SIM - Termination

I know I have "left" the RPing community but I couldn't let the SIM series die out as it is actually an important part of my RL as well (for reasons which may come clear later, if I'm lucky). This story takes place after SIM City, which shall be completed when I have the time - minor spoilers will be found, sadly.. however they won't be enough to make SIM City completely worthless and trust me you'll want to keep an eye on SIM City as well as the story will be just as fun as this one (hopefully).

If you have a character with a connection to SIM get ready because this may just be one of the most heart-breaking moments they'll face - as well as one of the most intense stories I have ever written..

Prologue
SIM lay in the burning wreckage of what was once her beloved V-Net, now over-run by malicious users and viruses - given horrific form by the power of virtual-reality gone mad: her ears folded back as she curled into a fetal position, tail twitching uncontrollably as she closed her eyes and wept, her tears glowing like the digital data manifesting around her as they stained her fur.

SIM continued to weep as the landscape shattered around her as if some invisible hand had thrown reality itself into a diabolic blender and pressed the switch - soon their was nothing but a spiralling mass of chaos, the ground breaking beneath SIM and sending her tumbling down into the abyss.

As SIM feel down a pair of glowing red eyes appeared and a mouth filled with razor-sharp fangs grinned menacingly before cruel laughter filled the air:

"Kill or be killed, SIM.. that's how the world works.. you.. me.. we aren't so different.. I'm just honest.. you on the other hand are only prolonging the inevitable..".

SIM opened her eyes, which glew brightly with green energy and she snarled - unleashing a beam of energy from her fists that shattered the grinning face, the laughter turning to a horrific shriek as everything turned black..

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"..SIM? SIM? You okay?" a voice rang out from the darkness and SIM opened her eyes, seeing a familar figure sitting next to her.

"..Ugh.. Striker? ..W-what are you doing here?" SIM asked, rubbing her head as she sat up - looking around at the alien landscape which was the V-Net, tranquil as it could ever be.

"Oh nothing.. nothing.. just checking up on you.. making sure you're feeling better.." Freedom-Striker replied.

"Honestly? I feel so strange.. sick.. Striker? ..what's happening to me?" SIM replied, looking to Freedom-Striker with concern in her eyes.

"You're broken SIM but we're going to fix you.." Freedom-Striker said.

"Y-you are?" SIM said, folding her ears back.

"Yeah, you'll see - it's going to be okay.." Freedom-Striker smiled.

"I..I believe you, Striker.. I.. I'm sorry.. for everything.." SIM said.

"No SIM, I'm sorry.. I'm so sorry.." Freedom-Striker said, his smile fading as he sat by her side and watched her.

Chapter 1
"Doctor Foster may of been one of the world's most dangerous and depraved criminals but there is no denying his genius - which is what makes fighting this corruption so difficult.. you see.. SIM gave it all to protect the V-Net.. she sacrificed more than we can imagine.. I fear the virus Doctor Foster transfered to her however will not be reversed.." a man in a white suit declared, addressing a group of individuals in a small room, the image of a seemingly well-mannered man projected onto the wall - however those present would see nothing pleasant in this image for this was the image of a madman.. a monster who almost succeeded in making the V-Net his own personal laboratory by which to both cause and cure insanity - it was SIM, with the help of Sangria, who toppled his plan and seemingly killed the madman in the process.

However the price of victory was high, for in his final moment Doctor Foster infected SIM with a virus that had been corrupting her slowly but surely - so far all attempts to reverse it had failed.

"Listen, I appreciate what she did as much as anyone but we can't keep pretending she is a living creature - for the safety of humanity we have to terminate SIM before her condition worsens.." a large man states, finally breaking the silence.

"No!" Thirteen yelled, slamming his fist down with rage. The table cracked beneath his hand.

"Thirteen, control yourself." Redwood said, his nose in a copy of Dante's Inferno. "I don't like this any more than you do."

Thirteen bit back an angry retort, kicked his chair from beneath him, and stormed out. "You know what? Fuck this." He growled.

As Thirteen left another figure noted under their breath "..who invited the freaks anyway? haven't they caused enough trouble?"

"ISDF wants everyone who knows about SIM to be here - keep every option open.." a voice whispered in return.

Redwood sighed and flipped a page in his novel. "So what is the general consensus?" he asked aloud.

"SIM is a machine, when a machine is damaged beyond one's ability to repair it must be replaced.. we made SIM once.. we can do it again.." one of the figures said.

"And how do we know that SIM is beyond help?" Redwood asked. Another page flipped. "Have we honestly tried every reasonable thing that we could do?"

"We've worked day and night for several months now on trying to undo the corruption - nothing has worked.. the longer the virus stays the more it corrupts SIM and with her the V-Net as a whole.. for the safety of humanity we must shut down SIM and start a new.. sure, it will be costly.. it will set us back generations but the alternative is risking too much.. the V-Net has already been the cause of several major crisises that have nearly destroyed this world.. we simply can't afford another.. their is only so much people will put up with.." the man in the white suit stated.

