The trip back to the Diner was, needless to say, unnerving. Mouse led the
way, occasionally looking back and Bob and Zipp, the former still radiation
anger, the latter smiling innocently. Mouse couldn’t help but smile
herself. It was almost like the good old days, back at the Super Computer,
Mouse running off after completing another hacking job, Bob and Zipp right
behind her, ready to arrest her. She had a sudden urge to yell “‘Later,
sugahs!” and speed into some obscure alley.
The oversized letters spelling out “Dot’s Diner” were now in sight.
“We’ll go there for now,” muttered Bob. “If you behave, we won’t go
anywhere else.”
Zipp silently mimicked Bob as soon as his back was turned. What a bug! she
thought, rubbing her wrist. It had taken some convincing before Bob trusted
that she wouldn’t run off if he let go of her. The boy had some grip, that
was for sure. He was powerful. He had to be one of them. She sneered.
That was good. No innocents would be harmed this way.
“Mouse!”
A handsome blonde guy in sunglasses and a watery blue outfit flew out of
nowhere on a blue surfboard. He quickly scooped up Mouse, who gave a
delighted shriek, her zipboard clattering to the ground.
“Ray! You-“
“Did you miss me, lovely lady?” Ray asked, cutting her off. “Or did you run
off on purpose?”
“Y’know how much I hate you, darlin’.”
“And I hate you, too.” He kissed her firmly.
Zipp stalled, watching this, smiling sadly. Mouse and Ray faded away, and
instead it was Zipp and Vi. She fought back the tears she felt welling in
her eyes. Remain focused, she commanded herself. There was all the time in
the net for crying later.
“Zipp!” Bob yelled. He was already zipping toward the Diner.
Zip smoothed her hair and pasted on her carefree smile. Then she headed
toward the Diner. Everything was working out perfectly. Mouse obviously
liked this Ray... Zipp didn’t have to worry about hurting her feelings.
Now she only hoped that Mouse would do as she had asked..
Bob entered the Diner first. Immediately he wished that he hadn’t.
“Bob!”
Enzo bounded out of nowhere, knocking Bob to the floor.
“Didja catch the bad guy, Bob? Huh? Huh?”
“Enzo! I thought I told you not to do that to Bob anymore!” Dot walked
up and yanked Enzo off Bob. “It’s really obnoxious. Matrix, stop
laughing! User, why am I cursed with two brothers?” She looked down at Bob
and blushed. “Sorry,” she said, helping him up. For a moment, they simply
stared at each other. “I just don’t think he should do that. Well, I guess
you don’t mind, but...” She realized she was rambling. “Sorry.”
The Diner was still virtually void of customers. A binome with a dark,
under-eye circle and second day stubble was slumped at a table, surrounded
by empty glasses. Cecil zipped around, muttering. Several faint dents
could be seen on his arm, souvenirs of Frisket, who lay, contented, in the
middle of the floor. Matrix sat on a stool at the bar, AndrAIa in his lap.
“Anyway,” continued Dot, clearing her throat. “Did you find Mouse?”
Bob nodded,, jerking his thumb towards the door. “She’s with Ray now..” He
grinned. “But I found out who she was with before” His smiled faded,
replaced by an angry frown. “She should be coming in any nano now.”
As if on cue, the door opened. Zipp screamed as Frisket, growling, jumped
upon her, pulling her to the ground.
Matrix laughed. AndrAIa frowned and hit him.
“Fine,” he muttered. “Frisket! Heel!”
Reluctantly, Frisket backed away, but not before giving Zipp a final snarl.
Zipp’s vest was torn in one spot, her shades were crooked, and her hair
disheveled, but she was unharmed. Quickly, she adjusted the shades. She
forced a laugh. “Friendly animals,” she said, smoothing her hair.
“Frisket doesn’t like strangers,” Matrix said tersely. “Among other
things.” He locked eyes with the girl for several long moments before he,
unnerved, was forced to turn away.
“So what brings you to Mainframe?” AndrAIa asked. “Do you know Mouse?”
Zipp smiled. At least one sprite here was friendly. “I sure do. Back in
the Super Computer. I also know Bob here.” She took a deep bow. “Name’s
Zipp Drive. Zipporah, actually, but I go by Zipp.”
Dot raised an eyebrow. “You knew Bob? Were you in trouble with the
Guardians or something?” Or something, she though nastily.
Zipp laughed. “You must be Dot. Actually, I was in the Guardian League
along with Bob. Hew as quite the interesting one to watch.” She smiled
pleasantly at Bob, who returned her smiled with a withering look, which was
ignored.
Enzo stared up at Zipp, clearly in awe. “You’re a Guardian? Alphanumeric!”
Zipp’s cocky smile vanished. “Er...”
“Ha!” Bob marched over to her. “Enzo, Zipp here used to be a Guardian.
Fortunatly, the traitor is one no longer.”
Enzo’s face fell.
Ray and Mouse entered, giggling between kisses. They barely avoided
tripping over each other as they pushed their ways through the door.
