyssa said, pointing a finger at Michelle. "That goes for all of you! I've watched that chickadee baby everybody in this room again and again. You hide behind excuses, 'She's always right' or 'She's really hot—just like my mom,' but at the end of the day, you men are disgusting pigs and sheep. ...Except for you, Jesse." Alyssa looked down on Neil and clicked her tongue against the side of her mouth a few times. "Last gentleman on Earth, huh? You don't even know what it means to be a man."

"Stop it!" Neil cried, squeezing his legs tighter until they began to cramp. "Michelle is right! I know it. We can't... No, we have to..."

Alyssa removed Neil's glasses. "I hate Sophia as much as the rest of you. There's a lot of hate in this room, I'm sure..." Then she breathed into the lens of the glasses, quickly fogging them up, and carved little heart prints into them with her forefinger. "But she's also the only other girl in this room who can listen to that thing throbbing in her chest instead of her pants."

Neil gulped a few more times.

"...I'm not stupid, Neil. You can ask any of my shrinks and they'll tell you that I've always been a quiet person...unobtrusive and withdrawn. And it's true." She slid the glasses back around Neil's ears and ran her hands down his neck. "I prefer to watch people, to study their behaviors and their actions when put into threatening or otherwise uncomfortable situations... It's funny, really. I used to do the same thing with ants, but they are less predictable and die much more easily. ...No, I find humans to be much more amusing. And pathetic."

Sophia sighed. "Alyssa... I know what you're trying to do, and I thank you, but Neil has made up his mind."

"This isn't about you, Sophia," Alyssa said. "This is about me toying with human emotion."

"Oh, please... You're just trying to impress Jesse. We all see it."

"N-no..." Neil said. "No, she's right... I feel so lost without Tony that I'm making irrational decisions. Sophia, you'll have to forgive me. I don't...know what to do..." Neil fought back the tears and took a deep breath. "...At least, about some things. For this here, I know exactly what I need to do. And Sophia...whatever your call is, I'm with you. You've worked here for a long time...even if you hate it...and I know you loved Tony...even if you think we're all a bunch of nerds...and I trust you...and there are no exceptions to that."

Alyssa patted Neil's pants.

"I still think you're pathetic," she said. "But I don't think you're a pathetic, lifeless loser anymore."

Neil started to cry.

"Someday, maybe you'll learn to stop being a prisoner to your emotions. Like me. I can do whatever I want and I have no regrets or remorse. In fact... I've decided to change my vote again. Neil has upset the balance by joining the cool table. I must restore equilibrium."

"ALYSSA!" everybody in the room yelled.

"Oh, fine... Let's just enter the stupid password so we can go home already." Alyssa rolled her eyes. "Seriously, you people never take time to stomp on the roses..."

"Well, thanks for all your help," Sophia said. Then she glared at Michelle. "Now, if you don't mind, I am going to wipe your virus from our servers."

Michelle simply nodded her head.

"...You win, Sophia," she said quietly. "I will support your decision."

"The password, Michelle. Now."

"...Adelais. A-d-e-l...a-i-s."

Sophia pushed past her. "You better not be lying." She walked over the computer's mainframe, pulled out the keyboard, and began punching in the code.

"Wait!" Bob said.

"What?"

"Shouldn't we duck and cover or something?" Guy asked.

"No, that's ridiculous," she said. "It's just a stupid password to a stupid virus. What could possibly go wrong?" And with that, she pressed the red button.

The computer seemed to be thinking for a moment, as the lights began to flash and the motors began to whirl, and then it suddenly stopped. And the lights went out, leaving them in total darkness.

"...I told you," Guy said.

"Shut up."

"Whoa... Did somebody just touch me? Was it yooou, Sophia? Hehehe...."

"Hey, I felt it, too."

"It...tickles..."

"HEY! It's a little invasive, isn't it?"

"Would you stop that!?"

"It was just a power outage, guys," Michelle said. "We probably just got hit with some loose electricity flying around this room. There are a lot of computer devices in here, after all."

