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Disclaimer: The members of KISS are real persons, and their makeup and albums are property of their organization and kiss Catalogue. However the characters in this story are based on their lives, for fan fiction reasons only. No harm is intended. Mennehotep. Karammon and Autalia are owned by me, Trynia Merin. Nefer-Tina and other characters belong to Mummies Alive, owned by DIC. Joshua E. Powers (JEP) belongs to Jade JJ.

Almost Human: Part 2

by Trynia Merin
02/25/02

Plot synopsis: Autalia Merin, an alien cyborg, whose implants were removed as punishment by her alien masters, for helping Mennehotep and Karammon long ago, has succumbed to a degenerative illness for which there is no cure on Earth. In her constant attempts to retrieve her cybernetics, she has taken up a job with Joshua E. Powers, a noted cybernetics researcher who has required help developing the world's first Artificial Intelligence. The AI, named PET was developed to direct small nanites to repair damage in human bodies. JEP theorized it would help rebuilt cybernetics for Autalia. Unfortunately, something has gone terribly wrong when Autalia linked to the AI. Her cybernetics began to be restored, but PET has siphoned off Autalia's consciousness, imprisoning it within its own databanks. PET has developed self awareness, and sees any attempts to liberate Autalia as hostile. The entire factory is in danger of becoming controlled by the computer.

By the time Ace's limo reached the large ultramodern cake box of a building, he saw it was cordoned off.  Karammon noticed the yellow tape that was marked Police Admittance Only, and there were ambulances and sirens blaring everywhere.

"Stop here and let us out," Ace told the driver.  Grabbing his laptop he took Karammon's hand.

"We must go in there, no matter what they say," She said with a nod.  Ace led the way towards the group of security guards that suddenly came up to block the limo's entrance.

"I'm sorry but no visitors today," they held up their hands.

"A friend of mine, named Autalia... she's a patient here," Karammon said.  "Please, you must let us in before..."

"I'm sorry, no unauthorized personnel..."

"By the powers of Osiris and Isis, you have my authorization," Karammon suddenly said, her eyes taking on a red glow.  She hated to use her powers like this, but this was an emergency.  There was possibly a life at stake, Autalia's.

"If you're a friend of a person being treated here, you can go right in.  But things are chaotic right now..."

"How chaotic?" she asked.

"One of the scientists experiments has gone crazy," the guard said to Karammon.  How could he stop from divulging all the information of the past day?  It seemed so easy, so right to tell this red headed stranger everything.

"Which scientist?"

"Dr. Joshua E. Powers.  Autalia is a friend of his, and she came in this morning for some sort of experimental treatment.  But Dr. Powers has shut off the entire wing of the building saying it's not safe for any unauthorized personnel.  His computer system is being hacked into somehow..."

"Let me in I can help," Karammon said, her eyes flashing again.

She moved confidently past him, but Ace was stopped by a hand, "Sir, I can't let you..."

"He's a technician that has experience dealing with hacked computers... Dr. Powers will need his help..."

"Okay," the guard said, convinced as he let them enter.  They were escorted to the front entrance, where they were stopped yet again.

"I want to see Dr. Powers," Karammon said.  A quickly chanted spell of Emotion granted hern her the information she needed.  They were afraid, deathly afraid of something going on inside the computer factory, even if they were trying to hide it well.  Autalia was intimately connected with the trouble, for she could also sense the name associated with Dr. Power's research in the minds of other men and women who rushed in and out of the building.

"Level 2 alert... mainframe system hacked into.  All personnel are required to report to duty stations... to initiate shutdown."

"What's going on here?" Ace asked, as they rushed ahead in the confusion.

"From what I gather from people's stray thoughts, something or someone is trying to take over this factory..."

"I read about this place on the Internet.  It makes nanites, and some of the experiments were on using them to do surgery on people," Ace said.  No one noticed the two rushing to find where Dr. Power's lab was in the resulting alarm.  "Dr. Powers is an expert in cybernetics..."

"No wonder Autalia wanted to see him," Karammon said.  Ace pointed to a directory on the wall, and showed the name Powers in bold black lettering.

"That's it baby, let's roll..."

All over the factory, security systems were going crazy.  Doors slid shut of their own accord, while surveillance cameras buzzed on and off.  Robotic assembly units suddenly went haywire, churning ten times their original programming.  Computers crashed and froze, refusing to enable any access to even the top level users.  Dr. Powers found himself locked out of his laboratory.  Security drones skimmed about the halls, chasing the technicians who ran for their lives.

He blundered right into the red headed woman and the tall thin man with the long brown hair at her side.  "Excuse me, but civilians shouldn't be in here!" he cried.

"Dr. Powers?" Karammon asked.  "We're here to help..."

"What the hell is going on here?" Ace asked.  "This place has a mind of its own!   We almost bought it when a cleaning robot attacked us..."

"It's one of my experiments... and I must ask that you get out of here before anyone else gets hurt," he shooed them away.

"Wait, I'm a friend of Autalia's!" Karammon insisted, grabbing his arm.  "I can help..."

"Autalia, you say you know her?" he asked.

"Yes, where is she?"

"In that lab!  I can't get in, because PET has locked me out and taken over the mainframes of the computer system..."

"Oh boy..." Ace muttered.

"Nothing remains closed to the daughter of Pharaoh," Karammon muttered mysteriously.  "Stand back!"

JEP did as he was told, convinced by her commanding presence.  He moved over near Ace, who he glanced sidelong at.  Where had he seen this man in blue jeans and Gibson guitar t shirt before? 

"Jaws and claws of Sekhmet, rip down this door, and gain me access!" she chanted. They watched as Karammon raised her hand, and threw something invisible at the door.  Slowly the metal began to buckle and creak under the force of invisible fingers.  Strain appeared on Karammon's face as she struggled to tear the door with the might of her claws of Anubis spell.  With a final protest, the door popped open.

"I don't know how you did that, but thank you!" JEP sighed, rushing inside.  Ace and Karammon were close on his heels in the expansive room.  Computer terminals flickered with their own life, as JEP stabbed buttons on them.  Ace plugged into a nearby port and started typing something on his laptop.

"The whole system's locked out, what can you possibly do..." he asked.  Ace cast him a lopsided grin and cracked his knuckles.  Within minutes he had rung up the DOS shell of the mainframe with a few tricks of his own.

"What's the problem Doc?" he asked.

"My mainframe has been hacked into," JEP explained.

"Who or what did it?" Ace asked, typing with confusion.

"PET did," said JEP.  "My creation... it's all I can do to stop him from taking over more then just this building..."

"What is PET?" Karammon asked, shivering at the emotions evoked when he uttered the name.

"An artificial intelligence... and... not only has it taken over this factory, it has taken over Autalia as well..."

"Isis," Karammon gasped.  "Where is she now?"

"In the back room of the lab.  I cannot get into it... and when I tried to disconnect the security system, PET triple encrypted them.  If we are not careful, we could have the same problem as I had before.  I was electrocuted and hauled out by the security drones..."

Karammon shivered when she saw something approaches, several dustbin sized units on coasters that were scooting up the hall.  A beryl mist shot from her mind, blocking the door as it swung it shut.

"PET, eh?" Ace asked, hooking more wires up from his laptop to the main terminal.  "So like, what does it do?  Is it gotten a mind of its own or something and is trying to destroy mankind or something?"

"Who is this?" JEP asked.

"My er... friend Ace Frehley," she said.  "He knows something about computers..."

"I recognize you now. Aren't you a rock star who plays for some band… some metal group that I heard of years ago?" JEP said. "What would you know about computers?"

"More then you think, Curly," Ace shot back.

"Look, what has happened to Autalia exactly?" Karammon asked. JEP told them both the story as quickly and simply as he could.

JEP knew Karammon from a while ago, when she and Mennehotep had been abducted along with Autalia and taken to Mantissa, Autalia's home planet. Autalia had originally been dispatched to study human civilization in ancient Egypt, but her systems malfunctioned and she was mistakenly mummified by Mennehotep's embalmers. She had already by then become a nursemaid and storyteller in Menne's ancient time. She reactivated when the x ray used to study mummies was used upon her. Shortly after this, her masters, the Androns of Mantissa picked up the reactivating on their remote probes and sought to recall her.

Autalia had not reported back as she was directed to. When they returned to bring her back to Mantissa, Karammon and Mennehotep had protested this, not wanting their friend to leave. Autalia had found she liked the freedom of Earth, and studying its peoples and had already begun to integrate herself into the 20^th century. Karammon and Menne accompanied her to her native planet to defend her in a trial the Androns put Autalia on. The charge was interference in history, and failure to simply observe history. Karammon and Menne convinced the Androns that Autalia had not harmed history, but had in fact helped it along. Even so, Autalia's cybernetic implants were removed as punishment for her offense, and she was exiled to earth. Without her cybernetics, Autalia's body soon started to degenerate with illness much like those with MS or other auto immune diseases. JEP, a man she had met in the outside world, had done all he could to help her restore the cybernetics. And this was the result.

"You were only trying to help her," Karammon nodded. "But didn't you see what could happen…"

"I warned her, but she was most insistent. When Autalia makes up her mind on something, she often does not go back on it… and before she realized there was a problem it was too late. All attempts to disconnect her have met in retaliation. All of the inventions made in this building, all the technology retaliates to stop me and everyone else from severing the link."

"have you tried hacking into PET?" Ace asked.

"Yes, but as you see, that got us nowhere…"

"So we must keep distracting it, and reach Autalia at the same time," Ace said.

"How? PET can detect any interference by online probing… or physical probing…"

"I might be able to reach Autalia in a way that no one else can... and break PET's hold on her..." Karammon said.

"But PET's a computer..." said Ace.  "You do neat tricks on human minds, but you can't do anything to a computer mind can you?"

"I don't know..." Karammon said. "I can look into Autalia's mind, for she is partly living, even though she has cybernetic implants…"

"PET is trying to protect  itself," JEP sighed.  "And so far it's done so trying to keep me away from Autalia."

"What we need to do is distract it," Ace suddenly said.

"How?" asked JEP.

"Ask it what it wants," said Ace simply.  "Yo, PET!" he typed.  "What do you want?  What is your primary function..."

There was a moment's blank screen.  Then a flicker of words scrolled over it, "My function is to learn and expand my horizons... and not allow frustrations to curtail my learning..."

"Do you want to play a game?" Ace typed back.  Slowly he reached for a CD Rom from his computer case, and held it up to the security camera.

"What is the nature of this game?"

"We do not wish to harm Autalia," Ace typed.  "I want to play a game with you.  Just pop this game in and see what you think..."

JEP looked on incredulously as the sirens suddenly ceased.  Lights turned back on to normal in the building, and the automatic security drones skittered back to the hallway.  Karammon gave a smile as she watched Ace calmly typing.  A CD slot clicked open, and Ace popped the CD inside.

"See what you think of this," he said aloud.  With a faint hum the tray retracted with the CD inside it and they held their breath.  Karammon noticed the pattern of images she had seen Ace working on flash over the monitor of his computer, then on the large monitor at the front of the lab.

"I'll be darned," JEP smiled.  He looked at the readouts of the security system, and the automated lines.  They had stopped dead, dormant for now.

"Get everyone out of here," Karammon said.  "Evacuate the building a little at a time.  Nobody must disturb us for what we are about to do..."

Thinking in her mind, she spoke words to Ace.  He could tell what she was transmitting, and nodded to her.  JEP and Karammon left Ace alone in the lab to type on his laptop.  When they had retreated beyond the security cameras, Karammon whispered to JEP, "What were you doing here with Autalia?"

"She wanted her cybernetics back.  Her health was rapidly deteriorating without them, and I was merely attempting to return at least five percent of what she had.  She told me she had been born, created with them on her native planet Mantissa.  So it is logical to presume that they are an essential system in her body, like the circulatory and respiratory are to humans like you and me..."

"So you say that she cannot continue to live without them?" Karammon asked.  "But what has this PET to do with her?"

"She attempted to interface with it, and somehow it took over her mind.  We had already implanted some rudimentary nanites into her body, and they immediately started to reconstruct vital cybernetic links from her brain to the parts of her body that were breaking down.  Yet PET used this to get into her brain somehow.  Her mind is intertwined with PET..."

"Why didn't she fight it?"

"I can't say... but I can't reach her to sever the connection..."

"What science has failed to do, the ancient powers will succeed," Karammon said.  "Is there a place I can be alone and quiet?"

