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| “Megabyte,” Bob said, his voice low. He stepped in front of Matrix, AndrAIa, and Mouse, putting himself between them and the virus. “What are you doing here.” “Didn’t you know? I told you, didn’t I?” Megabyte only smirked. “Really Bob, I thought you’d be happy to see me.” “Well maybe you were wrong,” Bob shot back. He heard Matrix drawing his gun behind him and held up his hand to stop him. The renegade was already too weak to fight, who knows how well his aiming was…despite the eye. “Just what exactly are you getting out of all this,” Bob demanded. “Daemon brought you back from the web…why? And what’s in it for her?” “And where is she?” Mouse added. “She’ll come around when she feels like it,” Megabyte replied, before Matrix had the chance to. “By the way, I should let you know…the only way you can get out of here from here is back where you came from, and in exactly…thirty seconds…that door will shut and you’ll be stuck in here…and what a shame since AndrAIa and Matrix obviously need Medical attention.” “No we-“ Matrix butted in, but Mouse shook her head. “Bob,” she nodded toward the game sprite, still unconscious in her arms. “We’ve got to get her out of here.” “Be my guest, please,” Megabyte insisted, inspecting his claws. “I won’t stop you.” “Mouse, get her out of here,” Bob said. Before anyone can say anything, Mouse was hoisting AndrAIa up and carrying her back the way they came from, dragging her along the way. “Mouse- no!” Matrix started going after her, but Megabyte had reached out and pushed him up against the wall, claws out and pointed at his throat. Bob saw this and started to attack the virus, but Megabyte used his other hand, claws fully extended, and swung at the Guardian. Bob cried out in shock and pain, falling and slamming up against the opposite wall. He reached up to his arm and found blood. Looking up, he saw the same claws pointed at his face. He froze. “Make one Glitch move, and the renegade’s gone,” the virus sneered, moving his other claws closer and closer to Matrix’s neck. AndrAIa was awfully heavy and Mouse was actually having a hard time carrying her. She could hear Matrix yelling at her from behind, what could he calling her for- AndrAIa’s eyes flashed open, glowing a bright green. Barring her teeth, she whipped around and slugged Mouse right in the face. Mouse cried out in surprise, dropping the Game Sprite and falling back on the floor. To her surprise, AndrAIa attacked her, arms flailing, fingernails threatening to pierce her skin. “Whoa-hey!” Mouse blocked the next punch and automatically tried to get away, crawling down the hallway. AndrAIa let out a very unfamiliar yell and jumped on her, tackling her, bringing her back to the ground. “AndrAIa- what are you doing?” AndrAIa turned Mouse around so she was on her back, and before the hacker could do anything else, punched her as hard as she could in the face. Mouse’s head hit the ground with a thunk, her eyes rolling up, her whole body collapsing on the floor. Daemon checked to make sure she really was unconscious, then stood up, grabbing Mouse’s arm. Back up the hallway, Megabyte still had both men at claw point, threatening to pierce them any minute, when they both heard scraping and the sounds of dragging. Looking up, they saw Daemon appear out of the darkness, dragging Mouse on the floor behind her by the arms. Megabyte smiled. Dot stood at the main console, keeping a good lookout on the overall city. She kept a good scan on Hexadecimal’s Lair, and only had to wait until the readings changed before heading over there. So far there were no bursts of energy, no power usage. Nothing at all. She looked up at Phong across the console, who seemed somehow calm while he scanned the rest of the city. She didn’t know how he did it. “Phong,” she spoke up. He looked up instantly, eyeglasses on. “Yes, my child?” he answered. “Do you ever…ever get tired of giving advice? Listening to other people’s problems?” Phong seemed taken back by the question at first, then smiled, leaving his station and rolling over to her. “No I don’t. Why do you ask?” She looked down at the ground. “I don’t know, I was just…how do you come up with the right things to say?” “Through experience, my child.” She looked up then, surprised. “You’ve made mistakes?” He smiled even more then, making him look more like the grandfatherly figure she always saw and respected. “I have lived a very long time, my child, of course I’ve made mistakes. I’ve made enough of them to know how the net goes, and just now I’m sure you’ve witnessed other mistakes.” “I have?” “Take Billy for example. I did not know that she was not Daemon, yet she was under suspect and taken control of.” “But Phong, you didn’t know, how could you have?” His eyebrows rose as if she had just given him the most darndest thought ever, and then she’d understood. “That’s right, I didn’t know,” he said softly, “and that’s something you should think about.” She smiled at him. “Thanks for the advice, Phong.” He widened his eyes in an attempt to be innocent. “Advice? Advice? I don’t remember giving any advice!” She laughed, feeling a little bit better, and removed her glasses. “Maybe I should go see how Billy’s progressing.” Phong smiled. “That would be a good idea.” Just then, just as Dot was getting ready to leave for the Medical Center, Ray burst into the room, breathing hard. “Dot! Phong!” he cried, looking back the way he had came. “Something’s wrong in the MD!” Billy opened her eyes to find herself in a room she’d never seen before. Her arms and legs were strapped down on some sort of table, hooked up to different machines surrounding her. She blinked, confused, then remembered what had happened. The