Chapter Thirteen: Searching
"Chip, I really have a bad feeling about this."
And Nikki was feeling less than confident right now. She and Chip had basically ditched school in order to hang around the Principal Office, the very place their parents were and could easily find them. Now, Nikki had done a lot of things in her short six hour life, but even this was cause for alarm. This was daring, even for her. Chip meanwhile, sat in a chair, trying to pinpoint the location of their mysterious visitor. The boy wanted to know exactly what this guy was up to.
"Who are you?" he asked, sarcastically, glancing over his shoulder. "Nikki or Jet? I thought I was bringing along Nikki with me, but apparently..."
"There's no need to be hostile, Chip." Nikki muttered. "I'm just saying this is not one of your better plans. This has got to be the worst one yet. I mean couldn't this have waited until after school, that why we aren't deleted when we get home?"
"Are you the whiny baby or the adventurer?"
Nikki sighed, looking everywhere but at the boy. "Oh," Chip replied. "The whiny baby, huh? Well go home to Mommy to change your diaper. I, on the other hand, am about to figure out what this guy is up to."
"Maybe Jet's right." Nikki said, glancing around nervously. "Maybe you are paranoid. maybe this guy is just passing through. No harm in that."
"Fine." Chip huffed, still trying to hack his way into the system registry. "Ignore the bad feeling you get from him. Deny what happened to Frisket the other second. Forget..."
"Forget about doing whatever it is you're doing." a voice growled.
Nikki's face went pale as she stammered, "Hi...hi Uncle Matrix. I...I was just going now. Bye Chipper!" With that, the girl ran out of the room.
"Of all the nerve!" Chip exclaimed. "Girls, huh, Dad? They say they want adventure and then they turn around and desert you. That is so not cool, huh?"
Matrix stood against the door frame, his looming figure only putting fright and terror into his son. "Dad, I can explain..." Chip started, but was interrupted by his father's movement. "Go." he said, pointing down the hallway.
"But..."
"Now!"
"Yes sir."
Chip knew the walk very well. He was headed for his parents' office. He knew there was no escape, especially when Matrix was right behind him, his heavy footsteps seemingly ringing loudly in the boy's ears. When he got to the door, he tried moving slowly away, only to hear his father say, "Hold it." Hearing the door open, Chip backtracked and went inside. "Sit." Matrix commanded, herding the boy to the chair sitting in front of the desk. Chip assumed his regular position in the chair and sighed.
Matrix leaned back on the desk, arms folded across his chest, characteristic scowl on his face. "Isn't there somewhere you should be?" he asked.
Chip shrugged and retorted, "Isn't there somewhere you should be?"
"I'm not the one who's about to have the life squeezed out of him." Matrix shot back, sternly. "You're really pushing your luck, Junior. It's only a matter of time before it runs out. And right now, you're on the very edge of it."
Chip looked at his hands, trembling slightly as they sat in his lap. He hated when his father was mad at him, especially recently. The renegade was right. The boy was pushing his luck far beyond the safety zone and right now, he was treading water.
"So what's the excuse this time?" Matrix asked.
"No excuse, sir." the boy whispered.
As much as Matrix wanted to resume his tough stance, he couldn't. Looking at his son now, he remembered all the times he had gotten in trouble, either with his own parents or even Dot and how he had dreaded the punishment he would surely get, but more importantly, feeling extremely guilty for losing their trust or worse. Their love. Sighing, the large sprite went over to the chair and knelt down. "Enzo, look at me." The boy turned his head and Matrix could already see the hurt and fear echoed in his eyes. "I'm doing my best to treat you like an adult." he continued. "I hated being treated like a little kid all the time and I know you hate it too, but sometimes you do things that just make you look like a baby."
"I know, Dad." Chip whispered. "And I'm sorry."
"There had better be a terrific explanation to all of this."
"Would you believe paranoia?" the boy asked, jokingly. When Matrix gave him a look, he started to explain. "It's about that new guy, Alex Gain or whatever." he said.
"What about him?" Matrix asked.
