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Time
scale:
nanosecond=second
microsecond=minute
millisecond=hour
cycle=day
second=week
minute=month
hour=year
Matrix shifted in his seat, trying to get comfortable. It was no use. The theater seats just weren't built for people his size. Beside him, Enzo was munching popcorn and talking animatedly. "Did you see that? Alphanumeric!"
"Yeah, kid," he mumbled, wincing at a particularly violent fight scene between the protagonists and the hulking monsters. Maybe AndrAIa was right when she'd said 'Web Invaders' would give Enzo nightmares. It was nothing compared to some of the things Matrix had seen, but Enzo had been spared the violence of Megabyte's take over and the horrors of the games. Sometimes, he almost envied the boy, knowing that he too had once been that innocent.
After they'd finished eating, Matrix had proposed the idea of the movie. AndrAIa had scolded him over his choice of films, and had then gone back to Bob's apartment, claiming she had a headache. Matrix sighed. Well, at least they were on speaking terms, even if he had been relegated to the proverbial dog house. When the house lights came back on, he glanced over to find Enzo sleeping, head slumped on his shoulder. With a faintly amused smile, he scooped the boy up and carried him from the theater. Though it was long after dark, the air outside was still warm, and Matrix took his time walking back to Bob's apartment, the sleeping Enzo showing no sign of waking. Frisket had joined him outside the theater and was now trotting along happily at his side. Glancing down at his sleeping younger self, Matrix allowed himself a rare smile. Strangely enough, this felt almost natural. He marveled at how amazingly peaceful Enzo managed to look when he was asleep. Not a trace of his normal hyperactive nature was visible. He seemed incredibly fragile, in need of protecting. "Well, that's what we're here for." He murmured to himself. "To make sure you don't have to ever go through what AndrAIa and I did."
The apartment was dark when he got there, and he assumed AndrAIa was asleep in his bedroom. Being as quiet as possible, Matrix carried the still sleeping Enzo into Bob's empty bedroom and tucked him in. It was pretty late in the cycle, and he doubted Bob would be back. He walked down the hall to his own bedroom and went inside, trying not to wake AndrAIa. Unfortunately, she'd always been a light sleeper and she sat up in the bed as he closed the door behind him.
"Enzo?"
"Yeah. Sorry I woke you, AndrAIa. How's your headache?"
"Better," she replied. "How did Enzo like the movie?"
"He fell asleep before it was over," he said as he changed into a pair of sweatpants before climbing in next to her. He noted with a slight smile that she was wearing an oversized black tee-shirt with a picture of a bright red motorcycle and 'Born to Ride' scrawled underneath in white letters. "When did you get that?"
"Saw it a few days ago when I was out with Mouse. Like it?"
"It's very you," he murmured, leaning back on the pillows. He was more tired than he'd thought.
"I'm glad you think so." She propped herself up on one elbow, and Matrix reached out to toy with a strand of her hair that had fallen across her face. "I'm still mad at you, you know," she said, but her tone was soft.
"Good. I don't deserve to be forgiven. Not yet."
AndrAIa sighed at the familiar tone in his voice. She hated it when he got all angsty on her. "Look," she started in an attempt to shake him out of his sullen mood, "if it helps, I think you would be a great father. And I'm not just saying that because you're my husband, either. I saw how you handled Enzo in the park today."
Matrix sighed. "Yeah, but it's easy with him. He's me. I know exactly how he thinks."
AndrAIa sighed again. "Let's not talk about this anymore tonight, okay? We're both tired and it's only going to get one or both of us upset." She lay down next to him, pulling the covers about her shoulders, and they were both soon asleep.
----
It was so cold. Mind-numbingly so. Even his armored Guardian uniform failed to protect him from the icy chill of the web. His small pod was being buffeted from side to side by invisible currents and he was sure he'd be nauseous if he weren't so unbelievably cold. Outside the window of the pod, he could see the web swirling in a thousand different patterns. So big and empty. He felt so small and insignificant out here. So alone. He hadn't felt this alone since his parents had abandoned him as a child. He squeezed his eyes shut trying to close out the memories of other cold cycles spent alone, wandering the streets of the Supercomputer...before Turbo had gotten him into the academy.
Turbo. The man who had been a father figure to him. The man who'd betrayed him by sending Mouse to destroy Mainframe. He'd managed to save the system, but now he was going to die here. Alone.
