Lo-fi hip hop beats pulsed a mellow vibe across the dim living room as a fuzzy computer monitor dripped streams of code in sleep mode. The hard knocking at the door jerked Shorty out of a pleasant couch surfing dream. He reached under the cushion for a gun that wasn't there.

"Fuck me."

He stumbled across the dark room jamming his big toe into the coffee table. The pounding on the door continued as he hopped on one leg over to the peephole.

"Shorty, you in there? We got trouble down at the lab." It was Chauncy the night manager's assistant.

Shorty opened the door to yelled at him.

"What the fuck are you banging on my door for? In the middle of the night, like the motherfucking police!"

"Look, I'm sorry to wake you but we need you. This shit is serious. Delphine told me if I didn't come back with you, not to come back at all."

"Well, I guess you're out of a job then."

Chauncy was big, blue, and dumb. He didn't get many skills from his Zorr mother; his human father passed all his dumbass genes straight into him. He made a sad pathetically desperate face.

"Come on, man. We wouldn't ask you if we didn't need your magic."

Shorty wiped his hand across his face. He was 95.2% human but had his great granddad's bright blue eyes. It was probably the only reason he got the consultant job in the first place.

"Let me find some pants."

"Thanks, Shorty. We really appreciate this. We're in big trouble."

01110100 ~ 01110010

Ten minutes later they both walked into the Virtual Reality command center. Delphine was there monitoring two hundred VR chairs with two hundred blissed-out people living the good life. She wore her azure blue locks in the long traditional Zorr style. She smiled when she saw Shorty walk in with his bright white joggers and green spacer pants, dark brown dreads tied back, and a T-shirt that said "Fuck the Man" in bold letters across the front. He was without a doubt her favorite human.

"Shorty, our savior."

"What's so important you drag me in here in the middle of the night?"

She pulled up two pods on the monitor board.

"These two crossed their signals and are in a meshed freeform delusion and it's some seriously freaky shit." Delphine leaned on the control console gesturing Shorty to take the seat next to her.

"What!? You woke me for that? Slide them into some happy program and they'll be fine."

"It's not that easy, they're both redlining. They're off the charts. They could die."

"Whatever, they signed the waiver. How many times do I have to say don't let 'em freeform when they're on Jakz Juice?" Shorty folded his arms across his chest underlining the message on his shirt.

"They're all on Jakz Juice. That's not the issue."

"Then what's so important about these two?"

"Well, for starters, the first one, Murphy, reads as human." Delphine brought up the live feed of a young girl thrashing about in the VR unit.

"She looks pretty pale to be a human."

"Yeah. And she's totally unregistered. All we have is a name; Murphy. We don't even know how she got on the planet." They both looked in Chauncy's direction.

"Hey, she's with that Grandorian and she has top-level clearance, she's a royal or something. I'm telling you." He threw his hands in the air washing them of any guilt.

"And I bet she tipped you top-level too." Shorty slid into the seat and brought up her feed.

Pippalotti Ritz
Grandorian
30-day party plan visa
Chaperone: Crystal B. Persuasion
VIP: Grandor, monitored but not tagged

"So she's some high powered dude's daughter or something, where's her chaperone?" Shorty snapped on his augmented reality goggles and started flipping through the Jersey Jakz Disco Inferno security logs.

"She checked in and said she was going on a gas giant tour, so her guide isn't looking for her. But get this, I was monitoring the security channel and there's an APB out on her. Pull up the footage from the Voodoo Lounge four hours ago."

Shorty put it up on the big screen, even though he continued to flip through other intel. On the monitor, the two girls were sitting in a booth with a wacky-looking white-haired old man smoking a pixie dust pipe. He looked like an ancient kung-fu movie bad guy.

"There, him, that oldtimer grandpa, you'll never guess he's not registered either." Delphine stuffed her hands into her lab coat pockets.

"You're right, I can't get entry video of either of them coming in on any ship in the last two days. It's like they just appeared out of nowhere. And this Pippalotti, she was a ward of the Emperor. Her parents were big shot diplomats killed on some pre-war negotiation mission. They're grooming her for a top position. She just finished her dissertation at the Academy on Grandor Prime. Smart young lady."

"She's three years older than you." Delphine was in her mid-thirties, the height of physical perfection for a Zorr female.

