Cor kept his eyes on the screen and rewound the footage again, going back a few microcycles further. He watched carefully for any sign that Cyrus had tampered with the camera or somehow managed to cloak himself but kept coming up empty. “I hate to say it, Nora, but I can't find anything. The son of a glitch is just too good.” he sighed, already planning on coming back later once End of Line was empty.
(Son of a glitch. That's glorious. I'm stealing that and using it)
Nora frowned as she watched him. "Well, I didn't expect anything. He is, as you said, too good to have made such a… a rookie mistake."
(go ahead! It was just a spur of the moment and I thought it was fitting. ☺️😆)
“Right.” Cor nodded as he closed the viewing screen. Of course Cyrus was… extremely good at subterfuge and chaos that the only way Cor could think of that would give him a chance would be to try hacking. But obviously he couldn't do that right now.
Nora walked to the front of the office, folding her arms as she looked down on the programs. Even the DJ's had noticed something was wrong, by now: the music had stopped. And you could hear the programs down below - or rather the absence of their chatter, just a dull, ringing silence save for the few programs still struggling with the bouncers.
Markus reappeared, stepping out from the service elevator with three medics behind him. Giving a wide, hopeful smile to Nora, he climbed the steps to her office and stepped in. "Well, the medics are here. Let's hope they find something."
Cor was trying to ignore the eerie silence coming from the club. It was just so wrong… and it made his code crawl. “Thank Flynn.” he sighed, looking up when Markus rejoined them.
"Anything new happen?" Markus asked, his smile lessening when he looked out over the silent club.
Nora shook her head, watching the medics examine programs. "And that's what worries me."
“I really hope they find something.” Cor sighed as he walked over to stand beside Nora and Markus. Though a part of him, honestly, wouldn't be too surprised if the medics couldn't.
Nora nodded and started fiddling absentmindedly with the light strip on her chest. It was a nervous tic.
"Should we let the other programs out?" she asked. "The ones who aren't drunk?" She didn't want panic spreading through the city.
Cor nodded. “Probably. Maybe we can have a medic give them a quick check, just to make sure?” he suggested.
Nora nodded. "That's a good idea. Markus, can you do that?"
Markus nodded and hurried down the stairs, talking to a medic with long, dark hair. Together, they started making their way over to the programs by the door.
"Have you found anything yet?" Nora asked Cor.
Cor shook his head at her question. “No, and I don't think I'll be able to find anything more.” he admitted, leaving out that the only way he could would be to hack the security system. “But I did have a thought about that blank code key. Cyrus is known for repurposing code. If he was somehow able to get his hands on one of any kind, then he could probably use that as a basis for a skeleton and be able to get in any security that would need a code key.”
Nora's mouth curled to one side as he told her that. "I just don't understand why he'd hit End of Line. Spiking energy… from what I've heard, that doesn't seem to be his normal behaviour."
Cor nodded. “Yeah. That's where I start drawing a blank too.” he agreed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Only thing I can think of that might make sense is that this is a distraction for someone or something else. Or the psycho has a bigger plan and we just can't see it yet.” he theorized.
Nora sighed and fiddled with her light strip again. She was beginning to feel nervous. It was a feeling that was relatively foreign to her, and she didn't like it, this prickling feeling in the pit of her gut.
Markus came back to them, hurrying up the stairs. "The medics say that the programs are good to go. The ones who aren't drunk."
Nora nodded and headed over to her console, unlocking the elevator.
“Thank Flynn for small favors.” Cor sighed with a small brief smile as he watched the few sober programs make their way towards the exit. “Have the medics started checking on the others yet?”
"Yes. I don't know if they've found anything yet." Nora watched the medics down below, who were examining discs.
Cor nodded, not really expecting a diagnosis from them so soon… If they were able to get one at all. “Since this is your club… do you think they'll let me stay when they tell you what they find?” he wondered after just watching the crowd silently for a moment. Officially he didn't belong here. He was just a messenger program and a customer at the club. The medics would have every right to ask to check his disc then ask him to leave before they told Nora anything.
(Hi! Sorry I've been kinda inactive lately, I've been drowning in homework and I went away for the weekend.)
"I'll tell them you're assisting me," Nora said. And it was true: with him here, she felt more stable, had a clearer head. "Besides, we know it's something in the drinks. It's not contagious. And we drank from an unopened bottle."
(No worries.)
“Thank you.” Cor smiled a little, sincerely grateful that she would let him stay. Obviously, he wouldn't be able to undo anything but knowing what was going on would help him in finding a way to stop Cyrus.
"I won't have to go, will I?" Markus asked, his eyebrows furrowing, nervous.
"You can leave if you want," Nora said. "As long as you didn't drink anything, I think you should be okay." In all honesty, part of her was hoping he could leave so she could be alone with Cor.
Her thoughts of how to urge Markus to leave without making it blatantly obvious were interrupted by a medic climbing the stairs to the office. "You're Nora, right?"
"I am. Did you find something?"
The medic smiled nervously. "We did. You need to see this." Turning around, he made his way back down the stairs. Nora followed.
Cor was a little surprised that Markus wanted to stay as well but figured he just wanted to know what was going on. His eyes snapped over to the medic when he spoke to Nora. Apparently, he was more wound up over this whole thing than he thought. He sighed softly to try to calm down before joining Nora and the medic.
Nora followed the medic over to a couple of programs. The medic took a disc off a program's back and held it up, navigating through the various code, until a large padlock icon appeared on the screen.
The medic gestured to it. "This is the code that controls personality. As you can see, it's locked. The code is some of the most complex I've ever seen. I doubt even Flynn himself could crack it."
Nora stared at the padlock, her mind spinning. "The programs aren't able to access it?"
The medic shook his head. "Personality and memory are both locked. It's a similar process to what happens when one becomes a stray."
Cor raised a brow at the sight and the explanation. “And this happened just from having a couple of drinks?” he asked, both very concerned and a little impressed.
"It's not like anything I've ever seen," the medic confessed. "I don't know much about energy, but I'm still surprised something this complex could be put into a drink."
"Cyrus," Nora whispered under her breath. It had to be.
Cor nodded. It was the only explanation for how this happened… “But, why? If memory and personality are locked then these programs become the same as Strays, right? What does that do?” he asked, trying to figure out what kind of sick game Cyrus was playing.