***
Glitch Switch!
Fanfic by Kathryn Grover
***
Disclaimer: Yes, I am a freak. Therefore, you should take pity on me and not sue!
This story takes place somewhere between "Between a Raccoon and a Hard Place" and "Firewall", and uses the Joe Smith time scale.
All comments by Mike and the bots or by Bob must be submitted in writing with a signed note saying that you will allow me to participate in MRT4K. Viruses on #ReBoot should not read if they are biased ahead of time. (No Emi, this fic had NOTHING to do with a certain Ranma 1/2 OAV.) People who do not like cute stories please stop reading now! Do not allow an electrically charged mouse read after eating. Do your homework, study hard, and don't eat food that's cooked in lard. La la la la la.......................
***
Prologue
***
*insert Twilight Zone music here*
Mike the TV: You are about to enter another dimension! The world in which we live. You are now in "The Computer Zone!"
"MIKE! What the heck are you doing?"
"I am attempting to do a show here! Do you mind?"
"Do you have to do your show in the bathroom? I have to go!"
Mike opens the door and peeks outside. We don't see who's on the other side.
"There's another restroom down the hall. Go there! Now, where was I?"
***
Chapter 1
ZAP!
***
Enzo and Andraia blinked as the game left. The game had been inside a cave, so their eyes had to adjust to the brilliant daylight. Andraia looked at Enzo, who had a somewhat distressed look on his face as a group of small cars with a heavy arsenal of hidden weapons picked them up. Andraia had noticed that he hadn't really seemed himself lately. It bothered her that he was so quiet. She hadn't really said anything to him lately, figuring that maybe he needed time alone, but whatever it was, it was still bothering him.
On the way home, Andraia pondered why Enzo seemed so depressed. Was the loss of Bob finally getting to him? Or was Dot still unsure of his ability to win the games? She couldn't figure it out. Nothing particularly bad had happened recently. Or wait! Something had. It must be about the game that he had missed yesterday due to Megabyte's troops. In fact, it was only yesterday that she had entered her first game other than the one she had come from.
Andraia looked up. Enzo was staring blankly out the window. After a while, he noticed her concerned look reflected in the glass and blushed. Andraia couldn't help giggling a little. Enzo looked cute when he was embarrassed. It also was proof that he was still with her, and that he still noticed her. But his eyes drifted back to the sky.
"Are you okay?" Andraia finally asked.
Enzo sighed, and finally spoke. "I feel trapped. I'm nothing against Megabyte. I mean, you remember what happened at that first game yesterday, don't you?"
Andraia did remember. Megabyte himself had knocked Enzo down from his zip board just before he could get into the cube. "So?"
"It's so embarrassing. Nobody believes I can protect the city. Neither do I."
"I do."
"Do you really?" Enzo asked her seriously. He obviously didn't believe her. Andraia, for that moment, questioned her own thoughts. She sighed.
"Enzo, you can protect the city. Not from Megabyte, but from the games. You can do at least that much. Don't worry about what you can't do, but about what you can."
Enzo looked up at her, somewhat surprised. This was a lecture he figured he'd get from Phong, not from Andraia. He didn't have much longer to think, because suddenly the car spun around, and a huge blast was heard. The cars had been discovered by Megabyte's troops! One of the cars exploded and crashed into a nearby power transformer, leaving a tear. The car that they were riding in lost control, and spun downward until they were abruptly stopped by a lamp post. Enzo peered over to the front seat. The driver was hunched over the steering wheel with a gash on his head. Andraia shivered. This was the first time she'd been so up close to death. Enzo didn't appear to be bothered. His mind was on the tear. He jumped out of the car and ran toward it, and when he got there, he just stood in front of it. Glitch was broken. How could he fix the tear?
He was pondering this question when the sound of another explosion came from behind him. He whirled around to see what had happened, and then another closer explosion sent him flying straight toward the tear.
The last thing he remembered was Andraia's scream...........
***
"Whew! Close one!" Mouse sighed. Andraia almost fainted in relief. Mouse had flown by the tear in her ship, and had actually used a lasso to pull Enzo out of the tear before it could delete him. There was a scratch on his cheek from the explosion, and he was unconscious, but he was alive.
Mouse managed to set up a little program that enabled her to mend the tear. By then, the ABCs had given them up for dead and had driven away. Mouse flew Enzo and Andraia home in "Ship". By this time, Enzo still hadn't woken up, and was as limp as a rag doll. Andraia was cradling him in her arms, and felt as if she would cry.
When they got to the principal office, Andraia watched as Dot, followed by a trail of various binomes, carried Enzo off. Andraia watched the happenings. The room containing the defense grid became quiet, except for the occasional keyboard taps by Phong and the nerd binome. Mouse was off doing who knows what and was nowhere to be seen, or at least that was what Andraia thought. She was sitting on a couch, thinking about what had happened that day, when a voice came from behind her.
"You okay honey?"
Andraia whirled around. "Mouse?"
"You sure are quiet today," Mouse said as she sat down. "It's because of Enzo, isn't it?"
Andraia nodded.
"Don't worry, honey. He'll be okay."
"What was wrong?"
"Oh, he had a little run in with a power surge, but it wasn't too bad. It'll take him awhile to wake up, but everything's normal. I guess you could say it stunned him."
"Can I see him?"
Mouse thought for a moment, then smiled. "Sure, kid. C'mon."
***
Chapter 2
Slightly Cracked
***
Whoa? What happened?
Enzo felt weird, as if most of his body were missing. He couldn't feel his limbs. He knew he was there, but he didn't know what was there. At first, he couldn't even remember who he was. His memory did return, however, and the first thing he remembered was...........the tear.
But where am I now?
***
Andraia had been sitting by Enzo's bedside for seemingly forever. She and Mouse actually had to drag Dot out of the room to get her back on task, and we all know for Dot, that's extremely unusual. In fact, that's why neither Dot nor Mouse were in the room. Mouse was following Dot around like a puppy, making sure that Dot would concentrate on running the system, and comforting her when she couldn't help crying.
Andraia on the other hand, had been up all night sitting here, waiting for Enzo to wake up. It wasn't until about midnight that he finally stirred, and at first Andraia had been excited, but then watched as dismay as Enzo turned in fitful delirium for the rest of the night. Many of the things he said in his sleep were incoherent, and Andraia couldn't make out what they meant. At one point, Mouse passed by the open door and paused in surprise. She peeked into the room with a confused look on her face. "Good user, is he speakin' keytool?"
Andraia shrugged. "It's keytool to me."
