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| Phong was busy in his office when the loud noises caused him to look up. A group of angry looking sprites were coming his way to the main command room where he still worked, despite the fact Dot was command.com now. He was still part head-honcho and advisor to the new commander. Even so, he was surprised to find that the angry faces belonged to Dot, Bob, Ray, and Mouse. The feeling that something bad was coming, so he turned to Little Enzo, his helper who enjoyed working with him and said, “Maybe you should go…supervise the engineers. Enzo grinned gleefully and scampered off, just as the four older sprites walked in. Dot didn’t even say anything, she went straight to the scanning monitor and started typing in a few keys. Mouse went to the weapons unit, and Bob and Ray went to check the viral readings on the city on the other side of the room. Phong watched this for a moment, then said inquiringly to Dot who was nearest to him, “What is going on my child?” “Daemon’s definitely in town,” Mouse replied before Dot had the chance to. She straightened up, snapping a weapon together, “and we lured her to the city.” Phong frowned. ”What?” “Daemon’s Billy, Phong,” Dot explained, not looking up from her work, “Somehow the virus got to her when she entered the system and now she’s kidnapped AndrAIa and Matrix.” “Are you certain?” “This was found in their house,” Ray said, handing the old sprite the card he’d found. “Billy’s our only suspect, and we know it’s got to be her.” “You mean Daemon,” Phong corrected. “Billy’s not the bad guy here, just Daemon.” The four exchanged glances, then nodded. For some reason they’d forgotten to overlook that and considered Billy bad as well. “And what do you say about this, Bob?” he asked, turning to the guardian who was still on the other side of the room, checking the readings. Bob glanced back. “What? Oh, well, it is a possibility…I’m not completely sure right now but-“ “We’re going out to find her,” Mouse interrupted, throwing a weapon to him. Bob caught it, then tossed it back. “I’ll be fine,” he said, holding up his hands. “Remember? I’ve got the glowy yellow stuff that comes out of my hands and does magical things.” “Right.” Mouse caught the weapon and tossed it to Dot. “I guess you and I are the only ones that need these,” she said to her, “since Ray’s got…the gift too.” “What are you planning on doing?” Phong asked. “I don’t know right now,” Dot said, finishing up her half of the scanning. “The first thing on my mind is to find her and figure out where Matrix and AndrAIa are.” “And then what?” “We’ll deal with that when it comes to it,” she replied, hitting a button on the control panel. “Got her. I have a tracking device on Billy’s icon, so now we know where Daemon is. She’s heading for the diner.” “Let’s go,” Mouse said, turning and leaving the room, Dot, Ray, and Bob following close behind, Bob bringing up the rear. “Bob,” Phong called out before he could leave. The guardian turned as well as Ray, leaving the girls to go ahead. “Yeah?” the guardian asked. “Be aware of assumptions, they will get you nowhere.” Bob just looked at him for a moment, then nodded. “Thanks.” Ray did the same. With that, they turned and followed the others toward the diner. Billy didn’t know where to turn now. After leaving the 8-ball apartment, she got another room in the Baudway building, since some of it was a hotel. Now here she was, walking toward Dot’s Diner, hoping she could find someone- AndrAIa or Ray possibly to confide in. It was obvious Dot didn’t trust her, and Bob was her boyfriend so he’d probably be against her too now. Matrix was Dot’s sister and one already mean looking guy, so she didn’t even want to try him. As for AndrAIa and Ray, she knew they were willing to hear her out before making any judgments. She was just a block away from Dot’s Diner, passing several dark alleyways, when she heard a noise coming from one of them. She froze, listening. For a long moment she didn’t hear anything after that and was about to continue walking when she heard another thump. This time louder. Alarmed, Billy reached down, taking her gun, tucked down in her boot. Holding it up, she slowly ventured into the dark alleyway, stepping quietly. Not really knowing what she was looking for, it made it even harder knowing what to prepare for in the darkness. Even though it was in the middle of the day, the alleyways were so dark, it was hard seeing something on the other end. Reaching a corner, she took it, stepping quietly, taking brisk strides. She felt strange crunching beneath her boots, causing her to look down. A dead null lay on the ground, more nulls littering the area, some barely alive. