Aftermath: Daemon's Chosen
By: LadyBard
Chapter 12 - Darkness and Light
Author's Note: Some parts in this chapter have
been edited due to intimate material. If you wish to read the original version,
it is avaliable at fanfiction.net.
The present
“Damn it,” Dot swore in
frustration, earning concerned looks from both Mouse and AndrAIa. The three women
sat around the console of the penthouse office, each into their work in their
attempts to find as much information as possible on Dot’s purported enemies. It
was Dot who now searched various information outlets for news on Ran DeCrypt.
“Dot, what’s wrong?”
AndrAIa asked.
“I can’t find anything on
this guy!” Dot said, “and I know it’s there. There has to be something on the
son of a null.”
“What ya have, sugah?”
Mouse asked.
“Zero,” Dot said. “He
covers his tracks well.”
“Not well enough for me,”
Mouse said. “Pass the torch this way.”
Dot began programming, “I
wish Bob and Matrix would call. User, I’m going out of my mind with worry.”
“If anyone can find
Little Enzo they can,” Mouse said. “I’m almost into Ran DeCrypt’s database. If
he could do that to you, we can do it to him.”
“We can get information
on businesses that he’s acquired and --,” AndrAIa abruptly halted. Dot and
Mouse both stared at her, when she remained silent. Her eyes went wide and she
seemed to be staring at something over Mouse’s shoulder.
Dot turned in her seat
first.
He stood there like a
grim sentinel, his hard stare for only one of the three woman. After a nano he
back-kicked the metallic blue board, his “Surf-Baud” into an upright position.
Ray Tracer.
The hours and several
upgrades had changed him rather minutely. He wore his hair a little longer now,
with a thin ponytail in the back and a tinted visor had replaced his goggles.
He didn’t speak but his
eyes remained on Mouse.
“Ray!” Dot broke the
silence and for the first time the web surfer smiled.
“Dot, AndrAIa,” Ray
crossed the room and hugged Dot. “I just heard, love. How are you holding up?”
“As well as I can,” Dot
said.
“Don’t get up, Dre,” Ray
smiled at her, “My User, look at you! How much longer?”
“Any second now, so my
doctor told me,” AndrAIa said as Ray hugged her around the shoulders.
Then his gaze fell on
Mouse.
“Mouse,” Ray said.
Mouse didn’t even look up
from the console, “So what are you doing here?”
“What do you think?” Ray
snapped. “I’m here to help find Enzo. He’s still my Little Mate you know.”
“So what do you know
about Raven?”
“I’ve heard of the ruddy
bloke,” Ray said. “But I heard he got deleted on System 998. That was his last
known whereabouts. I thought I’d start there. And just why aren’t you out
there?”
“We’re all tryin’ to get
the dirt of Ran DeCrypt,” Mouse said.
“Who in the net is that?”
“Well if you were around
when this whole thing went down--,”
“Stop it you two!” Dot
had had enough, “We have more important things to think about right now. Settle
your differences later! Enzo’s life is at stake here.”
“You’re right Dot, I
apologize,” Ray said. “Better fill me in.”
All through her
explanation, Ray kept his eyes on Mouse, who pointedly ignored him. Those two
really needed to talk, Dot thought. No one quite knew what they had fought
about but it had been serious enough to cause Ray to leave Mainframe for four
whole minutes.
“Like I said love, I’m
leaving here and going straight for System 998. I’ll try and get in contact
with Bob and Matrix and get them to meet me there. I may need some backup,” Ray
stood. “The best thing you all can do right now is keep on what you’re doing.”
He glanced out the
window. A game cube had fallen about a half millisecond ago, “Melissa in the
game? I’d like to see how she’s faring before I leave but --”
“She’s the same as me,
although she wanted to hunt down this Raven herself,” Dot said. “And Hex well
--”
“That Raven is either
totally random or basic,” Ray said. “All right love, I’ll get on out there now.”
Ray gave Dot a quick peck on the cheek.
“Dot?” AndrAIa suddenly
spoke up. “I’m not feeling too well. Could you help me to the bathroom please?”
It didn’t take a rocket
scientist to see what AndrAIa was trying to do.
“Nice try Dre,” Ray
smiled. He also kissed her on the cheek.
“It wasn’t a ruse, Ray,
in case you haven’t noticed, I am pregnant.” AndrAIa snapped.
“And you look lovely,”
Ray smiled.
Dot came around and
helped AndrAIa from her seat, “Come on. Those two really do need a moment.”
* * *
It was good to be home.
Ray Tracer had smiled at
the sight of Mainframe. Four long minutes surfing the net and the web and he
had actually found himself becoming homesick, but not for his own home system,
but for his new home, Mainframe.
But Mouse was in Mainframe.