Mouse entered the room and felt Enzo's forehead. "I think something's shorted out. I'll be able to fix it."
Mouse pulled out a keyboard and vidwindows opened around her. She typed for a long time. After awhile, Enzo gave out a moan and settled down into a more peaceful sleep.
"I'll hafta tell Dot about that. This may be mo' serious than I thought."
"What happened?" Andraia asked.
"I'm not sure, but something's not right in there. Andraia, I understand if you don't want to sleep, but you're young and you need it."
"I'll be okay, Mouse."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
"Alright. I'll check in on you two in the morning. 'Night."
Now it was early morning. Andraia stared out the window. Her eyes were drooping. Sleep eventually claimed her without her noticing.
***
Enzo woke up again, and discovered that he had regained his vision. He was on his side, and was shocked to see Andraia...............sitting next to his body?
Enzo came to the sudden realization that he wasn't breathing. He panicked silently. Was he dead?
Dot walked into the room, and, as if by instinct, Enzo tried to call out to her. Dot looked up toward him in surprise, and Andraia jumped as if she'd been startled out of sleep. Dot shrugged and walked towards the body. Enzo once again tried to call out to her in anguish. A loud, high pitched squeal echoed through the room. Dot gave him another surprised look, and Andraia covered her ears. Her face had a painful look on it.
"Make it stop!" She screamed.
Mouse once again peeked into the room. "Somebody shut that keytool up! I'm tryin' to sleep!"
Keytool? No, it couldn't be, could it?
This time, he called out to Mouse. Then he twinged as something seemed to snap inside of him. Dot jumped as she found a tiny shard of glass stuck in her arm. Mouse moved in.
"You okay?"
I think so.
"What's wrong? Why are you so upset? Are you worried about Enzo?"
What? I *am* Enzo!
"Come again?"
Just then, a soft groan was heard. Dot rushed to the bed excitedly, then looked back at Mouse. "He's awake!"
What? Well at least I'm not dead. Enzo felt himself being picked up in Mouse's hand? Wait a nano. Mouse looked....taller than usual......
"Dot, somethin's really not right here......." Mouse began, but Dot was too busy tending to what appeared to be her brother.
"Are you okay?" Dot asked the very nano he opened his eyes.
"Hey. What's going on? Why's everybody staring at me?" he asked.
"You've been out cold for a long time."
"What? You understand me?"
"Of course I understand you!"
"But that's not right! Only a few chosen people can understand us."
"Mouse, you're right. Something screwy IS going on here. Okay, whatever. Just tell me if you're feeling okay."
"Well, yeah. I feel fine, but confused."
"Well, Enzo, maybe you just need to sleep a little longer......"
"I'm not Enzo."
"Okay, now *I'm* confused. Hey Mouse, do you think he has amnesia?"
"No really! I'm fine! I remember all of you. Andraia, Dot, Mouse.........Hey, wait a nano. I have hands?" He'd realized he'd been indicating them with his hand.
"Look, Enzo, why don't you just get some sleep?"
"I'M NOT ENZO!" he shouted in a frustrated voice. "I'M GLITCH!"
The room went quiet. The keytool beeped.
"Don't give *me* "I told you so!" I heard you the first time," Mouse said somewhat irritated. "Houston, we have a problem."
"What is it, Mouse?" Andraia asked.
"Somehow, Enzo switched minds with Glitch."
"Glitch has a mind?" Dot asked confused. "I always thought he was just a machine."
Glitch gave Dot a somewhat offended look.
"Sorry," Dot said.
"Keytools aren't just machines, Dot. They're more like pets that are mentally superior to us. They're highly intelligent creatures. Actually, in that case, maybe I should say that we are their pets. They have a language that only a select few ever learn. Guardians have the language pre-programmed into them, so they understand automatically."
"So how do we get Enzo back?" Dot asked in anguish.
"That's the problem Dot. He's here." Mouse held the keytool out to Dot, who's eyes went wide. She took the keytool, and studied it.
"Enzo?" she asked. The keytool beeped in approval. But then a loud, anguished squeal almost made Dot jump. Enzo attempted to point upward, but forgot not only that he was currently the keytool, but that he was a broken keytool. He heard distorted sounds come out of him as he sparked. He felt dizzy. Still, he managed to indicate upward. Dot looked up. "GAH!"
Glitch, in Enzo's body was somewhat thrilled by the ability to move freely again, and was hanging upside-down from the ceiling lamp by his toes. Enzo in the body of the keytool, ached as the parts slid back together, and he thought for a few fleeting moments that he would pass out again. The dizziness was just too much for him. But somehow, he regained control, and screamed at Glitch to get down. He flew out of Dot's hand and hovered around Glitch, who swatted at him like a fly. "Hey! It's my turn!" Glitch yelled like a spoiled child.
"BOTH OF YOU COME DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" Dot said in a very sharp voice that made both of them stare down in surprise.
"Yes, ma'mm," Glitch said as he flipped and tried to land on his feet, but slipped and fell, and screamed in surprise and pain as he sprained his ankle. Andraia rushed to him.
Enzo on the other hand, felt like he'd scream himself. He turned away because he couldn't watch. Dot gave Glitch a no nonsense look. Glitch still looked surprised, and his eyes shut tight in pain as he tried to move the ankle.
"Alright. First of all, I want to get things straight here," Dot said sternly. "I don't want either of you to do anything that would hurt the other when you two get switched back, got it? Glitch, I realize that this must be a novelty for you, but sprites are more limited than keytools in what they can do. They, for one thing, cannot fly without the aid of a zip board."
"Sprites can't fly?"
"Nope."
"Weird. This'll take some getting used to."
"Also Glitch, it takes much less then getting squashed by Megabyte for them to get hurt, so you have to be careful. Remember it's my brother's body you have there."
"Oh. Okay, I'll be careful. I didn't know you guys were so fragile."
Mouse examined the already swollen ankle. "Geez. Guys are so stupid, no matter what species they are." Dot laughed out loud at this remark. Enzo, even though he thought the comment was mean, was smiling on the inside (as much as a keytool could smile). This was the first time he'd heard Dot laugh like that since Bob had left. Sure, she'd giggled a couple of times, but this was the first real laugh. Andraia was laughing too. Yup, it was true. Mainframe had been taken over by girls. Enzo giggled to himself at this thought.
Glitch, in all of this, sat there somewhat annoyed by not being able to get back up on his feet. Mouse told him to hold still as she wrapped a brace around the ankle. "The boots should also give some support, so it won't be too bad. Just don't do anything crazy, Glitch, and you'll get used to this in no time."
