By X-modem (Spencer Kyle Rasko) (NEW!!! Last updated 4/21/97 a few minor typos fixed and the placment of a graphic was fixed) Revision 1.4..H A Vr.5/Gargoyles Fan Fiction Dedicated to God, Jannik, all my friends on the Vr.5 listserv, and all my friends on Rocketnet. Preface
This story is my first attempt at fan fiction of any type so you will have to put up with it with me! It's a Vr.5/Gargoyles crossover based on the idea: What if Joseph Bloom had other people he worked with on his inventions, namely a rich man named Xanatos? The other premise is: What if Syd took something into VR.5 that wasn't human? The Gargoyle's part probably takes place after Demona's encounter with Puck but sometime before Xanatos knew about it. Also it takes place before Demona created Nightstone. Although I don't know what time the Vr.5 part takes place after "Escape" and before "Reunion." To enjoy the story you have to assume that The Illuminate and The Committee are one in the same. Another assumption you must make is that Demona took a job for a Xanatos company before she created Nightstone and before Xanatos knew who she was in her human form. This is based on two series with complex story arcs, so if you don't know about either series it probably won't make a lot of sense.

Coments, Questions, Imput, and Corrections are welcome mail me X-modem@juno.com

Boring Legal Disclaimer: "Gargoyles," and all characters, magic talismans in it belong to Buena Vista/Disney, "Vr.5" and all characters and related material in it are owned by Rhyser Entertainment and its subsidiaries. No infringement on anyone's copyright is intended or should be inferred. If by chance there is actually something in this story not covered by someone else's copyright, it belongs to my own personal neurosis. THIS FILE IS PUBLIC DOMAIN. This file can not be sold or put on any CD that is sold for any form of monetary unit. It is available for anyone without a price. This file was created strictly for the proliferation of the Vr.5 fan movement and not for money. This document is protected by the right for parody won in the estate of Roy Orbison VS. 2 Live Crew supreme court case.
Chapter 1 The Assignment
"It was that kind of day in L.A., beautiful smog, beautiful women," said Duncan as he started writing down a story he had been working on. "Syd, do you think I should make the protagonist a hippie or a beatnik or maybe I should make him a former FBI agent whose sister was abducted by aliens?"

"Yeah, like anybody's going to buy that idea," said Sydney more cynical than usual. She was nervous after Morgan's death. She realized that what she was going, through, was not some sort of game. She realized that her life was at stake, and she wanted to get away from it all and everything, but there was nowhere she could go. Perhaps Morgan was right. Perhaps she should not have become involved in the first place, she thought to herself, but of course that would never happen. She was a Cyberpunk. Cyberpunks just cannot let sleeping dogs lie. Exploration was part of their and her game. She wanted to explore Gibson's "Cyberspace." She felt more normal there than anywhere else in the world. It was like her private little sanctuary, a place that protected her from the pain of being alone. Sure there was Duncan but he seemed more like a brother to her. She could not even think of him in a romantic fashion it was just too weird. It was rather ironic. The people that understood her were either just friends, untrustworthy, or dead.

"I think there are people who would like that idea. You would be shocked how many conspiracy theorists there are out there," Duncan said half sarcastically breaking any train of thought Sydney had left.

"Actually I would not," retorted Sydney realizing that people had reason to be paranoid in this topsy turvy world.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, Syd." For a second there it was like none of this crap had ever taken place. It was like they were just kids again, arguing about whatever they thought up and not caring which way the wind blew.

Then the phone rang. Sydney got out of her seat, crossed the room, and went to get the phone. "Hello. No I'm sorry you have the wrong number. Your trying to call Frank's Pizzeria 555-3589. Don't worry we get calls for that all the time," Sydney put the phone down and went back over to her seat.

All of a sudden there was a knock on the door. Slowly Sydney went to the door wondering if it would be Oliver, someone sent out to kill her, or just the pizza guy (Who for some reason had been acting odd ever sence she got out of that hospital), but it was Oliver standing there with that smug look on his face. She hated that look. She could not tell if he was happy or sad or about to kill her.

He let himself in after Sydney opened the door. She really was becoming annoyed by the way he just barged in without considering if Syd wanted him there or not. "Sydney pack your bags were going to New York," Oliver said in a very matter of fact way.

"Why? What petty assignment has the Committee given me this time?" Syd said with an arrogance that really irked Oliver, but in a way he enjoyed it too. Sydney was quite shocked by the matter of fact way Oliver made his statement and was not going to let him get off without an explanation.

"There's a man in NY named David Xanatos who is in need of your help," Said Oliver, unaware of who Xanatos really was. All he knew is that he was a very powerful member of The Committee, and he was very curious about why he would want Sydney's help. He had so many questions, but of course there were always too many questions when it came to The Committee and asking them had such a high price.

Duncan who had been listening from the couch spoke up. "Xanatos, Xanatos where have I heard that name? Oh yeah. He's the guy who moved that castle over from the UK and put it on top of his skyscraper, isn't he?"

"What?!?!?!?!" Asked Sydney.

