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| Part II "Not really. At first, of course it was tough. And emotional as well. But after awhile, I grew into the role. I actually looked forward to getting up every morning and getting my new assignment. I always killed someone in two days at the most. And I got my fill on the part. Until I began working for this virus named Cayo. I don't know why I did, but he promised me all the money I wanted, and if I didn't do what he wanted, he'd kill me and my family. Of course, who could resist a threat like that? Not me. So I decided to work for him. I was surprised though, because he only wanted me to kill one person. And that was Bob." "But you never were able to," AndrAIa pointed out. "That's right. I never met Bob, but I knew he was a guardian and I knew he had arrested Mouse several times. So I decided to go along with it. Since he was so powerful and everything, I went undercover has a research student, to interview him on his guardian work. Of course, he ate up everything I said. At first. Then, before I knew it, I began having this feeling that I couldn't kill him. Something was stopping me." "What was it?" AndrAIa asked politely. She was looking kindly at Vick, and Vick suddenly knew that AndrAIa didn't doubt her anymore. "I had fallen in love with him," she replied. AndrAIa looked at her, surprised. "You were?" Then she chuckled. "I'm not surprised. Everyone loves Bot. Long time ago, Mouse and Dot were fighting hysterically over his attention. I was just a little sprite then, but then again, it wasn't too long ago either." Vick nodded. "Anyway, after two days, Cayo began to realize my hesitation. He asked why I wouldn't kill Bob, and I refused to tell him. I told him I'd get the job done and to just trust me. After that, I began to feel really guilty, so the next time I saw Bob, I confessed everything. I told him who I really was and what I was doing. I didn't tell him who I was working for, though. Bob didn't want to, I'm sure, but he had to arrest me. I never told him my feelings for him, though. Now I wish I did. "A few seconds later, I broke out of jail and returned to my house, only to find Cayo there, waiting for me. He was angry, as I expected, and he was holding my parents as hostages right in front of me. Then, right before my very eyes, he…deleted them…" she paused to wipe a few tears from her eyes. "And he tried to delete me too. Right then and there, I had great hatred for all viruses, and vowed to destroy them all. Except Hexadecimal, I just figured out what she's really like and she's an exception. I managed to escape and have been traveling through systems, destroying viruses. Ever since then, I never saw Bob again…until now." AndrAIa sighed. "Oh Vick, I'm so sorry. I had no idea. If I knew, I would've given you grief back at the diner. I'm sorry about the way Matrix was treating you, but if he knew-" "No!" Vick stopped her, "You can't tell anyone this story. Only you know it. Mouse only knows the main story, none of the details. Please AndrAIa, you have to keep this between you and me. That's all in the past, Cayo's long gone. I'm fine. All I have to do, is do enough good to redeem myself. Please?" AndrAIa looked at her and sighed. Vick looked so pleading and in hope, that she just had to go along with her. "Okay, I won't tell a soul," she promised, "But you've got to promise me something. I won't tell anyone your feelings for Bob or anything that leads to the past, if you'll promise me one thing. Don't try to get yourself in trouble. That's the last thing we need, and we're all pretty stressed out here." Vick smiled, relieved. "Okay, it's a deal. I promise." The next second, everyone was up and about, very busy. Vick was sitting at the bar in Dot's Diner, apparently not very much liked by Cecil. Dot was sitting next to her, working on her vid windows. Dot still was cautious around Vick, but she managed to be polite to her. "Well, that game's done," Bob announced, walking into the diner. AndrAIa and Matrix followed behind him and Bob sat down beside Vick. Vick glanced at AndrAIa and they both shared a meaningful glance. Matrix sat cautiously on the other side of Bob, glaring at Vick. She sighed. Why couldn't he just trust her? "What was the game about?" Dot asked, absentmindedly. Just then, Enzo came skipping into the diner, tripping over Frisket at the same time. "Wowee!" He yelled, sliding into a booth. "That game was so fun, flying in that flying thing and defeating the Death Star!" He frowned suddenly. "Whatever that is." Dot glared at Bob and Matrix. "You took him into a flying game? What if he crashed?!" "It's okay Dot," Bob said, "Enzo just wants a little fun, and he's pretty darn good at it, aren't you, Enzo?" Enzo grinned at him. "So," Mouse said, walking into the diner, holding Ray's hand. "What are we all going to do today?" Vick shrugged broadly. "Hang out, I guess. Maybe we can wait for a game cube to