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Chapter Notes: PART ONE


001 “ “It’s A Whole New World Out There.”


< Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans, Way back up in the woods among the evergreens, There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood, Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode, Who never ever learned to read or write so well, But he could play a guitar like ringing a bell. >


Mech was sick to death of seekers but that didn’t stop her from getting a certain kick from diving through FedNet at breakneck speeds and keeping those automated locator programs on a futile struggle to keep up with her.

These ones were more tenacious than usual however. The three tubular devices were not going to give up without a fight.

Mother noticed. < Your singing is as impeccable as always but you might need all your concentration for this one. >

Mech smirked as she executed one tight turn after another.

< Go, Go, Go Johnny Go Go, Go Johnny Go Go, Go Johnny Go Go, Johnny B. Goode. >


Mech trusted Mother even “ or perhaps because “ she had never seen her face, never spoken to her outside FedNet, didn’t even know her name or how old she was. She was not close to her age that seemed obvious. Mother simply knew too much, had seen too much and most importantly was too skilled in the cyber realm as not to possess a long lifetime’s worth of experience.

They had met five years ago right here in the vast depth of the latticework of green and black grids and numbers which to the unfamiliar eye reassembled a confusing and incoherent maze but to those knowledgeable with its structure was a real world away from the real world.

And these seekers had been after her ever since. Where they came from Mech didn’t know, all she knew was that she couldn’t allow them to catch her.


Mech’s avatar, a purple haired and shapely young woman of young age and undetermined race dove through FedNet weightlessly and with apparent skill. She could maneuver through cyber-space with even more ease and grace then when she moved through the physical world. And given Mech’s talents that was saying quite a bit.

She couldn’t see Mother but she knew she was close.

< He used to carry his guitar in a gunny sack, Or sit beneath the trees by the railroad track. Oh, the engineers used to see him sitting in the shade, Strumming with the rhythm that the drivers made. The people passing by, they would stop and say, Oh my that little country boy could play. >


Clad in a long flowing white dress Mech dove through a distinctly dense part of FedNet, exemplified by the many bright green flashes of light shooting back and forth across the grid.

< The Alpha Centauri junction > Mother’s disembodied voice said. < You might be able to lose them in there. >

Mech somersaulted right towards the epicenter of the pulsing mass of activity.

Two of the seekers stayed with her.

< Go, Go, Go Johnny Go Go, Go Johnny Go Go, Go Johnny Go Go, Johnny B. Goode. >


Motivated by her own song, Mech moved even faster now. Speed had always been one of her strength in the virtual world. But she could only go that fast. Something kept her from going any faster. The FedNet interface was bound by the restrictions of the physical network it was based on. There were rumors that there were ways to completely free oneself from those restrictions.

She slalomed in between thousands of other users who were barely even aware of her presence. She dove left and right, up and down and yet the locator programs refused to be shaken.

< His mother told him someday you will be a man, And you would be the leader of a big old band. Many people coming from miles around, To hear you play your music when the sun go downMaybe someday your name will be in lights, Saying Johnny B. Goode tonight. >


Mother did notice the rising strain in her voice. < Trouble? >

< Are you close? >

< Yes, > she replied in a maternal sounding voice and not for the first time did Mech realize that her net-name had been well chosen. < I can see you. You have almost reached the center of the AC junction. >

< These damn things are not letting up. >

< I know. >

< Getting more desperate to catch me? >
Mech asked with a sly grin on her lips.

< Perhaps. They’ve been playing this game for a long time. >

Mech shot through the Alpha Centauri junction, diving amongst billions of other signals now, most of which were low-grade casual users who had little knowledge or skill to navigate the more intricate ways of FedNet.

< Any thoughts who they might belong to? >

< I have my theories. >

Mech thought better of it than to ask Mother if she wanted to share those. She never did.

< You might have to try something a bit more aggressive this time. >

Mech’s smile widened. She flipped around almost instantly, putting herself on collision course with the seekers.

< Careful, > Mother said, < impatience is every hero’s downfall. >

Mech began spinning towards the seekers which now glowed red as they sensed their target’s proximity.

Seconds before the seemingly inevitable impact Mech put on the breaks. She came to a dead stop and held out her palms toward the incoming projectiles.

