by Corrinthia Breuckner
"I think she's lost a few files, sugah." Mouse rolled her eyes as she walked into the diner.
"I think Bob is even more random for going along with it," Matrix frowned. "I mean, he just left her there in the control room with that virus. He didn't even try to do anything!"
"Was there really anything he could do?" AndrAIa took a seat in one of the booths.
"Well, I don't know. I don't think we should have just left!" Matrix crossed his arms and sat down beside AndrAIa.
"He tried the portal and it didn't work, and then you tried the door and that definitely didn't work, and then - " Enzo jumped into the booth across from AndrAIa and Matrix.
"All right, all right!" Matrix raised his hands to Enzo, wondering if he really talked that much.
"What do we do now?" Mouse took a seat next to Enzo, lightly drumming her fingers on the table.
"Wait, I guess." AndrAIa shrugged.
"Dot better have one dell of a plan," Matrix sighed.
"Ceecil!" Enzo called.
"Oh, why did you have to do that?" Matrix rolled his eyes.
"What? I'm thirsty. I still get thirsty when I get older, don't I?" Enzo rolled his eyes right back at his older image. He grinned as Mouse and AndrAIa started to giggle.
"It's not funny." Matrix grumbled.
"Can I 'elp you?" Cecil paused by the table.
"Hey Ceecil! Can we get a couple of energy shakes?" AndrAIa said between giggles.
"It's Cecil!"
"Sorry, Cecil."
"Well..." Cecil paused, surprised at the unusual apology. "Three energy shakes coming right up!" He sped away.
"Three? Is his counter off?" AndrAIa raised an eyebrow.
"No, sugah. He got the right number." Mouse winked and pointed to Matrix.
"Good-for-nothing service bot." Matrix watched as Cecil sped off, knowing he wasn't going to get an energy shake.
"Gah! How long is Bob going to be? How long does it take to read a message file? This waiting is driving me random!" Enzo tapped his fingers on the table and swung his legs nervously from the seat.
"You're already random!" Matrix laughed.
"Says a lot about you, doesn't it." Enzo countered. This caused AndrAIa and Mouse to both laugh.
"He's got ya there, honey!" Mouse gave a wink to the young Enzo beside her, happy to see him standing up to himself.
"You two fight just like brothers!" AndrAIa shook her head with a smile.
"We do not!" Enzo and Matrix both said at the same time, causing them to look at each other.
"'Ere we are!" Cecil put the three energy shakes down on the table. Matrix was about to argue about not getting anything when Cecil plopped down a small bottle of I/O and a shot glass. He pointed at AndrAIa as he spoke to Matrix. "And that's only because you are with Madame. Don't expect the service when you are alone!" Cecil zipped off to the other end of the diner.
"Thanks." Matrix blinked.
"You see what a little politeness can get you?" AndrAIa smiled.
"Don't say anything." Matrix pointed at Enzo as he opened his mouth to make a joke. Enzo stopped and stuck his tongue out at his bigger self. Matrix returned the face before he realized what he was doing, causing Mouse and AndrAIa to laugh yet again.
Bob took a few steps back, nearly falling over his zipboard as a life-size holo-image of Dot flickered into existence. The image smiled gingerly at him, then sighed. Bob stood in stunned silence as the visual playback began.
"Bob, if you are seeing this image, that means that so far, things have gone as planned. And yes, Bob, I have a plan. It's a plan that might work, but I am going to need you to trust me for it to work, and do everything that I say."
The image flickered a bit as the holo-Dot moved down and pushed a button on a display pad. The holo image of Dot was replaced by an image of a program code - complex, and unlike anything Bob had ever seen. Dot's voice played in the background as the image of the program matrix flickered.
"This is A.v.A., an Anti-Virus-Agent. It is a complicated program that Phong, Mouse, and I have been working on ever since our encounter with Daemon. Daemon made us realize that there are new, stronger, and more destructive viruses out there, and that Mainframe is unable to defeat them with its current tools. Daemon would have defeated us if it had not been for Hexadecimal, as much as I hate to admit it."
