Chapter 11: Full Circle

It just never stopped, did it? No matter how hard she tried, how she planned or fought, won or lost, it never stopped. Perhaps that was her User-given function, to suffer.

Dot huffed in annoyance as she hopped off her zip board at the Principal's Office. Not one prone to dramatics, her internal dialogue left something to be desired. But she was also wore out, all those hours picking up the pieces of her broken family, her broken system, her broken marriage.

You mean non-existent marriage?

She jammed her finger into the keypad, nearly breaking the buttons. Her office door opened and she stepped inside, releasing a loud sigh. The door closed, protecting her from prying eyes, and she leaned back against the cool metal. She just needed a nano, a chance to calm her raging thoughts. First Bob's arrival, then Matrix's sending shockwaves through her family… and now Enzo running away… just like his big sister…

At least he's running with a purpose. You've just been running in circles.

"And look where it's got you," she whispered. Her head dropped in her hands, her long hair framing her face, hiding it from the Net. She'd tried so hard to protect Enzo. The Games destroyed his innocence, Megabyte destroyed his compassion, and very little but hatred and bitterness remained. Enzo provided her with renewed hope; yet everything with Bob and Megabyte and that damned reformatting program… she only pushed Enzo farther away, and now he wanted to leave for good.

And Bob… anger, hurt and something she didn't want to acknowledge coiled up in her belly at the thought of him.

A sharp rap made her gasp and move from the door. "Come in." It opened and Mouse stood before her, hands on hips and a perplexed look on her face.

"What in the Net did you do?" she accused.

"Me?" Dot exclaimed. "This is all Bob's fault!" Mouse's pointed stare put Dot on the defensive. She threw her hands up. "Well, Matrix didn't help things, but I'm not wrong!"

The hacker rolled her eyes and grabbed Dot by the shoulders, gently pushing her out of the office and down the hallway. "I'm sure you are wrong, but why don't you explain it on the way to the portal room? We need to convince those boys to change their minds."

"They're grown sprites, they can think for themselves. If Enzo wants to leave, so be it."

Mouse pulled the Command Dot Com to a halt and stepped in front of her. "What did you say? Because that sounds like defeat in your voice, and the Dot I know can't say defeat without getting sick."

Dot sighed. "Well, maybe it's time I learned. I can't…" she looked down the hallway and leaned against the wall. "I can't keep doing this, Mouse. All this hoping for a good future when it's like we're destined to broken." At Mouse's raised eyebrow, Dot explained the experiment and the fight.

"So, let me get this straight. You and Matrix blame Bob for trying to eliminate viruses in a way that would be the least violent to a system, you keep this all from Enzo while letting him follow his hero who, may I remind you, is the same sprite you all seem intent on hating for everything, and now you're upset that Enzo wants to continue on the same path he's been doing for hours, even though you've supported him from the start. But now since Bob's back in Mainframe, well, Enzo's siding with the "enemy" and is tearing your family apart." Mouse raised an eyebrow. "Did I miss anything?"

Dot glared. "Interesting how I turned out to be the bad guy in your version."

"Interesting how Bob is the bad guy in yours," Mouse quipped.

"Easy for you to say, you've always been on his side." Dot cocked her head. "Why is that, Mouse? Still pining?"

Mouse stilled, all friendly humor gone from her bright eyes. She put her finger in Dot's face and said softly, "Watch it, Dot. Don't throw your guilt back at me, and don't sit there acting like I stole your sprite. You let him go."

"That's not what you've been saying all this time," Dot hissed, putting her face close to Mouse's. "You were just as angry at Bob for leaving, and now, suddenly I'm the one at fault?"

"You didn't tell me the truth about why you never tried to patch up with him. That kinda changes things, ya know?"

"You're right, for the worst. It's all the reason I needed to keep him out of my life! I don't understand how you can't see that. Bob lied to us!"

"And you lied to Enzo!"

"To protect him!"

"From what?!" Dot didn't answer right away. "From what, Dot? From Bob? Because last time I checked, Bob has been more family to him than any of us have."

