by Corrinthia Breuckner
Bob looked up at Matrix, but didn't answer. What - where - what's going on?
"Bob! You awake? Oh, don't tell me you're getting frosty feet now!" Matrix poked Bob.
"What?" This is strange. Matrix poked him again, followed by a growl from Frisket.
"Yeah, OK! I'm awake! Do I look OK?" Bob found himself looking into a long mirror, adjusting his dress uniform.
"You look fine! Better than me." Matrix gave a sigh as Bob smirked at him. Matrix in a tuxedo, almost worth risking a laugh at his expense. Almost.
"All right then," Bob took in a long breath. "Let's do this." Do what? What's going on? Wait! I know this place... All thoughts were left in the distant haze as Bob stepped through a darkened doorway and walked into the light.
The light of the grand hallway was enough to blind any sprite. The several camera flashes didn't help matters, either. Bob's eyes slowly adjusted as Matrix walked up to him. Bob gave him a nod, then took a better look around the hall. It was amazing. Cecil really had gone all out, just like he had promised. It was beyond amazing - it was perfect.
"Bob, breathe." Matrix nudged him gently.
"Oh, yeah." Bob finally took in a breath. "Well... ?"
He was just about to ask where she was when the great hall filled with a new source of light as the massive doors opened. The light no longer blinded him, but the sight that followed the light into the grand hall took his breath away. Amazing. Just like I dreamed it would be.
Dot slowly made her way up the aisle, following the procession of Mouse and AndrAIa. She gave a large smile to those seated, then let her eyes look up to the front. Bob had to remind himself to breath again. Breath. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Nothing is going to go wrong. Everything is going to be perfect. Inhale, exhale. The troubles are gone and distant. You are going to be happy. Inhale, exhale. You are going to spend the rest of your processes with the sprite of your dreams. Inhale, exhale. You get to spend every waking nano being happy, with Dot. Inhale, exhale.
Bob smiled as she drew nearer, then gave a smiling nod to Wellman Matrix as he accepted Dot's hand from him. Wait - Wellman is a null. I thought - quit thinking and breathe, you idiot - and smile at her! Bob gave Dot a smile, but her face was hidden now, behind the veil.
"Well my son, are you going to lift the veil and look at her pretty face?" Phong interjected.
"Oh, sorry," he heard himself whisper. Lift the veil, you basic. Duh! He gave the figure another smile and began to lift the veil. This is it, the moment you have been waiting for. Breathe!
"I love you Do -" What? No!
"Give us a kiss!" Megabyte's face mocked him from underneath the bridal crown.
Bob woke up flailing his arms at a virus that wasn't there. He looked around the quiet apartment, the sound of his heavy breathing filling the silent void. He blinked a few times, then pinched himself to make sure he was actually awake. What a dream - or a nightmare. He fell back against the couch with a hard sigh and ran his fingers through his mussed hair. It had seemed so real. His eyes fell to the picture on the coffee table, her eyes and smile still beaming up at him. He had wanted it so much to be real.
"Oh good, you're awake!" Enzo walked out of the bathroom, his processes fully functioning.
"Huh?!" Bob felt himself jump. He sighed and looked to Enzo, then gave the young sprite a small smile. "Hi Enzo."
"Well, Bob, this is the cycle! We're all meeting at the bunker in twenty killisecs, so you better get a move on and get ready! Oh, and AndrAIa said something about breakfast being served." Enzo shrugged.
"OK Enzo, let's go then." He gave a last look around the apartment, and one last look at the picture of Dot. It will be real, some cycle. He gave Enzo a smile and then led him out the door.
Dot smiled widely at him, like a statue. I'm only smiling at you because you commanded me to you son of a bi - Her thoughts were cut off as Megabyte gave her a new order.
"Now, do us all a favor and pull up file 1032j and sub-file 489g, as well as those maps you were working on earlier." The dark smile from the virus was unending, but it still held that small tinge of emotional doubt that Dot had noticed before.
Dot felt herself begin to turn, the smile still plastered on her face. Don't turn, don't turn, don't turn - cursors! She turned and walked up to the panel and pulled up the requested information.
"Very good Ms. Matrix. Herr Doktor!" He turned his eyes from her and looked across the room. "How is our patient coming with those PID location bitmaps?"
"Ach, ya, iz vunderful, mine Herr Grossenbyte! All are input on dis pad."
