Chapter III:
Memories

"Well, here we are!" Zara declared enthusiastically as she stepped off their zipboards. The three sprites and one dog stood in front of a low building in the Gravis sector. A gigantic sign informed visitors that the proprietor's name was Phineas.

They compressed their zipboards and walked inside. Frisket plopped down out front, as naturally as breathing. As Zara walked in, she was greeted by a chorus of greeting and salutations. She returned each welcome with a smile and a wave, and then led Matrix and AndrAIa to a quiet booth in a corner.

Matrix looked about him as he sat down on the red vinyl seat next to AndrAIa. The restaurant was filled with sprites and binomes, all talking at once. It was almost overwhelming. This is so uncannily like Dot's… The thought drudged up unwanted memories. Dot… He sighed and rested hi elbows on the table, his face settling into its usual grim expression.

Zara looked at AndrAIa questioningly, but the other woman shook her head. She shrugged and called a waitress over. I wonder what happened to them…

Their waitress practically bounced over to their booth, bubbling over with energy. She was tall, with pale yellow skin, and curly red hair. Her dark green eyes were bright and joyful. Her name tag identified her as 'Shira'. "Hi, can I take your order?" she asked jubilantly.

"An energy shake, please," said Zara. She glanced at AndrAIa.

"One shake miss," she said pleasantly.

Matrix remained silent, but then let out a muffled 'ow' as AndrAIa kicked him with the pointed toe of her boot. He muttered something inaudible.

"'Cuse me?" asked Shira.

"Same as the ladies," Matrix replied gruffly.

The waitress seemed unaffected as she typed the order into her notepad. "And who will be paying?"

Zara handed her some units, smiling warmly. "Here you go."

Shira noticed the large tip she had received. "Back in a nano, Guardian!" With a bright smile, Shira turned and made her way to another table.

Zara noticed Matrix glaring momentarily at the young waitress as she bounced about, taking orders. His expression clearly stated 'I hate people like that'. Then he turned to focus his attention on a small stain in the middle of the table.

"What's with you?" Zara asked. "You're worse company than a virus."

Matrix shifted his troubled gaze to her face. "You wouldn't understand."

User, what is wrong this guy? "Oh, and how would you know?!" Zara demanded, balling her hands into fists. The skin on her face had flushed a darker shade as she grew angry, making her spots stand out. "You hardly know me!"

Matrix started to stand up, his targeting eye spinning, but AndrAIa kept a firm grip on his arm. With a sigh, he thumped back down onto the seat, the vinyl squeaking in protest.

Shira bounded over to their over to their booth, carefully balancing three energy shakes on a tray. She energetically plunked them down on the table. "Enjoy!" She spun on her heel and walked off.

Matrix continued to scowl at the Guardian. "Why do you care, anyway?" He viciously stabbed a straw into his cup.

Zara wrapped her hands around her shake and sighed heavily. "Because…because I know you're a Guardian, or at least you once were."

He stared at her for a moment, then noisily took a sip through his straw. He didn't respond.

AndrAIa looked at the female Guardian thoughtfully. "How did you know En- Matrix is a Guardian?"

Zara rested her head on her fist. "Well, most Guardians can recognize a peer, no matter what rank they are. Matrix has a gold and black icon and a damaged keytool. And while the two of you were being attended to at the infirmary, I did a little…research."

AndrAIa raised a questioning eyebrow.

Zara shrugged. "It's not every megacycle Compaq gets a pair like you two, especially since this system doesn't have direct access to the Net." She took a sip of her shake. "Anyway, I found a few vague references to you in a several systems; the reports mainly said that two sprites of unknown origin had arrives in a game cube, helped out, then left with the next game."

At this point, Matrix looked up from his shake. He looked ever so slightly less aggravated. "And?"

"I thought you might be a Guardian, but I wasn't sure. So I checked the listings in the Guardian Archive. I found only one first-level cadet named Enzo Matrix, registered when he was eleven hours old. But the strange thing is that he was recorded as Guardian 452."

Matrix snorted. "So?"

AndrAIa decided it was not in her best interest to say anything.

Now Zara glared at him. "I know Guardian 452, and you're not him."

Started, Matrix's harsh expression lifted, and his eyes widened. "You…you know Bob?"

Zara smiled a little. She thought nothing would ever change his angry face. "Yes…and I'm guessing he transferred some of his own code to your own to make you a level one cadet."

"Yeah." He sank back against the seat. "Bob was our Guardian."

Oh, no… "Was?" Zara asked anxiously.

Matrix looked to AndrAIa, who squeezed his arm gently. She sighed and continued on Matrix's behalf. "A portal to the Web had been opened in our system, Mainframe. Bob enlisted the help of two viruses residing there to help close the portal. But just before the operation was completed" - Matrix sadly hung his head - "one of them threw Bob through the portal."

