3

3

Part eight:

Bitten

After graduation they got their first assignments. Ezia was posted with a hunter regiment in an outer system, but (with some minor string pulling) Bob managed to get assigned with Turbo. Together they manned a lookout post on the rim of a lightly secured sector. Cake work really, but they found ways to make it interesting. Their tower was several stories high and was open all the way around, with the roof suspended above them.

One night Turbo was sitting on the railing, watching Bob terrify and amaze the locals with his deletion defying swoops and dives. Turbo just shook his head; he had seen him do this before. Bob took one dive down, nearly missing three binomes, and grabbed up a toy a child had dropped. With one forceful pump of his silver wings, he was up over their heads and pulling a loop-de-loop over them. He made a few diving spirals down to the child and, with a few back thrusts (throwing feathers everywhere), he stopped right in front of the little girl and managed to hover there while he handed her toy to her. He then gracefully twisted and flew straight up. "He really is random."

Bob made his way back up to the top, by way of flying around and around the tower. He landed lightly on the railing next to Turbo, and grinned. "You just love playing the hero don't you?" Turbo asked, still shaking his head.

"Yup." He was still grinning. Bob always spoke with his voice flattened, now. And Turbo couldn't remember the last time he saw him wearing his skiff. Needless to say, his mother was horrified at his current behavior. But then again so was Riswfonidad, so Bob was happy.

Bob's plan to get her to cancel the engagement wasn't going well. She was determined to marry him. In one of their little… talks, she told him he had two choices; either she could be the wife of the heir-prince to the powerful and respected Etvis house, or she could be his widow. His choice. Bob said he had actually considered it for a moment.

Turbo and Wispt, on the other hand, were getting along fine. So well in fact, he was getting ready to propose. They might only be 1.7, but most other azures were long ago engaged and she was getting nervous. He was sure he would marry her someday so why wait to make it official. She'd say yes. "She has to say yes." Turbo said to Bob, who was sitting on the other side of the platform, eating. They had once again begun talking about the engagement to be. "I mean, if she doesn't…" He was rolling the little ring around his hand, staring at it. "I don't know what I'd do."

Bob rolled his eyes. He was never much help on this subject, having never had to go through it. Also, he didn't understand Turbo's hesitation about age. To Bob, his age wasn't reason to wait it was reason to hurry. "By the programmer and the bright code, Turbo, you're almost 1.8, and you're wondering whether it's too soon? She's gonna say yes. At this age, she kinda has to. There's no one else to marry. I'm supposed to get married at 1.9 and your debating about an engagement? Get a grip." He kept eating and gestured with his wings as he spoke between mouth-fulls. "She is gonna say yes. She waited this long for you hasn't she? So just go and ask her, dipswitch."

"Yeah, but-" He was cut off by the sudden blare of the alarm. "What's that?"

Bob was up and running to the display first. He pumped with his wings once and jumped over the separation wall, landing in front of the panel. "We've got a break in. Down on block 16-theata-9."

Turbo rounded the corner, having had to use the entrance. He stopped right behind his partner and looked at the readings. "A hacker… It must be."

"Looks like it. They've disguised their signal well. I can't pin point them."

Turbo turned and begun pushing buttons on the opposite panel. "I'm calling for back up. This person's too much for us to handle alone. Locking down the blocks." Turbo flipped the switch that would cut off their area from anyone but another Guardian.

Bob got up and ran over to the edge of the tower. "You do that. I'm gonna scout around, see if I can't turn up our little hidden file." He took off and flew out over the buildings, as Turbo signaled for back up. A hacker loose in the super-computer, "Not good. Definitely not good."

He flew up and down the streets watching for anything. He ducked down alleyways and underways. He looked on top of the buildings and in a few windows. Nothing. He was about to face the fact that the hacker was probably already out of his area, when he saw something. Nothing much, but still enough for his enhanced optics to catch. He made a hard bank and looped around, coming up behind whatever he saw. Carefully he landed above where he thought he saw it, and looked over the edge.