come down and we can have some high ridin' fun." "I have nothing to do," Enzo said, "why don't we-" He was cut off when a vid window opened up and Phong appeared. He looked stressed. Dot frowned at him, worried. "Phong, what is it?" She asked. Phong started jabbering away, and everyone looked at him, trying to figure out what he was saying. "Ijustcan'tbelievewhathappenedittotallysurprisedme,isthereaVickhere,there'ssomeonethat- leftamessageforheratmyofficenotlongago.Doesanyoneknowthename'Cayo'?Iamsoworriedyouguysmustwatchoutforyourselves,whateveryoudo,don'tforgettolookbehindyourbacks,-Bob,Dot,Enzo,Matrix,Mouse,AndrAIa,Ray,andespeciallyVick,youguysmustcomehere,no exceptions,itisveryimportant,pleasecome!" Bob chucked nervously. "Uh Phong? Mind running that by me again?" All the others were looking at the window, just as puzzled. Except Vick, she was staring at it, eyes wide. Phong opened his mouth to repeat what he said, when he was interrupted by a huge bang at the principle office around him. "Oh User!" He cried. Then the Vid window lost connection and disconnected. Dot frowned. "What was that all about?" Vick got slowly to her feet. "Oh no, this is not good. This is definitely not good!" "What do you mean, sugah?" Mouse asked. "Cayo…" she mumbled to herself. She glanced at AndrAIa. The game sprite had gotten the picture, as she had picked out that name herself through Phong's jumble of words. She looked at the others. "We've got to head to the principle office right now!" She directed. She pulled her whip out of her belt and her eyes narrowed together in seriousness. The principle office was in shambles by the time to group reached it. Dot gasped in surprise and landed her zip board on the ground, gaping around the room. Bob couldn't hide the surprise from his face either as he flew around, trying to figure out what happened. Mouse drew out her sword. "Someone's been here alright," she said. "Who would do this?" Ray asked. "The only thing that comes to mind is a web creature, but I haven't seen one around here." "No, not a web creature," Vick said. She was still on top of the building, peering through the cracked window that used to be the ceiling. She swung her whip over the side and slid down. Cracking her whip, she brought it to her and held it out for defense. AndrAIa was cautious as well. They didn't know if whatever did this was still there. She took out her trident and held it out defensively. Matrix unhooked his gun from the invisible magnet on his leg and held it up. "This is so terrible," Enzo whispered. "That I'm going to delete that basic thing that des-troyed this place!" "Enzo, don't talk that way," Dot said. Bob flew back over to them and jumped off his zip board. "Whatever did this isn't here anymore." He glanced around and saw a red and gold thing sticking out from some rubble. His eyes widened. "Phong!" It was indeed Phong, only he was in no good condition. His eyes were closed, and he wasn't moving. Bob closed his eyes for a brief moment in dread. Then he walked over to him, examining him over. He looked at the others and gave his verdict. "He's out cold," he said. "We've got to take him away from this place, we don't know if whatever did this will come back." He picked Phong up. "You guys go," Vick said. "I'll stay here, I need to figure out who did this." "Vick, I'm not sure you should," Matrix argued. AndrAIa put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "No, I'm staying," Vick said defiantly. "I've been through many systems, and I've had to fight many viruses. Remember, I used to work for them so I know their ways. I think I would know who'd do this." Deep down, she really didn't have to say that. She already knew who did this. "I'll catch up with my hypothesis, okay?" The others exchanged glances, but they agreed and quickly left, carrying Phong in Bob's arms. Vick stared after them for a long moment, then looked down at the rubble. This was bad. This was really bad. She looked up when Bob and Dot stopped for a minute in the air. They were apparently talking about Phong, draped around Bob's arms. She watched them for a moment as the discussed something. Then she saw Dot lean over and give Bob a long, passionate kiss. He kissed back, and then they flew off to catch up with the others. Vick narrowed her eyes. "Bob…" she murmured. She could feel tears in her eyes and silently swore at herself. "No Vick," she said, "Bob's taken, he's just a long time ago crush, you have to get over it." Suddenly, tears started pouring down her cheeks. "But I can't! I just can't! And now Cayo's back and I know he's come back to have revenge on everything! Why can't I just have a normal life?" With an angry cry, she picked up a piece of rubble and hurled it across the room, smashing into the wall and crumbling into little pieces. "I hate this, I swear I hate this!" She threw another piece of rubble. "My life is a mess," she said to herself. "Matrix doesn't trust me, I know Dot