"That's exactly why I didn't want to tell him! I… I didn't want to break his heart," Dot said, looking away. "I didn't want him to know who his hero really was."

"Bob is no different now than when he first showed up in Mainframe, Dot. It's you who can't see that. He came here to "mend and defend" and that's what he did. He just did it with a different end game in mind." Dot shook her head and Mouse sighed.

"Look, I understand why you're upset. I don't like being… deceived either. But did Bob really ruin your lives?" She held up her hand, silencing the oncoming protest. "You never lost Enzo. In fact, you now have two of him, and if you're not proud of them both, then you're a lot more basic than I thought. Matrix became an incredibly strong and valuable player in the fight against Daemon and Megabyte, and he has been a lifesaver in assisting other systems, especially in teaching game play tactics. Yeah, he's rough around the edges, but no one in their right mind will mess with him, or anyone close to him. And, he's got a companion for life. That's something you've always wanted for the little boy who was so lonely as a kid.

"And Enzo? He's grown up into a smart and determined sprite with big dreams and an even bigger heart. He wants to help systems, protect them and serve their sprites, and make life better for everyone. Maybe his way isn't the safest, but Dot, he gets that spirit and courage and compassion from you. Not from his dad, not from Matrix, not from Bob." She shook Dot's shoulders. "You. How can you not be proud?"

Dot pushed away, striking her fist against the wall in frustration. "But there shouldn't even be two of them, Mouse. Matrix endured so much and look at what it's done to him. Look at the toll it's taken on me, on everyone else in Mainframe! And now Enzo doesn't know where he belongs, he's just as torn as the rest of us. If Bob had just deleted Megabyte from the start, like any other Guardian would have done, my father wouldn't have been nullified, my baby brother wouldn't have suffered, my life wouldn't have been ripped apart over and over!" Dot looked at her, staring the Hacker down. "Don't you get that?!"

Mouse stared at Dot for a long nano. She took a breath and said softly, "If Bob had deleted Megabyte, he would have deleted Hex. How would we have stopped Daemon's infection then? Don't you get that?"

Dot opened her mouth but no words came. Her eyes widened slightly and Mouse nodded.

"You're right, Dot. Bob's experiment caused trouble, and a lot of people got hurt for it. But it wasn't like he brought the viruses here on purpose for his own means. That was an accident completely out of his control. And maybe he made some bad choices, but if not for those, Dot… none of us would be here right now." She sighed. "If you've wondered how Enzo can stand by Bob, it's probably because he figured that out a long time ago."

Dot leaned against the wall, her eyes focused on her feet. Despite her silence, Mouse knew her thoughts were anything but. The Hacker stood there a nano, watching her friend until she said, "So what now?"

The Command Dot Com took a breath. "I guess we start over." She looked at Mouse. "No more secrets, for all of us."

"Sounds like a plan. Assuming they haven't left yet."

"They haven't."

Both looked up as Flash approached. "What is it?" Dot asked.

"We've got a problem."


"It can't be infection, look at the Net," Flash gestured to the hologram, "No other systems have any indication of a threat."

"The Supercomputer wouldn't just shut down," Matrix argued. "I'm not even a full-fledged Guardian and I know that."

"Maybe the Guardians are trying to battle something new, and they're keeping it under wraps until they can get control," AndrAIa offered. Everyone in the War Room looked at her with skepticism. She shrugged. "Hey, when the Web opened here, we wouldn't have tried to hail anybody and risk affecting other systems, right? Imagine if someone came in through the port to provide help, and web creatures got out."

"But the Web didn't even stay open that long, AndrAIa," Matrix said roughly.

The game sprite huffed. "I'm just throwing out ideas."

"The Guardians would try to prevent any accidental contamination to other systems, viral or not," Bob said. "But they'd get word out, call for help, provide further guidance, something."

"And no one's reported hearing anything?" Dot asked. Bob looked at her and shook his head.

