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| AndrAIa’s Log ‘After Mainframe’ Date Unknown. It’s been nearly a week since the system crash. I can still remember it, the day when everything went wrong. It’s been several years since the last time I worked on the Log, and that was during the game hopping days with Matrix. After staying in Mainframe for awhile, I realized I didn’t need the log anymore, only for the days that I thought were important enough to report on. Well this last week has been definitely something to report on. Just for the record, here’s what happened. It’s hard for me to give complete details since everything was a complete rush, but here it is. The System Reboot was a whole year ago. Sometimes it’s hard to imagine that a whole year has gone by since then. Mainframe had been put back together, and everyone was happy again. We no longer had Megabyte to worry about either. And the whole Daemon issue…that was fixed a long time ago as well. We all thought the happiness would last for a long time. We all hoped we’d be able to get on with our lives with only the games to worry about. For awhile that’s what we had. But games were easy to deal with. Then the system crash happened. No one knows the true reason why Mainframe crashed. Some say it was a system overload. Some say that the User did something outside to cause it to crash. Some of the younger sprites thought Daemon had come back and somehow infected the system without our knowledge. I don’t know the true reason, but whatever happened, it left Mainframe looking just as bad as it did when Matrix and I came back from the web last year. Demolished buildings, wrecked streets and houses. It left millions homeless. Jobs were no longer a concern. And during the system crash, all connections to the net went down. We were left stuck in Mainframe, with only one goal in mind. Survive. I don’t know how we’re going to get through this. The System Crash hit us with no warning. Hundreds died. I’m lucky to still be alive. Lots of people have lost hope. Some are considering suicide. I consider it one of my jobs to help them, raise hopes. But how could I do that when I’m feeling hopeless myself? Only one thing is keeping me going, and that’s that Bob managed to get out before Mainframe completely shut down. I don’t know how he did it, but before connections to the net completely went down, he disappeared through a portal. Right when he disappeared, the portal vanished and the connections broke. Now here we are, stuck in Mainframe…or what I’d like to call ‘After Mainframe’. There’s no power anywhere. People are forced to live in alleyways or, if they’re lucky, buildings that happen to be still standing. Food is scarce. Zipboards are useless. And Mouse and Ray are nowhere to be found. When the system crashed I managed to find Dot, Matrix, and Enzo, not to mention a few others, but Mouse and Ray were nowhere to be found. I just hope they’re still alive and we’ll see them again…somewhere. AndrAIa stood in front of the demolished diner, hugging the ratty blanket tightly around her shoulders. With the warmth of the sky and air now gone, it left every cold and tired, frantically searching for blankets and shelter. The diner had been completely destroyed after the crash. Not even the trademark ‘D’ on the sign had lived through it. It lay in the rubble in two pieces. Looking up, she saw everything else in the city looking just like the diner. Only a few buildings remained standing, and those looked ready to cave in any second. Smoke lingered in the air from the crash. There was no electricity at all, leaving the system in partial darkness. The lack of energy left sprites and binomes weak. Everyone had to travel by foot. Zipboards and cars no longer functioned. She tensed when she heard footsteps behind her, stepping on the broken pieces of the diner on the ground, then relaxed when she felt Matrix’s hands on her shoulders. He stood there for awhile, looking at the same things she was. “It’s all gone,” she finally said. “Everything. Destroyed.” “I know.” She turned to look at him. “How could this happen? Everything was going just fine. There were no viruses, we’re in peace with the Web, how could…?” He sighed, kissing her hair. “I don’t know, AndrAIa. I never thought this would happen to us. To Mainframe.” “But the crash just happened! We didn’t do anything! There were no system errors, nothing like that-!"” “I know,” he said gently. “I don’t know why.” She blinked away the tears in her eyes. “We’re trapped, Matrix. We can’t get out of here.” “Bob will figure out something. He’ll get through to us.” “And what if he doesn’t? What if he can’t?” He didn’t answer. She could tell he was just as worried as she was. Finally he said, “come on, Dot found a place for all of us to stay the night. It’s not all that great, but there’s a building not far from here that’s still standing.” She didn’t answer. Turning, she walked away from the Diner with Matrix by her side, wiping her eyes. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was beginning to lose hope in the whole situation. Dot stood in the middle of the building, hands on her hips, surveying the place. A bit rusty, a bit…broken down, a bit…terrible, but it would have to do. Enzo and a few other binomes had already begun working on a fire in the middle of the room. There were holes in the ceiling and walls, but it worked. There were several rooms too, in case some sprites wanted to sleep in privacy. She, Enzo, Matrix, and AndrAIa were traveling with several other homeless sprites. They had bumped into each other the second day of ‘After Mainframe’, as AndrAIa liked to call it, and they had been traveling together for the last couple of days. There were two little boys around Enzo’s age, Disk and Drive. Funny sounding names, but at lest every one knew they were related. Then there was a mother, Sally, who was left only with her 3.0 daughter and last there