Part Three: Nothing Is Ever That Basic
"Ray, c'mon! We don't have all cycle ta get this done, sugah!"Mouse watched as Ray hauled the cables down to the diner on Baud. She smirked as he had trouble keeping the massive entanglement from entangling him. She cleared her throat and got rid of the laugh as he landed beside her.
"Now, explain to me exactly what we are doing again, and why we need all of these inter cables."
"Just take those cables inside," she said as she began walking into the diner. As soon as Ray was inside, she began taking the cables off Baud and hooking them into several alcoves and nodes that she had already set up. The entire diner had been set up as a temporary command centre that could rival the Principle Office. She glanced back at Ray who had his mouth halfway open in amazement.
"You did all this in under two cycles?" He looked at all the nodes, screens, command prompts, and the sea of cables that ran up the walls and across the floor.
"You better believe it, honey." Mouse gave him a wink before turning back to what she was doing. "With no P.O., we've had to make do. So far, we've been able to keep Dot from accessing the net, just like she planned. All we have to do now is wait for that signal of hers."
"We?" Ray leaned on Baud as he took a look at the empty diner. "Looks like you're doing all the work."
"Just doing my part in the plan, sugah. This was my task, and I'm completin' it. Everyone else is busy doing their task." She stood with one hand on her hip and looked at him. "And I would have been done with the task last cycle if it hadn't taken me so long ta track you down."
"Now, what would be the fun if I was easy to find?" He gave her that trademark smirk.
"Don't make me put a location beacon on your ASCII. And you can wipe that smirk offa your face too."
Ray kept the smirk on his face as he continued to lean on Baud. "Can't."
"Why?"
"Well, because, love, I'd have to take my eyes off you, and that's not a sacrifice I'm willing to make," he stated with the usual frosty confidence. This was brought to a prompt halt as Mouse kicked the bottom of Baud, sending the surfer flying. Mouse laughed lightly as she stood over him with her arms crossed.
"No time for sweet talk, sugah, I have work ta do."
Ray frowned. "But you said all we have to do now is wait. Couldn't you use a break?"
Mouse took a look around the empty diner, checking the open vid screens to make sure everything was still active. Ray seized the opportunity in her lack of attention and grabbed her foot, sweeping it out from under her. Timing it just right, she fell into his waiting lap.
"Nice of you to drop in, love." He returned the frostiness to his voice pattern. "Miss me while I was away?"
Mouse half-struggled to get up, and half-struggled to stay where she was. "No."
Ray faked a hurt look and frowned at her. Mouse laughed and stopped struggling. She wrapped one arm around his shoulder and pulled him into a kiss. She smirked at his googly smile as she pulled away. "Well, maybe a little bit," she smirked.
"Thought so." He confidently kissed her in return. The kiss, however, was interrupted by a beeping from one of the vid screens. He rolled his eyes and shook his head as Mouse rose to answer the vid screen, wondering if they were ever going have real time together, alone. Mouse looked over at the vid screen and blinked for a moment before rechecking it.
"What in the net...?" She frantically began typing a few sequences. "Cursors!"
"What is it?" Ray looked over her shoulder after hesitantly rising from the floor.
"We gotta problem. There hasn't been an attempt to get onto the net from the P.O. in over four millisecs."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Ray raised an eyebrow at her, not quite following.
Mouse just sighed and shook her head. She pulled up a new vidwindow. After a few buttons, Bob appeared on the screen.
"What's u,p Mouse?"
"Bob, we gotta problem. It appears Megabyte has changed his strategies. He's no longer trying to get onto the Net. I think he may - "
But before she could finish her sentence, large vids popped up around the sectors. Megabyte's words replaced Mouse's.
"Good afternoon, Mainframe. It is a lovely day out isn't it? Seems like a perfect day to begin the Hunt. Let the games begin!"
Bob looked at Mouse and Ray through the view screen. The binomes on the streets just stood in silence, staring at the vid screen. Megabyte added in one final detail before shutting off the vidwindow. "Oh, and since I now have your PID's located, I suggest you run, because you can't hide!"
His laughter filled the sector as the vid shut off. The binomes suddenly began running around, not sure of where to go. Mass panic ensued. Bob looked back at Mouse, who just shrugged.
