Note: I do not own any of the characters in this fic . . . except for
Hacker's, uh, "daughter" . . . she's mine.
Well, here's chapter 2, I hope it's okay. Like I said, I'm so much more satisfied with this fic than I am my other one, which I kinda gave up on . . .(laughs nervously) uh, he he . . .he . . .(clears throat) Anyway, thanks to sarahfan and Grand High Idol for reviewing. I love feedback! I feel so special! ^_^
For any of you readers that happen to be fans of Matt, Jackie, Inez, and, of course, Digit, they're not going to be in this chapter. Sorry, this story is sorta focused on the bad guys, but they'll turn up eventually. I just don't know when! After all, it wouldn't be a Cyberchase fic without our Cybersquad!!
And now, without further ado . . . I give you . . . A Cyberspace Story!!! (Dramatic music plays) Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My One and only: A Cyberspace Story
By Dramaqueen-8.0
Chapter 2: Different Shades of Green
* * * * *
Even though it resided on the outer most regions of Cyberspace, the sun still shone brightly upon the dreary site known as the Northern Frontier. The warm rays reflected off of the front half of the Grim Weaker, which was slightly visible through the permanently open doorway of its storage bay. Its green tinted windows seemed to absorb the rays, allowing light to poor freely throughout the ship's control room, which, at the moment, was empty.
The morning light had managed to reach just far enough into the metallic structure so it could shine through The Hacker's bedroom window. Slowly, it crept across the floor, making its way toward the top part of his bed. Once it had reached its destination, it shone directly onto Hacker's sleeping form, causing his eyes to slightly open. But upon having the blinding light in his eyes, he cursed at it, closing them tightly.
He rolled over, his back toward the window. He was silent for a moment, until he slowly opened his eyes again. The first thought that came to him was 'what time is it?'.
He then gasped, immediately sitting up straight, remembering what had happened the night before . . .or was it early this morning . . .?
He shook his head, bringing a hand up to his forehead, trying to think clearly. He looked around the room, recalling what had happened . . .
He was in his lab . . .waiting for a pod to open . . .oh, Buzz and Delete were there, too . . . then it opened, and out came all of this green smoke, and then . . . and then this small child had scared the circuits out of him . . . and that was all he could remember before falling unconscious . . .
After going over these last thoughts several times, he then realized something.
He was in his room . . . in his bed . . . not his lab!
Did he dream the whole thing? Was he actually trying to create an heir, or was it all just an image of his subconscious?!
He brought his hand away from his forehead, drawing it up and over his head, to the back of his neck-
"Ow!" He gave a surprised yelp as a sharp pain omitted from a tender spot on the back of his head. 'How did he get THAT?' he thought to himself, as he brought his arm back down to rest at his side. The only explanation that he could come up with was that he must have actually hurt himself in his laboratory just hours before.
Maybe he really DID fall over something last night, hitting his head. And maybe he really WAS trying to create a younger version of himself over the past few days.
His hand was now rubbing his chin while he tried to get all of his thoughts organized. He shook his head in confusion.
But if this was true, then that would mean-
He froze, eyes widening in horror. He slightly paled at remembering the full results of his experiment. He then spoke aloud to himself, his voice hoarse . . .
"Oh, God . . ."
He leapt out of bed, bolting for the door. After pressing the access button, the door slid open, allowing him to continue sprinting like mad down the hall in the direction of his lab.
On his way, he passed the kitchen, which was occupied by Buzz and Delete, who had been enjoying their usual breakfast of coffee and donuts until it had been interrupted by a frantic cyborg running past the open doorway. Hacker took no heed to them, as he had other things on his mind at the moment.
Upon seeing their boss run by the room, they looked at one another. The rather amused expressions that had been on their faces a moment ago had now been replaced by looks of uneasiness, as they knew exactly where Hacker was headed . . .and why. They both got up from the table slowly, knowing that there was no hurry in getting to the lab because the thing that Hacker was looking for was no longer residing there.
Once Hacker had reached the entrance to his lab, he stopped short of about two feet from the doorway. He stood in place, not wanting to frighten whatever might be in the large room, but instead, catch it by surprise. Then, after taking a deep, calming breath, he took a step forward, revealing his head cautiously in front of the doorway, peering into the direction of the pod itself.
At that moment, Buzz and Delete had come walking up behind him, still a little uneasy.
Buzz was the closest to him, feeling as though he should be the one to tell him. "Uh, Boss?"
"Shh! Be quiet, you idiots," he hissed, without looking back at them. "It'll here you!"
Delete, upon hearing this, cocked his head in confusion. "'it'? What 'it'?"
Buzz looked over at his younger brother, clearing his throat as he crossed his arms. Delete looked down at him, not knowing what he was looking at him for until a few seconds of silence had gone by. It had then dawned on him.
"Ooooh, yeah . . .that's right," he said, somewhat under his breath so as to not draw attention from Hacker, who had now stepped all the way in front of the door, getting a full view of the room. His eyes were now scanning the entire area, finding it empty.
