AndrAIa grabbed a bottle of water from her fridge, slamming the door shut. It slowly drifted back open. After a frustrated groan she took a firm grip of the handle, slamming it harder. This time it stayed in place. As she drank she rushed towards the front door. It was almost time for her shift to start and somehow she had managed to sleep through her alarm; a first for her.

Her mind had been distracted the last few days. Admittedly, AndrAIa felt foolish being so preoccupied with thoughts of a boy. She wasn't accustomed to liking someone. No one had ever piqued her interest before, but Matrix was different. She couldn't say why, she just knew that he was special.

Quickly she scooped up her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. She leaned against the door, lifting it up as she turned the handle. After a solid pull it creaked open. AndrAIa stepped through, locking up quickly before jogging down the steps and onto the sidewalk. She sighed. Matrix was nice and genuinely seemed to like her, but he lived in a completely different world. She was perplexed as to why he even showed any interest to begin with. He was a sprite of high stature, and he could have anyone that he wanted, so why her?

AndrAIa thought as she walked, taking a sip of water as she went. A few houses down a sprite stood on his lawn, beer in hand. It was hardly past 8:00, but not abnormal for this part of G - Prime. He seemed agitated, wearing nothing but boxers and a robe. AndrAIa gripped her purse anxiously as she approached.

"You don't belong here!" He shouted.

He was yelling at another sprite who stood next to a cart. It looked like they had been going door to door selling something, maybe upgrades. From the distance AndrAIa couldn't quite tell. Solicitors frequented her street often.

"Sorry." Responded the elderly sprite. He continued to push his cart with shaky hands, heading towards the next house.

"Sorry isn't good enough." The man in the robe stepped out blocking his path.

AndrAIa made her way from the sidewalk to the road, not wanting to get too close to them. She continued walking in silence as her neighbour harassed the old sprite.

"I'm sorry to have bothered you. I'm just trying to make a living."

"You shouldn't even be here, game trash." He spat.

AndrAIa flinched at the slur, glancing over again. The man selling upgrades was dressed oddly. He wore a black singlet and bright red shoes. His long, white hair was swept back into a ponytail. Just from looking at him she would have guessed that he was a game sprite as well, though you could never be certain just from appearances.

She kept moving, pretending not to hear anything that was being said. If she could turn back she would, but it was the fastest way to work and she was already late. AndrAIa knew that she couldn't afford her supervisor getting mad at her. The last time she messed up half of her shifts got cut the following week. Money was tight as is.

"I've got the same code as you." The old man said defiantly.

"Your kind is ruining our system, you all secretly work for the user!"

Suddenly he grabbed the cart, tipping it over. Discs and cartridges spilled out onto the ground.

"Hey! Are you going to pay for those?"

"I don't give game sprites anything." He called out before throwing the bottle in his hand. It struck the man, right as AndrAIa passed by. She felt a sudden warmth as a light sprinkling of blood splashed her arm and cheek. She kept walking, listening to the man's cries of pain. "Get out of here before I call the cops."

AndrAIa heard a door slam. There was shuffling as the game sprite attempted to quickly put his wares back into the cart, all while dealing with his wound. She continued around the corner, walking at a brisk pace, tears silently streaming down her face.

# #

Dot was unhappy and she didn't know why. After everything she had achieved in her life she had no reason to be. She lifted the shot glass to her lips, throwing her head back. The clear liquid burned all the way down. She sat in the furthest corner of the bar, thinking she would be alone. Despite it being the middle of the week it was fairly crowded. Every so often a sprite would bump into her table and apologize, though their words could barely be heard over the heavy bass of the music. It wasn't an ideal spot for her to have a drink, she preferred a quieter setting, but it was the closest bar to the principal office.

She watched as everyone enjoyed their time drinking and dancing. Secretly she admired them all. Dot knew she wasn't the sort of person who could just let loose. Her life was planned down to the nano second. Maybe she didn't want that anymore. She turned back to her empty glass and jumped. To her surprise there was someone sitting across from her at the small circular table.

"You scared me!" Dot said, hand on her chest.

"I'm sorry, dear. Us viruses are very light on our feet. I can go if I'm disturbing you."

"No, it's all right." It was packed and there were no empty tables, "I was just about to leave anyway."

"Oh, that's a shame. Let me buy you a drink first for the trouble."

Dot started to stand. There was no trouble at all and she really did have to get home, Bob would be done with work soon. She paused as a thought occurred to her. It wasn't often that someone offered to buy her a drink. Despite being so accomplished, Dot didn't have any friends; only colleagues and business partners. She slowly sat back down. It wouldn't be the end of the world if she got home a bit late. Bob was usually asleep by 21:00 anyway; she'd hardly be missed.

"Well," She smiled, "one more drink won't hurt."

"Excellent! I'm just passing through this system, but it's quite charming here. I might have to extend my visit."