"He's changed objectives. This is bad. This is very bad. We'll meet back at the diner." Bob shut off the vid screen before opening another one to contact Matrix and AndrAIa. Back at the diner, Mouse watched as the vidwindow popped out of existence.
"Cursors!" and she started running through several vidwindows, trying to find out not only how Megabyte got the PID's, but just whose PID's he had.
"Ooooh, dear." Ray added in for a missing Phong as he began rerouting some of the cables.
* * *
"Slow down, Sparky!"AndrAIa sped after Matrix, urging her zipboard to go faster. The plan had gone off without a hitch for the last two cycles. Mouse had completed her task at the diner. Bob, after being connected by Mouse, was able to inform Turbo of the problem, but was still unable to open a portal to the Supercomputer, for lack of a tear creator, and for fear of Megabyte trying his hand. The Guardians had been informed however, and were waiting for the order to attack.
Even Enzo, Hack and Slash had completed their tasks of evacuating the sector smoothly. Then out of nowhere, it happened. He had had a strange feeling since the P.O. had gotten eerily quiet that morning. With Megabyte's announcement, Matrix's feelings were justified. The morale of the troops that he and AndrAIa were assembling at the time wasn't helped much by that announcement, either. Now all he wanted to do was get to the diner and see what Bob had to say about the plan now. He knew it wouldn't have worked. It's never that basic.
AndrAIa stopped outside of the diner and ran in after Matrix. She nearly ran into him in the doorway where he had stopped. They both looked around the changed diner with the mass of inter cables, blinking nodes, and vids. Matrix looked around for Bob, but saw only Mouse and Ray hovered over a few vids.
"Now I thought the interlocking binary would go here, not by the sub-facing directory," Ray interjected into what Mouse was doing.
"No, sugah, you only do that if you need to make a sub-interface connection, and then encrypt, not the other way 'round."
Ray scratched his head slightly. "Glad you have a head for this, love." He bent down to give her a kiss, then noticed the reflection of the two at the door in one of the vids. He stood up again and turned to face them, tapping Mouse on the shoulder.
"Hey you two, what do ya think?" Mouse gave them both a small smile.
"Looks amazing, Mouse." AndrAIa continued to look around, before Matrix stepped forward.
"Where's Bob?" Matrix almost barked.
"Calm down, sugah, he had one bit of business to take care of, he - "
Mouse was interrupted for the second time that milisec as Enzo burst through the door, Frisket and Bob following.
"Bob found Frisket!" Enzo exclaimed before taking a good look around the diner. "Whoa! Super frosty! How did you get all of this up in time, I mean, wow! Oh hey, what does this do?" Enzo walked over to one of the vids and occupied himself.
"OK, Bob, looks like this plan is over. What now?" Matrix glared at him after patting Frisket on the head, happy to see that he was OK.
"The plan isn't over. If I know Dot, she will stick to this plan, rather than change it completely. She may just have to bend the rules a bit." Bob watched his footing as he stepped over masses of cables.
"You mean speed things up, don'tcha?" Mouse asked as she glanced over her shoulder.
"Yes, Mouse. It makes the most sense. I mean, she obviously can't cooperate with Megabyte in this hunt, whatever that is. We just have to make sure everything is completed, and then wait for the signal."
"It'd make me feel better if I had an idea what kinda signal I was lookin' for." Mouse sighed.
"Well I'd feel better if we hadn't gone along with this plan in the first place," Matrix grumbled.
"I know. But it was all we really had, and now it's all we have. Dot wanted us to trust her." AndrAIa looped an arm through Matrix's arms. He looked down at her and nodded slightly. He glanced up at Bob, and reluctantly nodded.
"OK Bob, let's do it." Matrix finally agreed, his tense body aching for a fight.
"OK, then." Bob gave one of his optimistic smiles, but it didn't fool anyone in the room. He sighed and got down to business, making sure everything was ready. "Enzo, how is the evacuation going?"
* * *
He had been pacing a rut into the floor for the past millisec, his impatience growing with each new pass. She watched him, wondering how much longer he would be able to keep from breaking something. He had been so lost here; nothing to fight, no purpose. Now that he had something to take out his aggressions on, he was unable to act, forced to stand still, or at least pace. She sighed, not being able to take much more of it herself."Would you sit down, Sparky, you're making my files spin."