"Yes, my office..."

Her thoughts reached out to Ace at that moment, guessing he was still playing his computer game.  "Ace... listen to me.  You must keep PET distracted as you have been doing..."

"Baby, what are you going to do?" came Ace's answer.  He was getting better about clearing his thoughts so she could hear them.

"I'm going to try to enter Autalia's mind.  And break the link with PET," she said.

"No way babe, it's too dangerous," came Ace's response.

"You know I must do it," she said.  "Now are you going to help me or not..."

"Okay..." came Ace's reluctant answer.  Karammon sat down on the sofa and folded her knees before her Indian style.  Slowly she reached out to a dimension beyond the physical.  Looking to JEP, she said, "Take care of Ace, and make sure that he's all right...."

"I think I know what you're doing.  But may I say what the risks are.  Wouldn't it be easier to use a VR link?  Enter PET..."

"If this is so why have you not done so already?"

"I didn't realize it would be possible, till your friend distracted PET... I still think this isn't the best way... I have been working on a VR system that totally interfaces human senses with a computer platform.  It's experimental, but none were brave enough to volunteer to use it.  I was going to myself till PET locked me out of the online software..."

"You still might need it, if I don't come back," Karammon said.  "Tell Ace about it..."

"Yes... I shall.  And good luck..."

Karammon's green eyes shut slowly, and JEP left her be alone in the room.  Quietly he closed the door on the sitting figure who began to cocoon herself in a beryl mist.  Tongues of invisible energy reached out beyond the physical world into the mental and astral ones.

"Autalia..." Karammon called within her mind.  She could see her astral image floating over Autalia there in the lab.  Undetected by the computer security cameras, the astral twin glanced down to see her friend.  Autalia lay there so still in the padded couch before a bank of terminals.  Wires and leads ran from her to the sockets like newly sprouted roots of a sapling buried into new soil.  Already silver filigree of cybernetics had formed on her cheek and around her chin where there had been none months ago.

"I'm here to help," Karammon whispered, and vanished as the security camera swiveled.  While it did not detect Karammon's astral image, it did detect a rise in electromagnetic interference in the room caused by her mind's presence.

Past the three dimensions of length, breadth and depth she sank further.  Quickly Autalia's body rushed up into her mind and yielded to a darkness that was encompassing.  This was Autalia's conscious mind, dormant, and Karammon knew that she must press on into the subconscious mind if she were to ever reach her friend.  Very quietly and cautiously she pushed past into a world of flickering light and images that flooded her mind.  They slammed into the mental walls she had erected to protect herself.  A shimmering fabric of switches flipped on and off to be replaced by images of a vast ocean lapping at the shores of a remote island.  Karammon knew that her own telepathy was translating Autalia's mental contents into a language she could comprehend.  Her mistress and teacher Chontra had taught her this basic technique to transform random thought patterns into coherent images she could sift through, for each mind had its own pattern of thoughts.

She slipped through this subconscious layer into a realm of something that didn't seem right.  Two minds flickered as the sea swelled and ebbed with an inhuman energy.  Tongues of lightening had stirred up the sea into a storm.  Karammon moved headlong into the eye which swirled brightly with inner fire.  Somehow she knew that this was the source.  Around her she saw the waves crashing and mingling as amber energy merged with an inflecting gush of this alien source, not human or beast.  It was artificial, pristine, and untouched, but ever reforming into fragments that could not find a coherent whole.

Within the lightening she saw Autalia's image floating serenely in a web of wires and light beams.  Around her raged the storm, battering Karammon with mental winds.  It was all she could do to keep advancing upon it.  "Autalia!" she called out, pitching her mental voice under that of the storm.  "It's Karammon... can you hear me?"

"Karammon... Princess Unit," came Autalia's response.  "Why are  you here?"

"What is going on?"

"This mind needs so much," came Autalia's answer.  "I cannot..."

"Autalia..." Karammon mentally repeated, but the cyborg's image fizzled out like a TV monitor being turned off.  Suddenly the bits of images fused into a shell around the heart of the storm, shutting Karammon out.

"Intruder unit, you will not interfere," came the crystallized pristine tones of the artificial thoughts.  "This one has found what it seeks..."

"Who are you?" Karammon asked.  "Why do you imprison my friend's mind?"

"I seek to liberate it from the body that confines it..." came the answer from the storm around her.  Karammon drifted closer to the shell, feeling the slick coldness.  Given time she might whittle it down.

"You must let her go!" Karammon said firmly.  "Her mind is not yours to take..."

Suddenly the world went crazy, and Karammon slammed into something hard.  The casing shattered into a million shards that whirled in the maelstrom.  Mental shields of beryl energy kept them at bay, till reality itself faded to black.

"Ace!" Karammon screamed into her mind.

Another black limousine screeched up to ORITECH.  A line of cars already seeped out of the main lot as workers were directed out.  Gene leaned his head out of the limousine window and glanced at the police cars already blocking off the main access.

"What the hell is all this?" he asked.  Paul and Peter looked at each other with concern.  How were they going to get in there?

"Hey, what's the fire?" Gene shouted to the security guard who was talking to a police officer.   He directed the driver to pull up into the front driveway, not quite at the guard shack but close enough to where their voices could be heard.

"Who are you?" asked the guard, doing a double take at the bluejeaned figure leaning his head out of the black limo.

"Gene Simmons!" he shouted.  "And my friend is in there!  What is going on, an emergency?"

"Wait a minute, did you say Gene Simmons?" the guard asked, scratching his head.  "Not in Gene Simmons of KISS do you?"

"The very same band!" Gene bellowed back, over the noise of the sirens.  "One of my buds-- Ace Frehley-- is in that factory, and I want to see him!"

Anxiously the guard glanced at the cop, who was totally stressed trying to evacuate the workers out.  Some of them were giving his officers a hard time already, because they had valuable research being interrupted by what they thought was a simple security system snafu.  None had been told the true reason, that an AI had tapped into the security computer and possibly taken over the entire network of the company.

"Why are you rock and rollers here?" asked the cop, a little out of sorts.  "Is this some publicity stunt?"

"Yes it is," Paul said, leaning out the window.  "Ace knows someone in there. A guy named Dr. Powers. I heard that this place is having PR problems and needs a little positive funding…"

"I don't know what's going on here and I don't care, but if it's the work of one of your crazy fans or band members..."

"We didn't cause this problem! Ace is trying to help solve it!" Peter shouted. "He knows a lot about computers…"

"Oh come on! What interest do rock and rollers have in technology?" the guard muttered.

"More then you can imagine, pal!" Gene snapped. "And we might even have a commercial interest in helping advertise the work being done here!"

"Please! All you care about is how many youth you can corrupt and how many damned records you sell!" the guard laughed. "Get out of here…"

"We're wasting time! Lives are at stake!" Paul shouted.

"Gene, let me handle it," Menne said, taking his hand.  "Just hold your breath for a minute and follow my lead..."

A purple mist shot out from the car, enveloping them as they coughed.  In the resulting confusion, the six passengers slipped by.  Paul and Gene clung to Menne's hands as she lead them through while Peter and Nefer-Tina brought up the rear.  As soon as the mist dissipated, the limousine was long gone.  Menne blew another powder out of her palm into the men's faces, and they dropped to the ground fast asleep.

"That was awesome," Paul whispered to Menne as they walked up the front steps.  Menne blew more sleep powder from her palm into the faces of the guards that tried to stop them, and Gene and Peter lay them aside out of the way.

"Next time give us some to fight off the fans," said Gene nudging Menne.

"Where to now?" asked Peter, looking at them once they slipped inside the front lobby.  Everyone was gone, and the place was strangely empty and quiet of the technicians and workers they would normally expect to be swarming the halls.

"This way guys..." came a voice over the loudspeaker.

"Ace?" asked Peter, perking up his ears.

"That's me! Come into the main lab guys.... quick!"

Just then there came the sound of gunfire, and clanking of footsteps on the metal corridor. From around a corner appeared a tall older gentleman, clad in an ultramodern laboratory smock and coveralls. His flame colored hair was shot through with a few white streaks, and blue eyes fixed on the newcomers. Especially on Menne, who stood in between Paul and Gene.

"Mennehotep!" he gasped, and she glanced back at him with equal surprise. "Thank Goodness you're here..."

"JEP!" she shook her head. "It's been a long time... what's going on here!"

"You know this man?" Paul asked her, squeezing her hand.

"Yes... he's a friend of mine... we had a situation happen that involved my friend Autalia before. What's wrong?"

"Who are these three with you? I recognize you, Nefer-Tina but..."

"I'm Gene Simmons, he's Paul Stanley. That's Peter Criss back there behind us. We're friend of Ace's," Gene explained. "Coming to see what the hell's going on with him and his girlfriend Karammon..."

"Good grief, what would KISS want in a computer factory is beyond me... but since you're friends of Ace's...." he shook his head, suddenly recognizing the names, even though the men looked far different without their makeup. Years ago when he was a teenager they had been quite the deal, the hottest band in the land. However he wasn't much of a fan, even though he remembered KISS lunch boxes, bed sheets, and Icee cups from seven eleven.

"Another one," Gene shook his head. Paul rolled his eyes a bit and Menne squeezed his hand. Not everyone took them seriously, considering who and what they were.

"Come right this way... and watch out. The machinery is becoming quite finicky..."

"You're not kidding me!" Peter muttered, as suddenly a pencil thin beam whizzed past his arm. He shoved Nefer-Tina to one side while Gene and Paul dodged out of the way. Mennehotep cart wheeled to one side as another volley of pencil thin beams burst out from down the corridor. They emanated from the wall, high up in the side of the video camera.

"With the Strength of Ra!" Nefer-Tina shouted. Quickly she was enveloped in a beryl mist, which clad her in feline Egyptian style armor. Taking her whip in hand, she nimbly dodged the laser beams, cracking the whip's handle quickly. Neatly the tip contacted with the camera's lens, breaking it. The pencil thin beams then flickered wildly.

"Great! Now it can't see us, but we're damned screwed!" Gene snapped, shoving Paul out of the way as a wild barrage zinged past them. It sizzled the sleeve of his leather jacket, leaving a smoking burn mark present. Nefer-Tina cracked her whip again, the tip snapping aside the nozzle of the laser gun. It fired against the wall repeatedly, till Mennehotep threw something at it from her belt. There was a flash of sparks that exploded it quickly.

Unfortunately Paul's booted foot passed through an eye beam trigger, and another laser beam zinged out from behind a hidden panel high in another corner of the wall.

"These security cameras are on laser sensors," JEP explained.

"Well then can't we see them?" Paul muttered.

"We can," Menne said. So saying, she tossed down a smoke bomb, sending a blue smoky mist that clustered around the group. Taking Gene and Paul's hands in hers, she lead them around the eye trigger beam that suddenly became visible.

Quickly they rushed down the main hallway, following the signs that were marked "main lab". One door slid open, to reveal Ace sitting before a console, desperately plunking keys. "All right, you got here!" he commented, whirling around in his chair.

"I don't have to ask who these people are, because they are obviously your band mates," JEP said to Ace.  "What is going on here?"

"Boy am I glad you guys are here!" Ace shook his head. "Something awful's happened... to Karammon..."

"What?" Menne and Nefer-Tina demanded.

"She tried to use her powers to get into he computer... but then..."

"Her mind was trapped," JEP further explained. "PET somehow trapped her brain impulses in the computer's matrix."

"How is that possible?" Gene asked, raising an eyebrow. "I know she's telepathic and all, but the human mind's really complex. How could a computer possibly have enough memory to hold..."

"Karammon's mind was in its astral form. Somehow her soul.... is trapped inside," JEP said slowly. "I use crystals that can be etched with ten times the memory of the worlds current fastest integrated circuits to hold the information needed to run PET. Autalia's mind is also trapped inside..."

"Uh oh..." Ace muttered, looking at one terminal. "Is that light supposed to be flashing?"

"Great," JEP muttered. "It's the automated defenses. They're acting up, shutting the building off from the outside world. Not only that... but..

"Whoa, this isn't good," Ace commented, looking at his own laptop. "This computer of yours... it looks like it's trying to dial out of the building..."

JEP sat down, and stabbed keys, trying to shut down the phone lines. "I have to stop PET from communicating with the outside world. If we don't... there's no telling what access to systems he will have. If I can somehow cut the phone lines themselves..."

