Disclaimer: ReBoot is property of Mainframe Entertainment Inc. I do not own them, I just enjoy writing and this was a cool idea that I couldn't pass up. Now that's out of the way, I hope you enjoy it.
Summary: This is based on the "What if... Dot didn't win the game in Identity Crisis." Huh? You'll see.
I
I turned the doorknob of the heavy wooden door and pushed it open. It whined in protest as I forced the hinges to move and swung the door to reveal a small interrogation room with two chairs on either end of the rough wooden table in the centre of the room. The darkness of the room seemed to swallow me up as I closed the door and turned on the spotlight lamp placed over the table.
I sat on the far chair in the darkened room so I could watch the door for any movement. I waited.
I took out a large pad of paper and a pencil and placed them in front of me. I then took out my data tape recorder in case I couldn't capture the interview fast enough on paper. I tapped my pencil quietly on the table as I waited.
He said he would meet me here at this time for an interview. I hoped it was the right room for the meeting. Just as I though he wasn't coming, the door opened - creating a quieter version of the whine I had created - he walked in and took his seat at the other end of the table.
He was tall, wearing a black leather jacket, black jeans, tall black boots and a red baseball cap with the brim turned backwards. Atop the cap, a green and black icon sat reflected the light of the sole lamp in the room. His skin was a dull green. His fingernails were grey and his hands were fidgety. He leaned forward into the light, revealing his face. His eyes were a deep violet and across his right eye, a white scar was clearly visible. Short one day stubble lay under his nose and on his left ear, a gold hoop earring hung. But his oddest feature was a bar code in the middle of his forehead.
We both sat in silence for several nanos, just staring across the table at each other; neither of us moved. It was if neither of us dared to move.
After about five nanos, I decided to start and break the silence that had held us; I asked him his name.
"Enzo Matrix" he said quietly and then fell silent again, as if hearing his voice speaking his own name was foreign to him.
I then asked if he had any family; any parents? brothers? sisters? He shook his head. "All nullified." He answered. I gave him my condolences.
I didn't really know where to begin the interview so I asked him to tell me about anything. Anything that he wanted to get off his chest and out into the open.
First he told me about his father; the man Enzo had admired until the day his father was nullified. Then he told me about his sister; the young girl that was forced to grow up too quickly and take care of him. Then he told me of Guardian 452; the Guardian who had accidentally arrived in Mainframe, Enzo's home system and protected the inhabitants from the two virus that had stationed themselves there.
As he began to talk more freely, I asked if I could record him on my data recorder because I was having a hard time keeping up; he said he didn't mind. I prepared the tape inside the tiny machine, made sure that Enzo was ready, pressed record and he began.
"As I look back on the past hours of my life filled with danger and events that a young sprite should never have to go through, I sometimes wonder how I ever survived. The things that I've seen, heard and experienced would be unbelievable if I hadn't witnessed the events myself; they were horrific. Fortunately I got used to them; one can get used to anything, you know.
"When I really think about it, all the trouble started when Dad was nullified along with all the other sprites in the system. It was his fault of course - I've come to realize and accept it now.
"When I was young, having no sprite friends my age to play with was something that was always looming over my head, but I tried not to think about it most of the time. Bob and Dot tried to involve me in whatever they were doing as much as possible but deep down inside, I always knew they were just humouring me.
"The last happy memory that I have of the three of us was my first birthday; I don't think I had more fun in one day. It was my first birthday party ever.
"It was my only birthday party ever.
"The trouble all began that one second when...
"The giant purple game cube stood deep in the middle of Wallstreet sector, concealing what game it was and who was in it from all who were outside; I was outside, but I knew Bob would be in the game if he could help it.
"I sat in Dot's Diner glaring at Cecil, my sister's help; he was being obstinate again and was refusing to get me an energy shake. "I am not a vaiter!" he'd yell at me, then say 'I am in charge of zis establishment vhen Madam Matrix iz not 'ere!'
"I don't know how many times I reminded him that I was Dot's brother after all, so I should be in charge, but he never listened to me. Even when Dot was right there in the diner; why would he listen to me without her.
"I was getting my own energy shake when I heard the system voice. "Game Over..." Good, I thought. Bob and Dot can come back to the diner, buy me chips and tell me how the PID transfer went; just like Dot promised. But the system voice wasn't finished. "...the User wins..."
"I stopped. The User wins?
"The system voice repeated itself in the same emotionless voice. Suddenly I hoped that Bob and Dot hadn't been in that game. They probably hadn't; Bob always won the games anyway. They'd be back soon.
"Just then a vidwindow opened right in front of me; it was Phong and he didn't look so good. 'Enzo, come to the Principal Office and quickly! I have to tell you something."
"I asked if I should wait for Bob and Dot since they were due to return any nano.
"'No, Enzo. Please come now. It is very important.'
"On my way to the Principal Office, I looked toward Wallstreet; the whole sector was off-line. The unfortunate sprites who had entered the game when it first dropped now crawled away from it as mindless, energy sucking nulls. I shuddered at the thought of being in a game and knowing that you were going to lose... knowing your final fate and that there was no known cure.
"When I got to the Principal Office, Phong was waiting for me; his face was drawn and sad looking. I asked him what was wrong. When he hesitated in telling me, I began to sense something was up and that it wasn't good.
"'It's Bob and Dot..." he began but stopped again. A knot began to form in my stomach. Something was really bad; I'd never seen Phong act this way before. I told Phong to continue to tell me. 'Bob and Dot were in that last game.' he informed me.