"Oh," he stopped and looked at her. "I just can't take this anymore. How much longer do we have to wait? It's taking forever!"
"No, it isn't, lover. We've only been waiting a millisec and a half."
"Feels like it's been seconds." He hrmfed and finally walked over to sit on a box next to AndrAIa. He looked around the bunker, at all of the artillery they had prepared. The troops and CPUs were waiting for their orders at the planned position. All they needed was a vid from Mouse telling them it was time to go. He got antsy after sitting still for only a few nanos and hopped up off the box. "Gah. This waiting is driving me random!"
"It won't be long now. Something is defiantly coming soon. All we have to do is wait for Mouse." She arched her neck a bit, listening to the minute movement in the programming matrix. She sighed as she heard distant whispers, but nothing definite as of yet.
"I know, I know." He flopped himself back down beside her again, crossing his massive arms. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."
"No, it doesn't." She leaned over and rested her head against his broad chest. "But it's best to relax for a bit, save your energy for the fight."
He sighed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I just can't relax, not right now. I mean, what if something goes wrong and we miss the signal, or this A.v.A. doesn't work, or Dot never even gets a chance to infect Megabyte..."
He let out a deep sigh of frustration and leaned his chin on the top of AndrAIa's head. She raised her head and nuzzled his cheek with her own. "Trust me, Sparky, it will all work out. It always does, doesn't it?"
He gave her a small smile and nodded. She nuzzled her head back onto his chest and he leaned his chin back on her head, after kissing her hair softly. He closed his eyes, trying to control the emotional buildup inside. The tension was getting to him, and so was the worry. For the first time, he was actually worried that something might go wrong. He only hoped that Mouse would vid him with the signal soon, or he was going to have to break something.
* * *
"OK boys, just set that down on the table there, and then get back to the bunker."The binomes saluted Mouse and set the signal enhancement node down on the table. They saluted again and started to head out after looking around the dimly lit diner. It was getting dark outside. One of them turned around.
"Sir, do you think this will work?" He spoke, feeling able to speak freely to her.
"It has to, sugah. Now, back to the bunker with you two, we'll need your help soon."
The two binomes saluted her again before turning and heading back to the bunker. She watched them leave with a sigh. It has to, she thought. She glanced over at the enhancement node before grabbing an inter cable and plugging it in. She smiled as it glowed to life, several beeps letting her know it was operational. Now all they had to do was wait for the signal from Dot's PID. Waiting. She hated waiting. She then realized how quiet it was in the diner.
"Ray?" She looked around the dark and empty diner with a raised eyebrow, one hand gingerly placed on her hip as she walked toward the bar. The only light in the diner came from the several open vids and the lights from the nodes. She spotted Baud and her eyebrow raised even higher. She'd never seen Baud without Ray.
"Ray? Honey, you around?"
She furrowed her eyebrows when she got no response. "That's odd," she shrugged with a shaking of the head, then looked back at Baud. She'd never really had an opportunity to get a good view of it. Its complex programming was more than a little intriguing to the hacker. She walked up to Baud and looked it over, a small smile coming across her face. She took another quick look around.
"Ray?" She called into the dark diner again. She grinned and turned toward Baud, timidly reaching out to touch it. She smirked at her own timidness and touched the surface of Baud, her eyebrow raising as she got an unusual vibe from it. She ran her hand along its complex construction, her grin widening as she sensed parts of its programming. The technology was so different than anything she had ever encountered, so complex and advanced. Some of its language was even unreadable to her. That only made her smile more, her curiosity growing. The grin was soon replaced by a blink as she took a few steps back from Baud, who beeped. She looked around the diner, then back at Baud.
"Sorry, sugah, just curious," she smirked, speaking to the object. She shook her head in a faint laugh before turning back to the enhancement node, opening a program function vid window.
Baud switched light formations and sent out a beam of energy. The energy soon took the form of Ray, who did his best to keep quiet, having been aware of Mouse's presence since she walked in the door. He gave a small grin and silently watched Mouse's back as she looked over the vid screen. The light from the vid screen in the shadowed diner glowed on her face, its luminescent aura only added to by her fiery red hair.
