The Daemon Conflict
By: LadyBard
Chapter 15 - Spoils of War
Waking up was agony. Dot
wanted nothing more than to let herself fall into blissful unconsciousness, but
a nagging sense of urgency kept her from her desires. Dot fought her back to
consciousness and when she forced her eyes open, the feeble light of the alley
burned them.
There were sounds nearby.
Stone breaking and guttural cries. Dot tried to force her vision to clear.
Turbo and Ashar locked in
a death struggle, the Prime Guardian seemed locked in an embrace with the viral
general. Dot attempted to move and it was agony, so she could only watch in
mute horror. Something was wrapped around Turbo's throat and it seemed to be
some weird extension of Ashar's hand.
Get up! Dot's inner voice screamed. Get
up and help him!
But she couldn't. Nothing
seemed to work on her. The darkness was pulling at her again. And then she
caught sight of Enzo and Melissa, lying on opposite sides of the alley and she
would have cried if she possessed the strength.
Then came the scream of
rage. Dot looked back to the two combatants and saw Ashar stumbled away from
Turbo. The Prime Guardian jabbed at Ashar's throat with something. The viral
general was dead before he hit the ground.
That was it for Dot. She
allowed herself a grim smile before she passed out.
"Dot," the
voice brought her back once again.
"Turbo?" Dot
tried to concentrate beyond the pain in her skull. Turbo laid back and Dot
forced herself up and half dragged, half crawled to where he lay. "You're
going to be all right. I'll get you to the infirmary."
"No," Turbo's
voice was soft, "The children."
Yes, I know."
"Dot," Turbo
had her by the arm. Dot saw the light in his eyes dim, "Tell Bob --,"
His grip loosened. His
eyes closed.
"Turbo? Oh no, User,
no! Turbo I forgive you, do you hear me?"
She saw his lips turn up
in a slight smile, the Prime Guardian fragmented into a shower of blue and
silver.
"Turbo," Dot
muttered. The pain stabbed at her as she tried to stand. It even hurt to draw a
breath. She was certain some links were broken. Dot gritted her teeth against
the pain and forced herself to crawl to where Enzo lay.
"Oh Enzo."
Her brother gave a soft
moan.
"Enzo?"
Dot felt the world fading
again.
* * *
She wanted to remain
within the cool darkness where the pain seemed only a memory, but again she was
nagged with an acute sensation this time, it was that she had left something
unfinished. Still she ignored it, wanting to only rest after what she had been
through.
Yet the feeling continued
to nag.
Where was she?"
The alley, Enzo, Melissa,
and Turbo.
Enzo!
Dot struggled awake.
Around her the darkness faded and things came into focus. She recognized the
infirmary. The soft bed, and the cool sheets. She lifted her hand to her face
and felt the bandages there. When she moved back the blanket, her torso was
also wrapped. Memories of Ashar's hands on her and what had almost happened
invaded her thoughts and she pushed the memories away.
Nurse Six entered the
room, "Ah, you're awake! There are bunches of people who are worried sick
about you!"
"Where's Enzo? And
Melissa?" Dot struggled to rise, but Nurse Six gently held her down
"Both are fine, Ms.
Matrix, a few bruises but they'll heal," Six said, "Now you rest up
and I'll let everyone know you're all right."
Dot laid back and closed
her eyes. For once she was going to listen to medical advice and take a nice
long rest. The war for Mainframe was finally over.
She was just dozing off
when she heard the door open. Mouse entered, "Sugah, do you know how much
of a fright you gave me? Don't you ever, ever, do that again!"
"I won't believe
me," Dot managed a smile. "Mouse how goes everything?"
"It's all over,
sugah," Mouse smiled. "The enemy's been captured or deleted. We took
quite a few prisoners. I took the liberty of sending our remaining forces
outside of the system to where the rest of the armada was waiting. We took 'um
all out. Daemon's Web Armada is finished."
Dot closed her eyes and
laid back. Tears seeped through her closed lashes.
"Dot, what is it?
Are you in pain?"
"No," Dot said,
"I just don't know how I'm gong to tell Bob."
"Turbo is
deleted?"
"Yes."
Mouse sighed, and lowered
her head, "Ashar?"
"Deleted as well, by
Turbo's hand."
