A Shot In The Dark: Part Seven

Matrix found himself unable to suppress a smile as he watched AndrAIa and Perl whispering together on the opposite side of the room. AndrAIa had announced the engagement the moment they'd arrived at the Principal Office, and Perl had dragged her off with uncharacteristic enthusiasm for some 'girl talk' as she'd put it.

Dennis had given him a good-natured slap on the shoulder.

"Congratulations. Have you decided on a date yet?"

"Not yet. Sometime after the operation, I guess. We don't really know how long her recovery will take."

Dennis nodded, still watching Perl and AndrAIa. "Well, she certainly seems excited." He flashed the renegade Guardian a lopsided smile. "So does Perl, for that matter." Dennis sighed wistfully. "It’s certainly nice to see them both smiling."

"Funny," Matrix commented, "I didn’t think Perl was the type to get excited over this sort of thing."

"Don’t let her fool you. She’s a lot more caring than she lets on. But don’t tell her I said that," he added.

----

They entered the hospital hand in hand, both feeling slightly uneasy. They met Dr. Acros and he went over the procedure one last time.

“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” Matrix asked, squeezing AndrAIa’s hand.

“Yes,” she said. “Everything will be okay, don’t worry.”

Dr. Acros cleared his throat. “It’s time we go,” he said.

“See you soon!” AndrAIa kissed Matrix on the cheek and left with the doctor.

Matrix watched them walk through the door before sinking down on one of the benches. “I hope so, AndrAIa. I hope so,” he whispered.

* * *

He was pacing the length of the floor for about the thousandth time that millisecond when Dr. Acros came back out into the waiting area. "Everything went well," he said immediately upon seeing Matrix’s anxious face. "She’s still under sedation, but you’re welcome to go see her."

"Thank you."

Dr. Acros nodded and led him toward the recovery room.

"The bandages will have to remain on for about a second," the doctor explained as he ushered Matrix into the room. "And it's difficult to say how long it will be before we know how much of her sight will return."

Matrix walked over to the bed and took AndrAIa's hand in his own. Her face seemed pale and bandages covered both eyes. "She should regain consciousness shortly, though the medication we're giving her may make her groggy. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other patients to check on. I'll stop back in when I'm done."

Matrix nodded and thanked the doctor again. A short time later, AndrAIa stirred.

"Enzo?"

"I'm right here." He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "How are you feeling?"

"Mmmm... sort of... muddled," she said, touching her hand to her head.

"It's the medication they're giving you for the pain," he said. "Dr. Acros said everything went well."

"That's good to hear." She smiled gently. "See, I told you not to worry."

"Since when have I ever listened?"

"True..." she laughed.

Just then Dr. Acros came into the room. "You're awake, good. How're you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess," AndrAIa said, turning her head in the direction of his voice.

"Good. Well, you can go home, if you feel up to it. There's no reason for you to stay if you don't want too."

"Are you sure that's okay? I mean, she just had an operation-"

The doctor waved Matrix quiet. "I assure you, Mr. Matrix, that I wouldn't let her go unless it were completely safe. I am a doctor, after all."

"You're right," Matrix said gruffly. "Well, AndrAIa, do you feel up to it?"

"I think so," she replied.

"I'll see to your release then, and set up an appointment to remove the bandages. The only stipulation on your release is that you rest. Even a relatively simple procedure like this can take its toll on the body."

"I'll make sure she behaves," Matrix said. The doctor nodded and left the room. "Looks like you're going to have some spare time on your hands," Matrix commented.

"Well, I do have a wedding to plan," she grinned.

* * *

"Well, today's the big day," AndrAIa said brightly, hiding the anxiousness she felt.

"Yeah. You ready to go?" She nodded. "Nervous?"

”You bet your bitmap I am. But I'm excited too." She reached out and he grasped her hand. "Let's do this."

* * *

Dr. Acros shown a light in AndrAIa's eyes, watching for a reaction. "Let me know if you see anything at all."