"Well, go find a light switch!"

"Those don't work if the power is out, dumbass."

"Oh... Open the window shutters then! It's still daytime."

"Who's closest?"

"I think I am, but I can't find the wall... What's going on?"

"I'll get the window," Michelle said. "Everybody, just stay put."

Bob and Guy began to snivel, fondling each other.

"I'm afraid of the dark, Bob... I... Bob? Where'd you go?"

Bob's screams were heard across the room. "WHO DID THAT!?"

"Did what?"

Michelle opened the shutters and sunlight poured into the room. "Okay, now we can see what we're doing..."

Sophia looked around. The light was still dim, but she could make out the outlines of the furnishings in the room and a million suspended dust particles dancing in the sun's rays.

"Hey..." she said. "Where is everyone?"

Guy blinked. "Yeah, Bob was right here... right where this... ... ...ohmyGodWHATHEHELL!?" He fell over backwards.
"What's wrong?" Michelle asked, turning around.

"No, no, no, no, NOOOOOOO!!!" he yelled and his cries were suddenly muffled beyond all comprehension.

"Guy? ...Guy, where are you?" She was silent for a moment and then her voice suddenly changed, becoming very slow and concise. "Sophia. Alyssa. Don't move an inch."

"What?" Sophia asked. "Why?"

"Just...don't."

"No worries, boss," Alyssa said.

Michelle walked backwards and then turned around, looking through the windowpane. "...Do you see something very wrong here, Sophia?"

"There's...no parking lot."

"Where are you?" Russell asked. "I still can't see anything!"

Almost instinctively, Sophia's eyes drifted towards the floor...and then she cupped her hands around her mouth. "...D...ad... ... ...Oh, God..."

"What? What's going on!?"

"Just stay put, dear," Michelle said. "We're coming to get you... All of you."

"What!?"

"Sophia. Pick him up please."

Sophia stared at her and then at her father, shaking her head in utter disbelief. "Michelle... What the hell did you do...?"

"This wasn't part of my plan, Sophia."

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO!?" she screamed.

"Please... Just put everyone on the table. And...watch where you step."

Sophia knelt down, as carefully as she could, and lowered her cupped hands to the ground. "Dad... Jesse, Wallace... I... ... ..."

"I got Mack and Roy!" Michelle said. "Now, where's Jeff?"

"Enjoying the view," came Jeff's annoying laugh. "You look even better in skirts from down heeeeeeEEEEY!"

Michelle plopped them on the table. "Narsis' warnings make sense now. Adelais is more than a password—it's the name of this world. And by naming it, we've allowed this world to exist. We've made it a real thing."

"And now we're trapped here," Sophia said.

"...I don't know. Maybe."

Sophia was quiet.

"I found Bob..." Michelle said. "He's unconscious, but he should be okay."

"What about Guy?"

"...I already know where he's at." Blushing a little in the dark, Michelle slipped off her shoe and set it on the table next to the rest of the guys. "I'm, uh...sorry, Guy."

Sophia scowled at her. "You're not sorry for anything, are you?"

"Sophia, I never meant for this to happen."

"Go to hell."

"I think we're already there..." Russell said.

Jesse stared up at Sophia's chest. "Not all of us..."

Russell slapped him upside the head. "Hey, she's still my daughter, boy. Keep your wandering eyes to yourself."

"Right." Jesse lowered his gaze and was suddenly eye-level with Sophia's midriff. "...Yeah. Not much I can do about that, sir."

Michelle counted the heads on the table. "We're missing Neil. Has anybody seen him?"

"I got him," Alyssa said.

"Okay, good. Bring him over here."

"You said not to move."

"Well, now I'm asking you to move."

Alyssa was still straddled in the chair, leaning on the back of it with her arms crossed, and didn't say another word. She simply smiled at the two of them.

"No!" Sophia cried. "Alyssa, get off of him! ...Alyssa!"

Alyssa looked out the window innocently. "You know... I think I'm going to love it here in...Adelais."