"Well, we've just reaffirmed what we've been saying for the last half micro," Matrix grumbled and flexed his fingers in agitation. "So what are we going to do about it?"

"Mouse," Dot called, "do you have anything yet?"

The Hacker looked up from her console. "No. It doesn't look like a hack. From what I can tell, the lockdown was initiated from the inside, by normal means."

Flash looked at Bob. "The Guardians locked themselves in."

"And whatever's in there with them," Matrix said darkly.

"If something's in there," Enzo corrected. "Maybe they locked the Supercomputer to keep something out."

"Don't be basic, there's nothing detected by any of the scanners in the Net to support that. More likely one of your viral buddies got loose and set everyone into panic mode," Matrix said nastily.

"Come off it, Sparkplug," Enzo snapped, "even if one of them got out, it wouldn't cause a lockdown like this, for this long. They're no longer viral, remember?"

"You sure about that?" Matrix asked.

Enzo glared, his jaw locked tight. He turned and walked over towards Mouse, his eyes focused on the hologram overhead and firmly away from Matrix. Bob watched him intently before following him.

"While it may be a possibility," Phong allowed, his soft voice drawing everyone's attention away from the growing tension, "arguing about it does not help us. We need to focus on what we can do from here."

Bob tuned out the conversation as he stood next to Enzo.

"I know what you're gonna say," the boy said softly. "He just gets under my skin."

"Enzo," Bob said, his voice too soft for Mouse to hear. "Did you talk to Pandora?"

His frown deepened into a scowl. "I already told you I couldn't reach her."

"Not now. Before we left." He clarified, "About C1."

Enzo tensed. "She wouldn't. She couldn't, she doesn't have access."

"If it meant saving the program, are you sure she wouldn't have found a way?" Enzo's silence was answer enough. "We need to tell them-."

"No. By the User, Matrix will go spatial."

"If it is him, they need to be ready."

"But it may not be him. He was barely viral. There's no way he could have taken down the entire Supercomputer."

Bob sighed. "I agree. But it's the best explanation so far."

"We shouldn't say anything until we know for sure."

The Guardian shook his head. "No. We can't hide this, Enzo. If it is him and we don't say anything, your family is going to disown you."

"If it's not him and we do say something, what do you think everyone here will do if they even get a hint he might be back?"

The Cadet had a point. "All right," he allowed. "But as soon as we know for sure, we tell everyone. No secrets."

Enzo nodded. "So, how do we know for sure?"

"I have an idea." Bob turned back to the group and Enzo followed. Mouse was pointing at a schematic of the Supercomputer comms with Flash and AndrAIa. Dot and Matrix were whispering and looking at Enzo. The Renegade's face was dark.

"What were you two talking about all quiet? Your little program gone haywire?" Matrix asked, his tone snide.

"Matrix," Dot said quietly. "Let it go."

"No, Dot, I won't. I want to know what they didn't want to share with the rest of us."

"We were discussing a way in," Bob cut in smoothly, his tone disarming.

"Well this should be good," Flash said. "Seeing how there is no way in."

"That's not exactly true. There is a way, but I'll only take Enzo and myself and," he looked at Dot, "you're not going to like it."

"Why?" Dot asked, frowning.

"We have to open the Web."

"No," Dot and Matrix said in firm unison.

"We're not putting Mainframe at risk like that again!" Matrix nearly shouted.

"Oh, of course!" Enzo said. "Bob, that's a great idea."

"No, no, no, out of the question," Dot said, shaking her head adamantly.

"Actually, Enzo, it is a bad idea," Flash said, "not just for Mainframe, but because you'll be a giant target. You'll probably get shot out of the sky as soon as you break through."

"Not where we'll be entering," Enzo said excitedly. He looked at Bob. "When do we go?"

"I said no," Dot cut in. She looked at Bob. "I know you want to get in there, but not by opening the Web here."

"We can open the Web in the portal room. It'll be locked from the inside, and nothing's going to get into Mainframe. I give you my word."

"And what about in the Supercomputer?" Flash asked.