He was ripped from his morbid train of thought as the walls of his small prison collapsed inward, crushed in the iron grip of a web creature. He was momentarily disorientated as he was blasted by the web's full brutal force, and that was enough time for the creature to wrap it's long, sinuous tentacles around his body. He flailed violently, but it was futile. The web creature squeezed tighter and tighter and he found himself blacking out, unable to breath. His last thought before the darkness claimed him was "No...not like this..." And the last image that flitted through his mind was of Dot's face...
He sat bolt upright in bed, the cold he'd felt in his dream still clinging to him. He sat there for a moment, trying to get his bearings, and almost jumped out of his skin when a hand closed on his arm.
"Bob?" Dot's voice drifted from the darkness beside him, and slowly, memories of the present pressed the nightmare from his fear-fogged mind. "Bob, is something the matter?"
He ran his hands back through his sleep-disheveled hair and tried to slow the frantic beating of his heart. "No," he said, sounding a bit shaky. "I'm okay." Inwardly, he shuddered. He hadn't had that dream in minutes, not since he'd been with the web riders. 'Why now?' he thought. 'After all this time...' "A bad dream, that's all."
"You didn't tell me you were having nightmares," Dot said, sitting up and wrapping her arms around him from behind, warm body pressed against his cold one in a comforting embrace.
"I wasn't," he replied. "It's nothing, I'm sure."
"You're shaking, Bob. That must have been some dream. Do you want to talk about it?" She was careful not to pry. He hadn't talked much about his time in the web--with good reason if this nightmare was any indication--and she didn't want to force him into sharing anything he wasn't ready to.
"There isn't much to tell," he said, sounding drained. "Not long after Megabyte shot me into the web I was attacked by a web creature. It almost killed me, would have if the web riders hadn't saved me." The mention of his rescue by the Riders stirred up other dark memories but he forced them away. "I thought I was going to die out there, alone, without ever telling you how I really felt."
"Shhhh...it's okay." She reached up and touched his cheek, surprised when she found it wet with tears. "It's okay," she repeated softly, holding him a little tighter. "You're not alone anymore."
----
"Matrix?"
Matrix's eyes flew open at the voice and sat up suddenly. He relaxed slightly as he saw Enzo standing beside the bed, wide-eyed. "It's just you," he sighed. "What's the matter, Enzo?"
"I--" The boy paused for a moment, as if trying to decide whether or not to continue. "I had a bad dream," he said finally.
"I told you that movie would give him nightmares," AndrAIa's slightly groggy voice scolded from the other side of the bed. She sat up next to Matrix and patted the space between them with her hand. "Come on up," she said, looking over at Enzo. The boy obediently clambered into the bed to sit between the two older sprites. "What was this dream about?"
"The web creatures were attacking Mainframe," he began. "Like Dot told me 'bout. Before Megabyte took over. I was all by myself. I couldn't find Bob or Dot or you guys or Frisket or anyone! And it scared me."
"Well, we're here now Enzo. There's nothing to be afraid of. You've even got Frisket to protect you," she smiled. "Just like he did for Matrix and me."
Enzo glanced from AndrAIa to Matrix and back again, sighing. "Yeah, I guess..." he said uncertainly.
"Look, kid," Matrix said, reaching over and tousling the boy's already unruly hair, "would it make you feel better if we let you sleep in here with us?"
Enzo nodded emphatically, and AndrAIa and Matrix both made room for him between them. "There we go," AndrAIa said, pulling the covers up around Enzo's shoulders. "Now let's get some sleep. No more web creatures."
Enzo nodded again. "Thanks AndrAIa, you too, Matrix. You guys are the best."
----
With a sigh, Dot cracked one eye open and peeked at the bedside clock. "We're going to be late," she commented, seeing the display. She rolled over, only to find the bed empty. "Bob?"
"Right here, Dot." He peeked his head through the doorway. "Just making some Java."
Dot sat up and stretched, yawning as she did so. "You're the best," she smiled, getting up and pulling on her bathrobe. "I'm going to take a quick shower."
"Want some company?" He asked slyly, waggling his eyebrows. Dot threw a pillow at him from the bed, but he dodged it and it thumped harmlessly against the wall in the hallway.
"I'd love some, but Phong and Mouse are expecting us, remember? We've got to get those new defenses up." She kissed him quickly on her way into the bathroom.
