The Purge
A ReBoot: Project Metaverse fic
By: Jay Winger and Java

Foreword: The characters, locations, and concepts of ReBoot are property of Mainframe Entertainment. The concept of ReBoot: Project Metaverse is the original concept of Cybercat. The idea of the Great Codex System is borrowed from the ReBoot fanfic "Dasus' Game" by Laurie and the Northern Light. The characters in this fic are the exclusive propery of Jay and/or Java, and may not be used without permission.

Timeline: Begins in late November 2461

* * * * * * *

"General, Colonel, please be seated."

The two men sat down at the long table, joining more than a dozen others. The general, Antonio Marcotti, was a large man -- the sort one would call "built like a brick shithouse." His dark green uniform strained against his sinews as the chair creaked under his weight. Cold black eyes looked up the length of the table as the colonel, Minagiri Tatewaki, sat down next to him. Minagiri, a Japanese man of noble bearing, wore a khaki uniform. As he sat down, Col. Minagiri laid a sheathed katana across his knees. It was an understood fact taht it was a point of honor for him, so no one objected to his possessing it.

Marcotti looked up the table at the man who'd spoken -- the commander of the war effort, General William Straussmore. The war commander cleared his throat, then folded his hands on the tabletop. "Gentlemen, you all know why we're here. The war is not faring as well as we'd hoped."

The assembled generals grumbled in agreement. Gen. Strassmore nodded. "While the Sprites no long have the advantage of superior technology, we are still losing ground due to our lack of resources." All the generals knew this; the diminishing resources on Earth were the very reason Project Metaverse had been started -- and now it had led to a war they weren't entirely ready to fight.

Gen. Straussmore went on. "The reason this meeting has been called is because our attempts to form an alliance with the Viruses have failed." Fresh noises of dismay from about the table. They'd known there was no love lost between the Sprites and Viruses, and had been planning to exploit that by allying with them. This, it seemed, was not going to happen.

"Permission to speak, sir?" The deep, volcanic voice came from Marcotti. Gen. Straussmore seemed surprise -- Marcotti was not known to speak in meetings -- but indicated the other general could talk. Marcotti rose from his seat, adjusting his uniform, then spoke. "It is my belief that we cannot trust the computer Viruses to begin with." He raised a hand to stave off reply. "The reason is because we (by which I mean the Human race) -- mean to control the world of cyberspace -- which the civilians have dubbed the 'Metaverse' after the Project. Meanwhile, they (by which I mean the computer Viruses) either seek the same as we -- thus making us rivals -- or they seek the complete destruction of all that we are fighting for -- thus making us their enemies."

Murmurred sounds came from the other officers. They knew this to be true, and Gen. Straussmore leaned forward, steepling his fingers. Marcotti went on. "The computer Viruses have shown amazing adaptability, both prior to the initialization of the Project and more recently, when we encountered them personally. I have every belief that if we were to ally ourselves with the computer Viruses and defeat the Sprites, the computer Viruses would turn on us and try to destroy us to seize control of cyberspace."

"So what would you suggest, General?" Gen. Straussmore inquired.

"Even if we were not to ally with the Computer Viruses, they still pose a threat to our control." Marcotti leaned forward and placed his hands on the conference table. "In order for this war to end in a favorable way, and to ensure our way of life, the computer Viruses must be removed from the equation."

There was a silence, and then another officer spoke up. "Just how, General? As General Straussmore just told us, we're still losing ground to the Sprites. We lack the resources to take the war onto another front."

Col. Minagiri spoke up. "On the contrary, Commander," the Japanese man said in a cultured drawl. "During the Dauntless' most recent campaign, we captured information from Sprite databases -- making us aware about facts of computer Virus society -- if it could be called such. Such information could prove useful, should it be decided to begin a campaign against the computer Viruses."

"As the colonel says," Marcotti said, "we believe we could break the computer Viruses, and thus remove them from the equation."

Gen. Straussmore leaned back in his chair. "Are you certain of this, General Marcotti?"

"Absolutely, sir," the general replied. He wasn't smiling.

"In that case," Straussmore said, "I am authorizing you to make full use of the resources of the warship Dauntless and do what is necessary to remove the Viruses from the war."

* * * * * * *

"General Marcotti," Straussmore said, striding down a corridor with the other general beside him, "your timing on this campaign is impeccable. Recently, a man began to work in my staff on the war effort."

"Yes, sir," Marcotti replied, "but what does this have to do with me?"

"He, like another new man on my staff, is an expert on Metaversian lifeforms -- specifically, Viruses." Straussmore turned around and faced his subordinate. "Such expertise would be very helpful to you, I'm sure."

Marcotti nodded as Straussmore led him into his private conference room. Within were seated two men. One was a pale Nordic fellow wearing the bland attire of one who spent most of his time in private labs or the like. The other was dark-haired and would have been called handsome if he would clean himself up, as well as replace the shabby outfit he was wearing. The dark-haired man had his legs crossed, one foot bouncing in the air nervously as a cigarette smoldered in his fingers. He and the Nordic chap looked up as the generals entered, then arose.

"General, meet Doctor Cristoph Mueller and Mr. Daniel Paris." Straussmore pronounced the dark-haired man's name pahr-us.

