Chapter III
*****
What is the dark;
shadows around you,
why not take heart
in the new day?
Ever and always.
Always and ever.
No-one can promise a dream for you,
Time gave both darkness and dreams to you.
Once You Had Gold - Enya
*****
Morgan followed Bob all through that cycle to learn his routine; if that was possible, anyway. Games tend to come unannounced. The Guardian didn't do too much… worked on his car, while singing very off-key; talked with the Command.com, his wife; and won a game, which Morgan did not care to go into. She thought they were just trivial things... but every time she was near one, Morgan felt a sense of foreboding. She wasn't sure why; she guessed it had something to do with her unknown past.
After Bob went home, Morgan headed to Floating Point Park. Canceling the invisibility and conversion commands, she plopped down onto a bench, hidden from view by several trees. *Yawn* I'm so tired... you wouldn't think just following someone around would wear me out so much. Morgan closed her eyes. Soon, a snore drifted from the sprite.
"Warning: Incoming Game. Warning: Incoming Game."
"Cursors!!!"
The game landed with a dull thud.
*****
Morgan pulled out her sword as she surveyed her new environment. She was standing in the middle of a 8-sided room, a door in each wall. Might as well reboot, she thought with a sigh. Morgan double-tapped her icon. "Reboot!"
The mercenary shivered as the column of purple game energy rippled through her body. Morgan looked down: she was wearing thin, black body armor; her sword had been transformed into a long rifle; and she was now looking at everything through a visor attached to a battered helmet. The knives around her waist had been replaced by clips. Her boots had remained pretty much the same. Now what?
A footstep echoed in the passage directly behind Morgan. She spun around on her toes, loading a clip into her rifle. A gruesome, horned creature stepped out of the shadowed doorway. It gave her a grin, full of evil mirth. It hefted a double-pointed spear in one clawed hand. Morgan promptly gave the beast a taste of a bullet, shooting with accuracy to kill it with only one shot. Another monster stepped out of the darkness over its fallen comrade. It quickly followed the first creature to its death. I think I'll have the advantage here... "Command: Flame Orbs!"
Morgan looked down at her hands; she had expected to see fire forming on her palms. "Uhhh... Conversion: Gargoyle!" Her form remained the same. Cursors! My power must be too low...
Suddenly, a creature stepped out of each of the doorways. Morgan could hear dozens more behind them. She swallowed heavily. I hope my clips last...
*****
18-hour-old Enzo grunted as he blew away another demon. He was a tall, built youth, though not nearly as big as his counterpart. He wore a Guardian uniform, the familiar blue and gold. His hair was done up in sharp, dark green spikes. "I hate these basic killing games!"
Matrix leaped out of the way as another dead creature fell to the floor with a thud. "Same here!," he agreed with his younger self. "But the Users seem to be playing these more and more often. You wouldn't believe how many of these games I played." "I don't know what those Users are thinking," the younger sprite said. "I just know that I *really* get tired killing stuff."
*****
Morgan's energy ran cold as she heard the clicks she feared would come: her gun was out of ammunition. I'm in trouble now. She bent down to pull her dagger out her boot; her last resort. User protect me...
*****
Another monster went down with several of Matrix's bullets in its chest. "Is that the last one?" "Nope," Ezno replied as he surveyed the surrounding area, using the scanning capabilities of his keytool, Cursor. "There's still a room full of them." He pointed down a hallway. They could hear the sounds of a fight. Then the sound of a woman's scream floated down to them.
The two sprites looked at each-other. "AndrAIa!" Enzo and Matrix cried out simultaneously. They raced down the hall toward the sounds of battle.
*****
Morgan fell to her knees as one of the demons cut into the hamstring on her right leg. She held her left hand against a deep gash in her side. Energy flowed through her fingers into a growing puddle on the floor. One of the monsters kicked her and she went down, feeling several of her ribs break. Another monster hovered over her, ready to strike down with a club. With a look of pure delight, it raised the club over its head, and was tackled by a large sprite.
*****
"I'll watch your back!," Matrix yelled as he held the creature down. "You get the girl!" Matrix began to pummel the unfortunate monster repeatedly.