Get used to this? Are we stuck like this forever? Enzo panicked. He didn't want to spend the rest of his life as a keytool. Mouse looked at him reassuringly, and smiled. "Don't worry, sugar. I'll get you two switched back as soon as I find out how, and I'll get right to it. I know this'll be harder on you, because being a machine isn't a novelty to you like being flesh is to Glitch. Okay, Glitch, you can get up now."
Glitch attempted to get up, but stopped short of breath. He looked up at Mouse. "It still hurts."
"It will. Sprites are self-repairing, but it takes time for injuries to heal. It'll be seconds before it really stops hurting, but it'll support you. Try again."
Glitch did, and this time, managed to get up the whole way. He limped around the room. "This *will* take some getting used to. Weird that I can still walk if I'm hurt."
"Depends on the injury, so be careful," Dot said.
"Hey, this is also weird. I feel really empty. I don't understand it. Is that from the sprained ankle?"
"Sounds like he's hungry to me," Mouse said. "I think I'll make breakfast. I wonder how an omelet with teriyaki sauce tastes like."
"Uh, oh. Mouse is getting creative in the kitchen again!" Andraia said.
"Aw, shaddup."
"What's hungry?" Glitch asked Dot as they all walked out of the room. Enzo, who'd been perched on a countertop the entire time, felt ignored, but also tired. He flew above the bed, and let himself fall down into the pillow. He managed to sleep, but somehow it just wasn't the same.
***
Chapter 3
Charge
***
The ankle did heal, and soon Glitch was running and jumping around like crazy. Enzo soon got used to being stuck to the arm of Glitch, and eventually didn't mind the reversal of roles as much as he minded being ignored by everybody. It was as if he was a tiny speck in cyberspace that was too small to be seen. His only real comfort was the fact that Mouse was working on a possible way of switching them back. Sometimes he distatched himself from Glitch to hover over Mouse's shoulder and watch, but not for long. He had to reattatch himself to Glitch because every time he watched Mouse like that, he felt more and more tired. Eventually, he couldn't hover at all. He wondered about this, but figured he was doing something wrong and just contented himself with being attached to Glitch.
Glitch turned out to be an effective game player. He'd been watching Bob even longer than Enzo had, and knew all of his game moves by heart. Enzo, on the other hand, thought it was kinda interesting to be able to look inside the source code of each game and look for info. He giggled to himself. Mouse would give her teeth to be able to do this by just retrieving it from memory as if it had been stored in his own mind. He wondered if she knew about this ability.
One time though, when he tried to get the game status, everything went fuzzy. He suddenly felt weak and strained to stay on Glitch's arm, but then everything went black. Glitch gasped in frightened surprise as the keytool fell to the ground.
"OH NO! I FORGOT TO RECHARGE!" He turned to Andraia. "We gotta get out of here as fast as possible."
"What's wrong?" Andraia asked?
"He's totally drained. He'll lose his memory! I can't believe I forgot to recharge him!"
"What do you mean he'll lose his memory?"
"He won't remember who he is or even what he is. He won't remember anything! We've got to get him out of here." Andraia had never seen Glitch panic like this before. Obviously, Glitch really hadn't gotten used to being a sprite. Luckily the user was very near them. Andraia hadn't even rebooted yet, but shot the user down with her crossbow. It was a lucky thing that the user in this specific game was a wimp. They rushed the keytool to the principal office. Glitch seemed out of breath as he stuck the keytool in the charger. Andraia looked at him. He was really stressed. "Glitch, what is it?"
He looked at her with a concerned face. "This happened to me before. One day I just woke up in a charger, and everything that happened before then was blank. You see, being a piece of machinery, we don't physically die when we run out of energy, but our mind does. I just know that if that had happened, it would be as if I had killed your friend. I don't think I could live with something like that on my mind."
Andraia stared into the charger. "How long until he wakes up?"
"Any nano now..... I just hope the backup batteries were working. I'll have to replace them now. Andraia, I'm so sorry.........."
"It's okay. It was an accident. It could have happened to anybody."
"You don't understand. You don't know what it's like to wake up and not know who you are!" Glitch screamed.
"It was a mistake!" Andraia said. "I won't hold that against you!"
"How can you not?"
"You really don't know anything about being a sprite, do you?"
Glitch looked at her strangely, as if he didn't know what she was trying to say. Just then, they heard a beeping sound from inside the charger. Andraia grabbed it out, and quickly shook it. "Enzo! Are you still there? Are you okay?"
The words "Whoa Andraia! Time out!" appeared on the display screen. Andraia hugged the keytool, and so did Glitch.
"Enzo I'm so sorry. You almost died and it was my fault."
More words on the display: "I'm confused. Glitch, why are you so panicked? What's with you two?"
"Do you remember what happened in the game?"
The display blinked more words: "Um, I'm not sure. I think I passed out. Had a nice nap though."
"I just hope Dot doesn't find out."
"I won't tell," Andraia said.
"Really?" Glitch looked up at her in surprise. "Isn't it dishonest not to?"
"No. You punished yourself. Why have somebody add on to it? Besides, Dot overreacts a lot."
The keytool beeped humorously in approval.
***
Chapter 4
Change
***
A long time passed and Mouse still hadn't figured out how to switch Glitch and Enzo back. She was on the verge of giving up, and Dot was beginning to get really worried. Would her brother ever be the same again?
While this was going on, though, Glitch had eventually gotten used to being a sprite, and as the seconds passed by, he liked it more and more. Enzo, on the other hand, was quite sick of being a keytool, and although this helped him understand why Glitch enjoyed being a sprite so much, he was still frustrated and just wanted to be himself again. It was no fun not being able to move, even though he could move around by hovering. (He could now do this as often as he liked, now that he got a regular recharge.)
A few seconds later, the principal office had a major victory against Megabyte's forces, and a huge celebration took place. Everybody, except Enzo, was in a festive mood. By now, Glitch acted totally like a sprite, and everybody called him by name as if he'd always been Glitch. Enzo never beeped or tried to communicate with anybody in any other way. He was too upset. If he'd felt ignored before, he really did now. For a long time he'd tried to get attention out of the others, and rarely got noticed. Only Mouse and Dot seemed to sympathize with him, when they noticed him.
Somewhere in this party, any relationship left between Glitch and Enzo was shattered when Glitch boldly kissed Andraia! Andraia jumped back in surprise. As for Enzo, this was too much for him, and he flew off of Glitch's arm and out the door. Andraia gave Glitch a mean look before following the keytool.