Before returning, Ray had
visited his old birth system and had dropped in on his parents. Although aging,
they were still active members of society and were both duly proud of their
second eldest son. Since she had met them they had asked why Mouse wasn’t with
him and since Ray had never kept anything from his parents he told them.
His mother had spoken
first. “Go back to her. Don’t let her get away.”
He wasn’t sure his pride
could take another rejection from her.
“If you truly love
her,” his mother
had said, “you’ll fight for her. You didn’t help things by leaving.”
Then he had heard about
Enzo being kidnapped. The news had reached his home system in a short time.
Well no wonder, considering whom Enzo was and Ray knew he had no choice but to
go back. He had been telling the truth when he told Dot that Enzo was still his
“Little Mate.”
So now he had returned
and for the first time in four minutes he was alone with Mouse.
“I guess they expect us
to settle things,” Ray said.
“Ain’t no chance of that happening,”
Mouse grunted.
“No, I suppose not,” Ray
let his mother’s words repeat themselves in his mind. “Then I’d better get
going.”
“Yeah you better,” Mouse
said.
Ray hopped on Baud and
started towards the balcony. He paused and turned back, “I missed you, you
know.”
She looked at him for the
first time, “Yeah I missed you, too.”
He smiled slightly, blew
her a kiss and glided smoothly outside.
* * *
Mouse sighed, “I’m sorry
Ray. I know how much you’re hurting. But I can’t do it. I can’t marry you.
Maybe I’ll tell you why someday, but not now. Guess there are some things even
I don’t have the circuits to do.”
* * *
Seven hours into the
past.
Matrix came awake with a
frightened cry.
Outside his window
lightening lit up the sky and the awful crash of thunder assaulted his ears.
The eerie light illuminated just for a nano, the muscular figure standing at
the window.
“Who’s there?” Matrix
demanded.
“It’s all right, Matrix,”
Bob moved quickly over to him. “I’m here, it’s okay.”
“B-bob?” He hated the
plaintive whisper that was his voice.
“Yes. Did you have a
nightmare?”
“Yes,” Matrix lifted his
hand to his eye and felt the bandages. “Is it over? Am I all right?”
“Yes, you’re fine. We
didn’t expect you to wake up so soon though. Dr. Align said you would sleep
through the night.”
“AndrAIa? Dot?”
“They went downstairs to
get us some food,” Bob said. “They’ll be back in a few nanos.”
“You’ve all been here all
this time?”
“Of course.”
“Thanks Bob.”
Even in the darkness,
Matrix knew he was smiling at him. “Get some downtime.”
Bob started to turn away
but Matrix grasped his arm, “No wait – please. I – I don’t want to go back to
sleep. Can we talk for a little while?” Again his voice was soft but he
couldn’t help it.
“Sure Matrix,” Bob pulled
up a chair, turned it around and straddled it, while resting his arms on the
chair back.
“I wanted to say I was
sorry about the fight,” Matrix said.
“It’s okay. I’m sorry
too. I wanted to do the same thing when I went to question them.”
Matrix chuckled, “I was –
I thought you’d never forgive me.”
“Of course I did. We’re
friends aren’t we?”
“Yes,” Matrix smiled,
then flinched when another sharp report of thunder split the air.
“Are you all right?”
Matrix was mortified that
Bob had seen his reaction, “It – it’s nothing. I’m fine.”
“It must be something,”
Bob’s voice was soft. “The storm, does it upset you?”
Matrix hesitated to
reply, “I was always afraid of the really bad ones when I was young. There was
a bad storm the night after my parents – well – and then when Dre and I first
game hopped, we landed on this primitive system that constantly experienced bad
storms. I was hurt and had lost a lot of blood. AndrAIa had to drag me into
this cave where we stayed until the storm was over. I remember flinching every
time and being cold and in pain --,”
His voice trailed off. A
tremor raced over his body. Bob got up and walked across the room and opened a
door, which Matrix realized was a closet, when Bob brought out a blanket.
Without a word, Bob draped it him.
“Thanks Bob.” Matrix
said.
“Go back to sleep,” Bob
said. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Matrix pulled the blanket
up over himself and turned towards Bob, giving him a sleepy smile. His hero’s
face was the last thing he saw before slumber took him and that time he didn’t dream.
* * *
“Bob?”
Bob woke up and smiled at
AndrAIa as she handed him a cup filled with java.
“Where’s Dot?”
“Ladies' room,” she put
her fingers to her lips and motioned behind her. Matrix was still sleeping.
“Storm over?” Bob sipped
the java.
“For now.”
Again Bob was struck by
how pretty she was. His admiration immediately became sorrow.
“Why are you looking at
me like that?” AndrAIa asked.
“I was just thinking
about what an intelligent young woman you’ve become,” Bob said.
She blushed, “Thank you.”