The image flickered again and a structure that looked like a DNA strand made of binary code formed and spiraled in the air. Dot's voice recoding played in the background as the image of the binary strand flickered. "A.v.A., we hope, is our solution. It may have the potential to defeat any virus. I have decided to give A.v.A. its first real test subject: Megabyte."
Bob marveled at how complex the program was. It was unlike any anti-virus program that he had ever encountered. He had heard rumors that such a program had only been theorized by the Super Computer's experts. Mouse must have been up-to-date on the studies, and as usual she was also ahead of them. This new program was even more complex than the anti-viral program that Glitch contained. The program seemed geared toward repairing damaged codes, not deletion of codes, and it had an A.I. that allowed it to learn and deal with unknown virus types. Bob shook his head slightly, not quite believing what it was that he was seeing. With this program, they may have had a chance at changing Daemon's programming, instead of sacrificing Hex.
The image flickered again and the holo-Dot re-appeared, her PID icon now containing an extra small blue circle in its center between the two triangles. Bob raised an eyebrow and began to ask why, but then remembered it was a holo-image and wouldn't be able to respond.
"Well, Bob, what do you think? Do you think it will work?" The holo-Dot gave a less than confident smile. "I sure hope you're saying yes right now. I have left detailed instructions for you as to what I need the rest of you to do. I need you to follow the plans exactly. As for me, I have taken A.v.A. and integrated its program into my file system. I am going to get A.v.A. to infect Megabyte, hopefully weaken, and maybe even fix him." Dot paused and looked at Bob for a moment before continuing. "I am going to use myself as the connection so that A.v.A. can infect him."
"What? Dot, no!" Bob shouted at the holo-image before he realized it didn't matter what he said, it had already been done. He stood there, wanting to shut the pad off and go after her, right then and there, forgetting whatever plan she had. First she had used Enzo and himself as an expendable option to defeat Daemon, and now she was using herself as one against Megabyte. Why was she doing this?
Then it dawned on him. Dot was no longer Dot. Dot was the Command.com. The Command.com is defined to protect and maintain the system at any cost. At any cost. It was in her code now. Bob sighed and sat down on his zipboard as the holo-Dot continued, slightly hazed at this new revelation and understanding of Dot that he had come to. A virus is programmed that way, it's not their fault. Dot had been coded to be the Command.com, it wasn't her fault. He turned his eyes back to the image.
"I know it sounds completely random. It even sounds random to me, Bob, but it also feels like it is the right thing to do. I have to stop him, no matter the cost. He is a virus, in my system."
The holo-Dot paused a moment, and Bob watched as her face changed in expression. She was using every ounce of strength to keep her composure, but she was fighting a losing battle. After a time of silence, she bit her lower lip, frowned, and then continued.
"I want him to pay, Bob. I want him to suffer. I want him to feel every ounce of horror, of shame, of unspeakable pain that he has caused me." Her face relaxed, as for once she said what she felt, instead of hiding behind her code. "And how he hurt you, us, our friends, our system. He took everything away from me. You, my brother, my home, and then... then as if that wasn't enough to feed his destructive passion, he took our love and made it into a freak show, making me hurt you and feel so ashamed.
"Oh Bob, I am so sorry. I gave up on you. I thought you were never coming back. And when you did, I pushed you aside, because I was afraid. I was so afraid. And just as things were feeling right, I threw you aside, because I was afraid again. The other Bob reminded me of the old times when things were good. You reminded me of the times when we had to struggle, and the horrors of the fighting, and the painful memories of everything that I... that we... had gone through. I'm so sorry Bob, but I was so afraid of the truth that I wasn't able to see that you were the real Bob all along."
Bob watched the image in silence, now fighting his own emotions from overflowing to the surface. He understood now why she had chosen the other Bob. No matter how badly it hurt him, he understood why. He swallowed back the lump in his throat and listened as the holo-Dot continued.
"You are the real Bob. The Bob that has been there, with me, through everything, the good and the bad. I now realize that I have to take the bad times with the good... but, I think I realized it too late. Mouse said that you would forgive me, but I can't even bring myself to ask you to. I was so horrible to you, and all I can think to say is how sorry I am."
The holo-Dot turned around and yelled in a cracking voice, "Yes, Hack, be there in a kilisec." The holo-Dot paused before turning around, heaving a small sob. The image turned back around, now full of tears, her emotional gates no longer able to withstand the force of her sadness.