Enzo flew into what used to be his room, but was occupied by Glitch. He flew and dug himself under the pillow. Andraia followed him inside. Enzo beeped angrily.
"Enzo, where are you?" Andraia called out in desperation. She looked around the room, but didn't see him anywhere. She sat on the bed and started to cry.
"I just want Enzo back....." she sobbed with her face in her hands. After a few moments, she felt something nudging her hand. She looked down and there was the keytool. She picked it up and kissed the screen. "I'm so sorry, Enzo."
Nether of them noticed Glitch watching from the doorway. He turned around sadly and left them alone.
After that day, Enzo refused to resume his perch on Glitch's arm, and Andraia refused to talk to him. Glitch felt like he'd just lost everything. He knew that guardians considered it to be a dishonor when keytools refused them, and Glitch knew that any guardian at the academy would give their life to have him on their arm for five nanoseconds. As a keytool he was highly honored and desired, so being refused by a guardian wasn't something he was used to. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore, and broke down crying. His pride had been destroyed, and something else, but he couldn't comprehend what it was.
***
"I'VE GOT IT!" Mouse screamed excitedly as she rushed into the room of the defense grid holding a vidwindow. "Where's Dot?"
"In her office," Phong said in his ever-calm voice. "What's up?"
"I finally figured out how to switch them back!"
A cheer went up in the room. A certain little keytool that had been perched on Phong's shoulder suddenly flew excitedly around Mouse, beeping like crazy. Mouse ran into Dot's office. Dot was somewhat surprised. She'd never seen Mouse excited like this, but soon was excited as well.
"This is gonna be a challenge though," Mouse said as she laid the plans out in front of Dot. "I've figured out how to create a situation that will switch their minds back, but you gotta remember we're takin' a big risk here."
"We've gotta try," Dot said. "This is getting so hard for both of them. It's worth the risk."
"You're sure you wanna go through with this? You can back out at any time."
"Mouse, it's really not about my choice. It's theirs."
"Alright, sugar. I'll ask 'em."
As it turns out, by now, both of them were ready to go back to being themselves. Glitch no longer had any desire to be a sprite. He felt that the longer he stayed in this body, the more he hurt the people around him. It was past time to go back.
***
Chapter 5
Back to life
***
The situation was created in the core. Mouse had some new hacker toys she'd just recently whipped up, and had installed them into the defense grid room. Glitch, with Enzo on his arm, stood ready at the huge door that led to the core.
"You ready?" Glitch asked.
Ready as I'll ever be.
They were quiet for a bit. The vidwindow with Mouse's signal opened. They were to step inside now. An emergency rescue team stood ready behind them, in case something should go wrong.
As soon as they stepped inside, Glitch gave Enzo a pitiful look that almost had the keytool laughing, but Enzo stopped himself because it would have been rude.
"I'm sorry Enzo. I really messed things up. I didn't mean to do this."
What do you mean?
"It's my fault. It wasn't the tear that switched us. It was me. I can take radiation like that, but when you were thrown into the tear by the explosion, I thought you would die, and I did the first thing that instinct told me to. I didn't realize I'd hurt you so much."
This hit Enzo like a brick.
***
"Dot, before I begin, I'd like to tell you something."
"Make it quick, Mouse, they're standing in the core."
"Well, they'll have to take a little radiation for this to work. You see, it wasn't the tear that switched their minds, it was Glitch."
Dot looked at Mouse in horrified surprise.
"Yeah. The whole thing came to me when Glitch confided the truth in me recently. You see, keytools have a few lines of code in them that allow them to switch minds between bodies when they recognize that the body of a sprite is under considerable stress or trauma, enabling them to protect the mind of the guardian they are with. In other words, we're flirting with deletion here."
"Will Enzo know to switch?"
"No. He won't have to. It's not up to the keytool, although in the mind of the keytool, it may seem that way. The lines cannot be overridden by anything the keytool's mind tells it. I really pity the species. He won't have any choice but to switch, and then we'll just have to yank the two of them out as quickly as possible."
"How much stress can a keytool handle?"
"Lots. You wouldn't believe. They can take in 100 times more radiation than a sprite. Okay, should be ready now."
Mouse crossed her fingers for luck as she threw the lever.
***
During the power surge, suddenly, Enzo felt some code being activated that he hadn't remembered before. Then everything went black.
***
Mouse's hands went over the controls like crazy. Soon a body was hoisted out of the core into the core control chamber. Mouse crossed her fingers again as she and Dot ran toward the doors. The subsphere had been lowered just for the occasion. The blocks of energy that transported them across the abyss into the core control chamber still seemed too slow for Dot's racing heart. As soon as she reached the other side, she felt herself racing at a speed she'd never known before. When she reached Enzo, she hugged him tightly, but was shocked when she discovered how amazingly warm his body felt. His skin was dry. His face was so pale, and he was hyperventilating.
"Heat Stroke," Mouse said simply. "Shouldn't have left him in there so long."
***
They keytool switched itself on soon after. Mouse was halfway relieved when it asked if Enzo had made it, but was a little nervous as she truthfully replied, "We don't know yet."
Everyone had been up during the night, desperately trying to cool him down. 12 macroseconds and 30 icebags later, everyone was asleep in a pile around the bed, except for Andraia, who was still watching Enzo.
Enzo was sleeping peacefully after a frightening night filled with pain and delirium. At least this time, Andraia knew it would be him when he finally woke up. Glitch was back to normal, and Enzo would be too, although, he'd be tired for quite some time. His temperature was still a little high, but it would eventually go down on it's own.
Enzo woke up the next morning not wanting to open his eyes. He was afraid of what he might see. Finally, he gathered his courage and opened them. He was in bed, and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw his own hands tucked under the pillow. He was on his side, and Andraia was facing him, kinda. She was asleep on the edge of the bed like a naughty child asleep on a school desk, with her arms under her head. He put his hand on hers, and she woke up, and shouted excitedly, and soon all the people asleep in the pile were awake and crowding around him, including Glitch, who happily perched himself on Enzo's arm, but at the time, all this was too much for him, and Dot chased everyone out except for Andraia. Andraia was holding his hand, which was shaking and quivering like a massager. Dot eventually left the room, and in a few nanos, so did Andraia, after kissing him on the cheek. They both said he needed sleep, and that they'd check on him later in the afternoon. After they were gone though, something was wrong. He still couldn't sleep yet. He glanced down at Glitch. His hands were shaking as he turned and fumbled through the drawer of the nightstand. He finally found an extra pillow, knowing that they always kept a spare around. He placed the pillow on top of the nightstand, then put Glitch on it, turned over and fell asleep.