"Where is it?!" He stomped all the way into the room, over to the pod. "Why isn't it in here?!" This last question was directed at Buzz and Delete, who had followed him all the way into the room. All they could do was just stand there, shuffling their feet, or, as Buzz was doing, whistling innocently. Hacker turned, noticed this, and, knowing that they definitely had a pretty good idea as to the child's whereabouts, began to sound more forceful. "Well . . .? I want an answer! Where is it?"
Delete, rather annoyed by his employer calling the child an 'it' repeatedly, decided to say something on her behalf. "Don't ya mean 'she', Boss?"
Buzz looked back at him again, glaring. He then brought his attention back onto Hacker, who was now clearly furious.
"I don't care what it, er, 'she' is," he barked, startling the two of them. "What I want to know is WHERE she is!"
Buzz brought his hands up in a defensive position, as if to block a blow from Hacker. "She's fine, Boss, don't worry!" He took a few steps back. "After you got knocked out, and after we'd put yas' in bed, we stayed up wit her for a couple more hours, ya know, ta keep her occupied . . ." He paused, wondering whether or not if he should continue.
After a moment of silence, Hacker began to tap his foot impatiently. "And . . . . ?" He then crossed his arms, glaring down at the shorter robot.
Buzz gulped, then continued. "And, uh, well, after a while, she started ta get tired. So Deeds' n' I took her to our room sos' she could-"
Before he could finish, Hacker stormed passed him and Delete, nearly knocking them down. He then proceeded out of the lab and down the hall, into the direction of the two robots' room. The two of them quickly followed, not wanting him to do anything drastic.
Upon reaching the tightly sealed door of the one room, he stopped just in front of it. He waited for the two simple-minded henchmen to catch up with him. Once they had, however, he gave them a stern look, causing them to skid to a halt and stand at attention. He glanced over at the door, then back at them, jabbing a finger at them as he spoke in a harsh, yet softened tone, so as to prevent anyone else but the two of them from hearing his command.
"Go back to what you were doing BEFORE I came out of my chambers, and no matter what, I want the both of you to remain in that room!" He then stood up to his full height, still glaring down at them. "Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal!" They said this in unison, giving a salute. Then, rather reluctantly, they turned and headed back to the kitchen at a trot, leaving him alone in front of the door to their room.
He turned to face the closed door, taking a deep breath so as to calm himself. He then brought his hand up, letting it hover over the access button. He paused, looking on either side of him, making sure he was alone.
Once his solitude was verified, he listened to the silence, straining to hear what was on the other side of the door. After hearing nothing for several moments, he braced himself, then, placed his hand on the access button, opening the door . . .
At first, he couldn't see anything because it was pitch black. Since Buzz and Delete's room didn't have a window like his own, the sun's rays couldn't reach the small room. He strained in the darkness, still not seeing anything. After a few seconds, he had managed to make out a few dark shapes, which he had identified as the beds of the robots. He looked from one to the other, seeing if anything was occupying them. He didn't know which bed belonged to whom, and frankly he didn't really care!
They appeared to be empty at this distance. He gritted his teeth, thinking that Buzz and Delete had sent him here as a distraction. They were probably hiding her in the kitchen.
He was about to turn to go when he stopped, spotting something on one of the beds. At first glance it had only appeared be the sheets bundled up into a ball . . .until the ball had moved, causing Hacker to jump. He cautiously walked further into the room, but then paused, reaching behind him and pressing the access button, causing the door to slide shut. He then proceeded to approach the bed, trying not to make a sound.
Once he had made his way over to the bed, he looked down at what lay there; naturally, it was the sleeping form of the little green girl that had caused his concussion the night before. She looked so peaceful, not to mention adorable, curled up in a ball like that that it was hard for him to accept the fact she was of his relation.
His first thought was to wake her up by turning on the light, shouting just like he did with Buzz and Delete every other morning. But that thought soon left his mind as she had just omitted a soft sigh. All he could do was just look down at her, a thought finally accruing to him:
This was his daughter . . .his only child. But that was the problem . . .his DAUGHTER, instead of his son . . .a CHILD instead of the strapping young man that he had mentally pictured for the past few days. How could this tiny, insignificant thing be the outcome of one of his greatest plans ever? Maybe he did make a mistake in his equations. And if that was the case, then how was he going to fix it?
He then sighed, shaking his head, figuring that he might as well make the best of it. After all . . .how bad could a smaller, female version of him be . . .?
He was thinking about what to say in order to get the sleeping child's attention, when she stirred again. He froze, not knowing what to do. So, instead of going with his original plan of waking her up, he stood perfectly still, hoping an idea would suddenly come to him.
The girl turned over, facing him, her eyes still shut. She then snuggled up against the pillow, burring her face in it. She sighed again, enjoying whatever dream she might be having. She had a smile set upon her small face.
Hacker exhaled, as he had been holding his breath. He was both relieved and yet disappointed at the same time. He wanted her to speed things along and wake up on her own. But if she awakened, he still didn't have a clue as to what he was going to do with her. He wasn't too fond of children. Not only that, but he had no idea as to what to do with a child, especially one this young!
