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| Reboot The whole gang was at the restored Dot's Diner, sitting at the bar. Dot was scanning through her vidwindows, Bob was staring off into space, Ray and Mouse were sharing an energy shake, AndrAIa was bored out of her mind and examining her nails. Enzo was bored as well, though he was trying to play with Frisket. Matrix sighed and turned to AndrAIa. He frowned when he saw her stabbing her arm gently with her fingernails. "What are you doing?" He asked. AndrAIa looked up and laughed. "Oh, I was just wondering if I could paralyze myself. I guess not." It had been a hot second, and everyone was trying to figure out ways to amuse themselves. Binomes were scattered around the diner, trying to eat and make conversation. Everyone was bored, including Dot, who eventually turned off her vidwindows and turned to the others. "So," she said, "Anyone want to do anything?" "It's time like these that I wish Megabyte was still here," Bob mumbled. "At least it would've given me something to do." Mouse nodded. "Yeah, but I'm sure we'll figure out something sooner or later. I'm sure tomorrow would be thrilling, you just wait and see." The others were about to say something, when they noticed something strange going on outside. The sky grew dark, but not the purple color they all knew and dreaded whenever a game cube came. No, this was different. It even started to rain, softly at first, then harder and harder. Matrix stood up. "That was weird," he stated. "Yeah," Ray pitched in, "You guys sure have drastic weather changes here." "That couldn't be just a regular weather change," Matrix said, almost in a whisper. He reached for his gun and began walking toward the gun. "I'll go with you," Bob began, standing up. "No," Matrix stopped him, "It's probably nothing. You guys stay here, okay? I want to see what's out there." He walked out of the diner, closing the glass door behind him. Mouse shrugged. "That boy sure has become an independent. Hey, did I tell you guys that my cousin is coming to Mainframe?" Bob frowned suddenly. "Hey, wasn't she…?" * * * Matrix walked through the rain, not minding that his clothes were getting wet. He had been through far worst experiences than to worry about that. He walked toward lower sectors near the bad part of town. He had a bad feeling, and he didn't know what to expect. Suddenly, he felt a really bad feeling coming from one of the alleys. Turning into it, he was surrounded by darkness. This had to be the darkest part of town. Holding his gun in the air, he waited for whatever was there. A virus half his size jumped out suddenly, startling him. Eyes widening, he stepped back and held his gun up to shoot. "Anialation!" He shouted. The virus was long and skinny, resembling the shape of a praying mantis. It glared down at Matrix and got ready to attack. "No! Stop!" Matrix was stopped by the female voice coming from behind him. Swirling around, he saw a woman standing at the entrance to the alley, wearing a black body suit. She had a blue, metal belt hanging from her waist, blue boots, and a blue V-shape that looked more like a collar on her chest. Her chestnut brown hair was wavy and held up by a blue headband. Everything about her said; 'warrior'. All of a sudden, Matrix's mechanical eye flashed a warning across his line of vision. It was scanning her, and found her files. She was a wanted assassin that used to work for viruses and anything else that paid her fairly to kill people. The scanning even said she had worked for Megabyte long before he came to Mainframe. She was wanted by the super computer. "Freeze!" Matrix yelled, pointing his gun threateningly at her. He wasn't sure why she was there. She could be working for this virus and he had to stop her. The girl suddenly pulled out a whip and snapped it at him. In reaction, Matrix pulled the trigger, only the whip pulled his arm, causing him to shoot the virus. The virus screamed a horrible death and then was deleted right before his eyes. Matrix's eyes widened as he looked at the virus and then at the woman. "You…" "Helped kill him?" The woman guessed, walking up to him and tucking her whip away. I guess you can say that. I'm a virus anialator." "No you're not," Matrix said, "You're a wanted assassin from the Super Computer, and I'm going to take you back there." The woman frowned at him. "We don't even get introductions? My name's Vick. You are?" "Matrix," he replied gruffly. "Now come on, you're going back." "No way, sir," Vick replied, stepping back, "I’m not going back there. I haven't killed anyone I swear! I'm trying to redeem a good reputation and get me off the wanted list, and the only way I can do that is to fight for good!" "Yeah, right." He glared at her. She paused, thinking. "Look, I'm trying to process something. If you let me do what I want, which is hunt down viruses and kill them, then