CHAPTER 9
SHADOW OF THE RAVAGE
"Pinnacle Elite Window!"
Dot watched as the four
oversized windows sprang into being. She checked the images with the data in her organizer.
"Is all well, my
child?" Phong asked.
"As well as it can be in
this situation," Dot sighed, only half listening. Her eyes were on the ships in standard attack formation. When all had been said and done (and
counted), they had three lead ships (Mai had volunteered her ship and crew, who
had unanimously agreed to help. They
had some fire power, and experience in battle) the two hundred fighters, one
hundred CPU's and about two hundred more ground troops. A web of a lot better than they had
expected. Mai, Max and the Diode's
were leading the air forces, and Gavin and his crew had the ground troops.
Captain Lynx and Syn had
been ferrying refugees out of the system and had volunteered (which raised
Dot's suspicion) to stay in case the system needed to be completely
evacuated. For Dot, abandoning
Mainframe was a last resort, something she could barely consider without
becoming physically ill. They were
waiting in their ships, which were hidden beneath Lost Angles. Thinking of the island made Dot wish Hex
where up and about.
Then there was their secret
weapon, which they had thanks to; unbelievably; Captain Syn. Now if Mouse and her crew could only get the
blasted thing to work.
"Well, this is it,
Phong. Now all we can do is wait. You know, when this is all over, I want to
place some sort of beacon or marker outside of the system boundaries to warn us
of anything about to enter our system from the web or net."
"Mouse would be useful in
creating such a device," Phong said.
As though she had heard
Phong from far away, a vid-window opened.
"Dot," Mouse didn't look
happy, "we have a problem."
Swell. "Now what?"
"It's this device of
Syn's," Mouse frowned. "We can't get it
to work properly. Everything seems to
be in order but I think maybe Pearson gave us the wrong hardware."
"Why in the net would he do
that?"
"Don't rightly know, but
what's got me worried is he's not answering the comm."
"He was acting really
weird," Enzo's face suddenly appeared in the window. Dot realized her little brother was spending a lot of time
alternating between watching her and watching Mouse and her team work in the
lab. "So was Frisket."
Dot and Phong exchanged a
glance. "What do you mean, weird?" Dot asked.
"I don't know sis, just
weird. And they looked funny too, sort
of like --,"
Suddenly Enzo's violet eyes
went wide, "Dude! That's it! How could I be so basic?"
"What?"
"Skuzzy was like that
to! Geez why didn't I see it before?"
"See what, Enzo?"
"BRB!" Was all Enzo said and dashed from her sight.
"Now what do ya supposed
that was about?" Mouse quirked an
eyebrow.
"I've no idea, but send
some CPU's out to the Data Dump and find Pearson. We need that device working if we're going to have a snowball's
chance in the web."
"Got it, sugah," Mouse
smiled, then her face turned sober. "You all right, Dot?"
"Just worried," Dot said.
"No backspace that. Frantic."
"We've got everything
covered, sugah," Mouse nodded. "Well
except the little problem with the virals.
"Still no sign of Nemesis?"
"She's layin' low I'll
wager, but I'll get her. No one messes
with the Mouse's best friend."
Dot grinned at her. Best friend, who would have thought it?
"So you think she'll try
again?"
"I hate to scare you,
honey, but she has to, before the armada arrives, I take it she'll have someone
that outranks her on the lead ship and they'll be pretty displeased that she
didn't do her job."
"The same with the other
viral?"
"More than likely," Mouse
said. "Don't worry, we got it
covered."
The vid-window closed, and
immediately, another opened to show Specks.
"Dot, you'd had better come
to the War Room immediately," Specks announced somberly, "I think this is it."
***
Enzo descended into the
cool semi-darkness of the Data Dump. It
was awfully quiet, and that made him even more nervous. That thing that had been nagging at his
processor finally surfaced. The way
Pearson, Frisket, and Skuzzy had appeared. It was strange, like their coloring was off, like someone had taken an
airbrush and painted them over in a red mist.