"There's a building Turbo built specifically to access the Web." At Flash's wide eyed stare, Bob shook his head. "I'll explain it another time. But trust me, it works, and we can get in there undetected."

"You can explain on the way," Flash countered. "I'm going with you."

"Mainframe needs a Guardian."

"Then I'll go," Matrix said.

"No way," Enzo said and Bob started, "Matrix-."

"Don't," Matrix cut in, pointing his finger at the two. "Don't try and keep us in the dark. Don't ask us to trust you. You know how that ended before." He crossed his massive arms. "If there is something loose in the Supercomputer, I want it stopped before it reaches the Net."

"If there is something loose, all you're going to do is make things worse, you hot headed punk," Enzo said. "We need to be discreet. And you know that's not exactly your strong point."

"You little brat-."

"Oversized brute!"

"Hey, hey, hey, cool it!" Flash stepped between the two before another brawl broke out. "By the User, you're brothers, knock it off!"

"We are not brothers, he's just a copy," Matrix snarled.

Enzo pushed towards Matrix. "Yeah, I'm the upgraded version and you're outdated!"

"Shut the Dell up!" Everyone turned in surprise. Dot glared at her brothers, hands on hips and eyes fierce. "If you want to behave like children, get out and leave the serious business to the adults. If you want to stay, then pull your heads out of your ASCII's and start working like a team. Matrix, if Bob says you stay, you stay. That's it. And you," she pointed at Enzo, "stop goading him on. You talk like you're the responsible one. Act like it."

"You're actually going to trust him again?" Matrix gestured at Bob.

"Yes."

Matrix scoffed. "Great. Just great. Now the only two sprites against deletion are going off to save the Supercomputer. Very responsible."

"More responsible than sitting here and flinging grudges."

AndrAIa placed her hand on his arm, but Matrix shrugged her off. He stormed toward the door, stopping once to glare down at his big sister. "It'll be on your head," he hissed.

He left, Dot not even acknowledging him as she began giving orders. "Phong, let's get in touch with every Command Dot Com, inform them to set standby emergency services. Flash, can you reach out to the other Guardians, tell them our intentions to enter the Supercomputer? We'll need them ready to act if this plan goes south. Mouse, get every protective measure you can for immediate initiation. Bob?" She took a breath. "Prepare what you need to. Whatever you need from us, you have it."

The others began following Dot's directions. Bob stared at her a nano. She stared back.

"Enzo, we need to get you programmed for a suit," Bob said, looking at his younger companion. "Then we'll get some supplies and call the Web."

"Wow, a Web suit. Alphanumeric."

Bob shook his head and chuckled. When he looked back up, Dot was gone.


…It'll be on your head…

…If not for those choices, none of us would be here right now…

…You think I'm a threat...

…You did enough damage the first time…

…Maybe you're sorry to see your lover go. Perhaps you should say goodbye to him, he's down in cell block 2…

The knock was solid, reverberating through her thoughts. Dot sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Come in." She took a breath as the door opened. "You're not going to change my mind, so don't even try."

"I wasn't going to."

Dot opened her eyes. "I thought you were Matrix."

Bob walked towards her desk and shrugged. "I haven't seen him around. We're almost ready."

Dot nodded and looked down. She fidgeted with a stylus, spinning it round and round in her fingers. "Do you think it'll work?" she asked without looking up.

"Yes." He paused. "I'll bring him back, Dot."

"Who, Enzo or Megabyte?" She glanced up, the stylus never breaking rhythm. "You get this look on your face, whenever you talk about him. You made it when talking to Enzo."

Bob sighed. "We don't know what it is, Dot. It may not be anything."

She shook her head. "It's always something, Bob." She sighed. "Always."

He was quiet for a moment. "For what it's worth, thank you for the support back there. I didn't expect that."

"I didn't expect you to show up five hours later with Enzo," she said quietly. "Or for you to show up in Megaframe with Matrix. Or for you to show up in the Twin City with the rest of your Guardians. But you have this knack of "showing up" in the most unlikely places."

