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by Jareth, The Viral GuardianChapter Three: Flashbacks
Though it was undoubtedly the most chaotic place in Mainframe, even Lost Angles was relatively peaceful at night. Jareth, the Viral Guardian, wandered aimlessly through the halls of Hexadecimal's Lair. Though it was late, and he was tired, he just hadn't been able to log off. Something was bothering him. He could feel the energy of the system flowing differently. Something was about to happen, something BIG. The last time he'd had a premonition like this, Megabyte had fired Bob into the Web and infected Mainframe. That had been nearly a year ago, and nothing had been the same since. Enzo Matrix, Frisket, and that fiery haired hacker had been lost in a Game, and Megabyte had moved into the Principle Office, infecting the Command.Com. Megabyte had even invaded Lost Angles, Hexadecimal's private city. Jareth switched to a grin. That had been fun, fighting Megabyte's troops. Hex had ended the fight rather abruptly, calling in a massive flock of Nulls and sicking them on the ABC's. Things had been rather boring in Mainframe since then. Megabyte had the good sense not to try another attack on his siblings. Occasionally, Jareth's Guardian programming kicked in, and he helped out in one of the Rebel attacks, but for the most part he simply moped about the Lair. But that was all going to change now.
Jareth's eyes began to glow a soft white as a vision struck him. These visions didn't come often, but when they did, they showed him things that were of great importance to everyone. This time, Jareth's vision focused on a tear just south of Lost Angles. As he watched, the tear transformed into a portal, and a strange looking ship flew towards Mainframe, and-- The premonition ended.
The Viral Guardian laughed. Finally, SOMETHING fun was going on. He uncased his wings and flew off, strait for the nearest window.
* * *
As the Saucy Mare approached Mainframe's Web Address, Matrix walked over to one of the viewpoints. Mouse's trap had nearly destroyed the ship before she had been able to turn the thing off. Matrix glanced at Surfer, who was sitting back against a wall. His energy had been nearly exhausted trying to protect the ship with his force field. He didn't have enough juice left to convert the tear into a portal that lead back to Mainframe.
"Well, what do we do now?" AndrAIa asked, walking up behind Matrix. The lovely Game Sprite looked worried. Nothing strange about that. They'd all be deleted unless they found a way to convert that tear.
"Ah've managed to shut down the trap," Mouse said, still typing at her work station. "All except this." Mouse gestured to the screen. On the display was the Saucy Mare, which was slowly being pushed towards the tear by a wall of energy. "Ah never meant for this to be turned off. It's a surprise Ah was able to shut it down at all."
"We've got to find a way to stabilize that tear," said Bob.
"But how?" asked AndrAIa. "Glitch is broken, and the Surfer's worn out. What else can stabilize a tear?"
"A Game can stabilize a tear, but we don't get those here in the Web," Bob replied.
Glitch began to make loud bleeping noises. "Well, yes... It IS possible," Bob seemed to understand what Glitch was saying. Glitch beeped in response. "But I won't--" Glitch beeped more urgently, cutting off Bob's objections. Bob sighed.
"You're right. There is no other way. Get back, everyone."
Everyone stood back. Glitch began glowing, turning bright gold.
"You're sure?" Bob asked. Glitch beeped in response. It's tone said, "I've never been more sure in my life."
"Thank you... old friend. Glitch\Download!" Glitch flew from Bob's wrist and started circling him, leaving a trail of glittering light. In a few moments, you couldn't see Bob at all. Suddenly, with a bright flash, the light show ended. Bob and Glitch had merged. Bob was now covered in silver armor. His icon was contained in a gold sunburst in the center of his chest. "We are now one," Bob looked at his traveling companions. "Let's go home."
Bob clapped his hands together, creating a large charge of energy. Rocketing strait up, Bob passed through the web armor and began projecting his energy at the tear. The tear stabilized, and the ship passed through.
* * *
Aghast, Matrix stared at what had once been his home. Megabyte had reduced his city into a smoking wasteland. Tears were everywhere, Nulls crowded the streets.
"Oh. My. User," AndrAIa
said."By the Code... this city's been reduced to rubble," Gavin said.
"Megabyte," Matrix said, the anger clear in his voice.
"I'm needed below deck. The ship's nowhere near battle ready, and it looks like we might need it," AndrAIa said. "Why don't you guys go and scope out the city?"
"Good idea. Come on, Matrix," Bob jumped on one of the Saucy Mare's zip boards and started off towards the city.
Matrix quickly followed.
* * *
The next few seconds in Mainframe were uneventful, to say the least. Bob and Matrix reunited with Dot. While the rebels stormed the P.O., Matrix confronted Megabyte, battling him and eventually sending him into the Web. Bob was abducted by Hexadecimal, but then used his new Keytool powers to defragment her head, transforming her mask into a real face. The system began to crash from all the damage caused by Megabyte, but Bob ventured into the core and was able to power down the system before it could crash. Bob, Matrix, and the others had gathered in the P.O., trying to figure out how to save Mainframe.
"We can't effect repairs without power, but if we power up a sector, it'll just start going off-line again," AndrAIa said.
"There is one thing we could do... but I don't like it," Bob said, "Bear in mind, this is a last resort..."
"WARNING... INCOMING GAME..." the system's voice rang out throughout Mainframe, announcing the arrival of a Game.
Matrix actually grinned, "Let's do it!" He started for the door, but then turned back. "Aren't you comin' Bob?"
After a pause, Bob replied, "No... and you mustn't go either, Enzo."
Matrix was shocked. "What? But Bob... the lost Game could push Mainframe over the edge!"
"Listen... It goes against everything I cam, but I think if the system crashes, it could force a restart."
"You can't know that!" Matrix couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could a Guardian NOT go into a game? Especially Bob? But it was too late. They had wasted too much time arguing, and the Game was finished downloading.