chase, the fall from the building window, the floodlights, Ray’s surfboard, Mouse’s katana flying in front of her… Bob’s energy shield surrounding her, lifting her up from the ground. That was what had made her pass out. Extreme exposure to radioactive energy. The room she was in was completely white, with only the table and machines around her. There were no doors, but one wall was turned into a window, letting people outside look in at her. What is going on here? Not waiting around to find out, and ignoring the headache throbbing behind her forehead, she yanked her arms, disconnecting herself from the machines. Right away, alarms went off. She cursed, pulling off the attachments on her arms and chest. These alarms were starting to drive her crazy. Hopping off the table, she checked for her weapons. Where were they? She felt helpless without her weapons. Searching for a door, she found none, and wondered how she even got in the room to begin with. Then she looked back at the window. Making her way across the room, she kicked at the glass. At first she made no effect. How thick was this thing anyway? Looking around the room, she picked up one of the biggest machines she could carry, and threw it at the window. The glass cracked. She picked up the machine again, ignoring the alarms still going off around her, and threw it back at the window. This time it broke, glass shattering everywhere. Hopping up over the side, she dropped down in the hallway outside the room and started walking down it, looking back and forth. Surprisingly, no one had come to stop her yet. Spotting a room, she disappeared into it from the hallway, finding the new room empty except for the belt and gun holster sitting on the middle table. Her weapons. Grabbing them, she hooked them on, drew a gun, and went back into the hallway, feeling much better now that she was armed. And that’s when she saw the binomes at the end of the hall, dressed in Security uniforms. When they saw her, they shouted and started running toward her. Reacting quickly, she pointed her gun at them. “Don’t move!” she shouted. Both binomes froze in their tracks. She looked at both of them, still pointing the gun at them. “Don’t move, and I won’t shoot. Step aside, and I won’t shoot. Let me by, and I won’t shoot, you got that?” Both security guards looked at each other warily so she tried another approach. “I used to be known as Daemon.” That did it. Both guards took off running past her, screaming for their lives. She watched them run, confused, then shrugged. Holstering her gun, she went down the opposite way. -And found herself facing twelve more guards, Dot and Ray in front of them. Billy skidded to a stop, arms out and away from her body. Dot saw the gun in her hand and immediately drew her own. “Drop your gun,” the Command.com ordered, “we don’t want to hurt you, just drop your gun.” Billy didn’t drop her weapon. Looking around, she saw no way of escape. Then she noticed the zip board Dot was standing on, causing her to hover just a few feet off the ground. Eyeing the board, she slowly put the gun back in its holster and put her hands in the air. Satisfied, Dot lowered the gun. Billy sprang into action. Jumping forward, she attacked the Command.com. Dot tried raising the gun, but Billy had already swung around and kicked it out of her hand. The gun went flying, hitting the wall opposite them. Dot fought back, trying to stop her. Ray reached around to grab Billy and pull her away, but the Guardian had already jumped out of his reach. Turning back to face Dot, she found her fist heading straight for her face. Billy was surprised at the punch and staggered back, amazed. Dot glared at her, her right hand clenched into a fist. This leader had one mean right hook. That did it. Billy put all her strength behind her arm as she swung, slugging Dot right in the face. Dot fell back off the zip board and Billy jumped on it before anyone had a chance to grab it. She hovered up higher until she was above the binomes below her. Some of them even started firing at her. Not waiting around any longer, she took off toward the exit, disappearing from the Principal Office. “Cursors!” Dot yelled, running after her, but Ray stopped her. She shoved his arm away. “Don’t try to stop me, Ray!” she yelled, “someone has to stop her before something horrible happens!” “I know that,” he said gently, “but you won’t get anywhere without a zip board.” She stared at him for a moment, ready to protest, then realized he was right. Turning, she headed for the equipment room. “Don’t leave without me,” she said over her shoulder. It felt great to finally be back out again. Billy shifted her balance on the zipboard as she glanced back to see if anyone was coming after her. Surprisingly there was no one. She shrugged. All the better for her. Dot had surprised her back there, she had no idea the prissy Command.com could fight back. She always assumed the woman spend most of her days in offices and diners. Now she had to get to Hexadecimal's Lair and figure out what Daemon was up to. Spotting Los Angles in the distance, she redirected the zip board and went flying off to her destination. Hexadecimal’s Lair looked normal-heck it never looked better. Dot and Ray watched from afar as Billy lowered until she was flying just above the ground. Copying her move, the two slowly moved in on her. “Should we try to stop her?” Ray whispered. Dot shook her head. “We’re just following her for now. Maybe she knows something we don’t.” He just shrugged and continued flying. But when he tried to find Billy, he realized she was nowhere in sight. They stopped flying. “Where did she go?” Dot asked, looking around. “I had the feeling I was being followed,” a voice spoke up