PreBoot! Chapter 3: Incoming Game, a reboot fanfic

* * *

Megabyte viewed the vidwindows surveying the areas he wished to gain control of. It was apparent that Mainframe knew of his existence now. No matter. It was too late to stop him now. Now, he planned to push his boundaries as close to the Principle office as possible without threatening the Principle Office into an all-out war.

Hack and Slash were not entirely as useless as they first appeared to be. Of course, that was because they were designed to be muscle, not brain. He had sent the bumbling fools out to rustle the locals. Since he was now known, the best thing to do was to intimidate the citizen of Mainframe with his presence. It would be easy to terrify them into submission. There was some profit made too…not that it was really necessary, labor was cheap. Hehe.

Megabyte contacted his sergeant. "Begin attacking and rounding up the next sector over. Alert my servants to bring my new limo here. I want to be present for the latest conquest."

"Yessir."

The vidwindow closed out, and Megabyte looked over his soon-to-be new realm. Perfect.

* * *

"You can zipboard that well?" Dot asked Enzo, surprised.

"Duh! 'Course I can!" Enzo piped and sped faster. They were a short distance away from the Priciple office, but Enzo could already see CPU's buzzing around on alert. Enzo spotted some more of the tanks hovering near the perimeter around the Principle Office. They seemed stationed to the lower sectors of Mainframe, like Level 31, and waiting to get closer to the edge of the Principle Office. He noticed Dot's worried expression. Boy, something big must be brewing!

"Dot?" Enzo was about to ask, but an explosion boomed between the tanks and the CPU's. Somebody had fired the first shot. Dot and Enzo were unsteadied by the blast, but kept going. Enzo felt his big sister pull on his hand to lead him to the Principle Office at a safer difference from the building confrontation between the virus and Mainframe. They zipped lower and curved their path to keep safe. Another boom, followed by another trembled through the sky, and a series of shots broke out. Dot could hear the scramble sirens screaming from the Principle Office, and CPUs rose up in a swarm. The tanks seemed undaunted, and more of their comrades rose slowly from dark alleyways. The explosions became louder and more threatening, and the fighting broke loose.

* * *

"Who fired?" Phong demanded. He did not want the fighting to start so soon! This was terrible!

"One of the virals, sir. A confrontation looks inevitable." A binome operating the chief CPU answered.

"I see. Is there anyway we can delay this until evacuation is complete?"

"I don't think so. We already spotted tanks moving to cut off the evacuation. Despite the danger to citizens here…I don't think we can wait any longer. We need to start restraining them by force, and evacuate while the fighting keeps the virals busy," the binome said factually. Phong nodded.

"Thank you, my son. I will sound the alarm to alert the rest of the CPUs. Please be careful" Phong said, and closed out the window. This was indeed terrible. It had seemed like just last cycle the virus had arrived somehow in the attachment of one of the upgrade's programs. He hadn't expected the virus would become so aggressive so early. Evacuations were incomplete and citizens vulnerable to attack. Plus, Dot and Enzo were riding out in the open out there. Phong regretted that he put them in such danger. He hoped they were safe…

* * *

Enzo felt another shattering boom. The fight was spreading out and coming closer. A tank suddenly whizzed by. Enzo dipped and dodged to get out of the way. Dot grabbing his hand and gave up on trying to get around the fight. Now it was impossible. The only way was through. She sped up, Enzo right behind her. Another boom rang out, but this time it was very close. A shock wave knocked Enzo off his board and sent him flying to the ground. Dot cried out, and swerved her board downward. She zoomed after him, closing the distance between them. The ground rushed forward, and Dot grabbed Enzo roughly around the waist just in time. Dot tried to swivel the board upright again, but inertia got the better of them and sent Dot and Enzo grinding into asphalt. Enzo skidded to a stop and felt his hands raw.

"Are you okay?" Dot asked, a little ripped and torn, but okay.

Enzo wiped his hands gently on his pants. "I think so," he responded, then piped, "Dot! You saved my bitmap! Where did ya learn a random move like that?"

Dot just smiled and winked. "C'mon," she said and grabbed his hand once more, "we need to get the heck outta here." They looked around, and could hear the battle getting more serious overhead, and other citizens of Mainframe were scrambling to get out of the way. Both of them were stuck in the middle of this mess. Things seemed to be as bad as they could get.

***WARNING; INCOMING GAME***

* * *

Megabyte threw an irritated glance at the sky. Incoming game? Now? Oh, of all the timing…wait…maybe the game could nullify a sector and he could move in. That would be convenient. He had learned a little about the games through some of his servants, very few of which had actually survived a game. All that he needed to know was to avoid them. He looked up at the sky along with everyone else, waiting to see where it would drop. The sky turned a brilliant purple, and a funnel formed overhead. Binomes had already been put into a panic around him, and he at last saw the infamous cube of the game. Right above him.