The doctor held up a black planner pad for the room to see, a droned Phong beside him. Phong had been connected to a series of compilers all night. The necessary information had been sucked from his body, a body that was unable to fight back, no matter how much Phong cursed in his thoughts.
"Grand. Now, Ms. Matrix, pull up file b33102 and begin inputting the new bitmap data in the command line."
Megabyte watched the good doctor hand Dot the pad. The doctor winked at the droned Dot, and Megabyte found himself growling slighty under his breath. The doctor must have taken note of this, because he cowered and scurried off to find something else to occupy himself. Megabyte blinked, and then furrowed his brow in anger at himself for having growled at something so - un-virus, un-Megabyte.
He soon let a small and dark smile slither its way across his steel-blue face as he watched her at the control panel. He had her. She would do anything that he wanted, without protest or reaction. He frowned slightly. Without reaction. A puppet. He pushed the encroaching Guardian code out of his files and smiled again. Oh well, she is still mine. He chuckled softly and continued to watch her.
Dot's body moved with an unwavering steadiness as it completed its master's task. He had her body completely under his control. I'm a puppet, she thought as her fingers moved along the control panel. She couldn't feel her fingers on the panel, or the movement of her body, or his eyes watching her back. But she knew they were watching her.
Although she couldn't feel it, she knew that a sadness and a great feeling of doubt were present with her in the black void of her mind. It didn't work. A.v.A. had failed. If it had worked, there should have been at least something happening - right? Megabyte was still as strong as ever, and she and the rest were still drones. It's ok, don't panic, you'll figure something out, Bob will... Her thoughts were stopped suddenly as something new came into that dark place where her thoughts resided. What was that? She desperately tried to recall it, to find where it came from, but it was gone.
He watched her with a silent pleasure, his eyes darting about the room every so often to make sure his new interest in her had gone unnoticed. Who would dare question me if it hadn't? He frowned lightly. I would. I'm a virus, remember. He pushed the thoughts out of his head and let the smile return to his face. Then with a blink, the room disappeared, and then reappeared. He looked up quickly and realized that he had missed more than a blink's worth of nanoseconds.
What was that? Why did I black out like that? The Guardian code infecting my files again, perhaps? He looked around the room with a raised eyebrow. How odd. He blinked and the room slowed again, the second blink bringing it back up to speed. There it is again!
There it is again! Dot desperately tried to hold onto it, the grasp, that sensation. There! There it is! She found herself looking down at the control panel and watched her hand slide across its surface to touch an icon. And again! It's my hand! I can feel the control panel! I can feel! How? She searched for other sensations, but none came.
I have a hand - well that's better than nothing. She touched a few more icons to send her mind the sensation again, each time the feeling getting stronger and more controlled. Then her mind reeled as she began to feel her feet as they walked from one panel to the next. How? He must be losing control! If only I could make my head look around the room. Stop following orders!
Her command got no response from her body who continued to input the data onto the bitmap. Not quite there yet. She wondered if the others were beginning to wake up from their numb sleep as well, and how long it would take to completely wake up. It was working! Dear User, A.v.A. was working after all.
Mouse gave Bob a smile from the vid window that floated in the middle of the bunker. "Just you worry 'bout your ASCII's."
"All right Mouse, let us know as soon as that signal enhancer comes to life. Ray and I are leaving now, and the rest of the troops are ready to go," Bob responded.
"OK then, honey. You folks take care." She looked around the bunker at the CPUs, the sprites she now called her friends, and Ray. She smiled a bit wider, and then winked. "Meet you back at location Alpha. Over and out." The vid window popped out of the bunker.
"OK. Ray, let's go." Bob hopped onto his zipboard.
"Let's do this!" Matrix almost smiled, the fight drawing ever nearer. His excitement ran through the troops who sent up a large cheer as Bob and Ray left the bunker.
"Bob! Can I come?" Enzo zipped up beside Bob, Hack and Slash not too far behind.
"Sorry Enzo, but I need you here." He searched for a task to give Enzo.
"Aww Bob, what can I do here?" Enzo protested.
"I need you too... uhm... make sure that the CPUs don't get nervous!" Bob smiled. Good thinking. "They know we're expecting a good fight, so I need to you keep their morale up. They need your courage Enzo." Perfect.
"All right." Enzo sighed, something telling him it was just busy work. "If you really need me to stay."
"I do, Enzo." Bob gripped Enzo's shoulder as he nodded to the young sprite. "I do."
