Authors Note: This story starts the way most do; it's seven years later (So Matt and Jackie are 18, Inez is 16 – all other characters mentioned are also, obviously, seven years older, so just remember that), and Matt, Jackie and Inez haven't been to Cyberspace since Motherboard was healed and Hacker supposedly locked away (also seven years ago). Just thought I'd make those points clear.
Chapter I
The room was still. Calculators and pens lay scattered on the floor, amid notebooks and various sheets of paper. A pile of homework was left sitting on a desk, the result of two hours of continuous studying. For once, the smart, energetic girl who was usually always up and about, was at rest. Inez lay silently in her bed, breathing softly. She was sprawled on the top of her covers, a half finished book propped against her chin, her large, square-rimed glasses askew upon her face. She had, evidently, fallen asleep reading. An open window let in a cool breeze, tousling her hair in only the slightest way. Left open on the floor was an ancient, battered journal that had been in use for so many years, it didn't have many unmarked pages left. The pages in the journal flew back as the wind brushed them lightly, before they opened on one of the earliest pages of the book, the paper and ink faded due to so much handling from continuous re-reading. The date was from seven years ago, and the entry itself took up 2 pages.
Journal,
Wow, can you say unexpected? Who would've thought that the day we were pulled in to save Eco-haven from an unexpected shortage of bananas, would lead to the curing of Motherboard? It all started out pretty simple. We were trying to work out why the bananas were disappearing, when we found Hacker's ship in the middle of a swamp. Of course, it became clear that Hacker was the one the one behind the disappearance of the bananas – whether he was just trying to spite the animals of Eco-haven, or he had some other nefarious plot that required the use of bananas, we never did find out. What we did know was that we had to get inside the Grim Wreaker and see if we could figure out the mystery of the banished bananas…or that was how Matt described it, anyway. Of course, he wanted to get on the ship right away, but Jackie and I told him we had to wait, first, and see if Hacker or his two henchmen, Buzz and Delete, were with him. Digit seemed kind of anxious to get to the ship, too, but he, like Matt, agreed to wait.
Sure enough, a few minutes later Buzz and Delete came walking down the ramp of the ship, complaining about how they had to walk to join up with Hacker on the other side of Eco-haven – apparently Hacker didn't want the ship moved. This told us, though, that Hacker was definitely not on the ship, and now, neither were Buzz and Delete. As soon as he had left the clearing, the four of us ran up into the ship. Digit stayed by the ramp to keep watch, while Matt, Jackie and I started searching through the ship.
I was the one who found it.
I had decided to search through a small column filling cabinets. There were rows upon rows of folders, many of them marked with schemes that we, the Cybersquad, had foiled in the past. I flipped through each file quickly, hardly bothering to do more than just glance at the title that labeled each folder. My hand slipped on one, though. I was a little surprised to see a folder marked "Motherboard Virus." It was old and beaten, and my hands were trembling so much as I took it out of the cabinet, I was worried it would just disintegrate in front of me. Opening it, I realized the folder contained every detail about the day Hacker infected Motherboard with that dreadful virus. It even contained the exact specifications of the virus, how it was created, and possibilities as to how it could be rid of. My heart raced. This was it, this was the way to save Motherboard. We got off the ship quickly, and Digit got us a portal to Motherboard as soon as I told him what I had discovered.
Dr. Marbles only needed to see the folder for five minutes before he went to work. The four of us were left nervously pacing, wondering if this really could be it – if Motherboard really was about to be cured. We had always thought that the Encryptor Chip would be the only way to save Motherboard, but now, with this folder, it seemed there were so many other ways to save her. But anyway, where was I? Oh right, pacing, wondering if Motherboard would be cured.
Sure enough, she was. I'd never really realized just how weak Motherboard was before, but once we all saw what she was like when she was in perfect condition, we realized it. Now, her screen shone like Solaria's sun, her voice was louder and less-metallic, and she had much more control over Cyberspace – and Hacker. This time, Marbles refused to have Hacker banished, and Motherboard agreed. They wanted to make sure he was kept close by at all times, so Dr. Marbles constructed a small room, a cell I guess, beneath the control center. It wasn't hard for Motherboard to track Hacker, and his associates, down and then lock them up. Dr. Marbles designed his own virus, which they infected Hacker with. It left him in a coma, and he was locked away, regardless. Buzz and Delete were freed, but Marbles planned to keep an eye on them. In the end, Hacker was no longer a threat, and Motherboard was forever cured.
So of course, there was no further need for us. Motherboard would be able to handle all of Cyberspace's major problems again. The Cybersquad would not need to be called on again. Motherboard said she was proud of us, and wished each of us luck on earth. We asked her if she could maybe call us again some time, so we could all see each other again. She said she couldn't, but promised that if Cyberspace was even thrown into such serious danger that even she couldn't handle it, we would be the first ones she would call. So we said good-bye to Digit, Motherboard, and Dr. Marbles, and as I stepped into a portal for the last time, I couldn't help but think of all the people I hadn't gotten to say goodbye to. Like Glowla, Creech, Shari, or Binary and Icky, or Slider. Even people I had never really even known too well before, such as Erica Ram, I realized I still felt sad I couldn't say bye to them either. Jackie, Matt and I swore to keep in touch even more, since we don't live that close by, but we were still leaving behind everyone else in Cyberspace.
Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't found that file marked "Motherboard Virus." Or if I had never opened it, or if I had just never given it to Dr. Marbles.
The three of them – Jackie, Matt, and Inez – had kept in touch. However, Inez hadn't been doing so well at communicating with them lately. All her homework had kept her glued to her books and notes, and away from her computer, where her IM's and email waited. It'd been two days since she'd last checked her email, so she had yet to see the two unread messages waiting in her inbox. One was an ad for a Caribbean cruise. The other was a message from Jackie, titled 'Matt,' and enclosed a message asking, 'Have you heard from Matt lately? I know he was on vacation for the past two weeks, but he said he'd be back by the day before yesterday. I haven't seen him online lately, though.'
Maybe she'd check her email in the morning. Inez had felt a little guilty for not talking to Matt and Jackie, since they usually exchange various messages and stories at least three times a day. Tomorrow, she'd thought as she'd climbed on top of her bed with her latest book, I'll talk to them.
The sudden portal that appeared at the side of her bed seemed to argue against this thought, however, as the still-sleeping Inez was sucked into Cyberspace for the first time in seven years.