"There's lots of great things about Mainframe." Dot said with a smile.

"Oh, how rude of me, I haven't introduced myself. My name's Hexadecimal, but you can call me Hex for short." The virus extended a slender hand.

"I'm Dot. Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine."

They shook.

# #

Bob zoomed through the system on his zipboard, idly passing the time. It had been an extremely uneventful day. Off in the distance the sun had just begun its descent which meant it was soon time to go home. Bob stopped in his tracks, watching the traffic. It was at a stand still as all the sprites returning home from work clogged up the roadway. Bob pulled off to the side, monitoring the situation. Traffic jams tended to bring out the worst in sprites. He had broken up countless altercations in the past that stemmed from road rage.

"Glitch, open a communication with Dot." He spoke into his keytool. A vidwindow appeared, but with no image. "Hmm… Still no signal?"

He frowned. She should have already finished work, but maybe she was just staying late. Bob shrugged it off. Dot turned off communications when she had a lot of meetings and didn't want to be interrupted. She was probably just busy. Bob hovered in the air watching as the congestion slowly cleared up. Traffic was still slow, but had paced itself to a steady flow.

Bob looked off in the distance. Ever since he was a small sprite Bob knew he would be a guardian. He couldn't remember a time wanting to be anything else. His format was to mend and defend, and in the Supercomputer he did just that; taking down big viruses, winning games, solving crimes. But the days of major system problems and game cubes were in the past. Mainframe was peaceful, and as a result there was rarely anything for him to do. Last week he mended a tear and got a young sprite's cat down from a tree; not exactly exciting stuff.

"Maybe I'll just head home early, what do you think? It's been a while since I surprised Dot with dinner."

Glitch gave a few clicks in response.

"All right, I guess I can send you in for some quick maintenance before heading home…" Bob trailed off looking at the oranges and reds of the sky. For a second his mind wandered and he thought about someone he hadn't seen for cycles. He wondered what his life would have been like if things had been different. Maybe he never would have left the Supercomputer. Would his life have been more exciting if he stayed? From time to time he thought about going back, but Dot couldn't leave her job. Her life was Mainframe, and who was he to take that away from her? Still, he found himself wondering... Especially given the conditions under which he left.

Glitch wined, snapping Bob out of his thoughts.

"Ok, ok," Bob laughed, "I'm going."

# #

Dot waited at the bar, shoulder to shoulder with strange sprites. As it got later, it became increasingly more crowded. The bartender set out a row of four shot glasses, hastily pouring them out. Once he was done she smiled and took them carefully in her hands. Dot made her way through the crowded area, trying hard not to spill anything. While she was still in her suit from work all the other sprites wore flashy outfits and wild hairstyles. She knew she looked out of place there and was uncomfortably aware of it.

After being so many drinks in, Dot began to overthink a lot of things. She didn't want to admit it, but she was in a rut. All her life she was used to being special. In school she was top of her class, during the war she had written several groundbreaking codes, and she was the command..com. She loved her job, but the past few cycles she hadn't contributed anything new to Mainframe. Her job was supposed to make the system better, and she couldn't help but feel like she was failing. She scheduled meetings and worked on budgets, but any sprite could do that. Dot knew that she was starting to run out of good ideas. In the back of her mind she feared being replaced, but knew it would be justified if it came to that. Her coworkers were running laps around her, especially Speckie. Maybe he deserved to be the command..com instead of her.

She finally made it back to her table, drinks intact. Dot set the four glasses down before taking a seat across from the virus she had just met. Her red and black attire was eye-catching, and her mask got her a lot of attention. Hexadecimal was just finishing up her third cocktail, which had been a gift from an interested stranger. After getting married no one noticed Dot, at least not in that way. Hexadecimal had already declined several invitations by potential suitors.

"Dot, you shouldn't have!" Hex said with a smile.

"I had to buy some drinks for my new friend."

"You're so sweet. When I first decided to stop by this little system I wasn't sure I'd fit in."

"Mainframe is a lot more interesting with you here."

They both gulped down their shots back to back and with ease.

"You definitely don't look like a partier, but I am pleasantly surprised. You might drink me under the table."

"I'm not usually, just killing time. I should probably go though, it's late."

"I see." Hex changed her expression with a wave of her hand to a pouting face. "But what's the fun in that?"

She had a point. They were having fun. It had been a long time since Dot just hung out with someone. Usually when she went out for drinks or dinner it was to discuss work or make connections for a new business deal. Talking with Hex was nice because they really weren't talking about anything important at all.

"Okay, one more drink." Dot said.

"That's what I like to hear. You're so fun, I don't want this night to end."

Dot smiled, actually touched by the comment. Fun wasn't usually a word sprites used to describe her.

"Okay, what did you want to drink?"

"Surprise me." Hex flashed a mischievous smile.