"He gives me the jaggies." Chip said. "We, me and Nikki, saw him in the park before he called in to the P.O. and I'm telling you, Dad, there's something not right here. I got a bad feeling about all of this."
"Well, what happened?"
"Nothing." Chip replied. "That's just it. Frisket growled at him and all the guy did was stare at him and Frisket was like a scared puppy and coward behind. And nothing, I mean nothing, nobody in this whole big crazy Net scares that dog. Something is not at all frosty around here."
Matrix looked at his son, the boy's face in determination and some slight fear and worry. The renegade had never seen the boy so worked up over something that seemed so slight and unworthy of even mentioning. The large stood up and said, "High tail it out of here before your mother sees you. I'll tell Miss Brodie that we called you in for a family emergency or something. Go on, beat it."
The boy hoped out of the chair and ran out the room.
Matrix stood there, watching as his son left and thinking about what he had said. The renegade trusted his children's sense as much as he trusted AndrAIa's. If they thought something was up, then something was definitely up. The large sprite couldn't help but be concerned. If Frisket was scared off so easily by this new sprite ~not an easy task in itself either~ then there was something absolutely, positively disturbing with the guy. And though Matrix would probably never admit it to anyone, but himself, he too thought something was very amiss in the system right now.
The only problem was, no one knew what it was.
***
Kit looked around his dorm room, taking note of anything he had forgotten to pack. It was the early evening of the second and the young scientist in training was packing. As he looked around once more, a knock came on the other side of his door. "Come in." he called, knowing who the sprite on the side was. Sabrina walked in, duffel bag around her shoulders, and closed the door.
"Ready?" she asked, dropping the bag on the nearby bed.
Kit silently nodded, his own thoughts plaguing him.
"What's eating you?"
Kit turned to her and sighed. "I don't feel right about this." he said.
Sabrina rolled her eyes at him. "Look, Phong got us out and gave a legitimate excuse as to why..."
"Not that." Kit said. "This thing in Mainframe."
"You still think something's up?" Bri asked.
Kit just looked at her. "You don't call Hex being mysteriously attacked something?" he asked, sarcastically.
"Look," she said, in no uncertain terms. "I'm just as freaked out about that as you are, but there's nothing we can do here. Besides, we can't spend all our time worrying about something we don't even know about."
"Sabrina," Kit replied. "Worrying about something we don't know about is a part of life. This is something that could affect us, not to mention our family and friends."
"Let's worry about it when w get there, huh?" Sabrina picked up her bag and headed for the door. "So I ask again. You ready?"
"Yeah." Kit mumbled, picking up his bag. "Let's go."
***
Bob wanted to go home.
All the minutes and probably hours that passed in cold, dark Web was just too unbearable to the guardian. And a few seconds ago, he had deleted someone. The bandage in between his left shoulder blade was evidence of that. Bob hated deleting another living thing, even if it was a null, he wouldn't do it and a few seconds ago, he had deleted a person. Abeit, a virus, but it was still a person. They had tracked down the group as they slaughtered Web creatures. Bob couldn't hold them responsible. They were looking for food, but out in the Web, especially in the Web Riders, Web creatures were sacred and attacking or deleting them was punishable by deletion.
They fought, viruses going down.
Then Bob arrived, trying to stop the senseless energy shed.
A virus had attacked him, stabbed him with his sharp claws and Bob just reacted.
Deleting him.
They had a prisoner of war though. The youngest of the viruses, who sat out in a cage. Bob tried making a amends with him, but every time he got near, the virus would try to attack him to the point Bob stopped going over to check on him. The boy virus had reinjured his wound and Golly had to re-stitch him up and basically demanded him to stay in his quarters. That's really all Bob did now anyway, was stay in his tent, thinking about how his life had become so screwed. That little virus boy reminded him of Enzo and thinking of Enzo made him think of Dot. Bob sniffed.
He would never be going home.
***
Gain sat on a bench, way on the other side of Floating Point Park, a place where no one hardly went. He was waiting. Waiting for the other elements to make their appearance. He was sitting there when a pretty tanned sprite started walking towards him. He could tell right away it was AndrAIa Matrix, the game sprite living outside of the games. He smiled as she approached, moving slightly so she could sit next to him.