"Last year he found a castle in England, took it apart, and rebuilt it stone by stone on top of his skyscraper. He was also put in jail for a 6 month sentence for some criminal activity, and I cant remember why exactly. I read an article about him in People magazine the other day. He's the head of Xanatos Enterprises and Gen-U-Tech, a subsidiary specializing in genetic experiments, to name a few," Said Duncan.

Sydney was always surprised how much Duncan knew about the world. He was a literal bookworm. "Why does he need our help?" asked Sydney.

"We'll find that out when we get there, won't we?" Oliver said trying not to let on that he knew more than what he was saying, but he got the feeling that he was not fooling anyone. "Here's your tickets. I supposed you will want Duncan to come along. Meet me at LAX at 4:00pm and be on time."
Chapter 2 Encounters
The engines on the plan revved as flight 386 LAX to New York lifted it's wheels off the runway. "Oliver decided to get seats nowhere near us for some reason" said Sydney somewhat grateful that she didn't have to spend the whole trip with him leering over her shoulder. Sydney noticed though that he was a bit more edgy than usual like he was scared of flying or something. Sydney then shook this thought, got out her laptop and pulled the airplane phone out of the seat in front of her. She then got out a phone cord from her laptop case and connected her computer with the phone with a sly look in her eyes.

"What you doing Syd" Said Duncan.

"Trying to figure out what Oliver was lying about" She said as she took a VR headset out of here carryon luggage. She then she phoned a special remote access program she had set up at her computer at home it was set to use scripted routines to allow Sydney access to Vr.5 over distances. Now its time to separate the truth from the lie she thought to herself. Then she brought up her telcal database "Xanitos, Xanitos Ahh here he is Now for the setting" C-A-S-T-L-E she typed into her VR program RING RING RING "How may I help you" said the voice on the other end of the line.

"Yes I would like to speak to Mr. Xanatos" Said Sydney.

"I am sorry but Mr. Xanatos's time is valuable can I make an appointment" said the voice on the other end of the line.

Sure you can, well if I can't talk to the higher up I guess I'll just have to stick with the hired help thought Sydney to herself. She placed the in flight phone down on the modem.

She went threw the virtual conduit that she had almost grown accustom to. Something was wrong she didn't end up in a castle at all. Instead all she saw was darkness and a man in a suit at the other end of this completely black room. She walked over to him.

"Greetings Sydney Mr. Xanitos told me to expect this from you, Oh were are my manners, Hello my name is Owen, Owen Burnet. I'm Mr. Xanatos's personal butler," said Owen smugly.

"How do you, what do you, WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?????" Said Sydney defiantly almost realizing the irony of her statements matching those of who she took into Vr.5. She wondered how on earth he knew who she was and also wondering how he knew where he was. She had so many questions, and she couldn't even cover all of them in her head.

"I'm afraid I can't answer all of your questions, needless to say I know about Vr.5, your father, and several other things you might find interesting." Lets leave that to later. "Here's the escape key now I really have to go." Owen then handed Sydney a huge man sized escape key like one off a computer keyboard, it was probably some rather twisted joke but she took it. Then she was suddenly ripped back into reality. "Thank you Sydney that will be all" said Owen then he hung up.


"Duncan!" Screamed Sydney as she slammed down her gear. "You'll never believe what happened. Xanatos's butler he knew, he knew who I, what I, he knows me, he knew he was in Vr.5, he knew about daddy. I just don't get it, how could he know?" Said Sydney still shocked at the experience.

"Maybe he's with The Committee or maybe you've just been spending too much time in there" Said Duncan trying to ease Sydney's feelings with some weak humor. It didn't help much.

"No I don't think he's Committee, but maybe his boss is. I dunno it was just so weird. He even controlled the place. It's as if I didn't have any control." Said Sydney.

"Hey why do you relax and watch the in flight movie, Its The Fugitive" Said Duncan.

"With all I've been going threw the last thing I need to see is something about a man on the run from the law" Said Sydney trying to make a joke.

The flight went on and Sydney tried to shake the residual effect from going in but it was still annoying her. The flight made it to New York and landed on time which somewhat suprised Sydney.
Chapter 3 Medieval Warfare

As they steeped off the plane at the airport they were greeted by Owen. This freaked Sydney somewhat but she kept her calm in spite of it. He ushered them to a helicopter pad where they was a very modern helicopter waiting. They got in.

In the helicopter was a women pilot she had a tattoo of some kind over her eye and was warring the typical pilot garb that you would expect for a helicopter pilot. One thing that suprised Sydney was that she was pregnant, It seemed odd to Sydney that a helicopter pilot would be having a kid. The helicopter was quite a helicopter too. Sydney was suprised of how large it was inside for how small it was from the outside. Almost like the Tardis in the British TV series Dr. Who that she was so fond of. Duncan was just a bit nervous being it was his first time in a helicopter. Oliver was his same rational calm ready to jump at any minute self."