doesn't like me. And Bob…" She sniffed. "Bob…" She threw another piece of rubble, picked up a broken piece of glass and hurled it also. Then she sat down hard on the ground and cried into her hands. Phong was laid down on Bob's bed, and everyone was gathered around him. He seemed to coming to, though he mixed up his sentences. He was making progress though, and everyone was happy about that. "Phong," Bob spoke up, "Can you tell me who messed up the principle office?" "V-v-v-v-viruss-s-s-s-s…" Phong stuttered. "Left Vick-k-k-k-k-k mes-s-s-s-s-s….worked for…vvvvvvv-…" He couldn't say much else, but everyone could understand that the last letter obviously meant 'virus.' AndrAIa automatically knew what it meant, that Vick used to work for the virus that messed up the office, but unfortunately the others didn't. "A virus did this!" Bob cried. "And Vick works for it!" Matrix yelled, angrily. "Now Sugah, you don't know that for sure," Mouse said. Matrix got angrily to his feet, not bothering to listen to anyone. He grabbed his gun. "Vick works for the virus that did this to my friend, Phong. I said I'd give her one chance and she blew it!" "Matrix, stop!" AndrAIa cried, jumping up next to him. "You have to calm down-" "She's the bad guy, AndrAIa!" He cried, "I've got to stop her, she's the reason for Phong! We trusted her and she turned her back on us! She's a traitor!" AndrAIa gasped. "Matrix, how can you say that?!" She glanced at the others. They weren't agreeing with him, but they weren't against him either. "You guys!" "I'm going to find her," Matrix said. He stalked out of the room. Vick decided to walk home. She had dried her face and calmed down a bit, even though the smashing up she did at the principle office made her feel better. She had some thinking to do. Cayo obviously wanted to kill her now, and no doubt that he's going to attack Mainframe. Probably with a bunch of infected sprites and binomes along with it. She had to tell the others to get ready for war. Suddenly, she felt a searing pain explode through her head and she fell down over the sidewalk. It was another one of those visions she got every now and then, and she knew from the pain that it wasn't a pleasant one. She could see herself on the streets, facing a whole army of something. She couldn't tell, they were all shadows. When she turned around, there were more shadows, until she saw AndrAIa, lying on the pavement, passed out. Vick gasped and opened her eyes. The vision left her just as quickly as it came, but it was still flashing through her memory. What happened? Was that going to happen? There had to be a way to prevent it! She climbed wearily to her feet, the pain slowly subsiding in her head as she walked down the street. "I've got to warn the others," she said to herself, "About the war." She was just turning the corner, when she saw a tall figure standing in the middle of the road. He looked gruff and very mean. Matrix. Vick frowned at him, puzzled. "Matrix, what's wrong?" "Don't act innocent, assassin," Matrix sneered. "We know you're the traitor, you're working for the virus that tore up the principle office." He stepped toward her. Vick stepped back. "I used to work for him, but I don't anymore. Matrix, what are you talking about?" Matrix was still angry. "My friend Phong could be in serious conditions because of you! How do you think that makes me feel?" "I'm sorry!" Vick cried, "but it wasn't my fault!" "Oh really?" He glared at her. "Matrix…" she said, cautiously. She could definitely sense his anger and the wanting to attack. She took out her whip. Suddenly, he swung his arm, throwing her against the nearest building. She cried out as she slid to the ground. As quickly as she could react, she swung her whip and managed to get out of harms way. That didn't stop Matrix, though. He trained his gun on her. "You're not going anywhere," he threatened. "Don't!" She cried, just as he pulled the trigger. She jerked to the side, but instead of the bullet she expected to come flying out, a net came out instead. It enveloped her, causing her to fall down. The whip rolled from her grasp. "Traitor," he said. He walked right up to her and trained the gun right at her head. "You'll pay for what you've done." "Matrix-no!" AndrAIa's trident came flying through the air, knocking the gun from his hand. She came running up and started to untie Vick. "Matrix, how could you!" She cried. Matrix looked at her, surprised. "AndrAIa, what are you…?" AndrAIa looked angrily up at him. "So, you're shooting before asking questions again, aren't you? Ever thought of asking Vick her side of the story? After all, Phong didn't come very clear, he might not have said the whole thing!" He was still puzzled. "I…I'm sorry…" "Sorry won't make up for what you were about to do," she snapped. She helped Vick up. "Are you okay?" She asked. "I'm fine," Vick replied. She looked at Matrix. "Maybe you should know a little more about me, don't you