And now they couldn't reach
Pearson at the Dump, not to mention that Pearson had deliberately given Enzo
the wrong hardware? Every time Enzo had
returned to the Dump, Pearson had acted the same. Now he knew the former Codemaster was a bit random, but he wasn't
basic. Enzo decided this time he wasn't
leaving until he had some answers.
Frisket lay in front of the
small trailer. The dog did no more than
look up and whine pitifully at him.
"Don't worry, boy," Enzo
petted him behind the ears, "whatever it is, I'll make it right again."
Enzo pounded on the door,
"Hey Mr. Pearson, open up!"
After a few nanos, some
rustling and some muffled curses, the door opened, "Yeah, what do ya
want?" Pearson snapped.
"Answers," Enzo drew
himself up and tried to adopt Dot's mannerisms. "What's going on Mr. Pearson? You gave us the wrong hardware for the machine and you know it."
To Enzo's utter
astonishment, Pearson actually looked frightened, "Go away, Enzo. Go away now."
It was the first time
Pearson had ever used his first name, "Something's wrong isn't it? Tell me what it is."
"Nothing's wrong,"
Pearson's voice was flat, "you need to go now."
"I'm not going until you
tell me what's up."
"You have to go!" Pearson's
voice took on urgency. "You have to go
now!"
And it came to Enzo what
exactly was wrong. "He's here isn't
he? One of the virals. You're infected, aren't you?"
Pearson began to
shake. Frisket began to howl piteously.
"Where is he?" Enzo whispered.
Pearson's mouth opened but
for a few nanos no sound came out. Then
the aging binome spoke in a harsh whisper, "Behind you."
Enzo turned sharply as a
dark beast with glittering fangs and claws leapt at him.
***
For the second time in what
seemed like nanoseconds to her, Dot Matrix stood grim faced and determined
within the center of the War Room.
"I needn't tell you what
we're facing," she said to the assembled group. "I will say this, to coin a phrase from my dear friend Phong, we
will fight them to the last. Mainframe
is our home and we will not let them take it from us after all we've been
through."
"Think of your families and
loved ones," Dot continued and automatically, her thoughts strayed to Bob,
Matrix and AndrAIa, "think of how hard you fought to get them back. Use that to motivate you and give you
strength. I'm proud of you all."
The group erupted into
cheers, with the exception of Phong who bowed his head.
"Ms. Matrix?" Specks looked up.
"Open all channels," Dot
said.
Six vid-windows
opened. The faces of the Fleet
Captains, the CPU Lieutenant and Gavin and Ray appeared.
"Is everyone in position?"
"Yes Ms. Matrix."
"Lieutenant, have you found
Enzo?"
The CPU looked decidedly
uncomfortable, "No ma'am."
"Find him now! I don't want him out there when they come."
"Yes sir, ma'am, we have
two CPU's looking for him now."
"Don't worry Dot, honey,
Enzo's got a good head on his shoulders, he'll know enough to hide out if
anything happens."
"I don't want him out there
period," Dot said. "I should be looking
for him."
"You know that's impossible
Dot, you're needed here." Phong said.
Dot clenched her fists,
"Find my brother Lieutenant. Have the
CPU's you sent to the Data Dump reported?"
"No, Ms. Matrix."
"Spamit," Dot hissed,
earning several raised eyebrows from the others in the room. "What in the net is happening over at that
Dump?"
"Dot, my sensors indicate a
portal has opened." Specks suddenly
said.
"Confirm that." Mouse said. "It's over Floating Point."
A sixth window was opened
to reveal the serene place. The
shimmering golden globe hovered over one of the upper tiers.
Dot placed both hands on
the consol and watched.
The first ship came
through.
Immense didn't begin to
describe it. It blanketed all of
Floating Point in shadow. It was all
harsh edges, shining black metal and wicked-looking weaponry.
Well over five hundred
ships came in its wake. Some had a
sleek build, more suited to speed, while the others were clearly fighters. They created a perfect formation around the
lead ship as they hovered over the expanse of Floating Point.