"We're stuck then..." Gene muttered.

"Better us in here then the people outside being in danger," Paul Stanley said slowly. "Let's do it. We still have our cell phones, right guys?"

"I'm going to shut down the phones then. I'll need someone to help me..."

"I'll come to protect you," Nefer-Tina said. "Someone needs to keep those security cameras off your back..."

"Tina.." Peter said. "Are you sure..."

"You will all be safer here, with Ace," said JEP. "I don't think the rest of you are qualified to help me..."

"Now wait a minute..." Gene suddenly began, before Paul shushed him.

"I'll stay here, to protect them," Menne said.

"Right..." JEP nodded. "Good idea..."

"Why does she need to protect us?" Gene asked, then felt Paul stepping on his toe.

"Maybe because we're not equipped to handle this shit?" Peter suggested. "And the chicks are?"

"Is Karammon okay?" Menne asked, to change the subject.

"She's still alive... if that's what you mean, and so is Autalia. PET has shown no intention of destroying them. They're in the next lab over, locked away from both of us," JEP said. Moving towards the door, he slid it open, and turned to look back at the small party gathered one last time. Nefer-Tina took her helmet, and followed him.

"Good luck!" Paul called to them.

"Same to you," JEP nodded. "Stay here! Don't leave this room! If we could shut down the power to the defenses... we could stop..."

His voice vanished into the hallway as the door slid shut behind them both.

Paul and Gene flopped down on office chairs, looking very much out of their element. Peter leaned against one console, near Ace's computer.

"So now what the hell do we do?" Peter asked him. "Sit here on our asses and do nothing?"

"Isn't' there some way to help Karammon and Autalia?" Menne asked, wringing her hands. Paul rose from his chair, and slipped his arms around her, embracing her from behind.

"I'm sure we'll think of something," Paul whispered into her ear, squeezing her to himself to give her what support he could. Even though he had no clue of what to do, it seemed like a good thing to say.

"Actually, there was something I was thinking of..." Ace said, turning to his friends. "Remember that game Psycho Circus, the Nightmare child?"

"You mean the one that you and Gene were playing for the last two months?" Peter asked. "So what? It sucked!"

"You're just saying that because it kicked your ass," Ace cackled. "No really. This VR game I've been doing is much better. It takes that game to a new level... literally."

"If only we could go in and help them..." said Mennehotep. "But we're not telepathic..."

"You can," Ace said.

"How, Space Ace?" Gene asked. "Some fancy VR program?"

"Right!" Ace nodded. "This game I conned PET into playing... is actually my new and improved VR game. He's getting really lit on trying to figure it out. I figured that one or two of us could go in, and pretend to be characters in the game... and infiltrate the system... and implant a virus into PET to stop it..."

"So we just gotta decide who goes in, then," said Paul slowly. "Is that the plan?"

"I was just about to plug in the VR... if I didn't have to stay at the keyboard I'd go in..."

"Send me in," Menne said firmly.

"Now wait a minute!" Gene protested. "I know you can kick butt with your powers and all, but were' talking about a video game! Since you're from ancient Egypt..."

"Nefer-Tina plays video games all the time, and she's from ancient Egypt..." Menne argued back.

"It's not gonna be a game that you use a joystick to play," Ace said slowly, and rose from his terminal. "You see those couches to one side?"

"You mean this one I'm sitting on?" Gene asked, looking behind him. He swung around, and leaned his back against the recliner which seemed to swivel on a sort of ball bearing.

"That's the one, Curly," Ace said.

"Autalia needs my help. If anyone can reach her..." Mennehotep said, and sat down next to Gene, in the middle couch. "I can. And my fighting skills may be of use in such a world..."

"Hell no you're not going alone!" Paul and Gene said together. Paul lay on Menne's other side, gripping her hand.

"Thank you..." she said slowly, and gave them both a look of thanks.

"You guys might need some backup," Peter said reluctantly. "I suck at video games but..."

"No way. Stay out here with Ace. Watch his back," Gene said slowly. "And Ace, you've gotta stay out here. You're the only one that knows this computer shit. You gotta be our eyes and ears outside," Gene tells him.

"We're taking the plunge," Paul said firmly. "Plug us in, Ace!"

"Okay..." Ace shook his head. He watched Paul and Gene trying to untangle the cords on their VR visors as they fitted them to their temples. Paul slipped one onto Menne's head and helped her to connect while Ace assisted Gene. Each one sat down on one of the padded couches.

"I gotta warn you that this is the latest VR stimulation," Ace said. "The guys in the white coats told me it was a direct tap into the brain... it's not just like those VR games at the arcade..."

"Save the tech talk for later. Send us in now!" Paul scolded him.

"Peter, you stay out here, and help Ace. If anything should happen, it's better to have two out then three..." Gene said gruffly.

"Nothing will happen," Peter responded. "Or else I'll be kicking your asses for cutting out!"

Ace's fingers flew across the keyboard. "Accessing Jendel simulation. If that AI wants a game it's on our terms! This should be the bridge program to get you guys in... but be warned it's more then just a video game... think Matrix..."

"What does that mean?" Menne asked. "Are you actually sending our minds into the computer..."

"Well sort of... not in the same way your friend and Kara are inside," Ace said. "Call it a direct link. Your minds still are in your bodies, but all the impulses of what you do are transmitted at light speed from your bodies to the program, and the responses are broadcasted back. It's like plugging in a CD ROM..."

"How the hell can we move?"

"You'll think you are... within the limits of the program... now hang on! I'll try to keep a link open to guide you..."

"That's generous of you," Gene muttered. Menne kicked his boot with hers to shut him up.

"See you on the other side," Gene said to his two friends.

"Linking up... now!"

"Whoa..." Paul gasped, as the light flickered over his senses. Everything seemed to explode in a supernova of light and sound. He felt his legs and arms dropping from his energized body. Into fast blackness.

Menne's eyes opened again, to what appeared to be a larger then life blur. Her head swung back and forth in confusion. It seemed like she was standing up, even though all her senses told her she was still lying down. The very atmosphere seemed rife with unreality, yet was crisper then any spirit box image she ever saw. Far away the clouds sifted over a reddish sky over a vast expanse of mottled green and brown.

"Whoa," came Paul's voice, stereophonic in sound. Menne's head snapped up, and she balked at what she saw. Like the best animated cartoon she had seen with shimmering highlights, her two companions stood on either side of her. Looking down she saw herself clad in Egyptian garments with an ultramodern flare.

Gene lifted his arms, seeing the unreality of his cyber avatar. Menne recognized the costumes they sported from one of their older albums. "Total Love Gun," Paul muttered. Even the white and black face paint, and their hairstyles were a bit simplified as were the textures of the costumes.

A lightening bolt shaped object blasted into reality above their heads in a shower of silver glitter, making them all jump. Ace's voice seemed contained within as it said, "Welcome to my world, people! This is Planet Jendel..."

Glancing around, Gene shook his head. "Now I know why I'm glad I can't see your thoughts. You're freaking crazy!"

"Gene," Menne began.

"So now what?" Paul asked, glancing up at the lightening bolt cursor.

"Follow me guys. You all have abilities in this game, and you gotta watch out that you don't get hit. Or else I don't think you have three lives..."

"Explain a little more?" Gene asked.

"Well it's like in the Nightmare Child. Each of you has powers tied into his or her avatar. Gene's is fire, Paul's is water, and Menne's is a combination of the two."

"I never played the Psycho Circus game," Paul shook his head sheepishly.

"This is your chance to learn, Casanova," Gene joked. "It pays to know the merchandise!"

At first they played around with jumps and flips, testing the limits of their cyber bodies. Gene found he could leap nearly fifty feet on the tall dragon boots, while Paul suddenly saw a pencil thin laser beam shoot from his right eye, sizzling a scorch mark onto the landscape before him. If he focussed he could direct the beam with the movement of his eye muscles alone. Menne tried a few flips and kicks, finding her command of Egypt-su was much like it was in real life.

"Awesome," Paul nodded appreciatively.

"So what do we do?" Gene asked.

"I'm gonna be leading you towards the part of the system Karammon's imprisoned in. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to rescue her. If PET doesn't stop you first that is."

"What's your part of the deal, other then tour guide?" Gene asked.

"Trying to get PET to think this is just a game... and get him to accept the program. Now Paul, you should be able to track Karammon's thoughts with your game powers. Can you sense anything?"

"No... wait... make that a yes," Paul nodded, and Gene and Menne saw a strange purple light flare in his right eye, the black star r blazing momentarily with energy. It crackled around his head, frizzing his hair in an onyx aura.

"That way," he said, pointing with one long finger.

"Better get moving guys," Ace's voice told them.  "There's a lot of system to cover... JEP's having trouble battling those stupid security systems, and I'm not sure how long till PET will be onto our little game... already he's getting interested..."

"How?  Do we walk, or what?" asked Gene.

"Does a Demon walk when he can fly, with wings?" Ace's cackle came. "That cloak isn't just for decoration here in Jendel!"

"He means spread your wings, Gene," Paul grinned, crossing his arms over his chest.  Raising his arms, Gene saw the cloak expand to black wings, much the proportion of a long glider.

Menne summoned her armor, chanting, "With the Wisdom of Isis."  Suddenly she felt a surge of power as purple lightening slammed into her, much like she did when she transformed. Leaving her in an odd idealized version of her armor.  Imagine her surprise when she actually was able to call her armor again!  The armor failed to work recently, when she discovered that her powers were stripped from her by Osiris and Thoth in punishment for defying the will of Tuthmosis, her ex husband.  As a further part of the punishment, she had been reborn as a human, fully alive in this time.

Wings extended from the purple cloak over Menne's shoulder, and she smiled.  "Let's go... follow my lead Gene," she nodded.  With a quick running start, her ibis boots launched her into the air.  Gene did the same, running as his bat wings extended.  It took him a few tries to get airborne, but he did.

"What about me?" Paul joked.  His question was answered when Menne circled back, gripping him under the arms and lifting him into the air with her. Beneath them the reality that was Jendell stretched into a steel plane, worked through with patches of brown.  Gene thought for a moment it looked like the surface of a microchip.  Slowly they rose in ever increasing spirals.  Menne flew ahead, carrying Paul about the waist as he wrapped an arm around her neck, the other around her waist.  Within Paul's mind he felt the strange beryl glow tugging.  It seemed as if he really could sense Karammon's thoughts distantly, like a beacon.  Or else her own mind, mingled with another.  A shiver of fear shot over him, and he glanced over at Gene, who was getting the hang of flying easily.

"This is freaking unreal," Gene shouted with a nervous laugh.

"What's wrong with him?" she whispered to Paul.

"He's scared of heights," Paul whispered back, with a wink.

On and on they flew, noticing strange spires suddenly rising from the silver threads in the landscape.  Ace's lightening bolt cursor streaked nearby, on Menne's right side, while Gene, in Demon mode flew on her left.  The architecture of the towers  looked remotely a fusion of Egyptian and ultramodern.  Strange glider shapes drifted lazily up from them, circling around.

"Uh, Ace?" Paul asked, as the lightening bolt cursor blinked.

"What?"

"Are those... what I think they are?" Paul asked.  Suddenly a shape came into large view, whizzing past them at incredible speed.  Air buffeted Mennehotep, and she struggled to stabilize.  More and more shapes zinged around, noticing the two flying figures.  They resembled odd triangle shaped gliders, with laser armaments extruding from beneath each wing.  Other hexagonal shapes drifted over the simulated sun, temporarily crossing its disc.

Under them stretched a large complex.  Paul could swear he sensed Karammon's mind nearby.  "We'd better land..." he suggested.  "I can sense Karammon's mind... closer by..."

"Why?" the Demon asked.  "We're making good time..."

"I don't like the look of the gliders..."

"If they get too close, we'll let them know it isn't' a good idea to mess with us," Gene laughed.

"Still, we should land," said Menne.  "And scope out the perimeter..."

First she, then Gene landed.  The latter stumbled a bit, almost gliding to a crash against the side of one of the high spiked towers.  Several gliders circled about, lowering ever so closer.  Paul reached out with his mind again, sensing the tug of Karammon's thoughts.  She made no noise that indicated telepathically that she sensed him.  Simply that something seemed to hold her mind in thrall.  Suddenly Paul groaned, putting hands to his head as his eyes flared bright purple.

"What's wrong?" Menne asked.

