When I'm gone... (Part 1/2)

A new Centron story at long last... This one deals with the disappearance of Centron during one of the game sessions (Centron is played by me in an ongoing Mutants and Mastermind campaign). For those not in my group reading this (I'd be surprised if there are any...), the campaign deals with a group of super heroes in your typical super hero filled world.


The reading were off the charts, so much for the South Pole being a safe and quiet location. The rest had gone out to investigate the source of the strange occurrence but I'd stayed behind to make sense of it all. There was something going on and I was going to get to the bottom of it. And just when things couldn't get any worse, an alarm sounded. A security breach. Then everything went dark...
The next thing I knew I was lying in a bed. Not just any bed but my bed. At least it used to be my bed a little over a year ago before I got trapped inside a robotic body and was thrown into the world of super heroics. But everything was different, I could feel, smell and hear just as I used to. No static, no scanning lines, nothing. And when I closed my eyes I could actually feel my heart beat. I was human again.

Is this a dream? Or could it be that the past few months were the dream? Then my cupboard growled and shook. I jumped out of the bed and took cover behind it. The cupboard doors shook widely clapping in and out, making a banging noise each time. Through the cracks in the door I saw the silhouette of a large beast, eyes glowing and steam rising. The growls grew more menacing and each time the cupboard seemed to grow until it took in most of the room. I closed my eyes and the entire room shook. Then it became quiet...
When I opened my eyes again I was alone in a ball room. I could see my reflection in one of the many mirrors. It was true, I was human again and I was in my old body. I was sharply dressed and a little younger then I should be. This would be a dream if it wasn't a nightmare in disguise. Then I heard a voice behind me.
'I've finally got you, you're mine now'

I turned around and saw a young guy sitting on the great steps into the ball room. He was pale and thin, had green hair and several piercings. But other than that he was dressed in a tuxedo, with a high hat and cane. The combination made it look like he had just stolen someone else's clothes.
'Who are you, what do you want with me?'
The man grinned at me, showing off a set of yellow teeth.
'Who I am is not important. But know that this is my domain and that I am God here'
He snapped his fingers and a hint of music started to play.
' You hacked in to my positronic matrix, you exploited my global link with the radio waves to gain a connection. If you know what's good for you then you stop this at once.'
The ill-dressed man laughed.
'Good, they told me you were smart. You were something else. I've never seen a human mind written down in code before. It was a challenge to get the algorithms right and now you are nothing more than any other computer system to me. I have control over everything, with a simple double click.'
And with that, the scene sprang to life. People started dancing around us and the music grew intenser. I recognized it now, I was here many years ago at the Sirianni company ball with Sarah. It was the night of the accident, in a few hours...
And then it all disappeared and I stood in a dark forest. Again I heard his voice, but saw him no where.
'I giveth and I taketh away'

'I've got friends and once they find out what you've done, they'll come after you'
'I wouldn't count on it. I parked your body in a corner somewhere and activated that little robot you had been working on to let your 'friends' know that you had to go somewhere and they shouldn't worry. If you don't mind I named it Crux, a fitting name for your substitute.'
'They'll figure it out what you did...' I wondered here who I meant by 'they'. Most of my present company wouldn't know to use a differential or an integral to calculate the surface under a curve if their mortal lives depended on them.
The forest grew darker and darker until the entire world was black.
'What are you going to do to me?'
'Oh, just some reprogramming'