He saw nothing at first, but then, right below him he saw it. A hacker, young too. He slipped down to a lower ledge, 'A girl…' he thought to himself. 'Not a bad looking one, either.' He didn't recognize the tribal markings on her face and shoulders, but she was definitely a hacker, a very high level sprite. They were about on the same level as the azures in raw ability. This girl was gonna be tough to get. Especially since he had no keytool, still.

He'd been trying since the upgrade, but none of the keytools he'd come up to were interested in him. Turbo was having similar success in that department. It was really a matter of trial and error; you just kept going before different ones until one decided it liked you. No trick to it, it was just a matter of waiting, and hoping.

She was moving down the alley, away from him. He quietly followed on foot about two stories above her. She turned a corner and Bob grinned. That went into a dead end not far down that way. "I've got her."

He flew over to where the street ended and crouched down into a shadow. The covering she had worn over her bright orange hair had worked loose and strands were showing, making her very easy to see. She ran down to the wall and stopped, looking around for a way to go. She turned her back to the barrier (and Bob) and straightened her hair.

Bob jumped off the wall and landed right behind her. She turned at the noise, but a few moments too late. He tackled her, throwing the two of them across the hard pavement. They grappled for a while, but Bob was not prepared for her strength and she over-powered him. She tossed him away from her and she pulled a long katana from her boot. She brandished it, saying, "Now I wouldn't try that again, Darlin'. Ya just might get that pretty face cut."

Bob backed up a little, looking her over. "I can't let you go. If you surrender they'll probably be lenient. Given your age."

"Given my age? Honey, you looked in a mirror lately? You look barely outta diapers."

"I'm no younger than you are."

"Ha. You're cute, azure."

"Thanks, I think." He began to loosen his stance, trying to get her calm down and drop her guard. "So. How old are you?"

"1.7, how 'bout you."

"1.7. Funny huh? So, you gonna put down that sword?"

She smirked at him, "No."

"Didn't think so."

Looking him over, she said, "So, you're a pure code azure, huh?"

"Yup. Straight from the Azure sector."

"I thought you people talked with lots of voices 'n stuff."

Bob cleared his throat. "We do. I just know how to talk like you do. It makes it easier to speak your language."

Her eye's got real wide; she had obviously never heard an azure sprite before. He could use this to his advantage. "So what's your name?"

She looked at him suspiciously, "Why?"

"Just curious. Mine's Botdrovtianx, but you can call me Bob, everyone else does."

"Bob…" She thought about this a bit. "Mine's Mouse."

"Mouse. Very nice. So tell me Mouse, am I the first azure you've ever seen?"

"Yeah. We pretty well avoid you people."

He stepped a little closer, "So you've never heard our language?" She shook her head no, more than a little curious. "I'm told it sounds very nice to normal sprites." He then switched to azure. "In fact, I've heard that it's down right entrancing." His voice was very smooth and rhythmic, and as he spoke he began placing himself just right. "Now, if I can just keep you entertained, you won't see this coming at all." He suddenly leapt forward grabbing the sword out of her hands. It clattered across the alley. He quickly got a hold of her arms and once again it was a test of strength. This time he was ready for her and was winning when she got him.

He had her pinned down and was really getting close to cuffing her when she kissed him, really kissed him. Now he'd been kissed by lots of girls, but never like this. It startled him and he was still dazed when she released.

She leaned back below him, licking her lips, and giving him a look that wasn't going to improve his processing, either. She then pushed her face up to his and kissed him again, longer. She hadn't intended to, she had only kissed him to distract him.

Well, now they were both distracted. So distracted that when he released her arms and put one of his hands under her chin, she didn't think to run. Instead she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer. He wrapped her up in his wings and for a moment, felt her warmth all over him. But when they released again, a siren sounded and they were jarred back to virtuality.

She was out of his arms in a nano and tried to run, but he caught her by her ankle. She reached for her sword and turned with it in hand. She sliced down with it, cutting his arm up near his shoulder. He cried out in pain and let her go. She was up and running, and would have made it out, except that Turbo came up around the corner on a zip board. She slashed down and severed the connecting rods on the zip board. Then turned to try past Bob, up over the wall. But she met him face to face and he had her before she could use her katana. This time he wasted no time in restraining her and they had her ready and waiting when the transport showed up.