"Oh, shit."

"What else?"

He flipped two more security records up on the screen. Standing at the lounge bar was a third pale-skinned human obviously not from any blue sunned system talking to a tricked out commando unit.

"Look at these two. This Greg guy is a guest of the Royal family and the tattoed naked one with the green hair is a military pilot, Zero-G, galaxy-class synthetic. I can't find anything on her. Classified. Her file contains literally only one letter: X. And look who they're watching."

They were looking directly over at Pippalotti, Murphy, and the old man. Shorty kept digging around.

"She left the bar with the old guy, Murphy, and four #71 clones, Space Guild Ambassadors. And then the footage seems lost. Maybe she's a spy?"

"Or maybe she's a rich girl on a party weekend? But either way, we need to get her out of here before some military police unit or worse some bounty hunter realizes she's here. And don't forget they're redlining and we'll be lucky if they don't scramble their minds." said Delphine.

"Oh, yeah, right." Shorty tapped into their experience. "...This is some fucked up shit."

"Yeah. And that's why we need you to go in there and bring them out. Slowly."

Delphine watched his goggles flashing with information. He was going to do it, he loved this shit.

"Ok, the high profile Grandor gal will be no problem, she's an educated woman, I can talk her down. But this other one, she believes all this fire and brimstone shit is real, it's got to be her that's driving this burn in hell nightmare they're both having. She's gonna be a challenge."

"You get in there, I'll go down and give them both another sedative." Delphine got up and walked out of the room.

Chauncy took over monitoring the others.

Shorty loaded up two VR simulations he'd created; 'This Digital Reality' and 'The Pearly Gates.' He slid from augmented to virtual reality and leaned way back in the reclining work station. He used an avatar in VR so none of his clientele would recognize him in the real world.

01010110 ~ 01010010

Pippalotti was screaming her head off in a horrific nightmare, about to be nailed to the ground by a bunch of ghoulishly frightening hellfire demons. The next second she was in a soft white expansive sphere with the sound of a gentle stream flowing in the background and the faint scent of cherry blossoms.

She looked at her hand and it appeared to be digitized. She started to have an existential crisis that her whole life had been a simulation and that she had just died and was about to be erased.

"Don't worry, love. Everything's gonna be fine."

Pippa looked down and there was a digital cartoon mouse at her feet talking to her. He was round and cute with sweet blue eyes and long twitchy whiskers.

"Ooo...K?"

"The experience you had was a freeform VR delusion, probably brought on by your friend Murphy," suggested the mouse.

"Where is she!? Is she alright?"

"She's fine. She's right next to you in a VR pod at the Dream World Spa on Elipso. You were both probably a little wasted when you linked your realities. I'm gonna guide you out."

"What about Melock, the old wizard? And the clones?"

"The last we saw of the clones and that white-haired gent was when they left the lounge bar with you. They're not in the VR spa." The mouse pulled a bright orange wedge of cheese out of its fur and began nibbling it.

"You're so cute." Pippa pet the teddy bear sized pixelated fuzzball.

"Ok, little mouse, let's say I believe you, and it's certainly a relief. I admit I was tripping pretty bad. How about you wake me and Murphy up and we'll get out of your hair."

"That might not be so easy. See, she thinks this is all real and with her, dare I say, primitive intelligence, if I tried this approach she would go into shock. Possibly worse."

"What's your name, little fella?" The mouse's wiggly pink nose was just too much.

"Gerald."

"Ok, Gerald. If we're in a VR spa, then you know I'm a guest on Elipso and Sister Murphy is my guest and I'm not leaving without her. How are we going to get her out?" Pippa folded her digital arms.

Gerald scratched his big round ear. "I've thought of that. Right now, I'm letting her smite the devil and thrash through all his demon pals. After that, I was going to deliver her to heaven. Just briefly. And then, to be honest, I was going to put her on a transport out of the system and let her work out reality somewhere else. I was thinking someplace peaceful and serene, like the Elysian Peaks."

"And what were you going to do with me?"

"I could wake you now and you could go on your way, or I could put you in a nice room to sleep it off for a while, or if you insist, I could send you on with your sister Murphy here."

On the wall of the white sphere, a digital image appeared of Murphy battling evil and winning. It was as if she grew stronger with every bad guy she pummeled.

