A Shot In The Dark: Part Three

It was halfway through the day cycle, and they still hadn't gotten the power online. Perl hadn't been able to get the emergency power working either, so they'd been wedging themselves under consoles to make the adjustments. Dennis changed one last setting and the sprites watched as the P.O. powered up.

"Well, it's about time," Dennis commented, sliding out from under the control panel. "Sorry about that. Turing is usually in better working order than this. We're having a bad cycle." The Command.com sounded tired.

"Trust me, I've seen worse," Matrix replied grimly. "AndrAIa and I have seen some pretty corrupted systems."

"Speaking of AndrAIa, where did she head off to? Don't tell me you left her sitting in that apartment all this time."

"I-" Matrix rubbed the back of his neck and gave the Command.com a sheepish look. "I told her she could come if she wanted to..."

Dennis waved off the attempted apology. "My fault. I should have extended the offer to both of you. I wasn't thinking." He tapped the radio on his wrist. "Perl, have you finished that security diagnostic I asked you to run?"

"Everything checks out A-Okay," piped Perl's voice over the link. "Got something else you want me to take a look at?"

"Actually, I've got a different idea. Matrix and I have a handle on things here. I want you to go pick up Mr. Matrix's lady-friend. Give her a tour of the city."

"Can do," Perl replied and broke off the connection.

"Problem solved. Can't stand the thought of a lovely thing like her sitting in that gloomy apartment all day. Why don't you let her know Perl's coming and when that's done, I'll acquainte you with Turing's operating system."

* * *

Three swift knocks sounded on the door to the apartment.

"Who's there?" AndrAIa called.

"It's Perl," a soft voice called back. "Dennis sent me to get you out of this apartment for a while."

AndrAIa walked over, unlatching the door. "Enzo told me you'd be coming." She opened the door and peered into the hallway at the figure. All she could make out was a blur of charcoal colored skin, purple hair, and red and black clothing. "You're Perl?"

"Is there a problem with that?" the sprite asked goodnaturedly.

"No, just-"

"Not what you were expecting. I get that a lot," she laughed. "Who's Enzo, by the way?"

"Uh, Enzo is Matrix's first name," she replied. "Don't call him that or he'll kill me," she smiled.

Frisket had gotten up from his place near the bed and was glaring at the visitor. "It's okay, Frisket," AndrAIa patted him on the head. The dog stared once more at Perl, then sat at AndrAIa's feet.

* * *

They were in the busy downtown district, Perl chattering away about everything happening around them.

"It's pretty busy," AndrAIa commented.

"This is nothing, hun. In a few seconds the festival will start and then things will really be swinging. People here are living while they can. No telling what might happen tomorrow."

Despite her cheerful tone, there was an edge of battle-hardened bitterness to Perl's words AndrAIa couldn't help but notice. She'd heard it much too often in Matrix's voice. Perl guided AndrAIa around a group of vendors. "You seem to be coping fairly well for someone who's blind," Perl commented.

"Dennis told you about that, huh?"

" 'Course he did. Dennis tells me everything. I'm this system's security nowadays."

Above them, thunder began to rumble ominously. A spattering of rain fell upon the inhabitants of the sector. "I don't like the looks of that," Perl said, glancing up at the sky. "I know someplace we can go to wait out the storm."

A few blocks later, they ducked into a small diner. There were isolated mutters and a few sprite and binomes actually left as Perl entered the building, favoring the storm to the gray-skinned sprite's company.

"What's going on?" AndrAIa asked, sensing the commotion.

"Some people just don't like hackers," Perl replied, slipping into a booth. AndrAIa took a seat across from her and Frisket lay under the table.

"You're a hacker?"

"It was my second occupation," Perl replied matter-of-factly. "The skills come in handy when you're in charge of system security. Not that that seems to matter to some of these people," she said with a note of distaste.

"Second occupation... what did you do before that?"

"I - " Perl was interrupted by the server. She ordered two energy shakes and continued. "I was a cadet at the Guardian Academy."

"You were a Guardian?" AndrAIa was beginning to suspect that the sprite across from her was full of interesting secrets.

"A cadet," Perl reiterated. "I couldn't handle the protocols. You're looking at a bona fide Guardian Academy dropout. When I left, I split that place so fast I didn't even turn in my keytool."

AndrAIa's suspicion was proving right. "You still have a keytool."

"Not anymore," she replied with a shake of her head. "Lotus was offlined in a fight with a virus a while back."