"Woo Syd look at that it's the castle I was telling you about. That is one impressive piece of architecture." Said Duncan. In awe at the vast expanse of a gothic English castle towering over them. It was quite a sight. The bottom of the building was very modern and enthusiastically built but there was almost an industrial machine type look associated to it too. At the top was a castle, from what Duncan could tell is was probably circa 10th century. It was one of those castles that was more like a city wall protecting cities from Vikings instead of a large building. The courtyard was huge but so was the structure. All three of the passengers on the helicopter were struck back by the structure.

"Sense when have you been into architecture?" Asked Oliver finding it odd that Duncan knew anything about architecture.

"Sense I saw this skyscraper" Replied Duncan.

The helicopter went around the skyscraper landing on it in a pad built underneath the castle. Duncan, Sydney, and Oliver got off and were escorted by the helicopter pilot to an elevator that took them up to the open expanse of the castle in-between the castle walls. There they met up with Owen again who had gotten out of the helicopter first. He was Mr. Xanatos's personal butler but he evoked more of an emotional response in people than that. The first thought that flashed into Sydney's mind was cold. He was so cold he sent shiver's down their collective spines. He was stiff almost too stiff. Duncan viewed him as a poor imitation of a human. He walked them across the courtyard and introduced them to the man standing at the other end of the courtyard.

"Sydney, Duncan, Oliver, My name is David Xanatos, and I take it your flight here was smooth," said Xanatos in such a polite way that it almost made him seem like a good man. Sydney assumed he wasn't. That's what really ticked her off about The Committee every manifestation she had seen of them had been polite, way too polite and for some reason that gnawed at Sydney like nothing else. "Show them all to their rooms, except for Sydney take her bags to her room she goes with Fox and I." Said Xanatos to Owen.

"Wait doesn't Oliver get to go with me?" Said Sydney somewhat confused.

"Not this time Sydney we have some things to discuss that are for your ears only." Said Xanatos with a calm demeanor that really annoyed Sydney. Then he escorted Sydney up some of the castle's stairs into a private room.

"Well Sydney you look just like your sister,"

"What do you know about my sister?"

"Well she was with your father when he helped set up our computer system"

"That's impossible my father is dead so is my sister they died in a car accident"

"Yes well if that's what you believe than so be it," Said Xanatos realizing that he spoke of what he shouldn't have had. Sydney tried to respond but Xanatos beat her to it "Tell me one thing Sydney did your father ever take you into Vr.5?"

Sydney reeled back she had heard these words before and when she did they weren't exactly soothing. "No" Sydney said trying not to give him anything more than she had to.

"You probably have figured out by now that I'm a member of The Committee, or as we like to call it in this region The Illuminate. I risked my cover as a Committee member by brining you here but that's because I need your help. One of my employees has been involved in some "sorted" affairs. I don't know much about her and need you to do some well lets just say "Background Checking" for me."

"Why would I do any background checking for you?"

"Because if you do I'll be willing to tell you more about your father" Said Xanatos, he had assumed that The Committee had a control over her he was apparently wrong. Although he had always enjoyed a challenge and he figured that if anyone was going to be a challenge it was Sydney.

"Can I have time to think about it" Said Sydney wondering if he was leading her on or if he was pandering to her emotions.

"You have 2 hours" Said Xanatos knowing that if she didn't help him soon he would be in deep trouble.
Chapter 4 Choices
"Duncan it was weird, He said he knew my father and my sister. He said that if I help him he would tell me about them."

"I think he's just playing with your mind Syd. I mean you said it yourself something's screwed up here with Owen knowing who you are and where you were. Maybe The Committee is trying to rattle you or something. It could be some kind of mind game that there playing with you trying to probe information from you. I wouldn't put it past them after that stunt they pulled at that hospital." Said Duncan

"Either way I need more information on what's happening before I agree to anything." Said Sydney. "How long is it to the " Asked Sydney.

"The New York Public Library is only 15 minutes away." Said Duncan we could check that out in time.

"OK good lets go" Said Sydney.
Chapter 5 Anguish
Sydney was afraid she would have to file threw microfiche but luckily she encountered a computer with all the articles file with a quick word search. She keyed in the key word X-A-N-A-T-O-S and waited several minutes. The words "144 matches you may want to try limiting your search." Aghh search engines she thought to herself so then she tried X-A-N-A-T-O-S-+-C-R-I-M-E.

"What you doing Syd?" Asked Duncan who wished he was a little more computer literate.

"I'm looking to see if any of the local newspapers have any background information I can use to figure out exactly what Xanatos is up to." Said Sydney.

"Search done, 54 matches found" read the display on the computer. It was an AP report that was written by an author for a local radio station WVRN. She then went and highlighted a headline called "David Xanatos convicted of receiving stolen merchandise." It came up on the display and read.

Successful business man David Xanatos was convicted of receiving stolen merchandise today in a NY state court. The conviction was a success due to the investigation by police detective Elisa Maza. When asked about it she replied "All I can say is that it's about time Xanatos has been ruining this city for years and it's good to see him where he belongs." Continued on page 5E.