As the upper-class Guardians lead her away she turned and blew him a kiss, "Bye, Bob. Ah'll see ya later."

Turbo gave him an odd look. Bob smiled innocently, "What?"

"'What?' And exactly what was that about? 'I'll see you later,' what were you two doing before I got here?"

Bob had begun walking back to the tower. "Nothing. I don't know what she meant. She's a hacker, who knows what goes through her mind."

"Bob?"

He took off and flew back. "Nothing!" he yelled behind him. He flew on, not wanting to play 20 queries with Turbo. "Nothing at all."

Part nine:

Mistakes and Losses

The cycle started off so well. They had each received commendations for the hacker's capture and they had another shot at keytools in just two cycles. Their breakfast wasn't burnt or degraded as usual, and they had both made it to their tower on time. Turbo was already being looked at for a promotion and if he could get a keytool this time, he'd be set.

Bob was doing pretty well, too. Riswfonidad had been scarce lately and he hadn't had to be at any formal things in quite a while.

The sky was beautiful and the wind was just right. Turbo tried and tried to get Bob to come in and do some work, but Bob would have none of it. "These updrafts are incredible," he'd say or something like it.

He wasn't the only one who thought so, too. A pod of web surfrs had come into the area and Turbo could see their antics all the way from where he was. Their glowing forms and sleek boards weaved in and out of each other. Usually surfrs caused mayhem in any system they'd visit, but so far these ones hadn't done anything. Instead, everyone in the entire sector was out watching them. It was a real rarity to see a pod of them this far into the super-computer.

One of them, a young girl, separated from the rest and moved close to their tower. Her energy markings were a bright purple and her short hair was an almost black, blue. Her protective glasses were sleek against her smooth face. She made some elegant loops around Bob, enjoying the rare chance to play with an azure. They flew about, pushing each other to go faster.

Pulling a wide arc, she made her way over to Turbo and spiraled around the outside of the platform. She slipped into it and made a tight circle around him. "'ello, love." She stole a light kiss on one pass and then left.

She went back to her pod and was greeted by a young, blond-haired boy. He nudged his midnight blue board against her pale yellow one. His blue energy pattern pulsed for a moment and then they moved deeper into the group, out of sight. "They really are incredible. Not a care in the net."

Just then Bob made a swooping dive past him. "Not unlike some people I know!" he shouted to his random friend. "Bob! Get in here!" But he just ignored him. "Bob!"

Eventually Turbo gave up and even though at that moment it infuriated him, by the end of this cycle, he'd be glad Bob didn't listen. In fact he'd wish Bob hadn't listened to him at all that cycle.

He had been up flying about when the alarm had gone off. Turbo called him in, quickly. "There's a major break in the next block area. They think it's a virus, one of Daemon's. We're supposed to go help out."

"Ok." He landed on the rail. "Lets go." Bob grabbed him and dropped off the side.

Turbo hated it when Bob did this. It was faster than a zip board, but Bob was not exactly a level flyer, he dipped and climbed at random. By the time they reached the place, Turbo was quite happy to land. "So, where is everybody?"

Bob folded his wings behind him and walked around the square. "I don't see anyone." This was where they were supposed to be, but no one was there. "Something's wrong. Very wrong."

"Someone should be here, or we should at least be able to hear a fight. Something…"

"Anything…"

They looked around very cautiously, keeping close to each other. One of Daemon's viruses was somewhere and they weren't about to get split up. They turned a corner and found one of the guardians they were supposed to meet. Katch, a sprite guardian about their age had found herself on the wrong end of a virus's claws. They got there just in time to see her be deleted. "No!" they said almost in unison.

They moved in towards the virus, but he was tired and wounded and could see he would probably lose against two of them. He turned and retreated. "Oh, no you don't." Turbo was right on his heels, with Bob right behind, still on foot.

They turned a corner and lost him for a nano, "Where'd he go?" Bob said looking about.