Glitch Switch!
Fanfic by Kathryn Grover
***
Disclaimer: Yes, I am a freak. Therefore, you should take pity on me and not sue!
This story takes place somewhere between "Between a Raccoon and a Hard Place" and "Firewall", and uses the Joe Smith time scale.
All comments by Mike and the bots or by Bob must be submitted in writing with a signed note saying that you will allow me to participate in MRT4K. Viruses on #ReBoot should not read if they are biased ahead of time. (No Emi, this fic had NOTHING to do with a certain Ranma 1/2 OAV.) People who do not like cute stories please stop reading now! Do not allow an electrically charged mouse read after eating. Do your homework, study hard, and don't eat food that's cooked in lard. La la la la la.......................
***
Prologue
***
*insert Twilight Zone music here*
Mike the TV: You are about to enter another dimension! The world in which we live. You are now in "The Computer Zone!"
"MIKE! What the heck are you doing?"
"I am attempting to do a show here! Do you mind?"
"Do you have to do your show in the bathroom? I have to go!"
Mike opens the door and peeks outside. We don't see who's on the other side.
"There's another restroom down the hall. Go there! Now, where was I?"
***
Chapter 1
ZAP!
***
Enzo and Andraia blinked as the game left. The game had been inside a cave, so their eyes had to adjust to the brilliant daylight. Andraia looked at Enzo, who had a somewhat distressed look on his face as a group of small cars with a heavy arsenal of hidden weapons picked them up. Andraia had noticed that he hadn't really seemed himself lately. It bothered her that he was so quiet. She hadn't really said anything to him lately, figuring that maybe he needed time alone, but whatever it was, it was still bothering him.
On the way home, Andraia pondered why Enzo seemed so depressed. Was the loss of Bob finally getting to him? Or was Dot still unsure of his ability to win the games? She couldn't figure it out. Nothing particularly bad had happened recently. Or wait! Something had. It must be about the game that he had missed yesterday due to Megabyte's troops. In fact, it was only yesterday that she had entered her first game other than the one she had come from.
Andraia looked up. Enzo was staring blankly out the window. After a while, he noticed her concerned look reflected in the glass and blushed. Andraia couldn't help giggling a little. Enzo looked cute when he was embarrassed. It also was proof that he was still with her, and that he still noticed her. But his eyes drifted back to the sky.
"Are you okay?" Andraia finally asked.
Enzo sighed, and finally spoke. "I feel trapped. I'm nothing against Megabyte. I mean, you remember what happened at that first game yesterday, don't you?"
Andraia did remember. Megabyte himself had knocked Enzo down from his zip board just before he could get into the cube. "So?"
"It's so embarrassing. Nobody believes I can protect the city. Neither do I."
"I do."
"Do you really?" Enzo asked her seriously. He obviously didn't believe her. Andraia, for that moment, questioned her own thoughts. She sighed.
"Enzo, you can protect the city. Not from Megabyte, but from the games. You can do at least that much. Don't worry about what you can't do, but about what you can."
Enzo looked up at her, somewhat surprised. This was a lecture he figured he'd get from Phong, not from Andraia. He didn't have much longer to think, because suddenly the car spun around, and a huge blast was heard. The cars had been discovered by Megabyte's troops! One of the cars exploded and crashed into a nearby power transformer, leaving a tear. The car that they were riding in lost control, and spun downward until they were abruptly stopped by a lamp post. Enzo peered over to the front seat. The driver was hunched over the steering wheel with a gash on his head. Andraia shivered. This was the first time she'd been so up close to death. Enzo didn't appear to be bothered. His mind was on the tear. He jumped out of the car and ran toward it, and when he got there, he just stood in front of it. Glitch was broken. How could he fix the tear?
He was pondering this question when the sound of another explosion came from behind him. He whirled around to see what had happened, and then another closer explosion sent him flying straight toward the tear.
The last thing he remembered was Andraia's scream...........
***
"Whew! Close one!" Mouse sighed. Andraia almost fainted in relief. Mouse had flown by the tear in her ship, and had actually used a lasso to pull Enzo out of the tear before it could delete him. There was a scratch on his cheek from the explosion, and he was unconscious, but he was alive.
Mouse managed to set up a little program that enabled her to mend the tear. By then, the ABCs had given them up for dead and had driven away. Mouse flew Enzo and Andraia home in "Ship". By this time, Enzo still hadn't woken up, and was as limp as a rag doll. Andraia was cradling him in her arms, and felt as if she would cry.
When they got to the principal office, Andraia watched as Dot, followed by a trail of various binomes, carried Enzo off. Andraia watched the happenings. The room containing the defense grid became quiet, except for the occasional keyboard taps by Phong and the nerd binome. Mouse was off doing who knows what and was nowhere to be seen, or at least that was what Andraia thought. She was sitting on a couch, thinking about what had happened that day, when a voice came from behind her.
"You okay honey?"
Andraia whirled around. "Mouse?"
"You sure are quiet today," Mouse said as she sat down. "It's because of Enzo, isn't it?"
Andraia nodded.
"Don't worry, honey. He'll be okay."
"What was wrong?"
"Oh, he had a little run in with a power surge, but it wasn't too bad. It'll take him awhile to wake up, but everything's normal. I guess you could say it stunned him."
"Can I see him?"
Mouse thought for a moment, then smiled. "Sure, kid. C'mon."
***
Chapter 2
Slightly Cracked
***
Whoa? What happened?
Enzo felt weird, as if most of his body were missing. He couldn't feel his limbs. He knew he was there, but he didn't know what was there. At first, he couldn't even remember who he was. His memory did return, however, and the first thing he remembered was...........the tear.
But where am I now?
***
Andraia had been sitting by Enzo's bedside for seemingly forever. She and Mouse actually had to drag Dot out of the room to get her back on task, and we all know for Dot, that's extremely unusual. In fact, that's why neither Dot nor Mouse were in the room. Mouse was following Dot around like a puppy, making sure that Dot would concentrate on running the system, and comforting her when she couldn't help crying.
Andraia on the other hand, had been up all night sitting here, waiting for Enzo to wake up. It wasn't until about midnight that he finally stirred, and at first Andraia had been excited, but then watched as dismay as Enzo turned in fitful delirium for the rest of the night. Many of the things he said in his sleep were incoherent, and Andraia couldn't make out what they meant. At one point, Mouse passed by the open door and paused in surprise. She peeked into the room with a confused look on her face. "Good user, is he speakin' keytool?"
Andraia shrugged. "It's keytool to me."