"Elisa Maza" Said Sydney cynically "That sounds like someone I need to talk to." Then she walked over to a study Carroll and set up her laptop computer. First she flipped up the cover. Then she took out her 300 baud cradle modem which she jury rigged with a pcmcia card so it would work with her laptops cellular modem. For some reason this screwed up configuration worked and she wasn't going to mess with it! Then she booted up her computer. The good old boot up sound hummed and her VR program was accessed soon there after. She typed in POLICE STATION and made the call. The voice at the other end was that of a Hispanic officer. She asked for Elisa Maza and after a long hold with very annoying muzac she got threw.

"Hello" Said Elisa but before she could ask who's calling something happened.

It was odd for Sydney instead of the typical police office she expected she found herself up in a clock tower of a police station. Sydney tried to glare as a third person observer but Maza's realized right away that she was there.

"Who are you, How did you get up here?" Yelled Maza shocked that anyone else would be found in the clock tower. Heck what was even more disorienting was the fact that she didn't even remember going to the clock tower but all of that had to wait someone was a little to close to a secret she had tried too hard to hide and she wasn't going to let it slip now.

"Don't worry I won't harm you I just want to ask some questions," said Sydney in the most non obtrusive way she could trying not to shock Elisa. She had taken in others who had seem to interact with here more but it always suprised her when she took in someone that wasn't very passive. Then the surroundings suddenly changed. Sydney didn't think it was triggered by her subconscious she was trying to stick to matters at had and not let her subconscious stray. She was right. Sydney found herself in some sort of underground laboratory. It was filled with weird creatures in cages. "Elisa I need to know what do you know about David Xanatos? I need your help so I can know if I can trust him or not. I need to know what I can expect."

"Wait a minuet just a second ago I was in the clock tower now I'm in Severiuses lab? What's going on here? Who are you?"

"I'm a friend and I need your help" Said Sydney still trying to gain Elisa's trust

"Like I haven't heard that one before, why is it that anyone that is out to harm you says there trying to help?" Said Elisa. She was a little sick of hearing person after person who was trying to "Help" when in fact that was the last thing they were trying to do.

Sydney backed off a little weary about Elisa's reaction, It had been awhile sense she had taken someone in that was so, so. . . Paranoid . . . although it made here feel good that her paranoia wasn't such a localized phenomenon. "Look, OK I'm on your side I just need your help" "What do you know about David Xanatos?"

It had seemed as if her life in the past year or so had almost revolved around him. She was so sick of hearing his name. Just for once she wished that there wouldn't be any Xanatos that she could go to bed at night not thinking about what he did to her brother. How he had driven her "Friends" from there ancestral home and how he had endangered almost all of New York with that horrible deal he made with Demona. "I wish you could see what he did to my brother." A tear rolled down Elisa's cheek. Then all of the sudden the colors shifted, the surroundings changed and they were on top of Xanatos's castle. Sydney believed it to be a spire but she wasn't sure due to her lack of any real knowledge of architecture. In front of Sydney was Elisa and a sickening creature. The creature had wings and dark black fur. At first glance it looked evil almost like a shadow in the dark but there was also a glimmer, of what Sydney couldn't tell but there looked to be some aspect of his appearance that Sydney questioned. Elisa broke from her reenactment of past events to speak to Sydney. "See that?" Asked Elisa "That's my brother thanks to Xanatos's handiwork. He had a geneticist named Dr. Anton Sevarious alter my brother's DNA structure and turn him into this." Elisa shivered filled with rage over what had happened to her brother. Sure Talon as he was now called enjoyed his so called life but still what she wouldn't give to have Derrick back just to have her brother and not this freak of genetic engineering. "Whatever you do don't trust Xanatos for a second. Stay away from him at all cost and watch your back. He is evil and playing with him is like playing with fire, eventually you're going to be burnt"

Sydney was shocked. She had seen many unusual things in the past month but nothing like this. She was wondering if Vr.5 was distorting her perception of Elisa's brother or if it was accurate. Then her thoughts turned to her sister and how she was also a causality of circumstance. Unfortunately this changed her surroundings as well. She was in a car. It was the one she saw in her nightmares going over the edge of a cliff, only this time Elisa was sitting where her sister Samantha was supposed to be. All the sudden the perspectives changed. Elisa was sitting in the passenger seat of the car and a man was sitting in the driver's seat, driving recklessly, spouting something about gargoyles or UFO's or some other nonsense. Sydney only remembered that it was something odd. His driving was so wild that Sydney's hand hit the handle of the door and Sydney was ripped out of Vr.5

Sydney slammed down the phone looked over at Duncan and said "This trip is getting stranger by the second, Your right Duncan it is time to check the goggles!" She said sarcastically with a grin on her face but then the grin vanished and was replaced with a very serious look.

"So what did you find?" Questioned Duncan.

"I'm not sure. Elisa was rather adamant about not trusting Xanatos. She had quite a hatred of him" Sydney kept the fact that she saw some sort of giant bat in there to herself cause even Duncan would question her sanity with that one! "There was a car with a guy with her and he was ranting about something, I think it was gargoyles. He didn't look like anyone I know."

