No Doubts
Written by Lady Sita
Disclaimer: ReBoot and its characters are owned by Mainframe Entertainment. The characters of Sentra and Quicken are of my own creation. This fic is not to be posted withou my permission.
Rating: G
*****
He stepped onto the balcony, and stood at the railing.
The system was spread out before him. His system. Everything was touched with the red light of a dying cycle. It was all under his protection. His. Mine.
There were so many. So many people that depended on him. His was their Guardian.
His processor grasped at the thought and pursed it further.
Guardian. Some Guardian I am. I make a deal with viruses, and surprise, they turn on me. How basic can you get?
I failed them. I failed my friends, my system, my home. They all looked to me to protect them, and I get myself shot into the Web.
He envied Enzo. Both of them. Whatever hardships Matrix had suffered during his time in the games, he didn't bear the whole weight of the Net on his shoulders. And the younger one... he was so youthful and innocent, it unnerved Bob at times.
The Net. And the Guardian Collective. Nearly every sprite and binome short of the Mainframers were under Daemon's control. He was the only clean Guardian left. Matrix... I can't really count him as a Guardian, can I? He's only a cadet! No, he couldn't. He was the only one.
Everything was so different. Ever since Bob was young, all he ever wanted to be was a Guardian. And where did it get me? Fighting demented, power-hungry viruses, getting half degraded, and changing so much the one I love most hardly knows me!
Was he destined for greatness? To be a hero? Or a failure? Would he be able to defeat the supervirus? Even with the support of his friends, doubt and downfall lurked around every dark corner of his processor. Can I? Will I? Should I even try?
Why was this responsibility put in his hands? He looked down at them, turning them over, crisscrossed with silver scarring. Hands that could kill and caress. Do I deserve it? But the weight... Can I handle it?
Why couldn't he just be another Guardian? One who had stayed at the Super Computer, one of many, another face in the crowd. Known to most only by his designation. Just an ordinary man, with the same emotions and reactions, as any other.
He had only one question.
Why?
Bob looked down once more, as the light faded and his surroundings darkened. Then he turned and disappeared inside. The bounce in his step was gone, and his eyes had lost their brilliance.