The only sounds in the War
Room were that of the machinery. All
eyes were on the window.
"Mouse, which ones are the
Death Strikes?" Dot broke the silence.
"My guess is the small
one-manned jobs. Let's see if I can get
a reading."
"Give us as much
information as you can. Fire power, the
number of soldiers on board, and the location of any vulnerable spots."
"I'm on it," Mouse said, "I
was right. Those little ones have a
core hotter than a bug on a motherboard. We can't get through the shields of the larger ship, yet, but I can take
care of that in time.
"How much time?"
"Too soon to say, I need to
run some tests. If ya can, stall,"
Mouse continued to program. "Keep our
ships away from those little ones or we'll lose them all."
"Specks, inform the
captains."
"Yes, Ms. Matrix."
"If the big one decides to
drop their shields to fire, then our only hope may be my device."
"We'll keep a safe distance
the lead ship for now. Let them make
the first move."
"Ms. Matrix?" Speck's said. "We're being contacted."
Dot bowed her head for a
nano. She gathered her courage like a
firewall around her and said, "Put it through."
A center large window
opened. Dot felt an involuntary shudder
at the sight of the virus that appeared. He was easily seven feet tall, with dark-blue skin and a muscular build
beneath the red and black body armor he wore. His eyes were a cruel charcoal gray, close set above a bulbous nose and
thin-lipped mouth. The eyes bored into
her and made her shiver. His hair was
long and metallic silver, done up in two braids down his back. His long mustache was also braided on either
side.
He took a nano to survey
the scene, then spoke, "Attention citizens and leadership of Mainframe. I am General Ashar of the battleship Ravage. In the name of our Lady and Mistress Daemon,
I hereby declare this system under her command. You will surrender your Principal Office immediately, and swear
your allegiance to Daemon. You have
five nanos to respond."
"I don't need five nanos,"
Dot hissed. "I am Dot Matrix,
Command.com of system Mainframe and we will never --,"
"Yes, yes, I know," Ashar
waved dismissively at her, "you'll never give up, never surrender, you'll fight
us to the last, and you'll die defending the system. I've heard this all before. It matters little. As stated,
you have five nanos. I await your
response."
The vid-window closed.
"Why that arrogant son of a
horse's ASCII!" Dot hissed.
"Over confident, ain't he,
sugah?" Mouse said, "Maybe we can use
that against him."
"Yes," Dot said. "They don't have as many ships as we
thought. Something's not right here."
"You got that."
"Have all our forces hold
their positions," Dot said. "No one is
to fire or act in any way until I give the order, understand?"
"Dot honey, I got the
information I needed when Ashar was talking. I'm going to head on down to the lab. It's time for a test run." Mouse
said.
"You have four nanos,
Mouse."
"Hey sugah, I've gotten out
of worse scrapes in less time."
"Specks give me a secured
channel. Get me Gavin."
When Gavin's face appeared,
Dot said, "Gavin, can you spare some people to look for Enzo and get to the
Data Dump? We haven't heard from the
CPU's we sent there and we must find Enzo!"
"I'm on it Dot, lass."
Gavin said.
"Oh Enzo, where are
you?" Dot whispered.
***
Enzo crouched behind the
pile of recycled data and tried to slow his rapid breathing. He wiped away the sweat that threatened to
trickle into his eyes. He didn't know
how long he could hide here. He
couldn't let that thing get him.
When he had turned and the
thing had leapt at him, Enzo had made the feeble gesture of raising his arm to
shield his face. The thing pounced on
him, pinning him to the ground, hissing at him and baring its needle-sharp
teeth.
Then Frisket was
there. The dog rammed his forehead into
the beast's side. Enzo struggled to
stand and Mr. Pearson had yelled, "Run lad!"