----
Brenna tapped her foot impatiently, staring with disgust at the cold grey wall in front of her. Those tech boys had been keeping her waiting well over a millisecond now. She was about ready to kick down the door when an aging binome came into the small waiting area.
"Brenna?" He looked up into the tall woman's face. She might have been a breathtakingly beautiful girl if not for the jagged X shaped scar on her left cheek and the permanent scowl that marred her features.
"Are we ready to do this?" The young woman snapped, tossing her long blue hair behind her shoulder agitatedly.
The binome nodded. "As long as you're still sure you want to attempt this. You understand there are certain... risks involved. The virus is untested..."
"I know all this old man. That's why I'm here, isn't it? To test this thing."
He nodded sagely at her. "It is indeed, my dear. And if all goes well, the daemon virus will give you power beyond your imagining."
"I can imagine quite a lot," she said snidely, following the binome as he lead her into a large laboratory. "Those fools at the academy will never know what hit them."
"Yes, yes." The binome sighed, tired of hearing the woman's all consuming need for revenge. "Just remember what we agreed upon. We inject you with the virus. You're then free to test out it's abilities on the Guardian Collective, but you must report back to us once that is finished. You work for us now."
Brenna shrugged. "What ever you say. Can we get this over with?"
"Of course, right this way." He led her over to where several Binomes and sprites were working at a bench filled with scientific equipment. The old scientist had his reservations about his superiors' choice of test subjects, the young assassin was full of venom and would likely be hard to control, but he supposed pickers couldn't be choosers in this line of work. After all, what they were about to do was highly illegal. "Gentlemen, if you'd prepare our subject, we can begin."
Two of the sprites broke away from their work and escorted Brenna to a long steal table that was tipped vertically against one wall. "Hey...what's with the restraints?" She asked indignantly as the steal manacles were snapped in place around her wrists and ankles. "Afraid I'm going to bolt? Well, I'm not."
The head scientist bit back his annoyance with the girl and answered smoothly "Just a precaution, you understand. The initial bonding with the virus could leave you momentarily disorientated, and we wouldn't want you to hurt yourself or others." He jerked his head at the two workers and they tipped the large table into a horizontal position. Behind him at the table, the other technicians were busy loading what looked like a gun with a large needle attached to the end of it. He took the instrument and walked over to the table, climbing the short set of steps that allowed him to lean over Brenna. He saw the girl's pale blue eyes widen slightly at the sight and he chuckled inwardly. For all her bravado, she was afraid of what would happen next. He briefly wondered what his superiors had told the beautiful young woman in order to coerce her into agreeing to such a dangerous experiment. Then, putting aside all personal concerns, he glanced at her face one last time, the instrument containing the virus poised over her arm. "Don't worry. The pain should be...minimal." Without further ceremony, he plunged the needle into a vein in her arm and pulled the trigger, releasing the virus into her system.
At first nothing happened. The head scientist stepped away from the table and waited anxiously. They had put too much time, effort, and secrecy into this to have if fail now.
Brenna lay absolutely still. Except for the initial injection, she felt nothing. Then a strange tingling began to pervade her limbs, swiftly building to fire like intensity. Her pale eyes wide with pain, she managed to gasp out "What's...happening?" It was the last thing Brenna ever said.
Her body began to convulse violently, arms and legs straining against the restraints. She screamed, a sound so chilling the collective group of scientists took a step backward. "This isn't right," the head scientist murmured, eyes fixed upon the screaming girl's writhing form. "User help us..."
Brenna's mind was being torn to shreds, fractured as the virus' consciousness began to merge with her own. Another horrifying scream passed from her lips as a thousand alien thoughts exploded inside her mind, not just the virus', which oozed like a black vile oil in all the corners of her psyche, but those of the scientists and the technicians, thoughts from a hundred sprites and binomes working in the complex. She lashed out blindly, trying to force those thoughts away trying to find what was left of Brenna amidst the ruins of her mind...and all around her, people fell to the ground, instantly struck dead by the telepathic backlash.
Brenna's pale form became the eye of the hurricane of destruction that was swirling around her, destroying everything in its path. The hazardous chemicals stored in locker in the lab exploded, turning the room to a fiery inferno. The destruction spread outward like ripples in a pond, ripping through the base and leveling it.