Mouse entered the room and felt Enzo's forehead. "I think something's shorted out. I'll be able to fix it."
Mouse pulled out a keyboard and vidwindows opened around her. She typed for a long time. After awhile, Enzo gave out a moan and settled down into a more peaceful sleep.
"I'll hafta tell Dot about that. This may be mo' serious than I thought."
"What happened?" Andraia asked.
"I'm not sure, but something's not right in there. Andraia, I understand if you don't want to sleep, but you're young and you need it."
"I'll be okay, Mouse."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
"Alright. I'll check in on you two in the morning. 'Night."
Now it was early morning. Andraia stared out the window. Her eyes were drooping. Sleep eventually claimed her without her noticing.
***
Enzo woke up again, and discovered that he had regained his vision. He was on his side, and was shocked to see Andraia...............sitting next to his body?
Enzo came to the sudden realization that he wasn't breathing. He panicked silently. Was he dead?
Dot walked into the room, and, as if by instinct, Enzo tried to call out to her. Dot looked up toward him in surprise, and Andraia jumped as if she'd been startled out of sleep. Dot shrugged and walked towards the body. Enzo once again tried to call out to her in anguish. A loud, high pitched squeal echoed through the room. Dot gave him another surprised look, and Andraia covered her ears. Her face had a painful look on it.
"Make it stop!" She screamed.
Mouse once again peeked into the room. "Somebody shut that keytool up! I'm tryin' to sleep!"
Keytool? No, it couldn't be, could it?
This time, he called out to Mouse. Then he twinged as something seemed to snap inside of him. Dot jumped as she found a tiny shard of glass stuck in her arm. Mouse moved in.
"You okay?"
I think so.
"What's wrong? Why are you so upset? Are you worried about Enzo?"
What? I *am* Enzo!
"Come again?"
Just then, a soft groan was heard. Dot rushed to the bed excitedly, then looked back at Mouse. "He's awake!"
What? Well at least I'm not dead. Enzo felt himself being picked up in Mouse's hand? Wait a nano. Mouse looked....taller than usual......
"Dot, somethin's really not right here......." Mouse began, but Dot was too busy tending to what appeared to be her brother.
"Are you okay?" Dot asked the very nano he opened his eyes.
"Hey. What's going on? Why's everybody staring at me?" he asked.
"You've been out cold for a long time."
"What? You understand me?"
"Of course I understand you!"
"But that's not right! Only a few chosen people can understand us."
"Mouse, you're right. Something screwy IS going on here. Okay, whatever. Just tell me if you're feeling okay."
"Well, yeah. I feel fine, but confused."
"Well, Enzo, maybe you just need to sleep a little longer......"
"I'm not Enzo."
"Okay, now *I'm* confused. Hey Mouse, do you think he has amnesia?"
"No really! I'm fine! I remember all of you. Andraia, Dot, Mouse.........Hey, wait a nano. I have hands?" He'd realized he'd been indicating them with his hand.
"Look, Enzo, why don't you just get some sleep?"
"I'M NOT ENZO!" he shouted in a frustrated voice. "I'M GLITCH!"
The room went quiet. The keytool beeped.
"Don't give *me* "I told you so!" I heard you the first time," Mouse said somewhat irritated. "Houston, we have a problem."
"What is it, Mouse?" Andraia asked.
"Somehow, Enzo switched minds with Glitch."
"Glitch has a mind?" Dot asked confused. "I always thought he was just a machine."
Glitch gave Dot a somewhat offended look.
"Sorry," Dot said.
"Keytools aren't just machines, Dot. They're more like pets that are mentally superior to us. They're highly intelligent creatures. Actually, in that case, maybe I should say that we are their pets. They have a language that only a select few ever learn. Guardians have the language pre-programmed into them, so they understand automatically."
"So how do we get Enzo back?" Dot asked in anguish.
"That's the problem Dot. He's here." Mouse held the keytool out to Dot, who's eyes went wide. She took the keytool, and studied it.
"Enzo?" she asked. The keytool beeped in approval. But then a loud, anguished squeal almost made Dot jump. Enzo attempted to point upward, but forgot not only that he was currently the keytool, but that he was a broken keytool. He heard distorted sounds come out of him as he sparked. He felt dizzy. Still, he managed to indicate upward. Dot looked up. "GAH!"
Glitch, in Enzo's body was somewhat thrilled by the ability to move freely again, and was hanging upside-down from the ceiling lamp by his toes. Enzo in the body of the keytool, ached as the parts slid back together, and he thought for a few fleeting moments that he would pass out again. The dizziness was just too much for him. But somehow, he regained control, and screamed at Glitch to get down. He flew out of Dot's hand and hovered around Glitch, who swatted at him like a fly. "Hey! It's my turn!" Glitch yelled like a spoiled child.
"BOTH OF YOU COME DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" Dot said in a very sharp voice that made both of them stare down in surprise.
"Yes, ma'mm," Glitch said as he flipped and tried to land on his feet, but slipped and fell, and screamed in surprise and pain as he sprained his ankle. Andraia rushed to him.
Enzo on the other hand, felt like he'd scream himself. He turned away because he couldn't watch. Dot gave Glitch a no nonsense look. Glitch still looked surprised, and his eyes shut tight in pain as he tried to move the ankle.
"Alright. First of all, I want to get things straight here," Dot said sternly. "I don't want either of you to do anything that would hurt the other when you two get switched back, got it? Glitch, I realize that this must be a novelty for you, but sprites are more limited than keytools in what they can do. They, for one thing, cannot fly without the aid of a zip board."
"Sprites can't fly?"
"Nope."
"Weird. This'll take some getting used to."
"Also Glitch, it takes much less then getting squashed by Megabyte for them to get hurt, so you have to be careful. Remember it's my brother's body you have there."
"Oh. Okay, I'll be careful. I didn't know you guys were so fragile."
Mouse examined the already swollen ankle. "Geez. Guys are so stupid, no matter what species they are." Dot laughed out loud at this remark. Enzo, even though he thought the comment was mean, was smiling on the inside (as much as a keytool could smile). This was the first time he'd heard Dot laugh like that since Bob had left. Sure, she'd giggled a couple of times, but this was the first real laugh. Andraia was laughing too. Yup, it was true. Mainframe had been taken over by girls. Enzo giggled to himself at this thought.
Glitch, in all of this, sat there somewhat annoyed by not being able to get back up on his feet. Mouse told him to hold still as she wrapped a brace around the ankle. "The boots should also give some support, so it won't be too bad. Just don't do anything crazy, Glitch, and you'll get used to this in no time."
