CHAPTER 6: First Meetings

Enzo led Kevin through another corridor. Now the Principal Office started to look more like a military installation. Where the young boy was leading him, Sawyer had no idea. Enzo had said something about a war room, which made Kevin think that he had arrived at a bad time. If he had arrived in the middle of a war, it could make things very difficult for his mission.

They came to a door at the end of a corridor. Enzo entered an access code of some kind, and the door opened. When they stepped inside Kevin immediately noticed that he was in some sort of command center.

"This is the War Room," said Enzo.

Kevin saw that the room was occupied by short beings that seemed to be made of square blocks. They had only one eye and wore either lab coats or military uniforms. There was another species of this curious race in the room that looked round like a soccer ball.

Kevin asked, "What are those things?"

"They're binomes," said Enzo.

Sawyer studied them curiously for a moment. "How do they stay put together?" he asked. Kevin noticed that the sections of the box type didn't seem to be attached to one another. Instead, they slightly floated one atop the other.

"Sometimes they don't. You should see them when they get scared." He pointed to a woman standing next to a shorter sprite on the other side of the room.

The woman was attractive and seemed to resemble a mermaid. She had aquamarine hair and golden colored skin. There were patches of what looked like fish scales on her arms and small fins extending a few inches up her forearm from her wrists.

The other sprite reminded Kevin of a Chinese monk with his long beard and tiny spectacles, although, this man had a box for a torso and no legs. His head was oddly shaped, and his neck was a long, thin pipe.

Kevin wondered if all creatures in virtual reality were as diverse in nature.

"That's AndrAIa over there, she's a game sprite. Phong's the one next to her."

"That's your sister?" asked Sawyer, seeing that they looked nothing alike.

"AndrAIa? No, she's my brother's girlfriend. Dot must be in her office. Hold on a nano, I'll get her."

The boy left Kevin's side and entered his sister's office adjacent to the War Room. Bob and Matrix were inside talking with Dot about the user, and from volume of the discussion, it was a heated debate.

"I don't like not having him under guard," said Matrix. "He could be dangerous."

"Guys," said Enzo, intruding on their conversation.

"We don't know that, Matrix," Bob said. "It might not look so good if he were to wake up with a gun aimed at him."

"Guys," said Enzo again, the others obviously still not aware of his presence.

"Better safe than sorry," replied the renegade, a little more forcefully.

"This is getting us nowhere," said Dot. "We need to be objective about this. This is unlike anything that's happened to us before. Now, I agree with Matrix that we need to be cautious. On the other hand, first impressions are everything, so I'll assign a light security detail to guard the med lab until he regains consciousness. If he's not here to cause trouble, then we can assume we have nothing to worry about."

"What if he is here to make trouble?" asked Matrix.

"Guys!" said Enzo, this time making his presence known. They all looked at him.

"Kid, can't you go bug somebody else?" asked Matrix, annoyed at his younger self. "We're trying to talk in here."

"I know, but there's someone outside I think you need to meet."


Kevin tried to think out his next move. It was obvious that he should make contact, but how to go about it was the problem. Should he just march up and introduce himself? This was first contact with another race; it had to go just right. One wrong move could cause things to blow up in his face.

He decided it was best to introduce himself.

"Phong, what will happen to the user if Dot decides he's too dangerous to have around?" asked AndrAIa.

"I do not know, my child," replied the wise sprite. "Dot understands the severity of the situation. I believe that she will choose the right course of action."

"But think of what it will mean, Phong," said AndrAIa. "Actual contact with the user. Imagine all the things we could learn."

"Yes, it is a great discovery we have made. But we must ask ourselves if it is a discovery that the rest of the Net is ready to hear of. There are many beliefs about the nature of the user. What we learn in the cycles to come may reshape the way we view our world."

"I wonder what it's like where he's from," said AndrAIa.

"Well, it would be kind of hard for me to explain," came a voice from behind them.

They turned and saw the user standing right in front of them.

"It's you!" said AndrAIa, startled.