"SERGEANT! Get everyone out of here now! Where is my limo?"

"Sorry sir, but the CPU's have cut us off. We weren't anticipating a game! There's no way we can escape it!" the binome replied, frantic.

Megabyte looked up. The game cube was descending impossibly fast. It looked as if it would crush him. Megabyte felt a twinge of fear as the game crashed down over him, and he found himself immersed in purple.

Binomes off in the distance saw the game fall right on top of the battlefield. The 'tanks' and CPUs were swallowed whole. When the cube settled, it landed over part of the sector under siege, the wall and 'moat' of the Principle Office, and a fraction of the Principle Office itself. It was as if everything had been consumed.

* * *

Dot saw purple everywhere around her for a nanosecond, then she suddenly found herself in a jungle atmosphere. Enzo gaped beside her. An artificial heat pulsed heavily down on them, and sweaty green plants seemed to grow everywhere. The dirt was strangely dry and firm. Off in the distance, where the Principle Office would be, was a massive stone pyramid rising out of the ground. The siblings exchanged glances. This was the first time they had ever been in a game.

"What should we do now?" Enzo asked, trembling.

"I—I'm not really sure" Dot stammered. She paused and then straightened up. "Let's ReBoot. If we're stuck here, we should make the best of it, right?"

"But what about the User? And the CPUs?"

"Well, the only chance we have of getting out of this is if we help win the game. So let's just roll up our sleeves and get to work." Dot placed her hand over her icon and double-clicked, "ReBoot!" and found herself in a khaki jungle explorer's outfit, complete with big black boots and and hat. She really had no idea what she was doing, but from those who had survived the game, she had heard the best thing to do if caught in a game was to reboot and fight, or don't and hide. It seemed hiding wasn't going to accomplish anything, and with the tanks and CPU's fighting, it was going to be difficult to get them together to win.

"Me too, Dot?" Enzo asked, excited.

Dot didn't like putting her little brother into danger, but keeping him with her seemed like the best idea. If he hid, the game sprites, the virals, or the User, who may still attack, might find him. Sticking together would be better protection, and Dot would know where he was if they won and the game cube lifted. She certainly didn't want to leave him all alone somewhere in this confrontation where she couldn't find him. "Yeah, you too," she responded.

Enzo double-clicked his icon and shouted "ReBoot!" loudly. A flash of green followed just like Dot's, and Enzo was in a colorful tropical warrior dress up. He looked himself over and said, "Alphanumeric! My first game!" Dot looked around for clues to the game. The only thing that seemed to stand out was the great stone pyramid that stood in the direction of the Principle office. Very fitting that part of the Principle Office inside the game was reconstructed into such an important structure to the game.

After she finished, Dot looked back at Enzo and said, "The pyramid looks like the only place to go," Dot took out a pistol on her belt, "Ready?"

Enzo slung out his poison bows and arrow. "Yup!" he exclaimed.

They both held their weapons ready and beat a path along the plants as stealthily as they could. The air was moist and thick, and small bugs buzzed relentlessly around them. The pyramid was actually much farther away than it looked, and after swatting and beating away plants and vines for what seemed an eternity, they reached the base and saw how massive it really was. Behind the pyramid lay the game wall. Dot sighed as she realized how close they were to being out of the games path. An ominous door loomed in the front, leading into a dark pathway into the structure. On the sides were decorated carvings showing different types of rituals, many involving strange animals. Dot went to inspect these closer, but heard voices coming towards their direction.

Enzo turned his head in the direction of the noise. "Are those whatcha-callits? Umm, game sprites?" he asked nervously.

"Dunno," Dot answered, "Let's hide." Both of them crawled in a nearby thicket and watched. The bushes shuddered and binomes came out. However, these binomes were dressed in dark blue, and looked militaristic. "Virals?" Dot wondered. Sounds of crashing trees came down as tanks tried to move through the dense forest unsuccessfully.

"Sorry, sir. It looks like the tanks are not going to be of much use in this game. Seems the CPU's are having the same trouble on the other side. They've already mobilized on foot, and we think most of them are already inside this here pyramid, or otherwise dealing with game sprites," a viral called out into the jungle, looking around nervously for game sprites.

A dark figure emerged from the forest. He was dark, dark blue, metal plated and well built, with a large red crest sweeping back from his cranium, and a skull-like emblem marked in bright green on his front side. His features were very sharply defined and powerful, and he held a wave of authority in the air, especially towards the virals. Dot frowned in realization: this must be the virus. Enzo caught on as well, and his eyebrows flew up. The virus was certainly intimidating in looks, but the real impression came from how he felt, like a dark, cancerous presence. Malevolence seemed barely contained by his features. The virus turned to his viral slave and asked, "Yes. Tell me, has all of Mainframe been converted like this?"