"Thank the
User," Mouse muttered, "I'll find out what happened later. I want you
to get some rest."
"Enzo and Melissa,
Nurse Six said they were okay, but --,"
"They are,"
Mouse said. "They were knocked around a bit but they're fine. They're more
worried about you. When you get some rest, I'll have them come see you."
"Oh Mouse --,"
"Ssh," Mouse
covered her with the blanket, "You sleep for once and let me handle
things. You've scared me enough this cycle."
Then Mouse, the hardened
cocky mercenary did something Dot would never have suspected of her. Mouse
lowered her head and gently kissed Dot on the forehead, "Sweet dreams,
sugah."
Dot smiled at her and
before drifting off decided she should really offer Mouse a permanent position.
* * *
The myriad of flowers
that filled Dot's room was nothing compared to the chocolates and other assorted
gifts that she received. Again the Comman.com of Mainframe sat up in the bed,
glasses propped up on her nose, her organizer in her lap and five vid-windows
opened before her.
"Dot!"
Enzo came in. He had a
bandage on his forehead, but he smiled at her, "What are you doing?"
"Overseeing the
clean up and repair," Dot said briskly. "We've got to treat the
wounded, begin preliminary rebuilding, prepare for our trip to the Super
Computer --,"
Enzo reached over and
pressed save on her organizer, then closed the lid.
"Hey, you."
Enzo then crawled up
beside Dot and laid his head on her shoulder, "I was scared Dot. When I
saw you with Ashar. You're all right aren't you?"
Physically she was,
mentally she wasn't as certain, "I am sweetie."
She knew he was crying,
so she tried to take his mind off the subject. "Where's Melissa?"
"With
Hexadecimal," Enzo wiped away his tears with the back of his hand,
"Dr. Chancery says she's improving and may wake up any second now.
Melissa's really nervous about it."
There was a brief pause,
then, "You're going away too aren't you?"
"We have to get to
the Super Computer," Dot said, "Bob's long overdue to contact us and
he may need our help."
"Please let me come
with you," Enzo said.
"No, you'll be safer
here, besides, Phong will need your help getting Mainframe back online."
"Melissa is
going," Enzo's voice rose, "She needs someone to --,"
"Wait a nano, what
do you mean, Melissa is going?"
"She says she's
going. She says she has to face Daemon herself, once and for all."
"She's not going
either," Dot said, "Don't worry, Enzo, I'll talk to Melissa."
"Um - Dot - it's
okay, about Melissa I mean? She's not in any trouble?"
Dot smiled, "No
Enzo, she's not."
She was gratified at the
look of profound relief on her brother's face, "Thanks Dot."
* * *
They allowed her out of
the infirmary, as long as she stayed in a wheelchair. Nurse Six volunteered to
look after her. So again as Dot was wheeled into the War Room she was greeted
with applause.
Mouse was at her
workstation but she came down to stand in front of Dot. With a quirky smile,
she saluted smartly, "Welcome back, Commander."
Ray was leaning against
Baud but he straightened with a smile, "Glad to see you up and about
love."
"I must say my
child, you gave us quite a scare," Phong rolled to stand before her and
placed his spindly fingers on her forearm, "I would suggest you not do
that again."
"Now why does
everyone keep saying that? Like I deliberately meant to get into trouble."
The resulting laughter eased what little tension there was.
"Mouse, status
report," Dot said.
Mouse returned to her
workstation, "All remaining CPU's and Fighters are accounted for.
Unfortunately, our losses were heavy. We're down to two lead ships, seventy-three
fighters, twenty CPU's and a little over ninety ground troops, however, we
managed to salvage a good deal of the Ravage's systems and weaponry and
we have well over fifty prisoners. Extensive damage to Sectors 1001 through
1015. As for civilian casualties --," she broke off, "Well, we don't
know for sure, reports are still coming in. A lot of people taken prisoner are
still missing. We're searching for as many as possible."
"What about the
Senior Staff?" Dot had been to see Gavin earlier and although bedridden,
her friend and business partner was already beginning to complain about the
infirmary food. Specks was also doing well although quite putout that Mouse was
doing his job.
"We're all right as
rain, sugah," Mouse smiled at Ray, "but - um - you may want to have
those words with a certain girl virus."