"Maybe it was her partner? I've been reading more articles on her in the news and it says here she has a partner. Maybe you should call him up as well we still have more than an hour to spare."

"Sure although the way things our going I don't think this will help much," Said Sydney. "Bluestone, Bluestone, Bluestone, Ahh here Matt Bluestone 555-3425" C-A-R typed in Sydney hoping that it wouldn't force her into her subconscious wonderland of that fateful night she lost her father and her sister. She then dialed the phone number and waited.

"Matt Bluestone here, Sorry I'm n. . ." Sydney slammed down the phone on her acoustic modem.

Nothing happened. Sydney then picked up the phone listened to "And if you leave your name and number after the beep" and realized she had gotten his answering machine. She was suprised this didn't happen more often but nonetheless it annoyed her.

Time was running short so she didn't have time to try calling him elsewhere. She and Duncan packed up her stuff and headed back towards the "Castle". They walked to the curb about to hail a taxi cab when they were jumped covered with bags over their heads and taken away.
Chapter 6 Turf War
Sydney woke up in a damp abandon warehouse. "How more mundane can you get?" She thought to herself. She lifted her head to find herself looking at a tall attractive man. "What are you doing, why am I here?" She asked.

"Let me introduce myself, my name is Anthony Dracon and word is Sydney you're a hot commodity. Everyone on the street is looking for you and I thought to myself 'why should I bother handing you over to the people who want you when you obviously have something that makes you a hot commodity' So I'm wondering Sydney, may I call you Syd?, why are you so badly wanted?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. Why would anyone want a person like me?"

"You don't need to play dumb with me Syd. Were all friends here. Maybe I need to be a little more persuasive. Glasses give this young lady something to think about." Before Sydney could see a Black man came up from behind her and injected a needle into her shoulder. Just then everything went black when she came to she saw once again Dracon standing over her now asking her questions "What makes you so special to The Committee?"

"I don't know I, I can just do things, things nobody else can" said Sydney with a slurred voice still coming too.

"Like what?"

"Things, Things, with the computer I don't know exactly what happens but I can take people into shared realties or something like that"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Asked Dracon looking somewhat proplexed.

"I use my computer to take people into some sort of Virtual Reality" Said Sydney

"So what people use VR all the time at the Arcade down at the mall" Stated Dracon thinking that maybe he had gotten the wrong Sydney Bloom

"No this is light years beyond that whatever It is it's as if I can take people's subconscious into the machine"

"So Xanatos has been able to do that sort of thing for years now he had some sort of mad scientist help him developed some sort of VR system." Said Dracon looking even more perplexed. Before he could say anything else a large creature flew down from the rafters. "Ohh great just what I need. Don't those flying monkeys ever give up?" He muttered.

Sydney was astounded she couldn't believe her eyes. Before her she saw creatures that looked like huge bats or something. Whatever they were they were attacking Dracon and for some reason it looked to her like Dracon knew who they were. Not willing to look a gift creature in the mouth Sydney darted out of the room and went looking for where they had put Duncan. She searched threw room after room untill she found Duncan tied up with his arms behind his back on the floor. She darted over to him and untied him and took a gag out of his mouth. "Duncan we've gota get out of here" Said Sydney.

"No arguments here Syd" Said Duncan just glad to get that stupid gag out of his mouth.

They then managed to find a window to crawl out of and escaped the abandon warehouse. They then rush to a street and caught a cab back to Xanatos's castle.
Chapter 7 Blackout.
Back at the castle they linked up with Oliver. Sydney relayed the story of what happened only to get a stern lecture from Oliver on how she shouldn't just be calling up people on a whim. It was amazing how many times this lecture came out of Oliver's mouth thought Sydney. As usual the lecture went in one ear and right out the other But before he could finish his ranting he was interrupted by Owen who had seemed to come into the room undetected. "Excuse me Sydney Mr. Xanatos wants to speak with you, alone." Owen then escorted Sydney up to Xanatos's main office. Sydney was still shocked about how much space his office really had and how little of it he actually used.

"Thank you Owen that will be all" Said Xanatos then Owen left the room so Xanatos and Sydney could talk.

"Sydney have you made your disision?" Asked Xanatos

"Yes I have and I've decided I can't help you," said Sydney realizing that helping him would be like making a pack with the devil.

"Don't you realize that's not an option," said Xanatos and while the words came out of his mouth he grabbed for a remote control for a large monitor that loomed ominously in front of them. The monitor then flashed on. There on the screen Sydney was shocked to see Oliver and Duncan tied up in a room with Fox standing there with a gun pointed to there head. "Sydney if you don't help me I'll be forced to kill your friends"

Sydney was outraged she had to hold herself back from striking Xanatos. Here eyes grew wide with anger! "YOU JERK" She screamed Then she settled down "OK what do I have to do."