I'm no longer a wanted assassin. I've changed, I swear, I don't do that work anymore!" Then she frowned. "Wait, maybe I had to win this great battle against evil, but you know how it goes. Have to beat up a lot of bad guys in order to get a good rep again." Matrix rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure I'd like to believe that, but right now, you're coming with me." Vick started to reach for his whip, but Matrix already grabbed her by the belt, got out his zipboard, and jumped on. "Hang on," he directed. Then he flew back off toward the diner. The diner doors flew open and Matrix came in carrying Vick at his side. The others turned to look at him and Vick struggled out of his grasp. Dot frowned. "Matrix, who is she?" "Found her out there with this virus," he replied, "she's wanted from the Super Computer, she's supposedly this big assassin." Mouse looked at Vick and her eyes widened. "Vick! Hey sugah!" "Cuz!" Vick cried, grinning. She ran and hugged Mouse. "It's been so long! How's it going? Still hacking, eh?" She looked around and spotted Bob. "Wait, never mind. I'm sure he doesn't let you do that anymore, huh?" Bob stood up from his stool. "Vick, what are you doing here?" AndrAIa looked at him. "You know her?" "Yeah," he nodded. "I had to arrest her several times along with Mouse. Mouse with hacking, of course, she was more of a pest then Vick since I always caught her. But Vick was almost impossible to catch. Until her assignment was to kill me. She tried but I stopped her and tried to talk some sense into her." He paused. "But the reason why she'd be here with that blue and black icon would mean she's trying to redeem herself." Vick looked down at the icon on her chest. It was designed like every other icon, only it was blue and black. The colors of virus assassinators, or anyone trying to redeem themselves, like what she was trying to do. "Well, your little speech you gave me back at the Super Computer kind of did knock sense into me," she admitted, "but I swear, I'm trying to do good now, I tell you that. Give me a chance, okay? My new job is to beat up viruses and bad guys wherever I go." Bob nodded. "Believable…" Dot frowned. "But can we really trust you?" Enzo grinned up at Vick. "I think we should trust her, come on, let's all give her a chance!" "Exactly what I was going to say, sugah," Mouse added in. "Okay then," Matrix said, still in a gruff voice. "But one little mess up and you're off to the Super Computer, you got that?" "Got it!" Vick said cheerfully. Wait a minute," Ray cut in, "What about introductions here?" He smiled at Vick. "Well lovely lady, my name's Ray, I'm a web surfr, also known as a search engine." Vick smiled at him. She liked his attitude and charm. "Name's Vickie," she said, "But please, whatever you do, call me Vick. I like it better." "Name's Dot," Dot put in politely, "I own this diner." Vick nodded. "Cool." "And I'm Enzo!" Enzo put in. He was practically bowing at his feet. Bob could even make out hearts in his eyes if he wanted. "You are the coolest thing to come around since…the system reboot!" The woman looked surprised. "A system reboot?" "Long story," AndrAIa said, "My name's AndrAIa, I'm a game sprite." "Oh," Vick smiled. "That's uh…very nice." For some reason, she could feel AndrAIa's doubt in her. She had these special powers to sense some feelings, and AndrAIa's were pretty strong. She didn't believe she had changed from being an assassin, and Vick didn't like her for that. AndrAIa frowned at Vick. Could they really trust her? After all, you never know. For some reason, she was looking at her like a threat and she didn't know why. She seemed so sure of herself and she wasn't so sure to respect. AndrAIa blinked suddenly. Wait, why was she being so judgemental? Give her some time, she'll grow to like her. "And I already know Matrix," Vick went on. Mouse grinned suddenly, almost sheepishly. "Vick, I don't have any room in my apartment for you, would you mind rooming with one of the others?" Vick shrugged. "That's fine." She turned to the others. Bob spoke up. "You're welcome to room with me, Vick," he said, "I have an extra room and everything, though there's not a bed. But you can take my bed and I can sleep on the couch." Vick grinned. "Oh, that's so sweet! Thanks!" She turned to the others. "Well, I'd better be going, I want to get to know this town!" She walked toward the doors and on her way, she kissed Bob gratefully on the cheek. Dot glowered silently until Vick was gone. Then she glared up at Bob. "Bob!" "What?" He asked innocently. "Oh Dot, don't worry about anything." "I'm not sure we can trust her," Matrix said. "You never know what she can do." "I'll watch out for her," Bob replied. "Guys, give her a chance," Mouse urged, "She's new here, she's trying a new life, she needs a chance. What do you say, please?" "I'm in," Ray said. "So am I," Bob