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened in a silent scream. Her heart beating rapidly, she stepped back, finally remembering the small flashlight in her belt. Taking it out she turned it on, flashing the light on the ground around her. There weren’t that many nulls, but the stench was starting to get to her. Now stepping carefully, she hopped over them to the spots that were bare, moving down the alleyway that way. Why were there so many nulls? They weren’t common in this area of Mainframe. After taking a few more turns, she found herself in an opening piled with junk leading off to another maze of alleyways. Billy stood there, lowering her gun, not sure what to do. If she kept going she might get lost. The noises had stopped so she really didn’t find a need to keep going- A loud thud erupted from the clearing. Nearly jumping out of her skin, Billy reacted, holding the gun out, facing the opening. Her arm hit a nearby crate and it fell down, revealing someone on the ground behind it. Hexadecimal. She was just lying there, body shaking, convulsing. Her eyes were completely white, the side of her forehead pulsing with a greenish-yellow mark. Billy didn’t know how to react to that, or what to do. She recognized the mark though, and that set her going. Lowering the gun and sticking it back in her boot, she approached the no-longer-virus, taking a vial out of her belt. Ripping off part of her sleeve, she soaked the cloth with whatever was in the vial and pressed it against Hexadecimal’s noise, allowing her to breath it in with her short gasps for breath. Before long, the convulsions had calmed down and stopped, the sprite now lying completely still. Noticing that the greenish-yellow mark was starting to fade, Billy took what was left in the vial and, opening Hex’s mouth, poured some in. A moment passed before she started showing signs of revivement. Hex swallowed whatever had been given to her and her eyes fluttered open. Staring straight up at Daemon’s face. Her eyes widened and she screamed, now wide awake and revived, scrambling away. Surprised, Billy reached out to calm her. “It’s okay!” she said, “It’s okay, it’s me, Billy! I’m not Daemon, I swear, remember? Billy? I’m Billy.” Hex stopped moving and looked at the guardian, frowning. Then something took her attention away from her and she started babbling. “She came to my lair and took everything! I tried to stop her but- she was just like Daemon and I couldn’t get rid of her- the wench- and somehow she made me pass out. When I woke up everything was fuzzy and someone else was there but I couldn’t see- big and dark, then they said something, three sprites there, and then I don’t remember nothing until now!” Billy frowned. “What? Who came to your Lair?” “Her!” “Who her? Daemon?” “That’s what I said!” Now Hex sounded exasperated. “Her! But it wasn’t her it was…” she frowned. “Who?” Billy urged her on, but Hex didn’t continue. She fainted, exhausted, collapsing on the ground. Billy raised her eyebrows, surprised, then sighed, getting to her feet. This woman needed help, and help fast. Hoping nothing else would happen to her, Billy left her in the clearing to go find help and maybe alert the medical people. Taking the route she had used to get in, she walked out of the alleyway. She wasn’t far from the diner now, so she went there first. Walking quickly, taking wide strides like before, she reached the building. Throwing open the door, she walked in- And found herself staring down the barrels of two guns. “Don’t move!” Mouse shouted, the owner of one of them. Dot held the other, both on opposite sides of the diner. Bob and Ray appeared suddenly behind her, coming into the diner. They were the only ones in the building. Billy was so surprised at first she didn’t know how to react. Then she remembered all the accusations. “No, stop!” she shouted, “I’m not-“ “Don’t talk!” Dot yelled, surprising Billy. She didn’t think the Command.com could be that forceful. “Don’t say another word until we get you to the P.O…. Daemon.” Billy looked around helplessly, glancing back at Bob and Ray who guarded the doorway. She looked at Ray, her eyes pleading, but he didn’t do anything. He fidgeted, glancing warily at Bob, but one look at Mouse stopped him from whatever he might have done or thought of doing. “Guys, there’s been a terrible mis-“ “I said don’t talk!” Dot yelled, holding the gun even more forcefully. She changed her grip on the gun. Billy blinked, then looked around, looking for a way out. Finally she said, “Okay then.” With lightning quick speed, all her training to become