Enzo didn't need to be told
twice. He shot off in the direction of
the piles of junk, hoping to find a safe place away from the thing. He couldn't stop shaking. He hated that he was scared. Enzo tried to calm himself and listen. What would Bob do if he were here? Probably face the thing and defeat it with
Glitch. Well he wasn't a Guardian, and
didn't have a keytool, so he'd have to figure out something else.
Then he heard the
sound. Tentative footsteps neared his
hiding place. Enzo reached behind him
and his hand closed around a thick metal rule. He clutched it in a sweaty grip. The footsteps abruptly stopped.
Enzo leapt out with a cry
as he brandished his makeshift weapon, to find – nothing.
Enzo looked frantically
around, but there was no sign of the thing. Then the atmosphere around him seemed to change and the little sprite
froze.
He's right behind me!
Enzo whirled, raised the
rule high above his head – and it was yanked from his grasp by an unseen
force. The thing leapt for him again,
and Enzo let out a sharp, "No!" As he stumbled
back in his haste to get away, he fell hard on his bitmap and for the first
time got a good look at the 'monster'.
It wasn't a he; it was a
she.
And she wasn't a monster at
all.
She stood over him and Enzo
was acutely reminded of Hexadecimal. Her skin was the color of cinnamon, her facemask was similar to Hex's
but it was a smoky gray. Her hair was
also cinnamon, and done up in dozens of thin braids.
"I'm sure you see the
futility of trying to escape me sprite," she said. "So you will surrender yourself to me now."
"Why?"
"What do you mean,
why?" She sneered at him. "I'm a viral."
"So?"
"So!" Her fangs showed when her ire rose. "You can't defeat me. You'll make an excellent prisoner. And with you, I'll find favor with my
mother."
Carefully, Enzo stood, "I'm
nobody's prisoner. You can try
something if you want, but I'm not going to just go along peacefully."
"Very well," she smiled
wickedly. "Actually, I prefer it this
way."
She lunged at him again,
but this time, Enzo was ready for her and dodged out of the way. She turned and with another hiss, tried to
slash him with her claws, but Enzo managed to jump back.
"Hey, stop it!" Enzo cried, but she was coming for him
again. "I said, stop it!"
A ball of electric energy
appeared in her hand, "You can surrender peacefully now, or I can present your
body to my mother. Which will it be?"
"I already told you."
"Very well." The energy ball grew.
Enzo backed away until he
was against another pile of rubble. He
was closed in on all four sides. Rubble
was piled behind him and to his left and right, and the viral blocked the path
of escape before him.
Then behind the viral girl,
he saw Frisket bounding towards them.
"Frisket, no!" Enzo leapt forward as the viral turned. Frisket leapt and she released the energy,
just as Enzo caught her in his famous flying tackle.
The ball went astray,
smashing into the mountain of junk. There was a deafening explosion of red fire and the last thing Enzo
heard before a pile of rubble crashed down on him was Frisket's howl of pain.
***
"Sir, ma'am!"
"What is it?"
"Report of an explosion of
some sort at the Data Dump!"
"My group is on the way
now," Gavin reported. "They'll
investigate."
"Thank you Gavin," Dot
rubbed her hands. "Please don't let it
be Enzo."
"Ms. Matrix," Specks
interrupted, "General Ashar is contacting us."
"Put him on."
Ashar's face appeared in
the window. "Well Ms. Matrix? What is your answer?"
"You know very well what my
answer is."
"Perhaps I'm not making
myself clear," Ashar said. "You can't
win, Ms. Matrix. How many troops do you
have? Five hundred? The force you see here is only half of the
armada. There are two other lead ships
and over six hundred fighters positioned outside your system. They simply weren't needed for a system this
small. The Ravage alone has the
capable to bring your shields down with a minimum of shots. Now contrary to what you may have heard,
Daemon doesn't relish the loss of life. People are more useful to her alive. So unless you want thousands of innocents to die, lower your shields and
prepare to accept our terms for your surrender."
"Now you listen to me,
General Ashar," Dot said. "As long as
we have fight left in us, you will never take Mainframe. We will defeat you."
