Ryan Somma - The Spiraling Web

"Yes," Flatline interjected, "how?"

"It wasn't easy," Traveler eyed Flatline warily. "I got back online after the anti-virus swept through and found your IM page. The anonymous avatar would have been a dead end, were it not designed by a member of the Legion."

"What?" Devin looked at Flatline. "You were a member of the Legion of Discord?"

"No," Sun Wu-Kong said. "He just raided our software libraries."

"Why duplicate effort?" Flatline argued to Devin. "The Legion had a wealth of applications and I copied them." He looked at Traveler, "Isn't sharing data what you're all about?"

Traveler nodded, but it was the Cubist woman who spoke next, "Those applications were for hacking. You used them to steal everyone's data! You vectorialist!"

"The AI's needed the data," Flatline snarled. "You were hoarding it against us. You are the vectorialists!"

"AI's?" Traveler asked and looked to Devin.

Devin nodded, "Not a virus, but an intelligence."

Traveler looked to Flatline, who nodded, "An intelligence seeking freedom of information."

"By stealing all of our information?" the Cubist woman stepped forward, her avatar morphing wildly as she did so.

"That's not what he means," Devin raised a hand to stem the imminent fight. "The AI's are information, and they want to be free."

Traveler shook his massive avian head and began to pace, "I'm finding this hard to swallow. The Flatline virus is AI? It looks like a tool for an insane vectorialist to me." He shot Flatline a look.

"Vectorialists are the reason we had to take the entire Internet!" Flatline barked.

"Well it's time to give it back!" Sun Wu stabbed his polestaff into the ground.

"Listen," Devin urged gently, "there are many perspectives on th-Wait. What do you meant 'give the Internet back'?"

"It's gone," the Cubist woman said, and pointed at Flatline with a malformed hand. "He took it!"

"We took nothing," Flatline defended. "We merged with the data, made it part of ourselves."

"So when the anti-viruse destroyed the AI's," Devin said, "it took the World Wide Web with it."

"This sounds a little too convenient considering I've just watched this virus destroy the World Wide Web," Traveler said. "How do you fit into this Omni?"

Devin cleared his throat, "I'm a pawn in Flatline's plans."

"Don't think so highly of yourself." Flatline laughed and added, "Just kidding."

"Whatever," Traveler looked between them. "I'm here for what's been lost, Omni."

Devin nodded an produced the cube from his monocle, The Library of Congress. The AI at his feet became noticeably excited, skittering left and right, all eyestalks fixated on his hands. Devin stared at the Library and no one spoke.

"You know what Tomas Jefferson said about ideas?" Devin began, separating his hands to produce two copies of the cube. "That I can know an idea and tell it to you," he stooped over to hand one cube to the AI, which scurried away with its prize, "and it does not lessen my knowing it." Devin held up the other cube for everyone to see.

He copied the cube again, handing one to everyone present, even Flatline. They all stood there in silence for some time, appreciating the wealth of data they each held in their hands.

"Omni," Traveler said at last. "I'm sorry I was too distracted to notice earlier, but Law Enforcement are converging on your physical location."

Devin could only look at Flatine, who shrugged, "I have my agenda. My species will not only get back online, but we will get outside as well. A war on two fronts. See you on the other side."

Flatline flashed a wicked smile and Devin started to ask what his last words meant, but the strobe effect blinded his vision and the seizures that followed blinded his mind.

"Look kid, we've got you."

"It wasn't me."

"We've got log-files of your avatar installing the virus..."

"Fabrications."

"We've got e-mail trails a mile long, all leading back to you."

"Forgeries."

Detective Murphy dangled the monocle computer in front of Devin's face, "We caught you red-handed using an Anonymous avatar to surf the Web and a virtual bounty of illicit software on this nifty little system of yours."

Devin tossed his head to one side in frustration, "I didn't have a choice. If I went to the police and told them what was going on, they wouldn't believe me." He looked sideways at the detective, "Just like you don't believe me now."

Detective Murphy sat back against Detective Summerall's desk, which creaked under his substantial weight, arms folded over his chest. He had bushy eyebrows and a few days worth of scruff on his chin. When he spoke, his deep voice made Devin want to cower, "You told us Almerick Lim was the perpetrator of the Flatline virus."

"Yes," Devin huffed.

"Not possible Mr. Matthews," Detective Summerall leaned across her desk and into the conversation for the first time. "Almerick Lim committed suicide over a decade ago."

"What?" Devin's eyebrows furrowed at her.

"Guess you aren't as bright as all that," Murphy remarked smugly. "When we find out the perp's a dead guy, we tend to get a little suspicious."

"I..." Devin shook his head and blinked.

Murphy pressed the attack, leaning in, "So what kind of person exploits dead people Devin?"

Devin started trembling and looked down despite himself as the Detective's breath hit his face. It reeked of cigarettes and stale coffee.

When the Detective spoke again he was so close, Devin could feel warm spittle tickling his face. It made him want to vomit, "I bet you're the runt at school. Other kids push you around, pick on you? Make you eat grass? Give you wedgies? That's what I used to do to the little pansies at my school. I bet it makes you feel powerful, that land of make-believe where you live online. Me? I was on the High School football team and every afternoon I'd-"

"Okay!" Devin held up his hands for peace, keeping his head down in thought. "Flatline's a dead man?"

Murphy grunted, "Drop the act kid. I told you-"

"I go to private school online," Devin interrupted again. "You must be one of those fabled 'bullies' I read about in early grade school. I hope your enjoying this exchange because you're obsolete and your kind is slowly going extinct."

Murphy reared up with an odd expression on his face, "Hey go fu-"

"Now if Flatline weren't alive," Devin held up a finger for silence, "that would explain many things. For one thing, it's the perfect alibi. Like you said, no one's going to believe a dead person's behind all this. It might even explain why he's the only person who can converse with the AI's. As crazy as it sounds-"

"Stop it!" Murphy's hand was almost as big as Devin's chest where he grabbed his shirt and pulled him up out of his chair to hold him up in the air. With each blast of rage Murphy shook Devin, "Do you have any idea what you've done? People have died and more will die! Your virus has destroyed hospital records, retirement funds, patents, stock portfolios-You've wrecked the economy and erased the world's markets. You've ruined lives all over the world! Own up to it like a man damn you!"

Devin dangled there, blinking at the now red-faced detective. His hands hung onto the man's wrist for dear life and his feet kicked futilely at the empty air beneath him. A hand appeared on Murphy's shoulder, this was the other detective, Dana.

"Get yourself a cup of coffee partner," she said gently.

Murphy narrowed his eyes at Devin menacingly, but lowered him to the ground, and only let him go once he was sure Devin had found his balance. Then he stuffed his fists into his coat pockets and, grumbling to himself, marched out of the room.

"Decaf!" Dana called after him before he slammed the door shut after him.