"No!" Matrix cries as the Game Wall closed. There was nothing they could do now.
Dot was as shocked as the others, but she shook ti odd. "We... don't have much time. Mouse, help me scan for all active PID's. If... WHEN the system restarts, they'll be deleted if they're not scanned.
"Ah'm on it, sugah." Mouse hurried over to the workstation and started typing with blinding speed. This wouldn't take long...
Moments later, their work was done.
"There. Done," said Dot. "All active PID's have been scanned. All we can do now is... wait."
"Oooh, what are we waiting for?" Without warning, a pair of masks one black and one white, cam floating into the P.O. control room. The white one floated with an eerie grace, but the black one spun around as if directionless. In a bright flash of light, both Jareth and Hex instantly appeared.
"Is it a surprise?" Hexadecimal asked. "I LIKE surprises."
"Hey, we brought biscuits. Would anybody like one?" Jareth held out plate laden with Binome shaped biscuits.
Surfer took one from the platter and took a bite out of it. "Mmm... Not bad," he said.
Mouse smacked the treat out of his hand.
"So, what are we waiting for?" Jareth asked.
"The system's going to crash as soon as that Game leaves," Dot said. "Then, with any luck, the system will restart, and anything Viral will be deleted."
"ANYTHING?" Jareth and Hex asked simultaneously, leaning in.
"Well..."
"Dot...," Bob asked, giving her a pathetic puppy dog look. "Please?"
"... Oh, allright. But I can't BELIEVE I'm doing this." Dot reached into the pocket of her jumpsuit and pulled out an Icon. "Registering a Virus... what would Phong say?" she asked, handing the Icon to Hexadecimal.
"You can ask him," Jareth said, "Once the system restarts and the infection leaves."
"Do YOU need and Icon Jareth?"
Jareth pointed to his PID in it's gold claw horn in the center of his chest. "No thanks, I've already got one. I don't know if it'll work, but..."
"Well, if you've already got one then I can't register you anyway," Dot said. "We'll just hope for the best, right?"
Jareth nodded.
"So," Hex said. "What are we going to do until after the system restarts? I've been quite bored recently..."
"Well," Bob said. "First, we're all going to take a well deserved break. After that, we have to figure out how to save the Guardian Collective from a super-virus named Daemon."
Though they hadn't been very interested at the start of Bob's speech, both Viral's heads snapped up at the mention of Daemon. Jareth and Hex shared a look.
"Well, well... she really did it," Jareth said.
"I always knew she would!" Hex replied, clapping her hands in glee.
"Do you think she still remembers us? It's been so long..."
At this point, everyone was in the room was staring at them... but not out of fear.
"What are you two talking about?" asked Matrix. "How do you know Daemon?"
Jareth started giggling. "It's... a long story."
Bob shrugged. "We've got some time to kill before the game leaves. Why don't tell it to us?"
Jareth shrugged back. "Why not?" he asked. Slowly, haltingly at first, then faster as the memories returned to him, Jareth began to tell his story...
* * *
A long time ago, in the very same system...
"Warning... Incoming Game." The system's female voice rang out throughout the system. As the skies over Mainframe clouded over, an enormous purple cube descended on the citizens below. Though he was normally assigned to Mainframe's other city, a young sprite tore across the sky towards the Game Cube. His new body armor glistened in the early morning sun, and a shiny Guardian Keytool sparkled on his arm. Jareth grinned as he neared the Game. This User wouldn't stand a chance. Jareth remembered the last game he was in. That was back when he had first arrived in Mainframe, before he even became a Guardian, and he had still won. No User stood a chance when Jareth was-- SLAM! Not watching where he was going, Jareth collided head on with someone else that was headed for the same game. Jareth's zip board was knocked out from under him, sending both him and and the other sprite plummeting to the ground.
"Ooow..." When Jareth awoke, a large sprite was glaring down at him. His skin was blue and his hair was a dull chrome. He wore the armor and Keytool of a Guardian, but his belt was different, and a cylinder about the size of a sword hilt was hanging from it.
"Hello, Backslash," Jareth said, as the other Guardian offered him a hand up.
"Hello, Jareth. Aren't you supposed to defending the OTHER city?"
Jareth shrugged. "I figured you guys might need my help. I guess I was wrong."
Backslash shot a glare at Jareth. "Well, you screwed up. It's a good thing Kit got into the Game, or everyone would be really screwed."
Jareth looked at the electric purple walls of the Game Cube. Once a Game landed, no one could get in or out.
"Aren't you worried about Kit?" Jareth asked.
"Nah, she can take care of herself. But I still wish I could have been in there with her."
"Sorry... It's just... BORING on my side of the city. There's this one virus running around, but it's only a class three."
Backslash gave Jareth a strange look. "If it's that weak, why don't you just delete it?"
"And then what would I do with my time? It's bad enough the User only inputs a game every other day."
"Cycle, Jareth. Every other cycle. If you keep talking like you did in the User world, no one in Mainframe's gonna know what you're talking about."
"Whatever. The point is, I never have anything to do. Even when games DO fall, they fall on your half of Mainframe I'm bored out of my skull."
"So, tell me Jareth, who's defending the other city?"
Jareth shrugged. "Electra's still there. I'm sure she can handle anything Timesprite can dish out. At least for a while."
"Electra can hold her own, but she's no Guardian. It's not HER job to cover for you just because you feel like playing a game. GO HOME, Jareth."
Jareth frowned. "Allright, FINE, I'm goin'. But next time you DO need help, don't call me."
Jareth hopped on his zip board and took off, heading back towards the other city. Backslash watched him leave, then sat down, waiting for the game to end.* * *
"Game Over..."