"No, sir. Only the part that the game comes down on. The object here is to defeat the User and win the game."

"And if we lose?" the virus asked.

"If we lose…we become nullified, Lord Megabyte."

"Megabyte. So that's the virus," Dot whispered, and Enzo nodded numbly.

Megabyte felt a twinge of fear go up his spine again. There was a very real chance of deletion now. How had things gone so wrong? His attack on the Principle Office had been thrown aside. Survival took priority now. "If we win?" Megabyte pressed.

"The game cube will lift and everything will return to normal, sir."

Good. That meant they would be safe…until the CPUs got their act together and resumed attack. Then he would have to back away from being too close to the border of the Principle Office. Maybe later he could…wait…there might be an advantage to this game. Megabyte turned to his slave and asked insistently, "So everything inside the game has been recompiled? Including the Principle Office and its defenses?"

The viral blinked in confusion and responded dumbly, "I would think so sir. But the part of the Principle Office inside the game is probably on the far edge, at the back of the inside of the pyramid, considering where we were just when the game hit. We would have to enter and fight our way to get through there."

"Excellent!" the Megabyte laughed. He snapped towards his men, "Everyone! I want you all to aid me in reaching the far end of this structure. Leave winning the game to the CPUs. Stay out of their way and don't attack. It is vital we reach the opposite end of inside the pyramid before they win the game." Megabyte paused and added to himself, "If they win."

"I don't get it," Enzo whispered, "Why are they going into the pyramid if they're not trying to win the game?"

Dot had already figured it out, her face full of worry. "They're taking advantage of the game restructuring everything. With the Principle Office defenses changed into the game matter, the virus, Megabyte, can get past them. If the CPU's win, and he's where the inside of the Principle Office would be, when the game lifts and everything changes back to normal, he's already past the walls and shields and inside the Principle Office, where Phong works!"

"Oh boy!" Enzo squeaked, "This is bad! Very bad! What about the defenses inside the Principle Office?"

Dot frowned and said, "I don't think so, Enzo. Nobody will have any idea he's inside before it's too late. He may be able to get to the Core before the security system can register he's a threat, so—"

"HEY!"

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

"DON'T MOVE A MUSCLE!"

Enzo and Dot whirled around and saw the matching red and blue robots, Hack and Slash. The two robots grabbed them roughly and dragged them out into the open, towards Megabyte. Megabyte was surprised to see someone hiding in the bushes, and even more surprised to it was none other than Dot and Enzo Matrix, the spawn of his dear pet. He quickly recovered and remarked nastily, "My! It's a small system after all! Tell me, do all Matrixs' reduce to eavesdropping?"

"Hey! Leggo of me!" Enzo shouted, squirming. "You won't get away with this, Megabreath!"

Megabyte gave him an amused, contemptuous look, and turned to Dot. She was quite…lovely. For a sprite. Her rebooted uniform was rather distastful, though. He brought himself to eyelevel with the restrained Dot Matrix and saw her angry, determined expression. The typical sprite look, he mused. "So," Megabyte sneered, "what brings our intrepid explorers to this region, hm?" When Dot refused to answer, and deeped her look, Megabyte laughed. "Take them into one of the ABC's until the game is finished," Megabyte ordered, keeping eye contact with Dot until the word 'finished'. Dot could hear his unsure undertone. Hack and Slash started to carry them off, Enzo still squirming, when a cry rang out.

"INCOMING GAME SPRITES! LOOK OUT!"

Viral binomes scattered and Megabyte shot a dark look towards the direction of the voice. The tree and plants shook and a group of glossy, muscular black cats emerged from the jungle. They were both large and lithe, and immediately started attacking anyone in their way. Chaos broke out. Megabyte furiously tried to get his groups under control for this sudden attack, and Hack and Slash bumbled over what to do. Dot took advantage off this and shouted to them in a falsely frantic and concerned voice, "You two! What are you doing? You're supposed to be doing your job! Protect Megabyte, remember? He's going to need your help! Don't just stand there!"

"Oh, yeah!"

"Yeah, we gotta go save him!"

Hack and Slash started to scooter towards him, but Dot stopped them sharply. "HEY! You need to put us down if you're going to fight! That way you'll have both your arms ready to fight. Hurry!"

"Oops! Sorry, lady!"

"What he said. Sorry!"

"Here you go."

"Now don't move!"