"Very well, if this is the
way you wish to proceed." Ashar seemed
almost bored. "Gunner, power up main
cannons."
"How are the shields?"
"At full power, Dot."
"Come on Mouse, don't fail
us now."
The vid-window view of Ravage
showed twin cannons placed at the foredeck, swivel to aim at the Principal
Office.
"Do you still refuse, Ms.
Matrix?"
"Yes."
"You may fire when ready."
There was a pause, in which
Dot clenched her fists so hard her nails bit into her palms.
"General Ashar, sir! There is a problem with the cannons!"
Ashar made a cutting motion
with one hand and the window closed.
"Do you think it
worked?" Phong asked.
By answer a vid-window open
and Mouse's face appeared, "I take by the fact that we're still processing that
your plan worked?"
"Looks that way," Dot
smiled. "Ashar closed the window."
"Yes! Am I the greatest hacker in the all the
world wide web or what?"
"Mouse, you are amazing!"
"It's Ashar again, Ms.
Matrix," Specks said.
The window opened, "Very
clever, Ms. Matrix. How did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"I see you like to play
games," Ashar said. "Well I prefer the
more straight forward approach. I don't
know how you managed to disable our weapons system, but I must commend you on
your efforts, as futile as they are."
Ashar turned away. "Contact the our other lead ships. Have the --,"
"You'll find you won't be
able to do that either," Dot interrupted.
"She's right, sir," a voice
said from off screen.
"It's just us, Ashar."
"I see," Ashar seemed only
mildly concerned. "We have a number of
ways to secure your system. If you wish
to make a futile attempt at attacking us, you may use the time it will take us
to set up our command center. I think
this area you call Floating Point will do nicely. Until then, enjoy your freedom while you can, Ms. Matrix."
As the connection closed
again, Dot snarled, "And I thought Megabyte was an arrogant null-face!"
"He seems rather sure of
himself," Phong said.
"At least he knows we're
more than he bargained for," Mouse said through the window.
"Good work Mouse," Dot
smiled at her friend. "Any chance of
taking out the weapons systems of the fighters as well?"
"Unfortunately not,
honey. It was a long shot that we got
into the systems of the lead ship. Each
fighter has separate codes and signals. I could get them, if I had the right hardware of the machine."
"Which means getting in
touch with Pearson. Do what you can
Mouse. I'll try and get some
information on the Dump from here."
"You got it."
"All right," Dot turned to
Specks. "Get me our people, all secured
channel. Lets lift up the rock and see
what crawls from underneath it."
***
Enzo coughed on the thick
cloud of dust that was the aftermath of the explosion. By some grace of the User, his bitmap seemed
to be intact. He struggled out from
underneath the pile of rubble, shoving aside blocks of data and old file
folders. Suddenly Frisket's nose was
against his cheek.
"Ew, Frisket!" Enzo shoved him away. The dog ignored him, took Enzo's collar
between his teeth, and hauled the young sprite to his feet. Then the dog began to poke at him with his
cold wet nose.
"I'm okay boy," Enzo
scratched him behind his ears. He
surveyed the area that was strewn with junk, some scorched and even melted and
Enzo thanked the User that he had come through it in one piece.
Now where in the net was
that girl virus?
"Frisket, find the girl,"
Enzo ordered and Frisket placed his nose to the ground. After a few nanos, he whined as he nosed
around in a pile of rubble and began to paw at it. Enzo made his way over and began to move the lighter pieces
aside.
He heard a moan, which made
him quicken his efforts. Suddenly
several pieces of junk flew into the air, startling Enzo so much that he again
fell back on his bitmap. He watched in
amazement as the pieces hovered above him.
The girl stood on trembling
legs. Her eyes glowed amber and her
fangs showed from between her lips. Frisket growled at her, but she said, "Sit!" And the dog obeyed.
Enzo said the first thing
that came to mind, "Are you all right?"
The girl's look went from
furious to puzzled, "Am I all right?"
Slowly Enzo climbed to his
feet, "Dude, that is so cool!"