"I knew you would see it my way" Said Xanatos in a coy way that really ticked Sydney off. Then Xanatos pressed a button on his remote. "This is an employee of mine Her name is Dominique Destine. A month ago we found something weird in her employee file, She never worked overtime, She missed work at days at a time, and She was found embezzling money from my bushiness. I don't know why but I have an uneasy felling about her like she's up to something or like she's someone I know. On this supsion I went threw my database trying to match her to anyone I knew I found this." Just at that second two diagrams came up one the screen, the original one of Dominique and another one of a vicious looking animal like creature. Changing the subject he then uttered "Have you ever heard of the "myth" of gargoyles Ms Bloom?

"Umm Yeah ugly stone statues sculpted in medieval times to scare off attackers?" Said Sydney wondering what this had to do with anything.

"Well the whole story is that they were actually magical creatures that would defend there castle but you get the drift. The legend states that these creatures were living flesh by night and stone by day and that they were killed off circa 199ad. Sydney what if I told you that this wasn't a myth at all?"

"I would say your one bulb short of a lightbulb" Said Sydney without thinking.

"Yes well lets go to the video tape shall we" Just then he brought up an image of a large batlike creature. Its body was humanoid, its eyes were red, it had what on humans would be considered the differentiating characteristics of a female. The hair (if that's what it was) was red and the skin was an off blue sort of look in the lighting the video was taped in. "You see about a year ago I found one of these creatures. Her name is "Demona"" Something about that name unsettled Sydney like a vague recollection of something she had heard of in VR but couldn't remember. "You see, Demona" as she calls herself is what would be traditionally called a Gargoyle, She's stone by day and living flesh by night. I thought having her on my side would help me corporately, but it soon turned out that her partnership with me was one of necessity on her part. When she found me an obstruction to her goals so she quit" Xanatos was lying threw his teeth and Sydney could tell. For someone who did a good job at lying this was somewhat unusual.

"Now here's where the story gets interesting," said Xanatos, Sydney didn't think the story could get more interesting than this but as was the case during this trip she was proven wrong. "Now again here's that picture of Dominique lined up side by side with Demona. There's more than a passing resemblance. With the help of one of my foremost scientists Dr. Anton Sevarious we were able to make a computer model that proved that they have the same skeletal structure.

"So why do you need me?" asked Sydney

"You see I still don't have any solid evidence that I'm right. I've never heard of a Gargoyle that turns human during the day so I have no evidence, and of course there's the matter that she is in charge with one of our biggest accounts. That's where you come in , Sydney I need your skills to prove my suspicion is correct" Xanatos said again Lying threw his teeth. "What I want you to do is call her up, verify my clam. Then convince her to agree to the Phoenix transaction."

"Phoenix Transaction what's that?" Asked Sydney.

"Never mind just do it because your friends in there have allot more to worry about than transactions." Said Xanatos.

"Fine whatever you do just don't hurt Duncan."

"No need" Said Xanatos while he pressed a button bringing forth a computer from his wall. It was like something out of Batman.

"No Vr.5 won't work on a computer that I have not set up." Said Sydney.

"Your father has equipped this computer for use with Vr.5" Said Xanatos.

"My Father?" Asked Sydney still confused about Xanatos's referral to her dead father.

"Never mind," Xanatos was now getting irate, "Just take her in, the landscape and the phone number have been pre programmed just press enter whenever your ready.

Sydney overlooked the system, It was almost a complete replica of her one at home. She followed the on screen prompts and autodialed the number. The phone rang a couple times. Finally picked up that was Sid's signal as she placed the receiver down onto the acoustic modem.



Sydney knew right away that something was wrong. The sound that the system made on entering was all wrong and what she saw before her confirmed it. In her sight she didn't see anything she could even make out. The whole landscape was static with only vague images appearing from time to time. Something was terribly wrong and Sydney needed to get out. She frantically searched left and right for the escape button but in a virtual world such as this her hands went right threw glimpses of things she could make out. Suddenly without warning something happened



Sydney had somehow managed to escape the system but without knowing how. She looked up and Xanatos was standing over her and she was in a medical bed.

"It appears that Vr.5 isn't quite ready to combine the subconscious of two species." Said Xanatos

"Dr. Bloom didn't anticipate that it would be used on anybody besides humans," said Owen who walked up from the left side of the room right out of Sydney's line of vision.

Sydney tried to speak but realized that she was so out of it that she could bairly breathe. She managed to word togheter the question "What Happened."

"An unforeseen incompatibility, it appears your father didn't make the system to handle gargoyles brainwaves: Said Xanatos. "Don't worry you'll be out of the hospital in a couple of days.

Sydney tried to respond but she couldn't fight the effect that the urge to sleep was having on her. The surroundings went out of focus and then when black.
Chapter 8 Alone
Sydney woke up to realize she was out of the hospital and back in Xanato's Castle. She looked around in front of her was that team of Xanatos and Owen. She proped herself up on the bed. Xanatos gave her some food. She ate it and then stood up.

"Sydney that didn't work but hopefully this will follow me,"

"WAIT A MINUTE said Sydney you don't expect me to risk my but just for your petty presuits again. I could have been killed in that thing."

"Don't worry were not going to try that again were going to try somthing even better." Said Xanatos. "Follow me"

Sydney slowly moved over and walked down to a hall to a room that was on the other end. Entering she found what looked like staus pods from an old science fiction movie. "What you have here is a more advance version of Vr.5 think of what you have as a beta copy and this is the real thing"

"What are you talking about?" Asked Sydney puzzled.