Get used to this? Are we stuck like this forever? Enzo panicked. He didn't want to spend the rest of his life as a keytool. Mouse looked at him reassuringly, and smiled. "Don't worry, sugar. I'll get you two switched back as soon as I find out how, and I'll get right to it. I know this'll be harder on you, because being a machine isn't a novelty to you like being flesh is to Glitch. Okay, Glitch, you can get up now."
Glitch attempted to get up, but stopped short of breath. He looked up at Mouse. "It still hurts."
"It will. Sprites are self-repairing, but it takes time for injuries to heal. It'll be seconds before it really stops hurting, but it'll support you. Try again."
Glitch did, and this time, managed to get up the whole way. He limped around the room. "This *will* take some getting used to. Weird that I can still walk if I'm hurt."
"Depends on the injury, so be careful," Dot said.
"Hey, this is also weird. I feel really empty. I don't understand it. Is that from the sprained ankle?"
"Sounds like he's hungry to me," Mouse said. "I think I'll make breakfast. I wonder how an omelet with teriyaki sauce tastes like."
"Uh, oh. Mouse is getting creative in the kitchen again!" Andraia said.
"Aw, shaddup."
"What's hungry?" Glitch asked Dot as they all walked out of the room. Enzo, who'd been perched on a countertop the entire time, felt ignored, but also tired. He flew above the bed, and let himself fall down into the pillow. He managed to sleep, but somehow it just wasn't the same.
***
Chapter 3
Charge
***
The ankle did heal, and soon Glitch was running and jumping around like crazy. Enzo soon got used to being stuck to the arm of Glitch, and eventually didn't mind the reversal of roles as much as he minded being ignored by everybody. It was as if he was a tiny speck in cyberspace that was too small to be seen. His only real comfort was the fact that Mouse was working on a possible way of switching them back. Sometimes he distatched himself from Glitch to hover over Mouse's shoulder and watch, but not for long. He had to reattatch himself to Glitch because every time he watched Mouse like that, he felt more and more tired. Eventually, he couldn't hover at all. He wondered about this, but figured he was doing something wrong and just contented himself with being attached to Glitch.
Glitch turned out to be an effective game player. He'd been watching Bob even longer than Enzo had, and knew all of his game moves by heart. Enzo, on the other hand, thought it was kinda interesting to be able to look inside the source code of each game and look for info. He giggled to himself. Mouse would give her teeth to be able to do this by just retrieving it from memory as if it had been stored in his own mind. He wondered if she knew about this ability.
One time though, when he tried to get the game status, everything went fuzzy. He suddenly felt weak and strained to stay on Glitch's arm, but then everything went black. Glitch gasped in frightened surprise as the keytool fell to the ground.
"OH NO! I FORGOT TO RECHARGE!" He turned to Andraia. "We gotta get out of here as fast as possible."
"What's wrong?" Andraia asked?
"He's totally drained. He'll lose his memory! I can't believe I forgot to recharge him!"
"What do you mean he'll lose his memory?"
"He won't remember who he is or even what he is. He won't remember anything! We've got to get him out of here." Andraia had never seen Glitch panic like this before. Obviously, Glitch really hadn't gotten used to being a sprite. Luckily the user was very near them. Andraia hadn't even rebooted yet, but shot the user down with her crossbow. It was a lucky thing that the user in this specific game was a wimp. They rushed the keytool to the principal office. Glitch seemed out of breath as he stuck the keytool in the charger. Andraia looked at him. He was really stressed. "Glitch, what is it?"
He looked at her with a concerned face. "This happened to me before. One day I just woke up in a charger, and everything that happened before then was blank. You see, being a piece of machinery, we don't physically die when we run out of energy, but our mind does. I just know that if that had happened, it would be as if I had killed your friend. I don't think I could live with something like that on my mind."
Andraia stared into the charger. "How long until he wakes up?"
"Any nano now..... I just hope the backup batteries were working. I'll have to replace them now. Andraia, I'm so sorry.........."
"It's okay. It was an accident. It could have happened to anybody."
"You don't understand. You don't know what it's like to wake up and not know who you are!" Glitch screamed.
"It was a mistake!" Andraia said. "I won't hold that against you!"
"How can you not?"
"You really don't know anything about being a sprite, do you?"
Glitch looked at her strangely, as if he didn't know what she was trying to say. Just then, they heard a beeping sound from inside the charger. Andraia grabbed it out, and quickly shook it. "Enzo! Are you still there? Are you okay?"
The words "Whoa Andraia! Time out!" appeared on the display screen. Andraia hugged the keytool, and so did Glitch.
"Enzo I'm so sorry. You almost died and it was my fault."
More words on the display: "I'm confused. Glitch, why are you so panicked? What's with you two?"
"Do you remember what happened in the game?"
The display blinked more words: "Um, I'm not sure. I think I passed out. Had a nice nap though."
"I just hope Dot doesn't find out."
"I won't tell," Andraia said.
"Really?" Glitch looked up at her in surprise. "Isn't it dishonest not to?"
"No. You punished yourself. Why have somebody add on to it? Besides, Dot overreacts a lot."
The keytool beeped humorously in approval.
***
Chapter 4
Change
***
A long time passed and Mouse still hadn't figured out how to switch Glitch and Enzo back. She was on the verge of giving up, and Dot was beginning to get really worried. Would her brother ever be the same again?
While this was going on, though, Glitch had eventually gotten used to being a sprite, and as the seconds passed by, he liked it more and more. Enzo, on the other hand, was quite sick of being a keytool, and although this helped him understand why Glitch enjoyed being a sprite so much, he was still frustrated and just wanted to be himself again. It was no fun not being able to move, even though he could move around by hovering. (He could now do this as often as he liked, now that he got a regular recharge.)
A few seconds later, the principal office had a major victory against Megabyte's forces, and a huge celebration took place. Everybody, except Enzo, was in a festive mood. By now, Glitch acted totally like a sprite, and everybody called him by name as if he'd always been Glitch. Enzo never beeped or tried to communicate with anybody in any other way. He was too upset. If he'd felt ignored before, he really did now. For a long time he'd tried to get attention out of the others, and rarely got noticed. Only Mouse and Dot seemed to sympathize with him, when they noticed him.
Somewhere in this party, any relationship left between Glitch and Enzo was shattered when Glitch boldly kissed Andraia! Andraia jumped back in surprise. As for Enzo, this was too much for him, and he flew off of Glitch's arm and out the door. Andraia gave Glitch a mean look before following the keytool.