His grin grew as he watched her body move with a long stretch of her back, her muscles showing as she cracked her neck. He had to control himself to keep from laughing as she began to softly hum the tune to 'Alphanumeric'. She let out a small sigh, picking up a planner as she turned around. She looked up and saw Ray, nearly having a heart attack; dropping the planner on the floor, her hand going to her heart.
"Hey, pretty lady." Ray smiled.
"Whoa, sugah!" she blinked. "You tryin' to send me into early deletion? You should be ashamed, sneakin up on a gal like that." She gave a small frown. "Where were you anyway, I didn't hear you come in."
He kept his eyes on her as he bent down to pick up the planner. "Oh, I was just getting a recharge," he said, avoiding the question of where exactly he was. He stood up slowly, his eyes following up her body. Before getting to her face, however he downcast his eyes, not sure how Mouse would take being looked over. He handed her back the planner. "So, what's up? The trap ready?"
"I guess so, though I should probably go check it again, just ta be sure." She set the planner down, shutting off the enhancement node's program vid. Another yawn caught her attention for a moment as she tried to shrug off her weariness. She put a hand on her hip as she got a look from Ray. "What?"
"You need rest. You've checked over that thing four times already this past millisec. I think it's been checked enough. Either it's going to work, or it's not, and with you behind it, I think it'll be just fine."
"Ray, I can't relax, I have to be ready for that sig..." she yawned, "...nal, and I really should go check out that trap again," she continued as she walked past Ray toward the door.
"Oh no, you don't." He lifted his head and Baud flew from its position near the bar, gently nudging Mouse in the back. It flipped to a horizontal position, taking Mouse with it.
"What the dell? Just what do you think you're doin', Ray!" Mouse fumed as she started to rise up from her laying position on Baud.
"You're going to relax for a bit, you need to reserve your energy," he said with a frosty smoothness as he gently placed a hand on her chest, pushing her back against Baud. "You worry too much. Everything will be fine, love. You've taken care of your part, now it's time to take care of you."
He leaned down, his hand still on her chest as he took a seat on the edge of Baud, pleased to realize that Mouse wasn't really fighting him. If she had fought him, he knew he would have been across the room and through a wall by now.
Mouse sighed, knowing that he was right. She hadn't had a good rest in few cycles, and her energy was being fuelled by the many cups of java she had consumed throughout the cycle. She gave up and leaned her head back on Baud, actually enjoying the chance to get closer to it, to feel its programming and search for a better understanding of its complex and advanced language.
What she didn't know was that Ray could feel every vibe she sent to Baud as she tried to get closer to its programming code. He let her amuse herself for a moment, understanding why a hacker would be intrigued, not to mention enjoying the sensation he got every time she tried to get under Baud's - and his - programming. He would have to explain it to her soon, but he was waiting for a good moment.
So many times before, the explanation had gone wrong. Before, he had no trouble telling the girls, but for some reason he was having trouble finding a good moment this time. This time it actually mattered to him if the girl he explained it to accepted it or not. Pushing the thoughts from his head, he gave her a smile as she looked up at him, then raised an eyebrow as she turned away again. He removed his hand from her chest, wondering if it was making her uncomfortable.
"What is it?" He spoke softly, the frosty smoothness gone from his voice.
"Nothin', Sugah." She set her eyes at one of the open vids, watching lines of binary codex run down the screen.
"It is something." He sighed, not exactly sure how far he should push her. "There's been something degrading away at your code for a while now. Come on love, you can tell me." He gave her an encouraging smile as she turned her eyes back to him for a moment. The smile faded from his face as she turned back to look at the screen.
"I'm just thinking about what a damned fool I was when I went after Daemon. I knew I had the encryption codes, but like a random basic, I went anyway."
"Why did you go? I know why Matrix went, but why you?"
He tilted his head as he watched the expression on her face change from a distant thought to a noticeable cringe, as if she didn’t want to answer. He was just about to tell her to forget it when she turned those gorgeously deep eyes of hers his way again, stopping any words from escaping his mouth. The look on her face took his breath away.
"I went after you, Sugah. Turbo told me that Daemon had you, and that..." She swallowed, pausing a moment as she encouraged herself to continue. "Turbo said you were wait'n for me." She looked back to the vid screen. "Course, I realized what a fool I was to let Turbo trick me when I got to Daemon, and you weren't there. Turbo sure knew how to get under my code."