This was another problem. What was he going to do? He didn't exactly know how parenthood worked for someone with his . . .reputation. But what he DID know was that first impressions are very important. And, considering that their first meeting had caused him to pass out, there was only one thing to do . . .start over . . .
Hacker brought his hand up, carefully placing it on her shoulder. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally shook her gently. While he did this, she groaned, scrunching up into an even tighter ball.
He frowned, repeating his action. All this did was bring a rather annoyed expression to her face. She then grunted, bringing the sheets up and over her head.
He grinned. "Well, there's at least one thing we have in common so far . . .sleeping in . . ."
Upon hearing his voice, the child poked the top of her head out from under the sheets, looking up at him tiredly. Hacker was startled by this sudden occurrence, as he had moved back a step. He watched with wide eyes as she came slowly out from under the covers, yawning and stretching. She looked up at him again, this time with a smile.
She giggled, giving a little wave. "Hi again!"
He cocked an eyebrow, rubbing the back of his neck uneasily. "Uh . . .hello, I guess."
She noticed his action. "How's yer head?" She pointed up at him.
"Huh . . .Oh! That . . .it's, a little sore, but I think I'll live." He brought his hand down to his side.
There came a long silence between them. 'Think,' he thought to himself. 'Think! This is your offspring, as much as you hate to admit, she IS! You might as well accept the fact that YOU are HER father!'
When the word 'father' had crossed his mind, he shuddered. Him, THE Hacker, a father!? The mere thought of it was ludicrous! It was down right absurd!
And yet . . .here he stood, looking into those big green eyes that told him otherwise. The same eyes that kept looking back at him full of innocence and curiosity . . . the eyes of a child . . .HIS child!
He cleared his throat, trying to think of a way to break the uncomfortable silence. "So . . .how are you . . .I mean, uh, how are you in, you know, terms of completion?"
She cocked her head to one side, staring at him blankly. "Huh?"
'Oh, right' he thought, rolling his eyes. 'The whole age thing . . .' He kneeled down to her level, rephrasing his question. "When you came out of the pod, did you have everything? You know, hands, fingers, toes . . .that sort of thing?"
She scratched her head, showing a confused expression. Now it was her turn to raise an eyebrow. "Um, I think so." She hopped off of the bed, down onto the floor. She then began to look herself over. She stood on one foot, as if counting her toes; she then repeated this with her other foot and two hands. As she continued to do this, Hacker could only watch as this adorable little girl did her best to try and medically examine herself . . .
He shook his head after realizing that he'd been . . .ugh, smiling . . . it was time to get serious about all of this. "Perhaps it would be best if I take you back to the lab and took some x-rays just to make sure."
Once he had gotten back up, a thought struck him. "Um, what exactly am I supposed to call you, anyway? I mean, do you have a name?"
The girl was now seated cross-legged on the floor, counting a few of the hairs on her head. She then looked up at him, thinking. "Hmm . . .no, not really." She stood up to her full height, which only went just above Hacker's waistline. "But I do know what to call you!"
'Uh-oh . . .here it comes,' he thought, crossing his arms. "Oh, is that so. Well, enlighten me. What exactly did you have in mind?"
"I'm 'spose ta call you The Hacker. Not HACKER . . .THE Hacker, right?" She looked up at him hopefully, her arms behind her back.
Hacker was stunned, as he had been expecting something along the lines of 'dad'. "Wha . . .uh, yes that's . . .that's right!" He continued to look down at her. "If that's what you want to use then I suppose that you can . . ." He trailed off, still a little baffled at the child's innocence.
"Well, actually," she replied shyly, digging at the tile floor with the tip of her foot. "I kinda wanted to call you something else . . .but Buzz n' Delete tol' me that you wouldn't like it." She looked a little sad after saying this.
'Ah . . .that explains it.' He sighed, going over to the bed opposite of the one that she had been sleeping in, making himself comfortable. He figured that he might as well get the whole bonding thing out of the way before anything else. "Well, let's pretend that the dunce- I mean, Buzz and Delete- hadn't told you what my name was . . .what was it that YOU were going to call me . . .just out of curiosity?" Then, just to seem more "parent-like", he patted the spot on the bed next to him a few times, inviting her to have a seat.
At seeing this gesture, she smiled happily, practically skipping to the bed. But once she had gotten to it, however, she found it very difficult to climb up onto. This was obviously Delete's bed, seeing as how Buzz's would be much shorter.
Without thinking, Hacker reached over and picked her up from around the waist with both hands. He was surprised at how light she was. But instead of setting her down beside him, he instead sat her down on his lap, not even realizing what he had done until she had smiled up at him . . .by then it was too late to react. So he just tried to go with it.
"Well," she said, sounding as innocent as possible, clapping her hands together in her lap. "I kinda wanted to call you, uh . . .Daddy . . .if that's okay?" She then batted her eyes at him, yet again, surprising the cyborg.