The enormous purple cube shot into the sky, disappearing with a loud Bang. There where the cube had been, stood a young female sprite, she had pale blue skin, slightly lighter than Backslash's. Her hair was dark brown, with eyes to match.
"Kit! How did it go?" Backslash asked. It had to have gone well, since Kit was still standing there.
"Hey, Backslash. Where were you? I could have really used your help in there."
"I... ran into Jareth."
"So? Why weren't you in the Game?"
"No," Backslash said, "I mean it. I RAN INTO Jareth. Or he ran into me. Whichever."
A perplexed look crossed Kit's face. "What was Jareth doing on this side of the system? Isn't he supposed to be guarding the other city?"
"Yeah, but he says he gets bored. He says the only playmate he ever has is a level 3 chaos virus."
Kit laughed. "Yeah, her name is Timesprite. I tangled with her once before. She's not as weak as most Level 3's."
"I know. she can cause some mischief here and there, but still--" Backslash stopped mid sentence as the skies above Mainframe darkened.
"What the... Don't tell me it's ANOTHER Game?"
"I don't think so," said Kit. "The system hasn't announced a Game. This must be something else. I think maybe we should go ask Light."
Without another word, both Kit and Backslash maximized their zip boards and headed off.
* * *
"Well?" asked Backslash."What is it?"
Light Matrix, one of the Command.Coms of system Mainframe, turned from the Vidwindow to face Backslash and Kit. The blue light from numerous view screens and Vidwindows of the Principle Office contrasted with Light's green skin and purple eyes, giving her and eerie look.
"It's a Virus," she said. "But not like one I've ever seen before. It looks to be at least a Class 7, and we have not idea what it's doing in Mainframe."
"Well, Jareth was right," said Kit. "All the excitement DOES seem to be in our city."
"I wouldn't call that a good thing," said Backslash. Then, to Light, "Can you get a visual?"
Light turned to the elderly sprite who was being displayed on one of the Vidwindows.
"Phong?" she asked. Phong, the Command.Com of Mainframe's other city, kept in the constant contact with Light. By keeping in touch, the two leaders of Mainframe kept things running smoothly. Phong typed a few keys on his console, displaying a visual of the virus.
Backslash's eyes widened. Never had he seen a sprite who was so beautiful and yet so obviously evil. Her skin was purple, with emerald green hair. Her well shaped body was encased in a form fitting black suit. Her fingernails were black, as were her eyes. She was hopping from building, and seemed to be searching for something.
"Well, what do we do? Delete her?"
Backslash turned to Kit. "Of course. What else do you do with a virus?"
"Perhaps," Light said," it would be better to find out what she is after in Mainfra--"
"Mommy! Mommy!" A small sprite ran into the room, cutting off the Command.Com's dialogue. He ran over to Light and grabbed a hold of her leg.
"Whatcha doin'?" He asked, grinning up at her.
"Enzo! What have I told you about interrupting Mommy's work?"
Enzo frowned. "I know. 'Don't bother Mommy when she's working'. But I wanna help!"
"Enzo!" A female sprite of about 13 entered the room. "Come here." The new sprite looked contritely at Light. "Sorry, Mom. He got away from me."
Light smiled back. "That's okay, Dot. I know Enzo has a way of doing that. Why don't you take him to your Dad's lab, let Enzo bother HIM for a while?"
Dot grinned. "Good idea," she said, dragging a loudly complaining Enzo over the to the door. "Bye Mom!"
"Bye-bye Mommy!"
Light watched as her children left the room. Sometimes she wished she had more time to spend with them, but her duties as the Command.Com of this city took up most of her time. She wished--
"Hey! Light!" Backslash said, shocking her out of her reverie. She shook her head.
"Sorry. As I was saying, I think we should find out what she wants before we delete her. It could be important."
"Right," said Kit. "Backslash and I will check her out. See what she's up to."
"We'll let you know what we find out, Light," said Backslash. Light watched as Backslash and Kit left the control room.
"Good luck," she said as the doors closed behind them.
* * *
The virus flitted about Mainframe, searching high and low for an extremely large source of energy. There had to be some energy somewhere in this system. She had already drained a few of the binomes that crossed her path, but that wasn't nearly enough. Maybe if she--
"Hey! Virus!"
The virus turned around to see a pair of sprites standing behind her, one male and one female. Both appeared to be wearing Guardian protocols, and both had Keytools aimed right for her.
"I am Backslash Interface, Guardian 542 of System Mainframe. State your name and function."
So. They WERE Guardians. Very well, if they wished to play... "I am Daemon, a Web Virus. My function is to destroy and conquer."
"Well, that answers THAT question," the female said. "Now what?"
"Now, you DIE!" Daemon lunged at Kit, her fingernail-claws extended. Just before she connected, Backslash knocked Kit aside, taking the blow right across the chest.
"AAAGH!" Backslash doubled over, clutching his bleeding torso.
"Backslash!" Kit cried, rushing over to him and examining the slashes.
The wounds were long, but shallow. They'd leave scars, but they weren't life threatening.
"My, my... aren't we the loyal friend," Daemon chuckled. "Listen up and listen good, Guardians. I'm here to get something done, and anyone or anything that gets in my way is going to be ERASED. So you can either try to save half of your pathetic system, or you can STAY OUT OF MY WAY."
Daemon transformed into a large fireball and simply flew away, leaving Kit and the badly bleeding Backslash standing in the alley.
"What do think she meant, 'half the system'?"
"Umm... Kit... I'd really love to sit here and discuss this... but I think I need medical attention."
"Heh heh... Oh. Right. Sorry."
* * *
"Are you sure she said 'Half the system'?" Light asked, trying to piece together the incident.
"Pretty sure," said Backslash, then winced as the bandage was wound tighter around his torso. The medical droid had stitched him up, and was now applying a heavy duty dressing to the wound.