think. Yes, I did used to work for Cayo, the virus that attacked Phong. But I stopped long ago when he wanted me to kill Bob. For revenge, he killed my parents, and tried to kill me. I escaped, hoping he'd never find me again. Unfortunately, he tracked me down here, at Mainframe. Apparently he had a mishap with Phong and that's what caused the rubble, but now I know that we have to prepare for war. I know what Cayo is like, and he will do anything to get to me. He will attack Mainframe, and we have to be there to defend them." AndrAIa looked at Matrix, an expectant look on her face. "I'm, I'm so sorry," Matrix whispered. He threw his gun aside and turned away. "I did it again, I keep acting for thinking, I’m so sorry, Vick." Vick nodded. "It's okay, I've gone through worst things with my assignments and my bosses, only I didn't expect a net gun. But don't worry about it, now that you know what's going on. The only question is, will you help and trust me?" Matrix looked back at her. "Yes," he replied. "Good," AndrAIa said, hugging him. "And lover? Be careful, okay?" From late morning to late evening, the whole group stayed up at Dot's diner, discussing war strategies. None of them had the faintest idea when Cayo would attack but either way, they had to be ready. Dot and Vick actually started getting along, and even though Vick's strong feelings came up now and again for Bob, she tried her best to push them away and concentrate on the matter at hand. Dot was a lot nicer to Vick and didn't act too bossy towards her. "Okay," Bob said, taking out a map of Mainframe. "We're each going to have to take posts. The principle office is the main part of Mainframe, so I'm assigning Dot and Mouse there. Hopefully Phong will be okay by then. What they'll do is get together all our best weapons so they can fire them from the principle office." He shrugged. "Or do whatever we usually do, which is come up with plans and such like that. Whatever comes to mind, with Mouse's hacking involved." Dot nodded, eyebrows raised with amusement. "Good so far." "I’m with it," Mouse put in. "Now, we're going to have some night fighters, so whatever binomes we have to help us out, we'll have Ray and AndrAIa lead them out there. They're our expert warrior fliers, so they handle it." "Okay," AndrAIa said. "Roger," Ray replied. "Okay, then we'll need street fighters," Bob went on, "people to find on the street. Obviously we'll have some of Cayo's guys trying to sneak around on the streets. We'll have Vick and Matrix handle that situation and lead the binomes for that. Meanwhile, I'll be doing what I’m usually doing. Flying from place to place and helping out." "What do I do?" Enzo asked eagerly. "You're in the principle office too," Bob said. "Oh boy!" "What about Cayo?" Vick asked. "Hopefully, we'll have enough power at the principle office to fire upon him when he's in the sky," Bob replied, "Once he's gone, his army won't have a chance." "And if he's on the ground?" "Then you and Matrix will handle him. We'll be setting up weapon traps throughout the city so he won't get too far." "Okay," Matrix said. Mouse yawned and stretched. "Boy," she said, "is it late or is it just me?" "Yeah, we'd better be getting home," Dot said, "I'll work on some more strategies. We'll all think better in the morning." "Okay," the others agreed. They all stood up, said good-night, and left the diner. Even in her bedroom, though, Vick was still pretty antsy when it came to thinking about the upcoming battle. She lay back on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. She was still thinking about Bob. "Oh Bob," she murmured, "How I wish you would be mine, sometime. But I must accept the fact that things are they way they are and I can't change that." She sighed and turned off the light. She was tired. * * * She was dreaming. Vick was standing on a dark and cold street, all alone. She looked around, not knowing what to expect. A cold mist was rising, and what was even worst, was all the shadows surrounding her. And the voice ringing through her head. "Come back, come back, come back, come back, come back, come back, come back." "No!" Vick cried, covering her ears, "I won't! I won't go back to what I was, I won't! I won't, leave me alone!" The shadows were getting bigger, and the whispers grew louder. "Come back, come back, come back, come back, come back, come back, come back…" "No!" She screamed, "Leave me alone, stop!" "You know you will, Vick, you will come back to me, you know you will, you know you will…" "Stop!" She wailed, "Stop this, I told you already!" She turned around, and the scream barely escaped her lips. Lying on what was the empty sidewalk, was AndrAIa. She looked like as if she were dead. "No!" Turning back around, she saw Bob standing in front of her. He leaned forward and kissed her hard, then turned and ran away. "Bob! No!" AndrAIa cried. But he never turned back. |
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