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"You'll never escape!" the viral voice howled from behind them as Iceshadow and Sundance raced for the tear. Both WebSurfrs could easily transfer it into a portal, if they could only get there…
The virus snarled again and Iceshadow pushed her 'baud faster, panic clogging her throat. She couldn't be caught, she just couldn't! Sundance's terrified shout caused Iceshadow to whirl around, her short ice blue hair whipping her face. Her brother wrestled helplessly in the virus' grasp, his yellow skin transmuted by the infection.
"Get out of here!" he shouted at her, voice fearful. "Ice, get out of here! Leave me!"
Tears stinging her eyes, Iceshadow turned back around, crouching down to make her body more aerodynamic. She could hear the harsh, cruel laughter of the virus as she quickly double clicked her icon, sliding into her Web armor.
Not sparing a glance behind her, lest she see her twin's infected form
or the viral troops gaining on her, Iceshadow portaled into the Net. Once
in the relative safety of her own turf, Iceshadow's tears came freely.
"Curse you, Daemon," she whispered hoarsely. "Curse you!" Her scream releasing
some of the tension, she slumped, surfing on numbly through the swirling,
deadly beauty of the Web. "You'll pay for this…"
Dot Matrix awoke slowly, electing to lie in bed for awhile. Part of her knew that eventually, she would have to get up and shoulder the responsibilities of being Command.Com, but for now, she was content.
The war was over.
That one, simple thought, so sweet on her mind, seemed almost like a fairy tale. Megabyte had been defeated, the system had restarted - Bob and Enzo were HOME. It was more than she could have asked for, more than she could have dreamed to ask for. Her more paranoid side begged for attention, saying that with such a good turn of luck, disaster had to strike. Sliding out of bed and shoving her feet into a pair of slippers, Dot trod across the cold floor, stubbornly blocking that negative thought from her mind. Yes, Matrix and AndrAIa had informed her about the impending danger of Daemon, but they were not in immediate danger. Dot paused, her conscience having trouble processing that thought. Just because they were safe did not mean countless others out on the Net were not in danger. But that wasn't fair - they had been through the fire, they deserved a break!
Her inner turmoil was interrupted by Enzo, who came barreling into the room.
"Dot!" he protested loudly, taking no notice of the fact that his sister was in her pajamas. "Cecil just told me I have to go to school?!"
"That's correct," Dot said calmly, heading over to the bathroom to get changed. Enzo stayed respectfully outside the door, but didn't cease his complaining.
"But it's not fair! I mean, don't I get off because of the reboot!?"
"No."
Enzo scowled at the door and decided to try another tactic. "MATRIX doesn't have to go to school!"
Dot came out of the bathroom, clad in her beige and rust-red jumpsuit, somewhat thankful to leave the battle gear behind. "Matrix has spent all of his childhood in the Games and lived through a war. Believe me, if none of that had happened, he would still be in school."
Enzo pouted, clearly not liking that answer. "AndrAIa never had to go to school."
"That is a pointless argument, Enzo, AndrAIa is a Game sprite. Now go eat breakfast and get your lunch, I don't want you to be late."
Enzo rolled his eyes but Dot pointed firmly at the stairs. "Go. Don't keep Cecil waiting, he has better things to do besides baby-sit."
"I do not need a baby-sitter!" Enzo protested hotly, running upstairs. A bit later, she heard the door slamming shut and Cecil muttering something under his breath. Stifling a laugh, Dot walked up the stairs at a more sedate path than her brother had.
Cecil was looking rather steamed as he flit about the Diner, preparing to open. Dot leaned on the counter and snagged one of the doughnuts that was sitting there, indulging herself in the unhealthy breakfast. "I'm probably going to be at the Principal Office for most of today, can you handle everything here?"
"Of course, Madame," Cecil replied primly. "It is my function. NOT watching after young sprites such as…"
"I know, Cecil," Dot smiled, finishing the doughnut. "Try not to fry your circuits, okay? You need to calm down."