"At the worst times?" he asked lightly.

"More often than not. Then everything gets better." She looked at her stylus. "Or, at least, it used to."

"And now?"

She looked up. His face was closed, his thoughts locked away tight. She imagined her face was the same way. She shook her head. "I don't know anymore, Bob. I don't know what to think." She chuckled, her tone mirthless. "User, I've learned how to hate you in these last hours, and now…" her hand covered her face, rubbing across her brow. "Spam it, now I don't know how to feel."

Bob stood quiet. "What changed?"

"Everything," she whispered. "One nano it's all clear, and the next… you show up and everything changes. Why can't it ever be simple with you?"

Softly he said, "I don't know what you want me to say."

Her hand slammed down on the desk, the stylus flying off across the room. "Why couldn't you just say the truth?!" she glared at him. "Why couldn't you have just said right from the start what your real purpose was in Mainframe? Why didn't you trust me?!"

Bob threw his arms out. "I didn't know you! You were a nice girl who'd just lost her father, and you had a kid sprite to raise. You really think I was just going to walk into your diner and tell you I had no intention of deleting the virals? That I was trying to save them as much as I was trying to protect Mainframe?" Bob shook his head. "No one would have understood that, you included."

"But you came to know me. You became family. How could you keep it secret then? There's no excuse for that!"

Bob turned away, his hand rubbing threw his hair. He shook his head, sighed. "You're right. I have no reason for it. I thought… I thought it would be finished before anything happened… But the Web happened, and then Daemon, and then Megabyte…"

"And now it's come full circle, hasn't it?" Dot asked quietly. "He's back in our lives again."

"We don't know that."

"Until he's deleted, the possibility's always there. There's too much history, too much unfinished business."

Bob scoffed. "Story of our lives."

"Maybe that's telling us something," Dot said quietly.

"Meaning what?"

"Meaning there is no resolution for us. There was never meant to be one." She leaned back in her chair. "Something is always going to tear us apart, and it's all because of our choices."

A nano of silence was followed by a resounding, "No."

Dot looked up. "Excuse me?"

"No, I don't buy that." Bob turned, his eyes locked on hers. "You're right. I kept secrets. I had an agenda. I wanted to change things, to make them better. And I paid for it. It cost me you. And maybe I'll have to live with that. But it won't be because I chose it."

Dot stood, leaning forward on her hands. "You chose to leave," Dot countered. "You chose to not come back."

Bob leaned against the desk, his body mimicking hers. "You chose Megabyte. You chose not to ask me back."

Dot closed her eyes, took a deep breath to calm the fire building in her chest. "You'll never let that go," she looked at him again, her voice firm, "will you?"

"I'll never let that go?" he quoted her words softly. He scoffed and stood tall, his voice loud and clear. "You were right. I should have told you the truth. I should have trusted you. I should have told you everything a long time ago. You have every right to be mad at me."

With slow, measured steps, he moved around the desk closer to her. "But after all those hours you got to know me, you didn't know the real me when it mattered. When you had to choose, you wanted the old version, because you wanted things back the way it was." He shook his head. "I'm not that Bob anymore. I can't be. Not after everything I've seen, after everything I've done."

He stood centimeters away, his voice soft. "You want me to admit I was wrong? Fine. I lied to you. I used Mainframe in the hopes of achieving something great. And even after I fell out of my mind in love with you, I wasn't brave enough to tell you the truth. Honest to User, I was scared, scared of losing you and everything else I gained coming here. Now I wake up every second, every second, wishing I'd done things differently." He stared at her, challenging her to deny his sincerity. "I am sorry, Dot. If I could have saved you all this pain, I would have, even if it meant never knowing you.

"But no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't come back. Because you didn't want me," he pointed to his chest for emphasis. "Had you've asked, I would have come. But you didn't. I wasn't the sprite you wanted anymore. I didn't choose this life, Dot, you chose it for me." He held his arms out to his sides. "Am I wrong?"

