Comments: Well. After 6 chapters I'm beginning to really slow down. I'm still working hard *cough*  on the chapters. However I also want to start work on my second and even more important story. I suppose I'll finish this first and then start on it. Anyway. I like this chapter. The next few will all be continuations or each other; and then, the final main character! *drumroll* Thank you.
Read and review PLEASE!
Disclaimer: ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO ME and me alone! Show some respect and ask if you're going to use them!

*** CHAPTER 06 : LITTLE GIRL LOST ***

 "I've spotted it!" Giga shouted into the com-link on her wristband. Toki and Saka were somewhere on the third and fifth floors of the old library. Giga had been running endlessly through dark alley after dark alley trying to spot the rogue virus that'd appeared on their scanners. The rain had slicked back her bangs to her head and jammed her circuits in her headpiece making it exceedingly difficult to pinpoint just where the bug went.

 "Good - Keep it in si -" Toki's voice crackled on the soaked radio. Giga cursed, a couple thousand years of technology and nothing in this city was waterproof? Typical.

"What?!" She shouted back hopping over a trash can and almost crashing into the corner of the building. "Goddammit! Why are these things so sharp?" The virus turned another corner and disappeared from her line of vision. She had to rely on the wave patterns it was generating in reality. "Could you maybe hurry up?" She said as she hopped past a car and two civilians who squealed and said very uncivil things.

"Whoops! Sorry! Please continue on your way and have a wonderful er... night?" She glanced upwards as she trampolined onto a roof and raced across to find her perp again. The sky never changed, it was always constant night. The only light provided was the street lamps and open windows of apartments. The moon was a thing of the past - so was I real sky it seemed. If one squinted just so, they could read the binary in the sky.

It had been a month and several days now that she'd been lassoed into the D.A.V.E family. It was only two weeks before they let her wear her old outfit again. She had nothing against the purple monstrosity they made her put on before really, she just preferred to be comfortable. Besides, her leather was waterproof where the other uniform would have been soaked by now. However, aside from the uniform Giga found she actually enjoyed being around D.A.V.E; the spunky group of individuals knew what they were doing and how to do it. After forever in a lab being poked and probed then sent out into the labyrinth for a quick run; it was nirvana to be of purposeful use. Everyone had accepted her, well - everyone but Saka who held a grudge for one reason or another.

She found a very good friend in Toki. He took her under his wing right away. Like a father she never had. They would have dinner together sometimes and Toki would ask her all about CRACKED and in turn she'd question him on subjects, like the city and its boundaries. The knowledge he had seemed endless of how and why the city was isolated from everything. She enjoyed spending her time with him. They'd also become partners in crime when in the office. Giga found she had quite a wicked sense of humour and Toki was quite the practical joker.

Another interesting bit to the whole story was her new found freedom. D.A.V.E had graciously provided her with a pay advancement in which to rent an apartment. She was so thrilled nothing could have brought her off her cloud. That is, until she realized she had no idea how to care for herself like a human. Coupled with the fact that she had no way of regenerating the world came crashing around her ears. For the first days she was so tired she dropped to the floor during training. Toki asked her if she was all right. Even Anya was worried. Professor Reyes had contacted her a week later to tell her he'd been able to produce a serum that would reproduce the effects of regeneration, thankfully, Saka had been a jerk with his criticism of her performance...

Speak of the devil...

"Giga?" Saka's voice cracked through. "Can you -ead?"

"Barely. Go ahead..."

"- isual?"

"Eh? Oh, yeah, I've got a visual." She flicked the side monitor of the wrist band and turned on the holo-imager. clicking the send button she pointed it at the virus and then at her face and stuck her tongue out. If Saka was going to be irritating - well, two could play that game.

 "Quit playing around Prime." His voice wasn't breaking up now. Of course, it might have been because he was standing in front of her. She smiled widely.  "Where is it?"

"There." She pointed downward at the virus idling over a pizza box, even a virus got hungry it seemed. It jerked and sped off at an incredible speed. "DAMMIT! I spent twenty minutes chasing this thing!" She cursed and hopped off the roof, landed on her feet and raced after it leaving Saka in the dust and swearing. Toki galloped the rest of the way and sighed.

"Damn. OK, let's go."
 Saka snapped his gum and nodded chasing after her.

***

 "ZAP!" Giga yelled as she let fly a ball of energy. It hit the virus dead on and enveloped in a ball of goo. "I win again! It's like playing those video game things!" Something behind her moved and she turned her head to check. "Hmm?"

Standing in the shadows was a man.

"Hello?" She said warily. The man moved but made no move to respond. "Um, sir can I help you?" She backed away and bumped into the floating virus. She put her hands behind her to still it.

Finally the man moved toward her. From the shadows emerged the figure of Professor Reyes. "Hello Giga Prime."

"Oh, er... hello professor." She stammered and tried to back away again. Something was telling her to run, quickly, in the opposite direction of where he was standing. But some unknown force nailed her to the ground. She scanned his face; nothing but an empty void. A problem this was. She glanced around to scan her area but something caught her head.