He brought his free hand to his chin in thought, since the other was keeping the girl balanced in place on his lap. "Hmm. I suppose that would be alright." He noticed out of the corner of his eye that she had brightened at his answer. "But, for Buzz and Delete's sake, let's just keep that one between you and me . . .alright?" He had said this last part in a whisper, as if it were a big secret that only she could hear.
"Oh!" She then lowered her voice, which was much softer than his was. "Okay . . .gotchya'!"
"Alright then." He then returned his voice to its normal volume. "Now that we have MY name figured out . . .well, for you, anyway." At this, he winked at her, causing her to giggle. "But what to call you." He brought his hand to his chin in thought once again; this time actually trying put some real thought into it. He'd never named a child before . . .mainly because he'd been expecting a boy. The name there was obvious . . .Junior. But what was a good name for a girl?
While he pondered this, he looked down at her, seeing if he could get some idea for a name from her appearance. "Let's see," he thought aloud. "Well, you're green. That's easy enough to notice . . .what are some good titles for things that are green . . .?"
While he was in deep thought, she looked up at him, trying to mimic his movements of thinking. She rubbed the small tip of her chin, furrowed her brow and saying 'hmm' after each time Hacker did. She had even added to all of this by sticking the tip of her tongue out, to give her the illusion that she was thinking really hard.
After noticing this, Hacker chuckled, surprising himself now!
'Chuckling?' he argued in his head, 'The Hacker doesn't chuckle! He laughs maniacally after doing something extremely evil!' But after thinking this, he looked back down at the small figure in his lap, who was now scratching her head, still in "thought". This brought a smile to his face. 'Well, I suppose there's a time and a place for evil laughing . . .this just doesn't happen to be one of them.'
He shook his head, trying to focus on the topic at hand. "How about . . ." He began to slowly mention other names for the color green, trying to get and idea. "Emerald?" He looked down at her for feedback. She wrinkled her nose and shook her head, so that one was out.
"Or maybe . . .uh . . .Olive?" Again, still a negative answer, but this time she stuck out her tongue in disgust.
"Not an Olive, aye? Well, I don't suppose you would go for 'Spring Green', would you?"
This time she crossed her arms and gave him a look that said 'you're joking, right?'.
"No? Oh, well, it was just a thought . . . Hmm . . .what else is there . . .?" The only other green colors he could think of at the moment were for plant life . . .
And that's when it hit him-
"That's it!" He suddenly shouted, startling his newly acquired daughter, as a brilliant epiphany had just come to him. He looked down at her, pride written all over his face.
"My dear," he said, straightening up. "I think I have the PERFECT name for you."
She looked up at him, her emerald green eyes sparkling with anticipation. "What is it?"
"What do you think of the name . . .Ivy?" He waited for her approval as she took her 'thinking' pose.
"Hmm," she chimed, imitating him again. "Ivy . . .Ivy . . ." She scratched her head, looking as if she actually were thinking about this one. After what seemed like only a few seconds, however, she looked up at him, beaming. "Ivy . . .I like it!"
"Good! Ivy it is, then!"
He was about to stand up, saying that they should head off into the direction of the lab. But was stopped by something, even before he could make his first movement, as he had not seen it coming . . .
'Ivy' had embraced her father in a hug.
She nuzzled up against him, squeezing as tightly as she could, which had proven that she was much stronger than her appearance had led her to be.
This, out of everything else, was what had baffled The Hacker beyond all forms of reason, as he was now merely babbling things that didn't make any sense. He just sat there, letting her hug him, not really knowing how to respond. He didn't know if he should push her off of him, let her get all of the hugging out of her system at that moment, or just embrace her back.
But this last option didn't really apply to him . . .did it . . .?
He was evil . . .true. All of Cyberspace knew about him and his attempts at taking over it and all of its citizens. He had been branded names, such as the 'king of chaos' or the 'scourge of Cyberspace'. Yes, it was a well- known fact that he, The Hacker, was a cold, black-hearted, cyborg that didn't care about the pain and suffering of others. He only cared about himself.
But, right then, even for only a brief moment . . .he was having a few doubts about his reputation . . .
He bit his lower lip nervously, looking down at the supposedly smaller version of himself. He then glanced over at the closed door, praying that the two henchmen wouldn't come in at that moment.
Looking back down at Ivy . . .a smile, the same smile that he'd tried to hide a moment ago, was now occupying his once hardened expression.
Then, ever so slowly, he put his arms around his little girl, embracing her back, at the moment not caring what this would hold for the future.
Upon feeling his embrace, Ivy gripped hers even tighter, not wanting to let go.
After spending time with him, she now knew that her father was nothing like what her two new friends, Buzz and Delete, had described him to be. They had told her that he was a mean, evil, maniacal villain who longed to become the dominant ruler of Cyberspace, and that he would sacrifice anything, and anyone, to get there, not caring about what happened to them in the process.
Nope, they were wrong. Her father would NEVER do that . . .never.
She was willing to stake her life on it.
As she had these last thoughts, she nuzzled herself further into her father's chest, sighing . . .
"I love you, Daddy . . ."