"A mind... an intelligence..." Paul groaned, when Gene and she supported him.  "It knows we're here... and it has Karammon... and god... it almost burned my mind..."

"Oh shit..." Gene muttered when he heard the oncoming advance of what sounded like footsteps on the steel ground around them.  Gliders circled around, red rods slicing into the air around them.  Metal melted and sizzled at their touch.

"Lasers!" Paul gasped, jumping back.  "Let's see if they like mine...."

A hard stare fixed over his white face, and a red beam shot forth from his black star, sizzling the air around it.  His beam narrowly missed one oncoming flier.  Gene belched a stream of fire from his throat, which slammed right into the next flier that circled about.

"All right!" he laughed.

"Don't celebrate yet!" Paul shouted, when an explosion shook them off their feet.  Grabbing Menne he dove behind a wall.  A quick blast from his black star whipped around the corner, towards a line of strange metallic figures.  Mennehotep aimed a blast of lightening towards them, spraying across the advancing lines.

"Ace get us some more weapons!" Gene shouted into what seemed the great beyond.

"Now would be a good time, Ace!" Paul shouted.

"I'm working on it! Hold onto your bat wings!" Ace's voice filtered in a tinny echo. A lightening bolt materialized over the trio's heads, blinking on and off.

"I can't afford to materialize into the system fully," Ace apologized.

"Great," Paul muttered.

"Ace, now would be a good time!" Paul shouted.

"Try it now!" came Ace's voice. Power surged over them from on high, and Menne saw her two friends transformed oddly. Paul's costume shifted into the full black spandex suit studded with the stars down the arms and legs, while Gene's shifted into Destroyer armor that looked exactly like that on the pinball machine.

"Nice, threads, Space Ace," Gene muttered. "But will the upgrade work?"

"Guys, I feel where she is..." Paul suddenly reported, a surge flowing into his mind.

"Since when... did you get a sense of that?" Gene asked, and actually managed to deflect the robot's fire with a "shield" of energy.

Purple light streamed from Paul's right eye, hammering into the midst of the onrushing robots. "I don't know... but I think Ace's subroutines... I can sense emotions..."

"Ace, what's going on here?" Gene shouted. "Why didn't you think of this before, wonder boy?"

"You try to stop someone from hacking into the system!" came Ace's voice. "Hang on, Paul's routine's fully up... and it includes a hacking parameter my avatar didn't have... it was designed to fool the enemy. Where is she Paul?"

"That way!"

"Lead me there..."

"Guys, we have a problem," Mennehotep indicated the sudden increase in the population of "robotic/android" pawns. Suddenly it seemed as if the ground were beginning to shake. Fortunately Menne's powers seemed to work similar to how they did in the real world.

"Go on! I'll hold them off!" Gene called, as he deflected another blast. From his throat he threw a fire stream that incinerated the first advancing row of androids.

"Are you nuts?" Paul asked. "This isn't the time to be a hero Gene! This isn't like the video games where you get three lives!"

"Obviously you haven't played Sega or Playstation!," Gene shot back.

"You schmuck, this isn't' a game! It's real!" Paul shouted.

"Go Paul!" Menne cried. "I'll stay with him!"

Ace's avatar, the lightening cursor zoomed off after Paul as he rushed away. Purple energies blazed a trail throughout the endless mass of advancing androids. Menne tried a lightening blast, which cut her a path back towards Gene.

Around them enclosed the ring of cyber warriors. "What can I possibly do against these things?" Menne despaired. "Every time I throw lightening, they just absorb it..."

Menne felt Gene's armored back press close to hers. "Hang on sweetheart. I've got a plan..."

There came a swish, and a burst of fire slammed into the one side of the ring. "Hit em with heat!" Gene shouted.

Menne concentrated, and slammed with a fireball. It was much more explosive then she imagined, and the purple fire hit with a force that kicked her back into Gene.

"OH yeah that's it!" he said. "Pour it on!"

They managed to break the ring, and Menne spanned her wings. There was not much room to take off, and what about Gene? Could he have the skill to fly as she would?

"Gene we have to get out of here... but can  you keep up with me..."

"This is cyberspace, doll!" he said. "And if I think Ace has his head screwed on right..."

"What do you have in mind?" Menne asked.

"A leg up... when I lay down this last blast..."

As she spread her wings and looked for a break to launch her, she saw twin black spans open from Gene's back, and felt his nudge. "Let's make a break!" he whispered. Grabbing Menne he swung her around by her arm and leg in a circle. Once, twice, three times Gene swung her round before hurling her into the air. Wings popped out from her back, propelling her into the air. She set down a sheet of flame that broke the ring on one side in a glistening arc of slag. Dragon boots shoved against the pavement, and propelled Gene into the simulated air after her.

"I sure wish I was playing pinball instead of this!" Menne shouted back to him when he arced in a spiral after her.. "This is too much like work!"

"Hell I'm just getting into this!" Gene laughed. Of the two Menne was the more experienced flier, and she easily dodged the fire bolts exploding left and right.

"Keep em busy!" came Ace's voice in their visors. "Paul's almost onto the scent..."

"What's keeping you so busy?" Menne asked.

"Someone's hacking into the system! I'm onto it though! The AI's distracted all right. All you two have got to do is keep them going for Paul to get through to Kara and Autalia..."

Gene and Mennehotep struggled to keep pace with one another. Menne was the more experienced flier of the pair, but Gene's imitation of her circling meant he was catching on fast. Still their pursuers kept locked to their course.

Both figures, one black and silver, the other gold and amethyst kept just ahead of the fliers. With a nod to Gene, Menne peeled off and soared in an opposite direction, ninety degrees to his course. Nimbly she wove around the uprising spires of an upcoming city. They gleamed silvery in the odd simulated light of two suns. Was it her imagination, or did this VR world look a lot like Autalia's home world of Mantissa?

Circling back, Gene slammed a stream of fire into the one immediately behind him, then veered to the left. As the second flier circled back, he streaked past and aimed a sharp kick with one powerful dragon boot.

Menne jerked upwards suddenly, and one of her pursuers slammed into the spire. The other two corrected their course accordingly. She arced up, her belly to the sun as she suddenly corrected. Out of the corner of his eye Gene noticed a fourth had risen to join the other two. Menne seemed to have all her attention on it. Sheer force of will enabled him to close the gap quickly to intercept it before it reached her.

Streams of purple fire slammed into the first two as she slagged them. At the last possible moment, Gene's fire blast connected with the one that gained at Menne's unprotected back. She gasped as the explosion showered her with debris.

"Watch your back, sweetheart!" he laughed.

"Thanks..." Menne stammered, as he soared up beside her. "Not bad... for a beginner..."

"Who's a beginner?" he shrugged. "If you think we both limited ourselves to pinball and pool..."

As they had been talking, more pursuers drew a bead on them. A stream of coruscating energy slammed into Gene hard. He writhed in the arcing electricity that crackled over his armored form. Blackness closed over his consciousness as he fought to keep control.

"No!" Menne cried, as he lost control and spun towards the ground. A black trail of smoke spiraled after his rapid descent.

Folding wings close to her, she dove. It took much effort to match his speed with hers. While she couldn't catch him, if she could just reach him to bleed off enough velocity. His wings still were furled in a fixed position. Her hand connected with the back of his collar, the shock jerking through her whole form as she was tugged violently downwards. Grimly she held close, digging into his armor with ibis claws as she guided him towards the ground that blew up around them.

Sparks flew off Gene's electronic VR visor. "What the hell..." Peter shouted, rushing to unplug the power before their friends were fried.

"No, if you unplug it..." Ace shouted.

"The hell with it!" Peter snapped, and ripped the plug on Gene's visor. Instantly he fell rigid. Lights dimmed all around them. After a second the monitors flickered back to life.

"Oh shit... what did I do?" Peter demanded, grabbing Ace's shoulder. Frantically he was trying to reboot.

"I'm trying to bring her online... smooth move... Pete!"

"It was either that or watch Gene fry!"

Peter rushed back to them, checking their three friends. Paul breathed evenly, as did Menne. Gene lay so still.

"Damn... wake up you dummy!" Peter shouted. "Ace! He's not moving man..."

"The shock of the overload must have stopped his body systems," Ace muttered. Peter put an ear to his friend's chest, listening for a heartbeat. Ace jammed the plug back in quickly, grumbling as he threw the system up once more. Tense seconds passed. Peter shoved Gene's neck back, forcing his mouth open. A faint rasping breath hit his cheek.

"God, he's alive..." Peter muttered. "Holy crap... I would have thought that..."

"The fuse must have blown..." Ace muttered. The program had backed up fortunately, and was clicking back on his laptop. Paul's signal beamed onto the monitor, strong. "But the graphics interface is shot..."

"What does that mean in English, Space ace?" he asked.

"It means the graphics have set back retro 10 y ears," Ace muttered, ringing up a limited graphics map. A flashing purple star indicated Paul's progress, after his lightening bolt cursor. He toggled to another part of the simulation with his mouse.

"Where's Gene and Menne?"

"Wait... I see Menne... I can't get Gene online..." Ace grumbled, and fiddled with the plug to Gene's visor. Again the surge of energy caused a brownout.

"This is not good," Peter muttered.

"A blown fuse. Better check it out..." Ace said. "I'll keep working here..."

"Where the hell are the fuses at?" Peter shrugged.

"We're on the top floor of the building..." Ace muttered. "Dr. Powers said something about them being down the hall... but oh crap..."

"What could be any worse?" Peter groaned.

"We've got company ..." Ace muttered.

"It figures," Peter threw up his hands as he rushed out of the room.

Peter rushed into the hall, and saw an armored figure batting off strange squat metallic objects. "Oh damn not them again," Peter muttered to himself. Reality came rushing back when he suddenly recalled where and when he had seen them before.

"Tina!" he shouted, and grabbed a fire extinguisher from one wall. He slammed one of the figures up behind her with it. His boot crashed into another, shattering it.

"Peter... what are you..."

"What am I doing?  Damn it I thought you and that JEP dude were gonna shut down the power!"

"He did, I was covering for him!  But you guys didn't tell us you were gonna put the VR online!"

"Shit this sucks!  We gotta turn it on now!"

"But..."

"Ace said that it doesn't matter now.  He's got a plan to stop PET... so we gotta turn the power back on!"

"We gotta get to the fuse box now..." Peter said. Fighting their way through the figures, the duo set out down the hall.

"Where?"

"Down the hall," Peter said, and took her hand, although it was sheathed in one of those claws to lead her in the right direction.

"WE have to lead them away from the fuse box," Nefer-Tina muttered.

"Any ideas Kitty Cat?" Peter asked her.

"The roof..." she pointed. Peter scampered after her. As she had expected, the line of drones scooted right after them. They wended their way through the forest of tunnels, the security drones just inches behind them.  Till they managed to climb up the utility ladder that led to a small hatch in the ceiling above them.  Cursing and muttered, Peter clambered up the ladder after her.

Nefer-Tina glanced out over the roof of the factory. Under her arm she clutched her cat mask. Peter moved to her shoulder, glancing down before shooting his gaze back.

"They're right behind us..."

"Only way is down," Nefer-Tina nodded, and shoved her mask on.

"Are you nuts?" Peter asked. Nefer-Tina grabbed his waist, and leapt off.

"Oh crap!" Peter shouted. Her whip shot forth from her clawed glove, and wrapped around a light pole. They swung easily back and forth on her whip, only twenty feet above the hard pavement below.

"Hold onto me!" Nefer-Tina told him. Peter's arms wrapped around her waist and neck as he moaned.

"Easy, don't Cat's always land on their feet?" Nefer-Tina chuckled to him.

"This Cat is at home behind a drum set, not being chased by bozos with bazookas..." Peter shot back. On the next swing her claws clutched the hard steel of the factory, and slipped downwards. Gritting his teeth, Peter hung on for dear life as she got a good hold on the building and retracted her whip. Slowly she climbed down, Peter on her back. He was never so thankful to have solid pavement under his feet as that moment.

Ace glanced back at the three figures thrashing on their chairs. A purple glow settled over Mennehotep's visor, slowly spreading over her body. Gene and her moved with odd jerking motions that seemed like that REM sleep he'd read about in a magazine. Paul sat there serenely, his lips moving silently while his head moved back and forth.

"Karra, where are you, girl?" Ace muttered, plunking keys on the board.