The two robots hurtled themselves into the battle. Dot and Enzo grinned at each other, and raced for the entrance to the pyramid. As they ran through the doorway, booby trap button set on the ground tripped them and sent them tumbling. Then they both saw a huge stone slab slowly rolling in front of the doorway behind them. The grinding noise it made caught Megabyte's attention away from the game sprites. He whirled and saw Dot and Enzo standing behind the closing doorway. Dot could see Megabyte glaring malevolently at her, and led Enzo away quickly. Furious, Megabyte raced towards the closing doorway. A game sprite leapt towards him, ready to delete. Megabyte's retractable claws extended instantly with a sharp metal 'shing', and he dodged the sprite in time to escape its wrath. He swung he claws in a tight arc, and the game sprite's head went rolling. Hack and Slash were pummeling the other cat game sprites, and ferocious shrieks sounded out. Megabyte resumed his dash to the door. He reached the door just in time to maybe squeeze his claws in the crack to stop the door from all the way closing. The virus hesitated; as he didn't want to take the risk of damaging his claws, no matter how durable they were. The doorway sealed shut, and the last of the game sprites had ran off or been deleted. "HACK! SLASH!" Megabyte ordered, moving away from the sealed stone door, "Blast this door in at once!"

"Gotcha!"

"Bombs away!"

Missles bristled from seemingly out of nowhere on the two robots, and the missles shot towards the door and exploded on impact.

* * *

Dot felt the ground shake below her. It seemed Megabyte was trying to break down the door. Well, I guess our dumb luck will buy us time to get ahead, she thought, I just wonder what kind of luck it is. If Megabyte can't bust down the door, then his plan is foiled. But we don't know the format of this game, leaving the pyramid with whatever we're supposed to find or conquer in here may be a part of the game, and that exit might be the only way out. I probably shouldn't have ran in here blindly…what we need is a plan. Dot remembered seeing the malice from the virus, Megabyte. Winning back the parts he had infected wasn't going to be easy. The ground shook again, and the dust on the walls rose up in a puff, unsettled. Dot saw a light at the end of the tunnel. She slowed to a walk, and Enzo nearly tripped. They ignored the sounds behind them and made their way into an empty room, with an overly elaborate floor. The tiles were strictly black and white, and made up a mosaic of a deity of some sort.

"What should we do, sis?"

"Try shooting one of your arrows into the ground," Dot answered. Enzo plucked an arrow from his quiver, and aligned it evenly with his bow. He let go and the arrow shot out with unnatural perfection, a skill only acquired from the game's character download. The arrow landed on a black tile. A heavy spear fell from the roof and split the arrow where it lay. Enzo then shot another arrow on a white tile. The room stayed dormant.

"Shoot another white tile, Enzo."

An arrow followed Dot's command and landed securely on another white tile. The room still remained dormant. Still not convinced, Dot took a round stone from the ground and rolled it along the floor of the room in front of them. Every black tile it touched sent a heavy shaft careened down. Every white tile it rolled on remained unaffected.

"White tiles it is." Dot said and carefully walked along the white tiles of the mosaic. Enzo followed precariously, and soon the two were on the other side. "That challenge wasn't too hard," Dot remarked, "Of course, that was only the first one. I doubt the next ones are going to be so simple."

* * *

The door in front of them still stood upright in defiance, but Hack and Slash's last barrage sent it crumbling. Megabyte could feel his impatience building, and the slab doorway's collapse provided little relief. He was already behind, and the chance of Dot warning any CPU's that might have already made it into the cave was too great. He snapped at his virals to get moving, and they headed into the pyramid. After a long, dark hallway, came a room with a large, decorative, black and white tile mosaic for a floor. A number of black tiles had spears thrust solidly into them. No white tile seemed to be struck. It seemed Dot and Enzo had conveniently solved the puzzle for them, though it hardly seemed to be a challenging one. Megabyte's seething over having been beaten by Dot and Enzo went down a little bit, and even felt good enough to smile.

* * *

Hexadecimal wondered what had happened to the sky. It had blazed a swirling, chaotic purple, and dropped a cube over Megabyte's little war game. Hex wished she could have seen his face when the game hit. Yes, games were very intriguing. Such chaos they caused. It was so amusing to watch the binomes run away, with their tiny little legs. It was so amusing she felt like making them run too. Hexadecimal admired her captives trapped on wheels she made in her lair. They screamed so desperately to be let go! She threw a blast of energy from her palms to a screaming captive binome on one of the wheels, and silenced him forever. She pondered the silence for a while, comparing the screams to the silence. Hexadecimal dismissed the rest of them to Scuzzy, whom could do with them whatever it pleased.

Hmm, the nulls didn't like the games either. Scuzzy had given her information that nulls were once binomes and sprites that lost in a game. Megabyte would make an interesting null. Phong would too…a null with a curly purple beard! Hexadecimal cackled insanely. Her laughter stopped immediately, as if turned off by a faucet. This was old now. She should make her presence known.