As the last waves of chaos slowly dissipated, a figure stirred in the ash and debris of the ravaged base, the sole survivor of the maelstrom. She found her feet easily and began to walk away from the disaster, her mind a raw, barren place. In one dark corner of her scared psyche, the woman known as Brenna weeped and tried to remember who she was. And all around her, the thick oily thoughts of the virus whispered to her, soothingly. "We are Daemon," it said softly, and reached out, enveloping the girl's last shred of identity.
----
"Well, there you two are," Mouse commented as Bob and Dot entered the core control room. "Nice of ya' t' join us. Sleep well?" She cocked an eyebrow and gave Bob a pointed glance, unable to resist tossing Bob's comment from the cycle before back in his face. She grinned triumphantly as the Guardian blushed.
"Uh, yeah," he mumbled, reminding himself to think twice before he ragged on Mouse again.
Dot, on the other hand, took the comment in stride and got right down to work. "Did you talk to Ray?" she asked, slipping her headset in place over one ear.
"Yeah, Ah talked t' him. Stubborn sprite tried t' insist on doin' this by himself."
Bob smirked. "Of course he did, Mouse. You should have expected that."
"An' he shoulda known that nothin' short of bein' deleted would stop me from goin' with him."
"Point," Bob conceded. "So, how far have you gotten on recalibrating the web defenses?"
"'Bout half way done, sugah. Shouldn't cause me too much trouble."
"That's great," Dot interjected. "Then maybe we can take a break and discuss the travel arrangements for you and Ray? You know I don't feel comfortable sending either of you out there."
"Ah know, Dot. But we talked this over and we all know this is the only way."
"I know," the Command.Com sighed. "That doesn't make me feel any better about it."
"Hey," Mouse said, taking a seat beside Dot on the edge of the console. "Me an' Ray can take care of ourselves."
"Still, I'd feel better if I didn't have to send you out there unprotected."
"Speaking of that," Bob said, trying to cut some of the emotional tension. "What are you going to do for web protection?"
"Way ahead of you, Guardian. Ray's agreed t' let me hack into his icon t' see if I can duplicate that web armor of his. If Ah can, Ah might even be able t' incorporate it into Ship's systems. That way, we'll have a little firepower on our side instead of bein' out there by our lonesome."
"Sounds like a good plan to me," Dot said. "Let's do it."
"What are we doing?" AndrAIa's voice rang out as she, Matrix and Enzo walked into the room.
"Just going over a few adjustments to the system," she said, smoothly avoiding mention of Daemon in Enzo's presence. After everything that had happened to Matrix, she was doing her best to keep Enzo's life as worry free as possible. "Bob, why don't you take Enzo jet bowling? I think we're pretty much finished here."
Bob could see the unspoken message in Dot's eyes and readily agreed. "Come on, Enzo. You can tell me all about what you did last night."
After the two had left, AndrAIa spoke up. "Okay, so what are we really doing?"
Dot leaned back against the console and sighed. "We decided to shut down the ports to the 'Net again to keep Daemon from tracking Bob and Matrix. Mouse and Ray have agreed to act as our scouts in the web."
AndrAIa nodded. "Hence the need for secrecy around certain little sprites."
"Well, he's bound to figure out something's up eventually, but I'd like to avoid worrying him for as long as possible. All that pressure's not good for him," Dot cast a mournful glance in her other 'little' brother's direction. Matrix returned her gaze, a slightly guilty look settling on his features as he remembered their argument.
Seeing the look that passed between the Comand.Com and her brother, Mouse quickly intervened. "Right now, Ah'm changin' the web defenses t' respond to a password so Ray an' Ah can get in and out. Ah could use a hand, AndrAIa, if you're interested."
"I'd love to," AndrAIa replied, easily picking up on Mouse's intentions.
"Great. Let's head on over t' my workstation and we can get started." The two female sprites exited the room, leaving Matrix and Dot alone in the control room.
"Those two are nothing but trouble," Matrix mumbled good naturedly. He glanced up at his sister. "Did you and Bob have a good time last night?"
"We did," she smiled. "Thank you for looking after Enzo."
"Yeah, well, I guess I didn't really mind. AndrAIa wasn't feeling well so it was just me and him."
"Speaking of AndrAIa, did you two manage to work things out?"
"I guess. She'll forgive me eventually, anyway. Look," he began slowly, "I wanted to apologize for what I said the other cycle. It was way out of line."