“And I missed it all,
your growing up that is,” Bob’s voice held a note of regret. “I missed it
because I trusted a lying virus. Worse yet, you missed growing up and
experiencing the joys of childhood with Enzo, all because of me.”
“It was not all because
of you,” AndrAIa sat on the floor, “I know Dot’s been through this with you.
You know Bob, in the time I’ve been a part of this world, I’ve learned that
nothing happens without a reason. Yes we’ve been through a lot, but look at
where we are now.”
Bob laughed lightly, “Why
are all the women so level-headed?”
“We have to keep you men
in line somehow,” AndrAIa returned the smile.
“You know Dre, I never
thanked you for rescuing me and for taking care of Enzo so well,” Bob said.
“You don’t have to for
the first and for the second well – I love him.”
“That’s obvious,” Bob
looked up as Dot entered followed by Dr. Align, who was wheeling a cart with
various medical instruments. Matrix chose that moment to awaken.
“Good morning,” Bob
offered his cup of java to Dot and she took a sip.
“Mr. Matrix,” Dr. Align
said. “How are you feeling?”
“All right,” Matrix said.
A technician came in,
carrying a large metal box.
“Now I’m going to remove
the bandage,” Dr. Align said, “And I want you to cover your eye with your hand
after I do it, all right?”
“Yes.”
While Dr. Align snipped
away at the cloth with a pair of tiny scissors, the technician unlocked and
opened the box. Gun was nestled inside.
“I made some
modifications,” Dr. Align was saying.
“What modifications?”
Matrix said a little too loudly.
“You now have a homing
beacon so in case Gun is lost, you merely have to give the command – ‘Gun,
homing beacon’, and it will signal you. Also, you have return targeting. Use
the command, ‘Gun, targeting -- return’, and if you ever miss a target, the
shot will return to the object targeted.”
“I never miss,” Matrix
muttered, “But thanks, doc.”
“You’re welcome. Now hold
your hand over your eye.”
An organizer similar to
Dot’s was also on the table. Dr. Align opened it and began programming, “Now
you’ll feel a little strange for a time while you adjust to your new eye and it
does so to you, but don’t be alarmed.”
AndrAIa moved beside
Matrix and laid a hand on his shoulder.
“Hey!” Matrix suddenly
exclaimed.
“That’s the strangeness.
All right, Matrix, open your eye and lower your hand slowly.”
Matrix did so.
Intrigued, Bob moved
forward and got his first good look at Matrix’s eye. It was similar to his old
eye with his trademark ‘M’ bull’s-eye, but this time his eye was metallic
silver. Matrix grinned. “It feels okay.”
Dr. Align nodded. The
technician lifted Gun from the box. Just at the moment, Ray and Mouse walked
in. Bob nodded at them both.
“Thought we were going to
miss this, sugah,” Mouse commented quietly.
“All right, it’s ready.
Go ahead, Matrix.”
Matrix took a deep
breath, held out his hand and said forcefully, “Gun!”
The weapon flew into his
hand. The action was followed by hearty applause. Matrix smiled fully.
“Thanks Doc, I really
appreciate this. I owe you big time.”
“Your trust is reward
enough for me,” Dr. Align said. “I’ll expect to see you periodically for
checkups and upgrades.”
“Whatever you say, Doc.”
“Now I suggest you go
somewhere and test your formidable weapon out.”
“Matrix,” Bob smiled, “I
have just the place.”
***
The practice range at the
Academy was quieter than usual. Still there were a few Guardians present
working on their skills. It reminded Bob of Mina. He had dropped in on her and
found her fairing much better and would be getting out within a few seconds.
Bob led them to a large domed room. Outside the room was a computer console
where various practice exercises could be activated within the room, usually
for Guardian training, endurance and marksmanship. It was one of the tests for
marksmanship that Bob programmed in now.
“You know you’re all
welcome to use this room at any time,” Bob commented as he worked.
For the next few micro’s
they were treated to watching Matrix shoot, dodge, run and jump through the
various practice sessions.
“Overall score,
ninety-six percent first try. Very good Matrix.” Bob spoke to him through the
comm.
“Thanks but I’d like to
try for one hundred.”
“You got it,” and Bob
increased the skill level.
A few micros later Rule
approached, “Prime Guardian?”
“Yes Rule.”
“I have an urgent message
for Ms. Matrix.”
Dot, who had been
watching Matrix with pride, turned to the young cadet, “What is it?”
“Phong requests that you
return to Mainframe immediately. There apparently is a problem with your little
brother.”
“What? Enzo?”
Bob gave her shoulder a
gentle squeeze, “Hey, I’m sure he’s fine. Why don’t you head on over to the
portal room? Rule, what’s the weather like?”
“Actually, we’re down to
a drizzle, sir. A portal may be possible.”
