(What follows is part one of a two-part episode that has not been seen by the major Internet public... until now.)
(G-Project Headquarters. Approximately one year after the fall of the Namrocks, all is at peace in the future. The original plan for man to attain controlled travel through virtual cyberspace is underway. Before the actual traversal, though, some more training excercises must be done.)
Engineer: The virtual module's set. Bring in the test pilot.
(The test pilot enters the room. It is none other than Bryan Stone, leader of Cyberspace Task Force GammaRanger.)
You ready, Stone?
(Bryan takes his helmet and puts it against the right side of his module. On the right side of his red flight suit, he wears a patch that says "Cyberbrother," to honor the memory of his longtime friend, Eli Namrock, Jr. He rubs the patch for luck.)
Bryan: Let's go.
(Bryan boards the ship and begins his virtual training. In his visors, he sees several lighted tracks and tries his best to follow them. Observing them are the other four GammaRanger: Spoony, Eddie, Jill, and Sara.)
Spoony: So how's Bryan doing?
Sara: So far, he's at 93 percent accuracy. Any better and he might shatter the record!
Spoony: Can't wait to see what happens next!
(Koike enters.)
Koike: You're going to have to, Chance. There can't be any interference while testing.
Jill: He's right. We should leave.
(Jill escorts the others back to their quarters, where Eddie hops on the network to check his e-mail.)
Sara: Anything for me?
Eddie: Nope. Not a stench. I'll just surf around for a bit.
(Eddie gets a message from Koike.)
Koike: De La Vega, is Commander Stone in?
Eddie: Not yet. I thought he was... Wait a minute. Did you say "commander"?
Sara: Who's a commander?
Koike: Bryan is. Well, now he is. We promoted him after the last test.
Spoony: The test run.
Koike: Affirmative.
Spoony: Heavy.
(The three rangers continue the talk with Koike when Bryan enters the room.)
Bryan: Hey guys. What's going on?
Spoony: We've heard the news.
Bryan: What news?
Koike: Your last test was just verified by the G-Project board of directors. Congratulations, Stone. You're a commander now.
(Bryan, astonished at the news, can barely contain himself.)
Bryan: Wow... I mean, this is a big step.
Koike: Bryan, you report to work tomorrow at 1000 hours. Congratulations again. Out.
(Koike disconnects.)
Bryan: Amazing. Commander Bryan Stone.
Jill: I like the sound of that.
Eddie: We've gotta celebrate.
Bryan: Later. Right now I'm due at the hangar again.
Sara: What for?
Bryan: We've decided to go into an exploratory search of a hyper text protocol.
Sara: You mean...
Bryan: That's right. View a webpage from the inside. Dissect it. See what it is made of. Then use that knowledge to enhance our own systems.
Eddie: Sounds complicated.
Bryan: I don't think it is. They're only going to put me into the module for 30 minutes, then automatically pull me out.
Jill: Well, good luck, Bryan!
Eddie: Yeah! We'll see you on the web, I bet!
(Everyone laughs. About half an hour later, Bryan shows up on the launch pad, ready to travel into Cyberspace.)
Engineer: Ready, Commander Stone?
(Bryan, once again in his flight suit, rubs his "Cyberbrother" patch for luck.)
Bryan: Let's go.
Koike: Hey, Stone!
(Bryan turns around to see Koike with his Cyber Loader.)
Just in case.
Bryan: My Cyber Loader. I thought I hung it up for good.
Koike: We don't want to take any chances.
Bryan: hmm... You may have a point there.
(Bryan takes the Cyber Loader and puts it in his pocket. Then he puts on his flight helmet and boards the module. The main computer opens up a portal. Bryan checks his controls and prepares to launch the module.)
Here we go...
(The pod moves forward and enters the portal. Upon entry, the portal slowly closes. The attention quickly switches to the laptop on the console.)
Koike: We'll be able to track Bryan's progress on this computer. Because his bodily matter was converted into energy, we'll most likely see him as an active telnet file.
(From the inside, Bryan sees various circuit paths and motherboards that look like cities at night. He closes up on one of them to see that it is actually a VR representation of a webpage.)