"I can see the light," AndrAIa said, "but that's about all."

"Not to worry," he replied. "That's actually a good sign. Your eyes are still healing. But the fact that you can see something, even something this seemingly unimportant tells me that you haven't lost all ocular function."

"Do you have any idea how much sight she'll get back?"

"It's hard to say this early on," Dr. Acros said, "we'll have to see how rapidly her eyes heal. Any major improvement should occur within the next second or so. But I'd venture to guess that she has a good chance of full recovery."

"That's the best news I've heard in seconds," AndrAIa said, breathing a sigh of relief.

* * *

Dennis sighed and side-stepped around yet another mangled body.

"What sort of person actually enjoys this sort of thing?"

"Wish I knew the answer to that myself," Matrix said. "Duck!"

Dennis dropped to the ground and Matrix blasted the vampire that had appeared behind the Command.Com.

"Thanks for the save," Dennis said, brushing himself off.

"No problem," Matrix replied. "On you left!"

Dennis spun and shot the approaching demon with the cross bow he'd gained when he rebooted.

"That's two I owe you."

"Look," Matrix said, "it's obvious you don't play the games often... why did you want to come along on this one?"

Dennis laughed. "You spent a lot of time helping me, I thought maybe I'd try and return the favor. Didn't really work out that way. I'm a liability in here."

"We're lucky. This User is basic. He's still trapped in the labyrinth in the second level. We'll reach the inner circle in no time."

"Yeah, easy as falling off an analog," Dennis said sarcastically, firing off an arrow at a troll that attacked from a side hall. "Johanna would have loved this game..." he murmured.

"Who's Johanna?" Matrix asked. In all the time he and AndrAIa had been in Turing, Dennis hadn't mentioned the name, and the pain he saw on Dennis' face made him wish he hadn't asked. "You don't have to-"

"No, it's okay. Perl is always telling me I should stop hiding from what happened." He paused as he noticed Matrix's puzzled look. "It' a long story," he said, "but I guess we've got the time."

"Johanna was my sister - my twin sister, actually. We were complete opposites. I guess I've always been the practical one, planning, thinking through things logically. Johanna - she could plan, don't get me wrong, some of her strategies were brilliant - but she was an action junkie, I guess you'd say. Always had to be on the front lines. She needed to be a part of what was going on. A free spirit. I envied her, I think. "When the old Command.Com was deleted in a viral fire-fight, we took over the operation of the system. Neither of us had much experience at this sort of thing, but together we managed to keep Turing afloat. Then Perl came along. User, I think I loved her the nano I set eyes on her. And Johanna, well, they were so similar. They quickly became the best of friends. It was ideal in a way, if you ignored the fact that we were at war, always in danger of being over-run. The three of us against the 'Net. Or so it seemed."

Dennis paused to regain his composure. His voice had become emotional as he talked of those memories. "I guess we thought we were invincible. It never occurred to us that something would happen..."

"But it did."

"Yes. Johanna was nearly crippled in an explosion. Perl almost died. And I, I'm afraid I fell apart. I'd almost lost everything in one fell swoop. I realized for the first time how dangerous things were. I'm also ashamed to admit that I ran from what was happening. Threw myself into my work to avoid the pain Johanna was feeling. She could still walk with crutches, but that was it. She could never be out on the battlefield like she wanted to. I was too busy hiding to notice her drift away."

Matrix looked at him oddly for a moment before he realized what Dennis was saying.

"She deleted herself," Dennis said finally. "We didn't even... all we heard a gunshot. It tore Perl apart. I think she blamed herself, though I don't know why. She was barely processing herself at that point. They had been such good friends. And I went numb. We were completely shell-shocked and all we had left was each other. I think that's why she's stayed as long as she has..."

"But Perl loves you, doesn't she?"

"Sure, "Dennis shrugged. "But that means little to her in the grand scheme of things. She needs a savior, and I do the best I can."