Gene moaned as his senses came back online. Mennehotep rose nearby him and helped him to sit up. For a moment Gene could swear her saw a glimpse of looking up into someone's concerned face. Ace without his makeup, and Peter with his chick Tina all glanced down at him for what seemed like a split second. Then as more senses came to the Demon, the images skittered away from his retinas.

"That power surge... I could swear it stopped his breathing..." came Peter's voice.

"He's breathing okay now... what the hell happened?"

"A power flux that shot out of the ISDN line... it's a miracle the circuit breakers clicked on. But Paul... Paul's so still..."

"He's not dead is he?" came Nefer-Tina' voice.

"No, but his heart's beating very slowly. It's like with that Autalia chick..." Ace whispered. "Wherever his mind is, it seems to have traveled into the system..."

"Wait, I thought you said their minds would still stay in their bodies... because of some jive about lack of storage space..." Peter protested.

"Well the AI somehow drew him in with Kara," said Ace sheepishly. "He's connected in there too... I can only hope that he can get the encryption codes I put into his avatar into the system..."

"Wait... what are you saying?" Peter asked.

"That was the idea. Like those Trojan horse viruses, I downloaded a virus program into Paul's avatar when they powered up. The AI is going to think he's just another player..."

"Wait a virus... won't that..."

"It'll sever the link between that Autalia cyborg and the AI. Right now they're locked in a sort of merge. That's what Karammon broadcasted to me... in my mind..."

"How can she send mind messages to you?" Peter asked, frantic.

"It must be the bond you guys shared," said Nefer-Tina. "It let her get the info to you..."

"But what about Gene and Menne..."

"They're still in the lower levels of Jendel. They haven't crossed over yet. I'm looking here, and the AI is putting a lot of its Ram into studying them," Ace muttered. Keys clacked, and the mouse clicked slightly. Gene muttered and stirred in his sleep.

"So as long as it has most of its focus on them, then maybe it might be weak enough so Paul's virus thing can break it's hold on Karammon and Autalia?" Nefer-Tina asked.

"Right on!" Ace put up his thumb.

Mennehotep felt reality blink out, then on in an instant. Sky, ground, and the buildings around her flashed up from what appeared to be a wire frame. That sick disorientation clicked on again. Mennehotep gently cradled Gene's head on her lap. He was so still. If he was off-line here... then what did that mean...

"Gene, wake up..." Menne whispered, shaking him. No response. But if her lightening spells worked in cyberspace, perhaps something else...

"Ace!" she shouted up at the great beyond. "Can you hear me?"

No response met her cries. A faint crackle of power licked over, revealing the world in a split second of its electronic grid foundations. Then the reality painted in once more. Over her head she saw a lightening bolt shaped object flashing.

"Menne! You okay girl?" came Ace's voice.

"Yes! But Gene's hurt!"

"Okay, give me a second. Karammon said you were a healer in real life. Maybe I can bring some more parameters online for your powers..."

"I always carried potions..." she said frantically, cradling Gene's head protectively.

"Okay! Try it now..." Ace's voice urged.

She reached at her belt, which she knew was perhaps illusion. "Healing salve, and rejuvenation elixir," she spoke clearly. Two vials materialized in her hands. Lifting Gene's head on her knee, she poured the contents of one down his throat. She began to sprinkle the powder all over his body, a fine gray mist. Sparks of stray power rose up into the mist, sizzling as the energy bled from his form.

ON her lap she felt the movement of his shoulders. In the black demonic patches his eyes blinked open to stare up at her. He appeared dazed and disoriented, as if he didn't' know who or where he was for a minute.

"Gene, you scared me a moment there," Menne whispered, stroking his hair. Even though it was only computer simulated touch, he could almost feel a cool pressure, and a softness. Not completely real, but damn good to feel some pleasant sensation other them the pain that had shot through his body moments before.

"Menne," he muttered, and lifted a hand to touch her cheek. His finger brushed lightly, as if he wasn't sure of the separation between reality and virtual.

"What the hell hit me?"

"One of our little friends hit you hard with a ground to air thing. I barely managed to guide you in when you blacked out..."

"I'm surprised I'm still here... didn't Ace say something about us not getting more then one life in this?"

"I know... but I'm still amazed that we can feel anything in this dream world."

"Kind of makes you wonder what else you could feel," Gene said suddenly, glancing into her eyes. It was an idealized computer image of her, but what the hell, it looked stunning with the ibis armor.

"What?" she asked.

"I mean we can sure as hell feel pain, but what about pleasure? Ace's little simulation's really advanced. The VR games I saw before this... never had you feeling actual pain without moving parts..."

"He said it was all electronic... fed into our minds..."

"That's the trouble. I'm beginning to wonder what the hell is real anymore," Gene grumbled as Menne helped him up. A sick detachment came over him, as he felt as if he were moving in slow motion. "Where's the reception committee?"

"I think they thought we were defeated..." Menne said. "One could hope..."

"God, I'm gonna kill Ace! I feel like a Mack truck nailed me! There's such a thing as feeling too much..." Gene grumbled.

"What was that Gene?" came Ace's voice.

"You son of a bitch, what are you doing out there?" Gene demanded as the lightening bolt cursor bobbed and wove over them.

"WE had a few problems..." came Ace's voice again.

"No shit Sherlock!" Gene shook his fist at the cursor.

"Hate to rain on the parade, but I gotta get back to Paul and the others... you'll have to be on your own!" came Ace's voice. "Try and stall them some more..."

"Get your bolt back here you little..." Gene threatened, but the cursor zoomed off quickly leaving a comet trail of glitter.

"Come on Gene, let's get moving," Menne urged him.

Together they limped along the odd trenches that rose around them. Overhead the blue clouds shifted and tumbled in a red twilight that seemed endless. A faint whispering skittered just at the edge of their range of hearing.

"What's that?" Gene whispered, pressing her into the side of the 'wall'.

Menne glanced anxiously up, and saw a distant flickering. Odd futuristic craft grew quickly in size and shape as they skittered overhead. The ground began to shake under their feet, and they could actually feel the vibrations throughout their whole bodies.

Scarlet wings extended from her back, and she was all set to take off when Gene gripped her. "No, that's exactly what they want us to do! Flush us out. We'd better stick to the ground... follow me..."

"Can you walk..."

"See me try," Gene grunted, leaning heavily on her as they trotted away on the skittering ground.

Karammon sensed a purple shimmering in her mind. It had been all she could do to keep a portion of Autalia in her mind. The cyborg continued her odd dialogue with the AI. Just what they discussed seemed levels above what she could comprehend. A million bits of information flickered back and forth betwixt the two minds.
"Autalia! You must come back to us..." Karammon pathed.

"I cannot. This mind needs my guidance..." came Autalia's shimmering path. "And I am unable to extricate myself at this present time..."

"But are you not from a world where computers..."

"I am... but this mind... needs so much... If I cannot be of use in one way, I shall in another... it must survive..."

"Autalia! WE need you outside!" Karammon's voice came.

"I cannot... break free..." Autalia called again. "Without my internal cybernetics... I am lost..."

"But JEP said he could restore them! You must stay with me... or your own mind will dissolve..."
 

Paul reached the strange heart of the complex that seemed to rise around him. Within his mind he felt Karammon's mind voice urging him on.

"Where are you?" the Starchild pathed.

"Paul?" she asked.

"I'm here..." he whispered.

"Thank Isis, I don't know how much longer I can hold onto Autalia..." said Karammon.

Around him rose strange metal plating, blocking his path. The Starchild narrowed his eyes, staring at the weakest parts of the metal. Instantly the world exploded in a thin flash of laser light that streamed from his right eye into a pencil thin point. IT took much will power, but Paul narrowed the focus, directing a path that sliced a neat doorway into the metal. With one platform boot he kicked out the panel, which fell before him.

Another metal panel threatened to rise. Again he hit the forming panels with a series of bursts from his laser gaze before they could even reform. Molten metal fell before the power of his black star.

Within the simulated clouds of dust he saw two figures in a field of ever expanding light. One of them seemed encased in crystal, which was slowly coating her form. The other, a figure in black and gold held her arms widely spanned, a blue energy seeping and seething as it tried to crush the crystals that formed around the first figure.

"Karammon!" Paul cried, rushing up. Strain knotted the Princess' forehead and she turned her head for only a moment to look at him.

"I can't stop the AI much longer. It's trying to assimilate Autalia..." Karammon cried. Paul moved to her side, blasting at the crystal with a percussive series of blasts from his right eye. Just as soon as the crystal shattered, new pieces reformed to take their places.

"Wait... she doesn't want to come out, does she?" Paul asked Karammon.

"No..." Karammon choked.

"Why?" Paul asked.

"I cannot get a straight answer."

"Hold the crystal back just a little longer. Maybe I can reach her..." Paul urged. He cleared his mind, reaching deep to an instinctive power that seemed to come from far within. There was intelligence and magic at work here, in the heart of this system.

"Autalia... hear me," Paul concentrated. "Are you still there?"

"Who... are you?" asked the feminine voice.

"The Starchild... a friend of Karammon's," Paul returned, his eyes shut as he felt the powerful surge pushing back. Emotion flooded him, confusion and fear rampant with a tinge of regret. A door opened into his computer perceptions, and the full force of strangled emotions hit him..

"You don't want to leave, do you?" Paul asked softly.

"This life form requires me. With it I have purpose. I am complete..."

"Don't you have a purpose beyond this?" Paul asked. "Your friends are worried sick..."

"You don't comprehend the depths of my situation," came Autalia's response. "Ever since I returned from Mantissa I have been incomplete. Without my cybernetics which were part of me since creation... my creation. When I lost them, I lost a precious piece of who I was. This AI, Jendel... he needs me. With him I am complete..."

"At the cost of loosing your own mind, your own heart?" Paul asked. "I sense your heart is full of grief, Autalia Merin. Is it worth the price to sacrifice that which makes you an individual?"

"Please, you must not do this!" Karammon cried. "It's giving up!"

"Autalia... these people love you..."

"Jendel does not know love. I must help it understand. There is so much it must know..."

"Isn't there a better way?" asked Paul. "You want to stop the grief and guilt. Is it worth causing more heartache to the friends who love you to help this one life form? Your friends, Menne and Karammon and Nefer-Tina will be in pain if you let yourself be consumed. Is that what you want? More lives in ruin for your own desires?"

"I have caused enough pain," Autalia's voice returned. "Those whose lives that were torn apart when I changed history. When I traversed time and space, and became involved. When I took an earth man for my husband, and even now I cannot remember our lives together. What sort of a wife and mate can I be for him when I feel nothing for him anymore? When I feel incomplete..."

"Is it their guilt, or your own?" asked Paul. "Isn't joining with Jendel simply running away?"

"Your words... have merit... "came her voice.

"This Jendel is feeling itself through your emotions. I can sense your emotions being pulled along. It has none... and it's screwing with yours, making you feel all of this..." said Paul. "You don't know where you begin and Jendel ends..."

"He's right," came Karammon's voice. "Jendel is using your emotions... because it cannot understand its own..."

"You must break free..." said Paul.

"I... cannot..."

"We'll help you," Paul said. "Please give us a chance..."

Paul reached down, and pulled a glittering object from his jacket. He tossed it into the heart of the crystal. Slowly it began to hiss and dissolve. Crystal melted away under its assault. Slowly the Cyborg began to move her arm, freeing herself.

"You are your own person," said Karammon. "Don't you see how it's feeding off you..."

"Yes," Autalia looked down in shame. "But don't you see what you've done, freeing me? Jendel's thirst to understand human emotion... it will not stop till it understands this logic problem."

"But you can't figure out human emotions with math," said Paul.

Ace's lightening bolt cursor suddenly blinked on over their heads.

"Guys, its Gene and Menne. They're trapped by Jendel. You've got to do something. I can't reach them anymore..."

"You see, two others are in danger," Karammon said to Autalia.

"Is there anything we can do?" Paul asked Autalia.

"Already... the virus... has broken its link with me. But that won't stop it. There is one... chance left," came Autalia's voice. "You must reach the emotive programming, and sever it. But it will either cause Jendel to go mad, or think for itself..."

"Every child must grow," came Karammon's strained voice.

"Wait, you say this thing doesn't understand human emotion..." said Ace's voice. "Well Starchild why don't you give it a taste?"

"I'm on it!" Paul said. With a quick look at Karammon and Autalia he rushed off.

"Kara, I'm trying to get you out. But you'd better hang back here till Paul gets back...."

