May 10, 2000
Aardwolf crashed. The vicious LOVE virus, more commonly known as the Love Bug, has found its way into the servers at Mudservices, and Aardwolf, being one of the largest muds around, was an easy target. The string of data that was the virus wormed on, destroying all information to the present, and finally decided to hang around in the recesses of Midgaard.
Meanwhile, in another world, in another time...
Hassan the Good, Ivar the Bad, and Questor the Very Bad were taking a stroll in the Midgaard park. Strange, that they were free. They had always wanted a vacation, but this is getting better than what they had ever imagined, or bargained for.
Ducks swam around in the pond, swans glided gracefully through, and that occasional rabbit bounced around. The rest of the players of Aardwolf, however, seemed to be in a state of suspended animation.
No...suspended action would be a better word. What they were doing at the exact point in time the virus entered the computer, they would be doing for eternity...for this eternity, at least. Except for one fairy, who somehow seemed to have escaped the magic...probably because it IS magic.
A sprite flittered, invisible, unknown, through the lands of Aardwolf. Voices can be heard next near the Midgaard park, and it flew to investigate.
The guardian of the Temple of Mota, together with his counterpart Ivar and the omnipresent Questor, were strolling along a bridge.
"Ahhhh...this is my idea for a vacation," Questor said to nobody in particular, fiddling with his chaos portal. A newbie seemed to be hanging on to his robes as he moved, and another seemed to be licking his boots, frozen in action. Questor paid no heed to them, however.
Hassan made sure Ivar was not listening, before whispering to Questor, "Pssst...could you make me a Snorkel of Aardwolf? I'm drowning in work, figuratively and literally," Hassan complained, sniffing and dabbing at his eyes. Tears could be seen forming, although it was known that Hassan was a happily married man with 4 kids and many dogs.
Ivar glanced around. "Ooh, look at those coot wittle thieves," he said, poking a finger at a shadowy fellow who was backstabbing a duck, "I just wuv the way the guts spill out!" Hassan looked, and nearly fainted. He made a note to teach his disciples to avoid fights whenver possible.
Unknown to the three of them, the string of data that is the LOVE, or I LOVE YOU virus, floated very near to them.
The sprite chuckled to itself. This was its only chance to enjoy himself, now that the rest of Aardwolf is down. He carefully guided the string of data to Ivar's nostrils.
Ivar inhaled deeply, enjoying the cool refreshing air, and blinked. And blinked again. And again.
Above Hassan's head, very clearly outlined in red neon lights, were the words "I love you."
Ivar said, "Iloveyou."
Hassan blinked. "Huh?"
Ivar tried again, "Iloveyouiloveyouiloveyou."
Hassan blinked again. "What?"
The sprite shook it's head. It wasn't working. He carefully caught another mutation of the virus, and directed it near Hassan's mouth. Just at that moment, Questor walked in between Ivar and Hassan. "Discussing plans for new victims, eh?" He chuckled. A gust of wind suddenly blew the virus strand into Questor's mouth. He gasped, inhaled deeply, and turned to Ivar, wondering if this was another one of his dirty tricks.
Something seemed to be stuck in his throat. No matter how he tried, he couldn't express himself. So in the end, Questor turned to Hassan and said, "uoyevoli!"
The sprite sighed. Dense, those figureheads of Aardwolf were. Unable even, to express a very simple feeling. It continued watching, getting more and more amused by the moment.
Hassan was getting more and more confused, and he did not understand an iota of what his counterparts were saying. So amidst the "uoyevolis and iloveyous, he screamed "What is going on! Darn this gibberish...yoo all suck! nowuv for yoo!" The reality that was Aardwolf flickered...
Lasher hummed to himself as he downloaded the patch from McAfee. In a few seconds, Aardwolf was cleansed of the virus and rebooting...
Hassan was back in his office that day, when he spotted a card lying around the clutter of his desk. Scratching his head, he was wondering who he was about to send it for, when he decided to open it. "Happy Mother's Day," it read, "Love, Hassan".
The sprite winged away on translucent wings, thinking. One person, at least, would be happy today.
