The elevator stopped.
The doors opened into a wide open space, with rough uneven concrete ground. Grace could see lots of pillars and support beams around them but ahead out in front of them only darkness. Water dripped from a leak above, which turned out to be from a pipe. There was no obvious ceiling above and she could just see faint outlines of a matrix of brown metallic structural beams. And then she heard his voice again. Hearing it so near without a speaker or through a phone, gave her a strong chill. Her fear returned; nothing prepared her for hearing Knightmare-Grimm for real.
"What were the last words I said to you before you left Sheldrake?"
'You can't escape me Grace.' Those famous last words echoed in her mind.
"You know the words," he said. "You can't escape me Grace."
His voice sounded different from the first time she heard Knightmare-Grimm as an avatara at the Piccadilly Pandemonium. It sounded more raspy and dragon like. It hissed.
Nudged in her stiff back by a gun of the soldiers she walked forward into the dark space. As she did lights lit up above, indeed revealing a lattice of structural beams above, and the two figures Knightmare-Grimm and Yi at the end of the room ahead by large computer mainframes - the fabled Sheldrake servers. Grace had never been down here to use them as an employee. You needed extra special privileges for that. Only Rylan Spector and one or two of Byron Grimm's nondescript lieutenants ever came here. Shrouded in secrecy, she noted that some of those faceless men were never seen again. Come to think of it where was Dr Spector?
"You've never been here before have you?" said Knightmare-Grimm.
Grace agreed with Jazz's assessment of his appearance. He did look an evil comic book supervillain.
On his right hand on his knees blindfolded was Yi. He looked a bit different in his real form. He had a large red mark like a paint splash on his forehead that wasn't present when he was in astral projected form.
"Only the men come here," he continued. "It's a bit too dark and cold for pretty dainty ladies like you to come."
"Plus you would have had to kill me if you brought me here right?" said Grace. A sudden moment of boldness, with words coming out without control. Given the projectile nature of the speech, she thought it was due to nerves.
"Very true," said Knightmare-Grimm. "You know of this place and you knew your work came here but you knew unconsciously that 'you' should not come here. That's what I also liked about you. You knew your place."
"And yet here I am," said Grace.
She was closer to him now, only several feet away. She could see the server equipment and two brain machines. Those must have been the same machines he used as Byron Grimm and Knightmare when fusing their avatara.
'He wants the codes and then he is going to want to kill me. But I shouldn't be thinking selfishly like this. What of Yi? Speak to him.'
"Yi, it's Grace. I've come to take you away from here," she said.
"Oh, he doesn't talk. I have tried zapping him a few times but I get no reactions."
"You're a monster," said Grace. "I won't do anything until you release him."
Knightmare-Grimm let go of Yi, shoving him to the ground. He spread out his arms and laughed.
"Grace, please. You are in no position to negotiate anything. I am in control. Also, disappointingly, it appears you continue to deny the truth. This is all happening because of you. Before you came to Sheldrake, Avatara was just a fantastical idea."
Grace felt a sinking feeling with a rising tide of guilt. She had a lot of self-reproaching thoughts and emotions coursing through her. She agreed with Knightmare-Grimm's insight and the responsibility she bore in this fiasco. The responsibly she had for the lives lost and harm that kids like 'Escape Key' had been exposed to. She predicted the content of what he would say next.
"You made it a reality. Your genius and eagerness to impress, brought a technology into existence today that would have otherwise taken another five years. You are the reason Avatara exists."
"You're right," said Grace. "It's all my fault."
"No, you should be proud," said Knightmare-Grimm.
"It's a great creation. You even created me. I am greater now than I was...
"When you killed me as Byron Grimm and Knightmare; or shall I say Robert Ash…?"
Hearing Knightmare's real name gave Grace another chill.
"Our consciousness as a combined avatara was trapped, doomed to drift in a sea of code. But through strength and will, I fused Knightmare's mind within mine, under my control. And now we are a delightful union of Fascism and Anarchy, hand in hand as they should be."
"How did you escape the program?" said Grace. Yi still lay down in the ground in the position he fell into by being thrown down by Knightmare-Grimm.
"Ah I see, you are trying the stalling conversation tactics while you look for escape. But no matter, I will tell you, there is no hope for you to stop me now anyway."
"I noticed that within the Sheldrake network I could affect applications using the code of my digital soul. I sent the Q-division team an email with instructions and they freed me."
"And that's why you want the kernel codes?" said Grace. "With unlimited power you could extend that ability to any computer in the world."
"Yes," said Knightmare-Grimm. "I could also inhabit any body, multiple bodies at the same time, both human or robot. I will be limitless."
All the lights in the room came on at full level and Grace saw android bodies hanging from the beams above. Menacing looking chassis in human form and even animal forms. It shocked her.
"When I finally have control of Avatara, each of these will be mine to control."
To be here, in this hole of a place, viewing these machines with a monster to please and a boy to save left Grace totally confused. But she could do something that could work. She needed to keep playing the role of a helpless damsel in distress so that Knightmare-Grimm would not notice what she was doing.
"Give me the kernel codes Grace," said Knightamre-Grimm.
"I will have to type them into the server operating system," said Grace.
Knightmare-Grimm crept closer to her, until he stood over her. With a cold metallic hand he stroked her on the cheek.
"You're not lying to me now are you?" he said.
The cold metal made Grace stiffen. His fingers traced the outline of her jaw and neck, then finally he touched her right collar bone. Tapping it rather hard.
"I can't remember the codes and I don't have them written somewhere. I just know how to generate codes once I'm on the kernel system."
Knightmare-Grimm grunted. He looked at Yi on the ground and then looked back at Grace. He grabbed her by the throat.
"Grace, I sincerely hope you are not trying to trick me." Grace tried to reply but the grip was so tight.
She was terrified of being killed and had thoughts of what her Mum would think if she died without any explanation. Thankfully, Knightmare-Grimm released his grip a little.
"I'm telling the truth," said Grace.
"I hope so," said Knightmare-Grimm, letting go of the grip completely. "I don't want to kill you. I can't kill someone I love. I do love you Grace. We shall be a perfect couple and I'll get myself a new body much better than your loverboy Jazz's. With Avatara kernel codes I will be able to take any physical form I want!"
He sat Grace down in front of a computer screen and put a dusty old keyboard in front of her.
"Ok, do it old school," he said. "What you see in front of you is the Avatara shell. You can get to the kernel through it."
"I know," said Grace.
"Good. I will stand over you and watch," said Knightmare-Grimm.
As she coded she had an uncomfortable feeling of pressure on the back of her neck. She readjusted her necklace. Within a minute the following message appeared on screen.
KERNEL CODE ACTIVATED. SYSTEM UNLOCKED.