Hexadecimal could feel a repressed feeling of fear in the nulls around lost angles. The game scared them. She tapped into their fear and used it to send them into a fit of panic. Normally, she could only control a portion of the nulls in Mainframe, but with the game in town she could manipulate the fear of almost all the nulls to her bidding. They scattered from Lost Angles and other parts of Mainframe and joined a swelling stampede of fear. As the nulls chewed outward from her lair into Mainframe, Hex was sent into a rage of laughter as she spurred their fear of the games into a wild hysteria.

* * *

Could this day possibly become any worse, Phong asked himself. The virus and most of the CPU's were trapped under the game cube, along with a sizable chunk of the Principle office. While Phong admitted it would be nice to have the virus nullified, it would never be worth the cost of all those innocent lives trapped within it. Phong wondered what had happened to Dot and Enzo. He hadn't been expecting the fighting to start so abruptly…carelessness on his part. Now the two young ones could be in mortal danger. Swiveling around, Phong overviewed Mainframe again on the vidwindow. At least he had managed to evacuate most of the area on or around the game. And—and were those nulls?! Phong craned his neck forward to look.

"Vidwindow, magnify!" he commanded.

The magnification showed his eyes had not been deceiving him. The nulls were acting erratically, insanely all around Mainframe, except for a wide distance they kept around the game. Thousands of nulls chewed through buildings, and swarmed over citizens. Phong was stunned how much damage these nulls could do when grouped together like this. Nulls had never attacked in such a manner before, what could possibly be causing them do this now?

Phong ordered the vidwindow to widen range over the entire system, then ordered a highlight of the null's movement. His brow furrowed as he saw most of the nulls seemed to be coming from Lost Angles. It wasn't surprising that so many nulls had come from there, due to the fact that Lost Angles was the remains of the Twin City, but what could possibly be moving them like this? "Vidwindow, scan for any strange anomalies."

A small checkmark appeared at the bottom of the screen. Phong double-clicked it. The screen read out, "Anomaly confirmed to be at Lost Angles. Scan anomaly for format, yes/no?" He double clicked on yes, and a viral detection button appeared at the bottom of the screen. Double clicking again on the button, the screen read out, "One viral entity detected. Location: Lost Angles."

Phong's frown deepened. Had the virus they had been fighting escaped the game, and fled to Lost Angles? He thought for a moment, then said, "Scan game for viral entities."

"Impossible."

"Scan game for any entities."

"Impossible."

Well, it seemed outdated technology did have it's uses at some times. Phong was certain the virus would not have been able to move out from under the game mid-battle. If his format cannot be detected while under the cloak of the game then that must mean…

"A second virus," Phong sighed. It seemed the day had just gotten worse. He tugged at his beard absently. Sending out an investigation would be nice, but most of the CPU's were still in the game, and any that weren't were already out aiding and patrolling the city. Phong opened up a channel immediately to the remaining CPU's. "There has been a massive surge of nulls coming from Lost Angles. I take it by now all of you have noticed?" Phong smiled at the dogged and irritated replies that came from the CPU's. "My children, the root of these null rampages is located at Lost Angles, where a virus has been detected. A second virus. You are the first to know." A string of curses came from the channel. "I will alert the rest of the CPU's as soon as they win the game, and the rest of the system as soon as possible. Please try to help with containing the nulls and keeping the citizens safe. Thank you."

He closed out of the vidwindow. Between games and the two viruses, one of whom has part of the system already under its control, and another who can rally angry swarms of nulls, Mainframe would have a very difficult time defending itself. They still didn't even know the full extent of the destructiveness of these two viruses. He headed to the archives. After bypassing the very strict security, and heading past innumerable files, including Welman's portal format he had kept, he came across what he had been looking for. The link to the Guardian headquarters in the Supercomputer.

* * *

Turbo almost felt like chuckling out of pity. Boy, the Mainframer's sure have a full plate. First, half of their system is blown away, then they have two viruses and stampeding nulls. Some systems never get a break. Despite how modest this system may be, it was pretty obvious they needed a Guardian to clean things up. It took Turbo less than two nano's to figure out the ideal candidate: Bob. He had already been to Mainframe, and made some friends there. Plus, despite the success stories he had constantly heard about Bob as one of the top Port Authorities (Catching Mouse single-handedly had made him quite the celebrity around the Guardian elite) Turbo had a feeling he would do well here.

Turbo buzzed his secretary, "Can you get me Bob?"

"You aren't going out to goof around again are you?" his secretary chided.

"Nah, I have a special job for him."

"Okay, I'll tell him to bring a crash helmet with him."

Bob peered around the corner a little while later. "You wanted to see me, Turbo?"

"Sit down, son."