behind them. They turned to find Billy hovering just behind them, her arms crossed. “Billy!” Dot cried, “we were-“ “Just following me? Yeah, I know that, why? Did you send your military troops after me too?” “We just wanted to make sure you weren’t getting into any trouble,” Ray said gently. “We wanted to make sure Daemon-“ “So you trust me now, is that it?” Billy didn’t sound any happier. “You wait until you practically delete me before listening to me?” “We had to be sure-“ Dot began. “Look,” she interrupted, “I don’t want an explanation, I don’t even expect an apology from you guys. Let me just do my job so I can get out of this rathole and back to the Super Computer.” “Now wait one second-“ Dot said, starting to get angry, but Ray beat her to it. “Look, we know we were wrong, okay?” the surfer said, “and we’re sorry, but if you don’t want to accept that, fine. We’re still going with you to make sure nothing happens to you.” “And Bob and Mouse.” Billy looked levelly at Dot, then at Ray. “Fine.” Pushing past them, she took the lead, flying toward the Lair. Dot and Ray hesitated before following her. “She’s starting to annoy me as much as Mouse did at first,” Dot grumbled. Instead of taking the back door like Mouse and Bob did, the three took the front one. The hole in its roof. To their surprise, it was completely dark inside the Lair. Dot had even expected to find Hexadecimal gazing into her looking glass, but she didn’t even see the mirror. They hovered just above the ground, looking through the darkness around them. “I don’t think anyone’s here,” Ray finally said. “I don’t know…” Dot said eerily, unlatching her gun. Billy was about to agree with Ray when she felt a familiar sense wash over her, and she blinked, suddenly more alert than ever. She was in the room with them. Before she could alert the other two, a tiny beam of light appeared on the other side of the room, aimed at the floor. There, lying in that circle of light, was AndrAIa. She was alive, but barely conscious. “Dot?” she called out, her voice hoarse, coming out barely even a whisper. She sounded like she had been crying and too weak to move. “AndrAIa…” Dot lowered the gun and started for her, but Billy stopped her. “No,” she said sternly, holding her back. “I don’t think that’s her.” “What do you mean? That’s AndrAIa-!” “Stop, okay?!” Billy held her firmly by the arms until they were facing each other. Lowering her voice she whispered, “just before the light went on, I felt her presence… Daemon’s presence. Either AndrAIa’s her, or Daemon is somewhere else in the room, I don’t know, but we have to be very careful, okay?” she looked at Ray. He nodded. Dot nodded, closing her eyes for a brief moment. Then she stepped out of Billy’s grip. She couldn’t believe the situation they were in. Where was Bob and Mouse? And Matrix? “Dot?” AndrAIa sounded more desperate now. “She’s got me, Dot, she wouldn’t leave me alone, she’s in this room right now and don’t come any closer, she’ll see you! She’s got Matrix, Bob and Mouse too…” that’s when her voice seemed to drift off as she slumped into unconsciousness. Dot was shaking her head now. “No, that’s AndrAIa,” she told Billy, “it has to be, I know that’s AndrAIa!” Billy didn’t answer. She wasn’t too sure anymore either. Together, with Ray behind them, they crept toward the game sprite, weapons out in case anyone wanted to attack them. By the time they reached her, they could see she was out cold. Completely unconscious. “AndrAIa?” Dot whispered, leaning down to touch her neck. “Is she…?” Ray asked, more worried then ever. “I don’t know…” Dot searched her neck, trying to find her pulse. “I-“ AndrAIa’s hand snapped up suddenly, grabbing on to Dot’s arm, her eyes opening, a grin plastered across her face. “Hello Dot!” the game sprite rasped. Her voice was nothing near normal. It sounded mechanical and evil at the same time. “User-!” Dot tried to pull her arm away, but AndrAIa was too strong. Billy and Ray tried to pull her away, but the game sprite started laughing, releasing Dot’s arm. The three fell back, surprised as AndrAIa continued to laugh. Her laugh got deeper and deeper until it no longer sounded female, but… “Megabyte!” Dot shouted, jumping to her feet, her gun out and pointed at her in less than a second. Ray and Billy jumped back, not sure what to expect. Out of the three, Dot was the only one who actually knew the virus. AndrAIa continued to laugh that deep, throaty laughter, until her entire body flickered, almost like a broken holographic image. A second later and the image broke completely, AndrAIa’s body disappearing, dissolving out of thin air. Dot, Billy, and Ray stood there, shocked, eyes wide. Dot slowly lowered her gun. “What was that?” Ray spoke up. Before he could get a response, all the lights in the lair flashed on and they spun around to see AndrAIa and Megabyte standing on the other side of the room, four figures tied chained to the wall beside them. Bob, Mouse, Matrix, and Hexadecimal. AndrAIa held Scuzzy up, who still seemed to project some sort of holographic image from its screen. AndrAIa grinned. “Isn’t it amazing what technology can do these days?” she smirked. Ray, Dot, and Billy stared at her in shock as AndrAIa laughed at her own little joke. “Daemon,” Billy realized. “You’re right!” Daemon exclaimed gleefully, dropping Scuzzy on the floor. “And now that you’re here, there’s no way out!” Right after she spoke the ceiling above them completely closed up. The outside sunlight disappeared, the whole room slightly darkening. “No!” Billy shouted. AndrAIa just started laughing again, this time echoed by Megabyte’s deep throaty one. They were trapped. To be continued… |
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