Emptiness...it fills the whole room making even the slightest flutter of paper or the sound of footsteps echo off the once glistening steel walls. Once holding all of the world's combined knowledge within it's meager walls, now only piles of ash lay where stacks of books towered overhead threatening to topple onto anyone that happened inside. This is the lair of a man that once chanced to call himself a god of all things digital, but it had been far too long since he had moved from his seat in front of his wall of monitors. For nigh on a year he stared into them ever watchful, denying himself the frivolous life that others of the world displayed as they moved through his sights.
>Perimeter breach detected _
>Execute? _
~Negative _
The once proud King of Codes had grown weary and careless of watching what the world had unfolded before him over the past year. He knew that sooner or later he would have some new threat coming to knock on his door to take his crown and seeing what he would inherit, Jinx new he had no desire to keep it. "Come...see what sullen gifts this knowledge will bring you." He whispered into the darkness. "It leaves you bitter, broken and alone."
As Jinx reflected on his bitter memories he felt a pressure on his leg just above the ankle. Looking to the end of his leg he saw that what had moved into the perimeter was nothing more than a common rat. Drawing his gaze back to the monitors he sighed. "What is worse? Feeling like the next person that comes looking for you will be the one to send you across the river or..." He closed his eyes for the first time in longer than he cared to account. "...that you are so little a threat that the world has forgotten you."
I, Reboot
He flew through the dense trees and vines with reckless abandon, shifting his body and moving his wings around him like a dancer floating across the stage. Every move he made was like sand slipping through a child's hands on the beach. He chased and dove determined to catch up with the drug cartel that had destroyed a village just a couple miles back. Unfortunately for the cartel members, Hawk had visited this village before and with a press of a ICE communicator that he had given their chieftain he arrived as their protector. Only he was just moments to late. When he arrived the fires were still raging and the innocent still screaming. Hawk made chase after the men responsible swords drawn and ready to kill all who stood in his way.
He flew cutting his way through until he saw the jeep in an opening ahead. With his eyes turning white Hawk called out to the animals as he flew out into the opening DANGER! screamed in his head as the birds called out to him, but it was to late a large net came tumbling around the winged wonder and drug him to the ground. The angel of death's eyes lit with fire as he struggled to get up, but the sounds of shots firing and darts hitting his skin was soon followed by............
Darkness
He eyes opened slowly to find himself tied to a large tree and him hanging face down over a cliff. His whole body was covered in blood and his hair was matted to his face. He could still see the blood slowly dripping down his nose and falling hundreds of feet onto the rocks below. The sound of the waves crashing on those rocks where the only thing keeping him conscience as he hung there. With a great effort Hawk went to move his wings and break free from the ropes holding him so close. But there was nothing. Hanging by the a tree with blood streaming from his spine he knew......his wings were gone.
2 weeks later
He walked the streets with his head down. He didn't tell Andy and Paladin why he needed a vacation and they didn't ask. Being a killer takes a lot out of a man. It makes it hard to hug his kids and wife. Mani talked about retirement when he showed her, his son didn't know what to say. He'd never seen his father so down. Hawk walked the familiar streets again. It had been so long that he had just walked. He remembered a time and a battle known only as the "Wanted" period where Hawk's had been left for died in a swamp, wings burnt to a crisp. Only to have them replaced by the nano-tech wings that he had only two weeks ago. Then a thought ran through his head. J1NX!
Pushing through a rusted gate Hawk walked through a grave-yard of computer and parts. He'd been away from this place since Jinx turn into the online assassin that tried and blow up half of the United States. As he walked through it was clear that no one had been here in years and that everything here was just wasting away. Hawk came upon a steel door with seemingly no way to open. He was at a loss with what he thought was no way out. Hawk slammed his fist into the wall leaving a imprint of his fist when a light came on.
Welcome Mister Hawk. It has ......be be been a long ttttttime.
A smile broke across Hawk's face as he spoke. It has indeed!
The clock struck 0500, the noise echoing through the empty space betraying the appearance of a fully next generation work space. In a world that had shown him digital instruments could be fooled, Jinx new that it was best to keep a few analog amenities such as the bronze mantle clock he had sitting on his work table. As it chimed the miscellaneous screws beside it shook and clattered like a cacophony of chalkboard scratching nails. "Even in exile I find no peace. Even in my most sacred of places...." As his works left his mouth he felt himself drawing to the edge of his chair as if compelled by some unseen force. Lurching forward his legs tightened and he made motion as if to rise. "..I need a drink." He hissed under his breath denying the weakness he found in the common mortal need for things such as sustenance. "..take my mind off things..." Lifting to his feet he felt the unsteady weight beneath his waist and knew that even his body, just like his life, had begun to show signs of deterioration. Ignoring it, as he did all other feelings, he hobbled towards the refrigerator.
>Perimeter activity detected_
>Initiating facial recognition_
>Interloper identified as Code Name "Hawk"
A quiet humming followed as Jinx stood quietly between his throne and the fridge staring at the floor beneath his feet. "What has brought you to me after all this time, Hawk?" Jinx thought to himself as his mind drifted to happier times. "Of all the people that would come looking for me...hmm..."
~Position?_
>30°16`; 97°44` _
"Austin....first place me met as a team. Of course he'd look for me there." Jinx looked at the picture he had hanging on his wall of himself, Hawk and Andferne. "It seems so long ago. So long..." Jinx walked to the emergency repair console and blew the dust from the key pad before turning it on. "If we are going to be meeting I need to put on my best face." The lights on the console flashed alive showing that despite the dark appearance that this technological tomb gave it was still very much alive. "Initiate repair sequence." Jinx said while stepping into the large cylindrical containment vessel. "And while you're at it, I'll need new clothes." As the door to the repair chamber began work Jinx reached out to the main console with his mind and sent a final command before focusing on the matter at hand.
~User Code Name "Hawk" Access Granted
~Divert power from defenses to life support
As the nanobots of the repair chamber finish their work on their master, they retreat to their containment cells. The seal of the door pops letting a fine mist fill the room as Jinx sets his new feet down upon the cold cement floor. His body twitched as it adapted to its environment, much like a newborn adapts outside of the blissful warmth of its mother's womb. The buzzing of baud and the clicking of bits seemed louder now, reminding Jinx of how he felt in the beginning. "Mmm...it's like bliss. A feeling that nothing else can match." He said moving towards his work table to exam his instruments. It wasn't until this moment that Jinx realized how much of his workshop had begun crumbling away. His fingers clenched into a tight grip as he made for the main console. "How much time will it take to repair and replenish all necessary systems and get all bases back to full use?" The computer chirped in his ear as it ran the calculations.
>Approximately 7294.23 Hours would be required to restore all systems to optimal status at this time_
"7,300! Does that include life support and knowledgebase access?" Jinx screamed slamming his fists down on the countertop.
>Negative_
>Secondary systems will require additional time_
"Fabulous..." Jinx said drumming his fingers on his forehead. "...begin repairs as I think of how to speed this along." Jinx looked at the monitors seeing the giant iron safety door from the Austin complex slide up and away giving Hawk access to the old safe house. "Once thing at a time Jinx....patience." He said letting his body begin to migrate from its physical form to a digitized cloud. Feeling his body become free flowing data again filled the King of Codes with a joy he had been without for too long. It was time he went outside and saw what his monitors showed him...if only for a short while.
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