"Sorry if I startled you," said Kevin sincerely. "I'm Kevin ―"

Kevin was about to introduce himself when he felt the business end of a gun press at his back and the cocking of a hammer.

"Move and I'll delete you," said the person behind him.

The voice was demanding, gruff. He meant what he said. Kevin stood absolutely still, his face expressionless. It seemed like first contact wasn't going to blow up in his face after all. It was going to blow through his back.

"Matrix, put Gun down. Kevin's cool," came Enzo's voice.

"How do you know? He's a user," said Matrix in the same tone as before.

"I'm not going to harm anyone," said Kevin. "I'm on a mission of peaceful exploration."

"Yeah, right," said Matrix, pushing the barrel harder into his back.

"I guess there's no point in saying that I come in peace," Kevin said.

"Easy, Matrix," said Bob, "don't do anything rash."

Matrix took the gun off Kevin's back and returned it to his leg holster. Kevin turned to face his assailant. Immediately, he wished he hadn't. He was huge, seven feet tall, broad shouldered, barrel-chested, and all muscle. In place of his right eye was a gold electronic replacement that glowed a red M in the center. The other eye was violet and his skin was green.

The sheer dimensions of this man would make almost any human look puny in comparison. He wondered if this was Enzo's big, big brother.

"Kevin, are you all right?" asked Enzo.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little overwhelmed. It's not every day I see the Jolly Green Giant packing iron," said Kevin.

Matrix gritted his teeth and frowned at Kevin. Then he glared at Enzo. "What were you thinking bringing him down here?"

"You said you wanted to meet him. I met him in the main hall."

"You still shouldn't have brought him here. He could be dangerous," Matrix scorned his younger brother.

"Matrix," said Bob, "don't be so hard on him. He was only trying to help."

"And I can assure you that I am no threat," said Kevin, putting his hands down. "I'm not here to harm anyone."

"Like we can really believe what you say," said Matrix.

"Well, you are the one holding the gun, so I guess you can believe what you want to," Kevin said.

"Matrix," said AndrAIa, "calm down." She came and stood beside Matrix and took his hand in hers. He instantly calmed down.

Kevin noticed that he was surrounded by people who were giving him looks of suspicion and curiosity.

Phong stepped forward first. "Greetings, Kevin, is it?"

"Yes," said the scientist, turning to Phong. "I'm Dr. Kevin Sawyer, United States Defense Department." They exchanged handshakes. The feeling of awkwardness was growing within Kevin, and it made him uncomfortable.

"He's a scientist, Phong," clarified Enzo.

"I see. I imagine that you have many questions, Doctor."

"Yes, I do," said Kevin. "This is the first time any human has traveled physically into cyberspace. If I've caused any trouble, sir, I apologize."

"There is no apology necessary. In fact, we owe you a debt of gratitude. We are very curious about you, Dr. Sawyer, as you can see," said Phong.

"And I am very curious about you as well. However, I would like to know just where I am."

"You mean you don't know?" asked Bob.

"Not really. My superiors sent me down here with little to go on. I'm sort of confused."

"Perhaps, then, we can clear the mist for you, Doctor," Phong said.


The large double doors opened and they stepped out into the open. What Kevin saw was beyond anything he had ever imagined. It was a city, a thriving metropolis with people and flying cars, floating billboards, restaurants, and people flying overhead on what looked like a pair of hovering disks. Green grass, a blue sky with clouds but no sun. It was absolutely astounding.

"You are in the system of Mainframe," announced Phong.

The whole scene was incredible. The entire world around him looked as if he were looking through a computer screen. Absolutely everything was made of energy.

"This is incredible. Is every computer system like this?" asked Kevin.

"Almost," said Bob. "There are a lot of systems out on the Net, and all of them are different."

"This has to be the greatest discovery of the century!" the scientist exclaimed.

"Discovery?" asked AndrAIa. "You mean you didn't know this was here before?"

"No," said Kevin. "No human being has ever seen what actually goes on inside a computer. We'd have never even guessed that something like this could exist." Kevin paused a few moments to fully absorb the scene into his mind.

"So it's true then?" asked Dot. "You are a user."