Zara's hand tightened around her cup. "Oh, Bob," she whispered quietly, as she blinked hard to keep tears from spilling forth. "I had no idea…" He can't be…

Suddenly she lifted her head. "He has to be alive."

Matrix started to say something, but the other Guardian held up a hand to stop him. "Bob was an instructor at the Academy before he left to be a System Guardian. He taught a class on game survival. He's one of the best Guardians the Academy has known. If Bob can survive the Academy and the games, surely he can survive the ."

Matrix's face brightened. "You know, I bet you're right."

AndrAIa beamed warmly at Zara. And just when I thought he had given up all hope… She reached over and placed her hand on Matrix's. "I'm sure Bob is trying his hardest to get back home, the same as us."

They were silent for a moment, then Zara spoke. "There's something I don't understand…" She paused to slurp down some more of her shake. "If you were registered when you were eleven, which was about an hour ago, how is that you're nearly my age now?"

Matrix appeared strained for a moment, then took a deep breath and calmed himself. "I'll start from the beginning. With Bob e-mailed to the , I was left as the only Guardian in Mainframe." He noticed AndrAIa's hand was pleasantly warm on his own. "Mouse, our resident hacker, had converted AndrAIa's and Frisket's icons to those of normal data sprites so they could help me in the games. At one point Andi and I were playing I game. I lost it, and my eye. We were forced to convert to game sprite format to avoid nullification." He sighed and rubbed his scar, which had started to itch. "Now we game hop from system to system, looking for home and a port to the ." He looked down at the table for a moment.

Oh great, I've depressed him all over again… "How is that you can change to games sprite format?"

The other Guardian looked up, grateful for the change of subject. "AndrAIa is a game sprite. I met in her a game, and she escaped with me when the game ended by adding her icon to my own. When Mouse converted her icon, she used mine as an guide. So she also added the ability to change to game sprite mode to my icon, and Frisket's. But what we didn't know is that we you play a game in game sprite format, you play in game time, which runs much faster than regular time. Since we spent most of our time in game sprite format, we aged much faster normal."

The look of astonishment on Zara's face was quite easy to see. "That is some incredible story. Bob had told me some tall tales, but that just beats them all."

Matrix smiled slightly. "Speaking of, how do you know Bob?"

Zara tried to ignore the color creeping into her cheeks. "When I was but a fledgling at the GA, lost and confused, I met Bob. He was five hours ahead of me, yet he took me under his wing and showed me the ropes." She played idly with her now empty cup. "He became a good friend, and still was when he was assigned to Mainframe. I haven't gotten a chance to talk to him since."

"Maybe we should-" AndrAIa started to say, but she was interrupted by a large yawn. "Oh, excuse me," she said, covering up her mouth her hand.

Zara smiled. "You were saying?"

"Maybe Matrix and I should get a room somewhere. I feel like I might drop."

Matrix started to argue, but was also interrupted as his mouth gaped in a huge yawn, which he vainly tried to cover up.

"I'm guessing you're tired too," Zara said. "But you don't have to go to a hotel. There are guest rooms in the Principal Office, and I'm sure Maxell, our Command.com, will let you use them."

AndrAIa smiled. "That sounds just fine." She pushed Matrix so that she they could get out of the booth and they followed Zara outside. She leaned on green-skinned warrior's arm. "I'm so tired," she said softly.

Looking back at the other two as they zipped back to the Principal Office, Zara sighed. Her heart ached. Would I have someone like that…

~~~~~~~~~~

AndrAIa rolled over as she felt someone sit down on her bed. "What is it, Matrix?" she asked softly.

"I couldn't sleep."

She saw his large form at the edge of her bed. Pulling off her sheets, she crawled over to sit next to him. "Neither could I."

He turned to look at her. "I thought you were tired."

AndrAIa rested her head on his shoulder. The weight of her head and the softness of her hair comforted him. "Yeah, but now I can't seem to get to sleep."

He reached over and took her hand in his. "Andi, do you think we'll ever get home?"

The game sprite sighed. She couldn't tell him that they'd be home soon and everything would be all right. "I don't know, lover," she said simply.

Matrix laid back on the bed, pulling her down with him. His feet hung over the edge. His hands found her slender waist as her arms wrapped themselves about his neck.

"Why couldn't you sleep?" he asked.

She nuzzled her face into his neck. "I was thinking."

"About what?" He started playing with her hair, as he admired curves of her body in the darkness.

"Us."

He swallowed. "What about us?"

The dim light glinted of her fins as she pushed herself up to look into his face. "You know I love you, Enzo."

"Don't call me-" He was stopped in mid-sentence as she pressed her lips against his.

Finally, she pulled away, slightly out of breath. Matrix began to protest, but she put a finger to his lips, silencing him. "Not tonight," she whispered.

"No good night kiss?"

She smiled and kissed Matrix once more, then pushed him off her bad and toward to door. "Good night, lover," she called softy.

In the doorway, he smiled and whispered back, "'Night, Andi." He eased the door shut.