Dot stared up at him, her eyes moving back and forth between his. "No," she said quietly. "I wanted you back the way you were before the Web. I wanted the brash, confident, borderline cocky Guardian whose resolve couldn't have been shaken by the entire Net crashing." Her head shook slowly. "That was gone when you came back. I didn't know who you were anymore, because you weren't the sprite I loved. You were… older, more cautious; unsure of yourself and your decisions. You were broken."

Her head dropped. "And then there you were again, right in front of my eyes, the original you. Nothing had changed. You-he-was confident again, and I needed that, more than anything." She looked up towards the ceiling, her eyes searching for the words. "The way everything fell apart here, the way I couldn't save my system, I couldn't save my own brother… do you have any idea what that did to me, Bob? And when I felt so lost, there was the old you, the one who reminded me of what it was like to be strong, to feel whole again…" She swallowed. "I made a mistake, Bob. I was wrong. I shouldn't have fallen for it, I should have been stronger. But I didn't want to be. I just wanted to follow for once. I just wanted to be guided to safety, to happiness and away from every dark thing we encountered before then. After everything that happened, hour after hour, fight after fight… can you blame me?

She looked up at him, trying to keep herself in one piece. "I just wanted to smile again, and mean it. Megabyte used me, used that against me… just like he used you before he sent you to the Web. We were both tricked… and look how we are now. Broken. I mean, can we really fix this?"

At his silent stare, she chuckled. "And there it is, Bob. Why this'll never work out. Too much history. Too much pain." She turned away from him.

He grabbed her arm. She looked up and he swept her into a hug. His arms wrapped tightly around her, warm and strong and so familiar. Her breath caught, the soft aroma of his cleanser making her feel like coming home. Her eyes closed and she pressed into him, gripping the smooth fabric of his uniform and pulling him closer.

"Bob?" He was quiet, and she felt her throat catch. Suddenly, she was afraid he was saying goodbye. "Bob, say something." She winced at the panic in her voice.

He squeezed her and moved his lips by her ear. "I'm open, you're closed," he sang softly. "Where I follow, you'll go. I worry I won't see your face light up again…"

Dot inhaled, and as steady as her voice could handle, sang back, "I'm quiet, you know, you make a first impression, I've found I'm scared to know I'm always on your mind…" She pressed her forehead into his neck. "I love that song."

"I know."

And the tears started in her eyes. She fought against them as the memory filled her mind. "I've forgotten what it's like, to just be and eat ice cream and not worry about the whole Net crashing around us." She looked up. "I've forgotten what it's like to be normal."

Bob didn't smile, but he tucked a stray bang behind her ear and answered, "But that's our life, isn't it? We just keep colliding from one catastrophe into another. And here we both are, still standing. Still surviving. That's gotta mean something, right? Maybe we're not so broken after all."

Dot nodded once. "Yeah," she said softly. "Maybe we're not." She took a breath, looked at his lips, and back to his eyes. "But where do we go now?"

"Wherever you want." He rubbed his thumb across her cheek and waited. She smiled lightly. She moved closer and he lowered his face to hers.

"Bob, we're ready."

Dot's eyes flew open, her head jerking back slightly at Enzo's sudden entrance. She looked at the door but he wasn't there.

"I'm on my way," Bob said to Glitch. He looked up at her, his cheeks a light purple. He hesitated.

She nodded towards the door. "Time to go to work." She gave him a small smile, but at the moment, no more. That was okay, she thought as they headed towards the portal generator room. There would be plenty more to give when he got back.

Because this time, he would be back. No matter what her gut told her…

A/N: Hi all! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I know it may be a surprise, but this story is winding down to a close. I'm both sad and happy to say that, because I do want to give all of my dedicated readers the closure they so deserve. How many chapters are left? I don't know the exact number, but I can say no more than five with certainty. So, fingers crossed to have this done by the New Year!

Thank you all so much for the well wishes, the support, and the continued encouragement. I love writing, but I love writing even more when I'm reminded how it can bring a wide range of emotions to you, the readers. I do hope you look forward to the next installment.

Happy Sunday!