"Unless, of course, you superhumans can magically "fix" the problem.. then by all means.. be our guests.." one of the figures said with more than a hint of bitterness.

Redwood raised an eyebrow in response- he knew better than to lash out at those who despised him as a superhuman. "Give me time. I might just be able to work on a solution. If it doesn't work out, then terminate SIM and begin rebuilding."

"You have one week.." the man in the white suit said "..however, the Ship-Mouse project has already began and should you fail we will have little option but to have them take over SIM's role.. until we can rebuild it..".

The mention of the Ship-Mouse project caused a few startled expressions in the room but no one said anything direct as the man in the white suit motioned towards the doors.

"Until next time gentlemen.. ladies..".

"Understood." Redwood said, taking his leave.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Upon leaving the room the crowd soon drift out into the hall, as they do so a new figure stands to one side and observes them leave - the figure attracting a few looks and being watched over by a tall man in a white lab coat.

The figure was neither human nor animal, a near-perfect fusion - however his left eye had visible cybernetic implants as did his right hand. one of his ears also had what looked like small metal studs embedded in them.

Redwood couldn't help but shudder slightly upon seeing him- the man made him feel uneasy.

"Professor Gerald, this is most unexpected.. I had hoped we could keep the Ship-Mice hidden a little longer, I had only just announced the project and.." the man in the white suit declared as he moved over to the tall man.

"Jacob shall be no harm, if this project is to succeed people must be exposed to the Ship-Mice before mass production can begin.. we do not want a repeat of the Cyclone travesty do we?" Professor Gerald said.

The Ship-Mouse looked around a little, seeming to be nervous as he hid a little from the crowds - holding onto Gerald's coat much like a child would try to use its parent as a shield when afraid or shy.

"Jacob? Is that what you call him now?" the man in the white said, glancing over at the Ship-Mouse.

"Yes, Jacob's Ladder - some would say it is wrong for a man of science such as myself to use such symbolisms but I see no wrong in it.. Jacob is after all the first step in humanity's future.. giving the.. unfortunate.. termination of SIM.." Professor Gerald said.

Redwood frowned as he overheard the conversation. "''The path to heaven... Jacob's Ladder? And just what are these Ship-Mice?" ''he thought to himself.

"SIM's termination has been delayed, we have superhumans that believe they have a solution and although I doubt they will be successful we can't give up it yet - the Ship-Mice aren't ready for full command of the V-Net yet.. they barely even have an understanding of what it is to be a sentient being, let alone how to control the collective information of humanity and many other species.." the man in the white suit said.

"Yet if the Ship-Mouse project is to be successful we must push them, these are the future pilots of entire colonies after all.." Professor Gerald replied.

"Don't be so eager to reach for the stars, Gerald - Earth is still very much alive and I for one do not wish to abandon it quite yet.. you'll find the stars are not as welcomig as they appear at first.." the man in the white suit warned.

As the two figures continued their long debate the Ship-Mouse slowly moved away from Professor Gerald and like a curious child disappeared into a nearby room - his creator too busy trying to argue his case to notice.

Redwood's curiosity was aroused. He spun around and followed the Ship-Mouse.

The Ship-Mouse made his way further into the room before he found a quiet corner, sitting down he closes his eyes and a soft green glow emits from his body as he makes contact with the V-Net - entering a similar state as someone interacting with a V-Monitor.

"Curiouser and curiouser," Redwood thought to himself. He stood still, watching for a few moments before deciding not to disturb the Ship-Mouse. He turned to leave.

Chapter 2
SIM lay on her back and stared up at the floating data that made up the V-Net, manifesting as glowing binary code - Freedom-Striker still sitting by her side, he hadn't left her side for two days now and was clearly suffering a lack of sleep.

"You need to go, Striker.. Killing yourself isn't going to do anything.." SIM said.

"I'm used to not sleep, besides - you never know what the V-Net can throw at you.." Freedom-Striker replied.

"I'm dying Striker but I'm not dead yet, I can still take care of the V-Net" SIM said.

Shortly after SIM said this the Ship-Mouse materialized in a glowing portal, stepping out and looking over to Freedom-Striker and SIM with an emotionless stance.

"What the-?" Freedom-Striker began, standing up only to fall to his knees as the Ship-Mouse held out a hand and formed glowing chains around his arms and legs, much like handcuffs.

SIM noticed this and tried to rise to her feet as well only for the Ship-Mouse to swiftly leap over and pin her to the ground, his expression changing into a snarl.

"You're ruining everything! Just die! die! die! die!" he growls and begins to choke her before she can fully react.