"This unit will transfer neurological impulses directly to an organic computer instead of transferring them over phone lines. This unit is the next step before Vr.6 and this one monitors all electromagnetic fields a person creates. This unit has interpretation hardware making it compatible with almost all humanoid lifeforms," said Xanatos almost proud of the power he had.

How, How does it work?" Asked Syd flabbergasted from the sight before her.

"You step into the pod I hit the switch and it does the rest."

"OK fine just don't hurt Duncan," Said Sydney then she steeped up into the pod and lied down into it. Xanatos then punched some buttons on the capsule and looked over the readings.

It was unlike the normal virtual conduit Sydney was used to. It seemed brighter and swirled more violently. She wasn't sure if this was normal. Heck she never had her mind hocked up to someone else's in this fashion she wasn't sure what to expect of course that was the norm when it came to Vr. Once she got in things were distorted. Not only could she see things but for some reason she could also see heat. Her hearing was more sensitive than she was used to, and her internal balance was a bit off whack. The color distortion she was used to in Vr was even more violent than she had remembered. All these weird senses were reeking havoc with her brain and she was feeling sick.

When she got in something even weirder happened she saw 3 little girls and they all looked like Samantha yet different. Each girl had different hair colors. One with gold, another with silver and the last one with black hair. The came towards her and surrounded her in a semi-circle. Then the started speaking but unlike most groups of people who speak these three spoke in perfect unison. "Why have you come here?' Asked the three girls.

"I was sent here by a man named David Xanatos, Why?" Said Sydney who steeped back to keep a good proximity away from the three girls.

"You are troubled" Said the three girls "Your past haunts you but you don't know what it is. You blame yourself for things you had no control over and your not even sure that they were real."

"Who are you? How do you know this?" Sydney was shocked which had seemed to be the norm for this trip. How did everyone know all these things about her. Curses it's like no part of her life had been private in this neck of the woods.

"We would not want Xanatos involved at this time," said the three girls in perfect unison. "You on the other hand you are different we will let you explore her subconscious but NOT intervene or influence. We will not allow you to do that."

"Fine, Fine, whatever" Said Sydney still feeling woozy from the effects of this biazzar VR. She couldn't tell if it was due to that getup that Xanatos had forced her to get into or if it was the person at the other end that was causing the oddities. All she knew is that she was feeling sick. Despite the sickness she looked up again to see that the three little girls were missing and that she was now standing on a castle very similar to the one owned by Mr. Xanatos. Then what she saw she couldn't believe it was a humanoid like creature. It was taller than her. It had two wings, on the tip of the wings she had three finger like appendages, but she also had arms that had hands. One of her two arms had a piece of metal wrapped around it. Sydney couldn't tell which type of metal due to the distortion. For clothing she had basically what constituted a loin cloth and on her upper body she had something resembling a halter top on although there was no cloth on her left shoulder. She was standing on top of a spire of the Castle. Sydney stood about 5ft away from her.

Apparently the creature didn't even notice Sydney there. The setting was obviously medieval time because there was no signs of civilization around her and they were in a castle. The Creature looked across the castle and was shocked to see another of her kind standing on another spire across the courtyard. The Creature than jumped off the spire over the other of her kind and glided on her wings. Sydney realizing it was VR jumped off the spire and flew over as well (Not sure of how just doing it.) When Sydney reached the other spire she could overhear the conversation the Female creature was yelling "YOU BUT, BUT YOUR DEAD the Vikings killed all of the members of our clan you cant be alive. Then from a stairway in the spire more Gargoyle like creatures came out.

The other creatures, whose eyes almost looked bloodshot (If there was a way to define bloodshot in VR.) They were saying something, in some sort of an eerie unison, with a hissing sound to it "You killed us, you betrayed the clan, you killed us."

To which the female gargoyle responded "It it wasn't me I was trying to protect you but Goliath wouldn't listen to me. It WASN'T ME it was," her eyes glowed a bright red. She paused as if she was trying to convince herself of something. "IT WAS THE HUMANS. They Betrayed us they were the reason the clan was destroyed."

To which the clan of gargoyles responded in the same hissing sound "You killed us, you betrayed the clan, you killed us Demona not the humans not him but you!"

Then Sydney caught the sight of something that supprised her a tear came out of the eye of the female gargoyle known as Demona. Then she stuttered not sounding sure of herself. "NO it, it was the humans"

Then the scenery changed it was modern times in new York city to be exact. They were abroad some sort of hovercraft and across from her was a large and ominous Gargoyle. "The humans are our enemies" said the female gargoyle. Then she turned around almost talking to herself. "Why doesn't he listen to me why can't I make him understand. "We must destroy the humans or they will destroy us," She then exclaimed.

Sydney was somewhat suprised. So it wasn't some sort of Vr distortion this creature wasn't human. Worse yet she was bent set on destroying humanity.