"In your terms, yes, I am," he said solemnly.

They all looked around at each other. Dot was more than unsettled at this prospect. He was a user, and he was really in Mainframe, the real thing. What were they going to do, help him? How could they? Could they even? Thousands of questions ran through her mind about this mysterious traveler. Why was he here? What were his intentions? All this made her uneasy.

Bob saw the uneasiness in Dot and wanted to help relieve her tension, but he knew that he would only make it worse. As for Kevin, Bob wasn't sure how he felt. This was obviously the most important thing that had ever happened in the history of the known Net. There were so many questions to ask, so much to learn and explore now. He could finally find the answers he had been seeking for so long. Could this really be happening?

Matrix had only contempt for this being. His thoughts drifted back to his time in the games. All the users he had to confront and all the places he and AndrAIa had gone because of them dominated his memory. The terror began filling him again, a terror he hadn't felt since he came home. With it came the boiling rage that had become such a dominant part of his personality. It threatened to consume every line of code in his programming, and had it not been for AndrAIa, her comforting grace soothing his anger, he would have gone berserk.

AndrAIa, being her observational self, could tell that Kevin was no invader sent to conquer them. She sensed a sincere quality about him she found most reassuring. Like Bob, she was fascinated with what this meant to the future. She could feel the tension in her lover beside her. She took his hand in hers, realizing that the frightening uncertainty they both felt when they were trapped in the games was slowly returning to him. But she knew that together they would conquer it.

Phong turned to the blue-skinned sprite. Kevin noticed that he was wearing some type of uniform. "This is Bob, our Guardian," he said.

Bob stepped up to Kevin, and he extended his hand for a handshake.

"Nice to meet you," Kevin said in a slow tone.

"Same here," replied Bob.

"Bob is responsible for the protection of Mainframe. His function is to mend and defend," Phong explained.

"Am I considered a threat here?" asked Kevin seriously.

"That depends. Are you a threat?" asked Matrix in just the same manner.

"I'm only here temporarily," said Kevin. "My mission is one of extreme importance to my world. As soon as I'm done here, I'll move on."

"Why are you here?" asked Bob.

"I was sent here on a mission by my government," explained Kevin Sawyer. "I'm looking for a virus called Daemon." There was a reaction from all of them, Kevin noticed. "I take it that you've heard of it."

"What do you know about Daemon?" asked Dot.

"Very little, which is why I've been sent here. This is the system where a counteracting program originated from that supposedly destroyed the Daemon. I'm here to find out what happened."

"You created her," said Matrix. "You should know all that already."

"A user did create Daemon, but not me," Kevin explained. "I was also sent to find out who created Daemon as well."

"Well, you can relax," said Bob. "Daemon's deleted. We saw it happen."

"You actually saw Daemon destroyed?" asked Kevin.

"There was nothing left of her," said Enzo. "Hex totally offlined her."

"Come again?" said Kevin.

"It is, as we say, a long story," said Phong.

"Well, I do have time on my hands," said Kevin. "I would like to learn more about your world. That is, if that's agreeable with you."

"It is, Dr. Sawyer. You are free to stay in Mainframe as long as you wish," said Phong.

"Thank you. I appreciate your kindness," said Kevin.

Phong introduced everyone else. Dot Matrix was the of the system and Enzo's older sister. Matrix was also technically a Guardian, like Bob, but considered himself a renegade. AndrAIa was Matrix's girlfriend and a game sprite, although Kevin had no idea what that last part meant. Phong apparently assisted Dot with running things in the Principal Office. Kevin made the assumption that the Principal Office was the virtual representation of the central processing unit.

"If it's not too much trouble, could I ask for some clothing? I'm afraid I didn't come prepared," requested Kevin.

"Of course," said Phong. "Please, follow me."

They turned and started back inside the Principal Office. Kevin was excited at what he had found. Who would have imagined a parallel reality coexisting within the Internet with actual people, living, breathing, thinking people with lives and minds of their own? Where he had only expected to find an abstract world of electricity and data, he had instead stumbled into a universe not unlike his own. What a small world it really seemed.