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| Nalia stopped when she reached the nearest alley, her lungs ready to burst. Turning around she could see the side of the Principal Office clearly through the night. The side door was closed, but there were no signs of Robert or Hailey. She frowned. “Where are they?” Ace snickered. “Maybe they didn’t make it out.” She cast him a dirty look. “That’s my brother we left behind. I don’t care what happens to the girl, but I can’t let my brother get caught.” “So go back and get him.” She looked back longingly, torn between decisions. Finally she said, “They probably made it out and just didn’t know where we went.” “Good enough for me.” Ace groaned as he swung the heavy bag from his shoulders and set it carefully on the ground. She went over to it and unzipped it. Inside were two small tanks of Binary Gas, an almost deadly gas that if inhaled, never failed to knock you out completely, taking away chunks of your code. She grinned as she checked over them. “Are you sure the Core won’t be missing these?” “Nope,” he replied, zipping the bag back up and swinging it over his shoulders. “There’s more where they came from.” Phong glowered at both sprites for a long moment, pacing on his wheels. Hailey and Robert didn’t move where they were, expecting the worst and glancing warily at each other. Finally Hailey spoke. “I’m really sorry that we broke inside, Mr. Phong, w-we-“ “Do not presume to tell me what you did or did not mean!” Phong snapped, stopping in front of her and stretching his neck to look at her square in the face. “I know what you are doing here! Stealing, that’s what it is! Even an old sprite like myself knows these things!” “Old? I thought you were alive during the earlier times of Mainframe,” Robert pointed out. Phong glared at him underneath his white, bushy eyebrows. “I was, but so what? I lived over a hundred years even then, you do not think I can’t live another hundred?” Hailey shifted her position. “We weren’t stealing anything-“ “Oh yes you were! I saw two of your friends steal something from the main computer room, do you think I am too old to see that? That I’m so old I don’t know what I’m talking about?” Robert and Hailey exchanged startled glances. “That’s why their backpack was so heavy!” Hailey realized. She turned back to Phong. “We didn’t know anything about it, really. We were here to get some research done for school and-“ Phong stuck his face back in hers again, studying her features. She swallowed hard. He looked ready to yell at her for a minute, but stopped. His whole face melted into a look of puzzlement as he knitted his eyebrows together, frowning. “Do I…know you?” he asked, his voice suddenly quiet. Her eyes widened. “Know me? I don’t think so-“ Still frowning, he turned away and started pacing the room again. He didn’t yell anymore. Hailey and Robert exchanged another look. Finally, after a few more moments of pacing, Phong asked, “And what were you researching?” “Important sprites of the old Mainframe,” Robert replied. “I see. And who specifically?” “I…I decided on Bob, the Guardian Bob,” he replied. “I was going to do Dot, but then…” he trailed off as Phong nodded. “Bob, yes, Bob. He was a good sprite. Very kind hearted, looked out for others. He was a very close friend.” Now Phong was looking at Hailey. “And you?” She stammered. “Uh…I don’t really know…my project is mainly to prove to my teacher that this person exists in the first place.” “Ah. And what did this person do that was so important and still didn’t get the credit they deserved?” “She…” she was at a loss for words. She didn’t know what to say. But that was enough for Phong. He was smiling. “AndrAIa,” he said. “You’re looking for AndrAIa.” She was surprised. “How did you know?” “I know many things, my child. Come, follow me, both of you.” The old sprite turned and went back out the door leading into the old Main Console Room. Robert and Hailey followed obediently, wondering what could possibly happen next. “Did you…um…know what happened to her?” Hailey asked as they entered the other room. Phong stopped in front of the console and looked down sadly at the old map of Mainframe. Robert and Hailey both stood across from him, wondering why he wasn’t mad at them anymore. “What is your name?” he asked. “Me? Hailey. Hailey Intel.” “Really.” Phong held out a clipboard that he had stashed in his drawer. “Please write it down. Sometimes my hearing isn’t as good as it once was. You too, Robert Matrix.” Robert blinked. “You know who I am?” Phong smiled, resetting his thick glasses on his nose. “I’ve seen you many times whenever you come to visit your mother, Tanner Matrix.” Hailey took the clipboard and started scribbling her name down. Robert was still questioning the old sprite. “Do you work for my mother now?” “User no, not at all. I work for no one, I simply stay here in the back rooms where nobody enters, where I can watch over my lovely city from a distance.” Hailey stared. “You mean no one knows you’re still alive?” She handed back the clipboard. He didn’t even look at it, just dumped it back in his drawer. “No, I wouldn’t say that. One person knows I’m alive.” “Really. Who?” “That you will find out soon enough. Now Miss. Hailey Intel, right? You say you are researching AndrAIa.” “That’s right, I am, but there’s absolutely nothing about her. They only mention her here and there, but not even her name is printed. Why is that?” “Oh, I don’t know, my child.” Phong was still studying the map. “But I do know where you can find some books that have her in them. All the old records had her mentioned everywhere, including her name. But something happened and those books were destroyed. Only a few remain, and they are in a hidden place. The new book keepers and record holders knew nothing from the old records, so they didn’t know about AndrAIa. But I know where you can find out more