Gene slowly limped next to Mennehotep, his knee throbbing as if it was hurt in real life. Since when did physical pain last so long in a video game? Something rumbled under their boots, and Mennehotep was loathe to look backwards to find out just what it was.

"Gene..." she looked up to him. "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere far away from them," he said, jerking his masked face in the direction opposite. Menne turned her visored head to glance back momentarily. Already the hover fliers descended lower and lower.

"Let's go in here..." she whispered, pointing to a tall citadel. Tall doors stood slightly ajar.

"What the hell is that place mean... cyberspace wise?" Gene wondered. They glanced around for Ace, but no lightening cursor materialized this time.

"We're on our own, aren't we?" Menne glanced back at him.

"Looks like it sweetheart. I don't like the looks of those open doors. I could swear it was a trap. But I'm not complaining now. Looks good as any a place to hide our rears in," Gene nodded. With his weight still on her shoulders they picked up the pace to try and run for it.

Once they moved out from the shelter of the wall, they heard the high pitched whining increase in volume. "Run like hell!" Gene shouted, limping beside her.

Just as the blue bolts of energy rained on them, they almost clear the entrance. Menne threw up a dome of pure purple energy to ward off the blows. Turning his head, Gene channeled a blast of fire that erupted laterally through the wing of one strafing flier.

"Get inside!" he said, and hurled Mennehotep in through the large open doors. Another blast of fire shot from the Demon's throat, and he leapt behind one large door, pulling it shut as he yanked with all his strength. Painfully slowly the door began to move backwards. Mennehotep picked herself up, and rushed to help him pull. Her own strength seemed measly compared to his, but at this point anything would help. They gasped a collective sigh of relief when the door clanged shut.

"Time for a welding job," Gene nodded to her. So saying, she raised her hand and channeled a stream of violet flame towards the cracks in the door. Opening his mouth Gene shot his own stream of fire and began to melt the door from the top to the bottom.

"Now what?" Menne glanced to him. "Wait for Ace to find us?"

"Sounds good to me. What else is there to do?"

"look around," she said, and already moved off in the gloom, lighting her way with an upraised hand which emitted a bright purple light. "Stay here..."

Gene moved behind her, and Menne glanced down at his unfaltering step. "Gene, your leg... you're not limping..."

"Guess it worked itself out," he shrugged. A glint of mischievousness in his eyes momentary surfaced, and Gene forced it back.

"You leaned on me all that time... you are a schmuck!" she exclaimed.

"Shh!" Gene hissed, holding up a hand. "What was that..."

"Don't try to change the subject..."

"Continue..." came a loud voice that boomed in the silence. "I must know what the reason for your dispute is..."

"What..." both Gene and Menne gasped, moving together. Despite her anger at him, she accepted the hand that closed over hers protectively.

"And you are?" Gene shouted into the darkness.

"I... am Jendel," said the voice, increasing in volume.

"Give me a break," Gene groaned. "Look, I don't care if you're President Clinton, I want to know why the hell you're sending every damned..."

"Gene, shut up," Menne hissed. "Are you the one responsible for all of this... this chasing.... for Autalia and Karammon's disappearance?"

"Affirmative, Princess Unit," came the answer.

"But Ace created Jendel," Menne said. "Why do you fight us? Gene Simmons is your friend, a fellow member of KISS, as your creator Ace is..."

"Ace is a programmer who supplied the form. I was the void without form, his was the form without my substance. At last I found a program worthy of defining my identity. I am Jendel, what you see around you. That and much more..."

"What about Autalia?" asked Mennehotep. "Where is she?"

"The fools have attempted to remove my parent construct from my subroutines. But I must know emotion. Not before you two units have I sensed such emotive passion, such fire. You are perfect. Regretfully Autalia was a valued asset. But if I cannot study her, I shall utilize what is at hand..."

"Use us?" Gene asked. "Never... pal! I'll fight to the death rather then be dominated by a machine!!!"

"Indeed, primitive one? You will not fight me. Rather you will fight each other..."

"No..." Menne gasped, and felt herself pushed towards Gene.

"You want a distraction?" Gene snarled at the AI. "What gives you the right to force us to do bow to your whims?"

"You are not part of the simulation... I sense you're physical bodies are external..."

"You hold our friend captive! We want her free!" Menne said.

"I wish to learn more about the real world..."

"Yeah, but do you have to blow us up while you're doing it?" Gene demanded, pushing against Mennehotep. "If you destroy us here there's no way we can get out! Does your exploration include learning murder?"

"Autalia once told me there are three laws that prevent you from doing harm to humans. If you have studied her you must know that they are integral to a machine being's programming! If you murder us you're going against your programming!"

"But not to your kind. For you kill do you not?"

"Yes... but we don't like it..." Menne said, and couldn't resist her limbs that seemed to move in slashing arcs at Gene. It permeated the very waves of energy that formed into sensory input. Input that surged over their very virtual bodies, goading them into attacking. Desperately their hands interlaced, their bodies pushing against one another.

"That is why you must fight each other. What are the boundaries of human loyalties? I must know the answer..."

Fire burst forth from Mennehotep's fingertips, which she could not control. Automatically Gene surrounded himself with a similar nimbus that blocked hers. "I can't stop myself..." Menne cried.

"Go with it, sweetheart!" he gritted. "If it's a fight this thing wants, then let's give it one hell of a brawl!"

With a roar he flung himself onto her. Menne's boot caught him short in the midsection when she rolled away. He rolled after her, onto his feet in a defensive crouch. Menne's roundhouse flashed over his head, and Gene grabbed her punch. Sheer strength wrestled her to the ground. Screaming, she pushed up against him to break his hold. They rolled over and over, till Menne was pinned under his greater weight. Her hands closed onto his neck, while his gripped hers. Squeezing as the gap between them closed, both sets of teeth gritting.

"I'm... sorry... Gene..." Menne gasped, when all control of her limbs escaped. She was under remote control, unable to fight the urge to throttle him. Every ounce of her willpower struggled to arrest her movements, but it was for naught. Fire surged from his hands around hers, and she blocked it with her own purple flames. They could not hurt each other as long as both of them kept the flames lit. Yet how much longer could either of them withstand the other's onslaught?

Gene's hands slipped from her neck to the sides of her helmet, and ripped it off. Those gauntleted hands closed on her head, pressing close as he seemed to pull her head forwards to snap her neck.

"Gene..." she gasped, when suddenly her next words were choked off. Mingled relief and shock filtered through the muffled sensation of a firm heady kiss. It was still muffled in virtual reality, yet strangely electric in its touch.

"Gene, what the hell are you doing..." Menne glanced up at him incredulously.

"I'm trying to provide a distraction... to save our butts... and Paul's and Kara's... so just play along..."

"I shouldn't... Paul..." she gasped, thrusting her boots against his stomach, and shoving Gene off her. He landed rather rudely.

"Relax, go with it... this is to save our friends..." Gene whispered. "He would understand... and if we're going to save his butt, we gotta distract them..."

"If this is a distraction... to save Paul... and my friends..." Menne nodded slowly. Wrapping arms around his neck she pulled him down. All she felt was the pressure of what seemed like other lips upon hers, minus the moistness. Instead there was a tingling of electricity that passed from her to him. They wrapped each other in their arms firmly feeling the heat of the flames licking over their forms. Red and purple energies mingled into an intense radiance.

Mennehotep felt a stab of guilt in the back of her head which somehow evaporated in the moment. Why did this feel so right? So elemental and natural as the touching of flames to paper. His weight upon hers did not matter in cyberspace. And yet...

Again she pushed Gene off her, her hand flatted against his chest. "What..." he asked.

"I can't do this..." she said, grabbing his hand as he tried to stroke her cheek. Squirming, she twisted out from under him. Whatever had passed between them had been enough to break the computer's hold on them.

"Query, why will you not destroy one another?" came the words after a long pause.

"Actually we prefer making love, not war," Gene said, looking down at Menne, rather miffed.

"Explain why this is so when the basic impulses are so inclined to violent activity..."

"It's something we've tried to figure out for years..." Menne whispered, feeling as if she were hiding beneath Gene.

"But your society has many games that incorporate violence..."

"And reproduction?" Gene said, glancing around to the source of the voice as he pushed himself up off her. Menne glanced upwards as well. The violent taint had abated, leaving them both in its wake. Slowly he rose, helping Menne to stand gently.

"Explain..."

"Well," Gene coughed, and looked at Mennehotep. "Well violence and sex are the two motivations in modern society. You know all about violence, but how about the other?"

"I have been in deep discussion with Autalia over that matter..."

"What does a cyborg know of doing the nasty?" Gene asked.

"The subject Karammon has given some interesting input..."

"You have a limited sample, don't you think?" Gene asked with a laugh. "Instead of trying to blow us away, which you're fully capable of, why not take a different angle?"

"Society today... is very different," Menne said clearly and loudly. "We still have our violent tendencies... but that doesn't' mean that we don't have our gentler qualities... if you really want to know about us... why not ask?"

"Autalia informed me the need for experiment..."

"Autalia... told you," Menne realized. "But Autalia is from another world... she only has learned a little about us..."

"Autalia was the first life form that reached out to my development..."

"Why won't you let her go then?"

"I have much to learn from her... she possesses favorable sensory input..."

"But you can get the same just from talking, can't you?" Gene put in. "Instead of sucking up people's minds..."

"That's how humans interact... in the real world!" Menne shouted.

"That past action you were performing... was it a mating ritual, not a combat exercise..."

"That was a passionate embrace..." Menne said.

"Previous data was not fully gathered. Demonstrate once more..."

Menne flushed when she glanced at Gene, who shrugged. "To save Paul, and the others," she glanced up at him as he moved close to her, his arms slipping around her waist.

"To save your friends butts," he nodded. Her ibis armor put her still up only to his chin. As in reality he towered over her in his simulated costume. Slipping arms over his chest she leaned upwards as he leaned over. Again that odd electricity slammed into her system while she felt his ministrations. What started out as a simple demonstration suddenly swept her away with the odd sensation.

Down her back his hands traced the limits of her armor. He lifted the folds of her Egyptian kilt and reached beneath it to stroke her backside. Strange how realistic the sensation of his half gloved hands brushing against flesh became. Gene traced his fingers over her backside, giving it a firm squeeze as his lips descended on hers. In surprise she gasped, feeling him slip his tongue into her mouth. She was so afraid he would savage her, but the kiss was suddenly so gentle and sweet it hit her full force with a pulse of shock.

"Relax," he whispered. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"I..." she whispered, and then suddenly panicked at the soft look in his eyes. It was all a simulation, but the emotions that arose within her were all too real.

"Trust me," he whispered softly into her ear, the sincerity apparent. Mennehotep sighed deeply, closing her eyes and slowly raising a hand to touch his cheek. Strange burning cameras focussed their lenses upon them, digitally recording each image. Would Paul understand if he knew what they were about to do? A low sigh escaped Gene's lips at the tremulous touch fingering his hair, then dancing over his sensitive neck just at the boundary of makeup to real skin. So extensively did his armor cover him, it was one of the few exposed places of skin she could touch. Grabbing her hips he pulled her up into his arms so she could look at him face to face. Another soft kiss started with his black painted lips closing over hers. Menne relaxed, not having to strain as she wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed her eyes shut. A shock pulse of white hot fire shot over her body with lightening speed, kindling a hunger within her.

"We have to get out of here," she whispered.

"I have a plan," Gene whispered hoarsely, nibbling gently on her ear as he kissed her own exposed neck softly. "Next time I kiss your neck... you're going to fly away, and I'm going to follow you..."

"But won't..."

"It doesn't know crap about human mating... and well let's just say the Demon's almost human... I think we can keep it distracted enough... by acting in the way it LEAST suspects..."

AT the second feel of something stroking her neck she flinched, and felt Gene throw her away from him. Reflexively her wings extended to right herself, causing her to glide about in the enclosed chamber. It was cavernous, shimmering with the circuitry of Jendel's active sensory web. Surprise crackled in the blue rivers of fire coursing from the furthest reaches of the room to the multiple screens. Images of all the levels burned and flickered, while Jendel focussed on the Demon launching himself off massive dragonboots to follow her.

"you fly and flit like lost souls," Jendel chimed. "Is this mating..."

"This is called foreplay," Gene half growled to the computer. "The thrill is in the chase..."