# #

Dot stood in the elevator, resisting the urge to puke. She knew the last few shots were a bad idea, but she had them anyway. Everything swayed back and forth. The movement was so disorienting that she wondered if it was the whole system moving. The elevator dinged once it reached the top floor and she got out, relieved. The swaying had stopped, but she still struggled to walk in a straight line. Dot stumbled down the hall. As she walked she kept a hand against the wall for balance. It wasn't working as well as she hoped. She was only a few meters from her door, but it felt like it took an eternity to get there. In her other hand she gripped her heels tightly. Dot definitely knew she wouldn't have been able to make the journey with her shoes on.

Finally she got to her door. Once there she took a deep breath before trying the handle. She hoped it was open. Bob didn't usually lock the door until she was home. Thankfully it swung open with ease. Dot was grateful that at her current state she wouldn't have to fight with her keys. Silently she entered, closing the door behind her. Once she was in she collapsed onto the floor, looking up at the ceiling. Dot lay there for a moment, waiting for the sudden dizzy spell to pass. It didn't. She wondered how long she should have to wait before trying to stand again, or if she should just stay there forever. Dot scolded herself silently for not leaving the bar sooner.

She took a deep breath before sitting up, back against the wall. Using it as a support she slowly got to her feet. It wasn't until then that she noticed that the kitchen light was on. When she was ready she turned the corner, walking towards it.

Bob sat at the table, head down and fast asleep. Dot looked at what was in front of her. The table was set for two, with a chicken in the center. Large bowls of side dishes sat next to the bird, along with candles that had completely burnt out. Dot thought for a second, it wasn't valentine's day or their anniversary. Why would he go through all the trouble? Bob hated to cook.

A horrible feeling slowly took over; she knew she was in trouble. Dot didn't even want to check her organizer to see how many times he had tried to call. Maybe she could sneak off to bed and deal with it in the morning. She needed time to think up a good lie, one that was believable and didn't involve excessive drinking.

Dot started tip toeing away, towards the bedroom. She practically made it there until the guilt set in. Was she really okay going to bed while her husband was hunched over the kitchen table? Dot groaned before turning back, returning to the kitchen.

She gently nudged Bob's shoulder and braced herself for the worst.

Bob flinched and then sat up. He looked around dazed, before his eyes settled on her.

"Dot?" He yawned, "what time is it?"

"...3:00 I think."

"Did you just get home now?"

Dot nodded.

Bob stood and stretched. His muscles were sore from being in such an awkward position for so long.

"I wanted to surprise you," He said gesturing at the table, " but the food is probably cold now."

"It's all right. We can have it tomorrow, let's just go to bed."

"Dot…" Bob narrowed his eyes, "Where have you been?"

Dot froze, trying to think of a story to tell. She took a few steps back, but stumbled. Dot cringed, knowing that she had already given herself away.

Bob sighed, clearly agitated.

"I-I just had to stay a bit late, updating files." She stuttered unconvincingly.

"Dot, you're drunk."

"No I'm-"

"Don't lie to me, Dot!" He shouted.

Dot flinched. Bob never yelled at her. At most he would raise his voice a little. He was mad.

"Fine, I went for a drink after work." Dot confessed, "What's wrong with that?"

"Dot it's 3:00, and you have work tomorrow. I've been calling you all day- I was getting worried."

"I'm sorry, I just lost track of the time. I don't even need that much sleep."

"Yes you do, Dot. The past few months all you've done is complain about work. You're so worried about your job, but then you do things like this."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Maybe if you weren't hung over and running on two hours of sleep every night you'd actually be able to perform at work."

"Oh, I'm sorry, but we can't all be guardians and have a stress free life!"

"You think being a guardian is easy?"

"Of course it is. A moron could graduate from the academy."

"So now I'm a moron?"

"I didn't say that."

"No, you only implied it."

"Don't be basic, Bob. You know that's not what I meant."

"A moron and basic." He walked past her and into the bedroom. "Good to know that's what you think of me."

Dot followed behind.

"Bob-"

"No, I don't want to hear it. I'm tired, you're tired, let's just go to bed."

Dot watched as he climbed into bed, rolling over so his back was to her. She sighed, frustrated.

"You're acting like a school sprite." She spat. "You start a fight, but don't want to finish it?"

"We can finish it tomorrow. You're drunk, I'll talk to you when you're sober."

"Fine, if that's what you want." She grumbled.

Dot walked out, taking a seat on the couch. She slumped over, laying down and mumbling to herself as she attempted to fall asleep. In the bedroom Bob waited in silence, hoping she would return and lay next to him. Even though he was angry with her, he didn't want to sleep alone. He started second guessing himself, wondering if it was all really worth fighting over. Bob waited for nearly an hour before giving up. When Dot didn't come back he closed his eyes, logging off for the night.

End Log