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Frisket howled at the Diner doors as if in sympathy, as Enzo continued to stare at the remains of Sector 9 from a vidwindow inside the Diner. Dot had him put under strict surveillance, and thanks to the combined efforts of Mouse, Mike the TV and Cecil, he knew he wouldn't be able to get away any nano soon.
He also knew that somewhere in that mess was Bob.
"He can't be off-lined! He's *Bob*!" he wailed.
"We don't know anythin' fer sure yet, shugah," Mouse replied, trying her best to comfort the young sprite. "Bob's a resourceful guy, I should know."
"It's all my fault, Mouse. I was out there and I distracted him... he would never have been there if it weren't for me - "
"Honey, you know that ain't true," Mouse replied sternly. "Don't go makin' yourself feel bad for somethin' you couldn't know was goin' to happen."
Enzo knew she was right, but still... it always seemed like he was the source of everyone's problems.
And if Bob had been - he couldn't even bring himself to process the word - he wouldn't ever forgive himself for being such a low-density sprite.
* * *
"Guardian?" Bob repeated. "You're a /Guardian?/ How... what... I..." he coughed again, "I mean, I've never heard of your type, not even at the Academy, they would have had you on file."
Dracus snorted.
"I doubt they would."
Bob frowned. "Why not?"
"You are a Guardian yourself?" the dragon looked keenly at him. Bob nodded, trying to clear his throat.
"I was assigned here, to Mainframe. To win the Games, fix tears, that sort of thing," he replied eventually. "But you didn't answer my question. Again."
Dracus paused a moment, the only sound the crackling of the flames.
"We... are the first generation of Guardians. We were old before you were ever compiled."
"Why haven't I ever seen you or heard of you before?"
Dracus sighed.
"It is a long story." He glanced across the debris, and spotted his opponent, motionless, crushed under the fallen building that also pinned him. "And a story that will end very soon."
"I don't understand."
"You probably would not even if I told you."
Bob's expression hardened in annoyance. "I'm not Basic, you know! I'm a Guardian!"
"Knowledge of us is... rare. We are becoming equally so."
"Why? What is it you do?"
"We protect the Supercomputer."
Bob shook his head. "No, we do that. That's our job."
Dracus rumbled again. His laughter. Bob's frown increased.
"No, Guardian. We protect it." The dragon looked troubled for a moment. "At least, the ones who are still alive do."
"What?"
"After many cycles of Games, we learned too much. We became too powerful to remain within the Supercomputer. We were ousted by the new generation of Guardians installed by the User - their pretense was to assign us to protect the more vulnerable portals to the Supercomputer. In reality, these portals were seldom utilised. Once we were outside, they sealed us off from ever returning."
"I can't believe it... that my own format would do such a thing..."
"They were afraid... afraid that our acquired powers would destabilise the Supercomputer and therefore the 'Net. Some of us became bitter about their decision," Dracus glanced again at the fallen dragon, "and determined to make their way back to the Supercomputer to wipe out the new Guardians. The rest of us found new security holes and determined instead to do the job we were assigned to do. Mend and defend. Sometimes that defense included deleting our own kind."
"You mean your friend over there?"
A pained expression flitted behind his eyes. "Yes."
Bob stared at the dragon. "How did you get this... configuration?"
"We adapted," he replied simply. "This form was most adept at dealing with viruses and other... intruders. What troubles me is that our numbers are dwindling rapidly. You have no idea what we have been defending you against. When our time is over..."
"What happens then?"
Dracus looked Bob straight in the eyes.
"Chaos, Guardian. Chaos."
* * *
"Dot honey, you need to get some downtime. You've been on this job now all second."
"Thanks for the advice, Mouse, but I don't think I'm going to be able to get any kind of downtime until we've cleared that wreckage."
Mouse sighed and shook her head. The Command.com of Mainframe was efficient, but when her heart took precedence over common sense...
"You're not doin' this operation any good by keepin' yourself up all cycle. I'll oversee this and if I hear /anything/, you'll be the first to know."
Dot sighed. "You're right, Mouse. I should. How's Enzo?"
"He went to his bed a long time ago, honey, which is where you need to be."
"All right, I can take the hint..." Dot tried a smile, which ended up looking more like a grimace. "I'm going. Just - "
"I know, shugah, first thing I hear! Now go!"
Dot Matrix reluctantly stood and left her command station. But while she left the station and the Principle Office behind in favour of her apartment, emotional turmoil still raged inside her like a virus...
"Please, Bob," she whispered to the winds. "Please. Be alive."
* * *
Bob tried to take it all in; and felt dizzy. It was several moments before he realised that it was the thinning air that was creating the dizziness; not the story.
"How do we stop this... chaos?"
Dracus squinted at Bob in the dying firelight.
"Knowledge is power, Guardian."
"You're going to tell me?"
Dracus shook his head slowly. His breathing was getting shallower.
"Not... enough time." Dracus looked pained. The loss of blood must be getting to him, Bob thought.
"But how can I do anything - "
"Give me your keytool pieces. Now."
The tone of the dragon suggested urgency. Bob, with considerable effort, got to a kneeling position, and collected Glitch's remains, cradling them carefully in his hand. He winced as he moved his injured arm, but gritted his teeth and ignored it as best he could. He shuffled over to the dragon.
"Here."
Bob laid the pieces beside him, near his forelimb. "Back off." He did so. Dracus gingerly moved his forelimb, and extended a talon. The firelight died just a little more as he did so. Bob squinted. He heard the dragon rumble again. This wasn't laughter this time... it was a quiet command, intoned over his keytool. For a moment, there was a gentle, green light emanating from the creature's talon. When it dissipated, Bob saw -
"Glitch!"
The keytool chirruped at hearing its name. Dracus lifted his talon, and Glitch returned to Bob, nestling in its usual place on his left arm. Bob stared at Dracus.
"How..."
"You learn many things when you have time on your hands," he rumbled. "Now... come here. I have little time left."
Bob approached the dragon cautiously. "You want to know, do you not?" Dracus spoke gruffly, as if reading his thoughts. "Come. Now."
The Guardian did as he was directed. As he touched the dragon's forehead with his right hand, he felt the surge of mental energy and -
- he broke the contact with the dragonskin and fell on his backside, gasping.
Dracus growled. "Again!" he barked. Bob nodded, reeling from the encounter, but aware of how little time remained. Coughing, he struggled once more to his aching feet, and replaced his hand.
Images, thoughts, events, emotions, faces, things he couldn't even begin to understand, all flashed through his mind in a single breathtaking moment. It was Dracus' whole life, from compilation to expulsion from the Supercomputer, to now, contracted into barely a nano. As Bob finally broke contact with the dragon, he heard him speak, softly this time.
"This is my gift to you, fellow Guardian. Use it wisely. Mend... and defend."
Dracus then exhaled heavily, his muscles relaxing, his eyes closing. Bob suddenly found himself clutching at the creature's harsh, bloodied scales in panic.
"No! You can't do this! You can't..."
Breathlessly he watched the strange Guardian for signs of movement, of breathing, hearing only the beat of his own heart in the encroaching darkness.
"...leave me..." he finished, knowing that even as he said it he already had.
The fire's last flames died out as he sat gazing at the lifeless Dracus. And with it died Bob's last hopes for getting out of here alive. Shivering, he lay beside the dragon, and let the liquid darkness swallow him whole.