“Have them prepare the
portal generator,” Bob said, then to Dot he said, “I’ll give Katiyana a call
and have her watch things and then we’ll all go. There’s little more we can do
now with the hurricane almost upon us anyway.”
“All right Bob,” Dot
said. “What in the net could be wrong now?”
* * *
Enzo and Melissa spent
most of their free time together now. Sometimes they would jet bowl or circuit
race but they spent most of their time at Floating Point, talking. Enzo found
Melissa was easy to talk to even if she didn’t understand a lot of things. Of
course that was where Enzo came in. He liked being her teacher and she was a
fast and eager learner.
They sat on the edge of
an upper tier and looked down on the people below them, scurrying about like
ants.
“Melissa, are you sure
you don’t mind sitting here like this?” Enzo still sometimes had to fight to
muster up enough energy to do things.
“No Enzo. As long as I’m
spending the time with you.”
He smiled at that. She
was his best friend. No one else seemed to understand him as well.
“I am curious as to what
they are doing though,” she pointed below them to where a group of kids were
playing baseball.
“It’s called baseball,”
and Enzo gave her a brief explanation of the game.
“I see,” Melissa said.
“I’d like to get a closer look.”
“Well, okay,” Enzo said.
He wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. They tended to stay away from other
kids because all of them reacted the same way to Melissa. Enzo had already been
in several near fights that miraculously, Dot hadn’t heard about. Well, she had
been busy.
They used their zip
boards so not to draw any undue attention and from within a stand of data trees
they watched the game.
“They seem to be having
fun,” Melissa commented after awhile.
“Yeah,” Enzo said.
Baseball was one of his all-time favorites.
Melissa looked at him,
“Did you want to go over and play? I can stay here.”
“Well --,” he did want to
play but quite honestly he knew the kids wouldn’t accept him. A lot of them
knew he hung out with Melissa and the rest still feared Guardians so his
relationship with Bob always came into play. “That’s okay. I like just
watching.”
Melissa turned around
abruptly, “Enzo.”
Three sprite boys were
just making their way through the trees towards them. The trio didn’t see the
sprite and virus at first and Enzo was hoping they could just slip away. No
such luck, one of the boys saw them, “Hey, look at that!”
Enzo stepped in front of
Melissa as they approached.
The first boy, a
yellow-skinned sprite and the one that had spotted them said, “Hey, you’re that
Matrix kid aren’t you?”
Since the boy was no
older than Enzo, the question annoyed the green-skinned sprite, “Who you
callin’ a kid, kid?”
“No way! Link, look at
that,” the second said as he motioned to Melissa, “It’s that she-virus.”
“That she-virus has a
name,” Enzo said coldly.
“Yeah, so what?” The
first boy said. “What are you some kind virus-lover?”
Enzo felt his face warm,
“Yeah, so what if I am? It’s none of your business.”
Enzo know it was the
wrong thing to say. The expression on their faces turned mean.
“You trying to start
something?” the first asked.
“Only if you are.”
“Do you know what we do
to virus lovers in this system?”
“This is my system,
null-brains. My sister runs this place, so you don’t do anything here.”
“Oh yeah, big wup. Bet
you think you’re hot chips don’t you?”
Melissa spoke for the
first time, “Why don’t you go away and leave us alone?”
“She talks,” the boy
named Link said.
“What you gonna do,
virus?” The first boy said, “You can’t hurt us. You’ll get into trouble.”
“Don’t lay your chips on
that,” Melissa said.
“Look we don’t want any
trouble, okay?” Enzo said.
“Wuss,” Link snickered.
“Who are you calling,
wuss?” Enzo stepped forward.
“You, wussy-boy, what are
you going to do about it?”
Enzo caught him in his
flying tackle before the boy could say anything further. The next thing the
little sprite knew he was taking on all three of them. He remembered little
about the fight, except Melissa screaming for them all to stop and his yelling
at her not to use her power, knowing what trouble that would cause.
The one called Link, gave
him a black eye and Enzo returned the favor by bloodying his nose and sending
the boy running home crying to his mother. Enzo had the first boy on the ground
and was pounding him good when there was a flash of light and Hexadecimal
appeared. One of her jester grins had the first boy wetting himself and the
second running.
Hex had then gathered
them both up and teleported them to the Principal Office, right before a
startled Phong. The venerable sprite escorted Enzo to the infirmary. He had a
few scratches and bruises and the shiner, but was okay and felt good because he
knew he had protected Melissa.
He felt good that is,
until Phong told him he had called Dot.
***
The portal flickered
several times, sparked, then collapsed.
“Oh dear,” Phong said.
“I guess the storm
started again,” Dot turned to Bob. “Guess we’re all stuck here for now.”