Cecil sighed. "You are certainly in a good mood today, Madame. Fine thing for you to be telling me to calm down…"
Dot shook her head and smiled as she walked out of the Diner. Yes, peace
was a very good thing indeed.
"Ray, can you hand me that… OW! Ah said hand it to me, not drop it on my foot…"
"Sorry," Raytracer said sheepishly, bending over to pick up the wrench and hand it to Mouse. "Slipped…"
"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled, leaning further into Ship's innards to tighten a bolt. "Slipped my ASCII…" The hacker apparently wasn't that mad, however, because when she extracted herself from her repairs, she leaned over and gave the Surfr a quick kiss.
"Well, if that's what I get for dropping a wrench on your foot…"
Mouse shook a finger at him. "Don't even think about it." She sighed and looked down at her 'civilian' clothes; the white shirt was smudged awfully with engine grease and the knees of her pants were dusty from crawling around Ship. "Just look at me," she sighed. Shooting a mock glare at her errant helper, she demanded, "How can you stay so clean?"
"Luck," he smirked and she rolled her eyes.
Making a vain attempt to clean herself off, Mouse sighed. "Ah suppose we should stop messin' about with Ship and git on ovah to the Principal Office."
"Dressed like that?" Raytracer asked, gesturing towards her disheveled appearance.
"Why not?" she asked roguishly. "They've seen me lookin' worse."
As she spoke, they turned away from Ship and headed across the city towards the center. "This shouldn't take long, anyway," Mouse drawled leisurely, covering a yawn with one hand. "Dot just wanted to talk to us for a bit, Ah guess brief us on all that's goin' on."
"Not that there has been much…"
As if his words had brought it on, a shrill alarm suddenly pierced the air. Mouse was instantly alert, her sharp violet eyes scanning the sky.
"That's the one Ah installed to let us know if somebody entered the system!" She looked around frantically. "But Ah don't see anybody…"
"There!" Raytracer snapped, whistling frantically to his 'baud. The blue surfbaud was instantly under him and the WebSurfr sped up towards the sprite that seemed to be falling limply through the air. She was collapsed over a black surfbaud, which was performing dizzy loops in the air, totally unlike the smooth motions of Raytracer's 'baud.
"I'll take care of her," Matrix growled from behind him and Raytracer spared the time to glance over his shoulder. Matrix and Bob had flown up on zipboards behind him and Matrix was unholstering his gun.
"No!" the WebSurfr snapped. Startled, Matrix lowered the weapon and stared as Raytracer headed for the falling sprite.
"We don't know who she is!" Matrix protested. "It's not safe to…"
Raytracer didn't answer, just stopped the girl in midair. The strain of her and her 'baud was too much for him though and he fumbled with the burden until Bob came over. The Guardian quietly took the black 'baud, leaving Raytracer to carry the limp female.
Fully aware of Matrix's suspicious glare on his back, Raytracer headed
for the Principal Office.
"I'm just saying that you'd better have a darn good reason for bringing her in here!" Matrix demanded loudly as he followed Raytracer and Bob through the Principal Office. Mouse glared at the large renegade.
"If Ray brought her in here, he's gonna have a real good reason!" she hissed. "He's not just goin' to jeopardize the entire system…"
"What is going on here!?" Dot demanded as they walked into the control chamber. "Bob, did you find out who entered…" Her voice trailed off as her eyes landed on Raytracer and his black-skinned burden. "What in the Net…"
"You have medical facilities here, right?" Raytracer asked urgently. "I'm fairly certain you do, but…"
"Right this way…" Dot said warily, leading the WebSurfr through the hallways of the Office. She was plainly not happy about not knowing the story behind all this, but from the looks on everyone else's face, it was apparent that nobody but Raytracer knew what was going on. Raytracer lay the girl down on the bed and her eyes fluttered, showing slivers of ice blue irises that matched her hair. Bob set her surfbaud so it rested against the wall and Dot turned to Raytracer, planting her hands on her hips.
"Do we get an explanation?"