Enzo flew into what used to be his room, but was occupied by Glitch. He flew and dug himself under the pillow. Andraia followed him inside. Enzo beeped angrily.
"Enzo, where are you?" Andraia called out in desperation. She looked around the room, but didn't see him anywhere. She sat on the bed and started to cry.
"I just want Enzo back....." she sobbed with her face in her hands. After a few moments, she felt something nudging her hand. She looked down and there was the keytool. She picked it up and kissed the screen. "I'm so sorry, Enzo."
Nether of them noticed Glitch watching from the doorway. He turned around sadly and left them alone.
After that day, Enzo refused to resume his perch on Glitch's arm, and Andraia refused to talk to him. Glitch felt like he'd just lost everything. He knew that guardians considered it to be a dishonor when keytools refused them, and Glitch knew that any guardian at the academy would give their life to have him on their arm for five nanoseconds. As a keytool he was highly honored and desired, so being refused by a guardian wasn't something he was used to. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore, and broke down crying. His pride had been destroyed, and something else, but he couldn't comprehend what it was.
***
"I'VE GOT IT!" Mouse screamed excitedly as she rushed into the room of the defense grid holding a vidwindow. "Where's Dot?"
"In her office," Phong said in his ever-calm voice. "What's up?"
"I finally figured out how to switch them back!"
A cheer went up in the room. A certain little keytool that had been perched on Phong's shoulder suddenly flew excitedly around Mouse, beeping like crazy. Mouse ran into Dot's office. Dot was somewhat surprised. She'd never seen Mouse excited like this, but soon was excited as well.
"This is gonna be a challenge though," Mouse said as she laid the plans out in front of Dot. "I've figured out how to create a situation that will switch their minds back, but you gotta remember we're takin' a big risk here."
"We've gotta try," Dot said. "This is getting so hard for both of them. It's worth the risk."
"You're sure you wanna go through with this? You can back out at any time."
"Mouse, it's really not about my choice. It's theirs."
"Alright, sugar. I'll ask 'em."
As it turns out, by now, both of them were ready to go back to being themselves. Glitch no longer had any desire to be a sprite. He felt that the longer he stayed in this body, the more he hurt the people around him. It was past time to go back.
***
Chapter 5
Back to life
***
The situation was created in the core. Mouse had some new hacker toys she'd just recently whipped up, and had installed them into the defense grid room. Glitch, with Enzo on his arm, stood ready at the huge door that led to the core.
"You ready?" Glitch asked.
Ready as I'll ever be.
They were quiet for a bit. The vidwindow with Mouse's signal opened. They were to step inside now. An emergency rescue team stood ready behind them, in case something should go wrong.
As soon as they stepped inside, Glitch gave Enzo a pitiful look that almost had the keytool laughing, but Enzo stopped himself because it would have been rude.
"I'm sorry Enzo. I really messed things up. I didn't mean to do this."
What do you mean?
"It's my fault. It wasn't the tear that switched us. It was me. I can take radiation like that, but when you were thrown into the tear by the explosion, I thought you would die, and I did the first thing that instinct told me to. I didn't realize I'd hurt you so much."
This hit Enzo like a brick.
***
"Dot, before I begin, I'd like to tell you something."
"Make it quick, Mouse, they're standing in the core."
"Well, they'll have to take a little radiation for this to work. You see, it wasn't the tear that switched their minds, it was Glitch."
Dot looked at Mouse in horrified surprise.
"Yeah. The whole thing came to me when Glitch confided the truth in me recently. You see, keytools have a few lines of code in them that allow them to switch minds between bodies when they recognize that the body of a sprite is under considerable stress or trauma, enabling them to protect the mind of the guardian they are with. In other words, we're flirting with deletion here."
"Will Enzo know to switch?"
"No. He won't have to. It's not up to the keytool, although in the mind of the keytool, it may seem that way. The lines cannot be overridden by anything the keytool's mind tells it. I really pity the species. He won't have any choice but to switch, and then we'll just have to yank the two of them out as quickly as possible."
"How much stress can a keytool handle?"
"Lots. You wouldn't believe. They can take in 100 times more radiation than a sprite. Okay, should be ready now."
Mouse crossed her fingers for luck as she threw the lever.
***
During the power surge, suddenly, Enzo felt some code being activated that he hadn't remembered before. Then everything went black.
***
Mouse's hands went over the controls like crazy. Soon a body was hoisted out of the core into the core control chamber. Mouse crossed her fingers again as she and Dot ran toward the doors. The subsphere had been lowered just for the occasion. The blocks of energy that transported them across the abyss into the core control chamber still seemed too slow for Dot's racing heart. As soon as she reached the other side, she felt herself racing at a speed she'd never known before. When she reached Enzo, she hugged him tightly, but was shocked when she discovered how amazingly warm his body felt. His skin was dry. His face was so pale, and he was hyperventilating.
"Heat Stroke," Mouse said simply. "Shouldn't have left him in there so long."
***
They keytool switched itself on soon after. Mouse was halfway relieved when it asked if Enzo had made it, but was a little nervous as she truthfully replied, "We don't know yet."
Everyone had been up during the night, desperately trying to cool him down. 12 macroseconds and 30 icebags later, everyone was asleep in a pile around the bed, except for Andraia, who was still watching Enzo.
Enzo was sleeping peacefully after a frightening night filled with pain and delirium. At least this time, Andraia knew it would be him when he finally woke up. Glitch was back to normal, and Enzo would be too, although, he'd be tired for quite some time. His temperature was still a little high, but it would eventually go down on it's own.
Enzo woke up the next morning not wanting to open his eyes. He was afraid of what he might see. Finally, he gathered his courage and opened them. He was in bed, and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw his own hands tucked under the pillow. He was on his side, and Andraia was facing him, kinda. She was asleep on the edge of the bed like a naughty child asleep on a school desk, with her arms under her head. He put his hand on hers, and she woke up, and shouted excitedly, and soon all the people asleep in the pile were awake and crowding around him, including Glitch, who happily perched himself on Enzo's arm, but at the time, all this was too much for him, and Dot chased everyone out except for Andraia. Andraia was holding his hand, which was shaking and quivering like a massager. Dot eventually left the room, and in a few nanos, so did Andraia, after kissing him on the cheek. They both said he needed sleep, and that they'd check on him later in the afternoon. After they were gone though, something was wrong. He still couldn't sleep yet. He glanced down at Glitch. His hands were shaking as he turned and fumbled through the drawer of the nightstand. He finally found an extra pillow, knowing that they always kept a spare around. He placed the pillow on top of the nightstand, then put Glitch on it, turned over and fell asleep.