"I wonder what she meant..."
"Just what she said, I guess," said Kit. "She only plans to destroy half the system."
"Would that be our half, our Phong's half?" asked Backslash.
"I don't know, but we should definatly call Phong up and tell him about this," Light said. She immediately called up a Vidwindow. Phong appeared, a concerned look on his face. Light called him on an emergency channel, so something had to be amiss.
"What is it, my child?"
"Phong, we've got a problem. Backslash and Kit confronted the Virus and she mentioned destroying half the city. But we don't know which half she means, so we thought we should want you."
"I see... Do you suppose she was speaking figuratively?"
Light, Kit, and Backslash traded glances.
"That... actually didn't occur to us," said Backslash."
"She sure SOUNDED like she meant it," Kit said.
Phong didn't look convinced. "Viruses tend to destroy entire systems, not split them down the middle. I shall inform Jareth."
"If Jareth's the only Guardian in your city, then your in BIG trouble. He's never even attended the Academy," said Backslash.
"Backslash!" Kit smacked Backslash on the back, forgetting his injury. Backslash flinched.
Light spoke up. "Jareth may not have ever been actually trained as a Guardian, but he's not as pathetic as Backslash seems to think."
"Light is correct. I believe Jareth can provide adequate protection. Besides, even if he's not strong enough, Electra also lives on our side of Mainframe. Between the two of them..."
"Right," said Kit. "You've got it covered. We just thought we'd let you know what you were up against."
"Thank you, my child. I am sure we can deal with this. Phong out." Phong closed his Vidwindow, leaving the others to figure out what Daemon was up to.
* * *
"There's a virus loose in Mainframe?"
With a sigh, Phong turned around. He really hated it when Jareth eavesdropped on his calls. He had only moments ago broken the link with the other Principle Office.
"Yes, Jareth, there IS a virus. A class 7. Backslash and Kit confronted her a few nanos ago, in the other city. Backslash was badly injured."
"Spammit! Why am I always the last person to hear about these things? I'm goin' to help."
"No Jareth. The other city has two Guardians to protect it, but should the Virus attack here, you are the only protection we have."
"Not true, Electra lives on this side and she can deal with any Virus. You're covered if the Virus wants to come here. I'm going after it. Later!"
"Jareth, wait!" Phong protested, but it was too late. Jareth was already gone.
* * *
Daemon leapt from building to building, almost animal in her movements. She was making incredible time, tearing across the city towards the P.O. Once she got there, she could finally get this taken care of and LEAVE this two-bit system.
"Shark-- Pulser Cannon!" Without warning, Daemon was suddenly hit from the side by a totally unexpected energy blast. Though it knocker her off course, it was more annoying than painful. Looking up, to see the source of the attack, Daemon spied another Guardian, this one wearing black armor, detailed in gold. Like the others, he too, was aiming his pesky Keytool at her. He stood floating on his zip board, ready to fire.
"So, there are more of you. Just how many Guardians does this system have?"
"Counting me? Seventeen."
Daemon sneered. "Very funny. Seriously, just how many Guardians does a pathetic system like this one need?"
"Do all viruses talk as much as you? Shark-- Wide-Field Energy Be-" Daemon cut Jareth's command short with an energy blast to the head.
Jareth fell off his zip board, plummeting down into the gap between the building. Daemon walked over to the edge of the building and looked down. Jareth had hit his head against a container and was out cold. He wouldn't be causing her any more trouble. Daemon continued her trek towards the P.O.
* * *
The night sky above Mainframe was beautiful, and the stars from the User's screen saver shone brightly tonight. However, those who worked in the P.O. had no time to enjoy it. Many binomes rushed around, moving documents from one place to another. Light had fallen asleep at her terminal, and was drooling all over the screen.
Backslash typed frantically at the keyboard of his workstation, trying to get a fix on Daemon's location. Somehow, she was managing to keep herself off the P.O.'s scanners.
Kit walked into the room, carrying a cup of what appeared to be coffee. She offered it to Backslash, who took it, gulped it down, and continued typing.
"Any luck?" she asked.
"No." Backslash turned from his console to look at Kit. "She'd not showing up anywhere, in either city. I don't know where she went."
"Maybe she went home?"
"Yeah, and maybe if I flap my arms I can fly. No, she wouldn't have left before she did whatever she came here to do. We've got to find her before--"
Suddenly, the Principle Office's alarms went off and the red lights began flashing out of nowhere.
"-- before she finds us," Backslash finished.
Light started awake, instantly shaking off any residual grogginess. "What is it?" she asked, walking over to look at Backslash's console.
"Daemon's attacking the P.O.," Backslash said. "She's already infiltrated levels 2, 3, and 5. And she's headed towards..." He looked up at Light. "The Core."
* * *
Daemon walked down the corridors of P.O., heading directly for the System Core. Once she got there, she would have more than enough energy. Of course, taking that energy would cause the core to explode, taking the entire city with it, but that was how it went. She'd be long gone by then.
"Hey! Daemon!" Daemon turned, and recognized the Guardian that had confronted her before, the one who she'd slashed across the chest.
"What do you want, Guardian? No, wait, let me guess. You're here 'To Mend and Defend', right? Here to try to stop me?"
"That's right," Backslash said. "It was clever of you, shutting down the P.O. defenses like that. but you've still got to deal with the Guardians."
Daemon laughed. "The Guardians? The Guardians are a joke. In fact, I have some BIG plans in mind for the Guardian Collective... But I can't get started on that until I've finished my work here."
"Just what exactly IS you're work here, Virus?"
"It's like this, Guardian. There's a good chance I might get completely erased trying to crack the Supercomputer. So, I figured it might be a good idea if I download myself. Make a few... well, not exactly copies, but, shall we say, offspring?"