To be continued . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, that's it for Ch. 2! Please review! I loooove feedback! :p
Well, here's chapter 2, I hope it's okay. Like I said, I'm so much more satisfied with this fic than I am my other one, which I kinda gave up on . . .(laughs nervously) uh, he he . . .he . . .(clears throat) Anyway, thanks to sarahfan and Grand High Idol for reviewing. I love feedback! I feel so special! ^_^
For any of you readers that happen to be fans of Matt, Jackie, Inez, and, of course, Digit, they're not going to be in this chapter. Sorry, this story is sorta focused on the bad guys, but they'll turn up eventually. I just don't know when! After all, it wouldn't be a Cyberchase fic without our Cybersquad!!
And now, without further ado . . . I give you . . . A Cyberspace Story!!! (Dramatic music plays) Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My One and only: A Cyberspace Story
By Dramaqueen-8.0
Chapter 2: Different Shades of Green
* * * * *
Even though it resided on the outer most regions of Cyberspace, the sun still shone brightly upon the dreary site known as the Northern Frontier. The warm rays reflected off of the front half of the Grim Weaker, which was slightly visible through the permanently open doorway of its storage bay. Its green tinted windows seemed to absorb the rays, allowing light to poor freely throughout the ship's control room, which, at the moment, was empty.
The morning light had managed to reach just far enough into the metallic structure so it could shine through The Hacker's bedroom window. Slowly, it crept across the floor, making its way toward the top part of his bed. Once it had reached its destination, it shone directly onto Hacker's sleeping form, causing his eyes to slightly open. But upon having the blinding light in his eyes, he cursed at it, closing them tightly.
He rolled over, his back toward the window. He was silent for a moment, until he slowly opened his eyes again. The first thought that came to him was 'what time is it?'.
He then gasped, immediately sitting up straight, remembering what had happened the night before . . .or was it early this morning . . .?
He shook his head, bringing a hand up to his forehead, trying to think clearly. He looked around the room, recalling what had happened . . .
He was in his lab . . .waiting for a pod to open . . .oh, Buzz and Delete were there, too . . . then it opened, and out came all of this green smoke, and then . . . and then this small child had scared the circuits out of him . . . and that was all he could remember before falling unconscious . . .
After going over these last thoughts several times, he then realized something.
He was in his room . . . in his bed . . . not his lab!
Did he dream the whole thing? Was he actually trying to create an heir, or was it all just an image of his subconscious?!
He brought his hand away from his forehead, drawing it up and over his head, to the back of his neck-
"Ow!" He gave a surprised yelp as a sharp pain omitted from a tender spot on the back of his head. 'How did he get THAT?' he thought to himself, as he brought his arm back down to rest at his side. The only explanation that he could come up with was that he must have actually hurt himself in his laboratory just hours before.
Maybe he really DID fall over something last night, hitting his head. And maybe he really WAS trying to create a younger version of himself over the past few days.
His hand was now rubbing his chin while he tried to get all of his thoughts organized. He shook his head in confusion.
But if this was true, then that would mean-
He froze, eyes widening in horror. He slightly paled at remembering the full results of his experiment. He then spoke aloud to himself, his voice hoarse . . .
"Oh, God . . ."
He leapt out of bed, bolting for the door. After pressing the access button, the door slid open, allowing him to continue sprinting like mad down the hall in the direction of his lab.
On his way, he passed the kitchen, which was occupied by Buzz and Delete, who had been enjoying their usual breakfast of coffee and donuts until it had been interrupted by a frantic cyborg running past the open doorway. Hacker took no heed to them, as he had other things on his mind at the moment.
Upon seeing their boss run by the room, they looked at one another. The rather amused expressions that had been on their faces a moment ago had now been replaced by looks of uneasiness, as they knew exactly where Hacker was headed . . .and why. They both got up from the table slowly, knowing that there was no hurry in getting to the lab because the thing that Hacker was looking for was no longer residing there.
Once Hacker had reached the entrance to his lab, he stopped short of about two feet from the doorway. He stood in place, not wanting to frighten whatever might be in the large room, but instead, catch it by surprise. Then, after taking a deep, calming breath, he took a step forward, revealing his head cautiously in front of the doorway, peering into the direction of the pod itself.
At that moment, Buzz and Delete had come walking up behind him, still a little uneasy.
Buzz was the closest to him, feeling as though he should be the one to tell him. "Uh, Boss?"
"Shh! Be quiet, you idiots," he hissed, without looking back at them. "It'll here you!"
Delete, upon hearing this, cocked his head in confusion. "'it'? What 'it'?"
Buzz looked over at his younger brother, clearing his throat as he crossed his arms. Delete looked down at him, not knowing what he was looking at him for until a few seconds of silence had gone by. It had then dawned on him.
"Ooooh, yeah . . .that's right," he said, somewhat under his breath so as to not draw attention from Hacker, who had now stepped all the way in front of the door, getting a full view of the room. His eyes were now scanning the entire area, finding it empty.
