Zipp circled the Silicon Tor several times, wondering if she should enter..
She had only been inside once, to see Daddy, and even then she had only seen
one room. Perhaps Megabyte had kept weapons of something useful. She
laughed at herself. What did she need weapons for? Everyone absolutely
loved her! Except Bob, of course. But then again, he never had. And what
was his judgement against everyone else’s? She smiled. Maybe she should
have been an actress. They had all fallen flat on their faces for a sob
story and a couple of tears. They were nice sprites, and she liked them,
but they were certainly gullible.
Zipp ran a finger down the gold colored silicon. Nice, bright, and showy..
She shook her head. Tacky. Why was Megabyte, with all his brains and
talents, working in something so gaudy? VI would never have done that. He
knew the importance of secrecy.
A bitter rage mixed with sadness flooded through her code. “Bob....” she
hissed silently. He had to be one of them. Why had she given that weapon
to Mouse? Megabyte surely had a modem or something. She could have done it
herself. She walked around the Tor once more.
The entrance was shut down. No matter. Vi had taught her a couple of
tricks. He had been upset with her. So what if she was only half-viral?
That was a petty excuse. She should exercise what viral energy she had and
stop whining that she couldn’t do it.
For you, my love, though Zipp as she felt energy gather up inside of her.
Mouse sauntered down the halls of the Principal’s Office, Zipp’s cartridge
hanging at her belt. She hummed a cheerful little tune to herself. This
was going to be easy. Dot seemed to like Zipp. She’d happily do a small
favor for the girl.
Unless Dot asked what data the cartridge contained. Knowing Dot, she most
likely would. And Mouse didn’t exactly have the answer herself. Neither
could she shake the feeling that she didn’t want to know.
Bob appeared around a corner, walking towards Mouse.
“Hey, sugah, how’s it-“
Bob stomped past her, forcing her against the wall.
“Hey!”
Bob, not even bothering to stop, looked over his shoulder. “Oops. Sorry,
Mouse.” He continued down the hall, his fists clenched.
Mouse blinked. “That’s okay, Bob.” She had seen Bob’s face, and he was not
in a good mood. He hadn’t even noticed her.
Mouse continued to the PO’s main room. She had barely entered the room when
the words “For the last time, go away!” came blaring at her.
“Dot?”
Dot, who had been standing, frozen, at a control deck, whirled around. Her
face twisted in surprise and embarrassment. “Oh, Mouse! It’s you. I’m
sorry!” She smiled weakly. “I thought you were.... someone else.”
Mouse laughed dryly and walked up to Dot. The latter’s eyes were slightly
red, and moist from tears. “Someone like Bob?” Mouse ventured.
“How’d you guess?”
“He stormed past me in the hall.”
Dot marched to the center of the room. “I just can’t stand him. I can’t
stand the way he’s acting. Bob’s being such a hard-drive headed bug.”
Mouse frowned. ‘”Bob? Our Bob?”
Dot nodded and sighed. “It’s this whole Zipp thing. He really seems to
hate her. We had an argument about it last night. He came into apologize,
but the fight just resumed. He’s acting like he’s 0.3, expecting everyone
to despise Zipp just as much as he. He was such a jerk about it!” She
stepped on a bouquet of daisy wheels that lay on the floor, crushing it
underneath her boot.
“You shouldn’t be so hard on him,” said Mouse. “Bob has always disliked
Zipp. Since he’s older, he actually had to help train Zipp at the Academy.
Then they were paired up in a lot of missions. Usually chasing me.” She
chuckled. “However, Zipp was quite the prankster as a young sprite, and Bob
ended up with his share. So it’s no wonder he feels the way he does.” That
didn’t explain much. Juvenile tricks could in no way cause Bob’s hatred of
Zipp. Maybe he had sensed something else in her. Something Mouse, on the
low level she had been on, hadn’t been able to see. Mouse shook her head.
What was she thinking? Zipp was a good girl. There was nothing for Mouse
to be responsible for.
Dot bit her lip, staring at the petals that clung stubbornly to her boot.
“I just don’t know, Mouse. But I guess you’re right. He was teased, and
there was that whole virus episode on top of that, Bob’s just overreacting.
Maybe he doesn’t like Zipp getting all the attention.” Her brow furrowed in
anger. “He doesn’t have to be so horrible, though. He comes in, whining
that Zipp is evil and a traitor and all...” She continued to ramble, her
voice almost at a yell.
A small, nervous-looking binome entered the room. “Erm, er, Command dot
Com, sir, er, Ms. Matrix?”
Dot spun around. “What?!” For a moment, Mouse thought Dot would attack the
poor binome. His face went ashen, his eyes rolled back into his head.
Somehow he managed to remain on his feet. “You’ve an appointment.”