added. AndrAIa shrugged. "Fine with me. She seems nice enough. I have some doubts, but I want to get to know her and give her a chance." Dot sighed. "Fine, fine." Deep down, she didn't agree with her words. She didn't like how Vick was looking at Bob, and she certainly didn't like the kiss, no matter how friendly it was. "Like I said before," Matrix said, "One little mess up, and she's back to the Super Computer." Vick had her own flying mechanic, only it wasn't a zip board. Her whip was her one main weapon, and it can turn into anything. Kind of like Glitch and Bob. She took out her whip from her belt once outside the diner, and using her mental powers, turned it into a flat board that can easily fly around. Jumping on it, she headed for Los Angles, the perfect place where viruses could be. Hexadecimal was hanging out in her lair, only now she wasn't plotting to destroy Mainframe. She was still staring in the mirror at her new, revised and fixed face. "Oh, it's marvelous, simply marvelous!" She cried, "To think this would be how it would feel like without masks! I feel so whole, and really in touch with my emotions!" "Stop right there, virus!" Hexadecimal froze and turned around to see a woman flying toward the top of her lair. "Who are you?" She demanded, "And how did you get in here?" "My name is Vick!" She announced, "and I'm here to destroy all viruses! To you wish to fight or surrender?" "Excuse me?" Hexadecimal gasped, "I am not a virus!" Vick frowned. "You're…not?" "I have an icon now, isn't it pretty?" Vick was so surprised, she landed on the ground and turned the board into a whip again. "A virus with an icon? But how? That can't be, who gave it to you?" "Phong and Bob." She thought for a moment. "I know Bob," she said, "But not Phong. Who is he?" "An old, wise sprite that lives in the main building," Hexadecimal replied, looking back at the mirror. She didn't seem at all alarmed by Vick's presence. "Viruses are bad, though," Vick said, still puzzled, "why would Bob give one an icon when he's so against them?" "To tell you the truth, I don't know," Hexadecimal said, looking back at her. "But now you're here, I might as well do something about it." Vickie held up her whip immediately for defense. "What?" She demanded. Hexadecimal stood in thought, then took out a tea cup. "Care for some tea?" Phong was standing in front of the main computer, sorting through some files. He was alone in the room so he had no one to talk to. Except himself, that is. "Okay, that one is clear," he mumbled. "Oh, how interesting, I never noticed that before, how basic can I be? And that one is supposed to be cleared, only I forgot. So much to do, where is Dot? Just because it's night doesn't mean she doesn't have to be here." Suddenly a vidwindow popped open in front of him, and a virus appeared on-screen. It was human resembled, with green outfit and red scales. Phong nearly fell back when he saw it. "Oh my User!" He cried. The virus smiled at him. "Hello, is this Mainframe?" "What do you want?" Phong demanded. "Good, glad to know I did. My name's Cayo, and I'm here to give you a message." Phong managed to collect his wits. "You are a virus!" He yelled, "We want nothing to do with you!" "I really don't care, old sprite," Cayo sneered. "But tell Vick something for me. I know she's in Mainframe. Tell her that if she doesn't come back to me, I will make her regret the day she decided to become good. You'll tell her that, won't you? Oh yeah, don't tell her just yet. Wait two seconds. If you don't, I'll come and get you. I can do that, you'd better watch out, old hag." With that, he turned off the vidwindow and disappeared. Phong looked stressed. "Oh dear, oh dear," He said. He knew he couldn't tell Vick what he had heard, he took virus' threats very seriously. "Whatever shall I do?" Matrix was sitting in the diner after hours, an energy shake in his hands. AndrAIa had offered to come there with him but he declined, saying he wanted to be alone and think quietly for awhile. He checked his watch. It was getting late that second. The hand was right at the forty. The second would be over when it reached sixty. He had several things to think about. Number one, was the girl, Vick. Could they trust her? Sure, it's possible for wanted criminals to redeem themselves by changing to a better job description, but what if it wasn't that way? And since she used to work for viruses and such, why is she now vowing to destroy all of them? He was sure just a simple speech from Bob couldn't have changed her so drastically. Matrix froze suddenly, listening. He could hear someone entering from the back of the diner, making their way to the front. He slowly got to his feet and grabbed his gun. The footsteps came closer and closer, until they were right there in front of him. He couldn't take it any longer. "Stop right there!" He shouted, lifting the gun and flicking