"I don't know if this will work, Bob. If it does work, I don't know if I will still be around to celebrate."
"Please don't say that, Dot." Bob stood and interjected, his own voice choking slightly under a throat full of sorrow. But the holo-Dot continued to talk, stumbling over the words with a few sniffles.
"All I know is that I have to try. I also know that I love you, Bob. Even if you would rather just be friends now, I don't care. I just don't want to lose you, at least not completely." Her head lowered. "Not again." She looked back up again, more emotionally distraught than Bob had ever seen her. "Oh Bob, I love you. I am so sorry, for everything. Good - goodbye, Bob..."
The holo-Dot crumbled into tears and fell to her knees to turn off the recording. The image froze, with her crying on her knees, the message playback at an end. Bob stared at that image for the longest time, ignoring the blinking icon on the planner screen. She had been through so much in the past hour and a half. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and hold her, and promise her that everything was going to be all right. But, she wasn't there. It was only a holo-image. He looked around the silent storage room, and then back to the image. Never before had he felt so alone, so helpless, so empty. He sat back down on the zipboard, covering his face with his hands.
"I love you too, Dot," he whispered. And with that, he began to softly weep as the emotional tribulations of the past hour and a half finally caught up with him.
Mike backed way from the camera after his horror film-like intro and pointed to the diner behind him. "Right now in this diner before you unfolds a plan. A plan of total uncertainty! A plan of complete randomness! A plan of Dot! A plan Dot expects Bob to follow! A plan - " He paused and looked at the camera binome. "What? Oh, too much? You really think so?"
The camera motioned up and down as the camera binome nodded. Mike sagged his shoulders and sniffled. "I swear, I try to make things more interesting, and people say it's too much!" He sniffled again and started to walk off. "I'll be in my trailer."
The camera followed him as the boom-mike operator rushed to stay out of the scene. Mike stopped and looked back at the camera.
"Wait a nano, I don't have a trailer! Why don't I have a trailer?" Mike started to walk back toward the camera. "I mean, I'm talented! I should have a trailer!" The camera bleeped out as Mike began another longwinded speech.
Mouse and Enzo scooted over on the booth seat to let Bob sit down. Bob sat down slowly, in need of an energy shake, but not even in the mood to fight with Cecil. Mouse plopped down what was left of her energy shake down in front of Bob, who only nodded to her. Mouse glanced around the table with a deep sigh, realizing she was going to have to be first, as usual, to open her big yap.
"Well, sugah? What's the verdict?" Mouse placed a hand on his shoulder. Bob slowly glanced up at her, then looked around the rest of the table. He sighed softly and cleared his throat.
"We, or rather Dot, has a plan, and we have instructions to follow."
Noticing the less than satisfied and confused looks on the faces of his friends, he sighed and began to tell them about A.v.A. and Dot's plan. The reactions among the group were nothing less than the expected.
"What? Has she gone completely random?" Matrix growled as he slammed his fist against the table.
"Matrix!" chided AndrAIa.
And for once, Mouse was speechless.
"Now, I know it sounds random," Bob continued as he watched Matrix's anger grow, "but it may also work. So we are going to do exactly what she wants us to do."
"What? Now I know you two are missing a few algorithms!" snarled Matrix. "I can't believe I'm processing this. Dot is going to use herself as bait for that virus, and you're going to go along with it?"
"Yes, Matrix, I am."
"But why, Bob? She's the brains, we're the muscle. It's not supposed to be the other way around." Matrix continued to argue.
"Because, Matrix, I trust her. This time she is going to be the main player, the bait. That's why it may work. Megabyte is so used to us just running in to save the day that he is almost certainly expecting us. Dot is our surprise. We are still going to be the muscle, if you would let me give you the instructions, that is."
Matrix just harrumphed and crossed his bulky arms, leaning back in the seat. AndrAIa's touch calmed him slightly, but he gave Bob an angry glare. Enzo just sat quietly in the corner of the booth, not really knowing what to say, convinced that it was all his fault in one way or another. Bob looked around the table to see if anyone else was going to put in any input before he continued with the plan. After a few nanos of silence, Bob continued.
