CHAPTER TWO
GOING THE OTHER WAY
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"Everybody," Dot called several cycles later to the anxious assembled CPUs, "we may have a definite plan."
The resistance group let out a loud cheer.
"But we have to wait until Enzo and AndrAIa get back," Dot added.
At this everyone grew quiet and stared apprehensively out the VidWindows at the dark purple Game cube that had been planted in a nearby sector.
Dot couldn't help but feel their restlessness. Even though Enzo and AndrAIa had been going into the Games for several cycles, Dot still worried about their safety, and she hated the wait for a Game to end.
Finally, those words came.
GAME OVER.
Dot breathed a sigh of relief. The Game had been won. She watched as Enzo and AndrAIa were picked up by the CPUs and brought back to the Principle Office in the next few milliseconds.
"That Game was alphanumeric!" Enzo shouted upon entering the War Room. "That girl User didn't stand a chance! I can't wait until the next one drops!"
"Slow your processor, Bro," Dot chided, laughing. She waited until the excitement had died down somewhat before she announced, "Enzo, AndrAIa, while you were in the Game, Mouse came up with a way to evade Megabyte."
Both children's mouths opened wide; Enzo asked, "Really?"; and they both looked at the hacker, who stood off to the side. The news seemed too good to be true.
Dot nodded at Mouse. She stepped forward and began explaining.
"It's pretty simple, actually. Ya see, Megabyte an' Hexadecimal maht've caught us by surprise by shootin' Bob inta the Web; but they made a mistake by not closin' the portal." She waited for her words to sink in before continuing, using her hands articulately. "Ah think we can find enough power; and if we can, we'll use it to change the portal from the Web to the Net."
"Wait," Enzo spoke up, "you mean we'd have a portal to the Supercomputer?"
Dot nodded. She leaned down so that she was almost eye-level with her brother and said, "Enzo, if this works, you will be downloaded to the Guardian Academy, where you'll train to be a Guardian."
Enzo opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. He tried again, and asked, "Really? Alphanumeric!" He suddenly frowned, and asked, "What about AndrAIa and Frisket?"
"They'll be able to come, too," Dot assured him. Looking at Enzo and his two companions, she asked, "What do you say?"
"Let's do it!" her brother shouted.
"Pixelacious!" his friend added, and they slapped palms in a high-five.
For a nanosecond, Dot loved and hated their enthusiasm at the same time. But she steeled herself and said, "We'll start next second."
Again everyone cheered, and Dot thought, Maybe there is hope after all.
"Herr Doktor, what is our progress?" Megabyte asked his head scientist.
"Very vell, mein grosse bitter! Hexadecimal is kept under control" — Megabyte's sister had been damaged by a fallen Game cube and, after being rebuilt by the virals, now was forced to use her powers for them — "and ze hardware is almost fully functional."
"Good." Megabyte nodded. "Proceed."
Dot looked anxiously out of Ship's window at the dark, writhing Web portal. "How are we doing?" she asked Mouse, who sat beside her piloting Ship.
"Relax, Honey," the hacker said. "We're not bein' followed. Megabyte an' his cronies don't even know what we're doing. Besides, they're behind the firewall."
Dot nodded. She willed herself to relax, but it seemed she couldn't. Instead, she looked over her shoulder at Enzo, AndrAIa, and Frisket, sitting in the back. The tense excitement radiated among them as they all gazed at the portal in awe.
Mouse landed Ship on the platform that the virals had abandoned seconds ago. Dot, Enzo, AndrAIa, and Frisket all jumped out, and Mouse began to lift Ship into the air,
The sprites and dog moved aside as Mouse aimed Ship's cannons at the portal and fired. Phong had supplied the codes, and Ship had been charged with energy — energy that was now bursting inside the portal.
Everyone covered their eyes in the brightness that followed; when it cleared, they all gasped. The dark Web portal had become a shimmering gold orb that held the image of a bright city beyond it.
In a flash of memory, Enzo recalled his short trip to the Supercomputer once; and that memory only caused his longing to grow.
Dot turned to her brother. "Well, I guess this is it," she said, fighting to keep the emotion out of her voice.
"I guess it is," Enzo replied, and for the first time that second he sounded different from excited; he sounded scared.