"You're about to wipe half the system, just to make yourself a back-up?"
"A few back-ups, actually. Two, maybe three. They'll be able to cause more than enough trouble on their own, but, if I AM, deleted, they'll have instructions to unite and rebuild my code."
Backslash removed the cylinder from his belt and thumbed a switch on the side. With a *Snap-Hiss!*, an energy blade extended from one end, forming a sword. Without warning, a voice rang out throughout the chamber.
"Shark-- Chainsaw!"
"Jareth?" Backslash turned around, and there stood Jareth, wielding a black and gold chainsaw. "Hi, Backslash. Need a hand?"
"NO. You're just going to get hurt here, Jareth. Go help Kit evacuate the city."
"Not this time, pal. I'm going to help, whether you like it or not."
"Then stay out of my way." Backslash took a swing at Daemon with his sword, but the Web Virus simply caught it.
"Oh please. You'll have to do better than THAT..." Daemon snapped her fingers, and all three of them instantly appeared inside the Core. The density of the energy made movement difficult, and prolonged exposure would lead to erasure. The heat was almost more than Backslash could stand.
"What? What are we doing in the core?" Jareth asked.
"I thought I'd let you watch. After all, you've managed to keep me amused while I was here. Not every sprite is so privileged. You should be thanking me, really."
Daemon waved her hand, trying to use her power to clone her own code... and nearly blasted herself across the room.
"Spammit!" she exclaimed. "It looks like I need a base code to build on..."
"What does THAT mean?" asked Backslash.
"It means, Guardian, that I need to steal the code from another sprite to attach to my code. I'll be right back, don't disintegrate too much while I'm gone..." Daemon faded out, teleporting to another part of the city.
* * *
Doppler Matrix was almost finished. It had taken him minutes, but he had FINALLY figured out an equation to reverse the effects of Nullification. Now, he just needed to give it one final test...
"Hey Dad!" Doppler grinned as his young daughter, Dot, entered the Lab, dragging her little brother Enzo along beside her.
"Dot! What are you doing here?"
Dot laughed, "It's nice to see you too."
"Hi Daddy," little Enzo said, waving up to his father. Enzo broke away from his sister and started running around the Lab, playing with the equipment.
"Hey!" Doppler cried, as Enzo picked up a curved scalpel and began waving it around. "Put that down Enzo! You'll put your eye out!"
"Enzo! Come here." Dot retrieved her brother, then turned back to her Dad. "Mom told me not stay long, just to tell you that the city's being evacuated. She said that unless it was under your microviewer, you wouldn't even notice if the city crashed."
Doppler laughed. "She'd probably right. Okay, you run ahead. Evacuate with the others. I'll be along as soon as I gather up my work."
"Okay, Bye Dad!"
"Buh-bye Daddy!" Dot left the lab, Enzo in tow. Doppler began to collect papers and files, stuffing them into a large briefcase.
Brilliant though he was, he wasn't nearly as organized as his wife. "There," he said, heading for the door. "I think that's everythi--" His words were cut off as he was grabbed from behind around the neck by a very cold hand.
"Hello Dr. Matrix," Daemon said. "It seems that you're the only sprite left in the city. Lucky you."
Doppler clutched at the hand around his neck, but it was too strong. It was cutting off his air supply. The last thing he saw as he lost consciousness was a pair of sinister, jet-black eyes staring right at him...
* * *
"Alrighty kiddos, let's try this again," Daemon said, as she reappeared in the Core. "I've got the Code I need, all the energy I need, and the power to make it all come together. Just watch..."
Daemon waved her hand again and a body formed from the ambient energy. In a few moments, it had taken the shape of a sprite a little taller than Backslash, but with a more slender build. He was wearing loose fitting clothes, with a long black leather trench coat. His skin was flawless white, but his hair and clothes were as black as night itself. Instead of a face, his head bore a mask, also pitch black, but with glowing green eyes. Around his neck was a shiny golden triangle on a chain, with a circle in the center that glittered in the core light. Finally, a large pair of feathered wings unfurled from his back, giving him an almost angelic look.
"Well Guardians? What do you think? I believe I shall call him... Lore."
Lore waved his hand in front of his mask, and it changed from a neutral face to one displaying an evil grin.
"Why hello," he said. "It's a pleasure to meet you." then, to Daemon, "Can I eat them?"
"Daemon grinned. "Not just yet, Lore. First, let them see what else I have up my sleeve." Daemon waved her hand again, and another sprite began to take form...
* * *
As the energy Daemon consumed weakened their half of the system, things began falling apart. Bolts of jagged lightning split the skies, and binomes scrambled around like ants.
"This way. Keep moving. No, don't take anything with you, just GO!" Kit desperately tried to keep some sort of order as she and Light evacuated the city. Binomes by the dozen flocked across the bridge into Mainframe's other city.
"How come none of the sprites have evacuated yet? These are all binomes."
"I dunno," Kit said, yelling to be heard over the noise. "But this is the last load of them. I'm going back to help Backslash."
"No Kit. You stay here. I've got an idea." Light maximized her zip board and headed off towards the P.O., leaving a reluctant Kit to round up the stragglers.
* * *
"There! Finished." Daemon stood back to admire her work. She had created two new Viruses besides Lore, on male and one female. The female, a chaotic virus, had a mask identical to Lore's, only white instead of black. Her body armor was red, with a beaded wire frame that covered her bodice. Unlike Lore, she did not have hair, instead a bizarre five pointed crown rested atop her head. The male seemed to be made of blue metal, though it could not be told whether the metal was his skin or just his body armor. He had a more mechanical look than the other two, as well as a more devious, plotting expression.
The two Guardians had been contained behind a stasis field, to keep them out of trouble. Backslash paced restlessly back and forth behind the wall, while Jareth simply sat on floor looked bored.