about her.” Hailey was intrigued. “Really? Where can I find them?” “You will have to ask a friend of mine first. I think you should talk to him. He’s the only one that knows exactly where they are.” “And where’s he?” Robert spoke up. Phong stared at the map. Finally he pointed at a sector. The other two leaned in to look at it closer. “But that’s the Mainframe Dump,” Robert said. “Yes,” Phong nodded. “Back when this map was efficient, it was called Old Man Pearson’s Data ‘Dump’. You will find what you’re looking for there.” Robert resisted rolling his eyes. “Of course. It’s a dump.” “Thank you, Mr. Phong,” Hailey said, excited. “This is great, this will really help me a lot.” Phong nodded. “I think you don’t need me to report you two to the Principal Office since you did have good intentions. But I’m not sure about your two friends.” Hailey was making her way toward the door. “We’ll talk to them, but right now we’ve got to get going. Thank you so much.” Robert was hurrying after her as well. “Yeah, thanks Phong,” he said. Then the two were out of there. But before they left, Hailey returned and gave the old sprite a big hug. “Thanks a mil,” she whispered. Then she turned and left the room. Phong smiled as he watched them go. Robert had an extra pair of Hover Flats, which he gave to Hailey. He could see as the opened the side door and jump out, and then there was silence. He was alone again. Reaching into his drawer, he took out the clipboard and studied the name scrawled on it. Then, picking up the pen, he rewrote the name, writing it differently. Then he smiled. “I think you’ve got to be crazy,” Robert said when they reached safe ground again and were walking away from the Principal Office. “It’s almost sun-up, if we go to the dump, we’ll miss class and then this whole thing will be for nothing!” “Not the way I see it,” Hailey said, shaking her head. “Don’t you see what we’ve discovered? A find! Number one, we found out that the legendary Phong is still alive, which is pretty incredible for me. Number two, we found out that nearly all the old record books were destroyed. Now why would that be? Number three, the information on AndrAIa actually exists, and someone’s guarding it!” Robert checked his watch. Four hours until the Guardian Academy would open up. “Can’t I just go drop off my project first-“ She stopped walking suddenly and turned to him. “Where’s Nalia and Ace?” He shrugged. “Probably went home or something.” She started walking again and he struggled to catch up. “We should probably tell Nalia and Ace what’s going on.” “Why? They don’t care. And I really don’t think this is a good idea anyway! You’ll miss class and then you’ll fail and-“ “Look, I don’t really care about that anymore. I just want to find out what happened to AndrAIa and why no one seems to want to admit she was once alive, don’t you get it? I’m going to that dump. You don’t have to come with me, I don’t care. You can go drop off your project or whatever, go back to school, but I’m not. I’ve got something I need to do.” He didn’t answer for a long moment, and for a split second thought he was going to walk out on her. But he didn’t. “I’m staying with you,” he decided. Nalia was awakened by the ringing of her vid-window. Rolling around in her bed, she checked the clock. Not even five in the morning yet. Groaning, she pressed the answer button and her brother’s face appeared on the screen. He seemed to be flying over the city, the early morning sky in the background, almost dark as night. “Robert?” she squinted. Seeing it was him, she buried her face back in the pillows. “Nalia, Hailey and I’ve discovered something amazing,” he said. “Really.” Her voice came out muffled. “Yeah. The girl that Hailey’s researching, turns out she’s real, that she really existed! And her name was AndrAIa!” “Whoop de do.” Nalia turned over so she was facing away from the window. “We’ve got a lead right now, and we’re heading to the dump. Do you want to come along?" She lifted her head long enough to cast her brother a dirty look. “Dump? Why would I want to do that? You’re crazy Rob, I swear. You’ve got to be crazy if you want to hang out with that Hailey-chick.” “Now wait a minute-“ “Go ahead, do whatever you want,” she mumbled. Reaching out, she pressed the button again and the vidwindow closed, hanging up on him. Hailey looked over the huge expanse of trashed data files, not sure where to begin. There were machinery all over the place, crowding the sector even more. Robert stepped up beside her. “Looks like she doesn’t want to care,” he told her. She shrugged. “Oh well, too bad. Where do we start?” “You’ve got me.” They studied the expanse for a long moment and Robert prayed they didn’t have to actually go looking through the trash to find what they wanted. “The main office,” Hailey suggested. “They’ve got to have somebody there that can help us.” The two of them floated down into the ditch, careful not to get into the trash itself. The main office wasn’t too far away, and they were able to fly over to it pretty quickly. Inside, they were greeted by something totally opposite of the dump. Everything inside was sparkling clean, including the people walking around inside. There were new sockets and chips on the walls for sale, including racks with replaceable tubes. A man stood behind the counter, polishing the glass. The only other person by the counter was a older boy of maybe fourteen years, looking at the merchandise beneath the glass. Hailey gingerly stepped aside the boy and looked at the man behind the counter. The man glanced up at her and smiled. “How can I help you?” “Uh…we were looking for something,” Hailey said. She wasn’t sure how to begin. The man turned to a computer on the side. “Well name it and I’ll search for it. I’ve got every file in this trash dump down in the comp and I’ll find what you need if we have it.” Hailey smiled. “Thanks, but…” she