“I don’t know whether to
be glad or furious. I can’t afford to stay away from the Super Computer for
very long,” Bob said, then sighed, “But it is good to be home.”
“And since you haven’t
slept in ages, I suggest you do it.”
“Not until we’ve talked
to Enzo,” Bob said.
Dot raised an eyebrow. We?
She supposed she would have to get used to that. It was just that she was so
used to taking care of Enzo, that the thought of someone else having a say in
his discipline was a little too unsettling for Dot. Still if Bob was going to
play a larger part in both their lives she would have to accept the fact that he’d
be an integral voice in Enzo’s upbringing.
“All right Bob,” Dot
said, “Matrix, you come along, too. There’s something I need for you to do for
me afterwards.”
“Sure Dot.”
“AndrAIa, if you would
assist me with possibly getting the portal generator in working order?” Phong
said.
“All right.”
“We can go over the
information Rose gave us, sugah,” Mouse said to Ray. “Unless you’ve got other
‘things’ to do.”
“Oh of all the ruddy --”
Ray began, “Dot, is everything ready?”
“Ready and waiting Ray,”
Dot said.
“Now what’s going on with
you two?” Mouse demanded.
“Since we’re here,” Ray
said taking Mouse’s arm, “You might as well know, come on.” He pulled Mouse
from the room.
“She’s going to be
surprised,” Dot said as they began walking.
“What’s it all about,
Dot?”
“Yeah, sis, don’t leave
us in a lurch.”
“Well, since everyone
will find out anyway – Ray rented a condo from me, in your building as a matter
of fact, Bob.”
“Wait a nano,” Bob said,
“You own my building?”
“Oh, don’t be so
surprised.”
“Yeah, geez, Bob.”
“But that means I’ve been
paying you rent!”
“You have a problem with
that?”
“Next time we go out
dinner is on you,” Bob muttered.
“So why did he rent the
condo?” Matrix asked.
“Well, since he’s in
Mainframe so much and I guess he plans on extending his stay, he wants a place
to park Baud,” Dot smiled mysteriously, “And he wants to ask Mouse to – um –
share space with him.”
“No way, really?” Matrix
sounded a little more like Enzo, “Ray and Mouse keeping house.”
“Oh,” Dot groaned, “That
was awful little brother.”
Bob had a strange look on
his face. Dot wondered what it meant.
***
Enzo was sitting on the
couch watching TV with Ronnie; Baby Dot was in Ronnie’s lap when Dot entered.
“Enzo?”
Her younger version
brother was holding an ice pack up to his eye but he lowered it, and he
blushed, when Dot had spoke.
“Enzo, what in the Net!”
Dot crossed the room and knelt before him. “Thanks for watching him, Ronnie.”
“Anytime,” Ronnie lifted
Baby Dot up and left the room.
Dot took Ronnie’s place
beside him on the couch. Bob sat on the java table. Matrix leaned against the
wall.
“Well young man, what
have you got to say for yourself?”
“They started it,” Enzo
said.
“Who started what?” Dot
said.
“Three guys came up and
started picking on us,” Enzo said, “So what was I supposed to do? I gotta
protect Melissa.”
“You could have just
walked away,” Dot said. “I don’t ever want to hear of you fighting again, is
that clear? Look at you! A black eye! I’ve never had to worry about things like
this before --”
“But Dot, geez, what was
I supposed to do? Let them pound on me? And what about Melissa? She can’t use
her powers and I’m not going let anybody pick on her.”
“Enzo --”
“Dot, may I speak with
you in the kitchen?” Bob interrupted.
Dot gave him a scathing
look, which quickly faded when she saw the earnest expression on his face, “All
right. You stay put, young man.”
“Yes, Dot.”
Dot followed Bob into the
kitchen. The first thing he said was, “I’m sorry.”
“What for?”
“Oh – well – you seemed
kind of angry --”
“I was for a nano, but I’ve
realized that you’re going to have a bigger part in raising him now. I just
have to get used to it. Be patient with me?” She smiled at him.
“Of course, I
understand,” Bob said, “I just wanted to say a few things to you.”
“All right”
“He’s a little boy,” Bob
said. “Little boys get black eyes and scraped knees and they get into fights.”
Dot glanced around him to
the living room with some apprehension, “I know. It’s just that – I’ve never
had to worry about that before. His getting into fights I mean.”
“Because there were no
sprites his age to get into fights with?”
“Yes,” Dot sighed, “It is
going to be different now, especially since he’s friends with Melissa, and all
these strangers are in Mainframe and they’re not used to how we do things here.
They're not into our usual ‘stick together’ attitude.”
“You have to be patient
with us guys,” Bob smiled, “We learn eventually, when you women keep on us.”
Dot returned his smile,
loving him all the more, “Well,” she nodded past him, “at least some good came
of it.”