"Lore, I'd like you to meet your new brother and sister. This is Megabyte."
The male sprite stepped forward. "Greetings," he said. "I hope you do not think I will allow you to remain here once I have taken over this system."
"That won't be an issue," the Guardian in black armor said. "This system's goin' down in flames."
"On the contrary," said Daemon, "Only HALF the system is crashing. Mainframe has two cores, so I didn't think that anyone would mind if I destroyed one."
"Oh, get real. You knew we'd be pissed if you destroyed half the system."
"Oh, my mistake. I meant, I didn't CARE that anyone would mind. Now then. Lore, this is your new sister, Hexadecimal."
Lore switched to a grin. "Nice to meet you Hex," he said.
"Hex... Hex...," Hexadecimal played with the name as if she was tasting it. "I like that."
Daemon grinned. It looked like these two were going to get along just fine. Hardly surprising, since she had practically made them from the same mold.
"All right kids. Time for you to get out of here. If you guys stay here in the core much longer, you'll be toast. I'd strongly advise you to get to the other city before this one collapses."
Hexadecimal switched to a frown. "But mother... aren't you coming with us?"
"I'm afraid not Hex. I've got business in the Supercomputer. But I think I'll see you again. So long kiddies." Daemon snapped her fingers, and the three new Virals were instantly transported elsewhere.
"And what about us?" asked Backslash.
"Oh you. Well, I have to get going. I wonder if the core energy will delete you, or if the city will crash first?"
Jareth, who had been withdrawn and contemplative the whole time, suddenly spoke up. "Hey, what happened to the sprite you stole the code from?" he asked.
"Oh him. He was Nullified of course. You know, it's kind of ironic. It seems he had just discovered a cure for Nullification." Daemon waved her hand and a Null appeared in it. "Isn't that right, Dr. Matrix?" she asked in a baby talk voice.
"Matrix?!" Backslash couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Doppler Matrix?!"
"Yes!" Daemon sounded surprised. "Why? Did you know him?"
Backslash slammed his fists against the stasis wall. When he spoke, it sounded strangely calm and quiet. "When I get my hands on you, Virus, I will rip you apart with my bare hands."
"Uh-huh. And I'm the User. Look, I don't have much time. I can fly in here as easily as you, and I've got stuff to do elsewhere. Bye!" In a flash of light, Daemon vanished, leaving the Guardians to their fate.
* * *
As the weather in Mainframe grew constantly worse, so did the people's tempers. Fights were breaking out in the streets, binomes were literally trampling each other in their haste to get where they were going. the winds were blowing worse than they ever had. Bolts of purple lightning were frequent, and more often than not, they struck something vital. Kit watched as the last few binomes were evacuated from one of Mainframe's cities to the other. Now, she could go back and help Backslash deal with that virus. Maybe there was still time...
"Hey! Kit! Over here!"
Kit turned, and there was another sprite, calling her. Her skin was a deep shade of green and her blue eyes burned like sapphires, giver her an intense look. Her hair was black, but it had a strange white tint to it, depending on the angle from which it was viewed. She wore the bracers of a Guardian, and each bore a keytool, but the rest of her outfit was that of a typical sprite.
Kit walked over to where Electra was standing.
"Have you seen Jareth?" Electra asked, having to yell to be heard over the wind.
"No. Why?"
"Phong told me that Jareth was in your city, to help you guys fight some level 7 virus."
"He did?" Kit was surprised, although, once she thought about it, she realized she shouldn't be. Jareth was never the sanest individual. "Backslash stayed behind to try and stop her, while Light and I evacuated the city. I was just about to go see if I could help."
"Count me in. Let's go."
Kit and Electra started across the bridge back into Mainframe's other city. They were halfway across when a dangerous looking sprite covered in blue metal ran past. The strange sprite ran on all fours, like an animal, and moved at speeds unattainable to most sprites.
Kit watched as the... thing ran past. "Was that..."
"A virus," Electra said, using one of her Keytools to scan it. "Level 4."
Two more strange sprites flew by overhead, one wearing black and one wearing red.
"And those..."
"Two more. Also level 4. Chaotic. And they just flew back the way we came."
"We'll deal with them later. Right now, we've got a level 7 to take care of."
"And some friends to save. Lead on."
"Right. Follow m--"
Before Kit could even finish her sentence, an energy shield cut her off from the city. She nearly ran headlong into it, and had to be stopped by Electra from falling flat on her ASCII.
"What the motherboard?! Where did that come from?"
"I dunno," said Electra. The two sprites backed up enough to get a good look at the energy field. It was shaped like a dome, covering the entire city. There was no way in, and probably no way out.
Kit was exasperated. "Now what?" she asked.
"C'mon, we can still take care of those three that came past earlier."
Electra grabbed Kit's arm and dragged her off towards the virals.
* * *
Back in the Principle Office, Light closed her Vidwindow. Now that the remaining core energy had been channeled into creating a force shield, no one would be able to enter or exit the city. Unfortunately, she had been to late to stop the offspring Daemon had created. At least, she though, the city was now empty. No one else would be deleted when the city exploded. Just in case, she ran a scan.
"What?" According to the readings, there were still three sprites left in the collapsing city. Three, where there should only be one. Light tapped a few buttons, trying to lock down their location. "This can't be... They're in the Core!" Light typed still more, bringing up a visual. The two remaining sprites were Backslash... and Jareth. What in the Net was Jareth doing here? He wasn't supposed to be in this city, let alone inside the core. The two Guardians were trapped inside what looked like a cage with bars made of energy. There was no telling how long they'd been in the Core. Backslash was sitting down, with his back against the bars, and Jareth had already collapsed. Because of the radiation inside the core, the scanners couldn't tell whether he was still processing or not.