Bob sat in a chair across from Turbo's desk. He could see the boxes of paperwork stacked along the wall still waiting for Turbo. The glamour of being Head Guardian.

"Bob, do you remember Mainframe?" Turbo asked.

"Yeah, and Gigabyte too. The whole reason I went into Port Authority instead of Viral Investigation or System Repair." Bob answered.

"Well, you'll be glad to hear that Mainframe recovered, and was doing just dandy." Turbo said, crossing his arms meaningfully.

Bob frowned. " 'Was doing dandy' "? Turbo handed him the report he received on Mainframe, and Bob's eyes read over it. "Random! Don't they deserve a break?"

"Sure do, son. And they need help ASAP. Phong sent me this report using a link we gave them the last time we were there. It was lucky I recognized the name Mainframe as soon as it landed on my desk, or I would have never gotten to it in time," he nodded over to the boxes of paperwork. "Bob, I want you to go down there. I know you are more than qualified to help them. They're up to their armpits in trouble, and you just the man to pull 'em out."

"I don't know Turbo…I was the one who…"

"The one who what? Tried to save Dixon? Tried to repair Mainframe? Comforted those in need? Went above and beyond? If you're going to have another damn guilt trip again, then think of helping out Mainframe now as an obligation." Turbo spat.

Bob felt himself a little taken aback, then nodded. "Alright. I'll go," he smiled.

"Go to the Ports, and I'll give them an okay on it," Turbo smiled, "You know where that is, right?"

"I work there, Turbo"

"Mm? Oh, yeah, right. By the way did you get me…?"

Bob smiled. "The frosted Chip Bits?" he asked and tossed Turbo a bag he had snuck in.

Turbo grinned, "Thanks, Bob. I never get a chance to eat these anymore."

* * *

Enzo and Dot gave each other a high five. Who knew the giant snake guarding the next level was allergic to feathers? The siblings strode past the snake into the next level while Enzo adjusted his feathery, elaborate warrior headpiece. They had passed seven challenges already (the snake included), three of which already seemed to have been solved by someone else. However, there apparently was more than one path around here, and she had yet to find the path the CPU's had taken. It seemed as if this game was designed to split people up. Still, as more previously solved puzzles met them, it looked like they were about to catch up to CPU's.

Dot knew that Megabyte wasn't very far behind. The door couldn't have held forever, and after seeing that the challenges did not reset themselves once a new player entered, she knew she was practically clearing the path for Megabyte. Unless he had somehow got manipulated by the game to take a different route. She hoped that it was that easy.

The next room somehow seemed to have its roof blow out, though the pyramid had seemed immaculate from outside. Dot ignored the discrepancy of the dilapidated room and looked at the floor. It seemed to be a pond covered with crocodiles, all of which had their eyes closed, hissing. Turning her head back up to the ceiling, Dot realized that this room had been solved too. Apparently, the crocodiles had no tolerance for the oppressively hot and bright sunlight beating down. Enzo clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle his yelp, when he stepped in a pool of someone's energy. It looked like the CPU's had had some trouble escaping the crocodiles in the dark. She wondered if they had known light was the key, or if they were just lucky and blasted open the ceiling on accident. In either case, what now?

Enzo turned to Dot and mouthed silently, How are we gunna cross? Dot gave a grim smile and mouthed, Quickly, before readying herself in a sprinting position. Enzo caught on and did the same. Dot flagged Enzo and herself to start with her hand, and raced across the pool on the crocodiles' backs. The crocodiles snapped and hissed at them, but both made it across. Dot looked at the new rips along the calves of her pants. That was close.

* * *

Phong waited as patiently as he could at the main hall of the Principle Office. Turbo had said he would send help immediately. It had been microseconds since the game had landed and Phong was starting to worry more and more. What could possibly be taking so long? Suddenly a luminous bubble appeared, reflecting the Supercomputer. And out from it stepped—

"AH! Young guardian!" Phong gasped, "I am both surprised and pleased to see you! I was not expecting you to be the one to help us in our time of need."

Bob brushed himself off and replied, "Turbo talked me into it. I hear you guys are in a lot of trouble right now" his smile faded.

"Yes, my son. The two viruses we have are still mysterious to us. We haven't had much of a chance to analyze them."

"Heh, I bet!"

"Yes, I'm sure you have read the report, so I needn't waste time with details." Phong said and wheeled over to a large open vidwindow. Bob was surprised how fast this old sprite could move. "The virus we just recently located is here," Phong pointed to a charred island that must have been the Twin City's remains, "This is Lost Angles. I know you are already familiar with it. We do not know the extent of this virus' power. I believe it may have entered the system along with the first virus we became aware of, Megabyte. He has already succeeded in infecting almost a third of Mainframe since he entered as an attachment to a word processing program introduced by the upgrade."

