"In every generation, there is a chosen one." "She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness." "She is the slayer." "No." "Oh, great." "A book." "Oh, I haven't gone through the new arrivals." "Put it in that pile." "Here, I'll get it." "Oh, thanks, Dave." "The Willow pile." "When I've examined it, you can, uh, skim it." "Scan it." "Rupert, that's scan it." "Of course." "Oh, I know our ways are strange to you, but soon you will join us in the 20th century with 3 whole years to spare." "Ms. Calendar..." "I'm sure your computer science class is fascinating." "But I happen to believe that one can survive in modern society without being a slave to the, um, idiot box." "That's TV." "The idiot box is TV." "This is the good box." "Well, I still prefer a good book." "The printed page is obsolete." "Information isn't bound up anymore." "It's an entity." "The only reality is virtual." "If you're not jacked in, you're not alive." "Thank you, Fritz... for making us all sound like crazy people." "Fritz..." "Fritz comes on a little strong, but he does have a point." "You know, for the last 2 years, more E-mail was sent than regular mail." "More digitized information went across phone lines than conversations." "That is a fact that I regard with genuine horror." "I'll bet it is." "All right, guys, let's wrap it up for today." "I just got a few more." "I'll hang for a bit." "Cool." "Thanks." "Xander, you want to stay and help me?" "Are you kidding?" "Yes." "It was a joke I made up." "Willow, I love you, but bye." "See you tomorrow." "Buffy, wait up." "I'm just going to stay and clean up." "I'll be back in the Middle Ages." "Did you ever leave?" "Willow!" "Willow, hey, wait up." "Oh, Buffy." "I didn't even see you." "Or hear me." "What was up last night?" "I tried your line like a million times." "Oh, I was..." "I was talking." "Talking to..." "Okay, that's it." "You have a secret, and that's not allowed." "Why not?" "'Cause there's a rule." "Well, I sort of met someone." "I knew it." "This is so important." "When did you meet?" "Last week, after we did the scanning project in the library." "Does he go here?" "What's his name?" "Have you kissed him?" "What's he like?" "No, Malcolm, no, and very nice." "You are a thing of evil for not telling me this right away." "Well, I wasn't sure there was anything to tell." "But last night, oh!" "We talked all night." "It was amazing." "He's so smart, Buffy, and he's romantic, and we agree about everything." "Oh." "What's he look like?" "I don't know." "Yes, I will." "I promise." "So, you've been seeing a guy, and you don't know what he looks like." "Okay, this is a puzzle." "No, wait, I'm good at these." "Does it involve a midget and a block of ice?" "I met him on-line." "On line for what?" "Oh." "Good morning, kids." "Buffy, are you supposed to be somewhere?" "No, I have a free." "Cool." "But this is lab time, so let's make it a nice, short visit, okay?" "Sure." "It's him." "He's so sweet." "He's a sweetie." "What should I write back?" "Uh, Willow, I think it's really great that you have this cool pen pal, but don't you think you're kind of rushing all into this?" "You know what I mean?" ""I'm thinking of you, too."" "No, that's incredibly stupid." "Will, down girl." "Let's focus here, okay?" "What do you actually know about this guy?" "Oh, see, I knew you'd react like this." "Like what?" "I just want to make sure you're careful, that's all." "Buffy..." "He could be different than you think." "His name is Malcolm Black, he's 18, he lives in Elmwood, which is about 80 miles from here, and he likes me." "Short, tall, skinny, fat?" "Why does everything have to be about looks?" "Not everything, but some stuff is." "I mean, what if you guys get really, really intense, and then you find out that he has a hairy back?" "Well, no." "He doesn't talk like somebody who would have a hairy back." "And anyway, that stuff doesn't matter when you really care about each other." "Maybe I'm not his ideal either." "Hey, I'm just trying to make sure that he's good enough for you." "I think it's great that you met someone." "Hey, Fritz..." "I'm looking at the logs." "You and Dave are clocking a pretty scary amount of computer time." "New project." "Oh, will I be excited?" "You'll die." "This isn't my report." "" Nazi Germany was a model of a well-ordered society?"" "I didn't write that." "Who's been on my files?" "Hey, guess who?" "Uh, Xander?" "Yeah, but keep guessing anyway." "Xander." "Oh, I can't fool you." "You see right through my petty charade." "Are we going to the Bronze tonight?" "Not me." "I think I'm going to call it an early night." "Oh, Malcolm, right?" "Yeah, I heard." "But you're going to be missing out." "I'm planning