"Where is it?!" He stomped all the way into the room, over to the pod. "Why isn't it in here?!" This last question was directed at Buzz and Delete, who had followed him all the way into the room. All they could do was just stand there, shuffling their feet, or, as Buzz was doing, whistling innocently. Hacker turned, noticed this, and, knowing that they definitely had a pretty good idea as to the child's whereabouts, began to sound more forceful. "Well . . .? I want an answer! Where is it?"
Delete, rather annoyed by his employer calling the child an 'it' repeatedly, decided to say something on her behalf. "Don't ya mean 'she', Boss?"
Buzz looked back at him again, glaring. He then brought his attention back onto Hacker, who was now clearly furious.
"I don't care what it, er, 'she' is," he barked, startling the two of them. "What I want to know is WHERE she is!"
Buzz brought his hands up in a defensive position, as if to block a blow from Hacker. "She's fine, Boss, don't worry!" He took a few steps back. "After you got knocked out, and after we'd put yas' in bed, we stayed up wit her for a couple more hours, ya know, ta keep her occupied . . ." He paused, wondering whether or not if he should continue.
After a moment of silence, Hacker began to tap his foot impatiently. "And . . . . ?" He then crossed his arms, glaring down at the shorter robot.
Buzz gulped, then continued. "And, uh, well, after a while, she started ta get tired. So Deeds' n' I took her to our room sos' she could-"
Before he could finish, Hacker stormed passed him and Delete, nearly knocking them down. He then proceeded out of the lab and down the hall, into the direction of the two robots' room. The two of them quickly followed, not wanting him to do anything drastic.
Upon reaching the tightly sealed door of the one room, he stopped just in front of it. He waited for the two simple-minded henchmen to catch up with him. Once they had, however, he gave them a stern look, causing them to skid to a halt and stand at attention. He glanced over at the door, then back at them, jabbing a finger at them as he spoke in a harsh, yet softened tone, so as to prevent anyone else but the two of them from hearing his command.
"Go back to what you were doing BEFORE I came out of my chambers, and no matter what, I want the both of you to remain in that room!" He then stood up to his full height, still glaring down at them. "Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal!" They said this in unison, giving a salute. Then, rather reluctantly, they turned and headed back to the kitchen at a trot, leaving him alone in front of the door to their room.
He turned to face the closed door, taking a deep breath so as to calm himself. He then brought his hand up, letting it hover over the access button. He paused, looking on either side of him, making sure he was alone.
Once his solitude was verified, he listened to the silence, straining to hear what was on the other side of the door. After hearing nothing for several moments, he braced himself, then, placed his hand on the access button, opening the door . . .
At first, he couldn't see anything because it was pitch black. Since Buzz and Delete's room didn't have a window like his own, the sun's rays couldn't reach the small room. He strained in the darkness, still not seeing anything. After a few seconds, he had managed to make out a few dark shapes, which he had identified as the beds of the robots. He looked from one to the other, seeing if anything was occupying them. He didn't know which bed belonged to whom, and frankly he didn't really care!
They appeared to be empty at this distance. He gritted his teeth, thinking that Buzz and Delete had sent him here as a distraction. They were probably hiding her in the kitchen.
He was about to turn to go when he stopped, spotting something on one of the beds. At first glance it had only appeared be the sheets bundled up into a ball . . .until the ball had moved, causing Hacker to jump. He cautiously walked further into the room, but then paused, reaching behind him and pressing the access button, causing the door to slide shut. He then proceeded to approach the bed, trying not to make a sound.
Once he had made his way over to the bed, he looked down at what lay there; naturally, it was the sleeping form of the little green girl that had caused his concussion the night before. She looked so peaceful, not to mention adorable, curled up in a ball like that that it was hard for him to accept the fact she was of his relation.
His first thought was to wake her up by turning on the light, shouting just like he did with Buzz and Delete every other morning. But that thought soon left his mind as she had just omitted a soft sigh. All he could do was just look down at her, a thought finally accruing to him:
This was his daughter . . .his only child. But that was the problem . . .his DAUGHTER, instead of his son . . .a CHILD instead of the strapping young man that he had mentally pictured for the past few days. How could this tiny, insignificant thing be the outcome of one of his greatest plans ever? Maybe he did make a mistake in his equations. And if that was the case, then how was he going to fix it?
He then sighed, shaking his head, figuring that he might as well make the best of it. After all . . .how bad could a smaller, female version of him be . . .?
He was thinking about what to say in order to get the sleeping child's attention, when she stirred again. He froze, not knowing what to do. So, instead of going with his original plan of waking her up, he stood perfectly still, hoping an idea would suddenly come to him.
The girl turned over, facing him, her eyes still shut. She then snuggled up against the pillow, burring her face in it. She sighed again, enjoying whatever dream she might be having. She had a smile set upon her small face.
Hacker exhaled, as he had been holding his breath. He was both relieved and yet disappointed at the same time. He wanted her to speed things along and wake up on her own. But if she awakened, he still didn't have a clue as to what he was going to do with her. He wasn't too fond of children. Not only that, but he had no idea as to what to do with a child, especially one this young!