* * *

"Waiting for the game to end?" Perl asked, joining AndrAIa on the steps of the Principal Office.

AndrAIa nodded. "I hate not being in there with him, not knowing what’s going on in there."

"Hey, don’t worry. You’ll be back playing the games in no time. How is your vision, by the way?"

"Improving," AndrAIa replied with a slight smile. "The doctor said I’ll probably make a total recovery. It’ll just take a few seconds. Dennis told me you were the one who contacted Dr. Acros in the first place. I wanted to thank you."

"No thanks necessary. Helping out folks who need it is in my code," she said with a lopsided smile. "That’s why I stayed in Turing in the first place."

"Still, you and Dennis have gone out of your way to help Matrix and I. Why? Most of the systems we’ve been in don’t want anything to do with us."

"Their loss." She watched as AndrAIa shifted her gaze back to the towering game cube. "Don’t worry about them. I’m sure they’ll be fine. Assuming Matrix watches Dennis’ back, that is." Perl laughed.

"He doesn’t play the games often?"

"Hardly ever. He is the Command.Com, which is a decent reason, I suppose. It’s usually just me," she frowned.

AndrAIa tore her eyes away from the game cube and looked out over the city. Her eyesight was still rather blurry, but it was better than it had been before. She could see the individual buildings now, even if the details were indistinct.

"Don’t you enjoy playing the games?"

"I hate them," Perl said, matter-of-factly. "But I can’t go against my code." She tapped her icon absently. "I still feel the pull, the need to be there, much as I dislike it."

"Why do you hate them?"

"Bad memories, hun. Things that were my fault, things I don’t want to talk about. It was different- back when Johanna and I played the games."

"Johanna?"

Perl laughed bitterly. "She’s another of those ‘not talked about’ things. But I brought it up. so I guess I owe it to you to explain. I’m always telling Dennis talking about it will make it hurt less, can’t very well go against my own advice.

"Johanna was Dennis’ twin sister. Wouldn’t know it if they didn’t look so much alike, though. Different as could be, those two. Johanna was a fiery one. Always wanted to be where the action was. Needless to say we got along right from the start. It was nice, I hadn’t had a real friend in a long time. We made a great team. Got it into our heads that we could lick the virals plaguing the system all by ourselves.

"User, I can’t believe we were that basic. Obviously we couldn’t. Our cockiness got me damn near defeated and Jo partially paralyzed."

She paused, seeing the sad look on AndrAIa’s face. "Don’t you go getting upset over what I’m telling you. What’s happened can’t be changed and you feeling bad about it doesn’t do anyone any good. Looking back, I realize that Johanna, the part of her that mattered, the part of her that was fierce and friendly all at the same time died in that accident. She lost her will to live, really. And I was too bad off to think about anyone but myself. But knowing that, I still can’t believe she deleted herself."

* * *

"This is it," Matrix said, standing before the door to the final level.

"Well, let’s go then," Dennis replied.

With one powerful kick, Matrix knocked the iron doors off their hinges. They clashed to the floor with a tremendous thud.

"After you," Dennis said, gazing into the dark room. Matrix grabbed a torch off the wall and the two moved cautiously inside.

"This is pleasant," Matrix commented sarcastically.

Dennis glanced around the room, uneven ground crunching loudly with each step he took.

"What are we walking on?" Then the smell hit him. "Uhh. Scratch that, I don’t think I want to know."

"Hold on, I think I found something." Matrix walked over to a large metal container filled with dark liquid. He touched the torch to its surface and flames shot upward, illuminating the room.

The chamber was filled with bones. They covered the floor and rose in precarious piles along the walls. In the center was a large black pool ringed with stones. Dennis stepped up to the edge and peered into the dark water.

"What sort of nasty creature lives in there, do you think?"

"Looks like we’re going to find out!"