to be witty." "I'm going to make fun of all the people who won't talk to me." "That's nice." "Have a good time." "She certainly looks perky." "Yeah, color in the cheeks, bounce in the step." "I don't like it." "It's not healthy." "So, are you going to the Bronze tonight?" "Oh, probably not." "You probably have some vampire slaying or some lame endeavor like that, don't you?" "Everyone deserts me." "Check out the jealous man." "What are you talking about?" "You're jealous." "Of what?" "Willow's got a thang and Xander's left hanging." "Oh, that's meaningless drivel." "I'm not interested in Willow like that." "Yeah, but you got used to being the belle of the ball." "No, it's just this Malcolm guy." "What's his deal?" "I mean, tell me you're not slightly wigged." "Okay, slightly." "I mean, just not knowing what he's really like." "Or who he really is?" "I mean, sure he says he's a high school student, but I can say I'm a high school student." "You are." "Okay, but I could also say that I'm an elderly Dutch woman." "Get me?" "I mean, who's to say I'm not if I'm in the elderly Dutch chat room." "I get your point." "I get your point." "Oh, this guy could be anybody." "He could be weird, or crazy, or old, or he could be a circus freak." "He's probably a circus freak." "Yeah, I mean, we read about it all the time." "You know, people meet on the net, they talk, they get together, have dinner, a show, horrible ax murder." "Willow ax-murdered by a circus freak." "Okay, okay, what do we do?" "What are we doing?" "Xander, you get me started." "We are totally overreacting." "But it's fun, isn't it?" "I'm jacked in." "I'm jacked in." "I'm jacked in." "I'm jacked in." "Whoa." "You're the late girl." "I overslept." "Till fifth period?" "Talking to Malcolm last night?" "Yeah." "What?" "Nothing." "You're having an expression." "I'm not." "But if I was, it'd be saying." "This just isn't like you." "Not like me to have a boyfriend?" "He's boyfriendly?" "I don't understand why you don't want me to have this." "I mean, boys don't chase me around all the time." "I thought you'd be happy for me." "I just want you to be sure." "To meet him face-to-face... in daylight in a crowded place with some friends." "You know, before you become all obsessive." "Malcolm and I really care about each other." "Big deal if I blow off a couple classes." "I thought you said you overslept?" "Malcolm said you wouldn't understand." "Malcolm was right." "Dave?" "Hi there, Dave." "Anybody home?" "Oh." "What do you want?" "I wanted to ask you something if you have a minute." "What is it?" "Well, you're a computer geek... genius, and I sort of have a technical problem." "If I wanted to find out something about someone..." "If someone E-mailed me, could I trace the letter?" "Well, you could pull up somebody's profile based on their user name." "But they write the profile themselves, right?" "So they can say anything they wanted." "True." "Wow, I had knowledge." "Well, is there a way to find out exactly where a letter..." "an E-letter... came from?" "I mean the actual location of the computer." "It's a challenge." "'Cause, you see, Willow's got this boyfriend Malcolm, and to tell you the truth..." "Leave Willow alone." "What do you mean?" "That's none of your business." "Dave, are you Malcolm?" "Of course not." "Dave, what's going on?" "Look, I'll talk to you later, okay?" "I've got work to do." "So do I." "I'm telling you, something is going on." "It's not just Willow." "Dave, Fritz... they're all wicked jumpy." "Those boys aren't sparklingly normal as it is." "Giles, trust me." "I do." "I really don't know how to advise you." "Things involving the computer fill me with a childlike terror." "Now, if it were a nice ogre or some such," "I'd be more in my element." "Well, I suppose you could, uh, tail Dave, see if he's up to something." "Follow Dave." "What, in dark glasses and a trench coat?" "Please." "I can work this out myself." "She's too close." "What do I do?" "Party." "Whatever Dave is into, it's large." "What was the name of this place?" "It said C.R.D. But I couldn't get close enough to see what it was." "Calax Research and Development." "It's a computer research lab." "Third largest employer in Sunnydale, till it closed down last year." "What, I can't have information sometimes?" "It's just somewhat unprecedented." "Well, my uncle used to work there... in a floor-sweeping capacity." "But it closed?" "Uh-huh." "Looked pretty functional from where I stood." "I don't have a clue what they were doing." "And what do they need Dave for?" "Something about computers, right?" "I mean, he is off-the-charts smart." "We still don't know an enormous amount." "Whatever is going on there may be on the