"Nice second, huh?" she asked, slightly out of breath. He could tell she had been running, whether to see him or what, he wasn't sure.
"It's very lovely." he said, turning to look out into the horizon. "Remarkable system you have here."
"It is." she agreed. "Where're you from?"
"Oh," he sighed. "Here and there."
AndrAIa giggled at the explanation. "I'm sure you're a man about the Net, huh?" she asked.
"Well, when you're on the kind of quest I am, you have to see all of the Net."
The game sprite nodded, now intrigued. "And what quest is it that you're on, Mr. Gain?" she asked.
Gain turned to her, his face completely serious. "A quest of power and revenge, Mrs. Matrix." he said.
AndrAIa blinked at the sprite, his expression causing her to pull back slightly away from him. She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw something flash in his eyes. Something definitely not friendly and not sprite like...
"Have you lived here all your life, Mrs. Matrix?" Gain asked, shaking AndrAIa from her thoughts.
"Um...uh..." she stammered, scooting away from him. "No. No, I...uh...I'm actually from somewhere else. I came here when I was younger."
"Ah, a woman about the Net." Gain chuckled. "It's very rare to see one of those. Tell me, Mrs. Matrix...uh, may I call you AndrAIa?" She nodded. "Tell me...AndrAIa...where exactly are you from?"
"Here and there." AndrAIa answered, giving the sprite a smile. "I like to travel."
"I bet." Gain smirked. Turning back to look out upon the Energy Sea, he asked, "Do your children also like to travel, AndrAIa?"
The game sprite looked at him, the change of subject startling her. "Like parents, like children, right?" she laughed, nervously.
"Hmmm..." Gain mumbled, a small smile on his face. "I'm sure your children have inherited a great deal from you and your husband."
"Yes, well..." AndrAIa shifted, nervously. She wasn't sure why, but all of a sudden, she was terribly uncomfortable sitting here on this bench with this new arrival. "Well, will you look at the time?" she said, standing. "I really should get back to the office. Tons of work to do, I'm sure."
Gain nodded, saying, "It was nice talking to you."
"You as well." AndrAIa replied, gulping at the same time. "I hope to see you around."
"Oh, I guarantee we'll be seeing a lot of each other." Gain said, a smile coming to his lips.
AndrAIa backed away slowly, then turned and started walking. Fast. In a quick motion, she had her zipboard and was hurrying to the Principal Office. Gain sat and watched, getting an erotic thrill at scaring the game sprite to some extent. He meant what he said. They would be seeing a lot of each other, as would he be seeing her children and nephews and nieces and any other family member he deemed.
He'd be staying for a long while.
***
Jet was leaving the school yard, when he saw him.
Just as Nikki described him, the sprite
known as Alexander Gain stood outside, leaning against the school gate,
and seemingly waiting for him. Jet gulped, getting an uneasy feeling about
the sprite. Shaking it off, he figured he was jumping to conclusions, just
as his sister and cousin were. He walked slowly and pretended not to see
the sprite as he got closer and closer to the gate.
Gain watched the boy coming towards,
getting a perfect view of him. He was a blue-green mix, leaning a bit to
the light blue side, with short black hair, with a few pieces of silver
strands on the top. His eyes were the same as his sister's, with a bit
more violet thrown in. Glaring deep inside him, Gain found the same code
he had seen in his sister. Guardian code. But there was something else,
something Gain hadn't put his finger on when he looked inside Nikki, and
now couldn't distinguish inside of Jet, just something that made the boy...special.
And one of the elements.
"Getting out of school, huh?" he asked, when the boy was in range.
Jet looked up, trying to keep his fear in check and failing. "Um.." he stuttered. "Yes, sir. Just...just got out right now." Jet continued walking, ever aware that the sprite was now walking with him.
"You know," Gain replied, keeping up with the small boy. "I always loved school. Thought it was the best thing in the Net."
"Ah, really." Jet mumbled. Go away! his processor screamed, trying to move quicker, only to have Gain keep up.
Who are you telling to go away? a voice asked.