"All right Bob. Just... Just be careful, OK?"
"I promise." Bob squeezed Enzo's shoulder again. Enzo gave him a smile, saluted, and then sped off toward the bunker. Bob looked at the two bots. "Hack, Slash - come here please."
"Oh yes, right away."
"Oh yes, coming right away, Bob."
"Yes Bob, what can I do."
"Yes Bob, what can we do?"
"I need you two to keep Enzo from leaving this bunker, at all costs. Understand? It's very important."
"Oh yes Bob!"
"That we can do!
"We will do this, we promise."
"Yes, we will not fail!" They both saluted and sped off after Enzo.
"I hope not." Bob sighed, not exactly confident in their ability. He knew, however, that they would try. They always tried. He watched the three disappear into the bunker before speeding off to catch up to Ray. Now, to find that tear.
He wondered what she was thinking. Thinking of a plan, no doubt. Or perhaps she was wondering when her precious Guardian was going to rush in and save her from the viral monster. He had to laugh at that. Bob is taking longer than usual to save the day. He must know that he can't possibly win this time. His next chuckle was full of his own arrogance. Or, perhaps... His thinking changed directions as the smile began to fade. Perhaps he is afraid that if he would rush in here now, that Dot would surely die. Is he worried? Is he planning? Is he afraid? What would I do... if Dot was.. He blinked again and growled, pushing those horribly emotional thoughts out of his head. Something must be done about this blasted Guardian infection I have.
"Herr Doktor, a word with you." He glanced over to the doctor, and blinked. Time slowed again. When he opened his eyes back up, the doctor was standing in front of him with a raised brow.
"Uhm... mein Herr... are you all right?"
"Yes, of course. I was simply thinking. You should try it sometime," he countered, refusing to appear weak in front of everyone in the room. What is wrong with me? He was weakening. It was a strange feeling, almost a nausea, in the pit of his files.
"Oh, yah, of course Lord Megabyte!" The doctor gave his usually entertaining laugh at the joke, or what he hoped was a joke.
"One moment, Herr Doktor." He turned away from him, the good doctor stopping his laughter, and turned to Dot. Something is not right. What doesn't add up? It's almost been three full cycles. No Matrix, no Guardian, no plan at all. Unless... His eyes suddenly widened.
"Ms. Matrix, pull up PID bitmap, grid 9, sector KIT."
Don't move, don't move, don't move! Dot concentrated as hard as she could, and no movement came. She then felt a small smile spreading across her lips as the warmth of her own body came back to her senses. She slowly reached down and hit the black icon on her belt.
"Copy here, love."
"Ray? Where's Bob?"
"Busy making a portal, sweetheart."
"Good work, boys."
"Mouse, " Bob yelled over his shoulder. "Is that firewall down yet?"
"You bet, sugah, but I don't know how much longer I can keep this hole open."
"We'll just have to hope Dot makes it in time." Bob put in before turning back to stabilizing the tear that Ray had enlarged.
"Don't you worry love. We'll handle things here."
"Quit sweet-talking, Ray, and go help Bob." Mouse could almost feel Ray smirking at her over the radio. She hung up the line and focused on keeping the hole in the firewall stable.
Again, he got no response from her. No! What is happening! "NOW, Ms. Matrix!" he growled at her, his anger rising as he felt himself losing control of his surroundings.
"Nnnn-" Dot slowly forced her body to turn around to him, that smile still on her face. She pushed words past her lips, her fine motor control not yet under her full grasp. "Nnnnn..oo..."
"What?!" Megabyte blinked again, losing time for a moment. Did she just tell me no?
"Nnnnoo. D... d... do it yoooour-self-you...you son of a bitch!" she finished with a resolute and dark smile, her motor function system completely under her control now.
"How is this possible?!" Megabyte rose and began walking across the room toward her. "Herr Doktor! What is going on?" He felt a sudden wave of dizziness, followed by a stumble in his steps as his knees became weak. "What is this!"
"Oh! Lord Grossenbyte!" The doctor rushed with an analyzer to his side.
"Jusssst..." Dot paused as she tried to gain better control over her speech. "Just a little surprise. You do like surprises, don't you, virus?"
"Gaaah!" Megabyte growled in pain as he regained his balance.
"Oh my! According to this - it is true - Lord Grossenbyte has been infected!"