“All right, fill me in,” said Mouse, kissing Ray’s nose before shoving him
away. “I knew I heard the word ‘traitor’.”
All eyes turned to Bob, who smiled smugly. “We were just chatting with Zipp
here, and why she is no longer a Guardian.”
“Oh?” This would be quite interesting. Mouse only hoped Bob would go easy
on the girl.
Zipp was trembling now. “Bob, I told you, I’m really sorry. I-I didn’t
know what I was getting into. I was really stupid.”
“Stupid!” Bob exploded. “You-!”
“Bob, you’re acting like Matrix,” snapped AndrAIa, standing up.
“Hey!”
“No offense, Sparky.” AndrAIa smiled warmly at Zipp. “Now will someone
please explain cleary, or is that too much to ask?”
“I helped a virus break in the Super Computer,” Zipp said softly, staring at
the floor.
Mouse’s eyes widened. “Zipp! Not you, sugah!”
“You let a virus into the Super Computer?!” shouted Matrix.
“Look, I’m sorry!” Zipp yelled. Her voice was a strange blend of rage,
sadness and regret. “He tricked me into giving him codes. But once inside,
he didn’t do anything.” Her voice cracked.
“He escaped the system before the Guardians could catch him,” continued Bob.
He was obviously enjoying watching Zipp suffer. “Zipp was tried for
treason and convicted. Her protocol was stripped from her.”
“I was put on Deletion Row.” Zipp walked over to the counter and slammed
her fist down on it hard, causing several energy shakes to spill. “Do you
have any idea what it was like? I didn’t know he was viral. I do some
innocent little action, only to be sent to the dungeons of the Super
Computer. My reputation is tarnished, everyone hates me, I’m wanted in
User-knows-how-many systems.” She paused to take a deep breath. “Do you
have any idea? All I went is for someone to forgive me for my mistake.
That’s all it was, a big mistake. Do you have any idea how sorry I am?” A
tear appeared from under her shades.
Cecil sniffed loudly and went for a tissue. The binome looked up, his
glazed eye showing semi-interest. Bob rolled his eyes. “Oh, please.”
AndrAIa smiled and threw her arms around Zipp. “You poor thing!”
Dot frowned at Bob. “How can you be so mean? She’s just a sweet little
girl trying to regain some respect.”
“Yeah, mate, be a bit nicer,” chided Ray.
Bob glanced over at Matrix. He was sending Zipp the closest thing to a
smile as he could muster. Bob threw up his hands. “You believe her,
Matrix? You of all people?”
“User, Bob, you were always the decent one,” he replied. “ I can’t believe
you’re getting so worked up over this. She can’t be so bad.” He frowned at
Frisket, who was baring his teeth at Zipp.
Mouse smiled wryly and made her way over to Zipp for a hug. Poor girl. She
had absolutely no one. No wonder Mouse hadn’t seen her in so long. She was
on the run for something she didn’t do.
Enzo was studying Zipp. “Can I please try on your glasses for a nano?”
The answer was an abrupt no. “But I’ll give you a piggyback ride!”
“Thanks for staying late to help me, Bob.” Dot looked up from her pile of
dirty dishes at Bob, who was leaning casually against the wall, slurping
noisily on an energy shake.
“Huh? Oh, no problem,” he replied, taking another loud sip.
Dot smiled and shook her head. Men.
“I really like that Zipp,” she said, dunking another plate into the soapy
water. “She’s a really cute girl. Kinda wacky, but cute. She’s good with
kids.” She winked at Bob, who blushed. “Enzo seems to like her. I hope
she stays in Mainframe for awhile. I’d like to get to know her better.”
Bob sighed. “What is everyone’s thing with Zipporah? Don’t you understand
what she did?”
“Of course I do. But she’s sorry and she didn’t even know what she was
doing in the first place. She was tricked.”
“So she says!”
Dot was silent for a minute. She turned around as to be facing Bob. “You
really don’t like her, do you?”
“Never have.”
“See? You’re just being biased. I would have expected something like this
from Matrix, but never you.”
Bob slammed his empty cup onto the floor. It bounced, then rolled into a
corner. “So now I’m being compared?”
“I wasn’t comparing you, I was just-“
“Just what? Just not listening to me? She plays with Enzo all day, chats a
little, and you all suddenly like her! I know Zipp better than you.”
“Mouse knows her even better than you, and she’s not going all random..
Mouse says Zipp is a wonderful girl. She should know!”
Bob opened his mouth to say something, but froze. “I’ll just go now,” he
finally muttered, heading toward the door.”
“Bob, wait! I’m-“
The door slammed, and Bob was gone.
Dot stood for a moment, staring in the direction he had gone. Then she spun
around and struck the water, spraying it all over herself. How could Bob be
so calm, and then fly into these temper tantrums? He wasn’t the type to
hate someone for absolutely no reason. It was stupid of him! Well, that was
fine with Dot. He could just stay out of the way when Zipp was around. She
didn’t care.
She wiped the dishwater from her eyes, refusing to believe any of it was
tears.
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