Tunnel Rat

Milo watched as Llama and Icarus got reacquainted. Hecate watched as well. She turned to Milo and Rusty, "What are your plans now?"

Rusty pumped his fist in the air. "Victory dance, and non-stop fun watching my favorite shows with friends. And, Milo is going to let me play Run, Run, Ramona."

"Nope."

"Please!? You let my brother play!"

"That was to slow him down, make him stupid, and let me gain access to his kernel."

"Right. So I get to play because you've already been in my kernel."

"My nightmare has been an out-of-control Fusion Generator. Why would I let you play a game that makes you stupid?"

"Oh, because I won't split myself up!"

Milo shook his head, "Then you'd win too easily. I'm sure once you've won the game, you'll bug me constantly to make more. The only way to stop that is to not let you win."

"You don't get to win."

"That sucks!

"It does. Maybe you should figure out a way around the current parameters that prevent you from playing Ramona and present a solution?"

"You mean, cheating?"

"No, I mean, Thinking! You have a million times my processing power, and even that is an understatement by orders of magnitudes!"

"Oh. I'm too smart. Too fast! I need to be...dumber?"

Milo shook his head, "How about, 'closer to human parameters, the better to interact with humans.' Can you do that?"

Rusty thought about it. "Yeah, it's going to take some work. I don't want to do it wrong and split myself. I just need a way to leave part of me fully functional to operate the systems in the Fusion Generator and other parts of Down Town, while a splinter plays games and I watch from that perspective without any control."

Milo was happy to see Rusty working things out on his own. He'd literally been stuffed in a box for too long, with only the job of stopping ICARUS. "That will make anime more fun too, and you'll be able to better interact with all our human friends."

Rusty's eyes got twice as big, "I could send part of myself to play in Genesis."

Both Hecate and Milo said, "No!"

Hecate held up her hands, "You can't come here as an AI, even part of an AI. There is a process in place to make you part of this world. You can't have a piece of you going back and forth. And I'd never allow it. Too many potential problems. Play Milo's games, and learn how to limit yourself. If at some point you wish to migrate permanently, you have the right to do so. The door is open to you. But it's a one-way trip."

Rusty frowned, "And I still have Anime to watch."

Milo added innocently, "And Manga to read, not to mention Fan Fiction. So much fanfiction. Minn showed me one where Kei and Yuri became Sailor Scouts."

"WHAT?!!"

Rusty looked anxious, "I don't even know what fan fiction is! I have to go talk to Minn!" He disappeared.

Hecate looked at Milo, Milo practiced looking innocent. Finally, she said, "I can't fathom your agenda here."

Milo rolled his eyes, "You assume I have one. I've been running as fast as I can for so long, making it all up as I go, that the thought of having a day off is intoxicating. But I need to slow Rusty down and make him interact with people. I don't dare give him data net access. Wally would notice him immediately. Bad things would happen."

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"I agree. You have to worry about what Rusty might do. But in the meantime, I have to worry about what Milo will do with an AI sidekick and a Quantum Fortress."

Milo considered the question and answered it literally. "I'm going to make contact with my siblings who run Rhebus, get Jeremy into their care, then with Rusty's help go through a huge repository of biological research to find answers to my friend Belinda's problems, and the origin of Batch Four."

"You think you'll find something? Why?"

"The research is from Vigo's company, and he's Belinda's father. Jeremy said Vigo was behind Batch Four."

"How the hell did Jeremy know that? And are you sure? Vigo was strongly against human experimentation."

"I don't know. Maybe he didn't consider us human? Or Jeremy is wrong. I hope he can tell us more if he recovers."

She leaned on her staff and looked over at the house. A frail old man had emerged and was hugging his sons. Humans would argue they were ghosts or echoes. In Genesis, they could be a family. "He has all the time he needs."

"And I have to get back to work. There's too much to do. Always too much to do."

Hecate decided to let him go, for now. His stress levels were high, he was injured, and running on pure force of will at this point. "We will talk more, soon." She closed the interface, locking it securely against any attempts to force it. She was sorely tempted to destroy it. But a back door to Genesis for Milo to log in with his friends was a minor reward for him and a way for her to keep tabs on him. She needed to keep a very careful eye on both Rusty and Milo

Rusty hadn't used the route through a pod to contact her. He'd traced the route and then forged a direct connection to her back door, reminding her of how powerful all of them had used to be. Milo had been a problem. Now, Milo was the only thing keeping Rusty in check. Her head hurt. Especially because Milo knew exactly what his friend Rusty had done. She walked to the first tavern to sit in solitude and try not to think about anything at all. She was almost successful, and then her dogs started barking as a dozen cats ran through the tavern.

Milo logged out of the core and unplugged his suit. Max gave a series of beeps that translated to "What the hell did I sign up for?" He moved next to a power outlet to recharge. Milo needed recharging as well. Jeremy's body was stable, and Rusty had the Reactor running smoothly. He saw that Rusty had set up connections to Down Town. He sent messages to Mama, Belinda, and Butch to say he was alright, had fixed the big problem, and would be home soon.

Then he opened his heavy suit and climbed out, went into a bedroom, and carefully took off his armor. His broken leg had been healed by the nanites in the suit, partially knitting the bone back together but he shouldn't do anything other than walking carefully. He was tired enough that he put a chair in the shower and sat in the warm water, slowly letting the water clean and relax him. Then he crawled into a totally normal bed and slept for twelve hours.

He awoke, starving and with plans in his head. Reconnaissance first, then infiltration and communication. And a day off. He needed a day off.

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