BYTE FOUR: THE CONNECTION-ORIENTED
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Bob briefly wondered where his bedsheets were before remembering where he was.
If you'd told him several days ago that he'd wake up in Hexadecimal's room with her sleeping form lying against him, he'd have backed away very quickly in fear of your madness. Now…
To be frank, he was wondering what he'd been thinking. His parents were going to kill him. Probably with an interociter.
Sod it. Hex needed a friend and she needed help. This had been the only way he could think of at the time in which he could provide help. His only other option would have been to just leave her and he would never do that. Could never do that.
You don't abandon your friends. You don't do that.
"Hex?" he said gently. "Hex? We've got school and stuff, you
should probably wake up now."
"Mbl?" A groggy mask with little
z's coming from its mouth appeared on her face. "What time is it?"
"No clue. Can't reach my watch in
this position."
"Well then-" Brief yawn, rub eyes.
"Should probably get up." Pause. "Bob? Why are you in my room?"
She sounded genuinely puzzled. It
was worrying. She quickly remembered what had happened but still… it was
worrying.
"Hmmmm, well, I suppose we should
go eat and- OOOOO! BREAKFAST! TOAST!"
"…you can not be this perky so early. It's just
wrong."
"But it's toast! TOAST! Nummy!"
And off he was dragged to eat
toast and have Nibbles steal the crusts.
Mouse had woken up. She wished she hadn't. She didn't want to go into school.
She'd run into Megabyte. She knew it. And she couldn't handle that, not this soon after…. just After. She couldn't do it.
Mouse's parent's were often out for most of the day and something for several days. She'd hated that when she was younger but right now it was good. No-one to make her go in. She'd just call in sick, that's it. Call in sick.
She took two GIGO pills. Normally she only had one at a time.
There was nothing wrong with taking two this time, she told herself. Nothing wrong at all.
Gavin woke up in a room decorated with posters of pirate, stacked with books about pirates and a few model pirate ships. Many of his clothing skins had pirate motifs on them, and his door had "ARRRR, HERE BE MONSTERS" written on it.
Obsessed? You bet.
Bob could really get used to having Hexadecimal fly him into school. Much more fun than Zip-Boarding!
"And where shalt we two meet again?"
"Well, we're both here all day
today."
"Well, yes, but apart from that?"
Hexadecimal suddenly changed her mask to its joyous form and walked off,
evidently having changed her mind suddenly. "Ta ta!"
Bob watched her go, then turned to Megabyte and shrugged.
"Well, what can we do?"
"She isn't heavy, Bob. She's my
sister."
"That's a really bad joke there,
Meggy."
"I know. I just could not resist. Oh
well, see you in Midi class then."
Bob smiled slightly as the virus walked off. Despite his home
life and the problems he must have with his sister, Megabyte really was a great
guy.
-
Dot had arrived before her brothers this time, so she was on her own when she was Bob arrive with Hex. Which he wouldn't be doing unless he'd stayed overnight. Which could mean-
She was getting fed up with this. Every time she came to the idea of Bob and Hexadecimal, she'd feel hollow inside. Like she was losing something. She felt like a character from a crappy soap opera and it was starting to tick her off. So maybe, maybe, something was going on between Bob and Hexadecimal. She could handle it.
No I can't.
Spam it.
Bob was walking over and waving, so she forced herself into a smile.
"Bob!" she said, her voice unnaturally high. Inwardly, she
winced. "Coming in with Hex? That's… that's new."
He blushed slightly. "Ah. Yes. I,
kind of stayed over and…" These was a brief pause and then he jumped back. "Not
in a sexual way! No! Definitely not! Nooooo way! No. Aheh."
And that just made everything more
awkward. Finally, Dot managed to speak again.
"So, uh, what where you doing-"
"I don't really want to talk about it."
"Fine. So. How're things with you in
general?"
They chatted away quite happily once
the subject had changed from the virus, but Dot kept thinking about it. Mainly
she thought about his reaction to the idea of sex with the virus. He'd
panicked. Which could mean it had happened and he was trying, badly, to cover
it up.
More likely nothing had happened and he was worried she'd
think it had. Was that because he'd find it embarrassing or because he wanted
her instead?
So. Maybe she was still in with a
chance.
And if she was, it was time to stop taking too long. Time to get organised, focus on the goal and achieve it. Time to stop being a cliché soap opera character and be Dot fragging Matrix.
The pirates would oft meet up briefly before lessons started.
They weren't in the normal place. Again, Capacitor was having them meet somewhere else and hadn't told Christopher.
He didn't know why this was happening. But he was getting pissed off about it.
It rose up, a vast robotic purple mantis, and it slammed its great claw into the ground in front of Bakkup.
Say whatever you like about their virus Gym teacher, he was great at keeping everyone's mind on the class.
"Nnnnnall right," he snarled, his voice starting every sentence with a growl. "Nnnnnsoon we will have our next inter-System Pong match. Nnnnnand I tell you this now- I will not suffer failure! Nnnnnnwe will win! Nnnnnunderstand?!"
"YES SIR YOUR FUNNY-VOICED-SHIP!" bellowed Hack and Slash, whipping off salutes.
For that, the Pong team were drilled harder than the Gym teacher had initially planned.
"That which does not kill us can only make us stronger," said Phong after being hit for the third time with a Pong ball.
"Is that true?" asked Turbo.
"I have no idea, my brother."
"Again?"
"Hello Dot! What
a delightful occurrence."
Dot looked away, grinning. "You
always are the charmer, Megabyte."
"Indeed. You seem to be in a bit of
a… hurry, let's say?"
"I'm trying to find Bob. You seen
him?"
"Oh, not since this morning. Tell me
Ms. Matrix- do you have any plans for tonight?"
