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"Well?"
Bob looked up from his keytool, meeting Dot's worried gaze.
"I'm going as fast as I can, Dot... Glitch can only do so many scans at a time before it has to recharge."
The three sprites were sitting in a booth inside the Diner. Bob had been scanning code almost constantly since he'd walked in the door, pausing barely long enough for Glitch to recover. So far, there was no sign of the User. All the binomes they'd seen in here were all game constructs, following what would appear to be pre-programmed paths.
Dot stared at the table nervously. Then, for just a split-nano, she thought she could see *through* a section of it - through the surface, to the ground beneath the Diner. She frowned, closed her eyes, then opened them again. It was still there. She blinked again, then nudged Bob.
"Bob, can you see what I'm seeing?" she asked, gesturing to the offending spot.
The Guardian ceased scanning briefly to stare at the centre of the table. He squinted, blinked, and then looked again.
"I see it, Dot."
"That's a relief," she sighed, "I was starting to think it had more to do with my lack of downtime lately. What do you make of it?" she asked. "Minor power loss?"
"It's a possibility," he replied. As they watched, the translucent 'hole' faded, returning solidity to the table once more. "Glitch - background task. Monitor energy levels of this Game and sound alert if they drop to critical level."
Dot nodded, feeling a little better that she wasn't going mad, but she made a mental note to get some healthy downtime after this was all over.
"This will slow Glitch up a bit, but I don't want us to be unprepared if this cube crashes," Bob said, and went back to his original task.
"I don't think we're in much of a rush here," she answered, observing her little brother's apparent boredom.
Enzo gazed around, his head cradled in his hand, his elbow resting on the table, hoping he might see another young sprite; even if it was just a game sprite. Anything for some time with someone else close to his age! His eyes glazed over, his thoughts turned inwards... until, that is, he felt a tugging on his sleeve.
"Hnh?" Startled from his brief reverie, he looked down to the source of the tugging.
"I *said*, what's your name?"
A small girl sprite, not much younger than himself, was looking right at him with deep purple eyes, contrasting with her blue skin and silver hair. She wore teal overalls and a purple T-shirt, and a quizzical expression on her round face. Enzo doubletook, then managed to regain his voice.
"Uh... my name's Enzo. What's yours?"
The girl grinned and looked almost smug as she folded her arms and proudly announced her name.
"I'm Adena, and I'm a Guardian!"
Something about her demeanour reminded him of Bob, who was currently oblivious to them, poring over more scans, his frustration becoming ever more evident. Dot had just noticed the new sprite, her eyes widening as she prodded Bob in the arm.
"Ow, what - "
"Bob, look!"
Bob glanced up from Glitch's readout screen.
"Hello there," he waved. Dot nudged him again, and hissed at him to scan her. Bob shook his head at her. He already had - she wasn't the User. Adena frowned at the two adults, apparently annoyed her conversation with Enzo had been interrupted.
"I don't like grownups, especially when they whisper. That means they're doing something they shouldn't," she stated, very matter-of-factly. She turned back to Enzo as Bob and Dot exchanged amused looks. "I'm bored. Want to play?"
"Where are your parents?" Dot asked her.
Adena turned back to Dot with an exaggerated expression of frustration. She was about to reply when a huge commotion from outside the Diner caught everyone's attention. The three sprites were on their feet instantly, trying to see what was going on.
Binomes and sprites scattered in all directions before the oncoming chaos. Bob thought he could hear yelling as it approached. The big red blur became more defined as it hurtled closer. It was a large, classic red hovercar, clearly way out of control... and it was heading right for the Diner.
"Get down! Now!" Bob yelled, ducking for cover under the table as the car screamed in towards them.
There was an earache-inducing noise like an incoming missile, culminating in a large crash, as the car met the ground, slid for several feet, then came to a rest, rear end up, just outside the Diner. One of the Diner's windows cracked in protest. Several tinkling noises followed as the car's chrome embellishments fell off. A wing mirror dropped to the ground and shattered. As a last insult, the back bumper detached itself and clanged noisily as it met its final resting place.
There was a deafening silence for a few nanos while the system held its breath. Finally, Bob, Dot and Enzo snuck a peek over their table to see the young Adena, totally unruffled, nodding and smiling knowingly.
"*That's* my mom," she said proudly.
End Part 2