"Now, according to the information on this pad, A.v.A. worked quickly under lab environments
with simulated viruses. Mouse, Dot said you helped develop it."
"Well, yeah, honey, but it wasn't even in live testin' stage last time I worked with it."
"So, how well A.v.A. will perform on Megabyte is uncertain. Dot knew this, so part of her plan is to give us a few cycles to prepare for the effects of A.v.A., which with any luck, will weaken Megabyte enough for us to succeed with an all-out frontal attack." Bob paused to glance at Matrix, who only grunted his approval at the attack. "She's going to hold off infecting Megabyte for three cycles, which should give us enough time to complete our orders. Then it could take anywhere from a few kilisecs to a full second for A.v.A. to take effect. We just aren't sure."
"Pardon me, sugah, but just how is Dot plannin' on infectin' Megabyte?"
Bob looked over at Mouse, knowing this explanation was going to have to be made sooner or later. He looked up at Matrix and readied himself for a fight.
"Dot is going to cooperate with Megabyte for those three cycles. After the three cycles are up, she will stop cooperating, and then, if it all goes according to her plan, she will - "
"She will be droned by Megabyte! You have gone random!" Matrix stood with another pounding of his fist on the table.
"Sparky, calm down!" AndrAIa placed a hand on his arm, but removed it after getting a look from Matrix. She looked to Mouse who just shook her head as Bob rose from the table.
"And when he tries to drone her, he will be infected by A.v.A." Bob concluded.
"Then what? I have a drone null for a dad and a drone random for a sis? This isn't a plan, it's suicide. She's going to get herself deleted, and you're fine with it? This doesn't make any sense. You're not making any sense." Matrix began to storm out of the diner.
"Matrix, wait!" AndrAIa called after as she started to get up.
"Matrix, where are you going?" Bob took a few steps to block Matrix's exit.
"Outta my way, Bob. I'm going to do what everyone else should be doing. I'm going after Dot before she gets herself deleted." He glared at the guard.
"No, Matrix. Look, I know it doesn't process right at the moment, but if you let me tell you what the rest of her plan is, it might." Bob tried to reason with him, his patience with the renegade getting thinner by the nano.
"Out of my way." Matrix reached down to his gun, his voice deep and corrosive.
"Matrix," AndrAIa spoke sweetly and earnestly as she wrapped her arms around the arm that was reaching for his gun. "I think Bob is right this time. I know how you feel about Megabyte, but don't you think we all feel that way? Megabyte is too strong now, even for you. I think that this A.v.A. program may be the only weapon we have. Dot is in there, risking her ASCII for this plan. I think we owe it to her to see it through. She is the Command.com, remember, not just Dot."
Matrix looked down at her, the only person in the entire web that would be able to calm him down. He sighed, angered slightly at how well she could talk him down from his rage bouts. He looked at Bob, and the glare returned, but with less intensity.
"This had better work Bob, or it won't be Megabyte that I'll be going after." Matrix left it at that and frumped back down in the booth, crossing his arms. AndrAIa gave Bob a slight I'm sorry look, nodded and then took her seat.
Bob looked around the room in silence for a nano, feeling the thickness of the tension. He knew that Matrix wasn't the only one with doubts. He even had doubts. The plan, however, had already been set in motion by its creator, and at that very moment, that plan was all they had to go on. He took his seat beside Mouse again and began to tell everyone what their individual instructions were.
"Yes, right this way. And do not be worried!" Slash helped an elderly binome up the steps to the transport CPU.
"Yes, this is only temporary!" Hack told everyone.
"We hope."
"Now why did you have to say that?
"Say what?"
" 'We hope'. We hope?"
"Well... we do, don't we?"
"B-b-but..." Hack tried to come up with an argument. "Yeah, buddy, we do."
"Ok, this transport is full. Let's get the next one loaded up!" Enzo zipped in beside Hack and Slash on his zipboard.
"Yes sir!" Hack saluted.
"Yes sir, Enzo, sir!" Hack saluted and closed the transport door.
"Good work!" Enzo smiled before zipping off to another loading transport.
"He is doing well." Slash said after opening the hatch to the empty transport.