Not now, Nikki, Jet thought back. I got trouble.
What's wrong? she asked.
That new sprite guy, Jet replied. He's following me.
Then get away from him! Nikki exclaimed. Just disappear.
I'm not about to show my powers to some complete stranger, Phoenix. Jet chastised.
"You're awfully quiet." Gain replied, watching the boy have an inner conversation with himself.
"Well, I'm very quiet." Jet replied.
"Why be so quiet?" Gain asked, seeing a window of opportunity up ahead. They were coming to a series of alleyways.
A perfect place...
Jet too also noticed their proximity to the alleyways and his eyes nearly bugged out. He couldn't believe he wasn't paying attention to where they were heading. He suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked at the stranger. Nikki, I'm in trouble here, he exclaimed, hoping his sister would come to his rescue. "Don't you have something to do or something?" he asked.
"Actually," Gain replied, walking towards the boy. "I'm free for the second."
***
"What's wrong?" asked Chip, seeing the look on Nikki's face.
The two sat inside the Principal Office, more precisely Phong's office, in order to avoid their parents. Phong hadn't been there and they really wanted to talk to the wise sprite about how they were feeling. They were starting to agree with Jet, that perhaps they were jumping to conclusions, even though Chip refused to believe they were making things up.
That is, until Nikki started talking to her brother.
"Jet's in trouble." she said, beginning to relay the conversation to her cousin.
"Where is he?" Chip asked, immediately standing, fear gripping his heart.
Nikki waited, trying to get some location from her brother. She suddenly looked up and said, "The alley, coming up towards the Diner."
***
"Look, can't we talk about this?" Jet asked, backing away from the oncoming sprite.
"What's to talk about?" Gain asked, cornering the boy. "I'm not going to hurt you, Jet. It's just you have something I want, something I need."
Just as Gain was about to "get what he needed", a flash went past him. Looking at the spot his prey was in, Gain realized he was gone. Turning, he saw his first intended prey. Chip. The only son of Matrix and AndrAIa, stood facing Gain, his cousin behind him. Gain smirked. This was going to be easier than he thought.
"Jet, go home." Chip replied, staring down the sprite.
"But Chip..."
"GO HOME!" the boy shouted, causing Jet to backspace away. Letting go of the breath he had been holding, Jet focused his powers and in a nano, he was gone.
"Impressive." Gain replied, applauding slightly.
"It's just you and me now." Chip said, taking a battle ready stance.
Gain just laughed. "Do you really think you can handle me all by yourself?" he asked. "I'd be afraid if I were you."
"I think you got it all wrong." Chip replied, with a smirk of his own. "It's you who should be afraid of me."
"Do you really think that?" Gain asked, his eyes glowing a menacing red. The same blood red eyes Chip had seen in Hex's Lair.
The boy backspaced, realizing who ~and what~ he was dealing with. "You're..." he started, before the virus was upon him. Chip fell to the ground hard, with Gain right on top of him, his hand closing around his throat. "Not so sure of yourself now, are you, Boy?" he asked, his voice sounding very familiar to the boy. Chip watched as Gain raised his hand above him. The young boy closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable, but it never came. Opening his eyes, Chip found himself on his back.
Gain was no where to be found.
***
Bob sat next to Hexadecimal's bedside, just looking at the virus, trying to figure out what was wrong with her. If anything, Bob was the closest thing to a friend Hex really knew, especially in Mainframe. With everything going on now, Bob needed to know why Hex had been attacked and what exactly was going on.
Most importantly, Bob wanted to know what was wrong with him.
For some reason, Bob couldn't stop thinking about his time in the Web, even though he thought he had moved past that hours ago. Coming home to Dot, getting married and starting a family had almost destroyed any memories of that time, but now, he couldn't stop thinking about what he had done in order to survive there. The deletions, the initiations, the beatings...Bob shook his head. Even now, he couldn't stop thinking about that time. He was waking up in the middle of the night, reliving some part of that time he thought he had put to rest.
Bob gulped. This was not the time to be reliving the past.
He put it out of his processor, thinking it was just stress.
It had to be.