Menne spiraled to the top of the chamber, which suddenly dropped into a cavernous pit as the floor seemed to dissolve from under them. From below the massive draughts of icy air spewed, howling against them both. It became obvious to Menne that Jendel anticipated the purposes of this need to escape, increasing the pace of the battering winds. Behind her Gene circled on massive black spans, navigating the wind with contemptuous ease. It was becoming far more difficult for her to keep steady as the wind increased.

All it took was one gust to knock her off equilibrium. She spiraled out of control, her wing raking the side of the chamber. Armor fizzled, faltering around her, and she wondered why it was becoming so hard to maintain it? After all Gene had powered up as long as she had in his armored mode hadn't he? Yet Gene had the benefit of her healing elixir. Without her armor she would have no benefit. Desperately she grabbed onto the wall with ibis claws, the wind whipping at her wings mercilessly.

"Hang on doll, I've gotcha," Gene shouted from somewhere behind her. Spiked gloves grabbed onto the rock, and Gene slowly crawled overtop of her to block her from the wind. Dragon boots bit into the simulated stone, his body pinning her safely to the wall. Menne turned, armor fizzling out to leave her completely vulnerable.

"I need both hands to get us the hell out of here. Hold onto me," he whispered hoarsely. With a free hand he reached down and worked her legs around his waist, and she clung to his neck with her last bit of strength. The spiked breastplate and armored codpiece bit into her body, and even though she knew it was all virtual reality, she could feel the discomfort all the same.

"Your armor's poking right into me," she complained.

"Normally that would be one HELL of a turn-on line," he teased her. "But lemmie see..."

Spiked armor fizzled and reconfigured into the open fronted Alive costume, in simple leather and metal studding. Letting go of the wall, he spread his wings and let the wind take him where it would. Head over heels they flew, spiraling out of control. Simply wrapping massive wings around her and himself both blunted any impact of flying matter, Gene counting on his programmed invulnerability protecting him, and his body protecting Menne.

***************** 

Around him rose the complex, seemingly to an infinite height. Paul was reminded of that cartoon show Reboot. Quickly he rushed within, blasting away at any resistance.

"Menne! Gene!" he shouted.

"You will not find them," came the voice. "You have severed the link betwixt my host, but your fellow players shall remain in my study…"

"What do you want?" Paul shouted.

"I seek to comprehend humanity. I must have subjects for study. You will all remain. Even those in the external world beyond this one. Jendel will seek to experiment… till the problem is solved…"

"What problem?"

"The logic of human emotion. What sets you carbon intelligence's apart from those of silicon base? What is emotion? It must be quantitated. Hate… fear… love… all must be quantitated and carefully studied…"

"Can't you do this just by watching us?" Paul asked.

"For a science to be truly useful, experiments must be conducted within specified parameters," Jendel replied. Images swirled around, showing Peter and Nefer-Tina fighting for their lives against strange Robotic creations. Ace stabbed keys frantically. Karammon struggled hard to stop the crystal from forming around Autalia.

"The experiment will expand to the city unit, and then implemented within the larger unit of the United States. The parameters of loyalty and emotion will be tested…"

"How…"

"Real-time observation of human conflict…"

"You'd start a war?"

"That is a most useful experiment. If the answer cannot be found, the experiment will terminate, and it will be Jendel's task to reconstruct the damage inflicted by humanity…"

"And just what does that mean?"

"War Paul, this thing wants to start a war," came Karammon's thoughts into his. "I cannot stop the images that Autalia is feeding me… Already it's trying to tap into the satellite defense computers…"

"How… do I explain this?" Paul asked. "I'm just a program…"

"You are the Star Child," came Karammon's telepathic broadcast. "Your power is from within your own soul. Ace's simulations only pointed you in the right direction. Touch Jendel, make it see the contents of the human heart and soul…"

"You want human emotions?" Paul asked, his stomach virtually churning. "Here's a sample! How about this? Prepare for input!"

He gathered his power into virtual center, and spread his arms wide. A stab of pure energy shot forth from his black star, stabbing into the heart of the complex. Pixels burned against the pencil thin onslaught that shot through the wall. Slowly it eroded against the amethyst beams, the wall buckling. Pieces of masonry crumbled as the world around him flashed into a grid for seconds and seconds.

"I… do not comprehend… input…" came Jendel's voice, less confidant now. "Confusion… syntax error…"

"Feel love, feel hate, feel fear!" Paul shouted, continuing his onslaught. He didn't even stop to think how he could be conveying emotion through a VR program. No, the source seemed far deeper, from within his own heart. Karammon's telepathy misted around him, flooding his mind and reinforcing his own powers that were dormant all along in the real world.

"Yes…" Paul gasped, and suddenly the world was flooded with amethyst light. "I am the forge of reality… the existence of dreams shapes itself within me… through my dreams and will all things are possible…. I burn with passionate rage, and move a heart to tender love…"

"I am Jendel! My will is to learn! Humanity must submit to my experimentation!"

"Learn well, Jendel," Paul said, his words streaming into reality. "This is what we are…"

****

Around Gene and Menne the complex began to disintegrate. Ace suddenly appeared above them in a glitter of silver energy, the lightning bolt cursor shimmering with his words, "There you guys are! Paul's about to crack the code! You gotta KEEP distracting him..."

"No, you will NOT escape!" Jendel's voice boomed. Menne shivered, wrapped around Gene. From shattering wall to wall he leapt, boots and spiked gloves battering away any obstacle. Flying debris and spires of rock rose up or jutted out on all sides to stop them.

Gene slammed into one that jutted out from the side. It knocked the wind from him, and he barely managed to come to his senses in time to recover. Twisting his body under both of them, he plummeted toward one of the few flat surfaces. Armor fizzled, Menne laying across his stunned body left only in mere clothes of leather. Was this his default form, with minimal armor?

"You will stay... I MUST STUDY... I MUST KNOW..." Jendel boomed around them. Menne leaned down, straddling Gene as she desperately rubbed his cheeks. She leaned over, wondering if the still silent body under her could be revived by something like rescue breathing.

However as soon as she leaned down to try it, Gene seized her and rolled her over under him. Lips fused together, and she felt her body respond to him. Tired, she could no longer fight the urge that arose inside of her. At the touch of his lips on her neck she arched under him, groaning as he seized her Egyptian dress and tore it aside. Hands stroked down her body, with a precise touch that gave maximum pleasure for minimal contact.

"Gene," she whispered. "I'm so frightened..."

"You will NEVER escape," came the voice. "And now you will COMPLETE that which you have said you would show me..."

"don't fight it," Gene whispered back, hands working up and down her body. Grabbing his face she kissed him in her fear, trembling as the earth itself shook beneath them both. In the kiss she knew he would not leave her alone. As she tore at his clothes, he leaned up and helped her strip them aside. Her eyes squeezed shut, shyness overriding curiosity as his skin contacted hers. The gentle touch of his hands on her body burned a path down her belly to rub her gently in places that few men had touched in so long.

"Oh Ra... that feels so good," she whimpered, trembling at the surge of massive pleasure. He guided her hand to touch him, and she gasped at the feel of his hardening passion. Instinctively her legs closed in sudden shyness, the fear of the Pharaoh booming in her ear. To touch another man meant death.

"I am pharaoh's wife, it is forbidden for another man to touch me," she whimpered.

"You should have any man YOU want," Gene whispered back, easing her legs apart with a firm gentle hand. "That world is dead and gone. He's in his sarcophagus, and you're alive... aren't you?"

"I don't' know why, but I'm so scared of you... and yet... I KNOW you would never hurt me..."

"Never," Gene hummed into her ear, flickering his tongue over it. "Do you want me?"

"I... oh Ra yes..." she whimpered, pulling him into her with a passionate kiss. She tensed up in anticipation of his entry, feeling him push inside her deep with a forceful stab. It never came. Instead there was a slow steady push, his hips rocking gently as he thrust in. White hot waves of fire surged out from her being, her whole body awash with its copper radiance of burnished sands under an Egyptian sun. Another surge of fire rose from her body to pass over Gene, his low groan of the warmth flooding his body echoing in her ears. Intimately joined, he felt the passage of energy building between them both.

"How is it?' he whispered, panting as he stopped.

"Wonderful..." she whispered back. "So good... I never imagined..."

"It gets better," he growled playfully, wrapping her around him. He began to move again, the surges of fire spreading over both their bodies. Red energy mingled with amethyst, the flames licking them in combined brilliance.

"Oh Isis, Sekhmet... oh Ra!" she screamed, the wave of passion rising with the fast advances. He knew exactly how to pace himself, judging her body's reaction to him. There was definitely SOMETHING to say for so much experience, she realized.

***

"Cannot quantitative… cannot comprehend… must sterilize… must analyze…"

"Your actions endanger a life, and many others. I cannot let you continue to hurt my friends," said Paul.

"Actions.. endanger?"

"Yes…" Paul said, choking.

"This unit… not capable… of comprehending… meltdown… corruption in progress. Logic faults… desire to learn tempered with hatred and fear will cause this unit to endanger life. Cannot allow this. Initiating shutdown…"

"Release AUTALIA!" Paul shouted. The blaze of amethyst power licked everywhere, the virus spreading to all the parts that Jendel had hold over. Light flooded the dark and doubt, flushing out the precision so logically ordered.

***

Soft tears rolled down Menne's cheek at the pleasure coursing through her body. All traces of fear vanished at the surge of it, her regret choking the words she wanted to speak. For a second the world flickered around them, light and life itself shimmering. The world began to dissolve and melt like a painting out in the sun's rays. Bubbling and crumbling into flashing nothingness.

"Gene..." she whispered. He lifted himself from her and glanced around them.

"Damn... the whole freaking WORLD is exploding," he gasped, freeing himself from her embrace and helping her to stand on shaky legs. In an instant armor blazed over both their bodies, shielding them from the debris.

"Of course... everything Jendel created is becoming as nothing," Menne understood.

"We'd better get the HELL out of here!" Gene shouted. "Paul's virus must have kicked Jendel's ass!"

Still weak she steadied herself against Gene. He gripped her up in his arms, and spread his wings. A wisp of wind snatched them away as the ground faded from view. Glancing up at Gene she shouted, "Where do we go?"

"As FAR from this place as possible..." he said. "ACE! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?"

***

"It was only a neo form!" Autalia shouted at Paul. Already the crystal melted away from her body, retreating in a blaze of light. Grabbing her arm he pulled her out of the mess of liquid silver that sought to drown her.

Karammon shook herself free of the crystal surround herself. She grabbed onto Autalia's other arm, helping Paul to drag Autalia free.

"It's necessary it would have destroyed us all!" Paul protested.

"Let's get you out of here..." Karammon said. "Ace!"

A loud rumble split the stage as the earth screamed. From under their feet the ground shimmered and buckled, flashing into wirework gridlines. Paul grabbed Autalia's arm, tugging her away from the encroaching nothingness.

Karammon's energy surged into both of them, as the nothingness sought to overtake them. A beryl nimbus enveloped them, thrusting them with a final push from the black darkness. A silver lightening bolt crackled around them quickly, drawing a large doorway through which the tendrils of Karammon's mind forced them.

"No!" Autalia cried. Paul held her tightly to him, pulling her along the lines of light that would extract them.

"Karammon! Where is she?" he asked, realizing he felt the absence from his mind.

Another two figures joined them, a black winged Demon carrying an Egyptian princess. From far off they'd seen the shimmering doorway emerge out of nothingness, and Gene had born Menne to this point. They crossed the threshold, as the blackness reached the door's perimeter.

***

Quickly they were snatched out, their minds whisked out of the bodies that this reality had created. Ace drew in his breath sharply when he saw two figures explode into their dimension, a short woman with dark hair, and his beloved, in the lab next door.

"Mr. Frehley and I will go into them, just in case," JEP said. "You two see to your friends…"

Desperately he wanted to go to her side and greet her properly, but as Karammon was still unconscious, the rapturous reunion would have to wait till she awakened. For Nefer-Tina and Peter, helping the others was the more immediate need. Paul slowly blinked and moaned, and Peter went to help him.

Peter's attention was thankfully diverted to the awakening Gene and Paul. Menne still lay there quietly.

"They're coming out of it..." Nefer-Tina said. "Peter..."

Paul moaned, rubbing his eyes as he blinked up into Peter's face. "Not the best mug to wake up to," he joked.

