Number Crunching

From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe

So Far

After helping to bring down one of many temporally-scattered Fifth Column bases, Diego discovered brief reference to an old computer system designed to catch meddlesome time-travelers. It was called the “Z5,” and was either defunct or on the brink of removal “for unnecessary drain upon trained personnel” and “nigh-relic status, with components better put to other purposes.” While he thought this was interesting and included it on his disk copies along with plans for a moon cannon, a rocket, and several new lines of attack robots, it was nothing more than a historical note and a reminder that even the most powerful organizations are beset by budgetary problems.

Approximately a day later, he inexplicably found himself attacking everything and everyone even remotely related to the Fifth Column's alien-allied successor: the Council. This sudden assault wasn't motivated by hatred: more a drive operating near the instinctual level, a command that could not be denied or even questioned beyond a sort of vague bewilderment. He simply could not think about anything else. The resulting suicidal recklessness (while undeniably startling for the Council and a bit of a setback to operations) led in short order to multiple broken bones and other injuries up to and including bites by large and possibly rabid animals. Only the persistence of one Mister Muppy in beating hordes of lesser supersoldiers away from his senseless form preserved life and limb in a more or less recognizable state.

The subsequent search for cause only led to further confusion. A hunt through his internals revealed a peculiar receiver linked to coordinates somewhere in Venezuela, from which originated the constant, repeating command “MATA EL CONSEJO,” and intricately connected to this device were several collections of hardware and associated file archives dating back many more years than DOS had been active. While the command signal was jammed and his injuries patched up, the discovery of vast listings of names, dates, past actions, and recommendations-- the very oldest of which filed in German-- was a grave blow to Diego's self-assurance. With manufacturing stamps hidden away that, in one case, proclaimed parts of his structure to hail from Berlin, circa 1943, it was certain that he was not wholly responsible for his own design; his own design, as he repeated several times, did not include listings of “assassins” foiled in the 1960s while apparently trying to reach the late 1930's, and it most certainly did not include vacuum tubes.

After an attempt to talk this over logically with Muppy, it was suggested that he approach Mister Wisp for help instead.

At the moment, Diego rather wishes he hadn't.

With the contents of the old memory banks now known, Wisp located other events forgotten-- snippets of the replacement procedure, of family, of work in Santiago... and of riding the micro. Specifically, one bus, one day, which, after driving a bit too quickly and fighting a bit too hard for position on the highway, spun out in a catastrophic collision.

Diego does not remember this.