"Ok, say I agree to your plan and head out of here with Murphy. Can you access my account?"

"I can. Is there something you'd like?"

"Yes, if you're putting us on a cruiser, get us a first-class cabin, and set our wake up to be timed with arrival at the Peaks, and book us a nice place there as well. Give yourself a 10% bonus on my total tab. I'm ready to be done with this place. Calm and serene sounds perfect to me."

"You're as smart as I imagined you would be. And generous. Thank you, darling."

The little mouse scampered up her body and tapped her on the forehead sending her into a deep relaxing unconsciousness.

00110111

Sister John Murphy's spiked ball hammer delivered a crushing death blow to the vicious demon of the abyss and she was instantly transported to a heavenly paradise. The dirty and bruised Joan of Arc in robotic battle armor was suddenly spotless and clean. The smell of warm light on sunflowers filled the air. Her bruises were healed and her scratched up Ibi-Ero Makina gunmetal armor was replaced with shiny platinum and golden plate mail that made her look like the crusading paladin she was.

In her hand, she held the golden mace, her prize for smiting evil. She was victorious again and stood proudly on a cloud before great golden gates. Blue sky and crisp starlight bathed her in pure divinity. She bowed her head and thanked a multitude of heavenly fathers.

A furry little koala bear squeezed through the golden gate and surprised her when it spoke.

"I'm sorry to tell you that you're destiny is not yet fulfilled," said the little bear as it chewed a eucalyptus leaf.

"Where is Melock? Did he use his magic to escape the demon?" She was a stern teenager. "Answer me rodent or I'll send you from these golden shores."

Shorty had to wonder what kind of deranged little girl would threaten an adorable animal on the doorstep of heaven?

"Ah, yes, the old man you were with. He has gone on to the great mountain tops, another city in the clouds. You must search for him there."

"You need only point me in the right direction, rodent."

Shorty was annoyed as he wasn't using his normal mouse program specifically because he thought she would take offense to it.

"If you let me climb your body and touch your head, I will use the power of the gods to send you after him."

"Very well. Do what you must." She stood up straight and tall.

The koala climbed up her shining armor and tapped the forehead of the Valkyrie in the morning sunlight.

01100101 ~ 01101110 ~ 01100100

Shorty switched back to augmented reality and sat forward. He booked them first-class passage on the next freighter off the moon, tipped himself generously, and delivered the good and the bad news to Delphine.

"They're out and ready to go," he said raising his goggles.

"You're the best." She hugged him from behind his chair.

"Yes!" Chauncy clapped with relief.

"Before you two celebrate too much I should tell you the bad news."

"What?"

"The unregistered old guy that seemed to show up out of nowhere and then disappear; his name is Melock and the Ibi-Ero Makina are after him. And this Murphy bird, maybe his granddaughter? She was wearing the body of a Makina shock trooper as armor."

"Oh shit," Delphine and Chauncy said in unison.

"That's probably why they were talking with the #71 clones and why Grandor has a synthetic super soldier tailing them."

"We need to get these two off-planet ASAP." Delphine started scanning for the Zero-G with the mohawk.

"I booked them on the next transport, their tickets are under Ritz's account." Shorty took off his goggles. "I'll leave it to you to get them to their ship. I'm going back to bed. My work here is done."

He stood up and walked out of the lab.

00000001

Chauncy had the attendant droids load the sleeping ladies into their first-class cabin. Then he stole all their stuff. Two hours later he was making a deal with two #71EEB8 clones for Ibi-Ero robotic hardware in the shadiest corner of the sketchiest spaceport on the moon.

"You'll never find a better sample." The big lug was about to retire, he was so close to getting rich he could taste it.

"Certainly, we agree to your price, assuming the sample is authentic," said the first clone as the other scanned the Makina body parts.

"Oh it's the real deal alright, you can count on that."

No sooner had he spoken than an Ibi-Ero assault ship blasted through the port's defenses and sounded every alarm on Elipso. They fired an electro-pulse cannon and vaporized Chauncy and the two clones instantly.

The ship's door swung wide and three of the robotic species clanked out. They picked up the body parts of their former comrade, scanned the technology left behind by the disintegrated bodies, reboarded, and rocketed away.