This made things a bit more complicated. Light had made her calculations very carefully when she created the shield. There was just enough energy left to get her through, but there wasn't enough for anyone else.
Light sighed. There was only one thing to do.
* * *
Backslash grimaced, trying not to let the heat get to him. Jareth had already succumbed to the ambient energy, and he wasn't fairing much better. They had already tried using their Keytools to crack the barrier, but even Backslash's lightsaber wasn't up to the task. It didn't look like there was any way out. Then suddenly, Backslash found himself outside. Not just outside the Core, or outside the P.O., but outside the city. He was standing on the bridge that connected Mainframe's two cities. He didn't know how he had gotten there, but he had to get back. Jareth as still inside the Core.
Backslash turned around, but nearly smacked his face against a solid force wall. The entire city was cut off! There was no way back inside. He had to... he had to... Backslash began to feel dizzy. He had to place a hand against the force wall to steady himself. It looked like the Core took more out him than he thought. Weaving unsteadily, Backslash stumbled away from the wall, towards the still-stable city. Maybe if he could get to the other P.O., he could get Phong to lower the shield. Maybe he could... maybe...
Halfway to the end of the bridge, Backslash collapsed, falling to the ground hard. The energy from the Core had nearly deleted him. There was no way he could get back to save Jareth.
It began to rain.
* * *
Light sighed. She knew she had done the right thing by transporting Backslash out of the core, but still, she regretted it. She regretted that there hadn't been enough energy to transport Jareth as well. She regretted failing as Command.Com, and allowing her city to be destroyed. But most of all, she regretted leaving her children to fend for themselves, with no family to speak of but each other. Light used what little energy the P.O. had left to cal up the countdown timer. She wanted to know exactly how much time was left. With a sad smile on her face, she watched the numbers tick inexorably downward...
* * *
Mainframe's twin city exploded with such force that even Phong in the deepest part of the P.O. felt it. The skies, which had become a deep shade of purple, flashed a fiery orange. Within moments, the weather in Mainframe was back to normal. The winds had calmed, the rain had stopped, and the sky returned to it's normal shade of blue. If not for the fact that the sister city was no longer there, it would have been as if nothing had ever happened.
Electra winced as she slowly and painfully peeled herself off the ground. The explosion had sent both her and Kit flying and neither had remained conscious.
Locating Kit, Electra nudged her with her boot. "Kit? Wake up. It's over."
"It is?" Kit's voice was muffled because she hadn't remover her face from the sand yet. "Who won?"
"Hard to say," said Electra. "I think we had better get back to the other city."
* * *
When Electra and Kit finally made it back, what they saw wasn't pretty. All that remained of the twin city was a twisted pile of junk, still connected to Mainframe by a mangled bridge. As Electra walked closer, she noticed something moving near the wreckage. It was a sprite, attempting to drag something from the debris.
"Backslash?" Kit asked. "Is that you?"
"Kit?" Backslash turned around, relieved that she was okay. "I'm glad to see you made it. I was almost afraid we'd lost you too."
"What do you mean, 'Too'? I thought the city was evacuated."
Backslash turned back to the burnt object he was attempting to dislodge from the wreckage. At first, Kit thought he was going to ignore the question, but finally, he answered.
"Not entirely," he said. "When Light left you, she returned to the P.O to try to contain the Viral copies Daemon made. She created an energy shield around the city, and to keep them from escaping, she rigged it so that there was just enough energy for one sprite to pass through the shield. She intended to get herself out as soon as she was done, but she didn't know that Jareth and I were still trapped inside the Core."
"You mean she... didn't make it out?"
"I'm afraid not."
"And Jareth..."
Backslash gestured toward the badly scorched form he was moving.
"Is he..." Electra began.
Backslash shook his head. "I don't know. He didn't delete, but I can't tell if he's still processing. How do you tell with a User?"
Electra looked down at what was left of Jareth. Then we better get him to Phong. Fast."
* * *
"I'm afraid this has not been much help, my children," Phong said. Backslash, Kit, Electra, and even Timesprite were gathered around him, hoping to hear some decent news. Unfortunately, Phong didn't have any to give. "We do not know much more about the User Sprite Phenomenon then we did when it first occurred. We still do not even know HOW they arrive in our systems, let alone how their bodies function when they are here."
"So you can't help him?" Kit asked.
"I am afraid not."
"Will he be deleted?" Timesprite asked.
"I'm afraid that is a distinct possibility," Phong said. Although he didn't usually allow viruses into the P.O., he had made an exception in Timesprites's case. It was well known that Jareth and Timesprite got along, and that her pranks were more mischievous than harmful.
"Oh poo. Who am I going to play with now?"
"Phong," Kit asked, ignoring Timesprite, "What if we sent him back to the User World? Would they be able to cure him there?"
"Possibly, my child. But even if we had the capability to return him to his own world, we could not be certain that he would survive the trip. No, I'm afraid there is little hope for him."
"There has to be SOMETHING we can do for him," Kit said.
"There may be. I shall keep running scans on him. Perhaps an answer will present itself. In the meantime, I suggest that you all go home and get some rest. It has been a trying night... for all of us." His speech ended, Phong turned around and wheeled back into the examination room. The others waited a few moments, then returned to their homes, one by one.
* * *
Jareth awoke rather painfully, his head pounding. What had happened? The last thing he remembered, he was lying on the floor of Mainframe's core, and now he was here... Jareth groaned as he tried to sit up. It seemed he was injured far more than he thought. Checking to see that Shark was still on his arm, Jareth issued a command.