was a man, Hewlett, who happened to be Disk and Drive’s father. At the time he was helping with the fire, along with Disk and Drive, and Sally and her daughter were in the corner, trying to stay warm. Dot watched them for awhile, feeling more depressed all the while. She hated the position they had been put in. She hated looking outside now and seeing the system in its desolate, awful state. She was the Command.com and nowhere near the Principal Office. She looked up when Matrix and AndrAIa walked into the building through one of the many holes in the walls. AndrAIa was covered with one of her blankets, and carried more for everyone else. Matrix didn’t say anything. Both looked downcast. “So?” Dot asked. “I scouted out the area,” AndrAIa said, dropping the blankets in the middle of the room, saving one to hand to the Command.com. “Same thing everywhere, but if we’re going to head for the Principal Office, we’re going to have to move fast tomorrow. The crash left the part between here and there a very bad section of town. Not very many friendly-looking people down there.” Dot nodded. Great. Not only did they have to worry about food and shelter, now they had to worry about gangs and enemies. Her weapon still worked, but its power was low. Matrix’s gun still worked, but not as strong as it did. The whole crash left everyone in a weaker state, and the gun reflected off his energy level, being connected to his eye and all that. The only one with a weapon working just as well as it did before was AndrAIa’s trident and stars. AndrAIa looked around. “This is it?” “Yeah.” Dot replied. “Hewlett and his sons managed to salvage some food for us. There’s not that many, but it’ll do.” The game sprite nodded. Matrix sighed and crossed over to Enzo and the others, willing to give them a hand with the fire. AndrAIa waited until he was out of hearing before turning to Dot. “What are we going to do about…you know…Mouse and Ray? Should we find them or keep heading for the Principal Office?” Dot sighed. “They could be anywhere in this system, AndrAIa, if we try to look for them, it might keep us from actually doing something that could help Mainframe out, and that’s getting to the Principal Office. For all we know, they might not even be…” she didn’t finish. Both women understood. “I just wish we knew where they were,” AndrAIa said. “They’re probably fine. They’re both survivors. They’ll be okay.” “I hope so.” Mouse could hear something coming from the alleyway. Full alert, she straightened up, looking all around. She was alone, vulnerable. Reaching down she slowly drew her katana, peering through the darkness into the alleyway. The noises sounded again. Like someone sneaking up on her. She glanced all around again, raising her weapon and slowly entering the alley, senses high. She heard the noise again and she froze, listening. When it stopped, she kept going, tightening her grip on the handle, eyes darting back and forth. She came to the end of the alley. Surprised, she turned back around, and that’s when she heard it again. Only this time it was different. “Ooooooh…” She frowned and stepped forward. An empty crate when rolling in front of her and she jumped back, biting back a scream. She heard the ‘oooh’ again, only this time it was louder. And more familiar. Turning toward the sound, she saw something sticking out from under a giant pile of rubble and broken asphalt. A hand. Lowering the katana, she reached forward and started pulling the rubble away, throwing it across her path, trying to free the trapped person from inside. “Now you just hang on there,” she said to the person, “I’ll get you out as soon as I can-“ The last crate was rolled away and that’s when she saw who it was, lying on the ground, half unconscious. Mike the TV. Her eyes widened and gently shook him. “Mike! Are you okay, what happened to you?” The TV groaned in pain and flopped to the side. If it were a different situation she probably would’ve left him there, but this was different. Turning to the side, she yelled, “Ray! Ray, come here quick!” Out of the shadows she could see the slim figure of Ray as he surfed down from where he was through the alley. When he saw them he stopped and hovered there, looking down on the TV. “What happened to him?” he asked. “I don’t know,” Mouse replied, lifting the TV up and placing him on the tip of the board. “But we’ve got to get him out of here.” Ray turned the board around. “Hop on,” he said. Mouse obeyed, hopping on behind and wrapping her arms around his waist. Together, the three surfed back down the ally towards their fort. Somewhere on the other side of the city, two binomes were searching through the streets for food. Leon was the older of the two and was fourteen years old. His younger brother, Uni, was nine. “Leon!” Uni cried as he dug through a trash bin. “I found something!” Leon looked up from his own bin. “Really?” “Come here!” Leon left his search and went over to his brother, hopeful. What he had found in the trash can were several old energy shakes, still in their cups. “All right!” Leon cried, digging them out. If this was a different situation, there would be no way he’d drink this stuff. But he was desperate. Once he had one, he stood aside and poked through it. Uni reached out to help, smiling as he went. But when he grabbed the last energy shake, he accidentally uncovered something. Something he would never want to see. Crying out in surprise, he jerked back, slamming against the opposite wall, eyes wide, whimpering. Leon looked at him in surprise. “What? What is it?” Uni wouldn’t answer. He pointed at the trash can. Leon raised his eyebrow and glanced warily at the trash, backing up. “What did you see?” Uni shook his head and his brother finally crept forward, trying to keep a distance as well as get closer. When he looked in, he saw the body of a binome, tossed carelessly inside. He yelled and jumped back, scrambling away, hitting the opposite