The virus reported back instantaneously upon release. 595 stopped firing and dedicated most of her processing power to understanding the request. She was still vaguely away of the battle unfolding in front of her, but it seemed to slow down. [i]”Quick - release me; this one requires full control.”[/i] The virus whispered in her mind. The Agent’s HUD helpfully painted a dozen thin black helixes winding between her helmet and nodes out in the field, which then wrapped around Vreta. These connections all gyrated impatiently in the air. “SCRIVENER-FUJIKAWA CONTROLS MUST NOT BE RELINQUISHED.” a synthetic warning blared.

595 quickly analysed some of the data the virus was feeding back. Vreta’s internal defences were already going up, and she only had a vanishingly small amount of time to upgrade her attack. The Agent could see Vreta, and he was just standing in place. That wasn’t enough for her; she wanted to see him flat on the floor. Normally she wouldn’t even consider an action like this, but she’d felt an odd affinity with the viruses in her arsenal recently that hadn’t been there before. She felt more comfortable with controlling it personally, and even relished the challenge.

[i]“Alright. But just remember you belong to me.”[/i]The Agent overrode the lab controls, and instead assumed direct control. A new, totally alien strand surged through the slaved network, fully intent on Vreta. 595 drew in a sharp breath as some of the readings washed over her. She instantly felt a pull on all her personal control over the virus, like it was straining at the leash, dragging her along. It was a hundred times more complex, yet somehow felt familiar.

However, it never reached Vreta. A deafeningly loud klaxon sounded inside the simulation room; red lights flashed. The black helix lines in 595’s HUD went taut, then whipped back towards her as every piece of Human hardware inside the room, apart from her, powered down. Every detail of the simulation bled away, leaving clear white contours that’d raised from the floor to form the cover and buildings. Some of these too began lowering back into the floor, leaving the participants staring about, confused.

595 gasped as the virus rushed back into its box in the back of her head and hid.

“Stand down! Simulation ends.” A human coordinator shouted from the control pod.