Dot relaxed slightly. “Oh, yes. That general guy. I’ll be right there.”
The binome, still trembling, broke into a run as soon as he exited the room.
“Hey, before ya go, darlin’,” said Mouse, reaching for the cartridge.
“Could ya radio this out for me?”
Dot barely glanced at it. “Oh, sure, whatever. Just set it somewhere.
I’ll do it after my meeting.” She finger-combed her hair and walked toward
the door.
At second thought, she stopped. Turning around, she managed to send Mouse a
smile. “Oh, Mouse? Thanks for stopping by and letting me vent to you.”
Mouse returned the smile. “Anytime, sugah.”
~
Several seconds after she had entered it, Zipp left the Silicon Tor. The
place had won her approval. There was a large selection of equipment she
could use, User allow the need to arise. She hoped it wouldn’t, but in any
case, she was prepared. Zipp srpinted away from the Tor, praying no one had
seen her there...
“Hey Zipp!” Two figures on zipboards appeared above her. AndrAIa and
Matrix. They waved at her as they landed on the ground.
“We haven’t seen you today,” said AndrAIa, hopping of her board. “Where
have you been?”
“Oh, around.”
Matrix jerked a thumb at the Tor. “What about that place?” For a moment,
Zipp thought he knew what she had been up to.
“It’s pretty cool,” he continued. “A virus used to liver there.” A dark
shadow crawled across his face. “A rotten virus.”
And what would he know of viruses? Still, Zipp breathed a sigh of relief..
“No, I haven’t, actually.” She pulled out her zipboard from behind a bush,
where she had left it. “Anyone up for a spin? I’ll race you to the Diner.”
Matrix bolted ahead. “I’m way ahead of you both.”
AndrAIa and Zipp exchanged smirks. “Let’s get him,’ Zipp whispered.. The
girls silently went after Matrix.
“WARNING: INCOMING GAME!”
Matrix stopped short, causing the girls to nearly crash into him. “WARNING:
INCOMING GAME!” A shimmering purple sky began to slowly descend from the
sky.
Matrix spun around. “Shall we?” He raced toward the game cube.
AndrAIa started after him, then stopped. “Are you coming, Zipp?”
Zipp stared at the game cube and shuddered. “I don’t think so.” She hated
games.
AndrAIA glanced at Matrix, then Zipp, then back at Matrix. “Sorry, Sparky,
but I’m going to stay.”
Matrix nodded. Then he grinned and sped toward the game cube. “I’ll beat
the User for you.”
The girls landed and watched Matrix until he was completely enveloped by the
cube. AndrAIa turned to Zipp and smiled, raising an eyebrow. “So you don’t
like games?”
Zipp forced a sheepish smile. “No, I really don’t. I’ve always been afraid
of them. Don’t know why, though,” she confessed.
AndrAIa nodded. “I can’t say I blame you.” She shuddered. “They can get
pretty bad. Matrix, on the other hand, loves them.”
“He seems like a great guy.”
AndrAIa smiled. “He really is. He can get kind of random at times, but
deep down, he’s a sweetie.”
Zipp smiled sadly. “You’re lucky to have him.”
“Did you ever have a boyfriend or anything?” AndrAIa noticed Zipp’s sad
face and put an arm around her. “Don’t worry. You can tell me.”
Zipp was silent for several moments. “His name was Vi,” she finally said.
“We met two cycles ago. We married a cycle later. He... he was wonderful.
The best.” Underneath her shades, her eyes burned, and she suddenly found
it hard to speak. “He was, he... deleted.” She began to cry. No amount of
acting could stop it.
AndrAIa’s eyes widened. ‘”I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I shouldn’t have
made you talk about him.”
Zipp sniffed back some tears. “No, no, it’s not your fault. I think it’s
healthy for me to tak about Vi.” She was surprised at herself. She had
never mentioned Vi to anyone.
“GAME OVER.” The game cube rose into the sky, where is faded away. Matrix
and Enzo zipped toward Zipp and AndrAIa.
“How’d the game go?” AndrAIa asked.
Matrix ignored her. He was shaking. “We need to get help. It’s Bob..”
AndrAIa gasped. “Bob? What happened?”
Enzo couldn’t keep still. “Bob and I were hanging out, and the game cube
came down. So we went in with Matrix. It was an older game. Jill of the
Jungle. We were winning, and everything was going fine. But then Bob... I
dunno. It looked sort of like a magnet hit him or he got electricuted. It
just happened out of RAM.” His eyes were wide with fear.
“He’s still in the spot where the cube landed. We’re going for help.”
AndrAIa and Zipp hopped on their boards. “Well, let’s go before he gets
worse,” said AndrAIa.
Zipp covered up a smile. Perfect, she thought.
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