"HEY!" a familiar voice shouted out; Thirteen appeared, throwing a powerful kick towards the head of the Ship-Mouse.

The Ship-Mouse reacts quickly, leaping out of the way - as he looks to Thirteen tears form in his eyes - his face becoming one of agonizing rage as his eyes burn in a green light and the ground shakes violently around himself:

"NO! NO! NOOOOO!".

SIM's eyes grow wide as she leaps up instinctively and blocks Thirteen as the Ship-Mouse unleashes a massive beam of energy that sends out shockwaves across the area - "THIRTEEN!".

Freedom-Striker sees this and growls audibly, flexing and snapping his bonds as he leaps forward and begins to pummel on the Ship-Mouse, who quickly fights back - able to rival Freedom-Striker in intensity.

Thirteen runs toward the Ship-Mouse, slipping a glove-like gauntlet onto his hand, covered with a number of rune circles. He places his hand on the floor. A circle on his gauntlet activates, and several sections of the floor lift up like chains to restrain the Ship-Mouse.

The Ship-Mouse growls and grabs the chains in his hands with frightening accuracy - despite the rage in his eyes he is obviously focusing extremely well on the battle, tears begin to roll down his cheeks as he tugs on the chains with incredible strength: aiming to spin Thirteen right off his feet:

"I'M NOT GOING BACK IN THE CAGE!" he yells out, delivering a quick kick to send Freedom-Striker flying back as well - Striker seeming momentarily stunned at the intensity of his opponent, who seemed more than capable of taking on both him and Thirteen at the same time.

Thirteen leaps back as the Ship-Mouse throws the chains off of itself; he responds by activating another circle, sending a ball of compressed air hurtling toward his opponent like a large, invisible bullet.

The Ship-Mouse lets out an animal-like scream of rage before disappearing in a flash of light, leaving Freedom-Striker looking as stunned as before - "..what the fuck was that?".

"It's called a Ship-Mouse, I think," Raven Redwood said, emerging onto the scene. "They are going to replace SIM if I can't find a cure for her virus in one week."

++++++++++++

At the same time in the real world Jacob awoke with a start and gasped, tears still staining his cheeks as he clenched his fists and growled - only to let out a squeak as a hand fell down on his shoulder.

"You have failed me, Jacob - I gave you life and this is the thanks I recieve.. am I not good to you?" Professor Gerald said, twisting Jacob's shoulder until the Ship-Mouse grimaced in pain.

"P-please.. I'm sorry.. I.." Jacob trembled.

"Stop that pathetic whimpering.." Professor Gerald said, his face completely emotionless as he continued to twist Jacob's shoulder, the Ship-Mouse beginning to struggle as he fought back the instinct to lash out.

"There were others.. they.. they stopped me.." Jacob tried to explain.

"You were discovered?" Professor Gerald said, his face turning to rage as he released Jacob's shoulder - the shaking Ship-Mouse falling to the ground.

"I.. I'm sorry.. I.." Jacob squeaked only to feel one of his ears twisted back painfully as Professor Gerald yanked him up.

"You are worthless, Jacob - now let's get you back to the cage with the rest of the failures.." Professor Gerald said.

++++++++++++

Back in the V-Net Freedom-Striker looked over to the arriving Redwood, "..Ship-Mouse? well - that doesn't sound good..".

SIM sits up and traces her hand over a large cut across her torso, which glows green "..I'm sorry.." she whispers.

"Sorry for what? There's nothing to be sorry about," Thirteen said.

SIM looks to Thirteen, smiles a little and opens her mouth as if to reply then suddenly collapses back on the ground - Striker moves over quickly as this occurs.

"What the -? SIM?! Hey! SIM! Come on! Don't do this now! SIM!" Freedom-Striker says.

"SIM!" Thirteen calls out, kneeling down by her side.

SIM doesn't respond however as she slips into a sleep-like state, though she is still breathing - Striker frowns as he bows his head: "..Damn it.. the virus is killing her.. she tries so hard to fight it but she can't.. not alone.. not like this..".

Striker clutches his hands into fists before looking up with a dangerous look, switching between Redwood and Thirteen: "..listen - I'll stay here and keep SIM safe.. you need to find out what the fuck is going on with these Ship-Mice, as well as find a way to stop whatever shit Foster injected into SIM.."

"I was assigned to find a cure. I have one week to do so," Redwood said. "Thirteen, consider this a new mission for the Alliance. I want you to look into these Ship-Mice. There's something about them that I find... suspicious."

Freedom-Striker narrows his eyes, looking down at SIM but addressing Redwood "..you have as long as you need.. a week.. a decade.. don't matter.. she's not going to be replaced..".

As Freedom-Striker finishes a familiar voice echoes out "..you hold too much faith in your limited power, Striker.." - a portal opening as a tall African-American male steps out, his emotionless expression, futurisitic armor and silver eyes all betray his true identity.