"What?! That blasted infection of Bob's Guardian code is doing this!" Megabyte sneered at the doctor.
"What?" Dot raised an eyebrow.
"No, Lord Grossenbyte... it is an anti-virus program!" the doctor cowered.
Megabyte turned to Dot and glared a vicious viral green. She has betrayed me! Dot, why? He sneered a low growl as he began to make his way toward her, pushing binomes and control panels across the room to clear a path. Because you're a virus, you fool! Not a Guardian! Now act like a virus! He howled and unfurled his claws and pushed the pain in his files back, heading for her in a dead run.
Dot watched his approach with increased heartbeats. Where's the portal? She clenched her fists and stared straight at him. She refused to cower before him again. She wasn't afraid anymore. Let him come.
Glitch sent out a beam of energy that stabilized the portal in front of Bob. Bob looked to the portal with clenched fists, its rounded reflection of the control room at the P.O. warped and silent. Come on, Dot.
Megabyte rose up before her, his golden claws ready to strike her. He was a virus, and was going to act like one, no matter what the strange emotions inside of him were telling him to do. Dot didn't close her eyes. She didn't even flinch. She stared straight into his eyes. Megabyte shifted his weight to the other foot and let his claws aim and then head for their target - Dot's throat.
"Gah! Let go!" Megabyte growled as the null bot of Welman Matrix grabbed onto one of his arms.
"Run, daughter! I have him!" Welman jerked Megabyte off of his feet, then stumbled backwards as a portal formed inbetween them.
"No! A portal!" Megabyte's eyes widened and he looked at Dot. "Herr Doktor, get that firewall back up! NOW!"
"Go, my child!" Phong rolled up to Dot.
Dot looked at the portal, and then Phong and her father. "I can't.."
"GO! " Welman commanded his daughter. Suddenly, his grip on Megabyte was lost as a strong hit threw him across the room.
"Dad!" Dot reached for him, then looked up as the pain-stricken face of Megabyte howled, his arms outstretched to her. "No!" She quickly hit the delete-tree function on the files she had been working, destroying the information.
"NO!" Megabyte snarled and wrapped one arm around her shoulders, pulling her back from the portal.
"Phong!" Dot tossed him the pad with the last of the PID location data at him before kicking him through the portal.
"My child, no!" Phong's voice disappeared as he fell into the portal. Then the portal was no more.
"We have the firewall back up sir!" a viral binome yelled.
"No!" Dot heard herself scream, then there was only darkness as her head hit the back wall, knocking her unconscious.
"Phong?" Bob looked down, then back to the portal. "C'mon Dot!" Then the portal disappeared. "NO!" Bob yelled at the empty space where the portal had been.
"Boys!" Mouse's voice came over the radio on Ray's belt. "I've lost control of the firewall. I repeat, I've lost control. Did you get Dot. Boys? Did you get Dot?"
"No love, we got Phong instead." Ray answered.
"What?! I'm on my way!" Mouse yelled across the line.
"No, Mouse!" Bob called out. He continued to stare at that blank space where Dot should have fallen into his arms. He choked back the emotions building up inside of him and clenched his fists. "Meet at position Alpha - and call Matrix. Tell him to assemble the troops." He darkened his glare at the empty space.
"This ends now."
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"Bob, would you come on? You can't be late, Dot will skin your files!"
"No!"
"Ah! So nice to see you smiling again, Dot." Megabyte gave her a small grin as he kept his voice out of earshot from the rest of the room.
"Almost, Sugah. The little surprise should be hooked up to my ship in the next half a millisec."
He allowed the small grin to return to his face, those strange sensations of missed time seeming to have stopped. He watched her move with every command that he gave her. The tasks were menial and could have just as well been accomplished by another of his drones. Dot, however, was much more rewarding to control.
"Bob! Bob, come in!" Mouse's voice called out over the radio from her ship. "Bob, we have a signal. I repeat. We have a signal. Do you copy?"
"Ms. Matrix, have we gone deaf? Open PID bitmap, grid 9, sector KIT. Now, Ms. Matrix!"
"Glitch! Stabilize!"
"Come on, virus!" Dot screamed at him with all the anger and courage she could muster.
"I think somthing's coming through, mate!" Ray got out, before a flash of light illuminated in the portal, followed by a yelling Phong. Ray raced down with Baud to pick Phong up before he plummeted to the ground. Phong was clutching the planner Dot had given him.