"WHY DOSN'T HE UNDERSTAND" Screamed the female creature with her eyes glowing a bright red. Her fist was clenched and her jaw was closed.

The scenery then changed again. Now Sydney was back on a spire of the same castle she had seen earlier. This time though Demona was nowhere to be seen and the three girls that she had seen before were in front of her.

"You are going threw the same thing, you are so driven by your quest that you will risk everything even what you hold most dear. Demona has lived thousands of years trying to get revenge on the person who she blames for the massacre of her clan all this has gotten her is a world of loneliness and anger. You too are spending the only time you have in life trying to find out what happened to Samantha and your father in that car crash. That too will only lead you deeper into a life of loneliness and anger. We know you already feel this way. When you are so afraid of trusting anyone in fear that it will obstruct your path to the truth you then become addicted to your only vice of escape the Virtual Reality that your computer gives you. Is this the way you want to live the rest of your life?" Said the threesome still in perfect union.

"But I don't have a choice. The Committee has forced me into there service. I have to do what they say for fear of my life" Said Sydney thinking it odd that she was responding to what was probably a part of her subconscious or so she thought.

"Ahh but that's where you are wrong." Said the union of the three girls, "You think that you are trapped but in reality the only thing that is trapping you is the addiction, your wanting to go back in. Sure you smashed your machine when Morgan died but did you really give up hope of ever going in again. The only way of escaping there grasp is if you give up the one thing you care about more than any other. Only then can you escape the loneliness and the paranoia."

Sydney could not respond, she believed they were right, she never did want to quit and the more and more addicted to it she became the more and more harder it was to quit. Before she could respond to the three girls she stepped on a stone that was obviously the escape key and was hurled back into what was generally considered reality to the masses.
Chapter 9 The Reality
Sydney opened her eyes to see herself in Xanatos's contraption and very sick to her stomach. She picked her legs up got out of the "Coffin" as it seemed to her walked right over to Xanatos and threw up all over him. Xanatos's wasn't pleased had Owen escort her to a bed and then went and got a change of clothing while he made sure that the designer suit he was warring was cleaned thoroughly. Xanatos was more than a little annoyed but knew that this escapade would soon be over so he was willing to put up with it.

After taking a brisk shower and getting rid of any sent of that putrid stomach acid that had covered him he got dressed in another suit and went to see Sydney. "So Syd is miss Destine who she says she is?" Asked Xanatos.

Sydney looked up from her bed seeing the tall figure of Xanatos standing over her "No She's some sort of gargoyle named Demona"

"See that wasn't so bad now was it" responded Xanatos.

Before she could respond she felt something, she wasn't quite sure but it seemed like something she had felt before. She then realized that what she felt was similar to what she felt when she hit the escape key in Vr



Sydney put down the phone taking a while for her brain to process what happened on the couch sat Duncan not realizing what had just happened to Sydney.

"OK Syd I think I'm going to go for the beatnik character he has more potent. . . " His voice started trailing off when he realized that Sydney wasn't paying any attention to what he was saying. He then got up from Sydney's couch walked over to the refrigerator and offered Sydney an egg cream.

"Duncan do you" Sydney was still in shock "I mean Duncan do you remember going to New York with Oliver?"

"Sydney what are you talking about one minute I'm writing my story and now you're asking me about New York? What's wrong? Oh I know the egg creams, were out of them aren't we?" Asked Duncan still in shock.

"No Duncan do not you remember going to New York and staying at a David, David, David" Her voice trailed off trying to remember the name "David Xanatos's castle?" Asked Sydney.

"No why should I remember it?" Asked Duncan in response.

"Never mind forget that I asked." Said Sydney. She knew that whatever happened was more than just some odd flash of memory could it be that somehow she was pulled into someone else's Vr? All she knew is that her life never ceased getting stranger and stranger.
Chapter 10 Meanwhile
Meanwhile in New York several men were sitting around a table. Their outfits were obviously well tailored suits and they had on goggles and a glove on both hands. They grabbed for the goggles and took them off.

At the front of the table sat a man with beard and a long pony tail the rest of the people at the table referred to him as Mr. Xanatos.

"Well that wasn't a total success but it wasn't a total failure either" Said Xanatos. He picked up a small remote from the slick glass table. He punched one of the buttons at the top of the remote and an image appeared on a screen on the other side of the room. "As you can see we took most of the subjects and connected them directly with the computer. The rest we phoned up like a conference call and of course the few that we really needed were connected directly."

"Yes but did it work" Said a voice from the other side of the room. The man who looked in his 40's was surrounded by a halo of smoke that encompassed him and made his face obscure.

"Well we found out about Demona and the program was sent to Sydney without her knowledge. About the only side effect is a bit of motion sickness but that will pass. The use of the real people on a conference call helped make the illusion more realistic and of course we couldn't have done it without the prototype."

"So we have control over project beta" Said the man on the other end of the table.

"Yes know her mind is ours to command at any given moment we know have the perfect tool for our vices. Dr. Bloom we are now ready to begin the next phase of our plane"

"Of course," whispered the man quietly hidden behind the veil of the smoke.

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