"I don't-" A crash down to their right interrupted him. "That way! Come on!" Turbo ran off, once again with Bob in tow.

"Hold up! We don't know-" Bob stopped when they saw the virus, he had managed to set up a little portal and was heading through.

Before he could think better of it, Turbo was through it, after the virus. He'd known Katch and wasn't about to let her killer escape.

He came out in the one place he'd hoped he'd never see, one of Daemon's sectors in the super-computer. It was a nightmare. The virus he had chased was headed up a bank and before he could think to follow, Bob came barreling through the portal. He crashed into him and grabbed him, pulling him back. "We have to get back through before…" Just then the portal closed, "…it shuts." They looked around them at the mess they'd gotten into.

Everything in the sector had been twisted beyond recognition. Large, intricate spikes protruded from everything. The sky was dark and a cold, stale breeze gusted past them. Whispering, Bob breathed, "This is bad. Very bad."

They headed straight towards the barrier that surrounded Daemon's sectors, if they could reach that they'd be fine, all the walls were set to let guardians in and out. It was getting there that would be the challenge. They crept along on foot for a while, not saying a word. But, then they heard someone shout, "There they are!" They turned only long enough to see the five virus constructs headed straight towards them. Taking off like a shot, Bob went straight up and looped back behind Turbo. He grabbed him and flew as fast as he could.

Turbo had thought the ride was rough before, but now with viruses and their constructs firing at them, he had trouble just hanging on. He banked hard and looped up trying to throw them off and ducked down many side streets. But it was no good, they had them pegged. They came up over one gnarled building and saw the wall before them. All they had to do was reach it. They were almost there, when a blast came from behind, tagging Bob's left wing. He dropped from the sky like a stone and they were plummeting right towards the waiting arms of two other viruses.

Before they could fall too far, Bob made one last attempt. He wasn't going to get out, but maybe he could save Turbo. Pulling up his last bit of strength, Bob threw Turbo forward and just barely getting him through.

Turbo had tried to stop Bob from doing it, but hadn't realized what he was doing soon enough. He slammed into the ground and the world swam around him. He looked up to see that he was out, but Bob was not. He saw his friend try to get up from the fall and get a large gash down his right leg for his effort. They were on him. The last thing Turbo saw was Bob drug down and beaten by the horde. Then everything went black.

Part ten:

A New Partner

Turbo woke up in a hospital. Pain in every part of his code was the first thing he felt. Then he remembered what had happened and tried to push past another type of pain.

He drug himself up and focused on making the room stop spinning. Finding him almost on his feet, a nurse rushed in and ordered him back into bed. He waived her aside and reached for his icon. He placed it on his chest and activated his uniform. Bob was still in that nightmare, and he was going to get him out.

The nurse gave up trying to stop him herself and ran out the door calling for help. She returned with two hunters that had been set at guarding him. The two women had no problem forcing him back into the bed. They then IM'ed their commander that he was awake.

In a few microseconds, a Guardian first-class walked in. He was an azure and Turbo vaguely recognized him. "Hello, Turbo."

Now he remembered who this was. "Hello, Maxus." This was one of Bob's older cousins. He was there to get the report of the incident and any details he had about the sector. Turbo told him everything, how he had been the one that went through first and how Bob had been captured saving him. Turbo just wanted to curl into a ball and delete, 'How could I have been so basic.' "Sir?" Turbo asked as Maxus was leaving. "What's going to happen? How are they going to get him out?"

The azure looked at him and shook his head. "Son, even if he is still processing in there, we might not be able to get to him. We're trying to get a fix on him. If he's still processing… we'll go from there." He straightened himself looking at the boy, "I'm not going to kid you, everyone expects that he's already been deleted."

"He's still alive. We didn't call him 'the Unexpected' for nothing."