She tried her hand at a laugh, but it barely came, her eyes not even tempted to look back at Ray. "When Daemon infected me," she continued, thinking that she might as well get it all out and over with, seeing as how she had already succeeded in making herself look like a fool, "I didn't think about the encryption codes anymore, or the war, or Mainframe. None of it seemed to matter. All I could think about was the clarity the virus had given to my mind."
She stopped and bit her lower lip, then sighed. "All I could think about was..." She turned to him, not sure whether to continue, or leave the diner. She took every bit of faith inside of her and pushed it past her lips. "You. You, and why you weren't there, waiting for me, like Turbo said." She quickly turned away and focused her eyes on the vid screen, its images slightly blurred by the rising data in her eyes, confident that she had gone way overboard on this one.
Ray sat up slowly, looking down at her. The reflection from the vid danced off her face and her eyes. He could feel from Baud just how tense she was, and he could see in the reflection the data welling in her eyes. She had said everything he had been wanting to say since he'd become free of Daemon. Daemon had given him clarity and a desire to get everything out.
Though it had subdued after her infection left his body, it was still there. He had wanted to tell Mouse, but she had just beaten him to it. He frowned as she closed her eyes, sending a small drop of data running down her cheek and onto Baud. If only he had done it sooner. If only he had been as brave as she. He reached out and slid his hand down her cheek, feeling horrible for making her feel that way.
"But I was waiting," he said softly. "Or at least I would have been, if Daemon hadn't sent me to get Bob - uh, Megabyte, I mean."
He gently turned her face to him, sliding his hand up her other cheek. He felt a new wave of sadness as he looked into her deep eyes. "I'm sorry, love. I didn't know that was eating at your code, or I would've said something sooner, I promise I would've. But I wanted to be there, waiting for you. I really did."
"Really?" She reached up and pressed his hand against her cheek, closing her eyes to its touch.
"More than anything." He leaned in closer as she opened her eyes to him again. "I'm here now, pretty lady." He gave her a sweetly sincere smile. "I'm here for as long as you want me."
Mouse returned the smile as relief washed over her. She reached up and slid a hand across his cheek and around his neck as he leaned in closer. "Forever," she whispered, her lips softly brushing his as she spoke.
Ray looked into her eyes for what seemed like milliseconds, that single word carrying so much meaning. Never before had his free spirit actually wanted to hear such a committment-laden word. As he stared deeply into her eyes, he could feel the warmth of her body against Baud, and the closeness of her breath. Unable to keep himself away from her for another nano, he wrapped his arms around her body and lifted her into the sitting position on Baud as he joined her, drawing her onto his lap, connecting with as much of her as he could.
He paused as their lips met, staring into the deep blackness of her eyes. They were so much alike. Each free, and yet lost within their lives. It was for this reason they were able to ground each other without weighing each other down. That strange connection called them together, locked into one another's eyes. Then together they kissed, giving in to the emotions. They let the dark diner drop from their minds, and they were consumed with only each other. The kiss enveloped everything. The doubts of the day, the darkness of what was going on outside the diner, the very system itself, all melted away, and there was only their love. It shone like a warm light in the great void.
* * *
"Aw, c'mon Bob, I'm not tired." Enzo finished his complaint with a long yawn as Frisket nuzzled up beside him."Sure you aren't, but every sprite needs at least a little downtime." He gave Enzo a smile and tucked him into the bed. "You're going to need your energy for tomorrow."
"What about you, Bob?"
"I will, too. I just need to get a few things done first. Now, shut down." He rose from the bed and walked to the door, shutting off the light in the room.
"Bob?"
"Yes, Enzo?" he sighed, but smiled as well.
"Thanks for letting me and Frisket stay at your place," Enzo finished with another yawn.
"Anytime, buddy."
"Goodnight, Bob." Enzo smiled and closed his eyes, unable to fight his fatigue any longer.
"Goodnight." Bob stood in the doorway and watched the young sprite for a while. He thought of how much that little sprite needed his sister. He would get her back for Enzo, he thought. And then he would never let her go again, he added as he closed the door and walked out into the living room.
* * *
Part Four
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