on the light at the same time. Vick was standing there, and she cried out when she saw the barrel of the gun pointing down right at her. She jumped back and held her arms up. "Whoa! Point that thing somewhere else!" "What are you doing here?" He demanded, not moving the gun. "I'll tell you when you move that gun!" Matrix glowered at her for a moment, then agreed and lowered his weapon. "What are you doing here?" He repeated. "Getting food," Vick replied, "I was on my way to Bob's, and I just happened to pass the diner. I could tell someone was in here, so I decided to come and see who it was. And to get an energy shake while at it." "But why come through the back door? And the lights were low, you couldn't have seen anyone." Vick tapped her head. "Powers, dude," she said. "I've got this special ability to see very realistic visions of the future. I could sense thoughts, and I get flashbacks. A lot. So I kind of sensed you were here." "But why the back door?" She paused for a minute. "I didn't want to come through the main doors because I knew they were locked. And I didn't want to freak out the person here." "Obviously, sneaking through the back is no better." "Well excuse me, I didn't know your evil eye was so good and tracking things down! I have a very good ability for tiptoeing and fighting. I was an assassin once, I was trained." She realized she had said the wrong thing, and quieted down. Matrix frowned at her. What was she really up to? Vick seemed to sense what he was thinking. "Look, I was here for food. Besides, I've been to Bob's before and I know Bob. He's not the type to go grocery shopping five times a microsecond." Matrix still didn't trust her, and Vick knew that as well. She shrugged casually. "I'd better go then. See you around!" With that, she turned and left through the front door. Matrix watched as she took out her whip, swung one end over a pole, and then used it to swing away from the diner. She flipped and landed squarely several roads away. He shrugged. That was impressive, but in his mind, once an assassin, always an assassin. Later that night, Vick was in her new bedroom, sitting on her bed. She knew Bob probably wasn't home, he was probably going out with Dot somewhere. Deep down, she was kind of jealous, and she was sort of homesick for the Supercomputer. But she couldn't let that get her. Being trained as an assassin, she had to look past what she needed, and just get the job done. That's when it hit her. She never really was taken off of her last assignment, neither did she complete it. She had to kill Bob before, but now, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She wasn't an assassin anymore. That's what the files said. She's a virus anialator and nothing else. The doorbell rang, and Vick climbed to her feet. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the main room, past Mike, the TV guy (luckily, he was sleeping, a very rare thing to see), and to the door. Opening it, she saw AndrAIa standing on the front stoop. Vick frowned. "Hi." AndrAIa smiled. "Hi, is it okay if I come in? I thought it would be kind of cool to get to know each other, since we're both originally not from around here." "That's right," Vick remembered, "You're a game sprite." "And you're an assassin." "Was one," she corrected. "Anyway, come on in." She closed the door behind AndrAIa and led her into the kitchen. "Want anything to eat? Oh yeah, that's right. Bob hasn't brought any food here." "Typical Bob," AndrAIa sighed, sitting down at the eating table. Vick sat down from across her, a coffee can in her hands. "Mountain fresh," she read aloud. She frowned. "What's mountain?" "So," AndrAIa began, "You want to talk about your life back in the Supercomputer?" She saw Vick fidget after she asked and she frowned at her. "I don't know," Vick shrugged, trying to be casual. "It's not the most interesting story you'd ever heard, especially compared to what you've been through and all. Well, I guess you already know that I was born in the Supercomputer, and I was best friends with Mouse, if not cousins. When I was fifteen, I had already been taking fighting classes for ten hours. I guess this…company discovered me and took me in, saying I was some under cover agent thing. It sounded interesting, so I took the job. "That's when I found out that it wasn't just an undercover agent job," she went on. "I was getting these wild assignments, going out to assassin these sprites and binomes I didn't even know. Before I knew it, I was working for viruses, always working under a grudge. I was always owing people, and the way to pay back was to work as an assassin for them." "That must be tough," AndrAIa said. (Sorry guys! I ran out of space! Actually, I've BEEN out of space, and i just now realized it, so if you want to catch the stuff you missed, go to Part 2!) |
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