glanced at Robert. “We’re looking for old records,” he spoke up. “A friend of ours said somebody here was carrying those.” The man frowned and the boy beside them looked at them, puzzled. The man typed something into the computer and waited as results came up. “Records, describe records.” He said. “Date? Title? What?” “Local history,” Hailey replied, “dating back a hundred and fifty years or less or more.” The man checked the screen again, then shook his head. “Sorry, none of those. Maybe if you were a little bit more specific I would’ve been able to help you.” Hailey nodded. “Thanks anyway.” She and Robert turned away, feeling slightly dejected. The boy beside them had vanished from the store, but she didn’t really care about that. “Now what?” she asked him when they stepped outside. “What do we do?” He shrugged. “Start searching?” “Through this?” “Scanners?” She put her hands at her hips and looked around, checking out the waste dump. She couldn’t believe what a city like Mainframe could throw away. She was unaware that Robert was looking at her rather than the hills and hills of trash. She sighed, dejected. "This is never going to work.” “Maybe I can be of some help.” At first she thought Robert had spoke, but when she turned toward him, he was looking behind her. Turning all the way around, she saw the fourteen year-old boy they had seen earlier in the office. He was standing in a corner, hiding almost behind the building. The night wasn’t over yet and they could barely see him in the shadows. “You can?” she asked. He stepped out of the corner. “Yeah. You said you were looking for someone who carried the old records of Mainframe, right?” Robert nodded. “Yeah.” “Name’s Devon, I work for the man you’re looking for. Follow me.” Without giving them a second look, he started walking toward the older part of the dump, walking along the outer rim of the dump itself. “Things just get stranger and stranger,” Robert murmured. He and Hailey started going after him, not entirely sure of what they were doing. Devon continued leading them in silent toward the back of the dump where the older data files still lay and seemed to be moved around for easier access. No machinery lay around here. “How did you start working for this man?” Hailey asked. It was either that or continue walking with the eerie silence surrounding them. “I met him two years ago,” Devon replied, not looking back. He stayed five feet ahead of them, walking briskly. “Just walking around and found him. He’s never left this place and won’t. I don’t know why, he’s just…kind of solitary, you know what I’m saying?” Hailey nodded. “What do you mean ‘found him’?” Robert asked. “He’s old, older than most sprites you see nowaday. But I’m not allowed to tell much. You’ll have to wait until you meet him yourself. I’m not at liberty to say certain things.” “Do you live here?” “Yes. I do errands for him, you know, stuff like that. Unlike him I leave every now and then to go into the main city. You’re the Command.com’s son, aren’t you?” Robert looked surprised. “How’d you know?” “We have a TV. We watch the news, even though he can get pretty annoying.” “Who? The man?” “No. The TV.” Robert frowned, confused, but Hailey continued asking questions. “What’s this guy’s name? The guy you work for?” “What’s your name?” She hesitated. “Hailey. Intel.” “Hailey Intel…” he sounded thoughtful. “Nice to meet you.” “What’s his name?” “His name?” Robert was beginning to get impatient. “His name! You know, the guy you work for? He does have a name, doesn’t he? We would like to know!” “I can’t say that either. It’s dangerous.” “To say his name? What’s going to happen, bad luck?” “You can say that. He doesn’t want anyone to know who he really is.” “Sounds mysterious,” Hailey commented. Just then they reached the edge of some kind of hill and they all looked down to see an end to all the data files. In the short distance was an olden, nearly broken down trailer-looking shack. It was huge, taking up most of the clean ground. “There he is,” Devon said, heading for the trailer. Hailey and Robert followed him, anxiety started to build in their stomachs. Hailey wasn’t sure whether to be thrilled or scared. She didn’t know what she was walking into. As they neared the trailer, she slowed her pace, letting the boy enter the trailer first. They could hear his voice as he stepped inside. “Sir? Sir! There’s somebody here to see you.” Hailey and Robert stood outside. They looked around, waiting impatiently for the boy to return. Neither of them spoke. Finally the boy returned. “He’ll see you,” he said. The two exchanged glances, then went inside. They were greeted by darkness. The whole inside of the building was completely dark as they walked through the front. The only light was a dim one, and it was toward the back of the huge trailer. An old, feeble looking man sat in an armchair, facing them, his hands gripped onto the arms of the chair. Robert and Hailey crept forward, not exactly sure how to react. Slowly, the man started climbing to his feet, and he proved taller than they expected. Devon ran forward to help him up, getting him out of the chair. At his feet, the man walked toward the two, taking slow, careful steps. Hailey resisted the urge to run. She shouldn’t have come, probably. Maybe this was a mistake. Then the man was just a couple of feet away, and she could see his face clearly, read his features, look into his eyes. And her own eyes widened in shock and her mouth opened when she recognized him. “Bob…” she breathed. He looked closely at her also, ignoring Robert all together. He studied her face, her hair, her eyes, everything about her, squinting through the dim light. Then his eyes widened until he was wearing the same expression she was, and breathed the single name that changed everything. “AndrAIa.” To be continued |
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