"It's pronounced like the city -- Paris," he corrected.

Straussmore shrugged. "Gentlemen, this is General Antonio Marcotti, commander of the warship Dauntless. You will be transferred under his command immediately so your talents can be put to use for the war effort."

"Talents?" Paris asked.

"Specifically, your experience with computer Viruses," Straussmore explained.

Dr. Mueller nodded. "Of course, Herr General," he said in a somewhat high-pitched voice. A Germanic accent colored his tones.

"I am aware of your experience, eh, Herr Doktor," Marcotti said, humoring the man by using some of his limited knowledge of German. He looked at Paris. "But what about you, Mr. Paris?"

Paris hesitated, glanced at Straussmore, then back at Marcotti. "I'm a hacker, sir."

Straussmore nodded. "Yes. Mr. Paris was known as Dante -- and actually wrote a virus."

Marcotti's eyes snapped back to Paris, reassessing the hacker's look. Paris puffed on his cig a moment, then stamped it out on the floor. The burly general scowled with distaste. He had, indeed, heard of the hacker Dante. Dante had unleashed a troublesome program called "Inferno" that had disabled firewall programs, leading to future trouble with other hackers and viruses. Marcotti had heard Dante had been captured, but was nonetheless surprised to meet him face-to-face.

Somehow, he expected someone taller.

"You are Dante?" Marcotti repeated.

"Yes, sir, General," Paris replied.

Marcotti grunted. "Very well. You will assist Dr. Mueller in his studies of the computer Virus situation. Provide analyses for him. Under no circumstances are you to have access to coding programs."

"Understood, sir," Paris said.

"One of the first things I shall require," Marcotti went on, "is a weapon we can use against the computer Viruses. A modified rifle."

"Jawohl, Herr General," Dr. Mueller said. "I may need access to any viral-related data ve have captured from ze Sprites."

"I'll get you the access, Herr Doktor," Marcotti said. "I'll notify the swabs to transfer your belongings to the Dauntless post-haste."

* * * * * * *

Daniel Paris -- known in some circles as "Dante" -- dropped his daypack on his bunk and glanced around his small cabin. He was lucky -- he supposed. Marcotti could just as easily have had him put in the barracks. That, however, would've gone over badly with the troops. His being a smoker didn't endear him to many people, but his being a hacker would get him killed. Thus, he was sequestered in one of the smallest spare cabins available.

Dante sighed as he slipped out a cig from his pack, then snapped a match and lit up. He puffed for a minute before dropping into a chair and swiveling to face his workstation. He sighed again, rubbing his temple as he flicked on his terminal. He punched in his login/password (dparis/gamma213) and opened up the file Marcotti's XO, Colonel Minagiri, had put him to work decrypting.

One of the problems the Human race had in their dealings with Viruses is the fact that the Viruses spoke a variety of other dialects besides the Standard language the Sprites and Humans spoke. While Viruses spoke Standard in the presence of non-virals, their records and personal affairs were all conducted in one of these dialects. The old Sprite records they'd captured indicated the Sprites had a partial cipher for some of these dialects.

Minagiri had charged Dante with deciphering a file they'd found in a viral dialect called se'Macik. This was after the cryptology experts had decrypted the locks the Sprites had put on it. The file must have real significance if they went to such trouble to keep it locked.

Dante called up the cipher the Sprites had compiled and sent the file through it. The partially decrypted file slowly unveiled itself on his screen. He tapped out the ashes of his cig in his ashtray, they puffed as he studied the file. "Lessee..." That word was 'book' ...

No, wait a sec. That word couldn't be 'book' -- because this symbol here was. Hmm... that symbol was for a written word ... It's obviously something similar to 'book,' considering the similarity in the words... must be something about a library that they're describing here. Dante slowly deciphered it. "In Standard, that's C... O... D-E... X. 'Great Codex.' Definitely a library or a book or something." He tapped out more ashes, they frowned. The word for 'system' was in the same segment... but its positioning couldn't be detailing the location of this library or book, not by the syntax structure of se'Macik... It had to be...

"'Great Codex... System?'" Huh. Must be an archive or something... No, wait. All these references to Viruses... Dante plugged some of his new findings into the cipher program and ran the file through it again. More of the file was now unlocked, and Dante frowned as he scanned through it. Then he nearly dropped his cig as he realized what it said. He puffed on his cig, trying to calm the sudden sense of unease he felt.

Dante ground his cig out in the ashtray, then lit up another. He re-read the file to make sure he'd read it right, then turned to the ship's internal comm. He punched in the number for Dr. Mueller's lab. After a moment, the scientist answered. "Ja, vhat is it, Herr Pahrus?"

"Paris," the hacker corrected. "Doctor, I've been working on that file Minagiri gave me, and I found something I think you should see."

"Ja? Send it to me."

"Ten-four," Datne said, sending a copy of his decrypted file to Mueller's terminal. "You've got mail, doc."

Dr. Mueller was silent for a moment as he read it, then he hummed. "Hmm... I see. I shall bring zis to ze General's attention immediately." He cut the connection, and Dante turned back to the file.

Latest reports indicate a population of over 500,000 viruses in the Great Codex System, making up almost 40% of the total system population... Viruses appear to be the major influence in the system's government...