System Reboot (Sequel to System Failure)

Chapter 4

Alesa's POV
My phone buzzed against my bedside table, only just loud enough to stir me from my sleep. I ignored it and settled back down into the warm sheets, starting to drift off until my phone buzzed a second time and I groaned, rolling over to reach out my hand and grab it, opening a bleary eye to reach the text that apparently came from Jason.

'Code Red: Major attack on city mainframe. Need you all there ASAP'

I huffed and flopped back in bed for a moment, shutting my eyes. "Alright, get up, time to go to work," I told myself and I heaved my body up and out of my lovely warm bed. A glance at the clock told me that I only had ten minutes before my alarm would have gone off anyway, but I detested losing the extra ten minutes regardless.

I got dressed, remembering to drop my phone into my pocket, and grabbed an apple from the kitchen before throwing on my trench coat and double checking that my amulet was around my neck (I always wore it) before hooking my chains onto my belt and dashing out of my apartment, taking the stairs two at a time down to the bottom floor. I ate my apple as I jogged to the city hall, flicking through my phone with my other hand to call Ty.

"I'm up, I'm up!" Ty's voice said the instant he picked up the phone.

"You sure? You sound half asleep," I said back, taking another bite.

"Oh hey Alesa, I thought you were Jason. Did he send you three text messages about the attack?"

"Nope, only one," I said with a laugh. "Meet you at city hall."

"Okay, I'll be there in five. Or ten."

I laughed and hung up. I finished off my apple (core and all; everyone thought it was weird) and slowed to a walk as I entered the city hall. It was a two story building with a glass dome that took up most of the roof, allowing sunlight into the main room below. The receptionist desk sat against the back wall, full of neatly organised paper and computer screens, the receptionists huddled in a corner near it, chatting nervously as the screens flickered and the computers hissed and sparked.

The rest of the room was full of people in suits and dresses moving around, making way for the Glitches who were running into the room and dissolving into code. Most of the civilians paid them little heed, busily focused on their phones or laptops or deep in the middle of a conversation.

To my right however, near one of the corners of the room, stood a suited man with his arms crossed over his chest, a stony expression. He didn't have a briefcase or a laptop or even a phone like most people here, and he wore sunglasses even though we were indoors and the light from the dome wasn't enough to merit eye protection. I couldn't quite tell, but he seemed to be watching the glitches as they ran into the mainframe. There was something about him that was familiar, but I couldn't quite pick where-

"Hey, you coming?" someone yelled from my left, breaking my attention on the suited man. I glanced over and saw Ross and Barney running into the action.

"I'm waiting for Ty!" I called over to them.

"Okays!" Barney yelled, waving. "Sees you there!" He pressed down on a badge pinned to his shirt and he dissolved into code and disappeared, Ross following a split second after.

I tapped my foot a little impatiently as I waited. I heard Jason's voice crackle to life over my earpiece and say that Ty was on his way, and a few minutes later, he finally showed up, puffing. He leaned over his knees, holding up a hand for me to wait, and after a few seconds he stood back up, taking a deep breath. "Okay, let's go."

I pressed down on my amulet as I ran towards the computers and the world dissolved around me and reformed into the black and green and chaotic world of the mainframe. Almost instantly, something crashed into me and I fell heavily onto my back, the air escaping from my lungs in a woof. I blinked the stars out of my eyes, barely seeing the virus that had tackled me and only just recognising the dagger they lifted up when a sword flashed out and stabbed into their chest and they dissolved into coding.