"Shark-- Vital Stats." Shark instantly brought up a display of Jareth's life signs. They didn't look good. If this was right, he didn't have much time left. Jareth didn't want to die... or be deleted... or whatever. It wasn't so much himself that he was worried about, but he couldn't let Daemon infect the entire Guardian Collective. She couldn't be allowed to get to the Supercomputer, and he wanted to be around to help stop her. There had to be a way.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. Without all three of those new viruses, Daemon's back-up plan wouldn't work. If he could somehow replace one of them with his own code, then he could keep himself alive AND throw a monkey wrench into Daemon's plan. Though it hurt when he grinned, Jareth grinned anyway. "Shark\Locate File: Lore. Prepare to Transfer Data..." Jareth removed his black-and-gold Guardian icon, and held it up to his Keytool. "Icon-- Command Line," he said, taking a deep breath. "I hope this works... Download All Files to Level 4 Viral Program." Jareth's icon glowed, projecting a stream of energy into Shark. As Jareth slowly faded from sight, Shark's coloring changed, from blue and silver to black and gold. It's screen changed from white to emerald green. As soon as Jareth disappeared entirely and his codes were stored within Shark, the tiny Keytool shot out of the room and made for the nearest exit.
* * *
"Oh sure, it looks pointless now," said Hex as she and Lore dug through the wreckage of the Twin City. "But I really think that we can fix this place up. Don't you?"
"Absolutely! It'll be a great place to stay. All we need is a name," Lore said, using his powers to assemble some wreckage into a passable building.
"How about... Bob?" Hex suggested.
"I think we can do better than that. I've been thinking about this all day. What do you think of this? 'Lost Angles'. I know, it's kinda corny, but..."
"I like it!" Hex said. "Lost Angles it shall be."
Just then, a small glittering object flew down at the two Virals from the sky. It stopped just above Lore's head, where it began glowing and emitting strange bleeping noises.
"Ooooh... What a pretty little toy!" Hex exclaimed. "What do you suppose it is?"
Before Lore could respond, the Keytool began to shower energy down on him. The beam of light grew brighter, until Lore was no longer visible.
"Lore?" Hex called.
Lore didn't know what was going on. His already chaotic mind began to turn inside out. His thought processes became even more muddled as Jareth's programming, personality, and memories slowly filtered down through Lore's mind.
He screamed. It was too much! Lore fell to his knees, unable to stand the dencity of the data that was being forced into his head.
Finally, the flood of information's ceased. The young sprite was changed, inside and out. From the waist down, he still wore his loose fitting black jeans and combat boots, but from waist up he was now covered in form-fitting Guardian armor. He still wore his coat, and his wings remained unchanged, but his long black hair was no tied back as Jareth's had been, instead of being loose and unkempt. His triangular necklace was no longer worn on a chain, but instead seemed to have been attached to his body armor. The top corner of the triangle now came to a sloping point, and the two bottom points now curved inward, looking like horns or claws. In the center of the triangle sat a strangely altered icon. Instead of being the standard black-and-gold Guardian's Icon, it now was simply a gold diamond with sloping sides on the black background.
Shark, now that it had accomplished it's given task, settled down on the sprite's left bracer, sliding up beneath the sleeve of his leather trench coat.
"Lore?" Hexadecimal asked, tentatively. "Lore? Are you okay?" The confused sprite looked up at her, then back down at the ground. "Lore?" Hex asked again, her voice growing more concerned.
The sprite climbed to his feet and looked at Hexidecimal. "Call me Jareth."
* * *
"So, that's how it happened," Bob said, breaking the silence after Jareth had finished his tale. "I always wondered how a Chaotic Virus ended up with Guardian Protocols."
"It also explains why Jareth thinks in User-time," Hex said. "The original Jareth was a User-Guardian, and he passed that on to you."
"That must be it," Jareth said. "Hey, by the way, Mouse... you're terminal's blinkin'."
Surprised, Mouse turned away from Jareth and looked at her workstation. Sure enough, it was blinking, indicating a power build-up.
"It looks like the Game's about to leave gang. Ev'rybody get ready."
"Game Over..." Everyone in the P.O. held their breath as the system announced the Game's outcome.
"User Wins..." The Game Cube rocketed off into the air. The sky above Mainframe got even darker, and the system began to crash. Everything darkened and silence settled on Mainframe...
And just as quickly, the System restarted. The skies brightened, the sectors fell back into place, good as new, and even people who'd been lost were being restored. Kit, who'd been deleted by Megabyte cycles before, suddenly reappeared, looking a little dazed, but still none the worse for wear. Timesprite, the Chaos Virus, appeared in the air, floating along as if she'd never left. Binomes by the dozen were restored, reunited with their families and friends.
Suddenly, Megabyte's legacy began to vanish from Mainframe. The Silicone Tor deleted itself, all the Viral Binomes were freed from their bondage. Dot tossed and Icon to Timesprite before the restart could erase her too.
A quick scattering of energy flickered over Hexadecimal, but just as quickly subsided.
"Ooh," she said. "That tickled."
"In all the days I've processed, I've never seen the like..." Gavin said, gazing around him in wonder.
Matrix lifted AndrAIa into the air like she was a child, throwing her up into the air repeatedly. Phong, now free from Megabyte's infection, took the opportunity to snap a few photos.
"Bob!" Without warning, a familiar voice rang out from the inside the P.O. to everyone's surprise, Enzo... the original Enzo, came running out of the P.O. and tackled Bob, in the traditional Enzo-style. Everyone stared in amazement as the new Enzo chattered incoherently at his hyperactive pace, glancing back at Matrix and doing multiple double takes.
Something caught AndrAIa's eye... Matrix's Icon had been in Game-sprite mode when the system restarted. The system hadn't read him as being there, so it created a back-up copy of the original Enzo Matrix.
"It's wonderful, isn't it?" Hex asked. "Isn't it the most beautiful thing you've ever seen Jareth?"
Not hearing an answer, Hex looked back behind her into the Principle Office. There on the floor, lay Shark, beeping forlornly. Jareth was gone.