Raytracer sighed. "I'm afraid there isn't much of one to give. I don't know why she's here, but I do know who she is - as you've probably guessed, she's a fellow WebSurfr, and…" He paused, looking down at the ground as though he was trying to come up with a way to put what he wanted to say. "An… old friend of mine."
He looked tentatively over at Mouse, who was glaring at the girl on the bed with an entirely new perspective. Raytracer winced - he hadn't meant for Mouse to take it like that. But how else was she to take it? How else was he to explain Iceshadow?
Any questions that the others might have asked their friend was broken by the black-skinned female's weak shudder that sent ripples of light streaming over her gray and purple wetsuit. "Sundance…" she whispered hoarsely. "Ray, gotta find you, gotta tell you…" Her eyelids fluttered again, as though she was attempting to battle her way to full awareness. She tossed a bit as the Mainframers hovered around the bed, uncertain what to do. Raytracer looked down at her in concern, one hand laying on hers, as Mouse scowled at the contact between the two of them.
"No!" the girl shrieked suddenly, her voice shrill in the apprehensive silence. "Daemon!"
The name cut like a knife through the tension in the room and the Surfr bolted upright, her eyes wide and fearful. Not seeing Raytracer at first, she cast her glance about in panic, staring at the sprites surrounding her.
When her eyes landed on Bob's icon, she let out another high-pitched yelp, springing from the bed and backing into the corner, looking for all the Net like a trapped animal.
"You won't get me, Guardian…" she snarled. "Not me…"
"Iceshadow!" Raytracer snapped, calling her attention to him. The adrenaline rush seeped out of her and she crumpled, rushing over to the
Surfr and flinging her arms around his neck. "Ray…" she whispered, her hands clutching his shoulders tightly. "Oh, Ray, why are you here with one of those…"
"That Guardian is a friend of mine, Ice," he said softly, stroking her hair. "He's not infected, don't worry…"
Mouse was seething, one hand firmly resting on the hilt of her katana. Dot cast a nervous glance at Bob, who grimaced.
"They got Sundance…" Iceshadow murmured, her face still pressed close against Raytracer's chest. "I thought I'd lost everything, but I found you…"
Turning her face upwards, she leaned forward like she was going to kiss the tan Surfr.
Abruptly, the slender girl found herself hauled away from him by a strong, purple hand - thankfully, Dot had managed to wrestle the katana away from the hacker. Mouse gave Iceshadow a grimace of a smile, letting the woman have a full view of her fangs. "It's so nice to meet one of Ray's friends," Mouse bit out. "Ah'm Mouse. His girlfriend." Her words left no room for argument.
Bob coughed. "If… you're not still sick, Miss, we could take this to another room more suited for conversation? And you could explain to us why you're here?"
Iceshadow swallowed nervously and nodded weakly. "Yeah, I'm… fine…" She looked away from Mouse, flustered. "I just came… I needed help…"
"We can continue this elsewhere," Dot said firmly, placing a hand on Iceshadow's shoulder and steering her out of the room. Bob and Matrix followed, but when Raytracer moved to go, Mouse stepped in front of him, eyes flashing.
"What was that about?" she snapped. " 'Old friend' indeed! Ah frankly don't care what you did previously in your life, Usah knows Ah'm not perfect eithah, but Ah will not tolerate…!"
"I didn't know she was going to try that."
Mouse turned away from him, studying the wall with fierce interest. "She's an old girlfriend, ain't she. Not just an 'old friend'."
"I guess you could call her that."
Mouse's jaw tightened.
"Mouse!" Raytracer protested, stepping forward. He lay a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off. "Mouse, we haven't… cursors. We haven't seen each other in years. I'm surprised she was able to trace me here… I don't feel that for…" He stopped, running a hand over his face. "I don't want to hurt you."
Mouse looked over her shoulder at him, eyes icy. "Ah doubt that you could hurt me more than AH could hurt YOU. Ah don't like being double-crossed, Ray, remembah that."
"I'm not going to double-cross you, Mouse."