"Yes," she
hadn't seen Melissa yet, "Where is she?"
"With Enzo of
course," Mouse said, "Sugah, I hope you don't mind me saying it but
that's the second worse case of puppy love I've ever seen in this system."
"Yes," Dot
said. "First AndrAIa and now Melissa. Where do my brothers find such -
unusual girls?"
"You needn't worry
about Melissa, my child," Phong said, "I suspect she will surprise us
all when this is over."
"Why do I get the
feeling you know more than you're telling, Phong?"
"Cause he is, sugah,
he always is," Mouse replied.
A vid-window opened by
Mouse's station and the mercenary was surprised to see Dr. Chancery, "Oh
hello Mouse, is Dot there?"
Mouse turned the
vid-window to face Dot, "Yes Doctor?"
"Is Melissa with
you?"
"No, why?"
"Hexadecimal just
woke up."
Dot gaped at him,
"Did you say, Hex is awake?"
"Um yes, and she's
very - upset, could Nurse Six bring you down here, right away?"
"I'm on my way.
Mouse, see if you can reach Melissa and ask her to meet us in Hex's room?"
"You got it,
Boss," Mouse said.
As Dot was wheeled from
the room, she heard Mouse mutter, "There's going to be web to pay."
* * *
Dot knew that no matter
how well she prepared herself she would not be ready for what awaited her in
Hex's room. She was right.
The Chaos Virus floated
in mid air. All around her, objects floated with her. Metal instruments in the
room were in the process of melting into puddles.
"What am I doing
here?" Hex demanded. "What has happened?"
Dot lifted herself from
the chair, "Hex, it's all right, everything is fine."
"Oh Dot," Hex
said, matter of fact, "What did I miss?"
Dot rolled her eyes,
"Quite a bit."
"Oh well you can
tell me later. Did those nasty virals arrive?"
"Um yes, they did
Hex and it's over."
"Over?" Hex
didn't seem to understand, "What do you mean, 'it's over'?"
"Um, the battle, we
won."
"The battle is over?
And I missed the whole thing?"
Hex gave a banshee screech
and every small object in the room flew out the window. Dot flinched at the far
off crash from below and hoped no one had been in the way of the falling
objects.
Hex took a calming
breath, "Oh well, these things happen I suppose. Now if you'll excuse me,
I really should get back to my Lair, I have a million things to do."
Dot sighed, this was
going to be harder than she thought, "Well Hex, your Lair isn't in the
best condition right now," And then it hit Dot like a laser shot, what
would Hex do to Melissa once Hex found out Melissa was the one who attacked
her?
"Hex," Dot
forestalled any more tirades, "Do you remember anything about the person
who attacked you?"
"Oh them, are they
still here?"
"Well, yes,"
Dot said.
"Then I suppose I'll
have to destroy them this time," Hex said, "I must admit they were
quite entertaining, but then our battle lost its amusement."
Dot sighed, no not easy
at all. "What if I were to tell you that the person is here? Now? Would
you at least talk to them before destroying them?"
"Talking is so
boring, I'd much rather fight."
Dot sighed for a third
time, there was no getting around it. "All right Hex, listen to me very
carefully, we --,"
The door came open and
Enzo stepped in, but halted at the threshold. He looked from Dot to Hex and
back again, and a look of discomfort crossed his face.
"Well are you going
to come in or not?" Hex broke the silence. "I did so much appreciate
the flowers and card."
"Um --," Enzo
looked behind him and Dot guessed Melissa was standing just outside the door.
"Well?" Hex's
voice took on a demanding tone.
Enzo stepped aside and
Melissa stepped into the room.
Hex's eyebrow lifted and
her head tilted, her face much resembling her 'mask of being intrigued'. The
chaos virus alighted on the floor, her back appendages folded placidly behind
her.
The silence stretched
impossibly long until finally Melissa uttered those immortal words, "Hi --
sis."
Hex's head tilted the
other way. Dot watched closely and held her breath.
Suddenly Hex screamed
again, the sound ripped through the silence and had Dot nearly jumping out of
her skin. Melissa was suddenly lifted off her feet and Enzo gave a cry of
protest as Hex drew the girl-child virus to her and wrapped her arms around her
in an embrace. The two virals rose in the air and danced like twin ballerinas.