Bob turned and was
surprised to see Matrix, standing by the couch, talking to Enzo. The brawny
sprite was showing his young counterpart a basic fighting move – an elbow jab –
and Enzo was nodding. Bob and Dot waited a few nanos before reentering the living
room.
“And remember, Kid,”
Matrix was saying as the couple approached, “Next time, duck.”
“Sure Matrix,” Enzo said,
rather grudgingly, “Thanks.”
“Enzo,” Dot said, “I
understand you were trying to protect Melissa, but I want you to promise me if
you can walk away from now on you will, all right?”
“All right Dot, I
promise.”
“And by the way, you’re
grounded for two cycles.”
“Aw Dot --!”
“To your room until
dinner’s ready,” Dot said.
“But Dot --”
“You heard Dot,” Bob
said, “Get moving, Little Man.”
Enzo expelled a
frustrated breath, but obeyed. Dot sighed as she watched him go.
“I’m glad it wasn’t too
serious,” Bob said.
“Yes,” the she turned to
her bigger brother format, “Matrix, there’s something I want you to check on
for me. I’m sure you remember Captain Syn?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Well I’ve had Hack and
Slash tailing him but their reports have been somewhat vague,” Dot said, “I
need a professional who can track Syn and let me know what he’s up to. As far
as I can tell, he’s been hanging around with this group of leftovers from the
war.”
“Why haven’t the CPU’s
been rounding them up?”
“They don’t have the
manpower or the training,” Dot said, “Most of our seasoned CPU’s were deleted
during the war.” Dot tilted her head and tapped her chin with one slim finger,
“Maybe you can do something about that to, for now, I’d like a full report on
Syn.”
“You got it, sis,” Matrix
said.
“And you,” Dot turned to
Bob, “You get some downtime.”
“Aw Dot --”
“Don’t you whine to me,
mister,” Dot said. “As soon as the connection to the Super Computer is open
we’ll let you know. I have to get down to the docks and check on the Saucy
Mare’s progress, I’ve got about one hundred e-mails to read, and I have to
reconfigure the security grid for--”
“Okay, okay, I’m going,”
Bob walked towards the door where Matrix was waiting for him.
“She still does that! How
does she do that?”
“If you mean get everyone
to do what she says, I still haven’t figured that out.” Matrix replied.
***
Bob woke up later that
evening. Since he hadn’t received any calls, he assumed the portal generator
still wasn’t in working order. Of course, he could always try creating his own,
but he’d need a tear for that and there was still no guarantee he could make
one to the Super Computer without the storm disrupting it. With his luck he’d
end up being dumped in the web again.
So he slipped his boots
on and headed for the Principal Office. He found Dot in her office there,
working away at her organizer. She didn’t notice him until he knocked on the
doorframe.
She looked up and smiled,
“Oh hi, handsome,” she said.
It was the first time she
had said he was handsome and Bob found that he liked it, “I’m assuming that the
portal generator isn’t in working order?”
“The last I checked,
AndrAIa was swearing at it and Phong was just standing there drinking cocoa and
shaking his head.”
“Where’s everyone else?”
“Matrix is still on Level
31 with Hack and Slash,” Dot shook her head, “He hasn’t deleted them yet. He
just reported a few nanos ago and all’s quiet. Syn has been drinking alone at
Al’s and no one’s approached him.”
“Good,” Bob said.
“As for Ray and Mouse –
well, since I’ve not heard from or seen either of them, Mouse must have liked
the apartment,” Dot blushed slightly.
An idea had been doing
the rounds in Bob’s processor and he figured now was as good a time as any to
bring it to light, “It’s good that they’re sharing space. It’ll give them a
better chance to get to know each other.”
“Umm hmm,” Dot said,
already deep into her organizer again.
Bob rubbed his hands
together in a nervous gesture. Well here goes everything, “So,” he said,
“Um – what about us?”
Dot’s fingers froze in
mid-type. She turned her head slowly and regarded him carefully, “What?”
“Um--” Bob couldn’t
believe how nervous he was. They had been intimate and yet Bob found himself
reacting like he was asking her out for the first time. He moved closer to
stand beside her chair. “It’s just that – I like it when I’m with you and --” User,
did he sound as lame as he thought he did?
“Bob,” Dot said,
carefully, “Are you saying we should live together?”
“Um – yeah.”
For a moment she didn’t
speak and that made him all the more nervous, “Look Dot,” he needed to break
the silence, “I know I could say something like, ‘the very thought of spending
all my waking moments with you fills me with ecstasy’, although it does – I
mean I know we kind of have this unspoken agreement but – I mean, wouldn’t this
be a great chance to get to know each other better?” He was babbling and he
knew it, but he figured if he kept talking she wouldn’t have a chance to say
no.
She was smiling slightly
at him now. Oh no, was she laughing at him?