"Oh yes, and so much nicer than Matrix."
"Oh yes, definitely."
"Could be a little taller though." Hack scratched his head for a moment then helped Slash load the new transport.
Mouse cursed under her breath after tripping on a clump of inter-cables. She looked around at what was once the eating area of the diner. It now comprised of vid-windows, inter-cables, nodes, data files, and cups of java. If she hadn't sent Cecil to the bunkers, she knew he would have been yelling at her right then. The excuse of needing the extra power for the temporary Principal Office had, to her surprise, actually worked. She laughed to herself and finished going where she had been heading before she tripped. She hit the blinking button on the vid-window and smirked with a hand on her hip.
"Hey, sugah!"
"Mouse! Nice to see you again, though unexpected." The large red sprite gave a grin as he walked closer to the vid-window on his side.
"Wish I had time for pleasant talk, Watts, but I'm actually looking for Ray. He said he might be headin' your way."
"Well he hasn' t been through this system lately, doll." Watts shrugged.
"Cursors. I really need to get ahold of that boy!" Mouse frowned. She had asked several people already, and they all had the same answer as Watts.
"Have you tried Melody's place in the Vetta system?"
"No. I was hopin' I wouldn't have to." Mouse crossed her arms. She had a strong dislike for that two-credit hussy, despite her good food.
"Understandable. I'll let you know if I see him, doll." Watts winked at her. "If you ever get tired of chasing after that fly-boy, you know where to find me."
"If I find him at Melody's, I just might take you up on that offer, honey," Mouse returned the wink to her old friend.
"Keep in touch!" Watts waved.
"You too, Watts." Mouse waved back and shut off the video just as another vid-window popped up to her left. "Hey, Bob."
"Any luck yet, Mouse?"
"No, sugah, though I've got a good idea of where he is." Mouse rolled her eyes.
"All right, keep me informed." Bob smiled and turned off the vid-window.
"When I find him, I'm goin' to delete him." Mouse laughed slightly to herself.
The virus smiled to himself, knowing exactly how much he was bothering the sprite sitting across the room from him. For a small nano, he found himself admiring her, how much she had changed. Still a pain in the ASCII, as were all the sprites of this insignificant system, but she had grown. He chuckled to himself as he watched her get more and more fidgety with every passing nano. Oh how he loved being loathed by her.
"Oh, Ms. Matrix?" He grinned wider as he watched how his voice made her jump slightly. "How are we coming?"
"Still no access to the net." She didn't look up from what she was doing. It was bad enough to have him look at her, much less have to look at him back. She smiled inwardly at not being able to get connected. That meant that the first part of her instruction had been carried out. She looked at one of the windows and had to control herself to keep her composure as she read the complex encryption codes that had Mouse's usual signature.
"Well, that is too bad." Megabyte thought to himself for a moment before a dark expression washed over his face. "Looks like I will have to find something else to occupy my time while we wait. Herr Doktor, get the list!"
"Ja, meine herr Megabyte!"
Dot finally turned to face the virus with a raised eyebrow. "List?"
"Yes, my list. The good doctor here has been working with Phong, or at least his programming codes." He had to laugh at that. "You see, I can't get into the net, so I am going to go back to my original plan." His crocodilian grin widened. "And you, Ms. Matrix, are going to cooperate."
"Cooperate how?" She didn't like where this was going. Something was happening that she hadn't planned. This virus was obsessed with getting into the net. Why was this part of his programming changing?
"You, Ms. Matrix, are going to help me as I begin the hunt!" He smiled darkly at her, loving every kilisec of this game. He looked to the doctor as he laughed his usual small quips, then back at Dot.
Dot just sat there, with her mouth slightly open. She then quickly closed it and turned away from him, returning to her windows. Her mind raced with how she could work this into her plan. How could she cooperate in this? Cooperate in a hunt? Megabyte was doing this on purpose, and she knew it. He was trying to get under her code, to rattle her files. He wanted to see just how far he could push her before she went random. She furrowed her brow again and vowed not to let him win this one. She would just have to speed up her plan and hope the rest of them were ready.
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"Dot did what?" AndrAIa blinked, not quite believing what Matrix was telling her.