This was another problem. What was he going to do? He didn't exactly know how parenthood worked for someone with his . . .reputation. But what he DID know was that first impressions are very important. And, considering that their first meeting had caused him to pass out, there was only one thing to do . . .start over . . .
Hacker brought his hand up, carefully placing it on her shoulder. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally shook her gently. While he did this, she groaned, scrunching up into an even tighter ball.
He frowned, repeating his action. All this did was bring a rather annoyed expression to her face. She then grunted, bringing the sheets up and over her head.
He grinned. "Well, there's at least one thing we have in common so far . . .sleeping in . . ."
Upon hearing his voice, the child poked the top of her head out from under the sheets, looking up at him tiredly. Hacker was startled by this sudden occurrence, as he had moved back a step. He watched with wide eyes as she came slowly out from under the covers, yawning and stretching. She looked up at him again, this time with a smile.
She giggled, giving a little wave. "Hi again!"
He cocked an eyebrow, rubbing the back of his neck uneasily. "Uh . . .hello, I guess."
She noticed his action. "How's yer head?" She pointed up at him.
"Huh . . .Oh! That . . .it's, a little sore, but I think I'll live." He brought his hand down to his side.
There came a long silence between them. 'Think,' he thought to himself. 'Think! This is your offspring, as much as you hate to admit, she IS! You might as well accept the fact that YOU are HER father!'
When the word 'father' had crossed his mind, he shuddered. Him, THE Hacker, a father!? The mere thought of it was ludicrous! It was down right absurd!
And yet . . .here he stood, looking into those big green eyes that told him otherwise. The same eyes that kept looking back at him full of innocence and curiosity . . . the eyes of a child . . .HIS child!
He cleared his throat, trying to think of a way to break the uncomfortable silence. "So . . .how are you . . .I mean, uh, how are you in, you know, terms of completion?"
She cocked her head to one side, staring at him blankly. "Huh?"
'Oh, right' he thought, rolling his eyes. 'The whole age thing . . .' He kneeled down to her level, rephrasing his question. "When you came out of the pod, did you have everything? You know, hands, fingers, toes . . .that sort of thing?"
She scratched her head, showing a confused expression. Now it was her turn to raise an eyebrow. "Um, I think so." She hopped off of the bed, down onto the floor. She then began to look herself over. She stood on one foot, as if counting her toes; she then repeated this with her other foot and two hands. As she continued to do this, Hacker could only watch as this adorable little girl did her best to try and medically examine herself . . .
He shook his head after realizing that he'd been . . .ugh, smiling . . . it was time to get serious about all of this. "Perhaps it would be best if I take you back to the lab and took some x-rays just to make sure."
Once he had gotten back up, a thought struck him. "Um, what exactly am I supposed to call you, anyway? I mean, do you have a name?"
The girl was now seated cross-legged on the floor, counting a few of the hairs on her head. She then looked up at him, thinking. "Hmm . . .no, not really." She stood up to her full height, which only went just above Hacker's waistline. "But I do know what to call you!"
'Uh-oh . . .here it comes,' he thought, crossing his arms. "Oh, is that so. Well, enlighten me. What exactly did you have in mind?"
"I'm 'spose ta call you The Hacker. Not HACKER . . .THE Hacker, right?" She looked up at him hopefully, her arms behind her back.
Hacker was stunned, as he had been expecting something along the lines of 'dad'. "Wha . . .uh, yes that's . . .that's right!" He continued to look down at her. "If that's what you want to use then I suppose that you can . . ." He trailed off, still a little baffled at the child's innocence.
"Well, actually," she replied shyly, digging at the tile floor with the tip of her foot. "I kinda wanted to call you something else . . .but Buzz n' Delete tol' me that you wouldn't like it." She looked a little sad after saying this.
'Ah . . .that explains it.' He sighed, going over to the bed opposite of the one that she had been sleeping in, making himself comfortable. He figured that he might as well get the whole bonding thing out of the way before anything else. "Well, let's pretend that the dunce- I mean, Buzz and Delete- hadn't told you what my name was . . .what was it that YOU were going to call me . . .just out of curiosity?" Then, just to seem more "parent-like", he patted the spot on the bed next to him a few times, inviting her to have a seat.
At seeing this gesture, she smiled happily, practically skipping to the bed. But once she had gotten to it, however, she found it very difficult to climb up onto. This was obviously Delete's bed, seeing as how Buzz's would be much shorter.
Without thinking, Hacker reached over and picked her up from around the waist with both hands. He was surprised at how light she was. But instead of setting her down beside him, he instead sat her down on his lap, not even realizing what he had done until she had smiled up at him . . .by then it was too late to react. So he just tried to go with it.
"Well," she said, sounding as innocent as possible, clapping her hands together in her lap. "I kinda wanted to call you, uh . . .Daddy . . .if that's okay?" She then batted her eyes at him, yet again, surprising the cyborg.