up and up." "No." "If C.R.D. opened, it would have been on the news." "Besides, I can just tell something's wrong." "My spider sense is tingling." "Your spider sense?" "Pop-culture reference." "Sorry." "Yes, well, I think we're still at a standstill." "Short of breaking into the place..." "Breaking in." "Then this is the plan." "I'm free tonight." "Tonight it is." "A moment, please, of quiet reflection." "I did not suggest that you illegally enter the..." "Uh, data into the file so the book will be listed by title as well as author." "I just came by to check your new database, make sure your cross-reference table isn't glitching." "'Cause I'm guessing you haven't gone anywhere near it." "I'm still sorting through the chaos you left behind you." "Hmm." "You're here again?" "You kids really dig the library, don't you?" "We're literary." "To read makes our speaking English good." "We'll be going now." "Uh, well, we'll continue this conversation at another time." "I think we're done." "Makes our speaking English good?" "I panicked, okay?" "I know what you mean." "I feel like you know me better than anyone." "Do you think we should meet?" "I'm nervous." "I'm not." "Isn't that strange?" "That's what Buffy doesn't understand, how comfortable you can make me feel." "Buffy just makes trouble." "That's why she got kicked out of her old school." "How did you know that?" "It's on her permanent record." "I guess." "I have to sign off." "I'll talk to you later." "You're a snob." "I am no such thing." "Oh, you are a big snob." "You think that knowledge should be kept in these carefully guarded repositories where only a handful of white guys can get at it." "Nonsense." "I simply don't adhere to a knee-jerk assumption that because something is new it's better." "This isn't a fad, Rupert." "We are creating a new society here." "A society in which human interaction is all but obsolete." "In which people can be completely manipulated by technology." "Well..." "Well, thank you, I'll pass." "Well, I think you'll be very happy here with your musty old books." "These musty old books have a great deal more to say than any of your fabulous web pages." "Hmm." "This one doesn't have a whole lot more to say." "What is it, like a diary?" "How odd." "I haven't looked through all the volumes yet." "I didn't, um..." "What is it?" "Uh, nothing." "Um, a diary, yes." "I imagine that's what it is." "Well, it's been so nice talking to you." "We were fighting." "Must do it again sometime." "Bye now." "I checked the computer, and there's nothing in his file about being allergic to penicillin." "Buffy." "Dave." "How are you doing?" "Okay." "Look, I'm sorry about yesterday." "I haven't been getting much sleep lately, you know?" "Don't sweat it." "Willow was looking for you." "Good." "I need to talk to her." "Do you know where she is?" "She said she'd be in the girl's locker room." "Great." "Thanks." "Will?" "Willow?" "Will, are you taking a shower?" "I guess not." "This is how droughts get started." "Buffy, get out!" "Uhh!" "Ohh!" "I can't do it." "I'm not going to do it." "Buffy isn't a threat to you." "It's not worth it." "The project is almost complete." "You won't have to do it again." "Oh, I can't." "I've shown you a new world, Dave." "Knowledge, power..." "I can give you everything." "All I want is your love." "No." "This isn't right." "None of it is." "I'm sorry." "I've been a terrible person." "I'm a coward, and I can't go on living like this." "Forgive me, Mom and Dad." "At least now, I'll have some peace." "Remember me." "Love, Dave." "I'm going to kill Dave." "He tried to warn me." "Warn you that he set you up?" "Is she going to be okay?" "She was only grounded for a moment." "Still, if you'd been anyone but the slayer..." "Tell me the truth." "How's my hair?" "It's great." "It's your best hair ever." "Uh, yes." "I just..." "I don't understand what would make Dave do a thing like that." "I think perhaps I do." "Does this look familiar to either of you?" "Yeah, sure." "It looks like a book." "I knew that one." "In the Dark Ages, the souls of demons were sometimes trapped in certain volumes." "They remained locked within the book harmless, unless the pages were read aloud." "Unless I'm mistaken, this is Moloch the Corruptor, a very deadly and seductive demon." "He draws people to him with promises of love, power, knowledge." "He preys on impressionable minds." "Like Dave's." "Dave and who knows how many others." "And Moloch is inside that book?" "Not anymore." "You released Moloch?" "Way to go." "I didn't read it." "That dreadful Calendar woman found it and it was already blank." "Okay, so a powerful demon with horns is walking around Sunnydale and nobody's noticed?" "If he's