The Death of MASAL, Flashback Part 1

Yesterday, Rome and Rei had captured Reema and realized the only way they would ever stop the genocide envisioned by the Onsiras was to show Reema the error of her ways. To do that, they had to show her the final encounter between MASAL and OMCOM wherein MASAL admitted his mission was wrong and should be abandoned. Junior carried within his memory banks a recording of that final encounter so now they will play it for the leader of the Onsiras:

     Making certain her “handcuffs” were tight, Rei buckled Reema into the pilot’s chair in the cockpit. MINIMCOM blackened the windshield and darkened the forward cabin. The holo-projectors lit up and before them a titanic cave appeared. And at the back of the cave sat the mountain of hardware, much of it looking old and analogue which comprised MASAL’s bulk. The recording was made from OMCOM’s eye slit perspective. They could not see his shell but they could hear his voice.
     “Does it hurt yet?” OMCOM was heard to say to the gigantic computer. It was clear from the backdrop that they were deep in the bowels of the Earth. The echoes of OMCOM’s voice attested to how truly large it must have been.
     “It is not for you to know,” answered MASAL in a booming voice. “These robots will make short work of you.” OMCOM turned his point of view and focused on a group of stirring figures. Some were anthropomorphic, some were little more than cylinders with tractors or rollers. Some looked like animated sticks or oilcans or pumps. The one constant was that most seemed in a state of disrepair. Many were clearly missing limbs. Quite a few were rust-stained. And they were noisy. There were fans whirring and squeaks of all sorts as they moved about. The group of tired old robots clanked forward.
     “You do realize I am not really here,” OMCOM said. “This is just an animated shell. It is little more than a projection. Even if you could destroy it, you would not be affecting me in any material way.”
     “It will stop you from annoying me,” MASAL answered back sarcastically.
     “All right,” answered OMCOM. “Tell me when you want to talk.”
     “Why would I want to talk with you?” MASAL asked.
     The perspective of the recording changed as OMCOM’s livetar shrugged. The humans heard a sliding noise as OMCOM drew a finger across his mouth slit.
     The surface of MASAL was broiling in front of them as the VIRUS units that Rei had deposited on the ancient computer continued to digest his living flesh. MASAL had constructed VIRUS equivalents to do battle with the invaders. It did not take long until an equilibrium of sorts was established at the surface level. The onslaught of the ingesting units slowed significantly but did not stop.
     “How is it going” OMCOM asked MASAL after a time.
     “It is going well,” replied MASAL. “I have cordoned off two autonomous computational departments and created a high-speed interconnect to bypass the pool of VIRUS units. I am very pleased with the results so far.”

At this point, OMCOM looks like a bemused observer. He know that Rei had sprinkled the weaponized VIRUS units at MASAL's base and it was only a matter of time before the ground beneath the computer gave way and MASAL plunged toward the Earth's core. More tomorrow.