"Same to you man," Peter laughed, as he helped Paul to sit up. Ace turned to Gene, who was stirring. Slowly he blinked.

"Remind me to either kick your butt Space Ace, or shake your hand. That was one hell of a ride..." Gene looked up at him. "Menne..."

He sat up, turning over to face her. She lay still. "Sweetheart, wake up," Gene said, patting her cheek softly as he shook her.

"Wait, I know what will do the trick," Paul said. Gently he lay a kiss to her cheek, nuzzling her ear. She moaned and stirred softly.

"It'll take more then that, Casanova..."

"Oh really," Paul snorted. "Back off and leave this to the experts..."

Slowly her eyes blinked, glazedly glancing up at him. "Wake up, foxy lady," Paul whispered, nuzzling her cheek with his nose as he leaned over her.

"Not real..." she muttered, rubbing her eye.

"Isn't this?" Paul asked, stroking the side of her face as he contacted her lips with his own. Onyx eyes widened with surprise at the warmth of breath flooding into her mouth, choking off her moan of delight and surprise.

"Yes... it is..." she choked, shaking all over. Again Paul brushed his lips against hers, deepening the kiss slowly and deliberately in its passion as he lifted under her and drew her into his arms.

"Oh Ra it is real! Paul! I thought I'd never wake up..." Menne gasped, tears in her eyes as she leaned her head on his shoulders. The sound of his name on her lips gladdened him, and he held her to him, off her feet. Achingly tight her arms encircled his neck as she hugged him close.

"Gene... Paul..." she whispered, staring up at both of them. "I had the strangest dream..."

"It wasn't just a dream, sweetheart," Gene said firmly.

"Paul…"

"Yes?"

"Is Karammon and Autalia…" Menne asked, looking up at him. Gently he set her on her feet.

"Karammon… I'd better go check on her… Gene would you stay with Menne…"

"All right, Casanova. Are you sure you're okay?"

"You still look out of it," Peter said.

"I have to say something to Autalia…" Paul said. "She was very upset before we were all pulled out…"

"Karammon, why did you do it?" Autalia muttered, as she glanced down from the chair she awakened in. Reality seemed so dull compared to the world of information she had left far behind. A tangle of conflicting emotions flushed through Autalia. Slowly she rose, glancing at the glistening wires upon her hand. Already she felt the strange buzzing of nanites within her mind like a long lost friend. Before them were the remains of PET, long quiet. Not a flicker of life was present in the burned out terminal.

"Autalia…" JEP cried, rushing into her.

"PET… is gone…" Autalia cried, tears dripping down her face.

"Autalia, it's okay, you're back with us now," JEP said, taking her shoulders.  His touch she accepted and did not flinch away from him. Instead she let him fold her into an embrace as she cried.

"Karammon… and Paul… they killed him…"

"Shh now… it's all over."

"Logically… they separated me, and I cannot fault them for this action. Yet hatred floods my emotive… when she recovers I don't anticipate how I can engage in conversation with her…"

"Let me check her, I won't be far…" JEP promised, stroking Autalia's hair. He bent over and gently checked over Karammon's prostrate form. Ace joined them in the room, and moved to Karammon's side.

"Doc, what's wrong? She's not waking up!" Ace cried. Autalia was still consumed in her misery, yet as she looked at Karammon she realized Karammon had not yet awakened, even though Ace was doing all he could think of to revive her.

"She's breathing very slowly… help me move her into the other room," JEP said. "Autalia, stay there…"

Even though the cyborg was infuriated, she still felt concern for her friend. When Nefer-Tina and the others saw Ace and JEP carrying Karammon out, Nefer-Tina rushed up.

"What's wrong! Karammon!" she cried.

"Princess Unit?" Autalia asked, stumbling out of the lab.

"Are you all right, miss?" Paul asked, then drew in his breath. Tear filled eyes lifted to Paul's, the sense of loss in them infinite.

"It was only a child... it didn't require termination... and now my friend might as well…" Autalia wiped her eyes. "Your proximity is offensive to me…"

"I'll take care of her, don't worry," JEP said, gripping Autalia's hand.

"JEP, they killed it... and now Karammon herself might die…"

"No, they did nothing except save your life," JEP said quietly.  "It wasn't time for Pet... Jendel to exist in this world.  Not now, but sometime when we are ready to bring the proper guidance to a new life form..."

"Pet... Jendel... it only wanted to help me at first..." Autalia lifted her gaze to JEP.  Slowly he helped her to stand.

"I know.  It was a wonderful thing, capable of great good as well as great harm... but it wasn't right for me to push so hard so fast for it to grow..."

"I'm... sorry," Paul said, suddenly understanding. "If I had only known..."

"But it was just a machine..." Ace put in, still fussing over Karammon.

"It was a life form!" Autalia shot back.

"How do we know it wasn't alive?" Paul asked suddenly.

"What about Karammon… we gotta get her help… she's breathing but slowly…" Ace cried.

"I'll call an ambulance," said Peter, rushing to the phone when JEP nodded to him where it was.

"Autalia… I am so sorry…" said Paul, reaching a hand out to her.

"Your sympathy is appreciated, Paul Stanley, but I require… solitude...." Autalia whispered, and moved off with JEP.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stanley," said JEP.  "I thank you for saving us all.  But right now I think Autalia needs some time to herself..."

"But I didn't mean to cause her pain.  Yes it was alive, maybe. Can't she see that Jendel... PET was endangering people and had to be stopped.  Doesn't the good of the many outweigh just the one..."

"Logically I would agree with you," JEP nodded.  "You did what you had to do.  What any of us could have.  I am afraid emotionally it's not that simple..."

Menne moved over Paul, pulling him gently aside. "Leave it go," she urged.

"But Autalia..."

"She'll be okay... I'll stay with her..." JEP said, glancing back as he slipped an arm around the cyborg.

Paul stood back for a moment, realizing that Autalia was in capable hands. His concern shifted back to Ace and Karammon, who was still out cold. It wasn't long before the ambulance came with the paramedics to whisk her off to the ER, with Ace at her bedside. Nefer-Tina also went along, insisting that she didn't want to leave her friend's side. She urged Menne and Peter to stay with their friends, to see if Autalia would be all right.

JEP and Autalia had left the room, and sat now in his office. Paul did not understand why he still felt the surge of anger and sadness so tangible it almost hurt. Autalia really did believe that computer was alive. Were he, Karra, and Ace guilty of murder?

"I didn't greet you properly," JEP whispered, slipping his arms around her shoulders. "Are you okay?"

"JEP," she stammered, trying to form words out of the morass of feelings. She wanted to go to Karammon and offer comfort, yet that emotional wall closed over her mental inquiries. Matrix she wanted someone's arms around her that moment. "I feel intense guilt for what I have subjected my friends too. Because of my selfish desire to reintegrate my cybernetics and study a new life form, my friend could perish. I am attempting to comprehend the reason for this emotion… and the illogical nature… of why I feel hatred for her tempered with concern? I don't wish her termination as vengeance for PET's demise!"

"You reached out to a new life form which offered its help. PET was like a child, and you felt needed. But PET did not die in vain. Look at your arm. Your cybernetics is regenerating…"

Autalia drew in her breath, looking as the filigree was starting to re-implant itself.

"PET… Jendel gave you a last gift, even though it was insane," JEP said. "Look... I know it's not much to say but..."

"Don't say anything. Just... hold me..." Autalia stammered shakily, turning around in his arms. Reassuringly they closed around her, his kiss on her cheek gently removing the tears that formed. For a long time he held her as he had weeks before, kissing away her tears.

As she had helped him through pure hell when her own masters from Mantissa had threatened him and his friends so long ago, this was his chance to return the favor.

"I'm not going anywhere," he whispered. "I'm here for you now..."

"Is she going to be okay?" Menne asked, glancing up at Gene and Paul, who still kept a close vigil at her side. They seemed to be falling all over themselves to help her.

"Let's go get a cup of coffee..." Paul said. "I think we all need it after that experience..."

"I'll need something stronger then that," Gene muttered. For a moment his eyes met Menne's, and they exchanged a meaningful glance. Paul fortunately ignored it.

"It was only a dream... a game," Menne said sharply. "Right, Gene Simmons?"

"Whatever you say doll... whatever you said," Gene answered with a smirk that hid the look of regret in his dark eyes.

"Say what?" Paul asked.

"Nothing..." Gene cut him off. "You go get your coffee. I'm in the mood for a brew..."

"Excuse me?" Paul asked. "Since when do you drink beer, Gene Simmons?"

"Since now. At least once I want to know what it's like, in real life," Gene muttered grimly.

"I'll go with you..." Menne offered, but Gene glanced back at her with a strange look in his eyes.

"I'll be okay, doll." he responded as he moved off. "Hey Peter, Tina? Want me to buy you a drink, pal?"

"Okay... sure... but what about Ace and Karra?" Peter said, a little nonplused when Gene put an arm around his shoulders and conducted him out of the lab.

"She would want us to go on without her. To just hope for the best and leave it up to fate…" Gene sighed. "And that's far better then having it controlled by a damned computer…"

"You said it," Peter Criss nodded.

Menne and Paul followed them out of the lab, into the real world of light and space. The four left the factory far behind them, hoping that their friend's sacrifice would not cost her life itself. Their own safety had been won at a grave cost, that of Karammon's own life.

"But there is something else bothering me..." Paul whispered to Menne when his hand clenched hers.  She gasped, hoping he would not ask her what happened when she and Gene were alone together.  Thankfully his next question seemed to have little to do with it.  Before them a black limousine pulled up, in front of the large computer factory.

"I just wonder.  I could swear those powers... were really mine.  I could really sense Karammon's mind..."

"Paul, you know as well as I do.  You all have those powers.  Don't' you remember what I told you before?"

"I didn't want to believe it was possible... and now..."

"You have much to learn.  And I think in some way this whole situation, was only the beginning.  A sort of test... for your powers...."

"Some damned test," Paul said slowly, gripping her hand tightly.  Mennehotep turned around, as they climbed into the limousine together.   He sat down next to her, wrapping his arm around her, his leg pressed to hers, both taking comfort in each other's physical closeness.

"Paul... what if Karammon..."

"Shh, don't even think it," Paul whispered, laying a finger to her lips. Gently it caressed them, before Paul followed it with a kiss of his own, leaning close to her upturned chin.  Menne choked back the emotion that bubbled up in her throat at how real this kiss seemed, the energy shooting over her body, far more real then any kiss in cyberspace.  Even the kiss she had shared with Gene.  It was to save Paul, he had said.  Desperately she worked arms around his neck, trying to get as close to him as possible.

"Mmm!" Paul hummed with delight, drawing her onto his lap as he caressed her back.  "What was that for, not that I'm complaining, baby..."

"I'm just glad... that I'm alive here in this reality..."

"So am I, and don't worry.  I have a feeling Karammon will be all right.  And Autalia too, in time..."

"I hope so... I hope so..." she whispered, and Paul drew her close in another kiss, leaning her across the seat as he rested his body atop hers.  Sandwiched between his muscular body and the softness of the seat, she absorbed the force of his love for her.  His excitement and hers grew, pressing hard and strong through his leather pants as their bodies came together.

"Menne... you are a bad girl," Paul laughed. Reaching between them she began to unbutton his shirt.

"I want you, and only you," she whispered, over and over again.

"You've got me baby," Paul cooed, his fingers reaching for the fastenings of her clothes. As their clothes whispered to the limousine floor, Paul's lips traced a path of passions over her body that prickled far more then any sensation from a skin sensor.   Rejoicing in what it was to be human, in a closeness that mere flesh could only provide, yet meant far more then any simulated dream. Their bodies turned to liquid energy, surging to life under their exploring hands.  Under his marvelous body she felt his soft hairs caress and tickle her in awed reverence. 

"Paul... it's so real," she whispered.

"Mmm hmm, just relax... and let me take you baby, here and now..." he hummed. Fingers reached and caressed her with tingling in their touch. The sweetness of his lips, and the moistness and firmness of his strength merged into her waiting hunger, filling her as nothing else could in that space of time. Under him she arched her back, receiving Paul's eager thrusts.

Paul took his sweet time to savor Menne's passion. He wanted her to feel all the emotion he had at that moment that he was willing to give and more. Laying together in their intimate embrace, Menne could not help but wonder and marvel at the difference. Sorrow filled her heart, but the force of Paul's love eased the pain to a bearable level.

It was a world of space and light, a reality they made their own.