She was face to face with the professor now and he did not look like he was about to just pat her on the back and congratulate her on the fine catch. In fact, his hands were clenched so hard around her wrists they hurt. What was with this guy? He was always a bit weird, she remembered more often than not the others talking about him behind his back. No wonder...

"Ow..." She whined. He didn't move. Struggling again Giga managed to free an arm before something jabbed into her shoulder. The world swam around her and she looked back feebly at the professor mouth open trying to articulate just how much she hated him. His cold grin was the final image before her eyes shut themselves and she plunged into blackness.

***
 

"Where'd she go?" Toki breathed finally coming to a stop. His legs needed a break. Saka wasn't in much better shape; he'd spit his gum out an hour ago and was now fiddling around in his inside pocket for a new piece and panting heavily.

"Blue *pant* haired women do not just disappear Toki... *wheeze* she's here somewhere..." He popped another piece of gum and leaned against a wall. Toki sighed.

"Don't you ever eat anything healthy?"

"Hey, it's sugarless gum!" He retorted and offered the package to Toki who lifted an eyebrow in declination. "Whatever..."

Toki turned the corner and almost ran into the virus they'd been chasing. In true Giga style it was floating a foot or two above the ground incased in green goo. Saka yelped as he too almost ran into it. They searched the area, however it seemed Giga was nowhere in sight.  The alley was a dead end and there were no fire exits or escape ladders to climb. Giga could probably vault up to the roof herself but why would she leave the perp alone? Something wasn't right at all.

"Sir, I found something..." Saka said from where he was crouching on the ground.

Toki stopped looking at the sky to see what it was. Lying on the ground almost next to each other were a syringe and one of Giga's earrings. The pair looked at each other. Thousands of questions flew in Toki's brain. Was she kidnapped, maybe she was hurt? Who was it that took her? He grabbed the earring carefully and held it up, it wasn't until then he realized the earring was a microchip.  Saka was examining the syringe wondering if he was actually rid of the pest, and if he truly wanted to be...

"Let's check in with HQ. Daphne can check out the syringe and Anya can get a location on Giga..."
 Saka nodded and snapped his gum. "Sure Toki. Whatever."

"You don't like her much do you?"

"Whatever made you say that?" Saka scoffed. "I adore the blue-headed nuisance..."

"Look, I know she managed to move up in rank quickly out of necessity more than skill but you've got to cut her a break. If it wasn't for her we'd never be catching as many viruses as we are. Because of her the chief is finally off my back about performance levels not meeting up to standard. I'm not getting flack from HQ about the division being a joke... she's been a big improvement -" He glared at the blonde who was lisstening with an arched eyebrow,"- so let up Got it?"

"Yah, sure Toki..."

"I'll take that as a 'yes sir'..." He sighed.  "Anya?"

"Yo!" Her voice cracked as she came onto the line.

"Call a clean up crew, set up a search grid, and make sure two cups of coffee and dry uniforms are waiting for us back at HQ. We've got a girl to find..."
 

***
 

"I don't know..." Daphne exclaimed as she set her herself down on a chair. Across from her Anya was plugging away at the schematics of the city. "It appears to be a very old tranquilzer. Something that hasn't been used since the twentieth century..." She held up the syringe. "However, its been modified to neutralize nano-machines. It would appear that whoever it was injected into had a substantial amount of the little buggers in their system..."

Toki looked up." We have reason to believe it was Giga that got injected into."

"But that would mean she'd have to had nano-machines in her blood. Toki, this injection was meant to neutralize an inhuman amount of them. If Giga did have them in her system she should have been lying on her back of months! No normal person can with stand this amount!"

Saka laughed. "Giga is NOT normal! Just look where we found her!"

There was a long pause as everyone considered the remark.

Mariah lifted her head. "I remember her tellin' us the first time she woke up that she was 'a highly sophisticated anti-viral program...' we all laughed... but- what if it was true!" Saka coughed. "No, think about it. We all just figured her for some poor girl who had a turn about with CRACKED. We just thought it was genetic manipulation that allowed her to do what she does... what if she IS a program in a human looking body?"

"A cyborg?" Daphne put in looking quite interested.

"No, something else...something more human...  what, what if CRACKED managed to actually perfect cybernetic enhancements? Giga did say she was made of cybernetics and again we all laughed it off..."

Toki's face was as white as a blank sheet.  "I thought anything tested like that had been an utter failure."

Anya sat forward. "Maybe CRACKED didn't know what they had yet." Her eyes widened. "Maybe that's why the lab was destroyed! Maybe someone else already knew and either didn't want the secret out - or was going to use it for themselves!"

Toki raised his hands. "OK! We've got a lot of maybes and no actual proof here! I need to find Giga before we go chasing after theories of cybernetics!"

"I - need to find her?" Mariah echoed. Toki looked at her, his face reddened a bit.

"WE! We need to find Giga. She's part of the team!" Toki exclaimed. Saka's eyebrows rose dangerously high and Daphne snickered.

"Of course sir, we'll get right on it!" Anya patronized and headed to her station. Daphne nodded.

"We'll find her sir. I've got to ask her how she managed to survive something like this..."