"I'll go out there and find out what's going on," Bob said determinedly.

"Please, be careful, my son. This virus appears to have the strange and dangerous ability to exercise control over nulls, and has already made Lost Angles its strongpoint," Phong warned.

"I will," Bob nodded, while opening up his zipboard. He hopped on and sped off towards lost angles.

* * *

Dot and Enzo were both walking down a crossway corridor to the final level when they bumped into a group of binome CPU's.

"Oh, hello there," A Zero spoke up cheerfully, "It's nice to see someone other than virals are traveling around here!"

"You mean the virals have been where you guys have?" Dot asked.

"They bloody have, the scoundrels. Don't do a lick of work to help out unless their ascii are in jeopardy too."

Dot frowned. That means the virals have split up, Dot thought, They could be on any number of roots to the center. They may already be at the end of the game! The Zero broke her train of thought.

"Terribly rude of me not to say so before, but my name is Algernon Cholmondley-Worthington III. You can just call me 'Algy'," explained the Zero. He pointed his thumb over his shoulder at a One standing behind him. "This chap here is Ffarquarson, but everyone calls him 'Binky'." Binky tipped his pilot hat. Algy pointed to a group of four behind them, "Most of us have gotten split up by the game sprites outside the pyramid, or by the awful things inside the pyramid. Many are still outside are taking care of the civilians. These are all the other boys that were fighting with us. We were selected to help win the game, but I'm afraid we've lost a few along the way," Algy explained quickly. Each of the four other binomes tipped their hats and introduced themselves.

"My name is—," Dot began.

Algy cut her short. "Already know who you are, Miss Matrix, and young Enzo Matrix too, I believe!" He gestured to Binky and himself, "Quite big fans of your diner we are. Frightfully fast food you've got!"

"Frightfully!" Binky chimed. "I say," Binky added, "Does anyone know where we are? Ever since the mess with the crocodile room and the virals, we've been just about everywhere, and still don't know where we are!"

"Whoa, you were in the croc room?" Enzo gaped, "We saw a lot energy and mess in there! Lucky for us the crocodiles were still blind and stuff!"

"Yes, lucky those virals are jumpy with guns!" Algy remarked distastefully.

"Just like with the scuffle we were having before the game hit!" Binky added.

"Quite!"

"Quite, indeed!"

Dot cut in, "Everyone, the virus Megabyte is heading toward the end of the game. He isn't trying to win it, but he does want to be where the Principle Office would be before we win and the game lifts."

"If we win, Miss!"

"Yes, the final level is only a little ways away. Well, I think. Megabyte seems to have split his virals into groups to seek it out. All the Principle Office defenses have been converted to game matter, so Megabyte can simple walk past where the walls would have been. When the game, lifts, everything will be converted back to normal, but Megabyte will be in the same spot where he was last inside the game. Inside the Principle Office. Everyone outside the game doesn't know about what's going on in the game, so he could get access to the Core Control before we can retaliate."

"Right then! Enough chat! Alright boys, I want everyone except Binky and myself to seek out the virals, and clean them out of here. Try and keep them away from the back of the game. Dot, Enzo, Binky and myself will try to win this last level," Algy commanded. The binomes bid their farewells and took off.

"Are you sure you want to take us instead?" Dot asked.

"Of course! You've got a good head on your shoulders. Now, lets be off, yes?" Algy spoke. After a long, dark, and twisting hall, they came to an impressive doorway blockading the next room, decorated with blue feathers and gold, and a large headpiece with luminous glaring eyes and red streaming ribbons of fabric.

"Hey!" Enzo cried, "It's the doorway to the last level! Up ahead!" All of them raced to the door. Enzo tugged open the door, which creaked open easily. "That wasn't very hard!"

"Look here!" said Binky, "The lock has been broken!"

"Megabreath?" asked Enzo.

"Let's have a look." Algy concluded, and started to head in.

"Not just yet, please" a cold voice echoed behind them.

All of them whirled and found Megabyte standing behind them, with a troop of virals bristling alongside him. "I thank you for giving us the smoothest route possible to the end of the game, Ms. Matrix and the CPU taskforce. You have saved us a great deal of time and effort," Megabyte said smoothly, "However, it is most important that we enter these last few rooms. I assure you we won't interfere with winning the game…"

"The game!" Enzo cried in sudden realization, "The lock! We haven't seen the User yet! There are tons of pathways and shortcuts all over the game! He could be inside!" Everyone's attention turned to the broken lock. Binky and Algy opened the door wide, and all four of the CPU's that had split up with them earlier lie unconscious on the floor. The User stood out in the middle of the room, dressed in a dark cloak with a large, vibrant mask made into a snarling, angry face. Several heavy beaded necklaces suspended from his neck, and a knotted, bent staff was held in his hand.