Bob's cousin left and in a bit, a messenger came with news that that he was still processing, and they had a rough lock on him. But for how long was the question. If he had been anyone else, Bob would have been left in there. But since he was the heir-prince of the Etvis house, they would make an attempt to save him, no matter the risks. Turbo insisted that he be on the team, as it was all his fault. He pleaded his case to the commander in charge. Turbo said he knew it was a suicide mission, and the likelihood that he would come back was slim at best. He knew that Bob would probably be deleted by the time they got to him, but it was his fault. He owed it to him. The commander listened to all this and sympathized with, but she wasn't willing to take a base-class kid with no keytool on this mission. "You're up to try for a keytool this evening, right? Well, I'll tell you what. If you're picked by one, I'll take you, otherwise, it's no."

Turbo left the meeting in a hurry. He hadn't even been thinking about a keytool, lately it had seemed unimportant next to everything else. But now it was at the front of his mind, again. He had to get one; he had to get Bob out of that place. "It's my fault, after all." Turbo had to run all the way to the transport. Then it was a quick trip to one of the Holds.

The Holds were huge vaulted building that held nothing but keytools. They sat still and silent on pedestals until a Guardian passed that they liked. Never quite sure why they chose who they did, the Guardians only knew that the same keytool would choose very similar keeper though out it's long life. Some keytools were noted for picking screwballs and some consistently chose high-ranking officials. And some Guardians were never chosen at all. He couldn't be one of those. Not now. Before he had only cared about getting one so he could move up in rank. But that didn't matter anymore, not now. He would probably be deleted trying to save Bob, but he had to try. And he needed a keytool to help him do it.

Turbo ran up the stairs to the Hold. He was late. When he reached the gates, the other Guardians had already gone in. He was gasping for air. The first-classman that was to let them in shook his head at Turbo. "You should be more serious about this young man. I doubt any of them will choose a sprite that can't even be bothered to arrive on time."

"Sorry sir." He was still catching his breath. "It couldn't be helped."

"Don't apologize to me," he turned to the room of keytools, "apologize to them."

Turbo walked quietly past him and into the Hold. It was quiet except for the rare clicking noise of a keytool choosing someone. 'I haven't blown it yet. There's still a chance.' He moved before every one praying to be chosen. Bob was somewhere locked away having programmer-knows-what done to him. He could still see his friend attacked by the viruses, still hear him crying out in pain as they tore into him.

He paced all through the hold, but after awhile, he gave up on being chosen. 'Fine then. I've ruined this, too. I can get through the wall alone. I won't just stay here and wait for them to tell me he was deleted or worse. I'll go back to the apartment and get together some supplies. I can be through the wall by nightfall.' He turned to walk out when he felt someone watching him. He spun around, but saw no one. The feeling was getting stronger, but he still saw no one. Then he looked down and the keytool a few feet away was blinking.

Turbo walked over to it, 'Is this what's watching me?' He laid his hand on the pedestal next to it, "Will you help me?" he said aloud. His voice echoed through the room and everyone looked. He could hear the small box speak to him, somewhere in the back of his mind. No, speak was the wrong word. It more just gave him the impression of speech. He knew what it wanted; it wanted to know why he needed a keytool. "My friend is in danger, because of my carelessness. I need you to help me try to save him."

It wanted to know why he needed to save him.

"He's my friend. He was only captured because of me."

Knowing the danger involved the keytool asked why he was willing to risk so much. It knew he was going try a rescue with or without permission. It wanted to know why he was going to chance his life and his career on some base-classman.

"I don't care what happens to my career!? He's my friend; I can't leave him there. I have to save him!"

It told him he would fail.

"I don't care! I'm not going to leave him there. He's my best friend, the first one I ever had. I can't just leave him to those monsters."

The keytool was silent and stopped flashing. Everyone was staring at him, but he didn't care. They didn't care what happened to Bob and neither did any of these keytools, obviously. He turned and started to walk out, planning out what to take on his little rescue mission, when he felt the keytool tell him to stop. It then clicked an announcement that it had chosen its new keeper.

Turbo turned and walked back to it. "What? You'll help me?" He felt it answer yes and that it wanted to be picked up. They had a lot of practicing to do before the rescue. "I'm Turbo," he said picking it up and placing it on his arm.

The keytool locked into place and clicked that it knew his name. "I am Copeland."