She sighed. "Ah thought Ah could believe that, once. Now Ah'm not so sure. Ah know you seemed like the kind of sprite that kinda… played around, and at first Ah didn't care, but now Ah DO. And if you are just goin' to…"
"I'm not!" Raytracer argued. "Mouse, I swear it, I don't feel like that about Iceshadow anymore. Not like I feel for you. Anything between her and I ended a long time ago…"
"Then why did she try to kiss you?"
"As far as I'm concerned," he finished, scowling slightly.
Mouse looked him in the eye for a moment before nodding with a sigh.
"All right," she said slowly. Looking up with a spark in her eye, she said lowly, "But Ah meant what Ah said, Ray."
"So did I, Mouse. So did I."
AndrAIa's heels clicked on the floor of the Principal Office, walking confidently through the hallways. Not long after Matrix and Bob had been called away to help Al out with a brawl. Thinking back on it, she shook her head. It really was ridiculous - they'd finally all gotten over the near-death experience of Megabyte and then the system crash, so now it appeared the citizens had to get excitement in other ways. AndrAIa still didn't know what the fight had been about, and she really didn't care. A tap to each binome's shoulder had sent them off into dreamland, and she had then instructed their friends to take them home until they sobered up and cooled off.
Specks had informed her upon her arrival that the others - along with their mysterious intruder - were in one of the conference rooms. For what purpose, AndrAIa didn't know, but she was determined to find out. As she neared the aforementioned room, voices drifted out of the slightly ajar door.
"Where is AndrAIa, anyway?" Matrix had inquired, presumably after someone had mentioned her name.
The question seemed to throw everyone off for a moment, until Dot replied, "There was some trouble out by Al's. I sent her to take care of it."
"Down in Level 31? By herself? Don't you think that was…"
"I can take care of myself, Sparky," AndrAIa said dryly, entering the room and taking a seat between Mouse and Matrix. "I'm not completely helpless." Looking up at Dot, she said, "Specks told me you were in here. What was all that commotion abo…" Her voice trailed off as she caught sight of the nervous-looking female WebSurfr, perched between Dot and Matrix.
"Friend of yours, Ray?"
Raytracer flushed a bit and Mouse scowled at the black-skinned girl.
"You could say that."
"Continue with what you were saying, Iceshadow," Dot broke in, heading off any arguments.
Iceshadow coughed nervously and looked down at her clenched hands. "I… am assuming that you've all heard of Daemon." Her eyes flicked up to nervously meet Bob's icon before she looked down again. "She's gotten all -almost all - of the Guardians, but… she's not content to stop there. She wants to take over the Net, and what better way to do that then…" Her voice trailed off and she looked up, her wide eyes connecting with Raytracer's.
"Ray, I'm sorry, I didn't know where else to turn! Everyone's been infected, there's no where to hide anymore. She finds you anywhere, everywhere…
Sundance and I thought we were safe, thought we could get away. She caught him…" Iceshadow's voice choked and tears spilled down her cheeks. "I had to go somewhere."
Her words had a silencing effect on the room.
"We knew we were going to have to go after her eventually," Matrix growled. "Looks like things just got put into motion a whole lot quicker."
"We can't just go runnin' off to the Supahcomputah and expect her to welcome us with open arms," Mouse said caustically. "We need a plan."
Almost as one, everyone turned to Dot, who shook her head. "We have nowhere's near enough information to plan any sort of attack." She glanced at Iceshadow. "It's all very well and good that you came here, but what exactly did you expect us to DO?"
"I don't know," the Surfr replied, her voice slightly shrill. "I was panicked, I didn't know what I was doing."
"So you thought you'd come dump all your problems on us, how thoughtful of you," Mouse sneered. Iceshadow stood up, her eyes flaming.
"This is not just my problem," she hissed. "It's all our problem. You think Daemon is just going to sit around and let your precious Guardians go free? Or how about your beloved Surfr over there? She wants them all in her power; it's only a matter of time before she waltzes into your pathetic little system and…"
"ENOUGH!" Dot announced, slapping a hand on the table and silencing the heated debate. She gathered all the authority she had as Command.Com around her and turned a steely glare on Iceshadow. "You are our guest," Dot said icily. "And you will behave accordingly." Her eyes flicked to Mouse, and she continued. "That goes for you as well. We did not survive Megabyte and a system crash, Game hopping, and the Web just so that we could bicker pettily."
