Seeing as Lumi was taking a nap, Snowman was left to his own devices... which meant the same thing he usually did when not needed, patrolling the local network. It appeared there were more than a few issues that needed resolving today, but the most important one was keeping the solar panels running - without them, the rest would be much more difficult to fix. And his cold set-up generally worked pretty well against the heat-loving viruses that congregated in that network. He put his hand to his headset.
"Score, I'm going to fix the issue with Solar Panel Zero. I'll let you know if anything comes up."
And with that, he navigated his way from his PET terminal up toward the roof of the house...
Jacking into the
SolarPnlComp, SnowMan finds familiar stomping grounds-the digital realm of Solar Panel Zero server resembles a chain of peg like, metal islands-vaguely tropical-stamped in the middle of a wide ocean made of slowly rolling reflective glass. It’s hard for a human to understand what that looks like, exactly, but here a navi can literally feel the energy flooding in from above. This is place of natural power, and plenitude. It's a feeling of vast, contented warmth permeating the air that makes one want to relax and just soak in the rays. Perhaps that is why the local viruses tend to be so docile. Most of them don't even harm the system proper, just feeding passively on the power. And there's enough to spare.
At least on sunny days-on cloudy days, everyone gets a little more tetchy...today seems to have clear skies, however-and yet not as bright as it could be...he passes a few oversized FlaMeow viruses cuddled together, that pay him no mind more than a few contented purrs-they snuggle back under their kotatsu without much fuss. They're not the issue he is looking for, though in other times he might delete them simply out of convenience. Traveling the server isn't too difficult as long as you stick to the island-the surface of the glass sea require careful footwork so as not to get burned or shocked. He feels a slight rumble in the distance even before he gets close to it...indeed, the entire 'ocean' seems to be tilted at a somewhat uncanny angle...
No doubt the source of the issue is ahead.
...
Goto is the Pink NormalNavi who keeps an eye on this place-she runs the equivalent of an isolated radio station in the pacific ocean-she makes sure the power flows cleanly and reports any issues.
She had waved snowman over to her humble little home. It resembled WindKnights house in the same way that it was a fairly unimaginative block like building-but Goto always has it dressed up in some fashion or another, biding her time by making holiday decorations. She's not good at keeping time, however, so her reading of what holidays to celebrate are somewhat skewed...
Right now, it still seems to be Halloween. The cute WitchGirl.EXE is creeping along the roof with her 13 catty viruses. Fake tombstones dot the yard, mostly reading names like "Deter Leted" "Tra Shbin" and "Pack Etloss"
...
“Howdy! SnowMan, are you doing well? I hope you're having a spooooooky month!
I can guess what brought you, and it's not just trick or treat (Right?). The dish. It's spinning round and round and not getting enough sunlight-the viruses are gonna get grumpy. But hey, I think I know the problem...”"She points out, unnecessarily, the issue at hand-while offering him a bucket of cyber candy with the other.
...
In the distance, SnowMan spots a 20 ft tall Mettaur (with a pirate hat and an anchor rather than a helmet and pick) slowly lumbering over the nearby sandbars-singing an incomprehensible virus shanty-it’s bouncing up and down to its own manic rhythm, seemingly enjoying itself.
"Mettool, mett metta metool...mettool mettoo metool tool toola...mettool metta, metta, metta mettool!" (Sung to the tune of Spanish Ladies)
Well. Each of its dance steps sends a minor shudder through the entire server. The Mega Mettaurs very size is simply drawing too much resources and sending errors flying through the panels OS-he doesn't seem to be actually attacking, however. He'd probably do a lot more damage if he was...
As a general rule Mettaurs are a lot like digital termites-they look for weaknesses in digital architecture and undermine them, which makes a system more vulnerable to infestations of more powerful viruses...
“The big fella is throwing off the balance equations for the dish! The more be bounces around, the harder it is to control the skew...I've never seen one so big, myself. Maybe it's just that time of year? Brisk autumn winds, the crunch of leaves underfoot...but how would he know that? The odd part is he's not really attacking...on purpose...” What do you do?