"No, you were right, at least in part anyway. I was treating you like little sprites. I just hadn't realized it. But you have to understand my point of view. An hour ago, you were 1.1... and now, well look at you. You're all grown up." She smiled wistfully. "And now AndrAIa tells me you two got married. Are you intentionally trying to give your poor sister a heart attack?"
Matrix gave her a sheepish look. "I suppose we should have told you earlier."
"Yes, you should have," she replied. "It would have avoided a lot of confusion."
"You're not mad then?"
"Mad? Only that I wasn't there to see it," she said. "Other than that, I couldn't be happier for you. You two are perfect for each other."
Matrix smiled, one of the first genuine smiles Dot had seen on his face since he'd returned to Mainframe. "I'd like to think so. Well, since apparently everyone in Mainframe knows about this now, " he reached down and slid open a small compartment in the side of his belt and pulled out his gold wedding band, "I suppose I can wear this again." He slipped in onto his finger. "It'll make AndrAIa happy at least, she can show off her engagement ring all over again."
Dot laughed. "Well, are we done apologizing then, little brother?"
"Sure, sis."
"Good. Let's go see what Mouse and AndrAIa are up to then. We've finally got Mainframe running so smoothly that there's nothing much left for me to do around here."
"Let me guess, all this free time is driving you random. And you used to say I had too much energy. I wasn't the one multi-tasking twenty four milliseconds a cycle."
"Watch it, you," she said playfully. "You may be bigger than I am now, but I'm still your older sister. That gives me the exclusive right to kick your ASCII whenever I see fit."
Matrix chuckled "I cannot believe you just said that..."
"You're as bad as Bob," she pouted. "Why is it everyone thinks I'm the straight laced one?"
"Because you are?"
"I am not! I'll have you know I was quite the rebel in my day. Where'd you think I got the tattoo?" She pointed to her shoulder.
"I was going to ask you about that...speaking of Bob, are you two finally going to admit you're a couple now, or are you going to keep sneaking around, hoping the rest of us don't notice? Ow!" He yelped in surprise as his sister's booted foot came in contact with his rear end.
"That answer your question, mister?"
"Okay, none of my business. Got it."
"Good," Dot said smugly and continued down the hallway.
----
"You still sure you want to do this, hun?" Mouse asked, looking at the icon in her hand.
"Sure thing, luv. I told ya I trust you."
"Thanks Ray. You're one of the few." She set the icon into the holder and set to work hacking into the code. Ray stood behind her, hand resting reassuringly on her shoulder as he watched her fingers fly over the keys. Watching her at work like this, he had no doubt she was one of the best there was at her trade.
"Did you ever think of doin' anything besides bein' a hacker, Mouse?"
"Not really, sugah. Ah've been doin' this since I was knee high to a binome. You?"
"Never really had much of a choice, luv. Y' might say it's a family business."
"Yeah, but it was your choice t' surf the web, right? Ah mean, ya always coulda stuck t' the safety of the 'Net."
"Yeah, guess you're right. Never much thought of it that way."
"There! Ah think Ah got it." She reached down and pulled her own icon off her belt. "Here Ah go again. This is gettin' t' be a habit." She placed her icon in the other holder. After typing in a few more commands, a bright light appeared between the two icons and then faded away again after a few nanoseconds. "That's it," she said, plucking both icons from their holders and handing Ray's back to him. "Ah took the liberty of makin' yours rebootable. Hope ya don't mind. If you're gonna be spending this much time in systems, y' don't want t' risk havin' a game cube fall on ya."
Ray chuckled. "Thanks, luv."
"Well, time t' see if this worked." She'd decided it was best to try downloading the web armor code into her own icon before trying to adapt it to Ship's systems. She double clicked the icon and it morphed into an oval shape with an 'm' on the front, and she was instantly covered with the snakeskin-like web armor. She wrinkled her nose. "This sure feels funny, sugah."
"Y' get used to it after awhile," Ray said.
"If ya say so." She quickly tapped the icon again and the armor melted away. "Ah'll have t' remember t' pick up a pair of goggles someplace t' protect my eyes."
"Make sure y' do, luv. That was my mistake an' I'm paying for it now." He tapped the side of his own goggles.
Mouse grinned and threw her arms around his neck. "Well, Ah love ya jus' the way you are, sugah," she said, then leaned in for a passionate kiss.