“Bob,” she said at last.
“How can I resist those big brown eyes and that quirky smile?”
“Quirky?” Bob said, “Is
that good or bad?”
She laughed lightly, “All
right, Bob but you have to promise me one thing.”
“Wait a nano, is this a
yes?”
“Of course,” Dot said,
“But I’d like for you to talk to Little Enzo first to make sure it’s okay with
him. Come by for dinner in a few milliseconds.”
A grin spread across
Bob’s face and his core-com literally danced, “I thought we could give Matrix
and AndrAIa my old place – that is, unless you want to move into my place--?”
“Um -- no,” Dot smiled,
“Giving your place to them is a good idea. They’ll have a place of their own
instead of being in the P.O.’s guest quarters.”
“Then I’ll see you in a
few milliseconds?”
“Okay.”
Bob turned, walked a few
steps out of the room, he pumped his arm in triumph and said at the same time,
“Yes!”
***
Earlier that second,
Mouse flew with Ray on Surf Baud. The search engine was uncharacteristically
silent.
Mouse hadn’t meant to pry
but she couldn’t stand it that he had gone off like that without telling her
what the ‘things’ were about. Oh well, guess she was going to find out.
She was surprised to find
they were heading for the Eight Ball Arms in Kits.
“What you up to, sugah?”
“You’ll see, love.”
They flew around to the
entrance of one of the apartments. To her surprise, Ray took a key card from
his belt and opened the door. The place was similar to Bob’s, with a large
interior garage adjacent to the living area. The only difference between this
place and Bob’s was that it was completely empty.
Curious, Mouse hopped off
Baud and Ray leaned the board against the nearest wall.
“Come on love,” Ray
walked ahead and Mouse followed.
Without furniture or
decorations, the place was roomy and starkly lit. Mouse imagined curtains on
the windows, pictures on the walls; the floor was hardwood, which was the way
Mouse liked it, so it would stay as it was. It could use a bit of polishing
though. Mouse smiled inwardly. She seldom if ever thought of things like that. Never
took the time, she thought. So why had she thought that way now?
“Um – I guess you’re
wondering why I brought you here,” Ray said.
“The thought had crossed
my mind, sugah.”
“Well – um – I was,” Ray
sighed, “You’re back’s been hurting you on that cot.”
Mouse turned and regarded
him mildly. She had never seen him this nervous, which meant whatever was on
his mind was serious. “And?”
“Well I thought, maybe if
I – if we got a place like this,” Ray said, “That is if we shared a place –
well we could have somewhere to hang our hats when we needed to.”
Mouse hadn’t been that
shocked in quite a long time, “Ray honey, are you saying we should live
together?”
“Well – it wouldn’t be
living together – just sharing space – I mean,” Ray winced, “I’m not saying we
should settle down, User knows neither of us wants that. I’m saying you know
whenever we happen to be in Mainframe, together or not, we’ll have a place to
crash.”
Mouse turned away her
processor working while she contemplated his offer. Ray continued to speak.
“It has two bedrooms,”
Ray said, “I took the liberty of getting us a few things, just preliminaries
mind you. Anyway, I think this would be a good chance to get to know each other
better and well since we’ll be in Mainframe for awhile at least I hope we
are--”
“Sugah, you’re beginning
to sound like Little Enzo.”
“Oh – um – sorry.”
Mouse walked around, her
boots echoing on the hardwood. She let her eyes travel around the place, liking
it all the more. And the idea of sharing space with Ray Tracer had a certain
appeal.
“So what do you say
love?”
Mouse shrugged, “I like
the place. Let’s do it.”
Ray’s eyes went wide for
a nano, “Oh, um, yeah – yeah! Okay – you mean moving in, right.”
What else did he think
she meant?
“So that’s what you and
Dot were talking about. She owns this place too? I’ll bet Bob will be fit to be
tied when he finds out.”
The doorbell rang. “That
would be our stuff,” Ray said.
Deliverymen brought in
several packages and boxes. Mouse watched with interest. They turned out to be
several pairs of blinds and various items for the kitchen and bathroom that Ray
had purchased and Dot had arranged to be delivered.
“They can hang the blinds
or we can do it ourselves,” Ray said as he tipped the deliverymen.
“It’s our place, so let's
do it ourselves,” Mouse said.
For the rest of the
afternoon the two sprites worked on getting their new place at least reasonably
comfortable. Ray had also purchased an air mattress, which he inflated and
spread on the living room floor.
Once the blinds were up.
Mouse suggested they get dinner. She knew of a good Chinese place nearby and
zipped down in a few nanos. On the way back, she picked up a bottle of sake.
She was surprised to find
that Ray was lighting candles and placing them all around the rapidly darkening
apartment.
“What happened, sugah?”