"That's too bad," AndrAIa said. "Glitch was damaged when Enzo got it. I was hoping you could help him fix it."

"Sorry," Perl replied. "I wish I could. Believe me, a keytool is a great thing to have when you're fighting viruses. But enough about me," she laughed. "I want to hear about you. It's not often you run into a game sprite outside of a game."

AndrAIa began to tell Perl the story, enjoying the woman's quiet interest in what she was saying. "You downloaded yourself into his icon?" Perl stared at her in amazement. "Pretty gutsy of you."

AndrAIa shrugged. "We were both lonely. It seemed like a logical thing to do. I've never regretted a minute of it."

"I don't think I could stick with anyone for that long," Perl said in the same frank tone she'd used earlier. "There's Dennis, but I can't help but think that if our ports to the 'Net hadn't been destroyed this last time, that I'd have been gone by now. I never was one to stay in the same place for very long."

The former hacker looked out the window. "Seems the storm has let up for now," she said, changing the topic. "We'll swing by Backup sector and then back to the Principal Office. I'm sure those boys are almost done with what they're doing by now."

* * *

Dennis finished the tour of the P.O. and walked with Matrix back to the main control center.

"That's Turing," Dennis commented. "It's a shame you didn't come along earlier. We could have used your help against the viruses." Dennis leaned against a console. "That problem, thankfully, seems to be over now that our 'Net ports have been destroyed."

"You had ports to the 'Net?"

"This used to be a top of the line system," Dennis said. "The viruses reduced it to the 2-bit wreck you see today. The last virus entered the system through the 'Net, destroyed the ports, and left us completely isolated. We're learning to be self-sufficient," he said with a touch of unhappiness.

"Dennis? Where'd you get to?" Perl's voice rang from somewhere down the corridor.

"We're in here," Dennis replied, sticking his head into the hall. "That woman wouldn't know stealth if it bit her in the bitmap," Dennis said wryly over his shoulder to Matrix.

"I heard that," Perl snapped, walking into the room. AndrAIa and Frisket followed her. "And you know it's a load of spam."

The first thing Matrix noticed about the woman was that she was the exact opposite of what he'd been expecting. Her skin was a dark, smooth gray, only a few shades lighter than black. Her hair was long, a deep purple specked with red. She had the confident poise of a soldier. The second thing he noticed was her icon.

"You're a Guardian?" he asked in disbelief.

Perl glanced down at her yellow and black icon and scowled. "Ex-guardian," she replied. "I don't follow those protocols anymore."

"Perl's in charge of security around here," Dennis interjected.

"And don't you forget it," Perl said, poking Dennis in the center of the chest with her index finger. "You'd be toast if I hadn't come along."

"Did you enjoy your tour?" Dennis asked AndrAIa, pointedly ignoring Perl's comment.

AndrAIa nodded. "Perl's a wonderful guide." She walked over to where Matrix stood and he instinctually put a protective arm around her waist.

"Sorry we took so long," Matrix whispered "The system isn't in as good of a condition as it looks."

"It's okay," she replied, leaning her head on his shoulder. Dennis was giving Perl a run-through of what they'd done.

"We got the power grid back up, but emergency generators are offline. Still, it's better than nothing."

Matrix and AndrAIa decided to leave the other sprites to their work and headed back to their apartment.

"Did you have a good time?" Matrix asked after several uncomfortable moments.

"Yeah. Perl was very interesting."

"Did she tell you why she's not a Guardian anymore?"

"She was only ever a cadet," AndrAIa replied. "She dropped out and became a hacker."

"A hacker? Dennis lets a hacker run his security?"

AndrAIa shrugged. "We let Mouse-"

"Mouse was different."

"Why? Because Bob trusted her? Maybe Dennis has reason to trust Perl."

"Or he's lonely. This system isn't exactly crawling with sprites."

"Enzo!" AndrAIa said, shocked. "Is that the reason you keep me around? Because there isn't anyone better?" She turned her back to him.

"AndrAIa, I didn't - That's not what I meant."

"I'm not sure I should believe you," she said in a hurt voice. "After all, I'm the reason you're stuck here when you could be out looking for Mainframe."

"AndrAIa...I never..." He put a hand on her shoulder, but she pulled away and glared at him. "Fine! If that's the way you want to play it," he yelled angrily. He turned on his heel and left the apartment, slamming the door behind him. Frisket looked at AndrAIa and whimpered. She sighed and opened the door.

"Go on."

The big dog bounded out the door and after Matrix. AndrAIa walked back into the apartment and sank onto the stasis bed, hot tears stinging her cheeks.