Iceshadow sat back down and Mouse mumbled something akin to "sorry…".
Bob cleared his throat and took that moment to speak. "Like Matrix said, we've known for awhile that we need to do something about Daemon. If not for our own safety - which is important here, I have to agree mostly with what Iceshadow said - but… Well, our programming. I don't think I or Matrix would feel right about letting Daemon run rampant."
"And we may be the only ones left to do anything," AndrAIa said quietly.
"That last system we were in… Matrix, you remember how terrified everyone was of those Guardians."
Matrix nodded curtly, his violet eye stormy and his golden eye glowing red. "I can't just sit by and let this happen. The Guardians are supposed to be helping the people, not terrorizing them."
"So, we're in agreement that we need to help," Raytracer said, leaning back in his chair. "The question is - how?"
"The way we fought Megabyte," Dot said decisively. "A rebellion, not precisely an outright attack. We need to watch. Plan. Make note of what she is doing and how we can counter it."
"How to git around the Guardian Collective and any othahs she's decided to infest," Mouse added. "Hopefully without killin' them."
Iceshadow snorted. "Good luck," she sneered. "Daemon will put her viral troops on the front lines, you'll have no choice but to kill them."
Mouse glared daggers at her, pitching her voice lightly. "Just remembah, sugah, your twin is now one of those viral troops."
Iceshadow looked ill at the barb and her eyes narrowed. Aside from that, she seemed to ignore Mouse's comment and continued on. "Your brilliant plan is to wait? How many thousands will die before we get anywhere?"
"How many thousands will die if we attack foolishly?" Dot countered.
"Like it or not, this is the best way. It would be foolish to attack now with no knowledge of the situation. If you feel differently, you are welcome to leave, we are not holding you here."
"Or," Bob added, "you can stay here and help us instead of whining at us."
Iceshadow didn't look at any of them, her jaw clenched tightly. "Fine," she said at last. "I'll do what I can."
"That's all we're asking," Dot replied softly.
Deep in the lowest levels of the Supercomputer, hidden amongst a maze of old buildings and rooms and behind several doors, a blue-skinned spite sat in front of a console, her sharp green eyes scanning the readouts. Silver hair tumbled over her shoulders, nearly hiding the Guardian icon that was displayed proudly on her chest, standing out boldly against her black battle gear.
The sound of footsteps caused her to look up and squint her eyes against the darkness. "Switchblade?" she inquired softly.
The pale pink female emerged from the shadows. "Any news, Beta?"
The woman shook her head sadly. "Only bad, I'm afraid. She's gotten nearly all the Guardians, I don't even want to venture a guess who might be left. I've been able to run minimal scans on the different PIDs and all our high ranking officers are infected."
"Turbo?"
"I can't tell."
Switchblade walked over, taping a gloved finger against one of the displays. "What's this?"
Beta bit her lip. "I'm not quite sure. Those aren't Guardian codes, I can tell you that. In fact, I've never seen anything quite like it before. There is a lot of them, though, and they're infected."
"You don't suppose it's true, those rumors how she's gotten some of the Search Engines?"
Beta laughed bitterly. "Some? If those are the Search Engines indeed, that's more than some." The Guardian paused. "Griffin's not going to like this."
"Griffin hasn't liked more of the news we have given him. He's going to have to deal with it, there isn't much more we can do."
Beta leaned back in her chair, rubbing her temples to ease the strain. "What are we doing, Blade? No matter how many scans we take, how good of records we keep, what are we really going to accomplish against Daemon?"
Switchblade shook her head, the hopelessness in the other woman's voice getting to her. "I don't know, Beta. But I'm not giving up without a fight. And I can't imagine you will, either."