If anything the girl looked
more confused, "What is?"
"The way you can float
stuff," Enzo said, "What else can you do?"
"Wait a nano," the girl
said, "we were nearly deleted in an explosion and you want to chit-chat? What are you, basic?"
"Hey," Enzo huffed
indignantly, "There's no need to be rude!"
The girl shook her head,
"You are one strange sprite."
"Yeah, well, at least I
don't go around trying to delete people who haven't done anything to me."
"You are my enemy," she
said, matter-of-fact. "I must take you
prisoner or destroy you."
"Why? What have I done to you?"
"It is my mother's wish,
sprite."
"I have a name, you know."
"I know you do, why should
that matter?"
"I'd appreciate it if you'd
use it," Enzo sighed, exasperated. "Just what is your name, anyway?"
"I am Melissa."
"You said it was your
mother's wish. Do you mean Daemon?"
"Of course."
"Dude," Enzo whispered, "So
you're Hexadecimal's sister?"
Melissa averted her eyes,
"Yes."
"What's wrong?" Enzo stepped forward. "Wait, you're not the one who attacked her
were you?"
When Melissa didn't reply
immediately, Enzo said, "It was you! I
can't believe it! You nearly deleted
your own sister!"
"Nearly deleted?" She
frowned, "Hexadecimal is alive?"
"Barely, no thanks to you,"
Enzo's voice was bitter. "You're no better
than Megabyte. What's with your family
anyway?"
"You don't know anything
about my family!" Melissa shouted, "How
dare you insult them? Not all of us can
have a perfect life in a perfect system where they're sheltered and protected
with no idea how things are in the net! I did as my mother commanded!"
"You could have said no."
"No?" A hysterical laugh escaped Melissa's
throat. "No to my mother? You are naive!"
Enzo's face burned, "I'm
not naive! Look, Dot always told me
that we all have choices. She once said
that the future's not decided by the throw of the dice, but by the conscious
decisions of you and me. I've always
remembered that."
Melissa shook her head,
"Then she's being incredibly naïve too."
"Hey, watch what you're
saying about my sister!"
"Well now you know how it
feels to have someone insult your family."
Enzo opened his mouth to
protest, then quickly closed it. He
realized that no matter what he thought of her family, she would always feel
honor-bound to defend them.
"Sorry."
"For what?"
"Insulting your family."
"It's okay – Enzo."
He looked up, and smiled at
her, "So now what? Am I still your
prisoner?"
She giggled slightly, "Only
if you want to be."
"Um --," Enzo ran his hand
through his already unruly hair, "I have to get back to the Principal Office
before Dot starts to worry. Do you want
to --?"
Suddenly Melissa raised one
hand and quieted him with a sharp gesture. "Ssh!"
It was then that Enzo heard
the sound of an engine. Melissa's whole
expression changed. Her eyes widened
and a look akin to terror crossed her face. Enzo turned towards the sound and saw a rocket cycle approaching.
"Oh no," Melissa lunged for
him and before he could react, pricked him with her fingernail.
"Hey – what are you --,"
the sky started spinning and he would have toppled over had Melissa not grabbed
his arm.
"Don't say a word! Let me do all the talking, understand?"
"Yes," Enzo felt an
overwhelming compulsion to obey.
The cycle landed and most
evil-looking woman Enzo had ever seen in his processing approached them.
"What in the net is going
on here?" the woman demanded.
"Nemesis," Melissa
smiled. "I have captured myself a fine
prize. Enzo Matrix, the Command.com's
brother."
Nemesis' eyes lit with a greedy
fire, "Excellent! We can use him as
leverage to lure the Command.com out of the Principal Office where I may delete
her."
"Oh no we won't."
"What?"
"You failed Nemesis. Now you must face my mother's wrath. As for this boy, I will present him as a
gift to my mother and use him so that I may lure the Command.com to her death."
"You treacherous little
--!" Nemesis stepped forward and
Melissa bared her fangs and claws.