* * *

Matrix walked through the powered down city, kicking scraps of litter out of his way and muttering to himself. Frisket trotted along at this side faithfully.

"I don't know how she could possibly think - " He punctuated the unfinished sentence with a swift kick to the wall. Frisket whimpered at him. "Has she gone basic?" he asked the dog.

Frisket cocked his head to the side and gave Matrix a strange look. "I'm the one who's basic," he mumbled. "I'm talking to a dog."

He sighed and wondered what had gotten into AndrAIa. There was no reason for her to blow up at him like that. She’d taken his comment completely out of context and twisted it into something he’d never implied. He could sense that she was unhappy, but there wasn’t a thing he could do about it. He’d see her melancholy face out of the corner of his eye, but the second he turned to look at her, she was all smiles and jokes again, as if nothing had ever happened. He didn’t know if it was denial on her part, or a simple inability to let him know how she felt, but he didn’t know how to deal with it and that just frustrated him. He clenched his fists, wishing he knew what to do.

* * *

Dennis sat at his kitchen table, tapping things into his organizer despite the late time. Perl sat across from him, an array of vidwindows spread out around her. She scrolled through system logs and security readouts, trying to figure out what had caused the power to crash. One by one, she shut the windows down.

"We’re not finding anything, and I know you didn’t get any sleep last cycle."

Dennis noticed the edge of annoyance in her voice and shut the organizer down.

"What’s the matter?"

"Nothing," she said apologetically. "It’s late. Maybe I should just go home."

"Don’t leave on my account. If something is bothering you, tell me." He shrugged. "I might be able to help, you know."

"You’re going to think this is stupid," she reached out and took his hand in her own, his yellow skin glowing against her dark gray hand; contrasting like day and night. "It’s those kids."

Dennis smiled. "Kids? They’re not much younger than we are."

Perl shook her head. She’d taken her hair out of the ponytail and it fanned out around her shoulders, cascading down her back in amethyst waves.

"There’s something about them..." Her voice trailed off. "Something just not right."

"They lost their system. That’s enough to make anyone ‘not right’."

Perl leaned forward on one elbow and looked at Dennis with earnest eyes. "I lost my system."

"You left your system. You could have gone back, had you wanted to. They don’t have that option. I feel sorry for them." He got up and walked over behind her, massaging her neck and shoulders. She winced slightly as his hand moved over a deep scar slashed into her back. "Sorry," he said, seeing her reaction. "Those still bothering you?"

"A little." Perl sighed. She’d been injured fighting the last virus that had ravaged the system. Three of the deep cuts ran parallel, starting on the back of her left shoulder and running downward and diagonal across her back. It was a credit to her determination that she still had the use of her left arm. "I guess you’re right," she said, thinking over what he’d said. "Still, there’s something that just... bugs me. And I don’t think Matrix likes me very much."

"He doesn’t even know you, Perl. Don’t let it get to you."

Perl sighed again. "Yeah, just like I don’t let the cold shoulder that half the system gives me get to me."

Dennis leaned over and kissed her forehead. "I’m sorry about that."

"Don’t be. What about AndrAIa?" she asked, switching topics. "Is there anything we can do for her?" She looked over her shoulder at the Command.com. He shook his head.

"She’s seen a diagnostic program. From what Matrix told me, it sounds permanent."

"That’s a shame," she said sadly. She saw the grieved look on Dennis’ face and knew they were both thinking the same thing.

* * *

The system outside the window was dark and a cold breeze blew into the room. She shivered and shut it, walking away from the darkness outside, but not the darkness burning in her heart. She was in pieces, torn apart by the loneliness and abandonment she felt. Half the night cycle had ticked itself away and Matrix had not returned. Some ugly, hateful part of her was whispering that he never would. That she was damaged now and he had left her, setting her adrift without any ties, without an identity. Her whole world was defined by him. Without Enzo, her center couldn’t hold and she’d be sucked inward by a black hole of sadness and despair. Every moment he was out of her sight was another instant her life hung precariously balanced between happiness and painful oblivion.

She’d never felt more lost in her entire life. It struck a cord of terror in her she’d never known before. How many nights had she laid awake in his arms, wondering what her place was? She always came up with the same answer: her existence was justified by her love for Enzo -and his for her- and that alone.

She sat on the small couch in their living room, hands clasped tightly, tears streaming from her blind, staring eyes, shaken and terrified to the absolute core of her being.

End Part Three

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