Dustin paced, thinking hard. He had done everything he could to try and make a virus to stop his virus, but it wasn't working. He glanced over at the people watching him from the doorway, and sighed. It was useless. By this point the damage was already done. It was five days since he had released the virus, basically shutting down the entire galaxy.
While the people on the station hadn't figured out the scope of what he had done, they had definitely been unhappy about the damages he had caused. The goodwill from them had crumbled within minutes when they discovered he was the reason everything had failed. Despite his success in getting things back up and running, to save their lives, they had strongly recommended he stay on board his ship until he was able to leave. It only made sense that he wasn't needed after he had fixed things.
"Dustin, there is a group of people approaching the station that are looking for you," said one of the people at the door.
Dustin looked over at her, "Why do you say that?"
"They just did a general hail, to everyone, asking if you were here."
Dustin glanced at the tablet in her hand, then turned to his own screen to see the message himself.
XxxxX
"Did the virus affect the nanobot hive mind?" asked Granny, as they approached the Uz'En home world.
"Doesn't look like it," said Olivia, glancing over at the swarms of nanobots approaching them.
Once they confirmed that they were friendly, the swarm left again, to rejoin the mass surrounding the planet.
"There's so many of them!" wondered Old Motha.
"They must have mined out the entire asteroid belt to make that many. The hive mind is probably making sure that they are well protected after those aliens showed up and took Dustin away," said Olivia.
"Olivia," came a voice through the ship's communications. "We have managed to prevent the virus that Dustin released from affecting our planet, and have traced back where he is located, but we have also discovered communications between two entities discussing his demise. We would recommend you retrieve him before this is attempted."
"Who is that?" asked Granny, taken aback.
"This is the hive mind, Granny. We are sure that Dustin will be glad to see you."
"I don't mind going to get him, hive mind, but I need to do something with the ship full of Gooblens that I currently have."
"We will send food and supplies to you, for them, but we strongly recommend you keep them on board, rather than having them taken down to the planet. The prior ones have caused a lot of damage on planet."
Old Motha and Granny both sighed.
"Can you tell how extensive the damage is, from the virus?" asked Olivia.
"We have not been able to contact any of our prior contacts. It would seem that all electrical life in the galaxy has been stopped. Though, the communication we received, does hint at the survival of the AI Dustin seems to be at war with."
"The AI must be the same one who contacted the Tik, trying to get the assassins to kill him. It must have found someone else to try and do it," said Olivia.
"They might be the assassins' rivals," suggested Old Motha, thoughtfully.
"It doesn't matter who it is, if they went after Dustin, he will wipe them off the face of the planet they call home," said Olivia with a shake of her head.
"Let's see if we can go get him before they do," said Granny.
A shipment of supplies was quickly transferred into the cargo hold of the ship, and they turned away from the planet Hope, towards a small space station floating in the middle of nowhere.
XxxxX
Dustin directed the people on his ship to move back into the cafeteria, and turned to his monitor. The ship had a very rudimentary computer, that he had been working on between everything else. If these people looking for him were trouble, he wanted to make sure the ship made its way back to his home planet.
Typing everything he could think of, as fast as he could, Dustin glanced back over it, to make sure that his message was clear, then headed for the airlock. With the mood the station owners were in, they would probably turn him in to these guys very quickly.
Arriving at the airlock, he spied a group of large-muscled aliens, with dark green skin, moving towards him. Based on the looks on their faces, he was relatively certain they weren't there to shake his hand and congratulate him on a job well done.
"Hey! We told you to stay on your ship!" cried the small station owner hidden behind the bulk of the thugs.
"Yeah, but it got kind of stuffy in there, and I thought I'd go out for some air," Dustin said, pointing with his thumb over his shoulder.
The airlock on his ship shut tight, and his ship disconnected from the station, creating a huge hole that immediately sucked him into space. He had already modified himself, to survive the horrors of space, but the others were caught unawares. The station owner was the first to succumb, floating slowly away, as crystals formed on his skin. The thugs had managed to grab the edge of the airlock, and were holding on, fighting against the rush of air that was flowing out of the station.
Dustin knew that they hadn't repaired the emergency functions on the station yet, which meant that they would probably lose all of their air in that entire sector, if not the entire station. Turning his head, he watched the ship drift away from the station, then warp away. It would jump three times, before turning to his home world, and making one final jump, depleting all of the fuel. Hopefully that would keep anyone from following it.
Turning his attention back to the airlock, he spied their ship, who apparently noticed what had happened. It was rushing over, possibly to save the thugs who were struggling at the airlock. As it turned its weapons on him, he realized they were actually coming for him. With a smile, he used the almost invisible tendrils from his worm form, that he had grown along his arms and legs, to move him towards the ship. To anyone watching, it looked like he could fly through space, unaided. Dustin knew he was awesome, and it was time to teach these guys that.