"The knot that had fully formed in my stomach was replaced by a nausea that caused me to try and hold it down.
"My two best friends; my sister... and my hero... were gone. All of my family was gone; Dad, Dot... I never knew my mother. I was the only Matrix left. I felt sick.
"I was sick. I choked and gasped for air as my stomach heaved. I leaned over the edge of the Principal Office and had a birds eye view of the Mainframe Archives... and other stuff. The nausea was coming fast.
"After my stomach was finished emptying itself of its contents, I tried to spit the horrible taste from my mouth. Phong was behind me, rubbing me back and trying to calm my nerves.
"'It's okay, Enzo.' he said repeatedly. 'It's okay.'
"No it's not... I thought. It's not okay.
"'Let us go inside.' Phong's voice was steady and reassuring. I nodded, dizzily got to my feet and followed him in.
"Deep inside the Principal Office, Phong and I tried to come up with a plan, but plans had never been one of my strong suits. I had never had to think up a plan to save Mainframe before; it was a new experience to me. Megabyte would not let this opportunity pass without him taking it.
"He took it. We should have seen it coming. We should have been prepared. We should have...
"But we didn't and then next thing we knew, Megabyte's troops were on the Principal Office front steps 'knocking' to get in.
"We didn't even have a chance to put the shield up; it all happened so fast."
Enzo paused. He reached into his jacket pocket and brought out a packet of cigarettes. He pulled out a slender white stick from the box and placed it between his lips as he returned the carton back into the deep leathery pocket.
"Do you have a light?' he asked. I nodded and brought out my red lighter. As I lit the cigarette, the smoke wreathed around his head and disappeared out of the circle of light, mingling with the already hot and stuffy air. I placed the red lighter back into my jeans pocket and my gaze returned to the young sprite, waiting for him to continue. He sat silently for a nano, breathing in the thick smoke that poured out of the white stick. Just as I was about to turn off my data recorder to save the tape, he began again.
"Viral troops entered the Principal Office, lead by Megabyte himself. I guess he wanted to be there with the Principal Office fell and Phong surrendered unconditionally. How Megabyte got to the central control room so quickly is beyond me. It may be the fact that everything from the time Phong told me that Bob and Dot were nullified to Megabyte breaking down the door leading to the room where Phong and I stood is all a blur.... I don't remember it all clearly but I do remember most of it; that's all that's important... right?
"I'll never forget Megabyte's face when the doors flew off their hinges because of the beating he was giving them on the other side; it was full of... satisfaction. He wore a smug smile as he extended his claws to their full length and stepped toward Phong and I.
"'I have waited a long time for this sprite.' Megabyte smirked as he spoke to Phong and maybe myself as well. 'I will enjoy this.'
"Phong turned to me, horror written all over his face. 'Run Enzo!'
"I didn't move. This couldn't be real. It couldn't. I looked back at Megabyte who was still advancing.
"Phong in a final act of desperation, pushed me toward a secret exit in the wall. 'Run!'
"I began to run, unsure of what else to do.
"'Don't look back, Enzo! Just run!' Phong's voice was no longer strong and reassuring; it was full of fear and uncertainty.
"The last voice I heard as I raced through the exit was Megabyte's; calling after me. Mocking me. 'Where do you think you can run boy? This is my system now!' His laughter seemed to echo in the dark passage-way, long after the door has shut behind me, but whether his laughter was really echoing in my head, I'll never know for sure.
"I escaped the Principal Office and flew away as fast as I could on my zipboard. I headed toward the apartment that Dot and I had shared in Baudway. I grabbed several items, including a flashlight and extra batteries, a blanket and all the money I could find; it wasn't like Dot was going to use it anyway.
"I knew Megabyte would have his troops come and find me, so I moved quickly. I went to the place that would be the last place he'd look for me, I hoped; Level 31.
"The first place I went to was Al's since Al was one of Dot's many business partners. After I told Al and all the customers in the diner the situation at the Principal Office and that Mainframe was never going to be the same again, the diner emptied pretty quickly - leaving Al, his waiter and myself alone.
"Al's waiter lead me upstairs to a small side room that was used for storage. I was told I could stay there, so long as I didn't delve into their supplies; I agreed.
"So Al's became my new home. It wasn't bad. It was never really noisy, the customers kept to themselves, and I was free to come and go as I pleased. Not like I wanted to go anywhere for the first few days; I was mourning the loss of my sister and two closest friends.
"I cried a lot then. So much in fact that I didn't leave the storage room. Al's waiter brought me energy shakes, but I didn't have much of an appetite."
Enzo flicked the pepper coloured ashes from the stub of his cigarette into the clear glass ashtray in the centre of the table and snuffed the glowing end deep into the grey pile of ash. He exhaled deeply, breathing out the last of the white smoke from his lungs and rested his head in the palm of his right hand.
"After the fourth day, with hardly having eaten anything, I emerged from my new living quarters drained; both physically and emotionally. I had cried myself out. Wrung out all the feelings and frustrations in the form of my tears and let them fall away into the pillow.
"I was tired. I hadn't slept much during that time but I needed energy.
"I walked down the stairs and toward the counter where Al's waiter sat fearfully. As I approached him, his face temporarily changed from fear to sympathy.
"'Are you ready for a shake now?' he asked. I nodded. Al's waiter called back into the kitchen and received from Al the usual response of 'WHAT?'
"After my shake, which Al had been saving for me, I went back upstairs to my room to try and get some sleep. As soon as my head touched the pillow, I was gone."