"Well, I guess we know what happened to our men!" Algy cried.

The User turned to them and waited expectantly. Megabyte strode confidently past Enzo, Dot, Algy, and Binky and into the room, his virals following in a huddle. He turned and said, "Well? Don't just stand there, you have a game to win for me."

"The nerve of that virus!" grumbled Algy as they followed into the room, "If we weren't in such a pinch…" The room inside was much larger than the limited view of the doorway had first suggested. Stone covered the massive walls and ceiling. Each wall was decorated with elaborate paintings and carvings of multiple rituals, ceremonies, and important figures and symbols. But the single most striking feature of the room was the impossibly huge deity that sat on and equally impossibly huge throne placed at the farthest wall from them. He was entirely blue, with streaming black hair and feathers decorating him all around, and searing white eyes.

"YOU HAVE REACHED THE END OF YOUR QUEST. THE ONE TO FIND THE KEY TO MY TREASURE, WINS," the large being spoke, and gestured to the treasure at this feet, contained in a large iron box by a heavy rusted lock. The figure suddenly went dim and lifeless, like a toy turned off. The User immediately began touching and inspecting the tiles and paintings decorating the wall. The images for one part played out, like a movie, and became still. Dust and rocks fell from the ceiling, and all of the room's inhabitants noticed the large room had become significantly smaller. The User moved to a new section and began toying with it too, with the same process as before repeating.

"It appears you have to try out each one to see if one of these paintings and wall carvings to find the key," Dot realized and covered her face as more dust fell from the increasingly smaller room.

"But there are hundreds, Dot! The room will be too small for us to move by the time we find it!" Enzo remarked.

"I doubt this game would run on sheer luck," Megabyte intoned as he examined the walls. "One of these is bound to hint off that is has the key hidden within it." Another segment of room was played out, and the gigantic figure's head crack heavily on its throne under the weight of the lowering ceiling. Each individual went to a wall and inspected and peered at it closely. Several of the painted or carved scenes were played out, and as the room became smaller and smaller, no key was shown.

Enzo looked at one painted scene with a large muscular cat, like the ones they had met at the beginning of the game, and a young girl. Neither seemed to have any relevance to the key, so Enzo moved on. He bumped into one of the still unconscious binomes he had met earlier and placed his hand over the painting to steady himself. "Oops!" he moaned, "I wasted a chance!" The scene played out, and the girl took out a necklace she held from under he simple, ethnic dress. At the end of it dangled a key. Enzo gaped and touched the tiny key with the tip of his finger. A golden key dropped from nowhere into his hand. "Wow!" he gasped, then jumped up and waved it towards Dot, "LOOK!"

Dot whirled and saw Enzo holding the key, grinning. "Way to go, Enzo! That's my little brother! So much for the wall pictures having any clue to the key, though." He ran up and gave Dot the key. The User turned to them and raised his staff. Algy raced over to them and managed to push them out of the way just before the staff came down and an invisible blast turned the spot where they had been into a crater.

"Perhaps you should have been wiser to keep your discovery to yourself, boy" Megabyte sneered coolly from the center of the room, his virals right behind him. The User stuck his staff down again, and Dot, Enzo , and Algy barely scrambled out of its wrath.

"Bloody witch doctors! How are we going to get around him? Not to mention we need Megabyte out of here if we don't want him in the Principle Office, and I'm afraid to say we already have our hands full!" Algy asked.

"I got an idea," Dot said, and she waved the key in front of the User. He raised his staff again, and Dot dashed in front of Megabyte just as the staff came down, and the invisible blast hurtled towards them. Dot's momentum helped her duck out of the way just in time, and the blast hit Megabyte head on. The virals behind him scattered like bowling pins, and Megabyte was sent flying across the room, out the wide open door, and skidding roughly into the hallway. Sparks could be seen as they saw him came to a grinding, painful halt.

"BINKY! The door!" Dot yelled to the One, and he ran to the door and attempted to blockade it before Megabyte woke up. Another angry blast came down in Dot's direction, and she dodged it almost too late. "ENZO!" she cried and tossed the key to Enzo. Algy and Dot raced towards the treasure box. As the staff was about to come down again, Enzo tossed it to Algy. Furious, the User turned to Algy to start his attack again. An angry bang on the door from Megabyte threw the User off, and Algy threw the keys to Dot, who was already at the treasure, waiting. Having regained his composure, the User slammed his staff down in a final attempt to stop Dot, but she had already placed the key in and turned it. The lock opened with a soft click. Dot turned from the treasure and saw the User's blast still coming at her. She covered her face and screamed, expecting her inevitable deletion any nanosecond. The blast stopped midair, inches from her face, and she suddenly found herself consumed in purple.

***GAME OVER***