Toki nodded and leaned back in his chair. Just as he was putting up his feet and grabbing one of the many files Anya managed to retrieve from the lab the monitor in front of him lit up.

"Greetings captain." Akiko said levelly.

"Oh? Hello Akiko." He set his feet back on the ground. "How may I help you?"

"Actually, I was wondering if I might help you..."

"I see..."

"Would you mind if I came to see you?"

Toki's eyebrows lifted. "No, not at all. Come on down here..."

 "Thank you."

 A few minutes later Akiko was siting across from him. Toki was nervous, Akiko never made trips to D.A.V.E unit unless something very important was going on. He suspected now would be one of those times. Sitting back carefully he awaited the cat-woman's speech.

"Commander." Akiko began and sat forward placing her paws on his desktop. "The chief is concerned about Giga's disappearance..."

"As are we all..."

"Yes, I would suppose so. However, the chief is more concerned about the fact that if she isn't recovered D.A.V.E will be delayed in its progress and will have to be - evaluated. It seems he's been getting some 'pressure' from upstairs again about the group's usefulness. "

"Meaning?"

"If Giga is not found the Chief will have to begin an assessment of D.A.V.E's production and whether keeping it open would be an expenditure or not."

"You're saying we find Giga or they try to shut us down." It was a statement, not a question. Toki knew they'd been trying to find any purpose to close down the section for a while. "Akiko, you said you wanted to help me... so far all you've done is put me in a bad mood..."

"I was only stating facts as to the background of why I'm visiting. I came to tell you that Professor Reyes was arrested last night and released this morning."

Toki jolted upright. "WHY?"

"Seems a few bystanders Giga passed last night saw him carrying her off a few hours later. Unconscious I might add. However, when he was arrested Giga was nowhere to be seen." She was not frowning but the corners of her mouth pulled down a bit. "They had no reason to keep him with no evidence. However, I have good reason to believe he has hidden Giga somewhere."

"But why would he want Giga?"

"Giga is special. You must have seen it by now. He was a scientist of CRACKED who worked very closely with her. Perhaps he knows better than even she just what value she is to the project they were working on. " She shook her head. "Perhaps he's just mad. CRACKED was not known for its... reason."

"Well whatever the case we've got to find her! Giga is important to the team!"

"And yourself?" Akiko inquired demurely. Her eyes blinked slowly as Toki met them. "One has to notice quite a change in you Commander. You seem, a bit looser around her. Like a father to a daughter."

"We've become good friends Akiko." Was his simple reply. She merely nodded.

"All right. Just be careful Commander. I'd hate to lose you and Giga."

 "Hate's an emotion Akiko." Toki pointed out lifting a finger. "Are you capable of it?"

"Just because I do not show them Commander - it does not mean they aren't there..."

He nodded. "Thank you for the help."

"I merely told you what I know. Finding her will be your job." With that she stood and walked out the office leaving Toki quite confused and planning out their next move.

***
 

Giga's first thought was that she was not laying on a flat surface. Without opening her eyes she lifted an arm and felt around. Wires... she was being suspended from wires. It was quite uncomfortable considering her head was hanging upside-down and she was arched against the varying lengths of the bindings.

Her head throbbed.

Carefully she opened her eyes. She was staring at a bulkhead or something similar. Trying to blink away the colourful dots bombarding her sight she looked around. Wires of every size were hanging from this machanical prison. She felt as if she'd been dumped inside a computer. Actually, she was certain she had indeed been 'dumped' but it was not a computer she was imprisoned in. She grabbed a wire to support her now unblanced body. She recoiled as a sharp pang shot up her arm.

 Her hand hurt.

Trying again without using her bad hand she managed to right herself. Giga was beginning to think someone hadn't meant for her to be here. Without jostling any more wires she squirmed around to turn around and get a better view of the area. The compartment was small and crowded with machines and computers. Monitors hung from the ceiling displaying output readings. Thick wires like the ones holding her up were connected everywhere with smaller ones intersecting them like a horrible tangle of a sweater. Small beeps were resounding from the machines.
 
Then she heard a sliding noise. A bright light pierced the room and she squinted against it. Deciding now would be a good chance to make a run for it she attempted to dislodge herself from the tangle of wires. Her vision cleared and she was face to face again with the professor. Her blood ran cold.
 
He didn't say a word but she felt a hand on her arm again and then the stabbing of the needle. After a few blinding moments her vision blurred and she slumped forward unconscious once more.

 When she awoke again she was laying flat on a table with a light glaring in her face. she attempted to lift a hand to block out the annoying sensations only to find she was strapped down. And not wearing her outfit. her hands were ungloved and palm up each with a wire connected to the metal inplants. She could feel another where each metal was attatched to her body, the nape of her neck, her forehead, along her collar bone, on her thigh, and her ankle. Feeling exposed she struggled against the bindings. Her limbs were secured to the table; even she couldn't break them.
 
She could feel the presense of people around her. They skirted around her periphial vision and muttered in low voices. Attempting to turn her head to the side she discovered that too was strapped to the table. She tried to find her voice; that had been silenced.
 She was trapped, alone, and no one had any idea where she was...
 

*** FILE CONTINUED ***