That had been unexpected. She was
starting to feel nervous again, losing focus. Yes she'd always harboured an
attraction towards the virus but now he makes his move? Now when she'd finally
made a decision in favour of Bob?
"I… I can't. I'm sorry."
Megabyte sighed. "I suppose I have left
it… too late. But I have to say that Bob, and I assume it is Bob your
affections are turning to, is more interested in my dear sister."
"I don't think he is."
"Oh? He spent a long time in her
room last night-"
"I trust him, Megabyte."
He almost flinched at the steely tone in her voice.
"I'm sorry, I'm talking out of place. My offer's always open but I will bow out graciously."
And he walked off. Dot allowed herself to breathe out in relief.
"OK," she said to herself. "That wasn't so difficult. Nothing to it."
-
Megabyte kept his usual calm demeanour outwardly, but inside he was seething. She dared to turn him down for that idiot? Oh, she would pay for that. The relationship would crumble eventually, those two just wouldn't fit together well. He could wait until it did, move in to take advantage…
And then she'd suffer.
He'd hook her onto GIGO like he had planned. He'd make her utterly dependent on him. Then he'd go about giving her a deserving punishment. And oh, did he have plans for that.
He wondered vaguely what was for lunch.
"You, woman, are
in violation of Code 17a of the Toxic Waste Handling Laws!" screamed an
indignant Mike.
"Shut up and take your food," growled
the lunch lady.
"Yes ma'am."
Lunch was nearly over, and Christopher had finally caught up with Gavin. The rest of the gang had left- it was just the two of them. Good.
"What are you doing?" The Binome was
shaking as he faced his old friend. "Tell me. I'd really like to know,
'captain'."
Gavin stayed silent. He was looking
down at the floor, unable to meet Christopher's glare.
"Why are you trying to push me out? You didn't give any reason, you just started to go out of your way to avoid me and have the whole gang avoid me and you didn't even tell me what I'd done!"
"You haven't done anything." He wasn't attempting his usual bluster this time. "I just… Look at yourself. You've still got the bruise from when we got jumped in G-Prime. You went down so soon into the fight, not putting up any sort of defence. You could have been seriously hurt. And that sort of thing may happen again and you may come off worse next time.
"And I shouldn't have brought you into the gang in the first place. You're too good for it. You have- you have skills, you could easily get some great job at a top business. If you stay with us, the best you'll get is maybe being an accountant on a low-profit nautical trading company. That's a waste. And you've never wanted that.
"I can't have you in the gang anymore or
anywhere near me because it puts you in danger and ruins your future."
That hadn't been an answer
Christopher had expected. He paused for a moment before speaking.
And his voice was angry.
"I know it's not the best I can do and I know it's dangerous, and I knew that from the spammed start and I went along with it anyway because it's my decision and I'd decided that I was going to stick by my mate!"
He stood there, breathing heavily after his outburst, and Gavin stared at him in shock. He closed his mouth and had to choke something back before he could speak again.
"I've been an idiot. You- you're too good to me."
Christopher managed a small grin. "We're
all going to Level 31 again tonight?"
"Of course. Can't let the blaggards
win now can we?"
"No."
"OK," said
Turbo, his gaze surveying the assembled Pong team. "We need ta be ready for the
big game. We need to put in more practise. We need to focus. We need- Phong!"
"I have to go meet Daemon, my
brother. We have class now."
"So, getting some good nookie
there?"
"Why would I be getting a transaction ID from her, and why would it be good?"
"That's a cook… Ah, forget it."
The truth was that Phong knew exactly what Turbo had meant for once. He just wanted to be annoying.
"Nananananaaaaaa, I can't remember the lyriiiiiics, nanana-"
"Bob."
The sound of Dot's voice brought a
halt to his singing immediately, to the joy of everyone within earshot.
"Hey Dot! Didn't expect to see you this
near to the end of lunch."
"Yes. Well. Er…"
She was getting flustered again. She
was going to crash this whole thing, she was going to crash so-
Quickly she tried thinking of the task as if it were the negotiations for a company merger. Calmness was restored.
"Bob- are you free tonight?"
"ngn"
"I was just wondering if you'd be
interested in a date or something…"
"ngn"
It appeared that the other company
suffered from communication problems. And was turning purple and trying to
cover his nether-regions.
"Er, are you OK."
"YES! I'M FREE AND DATE-WORTHY AND EVERYTHING'S ALPHANUMERIC AND I HAVE TO GO NOW!"
And he ran off.
Well, she thought, that was unex- actually, it was completely expected.
And lessons ended and school closed and the students were allowed to run wild and free for the afternoon.
Bob and Dot ended up in Al's Diner for their first date. It was not the most romantic or student-friendly places, but Dot owned shares in it and so they gave her half-price Energy Shakes.
The two of them ended up staring awkwardly past each other a lot, and babbling about inconsequential stuff. Occasionally she'd clean her glasses even if they didn't need cleaning and he'd scratch the back of his head. There was a lot of coughing and non-meeting of gaze.
Both of them had often fantasized about dating each other. These fantasises had consisted of both of them wowing the other with their wit, charm and intelligence. They'd be in romantic venues and would probably involve dancing in some way. And after that, their fantasies had consisted of sex. Lots of it.
This was not what they'd had in mind.
On their way out of Al's, there was an awkward attempt at kissing. Both were too nervous to make much of it and mutual blushing commenced afterwards.
And off they went home, where Bob had to face angry demands of where he'd been last night and what time he called this. A few microseconds of facing the music, and off he went to bed.
His dreams consisted of Dot and the glorious second date they'd have, how he'd be all suave and wit-filled, and how there'd be sex involved somehow. It was a nice dream, marred only by the sudden appearance of synchronised swimming Nulls near the end of it.
And as the night went on, Mouse took another pill.
-