side of the alley as well. But without knowing it he had slammed up against a door, and it swung open. He cried out again as he fell inside, hitting the ground. Uni spun around, surprised. “Leon!” Leon groaned and sat up. Uni peered into the room behind him. It was completely dark inside. “I’m okay,” Leon said, climbing to his feet, still eyeing the trash can. He glanced behind him, rubbing his back. “What’s in there?” Uni asked, walking up to the doorway. “I don’t know. I can’t see anything.” He sniffed. “But something really stinks in there.” Uni’s eyes were as wide as saucers. “You mean-“ “No…something different.” Intrigued, Leon stepped farther into the room. Uni reached out a hand. “No! Don’t go in there, you don’t know what’s-“ But his brother had already disappeared inside. Uni looked in after him, but couldn’t spot him through the darkness. Finally his brother came back out, carrying several bottles. “Look what I found!” he cried gleefully, holding them out. Surprised, Uni reached for one of the bottles and read the label. It was something scientific. He didn’t know how to read it. “I don’t think this is food,” he said. “You never know,” Leon said, ignoring the labels. He shook it hard and tried to unscrew it, but it didn’t budge. “I thought you were strong,” Uni taunted. “I am!” Leon tried again, and this time the lid turned. Opening the jar, he peered into the dark gunk inside. He wrinkled his nose. “Ewww…what is that?” “I told you not to go in there,” Uni warned. “Looks like some kind of chemical. We shouldn’t mess with this. This is probably some sort of science lab.” Disappointed, Leon screwed it back and took the jar from his little brother. Turning back to face the door, he tossed the jars back inside, the glass smashing as it hit the ground in the dark. “I think you broke the jars,” Uni said. “What if it’s flammable when they mix?” Leon shrugged, grabbing one of the energy shakes from the ground. “Who cares? Let’s get out of here and find the others.” The two boys glanced back at the doorway, then scampered down the alley, disappearing around the corner. Unknown to them, a small, burbling noise started to come from inside the room. It got louder and louder, until it finally stopped. And something inhuman stepped out into the alleyway, holding a piece of a smashed jar. It looked around, then disappeared into the darkness, dropping the glass on the ground. The glass was part of the label that read: DO NOT BREAK. Dot sat in one corner of the room, a blanket firmly wrapped around her to keep out the cold. It didn’t help much, but at least it left her slightly warm. That was good enough. Enzo, Disk, Drive, and Hewlett remained around the dying embers of their fire, dozing, while Sally and her child slept in the same corner they were in all day. The two never spoke to the others. Sally only followed them because of Dot’s strong, Command.com image. Across the room, in the other corner, AndrAIa and Matrix lay huddled in their own blankets, apparently still awake. Dot watched them for awhile. Matrix put an arm around his lover’s shoulder, gently stroking her cheek with his hand. She smiled up at him and snuggled closer, head leaning against his muscular chest. It made the Command.com sad and pine even more for Bob. Where was he? She didn’t even know if he made it out successfully. He was the only one that could make it out with his glitch powers. But was he okay? The system crash had caught everyone by surprise. The day burned into her head like it happened yesterday instead of a week ago. She was heading past Dot’s Diner and toward Bob’s Apartment when the sky suddenly went dark and they system voice echoed “System Crash, System Crash.” Everyone was sent into a state of panic as every building started to collapse, as the power started to fade. Her zipboard went completely out and she fell to the ground, hitting it hard, scraping her knees and palms on the ground. When she looked up buildings started to cave and fall down, and just ahead she saw Bob flying from his apartment window, fighting, keeping his zipboard from losing power. Then at the last minute, he created a portal, and disappeared through it. A few short moments later, the crash happened, leaving Mainframe completely unconnected from the outside Net. Dot shivered and hugged her legs close, trying to bring the blanket over her shoulders. She eyed Enzo. He was so innocent, such a small child…and here he was, having to go through this. When he came back she had wanted to raise him properly, so we would never have to go through the things Matrix did. She had even considered letting him go to the Guardian Academy later that year in the Super Computer. Maybe if she had let him go sooner, he wouldn’t be stuck in this dead system. She looked over at Hewlett and his two sons, and started to feel even worst. Hewlett had lost his wife in the crash and left him alone with his boys. He was trying his hardest to take care of them, but it wasn’t easy. He was scared beyond belief, and Disk and Drive didn’t feel any better. They only had Enzo to get along with and play with. Then there was Sally and her child. She didn’t know what the baby’s name was, but just looking at them made her heart break. The woman seemed so frail, so scared, and the baby didn’t look any better. In fact, it looked pretty sick. How were they going to get through with this? She thought she’d never lose hope until after a few months into the crash, but only a week had passed and she was feeling terrible. How were they going to get to the Principal Office? They had been traveling for the past six days, and had finally reached Dot’s Diner, only to find it completely destroyed. Now, the new ‘bad part’ of town was what lay between them and the Principal Office, and she wasn’t sure if she was doing the right thing. Bob, she thought, I hope you find help soon. To be Continued... |
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