Matrix gripped the Command.Com’s shoulder and pulled him back. The brackish water was rolling and boiling, and with a sound halfway between a hiss and a scream, a huge hydra broke through the surface of the water, three heads swaying this way and that. Matrix and Dennis backed up against the wall knocking over one of the teetering bone piles, out of reach of the snapping jaws filled with needle-like teeth.

"Now what?" Dennis asked, catching his breath after the sudden shock. "It can’t leave the water to get us, and we can’t end the game until we kill it. If we had a sword - "

"No! If you cut its head off, three more grow back. Trust me on this one."

"Great. And I’m out of arrows..." he tossed the crossbow down in disgust. "We’re at a standstill."

"Not necessarily."

Matrix reached down and pulled Gun from its holster. "Gun, command line: full delete." He aimed for the center most head and fired, praying this would work. Both sprites cringed as the monster let out a horrific shriek before vanishing.

"Game Over."

* * *

AndrAIa sat silent, wondering what she should say. Perl was looking away at the game cube again.

"Game Over."

"It's leaving," she said. A moment later, two figures appeared on zip boards, heading toward the Principal Office.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" Perl asked as Dennis landed and compressed his zip board.

"I'd be toast if not for Matrix," he commented wryly. "Now I remember why I usually avoid those things."

Perl gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "That’ll teach you to leave the game playing to the professionals," she scolded. "Thanks for returning him in one piece, Matrix."

"He wasn’t all that bad," the young man replied.

"Right. I’d hate to see what would have happened had the User not been so basic. Perl’s right, I should leave the games to you Guardians."

This comment earned twin scowls from both Perl and Matrix. "Okay, okay! To you renegades and academy dropouts!" he said sheepishly. "Anyone up for an energy shake?"

"Nah. I’m feeling kinda low-res," Matrix replied. "Think I’ll go catch some downtime."

"AndrAIa?"

"I think I'll just go with Matrix, if that's okay."

"No problem. Well, I'll see you two later then. You coming, Perl?"

"Sure thing, hun. Later you two!"

The pair zipped away from the Principal Office off into the heart of Turing.

* * *

"Is something the matter, Enzo? You seem awfully tense."

Matrix leaned back on the couch, hands behind his head, eyes closed. AndrAIa sat comfortably in his lap.

"Not really."

"Come on, lover," she chided. "You can’t fool me. I know you too well."

He sighed. "AndrAIa, are you happy?"

AndrAIa regarded him with a quizzical look. "What do you mean?"

"Are you happy? With the way things are... with us?"

"Oh, Sparky." She smiled and kissed him lightly. "Of course I’m happy." She cuddled in closer and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "What brought this on?"

"Something Dennis told me when we were in the game..."

"About his sister?" she guessed.

"Yeah, how did - "

"Perl told me what happened to her." AndrAIa sat up and turned to face him, brushing the ever present hair out of his eyes. "Enzo, I’d never leave you. I’d never - " she stopped, remembering the dark thoughts she’d had late in the night cycle. She frowned sadly.

He reached out and took her hand in his own. "Shhh...I’m sorry."

"No, it’s okay," she replied. "I want you to know this. I could never be that unhappy, not as long as I had you. You’re my reason for being," she said fiercely.

Matrix brushed a tear from her cheek. "Hey, no crying. I thought you were happy."

"I am," she gazed at him, at the face she could finally see again. The one she had almost forgotten. "Don’t ever leave me," she said softly.

"That's what this is for." He held her hand out, engagement ring glowing with reflected light. "It's a promise that I'll never leave you." He took her other hand, bringing her closer and drawing her into a passionate kiss.

"Mmmmm... whoa!" She pulled away as they almost toppled off of the couch. "We can’t do this here."

"You’re right." In one quick motion, Matrix swept her up off the couch and into his arms.

"Put me down!" she laughed.

"Not a chance..."

End Part Seven

[ Part 8 ]

[ Perl's profile ]

[ Dennis' profile ]

[ Back to the Character Database ]