Hard Wired

Chapter 5: Welcome Prisoner

Preston grit his teeth. "Explain to me how the hell Commander Stuart was turned, yet all of you and a few antivirus captives made it back unharmed? Because a commander doesn't just give himself over to the other side!" He roared, glaring at the two virus that had brought him the strongest of the anti's they had captured. They winced, backing away slightly.

With Commander Stuart gone, Preston now had to go through the process of being initiated as a commander. He couldn't do it, though. Not with all the anger and sadness he felt at the loss of someone close to him.

"W-We were sent to get the Antivirus, sir. C-Commander ordered a section to capture the weaker Antivirus when he took the three commanders," one of them stuttered, head hung.

"Then how did he end up turned and only your quadrant survive?!" Preston snarled.

"W-We don't know! We tried to go back but by the time we made it to commander Stuart and the others they were all being turned!" The second one explained hurriedly.

The new commander grit his teeth in fury. "Bring me the level ten. Put the others in cells for now. I won't settle for loosing that many people on an 'I don't know'." Quickly the two nodded and ran off to carry out the order. They returned a moment later with the young Anti, setting him in the chair before leaving without a word.

Preston looked him over, watching his chest rise and fall slowly as he took in the oxygen around them, converted it into carbon dioxide, then exhaled. He seemed so peaceful and happy in his own little dream land. He was cute, no doubt. Brown hair falling into his face, eyes shut to hide their color, face so smooth and expression so fragile, it was no wonder he was one of the weaker Anti's. But at the same time, he was newly made, and it got the new commander wondering on how advanced his systems actually were.

The curiosity got the better of him and a wire snaked through the air to hook up to the Antivirus' arm. As his Virus gained access the system of the Anti appeared in Preston's vision, leaving him awestruck at all the codings running around to tend to his system. He heard the alarm that his virus' presence caused, but ignored it, pushing through to look at the mainframe. Again he was amazed by it, almost couldn't believe his mainframe was this... Oh he couldn't find it in him to find the word for it all. He tapped into his data chip, watching as the Anti's first moments played in front of him.

Preston sat back in his office chair, chin rested lazily on his hand as he watched the scenes play by. There was the Anti's first few weeks of learning to get around the base, learning the actual layout of the base, and most importantly, how to contact his Antivirus. The commander new hummed, watching closely through the eyes of the male before him as his anti first awakened, speaking to him in a tone that revealed an innocence that made the new commander nearly laugh. Antivirus were so naïve and childish. Preston couldn't wait to mess with him.

Before he could look any further an Antivirus attacked, doing a small amount of damage since they were near the same level. Preston grunted and pulled back, blinking away the system's view. When his vision was clear, he was met with the angry, confused, and scared features of the Antivirus. He smirked faintly at the now awake male.

"Hello. Welcome to the Virus Headquarters."