Bryan: So this is why it's called a "home page."
Koike (over ComLink): What do you see, Bryan?
Bryan: I figure that these virtual templates represent certain servers, and the paths that they are connected to represent hyperlinks.
Koike: Try traveling into one of them.
Bryan: Aye, sir. I found this one link that I'm curious about.
Koike: Try going through it.
Bryan: Will do.
(Bryan jettisons into the link. The ship instantly converts itself into a body of light.)
Koike: The ship turns into a circuit when it comes in contact with a link. Everything Bryan says is converted into energy and transferred to the computer.
(A while passes by. Nothing happens.)
This is odd. We should've heard from Bryan by now given the speed of his ship.
Engineer: Try contacting him.
Koike: Right. (over ComLink) Bryan, come in.
Audio message: 404 File not found. Please reset your browser and try again.
Koike: Damnit! Get the GammaRanger in here!
(Meanwhile, in Cyberspace, Bryan reaches the end point of his destination.) Bryan: Whoa... Where am I?
Voice: I've been expecting you, Bryan.
(Bryan gets out of his ship and looks around for the source of the voice.)
Bryan: Who said that?
Voice: Don't tell me you have forgotten me already!
Bryan: Hexalink...
(Hexalink steps out of a shadow.)
Hexalink: So you HAVE remembered.
Bryan: I thought we defeated you.
Hexalink: You can delete a virus, but you can't truly get rid of it. Especially one as intelligent as I.
Bryan: You're a friggin' lunatic!
Hexalink: Aren't we all?
(Bryan, angered, reaches into his pocket and pulls out his Filecoin.)
Bryan: RedJupiter Ranger file, download!
RedJupiter: GammaRanger Ready!
Hexalink: With you here occupying my space, there is nothing to stop me from entering the real world now!
RedJupiter: That's what you think! The way I see it, if I can beat you here, I can eliminate you for good.
Hexalink: That won't happen, although you're more than welcome to try.
RedJupiter: I'll take you up on that offer!
(The two forces collide in battle. Hexalink gets the upper hand, as RedJupiter gets severely weakened. Meanwhile, back at G-Project HQ, the rest of GammaRanger show up.)
Spoony: We got your message. Where's Bryan?
Koike: That's what we're trying to figure out.
Eddie: Have you tried the auto tracking systems?
Koike: So far the autotrackers have given us nothing.
Jill: Where was the last server where Bryan was?
Koike: It's all documented on this server log.
(Koike gives Jill a documented printout.)
Jill: Bryan sure kept himself busy.
Sara: What about the status of the pod?
Koike: Let me check it out.
(Koike types in a few commands, leaving with the response:)
Computer: Server Pod currently offline.
Koike: (quietly under his breath) We've lost him.
Eddie: Not yet.
Koike: What do you mean?
Eddie: What if we took the SkyStation into Cyberspace to look for that lost link that Bryan must've fell through?
Sara: Do you really think we can?
Koike: As masters of interactive travel, I do not doubt it. But you would put your own lives at risk.
Spoony: We know the risk. Come on guys. We've got work to do.
(Spoony and the others head to the hangar to retrieve the Station from it's year in stasis. Meanwhile, in Cyberspace, Bryan is not holding up very well.)
Hexalink: You know, being in a highly destabilized envronment such as this, one tends to think that your powers are taking their toll!
RedJupiter: Not... yet... JupiterSaber!
(RedJupiter uses his sword to fight the virus.)
Hexalink: Nice fight. I see you still have it in you!
RedJupiter: It never left!
Hexalink: It's a shame I have to take it all away from you!
(Hexalink raises his sword when he is hit in the back by... something.)
What the... Who?
(A teenage girl, dressed in black, holds a slingshot at Hexalink.)
Girl: Leave him alone!
RedJupiter: Who the hell are you?
Girl: My name is Star. I'm a friend. We've got to get you out of here!
RedJupiter: Why?
Girl: Because if you get out, he can't!
All comments and questions should be addressed here.
Get your own Free Home Page