"Hey . . . c'mere," Dot said, and she pulled him into a hug.
"Guys, you'd betta hurry up," Mouse called from her seat in Ship. She sounded worried. "Megabyte n the virals have gotten through the firewall!"
"What?" Dot asked. They all looked in the direction of G Prime, and saw that Mouse was right: somehow the virals had formed a rift cutting through the firewall, through which the ABCs were beginning to emerge.
The virals were preparing the hardware when the commander alerted Megabyte.
"Sir," the commander said, "there's activity going on outside the firewall, on Level 1." The VidWindow closed.
"Really?" Megabyte mused, staring past the firewall at the sprites beginning to convert the Web portal. After a millisecond, he turned on a VidWindow and ordered, "Bring us through the firewall, now!"
Megabyte turned to his chained sister. "Hexadecimal, if you will . . .?"
"Do what?" Hex retorted.
"Use your energies to take us through the firewall," Megabyte said, "or else." On those last two words, he pushed a button on his wrist control. Hex shrieked as the collar around her neck glowed green and sent shocks of pain through her.
It faded, and Hex glared at her brother. "Fine," she pouted. She let the energy grow between her hands, then held them out. The energy flowed to the firewall, and a nano later, a bright portal began to form. Megabyte waited until it was large enough then nodded, and they flew through it.
With the approach of the virals, the sprites began to hurry, Enzo, AndrAIa, and Frisket started forward when Dot grabbed his arm.
"Wait," she said, and gazed at Enzo with the look of a concerned mother. "Enzo, you're all I have. . . ."
"Don't worry, Dot," Enzo assured her, smiling. "We'll be fine in the Supercomputer. I'll have AndrAIa and Frisket." They started to move toward the portal, when another distraction made them pause.
WARNING: INCOMING GAME. WARNING: INCOMING GAME.
The User had just inserted a Game cube into the sector near G Prime. Both child sprites began to move toward it instead.
"What are you doing?" Dot asked.
Enzo looked up, torn with indecision. "But Dot, I have to go into the Game. . . ."
"That's one Game; this is the Guardian Academy," Dot urged him. When Enzo still looked torn — and with Megabyte coming closer — she added, "We'll get someone in there. Now, go."
Enzo, AndrAIa, and Frisket walked forward into the golden light. Before it completely enveloped them, they turned back to wave at Dot.
She waved back, and whispered through a suddenly tight throat, "Good-bye, Enzo."
The three figures turned and kept walking until they were completely swallowed by the light.
"Dot!" Mouse shouted. "Hurry! They're coming!"
Dot ran and jumped into Ship. But before they flew off, they waited to see what the virals would do.
"You fools!" Megabyte shouted, his hunger for the Net portal surpassing his usual calm. "Get there before it closes!"
But as the three figures disappeared into the portal, Mouse cut Ship's energy, and the portal became the pathway to the Web once again.
"NO!" Megabyte roared, and slammed his fist down in anger. Then, a sudden malicious sneer appeared on his face. "Herr Doktor?"
"Yes, sir?" the scientist asked from his workstation.
"Close the portal," Megabyte ordered. "It's time to show Ms. Matrix what total loss feels like."
Herr Doktor nodded. In a loud voice he called, "Preparing ze hardware!"
A viral binome, sitting at the large cannon, nodded to signal that he was ready.
"Fire!" Megabyte ordered.
A bright laser shot out from the hardware and plunged straight into the portal. It flared bright for a moment, then condensed in on itself until it disappeared.
Megabyte laughed softly to himself. "There you go, sprites. There you go."
It all happened in a matter of nanoseconds. First, Enzo, AndrAIa, and Frisket stepped through the portal; then, it was closed.
The nano after that, the virals began to open fire. Mouse piloted Ship up and away from the platform to avoid being deleted.
"Mouse, we can't just leave!" Dot urged her friend. "The portal's closed —"
Mouse turned to look at her, and her face and her voice were stern. "Look, Dot — Enzo and AndrAIa will be fine in the Supercomputer; they've got Frisket, too, just like Enzo said. But you're needed here, to fight Megabyte. All right?"
Dot nodded, and Mouse turned Ship back towards the Principle Office.
Dot looked back at the spot where the portal had been. Good-bye, Enzo, she thought again. User, I'm going to miss him — all of them.