He brought his free hand to his chin in thought, since the other was keeping the girl balanced in place on his lap. "Hmm. I suppose that would be alright." He noticed out of the corner of his eye that she had brightened at his answer. "But, for Buzz and Delete's sake, let's just keep that one between you and me . . .alright?" He had said this last part in a whisper, as if it were a big secret that only she could hear.
"Oh!" She then lowered her voice, which was much softer than his was. "Okay . . .gotchya'!"
"Alright then." He then returned his voice to its normal volume. "Now that we have MY name figured out . . .well, for you, anyway." At this, he winked at her, causing her to giggle. "But what to call you." He brought his hand to his chin in thought once again; this time actually trying put some real thought into it. He'd never named a child before . . .mainly because he'd been expecting a boy. The name there was obvious . . .Junior. But what was a good name for a girl?
While he pondered this, he looked down at her, seeing if he could get some idea for a name from her appearance. "Let's see," he thought aloud. "Well, you're green. That's easy enough to notice . . .what are some good titles for things that are green . . .?"
While he was in deep thought, she looked up at him, trying to mimic his movements of thinking. She rubbed the small tip of her chin, furrowed her brow and saying 'hmm' after each time Hacker did. She had even added to all of this by sticking the tip of her tongue out, to give her the illusion that she was thinking really hard.
After noticing this, Hacker chuckled, surprising himself now!
'Chuckling?' he argued in his head, 'The Hacker doesn't chuckle! He laughs maniacally after doing something extremely evil!' But after thinking this, he looked back down at the small figure in his lap, who was now scratching her head, still in "thought". This brought a smile to his face. 'Well, I suppose there's a time and a place for evil laughing . . .this just doesn't happen to be one of them.'
He shook his head, trying to focus on the topic at hand. "How about . . ." He began to slowly mention other names for the color green, trying to get and idea. "Emerald?" He looked down at her for feedback. She wrinkled her nose and shook her head, so that one was out.
"Or maybe . . .uh . . .Olive?" Again, still a negative answer, but this time she stuck out her tongue in disgust.
"Not an Olive, aye? Well, I don't suppose you would go for 'Spring Green', would you?"
This time she crossed her arms and gave him a look that said 'you're joking, right?'.
"No? Oh, well, it was just a thought . . . Hmm . . .what else is there . . .?" The only other green colors he could think of at the moment were for plant life . . .
And that's when it hit him-
"That's it!" He suddenly shouted, startling his newly acquired daughter, as a brilliant epiphany had just come to him. He looked down at her, pride written all over his face.
"My dear," he said, straightening up. "I think I have the PERFECT name for you."
She looked up at him, her emerald green eyes sparkling with anticipation. "What is it?"
"What do you think of the name . . .Ivy?" He waited for her approval as she took her 'thinking' pose.
"Hmm," she chimed, imitating him again. "Ivy . . .Ivy . . ." She scratched her head, looking as if she actually were thinking about this one. After what seemed like only a few seconds, however, she looked up at him, beaming. "Ivy . . .I like it!"
"Good! Ivy it is, then!"
He was about to stand up, saying that they should head off into the direction of the lab. But was stopped by something, even before he could make his first movement, as he had not seen it coming . . .
'Ivy' had embraced her father in a hug.
She nuzzled up against him, squeezing as tightly as she could, which had proven that she was much stronger than her appearance had led her to be.
This, out of everything else, was what had baffled The Hacker beyond all forms of reason, as he was now merely babbling things that didn't make any sense. He just sat there, letting her hug him, not really knowing how to respond. He didn't know if he should push her off of him, let her get all of the hugging out of her system at that moment, or just embrace her back.
But this last option didn't really apply to him . . .did it . . .?
He was evil . . .true. All of Cyberspace knew about him and his attempts at taking over it and all of its citizens. He had been branded names, such as the 'king of chaos' or the 'scourge of Cyberspace'. Yes, it was a well- known fact that he, The Hacker, was a cold, black-hearted, cyborg that didn't care about the pain and suffering of others. He only cared about himself.
But, right then, even for only a brief moment . . .he was having a few doubts about his reputation . . .
He bit his lower lip nervously, looking down at the supposedly smaller version of himself. He then glanced over at the closed door, praying that the two henchmen wouldn't come in at that moment.
Looking back down at Ivy . . .a smile, the same smile that he'd tried to hide a moment ago, was now occupying his once hardened expression.
Then, ever so slowly, he put his arms around his little girl, embracing her back, at the moment not caring what this would hold for the future.
Upon feeling his embrace, Ivy gripped hers even tighter, not wanting to let go.
After spending time with him, she now knew that her father was nothing like what her two new friends, Buzz and Delete, had described him to be. They had told her that he was a mean, evil, maniacal villain who longed to become the dominant ruler of Cyberspace, and that he would sacrifice anything, and anyone, to get there, not caring about what happened to them in the process.
Nope, they were wrong. Her father would NEVER do that . . .never.
She was willing to stake her life on it.
As she had these last thoughts, she nuzzled herself further into her father's chest, sighing . . .
"I love you, Daddy . . ."
To be continued . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, that's it for Ch. 2! Please review! I loooove feedback! :p