< Go, Go, Go Johnny Go Go, Go Johnny Go Go, Go Johnny Go Go, Johnny B. Goode. >


Blue energy rays shot out of her hands and towards the seekers. One fried instantly, the other evaded just in time to avoid the full brunt of the attack.

< Not bad, > said Mother.

The remaining seeker changed course and Mech watched it carefully as it zigzagged across the grid, apparently unable to reacquire its target.

Satisfied that it seemed out of commission she relaxed. < That should take care of that. >

< Are you quite sure of that? >

Mech looked over her shoulder. The seeker had found her again and was racing towards her, faster than ever.

< Uh-uh. >

< Take it out. >

Mech held out her palms but this time the energy beams refused to emerge. < I might have a problem here, > she said as her eyes grew wider. The seeker would impact with her any second. It was too late to try and make another run for it. Once the device would hit her, a powerful energy surge would spike her enhancers and probably overload her brain right along with it. Even if she survived the hit, whoever had been looking for her over all these years would have finally succeeded in locating her. It was not a prospect she was looking forward to. Mech appreciated her privacy.

< I’d say. >

< A little help? >

No sooner had she spoken the request as a blinding white light emerged right between her and the incoming seeker. The software construct vanished as if swallowed up by the light. In its stead a figure emerged out of the light. It was unmistakably female but it lacked any features that would have hinted towards an actual person. Sure, it consisted out of two arms and legs, a torso and a head but there was no skin or face to speak off. Instead Mother was constructed out of the same flickering grid that made up the structure of FedNet. Mech had long since stopped wondering about her unusual choice of avatar.

The seeker was nowhere in sight.

< Someday you’ve got to teach me how you do that. >

A few lines where Mother’s face was supposed to be moved gently. Mech understood this to be a smile.

Mother took off again and Mech had little trouble staying at her side as they made their way deeper into FedNet.

< You didn’t come here to watch me play hide and seek, did you? >

< I love to hear you sing. >

Mech continued to follow her, leaving behind the busy AC junction. But soon enough Mech knew exactly where they were headed. If Alpha Centauri had been full of activity than their next destination was practically bustling at the seams.

< Earth, >
Mech said after noticing the particular signature of the net junction. < Always a popular location. >

< Yes but what is really interesting here is that what you cannot see. >

< Okay, what am I not seeing? >

< Hold still. >

Mech did as she was told. Out of the corner of her virtual eye she noticed that Mother was moving towards her. She didn’t stop and was going to collide with her. < Watch out. >

< Just hold still. >

Mech wanted to budge but didn’t. Not even when the shimmering green avatar collided with her. No, collided was the wrong word. It passed through her.

Her skin crawled for just a moment as Mother’s avatar became one with her own. She gasped. Something was taking hold of her inside, she struggled against it.

< Don’t fight it. >

And then she felt it. Everything that Mother was and more streamed into her own consciousness. Years of experience, of joy and pain and every other emotion known to man. It was both painful and pleasurable at the same time. But it was also too much information at once. The images flashed in front of her mind’s eye at such speed she couldn’t hold on to a single one.

And then it was all gone. She missed the feeling instantly.

Mother had left but they were no longer in FedNet. At least no part of the network she had ever seen. She floated above what appeared to be an endless green ocean, above her was an equally infinite dark sky. The Earth junction was still close, right below her, shimmering on the crystal clear surface of the water. She couldn’t just see her surroundings, she could sense them as well.

And what she sensed more than anything else was the pull coming from the junction below her.

Mother appeared beside her again.

< It this the Source? >

< Yes. >

< Why did you bring me here? >

< I want you to see what I see. I want you to feel what I feel. >

Mech couldn’t help but focus on the unusually high activity around the junction. It was nothing she had ever seen before. It wasn’t just a high number of users, it was the inexplicable power of a few, perhaps just one. It was tightly focused on one particular section of the junction.

< North America, the western seaboard, > said Mother who knew exactly what Mech was thinking.

< Who could create so much activity in just one location? >

Without a word of warning her surroundings collapsed only to return to the much more familiar green grid that made up FedNet. Earth junction was still there but it looked exactly the way it had looked before.

Mech shot Mother a puzzled glance.

< Now
that is an excellent question. >


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