“Not sure love,” Ray
smiled apologetically, “Something up with the electricity in the building.
Didn’t you notice? I’ve got a call into the super.
Mouse hadn’t noticed if
the other apartments were dark, she had been so intent on getting back.
“That’s okay sugah, this
is nice,” Mouse put the bags on the floor and the bottle of sake, “Okay,
we got General Tso’s Chicken, Moo Goo Gai Pan, Hunan Beef, some egg rolls and a
bottle of sake.”
“Um -- love, sake
goes with sushi doesn't it?”
Mouse waved him away,
“Don’t bother me with facts, sugah.”
Ray chuckled, “You’ve got
enough to feed a battalion of binomes here.”
“Well you weren’t
specific with what you wanted.” Mouse removed handfuls of duck sauce from one
of the bags, plus utensils and napkins, “Get us some cups.”
Ray dug through one of
the bags and brought out a package of disposable cups.
Mouse set out the food
them poured them each some sake. “So sugah, we’re going halfsies on this
place, right?”
“I hope so,” Ray said.
“If you don’t mind my
asking, just how do you make money?”
“The same way you do,”
Ray said, “Look I can pull my own weight. I’m not a pauper or anything. I’ve
got a little bit tucked away on several systems.”
“I wasn’t saying you
couldn’t, sugah. I’m in the same boat.”
“So Dot said we could
sign the lease anytime,” Ray said. “Six-forty a minute.”
“No problem.” Mouse
frowned into her cup, “Can you warm this sake up?”
Ray clasped the cup
between his hands and the low hum of his power had the liquid steaming, “How’s
that?”
“Okay sugah, dig in.”
They spent a millisecond
or so going over the information of their investigation again. Rose had nothing
really new on the virus and its effects. She had given it a name – Hybrid-X.
“I don’t know what else
we can do,” Mouse said, draining her second cup of sake. She pushed the
Notepad away. “Until we can get back to the Super Computer, we’re at a deleted
end.”
“Umm hmm,” Ray sighed,
“Been awfully quiet hasn’t it?”
Mouse opened the Notebook
again, although she knew she wouldn’t find anything new, “Yeah, I suppose
everyone’s settled for the night.” She sighed and looked up at him, “You know
--,”
Mouse halted abruptly at
his look, “Um – more sake, sugah?”
“Sure,” he held out his
cup, it was his third.
The look was making her
nervous, it was almost as if he were angry. Ray’s intense gaze seemed to
penetrate whatever walls she had erected. Nervously, she turned away and
pretended to be studying their research, but she could still feel that fiery
gaze on her.
“All right sugah, what’s
wrong?” Mouse turned to him. “What bug do have up your ASCII?”
He gave an imperceptible
smile, then the intense gaze returned. Calmly, silently, he sipped his drink.
“Ray Tracer, if you don’t
answer me right now, I’m going to go random on you.”
Ray set the cup down and
folded his arms on his raised knee. “So you’re going to make me spell it out
for you?”
Mouse stared at him,
“What in the net are you talking about?”
Ray crawled to her and
pulled her to him, kissing her hungrily. When they parted he whispered, “Do you
hear what I’m trying to say now?”
Mouse realized that the
look he had been giving her had not been one of anger, but of desire. She had
had her share of affairs, however brief. When she was through, she went her way
and so did the man in question. As of late, no one had caught her interest, and
of course she had been occupied with other things. Nothing had ever been
serious, but after meeting Ray things seemed to change. Mouse wanted more. Ray
wouldn’t be like the others. More than a fling, she had a feeling he wanted
something much deeper. But there was something she needed to be certain of.
“Take off your goggles.”
“What?”
“Your goggles, take them
off now.”
“It won’t be what you
expect,” Ray warned.
“I don’t care. I want to
see your eyes. I want to make certain it’s me you want.”
“You’re not certain?”
“Do it.”
Ray sighed and ran his
hands around the side of his head. Strangely, Mouse realized for the first time
that Ray didn’t have ears, at least none that she could see. There was an
audible click and the search engine lowered his goggles from his face.
Mouse was mildly shocked.
It couldn’t be helped, but she masked her reaction well, from hours of
experience. What were supposed to be the whites of his eyes were black, and the
irises were burgundy, encircled with blue. There was no visible pupil. Mouse
leaned forward, fascinated. The blue circles seemed to pulse and glow with a
life of their own. Mouse had never seen anything like it.
“Amazing,” she whispered.
“You – they don’t disturb
you?”
“No sugah, I think
they’re beautiful.”
His relief was evident.
Abruptly, his look changed, became intense once again and Mouse felt a shiver
race across her skin.
“Can’t you see how much I
want you?” he said.
“Yes,” she framed his
face with her hands and kissed him deeply. “I was wondering when you were gonna
make a move. Now no more talking, sugah.”