CYNTHIA'S WAR
PART TWO: CYBER DEMON
Chapter Thirteen: The End.

For a moment, noone spoke.
Then, almost in disbelief, Aaron came to stand slowly beside the monitor.
"What in hell did you type in?" he murmured.
"Techrat." Nancy said simply.
"You what?" Aaron stared.
"Everyone who was in the know about the virus kept mentioning this name. Techrat." Nancy explained. "And...well, one of them pretty much said that this guy's ego was so great he had to prove he could not only create a devastating virus but also the only antidote for it. So-o-o...I figured that surely a man of that kind of self-importance might just use his own pseudonym as a password?"
"Wow." Aaron looked impressed. "Well done Nancy. I wouldn't have guessed that in a trillion years."
"Guys...Cynthia." Topaz interrupted them at that moment, and everyone turned just in time to see the hologram flicker violently, then vanish. From the mainframe computer came the sound of several whirrs and then an ominous bang. In the darkened room there was silence, as the monitor began to flicker dangerously in and out of focus.
"We haven't time to chat." Aaron seemed to reawaken to the urgency of the situation. "She's not gonna last much longer. Projecting that last hologram must've taken more power than any of us realised."
"Is it...too late?" Sylva eyed the computer with wide eyes. "Can you still help her?"
"Can we help her, is what I want to know." Nancy put in.
"Nance, you probably just gave her the only chance she has of making it through this." Aaron told her darkly. "Now you girls can help me best by clearing out of here and letting me dabble in her files. If I'm going to delete everything nasty from her system before it totally overruns everything, then I'm going to have to be fast and I can't afford to make any mistakes."
"Okay, okay, Mr Macho Computer Fixer, we hear ya." Nancy rolled her eyes. "Come on, girls. Let's do as he says."
"Sure. If he's taking her apart more, I don't want grease on my clothes." Sylva decided.
"I thought you were worried about her?" Nancy demanded.
"I am." Sylva responded. "But I can look good and be worried, can't I? Besides, I know Aaron will save her now." She dimpled. "Everything will be fine. Remember the movie?"
"Oh, enough with the movies, Syl." Topaz grinned. "Come on. We'll let Aaron get down to work."

It was morning by the time the girls saw their friend again. Dirty and tired and covered in both grease and dust, Aaron emerged from the basement with a frown on his face, setting his screwdriver down on the kitchen unit with little respect for Copper's clean surface and dropping down onto a bar stool.
"Well?" Copper automatically removed the dirty utensil, wiping the unit clean as she fixed him with a questioning glance. "You've been down there all night, Aaron. What's the story?"
"I can't get her to respond." Aaron admitted. "I dunno, maybe we left the password too late. She was very weak last night, you guys. Ive cleared her system of everything i can find, but I can't boot her. I don't know. Perhaps I didn't get all of it."
"She's not booting up?" Copper looked startled. "You tried talking nice to her?" She pushed a cup of coffee in his direction, and her boyfriend took it, absently sipping it's contents and setting it back down on the surface.
"Of course." he responded. "She's not biting."
"Perhaps she's just exhausted." Topaz suggested from the kitchen table, where she was busy with breakfast. "I know that if I had a bug that took me apart like that one took Cynnie apart, I'd want to sleep in the next morning. Maybe we just need to give her a little time."
"Topaz is right." Sylva agreed between spoonfuls of cereal. "Hell, I want to lie in most mornings, sick or not!"
"That's because you're a lazy bum." Nancy told her from across the other side of the table.
"Maybe I just like my beauty sleep." Sylva poked out her tongue. "Anyhow, stands to reason. Topaz is probably right. I mean, if you cleared out the virus, Aaron, surely her system would be okay?"
"I dunno." Aaron sighed, taking another sip of coffee. "I wish she'd just give me a sign that she was all right, that's all."
"What kind of a sign would you like, Aaron?"
A fresh voice came from behind them and as one person they turned, leting out exclamations of surprise and disbelief. Standing in the doorway, watching them was the hologram, a slight smile on her face as she gauged their reactions.
"Cynthia!" Sylva shrieked, almost knocking over her bowl of cereal in her hurry to hug her friend. "Are you really okay? Did Aaron cure you?"
"Aaron and Nancy both cured me." Cynthia nodded. "I'm sorry I wouldn't boot for you, Aaron. My circuits were exhausted and I couldn't get a signal through them. I think that some of my wires might need replacing - I appear to have some burnt out sections of circuitboard and my main projectors are still not functioning. Other than that...here I am."
"We're glad to see you, Cynnie." Topaz said sincerely. "We really thought we'd lost you, last night."
"I thought so too." Cynthia nodded, her expression pensive. "But it goes to show that true friends never do give up." She cast Nancy a grin, as that girl blushed violently. "Nancy, I owe you more than I can repay you for. Aaron too. I won't forget."
"You don't owe me anything." Nancy told her firmly. "Listen, you're my friend and I wanted to help you. That's how we all feel. Noone's granting anyone any favours and noone expects to be repaid. We're just damn glad to have you back."
"For once, Nancys right." Sylva nodded. "Anyhow, you're one of the gang." She winked. "We wouldn't be the same without you."
"I'm glad you think so." Cynthia returned the wink with a playful one of her own. "But now, if noone minds, I'm going to power down and sleep for the rest of the afternoon!"
"I think you deserve it, after all you've been through." Copper told her with a smile. "Sweet dreams, Cynnie."
"And I'll see to fixing your lasers just as soon as I've had some sleep myself." Aaron added. "Girls, mind if I kip on your couch?"
"Be our guest." Topaz laughed. "We've always room in our living room for heroes with screwdrivers!"


Chapter One: Machinations
Chapter Two: Minx's Contact
Chapter Three: A Spy At Work
Chapter Four: A Bizarre Alliance
Chapter Five: Threat For Cynthia
Chapter Six: A Trap Is Set
Chapter Seven: An Unusual Morning
Chapter Eight: Investigation
Chapter Nine: Cynthia Breaks Down
Chapter Ten: Topaz's Plan
 Chapter Eleven: Crisis Point
Chapter Twelve: Nancy Remembers
Chapter Thirteen: The End

DISCLAIMER: PLEASE NOTE
Copper, Nancy, Sylva, Anna, Blade, Raesha, Sirena, Topaz, Aaron, Sophie, Justin, Elliot, Rosita, Luis and any other characters in this fiction which do not appear in the animated Jem series are copyrighted to me (E.A Woolley) as of January 2002 <unless otherwise specified> and are not to be reproduced without permission ANYWHERE. Jetta, Pizzazz, Stormer, Roxy, Raya and all other original Jem characters are the copyright of Hasbro Inc, Sunbow, Christy Marx and the other writers of the Jem series. The future world of Pizzazz, Raya, Jetta, Roxy, Stormer, Clash, Synergy, the fate of Jem and her memorial are all copyrighted to me. The future world of Kimber and Shana is copyrighted jointly to myself and Gemma Dawn.
The concept of 'Jewel' is entirely my own, and any apparent link with any fictional or actual person or persons of this name is entirely coincidental. Equally the characters in this fiction are not based on any real life individual.
The concept behind the future world of Danse, Aja and Craig, the idea behind Jerrica's futureworld and the split of the Holograms is copyrighted to Gemma Dawn, whose Teenangel Outsiders fiction is directly twinned with Just a Dream. The character Sammi and any of the other Teenangel Outsider characters mentioned in this fiction are entirely copyright to Gemma Dawn and appear here only with her permission.
Pay her page a visit!
The concept of RayzaBlade is copyrighted to my sister Elena...^_^ (Yeah, blame her!)