Ezno felt almost ashamed that he felt a sigh of relief as knelt down next to the girl. Thank the User it's not AndrAIa. He pulled a medical-kit out of his pack and took out some bandages to staunch the slash in her side. She's bleeding pretty badly, but if we got out of the game quick enough, she'll live. Ezno gingerly removed her helmet and began to check for concussions. I wonder where in the Net she came from. As he placed another bandage on a bleeding cut on her temple, Enzo noticed a scar on the back her head, but it was already healed, having been there for awhile. He didn't give it much thought.
The last thing Morgan recalled was a green-skinned sprite gently picking her up. Then the darkness overcame her.
*****
Ezno stepped out of the infirmary and nearly ran into Mouse. "What's goin' on?" She peered around Enzo into the room, seeing the doctors attending to their new patient. "Where'd ya pick sucha little thing up, suga? Looks like *your* type."
Enzo rolled his eyes and ignored the hacker's last comment as they walked down the hall to the center of the Principal Office. "She had rebooted into the game and was being attacked when Matrix and I found her."
The two of them joined Matrix and AndrAIa in the central office. Matrix was bouncing Serena in his arms, as the child giggled happily. His wife held Serena's twin, Derek, asleep over her shoulder. Serena was an uncanny resemblance to Dot, but Serena also had AndrAIa's smile and wide-eyed look. Derek had a light green skin tone and hair slightly darker than AndrAIa. He looked more of a combination of his parents than Serena did. The two things the children had in common were a scaly fin on the back of each arm, and AndrAIa's trademark paralyzing spines, though Serena and Derek weren't allowed to use them.
"Well, I'm off. Gotta go 'n' meet Ray," Mouse announced. "Ya'll tell me when our guest wakes up, kay?" "All right," answered AndrAIa. "Bye Mouse!," yelled Serena as the hacker walked out. "Bye sweetums," Mouse said, smiling, as she gave the girl a pat on the head as she walked out.
"Matrix told me about our new visitor. Do we know anything yet?," asked AndrAIa. "Nothing," Ezno crossed his arms characteristically. "She was already off-line when we found her. All I know is that she must be a great fighter, 'cause there was a whole pile of dead monsters when we got there." Serena finally noticed Enzo standing there. "Zo!," she called out gleefully as she hopped down from her mother's arms and ran over to him. Serena considered Enzo her older brother.
"Hey there, Serena," Enzo said as he picked her up. "Swing, swing!," the little girl demanded. "Oh, I'm kinda tired," he teased her. "You're such a big girl, now." Serena looked up at him. "Just kidding!" The small sprite bubbled over in delight as Enzo swung her around.
"I have to get the kids home," Matrix interuppted. "It's time for their nap. That means you, too, Serena." The little girl pouted as Enzo set her down, but quickly gave him a smack on the cheek and ran on over to her father. "Here, you take Derek," said AndrAIa as she handed the sleeping child over to Matrix. "I'm going to stay here so the girl won't wake up all by herself."
Matrix looked at her questioningly, but shrugging his shoulders, he took his daughter by the hand and walked out. "I'll be home in a little while, honey," she called after them. "K, bye Mommy!" Serena waved.
"AndrAIa, you don't have to do this," Enzo said. "I'll stay with her."
"Well, I don't mean to offend you, Enzo, but I think it will be easier for her if she wakes up with another girl around. You'll probably just make her nervous." He raised an eyebrow. "Look, it's women's intuition, okay?"
Enzo shrugged his shoulders, much like the Matrix did. "Whatever. I'd probably fall asleep anyway. Could you tell me when she wakes up? I wanna talk to her." Now it was AndrAIa's turn to look skeptical. "I just want to talk with her, OK?" He began to walk out, then paused. "Has anyone told Dot yet?"
"She probably already knows," AndrAIa replied.
"Well, I'll go ahead and stop by her office on the way out and tell her, just in case she doesn't know yet. Bye!" Enzo waved and continued out the door. AndrAIa stared after him for a moment. I remember when he was such a little sprite. When Matrix and I took him in... now he's a Full Guardian...
She sighed and head toward the infirmary.