a guardian coming back at her, she grabbed the gun from her boot and fired twice, knocking both guns out of their owners’ hands. At the same time she started running for the opposite end of the diner backwards, her gun pointed at whoever might pursue her. Dot and Mouse hadn’t moved from their spots, but Dot turned on a vidwindow and the principle office’s army guards appeared on screen. Billy simply fired at the vidwindow, causing it to break up. The bullet went through the screen and hit the diner wall, inches from Bob. But with the flick of his hand, the gun went flying from her grasp. Surprised and now unarmed, she backed up as the four started advancing on her. Then, as her last resort, she grabbed a pitcher off the serving counter and through it one of the large windows on the side facing out the diner. The window smashed, sending glass everywhere and without hesitation, she jumped on the table and flew through the opening, landing on her feet and taking off down the street. Mouse made a move to fire in her direction, but Dot stopped her, putting a hand on her arm. “No, wait,” she said, “we’ll get Daemon later. There’s a tracking device on her, remember? We’ll find her again.” Mouse lowered the gun and nodded, then the two women left the diner through the front door. Bob and Ray exchanged glances with each other, remembering Phong’s advice, then went after them. Billy went tearing through the streets, not daring to look back in fear that she might loose distance that way. Reaching the alleyway where she had left Hexadecimal, she dove in there, hoping to lose them. Darkness greeting her once more, she ignored it and groped her way, making her way to the clearing my memory. Ignoring the nulls on the ground she ran through, making tight turns, thinking every time that her pursuers were right behind her. When she finally reached the clearing she found Hexadecimal where she had left her, only this time the sprite was awake, but just barely. When she burst in she looked up at her, surprised. “And what a pleasant surprise, where were YOU at?” Billy sighed, wishing she wasn’t in this situation. Being chased by Bob and Dot and the others were okay, but now she was in hiding with Hexadecimal. Things were getting worst. Daemon stood in front of Hexadecimal’s looking glass, gazing at Mainframe through it. She smiled at the thought that it soon will be hers. Glancing over she saw Matrix, tied up and gagged in a chair. He was wide awake now, and pretty much aware of what was going on. Unfortunately for him, though, he couldn’t say nor do anything about it. “Are you comfortable?” she asked him, almost casually. He mumbled something through his gag and glared at her. “I’m sorry, what was that?” she said, smiling at her little joke. “I didn’t hear you, you’ll have to speak up. Is this better?” Reaching out she untied the cloth from around his face, covering his mouth. “Now what was it you said?” “If you do anything,” he snarled, “to harm AndrAIa or anyone else, I swear I will be the one to confirm your deletion wish.” She chuckled. “Yeah, see I’m not really threatened by you, seeing the way you are right now. Besides, I AM AndrAIa. What can I do to hurt her?” She started tying the cloth back on, fighting his struggles. “But…if you ever do get out of your bonds, come find me.” She winked at him. “We’ll have good times together.” “Maybe you should stop encouraging the boy,” a deep voice came out from the shadows around them. Matrix’s eyes widened, but Daemon didn’t do so much as flinch. Straightening up she said, still facing the renegade, “what are you going to do about it? I brought you back not to judge me, but to assist me.” “Yes, I know that,” the voice continued conversationally. “Very much obliged. But leading him on won’t get you anywhere.” Daemon smiled, touching Matrix’s chin. “It’s just harmless fun. Besides, who are you to tell me what to do?” “Then I’ll be careful…not to do it again, as long as you do what’s in your part of the deal.” Her smile got wider as she dropped her hand from Matrix’s face. “Of course. Oh, and why don’t you come out. I’m sure Matrix is just dying to know who you are…and meet you…again.” There was a moment of silence, then the sound of metal scraping against the floor was heard from the platform where the mirror was. Matrix’s eyebrows rose in dread. He recognized that noise. Stepping into the light now was a giant figure, glowing eyes, bulky build, and stamping feet. The figure smiled down at him menacingly. Megabyte. “Meeting me is easy,” he said, “the ‘just dying’ part can be easily arranged.” TO BE CONTINUED…. |
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