(no subject)

[mendanddefend_archive]

Mardi Gras was two days ago. Yet Bob is still in his Hendrix costume.

Why? Because he likes it. Duh.

He's over in the corner, playing something that sounds like a bunch of random notes, but upon lengthy inspection will prove to be a psychedelic version of "O Canada."

Comments

[md_donighal]

Toward the end, he's got a guy in golden armor and a red cape singing along in his best power-ballad voice.
"o/` God keep our land
Glor-ious and free
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee
O Canada, we stand on guard
For thee. o/`"

Then there is applause. "Bravo! Bravissimo!"

[mendanddefend_archive]

"Hey, Michael." Bob grins. "Thanks."

[md_donighal]

Michael bows. "Quite welcome. I'm actually from Boston, but that's close enough to Canada. Is your home system on Canadian soil, then?"

[mendanddefend_archive]

"Yeah. I didn't find that out until I came here, though. Where's Boston?"

[md_donighal]

"On the north part of the east coast of the United States of America, none of which is likely to mean anything to you without a lot more grounding in the geography of Userspace than I'd expect you to have at this point." He considers. "Or without access to a map. I can tell you that it's on the far side of the country from San Francisco, but that's the only reference point I know you've got."

[mendanddefend_archive]

"Well, now that I'm back to being me, I can show you this..."

Bob closes his eyes for a moment, and a Vidwindow pwings open with a map of the 'Net. "Mainframe's right there," he says, pointing to a spot toward the left side of the map. "Where would you say Boston is?"

[md_donighal]

Michael makes a note of Mainframe's location (somewhere in the SeaTacCouver area), and of the green lines pulsing outward from somewhere down the coast, before indicating a spot somewhat closer to the center of the map, along the right edge of the mass of blue (and splashes of green) dots that represent(s) the major systems of North America. "There. It's a hub of finances and universities, and home to a stretch of road that bills itself as 'America's technology highway'." Indeed, there are quite a few dots there, one in the shadow of a green line. "By the way, what's all that green? High-speed networks?"

[mendanddefend_archive]

Bob's face falls.

"The green is Daemon's infection. She's taken control of all the major network pathways. No one moves between systems without her permission."

[md_donighal]

Michael's face falls too. "...Daemon. The super-virus you and Dot mentioned, yes." He shudders. "You mentioned patrols, but not how pervasive they were. If there's anything we can do to help..." Hand on shoulder. "...just let us know."

[mendanddefend_archive]

"We're still trying to figure that out. We might have a way to bring people into Mainframe and back out safely, but it's still theoretical at this point."

[md_donighal]

"The digitizing laser? It seems to have worked okay on you, but yes, it could well have unforeseen side-effects on humans. I gather from what you and Dot were saying about it, at the time, that it's more or less the same device that was used to bring Kevin Flynn into Encom's system?"

[mendanddefend_archive]

"Apparently, yeah. But we're not sure how much of that actually happened and how much was made up for the movie."

[md_donighal]

"True, that. But even so..." He sighs. "I hate not being able to help. I want to help people, and not just for the sake of balancing my own karma."

[mendanddefend_archive]

Bob nods. He knows how that feels. "Well, as soon as we have something solid, I'll let you know."

[md_donighal]

"Thanks." Handshake.