The pounding of booted feet sounded outside and both Beta and Switchblade looked up, the former closing her datapad with a snap. "Cursors!" Beta swore. "Didn't you check and see if anyone was following you, Blade?"
"Obviously not good enough," Switchblade replied tightly, grabbing the Guardian's arm and hauling her towards the back. "But no time to reprimand me now, let's get out of here!"
The two women bolted into the darkness just as the door fell in.
"There they are! After them!"
The meeting adjourned soon after Iceshadow pledged herself to aid the Mainframers in their battle against Daemon. Each of them went their separateways, intent on their own personal tasks. Matrix pulled AndrAIa aside for a moment, worry evident in his voice.
"Are you sure you were okay down there? I mean, in Level 31 and all?"
AndrAIa shrugged slightly, her voice nonchalant. "Of course. I've been through worse, it was just a little 'bar brawl'. Why?"
"I just don't like the idea of you going down there by yourself."
AndrAIa stopped, crossing her arms over her chest and cocking an eyebrow at him. "I repeat, why?"
Matrix shifted uncomfortably underneath her scrutiny. "I just… don't like it when I'm not there to protect you…"
AndrAIa's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to give him a rather heated retort, but paused when she saw the various binomes wandering by, shooting the two sprites a worry look. Grabbing Matrix's arm in a steel grip, she hauled him into a nearby room.
"I don't believe you!" AndrAIa exploded, slamming the door and whirling on her lover. "Do I look helpless to you? Do I?" As if to punctuate her point, her fins snapped out and her nails lengthened. "I'm not some little babe that you need to constantly look out for, Matrix."
"I never…"
"You DO!" AndrAIa protested. "You glare at any guy who even so much as looks at me cross eyed, much less jokes around with me. Did you ever think that MAYBE I like talking to Ray because he doesn't sit around glowering all the time?"
Matrix glared at her, his eye glowing dangerously. "Did you ever think that maybe Ray hasn't had as hard a life as…"
AndrAIa laughed bitterly. "Do not play that little .wav file for me, Matrix. We went through the same things, and I have not turned into a homicidal maniac. Perhaps everyone else can just push it off as 'oh, he had a hard life, be nice to him'. Perhaps I was able to let you 'cope' with things in your own manner. But I'm sick of it, Matrix! You haven't changed! You went from that fun loving kid I fell in love with into… THIS. And I thought that once we got back to Mainframe, once we got things back to normal, you would calm down. And you haven't."
"Don't you dare judge me, Andi," Matrix snapped. "You don't know…"
"I know all too well!" she cried. "I was THERE. I was patient, and strong, and comforted you when you woke up, frightened out of your wits by nightmares that you couldn't speak of because of your stupid male pride. I never showed MY fear because I knew that one of us had to be able to keep a stiff upper lip." She turned away from him, tears stinging her eyes. "But I was just as scared, Matrix. I was little. I'd never been anywhere besides my game, Mainframe, and maybe one other game besides. And I watched that User crush your skull in. Do you think I never had nightmares about that?"
"Do you think I never did?" Matrix growled. "It was my head…"
"I had to watch!" AndrAIa bit out. "I couldn't look away. I had to watch as my one and only friend, the little boy I had grown to love, was brutally murdered. I know it was awful for you, how could I not? But it was no easier for me."
"I never said it was…"
"Of course not," AndrAIa said, caustic smile touching her lips. "You were too caught up in your self pity and desire to reach Mainframe to notice my pain."
Matrix stared at her for a long moment before his rage clouded his face. "You didn't have to stay with me," he snapped. "I never said that you had to come look for Mainframe with me! You could have stayed in ANY of the systems we passed through! If you don't like things the way they are, just leave, all right Andi? Because they aren't going to change. This is the way it happened and you're just going to have to live with it!"
AndrAIa's eyes darkened, turning from their usual cheerful sea-green colour to that reminiscent of a roiling ocean. Jaw clenching, she didn't speak another word. Spinning on her heel, the Game sprite stormed out of the room, slamming the door loudly behind her.