"Are you forgetting who I
am?" Melissa hissed, "Do you really
think you can defeat me? Do you
honestly want to try?"
Enzo was shocked to see
fear in the older viral's eyes.
"So I was right about you,"
Nemesis said, "All these hours, playing the cowardly, benign virus. So now we see the real you. Very well, but I suggest you watch your back
from now on."
Nemesis turned and walked
by to her cycle. The moment it was out
of sight, Melissa turned to him and placed both hands on his temples. There was the dizziness again, and Enzo felt
his control return.
"Sorry about that," Melissa
smiled. "She would have known you
weren't infected."
"She's the one who tried to
delete my sister, isn't she?"
"Yes."
"You knew about that
to." Enzo accused, "I could have --,"
"Could have what? She would have deleted you and thought
nothing of it, or like she said, used you to strike at your sister, do you want
that?"
"No," Enzo muttered, "She
was afraid of you."
"Yes," Melissa smiled
again, "I think she always was but I never really noticed it. I was so timid and meek, but now – she bared
her fangs – I am Daemon's daughter."
Enzo looked at her for a
moment. "What will you do now?"
"I --," she hesitated.
There was an abrupt flash
of light and high in the air above them, an immense portal opened.
"Oh no," Melissa whispered. "They're here."
The biggest warship Enzo
had ever seen (well he had never seen a warship but he figured they couldn't be
larger than this one) moved ponderously from within the glowing sphere.
"General Ashar," now it was
Melissa who looked scared.
The warship was followed by
hundreds of smaller ships, which hovered almost protectively around it, but
Enzo was convinced the ship needed no protection.
"The armada," Enzo
said. "Who's General Ashar?"
"My mother's chief military
viral," Melissa whispered. "Enzo,
listen, your system is doomed. It may
be better if you came with me --,"
"What? What do you mean doomed? I'm not going anywhere!"
"Enzo, our armada had
subjugated every system we've fought with," Melissa said. "If you come with me and play my prisoner,
maybe I can get you away and say you escaped."
"No," Enzo said coldly.
"You don't know my sister."
"You basic sprite! I'm trying to save your life!"
"Look Melissa, I have to
get to the Principal Office. Do you
want to come with me or not?"
"You're kidding right?"
"Tell me now."
"You actually want me in
the Principal Office? Where I could
possibly infect your systems and bring the whole system crashing down? Then General Ashar can walk right in."
"Is that what you'd
do? I'm trying to save your life now."
Melissa glared at him
through narrowed eyes, "What manner of trickery is this?"
"For User's sake, no
trickery," Enzo sighed, "Look, it seems to me that what you need is a
friend. Do you have any friends?"
"No."
"Okay, let's shake on it."
The only thing Melissa
shook was her head, "You are strange." She reached for Frisket and placed a hand on the dog's forehead. After a few nanos the dog looked like his
normal self. The elite window that
sprang open drew Enzo's attention away suddenly.
"Dude," Enzo
whispered. "Is that Ashar? He's an ugly something-or-other."
"He is who your sister will
face," Melissa said, "She doesn't stand a chance."
"Like I said before, you
don't know her," Enzo started away.
"Wait, where are you
going?"
"To see of Mr. Pearson's
okay. Do you think you could – uninfect
him too?"
Melissa shook her head
again as she followed Enzo back. When
they came upon Mr. Pearson's home, they found the old binome kneeling before
two demolished CPU cars.
"Mr. Pearson what
happened?" Enzo ran to stand beside
him.
"That viral witch destroyed
them," Pearson said. He pointed an
accusing finger at Melissa, "Your friend!"
"She's not my friend,"
Melissa stepped forward and removed the infection from him.
"I think they came here
looking for you, Enzo. Boy, you'd had
better get to the Principal Office ASAP."
"I'm on my way now," Enzo
said. He turned to Melissa, "Well?"
The viral girl couldn't
seem to look at him at first. When she
lifted her head, Enzo saw the mixture of fear and suspicion.
"All right," she finally
said, "I'll come with you."