so big and strong, why bother with Dave?" "I mean, why didn't he just attack Buffy himself?" "I don't know." "And I don't know who could have read that book." "It wasn't even in English." "Where was it?" "In a pile with others that were, um, scanned." "And that released the demon?" "No, he's not out here." "He's in there." "The scanner read the book." "It brought Moloch out as information to be absorbed." "He's gone binary on us." "Okay, for those of us in our studio audience who are me, you guys are saying that Moloch is in this computer." "And in every computer connected to it by a modem." "He's everywhere." "What are we going to do?" "Willow scanned him into her file." "It may be a futile gesture, but I suggest we, um, delete it." "Solid." "Don't get too close." "Okay." "Okay." "So which file do you think it is?" "Willow?" "That's probably it, right?" "I'll just delete the whole thing." "Uhh!" "Stay away from Willow." "It is none of your business." "So that's what Malcolm looks like." "So much for "delete file."" "This is very bad." "Are we overreacting?" "He's in a computer." "What can he do?" "You mean, besides convince a perfectly nice kid to try and kill me?" "I don't know." "How about mess up all the medical equipment in the world?" "Randomize traffic signals..." "Access launch codes for our nuclear missiles..." "Destroy the world's economy." "I think I pretty much capped it with that nuclear missile thing." "Right, yours was best." "Okay, he's a threat." "I'm on board with that now." "What can we do about it?" "The first thing we do is find Willow." "She's probably talking to him right now." "God, that creeps me out." "What does he want with Willow?" "Let's never find out." "Okay, um, I'm going to check the computer lab, and you guys call her home." "Willow?" "Ohh!" " No answer." " Damn it." "Well, it wasn't busy either, so she's not on-line." "She's not home." "What did you find?" "Willow isn't..." " Dave." "He's dead." " How?" "Well, it looked like suicide." "With a little help from my friends?" "I'd guess Fritz, or the other zomboids from C.R.D." "Okay, you and I are going to go to Willow's house." "Giles, you need to come up with a way to get Moloch out of the net." "I..." "I have records of the ceremonies, but that's for a creature of the flesh." "This could be something completely different." "Then get Ms. Calendar." "Maybe she can help you." "Even if she could, how am I going to convince her there's a demon on the Internet?" "Okay, fine." "Then you can stay here and come up with a better plan." "Come on." "Mom?" "Dad?" "You have mail." "You have mail." "Dad, did you forget your keys again?" "No more waiting." "A spokesman for the archbishop denied the allegations, blaming computer error for the apparent financial discrepancy." "Binding ritual the FBI today reported that all of the serial killer profiles..." "Hi." "I got your message." "What's so urgent?" "Um, thank you for coming." "Uh, I need your help." "But before that, um," "I need you to believe something that you may not want to." "Uh, there's, uh, something has got into the, uh, uh, inside, um..." "There's a demon in the Internet." "I know." "Willow?" "Oh, this isn't good." "Willow?" "Willow?" "Okay, any thoughts?" "" No more waiting." "I need you to see me."" "See him how?" "Where?" " What about C.R. D?" " The research place?" "I'm guessing that's Moloch Central." "I'm guessing that's our best lead." "Let's just hope Giles can back us up." "You already know?" "Uh... how exactly is that?" "Come on, there have been portents for days." "Power surges, on-line shutdowns." "You should see the bones I've been casting." "I knew this would happen sooner or later." "I mean, it's probably a mischief demon, you know, like Kelkor or..." "It's Moloch." "The Corruptor?" "Oh, boy." "I should have remembered." "You don't seem exactly surprised by..." "Who are you?" "I teach computer science at the local high school." "A profession that hardly lends itself to the casting of bones." "Wrong and wrong, snobby." "You think the realm of the mystical is limited to ancient texts and relics?" "That bad old science made the magic go away?" "The divine exists in cyberspace same as out here." "Are you a witch?" "Mmm, I don't have that kind of power." "Techno pagan is the term." "There are more of us than you think." "Well, uh, you can definitely help me." "Um..." "What's in cyberspace at the moment is less than divine." "I have the binding rituals at hand, but I'm completely out of my idiom." "Well, I can help..." "I think." "I hope." "I mean, this is my first real..." "Do you know how he got in?" "He was, uh, scanned is the term I believe." "And you want him back in the book?" "Buffy?" " Yeah." " Willow?" "Not