Laughter filled the room before, the ecstatic giggles of a child and the
pleased laugh of a woman. Hexadecimal finally set them down on the bed.
Dot realized she had been
holding her breath the whole time and gratefully released it at the sound of
the two viral's laughter.
"Come on Enzo,"
Dot said softly. The Command.com and her little brother quietly left the room.
Hex and Melissa barely noticed they were gone.
* * *
Although she felt a
little bit like a Peeping Tahoma, Mouse watched the scene with a satisfied
smile. Being an only child, she knew how important family was. She'd never
admit it out loud but the Mainframers had become her family now.
"Ah that was
beautiful was it not?" Phong smiled as the vid-window closed.
"Sure was, Phong,
I'm glad it turned out that way," Mouse said. "Hmm - now that's
strange, sugah."
"What is,
love?" Ray said.
"A message is coming
in, but --,"
Phong approached his
workstation, "I see what you mean, Mouse."
"What is it, old
boy?" Ray moved to stand behind Phong.
"This is a long
range encryption," Phong said, "This is the method that the
resistance used to contact us from the Super Computer!"
"You don't suppose
it's Bob, do ya sugah? Maybe they did as well as we did and kicked Daemon's
ASCII?"
"I certainly hope
so," Phong worked to decode the message, "summon Dot
immediately!"
* * *
"We're ready,
sugah," Mouse said.
"Okay, play the
message," Dot said.
"It was really
garbled because there was a lot of interference. We were sent some coordinates
that fortunately came through clearly."
"You're sure it
wasn't Bob?"
"I'm sorry Dot,
honey, no it wasn't."
Dot nodded. Enzo stood
behind her as he had taken over pushing her chair. He gave her shoulder a
squeeze as Mouse activated the recorder:
"...Mainframe...Dom
Markup...needs assistance...AndrAIa requests...
Guardian...renegade...captured...Mistress missing...AndrAIa requests your
help...meet resistance at coordinates set...come at once...further
instruction...Dom Markup..."
"Did it say -
Guardian and renegade, captured?"
No one spoke. Phong
rolled up to Dot and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"So my nightmares
were true," Dot said, "Daemon does have them. Who knows what she's
doing to them!"
"Wait a nano, sugah,
the message said AndrAIa requested help," Mouse said.
"Yes," Phong
said, "Wouldn't that stand to reason that AndrAIa is free?"
"Yes, that has to be
it!" Dot said. "She's still with the resistance and needs our
help!"
"Then again,
sugah," Mouse said, "This could be a trick. A ruse instigated by
Daemon to lure us into a trap."
"Yes Mouse, I've
thought of that too," Dot said, "But I'm willing to take the
risk."
"Then so am I,"
Mouse smiled.
"No."
"Now wait just a
darn nano --,"
"Mouse, didn't you
tell me that you're finding some very interesting things in the wreckage of the
Ravage?"
"Well yeah, but
--,"
"We're going to need
some powerful weaponry if we're to defeat Daemon," Dot said, "I'm counting
on Mainframe's official weapons and tactics chief to come up with some new
ideas.
"Your official
what?"
"I'd like you to
follow us after you complete the salvage operation," Dot said. "I'll
also need you to continue with the rebuilding."
"Enzo," Dot
went on, "I need you to stay here and help Mouse."
"But Dot --,"
"Also," Dot
interrupted, "We've been very lucky so far as no game cubes have
fallen."
"Dude! Dot you're
right!"
"So we'll still need
our Sector Wardens," Dot said.
"Guess that leaves
me then," Ray said.
"Ray --," Mouse
began.
"I can get them
there the fastest," Ray gave his cocky half-smile, "They'll need a
guide."
"All right,
Ray."
"Dot, what about
Melissa and Hex?"
Dot found herself sighing
a lot lately, "Hex will undoubtedly want to go, and Melissa with her. If
that happens, then Melissa will need you."
Enzo kissed her on the
cheek. "Thank you, Dot. I'll go tell Melissa and Hex."
"Sugah, are you sure
about that?"
"No," Dot
wasn't sure about much anymore. "Let's get started everyone. Bob and
Matrix are depending on us, and we have a lot of work to do."