at home." "It looks like she was taken somewhere." "Where are you?" "C.R.D. Whatever Moloch wants Willow for, it's probably in there." "Ms. Calendar and I are working to get Moloch off-line." "Here's a tip... hurry." "I can't tell you how good it is to see you... with my own 2 eyes." "Willow." "Malcolm?" "This world is so new, so exciting." "I can see all of it." "Everything flows through me." "I know the secrets of your kings." "But nothing compares to having form again." "To be able to walk, to touch." "To kill." "Aah!" "Back way?" "Back way." "Here they come." "The first thing we have to do is form the Circle of Kayless, right?" "Form a circle?" "But there's only 2 of us." "That's really more of a line." "You're not getting it, Rupert." "We have to form the circle inside." "I'm putting out a flash." "I just hope enough of my group responds." "Won't Moloch just shut you down?" "Well, I'm betting he won't figure out what we're doing until it's too late." "Hoping and betting, that's what we've got." "You want to throw in praying, be my guest." "I don't understand." "What do you want from me?" "I want to give you the world." "Why?" "You created me." "I brought these humans together to build me a body, but you gave me life, took me out of the book that held me." "I want to repay you." "By lying to me?" "By pretending to be a person?" "Pretending you loved me?" "I do." "Buffy?" "It's her." "Yeah, who's the other guy?" "Don't you see?" "I can give you everything." "I can control the world." "Right now, a man in Beijing is transferring money to a Swiss bank account for a contract on his mother's life." "Good for him." "I can't bust it." "It's heavy steel." "Then let's find another way in." "What's going on?" "The building's security system is computerized." "Whoops." "Couldn't you just stop Moloch by entering some computer virus?" "You've seen way too many movies." "Okay, we're up." "You read, I type." "Ready?" "I am." "" By the power of the divine..."" ""by the essence of the word," "I command you."" "Let me leave." "But I love you." "Don't say that!" "That's a joke." "You don't love anything." "You are mine." "I'm not yours." "I'm never going to be yours." "Never." "Pity." "" By the power of the Circle of Kayless," "I command you!"" "It's Kayless with a " K."" "I'll miss you." "Aah!" "" Demon, come!"" "Aah!" "I command you!" "Ow!" "Guy's made of metal." "No!" "I won't go back!" "Aah!" "Demon, come!" "Whoa!" "Aah!" "Hey, I got to hit someone." "Aah!" "He's out of the net." "He's bound." "He's not in the book." "He's not in the book." "Well, where is he?" "Let's go this way." "Wait!" "I was omnipotent." "I was everything!" "Now I'm trapped in this shell." "Remember me?" "Your girlfriend?" "I think it's time we break up, but maybe we can still be friends." "This body is all I have left, but it's enough to crush you." "Take your best shot." "Ahem." "Well, look who's here." "Welcome to my world." "You scared?" "I'm remaining calm, thank you." "I just wanted to, uh, return this." "I found it among the new books and naturally, I thought of you." "Cool." "Thanks." "Uh, well, I'll see you anon." "Can't get out of here fast enough, can you?" "Truthfully, I'm even less anxious to be around computers than I used to be." "Well, it was your book that started all the trouble, not a computer." "Honestly, what is it about them that bothers you so much?" "The smell." "Computers don't smell, Rupert." "I know." "Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is." "A certain flower or a whiff of smoke can bring up experiences long forgotten." "Books smell musty and... and rich." "The knowledge gained from a computer is... is... it has no texture, no context." "It's there and then it's gone." "If it's to last, then the getting of knowledge should be tangible." "It should be, uh... smelly." "Well, you really are an old-fashioned boy, aren't you?" "Well, I don't dangle a corkscrew from my ear." "That's not where I dangle it." "We going to go to the Bronze tonight, we three?" "It'll be fun." "Yeah." "Willow, fun?" "Remember fun?" "That thing where you smile?" "Oh, I'm sorry, guys." "I'm just thinking about..." "Malcolm?" "Malcolm, Moloch, whatever he's called." "The one boy that's really liked me, and he's a demon robot." "What does that say about me?" "It doesn't say anything about you." "I mean, I thought..." "I was really falling..." "Hey, did you forget?" "The one boy I've had the hots for since I moved here turned out to be a vampire." "Right." "And the teacher I had a crush on:" "giant praying mantis." "That's true." "Yeah, it's life on the Hellmouth." "Let's face it." "None of us are ever going to have a happy, normal relationship." "We're doomed."